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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has told senior Pentagon officials to launch a comprehensive review of the equal opportunity programs within the armed forces.

Steve Bannon, the right-wing podcaster and former adviser to President Donald Trump during his first term, made a bold prediction for Politico about the future of the current White House press secretary.“After she’s spokesman for a year or two, I think she’s going to get a Cabinet position. Maybe chief of staff,” Bannon told correspondent Adam Wren for his extensive profile on Leavitt.Wren added that Leavitt was "open to the idea but has said she’s not qualified to be chief," according to a source "familiar with her thinking."At 27, Leavitt is the youngest press secretary to ever hold court in the White House briefing room. Before that, "she was a 23-year-old MAGA diehard staging a longshot congressional campaign" for New Hampshire's first congressional district in 2022.Leavitt lost by eight percentage points, according to Wren, and reflected on the race by saying, “This was the best experience I could ever have had, 25 years old, like I can’t wait for what’s next.”ALSO READ: 'We know where this leads': How Trump’s crackdown puts Jewish people in perilIt's Leavitt's "self-conceived grit that led her from the White House mailroom to this office in Upper Press," and could take her further, Wren postulated.The youngest ever chief of staff, known as "White House Appointments Secretary" in 1965, was 28-year-old James Jones under President Lyndon Johnson. Once the title was officially changed to "Chief of Staff," 34-year-old Dick Cheney served in the position for President Gerald Ford.For now, President Donald Trump views Leavitt as a loyal ally, and her future remains bright. Wren wrote, "Today, whenever her campaign comes up in conversation, Trump always says the same thing to Leavitt about her loss that November, according to two people who have heard or been briefed on the remarks: 'They cheated you out of it,' the president tells her. 'I’m so glad they cheated you out of the election, because now you’re with me.'"Read the Politico article here.

Jim McGovern and Ayanna Pressley exhort authorities to free Rümeysa Öztürk, calling her treatment ‘repression’A group of high-profile Democratic lawmakers has called on the Donald Trump administration to immediately release the Tufts University graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk, praised her “unwavering spirit” and warned that the White House is engaging in “repression”.In a New York Times essay published on Friday morning, the US senator Ed Markey and representatives Jim McGovern and Ayanna Pressley, who all represent Massachusetts, where Tufts is based, shared more details from their visit to Öztürk this week at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention center in Louisiana, where she has been held since her arrest last month. Continue reading...

Former ministers warn that leader must not be ‘pushed off course’ as Conservatives expect disastrous local electionsSenior Conservatives have warned colleagues against “bloody panic”, urging them not to consider doing deals with Reform or removing Kemi Badenoch as leader, as the party braces for a disastrous set of local election results.Two former cabinet ministers warned against changing direction regardless of the result next Friday, with Andrew Mitchell saying “talk of deals with Reform is misplaced” and John Glen arguing Badenoch must not be “pushed off course”. Continue reading...

President Donald Trump suggested the U.S. may have to "attack" Iran's nuclear sites to prevent the Islamic Republic from building a nuclear weapon, according to a new report in TIME. CNN's Alayna Treene discussed TIME's interview on Friday's Situation Room. "He said that he would be open to meeting with Iran's supreme leader," Treene said, recounting the article's news-making highlights. "He also made it very clear that he's confident the United States can reach a deal with Iran to try and create some sort of nuclear deal, to avoid them from building up their nuclear facility." ALSO READ: 'We know where this leads': How Trump’s crackdown puts Jewish people in peril Treene emphasized "one very key moment" in the interview when Trump "said that he wouldn't let Israel drag him into a war with Iran, but that he would go willingly if a deal is not made. Essentially, saying he is very much willing to attack Iran's nuclear facilities if this deal is not struck." In the TIME interview reviewing his first 100 days in office, Trump corrected a reporter who said, "You reportedly stopped Israel from attacking Iran's nuclear sites." "No, it’s not right," Trump said. "I didn’t stop them. But I didn't make it comfortable for them, because I think we can make a deal without the attack. I hope we can." Trump added, "It's possible we'll have to attack because Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. But I didn't make it comfortable for them, but I didn't say no. Ultimately I was going to leave that choice to them, but I said I would much prefer a deal than bombs being dropped."Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to lead the U.S. team as talks with Iran get underway in Oman on Saturday. Watch the CNN clip below or click the link here.

Alda Curtis, who earned US$1 for the T-shirt she sold on RedBubble, had US$600 removed from her PayPal account without explanationElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastAlda Curtis, a 63-year-old counselling student from Sydney, set up a Redbubble store as a hobby, including selling a T-shirt featuring an unhappy cat cartoon.After years of running the store, a single sale of that T-shirt resulted in a US$100,000 default judgment against her for infringing on the trademark of Grumpy Cat late last year. Then Curtis noticed nearly US$600 had been taken from her PayPal account.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading...

The Vatican is asking mourners not to take selfies with the late Pope Francis as he lies in state at St. Peter's Basilica.Nearly 130,000 people have paid their respects this week after waiting in line for hours outside the church, but the Vatican was compelled to issue a statement reminding visitors to put away their phones while passing the casket, reported CNN.CNN footage filmed Wednesday inside the basilica showed most visitors bowing their heads in reflection and prayer, but some held their cell phones up to take photos of the pontiff's remains.ALSO READ: 'Dictatorship, not a town hall': Families 'distraught' as MTG disruptors tased and jailed“So disrespectful,” read one comment on a TikTok video showing people posing for selfies near the coffin.Church officials issued a statement Thursday in response to the videos after facing criticism for not effectively policing phone use the previous day.A 1996 directive forbids photos or video of the pontiff on “his sickbed or after death” except where the camerlengo, or interim authority, makes an exception for documentary purposes.Technology has advanced substantially since then, effectively putting a camera in almost everyone's hands at all times.The pope will lie in state until Friday, and he will be buried Saturday at the church of Santa Maria Maggiore following a funeral attended by an array of world leaders and celebrities.

Fernando Collor, who led the country from 1990 to 1992, was sentenced in 2023 after being convicted for corruptionBrazil’s former president, Fernando Collor, has been arrested early and ordered to begin serving a prison sentence stemming from his 2023 conviction for corruption.Collor was convicted of receiving 20m reais ($3.5m) to facilitate contracts between BR Distribuidora, a fuel distributor formerly controlled by the state-owned oil company Petrobras, and construction firm UTC Engenharia for the construction of fuel distribution bases. In return, he offered political support for the appointment of executives at BR Distribuidora when it was still state-owned. Continue reading...