Vassili

Devon campaigners call for ‘right to riverbank’ after finding Dart has 108 owners Research shows difficulties ahead for ministers if they are to keep manifesto pledge to extend riverside public access

Excellent to hear @lewis-winks.bsky.social on the Today programme this morning discussing his research on 'Who owns the River Dart' - and why this shows we need a right of responsible access

Listen here (45mins in): www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Guardian story: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Israel is deliberately starving Palestinian children to death.

It cannot be sugar coated.

It is a fact - an engineered famine - and it’s abhorrent.

#Genocide #Gaza

A cycle track marked by white lines instead of grey bricks.

The path with bricks.

This is bit more obvious.
If it’s not obvious enough, it can be refined.
The bricks from the old path btw are being stored in a depot for other projects.

In 2003, anti-war activists broke into RAF Fairford to stop US bombers heading to Iraq.

Keir Starmer defended their actions and said it was justified to prevent war crimes.

Now his government is banning Palestine Action for doing the same.

The Prime Minister is a hypocrite.

Edward Heath blocked US use of UK bases to defend Israel in 1973.

Harold Wilson resisted US pressure to send troops to Vietnam.

From the ’50s to early 2000s, the UK imposed full arms embargoes on Israel for breaking international law.

We can choose not to be America’s poodle.

Ladies Mile is a totally unnecessary road cutting across Bristol’s biggest public greenspace - The Downs - making it unsafe for kids. It was closed to cars for the day yesterday and what a change! Let’s make this permanent. @edplowden.bsky.social @robbryher.bsky.social @bristol247.bsky.social

UN warns 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in next 48 hours without aid – Israel-Gaza war live UN’s humanitarian chief says aid lorries, which contain baby food and nutrition, are technically in Gaza but have not reached civilians

Unspeakably awful.

Genocide, in plain sight.

Where is the international condemnation from heads of state? Where is Starmer’s?

www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Given that we’re a nation of nature lovers, whose conservation charities are among the world's biggest membership organisations, Keir Starmer’s repeated attacks on voters who want to protect the living planet, calling us “time-wasting nimbys”, “blockers” and “zealots”, is frankly idiotic.

Mice, Empathy, and the Ethics We Ignore - Science Advancement and Outreach Division A mouse’s ability to recognize distress in others and respond with life-saving actions demonstrates that he or she is not a “furry test tube,” but a sentient being deserving of moral consideration.

2025. Mice, Empathy, and the Ethics We Ignore - #AnimalEthics #AnimalWelfare www.scienceadvancement.org/reflections/...

Tony Blair unmasked as chief lobbyist for Saudi oil firm FLYING somewhat under the radar since his absurdist stint as Middle East peace envoy, Tony Blair has resurfaced as a key broker in a booming nexus of Chinese and Saudi oil companies.

Anyone wondering why arch neoliberal Blair is speaking against the scientific imperative to stop burning fossil fuels this decade? euroweeklynews.com/2016/04/29/t...

Tony Blair says current net zero push 'doomed to fail' The former PM's call for a change of course is rejected by Downing Street but welcomed by the Tories and Reform.

Another dodgy dossier from Blair.

In reality people are being forced to live with crap services (bus cuts anyone?) and wait for huge daily cost savings and jobs in green industries thanks to this kind of visionless hogwash. #GreenNewDeal

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Government to extend ban on moorland burning - closing loopholes in existing rules

Great news for nature, carbon, & people who’ll be spared from acrid smoke & flooding

Bad news for dukes & billionaires who own grouse moors 🎻

Here's my quote running on PA newswire: 1/

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Pet flea treatments may be harming wildlife – but owners can help — The Conversation UK Responsible use of flea treatments could protect both pets and wildlife.

apple.news/AjcgDQ2OqS7a...

Beaver wild release: a milestone for nature recovery in England By Stuart Otway, Principal Officer in Natural England’s Complex Cases Unit and Delphine Pouget, Principal Officer in Natural England’s Species Recovery & Reintroductions Team  After centuries of absen...

An historic moment for Nature recovery in England with a new policy setting out plans for the return of wild Beavers. Licenses will be issued by Natural England so that we can harness the power of these keystone animals for the many benefits they bring.

naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/28/b...

Terrific resignation letter by Anneliese Dodds, this.

The parasols are to provide shade in the future as Bristol bakes

Greenland to ban political donations… but Starmer still doing nothing about the huge loopholes that let foreign money into British politics 🤦

Labour’s agriculture plans will increase chicken waste in rivers, say campaigners Steve Reed says planning rules ‘have got in the way’ of farmers and apologises for ‘shock’ of inheritance tax change

Abysmal news for the River Wye—already close to ecological death from intensive poultry production—& other catchments.
Labour came to power promising to heal Britain’s river network; today the Env Sec singles out chicken producers & promises laxer regulation.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Last night I attended a vigil for the women and girls of Sudan, along with our Green Cllr Mohamed Makawi, who gave a powerful speech highlighting the plight of these women. Sexual violence is a weapon of war is a stain on humanity. 🇸🇩💚🕊️

Fifty years of cetacean sightings from the Cornish coast, SW England There are very few data on changes in status of smaller cetaceans around UK coasts, including Cornwall. To fill this gap a quantitative retrospective …

reminds me of Nic Tregenza's paper which was a retrospective cetacean sightings survey going back 50 years from when he started. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Screenshot of a post by Ed Davey on a pink-gold gradient background, with the Liberal Democrats logo at the bottom. Ed's post reads "People have had enough of Elon Musk interfering with our country’s democracy when he clearly knows nothing about Britain. It’s time to summon the US ambassador to ask why an incoming US official is suggesting the UK government should be overthrown. This dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric is further proof that the UK can’t rely on the Trump administration. It’s in our national interest to rebuild trade and security ties with our allies in Europe."

People have had enough of Elon Musk interfering with our country’s democracy when he clearly knows nothing about Britain.

It’s time to summon the US ambassador to ask why an incoming US official is suggesting the UK government should be overthrown.

Ethical and Legal Considerations for Scientists Collaborating with Whalers: A Case Study of International Research Using the Outcome of Contemporary Whaling by Iceland This article explores some ethical and legal issues regarding international research conducted on whales killed by Iceland since it resumed whaling in 2003. In total, 35 peer-reviewed publications ...

Sad news about Iceland's #whaling plans. Some scientists will be glad: more samples for them. Peter Sand @vassilipapa.bsky.social & I wrote about tacit complicity in the cruel practice of harpooning whales+ incidentally providing scientific credibility to whalers
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Dozens of new Labour MPs join group pushing for electoral reform Exclusive: All-party parliamentary group on fair elections argues proportional voting system would help restore trust

🏦 The government should heed our call - launched just last week - to establish a National Commission for Electoral Reform in 2025, tasked with recommending a fair and democratic voting system in which every vote counts

3/3

“Yes, it’s a genocide. And once you come to this conclusion you cannot remain silent.” - Amos Goldberg, Israeli Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies
(Location: Parliament Square, London. Read full statement below)

We need to talk about dying The assisted dying debate has been filled with horror stories of miserable ends. But does this reflect the reality of ordinary death?

www.newstatesman.com/comment/2024...

Doomed trees of Bristol 😢

ethics?

Here’s a short story about who wins and loses from the status quo of our inheritance tax rules - and about, what you might politely call ‘sub-optimal’ journalism🧵

A landmark day in Scotland as snare ban commences It’s a landmark day in Scotland as the new snare ban commences. A full ban on the use of snares was passed by the Scottish Parliament in March 2024 as part of the Wildlife Management & Mu…

Huge congratulations and thank you to the campaigners who have fought hard for this ban over many, many years.

You did it! 👏👏

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2024/11/25/a...

Golden eagle dies in rare collision with wind turbine in south Scotland The South Scotland Golden Eagle Project (SSGEP) has today announced the death of a young golden eagle after it collided with a wind turbine in Galloway in August this year. The bird was a three-yea…

Golden eagle dies in rare collision with wind turbine in south Scotland.

A tragedy, but needs to be seen in perspective.

Here's what we know about wind farm avoidance tactics by golden eagles in Scotland, based on sat tag data. #raptorresearch #ukbirding

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2024/11/25/g...