The News

 This week, the Trump administration instructed all federal agencies to remove information from their websites pertaining to "gender ideology." On Friday, a flurry of reports indicated that exact thing was happening.

In a Wednesday memo, Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Charles Ezell instructed agencies to comply by Friday at 5 p.m. ET with an executive order that says its aim is "defending women from gender ideology extremism."

That memo laid out "steps to end federal funding of gender ideology." Among those was the instruction to "Take down all outward facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) that inculcate or promote gender ideology."

As of late Friday, attempting to reach the Census Bureau's 2020 Results page returned a message that that part of the site was down for maintenance. Similarly, its page on sexual orientation and gender identity was down, along with other pages including information on those topics.

The examples proliferated on social media, with academics, journalists and activists noting that basic information had disappeared from government websites. The CDC's HIV surveillance data disappeared, as noted by Aaron Richterman, a scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. Similarly, the CDC's Youth Risk Survey data is no longer accessible, which KFF's Cynthia Cox pointed out.

"OPM sent guidance to agencies to remove gender ideology-related content from their websites by 5 pm today as part of the efforts to defend women and uphold the truth of biological sex against the radical claims of gender activists," OPM communications director McLaurine Pinover said in a statement Friday evening. "This may have been misinterpreted to mean we would shut down government websites who weren't able to comply but that is not the plan for continuing to implement this important effort."

While "gender ideology" is sharply defined, Trump and other transgender rights opponents have used the phrase to argue against the idea that people can identify with a gender that does not match the sex they were assigned at birth.

Indeed, the executive order calls it a "false claim that males can identify as and thus become women and vice versa."

Many who support transgender rights oppose using the phrase "gender ideology," as it implies that being transgender is a belief system, as opposed to an identity. Nearly 2 million Americans identify as trans or transgender, according to 2023 polling from KFF and Washington Post.

This week's "gender ideology" memo wasn't the only order from the Trump administration to remove information from websites. In another memo implementing an executive order aimed at "ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs," Ezell instructed agencies to "Take down all outward facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) of DEIA offices." DEIA stands for "diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility" in this order.

 A 5-year-old boy is dead after a hyperbaric chamber he was inside exploded at a medical facility Friday in Troy, Michigan, police and fire officials said. 

The unidentified victim was inside the chamber, a pressurized container that contains 100% oxygen, when it suddenly exploded just before 8 a.m. at The Oxford Center, located at 165 Kirts Blvd.

The explosion caused a fire to break out inside the chamber's room. It is unclear what sparked the explosion and the subsequent fire did not spread to the rest of the facility, police and fire officials said.

The scene outside The Oxford Center on Friday (Fox 2 Detroit)

Police and fire officials said that the boy, from Royal Oak, was dead inside the chamber when they arrived on the scene. 

His mother, who was inside the room, suffered injuries to her arm, police said. 

Troy Police Lt. Ben Hancock described the explosion as a "very sad incident" and said that such an incident is rare.

A hyperbaric chamber at General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pictured in 2006. A similar one is used at The Oxford Center. (REUTERS/Allegheny General Hospital/Handout)

"We’re not familiar with responding to one of these recently," Hancock said. "Again, [a] horrible, tragic incident, that we don't want to ever respond to."

A hyperbaric chamber contains 100% oxygen, which is three to five times the amount of oxygen compared to a normal room, the officials said. 

"The presence of such a high amount of oxygen in a pressurized environment can make it extremely combustible," Lt. Keith Young from the Troy Fire Department said. "Our initial research shows that this is not a common incident, and the scene remains under active investigation."

It is unclear what condition the boy had that necessitated him to be inside the chamber, which is used to provide hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). A typical chamber holds one person and requires the patient to lie down in a tube-shaped device that looks like an MRI machine and breathe oxygen.

HBOY is well known for treating scuba and deep-sea divers affected by the rapid change in pressure around them, according to the FDA. The devices are also used to treat a variety of other health problems, including carbon monoxide poisoning, diabetic foot ulcers, cerebral palsy, anemia, infection of the skin and bone, as well as vision loss.

Such devices require FDA clearance to ensure that they are approved to be used as intended and are safe and effective.

The scene outside The Oxford Center on Friday (Fox 2 Detroit)

In a statement to the Detroit Free Press, The Oxford Center spokesman Andrew Kistner wrote that the cause of the explosion is unknown.

"This morning, a fire started inside of a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. The child being treated in that chamber did not survive and the child’s mother was injured," the statement reads.

 Hours into Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hearing with the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday to vote on his nomination for U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) accused him of spreading lies and misinformation, particularly when it comes to mental health care and antidepressants.

In 2024, Kennedy speculated that antidepressant use could explain the rise of school shootings, despite a lack of scientific evidence to support such claims. 

“There’s no time in American history or human history that kids were going to schools and shooting their classmates,” Kennedy told the comedian Bill Maher on an episode of the podcast “Club Random With Bill Maher” in April 2024. “It happened, you know, it really started happening conterminous with the introduction of these drugs, with Prozac and the other drugs.”

When Smith asked Kennedy if he stood by this scientifically-unfounded claim, he lacked a clear response. “It should be studied along with other potential culprits,” he said, adding, “I just want to have good science.”

But studies show no causation between antidepressant use and school shootings, and Smith added that “most school shooters were not even treated with antidepressants,” and among those who were, there was “no evidence of association.”

Kennedy proceeded to compare serotonin uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a common type of antidepressant including Prozac, Zoloft and Lexapro, to a heroin addiction. 

“Listen, I know people, including members of my family, who’ve had a much worse time getting off of SSRIs than people have getting off heroin,” he told Smith. Kennedy was previously addicted to heroin.

 A figure skater who missed an American Airlines plane that collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington D.C., on Wednesday, Jan. 29, is speaking out.

American figure skater Jon Maravilla, who was scheduled to travel from Kansas to Washington, D.C., told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that he was told during check-in that he wouldn’t be able to board the flight due to size restrictions that prevented his dog from being carried on the aircraft.

He then decided to travel back to Washington by car after he couldn't board the flight, which later departed out of Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, colliding with the helicopter over the Potomac River as it attempted a landing near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Sharing the moment on his Instagram Stories, per figure-skating fan page @fs.delight, Maravilla wrote alongside a photo from the airport, “Not allowed past gate to board flight,” alongside multiple facepalm emojis. “Get me tf out of Kansas please.”

He then shared another image of a highway with the caption that read, “14 hour journey begins," as shared on @fs.delight's Instagram Stories hours after the incident.

Many members of the U.S. Figure Skating team were among the 64 passengers and crew members traveling on the American Airlines plane that crashed into the military aircraft over the Potomac River near Reagan airport around 9 p.m. local time.

Russian former world figure-skating champions and longtime couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were also reportedly on the aircraft, according to Reuters.

Per The New York Times, Maravilla told RIA Novosti that there were “about 14 figure skaters on the plane, not counting their parents and coaches.”

"Such a tragedy,” he said, stating that he didn’t want to share any names.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

In a statement provided to PEOPLE, U.S. Figure Skating confirmed that members from their community were on the flight.

"U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C.," the Jan. 30 statement read.

“These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas," the governing body added.

"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available," the statement concluded.

 Hundreds of millions gathered Wednesday in homes and crowded festivals to mark the beginning of the Chinese lunar calendar new year, ringing in the Year of the Snake with feasts, dances, firework shows and traditional festivals.

Key Facts

Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.

 For nearly two years, as members of the storied Kennedy family reluctantly went public to warn that their brother and cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was a dangerous man unfit for higher office, the one voice conspicuously missing was that of Caroline Kennedy, daughter of John F. Kennedy. The greater Kennedy family has long maintained a code of silence around family matters, whether a tragic death or a darker secret. Speaking out against one of their own would be verboten. As an ambassador to Australia in the Biden administration, Caroline Kennedy avoided speaking her views even privately to the press, declining comment when several of her cousins went on record with Vanity Fair to detail how RFK Jr.’s dark personal history collides with his political aspirations.

But on the brink of RFK Jr.’s possible confirmation to the head of Health and Human Services under Donald Trump’s new administration, Caroline Kennedy has finally gone public in a letter to the Senate nominating committee—plus an accompanying Instagram video–to describe her cousin as a “predator” who, despite overcoming heroin addiction, went on to “misrepresent, lie, and cheat his way through life.” (RFK Jr. did not respond to Vanity Fair, nor did his spokesperson, nor did Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary. An email to RFK Jr.’s personal account elicited an automated response: “Due to the volume of emails, RFK Jr. cannot read or respond to inquiries on this email.”)

Caroline Kennedy’s letter followed strident condemnations from The Wall Street Journal editorial page and The New York Post, both Murdoch publications. Stephen Kennedy Smith, Caroline’s cousin, tells Vanity Fair that Caroline sought his counsel before sending the letter. “This is a McCarthy moment,” he says he told her, “and somebody has got to tell the truth and show some guts.”

The word “predator” called to mind the allegations, first reported in Vanity Fair, from a former babysitter who says Kennedy sexually assaulted her in the late 1990s, when she was 23. Kennedy did not deny the allegations; he later publicly declared he was “not a church boy” and privately texted an apology to Eliza Cooney, the woman who came forward last year.

In early July of 2024, Cooney described to VF how Kennedy groped her in his own kitchen and had at other times seemed to stalk her in the house. “I imagine Ms. Kennedy chose her words carefully and intentionally when she used the word ‘predator,’” Cooney says now. “I experienced that side of him years ago. I fear that if he’s given the opportunity to lead an organization of more than 80,000 employees, other women may, too. I personally wouldn’t trust him with my health care or my daughter.”

She fears, however, that Caroline’s warning “is about six months too late.”