Key Storylines
- AFRICA: Bissau-Guinean President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said the attempted coup against him may have been linked to drug trafficking.
- AMERICAS: Hundreds of flights were canceled across the US in anticipation of a major winter storm.
- ASIA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s second tax amnesty program has unearthed previously unreported assets worth nearly $600 million in its first month.
- EUROPE: Envoys from the European Union and the United States urged Kosovo and Serbia to make concrete progress in EU-brokered negotiations aimed at resolving a long-running dispute that remains a source of tensions in the Balkans.
- MIDDLE EAST: The United States will deploy a guided missile destroyer and state-of-the-art fighter jets to help defend the United Arab Emirates after a series of missile attacks by Houthi rebels.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: The United States’ top cybersecurity official, Anne Neuberger, was dispatched to NATO on a mission to prepare allies to deter Russian cyberattacks on Ukraine.
Top Story
- Russia: President Vladimir Putin accuses the west of trying to lure Russia into War.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of deliberately creating a scenario designed to lure it into a war and ignoring Russia’s security concerns over Ukraine.
- President Putin described the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO as an existential threat and said that a Ukraine with NATO weapons could launch a war against Russia to recapture Crimea, leading to war between Russia and NATO.
- The Russian President also accused the US and its allies of ignoring Russia’s top security demands but said Moscow is willing to talk more to ease tensions over Ukraine.
- Washington and its NATO allies have offered Moscow arms control and trust-building measures to defuse the threat of a new Russian offensive against Ukraine.
- Recent weeks have seen a flurry of diplomacy to avert a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine, after Moscow amassed tens of thousands of troops on the country’s borders.
- Reuters, NYT, AP, AFP, AlJazeera
Africa
- Burkina Faso: The Millennium Challenge Corporation paused $450 million in aid to the country in response to the military coup against President Roch Marc Christian Kabore. (AP)
- DR Congo: At least 40 people were killed when knife-wielding militiamen attacked a site for displaced people in the east. (AFP)
- Guinea-Bissau: President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said the attempted coup against him may have been linked to drug trafficking. (Reuters)
- Mali: The finance ministry said the country has defaulted on bond repayments because of restrictions imposed by its neighbors. (BBC)
- South Africa: The presidency received the second of a three-part report on investigations into corruption during former President Jacob Zuma’s tenure. (BBC)
Americas
- Ecuador: At least 24 were killed and 48 injured in a landslide in Quito. (AP)
- Panama: Authorities located the bodies of two Americans who went missing in a plane crash in the Pacific on January 3. (AP)
- United States: Hundreds of flights were canceled across the country in anticipation of a major winter storm. (AP)
- United States: President Joe Biden will announce a relaunch of the government’s cancer “moonshot” effort, with a goal of cutting deaths from the disease by half. (AFP)
Asia
- China: Beijing reported three new COVID-19 cases as officials said the virus situation was under control with the Olympic Games set to open later this week. (AP)
- Indonesia: President Joko Widodo’s second tax amnesty program has unearthed previously unreported assets worth nearly $600 million in its first month. (Reuters)
- Japan: Tokyo’s new COVID-19 cases exceeded 20,000 for the first-time dimming hopes that an Omicron-fueled wave of infections in the country is peaking out. (Reuters)
- North Korea: The US called for the UN Security Council to meet to discuss Pyongyang’s most recent test of a ballistic missile capable of reaching US territory. (AP)
- Tonga: Officials announced that the island will close its borders after two cases of COVID-19 were discovered in the previously virus-free nation. (AFP)
Europe
- Region: The bodies of 12 migrants who froze to death were found near Turkey’s border with Greece. (AP)
- Region: Envoys from the European Union and the United States urged Kosovo and Serbia to make concrete progress in EU-brokered negotiations aimed at resolving a long-running dispute that remains a source of tensions in the Balkans. (AP)
- France: The country began lifting coronavirus restrictions including mandatory outdoor mask-wearing in a bid to ease citizens’ daily lives. (AFP)
- Turkey: The country launched airstrikes against Kurdish targets in Iraq and Syria, where Kurdish forces were still reeling from the largest Islamic State group attack in nearly three years. (AFP)
- United Kingdom: Senior Conservative lawmaker Tobias Ellwood said he would submit a letter of no confidence in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling ‘partygate’ a distraction to the government at a time of international crisis. (Reuters)
Middle East
- Region: The United States will deploy a guided missile destroyer and state-of-the-art fighter jets to help defend the United Arab Emirates after a series of missile attacks by Houthi rebels. (AFP)
- Iran: A streaming website featuring state television programming suffered technical issues amid reports that dissident hackers played an anti-government message on the platform. (AP)
- Israel: Police appeared to acknowledge they had used espionage technology without a warrant, following allegations last month that they had used the controversial Pegasus spyware. (AFP)
- United Arab Emirates: The country welcomed the Somali prime minister’s public apology for a Somali operation in 2018 that resulted in the seizure of an aircraft and $9.6 million in cash, souring relations between the nations. (AP)
Tech & Communications
- Cybersecurity: The United States’ top cybersecurity official, Anne Neuberger, was dispatched to NATO on a mission to prepare allies to deter Russian cyberattacks on Ukraine. (NYT)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to Report.
- Hurricanes: Nothing to Report.
- Earthquakes: Nothing to Report.
- Volcanoes: Nothing to Report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 02FEB22)
- Confirmed cases: 381,724,054
- Deaths: 5,688,009
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 02FEB22)
Tomorrow’s Outlook (03FEB22)
- Event: Hudson Institute discussion on how the U.S. can help defend Ukraine.
- Event: Atlantic Council discussion on Turkey and Russia-Ukraine conflict.
- China: Visit by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. (to 05FEB)
- China: Visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
- France: EU interior ministers’ informal meeting in Lille.
- Haiti: UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review to adopt recommendations made to Haiti following review of human rights records.
- Ghana: West African leaders discuss Burkina Faso coup.
- Italy: Swearing-in ceremony for President Sergio Matttarella.
- Japan:
- Mozambique: Heroes’ Day.
- São Tomé and Príncipe: Martyrs’ Day.
- Thailand: Veterans’ Day.
- United States: House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on U.S. priorities in the Western Hemisphere.
- Ukraine: Visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
- Vietnam: Communist Party of Vietnam Foundation Anniversary.
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