President’s move, which also seeks ‘immunity’ for makers, faces backlash from health advocates and Maha coalition
Donald Trump has signed an executive order protecting production of glyphosate-based herbicides, such as Roundup, which some bodies and studies have linked to cancer and which are the subject of widespread US litigation.
The president’s move, which also seeks to provide “immunity” for makers of the herbicides, was strongly criticized by health and environmental advocates including some figures in the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) coalition.
This story is co-published with the New Lede, a journalism project of the Environmental Working Group
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
02/19/2026 - 15:32
02/19/2026 - 15:00
Arctesthes avatar moth, which won nearly half of the votes, was discovered in 2012 and is critically endangered
A tiny critically endangered moth, named after the Avatar films because of the proposed mining activity threatening its primary habitat, has been crowned New Zealand’s bug of the year.
The Avatar moth won by a wide margin, earning 5,192 of the more than 11,000 total votes cast. It won 2,269 more votes than the runner-up, the mahoenui giant wētā, one of the world’s largest insects. Other contenders included the wonderfully spiky hellraiser mite, the country’s heaviest spider – the black tunnelweb – and a giant earthworm that glows in the dark.
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02/19/2026 - 14:05
The deregulation agenda being pushed by Germany’s chancellor and Italy’s prime minister is economically and ethically flawed
When the European Union launched its green deal in 2019, putting into law the goal of climate neutrality by the middle of the century, it showed strategic foresight as well as global leadership. Russia’s war in Ukraine has starkly underlined the extent to which the continent’s energy security – and its future prosperity – is dependent on the transition away from fossil fuels. Lately, however, EU leaders’ environmental approach appears to be echoing the youthful St Augustine’s plea on chastity: make us greener, but not yet.
The recent European Industry Summit in Antwerp made unusually big headlines thanks to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s xenophobic outburst over immigration. But it was also notable for fierce attacks on one of the most important pillars of EU environmental policy. The bloc’s emissions trading system (ETS) – which makes polluters pay for the C02 they emit – has achieved dramatic results in driving down overall emissions since 2005 and encouraging green innovation. Worryingly, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, appeared to sympathise with demands from Sir Jim and other CEOs for a radical relaxation of the rules.
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02/19/2026 - 09:30
Forecasters predict more snow in Sierra Nevada mountains as climate crisis increases threat of dangerous conditions
Avalanche risks remain high in the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern California this week, following the deadliest snowslide the region has seen in modern times.
The climate crisis has set the stage for more dangerous conditions, with sharper swings between dry periods and severe storms, according to experts, who have long warned that extremes will amplify as the world warms.
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02/19/2026 - 08:52
Law defines animals including horses, donkeys and mules as pets and is backed by opposition parties
Italy could soon ban horse meat as part of a law that would define equine animals including horses, donkeys and mules as pets, making it illegal to kill them.
The bill has been drafted by Michela Vittoria Brambilla, a politician with Noi Moderati, a member of Giorgia Meloni’s ruling coalition, and is backed by opposition parties.
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02/19/2026 - 07:01
A bill banning the sale and use of plastic and metallic glitter has yet to go through in Brazil as the capital’s sandy shores bear cost of carnival’s shine
Whether it is embellishing elaborate costumes, delicately applied as eye makeup, or smeared across bare skin, glitter is everywhere at Rio de Janeiro’s carnival in Brazil. The world’s largest party, which ended on Wednesday, leaves a trail of sparkles in its wake.
At one bloco last weekend, a huge sound truck and dancers in leopard print led thousands of revellers down the promenade at Flamengo beach. Among them was Bruno Fernandes, who had jazzed up an otherwise minimalist outfit of navy swimming briefs by smearing silver glitter over his body.
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02/19/2026 - 05:10
Exclusive: Cross-party group ‘deeply concerned’ power plant may have misled ministers and regulators over source of wood pellets
Ed Miliband is under pressure from MPs to suspend subsidies worth £2m a day paid to the owner of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire after court documents cast doubt on the company’s sustainability claims.
A cross-party group of 14 MPs and peers have called on the energy minister to halt the subsidies for Britain’s biggest power plant while the financial watchdog investigates the company’s claims about how it sources the millions of tonnes of wood pellets burned to generate electricity.
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02/18/2026 - 22:42
Abandoned beaches, public health warning signs and seagulls eating human waste are now features of the popular coastline in New Zealand
A tide of anger is rising in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, as the city’s toilets continue to flush directly into the ocean more than two weeks after the catastrophic collapse of its wastewater treatment plant.
Millions of litres of raw and partially screened sewage have been pouring into pristine reefs and a marine reserve along the south coast daily since 4 February, prompting a national inquiry, as the authorities struggle to get the decimated plant operational.
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02/18/2026 - 21:00
Some European leaders have criticised the organisation’s murky funding and political mandate – key US politics stories from Wednesday 18 February at a glance
Dozens of world leaders and national delegations will meet in Washington DC on Thursday for the inaugural meeting of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, as major European allies declined to join the group and criticised the organisation’s murky funding and political mandate.
The White House has indicated that the summit for the US president’s new ad hoc council at the renamed Donald J Trump Institute of Peace will heavily function as a fundraising round, with Trump announcing on social media that countries have pledged more than $5bn toward rebuilding Gaza, which has been devastated in the war with Israel and remains in a humanitarian crisis.
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02/18/2026 - 18:58
Activist group says some members have been visited by agents, including by agency’s terrorism taskforce
Environmental group Extinction Rebellion said on Wednesday it was under federal US investigation and that some of its members had been visited by FBI agents, including from the agency’s taskforce on extremism, in the last year.
Asked for comment, the FBI said it could neither confirm nor deny conducting specific investigations, citing justice department policy.
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