Russian leader provisionally agrees to 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine pending conclusion of terms
Putin said it appeared that the US persuaded Ukraine to accept a ceasefire and that Ukraine is interested because of the battlefield situation, particularly in Kursk.
Moscow says it’ll talk peace with Ukraine if Crimea, four provinces are recognised as Russian territories
Some US officials, lawmakers and experts fear that Putin, a former KGB officer, would use a truce to intensify what they say is an effort to divide the US, Ukraine and Europe and undermine any talks.
Federal judge rules reduction in staff and funding is legal at African development agency
USADF last week tried to keep staff from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from entering their offices in Washington. DOGE staff managed to gain entry after returning with US Marshals.
Trump administration plans to do away with US Department of Education in next phase of downsizing
All US government agencies have been ordered to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, setting up the next phase of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several agencies have offered employees payments to retire early to fulfil Trump’s demand.
US resumes military aid, intelligence sharing after Ukraine signalled it’s open to 30-day ceasefire
President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, added: “The Ukrainian delegation today made something very clear, that they share President Trump’s vision for peace.”
Uganda deploys special forces to South Sudan to protect President Kiir as another bloody civil war looms
Last week a South Sudanese general was among several people killed when a United Nations helicopter on a mission to evacuate government troops from the town of Nasir, the scene of the fighting in Upper Nile State, was shot at. Earlier in the week, after the White Army overran the military garrison in Nasir, government troops surrounded Machar’s home in Juba and several of his allies were arrested. Deputy army chief Gen Gabriel Duop Lam, who is seen as loyal to Machar, was among those detained.
HIV patients in Kenya now live in fear as Trump aid freeze strands drugs in warehouse
The 90-day foreign aid freeze, ordered by US President Donald Trump after taking office on January 20, has upended the global supply chain for medical products to fight HIV and other diseases. It is also blocking the distribution of drugs that long ago reached their destination countries.
US stock market loses $4 trillion in value as Trump ploughs ahead on tariffs
The percentage of total corporate equities and mutual fund shares that are owned by the bottom 50 per cent of the US population, ranked by wealth, stands at about 1 per cent, while the same measure for the top 10 per cent of the population by wealth stood at 87 per cent, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis data as of July 2024.
CDC relied on cherry-picked data to claim no link between Merck’s Gardasil vaccine and POTS
Other European researchers provided compelling research to the EMA that Merck was wrong. And experts, including some appointed to the investigation by the EMA, raised serious doubts about Merck’s conclusions, as leaked documents reported by BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine revealed.
South African artist hopes vibrant sculptures make parks more welcoming in unsafe Johannesburg
Authorities in Johannesburg have encouraged public art to improve safety and environmental conditions in the city of some six million people whose downtown has a reputation for crime and degradation. Johannesburg is considered one of the world’s most dangerous cities, based on crime data.
