Desi Weekly News Digest 

NATIONAL

Aid to Ukraine Paused: President Trump has ordered a pause on U.S. aid going to Ukraine in its war against Russia, a consequential move as he clashes with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the path to ending the conflict. THE HILL

Trump imposed tariffs on China: ​​A sweeping new U.S. tariff on products made in China is expected to increase the prices American consumers pay for a wide array of products. China retaliated with 10-15% tariffs on US agricultural goods, coal, liquefied natural gas, pick-up trucks, and some sports cars. Tariffs on Products from Canada and Mexico Start and Stop: 25% tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico began on March 4th and were abruptly paused when the stock market suffered a dramatic sellout after the announcement and the Wall Street Journal warned that the world economy could face a crash similar to the Great Depression of the 1930s.  The tariffs are slated to resume April 2 after reevaluation. AP NEWS CNBC WSJ 

US intel shows Russia and China are attempting to recruit disgruntled federal employees: Foreign adversaries including Russia and China have recently directed their intelligence services to ramp up recruiting of US federal employees working in national security, targeting those who have been fired or feel they could be soon, according to four people familiar with recent US intelligence on the issue and a document reviewed by CNN. CNN

Trump says federal funding will stop for colleges, schools allowing 'illegal' protests: President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that all federal funding will stop for colleges and schools that allow "illegal" protests and that agitators will be imprisoned or sent back to the country they came from. "American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested," Trump said in a Truth Social post. Funding decisions are made by the US Congress. REUTERS

Trump canceled $400M in grants and contracts to Columbia University on Friday. Cancellations to other universities will follow. AP

Trump signs executive order making English the official language of the U.S.: The order, which Trump signed on Saturday, rescinds a policy issued by former President Bill Clinton requiring agencies to provide assistance programs for people with limited English proficiency. NPR

INTERNATIONAL

US Consortium Buys Ports in Panama Canal: A consortium of investors led by BlackRock agreed to buy majority stakes in ports on either end of the Panama Canal, putting U.S. firms in control of two ports that President Trump raised as a security concern because of their connection to China. WSJ

DOGE

DOGE Claims Savings Of $105 Billion, Provides Data for $8 billion: DOGE continued to update -- and in some cases delete -- contracts that it had previously listed as having saved up to billions of dollars in federal funds, after media outlets, experts and others publicly questioned details of the contracts. ABC NEWS

Funding freeze leaves Kansas farmers unpaid for work they already completed: Many Kansas farmers are in limbo and waiting for promised payments under contracts they signed with the federal government. It comes after a federal directive from the Trump administration paused payments at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. HPPR

Fresh Musk emails to workers lead to renewed chaos at federal agencies: A second round of emails instructing more than 2 million workers to reply with bullet points listing five things they accomplished over the week, which Musk calls a “pulse check,” came a week after the billionaire charged with executing President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting directives warned those who did not respond to an identical order last weekend that it would be taken as a resignation. YAHOO NEWS

CORRUPTION ALERT

Attorney Representing Companies Accused of Harmful Products Now FDA Acting Head: Attorney Karl Diamantas, who represented food and pharmaceutical companies against lawsuits regarding their products, is now the Acting Head of the FDA. His appointment is precisely the ‘revolving door’ HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr has railed about. NY TIMES (paywall) VANITY FAIR

Enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act Ends: The Treasury Department announced March 2 that it will no longer enforce the Corporate Transparency Act or the associated beneficial ownership information reporting requirements. CPA PRACTICAL ADVISOR

Elon Musk’s Starlink is reportedly poised to take over a $2.4 billion FAA contract: Officials at the Federal Aviation Administration have reportedly directed staff “to locate tens of millions of dollars” for a deal, Rolling Stone has reported. The proposed deal has fueled controversy over government influence and conflict-of-interest concerns. FORTUNE

Pay For Play?: Business leaders are paying as much as $5 million to meet one-on-one with the president at his Florida compound, sources tell WIRED, while others are paying $1 million apiece to dine with him in a group setting.

SCIENCE

Private Lunar Mission Successful:  Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, named Ghost Riders in the Sky, launched on January 15 and completed its 45-day Earth to Moon transit before softly touching down on the Moon on March 2. Firefly is now the first commercial company in history to achieve a fully successful Moon landing. FIREFLY SPACE

HEALTH

New Rules for Sewage Release into Water Supplies: US supreme court weakens rules on discharge of raw sewage into water supplies in a case brought by the city of San Francisco. GUARDIAN

CULTURE  

Hate Crimes Against Asian Americans Spike After Election: In an analysis of anti-Asian slurs and threats of violence in domestic violent extremist (DVE) channels — like Reddit, X, and 4chan — a new report has discovered that the re-election of President Trump coincided with an alarming rise of racism and xenophobia against our communities. STOP AAPI HATE

Hate Crime Against Indian Nurse: An Indian-origin nurse was beaten almost to death by a psychiatric patient at the Florida hospital where she worked. Leela Lal, 67, suffered a brutal attack at the hands of Stephen Scantlebury at Palms West Hospital. The assailant was recorded saying, “Indians are bad.” NDTV

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