Rishika holds a Master’s in International Studies from Stella Maris College, Chennai, India, where she earned a gold medal, and an MCA from the University of Mysore, Karnataka, India. Previously, she served as a Research Assistant at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India. During her tenure, she contributed as a Junior Writer for Europe Monitor on the Global Politics website and as an Assistant Editor for The World This Week. Her work has also been published in The Hindu newspaper, showing her expertise in global affairs. Rishika is also a recipient of the Women Empowerment Award at the district level in Haryana, India, in 2022.
Tropical Cyclone Dikeledi brushed the coast of Mozambique on January 13, 2025, after leaving at least 3 people dead and hundreds of damaged and destroyed homes in Madagascar.
A meteorite measuring approximately 2 cm (0.8 inches) in diameter smashed the windscreen of a parked Toyota in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon near Birmingham, UK on December 26, 2024.
Seismic readings indicated the onset of a glacial outburst flood from Grímsvötn volcano on January 13, 2025. Grímsvatn floods have occurred almost annually since November 2021. There are examples of volcanic eruptions occurring due to pressure relief in Grímsvötn after water gushes from there. However, glacial outburst floods have occurred much more frequently without volcanic eruptions.
An earthquake swarm began in the Campi Flegrei area of southern Italy at 07:58 LT (06:58 UTC) on January 13, 2025.
Weak to moderate steam and gas plumes with traces of volcanic ash continue at White Island volcano, New Zealand, on January 13, 2025. The Alert Level remains at 2 while the Aviation Color Code has been raised to Orange.
A strong eruption at Ibu volcano produced lava fountains reaching hundreds of meters and ash plumes rising to 5.5 km (18 000 feet) a.s.l., on January 11, 2025, accompanied by volcanic lightning and active lava dome growth. The Aviation Color Code remains at Orange following an upgrade to Red on January 11 for a brief time.
Extreme rainfall hit parts of Minas Gerais, Brazil late Saturday into Sunday, January 11 into 12, 2025, causing destructive landslides in which at least 10 people lost their lives. Most casualties were reported in Ipatinga where nearly 80 mm (3.1 inches) of rain fell in just one hour, causing widespread destruction.
The Palisades Fire, now the largest of six active wildfires in Los Angeles County, has scorched over 15 400 ha (38 000 acres), destroyed 5 300 structures, and forced new evacuations as containment remains at 11%. To improve public awareness and operational transparency, CAL FIRE LNU has introduced real-time 3D aircraft tracking on its incident map.
Intense rains and floods affecting parts of Bolivia over the past couple of days have left at least 17 people dead and nearly 500 homes damaged or destroyed. The worst affected departments are La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, and Oruro.
Ground deformation monitoring by the Kanlaon Volcano Network (KVN) has detected significant inflation in the middle to upper portions of the volcano’s eastern edifice since 19:20 LT on January 10, 2025, with data indicating a potential eruption driven by pressurization within the shallow magma conduit. PHIVOLCS maintains Alert Level 3, originally raised on December 9, 2024, and there is presently an increased chance for sudden explosive eruptions to occur and endanger communities at risk with life-threatening volcanic hazards.
