Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Beaches in southern California littered with timber, twisted metals, charred silt and urban runoff from Palisades fire Los Angeles county beaches are contending with the aftermath of recent wildfires and winter storms as debris from the Palisades fire and urban runoff are carried to the shoreline. After last week’s major rainstorm, beaches in southern California have been littered with timber, twisted metals, construction materials and charred silt and sediment originating from the Palisades fire in January. That blaze, along with the Eaton fire, killed at least 29 people. Continue reading...

An educator, archaeologist and scientist were among the thousands of government workers culled by Musk’s agency The Trump administration has fired at least 20,000 government employees in its first month, as Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) dramatically overhauls work at federal agencies. Some economists have speculated that these terminations, which could affect nearly 300,000 workers, will be the biggest job cuts in US history. Most of the workers cut were in probationary periods and lacked job protections that come with longer terms of employment. In social media spaces, especially the r/fednews subreddit, these workers described scenes of confusion and feelings of anger directed at Musk, an unelected billionaire dubbed a “special government employee” by the White House. Last week, unions for federal workers sued the Trump administration for unlawfully using probationary periods to cut staff. Continue reading...

Union conference dominated by row over planned inheritance tax changes as farmers battle the bad weather and turbulent geopolitics Farmers are warning of a “cashflow crisis” that has left many in the agricultural sector wondering how they will make it to the end of the year. At the annual meeting of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) of England and Wales, its president told members that “bad policy, geopolitics and unprecedented weather” had left some sectors of UK farming “in the worst cashflow crisis ever”. Continue reading...

Climate Change Authority chair says his job is to provide ‘frank and fearless advice’ after he criticised opposition’s nuclear energy proposal Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The chair of the Climate Change Authority, Matt Kean, has hit back over an opposition suggestion that his criticism of its nuclear energy proposal could lead to him being sacked if the Coalition wins government. Kean said the shadow climate change and energy minister, Ted O’Brien, should explain if a Peter Dutton-led government would seek retribution on the authority’s expert staff that prepared the nuclear report. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...