Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Author:

Trump announces four new executive orders, including to build ‘Iron Dome’

Trump announces four new executive orders, including to build ‘Iron Dome’

United States President Donald Trump has announced he would sign an executive order calling for the construction of an “Iron Dome” missile defence programme. On Monday, Trump addressed a retreat for Republican lawmakers at his south Florida golf resort, the Trump National Doral Miami, where he pledged to bolster US military assets with executive action later in the evening. “We have to have a strong, strong defence,” Trump said from the podium. “And in a little while, I’ll be signing four new executive orders.” The first, he explained, was to “immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defence shield, which will be able to protect Americans”. Two more orders, he added, would be aimed at removing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and getting “transgender ideology the hell out of our military”. A fourth order would also reinstate service members who were discharged for refusing to comply with mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic. About 8,000 members had been discharged for that reason between August 2021 to January 2023. Advertisement Trump framed the actions as necessary to ensure the US has “the most lethal fighting force in the world”. A flood of executive orders Monday’s announcement marked yet another ripple in a tsunami of executive actions Trump has undertaken since returning to the White House on January 20. According to officials, Trump signed a record number of executive actions on his first day in office, amounting to a total of 42 orders, memorandums and proclamations. Many of those initial orders pertained to immigration and social issues. For instance, he made a move to end birthright citizenship, a constitutionally protected right that endows anyone born in the US with citizenship. But some of his early executive orders overlapped with those unveiled on Monday. He called for the end of government DEI programmes, which he accused of perpetrating “illegal and immoral discrimination”. And he signed another order declaring that male and female gender identities are “not changeable”. But the latest raft of orders deals directly with the makeup of the US military and its strategic priority. Monday’s orders, for example, echo a “transgender military ban” that Trump pursued in 2017, during his first term in office. That ban was later reversed by President Joe Biden in 2021. An estimated 8,000 service members are transgender – though more may fear to identify themselves publicly. The executive orders Trump unveiled also coincided with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s first day at the Pentagon. Hegseth, a veteran and former Fox News host, has previously railed against what he described as a “woke” ideology overtaking the military and questioned whether women should serve in combat roles. Advertisement As head of the Pentagon, Hegseth has pledged to oversee a vast overhaul of the military leadership and restore a “warrior culture” in the armed forces. Hesgeth overcame allegations of sexual abuse and alcoholism to be confirmed to his post by 50 Republican senators on Friday. Three Republicans, including former Senate party leader Mitch McConnell, opposed his nomination. Building an ‘Iron Dome’ Trump’s executive order to build an “Iron Dome” fulfils a pledge the Republican leader made on the campaign trail. The Iron Dome refers to a US-funded air defence system in Israel that detects and intercepts incoming rockets. Trump had repeatedly described his desire to top Israel’s Iron Dome system in his campaign for re-election in 2024. In an August broadcast on the social media platform X, he told billionaire Elon Musk he planned to build “the best Iron Dome in the world”. And in July, he added the Iron Dome proposal to the Republican Party’s official platform. But military experts have repeatedly questioned whether such a system is necessary, or even feasible, for the US. The system used in Israel currently only protects against relatively low-power rockets and mortars. And Israel itself is only about the size of New Jersey, one of the US’s smaller states. Experts say creating a similar system across the vast US mainland would be cost-prohibitive, not to mention possibly ineffective, given the advanced firepower of potential adversaries like Russia and China. Observers also point out that the US already has missile defence programmes in place, including the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) programme. Advertisement The future of Trump’s Iron Dome project is also unclear, as it is all but assured to require funding appropriated by Congress. “You know, we protect other countries, but we don’t protect ourselves,” Trump said on Monday. “Now we have phenomenal technology. You see that with Israel where, out of 319 rockets, they knock down just about every one of them. So I think the United States is entitled to that.” Adblock test (Why?)

Trump says Microsoft in talks to buy TikTok

Trump says Microsoft in talks to buy TikTok

US president says there’s ‘great interest’ in purchasing the video-sharing platform facing a ban on national security grounds. United States President Donald Trump has said Microsoft is among the companies considering buying TikTok so the platform can avoid a ban on national security grounds. Asked late on Monday if Microsoft was in talks to acquire the popular video-sharing app, Trump said: “I would say yes.” Trump said there was “great interest in TikTok” but declined to provide a full list of US firms interested in the sale. “I like bidding wars because you make your best deals,” Trump told reporters while travelling from Miami to Washington, DC, on Air Force One. Microsoft declined to comment. TikTok did not immediately respond to inquiries. TikTok briefly went dark in the US on January 18 to comply with a law mandating that Chinese parent company ByteDance divest from the platform or see it banned. Trump suspended enforcement of the law for 75 days shortly after taking office to give his administration time to find an alternative solution to a ban. Trump attempted to ban TikTok during his first term in office over alleged national security concerns, but reversed his stance during his 2024 presidential campaign, pledging to “save” the platform. Advertisement Former US President Joe Biden signed the law facilitating the ban amid bipartisan concerns that the platform could be used to steal Americans’ personal data and manipulate the public discourse. Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold the ban after rejecting arguments that it violated the free speech protections of the US Constitution. Adblock test (Why?)

‘Five babies in incubator’: HRW on danger to pregnant women, babies in Gaza

‘Five babies in incubator’: HRW on danger to pregnant women, babies in Gaza

Israel’s 15-month war on Gaza, as well as severe restrictions it imposed on the flow of humanitarian aid and Israeli forces’ attacks on health facilities and targeting of healthcare workers, have led to “life-threatening danger” for pregnant women and babies, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said in a new report. Despite the ongoing ceasefire, the precarious conditions under which women in Gaza are giving birth are unlikely to improve, the group noted in the report published on Tuesday, as Israeli legislation targeting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and taking effect this week is expected to severely limit the delivery of humanitarian relief to the devastated territory. The group found that women in Gaza have been rushed out of overcrowded hospitals, sometimes within hours of giving birth, in order to make room for war casualties. Newborn care has also been severely impacted, with one doctor at al-Helal al-Emirati Maternity Hospital in Rafah saying that the facility had so few incubators and so many preterm babies that doctors there were forced to put “four or five babies in one incubator”. Advertisement “Most of them don’t survive,” the doctor added. Several babies have died from the lack of shelter amid freezing temperatures. In the 56-page report, HRW concluded that Israel — as the occupying power in Gaza — has violated the rights of pregnant women and girls, including the right to dignified care in pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, as well as the right to newborn care. The group also stressed that two pieces of legislation passed by the Israeli Knesset last year and taking effect on Tuesday threaten to “further exacerbate the harm to maternal and newborn health”. The bills, which bar UNRWA from operating in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem and the Israeli government from contact with the agency, effectively make it impossible for UNRWA to get permits for its staff and to deliver much-needed aid to Gaza. Belkis Wille, HRW’s associate crisis, conflict and arms director, told Al Jazeera that “despite the fact that the ceasefire could provide an opportunity for the healthcare system in Gaza to begin to be restored, because of the laws coming into effect, banning the operations of UNRWA, the reality is that these coming weeks may lead to pregnant women and newborns suffering even more than they already have”. “The provisions of the ceasefire don’t really address any of the significant needs that are outlined in the report,” Wille added. According to the report, as of this month, emergency obstetric and newborn care is only available at seven out of 18 partially functioning hospitals across Gaza, four out of 11 field hospitals, and one community health centre. Advertisement All medical facilities operating in Gaza face “unsanitary and overcrowded conditions” and serious shortages of essential healthcare supplies, including medicine and vaccines. And medical workers, “hungry, overworked and at times under military attack”, are scrambling to tend to victims of attacks while also addressing countless cases of waterborne and other communicable diseases, the report adds. HRW conducted interviews with women who were pregnant while living in Gaza during the war, medical workers from Gaza, and international medical staff working with international humanitarian organisations and agencies operating teams in Gaza. The interviews paint a horrific picture of the war’s impact on access to basic care during pregnancy and birth. Little information is available on the survival rate of newborns or the number of women experiencing serious complications or dying during pregnancy, birth, or postpartum, HRW notes. But the group points to testimony by maternity health experts who reported that the rate of miscarriage in Gaza had increased by up to 300 percent since war began on October 7, 2023. It also pointed to UN reports that at least eight infants and newborns have died from hypothermia due to lack of basic shelter. Israel’s war has led to an unprecedented displacement of some 90 percent of Gaza’s residents, many of whom were displaced multiple times. That has made it impossible for pregnant women to safely access health services, the report found, noting that mothers and newborns have had almost no access to postnatal care. Advertisement Late last year, Human Rights Watch concluded in a different report that Israel was committing “acts of genocide” by denying clean water to Palestinians in Gaza. It also found that Israel’s use of “starvation as a method of warfare” led to severe food insecurity. Pregnant women have been particularly impacted by lack of access to food and water, with critical consequences for their own health and for fetal development. Many pregnant women have reported dehydration or being unable to wash themselves, the report added. “Israeli authorities’ blatant and repeated violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law in Gaza have had a particular and acute impact on pregnant women and girls and newborns,” Wille said. “The ceasefire alone won’t end these horrific conditions. Governments should press Israel to urgently ensure that the needs of pregnant women and girls, newborns, and others requiring health care are met.” Adblock test (Why?)