The world’s five richest men have more than doubled their wealth to $869 billion (£681.5bn) since 2020, while nearly 5 billion people—the poorest 60% of the global population—have seen their wealth decline, according to a new report by Oxfam.

The study, released ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, warns that inequality is accelerating. If current trends continue, the world could see its first trillionaire within a decade, and global poverty may persist for another 229 years.

U.S. wholesale inflation surged unexpectedly in July, with the Producer Price Index rising 0.9% monthly and 3.3% annually—the sharpest increases since June 2022 and February 2025, respectively. The Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Thursday far exceeded economists’ forecasts of a 0.2% monthly gain and 2.5% annual increase.

President Trump announced Friday that his administration will launch a “major Tariff Investigation on Furniture coming into the United States,” setting the stage for new import duties on chairs, sofas and other home furnishings within the next 50 days.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the investigation will determine tariff rates on furniture imports from other countries. “This will bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union,” he wrote

Magnitude 7.5 quake hits remote Drake Passage near Antarctica

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica late Thursday night, prompting Chilean authorities to issue a tsunami advisory for parts of Antarctica while no immediate damage or casualties were reported from the remote seismic event.

The Trump administration immediately suspended all worker visas for commercial truck drivers on Thursday following a deadly highway crash in Florida that killed three people, marking the latest escalation in the administration’s immigration crackdown.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the freeze on X, stating that “the increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers”.

Italian police have arrested a Ukrainian man suspected of coordinating the 2022 attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, according to German prosecutors, marking the first arrest in connection with one of the most mysterious acts of sabotage in recent European history.

The suspect, identified only as Serhii K. under German privacy laws, was detained overnight in the Italian coastal town of Rimini and is accused of being one of the key organizers of the underwater explosions that damaged the critical energy infrastructure. German authorities will seek his extradition to face charges of causing explosions, anti-constitutional sabotage, and destroying critical infrastructure.

A federal judge dealt a decisive blow to the Trump administration’s controversial immigration detention strategy Thursday night, ordering the shutdown of Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” facility within 60 days over environmental violations. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ruled that the hastily constructed detention center in the Florida Everglades violated federal environmental laws and must cease accepting new detainees immediately.