Girding for the G7. Differences over Ukraine are expected to characterize the G7 meeting in Canada that begins this weekend, with unnamed sources telling Bloomberg that the group will not attempt to reach a joint declaration. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend the meeting and might meet with Trump. Countries are due to discuss a European Union (EU) plan to lower a price cap on Russian oil.
Casualties from India crash. Out of the 242 people aboard the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad, India yesterday, only one passenger survived. Additional people on the ground were killed after being hit by the plane. Investigators from the United States and the United Kingdom (UK), where the plane was bound, will assist the investigation into what went wrong with the Boeing aircraft. Most passengers were Indian or British nationals.
Global displacement report. At the end of last year, 123.2 million people were forcibly displaced around the world, the UN refugee agency said yesterday. The record number was driven by conflicts including those in Sudan, Myanmar, and Ukraine. But the refugee agency also flagged a “ray of hope”: since the fall of Syria’s Assad government, more than half a million Syrians are estimated to have returned from abroad and an estimated 1.2 million internally displaced people have returned home.
Japan courts U.S. talent. Japan’s government plans to spend at least $698 million on boosting academic jobs and research environments with an eye to attracting scholars who are leaving the United States. The plan includes reforms to address red tape that in the past created obstacles to doing research at Japanese universities.
Japan-China air incident. A Chinese fighter jet flew within 150 feet of a Japanese surveillance plane for around forty minutes on Saturday, Japan’s defense ministry said yesterday. Tokyo said it conveyed “serious concern” to Beijing about possible collisions. China’s foreign ministry said its actions were within international law, while the U.S. ambassador to Japan called China’s action “reckless aggression.” It came as China had stationed its two active duty aircraft carrier groups past Japan’s islands for the first time.
Court rulings on National Guard use. A federal judge yesterday ordered the Trump administration to return control of National Guard troops in California to Governor Gavin Newsom—but hours later, an appeals court blocked that move. A hearing in the appeal is set for Tuesday. Newsom had sued Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and the Defense Department after the deployment of the National Guard following protests over immigration enforcement.
World Bank’s nuclear power stance. The bank is ending a decades-old ban on funding nuclear power projects, President Ajay Banga announced Wednesday. The move is part of the bank’s broader goal of addressing rising electricity demand in developing countries. Meeting a 2035 target for increased energy capacity would require annual public and private investment in generation, grids, and storage to rise from $280 billion today to $630 billion, Banga said. The bank will work with the UN nuclear watchdog on its new power efforts.
Kenya protests. Kenyan authorities arrested a police constable yesterday amid demonstrations in Nairobi over a political blogger’s death in police custody. Police originally called the man’s death a suicide, but activists alleged abuse by security forces. The United States and the EU have called for a transparent probe into the death.
