Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed injoint U.S.-Israeli strikes across Iran,which took place despite ongoing nuclear negotiations, including a third round of talks between Washington and Tehran in Geneva,and U.S. President Donald Trump denied claims that his top general had warned against striking Iran.This comes as British and French paratroopers began preparations for a possible peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, the U.K. imposed nearly 300 new sanctions on Russia to mark the fourth anniversary of the Ukraine war, Hungary vetoed new sanctions on Russia in what would have been the EU's 20th round,and 17 men who were allegedly deceived into fighting for Russia were repatriated to South Africa.In other news, Pakistan declared "open war" on Afghanistan following deadly cross-border airstrikes between the two, Colombia's National Liberation Army declared a ceasefire ahead of legislative elections,and Ghana's Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa visited Kyiv to discuss a bilateral defense cooperation agreement.Meanwhile, Trump banned all federal agencies from using Anthropic's technologiesafter the AI company rejected a Pentagon request to use its models without limitations,and the U.S. killed three people in its latest strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.Elsewhere, Japan announced plans to deploy missiles to Yonaguni Island by fiscal year 2030,and Chad closed its eastern border with Sudan following clashes with armed groups.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Ethiopia amid tensions over Tel Aviv's recognition of Somaliland,Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed Israel's parliament, becoming the first Indian leader to speak before the Knesset,and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made a state visit to China, marking his first trip to the country since taking office.Meanwhile, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced parliamentary elections for March 24, Rob Jetten was sworn in as the Netherlands' youngest-ever prime minister,and Leo Brent Bozell III began his tenure as U.S. ambassador to South Africa.In other news, World Economic Forum President and CEO Børge Brende resigned following revelations about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein,former British ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson was arrested on suspicion of leaking Downing Street information to Epstein,and U.K. Members of Parliament passed a motion requiring the release of files on former Prince Andrew's appointment as U.K. trade envoy.This comes as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer was accused of issuing warning letters to potential child sex offenders during his time as Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service, the International Criminal Court opened criminal proceedings against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte,and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was evacuated from his residence following a bomb threat.Elsewhere, Cuban border guards killed four people aboard a Florida-registered speedboat, an international watchdog reported that 7,667 migrants died along migration routes worldwide in 2025, the U.K. enforced a new travel rule requiring visitors from 85 countries to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation,and Britain reaffirmed its commitment to the Chagos Islands Deal.

Trump delivered the annual State of the Union address in what was the longest speech before a joint session of Congress in at least 60 years,GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales faced bipartisan calls to resign following the unveiling of controversial text messages to former staffer Regina Santos-Aviles,and FBI Chief Kash Patel was accused of misusing the agency's aircraft for personal use.This comes as Bill Clinton testified before the House Oversight Committee investigating Epstein,following the deposition of Hillary Clinton, who claimed she couldn't recall ever meeting the convicted sex offender, Bill Gates apologized over his ties to Epstein,and several reports alleged that dozens of FBI witness interview records are missing from the Epstein File's public database.In other news, Trump petitioned the Supreme Court to terminate the Temporary Protected Status of over 6,000 Syrians, Maryland sued the Department of Homeland Security over the conversion of a warehouse into an immigration detention facility,and a whistleblower accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement of cutting its training hours and dropping courses on the use of force and constitutional law.Meanwhile, reports alleged that the FBI subpoenaed Patel and Susie Wiles' phone records during Special Counsel Jack Smith's probe into Trump,and Judge Aileen Cannon blocked the release of Smith's report on Trump, ruling that its publication would violate principles of fairness and justice.In other developments, a grand jury rejected a case against six Democratic lawmakers who participated in a video directing military members to refuse illegal orders,and the White House withheld $259 million from Minnesota over Medicaid fraud concerns.

A U.S. judge barred the government from conducting an "unsupervised, wholesale search" of a Washington Post's reporter's devices seized by the FBI last month, previously declassified Cold War-era CIA files on an interrogation research program resurfaced online,and a guest of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar was arrested for allegedly demonstrating during Trump's State of the Union.Meanwhile, a Hong Kong court upheld the convictions of 12 pro-democracy activists in the city's largest national security trial, Kansas invalidated over 3,000 transgender IDs under a new law requiring them to reflect a holder's biological sex,and Apple introduced new age verification tools to comply with laws in several countries.

A U.S. judge declined to dismiss the prosecutors in the Charlie Kirk murder case, a man was arrested for allegedly assaulting officers in a New York City snowball fight,and OpenAI revealed it had previously banned the Tumbler Ridge shooter's ChatGPT account before the school shooting in Canada that left nine people dead.Meanwhile, Australia's Royal Commission on Antisemitism began its public inquiry following the Bondi Beach attack that killed 15 people, Brazil's Supreme Court convicted five defendants in the killing of Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Marielle Franco,and a Hong Kong court overturned Jimmy Lai's fraud conviction, citing a failure to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Larry Summers resigned from Harvard amid scrutiny of his ties to Epstein, Dr. Peter Attia left CBS News after revelations of his correspondence with the late sex offender,and France appointed Christophe ⁠Leribault as the Louvre Museum's new head following the resignation of Laurence des Cars.Meanwhile, Netflix dropped its bid to acquire Warner Bros. after a stronger counteroffer from Paramount,which offered to purchase the company for $31 per share in cash,and Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy S26 series, with three models available for preorder beginning next month.This comes as FedEx sued for a full refund of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Postal Service can't be sued for intentionally failing to deliver mail,and the Trump Organization signed a deal to build Australia's tallest tower.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Trump met to discuss a $21 billion housing plan, JPMorgan economists predicted that U.K. unemployment would hit 5.5%, surpassing the pandemic peak of 5.3% recorded in December 2020,and South Korea recorded 254,500 births in 2025, marking a 6.8% increase from the year prior.Meanwhile, Mexico's state legislatures approved a measure to reduce the workweek,and Argentina's Senate gave final approval to President Javier Milei's labor reform bill.

Trump's surgeon general nominee testified in a Senate confirmation hearing, Washington moved to wind down its health assistance to Zimbabwe after a $367 million bilateral agreement collapsed,and the U.S. and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a $1.2 billion health deal, marking Washington’s 19th bilateral global health partnership with an African nation.Elsewhere, the U.K. announced £3,000 incentives for family doctors to prescribe weight-loss medications,and an independent probe raised concerns about alleged systemic failures in Britain's maternity and neonatal care.In other news, 72 tigers died from distemper at a tourist park in Thailand.

Greenpeace was ordered to pay an expected $345 million over its role in the Dakota Access Pipeline protests nearly a decade ago, researchers found screen chemicals in dolphin brains, with most of the identified compounds linked to television and computer displays,and the world's largest-known coral colony was found by a mother-daughter duo on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia.This comes as a study found that global grasslands are disappearing four times faster than forests,and Brazil declared a state of calamity following deadly floods in Juiz de Fora.

Amazon added three new personality styles to Alexa+, allowing users to tailor the AI assistant's tone to suit their preferences,and Anthropic launched a new AI coding tool to modernize the decades-old programming language COBOL.Meanwhile, Anthropic accused three Chinese rivals of copying its Claude model through a technique known as "distillation,"and a study found that AI models use nuclear weapons 95% of the time in war simulations.

A U.S. House report alleged that China is operating 11 military-linked space sites across Latin America,and NASA announced revisions to its Artemis III plans, adding an extra mission to the program before it attempts to land on the moon.

Switzerland announced a 50,000 franc payout for victims of the New Year's Eve bar fire in Crans-Montana,and a Bolivian military plane carrying banknotes crashed, killing at least 15 people and injuring over 30.