Obama, Bush decry ‘travesty’ of Trump’s gutting of USAID on its last day
Former United States Presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush have delivered a rare open rebuke of the Donald Trump administration in an emotional video farewell with staffers of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Obama called the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID “a colossal mistake”. Monday was the last day as an independent agency for the six-decade-old humanitarian and development organisation, created by President John F Kennedy as a soft power, peaceful way of promoting US national security by boosting goodwill and prosperity abroad. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered USAID to be absorbed into the US State Department on Tuesday. The former presidents and U2 singer Bono – who held back tears as he recited a poem – spoke with thousands in the USAID community in a videoconference, which was billed as a closed-press event. They expressed their appreciation for the thousands of USAID staffers who have lost their jobs and life’s work. Their agency was one of the first and most fiercely targeted for government cuts by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, with staffers abruptly locked out of systems and offices and terminated by mass emailing. Trump claimed the agency was run by “radical left lunatics” and rife with “tremendous fraud”. Musk called it “a criminal organisation”. Obama, speaking in a recorded statement, offered assurances to the aid and development workers, some listening from overseas. “Your work has mattered and will matter for generations to come,” he told them. Advertisement Obama has largely kept a low public profile during Trump’s second term and refrained from criticising the seismic changes that Trump has made to US programmes and priorities at home and abroad. “Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy. Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world,” Obama said. He credited USAID with not only saving lives, but being a main factor in global economic growth that has turned some aid-receiving countries into US markets and trade partners. The former Democratic president predicted that “sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realise how much you are needed”. Asked for comment, the State Department said it would be introducing the department’s foreign assistance successor to USAID, to be called America First, this week. “The new process will ensure there is proper oversight and that every tax dollar spent will help advance our national interests,” the department said. USAID oversaw programmes around the world, providing water and life-saving food to millions uprooted by conflict in Sudan, Syria, Gaza and elsewhere, sponsoring the “Green Revolution” that revolutionised modern agriculture and curbed starvation and famine. The agency worked at preventing disease outbreaks, promoting democracy, and providing financing and development that allowed countries and people to climb out of poverty. Bush, who also spoke in a recorded message, went straight to the cuts in a landmark AIDS and HIV programme started by his Republican administration and credited with saving 25 million lives around the world. Bipartisan blowback from Congress to cutting the popular President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, helped save significant funding for the programme. But cuts and rule changes have reduced the number getting the life-saving care. “You’ve showed the great strength of America through your work – and that is your good heart,” Bush told USAID staffers. “Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you,” he said. More than 14 million of the world’s most vulnerable, a third of them young children, could die because of the Trump administration’s move, a study in the Lancet journal projected Tuesday. “For many low- and middle-income countries, the resulting shock would be comparable in scale to a global pandemic or a major armed conflict,” study co-author Davide Rasella, a researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, said in a statement. Advertisement Bono, a longtime humanitarian advocate in Africa and elsewhere, was announced as the “surprise guest”. he recited a poem he had written to the agency about its gutting. He spoke of children dying of malnutrition, a reference to millions of people who Boston University researchers and other analysts say will die because of the US cuts to funding for health and other programmes abroad. “They called you crooks,” Bono said, “when you were the best of us.” Adblock test (Why?)
Trump formally orders lifting of Syria sanctions
US Treasury says it removed 518 Syrian individuals and entities from its list of sanctions after president’s decree. Washington, DC – United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to dismantle a web of sanctions against Syria, a move that will likely unlock investments in the country more than six months after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. Trump’s decree on Monday offers sanction relief to “entities critical to Syria’s development, the operation of its government, and the rebuilding of the country’s social fabric”, the US Treasury said in a statement. The Syrian government has been under heavy US financial penalties that predate the outbreak of the civil war in the country in 2011. The sprawling sanction programme, which included provisions related to the former government’s human rights abuses, has derailed reconstruction efforts in the country. It has also contributed to driving the Syrian economy under al-Assad to the verge of collapse. Trump promised sanctions relief for Syria during his visit to the Middle East in May. “The United States is committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbours,” the US president said in a statement on Monday. “A united Syria that does not offer a safe haven for terrorist organisations and ensures the security of its religious and ethnic minorities will support regional security and prosperity.” The US administration said Syria-related sanctions against al-Assad and his associates, ISIL (ISIS) and Iran and its allies will remain in place. While the US Treasury said it already removed 518 Syrian individuals and entities from its list of sanctions, some Syria penalties may not be revoked immediately. Advertisement For example, Trump directs US agencies to determine whether the conditions are met to remove sanctions imposed under the Caesar Act, which enabled heavy penalties against the Syrian economy for alleged war crimes against civilians. Democratic US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar had partnered with Republican lawmaker Anna Paulina Luna to introduce earlier this week a bill that would legislatively lift sanctions on Syria to offer long-term relief. Real relief for the Syrian people requires repealing certain laws. My bill with @RepLuna permanently repeals the sanctions and gives the post-Assad Syria a fighting chance. https://t.co/gExbLiKS7z — Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) June 30, 2025 As part of Trump’s order, the US president ordered Secretary of State Marco Rubio to review the designation of interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist”. Moreover, the US president ordered a review of the status of al-Sharaa’s group, al-Nusra Front – now Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – as a designated “foreign terrorist” organisation. Al-Nusra was al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, but al-Sharaa severed ties with the group in 2016. Al-Nusra later became known as Jabhat Fath al-Sham before merging with other rebel groups as HTS. Al-Sharaa was the de facto leader of a rebel enclave in Idlib in northwest Syria for years before leading the offensive that overthrew al-Assad in December 2024. Trump met with al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia in May and praised the Syrian president as “attractive” and “tough”. The interim Syrian president – who was previously known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani – has promised inclusive governance to allay concerns about his past ties to al-Qaeda. But violence and kidnappings against members of al-Assad’s Alawite sect by former rebel fighters over the past months have raised concerns among some rights advocates. Al-Sharaa has also pledged that Syria would not pose a threat to its neighbours, including Israel, which has been advancing in Syrian territory beyond the occupied Golan Heights and regularly bombing the country. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,223
Here is how things stand on Tuesday, July 1: Fighting The Russian-installed governor of the occupied Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, Leonid Pasechnik, said that Russian troops are now in full control of the entire region. If confirmed, that would make Luhansk the first Ukrainian region fully occupied by Russia after more than three years of war. Luhansk is one of four regions that Russia now claims as its own. Russia’s state media and war bloggers also said that Russian forces have taken control of the first village in the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk. This came as Moscow-appointed officials said Ukrainian forces attacked the city of Donetsk in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region, killing at least one person, damaging several buildings and setting a market on fire. Also in Donetsk, Russian forces have occupied one of Ukraine’s most valuable lithium deposits near the village of Shevchenko, The Kyiv Independent reported, citing Roman Pohorilyi, the founder of the open-source mapping project Deep State Map. The Ukrainian Air Force, meanwhile, said it detected 107 Russian Shahed and decoy drones in the country’s airspace overnight, a day after the country experienced the biggest aerial attack from Russian forces since 2022. Russian strikes in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region left two civilians dead and eight wounded, including a 6-year-old child, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Outside the immediate region, Bloomberg reported an explosion on an oil tanker near Libya, in the latest unexplained blast on vessels that had previously called at Russian ports. Advertisement Politics and diplomacy Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged the United States to consider whether new sanctions on Russia would help the Ukraine peace effort after a top Republican senator said he had received US President Donald Trump’s blessing to move forward on a bill introducing punitive measures against Moscow. US envoy Keith Kellogg responded to Peskov’s comments, describing them as “Orwellian”. “Russia cannot continue to stall for time while it bombs civilian targets in Ukraine,” Kellogg said in a post on X. German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul, speaking during a visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of making “pure mockery” of peace talks. “His apparent readiness to negotiate is only a facade so far,” Wadephul said, adding that Germany was trying to help Ukraine get to a point where it could “negotiate more strongly”. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Moscow was introducing “reciprocal measures” restricting access to 15 media outlets from the European Union, in retaliation for the latest round of EU sanctions on Russia. In North Korea, images on state television showed leader Kim Jong Un draping coffins with the country’s national flag in what appeared to be the repatriation of soldiers killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine, according to the Reuters news agency. Norway said it would deploy F-35 fighter jets to Poland to protect Polish airspace and a key logistical hub for aid to Ukraine, a day after Warsaw scrambled aircraft in response to Russian air attacks on western Ukraine, near the border. Economy The International Monetary Fund said it would provide $500m to Ukraine, after completing a routine review of its $15.5bn four-year support programme. Adblock test (Why?)
Who is T Raja Singh? Controversial Telangana BJP MLA quits party amid state leadership tussle
Upset over the possible appointment of Ramchander Rao as the BJP’s Telangana unit president, the party’s firebrand and controversial leader Raja Singh on Monday wrote to Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, saying he is resigning from the primary membership of the saffron party. Read on to know more.
White House says Donald Trump and PM Modi have very good relationship, confirms US-India trade deal ‘very close’: You’ll hear from…’
The comments come as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is currently in the United States to attend the QUAD Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
Delhi to enforce fuel ban on these vehicles from July 1; check details
Delhi petrol pumps will stop refuelling diesel vehicles over 10 years and petrol vehicles over 15 years old to reduce pollution, as per CAQM orders.
Delhi’s oldest railway station to get new name? Delhi CM writes to Union Railway Minister, says ‘this move would serve…’
The Old Delhi Railway Station is the oldest railway station, located in the national capital’s Chandni Chowk area.
GOP state Sen. Brian Birdwell says he won’t seek reelection
Soon after Birdwell announced his retirement, state Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield, said he was running for the seat.
Judge dismisses Ken Paxton lawsuit challenging State Fair of Texas gun ban
Texas’ attorney general alleged the City of Dallas and the fair were violating state law and the second amendment with the ban, which was adopted after a 2023 shooting.
Elon Musk says US is ruled by ‘Porky Pig Party’ as Trump defends his vision against former ally’s criticism
Elon Musk has not given up his criticism over what he sees as a lack of spending cuts in the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill,” insisting on his platform X on Monday “that we live in a one-party country” and threatening that if the bill passes a new “America Party” would be formed. Musk’s criticism of the Republican spending package began before he even left the Trump administration as a special government employee heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). It continued following his departure, with Musk describing the bill as “pork-filled” and a “disgusting abomination” earlier this month. The billionaire entrepreneur has lamented that the bill could work to undo much of the work he accomplished with DOGE. “It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!” Musk wrote on X Monday afternoon as the Senate continued to consider the House-passed spending bill. “Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people,” Musk added. ELON MUSK’S FORMER FRIEND WARNS EX-DOGE HEAD WILL DO ‘EVERYTHING’ TO DAMAGE TRUMP In a separate post on X Monday evening, Musk doubled down on his claim that the U.S. is governed by a one-party system. “They just pretend to be two parties,” he wrote, sharing a post alongside a graphic showing how much the national debt has steadily increased every year. “It’s just one uniparty in reality.” Meanwhile, the billionaire entrepreneur threatened that “if this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day.” “Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE,” Musk wrote Monday evening on X. FLASHBACK: MUSK ACCUSED TRUMP, GOP LEADERS OF NOT WANTING TO CUT SPENDING — HERE’S WHERE THEY SAID THEY WOULD Musk previously said he was “disappointed” in the spending bill because “it undermines” all the work his DOGE team was accomplishing to cut back on waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R–S.D., refuted Musk’s claim that the bill would upend all the work he did with DOGE, noting in an interview that “a lot of what Elon was working on was on the discretionary side of the budget, which [the “big, beautiful bill”] doesn’t touch.” Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought clarified in an interview with The Blaze’s Glenn Beck that the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill” cannot legally include cuts to discretionary spending — the very category targeted by Musk’s DOGE initiative, he noted. The bill includes discretionary spending instructions for defense and border security, but final approval still requires passage through the congressional appropriations process. Earlier this month, after formally leaving his post in the Trump administration, Musk shared a social media post President Donald Trump posted in 2013, noting he was “embarrassed” at the time to be a Republican after the party extended the debt ceiling. Musk shared the former post and wrote: “wise words.” TRUMP CALLS ELON MUSK A ‘WONDERFUL GUY’ DESPITE INTENSE FEUD OVER ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ Several days prior, Musk referred to the Trump-endorsed “big, beautiful bill” as a “disgusting abomination.” He has also previously suggested the bill would kill jobs and raise taxes on renewable energy projects not yet even underway. The feud between Musk and Trump and his supporters of the bill escalated even further after Musk sought to link Trump to the Jeffrey Epstein child sex scandal in a now-deleted post. When reached for comment about Musk’s complaints about the Trump-endorsed spending package, the White House pointed to the president’s comments over the weekend to Fox News Business. When asked on Sunday during an interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo about his relationship with Musk since he left the White House, the president described Musk as a “wonderful guy.” Later, Trump described some of Musk’s post–White House behavior as inappropriate. “I think he’s a wonderful guy. I haven’t spoken to him much, but I think Elon is a wonderful guy, and I know he’s going to do well always,” Trump said. “He’s a smart guy. And he actually went and campaigned with me and this and that. But he got a little bit upset, and that wasn’t appropriate.” “Why did he get upset? He just wasn’t getting what he wanted?” Bartiromo questioned. “Look, the electric vehicle mandate, the EV mandate, is a tough thing for him,” Trump explained. “I would, you know, I don’t want everybody to have an electric car. You know, I campaigned on choice — you have — choice… not everybody should have that and not everybody wants that.”