伊朗德黑兰机场宣布增加航线和航班频次

2026年4月29日 16:47 / 联合早报

伊朗伊玛目霍梅尼国际机场星期三（4月29日）宣布，增加航线和航班频次，以应对上述机场业务的增加。 （路透社）

伊朗伊玛目霍梅尼国际机场宣布增加航线和航班频次，以应对机场业务的增加。

新华社引述朗伊斯兰共和国通讯社报道，伊玛目霍梅尼机场城首席执行官阿扎尔星期三（4月29日）说，与前几天相比，伊玛目霍梅尼国际机场的空中交通量显著增加。

阿扎尔说，自客运航班日前恢复以来，已完成规划并获得必要许可，开通或即将开通从德黑兰飞往伊斯坦布尔、曼谷、马斯喀特、莫斯科、北京等地的航班。

他说，伊玛目霍梅尼国际机场两个航站楼的出入境通道均严格遵守相关标准，并在安全的环境下运行。

据伊朗媒体日前报道，伊玛目霍梅尼国际机场上星期六（25日）恢复运营。

Warsh faces first big test on Capitol Hill as Trump’s Fed vision comes into focus

April 29, 2026 5:00am EDT / Fox News

Senate Banking Committee set to vote Wednesday on Trump’s Fed pick Warsh

Kevin Warsh has pledged to keep the Fed ‘in its lane’ while signaling openness to closer coordination with elected leaders

By Amanda Macias, Fox News

WATCH: Trump Fed pick says he’s no ‘sock puppet’

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., pressed Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh on his independence from the Trump administration during a congressional hearing.

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The Senate Banking Committee will vote Wednesday on President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, in a key test of how much influence the White House can exert over the central bank.

If he clears committee, Warsh’s nomination heads to the Senate floor, where Republicans’ narrow majority leaves little room for defections if they want to place Trump’s pick at the helm of the Fed for the next four years.

The Federal Reserve operates largely out of public view, but its influence touches nearly every corner of the U.S. economy — shaping borrowing costs, job growth and inflation, making the outcome of his nomination a key moment for how that power could be steered.

FROM MORTGAGES TO CAR LOANS: HOW AFFORDABILITY RISES AND FALLS WITH THE FED

Kevin Warsh is a former Morgan Stanley banker and became the youngest member of the Fed’s Board of Governors in 2006.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Warsh’s potential ascent to lead the world’s most powerful central bank comes at a particularly volatile moment. The Federal Reserve is grappling with persisting inflation, economic ripples of the war in Iran and a looming Supreme Court decision over Fed Governor Lisa Cook — all while political pressure builds ahead of the midterm elections in November.

The path to a Senate Banking Committee vote on Warsh’s nomination was finally able to move forward after the Justice Department closed its probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after months of scrutiny.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., withheld support for moving forward with Warsh’s nomination until the DOJ probe was resolved. Trump pushed back on closing the investigation, further raising questions about governance and oversight at the central bank.

The probe was related to potential mismanagement of funds during renovations at the Federal Reserve’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and it unfolded despite Powell’s term as chair ending next month.

Powell, breaking from his typically measured approach, called the Justice Department investigation “unprecedented” and framed it as part of Trump’s pressure campaign on the Fed to cut interest rates and his fiery rhetoric against the chairman for his refusal to cave to that pressure.

FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR POWELL UNDER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OVER HQ RENOVATION

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6387606251112

In March, Powell told reporters he has “no intention of leaving” the central bank until the DOJ investigation is “fully resolved with transparency and finality.”

His term as Fed chair is set to end May 15, though he is eligible to remain on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors for an additional two-year term. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors, known as the Fed board, consists of seven members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, who help set interest rate policy and oversee the central bank’s operations.

THE ONE LINE IN WARSH’S TESTIMONY SIGNALING A BREAK FROM THE FED’S STATUS QUO

Warsh has already signaled a clear break from the central bank’s current approach regardless of whether Powell remains at the Federal Reserve beyond his chairmanship.

Chairman Jerome Powell and members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors meet on June 25, 2025.(Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

In testimony before lawmakers on April 21, Warsh pledged to keep monetary policy “strictly independent” and said he intended to keep the central bank “in its lane,” warning that the Fed has become too involved in social policy.

He has also taken aim at what he sees as a complacent central bank, warning that large institutions are prone to inertia and that clinging to the “status quo” in a fast-moving economy is not just outdated, but dangerous.

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At the same time, he has signaled openness to closer coordination with elected leaders and to work with the White House and Congress on nonmonetary matters — an approach that could reshape how the Fed operates in Washington.

How that balance is struck could define not only Warsh’s tenure, but the future direction of the institution that plays a major role in the financial lives of millions of Americans.

Amanda covers the intersection of business and politics for Fox News Digital.

Man arrested after stabbing 2 people in north London, Jewish volunteer security group says

April 29, 2026 / 8:01 AM EDT / CBS News

A man has been detained after stabbing two people in North London, according to a local Jewish volunteer security organization.

The man was seen running along a main road in Golders Green, a heavily Jewish neighborhood, “armed with a knife and attempting to stab Jewish members of the public,” according to a statement by Shomrim, a charity that supports Jewish communities and runs a volunteer neighborhood watch program.

The group said members “responded immediately and detained the suspect,” who was then taken into police custody.

Police “attended and deployed a taser,” the said. The London Metropolitan Police did not immediately issue a statement on the incident.

Two victims were being treated by Hatzola, a Jewish volunteer emergency response organization, according to Shomrim.

CBS News’ partner the BBC reported that the two victims were Jewish men and “are currently being treated for serious injuries.”

Hatzola told CBS News it could not provide any information on the status of the victims, but it confirmed there was a “major incident unfolding.”

Hatzola operate on a separate emergency number to London’s municipal emergency services, and the group said it would let the London Ambulance service take over once they arrive on the scene.

A member of the Jewish community walks past the scene of an antisemitic arson attack in the Golders Green neighborhood of North London, in a March 24, 2026 file photo, a day after ambulances run by the Jewish organization Hatzola were set on fire. Henry NICHOLLS/AFP/Getty

Another local group, the Community Security Trust, said in a social media post that there “has been a knife attack today in Golders Green. The suspect has been arrested,” offering thanks to Shomrim, Hatzola and the London police “for their swift response.”

Speaking in parliament Wednesday while being questioned by lawmakers, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the attack as “deeply concerning.”

“There is now a police investigation and I think we all need to do everything we can to support that … and be absolutely clear in our determination to deal with any of these offenses, the like of which we’ve seen too much recently,” he said.

The attack comes after a string of incidents over the past month targeting Jewish communities in north London, including an arson attack that saw several of Hatzola’s ambulances destroyed in the same area.

After another incident, an attack on a synagogue in northwest London on April 18, the U.K.’s chief rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, said the “sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community is gathering momentum.”

On Tuesday, after an attempted arson attack in the same area, the head of policing in northwest London said: “We recognize that this incident will heighten concerns in the Golders Green area, where residents have already faced a series of attacks.”

“Since last month’s attack in Golders Green, we have stepped up our work to reassure communities,” he said. “This includes armed police patrols as well as deployments of officers from Project Servator, who are specially trained to spot anyone who may be planning or preparing to commit criminal acts.”

美国阿片危机受害者出庭泪诉 普渡制药遭严厉指责

2026年4月29日 17:16 / 联合早报

美国阿片类药物过量死亡受害者的家属星期二（4月28日）在新泽西州联邦地区法院外举行抗议活动。 （路透社）

（纽瓦克法新电）美国阿片类药物危机受害者在法庭上作证，控诉制药公司普渡制药长期生产成瘾性止痛药，导致无数家庭破碎。法官已裁定公司须支付超过80亿美元（约102亿新元）赔偿，并最终解散。

美国政府数据显示，1999年至2023年间，美国约有80万6000人死于阿片类药物（Opioid）过量。

普渡制药（Purdue Pharma）与其他制药商被指自上世纪90年代起大力推销奥施康定（OxyContin）等处方止痛药，并隐瞒成瘾风险，从中获取巨额利润。

司法部调查的结案听证会原定星期二（4月28日）以线上方式进行，但新泽西州纽瓦克市的法官阿尔莱奥在看到法院外有抗议者后，将听证会改为线下举行。

阿尔莱奥对一名向她表示感谢的受害者说：“这是我力所能及的。”

约40名受害者及家属在听证会上发言，另有多人通过线上参与。

一名少年的母亲死于阿片类药物，他坐在他父亲旁边对法官说：“因为我妈妈去世，我患上抑郁症，还产生过自杀的念头。”

他还指责长期掌控普渡制药的萨克勒家族（Sackler family），他说：“我希望你感到愧疚。”

多名家属讲述亲人从服用处方止痛药开始，逐步依赖，最终转向海洛英或芬太尼等更强烈的毒品，走向死亡。有人失去子女，有人婚姻破裂、背负高额医疗费用，也有人因成瘾入狱或接受精神治疗。

阿尔莱奥形容证词“令人心碎”。她在宣读200多名受害者姓名后，要求普渡制药高层道歉，并代表政府致歉，直指监管失守，将企业比作“犯罪组织”。

这项判决为普渡制药破产和5月初解散铺路。后续业务将由“Knoa Pharma”公益机构接手，提供戒瘾治疗与解毒药物。

部分受害者反对和解方案，认为这将让萨克勒家族免于刑事追责。尽管争议仍在，法庭认为相关安排已是目前最可行的方案。

美国阿片危机受害者出庭泪诉 普渡制药遭严厉指责

2026年4月29日 17:16 / 联合早报

美国阿片类药物过量死亡受害者的家属星期二（4月28日）在新泽西州联邦地区法院外举行抗议活动。 （路透社）

（纽瓦克法新电）美国阿片类药物危机受害者在法庭上作证，控诉制药公司普渡制药长期生产成瘾性止痛药，导致无数家庭破碎。法官已裁定公司须支付超过80亿美元（约102亿新元）赔偿，并最终解散。

美国政府数据显示，1999年至2023年间，美国约有80万6000人死于阿片类药物（Opioid）过量。

普渡制药（Purdue Pharma）与其他制药商被指自上世纪90年代起大力推销奥施康定（OxyContin）等处方止痛药，并隐瞒成瘾风险，从中获取巨额利润。

司法部调查的结案听证会原定星期二（4月28日）以线上方式进行，但新泽西州纽瓦克市的法官阿尔莱奥在看到法院外有抗议者后，将听证会改为线下举行。

阿尔莱奥对一名向她表示感谢的受害者说：“这是我力所能及的。”

约40名受害者及家属在听证会上发言，另有多人通过线上参与。

一名少年的母亲死于阿片类药物，他坐在他父亲旁边对法官说：“因为我妈妈去世，我患上抑郁症，还产生过自杀的念头。”

他还指责长期掌控普渡制药的萨克勒家族（Sackler family），他说：“我希望你感到愧疚。”

多名家属讲述亲人从服用处方止痛药开始，逐步依赖，最终转向海洛英或芬太尼等更强烈的毒品，走向死亡。有人失去子女，有人婚姻破裂、背负高额医疗费用，也有人因成瘾入狱或接受精神治疗。

阿尔莱奥形容证词“令人心碎”。她在宣读200多名受害者姓名后，要求普渡制药高层道歉，并代表政府致歉，直指监管失守，将企业比作“犯罪组织”。

这项判决为普渡制药破产和5月初解散铺路。后续业务将由“Knoa Pharma”公益机构接手，提供戒瘾治疗与解毒药物。

部分受害者反对和解方案，认为这将让萨克勒家族免于刑事追责。尽管争议仍在，法庭认为相关安排已是目前最可行的方案。

‘Stretched thin’: Secret Service faces renewed scrutiny after White House Correspondents’ Dinner attack

2026-04-29T09:00:50.953Z / CNN

By Jeremy Herb, Jamie Gangel, Whitney Wild, Josh Campbell, Betsy Klein

3 hr ago
PUBLISHED Apr 29, 2026, 5:00 AM ET

Secret service agents respond to the attempted attack at the White House Correspondents Dinner, in Washington, DC, on April 25, 2026.

Tom Brenner/AP

President Donald Trump, the acting attorney general and other top administration officials all publicly say the Secret Service responded as intended when a gunman tried to force his way into the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.

But behind the scenes, the incident at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night — in which the gunman sprinted through a security checkpoint before he fell and was subdued by law enforcement — has renewed questions about the long-simmering challenges facing the Secret Service, including staffing shortages, strain on agents and burnout.

Current and former Secret Service officials tell CNN personnel issues have plagued the agency for years, despite promises to address the problems.

“We have limited resources, and we use them as best we can,” one high-ranking former official told CNN. “The reality is we are stretched thin, and the agency is constantly playing catch up.”

Law enforcement experts and lawmakers raised concerns to CNN about vulnerabilities that the incident exposed. They included the security challenges of the hotel itself, as well as whether there should have been a larger security perimeter or additional agents on site for an event where the president, vice president and most of the Cabinet were all gathered.

“Having attended a lot of events — and certainly having attended events with the president and Cabinet — (security was) woefully insufficient when you’re talking about that many people getting into a room of that size,” Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, told CNN’s Manu Raju on Sunday.

“And the Secret Service did their job when they encountered him, and they were able to stop him and detain him. But it shouldn’t even have come to that,” Lawler added. “He shouldn’t have been anywhere in that vicinity to begin with.”

After the 2024 attempted assassination of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania — and subsequent probes that exposed significant Secret Service failures — there was momentum to hire and train more agents, said Jonathan Wackrow, a former Secret Service agent and CNN analyst who has helped preparations for the annual dinner.

A US Secret Service agent stands guard at the White House, on April 28, 2026, ahead of the arrival of Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla.

Nathan Howard/Reuters

But instead, the Trump administration focused on training new agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement for its deportation push, creating a logjam at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Wackrow said.

“The moment to do it was at the very beginning of this administration, when you had the momentum out of Butler, out of the bipartisan recommendations,” Wackrow said. “You had some budgetary support to push through a hiring campaign and get those people through the pipeline. But then the focus was on ICE.”

Since Saturday’s shooting, top Trump law enforcement officials, including acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Secret Service Director Sean Curran, have dismissed concerns about possible security lapses.

“It was a massive security success story,” Blanche told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday. “This man, from what we know from video surveillance and from witnesses who were there, barely got past the perimeter. He was immediately subdued.”

Curran, who began briefing Congress on Monday about the episode, told reporters on Capitol Hill he was “very confident” in the agency. “My agents did a great job,” he said.

Asked why the security perimeter wasn’t farther out, he said, “There’s a reason, but I’m not going to get into that. It’s classified. I don’t want to get in to why we do that, but there’s a reason.”

Pushing the security perimeter farther out would have required more staffing, one source familiar with Secret Service operations said, presenting an additional challenge for an agency that was already stretched thin.

While senior law enforcement officials say that the system worked as intended, there are questions about why there was no one to confront the shooter before he reached the security checkpoint.

Another source familiar with Secret Service procedures expressed concerns about the possibility that no one was assigned at the floor entry point to the ballroom area.

“No protectees were harmed, so count that in the win column,” the source said. “Are there things you can do better? Absolutely.”

‘My family wants me to quit’

Saturday’s assassination attempt is the latest episode drawing scrutiny of the Secret Service, an agency tasked with protecting the president and vice president, their families, former presidents, presidential candidates, as well as others dignitaries, including White House officials and foreign leaders on US soil.

For several years, sources have expressed intense frustration over having to do more with fewer resources. And sources say the departure of numerous agents and officers who have either retired or sought law enforcement work at other agencies has placed a significant strain on the Secret Service’s protective operations.

“We were crucified after Butler,” said another source involved in protective operations, referring to the 2024 attempted assassination of Trump in Pennsylvania, “yet saw no real significant increase in personnel to help do the job.”

Members of the Secret Service rush Donald Trump into a car after a gunman opened fire during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Sources also say that current Secret Service agents bristle at the sheer number of Trump family members and staff the already stretched agency is charged with protecting. In addition, the agency is responsible for covering the “erratic” and ever-changing travel schedules of top protectees including the president and vice president, the sources said.

Trump also requires a large footprint because of the increased number of threats, as well as his attendance at events that draw large crowds, such as UFC fights.

“I love the job, but my family wants me to quit,” said one source, who acknowledged that the demands of covering Trump and Vice President JD Vance have caused problems at home.

Delays and caps on overtime pay

The Secret Service is seeking to hire 4,000 new employees by 2028 to ease the burden on agents. But that effort, which was confirmed by a source to CNN and first reported by the Washington Post in January, remains “aspirational” in reaching those numbers and getting that many new agents trained.

CNN reported in 2024 that the Secret Service had approximately 8,100 employees, including 3,800 special agents and 1,500 uniformed division officers.

A US Secret Service sniper stands guard ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 final football match at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 13, 2025. President Donald Trump attended the game.

Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

A Secret Service spokesman said there were “no staffing shortages” to the agency’s Presidential Protective Division.

“The security plan and layered protective model for the White House Correspondents Dinner was effective in interdicting the threat posed by the gunman,” the spokesman said.

Curran said in congressional testimony earlier this month that the agency’s goal was to increase staffing by nearly 2,000 law enforcement personnel by the end of fiscal year 2027. The president’s budget request included increased funding for more than 850 positions, he said.

Curran said that the agency’s operational demands have risen sharply in the last two years, including 37% more protective visits in fiscal year 2025 compared to 2023, and more than double the number of magnetometer screenings.

In addition, agents on some of the security details operated by the Secret Service have been told they may be required to work more than 20 hours of overtime per week, according to law enforcement sources.

While agents generally get paid extra for overtime, sources said, US government pay caps can often result in some overtime pay not arriving in their bank accounts until the following year. Due to the current shutdown involving the Department of Homeland Security, many agents have still not received overtime pay accrued in 2025.

Sworn law enforcement officers for the Secret Service and other DHS agencies are still receiving their regular paychecks during the shutdown — which has dragged on for more than two months now — through the “Big Beautiful Bill,” according to a senior administration official. All other agency employees are currently being paid through the president’s executive order, the Secret Service spokesman said.

One former senior official said that some agents are on pace to reach a higher cap that cuts off additional overtime pay halfway through the year — and they will still have to keep working overtime for the rest of the year because there are National Special Security Events (NSSE) upcoming that will not allow agents to take leave, including the World Cup and celebrations for America’s 250th birthday.

Securing a sprawling hotel

On Saturday, the suspected gunman, Cole Tomas Allen, was stopped before reaching a flight of stairs leading to the ballroom where Trump, Vance, Cabinet members, lawmakers and top reporters and editors were all packed into the Washington Hilton’s cavernous ballroom.

Allen, who was charged with attempting to assassinate the president, was a guest at the Washington Hilton, which meant he was already at the hotel before the dinner began.

Sources noted that because the ballroom is part of a large hotel, it’s virtually impossible to completely secure hotel rooms without infringing on the rights of guests.

It’s unlikely the service would have legal standing to search guest rooms, the sources added, and even if they did, ensuring rooms remain secure once they’ve been searched would be challenging.

US Secret Service agents patrol the North Lawn of the White House on April 25, following shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Tom Brenner/AP

A law enforcement source said the FBI is going through hotel video from the last couple of days, as well as surrounding streets, looking for both internal and external video of the suspect, including to see if he walked the route he took to the security checkpoint before the dinner.

In the charging documents, investigators said that agents heard a loud gunshot as Allen ran through the checkpoint. A Secret Service officer was struck in his protective vest, authorities said.

The officer who had been shot fired multiple times at Allen, according to the court filings, and the suspect “fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries” but was not shot.

US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said that Allen was not injured aside from “some kind of scrape on his knee.” It’s still not clear whether the officer was struck by shots fired by Allen.

Inside the ballroom, Secret Service agents protecting the president and vice president swiftly took to the stage. According to video of the incident, Vance was removed first, followed by the president.

While there have been questions since about how the president was evacuated, CNN reported Sunday that the sequence appears to follow the Secret Service procedures, which includes measures that may not be visible.

欧洲正在快速变暖，去年多个国家出现持续性的热浪，包括法国大部分地区。 （法新社档案照片）

（布鲁塞尔综合电）最新报告显示，欧洲大陆变暖速度高于世界其他地区，面临更频繁的极端气候事件，相关指标令人担忧。

世界气象组织和欧盟哥白尼气候变化服务局在星期三（4月29日）联合发布的《欧洲气候状况报告》中指出，欧洲2025年至少有95%的区域年均气温高于往年平均水平，英国、挪威和冰岛经历有记录以来最暖一年。

世界气象组织秘书长萨乌洛说：“自1980年以来，欧洲变暖速度是全球平均水平的两倍，是地球上变暖最快的大陆。”

欧洲的热浪越来越频繁且严重，2025年，从地中海到北极圈，都发生持续性的热浪；北极圈内的气温一度突破30摄氏度。

欧洲去年整体海表温度也创下年度新高，86%的区域遭受强烈的海洋热浪。冰岛在2025年记录到有记录以来第二大的冰川消融量。

过去一年，欧洲的野火事件也频繁发生，烧毁超过100万公顷的土地，比塞浦路斯还大，也是有记录以来最大的年度过火总面积。

厄尔尼诺现象预计今年年中卷土重来，欧洲及世界各地可能又要面临一个酷暑难耐的夏天。

报告：欧洲变暖速度全球最快

2026年4月29日 17:25 / 联合早报

欧洲正在快速变暖，去年多个国家出现持续性的热浪，包括法国大部分地区。 （法新社档案照片）

（布鲁塞尔综合电）最新报告显示，欧洲大陆变暖速度高于世界其他地区，面临更频繁的极端气候事件，相关指标令人担忧。

世界气象组织和欧盟哥白尼气候变化服务局在星期三（4月29日）联合发布的《欧洲气候状况报告》中指出，欧洲2025年至少有95%的区域年均气温高于往年平均水平，英国、挪威和冰岛经历有记录以来最暖一年。

世界气象组织秘书长萨乌洛说：“自1980年以来，欧洲变暖速度是全球平均水平的两倍，是地球上变暖最快的大陆。”

欧洲的热浪越来越频繁且严重，2025年，从地中海到北极圈，都发生持续性的热浪；北极圈内的气温一度突破30摄氏度。

欧洲去年整体海表温度也创下年度新高，86%的区域遭受强烈的海洋热浪。冰岛在2025年记录到有记录以来第二大的冰川消融量。

过去一年，欧洲的野火事件也频繁发生，烧毁超过100万公顷的土地，比塞浦路斯还大，也是有记录以来最大的年度过火总面积。

厄尔尼诺现象预计今年年中卷土重来，欧洲及世界各地可能又要面临一个酷暑难耐的夏天。

Trump administration rejects women picked for soybean board, appoints men instead

2026-04-29 10:13:29 UTC / Reuters

By Karl Plume

April 29, 2026 10:13 AM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

节点运行失败

Item 1 of 5 Farmer Susan Watkins, who was among the four women whose reappointments to the United Soybean Board were rejected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, checks seed depth and moisture as her son Cody Watkins plants soybeans in Sutherland, Virginia, U.S, April 22, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

[1/5]Farmer Susan Watkins, who was among the four women whose reappointments to the United Soybean Board were rejected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, checks seed depth and moisture as her son Cody Watkins plants soybeans in Sutherland, Virginia, U.S, April 22, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

• Summary

• USDA usually approves top candidates picked by peers in states
• Move reduces female leadership on soy board to lowest in a decade
• Women farmers express concern over gender bias in appointments

CHICAGO, April 29 (Reuters) – The Trump administration rejected all four women farmers chosen by their peers to represent them in an industry group called the United Soybean Board earlier this year, a rare intervention by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that three of the women suspected was because of their gender.

From the Pentagon to the U.S. Department of Education, the ​Trump administration has vowed to root out policies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, from every layer of government.

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Normally, soy farmers pick their representatives and the USDA signs off. This time, the USDA rejected at ‌least five of the farmers selected for the United Soybean Board, including four women. It did not give any reason, according to three of the women.

Sara Stelter, a Wisconsin farmer stripped of her role on the soy board, saw the decision as part of Trump’s broader policy.

“It seems like a small thing,” Stelter said, “but in other ways, it’s really a big deal because it’s just another thing of where the current administration views women, I believe, and what their role should be.”

Reuters could not determine the reason for USDA’s rejection of the five candidates for the soy board. The USDA and the United Soybean Board did not respond ​to detailed questions from Reuters about the rejections, saying only that the agriculture secretary selects board members from candidates put forward by state boards. The White House did not fulfill a public information request seeking any correspondence on the matter, citing ​a backlog of requests, and a spokesperson declined to comment, referring Reuters to the USDA.

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The administration has in the past year revoked equal pay initiatives enacted by the Biden administration and rolled back programs ⁠across the federal government that aimed to correct past inequities impacting women and minority groups. The White House argues that such programs are illegal under laws against race and gender discrimination, and work against merit-based advancement.

Shaun Harper, a University of Southern California professor whose research ​focuses on equity in business, education and policymaking, said the intervention on the soy board showed the administration’s approach to diversity went beyond specific DEI programs and was affecting the federal approach to boards that work within particular industries.

Groups like the United Soybean Board, he said, “are ​casualties of a blanket implementation of anti-DEI policies and practices in the federal government.”

The USDA’s actions reduced the number of women on the 77-member board to five, the lowest level in at least a decade. Women make up more than a third of U.S. farmers but have historically held a smaller share of leadership roles in commodity groups.

APPROVAL FOR NON-POLITICAL BOARD SEATS WAS USUALLY A FORMALITY

The Trump administration rejected five of the candidates vying for United Soybean Board director seats, some of whom the board had already appointed to an executive committee and roles overseeing the organization’s $121 million budget and communications, current and former board ​directors said. Among 40 new and reappointed directors, none were women.

Susan Watkins, a soybean farmer in Virginia whom the USDA rejected, said she was stunned by the decision.

“We should be judged on our merit,” she said. “It’s very disheartening.”

After she lost her seat, Michigan farmer Carla Schultz ​said she was worried that the remaining five women who had earned their board positions could face the same fate when they are up for reappointment. South Dakota’s Dawn Scheier, also ousted by the USDA, did not respond to requests for comment.

The decision marked a departure from how the ‌soybean board has long ⁠operated, according to current and former directors and one former agriculture secretary, who said federal government approval of state-selected nominees has historically been little more than a formality, regardless of which party controlled the White House.

While the USDA targeted farm programs that mentioned diversity in grant applications for funding cuts last year, the soybean board has no specific DEI policy, and is prohibited by federal law from using its funds to influence legislation.

Farmer-led soybean groups in 29 states and two multi-state regions nominate candidates to serve on the board, which directs how to spend checkoff dollars, mandatory assessments on farmers collected from nearly every bushel of soybeans sold.

Some members nominated late last year learned that their appointments had been rejected by the USDA only in February, after the new board’s first meeting.

Watkins, who had served on the board for six years, ​had been selected in December to serve as treasurer overseeing the ​board’s 2026 budget, but was now out.

A conservative who said ⁠she supported Trump, Watkins scoured social media for an explanation for her dismissal. She wondered if a photo taken in 2023 of her with Glenn Youngkin, the former Republican governor of Virginia, had been the problem. Youngkin, a Trump ally, had been criticized by the president after Republicans had underperformed during the 2022 midterm elections.

“I was on the path to become chair within several years, and that was taken ​away from me,” Watkins said.

Tom Vilsack, agriculture secretary under Barack Obama and Joe Biden, said the White House was never involved in nominations during his 12-year tenure. He said he had urged ​state groups to nominate more women and ⁠minorities amid a diversity push by the Democratic administrations, and some states complied. But he could not recall a time when the USDA under his leadership had rejected states’ nominees.

“I don’t know that it happened, but if it did, it was very rare,” he said.

Trump’s first-term agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue declined to comment. Current and former United Soybean Board directors told Reuters that under Perdue, the USDA did not intervene with states’ choices. Five state soybean boards told Reuters that the USDA almost always appointed states’ primary choices.

The Virginia Soybean Board appealed the USDA’s decision. Last month, Sarah ⁠Aswegan, a regulatory ​oversight specialist with USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, said the department’s decision to reject Watkins was final, though a letter of recommendation from a sitting member of Congress ​might help if she wanted to try standing again next year, according to meeting notes shared with Reuters. Political backing for a seat on the non-political soybean board is unprecedented, said Virginia Soybean Board Chairman Lynn Gayle.

Gayle, who said he listed himself as an alternative to Watkins only to fill in the blank on the application’s ​form, was tapped by the USDA after Watkins was rejected. Gayle informed the USDA that he had no ability to sit on the board, which left Virginia with only one of two board seats filled.

Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago. Editing by Emily Schmall and Claudia Parsons

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

特朗普：伊朗最好“放聪明点”

2026年4月29日 17:50 / 联合早报

美国总统特朗普星期三（4月29日）在社媒平台发文警告称，要伊朗“最好快些放聪明点”，并配上一张他持枪的图片。 （取自Truth Social平台）

在美伊和谈裹足不前之际，美国总统特朗普警告称，要伊朗“最好快些放聪明点”。

特朗普星期三（4月29日）在社交媒体上发文称：“伊朗就是搞不明白，他们不知道怎么签署无核协议。他们最好快些放聪明点！”

特朗普的贴文还配了一张他持枪的图片，配有文字说“不再是好好先生”。

据报道，伊朗被指提出重开霍尔木兹海峡的新方案，条件是美国解除对伊朗海上封锁，并停止军事行动。

特朗普星期一（27日）同国家安全顾问团队讨论伊朗的新提议。伊朗要求，在战争结束、霍尔木兹海峡通行的问题解决之前，暂缓讨论伊朗的核计划。

一名知情美国官员透露，美方认为必须从一开始就解决核问题，因此，这一方案不会让美国满意。

新华社引述伊朗塔斯尼姆通讯社报道，伊朗议会国家安全委员会副主席布鲁杰迪星期三称，伊朗不会放弃“对霍尔木兹海峡的主权权利”，将通过谈判进行巩固，让美国承认伊朗的自然权利和应得权益。谈判不意味着退缩，而是“战斗的又一个阶段”。