Judge pauses much of Trump administration’s massive downsizing of federal agencies

Judge pauses much of Trump administration’s massive downsizing of federal agencies
People hold signs as they hold an "informational picket" over DOGE's reductions to the federal workforce. (AFP/File)
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Updated 10 May 2025
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Judge pauses much of Trump administration’s massive downsizing of federal agencies

Judge pauses much of Trump administration’s massive downsizing of federal agencies
  • The order, which expires in 14 days, does not require departments to rehire people

SAN FRANCISCO: The Republican administration must halt much of its dramatic downsizing of the federal workforce, a California judge ordered Friday.
Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco issued the emergency order in a lawsuit filed by labor unions and cities last week, one of multiple legal challenges to Republican President Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the size of a federal government he calls bloated and expensive.
The temporary restraining order directs numerous federal agencies to halt acting on the president’s workforce executive order signed in February and a subsequent memo issued by the Department of Government Efficiency and the Office of Personnel Management.
The order, which expires in 14 days, does not require departments to rehire people. Plaintiffs asked that the effective date of any agency action be postponed and that departments stop implementing or enforcing the executive order, including taking any further action.
They limited their request to departments where dismantlement is already underway or poised to be underway, including at the the US Department of Health and Human Services, which announced in March it will lay off 10,000 workers and centralize divisions.
Illston, who was nominated to the bench by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, said at a hearing Friday the president has authority to seek changes in the executive branch departments and agencies created by Congress.
“But he must do so in lawful ways,” she said. “He must do so with the cooperation of Congress, the Constitution is structured that way.”
Trump has repeatedly said voters gave him a mandate to remake the federal government, and he tapped billionaire Elon Musk to lead the charge through DOGE.
Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, left their jobs via deferred resignation programs or have been placed on leave as a result of Trump’s government-shrinking efforts. There is no official figure for the job cuts, but at least 75,000 federal employees took deferred resignation, and thousands of probationary workers have already been let go.
Lawyers for the government argued Friday that the executive order and memo calling for large-scale personnel reductions and reorganization plans provided only general principles that agencies should follow in exercising their own decision-making process.
“It expressly invites comments and proposals for legislative engagement as part of policies that those agencies wish to implement,” Eric Hamilton, a deputy assistant attorney general, said of the memo. “It is setting out guidance.”
But Danielle Leonard, an attorney for plaintiffs, said it was clear that the president, DOGE and OPM were making decisions outside of their authority and not inviting dialogue from agencies.
“They are not waiting for these planning documents” to go through long processes, she said. “They’re not asking for approval, and they’re not waiting for it.”
The temporary restraining order applies to departments including the departments of Agriculture, Energy, Labor, Interior, State, Treasury and Veteran Affairs.
It also applies to the National Science Foundation, Small Business Association, Social Security Administration and Environmental Protection Agency.
Some of the labor unions and nonprofit groups are also plaintiffs in another lawsuit before a San Francisco judge challenging the mass firings of probationary workers. In that case, Judge William Alsup ordered the government in March to reinstate those workers, but the US Supreme Court later blocked his order.
Plaintiffs include the cities of San Francisco, Chicago and Baltimore; labor group American Federation of Government Employees; and nonprofit groups Alliance for Retired Americans, Center for Taxpayer Rights and Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks.


Athens’ ancient theater closes for three-year restoration

Athens’ ancient theater closes for three-year restoration
Updated 14 sec ago
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Athens’ ancient theater closes for three-year restoration

Athens’ ancient theater closes for three-year restoration

ATHENS: For visitors to Athens, the ancient Odeon of Herod Atticus is the must-see theater at the foot of the Acropolis. Artists revere it for the majestic stage where legends have performed. And for the Greek capital’s residents it is the touchstone of their summer cultural calendar.

The Odeon of Herod Atticus recently opened the 70th season of the annual Athens Epidaurus Festival, a cherished annual tradition for many Greeks. But this edition marks the last before the theater that’s more than 18 centuries old shuts down for maintenance and restoration work that is expected to last at least three years.

While theater and dance grace its stage, music is its cornerstone. Renowned artists who have performed here include Luciano Pavarotti, Frank Sinatra, Coldplay, and Greece’s own Maria Callas.

Its closure will be a profound loss for spectators who have long enjoyed first-class performances under the stars in one of the world’s most iconic open-air theaters.

“When (people) think of the Athens cultural scene, everyone thinks of the festival and Herodion,” said Katerina Evangelatos, the festival’s artistic director since 2019, calling the theater by its commonly used Greek name. “It has become a synonym of the festival. It is the heart of the festival.”


Seven soldiers killed in clash with Al-Shabab terrorists

Seven soldiers killed in clash with Al-Shabab terrorists
Updated 21 min 41 sec ago
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Seven soldiers killed in clash with Al-Shabab terrorists

Seven soldiers killed in clash with Al-Shabab terrorists

KAMPALA: At least seven Ugandan soldiers have been killed in Somalia, an army spokesperson said Sunday, part of the ongoing fight against the Al-Shabab terrorist group.

The soldiers were part of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM, tasked with combating Al-Shabab.

Recent attacks have stoked fears of a terrorist resurgence in the Horn of Africa nation, especially coming as AUSSOM struggles with insufficient troops and funding shortfalls.

The losses came during a three-day siege over a town in the Lower Shabelle region, a Ugandan Defense Ministry statement said, adding the town was recaptured from Al-Shabab.

“Unfortunately, we lost seven soldiers during the battle,” said Ugandan People’s Defense Force spokesman Felix Kulayigye,

AUSSOM, which replaced the previous ATMIS deployment, currently has 11,146 soldiers — although it stated in April it required an additional 8,000.

Somalia has long struggled with the violent insurgency, although the Al-Qaeda-linked group had been forced onto the defensive in 2022 and 2023 by Somali forces backed by African Union-led peacekeepers.

Recent attacks in key towns have provoked worries of the organization’s resurgence, with the militants targeting President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s convoy in capital, Mogadishu in March.


US orders more diplomatic staff to leave Iraq, Lebanon

US orders more diplomatic staff to leave Iraq, Lebanon
Updated 47 min 25 sec ago
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US orders more diplomatic staff to leave Iraq, Lebanon

US orders more diplomatic staff to leave Iraq, Lebanon
  • Washington has a ‘do not travel’ advisory in place for Lebanon
  • More diplomatic personnel left Iraq on Saturday and Sunday

BAGHDAD: The United States has ordered staff from its diplomatic missions in Iraq and Lebanon to leave the countries, with the departures taking place as American strikes on Sunday targeted nuclear facilities in nearby Iran.
More diplomatic personnel left Iraq on Saturday and Sunday as part of ongoing efforts to “streamline operations,” a US official told AFP.
The departures were a continuation of a process that started last week “out of an abundance of caution and due to heightened regional tensions,” the official added.
In Lebanon, the US embassy said the State Department on Sunday had ordered staffers’ family members and non-emergency US government personnel to leave the country.
A statement on the embassy website cited “the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the region.”
Earlier in the day, Washington joined Israel’s war against Iran, with US President Donald Trump announcing strikes on the Islamic republic’s main nuclear sites.
After the strikes, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader warned that bases in the region used to launch US attacks “will be considered legitimate targets.”
Fears were also growing over possible intervention by Iran-backed armed factions around the Middle East, who have threatened Washington’s interests should it join Israel’s campaign.
Israel has already fought a war in Lebanon with the Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah, leaving it badly weakened before a ceasefire took hold in November.
On Sunday, Hezbollah said the US strikes revealed “the true face of the United States of America as the largest threat to regional and international security and stability.”
The group has not previously expressed any intention to intervene militarily on Iran’s side, but its chief Naim Qassem said last week that it would “act as we see fit.”
Washington has a “do not travel” advisory in place for Lebanon.
Iraq, meanwhile, has for years navigated a delicate balancing act between its allies Tehran and Washington, has also long been a fertile ground for proxy battles.
On Sunday, the Iraqi government expressed “its deep concern and strong condemnation of the targeting of nuclear facilities” in Iran, spokesperson Basim Alawadi said.
“This military escalation constitutes a grave threat to peace and security in the Middle East and poses serious risks to regional stability,” he added.


Air India cuts narrowbody jet routes, suspends international flights after deadly crash

Air India cuts narrowbody jet routes, suspends international flights after deadly crash
Updated 22 June 2025
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Air India cuts narrowbody jet routes, suspends international flights after deadly crash

Air India cuts narrowbody jet routes, suspends international flights after deadly crash
  • This is the second such reduction after the crash killed all but one of 242 people aboard this month
  • The airline said in a post on X that the reductions will strengthen its network-wide operational stability

NEW DELHI: Air India said on Sunday it is temporarily reducing less than 5 percent of its narrowbody jet routes for “operational stability,” its second such reduction following a plane crash earlier this month that killed all but one of the 242 people on board.

The airline, reeling from the deadliest crash in decades, said in a post on X that the cuts will strengthen its network-wide operational stability.

Two daily flights from India to Singapore will be suspended along with disruptions on 19 domestic routes until July 15, it said.

On June 18, the airline cut international operations on its widebody aircraft by 15 percent, citing ongoing safety inspections and operational disruptions.


UK govt plan to ban Palestine Action ‘absurd’

UK govt plan to ban Palestine Action ‘absurd’
Updated 22 June 2025
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UK govt plan to ban Palestine Action ‘absurd’

UK govt plan to ban Palestine Action ‘absurd’
  • Member: Proscription would ‘rip apart the very basic concepts of British democracy’
  • Amnesty International UK: ‘Terrorism powers shouldn’t be used to ban them’

LONDON: A member of the UK’s Palestine Action, which on Friday carried out a high-profile protest by breaking into an air force base, has described government plans to proscribe the group as “absurd.”

Saeed Taji Farouky told the BBC that the plan to effectively brand the group a terrorist organization “rips apart the very basic concepts of British democracy and the rule of law.” He added: “It’s something everyone should be terrified about.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is believed to be drafting a written statement on the proscription to be delivered before Parliament on Monday, the BBC reported.

It follows a protest by two members of Palestine Action who broke into RAF Brize Norton and sprayed red paint inside the jet engines of two military aircraft.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer branded the protest “disgraceful,” and the story has raised questions in the national media over the security of British bases.

Farouky told the BBC that he had been convicted for criminal damage after a separate Palestine Action event.

The government move to proscribe the group is a “knee-jerk reaction” that is “being rushed through,” he added.

Palestine Action’s “whole reason for being is to break the material supply chain to genocide,” he said, describing the break-in on Friday as an “escalation in tactics because the genocide has escalated.”

RAF Brize Norton is a hub for strategic air transport and refueling operations, and military aircraft regularly fly from there to the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus, which serves as an operational center for British reconnaissance flights over Gaza.

After the Brize Norton protest, a Palestine Action spokesperson said: “Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US and Israeli fighter jets.”

After self-recorded footage of the break-in was posted online, counterterrorism police launched an investigation. The government also launched a security review of military bases across Britain.

Amnesty International UK on Friday said it is “deeply concerned” over the use of British counterterrorism to target protests.

“Terrorism powers should never have been used to aggravate criminal charges against Palestine Action activists and they certainly shouldn’t be used to ban them,” it said.

Since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza, Palestine Action has carried out protests against arms companies, including Israel’s Elbit Systems, which operates factories in Britain.

Jonathan Hall, the UK’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, told the BBC that the group had “gone beyond protest to blackmail.”

He added: “It’s got to a point where they’ve started to say: ‘We will carry on causing hundreds of millions of pounds worth of damage unless you stop.’”

The UK has proscribed 81 groups as terrorist organizations under the Terrorism Act 2000.