🇺🇸🇨🇴Trump and Colombia’s Gustavo Petro wrap up nearly two-hour White House meeting, press pool reports

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🔸 Zelensky–Epstein connection: Ukraine in sex predator’s crosshairs and the trafficking crime

🔸 Arms control deadlock: Why the world can’t agree on a New START successor

🔸 Putin & Saudi Crown Prince discuss energy stability and deeper cooperation

🔸 Macron says technical talks underway to set stage for contact with Putin

🔸 Rutte says NATO troops could enter Ukraine after peace deal

🔸 US signals talks with Iran possible, but presents ultimatum - Russian Deputy FM

🔸 US eyes Greenland for missile defense & sub-hunting systems — military analyst

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🚨🇱🇾 Saif al-Islam Gaddafi killed in Zintan attack — source

A source told Sputnik that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, was killed in an armed attack on the compound where he was staying in Zintan.

The source said his body remains at Zintan General Hospital.

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💰 US House passes $1.2 trillion funding deal to end partial shutdown — reports

The US House of Representatives narrowly approved a $1.2 trillion funding package to end a four-day partial government shutdown, sending the bill to President Donald Trump for his expected signature, The New York Post reported.

The measure passed 217–214 and keeps about 97% of the federal government funded through Sept. 30, following its earlier approval in the Senate. According to the report, Trump urged House Republicans to send the bill to him without changes in order to keep the shutdown brief.

Lawmakers now face a tight deadline to negotiate separate funding for the Department of Homeland Security, with talks expected to focus on immigration enforcement issues, the report said.

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🇮🇷🤝🇷🇺 Iran’s space chief: Cooperation with Russia 'expanding' after Khayyam satellite launch

📍 Space cooperation between Iran and Russia has expanded in recent years, particularly following the development and launch of the Khayyam satellite, head of the Iranian Space Agency Hossein Salarieh has said.

💬 "One of the countries we cooperate with in the space sector is Russia. In recent years, especially after the creation and launch of the Khayyam satellite, our cooperation with Russia has expanded," he said, answering the question from Sputnik correspondent in Tehran.

🗣 "In past years, several Iranian satellites were launched into orbit by Russian launch vehicles, and this process continues as the space industry develops. We have many satellites currently under construction that are scheduled to be launched using both domestic and foreign launch vehicles to consolidate our progress in this field."

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🚨 Trump signs government funding bill, ending partial shutdown

US President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill, bringing the partial shutdown to an end.

The package had previously cleared both chambers of Congress and restores funding for key agencies — including the US Department of Defense, US Department of the Treasury and the US Department of State — through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

Funding for the US Department of Homeland Security runs only until Feb. 13. The wire said DHS financing remains a key dispute in Congress, including over US Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions and related mass protests, raising the risk of another partial shutdown if no compromise is reached.

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🚨 ‘We are negotiating with them right now’ — Trump on Iran

President Donald Trump said the US is currently in talks with Iran, adding that Tehran “would like to negotiate.”

He declined to say where the meetings are taking place, noting that “there is more than one meeting.”

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🚨 ‘Putin kept his word’ — Trump

US President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin “kept his word” on a temporary pause in strikes during cold weather.

On January 29, Trump said he had personally asked Putin not to strike Kiev and several other Ukrainian cities until Feb. 1. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the request, saying it was intended to create favorable conditions for talks in Abu Dhabi.

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🗣 Wolf and Epstein conspired against me — Trump

💬 "A reporter named Wolf and Epstein conspired... against me in order to fight like hell to make sure I lose the election," President Donald Trump said.

Trump claimed that was “the only thing” mentioned about him, and argued the issue is “really a Democrat problem.”

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🇨🇳China warns Panama court ports ruling erodes trust, bowed to political pressure

A recent ruling by Panama’s Supreme Court annulling the renewal of a Chinese company’s port concession at the Panama Canal is factually baseless and politically motivated, China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said on its social media account.

➖ The remarks addressed a January 29 Panama Supreme Court decision that the concession held by Panama Ports Co, a subsidiary of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings, to operate two major Panama Canal ports is “unconstitutional.”

➖ The concession agreement had been in force for 30 years, and Panama’s competent authorities repeatedly confirmed that the Hong Kong company complied with the contract terms and fully fulfilled its obligations, according to Chinese authorities.

➖ The court's ruling seriously undermines the company’s legitimate rights and interests, the statement says, warning that it sends a clear signal to international investors that Panama is unable to provide solid guarantees.

➖ Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino announced on January 30 that the government is negotiating with APM Terminals, a unit of AP Moller-Maersk, to manage the ports temporarily.

➖ In response, China’s Foreign Ministry signaled that it would take all necessary measures to “safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.”

➖ In his inauguration speech last year, US President Donald Trump made it clear that Washington intended to take control of the Panama Canal. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since then repeatedly visited Panama to convey Washington’s position to Mulino.

👉The Panama court’s ruling was widely seen as a win for Washington amid intensifying US–China rivalry over global trade routes.

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🇨🇺Cuba expresses gratitude to Russia amid US measures

💬“We are always grateful for Russia’s support and to all countries that have raised this issue in the UN and in other international forums where the blockade and these new aggressive measures are condemned,” Cuban Ambassador to Uruguay, Lissette Perez tells Sputnik.

Her remarks come after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing tariffs on countries that supply oil to Cuba and declared a national emergency over what Washington called a security threat. Havana has criticized the move as an attempt to squeeze the island’s economy.

💬"The Russian government has expressed vigorous condemnation of the blockade... We are always grateful for Russia's support and to all countries that have raised this issue in the UN, as well as those that do so on a bilateral basis, on all forums where the blockade and these new aggressive measures are condemned," the diplomat says.

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🇺🇸🇳🇬 US confirms deployment of small team of troops to Nigeria — reports

The United States has sent a small group of soldiers to Nigeria, marking the first confirmed presence of US forces on the ground since airstrikes carried out in December, Reuters reported.

💬 "That has led to increased collaboration between our nations to include a small US team that brings some unique capabilities from the United States," General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, head of the US military's Africa Command AFRICOM, told journalists, according to the report.

Nigeria’s defense minister also confirmed the presence of the team.

The deployment follows US airstrikes ordered by President Donald Trump, which Washington said targeted ISIS* terrorists in Nigeria.

*A terrorist organization outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

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🇨🇴🇺🇸 ‘A pact for freedom, a pact for life, can be made’ — Petro after talks with Trump

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House had an “optimistic and positive” tone, despite differing views on key issues.

Petro said the talks covered drug trafficking, energy and the situation in Venezuela, noting that while approaches may differ — some “more aggressive,” others “more constructive” — the focus was on what unites both sides.

💬 “What brings us together is freedom,” Petro said, adding that he raised the need to pursue drug trafficking capital, lift sanctions on Venezuela, and cooperate on reviving the country along the shared Colombia–Venezuela border.

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📄 Pentagon invites 25 companies to drone trials — Department of War

The US Department of War said it has invited 25 companies, including two Ukrainian firms, to compete in Phase I of its Drone Dominance Program, aimed at rapidly fielding large numbers of low-cost, one-way attack drones.

According to the Pentagon, the program is designed to build an arsenal of “hundreds of thousands” of weaponized drones by 2027, with initial flight tests set to begin in February and prototype contracts worth about $150 million to follow soon after.

💬 “We are buying what works—fast, at scale, and without bureaucratic delay,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a memo cited by the department.

The announcement underscores the United States' drive to catch up in drone warfare amid its lag behind Russia, exposing a gap between Pentagon planning and the actual realities of modern combat.

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