• Ukraine talks: Several NATO allies are insisting that Ukraine and Europe must not be cut out of any peace negotiations, after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled that he would hold talks soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
  • Related Monitor story: NATO has united the West for 75 years. Here’s why it still matters.
• RFK confirmed: The Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Trump’s health secretary Feb. 13.
• Trump tariff plan: President Trump unveiled a road map Feb. 13 for charging reciprocal tariffs on every country that puts duties on U.S. imports.
  • Related Monitor story: As Mr. Trump boosts tariffs globally, risk of a trade war rises.
• North Korea destroys symbol: North Korea is demolishing a South Korea-built property that had been used to host reunions of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War, South Korea’s government said Feb. 13.

President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and expel its residents was delivered to an Israel exhausted by conflict and lacking a government “day after” plan of its own. Some in Israel worry that politicians are failing to tell people the truth about the idea’s moral and practical dangers. But the relatively warm reception to the plan points to a general relief that the United States wants to be more engaged. “Acting a little like the new sheriff in town implies the kind of activism Israelis want to see from the U.S. administration in the region,” says one expert.

Without control of either the House or the Senate, Democrats are largely powerless in Washington. Leaders have attended protests and tried legislative tricks to try to slow down the Trump agenda, without success. The only real “victories” are coming from activist groups and the states, such as Democratic attorneys general. So what now? As the party grapples for a comprehensive message, the biggest challenge of all may be simply getting voters’ attention.

Under President Donald Trump, Elon Musk has overseen the evisceration of the U.S. Agency for International Development, America’s foreign aid arm. President Kennedy founded it as a means to promote and support American values around the world. It has since become one of the country’s most broadly impactful agencies and a political lightning rod accused of pushing liberal agendas. One question now is whether the current 90-day freeze on its activities will be a reboot or the beginning of the end.

In reporting this story, our two staffers got to see what it felt like to launch a nuclear-armed missile. They participated in a training drill with a purpose. America’s nuclear arsenal often seems a relic of the Cold War, but U.S. Air Force missileers are still on the job every day, pulling 24-hour shifts. With words and photos, Sarah Matusek and Alfredo Sosa offer a glimpse into the forgotten underground world of the people who have their hands on the triggers.

For a time, “Paddington 2” was the top-rated film in history, according to Rotten Tomatoes. So of course there had to be another sequel. “Paddington in Peru” doesn’t quite catch the genius of “Paddington 2,” which weaved together delightful entertainment with poignant social themes. But Paddington’s charm still delivers. He always sees the best in people – and helps them see the best in themselves, too.

Friday is Valentine’s Day, and that means flowers, greeting cards ... and chocolate. But what is the story behind the much loved confection? Did you know that cacao bean pods are the size of a football? Or how Aztecs first consumed the earliest versions of chocolate? This history of chocolate traces the history of the world, in a way – from the injustices of colonial production to the entrepreneurship of the earliest chocolatiers to the quest for better ways to produce the sweet going forward.

A new report on corruption finds little to cheer about. While 1 in 6 countries have improved their scores on a global index from Transparency International over the last dozen years, the rest have stagnated or are worse.

One bright spot is a recent trend in a few Arab countries to give people digital access to government actions. This online openness plays to people’s natural desire for honesty in their leaders, thus boosting accountability beyond that of official investigations.

“This trend offers citizens the chance to gain access to more data through digitalisation, enabling them to identify corruption more easily,” states the Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog.

For the Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, advances in “e-governance” helped raise their scores on the corruption index last year, putting them ahead of many European nations. Their digitalization has reduced corruption by removing intermediaries.

Based in a United Nations ranking in digital governance, Saudi Arabia has particularly improved, rising 25 places in 2024. All the Gulf countries “have collectively evolved into a hub of digital innovation,” notes the U.N.

Many oil-rich Middle East countries are racing to develop their economies for a post-oil age, thus their need to crack down on graft to woo foreign investors. Another reason may be an effort by the 57 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to address corruption since 2022. “There is clear consensus among the Arab public that financial and administrative corruption is widespread in their countries,” found a survey that year by Arab Center Washington DC.

Many Muslim scholars have lately looked to the Quran for insight. “When an individual is accountable toward himself, then he will be accountable to the entire society,” wrote three Malaysian academics in the Journal of Financial Crime in 2020. Islam points to a “transcendent accountability” that happens through a “spiritual factor,” they stated.

“Nothing is capable of developing internal immunity against evil deeds more than depending on a belief that the Almighty is watching us all times in all places.”

Perhaps that is one purpose in giving citizens access to their government through digital tools.