Headlines: 19-25 January 2026

Wednesday 21 January 2026

Stocks rebound from big sell-off after Trump rules out military action on Greenland: Live updates (LINK) 21 January 2026

WEF: Davos 2026: Special Address by Donald J. Trump: In lengthy remarks that ranged from Greenland to Minnesota and back again, President Trump touched on a wide range of issues including trade and tariffs, regional security, AI development, nuclear power, housing affordability, migration, and pandemics. The queue for US President Donald Trump's special address started forming before 1pm for his scheduled 2:30pm appearance (LINK) 21 January 2026

World now in a state of 'global water bankruptcy', UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) report warns (LINK) 21 January 2026

Half of world's CO2 emissions come from just 32 fossil fuel firms, study shows: Saudi Aramco was the biggest state-controlled polluter and ExxonMobil was the largest investor-owned polluter. (LINK) 21 January 2026

Venezuela moves to prop up currency with $300 million from US oil sale (LINK) 21 January 2026

— Interim leader Delcy Rodriguez said the sum would be used to 'stabilize' the foreign exchange market. Before the US incursion on January 3, Venezuela had been forced to offer huge discounts on its crude oil to circumvent a US embargo.

Tuesday 20 January 2026

! Israel just bulldozed the UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem (LINK) 20 January 2026

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a forceful speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on the “new world order” and how middle powers like Canada can benefit by working together: full transcript (LINK) 20 January 2026

WEF: Davos 2026: What to know on Day 2 (LINK) 20 January 2026

— Ideas on the Move - with Gita Gopinath

— New growth prospects

— Closing the AI diffusion divide

— Yuval Noah Harari: 'More intelligence doesn’t mean less delusion'

— Building a business case for nature

Alternet: Five of the wildest moments from Trump's rambling 1-year anniversary press conference (LINK) 20 January 2026

1. U.S. declares war on a binder clip
2. Trump calls jobs created by Democratic presidents "fake"
3. "Best stock market in history"
4. "Somalia isn't even a country."
5. "We have no inflation."

WEF: Over 60 heads of state are gathering at Davos 2026. Here's what they're saying (LINK) 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.

WEF: Davos 2026: What to know on Day 1 (LINK) 19 January 2026

— a new series of on-the-move video interviews today, catching up with Davos participants as they travel between panel sessions. First up: social media creators Marina Mogilko, better known as Silicon Valley Girl, and Max Klymenko from the Career Ladder.

— Data and insights on Day 1 of Davos 2026: AI paradoxes, Investing in Blue Foods: Innovation and Partnerships for Impact

Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt on finding happiness in an AI age.

— Opening Concert sets the tone for Davos 2026

— Davos 2026 Monday morning media scan

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

White House journalist Andrew Feinberg on reporting the Trump administration (LINK) 19 January 2026

— Those of us who covered Trump's first administration thought we knew what to expect. Boy, were we wrong.

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)