Exclusive: More than 100 homes on King Charles and Prince William’s inherited estates have EPC ratings of F or G
• ‘It’s archaic’: the struggle to heat poorly insulated homes let by royal estates
More than 100 homes on the inherited royal estates of King Charles and Prince William fail to meet the legal minimum energy standards for landlords, the Guardian can reveal.
An analysis of a large sample of domestic lets on the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and the Sandringham estate found that one in five have Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings of F or G.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/15/2026 - 11:00
08/15/2026 - 06:00
Chinese-owned AESC has pushed back plans in sign of slowing transition from petrol and diesel to electric cars
Andy Burnham moves to cut new EV sales targets
The UK’s biggest gigafactory has shelved plans to expand production in Sunderland because of stalled talks on a deal to supply electric car batteries to Jaguar Land Rover.
Chinese-owned AESC produces batteries for Nissan at its gigafactory next door to the Japanese carmaker’s Sunderland plant. However, AESC has had to push back its ramp-up plans because of lower-than-expected demand from Nissan and the lack of a deal with JLR, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
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08/15/2026 - 05:00
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08/15/2026 - 02:01
Authorities confirm first Australian death of species found with virus near where it attracts crowds to a ‘penguin parade’
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Australia’s first case of the deadly H5 bird flu in a little penguin has been confirmed on Victoria’s Phillip Island, only days after the state government announced it would begin vaccinating the species.
Confirmation of the virus in the little penguin will spark a race to vaccinate thousands of birds, with the government announcing on Saturday it would begin the rollout on Monday.
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08/15/2026 - 02:00
They rule the roads and, in their wake, even old-style saloons have been supersized. It’s an illusion of consumer choice
Recently, while traipsing from showroom to showroom in search of a used car for my growing clan, the iconic line from Christopher Nolan’s seminal Batman movie The Dark Knight came to mind: “You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” And by villain, of course, I mean an SUV driver.
Because, if you haven’t shopped for a secondhand family car recently, I’ll save you the shock: wherever you look, it’s SUVs.
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08/14/2026 - 16:30
PM steps up climate response with measures including better water access and support for building farm reservoirs
Farmers must not carry the risks of the climate crisis alone, Andy Burnham has said, as he announced £65m of funding to help them manage the devastating drought.
The prime minister is stepping up his response to the immediate climate crisis after facing a backlash from his own MPs and Labour’s grassroots for not addressing the climate crisis despite wildfires tearing through Britain and a drought affecting food producers. Labour MPs argued Burnham had taken too long to talk about the climate crisis and had not made it a priority.
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08/14/2026 - 14:27
Heavy machinery seen operating in famous Santa Elena Canyon amid outcry over new wall infrastructure in beloved Texas park
Bulldozers have begun plowing up ground at the mouth of Big Bend national park’s famed Santa Elena Canyon as part of the Trump administration’s multibillion-dollar “smart wall” expansion on the US-Mexico border, according to new footage taken by activists who have been monitoring the site.
Tensions have run high since the Trump administration announced plans to erect new border security infrastructure in the roughly 500-mile Big Bend region of south-west Texas, which includes the Lone Star State’s largest and most-visited national park.
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08/14/2026 - 12:17
Thursday has been described by residents as ‘horrendous’, ‘distressing’ and ‘one of the scariest days of my life’
People in Stourbridge have described the fires that devastated more than a dozen homes as “horrendous” and “distressing”, with one describing blazes that surpassed the height of residential houses.
Multiple fires spread across the West Midlands on Thursday as temperatures reached record highs of 38.1C in the UK, during the country’s fifth consecutive heatwave.
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08/14/2026 - 10:08
Utility company’s plant, which has only run five times, now has an estimated total cost of £500m
Thames Water is preparing the UK’s only desalination plant to restart operations later this year – but it will not be ready until the winter, long after the current drought is likely to have passed.
The utility company said that it was hoping to start operating its plant in Beckton, east London, “by the end of the year”, in order to help build up reservoir supplies over the winter for next summer.
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08/14/2026 - 10:07
Marine conservationist says deliberate attack would be ‘act of extreme cruelty’ against endangered population
Spanish officials have launched an investigation after the matriarch of an orca pod known for jostling and ramming boats off the Iberian Peninsula was spotted with wounds suggesting she had been shot by a pellet gun.
On Friday, Spain’s environment ministry said Toñi, the oldest living member of the pod, had been seen swimming in the Strait of Gibraltar with markings on her dorsal fin that were “consistent with shots from a pellet gun”.
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