Positions ‘terminated, effective immediately’, says email to scientists sent on president’s behalf, in move labelled ‘dangerous attack’ on US innovation

The Trump administration has fired members of an independent board that oversees the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Members of the National Science Board received an email on Friday sent from the Presidential Personnel Office “on behalf of President Donald J Trump” stating that their position was “terminated, effective immediately”.

Redrawn map could flip up to five seats to Republicans as Trump’s party seeks to keep control of Congress

The US supreme court formally reinstated on Monday a redrawn Texas electoral map that was designed to add more Republicans to the US House of Representatives, as Donald Trump’s party seeks to keep control of Congress in the November congressional elections.

The move by the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, formalizes an interim decision it made in December to revive the map of US House districts in Texas.

Special session comes after Virginia voted to redraw maps and as Trump pressures Republicans to protect House majority

Florida begins a special session on Tuesday in what may be the last front of the redistricting war before the 2026 election, with Republicans trying to redraw maps to pick up more seats in Congress.

Lawmakers enter the session in Tallahassee cloaked in mystery, with no preview of a proposed map to consider and no clear path for Republicans to increase their representation in what appears to be a hostile year for their party.

LONDON, April 26 — Britain’s government remains in close cooperation with ‌US security services ahead of King Charles’ visit to the United States this week, a ‌senior minister said on Sunday, after a shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the dinner in Washington by Secret Service agents on Saturday night after a man opened fire on security personnel nearby.

Asked about the ‌incident on Sky News, Darren ⁠Jones, chief secretary to Prime ⁠Minister Keir Starmer, ⁠said the British government and ⁠Buckingham Palace ⁠took the security of King Charles “very seriously”, with extensive discussions already underway that would ⁠continue over the coming days.

“In respect of His Majesty’s visit to the United States next week... our security services obviously remain in close cooperation in ⁠advance of that,” Jones added.

King Charles and his wife, Camilla, are due to ⁠arrive in the United States on Monday for ⁠a ⁠four-day trip that includes a private meeting with Trump and an address to Congress, ‌marking 250 years since the US declaration of independence from British rule. — Reuters

Tom Kean, who has not voted since 5 March and whose seat is top Democratic target, due back ‘very soon’, speaker says

A vulnerable Republican congressman who has not voted in weeks “is attending to a personal health matter”, the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, said on Friday as he struggles to maintain his historically small majority in Congress’s lower chamber.

Tom Kean Jr’s New Jersey district is a top pickup target for Democrats in the November midterms, but the congressman has not cast a vote in the House since 5 March.

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When Pete Hegseth was asked about Pope Leo XIV’s condemnation of the war in Iran, and comments from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops suggesting the conflict is not a “just war”, the defense secretary simply said that the pope was “going to do his thing”.

“We know what our mission is,” Hegseth added. “We follow that the orders of the president. We’ve got lawyers all over the place looking at what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, and giving us every authority necessary under the constitution and under our laws to execute it.”