DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Leading global economic policymakers at the World Economic Forum in Davos urged countries and businesses to filter out the turmoil from a week of clashes with the Trump administration and focus on boosting growth and fighting inequality in a world where trade will continue to flow and international cooperation is still badly needed.
The global economy is showing unexpected resilience despite the noise, European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund head Kristalina Georgieva and World Trade Organization head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a panel discussion Friday. But while growth is holding up, troubles like worrisome levels of government debt and inequality loom.
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Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, attends the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
ECB President Christine Lagarde attends the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
A general view shows the congress center during the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday Jan. 21, 2026. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
President Donald Trump applauses during a signing ceremony on his Board of Peace initiative at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at the beginning of a Cabinet Planning Forum at the Citadelle in Quebec City, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Jacques Boissinot /The Canadian Press via AP)
That resilience continues despite disruptions from US trade policy under President Donald Trump, who roiled the weeklong forum with threats to impose tariffs on countries supporting Greenland against a US takeover bid, then withdrew the tariff proposal.
What is now needed, they said, are efforts to boost growth to offset heavy debt levels around the world and ensure that disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence don't worsen inequality or devastate labor markets. And Europe needs to boost productivity and improve its business climate for investment.
Georgieva said the IMF’s recently raised forecast of 3.3% global growth for this year was “beautiful but not enough... do not fall into complacency.”
She said that level of growth wasn’t enough to wear down “the debt that is hanging around our necks” and that governments need to take care of “those who are falling off the wagon.”
"We have to look at Plan B, or Plans B," said Lagarde. “I think we've had a lot of noise this week... and we need to distinguish the signal from the noise... we should be talking about alternatives."
She responded to the “Europe bashing” heard during the summit by saying, “we should say thank you to the bashers” for underlining Europe’s need to improve its investment climate and promote innovation.
Lagarde downplayed a provocative speech at the forum from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who called Trump's approach a “rupture” with an international order based on rules, trade and cooperation and said that way of doing business was “not coming back.” “From an economic and business point of view we depend on each other,” she said.
Okonji-Oweal pointed out that 72% of global trade still takes place under WTO rules, where countries agree to charge all trading partners the same tariffs. That's despite “the biggest disruption in 80 years.”
“Resiliency is built into the system, and that is showing up,” she said. She conceded that “I don't think we'll go back to where we were.”
Georgieva offered a historical perspective: "We have always traded and we will always trade. Trade is like a river, water. You put obstacle, it goes around it. Yes, it would be different, but there would be always the necessity of Dr. Ngozi to look over world trade.”
Georgieva also conceded things had changed for good: “How many of you have seen the movie, ”The Wizard of Oz?".... We are not in Kansas any more."
Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, attends the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
ECB President Christine Lagarde attends the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
A general view shows the congress center during the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday Jan. 21, 2026. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
President Donald Trump applauses during a signing ceremony on his Board of Peace initiative at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at the beginning of a Cabinet Planning Forum at the Citadelle in Quebec City, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Jacques Boissinot /The Canadian Press via AP)
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — An attacker armed with a rifle was fatally shot after ramming his vehicle into one of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues Thursday in what federal investigators called an act of violence targeting the Jewish community.
Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, called the incident “deeply disturbing and tragic” and said that the FBI is leading the investigation.
The agency considers the crime a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community,” she said at a news conference Thursday. Investigators have not determined a motive yet.
“What drove this person into action has to be determined by the investigation,” said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.
The vehicle caught fire after crashing into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, just outside Detroit, and driving through a hallway as security opened fire, authorities said.
None of the synagogue’s staff, teachers or the 140 children at its early childhood center were injured, Bouchard said.
“He was traveling with purpose down the hall, from my look at the video,” Bouchard said.
In the minutes after the attack, smoke billowed from the synagogue. One security officer was hit by the vehicle and knocked unconscious but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, the sheriff said. And 30 law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.
West Bloomfield Police Chief Dale Young said Temple security officers “engaged the individual and neutralized the threat.”
The suspect was found dead inside his vehicle, Bouchard said.
Bouchard credited preparation and training for the swift response to the threat, saying that he had contacted the head of security for the temple just two days before the attack.
Rabbi Arianna Gordon, from Temple Israel, thanked the security team, law enforcement and early childhood teachers for getting the children out safely and reunited with their parents, calling them the “true rock stars of the day.”
About a dozen parents sprinted to get their children soon after authorities cleared the building. Other families were reunited at a nearby Jewish Community Center.
Allison Jacobs, whose 18-month-old daughter is enrolled in Temple Israel’s day care, said she got a message from a teacher saying the children were OK even before she knew what happened.
“There are no words. I was in complete and utter shock,” she told the AP. “I was hoping that it was a false report.”
Jacobs, whose family is Jewish, said she tries not to think about all that’s going on in the world.
“You never think that this is actually going to happen to you,” she said. “But I know that it’s — it’s just terrible. This morning I was mourning the loss of the school that got hit in Iran.”
Synagogues around the world have been on edge and have been ramping up security since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran with missile strikes on Feb. 28.
The FBI has warned that Iranian operatives may be planning drone attacks on targets in California. Two men brought explosives to a far-right protest outside the New York mayoral mansion on Saturday. Investigators allege they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group.
And an assailant drove a car into people outside an Orthodox synagogue in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. He stabbed two people to death before officers shot and killed him.
President Donald Trump said he had been fully briefed on the attack, calling it a “terrible thing.”
Steven Ingber, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, lamented the fact that his organization had to train and prepare for an attack.
“I’d love to say that I’m shocked, that I’m surprised, but I’m not,” he said during a news conference Thursday.
He added: “This will not change us. This will not deter us and we will continue.”
Oakland County is Michigan’s second-largest county with roughly 1.3 million people. The majority of Detroit-area Jewish residents live there.
“This is heartbreaking,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “Michigan’s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace.”
It was the second attack at a house of worship in Michigan within the past year. Last September, a former Marine fatally shot four people at a church north of Detroit and set it ablaze. The FBI later said he was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Temple Israel has 12,000 members, according to its website, which says the synagogue is “passionate about helping Jewish communities across the globe” and that its mission is to “create a community building through the lens of Reform Judaism.”
The Jewish Federation of Detroit briefly advised all Jewish organizations in the area to lock down.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, a survivor of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, said in a statement that the Michigan attack demonstrates yet again the consequences of hatred.
“We lose our humanity when we seek violent means as a solution,” said Myers, rabbi of the Tree of Life Congregation, where 11 worshippers died in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. “No one should dwell in fear because of who they are.”
This story has been corrected to show that the shooting at a church north of Detroit happened in September, not October.
Durkin Richer reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., contributed.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard speaks to media as police respond to scene of a shooting at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., on Thursday, March 12 2026. (Jacob Hamilton /Ann Arbor News via AP)
Law enforcement escort families with children away from the Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Police respond to scene of a shooting at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., on Thursday, March 12 2026. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
A woman gathers children as law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue, Thursday, March 12, 2026 in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
People gather near Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
