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A marine conservation photojournalist’s “magical” picture shining a light on the underwater world of a tadpole species has earned him the title of Wildlife Photographer Of The Year.

Shane Gross, from Canada, captured the western toad tadpoles while snorkelling through lily pads in Cedar Lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

He managed to snap a cloud of the amphibians, which are a near-threatened species due to habitat destruction and predators, while avoiding the visibility-reducing layers of silt and algae covering the bottom.

Titled The Swarm Of Life, the photograph has been crowned the winner of the Natural History Museum’s prestigious Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2024 competition out of a record-breaking 59,228 entries, from 117 countries and territories.

Kathy Moran, chair of the jury, said they were “captivated by the mix of light, energy and connectivity between the environment and the tadpoles”.

This is the first time the species has been featured in the competition, which is now in its 60th year, she added.

Life Under Dead Wood

Life Under Dead Wood.
Pic: Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, from Germany, was awarded the title of Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, for an up-close image featuring slime mould on the right, and a macroscopic animal called a springtail on the left, taken in Berlin.

Tinker-Tsavalas used a technique called focus stacking, combining 36 images with different areas of focus together.

Judges said it showed great skill and “incredible attention to detail, patience and perseverance”.

Here are some of the other category winners.

Free As A Bird – Alberto Roman Gomez, Spain (10 and under)

Free As A Bird - Alberto Roman Gomez/ Wildlife Photographer Of The Year

Alberto watched from the window of his father’s car at the edge of the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park, in Cadiz, Andalusia, to take this picture – managing to capture the stonechat bird as it was perched, between trips to gather insects.

An Evening Meal – Parham Pourahmad, USA (11-14)

An Evening Meal.
Pic:Parham Pourahmad/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Parham visited the Ed R Levin County Park in Milpitas, California, most weekends over a summer to take photographs showing the wildlife living in a busy city park. This picture shows a young Cooper’s hawk eating a squirrel in the last rays of sunset.

Frontier of the Lynx – Igor Metelskiy, Russia

Frontier of the Lynx.
Pic: Igor Metelskiy/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

A lynx stretches in the early evening sunshine in the Lazovsky District in Primorsky Krai, Russia. The remote location and changing weather conditions meant access was tricky, and it took more than six months of waiting for Metelskiy to capture the image of the elusive animal.

On Watch – John E Marriott, Canada

On Watch.
Pic: John E Marriott/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

This image also features a lynx, this one with its fully grown young sheltering from the wind behind it. Marriott had tracked the family group for almost a week through snowy forests in Yukon.

Practice Makes Perfect – Jack Zhi, USA

Practice Makes Perfect 
Pic: Jack Zhi/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

A young falcon practises its hunting skills on a butterfly above its sea-cliff nest. This was taken in an area in Los Angeles, California, visited by Zhi over the past eight years.

A Tranquil Moment – Hikkaduwa Liyanage Prasantha Vinod, Sri Lanka

A Tranquil Moment.
Pic: Hikkaduwa Liyanage Prasantha Vinod/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

This picture shows a young toque macaque sleeping in an adult’s arms, taken after a morning of photographing birds and leopards at the Wilpattu National Park. Vinod spotted a troop of the macaques moving through trees above, and used a telephoto lens to frame this moment as a young monkey slept between feeds.

Wetland Wrestle – Karine Aigner, USA

Wetland Wrestle.
Pic: Karine Aigner/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Karine Aigner was leading a tour group when she noticed an odd shape in the water along the Transpantaneira Highway, in Mato Grosso, Brazil – binoculars confirmed she was looking at a flash of a yellow anaconda, coiling itself around the snout of a yacare caiman.

The Demolition Squad – Ingo Arndt, Germany

The Demolition Squad.
Pic: Ingo Arndt/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Arndt’s image shows the dismemberment of a blue ground beetle by red wood ants – carving the dead animal into pieces tiny enough to fit through the entrance to their nest in Hessen, Germany.

The Artful Crow – Jiri Hrebicek, Czech Republic

The Artful Crow
Pic: Jiri Hrebicek/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

This perching carrion crow, pictured in Basel, Switzerland, looks almost like an impressionist painting, judges said. To create the effect, Hrebicek moved his camera in different directions, while using a long shutter speed.

Under the Waterline – Matthew Smith, UK/Australia

Under the Waterline 
Pic: Matthew Smith/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Smith used a specially made extension he designed for the front of his underwater camera housing to create this split image of a leopard seal beneath the Antarctic ice in Paradise Harbour. The young seal made several close, curious passes, he said. “When it looked straight into the lens barrel, I knew I had something good.”

Tiger in Town – Robin Darius Conz, Germany

Tiger in Town.
Pic: Robin Darius Conz/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

A tiger sits on a hillside against the backdrop of a town where forests once grew in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India. Conz was following the big cat as part of a documentary team filming the wildlife of the Western Ghats.

Dusting for New Evidence – Britta Jaschinski, Germany/UK

Dusting for New Evidence
Pic: Britta Jaschinski/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Jaschinski spent time at the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) border force department, where confiscated animal products are tested. This image shows a crime scene investigator from London’s Met Police dusting for prints on a confiscated tusk at Heathrow Airport.

Dolphins of the Forest – Thomas Peschak, Germany/South Africa

Dolphins of the Forest.
Pic: Thomas Peschak/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Peschak documents the relationship between endangered Amazon river dolphins, which are also known as botos or pink river dolphins, and the people with whom they share their home in the waters of both Brazil and Colombia.

The Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2024 exhibition opens at the Natural History Museum, London, on Friday 11 October

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‘Daylight robbery of land – sanctioned by Israeli authorities’: Inside ‘terrorised’ West Bank village

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'Daylight robbery of land - sanctioned by Israeli authorities': Inside 'terrorised' West Bank village

What’s unfolding in the Palestinian village of Ras al-Ayn is more than a land dispute – according to human rights groups, it is the systematic displacement of an entire community.

Activists on the ground report a surge in violence and intimidation by Israeli settlers aimed at driving Palestinian families from their homes.

Footage captured by Rachel Abramovitz, a member of the group Looking The Occupation In The Eye, shows activists trying to block settlers from seizing control of the village centre.

Palestinians are being pushed out by settlers in the West Bank
Palestinians say they are being forced off their land by intimidation
Image:
Palestinians say they are being forced off their land by intimidation

“They gradually invade the community and expand. The goal is to terrorise people, to make them flee,” Ms Abramovitz said.

Our visit comes as Israel said it would establish 22 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank – including new settlements and the legalisation of outposts already built without government authorisation.

The settler movement traces back to 1967, when Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War.

Settlements began as small, often unofficial outposts. Over the decades, they’ve grown into towns and cities with state-provided infrastructure, roads, and security.

More on Benjamin Netanyahu

Today, 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in communities considered illegal under international law – a designation Israel disputes.

Since the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023 and Israel’s subsequent 19-month military bombardment of Gaza, violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has escalated sharply.

According to the UN and human rights groups such as B’Tselem, the overwhelming number of these attacks are carried out with impunity, further pressuring Palestinians to flee.

Salaam Ka'abneh says they face daily assaults
Image:
Salaam Ka’abneh says they face daily assaults

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Nine of Gazan doctor’s children killed

Salaam Ka’abneh, a lifelong resident of the Bedouin village of Ras al-Ayn in the Jordan Valley, says his family has lived on the land for more than 50 years. He fears they could be forced to leave.

Mr Ka’abneh said: “About a year and four months ago, settlers cut off our access to water and grazing land. They also stole more than 2,000 sheep from us in the Tel Al-Auja compound. We face daily assaults, day and night.

“They terrorise our children and women, throwing stones, firing bullets, and creating chaos with their vehicles. We are under siege. We no longer have access to pasture or water, and our sheep remain caged.”

Gaza: Fight for Survival Sky News teaser/promo image

Footage from the area shows settlers driving freely through Palestinian communities, some armed.

While the Israeli army officially governs Area C of the West Bank, where Ras al-Ayn is located, human rights groups say settler violence almost always goes unchecked.

Under international law, an occupying power is obligated to protect civilians under its control. But Sarit Michaeli of B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, says Israel is failing to uphold its responsibility.

“Israel doesn’t hold settlers accountable. On the contrary – settlers know that if they act violently, they’ll receive support from all branches of the government. There’s full impunity. In fact, it’s more accurate to say settlers function as a branch of the government.

“It’s daylight robbery of land – sanctioned by Israeli authorities,” Michaeli continues.

“And it amounts to ethnic cleansing – displacing large parts of the Palestinian population to make the area available for Israeli use.”

To understand more, we travelled to a hilltop outpost occupied by settlers overlooking Salaam’s village. But we did not get far. Our car was quickly surrounded, and the atmosphere turned hostile.

His family has lived on the land for more than 50 years, but Salaam Ka'abneh fears they could be forced to leave
Image:
Salaam Ka’abneh and his family has lived on the land for more than 50 years

It was clear: we were not welcome. We left with no answers but with a deeper understanding of the fear these Palestinian communities live with daily.

International pressure is growing. The British government recently imposed sanctions on several settlers, including Daniella Weiss.

Read more from Sky News:
Key events since 7 October Hamas-led attack
Hamas’ Gaza chief ‘eliminated’

Known as the ‘godmother’ of the settler movement, Weiss has been a key figure in expanding settlements across the West Bank.

“There will never be a Palestinian state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. Never,” Weiss declares. “We annex with facts on the ground. The goal is to block any possibility of a Palestinian state in the heartland of Israel.

“If Netanyahu wanted to stop me, he could.”

The Israeli government calls allegations of ethnic cleansing “baseless and without foundation”.

But human rights groups argue that what’s happening in the West Bank has gone far beyond creeping annexation.

Palestinian land is rapidly being consumed by settlements, military zones, and settler outposts – shrinking the space in which a future Palestinian state might one day exist.

You can watch a Sky News special programme on the conflict in Gaza on TV and mobile, at 9pm UK time, on Thursday.

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US trade court blocks Donald Trump from imposing sweeping global tariffs – claiming he ‘exceeded his authority’

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US trade court blocks Donald Trump from imposing sweeping global tariffs - claiming he 'exceeded his authority'

A trade court in the US has blocked President Donald Trump from imposing sweeping global tariffs on imports.

The ruling from a three-judge panel at the Court of International Trade came after several lawsuits arguing Trump has exceeded his authority, left U.S. trade policy dependent on his whims and unleashed economic chaos.

“The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs,” the court wrote, referring to the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The White House is yet to respond.

The Trump administration is expected to appeal.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

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Trump doubles down on Putin criticism – as Russia offers Ukraine a date and location for peace talks

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Trump doubles down on Putin criticism - as Russia offers Ukraine a date and location for peace talks

Donald Trump has doubled down on his criticism of Vladimir Putin – adding he will know soon if the Russian leader is just “tapping” him along.

The US president told reporters at the White House that he believed his counterpart in Moscow may be intentionally delaying ceasefire talks, while he also expressed disappointment at heavy Russian bombing over the weekend.

While Mr Trump has so far stopped short of imposing sanctions – to avoid, he says, “screwing up” negotiations – he warned his stance could change.

Ukraine Q&A: Are we any closer to war ending?

The president said: “We’re going to find out whether or not he’s tapping us along or not, and if he is, we’ll respond a little differently,” adding that he “can’t tell you” if Mr Putin wanted peace.

Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters

His comments in the Oval Office came minutes after Russia’s foreign minister announced that the Kremlin had offered Ukraine a second round of talks on 2 June in Istanbul.

Kyiv did not immediately respond to the proposal, which Sergei Lavrov said would see Moscow hand their proposals for a potential peace deal directly to Ukraine.

“We hope that all those who are sincerely, and not just in words, interested in the success of the peace process will support holding a new round of direct Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul,” Mr Lavrov added.

Later on Wednesday, Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem Umerov said his government was “not against” further meetings, but called for Russia to deliver its memorandum to Kyiv beforehand.

The words that suggest Russia’s proposal for talks are just for show

By being the first to propose a date and location for the second round of direct talks, Russia is trying to portray itself as the principal driver towards peace.

Its recent barrage of attacks on Ukraine have drawn harsh words from Donald Trump.

This is an attempt to soothe his concerns and to show Washington that Moscow is still interested in a deal.

But it feels much more performative than anything else, because Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s statement makes it clear that Russia’s position hasn’t softened one bit.

Referring to a memorandum outlining the contours of a settlement, he said it details “all aspects of reliably overcoming the root causes of the crisis”.

In Moscow’s opinion, the “root causes” of the conflict were NATO expansion and the persecution of Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.

So, if that’s the basis of its memorandum, then the document will essentially be a list of Moscow’s maximalist demands, including permanent neutrality for Ukraine.

Lavrov also confirmed that Russia’s delegation will again be led by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, who Kyiv last time dismissed as being too junior for the talks to achieve anything meaningful.

Expectations of a breakthrough at round two will be similarly low.

Meanwhile, Mr Lavrov also hit out at Germany for agreeing to finance the production of long-range missiles in Ukraine, accusing Berlin of showing it is “already a participant in the war”.

However, German leader Friedrich Merz declined to say that his country would hand over the Taurus missiles that Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy – who was in Berlin on Wednesday – has long wanted.

Ukraine’s need for ammunition has become all the more urgent after Russia launched some of the largest aerial assaults of the war so far over the weekend.

Read more:
Would ‘smart’ missiles allow Ukraine to hit key bridge?
Lavrov accuses West of secrecy over strikes

Russia said it had downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions overnight, while Ukraine said it had struck several weapon production sites.

Kyiv, in turn, said Moscow had launched 88 drones and five ballistic missiles since Tuesday.

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