U.S. and world news for Feb. 26

Zelenskyy on Trump: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, in an interview with CNN, says he can’t understand how Donald Trump can be on the side of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin when it comes to Russia’s war against Ukraine. Zelenskyy said he thinks Trump doesn’t understand that Putin will never stop invading other countries if he’s allowed to win in Ukraine. He said although he knows that Trump has met Putin, he doesn’t think Trump grasps who Putin is, how he thinks and what he wants to do.

Haley funding: The Americans for Prosperity political action network, which is largely funded by billionaire Charles Koch has decided to end its financial support of Nikki Haley in her bid for the Republican Presidential Nomination. The announcement came after Haley’s loss to Donald Trump in Saturday’s South Carolina primary. Americans for Prosperity said it still supports Haley, but won’t put any more money into her campaign. Haley has said she will continue her campaign at least through next Tuesday, March 5th, which is Super Tuesday, when Republican primary voters go to the polls in a number of states.

War protest: A 25-year old member of the U.S. Air Force has died after having set himself on fire outside of the Israeli Embassy in Washington yesterday to protest the Israel-Hamas war. The Air Force announced the death this morning of Aaron Bushnell of San Antonio, Texas. He went live on the internet and said he could no longer be complicit in genocide, then covered himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire.

Republican National Committee: The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Rona McDaniel, this morning announced her resignation and said that March 8 would be her last day on the job. Donald Trump has been trying to push her out so that he could install loyalists to run the party. Trump has made it known that he wants to install his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump and political operative Michael Whatley, who heads South Carolina’s Republican Party, to run the Republican National Committee. Some money from the Republican National Committee has gone to Trump and it is expected that more of the committee’s money would go to Trump once his people have taken over.

Palestinian Authority: Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh resigned this morning but he may be asked to stay in the position until a new prime minister can be selected. The Palestinian Authority s charged with governing the West Bank. It also controlled Gaza until 2007 when Hamas took over. Some cease-fire proposals in the Israel-Hamas war have included putting the Palestinian Authority back ion charge of governing Gaza.

Berkshire’s financials: Berkshire Hathaway today reported 2023 revenues of $364.5 billion and net income of $96.2 billion. Its profit margin was 26%. Last year, Berkshire Hathaway reported a $22.8 billion loss. In discussing Berkshire Hathaway’s 2023 financial results, Chairman of the Board Warren Buffett said. “We want to own either all or a portion of businesses that enjoy good economics that are fundamental and enduring. Within capitalism, some businesses will flourish for a very long time while others will prove to be sinkholes. It’s harder than you would think to predict which will be the winners and losers. And those who tell you they know the answer are usually either self-delusional or snake-oil salesmen.”