January 10, 2025

UKRAINE | Today is day 1051 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Russian officials said today that President Vladimir Putin is open to meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to discuss Ukraine, but that any concrete steps to set up such a meeting could only take place after Trump is inaugurated on January 20. [more]
• The Japanese Cabinet approved a new round of Ukraine-related sanctions against Russian individuals, groups, and companies today. Also approved were sanctions against multiple countries that Japanese officials say have helped Russia evade previous sanctions. [more]

CALIFORNIA | Authorities say the death toll from the ongoing Los Angeles-area wildfires has risen to 10, while more than 10,000 homes have been destroyed and more than 180,000 people remain under evacuation orders. [more]

TRUMP NEW YORK SENTENCING | Both New York’s highest court and the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday declined to intervene in President-elect Donald Trump’s sentencing today for his felony business records falsification and hush money conviction. New York Judge Juan Merchan has indicated that no actual penalties will be imposed on Trump as part of the sentencing. [more]

TRUMP ELECTION INTERFERENCE REPORT | The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined yesterday to block the public release of the Justice Department's special counsel report on President-elect Donald Trump's alleged attempts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election, clearing the way for the report to be released as early as next week. [more]

U.S. MORTGAGES | Mortgage giant FreddieMac reports that the average interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage in the U.S. rose to 6.93% this week – up from 6.91% last week and the fourth-straight weekly increase. [more]

U.S. SOCIAL MEDIA | The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments today in the case of social media platform TikTok, which is scheduled to be shut down in the U.S. by January 19 under a law passed last year that would ban the platform in the U.S. if it is not divested from its Chinese parent company. [more]

U.S. EMPLOYMENT | Labor Department data due out later today is expected to show that U.S. employers added about 153,000 jobs in December, according to economists surveyed by data firm FactSet. [more]

U.S. AND CANADA | Reports say Canadian officials are actively working on a list of potential retaliatory tariffs on American goods for use in the event that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his threat of imposing a 25% tariff on all imported Canadian products. [more]

NATO | U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy suggested yesterday that European security is on a “knife-edge” and supported U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s call for increased military spending by NATO member countries. Trump called this week for NATO members to spend at least 5% of their GDPs on defense – up from the alliance’s current 2% target. [more]

GLOBAL ECONOMY | In a new report, the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs predicts that global economic growth is expected to reach a lackluster 2.8% in 2025. The group’s “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2025” report predicts that the world’s two largest economies, the U.S. and China, will grow at rates of 1.9% and 4.8%, respectively, this year. [executive summary] [full report] [more]

GLOBAL CLIMATE | The E.U. Copernicus Climate Service, the U.K. Meteorology Office, and Japan’s national weather agency all reported today that Earth recorded its hottest year ever in 2024, with global average temperatures ranging from 1.53 degrees Celsius to 1.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial averages. [full Copernicus report] [more]

VENEZUELA | Amidst ongoing protests and international condemnation of the process that led to his re-election, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is scheduled to be sworn in today for his third six-year term in office. [more]

SOUTH KOREA | Reports say South Korea’s anti-corruption agency is planning a second attempt to take impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol into custody following the failed initial attempt last week to detain him as part of investigations into his short-lived imposition of martial law in December. [more]

COLLEGE FOOTBALL | Notre Dame beat Penn State, 27-24, last night to advance to the College Football Playoff championship game. The other participant in the title game will be decided in tonight’s matchup between Texas and Ohio State. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1776, Thomas Paine published the pamphlet Common Sense, which sold more than 500,000 copies within a few months and called for a war of independence from Great Britain that would become the American Revolution. [more history]