BBC News Briefing

23 January, 2026

Alex has short blonde hair and blue eyes. She is smiling and wearing a black turtleneck

Alex Binley

Hello. For the first time since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine almost four years ago, three-way talks between the two neighbours and the US are taking place. We also report on how crypto criminals are using age-old tricks, including violence, to get their hands on funds that are hard to get back. Plus, why not test yourself with our weekly quiz.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

High stakes but low expectations for Ukraine talks with Russia and US

A worker wears dark-coloured overalls and an orange helmet and walks between machinery which appears to have been involved in a fire.

Russia has been targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure during the freezing winter. Credit: Shutterstock

The key issue dominating talks in Abu Dhabi on ending the war in Ukraine remains territory. Russia wants Ukraine to give up the 25% of the Donetsk region that Kyiv still controls, something Ukraine refuses. Watch as the BBC's Joe Inwood explains the issue. The meeting comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in Moscow with US officials. The Kremlin called the talks "useful", but said a peace deal could not be reached until territorial issues had been resolved, and until then, it would continue to "achieve its aims on the battlefield". "The stakes are high" in the talks that are set to last two days, writes Eastern Europe correspondent Sarah Rainsford, but "expectations are limited".

Read more from Sarah

GET UP TO SPEED

A man in a red all-in-one snowboards past a red flag with the five Olympic rings on it. The man is wearing a black hat and goggles.

FBI: Alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding arrested

The ex-Olympian is accused of running a massive drug trafficking operation and ordering murders.

More on the case >

A line of protesters stand along a street, in the snow. They are wearing coats and hats and some have their faces covered and hold placards.

Minnesota holds economic strike to protest ICE

Organisers are calling on residents to skip work or school, if possible, and refrain from shopping, in a show of opposition to ICE.

Read more >

A teenage girl wears a black hijab and a white taekwondo outfit. She is smiling and holding a trophy. Other children in taekwondo outfits can be seen sat on the floor behind her.

Taliban release female athlete after 13 days in jail

Khadija Ahmadzada was reportedly running a taekwondo gym for girls. The Taliban said she was detained for violating rules.

More on this >

NEWS FROM THE UK

Nato row: PM Sir Keir Starmer said US President Donald Trump's remarks about Nato troops in Afghanistan are "insulting and frankly appalling".

From court: An ex-councillor has pleaded guilty to a string of sexual offences, including multiple counts of rape, against his wife over 13 years.

Beckhams: Brooklyn Peltz Beckham's wedding DJ has given his account of what happened during the dance between the groom and his mum.

AT THE SCENE

Yemen

Inside Yemen's UAE-run secret prisons

One white shipping container and two grey ones are seen on a gravel area with sandy hills behind them. A small white building with a water tank on it is next to one of them.

One of the sites had several shipping containers with little ventilation, where detainees said up to 60 men were held. Credit: Liam Weir/BBC

The BBC has been given access to detention facilities on former United Arab Emirates (UAE) military bases in Yemen, confirming long-standing allegations of a network of secret prisons run by the UAE and forces allied to it in Yemen's decade-long civil war. The UAE did not respond to our request for comment, but has previously denied similar allegations.

Nawal has long brown hair and is wearing a blue shirt. People can be seen behind her and she is smiling

Nawal Al-Maghafi, senior international investigations correspondent

Several former detainees told us that prisoners were blindfolded, bound at the wrists and forced to remain sitting upright at all hours. "There was no space to lie down," one said. "If someone collapsed, the others had to hold him up."

‌

He said he was held for a year-and-a-half, beaten daily and abused. "They didn't even feed us properly," he said. "If you wanted the toilet, they took you once. Sometimes you were so desperate you did it on yourself." He said he endured: "All types of torture - when we were interrogated it was the worst. They even sexually abused us... I tried to kill myself multiple times to make it end."

Keep reading

UAE withdrawal: The Emiratis withdrew from the conflict following a Saudi-led strike on one of the factions the UAE supported.

Treason accusation: The presidential council expelled a separatist leader and charged him with treason for not attending Riyadh talks.

Houthis: In October, the Houthi movement said its military chief of staff was killed in an "honourable battle against the Israeli enemy".