Country diary: A beetle with a prehensile anus? Thanks to local wildlife recorders, I know one lives here<strong>Ceredigion:</strong> Let’s sing the praises of this network of volunteers who move slowly and look hard, gathering vital wildlife data – and finding fantastic speciesWire*·August 5, 2026
SpaceX beats revenue expectations in first earnings report after IPO crashCompany beat analysts’ predictions to post $7.81bn in revenue, following stock plummet after IPOWire*·August 4, 2026
AI-generated stories rated better quality than human-written ones, study findsResearcher says simpler writing by AI is easier to read and digest, but this does not mean human authors are obsoleteWire*·August 4, 2026
BP boss is unsentimental in pruning portfolio and clear on North Sea advice to BurnhamMeg O’Neill is overseeing rapid clearing of the decks at BP after strategic muddle of recent years, with ‘message’ for new PMWire*·August 4, 2026
BP boss urges Burnham to prioritise UK oil and gas even as firm exits North SeaMeg O’Neill says ‘where we generate jobs, we generate tax revenue’, as company’s profits more than doubleWire*·August 4, 2026
Revealed: major oil firms make $93bn profits amid war and climate crisisIran conflict windfall over three months reignites calls for companies ‘cashing in on human misery’ to pay for environmental damageWire*·August 4, 2026
North Sea oil is a litmus test for BurnhamLetters: John Barstow says oil expansion is a necessity, while David Parker wonders if the prime minister will protect the planet or the fossil fuel industryWire*·August 4, 2026
Elon Musk’s X latest to block Saudi dissident accounts inside kingdomExclusive: More than 60 accounts on X have been made unavailable in Saudi Arabia, after similar action on Snapchat and FacebookWire*·August 4, 2026
David Ellison claims opposition to his mega-merger stems from potential CNN controlWith $111bn deal to acquire cable network’s parent company stalled in courts, Ellison courts publicWire*·August 4, 2026
Oil profits boom on ‘war bonus’ as Trump blasts energy giants for ‘making too much money’ - as it happenedRolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsWire*·August 4, 2026
US water facilities targeted by ‘malicious cyber actors’ – who’s to blame?Despite Trump’s efforts to blame Tim Walz and Minnesota, officials suspect Iran behind attacks on US infrastructureWire*·August 4, 2026
Trump Fed chair’s inflation strategy: leave it to the marketKevin Warsh would rather stay out of the fray – and thus devalue the Fed’s credibility as an economic stewardWire*·August 4, 2026
‘When you kill it, it doesn’t die’: the jellyfish that has cracked the secret of immortalityTurritopsis dohrnii has the ability to turn back into a baby jellyfish and grow up all over againWire*·August 4, 2026
Calls for UK bank tax to fund cost of living help as HSBC profits hit £7.5bnLevy could raise £19bn to help pay for Andy Burnham’s support for those struggling with bills, say campaignersWire*·August 4, 2026
UK plastic ‘waste colonialism’ found to be polluting Turkey’s farming heartlandA Guardian investigation finds irrigation canals polluted with microplastics in Turkey, a major destination for UK wasteWire*·August 4, 2026
‘Nobody cares’: the Turkish farmers bearing the burden of UK’s plastic waste problem Britain exported 139,000 tonnes of rubbish to Turkey last year, leaving smallholders and poor districts of Adana to cope with the debris, microplastics and toxic smoke Wire*·August 4, 2026
Are you part of a community environmental action group? We’d like to hear about your experienceWe want to hear from people around the world who have been getting involved in local action on the climateWire*·August 4, 2026
Trump accuses oil companies of ‘making too much money’ from his war on IranUS president hits out at ExxonMobil and Chevron, saying they should ‘give some of that back to the public’Wire*·August 4, 2026
Six mind-bendingly amazing facts about invertebratesJust in case you hadn’t already realised how extraordinary the gigantic group of creatures known as invertebrates are, we’ve gathered together five facts that made our brains hurt (plus one more, because we couldn’t choose)Wire*·August 4, 2026
Secondhand EV leasing hits the fast lane as more UK drivers explore ways to cut motoring costsNumbers using finance rises 170% in a year as leasing firms boom alongside leapin secondhand vehicle supply and surging fuel pricesWire*·August 4, 2026
UK plastic manufacturer could face legal action over toxic emissionsExclusive: Environment Agency is considering whether to prosecute Huntsman Polyurethanes over emissions of carcinogenic benzeneWire*·August 4, 2026
Country diary: Martha, a tribute to Buxton’s miners, has been knocked off her plinth. Why?<strong>Buxton, Derbyshire:</strong> Acts of vandalism are not unusual. Have we normalised the destruction of ‘common ground’?Wire*·August 4, 2026
Price of olive oil expected to rise again as European crops feel the heatFarmers warn impact of high temperatures, drought and wildfires on range of foodstuffs means costs will increaseWire*·August 4, 2026
‘This quarter was otherworldly’: Palantir earnings surge past expectationsShares soar as yearly revenue up 93%, even as opposition grows to company’s role in Trump immigration agendaWire*·August 3, 2026
Apple launches legal challenge against UK government demand to access dataThe Home Office has made a fresh request for ‘back door’ access to encrypted iCloud data belonging to British usersWire*·August 3, 2026
