Latest news with #embassies
Mail & Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
Genevieve, the ‘ambassador of local flavours' in diplomatic circles
The catering company brings South African flavours into international dishes on countries' national days. Photo: Supplied Genevieve Nel, of Norma & Co catering company, speaks about her life as a caterer, including for about 25 embassies in South Africa. What are some of your most memorable catering experiences? Many of my most memorable experiences stem from years back when my mom and aunts started Norma & Vilma Caterers. I was just a young girl and we had the honour to cater for and subsequently meet Pope John Paul II when he visited South Africa. Everyone in our families had the honour to meet him and it was the most incredible day. What is your philosophy on food and catering? You need to love what you do to provide food that tastes and looks good. We try to always create an environment at work with happy and fulfilled team members. A happy chef creates beautiful food What makes your catering business unique? We take great pride in basing our business on creating relationships with clients. This is the cornerstone in our business and has always been, even when the business started 30 years ago. How do you stay up-to-date with the latest trends in catering? Social media is a huge influence in my business. I am always getting new ideas online but we also work with a wonderful bunch of event planners and coordinators who push us out of our comfort zone often creating new and wonderful food and experiences. What is your culinary guilty pleasure? I am simple when it comes to food. I love a night out at a nice restaurant, not a fancy expensive one, the local family restaurant in the neighbourhood with my husband and children is just perfect for me. You are becoming known as an 'ambassador of local flavours' in diplomatic circles. What is the main thing you want to teach diplomats about South African food? I would not say we are gurus in local flavours but we love to bring South African flavours into international dishes. We are blessed enough to be entrusted with some wonderful National Days where we try new international cuisines which become popular to our other clients afterwards. South Africans have a wide exposure to international food; we grew up [having] been exposed to a variety of flavours. Who influenced you the most? There is no doubt that my mother, Norma, has been my biggest influencer in the catering business. She started and ran Norma & Vilma Caterers successfully for 25 years until Covid. Thereafter she and I started Norma & Co on our own in 2021 and although she has taken a step back from the business, she still works and runs the business in the background. She still has a big influence on the flavours and recipes we create and produce. Your work involves a great deal of creativity, where do you find your inspirations? A lot of our set ups and creations involve trial and error. We have wonderful suppliers such as florists and equipment decor companies. But also staying on top of trends in the catering business worldwide helps with inspiration. There are many caterers creating amazing things daily. Thank you to social media we can draw inspiration globally now. When did your business begin? Norma & Co started in 2021 during Covid, on the backbone of Norma & Vilma Caterers. Covid hit our industry hard and instead of closing our doors permanently we decided to restructure, move our premises, downsize substantially and start again. This was a huge leap of faith but we are so grateful that we were able to remain relevant to some of our clients, and have gained so many more along the way. Which was the first embassy you catered for? I was still a young girl but I remember my mom and aunts catering for the Embassy of Peru National day even before the business had a business premises. When the business was still being run from our kitchen in our family home. How many embassies do you now cater for? In diplomatic circles, there is always changeover of staff regularly so we are grateful for our South African contacts that carry us through the different missions. We work with a wonderful group of ambassadors, high commissioners, consul generals and others. I would estimate we probably work with approximately 25 embassies at the moment.
RNZ News
19-06-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Trump administration tightens social media vetting for foreign students
By Humeyra Pamuk , Reuters US Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the cable with the new instructions for embassies. Photo: Pool / AFP / Jacquelyn Martin The United States is restarting student visa appointments but will significantly tighten its social media vetting in a bid to identify applicants who are hostile towards the United States or pose a threat to national security, according to an internal State Department cable reviewed by Reuters. US consular officers are required to conduct a "comprehensive and thorough vetting" of all student and exchange visitor applicants to identify those who "bear hostile attitudes toward our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles", said the cable, which was dated 18 June and sent to US missions on Wednesday (local time). On 27 May, the Trump administration ordered its missions abroad to stop scheduling new appointments for student and exchange visitor visa applicants as the State Department prepared to expand social media vetting of foreign students. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said updated guidance would be released once a review was completed. The cable, which was signed by Rubio, directed officers to look for "applicants who demonstrate a history of political activism, especially when it is associated with violence or with the views and activities described above, you must consider the likelihood they would continue such activity in the United States". A State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said under new guidance, consular officers will ask for access to applicants' social media accounts. "To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas will be asked to adjust the privacy settings on all their social media profiles to 'public.' Posts may resume scheduling F, M, and J visa applications," the official said. "The enhanced social media vetting will ensure we are properly screening every single person attempting to visit our country." Rubio, Trump's top diplomat and national security adviser, has said he has revoked the visas of hundreds, perhaps thousands of people, including students, because they got involved in activities that he said went against US foreign policy priorities. Those activities include support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza. The change was earlier reported by The Free Press. Trump's critics have said the administration's actions were an attack on free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Harvard University's graduation day takes place amid escalating tensions between the university and the Trump administration on 28 May, 2025. Photo: Getty via AFP In a cable in late May, Rubio had asked US consular missions around the world to begin additional vetting of visa applicants looking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose. The Trump administration has been in a multifront dispute with the nation's oldest and wealthiest university. The directive said that would serve as a "pilot for expanded screening and vetting of visa applicants", raising the possibility of the measures being used as a template for applicants to other universities. In the same cable, consular officers were directed to consider questioning the credibility of an applicant if the individual's social media accounts were private, as that may be reflective of "evasiveness". Activities deemed antisemitic or anti-American are increasingly a red flag for the administration in its visa determination process. Such activities were raised as a source of concern by the State Department in a separate internal cable dated 14 June that recommended 36 more countries be added to Trump's travel ban. -Reuters
Washington Post
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
State Dept. restarts student visa interviews with tougher social media rules
The State Department is restarting interviews for new student visas and installing stricter social media guidelines, including a requirement that all applicants have their accounts set to public to be scrutinized for hostility toward the United States, according to a State Department cable sent to embassies and consulates Wednesday and obtained by The Washington Post.
CNN
18-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
US embassies must vet students for ‘hostile attitudes' but can resume visa appointments, State Department says
The US State Department told embassies and consulates they must vet student visa applicants for 'hostile attitudes towards our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles' but said they may resume appointments that were paused in late May. The new guidance was sent to US diplomatic posts worldwide in a cable seen by CNN Wednesday. It comes as the Trump administration has taken significant actions that are likely to deter international students from coming to the US. It has aggressively revoked student visas and specifically targeted Harvard University. The latest guidance 'requires consular officers to conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting of all FMJ applicants, including online presence, to identify applicants who bear hostile attitudes towards our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles; who advocate for, aid, or support designated terrorists and other threats to U.S. national security; or who perpetrate unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence,' according to the cable. The guidance, which applies to both new and returning applicants for student and exchange visas, formally known as F, M, and J visas, calls for 'a review of the applicant's entire online presence – not just social media activity – using any appropriate search engines or other online resources,' including 'a check of any databases to which the consular section has access.' The guidance, first reported by the Free Press, does not give details of what constitutes 'hostile attitudes towards our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.' The cable says embassies and consulates should implement the new vetting within five business days. They 'should resume scheduling FMJ appointments but should consider the effect of this guidance on workload and schedule accordingly.' They should prioritize expedited visa appointment requests for 'J-1 physicians (and) F-1 students seeking to study at a U.S. university where international students constitute 15 percent or less of the total student population, according to the U.S. Department of Education.' The new vetting, the cable states, is being implemented to ensure 'that aliens seeking admission to the United States are screened and vetted to the maximum extent possible and that they will respect the terms of their admission to the United States.' It notes that such vetting is particularly important for these applicants, noting that 'the FBI has long warned that foreign powers seek access to American higher education institutions to, among other things, steal technical information, exploit U.S. research and development, and spread false information for political or other reasons.' Applicants will be asked to set their social media profiles to public, and the cable says consular officers should 'remind the applicant that limited access to, or visibility of, online presence could be construed as an effort to evade or hide certain activity.' 'During the vetting, you simply are looking for any potentially derogatory information about the applicant,' the cable instructs consular officers, and says they should screenshot relevant online findings. Even if the 'inconsistencies or potentially derogatory information' does not rise to the level of ineligibility for a visa, 'you must consider whether they undermine the applicant's credibility or suggest that the applicant will not respect the terms of his admission to the United States.' 'For applicants who demonstrate a history of political activism, especially when it is associated with violence or with the views and activities described above, you must consider the likelihood they would continue such activity in the United States and, if so, whether such activity is consistent with the nonimmigrant visa classification they seek,' the cable notes. 'As Secretary Rubio has said, we do not seek to import activists who will disrupt and undermine scholarly activity at U.S. universities.'
News24
13-06-2025
- Politics
- News24
Israel shuts global embassies after attacking Iran
Israel closes embassies globally, suspending consular services amid heightened tensions. Citizens advised to avoid displaying Israeli or Jewish symbols in public for safety. Large-scale Israeli strikes target Iranian nuclear sites and military commanders. Israel is shutting its embassies around the world and has urged citizens to stay alert and not display Jewish or Israeli symbols in public places, statements posted on embassy websites said on Friday after Israel launched large-scale attacks on Iran. The statements said Israel would not be providing consular services and urged citizens to cooperate with local security services if faced with hostile activity. No timeframe was given for how long the embassies would be closed. A person picking up the phone at the embassy in Berlin gave no further details, and Israel's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for a comment. Israelis abroad were encouraged to fill out a form to update the foreign ministry on their location. This was also done after the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel to coordinate the return of reservists and organise rescue flights. "In light of recent developments, Israeli missions around the world will be closed and consular services will not be provided," the statement said. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, said Germany was stepping up protection of Jewish and Israeli sites. The area around the Israeli embassy in Berlin was largely quiet and empty except for some police and police cars. Visible security was increased outside the Great Synagogue of Stockholm, with a police van and car parked near the building, a Reuters witness said. Earlier, Israel said it had attacked nuclear facilities and missile factories in Iran and had killed a swathe of military commanders in what could be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. US President Donald Trump suggested that Iran had brought the attack on itself by resisting US demands in talks to restrict its nuclear programme, and urged it to make a deal, "with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal".
