​World largest meat company faces legal challenge over green credentials of $6bn global expansion

Posted on by

Greenpeace petitions Dutch courts to order JBS to disclose how its aims are compatible with responsibilities to climate and human rights

The world’s biggest meat company, JBS, faces a landmark legal challenge to disclose how its $6bn (£4.5bn) global expansion plan is compatible with responsibilities to the climate, nature and human rights.

Courts in the Netherlands, where JBS is headquartered, will assess the petition filed by Greenpeace for information on whether the company is compliant with Dutch laws on “duty of care” as well as its own publicly stated commitments.

Continue reading...

People with secret ‘safe phones’ advised to turn off devices during national test of AusAlert emergency warning

Posted on by

Ten-second ‘siren’ to blare on most phones on Monday as part of national test despite reservations from some states

An unsilenceable siren will blare out of most phones in Australia on Monday afternoon for 10 seconds, with the federal government confirming a national test of the new AusAlert emergency alert system will go ahead, despite reservations from some state governments.

Domestic violence campaigners and the National Emergency Management Agency have also repeated advice that people who may have secret “safe phones”, kept hidden for personal safety reasons, may want to turn off their devices for up to 24 hours after the test scheduled for 2pm (AEST) on Monday.

iPhones 11 and up running iOS 26.4 or later;

Apple Watch SE2, SE3, Series 6 and up running watchOS 26.4 or later;

Android devices running Android 12 or later.

Continue reading...

Alleged rape victim ‘could have done a lot better’ if she had made up claims against well-connected Melbourne man, court told

Posted on by

Prosecutor tells court that ‘gaps or inconsistencies’ in the woman’s account ‘enhances her credibility’, but the defence maintains she is lying

A woman who accused a well-connected Melbourne man of rape “could have done a much better job” if she was inventing the story for money, a Melbourne court has heard.

But the accused’s lawyer has described the prosecution’s case as a “horrendous mixture” of “lies, fabrications, inconsistencies, [and] evidence that has been found to be demonstrably untrue”.

Continue reading...

Iran’s foreign minister describes moment of attack that killed Khamenei

Posted on by

Abbas Araghchi says he has kept on the move since being pulled from rubble after strike on first day of war

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has described how he was pulled from the rubble of a leadership compound after the US-Israeli airstrike that killed the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war, and has survived since by constantly moving around the capital, Tehran, by car.

In an interview with the Iranian journalist Javad Mogouyi, Araghchi confirmed Israel and the US had accurate intelligence on the location of Khamenei and other officials, enabling them to target Iran’s senior leadership.

Continue reading...

Lack of defibrillators could put 16m at risk of death by cardiac arrest in England and Wales

Posted on by

Exclusive: Research shows millions live more than a 1km round trip from 24/7 accessible device

More than 16 million people in England and Wales risk dying from a cardiac arrest because they live farther than a 1km round trip from the nearest 24/7 defibrillator, according to exclusive research.

Analysis of publicly available defibrillators by the Heart Restart campaign found that in England and Wales alone, 35 million people – more than half the population – do not live within the recommended three- to five-minute brisk walk of a defibrillator. Of these, about half live more than a 1km round trip from a 24/7 accessible defibrillator.

There are more than 40,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year in the UK, but fewer than one in 10 people survive. However, early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation can more than double the chance of survival.

Continue reading...

Rebel Wilson wins defamation case brought by co-star after bitter dispute

Posted on by

Judge finds Wilson did not defame Charlotte MacInnes, lead actor in Pitch Perfect star’s directorial debut The Deb

After a blistering dispute that spanned continents and years, Hollywood A-lister Rebel Wilson has been found not to have defamed her co-star in a series of social media posts.

The Pitch Perfect star was sued by Australian actor Charlotte MacInnes, who played the lead role in Wilson’s directorial debut film The Deb.

Continue reading...

‘A great thrill’: baby puffin is first one seen on Dorset coast in three decades

Posted on by

Puffling excites volunteers trying to save the last known regular nesting site on mainland of southern England

For years, volunteers have craned their necks and tested their patience to peer into the crevices of the cliffs hoping for a glimpse of fluffy joy.

Finally it all paid off as a puffling – baby puffin – poked its way into the sunshine, becoming the first to be spotted on the coast of Dorset in southern England for three decades.

Continue reading...

Japan records its first ‘cruelly hot day’ as cities swelter in 40-degree heat

Posted on by

In April Japan coined new term kokushobi for days above 40C as country advises workers to wear shorts to the office to cope with stifling heat

Japan logged its first official kokushobi or “cruelly hot day” on Tuesday since the new term for when temperatures top 40 degrees Celsius was introduced in April. The Japan Meteorological Agency coined the new designation to warn the public of the heat dangers of days that were once freak weather events but have now become more common.

The central Japan cities of Gujo and Tajimi in Gifu prefecture, along with Toyota in Aichi prefecture, all hit 40C. Gujo’s 40C and Toyota’s 40.1C were all-time highs recorded at their respective weather stations.

Continue reading...