Violence, Diplomacy, and Art: World in Turmoil

Cuba has expressed its willingness to engage in talks with the United States, according to Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, amidst the island nation's deepening economic crisis. This announcement comes after months of threats from the Trump administration, as reported by The Guardian.

In Moscow, a senior Russian military official, Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, deputy chief of Russian military intelligence, was hospitalized after being shot multiple times in an apparent assassination attempt, according to state media. The attack occurred in a residential building, as stated by Svetlana Petrenko, spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee (ICR), and reported by Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli settler violence and harassment have led to the displacement of nearly 700 Palestinians in January, the highest number since the war in Gaza erupted in October 2023, the United Nations reported. According to a statement by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 694 Palestinians were forcefully driven from their homes last month, as reported by Al Jazeera.

In other news, the Louvre Museum released photos of the crown of French Empress Eugenie, which was damaged in a heist last October. The museum confirmed that the crown, which was part of a collection of jewels worth an estimated 76 million, will be restored, according to Sky News. The audacious raid occurred on October 19th last year, with thieves making off with the jewels in minutes while the museum was open to visitors.

In Venezuela, a plan to transform the notorious El Helicoide prison into a cultural center has drawn criticism. Critics argue that the move erases Venezuela's long history of repression, as reported by The Guardian. The building, designed in the 1950s as a futuristic shopping center, was never completed and later used under the regimes of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.