When the sowing began on the coastline of south-west England, conservationists warned it may take a little while for the new wildflower meadows to flourish fully.
But 18 months on, a vibrant display of blooms has popped up in north Devon, a joy for human visitors and a draw for precious birds, insects and mammals.
The idea is to create a network of flower-filled grasslands sweeping from the fringes of sandy beaches to moorland edges.
Eventually, the National Trust plans to plant up more than 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) of land in north Devon, the charityâs largest ever wildflower grasslands project.
Oxeye daises are among the flowers transforming previously arable land. Photograph: James Dobson/National Trust Images
The first phase, 90 hectares at Woolacombe, Vention and South Hole, is being heralded a success, with oxeye daises, birdâs-foot trefoil and viperâs bugloss appearing and initial monitoring showing an increase of wildflower coverage from 2% to 40%.
There have been sightings of the brown-banded carder bee, meadow grasshopper and common blue butterfly, as well as birds such as swifts, skylarks, house martins and meadow pipits. Greater horseshoe bats dart across the meadows at dusk.
Joshua Day, a project coordinator at the National Trust in north Devon, said: âThe sense of anticipation through the last two winters has been high, watching and waiting for the first successful seedlings to emerge.
âThis first full bloom is an indication of success for the future of species-rich grasslands here in Devon, returning a diverse range of wild flowers to the countryside which will, in turn, benefit nature and ourselves.â
The wild flowers will attract precious birds, insects and mammals. Photograph: James Dobson/National Trust Images
Species-rich grasslands are rare, with only 1% of flower-filled meadows remaining in the UK, and are among the most threatened habitats in Britain.
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Seeds from these first meadows will be collected by rangers and volunteers to create more sites elsewhere. Every hectare harvested will provide enough seed to sow two more hectares of meadows.
By 2030, 1,275 hectares (3,151 acres) of grassland will have been planted in north Devon. Some sites are already identified, with others to be found over the coming years.
Ben McCarthy, the National Trustâs head of nature and restoration ecology, said: âAs nature in the UK continues to decline, making space for flower-rich meadows in our countryside at a landscape scale will make a real tangible difference to its recovery.â
Perched atop blackened trees, howler monkeys survey the ashes around them. A flock of emus treads, disoriented, in search of water. The skeletons of alligators lie lifeless and charred.
The Pantanal, the worldâs largest wetland and one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, is on fire. Huge stretches of land resemble the aftermath of a battle, with thick green shrubbery now a carpet of white ash, and chunks of debris falling from the sky.
More than 760,000 hectares (1.8m acres) have already burned across the the Brazilian Pantanal in 2024, as fires surge to the highest levels since 2020, the worst year on record. From January to July, blazes increased by 1,500% compared with the same period last year, according to the countryâs Institute for Space Research.
Close to 700,000 hectares (1.7m acres) of the Pantanal have already burned in 2024. Photograph: Harriet Barber
âThe impact is devastating. Animals are dying, wildfires are vanishing huge areas,â says Gustavo Figueirôa, a biologist at SOS Pantanal, a non-governmental organisation. âWe expect it is only going to get worse.â
Stretching across Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, the Pantanal covers 16.9m hectares (42m acres) and harbours rich biodiversity. It is one of the worldâs main refuges for jaguars and houses a host of vulnerable and endangered species, including giant river otters, giant armadillos and hyacinth macaws. Its ecosystem is also unique. Every year its âflood pulseâ sees it swell with water during the rainy season and empty throughout the dry months. But the climate crisis, droughts and weak rains have disrupted this seasonal pattern, turning the land into a tinderbox.
With the blazes starting unusually early this year â in late May and early June, before the annual fire season between July and September â experts predict 2024 will be the most devastating in decades.
Drone footage shows the devastated wetlands in the Brazilian Pantanal â video
âThe wildfires are a signal â nature is raising a flag,â says Pierre Girard at the Federal University of Mato Grosso. âWe had fires before but now thousands and thousands of hectares burn every year. We are losing the battle.â
On the banks of the Paraguay River, several hours by boat north of the nearest city of Corumbá, three children stand in their garden, their bodies intermittently concealed by smoke. Their mother, Jane Silva, 53, watches from her blue, wooden house.
âThis yearâs fires are really bad. There is a lot of smoke and the children are struggling to breathe,â she says. Fifty of her animals died in a recent fire, and she has received no support from the state, she says.
Jane Silva, 53, and her daughter Isabele. Photograph: Harriet Barber
âThe fires get worse every year â we thought this yearâs fires had been extinguished, but the wind has brought them back to life. Now it is getting close again,â she says. âThe Pantanal is dying, but we have nowhere to go.â
Hospitals and health centres in Corumbáare crowded with patients suffering respiratory issues, with children under five and those over 60 most affected by the smoke. But while humans can usually flee the infernos and seek medical help, animals perish in their thousands.
Reptiles and amphibians face the greatest risk, while monkeys die from smoke inhalation, and jaguars, too, have been found suffering with third-degree burns. In the 2020 fires, known as âthe year of flamesâ, which saw almost 30% of the biome burned, 17 million vertebrates were killed.
Deep into the charred wilderness, a team of volunteer animal rescue workers search for signs of life. Luka Moraes, a 26-year-old vet, says: âIn one week I have already seen hundreds and hundreds of dead animals, maybe thousands. Reptiles, snakes, frogs â all the animals that cannot run â they do not stand a chance.â
The remains of a snake lay in Otuquis national park in southeastern Bolivia in 2019. Photograph: Aizar Raldes/AFP/Getty Images
While naturally occurring blazes take place in the Pantanal, including those sparked by lightning, humans start the vast majority of wildfires. Ranchers use fires to clear land for their cattle â as they have for centuries â but those that were once contained by the wetlandâs abundant water now rage out of control.
âThey think that they can probably contain the fire. They have been doing it for generations. But dry matter is accumulating, and the fires spread quickly,â says Girard.
More than 90% of the Pantanal is privately owned, of which 80% is used for cattle ranching. Almost 95% of outbreaks in the first half of 2024 started in private areas, according to the National Institute for Space Research.
The wetlands have also lost 68% of their water area since 1985, and suffered a lack of rainfall over the past six months. âThe Pantanal is getting drier and drier. It used to flood for six months, but now it floods only two or three months,â says Figueirôa.
More than 90% of the Pantanal is privately owned. Photograph: Harriet Barber
Fierce winds rip across the landscape at up to 40km an hour, fuelling the flames.
Along with the important role they play for biodiversity, wetlands are also of global importance for the climate, storing 20-30% of terrestrial carbon despite covering only 5-8% of the land surface. During the 2020 fires, 115m tonnes of CO2 were released.
Local people and experts are now calling for greater investment in fire prevention. Ivani Silva, 50, whose land in Porto Laranjeirahas been thick with smoke for weeks, says she has been visited only once by authorities. âThey gave us a leaflet with instructions, but that is it. They donât help at all and do nothing to prevent it,â she says.
The government of Mato Grosso do Sul declared an emergency situation on 24 June, while the federal government has recently expanded its wildfires taskforce. The Brazilian air force airdropped 48,000 litres of water on to the burning land last weekend.
Firefighters work underneath the nest of a jabiru, the symbol of the Pantanal. Photograph: Harriet Barber
Still, the fires burn on. Underneath the nest of a jabiru stork, the tallest flying bird found in South and Central America and the symbol of the Pantanal, the firefighter Cabo Sena, 30, works to douse the flames.
âWe extinguish the fire and then, after 24 hours, it starts again,â he says.
Lucineia Oliveira, 50, who was born and still lives on the banks of the Paraguay River, says the fires have changed drastically in recent years. In 2021, she narrowly survived after a burning tree set her house alight overnight, trapping her inside with her 75-year-old mother and three-year-old grandson.
âThe fire was far away when we went to sleep, but then the wind became strong and carried it to us. It happened fast,â she says. âI was desperate, we were covered in ash, my grandson was crying and my mother praying. We fell to our knees and held each other.â
Oliveira worries about what their future holds. âEvery year is worse, and I am afraid,â she says. âThe animals and plants and the land are dying, from the bees to the jaguars. We need even the smallest animals to be able to survive. The fires are destroying the beauty of the Pantanal.â
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
Labour’s headline green pledge is to make the UK into a “clean energy superpower” by decarbonising electricity by 2030. Experts agree this will be at the furthest reaches of possibility – but even if Labour fails to meet the target entirely, getting a substantial way there will be a major achievement.
It will require boosting renewable energy: lifting the ban on onshore windfarms in England that has stymied this cheap form of energy, which Labour announced on Monday; boosting offshore wind when the next round of auctions comes up next month; greenlighting new solar farms; helping households to use less energy; and a programme to encourage businesses to step up their efficiency and adopt new processes.
Most of this is uncontroversial, though changes to the planning rules may be more difficult to put into practice than they were to put in a manifesto. By far the trickiest problem is likely to be the poor state of the UK’s electricity grid infrastructure. It can take a decade just to get a connection to the grid for a new renewable energy facility.
The private sector company in charge, National Grid, has promised about £30bn of investment in the UK over the next five years, but that is at the lowest end of what is likely to be needed. Labour’s new GB Energy, a publicly owned company and investor, will need to get started quickly on this task, possibly by finding ways to generate new private sector investment.
2. Nuclear, carbon capture and hydrogen
The UK’s ageing fleet of nuclear reactors is still essential to providing baseload electricity. But attempts to replace them with new atomic power stations have been beset by delays and massive cost increases. Miliband is known to favour new technology for smaller reactors, but there is no guarantee they will be easier to construct.
Carbon capture and storage technology has been talked about for two decades but there is still none operating in the UK at any scale, and some form of the technology is likely to be needed, as a way of keeping a few gas-fired power stations still operating as the UK reaches net zero by 2050. Labour will have to formulate a more coherent plan on this than the Tories managed.
Hydrogen is another potential headache for Miliband. The gas could be useful in the greening of some industrial processes, but study after study has found it is infeasible for home heating, for safety, cost and practical reasons to do with how hydrogen behaves as a highly flammable gas. Yet home heating is exactly where its supporters, including the gas industry and unions with members working in it, want it – mainly because they believe hydrogen could run through the existing gas grid and modified boilers. Labour will need to explain that it’s the laws of physics and chemistry they are up against.
Workers on the construction site of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset in 2022. Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP
3. Warmer homes
Draughty, damp and mouldy homes are endangering the health of millions of people on low incomes around the country, yet for the last decade most of the UK has lacked any stable government programme to help households with insulation.
Labour has promised roughly £13bn to help, but this is less than is needed to upgrade all the homes that need it, so should be concentrated on those most vulnerable and most in need. There will also be tougher rules on private landlords, forcing them into improvements. What will be done to help households on middling incomes who could also benefit from insulation?
Heat pumps will also be needed, to move people off gas boilers, but they are still expensive rarities and the UK lacks the skilled workforce needed to install them. Miliband has wavered on an end date for gas boilers – but without certainty from government, the boiler industry is unlikely to make the decisive move to heat pumps needed.
4. Transport
Tory attempts to portray Labour’s transport policies as a “war on motorists” fell flat in the election, saving Labour from a likely line of attack, but at what cost? The party’s transport policies are hardly radical, experts have warned.
Renationalising rail services as franchises come up for renewal is popular, but regenerating the overcrowded, overpriced, unreliable rail service the Conservatives have left behind will take years. Passengers may not see the light at the end of the tunnel before the next election, and the absence of HS2 leaves a major gap.
Pledges to allow communities to take back control of their bus services should help those in rural areas – which voted Labour in unprecedented numbers – and small towns, but it’s far from clear how plans to accelerate bus franchising will work in practice, and whether the funding needed will be available.
5. North Sea oil and a just transition
Labour will halt the process of granting new licences for oil and gas fields in the North Sea. But existing licences will not be revoked, meaning that the fate of some major fields – including Rosebank, Jackdaw and Cambo, as well as many smaller sites – still hangs in the balance. Some of these are unlikely to go ahead because of investor cold feet, but that could change.
More pressingly, Labour must find an answer for the 200,000 people whose jobs depend on the North Sea oil and gas industries. Now the biggest party in Scotland again, as the Scottish National party vote collapsed, Labour will need to convince fossil fuel-dependent communities that a “just transition” can be more than just a neat phrase.
A ‘Stop Rosebank’ protest in Edinburgh in 2023. The fate of major fields with existing licences hangs in the balance. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA
6. Farming and food
This year will bring some of the worst harvests in recent memory, after record wet weather in the spring. Climate breakdown is already wreaking havoc on food production around the world, and Brexit has created its own problems with imports and exports.
Labour has promised a land use framework, but a broader food strategy will be much harder. The last government made faltering attempts, but was hamstrung by the need to claim Brexit as a success, and a reluctance to make market interventions.
The Tories also took the first steps to a post-Brexit subsidy system for farmers, but the environmental land management scheme that was supposed to usher in “public money for public goods” is still not producing either the stable income for farmers or the public goods – clean water, healthy soils, more woodland – that were promised.
7. Water
The most memorable emblem of the 14 years of Tory rule must surely be the unforgettable sight of rivers and beaches deluged with raw sewage. Labour has promised to put water companies into “special measures”, but given the extent of the problem it will take more than a single parliamentary term to fix.
Where will the money come from? Water companies have extracted about £72bn in dividends while allowing their infrastructure to decline to such an extent that Thames Water admitted just before the election that it was a “risk to public safety”, yet they still want to raise bills for consumers. No new reservoirs have been built, and the leaky pipe networks mean that even after a year of record rain there are still threats of droughts this summer.
Campaigners hope that Labour in power will be tougher with water companies than it had the courage to be while fighting for election. But the government will also need to take on farmers, who are responsible for just as much pollution as water companies, and who have largely escaped legal sanction as the government gutted its watchdogs in the name of austerity.
8. Air pollution
Between 28,000 and 36,000 people across the UK die prematurely every year because of air pollution, and it blights the lives of hundreds of thousands more. Air pollution stunts children’s lungs, mars their cognitive abilities, aggravates asthma, and may hasten dementia. Yet the Tories concluded that reaching the EU’s standards on air quality was too difficult, and used Brexit to delay tackling filthy air for a decade.
Labour is encouraging drivers into electric cars instead of petrol and diesel, while boosting walking and cycling, and in some areas local councils have put in controls such as low-emissions zones to improve the air. But a nationwide strategy will have to look further than cars, to sources of air pollution from farming, and that fast-rising source of emissions – wood-burning stoves. Will its thumping majority give Labour the courage to take on what has become for many people a middle-class fashion accessory? The science is clear: they should.
A cyclist in London on a day of high air pollution in January 2022. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian
9. Nature
Wildlife populations have crashed across the UK in recent decades, falling about a fifth since 1970, and with about one in six species threatened with extinction. Intensive farming has played a leading role, but urbanisation and pollution have also been important factors.
Reed pledged before the election that he would halt and reverse this decline, and fulfil the promise of protecting 30% of the UK’s land and seas. This will be hard to do without taking on the farming lobby.
Labour must also make the countryside and natural world more accessible to the public. This will bring huge benefits, to health and wellbeing as well as to nature.
10. International leadership, including climate finance
The UK has been sorely missed in the climate fight on the world stage and Miliband has pledged to fill a “vacuum of leadership”. But if leaders from the global south are to see the UK as a genuine partner, they will also need to see clear new financial commitments from this government. The next UN climate summit, Cop29 in Azerbaijan this November, is all about raising climate finance for poorer nations, so to show up empty-handed will let the whole world down. Labour is being pushed to meet its commitment to spend £11.6bn to help countries adapt and respond to climate change, and to reverse the changes made to how the UK’s climate finance is counted.
11. Protest
The Conservative government cracked down on climate protesters, to the point of fierce criticism from the UN rapporteur on environmental defenders. Labour has not promised to roll back these rules or change the approach, to the consternation of civil liberties experts. Expect flashpoints in the coming months – climate protesters are not going away any time soon.
At the World AI Conference in Shanghai last week, one of China’s leading artificial intelligence companies, SenseTime, unveiled its latest model, SenseNova 5.5.
The model showed off its ability to identify and describe a stuffed toy puppy (wearing a SenseTime cap), offered feedback on a drawing of a rabbit, and instantly read and summarised a page of text. According to SenseTime, SenseNova 5.5 is comparable with GPT-4o, the flagship artificial intelligence model of the Microsoft-backed US company OpenAI.
If that wasn’t enough to entice users, SenseTime is also giving away 50m free tokens – digital credits for using the AI – and says that it will deploy staff to help new clients migrate from OpenAI services to SenseTime’s products for free.
Chinese attempts to lure domestic developers away from OpenAI – considered the market leader in generative AI – will now be a lot easier, after OpenAI notified its users in China that they would be blocked from using its tools and services from 9 July.
“We are taking additional steps to block API traffic from regions where we do not support access to OpenAI’s services,” an OpenAI spokesperson told Bloomberg last month.
OpenAI has not elaborated about the reason for its sudden decision. ChatGPT is already blocked in China by the government’s firewall, but until this week developers could use virtual private networks to access OpenAI’s tools in order to fine-tune their own generative AI applications and benchmark their own research. Now the block is coming from the US side.
Rising tensions between Washington and Beijing have prompted the US to restrict the export to China of certain advanced semiconductors that are vital for training the most cutting-edge AI technology, putting pressure on other parts of the AI industry.
The OpenAI move has “caused significant concern within China’s AI community” said Xiaohu Zhu, the founder of the Shanghai-based Centre for Safe AGI, which promotes AI safety, not least because “the decision raises questions about equitable access to AI technologies globally”.
But it has also created an opportunity for domestic AI companies such as SenseTime, which are scrambling to hoover up OpenAI’s rejected users. After warnings about OpenAI’s decision circulated last month, Baidu offered 50m free tokens for its Ernie 3.5 AI model, as well as free migration services, while Zhipu AI, another local company, offered 150m free tokens for its model. Tencent Cloud is giving away 100m free tokens for its AI model to new users until the end of July. “Competitors are offering migration pathways for former OpenAI users, seeing this as an opportunity to expand their user base,” said Zhu.
One consequence of OpenAI’s decision may be that it accelerates the development of Chinese AI companies, which are in tight competition with their US rivals, as well as each other. China is estimated to have at least 130 large language models, accounting for 40% of the world’s total and second only to the US. But while US companies such as OpenAI have been at the cutting edge of generative AI, Chinese companies have been engaged in a price war that some analysts have speculated may harm their profit margins and their ability to innovate. Still, Winston Ma, a professor at New York University who writes about Chinese technology, said OpenAI’s departure from China comes “at a time when Chinese big tech players are closing on performance gap with OpenAI and are offering these Chinese LLM models essentially free”.
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“OpenAI’s departure is a short-term shock to the China market, but it may provide a long-term opportunity for Chinese domestic LLM models to be put to the real test,” said Ma. Until now, Chinese companies have focused on the commercialisation of large language models rather than advancing the models themselves, he added.
Chinese commentators have been keen to brush off the impact of OpenAI’s decision. State media outlet the Global Times said it was “a push from the US to hamper China’s technology development”. Pan Helin, a digital economy researcher at Zhejiang University who sits on a government technology committee, described the development as “a good thing for China’s large-scale model independence and self-reliance”, according to Chinese media.
But there are signs that the US restrictions on China’s AI industry are starting to bite. The online video giant Kuaishou recently had to restrict the number of people who could access its new text-to-video AI model, Kling, because of a lack of computing capacity caused by a shortage of chips, according to a report in The Information. And there is now a booming hidden market for US semiconductors, as companies find ways to circumvent the sanctions. Being blocked from US software may inspire similar creativity.
Joe Biden’s position among congressional Democrats eroded further on Monday when an influential House committee member lent his voice to calls for him to end his presidential campaign following last month’s spectacular debate failure.
Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the armed services committee in the House of Representatives, issued the plea just hours after the president emphatically rejected calls for him to step aside in a letter to the party’s congressional contingent.
Biden had also expressed determination to continue in an unscheduled phone interview with the MSNBC politics show Morning Joe.
But in a clear sign such messaging may be falling on deaf ears, Smith suggested that sentiments of voters that he was too old to be an effective candidate and then president for the next four years was clear from opinion polls.
“The president’s performance in the debate was alarming to watch and the American people have made it clear they no longer see him as a credible candidate to serve four more years as president,” Smith, a congressman from Washington state, said in a statement.
“Since the debate, the president has not seriously addressed these concerns.”
He said the president should stand aside “as soon as possible”, though he qualified it by saying he would support him “unreservedly” if he insisted on remaining as the nominee.
But his statement’s effect was driven home in a later interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, one of the two moderators in the 27 June debate with Donald Trump in which Biden’s hoarse-voiced and frequently confused performance and demeanour plunged his re-election campaign into existential crisis.
“Personally, I think Kamala Harris [the vice-president] would be a much better, stronger candidate,” Smith told Tapper, adding that Biden was “not the best person to carry the Democratic message”.
He implicitly criticised Democratic colleagues – and Biden campaign staff – who were calling for the party to put the debate behind them as “one bad night”.
“A lot of Democrats are saying: ‘Well let’s move on, let’s stop talking about it’,” said Smith. “We are not the ones who are bringing it up. The country is bringing it up. And the campaign strategy of ‘be quiet and fall in line and let’s ignore it’ simply isn’t working.”
Smith joins the ranks of five Democratic members of Congress who publicly demanded Biden’s withdrawal last week. He was among at least four others who spoke in favour of it privately in a virtual meeting on Sunday with Hakeem Jeffries, the party’s leader in the House.
Having the ranking member of the armed services committee join the siren voices urging his withdrawal may be particularly damaging to Biden’s cause in a week when he is to host a summit of Nato leaders in Washington.
The alliance’s heads of government and state will gather in the US capital on Tuesday for an event that is likely to increase the international spotlight on Biden, who is due to give a rare press conference on its final day on Thursday, an occasion likely to be scrutinised for further misstatements and evidence of declining cognitive faculties. Unscripted appearances have been rare in Biden’s three-and-a-half-year tenure.
In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos last Friday, Biden stressed his role in expanding Nato’s membership and leading its military aid programme to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion as a key element of his qualification to continue as his party’s nominee and be re-elected as president.
In the surprise interview with Morning Joe on Monday, Biden put the blame for his current predicament on Democratic elites, an undefined designation which he may now expand to include Smith.
As the 2022 tennis season began to wind down in the cold indoor stadiums across Europe, Novak Djokovic found himself in an unusual situation. In the final of the Paris Masters that November, the Serbâs high level would have been sufficient to defeat many adversaries, but for once his opponent was even better. That night, a fearless 19-year-old named Holger Rune toppled Djokovic to win his first Masters 1000 title.
Performing at the highest level week in, week out, though, is a much greater task than producing occasional, early flashes of brilliance. Two years on from that striking encounter, Rune has not made as much progress as he hoped and, this time, the match-up was rather a mismatch. Under the Centre Court roof on Monday evening, an excellent Djokovic thoroughly outplayed Rune and silenced the crowd, returning to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win.
The match was also notable for the crowdâs cheers, with spectators bellowing âRuuuuneâ throughout the evening in a deep, elongated chant that sounded similar to booing. After his victory, Djokovic thanked the respectful parts of the crowd and criticised those who he felt disrespected him. When the on-court interviewer suggested that fans may have just been supporting Rune rather than disrespecting him, Djokovic responded:
âThey were, I donât accept it,â he said. âNo. I know they were cheering for Rune but thatâs an excuse to also boo. Listen, Iâve been on the tour for more than 20 years, so trust me, I know all the tricks. I know how it works. Itâs fine, itâs OK. I focus on the respectful people, who have respect, that paid the ticket to come and watch tonight, and love tennis and appreciate the effort that the players put in here. Iâve played in a much more hostile environment, trust me. You guys canât touch me.â
The victory marks a 15th career quarter-final for Djokovic at Wimbledon and a 60th major quarter-final. Regardless of how far he goes, it already ranks as one of his most remarkable quarter-final runs. Just 26 days before Wimbledon began, Djokovic underwent surgery on the torn medial meniscus that forced him to withdraw from the quarter-finals of the French Open.
At the time, it seemed reasonable to assume that Djokovic might not be present at Wimbledon in any form, particularly with the Olympics looming a few weeks later on clay. Instead, he continues to beat quality tennis players, to grow with every round and he remains a clear title contender even with the tournament favourites still present in the draw.
Novak Djokovic celebrates with a violin pose at the end of his victory over Holger Rune. Photograph: Paul Childs/Reuters
Between his breakthrough win over Djokovic in Paris and his rise to a top-four ranking last year, for some time Rune seemed to be the young player closest to breaking through after Carlos Alcaraz. But this sport is not easy. While Alcaraz has continued to soar and Jannik Sinner has stepped up, this has not been a straightforward year for Rune. His lack of confidence was reflected in his very first service game here, the 15th seed throwing in a horrible, error-strewn game to lose his serve and trail 2-0. Djokovic won the first 12 points of the match.
Throughout the match, Djokovic served well, dictated most exchanges from the baseline and cycled through his arsenal of shots well, keeping Rune guessing with drop shots and net approaches while remaining solid in key moments. As the crowdâs cheers became louder, Djokovic gestured towards some members of the audience. Still, he remained extremely solid as he closed out the win.
âTo all the fans that have respect and stayed here tonight, thank you from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it,â Djokovic said. âAnd to all the fans who have chosen to disrespect me, have a gooood night,â he added, referencing the âRuneâ chants.
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For his part, Rune did not see any issue with the crowdâs behaviour and he referenced fans attempting similar chants during their meeting in 2021. âIf you donât know what was happening, probably it sounded like âbooâ. But if we all know what happened, it was my name. Obviously heâs played so many matches since he played me last time. If he didnât remember, it could probably sound different for him. I donât think it played a massive part in the match,â said Rune.
Djokovic will next face Alex de Minaur, the ninth seed, in quarter-final No 60 on Wednesday. Earlier, De Minaur defeated Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
The Australian suffered an injury scare at the end of the match after sliding out to his forehand, but he later said he was OK. Taylor Fritz, seeded 13th, continued to play some of the best tennis of his career as he pulled off a spectacular comeback from two sets down to defeat Alexander Zverev, the fourth seed, 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3.
David Cameron has left Rishi Sunak’s frontbench as the Conservatives unveiled an interim shadow ministerial team ahead of a party leadership race.
The party said Lord Cameron, the former foreign secretary, and Richard Holden, who chaired the Tories through the disastrous election campaign, had resigned from Sunak’s top team. Andrew Mitchell, who had the largely honorary title of deputy foreign secretary in government, becomes shadow foreign secretary.
Sunak is leader of the opposition until he is replaced, and Jeremy Hunt and James Cleverly are staying on as shadow chancellor and shadow home secretary. Oliver Dowden remains Sunak’s deputy.
Most of the other changes are connected to former ministers losing their seats or stepping down, with many replaced by former junior ministers from the same department.
James Cartlidge has taken over from Ben Wallace on defence, Ed Argar replaces Alex Chalk on justice; Damian Hinds takes the place of Gillian Keegan on education; Julia Lopez takes over from Lucy Frazer on culture; and Andrew Griffith replaces Michelle Donelan in the science and technology brief.
Kemi Badenoch has changed jobs, moving from business secretary to shadow communities secretary, taking the brief from Michael Gove who stepped down as an MP. One of her former junior ministers, Kevin Hollinrake, takes over at business.
Chris Philp, the former policing minister, has been given the role of shadow Commons leader after Penny Mordaunt, who did the equivalent job in government, lost her seat.
Writing on X after his resignation was announced, Cameron said: “It’s been a huge honour to serve as foreign secretary, but clearly the Conservative party in opposition will need to shadow the new foreign secretary from the Commons.
“So I told Rishi Sunak that I would step back. I’m delighted that the shadow foreign secretary role has gone to my good friend Andrew Mitchell. As a committed Conservative I will continue to support the party and help where I can as we rebuild from the very disappointing election result.”
Among former ministers who have stayed in the same brief are Victoria Atkins in health, Steve Barclay in environment, Mel Stride as shadow work and pension secretary and Claire Coutinho shadowing on energy security and net zero.
Among other replacements, Helen Whately, who was social care minister, becomes shadow transport secretary after Mark Harper, the transport secretary, lost his seat.
In place of Holden, Richard Fuller, a Bedfordshire MP since 2010, has been made interim party chair.
Fuller said: “The Conservative party has had a difficult election and it is important that we regroup and reflect on these results. We should also challenge ourselves candidly and deeply on the strengths of the Conservative party across the country and outline where improvements can be made. United as a party, we will be ready and able to hold this new Labour government to account every step of the way.”
Whoever replaces Sunak as leader would be expected to appoint their own shadow cabinet. The timetable for choosing the new leader has not yet been set, with differences in the party over how quickly it should be done.
Allies of Sunak say he does not intend to stay on beyond the summer, meaning the Conservatives could face the prospect of having to appoint an interim leader if the contest goes on for several more months.
The best iPhone may be the one you already own. There is generally no need to buy a fresh phone just because new models have been released, as hardware updates have broadly become iterative, adding small bits to an already accomplished package rather than reinventing the wheel.
But if you do want to replace it, either buying new or refurbished, here are the best of the current crop of Apple smartphones. Note: Apple is expected to release new models in September, which means it might be worth waiting to buy a new iPhone if you can.
Even if the new models are not on your radar, older models will be reduced in price, making them a better deal more or less overnight. This guide will be updated once the new models are tested, compared and ranked.
Best for most people: iPhone 15 Pro
The iPhone 15 Pro has premium materials and a great camera. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The iPhone 15 Pro is the step-up option in Appleâs lineup and has all the latest features without being too big in your hand or pocket. The 6.1in OLED screen is bright and smooth with its 120Hz refresh rate â double that of cheaper iPhones â and is big enough for most things while keeping the handset relatively compact.
The 15 Pro also has a fancy new titanium body, which is stronger than the aluminium of other iPhones, and makes the phone significantly lighter than previous Pro models. The new âaction buttonâ replaces the mute switch, which you can set to open the camera or other useful features. The starting 128GB of storage will be fine if you store photos in the cloud, but those who need them stored locally should buy one of the more expensive versions with 256GB or 512GB storage.
The USB-C port handles charging and connecting a range of accessories, including practically any USB-C charger common to iPads, computers and Android phones, though it is not compatible with any older Lightning connector accessories. MagSafe in the back supports various accessories and Qi/Qi2 wireless charging at up to 15W.
It has a high (IP68) water-resistance rating â to depths of six metres for 30 minutes â and is more durable than previous generations. However, a good case is still needed to help it survive drops.
The 12MP selfie camera is the same as other recent iPhones for decent self-portraits. The triple camera on the back is excellent, featuring a 48MP main camera producing great-looking, detailed images across a range of lighting conditions, a solid 12MP ultra-wide camera for landscapes or big group shots, plus a good 12MP telephoto camera with a 3x optical zoom that cheaper iPhones donât have. The iPhone 15 Pro Max still has it beat on reach with its 5x optical zoom camera, however.
Another major advantage of the 15 Pro over the vanilla iPhone 15 is that it has the newer A17 Pro chip, which will be required to enable Appleâs new AI features for Siri, images, text and other generative bits that are due as part of the free iOS 18 in September. These âApple Intelligenceâ upgrades are likely to be key to many new core features for the iPhone going forward, so the 15 Pro is more futureproofed than cheaper models. It currently runs iOS 17 and will probably be supported by software updates for seven or more years, meaning you can keep it and use it for a long time.
The iPhone 15 Pro is now more than nine months old, so will be available refurbished if you want to make a more sustainable choice and save money.
Buy:from £999 at apple.com or £899 at johnlewis.com
Why should you buy it? The iPhone 15 Pro is the sweet spot for performance, features, camera, price and futureproofing in Appleâs current lineup, with almost all the best bits without the massive screen and £200 extra cost of the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Buy if: You want the Pro screen, titanium body, better camera and futureproofing without a massive display
Donât buy if: You want the best camera on an iPhone or a massive screen
Cheaper alternative:iPhone 15
The cheaper iPhone 15 offers lots, but lacks futureproofing. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The iPhone 15 is still good with more âProâ features than previous generations, including the modern âDynamic Islandâ notch design within its 6.1in OLED screen that was first introduced on the Pro line in 2022. It has a USB-C port and MagSafe for wireless charging, lasts a solid day on battery, feels snappy in use and starts with 128GB of storage just like the Pro models.
However, it has no optical zoom camera on the back, limited to just the good main and ultra-wide lenses, which means it lacks reach to distant subjects, making do with inferior digital zoom. It also lacks the new A17 Pro chip, which means despite the older A16 Bionic still being snappy, it wonât get the new Apple Intelligence features as part of iOS 18 in September. That makes it less futureproofed than the 15 Pro, despite likely being supported with software updates for a similar number of years.
Buy:from £799 at apple.com or £699 at johnlewis.com
Why should you buy it? The cheaper iPhone 15 offers the standard iPhone experience at a relatively pocketable size for those who arenât interested in futureproofing.
Buy if: You want the default, good iPhone experience today
Donât buy if: You want optical zoom on your camera or upcoming AI features
Best for camera: iPhone 15 Pro Max
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is the biggest of the lot, with the best camera. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is the Apple phone with everything maxed out. It has the biggest, brightest and fastest screen on an iPhone, measuring 6.7in, which is beautiful, but it makes the Pro Max a big phone in hands and pockets.
The phone also has all the trimmings of the regular 15 Pro, including the titanium sides and action button, but with a bigger battery for a longer running time and twice the starting storage at 256GB. The big upgrade for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, however, is a 5x optical zoom telephoto camera. It comes at about a £200 premium on its smaller âProâ sibling, placing it at the top end of the market.
Buy:£1,199 at apple.com or £1,099 at johnlewis.com
Why should you buy it? The 15 Pro Max is the biggest and most advanced iPhone model, with upgrades across the board, the best of which is the 5x optical zoom on the camera.
Buy if: You want the best camera on an iPhone
Donât buy if: You donât want a massive screen
Best value new: iPhone SE (2022)
A dated design hides more modern parts for a great-value option in the iPhone SE. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The iPhone SE is something of a throwback. It takes the old design of the iPhone â used until 2017 â complete with a Touch ID home button and chunky bezels around the screen, and puts a more modern chip at its heart.
The third-generation iPhone SE released in 2022 is still the best-value new iPhone, with an A15 Bionic chip from the 2021 iPhone 13 and 5G. The 4.7in screen is small and dim by modern standards, but the phone isnât that small due to the chunky design. It lacks Face ID and other modern iPhone bits, wonât get Apple Intelligence features and only has 64GB of storage at its base price. The single camera on the back is a bit weak.
Buy:£429 atapple.com or johnlewis.com
Why should you buy it? The iPhone SE (2022) is the cheapest new iPhone.
Buy if: You want the best-value iPhone, but donât want to buy a refurbished model
Donât buy if: You want a modern iPhone experience or good camera
Others still on sale at Apple
The iPhone 14, released in 2022, has the older notch design but is still a good iPhone. Although not good value at its RRP of £699, this is one to look out for refurbished, with about five years of software support expected.
Buy: £699 at apple.com or £599 at johnlewis.com
The iPhone 13, released in 2021, is a model thatâs getting on a bit and is pricey at its RRP of £599. However, it could make for a solid refurbished buy with roughly four years of further software support expected.
Buy: £599 at apple.com or £499 at johnlewis.com; or £509 for a refurbished handset at apple.com
Replace or spruce up?
Replacing the battery in your existing iPhone can be quick and breathe new life into it. Photograph: Apple
If your iPhone is running slow or the battery doesnât last as long as it used to, check its health in settings. If itâs past its best, a replacement battery costs £65 to £95 through Apple, or cheaper via third-parties, and will give your iPhone a new lease of life. Also, check you have enough free storage and clear out unused apps or content, offload photos and videos to the cloud or delete music. Aim for at least 2GB of free space.
If your phone is worn out, broken beyond repair or no longer receives crucial security updates, itâs time to upgrade. The latest software, version iOS 17, supports devices back to 2018âs iPhone XS/XR, so anything older should be replaced in the near future â though some older models may still receive occasional security updates from Apple.
What to look out for in a refurb?
Buying refurbished phones is better for the planet and your wallet. The iPhone makes for an excellent refurbished phone, typically staying responsive for years and being supported with software updates for about seven years from release, or longer in some circumstances. That means you can use an older model for several years before it will need replacing.
There are broadly two types of refurbished iPhone available: those refurbished and sold directly from Apple that come, essentially, as new, and those refurbished by third-parties that come in various grades or condition â but cost less.
The grades vary between retailers, but roughly you can expect:
Grade A: Virtually identical to a new phone on the outside, usually with the original box and accessories. These are often customer returns rather than trade-ins and are the most expensive.
Grade B: In full working order but typically with light scratches, dents or nicks, and may come with original accessories.
Grade C: In full working order but visibly worn and typically sold without their original accessories.
Grade D: Also known as âfor spares and repairsâ or similar. These are broken devices sold for people to fix or gut for parts.
There are many third-party retailers of refurbished phones. CeX and Game are popular UK high-street chains that deal in secondhand and refurbished phones. Established online retailers include MusicMagpie and Envirofone, while some phone operators also sell refurbished iPhones, including O2, GiffGaff, EE and Vodafone. Marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and refurb-specialist BackMarket also have a wide range. Wherever you buy, there are certain things to look out for in any refurbished iPhone:
Battery health Batteries wear out, typically only maintaining up to 80% of their original capacity after 500 full-charge cycles (about two to three years of nightly charging). Has it been replaced?
Charging port Check for signs of damage, as the charging port could be one of the first parts to break.
Buttons Check that all the buttons work without pressing too hard; a broken button could render the phone difficult to use and may be expensive to fix.
Touch ID/Face ID Check the biometric features still work, as some repairs may cause them not to function.
Network locks Check the iPhone works with your provider, as some are originally sold locked to networks and must be unlocked before being used on another.
Unauthorised parts Not all repairs are done by the manufacturer or using certified parts, which can cause problems.
Check it isnât stolen Check the iPhoneâs 15-digit IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number against a database of stolen phones through a service such as CheckMEND or similar.
Warranty What kind of warranty does the retailer offer on its refurbished phones?
Do not buy
Any model older than an iPhone 12 because you wonât get many years of software support before youâll have to replace it.
Any iPhone 12 mini or iPhone 13 mini without a new battery. They both had relatively short battery life to start with, which meant more frequent charging than larger iPhones. Their batteries wear out faster, resulting in even shorter battery life.
How we test
We combine real-world testing alongside various tools, such as benchmarking systems that perform standardised tasks to measure performance, which help us to evaluate a phone, confirm that it performs as expected and to directly compare it with the competition and predecessors.
We use the phones out and about across a range of times and environments, from firing off emails on packed commuter trains to weekends spent shooting photos while walking in national parks, and everywhere in between. By doing all the things a typical smartphone user would, such as messaging, browsing, using myriad apps, listening to music, watching videos, playing games and navigating the real world, we get a good impression of how a smartphone handles the rigours of day-to-day life â including how long the battery lasts and how strong its wireless performance holds up. This is combined with results from specific tests, for things such as the camera zoom, video playback and charging, to inform the review and help rank phones.
Why should you trust me?
I have been reviewing consumer electronics for 16 years, with more than a decade spent as the Guardianâs gadget expert. In that time Iâve seen all manner of tech fads come and go, smartphone giants rise and fall, the cutting edge morph into the mainstream, and have poked, prodded and evaluated more than 1,000 devices â sometimes to destruction.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is being investigated by the environmental watchdog after Conservative ministers authorised a bee-killing pesticide that was banned by the EU.
The investigation into Defra was launched after the campaign group ClientEarth submitted a complaint to the Office for Environmental Protection, which was set up after Brexit to replace the EU’s framework for punishing environmental offences by governments in the bloc. On Monday, the OEP announced it would be investigating the emergency authorisation of a neonicotinoid pesticide in 2023 and 2024.
It said: “The investigation is seeking to determine whether there were serious failures to comply with a number of environmental laws in relation to emergency authorisations granted for the use of Cruiser SB on sugar beet seeds.
“In particular, the investigation is considering Defra’s interpretation and application of the precautionary principle and compliance with its nature conservation obligations when it considers granting emergency authorisations.”
The neonicotinoid pesticide Cruiser SB is used on sugar beet and is highly toxic to bees and has the potential to kill off populations of the insect. It is banned in the EU but the UK has provisionally agreed to its emergency use every year since leaving the bloc.
The former environment secretary Michael Gove promised in 2017 that ministers would use Brexit to stop the use of the pesticide. Instead, the EU banned all emergency authorisations of neonicotinoid pesticides while the UK government has allowed its use, one of many ways the UK has diverged from EU environmental policy since Brexit.
Prof Dave Goulson, a bee expert at the University of Sussex, has warned that one teaspoon of the chemical is enough to kill 1.25bn honeybees.
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Conservative ministers authorised the pesticide for use this year, against the warnings of scientific advisers. Both the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Expert Committee on Pesticides raised concerns over this year’s emergency authorisation. Neonicotinoid pesticides can stay in the soil for years, and they taint any flowering plant which grows, meaning that bees foraging for nectar from a flower can be poisoned years after treated seeds were planted.
During the general election, the Labour party committed in its manifesto to end the authorisations of the pesticide because of its effect on bees.
Kyle Lischak, of ClientEarth, said: “Failing to take a proper precautionary approach when approving the use of pesticides is threatening our pollinators and the wider environment – and puts England even further off-track from meeting its 2030 biodiversity targets.
“This investigation also sends an important signal to government and other decision-makers: laws that protect nature – such as the habitat regulations – have to go beyond planning decisions and include other activities that could threaten nature.
“And while this investigation is under way, we are calling on the new government to support UK farmers to adopt sustainable methods of pest control that work with nature, rather than putting it at risk – as they are the custodians of so much of England’s natural environment.”
Richard Benwell, the chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link said: “This case will rightly investigate whether proper process was followed in allowing the use of banned pesticides, but if it is successful then the lessons are much wider. Scientific advice on major environmental decisions shouldn’t be swept under the carpet for political or economic expediency. We welcome Labour’s commitment to end the use of emergency authorisations for neonicotinoids, and hope the party will pay heed to the opinions of its expert advisers and the urgent need for ecological action in all its decisions, from toxic chemical use, to planning on land and at sea”.
A Defra spokesperson said: “We are at a crisis point – nature is dying across Britain. This government will change existing policies to ban the use of bee-killing pesticides to protect our vital pollinators.”
A fierce heatwave that shattered records this weekend will again grip much of the US on Monday, with more than 36 million Americans under excessive heat warnings.
The dangerous temperatures caused the death of a motorcyclist in Californiaâs Death Valley. And they posed challenges for firefighters working in sweltering conditions to battle a series of wildfires across the state.
In Santa Barbara county, the Lake fire burned through dry grass, brush and timber over the weekend, prompting evacuations of some rural homes, including the Neverland ranch.
The heat wave came as the global temperature in June hit a record high for the 13th straight month and it marked the 12th straight month that the world was 1.5C (2.7F) warmer than pre-industrial times, the European climate service Copernicus said.
An excessive heat warning, the National Weather Serviceâs highest alert, was in effect Monday for portions of states including California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Idaho, while parts of the East Coast as well as states including Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi were under heat advisories.
Dozens of locations in the west and pacific north-west tied or broke previous heat records.
A high temperature of 128F (53.3 C) was recorded Saturday and Sunday at Death Valley National Park in eastern California, where a visitor died Saturday from heat exposure and another person was hospitalized, officials said.
The two visitors were part of a group of six motorcyclists riding through the Badwater Basin area amid scorching weather, the park said in a statement.
âWhile this is a very exciting time to experience potential world record-setting temperatures in Death Valley, we encourage visitors to choose their activities carefully, avoiding prolonged periods of time outside of an air-conditioned vehicle or building when temperatures are this high,â said Mike Reynolds, a park superintendent.
Across the desert in Nevada, Las Vegas on Sunday set a record high of 120F (48.8C).
Triple-digit temperatures were common across Oregon, where several records were toppled, including in Salem, where on Sunday it hit 103F (39.4C), topping the 99F (37.2C) mark set in 1960.
Rare heat advisories were extended even into higher elevations including around Lake Tahoe, on the border of California and Nevada, with the weather service in Reno, Nevada, warning of âmajor heat risk impacts, even in the mountainsâ.
More extreme highs are in the near forecast, including possibly 130F (54.4C) around midweek at Furnace Creek, California, in Death Valley. The hottest temperature ever officially recorded on Earth was 134F (56.67C) in July 1913 in Death Valley, though some experts dispute that measurement and say the real record was 130F (54.4C), recorded there in July 2021.
