The first measures of the European regulation on packaging and packaging waste, which came into force in February 2025, will begin to be applied tomorrow progressively until 2040. The regulation will affect the design, manufacture, marketing, recyclability, reuse, and management of packaging used in various sectors.
The powerful weather phenomenon El Niño threatens to push 49 million more people into acute hunger in some of the regions most vulnerable to its effects by the end of 2027, reaching 274 million people, according to a report by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). Of the 45 countries analyzed, the most affected regions are expected to be southern Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, with a considerable increase in the number of people facing food insecurity.
The main rivers of Europe have seen their flow drastically reduced. The Rhine in western Germany and the Danube in Romania register approximately one third of the water volume they usually carry, while the Loire and the Po also suffer the effects of the drought that affects much of the continent.
The Prague Zoo uses tons of ice this Thursday to help its animals cope with another heat wave hitting Europe. The polar bears Aleut and Gregor waste no time and start rolling over piles of ice cubes as soon as they go out to their outdoor enclosure in the morning.
Human-caused climate change multiplied by 20 the conditions favorable for wildfires in the central peninsula this year. In other words, it made the extreme weather conditions that fueled these fires 20 times more likely than in a preindustrial world without warming. And in the case of the southwest region of France hit by the fires, climate change caused by human activities now makes disasters of this magnitude twice as likely.
Night work on the fire in Fermoselle (Zamora) has allowed for a “substantial reduction in its danger” with the stabilization of the two fronts that were most concerning, the north and the east, although it still maintains four active sectors and numerous hot spots.
The Junta of Castilla y León decreed this Wednesday the maximum level (2) of the Potential Severity Index (IGR) for the forest fire affecting the municipality of Fermoselle (Zamora), a locality in the Arribes del Duero natural park bordering Portugal, due to the serious risk it may pose to the population. As a consequence of this fire, the localities of Cibanal, Formariz, Fornillos de Fermoselle, Palazuelos de Sayago, Pinilla de Fermoselle, Mámoles, and Záfara have been evacuated, in addition to decreeing confinement in Fermoselle, as confirmed by the 112 of Castilla y León. An alert has been sent via mobile phones with an Es-Alert message.
Climatic conditions and high temperatures increase the risk of wildfires in large areas of the country. But what also grow and spread are clichés, lies, and misinformation. There are those who like to heat up the atmosphere with false news, many of them with political intent. In this context, it is common for false or misleading messages to proliferate, generating confusion, social alarm, and distrust towards institutions. To prevent this, it is crucial to debunk the most common myths about wildfires. This is a ranking of some of these myths.
Josefina Maestre, an RNE journalist, was a first-row witness to the origin of the forest fire caused on the San Martin de Valdeiglesias road (Madrid), where a burning vehicle caused the fire that spread from the hillside to the mountain to become one of the worst disasters.
The Government delegate in Castilla y León, Nicanor Sen, has expressed his concern about the possibility that the large fires that remain active in the province of Ávila and in the Community of Madrid could merge, something for which he said “it’s very close”.