Day: March 4, 2025
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WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President Donald Trump suspended military aid to Ukraine on Monday, a White House official said, sharply escalating pressure on Kyiv to agree to peace negotiations with Russia.
The move comes just days after a stunning public clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump, who is seeking a rapid end to the war.
Trump earlier on Monday had declined to rule out a pause when quizzed by reporters, but any disruption in the flow of US arms to the frontline would rapidly weaken Ukraine’s chance of beating back the Russian invasion.
“The president has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well,” a White House official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution,” the official added.
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Trump on Monday also warned he would “not put up” much longer with Zelensky’s defiant stance, and said the Ukrainian leader should be “more appreciative” of US support.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said Zelensky “won’t be around very long” without a ceasefire deal with Moscow.
US President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington on March 3, 2025. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP)
The pause has gone into effect immediately and affects hundreds of millions of dollars of weaponry in the process of being sent to Ukraine, the New York Times reported.
Zelensky for his part said Monday he was seeking for the war to end “as soon as possible.”
The comment came after the Ukrainian president accused Russia — which invaded Ukraine in 2014 and greatly expanded the conflict in 2022 — of not being serious about peace.
Zelensky insisted that tough security guarantees were the only way to end the conflict.
But Trump’s stance has upended US support for Ukraine, and Washington’s allies more broadly, and stoked concern about the United States pivoting to Russia.
European support
After weekend crisis talks in London, Britain and France are investigating how to propose a one-month truce “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure” — potentially backstopped by troops on the ground.
Zelensky said discussions were still focusing on the “first steps,” adding: “An agreement on ending the war is very, very far away” — a comment that angered Trump.
Zelensky added in a video statement Monday that “real, honest peace” would only come with security guarantees for Ukraine, which agreed to denuclearize in 1994 only in exchange for protection provided by the United States and Britain.
“It was the lack of security guarantees for Ukraine 11 years ago that allowed Russia to start with the occupation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, then the lack of security guarantees allowed Russia to launch a full-scale invasion,” Zelensky said.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky at the European leaders’ summit to discuss Ukraine, hosted by Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, at Lancaster House, London, March 2, 2025. (Justin Tallis/Pool via AP)
Russia dismissed his comments, accusing him of not wanting peace — echoing US criticisms after he was shouted down in the Oval Office on Friday.
On the ground, Ukrainian officials reported fatalities from a Russian missile strike on a military training facility, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the front line.
A respected military blogger said between 30 and 40 soldiers were killed and 90 more wounded in the attack near Dnipro on Saturday.
‘Deliberate escalation?’
Trump has previously called Zelensky, president since 2019, a “dictator” for not holding elections, even though martial law precludes any vote because of the war.
Zelensky dismissed calls for him to resign, repeating his pledge to do so only if Ukraine were given NATO membership, which Russia — and now the United States under Trump — opposes.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed Zelensky for Friday’s White House blow-up with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, saying he “demonstrated a complete lack of diplomatic abilities.”
“He doesn’t want peace,” Peskov told reporters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during an extended meeting at the summit of the heads of state of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, October 8, 2024. (Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool Photo via AP)
But Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said the astonishing clash was a “deliberate escalation” by Trump.
US and Russian officials have held talks on ending the war, enraging Ukraine and Europe for being sidelined, and prompting fears in Kyiv and beyond that any deal could threaten the country’s future.
Zelensky triggered Trump and Vance’s ire by questioning whether Russia could be trusted to uphold a truce.
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AG Pam Bondi Announces a ‘Truckload’ Of Epstein Files Have Been Delivered to FBI, Now In Hands of Kash Patel https://t.co/UZIurlI4EV #epsteinfiles #FBI #kashpatel #PamBondi #Push via @DailyNoahNews
— Jimmy Bain (@JimmyBain6) March 4, 2025
17 The Myth of Jewish Cannibalism: A Chapter in the History of Antisemitism in: Studies in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity https://t.co/e5tI8V6XNF
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) March 4, 2025
The post 17 The Myth of Jewish Cannibalism: A Chapter in the History of Antisemitism in: Studies in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity brill.com/display/book/9… first appeared on The Brooklyn Times – bklyntimes.com.
Former “Jeopardy!” champion and Brooklyn Heights private school teacher Winston Nguyen pleaded guilty Monday to soliciting sexually explicit images of children and is expected to be sentenced to seven years in prison.
The 38-year-old gained fame after winning on “Jeopardy!” in July 2014, appearing in two episodes. A decade later, he made headlines again for far different reasons.
According to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, while working as a math teacher at St. Ann’s School, Nguyen posed as a teenager over the social media app Snapchat from October 2022 to May 2024.
Posing as a child himself, prosecutors said, he convinced some students to send him lewd photos and videos. His victims not only attended the school at which he worked, but also Poly Prep Country Day School, Berkeley Carroll School, and Packer Collegiate Institute.
“The fact that he was a teacher and a trusted figure among students make these allegations even more troubling. We will now seek to hold him accountable and will continue to work diligently to protect children from sexual exploitation,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement at the time of the arrest.
Nguyen was reportedly cuffed while working in front of students on July 25, 2024, and has been engaged in the ensuing legal battle since.
According to court documents, Nguyen’s victims ranged in age between 13 and 16. Using the account name “hunterkristoff,” he not only requested that the victims send him the disturbing content, he also paid them for it.
This is not the first time he has been in trouble with law enforcement. In 2019, he pleaded guilty to stealing some $300,000 from his senior employers while he worked as a home health aid.
On March 3, Nguyen appeared before a Brooklyn judge and pleaded guilty to use of a child in a sexual performance as a sexually motivated felony and five counts of endangering the welfare of children under the age of 17. He was taken into custody and will undergo a pre-sentencing evaluation. He is expected to be sentenced to seven years in prison and ten years post-prison supervision. He will also have to register as a sex offender.
“Today’s plea holds this defendant responsible for his disturbing and predatory conduct while sparing young and vulnerable victims from ever having to testify about their traumatic experiences,” Gonzalez said. ”This kind of exploitation of children, made even more distressing by the fact that the defendant was a trusted school figure, will never be tolerated in Brooklyn, and we will continue to expose and root it out.”
This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site amNewYork Metro
The post Former ‘Jeopardy!’ champion, Brooklyn Heights teacher pleads guilty in child exploitation case first appeared on The Ocean Avenue News – oceanavenuenews.com.
BREAKING:
Fighting erupts in the Serbian Parliament as opposition MPs show their support for the student protests against President Vucic.
Smoke bombs thrown between the 2 sides
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) March 4, 2025
The post RT by @visegrad24: BREAKING:
Fighting erupts in the Serbian Parliament as opposition MPs show their support for the student protests against… first appeared on The Russian World – russianworld.net.
