Headline Swishes

  IMAGE SOURCE Image caption, Protests against Russia's invasion of Ukraine have drawn crowds of tens of thousands across Switzerland How does a European country stay neutral when war rages in Europe? Switzerland managed it during the first and second world wars, but now, watching Russia's attack on Ukraine, many Swiss are rethinking their long-established position. Switzerland was granted "eternal neutrality" at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. It was a pragmatic, geopolitical move that was supported because the country was seen as a harmless buffer between Europe's big powers - France on one side, Austria and Prussia on the other - and it preserved Switzerland's safety while its neighbours slaughtered each other. During World War Two, Swiss neutrality was more pragmatic than heroic. Switzerland mobilised all its able-bodied men to defend its borders, but it also banked gold looted by the Nazis and, in a shameful move designed to keep Germany at bay, turned aw...

  IMAGE SOURCE, Heatwaves, deadly floods and wildfires all mean people are experiencing the link between extreme weather and climate change. Emissions from the burning of fossil fuels have been trapping heat in the atmosphere since the start of the industrial era. As a consequence, average temperatures have risen by 1.1C. This additional energy is unevenly distributed and bursts out in extremes like those we've been seeing. Without reductions in global emissions, this cycle will keep going. Here are four ways climate change is contributing to extreme weather. 1. Hotter, longer heatwaves To understand the impact of small changes to average temperatures, you need to to think of them as a bell curve - extreme cold and hot are at either end and the bulk of temperatures are in the middle. A small shift in the centre means more of the curve touches the extremes - and so heatwaves become more frequent and extreme. In the UK, warm spells have more than doubled in length in the past 50...

  Image caption, A brutal heatwave has hit India, throwing life out of gear As a blistering heatwave sweeps through India, the country's poor are once again the most vulnerable.  Sulachna Yevale, a vegetable vendor, desperately sprinkles water over her produce - some lemons and spinach that she bought from a wholesale market - to keep it from drying. But nothing seems to help. The extreme heat has caused some of the produce to spoil, making them useless for selling. Even though she has been selling vegetables at the same spot for decades, Ms Yevale says this is the first time she has lost so much of her produce - worth 70 rupees (around $1; £0.80) - a significant amount for someone whose daily income is 800 rupees. As her profits plummet, she worries about her future. She depends on the stall to provide for a family that includes her widowed daughter-in-law and granddaughter. "I feel helpless," she says, teary-eyed. A brutal heatwave has upended lives of millions of peopl...