The world in brief
Catch up quickly on the global stories that matter
Israel carried out a drone strike against a Hamas office in southern Beirut, according to Lebanon’s state news agency. The office was in an area of the capital that is reportedly a stronghold of Hizbullah, an Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon. Hamas confirmed the death of several members, including Saleh al-Arouri, a senior official. Meanwhile Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s leader, said that the hostages taken on October 7th will only be released on the militant group’s terms.
Harvard’s president, Claudine Gay, resigned following a plagiarism probe. The university’s first black and second female (and now shortest-serving) leader, Dr Gay faced a backlash last month over her evasive answers in a congressional hearing on antisemitism. Harvard subsequently backed Dr Gay and cleared her of “research misconduct” charges. But fresh rounds of plagiarism allegations, driven by conservative media, continued into January.
After a buoyant end to 2023, Asian stock markets opened poorly for a second day. The MSCI’s index for Asian bourses excluding Japan’s, which remains on holiday, dropped by 1.1% after falling by 1% the day before. Their decline follows a slide in American stockmarkets on Tuesday, with the NASDAQ falling by 1.6% and the S&P 500 by 0.6%.
Donald Trump asked Maine’s superior court to reverse the secretary of state’s decision to remove him from Maine’s Republican primary ballot. The state official, Shenna Bellows, ruled on December 28th that Mr Trump “engaged in insurrection” and was unqualified to be president, mirroring a decision by Colorado’s supreme court earlier last month. Mr Trump is also expected to appeal against the Colorado ruling.
Maersk, the world’s second-largest shipping firm, suspended its voyages in the Red Sea until further notice after one of its ships was attacked by Houthi militants on Sunday. The company had paused operations in December, but resumed its journeys following the announcement of an American-led naval mission to secure the region from escalating Houthi attacks.
A Japanese coastguard plane collided with a passenger jet at an airport in Tokyo. It was to deliver aid to those affected by a series of massive earthquakes which have hit Japan since Monday. Everyone on board the jet was evacuated, but local media reported that five rescue workers on the coast guard plane were killed. The earthquakes have killed at least 62 people, with dozens more injured.
BYD sold more EVs than Tesla in the fourth quarter of 2023, making it the world’s biggest electric-vehicle maker. The Chinese firm notched up more than 525,000 EV sales, driven by the domestic popularity of cheaper models. Still, Tesla exceeded its annual target, adding 485,000 sales in the fourth quarter to reach a total of 1.8m in 2023.
Figure of the day: 7.6, the magnitude of the most intense tremor to hit Japan during a major earthquake on Monday. Read the full story.
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A terrible start to 2024 for Japan
Japan is in shock from a dreadful start to the year. On January 1st a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Noto peninsula on the north of Honshu, the country’s main island. It killed at least 62 people. On the following day a coastguard aircraft carrying supplies to the disaster zone collided with a passenger jet at Haneda airport in Tokyo. All 379 people aboard the civil aircraft survived, but five of the six crew members on the coastguard flight were killed.
The earthquake did not trigger a large tsunami, as initially feared, but caused severe damage. The recovery will be protracted. The tremor revived memories of the big earthquake in 2011 that caused a vast tsunami and meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. No nuclear plants were harmed in the latest quake, but the government’s efforts to restart stations closed after 2011 will now probably encounter more resistance. Officials will also face many questions about the causes of the plane crash.
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Fresh challenges for America’s economy
America produced a remarkable economic performance in 2023: inflation slowed sharply while growth remained robust. Some of the earliest data published in 2024, however, may suggest that it will be tough to replicate this feat. Figures due out on Wednesday are forecast to show that the manufacturing sector ended the year with a limp. Meanwhile the labour market is expected to remain tight, keeping upward pressure on inflation.
Separately, the Federal Reserve will also publish minutes on Wednesday from its mid-December meeting, when the Fed sparked a market rally by signalling that it expected to cut rates three times this year. Left unsaid at the time was how soon the cuts might come. If the minutes reveal that the pivot may in fact wait until the second half of 2024, that would augur for tighter policy and slower growth in the coming months. The new year is unlikely to be as cheerful as the last one.
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A dramatic decision in the Horn of Africa
A surprise announcement from Ethiopia and Somaliland, the latter an internationally unrecognised state, has made the volatile geopolitics of the Horn of Africa even more so. On Monday Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister, revealed that he had agreed a deal for his landlocked country to lease a port and a 20km stretch of Red Sea coastline from the breakaway Somali province. In exchange the Ethiopian government may recognise Somaliland—that would be the first time a country has done so since the would-be state declared its independence from Somalia in 1991.
Leaders in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, are furious. On Tuesday they recalled the Somali ambassador from Ethiopia. They are now asking the African Union, which is hesitant to redraw the continental map, to intervene. But the AU, much like Somalia itself, may find it is powerless to do much about it.
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Turkey’s persistent inflation
Turkey’s central bank has increased interest rates by 34 percentage points since June. Yet inflation—the result of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s earlier policies—is proving to be exceptionally hard to bring down. Consumer prices were 62% higher in November than in the same month last year. Data released on Wednesday are expected to show that they rose further last month.
What is more, the central bank expects that a wage hike announced by Mr Erdogan’s government last week will contribute to pushing up inflation further. Turkey has set the minimum wage at just over 17,000 lira ($572), double what it was last January. Mr Erdogan hopes that the central bank will tame inflation by late March, when Turks vote for mayors and city councils. But the bank is doubtful. In November it said it expects consumer-price inflation to peak at up to 75% in May, then to dip sharply.
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A big day at the darts
For the uninitiated, the World Darts Championship, held in London every year, looks utterly bizarre. The 3,000-strong crowd, many of whom are in fancy dress, whoop and holler at every dart. The competitors, who throw from behind a line called an oche, adopt personas as wacky as those of professional wrestlers. The sport itself, which requires concentration and precision, seems an ill fit for the atmosphere. Yet the combination works. Tickets are highly sought-after, television ratings are rising and the prize pot is £2.5m.
The man who steered darts from smoky pubs to the big stage is Barry Hearn, an English impresario who performed the same feat with snooker in the 1980s. This year’s excitement has been bolstered by Luke Littler, a 16-year-old player who has reached the semi-finals in his debut tournament. On Tuesday he beat former world champion Rob Cross to take his place at the final, a feat commentators are already calling among the “top ten performances in darts history”.
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Daily quiz
Daily quiz
We will serve you a new question each day this week. On Friday your challenge is to give us all five answers and, as important, tell us the connecting theme. Email your responses (and include mention of your home city and country) by 1700 GMT on Friday to [email protected]. We’ll pick randomly from those with the right answers and crown three winners on Saturday.
Wednesday: In Greek mythology, which person stole fire from the gods to give to mankind?
Tuesday: Which American silent film actress is generally credited with popularising the “bob” haircut?
There is nothing so absurd that it has not been said by some philosopher.
Cicero