News headlines in January 2026

URBANA, Illinois, US, January 27 (IPS) - Scientists across the U.S., including me, are stressed after a year marked by several changes and challenges, including cuts to science funding that have stalled clinical trials and studies that could improve and save lives. Without funding, scientists worry about how they will support ongoing research and train America’s future workforce, including the next generation of innovators.

NEW DELHI, January 27 (IPS) - It was Christmas eve: some two decades ago. Binalakshmi Nepram was a witness to the killing of a 27-year-old.

PORTLAND, USA, January 27 (IPS) - The United States is not so happy. Its population has received a lower happiness ranking compared to previous years. The factors contributing to this decline have significant implications for the United States, both domestically and internationally. As Dostoevsky noted, “The greatest happiness is to know the source of unhappiness”.

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.