Nation and world at a glance
Trump grants exemption
from tariffs for automakers
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is granting a one-month exemption on his stiff new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for U.S. automakers. Worries persist that the newly launched trade war could crush domestic manufacturing.
The announcement came after Trump spoke with leaders of the “Big 3” automakers, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis on Wednesday.
Asked if 30 days was enough for the auto sector to prepare for the new taxes, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says Trump told them: “He told them that they should get on it, start investing, start moving, shift production here to the United States of America where they will pay no tariff.”
Vance promotes Trump’s
immigration crackdown
EAGLE PASS, Texas — Vice President J.D. Vance has visited the U.S.-Mexico border to showcase how arrests for illegal crossings have fallen sharply under President Donald Trump.
Vance said the improvement has occurred because Trump is demanding that all of government prioritize the immigration issue in ways former President Joe Biden never did. Vance was joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, for an aerial tour of the area around Eagle Pass, Texas. They also visited a Border Patrol facility and sat for a roundtable with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and national, state and local officials. Vance says Trump has demanded that the whole government “take the task of border control seriously.”
Trump issues ‘last warning’
to Hamas leaders in Gaza
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has issued what he calls a “last warning” to Hamas to release all remaining hostages held in Gaza. Trump, in a statement on his Truth Social platform soon after meeting eight former hostages at the White House on Wednesday, added that he was “sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job.” The sharp language from Trump came as the White House said Wednesday that U.S. officials have engaged in “ongoing talks and discussions” with Hamas officials, stepping away from a long-held U.S. policy of not directly engaging in the militant group.
Alaska skiers trapped under
snow piled 10 stories high
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An avalanche has trapped three skiers under a pile of snow nearly as deep as a 10-story building in the Alaska backcountry.
The heli-skiers are believed to be dead after being swept away and buried Tuesday near the skiing community of Girdwood, about 40 miles south of Anchorage. If the deaths are confirmed, it would be the deadliest U.S. avalanche since three climbers were killed in Washington’s Cascade Mountains in 2023. The National Avalanche Center says 25 to 30 people die in avalanches each winter in the country. Most deaths occur in the wilderness.
Court rejection sets stage for
execution by firing squad
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court has rejected what is likely the final appeal of condemned man Brad Sigmon, clearing the way for Friday’s firing squad execution. Sigmon’s lawyers wanted to delay his death so they could get a fuller hearing in court to learn more about the drug South Carolina uses in lethal injections. Sigmon says the lack of information forced him to choose to be shot to death. The state also has an electric chair, but Sigmon said he didn’t want to suffer being cooked alive by electricity. Sigmon killed his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat in 2001.
IRS plans 45,000 job cuts
WASHINGTON — The IRS is drafting plans to try to cut its workforce of roughly 90,000 people in half through a mix of layoffs, attrition and incentivized buyouts, according to two people familiar with the situation and not authorized to speak on the record. A reduction in force of tens of thousands of people would render the IRS “dysfunctional,” said John Koskinen, a former IRS Commissioner. The federal tax collector employs roughly 90,000 employees total across the United States, according to the latest IRS data.
The Associated Press
Nation and world at a glance
Pope had coughing fit, inhaled vomit
ROME — The Vatican says Pope Francis suffered a coughing fit that resulted in him breathing in vomit, requiring non-invasive mechanical ventilation.
The Vatican says he responded well, with a good level of gas exchange, and remained conscious and alert at all times.
The episode, reported late Friday by the Vatican, resulted in doctors keeping his prognosis from a two-week battle with double pneumonia as guarded. It marked a setback after two days of increasingly upbeat reports about an improved condition.
Consumers slashed spending in Feb.
WASHINGTON — Ongoing tariff threats from Washington and potentially sweeping government job cuts have darkened consumers’ mood and may be weighing on an otherwise mostly healthy economy. Data released Friday showed that consumers slashed their spending by the most since February 2021, even as their incomes rose.
On a positive note, inflation cooled, but President Donald Trump’s threats to impose large import taxes on Canada, Mexico, and China — the United States’ top trading partners — will likely push prices higher, economists say. Some companies are already planning to raise prices in response.
Mourners bury one of last hostages
JERUSALEM — Mourners buried the remains of one of the last hostages released in the first phase of the ceasefire between Hamas militants and Israel.
Negotiators are seeking to iron out a second phase of the deal that could end the war in Gaza and see the remaining live hostages returning home. T
he body of Tsachi Idan was one of four released by Hamas this week in exchange for over 600 Palestinian prisoners, the last planned swap of the ceasefire’s first phase, which began in January. The relatives of hostages still held in Gaza are ramping up pressure on Netanyahu to secure their release.
Texas measles cases increase to 146
DALLAS — Texas health officials say the number of people with measles has increased to 146 in rural West Texas outbreak that led this week to the death of a school-aged child who was not vaccinated. The Texas Department of State Health Services said Friday that the number of cases in the outbreak had increased by 22 since Tuesday. Health officials said cases span over nine counties, and 20 patients have been hospitalized.
WHO fears water contamination
BASANKUSU, Congo — The World Health Organization says that authorities investigating the deaths of at least 60 people in northwestern Congo suspect the water source in one of the areas may have been contaminated. But the agency said it’s too early for any definitive conclusion. Doctors are investigating more than 1,000 illnesses that emerged since late January in five villages in Congo’s Equateur province, where high rates of malaria complicated efforts to diagnose the cases. Officials have said they’ve been unable so far to confirm the main cause. WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said during an online briefing Friday that for one of the villages there is strong suspicion of some kind of poisoning in the water source.
The Associated Press