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A pair of astronauts stranded in space for more than nine months were finally headed home Tuesday after their capsule undocked from the International Space Station.The SpaceX craft carrying Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams detached from the orbital outpost at 0505 GMT, ending their prolonged mission that has captivated global attention.The NASA duo are joined onboard by American Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.The crew are now settling in for the 17-hour journey back to Earth, and were given permission to change from their space suits into more comfortable clothes.If all goes smoothly, the capsule will deploy its parachutes off the coast of Florida for an ocean splashdown around 2157 GMT Tuesday, when a recovery vessel will retrieve the crew.Wilmore and Williams flew to the orbital lab in June last year, on what was supposed to be a days-long roundtrip to test out Boeing’s Starliner on its first crewed flight.But the spaceship developed propulsion problems and was deemed unfit to fly them back, instead returning empty.Ex-Navy pilots Wilmore and Williams, 62 and 59 respectively, were reassigned to the NASA-SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which saw a Dragon spacecraft fly to the ISS last September with a team of two, rather than the usual four, to make room for the “stranded” pair.Then, early Sunday, a relief team called Crew-10 docked with the station, their arrival met with broad smiles and hugs as they floated through the hatch.Crew-10’s arrival cleared the way for Wilmore and Williams to depart, along with Hague and Gorbunov.After big hugs with the crew remaining on the ISS, the quartet entered the capsule and closed its hatch on Tuesday.”Colleagues and dear friends who remain on the station… we’ll be waiting for you. Crew-9 is going home”, Hague said.- ‘Unbelievable resilience’ -Wilmore and Williams’ stay surpasses the standard six-month ISS rotation but ranks only sixth among US records for single-mission duration.Frank Rubio holds the top spot at 371 days in 2023, while the world record remains with Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 consecutive days aboard the Mir station.That makes it “par for the course” in terms of health risks, according to Rihana Bokhari of the Center for Space Medicine at Baylor College.Challenges such as muscle and bone loss, fluid shifts, and readjusting to gravity are well understood and well managed.”Folks like Suni Williams are actually known for their interest in exercise, and so I believe she exercises beyond what is even her normal prescription,” Bokhari told AFP.Still, the unexpected nature of their extended stay — away from their families and initially without enough packed supplies — has drawn public interest and sympathy.”If you found out you went to work today and were going to be stuck in your office for the next nine months, you might have a panic attack,” Joseph Keebler, a psychologist at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told AFP.”These individuals have shown unbelievable resilience.”- Trump weighs in -Their unexpected stint also became a political lightning rod, with President Donald Trump and his close advisor, Elon Musk — who leads SpaceX — repeatedly suggesting former president Joe Biden abandoned the astronauts and refused an earlier rescue plan.”They shamefully forgot about the Astronauts, because they considered it to be a very embarrassing event for them,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday.Such accusations have prompted an outcry in the space community, especially as Musk offered no specifics and NASA’s plan for the astronauts’ return has remained unchanged since their Crew-9 reassignment.Trump has also drawn attention for his bizarre remarks, referring to Williams, a decorated former naval captain, as “the woman with the wild hair” and speculating about the personal dynamic between the two.”They’ve been left up there — I hope they like each other, maybe they love each other, I don’t know,” he said during a recent White House press conference.

The purge and takeover of Washington’s Kennedy Center by US President Donald Trump has seen artist after artist sever ties, a fallout soundtracked by anxious whispers throughout the arts community over what’s next.The stunning shakeup has thrust the premier cultural institution into uncharted territory.The Kennedy Center is a major performing arts venue in the United States, a living monument to the late John F. Kennedy that opened in 1971 and that has long enjoyed bipartisan support.Its diverse programming includes a prestigious annual arts gala that celebrates the legacy of American culture and entertainment.”It was a real feather in your cap if you got invited to perform” at the center, said E. Andrew Taylor, director of the arts management program at Washington’s American University.”The calculation has changed now — it has become more of a government arts organization,” he said, “that is fully aligned with the current administration, and not an independent arbiter of artistic excellence anymore.”Trump dismissed the longtime board chair and many trustees, filling it instead with his own sympathizers who, in an unprecedented move, declared him chairman.Deborah Rutter, the institution’s president for over a decade, was ousted.More than 20 shows were scrapped, with artists dropping out in protest including actor and comedian Issa Rae and folk musician Rhiannon Giddens.The hit musical “Hamilton” canceled its run there.On Monday, Trump presided over his first board meeting as chairman. Speaking to reporters, he said he never liked “Hamilton” anyway.The president promised to make the institution, whose riverside marble building he said needs rehabilitation, great again.”It’s in tremendous disrepair,” he said, but has “tremendous potential.”- ‘Attack on diverse thought’ -At a recent performance of the National Symphony Orchestra, Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha — one of the new board members — were roundly booed by the Kennedy Center audience.In an email to staff condemning the viral incident, Richard Grenell, the center’s interim president, said he takes “diversity and inclusion very seriously”.He added that “intolerance towards people who are politically different is just as unacceptable as intolerance in other areas.”The message contradicts Trump’s repeated attacks that the institution is too “woke” — a familiar line espoused by him and his allies as he spears diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the nation.Trump criticized the center’s management on Monday, saying: “I’m very disappointed when I look around.”He has specifically bemoaned a series of drag shows that the Kennedy Center hosted last year.Drag artist Lord Henry sees the takeover as “an attack on diverse thought” that amounts to “an atrocity.””Our artists challenge boundaries and push envelopes, and it’s pretty blatant what’s happening,” the artist told AFP.”The attack on the Kennedy Center feels very personal. It feels like an attack on my trans identity, on the safety and well-being and such of my entire community.”Lord Henry, along with hundreds of drag artists and allies, rallied recently in front of the arts institution in protest.”I hope that the Kennedy Center… will be returned to the people,” the 35-year-old said. “And be taken back from the propaganda machine.”- ‘Jewel of power’ -The president traditionally attends the Kennedy Center’s annual gala — whose recent honorees include Francis Ford Coppola, Joni Mitchell, Billy Crystal, Cher and, notably, the cast of “Hamilton” — but Trump never has.During his first term, some artists threatened to boycott if the Republican went.Many people in the arts see his current takeover as a type of revenge.Taylor also sees it as an “opportunity to grab another jewel of power”.But it’s a jewel that requires constant upkeep.The Kennedy Center has an annual operating budget of approximately $268 million.As a semi-independent nonprofit, just a fraction of that, about 16 percent, comes from the federal government.Attracting vital donors, the arts administration expert said, requires maintaining trust that the institution will continue to “advance their mission.”If that mission is under threat, donors could flee, and perhaps already are — the numbers won’t be clear until the next round of nonprofit reporting.Ticket sales represent another lifeline.”What you need to make this organization healthy is people that want to buy tickets, donors who want to give money, and artists who want to perform,” said Taylor.”All three of those, I think, are under immediate and obvious threat.”

After more than nine months aboard the International Space Station, a pair of astronauts are finally set to depart for Earth early Tuesday, ending a prolonged mission that has captivated global attention.Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams flew to the orbital lab in June last year, on what was supposed to be a days-long roundtrip to test out Boeing’s Starliner on its first crewed flight.But the spaceship developed propulsion problems and was deemed unfit to fly them back, instead returning empty without more major problems.Ex-Navy pilots Wilmore and Williams, 62 and 59 respectively, were instead reassigned to the NASA-SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which saw a Dragon spacecraft fly to the ISS last September with a team of two, rather than the usual four, to make room for the “stranded” pair.Then, early Sunday, a relief team called Crew-10 docked with the station, their arrival met with broad smiles and hugs as they floated through the hatch.Crew-10’s arrival clears the way for Wilmore and Williams to depart, along with American Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.After big hugs with the crew remaining on the ISS, the quartet entered the capsule and closed its hatch at 11:05 pm (0305 GMT Tuesday).Following a series of final checks, the craft is scheduled to undock at 1:05 am (0505 GMT).If all goes smoothly, the Dragon craft will deploy its parachutes off the coast of Florida for an ocean splashdown, where a recovery vessel will retrieve the crew.- ‘Unbelievable resilience’ -Wilmore and Williams’ stay surpasses the standard six-month ISS rotation but ranks only sixth among US records for single-mission duration.Frank Rubio holds the top spot at 371 days in 2023, while the world record remains with Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 consecutive days aboard the Mir station.That makes it “par for the course” in terms of health risks, according to Rihana Bokhari of the Center for Space Medicine at Baylor College.Challenges such as muscle and bone loss, fluid shifts, and readjusting to gravity are well understood and well managed.”Folks like Suni Williams are actually known for their interest in exercise, and so I believe she exercises beyond what is even her normal prescription,” Bokhari told AFP.Still, the unexpected nature of their extended stay — away from their families and initially without enough packed supplies — has drawn public interest and sympathy.”If you found out you went to work today and were going to be stuck in your office for the next nine months, you might have a panic attack,” Joseph Keebler, a psychologist at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told AFP.”These individuals have shown unbelievable resilience.”- Trump weighs in -Their unexpected stint also became a political lightning rod, with President Donald Trump and his close advisor, Elon Musk — who leads SpaceX — repeatedly suggesting former president Joe Biden abandoned the astronauts and refused an earlier rescue plan.”They shamefully forgot about the Astronauts, because they considered it to be a very embarrassing event for them,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday.Such accusations have prompted an outcry in the space community, especially as Musk offered no specifics and NASA’s plan for the astronauts’ return has remained unchanged since their Crew-9 reassignment.Trump has also drawn attention for his bizarre remarks, referring to Williams, a decorated former naval captain, as “the woman with the wild hair” and speculating about the personal dynamic between the two.”They’ve been left up there — I hope they like each other, maybe they love each other, I don’t know,” he said during a recent White House press conference.

Dressed in a floral shawl, Benji Dezaval carefully places hallucinogenic mushrooms on the tongues of the faithful of his Colorado “psychedelic church,” as if they were communion wafers.A fervent advocate of psychedelic therapies, Dezaval believes these fungi can help fight depression, alcoholism and post-traumatic stress.So in theory, he might be expected to welcome the appointment of Donald Trump’s new Health Secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr — a famously contrarian figure who has expressed enthusiasm for exploring these alternative treatments.But Dezaval instead dismisses Kennedy’s supposed interest as “a lot of lip service.””RFK’s history of misinformation, I believe, will hurt our movement more than help it,” he said, using a popular nickname for Kennedy. “If misinformation was a disease, he’d be patient zero.”A nephew of the late US president John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy Jr is well-known for embracing conspiracy theories.The former environmental lawyer has amplified discredited research linking vaccinations to autism, claimed Covid-19 was “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, and alleged that HIV does not cause AIDS.None of which prevented his confirmation as health secretary last month by the Republican-controlled US Senate.A strong critic of the pharmaceutical industry, the former Democrat also advocates the legalization of psychedelics.”My inclination would be to make this available, at least in therapeutic settings and maybe more generally, but in ways that would discourage the corporate control and exploitation of it,” he said in a late 2023 interview.- ‘Eye-opening experience’ – Long associated with hippie counter-culture, magic mushrooms remain illegal in much of the United States.But in recent years, major US universities and the government have revived research into their active ingredient, psilocybin.It shows promising potential for treatment of certain forms of depression and addiction. But the consequences of chronic use are still poorly understood.Without waiting for federal law against them to change, the western states Oregon and Colorado have legalized the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Across the country a handful of cities that include Washington DC have decriminalized them.Dezaval, a 38-year-old resident of Colorado Springs, leapt at the chance. He founded a “church” in the basement of his home.Surrounded by plastic plants and wearing circular blue sunglasses, Dezaval distributes magic mushrooms during group and individual sessions that he supervises.He says he has received well over 1,000 people in the past year.Many of them take tiny doses — enough to provoke fits of laughter, and a slight distortion of the senses, without dissociating their mind from their bodies.For Luna Valentine, a depressed transgender woman, this was enough to change her life. After a decade of ineffective antidepressants, she tried mushrooms last June. Thanks to psilocybin, which she now “micro-doses” every other day, Valentine has regained the motivation to take care of herself and get back to work.Taking mushrooms was an “eye-opening experience,” said the 28-year-old. “They’ve helped more than any of the pharmaceuticals.”- ‘Broken clock’ -Colorado law still does not allow the free purchase of psychedelic mushrooms.They must instead be ingested under the supervision of a licensed “facilitator,” at a designated center. The first of these are scheduled to officially open this summer.Already up-and-running in Oregon, this model involves extensive training and licensing fees. As a result, sessions can cost up to $3,000.Dezaval rejects this system. He distributes his mushrooms for free, financing their cultivation with donations from his community. The decision to found a “church” allows him to comply with the law, which authorizes their use in “spiritual ceremonies.””This is free because it needs to be, because people are dying every day… The acceptable number of suicides is zero. This is how we fix that,” he said.Dezaval hopes that his work will help to expel some of the sinister connotations that psychedelics retain in broader American culture.For this reason, Kennedy’s arrival in government is far from helpful, he says.”A broken clock is still right twice a day,” says Dezaval, who is saddened that Kennedy’s positive position on psychedelics may be drowned out by the rest of his untruths.”I would not expect somebody to look at what he’s saying and to treat it with the actual respect that it deserves,” he says.

Nvidia chief Jensen Huang is expected to showcase cutting-edge chips for artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing on Tuesday, shrugging off talk of China’s DeepSeek disrupting the market.Huang’s keynote presentation at Nvidia’s annual developers conference should pack the SAP Center in the Silicon Valley city of San Jose, where the Sharks NHL hockey team plays.Industry watchers expect Huang to spotlight Nvidia’s latest Blackwell line of graphics processing units (GPUs), including new updates in the works.The AI boom propelled Nvidia stock prices to stratospheric levels until a steep sell-off early this year triggered by the sudden success of DeepSeek.The stock, one of the most traded on Wall Street, is down more than nine percent this year despite a recent rebound from a March low.China-based DeepSeek shook up the world of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) with the debut of a low-cost but high-performance model that challenges the hegemony of OpenAI and other big-spending behemoths.But several countries have questioned DeepSeek’s handling of data, which the firm says is collected in “secure servers located in the People’s Republic of China.”Nvidia high-end GPUs are in hot demand by tech giants building data centers to power artificial intelligence, and some say a low-cost option could weaken the Silicon Valley chip star’s business.Yurts co-founder and CEO Ben Van Roo, whose company specializes in keeping sensitive data protected while allowing access by AI models, believes DeepSeek’s popularity bodes well for Nvidia.”DeepSeek drastically accelerated the desire to consume these models,” Van Roo told AFP.”You’ve opened the world’s appetite even more (to generative AI) and independent of the fact that it’s Chinese, I think it was a good day for Nvidia.”- Blackwell Booming -Nvidia has ramped up production of its top-of-the-line Blackwell processors for powering AI, logging billions in sales in its first quarter on the market.”AI is advancing at light speed” and is setting the stage “for the next wave of AI to revolutionize the largest industries,” Huang told financial analysts recently.Huang believes Nvidia chips and software platforms will continue to power or train AI for robots, cars, and digital “agents,” the term used for AI that can execute decisions instead of humans.The CEO is also likely to talk up a leap to quantum computing.After several dashed predictions, quantum computing is accelerating rapidly with actual use cases and scientific breakthroughs expected within years, not decades.US tech giants, startups, banks, and pharmaceutical companies are pouring investments into this revolutionary technology.GPUs like those made by Nvidia are ideal for handling multiple computing tasks simultaneously, making them well suited for quantum computing.The US and China are racing ahead in quantum development, with Washington imposing export restrictions on the technology.Nvidia reported that it finished last year with record high revenue of $130.5 billion, driven by demand for its chips to power artificial intelligence in data centers.Nvidia projected revenue of $43 billion in the current fiscal quarter, topping analyst expectations.

US President Donald Trump barreled toward a showdown with the courts Monday after his administration expelled alleged members of a Venezuelan gang under little-used, centuries-old wartime legislation.Trump, already pushing the law to its limits on several fronts, also claimed he had annulled pardons issued by Joe Biden on the grounds that his Democratic predecessor supposedly used an autopen for his signature.The Republican’s moves to amass power in the executive have increasingly raised fears that he will defy the judiciary, upending or at least reinterpreting the constitutional balance of power in the United States.A federal judge held a hearing Monday on whether the White House had deliberately ignored his orders by flying more than 200 people to El Salvador, where the Trump administration is paying the authorities to imprison the deportees.Justice Department lawyers told Judge James Boasberg that the deportees had already left the United States when the judge issued his written order barring their departure, according to media reports.They also argued that the district judge had no jurisdiction once the planes were out of US airspace.The Justice Department had previously sought to cancel the hearing, arguing that the case interferes with “the president’s national-security and foreign-affairs authority.”When Boasberg said it would go ahead, government lawyers filed a motion with an appeals court seeking to have the judge removed from the case.Boasberg described the hearing as a “fact-finding” exercise and said he did not plan to issue an immediate ruling.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters meanwhile that the use of the obscure 1798 Alien Enemies Act was justified as Trump had declared members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang as a foreign terrorist group.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said all the migrants sent to El Salvador were either MS-13 “criminals” wanted in their home country or Venezuelans alleged to be part of Tren de Aragua.”They weren’t supposed to be in our country to begin with,” Rubio told Fox News Radio host Guy Benson. “I would say that every single person that was on that plane was in the country illegally, one way or the other.”The Alien Enemies Act was last used in World War II to intern tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans.Rights groups have warned the wartime legislation could be used as cover for mass deportations without due process.Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro protested the deportations, saying the migrants had been “kidnapped” and vowing to ask the United Nations to protect them.”I will not rest until we achieve their rescue and their safe return,” he said.- ‘Void, vacant’ -Trump promised a crackdown on undocumented migration during his 2024 election campaign and has repeatedly painted a dark picture of a wave of crimes by migrants that is at odds with official figures.His administration has increasingly appeared to be spoiling for a legal fight that will end up in the conservative-dominated US Supreme Court, becoming a test case for the extent of executive power.Trump again tested the boundaries on Monday when he declared he was canceling pardons issued by Biden in the last days of his presidency to shield Trump critics from feared retribution.Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the pardons “are hereby declared void, vacant, and of no further force or effect, because of the fact they were done by Autopen.”US presidents have long used autopens, including to sign bills into law, and there was no evidence Biden had used the signature device on the pardons.It was unclear what, if any, authority Trump has to void presidential pardons.Asked by reporters Monday whether everything Biden signed with an autopen should be voided, Trump said: “I think so. It’s not my decision, that’ll be up to a court.”Biden issued pardons to former senior Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney and other members of the congressional committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters stirred up by his false claims to have won the 2020 election.Other recipients included former Covid pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci, retired general Mark Milley, and close family members including Biden’s son Hunter.

A spoon emoji, a subreddit, a viral song: US federal workers are finding sweet succor in the bosom of the internet as President Donald Trump takes an ax to their jobs.Some have lost their entire income, others have been let go only to be rehired, and yet more have been teetering on the brink for weeks.On the popular internet forum Reddit, where users, often Americans, share and rank advice and questions in communities called subreddits, a “fednews” group is among the most active — in the top one percent of subreddits with 550,000 users. With identities hidden behind usernames, employees impart suggestions and grapple with solutions as the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is run by billionaire Trump advisor Elon Musk, whittles away at the federal workforce.”I have 0900 EST meeting today with a lawyer who specializes in Federal law and government worker rights,” one user posted. “Give me any questions you have and if don’t have it already ill try to include in my time. Just paid for one hour.”Another user simply shared a sense of despair when the unthinkable finally happened: “After being anxious for weeks, I was fired today.”- Finding a ‘platform’ -Helen — who like other employees AFP spoke with only wanted to use her first name for fear of retribution — runs an Instagram account with 16,000 followers called “Feds Work for You,” which includes articles, protest information and accounts from fired federal employee.Trump and Musk “have such big platforms,” said Helen, herself a federal worker, wondering “who’s going to be standing up for federal workers; we don’t have that sort of platform.”John, a 10-year civil servant, launched a podcast on YouTube with an aim to “humanize” federal employees “so people understand that these are regular people who are just doing a public service job.”He said it was important how social media allows civil servants to share their stories while remaining anonymous: “I’m scared, right? Like, you know, they find out who I am.”Federal employees have also rallied online around a series of hashtags, emojis and other slogans.The song “Hostile Government Takeover,” initially posted on TikTok, made it onto platforms like Spotify, including a cover by world-renowned US DJ Moby.Meanwhile, the spoon emoji has become a symbol of protest, referencing a now-famous email from Musk’s team titled “Fork in the Road,” in which government employees were given an offer to leave with eight months’ pay or risk being fired in the future.”We need a communications campaign,” said Helen, adding: “I think a lot of people don’t know what we do, and it’s an easy target.”

He addressed the masses, or at least the media, from the presidential opera box. He led a board meeting. He said he never really liked the smash hit musical “Hamilton.”But Donald Trump’s message stayed the same throughout a triumphalist visit to the Kennedy Center in Washington: I’m in charge now.The US president was making his first visit to the famed arts venue since installing himself as chairman and ousting its leadership in part of what he has called a nationwide war on “woke.””We’ll make it great again,” Trump told reporters, saying the center was wasting money and in “tremendous disrepair.””But it is so much like what I’m witnessing in other places — we have open borders, we have men playing in women’s sports. It’s all the same thing.”With that, the 78-year-old Republican then explicitly linked his takeover of the center to his wider blitz on liberals and his opponents in almost every area of American life.- Loyalists -His sudden changes at the Kennedy Center have faced opposition, with concertgoers booing Vice President JD Vance last week and “Hamilton” canceling a planned run there.The producer of the rap musical, which is about the birth of the United States and its first treasury secretary, said earlier this month that he was canceling its latest run in protest after Trump “destroyed” the venue’s “neutrality.”But former reality TV star Trump waved away the concerns.”I never liked Hamilton very much. I never liked it, but we are going to have some really good shows,” he said.Trump’s show of power was the latest in the space of a few days to one of the institutions that he has upended since starting his second term, following a similar trip to the Department of Justice on Friday.He took a lengthy tour of the Kennedy Center, first visiting a basement arts area where he lamented that its previous bosses had built expensive rooms “nobody’s going to use.”The president then held a board meeting at the venue’s opera house at a huge, dramatically lit table placed on the stage.The board, which once held a cross-section of Washington cultural figures, is now stuffed with loyalists including Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles and Second Lady Usha Vance.- ‘Not going to be woke’ -Then Trump ascended to the presidential box, draped in red velvet with a huge presidential seal, and answered a few questions from on high from the assembled media gathered below.The symbolism of Trump’s newly exerted control could not have been clearer.The Kennedy Center, a white marble edifice on the banks of the Potomac River, is home to the National Symphony Orchestra and also offers theater, opera, comedy and other productions.Trump, however, has vowed that “it’s not going to be woke” anymore and has railed at the fact that it used to host drag shows.Ever the showman, Trump’s own performance at the Kennedy Center came with a surprise finale.As he left through the grand foyer, he said that on Tuesday his administration would release remaining files on the 1963 assassination of president John F. Kennedy — the man after whom the center is named.”That’s a big announcement,” Trump said next to a bust of his Democratic predecessor. “People have been waiting for decades for that.”

US President Donald Trump on Monday picked Michelle Bowman to be the Federal Reserve’s next vice chair for supervision, tapping someone seen as favoring a lighter touch to banking regulation.The important central bank role requires confirmation by the Senate, which is controlled by Trump’s Republican party.”I am pleased to announce that Michelle ‘Miki’ Bowman will be the Federal Reserve’s new Vice Chair of Supervision,” Trump wrote in a post to his Truth Social media site.”Our Economy has been mismanaged for the past four years, and it is time for a change,” he said, adding: “Miki has the ‘know-how’ to get it done.”Bowman, a former community banker, was nominated by Trump to the Fed’s governing board in 2018. She has been a vocal critic of attempts by former vice chair Michael Barr to impose tougher banking regulation as part of an international response to the 2007-2009 global financial crisis.The Fed vice chair for supervision must be nominated from the ranks of the bank’s seven-strong Board of Governors, which currently includes just three Republican appointees: Fed chair Jerome Powell, Bowman, and governor Christopher Waller.In a statement, Bowman said she was grateful for the “continued faith and confidence” Trump had placed in her “to fulfill this vital role.””If confirmed, I will promote a safe and sound banking system through a pragmatic approach to supervision and regulation with a transparent and tailored bank regulatory framework that encourages innovation,” she added. The American Bankers Association (ABA), which represents the interests of the US banking industry, voiced strong support for Trump’s decision. “We applaud President Trump’s nomination of Governor Michelle Bowman to serve as the Federal Reserve’s next vice chair for supervision, and we urge the Senate to quickly confirm her,” ABA President Rob Nichols said in a statement.”Since joining the Fed, Governor Bowman has been a thoughtful, principled voice for sensible regulatory and monetary policy and someone who understands the important role that banks of all sizes play in our financial system and our economy,” he added.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is withdrawing Hunter Biden’s government bodyguards, extending his campaign of political retribution to Joe Biden’s son.Trump announced the same measure against Ashley Biden, the former president’s daughter with former first lady Jill.In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump asserted that Hunter Biden’s security detail is composed of as many as 18 people, calling it “ridiculous.”He said Hunter Biden was currently on vacation in South Africa and noted he had recently suspended US aid to the country over alleged rights violations.”Please be advised that, effective immediately, Hunter Biden will no longer receive Secret Service protection. Likewise, Ashley Biden who has 13 agents will be taken off the list,” Trump wrote.Federal law grants Secret Service protection to former presidents and their spouses, but only to their children if they are under age 16.Nonetheless, protection is often extended for a period of time to adult children.A Secret Service spokesperson, when queried about Trump’s action, told AFP: “We are aware of the President’s decision to terminate protection for Hunter and Ashley Biden.””The Secret Service will comply and is actively working with the protective details and the White House to ensure compliance as soon as possible.”Hunter Biden has been a target of Republican ire for years, with the animosity intensifying after his father pardoned his gun and tax crime convictions shortly before leaving office in January.On Monday, Trump declared that the pardon and others issued by Biden were void, an unprecedented move with unclear legal founding.Trump’s revocation of the security details is his latest act of apparent or explicit retribution against perceived enemies since returning to office in January.His administration previously revoked the security clearances of former president Biden and dozens of ex-officials, as well as all employees at several law firms associated with his Democratic opponents.Trump has also revoked security details from former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, former national security advisor John Bolton and Anthony Fauci, who led the country’s fight against Covid-19.The White House has justified these decisions saying that people are not entitled to security protection and clearances for life.”The individuals you’re mentioning are quite wealthy, I understand, so they can get their own private security if they wish,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in January. After his first term in office from 2017 to 2021, Trump issued an order giving a six-month extension of Secret Service protection to all four of his adult children and three senior administration officials.The measure cost taxpayers $1.7 million, The Washington Post has reported, quoting an analysis of spending records.