Category World News

Amid their public feud over the looming tax bill, US President Donald Trump has suggested that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) review subsidies tied to once ally Elon Musk, including those received by Tesla and SpaceX, in order to save money.

“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa. No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED! ! ! ,” the president said in an early morning post on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social.

Trump’s remarks on Tuesday came after Musk renewed his criticism of the sweeping tax-cut and spending bill — which the White House hopes to sign into law by July 4th — pledging to unseat lawmakers who supported it after campaigning on limiting government spending.

Shortly after, Senate Republicans hauled Trump’s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill to passage Tuesday on the narrowest of margins, pushing past opposition from Democrats and their own GOP ranks after a turbulent overnight session.

The outcome capped an unusually tense weekend of work at the Capitol, the president’s signature legislative priority teetering on the edge of approval or collapse. In the end, that tally was 50-50, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.

Musk and Trump spar over bill

Feuding with Trump could create hurdles for Tesla and the rest of Musk’s business empire.

The US Transportation Department regulates vehicle design and would play a key role in deciding whether Tesla can mass-produce robotaxis without pedals and steering wheels, while Musk’s rocket company SpaceX has about $22bn in federal contracts.

Trump previously threatened to cut Musk’s government contracts when their relationship erupted into an all-out social media brawl in early June over the bill, which non-partisan analysts have said would add about $3 trillion to the US debt.

But after weeks of relative silence, Musk rejoined the debate on Saturday as the Senate took up the package, calling it “utterly insane and destructive” in a post on X.

On Monday, he said lawmakers who campaigned on cutting spending but backed the bill “should hang their heads in shame! ” “And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,” Musk added.

The criticism marked a dramatic shift after the billionaire spent nearly $300m on Trump’s re-election campaign and led the administration’s controversial DOGE initiative.

Musk has argued that the legislation would greatly increase the national debt and erase the savings he says he achieved through DOGE.

Conflicts of interest

Musk was long slammed for his conflicts of interest while leading DOGE — accused of going after government agencies that had open investigations against him and his associated companies.

A report from the left-leaning think tank Public Citizen found that 70 percent of the agencies in May found that Musk aimed to make significant cuts to agencies, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which had been investigating Tesla.

The Food and Drug Administration, which had been investigating his brain implant chip, Neuralink, and cuts to the Department of Defense, which has been called for by both progressive Democrats as well, comes as SpaceX receives more than $22bn in federal contracts from the agency, according to the report.

The market response

There are conflicts with Musk within the bill he’s actively rallying against. The bill, which Trump eliminated the EV tax credit, Musk originally said would not hurt Tesla. The EV tax credit, however, has helped other carmakers make more affordable electric vehicles for more consumers, and Musk has recently changed his tune.

In a note last month, JP Morgan said cutting the EV tax credit could cost Tesla $1. 2bn annually. Now the market is reacting as these plans might come to fruition in a matter of days, and amid the president’s Truth Social post, spooking investors.

Tesla stock tumbled roughly 6 percent as of 11:00am ET (15:00 GMT) and about 13 percent over the last five days.

“[This] BFF situation has now turned into a soap opera that remains an overhang on Tesla’s stock with investors fearing that the Trump Administration will be more hawkish and show scrutiny around Musk related US government spending related to Tesla/SpaceX and most importantly the autonomous future with the regulatory environment key to the future of Robotaxis and Cybercabs,” Dan Ives, senior analyst at Wedbush Securities said in a note provided to Al Jazeera earlier this morning.

Musk’s other companies include SpaceX, X Corp, and Neuralink are privately held companies.

The United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) has released a new report mapping the corporations aiding Israel in the displacement of Palestinians and its genocidal war on Gaza, in breach of international law.

Francesca Albanese’s latest report, which is scheduled to be presented at a news conference in Geneva on Thursday, names 48 corporate actors, including United States tech giants Microsoft, Alphabet Inc. – Google’s parent company – and Amazon. A database of more than 1000 corporate entities was also put together as part of the investigation.

“[Israel’s] forever-occupation has become the ideal testing ground for arms manufacturers and Big Tech – providing significant supply and demand, little oversight, and zero accountability – while investors and private and public institutions profit freely,” the report said.

“Companies are no longer merely implicated in occupation – they may be embedded in an economy of genocide,” it said, in a reference to Israel’s ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip. In an expert opinion last year, Albanese said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel was committing genocide in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

The report stated that its findings illustrate “why Israel’s genocide continues”.

“Because it is lucrative for many,” it said.

What arms and tech companies were identified in the report?

Israel’s procurement of F-35 fighter jets is part of the world’s largest arms procurement programme, relying on at least 1,600 companies across eight nations. It is led by US-based Lockheed Martin, but F-35 components are constructed globally.

Italian manufacturer Leonardo S. p. A is listed as a main contributor in the military sector, while Japan’s FANUC Corporation provides robotic machinery for weapons production lines.

The tech sector, meanwhile, has enabled the collection, storage and governmental use of biometric data on Palestinians, “supporting Israel’s discriminatory permit regime”, the report said. Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon grant Israel “virtually government-wide access to their cloud and AI technologies”, enhancing its data processing and surveillance capacities.

The US tech company IBM has also been responsible for training military and intelligence personnel, as well as managing the central database of Israel’s Population, Immigration and Borders Authority (PIBA) that stores the biometric data of Palestinians, the report said.

It found US software platform Palantir Technologies expanded its support to the Israeli military since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023. The report said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe the company provided automatic predictive policing technology used for automated decision-making in the battlefield, to process data and generate lists of targets including through artificial intelligence systems like “Lavender”, “Gospel” and “Where’s Daddy? ”

What other companies are identified in the report?

The report also lists several companies developing civilian technologies that serve as “dual-use tools” for Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.

These include Caterpillar, Leonardo-owned Rada Electronic Industries, South Korea’s HD Hyundai and Sweden’s Volvo Group, which provide heavy machinery for home demolitions and the development of illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Rental platforms Booking and Airbnb also aid illegal settlements by listing properties and hotel rooms in Israeli-occupied territory.

The report named the US’s Drummond Company and Switzerland’s Glencore as the primary suppliers of coal for electricity to Israel, originating primarily from Colombia.

In the agriculture sector, Chinese Bright Dairy & Food is a majority owner of Tnuva, Israel’s largest food conglomerate, which benefits from land seized from Palestinians in Israel’s illegal outposts. Netafim, a company providing drip irrigation technology that is 80-percent owned by Mexico’s Orbia Advance Corporation, provides infrastructure to exploit water resources in the occupied West Bank.

Treasury bonds have also played a critical role in funding the ongoing war on Gaza, according to the report, with some of the world’s largest banks, including France’s BNP Paribas and the UK’s Barclays, listed as having stepped in to allow Israel to contain the interest rate premium despite a credit downgrade.

Who are the main investors behind these companies?

The report identified US multinational investment companies BlackRock and Vanguard as the main investors behind several listed companies.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is listed as the second largest institutional investor in Palantir (8. 6 percent), Microsoft (7. 8 percent), Amazon (6. 6 percent), Alphabet (6. 6 percent) and IBM (8. 6 per cent), and the third largest in Lockheed Martin (7. 2 percent) and Caterpillar (7. 5 percent).

Vanguard, the world’s second-largest asset manager, is the largest institutional investor in Caterpillar (9. 8 percent), Chevron (8. 9 percent) and Palantir (9. 1 percent), and the second largest in Lockheed Martin (9. 2 percent) and Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems (2 percent).

Are companies profiting from dealing with Israel?

The report states that “colonial endeavours and their associated genocides have historically been driven and enabled by the corporate sector. ” Israel’s expansion on Palestinian land is one example of “colonial racial capitalism”, where corporate entities profit from an illegal occupation.

Since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, “entities that previously enabled and profited from Palestinian elimination and erasure within the economy of occupation, instead of disengaging are now involved in the economy of genocide,” the report said.

For foreign arms companies, the war has been a lucrative venture. Israel’s military spending from 2023 to 2024 surged 65 percent, amounting to $46. 5bn – one of the highest per capita worldwide.

Several entities listed on the exchange market – particularly in the arms, tech and infrastructure sectors – have seen their profits rise since October 2023. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange also rose an unprecedented 179 percent, adding $157. 9bn in market value.

Global insurance companies, including Allianz and AXA, invested large sums in shares and bonds linked to Israel’s occupation, the report said, partly as capital reserves but primarily to generate returns.

Booking and Airbnb also continue to profit from rentals in Israeli-occupied land. Airbnb briefly delisted properties on illegal settlements in 2018 but later reverted to donating profits from such listings to humanitarian causes, a practice the report referred to as “humanitarian-washing”.

Are private companies liable under international law?

According to Albanese’s report, yes. Corporate entities are under an obligation to avoid violating human rights through direct action or in their business partnerships.

States have the primary responsibility to ensure that corporate entities respect human rights and must prevent, investigate and punish abuses by private actors. However, corporations must respect human rights even if the state where they operate does not.

A company must therefore assess whether activities or relationships throughout its supply chain risk causing human rights violations or contributing to them, according to the report.

The failure to act in line with international law may result in criminal liability. Individual executives can be held criminally liable, including before international courts.

The report called on companies to divest from all activities linked to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, which is illegal under international law.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion ruling that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem should come to an end “as rapidly as possible”. In light of this advisory opinion, the UN General Assembly demanded that Israel bring to an end its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory by September 2025.

Albanese’s report said the ICJ’s ruling “effectively qualifies the occupation as an act of aggression … Consequently, any dealings that support or sustain the occupation and its associated apparatus may amount to complicity in an international crime under the Rome Statute.

“Law is interpreted for friends and applied to enemies,” Italian statesman Giovanni Giolitti once said.

There are few better examples of this than the way the European Union bends over backwards to avoid addressing Israel’s severe breaches of international law and the terms of its association agreement with the bloc.

On May 20, the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) voted  to conduct a review of whether Israel was denying Palestinians’ human rights by preventing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza.

A month later, the same body concluded: “There are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. ” Indications …

On June 26, EU heads of government at a European Council meeting  concluded that they “noted” those indications and invited the FAC to “continue discussions” in July.

It is understandable that some initially welcomed the vote to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement back in May. It is only human to hold on to anything that gives hope that action will finally be taken to protect the human rights of the Palestinian people.

Unfortunately, the entire “debate” over the EU-Israel  Association Agreement is simply a sham. It does not represent serious action on by the EU to address the atrocities Israel is committing in Gaza and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territory. It deflects growing criticism by giving the impression that the EU may finally be thinking of doing something. More importantly, it distracts from the obligations which the EU and its members are legally bound to fulfil.

Human rights pretences

Twenty months into Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, Israel’s breaches of human rights and international law are so extensive that there can be no doubt about their relevance to the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

They are so numerous that they must be organised into categories to capture the depth and breadth of destruction wrought onto  every aspect  of life in Gaza.

Israel has been accused of intentionally creating conditions calculated to destroy the possibility for Palestinian life in the Strip, which amounts to genocide. This includes domicide  and the laying to waste of Gaza’s urban landscape;   medicide – systematically dismantling the  healthcare system; scholasticide  – destroying schools, universities and libraries; ecocide  – wiping out Gaza’s agriculture and nature; econocide – the devastation of Gaza’s economy; and  unchilding  – making childhood impossible.

More than 90 percent of Gaza’s population, or 1. 9 million people, have been displaced, and in the past three months alone, over 600,000 people have been displaced again, as many as  10 times or more. A full blockade was imposed by the Israelis since March 2, and meagre aid deliveries were reinstated only in late May. Famine is widespread; 66 children have died of starvation, and more than 5,000 were hospitalised with acute malnutrition in May alone.

Under pressure from European public opinion, which is increasingly rejecting European support for Israel, the EU finally decided to do something. But that something involved a fair bit of talking and – so far – no action.

The bloc decided to vote on reviewing the EU-Israel Association Agreement. But this was nothing out of the ordinary because all association agreements should be subject to regular reviews, which can trigger either advances or scaling back  the depth and breadth of relations.

In fact, those who called for the vote knew very well that suspension of the agreement requires  a  unanimous vote by 27 member states, which is currently impossible. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and member states, such as Germany, Italy and Hungary, have made crystal clear their unwavering support for Israel. In these circumstances, hoping for a unanimous vote to suspend the agreement is close to delusional. A qualified majority vote might suspend parts of the agreement on trade, but that is the most one can hope for.

This is hardly a ringing endorsement of the Union’s commitment to human rights and “fundamental values”. Instead, public invocations by governments and officials of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which states that all areas covered by the agreement itself “shall be based on respect for human rights”, are no more than empty rhetoric.

In reality, the EU never intended for these human rights conditionalities to be taken seriously. It is easy to see why; it never specified by what criteria human rights should be assessed, and it chose not to make these assessments routine, compulsory, and public.

In this way, the EU leaves itself enough space to claim it values “human rights and fundamental values” while, in fact, “interpreting away” its own rules to avoid having to take any significant action.

Empty rhetoric

Some European states have decided to take individual action, but what they have done has been just as meaningless as the EU agreement review.

The  United Kingdom suspended trade talks  with Israel, but not trade. Its recent  communique alongside France and Canada was trumpeted as “tougher” than the EU’s statements. Yet, the communique opposes only Israel’s “expansion of military operations in Gaza”: It takes issue only with the extension and intensification of Israel’s assault, not with the devastation wrought upon the Strip so far.

Nor does it mention the war crimes Israel has been accused of, or declare a commitment to uphold the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants  for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

In fact, despite the UK summoning Israel’s ambassador after its “tough” joint statement with France and Canada, it continued its  surveillance flights  over or close to Gaza’s airspace, which are suspected of gathering intelligence for the Israeli army.

France, for its part, declared it would recognise a Palestinian state in June. June came and went without recognition.

In October 2023, Spain claimed that it stopped selling weapons to Israel. In May, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared, “We do not do business with a genocidal state. ” And yet, a Barcelona-based think tank revealed recently the existence of more than 40 contracts  between Spanish state institutions and Israeli defence companies.

Germany, France, the UK and Italy also continue to supply weapons in breach of the spirit of international law.

Legal obligations

If European governments  were  serious about responding to Israel’s crimes, they could do that by simply abiding by their legal obligations under the various EU treaties and international law.

The  EU Charter of Fundamental Rights  and the  Lisbon Treaty require the bloc to embed respect for “democracy, human rights and fundamental values” into all EU policies. This is why all association agreements have human rights conditionalities in the first place.

The Genocide Convention imposes a preventive duty to use “all means reasonably available” to prevent genocide. Already in January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accepted that Palestinians’ right to be protected from genocide may be being violated.

The actions EU states can take include, but are not limited to: halting arms contracts with the Israeli government and Israeli companies; suspending intelligence cooperation; and cutting commercial, cultural and research exchanges with and funding for Israeli private and public institutions on occupied Palestinian land. They should also support the rigorous application of international law, including backing the case against Israel at the ICJ and enforcing arrest warrants issued by the ICC.

Currently, the EU is in flagrant violation of its legal duties and its own rules. That is a direct consequence of decades of ignoring gross abuses by Israel and other associated states, including Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt.

No amount of “interpreting” law or hiding behind procedure can mask the fact that the EU is in flagrant violation of its legal obligations and the spirit of its own rules. It has a track record of ignoring continued human rights abuses in associated states, including Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Jordan. This track record has reached an ignominious peak since October 2023.

Inaction on Gaza reveals the limits of Europe’s commitment to its self-proclaimed values: by  sacrificing Palestine, Europe betrays itself.

Riyadh-based club Al Hilal and the Saudi Pro League (SPL) have made a habit of making international headlines in recent years, but almost exclusively it’s been for off-field matters involving money and player transfers.

Whether it was Brazilian superstar Neymar’s 90-million-euro ($98m) blockbuster signing in 2023 and subsequent departure 17 months later after playing just seven games, or their unsuccessful attempts to lure other big names like Mohamed Salah and Victor Osimhen, the club and league are never far from the headlines at this time of year as the summer transfer window kicks into gear.

And now, once again, the whole world is talking about Al Hilal – but for an entirely different reason.

For once, they’re talking about the football because Al Hilal has only gone and defeated Manchester City – a star-studded side that has won four of the past five English Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions League title two year ago – in the Round of 16 at the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) in the United States.

As far as world football’s elite clubs go, Pep Guardiola’s side sit right near the very top. But on this night in Orlando, now etched in Saudi football folklore, they were no match for Al Hilal; the thrilling, see-sawing encounter ending 4-3 after a simply remarkable 120 minutes of football that heralded the arrival of Middle East club football onto a global stage.

Al Hilal’s historic victory makes them the first Asian side to beat a European side in a FIFA tournament.

Al Hilal’s coach, Simone Inzaghi, who only joined the club a few weeks after guiding Inter Milan to the UEFA Champions League final in May, likened the challenge to climbing the world’s tallest mountain.

“The key to this result was the players, and the heart they put on the pitch tonight,” the 49-year-old Italian said.

“We had to do something extraordinary because we all know Manchester City, that team. We had to climb Mount Everest without oxygen and we made it. ”

Heroes across the park

Towards the end of the game, the Everest metaphor was apt because Al Hilal’s stars were completely exhausted; the hot and humid weather conditions, along with the enormity of the occasion, conspiring to sap almost every last ounce out of their being.

But they simply refused to give in or give up. Despite conceding three goals to City, goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was a brick wall between the sticks, making numerous heroic saves to keep Al Hilal in the contest during the first half.

Striker Marcos Leonardo could barely walk by the end of the game, but his iconic celebration of what proved to be the match-winning goal will be remembered by Al Hilal fans for a long time to come.

Key midfielders Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic may as well have worn gladiator armour, such was their fight and determination, while unheralded Saudi players such as Nasser al-Dawsari and Moteb al-Harbi made a name for themselves on the sport’s biggest stage.

“All the players were exceptional in everything, in the possession phase, the non-possession phase,” Inzaghi continued.

“It is barely three weeks that we are together and you can see the level of application, they really put the effort in. As a coach clearly that is very satisfying.

“The lads delivered that performance, they have reached the quarterfinals. ”

Pre-match, few pundits gave Al Hilal more than a puncher’s chance of victory against the defending CWC champion Manchester City, who had a perfect 3-from-3 winning record in the group stage.

City, a super team known around the world, had multiple opportunities to win the match but failed to capitalise at key points late in the contest. Their stunning defeat to Al Hilal will likely be the subject of post-tournament revisionism that attempts to downplay the importance of the CWC to mega clubs at the end of a gruelling, 10-month 2024-25 campaign.

But what of Al Hilal? They, too, were at the end of a long, and ultimately unsuccessful campaign, finishing second in the SPL behind Al Ittihad and falling at the semifinal stage of the AFC Champions League Elite.

Like their City counterparts, when you include international football, many of Al Hilal’s stars had played more than 50 games this season and faced three taxing CWC fixtures in the intense heat of an US summer.

But they also came into this game devoid of three of their regular starting XI, including two of their most important attacking threats in Aleksandar Mitrovic and Salem Al-Dawsari.

Together, they combined for 55 goals and 25 assists in all competitions this past season, leaving an unbelievable void in attack; while Hassan al-Tambakti, a central defender who is the preferred partner of Kalidou Koulibaly in the heart of defence, was also sidelined after injuring his knee in training on the eve of the game.

It meant Neves, their best midfielder, was deployed in the heart of defence, forcing other reshuffles across the pitch.

Against a stacked Manchester City side that had replenished its stocks significantly ahead of this tournament, this was a game that Al Hilal would ordinarily have had no right winning.

But this is also why football is the beautiful game; the impossible made possible.

The scenes of celebration in the dressing rooms, and across the cafes and streets of Riyadh in the early hours of Tuesday morning, were reminiscent of another of Saudi football’s recent milestone moments – their 2-1 win over Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar.

The shockwaves of this result will reverberate around the football world in the same way. After two years of distraction about money and potential star acquisitions at Al Hilal, this match was the coming-out party for club football in Saudi Arabia.