In a notable statement, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte defended German Chancellor Olaf Scholz against criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Rutte emphasized the substantial military support Germany has provided to Ukraine, ranking it second only to the United States. He urged Zelensky to cease his criticisms, describing them as unjustified.
In a significant move regarding capital punishment, U.S. President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 individuals on death row to life imprisonment without parole, just before the end of his presidency. Biden expressed his belief that the federal death penalty should be abolished, while maintaining the death sentences for three individuals convicted of terrorism and mass murder, including Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, responsible for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.