Early Edition: February 3, 2026

A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:

IRAN

U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday in Istanbul with representatives from Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Pakistan to discuss a possible nuclear deal, according to three sources. A U.S. official said the summit will focus on trying to put together a package deal that prevents war, adding that the Trump administration hopes Iran will come to the meeting ready to make the needed compromises. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said today that he has instructed Abbas Araghchi to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations” with the United States. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.

Witkoff is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of the Mossad intelligence service, and the Israeli military’s chief of staff in Israel today, according to two officials. Israel is expected to ask that any agreement with Iran include removing enriched uranium from the country, stopping the enrichment of uranium, limiting the creation of ballistic missiles, and ending support for Tehran’s proxies. Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.

Iran’s leaders fear that a U.S. strike could break its grip on power by reigniting anti-government protests, according to six current and former Iranian officials. Officials told Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that public anger following last month’s crackdown has reached a point where fear is no longer a deterrent, four officials said. “An attack combined with demonstrations by angry people could lead to a collapse [of the ruling system]. That is the main concern among the top officials, and that is what our enemies want,” said an official. Parisa Hafezi reports for Reuters. 

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR 

Russia overnight fired around 450 long-range drones and 70 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today, adding that the bombardment of at least five regions in Ukraine aimed specifically at the power grid. The attacks ended an informal, short-lived “energy cease-fire” between Russia and Ukraine that officials had called a confidence-building gesture for peace negotiations. “Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said ahead of U.S.-led trilateral meetings in Abu Dhabi this week. Kamila Hrabchuk reports for AP News; Maria Varenikova reports for the New York Times.  

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – CEASEFIRE

Israeli authorities yesterday detained a group of local officials and businesspeople suspected of siphoning off millions in aid, announcing a fraud inquiry involving donations sent to Israel following the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023. AP News reports.  

SUDANESE CIVIL WAR 

Two Egyptian security officials told Reuters that two airports in southern Egypt have been supplied with military equipment over the past eight months to secure the border with Sudan and carry out military strikes to protect “national security.” Two military experts who reviewed the satellite images of the airport in East Oweinat said an aircraft was identifiable as a Bayraktar Akinci, one of the most advanced drones manufactured by Turkish defence firm Baykar. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry and State Information Service did not answer questions from Reuters about operations at East Oweinat or in Sudan. Alexander Dziadosz, Marine Delrue, and Maria Paula Laguna report.

OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will send its first team to monitor the ceasefire between the DRC government and the Alliance Fleuve Congo/M23 rebel group in the coming days, Qatar’s foreign ministry said yesterday. Reuters. 

Syrian government forces yesterday entered the Kurdish-controlled city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria, a first step towards implementing a ceasefire deal with the Syrian Democratic Forces that foresees the Kurdish-run regions being merged with Damascus. Khalil Ashawi and Firas Makdesi report for Reuters. 

Humanitarian organizations in South Sudan said yesterday that access to the conflict-hit eastern state of Jonglei has left thousands of people in need of lifesaving medical care and food assistance at risk. The International Rescue Committee’s country director for South Sudan, Richard Orengo, said that “intensified fighting and the militarization of key areas have forced the suspension of services.” Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) said that the government has suspended all humanitarian flights, cutting off medical supplies and emergency evacuations. Deng Machol reports for AP News. 

TECH DEVELOPMENTS 

SpaceX has acquired xAI in a deal that combines two of Elon Musk’s biggest companies, Musk announced yesterday. Dan Primack and Madison Mills report for Axios. 

The French offices of Musk’s social media platform X have been raided by the Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime unit, the prosecutor’s office said today. The raids are related to an investigation opened in January 2025 following complaints about X’s algorithm and the content it recommended, which has recently been broadened to include its AI chatbot, Grok. The prosecutor’s office said both Musk and former X chief officer Linda Yaccarino had been summoned to appear at hearings in April as part of its probe. Liv McMahon reports for BBC News.  

A former Google engineer was found guilty of economic espionage and theft of confidential AI technology for the benefit of the Chinese government, the FBI said yesterday. A federal jury in San Francisco convicted Linwei Ding of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets. Rebecca Falconer reports for Axios.  

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced today that Spain plans to ban access to social media for minors under 16, and platforms will be required to implement age verification systems. In December, Australia became the first country to ban social media for children under 16. Britain and France are currently considering similar age-based measures. Reuters reports. 

U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS

Venezuelan Interim President Delcy Rodriguez and U.S. envoy Laura Dogu met yesterday in Caracas. Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said that the conversation covered the “common agenda” between the two countries, especially energy, trade, political, and economic issues. He added that Felix Plasencia, a prior foreign minister who also served as the country’s ambassador to China, will travel to Washington in the coming days to serve as Venezuela’s “diplomatic representative.” The U.S. embassy in Venezuela said on social media that Dogu met with Venezuelan officials to “reiterate the three phases that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had outlined for Venezuela: stabilization, economic recovery and reconciliation, and transition.” Reuters reports. 

Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio told Reuters yesterday that the U.S. government was aware that Cuba was “ready to have a serious, meaningful and responsible dialogue.” De Cossio added, “We have had exchange of messages, we have embassies, we have had communications, but we can not say we have had a table of dialogue” with the United States. Trump on Sunday said the United States had begun talks with “the highest people in Cuba.” Dave Sherwood reports.

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

Trump yesterday announced a trade deal with India that slashes U.S. tariffs on Indian goods from 50% to 18% in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases. Trump announced the deal on social media, noting that India would now buy oil from the United States and potentially Venezuela. Trump’s post contained few details, including the start date for the lower tariff rate and the deadline for India to end Russian oil purchases. David Lawder and Aftab Ahmed report for Reuters.  

MINNESOTA

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced yesterday that, in the name of transparency, her department will “immediately” deploy body cameras to ICE and Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis. She added that “as funding is available, the body camera program will be expanded nationwide. We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country.” Eric Bazail-Eimil reports for POLITICO.  

U.S. Northern Command has taken more than 1,500 active-duty troops in Alaska and North Carolina off heightened alert for possible deployment in Minnesota, a U.S. official said yesterday. Eric Schmitt reports for the New York Times.  

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced yesterday that they had arrested two more people in connection with a protest at a Minnesota church last month. The Trump administration argues that the protesters and two journalists who filmed the encounter crossed the line into an attack on religious rights. Mitch Smith and Talya Minsberg report for the New York Times.  

OTHER U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS

U.S. immigration officials have imposed quarantines and stopped all movement inside the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, a family detention facility in Texas, following two confirmed measles cases over the weekend, a Homeland Security Department official said yesterday. The Dilley Immigration Processing Center is the main detention center in the country that houses families, including young children. Pooja Salhotra reports for the New York Times.  

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS  

Bill and Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of the panel’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. The couple changed their minds as the House prepared to vote on Wednesday on whether to hold them in contempt of Congress. Hailey Fuchs and Calen Razor report for POLITICO.  

A federal judge said he would hold a hearing tomorrow to consider shutting down the government website that houses millions of files in the Epstein case, until proper redactions can be made, after victims’ names were improperly disclosed last week. Bondi acknowledged yesterday in a letter to the court that the Justice Department had worked through the weekend and had “taken down several thousands of documents and media that may have inadvertently included victim-identifying information.” She blamed “various factors, including technical or human error.” Benjamin Weiser reports for the New York Times

Trump loyalist Ed Martin has been stripped of his role leading the Justice Department’s “weaponization” working group, tasked with investigating prosecutors who pursued past investigations into Trump and his allies, two sources told NBC News. Sources told the New York Times that senior department officials felt Martin was ineffective in pursuing cases that Trump has demanded be acted upon immediately. A Justice Department spokesman said that Martin will continue to serve in his other role, as pardon attorney. Ryan J. Reilly reports; Glenn Thrush and Alan Feuer report. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS

Trump yesterday announced a $12 billion initiative known as “Project Vault” aimed at bolstering domestic stockpiles of strategic critical minerals to reduce dependence on foreign producers, especially China. Project Vault will entail procuring and storing minerals for American manufacturers. Alan Rappeport and Tony Romm report for the New York Times.  

Trump said yesterday that the administration is pursuing $1 billion from Harvard to settle federal probes into the university. Trump’s post came in response to a New York Times report, citing sources, saying the Trump administration has dropped its demand for cash from Harvard in ongoing talks to strike a deal. Trump dismissed the report. Rishabh Jaiswal, Shivani Tanna, and Kanishka Singh report for Reuters.  

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told lawmakers in a letter yesterday that she attended an FBI search of the election office in Fulton County, Georgia, last week because Trump asked her to be there, adding that she accompanied the FBI “under my broad statutory authority to coordinate, integrate, and analyze intelligence related to election security.” Gabbard also acknowledged that she “facilitated” a brief phone call between Trump and FBI agents who conducted the search, in which Trump thanked the agents for their work. Eric Tucker reports for AP News; John Sakellariadis reports for POLITICO.  

A U.S. intelligence official has alleged wrongdoing by Gabbard in a whistleblower complaint filed eight months ago that has yet to be shared with Congress, as it contains highly classified content which could cause “grave damage to national security,” U.S. officials said. It also implicates another federal agency and raises potential claims of executive privilege that may involve the White House, officials said. Dustin Volz and C. Ryan Barber report for the Wall Street Journal.  

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION

A federal judge yesterday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status for more than 350,000 Haitians. Miriam Jordan reports for the New York Times.

A federal judge yesterday issued a temporary restraining order, ruling that the Homeland Security Department likely broke the law when it barred members of Congress from visiting immigrant detention facilities without a week’s notice. The judge found that the policy continued to violate a part of the law that provides annual appropriations to fund DHS and prohibits those funds from being used to limit congressional oversight. Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report for POLITICO; Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.  

A federal judge yesterday said that he would lift a restraining order granted last week to safeguard crucial evidence in the killing of Alex Pretti. The judge said, “Though the record is not one-sided, the greater weight of the evidence shows Defendants are not likely to destroy or improperly alter evidence related to Mr. Pretti’s shooting during the life of this case, and other relevant considerations do not on balance favor a continuing preservation order.” Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.  

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