USA - More than 1,000 employees of the US State Department have been laid off as part of the Trump administration's efforts to reduce its federal workforce.
The involuntary staff reductions included 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service em-ployees, according to a notice sent to State Department employees and obtained by CBS News, the BBC's US news partner. More than 1,500 other State Department employees took voluntary departures this year as part of the federal government's massive reorganisation effort.
Critics have argued the mass cuts will affect the work the department does. CBS News re-ported that nearly all civil service officers in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migra-tion office of admissions - a programme that resettles refugees in the US - were cut.
Individuals who worked for the State Department's Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts office were also among the cuts. Videos shared on social media show civil service members in the lobby of the department, leaving the building with their belongings. Other employees are seen applauding former colleagues and hugging one another. Outside the building protesters gathered with signs that read "Thank you to America’s diplomats" and "We all deserve better". (BBC)
