WORLD BRIEFING: January 22, 2024
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his Republican presidential campaign on Sunday, ending his 2024 White House bid just before the New Hampshire primary while endorsing his bitter rival Donald Trump. The decision leaves Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley as the last major candidates remaining in the race ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. This is the scenario Trump’s foes in the GOP have long sought, raising the stakes for this week’s contest as the party’s last chance to stop the former president who has so far dominated the race.
47 people were buried when a landslide struck a remote and mountainous part of southwestern China on Monday, state media reports. The pre-dawn landslide hit Zhenxiong County, Yunnan province, says state news agency Xinhua, citing local authorities - AFP
European Union officials will this week start tackling a new plan to unlock tens of billions of dollars in military assistance for Ukraine, seeking to revamp a critical aid program bogged down by internal divisions - WSJ
An attack on a marketplace in Donetsk on Jan. 21 allegedly killed 27 civilians and injured 25 others, Denis Pushilin, the head of Russia's illegal occupation administration in Donetsk Oblast, reported via Telegram. Pushilin claimed that Ukrainian troops carried out the shelling, which struck the city's Tekstilshchik neighborhood. He said 18 people were hospitalized after Ukrainian forces targeted a busy residential area with drones and artillery, and that two of the injured victims were teenagers. He also announced that Russian-occupied Donetsk Oblast would observe a day of mourning on Jan. 22.
The European Union said Friday it will ramp up its production of ammunition in response to Ukrainian calls for support as its war against Russia closes in on the two-year mark. By the end of the year, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said, the EU will be able to produce at least 1.3 million rounds of ammunition. "We are at a crucial moment for our collective security in Europe, and in the war of aggression run by Russia in Ukraine, Europe must and will continue to support Ukraine with all its means," Breton told reporters during a visit to Estonia - VOA
A Yellow Wind Warning remains in place for the UK as Storm Isha hits across the country. Power outages and multiple travel disruptions in North as flooding feared.
