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Biden’s blazing SOTU

U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a fiery State of the Union speech, denouncing his predecessor-turned-election rival while assuaging supporters’ concerns over his age and energy. Without naming him, Biden repeatedly criticized former President Donald Trump, whom he accused of posing “the gravest threat to our democracy since the Civil War.” The speech, which amounted to a general election preview, framed Biden as a bulwark against autocracy both in the U.S. and abroad and “clearly provided the boost the White House wanted” to combat worries over Biden’s ability to run a campaign, according to Semafor’s Benjy Sarlin. “Damn, Joe Biden came out swinging,” the U.S. political scientist Daniel Drezner wrote.

Gaza port plan falls short, experts say

A U.S. plan to build a temporary port to ferry humanitarian supplies into Gaza is insufficient to address the scale of the suffering in the enclave, experts and officials said. The effort, announced by President Joe Biden in his State of the Union speech, follows air drops of supplies, because ground-based aid convoys’ ability to fully access Gaza have been hampered by what aid officials argue are Israeli blocks as well as continued intense fighting in the south of the territory. But they are able to deliver only a fraction of what is required. “I cannot but repeat, air and sea is not a substitute for land, and nobody says otherwise,” a top U.N. official said.

Children HIV-free after treatment pause

Four children who were born infected with HIV remained free of detectable virus for a year despite stopping treatment. The children were put on antiretroviral therapy within 48 hours of birth: Scientists previously observed that early ART initiation can lead to long-term remission, possibly by preventing the virus from establishing reservoirs from which it can reemerge. Six children’s treatment was stopped and they were closely monitored: Four experienced remission for at least 48 weeks, although the virus was detected in one after 80 weeks. A scientist called the result “groundbreaking for HIV remission and cure research.” In less good news, trials of a promising HIV vaccine candidate hit a complication after subjects in early safety tests developed rashes and other skin irritations.

HK readies new security law

Hong Kong advanced a new national security law, cementing a years-long crackdown. The 212-page bill threatens life sentences for treason and decades in jail for espionage, breaching state secrets, or colluding with foreign forces, and China-watchers expect it to be passed within weeks. The law would replace one imposed by mainland authorities in 2020 to quell pro-democracy protests, among an array of moves that have significantly curtailed freedoms in the once autonomous city: Most recently, a court ruling confirmed a significant expansion of the definition of sedition. The proposed law “represents a clear, unequivocal move by Beijing to ensure the slightest dissent will not go unpunished in Hong Kong,” a lawyer-turned-activist deported from the city wrote on X.

Iran crackdown over vote

Iran carried out a broad crackdown surrounding last week’s parliamentary elections, which were characterized by low turnout and conservatives consolidating power. A Grammy-winning singer was sentenced to more than three years in prison over a song that became the anthem of 2022 protests triggered by the death of a woman in police custody, while Amnesty International said authorities were confiscating the cars of women accused of defying laws mandating headscarves. A U.N. fact-finding mission also alleged that Tehran committed crimes against humanity in its response to the 2022 demonstrations. “Through protests, be it at the ballot box or on the streets around the country, it is clear that the Islamic and republican foundations have fractured,” a Chatham House expert wrote.

EU steps into Apple-Epic dispute

The European Union will investigate Apple’s decision to stop Fortnite maker Epic Games releasing its own app store. The game has been unavailable on iOS since 2020 after Epic breached Apple’s rules for in-app sales, but Epic tried to make use of the EU’s new Digital Markets Act, which came into force yesterday, to create a new developer’s account. Apple blocked it, citing past breaches of contract. The DMA is intended to stop “gatekeeper” firms like Google, Apple, and Microsoft abusing their market dominance, and the Epic dispute is seen as a key test of the law’s powers. The act is already having an impact, though not necessarily a popular one: Google searches no longer return Google Maps links because of the DMA’s anticompetition rules.

EU looks to UK-style asylum plan

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen backed an immigration plan that would require asylum seekers to settle outside the European Union. The plan echoes the British government’s efforts to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, which was declared unlawful by the country’s Supreme Court. Von der Leyen did not say which non-EU country she had in mind, but Western countries are increasingly trying to offshore their migrant concerns: Italy recently signed a deal to process asylum applications in Albania; Denmark wants to make a U.K.-like deal with Rwanda; and the U.S. opened migrant processing centers in Colombia and Guatemala last year.

Lael Brainard, Director of the White House National Economic Council; Julie Sweet, CEO Accenture; and David Zapolsky, SVP, Global Public Policy & General Counsel, Amazon have joined the world-class lineup of global economic leaders for the 2024 World Economy Summit, taking place in Washington, D.C. on April 17-18. See all speakers and sessions, and RSVP here.

Schoolchildren kidnapped in Nigeria

More than 280 children were kidnapped by gunmen in northwest Nigeria. It’s the second recent mass abduction, after dozens of women and children were reportedly taken by Boko Haram Islamist militants in the country’s northeast earlier this week. Northern Nigeria struggles with lawlessness: Criminal gangs operate with near-impunity in the northwest, while Boko Haram militants control much of the northeast. Kidnaps are so common that the government has outlawed ransom payments. More than 350 farmers were abducted or killed in the year to July 2023, and although there has been a decline over the last year, Nigeria’s growing economic chaos makes the lucrative criminal business more attractive.

Mass deaths in salmon farms

Mass die-offs are becoming more common in farmed salmon around the world. About 70% of salmon in human diets is farmed. But an increased reliance on technology, allowing farmers to grow salmon away from their normal habitat, and warming seas driving algae growth which starves the fish of oxygen, has led to more mass fatalities: 17% of farmed fish in Norway, one of the biggest producers, died prematurely in 2023. Warming seas have also led to a “mass bleaching event” in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef: When under stress, the coral polyps expel algae which live in their tissues and which give the coral their vibrant color. Bleaching is a sign of coral ill-health, and if temperatures remain high the reefs struggle to recover and die.

Dragon Ball creator dies

Akira Toriyama, the creator of the popular Dragon Ball anime and manga franchise, died aged 68. The comic, inspired by the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, debuted in 1984 and follows a superhero’s efforts to find seven mystical artifacts to defend Earth against invading aliens. Dragon Ball was one of the first mangas to become widely popular in the West, and partly drove the expansion of Japanese popular culture in Europe and North America. As a sign of how that expansion has continued, Shōgun, Hulu’s version of the classic 1975 James Clavell novel about feudal Japan, took top spot in the streaming charts this week: The adaptation focuses much more on the Japanese characters than did the original novel.

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• The world marks International Women’s Day.
• Portugal holds its general election on Sunday.
• The annual SXSW Film & TV Festival kicks off in Austin.

Each Friday, we’ll tell you what a great bookstore suggests you read.

Barcelona’s La Central recommends Gabrielle Wittkop’s Murder Most Serene. Wittkop “is capable of creating beautiful images in unpleasant situations, and that paradox is what is so attractive,” La Central bookseller Julen Sarasola writes. Buy it from La Central or your local bookstore.

American Dreamer, a comedy-drama starring Peter Dinklage and Shirley Maclaine, is released today. The film, based on a true story from Chicago Public Radio’s This American Life, follows the story of an economics professor longing to buy a home of his own. Screen Rant praised the humor, narrative, and relationships between the main characters. “The end isn’t always what we expect, but sometimes, if we work at it, it’s what we need, and that is what American Dreamer reveals in its storytelling,” it said.

• In private markets, investors still clamor for Elon Musk’s companies.
• Chad is on edge after the killing of a prominent opposition leader.
• Why an adult film site is the latest tech company to sue the European Union.