Washington offered to help Ottawa (CBC) end protests that are blocking three bridges on the U.S.-Canada border and slowing production at factories (BBC) in both countries. Canada’s so-called Freedom Convoy protests began over objections (WaPo) to a rule that cross-border truckers must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The White House did not elaborate on the details of the offer.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that deploying the military is “not in the cards.” Canada’s opposition leader originally supported the protesters but said yesterday that they should pack up. The demonstrators have inspired imitators from Europe to Australia, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a memo that American copycats could try to disrupt (NPR) the Super Bowl on Sunday and the State of the Union address on March 1.

Indonesia agreed to buy forty-two fighter jets (Al Jazeera) from France, the countries’ defense ministers announced. They also signed deals to cooperate on submarine development and ammunition manufacturing.
 
China/Hong Kong: Officials from Beijing will travel to Hong Kong (FT) in the coming days to study the possibility of imposing harsher movement restrictions in the city as COVID-19 cases rise.
 
In this Council Special Report, CFR’s Yanzhong Huang looks at China’s faltering global health leadership.

Thousands of Afghan refugees gathered outside a U.S. diplomatic office (WSJ) in Abu Dhabi to protest the conditions they have been held in since evacuating to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in August to await resettlement in the United States.
 
India: The government announced that Ford, Hyundai, and Suzuki are among the twenty auto companies that will be eligible for incentives (Reuters) under a new $3.5 billion scheme to boost production of clean-energy vehicles.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said 1,535 civilians were killed or injured (Al Jazeera) in Yemen in the four months after the UN Human Rights Council removed monitors from the country, compared to 823 civilians in the previous four months.
  
Libya: The prime minister rejected a parliamentary vote (NYT) to install a new interim government. The country had already postponed elections originally planned for December.

The World Health Organization (WHO) official said sufficient vaccination will help Africa get on track (AP) to “living with COVID-19” and ending pandemic-related disruptions. World Bank figures show that containment measures cost Africa $13.8 billion in lost gross domestic product (GDP) every month.
 
Tanzania: The government lifted a ban on four newspapers (Reuters) as part of a policy to relax media restrictions imposed under former President John Magufuli.

President Emmanuel Macron announced the target (AFP) as part of a nuclear “renaissance” to help France shift away from fossil fuels.
 
The Why It Matters podcast looks at the climate for nuclear energy.
 
Russia/Ukraine: Talks between France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine ended after nine hours (Bloomberg) yesterday without a joint resolution on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in the latter country’s eastern Donbas region.
 
For Foreign Affairs, Michael McFaul discusses how to make a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

They were part of a group that was arrested (Al Jazeera) ahead of last year’s elections, which were widely denounced as neither free nor fair. They were charged with “conspiracy to undermine national integrity.”

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to announce today that half of the $7 billion in Afghan central bank assets that are frozen in the U.S. banking system will go toward humanitarian relief (AP) in Afghanistan, while the other half will benefit victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.