On the eve of his historic return to the White House, Trump helped broker the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that has allowed many of the Israeli (and American) hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 to be returned. If the deal holds, more will be released over time.

The terrorist group Hamas announces the names of four Israeli hostages, planning to release them tomorrow, January 25, The Times of Israel reports. The media outlet notes that the hostages have been held captive for 477 days.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is preparing to write a tell-all book about the Biden era diplomacy.

Concerns persist over recent and potential conflicts in the Middle East, the Russia-Ukraine war and potential conflagrations in Asia.

Eight Israeli hostages held by Hamas militants have died. They were supposed to be released as part of the first stage of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, states the spokesperson for the Israeli government,

Nicole Grajewski is a Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an Associate with the Project on Managing the Atom at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is the author of Russia and Iran: Partners in Defiance From Syria to Ukraine.

Donald Trump’s victory has now set expectations for how he’ll approach foreign policy, writes TIME columnist Ian Bremmer

The terrorist group has survived the Israeli invasion, continues to recruit and can’t be excluded from any future governance model

A federal judge yesterday temporarily blocked an order by President Trump to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans. Separately, Democratic attorneys general in 22 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the order, saying Trump had gone far beyond his legal powers.

Welcome back to another edition of My Take 5, your weekly round-up of top international news. Last week was dominated by Trump, Trump & Trump. Not surprising given that the 47th US President has returned with a bang and promised to shake things up.