Daily SumUp

Uber offers 20 hours of free childcare in bid to lure female drivers. Every Uber driver in the UK will be eligible for 20 hours of free childcare under a new scheme intended to get more women driving taxis. They will be able to use the allowance through a nannying and babysitting app for the rest of 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At least two people were killed and 19 were wounded on Monday after Israeli air strikes in the vicinity of southern Syrian province of Daraa, Syrian state news agency SANA reported. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Columbia University agreed to ban masks and expand campus police powers in response to demands from the Trump administration after it froze $400 million in federal funding to the school.The university also agreed to appoint a senior vice provost to oversee the Middle East, South Asian and African Studies department, according to a statement it released Friday. The federal government had called on the school last week to put the department under “academic receivership” and to overhaul international recruiting policies as well as undergraduate and graduate admissions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US President Donald Trump has held what he described as a "very good" hour-long phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, a day after speaking to Russia's President Vladimir Putin.Zelensky said afterwards that he believed that "lasting peace can be achieved this year" under Trump's leadership.Possible US ownership of Ukraine's nuclear power plants was also discussed, the White House said, though this has been ruled out by Zelensky.The tone of the call seems to be in contrast to Zelensky's visit to the White House last month, in which the two leaders - along with US Vice-President JD Vance - were involved in a tense exchange. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to begin dismantling the US Department of Education, seeking to fulfill decades of conservative ambition to get rid of the agency, but raising new questions for the country’s millions of public schools, student-loan holders and parents.No president in modern history has tried to close down a Cabinet-level agency. Shutting down the department wholesale would require an act of Congress, which created the agency in 1979. Trump officials acknowledge they don’t have the necessary votes to dissolve the department that way; instead, the order Trump signed Thursday instructed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states.”Speaking in the East Room, surrounded by school children in uniforms sitting at classroom desks, Trump said, “We’re going to shut it down, and shut it down as quickly as possible.”How precisely the components of the Education Department would be dismantled wasn’t precisely clear.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said ahead of Thursday’s signing that the order would move to “greatly minimize the agency,” but that certain “critical functions” like student loans and administering grants for at-risk students would remain under the agency’s umbrella. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday said he will vote to keep the government open after he told senators Democrats would unite to tank the Republican-backed spending plan."I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country to minimize the harm to the American people. Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down," Schumer said on the Senate floor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he has not discussed the potential US ownership of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently occupied by Russia, with Donald Trump.Speaking in Oslo on Thursday, the Ukrainian president pushed back on the suggestion the plant could change ownership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Washington's temporary relief for import tariffs on goods covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) has triggered a spike in US companies seeking exemption under the trade deal, industry experts said.The White House slapped fresh 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico on March 5, but later announced that levies on goods covered under the USMCA would be delayed until April 2. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A French scientist has been denied entry into the United States, apparently because the scientist had expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration's research policy, the French Education Ministry said on Thursday."I learned with concern that a French researcher on assignment for the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) who was traveling to a conference near Houston was denied entry to the United States before being expelled," Minister for Higher Education and Research Philippe Baptiste said in a statement to AFP. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Thursday accused the Greek Cypriot administration of pushing back migrant boats.Appearing on a news show on public radio CyBC alongside Greek Cypriot Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis, agency’s spokeswoman Emilia Strovolidou said the UNCHR was informed that migrants on three boats had been pushed back into Syrian territorial waters last week."The boats were near the Larnaca port when they were turned back by police, migrants were not allowed to disembark, nor to access asylum procedures," she explained.The incident needs to be investigated by independent organizations to ensure the application of the relevant laws regarding the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, stressed Strovolidou.Hartsiotis dismissed Strovolidou’s arguments and told her to “pass to the police if she has information.”Greek Cypriot authorities announced March 17, that seven bodies were recovered and two survivors had been rescued after a boat carrying migrants sank off the south coast of the island.One day later, UNCHR accused Greek Cypriot authorities of forcing back three boats carrying 80 Syrian migrants on March 14. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trump World Center Pune: Here’s what we know about The Trump Organization’s first commercial project in India This will mark the Trump Organization's first commercial office project in India, although it is the second project in Pune. The organization previously partnered with Panchshil Realty over a decade ago to develop a residential project in the city.India already hosts four Trump-branded residential projects, making it the Trump Organization's largest market outside the United States. With additional projects in the pipeline, the brand's presence in India continues to grow.Here’s what we know about the Trump Organization’s upcoming commercial office project in Pune. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Taiwanese state energy firm CPC Corp signed on Thursday an agreement with Alaska Gasline Development Corp to buy liquefied natural gas and invest in the project, a move Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te said would ensure the island's energy security.Officials from state-run AGDC and development partner Glenfarne Group are visiting Asian countries this week to court investors for a natural gas project that President Donald Trump says could pump trillions of dollars into the U.S., although analysts say the project's high costs have been a focal point for years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia and the United States will hold consultations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 24 to discuss the war in Ukraine, according to Russian presidential aide for international affairs Yuri Ushakov, as reported by state-owned news agency TASS on March 20.Ushakov said he had spoken with U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser, Mike Waltz, regarding "the implementation of a well-known initiative concerning the safety of navigation in the Black Sea."A similar arrangement previously existed under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered by the U.N. and Turkey in 2022. The initiative allowed Ukraine to export agricultural products via the Black Sea despite Russia's full-scale invasion, helping stabilize global food prices.Moscow withdrew from the agreement in July 2023, effectively collapsing the deal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia aspires to Olympic comeback under new IOC boss Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Poughly 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs will be cut in the Defense Department, but fewer than 21,000 workers who took a voluntary resignation plan are leaving in the coming months, a senior defense official told reporters Tuesday.To reach the goal of a 5% to 8% cut in a civilian workforce of more than 900,000, the official said, the Pentagon aims to slash about 6,000 positions a month by simply not replacing workers who routinely leave. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, currently facing accusations of trying to concentrate power in the executive branch, has blasted "left-leaning" administrators in a TikTok video warning of the dangers of the "deep state".The concept of a "deep state" became mainstream during US President Donald Trump's first term from 2017-2021.Trump used the term to accuse officials of working in secret to stall the work of the president and the will of the people who elected him.In a one-minute video published on his personal account, Netanyahu said: "They want the government and me to be like plants" meaning to sit and do nothing, "but we won't let them".Netanyahu also posted the video on X late on Wednesday, before deleting it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A federal judge Thursday issued a temporary restraining order barring Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency team from having access to personally identifiable information from the Social Security Administration.Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander in a scathing ruling accused DOGE of launching a "fishing expedition" at the Social Security agency and failing to provide any reason why it needed to access vast swaths of Americans' personal and private data.Hollander said the "defendants, with so called experts on the DOGE Team" never identify or articulate a reason why DOGE needs "unlimited access to SSA's entire record systems, thereby exposing personal, confidential, sensitive, and private information that millions of Americans entrusted to their government."The order in U.S. District Court in Baltimore blocks the Social Security Administration, acting Commissioner Leland Dudek and Chief Information Officer Michael Russo, as well as all related agents and employees working with them, from granting access to any system containing personally identifiable information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The United States on Thursday sanctioned a China-based oil refinery that purchased Iranian oil worth around $500 million from Huthi-linked ships, as the White House ramps up pressure on Iran.In a statement, the US Treasury Department announced it was sanctioning a "teapot refinery" based in China's Shandong province which bought Iranian oil worth "approximately half a billion dollars."Teapot refineries are small, privately-owned operations in China, and stand in contrast to the larger state-owned enterprises in the country. Since returning to office, US President Donald Trump reinstated a campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran, and has already rolled out sanctions against several individuals and entities, including the country's oil minister.The oil in question was transported by Iran's so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers, according to the Treasury Department, including from ships linked to the Huthis, and to the Iranian ministry of defense of armed forces logistics, MODAFL.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Germany's defence minister will consult with top military officials on security issues relating to US weapons systems, especially F-35 fighter jets, a national newspaper reported on Thursday.Countries across Europe are re-examining their dependence on US weapons and technology, alarmed by US President Donald Trump's administration casting doubt on future transatlantic ties.German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius will consult with leading generals, ministry experts and procurement officials, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung said.The focus of the confidential talks would be on US weapons systems which Germany already operates or has ordered. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New IOC president Kirsty Coventry said "communication will be key" with US president Donald Trump as Los Angeles is hosting the 2028 Summer Games.Coventry, the first woman and African to be elected to the most powerful role in sports governance, added: "I have been dealing with, let's say, difficult men in high positions since I was 20 years old." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pope Francis gradually improving, recovery continues... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Italian postal service has seen a huge increase in mail addressed to Pope Francis since his Feb. 14 hospitalization, with some letters clearly written by children, bearing stamps from around the world and simply addressed to the pope at “Gemelli Hospital” in Rome.Postal workers sort the mail into big yellow boxes, labeled “Papa Francesco.” Each day hospital workers come to take the letters away to make sure they get to the 88-year-old Francis at the 10th floor hospital suite where he is recovering from double pneumonia.The mail arrives first at the primary sorting center at Rome’s Fiumicino airport, where it is checked to make sure it is safe to be delivered. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A crucial border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan reopened on Wednesday after a weeks-long closure following a dispute over the construction of a checkpost by the Afghan side.The much-awaited agreement was reached at a meeting of tribal elders from both sides held at the Afghanistan side of the border.The border, which remained closed for 25 days over the construction of security checkpoints by the Afghan side, reopened at 4 p.m. (GMT1100) for trade transport, whereas the cross-border public movement will be allowed from March 31, Syed Jawad Hussain Kazmi, the head of the Pakistani delegation of tribal elders that took part in weeks-long talks, told Anadolu.However, patients requiring immediate treatment will be allowed to enter Pakistan.As part of the agreement, tribal elders on both sides decided to temporarily halt the disputed construction by Afghan forces.Torkham is one of 18 crossings between the two neighbors, which have been locked in a border dispute for decades, leading to the frequent closure of land connections. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump first met Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2019. Here we look back at the key moments that have helped shape the pair's relationship and how it has changed over the years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Canadian furniture manufacturer is shutting down a facility in its home country and moving those operations to the U.S. — but the company and the workers affected by the move are at odds over whether tariffs are to blame.The union representing employees at the Prepac Manufacturing Ltd. plant in Delta, British Columbia, announced the facility’s impending closure last week, and said that its production would shift to a facility in North Carolina instead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and a close ally of US President Donald Trump, has spoken out about the alleged conspiracy to harm him and his company. In a recent interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Musk expressed his concerns about the growing violence and hatred towards him and Tesla. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A senior official from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is assuming a top leadership role at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), granting DOGE direct authority over an agency it has actively worked to dismantle, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press.Pete Marocco, a Trump administration appointee and deputy head of USAID, disclosed the leadership shift in an email to State Department staff. The move follows Marocco and DOGE's oversight of an 83 percent reduction in USAID contracts, with the remaining programs folded into the State Department. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) , opens new tab will cut the headcount of its retail bank by almost 2,000 people in 2025 with a "significant" reduction in the number of branches, Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing said on Wednesday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 A senior official at Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is taking a leadership role at the U.S. Agency for International Development, giving DOGE direct authority over an agency that it has worked to dismantle, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press.Pete Marocco, a Trump administration political appointee who was serving as deputy head of USAID, disclosed the change in the email to State Department staff. It comes after Marocco and DOGE oversaw the gutting of 83% of USAID contracts, shifting the remaining programs under the State Department.Marocco said in his email that he will serve as the State Department’s head of foreign assistance.Marocco wrote that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will “effective immediately” designate Jeremy Lewin as deputy administrator for policy and programs at USAID and as chief operating officer.Lewin is a DOGE official who has worked with Musk’s government-cutting efforts at USAID and other federal agencies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a statement posted on the Chinese Weibo social media site on Aug. 26, the Japanese Embassy in Beijing complains about harassing phone calls from China to Japan, calling them “criminal acts.”Japan demanded Chinese authorities crack down on abusive phone calls to individuals and businesses in Japan following the contentious release of treated radioactive water into the ocean from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.The Japanese Embassy in Beijing posted a statement on the Chinese SNS “Weibo” on Aug. 26 complaining about harassing phone calls from China to Japan regarding the Aug. 24 discharge of filtered and diluted water into the Pacific Ocean.It referred to the phone calls as “criminal acts” and asked the Chinese government to take strict action in accordance with the law.A video circulated on Chinese SNS showing a young man, presumed to be Chinese, making random phone calls to Japan and demanding an explanation for the decision that prompted Beijing to suspend all imports of seafood from Japan.Japan says the water release program is a crucial step in the process of decommissioning the nuclear complex after the triple meltdown triggered by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the tsunami that followed it.Since Aug. 24, the embassy has been urging Japanese nationals living in China not to speak in Japanese unnecessarily or loudly when outdoors so as not to inflame the situation.Harassing phone calls to the embassy jumped sharply since Aug. 24, said an official, adding that a music event scheduled to be held at the diplomatic compound on Aug. 26 was canceled due to safety concerns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 Amazon lost its fight against a record 746 million euro ($812.4 million) fine handed out by Luxembourg's privacy regulator four years ago as a court sided with the watchdog, according to a statement on the regulator's website.The Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD) said the country's administrative court dismissed Amazon's appeal in a March 18 ruling.The watchdog had penalised Amazon for processing personal data in breach of EU privacy rules known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Europe has taken a tough line against such violations, with its landmark law setting the benchmark for other countries.CNPD said its decision, which also  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Serbia’s government, led by Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, resigned Wednesday, with President Aleksandar Vučić saying he may call fresh elections in early June. Although Vučević announced his intention to resign in late January, the Belgrade parliament confirmed the resignation only weeks later, shortly after the country saw its largest protests in decades. Vučić said Sunday that if a new government is not formed within 30 days of Vučević’s resignation, he will call early elections, likely to be held on June 8 — just a year and a half after Serbia’s last general election. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Vladimir Putin is pushing U.S. President Donald Trump to recognize Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territory in exchange for a pledge not to seize more land, the Kommersant business newspaper reported late Tuesday, citing anonymous sources from a closed-door meeting where the Kremlin leader outlined his stance.Russia declared the annexation of Ukraine’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions in September 2022 after sham referendums, despite not fully controlling any of them. Moscow also annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.According to Kommersant, ongoing U.S.-Russia negotiations for ending the war in Ukraine center on securing Washington’s recognition of all five regions as Russian territory under the argument that “there’s no taking back what Russia has gained.”“If this [recognition] happens soon, Russia… will not lay claim to Odesa and other Ukrainian territories,” the publication wrote, relaying Putin’s message following the annual congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, a major business lobby. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, spoke for more than two hours in their first publicly known call since a ceasefire proposal was announced in Saudi Arabia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Taiwan detected 59 Chinese aircraft around the island, the highest tally since a record in October. Along with the 59 aircraft, nine Chinese warships and two balloons were also detected.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A section of the Trans-Niger Pipeline, one of Nigeria's biggest pipelines, has exploded, media reported on Tuesday. The pipeline is crucial for oil transportation in the Niger Delta, one of the country's biggest sources of oil. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hungary’s new anti-LGBTQ+ law bans Pride events and sparks protests... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tuesday’s big news that Google is acquiring security startup Wiz for a record-breaking $32 billion comes with a very big qualifier. Google says it will position Wiz as a “multicloud” offering, meaning Wiz will not be a Google-only shop. The reality is that Google had no choice but to do this, and a closer look at the reasons behind the decision also highlights Google’s weak spots in the months ahead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The hackers urged Mahama’s followers to invest in the fraudulent crypto scheme, claiming it was an initiative to revolutionise financial transactions on the continent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

German industrial giant Siemens said Tuesday it planned to cut over 6,000 jobs worldwide due to weak demand and increasing competition in China and in its home market. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Germany's parliament has approved a landmark change to the constitution to loosen the so-called 'debt brake' -- and allow unprecedented levels of government spending.Lawmakers passed legislation that will ease debt limits and allow the government to massively boost spending on defense, civilian infrastructure and climate programs.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The recent move by U.S. President Donald Trump to make cuts at Voice of America and other U.S. government-run media may be welcome news for China’s ruling Communist Party.A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson refrained from commenting on Trump’s decision Tuesday but took the opportunity to criticize the outlets.“I do not comment on U.S. domestic policy changes,” Mao Ning said when asked about it. “But as for the media you mentioned, their bad records in reporting on China are not a secret.”The Trump’s administration put almost the entire staff of Voice of America on leave last weekend and ended grants to Radio Free Asia and other media with similar news programming.Radio Free Asia has an extensive Chinese-language service and frequently reports on human rights issues, including the detention of activists and repression of ethnic groups in Xinjiang and Tibet. The government refutes allegations of abuse. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are back on Earth after spending nine unplanned months in space Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The seven-person body — led by Chief Justice Earl Warren — determined that Oswald, a former Marine and Marxist, acted as the lone gunman. It found no evidence that anyone helped him or that he acted as part of “any conspiracy, foreign or domestic” to kill Kennedy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“The aim is to destabilise our societies, damage our democracies, drive wedges between us and our partners and undermine the EU’s global standing,” Kallas said.The report said Brussels has become better at joining up the dots to expose the campaigns by Moscow and Beijing to shape opinion in the EU. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., held a hearing late Monday on the Trump administration's use of the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act. Despite being blocked by the courts, the White House used the act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador, but claims it did not violate the order. CBS News' Camilo Montoya-Galvez and Jake Rosen have the latest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams return to Earth after nine unplanned months in space Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says combat in Gaza has resumed with "full force", following the biggest wave of strikes on the Strip since the ceasefire began in January Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said Tuesday that the country's return to fighting in Gaza had been "fully coordinated with Washington". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

174 Palestinian children in Gaza killed by relentless Israeli attacks overnight.... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.