1. Obama: Shadow of crisis has passed

    U.S. President Barack Obama on January 20 declared that America has turned the page on years of war and economic hardship in his State of the Union* address.

    Emboldened* by a stronger economy and better approval ratings, Obama called for a new chapter in U.S. history that ushers in a fairer economy with a better shake for the middle class.

    He heralded the “growing economy, shrinking deficits*, bustling industry, and booming energy production” that have also helped revive his political fortunes as his time in the White House nears its end.

    2. Russia denies its troops are in Ukraine

    Russia denied new accusations by Kiev that it had sent soldiers and weapons to east Ukraine and held out hope of progress at talks on the conflict in Berlin on January 21 despite renewed fighting.

    Kiev accused Russian regular forces of attacking its troops in eastern Ukraine on January 20, one of its boldest assertions* yet of direct Russian military involvement in the conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian Government forces.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow had seen no evidence to back up such accusations and others made in the past few months.

    3. U.S., Cuba sit down for historic talks

    The highest-level U.S. delegation to Cuba in 35 years began talks on January 21 aimed at restoring diplomatic ties and eventually normalizing* relations between two adversaries* who have been locked in Cold War-era hostilities.

    The two days of meetings are the first since U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced on December 17 they had reached a historic breakthrough after 18 months of secret negotiations.

    Obama has set the United States on a path toward removing economic sanctions and Washington’s 53-year-old trade embargo* against the island, telling Congress in his annual State of the Union address that “we are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date.”

    4. Palestinian stabs seven on Tel Aviv bus

    A Palestinian stabbed and wounded seven people on a Tel Aviv commuter bus during morning rush hour on January 21 before he was shot in the leg by a security officer as he fled.

    It was the first Palestinian attack reported in Israel’s commercial capital since a soldier was stabbed to death two months ago.

    Passengers on the bus said the assailant, later identified by police as a Palestinian from the occupied West Bank, stabbed the driver and then others as the vehicle slowed to a stop.

    5. Thai ex-PM faces criminal charges

    In the latest battle in a political war that has lasted almost a decade, Thailand’s military-appointed legislature on January 23 voted to impeach* former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra for her role in overseeing a government rice subsidy program that lost billions of dollars.

    The vote was generally seen as a partisan* action aimed at crippling the political machine founded by her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, another ousted prime minister.

    The vote, which means Yingluck will be banned from politics for five years, came just hours after the attorney general’s office announced separate plans to indict her on criminal charges for negligence related to losses and alleged corruption in the rice program.

    6. Sierra Leone eases blocks on travel

    With the Ebola outbreak weakening in West Africa, Sierra Leone eased restrictions on movement and commercial activity on January 23 even as the president warned that the fight against the deadly disease is not yet over.

    The outbreak has sickened more than 21,000 people, nearly half of them in Sierra Leone. But the number of new infections is now falling in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

    President Ernest Bai Koroma announced in a national broadcast that, starting from January 23, the country would lift all district quarantines and extend business hours on Saturdays.(SD-Agencies)