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Video: Over 100 vehicles caught in massive pile-up during US snowstorm
More than 100 vehicles crashed into each other or slid off a highway during a snowstorm in the US state of Michigan.
Spain uses heavy machinery to search for missing bodies in train crash debris
Spain deploys heavy machinery to find missing bodies among train crash wreckage
Nigerian Police Refute Claims of Mass Church Abductions in Northern Region Over the Weekend
Police in northern Nigeria say reports that worshippers were abducted on Sunday from churches in Kaduna state were false.
In a joint statement with local government officials on Monday, Kaduna state police commissioner Alhaji Muhammad Rabiu described the information as “mere falsehood which is being peddled by conflict entrepreneurs who want to cause chaos”.
Earlier, a local official in Kurmin Wali had told the BBC that gunmen had kidnapped dozens of people attending different churches.
There has been a series of mass kidnapping in Nigeria, where both Christians and Muslims have been targeted. Gangs frequently carry out such attacks to get ransom payments.
But referring to Sunday’s alleged abductions Kaduna’s police commissioner challenged “anyone to list the names of the kidnapped victims and other particulars”.
The chairman of Kajuru local government area, Dauda Madaki, said security forces were sent to Kurmin Wali after reports of an attack, but found “no evidence of the attack. I asked the village head, Mai Dan Zaria, and he said that there was no such attack.”
Police also quoted the state’s commissioner for internal security and home affairs saying religious leaders visited the area.
”They found out that what was pushed out to the public sphere was completely false,” he reportedly said.
However, a community leader in Kurmin Wali, Ishaku Dan’azumi Sarkin, had earlier told the BBC that armed men attacked the area on Sunday and kidnapped 177 people from three churches.
He said 11 people escaped, several others were injured, and no deaths were reported.
In November, more than 300 students and teachers were seized from a Catholic school. They were later released in two successive groups. It was among a spate of kidnappings that made international headlines.
Nigeria is facing numerous security challenges – including kidnappings for ransom by criminal gangs, an Islamist insurgency in the north-east, separatist violence in the south-east, and a battle between herders and farmers in the centre over access to land and water.
Experts say corruption, poor intelligence sharing and underfunded local policing have hampered efforts to tackle the various crises.
Nigeria’s defence minister resigned last month at the height of the kidnapping crisis, officially for health reasons, according to the president’s office.
The US has recently become militarily involved in Nigeria – launching airstrikes on Christmas Day on two camps run by an Islamist militant group in north-western Nigeria.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump warned of more strikes if Christians continued to be killed in the West African nation.
There are more than 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria, which is roughly divided into a mainly Muslim north, a largely Christian south, with intermingling in the middle – and the government says people of all faiths have been victims of attacks.
A Nigerian foreign ministry spokesman responded to Trump’s warning by saying that Nigeria would continue to engage constructively with partners such as the US.
”Nigeria remains committed to protecting all citizens, Christians and Muslims alike, without discrimination,” Alkasim Abdulkadir said.
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For the past two-and-a-half decades, the mandate for global business leaders was relatively straightforward: grow the existing business, allocate capital efficiently, and implement technology to drive productivity. But Mohamed Kande, global chairman of PwC, speaking to Fortune in Davos, Switzerland, ahead of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, insisted that era is over. Kande argued that the CEO job has changed more in the past year than anything he’s seen over the last quarter-century.
“This is one of the most testing moments for leaders,” Kande told Fortune‘s Diane Brady, describing a new “tri-modal” mandate that requires executives to simultaneously run their current business, transform it in real time, and also build entirely new business models for the future. “I’ve not seen that in 25 years,” he said.
Despite this pressure, Kande’s message to the global business community is rooted in historical optimism. “Do not fear the future. It is unsettling. It is true. Every day something changes, but do not fear it,” he said, noting that all the uncertainty so stressful to executives has happened before, from tariffs, roughly 100 years ago, to the industrial revolution, even further back. “Eventually, something good will happen.” Kande allowed that he’s an optimist by nature, but he insisted that top leaders can adjust to this business climate.
The AI Execution Gap
Of course, a primary driver of this unsettling change is the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), as revealed in PwC’s 29th global CEO survey, “Leading Through Uncertainty in the Age of AI,” released at the onset of the annual meeting in Davos. Based on responses from 4,454 CEOs across 95 countries and territories, the survey reveals a stark disconnect between ambition and reality. Kande said the business community made huge strides from 2024 to 2025, going from asking themselves whether they can or should adopt AI to a point where “nobody is asking that question anymore. Everybody’s going for it.”
PwC’s survey finds, however, that only 10% to 12% of companies report seeing benefits on the revenue or cost side, while a staggering 56% say they are getting “nothing out of it.” This echoes the MIT study that shook markets in August with the finding that 95% of generative AI pilots were failing across the corporate sector.
Kande attributed this tension not to the technology itself, but to a lack of foundational rigor. “Somehow AI moves so fast … that people forgot that the adoption of technology, you have to go to the basics,” he explained, citing the need for clean data, solid business processes, and governance. PwC is finding that the companies that are seeing benefits from AI are “putting the foundations in place.” It’s about execution, not technology, he argued, and that comes down to good management and leadership.
The Confidence Paradox and U.S. Dominance
The uncertain environment has also created a paradox in business sentiment, Kande told Fortune. While CEOs express confidence in the global economy, only 30% have confidence that they can grow their own businesses. Kande questioned whether this hesitation stems from geopolitics, tariffs, technology, or a lack of leadership agility. The last 15 years, he noted, have been ones of solid growth and stable business models, making this time a real test for the C-suite. “This is one of the most testing moment for leaders, what we have today,” he said, because it requires the ability to change fast and adapt quickly without getting bogged down in day-to-day, tactical combat.
Only three in 10 CEOs were confident in PwC’s 29th survey about revenue growth over the next 12 months, down from 38% in 2025 and 56% in 2022, marking a five-year low in CEO confidence in their own revenue outlook. Another survey question may be more revealing, about CEO confidence in their company’s 12‑month revenue growth: this has fallen sharply over recent years, even as many leaders continue to pursue multiyear opportunities to reinvent their businesses through AI, innovation, and cross-sector expansion.
The transformation of the CEO role is trickling down to the workforce, necessitating a reimagining of career paths. Kande warned that the traditional “apprenticeship model”—where entry-level employees learn by doing basic tasks—is being disrupted by AI. That classic career ladder, starting at the entry level, taught lots of expertise through hands-on learning, but this will have to be redesigned, going forward, to teach “system thinking” rather than task execution, as AI increasingly handles the latter.
Ultimately, Kande urges executives to look at the last 50 to 100 years rather than the last five to understand the current moment. Citing the infrastructure booms of the railroad era and the early internet, he said he believes the current wave of investment will birth the next age of innovation. The CEO survey’s framing of a coming “decade of innovation and industry reconfiguration” supports this long-term view, highlighting that companies generating more revenue from new sectors tend to enjoy higher profit margins and higher CEO confidence in future growth.
“I’m an optimist,” Kande concluded. Rather than being afraid of all of the changes that are happening now, he urged leaders to remember that people fear what they don’t understand, and the best remedy for that is to seek understanding. “That’s why I spend so much time learning now and traveling a lot, just to understand what’s happening and thinking about what can be done differently. That’s why I don’t fear AI.”
“I’ve seen change,” Kande said. “You’ve got to embrace it.”
Greenlanders Contemplate Choices as Trump Warns of Acquisition
new video loaded: Greenlanders Weigh Options as Trump Threatens Takeover
transcript
transcript
Greenlanders Weigh Options as Trump Threatens Takeover
Some residents of Greenland are hatching plans to flee by boat, while others are committed to remaining as President Trump demands a deal to buy the autonomous territory of Denmark.
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“We’re going to flee to Denmark. Our plan is to go by boat to the hut we have, and we’re going to stay there for a while. We agreed if something happened, I need to leave them behind because they’re too old.”
Some residents of Greenland are hatching plans to flee by boat, while others are committed to remaining as President Trump demands a deal to buy the autonomous territory of Denmark.
By Shawn Paik
January 19, 2026
The Quiet Partnership: Max Lousada and Julie Greenwald Register Two Companies Together
Ex-Warner execs Max Lousada and Julie Greenwald are joint owners of a pair of UK-registered companies.
The two entities – 26.2 Music Ltd and 26.2 Services Ltd – were established in November, according to UK Companies House.
Lousada and Greenwald appear to be 50/50 stakeholders in both businesses. Companies House documents reveal that British exec Lousada and New Yorker Greenwald each own “more than 25% but not more than 50%” in the firms.
And that’s… pretty much all we know – for now.
The Times of London reported over the weekend that Lousada and Greenwald are “understood to be sounding out partners to help finance a joint venture”.
Yet in truth, the duo’s UK companies could just as easily be placeholders. The industry awaits confirmation of any more details.
Despite that lack of detail, the company names themselves might offer early hints at how Lousada and Greenwald are thinking.
For starters, 26.2 is the distance of a marathon in miles – perhaps a nod to the duo’s long-sighted approach to artist development (vs. a sprint).
But the clear distinction between ‘Music’ and ‘Services’ could hint at something even more significant.
The naming structure suggests that Lousada and Greenwald are considering a model that explicitly separates ownership/acquisition of music assets from their development and exploitation.
If MBW had to guess?
‘26.2 Music’ could acquire assets, both from established artists and rightsholders – but also from specialists in artist development.
And ‘26.2 Services’? That could (obviously) offer independent artists services – but could also develop music assets in tandem with those artists… which could then ultimately be acquired by ‘26.2 Music’.
As we say, just guesswork at this stage – but such a setup would play neatly into Greenwald and Lousada’s rich history of nurturing artists via patient A&R… before maximizing their potential with global hits.
Some argue that holding owned assets separately from an operating music exploitation company is beneficial to investors because the rights themselves might carry a stronger multiple when valued alone.
Lousada and Greenwald have likely considered this when holding talks with potential backers for their two companies.
Music’s two biggest public rights companies – Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group – are currently structured so that their owned rights and operational structures are combined, rather than ‘split out’ into separate entities.
That said, both UMG and WMG have recently launched sister ventures that focus exclusively on asset ownership.
Chord Music Partners is a joint venture between Dundee Partners and UMG, with Dundee the majority owner; Chord’s publishing and recorded music catalogs are typically serviced by UMG worldwide.
The assets of Chord – which include rights associated with major artists like The Weeknd, Lorde, David Guetta and more – were valued at USD $1.85 billion in 2024.
Chord has since significantly increased that value by raising over $2 billion, and spending nine-figure sums acquiring prized assets such as a stake in Morgan Wallen’s master recordings catalog.
Warner Music Group, meanwhile, launched a rights-acquisition-focused JV with Bain Capital last year, with $1.2 billion in spending power.
That venture, Beethoven JV 1 LLC, is 50/50 owned by Warner and Bain, with access to up to $700 million in debt funding.
Like Chord at UMG, Beethoven’s assets (once existing contracts with external industry partners have expired) are expected to be distributed and/or administered by WMG.
In recent years, other companies in the music industry have tested variations of ‘splitting’ the ownership and exploitation of music rights.
Downtown Music Holdings, for example, sold its owned catalog of 145,000 copyrights to Concord in 2021 for around USD $400 million, then forged ahead with a services-only model.
Downtown’s remaining services-only business is shortly expected to be acquired by Universal Music Group for around USD $775 million, so long as European regulators give it the green light. (The most likely scenario, we hear: Universal offloads Curve Royalty Systems to a willing buyer, alleviating EC competition concerns.)
Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) was a rights-focused vehicle that largely outsourced administration and exploitation services to industry partners.
The rights portfolio of HSF, now owned by Blackstone/Recognition, was valued at USD $2.61 billion by Kroll Bond Rating Agency in March last year.
That’s some $400 million more than the $2.2 billion Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis spent to acquire the assets.
However, for large music companies, there are arguably potential downsides to separating their rights ownership ‘basket’ and their rights development/exploitation operation.
For one, steady cash flow from owned catalog helps today’s large music companies subsidize bets on new artist development – a safety net that could be diminished if catalog profits must first satisfy a separate group of shareholders.
There’s also the risk of added complexity: running two companies might require separate boards, reporting requirements, and contractual arrangements, adding unavoidable overhead and potential friction.
Both Max Lousada and Julie Greenwald exited WMG in 2024, with Lousada departing after 20 years at the company, including eight as CEO of Recorded Music.
Greenwald, who spent two decades at Atlantic Records, initially transitioned to the role of Chairman of Atlantic Music Group before exiting in January 2025.
Together, the duo’s track record includes working with artists such as Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Lizzo and Megan Thee Stallion.
Lousada said in a statement at the time of his departure: “The music business has always been about evolution, and the time has come for me to build something new.”
Music Business Worldwide
Hope for Gaza’s ‘phase two’ remains elusive from afar: An analysis of the ongoing struggle in the Israel-Palestine conflict
Gaza – When Steve Witkoff announced “phase two” of the ceasefire, it sounded like the update everyone has been desperate for here in Gaza. Something in the way he said it – phase two – really made it sound like things might finally be turning the corner.
In less than 24 hours, another announcement followed. The White House named the members of a new “Board of Peace”, tasked with overseeing a technocratic committee that would manage the day-to-day governance of post-war Gaza. The committee will be led by Dr Ali Shaath, a former Palestinian official, who is presented as part of a forward-looking plan for reconstruction and stability.
On paper, it appears to be a movement. Like structure. Like planning for a future beyond war.
But on the ground in Gaza, there isn’t a sense of confidence. There is doubt – and a lot of it.
Many Palestinians here struggle to understand how a board meant to rebuild Gaza can include people who have openly supported Israel, especially when the destruction is still everywhere you look, and no one has been held accountable.
Buildings are still in ruins. Families are still grieving. Entire neighbourhoods are gone. Against that backdrop, talk of governance and reconstruction feels disconnected from reality.
For families who have lost their homes, their loved ones, and their sense of safety, the contradiction is hard to ignore. It’s difficult to be asked to trust a future designed by people who seem untouched by the present pain and untouched by responsibility for it.
For those whose daily life is characterised by the constant buzz of drones and sudden Israeli air attacks, nothing’s really shifted.
Parents still think hard about where their kids will sleep tonight. Aid workers still map their routes, not by where help is most needed, but by which roads might actually get them through alive. Families still hush up at night, straining to hear if the quiet will hold or if the fighting will break out again.
All these official statements? They feel miles away from what’s actually happening. Phase two might exist in some news release, but for most people, life still feels stuck right where it started.
You don’t feel a ceasefire in speeches or headlines. You feel it in what’s missing, the sudden silence, the easing in your chest, the nights that don’t end with a jolt. That’s what people are waiting for. Not the label, not the milestone. Just the change itself.
After months of loss and exhaustion, it’s normal to want to believe things really are getting better. Diplomats cling to the idea of progress. Governments need to say momentum’s building. But the people actually living this? They just want something steady. They want to know tomorrow won’t be worse than today, that they can wake up and not flinch.
But right now, that feeling isn’t there. Promises are uneven, timelines keep slipping, and too many commitments just fade into the background. For people living through it, this doesn’t feel like peace on the move; it feels like everything’s hanging by a thread, ready to snap at any minute. Just calling it “phase two” doesn’t make it feel any safer.
And then there’s that quieter hurt that comes from hope getting stretched too thin. When official words don’t match real life, people learn to lower their expectations. Hope turns into something fragile – something you hold close but don’t trust too much, because getting let down again just stings. Announcing progress before anyone can feel it doesn’t build trust. It erodes it.
This isn’t about throwing out diplomacy. It’s just about honesty. If “phase two” is going to mean anything, people need to feel it in their daily lives: Fewer funerals, hospitals that actually work, roads that don’t feel like traps, days where fear isn’t always there.
Real peace grows in those small, ordinary moments, walking down the street without bracing yourself, sleeping through the night without planning how to run if things go wrong.
Until those moments show up, “phase two” is mostly just a symbol. And symbols, no matter how hopeful, can’t keep anyone safe. Only real change does that.
For people living day to day, peace isn’t about the next announcement. It starts when they can get through a night and believe the ceasefire will still hold in the morning.
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Tim Bradley believes that boxing’s youngest champion poses a challenge for Haney, Stevenson, and Lopez
Tim Bradley has named the fighter that he feels is ‘a problem’ for several world champions, including Shakur Stevenson, Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney.
Many believe the aforementioned Americans to be the top dogs of their respective divisions, with all of them having established themselves as top 10 pound-for-pound operators.
At lightweight, three-weight world champion Stevenson is widely regarded as the very best, especially following his WBC title defence against William Zepeda in July.
Lopez, meanwhile, looks to extend his supremacy at 140lbs when he defends his WBO belt against Stevenson at Madison Square Garden, New York, on January 31.
As for WBO champion Haney, a dominant victory to dethrone Brian Norman Jr in November has made a sizable imprint on the welterweight division, putting him above fellow titlists Mario Barrios, Lewis Crocker and Rolando Romero in the consensus rankings.
And yet, while these three fighters are now approaching their 30s, WBO lightweight champion Abdullah Mason, aged just 21, is slowly but surely nipping at their heels.
The young prodigy claimed his major title at 135lbs with a unanimous decision victory over Sam Noakes, who gave a plucky effort himself, in November.
And while we are yet to see him dive into the deep end of elite competition, Bradley nonetheless believes that Mason represents a serious issue for any champion.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Hall of Famer Bradley predicts a tremendously bright future for the sport’s youngest current world champion.
“Not many guys win world championships at the age of 21. That’s rare territory. For him to do it in his first 12-round fight, and do it overseas, that should tell you already how strong, mentally, this kid is.
“Abdullah is still raw but, even with his rawness, and his toughness and his grit – and his skills on top of that – he is a problem.
“When I say [he’s] a problem for everybody, [that means] for everybody. That means Shakur; that means Haney; that means Teofimo Lopez; that means [IBF super-lightweight champion Richardson] Hitchins. All these dudes, they’re going to have issues with this guy.”
With many expressing similar thoughts to Bradley, Mason is widely expected to remain at 135lbs, at least for a short while longer, before bidding to become a multi-weight world champion.