News headlines in January 2026

WASHINGTON DC, January 27 (IPS) - Korea’s population is aging faster than almost any other country. That’s because people live longer than in most other countries, while the birth rate is one of the lowest in the world.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, January 26 (IPS) - When Ugandans went to the polls on 15 January, the outcome was never in doubt. As voting began, mobile internet services ground to a halt, ensuring minimal scrutiny as President Yoweri Museveni secured his seventh consecutive term. Far from offering democratic choice, the vote reinforced one of Africa’s longest-running presidencies, providing a veneer of democratic legitimacy while stifling competition.

NEW YORK, January 26 (IPS) - At a press conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Trump unveiled his newly formed Board of Peace to end the Israel-Hamas war. During a press conference in the White House, he explained that he created the board because “The UN should have settled every one of the wars that I settled. I never went to them. I never even thought to go to them.”

UNITED NATIONS, January 26 (IPS) - Judging by the mixed signals coming out of the White House, is the Board of Peace, a creation of President Donald Trump, eventually aimed at replacing the UN Security Council or the United Nations itself?At a ceremony in Davos, Switzerland last week, Trump formally ratified the Charter of the Board — establishing it as “an official international organization”.

On the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on the global community to “not only to look at our past, but to reflect on our present, and to safeguard our future.”

The fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is making a difference to the lives of over a million children, and improving overall access to food - but more aid still needs to enter.

The UN migration agency, IOM, expressed deep concern on Monday over multiple deadly shipwrecks that are believed to have taken place over the past ten days across the Central Mediterranean.

When fighting recently intensified near her neighbourhood in Aleppo, in northern Syria, Fatima and her family had to run.

Warning that the “rule of law is being replaced by the law of the jungle,” the UN Secretary-General on Monday urged world powers to recommit to international law as the foundation of peace, justice and multilateral cooperation.

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is sounding the alarm over the threat of escalating violence in Jonglei state which is putting lives at risk and further weakening prospects for peace.