News headlines in January 2026

PORTLAND, USA, January 16 (IPS) - Ageing and shrinking populations are becoming more prevalent in many countries around the world.

LONDON, January 16 (IPS) - “The ‘spirit of dialogue’, the theme for this year’s meeting in Davos, which begins January 19, has been painfully and increasingly absent from international affairs of late. President Trump’s first year back in office has seen the United States withdraw from multilateral bodies, bully other states and relentlessly attack the principles and institutions that underpin the international justice system.

YANGON, Myanmar, and CHIANGMAI, Thailand , January 16 (IPS) - Held incommunicado in grim prison conditions for nearly five years, Aung San Suu Kyi quite possibly does not even know that this week the International Court of Justice (ICJ) opened a landmark case charging Myanmar with committing genocide against its Rohingya minority a decade ago.

A staggering 55 million people across West and Central Africa are expected to suffer crisis levels of hunger, or worse, during the lean season from June to August as funding cuts to humanitarian operations continue amid rising violence and displacement.

Families across Ukraine are in “constant survival mode” amid ongoing waves of Russian missile and drone strikes that have left blocks without power for days at a time, while temperatures plunge to deadly lows, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

UNITED NATIONS, January 15 (IPS) - On January 12, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), opened landmark hearings in a case brought by the Republic of The Gambia, alleging that Myanmar’s military committed acts of brutal genocide against the Rohingya minority during its 2017 crackdown. Described by the United Nations (UN) as a case “years in the making,” the ICJ will spend the next three weeks reviewing evidence and testimony from both sides to determine whether the Myanmar military violated the Genocide Convention.

NEW YORK, January 15 (IPS) - Unlike ever before, Iran’s Islamic regime is facing a revolt led by a generation that has lost its fear. Young and old, men and women, students and workers, are flooding the streets across the country.

NAIROBI, January 15 (IPS) - President Donald Trump has escalated efforts to further distance the United States from international organizations and entities focused on climate, the environment, and energy. This strategy is in step with his administration’s established approach to undermine and redirect funds and international cooperation away from climate and clean energy programs.

Almost two decades in the making, an international agreement to protect marine life in international waters and the seabed is due to come into force on Saturday, marking a major step forward in efforts to ensure the health of ocean ecosystems for decades to come.

As nationwide protests in Iran appear to ease after nearly three weeks of unrest and bloodshed, a senior UN official called on Thursday for action to prevent further escalation.