Xinhua
26 Jan 2026

U.S., Russia, Ukraine to resume talks in Abu Dhabi: U.S. envoy

U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said Saturday that U.S.-Russia-Ukraine trilateral talks will continue next week in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), TASS news agency reported.

"On Friday and Saturday, the United States coordinated a trilateral meeting alongside Ukraine and Russia, graciously hosted by the United Arab Emirates. Talks were very constructive, and plans were made to continue conversations next week in Abu Dhabi," Witkoff said in a post on the social platform X.

The meeting, held on Friday and Saturday in the UAE capital, is the first trilateral talks since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in February 2022.

Israel agrees to conditional, limited reopening of Rafah crossing

Israel has agreed to a limited reopening of the Rafah crossing for pedestrian passage only, subject to a full Israeli inspection mechanism, the Prime Minister's Office said Sunday evening in a statement.

According to the statement, the move is part of a 20-point plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The reopening of the crossing would be conditioned on the return of all living hostages and on what the statement described as a 100 percent effort by Hamas to locate and return all deceased.

The statement said the Israel Defense Forces are currently conducting a focused operation to fully exhaust the intelligence gathered in efforts to locate and return the body of hostage Ran Gvili. Upon completion of the operation, and in accordance with understandings reached with the United States, Israel will open the Rafah crossing.

2 dead as U.S. hit by historic winter storm

Two people died from hypothermia in the U.S. state of Louisiana as a historic winter storm sweeping across vast parts of the United States this weekend has brought snow and ice as well as frigid temperatures.

New York City officials also suspect the severe weather might be the cause for the deaths of five people this weekend, local media reported. The victims were found on Saturday in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.

The storm, fueled by an arctic air mass and stretching from the Central and Southern Plains to the East Coast, began on Friday and will continue until Monday.

Data from PowerOutage.com shows more than 1 million customers are now without power. Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana are seeing the most outages.

Russia strikes Ukraine energy, military infrastructure

Russia carried out strikes on Ukraine's energy and military infrastructure across multiple regions, the country's defense ministry said Sunday.

In a statement, the ministry said the Russian army targeted an energy facility supporting Ukraine's military-industrial complex, a production workshop, and storage and launch sites for long-range drones. It also struck temporary deployment points for Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries in 159 areas.

The statement also said that Russian air defense systems intercepted two guided bombs, 31 rockets from the U.S.-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, and 68 fixed-wing drones.

Israel launches new wave of airstrikes in Lebanon

The Israeli military said on Sunday night it had begun striking "several areas" in Lebanon, targeting what it described as Hezbollah militant infrastructure.

In a statement, the military said the strikes were in response to what it called Hezbollah's "repeated violations of the ceasefire understandings," without providing details.

The attacks marked the second wave of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday. An earlier wave killed two Hezbollah members, while five other people were wounded in separate Israeli strikes, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported.

Venezuela's acting president says differences with U.S. will be resolved through diplomacy

Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez said Sunday that differences with the United States would be resolved through diplomatic channels.

Speaking at an event with oil workers at the Puerto La Cruz refinery in northeastern Venezuela, Rodriguez said her government would address long-standing disputes with Washington "face to face" through what she described as Bolivarian diplomacy.

"We are not afraid, because what must unite us as a people is guaranteeing peace and stability for this country," Rodriguez said.