One wonders if “War and Peace” would have been as highly acclaimed as it was had it been published under its original title, “War, What Is it Good For?”
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Photo: Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Sunyiehubov Office / AP
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1. US issues major sanctions on Russia as war enters third year
Biden issued the sanctions against more than 500 people and entities on Friday, targeting Russia’s financial and military sectors.
The administration is also imposing sanctions on three Russian officials connected to the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison one week ago.
While announcing the sanctions, Biden once again called on Congress to provide support to Ukraine, which has grown desperate for both soldiers and military aid two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Last week the Senate passed a $95 billion aid package, which includes aid for Ukraine, but it’s unclear whether the bill will be taken up by the House.
The Ukrainian parliament is considering expanding the draft, in part by lowering the enlistment age from 27 to 25. It’s possible a new draft law would also require women to serve. By last count, in November, more than 43,000 women were serving in the Ukrainian army.
Support for the war has become increasingly difficult for Ukraine to come by. Neighboring Poland, for example, was once a strong ally, welcoming refugees at its border. Now Polish farmers are blocking border crossings to protest Ukrainian grain imports.
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2. Netanyahu seeks control of Gaza in postwar plan
The prime minister’s plan states that Israel will keep security control over all of the Palestinian territories, including the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The plan, which Netanyahu shared with his cabinet on Thursday, rejects the “unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state, which he sees as a security threat. A Palestinian settlement would only come to fruition through direct negotiations between the two sides, the plan reads.
On Friday, Palestinian officials called the plan “colonialist and racist” and said it was doomed to fail.
“If the world is genuinely interested in having security and stability in the region, it must end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and recognize an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” said a spokesperson for Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian National Authority.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that new Israeli settlements in the West Bank are “inconsistent with international law” — a reversal of a Trump-era policy.
Related: Testifying before the International Court of Justice earlier this week, the U.S. said that Israel should not be “legally obligated to immediately and unconditionally withdraw” from occupied Palestinian territory.
Instead, the U.S. said the ICJ should work within the “land-for-peace” framework when deciding whether Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank is illegal.
Read Blue Marble’s explainer on the land-for-peace principle.
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3. Mexico’s president says he doesn’t regret doxxing New York Times reporter
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador revealed the name and contact information of a New York Times reporter during a televised press conference on Thursday.
The unusual disclosure came in response to a request for comment that the reporter had made earlier via email for a story. The story, published in the Times on Thursday, detailed a U.S. investigation into whether allies of Obrador had accepted money from Mexico’s drug cartels during his administration.
The Mexican president said the reporter’s request for comment was a “slanderous attack” and that he doesn’t regret doxxing her. He then suggested the reporter change her phone number if she’s concerned.
Mexico is one of the deadliest countries in the world for journalists, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Obrador has attacked both foreign and domestic press while in office. Thursday’s incident follows weeks of the president denigrating ProPublica reporter Tim Golden. In late January, Golden published an article detailing a separate investigation into whether the Obrador campaign had accepted millions from the cartels for his unsuccessful 2006 presidential run.
Mexico’s freedom of information institute said it would start an investigation into the doxxing.
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In other news
- At least 118 people, including children, have been subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence in Sudan’s ongoing conflict, according to a report from the United Nations. [Associated Press]
- Pakistan blocked access to the social network X for a sixth day in a row, prompting criticism from activists and human rights organizations. The restrictions come amid accusations of fraud in Pakistan’s recent election. [Radio Free Europe]
- Senegalese President Macky Sall will leave office in April, after saying earlier this month that the country’s presidential election would be delayed. The postponement threw into chaos a country once thought to be one of the most stable in Africa. [Democracy Now!]
- After months of negotiating, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave Sweden the go-ahead for NATO membership on Friday. [POLITICO]
- Smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em: It’s now legal to use marijuana recreationally in Germany. [The Guardian]
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Say that again
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. They’re all over the floor, they drop dead. It’s like Agent Pleakley in ‘Lilo and Stitch’ when they invade him, unreal.”
This is a woman on TikTok describing the veritable plague of mosquitoes that has overtaken the Buenos Aires region following heavy rain. [Yahoo! News]
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‘To be honest, it was scary’
Ukraine is one of the most mine-laden countries in the world. Meet 24-year-old Anna, whose job it is to get rid of them.
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What we’re listening to
For your weekend, how about the King of Sudanese Jazz?
No mere nickname, the moniker was bestowed upon Sharhabil Ahmed in 1971 while he performed at a New Year’s Eve show in Khartoum. During the set, the club owner came onstage and gave Ahmed a medallion with “The King of Jazz” inscribed on it. It doesn’t get more official than that!
The record label Habibi Funk — which released a compilation of Ahmed’s music in 2020 — describes Sudanese jazz as “a unique combination of surf, rock ’n’ roll, funk, Congolese music and East African harmonies.”
There’s probably no better introduction to the genre than Ahmed’s “Argos Farfish.” This exuberant little number would nicely soundtrack the shaking of a cocktail and maybe even some kitchen-dancing. Enjoy.
—Laura Adamczyk, staff writer
Thanks for reading. We’ll see you Monday.
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