The Trump administration will retain fewer than 300 staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) out of its global workforce of over 10,000, sources told Reuters. The decision follows USAID’s effective shutdown after Trump’s foreign aid freeze, leaving key relief efforts in crisis.
The mass reduction in USAID staffing is the latest escalation in the administration’s restructuring of foreign aid, following Trump’s executive order pausing U.S. humanitarian funding for 90 days. Since the freeze began on January 20, relief groups have struggled to operate as most USAID employees were placed on leave, cutting off access to essential funding and logistical support.
USAID’s closure has already halted food aid deliveries to conflict zones, including Sudan and Gaza, leaving 500,000 metric tons of food supplies stranded in storage. The shutdown also eliminated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), a key tool for tracking global hunger crises, raising fears that famine relief efforts could collapse.
Aid workers say volunteer-run food programs have been disrupted, while millions of ready-to-eat nutrition packets for malnourished children remain stuck in warehouses due to uncertainty over funding approvals.
The Trump administration’s focus has shifted toward combating drug cartels and international gangs, redirecting resources away from traditional foreign aid priorities. While some emergency food assistance is expected to continue, humanitarian organizations warn that the lack of USAID personnel could cripple distribution efforts in the months ahead.
The drastic staff reduction has left relief groups in limbo, uncertain whether critical food, health, and disaster relief programs will resume or face further cuts.
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Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has increased the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab, raising fears that instability in both waterways could trigger a wider global energy and trade crisis.
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Iran to pay compensation for decades of deaths and damage, adding a new demand to peace talks as Tehran seeks compensation and sanctions relief before reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
A criminal court in Damascus has sentenced former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia for premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.
Millions of people across Spain and Iceland are preparing on Wednesday to witness a rare total solar eclipse, when the moon will pass directly between Earth and the Sun, briefly turning daylight into darkness along a narrow path.
Millions of people across Spain and Iceland are preparing on Wednesday to witness a rare total solar eclipse, when the moon will pass directly between Earth and the Sun, briefly turning daylight into darkness along a narrow path.
Ukraine has agreed to refrain from targeting certain tankers using Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk following a request from U.S. Vice President JD Vance, the Financial Times reported, although Kyiv has continued strikes on Russian targets at the port.
Taiwan has criticised a planned joint naval exercise involving China and Indonesia near its eastern waters, describing it as a politically charged move designed to strengthen Beijing's claims over areas surrounding the island.
An overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk killed an eight-year-old child, injured others and damaged residential buildings, port infrastructure and grain facilities, Russian officials and industry sources said on Wednesday.
Romanian military divers have destroyed two Gerbera-type drones found drifting near the Neptun Deep offshore gas development in the country’s Black Sea exclusive economic zone.
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