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Russian, Ukrainian, and American negotiators are headed to the United Arab Emirates for talks officials say will be the first involving all three parties since the war in Ukraine began in 2022. After meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the documents for ending the war were 鈥渘early ready,鈥� while pushing for more pressure on Russia.

Tensions over immigration enforcement in Minnesota have escalated since an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good earlier this month. At least three people were arrested after demonstrators disrupted a service at a Minneapolis church where an ICE official serves as a pastor, prompting a Justice Department civil rights investigation. Hundreds of Minnesota businesses and schools reportedly planned to close today to protest the surge in immigration arrests.

Three Hong Kong activists who organized yearly vigils marking Beijing鈥檚 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protests went on trial yesterday. Under the sweeping national security law China imposed in 2020, the former leaders of a group that supported democracy in China were charged with subversion. The vigils were long legal in Hong Kong and once symbolized the territory鈥檚 relative freedom of expression.

More than 150 Jewish faculty members at the University of Pennsylvania filed an amicus brief supporting the school鈥檚 effort to block a federal subpoena requesting personal information on Jewish faculty and students as part of an antisemitism investigation. The university has called the demand 鈥渄isconcerting鈥� and offered instead to notify employees about how to provide any relevant information. The Justice Department launched a task force last year to probe antisemitism on campuses.

Murders dropped sharply last year in large U.S. cities, according to from the Council on Criminal Justice. Homicides fell 21% across 35 cities studied, with 31 seeing declines. If national FBI data later this year follow the same pattern, 2025 could mark the lowest homicide rate on record, stretching back more than a century. Other violent crimes, including gun assaults and robberies, also fell.

Rock climber Alex Honnold is set to scale Taiwan鈥檚 tallest skyscraper. Weather permitting, it would be the first rope-free ascent of the 101-story tower, in Mr. Honnold鈥檚 signature free-solo style. Netflix plans to stream the climb live, airing tonight for U.S. viewers, and raising concerns it could glamorize risky behavior. Mr. Honnold told The New York Times he hopes those watching 鈥渨ill at least see the joy in it.鈥�

鈥� From Monitor writers around the globe

Former special counsel Jack Smith鈥檚 efforts to prosecute Donald Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election results ended more than a year ago. But political partisanship around the issue remains strong 鈥� and was on display as Mr. Smith made his first public comments on the case during a House hearing.

Voters still broadly favor securing the southern border, and they give President Donald Trump credit for that. But as聽Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to show up in force in cities across America, that appears to be reframing the issue, with 6 in 10 voters now disapproving of the president鈥檚 handling of immigration.

In Gaza, winter has been an added hardship for displaced Palestinians, particularly the tens of thousands living in tents and pushed alongside the windy and frigid coast. Tents are too few, and too flimsy.

The dispute over Greenland may have been resolved at Davos. But it generated so much ill will and mistrust between Washington and its European allies that NATO might not recover.

In a region with an arid climate and severe water scarcity, finding sustainable solutions to grow crops is urgent. So far, the answer has been to combine public infrastructure, scientific innovation, and sophisticated sensor technology.

Donald Trump was elected twice as president, in part because many Americans believe the United States has done enough for the world over more than a century 鈥� in defending freedom and opening its markets and borders 鈥� with little gratitude or assistance in return. That grievance over a perceived lack of gratitude was in full throttle Wednesday during Mr. Trump鈥檚 speech to world leaders in Davos, Switzerland.

The president criticized Denmark for being 鈥渦ngrateful鈥� after the U.S. saved its territory of Greenland during World War II and then 鈥済ave it back.鈥�

鈥淲e fought for Denmark,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e weren鈥檛 fighting for anyone else.鈥�

He also went after America鈥檚 northern neighbor. 鈥淐anada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way. They should be grateful ... but they鈥檙e not.鈥�

And he said this about America鈥檚 role in many wars: 鈥淲hat does the United States get out of all of this work, all of this money 鈥� other than death, destruction, and massive amounts of cash going to people who don鈥檛 appreciate what we do?鈥�

His demand for gratitude, from either countries or companies, is not new. Last year, Mr. Trump accused Ukraine of showing 鈥渮ero gratitude鈥� for U.S. support in the war with Russia. Yet many leaders have grown tired of this type of guilt-tripping that seems aimed at dealmaking, that sees genuine gifts only as veiled bribery.

In Davos, for example, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney indicated a new distance from the U.S. for the sake of Canada鈥檚 prosperity and security. He is seeking ties with smaller nations like his that see power in 鈥渓egitimacy, integrity, and rules.鈥�

One of Canada鈥檚 top intellectuals, Michael Ignatieff, explained on Substack last year that gratitude is 鈥渙ne of those feelings which ceases to be itself, when it is forced. It is like love in that respect. It is in the very meaning of gratitude that it should be free.鈥�

鈥淭here used to be Presidents who understood what freedom was, and why it was unnecessary to demand gratitude when the United States defended it. Not anymore.鈥�

For his 2017 book, 鈥淭he Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World,鈥� Dr. Ignatieff traveled the world to vulnerable communities under stress to find out how they developed their own 鈥渕oral practice,鈥� including appreciation for one another, in order to live together. He found that 鈥渙rdinary鈥� virtues are not an abstraction or seen as universal but are something individuals discover in each other from community encounters. They are both local and 鈥渢he point and purpose of a human life.鈥�

That may be why Prime Minister Carney鈥檚 speech in Davos drew high praise. In it, he called on countries under stress like his to help 鈥渂uild a new order鈥� that encompasses 鈥渃ommon鈥� values in 鈥済enuine cooperation.鈥�

Any gratitude for the success of that project will probably be freely given.