The U.N. World Food Programme has said funding shortages are forcing major cuts to its aid programme in Gaza, leaving about 500,000 people without monthly food support in a territory where two-thirds of the population struggle to get enough to eat.

The WFP said it was reducing the number of recipients of its monthly assistance to 1.1 million people from 1.6 million.

In addition, food rations have been halved, cash assistance has been cut for 75,000 families, and the number of daily hot meals for those unable to cook has fallen to 150,000 from 250,000, with some families in hard-to-reach areas now receiving a hot meal only every other day.

Read more at Reuters:

In a post on his Truth Social platform early Monday, President Donald Trump said the Interior Department has “an absolute right” to move forward with overhauling a public golf course in Washington, D.C., attacking the judge who is overseeing a legal challenge to the works.

“The United States Department of Interior wants to take a terrible and very unsafe golf course, and make it into a great, safe, and prestigious golf course. They have an absolute right to do so. It’s as simple as that,” he wrote.

“They do not need an approval. Work is scheduled to begin IMMEDIATELY!” he continued.

Trump also attacked Judge Ana Reyes, calling her a “crazed lunatic,” amid his administration’s efforts to disqualify her from the case.

In a Friday court filing, the Justice Department said the judge’s “conduct rises to the level of deep-seated and unequivocal antipathy toward the Trump Administration,” citing an earlier tense hearing.

But Reyes has since refused to step aside, accusing the Trump administration of taking her words out of context.

“It is easy to weaponize selective quotations to bring a baseless recusal motion,” Reyes wrote. “But it is much harder to meet the demanding legal standard against a full record. By any objective measure, the Government fails to meet the standard for recusal. And the Court does not, on its review, conclude it is mandatory.”

Pope Leo will hold a general audience with pilgrims at the Vatican on Wednesday for the first time since undergoing surgery for lung cancer, the Vatican said.

The 71-year-old pontiff had an operation on October 13 to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, fuelling speculation about how his illness might change his 17-month papacy.

Leo pledged on Sunday, in his first public event since the surgery, that he would slowly resume his usual activities as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

The pope hosts a general audience with pilgrims on most Wednesdays of the year. It is either held in St. Peter’s Square or indoors, depending on the weather.

President Donald Trump’s efforts to interfere with the 2026 elections have almost universally failed. Courts have halted his most egregious actions, Congress has rejected his anti-voting legislation and civil groups have stepped up to support election officials.

The list of Trump’s failures is long.

Courts blocked both of his executive orders aimed at limiting access to voting, including an effort to direct the Postal Service not to deliver certain mail ballots. His administration has lost all 26 cases it has brought against states demanding their full, unredacted voter rolls as part of a plan to run that information through a citizenship database known for its faults. In September, a district court judge ruled that such a plan constituted an illegal “dragnet” that “flies in the face of duly enacted laws designed to protect Americans.”

Read more here:

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Monday that a summit between Russia, China and the U.S. would encourage President Vladimir Putin to prolong the war.

Sybiha reiterated Ukraine’s call for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the US and Russia to find a diplomatic end to the war. The Wall Street Journal reported that Putin had proposed a summit next month with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the war on terms that would favor Moscow.

Hours after Democrats retook the House of Representatives halfway through President Donald Trump’s first term in 2019, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) made a controversial but true statement.

“We’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the motherfucker,” Tlaib, a member of an informal group of freshly elected young progressives known as “The Squad,” said at an event hosted by the liberal group MoveOn.

Tlaib faced intense backlash for the remark, with Republicans eager to point at examples of liberal derangement and senior members of the Democratic Party angry at her overeagerness.

Now, with Democrats on the verge of retaking control of the House, a new group of incoming progressive freshmen, already nicknamed “The Bloc,” are decidedly cooler on impeaching the president. It’s a vivid display of how the party and its voters have lost interest in the idea after two failed impeachments even as Trump’s corruption reaches new heights in his second term.

Read more here:

Speaking to reporters in Uzbekistan on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed discussions are underway about a potential three-way meeting between the U.S., Russia and China about ending the Ukraine war.

“There’s been talks of a meeting. I don’t know whether it’s been finalized, but the president has been clear. He’d like the war in Ukraine and Russia to end,” Rubio said.

His comments come after The Wall Street Journal reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested holding a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss Ukraine’s fate. Crucially, though, Putin does not want Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to attend that meeting.

Meanwhile, Rubio denied that the U.S. ever stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.

“I don’t know where he’s getting these things or why he’s saying these things to the press. You should go back and ask him. There’s been no pause,” Rubio said of Zelenskyy.

“What he should be focused on, and what we want to be focused on, is bringing an end to this war,” he continued.

Zelenskyy on Sunday said the U.S. resumed sharing intelligence to help it fend off Russian missiles following a brief pause.

“We are very thankful for this,” Zelenskyy told NBC’s “Meet The Press.” “Now it works.”

A car hit an Australian federal independent lawmaker on Monday, critically injuring her in a potentially deliberate act, police said. The driver was arrested.

Helen Haines, 65, was struck by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV outside her electoral district office in the city of Wangaratta in Victoria state, a police statement said.

Police did not identify the victim, in accordance with privacy policy, but Haines’ family confirmed her identity in a media statement.

Read more at The Associated Press:

President Emmanuel Macron turned down his interior minister’s offer to resign, telling him instead on Monday to put an end to barricades and looting and be transparent over intelligence failings, as France licked its wounds from weekend rioting.

The protests follow weeks of student demonstrations with occasional bouts of street violence, rocking the country six months ahead of its next presidential election and increasing pressures over a weak economy and surging debt.

Read more at The Associated Press:

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