March 4, update

Israel has “more or less accepted” a ceasefire proposal, according to an American official. The deal would entail a six-week halt to fighting and the release of vulnerable hostages by Hamas. The official said that now “the ball is in the court of Hamas”. A delegation from Hamas arrived in Egypt on Sunday for talks with mediators from America, Egypt and Qatar. But Israel boycotted the talks after Hamas failed to provide a list of living hostages. The militant group has insisted that talks must conclude by the eve of Ramadan, on March 10th.

America’s Supreme Court announced on Sunday that it will release at least one opinion Monday morning, leading to speculation that it could rule on Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on the ballot in Colorado. In December the state’s supreme court ruled that Mr Trump cannot stand in the Republican primary ballot under the 14th Amendment, citing his participation in an insurrection. Colorado is one of 15 states holding primaries on Super Tuesday this week.

Pakistan’s parliament re-elected Shehbaz Sharif as prime minister three weeks after a contentious election in which the opposition gained the most seats but no party won a majority. Mr Sharif, the head of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and brother of Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister who had been expected to take up the role before stepping aside, will lead a coalition government with the Pakistan Peoples Party.

Russia said it destroyed 38 Ukrainian drones aimed at Crimea. The bridge between the peninsula and Russia was briefly closed, and explosions were reported at the port of Feodosia. Separately Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, promised to investigate how a call between German officers came to be shared on Russian social media. On the recording the officers discussed the war, including how to strike the Crimea bridge.

Some members of OPEC+, an alliance of big oil producers which includes Russia and Saudi Arabia, will extend cuts in production to avoid a surplus amid concerns about global economic growth. In November the group agreed to reduce output by 2.2m barrels per day. Earlier this year attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi militants caused oil prices to jump further.

In a referendum in Switzerland voters approved a proposal for pensioners to receive an extra month’s payment per year. They also rejected an increase to the retirement age from 65 to 66. The cost of living in Switzerland is among the highest in the world. But the government has warned that the reforms will be too expensive.

LeBron James, one of basketball’s greatest stars, has extended his career point-scoring record to 40,000. King James, as he is known, wracked up the astounding tally over 21 seasons, playing in 10 NBA finals and winning four. Unfortunately for Mr James, his personal victory was paired with a defeat for his team, the LA Lakers—they were beaten 124-114 by the Denver Nuggets.

In the run-up to America’s presidential election, we’ve launched The US in brief—a daily update to help you keep on top of the political stories that matter. Sign up here to receive it as a newsletter, each weekday, in your inbox.

Figure of the day: 75,000, the number of Americans killed every year by fentanyl and other synthetic opioids—more than double the figure of 2019. Read the full story here.

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photo: getty images

Urgent Gaza ceasefire talks

With just six days to go until the eve of Ramadan—the unofficial deadline for a ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas—talks in Cairo seem to be at an impasse. Representatives of Hamas arrived on Sunday but when they refused to hand over a list of names of Israeli hostages still alive in Gaza, Israel’s team stayed away. Nevertheless, there is still optimism among Egyptian and Qatari mediators that a deal can be reached to provide urgently needed respite during the Muslim holy month.

The Americans are also heavily invested in the talks. They hope that a temporary ceasefire, which could last between a month and six weeks and allow for the release of Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th, would lead to a more lasting one. According to sources in the Biden administration, Israel has already agreed in principle to the deal, but Hamas are still playing tough.

photo: getty images

South Korea’s stuttering economy

On Monday South Korea will publish figures for industrial production in January, followed on Wednesday by its consumer-price index for February. Output from manufacturing, which is crucial to the economy, hit a 25-year low last year. With China’s anaemic economic performance suppressing its demand for South Korean products and a downturn in the global market for semiconductors hitting its most important product, South Korea’s export-driven economy has been in the doldrums. Though inflation never got to the levels seen in America or Europe, it has hit South Korean wallets hard.

There are some green shoots. Analysts predict a recovery in the semiconductor market. Industrial production has grown for the last couple of months, and in January inflation was below 3% for the first time in six months, though it may bounce back. With parliamentary elections due in April Yoon Suk-yeol, the country’s president, will hope this week’s data will give his party something to impress voters with.

photo: ap

France guarantees abortion rights

On Monday French lawmakers will vote on whether to enshrine in the country’s constitution a “guarantee” of women’s “freedom” to have an abortion. They will meet at a joint session of the lower and upper houses of parliament in Versailles, a rarely convened body known as the Congress. A constitutional revision requires three-fifths of the votes.

Such cross-party support is widely expected. Last Wednesday the French senate, which is controlled by the opposition centre-right, voted overwhelmingly in favour of the bill. The revision also enjoys backing from the governing centre and the opposition left. Emmanuel Macron, the president, wants women’s freedom to have an abortion to be made “irreversible”. French politicians of all stripes have worried about the potential for a future rolling-back of such guarantees—especially since America’s Supreme Court overturned the ruling that protected abortion rights there in 2022.

photo: reuters

Turkey’s tightening

Turkey’s central bank hoped that one of the most aggressive tightening cycles in the country’s history, which raised interest rates by 36.5 percentage points in eight months, would have tamed inflation by now. It has not.

The country’s base interest rate is now 45%. But as data released on Monday are expected to reveal, government handouts have blunted the impact of the hikes. Economists polled by Reuters expect annual inflation to have reached 65.7% in February, up from 64.9% in the preceding month. A 49% increase to the minimum wage, decreed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government at the end of last year, plus rising food prices, are largely to blame. Turkey’s central bank expects inflation to peak in the coming months and slow to 36% by the end of the year. The economists polled by Reuters are less sanguine, forecasting it to remain over 40% by year’s end.

photo: maria branyas/from twitter

Long-living Spaniards

On Monday Maria Branyas will celebrate a remarkable birthday: number 117. Ms Branyas, who lives in Catalonia in Spain’s north-east, became the world’s oldest person upon the death of Luicile Randon, a Frenchwoman, in 2023.

She is not Spain’s only silver superstar: by 2040 the country is expected to have an average lifespan of 85.8 years, overtaking Japan to become the world's longest-living.

This may seem a surprise. Spaniards smoke and drink a bit more than the European average. The “Mediterranean diet” is given much credit, but there is no single such thing, and Spaniards gobble ham, fried things and potatoes as well as whole grains and fresh veg. But Spain has excellent health care, and something else longevity experts point to. Ms Branyas credits “good connection with family and friends,” and reams of research back her up. Spaniards make sacrifices to live close to family, and the design of towns encourages gatherings.