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Kyiv commemorates, Apple invests and Joann goes bust

 
Today's INTERNATIONAL story

Trump sides with Russia on Ukraine war anniversary

What happened
More than a dozen Western leaders traveled to Kyiv yesterday to mark the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion. The U.S. did not send a representative. In Washington, French President Emmanuel Macron met with President Donald Trump, seeking to steer him away from his embrace of Russia and back toward Ukraine and America's traditional European allies. At the United Nations, the U.S. joined Russia, Iran, North Korea and 14 other Moscow allies to vote against a resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and calling for the return of Ukrainian territory. The nonbinding resolution passed with the backing of 93 countries.

Who said what
Yesterday's anniversary followed "a cascade of unwelcome developments for Kyiv," The Associated Press said. Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator," suggested Kyiv is to blame for the war and ended Russian President Vladimir Putin's "three-year diplomatic isolation" while starting peace talks with Moscow, sidelining Ukraine.

Macron and Trump yesterday "showed a friendly rapport based on years of good ties," but they disagreed on "some key issues" about the Ukraine war, Reuters said. Macron said Putin was the "aggressor" in the conflict and would not respect a "weak" peace agreement with no "deterrence," while Trump suggested Putin could be trusted to uphold a peace deal and declined to call him a dictator as well. "I don't use those words lightly," Trump told reporters. "The two leaders did agree, however, on the deployment of European peacekeeping forces once a peace deal is eventually reached," Reuters said. Trump said Putin, who has publicly rejected the idea, assured him privately he "has no problem with it."

"It's time to end this bloodletting and restore peace, and I think we're going to do it," Trump said. "My administration is making a decisive break with the foreign policy values of the past administration, and, frankly, the past."

What next?
The "blitz of European trips to Washington" to "influence the new administration" continues Thursday with the arrival of British Prime Minister Kier Starmer, The New York Times said. "Russia does not hold all the cards in this war," Starmer said yesterday while pledging more than $5 billion in military aid for Kyiv and new sanctions on Russia. "We must increase the pressure even further."

 
 
Today's TECH story

Apple pledges $500B in US spending over 4 years

What happened
Apple said yesterday it would spend $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, including hiring 20,000 new employees and helping build a large server factory in Houston to power its artificial intelligence offerings. President Donald Trump, who met with CEO Tim Cook last week, took credit for Apple's announcement, suggesting the company "wouldn't be investing 10 cents" without "faith in what we are doing." 

Who said what
"We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we're proud to build on our longstanding U.S. investments," Cook said in a statement. Apple said its "largest-ever spend commitment" would include purchases from U.S. suppliers and production costs for its Apple TV+ streaming service. The "bulk of the money will constitute normal spending for the company," The Washington Post said, and "much of" the $500 billion was "previously planned investment."

Cook "knows how to play ball," Quartz said, and yesterday's announcement was a "clear bid by Apple to help navigate the murkiness of Trump's trade war with China." In Trump's first term, Cook won exemptions from tariffs on iPhones assembled in China, after pledging $350 billion in U.S. investments and 20,000 new jobs. Apple made a similar pledge in 2021, at the start of President Joe Biden's term.

What next?
Apple will "continue to make the bulk of what it sells — iPhones, iPads and Macs — in Asia," The New York Times said, a longtime "point of contention" with Trump.

 
 
Today's Business Story

Crafting emporium Joann is going out of business

What happened
Joann, the 82-year-old fabric and crafts store, said yesterday it was closing all 800 of its stores and ceasing operations after liquidation firm GA Group and a lender won "substantially all" of its assets at an auction over the weekend. Joann filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January, for the second time in less than a year. In February, the company said it was closing about 500 of its stores.

Who said what
Joann, founded as Cleveland Fabric Shop in Ohio in 1943, had "long been a standby for creative crafters, offering a plethora of colorful yarns and fabric rolls that filled entire aisles, as well as sewing machines, seasonal products and other crafting supplies," The New York Times said. The retailer said it "made every possible effort to pursue a more favorable outcome that would keep the company in business."

Joann expanded and thrived for decades but could not escape the "era of shrinking bricks-and-mortar retail" and rising e-commerce that has claimed a "raft of specialty retailers," the Akron Beacon Journal said. The chain was hit especially hard by "increased tariffs on Chinese imports" in 2018 and 2019. Joann "got a surprise boost during the pandemic as homebound consumer sought out hobbies," The Washington Post said, but afterward it returned to its "pre-pandemic downward trajectory." 

What next?
Joann's sale to GA Group was expected to be approved Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The company said its stores, website and mobile app would remain open for a "number of weeks" as it conducts going-out-of-business sales.

 
 

It's not all bad

An acid attack victim's eye has been saved thanks to amniotic tissue grafts from a donated placenta. Paul Laskey of Newcastle, England, suffered chemical burns when acid went through the inner and outer layers of his cornea, and he underwent two emergency corneal transplants and three amnion grafts over eight months. Now, doctors will try to restore his vision through stem cell treatments. Laskey is "thankful" to the donor and finds it "incredible" that a "new life" can help others in "such a profound way."

 
 
Under the radar

In the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," Joseph recalls his dreams in extraordinary (musical) detail, but many of us wake up each morning to find not a single dream memory will do. Now, scientists have discovered a string of factors that influence whether we remember our dreams or not, so we can all be more like Joseph.  

According to a new study by scientists from the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca in Italy, the people who are most likely to remember their dreams have a positive attitude about them and a tendency to let their mind wander during waking hours. Dream recall also increases in spring and autumn and after a long night's sleep that includes only a short spell of deep sleep. 

Younger people tend to remember dreams more, while older people are more likely to experience "white dreams," where you remember having a dream the night before but can't recall any specific details. These findings "suggest that dream recall is not just a matter of chance but a reflection of how personal attitudes, cognitive traits and sleep dynamics interact," said Professor Giulio Bernardi, one of the study's authors.  

If you want to get better at remembering your dreams, "don't rush to start the day," said BBC Science Focus. Instead, "wake slowly," and before you do anything else, "think about whether you have been dreaming and what you dreamt about."

 
 
On this day

February 25, 1913

The 16th Amendment went into effect, allowing Congress to levy federal income taxes. Prior to the 16th Amendment, the federal government mostly collected revenue from Americans using tariffs. Trump has cited this pre-amendment era in his push to raise tariffs on all goods from Canada, China and Mexico.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

"U.S. sides with Russia, China against Ukraine in U.N. vote," The Wall Street Journal says on Tuesday's front page. "U.S, Europe in seismic split" as Washington "refuses to blame Russia for war with Ukraine," The Boston Globe says. As "Europe's leaders show solidarity in Ukraine visit," Vladimir Putin's "ambition gets new life under Trump," The New York Times says. Chicago Ukrainians see "Trump's Russia reversal" as "a slap in the face," the Chicago Sun-Times says. Meanwhile, Elon Musk "stirs dissent, confusion with edict," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says. "DOGE cuts workers using tech playbook," but "agencies told they can ignore Musk email" threat, The Washington Post says. 

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Building a record

Clem Reinkemeyer came home to a big surprise. While out of town, the 87-year-old Oklahoman earned a Guinness World Record for the world's largest collection of bricks. His daughter, son-in-law and friends had secretly counted and documented every brick he amassed over the last 40 years — all 8,882 of them — and presented Reinkemeyer with the official Guinness World Record certification. His fascination with bricks stems from the fact they "have names and you can trace them back historically to places," he said.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Chas Newkey-Burden, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images; Saul Loeb-Pool / Getty Images; Joe Raedle / Getty Images; Marish / Shutterstock