USA - Why should we not just blindly trust science? Prior to the 14th Century Astronomers thought the Earth was the center of the universe, because, well, that's what the church wanted, and spent hundreds of years of scientific research on the theory of Epicycles; which holds the record for longest running scientific goof!

UK - As a safe, widely available, and affordable treatment, Vitamin D may help to reduce the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vitamin D insufficiency affects almost 50% of the population worldwide. Vitamin D supplements may have been helpful not only for treatment and prevention of Covid-19 treatment, but a host of other chronic illnesses. It was a win/win for the patients to get more sunshine and Vitamin D supplements, but arguably, a loss for public health professionals and the pharmaceutical industry that had gone into overdrive pushing a ‘vaccines or nothing’ Covid response.

ISRAEL - A small group of Jewish men clad in black and white stood in a quiet nook of Judaism’s holiest site one recent morning, gently rocking and murmuring prayers before Israeli police motioned for them to move on. Such a scene would have resulted in arrests just a few years ago for violating a long-standing unofficial agreement between Israel and Islamic religious authorities, which forbids non-Muslims from praying on the site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. But after a decades long campaign to change the unwritten rules, called the “status quo,” Jewish prayer has become more common — and under a new Israeli government could soon become routine.

IRAN - Iran's navy is set to station warships for the first time in the Panama Canal, a critical trade route in America's backyard that has never before seen an Iranian military presence. This is what Iran has been building in Latin America for the past 30 or 40 years by establishing embassies and bilateral agreements with a host of nations.

USA - Overall, 133 senators and representatives today identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian American, American Indian, or Alaska Native. The number has nearly doubled in the two decades since the 108th Congress of 2003-05. A quarter of voting members of the US Congress identify their race or ethnicity as something other than non-Hispanic White, making the 118th Congress the most racially and ethnically diverse to date. This continues a long-running trend toward more racial and ethnic diversity on Capitol Hill: This is the seventh Congress to break the record set by the one before it.

UK - A quarter of all British soldiers are ‘dangerously’ overweight or obese, according to statistics seen by the Mail on Sunday, fueling a growing health crisis in the ranks. Nearly 40,000 of the 145,000 members of the UK military have been classified as overweight in the last five years. The alarming statistic “represents a failure of leadership among those responsible for ensuring troops under their command remain fit and healthy and ready to fight,” former British commander Colonel Richard Kemp told the Mail.

USA - The US Army will reportedly cancel weight limits for its troops, allowing obese soldiers stay in the service and continue to be eligible for promotions if they score well enough on their physical fitness tests. The rule change was revealed on Wednesday by the Army’s highest-ranking enlisted leader, Sergeant Major Michael Grinston, according to Military.com. Speaking to soldiers at an Army conference in Washington, Grinston said, “If you score high on the ACFT (Army Combat Fitness Test), you should be good.”

VATICAN - In his January 8 sermon on the family, Father Chad Ripperger, a Catholic priest and exorcist, explained that "transgenderism" is a direct attack "on "motherhood," and added that "the entire feminist movement is an assault on motherhood." While discussing marriage and how it is under constant attack by our culture, Father Ripperger said, “Things like transgenderism is a full-blown attack against motherhood. People usually don’t put it together. Why is it an attack on motherhood?"

USA - Storms have not let up in California over the past few weeks, causing widespread flooding and leading many to believe that the state’s ongoing drought may be coming to an end soon. However, officials announced Tuesday that it may take much more rain and snow for that to happen. “California is experiencing coincidentally both a drought emergency and a flood emergency,” said Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources.

USA - Multi-million dollar beach homes battered by winds, cars swallowed up by sinkholes, and over a dozen people killed - after weeks of extreme storms, California is at a breaking point. The state's famously sunny southern coast has been battered by storm after storm since the December holidays, eroding roads, felling trees and causing landslides. More than 22 million people are currently under flood watch, according to the National Weather Service - almost as many as the population of Australia - and thousands have had to evacuate.

USA - As another powerful storm walloped California, a 5-year-old boy was swept away by floodwaters Monday on the state’s central coast and an entire seaside community that is home to Prince Harry, Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities was ordered to evacuate on the fifth anniversary of deadly mudslides there.

UK - Families and businesses were forced to flee homes and premises yesterday as floodwaters left Tewkesbury and its 12th-century abbey marooned. Images show the medieval market town in Gloucestershire, where the rivers Severn and Avon meet, surrounded by water like Holy Island in the North Sea. The latest weather emergency for the flood-prone Cotswolds beauty spot came as the number of alerts in England, Scotland and Wales rose to 166 this week – including 29 red warnings. The Met Office is also issuing yellow alerts for 50mph-plus winds across the North. Meanwhile, data shows that Europe had its hottest summer and its second-warmest year on record in 2022. The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said autumn was the continent’s third hottest on record.

SOUTH AFRICA - The South African Weather Service has cautioned people to keep hydrated and out of the sun as four provinces experience a heat wave. Weather forecaster Mbavhi Maliage said parts of the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Free State would be experiencing temperatures as high as 40ºC. By this afternoon (Wednesday), Upington in the Northern Cape had reached 41ºC, with temperatures expecting to rise to 42ºC tomorrow (Thursday). In Bloemfontein the temperatures have peaked at 34ºC and are expected to climb to 35 tomorrow.

TUNISIA - Three years of drought have dried up Tunisian reservoirs, threatening harvests that are critical to the North African country's battered economy and pushing the government to raise tap water prices for homes and businesses. Since September only 110 million cubic meters of rain fell in Tunisia, about a fifth of the normal rate, and officials in the farmers union and the main trade union warn that grain crops will suffer - adding to existing problems of food supply.

TURKEY - The Turkish State Meteorological Service has declared a “yellow alert” warning for 11 provinces, mostly in the south and west of the country, warning citizens to be careful and cautious against the possibilities of floods, lightning, landslides, and strong winds. The latest weather report of the bureau said the wind will blow strong in the western Mediterranean as of today, suggesting that it will continue until January 14.