2025 was UK’s warmest and sunniest year on record, says Met Office 02. January 2026 (14:36) Mean temperature for year was 10.09C, surpassing 2022 record, and 1,648.5 hours of sunshine were recorded2025 was the UK’s warmest and sunniest year on record, the Met Office has confirmed.The UK’s three hottest years on record have now all been in this decade, which meteorologists say is proof of a rapidly changing climate. All of the top 10 warmest years have happened in the past two decades. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Iranian officials warn Trump not to cross ‘red line’ over threats to intervene in protests 02. January 2026 (14:10) US president’s posts that US will come to the rescue of protesters prompt warnings of ‘regret-inducing response’Donald Trump has threatened to intervene in Iran if its government kills demonstrators, prompting warnings from senior Iranian officials that any American interference would cross a “red line”.In a social media post on Friday, Trump said that if Iran were to shoot and kill protesters, the US would “come to their rescue”. He added “we are locked and loaded, and ready to go”, without explaining what that might mean in practice. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Uber rewrites contracts with drivers to avoid paying UK’s new ‘taxi tax’ 02. January 2026 (14:08) Hailing app will now act as agent rather than supplier outside London, avoiding VAT requirement, although change is not permitted in LondonUber has swerved paying millions of pounds to the UK exchequer under Rachel Reeves’s new “taxi tax” after the ride-hailing app rewrote contracts with its drivers.The move came as rules announced in November’s budget took effect, which adjusted how VAT is payable on minicab fares and would have resulted in the whole Uber fare becoming subject to the 20% sales tax. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
What happened in the Crans-Montana bar fire in Switzerland – visual guide 02. January 2026 (14:07) While the cause of the disaster is still under investigation, videos and photos suggest the blaze spread quicklySwitzerland is reeling from one of its worst tragedies after a fire ripped through an Alpine bar during a New Year’s Eve celebration, leaving more than 40 people dead and dozens of others with serious burn injuries.While the cause of the disaster in the Crans-Montana luxury ski resort is still under investigation, video, photos and reports from witnesses suggest the blaze spread quickly across the ceiling of the packed club. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
China threatened to cancel key trade talks after UK minister’s Taiwan visit in June 02. January 2026 (14:00) Exclusive: diplomats had to scramble to contain fallout with Beijing after Douglas Alexander’s trip to TaipeiChina threatened to cancel high-level trade talks with the UK earlier this year over a government minister’s visit to Taiwan, the Guardian can disclose.Beijing told the British government it would pull its first trade and economic dialogue with the UK in seven years after Douglas Alexander, then a trade minister, travelled to Taipei in late June. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘It’s our turn’: gun-safety advocates are riding a ‘seismic’ wave to US legislatures 02. January 2026 (14:00) A once-toxic topic is helping survivors and relatives of victims get elected to enact the laws they helped draftA new generation of young political leaders is gaining power in the US by using their personal experience with gun violence to push for reforms they say the US is ready for.Their ascent is part of a nearly decade-long shift, from gun violence prevention being a third-rail issue in politics that was rarely spoken about on campaign trails, to one that candidates, most of them Democrats, are now running – and winning – on. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Crans-Montana fire survivors treated in burns units across Europe 02. January 2026 (13:35) Some of the injured taken to Belgium, France and Germany while Swiss officials try to identify the deadSwitzerland resort fire – latest updatesSurvivors of the catastrophic bar fire in the upmarket Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are being cared for in special burns units across Europe, while investigators say many of the dead were so badly burned that it could take days or weeks to identify them.About 40 people were killed and 115 injured when the blaze ripped through a New Year’s Eve celebration in the packed Constellation bar and basement nightclub. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Digested week: My resolution, for the world, is sunken living rooms 02. January 2026 (13:16) They’re cosy, civilised and different without disturbing things too much. Let’s do this!At last. I have been waiting a year for this moment. I must apologise to you all. Twelve months ago, in this very organ, nay in this very diary, I noted that we were now in the hazy, lazy, crazy days between Boxing Day and new year and thus wished you all a happy “Christmas perineum”. It should have been, of course, “Merryneum”. It has been bothering me ever since. I can only put it down to post-turkey malaise. If it helps, it is only while Googling around this subject to write this entry that I have realised that the nickname “taint” – for the fleshly rather than festive part under discussion – refers to the fact that “’t ain’t the front, ’t ain’t the back”. I think perhaps I knew this at some level but hadn’t consciously made the connection. Anyway. I offer the knowledge to you here in some kind of twisted act of contrition. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Sewage in drinking water blamed for at least 10 deaths in India’s ‘cleanest city’ 02. January 2026 (13:14) Hundreds hospitalised in Indore after public toilet built above water pipeline appears to have let sewage into supplySewage-contaminated drinking water is being blamed for killing at least 10 people, including a baby boy, and sending more than 270 others to hospital in Indore, ranked India’s “cleanest city” for the last eight years.Residents of a congested, lower-income neighbourhood in Indore, Madhya Pradesh’s commercial capital, had been warning authorities for months about foul-smelling tap water. Their complaints went unheeded, despite the city’s much-lauded ranking for waste segregation and other cleanliness measures. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Weather tracker: Cyclone Hayley brings intense wind and rain to Australia 02. January 2026 (12:54) Elsewhere, area of low pressure off Iberian peninsula brings heavy rainfall to southern Portugal and SpainAfter a recent heatwave affected large parts of Australia before Christmas, Cyclone Hayley made landfall along the north-west coast on Tuesday night. Hayley formed on 28 December in the southern Indian Ocean and steadily intensified on a path south towards the north coast of Western Australia.The system became a category 2 storm at its peak on Wednesday, with sustained winds of 105mph. After some weakening, Hayley crossed the Dampier peninsula near the town of Lombadina, still bringing intense winds and heavy rainfall. Hayley prompted a series of weather warnings from Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, noting the potential for flash flooding and damage to property. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
