Trump

US president says he will announce decision on waterway during trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

United States President Donald Trump has said he will make a decision on how the US refers to the “Persian Gulf” during an upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said he expected his hosts to ask about the name the US uses for the waterway during his first trip to the Middle East since retaking the White House.

“I’ll have to make a decision,” Trump said in response to a question about whether he would make an announcement on the body of water’s name.

“I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. I don’t know if feelings are going to be hurt.”

“I’m going to be given a briefing on that and I’ll make a decision,” Trump added.

Trump’s comments came after US media reported that he plans to use the May 13-16 trip to announce that the US will begin referring to the body of water as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia.

The name of the waterway has long been a source of tensions between Arab nations and Iran.

Iran argues that the “Persian Gulf” is the appropriate name in light of historical evidence, including ancient maps, that shows it is part of its territory.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and other Arab states use the term “Arabian Gulf” or “the Gulf”.

In 2023, Tehran summoned the Iraqi ambassador to protest his country’s use of the name “Arabian Gulf Cup” for the region’s flagship football tournament.

In 2012, Iran threatened to sue internet giant Google for leaving the waterway nameless on its online map services.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the latest suggestions of a name change as “indicative of hostile intent toward Iran and its people”, and warned that such a move would “only bring the wrath of all Iranians from all walks of life”.

“Such biased actions are an affront to all Iranians, regardless of their background or place of residence,” Araghchi said in a post on X early on Thursday.

“Let’s hope that the absurd rumours about the PERSIAN Gulf that are going around are no more than a disinformation campaign by ‘forever warriors’ to anger Iranians all over the world and agitate them.”

In one of his first actions as president, Trump in January signed an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”.

SACRAMENTO  — Seventeen states are suing President Trump’s administration for withholding billions of dollars in funding for the build-out of electric vehicle chargers, according to a federal lawsuit announced Wednesday.

The move comes after the Trump administration in February directed states to stop spending money for electric vehicle charging infrastructure that was allocated under then-President Biden. The program set out to allocate $5 billion over five years to states, of which an estimated $3.3 billion had already been made available.

The lawsuit challenges the Federal Highway Administration’s authority to halt the funding, said California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office. He led the suit alongside attorneys general from Colorado and Washington. They argue that Congress, which approved the money in 2021 as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, holds that authority.

“The President continues to roll back environmental and climate change protections, this time illegally stripping away billions of dollars for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, all to line the pockets of his Big Oil friends,” Bonta, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Some states with projects running under the program have already been reimbursed by the federal government. Others are still contracting for their sites. Still others had halted their plans by the time the Trump administration ordered states to stop their spending. Regardless, getting these chargers installed and operating has been a slow process with contracting challenges, permitting delays and complex electrical upgrades.

It was expected that states would fight against the federal government’s efforts to slow the nation’s electric vehicle charger build-out. New York, for example, has been awarded more than $175 million in federal funds from the program, and state officials say $120 million is currently being withheld by the Trump administration; the state is part of the suit.

Even electric car maker Tesla, run by Elon Musk, who has spearheaded Trump’s cost-cutting efforts, benefited greatly from funding under the program, receiving millions of dollars to expand its already-massive footprint of chargers in the U.S.

Despite threats to the program, experts have said they expect the nation’s EV charging build-out to continue as automakers look to make good on massive electrification ambitions.

Consumers considering an EV cite concerns over charging infrastructure availability. Infrastructure remains a hurdle to adoption for people in multifamily dwellings, rural areas or what are otherwise known as “charging deserts,” as well as people without access to local or workplace charging, or who often drive longer highway routes.

EVs represented about 8% of new car sales in the U.S. last year, according to Motor Intelligence, a sign the market is growing although the pace has slowed as the auto industry looks to convince mainstream buyers about choosing EVs. The program was meant to assuage some concerns and build infrastructure along highway corridors first, then address gaps elsewhere once the state highway obligations were met.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called withholding the funds illegal and said it would kill thousands of U.S. jobs — ceding them to China.

“Instead of hawking Teslas on the White House lawn, President Trump could actually help Elon — and the nation — by following the law and releasing this bipartisan funding,” Newsom said, referencing Trump’s recent purchase of a Tesla in a show of support for Musk.

The Trump administration’s effort to withdraw funding for electric vehicle chargers is part of a broader push to roll back environmental policies advanced under Biden.

During the Republican president’s first week back in office, he signed executive orders to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement again, reverse a 2030 target for electric vehicles to make up half of new cars sold, and end environmental justice efforts. At the same time, federal agencies under Trump have rolled back key rules and regulations and supported the build-out of the fossil fuel industry.

The U.S. House also advanced proposals last week aimed at blocking California from enforcing vehicle emission rules, including a ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. The Senate parliamentarian says the California policies are not subject to the review mechanism used by the House.

Austin and St. John write for the Associated Press. St. John reported from Detroit.

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that Donald Trump’s tariffs are creating “a great deal of uncertainty” and could put the Fed’s goals for low inflation and strong employment at odds. The central bank said it will hold rates steady for now.

Recent deportation flights that have taken migrants to the Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador (pictured) and elsewhere have triggered legal challenges in federal courts. File Photo by Tia Dufour/U.S. Department of Homeland Security/UPI | License Photo

May 7 (UPI) — Officials in the Trump administration have proposed flying several deportees to Libya aboard a U.S. military aircraft as soon as Wednesday, several reports say.

The nationalities and number of those who would be deported to Libya are unknown, but a deportation flight to Libya might occur as soon as Wednesday, the New York Times, CBS News and NPR reported.

Deporting individuals to Libya, where they might be subjected to unpleasant conditions, supports President Donald Trump‘s encouragement for people to self-deport instead of waiting for the federal government to do so, the New York Times reported.

If a deportation flight does leave for Libya, it would herald an expansion of Trump’s controversial deportation policies to more nations and continents.

Recent deportation flights to El Salvador and elsewhere triggered legal challenges in federal courts and visits to El Salvador by members of Congress.

Opponents say people are being deported without due process and have accused the Trump administration of deporting U.S. citizens.

Officials in the Trump administration denied deporting U.S. citizens and have said those deported to El Salvador are members of violent gangs, such as Tren de Aragua and MS-13, which Trump has designated as terrorist organizations.

The State Department has warned U.S. citizens against traveling to Libya because of that nation’s “crime, terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping and armed conflict,” the New York Times reported.

Libya has been divided since former dictator Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011.

Libya now has a U.N.-recognized government in Tripoli, which controls the western half of the nation.

The eastern half is controlled by warlord Khalifa Haftar from his headquarters in Benghazi.

Haftar controls most of Libya’s oil fields, and his son met with several officials in the Trump administration while visiting Washington, D.C., last week.

When asked about a potential deportation flight to Libya, Trump denied knowing anything about it and said the Department of Homeland Security handles such matters, NPR reported.

Trump picks Dr Casey Means, a close ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, as nominee for key health position.

United States President Donald Trump has selected Doctor Casey Means, a wellness influencer with close ties to Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, as his nominee for surgeon general after withdrawing his previous nominee.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump said that Means would work closely with RFK Jr, who is his Health and Human Services secretary.

“Her academic achievements, together with her life’s work, are absolutely outstanding,” the post states. “Dr Casey Means has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States History.”

Means, who was an adviser on RFK Jr’s 2024 presidential run, is currently serving as an advisor to the White House, and makes frequent appearances on TV and podcasts defending the administration’s moves related to health and nutrition policy.

She has no government experience and dropped out of her surgical residency programme, stating that she had become disillusioned with traditional medicine.

She founded a company named Levels that helps users track blood pressure and other health metrics. She also makes money from sponsoring various dietary supplements and other products that she says have health benefits on her social media account.

Few health experts would dispute that the American diet, full of processed foods, is a contributor to obesity and related problems. But Means goes further, linking changes in diet and lifestyle to a host of conditions including infertility, Alzheimer’s, depression and erectile dysfunction.

Members of the administration, such as RFK Jr, have attacked measures such as mandatory vaccinations and the use of fluoride in drinking water, both practices that scientists and health officials say have been highly successful public health measures.

Attacks on such measures and traditional sources of scientific authority showed limited, but energising, appeal among a group of core supporters during the 2024 campaign, tapping into mistrust of medical expertise as well as common disillusionment with the US healthcare and food production industries.

Critics say that appeals from figures like Trump and his allies tap into legitimate sources of concern while leaving their root causes largely unaddressed and simultaneously rolling back environmental and health protections.

The announcement comes after Trump withdrew his initial pick for the key health post, a medical contributor on Fox News named Janette Nesheiwat, who had been scheduled for a confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday.

Nesheiwat had come under fire from far-right allies of the administration over her support for the COVID-19 vaccine and allegations that she may have misrepresented her academic and medical school history.

The administration of President Donald Trump has continued to face setbacks in its attempts to deport pro-Palestinian student protesters, as courts probe whether the students’ rights have been violated.

On Wednesday, separate courts issued orders related to two of the most high-profile cases: that of Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk.

In New York, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ordered Ozturk, a 30-year-old Turkish student from Tufts University, be moved to Vermont no later than May 14.

That ruling marked a rejection of a Trump administration appeal to delay the transfer and keep Ozturk in Louisiana, where she has been held in an immigration detention centre since late March.

“We’re grateful the court refused the government’s attempt to keep her isolated from her community and her legal counsel as she pursues her case for release,” said Esha Bhandari, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who represents Ozturk.

Separately, in Newark, New Jersey, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to deliver specifics about its rationale for describing Khalil, a leader in Columbia University’s student protests, as a threat to US foreign policy.

Inside Ozturk’s case

The latest ruling in Ozturk’s case highlighted a practice that has become common under the Trump administration: Many foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement have been transferred to detention centres far from their homes.

Ozturk’s ordeal began on March 25, when six plain-clothed police officers arrested her outside her home in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, where she went to school.

Supporters believe Ozturk, a PhD student and Fulbright scholar from Turkiye, was targeted for having co-written an opinion article in her student newspaper, calling on Tufts University to acknowledge Israel’s war on Gaza as a genocide.

The US is a longtime ally of Israel and has supported its military campaign in Gaza. The Trump administration has accused Ozturk of having “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans”, though it has not offered evidence.

After she was detained outside her home, Ozturk was reportedly whisked across state borders, first to Vermont and later to Louisiana, all within a 24-hour period, according to her lawyers.

Critics have described those rapid transfers as a means of subverting due process, separating foreign students from family, friends and legal resources they can otherwise draw upon.

In Ozturk’s case, the confusion led her lawyers to file a petition for her release in Massachusetts, as they did not know where she was when they submitted the paperwork.

On April 18, a lower court ruled that Ozturk must be returned to Vermont no later than May 1, as it weighed her habeas petition: a type of complaint that challenges the legality of one’s detention.

“No one should be arrested and locked up for their political views. Every day that Rumeysa Ozturk remains in detention is a day too long,” Bhandari, her lawyer, said in a statement.

But the Trump administration appealed, seeking an emergency stay of Ozturk’s transfer to Vermont.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected (PDF) that request, however. It said the government had failed to show any “irreparable harm” that Ozturk’s transfer would cause.

“Faced with such a conflict between the government’s unspecific financial and administrative concerns on the one hand, and the risk of substantial constitutional harm to Ozturk on the other, we have little difficulty concluding ‘that the balance of hardships tips decidedly’ in her favor,” the court wrote.

Though Ozturk is expected to be transferred to Vermont, where her habeas petition will be heard, the Trump administration is slated to continue with deportation proceedings in Louisiana.

The appeals court, however, explained that this should be no challenge for the Trump administration, given that Ozturk can appear through video conference for those hearings.

“The government asserts that it would face difficulties in arranging for Ozturk to appear for her immigration proceedings in Louisiana remotely,” the court wrote. “But the government has not disputed that it is legally and practically possible for Ozturk to attend removal proceedings remotely.”

The Trump administration has the option of appealing the decision to the Supreme Court.

Inside Khalil’s case

Likewise, Khalil faces deportation proceedings in Louisiana while his habeas petition is heard in New Jersey, closer to his home in New York City.

On March 8, he became the first high-profile case of a student protester being arrested for deportation. Agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrived at his student housing building at Columbia University, where his wife, a US citizen, filmed him being handcuffed and led away.

Khalil himself was a US permanent resident who recently graduated from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. He is of Palestinian descent.

On Tuesday, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in New Jersey rejected a bid by the Trump administration to transfer Khalil’s habeas petition to Louisiana.

And on Wednesday, US District Court Judge Michael Farbiarz ordered the Trump administration to provide a specific assessment of the risks Khalil poses by being in the US.

Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio has cited Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to justify Khalil’s detention and deportation. A rarely used provision of the law allows secretaries of state to remove noncitizens who could cause “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences”.

But Rubio has so far been vague about what those consequences might be in Khalil’s case. The student protest leader has been charged with no crime.

Judge Farbiarz also required the Trump team to supply a catalogue of every case in which US officials have employed that law. The Trump administration is expected to appeal that judge’s order as well.

WASHINGTON — President Trump plans to announce while on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week that the United States will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia, according to two U.S. officials.

Arab nations have pushed for a change to the geographic name of the body of water off the southern coast of Iran, while Iran has maintained its historic ties to the gulf.

The two U.S. officials spoke with the Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. The White House and National Security Council did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The Persian Gulf has been widely known by that name since the 16th century, although usage of “Gulf of Arabia” and “Arabian Gulf” is dominant in many countries in the Middle East. The government of Iran — formerly Persia — threatened to sue Google in 2012 over the company’s decision not to label the body of water at all on its maps.

On Google Maps in the U.S., the body of water appears as Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf). Apple Maps only says the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. military for years has unilaterally referred to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf in statements and images it releases.

The name of the body of water has become an emotive issue for Iranians who embrace their country’s long history as the Persian Empire. A spat developed in 2017 during Trump’s first term when he used the name Arabian Gulf for the waterway. Iran’s president at the time, Hassan Rouhani, suggested Trump needed to “study geography.”

“Everyone knew Trump’s friendship was for sale to the highest bidder. We now know that his geography is, too,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote online at the time.

On Wednesday, Iran’s current foreign minister also weighed in, saying that the naming of Mideast waterways does “not imply ownership by any particular nation, but rather reflects a shared respect for the collective heritage of humanity.”

“Politically motivated attempts to alter the historically established name of the Persian Gulf are indicative of hostile intent toward Iran and its people, and are firmly condemned,” Abbas Araghchi wrote on the social platform X.

“Any short-sighted step in this connection will have no validity or legal or geographical effect, it will only bring the wrath of all Iranians from all walks of life and political persuasion in Iran, the U.S. and across the world.”

Trump can change the name for official U.S. purposes, but he can’t dictate what the rest of the world calls it.

The International Hydrographic Organization — of which the United States is a member — works to ensure all the world’s seas, oceans and navigable waters are surveyed and charted uniformly, and also names some of them. There are instances where countries refer to the same body of water or landmark by different names in their own documentation.

In addition to Saudi Arabia, Trump is also set to visit Doha, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which also lies on the body of water. Originally planned as Trump’s first trip overseas since he took office on Jan. 20, it comes as Trump has tried to draw closer to the Gulf countries as he seeks their financial investment in the U.S. and support in regional conflicts, including resolving the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and limiting Iran’s advancing nuclear program.

The U.S. president also has significant financial ties to the countries through his personal businesses, over which he has retained ownership from the Oval Office.

The move comes several months after Trump said the U.S. would refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

The Associated Press sued the Trump administration earlier this year after the White House barred its journalists from covering most events because of the organization’s decision not to follow the president’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” within the United States.

U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, an appointee of President Trump, ruled last month that the 1st Amendment protects the AP from government retaliation over its word choice and ordered the outlet’s access to be reinstated.

Lee writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Zeke Miller in Washington, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Meg Kinnard in Chapin, S.C., contributed to this report.

May 7 (UPI) — President Donald Trump is reportedly about to unilaterally rename another gulf in the world. The change next week during a Saudi Arabia visit would call it the Arabian Gulf or Gulf of Arabia.

Making this announcement, especially in the middle of sensitive negotiations Iranian nuclear negotiations, is reportedly prompting outrage from some Iranian leaders and efforts are being made to persuade Trump to not go through with the name-change policy.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, “The name Persian Gulf, like many geographical designations, is deeply rooted in human history. Iran has never objected to the use of names such as the Sea of Oman, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea or Red Sea. In contrast, politically motivated attempts to alter the historically established name of the Persian Gulf are indicative of hostile intent toward Iran and its people, and are firmly condemned.”

While Arab nations have advocated changing the name of the body of water south of Iran, the Persian Gulf name has been used since Roman times.

Arab nations use either the Gulf of Arabia or Arabian Gulf.

European diplomats attempting to broker a deal with Iran on its nuclear program are urging Iranian leaders to not “lose it” over Trump’s reported renaming plans.

According to the Guardian news site, Trump believes renaming the gulf will help led Arab nations to offer concessions in relations with Israel.

U.S. Central Command uses Gulf of Arabia, while the U.S. State Department and CIA use Persian Gulf.

The Trump administration officially implemented changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name to Gulf of America in January. That action included renaming Alaska’s Mount Denali back to the old name of Mount McKinley.

May 7 (UPI) — The Trump administration launched a review into recently alleged anti-Semitic activity at the University of Washington and its affiliated campuses.

The U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and the General Services Administration announced the probe a day after roughly 30 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at UW’s campus in Seattle after they occupied an engineering building and demanded the university sever its ties with Boeing, which donated $10 million for the building in 2022.

“The Task Force will not allow these so-called ‘protesters’ to disrupt campus life and deprive students, especially Jewish students who live in fear on campus, of their equal opportunity protections and civil rights,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

“This isn’t about politics,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a statement. “It’s about whether a federally funded university is upholding the law, protecting civil rights and fostering a safe environment for all students.”

UW officials estimated more than $1 million in damages so far from Tuesday’s clash, UW’s student-run paper The Daily reported Wednesday.

It was led by the so-called Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return who clashed for several hours with campus, Seattle and state police that caused extensive building damage with added dumpster fires. Arrested protesters now face charges of destruction of property, trespassing and disorderly conduct.

The University of Washington encompasses some 20 schools and its three campuses in Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma.

“This was no peaceful protest in support of Palestinian rights or against the war in Gaza,” UW President Ana Mari Cauce wrote Tuesday in a statement condemning the violence, saying it will “not be intimidated by this sort of horrific and destructive behavior and will not engage in dialogue with any group using or condoning such destructive tactics.”

The university said it is working with King County jail staff to identify any arrested students.

The White House, meanwhile, praised the school’s expression of condemnation but stated UW administrators “must do more to deter future violence and guarantee that Jewish students have a safe and productive learning environment.”

“We will continue our actions to oppose anti-Semitism, racism and all forms of biases so that ALL our students, faculty, staff and visitors can feel safe and welcome on our campuses,” Cauce, the university’s president, added.

UW was one of 60 college and university campuses targeted by the Trump administration that threatened to cut federal funding if they did not do more to protect Jewish students from perceived discrimination.

The president warned in March of funding cuts over “illegal” protests.

“Agitators will be imprisoned/permanently sent back to the country from which they came,” he wrote on his conservative social media platform. “American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

It follows similar moves by the administration against Columbia where $400 million in federal grants were cut, and at Harvard University.

When Donald Trump signed an executive order last week cracking down on truckers who don’t speak the best English, there was one industry expert I needed to call: my dad.

Lorenzo Arellano drove big rigs across Southern California for 30 years before retiring in 2019. His six-day workweeks kept us well-fed and clothed and allowed him to afford a three-bedroom Anaheim home with a swimming pool, where he and my youngest brother still live today.

“Why does that crazy man want to do this?” he asked me over the phone in Spanish before answering his own question. “It’s because [Trump has] always had a lack of respect for the immigrant. We truckers don’t deserve this. He’s just trying to harm people. He wants to humiliate the whole world.”

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Times columnist Gustavo Arellano talks with his dad — a longtime truck driver — about an executive order by President Trump that enforces a requirement that truckers be proficient in English.

Federal regulations punishing immigrant truckers for their limited English dates back to the 1930s. Trump’s order calls for the enforcement of an existing requirement that truckers be proficient in English, overturning a 2016 policy that inspectors shouldn’t cite or suspend troqueros as long as they could communicate sufficiently, including through an interpreter or smartphone app.

Conservatives have long tied that Obama-era action and the rise of immigrant truckers — they now make up 18% of the profession, according to census figures — to a marked increase in fatal accidents over the last decade, which Trump alluded to when he insisted that “America’s roadways have become less safe.”

Trump’s move is the latest dog whistle aimed at people who don’t like that the United States ain’t as white as it used to be. It follows similarly xenophobic actions, like declaring English the official language, severely curtailing birthright citizenship and renaming the Gulf of Mexico “Gulf of America.”

The English-for-truckers push has particularly angered me, though. Presuming that a more-diverse trucking industry is the main culprit behind the increase in fatal truck crashes ignores the fact that there are more trucks on the road, driving more miles, than ever before. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the rate of fatal crashes is three times less than in the late 1970s, when cultural touchstones like “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Convoy” seared the image of the good ol’ white boy trucker into the American psyche.

It’s also an insult against people like my 73-year-old dad.

When I was in junior high, Papi took me with him on weekends to teach me the value of hard work. He’d wake me up at 2 in the morning so I could strap down cargo on flatbeds during chilly mornings or drag a pallet jack around warehouses at lunchtime. I don’t remember hearing him speak anything other than Spanish, the language we’ve always communicated in. But he succeeded enough that all four of his children are college-educated and have full-time jobs.

His dream was for the two of us to eventually open our own father-son trucking company. That never happened because I was too much of a nerd, but I always took pride in my dad’s career. He achieved the American dream despite coming into this country in the trunk of a Chevy with a fourth-grade education and only picking up what I’ve always described as a rudimentary understanding of English.

I visited my papi the day after our phone call, to see the only two mementos he could dig up from his trucking career.

Gustavo and Lorenzo Arellano talk about President Trump’s executive order cracking down on truckers who don’t speak the best English.

(Albert Brave Tiger Lee / Los Angeles Times)

One was a bent, blurry photo of him from the early 1990s with his first rig, a faded red GMC cabover that he parked behind my Tía Licha’s store so he wouldn’t have to pay a private lot. Papi, younger than I am today, stands to the side of the troca at the Placentia Home Depot, waiting for workers to unload it. He’s not smiling, because old-school Mexicans never smile for the camera. But you can tell by his pose that he’s proud.

The other memento Papi showed me was a plaque dated 1991 from a trucking trade group. It congratulated him for being a “credit to your profession” and “the very best your industry has to offer.”

“They would only give it to the drivers who were safest,” he explained while I held it. We sat in his living room, where photos of my late mom and us kids decorated the bookshelves. He cracked a smile. “I earned a lot of them.”

I asked how he learned the English he did know. Papi replied — in Spanish — that his first lessons were at his first job in the U.S., a carpet-cutting factory in Los Angeles. The owners taught the Latino workers how to run the machines but also enough phrases so immigration authorities would leave them alone whenever there was a raid.

Otherwise, my dad lived in a world of español, my first language. When he married my mami and moved to Anaheim, she convinced him that they should take English classes at night to better their prospects. He only stuck with it for two years, “because I was working a lot.”

When he was training to be a truck driver in the mid-1980s, the instructor spoke Spanish but told everyone they needed to learn enough English to understand traffic signs and pass the DMV test.

“And that makes sense, because this is the United States,” Papi told me. “But this is also Southern California. Everyone knows a little bit of English, but a lot of people also know a little bit of Spanish, too.”

I asked how much English he used on the job.

“50%, maybe,” he answered. “Why am I going to say ‘A lot’ when that’s not true?”

He recited the sentences that dispatchers and security guards peppered him with in English at every stop:

What are you coming for?

What company do you work for?

Who’s the broker?

What’s the address?

Do you have a driver’s license?

He repeated each question — and its corresponding answer — slowly, as if to conjure up a time when he was younger and happy about finally finding his professional groove.

“They listened to me and understood, even though I spoke chueco y mocho,” he said — crooked and broken. Saying that out loud, my dad became uncharacteristically self-conscious.

I asked if anyone ever made fun of his English.

“No,” he said, suddenly happy. “Because truckers, we’re a brotherhood.”

Papi rattled off all the immigrants he worked alongside in his trucking days. Russians. Armenians. Arabs. Italians. “They didn’t know Spanish. I didn’t know their language. So we had to speak English to become friends. Everyone knew a little.”

In fact, he remembered how the immigrant truckers looked down on people who spoke perfect English.

“The person who doesn’t speak English works harder. He doesn’t run away from work. The ones who spoke good English, they worked less because they thought knowing English made them so powerful. When the boss said, ‘Who wants more shifts?’ the English speaker would say, ‘Why do I want to work late?’ and run off to their homes.”

I asked Papi if he regretted not knowing more English.

“Nope. What’s done is done.”

Then he took a moment to think. “Look, studying is for people who like it, like you. But not me. Maybe I could’ve had a better life.”

He gestured around our family home. “But we had a good life. I did what I had to do.”

My father wasn’t the most responsible man in his personal life, but trucking grounded him. I thought of how he and so many other truckers sacrificed self-improvement — things like English classes — in the name of getting ahead at work. I remember all the inspections my dad’s rig had to go through — he never failed one — and how he still reprimands me to this day if I rely on my rearview mirror instead of my side mirrors when I’m backing up. How nearly every time we see each other, he reminds me to check the oil and the air pressure in my tires.

Truckers are some of the most careful people you’ll meet, because they know how dangerous their profession is. So for Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy to huff in a press release that his department “will always put America’s truck drivers first” — as if people like Papi somehow don’t belong to that group — is hateful and ignorant of what trucking in this country is truly about. Or what this country is truly about.

My dad and I waited for a Times video editor to record us talking about his trucking days. Toward the end, I tossed out an idea: How about he address Trump on behalf of immigrant truck drivers … in English?

Dressed in a snazzy black Stetson, leather vest and his finest boots, there was no way Papi was going to pass. He looked directly at the camera.

“Mr. Trump,” he said. “This is Lorenzo Arellano, 100% Mexican. Please be a respect with the truck drivers. We always working hard. … It doesn’t matter if they don’t speak English. They gotta be good workers. I guarantee!”

His heavy accent didn’t get in the way of how confident, unapologetic — even polite — he sounded, despite his loathing of the president.

“They speak a little bit English,” Papi said of his trucking compadres. “Don’t need much English. I hope you listen to this conversation. Thank you, Trump. Do something for us.”

I joked to the camera that this was my dad, who supposedly didn’t speak any English.

“Todo mocho. Todo chueco,” he said again.

In other words, perfect.

Eastern Europe’s love affair with Trump runs deep – but economic fallout may soon cool the romance.

Despite Donald Trump’s fraying popularity at home, there is a corner of the globe where his brand remains remarkably resilient: Eastern Europe. Last Sunday, the Trump-loving far-right populist George Simion topped the first round of Romania’s presidential elections, securing over 40 percent of the vote and a realistic path to the top office. Echoing Trump’s pledge to “Make America Great Again,” Simion promises to “give back to the Romanian people what was taken from them”. He is not an outlier.

In neighbouring Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban openly embraces the mantle of Trump’s European standard-bearer. Trumpworld’s influence in the region extends beyond politics. Jared Kushner is spearheading a real estate venture in downtown Belgrade, and Donald Trump Jr has recently completed his second tour in months of Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria, rubbing shoulders with politicians, business elites and crypto entrepreneurs eager to forge ties with the Trump family.

Eastern Europe’s fascination with the “America First” president is fuelled by both ideological alignment and hard-nosed pragmatism. The MAGA message resonates widely across the post-communist landscape. A recent Gallup poll ahead of the 2024 United States election showed that 49 percent of respondents in Bulgaria and Hungary – and a staggering 59 percent in Serbia – preferred Trump over Kamala Harris. This is no coincidence. From the AfD supporters in former East Germany to the ruling Georgian Dream party in Tbilisi, illiberal actors across the region are rallying against the liberal democratic consensus. Their views on issues like LGBTQ rights, race, gender, multiculturalism, vaccines and Ukraine mirror those of Trump’s base. Trump’s friendliness towards Vladimir Putin has further enhanced his appeal in Russia-friendly nations like Serbia.

There is also a transnational dimension. Eastern European diasporas in the US tend to favour Trump, drawn by social conservatism or competition with other ethnic and racial groups. Their counterparts in Western Europe are similarly inclined, even as they benefit from the very open-border policies they often deride. In Romania’s recent election, 60 percent of Romanians living in the European Union and the United Kingdom voted for Simion. Many had previously backed Calin Georgescu, a far-right figure publicly defended by US Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference.

At home, elites see in Trump a potential enabler. A powerful friend in Washington who overlooks corruption and democratic backsliding could prove advantageous both domestically and internationally. The prospect of US foreign policy becoming indistinguishable from the Trump Organization’s business agenda is attractive in a region rife with opaque sectors like infrastructure, energy and mining. The recent US-Ukraine critical minerals deal is seen as a blueprint for currying favour with a transactional White House.

This relationship is already yielding dividends. In April, the Trump administration reversed sanctions on Antal Rogan, a close Orban ally, originally imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act by the Biden administration. The move has raised hopes elsewhere: in Bulgaria, tycoon and political heavyweight Delyan Peevski – also sanctioned under Magnitsky – is reportedly eyeing a similar reprieve.

Yet Eastern Europe’s Trump infatuation may prove fragile. Ironically, Trump’s economic nationalism threatens to undercut the very economies governed by his ideological allies. Hungary and Slovakia, both heavily reliant on automotive exports, stand to suffer under US tariffs. Slovakia’s car industry alone accounts for nearly 30 percent of national exports and employs 10 percent of the workforce. Even a modest 10 percent tariff could decimate jobs in Central Europe’s industrial belt.

Such economic fallout would have political consequences. In the Czech Republic, it might boost populist Andrej Babis, a Trump-like businessman. But in Hungary, Orban already faces a serious challenge from Peter Magyar, with elections looming next year. In Slovakia, Robert Fico governs with a slim majority and increasing public dissent – his long-term survival is uncertain.

Trumpism has already proven a liability for right-wing allies in Canada and Australia. While Eastern Europe remains more receptive, the region is not immune to the risks of over-identification with a movement that pits itself against the European Union, liberal values and global economic integration.

The MAGA revolution may still fire up crowds in Bucharest and Belgrade – but its contradictions could just as easily burn those who embrace it.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Donald Trump pushed out his National Security Advisor Mike Waltz because he was reportedly talking to Israeli PM Netanyahu about bombing Iran. Does this mean Trump is serious about diplomatic reconciliation with Iran? Soraya Lennie explains.

South Coast Repertory was celebrating the opening night of a play it had commissioned and spent years developing when it received the notification: The $20,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant that funded the project had been canceled.

The Tony Award-winning theater in Costa Mesa was not alone. By Monday, nonprofits in and around L.A. — including the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, L.A. Theatre Works and the Industry — were scrambling to plug funding gaps as large as $50,000, money that in some cases had already been spent.

“The NEA is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President. Consequently, we are terminating awards that fall outside these new priorities,” the Friday night emails to arts groups said, adding that their project “does not align with these priorities.”

The grant cancellations marked the latest salvo in Trump’s battle to claim the landscape of American arts and culture, including his takeover of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; his elimination of federal funding for what he called “divisive” exhibits about racism and sexism in America at the Smithsonian; his drastic cuts to the National Endowment for Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services; and his broader efforts to eliminate the NEA altogether.

“It’s really gonna leave us in the red, I think,” said Edgar Miramontes, executive and artistic director of CAP UCLA, which spent its $40,000 grant in January on a program featuring Congolese dancer and choreographer Faustin Linyekula, who used movement to honor maternal ancestors and to tell the story of women in his clan.

Faustin Linyekula

(Sarah Imsand)

CAP UCLA’s grant had been recommended for fulfillment by the NEA but was not yet finalized. That was not a concern, Miramontes said. Precedent suggested that the money would come through based on the recommendation. But then the cancellation came.

CAP UCLA has long benefited from its connection to UCLA, but universities are also facing the threat of federal funding cuts under the Trump administration. This leaves the organization to turn to individual donors, many of whom are reluctant to give when the stock market is so volatile and the economic outlook is so clouded by Trump tariffs.

The funding shocks add to the challenges arts organizations are still grappling with in their post-COVID-19 recovery.

“This feels like another layer,” Miramontes said, adding that audiences were just beginning to come back and reengage with live performance. “Now having to deal with this potential ongoing loss is really difficult to think about.”

Created by an act of Congress in 1965, the NEA has been a diminishing but still important source of funding for six decades across a range of cultural disciplines targeting all kinds of audiences — young and old, low and high. In the last five years, it has given nearly $82 million to arts organizations in California.

“We would never have imagined that there would be a world where arts education and telling the American story through music would not be a priority for this kind of august granting body that’s funded by our tax dollars,” said LACO Executive Director Ben Cadwallader, who lost a $25,000 grant for a residency with pianist Lara Downes. “How we tell our stories is how we define ourselves. That’s our identity, and without the backing of the federal government in that effort, it’s just profoundly demoralizing.”

LACO’s grant had already been funded and spent. The program in question had been completed after Downes conducted residencies and concerts at the Watts Learning Center school campus as well as with USC’s Neighborhood Academic Initiative.

Classical musician Lara Downes.

(Max Barrett)

“If it weren’t so sad, it would be a little bit comical to receive this termination notice after everything has already been accomplished,” said Cadwallader, who speculated that LACO got the notice because the grant was marked “active” in the NEA portal.

According to an email sent to its grantees by the California Arts Council, which acts at the state’s arts agency and receives funding from the NEA, the grant rescissions appear to be widespread but “not uniformly applied across all grantees.”

Los Angeles Master Chorale, for example, received its full $50,000 grant for its “Lift Every Voice” program and got no letter, said President and Chief Executive Scott Altman.

“As I’m connecting with sister organizations and hearing from colleagues across the country, we seem to be a bit of an anomaly,” Altman said. “I think it’s just head-spinning to try to interpret things that are so erratic. That’s the struggle that organizations are encountering right now — how to possibly read into what is being sought under new guidelines.”

The lack of clarity about how these funding decisions are being made — and whether the NEA will exist in the future — is making it hard for groups to plan programming.

At L.A. Theatre Works, which bills itself as the country’s leading producer of audio theater, Managing Director Vicki Pearlson said the nonprofit has reliably received grants from the NEA for decades. This year’s grant, the first ever to get pulled back, was for $50,000.

“It’s never a guarantee that you’re going to get an award, but with a long history in your budget planning, you project that it will be there,” Pearlson said. “It’s difficult when there are such stalwarts in arts funding, such as the NEA, that now simply are up in the air.”

CAP UCLA and South Coast Repertory plan to appeal the rescission of grant money that has already been spent. The NEA letters state that groups have seven days to appeal.

“Promised matching funds from the National Endowment for the Arts allowed our organization to secure the resources necessary to produce this work,” SCR wrote in a statement about “The Staircase” by Noa Gardner. “The vast majority of artists, artisans and technicians working on our production are local to Orange County and Southern California, creating hundreds of jobs for our local workforce.”

The impact of NEA cuts on communities and individual artists could be huge, said Carissa Gutierrez, director of public affairs for the California Arts Council.

“We already know that artists face increased economic instability with fewer grants and project opportunities, so we know that any potential cuts to organizations throughout the state could, in fact, impact artists directly and communities as well,” Gutierrez said, adding that the council is tracking organizations that lost funding along with the size of their budgets to understand how those losses might be offset.

“We are working around the clock,” Gutierrez said.

Artists are doing the same.

“When times are like this, when there is so much chaos, my job feels very important,” said LACO’s creative partner Lara Downes. “When we’re making music, and we’re creating that space for people to be together to focus on beauty and truth. It just feels extremely urgent and extremely big.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Washington does not wish to decouple from China but wants ‘fair trade’.

The United States and China will hold trade talks in Switzerland this week, officials have said, as the world’s two largest economies seek to de-escalate tensions that have led to a de facto mutual trade embargo.

The talks would be the first official engagement between Washington and Beijing on trade since US President Donald Trump slapped a 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods, prompting a retaliatory 125 percent duty from China.

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will attend the talks for the US side, their offices said in a statement on Tuesday.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will represent Beijing, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Businesses and investors have been anxiously waiting for signs of a thaw in US-China tensions amid fears a prolonged trade war could cause serious damage to the global economy.

The International Monetary Fund last month lowered its global growth forecast for 2025 from 3.3 percent to 2.8 percent amid Trump’s trade salvoes.

Economists have increasingly warned of the possibility of the US economy tipping into a recession this year, with JP Morgan Research putting the likelihood at 60 percent.

The US economy shrank 0.3 percent in the first quarter – a period before most of Trump’s tariffs came into effect – the first decline since early 2022.

In an interview with Fox News after the talks were announced, Bessent said the two sides had a “shared interest” in talks as the current levels of tariffs were unsustainable.

“We don’t want to decouple. What we want is fair trade,” Bessent told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

Bessent said he expected the initial talks to focus on “de-escalation,” rather than a “big trade deal”.

“We’ve got to de-escalate before we can move forward,” he said.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday that the talks should proceed on the “basis of mutual respect, equality, consultation, and mutual benefit”.

“As a Chinese saying goes, ‘Listen to their words and observe their actions,’” a ministry spokesperson said.

“If the US wishes to resolve issues through negotiation, it must acknowledge the severe negative impacts its unilateral tariff measures have had on itself and the world, respect international economic and trade rules and the voices of fairness and reason from various sectors, demonstrate sincerity in negotiations, correct its wrongful actions, and work with China to address concerns through equal consultations.”

May 6 (UPI) — The Yemen-based Houthis have “capitulated” and stopped attacking commercial and military shipping, President Donald Trump announced after meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday.

“They’ve announced to us at least that they don’t want to fight anymore,” Trump told media.

“They just don’t want to fight, and we will honor that,” Trump said. “They have capitulated. But, more importantly, they … say they will not be blowing up ships anymore.”

Trump said Houthi representatives approached his administration Monday night seeking a halt to nearly two months of continuous airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, Politico reported.

U.S Central Command has said military strikes have hit at least 800 targets and killed hundreds of Houthis after the aerial campaign against the organization that controls significant parts of Yemen.

The strikes began on March 15 and were intended to stop the Houthis from continuing to attack commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The Houthi strikes caused many commercial shipping outfits to stop using the Suez Canal and instead sail around the southern end of Africa to avoid waters near Yemen.

Trump said an informal agreement has ended the hostilities between the U.S. military and the Houthis.

It’s unclear if the Houthis agreed to stop attacking all shipping or only U.S.-flagged vessels.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff helped to negotiate the cease-fire over the weekend, with Oman officials acting as a mediator, Politico reported.

“Efforts have resulted in a cease-fire agreement between the two sides,” Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said Tuesday in a post on X.

“In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping,” he said.

The Houthis will continue their strikes against Israel, though.

Houthi senior official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said the Houthis “will definitely continue our operations in support of Gaza” until hostilities end there, Bloomberg News reported.

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The United States Supreme Court has allowed a ban on transgender military members to take effect while legal challenges over the restriction continue.

On Tuesday, the court’s conservative majority issued an unsigned order lifting a lower court’s injunction that had blocked the ban from taking effect.

The order also indicated that the Supreme Court’s three left-leaning judges – Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson – sought to deny the emergency request to lift the injunction.

Since taking office for a second term on January 20, President Donald Trump has sought to curtail the rights and visibility of transgender people in the US, including through restrictions on military service.

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order declaring that his administration would only “recognise two sexes, male and female”. That same day, he rescinded an order from his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, that allowed transgender troops to serve in the military.

Then, on January 27, he unveiled a new directive, called “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness”. It compared being transgender with adopting a “‘false’ gender identity”.

Such an identity, the order added, was not compatible with the “rigorous standards necessary for military service”.

“Adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life,” the executive order said.

“A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”

That executive order sparked a slew of legal challenges, including the one at the centre of Tuesday’s Supreme Court order.

In that case, seven active-duty service members – as well as a civil rights organisation and another person hoping to enlist – argued that a ban on their transgender identity was discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Advocates for the group point out that the seven have together earned more than 70 medals for their service. The lead plaintiff, Commander Emily Shilling, had spent nearly two decades in the Navy, flying 60 missions as a combat pilot. Her lawyers estimate that nearly $20m has been invested in her training during that time.

But the Trump administration has argued that the presence of transgender troops is a liability for the military.

“Another MASSIVE victory in the Supreme Court!” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on social media following Tuesday’s order.

“President Trump and [Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth] are restoring a military that is focused on readiness and lethality.”

Hegseth also posted a short message, using an acronym for the Department of Defence: “No More Trans @ DoD.”

This is not the first time Trump has attempted to exclude transgender people from the armed forces. In July 2017, shortly after taking office for his first term, Trump announced a similar policy on the social media platform Twitter, now known as X.

“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,” Trump wrote in consecutive posts, divided by ellipses.

Similarly, in 2019, the Supreme Court allowed that ban to take effect. Then, in 2021, Biden’s executive order nullified it.

The Trump administration pointed to its past success at the Supreme Court in its emergency appeal to lift the lower court’s injunction blocking its latest ban on transgender troops.

That temporary injunction was the decision of a US district court judge in Tacoma, Washington: Benjamin Settle. Himself a former army captain, Settle was named to his position under former President George W Bush, a Republican.

In March, Settle blocked the ban on transgender troops, saying that – while the government made reference to “military judgement” in its filings – its arguments showed an “absence of any evidence” that the restriction had to do with military matters.

“The government’s arguments are not persuasive, and it is not an especially close question on this record,” he wrote.

Other judges have likewise issued injunctions, including District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, DC. She ruled in a case where 14 transgender service members sued against Trump’s ban, citing the right to equal protection under the law, enshrined in the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.

“The cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed – some risking their lives – to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the military ban seeks to deny them,” Reyes wrote in her decision, issued shortly before Settle’s in March.

Of the more than 2.1 million troops serving in the US military, less than 1 percent are estimated to be transgender.

One senior official estimated last year that there are only about 4,200 transgender service members on active duty, though advocates say that number could be an undercount, given the risk of violence and discrimination associated with being openly transgender.

The human rights groups Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation have been among those supporting transgender service members in their fight against Trump’s ban. The two organisations issued a joint statement on Tuesday denouncing the high court’s decision.

“By allowing this discriminatory ban to take effect while our challenge continues, the court has temporarily sanctioned a policy that has nothing to do with military readiness and everything to do with prejudice,” they wrote.

“We remain steadfast in our belief that this ban violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection and will ultimately be struck down.”

Oman says it brokers truce between Washington and Houthis, says neither side will target the other.

President Donald Trump has announced the United States is abandoning its daily bombing campaign of Yemen based on an understanding with the Houthis as Oman confirms that it has brokered a ceasefire between Washington and the armed group.

“The Houthis have announced to us that they don’t want to fight any more. They just don’t want to fight, and we will honour that, and we will stop the bombings,” Trump told reporters in the White House on Tuesday during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Trump claimed that the Iran-aligned Yemeni group “capitulated” and has promised not to carry out attacks on shipping. It launched those attacks in October 2023 shortly after the war in Gaza started, saying the attacks were in support of Palestinians.

“I will accept their word, and we will be stopping the bombing of Houthis, effective immediately,” the US president said.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the two sides have agreed to a ceasefire.

“Following recent discussions and contacts conducted by the Sultanate of Oman with the United States and the relevant authorities in Sana’a, in the Republic of Yemen, with the aim of de-escalation, efforts have resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the two sides,” he wrote in a post on X.

“In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping.”

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthis’ Supreme Political Council, wrote in a post on X that “Trump’s announcement of a halt to America’s aggression against Yemen will be evaluated on the ground first.”

“Yemen operations were and still are a support for Gaza to stop the aggression and bring in aid,” he added, suggesting that the group would not halt its attacks on Israel.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna said that the US State Department clarified that the agreement did not relate to the conflict between Israel and the Houthis.

“It was made very clear by the US State Department that the deal relates directly to Houthi operations in the coast of Yemen, specifically in regard to US shipping,” he said.

The ceasefire announcement comes hours after the Israeli military launched air strikes on the airport in Sanaa, inflicting devastating damage and rendering it inoperable.

Dozens of Israeli warplanes also launched several waves of large-scale overnight strikes on Yemen’s vital port of Hodeidah in what Israel said was a response after the Houthis hit the perimeter of Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport with a ballistic missile.

The US military has been launching daily air strikes across Yemen for nearly two months, destroying infrastructure and killing dozens of people, including children and civilians.

Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem said it was “possible” that Iran helped to convince the Houthis to de-escalate their attacks.

“The Omanis have also been the main mediators between the US and Iran, and now the Houthis and the Americans. There are indications that the nuclear talks are advancing, with a framework shaping over sanctions lifting in exchange for nuclear restrictions,” he said.

“It is possible that the Iranians have helped in convincing the Houthis to de-escalate, especially if we see this reflected on the Iranian-American talks. It could have been an incentive for the nuclear talks to be done quicker.”

On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of legislators in Sacramento released a letter urging California’s congressional delegation to protect the embattled Head Start program and reject any proposed Trump administration cuts.

The letter, which was signed by over three-quarters of state lawmakers, said they are “deeply alarmed” by a growing list of cuts to the federal early childhood program under the Trump administration — including the threat of total elimination — and asked that Congress “reject any proposals that weaken or eliminate Head Start.”

“That is probably the most bipartisan letter and issue that we have worked on in years, and it is all to protect and save our Head Start program,” Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens (D-Silicon Valley), said at a press conference. At least 17 Republican legislators, many representing rural areas, the Central Valley, and Orange County, signed the letter.

Head Start also enjoys overwhelming public support across the political spectrum with 74% of Trump voters in support of the program, according to an April survey of more than 1,000 registered voters nationwide. The poll by the firm UpONE Insights was conducted on behalf of First Five Years Fund, which lobbies Congress on early childhood education.

California receives $1.5 billion annually for Head Start. The program provides child care, education, medical care, and nutritious meals to more than 80,000 low-income children from birth through age five in the state and employs about 26,000 workers.

Due to recent cuts and threats, nearly 1000 Head Start employees in California have already received pink slips, Ahrens said.

Engage with our community-funded journalism as we delve into child care, transitional kindergarten, health and other issues affecting children from birth through age 5.

Two of the members who spoke at the conference — Ahrens and Republican Assemblymember Heather Hadwick (R-Alturas) — had attended Head Start programs themselves. “I still distinctly remember eating fresh fruit for the first time in my life, because the Head Start Program offers free breakfast,” Ahrens said.

In rural districts, like Modoc, Siskiyou, and Lassen Counties, “Head Start isn’t just one option among many. A lot of times, it’s the only option,” said Hadwick, who represents these areas. “I fully believe that we need to cut our budget and cut the waste. I just hope that we don’t do it on the backs of low-income, working families and our children.”

“Access to reliable early education supports parents to work or pursue training, and early childhood jobs —many held by women of color — support community well-being and economic mobility,” the legislators wrote in the letter. Already, a shortage of child care access “is estimated to cost California “$17 billion in lost productivity and economic output” annually, they wrote, and cuts to Head Start would “exacerbate this loss.”

Last month, an early version of President Trump’s budget proposed eliminating the Head Start program entirely. That proposal appeared to have been withdrawn in the “skinny” Presidential budget plan released last week, but the administration has undercut the program repeatedly.

In January, an executive order to temporarily freeze all federal financial aid in January left Head Start staff suddenly unable to access the funds they had been promised. In February scores of federal staffers were laid off at the department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Head Start in Washington, D.C. And in April, the administration announced that five of the 12 regional offices managing relationships with Head Start grantees would be closed immediately and all employees laid off, including Region 9, which covers four states, including California.

This article is part of The Times’ early childhood education initiative, focusing on the learning and development of California children from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, go to latimes.com/earlyed.

In recent years, California – home to America’s film industry – has slipped to become the sixth most preferred location to shoot and produce movies.

Hollywood producers are moving to cities in Canada, the United Kingdom, Central Europe and New Zealand, lured by a range of financial benefits on offer.

US President Donald Trump wants to reverse this trend and says he wants to “make movies in America, again”.

And he’s using the stick to do so.

Trump has ordered 100 percent tariffs on imported movies and those made outside the United States.

The move has confused Hollywood and the European film industry.

So, how will the tariffs be implemented? Will a movie partly produced outside the US be punished?

And what about films made for streaming platforms? And how will the tariffs affect the movie industry globally?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Jonathan Handel – Entertainment lawyer and journalist

Chris Southworth – Secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce United Kingdom

Kamran Pasha – Hollywood director, screenwriter and novelist