‘All other avenues have been exhausted': Is legal action the only way to save the planet?
Monica Feria-Tinta is one of a growing number of lawyers using the courts to make governments around the world take action
By Samira Shackle. Read by Díana Bermudez
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Telegraph
19 hours ago
- Telegraph
Trump organises olive-branch call with Musk
06 June 2025 12:08pm 12:06PM Musk's DOGE threaten global aid and shifts geopolitical balance Sweeping cuts introduced by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will have a lasting impact on foreign aid, global health, and development programmes. The end of dozens of USAID projects has limited the resources it will spend on disaster relief, food security, and refugee support, worsening crises in vulnerable regions. Cuts to funding for initiatives like the Global Fund or pandemic preparedness set back efforts to combat infectious diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis, and Covid-19. The US is also said to be proposing cuts to its flagship anti-HIV programme by almost 40 per cent next year. The long-running programme is estimated to have saved more than 20 million lives in the past two decades, and is often cited as one of the world's most successful public health schemes. Experts worry reduced US aid could open the door for rival powers - including China and Russia - to increase their influence through their own investments and aid, reshaping global alliances. 11:54AM Musk leaves behind a complicated legacy Elon Musk's legal 130-day term as a 'special government employee' is set to expire today after a controversial stint that will have a lasting impact both in the US and across the world. Mr Musk's stated goal as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was to slash spending across the board, saving American taxpayers money by ending 'waste, fraud, and abuse'. He claimed he could cut $1 trillion from the federal budget before September 30, but the reported toll is far off that figure. As of May 26, DOGE's online 'wall of receipts' claims estimated savings of $175 billion since the start of Mr Trump's term, averaging $1,086.96 saved per taxpayer. But analysis by the New York Times has spotted gaping holes in those claims. This includes counting government contracts not yet awarded, contracts that ended years ago, triple-counting the same savings, and confusing 'million' with 'billion'. DOGE has since corrected some of those errors, but many remain, leaving Mr Musk's governmental legacy in murky waters. 11:41AM Steve Bannon hits out at Musk Republicans with close ties to Donald Trump might not be as willing to forget Elon Musk's series of sensationalist social media posts against the US president. Leading figures have pitched in their thoughts in the hours since the spat began. 'The president treated him almost like a son,' Steve Bannon, a long-time antagonist of Mr Musk, told Playbook yesterday. 'He invited his family to Christmas dinner. He let him sleep over. He let him walk in and out of meetings. The president went to the max informality to welcome this guy.' Bannon added: 'You're going to tell me we should allow some fucking punk to sit there and say he should be impeached and JD (Vance) should step in? F--- you, dude. We're going to go to f------ war, and I'm going to rip your f------ face off.' 11:36AM Trump and Epstein: the history of their messy friendship In one of his controversial posts on X, Elon Musk hit out at Donald Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Ever since Epstein's crimes first came to light, the internet has been filled with conspiracy theories about Mr Trump's relationship with the convicted paedophile. Mr Trump and Epstein's friendship stretched back decades: In 1997, the US smiled as he posed for a photograph with his old friend in Palm Beach. At the time, the pair, who moved in the same wealthy social circles and bonded over their love of beautiful women, had been friends for years. But when did their friendship begin and what are the finer details? Read the full story here. 11:28AM Kremlin 'will not get involved' in Musk vs Trump row The Kremlin has said it would not get involved in Donald Trump's row with Elon Musk, but was confident that Mr Trump would deal with the situation. The quarrel between the two was an internal US matter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this morning. 11:15AM How Musk boosted Trump's presidential campaign Elon Musk's high-profile support of Donald Trump during his election campaign undoubtedly gave him a boost. Early on, Mr Musk offered his support for Mr Trump's policies on business deregulation, space exploration, and economic growth. He generated high-profile endorsements, leveraging his influence in tech and media circles. Public comments and interviews saw Mr Musk praise aspects of Mr Trump's agenda, lending credibility to the campaign among voters interested in innovation, space, and technology. 10:58AM How the White House grew tired of 'petulant' Musk The once-strong alliance between President Trump and Mr Musk is unravelling, with insiders suggesting a breakup is imminent. Mr Musk's explosive rift with the White House stems from longstanding tensions about his libertarian policies and his unpredictable behaviour, according to sources close to the president. Interviews with a string of insiders reveal months of concern at Mr Musk's grandstanding behaviour and philosophical differences with people at the heart of the Trump administration. Our Chief US Correspondent, Rob Crilley, has the full story here. 10:48AM What provisions does Trump's new bill include? Mr Trump's new bill marks a major legislative move by the US president. Named the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act', it encompasses significant tax reforms, spending cuts, and defence allocations. The bill is the root of the tensions between Mr Musk and Mr Trump, with the Tesla boss claiming it will undo all of the cost-cutting he has initiated during his tenure at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Key provisions include: Tax reforms: The bill proposes extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions, which benefit upper-income earners. It would also increase the state and local tax deduction cap from $10,000 to $40,000. Spending cuts: It aims to reduce non-military government spending, cutting funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid through stricter eligibility requirements. Defence spending: The legislation allocates an extra $150 billion for defence expenditures. Energy policy: It would scale back many clean-energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act, including the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles. 10:32AM Merz has 'absolutely no doubt' that Trump will stick with Nato German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said today that he had 'absolutely no doubt' that Mr Trump would keep the United States within the Nato military alliance. 'I have absolutely no doubt that the American government is sticking with Nato,' Mr Merz said in a speech at an entrepreneurs' event just hours after returning from his inaugural trip to Washington.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
Why we shouldn't cheer Earth's growing population
Jonathan Kennedy raises the tired spectre of 'population control' advocates to argue that we should be happy that the world's population may be undercounted by several billion (Are there billions more people on Earth than we thought? If so, it's no bad thing, 31 May). But while acknowledging that coercive measures to reduce population are a thing of the past, he does not mention that, even historically, the majority of these measures were voluntary and based on educating, empowering and providing contraceptive access to women and girls. This works because women choose lower fertility as soon as they are able to. Yet Kennedy ignores the millennia-old history of empires, churches and the military pushing for them to have more children. He is correct that we should not fear the prospect of immigrants populating rich countries, but wrong that we need them to perform low-wage labour to save us from dire consequences. Alarmist fears of low birthrates are most often spread by the Elon Musks of the world, who have obvious reasons for cheering the cheap labour that comes with population growth. That they are being increasingly parroted by 'liberal' outlets shows that we have lost sight of the lowest- hanging fruit towards taking care of our citizens – taxes that make the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share rather than pressures that push women to have babies they don't want. In a time of deepening climate change, species extinctions and pollution, and of soaring global inequality where people in high-fertility countries want, and deserve, materially secure lives, we should not be cheering the prospect of billions more humans to add to our already dire ecological and social predicaments. Kirsten StadePopulation Balance An entire article about overpopulation and no mention of myriad other species that are being wiped out to accommodate us. I'm not sure that any other animals will be left alive when the population peaks 'at about 10.3 billion in the mid-2080s', or if the planet will still be BinghamMuswell Hill, London Jonathan Kennedy builds on Isaac Asimov's 'bathroom metaphor' to demonstrate the dangers of populist leaders' hostility to immigration. Figuratively speaking, he says they want to keep one bathroom for themselves and force everyone else to share the other one, but that this comes with risks: 'Perhaps the other toilet becomes blocked and the whole flat is inundated with raw sewage.' Right. But this is also what inevitably happens when a limited number of bathrooms are shared with an ever-increasing number of people, even if they are shared equally. We must absolutely become better at sharing resources, but this won't enable infinite growth on a finite planet. There is nothing 'alarmist' about acknowledging that the Earth has limits. In fact, at our current population size, we've already breached close to seven out of nine critical planetary boundaries. It's good to see Kennedy acknowledge that today's population movement focuses on women's empowerment: 'Educating women and giving them control over their lives has proved remarkably effective at reducing fertility rates.' Precisely, not to mention that empowering women is morally essential in its own right. So if we can improve lives and at the same time ensure that there are enough 'bathrooms' for everyone to be comfortable and to avoid disasters, why wouldn't we? Small changes in fertility rates have major impacts on future population sizes. While we are on track for a peak of over 10 billion, the UN's projections also show that if every other woman had one more child than currently expected, our global population would soar to 14.4 billion by 2100, while if every other woman had one fewer child than expected, our global population would decline to 7 billion by 2100. One of these is a lot more compatible with a happy, healthy planet than the NaterPopulation Connection Jonathan Kennedy acknowledges that current concerns about overpopulation relate to 'climate change, resource depletion and biodiversity loss', but then bewilderingly fails to address any of these issues. An implied cornucopian perspective is taken – these issues do not need to be addressed as either humankind's ingenuity will sort them out or humankind at least will not suffer too much from their effects (with no regard paid to the non-human species that we inhabit the planet with). With humankind currently transgressing at least six of nine planetary boundaries, the cornucopian perspective is a dangerous one and needs to be challenged wherever encountered. Overpopulation needs to be acknowledged as a major challenge to bringing human impacts on our world back within sustainable DelphineMelbourne, Australia Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Reuters
Gold rises amid US-China trade uncertainty, softer dollar
June 4 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose on Wednesday as uncertainty over U.S.-China trade relations and global economic concerns bolstered safe-haven demand, with a weaker dollar providing additional support. Spot gold rose 0.6% at $3,370.67 an ounce as of 0209 GMT. U.S. gold futures were up 0.5% to $3,394.90. "We potentially see dip-buyers coming back into the picture and if you look at today's Asia session, rally also has been attributed to this dollar-strength unwinding as well," said Kelvin Wong, a senior market analyst, Asia Pacific at OANDA. "Things are still uncertain, especially surrounding the trade relationship between China and U.S. and even in EU and U.S. as well." Gold is considered a safe-haven asset during economic uncertainties. The U.S. should create the necessary conditions for bilateral relations to get back onto "the right track," China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the U.S. ambassador to Beijing on Tuesday. The White House signaled that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping might engage in talks later this week to address the trade disagreements. Meanwhile, the U.S. announced it would forgo doubling steel and aluminum tariffs on Britain. The U.S. dollar index (.DXY), opens new tab fell 0.1%, making greenback-priced bullion less expensive for overseas buyers. Global economic concerns deepened after the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned on Tuesday of sharper-than-expected economic slowdown, as the Trump administration's trade policies weigh heavily on the U.S. economy. "(The OECD report) for sure will be another supporting factor to see safe demand being heated up as well from a medium-term perspective," Wong said. Economic data showed U.S. job openings rose in April, though layoffs surged to their highest level in nine months, hinting at softening labor market conditions. Federal Reserve officials reiterated their cautious policy stance on Tuesday, citing risks from trade tensions and economic uncertainty. Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.3% to $34.59 an ounce, platinum was up 0.5% to $1,079.62 and palladium was steady at $1,009.94.
