World
Situation 'dire' for Ukraine despite delayed US aid package
Ukraine has been rationing ammunition and bullets; meanwhile the Russian army has been using ‘human wave’ tactics by sending poorly trained recruits to the frontline in a bid to force Ukraine use up all of its ammunition.
In Ukraine, the army has been on the backfoot over the last few months; and despite the US package of $61 billion (€56.6 billion) of military support, experts say it will be sufficient merely to hold the frontline and possibly regain some lost territory.
The situation has deteriorated in large part due to a serious shortage of ammunition and weapons from Western allies; where Ukrainian forces say they have been rationing bullets.
Ukraine has been forced to abandon territory westward beginning with Avdiivka in Donetsk region in February.
Due to a distinct lack of military support, Russia has gained and maintained momentum.
In recent days Ukraine forces have been outnumbered in three villages in the East – Berdychi, Semenivka, and Novomykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast.
“The situation at the front has worsened,” Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a post on Telegram. “In general, the enemy has succeeded tactically in these directions but has failed to achieve an operational advantage”.
“It really is quite dire for the Ukrainians now,” said Ed Arnold, senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
“The real challenge for the Ukrainians is they haven’t fully set defensive lines, as we saw the Russians do that last winter,” Arnold added.
He believes that Ukraine might not have an opportunity to go on the offensive until 2025 or even 2026.
‘The situation is like World War II’
In some battles, Russia also deployed its ‘human wave’ tactic which involves ordering a mass number of poorly trained soldiers – often recruited from prisons – into battlefields to encourage Ukrainians to use up a lot of ammunition, before then unleashing more senior troops with advanced weapons and training.
It was a tactic deployed by the now-deposed Wagner group but has been adopted to great effect in Ukraine by the Russian army.
Oleksandr Matiash, a Ukrainian officer, has been on the frontline since the full-scale invasion began. He has seen combat in Bucha and the East, and his battalion has also fought in Avdiivka.
“We will win this war, but the losses will be critical for Ukraine. We don’t have enough people. At the start of the war, we had 38 million – too many people left. Some of them don’t want to fight, some of them can’t fight. And if we lose too many people, we just can’t defend our country, so we need help,” he says.
“The situation is like World War II when there was an invasion by Germany in Poland – I see the same situation – if we wouldn’t stop Russia on the Ukrainian border, war will go into Europe – that’s my prognosis”.
Last week in Kyiv, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, “Ukraine has been outgunned for months… fewer Russian missiles and drones have been shot down, and Russia has been able to push forward on the front line”.
Watch the full report in the video player above.
Journalist • Shona Murray
World
Iranian man, Romanian woman charged after allegedly trying to enter UK nuclear missile base, officials say
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An Iranian man and a Romanian woman have now been charged after allegedly unsuccessfully attempting to enter a nuclear missile base in Scotland this week, Police Scotland announced Saturday.
The agency said around 5 p.m. on Thursday, “we were made aware of two people attempting to enter HM Naval Base Clyde.”
“A 34-year-old Iranian man and a 31-year-old Romanian woman have been arrested and charged in connection with the incident. They are due to appear at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Monday, March 23,” Police Scotland said. “Enquiries are ongoing.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Police Scotland for further comment.
IRANIAN MAN, SECOND PERSON ARRESTED AFTER ALLEGEDLY TRYING TO ENTER UK NUCLEAR MISSILE BASE
HMS Artful, an Astute-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine, is shown at His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde on March 4, 2025. ((Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Citing the Times, the Telegraph newspaper reported that the suspects were turned away from the base because they lacked the correct passes and were later arrested nearby for allegedly “acting suspiciously in the vicinity.”
HM Naval Base Clyde — commonly known as Faslane — is considered the primary base for the United Kingdom’s missile fleet.
The Royal Navy says the base is home “to the core of the Submarine Service, including the nation’s nuclear deterrent, and the new generation of hunter-killer submarines.”
TRUMP WARNS OF IRANIAN ‘SLEEPER CELLS’ AS CANADA ACCUSED OF HARBORING REGIME OPERATIVES
A general view of His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde on March 4, 2025 in Faslane, Scotland. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
The U.K. Parliament says the Royal Navy currently operates a fleet of nine submarines, with the entire fleet based at HM Naval Base Clyde.
“Five of those are conventionally-armed nuclear-powered attack submarines of the Astute class. A further four are ballistic missiles submarines (SSBN) of the Vanguard class that comprise the UK’s submarine-based nuclear deterrent,” it added.
HMS Artful, an Astute-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine, is shown at His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde on March 4, 2025 in Faslane, Scotland. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
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A Royal Navy spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Friday, “Police Scotland have arrested two people who unsuccessfully attempted to enter HM Naval Base Clyde on Thursday 19 March. As the matter is subject to an ongoing investigation, we will not comment further.”
World
Trump threatens to deploy ICE to airports amid Homeland Security shutdown
United States President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy federal immigration agents to the country’s airports to “do Security like no one has ever seen”.
“I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, ‘GET READY,’” Trump wrote in a series of posts on Saturday. “NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!”
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Trump’s warnings on Saturday arrived on the five-week mark of a partial government shutdown that affects the Department of Homeland Security.
Congress missed a February 14 deadline to fund the sprawling department, which includes agencies dedicated to border security, anti-terrorism operations, immigration services and emergency management.
As a result, nearly 50,000 employees at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have been working for weeks without pay.
That has prompted some airport security agents to call in sick or quit the TSA entirely. The result has been long lines and delays at some of the country’s airports.
In his first post on Truth Social, Trump blamed Democrats for the impasse and threatened to use Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to conduct airport security instead.
“If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before,” Trump wrote.
He then added that he would task the ICE agents with “the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country, with heavy emphasis on those from Somalia“.
Since taking office for a second term, Trump has led a violent crackdown on immigration, legal and otherwise.
Somalis and Somali Americans have been a particular target of the Republican president’s ire. In early December, for instance, he called them “garbage” and said they “contribute nothing”.
“I don’t want them in our country. I’ll be honest with you,” Trump said at the time. “Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks. And we don’t want them in our country.”
The Republican leader revisited that sentiment in Saturday’s social media post, once again accusing Somalis of having “totally destroyed” what he called “the once Great State of Minnesota”.
Minnesota has the largest Somali American community in the US, and it is also the home state of one of Trump’s most prominent critics, Representative Ilhan Omar, who came to the US as a child refugee from Somalia.
The Midwestern state was recently the subject of a deadly immigration operation that killed two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in shootings by agents.
That violence is at the heart of the stalemate over the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the two agencies involved in the recent deaths.
Democrats have called for the Homeland Security Department to reform its immigration enforcement practices, including by implementing rules to require agents to clearly identify themselves, stop racial profiling and seek judicial warrants before entering homes.
Republicans, however, have called those demands non-starters. They have also rejected Democratic proposals to vote on funding for the TSA separately from funding for ICE and other immigration agencies.
To force Democrats to vote for Homeland Security funding, Trump has threatened not to sign any legislation that Congress passes. He has also repeatedly accused Democrats of preventing airport security agents from getting paid.
As of March 17, the TSA has reported that 366 security officers have quit their jobs.
Absences have also spiked: The TSA noted that the highest rate came at Houston Hobby International Airport on March 14, when the callout rate was 55 percent.
Industry analysts warn that the absences put increased strain on the remaining security officers, who might be more tired and less alert to threats.
It is unclear, however, how ICE agents would improve current conditions at the airport, given that they do not have the same training as TSA agents. Critics also pointed to the risk of militarised actions in civilian spaces like airports, where families and the elderly are present.
“I look forward to seeing ICE in action at our Airports,” Trump wrote in one of his posts.
In another, he doubled down on his criticism against Democrats, calling them “vicious and uncaring”.
“What they have done to the Department of Homeland Security, our fantastic TSA Officers, and, most importantly, the great people of our Country, is an absolute disgrace,” he wrote.
“If the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country, ICE will do the job far better than ever done before!”
World
Live possum discovered hiding among plush toys in an Australian airport gift shop
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Someone was playing possum — or stuffed animal.
Among plush kangaroos, dingoes and Tasmanian devils ready to be bought by parents of antsy children, a live brushtail possum waited in a gift shop at an Australian airport this week.
The wild animal was first noticed by a shopper in the store on Wednesday, retail manager Liam Bloomfield of Hobart Airport in the state of Tasmania said.
“A passenger reported it to …. one of the staff members on shift who couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing,” Bloomfield told The Associated Press. “She then called the (airport) management and said we’ve got a possum in the store.”
TOURISTS IN LAS VEGAS PAY $1,000 FOR DINNER ON THE STRIP WHILE SHARKS EAT LIKE ROYALTY
A live Australian brushtail possum sits on the display shelf at a terminal shop at Hobart Airport in Hobart, Australia, on Wednesday. (Melissa Oddie via AP)
Staff at the airport were able to remove the animal without harming it.
“I’m imaging it saw some of the plush animals that were for sale on the shelf and it decided to make its home with those,” Bloomfield joked of why the possum was hiding with the stuffed toys. “It wanted to blend in.”
EXPERT SOUNDS ALARM AFTER STUDY FINDS POPULAR TRAVEL ITEM CARRIES FAR MORE BACTERIA THAN EXPECTED
The arrivals area at Hobart Airport in Australia. (Steve Bell/Getty Images)
“Can you spot the imposter?” the airport wrote in a Facebook post Thursday that showed the possum curled up in a cubby with its stuffed counterparts.
“This cheeky lost possum found a clever hiding place among the Aussie plushies in our retail store,” the airport continued. “Luckily it was safely relocated out of the terminal area and the space was cleaned.”
Passengers boarding a plane at Hobart Airport in Australia. (William West/AFP via Getty Images)
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Bloomfield said the possum not only found a way into the airport but also their hearts.
“We’ll have a little shrine to the possum,” he revealed, according to The Independent. “There will be a nice little photo; once it gets a name, we will put a nice little post in front of the store to make sure it’s remembered.”
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