International

US President Donald Trump vowed Thursday to stop Israel from annexing the West Bank as he presses to end the Gaza war, ahead of a high-stakes visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Netanyahu will address the United Nations on Friday and later meet Trump in Washington as Israeli ministers muse of annexing the West Bank in response to recognition of a Palestinian state by France, Britain and several other Western powers.But Trump, who has offered crucial support to Netanyahu as Israel comes under mounting global pressure, made clear he would not back annexation, which far-right Israelis see as a way to kill any real prospect of an independent Palestine."I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank," Trump told reporters at the White House. "No, I will not allow it. It's not going to happen."Trump voiced optimism about ending nearly two years of devastating war, echoing the confidence expressed a day earlier on the sidelines of the United Nations by his roving envoy, Steve Witkoff."We're getting pretty close to having a deal on Gaza and maybe even peace," said Trump, who also spoke to Netanyahu by telephone on Thursday.Trump met Tuesday at the United Nations with the leaders of key Arab and Muslim nations who warned him of consequences if Israel moved ahead."I think the president of the US understands very well the risks and dangers of annexation in the West Bank," Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told reporters.Saudi Arabia has mulled recognition of Israel in what would be a massive symbolic step, as the kingdom is home to Islam's two holiest sites.Israel's aggression has killed more than 65,500 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

President Donald Trump's administration dramatically raised the stakes yesterday in a clash over a possible government funding shutdown, telling federal agencies to prepare for new mass firings if it goes ahead.The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) warned in a memo that it would go beyond the usual practice of temporary furloughs during previous shutdowns, where Congress cannot agree on spending plans.Republican Trump is in a tense showdown with congressional Democrats over federal funding ahead of a fiscal deadline of midnight on September 30, which would trigger a fresh political crisis in Washington.Democrats have rejected Republican proposals, unless some of the spending cuts are reversed and existing health care subsidies are extended.Trump blamed Democrats for the looming shutdown when asked about the plans to lay off federal workers."Well, this is all caused by the Democrats. They asked us to do something that's totally unreasonable," Trump told reporters as he hosted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Oval Office.Trump sought to wrestle the issue back to his core electoral message of a crackdown on migration, saying of the Democrats: "They want to give money away to illegals, people that entered our country illegally."Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries earlier responded to threat of layoffs by telling the White House to "get lost”.Calling OMB chief Russ Vought a "malignant political hack", Jeffries added on X: "We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings."A shutdown would see non-essential operations grind to a halt and hundreds of thousands of civil servants temporarily left without pay.However, the White House memo, obtained by AFP, also said that that layoffs are on the cards.It said "agencies are directed to use this opportunity to consider Reduction in Force (RIF) notices for all employees" in areas of government bearing the brunt of a shutdown.The term "reduction in force" is the same that the Trump administration used during its large-scale firings under tycoon Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) earlier this year.The White House also ordered agencies to submit their proposed staff reduction plans and inform employees.The memo blamed "insane demands" by Democrats and accused them of breaking what it called a 10-year trend of reaching bipartisan agreement to avoid shutdowns at the same time of year.Shutdown battles have become a regular feature of US politics under both Republican and Democratic administrations in an increasingly paralysed and polarised Washington.Senate Democrats rejected a stopgap funding bill last week that was hurriedly passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives as it sought to avert a shutdown.Trump in turn cancelled a meeting on Tuesday with Democratic leaders in Congress, saying he would not meet with them until they "become realistic" with their demands.With both chambers on recess this week and senators not returning until Monday, the day before the deadline, time is running out to keep the US government funded after the end of the fiscal year.Republicans hold a narrow majority in both chambers of Congress but, due to Senate rules, have to get some opposition support.House Republicans warned last Friday that their members will not return before the funding deadline, forcing the Senate to vote again and accept their proposal or face a shutdown.The bill, if passed, would still only be a temporary fix funding federal agencies through November 21.Congress last faced a shutdown in March, when Republicans refused talks with Democrats over Trump's massive budget cuts and the layoff of thousands of federal employees.Upon taking office in January, Trump launched a campaign to downsize the 2.4mn-member federal civilian workforce.Roughly 300,000 federal civilian workers will have left their jobs by the end of 2025, Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told Reuters in August.About 154,000 of those employees accepted a buyout and are slated to drop off the US government’s payroll on September 30, the last day of the government's fiscal year.

Authorities investigating attack as 'act of targeted violence'Shooter fired from nearby rooftop, investigation ongoingKilling adds to fears of rising political violenceA gunman who wrote "ANTI-ICE" on an unused bullet killed one detainee and wounded two others on Wednesday when he fired on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Dallas from a nearby rooftop before taking his own life, officials said.FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo on X of what he said was the suspect's unused ammunition that showed one with the words "ANTI-ICE" written along the side."While the investigation is ongoing, an initial review of the evidence shows an ideological motive behind this attack," Patel wrote.In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the suspect fired "indiscriminately" at the ICE building, including at a van in the building's secured entryway where the victims were shot.The department initially said two victims were dead and one injured, before later issuing a corrected statement that one detainee had been killed and two others were in critical condition.Officials have not disclosed the identities of the victims.The incident comes two weeks after the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk by a sniper during an event in Orem, Utah, which fueled fears of a new wave of political violence in the United States.NBC News and Fox News, both citing sources, identified the gunman as Joshua Jahn, 29. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm their reports.A Reuters reporter interviewed Jahn's older brother, Noah, earlier in the day as Joshua Jahn's name began circulating online in connection with the shooting.Noah, 30, said he was not aware that his brother harbored any negative feelings about ICE."I didn't know he had any political intent at all," said Noah Jahn, who lives in McKinney, Texas, around 30 miles north of Dallas, as did his brother.At the time of the interview, Jahn said he was not sure whether his brother was involved but that he had begun to fear the worst after none of the family could reach him by phone on Wednesday.A Reuters journalist saw FBI agents entering a house in McKinney at the address listed in online records for Joshua Jahn on Wednesday afternoon.Kirk's death set off a firestorm of political recriminations and deepened concerns among critics of President Donald Trump that he will use the killing to justify further cracking down on his opponents.Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other administration officials have blamed, without proof, liberal organizations for fomenting unrest and encouraging violence against the right. On Monday, Trump signed an executive order declaring the anti-fascist movement antifa a domestic "terrorist organization" despite the fact that there has been no evidence made public linking antifa to Kirk's death.At a news briefing in Dallas, officials emphasized the investigation was still in its early stages. Authorities were treating the attack as an "act of targeted violence," Joseph Rothrock, special agent in charge of the FBI's Dallas field office, told reporters.Wednesday's shooter opened fire on the office from atop an adjacent building around 6:40 a.m. local time, police said.Law enforcement officers were not injured in the shooting, officials said. The attack took place at an ICE field office, not a detention facility, where ICE officers conduct short-term processing of recently-arrested detainees.The Trump administration's aggressive use of ICE agents as part of its crackdown on undocumented immigrants has sparked outcries from Democrats and liberal activists. ICE detention facilities have increasingly become sites of conflict, with heavily armed agents deploying pepper ball guns, tear gas and other chemical agents in clashes with protesters.An ICE facility in suburban Chicago, where protesters have gathered daily since a Trump administration immigration surge began earlier this month, erected fencing on Monday after several demonstrators, including the mayor of Evanston, Illinois, were injured in a clash with agents last week.Wednesday's attack was the third shooting this year in Texas at a Department of Homeland Security facility. A police officer was shot in a July incident at an ICE detention center in Prairieland, and a 27-year-old Michigan man was shot dead by agents after opening fire on a US Border Patrol station in McAllen in July.

President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Annalena Baerbock said that thousands of orphans in Gaza are hovering among the rubble and debris, eating sand and drinking polluted water.She added that in the face of the tragedies of the women of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Rohingya children, and others, we cannot celebrate and must question the role of the United Nations.In her address to the annual General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly's 80th session, currently being held in New York, Baerbock added that UN bodies must do the right thing to prevent evil from triumphing in the world.She said that true leadership should not mean imposing one's will on others, as helping others makes our countries stronger. She asked, when the principles of the UN Charter are ignored, has the UN failed The Charter has not failed. The UN as an institution has not failed. The strength of the Charter is only achieved by the willingness of member states to abide by it.She added that our future as an institution will also be shaped by the selection of the next UN Secretary-General.She said that here we must pause and reflect. In nearly eighty years, this organization has never chosen a woman for this position. One might ask: How could not a single woman be found among the four billion potential candidates Of course, the choice lies with the member states.She pointed out that this process is not only about equal representation, but also about the credibility of this organization.Baerbock emphasized that reform must come from all the world's capitals, not just from New York, home to the United Nations. She noted that the planet is now globalized and subject to digitization, and that we must come together for dialogue to address the most difficult problems.She indicated that the world stands at a crossroads, and all countries must rise to the occasion, emphasizing that sustainable peace cannot be achieved without sustainable development.Baerbock concluded her remarks by saying that just as we were 80 years ago, we stand at a crossroads. It is up to us, every Member State, to live up to the leadership shown by our predecessors. To act when action is necessary, to show people around the world that the United Nations is here, today, tomorrow, and for the next 80 years.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday recognized a Palestinian state, leading a UN summit that already spurred other Western governments to take the landmark step that has infuriated Israel."The time for peace has come, as we are just moments away from no longer being able to seize it," Macron told the summit."The time has come to free the 48 hostages held by Hamas. The time has come to stop the war, the bombings of Gaza, the massacres and the displacement," Macron said.Australia, Britain, Canada and Portugal also took the largely symbolic step of recognition on the eve of the summit called by France and Saudi Arabia, piling pressure on Israel as it intensifies its retaliatory war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people.Macron earlier said he would make the release of hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel a precondition for opening a French embassy to the Palestinian state.Israel has repeatedly warned France against recognizing a Palestinian state, with far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government mulling annexation of the West Bank to make any state impossible.The United States, Israel's crucial diplomatic and military supporter, had unsuccessfully urged its allies to drop the recognition plans, with President Donald Trump saying that a state can only come through negotiations.German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that "a negotiated two-state solution is the path that can allow Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace, security and dignity."More than 140 world leaders will descend on New York but not Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who was denied a visa by the US authorities, forcing him to attend virtually.Israel said it would skip an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Gaza Tuesday because of the Jewish New Year, calling the timing "regrettable."Netanyahu reiterated Sunday his position that there would be no Palestinian state and vowed to accelerate the creation of new settlements.Two far-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, went further, calling for the annexation of the West Bank.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told AFP Friday "we should not feel intimidated by the risk of retaliation."Macron had voiced exasperation at Israel's prolonged offensive as he decided to recognize a Palestinian state.Britain, which more than a century ago declared support for a Jewish homeland, held out the possibility of backing down on recognition of a Palestinian state if Israel agreed on a ceasefire in Gaza.But the historic step also is unlikely to have much effect on the ground."Unless backed up by concrete measures, recognizing Palestine as a state risks becoming a distraction from the reality, which is an accelerating erasure of Palestinian life in their homeland," said the International Crisis Group's Israel-Palestine project director, Max Rodenbeck.

Several world leaders are expected to formally recognise a Palestinian state on Monday at a summit convened by France and Saudi Arabia, a move Israel says will undermine the prospects of a peaceful ending to the war in Gaza.While the summit in New York could boost the morale of Palestinians, it is not expected to deliver change on the ground, where the most far-right government in Israel's history has declared there will be no Palestinian state as it pushes on with its fight against Hamas.The two-state solution was the bedrock of the US-backed peace process ushered in by the 1993 Oslo Accords. The process suffered heavy pushback from both sides and has all but died.Israel and the United States will boycott the summit, Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon, said, describing the event as a "circus."Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal all recognised a Palestinian state on Sunday. France and five other states are expected to also formally do so on Monday at the meeting ahead of the United Nations General Assembly.While the majority of European countries now recognise a Palestinian state, both Germany and Italy have signalled they are unlikely to make such a move soon.Germany - long a strong supporter of Israel because of its responsibility for the Holocaust - has grown more critical of Israeli policy, while insisting that recognition of a Palestinian state should come at the end of a political process to agree on a two-state solution.The German government spokesperson also said on Monday there must be no further annexations in Israeli-occupied territory. Italy said recognising a Palestinian state could be "counterproductive". Russia still believes that a two-state solution is the only way to settle the conflict, the Kremlin said on Monday."This remains our approach, and we believe that it is the only possible way to find a solution to this extremely complex, long-standing conflict, which is now perhaps at its most acute and tragic stage in its entire history," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.Israel has become isolated and drawn global condemnation over its military conduct in Gaza, where more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected numerous calls to end the campaign until Hamas is destroyed and has said he will not recognise a Palestinian state. Netanyahu said in a statement on Sunday he will announce Israel's response when he returns from the US, where he is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump.Israel is considering annexing part of the occupied West Bank as a possible response as well as specific bilateral measures against Paris, Israeli officials have said, even though the recognitions are expected to be largely symbolic.Annexation could backfire and alienate key countries like the United Arab Emirates, a global oil power and trade hub with wide diplomatic clout across the Middle East.The United Arab Emirates, the most prominent of the Arab states that normalised ties with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020, has said such a move would undermine the spirit of the agreement.The US administration has also warned of possible consequences for those who take measures against Israel, including against France, whose president, Emmanuel Macron, is hosting the New York summit.The summit follows Israel's launch of a long-threatened ground assault on Gaza City with few prospects for a ceasefire.Amid Israel's intensified Gaza offensive and escalating violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, there is a growing sense of urgency to act now before the idea of a two-state solution vanishes forever."The decision that the President of the Republic will present this afternoon to the United Nations General Assembly is a symbolic, immediate, political decision that demonstrates France's commitment to the two-state solution," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told television channel TF1. France has driven the move, hoping that Macron's announcement in July that he would recognise a Palestinian state would give greater momentum to a movement hitherto dominated by smaller nations that are generally more critical of Israel. In Gaza, some Palestinians found little relief in statehood recognition as they fled Israeli attacks on Gaza City on Sunday."Even if countries such as Australia, Canada, and France -who are now among those initiating this recognition - acknowledge Palestine, I believe there will still be no serious pressure on Israel to grant the Palestinians their rights," said displaced Palestinian Nabeel Jaber.

Several people were injured in a shooting at a country club, in the US State of New Hampshire, police announced. Authorities said the incident took place at Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua. Two suspects fled the scene; one has been arrested, while the other remains at large.No immediate information was available on the condition of the injured.

US authorities announced that three police officers were killed, and two others seriously injured in a shooting carried out by a gunman in the eastern US state of Pennsylvania before police were able to neutralize him.State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris confirmed at a press conference that five officers were shot on Thursday, three of whom were fatally wounded, while two were taken to the hospital and are in critical condition.

Ben & Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield, whose name helped shape the popular ice cream brand, has quit the company, as its rift with parent Unilever deepened over its stance on the Gaza conflict.In an open letter addressing the Ben & Jerry's community that was shared by his partner Ben Cohen on social media platform X on Wednesday, Greenfield said that the Vermont-based company has lost its independence since Unilever curtailed its social activism.Unilever and Ben & Jerry's have clashed since 2021, when the Chubby Hubby maker said it would stop sales in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.The brand has since sued its parent over alleged efforts to silence it and described the Gaza conflict as "genocide," a rare stance for a major US company.Greenfield said he could no longer "in good conscience" continue working for a company that had been "silenced" by Unilever, despite a merger agreement meant to safeguard the brand's social mission."That independence existed in no small part because of the unique merger agreement Ben and I negotiated with Unilever," he wrote in the letter.A spokesperson for Magnum Ice Cream Company, Unilever's ice cream unit, said that it "disagrees with Greenfield's perspective and has sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry's powerful values-based position in the world."Magnum said Greenfield stepped down as a brand ambassador and that he is not a party to the lawsuit.Unilever did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Greenfield's departure comes as Ben & Jerry's has been calling for its own spin-off ahead of a planned listing of Magnum Ice Cream in November after years of clashing over the US brand's vocal position on Gaza.Last week Cohen demanded to "free Ben & Jerry's" to protect its social values, which was rebuffed by new Magnum CEO Peter ter Kulve.Cohen said the brand had attempted to engineer a sale to investors at a fair market value between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion but the proposal was rejected.Ben & Jerry's was founded by Cohen and Greenfield in a renovated gas station in 1978, and kept its socially conscious mission after Unilever bought it in 2000.

Actor, director and producer Robert Redford, who was both the quintessential handsome Hollywood leading man and an influential supporter of independent films through his Sundance Institute, died on Tuesday at the age of 89, his publicist said.Redford passed away at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah surrounded by his loved ones, Cindi Berger, CEO of the publicity firm Rogers & Cowan PMK, said in an email to Reuters. Berger did not disclose the cause of death.Once dismissed as "just another California blond", Redford's charm and craggy good looks made him one of the industry's most bankable leading men for half a century, and one of the world's most recognizable and best-loved movie stars.Redford made hearts beat faster in romantic roles such as "Out of Africa," got political in "The Candidate" and "All the President's Men" and skewered his golden-boy image in roles like the alcoholic ex-rodeo champ in "The Electric Horseman" and middle-aged millionaire who offers to buy sex in "Indecent Proposal."He used the millions he made to launch the Sundance Institute and Festival in the 1970s, promoting independent filmmaking long before small and quirky were fashionable.He never won the best actor Oscar, but his first outing as a director - the 1980 family drama "Ordinary People" - won Oscars for best picture and best director.Yet he remained best known for the two early movies he made with Paul Newman - the 1969 western caper "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", and "The Sting" (1973), both of which became classics.Despite their chemistry and long personal friendship, Redford was never to team up again with Newman, who died in 2008."Butch Cassidy" made blue-eyed Redford an overnight star but he never felt comfortable with celebrity or the male starlet image that persisted late into his 60s."People have been so busy relating to how I look, it's a miracle I didn't become a self-conscious blob of protoplasm. It's not easy being Robert Redford," he once told New York magazine.Intensely private, he bought land in remote Utah in the early 1970s for his family retreat and enjoyed a level of privacy unknown to most superstars. He was married for more than 25 years to his first wife, before their divorce in 1985. In 2009, he married for a second time, to German artist and longtime partner Sibylle Szaggars.Redford used his star status to seek out challenging film projects and to quietly champion environmental causes such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Wildlife Federation."Some people have analysis. I have Utah," he once remarked.Although he never showed an interest in entering politics, he often espoused a liberal viewpoint. In a 2017 interview, during the presidency of Donald Trump, he told Esquire magazine that "politics is in a very dark place right now" and that Trump should "quit for our benefit".Born in the Los Angeles beach city of Santa Monica on Aug. 18, 1937, to what he described as a "lower working class family", Redford landed a college baseball scholarship but lost it after spending too much time partying.Deciding he wanted to be an artist, he moved to Italy and later New York to study painting. He enrolled in drama school to try his hand at theatrical set design ("Acting seemed ludicrous to me," he recalled) but was persuaded to take to the stage and by 1959 he was a full-time performer on Broadway and later found work on television.He made his movie debut in 1962 in a low-budget film called "Warhunt", but first won attention in "Barefoot in the Park" (1967), opposite Jane Fonda.He turned down the role taken by Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate" ("I never did look like a 21-year-old college student who'd never been laid," he said later) and held out for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." The 1970s brought "The Way We Were" and "The Great Gatsby".From the 1980s he devoted more time to producing films and to the establishment of the Sundance Institute - a year-round workshop for aspiring filmmakers - and the Sundance Festival, which has become one of the most influential independent film showcases in the world.In 2001, he won an honorary, or lifetime achievement, Oscar.Redford remained active in films as an actor and producer right up to the end of his life. In 2017, he reunited with Fonda for the Netflix drama "Our Souls at Night," a romance between a widow and widower."I live for sex scenes with him," Fonda told journalists when the film premiered in Venice. "He's a great kisser so it was fun to kiss him in my 20s and to kiss him again in my almost 80s."Redford said at the time that it would be one of his last films as an actor and that he was planning to focus more on directing and his first love - art.

At least 15 people were killed and 41 others injured in a traffic accident in Mexico. Local authorities said the accident occurred in southeastern Mexico when a heavy truck overturned and collided with a small car and a bus transporting construction workers on a road between Merida and Campeche, killing 15 people and injuring 41.This deadly accident is the third of its kind in Mexico in less than a week. Previously, 10 people were killed and 41 injured when a freight train collided with a bus at a rail crossing in Mexico City.Road accidents in Mexico have risen sharply in recent years, from 301,678 in 2020 to 377,231 in 2022, according to the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography. In late January, 19 people were killed and 22 others injured in a road accident in the northwestern state of Sinaloa.

US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said Thursday that firing a top government scientist was "absolutely necessary" as he faced blistering criticism from Democrats urging him to resign over his steps to curb vaccines.The Senate hearing, marked by sharp exchanges that often erupted into shouting matches, came days after the ouster of Sue Monarez, the former director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Her dismissal, accompanied by several high-level resignations and hundreds of earlier layoffs, has plunged the nation's premier public health agency into turmoil.In his opening remarks, Kennedy tore into the CDC's actions during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, accusing the agency of failing "miserably" with "disastrous and nonsensical" policies including masking guidance, social distancing and school closures.Kennedy said that the CDC, during the pandemic, had lied to Americans, pointing to recommendations on mask wearing, vaccine boosters and social distancing and statements that the vaccine would prevent transmission."I need to fire some of those people and make sure this doesn't happen again," he said."We need bold, competent and creative new leadership at CDC, people able and willing to chart a new course," he said, touting the health department's new focus on chronic disease and promoting prevention.Monarez, the CDC director whom Kennedy previously endorsed, accused the secretary of a "deliberate effort to weaken America's public-health system and vaccine protections" in a *Wall Street Journal op-ed Thursday.Kennedy's explanation for her firing – as he told Senator Elizabeth Warren – was simply: "I asked her, 'Are you a trustworthy person?' And she said, 'No.'"Once a respected environmental lawyer, Kennedy emerged in the mid-2000s as a leading anti-vaccine activist, spending two decades spreading voluminous misinformation before being tapped by President Donald Trump as health secretary in his second administration.Since taking office, he has restricted Covid-19 shots to narrower groups, cut off federal research grants for the mRNA technology credited with saving millions of lives, and redirected funding toward research on debunked claims linking vaccines to autism.Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee leading the hearing, set the tone by demanding Kennedy be sworn in under oath – accusing him of lying in prior written testimony when he pledged not to limit vaccine access."It is in the country's best interest that Robert Kennedy step down, and if he doesn't, Donald Trump should fire him before more people are hurt," Wyden thundered.However, Republican committee chairman Mike Crapo shot down the request, praising Kennedy's focus on chronic diseases such as obesity.The exchanges only grew more ill-tempered.Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell branded Kennedy a "charlatan" over his attacks on mRNA research, while Kennedy accused Senator Maggie Hassan of "crazy talk" and "making things up to scare people" when she said that parents were already struggling to get Covid-19 vaccines for their children.Vaccines have become the flashpoint in an ever-deepening partisan battle.Conservative-leaning Florida on Wednesday announced that it would end all immunisation requirements, including at schools, while a West Coast alliance of California, Washington and Oregon announced they would make their own vaccine recommendation body to counter Kennedy's influence at the national level.Republicans mostly closed ranks around Kennedy, though there was some notable dissent.Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician whose support was key to Kennedy's confirmation, criticised his cancellation of mRNA grants.He was joined by fellow Republican doctor Senator John Barrasso and Senator Thom Tillis.Cassidy pressed Kennedy on whether Trump deserved a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed, the public-private partnership that sped Covid-19 vaccines to market.Kennedy agreed that Trump should have received the prize but in nearly the same breath, praised hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, drugs championed by conspiracy theorists that have been proven ineffective against Covid-19.

The defence team of Brazilian ex-president Jair Bolsonaro told the close of his trial for coup plotting Wednesday that an acquittal was "imperative" to avoid what it presented as a potential miscarriage of justice."An acquittal is absolutely imperative so that we don't have our version of the Dreyfus case," lawyer Paulo Cunha Bueno told the Supreme Court, referring to the infamous case of a Jewish French army captain wrongly convicted of treason in 1894.Bolsonaro, also a former army captain, risks up to 43 years in prison if convicted of trying to cling onto power after losing 2022 elections to his leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.The court is set to deliver its verdict next week in a case which has sparked the ire of US President Donald Trump, an ally of Bolsonaro.The Trump administration has imposed 50% tariffs on a range of Brazilian goods and sanctioned the judge presiding over what the US leader has called a "witch hunt."On Tuesday, the judge presiding over Bolsonaro's trial, Alexandre de Moraes, accused the 70-year-old former far-right leader of seeking to install a "true dictatorship." Bolsonaro, who served a single term from 2019 to 2022, denies the charges.He insists he is the victim of political persecution and has declined to attend the verdict deliberations.Prosecutors accuse him of having led a "criminal organization" that conspired to claw power back from Lula.They say that, after his election defeat, Bolsonaro plotted to declare a state of emergency and call new elections but failed to win the support of the military top brass.Prosecutors also allege that he knew of a plot to assassinate Lula, his vice president Geraldo Alckmin and Moraes."There is not a single shred of evidence linking him" to the alleged coup plot, another of his lawyers, Celso Vilardi, told the court.Vilardi also questioned the plea bargain reached by the prosecution with one of Bolsonaro's co-defendants who turned state witness, Mauro Cid.Much of the state's case rests on the testimony provided by Bolsonaro's former right-hand man.The defence says the case contains parallels with the Dreyfus affair, whose conviction went down in history as a example of judicial bias.Unlike the Bolsonaro case, however, the Dreyfus affair was underpinned by anti-Semitism.As the trial wraps up, negotiations are accelerating in Congress on an amnesty bill which, if passed, could see Bolsonaro avoid prison even if convicted."We will work for a broad, general, and unlimited amnesty," Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the former president's son, told reporters on Tuesday.An amnesty would also potentially benefit hundreds of "Bolsonaristas" convicted over the January 8, 2023 storming of the Supreme Court, presidential palace and Congress.Bolsonaro was in the United States at the time but is accused of inciting the rioters, who called for the military to depose Lula a week after his return to power.

President Donald Trump hosted new Polish President Karol Nawrocki Wednesday at the White House with a military flyover and an offer to send more US troops to the eastern European ally.Talks were expected to focus on efforts to end the war in Ukraine, where Trump's peacemaking efforts have been struggling to get traction.Trump called it a "stupid war" and said he thought ending it would have been "much easier" for him."It's going to get done," he vowed to reporters in the Oval Office, with Nawrocki at his side.Nawrocki, a nationalist historian and fervent Trump supporter, was in Washington for his first foreign visit as president after having visited the US leader to seek his backing during the Polish election campaign.Trump gave him a warm welcome, including an offer to boost the US military footprint in Poland."We'll put more there if they want," he said in the Oval Office. "We're with Poland all the way and we'll help Poland protect itself."Nawrocki praised the US troop presence and said it was "the first time in history" that Poland had been happy to host foreign troops, while stressing that Warsaw aims to keep increasing its own military spending within the NATO alliance.The White House said a flyover by F-16 and F-35 jets during Nawrocki's arrival commemorated the death of a Polish F-16 jet pilot killed last week while preparing for an air show.Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to AFP that the flyover, which featured a so-called "missing-man formation," was staged to "honour the memory of a brave Polish fighter pilot, whose life was tragically taken too soon, and capture the special relationship between our two countries."While Trump and Nawrocki see eye-to-eye politically, Poland is closely watching the US leader's peace efforts in neighbouring Ukraine, which Warsaw has largely been frozen out of.Key Nato and EU member Poland has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion and is a vital transit country for military and humanitarian supplies, as well as host to thousands of US troops.Trump's efforts to get Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the negotiating table have so far stalled.Putin vowed during a visit to Beijing Wednesday to keep fighting in Ukraine if a peace deal cannot be reached, while Zelensky said he hoped to talk to Trump today about possible additional sanctions against Russia.Nawrocki will also be seeking fresh support from Trump amid deep political polarization in Poland between himself and his country's pro-EU government, led by former European Council chief Donald Tusk.The novice Polish president recently blocked a law extending Ukrainian refugees' rights proposed by Tusk's government. Nawrocki has also, like Trump, opposed Ukraine's desire for Nato membership.The visit is nevertheless a chance for Trump to celebrate the election of yet another right-wing ally in Europe.Trump welcomed Nawrocki to the Oval Office in June before the Polish election, with the White House posting a picture of the pair grinning and giving the thumbs-up sign.During the election campaign, Nawrocki highlighted the importance of ties with the United States and his close ties with Trump. His "Poland First, Poles First" echoed Trump's "America First" slogan.

A US guided missile cruiser, the USS Lake Erie, was seen crossing the Panama Canal from the Pacific to the Caribbean on Friday night, after the Trump administration deployed warships near the coast of Venezuela.AFP journalists saw the naval vessel passing through one of the canal's locks around 9.30pm (0230 GMT Saturday) and navigating east toward the Atlantic.The United States has said the deployment of warships to the southern Caribbean, near Venezuela's territorial waters, was an anti-drug trafficking operation."I didn't know the ship was going to pass... I was surprised," Alfredo Cedeno, a 32-year-old health technician, who took photos of the cruiser, told AFP.The Lake Erie had been moored for the past two days at the Port of Rodman, at the canal's Pacific entrance.Washington has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading a drug cartel and has doubled the bounty for his capture to $50mn.The United States has, however, made no public threat to invade Venezuela.Caracas announced on Monday the deployment of 15,000 security forces to the Colombian border for anti-drug trafficking operations.A day later, Venezuela announced that it would patrol its territorial waters with drones and navy ships.Maduro also claimed to have mobilised more than 4mn militia members in response to US "threats”.The 567’ (173m) USS Lake Erie displaces 9,800 tonnes and is based in the port of San Diego, California.

US Senator Bernie Sanders has called on Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jr to resign, days after a senior public health official was fired and four others resigned in disputes over Kennedy's unorthodox opposition to vaccines.Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, wrote in a *New York Times guest essay that Kennedy is "endangering the health of the American people now and into the future”.This week, Kennedy ousted the director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Susan Monarez, less than a month into her tenure, deepening disarray at the nation's main public health agency.Monarez had refused to adopt new limitations on the availability of some vaccines urged by Kennedy, saying they went against scientific evidence.Four other senior CDC officials resigned in protest, citing anti-vaccine policies and misinformation promoted by Kennedy and his team; hundreds of their colleagues walked out of the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta in support of the departing leaders.Sanders, the ranking member of the Senate's health committee and an opponent of Kennedy's confirmation earlier this year, wrote that Kennedy ousted Monarez because she refused "to act as a rubber stamp for his dangerous policies”."Despite the overwhelming opposition of the medical community, Secretary Kennedy has continued his longstanding crusade against vaccines and his advocacy of conspiracy theories that have been rejected repeatedly by scientific experts," Sanders wrote.He said that vaccines for diseases such as polio and coronavirus (Covid-19) had saved hundreds of millions of lives around the world.A spokesperson for Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment.Kennedy, a lawyer and prominent anti-vaccine advocate, ran an unsuccessful campaign for the presidency last year.He espouses healthy eating, natural foods and exercise, but also frequently shares his theories about vaccines and other medical issues that many doctors and scientists say are groundless and drawn from the conspiratorial fringe.On Wednesday, Kennedy baffled doctors when he said he kept seeing children walking through airports that he had diagnosed as "overburdened with mitochondrial challenges, with inflammation", based on their faces and body movements.President Donald Trump, a Republican, nominated Kennedy to become the health secretary earlier this year and he was sworn in in February.Kennedy emphasised in a congressional hearing in May that he did not think Americans should ever take medical advice from him.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to end collective bargaining with federal unions in some agencies that have "national security missions", the White House said.The order would apply to unions in agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), the Patent and Trademark Office, the National Weather Service and others, the White House said in a statement.Trump also signed a presidential memorandum aimed at preventing federal grant money from going toward political lobbying, the White House said.The memo directs Attorney-General Pam Bondi to investigate whether funds from federal grants "are being illegally used to support lobbying activities and to take appropriate enforcement action", according to a White House fact sheet.

Frank Caprio, a US judge who became an Internet sensation for his compassion and courteous demeanor in court, has died at 88, his family announced on social media.The retired Rhode Island judge, who served on the bench for nearly four decades before retiring in 2023, became known for his lenient approach to minor infractions."It is with profound sadness that I share the news that my father Judge Frank Caprio passed away today, peacefully surrounded by family and friends after a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer," his son David Caprio said in a video posted on the judge's Instagram account on Wednesday.His family said in a statement that he was "beloved around the world for his deep compassion, humility, and unwavering faith in the goodness of people", and an "example of humanity".Caprio had posted a video on Tuesday from his hospital bed asking for prayers after suffering a health "setback”.His courtroom reality TV show *Caught in Providence, which began in 2000, featured his sympathetic treatment of defendants facing traffic violations and parking tickets.Clips from the show garnered tens of millions of views on social media, often showing him dismissing fines for struggling families or asking children to help decide their parents' punishments.He drew millions of followers on social media, who dubbed him "the nicest judge in the world”.Caprio also wrote an autobiography titled *Compassion in the Court: Life-Changing Stories from America's Nicest Judge.Born in 1936 and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, Caprio had worked multiple jobs including shining shoes and delivering newspapers, according to his website.He attended Suffolk University School of Law in Boston at night while working as a school teacher, eventually serving as Providence's municipal court chief judge from 1985 to 2023.Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee praised Caprio as "more than a jurist – he was a symbol of empathy on the bench, showing us what is possible when justice is tempered with humanity”.The governor also ordered state flags to fly at half-staff in memory of the judge."He will be remembered not only as a respected judge, but as a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend," his family said.

In a triumph for Donald Trump, a New York state appeals court threw out an approximately half-billion-dollar penalty against the US president, in a fraud case that had been one of his biggest legal setbacks before his return to the White House.The decision by the Appellate Division in Manhattan is a defeat for New York Attorney-General Letitia James, who Trump accused of bringing the civil fraud lawsuit to advance a political witch hunt and deny him a second term.A trial judge had ordered the penalty in February 2024 after finding that Trump fraudulently overstated his wealth and the value of his properties to bolster his family business.Trump denied wrongdoing, and his lawyers argued that any errors in reporting Trump's fortune to his lenders and business partners were irrelevant because none was harmed.Thursday's decision by the five-judge appeals court was deeply splintered, with some agreeing Trump should be held liable while others called for a new trial or even dismissal.In a social media post, Trump called the decision a "TOTAL VICTORY”."I greatly respect the fact that the Court had the Courage to throw out this unlawful and disgraceful Decision," Trump wrote.Trump Jr termed the appellate court ruling a "massive win!!!""New York Appeals Court has just THROWN OUT President Trump's $500+ Million civil fraud penalty! It was always a witch hunt, election interference, and a total miscarriage of justice... and even a left leaning NY appeals court agrees! NO MORE LAWFARE!" he wrote on X.Trump's economic adviser Peter Navarro said at the White House Thursday that "James is another one that belongs in jail"."The Democrats really overplayed their hand on this because they thought they could take Donald Trump out," he said.James said she will ask the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, to review the case."It should not be lost to history: yet another court has ruled that the president violated the law, and that our case has merit," she added.Trump was separately convicted in May 2024 on criminal charges in a New York state court in Manhattan stemming from hush money paid to an adult entertainer, but received no punishment.The appeals court in James' case issued approximately 320 pages of opinions.Two judges found Trump was properly held liable, and James "vindicated a public interest" by suing, but said the penalty was unconstitutionally excessive.They upheld restrictions imposed against Trump's businesses.Two other judges also found James had authority to sue, but a new trial was necessary because of errors by the trial judge.The fifth judge said the case should be thrown out.The decision came as the US Department of Justice investigates James for possible mortgage fraud.The probe is part of a White House effort to use the power of government against people who have investigated Trump or resisted his agenda.Prosecutors convened a grand jury to investigate whether James' fraud case deprived Trump of his civil rights, a person familiar with the matter said this month.A lawyer for James called it part of Trump's "political retribution campaign”.Trump was appealing a judgment entered by Justice Arthur Engoron in Manhattan, following a three-month nonjury trial.Engoron found Trump had inflated his wealth over several years before first becoming president in 2017, to dupe lenders and insurers into providing better terms to the Trump Organisation.In February 2024, Engoron ordered Trump and other defendants to pay $464.6mn in penalties plus interest, which has continued to accrue.Trump was personally liable for nearly 98% of the judgment, with his eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and former Trump Organisation chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg responsible for the remainder.Referring to Trump and other Trump Organisation figures, Engoron said their "complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological”.Engoron also banned Trump and the Trump Organisation from applying for loans from banks registered in the state for three years, and effectively barred Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump from running the business for two years.The appeals court put these restrictions on hold during the appeals process, while letting a court-appointed monitor for the Trump Organisation continue her work.In Thursday's decision, the two judges who found Trump was properly held liable, Dianne Renwick and Peter Moulton, said the evidence demonstrated that the defendants "engaged in a decade-long pattern of financial fraud and illegality”.They also rejected suggestions that James sued to further political goals, saying that the "political" choice would have been to not pick a fight with a powerful adversary.However, they said Trump's wrongdoing did not cause "cataclysmic harm" to justify a half-billion-dollar award, though injunctive relief to prevent future wrongdoing was appropriate."The Attorney-General may act, as she did in this case, before a potential catastrophe occurs, to deter further fraudulent business behaviour by defendants specifically, and to police market behaviour generally," they wrote. "Having achieved these goals the state is not entitled to compound its victory with a massive punitive fine."In voting to dismiss the case, Justice David Friedman said James' case was politically motivated, and voters had rendered their own verdict on Trump's political career.He also said subjecting Trump to another trial "would disrupt the political life of the United States and would undermine its national interest, particularly at a time of high global tension.

Trump says US would help Europe provide security for UkraineZelenskiy welcomes 'strong signal' from TrumpEuropean leaders push for ceasefire ahead of any peace dealUS President Donald Trump told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday that the United States would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal to end Russia's war there, though the extent of any promised assistance was not immediately clear. Trump made the pledge during an extraordinary summit at the White House, where he hosted Zelenskiy and a group of European allies two days after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and months after a disastrous Oval office meeting where Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly criticized the Ukrainian leader.A peace deal appears far from imminent, however. Both Trump and Zelenskiy said they hoped Monday's gathering would eventually lead to trilateral talks with Putin.The Kremlin has not yet publicly accepted such a meeting, and it remains to be seen whether Putin, whose forces have been slowly grinding forward in eastern Ukraine, is prepared to sit down with Zelenskiy or make meaningful concessions.Meanwhile, European leaders - who rushed to Washington in support of Ukraine - urged Trump to insist that Putin agree to a ceasefire before any talks can advance. Trump had previously backed that proposal but reversed course after meeting with Putin on Friday, instead adopting Moscow's position that any peace agreement be comprehensive.Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he liked the concept of a ceasefire but that the two sides could work on a peace deal while the fighting continued."I wish they could stop, I'd like them to stop," he said. "But strategically that could be a disadvantage for one side or the other."Later in the day, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron both voiced support for a ceasefire as a prerequisite to any direct talks with Russia."I can't imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire," said Merz, sitting at a table with Trump and other leaders."So let's work on that and let's try to put pressure on Russia."Macron also said European leaders would need to be involved in subsequent meetings as well."When we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent," he told Trump.Trump, who said repeatedly that he believes Putin wants to end the war, said he had spoken to Putin on Monday and would call him after the talks as well.The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Moscow does not consider the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine a viable solution to the conflict.Trump and Zelenskiy's meeting was starkly different in tone from their previous Oval Office encounter in February, which ended when Trump and Vance publicly upbraided Zelenskiy as not being grateful enough.This time, the meeting appeared far more convivial, despite the US president's movement toward Russia in recent days. Zelenskiy struck a deferential tone, giving thanks at least eight times during his opening remarks to the media.Zelenskiy was also backed by the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO, who traveled to Washington to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine and push for strong security guarantees for the country in any post-war settlement.Trump greeted Zelenskiy warmly upon his arrival outside the White House, expressing admiration for Zelenskiy's black suit, a departure from his typical military clothes.When a reporter asked Trump what his message was to the people of Ukraine, he said, "We love them." Zelenskiy thanked him, and Trump put his hand on Zelenskiy's back in a show of affection before the two men went inside to the Oval Office.Following their one-on-one discussion, Trump and Zelenskiy held broader talks with the European leaders.Zelenskiy described the private talks with Trump as "very good" and said they had spoken about Ukraine's need for US security guarantees."This is very important, that the United States gives such a strong signal and is ready for security guarantees," Zelenskiy said.Trump said he and Zelenskiy had covered "a lot of territory" during their discussion."When it comes to security, there's going to be a lot of help," Trump said, adding that European countries would be involved. "They are a first line of defence because they're there, but we'll help them out."Trump has pressed for a quick end to Europe's deadliest war in 80 years, and Kyiv and its allies worry he could seek to force an agreement on Russia's terms after the president on Friday rolled out the red carpet - literally - for Putin, who faces charges from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes. Russian attacks overnight on Ukrainian cities killed at least 10 people, in what Zelenskiy called a "cynical" effort to undermine talks.Trump has rejected claims that the Alaska summit had been a win for Putin, who has faced diplomatic isolation since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022."I know exactly what I'm doing, and I don't need the advice of people who have been working on all of these conflicts for years, and were never able to do a thing to stop them," Trump wrote on social media.Trump's team has said there will have to be compromises on both sides to end the conflict. But the president himself has put the burden on Zelenskiy, saying Ukraine should give up hopes of getting back Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, or of joining the NATO military alliance. Zelenskiy has already all but rejected the outline of Putin's proposals from the Alaska meeting. Those include handing over the remaining quarter of its eastern Donetsk region, which is largely controlled by Russia. Any concession of Ukrainian territory would have to be approved by a referendum.The war has killed or wounded more than a million people from both sides, including thousands of mostly Ukrainian civilians, according to analysts, and destroyed wide swaths of the country. Officials in Ukraine said a drone attack on a residential complex in the northern city of Kharkiv killed at least seven people, including a toddler and her 16-year-old brother.Strikes in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia killed three people, they said. Ukraine's military said on Monday that its drones had struck an oil pumping station in Russia's Tambov region, leading to the suspension of supplies via the Druzhba pipeline.