Oscars winners; Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Donald Trump : NPR

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Today’s top stories

Several global leaders — mostly from Europe — pledged over the weekend to support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and work together to stop Russia’s war in his country. The renewed support comes after President Trump scolded Zelenskyy during his Friday visit to the White House’s Oval Office. The next day, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed Zelenskyy and told him Europe had his back.

• 🎧 “Europe must do the heavy lifting,” Starmer said last night. Starmer is talking about funding Europe’s defense, which might not be a priority for Trump’s administration, NPR’s Lauren Frayer tells Up First. Starmer hiked British defense and announced another $2 billion in financing for Ukraine to buy more air defense missiles. Britain and France are also working with Ukraine on a ceasefire plan that they will present to the U.S. Starmer hopes to sell Trump on security guarantees for European forces.

A new NPR investigation has uncovered problems with the system for policing federal judges’ bad behavior and a pervasive culture of fear about whistle-blowing. NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson spoke with 42 people who are current and former employees of the federal courts. They described bad experiences with more than two dozen judges nationwide from both major political parties.

• 🎧 A common theme Johnson heard during the interviews is that a judge has the power to make or break a young lawyer’s career with only one or two phone calls. Clerkships stay on their resume for the rest of their law careers. People informed Johnson they were afraid to report bullying or harassment by federal judges because the internal systems are complicated, the consequences are huge, and there’s no guarantee they can remain anonymous.

NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour host Linda Holmes joins the newsletter today to break down the Oscars:

The Oscars were handed out last night. There was one big winner, a lot of heartfelt speeches and not much politics. Here are takeaways from the evening: 🏆 Many films were recognized, but it was really Anora’s night – the indie received five awards.

• 🏆 The one real surprise was Mikey Madison (Aor) beating heavily favored Demi Moore (The Substance) for best actress.
• 🏆 Hollywood mostly left politics at home, but two documentary filmmakers spoke powerfully about Palestinian rights.
• 🏆 Emilia Pérez’s Oscar Campaign Was A Rollercoaster, But Zoe Saldaña still made history as the first Dominican American to win an Oscar. She won best supporting actress.
• 🏆 Hosting’s hard, but Conan O’Brien was up to the task.
• 🏆 No one missed the best original song performances (they skipped those this year), and the show’s structure left a little more time to speak from the heart

Check out photos from the red carpet and see the full list of winners.

Stay pop culture savvy by subscribing to the Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter. Once a week, you’ll get NPR’s guide to TV, books, music and more.

Life advice

Filing taxes can include confusing jargon, and there can be financial and legal penalties if you make a mistake. New York-based tax attorneys Hana Boruchov and Leo Gabovich weigh in on burning tax-related questions from Life Kit‘s audience.

• 💵 If you own businesses, are a freelancer or just want someone knowledgeable to guide you, it’s highly recommended that you hire an accountant.
• 💵 If you didn’t get a 1099 form for work, you could take the risk and not report the income. But if you get audited, you’d have to pay the tax.
• 💵 You can apply for a payment plan if you can’t afford to pay your tax bill.

Check out more answers from the attorneys here.

Picture show

It has been a long, hard winter with what could feel like endless snowfall for much of the U.S. However, for people like NPR’s Brian Mann, it’s been a playground. On a 19-degree Fahrenheit day, Mann hit the trail in New York’s Adirondack Mountains with his snowshoes. “One thing I love about winter hiking is that with the right boots and layers of clothes, you really can feel cozy and comfortable, even when exploring places like this.” Get a step-by-step look at Mann’s snowshoe hike here.

3 things to know before you go

1. Pakistan is hosting the International Cricket Council Champions Trophy for the first time in a generation. Although the country is now out of the tournamenthosting the event has given it a reason to continue celebrating.
2. Skype, the iconic video calling service acquired by Microsoft in 2011, will end in May.
3. Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone died in a car crash in Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday morning. She was 63.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.