Investigators in Washington, DC will try to retrieve the wreckage of a passenger plane and military helicopter that crashed into the Potomac river on Wednesday. The collision killed 67 people. Investigators have already recovered the plane’s black boxes, but hope to “salvage” the aircraft to establish the crash’s cause. Donald Trump suggested, without evidence, that diversity policies at the Federal Aviation Administration could be to blame.
The Bundestag voted against a draft law to curb irregular immigration proposed by the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU). On Wednesday a separate, non-binding CDU motion on the topic passed with the backing of the hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Other mainstream parties accused the CDU’s leader, Friedrich Merz, of weakening the “firewall” that binds them against working with the AfD. Mr Merz’s party leads polls ahead of elections on February 23rd.
Apple reported better-than-expected results for the last quarter of 2024. The tech giant’s revenues increased by 4% year on year to $124bn, despite lower iPhone sales in China. Profit increased by 7% to $36bn. The firm also said that the roll-out of artificial-intelligence features on its phones in December had been successful. Apple’s shares rose by around 3% in after-hours trading.
Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, said Colombians living in America without documentation should leave their jobs “immediately” and return home. He added his government would provide loans to help returnees. Last week Mr Petro briefly refused to accept Colombians deported from America, before relenting after Mr Trump threatened tariffs and other measures.
Hamas announced the names of three male hostages it plans to release on Saturday as part of the ceasefire deal in Gaza. The list includes Keith Siegel, an American-Israeli citizen, as well as two others captured on October 7th 2023. On Thursday the militant group freed eight hostages—three Israelis and five Thais; Israel released 110 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
Norway seized a Russian-manned ship suspected of damaging underwater cables in the Baltic Sea. Authorities stopped the Norwegian-owned ship off the country’s northern coast. Concerns are growing over Russian sabotage in the region: police said the seizure was linked to the recent damaging of cables between Sweden and Latvia. Swedish police boarded another ship in relation to the incident on Monday.
A Swiss court found Trafigura and one of its former executives guilty of bribery charges. It sentenced Mike Wainwright, the commodity conglomerate’s former chief operating officer, to 32 months in prison (with 20 suspended) for paying bribes in Angola. The court ruled the company’s anti-bribery safeguards were insufficient and told it to pay fines and compensation worth almost $149m.
Figure of the day: 73%, the proportion of voters for Germany’s centre-right Christian Democrats who reject collaboration with the hard-right Alternative for Germany. Read the full story.
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