1. Major Powers Agree to Plan for Syria ‘Cessation of Hostilities’
Major powers agreed to implement a cessation of hostilities in Syria and to expand delivery of humanitarian aid to people caught up in the conflict, officials said.
2. Fed’s Yellen Sticks to Her Guns as Global Market Rout Worsens
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen returned to the Congress with a brave face amid the worsening meltdown in global markets and growing skepticism that the US central bank can carry out its long-planned pivot to “normal” monetary policy.
3. NATO Launches Sea Mission Against Migrant Traffickers
NATO ships are on their way to the Aegean Sea to help Turkey and Greece crack down on criminal networks smuggling refugees into Europe, the alliance’s top commander said.
4. Einstein’s Gravitational Waves Detected in Landmark Discovery
Scientists for first time detected gravitational waves, ripples in space and time hypothesised by Albert Einstein century ago, in a landmark discovery that opens up a new window for studying the cosmos.
5. Beijing Offers Support for Hong Kong After New Year Violence
China’s Central government firmly supports Hong Kong authorities and police in safeguarding public order and punishing those who break the law, the foreign ministry said, in Beijing’s first reaction to a riot in Hong Kong earlier this week.
6. Taiwan City Looks at Developer’s Other Buildings After Quake Collapse
Authorities in Tainan, Taiwan’s oldest city, inspected buildings linked to the developer of the apartment block that collapsed in a deadly earthquake. Some residents wanted to move, afraid that structural weaknesses exposed by quake may affect their homes too.
7. In Myanmar, Slum Eviction Highlights Suu Kyi’s Military Challenge
Days before democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi led her lawmakers into parliament as Myanmar’s government-in-waiting, Ei Than watched bulldozers sent by the military destroy her house in a slum on the outskirts of Yangon.
8. Drug Cartel Battle Kills 49 in Northeastern Mexican Prison
A battle between the feared Zetas drug cartel and rivals at a prison left 49 people dead in the northeastern Mexican city of Monterrey, authorities say, days ahead of a planned visit by Pope Francis to another jail in Mexico’s far north.
9. South Sudan President Re-Appoints Rival Under Peace Deal
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir re-appointed his rival Riek Machar as vice president, a decree said, in the culmination of a deal to try to end months of civil war in the world’s newest nation.
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