Live updates: Beware of the darkest day in the calendar

Are you ready for Blue Monday, the day that falls this year at the start of this week, calculated by former Cardiff University psychologist Cliff Arnall in 2005 to be the most

depressing 24 hours in the calendarArnall’s damning conclusion about the third Monday in the first month (which he has since tried to counter) was based on analysis of data, such

as consumer surveys, divorce filings and weather reports. The main conclusion many of us draw from this analysis is that not all academic research is useful to society.If you are a

world leader or senior executive at least you have the World Economic Forum in Davos to distract you from the January blues. The FT Live team will also be at the Swiss resort town,

hosting several in-person and digital events in which leaders in policy, business and finance will share insights into the big issues being debated. You can view the events and

register for free hereFor the rest of us, we will just have to live with the grim economic news going into 2023 and hope things can only get better.If you’re in the UK, the

dominant reality is mass strike action. This might not yet be near to being a second “winter of discontent”, at least according to my colleague Jonathan Guthrie, but another

strike ballot among ambulance workers is due this week while the University and College Union will announce a wave of 18 new strike days this week covering 150 British universities

in February and March after its members voted last week to reject their latest pay offer.The Northern Ireland Protocol will rear its head again with Thursday’s deadline for the

restoration of power sharing at Stormont. Do not expect this to make you feel better about life or cross-border politics. Abortion rights activists march from Washington Square

Park to Bryant Park in New York last June © Alex Kent/AFP/Getty Images Sunday is the 50th anniversary of Roe vs Wade ruling by the US Supreme Court that enshrined Americans’

constitutional right to an abortion. This is of course a very live debate — stretching even into the boardroom — in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court decision to strike

down the 1973 decision. Pro-life campaigners will march in Washington on Friday, sparking further commentary on a fundamental US political fault line.The week will end with another

man-made day, this time based on astronomy: the lunar new year celebration. This year’s mass movement of people to visit families and friends celebrating the occasion will take

place under the shadow of rising Covid levels in China. Concerns about the impact on the spread of illness are high.Something to look forward to a bit further ahead is an evening