MONTH IN BRIEF – Jan & Feb 2026
MONTH IN BRIEF
EU-India seal the deal
India and the European Union have clinched a long-awaited free trade agreement, hailed the ‘mother of all deals’, along with pacts on defence and worker mobility, opening up new ties amid a fracturing world order.The pact looks set to reshape economic cooperation by lowering tariffs on a range of goods. India will offer European countries more access to its automobile sector, while wines from Europe are set to get cheaper in India.Indian exporters in labour-intensive sectors like apparel and engineering goods should also get deeper access into Europe.
‘No one safe’ in Xi’s purge
Beijing’s probe into a top military figure is taking President Xi’s long corruption purge into his innermost circle, showing that even close personal ties offer no protection when it comes to loyalty to the party leadership. China experts said Xi’s move against his long-term ally and politburo member General Zhang Youxia also concentrates even more power in the President’s hands, making the already secretive command of China’s military even less transparent. ‘Zhang’s removal means that truly nobody in the leadership is safe now,’ said Jonathan Czin of the Washington-based Brookings Institution, who called the investigation ‘astonishing’.
Oz anti-migrant party soars in popularity
Australia’s One Nation party, led by anti-migrant firebrand Pauline Hanson, has been propelled into second place in a recent opinion poll, overtaking the Liberal-National Coalition for the first time amid widening cracks in the conservative bloc. The boost to One Nation’s popularity follows the December 14 terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, in which an Islamic State-supporting father and son shot and killed 15 people during a Jewish festival event.
Duterte deemed fit for court hearing
Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte is to appear before a hearing at the International Criminal Court in February, judges have ruled, rejecting claims that the 80-year-old is unfit to participate. Duterte will face a so-called ‘confirmation of charges’ hearing starting on Feb. 23, where judges decide whether the prosecution’s allegations are strong enough to proceed to trial. Regarding relevant legal principles, the medical assessment of independent experts and all relevant circumstances of the case, the court said the Chamber was satisfied that Duterte is able to exercise his procedural rights effectively.
Beijing backs Cuba amid US threats
China has promised to give Cuba ‘support and assistance’ in the face of repeated threats from the US, which recently removed Havana’s ally in Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro.Beijing and Havana are longtime socialist allies, and Chinese authorities have consistently opposed the economic blockade imposed on the island for decades by the United States.Tensions intensified in January as US President Donald Trump warned that Cuba is ready to fall.
Myanmar protests genocide charge
A crowd of hundreds gathered in Myanmar on Jan. 27 to protest against the country’s prosecution for genocide. This was a rare public protest permitted by military authorities accused of atrocities against the Rohingya minority. Myanmar is defending itself at the International Court of Justice from allegations that its crackdown on the mostly Muslim minority, starting in 2017, breached the United Nations’ genocide convention. The crowd of nationalist activists and saffron-robed monks danced to drums, twirled miniature national flags and carried banners denying accusations of ethnic cleansing.
Air crash claims life of Maharashtra CM and others
The deputy chief minister of India’s wealthiest state of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, has been killed along with four others on board his charter aircraft after it went down in flames.Mr Pawar, who hailed from a top political family, was travelling to his home region to canvass in local elections, media said.Two members of his staff and two crew members were also aboard the VSR Ventures-operated Learjet 45 aircraft, which crashed on Jan. 28 during its approach to the city of Baramati. The cause is not yet clear.
BBC’s ‘voice of India’ dies at 90
Veteran BBC correspondent Sir Mark Tully, known to millions as the broadcaster’s ‘voice of India’ for covering defining moments across the sub-continent, died in New Delhi on Jan.25at the age of 90.Born in Kolkata in 1935, when India was under British rule, Tully made the country his home and his career, becoming arguably its best-known foreign correspondent.BBC News interim chief Jonathan Munro said that Tully had ‘opened India to the world through his reporting, bringing the vibrancy and diversity of the country to audiences… around the world’.