Environment

This is the once-in-a-lifetime moment a British swimmer caught on camera a 2,000-strong shoal of rare migrating RAYS. Conservationist Jay Gittens, 44, initially thought the enormous 'shadow' below the surface was a whale shark or humpback whale. Amazed Jay slipped into the water off La Paz, Mexico, and freedived with the enormous group of Pacific cownose rays. While the eagle rays are not endangered, it is very rare to capture such a large group moving together. Quick-thinking Ray from London...

Pollution is harming almost every person on the planet a worrying report has revealed. Over 95 per cent of the world’s population are breathing unsafe air. Asia and Africa are the areas where people are suffering from the worst levels of toxic air. The report, known as the State of Global Air and produced by the Health Effects Institute, calculated the percentage of the world’s people that are exposed to air polluted at larger levels that the World Health Organisation deems as...

A worrying new report has highlighted how Tory cuts have caused a crisis in homelessness among young people. The documents discovered that delays in supplying Universal Credit payments on time were forcing people onto the streets, in desperation. With no access to welfare payments they have no option but to sleep on the streets, or in refuges supplied by charities. According to the survey carried out by Homeless Link, a charity that works with homeless people, over ninety per cent...

A new report released today has exposed one of the largest cases in recent years of ongoing, illegal clearance of tropical rainforests in Borneo, with several international brands implicated. Currently, 10,000 hectares of peat forest have been cleared illegally for future palm oil plantations, despite Indonesian regulations and company commitments against further peat development and deforestation. Two palm oil plantation companies are responsible for the clearance, and both are controlled by or associated with business tycoon Mr. Anthoni Salim. Mr....

The largely intact bag of cheese and onion flavoured crisps is believed to date back to the 1980s - highlighting further the environmental impact of plastic in our oceans.

The world's first vending machine for homeless people has been axed just three months after it was unveiled – with officials branding the concept "misguided". Rough sleepers were able to get hold of water, fresh food and warm clothes from the altruistic device 24-hours-a-day. The machine, which was invented by charity Action Hunger, was unveiled at the Intu Shopping Centre in Broadmarsh, Nottingham, last December. But today (Wed) the Nottingham City Council confirmed the £10,000 machine had been removed after...

The most amazing underwater pictures in the world have been revealed - including a close-up snap of an angry crocodile. More than 6,000 pictures were entered for the underwaterphotography.com contest across 17 categories - from macro close-ups to wide angle shots, with two Brits claiming gold medals. A lemon shark glides through the late-afternoon sunlight off the coast of Grand Bahama Tanya Houppermans One of these was Tom St George who scooped a gold in the Wide Angle/Marine Life category...

Giant dinosaurs bigger than a double decker bus roamed the Isle of Skye 170 million years ago, say scientists. Dozens of footprints belonging to early sauropods - the largest animals ever to walk the planet - have been unearthed in a lagoon on the remote Scottish hideaway. Others were made by the older theropod cousins of T Rex as herds splashed about in the muddy shallows off the north east coast. They were identified by their claws. The discovery adds...

Pupils, in deprived areas, are "filling their pockets" with food from school canteens, in desperation, due to poverty. These troubling findings have been gathered from a survey of 900 heads, teachers and school support staff of the National Education Union (NEU). Nearly nine out of ten (87%) say that poverty is having a significant impact on the learning of their pupils and 60% believe that the situation has worsened since 2015. Worryingly, of these a third (33%) think it has...