LAST UPDATE | 23 Jan

GOOD MORNING. 

Here’s all the news you need to start the day. 

Iran

1. Donald Trump said a US “armada” is heading toward the Persian Gulf and that Washington was watching Iran closely, even after downplaying the prospect of imminent military action and saying Tehran appeared interested in talks.

Board of Peace

2. Canada PM Mark Carney hit back yesterday at Donald Trump’s inflammatory claim at the World Economic Forum that “Canada lives because of the United States.” Trump appeared to shoot back later by withdrawing an invitation for Canada to join the “Board of Peace”.

Ukraine talks

3. Ukrainian, US and Russian officials will hold security talks in the United Arab Emirates today, the Kremlin said, following a meeting of top US negotiators with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on a US-drafted plan to end the Ukraine war.

EU response to Trump

4. Although the immediate crisis has subsided, EU leaders still met in Brussels last night to decide a coordinated response to Trump’s threats — but not everyone was happy about it.

TikTok

5. TikTok announced it has established a majority American-owned joint venture to operate its US business, allowing the company to avoid a ban over its Chinese ownership.

Venezuela 

6. Venezuelan politicians have given their initial backing to plans to throw open the oil sector to private investors, paving the way for the return of US energy giants – a key demand of President Donald Trump.

Deepfakes

7. Facebook is continuing to advertise third-party apps that enable users to create explicit, deepfake images of women and children without their consent. The Journal has seen ads for at least 16 so-called nudification mobile apps on the platform this week, a year after revealing that the platform hosted almost 10,000 ads for similar services online.

New Zealand

8. Rescuers have dug into deep mud searching for at least six missing people after a landslide from an extinct volcano crashed into a popular campsite in northern New Zealand.

Spain rail disaster

9. Spanish investigators yesterday found two more bodies in the wreckage of a high-speed train involved in a devastating collision last weekend, later confirming the final death toll as 45.