Morning Briefing: Jan. 27, 2026

ISTANBUL

Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Tuesday, including US President Donald Trump saying Iran wants to reach a deal with Washington, Sudan’s army entering a city in South Kordofan after a two-year siege by the paramilitary RSF, and the UN reporting that more than 37,000 Palestinians were displaced last year in the occupied West Bank.

TOP STORIES

• Trump says Iran wants deal as US deploys aircraft carrier to Middle East

US President Donald Trump said Iran wants to reach a deal with Washington amid the deployment of additional American military assets to the region, including an aircraft carrier strike group.

In an interview with the Axios news site, Trump said the situation with Iran is “in flux,” citing the arrival of what he described as a “big armada” near Iran, referring to the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group to the region.

“They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk,” he added.

The US deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to the Middle East on Monday as Washington bolsters its regional posture.

• Sudan’s army enters city in South Kordofan after 2-year siege by paramilitary RSF

Sudanese army forces ended a two-year siege imposed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Dilling, the second-largest city in South Kordofan state, the military said.

A military statement said army forces opened the Dilling road “after a successful military operation that resulted in routing and destroying the RSF militia.”

It said army forces inflicted heavy losses in lives and equipment on the RSF militia.

The army vowed “to continue cleansing the country of the RSF militia until security and stability are restored across the country.”

• Over 37,000 Palestinians displaced last year in occupied West Bank in all-time high

More than 37,000 Palestinians were displaced in the occupied West Bank in 2025, a record high amid unprecedented levels of illegal Israeli settler violence, the UN warned, citing new figures from its humanitarian office.

The Palestinian territory "saw record levels of displacement and settler violence," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference, pointing to a new publication by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Noting that "last year, more than 37,000 Palestinians were displaced over the course of 2025, Dujarric said this was mostly due to "operations carried out in refugee camps"

"Across the northern governance of the West Bank, OCHA also reports that over 1,800 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians" caused casualties, damage or both in 2025, he added.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• The UN expressed concern over reports that the United States is deploying a carrier strike group to the Middle East and expanding its military presence in the region.
• The Israeli army said it had located and recovered the body of its last captive in the Gaza Strip.
• Civilians in Syria’s Ayn al-Arab (Kobani) district of Aleppo province, which is under the occupation of the terrorist organization YPG/SDF, have begun crossing a humanitarian corridor opened by the Syrian Army, state media reported.
• The EU has launched an investigation into Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok and X's recommender systems under the Digital Services Act (DSA) over sexualized imagery, according to a statement.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the next round of US-mediated Russia-Ukraine peace talks is planned for next week, again in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
• A person was killed and several others were injured in shelling by the terror group YPG/SDF in northeastern Hasakah province, Syrian media said.
• Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy will propose to the EU the inclusion of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps on the bloc's list of terrorist organizations.
• China urged its citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan as the Chinese New Year holiday approaches, citing rising criminal cases targeting its nationals and earthquake risks.
• A lightning strike injured at least 89 people during a rally in support of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia, authorities said.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed concern over the fatal shooting of an American citizen during an operation by officers of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed her willingness to hold direct talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid ongoing bilateral tensions over Taiwan.
• The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it is deeply concerned by reports of multiple deadly shipwrecks in the Central Mediterranean in recent days, with preliminary information suggesting that hundreds of people may be missing or feared dead.
• Three Palestinians were killed and two others injured, including a child, in fresh Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip in the latest violation of a ceasefire agreement in the enclave, medics said.
• US President Donald Trump said he is dispatching border czar Tom Homan to the state of Minnesota as tensions escalate following two fatal shootings by immigration enforcement agents.
• The UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers in a statement urged the US to immediately withdraw sanctions imposed on judges and prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and to repeal Executive Order 14203 issued in February 2025.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Hungary to take EU to top court over Russian gas import ban

Hungary will launch legal proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) against the EU’s new rules phasing out Russian gas imports, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

Szijjarto said Budapest will seek the annulment of the regulation as soon as it is officially published, arguing that the decision violates EU treaties by infringing on member states’ national competence over energy policy.

• Türkiye’s flag carrier Turkish Airlines, Air Montenegro ink codesharing deal

Turkish Airlines and the Montenegrin national airline, Air Montenegro, signed a deal to codeshare in a bid to strengthen air transportation between the two countries, according to a statement from Türkiye’s flag carrier.

Turkish Airlines will add its flight code to Air Montenegro flights on the Istanbul–Tivat and Istanbul–Podgorica routes, offering passengers broader and more flexible travel options via the global air hub that is the Turkish megalopolis.