First Thing: Trump Pentagon nominee endorses extremist Christian doctrine

Pete Hegseth expressed agreement for ‘sphere sovereignty’ which wants to make the government subordinate to Old Testament law. Plus, the Australians lining up to sniff a flower that smells like a rotten carcass

Good morning.

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, endorsed an extremist Christian doctrine that envisions civil government being subordinate to Old Testament law in a series of podcasts released last year.

The doctrine of “sphere sovereignty”, a position rooted in the extremist beliefs of Christian reconstructionism (CR), calls for capital punishment for homosexuality and strictly patriarchal families and churches.

In the recordings, published over February and March 2024, Hegseth also lashes out at public schools, claiming they implement an “egalitarian, dystopian LGBT nightmare”. He even rails against democracy, which he says “our founders blatantly rejected as being completely dangerous”. The Guardian contacted Hegseth with questions about his beliefs on the separation of church and state, and sphere sovereignty, but received no reply.

How likely is his confirmation? Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have become the first Republicans to publicly come out against Hegseth, putting his confirmation in doubt.

Newark mayor condemns warrantless Ice raid that ‘terrorized’ people

The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, has criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) for carrying out a raid in the city without a warrant and detaining both citizens and undocumented residents.

Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, said that Ice had raided a local establishment. “Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized,” he wrote in a statement.

Ice said Thursday that it had made a total of 538 arrests – but did not respond to the Guardian’s request about when and where these arrests were made. The figures are not necessarily exceptionally high – in 2023, the average number of arrests per day was more than 450.

What are communities doing to deal with this? Advocates for migrants are encouraging residents to attend workshops to familiarize themselves with their rights.

US judge temporarily blocks Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship

A federal judge in Seattle on Thursday temporarily blocked Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing an executive order ending the right to automatic birthright citizenship.

The US district judge John Coughenour issued a temporary restraining order preventing the administration from implementing the directive signed by Trump on his first day in office. Civil rights groups and Democratic attorneys general from 22 states have already filed five lawsuits over the order.

Lane Polozola, Washington’s assistant attorney general, urged the judge to issue a temporary restraining order in a case brought by Democratic state attorneys general from Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon. Polozola told reporters outside the court: “This is step one but to hear the judge from the bench say that in his 40 years as a judge, he has never seen something so blatantly unconstitutional, sets the tone for the seriousness of this effort.”

What does the executive order cover? Trump directed agencies not to recognize the citizenship of children born in the US unless one of their parents is a citizen or a legal permanent resident.

On what grounds is it unconstitutional? Challengers argue it violates the right enshrined in the citizenship clause of the constitution’s 14th amendment that says that anyone born in the US is a citizen.

In other news …

The European Commission said it will make payments to Tunisia conditional on compliance with human rights after a Guardian investigation exposed widespread abuse by EU-funded security forces, including rape and beatings.

Donald Trump has announced he will pardon anti-abortion activists convicted of obstructing entrances to clinics.

The US Department of State has banned embassies from displaying any flags other than the US’s as the Trump administration clamps down on the display of diversity and inclusion symbols such as the gay pride flag.

Stat of the day: Air pollution in Bangkok on Friday more than six times higher than WHO’s limit

Air pollution in Bangkok has forced officials to shutter 351 schools on Friday, city authorities said, the highest number in five years. The level of the cancer-causing PM2.5 pollutants hit 108 on Friday – more than six times above the exposure limit of 15 recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Don’t miss this: ‘To the unknown child – I tried to save your young life in a Gaza hospital. Now your face haunts me’

Seema Jilani, a paediatric specialist feels haunted by a child she could not save in Gaza. She writes in this moving piece about the child she saved once, but who days later, died on her operating table after an Israeli airstrike: “I have seen your face before. I saw it on medical evacuation flights when I tried to prolong your life until the moment you would be reunited with your mother. I saw it in the waters off the coast of Libya, on a refugee rescue boat, quivering from hypothermia, with no parent there to soothe you.”

Climate check: California firefighters try to control fresh blaze as wildfires set to cost state $2.5bn in relief

Firefighters are battling to control a large wildfire that is quickly ripping through the mountains north of Los Angeles and has already burned close to 16 sq miles after erupting on Wednesday. About 36% of the blaze, named the Hughes fire, has so far been contained, while firefighters remain concerned the Palisades and Eaton fires could break their containment lines. California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, announced Thursday he had approved $2.5bn of relief for Los Angeles’s recovery.

Last Thing: Would you wait 3.5 hours to smell a flower with the scent of a rotten carcass?

Here’s a quick question: would you wait 3.5 hours to smell a flower famed for having the scent of a rotten animal carcass and looking like “deformed penis”? (That’s the scientific community’s words, not mine.) A corpse flower dubbed Putricia has become a viral hit in Sydney, with people lining up for a glimpse and sniff of the plant, which is blooming in the Royal Botanic Garden for the first time in 15 years.

Sign up

First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.

Get in touch

If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com