Flagship

Putin stays the course

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the West for the Ukraine war, pledging to press a new offensive, ahead of the one year anniversary of his full-scale invasion of the country. Putin’s bellicose remarks — ongoing as Flagship went to press — largely repeated his narrative of the conflict: that an effete but militaristic West forced his hand, and was responsible for the costs and casualties of the war. His expansive vision for Russia remains unabated, extending beyond Ukraine to Belarus as well, with Yahoo News obtaining a leaked Kremlin strategy document detailing Moscow’s plans to “take full control” of that country, too. The Russian leader is due to meet later today with China’s top diplomat, who is visiting Moscow, the latest sign of their countries’ strengthening ties.

The U.S. recently accused China of weighing delivering military support to Russia. That “would transform the nature of the conflict,” The New York Times wrote, “turning it into an epochal struggle involving all three of the world’s largest superpowers.” The West, meanwhile, is looking to up its own support for Kyiv: the European Union is considering what the Financial Times described as “an unprecedented foray into the defense industry” to accelerate arms shipments to Ukraine.

West aims for more Russia sanctions

Western nations are readying a new batch of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine. The European Union is considering expanding restrictions on the country’s banks, Radio Free Europe reported, while Bloomberg said wider sanctions against companies and people in third countries are also being discussed. The White House is reportedly planning new export controls, while the G7 and the EU are looking at ways to better track Russian-mined diamonds across borders to further curtail Moscow’s income from its natural resources. Still, analysts worried the measures lacked sufficient urgency. “Time is on Putin’s side,” Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow, wrote, “not Ukraine’s, and not ours.”

Missing banker sparks China worry

A prominent Chinese financier’s disappearance sparked fears for his safety and of a renewed crackdown on the country’s tech sector. Bao Fan, a former Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse dealmaker, is arguably China’s most prominent tech-focused banker. At the start of this year, Beijing proclaimed that a long running tech-industry crackdown — one which curtailed stock-market listings, sidelined the Alibaba founder Jack Ma, and at one point wiped more than $1 trillion off companies’ market capitalization — was over, signaling a shift in focus to economic growth. “For the industry, it’s a very, very scary moment,” Desmond Shum, the author of a memoir of working in Chinese banking, told the Financial Times.

China boosts its solar capacity

China is expected to increase its solar energy capacity by about 30% in 2023. Last year Beijing installed 84 gigawatts of solar capacity, taking it to 392 GW in total. For context, the U.K.’s entire electricity production, from all sources, is 75 GW. An additional 95 to 120 GW capacity will be built in China this year, according to a Chinese industry body. And Beijing intends to add at least that much new solar every year until 2030, China Daily reported. The country’s exports of solar panels and other solar technology have also risen 80% year-on-year, despite trade disputes with the U.S. and EU.

Ray of optimism in Europe

European consumer confidence rose for a fifth consecutive month largely on hopes the continent has escaped the worst of an energy crisis after a mild winter. The region’s wholesale gas prices have fallen markedly in recent months, and Europe holds a near-record amount of gas in storage. Next winter may not be so kind, however: Little new gas is coming onto the market and China’s post zero-COVID reopening means its energy demand will increase this year. “For this winter, it is right to say that we are off the hook,” Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, told Reuters. “But the question is … what happens next winter?”

Turkey hit by new quake

A new earthquake struck southern Turkey, hitting a region already badly battered by two huge quakes this month. Measuring 6.4 in magnitude, the latest one killed at least six people, left hundreds injured, and trapped many under the rubble of newly collapsed buildings. Earlier in the day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — whose government has been criticized for an ineffectual response — visited the worst-hit areas. More than 46,000 people were killed by the Feb. 6 earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria, and only a tiny fraction of the $1.4 billion appealed for by the U.N. has arrived, The New Humanitarian reported.

Haley spotlights polarized US

Nikki Haley’s campaign to be the next Republican presidential nominee reflects how much the United States has changed in recent years, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott writes. In 2015, Haley — then Governor of South Carolina — led a moment of bipartisan national mourning when she called for the removal of the Confederate flag from the state capitol, after a white supremacist gunman killed nine Black churchgoers. President Barack Obama praised Haley for her leadership at the time. Yet Haley herself has questioned whether she’d be able to take the same action in the years that followed, a period characterized by deepening political polarization: Democrats pushing for politicians to more aggressively root out systemic racism while Conservatives have opposed “wokeness” at all costs.

— To read Shelby’s story, subscribe to Principals, Semafor’s daily newsletter on U.S. politics.

Fake avatars in Venezuela

Venezuela is using artificial-intelligence-generated avatars to spread propaganda. On a fictitious news channel called House of News en Español, an English-speaking avatar says: “We wanted to find out if Venezuela is really as destroyed as the media has claimed for years.” It then provides data and anecdotes that allege Venezuela’s economy is in far better shape than is widely reported. Those videos have been shared on state TV as if they were broadcasts from legitimate U.S. news channels. “This is designed so that no one is exempt from not believing in it,” the head of a Venezuelan group called Fake News Hunters told El País.

Fitch downgrades Ghana

Ghana’s credit rating was lowered after it missed a bond payment, the latest step in a worsening economic crisis. The ratings agency Fitch lowered the country’s foreign-currency debt rating to “restricted default,” matching its local-currency rating. Ghana’s president has nevertheless persisted with plans to build the National Cathedral of Ghana, a multi-million-dollar building in Accra that has divided public opinion as Ghanaians grapple with inflation topping 50% and government spending cuts. Accra is also hoping to secure an International Monetary Fund loan. “This is a generational crisis,” a Ghanaian economist told the BBC.

Looted Cambodian jewels go home

A huge collection of rare Angkorian crown jewelry held by a British smuggler was returned to Cambodia and will soon go on display in Phnom Penh. The 77 gold and jewel-encrusted pieces date back to the 7th century in some cases, with experts saying they were unaware much of it even existed. Many of Cambodia’s most important religious and cultural sites, including Angkor Wat, were looted during periods of upheaval, such as French colonial and later Khmer Rouge rule. “I felt like crying,” a Cambodian government representative told the BBC of the moment he saw the antiquities.

Xiang Xiang heads to China

Xiang Xiang, Japan’s beloved giant panda, headed back to her ancestral homeland. Though she was born in Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo, her parents Shin Shin and Ri Ri were on loan to Japan from Beijing and so she must return to her home country. The five-year-old will now travel to a breeding and research center in China’s Sichuan province where she will be paired with a mate. China has long practiced “panda diplomacy,” sending its rare animals around the world to deepen ties with other countries. Xiang Xiang garnered mega-fans in Tokyo and The Japan Times reported an emotional send-off on Sunday for lottery winners who won a chance to say bye on her last day in public.

• The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a landmark case addressing the scope of Section 230, a law that protects online platforms from lawsuits over third-party content shared on their sites.
• A primary vote is held for an open seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, a closely-watched state election in the U.S. given its implications on issues including abortion rights.
• Pancake Day, also known as Shrove Tuesday, a Christian festival that marks the day before the start of Lent and the countdown to Easter.

An escaped animal is an emergency most zoos prepare for by staging drills. In Japan the simulations can take an additional step as zookeepers dress up as fugitive animals to bring the process to life. Last week a zoo employee in the eastern city of Hitachi donned a furry bear costume to be cornered and captured by colleagues wielding nets and a tranquilizer gun as they simulated their response to an earthquake disaster.

“The skits can seem silly at times,” Johnny Waldman wrote in Spoon & Tamago. “But are rooted in an alarming, real-life incident.” In July 1936 a Tokyo neighborhood was forced into lockdown after a black panther escaped from Ueno Zoo. It was eventually located beneath a manhole cover and a strategy was devised to squeeze it out. But no one wanted the job. In the end, a man who worked in the zoo’s boiler room volunteered and the panther was captured alive. “Ever since that incident, and the chaos that ensued, a process was put in place to train for such scenarios,” Waldman said.

Spotify’s first bilingual podcast

A new Spotify podcast pays homage to the role phone booths played in the lives of early Latino immigrants in the United States. Each episode of La Cabina Telefónica (Telephone Booth), a fictional show set in 1990s New York, features a seven-minute phone call between new arrivals to Jackson Heights and their loved ones back home. It’s Spotify’s first bilingual podcast, starring Colombian pop star Fanny Lu as Matty, the owner of a neighborhood booth. “Back in my time, I used Cabinas Telefónicas a lot, so it brings back nice memories,” she told HOLA! USA.

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— Prashant, Tom Chivers, Preeti Jha, Jenna Moon, and Jeronimo Gonzalez.