Ukraine said it had reached a “preliminary” agreement with America on a minerals deal. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, is likely to meet Donald Trump on Friday to finalise it; he said that the success of the deal would rest on the conversation with his American counterpart. The agreement does not appear to include the security guarantees that Ukraine had wanted. Both countries will establish a joint fund to collect and reinvest revenues from Ukrainian natural resources.
America’s House of Representatives voted through a budget framework to enable Mr Trump’s legislative agenda, which includes tax and spending cuts and enhanced border security. Just one Republican dissented, although many had reservations about the proposal. Some Republicans thought it too spendthrift, others considered it too timid. The budget blueprint must now be reconciled with a competing one in the Senate.
Iran has accelerated its production of highly enriched, near-weapons grade uranium, according to a confidential report from the United Nations nuclear watchdog. On February 8th Iran had 278 kilograms of Uranium enriched up to 60%, up from 182 kilograms in November. The fuel could be converted to 90% weapons-grade material within days.
Romanian police detained Calin Georgescu, a far-right populist, as part of an inquiry into possible election-campaign fraud. Mr Georgescu, who admires Vladimir Putin and believes covid-19 is fake, came first in the first round of presidential elections in November. But the country’s constitutional court annulled the election and instructed it be run again. The new election is due to be held on May 4th.
Stellantis, owner of car brands such as Citroën, reported that net profit in 2024 was €5.5bn ($5.8bn), down 70% from the year before. (Stellantis’s largest shareholder, Exor, part-owns The Economist’s parent company.) Its boss, Carlos Tavares, quit suddenly in December, two months after the firm issued a profit warning. Shares have toppled by around 45% in the past year.
BP, a British oil giant, said that it would shift back to fossil fuels, about 25 years after it vowed to turn green. It will increase investment in oil and gas projects by $10bn a year, and cut spending on renewables by $5bn. On February 11th it reported that fourth-quarter profits dropped by 61% compared with the same period the previous year.
Apple promised to fix a glitch in its voice-to-text function on iPhones that caused the word “Trump” to briefly appear when users dictated “racist”. The tech giant blamed its speech-recognition model; others smelled sabotage. Videos of the incidents went viral a day after Apple promised to spend $500bn in America—a pledge that observers view as a way for the company to ingratiate itself with the Trump administration.
Figure of the day: 6%, the lower tariff rate Converse has secured by reclassifying its canvas sneakers as slippers, avoiding rates as high as 48% for other footwear. Read the full story.
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