Daily SumUp

Nearly all Voice of America (VOA) staff members have been placed on leave after United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order gutting the government-run news agency.On Friday night, Trump ordered his administration to reduce several agencies to the minimum required by law under an order titled “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy”.

The United States flew over 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to be imprisoned in El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele said Sunday, after US counterpart Donald Trump controversially invoked wartime legislation to expel them.The deportations took place despite a US federal judge granting a temporary suspension of the expulsions order, apparently as planes were headed to El Salvador -- raising questions over whether the Trump administration deliberately defied the court decision."Oopsie ... Too late," Bukele posted on social media in response to an article on the judge's ruling, adding a crying-with-laughter emoji.

US envoy Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin on Thursday in Moscow, told CNN that he expected that "there will be a call with both presidents this week"."We're also continuing to engage and have conversation with the Ukrainians," he added. "We're advising them on everything we're thinking about."Last week, the US and Ukraine agreed to propose a 30-day ceasefire to Russia. While Putin said that he supported a ceasefire, he also set out a list of tough conditions for achieving peace.Witkoff said in the interview on Sunday: "I think the two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week."He also said that teams of US negotiators would meet counterparts from both Ukraine and Russia during the coming week.Witkoff added that he believed a deal would be reached "in [the] coming weeks"."I am really hopeful we are going to see some progress here," he said.During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022, on "day one" of a new administration.

The Vatican has released the first image of Pope Francis since he was admitted to hospital a month ago. The photo shows the pontiff sitting in a wheelchair in front of an altar at a chapel in Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where he has been recovering from pneumonia.

Strikes began on Saturday with the aim of punishing Iran-backed armed group for attacks on Red Sea shipping

"We will never, in any shape or form, be part of the US," Carney told reporters in Ottawa on Friday, referring to Trump's musings that Canada join the US as its "51st state"."We are very fundamentally a different country," he said, later adding the notion is "crazy".He declined to answer questions about the timing of Canada's next federal election - currently scheduled for October - but hinted he would move quickly to seek "as strong a mandate that is needed for the time".Carney wins race to succeed Trudeau as PMA simple guide to Canada's federal electionIn his first order as prime minister, Carney moved to end a policy that had been frequent attacked against by political opponents.He ended the consumer carbon pricing programme - a key environmental policy under Trudeau that had become deeply unpopular in recent years amid high inflation.Conservatives have criticised the tax, saying it raised the price of goods and energy for Canadian families.