July 27 update

Ukraine has reportedly stepped up its counter-offensive by sending thousands of fresh troops to the front lines. American defence officials told the New York Times that many of the newly deployed soldiers have been trained by Western armies. Earlier, Russian officials reported that Ukraine had launched a “massive” attack near Orikhiv, a town in the Zaporizhia region.

Soldiers in Niger announced a coup on national television and claimed they had removed the president, Mohamed Bazoum, from power. The group, which includes members of the presidential guard, have closed the country’s borders and imposed a nationwide curfew. The coup will further complicate Western efforts to help Niger stem attacks by insurgent groups that have been causing havoc in the country.

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter-point, taking its benchmark rate to a range between 5.25% and 5.5%. Jerome Powell, chair of America’s central bank, refused to predict the pace of future rate increases. To policymakers’ relief, America’s inflation rate is easing. In June the annual figure was 3%, down by six percentage points from a year ago.

Moldova ordered 45 Russian diplomats and embassy staff to leave the country over “numerous unfriendly actions”. The Moldovan foreign minister said that the decision was taken “so that there are fewer people trying to destabilise the country”. The Kremlin accused Moldova of encouraging “Russophobia”. Relations between the countries are at a low ebb after Maia Sandu, Moldova’s president, accused Russia of plotting to overthrow her in February.

A federal judge refused to approve Hunter Biden’s plea deal with prosecutors over unpaid taxes. The son of America’s president had agreed to an arrangement with the Justice Department to settle the tax charges he faces along with a separate gun-related charge. But the judge rejected the agreement, saying that she had “concerns” about linking the offences. She asked both sides to provide more details.

Israel’s Supreme Court said that it will hear appeals in September against new legislation designed to drastically limit its powers. The law—which all but eliminates the court’s ability to overturn government decisions on the grounds of “reasonableness”—was passed by the far-right coalition on Monday, prompting widespread protests. If the court rules that it is unconstitutional, it will be on a collision course with the government.

Sinead O’Connor, the Irish singer-songwriter, died aged 56. She was known for the chart-topping single from 1990, “Nothing Compares 2 U”, her rebellious stances, and her shaved head. In 1992, during a live televised performance, she ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II, urging viewers to “fight the real enemy”—a criticism of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Figure of the day: 220,000, the number of jobs cut by nearly 900 technology companies around the world in 2023. Read the full story.

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PHOTO: DAVE SIMONDS

The ECB’s out-of-office meeting

The governing council of the European Central Bank (ECB) must be itching to go on holiday after months of difficult interest-rate decisions. But before they set their email auto-replies, the ECB faces a final call on Thursday. Rates might go up by another quarter of a percentage point. But the council’s more doveish members may prefer to hold off until they regroup in a few weeks.

Price rises in the euro zone have slowed: both headline and core inflation (which strips out energy and food prices) stood at 5.5% in June. But the private-sector economy is weakening and business sentiment is sagging, especially in Germany. If monetary policy is indeed working to cool both inflation and growth, the ECB could be close to pausing rate hikes, as other central banks have done. But the available data may not yet support a change of direction. Do not email in the meantime: the central bankers are out of the office, but will be back with a re-assessment in September.

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

African leaders go to Russia with less love

The Russia-Africa Summit which starts on Thursday in St Petersburg was meant to be a diplomatic victory for Vladimir Putin. Since Russia’s president began his full-scale invasion of Ukraine the Kremlin has redoubled its efforts to woo African states, not least for their political influence: the continent’s 54 countries hold more than a quarter of votes at the UN General Assembly.

But the reported turnout—17 leaders versus 43 at the previous meeting in 2019—shows the limits of Russia’s appeal. A few attendees are customers of the Wagner Group of mercenaries; others want Russian arms. Some see Mr Putin as an ally in promoting a more multilateral world. But African countries are generally pragmatic. Russia has less economic clout than America, China or the EU. And its recent withdrawal from a deal to release Ukrainian grain exports will have harmed African interests. As a result many of the continent’s leaders may have decided that attending would have offered Russia a public-relations win too cheaply.

PHOTO: AP

Party in the DPRK

North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong Un, is having a party—and, for the first time in years, he has invited guests. On Thursday Chinese and Russian delegations will watch a military parade that celebrates “Victory Day”—the 70th anniversary of the day North Korea claims, controversially, to have won the Korean war. No one else is known to have entered the country since it closed its borders at the start of the covid-19 pandemic, apart from a new Chinese ambassador who arrived with his staff in March and an American soldier who dashed across the border last week.

Don’t expect a grand reopening soon. The pandemic allowed Mr Kim to exert even tighter control over his heavily policed fief, and to continue developing nuclear weapons. As he has China’s and Russia’s support, chidings from America or South Korea have little sting. Mr Kim is having far too good a time to let his revelries end.

PHOTO: REX SHUTTERSTOCK

Meloni cosies up in Washington

Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, meets President Joe Biden in Washington on Thursday amid signs she is ready to pull her country out of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. In 2019 Giuseppe Conte’s populist coalition signed up to the programme of infrastructure projects that spans Eurasia, the Middle East and Africa. The pact has been one of the few bones of contention between America and its ally. It is due for renewal by the end of this year.

Ms Meloni has won friends in America by supporting Ukraine both diplomatically and militarily, despite being yoked in government to two parties, the Northern League and Forza Italia, once closely linked to Russia. Since becoming prime minister, she has also dropped her fiery Eurosceptic rhetoric. That too is appreciated in Washington. But Mr Biden is politically distant from the hard-right Ms Meloni and has been reluctant to invite her to the table with other European allies. Ditching the BRI could bring her closer to the in-crowd.

PHOTO: SKODONNELL / KEENAN

And now for something completely different…

In “Different Times: a History of British Comedy”, David Stubbs, a culture writer, charts the country’s changing sense of humour. Post-war comedy, he argues, was disinterested in altering the status quo—although that is news to anyone who has watched Monty Python. But he observes that from the late 1970s comedy merged with activism: stand-ups such as Alexei Sayle and Ben Elton fought Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative governments armed with gags. A decade of foul-mouthed shows followed, which were filled with righteous anger. Then comedy entered a new phase: political correctness.

Mr Stubbs sees this not as a straitjacket for comedians but as a liberation. He says that scrapping offensive tropes such as “dolly birds, amiable sex pests, comical Asians [and] nancy boys” enabled comedians to explore a broader sweep of British life. It is indeed good that comedians are no longer “punching down”—but comedy thrives on transgression. If comedians become too nice they might stop punching at all.