U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says El Salvador's president has offered to accept deportees from the U.S. of any nationality as well as violent American criminals now imprisoned in the United States.

President Nayib Bukele has agreed to the most unprecedented, extraordinary, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world, Rubio said.

"He's also offered to do the same for dangerous criminals currently in custody and serving their sentence in the United States even though theyre U.S. citizens or legal residents.

Rubio arrived in San Salvador shortly after watching a U.S.-funded deportation flight with 43 migrants leave from Panama for Colombia. That came a day after Rubio delivered a warning to Panama that unless the government moved immediately to reduce or eliminate China's presence at the Panama Canal, the U.S. would act to do so.

Migration, though, was the main issue of the day as it will be for the next stops on his five-nation Central American tour of Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic after Panama and El Salvador.

President Donald Trumps administration prioritizes stopping people from making the journey to the United States and has worked with regional countries to boost immigration enforcement on their borders as well as to accept deportees from the United States.

RELATED STORY | Rubio echoes Trump's warning over China's influence on Panama Canal

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said the arrangement with the U.S. was a broad agreement "that does not have precedent in the history of the relationship, not just of the United States with El Salvador but rather I think in Latin America.

Human rights activists have warned, however, that El Salvador lacks a consistent policy for the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees and that such an agreement might not be limited to violent criminals.

Manuel Flores, the secretary general of the leftist opposition party Farabundo Mart National Liberation Front, criticized any such plan, saying it would signal that the region is Washingtons backyard to dump the garbage.

The deportation flight Rubio watched being loaded in Panama City was carrying migrants detained by Panamanian authorities after illegally crossing the Darien Gap from Colombia. The State Department says such deportations send a message of deterrence. The U.S. has provided Panama with financial assistance to the tune of almost $2.7 million in flights and tickets since an agreement was signed to fund them.

Rubio was on the tarmac for the departure of the flight, which was taking 32 men and 11 women back to Colombia. Its unusual for a secretary of state to personally witness such a law enforcement operation, especially in front of cameras.

Mass migration is one of the great tragedies in the modern era, Rubio said, speaking afterward in a nearby building. It impacts countries throughout the world. We recognize that many of the people who seek mass migration are often victims and victimized along the way, and its not good for anyone.

Mondays deportation flight came as Trump has been threatening action against nations that will not accept flights of their nationals from the United States, and he briefly hit Colombia with penalties last week for initially refusing to accept two flights. Panama has been more cooperative and has allowed flights of third-country deportees to land and sent migrants back before they reach the United States.

This is an effective way to stem the flow of illegal migration, of mass migration, which is destructive and destabilizing, Rubio said. And it would have been impossible to do without the strong partnership we have here with our friends and allies in Panama. And were going to continue to do it.

His trip comes amid a sweeping freeze in U.S. foreign assistance and stop-work orders that have shut down U.S.-funded programs targeting illegal migration and crime in Central American countries. 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.

While Rubio was out of the country, staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development were instructed on Monday to stay out of the agencys Washington headquarters after billionaire Elon Musk announced Trump had agreed with him to shut the agency.

Thousands of USAID employees already had been laid off and programs shut down. Rubio told reporters in San Salvador that he was now the acting administrator of USAID but had delegated that authority so he would not be running its day-to-day operations.

The change means that USAID is no longer an independent government agency as it had been for decades although its new status will likely be challenged in court and will be run out of the State Department by department officials.

In his remarks, Rubio stressed that some and perhaps many USAID programs would continue in the new configuration but that the switch was necessary because the agency had become unaccountable to the executive branch and Congress.

On his weekend discussion with Panama's president on the Panama Canal, Rubio said he was hopeful that the Panamanians would heed his and Trump's warnings on China. Panamanians have bristled at Trump's insistence on retaking control of the American-built canal, which the U.S. turned over in 1999, although they have agreed to pull out of a Chinese infrastructure and development initiative.

I understand that its a delicate issue in Panama, Rubio told reporters in San Salvador. We dont want to have a hostile and negative relationship with Panama, he said. I dont believe we do. And we had a frank and respectful conversation, and I hope itll yield fruits and result in the days to come.

But back in Washington, Trump was less diplomatic, saying "Chinas involved with the Panama Canal. They wont be for long and thats the way it has to be.

We either want it back, or were going to get something very strong, or were going to take it back, Trump told reporters at the White House. And China will be dealt with.

As he has in the past, Trump again criticized the Carter administration for having signed a 1970s treaty to cede control of the canal to Panama and said it was a pact that Panama has since totally violated.

Theyve agreed to certain things, but Im not happy with it, Trump said.

Elon Musk is rapidly consolidating control over large swaths of the federal government with President Donald Trump s blessing, sidelining career officials, gaining access to sensitive databases and dismantling a leading source of humanitarian assistance.

The speed and scope of his work has been nothing short of stunning. In a little more than two weeks since Trump took office, the worlds richest man has created an alternative power structure inside the federal government for the purpose of cutting spending and pushing out employees. None of this is happening with congressional approval, inviting a constitutional clash over the limits of presidential authority.

Trump says Musk is doing his bidding

Musk, an unelected billionaire, has been named as a special government employee, which subjects him to less stringent rules on ethics and financial disclosures than other workers. Trump has given Musk office space in the White House complex where he oversees a team of people at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. The team has been dispersed throughout federal agencies to gather information and deliver edicts. Some of them were spotted on Monday at the Department of Education, which Trump has vowed to abolish.

Republicans defend Musk as simply carrying out Trumps slash-and-burn campaign promises. Trump made no secret of his desire to put Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur behind the electric automaker Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX, in charge of retooling the federal government.

Elon cant do and wont do anything without our approval, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.

The Republican president also played downs concerns about Musks conflict of interests as he flexes his power over the bureaucracy even though his businesses face regulatory scrutiny and have federal contracts.

Where we think theres a conflict or theres a problem, we wont let him go near it, but he has some very good ideas, Trump said.

Musk persists in spite of Democrats outrage

Democrats, for their part, accused Musk of leading a coup from within the government by amassing unaccountable and illegal power.

We will do everything in our power in the Senate and the House to stop this outrage, Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said. And in the meantime, since we dont have many Republican colleagues who want to help us, we are doing everything we can with our colleagues through the courts to make sure that we uphold the rule of law.

The apex of Musks work so far came on Monday at the Washington headquarters for the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, where yellow police tape blocked access to the lobby and hundreds of employees were locked out of computer systems. Musk said Trump had agreed to let him shutter the agency.

Its not an apple with a worm in it, what we have is just a ball of worms, Musk said of the world's largest provider of humanitarian, development and security assistance. "Youve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. Its beyond repair.

RELATED STORY | Trump says Americans could feel 'some pain' from his new tariffs that are triggering a trade war

Federal workers are in unchartered territory

Musk has also turned his attention to the General Services Administration, or GSA, which manages federal government buildings. An email sent last week from the Washington headquarters instructed regional managers to begin terminating leases on roughly 7,500 federal offices nationwide.

The initiative is being led by Nicole Hollander, according to an agency employee who requested anonymity to discuss internal matters. Hollander describes herself on LinkedIn as an employee at X, Musk's social media platform.

This has gone beyond the pale. This is out of control. This is not a normal situation, said Keya Chatterjee, executive director of Free DC, a local advocacy organization. She participated in a protest on Monday outside the Office of Personnel Management, which is one of the lesser-known federal agencies key to Musk's agenda.

Musks work has unnerved federal employees who are being nudged toward the exits. On Sunday night, concerns swept through the workforce that they could be locked out of internal human resources system, denying them access to their own personnel files that showed pay history, length of service and qualifications. Supervisors in some agencies encouraged employees to download their records, called an SF-50, to personal computers so that they could prove their employment history in the event of disputes.

Musk's penchant for dabbling

Musk has been tinkering with things his entire life, learning to code as a child in South Africa and becoming rich with the online payment company PayPal. He bought the social media platform Twitter a little more than two years ago, renamed it X and slashed its workforce while turning it into his personal political megaphone.

Now Musk is popping open the hood on the federal government like it's one of his cars or rockets.

The Silicon Valley playbook to disrupt the status quo by disregarding and disobeying rules that you dont like is in full effect here, said Rob Lalka, an expert on entrepreneurship and innovation in business at Tulane University.

One of the most significant steps was gaining access to the U.S. Treasury payment system, which is responsible for 1 billion payments per year totaling $5 trillion. It includes sensitive information involving bank accounts and Social Security payments.

No one outside of the staff doing the work ever asked to have access to the payment files, said Richard Gregg, who spent four decades working for Treasury and oversaw the payment system as fiscal assistant secretary.

Its unclear what Musk wants to do with the payment system. Hes claimed that he could trim $1 trillion from the federal deficit just by addressing waste, fraud and abuse.

Thats the biggest data hack ever in the world, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, told reporters in Madison. I am outraged about it.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent must revoke Musk's access to the payment system.

We must halt this unlawful and dangerous power grab, he said on Capitol Hill.

A group representing retirees and union workers sued Bessent and the Treasury Department on Monday to get them to stop sharing personal and financial information with DOGE.

Trump rewards Musk's fealty

Musks role is partially a reward for his work on behalf of Trump during the campaign. He spent roughly $250 million supporting Trump through America PAC, which included door-to-door canvassing and digital advertising.

Although the PAC has not announced its next plans, Musk has suggested that he could endorse primary challenges to Republican lawmakers who defy Trumps agenda.

The more Ive gotten to know President Trump, the more I like him," Musk said in a conversation streamed live on X. "Frankly, I love the guy. Hes great.

Musk also described his work overhauling the federal government in existential terms, making it clear that he would push as hard and as far as he could.

If its not possible now, it will never be possible. This is our shot," he said. "This is the best hand of cards were ever going to have. If we dont take advantage of this best hand of cards, its never going to happen.

A lawsuit alleging for the first time that people died because of the disastrous 2023 East Palestine train derailment has been filed ahead of Monday's second anniversary of the toxic crash near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border amid a flurry of new litigation.

On Monday, Vice President JD Vance is visiting the small community near the crash site that he used to represent as a senator, along with President Donald Trump's newly confirmed head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin. It's not yet clear how much pressure the Trump administration will put on the railroads to continue improving safety and whether they will push for the bill Vance co-authored in response to the derailment.

The new lawsuit announced Monday morning contains the first seven wrongful death claims filed against Norfolk Southern railroad including the death of a 1-week-old baby. It also alleges the railroad and its contractors botched the cleanup while officials at the EPA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on it and failed to adequately warn residents about the health risks. Many of the other parties in the lawsuit cite lingering, unexplained health problems along with concerns something more serious could develop.

"Our clients want truth. They want transparency," attorney Kristina Baehr said about the roughly 750 people she represents. "They want to know what they were exposed to, which has been hidden from them. They want to know what happened and why it happened. And they want accountability."

RELATED STORY | Norfolk Southern and East Palestine announce $22 million settlement after 2023 derailment

The lawsuit provides some examples of the lingering effects on families, but it doesn't include details about the deaths.

At least nine other lawsuits were filed over the past week by individuals and businesses that argue the railroad's greed is to blame for the derailment and the $600 million class-action settlement doesn't offer nearly enough compensation nor sanction the railroad enough to spur them to prevent future derailments. The dollar amount represents only a small fraction of the $12.1 billion in revenue the railroad generated in each of the past two years.

What happened two years ago?

Dozens of rail cars careened off the tracks on Feb. 3, 2023, after an overheating bearing failed. Several cars carrying hazardous materials ruptured and spilled their cargo that caught fire. But the disaster was made worse three days later when officials blew open five tank cars filled with vinyl chloride and burned that toxic plastic ingredient because they feared they would explode.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board determined the controversial vent and burn operation never needed to happen because there was evidence the railroad ignored that the tank cars were starting to cool off and wouldn't have exploded. The state and local officials who decided to release and burn the vinyl chloride generating a massive plume of thick, black smoke have said they never heard anything suggesting the tank cars wouldn't explode.

"The EPA had rules to follow and chose not to follow their own rules. The EPA was too busy trying to get the train back on track to protect the people," Baehr said.

Officials haven't responded Monday to questions about the new lawsuit and separate federal claims that were filed against the EPA and CDC. But in the past, the EPA has defended its role by saying they were only there to advise on the potential consequences of burning the vinyl chloride and measure the contamination.

Baehr said the EPA and CDC's approach to the derailment followed a similar pattern she's seen in other environmental disasters, including the Navy's toxic spill of jet fuel that contaminated water in Hawaii. She said agencies tend to downplay potential health risks. Residents have expressed frustration with the data the EPA discloses and the refusal of the class-action attorneys to reveal what their own testing found.

How did the railroads respond?

A Norfolk Southern spokesperson declined to comment on the litigation. The railroad has agreed to a $600 million class-action settlement for people within 20 miles of the derailment and a separate settlement with the federal government in which Norfolk Southern pledged to pay for the cleanup, medical exams and drinking water monitoring. The railroad did not admit any wrongdoing in either settlement.

Norfolk Southern and other major railroads promised to improve safety after the crash by installing additional trackside detectors to spot mechanical problems before they cause a derailment. Federal officials say those steps haven't improved safety meaningfully, and Vance's bill that would have required additional changes never passed.

The rail unions on Monday again asked the railroads to join a federal program that would let workers anonymously report safety concerns and members of Congress made plans to renew their push for legislation.

RELATED STORY | Norfolk Southern reaches $600M agreement with East Palestine residents

What compensation has the town received?

Some nearby residents have started to receive personal injury payments as part of the class-action settlement, but nearly half of the settlement remains on hold while some appeal for higher compensation and more information about the contamination.

The main payments of up to $70,000 per household won't go out until the appeal is settled.

Last week, Norfolk Southern agreed to a $22 million settlement for East Palestine that includes $13.5 million the railroad has already provided for upgrades to the water treatment plant and to replace police and fire equipment. The railroad is also paying $25 million to upgrade a park.

What about the other lawsuits?

The nine other new lawsuits included claims by a pipe manufacturer, dog kennels and a winery that the derailment harmed their businesses. One business alleged cleanup work created "smoke, debris and odors" and led to routine flooding. The dog breeder said toxic chemicals killed at least 116 puppies and three adult dogs.

President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China fulfilling one of his post-campaign commitments to voters that also carries the risk of sparking higher inflation and disrupting businesses across North America.

Trump declared an economic emergency in order to place duties of 10% on all imports from China and 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada Americas largest trading partners except for a 10% rate on Canadian energy, including oil, natural gas and electricity. The tariffs would go into effect on Tuesday, setting a showdown in North America that could potentially sabotage economic growth.

A senior administration official, insisting on anonymity to brief reporters, said the lower rate on energy reflected a desire to minimize any disruptive increases on the price of gasoline or utilities. That's a sign the White House understood as outside economists have warned that the import taxes if sustained could dramatically increase inflation, a possible problem for Trump as he promised to tame inflation after public unhappiness with price spikes under former President Joe Biden.

RELATED STORY | What are tariffs and how do they work?

The order signed by Trump contained no mechanism for granting exceptions, the official said, a possible blow to homebuilders who rely on Canadian lumber as well as farmers, automakers and other industries.

The White House said Trumps order also includes a mechanism to escalate the rates if the countries retaliate against the U.S., as they have threatened. Both Canada and Mexico have plans, if needed, to impose their own tariffs in response.

The Trump administration put the tariffs in place to force the three countries to stop the spread and manufacturing of fentanyl, in addition to pressuring Canada and Mexico to limit any illegal immigration into the United States.

The official did not provide specific benchmarks that could be met to lift the new tariffs, saying only that the best measure would be fewer Americans dying from fentanyl addiction.

The order would also allow for tariffs on Canadian imports of less than $800. Imports below that sum are currently able to cross into the United States without customs and duties.

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 year's election, found that the U.S. was split on support for tariffs.

With the tariffs, Trump is honoring promises that are at the core of his economic and national security philosophy. But the announcement showed his seriousness around the issue as some Trump allies had played down the threat of higher import taxes as mere negotiating tactics.

RELATED STORY | Retailers say they're ready for potential Trump tariffs

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.

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 Michigan's 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 December's 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.

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$900 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 an 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.

The U.S. military has conducted 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 Somalia's 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 office of Somalia's president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, said the operation reinforces the strong security partnership between the two countries in combating extremist threats. In a post on X, it said Somalia remains resolute in working with its allies to eliminate international terrorism and ensure regional stability.

RELATED STORY | US strikes targets in Syria as whereabouts of kidnapped American reporter remain unknown

The Pentagon's 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.

The IS affiliate in Somalia emerged in 2015 as a breakaway faction from al-Shabab, al-Qaidas East African link, and is most active in Puntland, particularly in the Galgala Mountains, where it has established hideouts and training camps and is led by Abdulkadir Mumin.

Tariffs are in the news at the moment. Here's what they are and what you need to know about them:

Tariffs are a tax on imports

Tariffs are typically charged as a percentage of the price a buyer pays a foreign seller. In the United States, tariffs are collected by Customs and Border Protection agents at 328 ports of entry across the country.

U.S. tariff rates vary: They are generally 2.5% on passenger cars, for instance, and 6% on golf shoes. Tariffs can be lower for countries with which the United States has trade agreements. For example, most goods can move among the United States, Mexico and Canada tariff-free because of Trumps US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

Mainstream economists are generally skeptical of tariffs, considering them a mostly inefficient way for governments to raise money and promote prosperity.

Theres much misinformation about who actually pays tariffs

President Donald Trump, a proponent of tariffs, insists that they are paid for by foreign countries. In fact, it is importers American companies that pay tariffs, and the money goes to the U.S. Treasury. Those companies, in turn, typically pass their higher costs on to their customers in the form of higher prices. Thats why economists say consumers usually end up footing the bill for tariffs.

RELATED STORY | US economy on edge ahead of potential tariffs on Mexico, Canada, China

Still, tariffs can hurt foreign countries by making their products pricier and harder to sell abroad. Foreign companies might have to cut prices and sacrifice profits to offset the tariffs and try to maintain their market share in the United States. Yang Zhou, an economist at Shanghais Fudan University, concluded in a study that Trumps tariffs on Chinese goods inflicted more than three times as much damage to the Chinese economy as they did to the U.S. economy.

What has Trump said about tariffs?

Trump has said tariffs will create more factory jobs, shrink the federal deficit, lower food prices and allow the government to subsidize childcare.

Tariffs are the greatest thing ever invented, Trump said at a rally in Flint, Michigan, during his presidential campaign.

As president, Trump imposed tariffs with a flourish targeting imported solar panels, steel, aluminum and pretty much everything from China.

Tariff Man, he called himself.

Trump has promised even more and higher tariffs in his second term.

The United States in recent years has gradually retreated from its post-World War II role of promoting global free trade and lower tariffs. That shift has been a response to the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs, widely attributed to unfettered tree trade and an increasingly powerful China.

Tariffs are intended mainly to protect domestic industries

By raising the price of imports, tariffs can protect home-grown manufacturers. They may also serve to punish foreign countries for committing unfair trade practices, like subsidizing their exporters or dumping products at unfairly low prices.

Before the federal income tax was established in 1913, tariffs were a major revenue driver for the government. From 1790 to 1860, tariffs accounted for 90% of federal revenue, according to Douglas Irwin, a Dartmouth College economist who has studied the history of trade policy.

RELATED STORY | Federal Reserve decides not to change interest rates amid pressure from Trump

Tariffs fell out of favor as global trade grew after World War II. The government needed vastly bigger revenue streams to finance its operations.

In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the government collected around $80 billion in tariffs and fees. Thats a trifle next to the $2.5 trillion that comes from individual income taxes and the $1.7 trillion from Social Security and Medicare taxes.

Still, Trump wants to enact a budget policy that resembles what was in place in the 19th century.

Tariffs can also be used to pressure other countries on issues that may or may not be related to trade. In 2019, for example, Trump used the threat of tariffs as leverage to persuade Mexico to crack down on waves of Central American migrants crossing Mexican territory on their way to the United States.

Trump even sees tariffs as a way to prevent wars.

I can do it with a phone call, he said at an August rally in North Carolina.

If another country tries to start a war, he said hed issue a threat:

Were going to charge you 100% tariffs. And all of a sudden, the president or prime minister or dictator or whoever the hell is running the country says to me, Sir, we wont go to war.

Economists generally consider tariffs self-defeating

Tariffs raise costs for companies and consumers that rely on imports. Theyre also likely to provoke retaliation.

The European Union, for example, punched back against Trumps tariffs on steel and aluminum by taxing U.S. products, from bourbon to Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Likewise, China responded to Trumps trade war by slapping tariffs on American goods, including soybeans and pork in a calculated drive to hurt his supporters in farm country.

A study by economists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Zurich, Harvard and the World Bank concluded that Trumps tariffs failed to restore jobs to the American heartland. The tariffs neither raised nor lowered U.S. employment where they were supposed to protect jobs, the study found.

Despite Trumps 2018 taxes on imported steel, for example, the number of jobs at U.S. steel plants barely budged: They remained right around 140,000. By comparison, Walmart alone employs 1.6 million people in the United States.

Worse, the retaliatory taxes imposed by China and other nations on U.S. goods had negative employment impacts, especially for farmers, the study found. These retaliatory tariffs were only partly offset by billions in government aid that Trump doled out to farmers. The Trump tariffs also damaged companies that relied on targeted imports.

If Trumps trade war fizzled as policy, though, it succeeded as politics. The study found that support for Trump and Republican congressional candidates rose in areas most exposed to the import tariffs the industrial Midwest and manufacturing-heavy Southern states like North Carolina and Tennessee.

Democrats on Saturday elected Ken Martin, the party leader in Minnesota, as the national chair, turning to a low-profile Midwestern political operative to coordinate their resistance to Donald Trumps presidency.

Martin succeeds Jaime Harrison of South Carolina atop the Democratic National Committee. Harrison did not seek another term after the 2024 election when Trump became the first Republican to win the popular vote in two decades and made modest gains with core Democratic constituencies African Americans, Latinos and working-class voters, among them.

We got punched in the mouth in November, Martin, 51, said Saturday. Its time to get off the mat, dust ourselves off and get back in this fight.

RELATED STORY | President Trumps First 100 DaysTrump fires the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

He is now one of the most important players in the Democratic Partys comeback attempt as Trump pushes the limits of presidential power.

The vote played out in suburban Washington as more than 400 DNC members from every state and U.S. territory gathered for the partys winter meeting.

Martin and the other leading contender, Wisconsin party chair Ben Wikler, promised to refocus the Democratic message on working-class voters, strengthen Democratic infrastructure across the country and improve the partys anti-Trump rapid response system.

They pledged not to shy away from Democrats' dedication to diversity and minority groups, a pillar of the modern-day party. Martin is the first white man to lead the DNC since 2011.

Also in the race were Martin O'Malley, a former Maryland governor and Biden administration official, and Faiz Shakir, who managed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders last presidential campaign.

Candidate Marianne Williamson, an activist and author, surprised DNC members before voting began by endorsing Martin as our best chance to cut the court with the billionaire funded corruption that will otherwise obstruct and limit our possibilities.

Most of the candidates acknowledged that the Democratic brand is badly damaged, but few promised fundamental changes. Indeed, nearly three months after the election, there is little agreement on what exactly went wrong.

The election took place less than two weeks after Trump's inauguration. Democrats are struggling to confront the sheer volume of executive orders, pardons, personnel changes and controversial relationships taking shape in the new administration.

Just 31% of voters have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this week. Forty-three percent of voters have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party.

Shakir called for sweeping changes within the party, such as more coordination with labor unions and less focus on minority groups sorted by race and gender. The only Muslim seeking the chairmanship, Shakir was alone during a recent candidate forum in opposing the creation of a Muslim caucus at the DNC.

RELATED STORY | US economy on edge ahead of potential tariffs on Mexico, Canada, China

But his candidacy struggled to gain traction.

Wikler faced questions about his relationship with Democratic donor Reid Hoffman, the billionaire cofounder of LinkedIn. But he cast his fundraising connections as an asset. Indeed, the DNC chair is expected to raise tens of millions of dollars to help Democrats win elections.

President Donald Trump has fired the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, in the latest purge of a Biden administration holdover.

Chopra was one of the more important regulators from the previous Democratic administration who was still on the job since Trump took office on Jan. 20. Chopra's tenure saw the removal of medical debt from credit reports and limits on overdrafts penalties, all based on the premise that the financial system could be fairer and more competitive in ways that helped consumers. But many in the financial industry viewed his actions as regulatory overreach.

In a social media post Saturday about his departure, Chopra thanked people across the country who shared their ideas and experiences with the government's consumer financial watchdog agency.

You helped us hold powerful companies & their executives accountable for breaking the law, and you made our work better, Chopra posted on X above pictures of his letter announcing that he would no longer lead the bureau.

During Trump's first term, the Republican had picked Chopra as a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission.

In his letter, Chopra noted that the bureau was ready to work with the Trump administration. He said the agency had prepared rules to block Russia, China and others from using data brokers to surveil Americans, and had put forth policies intended to prevent people from losing access to banking services for exercising their constitutional right to express their political or religious views.

The letter noted the CFPB has also analyzed Trump's campaign proposal to cap credit card interest rates.

RELATED STORY | Biden administration approves overdraft limits angering banks

Chopra was notified of his firing in an email, according to a person familiar with the notice who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Under the law, Chopra was to serve a five-year term, which meant he could have stayed on as the CFPB director. But he had publicly stated that he would leave his post if the new president asked.

In many ways, Chopra exemplified some of the tensions between Trump's promises to curb regulations for businesses and his populist appeals to voters. When The Associated Press reported on Jan. 22 that Chopra remained in his job after Trump took the oath of office, his critics in the financial sector quickly said the president needed to dismiss him.

The longer Director Chopra stays, the harder it will be for this pro-growth administration to undo the politically-driven, government-price setting agenda that former President Bidens appointee has engaged in over the last several years at the Bureau, emailed Weston Loyd, press secretary at the Consumer Bankers Association.

Chopra is an ally of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of Trump's favorite targets, and the Massachusetts Democrat said in a statement that if Trump and Republicans decide to cower to Wall Street billionaires and destroy the agency, they will have a fight on their hands. She said the bureau under Chopra had held Wall Street accountable."

California Rep. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement that Chopra's dismissal marks the end of an era of strong consumer protection and the beginning of a plan to end this important agency.

RELATED STORY | Student loan servicers were taking auto payments without consent, report says

The bureau was created after the 2008 financial crisis to regulate mortgages, car loans and other consumer finance. It has long been opposed by Republicans and their financial backers.

Last year, the Supreme Court rejected a challenged that could have undermined the bureau, ruling that the way it is is funded does not violate the Constitution. Unlike most federal agencies, the bureau does not rely on the annual budget process in Congress, but is funded directly by the Federal Reserve.

Public health data disappeared from websites, entire webpages went blank and employees erased pronouns from email signatures Friday as federal agencies scrambled to comply with a directive tied to President Donald Trump's order rolling back protections for transgender people.

The Office of Personnel Management directed agency heads to strip gender ideology from websites, contracts and emails in a memo sent Wednesday, with changes ordered to be instituted by 5 p.m. Friday. It also directed agencies to disband employee resource groups, terminate grants and contracts related to the issue, and replace the term gender with sex on government forms.

Some parts of government websites appeared with the message: The page youre looking for was not found. Some pages disappeared and came back intermittently.

The list of sites affected Friday includes:

National Park Service pages for historic sites related to the internment of Japanese Americans, the Tuskegee Airmen and the Stonewall Uprising for gay rights were inaccessible. The Tuskegee site was back online a short time later but the others remained down Friday evening. The State Department removed the X gender marker and replaced gender with sex on online consular forms. A page with tips for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex travelers was altered. It's now titled LGBTravelers instead of LGBTQIA+ Travelers." The U.S. Census Bureau's homepage was down. Links to reports and topic pages outlining details about the gender identity, sexual orientation and characteristics of the nations population returned errors. A message on Friday afternoon for one topic page titled Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity read, The area of census.gov that you are trying to access is currently unavailable due to maintenance. Another page titled Mental Health Struggles Higher Among LGBT Adults Than Non-LGBT Adults in All Age Groups also was unavailable. Archives of both pages show they were accessible within the past week. Much of the U.S. Census Bureau website, which houses the nation's vast repository of demographic data, returned error messages. A Bureau of Prisons web page originally titled Inmate Gender was relabeled Inmate Sex on Friday. A breakdown of transgender inmates in federal prisons was no longer included. Much public health information was taken down from the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions website: contraception guidance; a fact sheet about HIV and transgender people; lessons on building supportive school environments for transgender and nonbinary kids; details about National Transgender HIV Testing Day; a set of government surveys showing transgender students suffering higher rates of depression, drug use, bullying and other problems.

RELATED STORY | Trump says he will impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada, China beginning Saturday

Asked by reporters Friday about reports that government websites were being shut down to eliminate mentions of diversity, equity and inclusion, Trump and said he didnt know anything about it but that hed endorse such a move.

I dont know. That doesnt sound like a bad idea to me, Trump said, adding that he campaigned promising to stamp out such initiatives.

Trump's executive order, signed on his first day back in office, calls for the federal government to define sex as only male or female and for that to be reflected on official documents such as passports and policies such as federal prison assignments.

Trump administration officials are moving to fire FBI agents engaged in investigations involving President Donald Trump in the coming days, two people familiar with the plans said Friday.

It was not clear how many agents might be affected, though scores of investigators were involved in various inquiries touching Trump. Officials acting at the direction of the administration have been working to identify individual employees who participated in politically sensitive investigations for possible termination, said the people who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The terminations would be a major blow to the historic independence from the White House of the nations premier federal law enforcement agency and would reflect Trumps determination to bend the law enforcement and intelligence community to his will. Its part of a startling pattern of retribution waged on federal government employees, following the forced ousters of a group of senior FBI executives earlier this week as well as a mass firing by the Justice Department of prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smiths team who investigated Trump.

RELATED STORY | Special counsel Jack Smith has resigned after submitting his Trump report, Justice Department says

The FBI Agents Association called the planned firings "outrageous actions by acting officials are fundamentally at odds with the law enforcement objectives outlined by President Trump and his support for FBI Agents.

Dismissing potentially hundreds of Agents would severely weaken the Bureaus ability to protect the country from national security and criminal threats and will ultimately risk setting up the Bureau and its new leadership for failure, the association said in a statement.

The FBI and Smith's team investigated Trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Both of those cases resulted in indictments that were withdrawn after Trump's November presidential win because of longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the federal prosecution of a sitting president.

RELATED STORY | Jack Smith defends investigation in newly released report on Trump's election interference case

The Justice Department also brought charges against more than 1,500 Trump supporters who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, though Trump on his first day in office granted clemency to all of them including the ones convicted of violent crimes through pardons, sentence commutations and dismissals of indictment.

A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment, and an FBI spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

The firings would be done over the will of the acting FBI director Brian Driscoll, who has indicated that he objects to the idea, the people said.

The NFL will look into allegations that Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker behaved inappropriately toward massage therapists at four spas and wellness centers in the Baltimore area, a league spokesman said.

The Baltimore Banner detailed the accusations in a lengthy report Thursday. The news website said it spoke to six massage therapists who recounted firsthand experiences with Tucker from 2012 to 2016. Several therapists said they ended Tucker's sessions early or refused to work on him again, and managers from two spas said they banned him from returning.

"We first became aware of the allegations from the reporter investigating this story as they were not previously shared with the NFL," league spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement. "We take any allegation seriously and will look into the matter."

Tucker is accused of exposing his genitals, brushing two therapists with his exposed penis and leaving what they believed to be semen on the massage table after three treatments, according to the Banner.

Tucker posted a statement on social media calling the allegations about him in the Banner story "unequivocally false."

"In accusing me of misconduct, the article takes innocuous, or ambiguous, interactions and skews them so out of proportion they are no longer recognizable, and it presents vague insinuations as fact," he said.

Tucker, 35, just finished his 13th season in the NFL, all with the Ravens. He's achieved stardom both league-wide and among Baltimore fans in a way that's rare for a kicker, and his 66-yard field goal in 2021 remains the longest-successful kick in league history.

In 2022, Tucker agreed to a four-year contract extension through the 2027 season. That deal included $17.5 million guaranteed.

"We are aware of the Baltimore Banner's story regarding Justin Tucker as well as his response," a Ravens spokesman said. "We take any allegations of this nature seriously and will continue to monitor the situation."

According to the Banner, a representative of the spa chain Ojas said Tucker was "immediately terminated as a client" in 2014 after "a massage therapist reported an incident that allegedly occurred during a massage therapy session with Justin Tucker." Owners of Studio 921, which is now closed, said through an attorney they "took immediate and decisive action to ban this individual from our business and services to ensure a safe environment for all."

In his response, Tucker said: "I have never received any complaints from a massage therapist, have never been dismissed from a massage therapy or bodywork session, and have never been told that I was not welcome at any spa or other place of business."

The allegations have some similarities to unrelated accusations made against another NFL player, quarterback Deshaun Watson. More than two dozen women accused Watson of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for Houston. After being traded to the Cleveland Browns, Watson missed the first 11 games of the 2022 season after an independent arbitrator determined that he had violated the league's personal conduct policy.

A New York doctor was indicted by a Louisiana grand jury on Friday for allegedly prescribing an abortion pill online in the Deep South state, which has one of the strictest near-total abortion bans in the country.

Grand jurors at the District Court for the Parish of West Baton Rouge issued an indictment against Dr. Margaret Carpenter; her company, Nightingale Medical, PC; and a third person. All three were charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, a felony.

The case appears to be the first instance of criminal charges against a doctor accused of sending abortion pills to another state, at least since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and opened the door for states to have strict anti-abortion laws.

Carpenter was also sued by the Texas attorney general in December under similar allegations of sending pills to that state. That case did not involve criminal charges.

Carpenter did not immediately return a message.

RELATED STORY | Emergency contraception pill could be an alternative to mifepristone for abortions, study suggests

The indictment comes just months after Louisiana became the first state with a law to reclassify both mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled dangerous substances. The drugs are still allowed, but medical personnel have to go through extra steps to access them.

Under the legislation, if someone knowingly possesses mifepristone or misoprostol without a valid prescription for any purpose, they could be fined up to $5,000 and sent to jail for one to five years. The law carves out protections for pregnant women who obtain the drug without a prescription to take on their own.

I have said it before and I will say it again: We will hold individuals accountable for breaking the law, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, a Republican, said in a statement on Friday.

Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, Louisiana has had a near-total abortion ban, without any exceptions for rape or incest. Under the law, physicians convicted of performing an illegal abortion, including one with pills, face up to 15 years in prison, $200,000 in fines and the loss of their medical license.

Make no mistake, since Roe v Wade was overturned, weve witnessed a disturbing pattern of interference with womens rights, the Abortion Coalition of Telemedicine, where Carpenter is one of the founders, said in a statement. Its no secret the United States has a history of violence and harassment against abortion providers, and this state-sponsored effort to prosecute a doctor providing safe and effective care should alarm everyone.

RELATED STORY | 3 states renew their effort to reduce access to the abortion drug mifepristone

Fridays indictment could be the first direct test of New Yorks shield laws, which are intended to protect prescribers who use telehealth to provide abortion pills to patients in states where abortion is banned. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats, signaled they would defend New Yorks law.

This cowardly attempt out of Louisiana to weaponize the law against out-of-state providers is unjust and un-American, James said in a prepared statement.

Hochul promised to never back down from this fight."

Pills have become the most common means of abortion in the U.S., accounting for nearly two-thirds of them by 2023. Theyre also at the center of political and legal action over abortion. In January, one judge let three states continue to challenge federal government approvals for how one of the drugs usually involved can be prescribed.

Facing intense scrutiny from senators over his potential profit from vaccine lawsuits while serving as the nation's health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that if he is confirmed he will not collect fees from litigation against the drugmakers of a cervical cancer vaccine.

Kennedy, who's President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Health and Human Services agency, told the Senate finance committee that he would amend his ethics disclosure after several senators, including Democrat Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and his cousin Caroline Kennedy raised concerns about his financial arrangement with the law firm representing patients who are claiming injuries from the vaccines.

An amendment to my Ethics Agreement is in process, and it provides that I will divest my interest in this litigation, Kennedy said in a written response to the committee.

Initially, Kennedy had told the committee that he would continue to accept referral fees in legal cases that dont involve the U.S. government. That included an arrangement with a law firm that's sued Merck over Gardasil, its human papillomavirus vaccine that prevents cervical cancer. The deal earned Kennedy $850,000 last year, and he told senators he had referred hundreds of clients to the firm.

RELATED STORY | RFK Jr. Senate hearings conclude as future of his confirmation remains uncertain

During Wednesday's hearing, Warren outlined several ways in which Kennedy could make it easier to sue vaccine manufacturers.

Kennedy can kill off access to vaccines and make millions of dollars while he does it, Warren said. Kids might die, but Robert Kennedy can keep cashing in.

The issue also may have been a concern for Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who is also a physician and is conflicted over his vote on Kennedy's confirmation because of Kennedy's anti-vaccine views.

The Republican president's nominee is financially vested in finding fault with vaccines, Cassidy, the chairman of the health committee, noted as he ended Thursday's confirmation hearing.

Kennedy also stopped short of making other commitments, refusing to promise that he would not engage in lobbying Health and Human Services after his term ends.

Kennedy and his supporters have railed against that sort of activity, saying the revolving door of Washington where federal officials trade public services jobs to influence government agencies while in the private sector has undermined the U.S. public health system. He has criticized the practice at least a half-dozen times in social media posts over recent years.

RELATED STORY | Democrats skeptical of RFK Jr.'s answers on vaccines during Senate hearing

Kennedy, who ran for president last year before dropping his bid and endorsing Trump, vowed in one post on X to rein in lobbyists and slam shut the revolving door, if elected president.

He first challenged President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination but then ran as an independent before striking a deal to endorse Trump in exchange for a promise to serve in a health policy role during a second Trump administration. Now, after two days of hearings, his shot at that job is on the line with concerns about his anti-vaccine advocacy prompting nearly all Democrats to reject his nomination and a handful of Republicans who are at least considering doing the same.

If Democrats unanimously oppose Kennedy, he'll need support from all but three Republicans. The Senate finance committee is expected to decide if he makes it to the Senate floor for a vote next week.

Kennedy's response to the Senate committee was first reported by The New York Times.

Federal officials on Thursday approved a new type of pain pill designed to eliminate the risks of addiction and overdose associated with opioid medications like Vicodin and OxyContin.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals' Journavx for short-term pain that often follows surgery or injuries.

It's the first new pharmaceutical approach to treating pain in more than 20 years, offering an alternative to both opioids and over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. But the medication's modest effectiveness and lengthy development process underscore the challenges of finding new ways to manage pain.

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Studies in more than 870 patients with acute pain due to foot and abdominal surgeries showed Vertex's drug provided more relief than a dummy pill but didn't outperform a common opioid-acetaminophen combination pill.

"It's not a slam dunk on effectiveness," said Michael Schuh of the Mayo Clinic, a pharmacist and pain medicine expert who was not involved in the research. "But it is a slam dunk in that it's a very different pathway and mechanism of action. So, I think that shows a lot of promise."

The new drug will carry a list price of $15.50 per pill, making it many times more expensive than comparable opioids, which are often available as generics for $1 or less.

RELATED STORY | US accuses Walgreens of filling millions of illegitimate prescriptions, including for opioids

Vertex began researching the drug in the 2000s when overdoses were rocketing upward, principally driven by mass prescribing of opioid painkillers for common ailments like arthritis and back pain. Prescriptions have fallen sharply in the last decade and the current wave of the opioid epidemic is mainly due to illicit fentanyl, not pharmaceutical medicines.

Opioids reduce pain by binding to receptors in the brain that receive nerve signals from different parts of the body. Those chemical interactions also give rise to opioids' addictive effects.

Vertex's drug works differently, blocking proteins that trigger pain signals that are later sent to the brain.

"In trying to develop medicines that don't have the addictive risks of opioid medicines, a key factor is working to block pain signaling before it gets to the brain," Vertex's Dr. David Altshuler, told The Associated Press last year.

Commonly reported side effects with the drug were nausea, constipation, itching, rash and headache.

RELATED STORY | DOJ accuses CVS of knowingly filling unlawful opioid prescriptions

"The new medication has side effect profiles that are inherently, not only different, but don't involve the risk of substance abuse and other key side effects associated with opioids," said Dr. Charles Argoff of the Albany Medical Center, who consulted for Vertex on the drug's development.

The initial concept to focus on pain-signaling proteins came out of research involving people with a rare hereditary condition that causes insensitivity to pain.

Vertex has attracted interest from Wall Street for its ambitious drug pipeline that involves winning FDA approval for multiple drugs across several forms of chronic pain, which generally represents a bigger financial opportunity than acute pain.

But the Boston drugmaker's share price plummeted in December when Vertex reported disappointing mid-stage results in a study of patients with chronic nerve pain affecting the lower back and legs. The drug didn't perform significantly better than placebo, the research found.

"We believe the data reflect a near worst-case scenario for this key pipeline program," biotechnology analyst Brian Abrahams said in a research note to investors, adding that the results jeopardized estimates that Vertex's pipeline could be worth billions across multiple forms of pain.

Still, Vertex executives said they plan to move forward with a new, late-stage study of the drug, theorizing that a different trial design could yield better results and pave the way for FDA approval in chronic pain.

The crash of an American Airlines jet that collided with an Army helicopter was the latest to strike the sports world in the U.S. and globally.

Among the passengers were several members of the Skating Club of Boston who were returning from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas. They included teenage figure skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, their mothers and two highly regarded Russian-born figure skating coaches, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. All 64 people on board were feared dead.

RELATED STORY | Champion figure skaters among those on board the plane that crashed into the Potomac

Air travel accidents in sports are rare, but they have had devastating impacts on national programs, amateur teams and professional clubs.

A look at some of the plane crash tragedies that have struck the sports world over the decades:

Manchester United football club

On Feb. 6, 1958, a plane carrying the Manchester United team and officials crashed as it attempted to take off on a slush-covered runway in Munich. The team was returning from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade, and the plane stopped to refuel in Munich. Among the 23 people were killed were eight Man U players and three team officials. Among those who survived was England great Bobby Charlton.

U.S. Figure Skating team

On Feb 15, 1961, a commercial flight carrying all 18 members of the U.S. Figure Skating team to the world championships in Prague crashed near the Brussels airport, killing everyone one board. Six coaches were also on the plane, along with four team officials and six of the groups family members.

Wichita State University football

On Oct. 2, 1970, one of two chartered jets carrying the Wichita State football team to a game in Utah crashed near Silver Plume, Colorado. Of the 40 on board, 31 died, including 14 players along with coaches, boosters, administrators, trainers and three crew members. The NTSB later said the crash could be attributed primarily to pilot error.

Marshall University football

On Nov. 14, 1970, a chartered jet carrying the Thundering Herd crashed in fog and rain into a hillside upon approach to an airport near Huntington as the team returned from a game at East Carolina. All 75 on board were killed, including 36 football players and 39 school administrators, coaches, fans, spouses and flight crew.

RELATED STORY | 67 people presumed dead after collision between military helicopter and plane

Uruguay rugby club

On Oct. 13, 1972, a chartered Uruguayan Air Force flight carrying the Old Christians Club from Montevideo Uruguay, to Santiago, Chile, crashed in the snowy Andes Mountains. The wreckage was not found for two months and only 16 of the 45 people on board survived. Facing snow storms, avalanches and starvation, survivors awaiting rescue were forced to eat the flesh of those who had died, and their ordeal has been chronicled in books and movies.

Evansville University basketball

On Dec. 13, 1977, an Air Indiana chartered plane with the Evansville University men's basketball team crashed 90 seconds after takeoff from the Evansville airport. The 29 people killed included 14 players and first-year head coach Bobby Watson.

U.S. Boxing team

On March 14, 1980 the U.S. amateur boxing team was flying from New York to Poland for international events ahead of the 1980 Moscow Olympics when their plane crashed near Warsaw. All 87 on board were killed, including 14 boxers and eight team staff members. Two months later, the U.S. decided to boycott the Olympics due to the Soviet Unions invasion of Afghanistan.

Zambia national soccer team

On April 28, 1993, a military aircraft carrying Zambias national soccer team to a World Cup qualifying match crashed into the sea minutes after takeoff from Libreville, Zambia. The team was on its way to play Senegal in the second round of qualifying for the 1994 World Cup. Eighteen players and five team officials were killed.

Oklahoma State University basketball

On Jan. 27, 2001, a turboprop plane carrying 10 men associated with the Oklahoma State University basketball team, including players Nate Fleming and Daniel Lawson, crashed shortly after takeoff near Boulder, Colorado, after the Cowboys had played at the University of Colorado. Six team staffers and broadcasters also were killed.

Russian ice hockey team

On Sept. 7, 2011, 36 players, coaches and staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl professional ice hockey team were killed when their plane crashed near Yaroslavl in central Russia. Investigators said one of the two pilots accidentally put the wheel brakes on during takeoff. Of the 45 people on board, 44 died. The only player who survived the initial crash later died of burns. A flight engineer was the sole survivor.

Hamas-led militants freed eight hostages on Thursday in the latest release since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold earlier this month. Israel was expected to release another 110 Palestinian prisoners.

The release was delayed by a chaotic scene in which a crowd of Palestinians surrounded and jeered at hostages as they were turned over to the Red Cross.

The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel sparked the fighting. It has held despite a dispute earlier this week over the sequence in which the hostages were released.

The first hostage, female Israeli soldier Agam Berger, was released in northern Gaza. Hours later, a chaotic scene unfolded as thousands of people pressed around a handover site in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, in front of the destroyed home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

RELATED STORY | Israel's Netanyahu accepts Trump's invite to meet at White House next week

Footage showed Arbel Yehoud, a 29-year-old hostage, looking stunned as she was led through the crowd by militants toward waiting Red Cross vehicles.

Hundreds of militants from Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group arrived with a convoy in a show of force, and thousands of people gathered to watch, some from the tilted rooftops of bombed-out buildings. Many in the crowd shouted and surrounded Yehoud as masked militants pushed people away and escorted her through.

Red Cross vehicles were then delayed as they tried to drive away. The Israeli army later announced the Red Cross had confirmed it had the freed hostages. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the shocking scene" and called on international mediators to prevent similar events in the future.

Hamas had earlier handed Berger, 20, to the Red Cross after parading her in front of a crowd in the heavily destroyed urban refugee camp of Jabaliya in northern Gaza. The Israeli government later release footage of Berger hugging and crying with her parents.

Berger was among five young, female soldiers abducted in the Oct. 7 attack. The other four were released on Saturday.

People cheered, clapped and whistled at a square in Tel Aviv where supporters of the hostages watched Bergers handover on big screens next to a large clock thats counted the days the hostages have been in captivity. Some held signs saying: Agam were waiting for you at home.

The other two Israelis released Thursday are Yehoud and Gadi Moses, an 80-year-old man. Five Thai nationals were freed, but were not been officially identified.

A number of foreign workers were taken captive along with dozens of Israeli civilians and soldiers during Hamas' attack. Twenty-three Thais were among more than 100 hostages released during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023. Israel says eight Thais remain in captivity, two of whom are believed to be dead.

RELATED STORY | 22 killed in Lebanon as Israeli forces remain after a withdrawal deadline

Of the people set to be released from prisons in Israel, 30 are serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis. Zakaria Zubeidi, a prominent former militant leader and theater director who took part in a dramatic jailbreak in 2021 before being rearrested days later, is also among those set to be released.

Israel said Yehoud was supposed to have been freed Saturday and delayed the opening of crossings to northern Gaza when she was not.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar, which brokered the ceasefire after a year of tough negotiations, resolved the dispute with an agreement that Yehoud would be released Thursday. Another three hostages, all men, are set to be freed Saturday along with dozens more Palestinian prisoners.

On Monday, Israel began allowing Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, the most heavily destroyed part of the territory, and hundreds of thousands streamed back. Many found only mounds of rubble where their homes had been.

Meta has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against the company after it suspended his accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to three people familiar with the matter.

It's the latest instance of a large corporation settling litigation with the president, who has threatened retribution on his critics and rivals, and comes as Meta and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, have joined other large technology companies in trying to ingratiate themselves with the new Trump administration.

RELATED STORY | Meta denies forcing social media users to follow the accounts of Trump, Vance

The people familiar with the matter spoke on the condition of anonymity Wednesday to discuss the agreement. Two people said that terms of the agreement include $22 million going to the nonprofit that will become Trump's future presidential library and the balance going to legal fees and other litigants.

Zuckerberg visited Trump in November at his private Florida club as part of a series of technology, business and government officials to make a pilgrimage to Palm Beach to try to mend fences with the incoming president. At the dinner, Trump brought up the litigation and suggested they try to resolve it, kickstarting two months of negotiations between the parties, the people said.

Meta also made a $1 million donation to Trumps inaugural committee and Zuckerberg was among several billionaires granted prime seating during Trumps swearing-in last week in the Capitol Rotunda, along with Googles Sundar Pichai, Amazons Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, who now owns the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Ahead of Trump's inauguration, Meta also announced that it was dropping fact-checking on its platform a longtime priority of Trump and his allies.

Trump filed the suit months after leaving office, calling the action by the social media companies illegal, shameful censorship of the American people.

RELATED STORY | Supreme Court keeps hold on state laws that limit social media censorship

Twitter, Facebook and Google are all private companies, and users must agree to their terms of service to use their products. Under Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, social media platforms are allowed to moderate their services by removing posts that, for instance, are obscene or violate the services own standards, so long as they are acting in good faith. The law also generally exempts internet companies from liability for the material that users post.

But Trump and some other politicians have long argued that X, formerly known as Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms, have abused that protection and should lose their immunity or at least have it curtailed.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the settlement.

Human-caused climate change increased the likelihood and intensity of the hot, dry and windy conditions that fanned the flames of the recent devastating Southern California wildfires, a scientific study found.

But the myriad of causes that go into the still smoldering fires are complex, so the level of global warming's fingerprints on weeks of burning appears relatively small compared to previous studies of killer heat waves, floods and droughts by the international team at World Weather Attribution. Tuesday's report, too rapid for peer review yet, found global warming boosted the likelihood of high fire weather conditions in this month's fires by 35% and its intensity by 6%.

Once-in-a-decade super strong Santa Ana winds, a dry autumn that followed two very wet years that caused rapid growth in flammable chaparral and grass, hot weather, dry air and vulnerable houses in fire-prone areas all were factors in the fast-moving fires that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 29 people, study authors said. But the climate attribution team was only able to quantify issues that dealt with the fire weather index, which are the meteorological conditions that add up to fire danger.

RELATED STORY | California will spend $2.5 billion to help the Los Angeles area recover from wildfires

The fire weather index which includes measurements of past rainfall, humidity and wind speed is where the team looked and found markers of climate change that they could quantify.

The team used observations of past weather and computer simulations that compared what happened this month to a what-if world without the 1.3 degrees Celsius of human-caused climate change that Earth has had since industrial times. That allowed them to come up with a calculation for warming's contribution to the disaster. It's a method that the National Academy of Sciences says is valid. Even though these rapid studies aren't yet peer-reviewed, nearly all of them are published later in peer-reviewed journals without significant changes, said World Weather Attribution co-lead scientist Friederike Otto.

"The number (35%) doesn't sound like much" because, unlike dozens of its past studies, the team looked at a small area and a complex meteorological measurement in the fire weather index that would generally mean there would be large uncertainties, said Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London. But in this case the climate change fingerprint is big enough that it stands out, she said.

Those conditions are part of what makes California attractive to 25 million residents, said study co-author John Abatzoglou, a climate and fire scientist at the University of California Merced.

RELATED STORY | It's not really the right time for nasty California fires. What are the factors that changed that?

Southern California has "some of the best climate, best weather on the planet except when you get a combination of conditions that occurred here," Abatzoglou said. "You get the trifecta of dry windy and warm conditions. Those three things, in combination with dry fuels and ignitions, are the perfect recipe for fire disasters."

Abatzoglou said it's like a bunch of switches dryness, fuels, high temperatures, wind and ignition that all need to be turned on "for conditions to really take off." Think of it as switches for a light bulb to illuminate "and so you can think about the artificial warming due to human-caused climate change making the light brighter," added co-author Park Williams, a UCLA fire and climate scientist.

The study also found California's dry season has increased by 23 days and the lack of rain in October, November and December was more than twice as likely now than in pre-industrial times, but because of limitations on the data, researchers couldn't statistically pinpoint these to both climate change and the specific fires this month, Otto said. But she said "the rains are decreasing that is because of human-induced climate change."

Then add in strong winds to whip and spread flames.

RELATED STORY | World on pace for significantly more warming without immediate climate action, report warns

Mike Flannigan, a Canadian fire scientist who wasn't part of the research, said one key to him is the fire season extending longer and "increasing the chance a fire will start during peak Santa Ana winds."

The research couldn't specifically quantify how much, if any, climate change affected the Santa Ana winds.

Craig Clements, a climate scientist and director of wildfire study at San Jose State University, said the rapid study makes sense and fits with past research about other fires.

"It's hard to attribute climate change to every fire event as many do," said Clements, who wasn't part of the research. "If we can state with confidence that the drought is caused by climate change then that is the fingerprint."

If the world warms another 1.3 degrees Celsius from now, the study said people should expect the type of weather conditions that led to these fires to happen another 35% more often.

Otto said this is not an issue of politics, but science.

"It's not something where you can say that this was because California did something very wrong. They did a lot of things right. They did some things that they could do better," Otto said. "But what makes these ever more dangerous, these fires, and what is something that the government of California alone can definitely not do anything about is human-induced climate change. And drill, baby drill will make this much, much worse."

The Justice Department on Wednesday abandoned all criminal proceedings against the two co-defendants of President Donald Trump in the Florida classified documents case, wiping out any legal peril the pair could have faced.

Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira were charged with conspiring with Trump to obstruct an FBI investigation into the hoarding of classified documents that the Republican took with him when he left the White House after his first term.

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U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case, in July, saying that the prosecutor who brought it, special counsel Jack Smith, had been illegally appointed by the Justice Department. Smiths team ended its case against Trump after his November election win, citing longstanding department policy that says sitting presidents cannot be indicted.

But its appeal of the dismissal of charges against Nauta and De Olivera remained pending. On Wednesday, prosecutors informed the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that it had withdrawn the appeal, formally ending the case.

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The United States of America moves to voluntarily dismiss its appeal with prejudice, prosecutors wrote. The government has conferred with counsel for Appellees Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who do not object to the voluntary dismissal.

The Justice Department had previously committed to not making public Smiths report on the classified documents investigation as long as proceedings remained ongoing against Nauta and De Oliveira. But the Trump administration Justice Department is widely expected to keep the report permanently under wraps.