World in Brief - The Economist Roundup

 

World in Brief

The Economist Roundup

February 22, 2024

The European Union unveiled its 13th package of sanctions on Russia. The measures target entities believed to be supporting Russia’s “war machine”, according to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. The EU also took aim at businesses in India and China with links to Russia’s war. The sanctions package was agreed after Hungary dropped its opposition. Meanwhile Britain placed sanctions on six Russians officials at the penal colony where Alexei Navalny died.

 

Somalia agreed to allow Turkey to defend its territorial waters. Turkey’s navy already operates in Somali territory as part of an anti-piracy campaign. But Somalia’s prime minister, Hamza Abdi Barre, promised that the new deal would end “threats from abroad”. Tensions with neighbouring Ethiopia have risen since it signed a deal with Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland.

 

Boeing sacked the boss of the factory that builds 737 Max 9 jets, the type of plane that shed a door while in flight last month. The embattled firm said that Ed Clark, who oversees the broader 737 Max programme, would be replaced immediately as part of a leadership shake-up. After the January incident, the fleet was temporarily grounded by regulators.

 

Rio Tinto, a British-Australian company, approved the development of a $20bn mining project in Guinea, west Africa. The vast scheme, which encompasses two mines, a port and a railway, is expected to start delivering iron ore next year. It offers a glint of hope for the global mining industry, which has spent much of the past decade in investors’ bad books.

 

A Ukrainian air strike killed over 65 Russian soldiers in occupied territory in the east of Ukraine, according to Russian military bloggers. The military base is believed to have been struck by American-supplied HIMARS rockets. Video footage appears to show dozens of dead and wounded. The strike followed the Russian capture of Avdiivka, a heavily contested nearby town, on Saturday.

 

The European Space Agency predicted that ERS-2, a satellite launched in 1995, will re-enter the atmosphere and fall to Earth on Wednesday. It will mostly burn up as it descends. Along with ERS-1, its older sibling, ERS-2 was one of the most sophisticated satellites launched in the 1990s. They gathered data on floods, temperatures, ice fields and the ozone layer.

Japan’s rocky relations with South Korea

On Thursday Japan marks Takeshima Day, an annual assertion of its claim over the Takeshima islets, which lie between it and South Korea. These contentious specks—which South Korea controls, and calls Dokdo—remain a prickly issue for the two countries, despite their broader warming of relations.

Under Kishida Fumio, Japan’s prime minister, and Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korea’s president, the countries have sought to mend fences over their bitter past and focus on shared security challenges, such as an assertive China and a nuclear-armed North Korea. America has welcomed the pair’s improved relationship, seeing such co-operation as pivotal for regional stability.

Takeshima Day itself is a minor event, launched in 2005 by Shimane, a Japanese prefecture close to the disputed islets. The national government usually sends a mid-ranking official to attend. But the celebration serves as a reminder of the many unresolved historical grievances that could derail the present-day goodwill.

A private space odyssey

Thursday may see the first ever Moon landing pulled off by a private company. On February 15th a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried Odysseus into orbit. The landing craft, made by Intuitive Machines, an American company, aims to touch down near the Moon’s south pole—an area of great interest to scientists and never visited by spacecraft before, in part because of its challenging terrain.

Intuitive Machines is not the first private company to attempt a Moon landing. Others have tried, and failed. In April 2023 HAKUTO-R, sent by Japanese firm ispace, crashed. In January Peregrine, made by Astrobiotic, another American company, failed to reach the Moon because of a propellant leak.

Odysseus carries NASA scientific instruments and is partially funded by the agency as part of its “commercial lunar payload services” programme (as was Peregrine). This scheme is designed to encourage companies to develop Moon-landers. The hope is that they can then support NASA’s efforts, which include taking humans back to the Moon before 2030.

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