5 Big News Stories Overnight - Friday, February 6, 2026

Uber Hit With $8.5M Verdict In 1st Fed. Sex Assault Bellwether

Law360 reports:

An Arizona federal jury on Thursday found that Uber wasn't negligent with respect to rider safety but was liable for the actions of a driver who allegedly sexually assaulted a passenger in 2023, awarding the rider $8.5 million in damages in the first such federal bellwether trial.

PHOTO: Erik McLean, Unsplash

U.S.: $50,000 Reward 

The #FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the recovery of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.

She was last seen at her residence in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona, on the evening of January 31, 2026.

Learn more at fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/nancy-guthrie.
 

Ukraine: Most Trust Zelensky

Kyiv Post reports:

A majority of Ukrainians – 61% – say they trust President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the results of a nationwide public opinion poll conducted in Jan. 23-29, suggesting that public confidence in Ukraine’s leader has remained largely stable amid the ongoing war.

The findings were published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), which conducted telephone interviews across government-controlled territory on Jan. 23-29.

Trust in the president remains stable

According to the survey results, 61% of respondents said they trust Zelensky, while 33% said they do not. Among those expressing trust, 25% said they had complete trust in the president, and another 36% said they “rather trust” him.

U.S.: Jobs Market Crashes

Bloomberg reports:

US companies announced the largest number of job cuts for any January since the depths of the Great Recession in 2009, according to data from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Companies last month announced 108,435 job cuts, a 118% increase from a year earlier. The report on Thursday also showed hiring intentions slid 13% from a year earlier to 5,306—marking the weakest total for any January in the firm’s records back 17 years.

“Generally, we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January,” said Andy Challenger, the company’s chief revenue officer. “It means most of these plans were set at the end of 2025, signaling employers are less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026.”

Almost half of the job cuts announced in January were tied to three companies—Amazon, United Parcel Service, and Dow.

Iran-U.S.: Talks to Kick Off in Oman Amid Mounting War Fears

Times of Israel reports:

Iran and the United States were set to hold high-stakes negotiations in Oman on Friday over Tehran’s nuclear program, but a dispute over the agenda, most notably differences over Iran’s formidable missile program, suggests progress will be hard-won, with the threat of another Middle East war looming.

The talks were originally due to begin at 10 a.m. local time (8 a.m. Israel time), but Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported that they were pushed back by about an hour.

While both sides have signaled readiness to revive diplomacy, Washington wants the talks to cover Iran’s nuclear program, its ballistic missiles, support for proxy terror groups around the region and “treatment of their own people,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday. The talks follow a bloody Iranian crackdown on mass anti-regime protests last month.