Crypto News: Russia raises the stakes in Africa

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Just months after Wagner mercenary group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a mysterious mid-air explosion, Russia is pursuing an even bigger military footprint in Africa to challenge the US and its allies.

Emboldened by a French retreat from the region, Russia's new Africa Corps aims to put together a force numbering up to 20,000 at a string of bases to replace Wagner forces over the next half year.

That may be ambitious, with Russia also looking to draft 250,000 new volunteers to fight in its war in Ukraine. But even a smaller contingent would likely dwarf Wagner's presence in Africa, which never exceeded several thousand fighters.

Formalizing Russia's one-time covert activities in the continent by swapping private contractors for regular armed forces is a double-edged sword.

Unlike the free-wheeling activities of Prigozhin, who fell foul of the Kremlin with his armed mutiny in Russia last year, the Africa Corps cements Russia's presence through government-to-government agreements. That removes the cloak of deniability that allowed Moscow to distance itself from accusations of war crimes and other abuses leveled against Wagner troops.

So far, Russia's regional allies are content.

In the Central African Republic, security cooperation with Moscow has "intensified" since Prigozhin's death, according to a senior adviser to President Faustin-Archange Touadera.

In Burkina Faso, where Wagner's been active as well as in Libya and Mali, some 100 Russian troops arrived last week to provide security for military junta chief Ibrahim Traore.

Next is Niger, where France withdrew its troops and closed its embassy last year. Still, for now the military rulers are betting on two horses by keeping open a US base used for drone attacks on militants in the Sahel region.

However striking Russia's facelift in Africa is, one thing won't change — Moscow will preserve Wagner's lucrative business operations, including mining for gold and diamonds.— Henry Meyer

Prigozhin in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, in June 2023. Photograph: The Wagner Group/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Iran urged the US to use diplomacy to ease tensions in the Middle East, as Tehran braces for a military response to a deadly attack on an American base in Jordan. "Active" diplomacy is underway to find a political solution to the war in Gaza and the regional fallout, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said, without elaborating. Iran denied involvement in the strike, which was the first to kill Americans since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

Johor Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar is about to become even more powerful as the billionaire leader of Malaysia's second-most populous state takes up the mostly ceremonial role as the nation's king tomorrow. Sultan Ibrahim has already stirred controversy, vowing to check the power of the prime minister and other elected lawmakers.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was sentenced to 10 years in jail after a court found him guilty of violating the nation's Official Secrets Act by making a diplomatic cable public when he was in power. His former foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, received the same punishment. Khan can appeal the verdict in a higher court.

A vendor at his shop displaying posters of Khan in Hyderabad yesterday. Photographer: Akram Shaid/AFP/Getty Images

The French government plans to take new measures to address farmers' concerns over rising costs and European regulations as protesters continue to block highways around Paris. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal met again with union leaders yesterday after concessions he made failed to bring an end to the unrest that began around two weeks ago.

The UK Labour Party needs to win in areas that are older, richer, more rural, have a bigger proportion of homeowners and are more likely to be White if it is to get back into power this year. In other words, it must cut big chunks out of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party base. Read our analysis of Britain's new electoral map here.

The US will restore sanctions on Venezuela's energy sector if the country upholds its ban on an opposition candidate from running for president, according to two US officials.

The Israeli military says it's engaged in its fiercest fighting in Gaza yet in the southern city of Khan Younis, where it hopes to kill or capture Hamas leaders presumed to be hiding in tunnels with hostages.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pressed forward with his campaign for higher wages as a slide in his support seems to have halted and speculation re-emerges that he may opt to call a general election this year.

Washington has its own species of celebrity, of course, but two members of the Hollywood kind were here yesterday to discuss their mission to, as they put it, "create a more informed electorate."

Chris Evans, best known for playing Captain America in the Marvel movies, and Mark Kassen, an actor and producer, spoke to the National Press Club about A Starting Point, a nonpartisan platform they co-founded that encourages learning about issues and discussing them. For instance, Representatives Judy Chu, a California Democrat, and Jodey Arrington, a Texas Republican, debate whether the US should cancel student debt in a series of Counterpoint videos.

Evans says A Starting Point is intended for "those just trying to find introductions, just a basic understanding." Although Kassen quipped that the platform "started out because Chris is really famous," they described several trips to Washington before convincing significant numbers of politicians on Capitol Hill to take part.

Evans said younger people who grew up with social media "are aware of selective facts and framing information in a way that deliberately misleads," which makes them "bloodhounds" for reliable information, imparted evenhandedly.

One thing to watch today: The Conference Board's January consumer confidence index is expected to show an improvement.

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Britain's Labour party has pledged to remove roadblocks to business investment, which has lagged other nations for years, saying it will ensure greater consistency in policy making and more coordination across government if it wins the election. As well as boosting spending, the strategy is aimed at making Labour the "undisputed party of business," wresting that reputation from the Conservatives.

After years of mostly steady decline, the Black home-ownership rate in the US saw its largest jump on record in the early days of the pandemic. Now, soaring borrowing costs and home prices threaten to erode those gains. The challenges are in sharp relief in the Atlanta metro area, home to the second-largest Black population in the US. The median home price there in November was 54% higher than it was four years ago, a larger jump than the 37% increase seen nationwide.

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