American officials have met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging Israel to advance the ceasefire in Gaza. Netanyahu met with President Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The U.S. is eager to keep the Trump-brokered deal moving, but Netanyahu faces pressure not to progress until Hamas returns the body of the last hostage. Meanwhile, Egypt's foreign minister is pushing for the Rafah border crossing to open. On Saturday, an Israeli strike killed two Palestinian children in Gaza. The children were searching for firewood. The Israeli military said it targeted militants, not children.

Green Bay Packers offensive tackle Rasheed Walker has been arrested after police say he presented a firearm for inspection without proper credentials at LaGuardia Airport. Port Authority police said Walker was arrested Friday morning after they responded to a request for a firearms check at LaGuardia’s Terminal C. Arthur Aidala is the lawyer representing Walker. Aidala said his client voluntarily disclosed an unloaded, secured firearm upon his arrival at the airport. Aidala said Walker was arrested because his license wasn’t valid in New York. Aidala said that “we are confident the matter will eventually be dismissed.”

There's a debate set in Republican-heavy Texas where two Democratic politicians are competing to be their party's Senate nominee. Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico are facing off Saturday afternoon during the Texas AFL-CIO’s political convention. Crockett is a 44-year-old Dallas civil rights lawyer and former public defender who's in her second term in Congress. Talarico is a state representative and former teacher. The primary is March 3. They're running for the seat held by John Cornyn. The four-term Republican senator is facing two challengers in the GOP primary. Democrats are trying to regain a Senate majority, but Texas hasn't elected a Democrat to statewide office in 30-plus year.

Toyota announced Friday it would recall about 162,000 pickup trucks in the United States after it was discovered that the vehicles’ multimedia displays could compromise driver safety. The recall affects the company’s model year 2024-2025 Tundra and Tundra Hybrid line of trucks. Affected customers are currently being notified, according to a statement from Toyota.

As more than 2,000 federal agents surge in Minneapolis in an immigration crackdown and clash with protesters on the streets, countless residents are also quietly resisting the operation through grassroots networks sheltering and supporting immigrants. Former Trump supporter Feliza Martinez is rallying volunteers to support immigrant children with food, financial support and shelter. Earlier this month, Martinez relocated a family of 10 to a safe house in south Minneapolis after their Ecuadorian mother was detained for illegally entering the country in 2022. Federal agents have pursued her children, and the older siblings fear they will be separated from their 5-month-old U.S. citizen brother.

President Donald Trump’s federal housing finance director, Bill Pulte, quietly granted government-backed lenders the authority to nearly double a $200 billion bond purchase that Trump ordered to try to lower mortgage rates. That’s according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. The move could introduce a new level of risk for the companies. The purchasing rule changes would reverse nearly two decades of bipartisan consensus that limits should be imposed after the government bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008-09. That crisis led to to them being placed into a government conservatorship.

The new U.S. National Defense Strategy released by President Donald Trump’s administration is the first since 2022 and contrasts with its predecessor, issued under former President Joe Biden. Here’s a look at how the two Pentagon strategies address some of the traditional concerns of U.S. security policy: the Western Hemisphere, Russia and European security, China and the Indo-Pacific, North Korea and the Middle East.

The commander of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, a force which was key in putting down recent nationwide protests in a crackdown that left thousands dead, says the force is “more ready than ever, finger on the trigger.” The warning on Saturday comes as U.S. warships head toward the Middle East. Nournews, a news outlet close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, reported on its Telegram channel that the Revolutionary Guard's commander warned the United States and Israel “to avoid any miscalculation.” Tension remains high between Iran and the United States in the wake of a bloody crackdown on the protests.

After agreeing to accept deportees from the United States last year, South Sudan sent a list of requests to Washington that included American support for the prosecution of an opposition leader and sanctions relief for a senior official accused of diverting over a billion dollars in public funds. The requests are contained in a pair of diplomatic communications made public by the State Department last month. In the documents, the U.S. expresses “appreciation” to South Sudan for accepting the deportees and details the names, nationalities and crimes for which each individual was convicted. In July, South Sudan became the first African country to receive migrants deported from the U.S. Rwanda, Eswatini, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea have since received deportees.

Russian attacks on Ukraine killed one person and wounded 18 overnight, as negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States were set to met in Abu Dhabi for a second day of talks aimed at ending Moscow’s nearly four-year invasion. One person died and four were wounded in Kyiv, while 14 were wounded in Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said Saturday. The UAE-hosted talks mark the first known instance of Trump administration officials meeting with both countries. The White House called the first day productive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a peace deal was “nearly ready,” though territorial disputes remain unresolved.

The scale of nationwide protests in Iran and the bloody crackdown that has followed is slowly coming into focus, even though authorities have cut off the country from the internet. Activists warn it shows Iran is engaging in the same tactics it has used for decades, just at an unprecedented scale. That includes firing down from rooftops on demonstrators, shooting birdshot into crowds and sending motorcycle-riding volunteer members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in to beat and detain those who can’t escape. Meanwhile, a crackdown targeting protesters continues, with state media reporting dozens to hundreds of people detained daily.

The Sundance Film Festival is buzzing with excitement as Channing Tatum, Olivia Wilde, and Charli xcx movies premiere back-to-back at the Eccles Theater in Park City, Utah. Friday afternoon brought the premiere of “Josephine,” a drama by Beth De Araújo about an 8-year-old girl who witnesses a crime. Tatum and Gemma Chan play her parents. Next was Gregg Araki's “I Want Your Sex,” starring Cooper Hoffman and Olivia Wilde. It's a colorful, sexy story about a young man's life turned upside down by his provocative boss. Charli xcx also stars and has a double feature with her mockumentary “The Moment.”

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo thinks he will be out for an extended period after hurting his right calf again after a similar injury already caused him to miss eight games earlier this season. Antetokounmpo had his right calf wrapped in the first half of a 102-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Friday night. Antetokounmpo didn’t appear comfortable the rest of the night and left for good with 34 seconds remaining. The two-time MVP said he expected to undergo an MRI on Saturday. Denver’s Aaron Gordon scored 13 points in the first half before sitting out the second half with a right hamstring strain.

Kyiv is facing prolonged winter power outages as Russian missile and drone attacks continue to damage Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. With temperatures well below freezing, electricity cuts lasting up to 17 hours a day have left many residential buildings without heating, running water or functioning elevators. Rolling blackouts are used to prevent a total grid collapse while prioritizing hospitals and critical services. Much of the capital’s housing consists of Soviet-era high rises with poor insulation, creating challenges for elderly residents and people with disabilities. Authorities are investing in decentralized energy solutions as repairs continue under intensified strikes.

The Pentagon has released a National Defense Strategy that chastises U.S. allies to take control of their own security and reasserts the Trump administration’s focus on dominance in the Western Hemisphere over a longtime goal of countering China. The document released late Friday is highly political for a military blueprint, criticizing partners from Europe to Asia for relying on previous U.S. administrations to subsidize their defense. It calls for “a sharp shift — in approach, focus, and tone.” That translates to a blunt assessment that allies must take on more of the burden countering nations from Russia to North Korea. It caps off a week of animosity between President Donald Trump’s administration and traditional allies like Europe.