WASHINGTON: Trump administration changes have upended the US agency charged with providing humanitarian aid to countries overseas, with dozens of senior officials put on leave, thousands of contractors laid off, and a sweeping freeze imposed on billions of dollars in foreign assistance.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the pause on foreign assistance Thursday, saying “the US government is not a charity.”
Aid organizations say the funding freeze — and deep confusion over what US-funded programs must stop work as a result — has left them agonizing over whether they could continue operating programs such as those providing round-the-clock nutritional support to extremely malnourished infants and children, knowing that closing the doors means that many of those children would die.
Current and former officials at the State Department and the US Agency for International Development say staffers were invited to submit requests to exempt certain programs from the foreign aid freeze, which President Donald Trump imposed Jan. 20 and the State Department detailed how to execute on Jan. 24.
Three days later, at least 56 senior career USAID staffers were abruptly placed on administrative leave.
Three officials said many of those put on leave were lawyers involved in determining what programs might qualify for waivers, helping write proposals and submitting those waiver requests as they believed they had been invited to do.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. A Trump administration directive that aid organizations interpret as a gag order has left them unwilling to speak publicly for fear of permanently losing US funding.
In an internal memo Monday about the staffing changes, new acting USAID administrator Jason Gray said the agency had identified “several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people.”
“As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions,” Gray wrote.
A former senior USAID official said those put on leave had been helping aid organizations navigate the “confusing process” to seek waivers from the aid pause for specific life-saving projects, such as continuing clean water supplies for displaced people in war zones.
Others were identified as having been involved in diversity, equity and inclusion programming, which the administration has banned.
On Thursday, a USAID human resources official who tried to reverse the action, saying there was no justification for it, was himself placed on leave, according to two of the officials who had viewed internal emails and verified them as authentic. Reporters from ProPublica and Vox first reported the emails on X.
The State Department and White House didn’t respond to messages seeking comment about the staffing changes.
The new leaders at USAID also abruptly laid off contractors who made up about half the workforce in the agency’s humanitarian bureau Tuesday, knocking them out of systems so that some vanished in the middle of videoconferences, the former senior official said. The targeted institutional service contractors do everything from administrative and travel support to grant processing and data analytics.
The staffing changes came three days after the State Department issued guidelines last Friday for implementing Trump’s executive order freezing foreign assistance for 90 days. The department says it’s reviewing the money the United States is spending to ensure it adheres to administration policy.
The guidelines initially exempted only military aid to Israel and Egypt and emergency food programs but also said program administrators and implementors could apply for waivers for programs that they believe would meet administration standards.
On Tuesday, Rubio issued a broader waiver for programs that provide other “life-saving” assistance, including medicine, medical services, food and shelter, and again pointed to the possibility of waivers. Rubio pointed to the broadened exemptions in an interview Thursday with SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly.
“We don’t want to see people die and the like,” he said.
Rubio said there would be a program-by-program review of which projects make “America safer, stronger or more prosperous.”
The step of shutting down US-funded programs during the 90-day review meant the US was “getting a lot more cooperation” from recipients of humanitarian, development and security assistance, Rubio said. “Because otherwise you don’t get your money.”
The State Department said that since the aid freeze went into effect, it has approved dozens of waivers, although many were returned because they did not include enough detail. It said waiver requests for programs costing “billions of dollars” have been received and are being reviewed.
The department did not specify how many waiver requests had been denied but said thus far its actions had stopped more than $1 billion from being spent on programs and projects that are “not aligned with an America First agenda.”
Even with the broadening of exemptions for life-saving care, uncertainty surrounds what US-funded programs legally can continue. Hundreds of thousands of people globally are going without access to medicine and humanitarian supplies and clinics are not getting medicine in time because of the funding freeze, aid organizations warn.
US aid agency is in upheaval during foreign assistance freeze and staff departures
https://arab.news/c5ghn
US aid agency is in upheaval during foreign assistance freeze and staff departures

- Current and former officials say they were invited to submit requests to exempt certain programs from the freeze
Ahead of Starmer meeting with Trump, UK to raise defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027

- UK currently spends 2.3 percent of gross domestic product on defense
- Prime Minister Keir Starmer is due to meet President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday
LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged Tuesday to raise UK defense spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2027, saying Europe is in a new era of insecurity that requires a “generational response.”
The announcement came two days before Starmer is due at the White House to try to persuade US President Donald Trump to maintain American support for Ukraine and the NATO alliance.
“We must stand by Ukraine, because if we do not achieve a lasting peace, then the economic instability and threats to our security, they will only grow,” Starmer told lawmakers in the House of Commons.
“And so as the nature of that conflict changes, as it has in recent weeks, it brings our response into sharper focus, a new era that we must meet as we have so often in the past, together, and with strength.”
The UK currently spends 2.3 percent of gross domestic product on defense, and the government had previously set a 2.5 percent target, without setting a date.
Starmer told lawmakers that the increase amounts to an additional 13.4 billion pounds ($17 billion) a year. He said the goal is for defense spending to rise to 3 percent of GDP by 2035.
To pay for it, overseas development aid will be slashed from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent of national income, he said.
Starmer said that his announcement amounted to the “biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War,” and necessary because “tyrants like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin only respond to strength.”
The announcement came as European countries scramble to bolster their collective defense as Trump transforms American foreign policy, seemingly sidelining Europe as he looks to quickly end the war in Ukraine.
Trump has long questioned the value of NATO and complained that the US provides security to European countries that don’t pull their weight.
Starmer is due to meet with Trump at the White House on Thursday.
The prime minister has offered to send British troops to Ukraine as part of a force to safeguard a ceasefire under a plan being championed by the UK and France, but says an American “backstop” will be needed to ensure a lasting peace. Trump hasn’t committed to providing security guarantees for Ukraine, saying Monday after meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House that “Europe is going to make sure nothing happens.”
Starmer’s center-left government is seeking closer defense cooperation with Europe, as part of a “reset” with the European Union after years of bitterness over Brexit.
He also wants good relations with Washington, even as Trump, who advocates an “America First” foreign policy platform, disparages allies, threatens tariffs on trading partners and labels Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — but not Putin — a “dictator.”
“We must reject any false choice between our allies, between one side of the Atlantic and the other,” Starmer said. He said that he would tell Trump: “’I want this relationship to go from strength to strength.’“
Women peacekeepers gather in New Delhi for first Global South summit

- Global South countries are top troop contributors to UN peacekeeping missions
- India led the way, providing female peacekeeping troops in Liberia in 2007
NEW DELHI: Women peacekeepers are gathered in the Indian capital for the first summit of UN blue helmets representing the Global South.
Hosted by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Defense, and the Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping, the two-day conference, “Women in Peacekeeping: A Global South Perspective,” brought together 35 women peacekeepers from 35 countries representing the developing world.
Global South countries are the leading contributors of troops to UN missions. India, alongside Bangladesh, Nepal, and Indonesia, has the biggest number of peacekeeping troops.
Women peacekeepers were sent to the field for the first time during the UN Operation in the Congo in 1960. However, their involvement at that time was limited to non-combat positions such as medical personnel and administrative staff.
India became a pioneer in the provision women peacekeeping troops when it sent an all-female Formed Police Unit to Liberia in 2007. Today, women make up more than 20 percent of its 5,000 deployed military observers and staff officers.
“The participation of women in peace operations makes it more diverse and inclusive,” Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told the participants during the conference’s opening session on Monday.
“It is essential that we continue to increase the representation of women in peacekeeping. This is not only a matter of quantity but equally of quality. Women peacekeepers often have unique access to local communities, acting as role models for women in conflict zones.”
The peacekeepers were also received by President Droupadi Murmu at her official residence, Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Those taking part in the conference told Arab News how important it was for them to meet and share their experiences.
“We learn (from) all the thoughts, ideas that each of us has — by their own experience. For me it is powerful,” said Lt. Marinliz Irene Chicas, a peacekeeper from El Salvador.
Maj. Mariam Thermite from the Republic of Guinea Armed Forces, who has served in the UN Mission in South Sudan and in the engineer corps in Western Sahara took part in the New Delhi meeting to share her insights.
“We need to improve women’s qualifications,” she said. “Women are very important in peace keeping ... These missions are very important for (the affected) women and children, and without women we can’t (access them).”
UN Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted in 2000, recognized the importance of female participation in peacekeeping and called for the inclusion of women in all levels of decision-making and peace processes as critical to such operations.
Women’s participation ensures that peacekeeping missions consider the security needs of all populations, including marginalized groups. Female peacekeepers help address issues such as the specific vulnerabilities faced by women and children in conflict areas.
“There is a degree of trust between military women and the (affected) population,” Maj. R. Salhi from the Tunisian Armed Forces told Arab News.
“Men cannot reach in the field (where) women can. For example, in the interaction with populations, investigations especially ... dealing with populations and families, children — the easiest way to contact these people is through women.”
Women peacekeepers gather in New Delhi for first Global South summit

- Global South countries are top contributors of troops to UN peacekeeping missions
- India pioneered in providing female peacekeeping troops in Liberia operation in 2007
NEW DELHI: Women peacekeepers have gathered in the Indian capital for the first-ever summit of UN blue helmets representing the Global South.
Hosted by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Defense, and the Center for United Nations Peacekeeping, the two-day conference, “Women in Peacekeeping: A Global South Perspective,” brought together 35 women peacekeepers from 35 countries representing the developing world.
Global South countries are the top contributors of troops to UN missions. India, alongside Bangladesh, Nepal, and Indonesia, has the biggest number of peacekeeping troops.
Women peacekeepers were sent to the field for the first time during the UN Operation in the Congo in 1960. However, their involvement at that time was limited to non-combat positions such as medical personnel, administrative staff, and nurses.
India became a pioneer in providing women peacekeeping troops when it deployed an all-female Formed Police Unit to Liberia in 2007. Today, women make up over 20 percent of its 5,000 deployed military observers and staff officers.
“The participation of women in peace operations makes it more diverse and inclusive,” Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told the participants during the conference’s opening session on Monday.
“It is essential that we continue to increase the representation of women in peacekeeping. This is not only a matter of quantity but equally of quality. Women peacekeepers often have unique access to local communities, acting as role models for women in conflict zones.”
The peacekeepers were also received by President Droupadi Murmu at her official residence, Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Those taking part in the conference told Arab News how important it was for them to gather and share their experiences.
“We learn (from) all the thoughts, ideas that each of us has — by their own experience. For me it is powerful,” said Lt. Marinliz Irene Chicas, a peacekeeper from El Salvador.
Maj. Mariam Thermite from the Republic of Guinea Armed Forces, who has served in the UN Mission in South Sudan and in the engineer corps in Western Sahara took part in the New Delhi meeting to share her insights.
“We need to improve women’s qualifications,” she said. “Women are very important in peace keeping ... These missions are very important for (the affected) women and children, and without women we can’t (access them).”
The UN Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted in 2000, recognized the importance of female participation in peacekeeping and called for the inclusion of women in all levels of decision-making and peace processes as critical to such operations.
Women’s participation ensures that peacekeeping missions consider the security needs of all populations, including marginalized groups. Female peacekeepers help address issues such as the specific vulnerabilities faced by women and children in conflict areas.
“There is a degree of trust between military women and the (affected) population,” Maj. R Salhi from the Tunisian Armed Forces told Arab News.
“Men cannot reach in the field (where) women can. For example, in the interaction with populations, investigations especially ... dealing with populations and families, children — the easiest way to contact these people is through women.
Exploration firm restarts search for MH370 11 years on

- Maritime exploration firm Ocean Infinity has resumed the hunt for the missing plane
- The Malaysian government in December had said it had agreed to launch a new search for MH370
KUALA LUMPUR: A fresh search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been launched more than a decade after the plane went missing in one of aviation’s greatest enduring mysteries.
Maritime exploration firm Ocean Infinity has resumed the hunt for the missing plane, Malaysian transport minister Anthony Loke said Tuesday.
Loke told reporters contract details between Malaysia and the firm were still being finalized but welcomed the “the proactiveness of Ocean Infinity to deploy their ships” to begin the search for the plane which went missing in March 2014.
Loke added that details on how long the search would last had not been negotiated yet.
He also did not provide details on when exactly the British firm kicked off its hunt.
The Malaysian government in December had said it had agreed to launch a new search for MH370, which disappeared more than a decade ago.
The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has never been found.
“They (Ocean Infinity) have convinced us that they are ready,” said Loke.
“That’s why the Malaysian government is proceeding with this,” he added.
In December, Loke had said new search would be on the same “no find, no fee” principle as Ocean Infinity’s previous search, with the government only paying out if it finds the aircraft.
The contract was for 18 months and Malaysia would pay $70 million to the company if the plane was found, Loke previously had said.
Ocean Infinity, based in Britain and the United States, carried out an unsuccessful hunt in 2018.
The company’s first efforts followed a massive Australia-led search for the aircraft that lasted three years before it was suspended in January 2017.
The Australia-led search covered 120,000 square kilometers in the Indian Ocean but found hardly any trace of the plane, with only some pieces of debris picked up.
The plane’s disappearance has long been the subject of theories – ranging from the credible to outlandish – including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue.
A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually.
Russia security chief meets Prabowo in Indonesia

- Southeast Asia’s biggest economy maintains a neutral foreign policy
- In November, Indonesia and Russia held their first joint naval drills
JAKARTA: Top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu held talks in Indonesia with President Prabowo Subianto and his defense minister on Tuesday, as Moscow and Jakarta seek to boost defense ties.
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy maintains a neutral foreign policy, refusing to take sides in the Ukraine conflict or in the great power competition between the United States and China.
Shoigu, Russia’s former defense minister and now secretary of its Security Council, is seen as influential in the decision to send Russian troops into Ukraine in 2022 and is a staunch ally of President Vladimir Putin.
He met Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin for a courtesy call in the capital Jakarta on Tuesday morning, Indonesia’s defense ministry said in a statement.
Prabowo then received Shoigu at the presidential palace on Tuesday afternoon, the presidential palace said in a statement.
“This visit marks an important moment in strengthening bilateral relations between Indonesia and Russia, particularly in the fields of security and defense,” the statement said.
“They discussed various strategic issues related to bilateral relations and regional security.”
The palace said the visit opened up “broader opportunities for future cooperation” with both sides committed to “strengthening their strategic partnership.”
Recently inaugurated Prabowo has pledged to be bolder on the world stage and visited Moscow in July for talks with Putin.
In November, Indonesia and Russia held their first joint naval drills.
Russia sent three corvette-class warships, a medium tanker ship, a military helicopter, and a tugboat for the drills held in the east of Indonesia’s main island Java.
Jakarta has billion-dollar trade ties with Moscow, yet major arms imports have stalled in recent years after Russia seized Crimea in 2014 and launched its offensive on Ukraine.
Still, since becoming defense minister in 2019, Prabowo has kept alive a $1.1 billion Russian fighter jet deal agreed a year earlier, despite the reported threat of US sanctions.