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MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Reports cite U.S. administration sources as saying about 35 countries have agreed to participate in the U.S.-sponsored so-called "Board of Peace" to oversee cease-fire and reconstruction efforts in Gaza. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the Board's formal formation today at the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland. [more]
• The Iranian government issued its first official estimate today of the number of people killed in recent protests across Iran, saying 3,117 people were killed during the unrest – a much lower estimate than those from other sources, including the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which said the death toll as of early today was at least 4,902. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,426 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. President Donald Trump today on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss ongoing efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. [more]
• U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today, says negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war were "down to one issue," which reports cite European officials as saying is related to territory. [more]
• Speaking today at the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland, after his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested that Europe is too reliant on the U.S. for its security and criticized the lack of progress on "establishing a special tribunal for Russian aggression against Ukraine." [more]

U.S., DENMARK, AND GREENLAND | U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday that an agreement on a "framework of a future deal" on Arctic security had been reached with NATO and that he would suspend the tariffs he had threatened to impose on countries that did not support the U.S. plan to take control of Denmark's semi-autonomous island territory of Greenland. Responding to Trump's statement, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that NATO discussions on security in the Arctic are "good and natural," but that such talks must be undertaken with respect for Denmark's and Greenland's territorial integrity. Trump characterized the framework as providing total and permanent U.S. access to Greenland, but no official details of an actual agreement have been released. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT | A leaked internal memo from acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons authorizes ICE officers, in contravention of Department of Homeland Security training materials, to forcefully enter residences based solely on an administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal. Reports cite legal analysts as saying the guidance from Lyons appears to conflict with long-standing interpretations of Fourth Amendment protections that limit government searches and seizures. [more]

MINNESOTA | Reports cite Defense Department officials as saying several dozen members of an active-duty Army military police brigade based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, have been notified to prepare for possible deployment to Minneapolis, Minnesota, amidst ongoing unrest related to the surge of federal immigration enforcement operations in the city. The prepare-to-deploy order follows a similar recent notification to some 1,500 active-duty soldiers from the Army’s 11th Airborne Division based in Alaska. [more]

MORE MINNESOTA | Granting a Department of Homeland Security request, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered a stay of a lower court ruling that had limited federal immigration officers' actions against peaceful protesters in Minnesota while federal officials appeal the lower court decision. [more]

U.S. WEATHER | An estimated 100 million people live in areas covered by winter storm advisories, watches, and warnings for this weekend as forecasters say heavy snow and ice could affect residents in portions of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York. [National Weather Service outlook] [more]

TEXAS | A state jury yesterday found former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer Adrian Gonzales not guilty of child abandonment and endangerment in connection with what prosecutors had said was his failure to confront the gunman at Robb Elementary during the critical first minutes of the 2022 mass shooting at the school in which 19 students and two teachers were killed. [more]

U.S. CRIME | A new report from the independent Council on Criminal Justice says data from 40 major U.S. cities indicates that rates of homicide, carjacking, shoplifting, and aggravated assault fell from 2024 to 2025, while drug crimes increased over the same period and sexual assaults stayed about the same. [press release] [full report] [more]

MAINE | The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in what it has dubbed "Operation Catch of the Day," launched an immigration enforcement surge in Maine this week, saying it had approximately 1,400 targets in the state. [more]

JAPAN | Government data released today indicates that Japan posted a $17 billion trade deficit in 2025 – the fifth straight year of trade deficit, but 53% lower than the deficit posted in 2024. [more]

BANGLADESH | Relief agencies say hundreds of makeshift homes were destroyed, and more than 2,000 people were displaced, earlier this week when a fire spread through a major refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. [more]

HAITI | Amidst ongoing widespread gang violence in Haiti, and ahead of a February 7 deadline for the Caribbean island nation to hold new elections, U.S. officials warned Haiti's transitional council against making changes to the country's government, saying "any person who supports such a destabilizing initiative, which favors the gangs, would be acting against the interests of the United States, the region, and the Haitian people" and that the U.S. would "take appropriate action accordingly." [more]

SPAIN | Following at least three train derailments in Spain over the past several days, the country's largest train drivers' union called yesterday for a three-day nationwide strike for February 9-11 to demand measures to guarantee railway safety. [more]

ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS | Nominations for the 98th Academy Awards were announced today, with "Sinners" receiving a record-setting 16 nominations, including for best picture, followed by "One Battle After Another" with 12 nominations. Other films nominated for best picture include: "Bugonia," "F1," Frankenstein," "Hamnet," "Marty Supreme," "One Battle After Another," "The Secret Agent," "Sentimental Value," and "Train Dreams." [full list of nominations] [more]

MUSIC | According to a new certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, the Eagles' 1976 album “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” is the best-selling album of all time in the United States, having sold more than 40 million units. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that a Texas statute criminalizing abortion in most instances violated a woman's constitutional right of privacy. The landmark decision was overturned in 2022, returning responsibility for abortion-related legislation to the individual states. [more history]