EU and China approve major investment deal

The EU has stopped buying Russian seaborne crude oil as it seeks to deprive Moscow of a key revenue source fueling its war in Ukraine. The move will hurt Russia but not as much as the bloc would have liked.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping wrapped up a visit to Saudi Arabia with a joint statement regarding bilateral commitments. Xi also invited Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz to visit Beijing.

Germany's potential to invest in Africa was trumpeted at the 2022 German-Africa business summit in Johannesburg. But German foreign direct investment on the continent is stagnant.

Recent discussions in Europe about a gas price cap are said to have been tough, heated and even ugly. The European Commission has put a proposal on the table, but EU member states are finding it difficult to reach a compromise among themselves – despite giving their political support to a gas price cap in late October.

For years, Brussels has been at loggerheads with the Hungarian government over a host of issues – migrants, the rights of minorities, media freedoms, the independence of the justice system and, most recently, over Russia and Ukraine. Long-standing tensions are coming to a head as Hungary delays a proposed EU aid package to Ukraine, while the EU holds up billions of euros in funding to Hungary over rule-of-law concerns.

Could the protests against the government's zero-COVID strategy trigger political reform? DW asks an expert on social change in urban China, Björn Alpermann.

China has now relaxed many of its Covid restrictions, removing requirements for PCR tests in many places and allowing people to isolate at home. The new measures come following a wave of anti-lockdown protests.

The move is part of Beijing's efforts to pivot away from its contentious zero-COVID strategy, which has caused widespread public discontent and even triggered protests in some cities.

European leaders have promised aid to Ukraine "for as long as it takes." But the amount of aid promised has not been what has actually arrived in Ukraine. DW's Nick Connolly takes a look at what kind of support has been pledged so far.

The EU has pledged to free a part of the funds earmarked for Hungary in exchange for Budapest allowing joint funding for Ukraine. Hungary has also announced it would start debating Finland's and Sweden's NATO membership.

As China continues to pivot away from its zero-COVID strategy, experts say the weeks-long protests in the country may have damaged Xi Jinping's reputation, but his power remains largely unaffected.

Leaders from Europe and Southeast Asia are hopeful a summit this week will usher in an era of better economic ties and help European producers in Asia diversify away from China.