US aims for accelerated peace deal in Ukraine

And the Epstein stain spreads around the world

Add Reuters to Your Google Preferred Sources Weekend Briefing Weekend Briefing From Reuters Daily Briefing   By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor Welcome to what might be the longest Weekend Briefing we've ever written. It won't be a slog, I promise. And as today's hors d'oeuvres, I suggest the latest edition of AI&Us which explores artificial intelligence's conjunction with religion, our Culture Current interview with Ai Weiwei on AI's impact on freedom of expression, and City Memo's tour of Cortina d'Ampezzo. And sign up for our Inside Track newsletter with Olympics updates by our global sports editor Ossian Shine. You won't regret it. US aims for accelerated peace deal in Ukraine   REUTERS/Gleb Garanich Exclusive: U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators discussed an ambitious March goal for Russia and Ukraine to agree to a peace deal. That timeline is likely to slip and some observers view it as fanciful, sources said. Our Wider Image team spent three days with one family, their cats and dogs, and seven small pigs, to offer a portrait of how families are coping with extreme cold during Russia's relentless assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. I also recommend this video of life with the Davydenkos. Iran negotiations: Tehran's top diplomat said nuclear talks were off to a good start and set to continue, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said dialogue depends on the U.S. refraining from threats and pressure. The U.S. wanted to expand the talks to ballistic missiles, Iran's support for armed groups in the region and treatment of Iranians. Araqchi said Iran is not open to those talks. Epstein scandal reverberates around the world Spreading stain: The Justice Department's latest cache of files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is implicating politicians, royalty and the rich all over the place. Police are searching two addresses linked to the UK's former U.S. ambassador Peter Mandelson. The former Prince Andrew moved out of his mansion under cover of darkness. And in the U.S.: Bill and Hillary Clinton avoided potential contempt charges by agreeing to testify in a congressional investigation. Longevity expert Dr. Peter Attia resigned in shame from protein-bar company David Protein. Queens University Belfast cut ties with former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell. Brad Karp, longtime chairman of Wall Street law firm Paul Weiss, fell on his sword. U.S. moves to deport 5-year-old boy Liam Conejo Ramos: The Department of Homeland Security denied that it was seeking the Ecuadorian boy's expedited removal. Ramos and his father arrived legally as asylum applicants, but were detained in Minnesota in January. A judge ordered their release on Jan. 31. A federal judge allowed the release of bodycam footage, text messages and other evidence in the case of a Chicago woman who was shot multiple times by border agents last fall. Football thaw: The NFL and federal law-enforcement officials said ICE won't mount any operations around Super Bowl Sunday in the San Francisco Bay Area. A phalanx of law enforcement from every other stripe, on the other hand? Check. FAA drone restrictions? Check. Las Vegas sportsbooks betting on the Patriots upsetting the Seahawks? But of course. AI gives and AI takes away Historic high: The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit the historic 50,000 mark on Friday and the S&P 500 ended sharply higher as Nvidia's and other chipmakers' stocks soared. Their gain comes at the expense of Amazon and Alphabet. Amazon's share price fell after it said it will raise its spending on artificial-intelligence technology. Headache for investors: Big Tech's AI spending plans are creating a conundrum as the market tries to assess the technology's implications for profits while presenting a potential existential threat to software firms and other companies. This is hitting asset managers and private-equity companies that are exposed to loans and leverage tied to the business. Hims' obesity pill rattles drugmaker rivals Compounding: Hims' & Hers' $49 compounded version of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill is threatening its rivals' returns in the United States, and they absolutely do not like it. This comes after Novo warned of a possible 13% drop in profits and sales this year as Trump puts pressure on drugmakers to lower drug prices. PS you're going to see scads of ads for these drugs during the Super Bowl. Saving: Customers are becoming more frugal and consumer-goods companies are noticing. PepsiCo is cutting its prices on some of its biggest brands. Chipotle forecast weak annual sales as did Oreo maker Mondelez. Newell Brands cut prices on its baby-care and Rubbermaid products. KFC's parent Yum Brands topped its same-store sales estimates as diners sought value meals. Trump repeatedly claims he's beaten inflation and that prices are falling. The numbers don't back him up. Greenland shatters temperature record Clearly visible: Greenland experienced its warmest January on record, with temperatures averaging just above freezing, well higher than the historical average of -7.7C or 19.4F during the past three decades. In Kenya, drought is killing cattle and goats and threatening Maasai herders with a hunger crisis. Storm damage: Portugal faces more than $4.7 billion in direct reconstruction costs following Storm Kristin. Storm Leonardo blew across the Iberian peninsula, threatening landslides, wind and rain. Morocco urged residents to evacuate as heavy rain, swollen rivers and water released from dams threatens the northwestern plains. Before I forget… The White House posted a video online that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, initially defending it before taking it down following accusations of racism. Trump refused to apologize. Prosecutors in Milan are investigating an 80-year-old retired Italian truck driver in its probe into alleged sniper tourism during the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s. The son of Norway's crown princess denied that he drugged the alleged victim in one of the rapes he was charged with. His mother Mette-Marit apologized for her association with Jeffrey Epstein. A white separatist group in South Africa laid claim to land that descendants of Dutch settlers acquired from a Zulu king and later lost to Britain. Lufthansa is reappraising its actions during the Nazi era to take greater responsibility for its past.  Amazon "hired" Chris Hemsworth as chief heartthrob of Alexa Devices for a tie-in to its Super Bowl ad scheduled for this weekend. It struck some employees as tone deaf given the company's recent gutting of its own staff and a bloodbath at the Washington Post, which Jeff Bezos owns. Our coverage of the Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo is nearly encyclopedic, and I mean that in a good way. Here is our schedule of events. And if I had to pick one story to highlight, I'd probably go with the big clicker about the talk of ski jumpers injecting their penises with paraffin or hyaluronic acid. Apparently it makes scientific sense. Wanted: Volunteers to hold nuclear waste forever. Asking for a government.   Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website   Weekend Briefing is sent once a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you’ve engaged with its contents. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions   © 2026 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036

US and Iran begin nuclear talks

Plus, all the news from the Winter Olympics.

Add Reuters to Your Google Preferred Sources Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Jennifer O'Mahony Iran and the United States begin negotiations in Oman over Tehran's nuclear program, a top Russian general is shot in Moscow, and Toyota names chief financial officer Kenta Kon as its next chief executive. Plus, the Winter Olympics opening ceremony is held at San Siro stadium, combining elements from the co-hosts Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo to reflect city and mountain life. Today's Top News   Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi in Muscat, Oman. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff were due to meet in Muscat to discuss Tehran's nuclear program, along with Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Washington's push to widen the agenda to Iran's ballistic missiles and support for armed groups in the region has placed the talks under further pressure. Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of Russia's GRU military intelligence, was hospitalized after being shot in Moscow. Several senior Russian officers have been assassinated since the start of the war in Ukraine, with Moscow blaming the attacks on Kyiv.  Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi received Trump's 'total endorsement' ahead of a snap election on Sunday. With polls suggesting a big win for her conservative party, here are some key developments to watch. Takaichi's handbag, pen and even her choice of snacks have sparked an unlikely youth-led craze. The fallout from last week's Epstein files release continues to sweep Europe. A former French culture minister is urged to resign as president of the Arab World Institute, Norway's former prime minister is under police investigation for corruption, and the World Economic Forum is investigating its CEO, all over their alleged ties. The United States called for a new arms control agreement after the treaty that set caps on Russian and US strategic nuclear weapons deployments expired. A suicide bomber killed at least 31 people and wounded nearly 170 more during Friday prayers in a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in Pakistan's capital Islamabad. Bombings are rarer in the heavily guarded capital. Authorities in southern Spain evacuated residential areas amid fears a major river could overflow after Storm Leonardo swept over the Iberian Peninsula. The state weather agency warned that Storm Marta would hit the peninsula on Saturday. Over 7,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in the Andalusia region so far. Business & Markets   Toyota's incoming CEO Kenta Kon attends a press conference in Tokyo, Japan. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon Toyota named Kenta Kon, a former secretary of Chairman Akio Toyoda, as its next chief executive. Kon became chief financial officer in July 2025 and he had taken on an expanded role within Toyota's push into wider mobility solutions. Read more about what we know about Kon. Global markets retreated as a stock rout on Wall Street went global, with volatility gripping precious metals and cryptocurrencies while AI fears weighed on equities. Compounding company Hims & Hers stunned the pharmaceutical industry with the announcement of a  $49-a-month weight-loss pill. Hims announced plans to offer a discounted compounded version of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, which had itself been losing ground to Eli Lilly's weight-loss drugs. Amina Niasse has more on the Reuters World News podcast. Intel and AMD notified Chinese customers of supply shortages for server central processing units. Intel warned of delivery lead times of up to six months, this Reuters exclusive reports. Automaker Stellantis announced 22.2 billion euros ($26.5 billion) of charges as it scales back its electric-vehicle ambitions. The company's Milan-listed shares plunged as much as 25%, the lowest since Stellantis was created by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA in 2021. The European Central Bank will work to open access to euro liquidity to more countries, in a move aimed at bolstering the international role of the single currency.  Australian shareholders applauded mining giant Rio Tinto's decision to end merger talks with rival Glencore. The Week Ahead Japan heads to the polls on Sunday, where Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is looking for a stronger mandate to deliver on her promises of more spending. The NFL's Super Bowl will take place in San Francisco on Sunday. The halftime show will be headlined by Grammy winner Bad Bunny. The January US non-farm payrolls report, now due on Wednesday, is expected to show an increase of 70,000 jobs, according to a Reuters poll. Friday sees the release of the US January consumer price index, one of the most closely watched measures for assessing inflation trends. On Thursday, Bangladesh will go to the polls. It will be the first election in decades where ousted premier Sheikh Hasina won't be on the ballot. Here's all you need to know about what's coming up in financial markets. Trump targets UN and ICC officials with terrorist‑grade sanctions    REUTERS/Illustration/John Emerson; Source photos: REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw and Jia Haocheng Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for Palestine, now sits on the US Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals list alongside individuals described as suspected al Qaeda terrorists, Mexican drug traffickers and North Korean arms dealers. Albanese was caught in a broader executive order issued by US President Donald Trump that sanctioned International Criminal Court judges and prosecutors, and aimed at heading off any future attempts to hold him or his officials accountable for US military action overseas. Our special report found deep divisions within the US government over the scope and timing of the sanctions against Albanese and the ICC, as the Trump administration's hostility towards the court and the UN signals a broader retreat from international human rights diplomacy and institutions. Read our special report And Finally... General view of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics cauldron in Cortina d'Ampezzo.  January 25, 2026. REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo The Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will officially open later today in an opening ceremony expected to draw a huge global audience on television and online. Milan's San Siro soccer stadium will provide the stage for the main part of the ceremony, where US pop diva Mariah Carey and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will perform. For the first time, two Olympic cauldrons for the co-hosts will be lit simultaneously and burn throughout - one at Milan's Arco della Pace (Peace Arch) and the other in Cortina's Piazza Dibona. Reuters will bring you all the latest news from the Games, with a rolling medal tally, and you can sign up for a newsletter from our global editor for insights. Read more   Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website   Reuters Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you’ve engaged with its contents. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions   © 2026 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036