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President Donald Trump signed a proclamation declaring February 9th as ‘Gulf of America Day’ as he flew over the recently renamed body of water on his way to make history at Super Bowl LIX on Sunday afternoon. 

‘MOMENTS AGO ON AF1: President Trump signed a Proclamation declaring February 9th ‘Gulf of America Day’ while flying over the newly and appropriately named GULF OF AMERICA!’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced in a post on X.

‘Air Force One is currently in international waters, the first time in history flying over the recently renamed Gulf of America,’ the White House shared in a video on X, showing Trump signing the proclamation.

Trump signed the proclamation aboard Air Force 1, while traveling to Super Bowl LIX. He will be the first sitting president to ever attend a Super Bowl.

‘Today, I am very honored to recognize February 9, 2025, as the first ever Gulf of America Day,’ the proclamation read.

‘I took this action in part because, as stated in that Order, ‘[t]he area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico has long been an integral asset to our once burgeoning Nation and has remained an indelible part of America.’

‘Today, I am making my first visit to the Gulf of America since its renaming,’ the proclamation continued. ‘As my Administration restores American pride in the history of American greatness, it is fitting and appropriate for our great Nation to come together and commemorate this momentous occasion and the renaming of the Gulf of America.’

Former North Dakota Gov. and current Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum also praised the president and celebrated the gulf’s official day.

‘It’s official! Congratulations @POTUS on the Gulf of America! Interior has implemented your instruction from the Executive Order on Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness,’ Burgum wrote.

‘Another big win for President Trump’s agenda to Make America Great Again.’

‘It’s official! Proclamation signed aboard Air Force 1 above the Gulf Of America!’ Trump’s son, Eric Trump, posted on X.

Trump announced his push for the name change during his first press conference as the 47th President of the United States of America.

‘We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory,’ Trump previously said at his first news conference. ‘The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate.’

The changes will apply to official federal documents and maps, though it is unclear whether the order also requires schools to use the new terminology.

Trump has also pushed to rename Alaska’s Mount Denali, pointing out that it was originally named after President William McKinley.

‘McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president,’ Trump said at a December rally. ‘They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? That’s what they do to people. Now, he was a great president, very good president. At a minimum, he was a very good businessman. He was a businessman, then a governor, very successful businessman.’

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report. 

Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com

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President Donald Trump announced plans to put a stop to producing pennies, which cost more than their value to make.

‘For far too long, the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.’

He added, ‘Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.’

This is the president’s latest move to reduce spending in the U.S. after taking office on Jan. 20.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is led by billionaire Elon Musk, posted on X last month that producing the penny is costing American taxpayers tens of millions of dollars, suggesting that it may be one of the items it may consider eliminating. 

Musk’s initiative, aimed at cutting $2 trillion in federal spending, didn’t directly state that the penny would be eliminated, but highlighted that it costs three times more to make than it’s actually worth.

According to the U.S. Mint, each penny costs 3.69 cents to produce in fiscal year 2024, costing taxpayers $119 million. This marked the 19th consecutive year in which production exceeded its face value. 

In the U.S., the penny was one of the first coins made by the U.S. Mint after its establishment in 1792. When it was first produced, the coin was larger and made of pure copper. Today’s smaller coin is made mostly of zinc, according to the U.S. Mint.

Fox News Digital’s Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.

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President Donald Trump ‘100 percent’ disagrees with a federal judge’s ruling on Saturday that bars the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the Treasury Department, he said during an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier. 

‘Nineteen states attorneys general filed a lawsuit, and early Saturday a judge agreed with them to restrict Elon Musk and his government efficiency team, DOGE, from accessing Treasury Department payment and data systems. They said there was a risk of ‘irreparable harm.’ What do you make of that? And does that slow you down and what you want to do?’ Baier asked Trump in the interview clip. 

‘No, I disagree with it 100%. I think it’s crazy. And we have to solve the efficiency problem. We have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse, all the things that have gone into the government. You take a look at the USAID, the kind of fraud in there,’ Trump responded. 

U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York Paul Engelmayer, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, issued a temporary restraining order Saturday that sided with 19 Democratic state attorneys general who claimed that giving DOGE ‘full access’ to the Treasury’s payment systems violates the law. The lawsuit was spearheaded by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The judge’s sweeping order, issued Saturday, bars DOGE from accessing the Treasury system until at least Feb. 14, when Engelmayer scheduled a hearing to revisit the matter. 

The language of the order specifically bars ‘political appointees, special government employees, and any government employee detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department access to Treasury Department payment systems or any other data maintained by the Treasury Department containing personally identifiable information.’ Trump, Secretary Scott Bessent and the U.S. Treasury are named as defendants in the case. 

Musk, Vice President JD Vance and other conservatives aligned with Trump have slammed the order. 

‘If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,’ Vance posted to X on Sunday of the order. 

Trump spoke with Baier in an exclusive interview with Fox News ahead of the Super Bowl, which Trump will attend. The pair discussed the president’s long love of sports and football, as well as politics and DOGE. 

‘We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars of money that’s going to places where it shouldn’t be going,’ Trump said when asked about what DOGE has found while auditing federal agencies in search of government overspending, fraud and corruption.

‘Where if I read a list, you’d say, this is ridiculous, and you’ve read the same list and there are many that you haven’t even seen, it’s crazy. It’s a big scam. Now there’s some good money and we can do that through, any one of a number. I think I’d rather give it to Marco Rubio over at the State Department. Let him take care of the few good ones. So, I don’t know if it’s kickbacks or what’s going on, but the people. Look, I ran on this, and the people want me to find it. And I’ve had a great help with Elon Musk, who’s been terrific,’ he continued. 

Baier also asked Trump about his recent comments about Canada becoming the U.S.’ 51st state and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeay saying last week that Trump’s desire to acquire the nation is a ‘a real thing.’ 

‘Yeah, it is,’ Trump said when asked about Trudeau’s remark. ‘I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada, and I’m not going to let that happen. It’s too much. Why are we paying $200 billion a year essentially in subsidy to Canada? Now, if they’re our 51st state, I don’t mind doing it.’

Trump will spend his Sunday evening in New Orleans, where the Chiefs and Eagles will face off in the Super Bowl. Trump is expected to return to the White House on Sunday evening following the game. 

Baier’s full interview with Trump will air Monday during ‘Special Report with Bret Baier.’

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President Donald Trump kicked off his fourth week in office by attending the Super Bowl in what is expected to be another action-packed work week that could include a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Trump will land back in Washington, D.C., late Sunday evening after attending the Super Bowl and spending the weekend at Mar-A-Lago. The 47th president hinted that he could hold his first meeting with Zelenskyy since his Jan. 20 inauguration later this week to discuss the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. 

‘[Zelenskyy] may meet next week, yeah. Whenever he would like. I’m here,’ Trump told reporters while hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday. 

Trump has already met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose nation is in the midst of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas following more than a year of war, and has vowed to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths for both nations as war continues. 

‘I will probably be meeting with President Zelenskyy next week. And I’ve… I will probably be talking to President Putin. I’d like to see that war end for one primary reason: They’re killing so many people,’ Trump said during the press conference on Friday. 

Trump last met with Zelenskyy when he was president-elect in December during a trip to Paris ahead of the Notre Dame Cathedral reopening after a fire ripped through the Catholic church in 2019. 

‘You have 8 or 900,000 Russian soldiers are dead, and very badly wounded. And the same thing with Ukraine, you have probably 700,000 with Ukraine. The numbers they gave are a little bit lower than that. But I believe those numbers aren’t correct. I’d like to see it just on a human basis. It’s terrible what’s going on,’ Trump added of the ongoing war during his comments Friday. 

Trump confirmed to the New York Post on Friday that he has spoken to Vladimir Putin as the war continues, but did not divulge many details beyond that Putin ‘wants to see people stop dying.’

Trump suggested earlier last week that Ukraine should strike a deal with the U.S. to provide crucial minerals – such as titanium, lithium, graphite and uranium – in exchange for military aid. 

‘We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earths. And I want security of the rare earth, and they’re willing to do [that],’ Trump told reporters at the White House last Monday. 

Zelenskyy told the media a day later that he is open to an ‘investment’ from ‘partners who help us defend our land and push the enemy back with their weapons, their presence, and sanctions packages.’ 

‘And this is absolutely fair,’ he added. 

Trump is also expected to meet with the CEO of Nippon Steel this week, which is Japan’s largest steel company. The Biden administration had blocked a nearly $15 billion deal for the Japanese company to buy the American steelmaker, U.S. Steel, with Trump previewing last week that Nippon is now looking to invest in U.S. Steel as opposed to purchasing it. 

Nippon Steel ‘is going to be doing something very exciting about U.S. Steel,’ Trump said on Friday. ‘They’ll be looking at an investment rather than a purchase.’

‘Very great company and they’ll work out the details,’ Trump said of Nippon, mistakenly referring to it as ‘Nissan,’ a Japanese car company on first reference. ‘I’ll help. I’ll be there to mediate and arbitrate.’

The president is in the midst of leveraging tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China to bolster border security, end illegal immigration and stem the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. Trump previewed on Friday that this week will include him announcing ‘reciprocal trade’ tariffs on other nations, as opposed to a flat 10% or 20% tariff on other nations, as he has previously threatened. 

‘I’ll be announcing that next week, reciprocal trade, so that we’re treated evenly with other countries,’ he told reporters on Friday, saying the announcement should come by Monday or Tuesday. ‘We don’t want any more, any less.’

‘I think that’s the only fair way to do it that way nobody’s hurt,’ the president continued. ‘They charge us, we charge them. It’s the same thing, and I seem to be going in that line as opposed to a flat fee tariff.’

In addition to anticipated foreign relations and international trade announcements and meetings, Trump’s administration is expected to continue its investigations of the federal government’s various agencies as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s quest to suss out internal corruption and government overspending. 

Trump’s schedule for the week was not yet released as of Sunday afternoon, beyond attending the Super Bowl before flying back to the White House late Sunday evening. 

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this article. 

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U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he remains committed to the U.S. purchasing and owning Gaza, but that he may allow Middle Eastern countries to rebuild sections of the area ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war.

Trump made the comment when speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to New Orleans for the Super Bowl.

‘I’m committed to buying and owning Gaza,’ Trump said. ‘As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it, other people may do it, through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back.’

‘There’s nothing to move back into. The place is a demolition site. The remainder will be demolished. Everything’s demolished,’ he said.

The president also said he was open to the possibility of allowing some Palestinian refugees into the U.S. but that those requests would be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Trump said last week at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wants the U.S. to take over Gaza after Palestinians are resettled in other countries.

‘The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,’ Trump said at the time. ‘We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and other weapons on the site.’

‘Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,’ he added. ‘Do a real job. Do something different. Just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has for 100 years.’

Several countries have criticized Trump’s comments about taking over Gaza, which was bombarded by Israeli forces in the conflict sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack against the Jewish State.

Trump also said on Jan. 25 that he wanted Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations to accept more Palestinian refugees from Gaza, potentially moving out enough people to ‘just clean out’ the area.

‘You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over,” he said at the time.

Palestinians feared during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which is now under a ceasefire, that they would suffer from another ‘Nakba,’ meaning catastrophe in Arabic, which refers to the displacement and dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the 1948 war at the birth of the State of Israel.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo when asked about Trump’s plan to take over Gaza that the U.S. president was slated to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and possibly Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

‘President Trump is due to meet with major, major Arab leaders, first and foremost the king of Jordan and the president of Egypt and I think also the crown prince of Saudi Arabia as well,’ Herzog said.

‘These are partners that must be listened to, they must be discussed with. We have to honor their feelings as well and see how we build a plan that is sustainable for the future,’ he added.

Saudi Arabia is among the many countries that have rejected Trump’s plan to take over Gaza. Jordan’s King Abdullah II reportedly plans to tell Trump during their scheduled meeting on Tuesday that the proposal is a recipe for radicalism that will spread chaos throughout the Middle East and put at risk the kingdom’s peace with Israel.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday aimed at freezing assistance to South Africa over a controversial law that allows the government to seize farmland from ethnic minorities — namely White farmers — without compensation, as well as the country’s stance against Israel and its war in Gaza.

Trump said in the order the United States would no longer support South Africa with foreign aid if such policies, which he claims highlight a “shocking disregard for its citizens” and amount to “human rights violations,” continue, ordering US agencies to stop providing any aid to South Africa unless deemed necessary.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously denied that South African authorities were “confiscating land” and said his country was looking forward to working with the Trump administration “over our land reform policy.”

Trump’s order also directs the United States to assist Afrikaners — an ethnic group descended from European settlers — who are fleeing South Africa due to discrimination, including helping them resettle through refugee programs.

“It is the policy of the United States that, as long as South Africa continues these unjust and immoral practices that harm our Nation, the United States shall not provide aid or assistance to South Africa; and the United States shall promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation,” read the order.

South Africa’s foreign ministry called the order a “great concern” and said it “(lacked) factual accuracy and fails to recognize South Africa’s profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid,” adding that the move seemed “to be a campaign of misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation.”

“It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the US for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the US from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship,” the foreign ministry added in a statement Saturday.

In the past, racist policies forcefully removed Black and non-White South Africans from land for White people to use. There has been a land redistribution and restitution provision in the country’s constitution since South Africa emerged from its apartheid era and held its first democratic elections in 1994.

Unemployment and poverty, however, remain acute among Black South Africans, who make up around 80% of the population, yet own a fraction of the land. In January, Ramaphosa signed a bill into law that sets forth new guidelines for land expropriation, including enabling the government to expropriate land without compensation in some cases.

According to the US Foreign Assistance website, the country said it would send nearly $440 million in assistance to South Africa in 2023, including more than $270 million just from the Agency for International Development (USAID).

The executive order comes as the Trump administration has already frozen almost all foreign assistance and made moves to dismantle USAID.

Trump also said in his order that South Africa had taken an aggressive stance against the United States and its allies through its position on Israel and reinvigorating ties with Iran.

South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide in an unprecedented case at the United Nations’ top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It said Israel’s leadership was “intent on destroying the Palestinians in Gaza” and called for the court to order a halt to Israel’s military campaign in the enclave.

Trump has previously said he would halt funding until there was a full investigation into allegations that “South Africa is confiscating land and treating certain classes of people very badly,” without citing evidence.

Ramaphosa also spoke to Trump’s “first buddy” and South African-born Elon Musk earlier this week “on issues of misinformation and distortions about South Africa,” emphasizing South Africa’s constitutionally embedded values of the respect for the rule of law, justice, fairness and equality,” a government statement at the time read.

During his annual state of the nation address, Ramaphosa said South Africa “will not be deterred.”

“We are, as South Africans, a resilient people, and we will not be bullied,” he said.

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For the Israeli hostages freed Saturday, the suffering did not end when Hamas militants paraded their frail and gaunt figures on a stage in Gaza ahead of their release to the Red Cross.

Only later, after the freed men arrived back on home soil, would two of them discover that some of the loved ones they had hoped to see again were already dead.

During their stage-managed appearance at the hands of Hamas, one of the Israeli hostages, Eli Sharabi, told the crowd – clearly speaking under duress – that he hoped to see his wife Lianne and daughters Noiya and Yahel.

All three were killed in Kibbutz Be’eri during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 – but it was only on his return to Israel that Sharabi learnt their fate, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Sharabi did appear to know, however, that his brother Yossi – who was also taken hostage by Hamas – had subsequently died in Gaza, where according to the Israeli military his body remains.

Both men and their families had lived at the kibbutz, where more than 100 people were killed during the October 7 attacks. Sharabi’s niece has previously spoken of how close the two families were.

‘He did not know’

Another of the hostages released Saturday, Or Levy, had suspected that his wife Einav had died but had not known for sure as he had no access to media during his time in captivity, his mother Geula Levy said.

Levy, 34, was attending the Nova music festival on October 7 when he was kidnapped. His wife Einav was killed in the attack.

Levy’s mother said he had asked about his wife while in Sheba Hospital following his release.

“He did not know. He assumed, and asked, and we told him,” she told Israel’s public broadcaster Kann 11 News.

While in the hospital, Levy reunited with his son, who was only 2 years old when his father was taken hostage.

The father and son came together “as if nothing had happened,” Geula Levy said.

Levy’s family issued a statement following his release, celebrating his return while also mourning the death of Einav.

“Her loss has left an enormous void in all our hearts,” they said.

‘Let’s get it done’

The treatment of Sharabi, Levy and Ohad Ben Ami while they were in captivity, and the realization they did not know of their loved ones’ fate, has already galvanized one hostage family to use the moment to call for more action now.

On Saturday, the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American murdered by Hamas militants in Gaza in August, urged US President Donald Trump and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to push for the release of all hostages held in Gaza “this week,” dismissing the multi-staged approach to the ceasefire deal agreed by Israel and Hamas.

“Our plea to you (Trump and Witkoff) right now is, now that you’ve done the hard part of getting movement, getting a deal started, let’s not think about phase one and phase two and phase three and many months,” Jon Goldberg-Polin said in video. “Let’s think bigger and faster.”

“All 76 hostages out this week. End of war. Who benefits from dragging it out for so long? Not the people of this region. Let’s get it done right now,” he said.

A total of 33 Israeli hostages are expected to be released as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which went into force on January 19 and is supposed to last six weeks. Following the release of the three hostages on Saturday, Hamas and its allies still hold a total of 73 people taken from Israel on October 7, 2023, and an additional three held since before then. Negotiations on the second and third phases are not yet believed to have begun in earnest.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin was kidnapped at the same time as Levy. Both had tried to hide in a bomb shelter before they were caught and taken to Gaza in the back of a pickup truck.

The Goldberg-Polins said their appeal was driven by seeing the condition of the three hostages released Saturday, and “hearing that Or (Levy) had no idea what happened to Hersh, hearing that Eli (Sharabi) was unaware his daughters and wife had been murdered.”

They said they remained close with Levy’s family and that following his release one of Levy’s first questions was how Hersh was doing, completely unaware that he’d been killed.

“He assumed that he had been released long ago,” Rachel Goldberg-Polin said.

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A traffic accident involving a bus in southern Mexico, which took place in the early hours of Saturday morning, killed 41 people, the government of Tabasco state said in a statement, adding that recovery work was still ongoing.

The bus, which was carrying 48 people, collided with a truck, resulting in the deaths of 38 passengers and two of the drivers, the local authorities said, adding that the driver of the truck also died.

Reuters images show the bus completely burned out after it was engulfed by flames following the collision, with just the skeletal remains of the metal frame left standing.

“So far, only 18 skulls have been confirmed, but much more is missing,” sources for the security of Tabasco said on condition of anonymity, adding that recovery work continued.

Bus operator Tours Acosta said it was “profoundly sorry about what happened,” in a post on Facebook, adding that it was working with authorities to find out what happened and if the bus had been traveling within the speed limit.

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As the Trump’s administration’s 90-day freeze on nearly all US foreign aid continues into a third week, thousands of USAID personnel were expected to be placed on administrative leave or fired, with plans to only retain several hundred personnel deemed “essential,” effectively gutting the agency. However, a federal judge Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s plans to put 2,200 direct hire USAID employees on leave and halted the accelerated removal of staffers from countries around the world.

“The goal of our endeavor has always been to identify programs that work and continue them and to identify programs that are not aligned with our national interest and identify those and address them,” Rubio said Thursday during a visit to the Dominican Republic.

Rubio, now the acting administrator of USAID, reiterated earlier this week that he had issued a blanket waiver for lifesaving programs.

“If it’s providing food or medicine or anything that is saving lives and is immediate and urgent, you’re not included in the freeze. I don’t know how much more clear we can be than that,” Rubio said, questioning the competency of organizations that haven’t applied for a waiver.

Almost all USAID humanitarian assistance programs remain stopped in their tracks, they said.

“Our payment systems have been taken over. We no longer can pay. We don’t have staff,” the USAID employee said, adding that has caused even supposedly exempt work to stop, in dire places like Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Ethiopia.

The power to process payments has “been taken away from USAID,” the agency employee said.

But even those limited activities have been disrupted because NGOs don’t have money to pay the salaries of aid workers and, in some cases, USAID stop-work orders are still in place.

Meanwhile, food procurement in the Tigray region of Ethiopia has been halted, according to a coalition of humanitarian NGOs in the country. And nutrition services for malnourished children and adults have also been suspended, despite Rubio’s waiver for lifesaving food assistance.

In Syrian refugee camps, the US funded coordination costs and services to protect aid workers. That money is now frozen, meaning even organizations with other funding have suspended operations, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Food kitchens funded by the US in Sudan are already shutting down, according to Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International and a former USAID official.

“A lot of displaced people and a lot of people who are caught in famine and other crises could be harmed, if not gravely harmed, if not killed by this pullback of aid,” Konyndyk said, warning of the wide-reaching impact on refugees in Sudan, Syria and Gaza.

Konyndyk also noted that USAID employees can’t act on the waivers if they are locked out of their government systems or placed on administrative leave.

Waiver ‘100% meaningless,’ aid worker says

Many USAID projects are carried out by federal contractors, which typically cover costs up front and then submit invoices for reimbursement – but USAID isn’t currently processing those payments, a USAID official said Friday.

Federal contractors at two US companies said their invoices have not been paid since Inauguration Day.

“The work we do on behalf of the US government provides critical health commodities to address HIV/AIDS and malaria around the world, supports efforts to curb migration from Central America, engages the US agriculture partners and know how to support Ukrainian food production, and supports democracies throughout the world,” a spokesperson for Chemonics said in a statement. “As a result of the stop-work order, we have been unable to withdraw funds from the letter of credit to pay vendors and for expenses incurred prior to the stop-work order.”

According to the Professional Services Council, the trade association for many federal contractors, the US government owes its member companies about $500 million in unpaid invoices since the foreign aid freeze went into effect.

“These payments would be for completed work required by existing contracts and for which contractors had already spent the money,” the council said in a statement, calling on the government to “pay its bills.”

Some aid efforts are also being stopped because groups implementing the projects have not been given clarity on what activities are allowed to continue.

“If a partner proceeds without clarity on what they are allowed to do under their award and under this executive order, then they are taking an enormous risk,” one USAID employee said. If they do something – even if it’s lifesaving – that is later deemed to go against the order, “they will get slammed down and maybe shut down.”

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Five Thai workers released after being held hostage for over a year in Gaza arrived in Bangkok on Sunday.

Sarusak Rumnao, 32, Watchara Sriaoun, 33, Sathian Suwannakham, 35, Pongsak Thaenna, 36, and Bannawat Saethao, 27, were freed on January 30 as part of an exchange arrangement.

They were embraced by family members, some of whom cried, in the arrivals hall at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa and the Israeli Ambassador to Thailand Orna Sagiv were both at the airport to welcome home the freed hostages.

“We are all very grateful and very happy that we get to return to our homeland. We all would really like to thank you. I don’t know what else to say,” Pongsak told a news conference at the airport.

Maris said the Thai government “never gave up hope and here is the result today. The tears of joy are our encouragement.” He added that Bangkok would continue working to secure the release of the remaining Thai hostage.

The group quickly left the news conference to return to their hometowns in Thailand’s northern and northeastern regions.

They were the second batch of Thai hostages released since the war broke out. During an earlier ceasefire in November 2023, 23 Thai nationals were released in a deal negotiated between Thailand and Hamas, with assistance from Qatar and Iran.

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