Key Storylines
- AFRICA: West African countries are considering opening talks with jihadis in the region, as a nearly decade-long battle against extremism in the Sahel shows no sign of stopping, and France’s president Emmanuel Macron signals that he may cut support.
- AMERICAS: Nearly 1,000 infection cases of COVID-19 variants have been reported in a total of 44 U.S. states, the latest data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported.
- ASIA: Myanmar’s new military government warned the public not to harbor fugitive political activists after issuing arrest warrants for veteran democracy campaigners supporting massive nationwide anti-coup protests.
- EUROPE: Supporters of imprisoned Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny plan a protest using light from mobile phones, flashlights, and candles on February 14 to show support for Navalny despite a warning that people taking part could face criminal charges.
- MIDDLE EAST: Saudi Arabia has extended by 20 days restrictions on entertainment activities, gatherings, and dine-in restaurant services to curb the spread of COVID-19, state news agency SPA announced, citing an interior ministry statement.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: The scale of China’s internet advertising market grew to nearly 500 billion yuan (about 77 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, up 14 percent year on year, according to the latest statistical report on internet development.
Top Story
- United States: Political figures react to the failed conviction of former President Donald J. Trump in a Senate vote.
- The Senate voted 57-43 on the notion that Trump was guilty of inciting an insurrection. Seven Republicans — Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, and Pat Toomey — joined Democrats in voting to convict the president.
- U.S. President Joe Biden said that though most Republican senators voted to acquit former President Donald Trump of inciting insurrection in the run-up to the deadly violence on Capitol on Jan. 6, the “substance of the charge” was not in dispute.
- The seven Republican senators who voted to convict former president Donald Trump at his impeachment trial faced immediate hostility and criticism from fellow conservatives showcasing the former president’s strength in the party.
- Former President Trump welcomed the verdict and said the trial had been “yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country”.
- Reporting: FT, Xinhua, The Guardian, Telegraph,
Africa
- Region: West African countries are considering opening talks with jihadis in the region, as a nearly decade-long battle against extremism in the Sahel shows no sign of stopping, and France’s president Emmanuel Macron signals that he may cut support. (FT)
- Ethiopia: The government and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) have expressed support for China’s humanitarian aid in the East African nation. (Xinhua)
- Libya: Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, the nation’s newly chosen prime minister, confirmed that he has begun working on forming a new unity government. (Xinhua)
Americas
- United States: A winter storm struck the Pacific Northwest with ice and snow, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power and disrupting travel across the region. (AP)
- United States: The Minnesota Court of Appeals will not delay the upcoming trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd. ( UPI)
- United States: Nearly 1,000 infection cases of COVID-19 variants have been reported in a total of 44 U.S. states, the latest data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported. (Xinhua)
Asia
- Australia: Victoria’s top health officials have defended the state’s testing and contact tracing systems as two new COVID-19 cases linked to the Holiday Inn outbreak were reported, taking the Melbourne cluster to 16. (The Guardian)
- Japan: The number of people who were injured from the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that hit the nation has reached 124, public television reported. (TASS)
- Myanmar: The country’s new military government warned the public not to harbor fugitive political activists after issuing arrest warrants for veteran democracy campaigners supporting massive nationwide anti-coup protests. (AFP)
- South Korea: South Korea’s COVID-19 cases stayed in the 300s for a second straight day in part because of fewer tests on the Lunar New Year holiday. (YNA)
Europe
- Region: The man behind the notorious “Ibiza video” that brought down Austria’s government in 2019 announced that he was seeking asylum in Germany to escape “political persecution” in his homeland, in a case that risks hurting the relationship between Vienna and Berlin. (FT)
- Kosovo: The nation is conducting an early parliamentary election to form a new government amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic downturn, and stalled negotiations with wartime foe Serbia. (AP)
- Russia: Supporters of imprisoned opposition politician Aleksei Navalny plan a protest using light from mobile phones, flashlights, and candles on February 14 to show support for Navalny despite a warning that people taking part could face criminal charges. (RFE)
- United Kingdom: Around 700,000 self-employed people in Britain gave up their businesses during the current lockdown, according to a new study by the Resolution Foundation. (DPA)
Middle East
- Iraq: Troops have found the bodies of 13 Turkish citizens abducted by Kurdish insurgents in a cave complex in northern Kurdish territories of the nation, the Turkish defense minister reported. (AP)
- Saudi Arabia: The kingdom has extended by 20 days restrictions on entertainment activities, gatherings, and dine-in restaurant services to curb the spread of COVID-19, state news agency SPA announced, citing an interior ministry statement. (Reuters)
- United Arab Emirates: Dubai’s real estate market will take at least one to two years to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, DAMAC Properties’ chairman reported the developer reported a widening annual loss. (Reuters)
Tech & Communications
- Telecommunications: The scale of China’s internet advertising market grew to nearly 500 billion yuan (about 77 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, up 14 percent year on year, according to the latest statistical report on internet development. (Xinhua)
World
- Cyclones:
- Tropical Cyclone Faraji
- Location:20.4S 77.6E
- Movement: WSW
- Wind:35 mph
- Map
- Tropical Cyclone Faraji
- Hurricanes: Nothing to report.
- Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
- Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 14FEB21)
- Confirmed cases: 108,576,068
- Total recovered cases: 60,880,296
- Deaths: 2,394,694
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 14FEB21)
Tomorrow’s Outlook (15FEB21)
- Global: World Trade Organization (WTO) to elect a new leader.
- Africa: U.N. Security Council report due on the CAR.
- Europe: Eurozone finance ministers to meet after latest economic forecast.
- Japan: Q4 GDP to be released.
- Kazakhstan: Russian space freighter brings supplies for the crew of the International Space Station (ISS).
- Serbia: Statehood Day.
- Singapore: Economic Survey of Singapore 2020 published covering Q4 and whole of 2020.
- Turkey: Verdict expected in trial of Turkish human rights lawyer Eren Keskin.
- United Kingdom: The nation reopens travel corridors as early as today.
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