I’ve often laughed at those who are voluntarily extremely frugal. But in a world of dwindling resources, aren’t the real weirdos the ones throwing yacht parties and sending Katy Perry into space?
Here’s a silly season story for you: a 51-year-old woman in the German town of Spaichingen in Swabia is under criminal investigation on suspicion of filling watering cans from her neighbour’s water butt. The total estimated value of the purloined water: €0.15.
It’s wonderfully daft. She allegedly hid behind a bin to evade detection and, according to reports, the police declared, with Solomonic gravity: “Once it is in the barrel, [the water] no longer belongs to the heavens.” Who knows what motivated this nano-crime: a moment of midlife madness? Some kind of grudge? But water is metered in Germany so there might a kind of extreme parsimony at work (Swabian housewives are legendarily thrifty, apparently).
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/17/2025 - 08:00
08/17/2025 - 01:00
Photographer Jill Mead joins the crowds of people heading to the Kent seaside town in the summer heat
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08/16/2025 - 05:08
Mediterranean bryozoans, including the “false coral,” are showing alarming changes in structure and microbiomes under acidification and warming. Field studies at volcanic CO₂ vents reveal that these stressors combined sharply reduce survival, posing risks to marine ecosystems.
08/16/2025 - 01:32
Near-disaster in Paüls is latest incident to show Spain’s vulnerability to the effects of the climate emergency
On Saturday, the people of Paüls will celebrate the feast of their patron saint, Sant Roc, with a mass, followed by a communal meal eaten at stone tables, jota folk dances and a profound and lingering sense of relief.
Last month’s wildfire – which turned the night skies a hellish orange, blackened the surrounding hills and devoured 3,300 hectares (8,154 acres) of land – was a near-disaster that stirred memories of the 2009 blaze in nearby Horta de Sant Joan that killed five firefighters.
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08/15/2025 - 13:04
Conservationists flag dangers of human interaction after ‘Reggie’ filmed playing with family
The public has been warned to keep away from an injured dolphin that was filmed dancing and playing with swimmers off the coast of Dorset earlier this month.
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO), a government-backed agency responsible for England’s seas, said it was “increasingly concerned about a lone dolphin spotted in Lyme Bay, Dorset, following multiple potential marine wildlife disturbance offences observed online and shared on social media”.
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08/15/2025 - 12:56
A bottlenose dolphin surprised a family on their morning swim in Dorset this month, appearing to playfully engage with them.
However, the UK's Marine Management Organisation has since asked the public to keep away from the injured creature, warning that such encounters 'can harm dolphins leading to injury, death or aggression'
Public warned to keep away from injured dolphin filmed with Dorset swimmers
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08/15/2025 - 12:17
Associated British Foods says 160 jobs will be lost at Vivergo site in Hull after ministers refuse to fund rescue
The UK’s largest bioethanol plant is to close after being dealt a body blow by Keir Starmer’s trade deal with Donald Trump.
The owner of the Vivergo plant in Hull, owned by Associated British Foods (ABF), said it would close with the loss of 160 jobs, just hours after the government said it would not fund an industry rescue package. The first redundancies will be made on Tuesday.
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08/15/2025 - 11:54
Senator Adam Schiff suggests in letter that use of funds to alter outflow of lake for personal use may have been inappropriate
US politics live – latest updates
The US Secret Service and US military engineers are facing scrutiny after Adam Schiff, the California senator, demanded they answer questions about the Trump administration’s recent decision to change the water level of a lake in Ohio to facilitate a family boating trip for JD Vance on his birthday.
The Secret Service has said that it requested the outflow of the Caesar Creek Lake in Ohio be changed shortly before the vice-president’s 2 August trip so that his security detail could safely navigate the Little Miami River, which the lake feeds into. The story was first reported by the Guardian last week.
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08/15/2025 - 11:49
Temperatures did not drop below 36C in Sedom, Israel on Tuesday night, while several parts of Jordan stayed above 35C on Monday
Jordan and Israel have suffered through their hottest nights on record, with nocturnal temperatures in the Levant well above levels that scientists consider “hellish”.
Temperatures on Monday night did not go below 35C (95F) in Ghor es-Safi and Aqaba in Jordan, while in the capital, Amman, they stayed above 31.8C.
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08/15/2025 - 11:05
The failure of UN talks in Geneva should anger us all. The increasing threat to our health, our environments and wildlife must be addressed.
By ensuring the collapse of UN talks seeking the first legally binding agreement on tackling plastic pollution, blockers in Geneva have failed the next generation. Most states are willing, even determined, to act. But the US joined petrostates obstructing action. Their children too will live to regret that.
To say that plastics are part of our lives from cradle to grave is an understatement: microplastics have been found in placentas, as well as blood and breast milk. While we can’t yet be certain of the full impact of the substances, we know that many have been linked to health effects and that foetuses, infants and young children are highly vulnerable. Microplastics have been shown to damage human cells in laboratory experiments, and a review published this month documented how exposure is associated with increased risks of miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects, impaired lung growth, childhood cancer and fertility problems as an adult.
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