January 29, 2026

MIDDLE EAST | Update from regional conflicts:

• European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said today that the E.U. is "likely" to impose new sanctions on Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard over Tehran’s recent crackdown on nationwide protests. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,433 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that intelligence indicates Russia is assembling forces and weaponry for a major aerial attack ahead of U.S.-brokered cease-fire talks that are scheduled to resume this weekend. [more]
• In the latest move under an agreement on the exchange of war dead reached last year, the bodies of 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers were returned to Ukraine by Russia today, and Russia received the bodies of 38 of its soldiers in exchange. [more]

GEORGIA | The FBI served a search warrant at the election headquarters of Fulton County, Georgia, which includes most of Atlanta, yesterday seeking ballots from the 2020 election. Reports note that the FBI action follows President Donald Trump's recent statement during a speech at the World Economic Forum that charges related to the 2020 election were imminent. [more]

U.S. GOVERNMENT FUNDING | Ahead of a midnight Saturday deadline, Senate Democrats have voiced strong opposition to a government spending bill over Department of Homeland Security funding. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer suggested yesterday that the bill would not pass without reforms to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies. [more]

MINNESOTA | Reuters cites new internal guidance distributed yesterday to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minnesota as saying officers are to avoid communicating or engaging with "agitators" while carrying out immigration enforcement operations and that ICE operations in the state are "moving to targeted enforcement of aliens with a criminal history," noting that "all targets must have a criminal nexus." [more]

MORE MINNESOTA | In a speech this morning in Minnesota, Trump administration border czar Tom Homan, who was sent to Minneapolis amidst unrest and protests over federal immigration enforcement operations in the city and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents, said he has ordered immigration authorities to work on a “draw-down plan” for law enforcement in the state. Homan also said that federal officers who don’t act with professionalism will be “dealt with," and that while there will be "zero tolerance" for threatening, impeding, or assaulting law enforcement, residents have a First Amendment right to protest federal immigration enforcement. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | Ending its two-day policy meeting yesterday, the Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at about 3.6%.  At a press conference following the meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy’s outlook “has clearly improved since the last meeting” in December and that there are signs the country's job market is stabilizing. [more]

U.S. MILITARIZATION | According to a new report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the Trump administration's deployment of National Guard and active-duty Marine Corp personnel to five U.S. cities since June 2025 cost a total of approximately $496 million through the end of December 2025. The cost assessment includes deployments to Los Angeles, California; Washington, D.C.; Memphis, Tennessee; Portland, Oregon; and Chicago, Illinois, but not the one to New Orleans, Louisiana, which occurred at the end of the year. The CBO also notes that continuing current deployments will cost $93 million a month and that 1,000 Guard personnel deployed to a city will cost at least $18 million per month. [report summary] [full report] [more]

U.S. AND VENEZUELA | Responding to questions before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that, following the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the U.S. is "not postured to nor do we intend or expect to have to take any military action in Venezuela at any time." [more]

EUROPEAN UNION | Speaking before the German parliament today, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz characterized the E.U. as an "alternative to imperialism and autocracy" and urged the bloc to forge stronger ties with democracies and markets around the world "on the basis of mutual respect, trust, and reliability." [more]

MEXICO AND CUBA | Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum this week denied that her country's recent decision to suspend shipments of oil to Cuba was a result of pressure from the United States, saying the move was a "sovereign decision." [more]

SOMALIA | The U.S. Department of State said yesterday that U.S. aid to Somalia will resume after having been suspended for three weeks over what it claimed was the destruction of an aid warehouse at the Port of Mogadishu. U.S. officials say the decision to resume aid came after authorities in the East African nation took responsibility for disrupting aid distribution. [more]

E.U. AND VIETNAM | During a visit to Hanoi by European Council President António Costa today, Vietnam and the European Union announced an upgrade of their diplomatic and trade ties to a "comprehensive strategic partnership." Vietnamese President Luong Cuong characterized the move as a “historic milestone,” while Costa said the partnership is about “developing spheres of shared prosperity.” [more]

PARCEL INDUSTRY | Shipping and mailing giant United Parcel Service announced plans this week to cut up to 30,000 operational jobs in 2026 amidst a reduction in handling Amazon shipments. UPS says the job cuts will be made through voluntary buyout offers for full-time drivers and through regular attrition. [more]

FILM | Among the 25 films selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for inclusion in its National Film Registry this year are: "The Karate Kid," "The Big Chill," "High Society," "Clueless," "White Christmas," "The Incredibles," and "Inception." [full list] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1919, the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibited the production, transport, and sale of intoxicating liquors in the United States, was officially certified. Prohibition remained in effect in the U.S. until 1933, when it was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment. [more history]