Connect with us

World

Musk says he is working to shut down “beyond repair” USAID

Published

on

Billionaire Elon Musk, who is heading U.S. President Donald Trump’s drive to shrink the federal government, gave an update on the effort early Monday, saying work is underway to shut down the U.S. foreign aid agency USAID.

Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, opens new tab and SpaceX, discussed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a social media talk on Monday on X, which he also owns. Trump has assigned Musk to lead a federal cost-cutting panel.

The conversation, which included former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Republican Senators Joni Ernst and Mike Lee, began with Musk saying they were working to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“It’s beyond repair,” Musk said, adding that President Trump agrees it should be shut down.

On Sunday Reuters reported the Trump administration removed two top security officials at USAID during the weekend after they tried to stop representatives from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from gaining access to restricted parts of the building, three sources said.

USAID is the world’s largest single donor. In fiscal year 2023, the U.S. disbursed $72 billion of assistance worldwide on everything from women’s health in conflict zones to access to clean water, HIV/AIDS treatments, energy security and anti-corruption work. It provided 42% of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024.The website of USAID appeared to still be offline on Saturday and some users could not access it on Sunday. USAID has a staff of more than 10,000 people.

Trump has ordered a global freeze on most U.S. foreign aid as part of his “America First” policy which is already sending shockwaves around the world. Field hospitals in Thai refugee camps, landmine clearance in war zones, and drugs to treat millions suffering from diseases such as HIV are among the programs at risk of elimination.Speaking more broadly about cutting U.S. expenses and fraud, Musk estimated the Trump administration can cut $1 trillion from the U.S. deficit next year.

He asserted, for example, that “professional foreign fraud rings” are stealing vast sums by masquerading as or creating fake digital U.S. citizens.

Musk did not offer any evidence to support his fraud claim or explain how he reached the amount of $1 trillion.

The online chat comes amid concerns about Musk’s access to the Treasury system, first reported by the New York Times, that sends out more than $6 trillion per year in payments on behalf of federal agencies and contains the personal information of millions of Americans who receive Social Security payments, tax refunds and other monies from the government.Democrat Peter Welch, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, called for explanations as to why Musk had been handed access to the payment system and what Welch said included taxpayers’ sensitive data.

“It’s a gross abuse of power by an unelected bureaucrat and it shows money can buy power in the Trump White House,” Welch said in an emailed statement.Musk has Trump’s support. Asked Sunday if Musk was doing a good job, Trump agreed. “He’s a big cost-cutter. Sometimes we won’t agree with it and we’ll not go where he wants to go. But I think he’s doing a great job. He’s a smart guy. Very smart. And he’s very much into cutting the budget of our federal budget.”

Musk’s team has been given access to or has taken control of numerous government systems.

Reuters reported on Friday that aides to Musk charged with running the U.S. government human resources agency have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials.

Musk has moved swiftly to install allies at the agency known as the Office of Personnel Management. 

A team including current and former employees of Musk assumed command of OPM on Jan. 20, the day Trump took office, the sources added.

Since taking office 11 days ago, Trump has embarked on a massive government makeover, firing and sidelining hundreds of civil servants in his first steps toward downsizing the bureaucracy and installing more loyalists.

(Reuters)

News

18 killed in Delhi Railway Station crowd crush

Published

on

By

At least 18 people, including ten women and three children, were killed in a tragic crowd crush at New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night. 

The incident occurred around 8 PM local time as thousands of Hindu pilgrims gathered to board trains heading to Prayagraj city for the annual Mahakumbh Mela religious festival, located 624 kilometers southeast of the capital.

The crush took place on two platforms as massive crowds surged to catch trains to the festival. 

Continue Reading

News

Pope Francis hospitalized at Gemelli for bronchitis

Published

on

By

Pope Francis has been admitted to Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Hospital due to worsening bronchitis and has begun pharmacological treatment.

The Vatican confirmed his condition is stable, with a slight fever.

Several upcoming Jubilee events have been adjusted, with Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça presiding over Sunday’s Mass.

The pope has been suffering from bronchitis for more than a week.

Francis will not take part in a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, the Vatican said later, adding that a planned public audience on Saturday and a visit on Monday to Rome’s famed Cinecitta film studios were cancelled.

Francis, who has been pontiff since 2013, has had influenza and other health problems several times over the past two years. As a young adult he developed a case of pleurisy and had part of one of his lungs removed, and in recent times he has been prone to lung infections.

Earlier this month, Francis told pilgrims at a weekly audience that he was suffering from a “strong cold,” which the Vatican later described as bronchitis.

The pope held several meetings on Friday before going to hospital. One was with Mark Thompson, CEO of the CNN news channel. The pope was “mentally alert but struggling to speak for extended periods due to breathing difficulties,” CNN later reported.

The pope also held meetings with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, senior Vatican official Cardinal Luis Tagle and with a Catholic philanthropy group that is based in Puerto Rico.

Video of the pope’s meeting with Fico showed Francis sitting at a desk in his Vatican residence, smiling, and speaking in a soft tone.

Francis has been suffering with respiratory issues since mid-December. He begged off reading statements at several of his public events in January and February, attending the occasions but asking aides to read his prepared remarks.

The pope also had two falls recently at his Vatican residence, bruising his chin in December and injuring his arm in January.

Despite his periodic health issues and reduced mobility, Francis has kept up a busy schedule, including foreign travel. In September he completed a 12-day tour across Southeast Asia and Oceania, the longest of his papacy.

Rome’s Gemelli hospital, the largest in the city, has a special suite for treating popes. Francis spent nine days there in June 2023, when he had surgery to repair an abdominal hernia.

Source: Vatican News

Continue Reading

World

Google Maps updates Gulf of Mexico name for US users

Published

on

By

Google Maps has changed the Gulf of Mexico’s name to the Gulf of America for people using the app in the US.

Explaining the move, Google said it was making the change as part of “a longstanding practice” of following name changes when updated by official government sources.

It said the Gulf – which is bordered by the US, Cuba and Mexico – would not be changed for people using the app in Mexico, and users elsewhere in the world will see the label: “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.

It comes after President Donald Trump ordered the body of water to be renamed in US government documents after he returned to office last month.

Mexico had decried the move, arguing that the US had no legal right to change the Gulf’s name.

The change was made by Google on Monday after the Geographic Names Information System, a US government database run by the Interior Department, listed an update to the Gulf’s name.

The listing reads: “The Gulf of America, formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico, with an average depth 5300 ft is a major body of water bordered and nearly landlocked by North America with the Gulf’s eastern, northern, and northwestern shores in the U.S. and its southwestern and southern shores in Mexico.”

It said the change was made in accordance with Trump’s executive order to “restore names that honor American Greatness”.

Following the signing of the order, President Trump proclaimed 9 February as “Gulf of America Day”.

“I call upon public officials and all the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities,” a White House statement said.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum had asked Google to reconsider its decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

She argued the US could not legally change the Gulf’s name because the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea dictates that an individual country’s sovereign territory only extends up to 12 nautical miles out from the coastline.

The Associated Press, a global media organisation, said that it would not change the name of the Gulf of Mexico in its style guide – which is used by most US media outlets.

Because of the style guide decision, the White House said it was barring an AP reporter from covering an executive order signing in the Oval Office.

“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” AP’s Executive Editor Julie Pace said in a statement. “Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.”

Trump’s executive order, signed on 20 January, also ordered North America’s tallest mountain – Denali – be called Mount McKinley, which was its name previously.

That change is not yet reflected on Google Maps, though the AP has adopted the mountain’s old name in its style guide.

(BBC News)

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 Sri Lanka Mirror. All Rights Reserved