Foreign
US Judge halts Trump’s government worker buyout plan
A US judge has temporarily halted President Donald Trump’s plan offering incentives to federal workers to voluntarily resign before a Thursday midnight deadline.
Federal Judge George O’Toole Jr said the plan would be paused until a hearing on Monday when he could determine the merits of a lawsuit filed by federal employee unions, reported CBS, the BBC’s US partner.
The offer is part of an ongoing effort by the Trump administration to slash the size of the federal government.
The White House says more than 40,000 employees have accepted the offer to resign in exchange for pay until 30 September. Some workers have voiced confusion about the terms of the deal.
The order came hours before Thursday’s 23:59 EST (04:59 GMT Friday) deadline for federal workers to accept the offer.
A lawyer for the justice department said federal employees would be notified that the deadline had been paused, CBS reported.
The White House appeared to see the temporary halt as a way to increase the number of resignations.
“We are grateful to the Judge for extending the deadline so more federal workers who refuse to show up to the office can take the Administration up on this very generous, once-in-a-lifetime offer,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
An Office of Personnel Management (OPM) statement said the agency would continue processing resignations until an extended deadline of 23:59 local time on Monday.
“The program is NOT being blocked or canceled,” it said. “The government will honor the deferred resignation offer.”
The Trump administration, which previously said it hoped for as many as 200,000 employees to accept its offer, told US media they expected a spike in participation just ahead of the deadline.
“It’s going to save the American people tens of millions of dollars,” Leavitt told reporters outside the White House’s West Wing before the judge paused the programme.
The American Federation of Government Employees, a union, filed the lawsuit against the OPM, arguing it had violated the law, that it could not fund the deal, and that it had given conflicting guidance about its terms.
The union said in an email to members that the offer was part of an “effort to dismantle the civil service and replace the skilled, professional workforce with unqualified political appointees and for-profit contractors”.
The union noted that Congress has not passed a budget for funding beyond mid-March, arguing that it was unclear whether agencies could pay workers until September.
On Thursday, the union said it was “pleased” by the judge’s actions.
Some federal employees have described their shock at the buy-out proposal, which was delivered in the form of a late-night email with the subject line “Fork in the Road”. Some thought the email was spam.
“The tone of the initial email was like ‘you may be cut anyway,’” Monet Hepp, a medical support specialist at the US Department of Veterans Affairs, previously told BBC. “People were blindsided by it.”
Democrats have questioned the legality of the resignation package and warned it would lead to a “brain drain” that would be “felt by every American”.
“Without the expertise and institutional knowledge that so many federal employees bring to their work, our government will be incapable of responding effectively to national emergencies, serving the American public, or even carrying out routine operations,” Democrats on the House Oversight Committee wrote in a letter to President Trump.
On Tuesday, the Central Intelligence Agency became the first national security department to extend the offer to its staff. Former US intelligence officials and several lawmakers have raised concerns that this offer could undermine US national security.
There are also reports of impending cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the weather-forecasting agency, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The United States banned former Argentine president Cristina Kirchner and one of her ministers from entering the US on Friday, accusing them of corruption.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Kirchner and former planning minister Julio Miguel De Vido of receiving millions of dollars in kickbacks from public works contracts.
Kirchner was president of Argentina between 2007 and 2016 and has since been sentenced in her home country to six years in prison for corruption and barred from public office, a ruling she has appealed.
In a statement, Rubio said “CFK”, De Vido and their close relatives had been designated under US law as credibly involved in “significant corruption.”
“This action renders CFK, De Vido, and their immediate family members generally ineligible for entry into the United States,” he said.
Since leaving the presidency and while awaiting the result of her appeal, Kirchner has continued to pursue political activities and seek elected office under the banner of Argentina’s Peronist opposition.
This has made her a high-profile opponent of Argentina’s current leader, President Javier Milei, a right-wing populist and an ally of US President Donald Trump.
AFP
Russia announced on Wednesday that it has suspended its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure following a phone call between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
The Kremlin also stated that it had shot down its own Ukraine-bound drones while they were in the air.
During their call on Tuesday, Putin agreed to temporarily halt attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities but declined to approve a full 30-day ceasefire, as proposed by the US president.
“They were just lining up in combat order—six of them were shot down by ‘Pantsirs’ (a surface-to-air missile system), and another one was destroyed by a (Russian) military aircraft,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Peskov accused Ukraine of failing to honour the proposed 30-day moratorium on strikes against each other’s energy infrastructure, claiming that Kyiv had attempted to attack Russian energy facilities overnight.
Meanwhile, the Russian military earlier on Wednesday accused Ukraine of deliberately attempting to sabotage the temporary moratorium by launching a drone attack on an oil depot in southern Russia.
A coalition of African groups filed fraud complaints Wednesday against French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, accusing him of illegally obtaining the rights to run ports and money laundering. French investigators have in the past looked into allegations the Bolloré Group illegally backed political campaigns in exchange for port concessions.
Groups from five African countries filed fraud and corruption complaints Wednesday accusing French billionaire Vincent Bolloré and one of his sons of illegally obtaining and benefitting from port concessions.
A collective made up of non-governmental organisations in Togo, Guinea, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Cameroon called Restitution for Africa are accusing the Bolloré Group, Bolloré and his son of unlawfully receiving the rights to run ports and then “laundering” money in those countries through the sale of its Africa logistics business.
Bolloré Group’s African ports and logistics business, which the tycoon sold off in 2022, employed more than 20,000 people in 20 African countries, running 16 ports as well as warehouses and transport hubs across the continent.
Cyrille Bolloré, his youngest son, became head of Bolloré Africa Logistics in 2019, taking over from his father.
French investigators have already looked into allegations that the Bolloré Group had, through its consulting business, illegally backed the 2010 presidential campaigns of Faure Gnassingbe in Togo and Alpha Conde in Guinea, in exchange for port concessions in Lome and Conakry.
The group’s lawyers managed to negotiate a settlement, but French financial prosecutors in 2024 requested Vincent Bolloré be tried on charges of corruption and complicity in breach of trust.
Wednesday’s complaint now accuses Bolloré of corruption, benefitting from influence peddling and unlawfully accepting favours from local officials in Cameroon, Ghana and Ivory Coast.
It charges that this is how the group obtained concessions to run the ports of Douala and Kribi in Cameroon, Tema in Ghana, and Abidjan in Ivory Coast.
The collective alleges that the 2022 sale of Bolloré Africa Logistics, whose profits came from these allegedly illegally obtained port concessions, amounted to money laundering.
Bolloré’s holding company sold Bolloré Africa Logistics to the MSC shipping group for €5.7 billion ($6.05 billion) in 2022.
It was thought at the time to be the mainstay of the tycoon’s fortune. Bolloré and his family are estimated to be worth $9.9 billion, according to Forbes.
Bolloré owns several right-wing media outlets in France.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Bill To Make Appeal Court Final Arbiter In Governorship Election Disputes Passes 2nd Reading
BREAKING! INEC tells Kogi Central constituents your petition on Natasha unsatisfactory
NSITF, NDE partner to curb unemployment
Just in: Terrorists ambush military truck, kill all soldiers on board
Nigerian Dancer, Korra Obidi Attacked with acid, stabbed on stage In UK
Meet Rare Gem 16 Years Old Chiaza, CEO of ‘RUN MARKET PLACE’
-
News3 hours agoBREAKING! INEC tells Kogi Central constituents your petition on Natasha unsatisfactory
-
Opinion17 hours agoREVEREND FATHER PIUS FEMI OLADELE, MSP: LERATO, LEEF VOORT!
-
News5 hours agoPhoto of lady who submitted petition against Senator Natasha and Yahaya Bello emerges
-
News10 hours agoBREAKING: Judge refuse self from Natasha’s case after Akpabio’s petition
-
News11 hours agoBREAKING: Ibas makes first appointments as Head of Service resigns
-
News16 hours agoObasanjo Condemns African Democracy: “This System Is Not Ours; It Has Failed to Deliver”
-
Economy11 hours agoSEE Black Market Dollar To Naira Exchange Rate Today 25th March 2025
-
News10 hours agoOnanuga cautions Peter Obi over democracy comment