Headline

Trump Calls Bishop ‘Nasty’ Over Mercy For Migrants, LGBTQ Comment

Published

10 months ago

January 22, 2025

US President Donald Trump ordered federal employees of diversity offices to be put on paid leave by Wednesday night, and called a Washington bishop “nasty” after she asked him to “have mercy” for migrants and LGBTQ children.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that US government workers in diversity offices must be put on paid leave by 5:00 pm Wednesday as the new administration moved from day one to shutter programs intended to bolster minority groups.

While campaigning, Trump had vilified diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in the federal government and corporate world, saying they discriminated against white people — men in particular.

He also has demonized any recognition of gender diversity, attacking transgender people — notably transgender women in sports — and gender-affirming care for children.

“President Trump campaigned on ending the scourge of DEI from our federal government and returning America to a merit based society where people are hired based on their skills, not for the color of their skin,” Leavitt said in a statement published by NBC News.

“This is another win for Americans of all races, religions, and creeds. Promises made, promises kept.”

Republican Trump — at 78 the oldest person ever to be sworn in as president — has vowed a “new golden age” for America, signing a slew of executive orders in his first 24 hours on immigration, gender and climate that overturn many of Democrat Joe Biden’s policies.

He also pardoned more than a thousand supporters, including US Capitol rioters, and targeted opponents in a shock-and-awe start to his second presidency.

– ‘Have mercy’ –

The new president has also faced defiance, including a rare public dressing-down Tuesday from a bishop during the customary inaugural service.

The Washington National Cathedral’s Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde told Trump from the pulpit that he was sowing fear among America’s immigrants and LGBTQ people.

“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away,” Budde told Trump, who was seated in the church’s front pew.

“I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.”

Early Wednesday, Trump blasted the Episcopal bishop on his Truth Social platform, calling her “nasty” and demanding an apology.

“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” Trump wrote, without naming Budde. “She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.”

Railing against “illegal migrants,” the president also slammed Budde’s “very boring and uninspiring” service.

“She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!”

Trump issued measures on Monday to suspend the arrival of asylum seekers and expel migrants in the country illegally.

He also decreed that only two sexes — male and female, but not transgender — will be recognized.

And he ordered the closure of government diversity programs, with federal DEI office employees set to be put on paid leave by close of business Wednesday.

– ‘Shameful discrimination’ –

A US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) memo posted on social media platform X by a CBS correspondent said: “Send a notification to all employees of DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility) offices that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the agency takes steps to close/end all DEIA initiatives, offices and program.”

The memo from acting OPM director Charles Ezell directed all department and agency heads to send workers notice by 5:00 pm Wednesday, and submit a written plan for a “reduction-in-force action” regarding employees by 5:00 pm Friday.

“To every reporter asking about this: I can gladly confirm!” wrote White House spokeswoman Leavitt on X, resharing the CBS journalist’s post.

Dated Tuesday, the memo said DEI programs “divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination.”

It ordered all agency heads to cancel DEI trainings, terminate related contractors, and take down websites and social media accounts promoting it by Wednesday evening.

Trump is pushing a turbocharged agenda after his inauguration Monday, in which he gave a speech that mixed dark imagery about a failing America with promises of renewal.

He is also sowing fresh disruption on the international stage.

Trump threatened tariffs against the European Union on Tuesday, and also warned he could impose a 10 percent tariff on China, saying it was “based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada.”

When asked how soon China’s tariffs could be put in place, he said: “Probably February 1st is the date we’re looking at.”

Beijing on Wednesday vowed to defend its “national interests”, and said “there are no winners in a trade war”.

Headline

FULL LIST: US To Review Green Cards From 19 ‘Countries Of Concern’ After Washington Shooting

Published

10 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it will review the immigration status of all permanent residents, or “Green Card” holders, from Afghanistan and 18 other countries following the attack on National Guard troops in Washington, D.C.

U.S. officials identified the suspect in Wednesday’s shooting as a 29-year-old Afghan national who previously worked alongside American forces in Afghanistan.

The individual was granted asylum earlier this year, not permanent residency, according to AfghanEvac, an organisation that assists Afghans resettled in the United States after the Taliban takeover in 2021.

“I have directed a full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” said Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), on X.

The review follows a June executive order from President Trump classifying 19 countries as “of Identified Concern.”

The order banned entry for nearly all nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan. The full list of these countries is:

Afghanistan

Myanmar

Chad

Congo-Brazzaville

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Haiti

Iran

Libya

Somalia

Sudan

Yemen

A partial travel ban applies to seven additional countries, though some temporary work visas remain allowed: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

Headline

Romanian Defence Minister Quits After Admitting Error In Academic Record

Published

11 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

Romania’s defence minister resigned on Friday after saying he made a “mistake” on his CV about his university education, as controversy swirled over alleged lies on his resume.

Ionut Mosteanu – who has admitted to writing on his CV that he graduated from a university he never attended – said he did not want the row “to distract” the NATO member at a time when it and Europe are “under attack from Russia”.

Romania has repeatedly seen drone fragments fall on its soil since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and reported a number of drone incursions.

On Tuesday, a drone crashed in eastern Romania, which borders Ukraine.

Romania has also accused Moscow of “hybrid attacks”, including meddling in presidential elections last year that were subsequently annulled.

“Today, I resigned from my position as minister of national defence,” Mosteanu said in a Facebook post, adding he wanted the country to be focused on its “difficult mission”.

“Romania and Europe are under attack from Russia. Our national security must be defended at all costs,” he added.

Mosteanu had come under pressure after a media investigation published on Thursday revealed that he wrote in a CV that he graduated from a university which he did not actually attend.

That same day he apologised for what he called “a mistake”.

“In a CV I quickly put together in 2016 using a template I found online, there is a mistake that I admit embarrasses me. I didn’t pay much attention to these details at the time,” he said on Facebook.

Mosteanu was appointed defence minister in June of this year, when a new pro-European government was formed after months of political turmoil.

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said in a press release that he would propose economy and tourism minister Radu Miruta take over the defence portfolio in the interim.

AFP

Headline

Russia Insists Ukraine Must Cede Land Or Face Continued Military Push

Published

2 days ago

November 27, 2025

Editor

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims at its own — otherwise his army would take it by force.

The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine in costly battles against outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces.

Washington has meanwhile renewed its push to end the nearly four-year war, putting forward a surprise plan that it hopes to finalise through upcoming talks with Moscow and Kyiv.

“If Ukrainian forces leave the territories they hold, then we will stop combat operations,” Putin said during a visit to Kyrgyzstan. “If they don’t, then we will achieve it by military means.”

Russia controls around one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. The issue of occupied land, which Kyiv has said it will never cede, is among the biggest stumbling blocks in the peace process.

Another important issue in the talks are Western security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kyiv says are needed to prevent Moscow from invading again in the future.

Washington’s original plan — drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies — would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.

The US pared back the original plan over the weekend following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but has not yet released the new version.

Putin, who has seen the new plan, said it could be a negotiation starter.

“Overall, we agree that it could form the basis for future agreements,” he said of the latest draft, which the US is thought to have shortened to about 20 points.

US negotiator Steve Witkoff was expected in Moscow next week to discuss the revised document, Putin said.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is meanwhile due to visit Kyiv later this week, Ukraine’s top presidential aide Andriy Yermak said.

– ‘Little can be done’ –

In his remarks Thursday, Putin repeated the claim that Russia had encircled the Ukrainian army in Pokrovsk and Myrnograd in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region — the most fiercely embattled area and a key target for Moscow’s forces.

“Krasnoarmeysk and Dimitrov are completely surrounded,” he said, using the Russian names for the cities.

Moscow was also advancing in Vovchansk and Siversk, as well as approaching the important logistic hub of Guliaipole, he added.

The Russian offensive “is practically impossible to hold back, so there is little that can be done about it”, Putin said.

Ukraine has denied Pokrovsk and Myrnograd are encircled, insisting its forces continue to hold the enemy along the front line.

Putin also questioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s legitimacy and said signing any agreement with him would be legally “almost impossible” at the moment, a suggestion that has drawn groans from Kyiv and its allies.

According to data analysed by AFP from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces have conquered an average of 467 square kilometres (180 square miles) each month in 2025 — a step up from 2024.

Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the worst armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes.