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Weekend Briefing

From Reuters Daily Briefing

By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor

Thanks for reading the Weekend Briefing. I'll be running our website and app for the next few days and will share the latest news on the fate of TikTok, the ceasefire deal in Gaza and of course, the inauguration of Donald Trump on Monday. Our World News podcast prepares you for what to expect. And our latest edition of City Memo takes us to Lagos.

Israel-Gaza ceasefire accord to take effect Sunday

REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Latest: Israel's cabinet approved the deal with Hamas early on Saturday after meeting for more than six hours. Hardliners opposed the deal, saying it was a capitulation. And not all of the Israeli hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attacks will go free at once.
Human rights: Azerbaijan jailed a human-rights activist for 10 years, a Tanzanian activist was released after she said she was kidnapped in Nairobi, Russia sentenced three lawyers for the late Alexei Navalny to jail terms of several years, and Ugandan military prosecutors charged an opposition figure with treachery. The charge carries the death penalty. At least 78 miners died after police cut off food and water supplies to the illegal gold mine where they were trapped.

'The movement we started is only just beginning'

Welcome to the next four years: Donald Trump returns to the White House more powerful than ever with loyalists eager to execute, particularly on mass deportations of people who entered the U.S. illegally. Here are 1.4 million people who are preparing for the worst of it as they face deportation orders. We also explore how Trump plans to dismantle what he and his allies call the deep state. The inauguration ceremony will move indoors to avoid icy weather. Monday is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and civil-rights advocates are organizing efforts to counter Trump policies that they say will undermine decades of progress.
What did Trump say about Ukraine? He said repeatedly he'd get a deal in place to end the war with Russia by the first day of his presidency. Two of his advisers told Reuters it'll take months or longer to resolve. They called his earlier statements campaign bluster and a lack of appreciation of the conflict's intractability.

Ban looms closer, Tiny Dancer

Short time for short form: The Supreme Court upheld a law banning TikTok in the U.S. on national-security grounds unless its Chinese parent company sells it by Sunday. Here are convoluted ideas the White House could use to keep the app going. Some users say this is the intervention they need to break their addiction.
Unsustainable: We ran an item here last week on companies that are deflating their diversity efforts. Let's have a look at sustainability: An investor climate group suspended activities after BlackRock dropped out. Barclays' sustainability chief quit. Brazilian meatpacker JBS' CEO said the company never promised to cut or offset all its emissions by 2040, and that when the company made a "commitment" and "pledge" to do just that, it was actually an "aspiration." And the aviation industry has deemphasized climate goals in favor of making their numbers.

If I were a banker…

I'd be rubbing my hands together: Wall Street CEOs say the Trump administration will be good for their banks as they reported a surge in profits thanks to more M&A and trading. They're also looking forward to defanging some rules that govern their businesses in the public interest. Goldman Sachs is throwing a ton of money at its CEO to get him to stick around five more years.
And if I were Novo Nordisk: I'd be meeting the head of state in Denmark to figure out what to do about Trump's tariff threat if he can't buy or seize Greenland. The prime minister said it's up to Greenland to decide its future, not Copenhagen. And Canada's foreign minister said they are ready to respond to Trump's tariff threat as soon as Monday.

Before I forget…

- SpaceX rockets are causing problems for airlines, especially when they whiz by planes full of passengers. Elon Musk's comment on the rocket that exploded and forced flights to divert: "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!"
- People left homeless by the Los Angeles fires face scandalously high rental prices and a ton of competition as they try to find a place to live.
- Yoon Suk Yeol became the first South Korean sitting president to be arrested. He is fighting a request by investigators to extend his detention on accusations of insurrection.
- Attackers have targeted the Jewish community in Sydney three times in the past two months. What's going on?
- The British minister responsible for fighting corruption resigned over… well, better just read the story than have me spoil it with the punchline.
- If only we still had John le Carré around. Britain released top-secret MI5 files detailing firsthand accounts of confessions of three notorious double agents during the Cold War, including Kim Philby and Anthony Blunt.
- There are two kinds of people: the ones who eat rillettes and the ones who love Rillette, the French wild boar who escaped euthanasia and will be allowed to stay with her owner.

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