World
Ruto removes budget for first lady’s office, cuts government spending after Kenya riots

Kenyan President William Ruto has announced measures to cut government spending after a finance bill meant to raise taxes triggered violent protests across the country.
Ruto said he declined assent to the controversial bill after reflecting on the conversation around its content.
The protests had left over 23 people dead as demonstrators breached the national assembly for the first time in Kenya’s history.
During an X-Space engagement with Kenyans on Friday, Ruto said the bill was marred with “falsehood and propaganda”.
The president explained that the bill provided interventions that would have created more jobs and protect Kenyan industries.
The presidency said the bill was meant to plug Kenya’s ballooning budget deficit and reduce reliance on borrowing.
Kenya’s public debt currently stands at 68 percent of GDP, significantly higher than the 55 percent recommended by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
AUSTERITY MEASURES
Ruto said his administration has settled on slashing various governance costs after wide consultations.
The president announced the resolutions in a separate speech at the State House in Nairobi.
Part of the cuts include the removal of budgets in the offices of the first and second lady.
“The budgetary provisions for confidential budgets in various executive offices, including my office, shall be removed, and the budget for renovations across the government reduced by 50 percent,” he added.
Ruto also dissolved 47 state corporations with overlapping functions “resulting in the elimination of their operational and maintenance costs”.
“Their functions will be integrated into the respective line ministries,” he said.
“Staff currently employed by the affected corporations will be transferred to ministries and other state agencies.”
Other measures include the suspension of the hiring of chief administrative secretaries and a reduction of advisers in government by at least 50 percent and with immediate effect.
Civil servants who attain the age of 60 will be required to retire immediately and no extensions will be allowed, the president said.
Ruto also directed the suspension of the purchase of new cars in government for a year — except for security agencies — alongside the suspension of non-essential travel by state officers.
A new policy on transport for public officers will be developed, he said.
Ruto mandated the attorney-general to prepare and submit legislation to this effect and develop a mechanism for structured and transparent contributions for public, charitable, and philanthropic purposes.
World
Trump imposes 25% tariffs on Colombia after US deportation flights were denied entry

US President Donald Trump has imposed 25 percent tariffs on Colombia after its president barred two military planes carrying deported migrants from landing in the country.
Earlier today on his official X page, Colombian President Gustavo Petro had denied entry to US military planes carrying deported migrants into the country.
“The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals,” Petro posted.
“I deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory.
“The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.”
US officials told the BBC on Sunday, that two military planes from San Diego were due to land in Colombia with migrant deportees, but the plans were scrapped due to complications.
Speaking on the matter in a post on Truth Social, Trump said emergency tariffs “on all goods” entering the US from Colombia would be implemented “immediately”.
Trump said the 25 percent tariffs would be increased to 50 percent in a week.
The president said the US would impose a travel ban and “immediate visa revocations” on Colombian government officials.
Trump also said there would be visa sanctions on Colombian government supporters, and enhanced customs and border protection inspections “of all Colombian nationals and cargo on national security grounds”.
“These measures are just the beginning,” Trump added.
The US president said his administration would not allow the Colombian government “to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the criminals they forced into the United States”.
During the campaigns for the US presidential elections, Trump had promised to carry out “mass deportations” of illegal migrants.
The president signed multiple executive orders related to immigration on his first day in office.
Some of Trump’s executive orders were signed to expand immigration and customs enforcement’s (ICE) ability to arrest and detain unlawful migrants on US soil.
World
US lawmaker introduces bill seeking third term for Trump

A Republican house member has introduced a bill seeking to allow US President Donald Trump to run for a third term.
Andy Ogles, the representative, initiated the resolution on Thursday.
The US Constitution does not permit anyone to be elected to the office of the president more than twice.
Ogles’ resolution seeks to revise this to read: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times … ”
According to the lawmaker, Trump “has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation’s decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal”.
“It is imperative that we provide President Trump with every resource necessary to correct the disastrous course set by the Biden administration,” Ogles said in a statement.
“He is dedicated to restoring the republic and saving our country, and we, as legislators and as states, must do everything in our power to support him.
“I am proposing an amendment to the Constitution to revise the limitations imposed by the 22nd Amendment on presidential terms.”
Trump previously dismissed insinuations that he would seek a third term. However, after winning the 2024 presidential election, he light-heartedly hinted that he would be open to a third term during a chat with Republican lawmakers.
“I suspect I won’t be running again, unless you do something,” Trump had said.
“Unless you say, ‘he’s so good, we have to just figure it out.’”
Ogles praised Trump’s slew of executive orders signed on the first day of his second coming, including the handling of the southern border, restricting gender identities to male and female, energy production, and withdrawing from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The 22nd Amendment was proposed in 1947 and adopted in 1951. It was ratified to prevent the President Franklin Roosevelt scenario.
Roosevelt ran for the presidency and won four times (1933-1945). He died in 1945, less than 90 days after his fourth inauguration.
Afterwards, Americans welcomed George Washington’s proposition that any president who served more than two terms would likely gravitate to a king or dictator.
Washington is the founding father of the United States and the country’s first president.
Republicans currently hold a three-seat majority in the US house of representatives.
World
Trump’s official portrait sparks mixed reactions on social media

The official portrait of the US President-elect, Donald Trump, has been unveiled.
Daniel Torok, the president-elect’s chief photographer, shared the photo in an X post on Thursday alongside that of Vice-President-elect JD Vance.
“We are entering the GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA!” Torok captioned the starkly contrasting photos of Trump and Vance.

As Vance struck a relaxed pose, smiling for the camera, Trump opted for a stern, unyielding stare.
The brightly lit photo is also a departure from his 2017 portrait where he smiled warmly.
The president-elect’s stare closely mirrored his mugshot after leaving jail in 2023.
In the mugshot, the 78-year-old stared menacingly at the camera with furrowed brows and a clenched jaw.
He was the first US former president to have their mugshot taken.
The photograph sparked a fundraising bonanza, appearing on t-shirts and mugs. It soon became the physical characterisation of Trump as a politically motivated prosecuted victim.
Trump’s transition team said the official photographs “go hard.” The pair will be sworn in on Monday.
Social media users had mixed reactions to the presidential pose.