Trump to unveil ‘Board of Peace’ at Davos after Greenland backtrack

US President Donald Trump will show off his new “Board of Peace” and meet Ukraine’s leader at Davos on Thursday — burnishing his claim to be a peacemaker a day after backing off his own threats against Greenland.Trump abruptly announced on Wednesday that he was scrapping tariffs against Europe and ruling out military action to take Greenland from Denmark, partially defusing a crisis which has shaken the meeting of global elites.On his second day at the Swiss ski resort, Trump will seek to promote the  “Board of Peace”, his controversial body for resolving international conflicts, with a signing ceremony for the organisation’s charter.The fledgling board boasts a $1 billion price tag for permanent membership and Trump has invited leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Hungary’s Viktor Orban to join.”I think it’s the greatest board ever formed,” Trump said Wednesday as he met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, another of the leaders who have agreed to join.The launch of the board comes against the backdrop of Trump’s frustration at having failed to win the Nobel Peace Prize, despite his disputed claim to have ended eight conflicts.Originally meant to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza after the war between Hamas and Israel, the board’s charter does not limit its role to the Strip and has sparked concerns that Trump wants it to rival the United Nations.Key US allies including France and Britain have expressed skepticism but others have signed up, particularly in the Middle East where Trump-friendly Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have agreed to join.About 35 world leaders have committed so far out of the 50 or so invitations that went out, a senior Trump administration official told reporters on Wednesday.Trump also said on Wednesday that Putin had agreed to join — despite the Kremlin so far saying it was still studying the invite.- ‘Framework of a future deal’ -The inclusion of Russian president Putin has caused particular concern among US allies, but especially in Ukraine as it seeks an end to Moscow’s nearly four-year-old invasion.Trump said he was due to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the “Board of Peace” meeting as difficult negotiations for a ceasefire in the Ukraine war continue.At Davos on Wednesday, Trump said Russia and Ukraine would be “stupid” not to reach a peace deal in the conflict that he said he could solve within a day of taking office a year ago.Trump repeated his oft-stated belief that Putin and Zelensky were close to a deal, although he has veered between blaming one or the other for the lack of a ceasefire so far.”I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don’t, they’re stupid — that goes for both of them,” said the US president.Trump has long been a skeptic of US support for Ukraine and says that it is now up to NATO and Europe to back Kyiv. But his belief that he has a personal connection with Putin has not brought an end to the war so far.The US leader’s roving special envoy, businessman Steve Witkoff, is set to travel to Moscow from Davos with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and hold talks with Putin on Thursday.Zelensky has meanwhile voiced fears that Trump’s push to seize Greenland could divert focus away from Russia’s invasion of his country.Trump however said late Wednesday he had reached a “framework of a future deal” after meeting NATO chief Mark Rutte, and that he would therefore waive tariffs scheduled to hit European allies on February 1.Rutte told AFP in Davos that the meeting had been “very good” but that there was “still a lot of work to be done” on Greenland. Trump insists the mineral-rich Arctic island is vital for US and NATO security against Russia and China.

Jury acquits Uvalde school policeman over mass shooting response

A US jury on Wednesday acquitted the former school police officer for his response to a 2022 mass shooting at a Texas elementary school which killed 21 people, including 19 children — the the frustration of the victims’s families.Adrian Gonzales, 52, was accused of failing to “engage, distract or delay the shooter,” and faced 29 felony counts of child endangerment — one for each of the 19 children who died and for the 10 students who survived. The jury took several hours to deliberate.”In each of the 29 counts, we the jury find the defendant, Adrian Gonzales, not guilty,” Judge Sid Harle said as he read the verdict in a Corpus Christi courthouse, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) from Uvalde, where the shooting took place.Nineteen young children and two teachers were killed in the city of Uvalde on May 24, 2022 when a teenage gunman went on a rampage with an AR-15 style assault rifle at Robb Elementary School, in what was America’s deadliest school shooting in a decade.The official response by law enforcement was heavily criticized after it emerged that more than a dozen officers waited for over an hour outside classrooms where the shooting was taking place and did nothing as children lay dead or dying inside.Family members voiced frustration at the decision, which followed an uncommon attempt to hold law enforcement accountable for their response to a mass shooting. “They failed the children again,” Javier Cazares, the father of Jackie Cazares who was killed in the attack, told press. “I’ve been emotionally shattered since day one, but again, we had to brace for the worst.”A total of 376 officers — border guards, state police, city police, local sheriff departments and elite forces — responded to the massacre, a Texas state lawmakers’ report said in July 2022.After the verdict was read, Gonzales thanked god and his attorneys, who insisted he did risk his life.The shooter, identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, was reportedly killed by law enforcement at the site of the attack.Former school district police chief Pete Arredondo also faces charges over the tragedy, but will be tried separately and has pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces.

Bangladesh launches campaigns for first post-Hasina polls

Bangladesh begins official campaigning on Thursday for hugely anticipated general elections next month, the first since the 2024 uprising ended the autocratic rule of Sheikh Hasina.The South Asian nation of 170 million people votes on February 12 for 350 lawmakers, ushering in new leadership after prolonged political turmoil following the overthrow of Hasina’s government, reshaping domestic and regional power dynamics.It comes against the backdrop of insecurity — including the murder last month of a student leader of the anti-Hasina protests — as well as warnings of a “flood” of online disinformation.European Union election observers say the vote will be the “biggest democratic process of 2026”.Mass rallies are expected with hundreds of thousands of supporters gathering, as the frontrunners the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, formally launch their campaigns.- Sufi shrine -BNP chief and prime ministerial hopeful Tarique Rahman, 60, who returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in exile, is due to address a string of rallies starting in the north-eastern city of Sylhet.Rahman assumed formal leadership of the BNP after the death in December of his mother, 80-year-old former prime minister Khaleda Zia.Bangladesh, home to one of the world’s largest Muslim-majority populations, has a significant Sufi following, and parties have traditionally launched campaigns in Sylhet, home to the centuries-old shrine of Shah Jalal.Lines of supporters lined both sides the streets as Rahman prayed at the shrine on Wednesday night, cheering as his election bus passed by, with his countrywide roadshow of rallies to begin later Thursday.Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposes Sufi mystical interpretations of the Koran, begins its campaign in the capital Dhaka, in the constituency of its leader Shafiqur Rahman.Ideologically aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamists are seeking a return to formal politics after years of bans and crackdowns.Since Hasina fled to India, key Islamist leaders have been released from prison, and Islamist groups have grown increasingly assertive.The National Citizen Party (NCP), formed by student leaders who spearheaded the uprising, and who have formed an alliance with Jamaat, will also launch their rally in Dhaka.- ‘New Bangladesh’ -Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who returned from exile in August 2024 at the behest of protesters to lead a caretaker government as “chief adviser”, will step down after the polls.Yunus said he inherited a “completely broken” political system, and championed a reform charter he argues is vital to prevent a return to authoritarian rule, with a referendum on the changes to be held on the same day as polling.He says the reforms will strengthen checks and balances between the executive, judicial and legislative branches. “If you cast the ‘yes’ vote, the door to building the new Bangladesh will open,” Yunus said on January 19, in a broadcast to the nation urging support for the referendum.Earlier this month, he warned UN rights chief Volker Turk of a “flood” of misinformation targeting the polls, saying he was “concerned about the impact” disinformation could have.”They have flooded social media with fake news, rumours and speculation,” Yunus said, blaming both “foreign media and local sources”.Relations with neighbouring India have soured, after Hasina escaped to her old ally New Delhi as protesters stormed her palace.Hasina, 78, sentenced to death in absentia in November for crimes against humanity for the deadly crackdown on protesters in her failed bid to cling to power, remains in hiding in India.

Groenland: Trump lève subitement ses menaces et annonce un “cadre” d’accord

Après des semaines de déclarations agressives, Donald Trump a subitement annoncé mercredi à Davos “le cadre d’un futur accord” sur le Groenland, extrêmement vague, et levé ses menaces douanières autant que militaires.L’annonce a été accueillie avec enthousiasme par Wall Street et avec un soulagement prudent au Danemark, mais avec méfiance sur l’île arctique, territoire autonome …

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South Korea’s economy grew just 1% in 2025, lowest in five years

South Korea logged its slowest growth in half a decade in 2025, the country’s central bank said Thursday, while exports rose on the back of a boom in artificial intelligence.Asia’s fourth-largest economy has struggled with sluggish demand, a troubled housing market and the fallout of former president Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration, which plunged the country into political chaos.Last year’s one percent growth was the slowest since 2020, when the economy shrank following the outbreak of Covid-19.Exports were a bright spot, rising by 4.1 percent, the country’s central bank said, while imports were up 3.8 percent.”The growth of exports continued and the growth of private consumption and government consumption expanded,” it said.A decline in construction investment widened, it added, linked to persistent trouble in the real estate market.”The decline in construction widened and the growth of manufacturing slowed,” the central bank said.The economy also contracted in the October–December period, the central bank added.An official said that the slump was expected due to the “base effect” from strong growth in the third quarter.But the weak construction investment also played a role in dragging down overall growth, he said.The central bank had projected in its November report that the economy would grow 1.8 percent this year, citing “a recovery in domestic demand and a robust semiconductor cycle”.South Korea is home to key semiconductor manufacturers — Samsung Electronics and SK hynix — whose products have become crucial to sustaining and further expanding infrastructure for the global artificial intelligence market.On the back of robust demand, the benchmark index Kospi broke 5,000 for the first time on Thursday.”Today’s rally is being driven mainly by semiconductor manufacturers, especially Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, amid growing expectations of robust earnings in the sector,” Chung Hae-chang, analyst at Daishin Securities, told AFP.