Kazakhstan’s president on balancing Russia, China and the West
Youth Empowerment Take Centre Stage At Channels Forum
Youth Forum, an interactive forum with the theme “Pressing Issues Affecting Nigeria’s Youth,” was broadcast live on Channels Television as President Bola Tinubu enters his second year in office.
The event featured interactive discussions with industry representatives, including ministers of state for industry, John Enoh, minister of state for industry, and minister of state for culture, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of communications, innovation, and digital economy, Bosun Tijani, and minister of youth development, Ayodele Olawande.
Additionally, it will feature discussions with experts and youth leaders on issues affecting young Nigerians in the fields of business, education, health, and the creative industry, among others.
Watch the following program:
Why has Elon Musk quit Donald Trump’s administration?
Billionaire and Tesla chief Elon Musk has stepped down from his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), in which he was charged with reducing federal spending, as he nears the maximum limit for his tenure as a special government adviser.
His departure comes just after his first major public disagreement with President Donald Trump over the administration’s much-touted tax-and-spending budget bill, which was passed by the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives on May 22 by a single vote.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Musk said his time with the administration had “come to an end”.
“I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” the SpaceX founder wrote.
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.
The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.
Musk, who was appointed by Trump to lead DOGE, has seen his tenure in the White House marred by controversy, in particular sparked by his attempt to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), an agency dedicated to distributing foreign aid.
With Musk’s departure, what will become of DOGE? And what legacy does the Tesla CEO leave behind?
How long was Musk at DOGE?
Musk’s term as a “special government employee” in the Trump administration meant he was only entitled to serve for 130 days in any 365-day period, and is barred from using government roles for any monetary gain.
Musk’s term has lasted just over four months, a few days short of the maximum legal limit.
In late April, Musk said he would soon shift his focus back to his own business enterprises and that his “time allocation” at DOGE would “drop significantly” starting in May.
However, Musk did note that he would spend “a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the President would like me to do so, as long as it is useful”.
Why does Musk disagree with Trump’s tax-and-spending bill?
In a clip from an interview with news channel CBS’s Sunday Morning programme, released on Tuesday, Musk revealed he was “disappointed to see the massive spending bill”.
According to him, the wide-ranging budget bill, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, increases the budget deficit and undermines his work at DOGE.
“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 told journalist David Pogue.
On Wednesday, Trump staunchly defended the bill. “We will be negotiating that bill, and I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “That’s the way they go.”
The budget bill spans more than a thousand pages and outlines various domestic policy goals favoured by the Trump administration.
Among its provisions are measures that extend tax cuts introduced during Trump’s first presidential term in 2017. The bill also boosts funding for Trump’s proposed “mass deportation” initiative and for security along the US-Mexico border.
The disagreement over the tax-and-spending bill was one of several challenges Musk has encountered during his time at the White House.
What else has Musk disagreed with the Trump administration about?
Musk ran afoul of several Trump officials during his stint at the White House, including the president’s chief trade adviser, Peter Navarro, whom he called a “moron” over Trump’s sweeping increase in trade tariffs across the globe. Musk has also stated publicly that he would be more in favour of “predictable tariff structures”, in addition to “free trade and lower tariffs”.
In April, the SpaceX founder expressed hopes for “a zero-tariff situation” between the US and Europe. Instead, Trump has threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on imported goods from the European Union unless the two sides can agree to a trade deal.
What will happen to DOGE now?
Trump established DOGE by executive order the day he was sworn into office on January 20. With Musk’s departure, it’s unclear what fate awaits the agency, as Trump has yet to appoint anyone to replace him.
Musk was given a mandate to reduce federal funding, which included downsizing the government’s workforce, terminating government contracts and attempting to close down entire agencies. In February, he and Trump both claimed they had unearthed billions of dollars worth of fraud related to diversity and climate schemes within the government. This was proved to be largely untrue or misleading.
In his post on Wednesday, Musk said: “The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
However, Colleen Graffy, a former US diplomat and professor of law at Pepperdine University in California, said DOGE’s future was on shaky ground. “The power of DOGE came from the world’s richest man, Musk, having the ear of the world’s most powerful person, Trump,” she told Al Jazeera. “DOGE will likely struggle along for a while, but without Musk, and with pending court cases against it, its days are numbered. It would be a poisoned chalice appointment for anyone to take. Trump’s tax cuts will dwarf any savings.”
What will Musk’s DOGE legacy be?
Musk’s role in the Trump administration has sparked a large amount of controversy.
He has overseen major reductions in the number of federal employees and the dismantling of multiple government-funded programmes – moves that have drawn widespread criticism.
“Elon Musk’s DOGE was like one of his rockets exploding soon after liftoff, thereby demonstrating how not to do things,” Graffy told Al Jazeera.
“The difference is that for one, the learning experience is paid in money; for the other, the price is paid in human lives,” she added.
A major point of criticism directed at Trump and Musk centred on their decision to severely scale back USAID’s operations.
By late February, the main offices of the agency in Washington, DC, had been essentially shut down.
Following the dismissal of roughly 1,600 employees and the placement of approximately 4,700 more on leave, staff were given just 15 minutes to gather their belongings and exit the building.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio later revealed that 83 percent of all contracts managed by USAID had been closed.
In March, a federal judge in Maryland stated that DOGE had “likely violated” the US Constitution by attempting to dismantle the agency. The judge authorised a temporary injunction to stop DOGE from proceeding with USAID-related staff reductions, building closures, contract terminations, or the destruction of USAID materials.
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a consumer rights advocacy group, described DOGE as a “mantra of destruction”.
“The legacy of Elon Musk is lost livelihoods for critical government employees, hindered American education, loss of funding for scientists and the violation of Americans’ personal privacy, all in the service of corrupt tech-bro billionaire special interests,” she told Al Jazeera.
“The carnage is even more horrifying internationally, as Musk’s chainsaw will lead to the pointless and needless deaths of likely millions of people in the developing world.”
Max Yoeli, senior research fellow in the US and the Americas Programme at Chatham House, said Musk’s brief tenure has “irrevocably altered US government”.
Do players thrive after Man Utd or were club right to move them on?
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Winner of the Serie A with Napoli, Scott McTominay. Winner of the Conference League with Chelsea, Jadon Sancho. Winner of the FA Cup with Crystal Palace, Dean Henderson.
There was a time when a player’s career started to slow down after leaving Manchester United.
Is that still the case?
Two players signed to United are currently playing in the Conference League final on Wednesday, Sancho who has spent the season on loan at Chelsea and Brazilian winger Antony, who signed for Real Betis on a temporary basis in January.
After Chelsea defeated Chelsea 4-1 in Wroclaw, Poland, Sancho wraps up the season with a European winners’ medal as United’s bosses conduct an inquest into the disastrous 2024-25 campaign.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Matteo Darmian, who both spent time at United in recent years, could also play for Inter Milan when they face Paris St-Germain in the Champions Final on Saturday in Munich.
McTominay’s “making of a move” at Napoli
McTominay was a bit-part player at United’s starting matches when he was on the substitute bench.
The Scotland midfielder requested a change of scenery last summer, and United needed funding to help them adhere to the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
The Lancaster-born player made the courageous decision to re-join United in Italy after spending more than 20 years there. He first started playing soccer at the club when he was five.
A fee of £25.7 million appears to be extremely affordable right now.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, his former manager at Old Trafford, recently said to BBC Sport, “How you can sell Scott is beyond me.”
Since joining Napoli from former United team-mate Romelu Lukaku, McTominay’s game stats have improved in almost every way.
In 2024-25, he scored 13 goals and added four assists in 2, 972 minutes of playing time on the pitch, compared to the previous season’s 10 goals and three assists at United.
Paul Lambert, a former Scotland international, claimed that McTominay’s move to Italy was the result of his efforts.
After leaving Manchester United, Lambert, who won the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund in 1997, said that “it’s believed that British football is the end all.”
“It’s not. Players move more quickly when playing European football. You mature more quickly as a result.
According to BBC Sport’s chief football newsman Simon Stone, former United boss Erik ten Hag did not want to agree to a deal with Napoli for McTominay.
You really need to look beyond the deals themselves, comprehend why they happened, and concentrate on the real issues, Stone said.
Scott McTominay is the glaring one. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the former head of Scotland, told me earlier this month in Istanbul that he was unable to understand why the Scotland international had been sold.
The justification was straightforward. It was the only way to raise money through PSR to bring in Manuel Ugarte, even though Erik ten Hag was against doing so with Napoli.
From United to Betis’ “cold guy”
Antony is one more player to enjoy at Old Trafford than Antony.
After moving to Spain to join United for £81.3 million in 2022, the Brazil winger scored five goals in 62 Premier League games before making his first-team debut against Real Betis in January.
Despite having won the Conference League final with a medal, Antony has since managed nine goals, five of them in La Liga and four in Europe. He is now content with life again.
Next season will Antony be back at Old Trafford? Well, he will be a United employee until 2027, but both parties may agree to a permanent move to Betis.
There is not a single United fan who would argue that the Brazilian should have been given more time, according to Stone.
“The ridiculous fee paid for Antony was the issue,” he said.
Henderson, who has been with United since he was 14 years old, has also seen his career grow since joining Palace in a £20m deal in August 2023. He has also been working for United since he was 16 years old.
After saving Omar Marmoush’s penalty in the FA Cup final, he has made his first appearance in England and helped give Palace his first major trophy in the past 12 months.
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What about Anthony Elanga, exactly?
Along with Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh overall and secured a spot in the Conference League, he will also play on the continental stage.
Elanga, a Sweden international who joined Forest for just £15 million from United in 2023, contributed 11 Premier League assists and scored six more goals in 2024 and 25.
He had played for United since he was 12 years old and broke into the first team in 2021, making 55 appearances before Ten Hag’s decision to let him join after Elanga decided not to have the necessary calibre to have enough of an impact on his squad.
After leaving United, going backwards
There have, of course, been numerous recent instances of players’ careers deteriorating since leaving United.
Paul Pogba’s signing from Juventus was a record-breaking £89 million in 2016.
After receiving a four-year ban for a doping offence in February 2024, he left in 2022, and the World Cup winner with France in 2018 is currently without a club. However, that was cut to 18 months in October.
Jesse Lingard has signed for FC Seoul in South Korea while Anthony Martial, who left in 2024, is currently playing for AEK Athens in Greece.
Will the Old Trafford pressure cooker, or the other, make Garnacho a success?
As Ruben Amorim attempts to stamp his name on the squad and secure his own signings since taking over the club in November, a number of players are expected to leave United this summer.
Marcus Rashford, who has been on loan at Aston Villa and has agreed to leave while Amorim is in charge, is one of the likely departures.
Additionally, the United boss has informed winger Alejandro Garnacho that he will be allowed to sign for a new club this summer.
Will Rashford, a two-time FA Cup champion and champion of the Europa League, and Garnacho and Rashford prosper elsewhere?
Garnacho, who is still only 20, is often believed by those who follow United that the pressure placed on him by his lack of experience has not helped him.
Despite scoring for Chelsea in a European final on Wednesday, Sancho’s future is still uncertain. He initially left after a disagreement with Ten Hag.
Will he start at Chelsea next season or make a United debut?
Sancho has had a good season at Chelsea, according to Stone.
The Blues would not even have considered sending him back to United if he had been that good.
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- Manchester United
- Football
Injury gave me time to grieve – Toone
Ella Toone, a midfielder for Manchester United, discusses her father’s passing and how Alessia Russo, an England team-mate and lifelong friend, supported her throughout.
I don’t believe I grieved, and I don’t believe I believed it to be true.
‘I don’t think I grieved, I don’t think I thought it was real’
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Ella Toone, an England midfielder, claimed she didn’t “actually grieve” until a time when she was forced to sit on the sidelines due to injury.
The Lionesses beat Germany to win Euro 2022, and Nick Toone’s daughter scored the opening goal, was diagnosed with prostate cancer the following day.
Three days before his 60th birthday, he passed away in September 2024.
Two weeks after Toone’s arrival, Manchester United’s Women’s Super League campaign began. He started playing every game until he injured his calf in training in November.
Before suffering from an injury, Toone had not scored in six games and, in her own words, had lost interest in the game.
Before the season even started, the 25-year-old told The Tooney &, Russo Show, “I just lost my dad.”
After that, I continued playing and probably wasn’t as interested as I should have. Because I always wanted to play football for him, I never would have told myself or acknowledged it.
When it actually came out of my hands, I realized more than anything that I needed to step away from football and practice mental correctness. I desperately needed to return to my love for the game.
Toone was able to concentrate on herself both physically and mentally during her time away from the pitch.
While undergoing rehab, she began speaking with a counselor and spent time with her partner Joe in Dubai.
She continued, “At first I didn’t miss it.” I was working on my rehab, getting stronger, and doing my exercises. The best thing I could have done was to mentally prepare for my own grief.
Toone returned with a bang after nine weeks of dissolution.
In her first five games with United, she scored six goals, including a stunning hat-trick against Manchester City.
When I was back on the grass and around the girls, Toone said, “I knew I was ready to kick on.”
“I quickly returned and started scoring goals.” Then, as I started to put pressure on myself and score for my father, I realized I was never going to score again, and my love for the game really increased.
It arrived at the ideal moment, and it is now about to stop falling. You are constantly up and down in football, which is a challenge.
Toone is currently serving as an international player for England’s Nations League clash against Portugal and Spain.
Alessia Russo, her best friend, and current Arsenal player, flew to Manchester after learning of Nick’s passing.
Russo said, “From living together to then being so far down in London was difficult.” All I wanted to do was stand up for what was happening when something as serious as that occurs.
I didn’t really care whether she wanted me there or not. I merely wanted to be there to see her, to share her cry with her, to eat with her, to make her laugh, and to lend a hand to anything else she needed.
In the dark, Russo and other Toone’s team members, both from the local and international, rallied around her.
“Everyone came together,” Toone continued. They have been amazing, as have my team-mates, who are also normal, don’t potter around me, or have no idea what to say.
“The number of people present at the funeral was unbelievable. I had Georgia [Stanway] flying over from Germany, and I had the girls coming out of London.
What would I have done if I had all these people coming and said, “Wow, I am so lucky to have these people,” I thought?
Toone’s challenging off-field and on-field season came to an impressive eight goals and four assists.
She used her father’s sky as a source of inspiration whenever she found the back of the net.
Everyone is sad that day and talks about memories, and it’s difficult for everyone to go through that. However, it’s still difficult for us.
On Friday, May 30th, the Tooney and Russo Show’s second season will be available on BBC Sounds and YouTube, with fresh episodes arriving every Monday and Friday.
related subjects
- Football
- Women’s Football