EUROPE - French President Emmanuel Macron told Europe to “wake up” and spend more on defence in a speech that echoed previous warnings from President Donald Trump that NATO's reliance on US taxpayer dollars will no longer be tolerated. AP reports Macron urged Europe to accept responsibility for its own security, saying Trump’s return to the White House is an “opportunity for a European strategic wake-up call.” The French leader’s call came in his New Year’s address Monday to the military at the Army Digital and Cyber Support Command based in western France. “What will we do in Europe tomorrow if our American ally withdraws its warships from the Mediterranean? If they send their fighter jets from the Atlantic to the Pacific?” he asked.

USA - Donald Trump defies comparison with anyone else in US history, but his return to the White House today feels a lot like Ronald Reagan’s first inauguration in 1981. Reagan marked a sea change in America’s Cold War strategy and domestic economic policy, and by altering America’s course – which in the late 1970s seemed to be headed toward steady decline – Reagan altered the world’s, too. Trump holds the same promise as he begins his second term, confronting challenges not unlike those that faced Reagan.

SWITZERLAND - The 55th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, has long been seen as a major globalist event, but this year the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations are skipping the meeting. President Donald Trump is scheduled to address the forum by video link on Thursday, but Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, Indian President Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are among the no-shows. The only G7 leader to attend in person is German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

MIDDLE EAST - For the families of the remaining hostages in Gaza, the heart-stopping lottery continues. Sketchy details suggest another release this weekend. But as Hamas continue the drip-drip game of their psychotic playbook it`s impossible to know how long it will take to bring all the captives home. Meanwhile - unbearable as it is to read - we already have confirmation from those who were previously released their noxious October 7 jailers were brutalising monsters who subjected them to unimaginable horror. All of which begs the question - where was the Red Cross ?

USA - Three people have died as a powerful winter storm smothered swathes of the southern United States in snow, sleet and ice, and caused travel chaos. The Arctic blast of freezing air covered parts of Florida, Louisiana and Texas that rarely receive any snow with up to 10.5 inches (27cms). The frigid conditions left 170 million people across the country under an extreme warning or a cold weather advisory, according to the National Weather Service. “For parts of the western and northern Gulf Coast, this could be the biggest snow and ice storm in more than 100 years,” AccuWeather, a forecasting company, said. More than 2,000 flights were cancelled at airports across the US, and a further 3,200 were delayed, according to FlightAware.

USA - Dangerous winds returned to Southern California on Tuesday as firefighters battled new fires amid dry conditions while two major blazes burned for a third week in the Los Angeles area. Forecasters warned that gusts could peak at 70 mph (113 kph) along the coast and 100 mph (160 kph) in the mountains and foothills during extreme fire weather that is expected to last until Tuesday morning. Wind speeds ranged from 35 mph (56 kph) along the coast to 63 mph (101 kph) at elevation overnight, according to the US National Weather Service. The weather service warned of a “particularly dangerous situation ” in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego counties owing to low humidity and damaging Santa Ana winds.

USA - If his first inaugural address was menacing, delivered with a clenched fist – a series of threats to all those disruptors of the ideal American way of life – this one was messianic. All the promised measures were there – the immediate removal of illegal migrants being the most widely anticipated – but they were embedded in a larger theme, which was his personal mission which, he made clear, had been entrusted to him by God.

USA - "By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: The United States noticed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020 due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states. In addition, the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 percent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 percent less to the WHO."

SWITZERLAND - Donald Trump will make an online appearance at the annual meeting of global political and business elites in Davos next week, days after he takes office as US president, the World Economic Forum said on Tuesday. "He will join us digitally" on Thursday January 23, WEF president Borge Brende said in a press briefing previewing the annual meeting, adding it would be a "very special moment" to learn more about the new US administration's plans.

Uk - What can we expect from a second Trump presidency? His first term began with overblown predictions of chaos both at home and around the world. His detractors thought him capable of triggering a world war and yet global tensions have worsened under his successor Joe Biden. The ceasefire in the Middle East was agreed only because Mr Trump’s arrival made it an imperative for both sides. Whether it holds is another matter, but the president is clearly intent on seeing that it does.

USA - Donald Trump has wasted no time in dismantling the legacy of the Biden administration, promising to “identify and remove” more than a thousand of his successor’s appointees. The 47th US president announced on his social media platform Truth Social at 12.38 am (5.38 am GMT) that four officials “not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again” had already been dismissed. “You’re fired!” Mr Trump wrote, referencing his catch phrase from the reality TV show The Apprentice.

USA - Donald Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders and directives as he seeks to put his stamp on his new administration on issues ranging from immigration, gender and energy, to criminal pardons. The President signed some orders from the US Capitol, where his swearing-in ceremony took place, and more later at the White House. Executive orders allow presidents to enact some policies without the consent of Congress and can take effect immediately. Some could later be challenged in court.

USA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: “President Trump is always decisive, and the peace through strength policy he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and achieve a long-term and just peace, which is the top priority.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is now open to dialogue with the US: “I want to emphasise that its goal should not be a brief truce... but a lasting peace based on respect for the legitimate interests of all people.”

NATO chief Mark Rutte says Mr Trump’s return to office “will turbo-charge defence spending and production” at the alliance.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes “working together again we will raise the US-Israel alliance to even greater heights.”

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is ready to work with Mr Trump “to achieve peace during your term, based on a two-state solution.”

USA - China said it is “concerned” by Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement for a second time. “Climate change is a common challenge faced by all of humanity, and no country can remain unaffected or solve the problem on its own,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said. In 2006, China overtook the US to become the world’s largest annual emitter of greenhouse gases and by 2019 the nation was emitting more greenhouse gases than the entire developed world combined, according to research by the Rhodium Group. “I’m immediately withdrawing from the unfair, one-sided Paris Climate Accord rip-off,” Mr Trump said to cheering supporters during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena. “The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity.”

MIDDLE EAST - The war in Gaza must and will resume. It’s just a question of when. The newly brave terrorists of Hamas have not yet had their full dose of medicine. Until yesterday the survivors of Hamas’s terror army were skulking inside what’s left of their tunnel network, hiding in civilian houses, mosques, schools and hospitals or embedding themselves into humanitarian areas on the coast. They disguised themselves as civilians, sometimes dressed as women and journalists and never daring to openly carry weapons above ground. Today they are out on the streets of Gaza proudly wearing their green bandanas and combat uniforms while flaunting assault rifles and rocket launchers.