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Ukraine’s leader will meet with President Donald Trump in Washington today at a pivotal moment for his country. During his trip to Washington, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s delegation is expected to sign a landmark economic agreement with the US aimed at financing the reconstruction of war-damaged Ukraine, a deal that would closely tie the two countries together for years to come. Though the deal, which is seen as a step toward ending the three-year war, references the importance of Ukraine’s security, it leaves that to a separate agreement to be discussed between the two leaders. Leaders in Kyiv have pushed to ensure a potential US-brokered peace plan would include guarantees for the country’s security. Ukrainians fear a hastily negotiated peace — especially one that makes too many concessions — would allow Moscow to rearm and consolidate its forces for a future invasion. A preliminary economic agreement will establish a co-owned, jointly managed investment fund to which Ukraine will contribute 50% of future revenues from natural resources, including minerals, hydrocarbons and other extractable materials, reports say. Zelenskyy said he hopes to discuss whether the US plans to halt its military aid to Ukraine and, if so, whether Kyiv can purchase weapons directly from the US. He also wants to know whether Ukraine can use frozen Russian assets to buy weapons and whether Washington plans to lift sanctions on Moscow. https://lnkd.in/ggfDerXE

Consumers are preparing for a 24-hour economic blackout on Friday as a boycott asks consumers to not spend any money. The organizer of the boycott goes by TheOneCalledJai on Instagram, but his real name is John Schwarz. He said he started the “bold“ idea because the time was right and people are frustrated with what he calls corporate greed and other frustrations. The People's Union, founded by Schwarz, has expanded the boycott to include specific companies like Amazon, Nestle, and Walmart during different periods, with another one-day blackout on April 18. Friday's boycott is one of several. A national boycott of Target started Feb. 1 to coincide with Black History Month. It was launched by civil rights activists in Minneapolis upset that Target has rolled back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. The Latino community has also been active on social media using the hashtag #LatinoFreeze, encouraging supporters to “hold your money'' amid freezes on DEI initiatives, reduced funding for the National Institutes of Health and actions on immigration. Experts say that boycotts can be successful in shaming a company into reversing decisions or taking action, but they don't always work. There needs to be clear actions outlined, they say. But consumers do like being able to take action against something they feel strongly about. https://lnkd.in/gfe9E-Vp

A senior White House correspondent sharply criticized the White House’s decision to take over the press pool. Jacqui Heinrich of Fox News pushed back on press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s claim that “we are giving the power back to the people” by taking control of the White House press pool, a small group of reporters that travels with and covers the president’s daily activities. “This move does not give the power back to the people — it gives power to the White House,” Heinrich said in a post, responding to Leavitt’s statement. Heinrich, part of the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) board, explained the practical reasons it has governed the press pool for decades. “Only representatives FROM our outlets can determine resources all those outlets have — such as staffing — in order to get the President’s message out to the largest possible audience, no matter the day or hour,” Heinrich wrote. Leavitt announced on Tuesday that, moving forward, the White House press pool would be determined by administration officials. “It’s beyond time the White House press pool reflects the media habits of the American people in 2025,” she said. https://lnkd.in/gyg_j-kw

Dusty, dry, and desert-clad Mars was once so rich in water it had not just lakes, but oceans, a study says. Observations using ground-penetrating radar have revealed underground features consistent with beaches on the red planet, 4 billion years ago. It's some of the best evidence to date that Mars was once so soggy as to host a northern sea. The research team has named that sea Deuteronilus. "We're finding places on Mars that used to look like ancient beaches and ancient river deltas," says geologist Benjamin Cardenas of Pennsylvania State University. "We found evidence for wind, waves, no shortage of sand – a proper, vacation-style beach.” A joint Chinese-American team used data collected by the Chinese National Space Administration's Zhurong Mars rover. Zhurong used ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to take measurements of the rock up to 260 feet below the surface of Mars. The GPR data revealed thick layers of material along Zhurong's route, sloped upwards towards the supposed shoreline at an angle of 15 degrees, just like ancient buried shorelines on Earth. The discovery bolsters the case for past habitable conditions on Mars for life as we know it and suggests a place to look for signs of ancient life on the red planet if we can get there with the right equipment. https://lnkd.in/gaJqYN3q

The conservative opposition won Germany’s general election, but the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) could complicate matters. Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) candidate Friedrich Merz was preparing on Sunday night to try to form a ruling coalition after clinching almost 29% of the vote from a high turnout. The AfD, buoyed by anger about immigration, violent crime and high energy costs, got about 21% of the vote — finishing second and nearly doubling its result at the last election in 2021. The mainstream parties, however, are barring formal cooperation with the anti-migrant, pro-Kremlin AfD. Merz’s conservatives will need to seek an alliance to govern, with the goal of having a new administration in place by Easter. His most likely coalition partner is seen as the Social Democrats, reports say. Together, they should have just enough to form a majority. “For me, the absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA“ in defense matters, Merz said. AfD co-leader, Alice Weidel said a three-way coalition government under Merz would be “unstable“ and predicted it would “not survive four years,“ at which point the AfD would be waiting in the wings. https://lnkd.in/eWjtWxTF

One of the four bodies returned by Hamas to Israel was not that of the hostage Shiri Bibas, Israel’s military said. The Israeli military confirmed that two of the bodies belonged to Bibas’s children, Ariel and Kfir. “No match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body,” the Israeli military said during identification. Hamas has not issued any public comment so far on the Israeli accusation, which threatens to derail the fragile ceasefire agreement reached with US backing and with the help of Qatari and Egyptian mediators. Thursday’s release marked the first time the group has returned the remains of dead hostages. Intelligence and forensic findings showed that Bibas’ children had been “murdered by terrorists.” Hamas had said the boys and their mother were killed in an Israeli bombing. Bibas and her children — who Hamas says were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the early days of the war — became a symbol of the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, that ignited the war in Gaza. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said today that Hamas had handed over the body of a “Gazan woman” instead of Bibas and that Israel would make Hamas pay. https://lnkd.in/gX2rhJXd

Research suggests that pale complexions are a relatively recent addition. Experts at the University of Ferrara in Italy claim darker complexions were the norm throughout Europe for the vast majority (96%) of its inhabited history. Light skin tones originally appeared in Sweden in the Mesolithic period – starting about 14,000 years ago – but remained rare, according to the researchers. The Copper and Bronze Ages (about 7,000 to 3,000 years ago) saw continued increases in light pigmentation, but darker skin types remained widespread. By the Iron Age (about 3,000 to 1,700 years ago), light skin was nearly as frequent as dark skin, particularly in Northern and Central Europe. For the study, the researchers analysed ancient genomes (the entire set of DNA instructions) of 348 individuals who lived between 45,000 and 1,700 years ago. The scientists say light pigmentation became more common as Homo sapiens dispersed from Africa into regions with lower ultraviolet (UV) radiation. https://lnkd.in/gyiRAr3Q

Over 150 false killer whales have been stranded on a remote beach in Tasmania, Australia. Of the 157 beached whales, only 90 were still showing signs of life, Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) liaison Brendon Clark said. Officials said they have been unable to refloat the whales and will euthanize them “for animal welfare reasons.“ Beached whales’ survival rates are low, as their bodies are crushed by their weight when outside water. Attempts to return them to sea can be dangerous for rescuers. The whales can weigh anywhere from 1100 – 6600 pounds, and some sunk into the sand where they were stranded. The stranding was the first by false killer whales in Tasmania since 1974. It wasn't clear what may have caused the stranding, and carcasses would be examined for any clues, authorities said. https://lnkd.in/g2Fj6ymq

At least 11 died in Kentucky from a storm that battered the state on the weekend with another cross-country storm imminent. "Kentucky is still experiencing widespread impacts from the severe weather," Gov. Andy Beshear warned on social media Monday morning. "We need everyone to be aware that conditions are dangerous, and folks need to stay off the roads in areas with high water.” Over 1,000 people have been rescued across the state, the governor said. In Louisville, crews have conducted over 30 rescues in the flash flooding, Mayor Craig Greenberg said. One storm-related death was also reported in Georgia. The storm dumped over 8 inches of rain in Kentucky and Tennessee and 5 inches in Virginia. Wind gusts topped 70 mph in North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey. The strong winds continued across the Northeast through Monday night. The next cross-country storm is already underway, with snowy weather scattered across the Cascades, Rockies and into the Plains. The system is forecast to sweep south and east through into Wednesday. The snow flurries will be followed by plunging temperatures, with more than 65 million Americans now under cold weather alerts across 13 states from Texas to Minnesota. Tulsa could feel like 17 below zero Wednesday and Thursday, with Dallas feeling like 10 below zero. https://lnkd.in/gRxk-3TM

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have entered Bukavu, the second-largest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Some people lined the streets to clap and cheer the fighters as they marched and drove into the city centre without resistance. It is the second city after Goma to fall to the rebels in the mineral-rich region in the past few weeks. The UN and European countries have warned that the latest offensive, which has seen hundreds of thousands of people forced from their homes, could spark a wider regional war. The provincial governor, Jean-Jacques Purusi Sadiki, confirmed the fighters were in Bukavu city centre by Sunday morning, adding that Congolese troops had withdrawn to avoid urban fighting. The Congolese government accuses Rwanda of sowing chaos in the region — as well as having troops on the ground — so it can benefit from its natural resources. The African Union, which has been holding a heads of state summit in Ethiopia on the weekend, again urged the M23 to disarm. https://lnkd.in/exfsDsSZ