Russia has called a plan for European troops to be deployed to Ukraine “dangerous”, dousing hopes for a speedy end to the near four-year war. European leaders and US envoys announced this week that postwar guarantees for Ukraine would include a US-led monitoring mechanism and a European multinational force to be deployed once the fighting stops. But Moscow has repeatedly warned it would not accept any Nato members sending such troops to Ukraine. “All such units and facilities will be considered legitimate military targets for the Russian armed forces,” Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday, repeating a threat previously made by Vladimir Putin. Describing the plan as “dangerous” and “destructive”, she accused Kyiv’s allies of forming an “axis of war”.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz said a ceasefire in Ukraine was still “quite far” away given Russia’s position. “The order must be: first a ceasefire, then security guarantees for Ukraine for a long-term agreement with Russia,” Merz told reporters on Thursday. “All of this is impossible without Russia’s consent, which we are probably still quite far from.”

The US embassy in Kyiv warned on Thursday that a “potentially significant air attack” could occur at any time within the next several days. Volodymyr Zelenskyy echoed the warning in his evening address, telling Ukrainians that “there may be another massive Russian attack” during the night, without elaborating. “It is very important to pay attention to air raid alerts,” the Ukrainian president added, advising Ukrainians to take shelter when asked.

Two people were injured in a shooting involving a federal agent in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, according to authorities.

The incident came a short time after an ICE officer allegedly shot and killed a woman in her car in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sparking outrage and backlash against the presence of federal agents there. Similarly, the mayor of Portland called for immigration enforcement operations to halt while the investigation is ongoing.

In both cases, federal officials said the motorists tried to ram agents, who fired defensive shots.

The world’s oceans absorbed colossal amounts of heat in 2025, setting yet another new record and fuelling more extreme weather, scientists have reported.

More than 90% of the heat trapped by humanity’s carbon pollution is taken up by the oceans. This makes ocean heat one of the starkest indicators of the relentless march of the climate crisis, which will only end when emissions fall to zero. Almost every year since the start of the millennium has set a new ocean heat record.

This extra heat makes the hurricanes and typhoons hitting coastal communities more intense, causes heavier downpours of rain and greater flooding, and results in longer marine heatwaves, which decimate life in the seas. The rising heat is also a major driver of sea level rise via the thermal expansion of seawater, threatening billions of people.

Reliable ocean temperature measurements stretch back to the mid-20th century, but it is likely the oceans are at their hottest for at least 1,000 years and heating faster than at any time in the past 2,000 years.

Google says it's rolling out a new feature called 'AI Inbox,' which summarizes all your emails, but the company promises it won't train its models on your emails.

Come on yall, we can do better. We can control this one tiny part of our lives. We can use the right format.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/41471906

This work turns what would otherwise be an agricultural liability into a potential input for advanced manufacturing.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7288381

If you call yourself a leftist but you're bothered by "Death to AmeriKKKa", then you don't hate AmeriKKKa ENOUGH.

X’s sexual deepfake machine is still running, despite Grok saying otherwise.

Archived version: https://archive.is/20260109131721/https://www.theverge.com/news/859309/grok-undressing-limit-access-gaslighting

One of Australia's biggest art festivals is facing a backlash and calls for a boycott after its organisers announced that it would cancel the scheduled appearance of a prominent Palestinian-Australian author and scholar, citing concerns about "cultural sensitivity" in the wake of the Bondi Beach attack.

The Adelaide Festival board said in a statement on Thursday that its members “do not wish to proceed” with Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah's appearance, as it “would not be culturally sensitive… so soon after" the attack on a Hanukkah celebration that killed 15 people in December.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Abdel-Fattah called the move “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism”, rejecting the association between her and the Bondi massacre.

"The Board’s reasoning suggests that my mere presence is ‘culturally insensitive’; that I, a Palestinian who had nothing to do with the Bondi atrocity, am somehow a trigger for those in mourning and that I should therefore be persona non grata in cultural circles because my very presence as a Palestinian is threatening and ‘unsafe’," she continued in her statement.

Exclusive: SIK leader Jess Berthelsen rejects Trump claim that the US needs Greenland for ‘national security’

Greenland “will not be annexed”, the longtime leader of its largest labor union has declared, refuting Donald Trump’s claims that the Arctic territory’s current status poses a national security threat to the US.

In an interview with the Guardian, Jess Berthelsen, chair of SIK, Greenland’s national trade union confederation, said people in the territory do not recognize the US president’s allegations that Russian and Chinese ships are scattered throughout its waters. “We can’t see it, we can’t recognize it and we can’t understand it,” he said.

The Trump administration has renewed its threats to seize Greenland in recent days, and claimed that officials are even considering using military force as an option, following a raid in Venezuela that culminated in the arrest and ouster of the nation’s president Nicolás Maduro, and his wife Cilia Flores.