Greetings! Happy National Imagination Day to those celebrating.

Let’s get into today’s top stories.

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🇨🇳 China’s birth slump drags population down again. The National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS) placed the country’s 2025 population at 1.404B, down 3M, now firmly behind India for second place. Births fell 17% to 7.92M, the lowest since the 1949 revolution. The birth rate slid to 5.63 per 1,000 people as Chinese marriages and paychecks both shrank. Meanwhile, 323M people are 60+, about 23% of the country, raising pension stress. Officials now offer up to ¥3,600 per child and even tax condoms.

🇬🇧 Starmer says Greenland tariffs risk a trade war nobody wins. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said a trade war is “in nobody’s interest” as President Donald Trump needled Europe. Trump promised 10% tariffs on eight European countries on Feb. 1 over Greenland pushback. He said the rate could rise to 25% by June 1 without a deal. In London, Starmer called diplomacy “hard,” then declined to add gasoline. European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas noted troops in Greenland are “very few,” urging calm. Thousands marched in Nuuk, betting sovereignty beats swagger.

✊🏿 MLK Day gets “reclaimed” as politics turns the volume up. Groups like Reclaim MLK cast the holiday as a protest, not just a parade. Baton Rouge organizer Olivia Harrison said the point is to confront power, not flatter it. Many activists argue Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) is remembered for a dream, not demands. This year’s events folded in fights over voting rights, schools, and immigration. Some marchers carried calls for economic justice, echoing King’s final years. The holiday’s message stays the same, but the audience is suddenly listening again.

🏔️ Davos reboots, with Trump and AI rewriting the guest list. Nearly 3,000 high-level participants are descending on Davos, Switzerland, along with swarms of activists, journalists, and spectators. The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Geneva-based think tank and event organizer whose flagship meeting began in Davos in 1971. The host town is a ski resort of about 10,000 people, sitting roughly 1,500 meters up in the eastern Swiss Alps. Organizers say this year brings a record nearly 400 top political leaders, including 60+ heads of state and government. President Donald Trump is slated to speak on Wednesday alongside top aides, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and envoy Steve Witkoff, with others expected.

👗 Valentino, fashion’s prince of red, dies at 93. Valentino Garavani built his house in Rome and founded it in 1960. Editors like Diana Vreeland crowned his gowns as quiet power with sharp seams. He dressed Jackie Kennedy after she married Aristotle Onassis and stayed a society staple. Valentino sold the company in 1998, then staged a final runway bow in 2008. His signature “Valentino red” became a brand before branding was a verb. In an era of hype, he sold elegance like an heirloom.

🌨️ Florida gets snow again, briefly flipping its nickname. A sliver of the Florida Panhandle saw snowfall for the second year in a row. Residents watched flakes fall where beach forecasts usually dominate. The cold pushed deep enough south to beat back the usual Gulf warmth. Locals shared clips of white lawns, iced windshields, and stunned palm fronds. Forecasters said the setup is rare, but not impossible in a strong winter surge. The flakes stuck just long enough to feel real, then vanished on schedule.

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