European leaders will hold informal talks on Ukraine in Paris on Monday, according to French and Polish officials. The emergency call from France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, comes as President Donald Trump appears ready to cut support for Ukraine—as he seeks to negotiate a hasty peace deal with Russia on its behalf. The broader fear is that America, under Mr Trump, may reduce its overall role in European security, leaving the continent exposed.
Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners, mostly to Gaza, after Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages. The sixth exchange puts the fragile ceasefire deal agreed last month back on track. Earlier this week the militant group had accused Israel of reneging on parts of the deal, while Israel had threatened to resume attacks if the hostages were not released on time.
Olaf Scholz warned America’s vice-president not to interfere in Germany’s domestic affairs. The German chancellor’s speech to the Munich Security Conference followed a fiery address by J.D. Vance, who warned that Europe’s greatest threat comes “from within”, citing political suppression and mass migration. On Friday Mr Vance chose to meet Alice Weidel, the leader of the hard-right Alternative for Germany party, rather than Mr Scholz.
Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, promised more investment in America, following Mr Trump’s complaint that the island’s chipmakers were taking business from American firms. Bloomberg reported that TSMC, a Taiwanese chipmaker, might get the go-ahead to operate plants run by Intel, a down-on-its-luck American competitor.
The board of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, unanimously rejected Elon Musk’s $97.4bn offer to buy its non-profit parent company. Mr Musk, who runs a rival firm, XAI, is in an escalating feud with Sam Altman, OpenAI’s boss, over its transition to a for-profit structure. The firm’s lawyer wrote that Mr Musk’s bid was “not in the best interest of OAI’s mission”.
The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo claimed to have seized control of an airport 30km from Bukavu, the country’s second-biggest city. The armed group has been advancing south since capturing the eastern city of Goma last month. Roughly 350,000 people have been displaced, according to the UN Refugee Agency, which warned of a “rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis”.
Seven federal prosecutors quit over a Justice Department request to dismiss corruption charges against Eric Adams, New York City’s mayor. On Thursday Danielle Sassoon, Manhattan’s acting top federal prosecutor, resigned and accused the Trump administration of dropping Mr Adams’s indictment in exchange for his co-operation with the president’s immigration crackdown. Mr Trump and Mr Adams deny the allegation.
Word of the week: trochas, the Spanish term for illegal border crossings, often used to describe those used by Venezuelans entering Colombia. Read the full story.
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