Free Republic

Environmentalists are threatening legal action in an attempt to halt the development of a new gasfield in the North Sea that has been given the green light by the UK government. Climate experts reacted with anger after the government announced it had given the Jackdaw field, to be developed by the oil multinational Shell, “final regulatory approval” on Wednesday. The business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, said: “Jackdaw gasfield – originally licensed in 1970 – has today received final regulatory approval. We’re turbocharging renewables and nuclear but we are also realistic about our energy needs now. Let’s source more of the gas...

Bamboo-wielding guards at the royal palace in Stockholm have damaged a portrait of the first Bernadotte king while in hot pursuit of a renegade jackdaw, TV4 reports. The jackdaw snuck into the royal cabinet meeting room via an open chimney. Royal guards, who were armed with bamboo sticks, chased the bird into the room as it flew directly at the painting. In their attempts to apprehend the flying fugitive, the guards ripped a hole in Fredric Westin's 1838 portrait of Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, who reigned as King Karl XIV of Sweden February 5, 1818 until his death on March 8, 1844....