Elon Musks DOGE, the newly formed government agency aiming for drastic cuts across the U.S. government, has brought in an HR employment attorney and consultant who has spent the last few years teaching companies her refreshing approach to diversity and inclusion which include attempting to redefine DEI in a manner that she says is more consistent with Christianity and offers a non-woke version of HR practices, 404 Media has learned.Stephanie Holmes is in charge of HR at DOGE, two people familiar told 404 Media. Holmes is one of many new faces at the agency, which has been rebranded from the United States Digital Service to United States DOGE Service. DOGE, which stands for the Department of Government Efficiency, has also brought in a series of employees from Musks other companies and asked government tech workers to show Musks aides their code. DOGE higher ups re-interviewed every existing employee of the US Digital Service immediately following Musks takeover.A 404 Media review of Holmes previous speaking engagements, which touch on her perception of diversity and maintaining company culture, provide insight into what might be in store for DOGE and the federal government at large. Holmes association with DOGE has not been previously reported.Holmes is the founder of an HR consulting firm called BrightSideHR and the author of a document called the True Diversity Toolkit, published through the conservative Philanthropy Roundtable think tank that recommends employers define DEI as diversity of thought or diversity of viewpoint rather than through a lens of critical race theory. Holmes has spoken about her approach to diversity at the Federalist Society, Catholic University, and the conservative Catholic organization Napa Institutes Principled Entrepreneurship conference, which has become a hotspot of conservative political organizing power.Do you know anything else about this story? We would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message Jason securely on Signal at +1 202 505 1702. You can reach Joseph securely on Signal at +44 20 8133 5190.Holmes told an audience at a Federalist Society event that she started BrightSideHR to counter progressive ideology in corporate America.Working in the HR space and seeing the DEI efforts and progressive ideology that HR was pushing into corporate America was particularly concerning to me, and I didnt see any other alternatives for employers in the HR space. I care a lot about these issues and saw a problem I wanted to help fix, she said. I left my job and started BrighterSideHR, an HR consulting company to offer an alternative kind of more values aligned space for employers.I do workplace training, discrimination, harassment training, how to do workplace investigations, she added. Its simply just a non-woke version, offering employers an alternative approach to diversity and inclusion.The BrightSideHR website shut down in recent weeks, and now says it is no longer active. An archived version of the site says We focus on employee conduct at the workplace as opposed to imposing a particular ideological viewpoint.At the Napa Institutes conference panel on Practical Steps for Dealing with DEI, Holmes sat on a panel with former Trump administration official and current Heritage Foundation fellow Roger Severino. A moderator introduced the panel by saying were here to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, or as I like to put it, DIE. Many of us are quite aware of diversity, equity, and inclusion and how it has its roots really going back to Marxism.Holmes said on the panel that the mainstream kind of leftist approach to DEI presents us with a lot to push back against.It is really inconsistent with our faith and I also think that this presents us with an opportunity to not only say why were against this, why were opposed to mainstream DEI initiatives, but its important for us to be part of the conservation and to use it to say what we are for and why we have a positive vision and positive solution of DEI in a way that is consistent with our values, she said.Image: Screenshot from Philanthropy Roundtable YouTube channel.She said she advises employers to move away from defining diversity exclusively focused on employees race, sex, or other protected category, and to instead focus on bringing together employees with diverse backgrounds, viewpoints, perspectives, and beliefs to achieve common workplace goals. She said employers need to also be reframing the term inclusion to incorporate that in a way thats more aligned with our faith.When asked whether any of the panelists knew of a DEI program that incorporates Catholic values, the Heritage Foundations Severino said dont use that word DEI ever again in a positive light. That phrase should be deemed toxic now. Holmes said, however, that she has taught companies that they probably need to continue using the term because employees have asked for there to be a consideration of diversity at work.Larger companies must balance how to kind of umm, play the game essentially. So I oftentimes use the term diversity and inclusion. I do use the term equality instead of equity because I think thats particularly problematic, but I also understand that sometimes its just not politically feasible within a company to fully implement different terms, she said. I sometimes use those terms generally speaking because its just too politically, too much of a political hot potato to do otherwise.The United States Digital Service did not respond to a request for comment.

What started as one day of work turned into 16 seasons as the pianist, arranger, vocal coach, and Associate Musical Director for American Idol. Not only has Michael Orland had a hand in the success of the leading names from Idol, he has also worked with a Rolodex of names that includes Kristen Bell, Sabrina []The post Michael Orland is the Master Behind the Keyboard appeared first on GEDmagazine.

How race, racism, and discrimination lead to poorer health outcomes in people of color. (As seen in the latest issue of DAP Health magazine.) Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman. The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. made the above call to action against racial disparities in []The post Racism Perpetuates Health Disparities appeared first on GEDmagazine.

Singer Rihanna leaves Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Liam McEwan)2025-02-01T16:43:46Z LOS ANGELES (AP) The trial of rapper A$AP Rocky is progressing according to standard legal procedure, but there have been no lack of unusual moments, from visits from Rihanna to a tough-but-quirky judge and lawyers nearly coming to blows.Testimony is expected to last another week before jurors will decide Rockys fate on two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm. A conviction could lead to up to 24 years in prison for the hip-hop star.Here are some of the out-of-the-ordinary moments from the first two weeks of the trial, most not captured by the cameras in the courtroom. Waiting for RihannaFrom the moment it became clear the case was going to trial, nearly everyone involved was asking the same thing: What about Rihanna?Editors asked it of reporters, who asked it of lawyers. Even Judge Mark Arnold asked it months ago at a hearing: Will the mother of his children be there?Her name came up constantly during jury selection, when prospective panelists were asked whether her attendance would affect their judgment.Yet when the singing superstar finally did show up, she was easy to miss.She didnt appear through the first week, but rumors abounded Wednesday that she might appear, on a short court day with important testimony. Yet there was no sign of her outside or in the halls. (Unlike a nearby civil courthouse, where celebrities like Britney Spears and the Kardashians are smuggled in, Rocky and other defendants must use public entrances and many thought shed accompany him.) When the media were allowed in the courtroom, many reporters walked past her without noticing she was already sitting inconspicuously between Rockys mother and sister. She had been brought in through restricted entrances. She could barely be seen from the media section, and the camera capturing the trial is not allowed to shoot the audience. Her presence caused a quiet stir once the audience realized it, though its not clear if the jurors had noticed her. She appeared again the next day, and it soon felt almost unexceptional that she was there. By Friday, she slipped in about 30 minutes into testimony after coming through a public entrance.Later that day she entered the courtroom together with Rocky for the first time, down a hallway full of jurors from his and other cases that was abuzz. Attorneys in the octagon Court observers knew that when Deputy District Attorney John Lewin joined the prosecution shortly before trial, that he and Rockys equally bullish and vocal attorney, Joe Tacopina, were sure to butt heads. They werent wrong. Lewin, a dogged prosecutor, is best known for his successful murder prosecution of real estate heir Robert Durst. Tacopina is a New York attorney and frequent TV commentator whose clients have included President Donald Trump. Defense attorney Joe Tacopina. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool) Defense attorney Joe Tacopina. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Their shouting matches began quickly. Soon, without judge or jury present, the two had to be separated by a fellow lawyer when they went nose-to-nose in a faceoff that looked like it might become a fistfight.Mr. Tacopina started literally screaming at me in the courtroom. He basically appeared to challenge me to a fight, Lewin told the judge later. Tacopina responded. No one screamed. You werent there your honor. Mr. Lewin comes up with his little scolding, bullying attitude.Arnold, a former sheriffs deputy, forbade the two from talking to each other except on the record.Moments later, he said a UFC fight might be warranted. Maybe we should get an octagon.Arnold wasnt wrong either. An even more fierce fight broke out between the two men in front of the judge but off camera a few days later as they argued over evidence. Lewin shouted that the defense assertion Rocky was carrying a prop gun was garbage. Oh?! Oh?! Tacopina yelled. Well see what the jury says at the end! The argument grew more out of control and turned to personal insults.You dont know me! But you will learn! Tacopina yelled. The judge, disgusted, refused to keep playing referee.Thats it, were off the record, he said, and walked out. The quirks of the key witness The testimony of A$AP Relli, Rockys accuser, was dark and difficult but brought a couple of oddly light moments.At one point, Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec asked him how far away Rocky was at a certain moment.About three or four skips, Relli said.Ive never heard about anyone estimating with skips, Przelomiec said.Wait, what does a skip mean? the judge asked.You dont know what I mean? Relli asked.They determined for the record that it was about 7 to 8 feet. Judge Mark S. Arnold (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool) Judge Mark S. Arnold (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Arnolds long-for-a-judge hair and rugged, bushy mustache evoke a biker, or a cowboy. His nameplate on the bench is a carved wooden log. Relli let him know he liked his style.As he testified, Arnold told him he clearly had to say yes or no for the court reporter. Relli said sorry, he was nervous, then looking at the judge said, I like your bracelet. What? Arnold said.Relli pointed at the silver wristband on the judges right arm. Your bracelet.Oh, the judge said. Thank you. A$APs mother and sister at the trialRockys mother, Renee Black, and his sister, Erika Mayers, garnered their own share of attention even before Rihanna sat between them.The first day they appeared, Arnold asked Rocky who the women in his section were.Thats my mother and my sister, Rocky said. The judges marveled at Blacks youthful appearance. What were you, 7 when you had him? the judge asked. She said she was 26.You are very beautiful, the judge told her. Thats on the record.Later, Lewin politely approached the women and talked to them during a break. He said of Rocky, I just hope hes evaluating everything in a reference to the deal Rocky turned down a recommendation of 180 days in jail and other relatively minor punishments for a guilty plea on one count.Tacopina angrily brought it up to the judge later, and Lewin explained himself.I walked up very kindly to the defendants mother and sister. I said I am very sorry you have to go through this. I hope that your brother and your son, hes really evaluated what hes risking here. The phantom photographerDuring jury selection, when the room was packed with tired and seemingly bored potential jurors being questioned one after another, a woman gave everyone a start when she suddenly shouted, Theres a woman taking a picture in that corner!She pointed to a door with a small window behind the judge, who pounced into action, his robe flying. He and his clerk opened the door and hurried down the hall behind it, but found no one. The woman swore she saw someone and tried to justify herself, but Arnold cut her off.You did the right thing! Arnold said. You done good!They kept the window covered after that. ANDREW DALTON Dalton covers entertainment for The Associated Press, with an emphasis on crime, courts and obituaries. He has worked for the AP for 20 years and is based in Los Angeles. mailto

President Donald Trump speaks as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-02-01T14:14:28Z PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) New trade penalties against Canada, Mexico and China that President Donald Trump plans to impose Saturday represent an aggressive early move against Americas three largest trading partners, but at the risk of higher inflation and possible disruptions to the global economy.In Trumps view, the 25% tariffs against the two North American allies and a 10% tax on imports from Washingtons chief economic rival are a way for the United States to throw around its financial heft to reshape the world. You see the power of the tariff, Trump told reporters Friday. Nobody can compete with us because we have by far the biggest piggy bank.The Republican president is making a major political bet that his actions will not worsen inflation, cause financial aftershocks that could destabilize the worldwide economy or provoke a voter backlash. AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate in last years election, found that the U.S. was split on support for tariffs. It is possible that the tariffs could be short-lived if Canada and Mexico can reach a deal with Trump to more aggressively address illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling. Trumps move against China is also tied to fentanyl and comes on top of existing import taxes. Trump is honoring promises he made in the 2024 White House campaign that are at the core of his economic and national security philosophy, though Trump allies had played down the threat of higher import taxes as mere negotiating tactics. The president is preparing more import taxes in a sign that tariffs will be an ongoing part of his second term. On Friday, he mentioned imported computer chips, steel, oil and natural gas, as well as against copper, pharmaceutical drugs and imports from the European Union moves that could essentially pit the U.S. against much of the global economy. Trumps intentions drew a swift response from financial markets, with the S&P 500 stock index slumping after his announcement Friday.It is unclear how the tariffs could affect the business investments that Trump said would happen because of his plans to cut corporate tax rates and remove regulations. Tariffs tend to raise prices for consumers and businesses by making it more expensive to bring in foreign goods.Many voters turned to Trump in the November election on the belief that he could better handle the inflation that spiked under Democratic President Joe Biden. But inflation expectations are creeping upward in the University of Michigans index of consumer sentiment as respondents expect prices to rise by 3.3%. That would be higher than the actual 2.9% annual inflation rate in Decembers consumer price index.Trump has said that the government should raise more of its revenues from tariffs, as it did before the income tax became part of the Constitution in 1913. He claims, despite economic evidence to the contrary, that the U.S. was at its wealthiest in the 1890s under President William McKinley.We were the richest country in the world, Trump said Friday. We were a tariff country. Trump, who has aspired to remake America by using McKinleys model, is conducting a real-time experiment that the economists who warn tariffs lead to higher prices are wrong. While the tariffs in his first term did not meaningfully increase overall inflation, he is now looking at tariffs on a much grander scale that could push up prices if theyre enduring policies.Trump has fondly called McKinley, an Ohioan elected president in 1896 and 1900, the tariff sheriff.Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, noted on the social media site X that the tariffs if sustained, would be a massive shock a much bigger move in one weekend than all the trade action that Trump took in his first term.Setser noted that the tariffs on China without exemptions could raise the price of iPhones, which would test just how much power corporate America has with Trump. Apples CEO Tim Cook attended Trumps inauguration last month. Recent research on Trumps various tariff options by a team of economists suggested the trade penalties would be drags on growth in Canada, Mexico, China and the U.S. But Wending Zhang, a Cornell University economist who worked on the research, said the fallout would be felt more in Canada and Mexico because of their reliance on the U.S. market.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Canadians that they could be facing difficult times ahead, but that Ottawa was prepared to respond with retaliatory tariffs if needed and that the U.S. penalties would be self-sabotaging.Trudeau said Canada is addressing Trumps calls on border security by implementing a CDN$1.3 billion (US$90 million) border plan that includes helicopters, new canine teams and imaging tools.Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has stressed that her country has acted to reduce illegal border crossings and the illicit trade in fentanyl. While she has emphasized the ongoing dialogue since Trump first floated the tariffs in November, she has said that Mexico is ready to respond, too. Mexico has a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C for what the United States government decides, she said.Trump still has to get a budget, tax cuts and increase to the governments legal borrowing authority through Congress. The outcome of his tariff plans could strengthen his hand or weaken it.Democrats are sponsoring legislation that would strip the president of his ability to impose tariffs without congressional approval. But that is unlikely to make headway in a Republican-controlled House and Senate.If this weekends tariffs go into effect, theyll do catastrophic damage to our relationships with our allies and raise costs for working families by hundreds of dollars a year, said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. Congress needs to stop this from happening again. JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Elliott with 2 Ts is hot off her Drag Race anniversary. She made a splash on the shows 13th season and quickly became a fan favorite. Glamming it up in Vegas, she ends up popping into Palm Springs and Los Angeles quite often. For those who have had the privilege to meet her off the []The post This Drag Race Superstar is Spilling a Double Dose of T appeared first on GEDmagazine.

You never know who you are going to meet in the world and what magic can happen when you do. I was hired to do bingo at Phoenix Pride in the VIP area of the festival in 2023. It was the first time I had been to Phoenix, other than the airport for a plane []The post This Artist is SLAYING the Canvas appeared first on GEDmagazine.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks after being sworn in by Vice President JD Vance in the Vice Presidential Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-02-01T05:02:40Z WASHINGTON (AP) Secretary of State Marco Rubio embarks this weekend on his first foreign trip in office, heading to Central America to press President Donald Trumps top priority curbing illegal immigration and bring the message that the U.S. wants to reclaim control over the Panama Canal despite intense resistance from regional leaders.Its an unusual destination for the maiden voyage of Americas top diplomat, whose predecessors have generally favored Europe or Asia for their initial outings. It reflects not only the personal interest that Rubio the first Hispanic to hold the nations most senior Cabinet post has in the region but also the Trump administrations intent to focus much of its foreign policy energy close to home. Its no accident that my first trip abroad as secretary of state will keep me in the hemisphere, Rubio wrote in The Wall Street Journal on Friday. Limiting immigration and fighting narcotics smuggling are major elements of that effort, but another key priority will be curbing Chinas growing influence in the Western Hemisphere, topped by reasserting U.S. control over the Panama Canal. The American-built canal was turned over to the Panamanians in 1999 and they object strongly to Trumps demand to hand it back. Mass migration, drugs and hostile policies pursued by Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have wreaked havoc, Rubio said in the Journal opinion piece. All the while, the Chinese Communist Party uses diplomatic and economic leverage such as at the Panama Canal to oppose the U.S. and turn sovereign nations into vassal states. Indeed, Rubios first stop on the five-nation tour Saturday will be Panama, whose president, Jos Ral Mulino, says there will be no negotiation with the United States over ownership of the canal. He said he hoped Rubios visit would instead focus on shared interests like migration and combating drug trafficking. Its impossible, I cant negotiate, Mulino said Thursday. The canal belongs to Panama.Yet Rubio said he will make clear Trumps intent. In an interview Thursday with SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly, he said Trumps desire to retake control of the Panama Canal is driven by legitimate national security interests stemming from growing concerns about Chinese activity and influence in Latin America.Were going to address that topic, he said. The presidents been pretty clear he wants to administer the canal again. Obviously, the Panamanians are not big fans of that idea. That message has been brought very clear.Chinese investments in ports and other infrastructure and facilities at both the Pacific and Caribbean ends of the canal are a cause for major concern, leaving Panama and the critical shipping route vulnerable to China, he said.Rubio added that if China wanted to obstruct traffic in the Panama Canal, they could, and that would be a violation of the 1977 treaty signed by former President Jimmy Carter under which the U.S. later ceded control.Despite Mulinos rejection of any negotiation over ownership, some believe Panama may be open to a compromise under which canal operations on both sides are taken away from the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports company that was given a 25-year no-bid extension to run them. An audit into the suitability of that extension is already under way and could lead to a rebidding process. What is unclear is whether Trump would accept the transfer of the concession to an American or European firm as meeting his demands, which appear to cover more than just operations.In some ways, Trump is pushing on an open door, said Ryan Berg, director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. But it will depend on how his red lines are defined.Theres been a lot of heavy rhetoric and it will be up Rubio to clarify it, Berg said, adding that some kind of compromise was possible but well have to see if hes really serious about taking it back. If thats the case then nothing short of that will satisfy him. Rubio will arrive in Panama on Saturday for meetings the following day with Mulino and the canal administrator. He will then travel to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.His arrival will come just a day after the U.S. resumed visa processing at its embassy in Bogota, Colombia, which had been shut down Sunday after the Colombian government refused to accept two planeloads of Colombian deportees from the United States.Previous secretaries of state have often traveled abroad with so-called deliverables assistance packages, new cooperation initiatives and the like that they can announce at each stop. However, such as with Colombia, Rubio may only be able to bring limited relief from a U.S. freeze on foreign assistance that Trump ordered pending a review of all programs. In Latin America, such programs have generally focused on policing, counternarcotics operations and efforts to stem illegal migration. Rubio has made provisions for certain programs offering life-saving assistance to be exempted from the funding pause, and waiver applications for programs in several of the countries he will be visiting are under review.Among the countries for which waivers for certain programs have been submitted are Panama, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and its neighbor, Haiti. Although Rubio will not be traveling to Haiti, the State Department has already allowed some $41 million in support of an international peacekeeping force there to go ahead.

Steve Petersen, left, and his wife Jennifer watch as their daughter Carolynn tries to stand inside their apartment in Campbell, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vsquez)2025-02-01T13:41:24Z The Petersen familys two-bedroom apartment in northern California is starting to feel small. Four-year-old Jerriks toy monster trucks are everywhere in the 1,100-square-foot unit in Campbell, just outside of San Jose. And its only a matter of time before 9-month-old Carolynn starts amassing more toys, adding to the disarray, says her mother, Jenn Petersen.The 42-year-old chiropractor had hoped she and her husband, Steve, a 39-year-old dental hygienist, would have bought a house by now. But when they can afford a bigger place, it will have to be another rental. Petersen has done the math: With mortgage rates and home prices stubbornly high, theres no way the couple, who make about $270,000 a year and pay about $2,500 in monthly rent, can afford a home anywhere in their area. According to October data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, a San Jose family with a median income of $156,700 would need to spend 80% of their income on housing including an $8,600 monthly mortgage payment to own a median-priced $1.54 million home. Thats far higher than the general rule of thumb that people should pay no more than 30% of their income on a mortgage or rent. Moving out of state is out of the question for the Petersens they have strong family ties to the area and their income would plummet if they move to a lower cost-of-living area. Im not willing to give up my job and close connections with my family for a house, Petersen said. The issue is widespread and near historic highs nationally: As of last fall, the median homeowner in the U.S. was paying 42% of their income on homeownership costs, according to the Atlanta Fed. Four years ago, that percentage was 28% and had not previously reached 38% since late 2007, just before the housing market crash.The American dream, as our parents knew it, doesnt exist anymore, Petersen said. The whole idea that you get a house after you graduate college, get a steady job and get married? Ive done most of those milestones. But the homeownership part? That just doesnt fit financially. First-time homeowners are getting olderThe same is true for an increasing number of American families.In 2024, the median first-time homebuyer was 38 years old, a jump from age 35 the previous year, according to a recent report by the National Association of Realtors. Thats significantly above historic norms, when median first-time buyers hovered between 30 and 32 years old from 1993 to 2018.The biggest driver of this trend, experts said, is simple: There are far too few houses on the market to match pent-up demand, driving prices past the point of affordability for many people who are relatively early in their careers. Coupled with high mortgage rates, many have concluded that renting is their only option.Wage growth hasnt kept up with the increase in home prices and interest rates, said Domonic Purviance, who studies housing at the Atlanta Fed. Even though people are making more money, home prices are increasing at a faster rate.That gap has left many out of the housing market, which for generations has been a way for Americans to build equity and wealth that they can pass down or leverage to buy a larger home. Its also led to widespread worries about housing in the U.S. About 7 in 10 voters under age 45 said they were very concerned about the cost of housing in their community, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters in the 2024 election. Is the dream of homeownership going to fade?Brian McCabe, a sociology professor at Georgetown University, said he frequently tells his students that there are few things that all Americans agree on, but one of them is that theyd rather own a home than rent.McCabe said homeownership, especially as a wealth-building tool, is the right move for many, especially if the owner intends to be in one place for a long time. But he also said many are realizing that not owning a home has its advantages, too it gives people more flexibility to move and allows them to live in exciting neighborhoods they would not be able to afford to buy property in. McCabe said millennials are getting married later, having children later, have a stronger desire to stay in cities and, especially due to remote work, value the flexibility of being able to move with ease all of which he said could prompt an end to the notion that homeownership is the apex of the American dream.The big question is whether we see the sheen of homeownership start to fade, McCabe said. Its such an interesting cultural marker: Why is owning a home the pinnacle for so many people?Its a question Petersen wrestles with because she knows any three-bedroom home she found in her area would leave her family house poor.I used to subscribe to the idea that owning a house is just a natural milestone you have to reach, she said. At some point, though, what are you sacrificing by just owning a house and gaining equity? I want to be able to travel with my kids. I want to be able to sign them up for extracurriculars. How are we supposed to do that if were paying a mortgage thats most of our take-home pay? Petersen said shell always hold out a little bit of hope that homeownership will be in her familys future. But if they find a townhouse to rent that has space for her kids and fits within their $3,600 monthly rental budget?Id take that, she said.Some cities are providing crucial aid to first-time homebuyersLifelong Boston resident Julieta Lopez, 63, spent decades hoping to buy a home but watched as prices became increasingly out of reach.The prices in Boston just got higher and higher and higher and higher, said Lopez, who works for the city traffic department issuing tickets for parking violations.Two years ago, furious to learn that her subsidized apartments monthly rent was being hiked to $2,900, Lopez, who earns about $60,000 annually, took out her phone and began searching for government programs that help first-time homebuyers. She was determined to finally own her own place.Within months, she had succeeded. Lopez qualified to receive $50,000 from the local Massachusetts Affordable Homeownership Alliance nonprofit and another $50,000 from the city of Bostons Office of Housing funds that helped her with a down payment on the $430,000 two-bedroom condominium she shares with her 30-year-old son. She now pays about $2,160 a month on her mortgage.Lopez knows she is lucky the city has placed such a focus on aiding first-time buyers like herself Boston has poured more than $24 million into its homeownership assistance programs since Mayor Michelle Wu took office in 2021, helping nearly 700 residents get their first homes. But Lopez also feels proud to have her own place after years of working so hard jobs that included everything from telecommunications to health care to electronics.I was determined to have my piece of the pie, she said. I felt I deserved that. Ive always worked. Always. Nonstop. R.J. RICO Rico is a U.S. Desk editor and reporter based in Atlanta for The Associated Press. He has covered housing, immigration and activism in the South. twitter mailto

One of Southern Californias most recognizable nightlife personalities is Prince Joshua. Making his move from Phoenix to Los Angeles a handful of years ago, he had high aspirations of becoming a thriving part of the queer community. He had no clue how quickly he would be embraced by the nightlife and socialite family. He is []The post Prince Joshua is CROWNED as the Prince of WEHO Nightlife appeared first on GEDmagazine.

Its a new month, which means new opportunities for queer TV! GLAAD is bringing you some highlights from LGBTQ TV premieres and returns throughout February. Check back on the first of each month for up-to-date coverage of LGBTQ-inclusive programming on television. February 6 Clean Slate (Season One Prime Video ) From legendary producer Norman [...]The post Must-See LGBTQ TV: February Premieres & Returns first appeared on GLAAD.

U.S. Marines install barbed wire along the border fence Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)2025-02-01T18:42:02Z SAN DIEGO (AP) Dozens of Marines unfurled coils of concertina wire one on the ground and one slightly above making it more difficult to climb a border wall separating Tijuana from San Diego. They worked with speed and efficiency amid a weekend rush of cars nearby at the busiest border crossing between the U.S. and Mexico.Fortifying barriers has long been a military task on border missions that date back to the administration of George W. Bush. But President Donald Trump has hinted strongly at the unprecedented use of the armed forces to repel what he calls a disastrous invasion. Until now, the military has limited itself to a supporting role at the border surveilling for illegal crossings by ground and air, repairing vehicles, building barriers adhering to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 to keep the armed forces away from civilian law enforcement. The Associated Press toured the border in San Diego with Marines and saw a military operating similar to past missions. But some scholars and advisers close to Trump argue there are legal grounds to summon the military to combat narcotics and mass migration. Trumps declaration of a national emergency at the southern border indicates he may redirect money, as he did during his first term, to get billions of dollars for border wall construction. His inaugural day orders raise the possibility of invoking wartime powers, including the Insurrection Act of 1807, allowing him to deploy active-duty troops to suppress a rebellion. He gave Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem 90 days to deliver recommendations. The Insurrection Act is just all-purpose. The regular military can do anything on U.S. soil, said Adam Isacson, who follows the role of military at the Washington Office on Latin America, a research and advocacy organization. Trump has already broken from predecessors. While the military has housed migrants at times, its deportation flights to Guatemala, Ecuador and Colombia mark a departure from previous administrations. Trump said he would use a detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold tens of thousands of the worst criminal aliens, though it hasnt happened yet. There is a sense among Border Patrol agents and others that there is more to come. Isacson believes the administration may see a model in Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts Operation Lone Star, which thrust the states National Guard into a central role in border enforcement.The Defense Department deployed 1,600 active-duty troops to the border during Trumps first week in office. U.S. officials said Friday that they are preparing to deploy at least 1,000 more in Trumps immigration crackdown, about half to the border and half to Guantanamo Bay.So far, the military has maintained low visibility in San Diego. The Marines laid concertina wire Friday at the bottom of an 18-foot-high (5.5-meter-high) border wall that already had wire on top. Migrants who manage to get over or through the wire face a second, 30-foot-high (9.1-meter-high) wall. A tour in Osprey military transport aircraft, which have been used to bring concertina to Brown Field Municipal Airport in San Diego, showed Border Patrol vehicles staged at various lookouts. They stretched about 70 miles (112 kilometers) from the Pacific Ocean through boulder-strewn ranches east of San Diego and a treacherous mountain range where few migrants cross.Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks said Thursday that arrests for illegal crossings averaged 654 a day over the previous week, down from a daily average of 1,527 in December.San Diego has been the busiest corridor for illegal crossings over much of the last year. Arrests averaged 222 a day in a seven-day period through Jan. 25, down from 237 the previous week.

Officials gather at the end of runway 33 near the wreckage site in the Potomac River of a mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)2025-02-01T17:30:27Z ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) Recovery crews and divers searched the Potomac River for remains and cleared wreckage Saturday from the midair collision of a passenger jet and Army helicopter that killed 67 people.A Coast Guard cutter outfitted with a crane waited by the wreckage as occasional recovery team members slipped into the water amid a group of smaller emergency boats. No one survived the Wednesday night collision. The remains of 41 people had been pulled from the river as of Friday afternoon, including 28 that had been positively identified, investigators said. They expect to recover all of the remains, though the wreckage of the planes fuselage will probably have to be pulled from the water to get all the bodies, Washington, D.C., Fire Chief John Donnelly Sr. told reporters.The collision occurred as an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas carrying 64 passengers was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport, just across the Potomac from the nations capital, and hit an Army Black Hawk helicopter that apparently flew into the jets path. The helicopter had three soldiers on board. Army officials have said the helicopter crew was highly experienced, and familiar with the congested skies around the city. Military aircraft frequently make such flights to practice routes they would use if key government officials need to be evacuated during an attack or major catastrophe. The National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to update reporters on Saturday evening. Investigators are examining the actions of the military pilot and air traffic control. Full NTSB investigations typically take at least a year, though investigators hope to have a preliminary report within 30 days.Other possible factors in the crash, including the helicopters altitude and whether the crew was using night vision goggles, are still under investigation, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News Channel. Black boxes have been recovered from both aircraft. More than 300 responders were taking part in the recovery effort at a given time, officials said. This is heartbreaking work, Donnelly told reporters Friday. Its been a tough response for a lot of our people. The Federal Aviation Administration heavily restricted helicopter traffic around the airport on Friday, hours after President Donald Trump claimed in a social media post that the helicopter had been flying higher than allowed.NTSB member Todd Inman told reporters Friday that investigators had interviewed at least one air traffic controller who was working when the crash happened. He said interviews were ongoing and that it was unclear how many controllers were on duty at the time.Investigators will also examine staffing levels, training, hiring and other factors, in addition to looking at controllers records.The FAA has long struggled with a shortage of air traffic controllers. Officials say the helicopters maximum allowed altitude at the time was 200 feet (about 60 meters), though they have not said whether it had exceeded that limit. But on Friday, one day after he questioned the helicopter pilots actions and blamed diversity initiatives for undermining air safety, Trump said the helicopter was flying too high. It was far above the 200 foot limit. Thats not really too complicated to understand, is it??? Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.Wednesdays crash was the deadliest in the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when a jet slammed into a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, just after takeoff from Kennedy Airport. The crash killed all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.Experts regularly highlight that plane travel is overwhelmingly safe, but the crowded airspace around Reagan National can challenge even the most experienced pilots.

An order of "boneless chicken wings" is shown at a restaurant in Willow Grove, Pa., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. With the Super Bowl at hand, behold the cheerful untruth that has been perpetrated upon (and generally with the blessing of) the chicken-consuming citizens of the United States on menus across the land: a boneless wing that isnt a wing at all. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)2025-02-01T17:28:42Z The good news? The cost of hosting a Super Bowl party is expected to barely budge this year, with an average increase of about 10 cents from the previous year. The bad news? Consumers might have to use some fancy footwork to ensure their dollars get further down the field.Economists with the Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute found a surprising spread in prices for popular game-day ingredients and prepared foods so finding a balance between more expensive items and those that have dropped in price can help keep the budget from running out of bounds. Theyve pegged the price for a Super Bowl party menu for 10 people at around $139 this year, just 0.1% more than last year. While inflation and shrinkflation have been grocery store buzzwords for a while now, coming up with a winning game plan to keep party guests happy could become even more of a challenge as the Trump administration looks for opportunities to impose more tariffs. With no overarching, easily understood theme to explain everything, the Wells Fargo economists say party planners must become food fluent to successfully navigate price fluctuations. A review of data from NielsenIQ, which tracks food scanned at retailers across the U.S., shows that celery and broccoli are the best veggies for dipping this year, as both have seen price decreases. Potato chips, frozen shrimp and cauliflower also have seen decreases. Salsa and nacho cheese prices are holding steady, but it can get complicated if guacamole dip is on the menu.Fresh avocados have jumped by 11.5% compared to last year, but prepared guacamole dip increased by only 1.5%. So making guacamole from scratch can still save money despite the hike in avocado prices. This scenario, the experts say, underscores the broader trend of price variability within categories.Overall, the review found the total cost of chips and guacamole is just two cents higher than last year. On the beverage front, beer and wine have seen only 2% increases.Chicken wings continue to be a favorite, but they come at a premium this year. Theyre up by more than 7%, an increase that reflects not just inflation but also a sustained consumer demand that supports higher prices. On the bright side, retail prices for whole frozen shrimp have decreased by 4%. This is due to increased supply from shrimp-exporting countries and a subsequent softening in demand following price spikes around the coronavirus pandemic. While shrimp is two and half times more expensive per pound than chicken wings, shrimp might be the Hail Mary for reaching those protein goals.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-02-01T17:57:05Z WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. military has conducted coordinated airstrikes against Islamic State operatives in Somalia, the first attacks in the African nation during President Donald Trumps second term.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Saturday that the strikes by U.S. Africa Command were directed by Trump and coordinated with Somalias government.An initial assessment by the Pentagon indicated that multiple operatives were killed. The Pentagon said it assessed that no civilians were harmed in the strikes.Trump, in a post on social media, said a senior IS planner and recruits were targeted in the operation.The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians. Our Military has targeted this ISIS Attack Planner for years, but Biden and his cronies wouldnt act quickly enough to get the job done. I did! Trump said. The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU! Trump did not identify the IS planner or say whether that person was killed in the strike. White House officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Pentagons counterterrorism strategy in Africa has been strained as two key partners, Chad and Niger, ousted U.S. forces last year and took over key bases that the U.S. military had used to train and conduct missions against terrorist groups across the Sahel, the vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert. U.S. military officials have warned that IS cells have received increasing direction from the groups leadership that relocated to northern Somalia. That has included how to kidnap Westerners for ransom, how to learn better military tactics, how to hide from drones and how to build their own small quadcopters.A U.S. military airstrike in Somalia last May targeted IS militants and killed three, according to U.S. Africa Command. The number of IS militants in the country are estimated to be in the hundreds, mostly scattered in the Cal Miskaat mountains in Puntlands Bari region, according to the International Crisis Group.Saturdays operation followed military airstrikes on Jan. 30 in northwest Syria, killing a senior operative in Hurras al-Din, an al-Qaeda affiliate, U.S. Central Command said. TARA COPP Copp covers the Pentagon and national security for the Associated Press. She has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, throughout the Middle East, Europe and Asia. twitter mailto AAMER MADHANI Aamer Madhani is a White House reporter. twitter mailto

The air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is pictured, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Arlington, Va., near the wreckage of a mid-air collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet in the Potomac River. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-01-31T23:47:31Z Just a day before a deadly midair collision at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., employees at the Federal Aviation Administration were sent an offer to resign with eight months pay.The union for air traffic controllers recommended to its members that they not accept Tuesdays offer, because the FAA had not decided which positions would be included in the resignation plan. An official for the Office for Personnel Management, the U.S. governments human resources arm, said Friday that controllers werent eligible for the resignation plan or subject to the hiring freeze across much of the rest of federal government. The crash Wednesday that killed all 67 people on board an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter has renewed focus on the real-world implications of President Donald Trumps push to slash the federal bureaucracy. Theres no evidence that the White House effort to downsize government played any role in the collision, with shortages of air traffic controllers long predating Trump taking office. But those whove worked in air safety say that those who try to dramatically shake up the federal workforce need to remember that lives are on the line. It concerns me that there are people who dont want to reform or restructure institutions, they want to destroy institutions, said James Hall, who was head of the National Transportation Safety Board under President Bill Clinton, a Democrat. The American people enjoy the safest aviation system in the world. I dont doubt there should be changes in government, but someone should remember the old adage to look before you leap. On Thursday, as the investigation into the crash was well underway, FAA employees were among the federal workers who received an email telling them to quit and find more useful work.The way to greater American prosperity is encouraging people to move from lower productivity jobs in the public sector to higher productivity jobs in the private sector, read the memo from OPM. An official with OPM, which made the resignation offers, said air traffic controllers are exempt from a hiring freeze that Trump announced on taking office on Jan. 20 and they are not eligible for a buyout even though they were sent the offer. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal government operations. It was unclear if the controllers themselves have been notified by OPM whether they are exempt. After the initial offer went out, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association recommended in an email to its union members not to submit a request for the resignation until more information was available. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the union email.NATCA President Nick Daniels said officials had not explained to the union the details of how its employees would be affected by the retirement program. NATCA has not received a briefing on how or whether the deferred resignation program will be implemented in the FAA, Daniels said in a statement provided to the AP Friday. It is not yet clear how this program will affect aviation safety workers represented by our Union, he added. However, we are concerned about the potential effect to public safety and the efficiency and capacity of the air traffic control system if FAA were to lose experienced aviation safety personnel during a universally recognized air traffic controller staffing shortage.Though the new administration insists its cost-cutting will exempt public safety workers and keep citizens safe, its rhetoric and approach have been more sweeping than surgical.Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the technology mogul Trump tapped to lead the effort, has said bureaucracy is killing America and repeatedly called for massive, across-the-board reductions in the federal workforce. Trump and his supporters have made personal loyalty to the president a top priority in hiring new workers or keeping existing ones.During the campaign, Musk demanded the resignation of FAA administrator Michael Whitaker, who clashed with Musk over regulating SpaceX and stepped down the day before Trump took office. That left the FAA leaderless until Trump, at a Thursday press conference after the crash, named an acting head of the agency. Trump blamed diversity hiring after the crash despite no evidence about the qualifications of anyone involved in the collision and alleged that former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama lowered standards to meet racial or other quotas. He decried an FAA diversity policy that existed during his first administration. Though the Trump administration talks about the need to shed federal workers, the government has been desperate to hire air traffic controllers for nearly a decade. The FAA has struggled to keep up with the rapidly increasing number of commercial flights, even as there had been no fatal air accidents since 2009. Last year, Biden pushed for funding to hire 2,000 more controllers and announced the hiring of 1,800 controllers in September. An FAA report obtained by the AP said that air traffic control staffing at the airport Wednesday was not normal, with one person doing the work normally assigned to two people at the time of the collision. A person familiar with the matter noted that the positions are regularly combined when controllers need to step away from the console for breaks, during shift changes or when air traffic is slow. That person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal procedures.Don Kettl, an emeritus professor of public policy at the University of Maryland, warned that it is likely to become even harder to recruit those sorely needed air traffic controllers now.The fact that theres so much uncertainty in such a short time period and the fact that the president personally seems to have blamed them, Kettl said, is bound to make it more difficult to hire more controllers.Kettl warned that there are many critical, demanding and high-skilled government jobs that are already tough to fill from food safety inspectors to surgeons at Veterans Administration hospitals and that may get even tougher now.The fiber of government is woven throughout our lives, Kettl said. If you downgrade the capacity, you downgrade what you get.___Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa; Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Riccardi reported from Denver. THOMAS BEAUMONT Beaumont covers national politics for The Associated Press. He is based in Des Moines, Iowa. twitter mailto ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Gomez Licon writes about national politics for The Associated Press. She is based in Florida. twitter mailto

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gestures as he speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)2025-02-01T21:21:05Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that excluding his country from talks between the U.S. and Russia about the war in Ukraine would be very dangerous and asked for more discussions between Kyiv and Washington to develop a plan for a ceasefire.Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Zelenskyy said Russia does not want to engage in ceasefire talks or to discuss any kind of concessions, which the Kremlin interprets as losing at a time when its troops have the upper hand on the battlefield.He said U.S. President Donald Trump could bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the table with the threat of sanctions targeting Russias energy and banking system, as well as continued support of the Ukrainian military.I think these are the closest and most important steps, he said in the interview in the Ukrainian capital that lasted for more than an hour. Zelenskyys remarks followed comments Friday by Trump, who said American and Russian officials were already talking about ending the war. Trump said his administration has had very serious discussions with Russia, but he did not elaborate. They may have their own relations, but talking about Ukraine without us it is dangerous for everyone, Zelenskyy said.He said his team has been in contact with the Trump administration, but those discussions are at a general level, and he believes in-person meetings will take place soon to develop more detailed agreements. We need to work more on this, he said, adding that Trump understandably appeared to be focused on domestic issues in the first weeks after his inauguration.The nearly three-year war in Ukraine is at a crossroads. Trump promised to end the fighting within six months of taking office, but the two sides are far apart, and it is unclear how a ceasefire deal would take shape. Meanwhile, Russia continues to make slow but steady gains along the front, and Ukrainian forces are enduring severe manpower shortages. Most Ukrainians want a pause in fighting to rebuild their lives. The country faces near-daily Russian attacks on homes, and strikes on power systems have plunged entire cities into darkness.Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced, unable to return to their homes after vast tracts of the countrys east have been reduced to rubble. Nearly a fifth of Ukraine is now occupied by Russia. In those areas, Moscow-appointed authorities are swiftly erasing any hint of Ukrainian identity.With Trump back in the White House, Ukraines relationship with the U.S., its largest and most important ally, is also at a tipping point.In an initial phone call with Trump during the presidential campaign, Zelenskyy said, the two agreed that if Trump won, they would meet to discuss the steps needed to end the war. But a planned visit by Trumps Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, was postponed for legal reasons Zelenskyy said. That was followed by a sudden foreign aid freeze that effectively caused Ukrainian organizations to halt projects. I believe that, first and foremost, we (must) hold a meeting with him, and that is important. And that is, by the way, something that everyone in Europe wants, Zelenskyy said, referring to a common vision of a quick end to the war.After the conversation with Trump, we should move on to some kind of format of conversation with Russians. And I would like to see the United States of America, Ukraine and the Russians at the negotiating table. ... And, to be honest, a European Union voice should also be there. I think it would be fair, effective. But how will it turn out? I dont know.Zelenskyy cautioned against allowing Putin to take control over the war, an apparent reference to Russias repeated threats of escalation during President Joe Bidens administration.Without security guarantees from Ukraines allies, Zelenskyy said, any deal struck with Russia would only serve as a precursor to future aggression. Membership in the NATO alliance, a longstanding wish for Kyiv that Moscow has categorically rejected, is still Zelenskyys top choice. NATO membership is the cheapest option for Ukraines allies, and it would also strengthen Trump geopolitically, Zelenskyy argued.I really believe that these are the cheapest security guarantees that Ukraine can get, the cheapest for everyone, he said.It will be a signal that it is not for Russia to decide who should be in NATO and who should not, but for the United States of America to decide. I think this is a great victory for Trump, he said, evidently appealing to the presidents penchant for winners and business deals.In addition, Zelenskyy said, Ukraines 800,000-strong army would be a bonus to the alliance, especially if Trump seeks to bring home U.S. troops who are stationed overseas.Other security guarantee proposals should be backed up by sufficient weapons from the U.S. and Europe, and support for Kyiv to develop its own defense industry, he said. Zelenskyy also said a French proposal to put European forces in Ukraine to act as a deterrent against Russian aggression is taking shape, but he expressed skepticism, saying many questions remained about the command-and-control structure and the number of troops and their positions. The issue was raised by French President Emmanuel Macron and with Trump, he said.I said in the presence of the two leaders that we are interested in this as a part of the security guarantee, but not as the only guarantee of safety, he said. Thats not enough.He added: Imagine, there is a contingent. The question is who is in charge? Who is the main one? What will they do if there are Russian strikes? Missiles, disembarkation, attack from the sea, crossing of the land borderline, offensive. What will they do? What are their mandates?Asked if he put those questions directly to Macron, he smiled and said: We are still in the process of this dialogue.Following a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the war has set Ukraine back by 100 years, Zelenskyy urged Rubio to visit Ukraine.Rubio needs to come to Ukraine, first of all, to see what Russia has done, the Ukrainian president said. But also to see what the Ukrainian people did, what they were able to do for the security of Ukraine and the world, as I said, and just talk to these people.___Associated Press journalist Volodymyr Yurchuk contributed to this report. SAMYA KULLAB Kullab is an Associated Press reporter covering Ukraine since June 2023. Before that, she covered Iraq and the wider Middle East from her base in Baghdad since joining the AP in 2019. twitter instagram mailto

Large parts of the CDCs website and several important databases were taken down on Friday and Saturday to comply with Trumps executive orders banning DEI content. Saturday, a message at the top of the CDCs home page said the website is being modified to comply with President Trumps Executive Orders.CDC websites and databases taken offline include the CDC Atlas, the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, a CDC website about HIV treatment, and the CDC Social Vulnerability Index. Some of these removals were earlier reported by NBC News. Some of the pages were replaced with messages that read Page Not Found or Temporarily Unavailable or The page you're looking for was not found. There was widespread uncertainty throughout Friday as to whether a broader takedown across the government would happen.Our teams government affairs firm is advising that as of 5pm today, all U.S. government agency websites will be taken down, an internal email obtained by 404 Media earlier Friday read. According to reports, agencies are unable to comply fast enough with President Trumps EO ordering all government entities to remove all DEI references from their websites, so these websites will be taken offline. There is no word on when they will be made available again.At 5pm Friday, however, no widespread, cross-government takedowns happened. Throughout the day Friday and Saturday, however CDC pages continued to disappear. Saturday, a message at the top of the CDCs website said CDCs website is being modified to comply with President Trumps Executive Orders.404 Media has reported on U.S. government pages about gender identity were taken down; that GitHub commits showed the Trump administration scrubbing government web pages in real time; and how archivists are working to save thousands of datasets disappearing from Data.gov. Do you know anything else about this story? We would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message Jason securely on Signal at +1 202 505 1702. Otherwise, send me an email at jason@404media.co.Some federal contractors and federal employees spent much of Friday afternoon panicking about the deletions, and there was uncertainty about what would be taken offline and how widespread the takedowns would be. A CDC employee that 404 Media granted anonymity to speak about sensitive issues said that they were told by the Office of the Chief Information Security Officer of the Department of Health and Human Services that all employees were told they had to delete their preferred pronouns from their email signatures by 5 PM Friday.Agencies were also ordered to review all agency programs, contracts, and grants, and terminate any that promote or inculcate gender ideology and to take down all outward facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) that inculcate or promote gender ideology, with a deadline of 5 PM Eastern Friday. Agencies were forced to send an email to all agency employees announcing that the agency will be complying with Defending Women and this guidance. Agencies have been ordered to create a report within the next week that includes a complete list of actions taken in response to this guidance. The specific executive order is Trumps Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government (Defending Women).A similar message was posted to Reddit earlier on Friday. We are being told that the CDC website is scheduled to go down by EOD today. Please share this with your partners and encourage them, as well as you should plan to download any significant information, it reads.There have been several efforts to archive data that already existed across the federal government, including the End of Term Archive, a volunteer effort that saved hundreds of terabytes of data before Trump was inaugurated.

A man walks past boxes of USAID humanitarian aid at a warehouse at the Tienditas International Bridge on the outskirts of Cucuta, Colombia, Feb. 21, 2019, on the border with Venezuela. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)2025-02-01T23:34:23Z WASHINGTON (AP) The website of the U.S. Agency for International Development went offline without explanation Saturday as thousands of furloughs, layoffs and program shutdowns continued in President Donald Trumps freeze on U.S.-funded foreign aid and development worldwide.Congressional Democrats battled the Trump administration increasingly openly, expressing concern that Trump may be headed toward ending USAID as an independent agency and absorbing it into the State Department. Democrats say Trump has no legal authority to eliminate a congressionally funded independent agency, and that the work of USAID is vital to national security.Trump and congressional Republicans say much of foreign aid and development programs are wasteful. They single out programs they say advance liberal social agendas.The fear of even tougher administration action against USAID comes two weeks into the administrations shutdown of billions of dollars of the United States humanitarian, development and security assistance. The U.S. is the worlds largest donor of humanitarian aid by far. It spends less than 1% of its budget on foreign assistance, a smaller share overall than some other countries. Administration officials had no comment Saturday when asked about concerns expressed by lawmakers and others that Trump may be planning to end USAID as an independent agency.President John F. Kennedy created at the height of the Cold War to counter Soviet influence. USAID today is at the center of U.S. challenges to the growing influence of China, which has a successful Belt and Road foreign aid program of its own. Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act in 1961, and Kennedy signed that law and an executive order establishing USAID as an independent agency.USAID staffers spent Friday and Saturday in chat groups monitoring the fate of their agency, giving updates on whether the agencys flag and signs were still up outside agency headquarters in Washington. As of late Saturday afternoon, they were. In a post on X, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said presidents cannot eliminate congressionally appropriated federal agencies by executive order, and said Trump was poised to double down on a constitutional crisis.Thats what a despot who wants to steal the taxpayers money to enrich his billionaire cabal does, Murphy said.Billionaire Elon Musk, advising Trump in a campaign to whittle down the federal government in the name of efficiency, endorsed posts on his X site calling for dissolving USAID.Live by executive order, die by executive order, Musk tweeted in reference to USAID.Trump placed an unprecedented 90-day freeze on foreign assistance on his first day in office Jan. 20. The order, a tougher-than-expected interpretation of Trumps freeze order on Jan. 24 drafted by Peter Marocco, a returning political appointee from Trumps first term, shut down thousands of programs around the world and forced the furloughs or layoffs of many thousands.Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since moved to keep more kinds of strictly life-saving emergency programs going during the freeze. Aid groups say confusion surrounding what programs are still allowed to operate is contributing to paralysis in global aid organizations. Rubio said Thursday, in his first public comments on the matter, that USAIDs programs were being reviewed to eliminate any that are not in the U.S. national interest, but he said nothing about eliminating it as an agency.The shutdown of U.S.-funded programs during the 90-day review meant the U.S. was getting a lot more cooperation from recipients of humanitarian, development and security assistance, Rubio said. Republicans and Democrats have fought over the agency for years, arguing whether humanitarian and development aid protects the U.S. by helping stabilize partner countries and economies, or is a waste of money. Republicans typically push to give State more control of USAIDs policy and funds. Democrats typically build USAID autonomy and authority. A version of that legal battle played out in Trumps first term, when Trump tried to cut the budget for foreign operations by a third.When Congress refused, the Trump administration used freezes and other tactics to cut the flow of funds already appropriated by Congress for foreign programs. The General Accounting Office later ruled that it violated a law known as the Impoundment Control Act. ___ AP photographer Carolyn Kaster contributed to this report. ELLEN KNICKMEYER Knickmeyer covers foreign policy and national security for the Associated Press. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter

This image provided by the U.S. Army shows Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, N.C. (U.S. Army via AP)2025-02-01T22:51:13Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Army on Saturday released the name of the third soldier who died Wednesday when an Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet near Reagan National Airport in D.C.Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, N.C., served as an Army aviation officer since July 2019. Her awards include an Army commendation medal and an achievement medal.In a statement released by the Army, her family said she was a distinguished military graduate in ROTC at the University of North Carolina, and was in the top 20% of cadets nationwide. They said she had more than 450 hours of flight time, and earned certification as a pilot-in-command after extensive testing by the most senior and experienced pilots in her battalion.The family also noted that she served as a certified sexual harassment/assault response and prevention victim advocate and hoped to become a physician when she got out of the Army. We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. She was a bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong. No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals, the statement said, adding, we request that you please respect our privacy as we grieve this devastating loss. The names of the two other soldiers were released on Friday, but Lobachs name was withheld at the time at the request of her family. The others were: Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin OHara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia, who was the crew chief, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland, who was a pilot. There has been no specific explanation from the Army for the one-day delay in releasing her name. But while the investigation into the crash has only just begun, President Donald Trump has publicly blamed the helicopter for flying at too high an altitude. And he issued a lengthy critique about an FAA diversity hiring initiative particularly regarding air traffic controllers saying they eroded flight safety.No evidence has emerged that rules seeking to diversify the FAA played any role in the collision.___ LOLITA C. BALDOR Baldor has covered the Pentagon and national security issues for The Associated Press since 2005. She has reported from all over the world including warzones in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. twitter mailto

Vice President Kamala Harris talks to reporters after presiding over a joint session of congress to confirm the Electoral College votes at the Capitol, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)2025-02-01T00:15:25Z CBS says it will turn over an unedited transcript of its October interview with Kamala Harris to the Federal Communications Commission, part of President Donald Trumps ongoing fight with the network over how it handled a story about his opponent.Trump sued CBS for $10 billion over the 60 Minutes interview, claiming it was deceptively edited to make Harris look good. Published reports said CBS parent company, Paramount, has been talking to Trumps lawyers about a settlement.The network said Friday that it was compelled by Brendan Carr, Trumps appointee as FCC chairman, to turn over the transcripts and camera feeds of the interview for a parallel investigation by the commission. 60 Minutes has resisted releasing transcripts for this and all of its interviews, to avoid second-guessing of its editing process.The case, particularly a potential settlement, is being closely watched by advocates for press freedom and by journalists within CBS, whose lawyers called Trumps lawsuit completely without merit and promised to vigorously fight it after it was filed. The Harris interview initially drew attention because CBS News showed Harris giving completely different responses to a question posed by correspondent Bill Whitaker in clips that were aired on Face the Nation on Oct. 6 and the next night on 60 Minutes. The network said each clip came from a lengthy response by Harris to Whitakers question, but they were edited to fit time constraints on both broadcasts. In his lawsuit, filed in Texas on Nov. 1, Trump charged it was deceptive editing designed to benefit Harris and constituted partisan and unlawful acts of voter interference. Trump, who turned down a request to be interviewed by 60 Minutes during the campaign, has continued his fight despite winning the election less than a week after the lawsuit was filed.The network has not commented on talks about a potential settlement, reported by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Paramount executives are seeking Trump administration approval of a sale of the company to another entertainment firm, Skydance. ABC News in December settled a defamation lawsuit by Trump over statements made by anchor George Stephanopoulos, agreeing to pay $15 million toward Trumps presidential library rather than engage in a public fight. Meta has reportedly paid $25 million to settle Trumps lawsuit against the company over its decision to suspend his social media accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.___David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.socialThis story was first published on Jan. 31, 2025. It was updated on Feb. 1, 2025, to correct the amount of damages President Donald Trump is seeking in his lawsuit against CBS. He is seeking $10 billion, not $10 million. DAVID BAUDER Bauder is the APs national media writer, covering the intersection of news, politics and entertainment. He is based in New York. twitter mailto

Elon Musk speaks at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)2025-02-02T02:16:27Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Department of Government Efficiency, run by President Donald Trumps billionaire adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has gained access to sensitive Treasury data including Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems, according to two people familiar with the situation. The move by DOGE, a Trump administration task force assigned to find ways to fire federal workers, cut programs and slash federal regulations, means it could have wide leeway to access important taxpayer data, among other things.The New York Times first reported the news of the groups access of the massive federal payment system. The two people who spoke to The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.The highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden of Oregon, on Friday sent a letter to Trumps Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressing concern that officials associated with Musk may have intended to access these payment systems to illegally withhold payments to any number of programs. To put it bluntly, these payment systems simply cannot fail, and any politically motivated meddling in them risks severe damage to our country and the economy, Wyden said. The news also comes after Treasurys acting Deputy Secretary David Lebryk resigned from his position at Treasury after more than 30 years of service. The Washington Post on Friday reported that Lebryk resigned his position after Musk and his DOGE organization requested access to sensitive Treasury data. The Fiscal Service performs some of the most vital functions in government, Lebryk said in a letter to Treasury employees sent out Friday. Our work may be unknown to most of the public, but that doesnt mean it isnt exceptionally important. I am grateful for having been able to work alongside some of the nations best and most talented operations staff. The letter did not mention a DOGE request to access Treasury payments. Musk on Saturday responded to a post on his social media platform X about the departure of Lebryk: The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once.He did not provide proof of this claim. DOGE was originally headed by Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who jointly vowed to cut billions from the federal budget and usher in mass headcount reductions across the federal bureaucracy.Ramaswamy has since left DOGE as he mulls a run for governor of Ohio. FATIMA HUSSEIN Hussein reports on the U.S. Treasury Department for The Associated Press. She covers tax policy, sanctions and any issue that relates to money. twitter mailto

People gather in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, to protest President Javier Mileis speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, during which he criticized sick wokeism, social welfare, feminism, identity politics and the fight against climate change. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)2025-02-01T22:02:48Z BUENOS AIRES (AP) Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Argentinas capital Buenos Aires and in cities across the country to protest President Javier Mileis speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, during which he slammed wokeism, feminism and other progressive ideals.Protesters were clad in rainbow-colored flags and bore banners that read rights are not negotiable. Dubbed the Federal March of Anti-Fascist and Anti-Racist Pride, the LGBTQ+ community called the protest after the speech on Jan. 23 to combat the economic violence, political persecution and sexual repression of Javier Mileis government.Rights groups, unions and political parties also joined the protest.In Switzerland, Milei sharply criticized sick wokeism, social welfare, feminism, identity politics and the fight against climate change, adding that in its most extreme versions gender ideology constitutes plain and simple child abuse. Protester Germn Paladino, an industrial engineer, said Mileis government was not taking care of public issues such as healthcare and education and was instead lashing out at peoples private life. I dont know if this march can change anything, but if it could put a break on Javier Mileis remarks which were rather aggressive, Paladino said.I am here to defend our rights, those which we have won and those that are currently under attack, said Milagros, a 33-year-old visual artist.In recent decades, Argentina has enshrined progressive laws consecrating sexual diversity and equal marriage rights, among others.

Beyonce accepts the award for best dance/electronic music album for "Renaissance" at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)2025-02-02T05:00:54Z LOS ANGELES (AP) The 67th Grammy Awards will take place Sunday but with a dramatically different tone this year.As Los Angeles continues to recover from fires that destroyed more than 14,000 structures and displaced tens of thousands, the Recording Academy has reformatted its award show to benefit to help wildfire victims.Since the fires began, the Grammys and its affiliated MusiCares charity have distributed $2 million in emergency aid and pledged more than $4 million to help those in the music industry impacted by the wildfires.The Grammys on Sunday will seek to add to those donations.Viewers and attendees will still see trophies handed out and a bespoke concert experience but they will also watch the show raise awareness, drive donations and resources to funds that benefit people in need.Comedian Trevor Noah will host for a fifth year in a row and history could be made when some of the biggest names in music gather. Heres some key things to know ahead of Sundays show at the Crypto.com Arena: How to watchThe Grammys will air live on CBS and Paramount+ beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers can also watch live and on demand. The award show can also be watched through live TV streaming services that include CBS in their lineup, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV.The premiere ceremony, hosted by songwriter Justin Tranter, will take place at 3:30 p.m. Eastern/12:30 p.m. Pacific at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday. It can be streamed at the Recording Academys YouTube channel and on live.GRAMMY.com. Whos nominated at the 2025 GrammysBeyonc leads the Grammy nods with 11, bringing her career total to 99 nominations. That makes her the most nominated artist in Grammy history.Since 2023 shes also been the most decorated artist, having earned 32 trophies across her career.Is it finally her time to take home the top prize? If she wins the album of the year, shell become the first Black woman to do so in the 21st century.Post Malone, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Charli xcx follow with seven nominations.Taylor Swift and first-time nominees Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan boast six nominations each.Whos attending and performing at the GrammysCarpenter, Eilish, Roan, Shaboozey, Charli xcx, Doechii, RAYE, Benson Boone, Shakira, Teddy Swims, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars will perform at the 2025 Grammys.Stevie Wonder, Janelle Mone and Will Smith will pay tribute to the late, legendary producer Quincy Jones.Brad Paisley, Brittany Howard, Coldplays Chris Martin, Cynthia Erivo, Herbie Hancock, Jacob Collier, John Legend, Lainey Wilson, Sheryl Crow and St. Vincent will also appear.Taylor Swift, who last month wrapped her massive Eras tour, will be a presenter.Other presenters will include Smith, Cardi B, Gloria Estefan, Olivia Rodrigo, Queen Latifah, SZA, Victoria Mont and the Red Hot Chili Peppers Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith.___For more coverage of this years Grammy Awards, visit: www.apnews.com/GrammyAwards MARIA SHERMAN Maria Sherman is the music reporter at The Associated Press. She is based in New York City. twitter instagram mailto

This undated photo provided by Marisa Kabas shows Kabas holding up a press credential on Oct. 4, 2024 in Pittsburgh. (Marisa Kabas via AP)2025-02-02T05:59:14Z First word of the Trump administrations since-rescinded order to freeze spending on federal loans and grants came not from a major news organization, but from a woman working alone in her Brooklyn apartment.Marisa Kabas scoop this past week was a key moment for a growing cadre of journalists who work independently to gather and analyze news and market themselves as brands. Many are refugees from legacy outlets while others are scrappy newcomers like Kabas, who found traditional career paths unappealing or out of reach.This week has been career-changing, Kabas said in an interview. In a sense, my job has changed overnight.She was sitting at her kitchen table last Monday, sifting through emails on her laptop, when a source forwarded her a copy of a memo announcing the freeze sent by the Office of Management and Budgets acting director. Kabas has her own website, the Handbasket, but to give the story wider visibility, she posted a screen shot of the memo on the social media site Bluesky. Then she waited.Her stomach was in knots. She calmed herself with a walk on a frigid night. Despite her belief in independent journalism and her own work she recognized that to many, news only becomes real when it appears in a major outlet. Three hours later, The Washington Post published its story, with a hat-tip to Kabas.The directive caused such an uproar that the administration walked back its order two days later. Kicking around jobs until she found her callingKabas, 37, kicked around in various journalism and publicist jobs and freelanced for outlets like MSNBC.com, the Huffington Post and New Republic. She started her website in 2022 primarily for personal writing and decided to go all in with journalism the next year.The advantage to going it alone is that I get to write about things that I care about, she said. I dont have to work on assignments that are given to me that I dont care about. The down side is shes all alone, dependent upon her own hustle.Kabas wrote on ex-congressman George Santos, the raid on a weekly newspaper in Kansas and Elon Musk, although much of her writing was essays instead of reported work. Like many in the independent journalism world, she doesnt hide her opinions. She wrote that the OMB memo was a truly unhinged document that sounds like it was written by the worlds most petty 4Chan poster.Shes got attitude, shes got personality, said Greg Munno, a journalism professor at Syracuse University. I think attitude and personality help these independent journalists connect with readers and potentially sources.Indie journalists making their mark in a variety of subject areasA wide variety of independent journalists have made their mark, often working on publishing platforms like Substack and Beehiiv. Seamus Hughes Court Watch pulls together interesting legal documents from around the country. Heather Cox Richardsons Letters From an American explores the intersection of history and todays politics. Peter Geoghegans Democracy for Sale investigates money in politics.Casey Newton, a former editor at The Verge, looks at the tech world on Platformer, and this past week urged people worried about the A.I. company DeepSeek to take a few long, deep breaths. Molly Knights The Long Game writes smartly about sports and even admits to her clunkers, like recently revisiting her prediction that the Texas Rangers would repeat as American League champions. Oliver Darcy left CNN to break news and offer commentary about the media on his own site, Status. Two former Washington Post journalists have set up their own shops: opinion writer Jennifer Rubins site, The Contrarian, boasts the tagline Not owned by anybody, and tech writer Taylor Lorenzs User Mag broke its own news last week on conservative influencer Candace Owens new venture.Days ago, CNN anchor Jim Acosta announced he was setting up shop at Substack after quitting the network rather than accept a transfer to a middle-of-the-night time slot.Independent journalism is now the way forward, Dan Rather, the former CBS News anchor and perhaps quintessential old-school journalist, posted on Facebook Thursday. Sadly, we can no longer rely on legacy media to hold the powerful accountable. Expand the definition of independent journalist more broadly, and you can include the exploding world of podcasts, many of which played a key role in the presidential election, and TikTok or YouTube influencers who comment on the news.The more that traditional news outlets shrink or die, something is going to fill that gap, said Jeremy Littau, a Lehigh University journalism professor. There is going to be a need for it. How much room is there for journalists and who can you trust?Its exciting for those who seek variety and new voices, particularly with legacy media lagging in public esteem. The danger comes in figuring out who to trust in a world where a single person often performs the role of reporter, editor, sales person and business manager. Thats particularly important with breaking news, Littau said. Who is out there cutting corners, or repackaging things they see online without the standards that a traditional news organization imposes?Munno is skeptical about how much support there is in the marketplace.I dont think the consumers appetite for news is high enough to support a really deep pool of independent journalists that would be able to create an audience and make a living, he said.Kabas cobbled together what she considered a typical journalists living translation: modest before this past week. Her earnings through the Handbasket come through subscribers who pay $8 a month or $80 annually. This week alone, she jumped from 800 paid subscribers to about 1,500.Her scoop is making her rethink the purpose of her work, that now the pressing need is to report deeply on how the country is changing as the result of its new government. Shes even thinking of hiring another reporter to help.Ive gone from very much taking my time, sitting with my thoughts and writing from a personal perspective to being a breaking news reporter, Kabas said. They are very different skills.___David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social. DAVID BAUDER Bauder is the APs national media writer, covering the intersection of news, politics and entertainment. He is based in New York. twitter mailto

Injured Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic smiles as he holds the game ball in a time out during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)2025-02-02T05:49:45Z Luka Doncic led Dallas to the NBA Finals last season. Anthony Davis won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers.Theyre switching teams now in an absolute blockbuster.Doncic is being traded by the reigning Western Conference champion Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers for Davis, a person with knowledge of the agreement said early Sunday.Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris are headed to the Lakers, while Davis and Max Christie are going to Dallas, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither team can announce the deal while it awaits league approval.The Utah Jazz also are involved in the deal, said the source. ESPN, which first reported the trade, said Jalen Hood-Schifino and two draft picks will be headed to the Jazz. The Dallas Morning News also reported those details on the trade. The trade news broke about an hour after the Lakers beat New York at Madison Square Garden. Davis was not with the Lakers for the game; he has been back in Los Angeles because of an abdominal injury that needed assessing.Doncic has not played for Dallas since Christmas Day, when he was sidelined with a strained left calf. I believe that defense wins championships, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison told ESPN. I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. Were built to win now and in the future. The deal, at least for now, would pair Doncic with LeBron James as the new 1-2 punch in Los Angeles, while Davis would be forming a new star duo with Kyrie Irving in Dallas.And there was immediate shock on social media when the news hit.Luka getting traded from Dallas has to have a deeper story behind it, Cleveland center Tristan Thompson wrote on X. This just doesnt happen on a random Saturday night.Knicks guard Jalen Brunson wondered in another post if it was a joke: April fools right? he asked. Evidently not.Dallas plays at Cleveland on Sunday, while the Lakers are off until visiting the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. Its not clear when Doncic or Davis could play for their new clubs: the trade needs NBA approval, and both are dealing with injuries without any publicly known firm timetable for their returns.___AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA TIM REYNOLDS Reynolds is an Associated Press sports writer, based in South Florida. twitter mailto

People shop at a retail store on Black Friday, Nov. 25, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)2025-02-02T05:01:06Z WASHINGTON (AP) From an ice cream parlor in California to a medical supply business in North Carolina to a T-shirt vendor outside Detroit, U.S. businesses are bracing to take a hit from the taxes President Donald Trump imposed Saturday on imports from Canada, Mexico and China Americas three biggest trading partners.The levies 25% on Canadian and Mexican and 10% on Chinese goods will take effect Tuesday. Canadian energy, including oil, natural gas and electricity, will be taxed at a lower 10% rate. Mexicos president immediately ordered retaliatory tariffs and Canadas prime minister said the country would put matching 25% tariffs on up to $155 billion in U.S. imports. China did not immediately respond to Trumps action.The Budget Lab at Yale University estimates that Trumps tariffs would cost the average American household $1,000 to $1,200 in annual purchasing power. Gregory Daco, chief economist at the tax and consulting firm EY, calculates that the tariffs would increase inflation, which was running at a 2.9% annual rate in December, by 0.4 percentage points this year. Daco also projects that the U.S. economy, which grew 2.8% last year, would fall by 1.5% this year and 2.1% in 2026 as higher import costs dampen consumer spending and business investment. The Penny Ice Creamery in Santa Cruz, California, has had to hike prices of its ice cream including popular flavors strawberry pink peppercorn and chocolate caramel sea salt repeatedly in recent years as an inflationary surge increased the cost of its supplies. I feel bad about always having to raise prices, said co-owner Zach Davis. We were looking forward to inflation coming down, the economy stabilizing in 2025 ... Now with the tariffs, we may be back at it again.Trump tariffs, Davis said, threaten to drive up the cost of the mostly made-in-China refrigerators, freezers and blenders hell need if Penny Ice Creamery goes ahead with plans to add to its six shops. He still has painful memories of the extra equipment costs the company had to absorb when Trump slapped massive tariffs on China during his first term. The new tariffs will also raise the price of a customer favorite sprinkles which Penny Ice Creamery imports from a company in Whitby, Ontario. Tacking a 25% import tax on even something as small as that can damage a small business like his. The margins are so slim, he said. Being able to offer that add-on can maybe generate an additional 10 cents in profit per scoop. If a tariff wipes that out, that can really be the difference between being profitable and being break-even and even being underwater by the end of the year.In Asheville, North Carolina, Casey Hite, CEO of Aeroflow Health, expects to take a hit because his company gets more than half its supplies including breast pumps from Chinese manufacturers, providing them to American patients through insurance plans. Aeroflow Health gets paid by insurers at pre-negotiated rates, put in place before Trump decided on his tariffs. Hite said the tax on Chinese imports would hit the companys finances, forcing it either to purchase cheaper and lower-quality products or pass higher costs along via higher health insurance premiums. Those might take two years to materialize, Hite said, but eventually they would hit consumers budgets. It will impact the patients, Hite said. In time, patients pay more for the products.Even the made-in-USA absorbent incontinence pads Aeroflow Health buys arent safe from Trumps import taxes. They may include pulp from tariff target Canada and plastics and packaging from China, according to the Aeroflow Health, which warns of turbulences from the tariffs.Is this going to affect our business? You bet it is, said Linda Schlesinger-Wagner, who owns skinnytees, a womens apparel company in Birmingham, Michigan, north of Detroit, that imports clothing from China. She said the 10% tax would increase her costs, though she plans to absorb the extra expense instead of passing it along to customers. I dont like whats going on, she said, referring to the broader impact of the tariffs. And I think people are going to be truly shocked at the pricing theyre going to see on the cars, on the lumber, on the clothes, on the food. This is going to be a mess.William Reinsch, a former U.S. trade official now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that many companies that stocked up on imported goods ahead of time to avoid the tariffs. They will be able to draw on their piled-up inventories for weeks or a couple of months, delaying their customers pain. George Carrillo, CEO of the Hispanic Construction Council, an industry advocacy group, said construction companies have been hoarding materials in anticipation of Trumps actions, but he worries about the possibility of inflation spiking in three to six months. Once that inventory starts to get low, were going to start feeling the effects, Carillo said in a phone interview Saturday, ahead of the announcement. Developers and general contractors need to keep up with the pace and theyre going to start buying more products and its going to be at a higher price point.All that will be exacerbated by an emerging immigration crackdown that is already spooking the construction industrys labor pool, he said.You put tariffs and you put workforce instability, its going to create major delays in projects. Its going to create an increase in prices because of the lack of availability, Carrillo said.Then there are the industries that dont have the luxury of stockpiling, including supermarkets whose farm products will spoil. So the tariff impact will show up on grocery shelves within days. You dont stockpile avocados, Reinsch said. You dont stockpile cut flowers. You dont stockpile bananas.In the tomato trading hub of Nogales, Arizona, produce vendor Rod Sbragia, who followed his father into the business nearly four decades ago, worries that the import levies will force some distribution companies out of business and would be detrimental to the American consumer, to the choices they have at the supermarket.Sbragia voted for Trump in the past three elections and calls himself a staunch Republican. The president, he said, must not have been properly advised on the matter. When were worried about cost to consumers, inflationary pressures and the overall health of our population, he asked, why are we going to make it more difficult to get access to fresh fruits and vegetables?American farmers are also likely to get caught in Trumps trade tussle with Canada, China and Mexico. The presidents supporters in rural America make a tempting target for retaliatory tariffs. That is what happened in Trumps first term when other countries, notably China, slapped back against the presidents tariffs with levies of their own on things like soybeans and pork. In response, Trump spent billions in taxpayer money to compensate them for lost sales and lower prices.Many farmers are now counting on the president to come through and protect them from reprisals.The Trump administration provided a safety net, said former tobacco grower Lee Wicker, deputy director of the North Carolina Growers Association, a collection of 700 farms that lawfully brings in foreign temporary laborers to work the fields through a federal visa program. Many of the associations farmers trust him that hes going to take care of anybody whos hurt by the tariffs, and thats really all that we can ask for.____AP Staff Writers Mae Anderson and Cedar Attanasio in New York; Mike Householder in Birmingham, Michigan; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Gabriel Sandoval in Phoenix; and Didi Tang and Christopher Rugaber in Washington contributed to this story.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, walks in the presidential palace ahead of his meeting with Walid Ellafi, Libyan minister of state for communication and political affairs, in Damascus, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)2025-02-02T08:14:23Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Syrias interim president made his first trip abroad Sunday, traveling to Saudi Arabia in a move likely trying to signal Damascus shift away from Iran as its main regional ally. Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaida, traveled to Riyadh alongside his governments foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani. A photo published by the state-run SANA news agency showed the two men on a jet, likely provided by the kingdom, with a Saudi flag visible on the table behind them. Saudi state television trumpeted the fact that the first trip by al-Sharaa, first known internationally by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, would make Riyadh his first destination. Saudi Arabia had been among the Arab nations that poured money into insurgent groups that tried to topple former President Bashar Assad after Syrias 2011 Arab Spring protests turned into a bloody crackdown. However, its groups found themselves beaten back as Assad, supported by Iran and Russia, fought the war into a stalemate in Syria. That changed with the December lightning offensive led by al-Sharaas Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The group was once affiliated with al-Qaida but has since denounced its former ties. Al-Sharaa and HTS have carefully managed their public image in the time since, with the interim president favoring an olive-colored military look similar to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, appointing women to roles and trying to maintain ties to Syrias Christian and Shiite Alawite populations. That also includes keeping both Iran and Russia largely at arms length as well. Iran has yet to reopen its embassy in Damascus, which had been a key node in running operations through its self-described Axis of Resistance, including Assads Syria, Lebanons Hezbollah militia and other partners. Russia meanwhile would like to maintain access to air and sea bases it has in Syria, but took in Assad when he fled Syria during the advance. Those moves appear aimed at reassuring the West and trying to get crippling sanctions lifted on Syria. Rebuilding the country after over a decade of war will likely cost hundreds of billions of dollars, not to mention covering the needs of Syrias people, millions of whom remain impoverished.Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan visited Damascus in January and said Riyadh has been actively engaging in dialogue to lift sanctions on Syria. Saudi Arabia, unlike Al-Sharaas key allies in Turkey and Qatar, restored ties with Assad in 2023 alongside most of the Arab world. Getting sanctions lifted could go a long way in cementing their relationship.Meanwhile, Syrias interim government still faces challenges from the Islamic State group and other militants in the country. On Saturday, a car bomb exploded in Manbij, a city in Syrias Aleppo governorate, killing four civilians and wounding nine, SANA reported, citing civil defense officials. Turkish-backed Syrian rebels had seized Manbij in December, part of a push by Ankara to secure Syrian territory close to its border for a buffer zone. ___Associated Press writer Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, Dec. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, Pool, File)2025-02-02T08:38:33Z TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he will discuss victory over Hamas, countering Iran and expanding diplomatic relations with Arab countries in his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.Tuesdays meeting at the White House will be Trumps first with a foreign leader since returning to office. It comes as U.S. and Arab mediators begin the daunting work of brokering the next phase of an agreement to wind down the war in the Gaza Strip and release dozens of militant-held hostages.Hamas, which has quickly reasserted its control over Gaza since the ceasefire took hold last month, has said it will not release the hostages slated to go free in the second phase without an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces.Netanyahu, who is under mounting pressure from far-right governing partners to resume the war after the first phase ends in early March, has said Israel is still committed to victory over Hamas and the return of all the hostages captured in the militants Oct. 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war. Its unclear where Trump stands in all this. He has been a staunch supporter of Israel, but has also pledged to end wars in the Middle East and took credit for helping to broker the ceasefire agreement. The deal has halted the fighting and led to the release of 18 hostages who had been held for over 15 months, as well as hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Netanyahu embraces Trumps call for peace through strengthIn a statement released ahead of his departure on Sunday, Netanyahu said they would discuss victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages and dealing with the Iranian terror axis in all its components, referring to Irans alliance of militant groups across the region, including Hamas.He said that by working together, they could strengthen security, broaden the circle of peace and achieve a remarkable era of peace through strength.The war began when thousands of Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Over 100 hostages were freed during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023, eight have been rescued alive and dozens of bodies have been recovered by Israeli forces.Israels air and ground war has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities who do not say how many of the dead were fighters. The war has left large parts of several cities in ruins and displaced around 90% of Gazas population of 2.3 million people.Under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is to release a total of 33 hostages, eight of whom Hamas says are dead, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces have pulled back from most areas and allowed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to devastated northern Gaza.Negotiations on the second phase, in which the war would end and the remaining 60 or so hostages would be returned, are set to begin Monday. If the United States, Qatar and Egypt are unable to broker an agreement between Israel and Hamas, the war could resume in early March. Aspirations for a bigger dealTrumps Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, joined the yearlong ceasefire negotiations in their final weeks last month and helped push the agreement over the finish line. He met with Netanyahu in Israel last week and the two were expected to formally begin talks on the second phase in Washington on Monday.Trump, who brokered normalization agreements between Israel and four Arab countries in his first term, is believed to be seeking a wider and potentially historic agreement in which Israel would forge ties with Saudi Arabia.But the kingdom, which resisted similar entreaties from the Biden administration, has said it would only agree to such a deal if the war ends and there is a credible pathway to a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.Netanyahus government is opposed to Palestinian statehood, and a key partner, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has threatened to leave the governing coalition if the war is not resumed next month. That would raise the likelihood of early elections in which Netanyahu could be voted out.Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war TIA GOLDENBERG Goldenberg is an Associated Press reporter and producer covering Israel and the Palestinian territories. She previously reported on East and West Africa from Nairobi. twitter mailto

People sit on beds after evacuation from the frontline at a center for displaced people in Pavlohrad, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)Maloletka)2025-02-02T08:54:35Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Competing claims emerged over a deadly attack on a boarding school in Sudzha, a city in Russias Kursk region that has been under Ukrainian control for five months, with Ukraine and Russia accusing each other of carrying out the strike.The General Staff of Ukraines Armed Forces said Saturday night that four people were killed and a further four seriously wounded in the strike, with 84 people rescued by Ukrainian servicemen from the rubble of the building. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Moscow had bombed the boarding school where civilians were sheltering and preparing to evacuate.The General Staff said those in need of additional medical assistance were evacuated to medical facilities in Ukraine.The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed in the early hours of Sunday that it was Ukrainian forces that had launched a missile strike on the school, saying that the missiles were launched from Ukraines Sumy region. Meanwhile, the death toll from a Russian missile strike on an apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Poltava on Saturday rose to 12, including two children, Ukraines State Emergency Service said Sunday. Seventeen people were injured in the attack on the five-story building, it said. Moscow sent 55 drones into Ukraine overnight into Sunday, Ukrainian officials said. According to Ukraines Air Force, 40 drones were destroyed during the overnight attacks. A further 13 drones were lost, likely having been electronically jammed. Two people were wounded in a drone attack in the Kharkiv region, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Sunday.In Russia, the Defense Ministry said that five Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight in five regions of western Russia: three over the Kursk region, and one each over the Belgorod and Bryansk regions.A man was killed in a drone strike in the Belgorod region, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A medical worker disinfects a tent used for suspected Ebola victims inside the Ebola isolation center of Madudu Health Center III, in the village of Madudu, in the Mubende district of Uganda Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda, File)2025-02-02T11:00:57Z KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) Ugandan officials are preparing to deploy a trial vaccine as part of efforts to stem an outbreak of Ebola in the capital, Kampala, a top health official said Sunday.A range of scientists are developing research protocols relating to the planned deployment of more than 2,000 doses of a candidate vaccine against the Sudan strain of Ebola, said Pontiano Kaleebu, executive director of Uganda Virus Research Institute.Protocol is being accelerated to get all the necessary regulatory approvals, he said. This vaccine is not yet licensed.The World Health Organization said in a statement that its support to Ugandas response to the outbreak includes access to 2,160 doses of trial vaccine.Research teams have been deployed to the field to work along with the surveillance teams as approvals are awaited, the WHO statement said. The candidate vaccine as well as candidate treatments are being made available through clinical trial protocols to further test for efficacy and safety, it said.The vaccine maker wasnt immediately known. There are no approved vaccines for the Sudan strain of Ebola that killed a nurse employed at Kampalas main referral hospital. The man died on Wednesday and authorities declared an outbreak the next day. Officials are still investigating the source of the outbreak, and there has been no other confirmed case. Uganda has had access to candidate vaccine doses since the end of an Ebola outbreak in September 2022 that killed at least 55 people. Ugandan officials ran out of time to begin a vaccine study when that outbreak, in central Uganda, was declared over about four months later, Kaleebu said. A trial vaccine known as rVSV-ZEBOV, used to vaccinate 3,000 people at risk of infection during an outbreak of the Zaire strain of Ebola in eastern Congo between 2018 and 2020, proved effective in containing the spread of the disease there. Uganda has had multiple Ebola outbreaks, including one in 2000 that killed hundreds. The 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa killed more than 11,000 people, the diseases largest death toll.Tracing contacts is also key to stemming the spread of Ebola, which manifests as a viral hemorrhagic fever.At least 44 contacts of the victim in the current outbreak have been identified, including 30 health workers and patients, according to Ugandas Ministry of Health.Confirmation of Ebola in Uganda is the latest in a series of outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fevers in the east African region. Tanzania declared an outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg disease earlier this month, while in December Rwanda announced that its own outbreak of Marburg was over. The ongoing Marburg outbreak in northern Tanzanias Kagera region has killed at least two people, according to local health authorities.Kampalas outbreak could prove difficult to respond to, because the city has a highly mobile population of about 4 million. The nurse who died had sought treatment at a hospital just outside Kampala and later traveled to Mbale, in the countrys east, where he was admitted to a public hospital. Health authorities said the man also sought the services of a traditional healer. Ebola is spread by contact with bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.Scientists dont know the natural reservoir of Ebola, but they suspect the first person infected in an outbreak acquired the virus through contact with an infected animal or eating its raw meat.Ebola was discovered in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks in South Sudan and Congo, where it occurred in a village near the Ebola River, after which the disease is named.

Cadets at the Basic and Advanced Flying School for Negro Air Corps Cadets are shown, Jan. 23, 1942, lined up for review with Major James A. Ellison, who is returning the salute of Mac Ross of Dayton, Ohio, as he inspects the cadets. (AP Photo/U.S. Army Signal Corps)2025-02-02T13:34:20Z TUSKEGEE, Ala. (AP) The tails of the Alabama Air National Guards F-35 Lightnings are painted red, like those of the Guards F-16s before them. Its an homage to the famed Alabama-based unit of the Tuskegee Airmen, who flew red-tailed P-51 Mustangs during World War II.The squadron, which trained in the state, was the nations first to be comprised of Black military pilots, shattering racial barriers and racist beliefs about the capabilities of Black pilots. Their success in combat paved the way for the desegregation of the U.S. military, a story that is interwoven in state and U.S. history. Yet for a moment after President Donald Trump took office, that history was almost scrubbed by the Air Force.The service removed training videos of the Tuskegee Airmen along with ones showing the World War II contributions of the Womens Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, at its basic training base in San Antonio, where airmen have passed through for generations. Although the move was swiftly rescinded after a bipartisan outcry, the fact that it happened even momentarily is evidence of the confusion resulting from the avalanche of executive orders and other actions from Trump since he began his second term in the White House. The administration has been forced to walk back some actions that have caused widespread chaos, such as a memorandum freezing federal grants and loans. The specific one that led to the Air Force decision also was met with with a mix of alarm and confusion over its meaning. The order calls for an end to diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government, including with any contractors or organizations that receive any federal money. In addition to the Air Forces action, the Army pulled its sexual assault regulations off websites before restoring them. A notice from the Defense Intelligence Agency said it was pausing until further notice special observances that included Black History Month, Womens History Month, Holocaust Days of Remembrance, Womens Equality Day and National American Indian Heritage Month. There were reports that employees at the CIA were notified there would be no Black History Month acknowledgements. A CIA spokesman said in a statement that the the agency was complying with the order and OPM Implementing Guidance, referring to the Office of Personnel Management. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion has been dissolved, along with component DEI programs, the CIA statement said.The wide sweep of reactions to Trumps DEI order alarmed those who have fought for inclusion and recognition for decades and who fear that more than efforts to diversify the federal workforce are at stake. In some cases, the actions taken to comply with the directive risk whitewashing parts of the nations history and culture.Adia Harvey Wingfield, a professor of sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, said a 2023 Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions was clear on restricting opportunities to specific groups. But she said its a far cry from that to not including information about groups that are basic parts of history like the Tuskegee Airmen. She said many places are unclear about exactly where the legal landscape stands, but very aware about the political landscape and wanting to make sure that they are not doing things that will attract attention, negative press or negative responses from the Trump administration.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said some agencies may have gone too far in reacting to the DEI executive order.As far as I know, this White House certainly still intends to celebrate, and we will continue to celebrate American history and the contributions that all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or creed, have made to our great country, she said during a media briefing. Yet confusion continued. On Friday, Trump issued a proclamation recognizing Black History Month, while on the same day the Defense Department issued a news release proclaiming Identity Months Dead at DOD. The Air Forces initial action was one of the most publicized when it took down DEI courses that included videos about the Tuskegee Airmen and the WASPs. In later announcing the reversal, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said in a statement that the initial removal was because the service, like other agencies, had to move swiftly to comply with Trumps executive order with no equivocation, no slow-rolling, no foot-dragging.Speaking Friday on Fox & Friends, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Tuskegee Airmen were an example of courageous merit and that cutting their video was something I like to call malicious implementation.An outfit like the Tuskegee Airmen, we will salute and we will elevate, Hegseth said. And we want every service member to understand what they did. Thats very different than the DEI programs. Amy McGrath, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who was the first woman to fly an F-18 fighter plane in combat, said the move by the Air Force was understandable because military leaders are trying to avoid missteps with the new administration.Theyre afraid that if they do basic leadership, which is embracing everyone no matter what race, no matter what religion, no matter what gender, thats going to be labeled as woke or Marxist, said McGrath, who was the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Kentucky in 2020 against Republican incumbent Mitch McConnell.Including the historical achievements of the Tuskegee Airmen or WASPs never should have been in question, said McGrath, a Naval Academy graduate, adding that she venerated the WASPs.They provided an extraordinary service to our country because there were not enough pilots, men or women, to do the jobs that we needed done, she said, noting that the women did not receive veterans benefits.Lisa Taylor, executive director of the National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater, Texas, said she was incredulous when she heard the content might be removed from the training base.The stories are historical and also uplifting and inspiring for all men and women who have found themselves wondering if they were good enough socially, mentally and technologically, she said. They are the anecdotes that might provide someone with the final push to take the next step in becoming who she or he longs to be.She said she was relieved when the training material was restored.All around Tuskegee, the accomplishments of the Black fighter squadron are celebrated amid the states complex history.The National Park Service has a museum at the site where the airmen trained that tells of the pilots combat success and their struggles in a segregated nation. Tuskegees town square has a historic marker that describes the airmen as part of the citys rich history.The decision to remove the videos was met with disbelief from some of the descendants of those who were part of the squadronI was angry, said Alysyn Harvey-Greene. Her 101-year-old father, retired Air Force Lt. Col. James Harvey III, was one of the original Tuskegee Airmen. Its been very disturbing. We fought for so long to get this history out.Harvey finished his pilot training as the war in Europe was winding down, but flew combat missions in Korea. In 1949, he and other Tuskegee Airmen won the Air Forces inaugural Fighter Gunnery Top Gun Meet where the best Air Force pilot teams competed but were not recognized as the winner for 73 years.For so long, we were not able to tell the story, Harvey-Greene said.Janet Harrison, a retired state worker who lives in Tuskegee and was at the town square on a recent day, said she wishes more were taught about Black history, especially the contributions during World War II. She described her spirit being lifted when the training center in Texas reversed its decision and restored the videos.But the weariness was palpable as she spoke about her initial thoughts when hearing they had been removed: When is this going to stop?-Fields reported from Washington.___Associated Press writers Tara Copp and Aamer Madhani, in Washington, Jocelyn Gecker, in San Francisco, and Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-02-02T12:54:51Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trumps second week in office seemed to deliver a daily dose of shock therapy for the country.There were chaotic reminders of his first term. The White House found itself backtracking on its directive to freeze federal spending on grants and loans. And the Republican president indulged unsupported accusations after a deadly plane crash near Washington. Trump also escalated his moves against the institutions that he was elected to lead. His administration ousted prosecutors who worked on Capitol riot cases and laid the groundwork for purging FBI agents. Elon Musk, Trumps billionaire ally, began efforts to dramatically downsize the federal workforce.Some takeaways from week No. 2: New administration, old problemsTrump and his team had impressed even some of their critics with a steady stream of executive orders in their first week. The administration seemed better organized and more effective than the last time Trump was president.But in his second week, Trumps White House stumbled over itself with a confusing memo that was intended to freeze federal funding, causing disruptions and leading to lawsuits. A judge temporarily blocked the directive, and the memo was quickly rescinded. Then, Trump responded to the deadliest American aviation disaster in decades by baselessly blaming diversity initiatives, demonstrating his willingness to shoehorn tragedy into his personal political crusades.The cascade of controversy and outrage recalled some of the more infamous moments of Trumps first term, such as the chaos of his initial travel ban on people from Muslim countries and his freewheeling briefings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump tries remaking WashingtonThroughout the 2024 campaign, Trump made it clear that he would not settle for making small tweaks in Washington. He wanted dramatic change, particularly in institutions such as the Justice Department that he felt had wronged him over the years. Once he was back in office, the first step was pardoning nearly everyone charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. In the past week his administration went even further. Prosecutors were pushed out, and top FBI officials were ordered to retire or be fired. A senior Justice Department official who previously worked on Trumps legal defense team asked for the names of every FBI agent who worked on Jan. 6 cases. Other shakeups were reported across the nations capital. A top Treasury official quit and federal websites were scrubbed of gender ideology. There appeared to be few, if any, limits to how far Trump and his allies would go to remake Washington.When in doubt, blame DEIAs Trump deals with various challenges facing the country, he has repeatedly pointed to efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in society, or DEI, as the root cause of a multitude of problems.One of Trumps earliest moves upon retaking the Oval Office was to issue orders to undo the federal governments DEI efforts. Trump and his supporters suggested such initiatives are discriminatory and lead to incompetence.His administration is so intent on eradicating it from government that it is requiring federal workers to report any surreptitious DEI programs that continue. But he hasnt stopped there. While investigators were just getting started on investigating the cause of a midair collision near Reagan National Airport between an Army helicopter and a jetliner, Trump began speculating that federal diversity and inclusion efforts were somehow to blame. The president could not back up those claims when repeatedly pressed on it by reporters in the White House briefing room. When asked why he thought diversity had something to do with the crash, he said, Because I have common sense. OK?A day earlier, Trump reprimanded Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over inflation and again pointed to DEI, saying on his social media network that if the Fed had spent less time on DEI and other liberal issues, inflation would never have been a problem. Trump had his first big flopPunctuating the week was the Trump administrations first big policy setback: the abrupt freeze, and then unfreezing, of federal grant funds amid a public revolt. Communities across the nation depend on federal grants and loans to run a vast array of programs and services, from housing and veterans services to community health care centers. The sudden spending pause announced in an Office of Management and Budget memo sent shockwaves coast to coast.Every corner of the country is feeling the wrath of Donald Trumps cruel plan, said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York at a news conference at the Capitol.The memo was rescinded, although the underlying Trump executive orders to clamp down on spending that does not align with his policies on climate, DEI and more do remain. The White House about-face showed the limits of the administrations broader effort to reduce the size and scope of government.Rolling back government in the abstract is one thing. But cutting programs that deliver services to veterans, parents, children, older adults and others is a totally different political equation. A fork in the road for federal workersTrump campaigned on dismantling the deep state, and the federal workforce got a large dose this past week of just how disruptive that effort will be.The new administration had already imposed a federal hiring freeze. Then, millions of federal employees got a fork in the road email shortly after business hours ended on Monday offering them eight months of paid leave if they agreed to resign. Those who quit were promised they would be paid through Sept. 30. They would not necessarily be required to work and could seek new employment in the meantime. But there were broad concerns about the legality of the offer and whether Trump was trying to create a toxic work environment.Employees have to decide whether to take the deal by Thursday. Those who opt to stay will be required to work from the office full time and face enhanced standards of suitability and conduct. The email also warned that future downsizing of the governmental workforce was likely.Thats on top of the administration ordering federal officials overseeing DEI efforts to be placed on leave.Asked Friday if he was worried too many experienced federal workers would leave, Trump replied, Everybodys replaceable. Well get good people to replace them if it turns out to be more. ... But wed love to have them leave.Is America stuck in a trade war?Trump once famously posted on social media that trade wars are good, and easy to win a claim that hes now putting to the test against Canada and Mexico after imposing tariffs that within hours led to retaliatory measures by those two countries.Trump said the tariffs are about stopping the illicit smuggling of fentanyl, as well as preventing illegal immigration on the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada. The president on Saturday put 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, with a lesser 10% rate on Canadian oil, natural gas and electricity. China faces a 10% tariff.Those moves almost immediately angered Mexico and Canada, Americas two largest trading partners who had previously negotiated a deal with Trump during his first term. Both levied retaliatory tariffs. Hockey fans at the Ottawa Senators game in Canada booed the U.S. national anthem. The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, encouraged his citizens to buy Canadian.They are up against a U.S. president who really loves tariffs. He is already promising more import taxes on computer chips, steel, copper, pharmaceutical drugs and the European Union. His administration has yet to explain why these taxes will not worsen the inflation he was elected to fix. The Budget Lab at Yale University estimates Trumps tariffs would cost the average American household $1,000 to $1,200 in annual purchasing power. ___Price reported from New York. Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Palm Beach, Florida, and AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report. MICHELLE L. PRICE Price is a national political reporter for The Associated Press. She is based in New York. twitter mailto CHRIS MEGERIAN Megerian covers the White House for The Associated Press. He previously wrote about the Russia investigation, climate change, law enforcement and politics in California and New Jersey. twitter mailto WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers national politics and the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

Photo by Tanzu Topuzoglu. Design by Sam Donndelinger.Subscribe nowKennedi Lowman thought it was another routine blood donation day. But in a single moment, her life was forever alteredshocked by an HIV-positive diagnosis she never saw coming.It was scary, heartbreaking, and shameful. Working in medicine and having my degrees, knowing what I knew about STIs. Why me? How me?' Lowman told Uncloseted Media.Photo courtesy of Lowman.Lowman, a 38-year-old Black woman in Atlanta, Georgia, was a medical technologist at the time of her 2016 diagnosis, which came as a total shock. I was just crying day and night, I was crying driving to work, I cried in the shower, she says, adding that the diagnosis pushed her into a deep, dark depression for two years.Once she pushed past her depression, Lowmanwho believes she contracted HIV from her friends-with-benefits partnerturned her pain into purpose and became an advocate in Georgias HIV community. She co-founded LOTUS, an Atlanta-based organization that assists women living with HIV across the U.S.Black women like Lowman make up 50% of new HIV diagnoses among women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women are 10 times more likely to have an HIV diagnosis than their White counterparts and three times more likely to contract the virus than Latina women.What we have not seen is a significant financial investment into creating infrastructure and strategy that addresses the issues that position black women to be disproportionately impacted, Leisha McKinley-Beach, founder and CEO of the Black Public Health Academy, told Uncloseted Media. [These issues] include lack of education and awareness, as well the age-old foundation for poor health outcomes in black communities as a whole [thats fueled by] institutional racism within our public health infrastructure.Black women are said to be more likely to engage in high-risk sexual behavior, and Black men are less likely than men of other racial groups to disclose their same-sex behaviors, which may contribute to a higher risk of contracting HIV.A woman may have one partner, and that's one of her ways of staying safe, but if she doesn't know the partner's status, that places her at risk, says Oni Blackstock, a primary care and HIV physician and founder of Health Justice, a consulting firm that teaches health organizations how to prioritize anti-racism.Research from 2008 found that down-low (DL) culture, where men who identify as heterosexual hook up with guys in secret, may contribute to why Black women are disproportionately affected by HIV. However, Blackstock says this narrative is stigmatizing and doesnt tell the whole story.What it ends up doing is further othering and stigmatizing Black, same-gender-loving men, says Blackstock.Photo courtesy of Allison.Mia Allison, a 58-year-old Black woman from Demopolis, Alabama, found out that she had HIV in 2017 after being hospitalized for a mild stroke.[The team at the hospital] came back in the room and told me that I was a smidgen from full-blown AIDS, but I was HIV positive, and that really changed my life, Allison told Uncloseted Media.After learning of her diagnosis, Allison later found out that a past hookup partner, who passed away in 2019, had been rumored to be dating both men and women.She remembers calling him before his passing after hearing he wasnt doing well. He asked her if she was still experiencing headaches and suggested she see a doctor. I do believe that he was trying to tell me [that I possibly had HIV], but just didn't know how to say it, says Allison.Uncloseted Media is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Allison, who is a pastor at a non-denominational church in Atlanta, had already been helping HIV-positive people find care before her diagnosis. She says that her sermons focus on accepting everyone regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status. When I speak at different conferences and when I say that I'm a pastor I can see the expression on people's faces change because [HIV] is not talked about [in the church], she says.I thought God was mad with me and cast a spell on me, because I'm preaching, I'm teaching, I'm helping the sick, I'm feeding the poor, and now this happened to me. Why me? says Allison.Christianity and the Black Church have been found to play a significant role in the stigma surrounding HIV and homosexuality.Kate Medley for Uncloseted Media. DL culture is very strong in the church, says Natalie Farrior, a 29-year-old Black woman with HIV from North Carolina. [Many people believe that] you're possessed by the devil if you're gay.Farrior says that DL guys shes hooked up with have told her that they arent out of the closet because of religion, gang activity, having a child, having a female partner or not wanting to be deemed as not masculine.That poses a risk for the health of not only Black men, but Black women as well, because now you have someone that has to hide their identity and their preferences, so they're going to find it in whatever they can and practice a lot of unsafe activity, Farrior says.Marnina Miller, a 35-year-old Black woman with HIV from Benton Harbor, Michigan, says anti-LGBTQ hate is a driving factor behind the high rates of HIV among Black women. The harmful thing is the homophobia and transphobia in Black and Brown communities, she says, adding that this hate is fueled by church leaders and policymakers that have prevented access to HIV prevention care and medicine.In addition to stigma, Miller, who is also the co-executive director of the Positive Women's Network, a national organization of women living with HIV, points to a lack of education about HIV in religious circles. She says that while growing up in the church, she was educated about some STIs and taught not to get pregnant, but she learned nothing about HIV.Due to a history of systemic racism in America, Black people in the U.S. continue to be disproportionately affected by poverty. Data shows that the typical White household had 9.2 times as much wealth as a Black household in 2021.A lack of access to economic and educational resources is linked to the practice of riskier health behaviors, such as substance abuse, which reduce the likelihood that someone will use a condom during sex. Homelessness and food insecurity can also lead to the exchange of sex for money, safety or housing.In addition to all of this, Miller says there are high levels of medical distrust among Black and Brown women.After the Tuskegee family, a lot of people still don't trust providers, Lowman says.The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in Black Men was an ethically unjustified study that was conducted from 1932 to 1972 and was supposed to look at the natural progression of untreated syphilis. However, researchers failed to collect informed consent from patients and did not offer treatment even after antibiotics were readily available.The study is just one example of race-based malpractice over the last century. Black women were forcibly sterilized throughout the 1900s, and their cervical cells were harvested and studied without consent. Today, 55% of Black Americans believe nonconsensual experiments are being conducted on Black people.In addition, a 2024 Pew Research Center study found that a majority of Black Americans have had negative experiences with healthcare providers, including feeling like their pain was not taken seriously. One in five Black women say theyve been treated unfairly by a healthcare provider because of their background.A lot of time we also have providers who are being gatekeepers and they're bringing their biases and their racism and their sexism to these encounters, says Blackstock.A 2021 study found that providers who scored high on a racism measure were less willing to discuss and prescribe pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)a medicine that reduces the risk of getting HIV by roughly 99% and is considered integral to ending the epidemicto Black patients.Allison remembers experiencing bad migraines before her diagnosis. Her doctor prescribed her narcotics and Percocets for the pain, but she was later hospitalized due to a stroke and didnt find out she had HIV until after she had spent five months in the hospital.Michael Fordham, program manager of the leading HIV clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, says symptoms related to HIV can mimic the flu or hide under other illnesses, such as cancer or pneumonia. Because of this, testing is essential. [Patients] could be going in because they've got a really high fever, chills, and they're like, I think I have the flu. Well, ironically, those are the same symptoms of what we call acute HIV infection, says Fordham, adding that his hospital automatically tests patients for HIV unless they opt-out.McKinley-Beach says that many clinicians are not bringing up PrEP to women. Instead, she says they recommend avoiding high-risk behaviors.She says this is compounded by a lack of Black women featured in PrEP marketing campaigns. Many of us are making medical decisions based on what we see on television, she says. Think about people who are flocking into their doctor's office asking about Ozempic. Where did they first hear about it? They saw a commercial about it. And they saw women dancing and living their best lives. This [representation] is a key tool necessary for helping to raise awareness and scale up PrEP use among Black women.Subscribe nowDespite the alarmingly high HIV rates among Black women in the U.S., prevention medication is more accessible than ever. Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance companies cover some sort of HIV prevention medication. But for the many Black women in the U.S. who don't have free health insurance, it may be more difficult to access, Fordham says. He adds that pharmaceutical companies may cover the medication in full, but clinics may struggle to cover the cost of the regular blood work and visits needed to remain on the medication.A new form of PrEP, Lenacapiver, has shown to be 100% effective for HIV prevention for cisgender women.It's not yet commercially approved But it's got the potential to be a real game changer, says Fordham, adding that a nurse-administered injectable may garner more interest from women because there isnt a pill bottle that a husband or child may question.In addition to prevention medication like PrEP, McKinley-Beach, a founding member of PrEP in Black America, says testing is essential. She says her home church, the Dream Center Church of Atlanta, conducts HIV testing on Mothers Day.Having those discussions and hearing from our leaders is significant in how many of us choose to navigate things such as HIV testing, says McKinley-Beach.Fordham suggests implementing HIV testing into regular appointments, such as OBGYN visits for women, to avoid having to deal with the stigma around HIV. [Women] don't want to be seen in the HIV clinic because people might associate them with having [the virus], he says.Overall, new HIV diagnoses have largely declined worldwide as of 2023, with a 39% decrease since 2010 and a 60% decrease since HIVs peak in 1995.Can it be scary? Yes. Can it be tiresome? Yes, says Mia Allison, the pastor from rural Alabama who has been living with HIV since 2017. But again, I tell anybody, you can live a vibrant and productive life.If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses media members after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China, in Ottawa, Canada, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)2025-02-02T16:04:16Z TORONTO (AP) Canadas prime minister and Mexicos president ordered retaliatory tariffs on goods from the U.S., following through with their threats after U.S. Donald Trump sparked a trade war by imposing sweeping tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China.Canada had been proactively saying for months that it would respond to any tariffs on Washingtons North American allies, while Mexico followed a more cautious approach. But in the end both nations did what they had anticipated: retaliate. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke by phone Saturday after Trumps administration imposed sweeping tariffs 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico, and 10% on imports from China although there is still no indication the two countries are coordinating responses or will do concerted actions in coming days. Unlike Mexico, whose president only announced it will impose retaliatory tariffs without mentioning any rate nor products, Trudeau announced Canada will respond with 25% tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods, including alcohol, furniture and orange juice, and he even suggested Canadians should not buy U.S. products or vacation in the U.S. Canada and Mexico ordered the tariffs late Saturday despite Trumps further threat to increase the duties charged if retaliatory levies are placed on American goods. We dont want to be here. We didnt ask for this. But we will not back down, Trudeau said late Saturday. Were certainly not looking to escalate but we will stand up for Canada.At the local level, some authorities in provinces like Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia will remove American liquor brands from government store shelves. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Sunday every year, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario sells nearly $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirts and seltzers. Not anymore, Ford said in a statement. Starting Tuesday, were removing American products from LCBO shelves. As the only wholesaler of alcohol in the province, LCBO will also remove American products from its catalogue so other Ontario-based restaurants and retailers cant order or restock U.S. products.And besides the official responses, people are already thinking on their own ways to face Trumps decision, and one of the initial reactions has been to share in social media lists with alternatives to American products.Trudeau, in fact, addressed Americans directly, saying they the tariffs will have real consequences for you. Careful Trudeau. The Texas economy is larger than Canadas. And were not afraid to use it. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott posted on X after Trudeau spoke. Canadians are feeling an undeniable sense of betrayal from their one-time closest allies and friends. Trudeau reminded Americans that Canadian troops fought alongside them in Afghanistan and helped respond to myriad crises from wildfires in California to Hurricane Katrina.Canadian hockey fans booed the American national anthem at two National Hockey League games on Saturday night. In Mexico, the official public approach to Trumps tariff threat has been different , limiting public statements to saying the government was prepared for whatever was coming and that it would ensure the country was respected.Recalling how in 2019 Mexico was ultimately able to avoid Trumps tariff threat by adding immigration control to the responsibilities of its newly formed National Guard, Mexico was hoping to dodge the tariffs again or at least find a way to get them lifted quickly.But the accusation of criminal alliances with Sheinbaums administration pushed her to punch back. She called on the U.S. to clean up its own problems with drugs and guns and keep its nose out of Mexico. Trump said he was imposing the tariffs to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs across both the southern and nothern U.S. borders. Beyond the tariffs, academics and diplomats in Mexico harshly criticized the retaliation clause Trump included that threatened to raise tariff levels even higher if the targets hit back. Martha Brcena, former Mexico ambassador to the U.S. during Trumps first term, said its very delicate because there has never been such a harsh official statement by the United States government against the Mexican government.It indicates not only a lack of trust, but the consideration of the Mexican government as a national security threat to the United States with all of its implications, Brcena said.The tariff announcement already stirred anxiety in some corners of Mexico.Thor Salayandia, leader of a business collective in Ciudad Juarez along Mexicos northern border, said the tariffs are going to cause more havoc along the border because 60% of the formal employment is in the assembly plants.That factories that are able to go are going to go, he said. Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at the Mexican financial group Banco Base, said that the tariffs could trigger an economic crisis in Mexico, resulting in a blow for key industries, rising unemployment and price hikes.In the short term, Sheinbaums government would likely have to apply a countercyclical fiscal policy in Mexico so that there would not be a crash and take on mounting debt, Siller said.In the long term, the government would need to seek out new trade agreements, but over-dependence on trade ties with the U.S. will make it hard for Mexico to quickly diversify exports, she said.After Trump won the election in November, Canadian leaders openly said Mexico was the problem on trade and the border, not Canada. And some have continued to say so.I can assure you what President Trump underestimates -- the resilience of the Canadian people, the strength of the Canadian people. No matter what political stripe, we come from Canada, were united, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said. I can tell the American people, Canada is not the problem. The problem is the Mexican border and China. Thats where the problem is.The trade war comes as Canada is entering an election cycle. Trudeaus Liberal Party will announce a new leader on March 9 and a spring election is expected. The tariffs imposed by the United States today are a clear violation of our trade agreements and require the most serious trade and economic responses in our history, said Mark Carney, considered the frontrunner to replace Trudeau. Canada will not bow down to a bully. ____Verza contributed from Mexico City. AP writers Megan Janetsky and Fabiola Snchez also contributed from Mexico City.

President Donald Trump in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)2025-02-02T15:59:51Z PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) President Donald Trump said Sunday that Americans could feel some pain from the emerging trade war triggered by his tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China, and claimed that Canada would cease to exist without its trade surplus with the United States.The trade penalties that Trump signed Saturday at his Florida resort caused a mix of panic, anger and uncertainty, and threatened to rupture a decades-old partnership on trade in North America while further straining relations with China. But by following through on a campaign pledge, Trump may have simultaneously broken his promise to voters in last years election that his administration could quickly reduce inflation.WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!), Trump said in a social media post. BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID. His administration has not said how high that price could be or what improvements would need to be seen in stopping illegal immigration and the smuggling of fentanyl to merit the removal of the tariffs that Trump imposed under the legal justification of an economic emergency. The tariffs are set to launch Tuesday. In his Truth Social post, Trump took particular aim at Canada, which responded with retaliatory measures. Trump is placing a 25% tariff on Canadian goods, with a 10% tax on oil, natural gas and electricity. Canada is imposing 25% tariffs on more than $155 billion on U.S. products, including alcohol and fruit. Trump railed against Canadas trade surplus with the United States: We dont need anything they have. We have unlimited Energy, should make our own Cars, and have more Lumber than we can ever use.Despite Trumps claim that the U.S does not need Canada, one-quarter of the oil that the America consumes per day is from its ally to the north. Trump contended that without that surplus, Canada ceases to exist as a viable Country. Harsh but true! Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State. Much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada AND NO TARIFFS!Canadas ambassador to Washington has said the U.S. had a $75 billion trade deficit with Canada last year, but noted that one-third of what Canada sells into the U.S. is energy exports and that there is a deficit when oil prices are high. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is encouraging Canadians to buy more Canadian goods, and says Trumps moves will only cause pain across North America. More than 75% of Canadas exports go to the U.S. It is going to have real consequences for people, for workers on both sides of our border, Trudeau said Saturday night. We dont want to be here. We didnt ask for this but we will not back down in standing up both for Canadians and for the incredible successful relationship between Canada and the United States.Mexicos president, Claudia Sheinbaum, also announced new tariffs and suggested the U.S. should do more within its own borders to address drug addiction. The Chinese government said it would take steps to defend its economic interests and intends to file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization.For Trump, the open question is whether inflation could be a political pressure point that would cause him to back down. As a candidate, Trump repeatedly hammered Democrats over the inflation under President Joe Biden that resulted from supply chain issues during the coronavirus pandemic, the Biden administrations own spending to spur the recovery and Russias invasion of Ukraine.Trump said his previous four years as president had low inflation, so the public should expect the same if he came back to the White House. But he also said specifically that higher inflation would stagger the U.S. as a nation, a position from which he now appears to be retreating with the tariffs.Inflation is a disaster, he said at a Philadelphia campaign rally. Its a country-buster. Its a total country-buster. Outside analyses make clear that Trumps tariffs would hurt the voters that he intended to help, meaning that he might ultimately need to find a resolution.An analysis by the Budget Lab at Yale shows, if the tariffs were to continue, an average U.S. household would lose roughly $1,245 in income this year, in what would be the overall equivalent of a more than $1.4 trillion tax increase over the next 10 years.Goldman Sachs, in a Sunday analyst note, stressed that the tariffs go into effect on Tuesday, which means theyre likely to proceed though a last-minute compromise cannot be completely ruled out. The investment bank concluded that because of the possible economic damage and possible conditions for removal that we think it is more likely that the tariffs will be temporary but the outlook is unclear.___Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report. JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

USAID humanitarian aid destined for Venezuela is displayed for the media at a warehouse next to the Tienditas International Bridge on the outskirts of Cucuta, Colombia, Feb. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)2025-02-02T17:31:31Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration has placed two top security chiefs at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Elon Musks government-inspection teams, a current and a former U.S. official told The Associated Press on Sunday.Members of Musks Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, eventually did gain access Saturday to the aid agencys classified information, which includes intelligence reports, the former official said.Musks DOGE crew lacked high-enough security clearance to access that information, so the two USAID security officials John Vorhees and deputy Brian McGill were legally obligated to deny access.The current and former U.S. officials had knowledge of the incident and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information. It comes a day after DOGE carried out a similar operation at the Treasury Department, gaining access to sensitive information including the Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems.Musk formed DOGE in cooperation with the new Trump administration with the stated goal of finding ways to fire federal workers, cut programs and slash federal regulations.___AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Panama City contributed to this report. ELLEN KNICKMEYER Knickmeyer covers foreign policy and national security for the Associated Press. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter

Republican State Sen. Nicole Akins Boyd of Oxford, stares at a projected slide bearing fiscal budget numbers during a Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, meeting of the Mississippi Joint Legislative Budget Committee, while other members review their personal copies of the proposed fiscal year 2026 Budget Recommendation, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)2025-02-02T05:12:38Z JACKSON, Miss. (AP) Women represent half of the U.S. population but its still rare for them to have leading roles in setting taxes or budgets in some states.Take Mississippi, for example. Only one woman currently serves on the 14-member Joint Legislative Budget Committee. The elite group makes the first recommendations on how much money the state should spend on schools, prisons, Medicaid and other programs, giving these lawmakers substantial influence over their colleagues and over the lives of people who use government services.Second-term Sen. Nicole Akins Boyd was appointed to the committee by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, a fellow Republican who said he did not consider whether to choose a balance of men and women.I dont look at it so much like, We need a woman here, or something like that, Hosemann said. I look at the abilities and there are plenty of people that have great abilities, male and female. Nicole Boyd, I believe, is outstanding. Just over 2,400 women are serving in state legislatures across the U.S., or about 33% of the total, according to the Center for American Women and Politics, at Rutgers University. Almost 1,600 are Democrats, just over 800 are Republicans and the others are nonpartisan or independent. Last year, when 31% of state lawmakers nationwide were women, they held about 30% of the seats on committees overseeing taxes, revenues and other financial matters, according to a review by The Associated Press. But participation varies widely by state, and by session. In Utah, women held only 5% of those seats in 2024. This year, they hold 28%. In Nevada, 62% of finance-related seats were held by women when the Legislature last met in 2023.Jean Sinzdak, associate director of The Center for American Women and Politics, notes that people who serve in legislatures for a long time tend to receive the most desired committee assignments.Anything budget- and appropriations-related is always one at the top, Sinzdak said. And so part of the challenge of getting more women is that women havent been serving as long and in the numbers needed. Women add to the conversationMississippi has the third-lowest percentage of women in its legislature, at 15%, according to the center. The only states behind it are South Carolina, with 13%, and West Virginia, with 11%. All together, women hold just over 11% of seats on Mississippis five money committees: Joint Legislative Budget, House and Senate Appropriations, House Ways and Means and Senate Finance.Mississippi has never had a woman as governor or House speaker. Only two women have been elected lieutenant governor, decades ago. All of those roles are crucial to setting taxes and budgets.Look, I want to see more women there because I think we add to the conversation, Boyd said. We work together differently, and I think those are all good things for the Legislature.For example, women in the Mississippi Legislature banded together in 2023 to secure money for evidence testing in rape cases when a backlog at the state crime lab was delaying trials.Our male colleagues supported us just as strongly, Boyd said. Money committees arent the only way to serveIn West Virginia, Republican Delegate Kathie Hess Crouse said she believes women generally get the committee assignments they ask for. The low number of women on tax and budget committees is not only due to the fact that few serve in the legislature, but also because female lawmakers sometimes prioritize other committees, she said.Thats the case for Hess Crouse, who chaired the House Committee on Workforce Development and served on other committees focusing on energy, manufacturing and government organization last year. She said legislative leadership has conversations with all the GOP lawmakers before the session starts and asks what their interests are. She always has received her top picks; it just so happens finance is not one of them.Do I like money? Yes, Crouse said. I do my home budget. I dont necessarily like it, but I do it. I file my own taxes normally. I work on those things, but its not my main interest area. So do I want to serve on finance? No, I have interests elsewhere. Women are taking the lead in some statesThe balance is different in Nevada, which in 2019 became the first state where a majority of legislators were women.That is reflected on key committees. Women have most of the seats on the Assemblys Revenue and Ways and Means committees. And they hold seven of eight seats on the Senates finance committee, including the entire Democratic delegation on the committee.The chair, Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, said there could be areas, such as breast cancer funding, where female lawmakers might be more likely to put taxpayer money because of their personal connections to the issue. But she said she doesnt approach her work thinking about gender.Whenever I vote and my other colleagues vote, Dondero Loop said, we do it solely as being a Nevadan and making things better. Elizabeth Steiner served as co-chair of the Oregon Legislatures Ways and Means Committee, which handles money matters and has members from the House and Senate, before being elected state treasurer last year. She said its important for womens personal and professional life experiences to be brought into state decision-making. If you dont include 50% of the population, the perspective of 50% of the population in your decision-making, then youre really disadvantaging everybody: men and women, and certainly children, said Steiner, a Democrat. Other states also have women in prominent roles. In Alaska, a Republican woman was one of three co-chairs of the House Finance Committee last year. Connecticut has two Democratic women leading the Appropriations Committee and another co-chairing the Finance Committee. Vermont had two Democratic women in charge of the Appropriations committees for 2023-24.South Carolina has never had a woman chair a money committee. Three served on the 25-person House Ways and Means Committee in 2024. A Republican woman was rising in the 23-member Senate Finance Committee, but she took a stand against a total abortion ban and lost her primary along with the only two other Republican women in the South Carolina Senate.___Associated Press reporters contributing to this report include Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut; Leah Willingham in Charleston, West Virginia; Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City; Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey; and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon.___The Associated Press women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

National flags representing the United States, Canada, and Mexico fly in the breeze in New Orleans where leaders of the North American Free Trade Agreement met on April 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Judi Bottoni, File)2025-02-02T17:28:56Z PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) With a trio of executive orders, President Donald Trump has almost instantly thrown the world economy and his own goal of cutting inflation into turmoil.His tariffs against Canada and Mexico in order to stop illegal immigration and the illicit fentanyl trade led to retaliatory taxes by both countries on U.S. imports. He placed an additional 10% tariff on imports from China with the stated goal of stopping the production of fentanyl.But on a deeper level, Trump suddenly hit the U.S. economy with tax increases that, if sustained, could total more than $1 trillion in 10 years. He did so without congressional approval and by his own acknowledgement at the perilous chance of some pain in the form of higher inflation, job losses and worse growth.Heres an explanation of what Trumps executive orders say and how they work: What is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act?This is the 1977 law that helped enable Trump to declare an economic emergency in the executive orders and implement his tariffs. There are more than three dozen active emergencies, including measures taken to respond to the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, human rights violations in Venezuela, nuclear weapon development in North Korea and multiple actions taken by China and Russia.The law enables a president to freeze and block transactions in response to unusual and extraordinary threats outside the United States. What are the tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China?The tariffs would start at the beginning of Tuesday.There would be an additional 25% tariff on imports from Canada, with a lower 10% charge on the oil, natural gas, electricity and other energy products. Energy products were taxed at a lower level to prevent U.S. consumers and businesses from paying higher prices for gasoline and utilities. Mexican imports would face an additional 25% tax. China would face an additional 10% tariff.While Trump has said that foreigners pay these taxes, the tariffs would be paid by the individuals and companies bringing in the goods which means this would be a domestic tax increase. Why were the tariffs imposed?Trumps orders say the tariffs are a consequence of illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Not everyone will agree with his reasoning, as U.S. government reports show that unauthorized border crossings from Mexico have fallen over the past year and seizures of fentanyl along the northern border are relatively low.But Trumps order on Mexico says that drug traffickers and the countrys government have an intolerable alliance that endangers the national security of the United States, and we must eradicate the influence of these dangerous cartels. His order on Canada says that Mexican cartels are operating in that country and claims despite the modest amount of fentanyl intercepted that it would be enough to kill 9.5 million Americans. The order on China says that countrys government provides a safe haven for criminal organizations to launder the revenues from the production, shipment, and sale of illicit synthetic opioids.Those are the stated legal reasons, but Trump has expressed a deep admiration to tariffs in general, claiming that they would make the United States wealthier even though they are tax hikes that can be passed along to consumers and businesses in the form of higher prices. Could the tariffs be increased?Yes. The orders are very clear that the U.S. president can respond to retaliatory actions which are already planned as Canada and Mexico have their own counter-tariffs ready for U.S. products. Should they take action, Trump may increase or expand in scope the duties imposed under this order. Whats key here is that the tariffs wouldnt increase automatically. It would still be the U.S. presidents choice.Whats this de minimus language mean?This is an important clause in the orders. When people import goods worth less than $800, like say a dress bought online from a European retailer, they dont pay customs and duties on their purchase. This is legally known as the de minimus treatment, which suggests that the cost of whats being imported is too low to merit a tariff. That exclusion would no longer apply to products imported from Canada, Mexico and China. Can Congress stop the tariffs?It would require a new law that Trump would have to sign, which seems unlikely based on his statements. Still, Congress will have some oversight responsibilities as the order requires the Homeland Security Department in consultation with other agencies to submit recurring and final reports to the Congress on the national emergency.How can the tariffs be lifted?The administration has not set any benchmarks for the other countries to meet, though a senior official suggested that declines in fentanyl-related deaths would be an option. What the order suggests is that the choice would ultimately be at Trumps discretion.It orders Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to consult with her counterparts at the State and Justice departments, as well as White House officials. This specifically refers to the post at Homeland Security, rather than Noem specifically. But she would be able to inform the U.S. president of whether adequate steps have been taken to address the emergencies. It would then be up to the president to determine whether to remove the tariffs. JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto

Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants secure the area as Red Cross representatives wait for the handover of Thai and Israeli hostages in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025.(AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-02-02T17:55:42Z LONDON (AP) Arbel Yehoud is achingly close to freedom, but her face is a study of shadow and terror. She is dwarfed by dozens of masked Hamas fighters and beyond them, a heaving mob of chanting men who surround her and fill the frame. In the next, Yehoud looks up at her captors, pleading. But video suggests theyre on the edge themselves, barely able to hold back the people impeding Yehouds dash to safety under the terms of a ceasefire deal. Cut to photos of her friends and family in Israel, watching the handover live hands over their mouths, breathless. Yehoud makes it into waiting vehicles, and then to Israel. Cue the governments images of her joyous reunion with her parents. The visuals out of Israel and Gaza during recent hostage-for-prisoner swaps were part of a choreographed battle of optics waged in parallel to the 16-month ground war between Israel and Hamas. Each side uses the light and shadow of images to make themselves look virtuous and strong and each other monstrous and weak. Its propaganda. But some images also tell the truth: The chaos during Yehouds release in Gaza on Thursday, for example, reflected the fragility of the ceasefire deal that took effect Jan. 19. All of this was filmed and intentionally shared, said Danielle Gilbert, an expert on hostage-taking at Northwestern University. Social scientists talk about the idea of a collapse of compassion. Audience pay more attention and are willing to take more of a risk to recover, or help, individual victims.Throughout history, both sides of hostage standoffs and POW releases have tried to capitalize on the plight of those in captivity by focusing on details of the names, faces, families and conditions of captivity. Even in war, branding is a potent force. Proof of life, or lack of it, injects urgency into negotiationsSince at least the kidnapping of Charles Lindberghs baby son in 1932, images of hostages have been pivotal elements of negotiations because they carry an intense emotional charge. We cant, for example, unsee images of bound and blindfolded Americans taken captive in Iran in 1979. Or the photo of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl holding up a newspaper, a sign of life, before his Islamic militant captors killed him in 2002. Or the image of a masked Arab commando, captured in black-and-white in 1972, on the balcony of the Munich Olympic Village building. Inside, a Palestinian group called Black September killed 11 Israeli team members. The Israel-Hamas media duel, waged heavily on social media, exploded the moment thousands of Hamas fighters defeated Israels borders on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and dragging about 250 back to Gaza. Cameras anchored to the militants themselves, as well as phones hoisted by the Israelis under attack, captured the killing-and-hostage-taking spree in such detail that some viewers reported a type of trauma called vicarious or secondary trauma just from seeing them. Billions of American dollars and other aid have been influenced at least in part by public opinion, which has fluctuated over the course of the conflict. Anti-Israel protests raged around the world, antisemitism surged and disinformation about the conflict proliferated. The International Criminal Court last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas late military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the Gaza war. The embattled Israeli leader has vowed to fight the allegations. Israel has used images to argue that it was Hamas that waged crimes against humanity. Within a month of the attacks, the army compiled a film of the grisliest moments of the Hamas attack called Bearing Witness in English and The Film of Horrors in Hebrew. The Israeli government invited select journalists, diplomats and Hollywood executives to watch it at screenings in several countries. In Tel Aviv, a briefing on the film came as Israel cut off vital supplies to the Gaza Strip and pounded the territory with airstrikes. The film has provided a justification of sorts for Israels fierce tactics. Spectacles of strength, chaos and smiles Since the ceasefire began, Hamas has turned each round of hostage releases into a spectacle with large crowds, flags and smiling, waving hostages on stages. For the militants, its a chance to show off their survival as a fighting force and ongoing control of Gaza after 15 months of heavy fighting. At least 47,000 people have been killed by Israels bombardment of the enclave, according to local health officials, and nearly all of Gazas population has been displaced. The destruction has quieted under the ceasefire, but people in Gaza have little to return to after the airstrikes reduced much of the territory to rubble. The images of hostages being led through the crowds Thursday raised the question of whether Hamas is really in control. Netanyahu condemned the shocking scenes and called on international mediators to ensure the safety of hostages in future releases a commitment he said he later received.Saturdays hostage release proceeded smoothly, providing strong evidence that Hamas remains firmly in charge, and images of the handovers told more of the story.Hamas let three Israeli hostages go while on camera with certificates reading, release order. Ahead of the third release, seven masked men stood on a stage decorated with pictures of dead Hamas leaders and the sign Zionism will not win.Across the border, Israeli TV stations have filmed the emotional reunions, in which family and friends watching their loved ones releases on live television, shifting from tense quiet to excited cheers and, often, tears. There he is! shouted the wife of Keith Siegel, watching a TV screen as he was released. The government follows up with photos and videos of the traumatized ex-captives reuniting with their families in person, smiles hugs and tears on Israeli TV for hours in a recurring loop. Those scenes are only the start of long and difficult roads toward recovery for the hostages and the families. But the exuberant moments serve a purpose in a country where one stated goal of the war is to bring the hostages home, and where Israelis are bitterly divided over the slow pace of their return. Many hostage families have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war for his own political survival.In this conflict, the absence of images also tells a story. Yarden Bibas, 35, was one of the three hostages released with full choreography on Saturday. But theres been no word on the fate of his family. Their abduction, filmed by Hamas, has become a symbol of the brutality of the siege. In it, Shiri Bibas tearfully clutches her two red-haired sons Ariel, then 3, and Kfir, 9 months as Hamas fighters surround her. In November 2023, Hamas released a video of the boys father, Yarden, weeping on camera as he is told his family is dead. Israel has not confirmed their condition. On Saturday, Israel aired footage of Yarden in Israel, appearing weary with his eyes closed, stepping into the arms of his waiting family.___Associated Press writer Josef Federman contributed from Jerusalem. LAURIE KELLMAN Kellman has covered U.S. politics and foreign affairs for the Associated Press, including 23 years reporting from Washington and three from Jerusalem. She is based in London. twitter facebook mailto

A plane takes off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport as Roberto Marquez of Dallas places flowers at a memorial of crosses he erected for the 67 victims of a midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)2025-02-02T15:40:01Z ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) Families of victims of the deadliest U.S. air disaster in a nearly in 25 years visited the crash site Sunday just outside Washington, D.C.Dozens of people walked along the banks of the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport, close to where an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided Wednesday, killing all 67 aboard.They arrived in buses with a police escort, memorializing loved ones as federal investigators work to piece together the events that led to the crash and recovery crews were set to pull more wreckage from the chilly water.Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Sunday said he wanted to leave federal aviation investigators space to conduct their inquiry.But he posed a range of questions about the crash while appearing on morning TV news programs.What was happening inside the towers? Were they understaffed? The position of the Black Hawk, the elevation of the Black Hawk, were the pilots of the Black Hawk wearing night vision goggles? Duffy asked on CNN. The American Airlines flight, with 64 people on board was preparing to land from Wichita, Kansas. The Army Black Hawk helicopter was on a training mission and had three soldiers on board. Both aircraft plunged to the Potomac River after colliding. The planes passengers included figure skaters returning from the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas, and a group of hunters returning from a guided trip. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin OHara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland; and Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, were killed in the helicopter.The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday that preliminary data showed conflicting readings about the altitudes of the airliner and the Army helicopter.Investigators also said that about a second before impact, the jets flight recorder showed a change in its pitch. But they did not say whether that change in angle meant that pilots were trying to perform an evasive maneuver to avoid the crash. Data from the jets flight recorder showed its altitude as 325 feet (99 meters), plus or minus 25 feet (7.6 meters), when the crash happened Wednesday night, NTSB officials told reporters. Data in the control tower, though, showed the Black Hawk at 200 feet (61 meters), the maximum allowed altitude for helicopters in the area.The discrepancy has yet to be explained.Investigators said they hoped to reconcile the difference with data from the helicopters black box, which is taking more time to retrieve because it became waterlogged after the Black Hawk plunged into the Potomac. They also said they plan to refine the tower data, which can be less reliable.Thats what our job is, to figure that out, NTSB member Todd Inman said.This is a complex investigation, investigator in charge Brice Banning said. There are a lot of pieces here. Our team is working hard to gather this data.Banning said the jets cockpit voice recorder captured sound moments before the crash. The crew had a verbal reaction, Banning said, and the flight data recorder showed the airplane beginning to increase its pitch. Sounds of impact were audible about one second later, followed by the end of the recording. Full NTSB investigations typically take at least a year, though investigators hope to have a preliminary report within 30 days.Inman said he spent hours meeting with victims families since the crash. The families are struggling, Inman said.Some wanted to give us hugs. Some are just mad and angry, Inman said. They are just all hurt. And they still want answers, and we want to give them answers.The remains of 42 people had been pulled from the river as of Saturday afternoon, including 38 that have been positively identified, officials said. They expect to recover all of the remains, though the planes fuselage will probably have to be pulled from the water to get the rest. More than 300 responders were taking part in the recovery effort at a given time, officials said. Two Navy salvage barges were also deployed to lift heavy wreckage. On Fox News Sunday, Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration was looking into staffing in the Reagan Airport control tower.Investigators said there were five controllers on duty at the time of the crash: a local controller, ground controller, assistant controller, a supervisor and supervisor in training.According to an FAA report obtained by The Associated Press, one controller was responsible for helicopter and plane traffic. Those duties are often divided between two people but the airport typically combines them at 9:30 p.m., once traffic slows down. On Wednesday, the tower supervisor combined them earlier, which the report called not normal.Staffing shortages for air traffic control has been a major problem for years and years, Duffy said, promising that President Donald Trumps administration would address shortages with bright, smart, brilliant people in towers controlling airspace. With the nation already grieving, an air ambulance crashed in Philadelphia on Friday, killing all six people on board, including a child returning home to Mexico from treatment, and at least one person on the ground.Also Friday, the FAA heavily restricted helicopter traffic around Reagan National, hours after Trump claimed on social media that the Army helicopter had been flying higher than allowed.It was far above the 200-foot limit. Thats not really too complicated to understand, is it??? Trump wrote on Truth Social.Wednesdays crash was the deadliest in the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when a jet slammed into a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, just after takeoff from Kennedy Airport. The crash killed all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.Experts regularly highlight that plane travel is overwhelmingly safe, but the crowded airspace around Reagan National can challenge even the most experienced pilots.

Panama's President Jose Mulino, left, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrive for a meeting at the presidential palace in Panama City, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)2025-02-02T14:35:54Z PANAMA CITY (AP) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Panamas president Sunday on the opening stop of his first foreign trip as Americas top diplomat as President Donald Trump increased pressure on Washingtons neighbors and allies, including a demand for the Panama Canal to be returned to the United States. A day after Trump announced he was imposing major tariffs on Canada and Mexico, prompting retaliation from those countries, Rubio was taking perhaps a less confrontational and more diplomatic approach cordially greeting Panamas foreign minister, although neither he nor President Jos Ral Mulino spoke publicly at their meeting.Rubio then planned to tour an energy facility and later the canal, the object of Trumps intense interest.Mulino has said there will be no negotiation with the U.S. over ownership of the canal, and some Panamanians have staged protests over Trumps plans. On Sunday, about 200 people marched in Panama City, carrying Panamanian flags and shouting Marco Rubio out of Panama, Long live national sovereignty and One territory, one flag while the meeting was going on. Some burned a banner with images of Trump and Rubio after being stopped short of the presidential palace by riot police. Mulino said he hoped Rubios visit would focus on shared interests such as migration and combating drug trafficking.Rubio will be pressing Trumps top focus curbing illegal immigration but has also said he will be bringing the message that the U.S. wants to reclaim control over the Panama Canal despite intense resistance from regional leaders to combat Chinas growing influence in the hemisphere. In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece on Friday, Rubio said mass migration, drugs and hostile policies pursued by Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have wreaked havoc, and port facilities at the either end of the canal are run by a China-based company, leaving the waterway vulnerable to pressure from the Beijing government. Were going to address that topic, Rubio said a day earlier. The presidents been pretty clear he wants to administer the canal again. Obviously, the Panamanians are not big fans of that idea. That message has been brought very clear.The American-built canal was turned over to the Panamanians in 1999 and they object strongly to Trumps demand to hand it back.Despite Mulinos rejection of any negotiation over ownership, some believe Panama may be open to a compromise under which canal operations on both sides are taken away from the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports company, which was given a 25-year no-bid extension to run them. An audit into the suitability of that extension is already under way and could lead to a rebidding process.What is unclear is whether Trump would accept the transfer of the concession to an American or European company as meeting his demands, which appear to cover more than just operations.Rubios trip, which will also take him to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, comes amid a freeze in U.S. foreign assistance. The State Department said Sunday that Rubio had approved waivers for certain critical programs in countries he is visiting but details of those were not immediately available.___Associated Press writer Juan Zamorano contributed to this report. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Grammy Awards are displayed at the Grammy Museum Experience at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Oct. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)2025-02-02T12:00:31Z LOS ANGELES (AP) The 67th annual Grammy Awards are set to recognize some of the most talented performers and biggest hits in pop music on Sunday, with different ways to watch the festivities.Beyonc enters as the leading nominee for her acclaimed album, Cowboy Carter.Here is what you need to know about the awards show, including how to watch or stream live and see the stars arrive on the red carpet.What time do the Grammys start?The Grammys are really two awards shows in one, spanning much of Sunday.The premiere ceremony begins at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, 12:30 p.m. Pacific time, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and will pack dozens of awards and performances into a livestreamed show. The Grammys telecast, which typically feature less than 10 awards but loads of performances, begins at 8 p.m. EST and will be shown on CBS for free over the air with an antenna. Grammy Awards are displayed at the Grammy Museum Experience at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Oct. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File) Grammy Awards are displayed at the Grammy Museum Experience at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Oct. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More How do I stream the shows? The Grammys can be streamed live on Paramount+ if the account also subscribes to Showtime.The show also will be available through live TV streaming services with CBS in their lineup, including Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV.Paramount+ subscribers will be able to stream the awards show the day after the ceremony.The premiere ceremony, hosted by songwriter Justin Tranter, can be streamed at the Recording Academys YouTube channel and on live.GRAMMY.com. How can I watch the red carpet?The Associated Press will stream a four-hour red carpet show with interviews and fashion footage. It will be streamed on YouTube and APNews.com beginning at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, 12:30 p.m. Pacific.E! will air a live red carpet show, Live From E!: Grammys, beginning at 6 p.m. Eastern. Who is nominated?Beyonc, the most decorated artist in Grammys history, leads all nominees this year with 11. Beyonce appears at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Houston, on Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) Beyonce appears at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Houston, on Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Post Malone, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Charli XCX follow with seven nominations each. First-time nominees Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan boast six nominations each.Taylor Swift, who will not perform but will present an award, also is nominated for six awards. Who are the performers?Eilish, Roan, Carpenter, Charli XCX, Benson Boone, Doechii, RAYE, Shakira and Teddy Swims are scheduled to perform Sunday.A tribute to the late, legendary producer Quincy Jones will be led by Will Smith, Stevie Wonder and Janelle Mone.___For more coverage of this years Grammy Awards, visit apnews.com/hub/grammy-awards.

Dr. Lee Gross examines patient Annie Geisel at the Epiphany Health Direct Primary Care Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Port Charlotte, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)2025-02-02T14:00:06Z Andrea Meneses stumbled on a direct primary care clinic because of a crisis.Her grandmother, visiting Wisconsin from Bolivia, did not have insurance but needed to see a doctor fast. One of the grandchildren accidentally put her insulin in the freezer instead of the refrigerator.Meneses reached out to friends in a panic, and one recommended Dr. Wendy Molaska, who runs a direct primary care clinic in nearby Madison. Patients at these clinics pay a fee of roughly $50 to $100 month and get easier, direct access to their doctor as often as they want for no extra cost.Direct primary care is an increasingly popular health care option, and experts say it may become more common under health policy changes that President Donald Trumps administration is expected to pursue. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trumps nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, mentioned direct primary care during his recent confirmation hearings. This is the most optimistic Ive ever been about it, said Gayle Brekke, a health services researcher based in Kansas City, Missouri, who has been studying direct primary care for more than a decade. Were at a threshold where it really could take off.Some doctors and patients say they love how much simpler it is to get routine medical care and how some services can be cheaper. But public health experts caution not to think of direct primary care as a replacement for insurance, because the monthly fee covers nothing beyond visits. Affordable and quick careDirect primary patients say its helped them save a significant amount of money on health care, particularly those who dont have health insurance and would otherwise pay out of pocket. Molaska didnt have insulin in her office, so she referred the prescription to a community pharmacy she works with, and the pharmacist helped Meneses secure it at a discount.Brekke said direct primary care doctors also work with labs and imaging centers to order tests and X-rays for patients at discounted prices. In most states, these doctors can dispense medications in their practices with little to no markup; if not, the doctors, like Molaska, often have relationships with local pharmacists and can help patients get medications at more affordable rates. Molaska charges between $70 and $85 for individuals and caps her monthly fee at $200 for families. In central Wisconsin, she sees patients who speak Spanish and English and has a bilingual staff. Molaska has a 125-person waiting list.After seeing how well the model worked for her grandmothers needs, everyone in Meneses family are now patients of Molaska. Her kids medications are cheaper, Meneses said, and they dont have to wait three months for an appointment.In turn, direct primary care physicians say they can spend more time with patients, and it reduces burnout because they dont have to deal with insurance companies.I wish more people knew about it, Meneses said. Im an accountant, and my clients are mostly Hispanic. Most of them dont qualify for any kind of help and cannot afford health care, so I send them to Dr. Molaska. Sometimes they ask me, Are you sure this isnt a scam? Its not for everyoneCritics believe direct primary care is a solution for a limited group of people: the relatively healthy ones, those who cant afford insurance and dont qualify for Medicaid or Medicare, and folks who live in areas where community health centers are too busy for new patients.Health researchers also warn of overstating direct primary cares affordability.Having worked in safety-net health systems for most of my career, I have found that many patients struggle to pay for bus fare or $5 copayments, said Dr. Stephanie Woolhandler, a primary care doctor and researcher at Hunter College in New York.While direct primary care is better than nothing, said Dr. Kevin Schulman at Stanfords Clinical Excellence Research Center, its hugely limited. Direct primary care is not health insurance, so nothing aside from what the doctor can do in office is covered.Dr. James Vanderloo says for that reason, direct primary care is best suited for catching people who fall through the cracks. Vanderloo practices a few miles north of Jackson, Mississippi one of the poorest states in the U.S. and a place where lawmakers havent expanded Medicaid. So, no matter the income, an able-bodied Mississippi resident who doesnt have kids doesnt qualify for the federal insurance program for low-income people, and high-deductible insurance plans on the federal marketplace for one person run hundreds of dollars.Mississippi also ranks at or near the top for high rates of diabetes and high blood pressure, the types of chronic conditions that Vanderloo helps manage with frequent testing and medications.I cant help if you need your appendix taken out, but if you have diabetes, I can get you a $10 or less A1C test, he said of the test that measures blood sugar and is used to manage and diagnose diabetes. You do need some sort of help for heavy lifting, but its better than nothing.But if hypertension results in stroke symptoms, one of Vanderloos patients would have to go an emergency room. Insurances bad repFlorida-based provider Dr. Lee Gross started his direct primary care practice in 2010, putting it among the first wave of direct primary care clinics across the country. He was exasperated with back-and-forth calls with insurance companies and wanted a way to help his patients without a middleman. Annie Geisel has been going to Gross practice in North Port on Floridas Gulf Coast since 1998 before Gross transitioned it to a direct primary care clinic. After the switch, Geisel marveled at how fast she was able to see Gross, as well as the lack of co-pay, while her friends complained that insurance companies were delaying their care. I think its time that doctors start calling the shots about patient care rather than insurance conglomerates, said Geisel, referring to insurance companies process to authorize care for patients. Mounting disillusionment with traditional health insurance as evidenced by the wave of public criticism lobbied at the industry after the assassination of UnitedHealthcares CEO could make direct primary care an increasingly appealing model.Project 2025, the Heritage Foundations conservative policy blueprint put forth ahead of the second Trump administration calls direct primary care out as a solution. Roger Severino, an attorney and former director of the Office of Civil Rights in the first Trump administration, wrote the model is improving patient access, driving higher quality and lower cost, and strengthening the doctor-patient relationship. Schulman said that mention could impact Trumps efforts to change access, something his administration attempted in 2019 but was never finalized under former President Joe Biden. Direct primary care also may become more relevant if Trump and the Republican-controlled House and Senate follow through on potential cuts to Medicaid that could make it harder for people to qualify for the program.I see direct primary care as a sort of lifeboat for the system for the cracks in the system, Gross said. And were continuing to grow and fill these gaps all across the country.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. DEVNA BOSE Bose is a public health reporter for The Associated Press, based in Jackson, Mississippi. She covers hospitals, rural health access and disparities, public health funding and other topics that broadly intersect with the health of communities. twitter mailto

This image provided by the U.S. Army shows Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, N.C. (U.S. Army via AP)2025-02-02T22:14:20Z WASHINGTON (AP) A U.S. Army captain who died in Wednesdays midair collision of a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet was brilliant and fearless and meticulous in everything she did, friends and fellow soldiers said.Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach was identified by the Army Saturday as one of three soldiers killed in the crash near Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, D.C. In all, 67 people died, including the jets 60 passengers and 4 crew members.Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, had served as an Army aviation officer since July 2019, earning an Army commendation medal and an achievement medal after graduating from the University of North Carolina as a distinguished military graduate in the top 20% of ROTC cadets nationwide, her family said.Last month, she escorted fashion designer Ralph Lauren at the White House when he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. USA Today White House correspondent Davis Winkie trained with Lobach in the University of North Carolina ROTC program. They were in the same training platoon at Fort Knox, Kentucky, in 2018, and were friends ever since. Rebecca was brilliant and fearless, a talented pilot and a PT stud, Winkie wrote in a social media post, using an abbreviation for physical training.In a statement released by the Army, Lobachs family said she had more than 450 hours of flight time and earned certification as a pilot-in-command after extensive testing by the most senior and experienced pilots in her battalion. The Army released the names of the two other Black Hawk soldiers on Friday, but withheld Lobachs name until Saturday at the request of her family. Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin OHara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia, was the crew chief. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland, was a pilot.Lobach was a patriot, she loved her country, her close friend, Sam Brown, told WNCN-TV. Lexi Freas credited Lobachs mentorship for inspiring her to become an aviation officer in the District of Columbia National Guard.Not only did she care about being a leader and being the best officer she could, but also about being the best pilot she could, Freas told the Raleigh, North Carolina, station.Another friend, Sabrina Bell, said Lobach was meticulous in everything she did, she never did anything half-heartedly, she never did anything impulsively.Lobachs family noted that she served as a certified sexual harassment/assault response and prevention victim advocate and hoped to become a physician when she got out of the Army.We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. She was a bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong. No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals, the statement said.We request that you please respect our privacy as we grieve this devastating loss, Lobachs family added.After the crash, President Donald Trump blamed the helicopter for flying at too high an altitude, saying: You had a pilot problem from the standpoint of the helicopter. I mean, because it was visual, it was very clear night. The remarks, combined with Trumps rant about diversity initiatives in the air traffic controller ranks, only added to social media speculation, misinformation and vitriol about the makeup of the Black Hawk crew. No evidence has emerged that diversity rules factored into the collision.Former military recruiter Bilal Kordab told WRAL-TV that Lobach was kind, intelligent and put so much pressure on herself to be the best of the best and go the extra mile.Before transferring to the University of North Carolina, Lobach played Division III college basketball at the University of The South.Winkie said he and Lobach were both latecomers to the ROTC program and quickly bonded over being the new kids on the block.One day, while at Fort Knox learning about different Army officer career paths, Winkie said he and Lobach happened upon a small helicopter called a MH-6 Little Bird. Winkie, who is 6-foot-6 (2 meters) tall, said Lobach listed at 5-foot-7 (1.7 meters) in her college basketball days smiled mischievously at him and asked: Think we can both fit?Ill be damned if we didnt somehow stuff ourselves into that cockpit, Winkie wrote in a tribute to Lobach on X, formerly known as Twitter. My neck hurt, and I dont think we wouldve been able to fly it very well, but we were both beaming in the selfie she took.Winkie wrote that soon after Wednesdays crash he texted Lobach, asking: you good? He said he didnt realize until the next day that the message hadnt gone through.___Sisak reported from New York. MICHAEL R. SISAK Sisak is an Associated Press reporter covering law enforcement and courts in New York City, including former President Donald Trumps criminal and civil cases and problems plaguing the federal prison system. twitter mailto LOLITA C. BALDOR Baldor has covered the Pentagon and national security issues for The Associated Press since 2005. She has reported from all over the world including warzones in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. twitter mailto

Former Major League Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent signs an autograph for Louis Carrons, 12, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., during Los Angeles Dodgers baseball spring training in Vero Beach, Fla., March 1, 2006. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)2025-02-02T19:47:20Z NEW YORK (AP) Fay Vincent, who became an unexpected baseball commissioner in 1989 following the death of A. Bartlett Giamatti and then was forced out three years later by owners intent on a labor confrontation with players, has died. He was 86.Vincent had undergone radiation and chemotherapy for bladder cancer and developed complications that included bleeding, said his wife, Christina. He asked that treatment be stopped and died Saturday at a hospital in Vero Beach, Florida.Mr. Vincent served the game during a time of many challenges, and he remained proud of his association with our national pastime throughout his life, current commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.A lawyer who became a movie studio executive at the behest of a college friend, Vincent had been retired for three decades and lived in New Canaan, Connecticut, and Vero Beach. During his three-year tenure as commissioner, Vincent had a string of what he called three-cigar days, angering owners by becoming the first management official to admit the collusion among teams against free agents following the 1985, 86 and 87 seasons. He suspended the Yankees George Steinbrenner, divided expansion fees among both leagues, attempted to force National League realignment and negotiated a settlement that ended a 1990 spring training lockout. I had the conviction that being commissioner was a public trust. I tried to do what I thought was best for the game and the public who cared so much about it, Vincent said in a 2023 interview with The Associated Press. I had mixed results. Sometimes Im pleased with what I did. The tragedy of baseball is the single biggest thing I left undone was to build a decent relationship between the owners and the players. I thought somebody would take over after me and get that done. If I died tomorrow, that would be the big regret, is that the players and the owners still have to make some commitment to each other to be partners and to build the game. Born May 29, 1938, Vincent was a securities lawyer when he was hired in 1978 as president and chief executive officer of Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. by Herbert Allen Jr., who had known him their time as undergraduates at Williams College. Vincent remained a corporate executive for a decade, then had been with a law firm for only a few months when he was asked to become deputy commissioner by Giamatti, a friend since they met during a party at Princeton in the 1970s.Giamatti, the former Yale president, was NL president from June 1986 until succeeding Peter Ueberroth as commissioner in April 1989. Giamatti tasked Vincent with supervising the gambling investigation of career hits leader Pete Rose, and Vincent hired lawyer John M. Dowd to lead a probe that led to Rose agreeing to a lifetime ban that August.Giamatti died of a heart attack that Sept. 1, and Vincent was elected commissioner by owners 12 days later and given a 4 1/2-year term.Vincents first World Series in charge was interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake, which struck a half-hour before Game 3 was to start at San Franciscos Candlestick Park. Vincent was praised for a 10-day delay before the series resumed. It is becoming very clear to us in Major League Baseball that our concerns, our issue, is a rather modest one, he said then.His first full season as commissioner began after a 32-day spring training lockout. The deal he reached angered owners seeking greater management gains, a group led by Bud Selig of the Milwaukee Brewers and Jerry Reinsdorf of the Chicago White Sox.In July 1990, Vincent signed an agreement with George Steinbrenner under which the New York Yankees principal owner resigned as managing general partner because of his dealings with a $40,000 payment to a gambler, Howard Spira, to find embarrassing information about outfielder Dave Winfield. Vincent later reinstated Steinbrenner as of 1993.The following June, Vincent ruled the American League was to receive $42 million of the $190 million in expansion fees due for the National League adding Colorado and Miami in 1993. He also ordered both leagues to supply players equally for the expansion draft and that any future expansion money be divided equally among all clubs. In July 1992 he ordered NL realignment for the following year, moving the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals to the West Division in 1993, and the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds to the East. The Cubs obtained an injunction in federal court, and the plan was dropped after Vincents departure.By mid-August, Selig and Reinsdorf gained enough support to cause AL president Bobby Brown and NL head Bill White to call a special meeting aimed at ousting Vincent. Owners approved a resolution of no confidence in an 18-9 vote on Sept. 3. After a weekend of thought at his home on Cape Cod, Vincent quit four days later, on Labor Day. The commissioner has to look out for the fans, and the owners dont want to hear me speak that idea, Vincent said.Selig was installed as chairman of the executive council, a new position that made him in effect acting commissioner. He led owners through a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95, was voted commissioner in 1998 and remained on the job until retiring in 2015.A longtime Anglophile, Vincent wanted to decompress and rented the Mill House in the Berkshire village of Sutton Courtenay for the first six months of 1993. Living in the home of former British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, Vincent frequently entertained visitors during his sabbatical.Francis Thomas Vincent Jr. was born May 29, 1938, at Waterbury, Connecticut. His father, Francis, was a football and baseball star at Yale in the 1930s and became a college football official. His mother, the former Alice Lynch, was a housewife.Vincent was a tackle and center at Williams until he broke his back during his freshman year, falling four floors from an icy ledge outside his dormitory after his roommates locked him out as a prank. His left leg was partially paralyzed and he walked with a cane. Vincent, a Roman Catholic, gave up thoughts of Jesuit training because of the injury. Still, he managed to finish school on time and graduate Phi Beta Kappa.Ive been lucky in a lot of ways mostly I survived that terrible accident and being paralyzed for so long, Vincent said in 2023. I cant have any regrets.He went to Yale Law School, started as an associate at Whitman & Ransom in New York in 1963 and stayed there for five years.In 1968, he moved to Caplin & Drysdale Chartered in Washington and practiced securities law there for almost 10 years, becoming a partner. In March 1978 he quit the firm to become associate director of the Securities and Exchange Commissions Division of Corporate Finance. His stay there was rather brief.Allen, who was two years behind Vincent at Williams, decided that summer to fire Alan J. Hirschfield, Columbia Pictures Industries CEO. For more than a year, the company had been in turmoil after David Begelman, president of the movie studio, was discovered to have forged checks.Vincent replaced Hirschfield on July 13 and ran the company so well that Allen & Co. sold it to Coca-Cola Co. in 1982 for $692 million. Vincent was promoted from president to chairman and was named executive vice president of Coca-Colas new Entertainment Business Sector.He went to Hollywood only about six times a year and let his production heads Frank Price, Guy McIlwaine and David Puttnam make the artistic decisions. While Vincent ran the company, Columbia released Ghostbusters, The Big Chill, Gandhi and Tootsie.Still, he remained devoted to baseball.He talked about baseball every day, Allen said. A couple of times I went with him to Mets opening day.On Sept. 1, 1987, Coca-Cola bought Tri-Star Pictures and Tri-Stars Victor A. Kaufman replaced Vincent, who was reassigned to oversee equity investments in Coca-Cola Bottlings properties. Vincent quit in 1988 and went to Caplin & Drysdales New York office as a partner. Before he settled in, Giamatti asked him to join baseball.Id always been a baseball fan, Vincent said then. Ive followed baseball as long as I can remember.In one of his lasting acts as commissioner, he chaired an eight-member committee for statistical accuracy, which removed the asterisk that had been next to Roger Maris entry as the season home run leader and deleted 50 no-hitters. The group defined a no-hitter as games of nine innings or more that ended with no hits.He recorded interviews with Hall of Fame members and Negro Leagues players for an oral history project that led to three books: The Only Game in Town (2006), We Would Have Played for Nothing (2009) and Its Whats Inside the Lines That Counts (2010). In 2024, he made a $2 million gift to Yale to endow the Yale baseball coachs position in the name of his father.Vincent married the former Valerie McMahon in 1965 and they had a daughter Anne and twin sons William, and Edward. They divorced in 1994 and he married Christina Watkins in 1998.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

A protester holds the flags of Canada and the United States outside on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)2025-02-02T19:20:39Z ATLANTA (AP) President Donald Trump has taken executive action to impose new tariffs on imports from Canada, China and Mexico.The move fulfills campaign promises but also sparked retaliatory moves that could signal an extended trade war with key trading partners and, in the case of Mexico and Canada, the closest U.S. neighbors and allies.Unlike during the 2024 campaign, when Trump billed his economic agenda as a sure-fire way to reduce the cost of living for Americans, the president now is acknowledging what many economists have long forecasted: that the levies could yield higher prices and lower supplies across the market.Here are some things to know about Trumps actions, the counters from U.S. trading partners and what it means for American consumers: The moves affect the three largest U.S. trading partnersTrump declared an economic emergency to place duties of 10% on all imports from China and 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada. Energy imported from Canada, including oil, natural gas and electricity, would be taxed at 10%. The tariffs on the United States three largest trading partners will go into effect on Tuesday.The tariffs reach across the U.S. market. To name a few: oil and lumber from Canada; produce, clothing, liquor and auto parts from Mexico; plastics, textiles and computer chips from China.Trumps order contained no mechanism for granting exceptions to U.S. importers.Underscoring the potential effects, Canada provides more than 4.3 million barrels of oil a day to the United States. The U.S. tends to consume about 20 million barrels a day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It has been producing domestically about 13.2 million barrels daily. Trump says these levies are about immigration and drugs downplaying economicsThe president talked often as a candidate and for decades before he entered politics about U.S. trade deficits. He blasted international trade deals and bemoaned the steady flow of manufacturing jobs out of the U.S. to other countries. But he has framed his latest actions as leverage on immigration and drugs. Trump is blaming the three U.S. partners for not doing enough to stop the flow of fentanyl into U.S. markets. He blames Mexico and, to a lesser extent, Canada for an inflow of migrants across U.S. borders.It is my duty as president to ensure the safety of all, Trump said on social media. Canada, China and Mexico have respondedTrumps order included a promise to escalate the tariffs if U.S. trading partners answered with their own. That threat did not prevent a swift response.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum immediately ordered retaliatory tariffs and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would put matching 25% tariffs on up to $155 billion in U.S. imports.Trudeau urged Canadians to choose Canadian products when shopping, effectively urging a boycott of U.S. goods. Locally, multiple premiers of Canadian provinces said they would be removing American alcohol brands from government store shelves altogether.As of Sunday afternoon, China had not imposed new tariffs on U.S. goods. But its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Beijing government will take necessary countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests. The Ministry of Commerce said it would file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization for the wrongful practices of the U.S. Consumers will see the effects, even if businesses pay the actual tariffsEnd-line consumers dont pay tariffs directly. Its usually whatever company a foreign-based exporter or U.S-based importer is transporting goods across the border. But that adds to the overall cost of getting goods to their final retail stop, and each player in that process is certain to increase their prices as a result.Gregory Daco, chief economist at the tax and consulting firm EY, calculates the tariffs would increase inflation, which was running at a 2.9% annual rate in December, by 0.4 percentage points this year. Daco projects the U.S. economy, which grew 2.8% last year, would fall by 1.5% this year and 2.1% in 2026.The Budget Lab at Yale University estimates Trumps tariffs would cost the average American household $1,000 to $1,200 in annual purchasing power.The effects reach even to companies and products billed as made in the U.S.A. Because sometimes that label means only that a product is assembled or otherwise finished in a U.S. facility but still includes raw materials, parts or packaging from elsewhere.And as Trump himself said often during the campaign, energy costs which become transportation costs in the supply chain also drive consumer pricing. Given Canadas share of the U.S. energy supply, gas prices could increase, especially in the Midwest, where so much Canadian crude oil is refined. Trump has changed his tune on the consequences for consumersCandidate Trump made sweeping, fantastical promises about the U.S. economy.For example, he promised to lower grocery prices immediately and cut utility bills in half within a year of taking office. He repeatedly hammered the Biden administration as a failure because of inflation and invited the votes of Americans frustrated over a higher cost-of-living. Vice President JD Vance, in a Fox News interview ahead of the tariff announcement, maintained that Trumps policies would mean more take-home pay for U.S. workers.Trump is now backing off such claims.Will there be some pain? Yes, maybe (and maybe not), Trump wrote Sunday morning on social media. But we will make America great again, and it will all be worth the price that must be paid.___Associated Press writers Josh Boak in Palm Beach, Florida, and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed. BILL BARROW Bill Barrow covers U.S. politics. He is based in Atlanta. twitter mailto