A reliable source in Ukraine says that a lot of media reporting is affected by Russian propaganda as Putin attempts to take control. He portrays Ukraine as divided, with a popular and generally peaceful revolution despite the threat of a military coup, etc. ‘I spent many hours reading news and reports from the internet and am outraged and saddened at Russian propaganda that so many Russians and others believe. I can only compare Putin with Hitlerpropaganda was a major instrument he also used. Anyway, Ukraine is united now more than ever before, and the patriotic, not nationalistic, spirit is high and growing.The vast  majority of Ukrainian citizens, not just Ukrainians and even most people in Crimea, are against Russian invasion and see it as occupation. All churches in unity have acknowledged the new government, opposed Russia’s actions and made a stand for sovereignty and unity of Ukraine. Today all churches and religious organisations of Ukraine issued a statement confirming the above. Even the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine condemned Russia's actions and called on Putin and Kirril, the Patriarch, to remove Russian forces from Ukrainian soil, which is very remarkable’. For the full content of this letter go to the link below.

Switzerland is preparing for the most intense heatwave in 12 years with weather experts predicting high temperatures above 35C for the first eight to ten days of July. The torrid conditions across the country are expected to be the warmest since 2003 when temperatures exceeded 35C and thousands of people - mostly elderly - succumbed to the heat across Europe. Forecasts are saying similar conditions will develop and continue until at least 8 July  as a stable high pressure system extends from the Atlantic Ocean to Central Europe. The European Environment Agency reported this week, ‘Climate change is happening now: temperatures are rising, rainfall patterns are shifting, glaciers and snow are melting and the global mean sea level is rising. We expect that these changes will continue and that extreme weather events resulting in hazards such as floods and droughts will become more frequent and intense. Impacts and vulnerabilities for nature, the economy and our health differ across regions, territories and economic sectors in Europe.’  See also: http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/climate

A 15-year-old girl from southern Sweden, who has been missing since last month, has phoned her family to say she’s in Homs in Syria, Swedish media are reporting. The teenager, who has been put on an international watch-list, is said to have called home a few days ago, telling her mother that she had made it to Syria after travelling through Turkey with her boyfriend. The teenager suggested that she was planning to join al-Nusra, an extremist Islamist group with links to al-Qaeda. She told her family that she was currently in Homs but that the couple were planning to travel to another city shortly, adding that she would live with a group of women while her partner began military training. ‘I am waiting to hear back from them,’ the teenager’s mother is quoted as saying. ‘I cannot describe how terrible this is and I just wish I could go there myself and fetch her.’