47 h. ago EnergyTown: Classroom game accused of 'brainwashing' UK schoolchildren into accepting fossil fuels

Campaigners have accused the educational game of targeting children with ‘propaganda’ 💻

Politics

3 d. ago A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern review – not your usual PM

New Zealand’s former prime minister is a refreshingly informal narrator of her remarkable rise and fallJacinda Ardern was the future, once. New Zealand’s prime minister captured the world’s imagination with her empathetic leadership, her desire to prioritise the nation’s happiness rather than just its GDP, and her bold but deeply human approach to the early stages of the pandemic (though her “zero Covid” strategy of sealing borders to keep death rates low came back to bite her). She governed differently, resigned differently – famously saying in 2023 that she just didn’t have “enough in the tank” to fight another election – and has now written a strikingly different kind of political memoir. It opens with her sitting on the toilet clutching a pregnancy test at the height of negotiations over forming a coalition government, wondering how to tell the nation that their probable new prime minister will need maternity leave.Ardern is a disarmingly likable, warm and funny narrator, a...

Politics

5 d. ago Rylan Clark declares 'we're back' as he confirms next move with mum Linda to fans' delight

The BBC Radio 2 host was seen reuniting with his mum, Linda, for their TV return

Politics

5 d. ago ‘The high commissioner found us a bassinet!’ Jacinda Ardern on bringing her baby to the UN

New Zealand’s former PM made history as the first world leader to attend the general assembly meeting with a newborn. In the second extract from her book, she writes about her worry that the image would become a banner for ‘women doing it all’• Read our exclusive interview with Jacinda Ardern here• ‘I was pregnant and unwed. I was also new to the job’: read the first instalment of her memoir hereSeventy-two hours after our daughter, Neve, was born, Clarke and I held a press conference to introduce her to the world. We planned the whole thing before I gave birth, and I’d been sure it would be fine. Kate Middleton did it, I’d thought. I can make it work.Now that I’d just given birth, it did not feel fine. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Jacinda Ardern reveals Queen’s blunt parenting advice during pregnancy

The Dame was seven-months pregnant at the time and wanted to get the Queens take on raising a child while in the spotlight

Politics

6 d. ago Voices: Intense weather events are here to stay – it’s up to us how intense they get

We have a chance now to not only batten down the hatches but save millions from being swept away by flooding – but we must accept that the reality of dealing with climate change will be boring and steady rather than glamorous and immediate, writes Chris Wright

Politics

8 d. ago ‘I asked Queen Elizabeth II if she had any advice for me’: Jacinda Ardern on her time as a pregnant prime minister

In an exclusive extract from her new memoir, the former New Zealand PM remembers coping with pregnancy while new in the job – and what the monarch said to her• ‘Empathy is a kind of strength’: Jacinda Ardern talks to the Guardian’s editor-in-chiefThere was one cheerful and imperfect baby blanket that stood out when it arrived in the post. It was made up of 24 squares, bright blocks of colour, each crafted with simple, uneven purl stitches. Looking at it, I could imagine the small hands still learning to master their needles and could almost hear the adult voice leading them. “The prime minister is having a baby. Shall our class make a gift for her family?”The response to the announcement about my pregnancy in January 2018 was almost overwhelming. It began with so many emails. In the 24 hours after the news broke, the person who managed correspondence for me said she’d never seen such an influx. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago ‘Empathy is a kind of strength’: Jacinda Ardern on kind leadership, public rage and life in Trump’s America

Young, progressive and relatable, the former prime minister of New Zealand tried to do politics differently. But six years into power, she dramatically resigned. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, she explains why• Read an exclusive extract from Ardern’s memoirIn 2022, a few months before she quit as prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern was standing at the sink in the toilets in Auckland airport, washing her hands, when a woman came up to her and leaned in. She was so close that Ardern could feel the heat from her skin. “I just wanted to say thank you,” the woman said. “Thanks for ruining the country.” She turned and left, leaving Ardern “standing there as if I were a high-schooler who’d just been razed”.The incident was deeply shocking. Ardern had been re-elected in a historic landslide two years before. She enjoyed conversation and debate; she liked being the kind of leader who wasn’t sealed off from the rest of the population. But this, says A...

Politics

8 d. ago Russia won’t agree a ceasefire in Ukraine while Europe continues to fund Putin’s war

Russia has earned three times what Ukraine has received in aid in the last three years and much of the money comes from Europe, World affairs editor Sam Kiley writes. There will be no ceasefire while the Kremlin has an oil-based slush fund

Events

9 d. ago Almost 40% of world’s glaciers already doomed due to climate crisis – study

Glacier loss has profound effects worldwide and will hit 75% on Earth’s current heating trajectory, say scientistsAlmost 40% of glaciers in existence today are already doomed to melt due to climate-heating emissions from fossil fuels, a study has found.The loss will soar to 75% if global heating reaches the 2.7C rise for which the world is currently on track. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago New Zealand abandons Jacinda Ardern's ban on oil and gas drilling after she declared that the world had moved on from fossil fuels

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has urged Australia to follow New Zealand's lead in doing away with its net zero policy as Coalition negotiations continue.

Politics

2 w. ago Trump signs executive orders to spur US ‘nuclear energy renaissance’

President aims to construct new nuclear reactors as he implements his own energy policies and undoes Joe Biden’sDonald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Friday intended to spur a “nuclear energy renaissance” through the construction of new reactors he said would satisfy the electricity demands of data centers for artificial intelligence and other emerging industries.The orders represented the president’s latest foray into the policy underlying America’s electricity supply. Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office over and moved to undo a ban implemented by Joe Biden on new natural gas export terminals and expand oil and gas drilling in Alaska. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Reform UK promises to reverse ban on new North Sea oil drilling if elected

Party spokesperson says policy has ‘clear benefits for securing jobs and energy independence’Reform UK has promised to reverse the government’s ban on fresh North Sea oil and gas drilling as a “day one” priority if elected to power, with the taxpayer taking a stake in the projects.Richard Tice, the party’s deputy leader, has met with senior UK oil executives in recent weeks to pledge the party’s support for the industry, which has been hit hard by the government’s windfall tax and moves to block fresh North Sea exploration licences. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago UK petrol prices poised to fall further as oil prices tumble

Global prices drop after reports that Opec+ is ready to raise output despite weaker demand for fossil fuelsGlobal oil prices have tumbled by more than $1 a barrel in a sign that pressure on households at the petrol pumps could ease further.The price of Brent crude fell to $63.86 a barrel on Thursday following reports that the Opec oil cartel and its allies may increase their production for July, despite weaker global demand for fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago UK petrol prices poised to fall further as oil production may be ramped up

Global oil prices tumble after reports that Opec+ may increase output despite weaker demand for fossil fuelsGlobal oil prices have tumbled by more than $1 a barrel in a sign that pressure on hard-pressed households at the petrol pumps could ease further.The price of Brent crude fell to $63.86 a barrel on Thursday after reports that the Opec oil cartel and its allies may increase their production for July despite weaker global demand for fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago UK petrol prices poised to fall further as oil production may be stepped up

Global oil prices tumble after reports that Opec+ is ready to raise output despite weaker demand for fossil fuelsGlobal oil prices have tumbled by more than $1 a barrel in a sign that pressure on households at the petrol pumps could ease further.The price of Brent crude fell to $63.86 a barrel on Thursday following reports that the Opec oil cartel and its allies may increase their production for July, despite weaker global demand for fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Oil and gas workers face ‘unjust transition’ with no plan, commission warns

The Just Transition Commission said urgent action is needed to ensure the transition from fossil fuels happens fairly.

Events

2 w. ago We bear the brunt of the climate crisis. A Pacific Cop could help shape the global response | Surangel Whipps Jr

Australia should also make moves to address the climate impact of its fossil fuel production and exportsWatching from the western Pacific, we saw many describe Australia’s recent election as a decisive moment for climate and energy policy. If that was the case, the people of Australia have spoken loud and clear.Like many of us in the Pacific had hoped, most Australians wanted to throw off the shackles of the last decade’s “climate wars” and usher in a new era of responsible climate and energy policy, one that harnesses the limitless potential of Australia’s renewable energy superpowers and helps lead the Pacific region and the world to a safer and more prosperous climate future. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Oil industry funded Girl Scouts and British Museum to boost image, evidence suggests

BP has funded Washington’s National Gallery of Art, UK’s Royal Shakespeare Company and National Portrait GalleryOil interests have funded cultural institutions such as museums, youth organizations and athletic groups in recent years, new research shows, in what appears to be a public relations effort to boost their image amid growing public awareness of the climate crisis.Top US fossil fuel lobby group the American Petroleum Institute (API) sponsored a 2017 workshop for the Pennsylvania Girl Scouts, featuring “activities that mimicked work in the energy industry”. Energy giant BP in 2016 sponsored Washington DC’s National Gallery of Art and continues to fund the British Museum in London. And in 2019, Shell sponsored the golf event the Houston Open for the 26th time. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump administration to allow work to continue on $5bn New York wind farm

Governor lobbied Trump in a series of phone calls, and will now allow new gas pipeline capacity to move forwardUS politics live – latest updatesThe Trump administration has lifted a stop work order on a $5bn wind farm off the coast of New York after negotiations with the state to resume the major clean energy project, but cancelled plans for a gas pipeline could also be revived.The month-long stop work order on the Empire Wind project came amid Donald Trump’s targeting of the wind industry in the first 100 days of his second term as the US president pushes a pro-fossil fuels agenda. Continue reading...

Politics