* Russia's second largest city St. Petersburg on Friday held the annual "900 Days and Nights" memorial event marking the 79th anniversary of the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad during World War II.
* U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply worried" by the current escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory and urged "utmost restraint" on Friday, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to act after a shooting attack killed at least seven people and wounded three others Friday in a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem.
* Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Friday called on Congress to move general elections forward to December 2023, in order to get the country out of the "quagmire" with near-daily protests. The Peruvian government initially proposed holding the elections in April 2024, rather than a previously scheduled date in 2026.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday urged the establishment of "guardrails" to prevent hate speech, extremism and misinformation.
* Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov will hold a meeting with Lynne Tracy, the new U.S. ambassador to Moscow, early next week, the RIA news agency reported on Saturday.
* A total of 321 heavy tanks have been promised to Ukraine by several countries, Ukraine's ambassador to France said on BFM television on Friday.
* The Ukrainian foreign ministry will summon Hungary's ambassador to complain about "completely unacceptable" remarks Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made about Ukraine, Kyiv said on Friday.
* The United States and European Union on Friday announced an agreement to speed up and enhance the use of artificial intelligence to improve agriculture, healthcare, emergency response, climate forecasting and the electric grid.
* Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni flew to Tripoli on Saturday where she is expected to agree a major gas deal aimed at boosting energy supplies to Europe despite the insecurity and political chaos in the North African country.
* Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM said it will ship 24.3 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Saturday.
* The Ethiopian government on Friday disclosed that preparations have been finalized to resume public land transport services into the country's conflict-affected northernmost Tigray region.
* Lunar New Year holiday trips inside China surged 74% from last year after authorities scrapped COVID-19 curbs that had stifled travel for three years, media reported on Saturday.
* A commercial market has been opened for women in Afghanistan's western Herat province to sell their products, said Behnaz Saljoqi, deputy director of Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industries in the Western Zone, on Saturday.
* U.S. stocks climbed on Friday as investors parsed the latest economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 28.67 points, or 0.08 percent, to 33,978.08. The S&P 500 added 10.13 points, or 0.25 percent, to 4,070.56. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 109.30 points, or 0.95 percent, to 11,621.71.
* Angolan President Joao Lourenco said Friday that Angola would continue to invest in the country's telecommunication sector with more satellites and infrastructures to ensure that the sector helps develop the country.
* Sri Lanka's economy could contract by -3.5 or -4.0% in 2023 after shrinking -11% last year, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Saturday.
* Diamond export generated revenue of 1.95 billion USD for Angola in 2022, with an annual increase of 1.38 percent, an official of the country's Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas has revealed.
*The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and Trademark Africa (TMA), signed a partnership agreement in Accra on Friday night to facilitate the development of trading infrastructure across Africa to boost trade.
* UN humanitarians report that recent clashes between Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) forces and M23 rebels have displaced about 90,000 people, a UN spokesman said on Friday.
* Authorities in New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland, began mopping up on Saturday after torrential rains brought flash flooding and evacuations, with at least two people confirmed dead and two missing in the widespread inundation.
* Two Indian air force fighter jets crashed on Saturday after becoming involved in an accident and one pilot was killed, the air force said.
