'Love Island USA' Season 7: The biggest news the cast missed while in the villa

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  • USA TODAY and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article. Pricing and availability subject to change.'Love Island USA' Season 7: The biggest news the cast missed while in the villa</p>

<p>Taylor Ardrey, USA TODAY July 12, 2025 at 8:01 PM</p>

<p>Amaya Espinal, Bryan Arenales, Clarke Carraway, Taylor Williams, Huda Mustafa, Chris Seeley, Olandria Carthen, Nicolas "Nic" Vansteenberghe</p>

<p>While the contestants on "Love Island USA" form romantic connections in the Fijian villa, they are not aware of the happenings in the outside world.</p>

<p>The first episode of Season 7 of Peacock's popular reality dating series premiered on June 3 and since then, the remaining cast members have not had access to their personal phones, a proper clock, social media, or television. They will exit the villa following the finale slated for Sunday, July 13.</p>

<p>Here is a round-up of news and pop culture moments that have occurred since the islanders entered the villa.</p>

<p>'Love Island USA' Season 7 cast: See every islander so far</p>

<p>'Cowboy Carter' tour viral moments</p>

<p>Beyoncé may have kicked off her nine-city "Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin' Circuit Tour" in late April, but some of the most viral moments from the show occurred while they were in the villa.</p>

<p>During Bey's shows in Paris, she surprised fans with an epic duet with Miley Cyrus, performing their hit, "II Most Wanted." She also stunned the crowd when she brought out Jay Z during night 3. The duo performed "Crazy in Love," "Drunk in Love," and the hip hop giant hyped the audience with "N***as in Paris."</p>

<p>At her first date in Houston, Beyoncé powered through a major technical difficulty when her red car started tilting mid-air while she was singing "16 Carriages." The "American Requiem" singer ultimately told her crew to stop before they lowered her down. She later joked with the crowd, "if I ever fall, I know y'all will catch me," and poked more fun at the incident in an Instagram post by sharing a video montage with the song "Sittin' Sidewayz."</p>

<p>View this post on Instagram</p>

<p>A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce)</p>

<p>The final season of Netflix's 'Squid Game'</p>

<p>Squid Game S3 Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game S3.</p>

<p>On June 27, Netflix released the third and final season of "Squid Game," the most-watched series on the streaming platform.</p>

<p>The viral dystopic show, which centers around main character Seong Gi-hun or Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae), has delighted fans since its 2021 premiere, combining classic thriller elements with a deeper exploration of the human capacity for evil and the perils of an unequal society.</p>

<p>In Season 3, according to Netflix, "Gi-hun is at his lowest point yet, the Squid Game stops for no one. So Gi-hun will be forced to make some important choices in the face of overwhelming despair as he and the surviving players are thrust into deadlier games that test everyone's resolve."</p>

<p>Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial outcome</p>

<p>All eyes were on the jury's decision in the bombshell Sean "Diddy" Combs two-month long sex crimes trial, which included witness testimony from former assistants, ex-girlfriend singer Casandra "Cassie" Ventura Fine, and rapper Kid Cudi.</p>

<p>Earlier this month, on July 2, the 55-year-old music mogul was convicted of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He was acquitted of two counts of sex trafficking as well as the top charge, racketeering.</p>

<p>Combs' sentencing date is scheduled for October 3. He faces a maximum of 10 years each for both transportation to engage in prostitution charges.</p>

<p>NBA finals, NBA championship</p>

<p>The NBA finals started on June 5 and ended on June 22 when the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers 103 to 91 to clinch the 2025 NBA championship.</p>

<p>And, following the success and virality of "Love Island USA" Season 6, the latest season attracted a boatload of new fans, including men who were not previously interested in the show.</p>

<p>Throughout the series, fans jokingly shared on social media how their boyfriends and husbands preferred to tune into the reality show over the 2025 NBA finals.</p>

<p>"As a man choosing between the NBA Finals and Love Island...we can watch the finals later, turn on 'Love Island'," one person said in a TikTok video.</p>

<p>Snack Wrap makes a comeback at McDonald's</p>

<p>A Chicken Snack Wrap from McDonald's.</p>

<p>The Snack Wrap is back! The popular menu item was initially phased out in 2016, but it "never left fans' hearts," McDonald's stated.</p>

<p>It returned on July 10. Now fast food lovers can buy the item, which comes in two flavors: The Spicy Snack Wrap and The Ranch Snack Wrap .</p>

<p>The Snack Wrap is available a la carte or as a combo meal, which includes two Snack Wraps, a medium fry, and a drink of choice.</p>

<p>Serious events the 'Love Island' cast missed</p>

<p>Here's a list of some more serious news that made headlines while the islanders were away.</p>

<p>U.S. struck nuclear sites in Iran</p>

<p>Immigration raids and protests in LA</p>

<p>"No Kings" protests across the US</p>

<p>Air India plane crash</p>

<p>Escaped inmates captured: Ninth New Orleans inmate, Arkansas inmate 'Devil In The Ozarks'</p>

<p>Historic flooding in Texas, New Mexico, and North Carolina</p>

<p>Other pop culture moments -</p>

<p>Billonaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos married Lauren Sánchez in a controversial Venice wedding</p>

<p>Red Lobster launched seafood boils</p>

<p>"Bridgerton" actress Genevieve Chenneour was captured on video fighting off a phone thief</p>

<p>BET Awards 2025 ("106 & Park" reunion and Kendrick Lamar completes near sweep)</p>

<p>Anna Wintour stepped down from the Editor-in-Chief position at Vogue</p>

<p>R. Kelly's lawyers say he overdosed in prison</p>

<p>The 2025 NBA Draft</p>

<p>Essence Fest (Lauryn Hill performs in the early morning hours and Jermaine Dupri leads a Quincy Jones tribute)</p>

<p>A fan stormed the stage at Katy Perry's "The Lifetimes Tour" stop in Sydney</p>

<p>Coco Gauff reigned supreme at the French Open</p>

<p>Barbie releases a doll with Type 1 diabetes and includes a glucose monitor and insulin pump</p>

<p>The Season 27 "Big Brother" premiere</p>

<p>Angel Reese graces the cover of NBA 2K26 WNBA Edition</p>

<p>Drake releases song "What Did I Miss" addressing beef with Kendrick</p>

<p>TikTok trends: "Something to take the edge off", "You better be nice", "I woke up in a new buggatti"</p>

<p>"F1", "Jurassic World: Rebirth", and "Superman" all released to summer audiences in theaters</p>

<p>Justin Bieber drops surprise album "Swag"</p>

<p>Contributing: Cydney Henderson, Taijuan Moorman, Gabe Hauari, Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY, Caché McClay, USA TODAY NETWORK</p>

<p>Taylor Ardrey is a news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected].</p>

<p>This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: News the 'Love Island USA' Season 7 cast missed while in villa</p>

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Remembering Kelly Preston, 5 Years After Her Death: Look Back at the

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  • Remembering Kelly Preston, 5 Years After Her Death: Look Back at the "Jerry Maguire" Star's Life and Career in Photos</p>

<p>Kate Hogan, Diane J. Cho, James MercadanteJuly 12, 2025 at 9:00 PM</p>

<p>Loic Venance/AFP via Getty</p>

<p>Kelly Preston poses at the Cannes Film Festival in southern France on May 15, 2018.</p>

<p>Hollywood lost one of its brightest stars when Kelly Preston died at age 57.</p>

<p>On July 12, 2020, the actress — known for her roles in many beloved films and TV shows throughout the '80s and '90s like For Love and Honor, Twins, Jerry Maguire and Addicted to Love — died following a private two-year diagnosis with breast cancer.</p>

<p>Though she enjoyed a successful career on-screen, Preston also cherished a rich personal life with her husband of nearly 30 years, Oscar-nominated actor John Travolta, with whom she shared three children.</p>

<p>"I experience bliss a lot, and it's always when I'm with my kids and husband and we're all together alone," Preston told PEOPLE in 2018. "As a family, it doesn't get better than that."</p>

<p>As we mark the fifth anniversary of her death, here's a look back at Preston's life through photos.</p>

<p>Kelly Preston's Early Years</p>

<p>CBS via Getty Images Kelly Preston as Gillian McCandless on the 1982 soap opera 'Capitol'</p>

<p>According to her official website, Preston was born in Honolulu on Oct. 13, 1962. At age 5, her family moved to Iraq and later to Australia. However, she returned to Hawaii to graduate from Punahou High School.</p>

<p>Kelly Preston's First Roles</p>

<p>Orion/Courtesy Everett Collection</p>

<p>C. Thomas Howell as Michael Ryan and Kelly Preston as Deborah Ann Fimple in 1985's 'Secret Admirer,'</p>

<p>Per the Television Academy, Preston was discovered by an agent at age 16 in Australia and had her first on-screen roles in 1983 with films like 10 to Midnight, Metalstrom: The Destruction of Jared-Syn and Christine. She later shifted gears to teen rom-coms, starring in 1985's Mischief and Secret Admirer (pictured).</p>

<p>Kelly Preston in the 1980s</p>

<p>Moviestore/Shutterstock Clockwise from left: Joaquin Phoenix as Max Graham, Tate Donovan as Kevin Donaldson, Kate Capshaw as Andie Bergstrom, Lea Thompson as Kathryn Fairly, Larry B. Scott as Rudy Tyler and Kelly Preston as Tish Ambrosé in 1986's 'SpaceCamp'</p>

<p>Preston eventually joined the cast of 1986's SpaceCamp, where she met her first husband, Kevin Gage. The pair married in 1985, the same year they met on set, but they divorced in 1987.</p>

<p>Throughout the rest of the decade, Preston starred in the films 52 Pick-Up (1986), A Tiger's Tale (1987), Twins (1988) and The Experts (1989). She first met her costar and future husband, Travolta, on the set of The Experts.</p>

<p>Kelly Preston and George Clooney</p>

<p>Frank Edwards/Fotos International/Getty Images Kelly Preston and George Clooney pose for a photo, circa 1985.</p>

<p>Following her 1987 divorce from Gage, Preston had a brief relationship with actor George Clooney, which lasted until 1989.</p>

<p>Kelly Preston and John Travolta</p>

<p>Joan Adlen/Getty Kelly Preston and John Travolta at the opening of the Church of Scientology Museum in Los Angeles in 1991</p>

<p>Preston met Travolta at a screen test for their 1989 comedy, The Experts, while Preston was still married to Gage.</p>

<p>On New Year's Eve 1991, Travolta got down on one knee inside the Palace Hotel restaurant in Gstaad, Switzerland, and proposed with a six-carat yellow-and-white diamond ring.</p>

<p>Preston was two months pregnant with the couple's son Jett when they got married on Sept. 5, 1991. They said their "I dos" in an unannounced ceremony at the Hotel de Crillon in Paris.</p>

<p>They later got married for a second time on U.S. soil in Daytona Beach, Fla. Preston and Travolta welcomed Jett in 1992.</p>

<p>Kelly Preston in the 1990s</p>

<p>Everett Collection Kelly Preston as Avery Bishop and Tom Cruise as Jerry Maguire in 1996's 'Jerry Maguire,'</p>

<p>Preston gained even more prominence on the big screen, starring in Jerry Maguire (1996) with Tom Cruise, Holy Man (1998) with Eddie Murphy and Jeff Goldblum and For the Love of the Game (1999).</p>

<p>Kelly Preston's Red Carpet Moments</p>

<p>Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty</p>

<p>Kelly Preston attends the premiere of 'Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles' at Mann Village Theatre in Westwood, Calif., on Nov. 9, 1994.</p>

<p>Throughout the '80s and '90s, Preston was a frequent presence on red carpets — even at premieres for films she wasn't in. Here, she's seen wearing an ivory cream pantsuit at the Interview with a Vampire premiere in 1994.</p>

<p>Kelly Preston Hangs with Family at Work</p>

<p>Mitchell Gerber/Corbis/VCG via Getty</p>

<p>Kelly Preston gets a visit from John Travolta (left) and son Jett (center) while filming the 1997 movie 'Addicted to Love'</p>

<p>Though she was a busy star, Preston made time for her husband and her children. While filming the 1997 film Addicted to Love, she enjoyed a visit from Travolta and their son, Jett.</p>

<p>Kelly Preston's Daughter Ella Bleu</p>

<p>Courtesy Kelly Preston</p>

<p>From left: John Travolta, Kelly Preston and Ella Bleu Travolta smile in the car on the way to the Academy Awards on Feb. 24, 2013.</p>

<p>On April 3, 2000, the couple welcomed their second child, a daughter named Ella Bleu.</p>

<p>The only daughter of Travolta and Preston decided to follow in her parents' footsteps to become an actress, and starred in the 2019 film The Poison Rose alongside her famous father and Morgan Freeman.</p>

<p>Proud mom Preston celebrated her daughter's rise as an actress on Instagram, writing, "Still in absolute awe of my stunning daughter @ella.travolta I just re-watched all of her interviews this past week doing press for #thepoisonrose and she has jumped into 'the family business' as an absolute natural."</p>

<p>"I am beyond proud of her and all of her accomplishments, but most of all I am proud and honored to have her as my daughter," Preston added. "I love you and congratulations."</p>

<p>Kelly Preston's Son Jett</p>

<p>Kelly Preston/Instagram Kelly Preston and John Travolta kiss their son Jett's cheeks in a bed.</p>

<p>In 2009, the couple's son, Jett, died while on vacation in the Bahamas with the family. He suffered a seizure and hit his head in a bathtub. He was 16.</p>

<p>Preston later appeared on a 2012 episode of The Doctors, revealing, "[Jett] was autistic. He had seizures, and when he was very young, he had Kawasaki Syndrome."</p>

<p>Kelly Preston's Son Benjamin</p>

<p>Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock From left: Kelly Preston, Benjamin Travolta, John Travolta and Ella Bleu Travolta attend the Cannes Film Festival in southern France on May 15, 2018.</p>

<p>Preston and Travolta added to their family once more in 2010 with the arrival of son Benjamin.</p>

<p>"He's given the house a renewed spirit and purpose," the actor told PEOPLE in 2011.</p>

<p>During an interview with Good Morning America in 2016, Travolta said, "Certainly, having little Ben has been a beautiful kind of glue for us to rebond after tremendous loss."</p>

<p>Kelly Preston with Her Family</p>

<p>Kelly Preston/Instagram From left: Benjamin Travolta, Kelly Preston, Ella Bleu Travolta and John Travolta smile for a family selfie on Father's Day 2020.</p>

<p>In her final Instagram photo, Preston wished Travolta a Happy Father's Day, with Ella and Benjamin by her side, plus a throwback shot of Jett.</p>

<p>"Happy Father's Day to the best one I know, we love you 😘💕," she wrote.</p>

<p>Three weeks later, Preston died on July 12, 2020, after living with breast cancer for two years. She was 57.</p>

<p>Preston's Final On-Screen Performance</p>

<p>Bill Kenwright Films From left: Elizabeth Dormer-Phillips as Maddie, Sally Phillips as Liz, Kelly Preston as Cassie and Jenny Seagrove as Kate in 2021's 'Off the Rails,'</p>

<p>Preston's final role was in 2021's Off the Rails, a British dramedy costarring Jenny Seagrove and Sally Phillips.</p>

<p>During an episode of the U.K. talk show Loose Women in 2021, Phillips recalled Preston kept her breast-cancer diagnosis private throughout filming.</p>

<p>"She was so bloomin' beautiful and so vibrant, and you would never have known. She was so professional," Phillips said.</p>

<p>When Travolta shared the movie trailer on Instagram, he paid tribute to his wife with heartfelt words: "Off the Rails is Kelly's last film — she was very proud of it and of all of the wonderful talent that she got to work with in it."</p>

<p>on People</p>

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Remembering Kelly Preston, 5 Years After Her Death: Look Back at the “Jerry Maguire” Star's Life and Career in Photos

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Hungary's opposition flags 'New Deal' to kickstart stagnating economy

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  • Hungary's opposition flags 'New Deal' to kickstart stagnating economy</p>

<p>July 13, 2025 at 1:53 AM</p>

<p>NAGYKANIZSA, Hungary (Reuters) -Hungary's opposition leader Peter Magyar said on Saturday his Tisza party will launch a "Hungarian New Deal" to revive the stagnating economy with massive investment and predictable policy if it wins elections next year.</p>

<p>Magyar, whose centre-right party has a firm lead over the ruling Fidesz in most opinion polls, poses the biggest political challenge to nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who after 15 years in power finds himself struggling to boost the inflation-hit economy.</p>

<p>The risk of steep U.S. tariffs on EU imports also looms large over recovery prospects and Saturday's announcement of 30% tariffs on the EU by President Donald Trump is bad news for the Central European country.</p>

<p>Magyar announced his Hungarian New Deal plan to supporters at his party's congress in the western city of Nagykanizsa.</p>

<p>"We need economic growth, investments, predictable financial and economic policy in Hungary," Magyar said, adding that Tisza would crack down on corruption and buy back state assets that he said had been stolen over the past 15 years.</p>

<p>The main pillars of Tisza's plan will be a major healthcare reform with additional funding of 500 billion forints ($1.5 billion) annually, a large-scale rental flat and home construction programme, a modernisation of state railways using EU and national funds, and investments in energy efficiency for households and in education.</p>

<p>Magyar, a former government insider who burst into Hungarian politics last year, again pledged to unlock some 20 billion euros of suspended EU funds that Hungary has not received for years due to clashes between Brussels and Orban over a perceived erosion of democracy and corruption -- accusations that Orban denies.</p>

<p>The parliamentary election is set to take place early next year, though no date has been set. In June parliament passed Orban's 2026 election year budget, including steep tax cuts for families, a key demographic group for Fidesz.</p>

<p>"People are fed up with this regime. And Tisza is a kind of 'collecting party' which stood behind all this (discontent). People want change," said Edit Piroska Borsi, a retired teacher at the congress.</p>

<p>($1 = 341.6200 forints)</p>

<p>(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Additional reporting by Krisztina Fenyo; Editing by Hugh Lawson)</p>

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More than 40 arrested at London protest in support of banned group Palestine Action

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  • More than 40 arrested at London protest in support of banned group Palestine Action</p>

<p>PAN PYLAS July 13, 2025 at 2:17 AM</p>

<p>1 / 4Britain PalestiniansPeople take part in a protest in support of 'Palestine Action', organised by the Defend Our Juries group, in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square in London, England, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (Jeff Moore/PA via AP)</p>

<p>LONDON (AP) — More than 40 people were arrested Saturday at a protest in central London against the Palestine Action group being proscribed a terrorist organization by the government following a break-in and vandalism at a Royal Air Force base.</p>

<p>The Metropolitan Police said 42 people had been arrested by late afternoon. All but one of the arrests were for showing support for a proscribed organization, which police have said includes chanting, wearing clothing or displaying articles such as flags, signs or logos. Another person was arrested for common assault.</p>

<p>It was the second straight week protesters gathered to support the pro-Palestinian activist group. Its outlawing has meant support for the organization is deemed a criminal offense. Police arrested 29 people at a similar protest last weekend.</p>

<p>Two groups gathered underneath both the statues of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi and South Africa's first postapartheid president, Nelson Mandela, in Parliament Square.</p>

<p>Signs with the wording "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action," were held aloft in silence as the protesters were surrounded by police officers and members of the media.</p>

<p>Some demonstrators could be seen lying on top of each other on the ground as police searched their bags and took away signs.</p>

<p>Officers could then be seen carrying away a number of protesters who were lying down, lifting them off the ground and into waiting police vans parked around the square.</p>

<p>Other demonstrations were also planned across the U.K. on Saturday, including in Manchester, Cardiff and Londonderry, Northern Ireland.</p>

<p>The official designation earlier this month of Palestine Action as a proscribed group under the Terrorism Act 2000 means that membership in the group and support for its actions are punishable by up to 14 years in prison.</p>

<p>Some 81 organizations are already proscribed under the U.K. act, including the militant groups Hamas and al-Qaida.</p>

<p>The government moved to ban Palestine Action after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, England, on June 20, damaging two planes using red paint and crowbars in protest at the British government's ongoing military support for Israel in its war in Gaza.</p>

<p>Police said that the incident caused around 7 million pounds' ($9.4 million) worth of damage.</p>

<p>Four people between 22 and 35 years old were charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage and conspiracy to enter a prohibited place for purposes prejudicial to the interests of the U.K. The four are scheduled to appear on July 18 at the Central Criminal Court.</p>

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Veteran U.S. diplomats baffled after mass layoffs at State Department

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  • Veteran U.S. diplomats baffled after mass layoffs at State Department</p>

<p>Abigail WilliamsJuly 13, 2025 at 1:24 AM</p>

<p>More than 1,300 employees were forced out of the State Department on Friday, leaving their offices with small boxes of plants and old coffee mugs and taking with them decades of specialized skills and on-the-job training as part of the United States diplomatic corps.</p>

<p>The massive overhaul of the federal agency has been in the works for months, with the Trump administration informing Congress in late May that thousands of State Department employees would lose their jobs as part of the largest reorganization of the department in decades.</p>

<p>Still, the details of whose jobs would be cut remained closely held, and many were shocked to find they were a part of the 15% cut to domestic agency staff. Several career employees who unexpectedly found themselves with pink slips told NBC News they were asked to write speeches and prepare talking points for political appointees on critical issues just days before.</p>

<p>"It's so hard to work somewhere your entire life and then get treated this way," one veteran civil servant with more than 30 years working at the department told NBC News. "I don't know how you treat people this way. I really don't."</p>

<p>As the termination notices hit inboxes throughout the day, employees could be seen crying in the courtyard and huddling in corners in the hallways, as those who had been laid off lined up to hand in their laptops, phones and diplomatic passports.</p>

<p>"The manner in which things were done … they were not done with dignity. They were not done respectfully. They were not done transparently," Olga Bashbush, a laid-off foreign service officer with more than 20 years of experience, told NBC News.</p>

<p>A senior State Department official briefing reporters on behalf of the agency ahead of the cuts told reporters Thursday that the restructuring was intended to be "individual agnostic."</p>

<p>"This is the most complicated personnel reorganization that the federal government has ever undertaken," the official said. "And it was done so in order to be very focused on looking at the functions that we want to eliminate or consolidate, rather than looking at individuals."</p>

<p>Michael Duffin, a civil service employee with the department since 2013, spent nine years as a policy adviser with the counterterrorism bureau developing some of the first programs to counter white supremacy and other forms of violent extremism.</p>

<p>"No one at the State Department would disagree with the need for reform, but arbitrarily laying off people like me and others, irrespective of their performance, is not the right way to do it," Duffin said as the closing speaker at a rally outside the department late Friday.</p>

<p>A general notice was sent to foreign service officers Friday announcing the reduction in force. It said the department is "streamlining domestic operations to focus on diplomatic priorities."</p>

<p>"Headcount reductions have been carefully tailored to affect non-core functions, duplicative or redundant offices, and offices where considerable efficiencies may be found from centralization or consolidation of functions and responsibilities," the notice obtained by NBC News said.</p>

<p>A State Department website was also set up with a list of links and documents for affected employees with categories like "retirement sources" and "Federal Employee Retirement System," but several fired employees leaving the department Friday expressed confusion and frustration to NBC News about the lack of available information on next steps.</p>

<p>"Yes, there was a congressional notification sent out, but the information that employees have received is literally nothing," Bashbush said.</p>

<p>Impacted foreign service officers will be placed on administrative leave for 120 days, according to the notice, while most civil servants will have 60 days before being formally terminated from their positions.</p>

<p>The clap out</p>

<p>By late Friday afternoon, hundreds of civil servants and foreign service officers whose numbers had not been called gathered in the front lobby to "clap out" their less fortunate colleagues, in a tradition generally reserved for honoring departing secretaries of state.</p>

<p>Diplomats wheeling out boxes stacked on office chairs and cradling grocery bags stuffed with books wiped away tears amid echoing rounds of applause and shouts of support that lasted for nearly two hours.</p>

<p>Bashbush said the solidarity and collegiality filled her heart with gratitude and joy, and she thanked her colleagues for the extraordinary act.</p>

<p>"They clapped us out," Bashbush said. "Everybody came here in front of the main State Department building and celebrated everybody's service and their pride in their country."</p>

<p>The long lines of applause spilled onto the front step outside of the building, where dozens of former career and political diplomats stood among other demonstrators with signs reading, "Thank you America's diplomats."</p>

<p>Democracy, human rights and labor</p>

<p>"Our entire office is just ... gone," said a senior civil service officer from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor standing in front of the department late Friday as fired employees left the building. He spoke anonymously as one of the more than 1,500 State Department employees who have chosen to take deferred retirement.</p>

<p>The employee described the devastation felt by his colleagues, including one who is just about to have a baby and another who provides the sole income for their household.</p>

<p>"That's just on the personal side. I'm not even talking yet about the way this is going to disrupt foreign policy," he said.</p>

<p>Under the new structure of the State Department, the DRL bureau will be greatly reduced and the few remaining offices will be placed under a new deputy assistant secretary for democracy and Western values. One of the more acute changes will be the elimination of the many dedicated human rights positions for different regions of the world.</p>

<p>"There are specialties. You had a cadre of people that were experts at good governance and human rights and international labor affairs," the DRL official said. "You can't have a group of people that don't know the region trying to make human rights policy for that specific region, because they won't get it and they won't advocate for it when more important issues come into play."</p>

<p>Enrique Roig, a former deputy assistant secretary in the DRL bureau, said he agreed. Roig, who served in the Biden administration, was one of a handful of former democratic political appointees speaking in front of the department as diplomats filed out.</p>

<p>"It will allow authoritarians around the globe, both on the left and the right, to continue to abuse civic space, to jail and to lock up journalists and civic activists and increase the number of political prisoners we see around the world that my bureau was helping to release," Roig said.</p>

<p>Science and research</p>

<p>A group of women laid off from the State Department's Office of Science and Technology Cooperation walked out wearing T-shirts over their office clothes with the message, "Science is Diplomacy. Diplomacy is Science." The women cried and hugged each other as they exited the building in front of the gathered crowd. Their office is one of over 300 offices or bureaus being eliminated or merged under the sweeping reorganization.</p>

<p>"What's clear is that the Department of State doesn't care about science and research," said one of the women, a foreign service officer who was laid off from the office as part of the cuts.</p>

<p>She described the office as having some of the best emerging tech professionals "in whole of government, not just in the Department of State," and called it a travesty that the talent would be lost.</p>

<p>"When it comes to supporting research, basic research, the research that helps us have things like iPhones, have pacemakers, we have no expertise in this building right now because of the layoffs of our staff and other offices like ours," she said, adding that they had just found out the officials who they thought would be taking over their important work had also been laid off. "It's shocking, and it's baffling that the government doesn't seem to care about keeping that kind of expertise."</p>

<p>"Diplomacy is not a short-term gain. It's a long-term gain," another laid-off official from the office said, summing up the damage caused by the cuts. "The connections we make now in our youth are with those officials who will be world leaders one day. Now those connections will be lost."</p>

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Veteran U.S. diplomats baffled after mass layoffs at State Department

<p>- Veteran U.S. diplomats baffled after mass layoffs at State Department</p> <p>Abigail Williams...
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Man convicted of Meredith Kercher's murder facing trial for sexual assault

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  • Man convicted of Meredith Kercher's murder facing trial for sexual assault</p>

<p>Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNNJuly 13, 2025 at 12:01 AM</p>

<p>Rudy Guede leaves the Viterbo's penitentiary, Italy, Saturday, June 25, 2016. - Gregorio Borgia/AP</p>

<p>Rudy Guede, the only person definitively convicted of the brutal 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, will be back in court this fall facing charges of sexual assault and violence against a former girlfriend.</p>

<p>Guede, a 38-year-old Ivory Coast native who has lived in Italy since the age of five, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for Kercher's murder in October 2008. His sentence was reduced on appeal before he was released early for good behavior in 2021.</p>

<p>The case sparked a media frenzy, spawning more than two dozen books and three films.</p>

<p>More than 100,000 photos, thousands of chats and audio messages between Guede and the unnamed victim are among the evidence to be considered in the trial, according to the investigating magistrate Rita Cialoni, who ordered Guede to stand trial in a preliminary hearing in Viterbo on Friday.</p>

<p>The two began dating while Guede was still in prison and ended their relationship in 2023 when the woman pressed charges against him, according to Italian media.</p>

<p>American student Amanda Knox, who was Kercher's roommate at the time she was killed, and Knox's then-boyfriend Italian Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted in tandem for their alleged role in Kercher's murder in 2009, but were fully exonerated by Italy's Supreme Court in 2015 following a topsy-turvy legal battle.</p>

<p>A reproduction made 06 November 2007 of an undated picture shows British exchange student Meredith Kercher in Perugia. - STR/AFP/Getty Images</p>

<p>Knox, remains convicted of slander for accusing her former nightclub boss Patrick Lumumba of Kercher's murder in 2007.</p>

<p>Guede's new indictment and trial stems from 2023 accusations of sexual assault, mistreatment and stalking, by a 25-year-old woman Guede dated from Viterbo, where Guede worked first on work release from prison and then after his release. His first hearing will be held November 4 in Viterbo.</p>

<p>His lawyer Carlo Mezzetti told CNN his client was innocent and feared he would not get a fair trial given his previous conviction.</p>

<p>For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com</p>

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Man convicted of Meredith Kercher’s murder facing trial for sexual assault

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