UKRAINE - The blowing of the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (KHPP) by the Russian state is, quite simply, an act of terror by this terrorist state. With his army failing, his air force stuck in its hangars, it would appear Putin is prepared to do almost anything to cling on to the Russian occupied areas of Ukraine and his throne in the Kremlin. This is another war crime to add to the growing list, a list that includes the unlawful deportation of children – something that led to the International Criminal Court to issue a warrant for his arrest.

GERMANY - Of four major global powers, Germany remained the top-rated one for the sixth consecutive year in 2022. Across 137 countries, median approval of German leadership stood at 46% last year. Even though this is down from a 50% rating in 2021, it remains higher than approval of the US (41%) and well clear of ratings for China (28%) and Russia (21%).

GERMANY - The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is riding high in the polls to the alarm of mainstream parties and is on track to win three state votes in the east of the country with calls to stop migration and curb what it sees as a costly green agenda.

• Far-right AfD support now around record of 17-19%.
• Migration debate moves up the mainstream agenda.
• AfD could win three east German states in 2024.
• Rise of AfD vote complicates coalition building.
• Government says AfD helped by crises that are easing.

SWEDEN - A baby boy carried in a uterus implanted into his mother by a robot was born in a world first. The youngster, who has not been named, weighed six pounds and 13 ounces when he was born via planned C-section in Sweden last month. Both the child and his 35-year-old mother are doing well. The pregnancy was made possible when a family member agreed to donate their uterus to the mother, who then had a fertilized egg implanted into it via IVF. The case marks the first time robots have been used for the procedure. It will give hope to the tens of thousands of American women who don't have a uterus — which can be due to cancer or a medical condition — or have one unable to carry infants.

GERMANY - The head of a facility that carries out so-called “gender-affirming care” has published a study confirming that transgender surgeries do not improve mental health and make people feel lonelier than those who avoided surgical intervention altogether. “In our study, the level of life satisfaction in transgender people was not increased in transgender people who had undergone gender-affirming surgery as compared to those who were unoperated,” says a study published Tuesday in BMC Public Health, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

CANADA - Wildfires continue to burn large tracts of forest in Canada, with little sign that weather will provide much help to firefighters who are battling the blazes that are sending smoke over New York and other major cities. More than 400 forest fires are still active across the country, and most of them are out of control. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada is living through its “worst wildfire season” in recorded history during a briefing with journalists in Ottawa on Wednesday. Wildfires are poised to burn more land than ever in Canada, with over 3.8 million hectares (9.4 million acres) scorched so far, according to the Canadian National Fire Database. That’s about double the size of New Jersey.

USA - To put it not-so-simply, terf or TERF stands for 'trans-exclusionary radical feminist'. Otherwise known as someone who supposedly stands for women’s rights, while only considering people who were assigned female at birth to be women. This means they don't consider transgender women to be women. So, to avoid all the confusion about slurs and names, let’s stop using the term TERFs and call them what they actually are – anti-trans activists. Giving them any association with feminism would be wrong, especially as many of their organisations are funded by anti-abortion and evangelical groups, and they rarely speak about anything other than denying trans people’s existence.

USA - House Republicans are set to repudiate US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for telling other countries that the US is on board with a global tax initiative aimed at punishing global corporations. All 25 Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee have co-authored the Defending American Jobs and Investment Act (HR 3665), which would impose retaliatory taxes on countries that impose harsh taxes on American companies. This bill doesn’t come out of nowhere, however. It’s a direct response to Yellen telling global leaders that the US would like to take part in the global tax – one that would benefit European companies and punish American ones.

UK - I'm no stranger to the bile spewed at feminists like me by trans-activists online, but the Oxfam video I watched yesterday left me deeply disturbed. It is a vile, misogynistic attack against JK Rowling, simply because she has so bravely championed the rights of biological women. And it speaks volumes about Oxfam, a charity which still trumpets its primary purpose as a desire to 'help end poverty' but which today is captured to such an extent by extreme political ideology and trans-lunacy that it is no longer fit for purpose.

UK - For more than a decade, climate change skeptics have been sounding the alarm about the not-so-distant consequences of the global push for renewable energy, particularly solar panels. Their concerns, too often dismissed or overlooked, are now making headlines. A recent BBC podcast, “The Climate Question,” raises serious issues about the lifespan and end-of-life management of solar panels, issues that we have been echoing for years.

UKRAINE - A torrent of water burst through a massive dam on the Dnipro River that separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine on Tuesday, flooding a swathe of the war zone, forcing villagers to flee and prompting finger-pointing from both sides. Ukraine said Russia had committed a deliberate war crime in blowing up the Soviet-era Nova Kakhovka dam, which powered a hydroelectric station. The Kremlin blamed Ukraine, saying it was trying to distract from the launch of a major counteroffensive Moscow says is faltering.

IRAN - IRAN unveiled its first ever hypersonic ballistic missile today in a chilling threat to the West. Dubbed "Fattah", the 3,800mph rocket was unveiled by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards at a grand ceremony attended by President Ebrahim Rahisi. Tehran claims the new instrument of death can even bypass the most high-tech of air defences by travelling five times the speed of sound. Iranian state media said Fattah - meaning "Victory" - can target "the enemy's advanced anti-missile systems and is a big generational leap in the field of missiles". "It can bypass the most advanced anti-ballistic missile systems of the United States and... Israel's Iron Dome," Iran's state TV said as it broadcast what appeared to be a model of the missile.

ISRAEL - With imported sacrificial cows, ancient hymns and growing support, some nationalist Jews hope to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem's Old City, at a site at the heart of Israeli-Palestinian tensions. [There is also the Orthodox Jewish view that only the Messiah can establish the Third Temple]. In a suburb of Tel Aviv, a group of choristers were getting ready for the moment they will rejoice at the reconstruction of the Jewish temple some 2,000 years after its destruction, which they believe will accelerate the arrival of the Messiah. But for others, realising their goal would massively inflame tensions around the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

UK - Here in the UK, diabetes' rates have hit record levels and cancers in young people are rising steeply. According to the BBC's investigation programme, there's growing evidence suggesting that such chronic illnesses could be linked with the food that we eat. Ultra-processed foods are products that typically have five or more ingredients. They tend to include many additives and ingredients that are not typically used in home cooking, such as preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners, and artificial colours and flavours. These foods generally have a long shelf life. According to the British Heart Foundation charity, more than half of the energy or calories an average person in the UK eats and drinks comes from ultra-processed foods.

USA - Marburg is a hemorrhagic fever that kills the majority of the people it infects. Fortunately, no one in the United States has ever died from Marburg nor has any American ever been infected by the disease. The reason for this is not hard to understand. The virus is native to Africa and is transmitted to humans via monkeys and bats that live in that area. In other words, there is no evidence that Americans are at risk of contracting or dying from Marburg.