Bipartisan Senate Immigration Talks Collapse Before Starting, Raising Risk of DHS Shutdown

Latino Support for Republicans Erodes in Pennsylvania Bellwether as Deportation Fears Spread

New U.S. Rules Force Automakers to Purge Chinese Software From Connected Vehicles

Software Giants Reel as Anthropic Unleashes AI Tools That Threaten to Upend Corporate Tech

U.S. and Iran Hold First Talks Since Last Year's War as Second Wave of Popular Fury Builds Inside Iran

Winter Games Kick Off in Italy With Opening Ceremony Today

BREAKING...Russian intelligence general Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev shot multiple times by unknown assailant at Moscow apartment block...reported in critical condition...Kremlin says Putin being briefed on investigation...

Bipartisan Senate Immigration Talks Collapse Before Starting, Raising Risk of DHS Shutdown

Bipartisan Senate negotiations aimed at curbing President Trump's immigration crackdown sputtered Thursday before substantive talks had even begun, raising the prospect of a Department of Homeland Security shutdown past its Feb. 13 midnight funding deadline. Senators departed Washington for the weekend with no serious discussions underway, as Democrats demanded sweeping changes to federal immigration enforcement operations and Republicans refused to consider measures restricting the administration's deportation campaign. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, the Republican chairwoman of the homeland security spending panel, said her overtures to meet with Democrats had gone unacknowledged, and she dismissed Democratic proposals for guardrails on immigration agents as "ridiculous."

NYT

Latino Support for Republicans Erodes in Pennsylvania Bellwether as Deportation Fears Spread

In Allentown, Pa., a majority-Hispanic city at the center of a swing congressional district won by a single percentage point in 2024, small-business owners who voted for President Trump are reconsidering their allegiance as his immigration enforcement campaign rattles their communities. Mariela Evangelista, a U.S. citizen who helped run her family's popular food market since 1999 and voted for Trump hoping he would improve the economy, said she did not anticipate the scenes of masked agents using force against immigrants and bystanders—and her business has dropped 30 percent as customers fear going outside or have been deported. Polls now show 59 percent of Hispanic voters nationally disapprove of Trump and 55 percent say they are likely to support a Democrat for Congress, signaling a potential shift that could reshape the midterm elections and control of the House and Senate.

WSJ

New U.S. Rules Force Automakers to Purge Chinese Software From Connected Vehicles

Automakers are racing to identify and remove Chinese technology embedded in internet-connected vehicle systems ahead of new U.S. rules that will ban Chinese software in components linking cars to the cloud, part of a broader effort to prevent foreign adversaries from exploiting cameras, microphones and GPS tracking in American automobiles. The regulations, described by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation as among the most consequential and complex auto rules in decades, require manufacturers to conduct deep examinations of their supply chains on aggressive compliance timelines—making the initiative a critical test of America's ability to decouple from Chinese technology networks.

WSJ

Software Giants Reel as Anthropic Unleashes AI Tools That Threaten to Upend Corporate Tech

Anthropic, once considered an also-ran in the artificial intelligence race, upended global markets this week after a series of product launches demonstrated the disruptive power of its Claude AI platform. Industry-specific add-ons capable of performing legal, financial and analytical services triggered a dayslong stock selloff that hammered shares of software-as-a-service companies including Salesforce, Intuit, Workday and Adobe—firms that form the digital backbone of corporate America. On Thursday, Anthropic released its most advanced model yet, capable of synthesizing data, running teams of coding assistants and performing functions akin to product management, prompting one AI researcher to call the company's breakthroughs "the most important thing that's happened in AI since ChatGPT's launch."

WSJ

U.S. and Iran Hold First Talks Since Last Year's War as Second Wave of Popular Fury Builds Inside Iran

Iranian and American officials convened in Oman on Friday for their first negotiations since the two countries were at war last June, seeking to avert another military confrontation as President Trump's threats to strike Iran and a U.S. naval buildup in the Persian Gulf have raised tensions across the Middle East. The American delegation, led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, along with the head of U.S. military forces in the region, met with Omani mediators while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned his country was prepared to defend its sovereignty against any excessive demands. Inside Iran, meanwhile, the regime faces a second wave of popular anger following last month's mass killings of anti-government protesters that left thousands dead, according to rights groups. The Wall Street Journal reported that mourning families are shouting anti-regime slogans at funerals, students are refusing to sing patriotic songs, and medical workers are publicly condemning the arrests of colleagues who treated injured demonstrators—signs of a deepening crisis for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's government even as it attempts to negotiate with Washington.

NYT | WSJ

Winter Games Kick Off in Italy With Opening Ceremony Friday

The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics officially opened Friday with a ceremony beginning at 2 p.m. ET, as early competition was already underway in curling, women's ice hockey and figure skating. Team USA defeated the Czech Republic in women's hockey, while athletes in alpine skiing and luge completed final training runs ahead of their events at the Games, which mark the return of the Winter Olympics to Italy for the first time since the 2006 Turin Games.

NYT

February 6 1971: During the Apollo 14 moon landing, astronaut Alan Shepard one-handedly whacks two balls with a moon-rock-collection-tool-turned-golf-club.

He shanked the first shot into a nearby crater.

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Sources

1. NYT — Senate Immigration / DHS Shutdown
2. WSJ — Latino Voters in Pennsylvania
3. WSJ — Chinese Software in Vehicles
4. WSJ — Anthropic / AI Market Impact
5. NYT — U.S.-Iran Talks in Oman
6. WSJ — Second Wave of Anger in Iran
7. NYT — Winter Olympics Opening