January 23, 2026

U.S. AND NATO | Senior politicians and military veterans across Europe today condemned remarks made by US President Donald Trump in an interview yesterday in which he suggested that the US "never needed" the NATO military alliance and that NATO allies "stayed back" and "a little off the front lines" in the war in Afghanistan. Reports note that the only time NATO's Article 5 collective-defense clause has ever been invoked was by the US following the September 11, 2001, attacks, and that NATO allies responded to the invocation by joining the US military mission in Afghanistan, in which hundreds of European allied troops were killed. [more]

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Following his recent threats against Iran over killing protesters and restarting its nuclear program, U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday that the U.S. has an "armada" of military ships heading toward Iran, adding that he would "rather not see anything happen, but we're watching them very closely." [more]
• The U.N. Human Rights Council is holding an emergency session today in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the recent government crackdown on protesters in Iran. Proposals before the Council include calls to extend the mandate of a U.N. investigation set up after a previous wave of Iranian protests in 2022 for two additional years and to launch a new investigation into violations and crimes linked to the unrest that began on December 28, 2025 "for potential future legal proceedings." [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,427 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Following overnight talks with U.S. envoys in Moscow, Russian officials said that issues of territory need to be resolved before any deal can be reached to end the Russia-Ukraine war. [more]
• Ukrainian, Russian, and U.S. negotiators are scheduled to hold talks today in the United Arab Emirates in what reports say is the first meeting attended by all three countries since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago. [more]

U.S. WEATHER | Forecasters say as many as 160 million people – about half the population of the United States – live in areas under various winter weather watches, warnings, and other alerts associated with a looming storm stretching from New Mexico in the southwestern U.S. to the east coast. [more]

MINNESOTA | Large-scale strikes, school walkouts, business closures, and demonstrations are scheduled for today in Minnesota in protest against the ongoing surge of federal immigration enforcement operations in the state. Reports say today's actions represent the largest coordinated anti-ICE protest action to date. [more]

MORE MINNESOTA | Speaking in Minneapolis yesterday, Vice President JD Vance said federal officials are "doing everything we can to lower the temperature" amidst unrest over immigration enforcement operations across Minnesota and urged local leaders to "meet us halfway." Vance also defended yesterday's detention of a five-year-old boy by federal officers during the attempted arrest of the boy's father and blamed "far-left people" and state and local officials for unrest in Minneapolis and other areas of the state. [more]

U.S. WAR POWERS | The U.S. House of Representatives voted, 215-215, yesterday to reject a measure that would have mandated the removal of any U.S. military troops from Venezuela and limited President Donald Trump's ability to order military action in the South American country without congressional approval. [more]

JANUARY 6 | In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday, former special counsel Jack Smith testified that investigations that were suspended after President Donald Trump began his current term in office in accord with Justice Department policies against prosecuting a sitting president showed that Trump was responsible for the rioting and violence associated with the January 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol. [more]

U.S. FEDERAL FUNDING | The House voted to pass a final batch of four spending bills totaling $1.2 trillion for the current fiscal year yesterday. Three of the bills – those that funded Defense and various other departments, including Education, Transportation and Health and Human Services – were broadly supported, while a fourth bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security faced stronger Democratic opposition, passing with a vote of 341-88. The Senate is expected to take up the bills next week. [more]

U.S. BANKING | President Donald Trump sued banking giant JPMorgan Chase and its CEO Jamie Dimon for $5 billion yesterday, alleging that the bank ceased providing banking services to Trump and his businesses in 2021 for political reasons. Responding to the lawsuit, JPMorgan Chase said it "does not close accounts for political or religious reasons," but does "close accounts because they create legal or regulatory risk for the company." [more]

U.S. AND WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION | Federal officials said yesterday that, in accordance with an order signed by President Donald Trump upon taking office last year, the U.S. has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Reports note that the U.S. still owes the WHO more than $130 million and cite public health experts as saying the move poses risks to future U.S. reactions to global health issues, such as pandemics. [more]

E.U. AND SOUTH AMERICA | European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said today that the E.U. will be ready to implement the recently finalized free-trade deal with South America's Mercosur trade bloc as soon as one Mercosur country ratifies it, despite action this week by the E.U. parliament to delay ratification pending a legal review. [more]

TECH INDUSTRY | Reuters cites unnamed sources as saying tech and online commerce giant Amazon plans to cut thousands of corporate jobs next week as part of the company's previously reported broader plan to reduce its workforce by about 30,000 positions. [more]

SOCIAL MEDIA | Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok says it has finalized a deal to create a new U.S. entity to avoid the threat of a ban in the United States. The deal involves three managing investors: Oracle, Silver Lake, and the Emirati investment firm MGX, each of which will hold a 15% stake in the new TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. [press release] [more]

FOOTBALL | Finalists for the 2025 NFL Most Valuable Player award were announced yesterday and include: Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1964, the Twenty-fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibited the federal and state governments from imposing poll taxes before a citizen could participate in a federal election, was ratified. [more history]