“US District Judge John D. Bates has ordered the Center for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration to restore the web pages and resources they had previously removed to comply with President Trump’s executive order related to gender ideology. Bates gave the agencies until February 11, 11:59 PM Eastern time, to comply. As of this writing, the CDC website on ‘Transgender and Gender Diverse Persons’ is already back online with a note up top that says the CDC’s website ‘is being modified to comply with President Trump’s Executive Orders.’ The judge’s decision is part of a temporary restraining order that he has granted as requested by the Doctors for America. Represented by Public Citizen, the non-profit organization sued the CDC (PDF), the FDA and the Department of Health in February. It also sued the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which issued the memo for the pages’ removal.” (02/12/25)
“Teachers throughout Algeria went on strike Wednesday to protest low salaries and deteriorating working conditions, following demonstrations staged by students last month in an unusual outpouring of protest. Students stood outside shuttered classrooms and roamed aimlessly on Tuesday, when teachers started a two-day strike. The action by teachers and students comes at a time when public criticism of the government is becoming rarer. Teachers say the strike is significant amid a gradual shrinking of rights, including for women, the press and opposition parties.” (02/12/25)
“Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has appointed a new fentanyl tsar as his country seeks to address border concerns from US President Donald Trump that have prompted trade tariff threats. Kevin Brosseau, a former member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and intelligence adviser to Trudeau, will begin the role immediately. Trump’s threat to impose import taxes of 25% on all goods from Canada was paused for 30 days in February, after he struck a deal with Trudeau that included new US-Canada border measures. On Monday, Trump added another threat, saying he planned to add a 25% tax on global steel and aluminum imports to the US from 12 March. If it goes ahead, that will particularly affect Canada, which supplies the US with more steel and aluminum products than any other country.” (02/12/25)
“U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday made the first trip to NATO by a member of the new Trump administration, as the allies wait to learn how much military and financial support Washington intends to provide to Ukraine’s government. Hegseth held talks with U.K. Defence Secretary John Healey, before a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Hegseth’s predecessor, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, set up the forum for drumming up arms and ammunition for Ukraine in 2022. Over nearly three years, around 50 countries have collectively provided Ukraine more than $126 billion in weapons and military assistance.” (02/12/25)
“A lieutenant of Trump ally Elon Musk and other outsiders are overseeing the immediate termination of hundreds of American aid and foreign assistance programs abroad this week, without required documentation or justification, according to newly filed affidavits from staffers and accounts Wednesday from U.S. officials. Meanwhile, other affidavits from USAID staffers until recently based in Congo describe the gutting of their agency by President Donald Trump and Musk, which they said left them abandoned and in danger from political violence in the African country’s capital. As chaos reigned at USAID’s headquarters, with senior leadership removed and funding frozen, USAID workers and their families abroad had no agency help in fleeing after looters overran their homes in Kinshasa, several of the staffers said in sworn accounts to a federal court.” (02/12/25)
“As the fallout deepens between the Philippines’ two biggest political clans with Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio facing an impeachment bid thought to be orchestrated by the president and his allies, the Duterte camp has countered with a corruption complaint filed against House Speaker Martin Romualdez. Observers are also mixed on how soon Duterte-Carpio would stand trial or whether it would take place at all, given the Congress recess and its dissolution after the May midterm election. The latest corruption allegations against Romualdez were lodged with the Office of the Ombudsman currently headed by Samuel Martires, an appointee of former president and Sara’s father Rodrigo Duterte.” (02/12/25)
“The Department of Homeland Security says it has taken back $59 million in FEMA funds earmarked for hotels housing migrants in New York City, a day after it fired those involved in making the payment. ‘Secretary Noem has clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels,’ a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital. ‘There will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people,’ they said. The announcement came after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said it had uncovered $59 million in payments for luxury hotels for migrants who had flooded into the sanctuary city during the recent crisis [sic] at the southern border.” (02/12/25)
“Current and former U.S. government workers, their unions and privacy advocates have filed a lawsuit asking the courts to stop the Trump administration from disclosing millions of Americans’ information to Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. Filed Tuesday, the lawsuit states that the Office of Personnel Management violated the Privacy Act by giving DOGE agents access to its systems and records, which contain highly sensitive personal and employment information of tens of millions of current and former federal employees, contractors and job applicants. According to the court document, the Privacy Act of 1974 makes it illegal for the OPM to grant DOGE access of the information, as DOGE ‘lacks a lawful and legitimate need for such access.'” (02/12/25)
“A senior figure in Ukraine’s intelligence service (SBU) has been arrested on suspicion of working as a Russian agent. The service did not name the man, who it said was chief of staff of its anti-terrorism centre, but Ukrainian media quoting sources in the SBU say he is Col Dmytro Kozyura. Local media showed him handcuffed while being arrested by SBU head Vasyl Malyuk. A statement said there were at least 14 instances in which the suspect, who it described as ‘a rat,’ had collected and transmitted information to Russia. The SBU said the investigation involved audio and video monitoring, as well as gaining access to mobile phones and computers. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has announced numerous operations to expose Russian agents on its soil.” (02/12/25)
“Libya’s Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Adel Jumaa has been injured following a gun attack in the capital. The Libya Observer and Anadolu Agency reported on Wednesday that unknown gunmen opened fire on Jumaa’s vehicle in Tripoli, leaving him wounded in the leg. The report said Jumaa was rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery following the attack. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.” (02/12/25)
