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Stung by the rocketing price of eggs — and US supermarkets rationing a basic breakfast staple — Yong-mi Kim decided to get some chickens to secure her own supply in southern California.While many people idly muse about backyard farming, for those not ready to take the plunge permanently, there’s a solution: renting a henhouse, complete with egg-laying birds.”I really want to try it out and see whether I like it or not,” the Los Angeles-area resident told AFP as she took delivery of two chickens and all the equipment they need to live a happy egg-laying life.”Some people I know have chickens at home, but it’s a lot of work for them — they had to adjust the whole garden themselves.”So I think renting a chicken is a good start.”Hiring hens began to gain ground in the United States around a decade ago in Pennsylvania when a farming couple set up “Rent The Chicken.” Since then, the project has expanded to more than 40 cities across North America, with local farmers setting up their own offshoots.The service saw an uptick in interest during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when people were stuck at home.But it has skyrocketed in recent months as consumers quail over the soaring cost of eggs, thanks to a bird flu pandemic that has seen the wholesale culling of egg-laying birds.”Especially this year, we have had a much higher interest, I would say, three to four times as much as we were seeing this time last year,” said Victoria Lee, who serves the Los Angeles region from her farm in Agua Dulce.Some Americans have been forking over more than $10 for a dozen eggs, up to three times their usual price, with supermarkets putting daily limits on the number of cartons a shopper can buy.The eyewatering costs were a regular feature of last year’s presidential campaign, with US President Donald Trump pledging to lower grocery bills when he got to the White House.But prices have continued to climb, and in March eggs were 60 percent more expensive than a year earlier, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.Lee is quick to point out, however, that raising chickens at home is not cheaper than buying eggs at the store. Instead, it’s a question of quality.”By the time they get to the grocery store (eggs) are on average 48-60 days old,” she said.”As eggs sit, no matter the quality at the start of that countdown, over time, the protein in the eggs begins to break down.”Backyard eggs, in contrast, are only as old as however long it took the owner to pick them up off the henhouse floor.- ‘Free eggs!’ – “Rent the Chicken” offers different options that range from around $500 to over $1,000 for six months, depending on location and number of birds desired. Packages include the birds, food, waterers and feeders, additional treats and a chicken care guide.But it is the included coop that is most striking — a sort of mini house with what looks like a patio, completely protected by fences.It’s also moveable, thanks to wheels on the bottom. “Every day, our renters will lift this up … and move it forward… with the chickens having access to fresh grass each day.”They’re getting the experience of being on wide-open pasture with that new stimulation, new bugs to look for, new grass to dig through, while still being safe in a predator-proof coop.”The convenience is what made the package attractive to Kim, a university professor living in La Crescenta, near Los Angeles, and when her new coop arrived, she was absolutely thrilled.”Free eggs!” Lee exclaimed while unloading the new backyard tenants and handing over a complimentary dozen laid the previous week.A client with two chickens can expect up to 14 eggs per week, Lee explains. Kim, whose son is an athlete who eats a lot of eggs, says although the supply crisis prompted her to rent the chickens, it’s “bigger than that.” “I really wanted to have something for the kids, also to learn as a way of life, and to compare the taste of the eggs,” she said.

Donald Trump once clashed with Marco Rubio in bitter and vulgar terms. Nearly a decade later, the president has crowned Rubio with the rare dual role of the two top US foreign policy jobs, putting the hawkish former senator at the forefront of a proudly disruptive administration.Trump on Thursday made Rubio, his secretary of state,the interim national security advisor, a powerful White House role tasked with coordinating foreign policy across the administration.Just 101 days into his second term, Trump removed national security advisor Mike Waltz, who faced criticism over a leaked group chat on war plans, and pledged to nominate him as US ambassador to the United Nations.No person has run both the State Department and National Security Council at the same time since the legendary Henry Kissinger, who did so for two years as former president Richard Nixon was being brought down by the Watergate scandal.It remains doubtful that Rubio can amass as much influence as Kissinger, a ruthless tactician both in Washington and overseas.Trump, who sours quickly on aides, has already given some of the most sensitive assignments — from Russia to Iran to Gaza — to special envoy Steve Witkoff, his longtime golfing partner and business friend with no previous diplomatic experience.But Rubio has found a politically winning formula, not by fighting for turf, but by seizing on his own issues that endear himself to Trump’s base — starting with deportations.- Winning over base -Rubio has been cheered on by much of Trump’s base, some of whom after his nomination derided him as an establishment “warmongering” hawk.It is an even further shift from the 2016 presidential race when Trump mocked him as “Little Marco” and Rubio questioned the size of Trump’s genitals.Rubio, the first Hispanic secretary of state, on one of his first stops reached a deal to send migrants and possibly even Americans to El Salvador, whose President Nayib Bukele has championed mass incarceration to curb crime.Rubio at a 100th day cabinet meeting with Trump repeatedly said he was unapologetic about seeking more such prison deals overseas, despite a court order that the Trump administration has resisted to bring back a Salvadoran man mistakenly deported.Rubio has shown similar gusto in deporting foreign students over protests against Israel, insisting that he alone can revoke visas despite US constitutional protections of freedom of speech.”Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,” he said.- ‘Normal’ cabinet member -Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants fiercely opposed to communism, has always held conservative views.But on Capitol Hill, he was known as an affable player with mainstream views and, unusually in such partisan times, was unanimously confirmed by fellow senators.Foreign interlocutors still largely see him as the most understandable person in the Trump orbit.”We feel that he’s one person who is still ‘normal’ and will at least listen to our concerns and say he’ll take them back,” said one diplomat from a US ally involved in a meeting with Rubio, granted anonymity to speak frankly.But Rubio has been careful not to break publicly with Trump.He disagreed during a closed-door White House meeting with Elon Musk, the billionaire who has imposed sweeping cuts in government, according to a person familiar with the encounter.But Rubio, who championed foreign aid as a senator, has watched as the US Agency for International Development was demolished.In a scene that drew wide parody, Rubio appeared to silently sink deep into the White House couch as Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a stunning February 28 meeting.At least two Democratic senators afterward said they regretted voting for Rubio, with Chris Murphy saying he had expected Rubio to “stand up” to Trump on issues dear to him such as Ukraine.Making clear his affinity with Trump’s Make America Great Again movement, Rubio in April gave an interview to a podcast by the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., in which he agreed that foreign aid had been turned “into a tool to export our domestic policies of the far left.”Describing former president Joe Biden’s policy on Venezuela, the once bipartisan-sounding senator said undiplomatically, “It’s really both weakness and stupidity.”

Once hip-hop’s flashy impresario, Sean “Diddy” Combs now sports unruly, gray hair and only appears publicly in court, where he will be a regular starting Monday as his federal sex crimes trial gets underway in New York. Jury selection will kick off the blockbuster proceedings, the next chapter for the once-powerful mogul, whose efforts in recent years to rebrand as “Brother Love” were thwarted by a criminal indictment and a mountain of civil suits alleging he committed harrowing sexual abuse.The 55-year-old founded the Bad Boy record label in 1993, with proteges including the late Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige, and is frequently credited with moving hip-hop into the mainstream.Combs, who has used various monikers over the years including Puff Daddy and P Diddy, amassed vast wealth, not least from his ventures in the liquor industry.But despite his efforts to cultivate an image of a smooth party kingpin and businessman, the federal criminal case and multiple civil suits describe Combs as a violent predator who weaponized his fame to victimize men and women.He has no major convictions but has long been trailed by allegations of physical assault, dating back to the 1990s.One of the key elements in the New York trial will be his relationship with singer Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura. The pair met when Ventura was 19 and he was 37, after which he signed her to his label and they began a romantic relationship.In late 2023, she opened the floodgates against Combs with a litany of allegations against him, including a 2018 rape.Though that case was quickly settled out of court, a string of similarly lurid sexual assault claims followed — including one in December by a woman who alleged Combs and others gang-raped her when she was 17.Combs has denied every accusation against him, but the case has left his reputation and legacy in tatters.- Dark shadow over global fame -Born Sean John Combs on November 4, 1969, in Harlem, the artist entered the industry as an intern in 1990 at Uptown Records where he eventually became a talent director.He gained a reputation as a party planner, which would be central to his brand as his fame rose.In 1991, he promoted a celebrity basketball game and concert at the City College of New York that ended in a stampede, leaving nine people dead.The event was over-capacity by the thousands and resulted in a string of lawsuits, with Combs blamed for hiring inadequate security.He was fired from Uptown, and founded his own label, Bad Boy Records.Thus began his quick ascent to the top of East Coast hip-hop.His disciple The Notorious B.I.G. became the genre’s king following the release of his landmark debut album “Ready to Die” in 1994, up until his shock murder in 1997.Combs boasted a number of major signed acts and production collaborations with the likes of Blige, Usher, Lil’ Kim, TLC, Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men.He was also a Grammy-winning rapper in his own right, debuting with the chart-topping single “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” and his album “No Way Out.”The single “I’ll Be Missing You” was a tribute to Biggie and an instant hit, with other major tracks including “It’s All About The Benjamins” and “Been Around the World.”He built an image as a brash hustler with unapologetic swagger, a major producer who also ventured into Hollywood, reality television and fashion and had high-profile romantic links with the likes of Jennifer Lopez.For more than a decade beginning in 1998, his lavish White Parties were the toast of the showbiz A-list party circuit.As recently as two years ago, he hammed it up for cameras at Manhattan’s flashy Met Gala, where he was a regular.The high-profile fundraiser coincidentally will take place on Monday, the same day that lawyers start questioning the prospective jurors who will determine Combs’s fate.

Jury selection is set to begin Monday in New York in the blockbuster trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who dramatically fell from grace following his incarceration on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.Combs, 55, has been awaiting his day in court since last year on accusations of leading a crime ring that prosecutors say coerced victims into drug-fueled sex parties using threats and violence.Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges, insisting that any sex acts were consensual. At a recent hearing, his attorney Marc Agnifilo offered a preview of his team’s defense by describing the artist’s free-wheeling “swinger” lifestyle.The prosecution said in court it had offered Combs a plea deal — the specifics were not disclosed — but that he had rejected it.If convicted, the one-time rap producer and global superstar, who is often credited for his role in ushering hip-hop into the mainstream, could spend the rest of his life in prison.Over the decades, the artist — who has gone by various stage names including Puff Daddy and P Diddy — amassed vast wealth for his work in music but also his ventures in the liquor industry.The jury selection start date is notably the first Monday in May — which annually marks New York’s Met Gala, a glittering celebrity charity bash where Combs was once a red carpet mainstay.Just two years ago, he posed for the cameras at that event uptown — but on Monday, he will be in downtown in federal court, as the panel of citizens tasked with determining his fate face a barrage of questions from lawyers on both sides.Jury selection is expected to wrap up in about a week, with opening statements tentatively scheduled for May 12.Combs was arrested by federal agents in New York in September 2024 and denied bail multiple times. He is being held at Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center, a facility plagued by complaints of vermin and decay as well as violence.High-profile inmates there have included disgraced R&B star R. Kelly, Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and Sam Bankman-Fried, the cryptocurrency entrepreneur convicted of fraud.During pre-trial hearings, Combs has appeared in court looking remarkably aged, his once jet-black, styled coif now overgrown and gray.- ‘Freak-offs’ -Central to the case is Combs’s relationship with his former girlfriend, the singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who is expected to be a key trial witness.A disturbing surveillance video from 2016, which was aired by CNN last year, shows Combs physically assaulting Ventura at a hotel.Prosecutors say the encounter occurred following one of the “freak-offs” they argue were a feature of his pattern of abuse.The so-called “freak-offs” were coercive, drug-fueled sexual marathons including sex workers that were sometimes filmed, according to the indictment.It’s unclear how much of the CNN video will be shown to jurors as evidence in court — the footage’s quality has been a sticking point between the opposing legal teams — but Judge Arun Subramanian has ruled that at least some of it will be admissible.Combs has no major convictions but has long been trailed by allegations of physical assault, dating back well into the 1990s.The floodgates against the Grammy winner opened after Ventura filed a civil suit alleging Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs as well as a 2018 rape.That 2023 suit was quickly settled out of court, but a string of similarly lurid sexual assault claims from both women and men followed — and the federal criminal indictment dropped after a raid of his luxury properties in Miami and Los Angeles.The indictment includes a charge of racketeering conspiracy, the federal statute known by its acronym RICO that was once seen as primarily targeting the mafia but in recent years has also been wielded frequently in cases of sexual abuse.It allows government attorneys to project a long view of criminal activity rather than prosecuting isolated sex crimes, and requires proving “predicate acts” — the crimes elemental to the wider pattern of illegal wrongdoing.In 2021, it was successfully used to convict R. Kelly, the fallen R&B hitmaker who was sentenced to more than 30 years of prison including for child sex crimes.Industry watchers are also monitoring Combs’s case as a potential inflection point in the music world which, beyond the case of Kelly, has largely evaded the #MeToo reckoning that has rocked Hollywood.

Apple on Thursday reported first-quarter profit above expectations but warned that US tariffs could cost the company and were disrupting its supply chain.Apple expects US tariffs to cost $900 million in the current quarter, even though their impact was “limited” at the start of this year, chief executive Tim Cook said on an earnings call.Cook said he expected “a majority of iPhones sold in the US will have India as their country of origin,” adding that Apple’s products were exempt from Trump’s most severe reciprocal tariffs for now.”We are not able to precisely estimate the impact of tariffs, as we are uncertain of potential future actions prior to the end of the quarter,” Cook said. “Assuming the current global tariff rates, policies and applications do not change for the balance of the quarter and no new tariffs are added, we estimate the impact to add $900 million to our costs.”Tit-for-tat exchanges have seen hefty US levies imposed on China, with Beijing setting retaliatory barriers on US imports.High-end tech goods such as smartphones, semiconductors and computers received a temporary reprieve from US tariffs.Although completed smartphones are exempted from Trump’s tariffs for now, not all components that go into Apple devices are spared, said independent tech analyst Rob Enderle.”The more components are crossing borders, the most cost flows through to the device,” Enderle explained.”In the end, this all adds up to an expensive mess,” he said of the tariff situation.Canalys research manager Le Xuan Chiew said Apple built up inventory ahead of the tariffs going into effect.”With ongoing fluctuations in reciprocal tariff policies, Apple is likely to further shift US-bound production to India to reduce exposure to future risks,” he said.While iPhones produced in mainland China still account for the majority of US shipments, production in India ramped up toward the end of the quarter, according to Canalys.Cook said Vietnam would be the country of origin for almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and AirPod products sold in the US.China will continue to be where most Apple products are made for sale outside the US, he insisted.”What we learned some time ago was that having everything in one location had too much risk with it and so we have, over time with certain parts of the supply chain, opened up new sources of supply,” Cook told analysts.”You could see that kind of thing continuing in the future.”- Sales slip in China -Apple’s revenue of $95.4 billion in the recently ended quarter was driven by iPhone sales, with the company reporting $24.8 billion profit for the quarter.”Apple saw strong growth in the Americas and Japan,” said CFRA Research equity analyst Angelo Zino, noting part of the reason could have been ramped up orders to get ahead of US tariffs.”China revenue declined 3 percent, but the hope was for growth as subsidies were put in place to help stimulate demand in the region.”Apple shares were down more than three percent in after-market trading.”The real story is in Tim Cook’s plans to navigate these unprecedented trade challenges,” said Emarketer analyst Jacob Bourne.Apple’s plan to shift manufacturing to India “raises pressing questions about execution timeline, capacity limitations, and potentially unavoidable cost increases that will shrink margins, be passed to consumers, or have a mix of consequences,” Bourne added.

Demonstrators across the United States gathered Thursday for May Day rallies against Donald Trump, protesting his administration’s policies and attempts to push the limits of presidential power.The protests were organized by a loose network of left-leaning activist groups, which said the rallies were taking place in more than 1,000 locations.Hundreds to thousands of protesters gathered in many of the nation’s largest cities from New York to Chicago and Los Angeles, while a number of smaller towns also had demonstrators turn out in their streets.”We believe that the ultra wealthy are trying to take over the country and suppress the working class and the middle class,” Shane Riddle told AFP outside the White House in Washington.The 54-year-old, who works for an education union in the eastern state of Virginia, fears the United States “could turn into an authoritarian type of government if our citizens don’t stand up to this president and its billionaires allies.”Various rallies held across the capital brought together hundreds of people, with similar turnout in New York, while several thousand demonstrators congregated in Los Angeles, AFP photographers on the scene observed.In Houston, Texas activist Bernard Sampson denounced the administration’s rapid deportation of undocumented immigrants, defending the migrants as the people who “work in your restaurants or the people that build your homes.”- Americans ‘are angry’ -The protests come as Democratic elected officials have struggled to find an effective strategy against Trump’s far-reaching shake-up, and with fairly minimal mass mobilization by opposition protesters.”I feel like I haven’t heard anything from the party at all,” Izabela Cabrera, a 22-year-old student told AFP in Washington.”Clearly the American people are angry, and clearly we’re trying to fight for change,” she said, “but I don’t think the Democratic Party is really grasping at that right now.”The chief organizer of Thursday’s protests was the group 50501. Its name is meant to represent 50 protests in 50 states and one movement and it has been behind previous calls to demonstrate.A rally in Philadelphia organized by the AFL-CIO, America’s largest union federation, was headlined by leftist Senator Bernie Sanders, who has been touring the country for weeks to mobilize opposition.The demonstration, titled “For the Workers, Not the Billionaires,” alludes in part to the exceedingly wealthy individuals in Trump’s administration, including Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, who heads the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” cost-cutting effort.”Today in America, one man, Elon Musk, owns more wealth than the bottom 52 percent of American households,” Sanders said.At May Day rallies across the globe, from France to the Philippines, anti-Trump themes were also visible.May Day, which is celebrated in many countries as International Workers’ Day, is not a public holiday in the United States, which marks Labor Day in September.

US President Donald Trump was surrounded by faith leaders calling for him to be given “divine dreams” in an extraordinary event at the White House on Thursday.One man even knelt in front of the 78-year-old Republican for the ceremony in the Rose Garden to mark National Prayer Day.Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other religious leaders then sang “Amazing Grace” as the thrice-married billionaire signed an executive order establishing a so-called Religious Liberty Commission.Trump has taken on an increasingly religious tone since surviving an assassination attempt last year, saying at his inauguration that he had been “saved by God.””We’re bringing back religion in our country, and we’re bringing it back quickly and strongly,” Trump said.He said God had answered American “prayers because he’s put in an administration to run this country that’s going to make you proud again.”The Republican has long had an ambiguous relationship with religion — not least amid a series of sex scandals and a criminal conviction. He also hawked $60 Trump-branded Bibles on the campaign trail. But he was hailed at the event in almost messianic terms.- ‘Supernatural protection’ -“Surround him with divine supernatural protection,” said televangelist Paula White, Trump’s official spiritual adviser and head of his newly created Faith Office at the White House.Leading a prayer for Trump, White called for a “spiritual reset” in America, with the 47th president at the helm.”Grant him wisdom beyond human understanding…. and give him divine dreams, visions,” she said.One member of the audience rose from his seat and fell to one knee in a gesture of prayer before Trump as the president sat at a desk to sign the order.Others raised their hands in the air as they sang.Despite the various scandals that have swirled around him, evangelical Christians continued to back Trump in the 2024 election, just as they did in 2016.Trump thanked them for their support at the event which lasted 90 minutes, held under a blazing sun.He also stressed what he said were his efforts to bring religion back to the White House, including the Faith Office and the creation of an “anti-Christian bias” task force for the United States — the country with the world’s largest Christian population.Trump has adopted a series of positions that have delighted America’s religious right, including on abortion and transgender issues.”They say ‘separation between church and state.’ I said, ‘all right, let’s forget about that,'” Trump said. “You guys are in the White House where you should be.”- ‘Nonsense’ -Trump then thanked the swaths of Muslim voters who backed him in the 2024 campaign, swayed by his promise to end the bloodshed in the Middle East.But he drifted off on a tangent, riffing on the idea promoted in some forms of Islamic teachings that martyrs to their cause will receive 72 virgins in Heaven.Talking about meeting imams in Michigan, where there is a large Arab-American population, Trump said: “I said ‘you want to die?’ They said ‘We don’t want to die’, I said ‘What about 38 virgins?’ They say, ‘that’s nonsense.”Trump also embarked on a familiar litany of exaggerated or debunked claims, including that he won the 2020 election against Joe Biden — himself a devout Catholic.As people wiped sweat from their brows, Trump then brought a variety of people on stage, including TV host “Dr Phil” and most of the senior members of his cabinet.But there was one notable absence from the congregation — National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, whose replacement Trump announced about an hour later, after Waltz was embroiled in a scandal over a chat group leak.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday replaced his national security advisor Mike Waltz following a scandal over a chat group leak, saying he would appoint him as ambassador to the United Nations instead.In the first major cabinet shake-up of Trump’s new term, the president said Secretary of State Marco Rubio would now also serve as his interim national security advisor following Waltz’s departure.”From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first,” Trump said on Truth Social as he announced the move.But the 51-year-old former special forces officer and Florida congressman had been living on borrowed time since the so-called “Signalgate” scandal broke in March.The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine revealed at the time that Waltz had mistakenly added him to a group chat about US strikes on Yemen’s Huthi rebels on the commercial messaging app Signal.”I’m deeply honored to continue my service to President Trump and our great nation,” Waltz said in a post on X.Trump had repeatedly offered his backing in public, but behind the scenes Waltz was losing his confidence over Signalgate, while there were also tensions with other officials due to his hawkish stance on Russia and Iran.His position was increasingly at odds with Trump’s pivot towards Moscow as Washington pushed for Ukraine to reach a quick ceasefire deal, and as Trump reopened negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.US Vice President JD Vance nonetheless told Fox News that Waltz’s removal and shift to the UN could be seen as a “promotion,” and had nothing to do with Signalgate.In the end, Waltz lasted just over 100 days of Trump’s second term, which has so far been more stable in terms of personnel than his first.Democrats will now turn up the heat on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who revealed timings that US warplanes would take off to bomb targets in the same Signal chat.Hegseth was also reported to have shared those details in a separate Signal group chain that included his wife.”Now do Hegseth,” top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer posted on X.- ‘SCALP’ -Trump has so far stood by Hegseth, a former Fox News contributor who has had a rocky first few months at the Pentagon, dismissing the Signal scandal as a “witch hunt.”Alluding to Hegseth’s job security, Vance told Fox News that the defense secretary was “safe,” adding that “we’ve got total faith in Pete.”Waltz’s new role will also require Senate confirmation, ensuring that Signalgate will stay in the headlines.There was no immediate confirmation of US media reports that Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong, would also leave the National Security Council.US media had reported that Steve Witkoff, a real estate magnate whom Trump has picked to lead US talks with both Russia and Iran, is in contention to replace Waltz in the longer term.Waltz was among a number of White House staff targeted by right-wing influencer and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who met with Trump to urge a purge.Loomer, who is known for claiming that the September 11, 2001, attacks were an inside job, is reported to have successfully pushed for the dismissal of several senior US security officials she deemed disloyal to the president.After news of Waltz’s ouster was reported Thursday, Loomer appeared to take credit in a post on X, saying: “SCALP.”Waltz showed no sign that he knew of his imminent departure when appearing early Wednesday on Fox News, where he hailed the new US minerals deal with Ukraine.Waltz was also present at Trump’s televised cabinet meeting on Wednesday, where he and other senior officials lavished praise on the president.The National Security Advisor’s role has been held in the past by some of the most high-profile officials in US history, including Henry Kissinger.

Amazon reported a nine percent rise in first-quarter revenue on Thursday, but its outlook fell below expectations as potential impact from the US-China trade war rattled investors.The online retail behemoth said sales hit $155.7 billion in the January-to-March period, but its share price dropped as much as four percent in after-hours trading on Wall Street.Amazon Web Services, the company’s hugely successful cloud business, saw sales jump 17 percent to $29.3 billion, but the gain was slightly below expectations.”We’re pleased with the start to 2025, especially our pace of innovation and progress in continuing to improve customer experiences,” CEO Andy Jassy said, highlighting new AI offerings including the next-generation Alexa+ virtual assistant.Amazon said it had launched several AI initiatives during the quarter, including Amazon Nova generative AI models, while expanding its Project Kuiper satellite network to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink.Looking ahead, Amazon forecast second-quarter net sales between $159 billion and $164 billion, representing solid growth of seven to 11 percent. But this was lower than what analysts had expected.The outlook is especially sensitive for investors with speculation high on how the wave of high trade tariffs announced by President Donald Trump’s administration will affect Amazon’s performance.Trump has most notably slapped 145 percent levies on China, where many US-bound products are made, though he as given exceptions on electronics and other items for now.There is also uncertainty around whether tariffs will slow spending — the US economy already showed a contraction in the first quarter of the year.Jassy said the company had yet to see any reduction in demand since Trump announced his tariffs a month ago even if “to some extent, we’ve seen some heightened buying in certain categories” as shoppers anticipate price hikes.Still, “most sellers (on Amazon) just haven’t changed pricing yet,” he added, while insisting that Amazon wasn’t particularly exposed to China.A report earlier in the week that Amazon was going to display the extra cost of the levies for customers on its platform drew a furious response from the White House.Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos called Trump to defuse the drama, and the company quickly said it had no intention of executing the plan.Advertising, usually dominated by rivals Google and Meta, was a bright spot in the quarter with sales up 19 percent year-on-year.

The Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court on Thursday to back its bid to end the temporary protected status (TPS) shielding more than 350,000 Venezuelans from deportation.A federal judge in California put a temporary stay in March on plans by Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem to end deportation protections for the Venezuelan nationals.US District Judge Edward Chen said the plan to end TPS “smacks of racism” and mischaracterizes Venezuelans as criminals.”Acting on the basis of a negative group stereotype and generalizing such stereotype to the entire group is the classic example of racism,” Chen wrote.Solicitor General John Sauer filed an emergency application with the conservative-majority Supreme Court on Thursday asking it to stay the judge’s order.”So long as the order is in effect, the secretary must permit hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan nationals to remain in the country, notwithstanding her reasoned determination that doing so is ‘contrary to the national interest,'” Sauer said.In addition, “the district court’s decision undermines the executive branch’s inherent powers as to immigration and foreign affairs,” he added.Former president Joe Biden extended TPS for another 18 months just days before Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.The United States grants TPS to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.Trump campaigned for the White House promising to deport millions of undocumented migrants.A number of his executive orders around immigration have encountered pushback from judges across the country.A federal judge in Texas ruled on Thursday that Trump’s use of an obscure wartime law to summarily deport alleged Venezuelan gang members was “unlawful.”District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, a Trump appointee, blocked any deportations from his southern Texas district of alleged members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA).Trump invoked the little-known AEA, which was last used to round up Japanese-American citizens during World War II, on March 15 and flew two planeloads of alleged TdA members to El Salvador’s notorious maximum security CECOT prison.The Supreme Court and several district courts have temporarily halted removals under the AEA citing a lack of due process, but Rodriguez was the first federal judge to find that its use is unlawful.