Trump paints himself as great white hope in racism-drenched Davos speech

Donald Trump turned up in Davos wielding an insult bazooka. He mocked Emmanuel Macron’s aviator sunglasses, chided Mark Carney (“Canada lives because of the United States”), asserted that the Swiss are “only good because of us” and had a dig at Denmark for losing Greenland “in six hours” during the second world war.But beyond the fractious rhetoric, the US president brought a deeper message on Wednesday that sought to unify the west rather than divide it. It was his most dark, insidious and sinister project of all.Trump surmised: Yes, we might have our internal squabbles, but I am bringing tough love because we are all in this together

Denmark welcomes Trump ruling out force to take Greenland, before ‘future deal’ framework announced – as it happened

Denmark’s foreign minister has said Donald Trump’s statement that he would not use force to take Greenland was positive, even though the US president hasn’t dropped his ambitions to acquire the islandLars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters (Bloomberg reports):“What is clear after this speech is that the president’s ambition [to own Greenland] remains intact.“It is, in isolation, positive that it is being said that military force will not be used, but that does not make the problem go away. The challenge is still there.”Big breaking news tonight from Davos: Donald Trump has announced that he and Nato chief Mark Rutte have agreed the framework of a “future deal” over Greenland.It’s not clear what the details are – Trump says the proposed solution would be a great one for the US, and all NATO NationsAnd significantly, Trump says he won’t impose the 10% tariffs threatened on eight European countries including the UK

Trump steps up Greenland annexation demand and attacks European leaders at Davos

Donald Trump has stepped up his demand to annex Greenland but said the US would not use force to seize it during a rambling, invective-laden speech at Davos where he again lashed out at Europe’s political leaders.Trump gave his speech as they sought to avert a full-scale crisis over Greenland – an effort that appeared successful later as the US president suddenly announced he would delay imposing tariffs on eight European countries from 1 February as negotiations continue.The address to thousands of business and political leaders at the World Economic Form in the Swiss ski resort indicated that while Trump was renouncing the use of military force – for now at least – to wrest control of Greenland, he still intended to wield US economic and diplomatic power to bend European allies to his will.He said he was “seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States”.“I don’t want to use force

Why is the UK investing in £6.45bn Kraken when it doesn’t need public money? | Nils Pratley

The state-owned multi-tentacled British Business Bank has never been a simple organisation to understand, but at least one could vaguely grasp its intended role in life. “Our mission is to drive economic growth by helping smaller businesses get the finance they need to start, scale and stay in the UK,” declares its website.Jolly good. For decades, complaints have been heard about gaps in the financing ecosystem for startups and for promising young UK companies, particularly those in tech-related and life science fields, or those spinning out of universities. So one can applaud the existence of a large and distinctly British source of capital to “crowd in”, as politicians like to say, private venture funds

Rollout of AI may need to be slowed to ‘save society’, says JP Morgan boss

Jamie Dimon, the boss of JP Morgan, has said artificial intelligence “may go too fast for society” and cause “civil unrest” unless governments and business support displaced workers.While advances in AI will have huge benefits, from increasing productivity to curing diseases, the technology may need to be phased in to “save society”, he said.Dimon said companies and governments could not ignore AI or “put your head in the sand”. The Wall Street lender would probably have fewer employees in five years’ time as it rolled out AI, he told an audience at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos.“Your competitors are going to use it and countries are going to use it,” he said

World would be a ‘better place’ if US took over Greenland, says Nigel Farage

The world would be a “better, more secure place” if America took over Greenland, Nigel Farage said at Davos, while insisting that he still believed in the sovereignty of nation states.During a panel at the World Economic Forum’s “America House” in the Swiss ski resort on Wednesday, the Reform UK leader said he had “no doubt” that the world would be safer if a “strong America” was in Greenland “because of the geopolitics of the high north, because of the retreating ice caps and because of the continued expansionism of Russian icebreakers, of Chinese investment”.Speaking just after Donald Trump appeared to rule out taking possession of Greenland by force, while doubling down on his demand to annex the “big, beautiful piece of ice”, Farage insisted that while he “agreed strategically” with Trump he believed in “nation states … not globalist structures”.“[I]f you believe in the nation state and not globalist structures, you believe in sovereignty,” he said. “And if you believe in sovereignty, you believe in the principle of national self-determination