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The US Senate on Saturday confirmed South Dakota governor Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a key agency in President Donald Trump’s push to clamp down on illegal immigration.The vote came a day after US lawmakers narrowly confirmed former Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth to be Pentagon chief, adding to previous national security posts already greenlit for Trump’s cabinet, including the secretary of state and CIA director.Noem, 53, a Trump ally and second-term governor of the north central US state, takes control of the US agency overseeing border enforcement and migrant deportations, but which also leads federal efforts on cybersecurity, terrorism and emergency management.Trump on Friday said he would sign an order seeking to scrap the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), after he harshly criticized its response to two devastating hurricanes during last year’s election campaign.Noem is best known internationally for sinking her chances of being Trump’s vice-presidential pick with her cheerful admission that she had shot her dog, Cricket, because it was “untrainable.”She is also known for making South Dakota — far from the border with Mexico — among the first Republican-led states to send National Guards troops to the frontier, earning plaudits from conservatives.During her confirmation hearing last week, Noem said the southern border would be a top priority, asserting America’s “responsibility to secure our borders against those who would do us harm,” while stressing that the system must be fair and lawful.Noem was also asked at the hearing to address the distribution of disaster aid.She vowed “there will be no political bias to how disaster relief is delivered to the American people.”But Trump on Friday, after expressing his intent to close FEMA, threatened to withhold assistance to California as it faces a historic wave of wildfires, unless the Democratic-led state changes its voting laws and environmental regulations.

Former infantryman and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth was sworn in as US defense secretary Saturday, having narrowly won Senate confirmation despite allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and concerns over inexperience.Pledging to “restore the warrior ethos” in the Pentagon, Hegseth in brief remarks thanked President Donald Trump for selecting him and Vice President JD Vance for his tie-breaking vote in the Senate that allowed his nomination to pass.Vance’s vote Friday evening was only the second time in history a vice president had to intervene to save a cabinet nominee and came after three Republicans — including former leader Mitch McConnell — cast ballots against Hegseth.The razor-edge result underscored concerns about Hegseth, who takes over the Pentagon with war raging in Ukraine, the Middle East volatile despite ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza, and as Trump expands the military’s role in security on the US-Mexico border.The 44-year-old is a former Army National Guard officer and Bronze Star recipient with previous deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.Until recently, he worked as a co-host for Fox News — one of Trump’s favored television channels.Hegseth has a combative media personality, fierce loyalty and telegenic looks — common hallmarks in Trump’s entourage.Supporters say Hegseth’s deployments give him the insight to run the Defense Department better than more experienced officials who would normally be considered for the job.Speaking Saturday after his swearing in, Hegseth said he was thinking of “the guys that I served with on the battlefield, the men and women who I locked shields with and put my life on the line with.””We’re going to think about those warriors with every single decision that we make,” he said.In confirming him, Republicans brushed aside his lack of experience leading an organization anywhere near the size of the Defense Department — the country’s largest employer with some three million personnel.They also approved Hegseth despite allegations of financial mismanagement at veterans’ nonprofits where he previously worked, reports of excessive drinking, and allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in California.Trump has stood by him, telling reporters on Friday that he’s “a very, very good man.”Asked during his confirmation hearing last week about criticism he has faced, Hegseth said there was a “coordinated smear campaign” against him, and that he is “not a perfect person, but redemption is real.”The thrice-married father of seven has frequently proclaimed his Christian faith, and began his remarks Saturday by saying “All praise and glory to God, his will be done.”He credited his successful nomination to “Jesus and Jenny” — his wife.

The United States has ceased issuing passports with a gender-neutral “X” option, the State Department said, following President Donald Trump’s order limiting government recognition of transgender identity.The move rolls back the option first introduced under former president Joe Biden’s administration and leaves an unknown number of people awaiting further guidance on the fate of their pending applications and already issued passports.Trump, shortly after taking office on Monday, signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to only give the option of male or female, as part of an array of actions aimed at quickly reversing policies enacted by his predecessor.”In line with that Order, the Department’s issuance of US passports will reflect the individual’s biological sex as defined in the Executive Order,” a US State Department spokesperson said Friday night.The spokesperson said the department “is no longer issuing US passports with X markers” and has “suspended processing of all applications seeking a different sex marker than that defined by the terms in the Executive Order.””Guidance regarding previously issued X sex marker passports is forthcoming,” the spokesperson added, saying updates will be posted on the department’s travel website.The State Department issued its first passport with the X designation in October 2021 after a long legal battle waged by a person from Colorado who is intersex. It began regular processing of X passports in early 2022.The department has not released figures for how many people have requested or been issued an “X” passport, but a study by the UCLA Law School’s Williams Institute estimated over 16,000 people would apply for one each year.On the campaign trail, Trump vilified transgender policies — particularly as they related to women’s sports and medical care for children — as part of a general broadside against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.He ordered on Monday an immediate halt to federal DEI programs, anti-discrimination policies and recognition of transgender identity, drawing outrage from rights groups and creating immense legal uncertainty.The actions will almost certainly face legal challenges.Many states allow drivers’ licenses to be issued with a gender-neutral “X” option, while several countries have similar practices, including Australia, Canada and Germany.

President Donald Trump sacked at least a dozen internal government watchdogs late Friday, US media reported, the latest shake-up of the Republican’s second term after less than a week back in office.Independent inspectors general of at least 12 federal agencies were notified of their immediate dismissals via emails from the White House personnel director, The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the actions.Inspectors general have an oversight role to detect and deter fraud, waste and abuse by government employees.They are responsible for investigating violations of laws, regulations and ethical standards by employees, and conducting audits of contracts, finances and staff performance.Among the federal agencies affected by the ousters were the departments of defense, state, interior and energy, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and Social Security Administration, the Post said.”It’s a widespread massacre,” said one of the fired inspectors general, according to the Post. “Whoever Trump puts in now will be viewed as loyalists, and that undermines the entire system.”Most of those fired were appointed by Trump during his first term, the newspaper added.The New York Times, citing three unnamed people with knowledge of the dismissals, said 17 inspectors general were fired, and one source said the Justice Department’s watchdog was not affected.Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called the firings “a purge… in the middle of the night.””Inspectors general are charged with rooting out government waste, fraud, abuse, and preventing misconduct,” she said in a post on social media platform X.”President Trump is dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption.”On Tuesday, his first full day in power, Trump announced plans to weed out around 1,000 opponents from the US government.The 78-year-old Republican began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling government policies on immigration, citizenship, gender, diversity and climate — some of which are being challenged in the courts.

The US Senate narrowly confirmed former Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth as Pentagon chief on Friday, despite allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and other fears about his ability to lead the world’s most powerful military.Three Republican senators voted against Donald Trump’s pick as secretary of defense, resulting in a 50-50 tie that required J.D. Vance to cast the deciding ballot — only the second time in history a vice president has had to intervene to save a cabinet nominee.The razor-edged result underscored concerns about Hegseth, who will take over the Pentagon with war raging in Ukraine, the Middle East volatile despite ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza, and as Trump expands the military’s role in security on the US-Mexico border.The 44-year-old is a former Army National Guard officer who until recently worked as a co-host for Fox News — one of Trump’s favored television channels.Hegseth has a combative media personality, fierce loyalty and telegenic looks — common hallmarks in Trump’s entourage.Supporters say Hegseth’s deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq give him the insight to run the Defense Department better than more experienced officials who would normally be considered for the job.He has pledged to focus the military on “lethality” and to bring back “warrior culture” to the Pentagon.In confirming him, Republicans brushed aside his lack of experience leading an organization anywhere near the size of the Defense Department — the country’s largest employer with some three million personnel.They also approved Hegseth despite allegations of financial mismanagement at veterans’ nonprofits where he previously worked, reports of excessive drinking, and allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in California.Asked during his confirmation hearing last week about criticism he has faced, Hegseth said there was a “coordinated smear campaign” against him, and that he is “not a perfect person, but redemption is real.”Trump has stood by him, telling reporters Friday: “Pete’s a very, very good man.”Shortly after he was confirmed, Trump wrote on his Social Truth platform: “Congratulations to Pete Hegseth. He will make a great Secretary of Defense!”- ‘Erratic and aggressive behavior’ -But three Republicans — senators Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell and Lisa Murkowski — were unconvinced and voted against him.Murkowski said on X the day before the Friday vote that “past behaviors Mr Hegseth has admitted to, including infidelity on multiple occasions, demonstrate a lack of judgment that is unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces.”Prior to his approval by the full Senate, lawmakers received an affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law Danielle Hegseth that added to the allegations against him.”I believe Hegseth has an alcohol abuse problem and was abusive to his ex-wife Samantha,” the affidavit said, though it noted that Danielle Hegseth did not personally witness physical or sexual abuse by the incoming defense secretary.Danielle Hegseth however said she “personally observed… Hegseth’s erratic and aggressive behavior over many years,” that she was subjected to emotional abuse by him, and that she was told by his ex-wife that she once hid from him in a closet because she “feared for her personal safety.”According to the affidavit, Hegseth also told his ex-sister-in-law that women should not work or have the right to vote, and said that “Christians needed to have more children so they can overtake the Muslim population.”During his combative confirmation hearing, Hegseth stuck to his opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion policies — long a bugbear for Republicans — saying they are “dividing troops inside formations, causing commanders to walk on eggshells, not putting meritocracy first.”But he sought to soften past remarks opposing women serving in combat, telling lawmakers that “women will have access to ground combat roles… given the standards remain high.”Three more of Trump’s most contentious nominees will soon be grilled by lawmakers.Kash Patel — Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI — Tulsi Gabbard, his pick for director of national intelligence, and Robert F Kennedy Jr, the president’s choice for secretary of health and human services, are expected to have Senate hearings next week.

US military planes carrying dozens of expelled migrants arrived in Guatemala, authorities said Friday, as President Donald Trump moved to crack down on illegal immigration.A total of 265 Guatemalans arrived on three flights — two operated by the military, and one a charter, the Central American country’s migration institute said, updating earlier figures.Washington also sent four deportation flights to Mexico on Thursday, the White House press secretary said on X, despite multiple US media reports that authorities there had turned at least one plane back.The Mexican government has not confirmed either the arrival of flights or any agreement to receive a specific number of planes with deportees.But Mexico’s foreign ministry said Friday it was ready to work with Washington over the deportation of its citizens, saying the country would “always accept the arrival of Mexicans to our territory with open arms.”The flights came as the White House said it had arrested more than a thousand people in two days with hundreds deported by military aircraft, saying that “the largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway.”Some 538 illegal immigrant “criminals” were arrested Thursday, it said, followed by another 593 on Friday. By comparison, under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden deportation flights were carried out regularly, with a total of 270,000 deportations in 2024 — a 10-year record — and 113,400 arrests, making an average of 310 per day.- ‘Bad, hard criminals’ -The Guatemalan government did not confirm whether any of the migrants arrested this week were among the deportees that arrived Friday.”These are flights that took place after Trump took office,” an official in the Guatemalan vice president’s office told AFP.A Pentagon source told AFP that “overnight, two DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft conducted repatriation flights from the US to Guatemala.”Early Friday the White House posted an image on X of men in shackles being marched into a military aircraft, with the caption: “Deportation flights have begun.”And Trump told reporters that the flights were to get “the bad, hard criminals out.””Murderers, people that have been as bad as you get. As bad as anybody you’ve seen,”  he said.Friday’s deportees were taken to a reception center at an air force base in Guatemala’s capital, away from the media.Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration during the election campaign and began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling entry to the United States. On his first day in office he signed orders declaring a “national emergency” at the southern border and announced the deployment of more troops to the area while vowing to deport “criminal aliens.”His administration said it would also reinstate a “Remain in Mexico” policy under which people who apply to enter the United States from Mexico must remain there until their application has been decided.The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Friday on X that program had been reinstated, and that Mexico had deployed some 30,000 National Guard troops to its border.The Mexican foreign ministry did not confirm either claim in its statement.The White House has also halted an asylum program for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Central and South America, leaving thousands of people stranded on the Mexican side of the border.

A$AP Rocky was carrying a harmless prop gun from a music video on the night he allegedly shot a former friend in Hollywood, his lawyer told court Friday, as his trial on assault charges got under way.The 36-year-old, who has two children with singer Rihanna, faces two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm during confrontations with Terell Ephron on November 6, 2021.The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was arrested in April 2022 at Los Angeles International Airport after arriving on a private plane from Barbados, where he and Rihanna had been on vacation.Prosecutors say Mayers pulled a gun on Ephron — also known as A$AP Relli — after a heated argument in the heart of Hollywood, firing on one occasion and causing a minor graze.The two had previously been friends, and had both been part of ASAP, a rap collective from New York, but had fallen out because other members of the group felt Mayers’ commercial success had made him arrogant.Ephron’s resentment “is the catalyst for this incident,” Mayers’ attorney Joe Tacopina said.”It was Relli who was looking for a fight,” he said adding that CCTV footage from the scene showed it was Relli that made the first physical contact.Tacopina said the gun that Ephron alleges was pulled on him was a prop that was not capable of firing live bullets.”The video that you saw shows Rocky holding an object that appears to be the gun, and Relli seized on that and manufactured his extortion.”The evidence will make clear that the object (was) absolutely nothing more than a prop gun… a starter gun, a blank gun, a fake gun. It’s used in pop movies and music videos.”Describing Ephron as “a criminal and a perjurer,” Tacopina said seven police officers searched the scene of the shooting hours later but found neither shell casings nor a weapon. Yet, after officers left, Ephron returned to the scene and discovered a pair of 9mm shell casings he said he had picked up from the street where he was shot at, Tacopina said.With this planted “evidence” Relli set out to extort money from his now-successful former friend.”The evidence will show you nothing more than a money grab, nothing more, a clear intended extortion by Relli (to fund an) extravagant lifestyle.”The trial continues on Tuesday.Before the trial began Mayers rejected an offered plea deal that would have seen him serve six months in jail in exchange for admitting one of the charges against him.A$AP Rocky shot to fame in the first half of the last decade with two mega-selling albums: “Long. Live. A$AP” and “At. Long. Last. A$AP.” In 2019, he was given a suspended prison sentence in Sweden after a fight, in an affair that caused diplomatic tensions between Stockholm and Washington, pushing then-president Trump to intervene.

President Donald Trump took aim at abortion access in the United States and overseas Friday, after promising activists rallying in Washington that he would protect the “historic gains” of the anti-abortion movement.Trump revoked two executive orders signed by Joe Biden protecting abortion access, which the former president put in place after the Supreme Court’s seismic decision to overturn the constitutional right to the procedure in 2022. Biden had moved to protect access to abortion pills and women’s ability to travel to states where the procedure is not banned for care, among other things. But Trump — who has been enthusiastically backed by the self-described “pro-life” movement — undid those protections with his own order Friday. He also cut off US funding to foreign civil society groups that provide abortion services, and put the United States back into an international statement opposing abortion rights.A White House memo issued Friday reinstated the so-called Mexico City Policy — known by critics as the “global gag rule” — which bars foreign NGOs from using American aid to support abortion services or advocacy. The policy, first instituted by Ronald Reagan in 1984, has been implemented by every Republican administration since, and rescinded by every Democrat in the White House. Separately, the Trump administration announced it would rejoin the “Geneva Consensus Declaration”, a 2020 statement of countries saying they hope to “protect life at all stages.”The original statement was spearheaded by Trump’s then secretary of state Mike Pompeo, an evangelical Christian, but rejected by Biden.  Those moves “are direct assaults on the health and human rights of millions of people around the world,” Rachana Desai Martin of the Center for Reproductive Rights said in a statement. – Executive orders -Biden had signed two orders following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn abortion rights. His July 2022 order aimed to expand access to emergency contraception and protect women’s health data, pushing back against any attempts at digital surveillance.The order responded to concern that women’s data such as their geolocation and apps that monitor their menstrual cycles could be used to go after those who have had abortions.The July order also sought to protect mobile clinics deployed to the borders of states that have banned abortion.Trump rescinded that, as well as Biden’s August 2022 order that aimed to help women travel out of state to access abortion services.The moves are part of a flurry of orders Trump has issued since returning to the Oval Office shoring up his right-wing agenda. – Anti-abortion rallyEarlier, Trump had addressed the Washington rally, the 52nd annual March for Life on the National Mall, which also featured masked neo-Nazis. “In my second term, we will again stand proudly for families and for life,” Trump said in a pre-taped video message broadcast to the crowd.Trump, who was touring natural disaster zones in North Carolina and California, vowed to “protect the historic gains” made by the anti-abortion movement.At least 100 members of the Patriot Front, a white supremacist group, marched in military style to the sidelines of the rally and stood in columns holding US flags, Christian symbols and banners reading “Strong families make strong nations.”Their leader Thomas Rousseau — flanked by two men with white bandanas covering their faces — told AFP he believed in “patriotic principles,” including the “restitution of the American family unit.”Some rally attendees were angered by the group’s presence. Trump has touted himself as the “most pro-life president ever” and in 2020 became the first sitting commander-in-chief to attend the March for Life. But he has a spotty record on the issue and refused to back a federal ban during his election campaign.”Praise God for President Trump. He’s not our Savior, though,” said David Makovey, who flew from California for the march.

“Aida” has long epitomized opera at its most extravagant — think sweeping sets, luxurious costumes and even real-live horses, an experience intended to transfix the audience with grandeur.A beloved version of that scale helmed the Met for more than three decades — so staging a new production of “Aida,” a tale of love, war and loyalty set in ancient Egypt, was a tall order.”Because Aida is so big and so expensive… I did definitely feel the pressure of that,” director Michael Mayer told AFP in a recent interview of his production that premiered this month, adding that “I knew that there were audiences who wanted the big spectacle.”Verdi’s “Aida” also has long faced criticism of Orientalism, that it offers an exoticized, reductive view of Egypt through an othering Western lens.Addressing that was among Mayer’s tasks — to “acknowledge, even in a gentle way, the kind of imperialism and colonialism associated with a kind of fetishization of ancient Egypt,” he told AFP.”When you look at the history of Grand Opera, you see a lot of operas that are set in exotic locales,” he said, citing “Aida” along with “Madama Butterfly,” set in Japan, and “Turandot,” set in China, as prime examples.”There’s the sense that that those cultures could be fetishized. We appreciate the beauty of them, but in modern times now, I think we’re all much more conscious of Orientalism and colonialism and imperialism and the idea that these cultures were taken apart and reappropriated — and potentially inappropriately so,” Mayer said. “And I think that contemporary audiences are not going to just swallow it hook, line and sinker, without some kind of acknowledgement that there’s a complexity involved.”- ‘Fresh and new’ -Mainstream critics of the new production have been, well, critical — but refreshing a pillar of traditional opera is a delicate balance, Mayer said.And part of that balance is toeing the line between reaching new opera-goers and satisfying the old guard — or, how to revamp a traditional opera for a contemporary age, without losing what made it adored to begin with.And on top of that, it has to have staying power — a staple of the repertoire that can satiate audiences for seasons to come.Mayer’s approach to the piece involves presenting it through the eyes of a team of archaeologists unearthing an ancient tomb, before the tale of star-crossed lovers, warring empires and treason unfolds in full color.At one point, the archaeologists are seen looting the tomb of its treasures, a reminder of the colonial context.”I feel like my job was to be able to deliver the beautiful spectacle that audiences who love that about ‘Aida’ could get” he said, while also aiming to “contextualize it.””My dream is that I can give everyone enough that it will turn them on, maybe for the first time,” said Mayer, a director who in addition to working in opera has long worked on Broadway.”I feel like if someone’s coming to the opera for the first time, and they’re seeing this ‘Aida,’ and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, that’s like a Broadway show on crack, I can’t wait to come back’ — then I feel like mission accomplished,” he said.Capturing the hearts of those audiences is vital for the art — and the bottom line of institutions like the Met.”The future of the opera in America is really in the hands of the young people,” Mayer said.”They have to feel like they’re seeing something fresh and new,” he continued, “and not living their fear, which is that they’re going to go and see a museum piece that has nothing to say to them and has nothing to say to the moment that we’re in.”

Sarah Jessica Parker slammed right-wing book bans and Jacinda Ardern called for more “empathy” from leaders as the worlds of entertainment and politics collided at the Sundance festival Friday.The “Sex and the City” actress and the former New Zealand prime minister were among the famous names gathering in snowy Utah for the influential indie movie fest, with their documentaries “The Librarians” and “Prime Minister” respectively.Parker helped produce the former film, which follows a resolute group of US librarians fighting back against conservative bids to remove books covering LGBTQ issues, racism and sexuality from school and public library shelves.Many of the movie’s subjects experienced death threats and lost their jobs, but received a standing ovation following Friday’s world premiere, where they were hailed by Parker as heroes.”There will continue to be opposition to freedom of thought, to access to information,” said Parker.”And these librarians, and many more we haven’t met yet, they will be on the frontlines time and time again.”The conservative war on the teaching of books aimed at sensitizing students to racism and gender identity issues has ramped up since 2021.Particularly in Southern states, including Texas and Florida, groups like Moms for Liberty have pressurized or taken over school boards, drawing up blacklists of the books they want banned.They claim these books are pornographic or wrongly inflict feelings of guilt on white and non-LGBTQ students.Among the novels they have targeted for removal — in some cases, successfully — are “The Catcher in the Rye,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Beloved,” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”The film shows how teachers and even students who have pushed back against censorship have endured angry confrontations at local meetings.Librarians in some instances have received threats of criminal action or violence.”It feels like I’m living in a dystopian novel right now,” says librarian Nancy Jo Lambert in the film.”If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I was gonna have security concerns at a librarian conference, I’d have been like, ‘you’re nuts,'” she says, after squeezing past protesters.- ‘Globalist’ -Also on Friday, Ardern attended the world premiere of “Prime Minister,” which takes viewers behind-the-scenes for her five years as New Zealand leader.Drawing on home video shot by her now-husband, it covers her widely praised and compassionate response to the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019 and her more divisive handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.Examining the misogyny she experienced as a young female — and pregnant — world leader, it also touches on her stark political differences with Donald Trump.During Trump’s first term, Ardern took a message of international cooperation to the same United Nations summit at which the US president robustly attacked the “globalist” view of the world.Asked by AFP about Trump’s return and her experiences with him, Ardern deflected, saying: “Empathy, kindness, I believe there is a place for that in public leadership and in politics. “And I hope this story shares that form of leadership on the big screen.”She added: “Ultimately, I can’t speak to any other countries’ politics. I can only speak to the experience I had and the leadership that I believe in.”Aside from the documentaries, Friday at Sundance included the world premieres of surreal drama “Bubble & Squeak” starring Steven Yeun and psychological horror “Rabbit Trap” featuring Dev Patel.Rapper A$AP Rocky and talk show host Conan O’Brien star in comedy “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.”Other A-listers expected at the festival over the weekend include Jennifer Lopez, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chloe Sevigny and Carey Mulligan.Sundance runs until February 2.