Mont Blanc glacier could collapse, experts warn

What they're saying: Geologist Daniele Giordan said a chilly fall could close the crack and prevent a massive ice avalanche that would threaten anyone in the popular hiking location, per the NYT.

• Stefano Miserocchi, the mayor of Courmayeur — a town in the region — said he issued a pre-emptive order to clear the resort community.

The big picture: Experts sent the warning a day after the United Nations published a report blaming climate change for rapidly melting glaciers and ice sheets, which cover nearly 10% of Earth's land area.

• The report said the receding glaciers and ice sheets have altered the ecosystems of high mountain regions around the world and that some cold-adapted or snow-dependent species have declined in abundance, increasing their risk of extinction.
• “...many glaciers are projected to disappear regardless of future emissions,” the report added.

Go deeper: In photos: Hundreds mourn Swiss glacier's loss to global warming

The state of play: American firefighters joined those in New South Wales and Victoria this week, along with the Australian Defense Force and some 3,000 Defense Force Reservists to help tackle fires that have killed at least 25 people this bushfire season.

• U.S. firefighters joined efforts in Victoria on Saturday, putting in control lines in Mount Buffalo National Park.

In Victoria, a state of disaster declaration was not renewed after midnight on Jan. 11, due to milder conditions. Weather is forecast to be steady for the next few days, with more moisture in the air to limit fire behavior and aid containment, Incident Controller Paul Bates said Saturday evening.

• "We're a long way from the end of this. We're at only mid-January, and we've got a long way to go in terms of our fire season," Neville said Saturday.
• "We've still got several weeks of this fire to go," Bates emphasized.

In New South Wales, there are roughly 135 bush and grass fires burning. Nearly 50 fires were uncontained as of early Sunday morning, NSW Rural Fire Service said — and all fires have been downgraded to the lowest emergency warning.

The impact: Since September, Australia's bushfires have claimed the lives of 19 people in New South Wales, three in Victoria and three in South Australia, per Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

• At least 25 million acres of land have burned, including 12 million in NSW, per News.com.au.
• 2,097 homes have been destroyed since Jan. 1, according to the NSW Rural Fire Service's latest update.

The big picture: The intense heat has caused more than 20 firestorms — or unusual thunderstorms partially fueled by heat from the flames — over the past week, according to NASA, which notes that "strong winds from these storms can fan fires into raging infernos." Smoke particles from the fires have spread east over the Pacific Ocean.

Go deeper:

• In photos: Deadly wildfires rage across Australia
• Australia's wildfires cause New Zealand glaciers to turn brown

Editor's note: This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.

The state of play:

• Tsai's campaign invoked imagery of the months-long Hong Kong protests, and advocated for a Taiwanese identity separate from mainland China's, the Wall Street Journal writes.
• Chinese President Xi Jinping previously signaled the need to bring Taiwan under the control of the Communist Party using the "one country, two systems" model, the same system used in Hong Kong, per the Wall Street Journal.
• Yes, but: Beijing’s heavy-handed approach with Hong Kong has shown Taiwanese voters what “one country, two systems” really means — and they "don't want Taiwan to become another Hong Kong," voter Chen Ya-ting told the WSJ.

Go deeper: China steps up political interference ahead of Taiwan's elections

• Iran's General Staff of Armed Forces said Flight 752 was shot down "unintentionally" after departing from Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, per a statement cited by the Washington Post.
• In a tweet, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the crash was the result of "U.S. adventuring," adding, "Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations.”

Context: Iran repeatedly denied accusations that it was responsible for the crash. The head of Iran's national aviation department said at a press conference on Friday, "What is obvious for us, and what we can say with certainty, is that no missile hit the plane."

• U.S. and allied intelligence assessments indicated that Iranian missiles downed the aircraft amid increased tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
• The New York Times obtained a video on Thursday that appears to show an Iranian missile hitting a Ukrainian airliner near Tehran's airport — where the flight "stopped transmitting its signal."
• Wednesday's crash came hours after Iran fired missiles at two bases in Iraq that housed American forces in retaliation for the U.S. killing Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Go deeper... What we know: Ukrainian Boeing 737 crashes in Tehran

• The Pentagon has said the U.S. killed Soleimani because the general was "actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region."
• President Trump told Fox News' Laura Ingraham on Friday that he believed Iran planned to attack four U.S. embassies as part of its imminent threat, but he provided no evidence for that claim.
• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also described the attacks as "imminent."

But, a classified briefing on Wednesday left Democrats and even some Republicans deeply skeptical, with many claiming that officials did not provide evidence of the "imminent" threat from Iran.

• Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said on Twitter on Friday that the Trump administration did not provide proof of imminent attacks on four embassies at the Wednesday briefing.

Background: The Pentagon has not confirmed an attempted Jan. 2 strike on Shahlai. The agency told the Post and NYT that Yemen "is long-understood as a safe space for terrorists and other adversaries to the United States."

• Shahlai is a financier and key commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, the Post notes.
• The White House did not immediately respond to comment on Friday. The State Department declined to comment to the Post.

Go deeper: The Trump administration's mixed messages on the Soleimani strike

• Presidents have previously tried to uplift refugee resettlement programs with “bipartisan pride,” and to generate goodwill domestically and internationally, the Washington Post writes.
• Trump has already capped the number of refugees the U.S. will accept at a historic low of just 18,000 from a high of 110,000 in 2016.

What’s happening: Republican governors of Tennessee, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Nebraska along with others have written letters to the U.S. State Department or publicly announced they will continue accepting refugee resettlements, representing some of the reddest states in the country.

• They join more than two dozen other states that plan to continue taking refugees, according to Axios' compilation of news reports, press releases and public statements.
• Not all states have released their decisions.

Abbott has previously withdrawn Texas from the national refugee resettlement program and sued for the right to block Syrian refugees from settling in the state, the Texas Tribune reports.

• Meanwhile, Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price both called on Abbott to continue allowing refugees to settle in Texas.

Both Tennessee and North Dakota have also sued for the right to refuse refugee settlements, but have now both said they plan to continue accepting refugees.

Go deeper:

• Chart: How immigration levels in the U.S. have changed since 1900
• Refugee resettlement agencies sue Trump admin over executive order
• Trump lowering the number of refugees permitted into U.S. to 18,000

• Signatories included House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and Ranking Member Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), along with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-N.J.).

Where it stands: The World Bank revised its rule to represent a compromise in December, stating it gives hiring preference to people from member states, but does not ban hiring those from non-member states.

• Taiwan isn't a member state, but Taiwanese nationals have historically worked at the World Bank.
• The new rule added that: "The Bank Group's recruitment policy is to hire staff of the highest caliber, on as wide a geographical basis as possible, with preference to nationals of WBG [World Bank Group] member countries or countries of operations."

Why it matters: Taiwan is self-governed, but China maintains the island is part of its sovereign territory. China has long sought to squeeze Taiwan from multilateral institutions, and Taiwanese people from the international community.

Read the letter:

Go deeper: China steps up political interference ahead of Taiwan's elections