US to send more weapons to Ukraine, Trump says
United States President Donald Trump has said his administration will send more weapons to Ukraine after an earlier decision to halt some arms shipments drew condemnation from Kyiv and its supporters, Aljazeera reported.
Speaking to reporters ahead of a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, DC on Monday, Trump said the new shipments would be primarily comprised of “defensive weapons”.
“We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves,” Trump said.
Trump criticizes Putin after approving more weapons for Ukraine
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had approved sending U.S. defensive weapons to Ukraine and was considering additional sanctions on Moscow, underscoring his frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the growing death toll in Russia's war with Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Trump, who pledged as a presidential candidate to end the war within a day, has not been able to follow through on that promise and efforts by his administration to broker peace have come up short.
Trump directed his ire at Putin on Tuesday during a meeting with cabinet officials at the White House.
"I'm not happy with Putin. I can tell you that much right now," Trump said, noting that Russian and Ukrainian soldiers were dying in the thousands.
"We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin ... He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless," Trump said, according to Reuters.
Supreme Court clears way for Trump to pursue mass federal layoffs
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for Donald Trump's administration to pursue mass government job cuts and the sweeping downsizing of numerous agencies, a decision that could lead to tens of thousands of layoffs while dramatically reshaping the federal bureaucracy, Reuters reported.
Tuesday's ruling stemmed from an executive order Trump issued in February ordering agencies to prepare for mass layoffs. At Trump's direction, the administration has come up with plans to reduce staff at the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, State, Treasury, Veterans Affairs and more than a dozen other agencies.
In a brief unsigned order, the court said the Trump administration was "likely to succeed" in its argument that his directives were legally within his power.
The decision is the latest win for Trump's broader efforts to consolidate power in the executive branch. The Supreme Court has sided with Trump in several cases on an emergency basis since he returned to office in January, including clearing the way for implementation of some of his hardline immigration policies, according to Reuters.
Hasina accused of authorising deadly crackdown in Bangladesh protests
Leaked audio verified by the BBC reveals that former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina authorised the use of lethal force against student-led protests last year. In the recording, Hasina is heard instructing security forces to “shoot wherever they find protesters.”
The protests, initially sparked by opposition to civil service job quotas, escalated into a mass movement that led to Hasina’s ousting after 15 years in power. UN investigators estimate up to 1,400 people were killed in the unrest, marking the worst violence in Bangladesh since the 1971 war.
Hasina, now in India, is being tried in absentia at a special tribunal for crimes against humanity. Prosecutors plan to use the leaked 18 July phone call as key evidence. Independent forensic analysis by the BBC and experts confirmed the recording’s authenticity and ruled out manipulation.
Despite denials from Hasina’s Awami League party, legal experts say the recording clearly establishes her direct role in the violent crackdown, BBC reported.
