The United States broke from its European allies Monday, voting with Russia against United Nations resolutions calling for Russia to be held accountable on the third anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine. At the General Assembly, the Trump administration’s envoys voted against a resolution calling for deescalation in Ukraine and a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace.” Separately, the U.N. Security Council adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution Monday titled “The Path to Peace” that does not blame Russia for invading Ukraine. U.N. Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo spoke to the council ahead of Monday’s vote.

Rosemary DiCarlo: “Three years ago today, the world watched in shock as the Russian Federation launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a clear violation of the U.N. Charter and international law. This act undermined the very foundations of the international order.”

President Trump welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron to the White House Monday for talks on Ukraine, NATO and trade. After the talks, Macron said Ukraine must be at the table for any negotiations over its future, that any peace agreement should allow for Ukrainian sovereignty and that peace “must not mean a surrender of Ukraine.”

Health officials in Gaza say six babies froze to death in recent days as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are forced to live in tents and other makeshift shelters in the freezing cold. Palestinians say Israel continues to violate part of the ceasefire agreement requiring it to supply Gaza with mobile homes and safer shelters.

On Monday, the man who’s poised to become Germany’s next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said he hoped to soon welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Germany — despite an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court. His offer came as the U.S.-based organization DAWN — Democracy for the Arab World Now — formally asked the ICC to investigate former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and former President Joe Biden for possible complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity. The request cites the $17.9 billion worth of U.S. weapons transfers to Israel under the Biden administration. We’ll have more on the ICC complaint later in the broadcast with Reed Brody, DAWN board member and veteran war crimes lawyer.

Syria’s de facto leader has opened a two-day national dialogue conference on Syria’s political future. About 4,000 people are attending the talks in Damascus led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s transitional president and head of the rebel coalition that toppled longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad. On Monday, al-Sharaa pledged to work toward the establishment of a civilian state with a separation of powers and the rule of law. He also said the state would hold a monopoly on weapons. Al-Sharaa did not invite the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which controls large parts of northeastern Syria. The SDF is backed by the United States but opposed by Turkey.

Meanwhile, Syrians have taken to the streets to protest Israel’s announcement ordering the interim government to completely demilitarize several southern Syrian provinces. The protests erupted after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces would indefinitely hold Syrian territory it has occupied since Assad’s fall in December.

The Trump administration is revoking a policy that requires reporting when U.S.-supplied weapons are used in violation of international human rights law. The measure was imposed during Biden’s tenure in response to pressure over U.S. arms supplies to Israel. Senator Bernie Sanders said Monday he will move to block the sale of $8.5 billion in U.S. weapons to Israel. Sanders, who also fought against U.S. arms supply to Israel under Biden, said, “It would be unconscionable to provide more of the bombs and weapons Israel has used to kill so many civilians and make life unlivable in Gaza.” 

In Denmark, about 20 activists were arrested at the Maersk shipping company’s Copenhagen headquarters Monday as they protested its role in fueling Israel’s weapons supply. Among those protesting — and arrested — was prominent Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

Greta Thunberg: “We’re currently outside Maersk, one of the biggest shipping companies in the world, that the last year, only the last year, has shipped thousands of tons of military equipment to Israel to arm them during their genocide in Gaza. And we are here to demand that Maersk must stop all the transportation of weapons and weapon components to Israel. They must terminate all contracts and investment that support the genocide and occupation of Palestine.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth welcomed Saudi Prince Khalid bin Salman to the Pentagon on Monday, pledging closer ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: “We’re going to pursue peace through strength and put America first. But that does not mean ignoring partnerships. And in fact, it requires greater attention to the ones that matter the most. And our partnership with Saudi Arabia matters a great deal.”

Prince Khalid bin Salman’s warm welcome at the Pentagon comes just days after President Trump flew to Miami to attend an investors conference hosted by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which has a $2 billion stake in a business run by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and which backs the LIV Golf league that holds its tournaments at Trump’s properties.

An independent federal oversight agency has declared efforts by Elon Musk’s DOGE operation to fire thousands of probationary period employees to be unlawful, paving the way for them to be rehired. Hampton Dellinger, who leads the Office of Special Counsel, said he would ask the Merit Systems Protection Board to pause the firings for 45 days. Earlier this month, Trump fired Dellinger, but a federal court reversed his termination, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to overturn his reinstatement.

On Monday, the Department of Veterans Affairs said it had fired another 1,400 employees, after about a thousand other workers were fired from the VA earlier this month. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports the Trump administration plans to slash the Department of Housing and Urban Development in half — from about 8,300 workers to just over 4,000. Current and former employees said the cuts are likely to upend housing markets, make homes less affordable and roil mortgage transactions. On Monday, TV screens throughout HUD’s headquarters were apparently hacked to show a looped AI-generated video portraying President Trump kissing the feet of Elon Musk. The video was labeled “long live the real king.”

U.S. postal workers were joined by union leaders and fellow workers Monday as they rallied against Trump’s reported plan to place the historically independent Postal Service under control of the secretary of commerce. Workers and customers warn the move could be the first step in privatizing the U.S. Postal Service. Among other things, that could lead to addresses in more remote rural areas not being serviced. The USPS also delivers absentee ballots and voting notices. But any major changes to the USPS would legally require congressional approval. This is Brad Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers union.

Brad Renfroe: “This administration has no interest in protecting public service, working people or really the public good. They want to throw us away and create an unreliable, inefficient, expensive private delivery service. And what do we say to that?”

NALC members: “Hell no!”

The Trump administration has halted efforts to jail immigrants in tent camps at Guantánamo Bay over concerns the makeshift facilities don’t meet basic detention standards. Trump officials had planned to build the tent structures to detain an anticipated 30,000 immigrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border. This comes as Pete Hegseth is traveling to Guantánamo today — his first visit to Guantánamo since his confirmation as U.S. defense secretary. Hegseth was previously based in Guantánamo, where he served as an Army national guard. We’ll have more on Guantánamo after headlines.

In more immigration news, the Trump administration has directed ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to track down and deport hundreds of thousands of immigrant children who came to the U.S. without their parents. When children migrate to the U.S. alone, they are usually placed in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which are both now overseen by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., raising concerns from advocates of further abuse and rights violations.

Here in New York, Mayor Eric Adams on Monday announced the city would be shutting down the Roosevelt Hotel shelter for asylum seekers. The site has housed some 173,000 immigrants since it opened in May 2023 in response to the thousands of asylum seekers who were bused to New York City from the southern border.

Mayor Eric Adams: “We are announcing that the Roosevelt Hotel, which has served as both our asylum arrivals center and a humanitarian emergency response and relief center for nearly two years, will be closing in the coming months.”

The hotel’s closure comes as Adams has promised to shutter dozens of other emergency migrant shelters by June. Adams has been accused of accepting a deal to help enforce Trump’s mass deportation policies in return for the Department of Justice suspending corruption charges against him. On Friday, a New York judge rejected calls from the DOJ to immediately close Adams’s case, but ordered the trial to be delayed indefinitely. Adams on Monday shrugged off mounting demands for New York Governor Kathy Hochul to remove him from office, which Hochul said last week she would not do.

Mayor Eric Adams: “No, I wasn’t concerned about being removed, because I knew I did nothing wrong.”

​​Farmworker and environmental groups are suing the Trump administration over its removal of climate change-related information on the USDA’s website. The lawsuit accuses the USDA of harming farmers’ livelihoods by deliberately withholding crucial information on federal loans, conservation practices and climate adaptation strategies. Earthjustice, one of the legal groups that filed the lawsuit, says its outcome could have major implications across all federal agencies. Trump’s White House removed over 8,000 government web pages since coming to power.

Laila Soueif, the mother of jailed Egyptian British author and activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, has been hospitalized in London after nearly 150 days on hunger strike. The 68-year-old human rights activist, mathematician and mother began her hunger strike as part of a campaign demanding the British government pressure Egypt for the freedom of her son Alaa. He was due to be released from prison last September after five years behind bars over unfounded charges of spreading false news. But Egyptian authorities have refused to count more than two years Alaa spent in pretrial detention toward time served, meaning Alaa likely won’t be released until 2027. Laila Soueif has lost nearly 70 pounds, consuming nothing but herbal tea, black coffee and rehydration salts since September of last year. Click to see our interviews with Laila Soueif and Alaa Abd El-Fattah.