January 2, 2026

Good morning.

1. President Trump said he is removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland but said, “We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again.” The deployments faced legal challenges (AP: nwppr.co/234z).

2. Protests in Iran over economic conditions entered a sixth day, with at least seven people reported dead in clashes with security forces. President Trump said the US is “locked and loaded” and would “come to [the] rescue” if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters” (AP: nwppr.co/234q).

3. A fire at a Swiss ski resort during a New Year’s Eve celebration killed about 40 people and injured more than 119 (AP: nwppr.co/234x).

4. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq rose 13%, 16%, and 20% over the full year of 2025, respectively, marking the third straight year of double-digit gains (CNBC: nwppr.co/234t).

5. Zohran Mamdani (D) was sworn in as mayor of New York City. The 34-year-old is the first democratic socialist and first Muslim mayor of the city (CBS: nwppr.co/234u).

6. Many new state and federal laws took effect, including legislation focused on AI, paid family and medical leave, and mail-in voting. Here is an overview (NBC: nwppr.co/234w)

7. Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He will remain chairman (NPR: nwppr.co/234s).

8. Chinese carmaker BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s largest seller of EVs in 2025, reporting 2.26M units sold. Tesla reported 1.64M deliveries in 2025 (CNBC: nwppr.co/234r).

Welcome to 2026 🎉!

–Editors