NOAA fires about 800 employees, with more possible Friday
CNN
The Trump administration has its government-shrinking sights set on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where around 800 employees have been tapped for termination, according to two sources close to the agency.
The Trump administration has its government-shrinking sights set on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where around 800 employees have been tapped for termination, according to two sources close to the agency. More layoffs are possible Friday, one of the sources said, potentially costing the weather, climate and environmental agency more than a thousand employees by the end of the week. Most divisions of the agency, which employs scientists and specialists in weather, oceans, biodiversity, climate and other research and planetary monitoring fields, were affected. Probationary employees — those that have been in their jobs for a year or less, in most cases — were fired Thursday, a person inside the National Weather Service told CNN. There are between 350 and 375 employees with that status at the weather service, though it’s not clear how many of those were impacted; the person has heard there were some exemptions given to critical positions — likely life-threatening disaster forecasting roles, including hurricanes and severe thunderstorms. National Weather Service employees are protected by a workers’ union, which was trying Thursday night to contact affected employees. Some employees who were fired said on social media that they were going to explore their legal options. The people who were charged with conducting the terminations seemed to have acted in a way that would minimize paper trails, a source close to NOAA said, making it difficult for others at the agency to know who was affected and leaving the word of firings to spread by word of mouth.
A Peruvian fisherman has been found alive in the Pacific Ocean after spending 95 days lost at sea, Peru’s state news agency Andina reported Saturday.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s ability to use a sweeping wartime authority to quickly deport some migrants whom the US has accused of being affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
President Trump says he has ordered a “decisive” military action against Houthi rebels in Yemen, opening a new salvo against the Iran-backed group that has targeted shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
Trump’s return was widely seen as a harbinger of a second populist wave that would oust establishment figures all over the west. But a backlash against “America First” mayhem has lifted leaders seeking to operate in the political middle, like Canada’s Mark Carney.
Democrats have long found the flip phone Chuck Schumer still insists on using as an endearing quirk that illustrates how committed he is to his way of talking to all sorts of allies, all the time.
A powerful storm system roared across the Midwest and South Friday night, unleashing a series of tornadoes that carved paths of destruction and left at least three dead in Missouri.
An executive order from Trump denying federal funding for providers of gender-affirming health care for minors threatens to upend care for many people. A Trump voter says he agrees with the president on everything but trans issues.
The chaos at the Internal Revenue Service began almost immediately after the first envoy from the Department of Government Efficiency arrived last month at the agency’s Washington, DC, headquarters.
Cuba is suffering a nationwide blackout after its national power grid collapsed, leaving more than 10 million people in the dark.
Cuba’s power grid collapsed Friday night, triggering a nationwide power outage and plunging more than 10 million people into darkness.
A federal appeals court will allow the Trump administration to implement directives from the president cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, as an appeal of a ruling pausing those orders plays out.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said that South Africa’s ambassador to the United States “is no longer welcome in our great country.”
The Trump administration is tightening its grip on efforts to quash pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses, even as a protest over the detention of activist Mahmoud Khalil flared at the president’s New York City residence and resistance efforts continue in the courts and beyond.