Flagship

Nigeria’s new malaria vaccine

Nigeria, the country with the most malaria deaths, began rolling out a new vaccine against the disease. The vaccine — given to children up to five years old, the worst affected population — has an effectiveness rate of 75%, meaning other prevention tools are still necessary. Africa accounts for almost the entirety of the world’s malaria deaths, with Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation, representing nearly a third of those. Besides the human toll, estimates suggest the continent loses billions of dollars a year in productivity and health expenses linked to malaria. The vaccines “help us move closer to achieving the goal of a malaria-free Africa,” an expert at the World Health Organization told the BBC.

Trump’s pledges gather pace

US President-elect Donald Trump made a series of pledges on key domestic and foreign policy issues, implicitly highlighting a political vacuum in Washington with his soon-to-be predecessor on a foreign trip. Trump pledged to block the acquisition of US Steel by a Japanese rival and warned that “there will be hell to pay” if hostages held by Palestinian militants were not released by the time he takes office. The remarks came after he promised last month to impose tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico. Though the comments all largely reiterate his long-held stances, they come with foreign leaders and business titans having quickly shifted focus to court him rather than outgoing President Joe Biden ahead of Trump’s inauguration.

China curbs sales of chip materials

China tightened controls on the export to the US of some chipmaking materials, further raising tech and trade tensions. Washington has for years sought to slow Beijing’s technological progress and artificial-intelligence development by limiting its access to cutting-edge semiconductors. China has hit back in recent months by curtailing sales of critical materials: The latest curbs involve gallium, germanium, antimony, and others. Tensions are ramping up ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s return to power, with Trump pledging hefty tariffs on Chinese imports, raising the specter of a renewed trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. That is a particular risk to China, which is already facing slowing growth and a huge debt burden.

Canada’s ads point to shifts

Canadian officials launched new ad campaigns that reflected shifting trends on immigration and trade. The country was lauded by progressives for welcoming migrants in recent years, but federal officials have this week unveiled online ads aiming to dissuade prospective asylum-seekers, warning that claiming asylum in Canada is “not easy.” Separately, authorities in Ontario said they would broadcast commercials ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration that promote the province’s ties to its southern neighbor. Notably, the ad will run in places where officials expect conservative viewers, including on Fox News and during American football games, the Canadian broadcaster CBC said.

Migrant caravan heads to US

A caravan of 1,500 migrants heading to the US set off from southern Mexico, although it is unlikely to reach the border after Mexican authorities broke up similar ones over the weekend. Under pressure from Washington, Mexico has cracked down on migration, which a recent Gallup poll showed was among US voters’ biggest concerns. In response, President-elect Donald Trump has promised to upend the country’s asylum system and deport millions of undocumented immigrants living in the US. However, estimates suggest such a crackdown could shrink the US economy as much as 7% by 2028. “Leaving aside the human issues, leaving aside the law issues, we think that would be very destructive economically,” an expert told Foreign Policy.

Lebanon truce looking fragile

Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah traded fire, raising worries that their ceasefire may already be at risk. The truce, which only came into effect last week, has been a much-needed bright spot in a region blighted by over a year of conflict that has left tens of thousands dead and millions displaced across Lebanon and Gaza. A further 50,000 people have been displaced by a sudden surge of fighting in Syria, where a years-long civil war had been frozen until a surprise attack by rebel forces. In Gaza, residents are bracing for a winter in which plummeting temperatures are expected to combine with floods of rainwater and sewage, the BBC said.

ICJ climate case opens

The International Court of Justice opened hearings into a landmark climate case examining countries’ obligations over worsening global temperature rises. Though any final result will be advisory, the hearings in The Hague — involving more than 100 countries and NGOs, and lasting nearly two weeks — come with use of the justice system increasing in an effort to force companies and countries to curb carbon emissions: Rulings in the US and Europe have required governments do more to protect citizens, while litigation against companies is on the rise. “The stakes could not be higher,” a representative from Vanuatu said of the ICJ case.

Carlyle Co-Chairman David Rubenstein, Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin, former US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, and KKR Co-Chairman Henry Kravis will serve as co-chairs of Semafor’s World Economy Summit on Apr. 23-25, 2025, in Washington, DC.

The third annual event will bring together US cabinet officials, global finance ministers, central bankers, and Fortune 500 CEOs for conversations that cut through the political noise to dive into the most pressing issues facing the world economy.

Obama-Merkel era revisited

Former US and German leaders Barack Obama and Angela Merkel reunited for an event promoting her new book, prompting analysts to reappraise the pair’s time in power — increasingly viewing it as a period that sowed the seeds of present instability. The two did not discuss Donald Trump’s rise, ongoing political turmoil in Germany, Russia’s war in Ukraine, disinformation and fake news, or crises in the Middle East, instead partaking in what Die Zeit called a “nostalgic evening.” Yet when it came to the Middle East and Russia in particular, their mutual caution while in office “reinforced each other,” the Financial Times’ chief foreign affairs commentator argued, helping to “create the unstable world of today.”

Satellites to create artificial eclipse

Two spacecraft, launching tomorrow, will create an artificial eclipse by flying in perfect formation in order to study the sun. During natural eclipses, the moon blocks the face of the sun, allowing scientists to study the corona, which surrounds the main body of the star and is the source of solar wind and coronal mass ejections that affect Earth. But eclipses are rare and last only a few minutes. The European Space Agency’s Proba-2 satellites will place one craft 150 meters (492 feet) closer to the sun than the other, creating a perfectly sun-sized obstruction so the further satellite can study the corona with its telescope. The two must maintain their distance to millimeter precision for the plan to work.

ChatGPT’s banned names

ChatGPT will immediately halt if users mention or press it to mention certain names. People noticed that if the OpenAI artificial intelligence model was asked about “David Mayer,” it said “I’m unable to produce a response” and stopped. At least five other names provoke the same outcome. Ars Technica said the failure is likely hard-coded by its programmers, because ChatGPT tended to confabulate erroneous and potentially libelous information about people with those names. The bug, or feature, could allow malicious users to attack the system, it said: For instance, if a picture contains a banned name in barely visible font, it could break the AI without the user knowing why.

• Qatar’s emir begins a state visit to the UK.
• The One Water Summit is held on the sidelines of COP16 in Riyadh.
• The winner of the Turner Prize, one of Britain’s highest honors for visual artists, will be announced.

The number of sick days taken by the average Norwegian worker per year, the highest in the OECD. Europe as a whole has seen illness absences increase: The number of economically inactive people in the UK has gone up 800,000 since 2020, while Germany spent $82 billion on employee sick leave last year, more than double the 2010 number. The aftermath of COVID-19, aging workforces, and greater sensitivity towards mental health issues are among the possible causes, Bloomberg reported. Welfare systems may also play a role: Norway has extremely generous sickness benefits, including full salary for a year.

Prece by Luiza Brina. The Brazilian singer-songwriter’s album was named one of the 50 best of 2024 by NPR, combining a “soft-yet-commanding voice, nimble nylon guitar picking, and orchestral arrangements” into “a quiet, yet colossal record.” Stream Prece on your preferred platform.

An Apple employee is suing the company for allegedly spying on its workers through their personal devices and iCloud accounts, Semafor’s Reed Albergotti scooped. The lawsuit is interesting, Albergotti wrote, because it “puts Apple’s vast universe of personal data under the spotlight at a time when it is pitching itself as the privacy-focused alternative in the age of artificial intelligence.”