In an interview with Fox News Donald Trump dismissed Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, as powerless, saying he has “no cards” in negotiations. He also accused Sir Keir Starmer, Britain’s prime minister, and France’s Emmanuel Macron, of doing “nothing” to end the war. Earlier Mike Waltz, America’s national security adviser, said he expects Mr Zelensky to sign a minerals agreement with America “very soon”.
Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, vowed to make Hamas “pay the full price” for the “cruel and evil” violation of the ceasefire agreement after one of the bodies Hamas returned on Thursday was not that of Shiri Bibas. The militant group handed over four hostages’ remains, including her two young children, but failed to return hers.
Apple will stop offering secure encryption to users of its cloud storage in Britain, after the government sought access to the data. Last month the American tech firm received notice of the government’s request under a law that critics call the “snooper’s charter”. Britain’s government says it is necessary to investigate criminal activity. Apple’s encrypted communication services, such as iMessage, are not affected.
The man who attacked Salman Rushdie at a literary festival in upstate New York in 2022 was found guilty of attempted murder. Hadi Matar stabbed Sir Salman several times, blinding him in one eye. He faces up to 32 years in jail. The author has been the target of assassination plots since 1989, when Iran’s supreme leader issued a fatwaagainst him.
Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, said the Securities and Exchange Commission will drop its lawsuit over whether crypto assets should be regulated as securities. American regulators had argued that certain crypto tokens traded on the exchange functioned like investment contracts and should be regulated as such. Coinbase disagreed. The move follows a policy shift under the SEC’s Republican leadership to deregulate the crypto industry.
Swedish police said they were investigating the suspected sabotage of an undersea cable in the Baltic Sea after Cinia, a Finnish company, detected minor damage on a fibre-optic link. A Swedish coast-guard vessel was deployed near Gotland, an island. The EU said that it planned to increase surveillance. Attacks on undersea infrastructure have risen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A federal judge declined to immediately dismiss corruption charges against Eric Adams, New York City’s mayor, but indefinitely delayed his trial, which was set for April. America’s justice department had asked for charges against Mr Adams to be dropped, prompting several prosecutors to resign. The judge said he would appoint an outside lawyer to argue against doing so. Mr Adams denies the charges.
Word of the week: guang gun, a Chinese term meaning “bare branches”, used to describe unmarried men who are unable to continue their family line. Read the full story.
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