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Meetings: Volodymyr Zelenskiy went to Washington to ask Donald Trump for Tomahawk missiles. Before they met, Trump said he would meet Vladimir Putin in Budapest, and now that Tomahawk delivery looks less likely. The timing and location of the meeting are advantageous for Putin and awkward for the EU and NATO. Less certain is what it will mean for Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. A Kremlin envoy revived the idea of building a tunnel under the Bering Sea to connect Russia and the U.S. and suggested that Elon Musk’s Boring Company build it.
Prosecution: National-security hawk and former Trump adviser John Bolton pleaded not guilty to charges of mishandling classified information. He becomes the third of Trump’s prominent critics to face prosecution in recent weeks.
Money: The U.S. federal court system is set to run out of money because of the government shutdown, while Trump promised that ICE personnel and border agents, as well as military troops, Secret Service officers and FBI agents will continue receiving pay. The administration said it would freeze $11 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Democratic states.
Challenge: The British government lost its bid to block the co-founder of Palestine Action from bringing a legal challenge over the group’s banning under anti-terrorism laws.
Sniffles: Fears over bad loans at U.S. regional banks rippled through global markets, which recovered after strong corporate earnings reports gave investors something to make them feel better.
A U.S. jury returned a historic verdict against BNP Paribas, finding the French bank helped Sudan commit genocide by providing banking services that violated American sanctions.
Trump commuted the prison sentence for George Santos and
