International News
RFK Jr Defends Health Agency Shake Up, Democrats Call For His Ouster
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy said Thursday that firing a top government scientist was “absolutely necessary,” as he faced blistering criticism from Democrats urging him to resign over his steps to curb vaccines.
The Senate hearing, marked by sharp exchanges that often erupted into shouting matches, came days after the ouster of Sue Monarez, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Her dismissal, accompanied by several high-level resignations and hundreds of earlier layoffs, has plunged the nation’s premier public health agency into turmoil.
In his opening remarks, Kennedy tore into the CDC’s actions during the Covid pandemic, accusing the agency of failing “miserably” with “disastrous and nonsensical” policies including masking guidance, social distancing and school closures.
“We need bold, competent and creative new leadership at CDC, people able and willing to chart a new course,” he said.
Monarez, the CDC director whom Kennedy previously endorsed, accused the secretary of a “deliberate effort to weaken America’s public-health system and vaccine protections” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Thursday.
Kennedy’s explanation for her firing — as he told Senator Elizabeth Warren — was simply: “I asked her, ‘Are you a trustworthy person?’ And she said, ‘No.’”
Ill-tempered Exchanges
Once a respected environmental lawyer, Kennedy emerged in the mid-2000s as a leading anti-vaccine activist, spending two decades spreading voluminous misinformation before being tapped by President Donald Trump as health secretary in his second administration.
Since taking office, he has restricted Covid-19 shots to narrower groups, cut off federal research grants for the mRNA technology credited with saving millions of lives, and redirected funding toward debunked claims about vaccines.
Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee leading the hearing, set the tone by demanding Kennedy be sworn in under oath — accusing him of lying in prior written testimony when he pledged not to limit vaccine access.
“It is in the country’s best interest that Robert Kennedy step down, and if he doesn’t, Donald Trump should fire him before more people are hurt,” Wyden thundered.
But Republican committee chairman Mike Crapo shot down the request, praising Kennedy’s focus on chronic disease, including obesity.
The exchanges only grew more ill-tempered. Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell branded Kennedy a “charlatan” over his attacks on mRNA research, while Kennedy accused Senator Maggie Hassan of “crazy talk” and “making things up to scare people” when she said parents were already struggling to get Covid vaccines for their children.
Republicans mostly closed ranks around Kennedy, though there was some notable dissent.
Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician whose support was key to Kennedy’s confirmation, criticized his cancellation of mRNA grants. He was joined by fellow Republican doctor Senator John Barrasso and Senator Thom Tillis.
Cassidy pressed Kennedy on whether President Trump deserved a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed, the public-private partnership that sped Covid vaccines to market.
Kennedy agreed Trump should have received the prize — but in nearly the same breath, praised hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, drugs championed by conspiracy theorists that have been proven ineffective against Covid-19.
The FIFA World Cup group stage has concluded, with the Netherlands securing first place in Group F and Japan finishing second. According to the knockout stage bracket, the top two teams from Group F will face the top two teams from Group E.
Two more Round of 32 matchups have been confirmed: Brazil vs. Japan and Netherlands vs. Morocco. The first Round of 16 matchup was announced yesterday, featuring South Africa vs. Canada.
Julian Nagelsmann defended question marks surrounding Germany’s commitment during their defeat by Ecuador, telling journalists: “Please stop the nonsense!”
Germany, already guaranteed top spot in Group E, were beaten 2-1 in their final group outing, as their opponents came from behind to snatch all three points at New York New Jersey Stadium.
Nagelsmann’s side saw their 11-match winning streak brought to an end, while they have now failed to register a clean sheet in any of their last nine games at the finals, equalling their longest streak along with their opening nine matches across 1934 and 1954.
And since the start of the 1998 World Cup, this was just the second time Germany had lost a game at the tournament in which they opened the scoring (W25 D2) following a 1-2 loss to Japan in 2022.
While not impressed by his players’ performance, he was quick to reject claims it was due to a lack of commitment, with their place in the knockout phase already secured.
“Please stop the nonsense, honestly!” Nagelsmann told reporters. “Didn’t the boys want to go full throttle?
“Of course, we made different changes than we might have done in moments when we urgently needed another goal.
“But we can’t tell any player that he didn’t step on the gas, that’s far too striking for me.
“We have to learn that after a good start and an early lead, we can play with more composure, instead of suddenly switching positions too much. We just need to be more patient and stay a bit more structured in our positions.
“We deliberately made a lot of changes. You could see that we also had a few tired legs. You can’t blame anyone for the fact that everything is a little slower and takes longer. We trust every player in the squad, and have to give the players the chance to show that.”
Coincidentally, it was in New York that Germany crashed out of the 1994 World Cup after surrendering a lead, losing 2-1 in the quarter-finals against Bulgaria at the Giants Stadium.
Joshua Kimmich, who won his 113th cap to move to joint-eighth with Philipp Lahm on his nation’s all-time list, conceded the four-time world champions were worthy losers against Ecuador.
“We started well, but then we gave the ball away too cheaply and kept inviting them on,” he added.
“We made it easy for them and let them grow into the game. In the second half, the defeat was deserved.”
Relegated Burnley and West Ham will meet on the opening weekend of the Championship season on Sunday, 16 August.
The Clarets finished 19th in the top flight last season and will host the Hammers, who went down on the final day.
Fellow relegated side Wolves will play the league’s curtain-raiser against Blackburn at Molineux on Friday, 14 August.
Elsewhere, Southampton, who will start the season on minus four points after the Spygate scandal, travel to Watford on the opening weekend and promoted Cardiff welcome Welsh rivals Wrexham on Monday, 17 August.
League One champions Lincoln start the season at beaten play-off finalists Middlesbrough on Saturday, 15 August and third tier play-off final winners Bolton begin the campaign with a home game against Preston on the same day.
The Championship season starts a week after clubs play their first competitive fixture in the first round of the Carabao Cup and one week before the Premier League gets under way.
Burnley, West Ham and Wolves will all be looking to secure Premier League promotions at the first time of asking.
The Clarets have now been relegated from or promoted to the top flight in each of the past four seasons.
However, now less than two months out from the start of the season they remain without a manager following the departure of Scott Parker in May.
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has remained despite them dropping out of the top flight after 14 seasons.
The Portuguese led Wolves to the Championship title in his one previous season managing at this level in 2017-18.
Wolves finished bottom of the Premier League in 2025-26 and sacked boss Rob Edwards earlier this month to bring in Cesar Peixoto.
They have bolstered their squad with former England defender Kieran Trippier and returning Mexico striker Raul Jimenez.
However, all three will be aware that in both of the past two seasons a team relegated from the top tier has suffered a second successive demotion to League One.
Former Premier League champions Leicester City went the same way as Luton Town had in 2024-25.
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