Hiring decisions: The U.S. government hired 50,000 employees since Trump’s second term began, with the bulk of the new employees working for ICE. A new Georgia state prosecutor said he is taking control of the criminal case that accused Trump and several allies of election interference. The Trump administration will drop a Biden-era plan to require airlines to pay passengers cash compensation when they cause flight disruptions. And Trump ditched Marjorie Taylor Greene after she took positions at odds with her former ally.
Cheap and devastating: Russia plans to make up to 120,000 glide bombs this year, a Ukrainian intelligence official said. The weapons are cheaper to make than missiles, and they carry several hundred kilos of explosives that can blast through buildings and fortifications. EU finance ministers agreed that using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine would be a good idea. An alleged $100 million corruption scheme is fueling public anger at Kyiv’s wartime government.
Yttrium: Chinese export restrictions sparked fears that shortages and rising costs could harm aerospace, energy and semiconductor production. A congressional report says China’s role as the largest producer of many critical minerals makes it nearly impossible for the U.S. to determine the true price of rare earths and other metals.
A planned transition: Walmart lifer John Furner will take over the retailer’s reins after Doug McMillon said he would retire. McMillon is one of the company’s longest-serving CEOs and began work there as an hourly associate in 1984. Furner becomes only the sixth chief executive since Sam Walton founded the company in 1962.
Brain and Abel: Warren Buffett urged shareholders to hold on to their Berkshire Hathaway shares as the 95-year-old CEO prepared to hand over the running of the conglomerate to Greg Abel. “Wish him an extended tenure,” Buffett wrote.
An idea: EU foreign ministers will discuss training 3,000 Palestinian police officers who would be deployed in Gaza. They also contemplate training an entire 13,000-strong Palestinian police force. South Africa granted entry to 130 Palestinians without travel papers and said it would examine accusations that an unregistered group arranged their trip “in an irresponsible manner.” Do click on this one, the story gets weirder.
A signal: Israel’s defense minister said he would close the publicly funded and editorially independent Army Radio. The station’s chief said the move was unexpected, a blow to press freedom and not a professional process that prioritized the interests of soldiers.
The U.N. thinks hundreds of people were killed in protests during last month's elections in Tanzania and received reports that security forces are hiding bodies.
Chinese authoritiescleared of wrongdoing the parents of a 3-year-old boy who was photographed crawling naked at a service station off an expressway in Sichuan.
