US president-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that Elon Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new Department of Government Efficiency tasked with cutting federal waste.
The body will be called Doge for short, a cheeky nod to the meme and Dogecoin cryptocurrency, represented by a picture of a Shiba Inu dog, that Mr Musk has long promoted.
Mr Musk became a key ally to Mr Trump during his campaign, reportedly spending more than $100 million to help the Republican win and repeatedly boosting Mr Trump's candidacy on X, which he owns.
In a statement, Mr Trump said the department would “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies”.
He said the department “will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government,” a move that could allow Mr Musk to avoid disclosing his financial holdings.
Federal employees are generally required to disclose their assets and entanglements to ward off any potential conflicts of interest, and to divest significant holdings relating to their work. Because Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy would not be formal federal workers, they would not face those requirements or ethical limitations.
Still, Mr Musk might come under pressure to recuse himself from any decisions that could be seen to help any of his companies, which benefit from billions of dollars in federal contracts.
Mr Trump is set to return to Washington on Wednesday to President Joe Biden in the Oval Office.
Trump nominations
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Robbie Keane (Atletico de Kolkata) The Irish striker is, along with his former Spurs teammate Dimitar Berbatov, the headline figure in this season’s ISL, having joined defending champions ATK. His grand entrance after arrival from Major League Soccer in the US will be delayed by three games, though, due to a knee injury.
Dimitar Berbatov (Kerala Blasters) Word has it that Rene Meulensteen, the Kerala manager, plans to deploy his Bulgarian star in central midfield. The idea of Berbatov as an all-action, box-to-box midfielder, might jar with Spurs and Manchester United supporters, who more likely recall an always-languid, often-lazy striker.
Wes Brown (Kerala Blasters) Revived his playing career last season to help out at Blackburn Rovers, where he was also a coach. Since then, the 23-cap England centre back, who is now 38, has been reunited with the former Manchester United assistant coach Meulensteen, after signing for Kerala.
Andre Bikey (Jamshedpur) The Cameroonian defender is onto the 17th club of a career has taken him to Spain, Portugal, Russia, the UK, Greece, and now India. He is still only 32, so there is plenty of time to add to that tally, too. Scored goals against Liverpool and Chelsea during his time with Reading in England.
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Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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The Case For Trump
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Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
