Trump in his State of the Union address promised to fix bad trade deals raising the prospect of protectionist policies amongst allies. He also pledged to upgrade America’s nuclear arsenal and instructed Mattis to keep the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay open 

Headlines: Revised American Military Policy Introduces New Nuclear Weapons Roman Catholic Church Seeks Involvement in Chinese Internal Affairs America Plays the Role of Wizard of Oz behind the Turkish Assault into Syria

Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas calls on African states to join a multilateral mechanism to discuss the conflict between “Israel” and the Palestinians after spurning any US role in such negotiations. “Pursuing peace efforts requires the establishment of a multilateral mechanism under the umbrella of the United Nations.

On 26 January 2018, The Guardian Newspaper reported that “Rough sleeping in England has increased for the seventh consecutive year, official figures show, and charities say even this steep rise fails to capture the true level of street homelessness… The separate Chain database, which records rough sleepers in London seen by outreach workers, last June reported 8,108 rough sleepers.”