Headlines: 19-25 January 2026

Tuesday 20 January 2026

Surrounded by billionaires in Davos, where ski chalets cost $4.4 million, Trump plans to lay out how he'll make U.S. housing more affordable (LINK) 20 January 2026

Roughly half the world's arabica coffee-growing regions will become unsuitable for cultivation of the crop by 2050 due to the effects of climate change but the knowledge to save coffee already exists. The nonprofit Coffee Watch has now created an e-library of all the research ever conducted on coffee agroforestry to help producers grow the finicky plant (LINK) 20 January 2026

Trump family crypto holdings: stunning 20% shift to digital wealth in $6.8 billion portfolio (LINK) 20 January 2026

U.K. man collects candles from churches and shops and uses the candle wax to make temporary stoves for the military and civilians in Ukraine (LINK) 20 January 2026

Monday 19 January 2026

New WEF leader BlackRock's Larry Fink says Davos feels 'out of step' to many (LINK) 19 January 2026

— "For many people, this meeting feels out of step with the moment: elites in an age of populism, an established institution in an era of deep institutional distrust," he said. "If WEF is going to be useful going forward, it has to regain that trust." He hinted that the forum, which holds occasional offshoots in China and the Middle East, will add new events "in the places where the modern world is actually built," naming Detroit, Dublin, Jakarta, and Buenos Aires.

Politico.eu: At Davos 2026, WEF is no longer so woke: "a turning point for a forum once synonymous with liberal globalism" (LINK) 19 January 2026

— "This year's World Economic Forum, which starts Monday, underscores a sharp shift for an event long caricatured as a 'woke' talking shop: Climate and diversity have slipped down the agenda, AI and growth are ascendant, and the United States — led by Trump and his inner circle — is set to dominate the stage. That shift coincided with a months-long campaign to land the U.S. president and reassert Davos' relevance after years of drift."

The big names who aren't going to Davos: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Danish government representatives, Brazil's President Lula da Silva, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, founder Klaus Schwab. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italy's leader Giorgia Meloni are not on the WEF list, although both are reported to be attending. Many are sending high-levele delegations. Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK, is expected to attend the event this year after criticising "people deciding our futures in Swiss ski resorts" (LINK) 18 January 2026

US President Donald Trump's policies helped boost billionaire wealth 16.2 percent to $18.3 trillion in the first year of his second term, leading to 'dangerous' political risks, Oxfam warns as Davos forum opens (LINK) 19 January 2026

Swiss brown cow in Austria shows first case of flexible, multi-purpose tool use in cattle: picks up broom and uses it to scratch herself, chooses another stick for less sensitive areas (LINK) 19 January 2026. First documented case of bovine tool use (LINK)