Covid
- The White House says it will increase the number of covid tests available to schools by 10 million a month. [Link]
- Biden tells federal agencies to begin testing unvaccinated employees weekly starting Feb 15th. [Link]
- Senator Marco Rubio introduces a bill that will sanction Chinese officials the US claims are restricting the discovery of the origin of covid. [Link]
- The US buys 600,000 doses of antibody covid treatment from GSK and Vir Biotechnology for an undisclosed amount. [Link]
- The US donates 40,000 Pfizer covid vaccines to Haiti through Covax. [Link]
- The lockdowns led to a spike in childhood pregnancies in southern Africa. [Link]
US News
- Homes in majority black and Latino neighborhoods in Chicago were twice as likely as homes in white neighborhoods to receive a traffic ticket from a camera. The infrastructure bill allows states to spend federal money on traffic cameras. [Link]
- The Department of Justice creates a new unit to target domestic terrorism. [Link]
- The Navy says an operator error caused the fuel leak in Hawaii that poisoned the drinking water of military families. The Navy says it will drain the fuel from the tanks that caused the spill. [Link]
Haiti
- An alleged member of the assassination team that killed Haitian President Jevonol Moise claims the current Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry had a role in the plot. [Link]
- Over 170 Haitians were rescuced by the Coast Guard off the coast of Florida. [Link]
Great Power
- Senate Democrats introduce a bill that would sanction Russia if Russia invaded Ukraine. The bill is an alternative to Senator Ted Cruz’s bill that requires immediate sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. [Link]
- US and NATO officials meet with Russia for talks. Russia says it is not offering the West ultimatums but needs concrete answers. [Link]
- China offers Kazakhstan security support. [Link]
- Thailand will buy four F-35s for over $400 million. [Link]
North Korea
- The FAA briefly halted West Coast flights around the time of the North Korea missile test. [Link]
Afghanistan
- A senior Pakistani Taliban member was assassinated in Afghanistan. [Link]
Israel
- Pro-Israel lobbying groups are pushing the Senate to approve a bill that will give $1 billion in aid to Israel to buy more Iron Dome interceptors. The bill is being held up in the Senate after passing the House by Senator Rand Paul who is demanding that the funding come from money that was allocated to go to the non-existent Afghan government. [Link]
- Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says he expects conflict with Lebanon or Gaza soon. [Link]
- An 80-year-old Palestinian man died of a heart attack while detained by Israeli soldiers. [Link]
Middle East
- France says the US and Iran are still far from a deal. [Link]
- UAE-backed forces in Yemen were redeployed from the country’s Red Sea coast to central Yemen. Saudi Arabia claims the forces pushed the Houthi out of the Shabwah province and has also made gains in Maarib. [Link]
