Early Edition: January 23, 2026

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

GREENLAND 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced today that “the commission will soon put forward a substantive package of investments” for Greenland, adding that it also intends to “deepen cooperation with the United States” on the topic of Arctic security. Leyen also said that the European Union should pivot to implementing its trade deal with the United States now that Trump has withdrawn the threat of tariffs. These announcements followed yesterday’s emergency summit of European leaders in Brussels. It had been called in response to President Trump’s threats regarding Greenland, before he announced a framework deal with NATO. Jeanna Smialek reports for the New York Times.  

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – CEASEFIRE

Israel has moved the concrete blocks meant to demarcate its “Yellow Line” in Gaza dozens or sometimes hundreds of metres inside Hamas-controlled territory, and its military has built up at least six fortifications to station troops, according to satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters. The imagery shows how Israel has unilaterally shifted its line of control in Gaza, cordoning off more land. Dawoud Abu Alkas, Catherine Cartier, Edward Carron, and Rami Ayyub report.

Israeli airstrikes yesterday killed five people in Gaza, according to health officials. Health officials at Al Shifa Hospital said four Palestinians were killed by Israeli tank shelling in the Zeitoun suburb of eastern Gaza City. A fifth person was killed by Israeli fire in Khan Younis in the south. Steve Holland, Rami Ayyub, and Nidal Al-Mughrabi report for Reuters.

TRUMP’S “BOARD OF PEACE”

After a signing ceremony for Trump’s “Board of Peace” in Davos, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, presented development plans for “New Gaza,” including residential towers, data centers, and seaside resorts. The plans suggested that redevelopment would begin in Rafah, an area under Israeli military control. Kushner did not say who would fund the development, adding that a conference will be held in Washington in the coming weeks, where contributions from the private sector will be announced. Steve Holland, Rami Ayyub, and Nidal Al-Mughrabi report for Reuters.

Trump’s signing event featured Ali Shaath, the head of a new, future technocratic government in Gaza, announcing that the Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week. There was no confirmation of that from Israel, which said only that it would consider the matter. Josh Boak, Aamer Madhani, and Will Weissert report for AP News.

Trump yesterday rescinded his invitation to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to join the “Board of Peace.” Trump did not explain why he was rescinding the invitation, though it seems he was reacting to Carney’s remarks in Davos this week. Carney did not mention Trump or the United States directly, but described a “rupture” from the U.S.-led global order. Chris Cameron and Matina Stevis-Gridneff report for the New York Times.

Moscow is willing to contribute $1 billion to the “Board of Peace” for Gaza, but that would require unfreezing Russian assets in the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday. In a meeting at the Kremlin with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Putin said that if money blocked during the Biden administration were released, it could be used to support the Palestinian people. Putin said he planned to discuss this with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Valerie Hopkins reports for the New York Times.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR 

Russian, Ukrainian, and U.S. negotiators will hold talks in the United Arab Emirates today. The Kremlin confirmed that Russian officials would attend the talks following a meeting yesterday between Putin, Witkoff, and Kushner. Russia described the talks as “useful in every respect,” but reiterated that a peace deal could not be reached until territorial issues had been resolved. Following his meeting with Trump in Davos, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, “It’s all about the land. This is the issue which is not solved yet.” Zelensky also confirmed that Ukrainian officials will attend the meeting in Abu Dhabi. Yang Tian reports for BBC News.

IRAN 

The U.N. Human Rights Council will hold an emergency session today to discuss the “alarming violence” used in Iran against protestors. Emma Farge and Olivia Le Poidevin report for Reuters.

The U.S. military has moved more military assets toward the Middle East, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and associated warships from the South China Sea. Trump said yesterday that the United States has an “armada” heading towards Iran, “just in case” he wants to take action.” Jon Gambrell reports for AP News; Steve Holland, Phil Stewart, and Idrees Ali report for Reuters.

Iran’s top prosecutor, Mohammad Movahedi, today said that Trump’s claims that he halted the hanging of 800 detained protestors were “completely false,” adding “no such number exists, nor has the judiciary made any such decision.” Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.

SYRIA 

The U.N. refugee agency will take over management of al-Hol, a camp in north-eastern Syria holding thousands of people with alleged links to the Islamic State group, a U.N official said yesterday. UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric cautioned that conditions inside remained “tense and volatile”, with humanitarian operations still suspended following the violence. Rachel Hagan reports for BBC News.

The U.S. military expects to complete the transfer of up to 7,000 Islamic State detainees from Syrian prisons to Iraq in the coming days, a U.S. official told Reuters yesterday. Iraqi legal sources said the Islamic State detainees sent from Syria so far include a mix of nationalities, with Iraqis making up the largest group, alongside Arab fighters from other countries and nationals of Britain, Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden. Reuters reports.

The decision to move the Islamic State detainees to Iraq came after a request by officials in Baghdad that was welcomed by the U.S.-led coalition and the Syrian government, officials said yesterday. An Iraqi security official said it was in Iraq’s interest to detain them in Iraqi prisons rather than leave them in Syria, as they feared detainees would flee from the detention centres amid the tensions between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. A Syrian foreign ministry official said the plan had been under discussion for months before the recent clashes with the SDF. Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Abby Sewell report for AP News. 

TECH DEVELOPMENTS 

TikTok announced yesterday that its Chinese owner, ByteDance, had struck a deal with a group of non-Chinese investors to create a new U.S. TikTok. Investors, including Oracle, MGX, an Emirati investment firm, and Silver Lake, another investment firm, will own more than 80 per cent of the new venture. David McCabe and Emmet Lindner report for the New York Times.

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

The Trump administration is expanding its ban on U.S. foreign aid for groups supporting abortion services to include assistance going to international and domestic organizations that promote gender identity and DEI programs. A U.S. official said yesterday that the new rules would be published in the Federal Register today. Matthew Lee and Ali Swenson report for AP News.

MINNESOTA

The White House yesterday misrepresented the arrest of a prominent civil rights attorney for her role in an anti-ICE protest that disrupted a church service in Minnesota on Sunday. In a social media post, the White House shared a manipulated image of Nekima Levy Armstrong crying, when the original image shows Levy Armstrong with a neutral expression. Levy Armstrong’s attorney said he was present at the arrest and that “she was completely calm and composed and rational.” Melissa Goldin reports for AP News. 

Federal prosecutors sought to charge former CNN journalist Don Lemon in connection with the anti-ICE protest that disrupted the church service, but a magistrate judge declined to approve the charge, two sources said. Lemon and his attorney both said he had attended the protest as a reporter. One source added that Attorney General Pam Bondi is “enraged” at the decision. Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.

Vice President JD Vance yesterday said that the Trump administration had no immediate plans to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow it to deploy troops in Minneapolis and that he was instead seeking to “turn down the temperature.” Vance also said he was optimistic that local officials would start being more cooperative in the days ahead, but offered no details about why. Tim Arango, Ernesto Londono, Maia Coleman, and Talya Minsberg report for the New York Times.

ICE detained at least four children, including a five-year-old, from the Columbia Heights suburb in Minneapolis, according to officials. Vance told reporters that immigration officers were pursuing the five-year-old’s father, who ran away, leaving the officers no choice but to take the abandoned boy. However, school officials, family friends and neighbours all offered to take the boy, only to be denied by ICE officials, according to witnesses. Zena Stenvik, superintendent of the Columbia Heights Public School District, said, “The onslaught of ICE activity in our community is inducing trauma and is taking a toll on our children.” Rich Matthews and Aaron McNicholas report for Reuters.

OTHER U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS

A federal appeals court yesterday considered whether the United States was in fact suffering an “invasion” by the “hybrid criminal state” of Venezuela, as Trump claimed last year when he invoked the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants alleged to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The administration argued that Trump’s proclamation was “conclusive” and the judges would be overstepping their role to question its findings about what constituted an invasion. Mattathias Schwartz reports for the New York Times.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally approved the deportation of five student activists last year, largely based on their participation in pro-Palestinian protests and their writings about the war in Gaza, according to internal government documents unsealed by a federal judge yesterday. They showed that a senior diplomat had repeatedly cautioned that targeting visa holders and permanent residents for deportation over “actions inextricably tied to speech protected under the First Amendment” would be likely to prompt court challenges. In one set of documents, officials acknowledged that almost no grounds existed for deporting the students other than a rarely used 1952 law that says the Secretary of State may deem noncitizens deportable for reasons related to foreign policy. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times; Joanna Slater reports for the Washington Post.

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS

Former special counsel Jack Smith said yesterday during his congressional testimony that he believes the Justice Department will indict him, adding, “I believe they will do everything in their power to do that because they have been ordered to by the President.” April Rubin reports for Axios.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS 

The Trump administration has pushed out two officials from the Commerce Department’s OICTS, focused on countering technological threats from China, sources said. Some U.S. officials and security hawks said the departures raised concerns about the Trump administration’s softer stance towards China. Heather Somerville and Amrith Ramkumar report for the Wall Street Journal.

The Office of Management and Budget has ordered all federal agencies except Defense and Veteran Affairs departments to report every grant, loan, contract, subcontract, and “other monetary award” to a group of 14 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C. The memo, sent Monday with instructions to report back by Jan. 28, says the exercise is meant to “facilitate efforts to reduce the improper and fraudulent use of those funds through administrative means or legislative proposals to Congress.” Jacob Bogage reports for the Washington Post.