International
Trump pens executive order to get ‘transgender ideology’ out of military

President Trump signed multiple executive orders Monday night that could reshape the management and composition of the military, with provisions addressing diversity measures, transgender service members, and troops who were discharged for refusing COVID vaccinations.
He also signed an executive order to establish a process to develop what the administration is calling an American Iron Dome — a missile defense shield for the homeland.
(Iron Dome is the name often used for Israel’s system for intercepting rockets, which was developed with U.S. support.)
Mr. Trump signed the four orders aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington from a stop in Florida.
One of the orders would reinstate members of the military who were discharged for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
About 8,200 service members were discharged for refusing to comply with the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to data provided by the service branches.
However, the mandate was rescinded in January 2023 by the Biden administration, and since then, about 110 service members have rejoined the military.
The president also signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to determine a policy for transgender service members based on readiness within 30 days.
The action does not immediately ban transgender service members, however, it does state that the Defense Department’s policy for troop readiness is “inconsistent with the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria.
“The order also states that identifying as a gender that is inconsistent with one’s biological sex “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life” and that those doing so “cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”
Speaking about his plans at a retreat with House Republicans Monday at his property in Doral, Florida, Mr. Trump said, “To ensure we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will get transgender ideology the hell out of our military.
It’s going to be gone.”Another order addresses diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the military, banning the use of race- or sex-based preferences in the armed forces, the Defense Department and the Homeland Security Department.
“I ordered the end to all of the lawless diversity, equity and inclusion nonsense policies across the government and all across the private sector and the military,” Mr. Trump said at the House GOP retreat.
“We’re getting it out and we’ve gotten it out pretty much. We did that in one week, and it wasn’t that easy, but everybody wanted it.
“Under this order, the defense secretary and homeland security secretary are to review the curriculum at the service academies and other academic institutions to ensure DEI and “gender ideologies” are eliminated.
The president announced plans last week to end DEI initiatives across the federal government, and the Office of Personnel Management ordered all federal DEI employees to be placed on leave.
International
Education: Denmark permitting use of AI for English exams from 2026
We are launching pilot schemes to try to find the right balance,” Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye said in a statement, emphasising the need to encourage digital learning while upholding teaching standards.

Image credit: Shutterstock
The Danish education ministry announced on Friday students in some high schools in Denmark will be allowed to use artificial intelligence to write English language exams from next year.
The move comes as education authorities around the world debate whether AI is a useful learning tool for those entering an increasingly digital economy, or a slippery slope to producing dumbed-down graduates.
The Danish government said the permitted use of AI in the English curriculum from 2026 would be experimental, and apply only to the oral component of the English exam for the high school diploma.
In that test, once a student is handed their topic, they would have one hour to prepare, during which they would be “permitted to use all available tools, including generative AI”, the ministry said.
The students would then have to give their oral presentation in person in front of an examiner.
“We are launching pilot schemes to try to find the right balance,” Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye said in a statement, emphasising the need to encourage digital learning while upholding teaching standards.
“With students growing up in both analogue and digital worlds, we need to ready them in the best way possible for the reality they will encounter after their schooling.
”When it comes to the written part of the English test, the ministry said students would have to do part of it handwritten to ensure no reliance on computers.
International
Trump pledges to maintain federal forces in Washington amid mounting criticism.

President Donald Trump on Thursday visited police and troops he has deployed in the US capital in what he calls a crackdown on crime, saying they were going to “stay here for a while.”
Trump ordered hundreds of members of the Guard, a reserve force, to deploy in Washington last week vowing to “take our capital back,” despite protests by some residents and statistics showing violent offenses falling.
“We’re going to make it safe, and we’re going to then go on to other places, but we’re going to stay here for a while. We want to make this absolutely perfect,” he said outside a US Park Police facility in Washington.
The 79-year-old Republican was surrounded by law enforcement from various local and federal agencies as well as National Guard troops.
Earlier Thursday he suggested he would go on patrol with police and the military, but instead he made a short speech and gave out pizzas and hamburgers.
“Everybody feels safe,” Trump said, adding that he plans to get the capital “fixed up physically.”
“One of the things we’re going to be redoing is your parks. I’m very good at grass, because I have a lot of golf courses all over the place. I know more about grass than any human being,” he added.
Trump wrote on social media early Friday that “there were no murders this week for the first time in memory” in Washington.
He said Mayor Muriel Bowser “must immediately stop giving false and highly inaccurate crime figures, or bad things will happen, including a complete and total Federal takeover of the City!”
Bowser has said that violent crime in the capital has been its lowest level in three decades.
Trump’s visit came a day after his vice president, JD Vance, was greeted by boos and shouts of “Free DC” — referring to Washington’s formal name, the District of Columbia — on his own meet-and-greet with troops.
Vance dismissed the hecklers as “a bunch of crazy protesters.”
The DC National Guard has mobilized 800 troops, while Republican states Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia are sending a total of around 1,200.
They have been spotted in tourist areas such as the National Mall and its monuments, the Nationals Park baseball stadium and others.
The overwhelmingly Democratic US capital faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.
But data from Washington police showed significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, though that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.
Some residents have welcomed the crackdown, pointing to crime in their areas — but others have complained the show of force is unnecessary, or has not been seen in parts of Washington where violence is concentrated.
– Sandwich guy –
Several incidents involving the surge of law enforcement have gone viral as residents voice their discontent, including the arrest of one man who was caught on camera throwing a sandwich at an agent.
Banksy-style posters honoring the so-called “sandwich guy” have popped up around the city.
The National Guard troops have provided “critical support such as crowd management, presence patrols and perimeter control in support of law enforcement,” according to social media statements.
In addition to sending troops into the streets, Trump has also sought to take full control of the Washington police department, attempting at one point to sideline its leadership.
The deployment of troops in Washington comes after Trump dispatched the National Guard and Marines to quell unrest in Los Angeles, California, that was sparked by immigration enforcement raids
AFP
International
Russia Hands Over Bodies of 1,000 Ukrainian Soldiers

Russia on Tuesday returned the bodies of what it said were 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers, five of whom died while in captivity, a Ukrainian government agency said.
Ukraine returned the bodies of 19 Russian soldiers in exchange, a Russian official said.
Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on both sides since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022, though neither side regularly publishes data on their own casualties.
The exchange of prisoners of war and repatriation of war dead has been one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since the war began.
The two sides have intensified these efforts in recent months during talks in Istanbul.
“According to the Russian side, 1,000 bodies belonging to Ukrainian military personnel have been returned to Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement on Telegram.
“Unfortunately, among those repatriated are the bodies of five Ukrainian servicemen who died in captivity,” it added.
It said law enforcement would begin the process of identifying the soldiers.
The exchange was carried out by agreements reached between the two sides in Istanbul, Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said.
Kyiv initially said the two had agreed to “exchange” the bodies of 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers for as many Russians, though Moscow has always presented the deal as a unilateral decision to repatriate Ukrainians.
AFP
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