headquarters

Islamabad, Pakistan – A powerful car bomb blast outside the headquarters of Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps in the southwestern city of Quetta has killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 30 others, authorities said.

The explosion, swiftly followed by heavy gunfire, tore through the vicinity of Zarghoon Road in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, on Tuesday.

“Two law enforcement personnel were killed while the rest of the dead were civilians,” Bakht Muhammad Kakar, the provincial health minister, told Al Jazeera.

A security camera video posted on social media showed a vehicle turning towards the regional headquarters of the Frontier Corps and exploding within seconds.

Naresh Kumar, a witness, said he was standing outside his office close to the targeted building when the explosion took place. “My mind just went blank. I got hit by shards of glasses in my arm and back. The explosion was just massive,” Kumar told Al Jazeera.

Inam, another injured person who only gave his first name, was brought to the hospital where he was treated for wounds after glass shards injured his back due to the explosion.

“Our office is right around the paramilitary building. We were working in our office when the explosion totally rocked us and then everything went dark. I could hear firing which lasted for a while before the law enforcement arrived to take control,” he told Al Jazeera via telephone from the hospital.

Balochistan’s Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti condemned the incident, labelling it a “terrorist attack”. Speaking after the blast, Bugti confirmed that at least four attackers were killed by the security personnel.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari issued a strong condemnation over the attack, saying, “The misguided extremists were acting on India’s agenda.” He did not give details.

India has not yet responded to the allegation. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Balochistan’s economic significance

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest yet most sparsely populated province. Home to about 15 million people in a country of roughly 240 million, it remains the country’s poorest province despite possessing vast reserves of oil, coal, gold, copper, and gas. While these resources contribute substantially to the revenues of the federal government, the province itself faces economic hardships.

Balochistan is also home to Gwadar, a strategic deep-sea port which is the centrepiece of $60bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project designed to establish a trade link between southwestern China and the Arabian Sea.

However, Chinese investments, particularly in Balochistan, have fuelled local resentments. Residents accuse Chinese firms of “stealing local resources” and this sentiment has repeatedly driven local armed groups to attack Chinese personnel and installations.

The province also has the Reko Diq reserves, which are said to contain the world’s fifth-largest copper deposits.

Canadian firm Barrick Mining has been operating at the site since 2022. Earlier this month, Pakistan also signed a $500m deal with a United States-based firm to export critical minerals and rare earth elements.

The local resentments have fuelled a rebellion movement for decades, which aims to establish an independent Balochistan state.

As violence escalates in the province, analysts have questioned the government’s ability in eliminating the armed and rebel groups such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) or the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF).

Muhammad Arif, an expert on international relations, said the demography of Balochistan is complex for both the violent groups as well as the government as he pointed out a logistical challenge inherent in the province’s topography.

“It is not possible for non-state actors to take control of the region of Balochistan with its vast, difficult terrain, but at the same time, the security of each and every corner of the state is difficult for the same reasons,” he said.

Arif suggested that a recent surge in violence could be linked to the government’s counter-insurgency operations.

“It is believed that the Baloch Liberation Army and other groups have suffered heavy casualties in the last couple of weeks, with the Pakistani forces helped by Chinese communication equipment along with drones and Pakistani jet fighters. [Tuesday’s] attack could be a retaliation move,” the Quetta-based analyst told Al Jazeera.

Additional reporting by Saadullah Akhter in Quetta.

Sept. 11 (UPI) — A bomb threat has been reported at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., police said.

The threat was reported around 1 p.m. Thursday. Metropolitan Police Department’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal squad were requested by the U.S. Capitol Police.

Capitol Police are checking the building, and so far nothing has been found, said Fox 5.

The DNC building is in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Southeast D.C.

The threat comes one day after political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed in Utah at a speaking event.

Multiple historically Black colleges and universities, including two in Virginia, are also on lockdown Thursday in response to various threats, WUSA9 reported.

BRUSSELS — The greenlight given by President Trump on U.S. backup for a European-led force to police any future peace agreement in Ukraine vastly improves the likelihood it might succeed.

European leaders said Trump offered his backing during a call they held ahead of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

The effectiveness of the operation, drawn up by the so-called coalition of the willing of around 30 countries supporting Ukraine, hinges on U.S. backup with airpower or other military equipment that European armed forces do not have, or only in short supply.

EU leaders regularly have underlined how the United States is “crucial” to the success of the security operation dubbed Multinational Force Ukraine. But the Trump administration has long refused to commit, perhaps keeping its participation on hold as leverage in talks with Russia.

After a meeting Wednesday between Trump and European leaders, European Council President Antonio Costa welcomed “the readiness of the United States to share with Europe the efforts to reinforce security conditions once we obtain a durable and just peace for Ukraine.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had insisted NATO must not be part of these security guarantees, but the U.S. leader agreed “the United States and all the (other) parties involved should take part.”

“It’s a very important clarification,” Macron said.

Trump did not publicly confirm he would allow U.S. backup, and no details of possible U.S. support were made public, but U.S. Vice President JD Vance sat in on the coalition meeting for the first time.

The Multinational Force Ukraine

More than 200 military planners have worked for months on ways to ensure a future peace should the war, now in its fourth year, finally halt. Ukraine’s armed forces also have been involved, and British personnel have led reconnaissance work inside Ukraine.

The exact size of the force has not been made public, although Britain has said it could number 10,000 to 30,000 troops. It must be enough to deter Russian forces, but also of a realistic size for nations that shrank their militaries after the Cold War and are now rearming.

The “reassurance” force’s mission “will be to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses on the land, at sea, and in the air because the Ukrainian Armed Forces are the best deterrent against future Russian aggression,” U.K. Defence Secretary John Healey told lawmakers last month.

“It will secure Ukraine’s skies by using aircraft,” Healey said, “and it will support safer seas by bolstering the Black Sea Task Force with additional specialist teams.”

Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey launched that naval force a year ago to deal with mines in Black Sea waters.

The force initially will have its headquarters in Paris before moving to London next year. A coordination headquarters in Kyiv will be involved once hostilities cease and it deploys.

The impact of US participation

European efforts to set up the force have been seen as a first test of the continent’s willingness to defend itself and its interests, given Trump administration warnings that Europe must take care of its own security and that of Ukraine in future.

Still, U.S. forces clearly provide a deterrent that the Europeans cannot muster.

Details of what the U.S. might contribute were unknown, and Trump has changed his mind in the past, so it remains to be seen whether this signal will be enough to persuade more countries within the coalition to provide troops.

Greece has publicly rejected doing so. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said last month that those discussions were “somewhat divisive” and distracted from the goal of ending the war as soon as possible.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said Rome won’t contribute troops, but she previously has underlined the importance of working with the U.S. on ending the conflict and called for the participation of an American delegation in force coordination meetings.

Cook writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Emma Burrows in London contributed to this report.

Aug. 12 (UPI) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has visited the CDC headquarters in Atlanta where a police officer was killed in a shooting that is believed to have targeted the national public health agency.

Kennedy was led by CDC security on a tour of the Roybal Campus on Monday, HHS said in a statement, with HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill and CDC Director Susan Monarez in attendance.

Little information about the tour was made public aside from shattered windows across multiple buildings on campus being pointed out to Kennedy.

Kennedy also visited the DeKalb County Police Department, which lost office David Rose in the shooting. The HHS secretary also visited with Rose’s widow, the statement said.

“He offered his deepest condolences and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to honoring officer Rose’s bravery, sacrifice and service to the nation,” HHS said.

Rose was fatally shot while responding to the shooting at the CDC headquarters on Friday.

The suspected gunman, 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White, was shot dead by police at the scene.

At least 180 shots were fired during the incident, hitting at least 150 windows and doors at the CDC headquarters, CBS News reported, citing two people with knowledge of the police investigation.

Authorities believe that White targeted the CDC over health problems he blamed on the COVID-19 vaccine.

The shooting came on the heels of Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, pulling $500 million in funding from developing vaccines using mRNA technology, which was used to develop the COVID-19 vaccine.

Despite support from the medical community for such research and medical therapies, Kennedy claimed “the technology poses more risks than benefits.”

Before his visit, the union representing thousands of workers at the CDC on Sunday called on Kennedy and CDC leadership to make “a clear and unequivocal stance in condemning vaccine disinformation.”

“The deliberate targeting of CDC through this violent act is deeply disturbing, completely unacceptable and an attack on every public servant,” the union said.

“Early reports indicate the gunman was motivated by vaccine disinformation, which continues to pose a dangerous threat to public health and safety.”

ATLANTA — Investigators identified a 30-year-old man from suburban Atlanta on Saturday as the person who opened fire on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, killing a police officer and spreading panic through the health agency and nearby Emory University.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the shooter, who died at the scene Friday, was Patrick Joseph White of Kennesaw, Ga. Officer David Rose of the DeKalb County Police Department was shot and mortally wounded while responding.

No one else was hit, although police said four people reported to emergency rooms with symptoms of anxiety. Many CDC employees sought cover in their offices as bullets strafed the CDC’s headquarters.

Police say White opened fire at the campus from across the street, leaving gaping bullet holes in windows and littering the sidewalk outside a CVS pharmacy with bullet casings. The attack prompted a massive law enforcement response to one of the nation’s most prominent public health institutions.

At least four CDC buildings were hit, CDC Director Susan Monarez said in a post on X, and dozens of impacts were visible from outside the campus. Images shared by employees showed bullet-pocked windows in agency buildings where thousands of scientists and other staffers work on critical disease research.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic shooting at CDC’s Atlanta campus that took the life of Officer David Rose,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Saturday.

“We know how shaken our public health colleagues feel today. No one should face violence while working to protect the health of others,” his statement said.

Some laid-off employees rejected the expressions of solidarity Kennedy made in a “Dear colleagues” email, and they called for his resignation.

“Kennedy is directly responsible for the villainization of CDC’s workforce through his continuous lies about science and vaccine safety, which have fueled a climate of hostility and mistrust,” Fired but Fighting said.

Hundreds of CDC staffers sheltered in place during the shooting and many couldn’t leave for hours afterward Friday as investigators interviewed witnesses and gathered evidence. The staff was told to work from home or take leave on Monday.

CDC workers already faced uncertain futures due to Trump administration funding cuts, layoffs and political disputes over their agency’s mission. “Save the CDC” signs are common in some Atlanta-area neighborhoods, and a group of laid-off employees has been demanding that elected officials take action against the federal cuts.

This shooting was the “physical embodiment of the narrative that has taken over, attacking science, and attacking our federal workers,” said Sarah Boim, a former CDC communications staffer who was fired this year during a wave of terminations.

“It’s devastating,” said Boim, who helped to start an advocacy organization for the former employees called Fired But Fighting. “When I saw the picture of those windows having been struck by bullets, I really lost it,” she said, her voice cracking.

Without naming White on Friday night, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens described the gunman as a “known person that may have some interest in certain things.” He did not name a motive.

A neighbor of White told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that White spoke with her multiple times about his distrust of COVID-19 vaccines.

Nancy Hoalst, who lives in the same cul-de-sac as White’s family, said he was friendly and “seemed like a good guy,” doing yard work and walking dogs for neighbors. But Hoalst said White would bring up vaccines even in unrelated conversations.

“He was very unsettled and he very deeply believed that vaccines hurt him and were hurting other people,” Hoalst told the Journal-Constitution. “He emphatically believed that.”

But Hoalst said she never believed White would be violent: “I had no idea he thought he would take it out on the CDC.”

A voicemail left at a phone number listed for White’s family in public records was not immediately returned Saturday morning.

Authorities don’t know whether White died from police fire or a self-inflicted gunshot, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said Friday.

White had been armed with a long gun, and authorities recovered three other firearms at the scene, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

The CVS remained closed Saturday morning, with one bullet hole in its front door and two more in a rear door. A bouquet was placed outside the building.

Rose, 33, was a former Marine who served in Afghanistan and graduated from the police academy in March and “quickly earned the respect of his colleagues for his dedication, courage and professionalism,” DeKalb County said in a statement.

“This evening, there is a wife without a husband. There are three children, one unborn, without a father,” DeKalb County Chief Executive Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said Friday.

Outside the complex that includes the CVS and four floors of apartments above the store, some people came to examine what had happened.

Sam Atkins, who lives in Stone Mountain, said gun violence feels like “a fact of life” now: “This is an everyday thing that happens here in Georgia.”

Monarez, the newly confirmed CDC chief, hailed the police response and called off in-person work Monday, telling staff in a Friday email that the shooting brought “fear, anger and worry to all of us.”

Amy writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.

It was billed as a bargain-basement deal: L.A. County would buy the Gas Company Tower for $200 million — a third of what the downtown skyscraper cost before the pandemic sent office prices plummeting.

Nine months after the sale closed, some of the supervisors say they have sticker shock.

The sore point: a looming $230-million contract for “voluntary seismic upgrades” to the newly purchased tower, soon to become the county’s new headquarters.

“I never heard that it would double the cost of the purchase,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn, who cast a ‘hell no’ vote against buying the building. “I’m holding out hope that smarter minds will prevail, and we can stop any more investment in this building.”

On Tuesday, Supervisors Hilda Solis and Lindsey Horvath will introduce a motion to “immediately suspend” all seismic work.

“Given that we are in the budget constraints that we are in, I was surprised to know that that work was still being contemplated,” said Horvath.

The county’s financial future has never looked so grim. Federal cuts will force the county to slash health services and potentially shutter a hospital, Chief Executive Officer Fesia Davenport warned the board this week. The county soon will start making payments for its historically large $4-billion sex abuse settlement. Newly negotiated raises for county employees could cost the county $2 billion.

Before the purchase, the supervisors were given ballpark figures as to just how much it would cost to bring the Gas Company Tower into tiptop shape vs. rehabbing the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, the county’s current headquarters, which is widely viewed by county employees as a death trap during the next major earthquake.

To earthquake-proof the hall — by far the riskiest of the two buildings — it could cost $700 million, according to estimates provided to the board last fall. To do the same for the newer Gas Company Tower, the county Chief Executive Office estimated it could potentially cost about $400 million. (As of now, the county is planning to spend less than that with a bid amount of $234.5 million.)

The Gas Company Tower came out looking the better deal by about a billion dollars, according to the Chief Executive Office, once it took into account other costs needed to upgrade the Hall of Administration — including more than a billion dollars in deferred maintenance and improvements.

Hahn’s not swayed.

“I think the bureaucrats had a plan and they made their numbers fit to sell this ill-conceived project,” she continued, adding she believed similar doubt was starting to creep in among her colleagues.

“I’ve heard some of them have some buyer’s remorse,” she said.

Horvath says she doesn’t regret buying the building — but she is skeptical that the county needs to pour millions more into the tower.

“I still maintain that the purchase of the building was the right thing to do,” she said. “If retrofitting is not needed, then I want to understand why we would [retrofit] at a time such as this, when we are making a very clear case about the difficult financial position we’re in.”

The tower is one of many L.A. skyscrapers that incorporates a “steel moment frame” as part of its structure. In the 1994 Northridge earthquake, buildings with the frame did not collapse, but some were badly damaged.

Lennie LaGuire, a spokesperson for the Chief Executive Office, previously told The Times that the tower is already safe and the upgrades are “proactive.”

“The County is choosing to perform this work proactively with an eye to the future, to ensure that the building performs optimally in the decades ahead,” LaGuire said.

During brutal labor negotiations over the last year, the purchase of the skyscraper became a touchy subject. Labor condemned it as an unnecessary splurge. The county insisted it was an obvious money saver.

The hard feelings haven’t gone away, with some unions saying they were kept in the dark about the tower’s true cost.

“The priority should be those facilities the public relies upon for emergencies and daily needs, like sheriff’s stations, fire stations, medical facilities, etc.” said Richard Pippin, president of the sheriff‘s deputies union. “Look, we get it — with the near doubling of the Board of Supervisors and an elected County Executive Officer, everyone wants an office with a better view, but is that what’s best for the public we serve?”

The motion Tuesday also requests a report on where the money to finance the retrofit is coming from and which departments will be moving into the tower.

“The purpose of this acquisition was to realize substantial savings for the County of Los Angeles by consolidating operations and avoiding leased spaces,” the motion states. “However, there has been little to no transparency into what progress, if any, the County has made in occupying spaces in the Gas Company Tower after eight months of ownership.”

According to the Chief Executive Office, some employees have started to move into the building, but the entire move is expected to take three years.

State of play

— OLYMPIC JITTERS: Councilmember Imelda Padilla, a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on the 2028 Olympics and Paralympic Games, called President Trump’s announcement that he would head a federal Olympic task force a “real curveball” for the city and raised concerns about what a mercurial president would mean for the Olympics. “We are a little nervous to see what they’re going to ask for,” Padilla said during the Los Angeles Current Affairs Forum luncheon on Thursday referring to the Trump administration’s involvement in the Olympics. She also called Trump’s assertion that Bass was not very competent “completely false.”

—TUNNEL TROUBLE: The city spent $25,800, using 10 contracted workers, to paint over graffiti in the 2nd Street Tunnel — only for taggers to immediately paint the walls again within 24 hours. “It’s infuriating that these selfish vandals are wasting tax dollars aimed at improving the city for all Angelenos,” said Steve King, president of the Board of Public Works.

— SILVER LININGS: L.A. County supervisors say they’re open to the idea of a receiver taking control of the beleaguered juvenile halls. But for it to happen, a majority on the board says the receiver will need to take on union agreements and civil service rules, which they say keep problem employees on the payroll.

—PLEA TO THE FEDS: A prominent law firm suing L.A. County over childhood sexual abuse is asking for a federal investigation into how so many children were harmed while in county custody. In a letter addressed to U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, attorney John Manly wrote that he wanted to see the U.S. attorney’s office conduct an “immediate investigation” into any federal crimes committed by staff within the county’s Probation Department.

—COOLING OFF: L.A. County will soon require landlords in unincorporated areas to provide a way for tenants to keep their rental units 82 degrees or below. The supervisors say the law is necessary to combat heat-related deaths fueled by climate change.

—A HIGH-PRICED HALF-MONTH: A law firm representing the city of Los Angeles in a high-profile homelessness case submitted a $1.8-million invoice for two weeks of work in May. The costs comes as the city faces significant financial burdens from rising legal payouts.

— VENUE VOTE: The hotel workers union turned in a ballot proposal to require that voters approve of “event centers” for the 2028 Olympics, including sports facilities and concert halls. Former City Councilmember Paul Krekorian, who heads Mayor Karen Bass’ Office of Special Events, said the measure “would make vital projects essential for our city and these Games potentially impossible to complete.”

—TEMPORARY LEAVE: As of next week, Deputy Mayor Randall Winston — who also serves as a judge advocate in the U.S. Army National Guard Reserve — will be on a leave of absence from the Mayor’s office for military training. Winston was originally supposed to go on leave in January but deferred to help support wildfire response and recovery efforts. Andrea Greene, Executive Officer of the Office of Infrastructure, will be filling his role until he returns in mid-December, according to the Mayor’s office.

QUICK HITS

• On the docket for next week: The county supervisors are asking the sheriff’s department to report on their use-of-force policies as they relate to journalists covering the ongoing ICE raids.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

The families are demanding that military action not be taken in areas of Gaza where their relatives may be held.

Physical confrontations have taken place outside Israel’s Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv between security forces and family members of captives held in Gaza during a rally calling for their release, as the Israeli government appears on the verge of escalating its genocidal war to full occupation of the besieged enclave.

Protesters surrounding the Kirya, Israel’s central military headquarters, demanded on Wednesday that the Israeli government not go ahead with its plan, as they were pushed back by police.

“Time is running out – our loved ones can’t wait any longer,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. “We either bring them home now, or we lose them for good. There are moments in history when we must stand up and do what’s right – this is that moment.”

The families of Israeli captives have intensified their criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent months amid large protests across the country, as the expanded military ground offensive and deadly bombardment in the Palestinian territory continue to put the release of their loved ones at risk.

Protesters, including the father of captive Guy Illouz, tried to force their way into the entrance of military headquarters as seen in this video verified by Al Jazeera.

שוטרים תוקפים באלימות מחוץ לשערי הקריה מפגינים למען שחרור החטופים

📌*חדר מלחמה* • עדכונים שוטפים בווטסאפ 🪖 > https://t.co/QYJBOcgAKq מלחמת אחים pic.twitter.com/dqJYxPyf43

— ישפנסיון לכלבים (@sari12222) August 6, 2025

Translation: Police violently attack protesters outside the Kirya gates demonstrating for the release of the hostages. 

An estimated 1,139 people were killed during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks on southern Israel, and more than 200 were taken captive. Some 50 captives remain in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to still be alive. In Israel’s ensuing war on Gaza, at least 61,158 Palestinians have been killed and 151,442 wounded.

The families also addressed a message directly to Israeli army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir on Wednesday: “You know this war has run its course, and the only path to real victory is a single deal that brings everyone home.”

The local police chief requested that family members of captives speak to him, saying, “We understand your frustration.” He acknowledged they could protest, but asked that they leave the police alone.

Protesters were attempting to enter the headquarters, demanding that military action not be taken in areas where the captives are suspected to be located in Gaza.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday that Itzik Horn, the father of Israeli captive Eitan Horn, said the families of the captives being held in Gaza were against the expansion of the war on Gaza.

He reportedly questioned Netanyahu’s motives, as Israel’s defence establishment said an expansion would endanger the lives of the captives.

“I expect the prime minister to speak to the public, to explain the implications of this idea to the country and the price we’ll pay,” Itzik Horn said, according to Haaretz. “We are the people. I want the prime minister to explain why he wants to kill my son.”

Meanwhile, there were minor clashes at the anti-war demonstration organised by Standing Together, the largest Arab-Israeli grassroots movement in Israel, in the Gaza Envelope, situated 7km (4.3 miles) from the Gaza border. A protester was arrested and flour was scattered on the police from the display brought by the protesters.

An earlier video recorded from the Yad Mordechai Junction, a kibbutz in southern Israel, showed Standing Together activists gathering to march to the Gaza border.

A senior State Department official who was fired as a speechwriter during President Trump’s first term and has a history of racially charged, incendiary statements has been appointed to lead the embattled U.S. Institute of Peace.

The move to install Darren Beattie as the institute’s new acting president is seen as the latest step in the administration’s efforts to dismantle the organization, which was founded as an independent, nonprofit think tank. It is funded by Congress to promote peace and prevent and end conflicts across the globe. The battle is currently being played out in court.

Beattie, who currently serves as the undersecretary for public diplomacy at the State Department and will continue in that role, was fired during Trump’s first term after CNN reported that he had spoken at a 2016 conference attended by white nationalists. He defended the speech he delivered as containing nothing objectionable.

A former academic who taught at Duke University, Beattie also founded a right-wing website that shared conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, and he has a long history of posting inflammatory statements on social media.

“Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work,” he wrote in October 2024. “Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.”

A State Department official confirmed Beattie’s appointment by the Institute of Peace board of directors, which includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. “We look forward to seeing him advance President Trump’s America First agenda in this new role,” they said in a statement.

The institute has been embroiled in turmoil since Trump moved to dismantle it shortly after taking office as part of his broader effort to shrink the size of the federal government and eliminate independent agencies.

Trump issued an executive order in February that targeted the organization and three other agencies for closure. The first attempt by the White House team known as the Department of Government Efficiency, formerly under the command of tech billionaire Elon Musk, to take over its headquarters led to a dramatic standoff.

Members of Musk’s group returned days later with the FBI and Washington Metropolitan Police to help them gain entry.

The administration fired most of the institute’s board, followed by the mass firing of nearly all of its 300 employees, in what they called “the Friday night massacre.”

The institute and many of its board members sued the Trump administration in March, seeking to prevent their removal and to prevent DOGE from taking over the institute’s operations. DOGE transferred administrative oversight of the organization’s headquarters and assets to the General Services Administration that weekend.

District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell overturned those actions in May, concluding that Trump was outside his authority in firing the board and its acting president and that, therefore, all subsequent actions were also moot.

Her ruling allowed the institute to regain control of its headquarters in a rare victory for the agencies and organizations that have been caught up in the Trump administration’s downsizing. The employees were rehired, although many did not return to work because of the complexity of restarting operations.

They received termination orders — for the second time — after an appeals court stayed Howell’s order.

Most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the U.S. Institute of Peace’s request for a hearing of the full court to lift the stay of a three-judge panel in June. That stay led to the organization turning its headquarters back over to the Trump administration.

In a statement, George Foote, former counsel for the institute, said Beattie’s appointment “flies in the face of the values at the core of USIP’s work and America’s commitment to working respectfully with international partners.” He also called it “illegal under Judge Howell’s May 19 decision.”

“We are committed to defending that decision against the government’s appeal. We are confident that we will succeed on the merits of our case, and we look forward to USIP resuming its essential work in Washington, D.C., and in conflict zones around the world,” he said.

Fields and Colvin write for the Associated Press.

June 25 (UPI) — The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday announced plans to move 2,7000 employees from its headquarters in the District of Columbia to space in northern Virginia occupied by the National Science Foundation.

It’s the first major agency to relocate headquarters as part of the Trump administration’s effort to reduce real estate, officials said at a news conference.

HUD is currently on Seventh Street near the National Mall. The 10-story Robert C. Weaver building, which HUD Secretary Turner previously described as “the ugliest building in D.C.,” opened in 1968 shortly after the agency was created. The building is named after the first HUD secretary.

The building was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

In all there are approximately 9,600 HUD employees nationwide.

Turner posted video of the current and planned headquarters on X.

The building is now occupied by 1,800 employees of the NSF, which is an independent agency of the federal government. A relocation timeline wasn’t announced.

NSF, which was created in 1981, moved into the building in 2017 after 24 years in Arlington, Va.

NSF funds approximately 25% of all federally supported basic research conducted by the United States’ colleges and universities.

The Trump administration is planning a 57% reduction from NSF’s previous $9 billion budget. Those cuts are part of broader reduced funding of health research cuts, impacting the National Institutes of Health.

Michael Peters, the commissioner of the GSA’s Public Building Service, said GSA is “committed to helping them continue to fulfill their mission.”

Peters said there are more than $22 million in yearly operational expenditures of the current HUD building.

“The Robert C. Weaver Federal Building requires hundreds of millions in long-term repairs and this move will ensure they quickly have access to a modern work environment that fits their needs,” Peters said in a HUD news release.

Peters appeared at a news conference with Turner and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Foundation employees gathered and shouted, “We won’t go!” and “N-S-F,” The news conference was relocated to a more private space in the building, WRC-TV reported.

“It is time to turn the page on the Weaver Building and relocate to a new headquarters that prioritizes the well-being of HUD employees and properly reflects the passion and excellence of our team,” Turner said. “There are serious concerns with the current state of HUD’s headquarters, including health hazards, leaks, and structural and maintenance failures. Many of these risks will needlessly and irresponsibly continue to absorb taxpayer dollars. Relocating is about more than just changing buildings; it’s about a mission-minded shift that we hope will inspire every employee.”

Youngkin, a Republican, supports the change.

“Virginia is a great place to be headquartered, and we are excited to welcome the Department of Housing and Urban Development and their over 2,700 headquarters-based employees to the best state in America to live, work, and raise a family,” Youngkin said. “Since the Trump administration started transforming the federal government to better serve the American people, our team has been focused on seizing the new opportunities that this presents for the Commonwealth.”

The union representing employees of the National Science Foundation released a statement criticizing the move.

“While Secretary Turner and his staff are busy enjoying private dining and a custom gym, NSF employees are being displaced with no plan, no communication, and no respect,” the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403 wrote in a statement. “This callous disregard for taxpayer dollars and NSF employees comes after the Administration already cut NSF’s budget, staff and science grants and forced NSF employees back into the office.”

The union said it didn’t receive details on the plans to move.

“This kind of let-them-eat-cake approach to government is absurd,” the union said. “At a time when they claim to be cutting government waste, it is unbelievable that government funding is being redirected to build a palace-like office for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The hypocrisy is truly dumbfounding.”

The area in Alexandria is also home to other federal offices, including the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services application support center and the office of the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.