…And the World:

We begin today in Greece, where Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the leftist Syriza party has won yesterday’s Greek election by a commanding margin. Though insufficient to form a majority on his own, the Independent Greek party has agreed to support him and Tsipras was sworn in as Prime Minister today. Tsipras had promised a renegotiation of Greece’s  bailout.

In the immediate aftermath, the reaction of European officials who control the bailout has been mixed. Creditors want their say too. However, reports say envoys sent to Syriza and even Tsipras himself suggest he is prepared to be reasonable. So far markets have ignored the result.

A bit more on Tsipras.

In India President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi cite progress on sticking points that have held up a historic nuclear deal that is now six years old. Obama also participated in India’s Republic Day, the first US President to do so.

South Africa’s opposition leader directs traffic. No really.

Ukraine’s conflict has flared up once again.

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being pilloried for using the US Congress as a campaign prop (Bibi is of course welcome to any forum in the US, but fourteen days before his own election!?), President Reuven Rivlin, formerly of Netanyahu’s party, got a warm welcome in Brooklyn. Also Haaretz’s updates on the Israeli election.

Zambia has a new president.

Argentina insists journalists are safe there after one who was reporting on a prosecutor’s eerie death flees, which President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner now says was not a suicide.

The Feds:

Snow.

With a phalanx of presidential contenders at hand, Republican inspect the goods in Iowa. We turn it over to Dave Weigel.

New York State’s political world was upended after the announcement of charges against Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Lower East Side assemblyman who has led the body for 20 years. Silver temporarily stepped aside yesterday as some Democrats like Manhattan’s party leader and Gov. Andrew Cuomo questioned whether he should keep his post as he battled corruption charges.

Los Angeles’s City Council races are heating up with redrawn lines prompting a slew of candidates. The mayor is not on the ballot this year, but half of the Council is up for election and one open seat has drawn fourteen candidates.

Elsewhere in California politics, The Los Angeles Times considers the political heft San Francisco has built over time and weighs the experience its hometown’s former mayor could bring if he leaps into the Senate race against AG Kamala Harris.

Taxi operators and ride-sharing services like Uber are gearing up for battle at the Capitol in Hartford.

Thirty year-old Cincinnati City Council, Democrat P.G. Sittenfield, takes the plunge in Ohio’s 2016 US Senate race.

The State of Things:

More snow.

ICYMI: Senate President Stan Rosenberg lays out his leadership team and doles out committee assignments.

Urban League of Springfield President Henry Thomas III resigns as chairman of the UMass Board of Trustees.

Holyoke Treasurer Jon Lumbra says his resignation will come before February 14. Elsewhere in the Paper City, former City Councilor Jorge Nieves is remembered.

David Scharfenbarg delivers a stinging reminder of Massachusetts State government’s opacity.

The Dropkick Murphys tell Scott Walker to stop “Shipping up to Boston.”

Former state Secretary of Transportation Richard Davey to lead Boston’s 2024 Olympic bid.

City Slickers:

Again, snow.

Bishop Mitchell Rozanski announces…something. Hard to decipher whether this is good news for supporters of restoring Cathedral High School to Surrey Road.

Springfield will begin to feel the impacts of MGM’s construction in March.

The Republican’s Editorial board backs Mayor Domenic Sarno over the homeless families issue, but the paper’s own reporting does not appear to back up the assertions Ed board makes.

Twitter Chatter:

So far the reaction to Sarno’s complaint about the homeless families being housed in Springfield apartments has been mixed. Even in our own editorial, there was no denying that the policy of concentrating the poor in the city is bad for them and for the city. However, the phrasing and methods of the mayor give us pause, particularly as to their effectiveness. Some back the mayor’s position, while others take issue with how the mayor has described the people involved. Today we award the tweet prize to Arise for Social Justice, a community group with a long history in the city that is not fond of Sarno’s rhetoric on this issue. It joined the Pioneer Valley Project by tweeting to elected officials in an attempt to humanize those being “dumped” on the city under the hashtag #nopersonistrash. Any one of the photo tweets would fit the bill, but we chose one subtler, that addresses the mayor directly, armed with a link and the haghtag.