America and Russia concluded four hours of talks in Saudi Arabia about the war in Ukraine, the first direct meeting between American and Russian officials for three years. No Ukrainian official was invited. Later, when asked why Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, had been excluded, Donald Trump called him “grossly incompetent”, blamed him for prolonging the war and demanded to know: “Where is all the money that’s been given?” Then he suggested that Ukraine hold elections.
Mr Trump said he was considering tariffs “in the neighbourhood of 25%” on imports of cars, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. Many of the levies would rise “substantially” over the year, he added. Mr Trump also said there would be room for negotiation and that the EU had already agreed to lower its barriers to American cars, which the bloc denied.
Britain’s inflation rose to 3% in January, according to the Office of National Statistics—the highest rate in ten months. That was mostly down to the cost of food, non-alcoholic drinks, transport and the imposition of value-added tax on private-school fees. It means the Bank of England will probably remain cautious over cutting interest rates.
Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s hard-right former president, was formally charged with trying to stage a coup to overturn the election he lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (known as Lula) in 2022. The attorney-general accused Mr Bolsonaro—who denies wrongdoing—of leading a “criminal organisation” that falsely discredited the electoral system and encouraged groups of supporters to storm the three branches of government in Brasília, the capital, in January 2023.
Brazil joined OPEC+, an extension of the core oil cartel. Participation in the extended group makes adherence to the cartel’s mandates on production voluntary, not binding. In recent years Brazil has pumped more oil, becoming the world’s seventh-largest supplier. Lula wants regulators to allow drilling at the mouth of the Amazon river.
Iran charged two British citizens with espionage, local media reported. The married couple had been travelling the world by motorcycle when they were detained in January; an Iranian official accused them of posing as tourists to collect information for “hostile and Western countries”. Britain’s foreign office advises against visiting Iran, warning of “significant risk of arrest, questioning or detention”.
The ill health of Pope Francis, who has spent a fourth night in hospital in Rome, is worrying his flock. On Tuesday the Vatican said that the condition of the 88-year-old pontiff, who has pneumonia in both lungs, is “complex”, but that he “remains in good spirits”. His fragile state has set off speculation about who might succeed him.
Figure of the day: $18bn. Alibaba’s market value gain on rumours that China’s leaders are rehabilitating the company’s founder, Jack Ma. Read the full story.
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