Trump accused of running ‘misogynistic administration’ after Bondi dismissal | First Thing
Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem only two cabinet members to be fired despite string of scandals facing male officials. Plus, why New Yorkers are swapping gas for induction stoves
Good morning.
Donald Trump has been accused of running a “misogynistic administration” after Pam Bondi became the second woman to be fired from a cabinet already dominated by men.
The US president dismissed the attorney general yesterday amid mounting frustration with her performance, especially over the release of files relating to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The move came less than a month after Trump ousted Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary after criticism of her management of the department and immigration enforcement.
In a statement, Bondi said she was “thrilled” about “moving to an important private-sector role”.
Who will replace Bondi? Trump said Todd Blanche, her deputy, would serve as acting attorney general. Lee Zeldin, a former New York congressman who now leads the Environmental Protection Agency, is said to be a top contender to replace Bondi.
Trump warns Tehran ‘more to follow’ after strike destroys Iran’s largest bridge
Donald Trump claimed responsibility for destroying Iran’s largest bridge, a day after he threatened to bomb the country “back to the stone ages” if a deal to end the five-week-long war he started was not reached.
The US president shared footage of part of the newly built $400m B1 suspension bridge between Tehran and Karaj collapsing on to the causeway below amid a rising plume of black smoke.
Eight people were killed and 95 wounded, according to Iran’s state media. The middle of the 446ft-high bridge was struck twice. Later imagery showed a clear gap at the heart of what had been one of Iran’s premier infrastructure projects.
How badly has Iran been affected? At least 1,900 people have been killed and 20,000 injured in Iran since the start of the war, according to a rough estimate by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Artemis II astronauts rocket towards the moon after breaking free of Earth’s orbit
The four Artemis astronauts have fired up their spacecraft’s engine to break away from Earth’s orbit and zoomed towards the moon, a milestone that commits Nasa to the first crewed lunar flyby in more than half a century.
With enough thrust to accelerate a stationary car to highway driving speed in less than three seconds, the Orion capsule engine blasted the astronauts on their trajectory towards the moon, which they will loop as part of the 10-day Artemis 2 mission.
The burn lasting just under six minutes, beginning a three-day voyage taking humans out of Earth’s orbit for the first time since 1972.
What have the astronauts been doing? They spent their first hours in space performing checks and troubleshooting minor problems on the spacecraft that has never carried humans before, including a communications issue and a malfunctioning toilet.
In other news …
A federal judge has thrown out the majority of Blake Lively’s claims against Justin Baldoni. In a court ruling yesterday, Judge Lewis Liman dismissed 10 of the 13 claims in her lawsuit against her co-star and director of the domestic violence film It Ends With Us.
A Canadian woman and her seven-year-old daughter who were held for nearly three weeks in a notorious detention center by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were released yesterday evening after posting a bond of $9,500.
An investigation by Canada’s national broadcaster has found that a big Quebec producer has been diluting its maple syrup with cane sugar and selling the product to grocery chains.
Stat of the day: Maryland man sentenced to 20 years for pet crematorium scam
A Baltimore County man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of defrauding pet owners through his fake crematorium business, returning rocks and sand to grieving victims instead of ashes.
Culture pick: The Drama review – Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s controversial wedding film delivers on its promise
A woman’s confession on the eve of her nuptials causes uproar in this insouciantly offensive provocation from the director of Dream Scenario. The Drama offers us a provocation, a jeu d’esprit of outrage, a psychological meltdown that is more astutely articulated than in many another more solemnly intended film. And it gives us what it promises in the title.
Don’t miss this: Pope Leo’s first Easter: one year in, what do Catholics think of pontiff?
As Leo marks his inaugural Easter as pontiff, almost a year after his predecessor’s death, some Catholics are still trying to work out what kind of pontiff he is. The feast – the most important in the church’s calendar – comes against the backdrop of war in the Middle East sparked by the US-Israeli strikes in Iran.
Climate check: Why thousands of New Yorkers swap gas for induction stoves in clean energy push
A New York pilot scheme is replacing gas stoves with electric induction models in public housing, offering residents a safer and cleaner way to cook after years of disruption from gas supply issues. The pilot is part of a wider $32m plan to install induction stoves in 10,000 apartments. Advocates say the switch could cut emissions and reduce harmful indoor air pollution, though the technology has become an unlikely flashpoint in the US culture wars.
Last Thing: Sex at arm’s length? Male octopuses use specialised arm to mate, scientists find
Sex may seem an intimate act, but scientists have shed fresh light on how octopuses manage it at arm’s length. Male octopuses use a specialised arm called the hectocotylus to place a package of sperm inside the female’s reproductive system.
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