WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Germany turns right, crunch Trump talks, and the Pope's 'critical condition'

 
today's international story

Conservatives prevail in German election

What happened
Germans voted for change yesterday, with the centrist conservative CDU/CSU party winning the most votes, the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in second place, and the nation's left-leaning government relegated to third.

Who said what
"I'd like to express my respect for our political rivals," said CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who is likely to be the next chancellor. "Now we need to talk to each other and as quickly as possible form a government for Germany."

Merz (pictured above) is "described by his supporters as an antidote to Europe's crisis of confidence", said the BBC. He is a "familiar face to his party's old guard", but his "explosive bid last month to tighten migration rules" with the support of the far-right "revealed a man willing to gamble by breaking a major taboo".

The AfD, "buoyed up by anger about immigration", has doubled its vote, said The Guardian. All the mainstream parties, however, have pledged to maintain a "firewall" barring formal co-operation with the AfD. But make no mistake, said Sky News, this was the "best result a far-right party has achieved in Germany since the Second World War".

What next?
The AfD's candidate Alice Weidel said her hand remained "outstretched" to the conservative bloc and cautioned that any alternative coalition "will not last". She described Merz as an "interim chancellor" and predicted that the AfD would surpass the conservatives in the coming years.

 
 
today's diplomacy story

Starmer and Macron to show 'united support of Ukraine'

What happened
Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed to show "united leadership in support of Ukraine" when they each meet Donald Trump this week.

Who said what
In a call yesterday, the French and British leaders agreed that "the UK and Europe must continue stepping up to meet their security needs and show united leadership in support of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, which they would both discuss in the US in the coming week", said Downing Street.

Macron and Starmer both pushed back last week on the US president's characterisation of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a "dictator without elections". Ahead of their meetings this week, Trump "added to tensions", said The Guardian, by saying Starmer and Macron "haven't done anything" to end the war in Ukraine.

What next?
There is an "element of good cop, bad cop" in the twin effort to salvage American support for Kyiv, said the Associated Press. Starmer "speaks of being a bridge between Europe and the US administration" while Macron has "more strongly criticised Trump's recent statements". Macron will meet Trump on Monday, while Starmer will follow on Thursday.

 
 
Today's religion story

Pope 'alert', but still in critical condition

What happened
Pope Francis "continues to be alert and well oriented", according to a medical bulletin published by the Vatican, but remains in a critical condition for a second consecutive day.

Who said what
The Pope has had "no further respiratory crisis" since Saturday, according to doctors.

He was reportedly still receiving high-flow oxygen therapy and had undergone blood transfusions. Blood tests revealed that he had "initial, mild, renal insufficiency" – a kidney problem – but it is "currently under control", said the Vatican's statement.

Pope Francis, now 88 years old, "has been a transformative figure in the Catholic Church and beyond", said MSN.com. His tenure has been marked by "ground-breaking reforms, advocacy for the marginalised and an unwavering commitment to global issues such as climate change".

What next?
The Vatican did not offer a prognosis given the "complexity of the clinical picture".

 
 

It's not all bad

A small village in West Lancashire has quietly become Britain’s culinary capital, boasting five Michelin stars for just 8,000 residents. Aughton's Moor Hall has now earned its third Michelin star and is drawing diners from around the world, said The Guardian. According to chef Mark Birchall, guests have even planned honeymoons around a meal there. With two other Michelin-starred restaurants nearby, the village is now a global food destination. It possesses more Michelin stars per capita than the Japanese city of Kyoto, which had previously been lauded as having the highest number by head of population, with 100 Michelin stars distributed across restaurants serving its 1.46 million people.

 
 
under the radar

North Korea (sort of) welcomes tourists again

The "hermit kingdom" of North Korea is coming out of isolation, finally welcoming Western tourists again after sealing its borders at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Last week a limited number of tour operators led visitors into the special economic zone of Rason, a remote city near the Chinese and Russian borders – and the only place in the socialist nation where free-market activities are allowed. Tourists from Australia, the UK, Jamaica and Germany were able to enter in time for the celebration of late leader Kim Jong II's birthday, with the re-establishment of tours opening the door to much-needed tourism revenue.

North Korea was one of the first countries to shut its borders in reaction to the spread of Covid-19 in January 2020, and it's been the last to reopen them. In the past year the government has only allowed "some official business delegations and Russian tourists to enter the country", said ABC News, while keeping its frontiers "sealed to the rest of the world".

But North Korea is "desperate for foreign currency", said Hazel Smith, a professor at London's SOAS University who has lived in North Korea. Before the pandemic the country received "hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists", said NBC News, who provided up to $175 million (£138 million) in extra revenue in 2019, according to the South Korea-based news outlet NK News.

"The return of tourists could help reshape North Korea's reputation, shifting it from a 'dangerous country' in the eyes of the international community to a potentially 'safe' travel destination," Dr Yee Ji Sun, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told The Independent.

 
 
on this day

24 February 2022

Eight years after illegally annexing Crimea, Russia invaded Ukraine. But the Kremlin failed to achieve a quick victory and the assault became a bitter war of attrition, with territorial gains but significant casualties. The Trump administration is now negotiating directly with Moscow to end the war while demanding reparations from Ukraine for the support it has been receiving from the US.

 
 
Today's newspapers

The Mirror lauds Volodymyr Zelenskyy's offer to step down in exchange for peace and Nato membership. It contrasts his latest words with Donald Trump's "childish, petty leadership". The Guardian leads on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, telling the story of Maryna Zabavksa, who says her son was kidnapped, jailed and tortured by Moscow. Meanwhile, says The i Paper, Labour's promise of 1.5m new homes is under threat because there aren't enough people with the skills to build them.

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

No sole rights

Birkenstocks are not art, a German court has ruled. The company had claimed its sandals could be classified as art and so were protected by copyright laws in a case it put forward to stop rivals selling copycat versions of the cork-soled footwear. The company, "whose sandals have over the years transformed from unglamorous footwear to coveted fashion items", according to The Guardian, defended bringing the case. "We want to ensure that copycats can no longer make money at the expense of our brand," said company spokesman Jochen Gutzy.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Harriet Marsden, Jamie Timson, Ross Couzens, and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Odd Andersen / AFP / Getty Images; Ludovic Marin / AFP / Getty Images; Vatican Media / Vatican Pool / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images.