Leaders at the World Economic Forum urged countries and businesses to filter out the turmoil from a week of clashes with the Trump administration and focus on boosting growth and fighting inequality.
The global economy is showing unexpected resilience despite the noise, European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund head Kristalina Georgieva and World Trade Organization head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala during a discussion at Davos.
But while growth is holding up, troubles like worrisome levels of government debt and inequality loom.
That resilience is holding up despite disruptions from US trade policy under President Donald Trump, who threatened to impose tariffs on countries supporting Greenland against a U.S. takeover bid, then withdrew the tariff proposal.
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Army secretary tapped again as Russia-Ukraine negotiator
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is part of Trump’s team holding three-way negotiations Friday in the United Arab Emirates on ending the Russia-Ukraine war, a U.S. official says.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff asked Driscoll to attend given his experience serving in and leading the Army, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic process.
Driscoll was previously tapped to help with such talks last November during a preplanned trip to Ukraine meant to discuss drone warfare.
He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff and other top negotiators in Geneva for more talks before traveling to Abu Dhabi to negotiate with the Russians on that previous trip.The U.S. official didn’t have a sense of how long this latest round of negotiating was expected to last. The development was reported earlier by Politico and Fox News.
— By Konstantin Toropin
British leader urges Trump to apologize for “appalling” remarks
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged Trump to apologize for his false assertion that troops from NATO countries — other than Americans — stayed away from the front line during the war in Afghanistan.
Trump said that he wasn’t sure NATO would be there to support the U.S. if and when requested, provoking outrage and distress among many in the U.K. on Friday.
Starmer said Trump’s remarks were insulting and frankly appalling.” More than 150,000 British troops served in Afghanistan in the years after the U.S.-led 2001 invasion, the largest contingent after the American one. More than 450 of them died.
Justice Department joins Republican plea to Supreme Court to block new California congressional map that favors Democrats
Trump’s top Supreme Court lawyer told the justices that the map designed to elect up to five more Democratic House members “is tainted by an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.”
Solicitor General D. John Sauer previously defended Texas’ map, engineered to elect up to five additional Republicans, as a legal partisan gerrymander. Trump’s push for Texas Republicans to redistrict congressional boundaries led California to redo its own districts, with control of Congress on the line in this year’s elections.
The justices already have allowed Texas to use its new map, blocking a lower-court order that found it was likely racially discriminatory. Last month, a federal court in Sacramento rejected arguments that the new California districts impermissibly favor Hispanic voters. Voters approved the new districts in November.
Republicans want the court to act before qualifying for congressional primaries begins next month.
Peru and Saudi Arabia formally join the stable of US ’major non-NATO allies’
Peru and Saudi Arabia are now officially members of a semi-exclusive club of “major non-NATO allies” of the United States following the publication of formal notices in the Federal Register.
Trump had announced in December that he would add both countries to the group, membership in which allows nations to buy U.S. armaments under the same terms and most conditions as NATO members.
With the formal addition of Peru and Saudi Arabia on Friday, there are now 22 major non-NATO allies on four continents.The Trump administration has already approved billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and just last week announced a $1.5 billion sale to Peru of design and construction supplies and equipment to upgrade and expand its main naval base.
Iranian prosecutor denies Trump claim 800 prisoners spared execution
Iran’s top prosecutor has called Trump’s claims about halting the hangings of 800 detained protesters “completely false.”
Activists say Iran’s crackdown has already killed at least 5,002 people. The internet blackout in Iran has lasted over two weeks, making it hard to confirm information.
Meanwhile, tensions between the U.S. and Iran remain high as an American aircraft carrier group moves closer to the Middle East. Analysts say this could give Trump the option to carry out strikes, though he has avoided that so far despite warnings to Tehran.
Trump provokes ire after downplaying NATO’s Afghanistan involvement
Trump has provoked outrage in the U.K. with his suggestion that troops from NATO countries stayed away from the frontline during the war in Afghanistan.
In an interview in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Trump said he was not sure NATO would support the U.S. if and when requested.
He says troops “stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.” U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey says those British troops ”should be remembered for who they were: heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation.”
US finalizes withdrawal from World Health Organization
The U.S. has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization.
Officials announced the completion Thursday, which follows Trump’s announcement a year ago.
The U.S. owes over $130 million to the WHO, and unresolved issues remain, like access to global health data. Experts warn the move could harm global health responses and hinder U.S. vaccine development.
The withdrawal affects U.S. participation in WHO committees and global flu surveillance. Trump cited the WHO’s handling of COVID-19 and lack of reforms as reasons for the exit. Critics call the decision shortsighted and reckless.
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