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MIDDLE EAST | Update from regional conflicts:

• Indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran, facilitated by Omani mediators, are underway this morning in Geneva, Switzerland. Iranian state media reports that the talks are expected to focus only on Iran's nuclear program, not on domestic issues such as the country's recent crackdown on protesters. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,452 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Russian and Ukrainian envoys are scheduled to begin meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, today for a two-day series of peace talks aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Reports cite analysts as suggesting there is little hope for a major breakthrough at the talks as both sides remain at odds over various issues, including that of territorial control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. [more]
• Just hours before the start of today's peace talks in Geneva, Russia targeted power infrastructure in at least 12 Ukrainian regions overnight with about 400 drones and more than 20 missiles, leaving tens of thousands of people without electricity and heat. [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | At least two people were killed, and three others were wounded, yesterday in a shooting incident at a youth hockey game in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Authorities say the shooter, identified as Robert Dorgan, died at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot, and that it "appears that this was a targeted event." [more]

GEORGIA | In a motion filed yesterday, the NAACP and other organizations asked a federal judge to order steps be taken to protect voter information seized by the FBI last month from the Fulton County, Georgia, election center. The motion asks that "reasonable limits" be placed on the government's use of the seized data, that the data be used only for purposes of the criminal investigation cited in the search warrant affidavit, and that use of the data for voter roll maintenance, election administration, or immigration enforcement be specifically prohibited. [more]

U.S. HISTORY | Calling their removal "dangerous" and "horrifying," a federal judge yesterday ordered that explanatory panels about nine people enslaved by George Washington be restored at Washington's former home in Philadelphia. The panel exhibit was removed in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at "restoring truth and sanity to American history” at the country's museums, parks, and landmarks. [more]

U.S. DEPORTATIONS | A recent report from Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says Trump administration actions to deport about 300 migrants to countries other than their own have cost at least $40 million. According to the report, U.S. payments ranging from $4.7 million to $7.5 million have been made to five nations – Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, El Salvador, Eswatini, and Palau – to allow deportations to those countries. [more]

U.S. AND PHILIPPINES | Amidst regional Chinese aggression, the U.S. and the Philippines said in a joint statement today that they plan to hold joint military exercises, increase efforts to modernize the Philippine military, and expand deployment of U.S. missiles to the Philippines to help deter aggression in the South China Sea. [more]

U.S. AND NIGERIA | Nigerian officials announced yesterday that about 100 U.S. troops have arrived in the West African country as part of an agreement to help train soldiers for operations against Islamic militants and other armed groups. [more]

SUDAN | Amidst the ongoing civil war between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, rights groups and local officials say at least 28 people were killed, and dozens of others were wounded, Sunday in drone strikes on a market in Sudan's central Kordofan region. [more]

GUATEMALA | A month-long state of emergency sparked by the gang killings of 10 police officers was lifted in Guatemala yesterday. President Bernardo Arévalo said 83 gang members were arrested during the emergency session and that unspecified less restrictive measures to combat gang violence would remain in effect going forward. [more]

PAKISTAN | In an incident officials blamed on the Pakistani Taliban, 11 soldiers and a child were killed overnight when a suicide bomber backed by a group of gunmen attacked a security post in the Bajaur district of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. [more]

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL | Following recent weeks of storms across the Iberian Peninsula, Spain and Portugal have each announced about $8 billion in aid for people forced to evacuate due to flooding and for the impact of heavy rains and flooding on houses, businesses, and the agricultural and fishing sectors. [more]

GERMANY | In an updated forecast released today, German economic think tank IFO projects that the population of Germany will shrink by as much as 10% by 2070 – a significantly steeper decline than the 1% population loss it had previously forecast. [full report] [more]

AI AND SOCIAL MEDIA | Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said today that it has opened a European Union privacy investigation into the Grok AI chatbot on social media platform X over what regulators say is the apparent creation and posting of nonconsensual intimate or sexualized images containing or involving personal data from Europeans, including children. [more]

OLYMPICS | As of publication time, Norway leads the overall medal count on Day 11 of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games with 28, followed by host country Italy, the United States, Japan, and Germany. [medal tracker] [competition schedule] [more]

YEAR OF THE HORSE | Today marks the advent of the Lunar New Year – celebrated by millions of people around the world to usher in the Year of the Horse and say goodbye to the Year of the Snake. [more]

R.I.P. | Actor Robert Duvall, best known for his roles in the "Godfather" films, the Oscar-winning "Tender Mercies," and the 1989 television miniseries "Lonesome Dove," died Sunday at the age of 95. [more]

MORE R.I.P. | U.S. civil rights leader and two-time presidential hopeful Jesse Jackson, died this morning at the age of 84. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1863, five appointees of the Public Welfare Society of Geneva announced the formation of an “International Committee for the Relief of Wounded Combatants,” which would later be renamed the International Committee of the Red Cross. [more history]