Moscow recalled "non-essential" diplomatic staff in December and recommended that Russian nationals leave the country.

The Red Cross pulls non-essential foreign staff out of Afghanistan after 10 of its workers were beaten.

According to multiple independent reports, all non-essential staff have been laid off and remaining staff have been given incentives to remain until the completion of the project.

However, novice party leader Ruth Davidson trumped us all at First Minister's Questions yesterday, when she dubbed them "non-essential staff".

Without missing a beat, Ms Davidson quipped that because of the adverse weather conditions she thought all "non-essential staff" had been sent home.

On Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, the State Department said it had authorized the voluntary departure of dependents and non-essential staff.

The State Department ordered the departure today of non-essential staff from the American Embassy here, and evacuated Americans aboard helicopters.

Some Japanese say, therefore, that the discrimination is not so much in the workplace, which is quite naturally weeding out the non-essential staff.

Following an increase in fighting in the region, on 13 October the UN announced that it will withdraw all non-essential staff from Darfur.