The World Food Program reports it is scaling up its operation to provide emergency food to tens of thousands of homeless, hungry people in Syria’s war-torn province of Idlib. Humanitarian officials say conditions for some three million civilians in Idlib have become intolerable since Syria and its Russian allies launched a major offensive in mid-December to seize this last rebel stronghold.Since then, the United Nations reports more than 300,000 people, 80 percent of them women and children, have fled their homes in a desperate bid to protect themselves from heavy bombing and shelling.   Last year, the World Food Program nearly doubled its food assistance from 550,000 beneficiaries to one million in northwest Syria.  Given the increasing conflict and displacement, WFP spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs says her agency is scaling up its operation to provide emergency food aid to more than 126,000 displaced.”WFP and its partners are now pre-positioning life-saving food for more than one million people in northwest Syria for six weeks.  It is — I can just say it is vital we continue to be able to reach these desperately vulnerable people whose lives are being torn apart by fighting.”  Idlib is under siege, so WFP only can bring food into the territory from Turkey.  Byrs says this cross-border operation from Turkey has made it possible for WFP to feed hundreds of thousands of destitute people in Idlib last year and will continue to do so this year.  The United Nations reports more than eight years of brutal civil conflict has pushed millions of Syrians into hunger and poverty.  It reports the war has displaced more than six million people within the country and created a food crisis for more than seven million who suffer from chronic food shortages.  
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The U.S. Consulate in the epidemic-stricken Chinese city of Wuhan will evacuate its personnel and some private citizens aboard a charter flight Tuesday.A notice Sunday from the embassy in Beijing said there would be limited capacity to transport U.S. citizens on the flight that will proceed directly to San Francisco.It said that in the event there are not enough seats, priority will be given to to individuals “at greater risk from coronavirus,” a new respiratory disease that has sickened 1,975 people and killed 56, almost all in Wuhan.
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Four people were killed and five others were injured on Saturday in an explosion at a motel in eastern South Korea.The explosion occurred on the second floor of the motel where seven guests were using a gas stove to grill meat, said Kim Dong-woo, an official from the fire department in the coastal city of Donghae.He said four people inside the room were killed and the other three were seriously injured. The explosion also caused minor injuries to two other guests who were in different rooms.Kim said officials were investigating the cause of the explosion. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said the explosion could have been caused by gas leakage.Officials did not provide the personal details of those who were killed or injured.
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Кабінет міністрів оприлюднив теми, до яких буде звертатися під час шостого засідання Ради асоціарції Україна-ЄС, що планується у Брюсселі 28 січня. Це буде перше засідання з новим складом українського уряду та Європейської комісії.

«Порядок денний передбачає обговорення безпекової ситуації на сході України у контексті протидії російській агресії та імплементації Мінських домовленостей, а також стану справ в тимчасово окупованому Криму. Під час засідання Ради асоціації сторони також проаналізують досягнутий прогрес з імплементації Угоди про асоціацію та обговорять стан двосторонньої торгівлі, шляхи поглиблення економічного та галузевого співробітництва України з Європейським Союзом, співпрацю у сфері юстиції, свободи та безпеки», – мовиться у повідомленні на сайті уряду.

За цією інформацією, до складу української делегації, окрім прем’єр-міністра Олексія Гончарука, входять уіце-прем’єр-міністр з питань європейської та євроатлантичної інтеграції України Дмитро Кулеба, міністр закордонних справ Вадим Пристайко, міністр інфраструктури Владислав Криклій, міністр освіти і науки Ганна Новосад, міністр фінансів Оксана Маркарова, заступник Міністра цифрової трансформації з питань європейської інтеграції Валерія Іонан, заступник міністра розвитку економіки, торгівлі та сільського господарства – торговий представник України Тарас Качка, заступник міністра юстиції Валерія Коломієць і заступник міністра енергетики та захисту довкілля з питань європейської інтеграції Костянтин Чижик.

Анонсується, що делегацію Європейського Союзу очолить високий представник ЄС із закордонних справ і безпекової політики, віцепрезидент Європейської комісії Жозеп Боррель. У засіданні також візьме участь комісар ЄС з питань Європейської політики сусідства та переговорів з розширення Олівер Варгеї.

«Окрім участі у пленарному засіданні, під час візиту до Брюсселя глава українського уряду проведе двосторонні зустрічі з президентом Європейської комісії Урсулою фон дер Ляєн, президентом Європейської Ради Шарлем Мішелем, високим представником ЄС із закордонних справ та безпекової політики Жозепом Боррелем, виконавчим віце-президентом Європейської Комісії Валдісом Домбровскісом, а також зустріч із представниками бельгійського бізнесу», – зазначають у Кабміні.

1 вересня 2017 року набула чинності Угода про асоціацію, яка зміцнює зв’язки між Україною і Європейським союзом, завершивши чотирирічний процес політичних кроків довкола цього документа.

Багато норм угоди про асоціацію були тимчасово застосовані іще з 2014 року, але вступ в дію угоди забезпечив тіснішу співпрацю між Брюсселем і Києвом у таких сферах, як зовнішня політика, правосуддя, освіта, наука і технологія.
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The new virus accelerated its spread in China with 56 deaths so far in what the country’s leader called a grave situation, and the government stepped up efforts to restrict travel and public gatherings while rushing medical staff and supplies to the closed-off city at the center of the outbreak. The figures reported Sunday morning covered the previous 24 hours and marked an increase of 15 deaths and 688 cases for a total of 1,975 infections. The government also reported five cases in Hong Kong, two in Macao and three in Taiwan. Small numbers of cases have been found in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, the U.S., Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France and Australia. People wear masks as they pray at Wong Tai Sin temple on the first day of the Lunar New Year in Hong Kong, Jan. 25, 2020, as a preventative measure following a coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan, China.Canada said it discovered its first case; the man is his 50s and recently flew from Wuhan to Guangzhou, China, and then on to Toronto. President Xi Jinping on Saturday called the spreading illness a grave situation in remarks reported by state broadcaster CCTV. He spoke at a meeting of Communist Party leaders convened on Lunar New Year — the country’s biggest holiday whose celebrations have been muted — and underlined the government’s urgent, expanding efforts to control the outbreak. Travel agencies have been told to halt all group tours, the state-owned English-language China Daily newspaper reported, citing the China Association of Travel Services. A couple wears masks to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as they walk at Jingshawn park, in Beijing, Jan. 25, 2020. China said it would close a section of the Great Wall and other famous Beijing landmarks to control the spread of the virus.Millions of people traveling during the holiday have fueled the spread of the outbreak nationwide and overseas after it began in the city of Wuhan in central China. The vast majority of the infections and all the deaths have been in mainland China, but fresh cases are popping up. Singapore reported its fourth case on Sunday, a 36-year-old man from Wuhan. The Health Ministry said he did not exhibit any symptoms on his flight. He developed a cough the next day, sought treatment on January 24 and was immediately isolated. South Korea confirmed its third case, according to Yonhap news agency. In the heart of the outbreak where 11 million residents are already on lockdown, Wuhan banned most vehicle use, including private cars, in downtown areas starting Sunday, state media reported. Only authorized vehicles will be permitted, the reports said. The city will assign 6,000 taxis to neighborhoods, under the management of resident committees, to help people get around if they need to, China Daily said. Hong Kong’s responseIn Hong Kong, leader Carrie Lam said her government would raise its response level to emergency, the highest one, and close primary and secondary schools for two more weeks on top of next week’s Lunar New Year holiday. They will reopen February 17. Lam said direct flights and trains from Wuhan would be blocked. In a sign of the growing strain on Wuhan’s health care system, the official Xinhua News Agency reported that the city planned to build a second makeshift hospital with about 1,000 beds. The city has said another hospital was expected to be completed February 3. The new virus comes from a large family of what are known as coronaviruses, some causing nothing worse than a cold. It causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath. It can worsen to pneumonia, which can be fatal. Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China, Jan. 25, 2020.China cut off trains, planes and other links to Wuhan on Wednesday, as well as public transportation within the city, and has steadily expanded a lockdown to 16 surrounding cities with a combined population of more than 50 million — greater than that of New York, London, Paris and Moscow combined. China’s biggest holiday, Lunar New Year, unfolded Saturday in the shadow of the virus. Authorities canceled a host of events and closed major tourist destinations and movie theaters. Temples, Disneyland closeTemples locked their doors, Beijing’s Forbidden City and Shanghai Disneyland closed, and people canceled restaurant reservations ahead of the holiday, normally a time of family reunions, sightseeing trips and other festivities in the country of 1.4 billion people. “We originally planned to go back to my wife’s hometown and bought train tickets to depart this afternoon,” said Li Mengbin, who was on a stroll near the closed Forbidden City. “We ended up canceling. But I’m still happy to celebrate the new year in Beijing, which I hadn’t for several years.” Temples and parks were decorated with red streamers, paper lanterns and booths, but some places started dismantling the decor. Pedestrians are seen wearing surgical masks in London’s China Town, Jan. 25, 2020. European airports from London to Moscow have stepped up checks on flights from the Chinese city at the heart of a new coronavirus outbreak.People in China wore medical masks to public places like grocery stores, where workers dispensed hand sanitizer to customers. Some parts of the country had checkpoints for temperature readings and made masks mandatory. French automaker PSA Group said it would evacuate its employees from Wuhan, quarantine them and then bring them to France. The Foreign Ministry said it was working on “eventual options” to evacuate French citizens from Wuhan “who want to leave.” It didn’t elaborate. The National Health Commission said it was bringing in medical teams to help handle the outbreak, a day after videos circulating online showed throngs of frantic people in masks lined up for examinations and complaints that family members had been turned away at hospitals that were at capacity. Military staffThe Chinese military dispatched 450 medical staff, some with experience in past outbreaks, including SARS and Ebola, who arrived in Wuhan late Friday to help treat many patients hospitalized with viral pneumonia, Xinhua reported. Xinhua also said medical supplies were being rushed to the city, including 14,000 protective suits, 110,000 pairs of gloves, and masks and goggles. The rapid increase in reported deaths and illnesses does not necessarily mean the crisis is getting worse but could reflect better monitoring and reporting of the virus. It is not clear how lethal the new coronavirus is or even whether it is as dangerous as the ordinary flu, which kills tens of thousands of people every year in the U.S. alone. 
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Two days of heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in southeast Brazil that have killed at least 30 people, authorities said Saturday. Civil Defense officials said 17 people were listed as missing and 2,600 were evacuated from their houses in Minas Gerais state, which had been buffeted by 48 hours of torrential rains. Deaths were reported in the capital of Belo Horizonte and in the state’s interior. On Friday, Belo Horizonte received the greatest quantity of rain ever registered in 24 hours in the city. A view of flooded houses caused by heavy rains in Sabara municipality, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, Jan. 24, 2020. The rains led to flooding and landslides that killed dozens, authorities said Jan. 25.State Governor Romeu Zema will fly over the affected areas on Sunday to evaluate damages. More rain is expected in Minas Gerais as well as other parts of Brazil, including Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The announcement of the deaths came the same day as mourners elsewhere in Minas Gerais observed the first anniversary of a deadly mining dam collapse. 
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Уряд України на майбутньому засіданні Ради асоціації Україна – ЄС буде боротися за так званий «промисловий безвіз» і енергетичну інтеграцію з Євросоюзом, заявив віцепрем’єр-міністр із питань європейської і євроатлантичної інтеграції Дмитро Кулеба в програмі «Суботнє інтерв’ю» на Радіо Свобода.

За його словами, уряд готується до цього засідання, що має відбутися наступного тижня, «щодня». «І щодня ставимо собі дуже просте запитання: яку конкретну проблему для українців, для української економіки, для української держави ми можемо вирішити? І підбираємо пріоритети. І питання, які ми будемо там обговорювати, саме з цієї точки зору – як ми можемо зробити так, щоб від євроінтеграції вигравав щодня кожен українець?» – сказав він.

На думку Кулеби, засідання Ради асоціації має зафіксувати новий рівень амбіцій у стосунках між ЄС і Україною.

По-друге, сказав він, «ми будемо боротися за те, щоб забезпечити прогрес у царині укладення так званого «промислового «безвізу».

«Це потрібно насамперед українському малому й середньому бізнесові. Це можливість збільшення експорту. Це потрібно Україні», – заявив віцепрем’єр.

Крім того, сказав він, «будемо працювати над поглибленням енергетичної інтеграції для того, щоб українці отримували дешевшу енергію, їхні домогосподарства були більше енергоефективними, щоб платіжки були меншими за рахунок всіх цих змін».

«Будемо просувати інтеграцію у цифровому секторі, щоб українці отримували в Україні якісні сервіси, а їх персональні дані були надійно захищені. Ось це ті сфери, за якими ми рухаємося», – додав чільний урядовець.

«Іще раз наголошую, ми робимо інтеграцію для людей, для українців, для того, щоб вони відчували конкретні переваги цього курсу», – заявив заступник голови українського уряду.

Попередніми днями низка українських політиків нової влади виступила в швейцарському Давосі під час проведення там щорічної зустрічі Всесвітнього економічного форуму з низкою суперечливих заяв, деякі з яких ставили під сумнів відданість цієї влади курсові європейської інтеграції України.

Дмитро Кулеба, зокрема, заявляв, що Україна відмовляється від ідеї якнайшвидшого приєднання до митного союзу ЄС і тепер хоче стати його членом тільки разом із членством у Євросоюзі. Він стверджував, що вступ до митного союзу ЄС без вступу до самого Євросоюзу створить «серйозні загрози національним вигодам і інтересам» України. Натомість він виступив за нижчий рівень торговельної інтеграції, який назвав «промисловим безвізом».

А народний депутат, лідер фракції владної партії «Слуга народу» в Верховній Раді Давид Арахамія, виступаючи, заявляв, що Україна має тимчасово відмовитися від політики узгодження законів і правил із Європейським союзом, бо, мовляв, зараз Україна слабка і має спершу зміцніти.

Пізніше він же заявив, що не мав на увазі відмову від курсу на зближення з ЄС і намірів гармонізації законодавства з Євросоюзом, що його слова неправильно зрозуміли і вирвали з контексту.

При цьому в тому ж Давосі президент Володимир Зеленський заявляв, що Україна бачить своє майбутнє в Європейському союзі, і закликав ЄС прийняти Україну вже зараз. Прем’єр-міністр Олексій Гончарук теж запевняв, що Україна зберігає курс на євроінтеграцію і буде «максимально прагнути синхронізувати наші правила, наші регуляції».
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A U.S. veterans group is “expecting” an apology from President Donald Trump for his comments that downplayed traumatic brain injuries, an official said. Speaking in Davos on Wednesday, Trump said he did not consider the brain injuries suffered by U.S. service members in Iran’s recent attack on a base in Iraq as serious. But the Veterans of Foreign Wars “expects an apology from the president to our service men and women for his misguided remarks,” William Schmitz, VFW national commander, said in a statement Friday. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday. Earlier on Friday the Pentagon said 34 service members had been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury following missile strikes by Iran on a base in Iraq, a number higher than the military previously announced. The Veterans of Foreign Wars, a group with 1.6 million members, said traumatic brain injury (TBI) cannot be taken lightly. “TBI is known to cause depression, memory loss, severe headaches, dizziness and fatigue — all injuries that come with both short- and long-term effects,” the group said. 
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lashed out in anger Saturday at an NPR reporter who accused him of shouting expletives at her after she asked him in an interview about Ukraine. In a direct and personal attack, America’s chief diplomat said the journalist had lied'' to him and he called her conductshameful.” NPR said it stood by Mary Louise Kelly’s reporting. Pompeo claimed in a statement that the incident was another example of how unhinged the media has become in its quest to hurt'' President Donald Trump and his administration. Pompeo, a former CIA director and Republican congressman from Kansas who is one of Trump's closest allies in the Cabinet, asserted,It is no wonder that the American people distrust many in the media when they so consistently demonstrate their agenda and their absence of integrity.” It is extraordinary for a secretary of state to make such a personal attack on a journalist, but he is following the lead of Trump, who has repeatedly derided what he calls fake news'' and ridiculed individual reporters. In one of the more memorable instances, Trump mocked a New York Times reporter with a physical disability. FILE - Mary Louise Kelly accepts the award for best reporter/correspondent/host — noncommercial for "All Things Considered" on NPR at the 43rd annual Gracie Awards, May 22, 2018, in Beverly Hills, Calif.Question about YovanovitchIn Friday's interview, Pompeo responded testily when Kelly asked him about Ukraine and specifically whether he defended or should have defended Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador in Kyiv whose ouster figured in Trump's impeachment. I have defended every State Department official,he said.We’ve built a great team. The team that works here is doing amazing work around the world. … I’ve defended every single person on this team. I’ve done what’s right for every single person on this team.” This has been a sensitive point for Pompeo. As a Trump loyalist, he has been publicly silent as the president and his allies have disparaged the nonpartisan career diplomats, including Yovanovitch, who have testified in the impeachment hearings. Those diplomats told Congress that Trump risked undermining Ukraine, a critical U.S. ally, by pressuring for an investigation of Democrat Joe Biden, a Trump political rival. Yovanovitch, who was seen by Trump allies as a roadblock to those efforts, was told in May to leave Ukraine and return to Washington immediately for her own safety. After documents released this month from an associate of Trump’s personal attorney suggested she was being watched and possibly under threat, Pompeo took three days to address the matter and did so only after coming under harsh criticism from lawmakers and current and former diplomats. After the NPR interview, Kelly said she was taken to Pompeo’s private living room, where he shouted at her for about the same amount of time as the interview itself,'' using thef-word” repeatedly. She said he was not happy to have been questioned about Ukraine. No apologyPompeo, in his statement, did not deny shouting at Kelly and did not apologize. Instead, he accused her of lying to him when setting up the interview, which he apparently expected would be limited to questions about Iran, and for supposedly agreeing not to discuss the post-interview meeting. Kelly said Pompeo asked whether she thought Americans cared about Ukraine and if she could find the country on a map. I said yes, and he called out for aides to bring us a map of the world with no writing,'' she said in discussing the encounter on NPR’s All Things Considered.” I pointed to Ukraine. He put the map away. He said, `People will hear about this.' '' Pompeo ended Saturday's statement by saying,It is worth nothing that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine.” Nancy Barnes, NPR’s senior vice president of news, said in a statement that “Kelly has always conducted herself with the utmost integrity, and we stand behind this report.” 
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