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Trump team dismisses reports he will discharge trans in military: ‘No decisions on this issue have been made’

Trump team dismisses reports he will discharge trans in military: ‘No decisions on this issue have been made’

As President-Elect Donald Trump prepares to assume office in January, his administration has reportedly indicated plans to implement certain policy changes that would affect transgender individuals across various sectors. But Trump’s campaign spokesperson and to-be White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Wednesday “no decisions on this issue have been made,” when asked if Trump would discharge transgender military personnel after international reports this week claimed that he would. “These unnamed sources are speculating and have no idea what they are actually talking about. No policy should ever be deemed official unless it comes directly from President Trump or his authorized spokespeople,” Leavitt told Fox News Digital in a statement.  SJSU TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL: TIMELINE OF ALLEGATIONS, POLITICAL IMPACT AND A RAGING CULTURE MOVEMENT SPARTA Pride, a nonprofit organization advocating for transgender military personnel, told Military.com this week there are approximately 15,000 transgender personnel stationed around the world, including in combat zones. During Trump’s first term, he announced via Twitter in July 2017 that the U.S. would no longer allow transgender individuals to serve “in any capacity.” Previously, the Obama administration allowed transgender individuals to serve openly in the military and get taxpayer-funded gender-affirming treatments while serving. Trump cited “tremendous medical costs and disruption” after announcing the roll back of the policy. After legal challenges, a revised policy was implemented in 2018 that only prohibited individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria from serving, unless they had not undergone a sex change and were “stable in their biological sex.” In January 2019, as legal challenges mounted, the Supreme Court allowed the ban to stand. By the time President Joe Biden took office, he reversed the Trump-era restrictions. DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER RANTS ABOUT ‘THE WHITE MAN’ DURING HEARING ON THE DISMANTLE DEI ACT Throughout Trump’s presidential campaign this election cycle, he also indicated certain changes would be made to so-called gender-affirming care for minors, too.  In a video posted to Truth Social in February 2023, Trump said his plan “to stop the chemical, physical and emotional mutilation of our youth” would involve issuing an executive order directing all federal agencies to halt any programs that support or promote sex changes at any age. “I will then ask Congress to permanently stop federal taxpayer dollars from being used to promote or pay for these procedures and pass a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states,” Trump said in the video. CALIFORNIA SCHOOL OFFICIAL COMPARED ‘SAVE GIRLS SPORTS’ SHIRT TO SWASTIKA, REBUKED GIRLS WEARING IT: LAWSUIT Trump’s stance on transgender issues also became front and center on the last leg of his campaign when his team aired an ad targeting biological males in womens’ sports. The ad focused on men in women’s sports and Vice President Kamala Harris’ track record of ushering in sex change procedures for incarcerated people in California. “Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you,” the narrator of Trump’s campaign ad said. Experts say the TV spot had a substantial influence on swing voters.

Iran plans to install 6,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium, IAEA says

Iran plans to install 6,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium, IAEA says

UN nuclear watchdog’s report comes as Iran prepares to hold talks with European nations over its nuclear programme. Iran has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it plans to install more than 6,000 new centrifuges to enrich uranium, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said. The report comes as Iran prepares to hold talks with Britain, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday over its nuclear programme. By also bringing more centrifuges already in place online, the confidential report outlined what Iran meant following a censure by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed last week at the request of Britain, France, Germany and the United States. Iran had previously agreed to a demand by the UN agency to cap its stock of high-enriched uranium up to only 60 percent purity, well below the weapons-grade enriched level of 90 percent needed for a bomb. According to the IAEA, Iran also intends to install 18 extra cascades of IR-4 centrifuges at that Natanz plant, each with 166 machines, the greater capacity meaning that it can enrich uranium at a faster pace, potentially increasing the risk of nuclear proliferation. Tehran has repeatedly denied seeking nuclear weapons. The talks in Geneva will take place two months before US President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House. During his first term, Trump pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” against Tehran, which eventually resulted in Washington’s unilateral decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with world powers. Iran stepped up its nuclear enrichment in response. Majid Takht-Ravanchi, a deputy to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, will represent Iran at the meeting. On Thursday, he met with Enrique Mora, the deputy secretary-general of the European Union’s foreign affairs arm. Mora said on social media platform X that they held a “frank exchange … on Iran’s military support to Russia that has to stop, the nuclear issue that needs a diplomatic solution, regional tensions (important to avoid further escalation from all sides) and human rights”. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs who was also at the meeting, said the 27-nation bloc “should abandon its self-centred and irresponsible behaviour” on a range of issues including the Ukraine war and the Iranian nuclear issue. The EU’s “complicit behaviour towards the ongoing genocide in Gaza” leaves it without moral authority to “preach” on human rights, Gharibabadi said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that his country would do “everything” to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon after Araghchi warned Tehran could end its ban on developing one if Western sanctions are reimposed. Adblock test (Why?)