If you’ve ever battled your way through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at rush hour, you know that comfort can feel like a luxury. Between TSA lines, flight delays, and a race to find a seat with an outlet, air travel isnt always relaxing. Thats exactly the stress Delta is trying to relieve with the launch of its newest Sky Club in Atlanta Mondayits biggest yet by guest count.
Located in Concourse D, the new 24,000-square-foot space is the eighth Delta lounge in ATL and is designed to offer more breathing room, literally and figuratively. With seating for 506 guests, its the second-largest Sky Club by square footage in the airportbut the largest when it comes to sheer capacity.
This lounge is not just about space, Dwight James, S.V.P. of Customer Engagement & Loyalty for Delta Air Lines tells Fast Company. Its about experience. Its about hospitality. Were always looking for ways to reduce the stress that naturally builds up during travel, especially right after TSA. Thats the moment we think about the mosthow do we help someone shift from feeling anxious to feeling cared for?
Hospitality meets hometown pride
The lounge includes amenities aimed at all types of travelers: a 16-seat bar, theater-style media wall, soundproof phone booths, and ample workspace. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer panoramic views of the airfield. Theres a full buffet and two beverage stations.
But beyond the layout and amenities, what makes this club unique is its sense of place. Delta leaned into Atlantas dual identity: Southern charm meets city sophistication. We always try to bring in local flavor, James explains. Youll see that in the art, in the design choices. When people visit our lounges, we want them to feel something familiar, like a quiet respite. Something that reminds them of homeeven if theyre far from it.
[Photo: Delta]
We always try to bring in local flavor, James explains. Youll see that in the art, in the design choices. When people visit our lounges, we want them to feel something familiar, like a quiet respite. Something that reminds them of homeeven if theyre far from it.
In this case, theres a custom tile mural of lush greenery behind the buffeta subtle nod to Atlantas nickname, City in a Forest. Guests riding the elevator are greeted by a vibrant mural featuring magnolias and dogwoods by local artist Ryan Coleman, and the lounge also features sepia-toned photography from Pam Moxley that manages to make you nostalgic for summer eveningseven if youre en route to Minneapolis.
Were not just building lounges as places to sit before a flight, says James. Were building experiences. Our goal is that when someone leaves the lounge, they carry that feeling with them onto the aircraft.
Solving the lounge crowding problem
Of course, as any frequent flyer knows, lounges can get crowded. Really crowded. Delta faced backlash (and some angry Reddit threads) when it rolled out changes to its loyalty program for SkyMiles members last year, intended to help with overcrowding.
Change is hard when youre emotionally connected to a brand, James admitted. But it also showed us how passionate people are about Delta. We made some tweaks, and now were seeing record engagement.
According to Delta, credit card signups are at an all-time high. Base-tier membersthose who havent yet earned statusare rating the SkyMiles program higher than before. And for travelers who hit top-tier Diamond Medallion status, new incentives are now built in to keep them engaged past the finish line.
We want to make it feel like, hey, Delta sees me, James said. Even after Ive hit my status, theres still more value to earn.The new space in Concourse D is also meant to help with overflow, especially in a city that accounts for nearly a third of Delta lounge visits systemwide. ATL handles nearly 1,000 peak-day departures to over 200 destinations worldwide.
Weve taken steps to ensure our most premium customers get the experience they deserve, said James. But we also want our lounges to feel more welcoming. Thats why were continuing to modernize and expandnot just in Atlanta, but across our network.
That roadmap includes upcoming lounge openings in Seattle and Salt Lake City, plus future expansions in Philadelphia and Denver. But in Atlanta, the focus is on more than just expanding the physical footprint. Its also about making lounges feel like experiences rather than just rooms with snacks and decent Wi-Fi.
We may have a local chef come in and do a live demo, or even set up something like a farmers market-style event, James said. People walk in and are like, ‘Wait, is that a chef? In the airport?’ Its something different, something memorable.
The goal, he added, is to build those moments into Deltas broader loyalty strategynot just offering a clean seat and a drink, but creating a kind of brand consistency from the lounge to the gate to the air.
[Photo: Delta]
Its a different kind of energy. It surprises people in a good way, he says. These curated experiences tie into how we think about loyaltybecause for us, loyalty isnt just about a program. Its about giving people reasons to choose Delta again.
The new lounge arms race
As a whole, airlines are expected to cut 2025 outlooks when they report earnings starting this week (Delta’s earning are expected Wednesday). Last month, Delta cut its first-quarter expectation citing weaker-than-expected corporate and leisure bookingsanother reason for the airline and others to focus on their high-spending travelers.
Delta isnt the only airline rethinking the lounge experience. United Airlines recently announced it is raising fees for its airport lounge memberships and co-branded credit cards, part of a broader effort to manage crowding and cater to high-spending travelers. The new structure introduces two tiers: $750 annually for individual United Club access, or $1,400 to bring up to two guestsmore than double the previous cost for a guest-inclusive pass.
Yes, there are fee increases, United MileagePlus head Richard Nunn told reporters last month, but we were very, very cognizant of ensuring that the value increments and the benefits that are delivered outweigh any increase. Like Delta, United is leaning into perks like rideshare credits, award flight discounts, and lounge upgrades to retain loyalty in a market where travelers are demanding more than just a comfy seat and free snacks.
Capital One, a relative newcomer to the airport lounge space, is also making moves. Since opening its first lounge at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in 2021, the company has gradually expanded to five locations, including Washington D.C.s Reagan and Dulles airports, as well as Denver and Las Vegas. By the end of 2025, that number is expected to grow to seven, with new lounges planned for New Yorks JFK, and a Capital One Landing at LaGuardia.
While still small compared to legacy players like American Express, Capital Ones lounges are carving out a niche by partnering with local businessesthink regional breweries, bakeries, and distilleriesto create a more personalized, locally inspired experience. As Jenn Scheurich, head of Capital One Travel, puts it: We honestly always want to make sure the local market is represented everywhere we go.
Deltas investment in this new Sky Club fits into a broader effort to modernize and expand its lounge network. Other clubs in Atlantaspecifically in Concourses A and Care set for updates. The expansion of Concourse D will also allow Delta to operate more gates and accommodate larger aircraft.
And its not just Atlanta. Later this year, the airline will open a Delta One Lounge and a new Sky Club in Seattle, with additional projects planned for Salt Lake City, Philadelphia, and Denver.
Nations are trying to reach an agreement to charge commercial vessels a fee for their emissions in what would effectively be the worlds first global carbon tax.
The International Maritime Organization, which regulates international shipping, set a target for the sector to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by about 2050, and committed to ensuring that fuels with zero or near-zero emissions are used more widely. Its Marine Environment Protection Committee meets Monday through Friday in London.
The committee, comprised of IMO member states, is working to approve proposed new global regulations to put a price on maritime greenhouse gas emissions and to set a marine fuel standard to phase in cleaner fuels.
The measures are more than climate aspirations they will become mandatory for ships operating globally, said IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, who thinks the industry must do more to cut carbon pollution. The committee will set the course for a net-zero future for the maritime sector, he told The Associated Press in a statement Thursday.
The future of clean shipping hangs in the balance, said Emma Fenton, senior director for climate diplomacy at a U.K.-based climate change nonprofit, Opportunity Green. Fenton said a high price, simple flat-rate levy on shippings greenhouse gas emissions is the only way to decarbonize the industry equitably.
If an agreement is reached, it would represent a huge moment of solidarity in the fight to tackle climate change, Fenton said. For the first time, we will have, hopefully, an effective global framework tackling this international issue. Most emissions are tackled domestically.”
Heres what to know:
What are the talks about?
Emissions from shipping have increased over the last decade to about 3% of the global total, according to the United Nations as vessels have gotten much bigger, delivering more cargo per trip and using immense amounts of fuel oil.
Maritime nations agreed in 2023 to slash emissions from the shipping industry, though several experts and nations were critical of the deal since it did not set 2050 as a hard date. The IMO is now in the process of adopting regulations to achieve the goals agreed to in 2023.
Why are they important to the world?
A simple climate levy paired with a green fuel standard would help narrow the price gap between fossil fuels and green fuels, such as hydrogen, methanol and ammonia, according to the Global Maritime Forum, a nonprofit that works closely with the industry. Shipping relies heavily on fossil fuels and the sector won’t transition off those on its own, said Jesse Fahnestock, who leads the forums decarbonization work. And it will take time to build up a supply of e-fuels based on renewable electricity so investments need to happen now, he added.
Most ships today run on heavy fuel oil, releasing carbon dioxide and other pollutants as it’s burned. Dominguez has said that major decarbonizing requires an overhaul of shipping fuel.
The Clean Shipping Coalition is calling on governments to commit to a high price on all ship emissions and a strong fuel standard. The alliance of environmental non-profits is also urging countries to revise the IMO’s tool for measuring a ship’s carbon intensity, to quantify and raise their efficiency transparently and drive down the amount of fuel burned long-term.
What is the status of the negotiations?
Led by Pacific island nations, whose very existence is threatened by climate change, more than 60 countries support a flat levy per metric ton of emissions to reach net zero in a fair way. The shipping industry supports a fee, too. The International Chamber of Shipping represents over 80% of the worlds merchant fleet. Its secretary general, Guy Platten, said a pricing mechanism for maritime emissions is a pragmatic solution and the most effective way to incentivize a rapid energy transition in shipping.
Some countries, notably China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, want a credit trading model instead of a fixed levy, where ships get credits for staying under their emissions target and ships purchase credits if they go over. Other countries want a compromise between the two models.
Some fear that anything short of a universal levy would jeopardize climate goals and allow wealthier ship owners to buy compliance while continuing to pollute. Ambassador Albon Ishoda, Marshall Islands special envoy for maritime decarbonization, said IMO’s climate targets are meaningless without the levy. Revenue from a levy could be used to help developing countries transition to greener shipping, so they aren’t left behind with dirty fuels and old ships.
What’s expected by the end of the meeting?
If the committee agrees and finalizes text for the regulations, they could be formally adopted in October and take effect in 2027. That could send a powerful signal that the green transition is happening and that it’s possible for a global industry, according to the IMO.
The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Jennifer McDermott, Associated Press
Over the past decade, weve seen Cheetos and its Flamin Hot flavor brand pop up in some fun and unexpected places. There was the Spotted Cheetah pop-up NYC restaurant in 2017. The Hollywood pop-up with chef Roy Choi in 2018 called the Cheetos Flamin Hot Spot. A taco at Taco Bell. There was a Forever 21 apparel collection in 2019. A nail polish with Dipwell. A Dr. Squatch soap. And, of course, a pair of Crocs. Parent company Frito-Lay has sprinkled Flamin Hot across products like Doritos, Ruffles, Lays, Funyuns, Smartfood, and even in a limited edition of Mountain Dew.
But Jack Black escalated things to previously unpredictable levels on Saturday Night Live this weekend, in a spoof that imagined Flamin Hot in an entirely unprecedented product category.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl)
Even Chester Cheetah was disgusted with the Preparation H collab.
The Cheetos SNL Canon
This is a more-than-worthy addition to the Cheetos SNL canon. The brand has been spoofed and referenced several times over the years. In 2019, Woody Harrelson played a man who opened a World’s Biggest Cheeto Museum.
And of course, there is 2017s brilliant Pitch Meeting sketch, in which the misguided definition of brand purpose is taken to the extreme.
We may be cresting peak brand collab, with so many constantly rolling out that it takes the most wild and wildly creative to even make a ripple. Liquid Death has become a master at navigating this, but for so many brands these efforts come and go with little fanfare.
Cheetos may be the perfect brand through which to satirize broader brand culture. Its beloved in a way that is self-aware and silly. It has utilized brand collabs and limited products cleverly enough that absurd spoofs are just this close to actually being believable.
Frito-Lay has not yet responded to a request for comment on whether this was an official brand partnership with the show. But I hope it is. Just as Kraft Heinz is mulling the potential of its unofficial role in Seth Rogens show The Studio, Cheetos extending its self-awareness and sense of humor in this way would be an incredibly spicy way to evolve how brands play in entertainment.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of cities, towns, and villages across the country on Saturday. They were protesting the Trump administrations deep budget and staffing cuts, funding freezes, tariffs, and other actions that they believe threaten democracy, economic stability, and the fabric of American life.
The national day of action to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history was organized by the nonprofits MoveOn, Third Act, Indivisible, and nearly 200 other groups working on behalf of climate action, civil rights, seniors, workers, veterans, corporate accountability, and many more issues.
Opponents of the Trump administration flocked to Hands Off! protests around the San Francisco Bay Area. People voiced their concerns about the breakneck pace at which Trump officials are dismantling the machinery of government and firing the public servants who make it run.
More than 1,500 people crowded the streets around a BART station in North Berkeley, chanting Not my president! and People over profit. A steady stream of cars honked in support. As drummers infused energy into the crowd, a woman shouted through a bullhorn, Ive seen smarter cabinets at IKEA.
Lisa Oglesby organized the Hands Off! protest in Berkeley. [Photo: Liza Gross/Inside Climate News]
Berkeley resident Lisa Oglesby, 70, organized the protest even though shes never been a big protester.
Oglesby, a retired information security consultant, said she couldnt stand by and do nothing. I am appalled at whats going on in the country, and I know everyone else is too, but we need to know were all in this together.
Laurie Baumgarten, who has worked on climate issues for the last 20 years, said shes against the entire Trump agenda but focuses primarily on climate. Baumgarten said she has joined 1000 Grandmothers for Future Generations, an organization of elder women and allies from Berkeley and Oakland raising awareness about the urgency of the climate crisis.
Baumgarten has been working to support California legislation to make polluters pay. This could shift the massive financial burden of the climate crisis from taxpayerswho face ever-rising insurance rates, healthcare costs, and devastation from extreme weather disastersto the fossil fuel companies that are driving climate change.
Oil and gas companies have been covering up what they knew about fossil fuel pollution since the 1970s, Baumgarten said, including the fact that burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming. And here we are now facing these disasters, and they have the money to pay for it out of their profits, she said.
Particularly since the L.A. fires, its important that we the taxpayers get help paying for all of this cleanup, she said.
Los Angeles, April 5th, 2025. [Photo: Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News/Getty Images]
Some people at the protestsincluding teachers, Defense Department employees, and other federal workerswere willing to speak their minds but said they did not want to be quoted. These people said they were worried about experiencing backlash from the government or at their workplaces.
Asked for comment about the demonstrations, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston did not address the tariffs or research cuts that many protesters referenced.
President Trumps position is clear: He will always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries, Huston said in a statement. Meanwhile, the Democrats stance is giving Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits to illegal aliens, which will bankrupt these programs and crush American seniors.
Former U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb speaks to a large crowd in Pittsburgh at one of the Hands Off demonstrations around the country. [Video: Christine Spolar/Inside Climate News]
Devastated Infrastructure
Demonstrations in major cities in Massachusetts, Illinois, and New York drew huge crowds, and organizers said there were plans for protests in all 50 states. In Pennsylvania, a key battleground state during the presidential election, crowds in Pittsburgh filled the city blocks and parking lots leading to the City-County building before noon.
Steve Plant drove from the suburb of Wexford to protest the Trump administrations canceling of federal science grants and efforts. His wife, the director of quality control for a private company based in Madrid, lost her job this week because of the cuts. An audit that the company expected from the Food and Drug Administration was derailed by budget slashing, he said, and now his wife was unexpectedly out of a job.
The private company where she worked for 35 years said to hell with the U.S., Plant said.
We were planning to retire and now shes job hunting, he said. Plant worked as a contractor and he and his wife had a retirement nest egg. Right now, I dont want to look at how it.” It has been affected by the stock market plunge that followed tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, he said. His people dont care if people like us have enough to retire.
Natalie Williams, 7, and her sister, Laila, 9, made signs to protest the impacts to their grandmothers retirement. Cathy Brunner, 69, their grandmother, and their mother, Chelsea Brunner, 33, brought them to the Hands Off rally in Pittsburgh. [Photo: Christine Spolar/Inside Climate News]
Chelsea Brunner drove with her two daughters and her mother from Ross Township, north of Pittsburgh. Brunner, 33, works as a pharmacy benefits manager. Her mother, Cathy, is a legal assistant who at age 69 is still working. Chelsea, a 10-month-old orphan in Guatemala when Cathy adopted her and her sister, was near tears as she described why her family was protesting.
Shes worked so hard her whole life, Chelsea said of her mother.
Cathy said she has had sleepless nights watching her 401(k) dwindle from stock market losses under Trump. Im losing $8,000 a day, Cathy said. I wanted to throw up.
Her granddaughters, Natalie, 7, and Laila, 9, were there with hand-written signs demanding hands off their grandmothers retirement savings.
Subha Das spoke to the crowd from the steps of the City-County building about his love for and work in scientific research. That is what propelled him to move from India to America decades ago.
Now an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University, he appealed to people to keep vigilant about the cuts that are gutting research and ambitions.
We cant do this on our own, he said about how scientists are coping with the losses. Im speaking out because Im concerned about the future of America.
Later, in an interview about medical research in the United States, he said: America has set the standard all over the world. That infrastructure has just been devastated.
Subha Das, a researcher, spoke at a crowded Hands Off rally in Pittsburgh on April 5, 2025. [Photo: Christine Spolar/Inside Climate News]
Stop Stealing Our Data!
At the main rally in Washington, D.C., people held mass-produced signs reading Some cuts dont heal, referring to the inability to repair gutted government infrastructure and expertise that took decades to build.
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) gave a shout out to the people of Wisconsin, who voted against a state supreme court judge backed by Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump donor whose so-called Department of Government Efficiency has driven the federal cuts.
Dallas, April 5, 2025. [Photo: Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images]
They showed America that organized people who want nothing but freedom can defeat organized billionaires who want nothing but power, Raskin said.
Here in America, Mr. Musk, justice is not for sale, Raskin said. And we dont raffle off state supreme court judgeships for million-dollar prizes. Stop trying to buy our votes, stop ripping off our government and stop stealing our data, he yelled, referring to the thousands of web pages and datasets scrubbed from federal agency websites.
Cathy Kennedy, a registered nurse and president of National Nurses United, the largest union and professional association of registered nurses, said she and her colleagues have long fought for Medicare for all because they believe healthcare is a human right.
Healthcare is not just about medical treatment, its also about the world we live in and the support systems we all rely on, said Kennedy, naming as examples Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs. This current administration wants to weaken and privatize those programs that have helped millions of people stay alive, housed and cared for.
Without these programs, she added, vulnerable seniors, low-income families, people with disabilities, and veterans will suffer.
The current administration wants a society where the wealthy and powerful get richer while the rest of us struggle, Kennedy said. They say people should be responsible for themselves while theyre handing out billions in tax breaks, subsidies, and bailouts to giant corporations. No way! she yelled, as the crowd cheered.
Liza Gross and Christine Spolar, Inside Climate News
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here.
Business owners around the world are still reeling from the sky-high, globe-spanning tariffs President Donald Trump has announced since taking office. Last week, Emily Ley became the first to take her concerns to court.
In a lawsuit filed in a federal court in Florida last Thursday, lawyers representing Ley, a small business owner in Pensacola, argued that Trumps tariffs on China are unlawful, unconstitutional, and risk having devastating consequences on businesses like Simplified, the 10-employee stationery company Ley founded in 2008. The suit, which is the first known case to challenge Trumps tariffs, has, almost overnight, turned Ley into the very public face of a high stakes legal battle that could have sweeping consequences for the global economy.
My company is like my fourth child, Ley tells Fast Company. I’m going to go down swinging if this is the end of it.
It was never Leys intention to file a suit. A few weeks ago, as Trumps tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada went into effect, and the White House warned of more to come, Ley simply wanted to give people a better understanding of the tangible impact that rising tariffs would have on a small business like hers, which sells, among other things, day planners that are made in China. I was seeing so much misinformation and misunderstanding about who pays the tariffs, and what they’re for, Ley says. I just felt like I needed to share a small business perspective that came from a real person, a real human.
Emily Ley [Photo: Courtesy of Simplified]
So she wrote about her experience on Instagram: How since 2017, her company has paid $1.17 million in tariffs on imports from China, how this year, under Trumps increased tariffs, it could be on the hook for $350,000 more, and how those costs have driven prices up for customers and salaries down for employees. I cannot be quiet about this anymore, Ley wrote. Tariffs are killing businesses.
The post, which quickly went viral, caught the attention of lawyers at the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), a legal group that fights what it views as government overreach. Leys first conversation with the firm led to a zillion more, she says, until finally, last weekjust a day after Trump unveiled a new slew of global tariffs, sending the world economy into freefallNCLA filed the suit on Leys behalf, asking the court to block Trumps tariffs on Chinese goods.
Leys case focuses specifically on two executive orders Trump signed in February and March, both of which imposed tariffs on Chinese goods in the name of stopping the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. In the orders, Trump declared the fentanyl crisis a national emergency and cited the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as his authority to enact the tariffs.
But according to the lawsuit, IEEPA doesnt give the president that poweror even mention tariffs at all. Only Congress, NCLA argues, can grant permission to impose tariffs. The president could implement trade embargoes or sanctions under the law, but only if theyre necessary to address the emergency, and Trumps executive orders show no connection between the opioid problem and the tariff he ordered, the complaint reads.
While Simplifieds case is focused specifically on the Chinese tariffs, NCLA says a ruling could impact the full scope of global tariffs Trump imposed last week on most countries around the world. We are saying that the statute doesn’t allow the President to impose tariffs no matter what kind of emergency is declared or exists, NCLAs Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione tells Fast Company.
In a statement to Fast Company, White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said, President Trump has broad authority to impose tariffs to address issues of national emergency, such as the opioid [epidemic]. The Trump Administration looks forward to victory in court.
That NCLA is the group bringing the case forward is itself significant. Though the organization describes itself as nonpartisan, it has frequently fought for causes championed by conservatives, including chipping away at the regulatory powers of government agencies, and has in the past received financial support from right-wing financiers, including billionaire Charles Kochs foundation. NCLAs involvement reflects the extent to which opposition to Trumps tariffs cuts across party lines.
Ley, for one, who is a registered Democrat, founded Simplified after designing the stationery for her own wedding invitations. What started as a side hustle evolved over the years until, in 2011, she began branching out into designing other merchandise like day planners and calendars.
Initially, she manufactured those planners in the U.S. for $38 a unit and sold them on Etsy for $50 each. It wasn’t sustainable, Ley says. So she turned to Chinese manufacturers to build the company. By 2017, business was booming, but the tariffs Trump slapped on Chinese goods in his first term were a blow to the bottom line. It meant that I had to earmark dollars that would have gone to hiring, that would have gone to employee bonuses that could have gone to philanthropic efforts or growth, she says. We absorbed it as much as we could, including by raising prices.But shes not sure the business could sustain another increaseparticularly not one as stark as what Trumps proposing. Simplified is set to receive a new shipment of inventory within weeks, but she has no idea what the tariff bill will look like when it arrives. In the suit, NCLA argues that Trumps actions have inflicted economic and competitive harm on Simplified.
Ley may be scared about what lies ahead, but shes hopeful her case inspires other business owners to stand up too. This is the reality of what’s happening, she says. I have written the checks. It is a fact, who’s paying for this. It’s not a political belief.
A Minecraft Movie just beat Captain America and Mario at the box office.
The new film, inspired by the beloved brick-based video game and starring Jack Black and Jason Mamoa, pulled in $157 million at its domestic box office opening this weekend. Thats more than double analysts early prediction that the film would gross $60 million. Its also well past the record of the previous top opener of 2025, Disneys Captain America: Brave New World, which netted $88.5 million at its opening weekendmeaning A Minecraft Movie has now enjoyed the most successful opening weekend of the year.
By video game-to-movie adaptation standards, the Minecraft film is also playing in a league of its own. In 2019, for example, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu opened with a $58 million weekend, and, last year, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 opened with $60 million at the box office (considered a strong start at the time). The Super Mario Bros. Movie, released in 2023, was the previous record holder for the largest video game adaptation opening weekend of all time, raking in $145 million. By all accounts, A Minecraft Movies debut has been a smashing success.
Rocky Horror for Gen Alpha?
To some extent, it makes sense that A Minecraft Movie might appeal to wide audiences, given that, as of 2023, it had sold over 300 million copies, making it the second most-sold video game behind only Tetris. Still, even the most optimistic industry analysts capped the films potential box office open earnings at $90 million, and it had a so-so rating of 48% on Rotten Tomatoes before this weekend.
One explanation for the films success could be its memeability. Over the weekend, many viewers took to social media to share that younger audiencesparticularly Gen Alphaseemed to be turning the Minecraft movie-viewing experience into an interactive event. Videos of audiences clapping every few minutes, reciting lines aloud, and even throwing popcorn in the air have all gone viral on TikTok, with some viewers even reporting that the police had to be called to their screenings to settle audiences down.
I saw Minecraft in the theater with my kids last night and am still processing what I saw, one tweet with 46,000 likes reads. The only cinematic experience I can compare the audience participation to is Rocky Horror, except its with teenagers and their phones and the movie is not even a weekend old.
Audiences have particularly taken to one scene in which a baby zombie (one of Minecrafts main monsters) rides a cuboid chicken, causing Blacks character to exclaim, Chicken jockey! Clips of audiences reacting rowdily to the scene made the rounds over the weekend, which, in turn, only attracted more viewers eager to join the trend to theaters.
[Image: Warner Bros. Pictures]
the minecraft movie is truly one of the worst movies ive ever seen but the universal reaction to ‘chicken jockey’ im seeing made it all worth it, one X user wrote. Another added, The Minecraft Movie is a must watch cultural experience, over a video of audience members giving the chicken jockey scene a standing ovation.
Considering that the film has been in theaters for just four days, only time will tell whether A Minecraft Movie becomes the next Rocky Horror Picture Show, or if (in a much more likely scenario) young fans’ outsized reactions are only a passing fad.
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While homebuyers and home sellers still see headlines about the housing market being a sellers market and national home prices reaching all-time highs, a deeper look reveals that several regional housing markets have shifted, giving homebuyers some power.
During the pandemic housing boom, from summer 2020 to spring 2022, the number of active homes for sale in most housing markets plummeted as homebuyer demand quickly absorbed almost everything that came up for sale. Fast-forward to the current housing market, and the places where active inventory has rebounded to 2019 levels (due to strained affordability suppressing buyer demand) are now the very places where homebuyers hold the most power.
At the end of March 2025, national active housing inventory for sale was still 20% below March 2019 levels. However, more and more regional markets are surpassing that threshold.
This list is growing.
In January 2025, 41 of these 200 major markets were back above pre-pandemic 2019 inventory levels. In February 2025, 44 of these markets hit that milestone.
Now, 58 of the 200 markets are above pre-pandemic 2019 inventory levels and ResiClub expects that count will continue to rise this year.
Many of the softest housing markets, where homebuyers have gained leverage, are located in Gulf Coast and Mountain West regions. These areas were among the nations top pandemic boomtowns, having experienced significant home price growth during the pandemic housing boom, which stretched housing fundamentals far beyond local income levels.
When pandemic-fueled migration slowed and mortgage rates spiked, markets like Cape Coral, Florida, and San Antonio, Texas, faced challenges as they had to rely on local incomes to sustain frothy home prices. The housing market softening in these areas was further accelerated by the abundance of new home supply in the pipeline across the Sun Belt. Builders in these regions are often willing to reduce prices or make other affordability adjustments to maintain sales. These adjustments in the new construction market also create a cooling effect on the resale market, as some buyers who might have opted for an existing home shift their focus to new homes where deals are still available.
In contrast, many Northeast and Midwest markets were less reliant on pandemic migration and have less new home construction in progress. With lower exposure to that demand shock, active inventory in these Midwest and Northeast regions has remained relatively tight, keeping the advantage in the hands of home sellers.
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Generally speaking, housing markets where inventory (i.e., active listings) has returned to pre-pandemic levels have experienced weaker home price growth (or outright declines) over the past 24 months. Conversely, housing markets where inventory remains far below pre-pandemic levels have, generally speaking, experienced stronger home price growth over the past 24 months.
Wilmer Escaray left Venezuela in 2007 and enrolled at Miami Dade College, opening his first restaurant six years later.
Today, he has a dozen businesses that hire Venezuelan migrants like he once was, workers who are now terrified by what could be the end of their legal shield from deportation.
Since the start of February, the Trump administration has ended two federal programs that together allowed more 700,000 Venezuelans to live and work legally in the U.S. along with hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans.
In the largest Venezuelan community in the United States, people dread what could face them if lawsuits that aim to stop the government fail. It’s all anyone discusses in Little Venezuela or Doralzuela, a city of 80,000 people surrounded by Miami sprawl, freeways and the Florida Everglades.
Deportation fears in Doralzuela
People who lose their protections would have to remain illegally at the risk of being deported or return home, an unlikely route given the political and economic turmoil in Venezuela.
Its really quite unfortunate to lose that human capital because there are people who do work here that other people wont do, Escaray, 37, said at one of his Sabor Venezolano restaurants.
Spanish is more common than English in shopping centers along Doral’s wide avenues, and Venezuelans feel like they’re back home but with more security and comfort.
A sweet scent wafts from round, flat cornmeal arepas sold at many establishments. Stores at gas stations sell flour and white cheese used to make arepas and T-shirts and hats with the yellow, blue and red stripes of the Venezuelan flag.
New lives at risk
John came from Venezuela nine years ago and bought a growing construction company with a partner. He and his wife are on Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, which Congress created in 1990 for people in the United States whose homelands are considered unsafe to return to due to natural disaster or civil strife. Beneficiaries can live and work while it lasts, but TPS carries no path to citizenship.
Born in the U.S., their 5-year-old daughter is a citizen. John, 37, asked to be identified by first name only for fear of being deported.
His wife helps with administration at their construction business while working as a real-estate broker. The couple told their daughter that they may have to leave the United States. Venezuela is not an option.
It hurts us that the government is turning its back on us, John said. We arent people who came to commit crimes; we came to work, to build.
A federal judge ordered on March 31 that temporary protected status would stand until a legal challenge’s next stage in court and at least 350,000 Venezuelans were temporarily spared becoming illegal. Escaray, the owner of the restaurants, said nearly all of his 150 employees are Venezuelan and more than 100 are on TPS.
The federal immigration program that allowed more than 500,000 Cubans, Venezuelans, Haitians and Nicaraguans to work and live legally in the U.S. humanitarian parole expires April 24 absent court intervention.
Politics of migration
Venezuelans were one of the main beneficiaries when former President Joe Biden sharply expanded TPS and other temporary protections. Trump tried to end them in his first term and now his second.
The end of the temporary protections has generated little political reaction among Republicans except for three Cuban-American representatives from Florida who called for avoiding the deportations of affected Venezuelans. Mario Díaz Ballart, Carlos Gimenez and Maria Elvira Salazar have urged the government to spare Venezuelans without criminal records from deportation and review TPS beneficiaries on a case-by-case basis.
The mayor of Doral, home to a Trump golf club since 2012, wrote a letter to the president asking him to find a legal pathway for Venezuelans who havent committed crimes.
These families do not want handouts, said Christi Fraga, a daughter of Cuban exiles. They want an opportunity to continue working, building, and investing in the United States.
A country’s elite, followed by the working class
About 8 million people have fled Venezuela since 2014, settling first in neighboring countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. After the COVID-19 pandemic, they increasingly set their sights on the United States, walking through the notorious jungle in Colombia and Panama or flying to the United States on humanitarian parole with a financial sponsor.
In Doral, upper-middle-class professionals and entrepreneurs came to invest in property and businesses when socialist Hugo Chávez won the presidency in the late 1990s. They were followed by political opponents and entrepreneurs who set up small businesses. In recent years, more lower-income Venezuelans have come for work in service industries.
They are doctors, lawyers, beauticians, construction workers and house cleaners. Some are naturalized U.S. citizens or live in the country illegally with U.S.-born children. Others overstay tourist visas, seek asylum or have some form of temporary status.
Thousands went to Doral as Miami International Airport facilitated decades of growth.
Frank Carreo, president of the Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce and a Doral resident for 18 years, said there is an air of uncertainty.
What is going to happen? People don’t want to return or can’t return to Venezuela, he said.
Gisela Salomon, Associated Press
Economy Candys shelves brim with sweets from around the worldgummies from Germany, lollipops from Spain, chocolates from Japan, and a panoply of candies from across the U.S.
Standing amid it all, columns of bright jellybeans to his left and exotic Kit Kats to his right, owner Mitchell Cohen is quick with his assessment of how many of this shops 2,000-plus items are affected by the historic round of tariffs announced by President Donald Trump.
I think all of them, Cohen says at his store on New York’s Lower East Side.
Few corners of the American economy are untouched, directly or indirectly, by the sweeping tariffs being imposed by Trumpeven a little store like Economy Candy.
Cohen had just begun to feel a barrage of inflation-driven price increases from suppliers ease when the tariff threats arrived. For a business with a name like Economy Candy, he wants to remain affordable but fears how high some prices may have to climb in the coming months.
I think its gonna be another round of this hyperinflation on some items, says 39-year-old Cohen. If were putting tariffs everywhere, it is going to go up.
Stepping into Economy Candy feels like a time warp. Its name is emblazoned on a sign in a vintage, blaring red script, and crossing below its green-and-white striped awning, past the bins of Smarties, butterscotches and Lemonheads in the front window, an indecipherable sweetness fills the air, oldies music sounds overhead, and customers mill around stacks of candy bars they forgot still existed.
It represents just a blip in the countrys $54 billion candy industry. But it was already feeling the weight of surges in prices of cocoa and other ingredients before tariffs were layered on.
Candy and gum prices are up about 34% from five years ago and 89% from 2005, according to Consumer Price Index data. Price, according to the National Confectioners Association, has become the top factor in consumers candy purchase decisions, outweighing a buyer’s mood.
About a third of Economy Candys products are imported, crowded on shelves and tables near the stores rear. There arent just more German Haribo varieties than the Haribo store in Germany, as Cohen claims, but gummies the brand makes in France, Austria, and Britain.
They have every Milka bar they can find in Switzerland, every type of Leone hard candies that Italy churns out and as many exotic Kit Kats from Japan as they can fit.
On products like these, the tariffs toll is obvious.
Pistachio Snickers bars are from India, now subject to 26% tariffs, while passion fruit mousse Snickers are from Portugal, now under the 20% European Union levies.
But even an American-made Snickers isnt immune.
While the bars may roll off conveyors in Texas, they rely on ingredients from around the globe. Sourcemap, which tracks supply chains, says Snickers bars include chocolate from Guyana and sugar from Brazil and are wrapped in packaging from Canada. All are now subjected to varying levels of tariffs.
Theres a lot of ingredients in there that have to come from other countries, says Andreas Waldkirch, an economics professor at Colby College who teaches a class on international trade. Unless youre talking about something very simple from your local farmers market, almost every product relies on ingredients from elsewhere. Those indirect costs are really whats going to drive up prices.
The story repeats with American candies across the storethe boxes of Nerds and bags of Sugar Babies and rolls of Smarties are all inextricably tied to the global supply chain.
A table teeming with those domestic delicacies takes center stage near Economy Candys entrance. Cohen took over the store from his parents, who took it over from their parents before. He got his first haircut in the store. He was behind the register as a child. He took his wife by on their first date.
As a kid, everything on the stores centerpiece table of American treats cost 59 cents. By 2020, the price was $1.29, but customers who bought a whole box paid a discounted rate of $1 per piece.
Now, Cohen cant even get them wholesale at that price.
Today, he sells the items on the table for $1.59. Cohen calls the selection a loss leader but thinks it’s important to showcase his store’s affordability. Once the tariffs are fully implemented, hes not sure hell be able to put off price increases.
When your margins are coming down and your dollar doesnt go as far at the end of the day, you really start to feel it, he says. But I dont want anyone to come into Economy Candy and not think that its economical.
The biggest-ticket implications of the tariff blitz understandably gain the most attentionthe thousands of dollars a cars price tag may grow, the tens of thousands that disappear from a retirement account in a single day. But here among the root beer barrels and licorice strands, you’re reminded that small-dollar items are affected too, and so are the families selling them.
At its birth, the business Cohens grandfather started focused on shoe and hat repairs. But in the wake of the Great Depression, when few in a neighborhood of crowded tenements had money for such fixes, the business pivoted.
Candy, once relegated to a cart out front, took over the store.
In the 88 years since, business hasn’t always been Chuckles and Zagnuts. The Sept. 11 attacks kept tourists away and had sales sagging and the pandemic closed the store and forced it to pivot to online sales.
If tariffs upend things, Cohen isnt sure how he might adapt again. He sells products that arent made in America and he sells American products made with ingredients from across the globe. He had just been making headway on beginning international sales, but the web of tariff rules may make it impossible.
The average U.S. tariff could rise to nearly 25% if the import taxes Trump put on goods from dozens of countries are fully implemented Wednesday. That would be the highest rate in more than a century, including tariffs widely blamed for worsening the Great Depression.
Trump said imposing the tariffs amounted to a liberation day for a country that has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by friend and foe alike, insisting it was very, very good news for the U.S.
Cohen isn’t sure how that can be true for a business like his.
I can understand bringing manufacturing and bringing things back to America, but you know, we rely on raw materials that just arent native to our country, he says. And its not like I can get a green tea Japanese Kit Kat from an American company.
As Cohen stood before mounds of strawberry candies in shiny wrappers and little cubes of caramel in cellophane, the first word of the tariffs concrete impact on him arrived. A French supplier emailed saying it wa immediately imposing a 5% surcharge due to the tariffs, expressing regret for the move and hope that the situation will be resolved swiftly.
Cohen wore a smile anyway. He wants this to be a happy place for visitors.
You travel back to a time when nothing mattered, Cohen says, “when you didnt worry about anything.
Matt Sedensky, AP national writer
John Gutierrez had been thinking about buying a new laptop for the past year. The Austin, Texas, resident needed a computer with faster processing and increased storage for his photography work and had his sights set on a product from a Taiwanese brand.Then President Donald Trump announced expansive new import tariffs Wednesday, including a 32% tax on imports from Taiwan. That same day, Gutierrez ordered the laptop, with a base price of $2,400, from a retailer in New York specializing in photo and video gear.“I thought I’d bite the bullet, buy it now, and then that way I’ll have the latest technology on my laptop and don’t have to worry about the tariffs,” he said.Gutierrez was among the U.S. consumers rushing to buy big-ticket items before the tariffs take effect. Economists say the tariffs are expected to increase prices for everyday items, warning of potentially weakened U.S. economic growth.The White House hopes the tariffs prod countries to open their economies to more American exports, leading to negotiations that could reduce tariffs, or that companies increase their production in the U.S. to avoid higher import taxes.Rob Blackwell and his wife needed a new car that could handle long drives from Arlington, Virginia, to their son’s college. Their current electric vehicle is older with a limited range, and it will soon be used by his daughter, who is on the verge of getting her driver’s license.“I have been telling my wife that for some time we were going to need to do it,” he said, “and I was watching to see what the president did with tariffs.”Blackwell wanted another EV, but said leasing made more economic sense because the technology is ever-changing. He had his eye on the new General Motors Optiq; it’s an American car but made in Mexico, which could be subject to tariffs on supply chains that might increase the cost.After hearing that tariffs would be announced, they made plans the weekend before to lease the car. He said the dealership honored the agreement they worked out before the tariffs were finalized. And although he said the salespeople were a pleasure to deal with, Blackwell sensed a shift in their stance.“They know what we know, which is suddenly it flips from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market very quickly,” Blackwell said, adding that he is happy with his choice.“It was just a simple rational decision,” he said. “If this is what the government’s going to do, I need to get my act together.”Lee Wochner, CEO of the Burbank, California-based Counterintuity marketing and strategy firm, also needed a new vehicle. He wanted a more presentable car for business meetings, but kept putting it off because of his busy work schedule.On March 27, a Thursday, he told his firm’s car broker: “Ed, I need a car pronto and it’s got to happen by Sunday.”The broker gave him some car and pricing options and he leased an Audi Q3, which was delivered Sunday to his house by a nearby dealership.A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation showed how much he saved by leasing before the tariffs were implemented. If he had waited, Wochner said, it would have cost about another $4,300.“One of the things my car broker said was that deals that were already written, some of the dealerships were ripping them up already and renegotiating them because they were afraid that they weren’t going to be able to get enough new inventory at a price anybody would buy,” he said.He believes prices will continue to increase because the U.S. has lost the trust of the international trade market.“If you need a new car, if you can get that pre-tariff deal still, you should go get it,” he said, “because who knows what next Wednesday might be like.”
Claire Rush and Mark Thiessen, Associated Press
