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Almost 400 millionaires and billionaires from 24 countries are calling on global leaders to increase taxes on the super-rich amid growing concern that the wealthiest in society are buying political influence.
An open letter, which was released to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, urges world leaders attending this week’s conference to close the widening gap between the super-rich and everyone else.
Signatories include the actor and film-maker Mark Ruffalo, the musician Brian Eno and the film producer and philanthropist Abigail Disney.
What did the letter say? “A handful of global oligarchs with extreme wealth have bought up our democracies; taken over our governments; gagged the freedom of our media; placed a stranglehold on technology and innovation; deepened poverty and social exclusion; and accelerated the breakdown of our planet,” it reads.
‘Nostalgia is not a strategy’: Carney is emerging as unflinching realist ready to tackle Trump
In a wide-ranging speech that was at times elegiac for the predictable rules-based order, Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister of less than a year, laid out a doctrine for a world of fractured international norms, warning “compliance will not buy safety,” writes Leyland Cecco.
“The old order is not coming back. We should not mourn it,” Carney said, in a speech he reportedly wrote himself. “Nostalgia is not a strategy.”
The speech to politicians, media and business leaders attending the World Economic Forum in Davos received a standing ovation. While Carney did not explicitly mention Donald Trump, the Canadian prime minister nonetheless alluded to growing frustration and concern that the White House was eager to dismantle and weaken the “the architecture of collective problem-solving” that had defined much of the past eight decades.
What else is happening at Davos? Trump has top billing at the conference today and is scheduled to give a special address in the early afternoon (2.30pm local time, or 8.30am EST). He was expected to use this speech to outline his affordability agenda, but given his threats against Greenland his address is now expected to take a more international turn.
This a developing story. Follow our live blog here.
Half of world’s CO2 emissions come from just 32 fossil fuel firms, study shows
Just 32 fossil fuel companies were responsible for half the global carbon dioxide emissions that drove the climate crisis in 2024, down from 36 a year earlier, a report has revealed.
Critics accused the leading fossil fuel companies of “sabotaging climate action” and “being on the wrong side of history” but said the emissions data was increasingly being used to hold the companies accountable.
State-owned fossil fuel producers made up 17 of the top 20 emitters in the Carbon Majors report, which the study’s authors said underscored the political barriers to tackling global heating.
How bad are the worst offenders? Saudi Aramco was responsible for 1.7bn tonnes of CO2, much of it from exported oil. If it were a country, Aramco would be the world’s fifth biggest carbon polluter, just behind Russia. ExxonMobil’s fossil fuel production led to 610m tonnes of CO2 – it would be the ninth biggest polluter, ahead of South Korea.
In other news …
Lindsey Halligan, a Trump-appointed federal attorney who led the failed prosecutions of two of the president’s political opponents, has left her position at the US justice department, the attorney general, Pam Bondi, said yesterday.
Thousands of people, including suspected victims of human trafficking, are estimated to have been released or escaped from scam centres across Cambodia after growing international pressure to crack down on the multibillion-dollar industry.
A court in Japan has sentenced the murderer of the former prime minister Shinzo Abe to life in prison, in a case that shocked the public and exposed politicians’ ties to an influential religious group.
Stat of the day: Wall Street sees worst day since October after Trump tariff threats
Stock markets fell on both sides of the Atlantic yesterday, with Wall Street having its worst day since October, as investor concerns persisted over the fallout from Donald Trump’s push for US control of Greenland.
Wellness Wednesday: There’s no gold medal in the stress Olympics. Here’s how to start resting
“We all involuntarily participate in the stress Olympics, and are aware that the busiest person wins gold,” says Amelia Nagoski, the co-author of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. In a culture that glamorizes hard work, sacrifice and the grind, anything else is often seen as self-indulgent and lazy, Nagoski says. What if this was the year we finally learned to rest?
Don’t miss this: Trump made 10 key pledges a year ago – here’s what happened since then
During Donald Trump’s second inauguration address at the US Capitol on 20 January last year, he made bold promises about immigration, the economy and America’s standing in the world. Here is a review of 10 of his key pledges – and what happened in the year since.
… Or this: ‘I felt numb’ – German bank heist victims devastated after thieves ransack 3,000 deposit boxes
An astonishing bank heist in Germany, likened by a police spokesperson to the Hollywood film Ocean’s Eleven, made international headlines before Christmas: it is estimated that the thieves’ haul could have been worth as much as €300m ($351m), a sum that would make it the one of the biggest bank heists in a country wearily familiar with them.
Last Thing: Ring a Republican? Pay phones linking San Francisco and Texas aim to bridge US political divides
Two experimental pay phones – one placed in San Francisco and the other in Abilene, Texas – are connecting strangers across party lines, allowing callers to speak directly with Democrats and Republicans. “I think our thesis is that humans are pretty awesome and – if given the opportunity – will really look to find common ground,” said Ben Goldhirsh, a co-founder of Matter Neuroscience who launched the project.
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