Good morning.<\/p>\n
Almost 400 millionaires and billionaires from 24 countries are calling on global leaders to increase taxes on the super-rich<\/a> amid growing concern that the wealthiest in society are buying political influence.<\/p>\n An open letter<\/a>, which was released to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, urges world leaders attending this week\u2019s conference to close the widening gap between the super-rich and everyone else.<\/p>\n Signatories include the actor and film-maker Mark Ruffalo, the musician Brian Eno and the film producer and philanthropist Abigail Disney.<\/p>\n What did the letter say? \u201cA 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,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n \u2018Nostalgia is not a strategy\u2019: Carney is emerging as unflinching realist ready to tackle TrumpMark Carney has laid out a doctrine for a world of fractured international norms in a speech in Davos. Photograph: Sean Kilpatrick\/AP<\/p>\n In a wide-ranging speech that was at times elegiac for the predictable rules-based order, Mark Carney, Canada\u2019s prime minister of less than a year, laid out a doctrine for a world of fractured international norms, warning \u201ccompliance will not buy safety,\u201d writes Leyland Cecco<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe old order is not coming back. We should not mourn it,\u201d Carney said, in a speech he reportedly wrote himself. \u201cNostalgia is not a strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 \u201cthe architecture of collective problem-solving\u201d that had defined much of the past eight decades.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n This a developing story. Follow our live blog here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Half of world\u2019s CO2 emissions come from just 32 fossil fuel firms, study showsSaudi Aramco was responsible for 1.7bn tonnes of CO2 in 2024, according to the report. Photograph: Simon Dawson\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n Critics accused the leading fossil fuel companies of \u201csabotaging climate action\u201d and \u201cbeing on the wrong side of history\u201d but said the emissions data was increasingly being used to hold the companies accountable.<\/p>\n State-owned fossil fuel producers made up 17 of the top 20 emitters in the Carbon Majors<\/a> report, which the study\u2019s authors said underscored the political barriers to tackling global heating.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s fifth biggest carbon polluter, just behind Russia. ExxonMobil\u2019s fossil fuel production led to 610m tonnes of CO2 \u2013 it would be the ninth biggest polluter, ahead of South Korea.<\/p>\n In other news \u2026Lindsey Halligan has left her position at the US justice department. Photograph: Al Drago\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Lindsey Halligan, a Trump-appointed federal attorney who led the failed prosecutions of two of the president\u2019s political opponents, has left her position at the US justice department<\/a>, the attorney general, Pam Bondi, said yesterday.<\/p>\n Thousands of people, including suspected victims of human trafficking, are estimated to have been released or escaped from scam centres <\/a>across Cambodia after growing international pressure to crack down on the multibillion-dollar industry.<\/p>\n A court in Japan has sentenced the murderer of the former prime minister Shinzo Abe<\/a> to life in prison<\/a>, in a case that shocked the public and exposed politicians\u2019 ties to an influential religious group.<\/p>\n Stat of the day: Wall Street sees worst day since October after Trump tariff threatsWall Street had its worst day since October as concern grew over the Greenland crisis. Photograph: Richard Drew\/AP<\/p>\n Stock markets fell on both sides of the Atlantic yesterday, with Wall Street having its worst day since October<\/a>, as investor concerns persisted over the fallout from Donald Trump\u2019s push for US control of Greenland.<\/p>\n Wellness Wednesday: There\u2019s no gold medal in the stress Olympics. Here\u2019s how to start resting\u2018Rest is anything that gives you more energy.\u2019 Illustration: Carmen Casado\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cWe all involuntarily participate in the stress Olympics, and are aware that the busiest person wins gold,\u201d 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?<\/a><\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss this: Trump made 10 key pledges a year ago \u2013 here\u2019s what happened since thenDonald Trump promised a flurry of executive orders and made bold pledges during his second inauguration address. Composite: Alvaro Dominguez\/The Guardian\/Getty Images<\/p>\n During Donald Trump\u2019s second inauguration address at the US Capitol on 20 January last year, he made bold promises about immigration, the economy and America\u2019s standing in the world. Here is a review of 10 of his key pledges<\/a> \u2013 and what happened in the year since.<\/p>\n \u2026 Or this: \u2018I felt numb\u2019 \u2013 German bank heist victims devastated after thieves ransack 3,000 deposit boxesPolice likened the bank heist, one of the biggest in Germany, to the Hollywood film Ocean\u2019s Eleven. Photograph: Christoph Reichwein\/AP<\/p>\n An astonishing bank heist in Germany, likened by a police spokesperson to the Hollywood film Ocean\u2019s Eleven, made international headlines before Christmas: it is estimated that the thieves\u2019 haul could have been worth as much as \u20ac300m ($351m), a sum that would make it the one of the biggest bank heists in a country wearily familiar with them<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last Thing: Ring a Republican? Pay phones linking San Francisco and Texas aim to bridge US political dividesThe project hopes to bridge the political divide. Photograph: Brooks Kraft\/Corbis\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Two experimental pay phones \u2013 one placed in San Francisco and the other in Abilene, Texas \u2013 are connecting strangers across party lines<\/a>, allowing callers to speak directly with Democrats and Republicans. \u201cI think our thesis is that humans are pretty awesome and \u2013 if given the opportunity \u2013 will really look to find common ground,\u201d said Ben Goldhirsh, a co-founder of Matter Neuroscience who launched the project.<\/p>\n Sign up<\/p>\n Sign up for the US morning briefing<\/p>\n First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you\u2019re not already signed up, subscribe now<\/a>.<\/p>\n Get in touch<\/p>\n