Saudi Arabia willing to make concessions on Palestinians for peace with Israel (m.jpost.com)
Bao Fan: Missing China billionaire banker resigns from all roles (www.bbc.com)
Chinese billionaire banker Bao Fan, who has been missing for almost a year, has resigned from all roles at his firm, China Renaissance Holdings....
Elderly Uyghur women imprisoned in China for decades-old religious ‘crimes’, leaked files reveal (www.theguardian.com)
Weird ancient tree from before dinosaurs found in Canadian quarry (www.cbc.ca)
Israel To Pursue Genocide Case Against Iran At ICJ (www.iranintl.com)
Centuries-old mosque torn down in New Delhi (www.dhakatribune.com)
The Masjid Akhonji in New Delhi, which its caretakers say is around 600 years old...
Russia condemns Ecuador over decision to hand Russian military hardware to US for Ukraine - RIA (www.reuters.com)
MOSCOW, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Russia’s foreign ministry on Friday condemned a decision by Ecuador to hand over Russian-made military hardware to the United States for use in Ukraine as a “reckless” breach of contract, the RIA news agency reported....
U.S. plans to raise tariffs against Canadian softwood lumber producers (www.theglobeandmail.com)
The U.S. Department of Commerce plans to raise tariffs levied against Canadian softwood lumber producers, marking the latest salvo in the long-running trade dispute....
Exclusive: Ukraine must adapt to a reduction in Western military aid, embattled army chief says (www.cnn.com)
Ukraine’s embattled army chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, says Ukraine must adapt to a reduction in military aid from its key allies and focus ever more strongly on technology if it is to win its war against Russia....
Italy to supply admiral for EU Red Sea naval mission (www.reuters.com)
ROME, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Italy will provide the admiral in command of a European Union Red Sea naval mission to protect ships from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militia, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said on Friday....
Armenia can no longer rely on Russia for military and defence needs - PM Pashinyan (www.reuters.com)
Pashinyan questions Russian alliance Suggests closer ties with United States and France Armenia needs new national security strategy - Pashinyan Armenia is home to Russian military facilities...
Canada considers sanctions on settlers in West Bank over violence (news.yahoo.com)
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is looking at imposing sanctions on “extremist” settlers in the West Bank, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday, a day after U.S. action against four Israeli men accused of being involved in violence in the occupied territory....
Belgium summons Israeli ambassador after its building in Gaza is bombed (www.reuters.com)
Public transport across Germany disrupted as workers strike (www.reuters.com)
How did a raccoon knock out power for large swaths of downtown Toronto last night? (toronto.ctvnews.ca)
A raccoon was behind the massive power outage that knocked out electricity to some 7,000 customers in downtown Toronto for hours Thursday night.
Wounded Russian soldiers complain about being "dumped" without medicine (www.newsweek.com)
The far-right Bundestag aide and his rapping FSB case officer (theins.ru)
Vladimir Sergienko, 52, is the Ukrainian-born adviser to Eugen Schmidt, a Bundestag deputy with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The Insider and Der Spiegel reported in August that Sergienko had fallen under suspicion in Germany after his email and text message correspondence with a suspected FSB operative known only as...
S. Korea’s military service controversy: ‘Senior Army’ as a solution? (www.chosun.com)
As South Korea faces a military manpower shortage due to its low birth rate issue, opinions have emerged suggesting the recruitment of women or the male individuals aged 55 to 75 to fill the gap. However, public opinion in Korea remains divided on these proposals, and debates surrounding military service are expected to...
Russian General Alexander Tatarenko 'Killed in Ukraine's Belbek Air Base Strike' (www.kyivpost.com)
Panama Canal Drought Slows Cargo Traffic (www.nytimes.com)
I’ll note that the Washington Post is also running an opinion piece titled A dry Panama Canal shows how climate change will scramble globalization...
UN top court can rule on Ukraine case against Russia (www.bbc.com)
The UN’s top court has said it has jurisdiction to hear a case brought against Russia by Ukraine....
Aid to Gaza and beyond at risk of collapse due to funding cuts, says UNRWA (www.theguardian.com)
Vital supplies of fuel and bread flour for Gaza risk running out, while schools, clinics and even rubbish collections in the West Bank and three countries across the Middle East could cease operating by the end of the month if funding cuts for UNRWA are not restored, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees has warned....
Russian Court Jails Woman for Wearing 'Extremist' Rainbow Earrings (www.themoscowtimes.com)
Western officials in protest over Israel Gaza policy (www.msn.com)
"What's really different here is we're not failing to prevent something, we're actively complicit. That is fundamentally different from any other situation I can recall,"
Ukraine says it sank Russian warship off coast of Crimea and unleashed ‘massive’ missile barrage on peninsula (www.cnn.com)
Ukraine’s military intelligence says it sank a Russian warship off the coast of Crimea overnight into Thursday, landing the latest in a series of blows to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet after mounting a “massive” missile attack on the occupied peninsula hours earlier....
