Monday, 9th February 2015
EGYPT – All soccer in Egypt was postponed indefinitely after at least 19 people were killed following clashes between fans and police outside a stadium in Cairo on Sunday. (Reuters)
IRAN – U.S. President Barack Obama said extending the March deadline for a nuclear deal with Iran would not be useful if Iran does not agree to a basic framework that assures world powers it is not pursuing nuclear arms. (Reuters)
Tuesday, 10th February 2015
GREECE – Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras comfortably won a confidence vote on his plan to cancel a deeply unpopular bailout program and challenge EU leaders. (Reuters)
EGYPT – United by a deep hostility toward Islamists, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin found common ground on security at talks in Cairo that signaled a rapprochement between their two countries at a time when relations between Egypt and the United States have cooled. (Reuters)
SYRIA – The Syrian government is receiving messages on raids in the country from the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State, although there has been no direct cooperation since air strikes began in September, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the BBC in an interview. (ANSAmed)
Wednesday, 11th February 2015
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA – Bosnia’s Parliament approved Denis Zvizdic as Prime Minister after he promised to unblock the Balkan country’s stalled bid to join the European Union and push through reforms sought by the bloc. (Reuters)
UKRAINIAN CRISIS – U.S. Army Europe commander Ben Hodges said the U.S. Army will provide training to Ukrainian troops battling Russian-backed separatists in the country’s East. (Reuters)
RUSSIA – Russia, which like Greece has a predominantly Christian Orthodox population and which has decades-old relations with the country’s left, said that it would take into consideration the possibility of extending financial aid to Greece if such a request were to come from Athens. (ANSAmed)
Thursday, 12th February 2015
EGYPT – Two remaining “Al Jazeera” journalists jailed in Egypt on charges of aiding a “terrorist organization” were freed on bail. (Reuters)
EUROPEAN UNION – The deaths of more than 300 migrants in the Mediterranean this week has highlighted the flaws in the Operation Triton program. “There can be no doubt left after this week’s events that Europe’s Operation Triton is a woefully inadequate replacement for Italy’s Mare Nostrum”, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said. (ANSAmed)
ISLAMIC STATE – U.S. President Barack Obama made the case for Congress to formally authorize the use of military force in the war against the Islamic State. (CNN)
Friday, 13th February 2015
IRAQ – Iraqi security forces repelled an attack by the Islamic State insurgents against an air base in Anbar province, where U.S. Marines are training Iraqi troops. (Reuters)
UKRAINIAN CRISIS – Intense fighting has been reported in eastern Ukraine, a day after a peace deal was reached in Minsk. (BBC)
LIBYA – The Islamic State has also taken over the state-run television station “Libya” in Sirte, say Libyan sources, who added that the jihadist group had given the Islamist militant group Fajr Libya “until Sunday to leave” the city. (ANSAmed)