📌 Ukraine Aid Paused, Gaza Peace Fragile, More

President Donald Trump has placed a pause on aid to Ukraine, the White House announced late Monday.

“The President has been clear that he is focused on peace,“ a senior administration official said. “We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.“

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Monday that his country needs “real, fair peace,“ as well as security guarantees to ensure Russia does not threaten Ukraine again in the future.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. pausing military aid to Ukraine is the best contribution to the cause of peace and that it could help push Ukraine to engage in a peace process.

Trump was pointed in saying Monday that a deal for rare earth minerals was key to continued US support of Ukraine, and said he would address the matter today when he speaks before a joint session of Congress.

Earlier in the day, in a social media posting, Trump derided Zelenskyy’s assessment that the end of Russia’s war with his country “is still very, very far away,“ calling that “the worst statement. America will not put up with it for much longer!“

A delicate truce between Israel and Hamas hangs by a thread after Israel blocked humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Israel’s move followed Hamas’ rejection of an Israeli proposal to extend the ceasefire without any commitment to end the war or fully withdraw troops. Hamas has accused Israel of violating the agreement, calling its decision to halt humanitarian aid “cheap blackmail“ and a “war crime.“

Fifty-nine hostages remain in Gaza after the return of four bodies last week. Of the 59, 24 are thought to be alive, Israeli authorities say.

Aid groups and the United Nations have slammed the Israeli announcement to halt aid, with Egypt, a mediator in the ceasefire deal, saying it “unequivocally rejects the politicization of humanitarian aid and its exploitation as a tool of blackmail.“

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff plans to return to the Middle East “in the coming days to work out either a way to extend Phase I or advance to Phase II“ of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, a US State Department spokesperson said.

On January 19, the first phase came into effect. It lasted 42 days and expired last weekend. A second, 42-day ceasefire phase was meant to begin Sunday and see a commitment to ending the war, withdrawing all Israeli troops from Gaza, and releasing all living hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

AI language models assist in up to a quarter of professional communications across sectors, a study has found.

The study analyzed over 300 million text samples from January 2022 to September 2024, including consumer complaints, corporate press releases, job postings, and UN press releases.

AI assistance was detected in 18% of financial consumer complaints, 24% of corporate press releases, 15% of job postings, and 14% of UN press releases. The study found that while urban areas showed higher adoption overall (18.2% versus 10.9% in rural areas), regions with lower educational attainment used AI writing tools more frequently (19.9% compared to 17.4% in higher-education areas).

The researchers note that this contradicts typical technology adoption patterns where more educated populations adopt new tools the fastest.

The researchers write: “In sensitive categories, over-reliance on AI could result in messages that fail to address concerns or overall release less credible information externally. Over-reliance on AI could also introduce public mistrust in the authenticity of messages sent by firms.“

Since 2023, at least nine states have eased licensing requirements for foreign-trained doctors to practice in rural areas.

Previously, all states required them to repeat residency in the US to obtain a full medical license. More states are considering similar legislation to tackle the doctor shortage. Supporters argue that qualified doctors shouldn't need to complete a second residency, while opponents raise concerns about patient safety.

The new laws have been approved in both Republican- and Democratic-leaning states, including Florida, Iowa, and Massachusetts. Internationally trained doctors must still pass the standard US medical licensing exams and often work under supervision before receiving full licensure.

Some states require these doctors to work in rural or underserved areas for several years as a condition of their restricted license.

Critics argue the new laws might not significantly impact rural doctor shortages and could lead to ethical issues, such as poaching doctors from countries with greater healthcare needs.

The advisory commission recommends collecting data on the new rules' effectiveness and ensuring patient safety through supervision and evaluation. Potential hurdles include finding supervising physicians, securing malpractice insurance, and meeting specialty certification requirements.

A device for gathering mist from Venus’ atmosphere and delivering it to scientists on Earth is undergoing tests.

The device will enable scientists to test the samples for signs of life. Venus is not an obvious place to look, as its globe-spanning cloud decks are made of sulfuric acid, “a feature long believed to be sterile for any organic chemistry,“ said MIT planetary scientist Iaroslav Iakubivskyi.

But lab experiments by Iakubivskyi and colleagues have suggested that sulfuric acid can support the organic chemistry that gives rise to stable nucleic and amino acids — the building blocks of DNA and proteins.

Iakubivskyi’s team is working with the private spaceflight company Rocket Lab on a series of Venus probes called the Morning Star Missions. The first, a probe that will fall through Venus’ atmosphere and measure the sizes of sulfuric acid droplets, is slated to launch in 2026.

A later mission would use a two-ton rocket to launch samples into Venus’ orbit to be picked up by a spacecraft returning to Earth. If successful, Morning Star would be the first private mission to another planet.

Morning Star isn’t alone in its aspirations. NASA and the European Space Agency both plan to send spacecraft to Venus within the next decade. “We’re now entering a new era of Venus exploration,“ Iakubivskyi said.

The European Union is expected to announce “concrete“ measures on boosting defense financing this week.

The 27 EU leaders will gather in Brussels on Thursday for a meeting dedicated to defense and support for Ukraine. Trump has often criticized European nations for failing to spend 2% of their GDP on defense, as stipulated by NATO rules.

Since Trump’s first term, several countries have increased their defense spending, and the latest NATO figures indicate that 23 of the 32 members are expected to have achieved the 2% target in 2024.

Many NATO members are looking to increase spending even more, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte saying it will have to be “much more than 2%.“ Trump, meanwhile, has called for 5% of GDP as the NATO contribution target.

“We urgently have to rearm Europe. And for that, I will present a comprehensive plan to the leaders on how to rearm Europe on March 6 when we have our European Council,“ European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (pictured) said at a summit in London on Sunday.

In a recent report, Defending Europe without the US, Brussels-based think tank Bruegel calculated that Europe could need “300,000 more troops and an annual defence spending hike of at least 250 billion euros in the short term to deter Russian aggression.“

A man whose blood had a rare antibody saved the lives of an estimated 2.4 million babies before passing away last month.

Known in Australia as “the man with the golden arm,“ Harrison's blood contained a rare antibody, Anti-D, which is used to make medication given to pregnant mothers whose blood is at risk of attacking their unborn babies.

Anti-D jabs protect unborn babies from haemolytic disease, which occurs during pregnancy when the mother's red blood cells are incompatible. The mother's immune system sees the baby's blood cells as a threat and produces antibodies to attack them, causing anemia, heart failure, or even death.

The Australian Red Cross Blood Service, which paid tribute to Harrison, said he had pledged to become a donor after receiving transfusions while undergoing a major chest surgery when he was 14. He died aged 88.

Harrison's daughter, Tracey Mellowship, said her father was proud to have saved so many lives. “He always said it does not hurt, and the life you save could be your own,“ she said.

It is unclear how Harrison's blood came to be so rich in anti-D, but some reports said it had to do with the massive blood transfusion he received at 14. Researchers involved hope lab-made anti-D can one day be used to help pregnant women worldwide.