First Look
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In Syria, deadly attacks on Assad’s Alawites are blow to new leadersThe death toll from two days of clashes between security forces and loyalists of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 600, a war monitoring group said Saturday. Local residents said gunmen shot Alawites, the majority of them men, in the streets or at the gates of their homes.
Supreme Court orders Trump to release $2 billion in foreign aid paymentsThe Supreme Court left in place a lower court’s decision to pause the Trump administration’s spending freeze. The administration had appealed U.S. District Judge Amir Ali’s deadline to give the federal government until Feb. 26 to pay out $2 billion in aid.
U.K. pledges new funding for Ukrainian air defenseAt a security summit in London, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged export financing for 5,000 air defense missiles for Ukraine. The prime minister also said that Britain, France, and Ukraine had agreed to work together on a ceasefire plan that they will present to United States.
Andrew Cuomo announces New York City mayoral bidAndrew Cuomo has formally entered the race to be New York City’s mayor. The former governor seeks to make a comeback after resigning in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations.
Trump floats ‘gold card,’ new pathway to U.S. citizenship that costs $5 millionThe new visa would replace the EB-5 program, which offers U.S. visas to investors who spent around $1 million on an American company that employs at least 10 people. Other nations offer similar “golden visas.”
Judge blocks Trump’s order halting the U.S. refugee admissions systemThe lawsuit, brought by a group of religious organizations and refugees, came in response to President Donald Trump’s order suspending the refugee program. The president’s authority “is not limitless,” a federal judge said in his ruling.
