Feb. 3, 2026 - Daily News Digest
On this day in 1865, in a personal meeting with Confederate representatives, US President Abraham Lincoln offered liberal pardons in exchange for the South’s quitting the Civil War, with a reunion as a precondition of peace—and offer that was rejected.
QotD: “Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than diplomacy,” Ukrainian President Zelensky said as Russia attacks with drones and missiles before planned peace talks.
UKR/RUS/MIL – Russia bombards Ukraine with drones and missiles a day before planned peace talks.
Russia carried out a major attack on Ukraine overnight in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday was a breach of its commitment to hold off on attacks on energy infrastructure, a day before representatives of the two countries were due to attend U.S.-brokered talks on ending the 4-year-old all-out war.
The bombardment included hundreds of drones and a record 32 ballistic missiles, wounding at least 10 people. It specifically took aim at the power grid, Zelenskyy said, as part of what Ukraine says is Moscow’s ongoing campaign to deny civilians light, heating and running water during the coldest winter in years.
“Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said. Temperatures in Kyiv fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) during the night and stood at minus 16 C (minus 3 F) on Tuesday.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv in a show of support. Zelenskyy met him and urged allies to send more air defense supplies and bring “maximum pressure” to bear on Russia to end its full-scale invasion.
GERMANY/RUS/SANCTIONS – Germany arrests 5 over violation of Russia sanctions.
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-arrests-5-over-violation-of-russia-sanctions/a-75775387
German authorities carried out raids across the country in connection with exports to Russia in violation of EU sanctions, they said on Monday.
Five men were apprehended in and around the northern city of Lübeck, near Hamburg. Apartments in other German cities, including Frankfurt and Nuremberg, were also searched.
According to the authorities, the value of the illegally exported goods was at least €30 million ($35.6 million).
They are suspected of having run a network of shell firms to supply the Russian defense industry since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, bypassing EU sanctions.
It is believed that Russian state agencies are behind the network, with 24 defense companies receiving around 16,000 deliveries from the network.
Prosecutors did not detail what goods were allegedly illegally exported.
US/INDIA/TRADE/REALTIONS – Trump’s tariff cut sparks relief in India despite sant details.
U.S. President Donald Trump's move to slash tariffs on Indian imports sparked a relief rally across the Asian country's markets on Tuesday, lifting sentiment among exporters and policymakers even as details of the agreement remained scant.
Trump announced a trade deal with India on Monday to cut tariffs to 18% from 50% in exchange for New Delhi halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers.
Trump's social media post was not followed by details of the deal from the White House or the Indian government.
An Indian government official said India had agreed to buy petroleum, defence goods and aircraft from the U.S., while partly opening up its guarded agriculture sector under the agreement.
New Delhi also lowered tariffs on imported cars to address Washington's immediate demands, according to the official. Another Indian official said New Delhi agreed to give zero tariffs to industrial goods coming into the country from U.S.
After a "final understanding" of the deal was signed, the two nations would share details, India's Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said late on Tuesday, adding that a joint statement would be issued soon.
Trump said, without giving a time frame, that India would buy more U.S. goods, with purchases rising to over $500 billion, including energy, coal, technology and agricultural products.
Indian trade officials said India would achieve that figure over 5 years.
GAZA/EGYPT/ISRAEL/HUMANITARIAN – Palestinians line up to cross Rafah after rocky first day of reopening Gaza-Egypt border crossing.
Palestinians gathered Tuesday on both sides of Gaza’s border with Egypt, hoping to get through the Rafah crossing after its reopening the previous day was marred by delays and uncertainty over who would be allowed to cross.
On the Egyptian side were Palestinians who had fled to Egypt earlier in the Israel-Hamas war and undergone medical treatment there, according to Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News television. On the Gaza side, Palestinians in need of treatment unavailable in Gaza were brought in buses by the Palestinian Red Crescent from the agency’s headquarters in the territory, hoping for word that they would be allowed to cross the other way.
Though hailed as a step forward for the fragile ceasefire struck in October, on the first day Rafah reopened, it took more than 10 hours for only about a dozen returnees and a small group of medical evacuees to cross in each direction.
The numbers fell short of the 50 people that officials had said would be allowed each way and barely began to address the need: tens of thousands of Palestinians are hoping to be evacuated for treatment or to return home.
The import of humanitarian aid or goods through Rafah remains prohibited.
SYRIA/MIL/SEC – Syrian army enters Kurdish-held al-Hassakeh after deal.
https://www.dw.com/en/syrian-army-enters-kurdish-held-al-hassakeh-after-deal/a-75775049
Following a ceasefire deal between the Syrian central government and Kurdish-led forces, the Syrian army entered the city of al-Hassakeh on Monday.
Al-Hassakeh is one of the major Syrian cities that has been held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), or that group's predecessors, since early in the country's decade-long civil war.
The arrival of military forces under command of the government in Damascus follows the signing of an agreement between the two sides that brought an end to weeks of fighting.
Monday's development is part of an agreed plan to transition security responsibilities from Kurdish Asayish forces over to the Interior Ministry.
A deal was struck between the two sides after government forces managed to push back the SDF in large parts of the territory they have held for years after fighting of the so-called "Islamic State" (IS).
The agreement brought an end to fighting across large parts of Syria's north, including in its largest city, Aleppo.
The deal sets out the "gradual integration" of Kurdish forces into administrative institutions and includes the establishment of brigades made up of SDF fighters.
Kurdish forces will also hand over control of Qamishli airport, oil fields and border crossings to the government within 10 days, according to Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mustafa.
MOROCCO/ENERGY – Morocco’s energy ministry puts gas project on hold.
Morocco's energy ministry said on Monday it has paused tenders launched last month for an LNG terminal and related gas pipeline projects, without giving details on the reasons for the suspension.
The tender sought bids to build an LNG terminal in the Nador West Med port on the Mediterranean coast and a pipeline linking it to an existing pipeline that allows Morocco to import LNG through Spanish terminals and supply two power plants.
It also covered a section that would connect the existing pipeline to industrial zones on the Atlantic coast in Mohammedia and Kenitra.
"Due to new parameters and assumptions related to this project... the ministry of energy transition and sustainable development is postponing the receipt of applications and the opening of bids received as of today," the ministry said in a statement.
Morocco is looking to expand its use of natural gas to diversify away from coal as it also accelerates its renewable energy plan, which aims for renewables to account for 52% of installed capacity by 2030, up from 45% now.
CHINA/TECH/GEOPOLITICS OF CAR DOORS HANDLES – China to ban ‘hidden’ car door handles to address safety fears.
China will ban 'hidden' car door handles from 2027, becoming the first country to phase out a design pioneered by Tesla and adopted by Chinese competitors including Xiaomi.
The hidden handle design, which functions through a key fob or mobile phone or by manually pressing it, has drawn scrutiny in both the United States and China over potential safety risks.
Last year, the U.S. auto safety agency opened a defect probe into Tesla Model 3 sedan's emergency door release controls. Tesla, which did not comment on the investigation at the time, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
FRANCE/TECH/CYBER – Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime unit raids X’s French office over ‘algorithm manipulation’.
The Paris prosecutor's office said a search was under way at the French offices of Elon Musk's social media network X on Tuesday as part of an investigation opened in January 2025.
The prosecutor's cybercrime unit was conducting the searches, it added in a post on X, with Europol also involved and the support of the French police's own cybercrime unit.
The Paris prosecutor's office said it launched the investigation after being contacted by a lawmaker alleging that biased algorithms in X were likely to have distorted the operation of an automated data processing system.
The probe has since expanded to investigate alleged “complicity” in spreading pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organised group, and other offences, the office said in a statement Tuesday.
Paris prosecutors have summoned Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino for questioning in April as part of the probe.
VIETNAM/US/MIL – An internal document shows the Vietnamese military preparing for possible American war.
https://apnews.com/article/vietnam-us-war-planning-china-115c4f9bc69d91e7afe6b4dba7dc460f
A year after Vietnam elevated its relations with Washington to the highest diplomatic level, an internal document shows its military was taking steps to prepare for a possible American “war of aggression” and considered the United States a “belligerent” power, according to a report released Tuesday.
More than just exposing Hanoi’s duality in approach toward the U.S., the document confirms a deep-seated fear of external forces fomenting an uprising against the Communist leadership in a so-called “color revolution,” like the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, or the 1986 Yellow Revolution in the Philippines.
While noting that “currently there is little risk of a war against Vietnam,” the Vietnamese planners write that “due to the U.S.'s belligerent nature we need to be vigilant to prevent the U.S. and its allies from ‘creating a pretext’ to launch an invasion of our country.”
The Vietnamese military analysts outline what they see as a progression over three American administrations — from Barack Obama, through Donald Trump’s first term, and into Joe Biden’s presidency — with Washington increasingly pursuing military and other relationships with Asian nations to “form a front against China.”
FINALAND/US/ARCTIC/ICEBREAKERS – Finland building icebreakers for US amid Arctic tensions.
Sixty percent of the world's icebreakers are Finnish-made and 80 percent are designed by Finnish companies, according to Arctia, the state-owned firm which manages the country's icebreaker fleet.
Jukka Viitanen, Sustainability and Communications Director of Arctia, told AFP that Finland's expertise was born from necessity.
It is the only country in the world where all ports can freeze in winter, Viitanen said.
"We need to export and import stuff to be able to maintain people living in this country. That is why we need icebreaking," he said.
In October, Trump and Helsinki announced that the United States coast guard will procure 11 icebreakers.
The US order -- estimated at $6.1 billion according to media reports -- is a welcome boost for Finland, where unemployment is at a record high and the economy is in the doldrums.
In December, Finland's Rauma shipyard confirmed a contract from the US coast guard to build two icebreakers, to be completed in 2028.
The Helsinki shipyard, owned by Canadian company Davie, is also expecting an order.
Managing director Kim Salmi told AFP they expected to sign a contract with the US coast guard for two icebreakers shortly.
"I'm preparing to start building those icebreakers as soon as possible," Salmi said.
"When the ink drops on the paper, the first US icebreaker will be delivered 26 months from that," he said with a smile.
US/COLOMBIA/RELATIONS – Trump and Petro will try to relaunch bilateral ties at a high-voltage meeting.
Zohran Mamdani or Volodymyr Zelenskiy? When U.S. President Donald Trump receives his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, in the Oval Office on Tuesday, will he heap reproaches upon him, as he did with the Ukrainian leader last year? Or will he shower him with praise, as he did with the New York mayor in December after months of mutual insults and criticism?
On the eve of the meeting, Trump appeared optimistic. Petro, he asserted during an event in the Oval Office, has been very friendly in the last month or two. “Somehow after the Venezuelan raid, he became very nice,” he told reporters, citing the U.S. military operation to capture Nicolás Maduro on January 3.
Tuesday’s meeting at the White House is one of the most delicate for the U.S. president in the past year. It is equally so for the Colombian president, whose legacy hangs in the balance. The immediate future of bilateral relations between Washington and one of its traditional allies in Latin America could depend on what the two leaders discuss at this meeting, despite their heated exchanges over the past few months. But given the volatility of both leaders and their willingness to speak their minds, the outcome is unpredictable.
AMERICAS/COSTA RICA/POL – Populist conservative Laura Fernández wins Costa Rica presidential election.
https://www.npr.org/2026/02/02/g-s1-108418/costa-rica-election-laura-fernandez-wins
Conservative populist Laura Fernández won Costa Rica's presidency, promising to continue the aggressive reorienting of the Central American nation's politics started by her political sponsor, outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves.
Preliminary and partial results showed the Costa Rican president's handpicked successor captured the win with a resounding first-round victory, eliminating the need for a runoff in a crowded field after Sunday's election.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal reported that with votes from 96.8% of polling places tallied, Fernández of the Sovereign People's Party had 48.3% of the vote. Her closest challenger was economist Álvaro Ramos of the National Liberation Party with 33.4%.
Ramos conceded Sunday night and pledged to lead a "constructive opposition," but one that would not let those in power get away with anything. Fernández will not be formally declared the winner until electoral officials complete a manual count scheduled to begin Tuesday.
"In democracy dissent is allowed, criticizing is allowed," he said.