In Short

WashingtonThe new year 2023 begins without any hope of an economic recovery – on the contrary. Rather, all three important global economic areas, the US, EU and China, are weakening.

StockholmAbas Abdikarim Bakar, 25, the gangster rapper who previously campaigned with climate activist Greta Thunberg, lives at the address of a recent bombing in Grimsta, Sweden. 

RotterdamSlogans were spotted on Rotterdam's Erasmus Bridge, from which the national fireworks display is traditionally fired in the Netherlands, during the New Year's Eve celebrations, a police spokeswoman told the ANP news agency.

BuffaloLooters in the US took advantage of heavy snowfall in the Buffalo area to rob numerous shops.

AthensApparently, the Greek anti-money laundering authority has found more suspicious dealings involving top EU officials. Its leader, Charalambos Vourliotis, has asked his counterparts in the tax haven of Panama to help investigate Eva Kaili and Francesco Giorgi's accounts.

BernThe Swiss have remained down to earth – at least as far as gender issues that is rampant in the US and Europe are concerned.

DavosWhen the World Economic Forum (WEF) starts again in Davos next January, Vladimir Zelensky will be present too. He hopes to secure funding for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

ParisOn Monday 26 December, following the shooting of three people of Kurdish origin in Paris three days earlier, the French ambassador was summoned by Ankara for "anti-Turkey propaganda".

ParisThe police have identified and interviewed 9 authors of racist tweets towards Kylian Mbappé: They are all of Congolese, Algerian, Rwandan or even Somali origin.

BrusselsWhen it comes to corruption, the EU has enough on its plate, but instead it prefers to deal with the subject in Hungary. Brussels has now imposed 27 conditions on Viktor Orban's government so that 22 billion euros can flow from the cohesion fund. Until then, the money will be withheld.