No longer at ease: Homosexuality in Uganda suffers blow as Trump freezes foreign funding
In 2023, after Ugandan lawmakers passed an anti-homosexuality bill that punishes consensual same-sex conduct with penalties including life imprisonment, Washington threatened consequences and the World Bank withheld some funding.
Masking rifts: How government workers’ fear of Elon Musk’s source of discord in Trump’s inner circle
In the space of a couple of weeks, Elon Musk and his associates have taken control of multiple government agencies, and a cadre of young and inexperienced engineers with ties to Musk have been given access to some of the most highly sensitive federal systems through DOGE.
Seven months after public protests over taxes and appetite for borrowing, Kenya’s extravagant regime is in talks with IMF for new loans
The decision by the administration of US President Donald Trump to freeze foreign aid could hit Kenya hard as it lacks the fiscal space to replace the funding, Mbadi said, adding that he hoped the United States would reconsider.
UN Multinational Security Support mission faces crunch as US freezes funding for fighting Haiti’s gangs
The Trump administration has not yet said whether it supports making the MSS a UN mission, and China and Russia have opposed doing so.
Trump’s expansionist rhetoric meets with resistance in ME where he wants US to take over Gaza Strip
The US taking a direct stake in Gaza would run counter to long-time policy in Washington and for much of the international community, which has held that Gaza would be part of a future Palestinian state that includes the occupied West Bank.
China ready to harm US economy: Beijing slaps Google, other US firms with hefty tariffs as trade tensions escalate
Separately, China’s Commerce Ministry said it had put PVH Corp, the holding company for brands including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger and US biotechnology firm Illumina on its “unreliable entity” list.
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.
