🇨🇩🪖 Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have seized control of a mining town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in an apparent violation of a unilateral ceasefire declared this week. An estimated 2,800 people died in Goma already.

🇭🇹💸 More than $13-m in US funding for an international security force helping fight armed gangs in Haiti has been frozen under Trump’s 90-day pause on foreign aid. The Multinational Security Support mission relies on voluntary contributions.

🇦🇷🩺 Argentina will follow in Donald Trump’s footsteps and pull out of the World Health Organisation due to “deep differences”. Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei, who considers Trump a close ally, blamed the WHO’s management of health issues, notably the Covid-19 pandemic.

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🇦🇺⚢ Australia has introduced gender equality as a key pillar to its foreign policy, aid and trade programmes. Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed that this is now a “matter of national interest”.

🇳🇿⚖️ Author Neil Gaiman and his estranged wife have been sued for alleged sexual assault of a New Zealand woman. The complainant alleged that Gaiman repeatedly raped her while she worked for them, while his estranged wife Amanda Palmer knowingly failed to warn her.

🇺🇸🚶‍♀️More than 20,000 government workers in the US have taken up an offer for an early end to their careers. The departures formed part of a government offer to federal workers to quit early and receive full pay until the end of September.

🇺🇸🎵 Beyoncé and her album Cowboy Carter won best country album at this year’s Grammys. The show was still going at the time of writing, and focused strongly on pledging support for Los Angeles after the devastating wildfires.

🇿🇦🇹🇼 South Africa has told Taiwan it has until the end of March to move its embassy outside of Pretoria. Taipei currently has only one African country (Eswatini) where it enjoys formal diplomatic ties.

🇩🇪🪧 Tens of thousands have taken to the streets of Berlin to protest proposed anti-immigration laws championed by Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party. Those gathered at the Brandenburg Gate numbered about 160,000.

🇺🇸❤️‍🔥 The Trump administration has continued its purge of USAID staff, putting dozens more on “administrative leave” over the weekend. From landmine removals in Asia to HIV drugs in South Africa, the Trump dismantling of USAID has had immediate, and disastrous, effects.

🇺🇸🇬🇧 Donald Trump gave Keir Starmer two signed baseball caps as gifts last year. The exchange is a tradition going far back. Before you roll your eyes, know that Barack Obama gifted Gordon Brown a DVD box set in exchange for a pen hand carved from the wood of a Royal Navy ship of sail.

🎵🏆 Taylor Swift has been unveiled as this year’s presenter for the Grammys. To be held this coming Sunday, Swift will be presenting one undisclosed category award. She is also nominated for album of the year.

🇮🇹🇨🇳 Italy’s privacy watchdog has banned DeepSeek over concerns about user data. The Garante (Italy’s watchdog) said information provided about how AI app DeepSeek handles user data was “totally insufficient”.

🇺🇸⚖️ Prosecutors have alleged that Sean “Diddy” Combs trafficked at least three women. Diddy is accused of a 20-year sexual abuse pattern. He faces trial on 5 May.

🇺🇸🏈 Tickets for this year’s Super Bowl have hit record demand. The Kansas City Chiefs will face the Philadelphia Eagles. The average ticket price? A paltry $7,900. The priciest ticket thus far is going for $54,000. #goeagles

🇯🇵💴 SoftBank announced that it was close to securing its $25-billion investment into ChatGPT’s OpenAI. It is not known whether this huge sum was affected by the upstart Chinese AI, Deepseek.

🇺🇸🇵🇸 And the White House has ordered the deportation of any non-citizen college students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests. Using terms including “pro-Jihadist protests” and “terroristic threats”, Trump vowed that his government would find the students and deport them.