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President Donald Trump sniped at Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky Tuesday and effectively blamed him for Moscow’s invasion — even as he said he was more confident of a deal to end the war after US-Russia talks.Trump increased pressure on Zelensky to hold elections — echoing one of Moscow’s key demands — and chided the Ukrainian for complaining about being frozen out of talks in Saudi Arabia.The US president also suggested that he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month as Washington overhauls its stance towards Russia in a shift that has alarmed European leaders.”I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when asked about the Ukrainian reaction.”Today I heard, ‘oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years… You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he said.Zelensky had earlier Tuesday criticised the US-Russia talks for excluding Kyiv, saying efforts to end the war must be “fair” and involve European countries, while postponing his own trip to Saudi Arabia.The Ukrainian leader’s comments appeared to incense Trump, who proceeded to launch a series of attacks on Zelensky, who has led Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s February 2022 invasion.Asked whether the United States would support demands that Russia wanted to force Zelensky to hold new elections as part of any deal, Trump began by criticising what he said were the Ukrainian’s approval ratings. “They want a seat at the table, but you could say… wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say? It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election,” said Trump.”That’s not a Russian thing, that’s something coming from me, from other countries.”Zelensky was elected in 2019 for a five-year term, but has remained in office as Ukraine is still under martial law.- ‘Power to end this war’ -European leaders are increasingly fearful that Trump is giving too many concessions to Russia in his pursuit of the Ukraine deal that he promised to seal even before taking office.But Trump insisted that his only goal was “peace” to end the largest land war in Europe since World War II.Trump said he was “much more confident” of a deal after the talks, adding: “They were very good. Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.””I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going very well,” Trump said.The US leader added that he was “all for” European peacekeepers in Ukraine if he can strike a deal to end the war. “If they want to do that, that’s great, I’m all for it,” he said. “I know France was willing to do that, and I thought that was a beautiful gesture,” added Trump, saying that Britain had made a similar offer.The United States would not have to contribute “because, you know, we’re very far away.”Trump stunned the world when he announced last week that he had spoken to Putin, and that the two leaders had agreed to start peace talks and to travel to meet each other in Moscow and Washington.The US president then said they would hold a first meeting, most likely also in Saudi Arabia.Although no date has been announced, when asked if he would met Putin before the end of the month, Trump said “probably.”

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has ordered the firing of all remaining US attorneys nominated by his predecessor Joe Biden.”Over the past four years, the Department of Justice has been politicized like never before,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.”Therefore, I have instructed the termination of ALL remaining ‘Biden Era’ U.S. Attorneys,” he said.”We must ‘clean house’ IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence,” Trump added. “America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System – THAT BEGINS TODAY!”It is standard practice for an incoming president to replace the federal prosecutors, known as US attorneys, nominated by their predecessor.There are 93 US attorneys, one for each of the 94 federal court districts in the country. Two districts share a US attorney.US attorneys are the top federal law enforcement officer in each district.A number of US attorneys nominated by Democrat Biden resigned following Trump’s November election victory in anticipation of being replaced.The Justice Department, which Trump has accused of unjustly prosecuting him, has been the target of a sweeping shakeup since the Republican took office and a number of high-ranking officials have been fired, demoted or reassigned.Among those sacked were members of the office of special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two now-abandoned criminal cases against Trump.The acting US attorney for the powerful Southern District of New York, a Trump appointee, resigned last week after being asked by the Justice Department to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

Panama’s government denied Tuesday that migrants deported by the United States who were seen holding up signs to hotel windows pleading for help were being held against their will.Public Security Minister Frank Abrego said the migrants were not being “deprived of their freedom” while they await repatriation.”They are in our custody for their protection,” he said.Police were seen guarding the Decapolis Hotel in Panama City, where women believed to be part of the group held up handwritten signs to journalists below saying “Please help us” and “We are not safe in our country.”According to Abrego, the group includes migrants from China, India, Iran and Vietnam.Those who do not go home voluntarily would be transferred to a shelter in the Darien jungle, near the border with Colombia, while the International Organization for Migration and the UN refugee agency organize their relocation to another country, Abrego said.”We’re providing them with all the necessary medical care and comforts, and we will continue to do so until the last of them leaves our country, which is what was agreed with the United States government,” he added.Panama has complied “with all international regulations,” Abrego said.The minister appeared before the press after The New York Times reported that the migrants had their passports and most of their cellphones taken from them.They were “locked in a hotel, barred from seeing lawyers and told they would soon be sent to a makeshift camp near the Panamanian jungle,” the newspaper said.At least one person at the hotel “tried to commit suicide,” according to the newspaper, which said it had spoken to several people inside who identified themselves as asylum seekers and alleged that they were detained against their will.On his first day in office last month, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the southern US border and vowed to deport “millions and millions” of migrants.During a recent Latin American tour by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Panama and Guatemala agreed to serve as a bridge for migrants of other nationalities deported by Trump’s administration.On Monday, Costa Rica also agreed to collaborate on such migrant repatriations. 

US President Donald Trump moved Tuesday to increase access to in vitro fertilization, a move likely to be welcomed by many Americans but which risks a backlash from conservatives and the religious right.The Republican leader signed an executive order giving his advisors 90 days to find recommendations for protecting IVF access and “aggressively” reducing out-of-pocket and insurance costs for the treatment.”My Administration recognizes the importance of family formation, and as a Nation, our public policy must make it easier for loving and longing mothers and fathers to have children,” the order stated.”Americans need reliable access to IVF and more affordable treatment options,” it continued. Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, shortly after signing the order, that “I think the women and families, husbands, are very appreciative of it.”The president — whose billionaire top donor and ally Elon Musk has had several children by IVF — has long held conflicting stances on reproductive rights. He frequently boasts about appointing Supreme Court justices who ended federal protections for abortion access in 2022, a seismic move that made him a hero to the anti-abortion movement, which has driven conservative voters to the polls for decades.But he drew fury from that same movement when, during last year’s presidential campaign, he announced that in a second term he would ensure free IVF, and claimed to be the “father of IVF.”At the time Trump voiced worries that Republicans were out of step with voters on the issue. Republicans are divided on fertility treatments such as IVF, with many hailing them as a boost to American families.Others, with strong beliefs that life begins at conception, oppose IVF because the procedure can produce multiple embryos, not all of which get used.Almost every Senate Republican voted against assuring IVF access in a vote in June last year — including then-Ohio senator JD Vance, now Trump’s vice president.Reproductive rights activists had feared that the Supreme Court decision on abortion threatened IVF, especially after a court in Alabama last year ruled that frozen embryos could be considered people, leading to several clinics briefly pausing treatments.Trump’s Democratic rival Kamala Harris had put reproductive rights at the heart of her election platform, warning that Trump’s moves on abortion also jeopardized access to fertility treatments. 

The sweeping tariffs threatened or already imposed by US President Donald Trump risk triggering inflation, market distortions, and even a global recession, China said Tuesday at the World Trade Organization.After returning to office on January 20, Trump hit China, the world’s second-biggest economy, with an additional 10 percent levy on products entering the United States.Trump signed executive orders last week imposing new 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminium, due to come into effect on March 12.And he said Tuesday that US tariffs on imported cars would be around 25 percent, providing new information on duties he is expected to unveil around April 2.”The world faces a series of tariff shocks,” said Li Chenggang, China’s ambassador to the WTO, at the first meeting of the year of the global trade body’s decision-making General Council.”The US has imposed or threatened tariffs on its trading partners, including China, unilaterally and arbitrarily, blatantly violating WTO rules. China firmly opposes such measures.”These tariff shocks heighten economic uncertainty, disrupt global trade, and risk domestic inflation, market distortion, or even global recession.”Li went on to say that US unilateralism threatened to upend the rules-based multilateral trading system.- ‘Wrongful’ tariffs -Imposing punitive tariffs on countries with high trade surpluses with the United States has been at the heart of Trump’s economic policy.He paused 25 percent levies against Canada and Mexico for a month after both countries vowed to step up measures to counter flows of the drug fentanyl and the crossing of undocumented migrants into the United States.But Trump went ahead with tariffs on China, which in return imposed retaliatory tariffs targeting US coal and liquified natural gas. Li said: “We cannot lose sight of the root cause of today’s trade turbulence and threats to all members: it is US arbitrary tariffs and unilateral measures.”He urged Washington to withdraw the tariffs and “engage in multilateral dialogues based on equity, mutual benefit, and mutual respect”.A Geneva-based trade official said Washington voiced concerns that China was operating a non-market economic system and habitually breached WTO rules.”The US highlighted the issues stemming from China’s lack of transparency and its disregard for WTO oversight,” the official said.”The US also pointed out that the WTO’s current inability to address China’s market-distorting policies, such as unfair subsidies, significantly diminishes the organisation’s effectiveness.”- ‘Cool heads’ call -WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged the WTO’s 166 members to keep “cool heads”, and keep talking to one another.”The world has changed. We cannot come here to continue doing the same things we’ve been doing,” she said.The former Nigerian finance minister urged countries to use the new trade landscape as an “inflection point” to press on with long-sought reforms to the WTO.The WTO is upgrading its tariff analysis database and will launch the new version on March 4.The General Council meeting continues on Wednesday.

Global stock markets held largely steady on Tuesday as top US and Russian diplomats held their first high-level discussions since Russia invaded Ukraine. The talks, which excluded Europe and Ukraine, ended with Moscow and Washington agreeing to appoint teams to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war.”Donald Trump continues to be the dominant force for financial markets,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. “Trump has ripped up the playbook when it comes to dealing with Russia, and the markets are keeping the faith with the US President for now,” she added.While the Dow finished flat, the S&P 500 nudged to a fresh record following a late-afternoon rally.”It was a mostly lackluster day until the final 10 minutes of trading,” said Briefing.com. “There was a positive bias under the index surface even as major indices traded lower, which acted as an upside catalyst and invited more buying in the final moments of the day.”Europe’s main markets were flat or edged higher, with Frankfurt’s DAX index striking another all-time high as elections approach, with investors hoping a ruling coalition better able to act will emerge.”There seems to be a widespread belief that a global recession will not occur and that the trade war is merely a ‘residual risk’,” CMC Markets analyst Konstantin Oldenburger said in a note to clients, pointing out that cash reserves of funds and asset managers have fallen to their lowest levels since 2010.Defense stocks mostly added to gains after having soared the previous day as European leaders held an informal summit to discuss Ukraine and signaled more financial and military support ahead. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said her government would announce plans later Wednesday for a “massive” rearming of Denmark’s military due to the growing threat posed by Russia.Intel surged 16.1 percent following a Wall Street Journal report that rivals Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. were considering bids to purchase key assets from the chip company. Nike was another big winner, gaining 6.2  percent as it announced a joint venture with Kim Kardashian under the NikeSKIMS brand.But US homebuilder stocks retreated following a survey that showed industry sentiment fell sharply in February due to worry about tariffs.Over in Asia, Hong Kong’s stock market soared Tuesday, thanks to a recovery in Chinese tech stocks. That came after a meeting between President Xi Jinping and China’s top business leaders fanned hopes that a long-running crackdown on the private sector is coming to an end.- Key figures around 2130 GMT -New York – Dow: FLAT at 44,556.34 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 6,129.58 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 20,041.26 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,766.73 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 8,206.56 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.2 percent at 22,844.50 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 39,270.40 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.6 percent at 22,976.81 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 3,324.49 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0445 from $1.0484 on MondayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2608 from $1.2623Dollar/yen: UP at 152.09 from 151.51 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 82.85 pence from 83.04 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.6 percent at $71.85 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.8 percent at $75.84 per barrelburs-jmb/md

The Trump administration has put an “anti-fraud expert” in charge of Social Security, long a politically untouchable entitlement program, the White House confirmed Tuesday after the previous chief resigned in an apparent clash with Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team.The reported departure of acting commissioner Michelle King was the latest abrupt resignation of a senior official confronted with Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as the billionaire takes a scorched-earth approach to federal spending.The details of her exit were not clear, but The Washington Post, which first reported the story on Monday, said it came after officials from DOGE tried to access sensitive data at the Social Security Administration.US media said King had been made acting commissioner in January as President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the agency, Frank Bisignano, was vetted for the post. The Trump administration expects Bisignano “to be swiftly confirmed in the coming weeks,” according to White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields. “In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner,” he told AFP when asked for confirmation of King’s resignation.That expert is Leland Dudek, who previously headed up Social Security’s anti-fraud office, according to an email he sent to staff late Monday that was seen by AFP. “I will lead this agency in an open and transparent manner,” he promised in the email.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said the administration suspects there are “tens of millions of deceased people receiving fraudulent Social Security payments.” Musk has also referred to potential fraud, without providing evidence.Experts have warned that Social Security data is hugely sensitive, raising concerns about Musk taking a sledgehammer to the agency.”SSA has comprehensive medical records of people who have applied for disability benefits. It has our bank information, our earnings records, the names and ages of our children, and much more,” warned Nancy Altman, president of the left-leaning advocacy group Social Security Works.”There is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is. And my understanding is that it has already occurred,” she said.Musk’s DOGE has come in for widespread criticism since Trump took power last month as it rampages through the federal government, slashing staff and programs that it argues are fraudulent and do not align with the president’s agenda.But the drive has run into resistance. Top US Treasury civil servant David Lebryk also resigned in January after refusing to give DOGE access to the department’s vast payments system.And the Post reported Tuesday that a federal prosecutor stepped down after refusing to comply with a White House move to rescind $20 billion in grants for climate and clean energy projects. Republicans have long sought to privatize Social Security and other US entitlement programs such as Medicare, complaining of the massive costs and government oversight involved.But the programs are hugely popular with voters, making any attempts to reform them potential political suicide. 

Dramatic new footage released on Tuesday showed a passenger plane hitting the runway hard and flipping upside down at Toronto’s airport, as investigations began into the cause of the crash.A fire ball and thick plumes of black smoke engulfed the Delta Air Lines plane as it skidded to a halt on its roof on Monday but none of the 80 people on board were killed.”The crew of Delta Flight 4819 heroically led passengers to safety, evacuating a jet that had overturned on the runway on landing, amidst smoke and fire,” Toronto airport authority chief executive Deborah Flint told a news conference.She said Canada’s Transportation Safety Board has deployed 20 investigators to the site where the Bombardier CRJ-900 crashed.They will be assisted by the US Federal Aviation Administration and representatives from Delta and Mitsubishi, which purchased this line of planes from Bombardier in 2019.Injuries sustained in the crash ranged from “minor to critical, but not life-threatening,” Flint said.  Delta said 21 passengers were transported to hospitals and so far 19 have been released.Paramedic services told AFP on Monday that three people had been critically injured — a child, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 40s.The flight with 76 passengers and four crew was landing in the afternoon in Canada’s largest city after a flight from Minneapolis in the US state of MinnesotaTodd Aitken, the airport’s fire chief, said late Monday it was too early to determine the cause of the crash.”It’s really important that we do not speculate. What we can say is the runway was dry and there was no crosswind conditions,” he said.- Black smoke -The video posted to social media and verified by AFP was taken from the cockpit of another jetliner waiting on the tarmac. It showed the plane coming in for a normal landing before slamming into the runway, then sliding forward in a roll to the right, with its wings sheared off before it stopped on its back.Flames could be seen shooting out of the fuselage and black smoke billowing out.”Oh no no no no no,” the pilot is heard saying in the video that was laced with expletives. Rescue services responded, spraying water at the jet, whose underside was scraped and blackened.Aitkin said rescue teams saw isolated fires when they got to the scene.  “They were able to quickly knock down the spot fires” and enter and search the plane, he told reporters Tuesday. Most of the passengers had already “self evacuated”, he added.Corey Tkatch of the area’s paramedic services said emergency responders dealt with a “multitude of different injuries” including back sprains, head injuries, anxiety and headaches.Passengers reported smelling jet fuel as they exited the plane. Some suffered from nausea and vomiting due to the fuel exposure, he said.In the days prior to Monday’s crash, two massive snowstorms hit eastern Canada, dumping 70 centimeters (more than two feet) of snow, which Flint said was “more snow than we received in all of last winter.” Strong winds and bone-chilling temperatures could still be felt in Toronto on Monday when airlines added flights to make up for weekend cancellations due to the storm.The Toronto crash was the latest in a recent string of air incidents in North America, including a mid-air collision between a US Army helicopter and a passenger jet in Washington that killed 67 people, and a medical transport plane crash in Philadelphia that left seven dead.

The Trump administration has put an “anti-fraud expert” temporarily in charge at the Social Security Administration, long a politically untouchable source of government spending, the White House confirmed Tuesday after the previous chief resigned in an apparent clash with Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team.The reported departure of acting commissioner Michelle King was the latest abrupt resignation of a senior official confronted with Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as the billionaire takes a scorched earth approach to federal spending.The details of her exit were not clear, but The Washington Post, which first reported the story on Monday, said it came after officials from DOGE tried to access sensitive data at the Social Security Administration.US media said King had been made acting commissioner in January as President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the agency, Frank Bisignano, was vetted for the post. The Trump administration expects Bisignano “to be swiftly confirmed in the coming weeks,” according to White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields. “In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner,” he told AFP when asked for confirmation of King’s resignation.The Post and other US media named that expert as Leland Dudek, who had previously headed up Social Security’s anti-fraud office.Trump has directed Musk and DOGE to identify fraud at the agency, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt has said. “They suspect that there are tens of millions of deceased people receiving fraudulent Social Security payments,” she told Fox News. Musk has also referred to potential fraud, without providing evidence.But experts have warned that Social Security data is hugely sensitive, raising concerns about Musk taking a sledgehammer to the agency. “SSA has comprehensive medical records of people who have applied for disability benefits. It has our bank information, our earnings records, the names and ages of our children, and much more,” warned Nancy Altman, president of the left-leaning advocacy group Social Security Works.”There is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is. And my understanding is that it has already occurred,” she said. Musk’s DOGE has come in for widespread criticism since Trump took power last month as it rampages through the federal government, slashing staff and programs that it argues are fraudulent and do not align with the president’s agenda.But the drive has run into resistance. The top civil servant at the Treasury Department, David Lebryk, also resigned in January after refusing to give DOGE access to the government’s vast payments system. And the Washington Post reported Tuesday that a federal prosecutor stepped down after refusing to comply with a White House move to rescind $20 billion in grants awarded by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, for climate and clean energy projects. Republicans have long sought to privatize Social Security and other US entitlement programs such as Medicare, complaining of the massive costs and government oversight involved.But the programs are hugely popular with voters, making any attempts to reform them potential political suicide. 

A US federal judge ordered the Trump Justice Department to appear in court Wednesday to explain its extraordinary decision to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, a move that triggered a wave of protest resignations.US District Judge Dale Ho, who is presiding over the case, ordered the embattled mayor of the largest US city and Justice Department prosecutors to attend a 2:00 pm (1900 GMT) hearing in Manhattan to discuss the reasons for dismissing the charges.In asking last week for the case against Adams to be dropped, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said the prosecution was restricting the Democratic mayor’s “ability to devote full attention and resources to illegal immigration and violent crime.”The unusual request prompted allegations that it was a quid pro quo in exchange for Adams agreeing to enforce Republican President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown — a claim denied by the mayor.”I want to be crystal clear with New Yorkers: I never offered — nor did anyone offer on my behalf — any trade of my authority as your mayor for an end to my case,” he said.Adams, who pleaded not guilty in September to charges of fraud and bribery, has been under growing pressure to resign.On Monday, the head of New York’s city council called on the mayor, who is facing reelection in November, to step down and four deputy mayors announced that they were resigning.Governor Kathy Hochul, who has the power to remove Adams from office, was meeting with “key leaders” on Tuesday to discuss what she called a “path forward with the goal of ensuring stability for the City of New York.”- ‘Fool’ or a ‘coward’ -Danielle Sassoon, the acting US attorney in Manhattan, a Trump appointee, and assistant US attorney Hagan Scotten who brought the case against Adams, resigned last week along with several Justice Department officials in Washington to protest the order to dismiss the charges.Scotten, the lead prosecutor, in a blistering letter to Bove, said only a “fool” or a “coward” would comply with the Justice Department demand to drop the case.In ordering Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Ho, citing previous rulings, noted that the government has “broad discretion” in deciding which cases to prosecute. But the court, in considering a request for dismissal, “must have sufficient factual information supporting the recommendation.”The Justice Department, which Trump has accused of unjustly prosecuting him, has been the target of a sweeping shakeup since the Republican took office and a number of high-ranking officials have been fired, demoted or reassigned.More than 800 former federal prosecutors released an open letter Monday condemning recent actions by Trump’s Justice Department that are not based on “the facts and the law” but appear intended “to serve solely political purposes.”Among those who signed the letter was Jack Smith, the former special counsel who brought two now-abandoned criminal cases against Trump — for conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden and for mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House.