‘You see hesitation, confusion and panic; you’d never capture that in a classroom’: The firm using VR to teach workers health and safety

Belfast Telegraph

By: Kerry Edgar

12 June 2026 at 19:00

Former firefighter on why immersive experiences are much better for learning and engagement than sitting through slides

Kevin Howlette (left) and the EHS team with a Blue Light Award

‘Spy turtles’ and ‘spy fish’ being used to monitor Chinese waters, Beijing claims

The Guardian - World news

By: Alastair McCready in Taipei

12 June 2026 at 08:27

Ministry says animals fitted with sensors by foreign agencies collect sensitive sea data, in ‘invisible secret war’

China’s ministry of state security has claimed that foreign espionage and intelligence agencies are using innovative new methods to monitor the country’s waters, including deploying “spy” animals fitted with sensors.

In a post on the Chinese platform WeChat on Friday, the ministry warned that an “invisible secret war” was quietly playing out in the seas around China as foreign agencies were collecting sensitive data “through a variety of new spying devices” to produce underwater maps that pose a “serious threat to our national security”.

‘It’s not any easier. In fact, I think it’s probably harder’ — Inside the unusual world of writing duos

Belfast Telegraph

By: Lauren Murphy

12 June 2026 at 07:00

Two authors, half the work? Not quite. So how do two become one in the book world? We talk to some writing duos about this unique approach

Authors Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen. © Bríd O’Donovan

Britain’s favourite butterfly revealed – and it’s a familiar backyard beauty

The Guardian - World news

By: Patrick Barkham

12 June 2026 at 05:00

More than 20,000 votes cast in Butterfly Conservation’s poll of 60 native species to find nation’s favourite for first time

The votes are in on Britain’s favourite butterfly, and it is one of the most ubiquitous yet spectacular backyard beauties that has flown to victory.

With its lavender, yellow and maroon eye spots and luscious rusty red and black colouration, the peacock butterfly is both beautiful and commonplace, flying throughout spring, summer and autumn in all corners of the British Isles.

‘The birds will fly away’: can Albania’s flamingo revolution keep its wetlands free from Trumps and tourists?

The Guardian - World news

By: Ajit Niranjan

12 June 2026 at 05:00

A luxury resort backed by the US president’s family may be built on a wildlife-rich nature reserve in one of Europe’s poorest nations

If the real estate dreams of a billionaire political family come true, an island in one of Europe’s poorest countries will become a luxury hotel complex, sweeping up stretches of the wildlife-rich nature reserve that sits across the water.

No public consultation has taken place, but there are signs the idea is on the way to becoming reality. Albania has been rocked by nearly two weeks of fierce protests after fences and heavy machinery came to a sensitive wetland and preparatory work began on the tourism vision of Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner.

Natural history GCSE to teach teenagers to plant wildflower-friendly gardens

The Guardian - World news

By: Pippa Neill Environment reporter

11 June 2026 at 22:30

Long-awaited course to examine human effects on natural world and explore everyday ways to aid biodiversity

School pupils will learn how to plant a wildflower-friendly garden, according to long-awaited plans announced on Thursday for a natural history GCSE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Campaigners have for more than a decade called for the study of biodiversity loss and global heating to be introduced as a dedicated subject in classrooms across the country, but despite a curriculum being previously drawn up, its launch has faced repeated delays.

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