03.24.2025

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Ukraine-Russia Talks

US officials are meeting separately with Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia this week to begin negotiations on a limited ceasefire plan, with hopes of reaching a deal by April 20. Talks with Ukraine were held yesterday evening, while talks with Russia will be held today. 

Discussions are expected to focus on safety for shipping in the Black Sea and temporarily protecting energy facilities and critical infrastructure from attacks. Russia and Ukraine agree on the latter, but details on when and how still need to be decided. US special envoy Steve Witkoff is aiming for a 30-day ceasefire to allow time for negotiations on a permanent truce. Ukraine previously accepted a 30-day ceasefire proposal, but Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to endorse it. Russia's demands for any agreement include an end to arms supplies for Ukraine, which Kyiv rejects.

The talks come after Russia and Ukraine traded drone attacks over the weekend. See the latest updates on the three-year conflict here (w/maps). 

Columbia Concedes

Columbia University has agreed to a series of demands from the Trump administration in an effort to restore $400M in funding that was revoked earlier this month. The administration had canceled federal grants and contracts over concerns that Columbia failed to adequately protect against antisemitism on campus. 

The university's policy changes include banning identity-concealing masks during protests, hiring 36 campus security officers who can arrest or remove people, appointing a new senior vice provost to oversee the Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies department, and implementing a formal definition of antisemitism. It is unclear whether the changes are sufficient enough to reinstate federal funding.

The move has raised concerns about government interference in academic affairs and sets a precedent for other colleges and universities facing similar scrutiny, including Harvard, Stanford, and the University of Michigan. Last week, the Trump administration paused $175M in funding to the University of Pennsylvania for allowing a transgender woman to compete in women's sports.

Francis Leaves Hospital

Pope Francis returned Sunday to his Vatican apartment after a five-week stay at a hospital for a double pneumonia. He was initially admitted to the hospital on Valentine’s Day for a respiratory infection, which rapidly worsened, requiring regular ventilation, multiple blood transfusions, and several procedures. Francis will now begin a two-month convalescence after enduring two nearly fatal critical episodes. 

The pontiff appeared (watch here) for the first time in public since Feb. 14 on a balcony at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, whose 10th-floor suite has hosted ailing popes since the 1980s. Observers noted the 88-year-old appeared bloated and frail, and his speech sounded thin and gasping due to severe lung damage. Before his stay, Francis had maintained a relatively rigorous schedule of meetings, speeches, and travel—a routine analysts expect the Argentine will not revive soon. 

The 38-day hospitalization was the longest of Francis’s 12-year papacy—he had been admitted three other times—and marks the second-longest of any recent pope behind John Paul II’s 1981 55-day stay.

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How to Set Up a Family Trust

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