عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Musk Spent over a Quarter of a Billion Dollars to Help Elect Trump

Elon Musk carries his son X Æ A-Xii, after a meeting about President-elect Donald Trump's planned Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP)
Elon Musk carries his son X Æ A-Xii, after a meeting about President-elect Donald Trump's planned Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP)
TT
TT

Musk Spent over a Quarter of a Billion Dollars to Help Elect Trump

Elon Musk carries his son X Æ A-Xii, after a meeting about President-elect Donald Trump's planned Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP)
Elon Musk carries his son X Æ A-Xii, after a meeting about President-elect Donald Trump's planned Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP)

Elon Musk spent over a quarter of a billion dollars to help Donald Trump win November's presidential election, according to new filings, underscoring the influence one of the world's wealthiest people had on this year's White House race.

The billionaire owner of electric car maker Tesla and SpaceX gave $259 million to groups supporting Trump's 2024 campaign, according to new Federal Election Commission filings released late on Thursday.

The huge donations made Musk one of the biggest underwriters of a presidential campaign in US history, helping him to become a powerful political ally of Trump and someone who now plays a key role in shaping the incoming Republican administration's policy agenda.

Musk gave $239 million to America PAC, a super PAC he founded to help turn out voters for Trump.

In late October Musk gave an additional $20 million to RBG PAC, a group that sought to convince voters that Trump would not sign into a law a national abortion ban, according to the FEC filings. The group's name refers to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal icon known for her support of abortion rights.

Musk, who also owns the social media platform X, has emerged as a close advisor in Trump's transition team. Trump has chosen him, along with former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, to head a task force aimed at slashing government spending and regulations.

Musk and Ramaswamy met on Capitol Hill on Thursday with lawmakers whose support they will need to win the sweeping spending cuts Trump has asked them to find.

The two men have called for firing thousands of federal workers, slashing regulations and eliminating programs whose authorization has expired, such as veterans' healthcare.

Musk has also been a regular fixture and Trump confidante at the president-elect's Mar-a-Lago Florida estate during the transition.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Iran's Armed Forces Warn the US Against Entering Strait of Hormuz

A man holds an Iranian flag near an anti-US billboard depicting US President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, May 2, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A man holds an Iranian flag near an anti-US billboard depicting US President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, May 2, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
TT
TT

Iran's Armed Forces Warn the US Against Entering Strait of Hormuz

A man holds an Iranian flag near an anti-US billboard depicting US President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, May 2, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A man holds an Iranian flag near an anti-US billboard depicting US President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, May 2, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran warned the US Navy against entering the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement from the unified command of Iran's armed ⁠forces reported by state media, ⁠after the US announced it would start an effort on ⁠Monday to free ships stranded in the waterway.

"We have repeatedly said the security of the Strait of Hormuz is in our hands ⁠and ⁠that the safe passage of vessels needs to be coordinated with the armed forces," the Iranian statement added.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the US will launch an effort to “guide” stranded ships from the Iran-gripped Strait of Hormuz.

Trump gave few details about what could be a sweeping attempt to help hundreds of vessels and some 20,000 seafarers.

Trump said in a social media post that “neutral and innocent” countries have been affected by the Iran war, and “we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business.”

World

US Treasury Secretary: Blockade 'Suffocating' Iranian Economy

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L), Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (C-L), Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (C-R) and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik (R) arrive ahead of US President Donald Trump and Britain's King Charles III for a welcome ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington DC USA, 28 April 2026. EPA/WILL OLIVER
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L), Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (C-L), Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (C-R) and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik (R) arrive ahead of US President Donald Trump and Britain's King Charles III for a welcome ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington DC USA, 28 April 2026. EPA/WILL OLIVER
TT
TT

US Treasury Secretary: Blockade 'Suffocating' Iranian Economy

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L), Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (C-L), Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (C-R) and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik (R) arrive ahead of US President Donald Trump and Britain's King Charles III for a welcome ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington DC USA, 28 April 2026. EPA/WILL OLIVER
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L), Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (C-L), Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (C-R) and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik (R) arrive ahead of US President Donald Trump and Britain's King Charles III for a welcome ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington DC USA, 28 April 2026. EPA/WILL OLIVER

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that the United States is “suffocating” Iran’s leadership through an “economic blockade” launched alongside the US military offensive at the end of February.

Iran’s oil infrastructure is deteriorating, Bessent said in a Fox News interview on Sunday. Storage is rapidly filling, and the regime may have to begin shutting in wells “in the next week.”

“Their oil infrastructure is starting to creak,” he said. “It hasn’t been maintained again because of our decades-long sanctions against them.”

Bessent said this would lead to lower oil prices, pointing to the futures market, which shows that “oil prices are already lower three months, six months, nine months out.”

He referred to the order in March from President Donald Trump on max pressure. “Three weeks ago, the president gave the order to Treasury myself to begin Economic Fury,” referring to his department’s initiative to supplement the Pentagon’s “Operation Epic Fury,” according to AFP.

“We are suffocating the regime, and they are not able to pay their soldiers. This is a real economic blockade, and it is in all parts of government,” he said. “No ships are getting through the strait from the Iranian side.”

US Central Command said on Sunday that 49 commercial vessels had been redirected to comply with US blockade operations against Iran.

“We have upped the pressure on anyone trying to remit money into Iran to help the IRGC,” Bessent said, referring to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“They (IRGC) are a corrupt institution. They have been stealing from the Iranian people for years. They have money offshore. We have tracked that down. We will continue to track that down, and we are going to preserve those assets for the Iranian people on the other side of this conflict,” he said.

On Saturday, Bessent wrote on X that the United States has “complete control” of the Strait of Hormuz and that the blockade on Iran will remain in place until freedom of navigation is restored.

“The BLOCKADE will continue, until there is pre-February 27 Freedom of Navigation,” Bessent said, referring to the date before Iran began barring non-hostile commercial vessels from the Strait of Hormuz.

The Iranian measure pushed the US to take counter actions, imposing a naval blockade to cut off Iran’s oil exports.

For his part, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CBS News that US-led pressure on Iran has left the country's economy “on the precipice of extreme calamity.”

He said Iranians are experiencing “hyper inflation and starting to have hunger.”

World

WHO: 3 Die on Atlantic Cruise Ship from Suspected Hantavirus

This aerial picture shows a general view of the cruise ship MV Hondius stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 3, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
This aerial picture shows a general view of the cruise ship MV Hondius stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 3, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
TT
TT

WHO: 3 Die on Atlantic Cruise Ship from Suspected Hantavirus

This aerial picture shows a general view of the cruise ship MV Hondius stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 3, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
This aerial picture shows a general view of the cruise ship MV Hondius stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 3, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Three people have died on a cruise ship in the Atlantic, the WHO said Sunday, one a confirmed case of hantavirus -- an illness usually transmitted to humans from rodents.

The outbreak occurred on the MV Hondius, travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde.

"To date, one case of hantavirus infection has been laboratory confirmed, and there are five additional suspected cases," the World Health Organization told AFP.

"Of the six affected individuals, three have died and one is currently in intensive care in South Africa."

Earlier Sunday, South Africa's health ministry told AFP there had been an outbreak of a "severe acute respiratory illness", which had killed at least two people, with a third in intensive care in Johannesburg.

The patient treated in Johannesburg tested positive for a hantavirus, a family of viruses that can cause hemorrhagic fever, South African spokesperson Foster Mohale said.

In its statement, the WHO said hantavirus infections "are typically linked to environmental exposure (exposure to infected rodents' urine or feces).

"While rare, hantavirus may spread between people, and can lead to severe respiratory illness and requires careful patient monitoring, support and response."

The first person on the cruise to develop symptoms was a 70-year-old passenger. He died on board the ship and his body was currently on the island of Saint Helena, a British territory in the South Atlantic, Mohale the South African spokesman said.

His 69-year-old wife also fell ill on board and was evacuated to South Africa, where she died in a Johannesburg hospital, he said, adding that they were not yet able to confirm the victims' nationalities.

The third case, a 69-year-old Briton, was also evacuated to Johannesburg, where he was being treated in intensive care.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X that the agency was working with the ship's operators and member states affected.

"WHO is facilitating medical evacuation of two symptomatic passengers, conducting a full risk assessment, and supporting affected people onboard," he added.

"Rapid, coordinated action is critical to contain risks and protect public health."

Earlier Sunday, a source close to the case speaking on condition of anonymity had said a Dutch couple were among the dead. The third fatality was still on board the ship.

Discussions were under way to decide whether two other sick passengers should be placed in isolation in hospital in Cape Verde, after which the ship would continue to Spain's Canary Islands, the anonymous source said.

The MV Hondius is listed as a polar cruise ship on the websites of several travel agencies. It is operated by a Dutch-based tour company, Oceanwide Expeditions.

One of the cruises offers an itinerary departing from Ushuaia for Cape Verde, with stops in the islands of South Georgia and Saint Helena.

According to several online ship-tracking sites, the MV Hondius was just off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on Sunday.

The vessel can accommodate around 170 passengers and has some 70 crew members.

Humans can catch hantaviruses from contact with infected mice or rats or their droppings, or being bitten or inhaling contaminated dust. There are multiple types of hantaviruses in different parts of the world, with different symptoms.

AFP contacted the cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions but has not yet had a reply.