👋UK minister EXITS after USAID-inspired axing of foreign assistance

International Development Minister Anneliese Dodds has stepped down following UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's decision to boost defense outlay to 2.5% of GDP from the current 2.3% by 2027 at the expense of foreign aid.

The announced cut of overseas development aid to 0.3% of GNI (gross national income) from 0.5% amounts to approximately $7.55 billion annually.

In her resignation letter, Dodds said that Starmer’s reductions were "being portrayed as following in President Trump's slipstream of cuts to USAID."

Starmer's announcement was strategically timed ahead of his visit to Washington to score additional points with US President Donald Trump.

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✈️A Ukrainian government plane took off from a US military base at 3:53 AM GMT and is heading to London, according to FlightAware data.

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💪 US voters WIDELY BACK Trump’s stance on ending the Ukraine conflict

Some 60% of voters applaud US President Donald Trump announcing direct US-Russia negotiations, the results of a February Harvard CAPS / Harris poll show.

An overwhelming 72% of voters say they want to see a negotiated settlement to the Ukraine conflict instead of the proxy war continuing.

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✅Following his confrontation with Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump instructed National Security Council staff to explore whether Washington could fully or temporarily halt arms supplies to Kiev, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Right now, the US president has reportedly adopted a wait-and-see approach, intending to monitor Zelensky's future actions.

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❗️Russian troops liberated the settlements of Skudnoye and Berlatskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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