World roundup: February 1 2023

Stories from Iraq, Somalia, Ukraine, and elsewhere

INTERNATIONAL

In today’s global news:

• Worldometer is tracking COVID-19 cases and fatalities.

• The New York Times is tracking global vaccine distribution.

• OPEC+ members held their monthly production meeting on Wednesday and, as expected, agreed to stay the course for at least another month. Presumably this means everyone’s profit margins are looking good, or at least good enough that there was no reason for them to further antagonize the Biden administration with another production cut. Oil demand is expected to increase this year as we charge ahead with our effort to boil off as much of human civilization as possible, so that should nudge prices up without any supply changes.

MIDDLE EAST

SYRIA

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters reportedly shelled a Syrian army outpost in Idlib province on Wednesday, killing at least eight soldiers according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. There’s no confirmation of the attack but these sorts of incidents occur relatively frequently along the front line in Idlib, albeit usually not with this high a casualty count.