Alexander Stubb said the war has caused Nato to expand and European countries to increase their defence budgets

US president abruptly dropped threats against allies after talks with Nato chief on the ‘framework’ of a deal that does not involve selling Greenland

OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX and Stripe are rumoured to be among ten of the biggest companies considering IPOs

You’ve probably heard of “unicorns” – technology startups valued at more than $1bn – but 2026 is shaping up to be the year of the “hectocorn”, with several US and European companies potentially floating on stock markets at valuations over $100bn (£75bn).

OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX and Stripe are among the big names said to be considering an initial public offering (IPO) this year.

Thanks to its namesake volcano, Etna is an astonishing fertile region that has spawned a unique food and drink scene. Harriet O’Brien goes on an epicurean tour to taste the spoils

Trump abandoned plans to impose tariffs on European allies after conversations with Mark Rutte at Davos

In 1978, Soviet scientists stumbled upon a family living in a remote part of Russia. They hadn’t interacted with outsiders for decades. Almost half a century later, one of them is still there

In the summer of 1978, a team of geologists exploring southern Siberia found something rarer than diamonds. While searching for a helicopter landing site amid the steep hills and forested canyons of the western Sayan mountains, their pilot caught sight of what appeared to be a garden, 150 miles from the nearest settlement. Hovering as low as he could, he saw a house. No people were visible, but someone was clearly tending the garden. He and his geologist passengers were shocked to find a dwelling in an area long considered too remote for human habitation.

When the four geologists set up camp 10 miles away, it was the mysterious homestead that was first in their mind. Who could live here? Were the inhabitants the last Mohicans of the Brezhnev era? The geologists ventured to the settlement bearing gifts – and a pistol, just in case. They were greeted by a disheveled old man dressed in patched-up sacking cloth. This was Karp Osipovich Lykov, the patriarch of the family. Inside a tiny, dark cabin, the geologists found Karp’s two adult daughters, Natalia and Agafia, weeping and praying. Four miles away, by the riverside, lived Karp’s two middle-aged sons, Savin and Dmitry. It soon became apparent that none of the members of this ageing family had interacted with outsiders in decades.

Trump’s tariff retreat should lull nobody into dropping their guard. The EU must join forces with Canada, Japan and other like-minded countries

EU leaders would do well to meditate on the seminal lesson that the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, delivered at this year’s World Economic Forum.

In an incisive analysis of the new age of predatory great powers, where might is increasingly asserted as right, Carney not only accurately defined the coarsening of international relations as “a rupture, not a transition”. He also outlined how liberal democratic “middle powers” such as Canada – but also European countries – must build coalitions to counter coercion and defend as much as possible of the principles of territorial integrity, the rule of law, free trade, climate action and human rights. He spelled out a hedging strategy that Canada is already pursuing, diversifying its trade and supply chains and even opening its market to Chinese electric vehicles to counter Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian-made automobiles.

Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre

Zelensky speaks shortly after Donald Trump unveiled his ‘Board of Peace’ in Davos - to which he has invited Vladimir Putin

French president drew attention for wearing pair of blue aviators while addressing delegates on Tuesday

Trump has backed away from using force against Greenland but that doesn’t leave Europe any safer, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley

Nato chief Mark Rutte says there is ‘a lot of work to be done’, as some Danish MPs voice concern at Greenland apparently being sidelined in US president’s talks

Donald Trump’s announcement of a “framework of a future deal” that would settle the issue of Greenland after weeks of escalating threats has been met with profound scepticism from people in the Arctic territory, even as financial markets rebounded and European leaders welcomed a reprieve from further tariffs.

Just hours after the president used his speech at the World Economic Forum to insist he wanted Greenland, “including right, title and ownership,” but backed away from his more bellicose threats of military intervention – Trump took to social media to announce “the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland” and withdrew the threat of tariffs against eight European countries. He later called it “a concept of a deal” when he spoke to business network CNBC soon after Wall Street closed.

Unclear if presidents will have anything to sign; Mark Rutte urges Nato to pour out their air defence stockpiles for Ukraine. What we know on day 1,429

Voldymyr Zelenskyy was reported on Wednesday evening to be bound for Davos after Donald Trump appeared to summon him to the World Economic Forum. The Ukrainian president had said a day earlier that he did not expect to attend the conference in Switzerland as Russian attacks had plunged Ukraine into an energy crisis: “Undoubtedly, I choose Ukraine in this case, rather than the economic forum, but everything can change at any moment.”

Trump’s announcement of the meeting appeared to be at short notice, since he said it would take place on Wednesday, when his Ukrainian counterpart was not even in the same country. After Trump spoke, officials clarified that their meeting would be on Thursday. Zelenskyy previously said: “Meetings with America should always end with concrete results to strengthen Ukraine or to move closer to ending the war. And if the documents are ready, we will meet.” Talks between senior Ukrainian representatives and Trump’s envoys have been continuing since Saturday, including in Davos, but late on Wednesday it was unclear whether there would be any documents to sign.

Top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said he had met US representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Davos. Umerov repeated the familiar refrain that their talks focused on security guarantees and postwar recovery. Umerov said a Ukrainian delegation also met representatives of the US investment firm Blackrock about rebuilding plans.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, meanwhile said that he would meet on Thursday with Witkoff and Kushner, who were headed from Davos to Moscow. Interestingly, Putin, quoted by Russian news agencies, said he would discuss with the US envoys the possible use of frozen Russian assets. The EU has been wrangling with how to mobilise Belgian-held Russian assets, about €300bn ($350bn) worth, to help Ukraine defend itself and rebuild. Putin appeared to be attempting to head off the European effort, reportedly saying he wanted to use such funding to restore “[territories] damaged during military actions”. He did not say whether those would be Ukrainian, Russian or Russian-held areas.

The Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, on Wednesday urged its military chiefs to press their national governments to get desperately needed air defence systems to Ukraine. “Please use your influence to help your political masters to do even more,” Rutte said in a video message to top brass as they met at Nato’s Brussels headquarters. “Look deep into your stockpiles to see what more you can give to Ukraine, particularly air defence interceptors. The time really is now.”

A Ukrainian drone strike set oil terminal tanks on fire at Volna in the southern Krasnodar region on Wednesday, Russian authorities said, claiming that three people were killed and eight injured. There was claim and counterclaim after a fire at residential buildings near the city of Krasnodar in Russia’s south-west. The region’s leader said it was a Ukrainian drone strike and 11 people were injured. The Ukrainian side said it was stray Russian air defence fire. The head of Ukraine’s anti-disinformation centre, Andriy Kovalenko: “A Russian air defence missile struck a residential building in the town of Afipsky [in the Adygea region].”