‘I feel betrayed’: federal health workers fired by Trump tell of ‘nightmare’

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US workers laid off despite years of experience and stellar performance describe widespread chaos and confusion

As protesters gathered outside the headquarters of US health agencies to call attention to mass layoffs devastating the federal service in recent days, more employees at health agencies were terminated on Wednesday, including employees with years of experience and stellar performance reviews who were not probationary.

Thousands of terminated employees across the federal government are appealing the decision. Some former employees are struggling to apply for unemployment or understand when their benefits expire in the chaotic termination process.

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Americans’ confidence in air travel falls after string of plane crashes, poll shows

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Survey indicates 64% of Americans believe flying is safe, down from 71% who said so last year

Americans’ confidence in aviation has slipped following a string of plane crashes in 2025, according to a new poll.

As of this year 64% of Americans said they believe air travel is very or somewhat safe, marking a decrease from 71% of Americans who indicated so last year, said the poll, conducted by AP-NORC and released on Wednesday.

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Mitch McConnell won’t seek Senate re-election in 2026

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Republican Kentucky lawmaker formally announced his retirement in a Senate floor speech on Thursday

Senator Mitch McConnell announced he will not run for re-election next year, bringing an end to a decades-long career for a Republican leader who marshaled his party through multiple administrations with a singleminded focus on power that enraged his critics and delighted his allies.

The Associated Press broke the news of McConnell’s retirement on Thursday, which marked the Republican senator’s 83rd birthday. McConnell formally announced his retirement in a Senate floor speech on Thursday.

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Trump’s savage attack on Zelenskyy shaped by pro-Russian coterie

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‘Kremlin whisperers’ have the president’s ear and dissenters are few – but a thin skin and self-interest are also at play

Donald Trump’s tarring of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “dictator” who is to blame for the war with Russia, plunging Ukraine into a Darwinian struggle for its very existence, landed like a bombshell on the diplomatic landscape. But it did not come out of nowhere.

The US president has left the already badly frayed western alliance in disarray with a devastating social media attack on his Ukrainian counterpart, just hours after he had already implicitly blamed Kyiv for Russia’s invasion.

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Writer quits Society of Authors over union’s ‘betrayal’ of Jerusalem bookshop raided by Israeli police

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Matthew Teller, whose books include Nine Quarters of Jerusalem, said the society’s response to the event which saw two leading booksellers detained was ‘an abject failure’

A writer has left the Society of Authors (SoA) in protest after the UK’s largest writers’ body made a statement on a recent Israeli police raid on a Palestinian-owned bookstore without mentioning Israel, Palestine or the names of the booksellers who were arrested.

Matthew Teller, the author of books including Nine Quarters of Jerusalem, said the SoA’s statement “added insult to the injury” and was a “betrayal”, leading to him cancelling his membership on Tuesday.

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‘One of the hardest days’ in Israel as Hamas hands over hostages’ bodies

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Remains of two young children, an elderly man and an unidentified fourth person arrive in Tel Aviv after ‘cruel’ handover in Gaza

The remains of two young children and an elderly man who were taken hostage by Hamas, as well as a fourth person who remains unidentified, have been handed over to Israel in what onlookers described as one of the “hardest days” for Israelis since the Palestinian militant group attack that ignited the war in Gaza.

A convoy carrying what was thought to be the bodies of Shiri Bibas, 32, her sons Ariel and Kfir, four years and nine months old respectively, and 85-year-old Oded Lifshitz, all from the Nir Oz kibbutz, arrived at a forensics centre in Tel Aviv yesterday for DNA checks and autopsy procedures.

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Next Likely Chancellor Promises a Tougher Germany – The New York Times

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  1. Next Likely Chancellor Promises a Tougher Germany  The New York Times
  2. Katya Adler: Far right looks for election breakthrough as Germany falters  BBC.com
  3. A German election road trip with the far right on the up - podcast  The Guardian
  4. Young voters are powering the rise of Germany’s far-right AfD party  CNN
  5. Germany's Gen Z Leans Right As Nation Votes For New Government This Sunday  NDTV
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Mexico will not stand US ‘invasion’ in fight against cartels, president says

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Claudia Sheinbaum’s warning follows Washington designating Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations

Mexico will never tolerate an “invasion” of its national sovereignty by the United States, Claudia Sheinbaum has warned after Washington designated Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations.

“This cannot be an opportunity for the US to invade our sovereignty,” the Mexican president said. “With Mexico, it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination or interventionism, and even less invasion.”

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Saudi Crown Prince MBS Rallies Arab Leaders on Gaza Plan to Thwart Trump – Bloomberg

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  1. Saudi Crown Prince MBS Rallies Arab Leaders on Gaza Plan to Thwart Trump  Bloomberg
  2. Egypt and its neighbors working on alternative to Trump's Gaza plan that wouldn't displace Palestinians  CBS News
  3. Arab leaders set to meet to counter Trump’s Gaza plan  Al Jazeera English
  4. Trump says he has not seen Egyptian counter to his plan for Gaza  Voice of America
  5. Alarmed by Trump’s Gaza Plan, Arab Leaders Brainstorm on Their Own  The New York Times
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