In your briefing today:

📣 First Minister John Swinney has denied there was pressure from the Scottish Government to rush the opening of Scotland’s largest hospital, despite fears about the safety of its water system.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said this week that such pressure had been applied, but did not offer specifics about who was responsible or how it was done. The board also - finally - admitted the water system may have been linked to the infections of 84 children suffering from cancer, after years of denials. (BBC)

📣 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has launched a scathing attack on his European allies at Davos, accusing them of failing to stand up to Vladimir Putin’s Russia and win respect from Donald Trump.

In a fiery speech, he accused leaders of being in “Greenland mode” waiting for leadership from the US rather than taking action themselves. “Just last year, here in Davos, I ended my speech with the words ‘Europe needs to know how to defend itself’,” Zelenskyy said. “A year has passed, and nothing has changed.” (Guardian)

📣 Ukraine, Russia and the US are to hold talks today and tomorrow in the United Arab Emirates after a high-level meeting between Trump’s envoys and President Putin last night. Those talks were described as “substantive” and “constructive” by the Kremlin. (BBC live coverage)

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📣 Only one in ten cases of drink spiking result in a suspect being identified by police, according to Police Scotland figures released under freedom of information requests. (The Daily Record has the exclusive)

📣 The proposed vast Ming Yang wind turbine factory investment in Scotland now looks more likely than not, suggests Jeremy Grant, because of the week’s geopolitical events. (The Scotsman)

📣 Two police officers have been jailed for deliberately botching an investigation into a domestic assault and framing two innocent men, in what a sheriff called “an abject dereliction of duty”. (Daily Record)

📣 Scottish Water bills are set to increase by 8.7% from April, an average rise of £42 a year per household. (BBC)

📣 Islanders on Cumbrae are campaigning against reduced ferry services (BBC)

📣 Keir Starmer’s allies plan to block an attempt by Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to win a Westminster seat. (Independent)

📣 A search for survivors continues in New Zealand after landslides at a campsite. Two people are known to be dead, with six missing. (Guardian)

📣 Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, unveiled images of a “new Gaza” featuring luxury apartments and “coastal tourism” in Davos. (Independent)

📣 The Oscar nominations are out - here are the biggest surprises (Sky News)

⚽️ A frustrated Martin O’Neill feels Celtic would have won against Bologna in Italy had Reo Hatate not been sent off in the first half, but his side still earned a precious Europa League point to keep their qualification hopes alive. (Daily Record)

⚽️ Despite winning against Ludogorets Razgrad, Rangers saw their faint hopes of qualification extinguished by results elsewhere. It was their first win in the Europa League group stage. (BBC) (🎥 Highlights)

⚽️ Aston Villa’s 1-0 win over Fenerbahce in Turkey has manager Unai Emery dreaming of winning the Europa League, as his club make the final 16. (BBC)

🗣️The turn to Europe is inevitable, says Andrew Marr in the New Statesman: Keir Starmer should seize the opportunity in crisis and look towards a customs union. “We are a European country, with European dilemmas, European fears, European strengths. In Trump’s world, it is time for a tilt back to Europe,” he writes.

Beyond that, Marr’s deep dive is a look at what the Greenland crisis does to domestic politics. His conclusion: that it changes everything, with Reform UK suddenly exposed by Nigel Farage’s acolyteship to Donald Trump and apparent natural affinity with Putin.

Marr also notes Kemi Badenoch’s canny positioning as the crisis unfolded: in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, she noted Reform’s former Welsh leader took bribes from Russia. “They are afraid to speak seriously about hostile states, alliances, defence, intelligence, or economic security, and when they aren’t afraid, they don’t know what to say,” said Badenoch.

“We need less bluster, but to be quiet, determined and consistent,” writes Marr. “Starmer’s bigger national purpose, survival in a dangerous time, is looking for him even when he isn’t looking for it.” (The New Statesman £)

🗣️ The Economist, one suspects, wouldn’t disagree. It decorates its cover story on “The true danger posed by Donald Trump” with a faintly disquieting image of a scowling, bare-chested US President atop a polar bear.

Trump might have backed down on Greenland, for now. But “this may only be a tactical retreat”, the newspaper notes, and “in setting out his claim he spoke about Nato with a scorn that should put the capitals of Europe on high alert”.

“The Greenland crisis holds lessons for all countries. One is that Mr Trump will yield under pressure, without necessarily surrendering his long-term goals. Another is that the president’s narrow, pessimistic view of the world and his willingness to rewrite history have eroded the trust which used to underpin America’s alliances.

“Last, it follows that every falling-out under Mr Trump threatens to be existential. He portends a global realignment for which America’s allies must prepare.” (The Economist £)

🗣️ What does Trump really want from Greenland? “Donald Trump has probably not read Machiavelli, even the short one, The Prince,” thinks Paul Wood in the Spectator.

“Machiavelli’s most famous advice was that it’s better for a prince to be feared than loved. But above all, he said, a ruler should strive not to be hated. Nobody likes a bully. The US President, however, clearly doesn’t care about any of this in his attempt to intimidate Denmark into handing over Greenland.”

We should, he suggests, keep an eye on Svalbard, an archipelago about 500 miles off the coast of Norway, long coveted by Russia. If it invaded now, would America come to Norway’s support? It could be a moment where Nato fractures, and dies. (The Spectator (£))

🗣️And finally… The Church of England is “in the grip of eco-zealots”, reports Ysenda Maxtone Graham. A 2020 decree from the General Synod said it should be carbon-neutral by 2030 - meaning heating systems that fail today need to be replaced with something more eco-friendly.

The only problem is that heating drafty old churches is difficult, advice on what to buy is “hopelessly slow”, and alternatives are wildly expensive. And heaven help any parish that takes matters into its own hands and orders a new gas boiler.

Just ask the vicar and churchwardens of Christ Church, Chineham, who shivered through an unheated winter before opting for gas, only to get a dressing down in a consistory court ruling from the diocese, “which came across as an absolute bollocking”.

They’ve got three years to rip it all out again and put in an “eco alternative”. The vicar has now written to the Church Times, urging colleagues to “pray earnestly that your existing boilers don’t fail”. (The Spectator (£))

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