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U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff announced on Feb. 5 that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to exchange 314 prisoners, marking the first such swap in five months and the most tangible outcome yet from U.S.-brokered talks held in Abu Dhabi. The exchange followed multiple days of trilateral negotiations involving delegations from Washington, Kyiv, and Moscow.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran has entered negotiations with the United States because it fears potential military action, as both sides prepare for high-stakes talks expected to take place in Oman. Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Trump said Tehran “doesn’t want us to hit them,” adding that a U.S. naval fleet is in the region as pressure increases.

Ukraine has signaled readiness to reach an acceptable agreement with Russia during renewed talks in Abu Dhabi, but Russian missile and drone attacks have cast doubt on Moscow’s intentions, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and other officials said.

A provincial leader in eastern Indonesia on Wednesday acknowledged deep government failures after a 10-year-old boy apparently took his own life when his family could not afford a pen and a notebook he needed for school.

The last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between Washington and Moscow expired Thursday, ending more than a decade of legally binding limits and verification measures that offered rare transparency into the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals. The lapse of New START marks the first time in over half a century that the United States and Russia are operating without any active treaty governing their strategic nuclear forces.

The administration will announce its pick for a new Federal Reserve chair next week. Coal-powered energy saved lives during Winter Storm Fern. An impending Russia-Ukraine peace deal is coming. A million people have signed their babies up for new $1,000 accounts. President Donald Trump held a shorter-than-usual cabinet meeting Thursday, the first of the new year, and these are some of the highlights that were shared.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump said Wednesday that “America is back” after the S&P 500 Index, which tracks the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the United States, surpassed the 7,000-point mark for the first time in its history.

Amid congressional outcry over the Trump administration’s military actions in Venezuela, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the moves Wednesday and outlined future plans to U.S. lawmakers.

Several blue states appear set to lose electoral college votes while red states will make sweeping gains, new data from the U.S. Census Bureau suggests.

A driver rammed a vehicle into a side entrance of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s world headquarters in New York City on Wednesday, triggering widespread alarm across the Jewish community and prompting heightened security at houses of worship citywide.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been invited to join a Board of Peace for Gaza proposed by U.S. President Donald J. Trump, to oversee post-war reconstruction in the Palestinian enclave, Hungary’s foreign minister said.

Leaders from Israel, Russia and several other countries have been invited to join President Donald Trump’s newly announced “Board of Peace” overseeing Gaza — with permanent membership reportedly carrying a $1 billion price tag.

Israel’s government has issued an unusually blunt public objection to the Trump administration’s announcement of a U.S.-led executive body intended to oversee the next phase of Gaza’s postwar transition, exposing rare friction between Jerusalem and Washington as the ceasefire moves into its most contentious stage.

Iran’s exiled crown prince pledged Thursday that a “free Iran” would immediately recognize Israel if protesters manage to topple the Islamic Republic’s regime.

A 4.2 magnitude earthquake rocked southern Israel early Thursday, including the Dead Sea and parts of the Negev area, and residents were urged to rush to safety, experts and officials said.

Dutch police detained controversial Christian preacher Tom de Wal late Friday after he proceeded with a banned prayer-healing service in the southern Dutch city of Tilburg, authorities said.

Chinese authorities have detained Protestant church leaders and demolished church property as part of a “widening crackdown on underground churches” that refuse to align with Communist Party ideology, Christian sources say.

There was mounting concern Thursday about the plight of Christians still staying in war-torn Syria after fighting escalated in the northern city of Aleppo, killing several people and prompting tens of thousands to flee their homes.

New Year celebrations for Pakistan’s Christian minority have been overshadowed by the killing of a Christian father of three, the vandalism of a church, and renewed fears that strict Islamic blasphemy laws could fuel further violence against religious minorities.

At least 11 Christians were killed and 18 others seriously wounded when a drone operated by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) struck civilians traveling to Christmas celebrations in South Kordofan state on Dec. 25, according to local sources.