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WASHINGTON — President Trump’s nominee to chair the Federal Reserve said Tuesday that he never promised the White House that he would cut interest rates, even as the president renewed his calls for the central bank to do so.

“The president never once asked me to commit to any particular interest rate decision, period,” Kevin Warsh, a former top Fed official, said under questioning by the Senate Banking Committee. “Nor would I ever agree to do so if he had. … I will be an independent actor if confirmed as chair of the Federal Reserve.”

Warsh’s comments came just hours after Trump, in an interview on CNBC, was asked if he would be disappointed if Warsh didn’t immediately cut rates and responded, “I would.”

The comments underscore the challenge faced by Warsh, 56, a financier and former member of the Fed’s board of governors whom Trump named in January to replace the current Fed chair, Jerome H. Powell. Democrats on the committee accused Warsh of flip-flopping on interest rates over the years, supporting higher interest rates under Democratic presidents and advocating rate cuts during Trump’s time in office. Investors are watching the hearing closely to see how Warsh balances Trump’s demands with worsening inflation, as the war in Iran pushes up the price of gasoline.

Higher inflation typically leads the Fed to raise rates, or at least keep them unchanged, rather than cut them. When the Fed changes its key rate, it can affect mortgages, auto loans and business borrowing.

Yet Warsh’s account was challenged by Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, who said that Wall Street Journal reporting last year found that Trump had urged Warsh to reduce borrowing costs.

“Who’s lying here? Is it you or the president?” Gallego asked.

“I think those reporters need better sources,” Warsh responded.

For all the back and forth, the hearing didn’t appear to advance Warsh’s nomination, which has been delayed by a Justice Department investigation into the Fed and Powell, over brief testimony Powell gave last June before the same panel about a building renovation.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican on the committee, reiterated Tuesday he wouldn’t vote for Warsh until the investigation is dropped. With the committee closely divided and all Democrats opposed to his nomination, Tillis’ opposition is enough to bottle it up in committee.

“We have got to get rid of this investigation,” Tillis said, “so I can support your nomination.”

Tillis has previously said that all seven Republicans on the committee have signed a letter stating that Powell did not commit a crime when he testified before the panel last June. Federal prosecutors, led by U.S. Atty. Jeanine Pirro, are investigating his testimony for potential perjury, though a judge said last month they offered no evidence to support the charge when he threw out subpoenas Pirro had issued.

Prosecutors from her office as recently as last week sought access to the Fed’s building project but were turned away, revealing that the Trump administration has not reversed course despite opposition from members of his own party that are essential to Warsh’s confirmation.

In his opening remarks, Warsh told the Senate Banking Committee that one of his top goals would be to fight inflation, which remains elevated at 3.3% annually.

“Congress tasked the Fed with the mission to ensure price stability, without excuse or equivocation, argument or anguish,” Warsh said. “Inflation is a choice, and the Fed must take responsibility for it.”

Warsh would be in a tough spot if confirmed. Inflation is worsening, making it much harder for the Fed to implement the interest rate cuts Trump so desperately seeks. The conflict could also slow the economy, as well as hiring. And if Warsh ultimately becomes chair, he may very well find his predecessor, Powell, still sitting on the Fed’s governing board, an uncomfortable arrangement that hasn’t occurred since the late 1940s.

Warsh said the Fed’s political independence is “essential,” and that the central bank wasn’t threatened when “elected officials — presidents, senators, or members of the House — state their views on interest rates.” Trump has repeatedly urged Powell to cut the Fed’s key rate from its current level of about 3.6% to as low as 1%, a view almost no economist shares.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said that Trump has not just stated his opinions on rates, but has sought to fire a Fed governor and is investigating Powell.

“The Senate should not be aiding and abetting Donald Trump’s illegal takeover of the Fed by installing his chosen sock puppet as chair,” she said Tuesday.

Warren also noted that Warsh has not disclosed all of his financial holdings, which include investments in startups and private companies, or the size of those financial stakes. For example, Warsh has said he has holdings in SpaceX and Polymarket, but has not said how large those investments are.

Warren charged that Warsh is not in compliance with ethics requirements. Warsh argued that the Office of Government Ethics has signed off on his plan to sell all his assets within 90 days of his confirmation.

The turmoil could make a potential transition from Powell to Warsh an unusually turbulent one for the world’s most pivotal central bank, which has historically experienced smooth transfers of power. Should the change in leadership prove particularly bumpy, it could unnerve markets and lift longer-term interest rates.

Powell’s term as chair ends May 15. He said last month that he would remain as chair until a successor is named. Powell also is serving a separate term as a member of the Fed’s governing board that lasts until January 2028. Fed chairs typically leave the board when their terms as chair end, but Powell said last month he would remain on the board, even if a new chair is approved, until the investigation is dropped.

Trump said he would fire Powell if he attempted to remain at the Fed. Yet Trump’s previous attempt to remove a Fed governor, Lisa Cook, has been tied up in court. During oral arguments in January, a majority of justices on the Supreme Court appeared to lean toward leaving Cook at the Fed.

Rugaber writes for the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — NASA recaptured the world’s attention with Artemis II, which took astronauts to the moon and back for the first time in half a century. But the agency’s scientific projects could again be under threat as the Trump administration makes a renewed push to drastically cut their funding — including at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The cuts, proposed in the Trump administration’s 2027 budget request to Congress, would pose further challenges to the already weakened Caltech-managed lab and could be broadly damaging to American efforts to bring back new discoveries from space. They echo last year’s attempt by the administration to slash NASA funding, which Congress rejected.

Though the Artemis project is billed as laying a foundation for a crewed NASA mission to Mars, exploration of the Red Planet is among the endeavors that could be slashed. The rover currently exploring Mars’ ancient river delta and a mission to orbit Venus are among projects with JPL involvement targeted for spending cuts, according to an analysis of the NASA budget proposal by the nonprofit Planetary Society.

“This isn’t [because] they’re not producing good science anymore. There’s no rhyme or reason to it,” said Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at the Planetary Society, which led opposition to the administration’s similar effort to cut NASA funding last year.

Storm clouds hang over the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Feb. 7, 2024.

(David McNew / Getty Images)

This time, the administration is asking Congress to cut NASA funding by 23% — including a 46% cut to its science programs, which are responsible for developing spacecraft, sending them into outer space to observe and analyzing the data they send back.

The proposal would cancel 53 science missions and reduce funding for others, according to the Planetary Society analysis. The effort to pare down NASA Science comes amid the Trump administration’s broader effort to cut scientific research across federal agencies.

The plan swiftly drew bipartisan criticism from members of Congress, who rejected the administration’s similar 2026 proposal in January. Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, who chairs the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees NASA, indicated last week that he would work to fund NASA similarly for 2027, saying it would be “a mistake” not to fund science missions.

Moran plans to hold a hearing with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman before the end of April to review the budget request, a spokesperson for his office said. The president’s budget request is an ask to Congress, which ultimately holds the power to allocate funding.

But until Congress creates its own budget, NASA will use the plan as its road map, which could slow grants and contracts. The proposal “still creates enormous chaos and uncertainty in the meantime for critical missions, the scientific workforce, and long-term research planning,” said Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), whose district includes JPL.

A NASA spokesperson declined to comment Friday. In the budget request, Isaacman wrote that NASA was “pursuing a focused and right-sized portfolio” for its space science missions in order to align with Trump’s federal cost-cutting goals.

The budget “reinforces U.S. leadership in space science through groundbreaking missions, completed research, and next-generation observatories,” Isaacman wrote.

Jared Isaacman testifies during his confirmation hearing to be the NASA administrator in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Dec. 3, 2025.

(Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)

At JPL — which has for decades led innovation in space science and technology from its La Cañada Flintridge campus — questions had already swirled about the lab’s role in the future of NASA work.

Multiple rounds of layoffs over the last two years, the defunding of its embattled Mars Sample Return mission and a shift by the Trump administration toward lunar exploration and away from the type of scientific work that JPL executes had pushed the lab into a challenging stretch.

It has had a steady stream of employee departures in recent months, and those left have been scrambling to court outside funding from private investors, sell JPL technology to companies and increase productivity in hopes of keeping the lab afloat, according to two former staffers, who requested anonymity to describe the mood inside the lab.

“If we’re not doing science, then what are we doing?” asked one former employee, who recently left JPL after more than a decade there.

A spokesperson for the lab declined to comment, referring The Times to the budget proposal.

The NASA programs marked for cancellation or cutbacks support thousands of jobs at JPL and other centers, said Chu, who has led a push for increased funding for NASA Science. After last year’s layoffs, JPL “cannot afford to lose more of this expertise,” she said in a statement.

Among the JPL projects that appear to be slated for cancellation are two involving Venus, Dreier said. One, Veritas, is early in development and would give work to the lab for the next several years, he said.

The project would be the first U.S. mission to Venus in more than 30 years, Dreier said, and aims to make a high-resolution mapping of the planet’s surface and observe its atmosphere.

The Perseverance rover, which is on Mars collecting rock and soil samples, could face spending reductions. The budget request proposes pulling some funding from Perseverance to fund other planetary science missions and reducing “the pace of operations” for the rover.

Though how the Mars samples might get back to Earth is uncertain, the rover is still being used to explore the planet and search for evidence of whether it could have ever been habitable to life.

Researchers hope the tubes of Martian rock, soil and sediment can eventually be brought back to Earth for study. The team has about a half a dozen more sample tubes to fill and the rover is in good shape, said Jim Bell, a planetary scientist and Arizona State University professor who leads the camera team on Perseverance, which works daily with JPL.

He said NASA’s spending proposal put forth “no plan” for the future of the agency’s work.

“Are people just supposed to walk away from their consoles,” Bell asked, “and let these orbiters around other planets or rovers on other worlds — just let them die?”

The NASA document did not clearly show which programs were targeted for cuts and did not list which projects were targeted for cancellation. The Planetary Society and the American Astronomical Society each analyzed the proposal and found that dozens of projects appeared to be canceled without being named in the document.

Across NASA, other projects slated for cancellation according to the Planetary Society’s analysis include New Horizons, a spacecraft exploring the outer edge of the solar system; the Atmosphere Observing System, a planned project to collect weather, air quality and climate data; and Juno, a spacecraft studying Jupiter.

The administration’s plan also doesn’t prioritize new scientific projects, Bell said, which further jeopardizes long-term job stability and space discovery at centers like JPL.

“We’re going through this long stretch now with very few opportunities to build these spacecrafts,” Bell said. “All of the NASA centers are suffering from the lack of opportunities.”

Last year, the Trump administration proposed to slash NASA’s 2026 funding by nearly half. Instead, Congress approved funding in January that provided $24.4 billion for the agency — a cut of about 29% rather than the proposed 46%. The 2027 budget request asks for $18.8 billion.

Congress kept funding for science missions nearly steady, allocating $7.25 billion for science missions, about a 1% decrease from 2025. The administration had proposed cutting the science investment down to $3.91 billion. This time, the budget requests $3.89 billion.

Under the Trump administration, NASA has put an emphasis on moon exploration, including this month’s successful Artemis II mission. Isaacman, who defended the proposed cuts on CNN last week, touted the agency’s lunar plans, including a project to build a base on the moon.

The agency has indicated commitment to some existing science missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope, the to-be-launched Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the Dragonfly spacecraft set to launch for Saturn’s moon in 2028, and other projects.

“NASA doesn’t have a topline problem, we just need to focus on executing and delivering world-changing outcomes,” Isaacman said on CNN.

Scientists have urged the government not to choose between funding science and exploration but to keep up investment in both.

“It’s ultimately kind of confusing, especially on the heels of the Artemis II mission,” said Roohi Dalal, deputy director for public policy at the American Astronomical Society. “The scientific community … is providing critical services to ensure that the astronauts are able to carry out their mission safely, and yet at the same time, they’re facing this significant cut.”

Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison made his case directly to theater owners Thursday, pledging to release a minimum of 30 films a year from the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery company during a speech at the CinemaCon trade convention in Las Vegas.

“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison said in a brief on-stage speech, adding that Paramount has already nearly doubled its film lineup for this year with 15 planned releases, up from 8 in 2025.

He also said all films will remain in theaters exclusively for 45 days, starting Thursday. Films will then go to streaming platforms in 90 days. The amount of time that films stay in theaters — known as windowing — has been a controversial topic for theater owners, as some studios reduced that period during the pandemic. Theater operators have said the shortened window has trained audiences to wait to watch films at home and cuts into theater revenues.

“I have dedicated the last 20 years of my life to elevating and preserving film,” said Ellison, clad in a dark jacket and shirt with blue jeans. “And at Paramount, we want to tell even more great stories on the big screen — stories that make people think, laugh, dream, wonder and feel — and we want to share them with as broad an audience as possible.”

Ellison’s CinemaCon appearance comes as more than 1,000 Hollywood actors and creatives have signed a letter opposing Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner. Supporters of the letter have said the deal would reduce competition in the industry and “further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape.”

Some theater operators have also questioned whether the combined company could achieve its goal of releasing 30 films a year, particularly after the cost cuts that are expected after the merger closes.

“People can speculate all they want — but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment,” Ellison said. “And we’ll show you we mean it.”

The speech came after a star-studded video directed by “Wicked: For Good” director Jon M. Chu that was shot on the Paramount lot on Melrose Avenue and showcased directors and actors including Issa Rae, Will Smith, Chris Pratt, James Cameron and Timothée Chalamet that are working with the company.

The video closed with “Top Gun” actor Tom Cruise perched atop the Paramount water tower.

“As you saw, the Paramount lot is alive again,” Ellison said after the video. “And we could not be more excited.”

April 9 (UPI) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum signaled a major shift in the country’s energy policy aimed at reducing its dependence on natural gas imports from the United States, including a possible reopening of hydraulic fracturing under stricter controls.

“Mexico must guarantee its sovereignty. And a fundamental part of sovereignty is energy sovereignty,” Sheinbaum said Thursday during a press conference.

The president said her administration is exploring new domestic production pathways, including using fracking, a technique she previously opposed due to environmental concerns.

Sheinbaum described the move as a “responsible decision” to be carried out under “strict scientific oversight” with the support of a specialized committee.

The proposal centers on creating a technical and scientific panel of experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the National Polytechnic Institute.

The group will have two months to develop a protocol for extracting unconventional reserves, while minimizing environmental impact and prioritizing using treated or non-potable water.

The initiative marks a departure from the policy of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who maintained a strict ban on fracking on environmental grounds.

Mexico currently imports about 75% of the natural gas it consumes, mostly from Texas, exposing the country to price volatility and geopolitical risks that could affect the National Electric System.

“We cannot achieve energy sovereignty if we depend on a valve that can be shut outside our borders,” Sheinbaum said.

Government projections estimate gas demand could rise by about 30% by the end of the administration, driven by new power plants, industrial expansion, petrochemicals and fertilizer production, according to local media reports.

Energy Secretary Luz Elena González Escobar outlined a plan Wednesday to strengthen energy security by increasing domestic gas production and reducing reliance on imports.

She also said the government will accelerate its energy transition plan, aiming for renewable sources to account for 38% of electricity generation by 2030 while reducing the share of fossil fuels.

The strategy envisions starting unconventional extraction by late 2027, with a goal of increasing production to more than 8 billion cubic feet per day by 2035 from about 2.3 billion cubic feet.

The administration has invited private sector participation in renewable energy projects and combined-cycle power plants under a mixed model in which the state, through the Federal Electricity Commission and Pemex, retains 54% of generation and strategic control, leaving 46% to private investment.

Officials say the model is designed to attract capital for storage and extraction infrastructure that the public sector cannot fully finance in the short term.

Energy analysts say the policy shift responds in part to nearshoring trends, as multinational companies relocating operations to Mexico require reliable and affordable electricity supply.

The proposal has drawn criticism from environmental groups, which called it a “green setback” and warned that fracking could threaten aquifers in regions already facing severe water stress.

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said Thursday that his ministry plans to reduce the number of troops deployed to border units “gradually” by 2040, dismissing concerns about a sharp cut in such personnel in a short period of time.

Earlier this week, Ahn told reporters that the defense ministry plans to cut the number of troops deployed at general posts near the inter-Korean border to some 6,000 from the current 22,000 by replacing them with surveillance systems equipped with artificial intelligence technology.

His remarks spawned concerns that the number of troops at border units could be sharply reduced in a short period of time, causing a possible vacuum in the military’s surveillance capabilities.

“(The planned reduction in troops) was a goal to be executed by the year 2040 after phased review,” Ahn wrote in a Facebook post.

“(The plan) should not be translated with the same alarm that suggests (our) troops are shrinking tomorrow,” he said.

The defense chief also said the efficient and scientific management of surveillance operations in border units is a “mandate, not a choice” in a time of sweeping demographic changes. South Korea braces for a drastic population decline, which signals a fall in military manpower resources, in a country where all able-bodied men are mandated to serve at least 18 months.

Ahn earlier stressed the need to revamp the structure of the armed forces, such as introducing a selective conscription system, as part of efforts to tackle the country’s demographic challenges.

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Sony Pictures Entertainment plans to lay off a few hundred employees globally in a move to restructure its business.

The cuts, announced Tuesday afternoon, are set to affect employees who work across Sony’s film, TV and corporate divisions the company said, declining to specify how many would lose their jobs.

Sony said the cuts reflect a shift in business strategy under its new chief executive, Ravi Ahuja.

“As we lean into those priorities, we need to operate with greater focus, speed, and alignment to strengthen our differentiated capabilities,” said Ahuja in a statement. “To support our growth, we are aligning our organization with where the business is going — not where it has been. That requires changes to how we are structured and where we invest.”

Ahuja, who was promoted just over a year ago, added that the company is ”reducing roles in certain areas while increasing focus and investment in others that are most critical to our future.”

Sony plans to focus on franchise strategy and brand extension with game shows, as well as develop more anime, experiences and invest in content that will connect with a younger audience. This includes more game adaptations and growing its YouTube capabilities.

One of the studio’s biggest franchises is the “Spider-Man” universe, which includes both live-action films starring actors like Tom Holland and the Oscar-winning animated “Spider-Verse” movies. The studio is set to release the latest live-action installment, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” this summer. The previous movie “Spider-Man: No Way Home” was a major win for Sony as it generated $1.9B globally.

Sony Pictures operates under its Japanese parent company Sony Group Corp, alongside other subsidiaries like Sony Music Group and Sony Electronics. The film studio was established in 1987 and maintains a strong presence in Culver City.

Recently, the studio acquired the “Peanuts” comic in a $457-million deal, reupped the “Reading Rainbow” for a YouTube audience and is working on PlayStation adaptations for video games like “Helldivers” and “God of War.”

The company has also combined its game-show group with its nonfiction TV department and is slowing down areas of its business that have low growth, like the VFX and virtual production studio, Pixomondo.

The layoffs are the latest to hit Hollywood, which has been hard hit by the exodus of film and TV jobs to other states and countries, a cutback in the number of films being released and media consolidation. Last year, Paramount cut 10% of its workforce after it was acquired by David Ellison’s Skydance Media.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Tex.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is examining ways to reduce capital gains taxes, it was reported today.

Bentsen told the Wall Street Journal in a telephone interview that he intends to ask his tax-writing committee to devise a bill that would raise federal revenues about $8 billion in fiscal 1990, which begins Oct. 1.

Such an increase would extend several tax breaks that are about to expire, including the credit for research and development expenditures.

Bentsen said a capital gains tax cut “is one of those things we’ll have to take a look at” as part of the tax package.

WASHINGTON — In the escalating war in Iran, the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs would ordinarily be at the center of the geopolitical fray.

Typically led by a veteran diplomat, the bureau’s role would be to coordinate U.S. foreign policy across an 18-country region, much of which has become a chaotic battlefield scarred by drone and missile strikes as the U.S. and Israel remain locked in conflict with Iran.

The Trump administration for a time put Mora Namdar, a lawyer of Iranian descent with limited management experience, in charge before later moving her to a different post. One of her credentials was her contribution to Project 2025, a conservative think tank’s blueprint for the second Trump administration. Namdar’s last Senate-confirmed predecessor was a longtime Middle East expert who had been with the department since 1984 and had served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

Now that bureau is also working with far fewer resources. The administration’s most recent budget proposed a 40% cut to the bureau, though Congress eventually enacted less dramatic cuts. The administration also eliminated the dedicated Iran office, merging it with the Iraq office.

Staff reductions and management choices hamper emergency response

These kinds of personnel and management choices — coupled with President Trump’s moves to shrink government and confine decision-making to a tight circle — are limiting the ability of the United States to handle a global emergency, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former U.S. officials, many of whom recently left government.

In divisions of the State Department that typically would handle the Iran response, numerous veteran diplomats with decades of collective experience were fired, retired or were reassigned — replaced by more junior officials or political appointees. The administration cut more than 80 staffers in Near Eastern Affairs, according to numbers compiled by a State Department employee who was terminated last year based on surveys of colleagues. (The department does not release official figures on Foreign Service officer staffing levels but did not dispute the number.)

The Trump administration has left the assistant secretary position in charge of Near Eastern Affairs vacant, along with key ambassadorships in the Middle East. Four of the five supervisors in the bureau have temporary titles.

The current and former officials, some of whom asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive internal matters during an active conflict, paint a portrait of an understaffed government workforce struggling to execute the president’s agenda. Those who remain tell colleagues that their analysis, recommendations and advice go unheeded.

The State Department vigorously disputed those assessments.

“As far as we can tell, AP’s entire ‘report’ on the evacuations does not include any conversations with people actually involved. Instead, it relies on ‘outside’ or ‘former official’ sources that have no idea what they are talking about. We walked AP through specific inaccuracy after specific inaccuracy — indeed how the whole premise was wrong,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.

More than 3,800 State Dept. employees departed since Trump took office

The State Department saw a departure of more than 3,800 employees since President Trump took office through a combination of reductions in force, staffers taking the Fork in the Road deferred resignation plan and ordinary retirements. According to estimates by the American Foreign Service Association, the labor union that represents foreign service officers, senior foreign service ranks were disproportionately represented in the layoffs compared to their share of the overall workforce.

“He’s making choices without the larger expertise of the United States government that would flag issues of consequence,” said Max Stier, CEO of the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit group that studies federal workforce issues. “Sometimes government is slow-moving because there are a lot of different factors that need to be balanced against each other.”

For instance, the administration appears to have been caught off guard by what would happen once the U.S. struck Iran — something Trump himself acknowledged this week when he expressed surprise that Tehran retaliated with strikes on American allies in the region. “Nobody expected that. We were shocked. They fought back,” Trump told reporters this week.

Pigott said staffing reductions “are not having any negative impact on our ability to respond to this operation, our ability to plan, and our ability to execute in service to Americans.” He added that the department “rejects the premise that key decisions were made without meaningful input from experienced professionals.”

But Iranian retaliation on U.S. allies was predictable, according to former officials, as well as previous war games and conflict models run by both the U.S. military and private organizations. The National Security Council, which Trump has pared, typically would have presented the president with analysis from experts within the bureaucracy.

Instead, decisions are made by a small group of officials close to the president without the planning or coordination of the larger machinery of government, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as the president’s national security adviser.

“In the Trump Administration, decisions are made by President Trump and senior administration officials and not by no-name bureaucrat leakers who whine to the press about not being consulted about highly classified operations,” White House spokesperson Dylan Johnson said.

Advice from career officials often went unheeded

“In the time that I was there, there was no policy process to speak of,” said Chris Backemeyer, who served in Near Eastern Affairs as a deputy assistant secretary of state before resigning last year. Backemeyer was a major proponent of the Iran deal that Trump abandoned. He recently left government to run for Congress as a Democrat in Nebraska.

“They did not want to hear any advice from career people,” said Backemeyer.

Namdar was later moved to be the head of Consular Affairs, the part of the department responsible for providing assistance to American citizens overseas and issuing visas to foreign visitors.

When the U.S. made the decision to strike Iran, Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee offered embassy staff in Jerusalem the opportunity to evacuate — a sign that he knew strikes were coming. But some other embassies in the region did not make similar arrangements — leaving nonessential personnel and their families stranded in a war zone.

The department said it has been issuing travel warnings since January and was fully staffed to handle the crisis the moment the strikes were launched.

Evacuation planning was chaotic

Still, little planning appears to have gone into how to evacuate the Americans who were living, working, visiting or studying in many of the countries that became engulfed in the conflict — in part because the White House seems to have underestimated the possibility of the strikes expanding into a prolonged multi-country war, as evidenced by Trump’s own remarks.

After Iranian attacks on allies like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the State Department began calling for Americans to leave the region. But numerous former Consular Affairs staffers say such planning should have begun long before U.S. strikes started.

In a statement posted to social media, Namdar only told Americans to evacuate several days into the conflict, when airspace was largely closed and many commercial flights were unavailable.

“The messaging that went out to American citizens — after the U.S. struck Iran — was woefully late and, initially, confusing,” said Yael Lempert, who served as U.S. ambassador to Jordan until 2025. Lempert is one of five former ambassadors expected to speak about the department’s failures at an event Thursday at the American Academy of Diplomacy in Washington.

Other poorly executed evacuations, such the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, have drawn criticism.

But this time they’re compounded by the loss of experienced people, officials say. Consular Affairs has lost more than 150 jobs in the Trump administration due to a combination of reductions in force, dismissals of probationary employees and retirements, according to a U.S. official who asked for anonymity — though other parts of the department were hit much harder.

The department notes that it has offered assistance to nearly 50,000 Americans impacted by the conflict, with more than 60 flights evacuating citizens from the region. In total, the department says more than 70,000 Americans have been able to return home since the outbreak of hostilities on Feb. 28.

Democrat says personnel reduction imperiled safety

“The loss of experienced personnel through these RIFs has clearly undermined the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ ability to fulfill its most important mission, to protect Americans abroad,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.

Language skills at the department are also atrophying. Thirteen Arabic speakers and four Farsi speakers, all trained at taxpayer expense, were among employees let go, according to a draft letter being circulated by former foreign service officers.

It can cost $200,000 to train a foreign service officer in a language. The letter estimates that the total number of people fired by the State Department in the name of efficiency received more than $35 million in taxpayer-funded language training and more than $100 million in total training and other career development.

The State Department has set up two temporary task forces to deal with the crisis in the Middle East. One aims to bolster the capacities of Near East Affairs and another is aimed at helping Consular Affairs evacuate Americans.

A group of more than 250 Foreign Service officers were part of the administration’s reduction-in-force last year but still remain on the State Department’s payroll. Many have volunteered to return to the department to work on either a task force or do any other job that needs to be done with the outbreak of a global crisis.

“I haven’t been given any separation paperwork. I still have an active clearance. I could go back to the department tomorrow, either to backfill or staff a task force,” said one foreign service officer who asked for anonymity because they are still technically on the department’s payroll and are not authorized to speak to the press. “I will do the scutwork jobs.”

The department hasn’t responded to their offer but said in a statement that the task force is “fully staffed.”

Tau writes for the Associated Press.

CEO Saad al-Kaabi says QatarEnergy may have to declare force majeure on long-term contracts for up to five years.

Iranian ⁠attacks on Qatar have wiped out ⁠17 percent of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, causing an estimated $20bn in lost annual revenue and threatening supplies to Europe and ⁠Asia, QatarEnergy’s CEO says.

Saad al-Kaabi told the Reuters news agency on Thursday that two of Qatar’s 14 LNG trains, the equipment used to liquefy natural gas, and one of its two gas-to-liquids facilities were damaged in Iranian strikes this week.

The repairs will sideline 12.8 million tonnes of LNG production per year for three to five years, he said.

“I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that Qatar would be – Qatar and the region – in such an attack, especially from a ‌brotherly Muslim country in the month of Ramadan, attacking us in this way,” al-Kaabi said in an interview.

His comments came hours after Iran on Wednesday launched a series of attacks on oil and gas facilities across the Gulf region after the Israeli military bombed its South Pars offshore gasfield.

Tehran has been firing missiles and drones across the Middle East in response to the United States-Israeli war on Iran, which began on February 28.

It also has essentially blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a critical Gulf waterway through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil and LNG supplies transit, fuelling soaring petrol prices and global concerns about rising inflation.

Iran’s attacks on energy infrastructure have heightened tensions with its Arab Gulf neighbours, who have condemned the strikes as a violation of international law.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that his country would show “ZERO restraint” if its infrastructure is struck again as the Israeli attack on the South Pars gasfield continued to spur condemnation.

“Our response to Israel’s attack on our infrastructure employed FRACTION of our power. The ONLY reason for restraint was respect for requested de-escalation,” Araghchi wrote on X.

“Any end to this war must address damage to our civilian sites.”

‘Stay away from oil and gas facilities’

During Thursday’s interview with Reuters, al-Kaabi said QatarEnergy may have to declare force majeure on long-term contracts for up to five years for LNG supplies bound for Italy, Belgium, South ⁠Korea and China due to the two damaged trains.

“I mean, these are long-term contracts that we have to declare force majeure. We already declared, but that was a shorter term. Now it’s whatever the period is,” he said.

QatarEnergy had declared force majeure on its entire output of LNG after earlier attacks on its Ras Laffan production hub, which came under fire again on Wednesday. “For production to restart, first we need hostilities to cease,” al-Kaabi said.

The damaged units cost about $26bn to build, al-Kaabi said. He also told Reuters that the scale of the damage from the attacks has set the region back 10 to 20 years.

“If Israel attacked Iran, it’s between Iran and Israel. It has nothing to do with us and the region,” he said.

“And so now, in addition to that, I’m saying that everybody in the world, whether it’s Israel, whether it’s the US, whether it’s any other country, everybody should stay away from oil and gas facilities.”

Universal Orlando Volcano Bay in Orlando in Florida, Area 47 in Austria and Thermas dos Laranjais in Brazil made the rankings, but so did two UK excellent UK waterparks

Two of the best waterparks in the world are in the UK.

With most waterparks set to reopen for the year this month, AttractionTickets.com has compiled a ranking of the best across Europe and the Americas.

Leading the global ranking with a 23/30 score is Universal Orlando Volcano Bay in Orlando, Florida, earning top marks for its high adrenaline rides, and the variety of its attractions. Close behind in second place is Thermas dos Laranjais in Brazil, with a score of 21/30, home to some of the world’s most daring and record-breaking slides. Rounding out the top three is Area 47 in Austria, which is known for its unique blend of high-thrill slides and relaxation.

Alongside these world-renowned waterparks are some locally-loved spots. The pick of the UK bunch is Sandcastle Waterpark. The Blackpool aquazone is indoors, with 18 water slides, including real eye-catchers such as the world’s longest indoor roller coaster water slide, the Master Blaster, and the first vertical indoor drop slide, the Sidewinder.

The future looks intriguing for the UK’s largest waterpark. It is getting a £500,000 makeover, to be unveiled just in time for the Easter break. The waterpark celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and this long-running attraction is popular with guests year-round since it’s consistently heated at 28C. So, even if you’re not heading off somewhere sunny this Easter, you can still enjoy a tropical atmosphere.

Sandcastle Waterpark is set on the seaside town’s iconic promenade, close to the Pleasure Beach and South Pier. It boasts 18 slides, including both white-knuckle rides and gentler options for the kids. One of its main attractions is the Master Blaster, famous for being the UK’s longest indoor water rollercoaster.

The waterpark’s improvement plans include refurbishing its changing village and adding lockers with digital PIN codes for enhanced security. The rides will be repainted, and a new audio system is being installed.

Sandcastle has a whole host of great reviews online. One happy customer recently wrote on Tripadvisor: “Visited for the first time at the weekend for my son’s 8th birthday. I initially thought it was expensive for a water park, however, it was well worth the money! It was rather busy but I didn’t queue for more than 10 minutes for some slides. The place was clean and lots of staff around.”

Another added: “What an amazing day. My grandson has additional needs, and Sandcastles went above and beyond to accommodate us. It really made our day, it was a second visit and both times they have been so considerate and I can’t rate them highly enough. 100 out 10 sandcastles! Thank you.”

Coming in just behind Sandcastle on the AttractionTickets rankings is Alton Towers Waterpark. Previously known as Cariba Creek, it has a tropical lagoon theme. The park has multiple slides to ride, with Master Blaster propelling riders at high speed.

Oliver Brendon, CEO of AttractionTickets.com, said: “With waterparks reopening and excitement building amongst aqua fanatics, we set out to compile a list of the best waterparks for all members of the family. By combining our expert insight with online review sentiment, we identified the top waterpark destinations around the world that deliver family-friendly fun and heart-dropping thrills.

The results show that the most successful waterparks are those that put innovation and the guest experience at the forefront. That’s why parks like Beach Park, Universal Orlando’s Volcano Bay and Area 47 remain at the very top of the list.”

1. Universal Orlando Volcano Bay
2. Thermas dos Laranjais
3. AREA 47 – Tirol
4. Beach Park and Aqualand
5. Siam Park
6. O’Gliss Park
7. Aquatica
8. Aqualandia
9. Slide & Splash
10. Caribe Bay
11. Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon
12. Rulantica
13. Aquafan
14. Sandcastle Waterpark
15. Alton Towers Waterpark

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THE world’s greatest places of 2026 have been named and there are two on the list from the UK.

TIME’s annual World’s Greatest Places list looks at everything from hotels and cruises to attractions and experiences.

This year, this included Disney cruises, new museums and beautiful coastal regions, mainly looking at anything “new, exciting, and relevant”.

The new Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo was highlighted, as was the new Epic Universe in Florida.

Yet making the top 100 list was the new V&A East Storehouse in London.

Spread across four floors, it takes up the space of around 30 basketball courts.

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The museum’s collection is broken down into three ‘themes’ – items that have a story, items inspired by the V&A and items that show a working museum.

Having opened last years, TIME explained: “At a time when many museums’ permanent collections have so far outgrown their galleries that only a fraction of their holdings can ever be exhibited at once, the new V&A East Storehouse is taking a radically different approach.

“The real game-changer is the Order an Object system, which lets guests search a digital catalog of more than half a million items and select up to five pieces to be pulled from the shelves and presented one-on-one by a museum staffer for up-close inspection during a future visit. 

The Sun’s Deputy Travel Editor Kara Godfrey visited when it first opened.

She said: “An element I loved was the lack of walls where you can see everything while standing in one spot.

“It almost reminded me of an IKEA warehouse with the simple plywood and metal structures and open concept.

“But the variation of items (of which there are 250,000) means there is something for everyone.”

It’s free to visit, with free lockers and an on-site cafe.

Also making the TIME top 100 list is The Maid of Somerset, a very fancy afternoon tea experience.

Guests enter the Creamery at Castle Cary Station, with the afternoon tea taking place in a “British Pullman style” saloon car.

TIME said: “Unlike the stereotypical snooty high tea, the Maid’s service is steeped in the good humor – and obsession with quality – that typifies Roos’ and Bekker’s projects.

“The friendly attendants prepare 11 loose-leaf teas – a mix of house blends and Prince & Sons selections – and serve finger sandwiches like cucumber and Waterlip, a tangy feta-style cheese made on site at the Creamery.

“A three-tiered sweets tower follows, featuring cardamom-scented orange cakes and scones paired with the Newt’s strawberry-rose preserves.”

The experience costs £35, or £45 with alcohol.

Here are some other amazing afternoon tea experiences in the UK.

Read the full TIME list below.