• U.S. strikes in Somalia: The U.S. military conducted coordinated airstrikes Feb. 1 against Islamic State operatives in Somalia, the first attacks in the African nation during President Donald Trump’s second term. 
• Altitude discrepancy in mid-air crash: Officials said preliminary data from the midair crash between an airliner and an Army helicopter showed conflicting indications about the aircrafts’ altitudes when they collided near a Washington, D.C., airport, killing everyone aboard. 
• German migration law fails: Germany’s parliament rejected an opposition draft law on tightening immigration policy, averting the prospect of a law passing for the first time in modern German history with the backing of the far-right. 
  • Related Monitor story: Elon Musk is making himself unpopular among mainstream European politicians by openly supporting their extreme right-wing rivals, including in Germany. Ned Temko explains.  
• Big night for Beyoncé at Grammys: Beyoncé won album of the year at the The 67th Grammy Awards. The ceremony was transformed by the Los Angeles area wildfires but put a spotlight on the city’s resiliency. Kendrick Lamar won song and record of the year for “Not Like Us.” Chappell Roan was named best new artist.
  • Related Monitor story: Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” not only crosses genres, but also is part of a renaissance of Black storytelling in the arts that touches on the universal. When it first dropped, our editorial writers supplied some context.

Thousands of U.S.-funded projects worldwide – from counterterrorism to small-business development – were left in limbo by the recent freeze of foreign aid. It has sowed confusion at aid agencies and among foreign recipients. It raises questions about whether the move might cede influence to China and Russia. But it accompanies a review; it’s not necessarily a lasting stop. For some observers, that eases panic.

Syrians emerging to breathe free air are beginning to expose the mechanisms of the control that was imposed for more than 50 years by the brutal Assad regime. “He was tortured so much,” a woman from Homs, in central Syria, says of her youngest brother. “All that because we asked for freedom.” Many others still search for missing loved ones, seeking justice as they rebuild their society and set out to overcome and to heal.

A presidential push to involve the U.S. military with border security and use Guantánamo Bay to hold migrants is part of a strategy to test the limits on use of the armed forces. Words used to justify action – invasion, emergency, terrorist organizations – have legal meanings that give a president particular powers. Legal scholars are closely tracking precisely what this administration asks troops to do.

Inflation has come way down in the past two years. But the issue might have decided the recent presidential election, and its effects still weigh on many Americans. William Brown, a 25-year-old in Boston, is one of them. His efforts to support his family illustrate how a life of painful tradeoffs can foster a deep sense of inequity. “You’re working just to live,” he says, “so you’re not going anywhere forward.” Now he’s an advocate for his own workforce rights and those of his colleagues.

The 1965 Equal Employment Opportunity rule that the president revoked his first week in office is quintessentially American, our columnist writes. “[People] don’t understand the constitutional rights behind what EEO stands for and what it means,” he was told by a former EEO department director. Americans’ conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion demands a great deal more nuance.

People with disabilities can feel ashamed or too shy to dance. One contemporary troupe in East Africa is transcending stigma and finding joy. Its members perform in venues throughout Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, to help expose the urban public to their inclusive vision of orchestrated movement – a “melting pot of nature and creativity.”

The joy of sports is universal enough to transcend many human woes. For two of the world’s most woebegone places, Afghanistan and Gaza, glimmers of a return to athletic competition show why sports do indeed retain that eternal power of joy – and possible rejuvenation.

On Thursday, 21 Afghan women in exile from Taliban rule played an exhibition cricket match in Australia against a Melbourne team. Wearing blue jerseys displaying a tulip (Afghanistan’s national flower), they were the first Afghan women cricketers to compete in the international field.

Given that cricket is the most popular sport in Afghanistan, the game alone was an achievement. Yet as The Afghan Times news outlet in Pakistan pointed out, “This match was more than just a game – it was a symbol of resilience, hope, and the unyielding spirit of Afghan female cricketers who have continued to pursue their passion despite immense challenges.”

The match also came with a soft-power message to the team’s home country, where organized women’s athletics are banned. As one team player, Tooba Khan Sarwari, told The Diplomat, “To the Afghan women in Afghanistan it will say that ‘We are representing you. We are with you and never give up.’”

The other case of sports as sprouts of joy comes as a tentative peace settles over Gaza after 15 months of a war sparked by the Hamas attack on Israel.

In early January, the Palestine Olympic Committee met to “reactivate the suspended sports activity” caused by the conflict, including the destruction of sport facilities and the killing of athletes.

One goal is to have a team ready for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Last year, eight Palestinians were able to participate in the Paris Games. Yet the main task is to revive sports as “an element of unity” and for “national identity,” perhaps laying the seeds for a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian Football Association has begun to scout for young men to play professional soccer, the favorite sport in Gaza. The territory’s athletes, declares the sports news site, FootBoom, “remain steadfastly attached to their dreams of pursuing sports among the ruins, determined to reclaim the once vibrant fields where sportsmanship was celebrated.” Joy to that.