Ukrainians fear losing US support as Trump-Zelenskyy clash shocks world
A dramatic spat between the US and Ukrainian leaders raises concerns about continued US aid for Ukraine’s war effort. Uncertain and wary, Ukrainians have voiced their concerns over the possibility of the United States withdrawing its support for the war-torn country following a dramatic shouting match at the Oval Office between the presidents of the US and Ukraine. A global audience watched in shock as a news conference on Friday between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump shattered already fragile US-Ukrainian relationships. The two leaders and US Vice President JD Vance clashed over differing visions on how to end the three-year-old conflict with the Ukrainian president seeking security guarantees from a Trump administration that has made a U-turn in decades-long US foreign policy by aligning with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s perspective. Ukrainians, many of them hardened by three years of war, rallied around Zelenskyy but also expressed dismay about the future of US backing for Kyiv’s war effort as larger and better-equipped Russian forces march across swaths of the east. “I doubt that we could stand without the American help. They have helped us a lot with weapons and money. Maybe Europe will help us,” Kyiv resident Liudmyla Stetsevych, 47, told the Reuters news agency. Advertisement “Trump and Putin are dividing up the world – that’s what I would say. I don’t know what will come of it,” Other Ukrainians also expressed hope that Ukraine’s allies in Europe would boost political and military support if the US dialled back its own. “Many European countries voiced their support for Ukraine, we hope they will step up and increase aid for Ukraine, especially military equipment and ammunition,” Alina Zhaivoronko, from Kyiv, told Reuters. The European Union, the United Kingdom and Norway have overtaken the US in terms of cumulative direct military and non-military aid to Ukraine as they have provided and pledged more than $204bn in aid compared with the US’s $183bn, according to the Institute for the War Study. Still, the US provides key air defence weaponry and much-needed intelligence to Ukrainian troops. Many in Kyiv fear that without Washington’s support, prospects for Ukraine’s war effort are bleak. Zhaivoronko said Ukrainians are “very thankful” to the US “for the help we have received all this time and keep receiving now. But our dignity, our honour, should stand above everything. “It was an unpleasant shock, like we were in a cold shower. It was a very unexpected format of discussion. But there are two sides to this. Diplomatically, President Zelenskyy should have kept to the norms and rules. But on the other side, it was a provocation,” she said. Nataliia Serhiienko, 67, a retiree in Kyiv, said she thinks Ukrainians approve of their president’s performance in Washington, “because Zelenskyy fought like a lion”. Advertisement “They had a heated meeting, a very heated conversation,” she told The Associated Press. But Zelenskyy “was defending Ukraine’s interests”. At his meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy repeatedly demanded that any deal with the US must include concrete security guarantees for Ukraine should Putin breach a ceasefire agreement. In the past, the Ukrainian president said that Moscow violated truce deals 25 times, including during Trump’s first term. But following the spat in front of cameras, Zelenskyy left the White House abruptly without signing a much-touted minerals deal. He later declined to apologise for the blowup, saying he regrets the public spat and wanted Trump to be more on Ukraine’s side. “The Americans don’t know the real situation, what’s going on here,” Ella Kazantseva, 54, told Reuters across from a sea of flags in central Kyiv commemorating Ukraine’s war dead. “They don’t understand. Everything is beautiful for them.” Adblock test (Why?)
ICC Champions Trophy 2025: South Africa’s win ends Afghanistan hopes
South Africa beat England by seven wickets in Lahore to reach Champions Trophy semifinals while eliminating Afghanistan. Rassie van der Dussen scored 72 not out off 87 balls to lead South Africa into the semifinals of the Champions Trophy by beating bottom-of-the-table England by seven wickets. Van der Dussen’s half-century highlighted South Africa’s clinical performance on Saturday as it finished atop Group B ahead of Australia in second and Afghanistan, who are now eliminated, in third. The Proteas finished with 181-3 in 29.1 overs in reply to England’s hapless effort of 179 all out (38.2 overs). This was after England – already ousted from the tournament after back-to-back losses – had won the toss and opted to bat. Rassie van der Dussen of South Africa bats during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 match in Karachi [Sameer Ali/Getty Images] Marco Jansen picked 3-39 in seven overs while Wiaan Mulder took 3-25 in 7.2 overs as England’s batting looked disinterested. England had previously lost to Australia and Afghanistan and thus finished winless after three games, marking a dismal end to Jos Buttler’s run as skipper. Buttler announced on Friday that he would step down after England’s surprising exit as well as their past failures in the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2023 Cricket World Cup. Australia are the second team to qualify from Group B and will face either India or New Zealand after those two Group A teams battle for the top spot in Dubai on Sunday. Advertisement Afghanistan had an outside hope of progressing in second spot with Australia winning the group if England had beaten the Proteas by 200 runs or more. South Africa’s Marco Jansen, centre, claimed the first three England wickets to fall [Akhtar Soomro/Reuters] England’s innings suffered early blows against Jansen. Phil Salt was out caught for eight, and then Jamie Smith was caught for a three-ball duck. It became 37-3 when Ben Duckett returned a catch to Jansen for 24 off 21 balls. “These were good conditions from a batting point of view, and the boys worked very hard,” said Jansen, who was named player of the match. “I used my options well and hit my lengths.” Joe Root top-scored with 37 off 44 balls and made an effort to stabilise the innings. He added 62 off 61 balls with Harry Brook (19). Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj (2-35) got the breakthrough with Jansen taking a nice catch at midwicket to dismiss Brook. Thereafter, England collapsed again. Mulder bowled Root in the 18th over, and while Buttler held one end with 21 off 43 balls, regular wickets meant that the English innings never took flight. Jofra Archer scored 25 off 31 balls with four fours. Jos Buttler looks dejected as he leaves the field after batting for the last time as England captain [Sameer Ali/Getty Images] England lost its last seven wickets for 80 runs, finishing with a below-par score. “It was a really disappointing performance, and we were short of our mark today,” Buttler said after England’s seventh straight ODI defeat. “It was a decent surface, and Duckett got us into a nice position, but we couldn’t take advantage of that. As a whole group, we are not getting results, and that takes away the confidence from us.” Chasing a paltry total, South Africa’s start wasn’t too good either. Archer bowled makeshift opener Tristan Stubbs for a five-ball duck and then bowled Ryan Rickelton (27) later on as well. Advertisement It was 47-2 when van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen came together, and they put on 127 runs off 122 balls for the third wicket. Van der Dussen reached 50 off 72 balls, and his knock for the day included six fours and three sixes overall. Stand-in skipper Aiden Markram did not bat after he sustained a hamstring injury while fielding. Klaasen finished with 64 off 56 balls with 11 fours before he was out caught off Adil Rashid (1-37) near the finish line. Adblock test (Why?)
OPM’s second email to federal employees asks what they did last week — and adds a new requirement: report
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is once again asking federal workers to explain what they have accomplished as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk work to root out waste. This week’s email reportedly came from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) with the subject line “What did you do last week? Part II,” referencing the previous DOGE email. The Associated Press reports that this differed from how the email was expected to go out, as the new version was reportedly supposed to be from individual agencies, not OPM. ‘GREAT JOB’ OR ‘NO IDEA WHAT HE’S DOING’? ELON MUSK EMAIL SETS CAPITOL HILL ABLAZE However, unlike the last email, this one reportedly instructed workers to give five bullet points describing their accomplishments each week, according to multiple reports. The weekly email will allegedly be due by Mondays at 11:59 p.m. EST. Another key difference, according to CBS News, was an instruction to not send classified or sensitive information. Additionally, those whose work is entirely sensitive or classified were allegedly told to write “All of my activities are sensitive.” MUSK TELLS CABINET THAT DOGE EMAIL WAS ‘PULSE CHECK’ FOR WORKERS, WARNS US WILL ‘GO BANKRUPT’ WITHOUT ACTION On Saturday, as news of the email spread, Musk responded to a tweet claiming that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Department of Defense staff to reply to the email. “The President has made it clear that this is mandatory for the executive branch,” Musk wrote on X. “Anyone working on classified or other sensitive matters is still required to respond if they receive the email, but can simply reply that their work is sensitive.” When asked about the previous email during Trump’s first full Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Musk described it as a “pulse check.” “I think that email was perhaps interpreted as a performance review, but actually it was a pulse check review. Do you have a pulse?” Musk said. “And if you have a pulse and two neurons, you could reply to an email.” While meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in the Oval Office, President Trump defended the email and said that those who don’t answer are at risk of being fired.
BJP to roll out Rs 2,500 scheme in Delhi on Women’s Day? Virendra Sachdeva hints, ‘Let date of March 8 come…’
Ahead of Women’s Day, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Delhi hinted at the rolling out of ‘Mahila Samriddhi Yojana’ – under which Rs 2,500 per month will be given to women of the national capital.
Trump White House rips auto state governor who attacked president’s tariff plans: ‘Deadly status quo’
The Trump White House is firing back after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., warned on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs could put Michigan’s auto industry in peril. During her seventh State of the State Address, Whitmer sounded the alarm on Trump’s plan to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, prompting the White House to fire back. “Whitmer seems to be running more for Governor of Canada in her stout defense of a deadly status quo in which over a million Americans have been slaughtered by the Chinese poison of fentanyl pouring across our northern and southern borders,” White House Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “President Trump will stop that slaughter even as he will stand up for America’s auto industry, which will once again boom under the Trump tariffs.” Trump’s tariff plans would impact Michigan, given its shared border with Canada and Detroit’s leadership of the U.S. auto industry. Whitmer has identified economic development and trade with Canada as key priorities for her state this year. MEXICO, CANADA TARIFFS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED DUE TO ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ DRUG FLOW, TRUMP SAYS “Industry leaders and top economic minds on both sides of the aisle are warning us about the havoc that 25% tariffs would wreak on Michigan’s auto industry, while raising everyday expenses for families,” Whitmer continued. “I’m grateful that Republicans, Democrats and private sector leaders are speaking out against widespread 25% tariffs on our neighbors. Because we know saying no to Canada would mean saying yes to China.” GRETCHEN WHITMER SOUNDS OFF ON PUSH TO CONDEMN US SUPREME COURT’S GAY MARRIAGE RULING: ‘HELL NO’ Trump confirmed on Thursday that his proposed 25% tariff plan would go into effect next week because “drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada.” He said the tariffs will begin on March 4 “until it stops, or is seriously limited.” “…The proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled. China will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date. The April Second Reciprocal Tariff date will remain in full force and effect,” Trump said on Truth Social. Earlier this month, Trump issued a 30-day pause on his 25% tariff plan for Canada and Mexico following negotiations on border security and drug trafficking with the North American leaders. “I am very pleased with this initial outcome, and the Tariffs announced on Saturday will be paused for a 30-day period to see whether or not a final Economic deal with Canada can be structured,” Trump announced on Truth Social. Whitmer said on Wednesday that she was grateful the president had made an initial pause on the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada. “As I’ve said before, I’m not opposed to tariffs outright. But they’re a blunt tool when the Michigan economy is on the line,” Whitmer added. “25% tariffs on everything would slow down construction, shutter small businesses, lead to layoffs in the auto industry and cost Michigan families an extra $1,200 a year at the store and the pump because companies will pass their higher costs on to the consumer. It would be a disaster.” Whitmer said she asked Michiganders how they feel about tariffs and received 3,000 written responses in 48 hours from people who are worried about prices going up. “For them and every Michigander, let’s keep speaking with one voice for smart trade policies to level the playing field and secure American jobs without jacking up costs. On tariffs and every issue, Michiganders expect us to work together in Lansing, because that’s how things get done.” Trump vowed to save the auto industry during his inaugural address, building on a key campaign promise made during his Michigan rallies last year. “With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal, and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers,” Trump said during his inaugural address. Trump laid out his vision for American auto manufacturing at the Detroit Economic Club in October 2024. “My goal is to see U.S. auto manufacturing even greater than it was in its prime, and for Detroit and Michigan to be at the center of the action. For generations, this city and state were the world capital of automotive production,” Trump said. He was criticized by Michigan politicians for calling Detroit a “developing area” during that speech. “Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president,” Trump said of former Vice President Kamala Harris. “He doesn’t have a clue what the hell he was talking about. And you know what I think? He ought to keep Detroit out of his mouth,” Whitmer fired back last year. Trump argued during the same speech that his tariff agenda would put an end to foreign leaders taking advantage of America’s auto industry. “Detroit was decimated as if by a foreign army,” he said. “This was a foreign army invading us, but it was an army of business people, very brilliant business people, that took the candy out of our pockets, just like you take it from a baby. That’s how easy it was for them. Factories were left in ruins.” “When foreign leaders and CEOs call me up to complain about our tariffs, my answer will be very simple: Building in America, you don’t have any tariffs. Build it right here in Detroit, you don’t have any tariffs. Build it in Dearborn or Lansing or Grand Rapids or Flint, you don’t have any taxes. You don’t have any taxes or tariffs or anything,” Trump added. Trump also committed to leading the “Michigan miracle” and the “rebirth of Detroit. “By the end of my term, the entire world will be talking about the Michigan miracle and the stunning rebirth of Detroit that’s going to happen,” Trump said.
Delhiites’ mixed reactions to government’s decision to ban old vehicles to curb air pollution: ‘If well-maintained…’
The Delhi government’s decision not to allow refueling for vehicles older than 15 years after March 31 has sparked mixed reactions. While some residents see it as a necessary step to combat pollution, others question its fairness, arguing, “If a vehicle is well-maintained, why ban it?”
Good news for Delhi-NCR! Ghaziabad airport kickstarts flights to Goa, Bengaluru and Kolkata; check schedules here
Major flights to Goa, Bengaluru and Kolkata were commenced from Ghaziabad’s Hindon Airport today, i.e., March 1.
Venezuelan oppo leader joins Cuban-born GOP lawmaker praising Trump for canceling Biden-Maduro oil deal
FIRST ON FOX: The only Cuban-born member of Congress hosted Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó and several Venezuelan and Colombian community leaders from the U.S. in a show of support for President Trump’s reversal of a Biden-era oil deal with Caracas’ dictator. “This is personal to me,” said Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., who hosted the gathering at a private lounge inside Miami International Airport on Thursday. There, he lambasted Nicolas Maduro and condemned the idea that the U.S. under former President Joe Biden had ever concocted a deal with the dictator in the first place. On Wednesday, Trump canceled a deal that had allowed Chevron to operate inside oil-rich Venezuela, saying the U.S. would “revers[e] concessions that Crooked Joe Biden gave to Nicolas Maduro… on the oil transaction agreement [from] 2022 and also having to do with electoral conditions within Venezuela which have not been met…” TRUMP SAYS HE’S TERMINATING CHEVRON’S VENEZUELA OIL AGREEMENT Trump also noted Maduro was not cooperating with U.S. immigration authorities trying to deport violent illegal aliens. In Miami, Gimenez said in response to a reporter’s question about Tren de Aragua members wreaking havoc in New York City that there is a major difference between Venezuelan civilians fleeing oppression and criminals illegally sneaking into the U.S. that are of a certain descent. Gimenez noted how he and his family “fled for freedom” from a similar dictatorship in Cuba and that therefore any individual or group persecuted by dictatorial governments will “always have a friend in me.” “So will [Florida Republican Rep.] Mario [Diaz-Balart], so will [Florida Republican Rep.] Maria [Salazar], and so will [Sen.] Rick Scott, and so will President Donald J. Trump,” Gimenez said before introducing several leaders, including Guaidó. In an exclusive interview afterward with Fox News Digital, Gimenez said Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua are “all pretty much tied together” in the fact they are dictatorial regimes repressing their own people, who yearn to be free. “I expect this is just the first step in trying to liberate these countries. The people of Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua deserve freedom,” he said. RUBIO: MADURO A ‘HORRIBLE DICTATOR’ Gimenez said the answer should be to convert the “enemy states” into friends of the U.S., noting there is national interest on multiple levels. Cuba, for instance, is less than 90 miles off the maritime border of Gimenez’s own district in Key West. “I’m confident that President Trump understands this, and he stands for freedom and he stands for democracy; not only in the United States, but in our hemisphere and around the world,” he said. During the gathering, Guaidó also offered remarks in Spanish praising Trump and slamming Central American despots. “[W]e need a strong, prosperous and safe Latin America – and one that will be safe, with democracy and freedom,” he said. “I have no doubt in President Trump, and in the message that he is sending directly to the heart of those who financed the coup d’état perpetrated by the dictatorship on July 28, 2024 (the disputed/corrupt re-election of Maduro)…,” he said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “It is accurate, correct and timely to confront that dictatorship and also [send] a message to those who today usurp [power] in Cuba and Nicaragua that they will not have impunity,” Guaidó added. In further remarks to Fox News Digital, Gimenez said he has full faith in his fellow Miamian, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in his and Foggy Bottom’s ability to confront these regimes that lie within America’s own hemisphere. “I don’t have to speak to the secretary of state about Cuba; we both have Ph.D’s in that,” he quipped.
What’s the point of all these anti-DOGE lawsuits? Fight Trump’s agenda to SCOTUS, legal experts say
With countless legal challenges to the Trump administration’s federal spending actions, legal experts say plaintiffs in these suits are attempting to block President Donald Trump‘s agenda as the courts navigate conceivably new territory. “I think this is a continuation of the warfare that we’ve seen over the past four-plus years during the Biden administration,” Zack Smith, Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. “The only difference now is that the instigators of the lawfare are outside of government, and they’re trying to use different advocacy groups, different interest groups to try to throw up obstructions to Donald Trump’s actions.” LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS The Trump administration so far has become the target of more than 90 lawsuits since the start of the president’s second term, many of which are challenging the president’s directives. Plaintiffs ranging from blue state attorneys general to advocacy and interest groups are specifically challenging Trump’s federal spending actions, including the administration’s attempt to halt federal funding to various programs and the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) efforts to slash excess government spending. Smith said he suspects these plaintiffs are attempting to “slow down” the Trump administration’s progress and agenda via these lawsuits “even if they know or suspect their lawsuits will ultimately not be successful.” UC Berkeley Law Professor John Yoo told Fox News Digital that the plaintiffs in the spending cases are showing “political weakness” by seeking judicial recourse rather than going to Congress. “I think that what you’re seeing is political weakness, because, if they had popular support, they should go to Congress,” Yoo said. “That’s the branch for which the Founders expected to be responsible in containing or reacting to any expansion of presidential power that went too far.” JUDGE BLOCKS DOGE FROM ACCESSING EDUCATION DEPARTMENT RECORDS Despite the public outcry from conservatives that judges blocking Trump’s federal spending actions are “activist judges,” Yoo said the judges are “confused.” “There’s a lot of confusion going on in the lower courts,” he said. “I think they misunderstand their proper role.” Smith said that in the cases at hand, many judges are “interposing their own views of what [are] appropriate actions for the executive branch of government,” saying this is “not the proper role of a judge.” “And yet you see some of these judges who are issuing these TROs, they’re being very aggressive, and they’re impeding on core executive branch functions when it really should be the president and his advisers who get to make important decisions,” Smith said. Smith added he hopes the Supreme Court is “taking a skeptical eye towards some of these actions by these judges.” Both Smith and Yoo said they expect these challenges to eventually make their way up to the Supreme Court, with Smith saying the high court “is going to have to confront some questions that it’s been trying to skirt for several years now.” JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP OFFICIALS TO SIT FOR DEPOSITIONS IN LAWSUIT OVER DOGE ACCESS TO FEDERAL DATABASES “This has to go to the Supreme Court because you’re seeing confusion in the lower courts about what is the proper procedural way to challenge spending freezes,” Yoo said. On Wednesday, Chief Justice John Roberts paused a federal judge’s order that required the Trump administration to pay around $2 billion in foreign aid funds to contractors by midnight. Smith called the move by Roberts “actually pretty stunning.” “And I think a reasonable interpretation of that would be that the justices, particularly the Chief Justice, is kind of sending a shot across the bow to some of these judges that, ‘Look, if you keep this up, we’re going to step in and intervene,’” Smith said. Yoo said he expects the Trump administration to ultimately prevail on many of the suits launched against him, saying that “he’s really, in many ways, following the decisions of the Roberts Court itself about how far executive power goes.” “Now, just because Trump won an election doesn’t mean he gets to do whatever he wants — he has to achieve his mandate through constitutional processes, which I think he’s doing,” Yoo said. “He’s litigating, he’s appearing at the Supreme Court, so he’s not ignoring the courts. He’s doing what you should do if you’re the president and you have the responsibility to execute the law,” Yoo continued. Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
‘Must be stopped’: Dems say over 800 fired from top weather agency amid DOGE audits
The country’s top weather and climate monitoring agency has become the latest target of layoffs within the federal government, according to Democratic lawmakers speaking out against the Trump administration. At least 880 workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the country’s national weather service, were fired Thursday, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said in a press release as the Trump administration works to downsize and cut federal costs. “The firings jeopardize our ability to forecast and respond to extreme weather events like hurricanes, wildfires and floods — putting communities in harm’s way,” Cantwell added. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., in a post on X Thursday, seconded Cantwell’s claim, writing, “Today, we learned that Trump and Musk are firing HUNDREDS of vital NOAA employees — another blatantly illegal action that must be stopped.” ‘FIRED ME ILLEGALLY’: EMOTIONAL EX-USAID EMPLOYEES LEAVE BUILDING WITH BELONGINGS AFTER MASS LAYOFFS Another Democrat, Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., also reported “unconscionable” mass firings at the weather agency. ‘IF YOU DON’T ANSWER … YOU’RE FIRED’: TRUMP STANDS BEHIND MUSK’S DOGE PRODUCTIVITY EMAIL “Once again, the reckless Trump Administration is inflicting tremendous harm upon the American people. Today, hundreds of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including weather forecasters at the National Weather Service (NWS), were given termination notices for no good reason,” Meng wrote in a statement. The reported layoffs come just weeks after Van Hollen said he heard reports that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was “targeting” the weather agency in early February. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, wrote the cuts were “profoundly alarming” and affected “meteorologists, data and computer scientists responsible for maintaining and upgrading weather predictive models, and technicians responsible for maintaining the nation’s weather instrumentation network. “This is not, in short, an acceptable setting in which to ‘move fast and break things.’” A NOAA spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “Per long-standing practice, we are not discussing internal personnel and management matters,” adding the agency “remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation’s environmental and economic resilience.”