Top story: wildlife could hold key to saving habitats
Morning everyone. I’m Martin Farrer and these are today’s top stories.
Species such as elephants and wolves should be reintroduced to help restore ecologies ravaged by human development, scientists say, after research revealed that only 3% of the world’s land habitats remain properly intact. The remaining fragments of wilderness where flora and fauna remain unspoiled are mainly in parts of the Amazon and Congo tropical forests, east Siberian and northern Canadian forests and tundra, and the Sahara. But researchers, who combined maps of human damage to habitat with maps of the original range of species, suggest the reintroduction of a small number of species could restore up to 20% of the world’s land to ecological intactness. Elephants spread seeds, for example, while the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone park in the US showed how ecologies could be transformed. Dr Andrew Plumptre, the lead author of the study and head of the Key Biodiversity Areas Secretariat in Cambridge, UK, said: “Let’s think about restoring species so that we can try and build up these areas.”
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‘Two-tier’ Covid – The plan to use Covid status certificates to help open the economy risks creating a “two-tier” society, the equalities watchdog has warned. Ministers are considering issuing the documents so they can be used as passports to enter a pub or theatre. But the watchdog says the plan risks excluding poorer socio-economic groups among whom vaccine take-up is lower, and also warns against employers adopting a “no jab, no job” policy. It comes as surge testing was expanded to two more London postcodes in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa. As Denmark became the first country to drop the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine from its rollout, a public health advocacy group claims that 97% of the research that led to the treatment being developed was funded out of the public purse. The team from the Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK tracked funding over two decades into published work that eventually led to the novel technology behind the jab.
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Supreme idea – Democrat lawmakers plan to present a new bill to expand the US supreme court to 13 justices from the current nine. In a move that will inflame partisan feeling on Capitol Hill, senator Ed Markey and representatives Jerrold Nadler, Hank Johnson and Mondaire Jones will unveil the legislation tomorrow, according to Reuters. President Joe Biden has not taken a clear stance on the idea, but last week ordered a study on supreme court expansion and reform. Also last night, a House committee advanced a draft bill to set up a commission to examine the case for slavery reparations.
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Tory ‘sleaze’ – Labour says the Greensill Capital lobbying scandal shows that “sleaze is now at heart of this Tory government” as it tried to step up pressure for a wider inquiry into the affair. The opposition’s attempt to force a parliamentary investigation into how the former prime minister David Cameron and a former senior civil servant ended up working for the now-collapsed financial firm was defeated in the Commons as Tory backbenchers closed ranks. However, all civil servants have been ordered to disclose conflicts of interest after it emerged that former Treasury mandarin Bill Crothers had worked for Greensill while still employed in Whitehall.
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‘Levelling down’ – Universities in London say they are being unfairly punished by the government’s decision to remove £64m in state teaching grants in the name of its “levelling up agenda” for the north. London Higher, which represents 40 universities and colleges in the capital, says the worst-affected institutions will not be able to recoup the loss of funding. The “levelling down” of the capital is not an effective way to address inequality in the north, it says.
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No defence – A controversy over a dance commissioned by the Australian navy to celebrate a new supply ship has morphed into a row that has stopped the nation. The appearance of dance troupe 101 Doll Squadron at the ceremony in Sydney was initially condemned as inappropriate. But, as footage of their routine launched a thousand memes, the dancers hit back by claiming that the national broadcaster filmed them in a “creepy” way that left them feeling exploited amid blanket media coverage.
Today in Focus podcast
The Guardian’s banking correspondent, Kalyeena Makortoff, and political correspondent Rajeev Syal discuss the unprecedented formal inquiry into lobbying by David Cameron on behalf of the collapsed finance company Greensill Capital.
Lunchtime read: the dark side of Britain’s puppy love
Dog ownership has surged in the past year as Britons cooped up by pandemic lockdowns have turned to puppies as a furry lifebuoy to help them through. But while they have brought many of us untold joy, the lack of proper training or socialisation has led to a growing danger of attacks. Simon Usborne reports on the dark side of Britain’s puppy love.
Sport
Jürgen Klopp admitted it was the story of Liverpool’s season as they were knocked out of the Champions League by failing to score against Real Madrid at Anfield. Pep Guardiola praised Phil Foden and expressed his belief that Manchester City were “building history” after they knocked out Borussia Dortmund to reach the Champions League semi‑finals for only a second time. The Women’s Euro 2022 power rankings looks at how the teams shape up after the latest round of games.
Were England’s cricketers too hasty in their decision to stop taking a knee last summer? It is a charge laid down by this year’s Wisden, which says the move to quietly abandon the Black Lives Matter gesture “raised a finger” at the issue. Olympic 100m breaststroke champion Adam Peaty sent an ominous warning to his rivals in Tokyo this summer by storming to victory at the British trials – and then declaring that his performance showed he was “way ahead of where I should be”. The player-release row between the British & Irish Lions and Premiership clubs is set to rumble into next week amid claims from within the league that the tourists are being “disingenuous” following Warren Gatland’s warning that squad hopefuls based in England could miss out.
Business
Huge financial rewards have created an incentive for oil company executives to resist climate action and instead keep pursuing the extraction of fossil fuels and exploration of new fields, according to a study of compensation packages. On Wall Street, Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, made its $76bn stock market debut. All new cars and trucks sold in the US by 2035 could be powered by electricity thanks to the falling cost of batteries and the rollout of charging points. The FTSE100 looks like opening flat again today, while the pound is on $1.377 and €1.150.
The papers
The Guardian leads with “Watchdog warns requirement for Covid passports may be unlawful” and the Times also focuses on post-lockdown issues with “Six hour airport waits for returning holidaymakers”. Even more gloomily, the Scotsman splash says: “‘Prepare for third wave of coronavirus next winter’”.
The Telegraph sticks to the lobbying story in its lead – “Crackdown on mandarins’ second jobs” – and the Mail has an interesting splash claiming that Mohamed bin Salman personally lobbied Boris Johnson over the failed Saudi takeover bid for Newcastle United: “PM lobbied by Saudi prince”. The i’s front page says “UK lobbying watchdog is... lobbyist”, while the Mirror goes after British Gas for its alleged “fire and rehire” policy: “British Gas disgrace”. The Express says “Royals share the love” alongside a widely used picture of the Queen and Prince Philip with their great-grandchildren. The FT leads with the listing of a digital currency exchange on the Nasdaq stock index: “Coinbase’s $76bn debut puts seal on cryptocurrencies asset class”.
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