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A small private airplane crashed in northeast Philadelphia Friday, a top official said, with media showing images of a fireball that sparked blazes on the ground in the built-up neighborhood.The aircraft, which the Federal Aviation Administration said was a Learjet 55 executive aircraft with two people aboard, crashed around 2330 GMT into a densely-populated district of the city with homes, shops and busy roads. It was bound for Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, and had taken off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, the FAA said in a statement confirming that it would investigate along with the National Transportation Safety Board.US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy meanwhile said there were “reportedly” six people aboard the plane.There was no immediate confirmation of casualties.”We are offering all resources as (emergency services) respond to the small private plane crash in Northeast Philly,” Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro wrote on X. “We’ll continue to provide updates as more information is available.”The crash in the east coast US city came just two days after a passenger jet and military helicopter collided off Washington’s Reagan National Airport, killing 67 people in the deadliest US air disaster in almost a quarter century.- ‘Major incident’ -The Learjet that crashed was an aircraft used to transport medical patients, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management wrote on X that there was a “major incident” underway and that roads in the vicinity were closed, calling on the public to avoid the area.Dozens of first responders were on the scene outside Roosevelt Mall, a strip mall with retailers and food outlets.The police and fire department did not respond to calls for comment.”Major incident near Cottman and Bustelton Avenues in Northeast Philadelphia across from Roosevelt Mall. Roads closed in area including parts of Roosevelt Boulevard. Avoid area,” the city’s emergency management office wrote on X.

President Donald Trump will implement tariffs Saturday on the three largest US trading partners — Canada, Mexico and China — saying there was nothing they could do to forestall him while vowing further levies on various industries.Trump has reiterated his plans for 25 percent tariffs on imports from neighboring Canada and Mexico, saying they have failed to crack down on illegal migrants crossing the US border and on the flow of fentanyl.He also threatened a 10 percent duty for Chinese goods on the same day, similarly over the drug.White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt affirmed Friday the February 1 imposition of these tariffs.”Both Canada and Mexico have allowed an unprecedented invasion of illegal fentanyl that is killing American citizens, and also immigrants into our country,” she told reporters.She did not commit to exemptions on sectors, and rejected warnings that this would spark a trade war.Beyond the three countries, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday that tariffs on oil and gas could arrive around February 18.”Eventually we’re going to put tariffs on chips, we’re going to put tariffs on oil and gas,” he said, without specifying which countries he would target.He also vowed to impose higher duties on steel and aluminum, and eventually copper imports.Washington was “absolutely” going to impose tariffs on the European Union in the future as well, Trump said, adding that the bloc “has treated us so terribly.”Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed Friday an “immediate response” if Trump acted, while Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government was in close contact with Trump’s administration.Trump has not specified tools he would use, though analysts suggest he could tap emergency economic powers, which allow the president to regulate imports during a national emergency.Beijing has rebuffed claims of its complicity in the deadly fentanyl trade. Close US ally Canada has countered that below one percent of undocumented migrants and fentanyl entering the United States comes through its northern border.Some analysts believe tariff threats are a bargaining chip to accelerate the renegotiation of the existing trade deal, known as USMCA, between the United States, Mexico and Canada.But tariff hikes on the trading partners would likely prove a major shock, shaking up supply chains.- Oil in focus -Asked if Saturday’s tariffs would include Canadian crude oil, Trump told reporters: “I’m probably going to reduce the tariff a little bit on that.””We think we’re going to bring it down to 10 percent,” he added, noting that upcoming tariffs would come on top of existing rates.Nearly 60 percent of US crude oil imports are from Canada, noted the Congressional Research Service.Canadian heavy oil is refined in the United States and regions dependent on it may lack a ready substitute.Canadian producers would bear the brunt of tariffs but US refiners would also be hit with higher costs, said Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service. This could bring gasoline price increases.- Recession risks -Erica York of the Tax Foundation said the Canada, Mexico and China tariffs would shrink economic output by 0.4 percent and amount to “an average tax increase of more than $830 per US household in 2025.”Oxford Economics analysts warned that blanket tariffs and pushback could tip Canada and Mexico into recessions, adding that the United States also risks a shallow downturn.US merchandise imports from both countries largely enter duty free or with very low rates on average, said the Peterson Institute for International Economics.A tariff hike would likely shock industrial buyers and consumers.Trump is also mulling more tariffs on Chinese goods.Beijing has vowed to defend its “national interests,” and a foreign ministry spokeswoman previously warned that “there are no winners in a trade war.”During election campaigning, Trump raised the idea of levies of 60 percent or higher on Chinese imports.Isaac Boltansky of financial services firm BTIG expects “incremental tariff increases” on Chinese goods.”Our sense is that Trump will vacillate between carrots and sticks with China, with the ultimate goal being some sort of grand bargain before the end of his term,” he said in a note.

US prosecutors announced Friday that they have charged a former Federal Reserve advisor with spying on behalf of China while posing as a part-time lecturer at a local university. The Department of Justice (DOJ) said it had charged John Harold Rogers, a 63-year-old US national, with spying for Beijing while employed as a senior advisor at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (FRB) Division of International Finance between 2010 and 2021.The indictment, unsealed Friday, said Rogers had leaked secret information from the Fed’s board and its powerful rate-setting committee.”The confidential information that Rogers allegedly shared with his Chinese co-conspirators, who worked for the intelligence and security apparatus of China and who posed as graduate students at a PRC university, is economically valuable when secret,” the DOJ said in a statement.The DOJ said that, since 2018, Rogers had “allegedly exploited his employment with the FRB by soliciting trade-secret information regarding proprietary economic data sets,” including deliberations on tariffs against China. “He passed that information electronically to his personal email account, in violation of FRB policy, or printed it prior to traveling to China, in preparation for meetings with his co-conspirators,” they added. When in China, Rogers then shared the information during secret meetings held in hotel rooms, while he pretended to teach classes at the University of Shandong.He was paid approximately $450,000 for part-time work as a professor at “a Chinese university,” the indictment alleges.Alongside this remuneration, the DOJ alleges co-conspirators of Rogers also provided him with gifts, paid for his airfare to China and his lodging and dining while he was there, and even offered “to arrange and pay for a beach vacation.” When confronted by FRB inspectors in 2020, “Rogers lied about his accessing and passage of sensitive information and his associations with his co-conspirators,” the DOJ said. The charges of conspiracy to commit economic espionage and making false statements carry maximum penalties of 15 years in prison and a $5 million fine, and five years in prison respectively, the DOJ said. “The Chinese Communist Party has expanded its economic espionage campaign to target U.S. government financial policies and trade secrets in an effort to undermine the U.S. and become the sole superpower,” FBI assistant director in charge David Sundberg said in a statement. “Today’s indictment represents the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protect U.S. national security interests and U.S. jobs and to bring to justice those who are willing to betray their country for personal gain,” he added.The DOJ said the data Rogers shared could allow China to manipulate US markets.”Gaining advance knowledge of U.S. economic policy, including advance knowledge of changes to the federal funds rate, could provide China with an advantage when selling or buying U.S. bonds or securities,” it said.

FBI agents who participated in the investigations that led to now-abandoned criminal charges against President Donald Trump are expected to be fired, US media reported Friday.Dozens of FBI agents involved in the probe of Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 and some supervisors are also “being evaluated for possible removal as soon as the end of Friday,” CNN said, quoting people briefed on the matter.NBC News said the purge includes more than 20 heads of Federal Bureau of Investigation field offices including those in Miami and Washington.According to CNN, at least six senior FBI leaders have been ordered to “retire, resign or be fired by Monday.”The Washington Post, citing people familiar with the plan, said “officials are working to identify potentially hundreds (of FBI agents) for possible termination.” The newspaper added that the FBI’s acting director, Brian Driscoll, a veteran FBI agent who was appointed by Trump to run the bureau until his nominee as director is confirmed by the Senate, had refused to approve the mass firings.The Justice Department fired a number of officials on Monday who were involved in the prosecutions of Trump.A Justice Department official said the officials were being terminated because the acting attorney general did not believe they “could be trusted to faithfully implement the president’s agenda.”Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought two federal cases against Trump, resigned earlier this month.Smith charged Trump with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden and mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House.Neither case came to trial and Smith — in line with a long-standing Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president — dropped them both after the Republican won November’s presidential election.Trump, on his first day in the White House last week, pardoned more than 1,500 of his supporters who stormed the Capitol in a bid to block congressional certification of Biden’s victory.FBI director Christopher Wray resigned following Trump’s reelection and the president has named Kash Patel, his former advisor and staunch loyalist, to head the top US law enforcement agency.Patel, at his confirmation hearing before a Senate committee on Thursday, was asked if he was aware of any plans to punish FBI agents who were involved in the investigations of Trump.”I am not aware of that,” he said.Patel also told the Senate Judiciary Committee that “all FBI employees will be protected against political retribution.”

Meta is considering whether to move its incorporation to Texas, a US state seen as amenable to companies run by big shareholders like Mark Zuckerberg, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.The social media giant has been incorporated in Delaware since 2004, when the company was known as Facebook.A shift to Texas by Meta would follow in the footsteps of Elon Musk, who switched incorporation of Tesla and some other companies he runs to the state after a Delaware judge voided his huge compensation package.In a ruling, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick sided with a shareholder who claimed the Tesla CEO was overpaid, approving the annulment of Musk’s 2018 compensation agreement worth as much as $55.8 billion.Suits filed by shareholders are typically heard in courts where companies are incorporated, and Texas portrays itself as a friendly venue for companies run by shareholders with controlling interests.Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told AFP he could not confirm the Journal report and that the company had no plans to move its headquarters from California’s Silicon Valley.Texas has a history of supporting conservative political candidates, Trump among them.Trump has recently courted tech titans including Zuckerberg and X owner Musk, both of whom attended the president’s inauguration in Washington.Meta has pulled back on fact checking and diversity initiatives as Zuckerberg embraces Trump.Zuckerberg has tweaked Meta’s policies to lift restrictions on some content within the company’s apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp.Meta would be “restoring free expression on our platforms,” Zuckerberg, who reportedly dined with Trump at his Florida estate in November, said in announcing a recent rollback of fact-checking operations.Meta this week said it agreed to pay Trump $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit he filed claiming he was wrongfully censored by Facebook and Instagram after the US Capitol riot.

Divers scoured for the remaining bodies from the Washington plane crash Friday as President Donald Trump posted his own politicized verdict on the deadliest US air disaster in almost a quarter century, with the investigation barely underway.Forty-one victims have been pulled from the icy depths of the Potomac River, and rescuers voiced confidence that the other 26 would be retrieved in the massive operation to recover the passenger jet that collided in midair with a Black Hawk military helicopter Wednesday night.”Our dive teams are working in targeted areas and additional Coast Guard assets will arrive this afternoon. The salvage crews… are assessing the work that’s going to be needed to recover the aircraft from the water,” Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly told a news conference at Reagan National Airport, outside the US capital.”We expect those operations to begin no later than tomorrow afternoon.”He told reporters that lifting the aircraft’s fuselage out of the river would likely reveal the remaining bodies, adding: “If it doesn’t, we will continue the search.”Authorities are also looking for the helicopter’s black box after retrieving the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the Bombardier jet operated by an American Airlines subsidiary. As the Federal Aviation Administration restricted helicopter flights to reduce the risk of another collision, the gruesome physical search ran parallel with a complex technical analysis of what went wrong.The airliner was coming in to land at Reagan National Airport — just a few miles from the White House — when it collided with a US Army helicopter on a training mission.The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is expected to compile a preliminary report within 30 days, although a full investigation could take a year.- ‘Disgusted’ -But the lack of clarity over the accident’s cause has not deterred Trump’s politicized commentary since the first moments after the plane — on a routine flight from Wichita, Kansas with 64 people aboard — struck the Black Hawk, carrying three.Trump was at it again Friday, posting on his Truth Social platform: “The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. It was far above the 200 foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???”This followed a torrent of posts and a news conference Thursday where the Republican pinned the blame for the crash on his Democratic predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama, claiming without evidence they had hired the wrong people due to anti-racism and other non-discrimination initiatives known as DEI.”They actually came out with a directive: ‘too white.’ And we want the people that are competent,” Trump said.Chesley Sullenberger, who famously landed a stricken plane on the Hudson River in New York in 2009, told network MSNBC he was “disgusted” but “not surprised” by Trump’s rhetoric.The hero pilot, known as Sully, noted that it took 16 months for the final report when his own flight crash-landed.Aviation experts, meanwhile, homed in on whether the helicopter crew could see through military night-vision goggles and whether the Reagan National control tower was understaffed.- ‘Speculation’ -According to The New York Times, one controller, rather than the usual two, was handling both plane and helicopter traffic at the time.Just 24 hours earlier, another plane had to make a second approach to the airport after a helicopter neared its flight path, The Washington Post and CNN reported, citing an audio recording from air traffic control.NTSB member Todd Inman told CNN the investigation would resist political pressure to reach a conclusion about the crash ahead of the investigation playing out.”There’s a lot of people that have speculation and want to be heard in that regard,” he said. “We understand that, but our job is to find, ultimately, what caused this and prevent it in the future.”The collision was the first major crash in the United States since 2009, and the deadliest since the American Airlines jet crash in Belle Harbor, New York in 2001 that killed 260.Among those on Wednesday’s doomed airliner were several US skaters and coaches, and Russian couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the 1994 world pairs title.Two Chinese citizens and a Filipino were also among the victims, according to official sources in the countries.Terry Liercke, vice president and manager of Reagan National Airport, said the hub was operating at reduced capacity, with two of three runways closed and 100 flights canceled Friday.

Karla Sofia Gascon, the transgender actress and history-making Oscar nominee for musical film “Emilia Perez,” has apologized after old social media posts resurfaced in which she denigrated Islam and George Floyd.The controversy, which erupted days after Gascon became the first openly trans acting nominee in Academy Awards history, threatens to overshadow Netflix’s campaign for a movie that procured a leading 13 Oscar nominations.Gascon said she was “deeply sorry to those I have caused pain,” in a statement sent to AFP via a Netflix spokeswoman on Friday.Many of the social media posts, which date back to at least 2016, specifically criticize Islam and Muslims. Gascon described Islam as “an infection” and “a deeply disgusting type of humanity.” Another post referred to Floyd — the Black man murdered by US police, whose death in 2020 sparked mass anti-racism protests — as a “drug addict and a scammer.” Spanish star Gascon, 52, was launched to global fame at the Cannes film festival last May, where “Emilia Perez” — in which she plays a Mexican narco boss who becomes a woman — won multiple prizes.It was bought by streaming giant Netflix, and earlier this month “Emilia Perez” shattered the record for the most Academy Award nominations for a non-English-language film, with 13 nods.That success came despite criticisms leveled at the film from certain quarters, for its depictions of Mexico and its drug war, its representation of trans issues, and its use of artificial intelligence to increase Gascon’s voice range in musical scenes. As the film’s release and award campaign has ramped up, Gascon has spoken of her sadness and exhaustion at becoming a target for vicious online transphobic attacks.Gascon also became embroiled in a row this week after accusing “many people working around” her best actress rival nominee, Brazil’s Fernanda Torres, of talking “badly about me, and Emilia Perez.”But at least until now Gascon has been considered a front-runner for best actress, and the film is viewed by pundits as a strong contender to win best picture.The social media tweets resurfaced Thursday after being shared online by journalist Sarah Hagi. Gascon also joked that a “Chinese vaccine” for Covid-19 would come with “two spring rolls” and “a cat that moves its hand,” and said a recent Oscars ceremony looked like “an Afro-Korean festival” or “a Black Lives Matter demonstration.”Gascon’s account on X, formerly Twitter, has since been deactivated.”I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt,” said Gascon’s statement.”As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain.”All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.”

Scientists have cast doubt on the reliability of America’s most celebrated rodent forecaster — whose apparent knack of predicting how long winter will last forms a hallowed tradition in the United States.Punxsutawney Phil, made famous by the 1993 film “Groundhog Day,” attracts thousands of onlookers every February 2 to the Pennsylvania town that he takes his name from.The US state’s tradition of using a large rodent to predict the seasons dates back to the Pennsylvania Dutch belief that if a groundhog left its burrow and saw its shadow, it would scurry back inside and winter would go on for six more weeks.But professional forecasters have warned ahead of Phil’s appearance this Sunday that his prediction is likely to be way off the mark.The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has concluded that only 35 percent of Phil’s forecasts have proved to be accurate — placing him at a lowly 17th compared to other rodent forecasters.Staten Island Chuck, a New York-based groundhog, tops the rankings with an impressive 85 percent accuracy rate on his forecasts.Phil and his predecessors, also called Phil, have been forecasting since 1887.

The Pentagon has quietly scrapped a policy that assisted troops who needed to travel to receive reproductive health care including abortions, a US defense official said Friday.President Donald Trump’s new administration has taken aim at multiple military policies opposed by Republicans, including seeking to end “transgender ideology” in the armed forces and to reinstate troops dismissed for refusing Covid vaccines.The end of the reproductive health care policy took effect earlier this week, the defense official said, without providing details on the decision.While the policy has been contentious, it was only used a limited number of times — 12 — at a cost of less than $45,000 between June and December 2023, the only time frame for which figures were released by the Pentagon.The US Supreme Court in 2022 struck down the nationwide right to abortion, meaning troops stationed in states that restricted or banned the procedure must take leave and travel to areas where it is legal to obtain one.The Defense Department responded by permitting service members to take administrative absences to receive “non-covered reproductive health care,” and establishing travel allowances.- Security held ‘hostage’ -The policy drew fire from Republicans, especially Senator Tommy Tuberville, a former football coach who sought to delay the approval of hundreds of senior military officers’ promotions in response.At the top of the US armed forces, Tuberville’s actions led to three officers serving as the acting heads of military branches and on the Joint Chiefs of Staff while also performing their previous jobs as deputy service chiefs.Tuberville eventually backed down, but US officials have said his “hold” on promotions caused significant disruption.The senator hailed the end of the policy, saying Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had secured “what I’ve been fighting for since I got to Washington: ZERO taxpayer dollars should go towards abortions.”Hegseth responded to Tuberville’s post on social media site X, saying: “Thank you for your leadership, Coach.”Others were opposed to the change, including Jeanne Shaheen, a Democratic member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.The end of the policy “will harm the health and wellbeing of our service members and does nothing to support our military readiness,” Shaheen said on X.Senator Tammy Duckworth — who lost both legs when her Black Hawk helicopter was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq — slammed Tuberville in a post on X.”You held our national security and military readiness hostage for 9 months over this compassionate policy,” said Duckworth, another Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

US President Donald Trump sent an envoy to Venezuela Friday to warn leftist leader Nicolas Maduro to accept the unconditional return of deported Venezuelans or face consequences.Richard Grenell, an outspoken Trump ally who serves in a broad role as envoy for special missions, traveled to Caracas to speak to Maduro as the new Washington administration vows to push a hard line.State TV broadcast images Friday afternoon of Maduro receiving Grenell for a closed meeting at the presidential palace.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Grenell would demand that Caracas allow repatriation flights for members of the Tren de Aragua — the Venezuelan criminal gang Trump has designated a terrorist group. “President Trump expects Nicolas Maduro to take back all of the Venezuelan criminals and gang members that have been exported to the United States, and to do so unequivocally and without condition,” Mauricio Claver-Carone, US special envoy for Latin America, said separately.Claver-Carone said Grenell was also demanding that “American hostages need to be released — immediately, unequivocally.””All I would do on this call is urge the Maduro government — the Maduro regime — in Venezuela, to heed to Special Envoy Ric Grenell and to his demands and what he puts on the table, because ultimately, there will be consequences otherwise,” Claver-Carone told reporters.It was one of the first known meetings by the second Trump administration with a government it considers hostile.Maduro was sworn in for a third presidential term on January 10 despite being accused of stealing the election last July. The opposition, and much of the international community, considers rival Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia the rightful winner.Claver-Carone said the talks did not imply any softening of the position on Maduro, whose previous term Washington had also considered illegitimate.The Joe Biden administration had agreed to relax sanctions on oil as part of a deal for American prisoners and free elections. Venezuela freed 10 Americans in a swap. But Biden reimposed sanctions after Maduro did not follow through on democratic reforms.Maduro recently announced the capture of seven “mercenaries” and said two were US citizens — including a “senior FBI official.”The Foro Penal rights NGO says eight Americans are imprisoned in Venezuela, plus two people of unknown nationalities who had resided in the United States.”This is not a quid pro quo, is not a negotiation in exchange for anything. President Trump himself has made very clear we don’t need Venezuelan oil,” Claver-Carone said.Venezuela has the world’s biggest known oil reserves, but production is stunted and GDP has dropped 80 percent in a decade on Maduro’s watch — prompting more than seven million of the country’s 30 million citizens to flee.- Top priority for Trump -Trump has made the deportation of undocumented people in the United States a top priority. During his campaign, he described immigrants as “poisoning the blood” of the United States.Since his return to the White House, he has pressed countries to take back deportees — a top priority for Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he starts a five-nation tour of Latin America on Saturday.In his first week back in office, Trump vowed crushing tariffs on Colombia, a longstanding US ally, after its president called for more humane treatment of repatriated citizens.The Trump administration quickly ended protections from deportation for more than 600,000 Venezuelans living in the United States under a special status. The Biden administration had allowed them to stay due to fears for their safety if they return to Venezuela.Venezuela’s opposition decried the lifting of the protections, saying the vast majority of Venezuelans in the United States were “honest and hard-working” and forced to flee by Maduro.Trump also signed a law making it easier to detain migrants who commit crimes, naming it after 22-year-old Laken Riley, a nursing student murdered by an undocumented Venezuelan migrant who had been arrested but released twice.