Trump vs Musk on tax bill, heat domes, Tuvalu and Dalai Lama
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Today, Trump tells Doge to look at Elon Musk's companies for savings. As Senate Republicans try and pass his tax bill. Europe suffers under a heat dome. Tuvalu seeks assurances from the US its citizens won't be barred. And how the next Dalai Lama will be chosen. It's Tuesday, July 1st.

This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Van Nel in Whanganui, New Zealand. US President Donald Trump has suggested that his efficiency department should take a look at the subsidies that Elon Musk's companies have received in order to save the federal government big money. Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history by far, Trump posted on Truth Social.

Trump's comments come after Tesla CEO Musk renewed his criticism of Trump's sweeping tax cut and spending bill, vowing to unseat lawmakers who backed it after campaigning on limiting government spending. While Trump and Musk bristle at each other on social media, voting for the so-called Big Beautiful Bill has extended into a second day.

The U.S. Senate is moving closer to passing the massive spending bill that would further key parts of President Trump's agenda. Republicans can afford to lose no more than three votes in either chamber to pass a bill the Democrats are united in opposition to.

The man suspected of shooting two firefighters dead in Idaho before killing himself has been identified as 20-year-old Wes Rowley. Authorities say Rowley started the fire to lure the responders there. He's been described as a young drifter whose motive remains a mystery. And a Thai court has suspended the prime minister from duty pending a case seeking her dismissal.

The court in a statement said it had accepted a petition from dozens of senators that accuses Paitagon-Sinawatra of dishonesty and breaching ethical standards in violation of the constitution. Europe is sweltering under high temperatures caused by a heat dome.

But what exactly is a heat dome? Our European climate and energy correspondent Kate Abnett is here to explain. A heat dome is a blocking weather system. It's an area of high pressure in the atmosphere that gets stuck because the atmospheric dynamics around the high pressure system stop it from moving. And it works like putting a lid on a boiling pot and

And the high pressure system traps hot air below it, which heats up and compresses to form this dome. And this dome intensifies heat in the region below. It also prevents the formation of clouds. So you get these very clear, sunny days with the sun beating down directly onto the ground and still conditions with very little wind coming through to cool things down. And

And Europe is the world's fastest warming continent, but this isn't just a European thing, right? These can happen anywhere in the world. Heat domes are not specific to Western Europe. It's a phenomenon we've seen in other regions as well. And just in the last few weeks, we saw a heat dome occur in the United States.

And there is a global trend at play here linked to climate change, which is that the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which are mostly from burning fossil fuels, has raised the planet's average overall temperature over time. And this increase in baseline temperatures means that when a heat wave comes, wherever it is, it has the potential to surge to even higher temperature peaks.

That increase in baseline temperatures will, according to forecasts, have the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu mostly underwater within the next 25 years. And while the country is making plans for that by sending its first climate change refugees to Australia, right now it has another problem on its hands. Tuvalu says it's been accidentally added to Washington's potential travel ban list,

Kirsty Needham is in Sydney.

So the UN ambassador in New York said he had been told by at least one US official that it was an administrative error. And this was the reason Tuvalu appeared on that list that was leaked to the media last month. And Tuvalu's government have put out a statement today saying that they'd been told by the US embassy in Fiji, which covers the Pacific Island region, that it was an error in the system.

Tuvalu is feeling nervous, it seems, from their public statements because they want these assurances in writing. But Reuters has heard from a US official familiar with visa policy and who's saying no decisions have been made and any speculations premature. One other aspect about this list that was causing concern in the Pacific is

was Washington had suggested that some of these 36 countries should be accepting deportees from the United States. Now, obviously, this was going to be problematic for Tuvalu, which is 400 metres wide at its widest, but a lot of villages cling to a slice of land just 20 metres wide. And many of those people are trying to get out.

That's right. NASA scientists have a dire prediction that by 2050, daily tides will submerge half of the main atoll, Funafuti, where 60% of the population live. So Australia and Tuvalu have struck a landmark climate agreement that will allow 280 people a year from Tuvalu to migrate to Australia to live, work and have the benefits of health care.

and already over a third of the population have applied. The Dalai Lama, who is about to turn 90, will in the coming days reveal how his successor will be chosen. He's lived in exile in northern India since 1959 after fleeing a failed uprising against the rule of Mao Zedong's communists. China says its leaders have the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor as a legacy from imperial times.

Krishna Das is on site for the major gathering of Buddhist religious figures this week. Krishna, walk us through how the Dalai Lama's successor is traditionally found. So what happened with the current Dalai Lama was he was identified at the age of two in Tibet. An oracle would have a vision, the previous Dalai Lama would possibly

leave some clues and then a team of government people would go and look for a child who would be the next Dalai Lama. What's different is, you know, the Dalai Lama set up a foundation in 2015 called Kedan Phobrang Foundation.

Its members are some of his aides, some of his secretaries. And what they will do is, once the Dalai Lama has passed away, they will be responsible to identify the next Dalai Lama.

And there's this standoff with China. Can you tell us a bit about that and how that came to be? Yeah, so China believes it has been controlling Tibet for centuries. And the problem started when the Communist Party in China in the 1950s tried to assert its dominance on Tibet.

And so there was an uprising from the Tibetans. And based on some guidance from an oracle in Tibet and on fears of abduction by Chinese authorities, the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959. China, of course, calls the Dalai Lama a separatist and as someone who has no right to lead the Tibetan people. So that is what the standoff is at the moment.

What's the vibe like there? Lots of celebrities and tourists have arrived, right? Even Richard Gere? Lots of tourists have arrived here and celebrities have also arrived. He has been a great follower of the Dalai Lama for a very long time. Along with Nancy Pelosi of the US, Richard Gere is one of the, these two people are some of the greatest work supporters of the Dalai Lama and the cause of the Tibetans.

And for today's recommended read, a Reuters investigation into a wave of killings in Alawite communities along Syria's Mediterranean coast in March.

Our investigation has pieced together how the massacres unfolded, identifying a chain of command leading from the attackers directly to the men who serve alongside Syria's new leaders in Damascus. You can read the full story on the link in the pod description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. And don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.