Low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines has reportedly signed a deal with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to start flying deportation flights from Arizona this May, a move the company’s CEO has acknowledged is controversial, according to the Associated Press.
Avelo CEO Andrew Levy said, we realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic,” but the airline’s flights would be part of a long-term charter program to support the DHS’ deportation plans, which would help with expansion and protect jobs.
Meanwhile, some upset customers are taking to social media in protest. On Bluesky, one user posted, “Nope. They fly a route I take and its closer to home but Ill travel further and fly American.” Many others used the hashtag “#BoycottAveloAirlines to register their dismay.
Fast Company has reached out to Avelo Airlines for comment on the backlash.
In addition, more than 4,000 people have signed a Change.org petition to boycott the budget airline until it halts plans to carry out deportation flights. Avelo said it will use three Boeing 737-800 planes out of Mesa Gateway Airport, near Phoenix for those flights.
The online Change.org boycott petition was created by New Haven Immigrants Coalition, which is located in the same town as Avelo’s main East Coast airport hub, Tweed New Haven Airport. The AP reported that the city’s Democratic Mayor Justin Elicker has also called Levy and urged him to reconsider the flights.
China said Tuesday it would fight to the end and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports.
The Commerce Ministry said the U.S.s imposition of so-called reciprocal tariffs on China is completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, has announced retaliatory tariffs and the ministry hinted in its latest statement that more may be coming.
The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate, the ministry said.
The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the U.S. China will never accept this. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end,” it added.
Analysts and traders worry about a global trade war
Trump’s threat Monday of additional tariffs on China raised fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could intensify a financially destructive trade war. Stock markets from Tokyo to New York have become more unstable as the tariff war worsens.
Trumps threat came after China said it would retaliate against U.S. tariffs he announced last week.
If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th, Trump wrote on Truth Social. Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!
If Trump implements his new tariffs on Chinese products, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would reach a combined 104%. The new taxes would be on top of the 20% tariffs announced as punishment for fentanyl trafficking and his separate 34% tariffs announced last week. Not only could that increase prices for American consumers, it could also give China an incentive to flood other countries with cheaper goods and seek deeper relationships with other trading partners, particularly the European Union.
Chinese people worry, but keep faith with their country
On the streets of Beijing, people said they found it hard to keep track of all the announcements, but expressed belief in their country’s ability to weather the storm.
“Trump says one thing today and another tomorrow. Anyway, he just wants benefits, so he can say whatever he wants,” said Wu Qi, 37, who works in construction.
Others were less sanguine. Paul Wang, 30, who sells stainless accessories, including necklaces, bracelets, and tongue studs to Europe, said the European market was now more important after the extra U.S. 50% tariffs and he would be watching to see which other firms in his field would be competing in that space.
Jessi Huang and Yang Aijia, whose companies import chemicals from the U.S., said the tariffs, including potential Chinese retribution, could force them to close up shop.
It would be very hard and very likely to have a layoff, maybe even closing, Huang said, I might not be able to find another job if I get laid off.
China isn’t out of options to retaliate
China still has a range of options to strike back at the Washington, experts said, including suspending cooperation on combating fentanyl, placing higher quotas on agricultural products and going after the U.S. trade in services in China such as finance and law firms.
U.S. total goods trade with China was an estimated $582 billion in 2024, making it the top trader in goods with the U.S. The 2024 deficit with China in goods and services trade was between $263 billion and $295 billion.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian appeared to give short shrift to talk of dialogue with the Trump administration.
I don’t think what the U.S. has done reflects a willingness for sincere dialogue. If the U.S. really wants to engage in dialogue, it should adopt an attitude of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, Lin said.
In Hong Kong, where stocks were slightly higher Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee blasted the latest U.S. tariffs as bullying, saying the ruthless behavior has damaged global and multilateral trade and brought great risks and uncertainties to the world.
Lee said the city would link its economy closer to Chinas development, sign more free trade agreements, attract more foreign companies and capital to Hong Kong, and support local enterprises in coping with the impact of the tariffs.
Associated Press writers Chris Megerian, Josh Boak, Fu Ting, Christopher Bodeen, and Kanis Leung contributed to this report.
The U.S. stock market is careening through a second straight day of stunning swings Tuesday as uncertainty reigns about what whether President Donald Trump will ease up on his trade war, which is scheduled to kick into a higher gear after midnight.
The S&P 500 lost an early gain of 4.1%, which had it on track for its best day in years, and slumped 1.7% with about an hour left in trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 403 points, or 1%, after giving up its earlier surge of 1,460 points, while the Nasdaq composite was 2.4% lower, as of 3:13 p.m. Eastern time.
Stocks globally had rallied much more earlier in the day, with indexes up 6% in Tokyo, 2.5% in Paris and 1.6% in Shanghai. But even after those jumps, analysts had been warning to expect more swings up and down for financial markets not just in the days ahead but also the hours.
The big question remains centered on how long Trump will keep his stiff tariffs on other countries, which would raise prices for U.S. shoppers and slow the economy. If they last a long time, economists and investors expect them to cause a recession. But if Trump lowers them through negotiations relatively quickly, the worst-case scenario can be avoided.
Hope still remains on Wall Street that negotiations may be possible, and Trump said Tuesday that a conversation with South Korea’s acting president helped them reach the confines and probability of a great DEAL for both countries.”
Their top TEAM is on a plane heading to the U.S., and things are looking good, Trump said on his Truth Social platform. We are likewise dealing with many other countries, all of whom want to make a deal with the United States.
Japanese stocks led global markets higher after the countrys prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, appointed his trade negotiator for talks with the United States. It was based on an agreement between Ishiba and Trump, Japanese officials said.
But investors should still remain cautious, said Sameer Samana, a senior global market strategist for Wells Fargo Investment Institute. He pointed to how the key countries continue to escalate, rather than de-escalate.
China said it will fight to the end and warned of countermeasures after Trump threatened on Monday to raise his tariffs even further on the worlds second-largest economy.
That led White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to say Trump’s threats of even higher tariffs on China will become reality after midnight, when imports from China will be taxed at a stunning 104% rate.
That would coincide with Trump’s latest set of broad tariffs, which are scheduled to kick in at 12:01 a.m. And Trump has made clear that he does not intend to have any exemptions or exclusions in the tariffs, according to the country’s top trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer.
The U.S. trade representative also said in testimony before a Senate committee that roughly 50 countries have already been in contact, and he’s told them: “If you have a better idea to achieve reciprocity and to get our trade deficit down, we want to talk with you, we want to negotiate with you.
Trumps trade war is an attack on the globalization thats shaped the world’s economy and helped bring down prices for products on store shelves but also caused manufacturing jobs to leave for other countries. Trump has said he wants to narrow trade deficits, which measure how much more the United States imports from other countries than it sends to them as exports.
On Wall Street, health insurers gained ground after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a stronger-than-expected increase in Medicare Advantage payments for next year. Humana jumped 9.6%, United Health climbed 5.9%.
On the losing end were companies that import many of the products they sell. Ralph Lauren sank 6.8%, for example. It sourced about 15% of its products from China last fiscal year.
Best Buy doesn’t import many products directly from China, but the electronics industry in general has a complex supply chain that heavily depends on the country. Best Buy estimates vendor imports from China make up about 55% of the products it purchases, and the retailer’s stock fell 8.5%
In the bond market, Treasury yields mostly rose for a second straight day to recover more of their sharp losses from prior months. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.22% from 4.15% late Monday and from just 4.01% late Friday.
Yields tend to rise with expectations for the U.S. economys strength and for inflation.
Stan Choe, AP business writer
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
The United States said on Tuesday that 104% duties on imports from China will take effect shortly after midnight, even as the Trump administration moved to quickly start talks with other trading partners targeted by President Donald Trump‘s sweeping tariff plan.
U.S. stocks retreated on the news. Global markets had previously posted gains on hopes that Trump might be willing to negotiate down the array of country and product-specific trade barriers he is erecting around the world’s largest consumer market.
The administration has scheduled talks with South Korea and Japan, two close allies and major trading partners, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is due to visit next week.
But the White House made clear that country-specific tariffs of up to 50% would nevertheless take effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time (0401 GMT), as planned.
Those tariffs will be especially steep for China, as Trump has ratcheted up duties on its imports to 104% in response to counter-tariffs Beijing announced last week. China has refused to bow to what it called “blackmail” and has vowed to “fight to the end.”
Administration officials said they would not prioritize negotiations with the world’s No. 2 economic power.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs have raised fears of recession and upended a global trading order that has been in place for decades.
“Right now, we’ve received the instruction to prioritize our allies and our trading partners like Japan and Korea and others,” White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Fox News.
The White House said Trump instructed his trade team to create “tailor made” deals for the nearly 70 countries that have reached out for talks.
Trump’s lead trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer, told Congress that his office is trying to work quickly but is not facing a particular deadline.
“The president has been clear, again, that he’s not doing exemptions or exceptions in the near term,” Greer told lawmakers.
China is bracing for a war of attrition, and manufacturers are warning about profits and scrambling to plan new overseas plants. Citing rising external risks, Citi cut its 2025 China GDP growth forecast to 4.2% from 4.7%.
Three out of four Americans expect prices to rise as Trump’s tariffs kick in, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Chipmaker Micron told customers it will impose a tariff-related surcharge starting on Wednesday, while U.S. clothing retailers said they are delaying orders and holding off on hiring. Running shoes made in Vietnam that now retail for $155 will cost $220 when Trump’s 46% tariff on that country takes effect, according to an industry group.
Consumers are stocking up while they can. “I’m buying double of whatever – beans, canned goods, flour, you name it,” Thomas Jennings, 53, said as he pushed a shopping cart through the aisles of a New Jersey Walmart.
Stock markets found a firmer footing on Tuesday after a gut-wrenching few days for investors which prompted some business leaders, including those close to Trump, to urge the president to reverse course.
European shares bounced off 14-month lows after four straight sessions of heavy selling, while global oil prices steadied after falling to four-year lows.
Wall Street’s main indexes had posted gains earlier in the day, but fell after the White House said the tariffs on China would take effect.
Europe eyes counter-measures
The European Commission, meanwhile, is mulling counter-tariffs of 25% on a range of U.S. goods including soybeans, nuts and sausages, though other potential items like bourbon whiskey were left off the list. Officials said they stood ready to negotiate.
The 27-member bloc is struggling with tariffs on autos and metals already in place, and faces a 20% tariff on other products on Wednesday. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on EU alcoholic drinks.
European pharma companies, also fearful of the tariff fallout, warned the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a meeting that Trump’s tariffs would expedite the industry’s shift away from Europe and towards the United States.
Susan Heavey, Trevor Hunnicutt and Joe Cash, Reuters
Writing by Andy Sullivan, Matthias Williams and John Geddie.
The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to use a 1798 wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act, to deport Venezuelan migrants it accuses of being gang members, ending the temporary halt on deportations ordered by a federal district judge.
But the court also ruled that the administration must give Venezuelans it claims are gang members the chance to legally fight any deportation orders. It also did not weigh in on Trumps invocation of the act.
The ruling came after the wartime law was used last month to fly more than 130 men accused of being members of the gang Tren de Aragua to El Salvador, where the U.S. has paid to have the men held in a notorious prison. The Trump administration argues that the gang has become an invading force.
The Venezuelans deported under the act did not get a chance to challenge the orders, and attorneys for many of the men say there’s no evidence they are gang members.
American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt called it an important victory that people must now be given the right to challenge their removal orders.
The Trump administration welcomed the ruling, with Attorney General Pam Bondi saying an activist judge in Washington, DC does not have the jurisdiction to seize control of President Trumps authority to conduct foreign policy.
What is the Alien Enemies Act?
In 1798, with the U.S. preparing for what it believed would be a war with France, Congress passed a series of laws that increased the federal government’s reach. The Alien Enemies Act was created to give the president wide powers to imprison and deport noncitizens in time of war.
Since then, the act has been used just three times: during the War of 1812 and the two world wars.
It was part of the World War II legal rationale for mass internments in the U.S. of people of German, Italian and especially Japanese ancestry. An estimated 120,000 people with Japanese heritage, including those with U.S. citizenship, were incarcerated.
Can the U.S. use a wartime law when it’s not at war?
For years, Trump and his allies have argued that the U.S. is facing an invasion of people arriving in the country illegally.
Arrests on the U.S. border with Mexico topped 2 million a year for two straight years for the first time under President Joe Biden, with many released into the U.S. to pursue asylum. After hitting an all-time monthly high of 250,000 in December 2023, they dropped sharply in 2024 and dramatically more after Trump took office.
The Trump administration has increasingly described the migrant issue as a war, most notably by designating eight Latin American criminal groups, including Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations.
Trump’s invocation of the act, which was publicly announced March 15, the same day as the deportations, said Tren de Aragua was attempting an invasion or predatory incursion of the United States.
Administration officials now regularly use military terminology to describe the situation, with Trump telling reporters last month that this is a time of war.
Trumps critics insist he is wrongly invoking an act designed for use during declared wars.
Trumps attempt to twist a centuries-old wartime law to sidestep immigration protections is an outrageous and unlawful power graband it threatens the core civil liberties of everyone, Scott Michelman, legal director of the ACLU of the District of Columbia, said in a statement after the Monday ruling.
How has the legal case proceeded?
The ACLU and Democracy Forward preemptively sued Trump hours before the March 15 deportations began, saying five Venezuelan men held at a Texas immigration detention center were at imminent risk of removal under the Alien Enemies Act. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg blocked their deportation, prompting an immediate Justice Department appeal.
Later that day, Boasberg issued a new order to stop the deportations being carried out under the centuries-old law, and said any planes in the air needed to turn around. By then, though, two ICE Air planes were heading across the Gulf of Mexico and toward Central America. Neither came back.
Mark Sherman and Tim Sullivan, Associated Press
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Speaking to ResiClub in December, Jay Bray, CEO of mortgage servicer Mr. Cooper, told me that real estate would see a lot of mergers and acquisitions in 2025and that Mr. Cooper was out shoppingas the industry continues to grind through the prolonged housing activity slump that started back in summer 2022.
You’ve seen consolidation already. If you think about this industry going forward, you’re going to need a balanced business model. You’re going to need the capability to invest in technology, to use everybody’s favorite two initials: AI,” Bray said in December. “That requires scale, that requires capital, that requires a healthy balance sheet. So I think as long as we’re in this kind of grind it out origination market, I don’t see any reason you will not see more consolidation happen. The stronger players will continue to get stronger, to some degree, and continue to look for opportunities to consolidate.
Bray added that: We are in the stronger category . . . We’ve probably done more acquisitions than anybody in the industry, by far, and so, yeah, we’re still in the market for that We will be active and looking for opportunities.
Bray was right that a big deal loomedonly the hunter became the hunted.
On March 31, mortgage lending giant Rocket Companies (owner of Rocket Mortgage, formerly known as Quicken Loans) announced it had reached an agreement to acquire Mr. Cooper for $9.4 billion.
Rocket Companies claims that, combined, it will service more than $2.1 trillion in loan volume, including one in six mortgages in America.
Rocket Companies CEO Varun Krishna [Photo: Rocket Companies]
“Servicing is a critical pillar of homeownership alongside home search and mortgage origination,” said Varun Krishna, CEO of Rocket Companies, in the press release announcing the deal. “With the right data and AI infrastructure we will deliver the right products at the right time. That’s how we build lifelong relationships, by proactively unlocking benefits and meeting needs before they arise. We look forward to welcoming Mr. Cooper’s nearly 7 million clients.”
This deal came just three weeks after Rocket Companies announced on March 10th that it struck an agreement to buy Redfin in a $1.75 billion deal.
Whats going on?
Rocket Companies is strategically positioning itself as a giant force in residential real estate, aiming to create a one-stop shop for homebuyers by merging Redfins customer funnel and Mr. Coopers mortgage servicing with its existing mortgage lending business.
“Its becoming increasingly clear that Zillows true competition isnt CoStarits Rocket,” Amanda Orson, CEO of real estate marketplace Galleon, tells ResiClub. “Everyones been watching CoStars $1 billion ad blitz with Homes.com, but their residential play is burning cash with no meaningful traction. Meanwhile, Rocket is executing something far more ambitiousand more dangerous: Theyre buying the full residential real estate stack.”
Redfin handles front-of-house customer acquisition, and Rocket does mortgage origination and lending, where it’s already the dominant direct-to-consumer player. Finally, Mr. Cooper has a $2.1 trillion mortgage servicing portfolio and 4.6 million customers. Says Orson: “This is vertical integration on an entirely new scale.
Orson adds that there are two major forces at play right now in the real estate industry: changes in the commission structure and a new administration that appears more friendly to mergers and acquisitions. “The real estate transaction itself is undergoing tectonic change,” says Orson. “[The National Association of Realtors] settlement is just the start. We’re watching the unbundling of a 112-year-old commission structure. A wave of agentless transactions is comingand Rocket is positioning to serve them end-to-end.”
Zillows current model relies heavily on agent commissions ($1.2 billion of its $1.9 billion in revenue), says Orson: “Theyve started to pivot into mortgage origination and full-stack products, but the scale Rocket already commands in direct-to-consumer lending puts them in a league of their own.”
Plus, the new administration is a tailwind for M&A, she adds. “Rocket is taking advantage of this moment with bold moves, consolidating distribution, infrastructure, and recurring revenue,” says Orson. “Both Zillow and Rocket are chasing verticalization, but Rocket is further alongand playing to win. They now control the entire journey: from lead to loan to lifetime servicing. Zillow still has front-of-funnel traffic, for nowbut Rocket has monetization.
Orson says that CoStarthe commercial real estate giant that owns Homes.com and was trying to compete with Zillowis the biggest loser in all of this. “Their residential push isnt sticky, isnt scaled, and at $1 billion [per] year in ad spend is starting to look like a costly distraction.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he wants communities to stop fluoridating water, and he is setting the gears of government in motion to help make that happen.
Kennedy this week said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. And he said hes assembling a task force of health experts to study the issue and make new recommendations.
At the same time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it would review new scientific information on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water. The EPA sets the maximum level allowed in public water systems.
Here’s a look at how reversing fluoride policy has become an action item under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The benefits of fluoride
Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the CDC. In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and in 1962 set guidelines for how much should be added to water.
Fluoride can come from a number of sources, but drinking water is the main one for Americans, researchers say. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population gets fluoridated drinking water, according to CDC data.
The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water was long considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century. The American Dental Association credits it with reducing tooth decay by more than 25% in children and adults.
About one-third of community water systems 17,000 out of 51,000 across the U.S. serving more than 60% of the population fluoridated their water, according to a 2022 CDC analysis.
The potential problems of too much fluoride
The CDC currently recommends 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water.
Over time, studies have documented potential problems when people get much more than that.
Excess fluoride intake has been associated with streaking or spots on teeth. And studies also have traced a link between excess fluoride and brain development.
A report last year by the federal governments National Toxicology Program, which summarized studies conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Mexico, concluded that drinking water with more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter more than twice the CDC’s recommended level was associated with lower IQs in kids.
Meanwhile, last year, a federal judge ordered the EPA to further regulate fluoride in drinking water. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that its not certain fluoride is causing lower IQ in kids, but he concluded that research pointed to an unreasonable risk that it could be.
Kennedy has railed against fluoride
Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, has called fluoride a dangerous neurotoxin and an industrial waste tied to a range of health dangers. He has said its been associated with arthritis, bone breaks, and thyroid disease.
Some studies have suggested such links might exist, usually at higher-than-recommended fluoride levels, though some reviewers have questioned the quality of available evidence and said no definitive conclusions can be drawn.
How fluoride recommendations can be changed
The CDC’s recommendations are widely followed but not mandatory.
State and local governments decide whether to add fluoride to water and, if so, how much as long as it doesnt exceed the EPA’s limit of 4 milligrams per liter.
So Kennedy cant order communities to stop fluoridation, but he can tell the CDC to stop recommending it.
It would be customary to convene a panel of experts to comb through the research and assess the evidence that speak to the pros and cons of water fluoridation. But Kennedy has the power to stop or change a CDC recommendation without that.
The power lies with the secretary, but public trust would erode if recommendations are changed without a clear scientific basis, said Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University.
If youre really serious about this, you dont just come in and change it, he said. You ask somebody like the National Academy of Sciences to do a study and then you follow their recommendations.
On Monday, Kennedy said he was forming a task force to focus on fluoride, while at the same time saying he would order the CDC to stop recommending it.
HHS officials did not answer immediately questions seeking more information about what the task force would be doing.
Some places are already pulling back on fluoridation
Utah recently became the first state to ban fluoride in drinking water, and legislators elsewhere are looking at the issue.
An Associated Press analysis of CDC data for 36 states shows that many communities have halted fluoridation in recent years.
Over the last six years, at least 734 water systems that consistently reported their data in those states have stopped fluoridating water, according to the AP’s analysis.
Mississippi alone accounted for more than 1 in 5 of those water systems that stopped. Most water systems that discontinued fluoridation mainly did so to save money, said Melissa Parker, the Mississippi state health departments assistant senior deputy.
During the pandemic, Mississippis health department allowed local water systems to temporarily cease fluoridating because they could not purchase sodium fluoride in the midst of global supply chain issues. Many never restarted, Parker said.
CDC funding for fluoride is typically a small factor
Since 2003, CDC has funded a limited number of state oral health programs through cooperative agreements. The agreements run in cycles, and at the beginning of this year 15 states were each receiving $380,000 over three years.
The money can be used on a number of things, including collecting data on people with dental problems, dental care and technical assistance for community water fluoridation activities.
The current oral health funding is going to Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Caolina, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The states are told not to use the money for chemicals, because the funding is intended to help set up fluoridation, not for everyday expenses, federal officials have said. South Carolina, for example, sets aside up to $50,000 to help communities in that state fluoridate. Iowa spends about $65,000 to promote community water fluoridation.
Earlier this year, CDC officials declined to answer questions about how much of the total oral health money has been going toward fluoridation.
Now, there is no one to ask: Last week, the CDCs entire 20-person Division of Oral Health was eliminated as part of widespread government staffing cuts.
Congress appropriated money to CDC specifically to support oral health programs, and some congressional staffers say the agency must distribute those funds no matter who is running the HHS or CDC. But Trump-driven budget cuts have struck at a number of programs that Congress had called for, and it’s not clear what will happen to the CDC oral health funding.
Fluoridation is relatively cheap compared with other water department expenses, and most communities simply incorporate the cost into the water rates charged to customers, according to the American Water Works Association.
In Erie, Pennsylvania, for example, fluoridating water for 220,000 people costs about $35,000 to $45,000 a year and is entirely funded by water rates, said Craig Palmer, the chief executive of the Erie Water Authority.
So cutting off the CDC money would not have much impact on most communities, some experts said, although it could be more impactful for some smaller, rural communities.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Mike Stobbe and Kasturi Pananjady, Associated Press
Shares in Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) are trading slightly higher this morning after the company reported its Q2 2025 earnings. The results, which beat on earnings and revenue, are notable as they will be one of the last earnings reports the company posts as a publicly traded company. Heres what you need to know about Walgreens’s results.
Walgreens shares trading higher after Q2 2025 results
As of the time of this writing, WBA shares are up about 1.72% in early-morning trading. The price rise likely reflects the fact that much of the markets are up todaya first in the past three trading days since April 2 when President Trump announced his chaotic tariffs on countries around the world.
However, WBA stock is also likely rising slightly today due to the fact that the company posted beats on revenue and earnings for its second quarter of fiscal 2025.
For the second quarter, Walgreens Boots Alliance announced revenues of $38.6 billiona 4.1% increase from the same quarter a year ago. The company also announced an adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 63 centsdown from an adjusted EPS of $1.20 in the quarter a year earlier.
Walgreens said that the EPS decline was due to several factors, including prior year adjusted effective tax benefit, lower U.S. retail sales and prior year sale-leaseback gains, partly offset by cost savings within U.S. Retail Pharmacy and growth in U.S. Healthcare.
As noted by CNBC, despite the disappointing EPS, Walgreens still managed to beat analyst expectations. Analysts had expected an EPS of just 53 cents and revenue of $38 billion.
No fiscal 2025 guidance
One notable absence from Walgreens’ Q2 2025 numbers was its fiscal guidance for the rest of the financial year. The company removed its previous FY25 guidance because it is being taken private.
Last month, private equity firm Sycamore Partners agreed to buy the struggling pharmacy chain for $11.45 per share. That transaction is scheduled to conclude in the final quarter of the 2025 calendar year, pending regulatory and other approvals.
Walgreens had previously said in January that it had expected a full-year 2025 EPS of between $1.40 and $1.80 per share. However, in its press release for its Q2, Walgreens stated that WBAs previously issued guidance for full year fiscal 2025 should no longer be relied upon.
Walgreens stock price down from 12-month highs
Given that Sycamore Partners has already agreed to buy Walgreens Boots Alliance for $11.45 per share, its no wonder that the companys stock price has fluctuated little since the deal was announced last month. As a matter of fact, until Trumps tariff announcements last week, WBA stock had been relatively steady since the deal was announced.
However, primarily due to global stock markets crashing in the past several days, WBA stock is currently still down about 4.7% in the past month.
WBA stock is also down significantly from where it was a year ago, when it traded at over $19 per share. Since its January 2024 highs, WBA shares have fallen over 43%.
Olja Ivanic looked forward to welcoming some cousins from Sweden to her Denver home in June. Ivanic and the four travelers were planning to go hiking in Colorado and then visit Los Angeles and San Francisco.
But then President Donald Trump berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a February meeting at the White House. Ivanics four relatives immediately canceled their scheduled trip and decided to vacation in Europe instead.
The way (Trump) treated a democratic president thats in a war was beyond comprehensible to them, said Ivanic, who is the U.S. CEO of Austria-based health startup Longevity Labs.
The U.S. tourism industry expected 2025 to be another good year in terms of foreign travelers. The number of international visitors to the United States jumped in 2024, and some forecasts predicted arrivals from abroad this year would reach pre-COVID levels.
But three months into the year, international arrivals are plummeting. Angered by Trumps tariffs and rhetoric, and alarmed by reports of tourists being arrested at the border, some citizens of other countries are staying away from the U.S. and choosing to travel elsewhere.
The federal government’s National Travel and Tourism Office released preliminary figures Tuesday showing visits to the U.S. from overseas fell 11.6% in March compared to the same month last year. The figures did not include arrivals from Canada, which is scheduled to report tourism data later this week, or land crossings from Mexico. But air travel from Mexico dropped 23%.
For the January-March period, 7.1 million visitors entered the U.S. from overseas, 3.3% fewer than during the first three months of 2024.
The travel forecasting company Tourism Economics, which as recently as December anticipated the U.S. would have nearly 9% more international arrivals this year, revised its annual outlook last week to predict a 9.4% decline.
Tourism Economics expects some of the steepest declines will be from Canada, where Trumps repeated suggestion that the country should become the 51st state and tariffs on close trading partners have angered residents. Canada was the largest source of visitors to the U.S. in 2024, with more than 20.2 million, according to U.S. government data.
Flight Centre Travel Group Canada, a travel booking site, said leisure bookings to U.S. destinations were down 40% in March compared to the same month a year ago. Air Canada has reduced its schedule of spring flights to Florida, Las Vegas, and Arizona due to lack of demand.
The National Travel and Tourism Office gave a rosier forecast last month for international travel to the U.S. Based on 2024 travel patterns, the office said it expected arrivals to increase 6.5% to 77.1 million this year and surpass 2019 levels in 2026.
But Tourism Economics said the impact of the less favorable view of the U.S. from abroad could be severe enough that international visits won’t surpass pre-pandemic levels until 2029.
The survey data is all indicating a significant mix of cancellations and a massive drop in intent to travel, Tourism Economics President Adam Sacks said.
Ian Urquhart, a professor emeritus at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, was supposed to go to Las Vegas for five days in June and see Coldplay in concert. He canceled the trip to protest Trump’s incredibly disparaging tone toward Canada even though it meant losing a $500 deposit on the vacation package.
His oldest daughter similarly nixed a planned May trip to Sedona, Arizona, while his brother-in-law decided not to go on his usual weeklong golf trip to Scottsdale, Arizona, according to Urquhart.
None of us jumped for joy when we made those decisions, but it seemed to be one of the few ways we could signal how we felt about the bullying that has been directed towards Canada by your president, Urquhart said.
For Pepa Cuevas and her husband, who live in Madrid, Trumps election in November was a turning point. The couple had planned to spend a month skiing in Colorado over the winter holidays. They went to Japan instead.
Trumps victory left us, especially me, very shocked, Cuevas said. For the moment, we have lost the desire to return. I dont know what will happen in the future, but for the moment we are still shocked, and it doesnt look like this is going to be resolved.
According to the government data released Tuesday, international arrivals from China were down nearly 1%. Leisure trips by Chinese citizens to places like Disneyland, Hawaii and New York are decreasing dramatically and likely wont pick up again until Trump has left office, said Wolfgang Georg Arlt, the CEO of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute. He dubs it the Trump Slump.
That slump has financial consequences. Tourism Economics expects U.S. spending by international visitors to drop by $9 billion this year.
Marco Jahn is the president and CEO of New World Travel, a California company that works with overseas tour operators on vacation packages and activity planning. It arranges the hotels and rental cars for a family that wants to take a driving tour of U.S. national parks, for example.
Jahn said bookings have dropped between 20% and 50%, depending on the source market, over the last eight to 10 weeks. He notes particular declines from Scandinavia, where Trumps repeated threat to take control of Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO ally Denmark, has antagonized citizens.
The U.S. is not perceived as a welcoming destination, Jahn said.
Beyond, a revenue management platform for vacation rental owners, said Canadian searches for short-term rentals in the U.S. plunged 44% after Feb. 1, when Trump first announced a since-paused 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico. Florida, Texas, and New York were among the hardest-hit markets, Beyond said.
American Ring Travel, a tour operator based in California, offers carbon-neutral bus tours of the U.S. that often attract eco-conscious travelers from Europe, said Richard Groesz, the companys director of contracting. But bookings from Germany flattened starting in January after Elon Musk threw his support behind a far-right political party in that countrys federal election, Groesz said.
There are other issues impacting foreign visits. The U.S. has been the top destination by country for Japanese tourists for years, but data ompiled by JTB Tourism Research & Consulting showed South Korea topped the U.S. in January.
The weak yen not Trump is likely the biggest factor dampening the attraction of the U.S., said Takaaki Mitamura, a spokesperson for Tokyo-based travel agent Veltra Corp. Travelers are picking destinations where the currency effect isnt as big, like South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Australia, he said.
Haruka Atomiya, a Tokyo resident, visits Los Angeles at least once a year. Last year, she brought her young children for the first time and did a lot of research to find affordable places to stay. The exchange rate made some hotels double or triple the price she paid in the past.
Atomiya, who went to college in Vermont, has always loved the diversity and the freedom in the U.S. She said she doesnt understand why Americans elected Trump, but doesnt plan to stop visiting unless she senses any physical danger.
If America changes in a way thats clearly visible, thats a reality, too, and I will likely keep visiting, she said. What will happen to America after Trump intrigues me.
Dee-Ann Durbin, AP business writer
AP Writers Yuri Kageyama and Teresa Medrano contributed to this report.
Understanding intelligence and creating intelligent machines are grand scientific challenges of our times. The ability to learn from experience is a cornerstone of intelligence for machines and living beings alike.
In a remarkably prescient 1948 report, Alan Turingthe father of modern computer scienceproposed the construction of machines that display intelligent behavior. He also discussed the education of such machines by means of rewards and punishments.
Turings ideas ultimately led to the development of reinforcement learning, a branch of artificial intelligence. Reinforcement learning designs intelligent agents by training them to maximize rewards as they interact with their environment.
As a machine learning researcher, I find it fitting that reinforcement learning pioneers Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton were awarded the 2024 ACM Turing Award.
What is reinforcement learning?
Animal trainers know that animal behavior can be influenced by rewarding desirable behaviors. A dog trainer gives the dog a treat when it does a trick correctly. This reinforces the behavior, and the dog is more likely to do the trick correctly the next time. Reinforcement learning borrowed this insight from animal psychology.
But reinforcement learning is about training computational agents, not animals. The agent can be a software agent like a chess-playing program. But the agent can also be an embodied entity like a robot learning to do household chores. Similarly, the environment of an agent can be virtual, like the chessboard or the designed world in a video game. But it can also be a house where a robot is working.
Just like animals, an agent can perceive aspects of its environment and take actions. A chess-playing agent can access the chessboard configuration and make moves. A robot can sense its surroundings with cameras and microphones. It can use its motors to move about in the physical world.
Agents also have goals that their human designers program into them. A chess-playing agents goal is to win the game. A robots goal might be to assist its human owner with household chores.
The reinforcement learning problem in AI is how to design agents that achieve their goals by perceiving and acting in their environments. Reinforcement learning makes a bold claim: All goals can be achieved by designing a numerical signal, called the reward, and having the agent maximize the total sum of rewards it receives.
Researchers do not know if this claim is actually true, because of the wide variety of possible goals. Therefore, it is often referred to as the reward hypothesis.
Sometimes it is easy to pick a reward signal corresponding to a goal. For a chess-playing agent, the reward can be +1 for a win, 0 for a draw, and -1 for a loss. It is less clear how to design a reward signal for a helpful household robotic assistant. Nevertheless, the list of applications where reinforcement learning researchers have been able to design good reward signals is growing.
A big success of reinforcement learning was in the board game Go. Researchers thought that Go was much harder than chess for machines to master. The company DeepMind, now Google DeepMind, used reinforcement learning to create AlphaGo. AlphaGo defeated top Go player Lee Sedol in a five-match game in 2016.
A more recent example is the use of reinforcement learning to make chatbots such as ChatGPT more helpful. Reinforcement learning is also being used to improve the reasoning capabilities of chatbots.
Reinforcement learnings origins
However, none of these successes could have been foreseen in the 1980s. That is when Barto and his then-PhD student Sutton proposed reinforcement learning as a general problem-solving framework. They drew inspiration not only from animal psychology but also from the field of control theory, the use of feedback to influence a systems behavior, and optimization, a branch of mathematics that studies how to select the best choice among a range of available options. They provided the research community with mathematical foundations that have stood the test of time. They also created algorithms that have now become standard tools in the field.
It is a rare advantage for a field when pioneers take the time to write a textbook. Shining examples like The Nature of the Chemical Bond by Linus Pauling and The Art of Computer Programming by Donald E. Knuth are memorable because they are few and far between. Sutton and Bartos Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction was first published in 1998. A second edition came out in 2018. Their book has influenced a generation of researchers and has been cited more than 75,000 times.
Reinforcement learning has also had an unexpected impact on neuroscience. The neurotransmitter dopamine plays a key role in reward-driven behaviors in humans and animals. Researchers have used specific algorithms developed in reinforcement learning to explain experimental findings in people and animals dopamine system.
Barto and Suttons foundational work, vision and advocacy have helped reinforcement learning grow. Their work has inspired a large body of research, made an impact on real-world applications, and attracted huge investments by tech companies. Reinforcement learning researchers, Im sure, will continue to see further ahead by standing on their shoulders.
Ambuj Tewari is a professor of statistics at the University of Michigan.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
