BBC News Briefing

20 January, 2026

Alex has short blonde hair and blue eyes. She is smiling and wearing a black turtleneck

Alex Binley

Hello. US President Donald Trump has given a press briefing from the White House where he set out what he sees as the achievements of the first year of his second term in office. He also took questions from reporters who asked him about his demands to own Greenland and the US's relationship with Nato. While much of Japan is trying to tackle over-tourism, parts of the country are struggling to attract visitors. And finally, find out why an Austrian cow's use of a broom has got scientists rethinking the species.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Trump is shaking the world order more than any president since World War Two

Trump takes the oath of office. He is wearing a navy blue suit, white shirt and red and blue patterned tie. He apears to be speaking and has a hand raised in the air. He is surrounded by people.

Trump was sworn in for his second term as US president on 20 January, 2024. Credit: Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned of "a shift towards a world without rules", in a speech to leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. While Macron didn't mention Trump by name, he said the "endless accumulation of new tariffs" from the US is "fundamentally unacceptable". It comes after the US president announced new tariffs for countries that oppose his Greenland plan, a plan he told reporters on Tuesday he thought would "work out pretty well". "There’s mounting concern over a possible painful trade war," writes chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, and even fears for the future of Nato. As Trump marks a year since he was sworn in again, Lyse notes that "on day one, he put the world on notice", but she asks, with the president's sights now set firmly on Greenland, "did the world fail to take enough notice?".

Read Lyse's analysis

GET UP TO SPEED

People in thick coats and hats sit in camping chairs or lie on the floor in an underground train station.

Half of Kyiv without heating after Russian strikes

Between Monday and Tuesday, at least four people died and 33 others were injured in strikes across Ukraine.

Read more >

The arm of a large, yellow construction machine is seen pulling at a large pile of rubble.

Israel demolishes east Jerusalem UN compound

Israel said it owns the land and accuses Unrwa of being infiltrated by Hamas. The agency denies the allegations.

Watch the video >

Dozens of white tents are seen in a desert. Dozens of figures wearing black dresses and niqabs walk in front of the tents, headed in one direction.

Kurdish-led forces pull out of camp for IS families

The withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces comes amid clashes between it and government forces, despite a ceasefire deal.

More on this >

NEWS FROM THE UK

Lucy Letby: The ex-nurse will face no new criminal charges over baby deaths and collapses at hospitals where she worked, the CPS has said.

Beckhams: From wedding dress drama to a "hijacked" first dance - these are the bombshell claims in Brooklyn Beckham's Instagram post.

Watch: Hidden cameras reveal what hedgehogs really get up to after dark.

AT THE SCENE

Tochigi prefecture, Japan

As Japan seeks to curb over-tourism, some areas want more visitors

Abandoned hotels line a river and are surrounded by trees. The hotels are all multi-storey but have been discoloured by the elements.

Authorities are at a loss as to what to do with the crumbling, asbestos-lined eyesores along the banks of the river. Credit: James Innes Smith

From Our Own Correspondent: Foreign tourism in Japan has quadrupled since 2010 to around 40 million visitors a year. The PM has hiked the tax on visitors in a bid to combat over-tourism, but it's not a problem felt equally across the country. In some parts, repeated efforts to attract travellers have fallen flat.

James Innes Smith, reporter

During Japan’s economic boom years of the 1970s and 80s, wealthy Tokyo business types flocked to Kinugawa’s dramatic ravine to luxuriate in the volcanic hot springs or onsens.

‌

Gleeful planners took full advantage of the sudden influx by allowing a frenzy of hotel construction. When the economic recession of the 1990s hit, Kinugawa suffered more than most. A large section of the once beautiful Kinugawa River has come to resemble an open grave, lined with the giant rusting remains of once lively resort hotels. At one towering riverside casualty, I wait at reception only to discover that the place had long since been abandoned; the owners had simply forgotten to lock up.

Listen to more

Mount Fuji: Back in 2024, a barrier was errected to block a popular view of one of the country's most famous sights in a bid to deter tourists.

Zaanse Schans: Inhabitants of a Dutch villlage that gets inundated with visitors tell of how tourists walk into their homes and urinate in gardens.

Tourism mega-project: One of Egypt's most sacred places is at the heart of an unholy row over plans to turn it into a new luxury resort.

A woman with black hair smiles as she handles three pints of beer from behind a bar. She is wearing a traditional Japanese outfit and is standing in front of shelve stacked with bottles of Japanese liquor.