The US President touched down in Zurich shortly before 12pm UK time before heading to Davos where he will address the World Economic Forum.
His journey to Europe was delayed by three hours after his plane, Air Force One, was forced to turn round after what White House press secretary Karoline Leavittsaid was 'a minor electrical issue'.
A planned bilateral meeting between Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has been cancelled due to the President's late arrival, a German source said.
Trump's arrival comes as EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warns Europe is facing a new world 'defined by raw power'.
Addressing the European Parliament, von der Leyen said Europe had to toughen up to influence the world by boosting its own economy and defences.
Addressing lawmakers, she said: 'The shift in the international order is not only seismic, but it is permanent. We will need a departure from Europe's traditional caution.
'We now live in a world defined by raw power - whether economic or military, technological or geopolitical. And while many of us may not like it, we must deal with the world as it is now.'
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By Jason Ditz, antiwar.com
Yemen rift is just the latest divide in a growing viewpoint difference.
The fighting in South Yemen in early January reflected a big rift between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While the two nations jointly invaded Yemen a decade and a half ago, they’ve both aligned with different factions, and those factions have been at odds for years.
The UAE-backed separatists and the Saudi-backed self-proclaimed government fought, the Saudis kidnapped a separatist negotiating team, and their leader fled to the UAE. While the Saudis are trying to be upbeat about their “victory” here, they are also reportedly mad at the UAE once again, and keen to remove them entirely from the regional power structure.
The UAE has spent years developing its position in the Red Sea, the Horn of Africa and the Persian Gulf. According to a Washington Post report, the Saudis are increasingly vocal about seeing the UAE as an opponent, warning they won’t hesitate to take steps against anyone they view as threatening Saudi national security.
The South Yemen situation remains unresolved, and the Saudis are trying to brand the UAE as having run secret torture prisons there, an allegation that the UAE has denied. This difference of views is a lot bigger than South Yemen though, and involves distinct priorities which from east to west, often put the two on different sides in conflicts.
Saudi Arabia’s priority has been stable nation-states in the region, and has generally tried to support unstable governments to try to shore them up, whether it is the would-be government in Yemen or the ever-struggling government in Somalia.
The UAE, by contrast, seems eager to establish a position of power within different areas whether or not it’s with a state actor. This has included fostering ties with Gen. Khalifa Hafter in Libya and the RSF paramilitary in Sudan, and also the breakaway region of Somaliland, even at the expense of ties with the Somali government.
https://news.antiwar.com/2026/01/20/saudis-keen-to-oust-uae-from-position-of-regional-influence/
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Chuck Schumer announces Democrats will reverse all DOGE cuts made under President Trump if they win the 2026 midterms.
https://citizenwatchreport.com/chuck-schumer-announces-democrats-will-reverse-all-doge-cuts-made-under-president-trump-if-they-win-the-2026-midterms/
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Japan just warned it could dump $1.2 trillion in Treasuries. At least three banks are calling this morning for immediate YCC in Japan. Japan calls (surprise) snap election.
https://citizenwatchreport.com/japan-just-warned-it-could-dump-1-2-trillion-in-treasuries-at-least-three-banks-are-calling-this-morning-for-immediate-ycc-in-japan/
(AkademikerPension, a Danish pension fund, announced it will sell off its entire holdings of U.S. Treasury securities — roughly $100 million worth — by the end of this month. The fund cited concerns over U.S. government finances and fiscal risk as the reason for the divestment.
And unfortunately, this appears to be" only the beginning" of a number of steps Europe can, and may take, should the US move forward with some kind of invasion/occupation of Greenland.)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gold is rallying, now above $4,800. Silver trades above $95.
Shanghai Silver Price in Dollars $103.45 USD/OZIsrael has blocked members of the Palestinian technocratic committee meant to administer Gaza from entering the besieged strip, Hebrew media outlets reported on 20 January.
Israel is “refusing to allow” their entry, Palestinian sources told Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The technocratic committee was supposed to enter Gaza this week via the Rafah border crossing and take over civil administration. However, Israel is refusing to open the crossing in violation of the ceasefire agreement and despite US calls to do so.
According to Israeli reports, the committee members still do not know when or how they will begin their work in Gaza due to the rejection of their entry via the crossing.
“Israel’s Security Cabinet decided Sunday night not to open the Rafah Crossing at this time,” Israeli news site Ynet reported on Monday evening.
The reports come as Washington is planning to hold a signing ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, to officially launch the Gaza ‘Board of Peace,’ led by US President Donald Trump.
The signing is expected to take place on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos at 10:30 am.
https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-prevents-palestinian-committee-members-appointed-by-trump-from-entering-gaza
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Newly released emails reveal that senior Biden administration health officials privately grappling with research suggesting recovery from Covid-19 infection provided stronger protection than vaccination alone - at the very moment the federal government was preparing sweeping vaccine mandates in 2021.
The correspondence, released under the Freedom of Information Act to the watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust and shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation, offers the clearest documentary evidence to date that top officials recognized scientific uncertainties around one-size-fits-all vaccination policies, even as they publicly dismissed the value of natural immunity.
At the center of the internal debate was a massive Israeli study of nearly 800,000 people that found prior infection conferred substantially stronger protection against reinfection than two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. In private emails, Dr. Anthony Fauci described the findings as “rather impressive,” acknowledging both the scale and rigor of the research, which had received prominent coverage in Science.
"The data [in the Israeli study] as reported in the news article look rather impressive . . . . but I would imagine that it is more complicated than we think . . . . [I]t is conceivable and possibly likely that those who have had a serious systemic infection develop a high level of immunity that even surpasses that of full vaccination," Fauci wrote in an Aug. 27, 2021 email with the subject line "RE: Post infection protection vs vaccine immunity.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fauci-collins-brushed-impressive-data-covid-natural-immunity
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Pakistan has sealed a deal worth over $4 billion to sell military equipment, including warplanes jointly built with China, to General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army, according to a report by Reuters.
The deal could significantly alter the military balance of power in the oil-rich North African country, where Haftar rules over the eastern half and a UN-recognized government led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh in Tripoli controls the west.
"Please make your armed forces as strong as possible because armed forces did guarantee the existence of countries," Pakistan military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir said in a visit to Benghazi last week, where he met Haftar's son, Saddam. Reuters reported that the arms deal was finalized in that meeting.
"Libya is a land of lions," Munir said in a video clip of his address to Libyan National Army officers, referencing the Libyan Islamic Scholar Omar al-Mukhtar, whose struggle in the 1920-1930s against the Italian occupation of Libya was made famous in the 1981 movie Lion of the Desert starring Anthony Quinn.
A copy of the arms deal seen by Reuters before it was finalized said Haftar's LNA would purchase 16 JF-17 fighter jets, a multirole combat aircraft jointly developed by Pakistan and China, along with 12 Super Mushak trainer aircraft, used for basic pilot training.
One of the Pakistani officials who spoke with Reuters said the agreement would be spread over two and a half years, with land, sea and air equipment included. Two Pakistani officials said the deal could reach up to $4.6bn - Pakistan's largest in history.
Neither the Tripoli government nor Haftar's forces have a substantial air force. Haftar made a failed bid to conquer Tripoli in 2019 with the backing of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Russia. Turkey intervened to defend the government in Tripoli, sending mercenaries and TB2 drones. Since then, it has stationed thousands of troops in the Western half of Libya and sealed a controversial maritime agreement with the government in Tripoli
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/pakistan-send-chinese-warplanes-libyan-faction-under-gen-haftar
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Posted by Tyler Durden, written by Ian Proud
The ugly truth is that an end of the Ukraine war may have as devastating economic and political consequences for Europe as its continuance...
Ukraine already faces a $63 billion U.S. dollar funding shortfall in 2026 and I would be surprised if this figure doesn’t increase if the war continues. Ukraine’s massive fiscal splurge is driven by two factors
The enormous cost of maintaining a standing army of almost one million people; The vast expense of importing weapons from the west to fight the war.Weapon purchases are not sources of productive investment as they are literally burned in the heat of battle.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraine-defending-itself-money-europe-doesnt-have
#1: Horse To: Horse (#0)
The site sits near key financial and communications infrastructure in central London...
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/uk-approves-controversial-chinese-mega-embassy-london
Horse posted on 2026-01-21 08:59:58 Reply Private Reply
#2: Horse To: Horse (#1)
"The shortfall is likely to persist over the medium to long term with a possibility of a non-recovery."
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/de-beers-cuts-diamond-prices-botswana-warns-prolonged-slump
Horse posted on 2026-01-21 09:00:36 Reply Private Reply