Headlines: 1-8 February 2026

Tuesday, 3 February 2026

9 Highlights from Art Genève 2026 — 3 February 2026 (LINK)

— Mark Westall: "Art Genève continues to prove why it sits in that sweet spot between rigor and discovery. Less frantic than the mega-fairs, more curated than a market sprawl, it rewards looking slowly — and this year delivered a strong mix of sculptural ambition, painterly restraint, institutional presence and a few moments of genuine joy."

Switzerland's extraordinary medieval library: The Abbey Library of St Gallen is a Baroque hall of globes, manuscripts and curiosities that has survived, improbably, for 1,300 years — 3 February 2026 (LINK)

Monday, 2 February 2026

Russia targets Dnipropetrovsk miners 2nd day in a row after deadly bus attack — 2 February 2026 (LINK)

Second round of Russia, Ukraine, U.S. peace talks to take place in UAE — 2 February 2026 (LINK)

Michelle Bachelet of Chile is running for the UN's top post with regional backing — 2 February 2026 (LINK)

Judge blocks Trump administration from ending protections for 350,000 Haitians in the U.S. — 2 February 2026 (LINK)

Costa Rica's right-wing Presidential candidate tough on crime wins election — 2 February 2026 (LINK)

China executes four more Myanmar mafia members for causing six Chinese deaths and defrauding over 29 billion yuan (USD 4 billion) in Myanmar — (LINK) ground.news: 25 media reports — 2 February 2026 (LINK)

Sunday, 1 February 2026

Trump says if Iran doesn't agree to nuclear deal, 'we'll find out' whether U.S. attack would spark a regional war — 1 February 2026 (LINK)

Musk confirms SpaceX success in preventing Russian military from accessing stolen Starlink units — 1 February 2026 (LINK)

Kennedy Center to close for 2 years for renovations in July, Trump says, after performers' backlash — 1 February 2026 (LINK)

Melania film earns $8m in US, strongest documentary debut in over a decade. However 'Melania' fell substantially short of turning a profit because it cost $40m to make and $35m to promote — 1 February 2026 (LINK)

— The Hollywood Reporter said that the Brett Ratner-directed documentary defied predictions that it would bomb "based on empty, or nearly empty, seat maps in cinemas across the country". The film, which follows Melania Trump as she prepared to re-enter the White House in early 2025, was beaten at the box office by two horror films: Iron Lung and Rachel McAdams's Send Help. But it managed to beat out action film Shelter. The Hollywood Reporter described it as an "expensive propaganda doc" and "a film that fawns so lavishly over its subject that you feel downright unpatriotic not gushing over it". In trailing credits, it added, the first lady's achievements are rolled "in such laudatory fashion that North Korea would blush".

Second Epstein victim claims she was sent to UK for sex with Andrew, lawyer says — 1 February 2026 (LINK)

— The encounter allegedly occurred at the former prince's residence, Royal Lodge, in 2010. The woman, who is not British, was in her 20s at the time.

UK: Lord Mandelson resigns from Labour Party over Epstein links — 1 February 2026 (LINK)

Slovakia PM's national security adviser resigns over Epstein links — (LINK)