World in Brief - The Economist Roundup

World in Brief

The Economist Roundup

Indonesia and Philippines can learn from each other

Ferdinand Marcos, the Philippines president, and Joko Widodo, his Indonesian counterpart, known as Jokowi, met in Manila on Wednesday to discuss ways to strengthen links between their countries. They have much in common: together they form one archipelago, which fringes Southeast Asia; they are the most populous countries in the region; and both are democracies.

They also have adversaries in common. Islamist jihadists once caused great trouble on both sides of the border. Though now a largely latent threat, they do occasionally resurface: a bomb planted by followers of Islamic State killed four Christian worshippers in the Philippines on December 3rd. Another common danger is China, which covets some parts of the South China Sea where, under international law, the Philippines and Indonesia have exclusive rights to oil, gas and fish. After the meeting, Mr Marcos and Jokowi insisted that international law applies to all in the disputed waters—a tacit rebuke to their superpower neighbour.

NATO’s hand-wringing over Ukraine

Diplomats from Ukraine and NATO countries will meet on Wednesday to discuss a response to relentless Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities. But the West’s promise to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” (repeated at the last NATO-Ukraine council in November) is starting to sound hollow.

In December America released what it says will be the last military-aid package for Ukraine until Congress makes more money available. But Republicans are blocking President Joe Biden’s request for $61bn-worth of civilian and military assistance to Ukraine, which is part of a broader proposal that includes aid for Israel and Taiwan. The Republicans are demanding reforms to curb migration across America’s southern border as the price of voting for the aid. Hungary, meanwhile, has blocked a four-year package of EU aid to Ukraine worth €50bn ($55bn).

This week Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, berated his fellow European leaders for providing insufficient help to Ukraine. When even arms-averse Germany finds the level of military aid to be too low, you know it’s inadequate.

France’s new prime minster

A reshuffle of the French government is expected soon, after the unexpected nomination of its new and startlingly young head. Gabriel Attal, the 34-year-old former education minister, was appointed prime minister on January 9th by Emmanuel Macron. An early recruit to the president’s centrist movement, Mr Attal is the youngest prime minister in modern France, nominated by its youngest president.

Mr Macron must hope that Mr Attal—popular on both the left and the right—can help reset his troubled second term. Mr Attal has promised to “devote every second”, and will soon unveil his reform agenda. But his appointment is also an attempt to boost Mr Macron’s centrist party’s chances at European Parliament elections in June. Polls give a big lead to the National Rally party, led by the 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, to which Marine Le Pen belongs. The campaign may become a duel between the two young leaders, marking a rejuvenation as well as a polarisation of French politics.

The Republican race for second place

Only two Republican candidates will appear at the party’s presidential primary debates on Wednesday. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, may have hoped to contend with Donald Trump directly for the Republican nomination by this point. But the two are still battling each other for a distant second place days before the Iowa caucuses take place. Mr Trump maintains a prohibitive lead in Iowa, and nationally. Both his runners-up, though, will be hoping to put in a strong performance that provides momentum for their campaigns.

Mr Trump has skipped all the debates, and voters haven’t punished him for this risk-averse approach. On this occasion the former president instead will take part in a town hall in Iowa with Fox News. Expect Mr Trump to generate headlines that distract from his rivals’ discussion. At a town hall in December, he promised not to be a dictator “except for day one”.

 

American officials said that American and British forces had shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by the Houthis, Iran-backed Yemeni rebels, towards international shipping lanes in the Red Sea. The group has increased attacks on commercial vessels in retaliation for Israel’s war in Gaza, forcing many shipping lines to re-route. Meanwhile, after meetings with Israeli officials Antony Blinken, America’s secretary of state, announced a deal to launch a UN mission that will seek to help civilians displaced from northern Gaza to return home. Mr Blinken also staunchly defended Israel against allegations of genocide brought by South Africa to the International Court of Justice; that case begins on Thursday.

 

Boeing’s chief executive, Dave Calhoun, admitted “our mistake” during a company-wide safety meeting, following an emergency on Friday in which one of its 737 Max planes shed a door. The American planemaker’s stock has since fallen by more than 9%. America’s aviation regulator grounded 171 of the aircraft on Saturday; it said it would not rush to lift the ban.

 

The world’s largest chipmaker, TSMC, reported better revenues than expected. The Taiwanese firm beat forecasts thanks to a surge in demand from artificial intelligence companies. The boom in AI has helped TSMC to withstand weakening demand for gadgets made by companies such as Apple, a key customer for the chipmaker.

 

Taiwan’s presidential office said it did not regard the launch of a Chinese satellite as election interference. On Tuesday an erroneous air-raid alert caused panic as the satellite-carrying rocket flew over Taiwan. A political storm erupted when the foreign minister described its launch as evidence of Chinese harassment. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party has repeatedly accused China of meddling in the general election, scheduled for January 13th.

 

NASA delayed its upcoming Artemis II mission, the first American attempt to send people near the Moon since 1972. The launch had been scheduled for this year, but will now take place in 2025. A subsequent mission to land two astronauts on the Moon’s south pole was also put off. Earlier, Astrobotic Technology abandoned plans to land its already-launched Peregrine spacecraft on the Moon.