Good morning.
The US vice-president, JD Vance, is to meet the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and other European leaders in Munich, after widespread criticism of Donald Trump’s statements on Ukraine.
Following a phone call with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Trump said he believed it was “unlikely” Ukraine would be able to regain much of its territory and he was “OK” with it not joining Nato. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Friday, Vance tried to stymie condemnation of Trump for what appeared to be premature and unilateral concessions, saying the US would be willing to impose sanctions on Russia if Moscow did not accept a satisfactory deal and that the option of sending US troops remained on the table.
European leaders will put pressure on Vance to involve them in talks over Ukraine’s fate when they meet, stressing that their security is bound to Kyiv’s. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has been among those demanding the US be more cautious, saying: “A peace that is a capitulation is bad news for everyone.”
What’s the reaction in Ukraine? Anger and betrayal were common emotions among those the Guardian spoke to in Kyiv. Zelenskyy called the Putin-Trump call “unpleasant” – but clearly cognizant of being unable to burn bridges, said the subsequent call he had with Trump was “a very good conversation”.
Hamas expected to name Israeli hostages it will free this weekend
Hamas is expected on Friday to name three hostages it will release this weekend under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, according to local media, while the Israeli government has signalled it will also stick the deal, after the fragile peace appeared to be close to breaking point this week.
The Israeli prime minister’s office on Thursday issued a statement clarifying its expectation for the continuation of the ceasefire. “There is a framework in place for the release of our hostages,” the spokesperson David Mencer said. “That framework makes clear that three live hostages must be released by Hamas terrorists on Saturday.”
The statement follows nearly three days of confusion after Trump declared that Israel should demand Hamas release all the remaining hostages by Saturday or resume its war. It also comes after Hamas suggested it could delay the release of hostages due to what it said were violations by the Israeli army, before walking back the threat on Thursday.
How many hostages remain with Hamas? There are 76 people, though it is unclear how many are still alive.
Texas judge fines New York doctor for mailing abortion pills to patient in Texas
A Texas judge has ordered a New York doctor to stop mailing abortion pills to patients in Texas and fined her more than $100,000, in a case expected to go to the supreme court.
Judge Bryan Gantt of Collin county district court on Thursday ordered Dr Margaret Daley Carpenter of the town of New Paltz in New York state to cease prescribing and mailing the abortion pills.
The case, which follows a lawsuit filed by the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, an ally of Trump, challenges the limits of “shield laws”, which were established after the fall of Roe v Wade to protect physicians offering abortions.
How did the case come to be? The “biological father of an unborn child” of an alleged patient of Carpenter filed a complaint with the attorney general – a tactic encouraged by anti-abortion groups.
In other news …
Mexico’s president has accused the US of harboring drug cartels and working with Mexican organized crime, responding to Trump’s claim that her government was in an “intolerable alliance” with traffickers.
A federal judge has temporarily halted Trump’s executive order to limit gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth, putting the directive on hold for 14 days.
The National Park Service culled all references to trans people from its website for the Stonewall national monument on Thursday, despite the 1969 riot there, which sparked the contemporary gay rights movement, being led by trans women.
Stat of the day: $1tn of investment in AI has already been announced in 2025
We are not even two months into the year, but about $1tn of fresh investment in AI has already been announced, notes the columnist Alexander Hurst in a dispatch from a conference in the lead-up to the Paris AI summit. This is despite the colossal amounts of energy the datacenters use to train and run systems – and the threats that the technology’s godfathers told Hurst they believe it may pose in the near future.
Don’t miss this: De La Soul on grief, Gorillaz and never giving up
If the trio now known as De La Soul hadn’t failed an English exam in 1985, the world might never have heard 3 Feet High and Rising, as the three met that summer when they were stuck inside studying at their Long Island high school. Ahead of the release of their new album, Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer and Vincent “Maseo” Mason talk about losing their bandmate Dave “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur two years ago and how their creative, warm sound brought hip-hop to new audiences.
Climate check: Richest nations’ demand for beef, palm oil and timber driving extinction
The world’s richest countries are eliminating 15 times more biodiversity abroad than within their own borders, research shows, driven by their demand for products including beef, palm oil, and timber. The US was responsible for 3% of the world’s non-US forest habitat destruction, with wealthy countries behind 13% of such damage.
Last Thing: Scientists sniff ancient mummies
Science has moved on from using samples to date ancient remains: researchers are now relying on the human nose (well, alongside scientific instruments) to tell how well-preserved an Egyptian mummy is. What does it smell like? “Spicy, woody and sweet”, apparently.
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