Two such groups claim they persuaded Alberta to institute sweeping public school book banSocially conservative “parents’ rights” groups that have emerged as powerfully political lobbying groups in the US are quickly gaining ground in Canada, academics and free speech advocates say, after two such groups claimed they had persuaded Alberta to institute a sweeping public school book ban.Alberta recently directed schools to purge library books from shelves that fit its definition of “explicit sexual content” by 1 October. If the policy is applied precisely as outlined, a host of books face being purged, including George Orwell’s 1984 due to passages in the text that discuss sexual intercourse and rape. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/27/alberta-book-ban-canada-parents-rights-groups

Rain helped cool Flat fire that destroyed homes in Oregon, while the Pickett fire has charred 10 sq miles of Napa countyA wildfire that destroyed four homes in central Oregon has started to stabilize, while a blaze in northern California wine country has so far spared some of the state’s most famous vineyards.Moisture helped the 1,200 firefighters battling Oregon’s Flat fire, but more work needed to be done, authorities said. Dry, hot weather had fueled a rapid expansion of the blaze across of rugged terrain in Deschutes and Jefferson counties since the fire began late Thursday. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/26/oregon-california-wildfires

Assessment suggests cost of project to store 700,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste could reach £54bnThe UK’s proposal for a new underground nuclear waste dump has been described as “unachievable” in a Treasury assessment of the project.Ministers have put new nuclear power at the centre of their green energy revolution. But the problem of what to do with 700,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste – roughly the volume of 6,000 doubledecker buses – from the country’s past nuclear programme, as well as future waste from nuclear expansion, has yet to be solved. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/18/treasury-criticises-unachievable-plan-for-underground-nuclear-waste-dump-in-cumbria

Canada’s response to the extreme weather threat is being upended as the traditional epicentre of the blazes shifts as the climate warmsRoad closures, evacuations, travel chaos and stern warnings from officials have become fixtures of Canada’s wildfire season. But as the country goes through its second-worst burn on record, the blazes come with a twist: few are coming from the western provinces, the traditional centre of destruction.Instead, the worst of the fires have been concentrated in the prairie provinces and the Atlantic region, with bone-dry conditions upending how Canada responds to a threat that is only likely to grow as the climate warms. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/17/new-canada-wildfires-locations

Canada’s response to the extreme weather threat is being upended as the traditional epicentre of the blazes shifts as the climate warmsRoad closures, evacuations, travel chaos and stern warnings from officials have become fixtures of Canada’s wildfire season. But as the country goes through its second-worst burn on record, the blazes come with a twist: few are coming from the western provinces, the traditional centre of destruction.Instead, the worst of the fires have been concentrated in the prairie provinces and the Atlantic region, with bone-dry conditions upending how Canada responds to a threat that is only likely to grow as the climate warms. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/17/new-canada-wildfires-locations