* Blinken supports Israel holding Golan, but backs off recognizing sovereignty Top US diplomat questions legality of Trump’s deeming strategic plateau part of Israel, but says there’s nothing to talk about with Assad and Iran.
* Biden hasn't called Israel's Netanyahu yet, raising fears of a frosty four years to come President Joe Biden has made a flurry of phone calls to American allies around the world. There has been one notable omission.
* Joe Biden Calls Chinese Communist Party Leader Xi Jinping President Joe Biden called the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping Wednesday, on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, according to the White House.
* Khanna: Biden Will ‘Radically Reset Relations’ with Israel, They’ll ‘Have to Recognize Palestinian Statehood’ On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) stated that President Joe Biden will “radically reset relations” with Israel, and Israel will “have to recognize Palestinian statehood. They can’t be having new settlements. They can’t be burning down Palestinian villages.”
* Israeli commander says Hamas has amassed vast arsenal The Hamas militant group ruling Gaza has replenished its arsenal since a 2014 war with Israel and now has a vast collection of rockets, guided missiles, and drones, a senior Israeli military commander said Thursday.
* Palestinian elections: Hamas will promise Islamic law, change and reform Hamas, of course, is also convinced that many Palestinians will vote for its candidates because they identify with the Islamist movement’s ideology.
* Is Palestine a State? The highly politicized International Criminal Court just declared statehood for Palestinians.
* Russia warns EU it could cut ties over sanctions Russia is ready to sever ties with the EU if the bloc imposes new, economically painful sanctions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says.
* China bans BBC World News from broadcasting China has banned BBC World News from broadcasting in the country, its television and radio regulator announced on Thursday.
* China Is Creating a New Master Race Bing Su, a Chinese geneticist at the state-run Kunming Institute of Zoology, recently inserted the human MCPH1 gene, which develops the brain, into a monkey.