WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump has ousted his national security adviser Mike Waltz  and named Secretary of State Marco Rubio as his interim replacement in the first major shakeup of Trump’s inner circle since he took office in January. Trump, in a social media post on Thursady, said he would nominate Waltz to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, adding that “he has worked hard to put our nation’s interests first.” Earlier in the day, multiple sources said Trump had decided to remove Waltz from his national security post. The retired Army Green Beret and former Republican lawmaker from Florida had faced criticism inside the White House, particularly after he was caught up in a March scandal involving a Signal chat among top Trump national security aides.

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KYIV (AP) — A Ukrainian drone attack left at least seven people dead and a Russian strike on Odesa killed two people, officials said, just hours after Kyiv and Washington signed a long-anticipated agreement granting U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral resources. The attack in the partially occupied Kherson region of southern Ukraine, which struck a market in the town of Oleshky, killed seven and wounded more than 20 people, Moscow-appointed Gov. Vladimir Saldo said. Meanwhile, a Russian drone strike on the Black Sea port city of Odesa early Thursday killed two people and injured 15 others, Ukrainian emergency services said.
 
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 GENEVA (AFP) - The United Nations decried Friday continuing deadly attacks by Myanmar’s military despite a ceasefire declared following a devastating earthquake that killed nearly 3,800 people. “The unremitting violence inflicted on civilians, despite a ceasefire nominally declared in the wake of the devastating earthquake on 28 March, underscores the need for the parties to commit to, and implement, a genuine and permanent nationwide halt to hostilities and return to civilian rule,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement. 

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LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s attempt to give police wider powers to impose conditions on street protests was rejected by London’s Court of Appeal on Friday. Liberty successfully challenged changes to public order laws made by the previous Conservative government, with the High Court ruling last year that the government had exceeded its powers by lowering the threshold for police to impose conditions. The Home Office – Britain’s interior ministry – appealed against the ruling, after a short delay following Labour’s election victory, arguing that ministers had the power to lower the threshold without passing new legislation. But the Court of Appeal rejected the appeal on Friday, and Liberty’s director Akiko Hart said the government should now remove the new powers.

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DHAKA (AFP) - Three days of mass rallies began in Bangladesh on Thursday as political parties seek to drum up support ahead of the anticipated first vote since the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last year. The country’s interim government, headed by Nobel prize winner Prof. Muhammad Yunus, has been implementing a series of reforms. And preparing for elections since taking charge in August, after Hasina fled Dhaka amid student-led protests that called for her resignation. As thousands of people gathered in Dhaka for a May Day rally organized by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, its leaders seek to highlight the rights of Bangladeshis to a free and fair election.