WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has pleaded guilty to a single felony charge for publishing US military secrets, in a deal with the US justice department that is expected to secure his freedom and conclude an extraordinary legal saga.

The plea was entered Wednesday morning in federal court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Pacific. Assange, who had flown to Saipan from London, arrived at court shortly before the hearing was to begin, wearing a dark suit with a tie loosened at the collar, and entered the building without taking questions.

He was accompanied by Australian ambassador to the US, Kevin Ruddand Australian high commissioner to the UK Stephen Smith. He was greeted by a hoard of foreign and local media, but did not stop to speak to the gathered press despite the questions being shouted at him, including whether he preferred the weather in Saipan to London.

The hearing is the culmination of the US government’s years-long pursuit of the publisher, who has been painted both as a hero of press freedom and a reckless criminal for exposing hundreds of thousands of sensitive military documents.

Inside the wood-panelled courthouse, at the foot of a lush hillside on Saipan’s coast, Assange said he believed the espionage act – under which he was charged – contradicted US first amendment rights, but that he accepted that encouraging sources to provide classified information for publication can be unlawful.

Under the deal with the US justice department, he will be free to leave the court due to time already served in a UK prison and to travel on to Australia to be reunited with his family.

The justice department agreed to hold the hearing on the remote island due to Assange’s opposition to travelling to the US mainland and because of its proximity to Australia, where he will return after he enters his plea.

The deal – disclosed on Monday in court papers – represents the final chapter in a more than decade-long legal fight over the fate of Assange, which saw him heralded by many around the world as a hero who brought to light US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan, while others – including multiple US governments – said his release of secret documents put lives in danger.

Before being locked up in London, Assange spent years hiding out in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he has denied and which were later dropped by Swedish authorities.

The abrupt conclusion enables both sides to claim a degree of success, with the justice department able to resolve without trial a case that raised thorny legal issues and that might never have reached a jury at all given the plodding pace of the extradition process.

His wife, Stella Assange, told the BBC from Australia that it had been “touch and go” over 72 hours whether the deal would go ahead but she felt “elated” at the news. A lawyer who married the WikiLeaks founder in prison in 2022, she said details of the agreement would be made public once the judge had signed off on it.

“He will be a free man once it is signed off by a judge,” she said, adding that she still didn’t think it was real.

Assange on Monday left Belmarsh prison, where he has spent the last five years, after being granted bail during a secret hearing last week. He boarded a plane that landed hours later in Bangkok to refuel before taking off again toward Saipan. A video posted by WikiLeaks on X, showed Assange staring intently out the window at the blue sky as the plane headed toward the island.

“Imagine. From over 5 years in a small cell in a maximum security prison. Nearly 14 years detained in the UK. To this,” WikiLeaks wrote. The top Australian diplomat in the United Kingdom accompanied Assange on the flight.

With Associated Press and Reuters

It had been universally accepted that England needed a performance to reinvigorate their fans here in ­Germany after the toil of their ­opening Euro 2024 ties against Serbia and Denmark. One of the principal takeaways from a claustrophobic and emotional night was that the fans were certainly connected.

Moved to boo at the interval after a display that lacked bite, they raised the intensity in the second period, belting out their songs for almost the duration of it. There was something faintly heroic about their efforts. They got louder and louder because they believed that a goal was coming. And if they did not believe, they sang anyway, ­losing themselves in the moment, the occasion. Call it blind faith.

They willed their team to make the breakthrough and yet it did not happen for a reason.

England lacked the penetration and the quality where it mattered the most, despite dominating for pretty much the entire occasion in terms of possession and territory. There was no big chance, no moment when the Slovenia goalkeeper, Jan Oblak, was seriously tested.

And when it was over, there were more boos from the stands, this time with greater feeling.

The crowd had been extremely supportive in the second half. They had done their bit. Now they turned because they felt that Gareth ­Southgate and the players had not. Southgate, especially. He remains the lightning rod for everything. When the England manager ventured on to the pitch to acknow­ledge those who had stayed behind, he heard loud jeers and had cups thrown down at him. It was a horrible low for him.

It was almost a footnote that England actually qualified on top of Group C after Denmark’s draw against Serbia and will now face a yet‑to‑be‑determined third-place ­finisher in the last 16. The ­Netherlands are one possibility.

There were positives for England. The defending remained secure, with Slovenia barely given the sniff of a chance. They were more preoccupied with digging out the draw that would take them into the last 16, their celebrations at full-time unfolding in stark contrast to the howls at the other end.

England brought greater intensity. They played higher up the pitch. ­Kobbie Mainoo made a difference after he came on at half-time for the out-of-sorts Conor Gallagher. Cole Palmer, another substitute, also showed his personality. Phil Foden played well. Bukayo Saka flickered. Harry Kane ran hard. And yet it was not enough, the overriding emotion of yet more frustration.

Southgate has always had a happy knack with tournament draws and his team now find themselves on the other side of this one to France, Spain, Germany and Portugal. ­Perhaps, the old line about knockout football being a different beast will apply.

One of the talking points concerned whether England could move the ball with any degree of slickness. It had been a major failing against Denmark. The supporters wanted something to get behind, anything, and there was a moment midway through the first half. It was a fine reverse pass from Declan Rice that got Foden in up the left, ­crossing to give Saka a tap-in. Foden was pulled back for offside.

It was plain that England would need guile because Slovenia were committed and compact in their 4‑4‑2 shape. They were happy to let Southgate’s players have the ball, ­asking the question: can you hurt us? The answer in the first half was a resounding no. England brought the energy, which was a plus point. Foden was in the mood off the left. But it was thin gruel and it was no surprise to hear the boos when the half-time whistle went.

The patterns were too ­predictable, there was not enough zip and incision. Gallagher, preferred to Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield, was there for the hustle rather than his quality in possession while Jude ­Bellingham could get nothing going. Worryingly, that remained the case after the break.

Foden drew a routine save out of Oblak with a long-range free‑kick and the only time when England ­quickened the pulse in the first half was when Kieran Trippier whipped in a dangerous right-footed cross from the inside left. Gallagher looked as though he had to get there for the header only for the ball to flash over him. Kane could not react behind him.

Southgate had canned the ­Alexander-Arnold midfield experiment and he did likewise with the one involving Gallagher after 45 minutes. It is not possible to possess such a hesitant touch and thrive on an occasion such as this.

Southgate’s team stabilised and Mainoo’s composure was a part of it; his readiness to get into dangerous areas. There were still moments of looseness, the anxiety pulsing. Foden took on a speculative 30‑yard volley, Kyle Walker fluffed a first-time cross when he could have taken a touch.

England came to enjoy control and the good bit was that they looked like a team. John Stones had a header cleared from in front of the post and, on the next phase, Saka could not quite connect with an overhead kick. The goal was coming, wasn’t it?

The atmosphere among the 18,000 England fans really was ­something. But the goal did not come, ­­Southgate’s team just not ­creating enough. When Palmer blasted at Oblak in ­stoppage time after a thrust ­involving Mainoo and Kane, the mood was about to darken.

Ralf Rangnick’s players walked towards the Olympiastadion’s furthest corner to join their fans in a serenade of Hey Jude and it was tempting to wonder whether, after an exhilarating evening’s work, they had the energy. But this Austria team always seem to find some and that is why, after repelling the ­Netherlands not once but twice, they have completed Group D as its improbable winners.

The knockout draw was turned on its head by events here and in Dortmund; it would take a brave onlooker, now, to rule Rangnick and his dynamos out of a lung-busting run to the latter stages.

They simply keep coming and it was a thrilling moment when, 10 minutes from time, the substitute Christoph Baumgartner slid Marcel Sabitzer down the inside-left channel for a spectacular angled finish that threatened to rip the net from its moorings. Rangnick and ­Sabitzer are performing wonders and it barely needs saying that what did not work for Manchester United is, in both cases, purring along like a dream elsewhere.

Austria have to fancy their chances when they face the runners-up from Group F, almost certainly Turkey or Czech Republic, on Tuesday. That tie will take place in Leipzig, of all places: it will essentially be a home game for what could, given the career paths of Rangnick and several of his players, be described with tongue in cheek as an unofficial extension of the Red Bull project.

They will be fresh on arrival and that is partly because Rangnick, who sets such great stock in maintaining a thunderous tempo, rotated extensively again. Part of his rationale was a surfeit of players on yellow cards and he gave the example of Konrad Laimer, the midfielder who was rested because holding back in challenges was not an option. Baumgartner, named man of the match in the defeat of Poland, was among the others stood down and a half‑hour runout was all he needed to make a difference.

Those who started had swarmed into action and, while an opening goal from the boot of the Netherlands’ Donyell Malen was outwardly fortunate, perhaps it did not owe so much to chance. Austria have now scored inside the first 10 minutes in six of their past seven games: you have to keep pace with them from the off and Ronald Koeman’s team were the latest to find that impossible.

Koeman regretted that ­opening spell, which his counterpart described as “brutally good”. While the Netherlands improved ­markedly thereafter and should certainly have been level before their later ­salvage attempts, they were guilty of ­bursting into life sporadically and were ­woefully open at the back when examined in any detail.

It was one of their own forwards who began the uphill struggle. Malen had been selected to ­provide firepower at the other end but, stretching to prevent a cross from the impressive left-back Alexander Prass from ­reaching Marko Arnautovic, he ­succeeded only in thudding the ball inside Bart Verbruggen’s near post. He had certainly produced a striker’s finish, which was far from the case when he dragged wide upon being given a golden opportunity to make amends midway through the first half.

Tijjani Reijnders also spurned a clear opening and a note of caution to those championing Austria’s prospects may be that their defence is exposed too frequently. When the Dutch right-back Lutsharel ­Geertruida, who had struggled defensively, won possession from Florian Grillitsch a minute into the second period that point was reiterated. Geertruida gave Xavi Simons, who had made an early appearance from the bench, a platform to scamper 60 yards beyond an overcommitted midfield and tee up Cody Gakpo for a curled finish.

At that point the Netherlands were matching Austria’s aggression and, given the technical riches at their ­disposal, could be fancied to pull clear. Romano Schmid’s goal had not been signposted but Austria finally made ground down the left through their winger Patrick ­Wimmer, who had earlier been booked and will miss the next round. They strung a move together and eventually ­Sabitzer played Grillitsch in at the byline; the resulting cross, stood up deliciously, was bulleted in by a ­diving Schmid despite Stefan de Vrij’s efforts on the line.

Wout Weghorst arrived to shake things up and almost immediately headed down for Memphis Depay, cushioning and finishing in one smooth movement, to equalise again. It was given by VAR after initially being ruled out for a ­nonexistent handball. But there was no need to debate Sabitzer’s intervention five minutes later, save to wonder whether Austria could go all the way.

The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal case for retaining classified documents is expected on Tuesday to weigh a brazen attempt by the former president to prevent special counsel prosecutors from using some of the most incriminating evidence against him at trial.

The Trump lawyers will first argue at a sealed hearing that prosecutors’ access to transcripts of voice memos made by Trump’s ex-lawyer in the documents case Evan Corcoran – which constitute key evidence of obstruction – should be entirely revoked, according to people familiar with the matter.

And the Trump lawyers will later argue to the US district judge Aileen Cannon that prosecutors should be barred from using the 101 classified documents the FBI found at Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 because the search warrant used to seize them was improperly obtained.

The two-part request in federal district court in Fort Pierce, Florida, amounts to an audacious attempt by Trump’s lawyers to suppress evidence that would face serious difficulty in front of any other judge.

But Cannon has shown a proclivity to rule against the government thus far in evidentiary disputes and most recently agreed to strike a paragraph from the indictment because she decided that prosecutors’ legal argument to keep it in was misplaced – rather than crediting Trump’s legal argument.

The Guardian first reported last week that Trump’s lawyers would ask the judge to exclude the memos, arguing they should not have been given to prosecutors on the crime-fraud exception, which allows prosecutors to see privileged communications if legal advice is used in furtherance of a crime.

The sweeping request could have far-reaching consequences since the memos – with, for example, Trump asking whether they could ignore the subpoena, or a later suggestion to “pluck” out some classified documents instead of returning them to the FBI – are the strongest evidence of Trump’s obstructive intent.

Even if the judge excludes only some of the passages, it could dramatically undercut the strength of the obstruction case.

In the worst case for prosecutors, their evidence of Trump’s obstructive intent could be reduced to CCTV footage of boxes being moved at Mar-a-Lago by his co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, logs of Trump’s calls with Nauta, and testimony about Nauta’s movements.

The obstruction charges center on Trump’s incomplete compliance with an 11 May 2022 grand jury subpoena that demanded the return of any classified documents in his possession, months before the FBI seized 101 classified documents when it searched Mar-a-Lago.

The Corcoran memos – the contents of which were first reported by the Guardian last year – have played a major role in bolstering the charge that Trump conspired with Nauta and De Oliveira to play a “shell game” in hiding boxes of classified documents so Corcoran could not ensure their return.

The indictment quoted the memos as saying Trump responded: “Well, what if we, what happens if we just don’t respond at all or don’t play ball with them?” and “Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?” and “Well, look, isn’t it better if there are no documents?”

After Corcoran found 38 classified documents in the storage room, his memos recount Trump asking him, “Did you find anything? …… Is it bad? Good?”, and made a sort of plucking motion, suggesting “if there’s anything really bad in there, like, pluck it out”.

Trump’s lawyers will argue that the chief judge was overly broad in turning over more than 60 pages of memos, and that the instances of Trump asking whether he needed to comply with the subpoena are questions that every defendant asks to understand the full scope of their obligations.

Trump’s lawyers are also expected to argue that none of the commentary – about Trump asking whether they needed to comply with the subpoena, or the plucking motion – satisfied the crime-fraud exception because it did not amount to Trump using Corcoran’s legal advice for a crime.

At the afternoon session, Trump’s lawyers will argue to Cannon that the special counsel’s team made misrepresentations when they applied for the Mar-a-Lago warrant, because the FBI agent who signed the affidavit allegedly omitted facts that could have meant the warrant was never granted.

Donald Trump has been met with a chorus of online mockery after claiming that he was “tortured” while being processed at the Fulton county jail in Georgia last August, an occasion that generated the mugshot that he has since turned into a money-making device as he campaigns for a second presidency.

The outlandish and unsubstantiated claim came in a fundraising email and drew at least one unflattering comparison with one of the former president’s political nemeses: John McCain, the former Republican senator for Arizona whose real experience of torture and incarceration during the Vietnam war was a target for Trump’s mockery.

“I want you to remember what they did to me. They tortured me in the Fulton County Jail, and TOOK MY MUGSHOT,” Trump wrote in an email promoting coffee cups with his mugshot emblazoned on them.

“So guess what? I put it on a mug for the WHOLE WORLD TO SEE!”

Trump’s jail experience resulted from his criminal indictment, on which he now faces 13 charges, over allegations that he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in Georgia, one of the key states he lost in his defeat to Joe Biden.

That case is separate from the criminal prosecution in New York, which recently led to Trump’s conviction on 34 felonies stemming from hush money paid to Stormy Daniels, the adult film actor who alleged an adulterous affair with him.

After arriving in a presidential-style motorcade in Georgia, he was booked, fingerprinted and photographed for a mugshot in a process that took about 20 minutes. No allegations of torture or mistreatment surfaced at the time – but Trump’s supporters have perceived the resulting photo to be a mark of pride that has been stamped on campaign merchandise.

Alleging torture prompted a social media comparison with McCain, who Trump repeatedly ridiculed for being unable to raise his arms after having them broken under torture.

“Trump is claiming he was ‘tortured’ while getting his mug shot taken at the Fulton County jail,” one post on X read. “John McCain knew all about REAL TORTURE, unlike Trump who has NO IDEA what ‘TORTURE’ is or he would have REQUIRED Hospitalization.”

Trump, who earned a medical draft deferment from the Vietnam war because of heel spurs, openly disdained McCain’s war record and prisoner of war status when he successfully campaigned for the White House in the 2016 election, saying: “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

Others ridiculed his torture claim in more general terms. “What does Trump mean by this,” another X user posted. “Like they inconvenienced/annoyed him or that they did something painful/harmful like pulling his fingernails out? I highly doubt the Secret Service allowed Atlanta PD to truly torture Trump.”

Another X user posted: “Trump thinks torture includes photographs and fingerprinting. Was he strip-searched? How many criminals are laughing at him?”

Another user wrote: “Cry baby Trump now claims that he was tortured when they took his mug shot. Truth is he tortured us with that mug.”

It is not the first time Trump has invoked political prisoner imagery while facing multiple felony charges. He has compared himself to Alexei Navalny, the late jailed Russian opposition leader and critic of Vladimir Putin, who died mysteriously in a Siberian penal colony in February.

Trump has also used the term “hostages” to describe his supporters who were jailed for their part in the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol in an effort to overturn Biden’s victory in the presidential election weeks earlier.

Inver, Argyll & Bute

At Pam Brunton and Rob Latimer’s restaurant, they want a direct, traceable connection to the sea – they have a fish-purchasing policy that they send to suppliers. “We buy nothing knowingly from dredgers and trawlers,” Pam says, instead taking fin fish from smaller boats that fish off the English shore. Shellfish comes from a local, Mary, who coordinates a few small boats, all of which use traditional creel methods, and hand-dive for scallops, while oysters are bought from Judith at Caledonian Oysters on Loch Creran. Pam’s innovative food is served with a view of the loch outside – in summer, diners may even spot the mackerel for the next day’s menu being caught by a neighbour.
Strathlachlan PA27 8BU; inverrestaurant.co.uk

Jenkins & Sons, Deal

Passersby are stopped in their tracks by the seafood on a display extending into the street at this tiny shop, it looks so good. Fourth generation “& Son” Darren can point out which fish was landed by which day-boat, and what was line-caught most recently. Alex Bagner, owner of Deal gastropub the Rose, is a fan, and the chef at her other restaurant, the Blue Pelican, often gives Darren a call in the morning to see if he has anything they can use. Mostly though, it goes for retail – lucky shoppers.
118-120 High St, CT14 6BB; jenkinsandsonfishandgame.co.uk

Seafood Shack, Ullapool

Kirsty and Fenella’s re-fitted catering trailer was started by these local women, who both have family connections to the fishing industry, when they were in their 20s. They wanted to keep some of the fish brought in by Ullapool boats in the town. Now, they know all their suppliers by name, including Gary who hand-dives scallops with his team of three; prefer to support those who creel rather than trawl their shellfish (which arrive live to the shack); and choose trout over salmon. Dining is a casual affair: you can sit in the yard to eat your potted langoustines or take your tempura fish wrap to go.
9 West Argyle St, IV26 2TY; seafoodshack.co.uk

Rocky Bottoms, Cromer

This old brick kiln was transformed into a seasonal restaurant by a family of Norfolk crab fishers, so there’s no surprise as to what’s on the menu. Richard brings back the crabs and lobsters from his traditional double-ended crab boat, then Alison prepares the catch. Expect crab salad, crab linguine, dressed whole lobster and or surf n turf, or stop by the Crab Shack for a slice of seafood tart and a crab sandwich, or some smoked fish pâté and samphire to go – depending on what has come in, and what the small kitchen has had time to prepare.
Cromer Rd, West Runton NR27 9Q; rockybottoms.net

East Pier Smokehouse, St Monans

Here in St Monans, just one of the old fishing villages of the East Neuk, Fife, you can sit right on the harbour and watch boats come and go.

Inside the East Pier Smokehouse, the upstairs terrace also has that harbour view. The situation here is casual, with something for everyone.

Don’t want the smoky seafood stew? Have some lamb or a pizza. Want fish on a pizza? They’ve got you. Not surprisingly, you will find a lot of smoked fish on the menu. There will be lobster if the weather has been right for lobster fishers, and there will be queues if the weather is right for lobster eaters.
East Shore, Anstruther KY10 2AR; eastpier.co.uk

Rileys Fish Shack and Shop, Tynemouth

The famous good-time shack on the beach – complete with firepits and deckchairs (as conditions dictate) – has now opened a shop in town where locals can pick up the best the North Sea has to offer, or take a workshop where laypeople can improve their skills as chefs and fishmongers. The staff teach shellfish preparation and fish techniques in the evenings, or you can spend a full day there learning how to master whole fish cookery.
King Edward’s Bay, NE30 4BY; rileysfishshack.com

Cafe Môr, Angle, Pembrokeshire

Jonathan Williams has been flying the flag for seaweed for almost 15 years, building on the Welsh tradition of harvesting laver. At the beachfront mobile kitchen Cafe Môr (back for a new season), the breakfast bun comes fully loaded with bacon, egg, Welsh cheddar, laverbread patty, seaweed butter and kelchup.

The crab roll diverts some of the crustaceans that otherwise go straight to Europe, a mix of brown and white meat. At next-door sister pub The Old Point House, Pembrokeshire produce is still the focus, and seaweed sneaks in here, too: with butter on the leeks, rolled into the porchetta, baked into the house focaccia.
The Old Point House, SA71 5AS; beachfood.co.uk

Crab House Cafe, Wyke Regis

The focus here is making responsible use of seafood, especially under-utilised fish stocks and local produce. All fish is landed within 40 miles of the restaurant, veg comes from the kitchen garden, staff forage for ingredients along the local shore and, if you’ve ordered oysters, know they’ve likely been plucked from the water minutes before, straight from the restaurant’s own oyster farm. Enjoy them with a drink and a snack of fish crackling while perusing the specials – some crab remoulade, followed by a brace of lemon sole, perhaps?
Ferrymans Way, Portland Road, Wyke Regis DT4 9YU; crabhousecafe.co.uk

Lir, Coleraine

Thanks to the pandemic, Rebekah and Stevie McCarry had to abandon their plans for a restaurant and open a fishmonger, selling seafood to the people of Coleraine who weren’t really avid fish eaters. For years the locally landed seafood had been shipped off elsewhere. But cooking tips were given freely, and soon a kiosk followed, selling fast-food takes on whatever had been landed that day – a monkfish hotdog, fish tacos or squid shawarma. Now the storm has been weathered and the business has emerged in its final form: Lir, an award-winning restaurant focusing on innovative whole-fish use.
Coleraine Marina, BT521EY; nativeseafood.co.uk

The Shore Restaurant, Penzance

Some of the best fish cookery in Cornwall is being done in an unassuming corner restaurant in Penzance. Bruce Rennie is a one-man operation, greeting and seating customers, then cooking them dinner. Bookings are essential because each morning he chats with buyers at Newlyn market to find out what is fresh. “I love the daily variations I get depending on what is landed,” he says. In the summer he cooks with gurnard, lemon sole, plaice. “People should ask about provenance, even down to the boats which landed the fish,” says Rennie, who believes community building is a key element to responsible fishing. “If we look after the balance of the ecosystem, fish ethically, we can preserve the livelihoods connected to the fishing industry – that includes restaurants.”
13-14 Alverton St, TR18 2QP; theshorerestaurant.uk

Prawn on the Lawn, Padstow and London

Rick Toogood’s restaurants share a kind of tin-can exchange, transferring Cornish seafood to London and London tastes to the coast. In Padstow, POTL is set just back from the water; in London, it’s on the rather less coast-adjacent Highbury corner, but seagulls still lurk around and deliveries come up daily. At both, grazers can have small plates and oysters with bread and seaweed butter, while larger mains – day-boat orzetto, or whole fish priced per kilo – are for those who want to focus their eating.
11 Duke St, PL28 8AB; 292, 294 St Paul’s Rd, London N1 2LH; prawnonthelawn.com

Catch at the Old Fish Market, Weymouth

They don’t talk about food miles here, but food metres, with boats landing practically at the door. Provenance is so prominent at this Michelin-starred fine diner that the chefs can not only tell you which vessel which fish comes from, it has two of its own. A commitment to responsible practice extends throughout the building, to energy use and waste. Menus are tasting-style, and written each day, depending on what the sea offers up.
1 Custom House Quay, DT4 8BE; catchattheoldfishmarket.com

Ship Deck, Caerphilly

Bringing a taste of the coast to Caerphilly, Ship Deck took home the top takeaway award at this year’s National Fish & Chip awards. All the cod is MSC-certified and the haddock and hake are line-caught.
Newport Rd, Trethomas CF83 8BR; shipdeck.co.uk

An extensive aerial survey in South Sudan has revealed an enormous migration of 6 million antelope – the largest migration of land mammals anywhere on Earth. It is more than double the size of the celebrated annual “great migration” between Tanzania and Kenya, which involves about 2 million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle.

“The migration in South Sudan blows any other migration we know of out the water,” said David Simpson, wildlife NGO African Parks’ park manager for Boma and Badingilo national parks, which the migration moves between and around. “The estimates indicate the vast herds of antelope species … are almost three times larger than east Africa’s great migration. The scale is truly awe-inspiring.”

The animals across the region have endured despite decades of civil war and instability in South Sudan.

In 2007, a Wildlife Conservation Society survey suggested South Sudan’s migration involved about 1.3 million animals. But African Parks, which manages Boma and Badingilo national parks in the south-east of South Sudan on behalf of the government, has been able to provide a more accurate count using improved technology and assessing a more comprehensive area. Two planes were kitted out with cameras programmed to take a photo every two seconds. This produced 330,000 images, which were studied by University of Juba graduates using software to count the wildlife.

“Seeing these animals here at such scale is something I could have never fathomed still existed on the planet,” said Mike Fay, African Parks’ landscape coordinator for Boma and Badingilo. “From the air, it felt like I was watching what Earth might have been like millennia ago, when nature and humans still existed together in balance.”

South Sudan president Salva Kiir Mayardit said that the count made the country’s migration “number one in the world,” adding that “as South Sudan continues to develop we are committed to transforming the wildlife sector into a sustainable tourism industry.”

From 28 April to 15 May 2023, the pilots and observers flew over an area of 122,774 sq km – almost the size of Greece – taking in the entire known range of the antelope species in the Boma-Badingilo Jonglei landscape. They covered some areas that had never been surveyed. As well as antelope, the surveyors documented other species including lions, giraffes, buffalo and elephants.

“The most difficult challenge is setting up the aerial survey equipment on the planes, so the field of view is correct and the calibration is precise and accurate,” Fay said. “It’s extremely dangerous flying low-level with big birds, like vultures, in the air around the plane, and it’s intense flying for four hours and counting continuously every day for weeks.”

The estimates indicated 5 million white-eared kob, just under 300,000 tiang, 350,000 Mongalla gazelle, and 160,000 bohor reedbuck, the four species of antelope totalling just under 6 million. Fay said that figure means that “this great Nile migration of antelope is the largest on Earth, according to our data, dwarfing any other known land mammal migration on the planet”.

The great Nile migration is a year-round movement of animals from the south-west to the north-east, passing into Gambella in Ethiopia and back again. It is probably driven by the availability of good grazing conditions.

As part of the study, 126 animals across 12 species were collared to measure the distances they travelled: 11 collared white-eared kobs, the most numerous antelope in the landscape, were tracked covering approximately 2,000km (1,250 miles) each. South Sudan’s isn’t the longest land mammal migration on Earth – the caribou migration in Alaska, at 3,200km (2,000 miles), is longer – but it is a similar distance to the great migration between Tanzania and Kenya, which includes the renowned Mara River crossing. And, while South Sudan’s is the most numerous large mammal migration, its numbers are dwarfed by Zambia’s annual bat migration, in which 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats fly from west Africa to Kasanka national park.

The study’s findings are “a gamechanger for conservation efforts in South Sudan”, Simpson said, and could become “one of the greatest conservation opportunities on the planet”.

South Sudan isn’t considered safe for international tourism, but such a vast wildlife spectacle means “the potential for tourism is immense”, says Simpson. “Having the world’s largest land mammal migration could put South Sudan on the map as a must-visit ecotourism destination. But the migration’s current critical value is food security for local communities.”

The Boma-Badingilo Jonglei landscape is home to numerous people, many of whom live off the land. As well as revealing the scale of wildlife in the landscape, the survey revealed threats to the migratory animals and the human communities that rely on them, Simpson said, including “the expansion of roads, agriculture, charcoal production, commercialisation”. “These activities can lead to habitat loss, resource depletion and disruption of migration routes, ultimately threatening the survival of the migration and the livelihoods of local people,” he said.

“By ensuring the health of the ecosystems the migration depends on, the livelihoods of people across the migration landscape can be secured.”

Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features

A newly identified tipping point for the loss of ice sheets in Antarctica and elsewhere could mean future sea level rise is significantly higher than current projections.

A new study has examined how warming seawater intrudes between coastal ice sheets and the ground they rest on. The warm water melts cavities in the ice, allowing more water to flow in, expanding the cavities further in a feedback loop. This water then lubricates the collapse of ice into the ocean, pushing up sea levels.

The researchers used computer models to show that a “very small increase” in the temperature of the intruding water could lead to a “very big increase” in the loss of ice – ie, tipping point behaviour.

It is unknown how close the tipping point is, or whether it has even been crossed already. But the researchers said it could be triggered by temperature rises of just tenths of a degree, and very likely by the rises expected in the coming decades.

Sea level rise is the greatest long-term impact of the climate crisis and is set to redraw the world map in coming centuries. It has the potential to put scores of major cities, from New York City to Shanghai, below sea level and to affect billions of people.

The study addresses a key question of why current models underestimate the sea level seen in earlier periods between ice ages. Scientists think some ice sheet melting processes must not be yet included in the models.

“[Seawater intrusion] could basically be the missing piece,” said Dr Alexander Bradley of the British Antarctic Survey, who led the research. “We don’t really have many other good ideas. And there’s a lot of evidence that when you do include it, the amount of sea level rise the models predict could be much, much higher.”

Previous research has shown that seawater intrusion could double the rate of ice loss from some Antarctic ice shelves. There is also real-world evidence that seawater intrusion is causing melting today, including satellite data that shows drops in the height of ice sheets near grounding zones.

“With every tenth of a degree of ocean warming, we get closer and closer to passing this tipping point, and each tenth of a degree is linked to the amount of climate change that takes place,” Bradley said. “So we need very dramatic action to restrict the amount of warming that takes place and prevent this tipping point from being passed.”

The most important action is to cut the burning of fossil fuels to net zero by 2050.

Bradley said: “Now we want to put [seawater intrusion] into ice sheet models and see whether that two-times sea level rise plays out when you analyse the whole of Antarctica.”

Scientists warned in 2022 that the climate crisis had driven the world to the brink of multiple “disastrous” tipping points, including the collapse of Greenland’s ice cap and the collapse of a key current in the north Atlantic, disrupting rains upon which billions of people depend for food.

Research in 2023 found that accelerated ice melting in west Antarctica was inevitable for the rest of the century, no matter how much carbon emissions are cut, with “dire” implications for sea levels.

The new research, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, found that some Antarctic ice sheets were more vulnerable to seawater intrusion than others. The Pine Island glacier, currently Antarctica’s largest contributor to sea level rise, is especially vulnerable, as the base of the glacier slopes down inland, meaning gravity helps the seawater penetrate. The large Larsen ice sheet is similarly at risk.

The so-called “Doomsday” glacier, Thwaites, was found to be among the least vulnerable to seawater intrusion. This is because the ice is flowing into the sea so fast already that any cavities in the ice melted by seawater intrusion are quickly filled with new ice.

Dr Tiago Segabinazzi Dotto, of the UK’s National Oceanography Centre, welcomed the new analysis of the ocean-ice feedback loop under ice sheets.

“The researchers’ simplified model is useful for showing this feedback, but a more realistic model is highly needed to evaluate both positive and negative feedbacks,” he said. “An enhancement of observations at the grounding zone is also essential to better understand the key processes associated with the instability of ice shelves.”

China has become the first country to gather samples from the far side of the moon and bring them back to Earth in a landmark achievement for the Beijing space programme.

A re-entry capsule containing the precious cargo parachuted into a landing zone in the rural Siziwang Banner region of Inner Mongolia on Tuesday after being released into Earth’s orbit by the uncrewed Chang’e-6 probe.

The return of the lunar material wraps up a highly successful mission for the China National Space Administration (CNSA) amid a wave of interest in which space agencies and private companies will build instruments and bases on the moon and exploit its resources.

The Chang’e-6 mission, named after the Chinese moon goddess, blasted off from Hainan province in south China on 3 May and touched down on 2 June on the side of the moon that is never seen from Earth. The moon shows only one face to the Earth because it is tidally locked and completes one full rotation in the time it takes to circle the planet.

The mission’s lander spent two days collecting rock and soil from one of the oldest and largest craters on the moon, the 1,600-mile-wide South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, using a robotic arm and drill. Its ascent module then lifted off from the moon’s surface and rendezvoused with the orbiter before embarking on its journey home.

“This is a great achievement by China,” said Martin Barstow, a professor of astrophysics and space science at the University of Leicester. “Recovering any samples from the moon is difficult, but doing so from the far side, where communications are particularly difficult is a step taken by no other agency. A real technological feat.”

The US, China and the former Soviet Union have gathered samples from the near side of the moon but China is the first to bring material home from the far side. The intention was to collect up to 2kg of moon rock and soil.

China previously collaborated with international scientists to study samples it brought back from the near side of the moon but it is unclear whether similar access will be granted to the new material from the far side.

The latest samples could shed light on longstanding mysteries in the early history of the moon and Earth. Ian Crawford, a professor of planetary science at Birkbeck, University of London, said dating the SPA was a “key objective” of lunar science because it would pin down the timeframe for lunar cratering.

Understanding the rate at which large asteroids battered the moon in its early history would shed light on the impact history of Earth, he added, as our home planet would be struck by the same kinds of asteroids at the same time. “Constraining this is important for understanding the impact regime under which life first appeared on Earth,” he said.

The collision that created the SPA basin may have scooped out enough rock to expose areas of the lunar mantle, which researchers believe is crucial to understanding the history, and potentially the origins, of the moon.

“It is possible that the SPA has excavated deep enough to expose the lunar mantle, and possible that fragments might be found in the Chang’e-6 samples,” Crawford said. “It’s long shot but it’s worth looking.”

The far side of the moon has fewer ancient lava plains or maria, a thicker crust, and because it is not shielded by Earth, sports more craters from violent impacts.

“Recovering samples from the far side is tremendously exciting scientifically, as we only have very limited information on the geology there,” Barstow said. “It has been processed very differently to the side of the moon facing us, which has been extensively resurfaced by volcanic activity in the past, creating the maria from which most samples have been obtained.”

China has more lunar missions planned this decade. They are intended to pave the way for an International Lunar Research base, which it will co-lead with Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, and the eventual landing of a Chinese astronaut on the moon.

Dr Simeon Barber, a senior research fellow at the Open University, said: “We’re entering a new era of discovery, and getting samples returned from the far side is a milestone achievement that will help us understand the geological history in that region, and why it differs so markedly from the more familiar near side.

“Specialised laboratories around the world have spent five decades finessing the analytical techniques to tease out the moon’s secrets from within near side samples returned by the Apollo and Luna missions. And now we are on the cusp of applying all that expertise to learn about the enigmatic far side of our nearest neighbour in space.”

Sea level rise driven by global heating will disrupt the daily life of millions of Americans, as hundreds of homes, schools and government buildings face frequent and repeated flooding by 2050, a new study has found.

Almost 1,100 critical infrastructure assets that sustain coastal communities will be at risk of monthly flooding by 2050, according to the new research by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The vast majority of the assets – 934 of them – face the risk of flood disruption every other week, which could make some coastal neighborhoods unlivable within two to three decades.

Almost 3 million people currently live in the 703 US coastal communities with critical infrastructure at risk of monthly disruptive flooding by 2050, including affordable and subsidized housing, wastewater treatment facilities, toxic industrial sites, power plants, fire stations, schools, kindergartens and hospitals.

The number of critical infrastructure assets at risk of disruptive flooding is expected to nearly double compared to 2020, even when assuming a medium rate of climate-driven sea level rise (rather than the worst case scenario).

California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey have the most critical infrastructure that needs to be made more flood resilient – or be relocated to safer ground.

Within states, the burden of coastal flooding will not be equal: more than half the critical assets facing frequent flooding by 2050 are located in communities already disadvantaged by historic and current structural racism, discrimination and pollution, the UCS analysis found.

Disadvantaged coastal communities with infrastructure at risk of flooding have higher proportions of Black, Latino and Native American residents. Public and affordable housing represents the single most at-risk infrastructure in these communities.

Routine flooding of critical infrastructure could lead to some of the most vulnerable and underserved children being forced to travel further for school and medical appointments, as well as the contamination of local water supplies by the flooding of polluted soil, according to Juan Declet-Barreto, a report author and senior social scientist for climate vulnerability at UCS.

“Failing to prioritize resilience solutions in these communities risks reinforcing the harmful legacy of environmental racism and colonialism in places already grossly underserved and overlooked,” said Declet-Barreto.

The report, Looming Deadlines for Coastal Resilience, comes at a critical juncture for the climate emergency amid spiraling fossil fuel production in countries like the US, UK, Norway, Canada, China and Brazil – and deadly heat, floods and drought striking communities across the world with increased frequency and intensity. Meanwhile, the devastating consequences of slow-onset climate disasters such as desertification, melting glaciers and sea level rise are also driving rising costs, the loss of homes and livelihoods, as well as forced displacement for communities across the world.

The world’s oceans are rising, and every year seawater reaches farther inland, which poses an ever-increasing threat to homes, businesses and critical infrastructure. By 2030, the number of critical buildings and facilities at risk of routine and repeat flooding along US coastlines is expected to grow by 20% compared to 2020 conditions.

In Charleston, South Carolina, more than 20 high-tide floods were recorded in 2023, sending seawater into the streets and submerging low-lying areas. By 2050, at least 23 essential pieces of infrastructure in Charleston are expected to flood at least twice annually, assuming a medium sea level rise scenario. This includes 17 public housing buildings, which would exacerbate the state’s affordable housing crisis.

UCS researchers identified the critical infrastructure along the entire contiguous US, as well as Guam, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, which face risk of routine flooding, using data including National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tide gauges and three sea level rise scenarios developed by a US Interagency Task Force.

Critical infrastructure includes buildings and facilities that provide functions necessary to sustain daily life – or that if flooded, could unleash environmental hazards. The full impact of coastal flooding is likely to be significantly worse, as drinking water facilities, bus and metro stations, and retirement and care facilities for older adults were not included in the UCS study.

The analysis looks at flooding driven solely by sea level rise and tidal heights. Other climate-related drivers including storm surge, and heavy rainfall which can – and do – increase the risk of disruptive flooding were not included in the study.

The risk of coastal flooding is rising every year. The amount of sea level rise by century’s end will ultimately depend on the world’s willingness to curtail or continue releasing heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions. But without urgent action to reinforce critical infrastructure, the number of schools, apartment blocks, energy facilities and government buildings at risk of disruptive flooding is expected to rise by at least sevenfold by 2100, according to the UCS analysis.

Almost 7.5 million people currently live in the 1,758 coastal communities with critical infrastructure at risk of frequent and repeated flooding by the turn of the century. Assuming a medium-case scenario, around 4,800 buildings and facilities on US coastlines face the threat of disruptive fooding every fortnight by 2100.

“Even if their homes stay dry, disruptive flooding of vital infrastructure could leave people essentially stranded within their communities or enduring intolerable and even unlivable conditions,” said Erika Spanger, a co-author and director of strategic climate analytics at UCS. “There’s a rapidly approaching deadline for many coastal communities that demands urgent attention.”