Category: Foreign News

Elon Musk leaves the Trump administration, capping his run as federal government slasher

Elon Musk has officially left the Trump administration, capping the billionaire tech entrepreneur’s turbulent run leading a contentious effort to slash the federal government.

Musk, who had already taken on a smaller role leading the Department of Government Efficiency, announced his departure in a May 28 post on X. It comes as his designation as a “special government employee” ‒ which allowed him to stay on the job for 130 calendar days a year ‒ has ended.

As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk said. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

A White House official confirmed Musk’s exit, telling USA Today, “The off boarding process has begun.”

As the head of DOGE, Musk led a controversial effort to rapidly gut the government and fire federal workers. DOGE, which is manned by more than 100 government employees, is set to continue operating without Musk in charge. But it is unclear how much power the group will maintain without its famous leader.

Musk had already shifted his attention back to his business empire after Tesla, his electric car company, suffered financial losses after he became a polarizing figure as President Donald Trump’s chief sidekick. This week, Musk took part in a blitz of media interviews from the headquarters of his company SpaceX in South Texas, coinciding with the latest test flight of his Starship spacecraft.

The day before his departure, Musk criticized Trump’s massive tax and spending bill that the president has dubbed the “big, beautiful bill.” The bill, which includes Trump’s domestic agenda on items ranging from border security to tax cuts, passed the House along party lines last week. It now heads to the Senate.

I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk said in a May 27 interview on CBS Sunday Morning.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would add $3.8 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years.

“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion,” Musk said in the interview.

DOGE has boasted of saving the federal government more than $175 billion through cuts ‒ though the group’s declared savings have often been exaggerated or misleading. The office has dismantled entire federal agencies and led to the terminations of tens of thousands of federal workers.

Musk downplayed the effect his absence could have on DOGE’s survival during an interview with USA TODAY and other media outlets earlier this month.

Is Buddha needed for Buddhism?” Musk said when asked who on the DOGE team will fill the void. “DOGE is a way of life.” (USA Today)

France President Emmanuel Macron Slapped by his Wife

French President Emmanuel Macron was reportedly slapped by his wife Brigitte.
The video of the incident has gone viral and sparked widespread speculation and reactions across social media.

Footage shot by the Associated Press news agency in Hanoi on Sunday evening shows Macron’s plane door opening to reveal him.

His wife Brigitte’s arms emerged from the left of the open doorway, and she placed both hands on her husband’s face and gave it a shove.

Pope Leo XIV took his message of building bridges and promoting dialogue to the Roman Curia on Saturday, in his first audience with members of the Catholic Church’s governing body.

The late Pope Francis had sometimes difficult relations with the Curia and Vatican officials, accusing them early in his papacy of “spiritual Alzheimer’s” and a lust for power.

The new pontiff, the first from the United States, said Saturday that his inaugural meeting was an opportunity to say thanks for all their work.

“Popes come and go, the Curia remains,” Leo told the audience of officials, staff and their families in the Vatican’s vast Paul VI hall.

He repeated his first words from St Peter’s Basilica when he became pope on May 8, where he urged people to “build bridges” and to welcome “with open arms, everyone who needs our charity, our presence, dialogue and love”.

“If we must all cooperate in the great cause of unity and love, let us try to do so first of all with our behaviour in everyday situations, starting from the work environment,” the pope said.

“Everyone can be a builder of unity with their attitudes towards colleagues, overcoming inevitable misunderstandings with patience and humility, putting themselves in the shoes of others, avoiding prejudices, and also with a good dose of humour, as Pope Francis taught us.”

From decentralising power and increasing transparency to providing greater roles for lay people and women, Francis implemented several reforms of the Roman Curia.

But his criticism left a lasting impression among many officials, and he also drew accusations of being too authoritarian in his governance, regularly bypassing the administrative bodies of the Holy See

In 2024, the Vatican — where trade unions are not recognised — also saw an unprecedented strike by around 50 employees of the Vatican Museums over their working conditions.

The pope spent two decades working in Peru but for the past two years was head of the Vatican department responsible for appointing bishops worldwide.

Pope Leo XIV has opened up about his past connection to Nigeria, as he stated that he once worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s.

In a significant diplomatic gesture, the Pope extended an invitation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and urged his presence at a solemn mass in Rome

Accompanied by top Catholic leaders, President Tinubu departed Abuja and eventually landed in Rome to witness Pope Leo XIV’s Pontificate

Pope Leo XIV acknowledged his past connection to Nigeria , specifically Lagos, in a recent letter of invitation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Pontiff mentioned that he had once worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s, highlighting his familiarity with the nation and its people .