Crypto News: Biden looks to second term, Xi calls Zelenskiy: Weekend Reads

US President Joe Biden launched his reelection campaign, declaring that his promise to heal the "soul of America" following Donald Trump's presidency is not yet fulfilled.

Fourteen months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the first time. Russia unleashed a fresh wave of aerial attacks across Ukraine.

Meanwhile, governments raced to evacuate their citizens from Sudan as fighting resumed in the capital, Khartoum, despite claims of an extended cease-fire between two warring factions in the African nation.

Delve into these and more of our top stories in this edition of Weekend Reads.

British nationals board an RAF aircraft for evacuation in Khartoum on Thursday. Photographer: Handout/Getty Images Europe

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Biden Says He Took a 'Hard Look' At Age Question Before Running
Biden, 80, dismissed concerns about his age, saying he believed voters endorsed his performance in office and that he ultimately felt he was up to the task when he weighed whether to seek reelection.

A potential rematch between Biden and Trump may be the best contest that Democrats can hope for.

Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris at a Black History Month reception on Feb. 27. Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg

Biden's Made in America Push Sparks Global Subsidies Arms Race
US allies are responding with their own incentive programs to the Biden administration's two-pronged agenda of supporting strategic industries such as electric vehicles, semiconductors and artificial intelligence while working to hobble China's efforts to make advances in those same fields for military purposes. That's even as they warn of an economic war, Alan Crawford writes.

Trump Accuser Gives Jury Graphic Testimony of Rape He Denies
New York author E. Jean Carroll who sued Donald Trump claiming he raped her in a department store in the 1990s testified in graphic detail at a civil trial in Manhattan federal court about the alleged assault, Erik Larson reports. Trump has denied wrongdoing.

The Hard Part for Xi Starts Now After Finally Calling Zelenskiy
The symbolism of the call was important for Xi, who had ignored Zelenskiy's requests for talks for months even as the Chinese leader bolstered relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Europe Takes Tougher Stance Toward China in Boost to US Policy
Stung by China's close ties with Putin and its repression at home, European nations are putting new limits on Chinese exports and investments in a tack that's more in line with a US strategy.

China sought to distance itself from remarks by its envoy to France questioning the independence of ex-Soviet states that sparked a firestorm in Europe.

The European Union barred almost all seaborne oil imports from Russia in December and extended the ban to refined fuels two months later. But the rules didn't prevent countries like India from snapping up cheap Russian crude, turning it into fuels like diesel, and shipping it back to Europe at a markup.

The World Backed Two Generals. Then Sudan Went to War
Sudan's democratic transition unraveled because of the rivalry between two men, who were emboldened by foreign powers competing for sway over the country and its resources, Simon Marks and Mohammed Alamin report.

Sudanese army soldiers in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan on April 20. Source: AFP/Getty Images

Europe Is Waking Up to Threat of an Eastern Version of Brexit
A publicity counteroffensive from the US and EU is trying to halt a shift in public sentiment in Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban has turned the country increasingly eastward with years of anti-Western rhetoric, Zoltan Simon writes.

EU's Debt Rules Mean Just Four Countries Can Finance Green Goals
The EU's proposed overhaul of debt rules leaves a majority of member states without sufficient firepower to finance the climate transition, according to a study by the New Economics Foundation. Only Sweden, Ireland, Denmark and Latvia would have enough fiscal space to meet climate commitments required to keep global warming to below 1.5 degrees, as John Ainger explains.

Erdogan's Followers Reconsider Their Loyalties as Election Looms
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing the tightest electoral race in his three-decade-long career ahead of Turkey's May 14 ballot, Selcan Hacaoglu and Firat Kozok report. For the first time, there's a realistic chance he could lose the popular vote, amid public discontent over skyrocketing prices and the response to February's massive earthquakes.

Latin America's Socialist Wave Sparks Historic Flight of Capital
As every major country in Latin America shifts to the left in reaction to widening inequality, the region's wealthy are sending the most money abroad in over a decade, Ezra Fieser and Andrea Jaramillo report. People and corporations in the five largest economies pulled roughly $137 billion out of their countries in 2022.

Scientists Draw Climate Change Link to East Africa's Drought
The deadly combination of high temperatures and low rainfall that affected millions in the Horn of Africa was made about 100 times more likely by climate change, Mohamed Sheikh Nor and Laura Millan write. Global warming is altering rain patterns and bringing more heat to southern Somalia, eastern Kenya and southern Ethiopia, according to a study by the World Weather Attribution network.

Cattle carcasses on the outskirts of Garissa, Kenya, in May, 2022. Photographer: Simon Marks/Bloomberg

Global Climate Talks Target Reclusive Turkmenistan Over Methane
Turkmenistan, the sparsely-populated central Asian state that's one of the world's biggest sources of planet-warming methane leaks, is facing growing international pressure to clean up its pollution, Aaron Clark and Verity Ratcliffe report. Aging infrastructure used to tap the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves mean it spews more methane per unit of oil and gas output than any other major supplier.

Methane emissions observed by satellite over Turkmenistan between 2019 and present.

Japan Ruling LDP Exec Plans to Seek LGBTQ Law Ahead of G-7
A senior executive in Japan's ruling party said he'll seek to pass a law promoting understanding of the LGBTQ community before the country hosts the Group of Seven summit in May. Japan is alone among the G-7 wealthy democracies in not having laws to ban discrimination against LGBTQ people or give legal recognition to same-sex unions.

And finally … A Shanghai mall that mimics the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. A museum in Anhui province with a giant seated figure resembling a toilet built into its side. As Selina Xu explains, these are some of the most extravagant — and visible — symbols of China's meteoric economic rise. They are also among the 2022 winners of the annual Ugliest Buildings Survey, an online poll started by Beijing-based architecture website Archcy.com that's now in its 13th year.