January 20, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• The first six-week phase of a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement went into effect between Israel and Hamas yesterday, and appears to be holding following the release of three Hamas-held hostages and of some 90 Palestinian prisoners. Reports note that shipments of humanitarian aid into Gaza have surged since the agreement went into effect. [more]
• Amidst the Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal, Yemen’s Houthi rebel group says it intends to limit attacks on shipping in the Red Sea to Israel-affiliated ships. [more]

U.S. PRESIDENCY | Donald Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States at noon today, marking only the second time in U.S. history that a president will have served non-consecutive terms. Trump is expected to quickly issue a series of executive orders to implement his policies following the inauguration, taking action on immigration, fossil fuel development, government staffing, and other issues. [more]

U.S. PRESIDENTIAL PARDONS | Outgoing President Joe Biden today issued preemptive pardons for former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, for infectious diseases specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the U.S. COVID response, and for members of Congress who served on the committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol and U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the committee. In a statement, Biden said the pardons should not be taken as an acknowledgment of any wrongdoing or admission of guilt, but as protective actions for those against whom incoming President Donald Trump has vowed retribution. [Biden statement] [more]

U.S. SOCIAL MEDIA | TikTok is once again available in the United States after suspending operations for less than a day in accordance with a U.S. law passed last year. President-elect Donald Trump said over the weekend he would issue an executive order extending the deadline for the social media platform’s U.S. operations to be divested from its Chinese parent company. [more]

CALIFORNIA | The National Weather Service has issued a “particularly dangerous” condition warning for today and tomorrow in the Los Angeles area as low humidity and high winds create conditions conducive to new wildfires and to spreading existing fires that have killed at least 27 people and burned more than 14,000 structures over the past two weeks. [more]

U.S. BIRD FLU | The Georgia Department of Agriculture suspended all poultry exhibitions, shows, swaps, meets, and sales in the state on Friday after avian influenza, for the first time, was detected at a commercial poultry production facility in the state. [more]

U.S. LABOR | Union member workers at retailer Costco Wholesale voted yesterday to authorize a nationwide strike if a new contract agreement is not reached by the January 31 expiration of their current contract with the company. [more]

COLOMBIA | Officials say more than 80 people were killed in Colombia’s northeastern Catatumbo region over the weekend after  peace talks between the South American nation’s government and the National Liberation Army rebel group were suspended. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | In a rare public rebuke of existing Taliban policy, Afghan Foreign Ministry official Sher Abbas Stanikzai called this weekend for an end to the ruling Taliban’s ban on allowing the education of women and girls past sixth grade. [more]

DAVOS | The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum opens today in Davos, Switzerland, with some 2,750 delegates from around the world convening to address global political, business, and financial issues. [more]

NIGERIA | Authorities in Nigeria’s Niger State say a fuel truck overturned and exploded Saturday in the city of Dikko, killing at least 86 people – most of whom were attempting to retrieve fuel from the site. [more]

COLLEGE FOOTBALL | Ohio State will be playing for its first title since 2014 and Notre Dame for its first since 1988 when the two teams play tonight for the college football national championship. [more]

FOOTBALL | The Buffalo Bills will play the Kansas City Chiefs and the Washington Commanders will play the Philadelphia Eagles this coming weekend in the AFC and NFC championship games to determine participants in next month’s Super Bowl. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "One of Them Days" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $11.6 million in receipts, followed by "Mufasa: The Lion King" and "Wolf Man." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | Today marks the observance in the United States of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which was first observed as a federal holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader on this date in 1986. [more history]