The Evening: A masked figure

February 10, 2026

	By Matthew Cullen

Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Tuesday.

A break in the search for Nancy Guthrie
Republicans have a huge cash advantage
Plus, a theory for the secret to happiness

A black-and-white image of a person wearing a ski mask and carrying a holstered pistol on a covered porch.

F.B.I., via Associated Press

New video shows a masked figure at Nancy Guthrie’s house

The authorities released new images and videos today that showed a masked person at Nancy Guthrie’s doorstep on the night she was abducted. It was the most significant public development so far in the 10-day search for the 84-year-old mother of Savannah Guthrie, the “Today” show host.

The black-and-white images, which depict a person wearing a ski mask, gloves and what looks to be a holstered handgun, appeared to show the person tampering with Guthrie’s doorbell camera. The police have said that the camera was disconnected at 1:47 a.m. on Feb. 1, and that Guthrie’s pacemaker disconnected from her cellphone, indicating that she was taken from the home, 41 minutes later.

The Pima County sheriff said last week that investigators were unable to retrieve any footage from Guthrie’s surveillance cameras because she did not pay for a subscription that would have stored the video. But the sheriff’s department and F.B.I. said that investigators recovered the video today by accessing “residual data.”

For more: Here is a timeline of the major developments in the case.

Rodney Scott, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, Joseph Edlow, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sitting at a table in behind microphones.

From left, Rodney Scott, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, Joseph Edlow, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE. Eric Lee for The New York Times

Immigration officials defend Trump’s deportation campaign

Top immigration officials, including Todd Lyons, the head of ICE, appeared in front of a House panel today to answer questions about President Trump’s immigration crackdown. Lyons repeatedly declined to answer questions about the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.

The hearing highlighted how entrenched both parties’ positions have become as Congress negotiates possible restrictions on immigration enforcement efforts. Republicans have so far rejected most of Democrats’ demands, threatening a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security ahead of a Friday deadline.

In other immigration enforcement news:

An immigration judge said that the Trump administration could not deport Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts student who was detained after co-writing a pro-Palestinian opinion article.
Charges against four people who were fired upon by immigration agents quietly fell apart when they went to court.

A chart showing that Republican party committees, PACs and MAGA Inc. have about $700 million while the Democrats have only a bit less than $150 million.

Source: Federal Election Commission. Ashley Wu/The New York Times

Republicans have a huge cash advantage

Money, which for many years has been a strength for Democrats, suddenly appears to be a major liability for the party.

New federal records showed that the national Republican Party and its aligned super PACs entered the year with more than double the cash of the equivalent Democratic groups. In addition, President Trump is sitting atop a super PAC with more than $304 million, giving Republicans an unheard-of edge of more than $550 million at the beginning of a midterm election year.

In other politics news:

Susan Collins, one of the Republican Party’s most electorally vulnerable senators, is running for re-election in Maine.
Republicans in Texas are amping up anti-Muslim rhetoric to energize voters.

An older person sits holding a child in a dimly lit room. Another person stands by a window, and a child in a red and orange jacket stands in the foreground.

A family in Rivne, near Huliaipole, prepared to evacuate last month. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

Russia nears the capture of key Ukrainian towns

After a year of grinding assaults with little to show for it, Russia is now on the verge of capturing three strategic areas, according to military experts and independent battlefield monitors.

The potential Russian gains — the town of Huliaipole in the southeast and the cities of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, about 60 miles northeast — would give Moscow an urban foothold to base troops and organize logistics for future offensives.

In related news: Ukrainians showed us how they are trying to stay warm in a cruel winter.

More top news

Georgia: An F.B.I. search warrant affidavit revealed that the investigation into 2020 election results in Fulton County originated with an election denier and relied on debunked claims.
Middle East: A U.S. draft plan for Gaza would require Hamas to give up weapons that could strike Israel but would allow the group to keep some small arms, at least initially.
Climate: As conservatives near “total victory” in wiping out climate regulations, the E.P.A. is heading toward a showdown at the Supreme Court.
Health: Studies have found that drinking can be an effective “social lubricant,” but also that social drinking can lead to health problems.
Malaysia: Durian farmers saw immense profits in exporting the intense, rich fruit to China. But tastes have shifted.
Space: Two research teams think they may have located the lost Soviet Luna 9 moon lander.

Jeffrey Epstein

The commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, acknowledged that he and his family had visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island.
A former Palm Beach Police chief said that, in 2006, Trump told him that “everyone has known” about Epstein’s activities and that Ghislaine Maxwell was “evil.”
Federal records show Epstein used donations and connections as he sought to gain college admission for young women in his orbit to Columbia and N.Y.U.
The musician Chappell Roan left Casey Wasserman’s talent agency over his appearances in the Epstein files.

THE LATEST FROM THE OLYMPICS

A man and a woman in black and gold sportswear reading SWE stand on ice with curling brooms and red and yellow curling stones.

Sweden’s curling team. James Hill for The New York Times

On Day 4 of the Winter Games, Sweden defeated the U.S. to take the gold medal in mixed doubles curling. Here’s the latest.

See our photographers’ best images from Milan-Cortina.
Vladyslav Heraskevych, who competes for Ukraine in the skeleton event, honored his country’s war dead on his helmet. Olympics officials banned it.
After winning a bronze medal in biathlon, Sturla Holm Laegreid confessed on live television that he had cheated on his girlfriend and said he hoped to win her back.

TIME TO UNWIND

Footage of two women, one in a blue oxford shirt and maroon pants, the other in a tweed coat, tan dress and large sunglasses, talking in an office.

The New York Times

The new Vogue

Later this month, Chloe Malle will release her first issue of American Vogue since succeeding the fashion titan Anna Wintour as editor. But those sunglasses and that bob are still in the corner office, where Wintour reigns as Vogue’s global editorial director.

My colleague Jessica Testa sat down with Malle and Wintour for their first joint interview. Their contrasting approaches were apparent. Malle said the last time she was nervous was just before our interview. Wintour said: “I don’t get nervous.” Watch the discussion here.

An illustration of a two figures smelling a large bouquet of flowers being held by one central figure.

Oyow

A new book has a theory for the secret to happiness

Sonja Lyubomirsky, a leading researcher on the science of happiness, doesn’t like to reduce what she’s learned to one thing. But if she has to, she said, the secret to happiness is “feeling loved.”

In her new book “How to Feel Loved,” co-written with an expert on close relationships, the authors have some advice for increasing how much love we feel coming back to us: start with one person; listen better to them; and if they don’t listen better in return, it might not be the right person.

A transparent computer model of a brain, with sections in the center glowing yellow-gold.

DDG, via Nicolas Namoradze

Dinner table topics

Brain study: The pianist Nicolas Namoradze teamed with neuroscientists to examine what happens in his brain while playing music.
Collagen-rich cut: Beef shanks are largely absent from grocery stores, but some chefs can’t resist them.
Love story: In preparing to play Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy for a new series on FX and Hulu, Sarah Pidgeon came to care deeply for her.