Craig Taylor

German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejects any cancellation of Greece’s debt, saying banks and creditors have already made substantial cuts.
BBC News – Business

A video is released online purporting to show the beheading by Islamic State militants of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto.
BBC News – Middle East

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet announces plans to end a total ban on abortions in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.
BBC News – Latin America & Caribbean

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras seeks to repair relations with creditors, amid fears of a showdown over Greece’s efforts to roll back austerity measures.
BBC News – Europe

Actress Geraldine McEwan, known for playing Agatha Christie sleuth Miss Marple on ITV, has died aged 82, her family says.
BBC News – UK

Encouraging terror attacks against Canada will become a crime under legislation proposed by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
BBC News – US & Canada

Equatorial Guinea beat Tunisia 2-1 after extra time to reach the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals.
BBC News – Africa

MEMPHIS – Once again the Thunder and the Memphis Grizzlies will do battle.
Oklahoma City Thunder

OKLAHOMA CITY, January 29, 2015 – Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant and guard Russell Westbrook were
Oklahoma City Thunder

Eurozone deflation deepens in January, as prices fall by 0.6% compared with last year, pushed down by lower oil prices.
BBC News – Business

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi cuts short a visit to an African Union summit to deal with attacks that killed at least 32 in the Sinai peninsula.
BBC News – Middle East

A gas tank lorry explodes outside a maternity and children’s hospital in Mexico City, killing a woman and a baby.
BBC News – Latin America & Caribbean

Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels trade heavy tank and artillery fire in and around Debaltseve, a strategic town in eastern Ukraine.
BBC News – Europe

The boat that carried Sir Winston Churchill’s coffin along the Thames in 1965 makes the same journey on the 50th anniversary of his funeral.
BBC News – UK

Mitt Romney, the Republican beaten by President Obama in the US 2012 election, has decided he will not run for president again.
BBC News – US & Canada

South African apartheid-era death squad commander Eugene de Kock, nicknamed “Prime Evil”, gets parole after 20 years for killing activists.
BBC News – Africa

NEW YORK CITY – The energy wasn’t quite right in the Thunder’s loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.
Oklahoma City Thunder

Falling oil prices are forcing Royal Dutch Shell to cut back investment by some $ 15bn over the next three years.
BBC News – Business

Japan says it is investigating a purported new voice recording of hostage Kenji Goto, who is being held by Islamic State.
BBC News – Middle East

Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who died in unexplained circumstances, borrowed a gun as he feared for his security, a colleague says.
BBC News – Latin America & Caribbean