Two confirmed dead and more presumed buried after landslides hit house and campground in New Zealand 22. January 2026 (21:37) The first landslide hit a house in the community of Welcome Bay on New Zealand’s North Island, police sayLandslides hit a house and a campground in New Zealand on Thursday, leaving at least two dead while emergency crews were trying to rescue others buried in rubble, officials said.The first hit a house in the community of Welcome Bay on New Zealand’s North Island at 4:50am, police said. Two people escaped the house, and the bodies of two who were trapped inside were recovered hours later, the emergency management minister, Mark Mitchell, said. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump sues JPMorgan Chase and Jamie Dimon for at least $5bn 22. January 2026 (20:44) US president alleges JPMorgan stopped offering him banking services in wake of January 6 Capitol riotDonald Trump has sued JPMorgan Chase and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, for at least $5bn after accusing America’s largest bank of “debanking” him.The US president alleged that JPMorgan stopped offering him banking services in the wake of the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Earlier this month, he claimed it had “incorrectly and inappropriately” discriminated against him. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump’s Gaza plan is a rebuff to Israeli extremists, but will soon be put to test 22. January 2026 (20:44) Blueprint presented by Jared Kushner shows unified Gaza run by Palestinians, with Rafah crossing to open next weekAmid the hullabaloo and self-congratulation of Donald Trump’s “board of peace” launch in Davos, his administration laid out specific plans for the short- and long-term future of Gaza, aimed at a lasting peace.The blueprint set out on Thursday was extremely ambitious. It envisages a unified Palestinian-run Gaza, which represents a rebuff to the aims of Israeli extremists, including some in the governing coalition, who have sought the deportation of Gaza’s population and the building of Israeli settlements in its place. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
What images of a detained five-year-old boy reveal about Trump’s draconian ICE crackdown 22. January 2026 (20:42) Liam Ramos, a preschooler, is just one of a number of kids caught up in dystopian ICE surges in Minnesota and beyondAs symbols of the indiscriminate disproportionality of the Trump administration’s militant anti-immigrant crusade in Minneapolis, the images are hard to surpass.One recent image shows the innocent figure of Liam Ramos, a five-year-old preschooler wearing a blue bobbled winter hat, standing next to a black vehicle with a dark-clad adult figure standing behind him, whose hand is proprietorially placed on his backpack. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump administration to block aid from subsizing DEI and trans rights overseas 22. January 2026 (20:29) Decision marks dramatic expansion of ‘Mexico City policy’, which abortion rights supporters call ‘global gag rule’US politics live – latest updatesThe Trump administration will block organizations from using US foreign aid to subsidize diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and what the administration calls “gender ideology”. The new policy will affect about $30bn in foreign assistance.The decision, confirmed to the Guardian by a state department spokesperson on Thursday morning, marks a dramatic expansion of the so-called “Mexico City policy”, which blocks non-US non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from receiving some forms of US funding if they provide abortion-related services or advocate for abortion rights overseas. Now, that policy – which abortion rights supporters call the “global gag rule” – will also apply to international organizations and US-based NGOs operating abroad. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Government admits its approval for Buckinghamshire AI datacentre should be quashed 22. January 2026 (20:11) Campaigners hail U-turn during legal challenge over proposed centre an ‘embarrassing climbdown’The government has been forced to admit its own planning approval for a major AI datacentre should be quashed after it failed to fully consider the climate impact, in what campaigners described as “an embarrassing climbdown”.Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister, had overruled opposition from a local council to grant permission for a hyperscale datacentre on greenbelt land by the M25 in Buckinghamshire in line with Labour’s pledge to enable faster private investment in AI. But her successor, Steve Reed, has admitted the reasons for not requiring an environmental impact assessment were “inadequate” and that “permission should be quashed”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Davos onlookers notice Trump’s ‘board of peace’ logo resembles UN emblem 22. January 2026 (19:53) The US president unveiled the board with a gold logo whose resemblance to the UN emblem sparked European criticismDonald Trump’s newly launched “board of peace” already has a logo – and perceptive eyes have noted its close resemblance to the United Nations emblem, except reworked in Trump fashion: all in gold, and focused squarely on the US.Launched this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the initiative was first endorsed back in November by the UN security council, on the understanding that it would focus on brokering a ceasefire in Gaza. Since then, however, Trump has positioned it as a global body tasked with resolving international conflicts of all stripes, and to be chaired by Trump himself, in what appears to be part of the administration’s latest effort to reshape the postwar global order. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump claims Nato troops ‘stayed a little off the frontlines’ in Afghanistan 22. January 2026 (19:50) President again disparages allies and tells Fox News he is ‘not sure’ Nato would come to US’s defenceDonald Trump has again disparaged America’s Nato allies, claiming that troops from allied nations “stayed a little back, a little off the frontlines” while fighting in Afghanistan in support of the US campaign against the Taliban.The only time Nato has ever invoked its mutual defence clause – stating that an attack on one member represents an attack on all – came after the terrorist attacks of September 11, when member states deployed thousands of troops to Afghanistan. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Protests expected as first asylum seekers arrive at East Sussex camp 22. January 2026 (19:47) Minister says use of former army barracks at Crowborough is part of plan to move people out of hotelsA first group of asylum seekers has been moved into a former military camp in East Sussex, the Home Office has said, amid expectations of further protests and legal challenges.Crowborough training camp received 27 men in the early hours of Thursday morning, a statement said, which will be scaled up to 500 over several months. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
