*** The President of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, affirmed on Saturday that neither his country nor Latin America plans to send armaments "neither to Ukraine nor to any other place in conflict". In a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Argentine president stressed his concern about the conflict in Europe, which he acknowledged "brings negative economic consequences around the world and presents new challenges". "I told the Chancellor of my concern and my desire to find a solution to the conflict. I cannot give my opinion on decisions that other countries take. What is certain is that the Chancellor and I want peace to be restored as soon as possible," said the Argentine head of state.
*** NATO is ready for a direct confrontation with Russia, said Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of the Alliance's Military Committee, in an interview with Portuguese broadcaster RTP on Saturday. NATO nations thought for decades that they controlled the initiative, they were the ones who decided to go to Afghanistan, to go to Iraq, Bauer recalled. "It was a decision of NATO, of the NATO nations. [...] We said when we would go, with how many troops, for how long, etc.," he said. He assured that currently the Alliance is facing a threat from Russia, which is advancing towards the countries of the bloc "uninvited" at a time of Moscow's choosing, so NATO members have to be more prepared and their priority is rearmament.
*** UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked Conservative Party chairman and minister without portfolio, Nadhim Zahawi, after an investigation found breaches of ministerial rules following his tax problems. Zahawi recently acknowledged paying a fine to the British Treasury after an "unintentional" error was detected in his tax payments. "When I became prime minister last year, I promised that my government would have integrity, professionalism and accountability at all levels," says a letter Premier Sunak sent to Zahawi, released Sunday (29.01.2023), explaining that he asked Laurie Magnus, independent adviser on ethical conduct of ministers, to investigate the matter.
*** A bus with 44 people on board plunged into a ravine and caught fire in Pakistan's southern Balochistan province, killing at least 40 of its occupants, official sources said. The deputy commissioner of the city of Bela, Hamza Ajum, explained to the media that "the bus crashed into a guardrail after taking a sharp turn, fell face down into a 15-meter ravine and caught fire". The transport unit was covering the route from the city of Quetta, in the east of the country, to Karachi, in the south of Pakistan.
*** The authorities suspended school classes in some districts and set up drinking water distribution points for the population to obtain the vital liquid. Meanwhile, three thousand 400 homes have been left without water, the administration asked for help from the Army of the Asian country, due to the fact that the city hall does not have enough capacity to distribute and supply water to those in need. Members of the Self-Defense Ground Forces from Camp Kanazawa were sent to the city and began to distribute a ton of the vital liquid.
*** For several days, different media have been speculating about the possibility of Shakira and Karol G working together on a new single. The first clue of this possible collaboration was given recently by the paisa reguetonera, while attending an NBA game in Los Angeles, when she posted a picture with a T-shirt that said "Te quedó grande", in clear allusion to the most recent song of the barranquillera with the Argentine producer Bizarrap. With this message, the interpreter of Bichota and Provenza showed her unconditional support to Shakira after her painful separation with soccer player Gerard Piqué, who has been the target of the most recent songs of the barranquillera: Te felicito, Monotonía and Shakira | BZRP Music Sessions # 53. The latter, in just two weeks, accumulated more than 162 million plays on platforms such as Spotify.
*** British, German and Mexican paleontologists led by the University of Portsmouth (UP), UK, have identified an unusual new species of pterosaur, which had more than 400 teeth that resembled the tips of a fine bristle comb. The nearly complete fossilized skeleton was found accidentally in a quarry in Germany. "The jaws of this pterosaur are really long and lined with small, fine, hooked teeth, with small spaces between them like a nit comb. The long jaw is curved upward like an avocet [bird with a long upward curved beak] and at the end it widens like a spatula. There are no teeth at the end of its mouth, but there are teeth along both jaws all the way to the back," as described by David Martill, professor at UP's School of Environment, Geography and Geosciences, leader of the research.
*** American guitarist and composer Tom Verlaine died Saturday at the age of 73. He was one of the most influential musicians in the New York punk-rock scene of the 1970s. The Television frontman was known as the 'poet' of rock guitar as his often impressionistic lyrics reflected the influence of poets such as Paul Verlaine, from whom the musician, born Thomas Miller, took his stage name. The news of his passing was released by Jesse Paris Smith, daughter of his friend and punk singer Patti Smith, who confirmed to The New York Times that the death has occurred after "a brief illness".
*** Novak Djokovic was simply too good at crucial moments and took his 10th Australian Open title and his 22nd Grand Slam trophy overall after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in Sunday's final at Rod Laver Arena. The victory allowed Djokovic to return to the top of the ATP rankings. The 35-year-old Serbian tennis player did not play last year's Australian Open after being deported from the country because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19. Government restrictions have since been eased and this time he was able to obtain a visa despite still not receiving injections against the disease that causes the new coronavirus. Djokovic extended his winning streak at the hard court tournament to 28 matches.
*** The Syrian Foreign Ministry rejected on Saturday a report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) that accuses the Army of the Middle Eastern nation of committing a chemical attack on April 7, 2018 in the city of Duma, which would have caused 43 fatalities, reviewed the web portal Telesur. Through an official statement, the Foreign Ministry said, "Syria totally rejects the report issued by the so-called OPCW Investigation and Identification Team on the alleged incident of chlorine use in Duma in April 2018, in addition to its conclusions." The Foreign Ministry highlighted that the text lacks scientific evidence and that its authors neglected the objective observations raised by States parties, experts, academics and former OPCW inspectors, known for their experience and knowledge. The Foreign Ministry also accused the United States and the West of politicizing the work of the OPCW, distorting its objectives and turning it into a tool of their geopolitical interests.