In Pagliara dei Marsi, an ancient rural village on the slopes of Mount Girifalco in Italy’s Abruzzo region, cats vastly outnumber people. Lara Bussi Trabucco is the first baby to have been born in Pagliara dei Marsi in almost 30 years, bringing the village’s population to roughly 20. View image in fullscreen Pagliara dei Marsi, a village in the vertiginous west of Abruzzo, is undergoing drastic depopulation. The last time Pagliara dei Marsi had a teacher – whose home doubled-up as the school – was decades ago. Photograph: Roberto Salomone/The GuardianOrnella La Civita, a city councillor with the centre-left Democratic party, said financial incentives to encourage births were welcome.

Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, said that despite focus on the climate crisis drifting away among many politicians and activists, many Americans are grasping the connection between rising temperatures and rising bills. “If your kid has asthma, you should care about climate change. If you want to make money, you should care about climate change. If you like chocolate, you should care about climate change,” he said. “Looking at the long-term trajectory, there’s been a huge increase in the proportion of Americans who think climate change should be a priority for the president and Congress,” said Leiserowitz.

Le Nigeria évoque d’autres frappes lors d’opérations avec les USALe Nigeria annonce d’éventuelles nouvelles frappes contre des jihadistes après des attaques américaines de Noël, menées avec son accord. Abuja assure coopérer étroitement avec Washington.

2) Who has appeared in the main image of First Edition the most times in 2025? Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters13) What day does Martin Belam publish his weekly Guardian news quiz that this First Edition quiz of the year is loosely based on? a) Tuesdayb) WednesdayC) Thursday ✅d) FridayWillow (pictured, below), the very naughty miniature dachshund, is the official dog of the Thursday quiz. a) North West Sussexb) North West NorfolkC) North West Essex ✅d) North West BedfordshireShe was elected as an MP in 2017, when the seat was known as Saffron Walden. A) Your Party ✅b) Our Partyc) Their Partyd) Party McPartyfaceStick with what you know, eh?

It must be a long time since such a brazen flouting of international law was announced simply in an “In brief” paragraph in the print edition of the Guardian (Israel green-lights 19 new Jewish settlements, 22 December). Already Palestinian Christians describe living there as like being in a small prison inside a larger one. When will the international community wake up to the fact that Israel will continue to flagrantly face down international law until serious sanctions are brought to bear? Rev David HaslamEvesham, WorcestershireThank you, Jacqueline Noble, for reminding us that “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” (Letters, 17 December). Listen to others and give them your time to do whatever it is they wish to do.

Dans le cadre des négociations de paix avec la Russie, Volodymyr Zelensky va rencontrer Donald Trump dimanche en Floride pour discuter des territoires et des garanties de sécurité.

«Les décisions liées au drame de Tête Blanche ont été les plus difficiles» Christian Varone, 18 ans à la tête de la policeDepuis quinze jours, il multiplie les interventions médiatiques pour évoquer son départ à la retraite après dix-huit ans de commandement de la police cantonale. Le Saviésan Christian Varone boucle cet exercice médiatique avec «Le Nouvelliste».

Opérations humanitaires – Sur le terrain, les ONG suisses face aux coupes de l’ONU À l’heure du bilan 2025, les coupes dans le financement onusien ont redessiné l’aide humanitaire. Théophile Simon , Catherine MacherelL’aide humanitaire mondiale n’a été financée qu’à 27% en 2025, affectant des millions de personnes. S'abonner Se connecter BotTalkEn bref: Les coupes budgétaires américaines ont provoqué un déficit de 40 milliards de dollars pour l’ONU. En février, l’ administration Trump annonce de vastes coupes dans les contributions américaines au système onusien. Au total, le manque à gagner pour l’ONU et ses différentes agences a avoisiné les 40 milliards de dollars au cours de l’année.

The proposal offered another potential compromise on control of the Donbas region, which has been a major sticking point in peace negotiations. Washington and Kyiv have edged closer to a jointly agreed formula to end the war amid continuing uncertainty over Moscow’s response. Zelenskyy said he expected US negotiators to be in contact with the Kremlin on Wednesday. Odesa has been targeted with some of the heaviest strikes of the war in recent weeks, in what Ukrainian officials have slammed as an attempt to hobble Ukraine’s maritime network and its vital agricultural exports. The Pivdenny port in the region was temporarily closed on Wednesday to help with the clean-up.

Japan’s cabinet has approved a record high defence budget as tensions with China continue to spiral, with Beijing this week accusing Tokyo of “fuelling a space arms race”. The draft defence budget for the next fiscal year – approved on Friday – is more than ¥9tn ($58bn) and 9.4% bigger than the previous budget, which will end in April. The increase comes in the fourth year of Japan’s five-year program to double its annual arms spending to 2% of GDP. To defend the coasts, Japan will spend ¥100bn yen to deploy “massive” unmanned air, sea-surface and underwater drones for surveillance and defence under a system called “Shield” planned for March 2028, defence ministry officials said. Takaichi refused to withdraw her comments, and the government has maintained they represented no change to Japan’s defence policies.

Innovation dans la santé – Le super pouvoir d’un ver marin pour sauver les grands brûlés Les Français utilisent une molécule issue d’un ver pour favoriser la cicatrisation de plaies. S'abonner Se connecter BotTalkEn bref: Des chercheurs français exploitent l’hémoglobine du ver marin pour soigner les grands brûlés. Une molécule produite par le ver marin pour aider à faire guérir les plaies des grands brûlés: c’est la méthode, insolite mais prometteuse, que développent actuellement des chercheurs français. Le ver marin arenicola marina produit une molécule d’hémoglobine capable de stocker de grandes quantités d’oxygène pendant plusieurs heures. «Encore expérimental mais intéressant»En Suisse romande, les spécialistes des grands brûlés suivent les progrès de la méthode du ver marin mais ne l’appliquent pas.

Here in Gaza we hear the word “peace” constantly – even more often than we hear the roar of warplanes or the thuds of shelling. We are trapped in an endless maze of waiting: for the suffering to stop, for our lives to begin again and above all, for the death to end. 2:40 How Israel's 'yellow line' is dividing Gaza with deadly consequences – video explainerAlong the newly created borders of Gaza, where Israel has taken even more of our land and homes, is a new invisible boundary they call the “yellow line”. At the start of December I visited relatives in Gaza City whose home is still standing, near the so-called yellow line. We hold on to hope, even when it feels thin, and search for brief moments of happiness to survive the deadly waiting.

Qui sont les femmes et les hommes, des visages connus et moins connus, qui font le HC Viège? Aux côtés de l’emblématique et très médiatique CEO, Sébastien Pico, une petite armée de dirigeants, de techniciens et de responsables administratifs travaillent au succès du HC Viège.

And we explore their shared space: the bed curved like a cello, the windows with their opaque lace curtains. “Rita loved to create the images when we took those pictures. With respect to Lartigue, it must have been around 1965 that I came across his pictures for the first time. The main issue is and will be to distinguish photographs from pictures generated by AI.”The Bildhalle exhibition presents an oeuvre shaped by experimentation. As Groebli explains: “I still see, as I did in the early days of our relationship, her love for me and my artistic work, and my love for her.”

Proche-Orient. Gaza: un hôpital annonce une reprise fragile de ses activitésUn hôpital du centre de la bande de Gaza a annoncé vendredi une reprise encore fragile de ses activités, après une brève suspension due à une pénurie de carburant. Le territoire palestinien fait face à une grave crise humanitaire.