Tensions flare in Lebanon and Gaza

Fragile coastal fires in Lebanon and Gaza they were put to the test yesterday.

In southern Lebanon, Israeli forces have killed or injured scores of people, Lebanese officials said, and in Gaza Israel has prevented thousands of entrenched Palestinians from returning to their homes, citing the Agreed Sequence of Hostage Releases.

By the end of the day, Israel and Hamas said understandings had been reached through mediation to resolve their dispute, and the White House released a statement indicating that an initial 60-day ceasefire agreement in Lebanon would be extended until February. 18.

Negotiators had hoped to make the ceasefire in Lebanon permanent by now, providing a measure of calm in the turbulent region. Thousands of Lebanese women displaced by the war have poured onto the roads leading south as they seek to return home.

Latest: Displaced Gazans in the south of the enclave He can start walking back This morning at their homes in the north starting at 7 a.m. local time, followed by vehicles on a different route two hours later, an Israeli military spokesman said.

Diplomacy: President Trump has pushed to “cleanse” the Gaza Stripincluding asking Egypt and Jordan to take in hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. His proposal drew outright rejections from those countries, two of America’s most important allies in the Middle East.

Related: The abrupt halt to US foreign aid will not apply to emergency food aid and Arms support to Israel and Egypt.

The Colombia-US feud is coming to an end

USA and Colombia narrowly avoided a trade war yesterdaywith President Gustavo Petro of Colombia and President Trump sparring over the deportation of Colombian migrants from the US

Late last night, Petro relented and agreed to receive all sports from the US, including those from military planes. Trump threatened to impose steep tariffs and a raft of other penalties in response to Peter’s announcement that he had turned away military planes carrying deportations to Colombia.

In a statement yesterday, the White House said Petro had agreed to all his terms. It said the tariffs and sanctions would be “in reserve” and that other penalties would remain in place until the first planned impact of the deportees arrived in Colombia. Colombia’s foreign ministry also released a statement saying it would accept the deportation flights and “guarantee dignified conditions” for those Colombians on board.

In other Trump administration news:

Lukashenko wins re-election – again

In an election widely dismissed as rigged, Europe’s longest-serving leader, President Aleksandra Lukashenko of Belarus, cruised to his seventh election victory yesterday in a row.

A survey of voters leaving polling stations released by state media last night showed the president received 87.6 percent of the vote, more than the 81 percent he claimed to have won in 2020. Exit polls are controlled by the state, as are all aspects of Elections in Belarus, and generally reflect the final outcome.

More top news

Times magazine writer Caity Weaver loves sugar. Like, she really loves him. Her home is stocked with dukars, gusher purses, and strawberry fruit roll packs, auto-delivered from Amazon.

Determined to kick the habit and learn about sugar addiction, Weaver traveled to a nutritional therapy facility in Austria to try to change his ways. That, he says, is a trip to hell.

Lives Live: Carol Downer, a leader in the feminist women’s health movement who attracted national fame for her role in the case known as the Great Yogurt Conspiracy, died at 91.

Art fraud, on a grand scale

Two fraud rings in a remote Canadian town have produced thousands of paintings that appear to be works by Norval Morrisseau, Canada’s most celebrated Indigenous artist.

By the time it all came out – decades later – the works had collectively fetched millions of dollars across Canada, landing him on the walls of the country’s best galleries and universities. Retired school teachers, billionaire collectors and even a rock star have bought them.

“None of us knew anything about art,” said one of the hard-nosed homicide detectives who helped crack the case. They conducted their investigation by reconstructing Morrisseau’s life so they could understand how and what he painted and how he signed his works.

Read about the saga here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. It’s great to be back. – Natasha

Reach Natasha and the team at [email protected].