• Firings at Justice: The Trump Justice Department says it has fired more than a dozen employees who worked on criminal investigations into President Donald Trump. The action targets career prosecutors who worked with special counsel Jack Smith.
  • Related Monitor story: President Trump’s earliest orders and actions backed up his campaign promises. But some drew criticism, and the momentum may be hard to sustain. Linda Feldmann sized up Week 1.
• Rising role for German nativists: The chancellor candidate for Germany’s conservative bloc said he would push through a migration crackdown with the backing of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
  • Related Monitor story: In the German region where Nazis first tasted power a century ago, the extreme right-wing AfD is now ascendant. Lenora Chu explores the historical echoes.
• Health collaboration curbed: The Trump administration has told U.S. public health officials to stop working with the World Health Organization, effective immediately. The surprise decision is focused on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
• Crackdown in Pakistan: Pakistan’s upper house of Parliament passed a bill granting the government powers to impose heavy fines and incarcerate social media users for spreading disinformation. Critics say it threatens freedom of speech.
• Bessent to Treasury: The U.S. Senate confirmed Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary, giving the billionaire hedge fund manager a central role in shaping the new administration’s approach to tax cuts and spending.

A key aim of Israel’s war against Hamas was to eliminate the militant group. But with the ceasefire, Hamas has reasserted its rule over Gaza, emerging from its tunnels to stage rallies and parades. Hamas says it is ready to hand over the government of the strip, if not its weapons. It is proving hard, though, to find another entity that is both ready to take that responsibility and acceptable to all sides.

Utah Sen. John Curtis, like his predecessor, doesn’t always agree with President Donald Trump. “I view myself as somebody who has commitment to my constitutional responsibility,” he tells the Monitor, “and I’m not a rubber stamp.” His approach also leaves more room for consensus – and shows how the Senate Republican Party has changed compared with when President Trump first won office.

Every two years, America’s schoolchildren get a report card on math and reading. The latest results show students falling further behind. Lackluster outcomes are sparking questions about what else, besides pandemic disruption, may be hindering students from achieving their full academic potential. Chronic absenteeism, for example, continues to be a problem. 

The U.S. military says its personnel face increased levels of mental health distress amid a rise in dangerous operations. That has led the Navy to focus more on the spiritual needs of sailors, drawing from some 200 faith groups. It’s about shared purpose, says the head of the U.S. Navy’s chaplain corps. “We help sailors make sense of what they’re doing out there.”

Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine were meant to sandbag Russia’s economy. But creative Russian entrepreneurs have been rising to fill some previously unreachable niches vacated by departing brands. “I didn’t wish for this situation, but I’m a Russian who feels patriotic,” says one fashion designer. “Russian customers were looking for equivalent goods, ... and our task was to provide them.”

Artist Lauren Pacheco believes Gary, Indiana, is ripe for rejuvenation. So Ms. Pacheco has devoted considerable energy toward enlivening the cultural heritage of this once-mighty industrial town. She has brought in artists to create vibrant murals and established art archives as guides to the city’s past and current treasures. Her main goal, she says: “getting people to fall in love with Gary the way I did.”

For the people of Ukraine, an election in neighboring Belarus Jan. 26 was well worth watching. It was an example of what they are fighting against. The rigged election kept a dictator of three decades, Alexander Lukashenko, in power – and kept his country of 9.5 million people well within Russia’s orbit of influence.

Yet after the election, officials in Ukraine noted that eventually it will be “the people, not one person,” who will determine whether Belarus becomes democratic. They should know. Ever since the Russian invasion of 2022, Ukraine has relied on its people to not only fight the invaders but also unite around a renewed identity of civic and cultural values – separate from those dictated by the Kremlin.

Ukraine’s struggle has inspired many in Belarus – and those forced to flee the country – to follow suit. “Belarusian national identity, cultures and language are our strongest weapons against the Russian world and Russification,” stated exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya last year.

That task of identity-building began in earnest in 2020 after the last election. To most observers, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya won the vote, a rare case of President Lukashenko allowing a legitimate opposition figure to run. When he kept power, it ignited the largest protests ever seen in Belarus. A harsh clampdown on pro-democracy activists then forced some half-million people into exile.

“My sense of identity is more Belarusian now than it was before 2020,” Kseniya Halubovich, an exiled film director and journalist, told The Kyiv Independent. “I make a conscious effort to avoid reading or watching anything Russian, and I’m grateful that my mind feels so clear and free from that imperialistic influence.”

Much of what connects the exiled community is renewed interest in speaking the Belarusian language – regarded as a symbol of freedom – and in learning about the country’s history and arts. One example is a current exhibit in Scotland. It shows 200 figurative drawings of political prisoners held by the regime and was done by artist Ksisha Angelova, who fled her country in 2021.

The exiled author, Hanna Komar, said the struggle to define a cultural identity has changed him. “The identities I once took pride in, like being a writer or an activist, now feel distant,” she told The Kyiv Independent. “More and more, I find myself thinking that what truly matters is simply being a decent human.” Sometimes standing up to a dictator first requires knowing what you stand for.