China

• China's new foreign minister, Qin Gang, held his first press conference since taking office - and used it to scold the U.S. for trying to "contain and suppress" China.
• He was likely reacting to news that U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is planning to welcome Taiwan's president to California next month. It could have been worse for China: McCarthy was originally planning to visit Taiwan.
• Separately, Canada's PM Trudeau heeded calls from the opposition and ordered an investigation into alleged Chinese meddling in Canada's 2019 and 2021 elections. However, it's not going to be the public inquiry opposition leaders demanded - rather, an "eminent, unimpeachable expert" will lead a quiet review.

Ukraine

• Pres. Zelensky declared that Ukraine is reinforcing its defense of Bakhmut and the villages around it, in an attempt to drain Russia's military resources. Contradictory reports suggest Ukraine is actually starting a "tactical withdrawal" from Bakhmut. It's hard to tell what's actually happening there.
• Russian messaging about Bakhmut isn't any clearer. Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin warned that Russia is at risk of losing Bakhmut if his forces don't get the ammo supplies he demanded. That was an abrupt shift from Prigozhin's pronouncement a few days prior that Wagner was near victory in Bakhmut.
• One thing is clear: both sides have suffered heavy losses in this lengthy battle of attrition. Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut say Russia's advances there are coming at a heavy cost: untrained and poorly equipped Wagner mercenaries are staging disorganized attacks on Ukrainian positions that often end in their death.

South Africa

• South Africa reported dismal GDP figures showing that its economy shrank 1.3% in Q4 2022. Analysts partly blamed two failing state-run companies: Eskom - the power utility, which forced more blackouts in 2022 than ever before - and Transnet - the freight firm, which carried less freight in 2022 than in any other year since WWII.
• Pres. Ramaphosa reshuffled his cabinet yesterday in an attempt to reinstill confidence in his government, but analysts say it will take a much more drastic turnaround to fix the country's woes.

Pakistan

• The Tehreek e Jihad Pakistan (TJP) claimed a suicide attack that killed at least nine police in Balochistan. The TJP is a relatively new militant group: this is the first attack it has claimed.

Iraq

• SecDef Austin became the most senior Biden administration official to visit Iraq, where he committed to maintaining a U.S. military presence as long as the Iraqi government welcomes one. The U.S. currently has about 2,500 troops in Iraq.