World’s authoritarian regimes revel in Trump’s foreign aid freeze, term affected Washington allies ‘disposable tissue’
In Venezuela, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, the main enforcer of the ruling socialist party’s security apparatus, boasted last week on state TV that the aid channelled by USAID to the opposition was a “black box of corruption” that he vowed to investigate. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on X that he hopes the “notorious Deep State doesn’t swallow” Musk for pulling the plug on the agency.
Tit-for-tat: China responds swiftly to US trade tariffs with its on hefty levies on American goods
President Donald Trump looks on as he signs an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, on January 31, 2025. Credit: Reuters
Powerful Elon Musk called ‘fourth arm of government’ shuts down US’ largest humanitarian aid agency
Musk has been increasingly critical of USAID, calling it a left-wing agency unaccountable to the White House. Musk critics say his accusations are often lodged without evidence and may be ideologically driven.
How Trump’s ‘America First’ has hit HIV/Aids programmes in Africa after US aid freeze
More than 8 million in South Africa live with HIV, and authorities say PEPFAR helps provide life-saving antiretroviral treatment to 5.5 million people every day.
Trump administration wants FBI workers to explain their role in January 6 US Capitol attack
Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll, in an email to staff on Friday announcing details about the order from the Bove, said the request “encompasses thousands of employees across the country who have supported these investigative efforts.”
US and Somalia claim ‘multiple’ ISIS operatives were killed in Africom airstrike on terrorist bases
The number of IS militants in the country are estimated to be in the hundreds, mostly scattered in the Cal Miskaat mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, according to the International Crisis Group.
China says there is no winner in a trade war, denounces Trump tariff saying ‘Fentanyl is America’s problem’
China’s commerce ministry said in a statement that Trump’s move “seriously violates” international trade rules, urging the US to “engage in frank dialogue and strengthen cooperation”.
His story: How Bill Gates terrorised his parents, classmates, spent night in jail and joked it’s impossible to amass $15 million fortune
Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers says that it’s possible to explain why some people are special. They practice at their special skill for 10,000 hours and are alive at the perfect time for their expertise to matter. You certainly spent more than 10,000 hours programming, and the time was right.
Office of Personnel Management staff locked out of computer systems on Elon Musk orders
Don Moynihan, a professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, said the actions inside OPM raised concerns about congressional oversight at the agency and how Trump and Musk view the federal bureaucracy.
Why West is unable to rein in Rwanda’s with economic sanctions to force its army out of eastern Congo
The United States disbursed $180 million in foreign aid to Rwanda in 2023. The World Bank’s International Development Association provided nearly $221 million the same year. And in the years ahead, the European Union has pledged to invest over $900 million in Rwanda under the Global Gateway strategy, its response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
