Headline

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

Published

9 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

US Revokes Visas Of Foreigners Who Mocked Kirk’s Assassination

Published

23 hours ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

The United States has revoked the visas of several foreign nationals who publicly mocked or celebrated the killing of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk, officials confirmed on Tuesday.

The State Department said the decision followed an internal review of social media posts deemed “offensive and contrary to U.S. values,” adding that the country “has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans.”

Kirk, 31, co-founder of the conservative youth group Turning Point USA and a strong ally of former President Donald Trump, was shot dead during a political rally on 10 September.

His killing drew widespread condemnation across the political spectrum, with many describing the act as a targeted attack on free speech.

According to U.S. authorities, at least six individuals from Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, and Germany had their visas revoked after making comments online that celebrated Kirk’s murder or insulted his supporters.

Examples cited by officials included posts calling Kirk a racist who deserved it, and messages mocking grieving Americans.

“We will not tolerate foreigners who promote or celebrate acts of violence against U.S. citizens,” a State Department spokesperson said.

The move underscores Washington’s growing use of immigration powers to respond to online behaviour perceived as threatening or disrespectful towards the country.

The Department said it continues to monitor social media content for evidence of incitement or endorsement of violence.
Civil liberties advocates, however, have questioned the decision, arguing that revoking visas for social media comments could set a worrying precedent.

Officials maintained that the visa cancellations were lawful, limited in scope, and aimed at protecting national integrity.

“Freedom of speech does not extend to foreigners seeking the privilege of entry while glorifying violence,” the spokesperson added.

The United States has increased visa scrutiny in recent years, requiring applicants to disclose social media handles and online activity.

The policy, officials say, is designed to prevent extremist sympathisers or those expressing hostility towards the country from entering its borders

Headline

Israeli PM Netanyahu Back In Court For Graft Trial

Published

1 day ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was back in a Tel Aviv court on Wednesday for the latest hearing in his long-running corruption trial, which opened in May 2020.

The prime minister kept a smiling face as he and his entourage of several ministers from his conservative Likud party were heckled by protesters en route to the tribunal.

It comes after US President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that the Israeli premier should be pardoned in his three separate corruption cases.

His latest appearance at the Tel Aviv court also follows the return of the hostages taken by Hamas as part of Trump’s US-brokered plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

In one case, Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods, including champagne, cigars and jewellery, from billionaires in exchange for political favours.

In two other instances, Netanyahu is also charged with attempting to negotiate better press coverage from two Israeli media outlets. He has denied any wrongdoing, claiming to be the victim of a political plot.

During his current term, which started in late 2022, Netanyahu has proposed far-reaching judicial reforms that critics say sought to weaken the courts.

Those prompted massive protests that only abated after the onset of the Gaza war, sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

In an address on Monday to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, Trump told the chamber that Netanyahu should receive a pardon in the graft cases.

“Cigars and champagne, who the hell cares about that?” Trump joked, before asking his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog: “Why don’t you give him a pardon?”

The Israeli premier is also subject to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on suspicion of ordering war crimes in his government’s assault on Hamas militants in Gaza.

Netanyahu holds the record for the most years spent at the head of Israel’s government, having served 18 years in several stints as premier since 1996.

AFP

Headline

FULL LIST: US Set To Carry Out Four Executions This Week

Published

1 day ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

A Florida man convicted of murdering two women he hired for sex was put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday, one of four executions to be carried out in the United States this week.

Samuel Smithers, 72, was sentenced to death in 1999 for the 1996 killings of Christy Cowan and Denise Roach in Tampa. They had been beaten and strangled and their bodies were found in a pond.

Smithers was executed at a Florida state prison at 6:15 pm (2215 GMT), the 14th execution in the southern state this year.

Another convicted murderer was also put to death by lethal injection in the midwestern state of Missouri on Tuesday.

The execution of Lance Shockley, 48, was carried out at 6:13 pm (2313 GMT) for the 2005 murder of a police sergeant, Carl Graham.

Graham was gunned down in an ambush at his home. The officer had been investigating a fatal car accident involving Shockley at the time.

Shockley maintained his innocence but his appeals were rejected by numerous courts, including the Supreme Court. Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe rejected his clemency request on Monday.

Two other executions are scheduled this week.

Charles Crawford, 59, is to be put to death by lethal injection in Mississippi on Wednesday for the 1994 rape and murder of Kristy Ray, a 20-year-old college student.

Richard Djerf, 55, is to be executed by lethal injection in Arizona on Friday for the brutal 1993 murders of four members of a Phoenix family.

In a letter last month apologizing for the crime, Djerf said he was ready to die and would not seek clemency.

“If I can’t find reason to spare my life, what reason would anyone else have?” he wrote.

There have been 37 executions in the United States this year, the most since 2013, when 39 inmates were put to death.

Florida has carried out the most executions with 14, followed by Texas with five and South Carolina and Alabama with four.

Thirty-one of this year’s executions have been carried out by lethal injection, two by firing squad and four by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.

The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.

President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and, on his first day in office, called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”