Coming to fame in The Goodies, Oddie was later known for his wildlife expertise and presented BBC Springwatch
Bill Oddie: the comedy legend tragically undervalued by the BBC
Bill Oddie – a life in pictures
The writer, comedian and conservationist Bill Oddie has died aged 85. Having come to prominence with the comedy group The Goodies, Oddie later established himself as an authority on wildlife, presenting television series including the BBC’s Springwatch and Autumnwatch.
Oddie’s agent paid tribute to his “intelligence and wit”. In a statement, David Foster said: “It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of Bill Oddie, the country’s best-loved birder. Bill was a multitalented celebrity – wildlife presenter, broadcaster, comedian, writer, songwriter, musician and conservationist. Yet it was never fame that he valued.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
07/27/2026 - 03:15
Firefighters in France and Spain face another day battling wildfires, as another heatwave set to hit this week
‘It felt like being in a disaster movie’: inside the evacuation from France’s Bordeaux wildfires
Provisional data on wildfires in Spain shows that more than 170,000 hectares of forest land have been affected since the beginning of the year – a nearly sixfold increase on the almost 29,000 recorded in the same period in 2025.
35 major fires have been recorded so far, up from just 11 last year.
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07/27/2026 - 02:00
Government move follows months of drought and crop failures in Karamoja, with 1.5m people facing malnutrition
Uganda has launched emergency food relief distribution after at least 19 deaths from hunger were reported in an area of prolonged drought in the east of the country.
A crisis has been building in the Karamoja region of Uganda as crops have failed without the season’s expected rains, leaving the region’s 1.5 million people facing acute food shortages and rising malnutrition.
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07/27/2026 - 00:30
BirdLife Australia says discoveries of sick and dead local seabirds in South Australia show outbreak is ‘taking hold’
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South Australia has reported seven new suspected cases of deadly H5 bird flu, with experts warning it could be a sign the disease has begun spreading through local bird populations.
All seven birds are greater crested terns – a common local seabird – and were found on the Limestone Coast in south-eastern SA, with one found at Cape Jaffa, five around Southend Jetty near Beachport and one at Port MacDonald, just over 20km from the Victorian border.
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07/26/2026 - 23:00
Airports in England and Wales are likely to lose millions of passengers if third runway goes ahead, DfT economic paper shows
Expanding Heathrow airport will take thousands of jobs from other regions of the UK, including almost 10,000 from the West Midlands alone, according to an analysis of the government’s own forecasts.
An economic paper published by the Department for Transport last month shows that airports in England and Wales are likely to lose millions of passengers if Heathrow builds a third runway, in a significant blow to regional jobs.
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07/26/2026 - 19:04
Southern and central states from California to Mississippi face heat indexes above 100F amid another heat dome
At least 40 million people were under extreme heat warnings across central and southern parts of the United States on Sunday as high temperatures and severe humidity gripped large swaths of the country for a second straight day.
Heat indexes well above 100F (38C) stretched from Minnesota down to Mississippi, extending west into southern California and Nevada. Parts of the south-west were expected to see highs of 120F (49C), according to the National Weather Service.
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07/26/2026 - 12:51
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07/26/2026 - 12:09
Exclusive: Party says housing stock ‘woefully unprepared’ for extreme heat and new rules for builders must be set
All new UK homes should be built with air conditioning to cope with the effects of the climate crisis, according to the Liberal Democrats.
The party says British homes are dangerously unsuited to rising temperatures, meaning passive cooling measures such as planting more trees in residential areas are necessary.
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07/26/2026 - 11:00
Exclusive: Foreign secretary to take up World Bank seat and play active role in shaping changes to global lender
Britain’s foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, is to indicate he will put the climate crisis and overseas development at the heart of UK international relations by taking up the country’s seat on the board at the World Bank.
The position, which is usually delegated to a junior minister, means Miliband will play an active role in shaping the changes to the World Bank that developing countries have called for, and ensuring the climate remains a core focus for overseas aid.
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07/26/2026 - 08:18
Giant sequoias are built to withstand ordinary fires, but recent extreme wildfires killed thousands of trees that had survived for centuries or even millennia. A new analysis of about 26,400 sequoias found that trees in areas treated with prescribed burns were nearly four times more likely to survive. Researchers estimate the controlled fires prevented about 1,900 deaths and could have saved thousands more if used across every grove.
