Emma Batha

From Athens to Delhi, soaring global temperatures are turning cities into infernos with deadly heatwaves putting lives and livelihoods at risk. 

Cities can be 5-10 degrees Celsius hotter than surrounding areas due to the urban heat island effect.

From fuel guzzled by fighter jets to wildfires sparked by shelling, the war in Ukraine has created vast amounts of planet-warming emissions, according to a new study that says Russia should pay for the damage to the global climate.

The first three years of conflict have generated almost 237 million metric tons of greenhouse gases (GHG), equivalent to putting 120 million fossil-fuel cars on the road, or the combined annual emissions of Belgium, Austria and Ireland, according to researchers.

After two years of conflict in Gaza, tens of thousands of Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed, 1.9 million people are displaced, and hundreds of thousands face starvation as famine spreads.

Israel launched its ground and air assault after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and seizing about 250 hostages.

Fifteen-year-old Palestinian Mahmoud Jamal Al-Attar set out to collect food from an Israeli-controlled distribution site in southern Gaza one day in August, but like many others he never made it back; he died after being shot in the chest.

The teenager is among hundreds of Gazans killed near aid hubs run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private Israeli and U.S.-backed outfit set up in May that bypasses the U.N. co-ordinated system that has long supported the enclave.

With soaring numbers of migrants arriving in Britain on small boats from France, the government is testing a new 'one in, one out' scheme to crack down on the illegal crossings.

However the first deportations - due to start Monday - were cancelled after last-minute legal challenges, according to media reports.

The use of hotels to house asylum seekers has become a major flashpoint in Britain as record numbers of people arrive in small boats from France and with broader tensions flaring over immigration.

More than 111,000 people claimed asylum in the year ending June 2025, a 14% rise on the previous 12 months.

U.S.-led aid cuts have increased the death toll in a devastating Afghan earthquake with hundreds dying from their injuries because nearby clinics have closed, aid workers say.

The dramatic fall in global aid has diminished stockpiles of emergency supplies, shrunk the pool of aid workers on hand and grounded a helicopter that could have helped remote communities, according to humanitarian agencies.

Britain's lawmakers have voted to decriminalise abortion following concerns over a growing number of police investigations into women ending late pregnancies.

While abortion has been legal for almost 60 years, women in England and Wales can be prosecuted if they terminate a pregnancy after 24 weeks under an 1861 law that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Millions of drugs used to treat debilitating and disfiguring tropical diseases risk going to waste after U.S. aid cuts stalled treatment campaigns, leaving vital medication to expire in warehouses.

Experts fear the funding crisis could sabotage hard-won progress in the global fight against conditions such as river blindness and intestinal worms that blight the world's poorest.

A record 383 aid workers were killed last year, according to new data, but humanitarian experts warned that fatalities could escalate as massive U.S. funding cuts force organisations to scale back security.

Overall, major violent incidents were up 36% compared to 2023, with another 308 aid workers injured and 125 kidnapped, according to the annual Aid Worker Security Report compiled by research group Humanitarian Outcomes.