Weekly News Roundup
18 - 24 Jan 2026
Weekly news update on key security related developments from around the world, by Farah Benis
This last week has been defined by a decisive shift from passive concern to active resistance among middle powers. While Washington continues its push for "Security Receivership" and Arctic expansion, the World Economic Forum in Davos has become the stage for a new, assertive coalition of allies refusing to be sidelined by executive mandates.
DAVOS 2026
The annual meeting in Davos concluded with a palpable shift in the transatlantic relationship. While the U.S. delegation focused on the industrialisation of AI, a coalition of middle powers led by Canada and the EU moved toward Strategic Autonomy.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a striking address framing the end of the old world order, arguing that middle powers must unite against great-power threats.
The EU warned it is prepared to use its "Anti-Coercion Instrument" - a retaliatory trade mechanism - against the U.S. in response to Arctic tariff threats.
Faced with a unified European red line, President Trump used his Davos address to pivot on Greenland, ruling out "excessive force" and suspending the immediate threat of 10% tariffs on NATO allies.
Amidst the high-level security talks, a grim consensus emerged that the climate crisis has transitioned from a future risk to an active "threat multiplier," as unprecedented extreme weather events now force a total recalibration of global supply chains and military readiness.
The summit saw the formalisation of the "Gaza Investment Fund," a multi-billion-dollar vehicle backed by private equity giants. To sell the vision, the same AI-generated concept images we first saw two years ago - depicting a hyper-modern, "Singapore on the Mediterranean" - were recirculated. It serves as a stark reminder that while the tech is shiny, the "buy-in" remains focused on real estate and infrastructure, with zero room for local political agency.
ICE in the usa
In the U.S., Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is at the centre of a constitutional firestorm following a series of aggressive domestic operations. Local leaders are calling it a "federal occupation," marked by lethal force and the tactical use of children as psychological leverage.
Since 20 January, ICE has launched "Operation Catch of the Day" in Portland and Lewiston, Maine. Over 100 arrests were made in three days, with reports of agents targeting African asylum seekers and even arresting a local law enforcement recruit.
A leaked ICE directive revealed this week asserts that agents can enter private residences using only administrative warrants (Form I-205), bypassing the Fourth Amendment requirement for a judicial warrant. Civil rights groups have labelled this a "licence to break down doors."
The White House faced intense scrutiny after posting a digitally altered, AI-enhanced image of an arrested protester to make her appear distressed. A spokesperson dismissed the manipulation as a "meme," signalling a new level of state-led narrative warfare.
On 20 January, school officials in Columbia Heights reported that ICE agents detained Liam Ramos, a five-year-old preschooler, in his driveway. According to the school superintendent, a masked agent took Liam out of the car and directed the boy to knock on his front door to ask to be let in - using the child as "bait" to see if other adults were inside. Liam and his father were subsequently transported to a Texas detention centre. He is one of four students from the same district taken in the last two weeks, including a 10-year-old girl snatched on her way to school.
An autopsy released on 21 January confirmed that Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban detainee, died by homicide on 3 January. The medical examiner cited "asphyxia due to neck and torso compression" during a struggle with guards, directly contradicting DHS claims that he died of "medical distress."
On 24 January, federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis. Pretti, an ICU nurse at the VA Medical Centre and a legal gun owner, was shot multiple times during an ICE operation. While the DHS claims Pretti approached officers with a handgun, bystander footage shows him holding a mobile phone in one hand and his other hand palm out and empty. A gun was recovered before shots were fired by agents. Governor Tim Walz has condemned the shooting, and local police report being physically blocked by federal agents from accessing the crime scene.
UK: MARITIME AND CYBER OFFENSIVES
The UK has accelerated its domestic security posture this week with significant investments in both physical and digital hardware.
The MoD committed over half a billion pounds to upgrade the RAF’s Typhoon fleet with advanced ECRS Mk2 radar. The upgrade provides high-powered jamming and electronic attack capabilities, essential for contested environments in Europe and the Middle East.
The government pushed forward the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which will bring Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and supply chains under strict regulatory oversight.
In a landmark ruling on 22 January, the High Court dismissed a challenge by Russia’s VTB Bank against UK sanctions. The ruling reinforces the government’s power to use licensing mechanisms to manage sanctioned assets during insolvency.
Transatlantic relations were strained following President Trump’s interview where he suggested NATO allies "stayed a little back" from the front lines in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a rare, blunt rebuke, calling the remarks "insulting and appalling" and paying tribute to the 457 British personnel who lost their lives. While Trump later walked back the comments on Truth Social - calling UK soldiers "among the greatest of all warriors" - the initial belittlement of Article 5 sacrifices has effectively dismantled the assumption of mutual respect that usually underpins UK-US defence cooperation.
MIDDLE EAST: AVIATION LOCKDOWN
Tensions between the U.S. and Tehran have effectively closed the "civilian corridor" of the Middle East this week.
Flight Suspensions: Lufthansa, Air France, and KLM have suspended services to major hubs including Dubai and Riyadh.
Airspace Avoidance: For the first time this year, major international routes are abruptly bypassing Iran, Iraq, and Israel entirely as the risk of state-on-state escalation moves to "Imminent."
ICELAND: THE SECURITY SHOCK
Iceland is grappling with a homicide rate that has left domestic security services reeling. With eight murders recorded since 1 January - a figure that usually takes years to reach - authorities are investigating whether global volatility and social fracture are finally breaching the world's most stable societies.
editors comment: If previous weeks were about the shock of American expansionism, this week was about the counter-move.
I don’t know about you, but I have whiplash trying to keep up with everything going on. The "Carney Doctrine" emerging from Davos is a significant pivot. For decades, middle powers have relied on an "asymmetric partnership" with Washington. That era is over. When the Canadian PM speaks of the world "as it is, not as we wish it to be," he is signalling that the U.S. is now viewed by its allies as a volatility risk to be managed.
For those of us watching from outside the United States, the tactics being employed by ICE are a chilling reminder of an era that should have been left in the 1930s. While some argue these aren't "new" shifts, the scale and clinical precision of the current operations - specifically the tactical use of children as leverage - suggest a deliberate regression. When agents direct a five-year-old to knock on his own door as a probe for an arrest, the state has moved beyond "enforcement" into a theatre of psychological warfare.
The killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti mark a definitive breaking point in the information war. In the case of Pretti, while the White House and DHS released statements claiming agents were forced to fire on an "armed threat" who intended to "massacre law enforcement," the reality is being broadcast in real-time by those on the ground. In an era where mobile phone footage shows us exactly what the White House is lying about, the official narrative has lost its gravity. Verified bystander videos show Pretti - a nurse and lawful citizen - holding his phone to record agents before being sprayed with a chemical agent, tackled by multiple agents and killed. When federal agents block local police from a homicide scene to maintain control over the evidence, the "rule of law" has been replaced by a "rule of the mandate."
The underlying driver of this shift is a global "rearmament super-cycle" that is decoupling from traditional economic logic. For the first time since the Cold War, we are seeing industrial capacity and geopolitical power planned in absolute tandem. Global military spending is projected to approach $3 trillion this year, with NATO members now facing pressure to match a staggering 5% of GDP target.
This isn't just about procurement; it is the industrialisation of uncertainty. In 2026, security is no longer a service provided by the state - it has become a permanent pillar of industrial policy. Whether it is the UK’s £650m radar upgrade or the "Economic Exhaustion" tactics seen in drone warfare, the goal is no longer just to win a conflict, but to out-produce and out-last the opponent’s digital and physical stack.
If you just want the straight reporting, you can skip my comments. However, the consolidation of power through technical "backdoors" and psychological pressure is no longer a peripheral concern; it is the central operating system of 2026.
While I endeavour to leave these reports as neutral as possible, my Editor’s Comment gives me space to discuss a little further. As a security community, we have some big questions to ask around ethics and enablement. In 2026, our industry sits at a crossroads: are we providers of safety, or are we the technical infrastructure for "criminal governance"?
When we see an ally - one that usually sets the global standard - defining "security" by blocking homicide investigations and using minors as bait, we have to ask if our profession is being weaponised against the very populations we claim to protect. We have to ask ourselves: if we remain silent when tactical missions bypass constitutional souls, what does that say about our own professional integrity? Even the most "necessary" mission shouldn't require the trade-away of our basic humanity. At what point does the transition from "securing the peace" to "enforcing a mandate" become a line that we, as a global security community, simply refuse to cross?
We’ve done the reading so you don’t have to, but please note that in a rapidly changing environment, facts on the ground can shift after publication. This roundup reflects the status of international security as of COB 24 January 2026. This content is for informational purposes and does not constitute professional advice. The Security Edit remains a neutral aggregator of developments based on their material impact; inclusion does not imply endorsement.
