Biden bans new drilling in US coastal waters weeks before Trump handover

Joe Biden has banned offshore drilling across an immense area of coastal waters, weeks before Donald Trump takes office pledging to massively increase fossil fuel production.The US president’s ban encompasses the entire Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Pacific coast off California, Oregon and Washington, and a section of the Bering Sea off Alaska.A White House statement said the declaration protected more than 253m hectares (625m acres) of waters. Trump said he would “unban it immediately” as soon as he re-enters the White House on 20 January, although it is unclear whether he will be able to do this easily.“As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren,” Biden said in a statement

Biden bans new offshore oil and gas drilling in most US coastal waters – as it happened

Joe Biden is moving to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in most US coastal waters, two weeks before Donald Trump takes office, who has pledged to expand offshore drilling. In a last-ditch effort, Biden said he is using authority under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect offshore areas along the east and west coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea from future oil and natural gas leasing.Biden said in a statement:My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses and beachgoers have known for a long time: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs, As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren.However, the outgoing president’s orders will not affect large swathes of the Gulf of Mexico, where most US offshore drilling occurs, but will protect coastlines along California, Florida and other states from future drilling. In total, they will protect more than 625m acres of federal waters

Emmanuel Macron joins growing criticism of Elon Musk in Europe

Emmanuel Macron has added his voice to a growing chorus of European criticism of Elon Musk, accusing the world’s richest man of intervening directly in the continent’s democratic processes, including Germany’s snap federal elections next month.The French president joined the Norwegian and British prime ministers and a German government spokesperson on Monday in responding to a barrage of hostile posts by Musk backing far-right political parties and attacking leftwing politicians in Europe.The owner of the social media platform X is a close ally of Donald Trump and, after spending more than $250m (£210m) to help get him re-elected, has been asked by the incoming US president to cut the federal budget as a special adviser.“Ten years ago, who would have imagined that the owner of one of the world’s largest social networks would be supporting a new international reactionary movement and intervening directly in elections, including in Germany,” Macron said.In a speech to French ambassadors, the French president, who has previously cultivated a constructive relationship with Musk, most recently inviting him to the reopening of Notre Dame cathedral, refrained from mentioning the billionaire by name – as did Norway’s centre-left prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre

‘It’s not just alerts, it’s a state of mind’: How a wildfire monitoring app became essential in the US west

Watch Duty – which began in California and has expanded across 14 states – alerted the public to more than 9,000 wildfires in 2024Cristy Thomas began to panic as she called 911 for the second time on a warm October day but couldn’t get through. She anxiously watched the plume of black smoke pouring over her rural community in central California get larger.Then she heard a familiar ping.Watch Duty, an app that alerts users of wildfire risk and provides critical information about blazes as they unfold, had already registered the fire. She relaxed

Cruz Hewitt unfazed by hype and Kyrgios jokes before Australian Open

The teenager long ago outgrew his legendary father, has been prominent at the Davis Cup, and has already sparked an off-court controversy with Nick Kyrgios. Yet Cruz Hewitt hasn’t yet made his formal Australian Open debut.The son of Lleyton and Bec Hewitt is just 16, but at 1.88m (6ft 2in) already towers over Australia’s Davis Cup captain and two-time grand slam winner. And despite ranking in the 1,200s and with just six ATP rankings points to his name (the world No 1, Jannik Sinner, has 11,830), Hewitt has already become the talking point in the grand slam’s opening week

‘We can’t just have one superstar’: Ilona Maher wants greater focus on others to grow rugby

Bristol Bears’ new high-profile recruit Ilona Maher says while she loves being a superstar, rugby needs much more than solely her presence for the sport to continue to grow.Maher, who is the most followed rugby player on social media, made her debut for Premiership Women’s Rugby club Bristol in their 40-17 defeat by Gloucester-Hartpury on Sunday in front of a record 9,240 crowd. The game was moved to Ashton Gate because of high ticket demand due to Maher’s presence.The 28-year-old said: “Right now it seems like just Ilona Maher, we need to get her in this and this. That is where I would love to bring these teammates up