Why It Matters
These moves heighten the risk of direct military confrontation in the Middle East and signal shifting power balances in Ukraine and broader Indo‑Pacific security partnerships.
Key Takeaways
- •Trump eyes second carrier strike group for Iran crisis
- •U.S. places Patriot missiles on mobile launchers in Qatar
- •U.S. draft demands Hamas surrender long‑range weapons
- •Indonesia trains 5,000‑8,000 troops for Gaza aid
- •Russia nears capture of Huliapole, Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad
Pulse Analysis
The United States is ramping up its military posture in the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran. By considering a second carrier strike group and deploying Patriot missiles on mobile platforms in Qatar, Washington is signaling a readiness to shift from diplomatic pressure to kinetic options. This dual‑track approach underscores the administration’s intent to deter Iranian aggression while preserving flexibility for rapid escalation, a strategy that could reshape regional power calculations and force allies to reassess their own defense postures.
Simultaneously, the conflict between Israel and Hamas is entering a new phase as the U.S. pushes for the surrender of long‑range Hamas weaponry while allowing limited small‑arms retention. Indonesia’s decision to train thousands of troops for Gaza relief adds a rare Southeast Asian dimension to the crisis, highlighting the war’s global humanitarian ripple effects. In Eastern Europe, Russian advances toward Huliapole, Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad suggest a renewed push to consolidate territorial gains, potentially prolonging the war and complicating Western support for Kyiv.
Beyond the immediate flashpoints, Washington is deepening strategic ties elsewhere, exemplified by a new defense‑AI partnership with Azerbaijan and a modest troop deployment to Nigeria to counter Islamist militants. NATO’s Arctic Sentry expansion, with British forces doubling in Norway, reflects growing concerns over Russian activity in the High North. Together, these developments illustrate a broader trend: major powers are broadening their security footprints, blending conventional force posturing with technology‑focused alliances to address an increasingly multipolar threat environment.
Early Edition: February 11, 2026
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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
IRAN
President Trump told Axios yesterday that he is considering sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East to prepare for military action if negotiations with Iran fail. “Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time,” Trump said. Barak Ravid reports.
U.S. forces in Qatar’s al-Udeid, the biggest U.S. military base in the Middle East, have put Patriot missiles into truck launchers since last month, according to analysis of satellite images. This means the missiles could be rapidly deployed to strike or be moved defensively in case of an Iranian attack. Marine Delrue reports for Reuters.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Trump yesterday discussed efforts for regional de-escalation and stability, according to the Emiri Diwan. The call comes ahead of a meeting between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington today. Reuters reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
The United States is demanding that Hamas surrender all weapons that are capable of striking Israel, but will allow the group to keep some small arms, at least initially, according to a draft plan, officials, and other sources. The U.S. negotiation team intends to share the document with Hamas within weeks. Adam Rasgon, Natan Odenheimer, and Abu Bakr Bashir report for the New York Times.
Israeli airstrikes and gunfire yesterday killed five Palestinians in Gaza, health officials said. In Deir al-Balah an airstrike killed two people who were riding an electric bike. Later, Israeli drone fire killed a woman in Deir al-Balah and Israeli troops shot dead one man in Khan Younis and one man in Jabalia. Nidal al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.
Indonesia said yesterday that its military has begun training personnel to serve in Gaza, specifically for medical and engineering roles. Its army chief of staff said between 5,000 and 8,000 troops were preparing to deploy. Jonathan Head reports for BBC News.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Russian forces are close to capturing three strategic areas in Ukraine – the town of Huliapole and the cities of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad – in the coming weeks or months, according to military experts and independent battlefield monitors. Constant Méheut reports for the New York Times.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Russian communication regulator, Roskomnadzor, said in a statement yesterday that it would continue to impose restrictions on Telegram until the app ceased violating Russian law. The agency has accused Telegram of failing to protect personal data, combat fraud and prevent its use by terrorists and criminals, according to the statement. Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, said in a statement yesterday, “Russia is restricting access to Telegram in an attempt to force its citizens to switch to a state-controlled app built for surveillance and political censorship.” Paul Sonne and Oleg Matsnev report for the New York Times.
General Yawd Serk, head of the Restoration Council of Shan State, an influential armed group in Myanmar, on Saturday accused world leaders of ignoring the ruling military junta’s surge in deadly airstrikes on civilians. He cited data from the Myanmar Peace Monitor showing that more than 1,000 civilian locations have been hit by airstrikes over the past 15 months. Poppy McPherson reports for Reuters.
Cambodia has closed around 190 scam centers in a crackdown on transnational fraud in recent weeks, a senior Cambodian government official told Reuters this week. The official said 173 senior crime figures linked to the centers had been arrested and 11,000 workers deported in a campaign that began late last year. Reuters reports.
U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix yesterday warned that violence in South Sudan is escalating due to the political deadlock, adding that “both sides claim to be acting in self-defense, while at the same time preparing for the possibility of large-scale hostilities.” Lacroix pointed towards reports of bombings and severe restrictions on humanitarian access in Jonglei State. Edith M. Lederer reports for AP News.
The number of British troops in Norway will double over the next three years, from around 1,000 to 2,000, as part of NATO’s Arctic Sentry mission, U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said yesterday. “Demands on defence are rising and Russia poses the greatest threat to Arctic and High North security that we have seen since the Cold War,” Healey said. Jessica Rawnsley reports for BBC News.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The United States is planning to send about 200 troops to Nigeria to train its military to fight Islamist militants, a U.S. official said yesterday, adding that the troops will supplement a handful of U.S. military personnel already in Nigeria. Reuters reports.
The United States and Azerbaijan yesterday signed a strategic partnership agreement in Baku, encompassing cooperation on defense sales and artificial intelligence and continued collaboration in energy security and counter terrorism. Nailia Bagirova and Lucy Papachristou report for Reuters.
Vice President JD Vance yesterday deleted a social media post which broke with administration policy in acknowledging the Armenian genocide after Vance and his wife visited a memorial to the estimated 1.5 million Armernians killed by Ottoman Turks in 1915-17. Luke Broadwater reports for the New York Times.
The Guatemalan Health Ministry said yesterday that it will begin phasing out its longstanding use of Cuban doctors, explaining that the change was based on “a technical analysis” aimed at strengthening Guatemala’s national health care system and “guaranteeing continuity of service.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last year that “Cuba’s labor export programs, which include the medical missions, enrich the Cuban regime,” pressuring countries in the region to end the Cuban medical brigades. Jody García and James Wagner report for the New York Times.
Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said yesterday that about half of the high-powered .50-caliber cartridges that the Mexican authorities have seized from cartels since 2012 were traced to an ammunition factory outside Kansas City, owned by the U.S. government. Trejo also said that since October 2024, the Mexican authorities had seized 18,000 firearms, of which nearly 80 percent came from the United States. Emiliano Rodriguez Mega reports for the New York Times.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) said yesterday that he expects the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota to end in “days, not weeks and months” based on his recent conversations with Border Czar Tom Homan and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. “It would be my hope that Mr. Homan goes out before Friday and announces that this thing is done, and they’re bringing her down and they’re bringing her down in days,” Walz said. “That would be my expectation.” Steve Karnowski reports for AP news.
Federal prosecutors yesterday released bodycam footage in the case of Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen who survived being shot multiple times by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago last year. In the video, one agent could be heard saying “do something, bitch” shortly before the vehicles made contact. An agent in the vehicle, driven by Exum, said they were being boxed in. “It’s time to get aggressive,” he said, adding “we’re going to make contact.” After the collision, Exum stepped out of the vehicle and fired five shots. Renee Hickman reports for Reuters.
The United States deported 170 Cuban citizens to Havana on Monday, including more than 50 men who had been held at the U.S. base at Guantánamo Bay after being designated for removal last year. Carol Rosenberg reports for the New York Times.
ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Director Joseph Edlow testified yesterday to the House Homeland Security Committee. Lyons insisted ICE is properly enforcing U.S. immigration laws and that ICE officers are receiving adequate training before deploying into the field. Lyons and Scott declined to answer questions about the Renee Good and Alex Pretti shootings in Minnesota, citing the ongoing investigations. The trio will testify in front of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday. Brittany Gibson reports for Axios; Eric Bazail-Eimil reports for POLITICO.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
A pair of Jan 28. search warrant affidavits unsealed yesterday show that authorities said they were seeking evidence that would determine whether “deficiencies” in the vote tabulation in Fulton County, Georgia, were the result of intentional wrongdoing that could constitute a crime. Many of the irregularities raised have been previously explained by county officials as the type of routine errors that frequently occur and are not significant enough to sway the outcome of an election. The documents also revealed that the FBI’s investigation was prompted by a referral from former Trump campaign lawyer Kurt Olsen. Jeremy Roebuck and Patrick Marley report for the Washington Post.
A federal grand jury in Washington D.C. yesterday refused to indict six Democratic lawmakers over their comments about military service members’ ability to refuse illegal orders, according to two sources. Perry Stein and Salvador Rizzo reports for the Washington Post.
The House yesterday voted 214-217 to block a rule that would have banned members’ ability to call snap votes to repeal tariffs. Republican Reps. Kevin Kiley (CA), Don Bacon (NE), and Thomas Massie (KY) opposed the rule alongside all Democrats. Emily Brooks and Sudiksha Kochi report for the Hill.
Federal Judicial Center Director Robin L. Rosenberg last week wrote a letter to Attorney General of West Virginia John B. McCuskey to say that the chapter on climate change had been removed from the digital version of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence. There was no further explanation about why the chapter was removed from the manual written to help judges understand scientific questions they might face in courtrooms. Karen Zraick reports for the New York Times.
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said in an interview yesterday that he and other New York City-area politicians would reraise the pride flag at the federal monument at Stonewall on Thursday. Federal officials had taken the flag down after the Trump administration issued guidance in January limiting the types of flags that could be displayed at sites managed by the National Park Service. Gregory Svirnovskiy reports for POLITICO.
Trump reportedly called the Palm Beach police after it became known that Jeffrey Epstein was under investigation in the 2000s, the local police chief at the time, Michael Reiter, told the FBI over a decade later. “Thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this,” according to a document released as part of the most recent tranche of Epstein files. The Justice Department said yesterday it had not corroborated the chief’s recollection of the conversation: “We are not aware of any corroborating evidence that the president contacted law enforcement 20 years ago.” Luke Broadwater reports for the New York Times.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said yesterday that he visited Epstein’s island with his family in late 2012 during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “fully supports” Lutnick, describing him as a “very important” member of the President’s team. James Politi reports for the Financial Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The Federal Aviation Administration late last night halted all flights to and from El Paso International Airport, Texas, for 10 days for “special security reasons.” They did not detail the security reasons that prompted the restriction. John Yoon, Edgar Sandoval, and Reyes Mata III report for the New York Times.
Detroit billionaire Matthew Moroun met with Lutnick on Monday hours before Trump threatened to block the opening of the Canada-funded Gordie Howe International Bridge, which would compete with Moroun’s Ambassador Bridge. Officials said that Lutnick spoke to Trump about the matter following his meeting with Moroun. Tyler Pager and Matina Stevis-Gridneff reports for the New York Times.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Reuters yesterday that she has shut down the Director’s Initiatives Group that she launched last year with the declared goal of rooting out politicization from intelligence agencies. Two sources told Reuters that the decision to wrap up the DIG was taken after alleged missteps. Gabbard’s office denied any missteps and said the DIG was always meant to be temporary. Phil Stewart and Jonathan Landay report.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge yesterday ruled that the state government of Michigan was within its rights to refuse a request from the Trump administration to hand over personal information from state voter rolls. Mattathias Schwartz and Nick Corasaniti reports for the New York Times.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
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