AFP USA

Among the charred ruins of Pacific Palisades, Jeff Ridgway walks his dog Abby as if nothing has happened. Unlike the tens of thousands of people driven out by the wildfires, this janitor refused to evacuate.He has been holed up in his home in this upscale Los Angeles neighborhood for a week now, after defending the building with garden hoses and buckets of water.”It was just a war,” the 67-year-old Californian told AFP, pointing to a blackened eucalyptus tree that he prevented from burning, just in front of the apartment building where he lives and works.”But I was just stubborn. I was like: ‘I’m not going to be defeated by you. I’m sorry, this is just not gonna happen.'”After nearly 35 years living in this complex, Ridgway was determined to save its 18 apartments from the devastating flames.When the city ran out of water to spray, he resorted to scooping bucketloads from the swimming pool.”I just felt like I had a certain responsibility, both to my home and my stuff, but to their stuff,” he said, referring to the building’s tenants.Several fires continue to burn in Los Angeles, where at least 24 people have perished.In Pacific Palisades and across town in Altadena, police and military roadblocks have sealed off the worst-hit regions, even from residents trying to return.- ‘Smudge’ -But Ridgway never left, and does not want to end up in a hotel room or a shelter. So he continues to camp out in his apartment, despite the scenes of desolation outside his windows.The building’s tenants, who did leave, have sent him bottled water and food deliveries, via a kindly police officer.The assorted clementines, tomatoes and other supplies are enough to last “at least two weeks.”He even received fresh socks, and chicken jerky for his dog.”She’s very happy with her food now. And if she’s happy, then I’m pretty happy,” he said, smiling affectionately at his spaniel.Without electricity, he has been wearing the same clothes for days. “I need to get a shower,” admitted Ridgway, his tweed top and jeans caked in soot.”She needs to get a bath too,” he said, referring to his faithful pooch.”I’ve started calling her ‘Smudge,’ because she’s gotten so dirty.”Luckily, Ridgway is no stranger to rudimentary conditions — he recalls with fond nostalgia several rough-and-ready camping trips to the remote Yosemite National Park.- ‘Shangri-la’ -Pacific Palisades captured the heart of this former bookseller many years ago.For him, these hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean are not just a haunt of celebrity residents like Anthony Hopkins — a former “honorary mayor” of the community.”It’s a Shangri-la,” said Ridgway.”It’s also a real community. It’s got a huge history.”The neighborhood is home to the Getty Villa, an ancient Roman-style mansion with a rich collection of classical antiquities.Famed designers Charles and Ray Eames also constructed a studio on the hillsides. With its colorful concrete blocks, it has become a landmark of modern mid-century architecture.So far these gems have survived the flames.But a stone’s throw from Ridgway’s apartment, a mall with ornate facades that dated to 1924 is nothing more than ruins.”Ours is probably one of the older buildings in town now,” sighed the janitor, in his 1950s residence.Every year he looks forward to the July 4th Independence Day celebrations. Last year, the occasion drew tens of thousands of people to Pacific Palisades, where crowds watched as parachutists descended from the sky and landed on Sunset Boulevard.Ridgway is convinced his neighborhood will emerge from the fires to become a paradise once more, for the same reasons he originally fell in love with it.”Each of these lots without a house is still a one or two million dollar lot. It’s definitely going to come back,” he said.”At the end of the day, we still have the mountains right there, we have the ocean right there, and mostly we have a blue sky and good air quality. That’s what will bring people back.”

Blue Origin, the space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, called off the inaugural launch of its huge new rocket again on Monday evening after facing weather issues.The company said it would aim for early Thursday morning at the earliest, with a new three-hour window starting at 1:00 am (0600 GMT).An initial test launch of the towering 320-foot (98-meter) rocket, dubbed New Glenn in honor of legendary American astronaut John Glenn, was scrubbed early Monday morning after repeated halts during the countdown.The company later said it had discovered an icing issue on a purge line and would aim for a possible early Tuesday morning launch, but that weather conditions were unfavorable.Shortly after 9:00 pm Monday (0200 GMT Tuesday), Blue Origin announced the launch had been postponed.With the mission, dubbed NG-1, Amazon founder Bezos is taking aim at the only man in the world wealthier than him: fellow tech innovator Elon Musk.Musk’s company SpaceX dominates the orbital launch market through its prolific Falcon 9 rockets, which have become vital for the commercial sector, Pentagon and NASA.”SpaceX has for the past several years been pretty much the only game in town, and so having a competitor… this is great,” G. Scott Hubbard, a retired senior NASA official, told AFP, expecting the competition to drive down costs.Upping the high-stakes rivalry, SpaceX also plans another orbital test later this week of Starship — its gargantuan new-generation rocket.- Landing attempt -When New Glenn does fly, Blue Origin will attempt to land the first-stage booster on a drone ship stationed about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.SpaceX has made such landings now routine, but this will be Blue Origin’s first shot at the sci-fi feat.High seas last week caused the New Glenn launch to be pushed back several days.Meanwhile, the rocket’s upper stage will fire its engines toward Earth orbit, reaching a maximum altitude of roughly 12,000 miles above the surface.A Defense Department-funded prototype of an advanced spaceship called Blue Ring, which could one day journey through the solar system, will remain aboard for the roughly six-hour test flight.Blue Origin has experience landing its New Shepard rockets — used for suborbital tourism — but they are five times smaller and land on terra firma rather than a ship at sea.Physically, the gleaming white New Glenn dwarfs SpaceX’s 230-foot Falcon 9 and is designed for heavier payloads.It slots between Falcon 9 and its big sibling, Falcon Heavy, in terms of mass capacity but holds an edge with its wider payload fairing, capable of carrying the equivalent of 20 moving trucks.- Slow v fast development -Blue Origin has already secured a NASA contract to launch two Mars probes aboard New Glenn. The rocket will also support the deployment of Project Kuiper, a satellite internet constellation designed to compete with Starlink.For now, however, SpaceX maintains a commanding lead, while other rivals — United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, and Rocket Lab — trail far behind.Like Musk, Bezos has a lifelong passion for space.But where Musk dreams of colonizing Mars, Bezos envisions shifting heavy industry off-planet onto floating space platforms in order to preserve Earth, “humanity’s blue origin.”If New Glenn succeeds, it will provide the US government “dissimilar redundancy” — valuable backup if one system fails, said Scott Pace, a space policy analyst at George Washington University.

Blue Origin, the space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, hopes to launch its huge new rocket early Tuesday morning, but has flagged lousy overnight weather could mean a scrubbed lift-off for a second straight day.The inaugural launch of the towering 320-foot (98-meter) rocket, dubbed New Glenn in honor of legendary American astronaut John Glenn, had been initially scheduled during a three-hour window starting at 1:00 am (0600 GMT) Monday.After repeated stalls in the countdown, the launch was ultimately called off, with the company later saying it had discovered an issue related to “ice forming in a purge line on an auxiliary power unit” for some hydraulic systems.Blue Origin said it would aim for another three-hour window beginning at 1:00 am Tuesday, but warned “poor weather forecast at LC-36” — its launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida — “could result in missing this window.”With the mission, dubbed NG-1, Amazon founder Bezos is taking aim at the only man in the world wealthier than him: fellow tech innovator Elon Musk.Musk’s company SpaceX dominates the orbital launch market through its prolific Falcon 9 rockets, which have become vital for the commercial sector, Pentagon and NASA.Bezos, who founded Blue Origin in 2000 and celebrated his 61st birthday Sunday, watched Monday’s events unfold from the nearby launch control room. Musk, for his part, wished Blue Origin “Good luck!” on X.”SpaceX has for the past several years been pretty much the only game in town, and so having a competitor… this is great,” G. Scott Hubbard, a retired senior NASA official, told AFP, expecting the competition to drive down costs.Upping the high-stakes rivalry, SpaceX plans another orbital test of Starship — its gargantuan new-generation rocket — later this week.- Landing attempt -When New Glenn does fly, Blue Origin will attempt to land the first-stage booster on a drone ship stationed about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.SpaceX has made such landings now routine, but this will be Blue Origin’s first shot at a touchdown on the high seas.Meanwhile, the rocket’s upper stage will fire its engines toward Earth orbit, reaching a maximum altitude of roughly 12,000 miles above the surface.A Defense Department-funded prototype of an advanced spaceship called Blue Ring, which could one day journey through the solar system, will remain aboard for the roughly six-hour test flight.Blue Origin has experience landing its New Shepard rockets — used for suborbital tourism — but they are five times smaller and land on terra firma rather than a ship at sea.Physically, the gleaming white New Glenn dwarfs SpaceX’s 230-foot Falcon 9 and is designed for heavier payloads.It slots between Falcon 9 and its big sibling, Falcon Heavy, in terms of mass capacity but holds an edge with its wider payload fairing, capable of carrying the equivalent of 20 moving trucks.- Slow v fast development -Blue Origin has already secured a NASA contract to launch two Mars probes aboard New Glenn. The rocket will also support the deployment of Project Kuiper, a satellite internet constellation designed to compete with Starlink.For now, however, SpaceX maintains a commanding lead, while other rivals — United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, and Rocket Lab — trail far behind.Like Musk, Bezos has a lifelong passion for space.But where Musk dreams of colonizing Mars, Bezos envisions shifting heavy industry off-planet onto floating space platforms in order to preserve Earth, “humanity’s blue origin.”If New Glenn succeeds, it will provide the US government “dissimilar redundancy” — valuable backup if one system fails, said Scott Pace, a space policy analyst at George Washington University.

Donald Trump will be the one taking the presidential oath next week, but in some respects, billionaire Elon Musk might as well place his hand on the Bible too.In an unprecedented relationship for modern US history, Trump will be heading into the White House shadowed by an advisor who is not only the world’s richest person but matches the incoming president in terms of wild ambition, hard-right politics, and media influence.Will the Oval Office be big enough for two outsized personalities, let alone the mountain of conflicts of interest trailing Musk?It’s a political marriage that was sealed by Musk’s bankrolling of Trump’s third tilt at the US presidency.The duo have an extraordinary collective power over messaging, with Musk turning his X social media platform into a haven for right-wingers and Trump enjoying friendly coverage from an entire conservative media ecosystem.They also share a love for provocative theatrics.”Like Trump, Musk recognizes the value of getting attention for saying and doing things that some people see as outrageous… he likes challenging norms,” said Margaret O’Mara, a history professor at the University of Washington.Musk has made quite the impact with the once and future president, according to Peter Loge, director of George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs.”Elon Musk is rich, and brash, and he is constantly reminding Donald Trump how wonderful Donald Trump is — which are all things Donald Trump likes,” Loge said.- Cutting and slashing -However, Lorenzo Castellani, a history professor at Rome’s Luiss Guido Carli, warns that “the chances of friction being generated in the long run are high.”Musk has been named in charge of a plan to slash federal spending and regulations. The ambitious plans are popular with right-wing ideologues but the Trump camp has not explained how such sweeping changes would avoid conflicts of interest, given that Musk is a major government contractor.Even before Trump’s inauguration — he takes the oath on January 20 — Musk appears to be running into his first doses of political reality.The Tesla and SpaceX boss had initially vowed to chop a highly improbable $2 trillion in government spending, but now says “we’ve got a good shot” at saving $1 trillion.Even that would be a colossal undertaking, with the government’s budget about $7 trillion overall — making such dramatic cuts difficult without losing crucial services or benefits.The South African native, 53, has appeared almost omnipresent with Trump since the November election.Musk has joined Trump’s meetings with business leaders and foreign delegations. The duo are frequently photographed dining together and even dancing together to campy classic “YMCA” on New Year’s Eve.According to Castellani, Musk’s close relationship with the incoming president recalls those of the “robber barons” of the late 19th and 20th centuries — men like Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie and JP Morgan — “who had enormous economic power and political influence.”Like his predecessors, Musk is using his political clout to protect his interests.He has used X, formerly Twitter, to boost far-right movements and start online fights in Europe.In Britain, where lawmakers adopted new restrictions on social networks, Musk has brutally attacked Prime Minister Keir Starmer including calling for his ouster.He has repeatedly praised Germany’s far-right party AfD, while criticizing the European Commission, as Brussels threatens X with a hefty fine.- Tech bros -Other businessmen have flocked to Trump’s orbit, echoing Musk’s libertarian, small government views.But the rise of the American oligarchs is stirring tensions within the right, where “Make America Great Again” stalwarts see the wealthy powerbrokers as symbols of the very globalization they thought Trump was going to combat.Silicon Valley businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk’s co-chair in the government efficiency effort, created a firestorm when he spoke out in defense of a visa program allowing highly skilled workers into the United States.The son of Indian immigrants lambasted what he called an “American culture” that has “venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long.”This did not sit well with traditional Trump backers.”We welcomed the tech bros when they came running our way to avoid the 3rd grade teacher picking their kid’s gender,” Florida Republican Matt Gaetz wrote on social media.”We did not ask them to engineer an immigration policy.”

Donald Trump’s second presidential term promises a return to tariffs as he pressures partners and rivals to tackle everything from migration to drug trafficking, while protecting US industries — in moves that could trigger new trade wars.Even before taking office, Trump has raised the prospect of fresh levies on companies, countries and groups of states as he seeks to implement his agenda.He has vowed tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China until they crack down on fentanyl and border crossings, and he threatened “economic force” against Ottawa after suggesting Canada should become the 51st US state.Trump also warned of 100 percent tariffs on BRICS nations — a bloc including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — if they create a rival to the US dollar.New trade wars could rock the global economy, worsen tensions with Beijing and upend ties with allies.US manufacturers, farmers and small business owners await his first moves, girding for higher import costs on anything from batteries to wines, while bracing for retaliation.”I’m not necessarily against all tariffs,” said Mark Pascal, a restaurant owner based in New Jersey.He said he understands the rationale of taxing a country that unfairly suppresses prices.But “we’re concerned about any tariff that would apply broadly to wine and spirits, which is an industry that is not unfairly competing in any way,” added Francis Schott, who co-runs restaurants with Pascal.Trump introduced a range of duties in his first term, including on steel and aluminum, and on Chinese imports as he waged an all-out trade war on the world’s second biggest economy.In 2019, he imposed tariffs on European food and drinks as Washington and Brussels clashed over aviation subsidies.While these were later suspended, restaurateurs worry their return would batter small establishments.”It raised our costs, so it raised our prices,” said Pascal.- Global impact -Trump has used tariffs as a bargaining tool and will probably do so again, said Joshua Meltzer of the Brookings Institution.But China is signaling pushback and Europe is more prepared policy-wise, he told AFP.Governments appear to have “reached a similar conclusion that they are better off threatening retaliation at least at this stage, rather than capitulating,” Meltzer added.EY chief economist Gregory Daco warned that tariffs and other measures could tip the world economy into stagflation — stagnation with elevated inflation — if pursued to their fullest.Trump’s other promises include an across-the-board levy of 10 percent or more, with a steeper rate on China.- Growth risks -Domestically, Trump has touted tariffs as a means to protect US manufacturing, coupled with policies like tax cuts and deregulation that he says will spur growth.His Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent said in a November interview that tariffs would not be inflationary even if there were a “one-time price adjustment.”But Daco estimates higher import costs could lift consumer price inflation by 1.2 percentage points after a year.”The long-run impact is that it shrinks the US economy and it reduces the value of our incomes,” said Erica York of the Tax Foundation.While the Congressional Budget Office estimated a uniform 10 percent hike and added 50 percent on Chinese goods would slash deficits, this could also lower real GDP.- Emergency? -Analysts expect Trump could implement tariffs quickly using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.This allows the president to regulate imports during a national emergency, although it could be hindered by lawsuits.A tried-and-tested method would be the trade law, with Trump previously using Section 301 as justification for tariffs.But this takes more time as it calls for a government probe.He could also use Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act to hike tariffs on goods with national security implications.

Donald Trump has not yet returned to the White House but is already thrusting himself to the front of international stage as he once again shatters diplomatic niceties.As only the second former president elected to a non-consecutive term, Trump is at least a known quantity to world leaders. Even his knack for unpredictable behavior is predictable.But Trump has quickly made clear that he is still capable of jaw-dropping statements, an approach that has rattled allies, while pleasing his supporters, who see this is as a way to force results.As president-elect, Trump has refused to rule out the idea of military force to seize Greenland — an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark — as well as the Panama Canal, the vital waterway which the United States handed over 25 years ago.Trump has also taunted NATO ally and long-friendly neighbor Canada, suggesting it should become a 51st state of the United States or face tariffs — his favorite tool to pressure both friends and foes.Asked in a recent interview with ABC News if Trump was serious in his threats, Mike Waltz, his incoming national security advisor, said: “What he’s very serious about is the threats that we’re facing.”Pointing to Chinese companies’ influence in the Panama Canal and Russian exertion of power in the warming Arctic, Waltz said that Trump “is always going to leave all options on the table” in a way “unlike, frankly, his predecessor.”- After ‘America is Back’ -Outgoing President Joe Biden had declared that “America is Back” when he beat Trump in 2020 — and made no apologies for his stance in a valedictory address Monday at the State Department, insisting the United States was now stronger against its competitors.Secretary of State Antony Blinken, introducing Biden, said the president had tasked him with rebuilding US alliances.”I remember what you told me,” he said of Biden. “You said we don’t know when this is going to make a difference” but that close relationships eventually are “going to be critical.”Robert Benson,  a senior policy analyst at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said that Trump was correct “to be identifying the threat posed by a revanchist Russia and by an expansionist China.””But he’s completely and totally off with the way that he’s alienated our partners and our allies — really pushing our European partners, in particular, to distance themselves from the United States,” he said.- Up and running -Trump’s style, to put it mildly, has differed with the customary presidential transitions in which the incoming administration waits until the January 20 inauguration to make policy moves.In a scene without parallel in recent US history, the emir of Qatar — a key intermediary in brokering a ceasefire to end the bloody 15-month war in Gaza — met together Monday both with Trump’s Mideast envoy and the Biden White House’s Middle East chief.But despite Trump’s often unorthodox and bombastic style, there are also signs that in some areas he may take a more traditional approach than expected.Waltz, an Afghanistan veteran and congressman, and Senator Marco Rubio, his nominee for secretary of state, are both considered in the mainstream of the Republican Party.They favor a security-heavy approach, and Rubio is expected to put a greater focus on countering leftists in Latin America.Trump during his campaign had boasted that he could end the Ukraine war in a day, potentially by leveraging US aid to force Kyiv — which has received billions of dollars in weapons under Biden — into territorial concessions to Russia.But Trump appointed a respected retired lieutenant general, Keith Kellogg, as an envoy on Ukraine, and Waltz initially has spoken of strengthening Ukraine to give it a better negotiating position.Waltz said that Trump had already succeeded since his election of reviving prospects for diplomacy in a conflict that “had bogged down to a World War I-style meat grinder of people and resources with World War III consequences.”On a recent visit of European lawmakers to Washington, Lia Quartapelle, the chair of Italy’s foreign affairs committee, said she had expected, especially as she comes from a left-wing party, to expect a “very tense discussion” with Republicans on Ukraine.”That’s not what we found,” she said. “We found a clear idea of what US interests are, but also an availability to discuss things, starting with the continuation of support for Ukraine. Which surprised us.”

Days before Donald Trump returns to the White House with a vow of mass deportations, migrants in Mexico say they are increasingly nervous about whether their asylum appointments will be honored.Some of the appointments with US authorities are scheduled for days after Trump takes office on January 20, or even on Inauguration Day itself.”There is a kind of sense of despair,” Yusmelis Villalobos, a Venezuelan with a January 23 appointment, told AFP from the southern Mexican city of Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala.”It’s no secret that sometimes when Donald Trump says things, he does them,” Dayana Hernandez, a 36-year-old Venezuelan said.Nicolas Maduro’s inauguration in Caracas last week for a highly contested third term as president has added to the dilemma facing migrants from her country, Hernandez said.”We really don’t know what to do, whether to go back, keep going forwards — we really don’t know,” she added.Trump has accused immigrants of “poisoning the blood of our country” and threatened to carry out the largest deportation of migrants in American history.During his first term in the White House from 2017 to 2021, Trump put heavy pressure on Mexico to turn back a tide of migrants from Central America.Hernandez appealed to the president-elect not to kill her hopes of reaching the United States. “Just as there are bad people, there are good people who want to work,” she said.- ‘Tense’ situation -Hernandez was one of hundreds of migrants waiting in Tapachula this week for permission to travel to the border to request asylum, after having made an appointment through the US government’s CBP One mobile app.Without a permit, they risk being detained by Mexican authorities while on the move.But Mexican authorities are struggling to deal with the crowds waiting near the city’s immigration office.Some migrants, frustrated with the wait, have set off on foot in caravans from Tapachula in recent weeks, braving hunger, exhaustion and the cold.Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing violence and poverty travel across Mexico every year for the US border, some of them paying people smugglers to transport them in trucks.CBP One was introduced by outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden to curb illegal migration.Although making an appointment through the app does not guarantee that migrants can remain in the United States, it allows them to obtain a work permit while they continue their process there.Anais Rojas, a 20-year-old Venezuelan traveling with her young son, is also worried about whether her appointment for January 23 will be canceled.”Thank God we got the appointment, but of course things are still uncertain. We don’t know what will happen,” she said.But Rojas said she did not “feel hate” toward Trump, despite his anti-immigrant rhetoric.If his policies succeed in boosting the US economy, that could be good for migrants, she added.”There’s a reason he won,” Rojas said. “If the economy is better, it benefits us too.”

In a city often maligned for its self-absorption and superficiality, residents of Los Angeles are rallying together to help wildfire victims, with shelters forced to turn away a surplus of volunteers and donations.At a converted parking lot in Arcadia, around 600 people showed up in a single day this weekend to distribute donated supplies to evacuees, organizers said.Many had been redirected from other shelters that also could not accommodate the extra help. “It gives me goosebumps,” said Kellie Krievs, a 38-year-old communications director.”It’s insane. It makes me emotional… LA is showing up,” agreed caterer Vanessa Abad, 30.This particular donation center sprung up organically last Tuesday from one resident’s TikTok post asking for food.It was forced to move to three different locations as it outgrew its surroundings each time, eventually settling on a sprawling lot next to the Santa Anita racetrack.On Monday, hundreds of people were sifting through boxes and stacks of everything from clothing and kids’ toys to bottled water, sanitary products and face masks — the latter of which are needed to combat the pervasive smoke from still-raging fires.Volunteer food stalls cooked up hot dogs and tacos, while a man played “Here Comes The Sun” by The Beatles on an acoustic guitar.The blazes, which have killed at least 24 people across Los Angeles, have not discriminated by wealth, race or age. Neighborhood blocks where residents have for decades assumed they were safe from wildfires have been reduced to ash.”It’s a very different experience than any other volunteering that I typically do. Because there’s really no difference between the people that are helping and the people that are being helped,” said 19-year-old student Gianna Karkafi. “It’s just, like, luck.”- ‘Heartwarming’ -Though Los Angeles is home to a plethora of food banks, community centers and charities, the explosion in volunteer activity contradicts the usual stereotypes of a city best known for its glamorous entertainment industry and dire homeless problem.One volunteer observed that many of those coming to collect free clothes and food were likely not in fact evacuees, but people who were already struggling to make ends meet long before the fires.But they were still welcome to make the most of the city’s outburst of generosity, said Elaine Hoang, who had made the hour-and-a-half drive up from Orange County to assist.”If they need it, we’re here for you guys,” said the 26-year-old pharmacist.The generosity also starkly contrasts with a spate of burglaries and fraud that has cropped up around the disaster-hit districts.Nine people have been charged over looting, with other arrests, including one man who dressed as a firefighter to break into homes.”Many of the shelters are being inundated with offers of help from the community, which is just so heartwarming,” said California Senator Adam Schiff.”There’s a lot to be inspired by in this time of trial. There’s also a lot to be infuriated by.” Several volunteers told AFP that the usual stereotypes about Los Angeles — deserved or not — had gone out the window in this time of extreme crisis.”Everyone’s so self-absorbed some days, but when it’s natural disaster and it’s so close to home, I feel like everyone’s like, ‘Oh yeah, no, we gotta go,'” said restaurant worker Alicia Carreon, 31.”We’re people, just like people in Florida who band together and help each other,” she said, referring to the recent hurricanes that hit the southeastern US state.”California’s home. Los Angeles is home. Palisades is home.”

The United States unveiled new export rules Monday on chips used for artificial intelligence, furthering efforts to make it tough for China and other rivals to access the advanced technology in Joe Biden’s final days as president.The announcement of the restrictions drew a fiery pushback from Beijing and prompted US chip industry criticism, while the European Union expressed its “concern” over the approach.In recent years, Washington has expanded its efforts to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, which can be used in AI and weapons systems, as Beijing’s tech advancements spark concern among US policymakers.”The US leads the world in AI now — both AI development and AI chip design — and it’s critical that we keep it that way,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters.The new rules update controls on chips, requiring authorizations for exports, re-exports and in-country transfers — while also including a series of exceptions for countries considered friendly to the United States.If a country is not exempted — and most are not — they will face a cap on imports of advanced chips.AI data centers meanwhile will need to comply with enhanced security parameters to be able to import chips.The restrictions also tighten rules around the sharing of cutting-edge AI models.China’s Commerce Ministry called the new policy “a flagrant violation” of international trade rules, vowing that Beijing would “firmly safeguard” its interests.The European Union meanwhile expressed concern about US measures and stressed that Europe did not represent a “security risk.”- US competitiveness -The latest move drew industry criticism and warnings that it would hurt US competitiveness.Semiconductor Industry Association chief executive John Neuffer said: “We’re deeply disappointed that a policy shift of this magnitude and impact is being rushed out the door days before a presidential transition and without any meaningful input from industry.”He added in a statement that the rule could cause “lasting damage to America’s economy and global competitiveness” by ceding key markets to rivals.Chip titan Nvidia said in a blog post that “while cloaked in the guise of an ‘anti-China’ measure, these rules would do nothing to enhance US security.”In a white paper released Monday, OpenAI said the federal government should help the AI industry grow, adding that “responsibly exporting” cutting-edge models to allies and partners will help them stand up their own AI ecosystems.- Trump decision? -The rules make it “hard for our strategic competitors to use smuggling and remote access to evade our export control,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.They also create “incentives for our friends and partners around the world to use trusted vendors for advanced AI,” he added.The new rules will take effect in 120 days, Raimondo said, giving President-elect Trump’s incoming administration time to potentially make changes.Freezing the rule, however, could risk allowing China to stockpile US hardware, a senior US official told reporters.And the Computer & Communications Industry Association cautioned that the rule will hamper the ability of US firms to deploy advanced semiconductors in data centers abroad.In its post, Nvidia stressed that the first Trump term showed how the United States “wins through innovation, competition and by sharing our technologies with the world — not by retreating behind a wall of government overreach.”Trump put heavy tariffs on China during his first presidential term.But his backers in Silicon Valley could also see the rules as an undue burden on their ability to export products.On Monday, Nvidia shares lost around two percent.The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) said that pressuring countries to choose between Washington and Beijing could alienate partners and boost China’s position in global AI.”Many countries may opt for the side offering them uninterrupted access to the AI technologies vital for their economic growth and digital futures,” said ITIF vice president Daniel Castro.

The special counsel who prosecuted Hunter Biden accused US President Joe Biden on Monday of undermining public confidence in the justice system with his criticism of the investigation into his son.Hunter Biden, 54, was convicted of gun and tax crimes in cases brought by special counsel David Weiss but was pardoned by his father in December.Weiss, in his final report on the case released Monday, noted that the president, in announcing the pardon, had criticized the prosecution of his son, calling it “selective,” “unfair,” “infected” by “raw politics,” and a “miscarriage of justice.””This statement is gratuitous and wrong,” Weiss said. “Other presidents have pardoned family members, but in doing so, none have taken the occasion as an opportunity to malign the public servants at the Department of Justice based solely on false accusations.”The special counsel said the prosecutions of Hunter Biden were “the culmination of thorough, impartial investigations, not partisan politics.”Calling those rulings into question and injecting partisanship into the independent administration of the law undermines the very foundation of what makes America’s justice system fair and equitable,” he said. “It erodes public confidence in an institution that is essential to preserving the rule of law.”Biden pardoned his son prior to his sentencing in the two criminal cases.”No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong,” the president said at the time.The release of Weiss’s report comes shortly before the expected release this week of another special counsel report — that of Jack Smith, who brought two criminal cases against former and now future president Donald Trump.Smith accused Trump of seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Biden and mishandling top secret documents after leaving the White House.Neither case came to trial and Smith, in line with a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president, dropped the charges after Trump won the November presidential election.- History of personal pardons -Smith’s report on the election interference case is likely to be released this week but his report on the documents case may be withheld because charges are pending against two of Trump’s former co-defendants.Hunter Biden was convicted last year of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun — a felony — and he pleaded guilty in a separate tax evasion case.His father had repeatedly said he would not pardon Hunter but that he decided to do so after he “watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”US presidents have previously used pardons to help family members and other political allies.Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother for old cocaine charges and Trump pardoned the father of his son-in-law for tax evasion, though in both cases those men had already served their prison terms.Trump has vowed to pardon supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a bid to reverse his 2020 election loss.