BBC News Briefing

22 January, 2025

Sofia has long brown hair and brown eyes. She is angled slightly away from the camera and is wearing a green top

Sofia Lotto Persio

Hello. The Trump administration is continuing its crackdown on diversity and inclusion programmes. We bring you the details of the latest executive order. In Thailand, same-sex couples are preparing to celebrate the legalisation of equal marriage. And finally, politicians in Northern Ireland have been told to smarten up at work.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Trump puts federal DEI workers on notice

Trump speaks into a microphone. He has blond hair and blue eyes and is wearing a blue suit with a red tie. The cornor of a painting is seen behind him, next to a flag pole.

Trump promised to cut funding to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) schemes on the campaign trail. Credit: EPA-EFE

President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order calling for an end to diversity policies within the federal government and in the private sector. Such policies have been implemented over decades to support people from underrepresented backgrounds, but the Trump administration argues they are discriminatory and harm a merit-based system. A memo obtained by CBS, the BBC's US partner, instructs federal agencies to prepare to lay off staff involved in those programmes, placing them on paid leave by 17:00 local time Wednesday. Read more about some of the orders signed by Trump, and how likely they are to take effect.

Get the latest

Church service: Watch the moment Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde asked Trump to "have mercy" on LGBT people and immigrants.

Trade policy: Trump has indicated a 10% tariff could be imposed on Chinese-made imports as soon as 1 February.

Ross Ulbricht: Trump says he has pardoned the founder of dark web marketplace Silk Road, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2015.

WORLD HEADLINES

A man wearing a black t-shirt and a bracelet recording his blood pressure lays on a hospital bed.

Drug-resistant bacteria spreading in Ukraine

Clinics treating war injuries have registered a sharp increase of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant microbes.

Read more >

Lt Gen Herzi Halevi (L) wears a red beret and an Israeli military uniform. A similarly clad soldier next to him is looking at the screen of a mobile phone.

Israeli military chief quits over Hamas attack

Lt Gen Herzi Halevi has admitted the Israel Defense Forces had "failed in its mission to protect the citizens of Israel" on 7 October.

What to know >

icicles hang from a water fountain. In the backdrop, a statue and a palm tree are covered by snow. Picture credit: EPA/EFE

Rare snowstorm hits southern US states

Four people are thought to have died from cold exposure, as authorities scramble to deal with the atypical weather.

What happened >

From letft to right, Sam Altman, Masayoshi Son and Larry Ellison wear a suit and tie as they attend an event in the White House's roosevelt room. Picture credit: Reuters

Tech giants announce joint AI project

IT firm Oracle, ChatGPT creator OpenAI and investment company Softbank have launched a joint venture called Stargate.

What's the plan >

Prince Harry settles case against UK tabloids

Prince Harry and Lord Watson, another claimant in the case, have received apologies from The Sun's publisher.

Get the latest >

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Thailand becomes haven for LGBT love

Two men wearing tan suits embrace in a passionate kiss. The wedding guests smile at them, taking their photograph with their phones. Fairy lights hang from a nearby tree.

Growing numbers of same-sex couples from other Asian countries are choosing to live in Thailand now. Credit: Getty Images

Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Thailand on Thursday. More than a hundred couples will tie the knot in one of Bangkok's biggest shopping malls, in a riot of colour and celebration. The country is famously open to and accepting of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people. But getting equal rights required a determined campaign to change attitudes across society.

How change happened

A woman in a grey dress with blue stripes on carries a very large, beige handbag over her shoulder. She has her armed wrapped around it.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

For any eventuality

Fashion designers are finally showing love for ludicrously capacious bags.

Here's how