Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Petrostate’s rebuke comes as Saudi Arabia and allies try to derail transition promise made at climate talks last year Cop29 climate summit – live updates The world must stand behind a historic resolution made last year to “transition away from fossil fuels”, the United Arab Emirates has said, in a powerful intervention into a damaging row over climate action. The petrostate’s stance came as a sharp rebuke to its neighbour and close ally Saudi Arabia, which had been trying to unpick the global commitment at UN climate talks in Azerbaijan this week. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: After two weeks of fraught negotiations, the draft text still contains an ‘X’ in place of a number. Is consensus on a trillion-dollar funding target for developing nations possible? • Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition Good morning. For a clear symbol of how much work lies ahead at what is supposed to be the last session of the Cop29 climate summit today, you only have to look at the figure included in the draft text on new climate finance for developing countries: “[X] trillion dollars”. That placeholder on the most important single detail under consideration – included in two rival versions of the text – was supposed to leave space for negotiation. But it also suggests how much still has to be decided if any kind of positive momentum is to be rescued from two very difficult weeks in Azerbaijan. Israel | The international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war. It is the first time that leaders of a democracy and western-aligned state have been charged by the court. Ukraine | Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the use of an experimental ballistic missile by Russia amounted to “a clear and severe escalation” in the war and called for worldwide condemnation of the move. Vladimir Putin said that the missile lauch “was a response to US plans to produce and deploy intermediate and short-range missiles”. US politics | Matt Gaetz, the former Florida congressman, withdrew from consideration to serve as Donald Trump’s attorney general on Thursday amid intense scrutiny of allegations of sexual misconduct. Later, Trump nominated former Florida state attorney general Pam Bondi in Gaetz’s place. Farming | New inheritance tax rules for farmers could be changed to make it easier for those 80 and over to hand down their farm without it incurring the tax, in what would be a partial climbdown by the government after a bruising row with farmers and a huge protest march in Westminster on Tuesday. Art | A banana bought for 35 cents and taped to a gallery wall with duct tape by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan has sold for $5.2m, making it surely the most expensive piece of edible fruit on the planet. One of three editions of the 2019 work was bought by crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun at Sotheby’s New York for four times the initial estimate. Continue reading...

Reforms include public registers to track how developers are meeting their commitments and avoiding damaging endangered ecosystems Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The New South Wales parliament has passed the “biggest reforms to the biodiversity offsets scheme since its inception” after inquiries triggered by a 2021 Guardian Australia investigation. The legislation, promised by the Minns government before the 2023 election, introduces changes aimed at reversing the decline of the state’s biodiversity and improving the integrity of the offsets scheme. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

This blog is now closed Heatwave conditions are building over parts of Victoria and New South Wales today. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, much of Victoria will experience heatwave conditions, with maximum temperatures in the mid to high 30s. Continue reading...