Top World News

Apr 15, 2025 - World

The State Department is expected propose the elimination of entire embassies and consulates around the world as the U.S. government looks to shrink its diplomatic footprint.Punchbowl News obtained a document showing the department will file a fiscal year 2026 budget proposal due to the Office of Management and Budget that calls for the consolidation of outposts in Canada, Japan and some other countries and the “resizing” consulates in major cities to “FLEX-style light consulates.”“Posts were evaluated based on feedback from regional bureaus and the interagency, consular workload, cost per [U.S. Direct Hire] billet, condition of facilities, and security ratings,” the memo states.Donald Trump's administration will close 10 embassies and 17 consulates, including those in Eritrea, Luxembourg, Malta and South Sudan, and all of those operations will be folded into embassies in nearby countries.ALSO READ: Trump sabotages planned G7 condemnation of Russian missile strike on Ukraine: reportThe State Department will call for the closures of five consulates in France and two in Germany, as well as shutting down operations in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Florence, Italy, while consulates in Montreal and Halifax, Canada, would be downsized to “provide ‘last-mile’ diplomacy with minimal local support," and U.S. missions to international organizations, including OECD and UNESCO, would be folded into U.S. embassies and consulates in the cities where they're located.Officials also want to close the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center in Iraq’s capital, saying it was "by far" the most expensive State Department mission, as the Trump administration looks to cut the department's budget by nearly half.An internal memo found an early proposal for the next fiscal year would leave a total budget of $28.4 billion for all activities carried out by the State Department and USAID, which represents a cut of $27 billion, or 48 percent, from funding levels approved by Congress for 2025.

Apr 15, 2025 - World

The G7 countries' plan to formally condemn a Russian missile attack on Ukraine is being rejected by the Trump administration, reported Bloomberg News on Tuesday."Russia fired two short-range ballistic missiles, including one equipped with cluster munitions, at Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy on Palm Sunday morning as Ukrainians attended church services," noted the report. "At least 35 people were killed and 119 injured in the attack, including children, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said."The rest of the G7 countries planned a statement denouncing the attack. However, the Trump administration has declined to back it, saying that they are “working to preserve the space to negotiate peace.” The non-participation of the United States effectively prevents the statement from being issued at all, according to officials from Canada, which holds the rotating G7 presidency this year.ALSO READ: 'This is very bad': Whistleblower reveals 'brazen' DOGE team looting sensitive labor dataSince Trump took office, the United States has pivoted sharply from its previous unequivocal stances in support of Ukraine against the Russian invasion, shifting to place more priority on a peaceful resolution to the war regardless of whether that might mean concessions to Russian occupying forces and the Kremlin.Earlier this week in his White House meeting with the president of El Salvador, Trump went out of his way to blame Zelensky himself for the bloodshed, even though his country is the one being invaded. "He's always looking to purchase missiles," Trump said of Zelensky. "When you start a war, you got to know that you can win the war. You don't start a war against somebody that's 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles." (Zelensky did not start the war.)Trump has also called Zelensky a "dictator" because elections are suspended in Ukraine, even though that country's constitution requires that during a period of wartime and even though opposition parties in Ukraine broadly agree with that move.

Apr 15, 2025 - World

As the White House claims they have the ‘upper hand’ in the China trade war, a new POLITICO report is claiming otherwise. US tariffs on Chinese goods are now at 145 percent. This is up 135 percentage points since February 1, when there was just a 10 percent tariff.Over the weekend, administration officials were defending President Donald Trump’s plan to “'carve-out' a tariff hike on consumer electronics from the astronomical 145 percent tariffs it levied on China.” The move is a notable policy rollback as technology products are also subject to a 20 percent tariff from China and "some electronic components could face sector-specific tariffs in the future.”According to the outlet, Trump's exceptions are “indicative of the relatively weak position the administration.”ALSO READ: MSNBC's Maddow shreds Trump White House for labeling 13-year-old immigrant a 'terrorist'They also noted a second problem with the tariffs: “The U.S. is imposing new tariffs on Chinese goods in an attempt to move manufacturing back to the U.S., but those tariffs are particularly painful for U.S. manufacturers because they are currently so dependent on Chinese parts.”One former Trump administration official told Politico that the trade war the president launched will not be easy to deescalate. “Xi Jinping will not back down [because] the [Chinese Communist Party] will lose confidence in him," they said. "This is going to get really ugly."As Politico noted, “Beijing’s prompt countermeasures underscore that readiness: a cross-domain mixture of tariffs, export restrictions on critical minerals essential to U.S. industry and targeting of American firms with official probes or sanctions that press multiple economic pain points.”The pending tariffs exceptions are expected to only affect semiconductors. However, the White House could expand them to encompass the broader “electronics supply chain.” Trump announced he would announce the tariff rate for semiconductors within the next week. On Monday, he did not offer any more specific information.

Apr 15, 2025 - World

On 23 March, contact was lost with a team of Palestinian rescue workers and medics in southern Gaza. A week later, their bodies were recovered from a mass graveAt 4.20am, a Red Crescent ambulance on its way to collect people injured by an airstrike in Rafah comes under Israeli fire in Hashashin. Two paramedics are killed. Continue reading...

Apr 15, 2025 - World

NGOs and UN say country is ‘worse off than ever before’ with wide-scale displacement, hunger and attacks on refugee campsTimeline: Sudan’s two years of war and its devastating tollLong read: How Sudan was plunged into warSudan is suffering from the largest humanitarian crisis globally and its civilians are continuing to pay the price for inaction by the international community, NGOs and the UN have said, as the country’s civil war enters its third year.The UK is hosting ministers from 20 countries in London on Tuesday in an attempt to restart stalled peace talks. However, diplomatic efforts have often been sidelined by other crises, including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Continue reading...