Ukraine war: Russia planning 24 February offensive, Ukrainian defence minister says

Ukraine’s defence minister has said Russia is preparing a major new offensive, and warned that it could begin as soon as 24 February.

Oleksii Reznikov said Moscow had amassed thousands of troops and could “try something” to mark the anniversary of the initial invasion last year.

The attack would also mark Russia’s Defender of the Fatherland Day on 23 February, which celebrates the army.

Covid in China: Officials say current wave is ‘coming to an end’

Chinese health officials say the country’s current wave of Covid-19 infections is “coming to an end”. The number of severe Covid cases and deaths is trending downward, the country’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a report. It also said there had been “no obvious rebound” during Lunar New Year holidays last week, where millions reunited for family gatherings. There have long been questions raised about China’s Covid reporting. But experts say the decline reported now corresponds with the expected timing of an end to this major wave.

Cardinal George Pell’s funeral sees mourners and protesters clash

Mourners and protesters have gatheredand clashed - at the funeral for Cardinal George Pell in his Australian homeland. The Catholic Cardinal died in Rome last month, aged 81, after complications from hip surgery.

Formerly one of the Pope’s top aides, Cardinal Pell was Australia’s highestranking Catholic. But his public image was tainted by unproven allegations he concealed and committed child sexual abuse. Inside St Mary’s Cathedral, where Cardinal Pell served as Archbishop of Sydney for over a decade, dignitaries including former Prime Ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott filled pews.Noticeably absent were Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet - himself a devout Catholic.

Meanwhile, three people have died in an attack on the city of Kramatorsk. Eight others were wounded in the city in Donetsk region after a Russian missile struck a residential building, the provincial governor said. The toll is expected to rise as rescuers comb through the wreckage.

“The only way to stop Russian terrorism is to defeat it,” Mr Zelensky wrote on social media about the attack. “By tanks. Fighter jets. Long-range missiles.”

Philippine earthquake revised down to magnitude 6

Ukraine has recently renewed calls for fighter jets to help protect itself from air attacks after Germany, the US and the UK agreed to send them tanks.

Mr Reznikov said Moscow had mobilised some 500,000 troops for the potential offensive. In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a general mobilisation of some 300,000 conscripted troops, which he said was necessary to ensure the country’s “territorial integrity”.

Half a million UK workers strike over pay

Manila: (IANS) The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology revised the magnitude of an earthquake down to 6, which rattled the southern Philippines on Wednesday.The institute first reported the magnitude of the quake as 6.1. It said the quake, which occurred at 6:44 p.m. local time, hit at a depth of 11 km, about 14 km northeast of New Bataan town in Davao De Oro province, Xinhua news agency reported. An updated report said the earthquake hit at a depth of 27 km, about 12 km northeast of New Bataan town. The institute said that the tectonic quake will trigger aftershocks and cause damage. There were no initial reports of damage or casualties. The institute said that the quake was also felt strongly in Davao City and many areas in Mindanao, the Philippines’ secondlargest island. The Philippines has frequent seismic activity due to its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”.

N.Korea warns of ‘toughest reaction’ to US military drills with S.Korea

London: (IANS) Up to half a million British teachers, university staff, train drivers and civil servants reportedly went on strike on Wednesday in the largest coordinated action for years amid lengthy disputes over pay. Teacher members of the National Education Union in England and Wales walked out in the first of several days, affecting 23,400 schools, Xinhua news agency reported. There is a crisis of recruitment and retention within the school system, and a decade of falling pay is a key reason for this move and needs to be addressed by the government, the union said.

Around 70,000 staff at 150 universities across Britain were on strike in the first of 18 days in disputes over pay, working conditions and pensions, and their action will impact 2.5 million students through February and March, the University and College Union said.

Seoul,: (IANS) North Korea said on Thursday it will take the “toughest reaction” to the US’ move to expand joint military exercises with South Korea. The North’s warning came US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Seoul earlier this week for talks with his South Korean counterpart and said there would be more deployments of strategic assets, including F-22 and F-35 jets, to Seoul in order to deter Pyongyang’s evolving military threats, reports Yonhap News Agency. Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry claimed the US has been driving the security situation on the Korean Peninsula toward an “extreme red-line” and is pushing to spur further tensions through joint military drills of larger scale and scope with South Korea. “This is a vivid expression of the US dangerous scenario which will result in turning the Korean Peninsula into a huge war arsenal and a more critical war zone,” the Ministry said in a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

North Korea will “take the toughest reaction” to any military action by the US under the principle of “nuke for nuke and an all-out confrontation for an all-out confrontation”, it added.

The North said it is ready to counter any military challenges from the US with the “most overwhelming nuclear force,” while stressing it is not interested in any dialogue with Washington as long as the latter pursues a “hostile policy”.

Earlier on Thursday, South Korea and the US staged combined air drills, involving B-1B strategic bombers, as well as F-22 and F-35B stealth fighters, from the US Air Force, in a show of Washington’s “will and capabilities” to provide credible extended deterrence against North Korea’s military threats.

Iraq exports over 100 mn barrels of crude oil in Jan

Baghdad,: (IANS) Iraq exported about 101.24 million barrels of crude oil in January, generating $7.69 billion in revenue, the country’s oil ministry announced on Wednesday.

The average price for Iraqi crude oil in January was $75.96 per barrel, the ministry said in a statement, citing statistics from the State Organization for Marketing of Oil, Xinhua news agency reported. About 98.46 million barrels were exported from oil fields in central and southern Iraq via the port of Basra, while more than 2 million barrels from the northern province of Kirkuk via the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean, the statement said. Oil prices have risen in global markets since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February last year, benefiting Iraq and other oil-exporting countries.