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Nearly 400 millionaires and billionaires from 24 countries are calling on global leaders to increase taxes on the super-rich, amid growing concern that the wealthiest in society are buying political influence.

An open letter, released to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos, calls on global leaders attending this week’s conference to close the widening gap between the super-rich and everyone else.

The letter, signed by luminaries including the actor and film-maker Mark Ruffalo, the musician Brian Eno and the film producer and philanthropist Abigail Disney, says extreme wealth is polluting politics, driving social exclusion and fuelling the climate emergency.

"A handful of global oligarchs with extreme wealth have bought up our democracies; taken over our governments; gagged the freedom of our media; placed a stranglehold on technology and innovation; deepened poverty and social exclusion; and accelerated the breakdown of our planet,” it reads. “What we treasure, rich and poor alike, is being eaten away by those intent on growing the gulf between their vast power and everyone else.

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At a meeting in Seoul on Monday, leaders from Italy and South Korea agreed to cooperate on the defense industry, marking a new collaboration between two strong allies of Ukraine who are, coincidentally, prohibited by their respective constitutions from directly sending Kyiv all the military help for which it might ask.

At his office in Seoul, President Lee Jae Myung hosted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the two agreed to expand cooperation in artificial intelligence, space and the defense industry, citing concerns about “global challenges.”

It was the first visit by an Italian leader to South Korea in almost two decades, AFP noted.

Lee said the two countries would “further expand the horizons of cooperation into advanced industries such as artificial intelligence, space, and aviation.

“In addition, we will pursue complementary cooperation in the defense industry based on each side’s strengths,” he said. Lee also vowed to “work closely together to contribute to global peace” and “safeguard the universal value of peace, extending our efforts ... to the wider world.”

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The Israeli government has forcibly taken large swathes of Palestinian land in the northwest of the occupied West Bank to pave the way for the establishment of a settlement, Israeli media reported on Sunday.

According to reports, the government seized around 700 dunams of land. Hebrew-language paper Yedioth Aharonoth confirmed the land grab, stating: "A few days ago, 695 dunams were taken to establish a new neighbourhood near the settlement of Karnei Shomron".

The report says that the area is located "in a highly strategic location and cuts off the geographical connection between the Palestinian town of Salfit and the city of Qalqilya".

"The main objective of this move, from the government’s point of view, is to cut off communication between Palestinian towns, turning them into isolated enclaves, and significantly undermining the chances of establishing a Palestinian state," the report continues.

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An extraordinarily violent crackdown by Iranian security forces appears to have succeeded for now in driving protesters from the streets, according to activists and analysts who mahttps://abcnews.go.com/International/bloody-crackdown-appears-quelled-iran-protests-now/story?id=129287014naged to speak with people inside the country despite the information blackout.

Demonstrations began in late December with protesters chanting in Tehran against rising inflation and the falling value of the national currency before spreading across Iran and becoming more explicitly anti-government. Authorities have shut down the internet in Iran for more than a week as security forces moved to crush the protests.

The internet blackout in Iran continues to make it very difficult to get a clear picture from the ground, but accounts are emerging from people now able to use phone lines, those few with access to working Starlink satellite terminals and Iranians who have recently left the country.

These people describe an eerie calm over Iran's cities, where heavily armed security forces are deployed on the streets enforcing what many are describing as a de-facto curfew. 

Mehdi Yahyanejad, an Iranian activist based in Washington, D.C., says he has helped send in hundreds of Starlink terminals to citizen journalists and others in Iran to help get around the government blackout.

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Wildfires raging across central and southern Chile on Sunday left at least 15 people dead, scorched thousands of acres of forest and destroyed scores of homes, authorities said, as the South American country swelters under a heat wave.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in the country’s central Biobio region and the neighboring Ñuble region, around 500 kilometers (300 miles) south of Santiago, the capital.

The emergency designation allows greater coordination with the military to rein in two dozen wildfires that have so far blazed through 8,500 hectares (21,000 acres) and prompted 50,000 people to evacuate, according to Chilean Security Minister Luis Cordero.

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Multiple Israeli strikes across Gaza kill up to 15 Palestinians. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan says the killing of commander Mahmoud al-Holi is an attempt to derail the ceasefire amid other violations. Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon kill two.

Contentious Palestinian Authority security figure Sami Nasman tapped for Gaza’s transitional technocratic committee, as Israel delays the committee’s chair at Allenby Crossing.

Iranian state TV claims extensive property damage during protests. U.S. imposes new Iran sanctions over protest crackdown and evasion. U.S. and Iran trade accusations at UN Security Council meeting.

A House bill boosts aid to Israel and blocks funding for UNRWA. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado meets President Donald Trump, offers him her Nobel Peace Prize. U.S. military seizes sixth oil tanker headed to Venezuela. Rodríguez insists Venezuela can maintain broad international ties. The U.S. retains over one-third of Venezuelan oil sale proceeds, as Venezuela proposes domestic hydrocarbons reform.

ICE deploys tear gas and flash-bang munitions that send Minneapolis children to the hospital. Medical examiner says the death of ICE detainee may be ruled homicide. ICE agents ate at a Mexican restaurant, then later arrested its workers.

ACLU sues Trump administration over Minnesota ICE raids. A federal appeals court clears a path to re-detain Mahmoud Khalil

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Workers at popular New York City bakery chain Breads Bakery announced a move to unionize, claiming it has “underpaid, undervalued, disrespected, discriminated against, intimidated and hurt” staff, as well as supported “the genocide happening in Palestine”.

The company, which has ties to Israel, expressed concern that “divisive political issues” had been introduced into its stores. “We make babka; we don’t engage in politics,” a New York bakery staff push for union, claiming they were forced to bake for Israeli fundraisers.

But staff involved in the unionization drive claimed that employees were forced by the chain to create products for fundraisers for Israeli organizations, and unable to decline.

The union, Breaking Breads, claims that more than 30% of the chain’s 275 workers across New York City had signed union authorization cards, seeking to unionize with United Auto Workers Local 2179 and pushing for better pay, improvements to working conditions such as the replacement of broken equipment, and respect on the job.

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President Donald Trump on Jan. 17 announced tariffs against eight European countries as the latest pressure tactic for the United States to purchase Greenland.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland will have a 10% tariff on all goods sent to the United States effective Feb. 1. The tariff is set to increase to 25% on June 1, Trump said.

Trump has repeatedly said Greenland is vital to American security due its strategic location and large mineral deposits. He hasn't ruled out using force to take the island, which is a semiautonomous part of Denmark. 

European countries recently sent military personnel to Greenland at the request of Danish officials. Top European officials have backed Denmark, warning the Trump administration’s attempts to seize Greenland can upend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the group created for members to jointly defend each other.

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