Federal workers ordered
to report on colleagues
over DEI crackdown
(NYTimes) — The Trump administration on Wednesday threatened federal employees with “adverse consequences” if they fail to report on colleagues who defy orders to purge diversity, equity and inclusion efforts from their agencies. Tens of thousands of workers were put on notice that officials would not tolerate any efforts to “disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language.” Emails sent out, which were based on a template from the Office of Personnel Management, gave employees 10 days to report their observations to a special email account without risking disciplinary action. The warnings were a dramatic escalation of Trump’s war on diversity programs that seek to reverse decades of systemic inequities.
Trump wants to
rename Denali. Alaska lawmakers don’t
(NYTimes) — President Donald Trump’s plan to return Denali, the Alaska Native name for North America’s tallest peak, to its earlier name, Mount McKinley, has run into opposition from Alaska lawmakers. Shortly after taking the oath of office Monday, Trump surprised many in the state when he announced “we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley where it should be and where it belongs.” But Alaska’s two senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both Republicans, said they wanted to keep Denali National Park and Preserve as is, calling Denali the rightful name of the awe-inspiring white peaks in the home of the Koyukon people and other Alaska Native groups.
Trump administration
cancels flights for refugees
already approved for travel
(NYTimes) — The State Department abruptly canceled travel for thousands of refugees already approved to fly to the United States, days before a deadline that President Donald Trump had set for suspending the resettlement program that provides safe haven for people fleeing persecution. The cancellation of the flights comes on the heels of an executive order signed by Trump on Monday that indefinitely paused the refugee resettlement. The order effectively grinds to a halt the process of bringing refugees into the country, which involves multiple federal agencies as well as nonprofits. More than 10,000 refugees were currently in the pipeline to travel to the United States, according to government data.
Britain says Russian spy
ship returned to UK waters
in sign of Kremlin threat
(NYTimes) — Britain on Wednesday warned that it faced a growing threat of aggression from Russia, asserting that a Russian spy ship had passed by the English coast for the second time in three months. John Healey, the British defense secretary, told Parliament that two Royal Navy ships were deployed for two days to monitor the passage of the Yantar, which he described as a Russian spy ship used for gathering intelligence and mapping Britain’s critical underwater infrastructure. While authorities have linked Russia’s intelligence services to vandalism, arson and assaults across Europe in recent years, threats at sea have generated the most anxiety and prompted the boldest responses.
Reddit users boycott
X links after Elon Musk’s gesture at inaugural event
(NYTimes) — Many Reddit users are boycotting the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, after the platform’s CEO, Elon Musk, twice made a gesture while speaking during a celebratory rally after President Donald Trump’s inauguration that drew comparisons to the Nazi salute. By Tuesday, dozens of Reddit groups had proposed a ban on linking to X posts, with supporters calling the protest a way to show “zero tolerance” for Nazism. But other users raised questions about censorship and free speech. A Reddit spokesperson said Wednesday that although a boycott of X was not company policy, individual Reddit communities were free to propose their own rules.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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