FBI fires agents pictured kneeling during racial justice protest in 2020

The Federal Bureau Investigation seal is seen at FBI headquarters in Washington, U.S. June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

(This Sep. 26 story has been corrected to remove a reference to the kneeling incident occurring the same day as Trump's photo with the Bible, in paragraph 7)

The FBI has fired a group of its agents photographed kneeling on the street in an attempt to de-escalate tensions during a racial justice protest in Washington in 2020 in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing by police in Minneapolis, three people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The terminations came amid a spate of dismissals within the ranks of the nation's most prominent law enforcement agency since Kash Patel, a loyalist of President Donald Trump, was confirmed by the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate in February to lead the FBI.

It was not clear precisely how many FBI agents were terminated on Friday.

The FBI Agents Association, an advocacy group, issued a statement on Friday saying it "strongly condemns today's unlawful termination of more than a dozen FBI Special Agents," but made no mention of what may have precipitated their firings.

The three sources who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity put the number of terminations at between 15 and 22, with an unspecified portion being among those who came under fierce criticism from right-wing commentators for taking a knee during the demonstration.

The agents in question, pictured in photographs and videos of the incident that went viral, were not kneeling in a display of sympathy for the Black Lives Matter movement, as critics have suggested, but did so in a gesture to ease tensions between protesters and law enforcement, the sources said.

Some crowd-control measures employed during those protests were more aggressive. Officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets to clear demonstrators near the White House before Trump, then in his first term as president, walked across Lafayette Square to a nearby church and posed for photographs holding a Bible.

Earlier this month, former FBI acting director Brian Driscoll and two other former senior officials who were fired without cause in August sued the Trump administration, alleging they were dismissed in a "campaign of retribution" that targeted officials viewed as insufficiently loyal.

The lawsuit alleges that Patel said he had been ordered to fire anyone who had worked on a criminal investigation against Trump, and that his own job depended on their removal.

“The FBI tried to put the president in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it," Patel told Driscoll, according to the lawsuit.

Steve Jensen, the former assistant director of the Washington field office, and Spencer Evans, the former top official in the Las Vegas field office, are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Jaguar Land Rover shutdown driving suppliers to cut jobs and reduce hours - survey

 

A member of staff works on the production line at Jaguar Land Rover’s factory in Solihull, Britain, December 15, 2022. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

Jaguar Land Rover's production shutdown after a cyberattack is hitting businesses in Britain's West Midlands region, a survey showed on Friday, with firms already making redundancies or cutting staff hours in response.

The government is considering financial support for the luxury carmaker, which is owned by India's Tata Motors (TAMO.NS), opens new tab, after the cyberattack halted production at the start of this month. It has extended the shutdown until October.

JLR has three factories that together produce about 1,000 cars per day, and sustain many jobs in the area around Birmingham, Britain's second biggest city. Some small suppliers have told a parliamentary committee that they had one week left at most before they ran out of cash.

A survey of 84 businesses representing nearly 30,000 employees, conducted by the Black Country, Greater Birmingham and Coventry and Warwickshire Chambers of Commerce, found over three-quarters had been negatively impacted by the cyberattack.

It found 45% had reported significant financial impacts including loss of revenue or higher costs, 35% had asked staff to work reduced hours and 14% were making redundancies.

The survey said 79% of participating firms were in JLR's supply chain, and while 18% were not but still experienced knock-on effects.

"The Black Country's automotive supply chain employs 13,000 people so the ripple effects of this cyber-attack are being felt right across our business community," said Sarah Moorhouse, chief executive of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce.

"This isn't just about JLR - it's about the suppliers, manufacturers and service providers that make the West Midlands the powerhouse of UK automotive production."

Moorhouse said that over half of the businesses wanted to see a financial support package.

Southwest Airlines to pay $18.5 million over employees' military leave

Southwest Airlines planes and vehicles sit on the tarmac at Nashville International Airport in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., July 30, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo

Southwest Airlines (LUV.N), opens new tab agreed to pay $18.5 million to settle a class action accusing the carrier of failing to provide paid leave to employees who took short-term military leave.

A preliminary settlement was filed on Thursday night in San Francisco federal court, and requires a judge's approval.

Employees said Southwest wrongly denied pay when they took 14 days or fewer of military leave, despite paying for other absences including sick leave, bereavement leave and jury duty.

They said Southwest's actions violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, a federal law protecting military personnel in their civilian employment.

Approximately 2,791 eligible Southwest employees would receive an average $4,421, after legal fees of up to one-third of the settlement fund are deducted, court papers show.

Southwest would also provide up to 10 days of paid short-term military leave per calendar year from 2026 to 2030.

The Dallas-based carrier denied wrongdoing and believes military leave is not comparable to other forms of leave, but settled to avoid the risk and cost of litigation, court papers show.

Southwest had no immediate comment on Friday.

In 2019, another San Francisco judge approved a settlement worth up to $18.8 million for nearly 2,000 Southwest pilots also denied paid leave for short-term military service.

The case is Huntsman v Southwest Airlines Co, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 19-00083.

Nigeria's oil union orders halt of gas supply to Dangote refinery over mass sackings

 

A worker stands in front of the newly-commissioned Dangote Petroleum refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria, May 22, 2023. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja/File Photo

Nigeria's oil workers' union has ordered its members to cut off gas supply to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, escalating a labour dispute following the dismissal of hundreds of Nigerian workers.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) directed its branches across major oil firms to enforce an immediate halt to crude and gas deliveries to the refinery.

The union accused Dangote management of "misinformation and propaganda" instead of addressing the alleged wrongful disengagement of unionised employees, according to a letter dated September 26 seen by Reuters.

"Crude oil supply valves to the refinery should be shut. The loading operation for vessels headed there should be halted immediately," PENGASSAN General Secretary Lumumba Okugbawa wrote in the directive.

The directive comes days after Dangote Refinery laid off the Nigerian workers, allegedly replacing them with foreign nationals, mostly from India. The company said the dismissals were part of a reorganisation aimed at improving safety and operational efficiency.

Dangote Refinery did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the PENGASSAN letter.

The dispute adds to mounting pressure on the $20 billion refinery, which announced it would suspend petrol sales in naira, effective September 28, due to crude supply shortfalls and foreign exchange mismatches. The move has raised concerns about rising fuel prices and further strain on Nigeria's fragile currency.

PENGASSAN said chairmen of union chapters at oil majors must "report promptly the progress of the directive," signalling a coordinated shutdown that could disrupt fuel supplies in Africa's most populous country.

Iraq resumes Kurdish oil exports to Turkey

 

A general view of oil tanks at Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, February 19, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

 Crude oil flowed on Saturday through a pipeline from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to Turkey for the first time in 2-1/2 years, after an interim deal broke a deadlock, Iraq's oil ministry said.

The resumption started at 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), according to a statement from the ministry.

"Operations started at a rapid pace and with complete smoothness without recording any significant technical problems," the ministry said.

The agreement between Iraq's federal government, the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) and foreign oil producers operating in the region will allow 180,000 to 190,000 barrels per day of crude to flow to Turkey's Ceyhan port, Iraq's oil minister told Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw on Friday.

US PRESSURE TO RESUME KURDISH FLOWS

The U.S. had pushed for a restart, which is expected to eventually bring up to 230,000 bpd of crude back to international markets at a time when OPEC+ is boosting output to gain market share.

Iraq's delegate to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Mohammed al-Najjar, said his country can export more than it is now after the resumption of flows via the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, in addition to other planned projects at Basra port, state news agency INA reported on Saturday.

"OPEC member states have the right to demand an increase in their (production) shares especially if they have projects that led to an increase in production capacity," he said.

Iraq's oil ministry undersecretary Bassem Mohamed told Reuters that the resumption of Kurdish oil flows will help raise the country's exports to nearly 3.6 million bpd in the coming days.

Iraq's production and export levels will remain within its OPEC quota of 4.2 million bpd, he said.

Iraq, the group's largest overproducer, was among states that submitted updated plans to OPEC in April to make further oil output cuts to compensate for pumping above agreed quotas.

Flows through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline were halted in March 2023 when the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Turkey to pay Iraq $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorised exports by the Kurdish regional authorities.

Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar also confirmed the resumption of oil exports to Turkey from Iraq in a post on X.

SETTLING OUTSTANDING DEBTS

The preliminary plan, agreed last Wednesday, calls for the KRG to commit to delivering at least 230,000 bpd to Iraq's state oil marketer SOMO, while keeping an additional 50,000 bpd for local use, according to Iraqi officials with knowledge of the agreement.

An independent trader will handle sales from the Turkish port of Ceyhan using SOMO's official prices.

For each barrel sold, $16 is to be transferred to an escrow account and distributed proportionally to producers, with the rest of the revenue going to SOMO, the officials said.

Norway's DNO (DNO.OL), opens new tab said it had no immediate plans to export through the pipeline but that its local buyers could still ship its crude through it. The company and its joint-venture partner Genel Energy (GENL.L), opens new tab have said the issue of Kurdistan's around $1 billion in arrears to producers, of which DNO is owed about $300 million, needs to be addressed.

The eight oil companies, opens new tab that signed the deal and the KRG have agreed to meet within 30 days of exports resuming to work on a mechanism for settling the outstanding debts.

South Korea cannot pay $350 billion to US for tariff deal

 South Korea is unable to pay $350 billion upfront in investment in the United States as President Donald Trump suggested under a deal to cut tariffs and is seeking an alternative solution, Seoul's presidential adviser said on Saturday.

Since a handshake deal by the allies' leaders in July to lower U.S. tariffs to 15% from 25%, as Trump earlier imposed, South Korea has said the $350 billion in investment would be in the form of loans and loan guarantees as well as equity.

Trump in remarks this week said South Korea would provide the investment "upfront", despite Seoul's contention that kind of outlay could plunge Asia's fourth largest economy into a financial crisis.

"The position we're talking about is not a negotiating tactic, but rather, it is objectively and realistically not a level we are able to handle," South Korea's National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said on Channel A News television.

"We are not able to pay $350 billion in cash," he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung meet in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 25, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

South Korea, which pledged $350 billion toward U.S. projects in July, has balked at U.S. demands for control over the funds and South Korean officials say talks to formalise their trade deal are at a deadlock.

On Thursday, Trump touted the amount of money he said his sweeping tariffs are bringing into the United States, saying: "We have in Japan it's $550 billion, South Korea's $350 billion. That's upfront."

Last week South Korean President Lee Jae Myung told Reuters that without safeguards such as a currency swap, South Korea's economy, with foreign exchange reserves of $410 billion, would plunge into a crisis if it were made to make a massive outlay.

Wi, the top security adviser to Lee, said nobody would question South Korea's position on the feasibility of the amount if it were required as a cash payment upfront.

"We're discussing alternatives," he said, adding Seoul is targeting a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping hosted by South Korea next month, which Trump is expected to attend, to finalise the trade deal with Washington.

Trump orders deployment of troops to Portland, ICE facilities

 

ICE agents charge towards protesters during a protest against the U.S. President Donald Trump administration's immigration policies, outside an ICE detention facility in Portland, Oregon, U.S., September 1, 2025. REUTERS/John Rudoff/File Photo 

U.S. PresidentDonald Trump on Saturday said he was directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to send troops to Portland, Oregon and to protect federal immigration facilities against "domestic terrorists", saying he was authorizing them to use "full force, if necessary."

Ordering the latest crackdown on a Democrat-led city, Trump said in a social media post that he was directing Hegseth "to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists."

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, responding to Trump's order, said: "The number of necessary troops is zero, in Portland and any other American city. The president will not find lawlessness or violence here unless he plans to perpetrate it."

In a press conference on Friday, Wilson and other local leaders urged calm in the face of an apparent influx of federal officers that the mayor said did not come at the request of the city. "This may be a show of force, but that's all it is. It's just a big show," he said.

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, wrote on X that Trump "may be replaying the 2020 playbook and surging into Portland with the goal of provoking conflict and violence."

In 2020, protests erupted in downtown Portland, the Pacific Northwest enclave with a reputation as a liberal city, following the killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd. The protests dragged on for months and some civic leaders at the time said they were spurred rather than quelled by Trump’s deployment of federal troops.

GROWING TENSIONS IN MAJOR CITIES

It was unclear whether Trump's warning that U.S. troops could use "full force" on the streets of Portland was the equivalent of authorizing lethal force and, if so, under what conditions. U.S. troops are able to use force in self-defense.

The Pentagon did not offer any clarification about whether Trump was deploying National Guard, active duty troops or perhaps a mix of the two, as was the case in Los Angeles earlier this year.

"We stand ready to mobilize U.S. military personnel in support of DHS operations in Portland at the President’s direction. The Department will provide information and updates as they become available," said Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson.

Asked about the Portland decision on Saturday, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said ICE agents need to be protected amid protests against immigration raids.

"We're not going to put up with it. This administration is not playing games," she said in an interview on Fox News.

There have been growing tensions in major U.S. cities over Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown days after a shooting targeting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas left one detainee dead and two others seriously wounded.

TRUMP FOCUS ON CRIME, 'ANTIFA'

On Thursday, Trump told reporters that "crazy people" were trying to burn buildings in Portland. "They're professional agitators and anarchists," he said, without providing evidence.

Trump last week signed an executive order that declares the anti-fascist antifa, opens new tabmovement a domestic "terrorist organization" as part of a crackdown on what he claims is left-wing sponsored political violence.

According to U.S. law enforcement, there has never been a terrorist incident in the United States connected to antifa. Trump first sought to designate the movement as a domestic terror organization during the nationwide George Floyd protests.

The most notorious episode involving the movement occurred in Portland in August 2020, when Michael Reinoehl, a self-identified antifa supporter, shot and killed Aaron “Jay” Danielson, a member of the far-right group Patriot Prayer. Reinoehl was killed by federal and local law enforcement officers during an attempt to arrest him.

Trump has made crime a major focus of his administration even as violent crime rates have fallen in many U.S. cities. His crackdown on municipalities led by Democrats including Los Angeles and Washington has spurred legal challenges and protests.

The Trump administration's goal of deporting record numbers of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally has framed the push around criminals, but it has arrested many people without criminal records. Residents in New York, Chicago, Washington and other Democrat-leaning metro areas have pushed back in recent months.

In the Chicago suburb of Broadview on Friday, ICE used tear gas, less-lethal rounds and pepper balls to quell protests outside an immigration detention center. Protests have also occurred outside other detention centers around the country, including in Portland.