Two Italian cacti smugglers have been fined for illegally trading plants from Chile – and for the cost of restoring the environment. Conservationists hope more cases will follow
Chile’s Atacama desert is one of the driest places on Earth, a surprisingly cool environment, sucked clean of moisture by the cold ocean to the west. This arid, golden landscape is home to many rare species of cacti, which attract professional and amateur botanists from around the world keen to make discoveries and experience the thrill of naming a new species.
But they are not the only ones prowling the sands: Atacama has become a hotspot for succulent smuggling.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
03/10/2025 - 05:00
03/10/2025 - 00:33
The toxic Tasmanian salmon industry has gone too far this time
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03/09/2025 - 21:04
Chris Minns stresses that the New South Wales evacuation centres set up for people fleeing flooding will be closed once the immediate threat from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred is over. The premier says his government contributed $5bn for social housing in its last budget. 'Evacuation centres are not going to be long-term solutions for homelessness on the northern rivers,' he says. 'And I just want to be really transparent and clear … They can’t operate longer than they were intended to'
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred update: residents warned to head for high ground as flood waters rise
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03/09/2025 - 17:30
Environment secretary points to measures to stop lake being ‘choked by unacceptable levels’ of pollution
The government has said it will “clean up Windermere” after criticism over the volume of sewage being pumped into England’s largest lake.
The environment secretary, Steve Reed, pledged “only rainwater” would enter the famous body of water in the Lake District, putting an end to the situation where it Windermere was being “choked by unacceptable levels of sewage pollution”.
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03/09/2025 - 16:29
Bureau urged to review its systems after Fraser Coast mayor says Hervey Bay was pelted with 260mm of rain after being told it was not in firing line
Ex-Cyclone Alfred LIVE: latest news and updates
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The Bureau of Meteorology has defended its forecasting against criticism it failed to give the coastal Queensland community of Harvey Bay enough notice of a torrential downpour in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The Fraser Coast mayor, George Seymour, said the bureau should review its systems, claiming the area was not adequately warned before it was pelted with more than 260mm of rain in a few hours on Sunday, sparking an emergency situation and about a dozen rescues.
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03/09/2025 - 16:23
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There is a rescue under way in Newmarket Road, Windsor, where cars have tried to drive through flood waters.
The Queensland government has stressed to use common sense, adjust speeds and not drive through flood waters. There has been some heavy rainfall overnight and the roads are dangerous.
We’ve been working on a budget now, in the normal course, and budget submissions have been presented to the expenditure review committee. I sit on that.
And so we’ve been very busy in over the last few months, really, and particularly over the last few weeks, in the lead-up to the budget.
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03/09/2025 - 07:00
Damage to trees in western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene was ‘extraordinary and humbling’ but urban areas face particular problems
The city of Asheville and its surrounding areas have been left vulnerable to floods, fires and extreme heat after Hurricane Helene uprooted thousands of trees that provided shade and protection from storms.
Helene was catastrophic for the region’s trees – in part due to the heavy precursor rainstorm that pounded southern Appalachia for two days straight, drenching the soil before Helene hit, bringing yet more heavy rain and 60-100mph winds.
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03/09/2025 - 01:24
Millions of people in northern NSW and south-east Queensland are bunkering down for dangerous conditions including flash flooding, heavy rain and intense winds after the storm now downgraded to a tropical low crossed the coast
Ex-Cyclone Alfred LIVE: latest news and updates
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03/08/2025 - 19:48
South-east Queensland and northern NSW face further heavy downpours and flash flooding
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred LIVE: latest news and updates
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More than 230,000 households and businesses are without power and flash flooding alerts have been issued for coastal areas in the aftermath of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred.
The warnings follow heavy rain across southeast Queensland overnight and are clustered around the Brisbane, Gold Coast, Logan and Ipswich council areas.
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03/08/2025 - 12:00
In the Zuleta community in Ecuador, farming is about more than just sustenance: it is about cultivating a deep relationship with the land based on ancestral knowledge. In her travels in the region, Colombo-Ecuadorian photographer Yinna Higuera collaborates with rural women, who in exchange share their understanding of medicinal plants and give her leaves from their gardens. In her Traces series, which has been shortlisted for a Sony world photography award, Higuera uses chlorophyll printing to superimpose the women’s portraits on banana leaves, vegetables and herbs. “Each of these women has a unique story,” she says, “yet they all share a profound bond with the land. Through these portraits, my goal is to make their strength and wisdom visible, honouring their role as stewards of the earth.”
Traces is shortlisted in the creative category, professional competition, Sony world photography awards 2025. Exhibition at Somerset House, London, 17 April to 5 May, worldphoto.org
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