WORLD AGENDA
JANUARY 2026

Jan 20, U.S.: Donald Trump marks one year into his second term as president, having reshaped policy at home and abroad largely through executive orders, bypassing congressional oversight

Jan 23, Switzerland: U.S. membership of the World Health Organisation ends, putting programmes across the agency – such as those tackling tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and other health emergencies – at risk

Jan 28, UK: Sarah Mullally becomes the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, taking on the role of spiritual leader for around 85 million Anglicans worldwide

Jan 1, Bulgaria: It adopts the euro and becomes the 21st member state of the eurozone amid political instability

Jan 15, Uganda: Octogenarian President Yoweri Museveni stands in the general election to seek to extend his rule to nearly half a century

Jan 12, Netherlands: The International Court of Justice hears a landmark case accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya, a ruling that could set precedents affecting South Africa’s case against Israel over the war in Gaza

Jan 17, Worldwide: The High Seas Treaty, a global accord to protect vast expanses of the world’s oceans and reverse damage to marine life becomes international law

Jan 21, Japan: Twin pandas at a Tokyo zoo return to China, leaving Japan without the iconic bears for the first time in 50 years – a highly symbolic move amid recently strained China-Japan relations

Sources: NewsAhead, Emma Luck
Pictures: Getty Images, Newscom
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