By JOSEPH WILSON and EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press
Many of the world's nations, but not the United States, gathered on Monday in Spain to tackle the growing gap between rich and poor nations. They will try to drum up trillions of dollars needed to close it. Many countries face escalating debt burdens, declining investments, decreasing international aid and increasing trade barriers. Co-hosts the U.N. and Spain believe the meeting is an opportunity to close the staggering $4 trillion annual financing gap to promote development and bring millions of people out of poverty. More than 70 world leaders are attending. The U.S. pulled out of the process earlier this month.
By SAMY MAGDY, RIAZAT BUTT and ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has reversed cuts in emergency food aid to several nations but maintained them in Afghanistan and Yemen, two of the world's poorest countries. It marks the latest round of abrupt cancellations of foreign aid contracts run through the U.S. Agency for International Development and equally sudden reversals. The U.S. initially cut funding for projects in more than a dozen countries. The State Department confirmed Wednesday it reversed the cuts for emergency food programs in Somalia, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Ecuador. The status of funding for six other countries is unclear. The ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says she wants to see funding restored.
By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development likely violated the Constitution and blocked Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from further cuts to the agency. U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ordered the Trump administration to restore email and computer access to all employees of USAID, including those who were placed on administrative leave. The lawsuit singled out Musk as a defendant covered by the preliminary injunction. Lawyers for USAID employees and contractors had requested the order.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is signaling that the Trump administration has finished its six-week dismantling of the six-decade-old U.S. Agency for International Development. Rubio made the announcement Monday in a post on X. Rubio says he will move the 18% of aid and development programs that survived the purge under the State Department. Rubio's announcement marks one of the secretary of state's relatively few public comments on a dramatic cutback of U.S. foreign aid and development work. It's been executed by Trump political appointees and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency teams. The purge has marked a dramatic shift from decades of U.S. policy linking foreign aid to U.S. national security.
The head of the U.N. AIDS agency says the number of new HIV infections could jump more than six times by 2029 if American support of the biggest AIDS program is dropped. UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima warned that millions of people could die and more resistant strains of the disease could emerge. Since President Donald Trump's announcement the U.S. would freeze all foreign assistance for 90 days, Byanyima said officials estimate that by 2029, there could be 8.7 million people newly infected with HIV, a tenfold jump in AIDS-related deaths of 6.3 million and an additional 3.4 million children made orphans.
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press
The U.S.-built pier to carry food to Gaza is facing one of its most serious challenges yet. The United Nations is deciding if it can keep safely and ethically deliver supplies from the U.S. sea route to starving Palestinians. The U.N. has paused its work with the pier since June 8, when an operation by Israeli security forces rescued four Israeli hostages and killed more than 270 Palestinians. The U.S. and Israel say no part of the pier was used in the raid but an Israeli helicopter used a spot near the pier. The U.N. and aid groups say they fear relief workers cooperating with the pier being seen as aligned with Israel and becoming targets.
