UK to keep ban on asylum seekers claiming modern slavery protections

LONDON: UK Ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward has called for urgent action to protect aid workers in conflict zones as she addressed a UN Security Council session on implementing Resolution 2730.

Speaking at the meeting on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, Woodward stressed the importance of maintaining momentum in ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of humanitarian workers.

“I pay tribute to those on the frontline and extend my condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives,” she said.

Woodward highlighted the escalating risks faced by aid workers, citing figures from the Aid Worker Security Database that recorded 64 deaths, 36 injuries, and eight kidnappings in just the first three months of 2025. She noted that the majority of those affected were local or national aid workers.

“The most dangerous place to deliver humanitarian assistance is Gaza, with over 400 aid workers reportedly killed since the beginning of the conflict,” she said, adding that Sudan and South Sudan are also high-risk locations.

She expressed concern over the detention of aid workers by the Houthis in Yemen, calling for their immediate release, and stressed the need to protect those responding to the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in Myanmar.

Marking the one-year anniversary of the attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy in Gaza, in which seven aid workers, including three British citizens, were killed, Woodward renewed calls for the conclusion of the Military Advocate General’s review into the incident.

“We continue to call for the conclusion of the Military Advocate General’s consideration of the incident, including determining whether criminal proceedings should be initiated,” she said.

She also condemned the recent killing of eight medics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, along with first responders and a UN aid worker in Gaza. “We call for a thorough and swift investigation with meaningful accountability for those responsible,” she said, urging Israel to support efforts to locate PRCS medic Asaad Al-Nasasra, who remains missing.

Woodward emphasized the need for all parties in conflict to comply with international humanitarian law, ensuring that humanitarian supplies, personnel, and aid workers are respected and protected. “States must investigate attacks on aid workers and hold perpetrators to account. Effective, trusted deconfliction mechanisms must be set up and used,” she said.

She also urged the strengthening of international commitments to aid worker protection, highlighting the UK’s participation in an Australian-led ministerial group working to develop a political declaration aimed at driving global action on the issue.

“The UK is proud to be part of the Australian-led Ministers Group to develop a political declaration to galvanize collective action to protect aid workers, and we encourage others to join,” she said.

Additionally, she called for greater support for humanitarian organizations, including local groups, whose work is hindered by inadequate funding and operational risks.

“Actors who play a fundamental role in aid worker safety face operational risks due to inadequate funding,” she said, pointing to the UK’s support for key security-focused groups such as the Aid Worker Security Database and the International NGO Safety Organization.

Woodward reaffirmed the UK’s unwavering commitment to ensuring aid workers can operate safely, saying: “The UK remains steadfast in our commitment to allowing aid workers to do their job in safety and preventing violence against aid workers from becoming the new normal.”

WASHINGTON: The White House said on Wednesday that tech billionaire Elon Musk will stay on to complete his mission to slash government spending and downsize the federal workforce, dismissing media reports that he will leave the role soon.
Politico and ABC reported that US President Donald Trump had told members of his Cabinet that Musk will soon depart and return to the private sector, although the reports did not make clear if that would mean Musk leaving before his 130-day mandate as a special government employee is set to expire around late May.
Trump has tasked the Tesla and SpaceX CEO with leading efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency to cut government funding and reshape the federal bureaucracy.
“Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Musk and DOGE did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reports.
On Tuesday, Musk and Trump suffered a setback as a liberal judge in Wisconsin won election to the state Supreme Court, easily defeating a conservative judge whose campaign had been heavily bankrolled by Musk and groups tied to him.
The vote had been seen as an early referendum on Trump’s presidency and Musk’s campaign to remake the US civil service.
Shares of some government contracting companies rose following the reports of Musk’s possible impending return to the private sector. Shares of Musk’s Tesla, which had been down more than 6 percent in early trading after a sharper-than-expected fall in first-quarter deliveries, reversed course and were up about 5 percent on Wednesday afternoon.
Musk told Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” last week that he was confident he would finish most of his stated aim of cutting $1 trillion in federal spending by the end of his 130 days.
But in a March 10 interview with Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow,” when he was asked by host Larry Kudlow, “You going to go another year?” Musk replied, “Yeah, I think so.”
According to the DOGE website, the only official window into its operations, DOGE estimates it has saved US taxpayers $140 billion as of April 2 through a series of actions including workforce reductions, asset sales, and contract cancelations, still far short of Musk’s $1 trillion goal.
But evidence for the stated savings is often missing, and the website’s calculations have been riddled with errors and corrections.
DOGE’s mandate as a whole is set to continue to July 4, 2026. However, many of the top figures in DOGE are tied to Musk and have not said whether they would want to stay on after the departure of the billionaire, who has been the ideological force behind the government overhaul.
There has been growing unease across the US over Musk’s blunt approach to mass layoffs from the government workforce. Nearly 200,000 employees have been fired, earmarked for termination or have accepted buyouts.
Republican lawmakers have faced the wrath of angry voters at unruly town halls, while many of DOGE’s efforts have become the subject of lawsuits.
Tesla dealerships have been vandalized in the US and abroad, and a nationwide protest against DOGE and Trump’s agenda is planned for this Saturday.