Bouquets imported to Europe found to be heavily contaminated, often with chemicals banned in EU and UK
Stay away from roses this Valentine’s Day, environmental campaigners have warned after testing revealed them to be heavily contaminated with pesticides.
Laboratory testing on bouquets in the Netherlands, Europe’s flower import hub, found roses had the highest residues of neurological and reproductive toxins compared with other flowers.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
02/14/2026 - 10:00
02/14/2026 - 06:00
Environmental groups say ‘cynical and devastating’ reversal of endangerment finding has grave implications
The Trump administration has dismantled the basis for all US climate regulations, in its most confrontational anti-environment move yet.
The 2009 endangerment finding determined that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare and should therefore be controlled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). By revoking it on Thursday, officials eliminated the legal foundation enabling the government to control planet-heating pollution.
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02/14/2026 - 05:00
Mayor of Brendola in Vicenza says he has received complaints from residents who live near industrial zones
An Italian town is seeking a crew of sniffers to identify bad smells in its quest to improve air quality.
Bruno Beltrame, the mayor of Brendola, a small town in the northern province of Vicenza, said he began the recruitment campaign for six “odour evaluators” after complaints about “unpleasant smells” from people living in neighbourhoods close to industrial zones.
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02/14/2026 - 02:00
Auditorium to remove bacon and sausages from cafe during stage run after request from campaign group
Campaigners are calling on theatre bosses to stop serving bacon, sausages and ham in their cafes – at least while Peppa Pig and her family are performing in the same building.
Grimsby Auditorium in Lincolnshire said this week it would remove pork from the menu when Peppa Pig’s Big Family Show opens next month, after a request from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta UK). The campaign group is sending the venue vegan ham as an alternative.
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02/14/2026 - 01:00
Exclusive: High levels of banned ‘forever chemical’ have been detected in rivers and groundwater at 25 sites
A string of toxic pollution hotspots has been uncovered across Cumbria and Lancashire, with high levels of the banned cancer-causing “forever chemical” Pfos detected in rivers and groundwater at 25 sites.
The contamination, spread across a large area, was uncovered by Watershed Investigations and the Guardian after a freedom of information request revealed high concentrations of Pfos in Environment Agency samples taken in January 2025.
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02/13/2026 - 19:47
NAACP alleges artificial intelligence firm is violating Clean Air Act and polluting Black communities in Mississippi
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI is facing a second lawsuit alleging it is illegally emitting toxic pollutants from its enormous datacenters, which house its supercomputers and run the chatbot Grok.
The new pending suit alleges xAI is violating the Clean Air Act and was filed Friday by the storied civil rights group the NAACP. The group’s 40-page notice of intent to sue alleges xAI has been polluting Black communities near its facility in Southaven, Mississippi. The pollution comes from more than a dozen portable methane gas generators that xAI set up without permits, the notice alleges.
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02/13/2026 - 13:19
Tree has never been granted preservation order to protect it under law and prevent it from being cut down
The future of the original Bramley apple tree, which is responsible for one of the world’s most popular cooking apples, is at risk now that the site where it grows has been put up for sale, campaigners have warned.
The tree is situated in the back garden of a row of cottages in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, which has been owned by Nottingham Trent University since 2018 and has been used as student accommodation.
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02/13/2026 - 13:00
Images confirm xAI is continuing to defy EPA regulations in Mississippi to power its flagship datacenters
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is continuing to fuel its datacenters with unpermitted gas turbines, an investigation by the Floodlight newsroom shows. Thermal footage captured by Floodlight via drone shows xAI is still burning gas at a facility in Southaven, Mississippi, despite a recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling reiterating that doing so requires a state permit in advance.
State regulators in Mississippi maintain that since the turbines are parked on tractor trailers, they don’t require permits. However, the EPA has long maintained that such pollution sources require permits under the Clean Air Act.
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02/13/2026 - 10:11
Negotiators disbanded on Friday without a plan for the basin supplying water to 40m people, thrusting the region into uncertainty
The future of the American west hung in the balance after seven states remained at a stalemate over who should bear the brunt of the enormous water cuts needed to pull the imperiled Colorado River back from the brink.
Negotiators, who have spent years trying to iron out thorny disagreements, ended their talks on Friday without a deal – one day before a critical deadline to form a plan that had been set for Saturday.
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02/13/2026 - 08:00
EPA’s records show one environmental consent decree filed in last year – 26 were filed in year one of first Trump term
Enforcement of environmental laws against major polluters has virtually ground to a halt under the Trump administration, a new analysis of Environmental Protection Agency records from January 2025 to January 2026 shows.
Major polluters typically include companies that are among the largest in the oil, gas, coal and chemical industries.
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