US President Donald Trump has fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown, the highest-ranking officer in the country, as part of a major shake-up of top military leadership.

“I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country,” Trump posted on social media. He said five other top officers were also being replaced.

Gen Brown was the second black officer to hold the post, the holder of which advises both the president and the secretary of defence on national security.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had previously said that Gen Brown should be fired because of his “woke” focus on diversity, equity and inclusion programmes in the military.

Later on Friday, Hegseth announced the firings of two additional senior officers: Chief of Naval Operations Adm Lisa Franchetti and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen Jim Slife.

Adm Franchetti was the first woman to lead the US Navy.

All three top officers removed on Friday were appointed by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.

Hegseth said in a statement: “Under President Trump, we are putting in place new leadership that will focus our military on its core mission of deterring, fighting and winning wars.”

Trump said he would nominate Air Force Lt Gen Dan Caine – a career F-16 pilot who most recently served as CIA associate director for military affairs – as the new chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

Last year, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump recalled first meeting Gen Caine in Iraq. “He looked better than any movie actor you could get,” Trump told the audience.

In the same speech, he praised the US military but said it was “woke at the top”.

Gen Brown had been visiting troops at the southern US border on Friday, roughly two hours before Trump’s post announcing his departure.

Rumours had been swirling this week that the president would remove the commander, whose term was set to expire in 2027.

Gen Brown made headlines in 2020 when he spoke out about race following the death of George Floyd.

He posted a video message to the US Air Force describing the pressures he had felt as one of the few black men in his unit, including being questioned about his credentials.

In 2022, while chief of staff of the air force, Gen Brown co-signed a memo setting out diversity goals to boost the proportion of minority officer applicants while adjusting lower the rate of white candidates, according to the Air Force Times.

Colin Powell was the first black chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, serving from 1989-93.

One of Trump’s first acts after being sworn in last month was to fire the first female commandant of the Coast Guard, citing “excessive focus” on diversity.

In November, before he was confirmed, Hegseth said on a podcast that there were many problems in the military, including diversity initiatives, which the Trump administration should “course correct”.

“First of all, you got to fire the chairman of joint chiefs,” Hegseth said in describing the steps he believed Trump should take.

The Pentagon also announced on Friday that it would cut its budget and let go of 5,400 probationary employees next week.

Meanwhile, a federal court in Maryland temporarily blocked Trump from implementing bans on diversity, equity and inclusion programmes.

District Judge Adam Abelson ruled that the directives by Trump may violate free-speech rights in the US constitution.

The first-ever slap fighting competition to take place in Scotland has been cancelled following a health warning.

BritSlap/SlapFight UK was due to hold the event at Glasgow University Union (GUU) on Saturday evening as part of a wider weightlifting meet.

However, a leading expert on brain injury said it was “inconceivable” the bouts should go ahead due to the elevated risk of concussion.

A spokesperson for the student union said the event had been cancelled “in discussion with organisers”.

Slap fighting began in Russia and expanded into Eastern Europe and the United States after going viral on social media.

Unlike in boxing, MMA and Muay Thai where there is a defensive element, here competitors exchange forceful bare-handed blows to the side of the head without defending themselves.

The winner is decided either by knock out, a points win or a stoppage by a medic or referee.

SlapFight UK, which has no independent regulation or governance, is the first independent league to be set up in this country and was due to host its first Scottish meet after several events in England.

But Dr Willie Stewart, a leading researcher at the university’s school of neuroscience, urged competitors not to “risk their brain health in the name of sport”.

Dr Stewart said the university had led research into traumatic brain injuries for over 50 years, including the “catastrophic outcomes” to brain health suffered by former footballers and rugby players.

He told BBC Scotland News: “There is no question that the University of Glasgow’s research has provided the clearest evidence that brain injuries should never be considered trivial or encouraged as ‘sport’.

“In this context, it seems inconceivable, if not ill-considered, that a students’ union of this university would be hosting such an event.

“I’d suggest that rather than encouraging people to risk their brain health in the name of ‘sport’, the event organisers spend a few hours in my laboratory and educate themselves on the consequences of brain injuries.”

An American study on slap fighting last year warned of a high risk of concussion for participants.

The University of Pittsburgh research analysed footage of 78 fights and found more than half of participants displayed visual signs of concussion.

Its lead author, Dr Raj Swaroop Lavadi said the lack of defensive element meant each blow was “amplified”.

He also said promoters should be “more transparent about its risks”.

GUU previously said it was “satisfied” with safety measures in place.

A statement released late on Friday said: “In discussion with the event organisers, the slap fighting element of this weekend’s weightlifting competition is no longer going ahead.”

BBC Scotland has contacted the union for further comment.

A spokesman for the University of Glasgow said it did not “endorse or sanction” the event.

He added: “Given the strength of the evidence outlined by our own academic colleagues, and echoed by published peer-reviewed research, we regard this as a dangerous sport and do not believe that the GUU or the university should be associated with it.”

SlapFightUK have also been contacted for comment.

The search for a missing woman has entered its fourth day, police have said.

Jenny Hall, 23, was last seen leaving her home at Barracks Farm, Tow Law, County Durham, on Tuesday just after 15:00 GMT. Her red Ford Focus was found parked on the B6278 between Eggleston and Stanhope on Wednesday.

Ms Hall, a keen long-distance runner, is described as 6ft (1.8m) tall with very long dark hair and was last seen wearing a blue hoodie with a John Deere logo and dark jogging bottoms.

Durham Police said it would be working in Hamsterley Forest, where Ms Hall was known to run, and the surrounding areas.

Hamsterley Forest was created by Forestry England in the 1920s.

Sections are used for lumber production, but the area is also popular with walkers and cyclists.

Spanning 4,942 acres (2,000ha), it is the largest woodland in County Durham and is located about 16 miles (26km) from the town Ms Hall is from.

It attracts about 200,000 visitors a year, according to Forestry England.

Ch Insp Haythornthwaite said he wanted to thank those who had contacted them with information so far.

“We really do appreciate your help and support,” he said.

He said the force was aware that families would be walking around the forest recreationally today and asked them to give space to officers conducting the search.

“Try not to disrupt the search area,” he said.

Alongside the police, Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team (TWSMRT) said its teams had so far searched over 60 miles (96.5km) of paths and tracks in Hamsterley Forest.

“The biggest challenge is the area size itself and the terrain,” said volunteer Peter Bell. “The terrain is muddy and boggy.”

A spokesperson for TWSMRT previously thanked the public for offers of help, but individuals were advised not to try and assist as it could “hamper the systematic search”.

Motorbike officers, specialised sniffer dogs and air support drones have also been involved in the search so far.

Durham Police is urging anyone with any information to ring 999.

Germany’s rival political leaders will take their fight for votes right to the last minute in a push that reflects the pivotal nature of Sunday’s election, not just for their country but for Europe as a whole.

Conservative frontrunner Friedrich Merz told supporters that under his leadership, Germany would take responsibility in Europe, and that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) would be consigned to the political margins once more.

He will end his Christian Democrat party’s campaign with a rally in Munich, while his rivals will make a final appeal in a TV “speed-dating” programme with voters.

For months German politics has been paralysed by the collapse of the previous government.

Now, hopes have been raised across Europe that this vote will bring some certainty to the EU’s biggest democracy and its biggest economy, which has struggled to escape from lingering recession.

Nothing will change overnight. No party can govern without forming a coalition, and that will take weeks.

Reviving the economy has been one of the two big issues of the campaign; the other has been migration and security, thrust on Germany’s politicians by a series of deadly attacks since May 2024.

The cities of Mannheim, Solingen, Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg and Munich have all suffered grievous attacks. A Spanish tourist was stabbed at the Holocaust memorial in the centre of Berlin on Friday night, although his wounds are not considered life-threatening.

All the alleged attackers were immigrants, and the AfD under Alice Weidel has advanced to about 20% in the polls with its nationalist, anti-immigration message.

She has appealed to younger voters on social media, and is far ahead in the race on TikTok, with 870,000 followers. She has also been buoyed by support from both billionaire Elon Musk and US Vice-President JD Vance, who has been accused of meddling in the German campaign.

The AfD talks of securing Germany’s borders and deporting migrants who came illegally and committed crimes. But she uses the word “remigration” which has also been linked to mass deportations.

In Solingen, where a Syrian was accused of stabbing to death three people last August, hundreds of people turned out on Friday night to speak out against the rise of the far right.

“We have a lot of friends who grew up in Germany whose parents did not,” said one woman called Natalie, 35. “We don’t want anybody to kick them out and we don’t want our borders closed.”

One man called Jochen held up a sign that read “Never Again is Now!”

There was a large police presence at the protest, and Friday night’s stabbing in Berlin which police say was motivated by antisemitism has heightened security fears.

A police union spokesman has warned of a risk of attacks aimed at destabilising democracy.

All the mainstream parties have ruled out working with the AfD in government, but if it polls higher than 20% it could double its number of seats to 150 in the 630-seat parliament.

Merz’s most likely partner is Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, although probably without Scholz himself. The message from his centre-left SPD as the final day of campaigning began was that every vote counts, and if Germans wanted a strong government they needed a strong SPD.

The Social Democrats are languishing in third in the polls, but Scholz is pinning his hopes on an estimated one in five undecided voters who could make a big difference.

Friedrich Merz was in a relaxed and confident mood when he appeared on stage this week in front of 1,200 supporters in the tech-hub city of Darmstadt near Frankfurt. But his message was stark as he turned his thoughts to Donald Trump’s presidency.

One hand in his pocket and the other holding the microphone, he spoke of unprecedented times and a “tectonic shift in the world’s centres of power”.

“A political order is now crumbling. What we have become used to for decades is breaking down.” He was not even sure if the US would join Germany in celebrating the 70th year of its accession to Nato in the summer.

He castigated the outgoing government for failing to take a leading role on the international stage.

“The German government and chancellor must finally take on a leading role in Europe again. If I’m elected I will spend a significant part of my time keeping this European Union together.”

Germans have had almost nightly opportunities to see their political leaders thrash out the big issues in TV debates, and Alice Weidel has been in the thick of them, sharing the stage with both Merz and Scholz.

In the run-up to the vote she met Vice-President JD Vance, who castigated German politicians for raising a “firewall” against the far right and of ignoring “the will of the voters”.

That firewall – brandmauer in German – has held strong since the end of the war, although Merz himself was accused of breaking it when he relied on the support of the AfD last month in a motion on migration.

He has faced demonstrations ever since, and there was a noisy protest when he visited Darmstadt.

PhD student Annika, 29, held a Herz statt Merz banner – love instead of Merz. “He says he won’t do something with the far-right AfD, but his actions contradict what he says. I don’t trust him at all.”

Merz appears to have been stung by the outcry and has sought to reassure voters there will be “no tolerance, no minority government [with the AfD], nothing at all”.