US President-Elect Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk, chief executive officer (CEO) of Tesla and SpaceX, to lead a soon-to-be-established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk, owner of X, the microblogging platform previously known as Twitter, was an avid supporter of Trump during the electioneering leading up to the November 5 presidential election.

The former president defeated Vice-President Kamala Harris after securing more than 270 of the electoral college votes required to win the poll.

A statement on Tuesday said Musk would run DOGE alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, a politician and entrepreneur.

It said the duo “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement’.

“I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the Federal Bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans,” the statement quoted the president-elect as saying.

“Importantly, we will drive out the massive waste and fraud which exists throughout our annual $6.5 Trillion Dollars of Government Spending.”

Trump will take office for a second and final term on January 25, 2025.

Major French news organisations say they are suing X, a micro-blogging platform, for allegedly using their content without paying.

According to Reuters, the newspapers, which are Le Monde, Le Figaro and Le Parisien, announced in a statement on Tuesday.

The media platforms said they were due payment under their ancillary rights, which allow payment to news outlets by digital platforms, for the distribution of their content.

They said X, formerly known as Twitter, and owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has never agreed to open negotiations with French news publishers, unlike Alphabet Inc, Google and Meta Platforms Inc.

The publication also said the media organisations claimed that X has not complied with an order issued by the Paris Court of Justice in May to release information required to calculate the amount owed.

“The revenue from these rights, with the investment that it would enable its beneficiaries to make, is a boost to the plurality, independence and quality of the media, which are essential for freedom of expression and the right to information in our democratic society,” the newspapers said.

A spokesperson for the Paris tribunal also confirmed the case to Reuters and said a hearing has been scheduled for May 15, 2025.

In a tragic incident that shocked the Minnesota community, authorities have reported that a man who had posted anti-Trump and left-wing statements online fatally shot his wife, ex-partner, and two sons before taking his own life.

Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa confirmed that the shooter, identified as 46-year-old Anthony Nephew, had struggled with mental health issues over a period of time.

The bodies of five individuals were discovered Thursday afternoon in two homes located in Duluth.

Authorities initially found Nephew’s ex-partner, Erin Abramson, 47, and their son, Jacob Nephew, 15, dead from apparent gunshot wounds inside their residence.

Upon identifying Anthony Nephew as a suspect, police subsequently located his current wife, Kathryn Nephew, 45, and their 7-year-old son, Oliver Nephew, in a nearby home, both of whom had also been fatally shot.

Nephew was found in the same home, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.

Before the tragic event, Nephew had used his Facebook account to share political and personal grievances, particularly against President Donald Trump.

In one post from July, he expressed distress, writing, “My mental health and the world can no longer peacefully coexist, and a lot of the reason is religion. I am terrified of religious zealots inflicting their misguided beliefs on me and my family. I have intrusive thoughts of being burned at the stake as a witch, or crucified on a burning cross.”

Nephew’s social media activity included concerns about religious extremism and political issues.

He voiced fear that people viewed him or his family as symbols of evil: “Having people actually believe that I or my child are Satan or, the anti-Christ or whatever their favorite color of boogie man they are afraid of this week,” he posted.

In another online statement, Nephew took aim at Republicans, accusing them of complicating efforts for women in abusive relationships to leave. “Gilead here we come,” he wrote, referencing The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian novel that portrays a society where women are stripped of their rights.

Other political posts included a graphic with former President Barack Obama, President Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris alongside former President Trump, with “hate” labeled under Trump’s image and “hope,” “heal,” and “grow” under the Democratic politicians.

Nephew commented, “Not that anyone cares, but as an Independent voter, I would really like to see both the political parties in our country pick better candidates. We can do better than a binary choice between fascism and not fascism.”