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Elon Musk says the planet needs more oil… and babies

AFP

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who has fathered 10 children, said on Monday the world needs to “make more babies” — and keep digging for oil.

The richest man on the planet, who has repeatedly warned that low birth rates pose a “danger” to civilization, said ahead of an energy conference in Norway that the world is facing a “baby crisis”.

Asked about the greatest challenges facing the world, Musk cited the transition to renewable energies but also said the birth rate was “one of my favourite… things to be concerned about.”

“We don’t want the population to drop so low that we’ll just eventually die,” Musk, founder of American electric car manufacturer Tesla and SpaceX, told reporters in Stavanger, southwest Norway.

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“At least make enough babies to sustain the population,” he added.

Many Western societies and populated countries such as China are facing declining birth rates and ageing societies.

“They say civilization might die with a bang or with a whimper,” added Musk. “If we don’t have enough kids, then we will die with a whimper in adult diapers. And that will be depressing.”

He also said the planet still needed new fossil fuel sources.

“I think realistically we do need to use oil and gas in the short term, because otherwise civilization would crumble,”  he said, adding that “some additional exploration is warranted at this time”.

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He went on to advocate the maintenance of nuclear power plants, describing himself as “pro-nuclear”.

Several European countries had decided to phase out nuclear power, but following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February and Europe’s subsequent push to wean itself off of Russian oil and gas, the nuclear debate has reignited.

“I know this may be an unpopular view in some quarters, but I think if you have a well-designed nuclear power plant, you should not shut it down,” Musk said.

The businessman, who has been divorced three times, has fathered 10 children, one of whom died at 10 weeks old.

Earlier this year one of his children, who recently turned 18, filed a petition in a California court to change her name and gender identity to female.

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Court documents said that she did not want “to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form” as one of the reasons for the name change.

Musk also has two children with the musician Grimes, a girl they named Exa Dark Sideræl Musk — although the parents said they will mostly call her Y — and a boy born in May 2020 called “X Æ A-12”, or more simply, X.

Musk announced last autumn that he was “semi-separated” from the singer. 

The American press recently revealed that he also had twins in November with an executive at Neuralink, Musk’s brain-implant maker, a few weeks before the birth of Exa Dark Sideræl Musk.

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International

Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal

Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.

The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.

The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).

“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.

Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”

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International

Elon Musk to step down as government advisor, per Trump insiders

President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his role as a government advisor, according to a report by Politico today.

Citing three individuals close to Trump, Politico states that the president is pleased with Musk’s leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has implemented significant budget cuts. However, both have agreed that it is time for Musk to return to his businesses and support Trump from a different position outside the government.

A senior administration official told Politico that Musk will likely maintain an informal advisory role and continue to be an occasional visitor to the White House. Another source warned that anyone thinking Musk will completely disappear from Trump’s circle is “deluding themselves.”

According to the sources, this transition is expected to coincide with the end of Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee,” a temporary status that exempts him from certain ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations. This 130-day period is set to expire in late May or early June.

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International

Milei vows to make Argentina so strong that Falkland Islanders “choose” to join

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his country’s claim over the Falkland Islands (known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina) and praised the role of the nation’s armed forces during a ceremony marking the “Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Malvinas War Day,” commemorating 43 years since the 1982 conflict with the United Kingdom.

Argentina continues to assert sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain unlawfully seized them in 1833.

“If sovereignty over the Malvinas is the issue, we have always made it clear that the most important vote is the one cast with one’s feet. We hope that one day, the Malvinas residents will choose to vote with their feet and join us,” Milei stated.

“That is why we aim to become a global power—so much so that they would prefer to be Argentine, making deterrence or persuasion unnecessary. This is why we have embarked on a path of liberation, working to make Argentina the freest country in the world and once again the nation with the highest GDP per capita on the planet,” he added.

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