| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Monday, January 31, 2022 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. North Korea tests its biggest missile since 2017, the UAE blocks a missile strike as the Israeli president visits, and a stunning election win for Portugal's center-left prime minister | | | | | Today's biggest stories  Veterans of the Ukrainian National Guard Azov battalion conduct military exercises for civilians in Kyiv, January 30, 2022 WORLD Britain urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to "step back from the brink" over Ukraine, warning that any incursion would trigger sanctions against companies and people with close links to the Kremlin. Ukrainian police detained a group of people suspected of preparing mass riots in the capital Kyiv and other cities to cause instability as tensions rise with Russia, Ukraine's interior minister said.
North Korea confirmed it had launched a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile, the same weapon it had once threatened to target the U.S. territory of Guam with, sparking fears the nuclear-armed state could resume long-range testing. North Korea's unusually active month of missile testing appears aimed at securing global acceptance of its sanctioned weapons programs.
The United Arab Emirates said it intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement as the UAE hosted Israeli President Isaac Herzog on his first visit to the Gulf business and tourism hub. It was the third such attack on the U.S.-allied Gulf state in the last two weeks.
Defying all odds, Portugal's center-left Socialists won an outright parliamentary majority in a snap general election, securing a strong new mandate for Prime Minister Antonio Costa. The result, boosted by a higher-than-expected turnout despite the pandemic, comes as a surprise after the Socialists had lost most of their advantage in recent opinion polls.
During the past four days China has detected some 119 cases of COVID-19 among athletes and personnel linked to the Beijing Winter Olympics, with authorities imposing a "closed loop" bubble to keep participants, staff and media separated from the public. Some 3,000 athletes, along with coaches, officials, referees, federation delegates and media are expected for the Games, due to run from February 4-20.
|  A view of buildings and a street covered in snow in Nantucket, Massachusetts, January 29, 2022 U.S.
More than 1,400 U.S. flights were canceled after the nation's northeast states were walloped by a deadly winter storm that prompted several states to declare emergencies.
Senator Dick Durbin, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate, is reaching out to Republicans to assure them they will have the chance to meet with President Joe Biden's nominee to the Supreme Court.
Cyrus Vance Jr, whose 12 years as Manhattan district attorney was notable for a criminal probe into Donald Trump's business as well as high-profile sex crime cases, is joining the law firm Baker McKenzie as a partner. A Democrat, Vance became district attorney in 2010 as the handpicked successor to Robert Morgenthau, who made that office among the country's most powerful in law enforcement.
U.S. federal prosecutors have reached plea agreements with two of the three white men facing federal hate-crimes charges for the 2020 murder of Black man Ahmaud Arbery, according to court filings. The three men - Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael and their neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan - were convicted last November in a Brunswick, Georgia state court of murdering 25-year-old Arbery.
More than 100,000 Americans died from diabetes in 2021, marking the second consecutive year for that grim milestone and spurring a call for a federal mobilization similar to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
| BUSINESS Growth in China's factory activity slowed in January as a resurgence of COVID-19 cases and tough lockdowns hit production and demand, but the slight expansion offered some signs of resilience as the world's second-largest economy enters a likely bumpy new year.
Oil prices will build on a strong start to the year with geopolitical risks to supply complementing a strong demand rebound as fears over the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant fade, a Reuters poll showed.
Swiss prosecutors are pursuing around $45.5 million in compensation from Credit Suisse in a money-laundering trial due to begin on February 7, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court said. The bank was indicted in December 2020 after an investigation into the activities of a Bulgarian crime ring involving top-level wrestlers accused of laundering profits from cocaine trafficking.
Vodafone has teamed up with Intel and other silicon vendors to design its own chip architecture for nascent OpenRAN network technology, aiming to weaken the grip of traditional telecoms equipment suppliers. OpenRAN allows operators to mix and match suppliers in their radio networks, posing a challenge to the likes of Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia that dominate the market with their proprietary technologies.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it will help fund a new container yard for agricultural exports at California's Port of Oakland, as the government, ports and food companies scramble to ease costly shipping delays.
| | | | | | | | | Video of the day  Canada rally against vaccine mandates blocks capital Thousands descended on Canada's capital city to protest against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and COVID vaccine mandates. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
