Firefighters in eastern Ukraine fought to extinguish an extensive blaze after a Russian drone hit a fuel station in Kramatorsk. The city is one of Ukraine’s last strongholds in the Donetsk region.
The United States has issued new guidelines to US-flagged ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, calling on them to stay away from Iran’s territorial waters amid tensions between Washington and Tehran.
The advisory, released by the US Maritime Administration on Monday, also urged the captains of American ships against granting Iranian forces permission to board US vessels.
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“If Iranian forces board a US-flagged commercial vessel, the crew should not forcibly resist the boarding party. Refraining from forcible resistance does not imply consent or agreement to that boarding,” the guidelines read.
“It is recommended that US-flagged commercial vessels transiting these waters remain as far as possible from Iran’s territorial sea without compromising navigational safety. When transiting eastbound in the Strait of Hormuz, it is recommended that vessels transit close to Oman’s territorial sea.”
The recommendations come after the US and Iran held a round of indirect talks in Oman on Friday, following weeks of escalating rhetoric and threats that brought the two countries to the verge of war.
Global shipping lanes and commercial vessels have historically been threatened by geopolitical turmoil, especially in the Middle East.
During the Iran-Iraq conflict in the 1980s, both countries targeted merchant ships in what became known as the Tanker War.
More recently, Yemen’s Houthi group launched attacks against Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea in a campaign that the group said was aimed at ending Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
When Israel bombed Iran in June of last year, an Iranian lawmaker suggested that closing the Straight of Hormuz – a major shipping lane that connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean – would be an option for Tehran should the war escalate.
The US government describes Hormuz as the “world’s most important oil chokepoint” due to its strategic location as the maritime entryway into the energy-producing region.
Late in January, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) conducted naval military exercises in the strait, prompting the US military to warn Tehran against any “unsafe and unprofessional” behaviour.
The US military later said that it shot down an Iranian drone that approached one of its aircraft carriers in the area.
Washington has also previously seized Iranian oil tankers as part of its maximum pressure campaign of sanctions against Tehran.
In 2019, the United Arab Emirates reported what it described as sabotage attacks against four ships in its territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman.
But there have been no recent public threats by Iran or any other party to vessels in and around the Gulf.
The US has been amassing military assets in the region, with US President Donald Trump regularly threatening renewed strikes against Iran, which saw a wave of anti-government protests last month.
In December, Trump said Washington would attack Iran if the country pushes to rebuild its nuclear and missile programmes.
US forces had bombed Iran’s three main nuclear facilities during the June 2025 war, which was started by Israel amid ongoing talks between Tehran and Washington at that time.
Iranian officials have said that current negotiations are “exclusively nuclear”, but the Trump administration has suggested that it also wants to address Iran’s missile arsenal and Tehran’s support for non-state actors in the region, like Hezbollah and Hamas.
On the nuclear front, a major sticking point in the past negotiations has been whether Iran – which denies seeking a nuclear weapon – would be allowed to enrich uranium domestically.
Tehran insists that uranium enrichment is a sovereign right that does not violate its commitments under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
But Trump has pushed for zero enrichment.
Asked whether the US has drawn a red line on enrichment in the talks, US Vice President JD Vance told reporters in Armenia on Monday that Trump is the ultimate decider and would likely keep his demands in the negotiations private.
“If you go back to the original negotiation that happened between us and the Iranians, the president was trying very, very hard to actually strike a constructive deal that would have been good for the United States,” Vance said.
Serena Williams will be eligible to return to tennis from Sunday, 22 February – but it is unclear if or when the American great will make a comeback.
Williams’ name appeared on the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) reinstatements list on Monday, meaning she can enter tournaments from the date specified, the organisation confirmed to BBC Sport.
However, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has not announced an official return after ending her career at the 2022 US Open.
BBC Sport has contacted Williams’ agent and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) for comment.
Retired players can be reinstated and return to sanctioned events once they have made themselves available for out-of-competition drug testing for at least six months.
In December, the ITIA confirmed to BBC Sport that Williams was back on the list of players registered for the drug testing pool.
Once a player is in the pool, they must let testers know where they will be for one hour of every day.
Hours later, Williams, 44, posted on social media: “I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy.”
Interviewer Savannah Guthrie pushed Williams further, saying “that’s a maybe to me”, and the seven-time Wimbledon singles champion said: “It’s not a maybe.”
Asked whether she had re-entered the drug testing pool, Williams said: “I don’t know if I was out. Listen, I can’t discuss this.
“If I want to put it [rumours] to bed… listen, I want to go to bed.”
Williams previously spoke about using weight-loss drugs in August and appeared in a commercial for the drug during Sunday’s Super Bowl.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has never liked the word retirement and instead said she was “evolving away” from the sport when she ended her career in New York.
Only Margaret Court and Novak Djokovic have won more Grand Slam singles titles than Williams.
Her haul of seven Australian Open titles, three French Opens, seven Wimbledons and six US Opens is the most major singles titles by any woman in the Open era.
The associate and former girlfriend of convicted late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has declined to answer questions during a deposition before the United States Congress.
Lawmakers expressed frustration after Ghislaine Maxwell, currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in helping Epstein abuse teenage girls, invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
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“As expected, Ghislaine Maxwell took the Fifth and refused to answer any questions,” Representative James Comer, Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told reporters. “This is obviously very disappointing.”
“We had many questions to ask about the crimes she and Epstein committed as well as questions about potential co-conspirators,” he added.
Maxwell was subpoenaed to appear before the committee to discuss her relations with Epstein, but her lawyers stated that she would only testify if US President Donald Trump granted her clemency. Lawmakers had declined a previous request to grant Maxwell legal immunity before testifying.
“She [Maxwell] pleaded the Fifth, which under the US Constitution gives you the right not to answer questions on the grounds that you might incriminate yourself,” said Al Jazeera correspondent Alan Fisher.
“People were waiting to hear answers to important questions, but we got nothing from Ghislaine Maxwell,” he added. “What she did say, very briefly, was that she never saw any evidence of Donald Trump or [former US President] Bill Clinton involved in anything that was illegal. Many people suggest that was a deliberate ploy on her part to say, ‘Look, you buy my silence, but I want clemency.’ She’s appealing to both parties here to say, ‘I will clear the people that you care most about.’”
In a letter released on Sunday by Representative Ro Khanna expressing frustration with Maxwell’s refusal to testify, Khanna noted that Maxwell had spoken with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously worked as Trump’s personal lawyer, without invoking the Fifth Amendment.
“This position appears inconsistent with Ms Maxwell’s prior conduct, as she did not invoke the Fifth Amendment when she previously met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to discuss substantially similar subject matter,” he said.
Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison in Texas after meeting twice with Blanche last year.
Lawmakers such as Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse have called the decision “highly unusual” and questioned whether Maxwell had “been given special treatment in exchange for political favours” as President Trump’s own relationship with Epstein comes under growing scrutiny. Trump has strongly denied any wrongdoing and called the Epstein scandal a “hoax”.
Blanche has said that Maxwell was moved due to “numerous threats against her life”, without providing details. Maxwell has asked Trump to commute her sentence, which she was given in 2022 after being convicted on charges of sex trafficking minors.
Former presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has accused the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, of setting Nigeria on fire amid the controversy surrounding the electronic transmission of election results.
READ ALSO: It’s Possible For Senate To Vote Publicly On Real-Time E-Transmission Of Election Results — Ningi
There has been outrage after the Senate last week passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill 2026 through the third reading.
In passing the bill, the upper chamber did not approve the proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the bill, which sought to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory.
But Adebayo, a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, said, “The Senate President, receiving text messages from saboteurs, decided to set the country on fire over a minimum requirement that the elections should be seen by the public to be transparent.”
READ ALSO: Senate Fixes Emergency Plenary Amid Debates About E-Transmission Of Results
Adebayo also raised concerns like campaign finance, excessive spending, and buying of votes, among others, that he urged the lawmakers to address.
He asked the senators to remedy the situation by being true representatives of the people.
“The way to salvage the situation is for Godswill Akpabio to remember his humble beginnings, to know that he is a nobody in Nigeria.
“He (Akpabio) is only a somebody today because of the will of the people of Akwa Ibom who made him governor and also sent him to the National Assembly.
“He is not here to come and lecture us. He is not wiser than the next person. Where he is supposed to show leadership, he wants to make himself a mercenary to undermine democracy. The solution is for him to go back and repent,” the SDP chieftain added.
The Senate will hold an emergency plenary session on Tuesday, February 10, 2026.
In a notice sent by the Clerk of the Senate, Emmanuel Odo, the lawmakers were directed to convene at the National Assembly complex at noon on the instruction of Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
In a sweeping crackdown, Iranian security and judicial authorities have arrested several reformist politicians on charges of attempting to “disrupt the country’s political and social order” and working “for the benefit” of Israel and the US during recent protests.