Politics
America held its first meeting with Russia about bringing the war in Ukraine to an end. The talks between Marco Rubio, America’s secretary of state, and Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, without any representatives from Ukraine or the European Union. The State Department said both sides had laid “the groundwork for future co-operation”. Donald Trump’s rapprochement with Russia has stunned Europe, but a hastily convened emergency summit in Paris revealed divisions on the next steps to take. Sir Keir Starmer, Britain’s prime minister, offered to send British troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force.
The acrimony between Mr Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky intensified, after the American president blamed Ukraine for starting the war. “I would like to have more truth with the Trump team,” retorted Mr Zelensky. Mr Trump then called Mr Zelensky a dictator who should call an election.
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The transatlantic alliance was also put under strain following a speech by J.D. Vance, America’s vice-president, at the Munich Security Conference. Mr Vance delivered a ferocious attack on European democracy, accusing Europe of backtracking on free speech, promoting mass immigration and marginalising dissenting voices on the right.
Adding to the sense of political uncertainty in Europe, Germany prepared to vote in an election on February 23rd that is expected to be won by the Christian Democrats, who could take months to form a coalition. Immigration is a big issue. An Afghan asylum-seeker killed a mother and her daughter when he rammed a car into a crowd a mile from the site of the Munich conference. Meanwhile, in Austria a Syrian asylum-seeker stabbed a 14-year-old boy to death.
Pope Francis was admitted to hospital with double pneumonia. The Vatican cancelled the 88-year-old pontiff’s engagements and described his condition as “complex”.
Israeli forces withdrew from much of southern Lebanon but remained in five locations along the border. The Lebanese government said this was a violation of the ceasefire agreement that in November ended 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hizbullah. Israel said it would keep its troops there until the Lebanese army was in place to monitor the areas dominated by the Shia militia.
More Israeli hostages were freed from Gaza under the ceasefire agreed to by Israel and Hamas. The militant group also released the bodies of four Israelis it had held captive, including siblings who were aged four and nine months when they were abducted.
Two Britons were detained by Iran and charged with espionage. The couple were arrested in January but news of their detention has only just been released. They were on a motorbike trip around the world when they travelled to Iran. The Iranian authorities said they had “entered Iran under the guise of tourists” and “gathered information in multiple provinces of the country”.
Three weeks after taking Goma, eastern Congo’s biggest city, M23 captured Bukavu, the region’s second-biggest. The Congolese army put up little resistance to the rebel group, which is backed by Rwanda. The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Kinshasa, 1,500km (930 miles) away, has in effect lost control of the eastern part of the country, which looks ever more likely to become the site of yet another full-blown war.
South Africa’s government of national unity postponed the release of a budget at the last minute following a dispute over a proposed tax increase. It will now be presented on March 12th. It was the first time a budget has been postponed since the end of the apartheid regime in 1994 and is a sign of the pressure being put on the ruling African National Congress by the Democratic Alliance, its main coalition partner.
Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York state, held talks with political leaders on whether to remove Eric Adams as mayor of New York City. The federal Department of Justice recently directed New York federal prosecutors to shelve corruption charges filed against Mr Adams in an apparent quid pro quo for his support of Mr Trump's immigration agenda. Mr Adams denies this and any wrongdoing. Several prosecutors and city officials resigned in protest. No governor has ever removed a New York City mayor from office.
Mr Trump’s Department of Transportation rescinded federal approval of New York City’s congestion-pricing programme. The scheme, which launched on January 5th, charges most drivers $9 to enter Manhattan’s main business district. Mr Trump posted on social media “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” But the scheme has been successful. Traffic is down, travel times have plummeted and the use of public transport has surged.
The Trump administration continued its war against diversity, equity and inclusion policies, as the Education Department told schools not to use race as criteria for employing staff, awarding scholarships or treating pupils differently. “Put simply, educational institutions may neither separate or segregate students based on race,” the department’s memo warned.
South Korea’s disgraced president, Yoon Suk Yeol, appeared in court at his criminal trial for insurrection following his brief imposition of martial law in December. His lawyers asked that he be released from detention. Mr Yoon’s separate impeachment trial is being conducted by the Constitutional Court, and is heading towards a conclusion.
Pravind Jugnauth, who was prime minister of Mauritius until losing an election last November, was arrested on money-laundering charges. He denies all the claims against him. Mr Jugnauth negotiated a controversial deal last October in which Britain will cede control to Mauritius of the Chagos Islands, which house a strategically important military base in the Indian Ocean.
Brazil’s attorney-general filed charges against Jair Bolsonaro, a former far-right president, and 33 others, claiming that they tried to stage a coup in 2022 to keep Mr Bolsonaro in power after he lost an election. Hours later, Donald Trump’s media group sued a prominent judge on Brazil’s Supreme Court over alleged censorship. That judge, Alexandre de Moraes, will rule on whether Mr Bolsonaro, an admirer of Mr Trump, will go to jail.
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President Javier Milei of Argentina faced criminal complaints alleging fraud and talk of impeachment after he promoted a risky cryptocurrency, $LIBRA. The memecoin’s value surged as supporters bought it, but then collapsed amid allegations of insider trading. Meanwhile, Mr Milei went to Washington to discuss a loan with the IMF.
A poll by the Angus Reid Institute suggested that if Mark Carney wins the Liberal Party’s leadership race in Canada, and thus becomes prime minister, the Liberals will surge to within three points of the Conservatives. Mr Carney, a former governor of the central banks of both Canada and Britain, ties with the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, on economic issues. The poll indicates the Liberals will fare less well if Chrystia Freeland, a former minister of finance, becomes leader.■