* Russia is ready to hold talks with the European Union on natural gas supplies as a transit deal with Ukraine expires at the end of 2024, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak was quoted as saying by several news agencies on Saturday.
* President Joe Biden will meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington on Feb. 9 in a bid to rally support for additional assistance for Ukraine, the White House said on Saturday.
* A delegation led by the chief of Israel's intelligence agency Mossad traveled on Sunday to Paris for talks on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, an Israeli government official told Xinhua.
* At least 26,422 Palestinians have been killed and 65,087 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
* Britain said it has joined the U.S in "temporarily pausing" future funding for the United Nations' agency for Palestinians in Gaza, while it reviews "concerning allegations" that UNRWA staff were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
* The Israeli foreign minister called on Saturday for the United Nations' refugee agency for Palestinians to be "replaced with agencies dedicated to genuine peace and development" following allegations its staff were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
* Israel pressed ahead on Saturday with its campaign against Hamas in Gaza's Khan Younis area, while bad weather hit displaced Palestinians seeking refuge further north in the battered enclave.
* Qatar and the United States were committed to an agreement with Iran regarding the country's use of its unfrozen funds worth 6 billion USD, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Saturday.
* The international community needs to decide to make international humanitarian law "applicable to everyone," Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Friday, when asked about the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on the case against Israel.
* Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Saturday highlighted the necessity of coordination with Pakistan to safeguard the two countries' shared border.
* Israel's army announced on Saturday that it was increasing readiness along the Israel-Lebanon border, performing "intensive training exercises" amid cross-border escalation.
* A British warship, the HMS Diamond, repelled a drone attack on Saturday from Yemen's Houthi group in the Red Sea, British officials said.
* Despite losing its seat on the Council of the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO), Russia will remain a committed member and pay its dues, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
* The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said on Saturday it has deployed troops to secure a corridor for people fleeing more violence in the east.
* Mali's junta on Friday issued a decree to establish a committee to organise national peace and reconciliation talks, a day after it ended a 2015 peace deal with Tuareg separatist rebels and accused mediator Algeria of interfering in its affairs.
* The African Union's high-level delegation arrived in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, Saturday evening to assess the ongoing troop withdrawal, whose second phase began in December 2023.
* Iran on Sunday simultaneously sent three domestically developed satellites into space for the first time in its space history, the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported.
* Germany's GDL train drivers' union will call off its industrial action earlier than planned as negotiations with rail operator Deutsche Bahn DBN.UL resume, both sides informed on Saturday.
* The French government is considering further help for the country's farmers, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Sunday, as their nationwide protests to demand better pay and living conditions showed no sign of abating.
