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A growing measles outbreak in west Texas has infected 48 people, according to official state data released Friday — the latest sign that the once-vanquished childhood disease is making a comeback as vaccination rates decline.The outbreak comes as vocal vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who has repeatedly and falsely linked the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism — was confirmed as the United States’ health secretary, a position that grants him significant authority over immunization policy.The patients are overwhelmingly children, all were either unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status, and 13 have so far been hospitalized. Health officials expect additional cases to emerge.Childhood vaccination rates have been declining across the United States, a trend that accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, when concerns over the rapid deployment of mRNA vaccines, coupled with mountains of misinformation, further eroded trust in public health institutions.”There are pockets in the US that are susceptible, and it’s not surprising to me that it’s occurring in a county where there are the lowest rates of vaccination in the state — these are kindling for such outbreaks,” Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins University, told AFP.The bulk of the cases occurred in Gaines County, which reportedly has a high rate of exemptions to vaccines — often granted on religious grounds. Nationwide, vaccination coverage among kindergarteners dropped below 93 percent during the 2023–24 school year, remaining under the federal target of 95 percent for a fourth consecutive year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).The United States reported 285 measles cases last year, per the CDC. The worst recent outbreak was in 2019, when 1,274 cases — largely concentrated in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and New Jersey — drove the highest national total in decades.Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness best known for its rash, but it can also cause pneumonia, brain infections, and other severe complications. It remains a major global killer, claiming tens of thousands of lives each year.”It really is mind-boggling that people in the United States have decided not to take this vaccine,” Adalja said.”When you think about infectious disease, there should be steady progress to make it less and less of an issue. But what we see in the case of measles is that it’s see-sawing.”Kennedy’s confirmation as health secretary has alarmed many in the medical community, including Adalja.”Measles and RFK Jr. go together,” he said.”When you have the chief propagandist for the anti-vaccine movement in the highest position of government power when it comes to health, the only thing that benefits from that is measles.”

Sweet and loving, it wasn’t.The Valentine’s Day message sent by the White House on Friday was instead a threat to potential migrants thinking of heading to the United States without the required visas and paperwork.”Roses are red, violets are blue. Come here illegally, and we’ll deport you,” read the pink card released on social media by the official White House account.The image was decorated with hearts, and the stern faces of President Donald Trump and his border chief Thomas Homan.Trump has not yet publicly wished his wife Melania a happy Valentine’s Day.His predecessor Joe Biden often exchanged loving messages on social media with his wife Jill on February 14 while they were in the White House.Trump returned to office pledging a crackdown on migrant arrivals and the largest deportation campaign in US history.Homan last week told Pope Francis to “stick to the Catholic Church” after the pontiff criticized the new US hard-line immigration agenda.

US retail sales plunged by the most in almost two years in January — a bigger drop than forecast and one that follows an unexpected uptick in inflation that President Donald Trump has vowed to tame.The fall in sales came as cold weather hit much of the country alongside wildfires in California, data showed Friday, reflecting broad declines across different product categories.Households have also been drawing down on savings, grappling with stubborn inflation and facing uncertainty over Trump’s threats of tariffs on goods from major US trading partners.Retail sales fell 0.9 percent between December and January to $723.9 billion, partly due to slumping auto sales, the Commerce Department said.This was the biggest month-on-month drop since early 2023 and a significantly larger decline than the 0.2 percent fall predicted by economists polled by the Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.Analysts generally expect growth in the world’s biggest economy to cool this year, and are closely eyeing the strength of consumption — a key economic driver.Experts warn that blanket duties, if imposed for a prolonged time, would mean importers face higher costs that could be passed on to consumers.Although Trump has threatened sweeping levies on both US allies and adversaries, tariff hikes have largely not taken effect as countries negotiate with Washington.Out of 13 categories logged by the Commerce Department, only four saw month-on-month growth including sales at gas stations and those at restaurants and bars.Sales at autos and parts dealers in particular dropped by 2.8 percent last month, while those at clothing stores, building material dealers and furniture shops also slid.Excluding motor vehicles and parts, retail sales still fell 0.4 percent from December to January.But from a year ago, retail sales in January were up 4.2 percent, the Commerce Department added.- Cooling momentum -“The sharp decline in January retail sales was due in large part to the extreme wintery conditions and California wildfires last month,” said Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic in a note.While she expects a “healthy rebound” in February, she added that “the strong momentum for consumer spending has softened.”Corporate economist Robert Frick of the Navy Federal Credit Union believes that although the drop was dramatic, “there’s no cause for alarm” for now.Retail sales tend to be volatile at the turn of the year and consumption “still looks fundamentally healthy,” added EY senior economist Lydia Boussour.But spending could lose steam “as softer labor market conditions, still elevated prices and rates constrain households’ spending power,” she said.Looking ahead, Carl Weinberg and Mary Chen of High Frequency Economics expect the retail report will cause forecasters to lower estimates of US GDP growth.Consumer spending has been a driver of growth in recent years, they said in a note.While one data point will not change the course of central bank policy, Weinberg and Chen added that the report likely fuels expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.”Any sign of consumer weakness is not good news for markets, even though expectations of lower interest rates and inflation may help stocks,” they added.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday offered to sell state-of-the-art fighter jets to India as he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to ramp up trade, rekindling a bond that defies the new US administration’s punitive approach to much of the world.Modi, only the fourth world leader to visit the White House since Trump’s return, described the fellow nationalist as a friend and told him he was adopting a take on his “Make America Great Again” slogan.Trump said that he found a “special bond” with Modi and India and, in an uncharacteristic if ironic show of humility, complimented Modi as being a “much tougher negotiator” than he is.Successive US administrations have seen India as a key partner with like-minded interests in the face of a rising China, and Trump announced that the new administration was ready to sell one of the top US military prizes — F-35s.”Starting this year, we’ll be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars,” Trump told a joint news conference with Modi.”We’re also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters,” Trump said.India would join an elite club of countries that include NATO allies, Israel and Japan that would be allowed to buy the F-35, which can operate without detection at supersonic speeds.India currently relies on an ageing fleet of Russian fighter jets as well as a small number of French-made Rafale aircraft.India’s arch rival and neighbour, Pakistan, however said it was “deeply concerned” about the sales. “Such steps accentuate military imbalances in the region and undermine strategic stability. They remain unhelpful in achieving the objectives of durable peace in the region,” said Shafqat Ali Khan, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.- Dangling tariffs -Continuing a push from his predecessor Joe Biden, Trump said that the two countries also planned investment in ports, railways and underseas cable to “build one of the greatest trade routes in all of history,” running from India to Israel to Europe and beyond.Trump has dueled with both friends and foes on economic issues. Hours before meeting, Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on all countries, including India.Speaking next to Modi, Trump called India’s “unfair, very strong tariffs” a “big problem” but said that the two countries would hold negotiations to close a trade deficit in India’s favor.Modi said that the world’s largest and fifth-largest economies would work on a “mutually beneficial trade agreement” to be sealed “very soon,” with a focus on oil and gas.Joining Trump’s meeting with Modi was SpaceX and Tesla tycoon Elon Musk, who has launched an aggressive effort as Trump’s right-hand man to overhaul the US bureaucracy.Modi also met one-on-one with Musk, raising questions over whether the world’s richest man was meeting the Indian leader in an official or business capacity.The Indian premier posted pictures of himself shaking hands with the beaming Musk, with several children on Musk’s side of the room, and Indian officials on the other.- Courting Trump -Modi offered quick tariff concessions ahead of his visit, with New Delhi slashing duties on high-end motorcycles — a boost to Harley-Davidson, the iconic US manufacturer whose struggles in India have irked Trump.India has already accepted a US military flight carrying 100 shackled migrants last week as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown. The treatment drew protests from India’s opposition which accused Modi of sacrificing the dignity of citizens to please Trump.Trump in turn announced the United States would extradite to India a suspect in the bloody 2008 siege of Mumbai, whom he called “one of the very evil people in the world.” Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin who was based in Chicago, was convicted in 2011 and later sentenced to 13 years in prison.Modi and Trump share much in common, with both campaigning on promises to promote majority communities over minorities and both doggedly quashing dissent.In 2020, Modi delighted Trump by inviting him before a cheering crowd of more than 100,000 people to inaugurate the world’s largest cricket stadium in his home state of Gujarat.Trump could visit India later this year for a summit of the Quad — a four-way grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.burs-dk-sct/bfm/stu

Taiwan will boost investment in the United States and on its own defences, President Lai Ching-te said Friday, as Taipei seeks to head off US President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs on its semiconductor chips. The self-ruled island is a global power in the manufacturing of chips, which are used in everything from smartphones to missiles and are a key driver of its economy.Trump has accused Taiwan of stealing the US chip industry and recently threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the product in an effort to drive companies to shift manufacturing to the United States.Taiwan would “expand investment and procurement in the United States to promote bilateral trade balance”, Lai told reporters after a high-level national security meeting on US trade and tariffs.Taiwan’s trade surplus with the United States soared about 83 percent to a record US$64.9 billion in 2024.When it came to Trump’s concerns about Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, Lai said the government would respond “prudently”.”I would like to emphasise that Taiwan, as the world’s most powerful semiconductor country, has the ability and willingness to cope with the new situation,” Lai said.Taiwan was willing to work with democratic partners such as the United States to build a “more resilient and diversified semiconductor supply chain”, Lai said.Taiwan’s TSMC, which is the world’s largest chipmaker, has long been under pressure to move more of its production away from Taiwan, where the bulk of its fabrication plants are located.TSMC’s new factories overseas include three planned in the United States and one that opened in Japan last year.To show its determination to protect the island, the government will also prioritise “special budgets” to increase defence spending to more than three percent of gross domestic product, Lai said, compared with about 2.5 percent last year.Taiwan lives under the constant threat of an attack by China, which claims the island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.While Taiwan has a homegrown defence industry and has been upgrading its equipment, it relies heavily on US arms sales to bolster its security capabilities.Asked if he was concerned Taiwan could become “a pawn” in US-China competition, Lai said the island was “an indispensable member of the world and the region”.”We are a player, not a pawn,” he added. 

US President Donald Trump’s administration has begun laying off probationary employees as it moves to the next stage of its plans to aggressively shrink the federal workforce.The US Department of Veteran’s Affairs was one of the first departments to publicly confirm the layoffs, announcing in a statement that it dismissed more than 1,000 probationary employees on Thursday in non “mission critical” positions. “The dismissals announced today are part of a government-wide Trump Administration effort to make agencies more efficient, effective and responsive to the American People,” it said in a statement. Although the exact number of federal employees affected is unclear, more than 200,000 recently hired workers are currently serving out their probationary period, according to the most recently available government data.The Trump administration directed agency heads to terminate most trial and probationary staff — who have fewer civil service protections — US media reported Thursday.An employee who was laid off from her job at the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) told AFP on condition of anonymity that she had been fired during a video call to which close to 100 employees had been invited. The employee, and several other participants, were still serving out their probationary periods. All were told they were being let go for performance purposes. Shortly after the call ended, the employee received a letter from acting OPM director Charles Ezell confirming she had been fired. Her access was cut off less than an hour later. Spokespeople for OPM and the White House press offices did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Thursday’s actions follow a White House push — led by OPM — to shrink the number of government workers by offering them eight months’ pay to resign. The email with the resignation offer, titled “Fork in the Road,” also noted that those who did not accept risked being let go in future culls. More than 65,000 federal employees accepted the buyout offer from OPM, the White House said. One employee at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) who spoke with AFP reported accepting the OPM’s offer to resign out of concern for otherwise being fired.”This was my dream job,” said the employee, who was not on probation but who had been at HUD for less time — and thus had less job security — than many other colleagues. “It just became very clear to me that the writing is on the wall,” the employee said. “I might as well take the best cushion I have to put myself in the best situation to take the time I need to find a new position.”A HUD spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The Associated Press said Thursday its reporter was barred from a White House event for the third day straight, in a mushrooming row over its refusal to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”After being denied access to Oval Office events twice, the agency said it was barred again on Thursday, this time from a news conference with President Donald Trump and visiting Indian leader Narendra Modi.Editor-in-chief Julie Pace called the decision “a deeply troubling escalation” in the administration’s stance against the agency and a “plain violation” of AP’s protected free speech rights.”This is now the third day AP reporters have been barred from covering the president… an incredible disservice to the billions of people who rely on The Associated Press for nonpartisan news,” she said in a statement to AFP. The agency first had a reporter blocked from covering an Oval Office signing on Tuesday, it said, because it did not “align its editorial standards” with Trump’s executive order renaming the body of water.The reporter for the 180-year-old media organization was again prevented from attending an Oval Office event on Wednesday — the swearing in of new Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.In a style note last month, AP said Trump’s executive order “only carries authority within the United States.”Asked about the restriction, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday the Trump administration was guarding against media “lies.”She noted that the US secretary of interior had officially designated the new name, and that Google and Apple had made the changes on their popular map applications used in the United States.”It is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America. And I’m not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that, but that is what it is,” Leavitt said.The White House Correspondents’ Association called AP’s exclusion from the Modi event “outrageous and a deeply disappointing escalation.” “The attempted government censorship of a free press risks a chilling effect on journalists doing their job without fear or favor on behalf of the American people,” the group’s president Eugene Daniels said in a statement.”This is a textbook violation of not only the First Amendment, but the president’s own executive order on freedom of speech and ending federal censorship.”

Latin America has emerged as a key battleground in US President Donald Trump’s confrontation with China, and the region is coming under pressure from Washington to choose a side.The Trump administration’s approach to China’s growing Latin American footprint — seen as a national security and economic threat — has so far been more stick than carrot.Trump has repeatedly threatened to “take back” the US-built Panama Canal if Panama doesn’t reduce Chinese influence in the strategic waterway, which handles 40 percent of US container traffic.China is also an indirect target of tariffs Trump has announced on steel and aluminum from allied countries such as Mexico.The White House says Chinese producers are abusing the USMCA North America free-trade treaty to “funnel” aluminum into the United States through Mexico, tariff-free.China has condemned a “Cold War mentality,” accusing the United States of using “pressure and coercion to smear and undermine” its Latin American investments.”There’s no doubt that the Trump administration sees China’s footprint in the Americas as a relevant threat to its national security and foreign policy interests,” Arturo Sarukhan, who was Mexico’s ambassador to Washington from 2006 to 2013, told AFP. “That’s what basically explains President Trump’s diplomatic bullying of Panama, his America First Trade Policy… and his threats to upend USMCA,” he said.- Entering US via backdoor -The United States for two centuries claimed Latin America as part of its sphere of influence. But China has been making inroads.Two-thirds of Latin American countries have joined Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure program and China has surpassed the United States as the biggest trading partner of Brazil, Peru, Chile and several other countries.In November, Beijing’s ambitions were on full display when Xi inaugurated a $3.5 billion, Chinese-funded megaport in Peru that will allow China to skirt North America in trading with South America.The Trump administration’s immediate concerns appear to be with Chinese influence closer to home, particularly in Panama and top US trading partner Mexico.Chinese investment in Mexico has soared since Trump’s first presidency when companies in sectors targeted by US tariffs moved part of their supply chains to Mexico.In a nod to Washington’s complaints that it had a free trade deal “with Mexico, not China,” President Claudia Sheinbaum announced plans to cut Chinese imports by boosting local production of cars, textiles and other goods.China is also deeply embedded in Panama’s economy, beyond the two ports operated by a Hong Kong company on the canal, which have raised hackles in Washington.Jason Marczak, senior director of the Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, described parts of Panama as being “inundated with Chinese displacing Panamanian local entrepreneurs.”There too, Washington’s pressure tactics appeared to pay off, with Panama pulling out of China’s Belt and Road program days after a visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.- ‘Into Beijing’s arms’ -Experts predict the rivalry to be tough in South America, where China has invested heavily in critical minerals including copper and lithium.Before coming to power in 2023, Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei, who wants a free trade agreement with the United States, vowed he would not “make deals with communists” in China.A year later, he was praising the world’s second-biggest economy as an “interesting” trade partner that asks for nothing in return.Brazil, for its part, maintains strong ties with Washington as well as Beijing — a fellow member of the expanding BRICS alliance of non-Western powers.Sarukhan, the former ambassador, says Trump’s threats and trolling of South American countries “could push them further into the arms of Beijing.”Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro, for example, announced plans to strengthen ties with China after being threatened with sanctions and trade tariffs for initially turning away US migrant deportation flights.But his attempts to rally a Latin American coalition opposed to Trump’s plans fizzled.”No country wants to be in the middle of an ‘us versus them’ global geostrategic battle. But when given the option, there’s a great alignment of US and Western values,” said Marczak. “And so the US investment is preferred.”

Old-school gas stoves, generous showerheads, delicate light bulbs.Since his return to the White House, President Donald Trump has sought to reverse environmental standards for many household appliances, using a familiar refrain: it was better before.”I am hereby instructing Secretary Lee Zeldin to immediately go back to my Environmental Orders, which were terminated by Crooked Joe Biden, on Water Standards and Flow pertaining to SINKS, SHOWERS, TOILETS, WASHING MACHINES, DISHWASHERS, etc.,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.The 78-year-old billionaire has for years complained about modern showerheads, saying they slow the flow of water.”You turn on the shower, if you’re like me, you can’t wash your beautiful hair properly,” Trump said in 2020. During his first term, Trump reversed federal regulations limiting water flow on a number of appliances, only to see them reinstated by Democrat Joe Biden.And during his election campaign, Trump also accused Democrats of wanting to ban gas stoves and gasoline or diesel-powered automobiles, framing it as a freedom issue for Americans.- ‘I always look orange’ -And the former reality TV star also frequently rails against LED light bulbs, which have been gradually replaced by incandescent bulbs over the past decade.”I’m not a vain person… but I look better under an incandescent light than these crazy lights that are beaming down on us,” Trump said in 2019. “I always look orange.”In his Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump announced that he would sign an executive order to return “to the common sense standards on LIGHTBULBS, that were put in place by the Trump Administration, but terminated by Crooked Joe.”Andrew deLaski, head of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, ASAP, which advocates for energy efficiency standards for everyday items, called Trump’s concerns outdated.”Today, there’s a huge array of modern, efficient products that are top performers,” he said.According to ASAP, LED bulbs “lower energy costs for households and businesses, and reduce pollution.”Similarly, “showerhead standards save consumers money on their water and energy bills and help protect the environment,” the group says.- MAGA -But the crusade of the Republican leader, a notorious climate skeptic, seems to have less to do with environmental or economic considerations and more with yearning for times past.Since he entered US politics in 2015, the billionaire has used nostalgia as a powerful electoral tool.”Donald Trump seems to understand, and perhaps himself be susceptible to, these nostalgic appeals,” said Spencer Goidel, a political science professor at Auburn University in Alabama.The researcher, who has studied nostalgia in politics, drew a parallel with people’s musical tastes.”Most Americans think the best era of music was the era in which they were in young adulthood,” he said.People tend to remember the outstanding songs and forget the bad ones.”In society, the same is true. The great men and women of history are immortalized. The mediocre, sometimes corrupt or incompetent, men and women are forgotten,” added Goidel.It’s hardly surprising, then, that politicians are seizing on nostalgic sentiment, because “crafting a future-oriented message is difficult.””It’s much easier to argue we should return to the way things were,” the researcher said.Trump’s signature slogan “Make America Great Again” taps into the same idea.While nostalgia is not inherently Democratic or Republican, it “is associated with racist and sexist attitudes, authoritarian attitudes, and voting Republican.”According to Goidel’s research, “people with higher levels of nostalgia are more supportive of a strong man breaking laws and institutions, as well as greater support for political violence.”