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Israel plans Rafah invasion

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back on growing international criticism of Israel’s planned invasion of a Gazan border town where about 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering. Netanyahu argued the move on Rafah was critical to Israel’s goal of eradicating Hamas, but the offensive could have major implications for the conflict, threatening an important aid supply route, and risking not just hostage and ceasefire talks, which appeared to be fitfully progressing, but reportedly even Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel. A senior U.S. official said negotiators were making “real progress” on a truce, Reuters reported, though the war itself showed no signs of relenting, with the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reporting the death toll from four months of conflict having topped 28,000.

Backlash over Trump’s NATO take

Former U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his attacks on NATO, suggesting he would “encourage” Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to American allies he believes don’t spend enough on defense. The remarks alarmed European officials, who have reportedly felt pressure to ramp up defense spending over the prospect that Trump, the current Republican presidential frontrunner, returns to power next year. While Trump is known for his bluster, Americans shouldn’t ignore his NATO threats, The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols argued: Other countries “are watching him because they believe … that he is telling them exactly what he’ll do if he returns to office.” The comments come as the U.S. Senate advanced a $95 billion aid bill for Ukraine and Israel on Sunday.

GOP China hawk leaving Congress

U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, a rising Republican star known for his criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, announced Saturday that he would not seek reelection. The 39-year-old lawmaker and former Marine joined Congress in 2017 and has spent the last year leading a high-profile House of Representatives committee focused on scrutinizing the Chinese government. The committee investigated Chinese firms operating in the U.S. and simulated what would happen if China invaded Taiwan, helping worsen the already deteriorating relationship between Washington and Beijing. Gallagher said that “Congress is no place to get old,” but one think tank expert nonetheless said it was “a huge loss,” calling Gallagher “the smartest member on China issues.”

Nigeria mourns death of bank CEO

The death of a leading Nigerian bank executive Friday sent shockwaves through Africa’s business community. Herbert Wigwe, the CEO of Access Holdings — the parent company of one of Africa’s largest banking groups — died in a helicopter crash in California that also killed his wife, son, and three others. Wigwe’s loss “will be felt far and wide way beyond Nigerian banking,” Semafor Africa’s Yinka Adegoke wrote. In addition to expanding his financial firm to 14 countries, Wigwe launched a university in Nigeria that will host its first class of students this year. Wigwe wrote last month that more investment in higher education would help stem Africa’s “brain drain,” reducing waves of mass migration that feed fears of destabilization in Europe and the U.S.

No clear winner in Pakistan elections

Pakistan’s political future is up in the air after no party gained a parliamentary majority in the country’s elections. In a surprise, independent candidates associated with jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party won the most seats, elections officials confirmed Sunday. The vote was marred by violence, a suspension of mobile services, and widespread protests over alleged ballot-rigging. The results demonstrated both Khan’s enduring popularity and young people’s frustration with the growing influence and electoral power of the country’s military, which preferred a rival candidate, a Council on Foreign Relations expert wrote. Regardless of who comes to power, the “elections have been so contested that the government will not have any legitimacy,” a Pakistan politics expert told Indian media.

AI spam pollutes once-beloved sites

The website of Apple Daily — a once-vibrant pro-democracy tabloid in Hong Kong whose founder Jimmy Lai has been jailed — is being filled with AI-generated spam. The site is just one of over 2,000 previously popular domains snapped up by an entrepreneur in Serbia who is earning a fortune from digital advertisements by pumping them with often nonsensical articles written by ChatGPT. His strategy has been successful not because it is “replacing the work of human writers but because it coasts on the value created by their past labor,” Wired magazine’s Kate Knibbs wrote.

Messi sit-out prompts blowback

Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi sparked a political firestorm after he sat out of a match in Hong Kong last week due to an injury, only to play in Tokyo days later. The move prompted officials in Hangzhou to cancel a planned friendly match between Argentina and Nigeria in the Chinese city next month. A Chinese state-owned tabloid claimed “political motives” and “external forces” were behind Messi’s decision to sit out. The episode showed how missteps by foreign celebrities can lead to harsh backlash in China’s “highly nationalistic social media sphere,” CNN wrote.

Fmr. Dutch leader dies by euthanasia

Former Dutch Prime Minister Dries van Agt died by euthanasia, “hand in hand” with his wife. Both were 93. Assisted dying was legalized in the Netherlands in 2002 in cases when a patient’s suffering is “unbearable with no prospect of improvement,” and roughly 5% of Dutch deaths each year are now voluntary. Such laws are increasingly common: Switzerland introduced voluntary euthanasia in 1942, and now jurisdictions in at least 12 nations — representing 200 million people and including 10 U.S. states — allow physicians to end lives. Critics in places like Canada worry about slippery slopes, but support for the policy is high in the country, while the percentage of deaths involving it is low, at just 4%.

Bad blood between Swifties in Tokyo

Taylor Swift’s four sold-out shows in Tokyo exposed a cultural chasm between Japanese and Western concertgoers. Several Japanese Swifties complained about raucous foreign fans standing up and blocking their views, breaking with the “rather restrained Japanese approach to taking in a show,” The New York Times wrote. It noted that the response was perhaps a microcosm of the country’s complex relationship with tourism: Travelers to Japan’s big cities have helped prop up the economy, but locals are increasingly frustrated about perceived bad behavior by foreigners. In Kyoto, longtime residents have also been pushed out to make room for short-term vacation rentals, while “shops and restaurants started catering to travellers rather than locals,” two Japan experts wrote in East Asia Forum.

A more green way to make iron

A new zero-carbon ironmaking process using saltwater is cost-effective, new research suggests. Iron production accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions, as much as all passenger vehicles. The current method, which involves heating iron with high-carbon coal and using the carbon atoms to strip the oxygen from iron oxide ore, is very energy intensive. The new system involves using the sodium in salt to do the oxygen-stripping. If powered by renewable energy, the process could even be carbon-negative — consuming more carbon dioxide than it emits, Science reported. But scaling up the operation would come with challenges: The process generates about as much chlorine gas as it does iron, possibly leading to pollution.

Semafor’s  2024  World Economy Summit, on April 17-18, will feature conversations with global policymakers and power brokers in Washington, against the backdrop of the IMF and World Bank meetings.

Chaired by former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein, and in partnership with BCG, the summit will feature 150 speakers across two days and three different stages, including the Gallup Great Hall. Join Semafor for conversations with the people shaping the global economy.

Feb. 12

• The former head of Nigeria’s central bank Godwin Emefiele stands trial for fraud. He faces 20 charges and could serve over a decade in prison if convicted.
• Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis meets with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade.
• Rose Monday is celebrated across Germany as part of annual carnival celebrations before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent for many Christians.

The proportion of bitcoin mining deals made with Ethiopia’s electricity operator by Chinese firms. The East African nation — where almost half the population lives without access to electricity — began allowing crypto mining in 2022. It has since become a haven for Chinese bitcoin firms searching for cheap energy and friendly political climates, according to Bloomberg. The energy-intensive process of bitcoin mining, which involves using specialized computers to solve mathematical puzzles, has been outlawed in many jurisdictions, including China.

An anatomy textbook by the Renaissance physician Andreas Vesalius sold at an auction for $2.2 million, blowing past the $1.2 million estimate of how much it was expected to fetch. The book, which is heavily annotated with Vesalius’ corrections and criticisms, was last sold in 2007 for just $14,000, Artnet reported. Printed in 1555, the volume is “the greatest anatomical atlas of the Renaissance and a masterpiece of medical science, pedagogy, and typographical design,” Christie’s said. It also features 14 “muscle men,” detailed depictions of the human form resembling Renaissance paintings and sculptures.

• Did Trump really fix the U.S.-Mexico border? It’s complicated.
• Tucker Carlson met with Edward Snowden during his visit to Russia.
• A new U.S. congressional report accuses venture capital firms of backing blacklisted companies from China.