While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Feb 1, 2025
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Billionaire Elon Musk has moved swiftly to install allies at the agency known as the Office of Personnel Management.
PHOTOS: REUTERS
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Musk aides lock govt workers out of computer systems
Aides to Elon Musk charged with running the US government human resources agency have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials.
Since taking office 11 days ago, President Donald Trump has embarked on a massive government makeover, firing and sidelining hundreds of civil servants in his first steps towards downsizing the bureaucracy and installing more loyalists.
Mr Musk, the billionaire Tesla CEO and X owner tasked by Mr Trump with slashing the size of the 2.2 million-strong civilian government workforce, has moved swiftly to install allies at the agency known as the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
The two officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said some senior career employees at OPM have had their access revoked to some of the department’s data systems.
Anwar’s focus on Gaza, global travels spark criticism
AFP
Two recent posts on X are giving Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim a headache, with political leaders and citizens zooming in on his penchant for talking up issues on Gaza and travelling around the globe, instead of focusing on concerns about domestic corruption cases and the government’s slow pace of promised reforms.
Datuk Seri Anwar announced on social media platform X on Jan 29 that “Malaysia will mobilise efforts to build a school, hospital, and mosque in Gaza to help alleviate the suffering endured by the Palestinian population”, adding to his other pronouncements on the Israel-Hamas war, including flying in 41 injured Palestinians in August 2024 for treatment in Malaysia.
While the Palestinian cause has widespread support in Malaysia, the backlash has been swift as the Premier seems to enjoy being seen as a champion of Gaza, while ignoring the slew of domestic concerns surrounding his two-year-old government.
North Korean troops ‘withdrawn’ from Kursk front line
PHOTO: AFP
Ukraine believes North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russia’s army on the Kursk front line have been “withdrawn” after suffering heavy losses, a military spokesman told AFP on Jan 31.
Western, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence agencies say Pyongyang deployed more than 10,000 troops to support Russia’s forces fighting in its western Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a shock cross-border offensive in August.
Kyiv captured dozens of border settlements in the operation - the first time a foreign army had crossed into Russian territory since the Second World War - in an embarrassing setback for the Kremlin.
Sales plunge in Croatia amid fresh boycott over high prices
AFP
Sales at retailers across Croatia plunged for the second straight week on Jan 31, following calls for a fresh boycott to protest against soaring prices in the Balkan country.
As of 3pm, turnover at retail outlets had dropped by 42 per cent compared with the same time two weeks ago, according to Croatia’s tax administration.
“Today we won’t buy anything - neither physically nor online,” read a post by a leading consumer advocacy group that organised the boycott.
Olympic balloon ‘to return every summer’ to Paris
AFP
The flame-free Olympic balloon tethered to a cauldron that was an iconic symbol of last summer’s Games in Paris is to return to the French capital every year up until the next edition in Los Angeles in 2028, President Emmanuel Macron said on Jan 31.
“It will return every summer... until the Los Angeles Games,” Mr Macron wrote on X, above an image of the balloon rising into the Paris night sky last summer, one of the unforgettable sights of the hugely successful 2024 summer Olympics.
Mr Macron said that the balloon would return to the position it enjoyed during the Games, in the Tuileries gardens close to the Louvre museum, from an annual music festival on June 21 to a yearly sports festival the president is keen to introduce every year on Sept 14.
