Trump has fired NSA Director Timothy Haugh
The director and the second-highest official at the National Security Agency were fired from their jobs Thursday, according to NBC.
It is not yet clear why Trump dismissed Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh and his deputy.
Haugh was both the head of U.S. Cyber Command and the director of the National Security Agency, a job he had held since February 2024. Deputy NSA Director Wendy Noble was the agency’s top civilian leader.
Both are career officials — Haugh with more than 30 years in the Air Force, mostly in intelligence and cyber jobs, along with a degree in Russian studies, while Noble worked her way up at the NSA since 1987.
Klaus Schwab will step down as WEF chairman
The World Economic Forum founder, Klaus Schwab, will “start the process” of stepping down as chair of its board of trustees, according to reports.
Schwab said the forum, which organises yearly meetings in the Swiss resort of Davos, must recover its “sense of mission” after a period of trouble, the Financial Times first reported, citing a letter to board members and confirmation by two people who know about the situation.
He did not give a timeline for when he would leave the organisation, but the WEF said in a statement to the FT that the process should be finished by January 2027.
Schwab will stay in this role until a new person is chosen, but there’s no timeline yet.
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South Korea has removed President Yoon from office
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was removed from the presidency by the Constitutional Court on Friday when judges ruled his use of martial law in December broke the nation’s highest law and his impeachment was valid.
In a decision where all agreed, the eight judges found Yoon’s martial law order violated people’s basic rights and those of the National Assembly, Yoon took powers beyond what the Constitution allows, and Yoon broke his duties as commander in chief by using troops.
The court found it hard to see the opposition’s actions as a serious national crisis that would justify using martial law, acting court President Moon Hyung-bae said.
Yoon had said he was innocent of all charges against him.
FG will reopen the Independence Bridge by 3 pm today
David Umahi, the minister of works, says the Independence Bridge in Lagos will reopen to commuters by Friday afternoon.
Speaking with reporters in Lagos Thursday evening, Minister Umahi promised residents that repairs on the damaged section of the bridge would be completed, with follow-up inspections scheduled in two weeks.
The government shut down the bridge earlier this week for maintenance work – a closure that the minister claims he didn’t know about.
This closure created severe traffic problems, forcing many residents to spend hours in gridlock and arrive at their destinations very early in the morning.
After public complaints about Wednesday’s massive traffic jams, Minister Umahi ordered the bridge to be reopened, saying that necessary repairs would be done at a later time.
The S&P 500 had its worst day since Covid
US stocks suffered their worst drop since the pandemic, erasing $2.5 trillion in value after President Donald Trump announced major new trade tariffs. These drastic measures triggered widespread fears of recession and pushed investors toward safer options like bonds and the Japanese yen.
The S&P 500 Index fell 4.8% – its biggest single-day drop since June 2020 – putting it back into what experts call a “technical correction.” Markets around the world, from Tokyo to London, experienced similar severe declines. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index dropped 5.4%, its worst performance since September 2022, with Apple losing 9% and both Nvidia and Tesla taking major hits.
Clothing and footwear companies were hit especially hard after Trump announced new tariffs on important manufacturing countries like Vietnam and Indonesia. Nike’s stock plunged 14%, while Lululemon, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Gap also saw significant losses.
Today’s upcoming jobs report will be the first major economic data for the quarter and could significantly impact bonds, stocks, and currencies, as well as influence the Federal Reserve’s next decisions. Investors will also be paying close attention to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s scheduled remarks at the end of the week for any signs that economic weakness might be spreading to the job market.
