.
Europe
World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland
1/22/2026, US We have a masterplan. … There is no Plan B, said Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, unveiling his vision for postwar Gaza in front of an audience of the World Economic Forum at Davos. In 2019, he hosted a summit in Bahrain under the title, “From Peace to Prosperity,” which imagined “a bustling commercial and tourist center in Gaza and the West Bank’, where international businesses come together and thrive. With an almost complete lack of political will across the board, those plans never got off the ground. Now, a presentation took place immediately after the signing of the charter for US President Trump’s Board of Peace, representing the next stage in the 20-point ceasefire plan agreed between Israel and Hamas in October. Kushner, who played a leading role in brokering that agreement, leaned into optimism, albeit with notes of caution and a notable omission: the international stabilization force, a key part of Trump’s original ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip. If Hamas does not demilitarize, that will be what holds back the people of Gaza from achieving their aspirations, he said. A map of Gaza was pulled up on a screen to show how the enclave would be developed. ’A coastal tourism zone would run along the seafront - long enough for up to 180 skyscrapers, many likely earmarked as hotels’. A port was shown at the southwestern end of Gaza, alongside the border with Egypt, and immediately inland from the port, the map showed zoning for an airport. Kushner highlighted two urban developments, which he referred to as New Rafah and New Gaza. At New Rafah, more than 100,000 permanent housing units would be built, along with over 200 schools and more than 75 medical facilities, he said. He expressed hope that the construction would be completed within two to three years. Work has already begun to remove the rubble, he said. New Gaza is to be a center of industry, with the aim of achieving 100% full employment, Kushner said. Computer-generated images suggest a metropolis bearing a strong resemblance to Persian Gulf cities like Doha and Dubai, with gleaming waterside accommodations and office locations. The presentation was scant on details about how it would all be realized. Two years of Israeli bombardment has left more than 80% of Gaza’s buildings damaged or destroyed. Governments will make the first contributions, Kushner said, with initial announcements to come at a conference in Washington in the next couple of weeks. He also appealed to the private sector to come forward, promising ’amazing investment opportunities”. Senior Palestinian officials have been slow to react to Kushner’s presentation. Criticism has highlighted a sense that their powerlessness is being exploited. “Palestinians face a plan to eliminate their very presence, based on domestication, subjugation, and control,’ Abdu, the Palestinian founder of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor group, posted on X. Currently, Israel’s military is present in just over half the territory, including the city of Rafah. The original 20-point plan, which secured the ceasefire and the release of hostages in October, included details about the creation of an international stabilization force (ISF) that would facilitate Israel’s complete withdrawal. So far, third parties have been reluctant to commit to joining the force, and Israel, for its part, has objected to possible participants such as Turkey. Kushner made no reference to any international force. Israel’s withdrawal was reduced to little more than a line on one of the presentation slides: “Gaza-wide demilitarization enables full IDF withdrawal to the security perimeter.” The task of overseeing demilitarization, Kushner made clear, will fall to the new technocratic committee, the on-the-ground component of Trump’s Board of Peace structure, made up entirely of Palestinian appointees. Without it happening, he said, “we cannot rebuild.’ The presentation said that heavy weapons, tunnels, military infrastructure, munitions and production facilities will be destroyed. It did not dictate how the process will be carried out. Hamas has tended to say it would hand over weapons only to a Palestinian army in a Palestinian state. More recently, Naim, a senior Hamas official, has spoken of freezing or storing its arms in the context of the current ceasefire. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has expressed concerns that the new technocratic committee represents a threat to its centrality in Palestinian politics. Kushner was referencing to the committee as a new government in Gaza, indicating a possible end to the role of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which looks out of the running there. UNRWA provides public services to Palestinian refugees, who number well over half the population of Gaza. The head of Gaza’s new technocratic committee, Shaath, said in a video statement, it is important to turn this moment into action. He announced the opening next week of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, signaling, he said, that the enclave is „no longer closed to the future and to the world.” (Source: CNN - U.S.)
Jan 22, 2026 18:30 IST US President Trump yesterday warned Hamas of swift military action if it fails to give up its weapons, as he launched a new peace initiative at Davos with 35 nations, warning Hamas to disarm or face severe consequences. Trump’s Gaza-focused Board of Peace aims to oversee ceasefire and reconstruction efforts in Gaza while fostering broader international cooperation and admitting that the Ukraine war has proved probably the most difficult conflict to resolve. Presiding over a high-profile signing ceremony attended by world leaders and senior diplomats, Trump framed Hamas disarmament as the first test of the new body. ’If Hamas doesn’t agree to give up weapons, they’re going to be blown away,’ Trump said, adding that Washington would know “over the next two or three days, certainly over the next three weeks” whether the group intends to comply. The ceremony marked the formal signing of the Board of Peace charter, an initiative initially designed to stabilise Gaza’s fragile ceasefire through oversight of enforcement, reconstruction and security coordination. Trump, however, made clear that he sees the board taking on a broader global role. India was notably absent from the signing ceremony of Trump’s Board of Peace in Davos, even as Pakistan was seen participating in the event, underscoring New Delhi’s caution and Islamabad’s eagerness to join the US-led initiative. India had received an invitation to join the board on Sunday. New Delhi has neither accepted nor rejected the offer so far. In contrast, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended the ceremony, formally placing Islamabad among the founding members of the board alongside countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE and Azerbaijan. Islamabad’s involvement in cross-border terrorism is an issue India has raised at multiple international forums. „India joined France, the United Kingdom, China and Germany in skipping the event’. The United Kingdom said it is not joining at present, citing concerns over the board’s expanded mandate and the possible participation of Russian President Putin. Former UK Prime Minister Blair was among those attending the ceremony. France has declined to join - earlier this week, Trump threatened to impose 200 percent tariffs on French wine after President Macron declined to participate. China has not indicated its position. Trump said he would serve as the inaugural chairman of the board and described it in sweeping terms. “It has the potential to be one of the most consequential bodies ever created,” he said. “Just about every country wants to be a part of it.’ He rejected suggestions that the board was designed to replace the United Nations. “Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do, and we’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations,” Trump said, adding that the UN had ’tremendous potential’ that had not been fully utilised. UN spokesperson Gomez later said UN engagement with the board would be limited to the framework endorsed by a Security Council resolution linked to Trump’s Gaza peace plan. Trump repeated his assertion that he has settled eight wars since coming to office and said another settlement was imminent. US Secretary of State Rubio said the board’s immediate focus would be ensuring implementation of the Gaza peace plan, while also serving as a model for conflict resolution elsewhere. Trump also praised his administration’s broader foreign policy record, pointing to US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites last summer, which he said had ’obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear capacity. “Iran does want to talk, and will talk,” he said, before referring to US operations against the islamic state group in Syria. Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a key Gaza negotiator, said the next phase of the ceasefire would address reconstruction funding and Hamas disarmament. The Gaza ceasefire, agreed in October, has faltered repeatedly, with Israel and Hamas trading accusations over violations and aid restrictions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation to join the board. Palestinian factions have endorsed Trump’s plan and backed a transitional committee to administer Gaza under the board’s oversight. Claiming global tensions were easing, Trump said threats to Europe, America and the Middle East “are really calming down”. (Source: India Today)
January 22, 2026 06:02, US There is no debate about that President Trump delivered „huge win for Americans in Greenland deal framework’, and other foreign policy moves. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)
/Video/
22/01/2026 - 11:56 US President Trump says he has reached a framework agreement over Greenland and has backed down from threats to impose tariffs - against Denmark and on other European allies that have sent troops to Greenland in solidarity, including France, Britain, and Germany - as leverage to seize the Danish territory, a dispute that has shaken the NATO alliance. „We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,’ he said in a social media post, after meeting with NATO Secretary General Rutte. Trump did not give details of the framework agreement, but said it met his demands. “Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st,” he added. It’s a deal that everybody’s very happy with, Trump told reporters, hours after a speech in which he appeared to remove the threat of force to seize Greenland. „I think it puts everybody in a really good position, especially as it pertains to security, and minerals and everything else.’ Rutte later said the question of whether Greenland would remain part of Denmark did not come up during his talks with Trump. NATO has no authority over Greenland’s sovereignty. European diplomats said the president’s sudden shift in tone does not resolve the dispute but helps defuse the rift between allies and allows them to work out their differences in private. Meanwhile, skepticism of Trump’s turnaround remains in Greenland. Chenmitz, one of two Greenlandic lawmakers in the Danish parliament, questioned why NATO would have a voice on the island's mineral wealth. ’NATO in no case has the right to negotiate on anything without us, Greenland," she posted on social media. (Source: RFI - France)
Thursday, 22 January 2026 10:37, UK Trump: United Nations has 'tremendous potential'. He is rolling out his "Board of Peace" at the World Economic Forum in Davos after an eventful 24 hours in which he unexpectedly U-turned on Greenland. But for now the UK isn't joining. (Source: Sky News - United Kingdom)
/Video/
Thursday 22 January 2026 10:35, UK U.S. Trump walks on to the stage and rolling out his "Board of Peace" at the World Economic Forum in Davos, after an eventful 24 hours in which he unexpectedly U-turned on Greenland. (Source: Sky News - United Kingdom)
/Video/
(Tuesday), January 22, 2026 at 10:20 am US President Trump said yesterday that Iran must not resume its nuclear program, warning that if it does, it could trigger military action, Anadolu reports. ’It’s a place that we hit very hard (last June)…ending the nuclear (program). They would have had a nuclear weapon long ago, actually already. They would have had a nuclear weapon probably a month after we hit, had we not hit. And we hit them hard, the B-2 bombers.’ ’So we’re going to find out where they are now, about what they’re going to do with nuclear. They can’t do the nuclear. The one thing I have been strong on, they can’t do the nuclear,” he said during an interview with CNBC in Davos, Switzerland. Trump also said that Iran had stopped killing protesters after he issued a warning last week about potential military action. Trump repeatedly threatened to hit hard if protesters were killed but later commended Tehran for canceling hundreds of scheduled executions. The president told CNBC that he hoped the US would not need to take any additional military action against Iran. “We hope there’s not going to be further action,” he said. (Source: Middle East Monitor - based in London, United Kingdom, financed by the State of Qatar)
Thursday 22 January 2026 10:03, UK, US Speaking in Davos before heading to Moscow for talks with Putin, US special envoy Witkoff says negotiations to end the Ukraine war are down to just one issue. (Source: Sky News - United Kingdom)
/Video/
22/01/2026 - 10:58 Trump says he is moving toward a deal on Greenland following discussions with NATO chief Rutte. The US president had earlier declined to rule out the use of military force to acquire the territory from Denmark. (Source: France 24)
/Video/
22/01/2026 - 10:55, US While in Davos, Trump is expected to elaborate on his newly proposed "board of peace," reportedly established to oversee the US-brokered ceasefire in Israel's conflict with Hamas. The initiative has invited participation from around 60 countries, including Russia and China. Some, like Israel, have already signed on. Critics are expressing concern that the board could be intended to supplant the United Nations. (Source: France 24)
/Video/
Thu 22 Jan 2026 at 07:33 The US president has launched a fresh attack on Nato and Europe. Trump hit out at Nato, claiming the US has “never gotten anything” from being part of the alliance. He also was claiming Europe was ’unrecognisable’ due to immigration – echoing a trope repeated by the European and American ’far-right’. Taking aim at Europe for ’unchecked mass migration’, Mr Trump claimed the continent is importing ’entirely different populations from far away lands’. He said: ’Certain places in Europe are not even recognisable, frankly, anymore. They’re not recognisable... And I love Europe, and I want to see Europe go good, but it’s not heading in the right direction.’ ’Between immigration and energy – if they don’t change, bad things will happen to them,’ he added. Trump doubled down on his demands for Greenland. He was arguing that a US takeover of Greenland is ’a very small ask’ compared with what his country has done for its fellow members. ’I'm helping Europe. I'm helping Nato, and until the last few days, when I told them about Iceland, they loved me. They called me daddy. Now what I’m asking for is a piece of ice, cold and poorly located, that can play a vital role in world peace and world protection, the US president said. He said he wanted immediate talks to discuss acquiring the Danish territory, but said that he will “not use force” to seize it. It comes after Sir Keir Starmer used his most hostile language yet to push back against the US president, saying he will not yield in his stance over Greenland as he vowed to stand up to Mr Trump over his threats to annexe it. I will not yield, Britain will not yield ’on our principles and values’ about the future of Greenland under threats of tariffs, and that is my clear position, he was telling MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) yesterday. The PM also hit out at the US president’s criticism of the UK’s deal to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. He was saying Mr Trump’s criticism “were different to his previous words of welcome and support when I met him in the White House”. Starmer said his change in stance – calling the deal an act of “great stupidity” – ’was made expressly to pressure him and Britain in relation to his ’values and principles’ on the future of Greenland. The PM repeated: “He wants me to yield on my position, and I'm not going to do so.” The US president said he was ’helping Europe, I’m helping Nato’ with his efforts to secure a Ukraine peace deal and urged his allies to change their opposition to a US takeover of Greenland. He continued: “It’s a very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades. But the problem with Nato is that we’ll be there for them 100 per cent, but I’m not sure that they’d be there for us.” The US president reiterated his desire to establish a “Golden Dome” of missile defences – a system which Mr Trump ’proposes would have its outer edge in Greenland’. ’All we want from Denmark, for national and international security and to keep our very energetic and dangerous potential enemies at bay, is this land on which we're going to build the greatest golden dome ever built’, he said. Mr Trump said that the US was “the only country” that could secure the island that he claims is needed for US national security purposes. “Unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be frankly unstoppable. That is the biggest statement I’ve made. I don’t want to use force.” The US president has threatened to hit Britain and other European allies with 10% tariffs from 1 February unless they agree to his purchase of Greenland – a threat the prime minister has decried as completely wrong. Speaking in Davos following Mr Trump’s speech, Mr Farage said: ’He said Nato have never given us anything back. I would object to that politely by saying this: when the decision was made to go into Afghanistan, we went in with America and the coalition of the willing. ’We stayed by America for the whole 20 years, we proportionately spent the same money as America, we lost the same number of lives as America pro rata, and the same applies actually to Denmark and other countries too. “So it’s not quite fair. Yes, in money terms, America has provided more. In terms of surveillance equipment et cetera, America still provides more, but we have when it comes to honouring our commitments to America more than done our bit in terms of action over the last 20 years.” (Source: Belfast Telegraph - Northern Ireland, United Kingdom)
Thursday 22 January 2026 04:04 GMT, US Addressing the World Economic Forum today, Trump continued to argue that the US needed to take ownership of Greenland to ensure national security. During the speech, he referred to Greenland as a big piece of ice. But at one point, Trump also repeatedly referred to the country of Iceland. “Our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland, so Iceland has already cost us a lot of money,” he said. “But that dip is peanuts compared to what it’s gone up.” 'Until the last few days, when I told them about Iceland, they loved me. They called me ‘Daddy’,' Trump said. He went on to continue to attack Nato for not being 'there for us on Iceland' despite 'all of the money we expend, with all of the blood, sweat and tears'. An estimated 10,000 Danes gathered at Copenhagen’s City Hall Square to push back against Trump’s threats, with many people in the crowd donning parody hats mimicking Trump’s signature, bright-red MAGA cap that instead read “Make America Go Away”. (Source: The Independent – United Kingdom)
/Video; photo; map/
Asia
Syria
22/01/2026 - 11:01 US Central Command (Centcom) reported that 150 islamic state (is) ’fighters’ have already been moved from Hassakeh province to a ’secure location’ in Iraq. The US military has started transferring up to 7,000 is detainees from prisons in northeastern Syria to Iraq, as Syria’s new government asserts control over territories long governed autonomously by Kurdish-led forces. (Source: France 24)
/Video/
North America
United States
Jan 22, 2026 The Arctic is an emerging theater of great-power competition where geography still matters. Denmark lacks the scale, resources and power-projection capacity ’to secure Greenland alone against sustained Russian or Chinese pressure’. It is an argument for American leadership. ’The case is simple: U.S. leadership in Greenland is strategically sound, increasingly urgent, and firmly rooted in American national security interests’. Denmark, to its credit, is a loyal ally. It suffered the highest per-capita killed-in-action rate of any NATO ally during the war in Afghanistan. Copenhagen has pledged to increase Arctic military spending „and recognizes the rising threat to the environment’. „Greenland’s leaders have also signaled openness to an expanded U.S. military presence’. Moscow has rebuilt Cold War-era bases, expanded Arctic military infrastructure, deployed advanced missile systems, and asserted control over polar shipping routes. The Arctic is becoming another front in China’s global campaign to convert economic leverage into strategic dominance. Beijing now absurdly labels itself a ’Near-Arctic State’ to justify its growing presence through research stations, infrastructure investments and political influence. Any serious strategy to secure the Arctic, deter adversaries and protect North America runs directly through Greenland. As hypersonic weapons compress decision timelines and expand polar attack vectors, Greenland’s strategic value increases. American radar installations and military assets there are essential for early warning against Russian and Chinese missile threats. U.S., Danish and Greenlandic interests are aligned. All three want the Arctic protected from adversarial influence. All three benefit from a stable, rules-based order rather than one shaped by Russian coercion or Chinese economic capture. And all three understand that only the United States has the capability to guarantee that outcome. Secretary of State Rubio has made it clear that the United States seeks to purchase Greenland through negotiation, not force. This is not imperial conquest. It is a strategic consolidation among allies in response to an evolving threat landscape. History shows that „peaceful territorial transfers’, when conducted transparently and with mutual benefit, can strengthen stability rather than undermine it. The economic stakes are rising as well. Melting sea ice has opened new shipping lanes, including the Northern Sea Route, shortening transit times of Arctic commerce between Europe and Asia. ’Control over Arctic access’ will shape global trade for decades. Greenland also possesses vast, largely untapped mineral reserves, including rare earths critical to advanced technology and military systems. The United States works to reduce dependence on Chinese-controlled supply chains. ’Securing access to these resources is no luxury. It is a strategic necessity’. Ignoring practical realities, opponents invoke sovereignty without security, which is an illusion. Left to its own, Greenland would face relentless pressure from adversarial powers seeking influence through investment, infrastructure and political leverage. Taking responsibility now - through a negotiated agreement that respects Denmark and the people of Greenland - would lock in Western control of the Arctic, ’strengthen NATO’s northern flank, and significantly enhance the defense of the United States’. President Trump is right to place Greenland at the center of America’s Arctic strategy. (Source: The Heritage Foundation - U.S.)
by McCarthy, a Senior Research Fellow for European Affairs in The Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.
.
