Latest news

Climate threatGlobal challenges  

Winter heat throughout Europe: "Most extreme ever" 

Unusually high winter temperatures have marked Europe over the New Year's weekend, AP reports.  

The central parts of the continent, from France to Poland, have experienced double-digit plus degrees in recent days. Thousands of monthly records have been broken in several countries – in southern Germany several weather stations measured 20 degrees.  

In popular ski resorts in the Alps, large patches of grass and earth can be seen in many places instead of snow cover.  

Climatologist Maximiliano Herrera, who maps extreme temperatures, does not mince words. - We can consider this as the most extreme event in the history of Europe, he tells The Guardian. 

 Illustration image. Alastair Grant / AP  

The coronavirus infection in Great Britain  

Chaos in British care: "Worse than the peak of the pandemic" 

Influenza, covid and nurses' strikes mean that the British healthcare system is in a much worse crisis than during the peak of the covid pandemic, several high-ranking representatives have told Sky News.  

Matthew Taylor, head of the industry body NHS Confederation, says most care managers he speaks to say it's the worst winter they've experienced. 

- Most parts of the healthcare system are under unbearably high pressure and this means that we cannot provide care as usual.  

Adrian Boyle, who heads the UK's Association of Emergency Medical Practitioners, says between 300 and 500 Britons die every week due to queues in A&E.  

Hope Hicks. Andrew Harnik/AP  

The Storming of the Capitol  

SMS shows the anger in Trump's circle: "So damn angry"  

Newly released documents from the special committee investigating the storming of the Capitol provide examples of the anger within Trump's staff during the events of January 6, CNN reports.  

Among the documents is a text message conversation between Julie Radford and Hope Hicks, who at the time were Trump's daughter Ivanka's chief of staff and the president's communications adviser, respectively. 

“We all look like domestic terrorists now. This has made us unemployable [...] God, I'm getting so mad," writes Hicks. 

Radford agrees, suggesting that she has already been dismissed by a potential new employer.  

Hicks broke with Trump after the events, and is one of the few former staffers to testify before the committee. 

Zelenskyj/Bombat house in Kyiv. AP 

The Russian InvasionThe Battles  

Zelenskyj: They are planning a long drone campaign  

Russia is planning an attrition campaign with Iranian drones to wear out Ukraine's residents, air defenses and power grid, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, according to Reuters.  

- We have information that Russia is planning a protracted attack with Shahed drones, he says in his daily video speech.  

Over the New Year weekend, Russia has bombed a large number of Ukrainian cities for several days in a row. Several people have been killed and dozens injured.