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CNA
5 hours ago
- CNA
Asia First - Wed 9 Jul 2025
02:25:10 Min From the opening bell across markets in Southeast Asia and China, to the biggest business interviews and top financial stories, tune in to Asia First to kick-start your business day.
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
Former DOGE official rushed grant to Trump-backed Gaza aid group over staff objections
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Palestinians gather to collect what remains of relief supplies from the distribution center of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 5, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo WASHINGTON - A top U.S. State Department official waived nine mandatory counterterrorism and anti-fraud safeguards to rush a $30 million award last month to a Gaza aid group backed by the Trump administration and Israel, according to an internal memorandum seen by Reuters. Jeremy Lewin, a former Department of Government Efficiency associate, signed off on the award despite an assessment in the memorandum that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's (GHF) funding plan failed to meet required "minimum technical or budgetary standards." The June 24 action memorandum to Lewin was sent by Kenneth Jackson, also a former DOGE operative who serves as an acting deputy U.S. Agency for International Development administrator. The pair has overseen the agency's dismantling and the merger of its functions into the State Department. Lewin also overrode 58 objections that USAID staff experts wanted GHF to resolve in its application before the funds were approved, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Lewin, who runs the State Department's foreign aid program, cleared the funds only five days after GHF filed its proposal on June 19, according to the June 24 "action memorandum" bearing his signature seen by Reuters. "Strong Admin support for this one," Lewin wrote to USAID leaders in a June 25 email - also seen by Reuters - that urged disbursement of the funds by the agency "ASAP." The action memorandum was first reported by CNN. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World Tremendous opportunities for growth in US-Singapore ties, says Trump's ambassador nominee Sinha Singapore Singapore to hire more than 1,000 new educators annually in the next few years, up from 700 Singapore COE prices rise for all categories Singapore Govt watching job situation for fresh graduates closely, exploring further support: Gan Siow Huang Singapore Man who killed cats by throwing them off HDB blocks has jail term doubled to 27 months Singapore $43k fine for undischarged bankrupt doctor who failed to disclose assets worth over $4m Singapore Female primary school teacher charged over alleged sex acts with underage male student Singapore People working in air-conditioned spaces prefer 24 deg C and warmer: Survey Lewin and Jackson did not respond to requests for comment. The documents underline the priority the Trump administration has given GHF despite the group's lack of experience and the killing of hundreds of Palestinians near its Gaza aid distribution hubs. GHF, which closely coordinates with the Israeli military, has acknowledged reports of violence but says they occurred beyond its operations area. Lewin noted in the email that he had discussed the funds with aides to Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's negotiator on Gaza, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio's office. He acknowledged that authorizing the funds would be controversial, writing: "I'm taking the bullet on this one." The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Witkoff and Rubio did not reply to a question about whether they were aware of and supported the decision to waive the safeguards. The State Department said in a statement that the $30 million was approved under a legal provision allowing USAID to expedite awards in response to "emergency situations" to "meet humanitarian needs as expeditiously as possible." "The GHF award remains subject to rigorous oversight, including of GHF's operations and finances," the statement said. "As part of the award, GHF was subject to new control and reporting requirements." RAISING THE RISK In response to a request for comment, a GHF spokesperson said: "Our model is specifically designed to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. Every dollar we receive is safeguarded to ensure all resources — which will eventually include American taxpayer funds — reach the people of Gaza." The spokesperson added that such requests for clarification from the U.S. government about fund applications were routine. Speaking about the nine conditions that were waived, the spokesperson said: "We are addressing each question as per regulations and normal procedure and will continue to do so as required." GHF says its operation is preventing Hamas from hijacking food aid and using it to control the enclave's population, charges denied by the Islamist militants who ran Gaza. In the June 24 action memorandum, Jackson wrote that GHF is 'uniquely positioned to operate in areas with restricted access,' and said it has delivered millions of meals and diluted Hamas' control over Gaza's 2.1 million Palestinians. He acknowledged that GHF 'is a new organization that has not met USAID's various formal criteria for eligibility' for the $30 million award. Jackson listed nine conditions that applicants normally must satisfy before receiving USAID funds, explicitly outlining the terms of each and the risks of waiving them. For instance, he noted a 'legal requirement' that aid organizations working in Gaza or the West Bank undergo vetting for ties to extremist organizations before they are awarded USAID funds, the document said. 'Waiving the requirement could increase the risk' that an aid group, its subcontractors or vendors 'could be found ineligible due to terrorism-related concerns,' said the document. Jackson also wrote that USAID was required to examine whether an organization has sufficient internal controls to manage awards. He warned that waiving the condition 'could raise the risk of misuse of taxpayer resources,' according to the document. GHF submitted a plan – required prior to approval of funds – that was incomplete on how it would deal with legal and operational risks of operating in Gaza, the document said. Waiving the need for a full plan 'could risk programmatic diversion, reputational harm, and potential violations of U.S. counterterrorism laws," it continued. Despite the risks, Jackson recommended waiving all nine requirements and allowing GHF to fulfill them later because of the "humanitarian and political urgency" of its operation, the memo said. Lewin checked a box labeled 'Approve' on each of the recommendations, it showed. In addition to waiving the nine requirements, two sources familiar with the matter said, Lewin overrode 58 objections from USAID staff reviewing GHF's application. Two former top USAID officials said they had never heard of a senior official like Lewin expediting an award over the objections of professional staff. "I oversaw something like 1,500 grants. I never saw it happen," said Sarah Charles, who led USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance from 2021-2024. "Very occasionally, we would do the vetting after an award in a sudden onset emergency - think earthquake - but that was at the recommendation of staff." In the review, the USAID experts questioned how GHF would ensure the safety of Palestinians collecting food packages at its sites; whether its staff had proper humanitarian training and its plans to distribute powdered infant formula in an enclave with scarce access to clean drinking water, the sources said. REUTERS
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
Linda Yaccarino, CEO of Elon Musk's X, to step down in surprise move
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Part of Ms Linda Yaccarino's job as CEO of X was to manage billionaire owner Elon Musk. SAN FRANCISCO – Billionaire Elon Musk-owned social platform X's CEO Linda Yaccarino said on July 9 she would step down from the role in a surprise move. Her exit comes at a difficult time for Mr Musk, who is dealing with falling sales at his electric vehicle maker Tesla and is embroiled in a war of words with US President Donald Trump. Ms Yaccarino, 61, did not give a specific reason for her decision. She took the top job in 2023 to help Mr Musk transform the company after he bought it in a US$44 billion (S$56 billion) deal. Immediately upon joining, Ms Yaccarino had her work cut out for her. Mr Musk quickly made changes that tore up much of the goodwill Twitter had with users, employees and advertisers, including changing speech policies that allowed noxious content to circulate on the platform. Many advertisers left. The company later sued numerous advertisers and an advertising group, alleging they colluded to deny X ad dollars. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World Tremendous opportunities for growth in US-Singapore ties, says Trump's ambassador nominee Sinha Singapore Singapore to hire more than 1,000 new educators annually in the next few years, up from 700 Singapore COE prices rise for all categories Singapore Govt watching job situation for fresh graduates closely, exploring further support: Gan Siow Huang Singapore Man who killed cats by throwing them off HDB blocks has jail term doubled to 27 months Singapore $43k fine for undischarged bankrupt doctor who failed to disclose assets worth over $4m Singapore Female primary school teacher charged over alleged sex acts with underage male student Singapore People working in air-conditioned spaces prefer 24 deg C and warmer: Survey Part of Ms Yaccarino's mandate, aside from running day-to-day operations at the company, was to repair those broken relationships. She grew close with Mr Musk early in 2023 when she was an executive at NBCUniversal, and when she pledged to keep running ads on Twitter as other advertisers were refusing to do so. The two began texting regularly, with Mr Musk ultimately persuading her to run the company. The other part of her job has been to manage Mr Musk. Famously impulsive, the billionaire has frequently made her job more difficult, including using expletives to tell advertisers that he would not be changing his ways. He has clashed with foreign governments who have requested takedowns of certain social media accounts. Mr Musk also erased Twitter's iconic internet brand by renaming the company X. Ms Yaccarino has grappled with the challenges and in public social media posts, maintained an upbeat attitude as cheerleader in chief even as Mr Musk fired off late-night posts that infuriated many users while also galvanising his supporters. In March, Mr Musk's AI startup xAI acquired X in a US$33 billion all-stock deal. Its chatbot Grok removed what it called 'inappropriate' social media posts on July 8 after complaints from X users and the Anti-Defamation League that Grok produced content with antisemitic tropes. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
