UN Faces Potential Financial Collapse, Secretary-General Warns
The United Nations is at risk of "imminent financial collapse" due to member states failing to pay their fees, Secretary-General António Guterres warned. Guterres stated that the organization's money could run out by July, threatening program delivery.
In a letter to all 193 member states, Guterres urged them to honor their mandatory payments or overhaul the organization's financial rules to avoid collapse, according to the BBC. The warning comes after the UN's largest contributor, the United States, refused to contribute to its regular and peacekeeping budgets and withdrew from several UN agencies.
The financial crisis is "deepening, threatening programme delivery," Guterres wrote in the letter.
Trump Picks Kevin Warsh to Lead the US Federal Reserve
President Donald Trump selected Kevin Warsh to lead the US Federal Reserve when current chairman Jerome Powell's four-year term ended in May, according to the BBC. Warsh, a former Fed governor, was considered for chair during Trump's first term. He has been an outspoken Fed critic and is expected to support lower interest rates in the near term.
Trump's statement nominating Warsh as the next chair of the Federal Reserve was replete with compliments for the 55-year-old former Fed governor with deep Wall Street ties, according to the NY Times. Describing him as "central casting," Trump said Warsh would go down as one of the "GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best."
The appointment came amid mounting worries about the Fed's independence, following Trump's increasing attacks on Powell in recent months, the BBC reported. Powell angered Trump by not cutting interest rates quickly enough, and federal prosecutors recently opened a criminal investigation over testimony he gave to the Senate about renovations to his house.
Mali Lawmaker Jailed in Ivory Coast for Insulting President Ouattara
Malian lawmaker Mamadou Hawa Gassama was jailed in neighboring Ivory Coast for three years for insulting the 84-year-old Ivorian leader, who recently won a fourth term in office, the BBC reported. Gassama, who serves in the transitional parliament set up by Mali's junta, was arrested last July while on a trip to Ivory Coast.
Prosecutors said he described President Alassane Ouattara as a "tyrant" and "an enemy of Mali" and strongly criticized his leadership in interviews and on social media, according to the BBC. Since Mali's military took power in 2020, relations with Ivory Coast have been strained. Ouattara, along with other regional leaders, has condemned the coup and called for a return to civilian rule.
Graham Threatens Shutdown Deal Over House-Backed Repeal
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., expressed his frustrations with the latest iteration of a government funding package backed by President Donald Trump and laid out a stark warning to the top House Republican and the White House in the process, according to Fox News. Graham is one of the few remaining holdouts blocking the Senate from moving on to a government funding package brokered by Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as lawmakers race to beat the deadline.
Graham warned Johnson, "I won't forget this," signaling his displeasure with the House-backed repeal. The specific details of the repeal and the funding package were not detailed in the Fox News report.
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