Concern over north-east Syria security amid fears IS militants could re-emerge 21. January 2026 (20:20) US military says it has transported ‘IS fighters’ to Iraq after Kurdish-controlled prisons and camps changed handsConcerned western officials said they were closely monitoring the deteriorating security situation in north-east Syria amid fears that Islamic State militants could re-emerge after the Kurdish defeat at the hands of the Damascus government.The US military said it had transported “150 IS fighters” from a frontline prison in Hasakah province across the border to Iraq, and said it was willing to move up to 7,000 to prevent what it warned could be a dangerous breakout. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump paints himself as great white hope in racism-drenched Davos speech 21. January 2026 (20:16) President’s anti-Somalia tirade and insults to European leaders were in line with aide Stephen Miller’s worldviewDonald Trump turned up in Davos wielding an insult bazooka. He mocked Emmanuel Macron’s aviator sunglasses, chided Mark Carney (“Canada lives because of the United States”), asserted that the Swiss are “only good because of us” and had a dig at Denmark for losing Greenland “in six hours” during the second world war.But beyond the fractious rhetoric, the US president brought a deeper message on Wednesday that sought to unify the west rather than divide it. It was his most dark, insidious and sinister project of all. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Eight wars settled and Chinese windfarms: factchecking Trump’s Davos claims 21. January 2026 (20:12) The president’s address in Switzerland featured a range of dubious assertions, from exaggerated to falseDonald Trump’s address at the World Economic Forum in Davos featured a parade of dubious claims about everything from peace deals to wind farms. Several assertions ranged from exaggerated to provably false.Here’s what Trump got wrong. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Woman imprisoned and forced to work for Tewkesbury mother for more than 25 years 21. January 2026 (19:58) Unnamed woman held against her will since mid-1990s by Amanda Wixon, who beat her and shaved her headA woman was imprisoned and forced to work for a mother and her 10 children for more than a quarter of a century in an ordeal described at the end of a crown court trial as “Dickensian”.The woman, who is now in her 40s and cannot be named, lived off scraps, could not leave the house and was forced to wash secretly at night, Gloucester crown court was told. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump steps up Greenland annexation demand and attacks European leaders at Davos 21. January 2026 (19:33) US president tells business and political leaders in Davos his country needs ownership to defend ‘unsecured island’Donald Trump has stepped up his demand to annex Greenland but said the US would not use force to seize it during a rambling, invective-laden speech at Davos where he once again lashed out at Europe’s political leaders.The address to thousands of business and political leaders at the World Economic Form in the Swiss ski resort indicated that while the US president was renouncing the use of military force – for now at least – to wrest control of Greenland, he still intended to wield America’s economic and diplomatic power to bend European allies to his will. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Why is the UK investing in £6.45bn Kraken when it doesn’t need public money? | Nils Pratley 21. January 2026 (19:30) Given the software company’s size and funding options, British Business Bank’s investment looks like mission creepThe state-owned multi-tentacled British Business Bank has never been a simple organisation to understand, but at least one could vaguely grasp its intended role in life. “Our mission is to drive economic growth by helping smaller businesses get the finance they need to start, scale and stay in the UK,” declares its website.Jolly good. For decades, complaints have been heard about gaps in the financing ecosystem for startups and for promising young UK companies, particularly those in tech-related and life science fields, or those spinning out of universities. So one can applaud the existence of a large and distinctly British source of capital to “crowd in”, as politicians like to say, private venture funds. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Green spaces should be the norm for all new housing developments in England, guidelines say 21. January 2026 (19:23) Experts say big flaw is the lack of mandatory requirements, meaning developers could ignore the guidanceHousing where shops, schools, public transport and possibly pubs are close by, with green spaces and access to nature, and where heritage is preserved, should be the norm for all new developments, according to guidelines set out by the government.King’s Cross in London, for example, where industrial buildings have been converted into shops, restaurants and public spaces, and where schools and care homes mingle with social and private housing near to a cleaned-up canal and nature reserve, could become the model, according to the new vision. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Three journalists among 11 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza 21. January 2026 (19:09) Reporters had been in car on way to new camp, says media group, as two 13-year-old boys killed in separate incidentsHospitals in Gaza say Israeli forces killed at least 11 Palestinians on Wednesday, including two 13-year-old boys and three journalists, in the latest violence to undermine a three-month-old ceasefire.Palestinian health officials said the Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinian journalists who were travelling in a car to film a newly established displacement camp in the Netzarim area of central Gaza. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
EU parliament blocks US trade deal after Trump’s tariff threat 21. January 2026 (18:37) Brussels to host emergency summit to discuss options including ‘nuclear deterrent’ of retaliatory sanctionsThe European parliament has formally suspended the ratification process on its US trade deal, in protest against Donald Trump’s threat to impose 10% tariffs on EU exports unless the bloc agrees he can take over Greenland.The pause is the strongest material response the EU has shown so far to what several leaders last week called blackmail. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Germany’s plan to axe sick notes given over phone meets outcry from unions and medics 21. January 2026 (17:59) Opponents say proposal, designed to tackle employee skiving, would fill up doctors’ waiting rooms unnecessarilyA German proposal to eliminate the possibility to get short-term sick leave from a doctor over the telephone as a means of cracking down on skiving has met with an outcry from labour groups and the medical profession.Germans enjoy some of the most generous employee illness policies in Europe, a fact which the conservative chancellor, Friedrich Merz, says is undermining efforts to kickstart the EU’s biggest economy whose growth has largely stalled since 2022. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
