Trump-Zelenskyy feud escalates as Republicans demand envoy’s removal

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Zelenskyy’s visit to Pennsylvania weapons factory upsets speaker as Trump continues attacks on Ukrainian president

The US House speaker, Mike Johnson, has demanded that Ukraine fire its ambassador to Washington as the feud between Donald Trump and Volodymr Zelenskyy escalated and Republicans accused the Ukrainian leader of election interference.

In a public letter, Johnson demanded that Zelenskyy fire the Ukrainian ambassador, Oksana Markarova, over a visit to a munitions factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, last week where the Ukrainian president thanked workers for providing desperately needed shells to his outgunned forces.

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Jared Kushner’s private equity firm faces inquiry as it fails to return profits

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Trump son-in-law’s Affinity Partners fuels Senate suspicions of foreign influence-buying before US election

A private equity firm owned by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, has been paid $157m in fees since 2021 without returning any profit to investors, according to a US Senate inquiry.

The finding from the Senate finance committee has fuelled suspicions that the Miami-based company, Affinity Partners, may be a foreign influence-buying operation established in anticipation of the former president returning to the White House.

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OpenAI CTO Mira Murati says she’s leaving firm to do her ‘own exploration’

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Chief technology officer had taken over the ChatGPT maker when its board ousted CEO Sam Altman in November

In a surprise move, OpenAI’s chief technology officer announced on Wednesday that she would soon leave the company after six and a half years.

In a note shared with the company and then posted to Twitter/X, Mira Murati wrote she was leaving the tech company behind ChatGPT. “After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI … I’m stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration,” she said.

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Justin Trudeau survives confidence vote but other problems still loom

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Main political rival of Canada’s prime minister fails to gather enough support to end nine years of Liberal rule

Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, has easily survived a vote of confidence after his main political rival failed to muster enough support to end nine years of Liberal party rule.

Legislators in the House of Commons voted 211-120 to defeat a motion by the official opposition Conservative party declaring a lack of confidence in Trudeau’s minority Liberal government.

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Macron: We cannot have a war in Lebanon – The Jerusalem Post

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  1. Macron: We cannot have a war in Lebanon  The Jerusalem Post
  2. Macron urges end to Israeli ‘escalation’ and Hezbollah rocket fire  Al Jazeera English
  3. Macron says France stands by Lebanon, calls to deescalate, doesn’t mention Hezbollah  The Times of Israel
  4. Macron presses Iran president for Lebanon de-escalation  The Courier=Times
  5. France to Send Foreign Minister to Lebanon in Bid to Stop War, Macron Says  U.S. News & World Report
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Comedian Janey Godley receiving end-of-life care for cancer

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Scottish standup posts video saying she is getting palliative care and will be going into a hospice

The comedian Janey Godley has revealed she is receiving end-of-life care after her terminal cancer spread.

The 63-year-old announced she would be getting palliative care and going into a hospice in a video shared on social media on Wednesday.

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Labour crackdown on non-doms may raise no money, officials fear

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Exclusive: Watchdog may conclude that emigration of wealthy individuals could actually cost Treasury revenue

Keir Starmer’s promised tax crackdown on non-doms could yield no extra funds for the Treasury, leaving a £1bn hole in the government’s planned spending for schools and hospitals.

Labour planned to use the money raised from wealthy individuals who are registered overseas for tax purposes to invest in ailing public services.

But the Guardian understands that Treasury officials fear estimates due to be released by the government’s spending watchdog may suggest the policy will fail to raise any money because of the impact of the super-rich non-domiciles leaving the UK.

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Keir Starmer under pressure to ‘get a grip’ on Sue Gray tensions

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Exclusive: Some ministers have rallied around chief of staff while others accuse her of ‘control freakery’

Keir Starmer has become exasperated about in-fighting across government involving Sue Gray, with the prime minister under pressure from senior aides and cabinet ministers to resolve the row.

Sources said the situation would come to a head after he returned from his trip to the UN in New York, where he was joined by his chief of staff. Starmer is said to be dismayed at tensions inside the No 10 machine.

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US announces $424m in Sudan aid amid pleas to stop ‘senseless’ war

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American envoy to UN urges humanitarian pause and says international community ‘cannot simply look away’

The United States has announced $424m in new aid for displaced and starving Sudanese, with the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, saying all options for civilian protection must now be considered by the international community.

Describing the war in Sudan as horrific and shaming for the whole world, she said it was now necessary “to compel, insist and demand that the warring parties agree a humanitarian pause to allow aid to flow and for citizens to flee”.

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Meet Pesto, the 49-pound baby penguin going viral online – New York Post

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  1. Meet Pesto, the 49-pound baby penguin going viral online  New York Post
  2. Pesto the baby penguin is already taller than his parents. Now he’s a social media star  CNN
  3. Why Is Pesto the Baby Penguin So Big? The Viral Bird's Aquarium Shares the Answer  PEOPLE
  4. Meet Pesto the Penguin, Australia's nearly 50-pound baby penguin capturing hearts worldwide with its hefty fluff  CBS News
  5. A massive baby penguin named Pesto is inhaling fish and winning fans  NPR
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The Dangerous Game – Current Affairs

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  1. The Dangerous Game  Current Affairs
  2. U.S. Intelligence Stresses Risks in Allowing Long-Range Strikes by Ukraine  The New York Times
  3. Why long-range missiles could be either a silver bullet or a powder keg for Ukraine-Russia war  USA TODAY
  4. Nevada Democrats add to calls for Biden to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles  The Hill
  5. Debate over Ukraine weapons restrictions divides allies, administration  The Washington Post
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Albanese government to launch storybook to teach children from culturally diverse backgrounds about consent

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My Superhero Voice, which will be available online, is careful not to single out a particular religion or culture

The Australian government will launch a storybook aimed at teaching children from multicultural backgrounds about body safety and consent on Wednesday, but experts say “there is still more to do”.

The book, titled My Superhero Voice, is part of the government’s One Talk at a Time campaign, aimed at preventing child sexual abuse. It was developed by the National Office for Child Safety and consulting agency Cultural Perspectives.

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4 Countries Are Taking the Taliban to Court – Newser

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  1. 4 Countries Are Taking the Taliban to Court  Newser
  2. Meryl Streep: ‘A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan’  CNN
  3. Taliban to be taken to international court over gender discrimination  The Guardian
  4. Actor Meryl Streep shows solidarity at UN with Afghan women, girls  Reuters
  5. Afghan women have less freedom than cats, Meryl Streep says at U.N.  The Washington Post
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Israel preparing for possible ground offensive in Lebanon, military chief says

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Strikes designed to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure before possible incursion by troops, says Israel’s top general

Israel’s top general has said the country is preparing for a possible ground operation into Lebanon amid growing international pressure for a negotiated ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.

As an intense bombing campaign inside Lebanon stretched into a third day, Israel’s chief of staff, Maj Gen Herzi Halevi, said the airstrikes aimed to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and prepare for the possibility of Israeli troops crossing the border.

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