WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration has asked US embassies worldwide to prepare for staff cuts, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday, as part of the Republican president’s effort to overhaul the US diplomatic corps.
The sources said some embassies had been asked to look into reducing both US staff as well as locally-employed staff by 10 percent each, with a list of the workforce due to be sent to the State Department by Friday, which will then determine further actions.
US embassies around the world employ both diplomats and local staff. Most embassy staff come from the host country, according to the National Museum of American Diplomacy.
Separately, a US official said that around 60 contractors at the State Department’s bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor had been terminated in recent weeks and that there was a possibility of further cuts in other bureaus.
ABC News first reported that US embassies had been told to start planning for staff reductions.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The moves come as Trump tries to reshape the diplomatic corps, issuing on Wednesday an executive order directing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to revamp the foreign service to ensure “faithful and effective implementation” of his foreign policy agenda.
The order, which follows efforts to dismantle the US Agency for International Development, comes as Trump makes changes to ensure US foreign policy is aligned with his “America First” agenda. He has also repeatedly pledged to “clean out the deep state” by firing bureaucrats that he deems disloyal.
The order, which was titled “One Voice for America’s Foreign Relations” also says failure to implement the president’s agenda is grounds for professional discipline, which may result in firing personnel.
“The Secretary must maintain an exceptional workforce of patriots to implement this policy effectively,” the order read.
The order also directs a potential revamp of the Foreign Affairs Manual, a comprehensive set of policies and procedures that lay out how the State Department operates, at home and abroad.
Just hours after taking office on January 20, Trump ordered a freeze of most US foreign aid to ensure it was aligned with his “America First” policies. USAID, the chief US humanitarian agency, became the first target of the effort led by billionaire Elon Musk, a close Trump ally, to reduce the size of the US government.
Since January 20, Musk has dispatched members of his Department of Government Efficiency to scrutinize sensitive personnel and payment information in government computer systems. Aside from USAID, he led the drive to also dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that protects Americans from unscrupulous lenders.
US embassies told to prepare for staff cuts as Trump overhauls diplomatic corps
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US embassies told to prepare for staff cuts as Trump overhauls diplomatic corps
- US president tries to reshape diplomatic corps to align with 'America First' agenda
- 60 contractors terminated at State Department's bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
UK police arrest two men over alleged Hezbollah links
- Police said the investigation related to the Iran-backed Lebanese movement Hezbollah which Britain outlawed in 2019
Detectives from London’s Counter Terrorism Command (CTC) arrested a 39-year-old man in north London on suspicion of being a member of a proscribed group, preparing acts of terrorism and being involved in funding for the purposed of terrorism.
A second man, 35, was arrested in west London on suspicion of being a member of a banned organization.
“Our investigation remains ongoing, but I hope that these arrests show we will take robust action against anyone here whom we suspect as being involved in terrorist activity regardless of whether their activity is focused here in the UK or elsewhere,” said commander Dominic Murphy, head of the CTC.
Police said the investigation related to the Iran-backed Lebanese movement Hezbollah which Britain outlawed in 2019 when it classified it as a terrorist group. There was no immediate threat to the public, they said.
The two men were released on police bail until mid-July.
Hungary to withdraw from ICC as Netanyahu arrives despite warrant
- Hungary’s government, led by right-wing populist Orbán, extended the invitation to Netanyahu in November after the ICC, based in the Hague, Netherlands, issued the warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity
BUDAPEST: Hungary said Thursday it will begin the procedure of withdrawing from the world’s only permanent global tribunal for war crimes and genocide.
“Hungary will withdraw from the International Criminal Court,” Gergely Gulyás, who is Prime Minister Viktor Orbán chief of staff wrote in a brief statement. “The government will initiate the withdrawal procedure on Thursday, in accordance with the constitutional and international legal framework.”
The announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, despite an international arrest warrant against him over his conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip.
Hungary’s government, led by right-wing populist Orbán, extended the invitation to Netanyahu in November after the ICC, based in the Hague, Netherlands, issued the warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity.
Orbán, a close Netanyahu ally, has called the arrest warrant “outrageously impudent” and “cynical.” Member countries of the ICC, such as Hungary, are required to detain suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that and relies on states to comply with its rulings.
Tornadoes, heavy rains rip across central, southern US
- Violent storms are forecast to ravage the country for several days
Tornadoes ripped across a wide swath of central and southern United States on Wednesday, destroying homes and businesses and bringing down power lines and trees.
The National Weather Service said there had been at least 15 reports of tornadoes in at least four states by late Wednesday.
Eight people have been injured across Kentucky and Arkansas, including one critically injured in Kentucky’s Ballard County, local officials said.
Late Wednesday, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency across the state due to the storms, which also brought hail and torrential rain.
The NWS said millions of people were under alerts for tornadoes and flash floods and that dangers would continue into early Thursday.
Violent storms are forecast to ravage the country for several days, the NWS said, with Wednesday just “the beginning of a multi-day catastrophic and potentially historic heavy rainfall event.”
“The word for tonight is ‘chaotic,’” said Scott Kleebauer, a NWS meteorologist. “This is a large expanse of storms migrating slowly to the east, stretching from southeast Michigan down into southeastern Arkansas.”
The town of Nevada, Missouri, was hit by a tornado. Writing on social media, the state’s Emergency Management Agency said it caused “major damage to several businesses, power poles were snapped and several (empty) train cars were flipped onto their sides by the powerful storm!“
The NWS issued tornado and flash flood warnings for parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Oklahoma.
It called the rain threats for Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi in the coming days a “generational flood event” with some locations forecast to see as much as 15 inches (38.1 cm) of rain by the weekend, which could cause rivers to burst their banks and cause “catastrophic river flooding.”
More than 400,000 customers had their power knocked out across the storm-hit area, according to PowerOutage.us.
Boat carrying migrants capsizes near Greek island
- Greece is one of the main entry points into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty
- The Greek government has cracked down with increased patrols at sea
ATHENS: A broad search and rescue operation was underway early Thursday near the eastern Greek island of Lesbos after a boat carrying migrants capsized while heading to the island from the nearby Turkish coast, Greece’s coast guard said.
Weather in the area was reported to be good, and it was unclear what caused the boat to overturn early Thursday morning. The coast guard said 23 people have been rescued. There was no immediate information on the survivors’ nationalities or the type of vessel they had been using.
There were no specific reports of missing people, but a sea and land search and rescue operation was continuing, with three coast guard vessels, an air force helicopter and a nearby boat searching for potential further victims.
Greece is one of the main entry points into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, with many making the short but often treacherous journey from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in inflatable dinghies.
The Greek government has cracked down with increased patrols at sea, and many smuggling rings have shifted their operations south, using larger boats to transport people from the northern coast of Africa to southern Greece.
Search for long-missing flight MH370 suspended: Malaysia minister
- The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Kuala Lumpur: The latest search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been suspended, Kuala Lumpur’s transport minister said, more than a decade after the plane went missing.
“They have stopped the operation for the time being, they will resume the search at the end of this year,” Transport Minister Anthony Loke said in a voice recording sent to AFP on Thursday by his aide.
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 not been found.
Loke’s comments come just one month after authorities said the search had resumed, following earlier failed attempts that covered vast swathes of the Indian Ocean.
An initial Australia-led search covered 120,000 square kilometers (46,300 square miles) in the Indian Ocean over three years, but found hardly any trace of the plane other than a few pieces of debris.
Maritime exploration firm Ocean Infinity, based in Britain and the United States, led an unsuccessful hunt in 2018, before agreeing to launch a new search this year.
“Right now, it’s not the season,” Loke said in the recording, which was made during an event at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday.
“Whether or not it will be found will be subject to the search, nobody can anticipate,” Loke said, referring to the wreckage of the plane.
