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Wall Street stocks resumed their downward slide on Thursday amid uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s shifting trade policy, while European bourses advanced following an ECB interest rate cut.Major US indices spent the entire day in the red, shrugging off Trump’s moves to soften tariff actions.Trump on Thursday unveiled a temporary rollback to steep tariffs targeting Canada and Mexico, broadening a step announced Wednesday that gave relief to the auto sector. Stocks had rallied after the auto reprieve, but this time all three major indices dropped one percent or more.Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management said the uncertainty around trade policy is “affecting the real economy,” dragging down consumer sentiment and business investment.”The longer that goes on, the more the economy slows,” he said.In Europe, Frankfurt’s DAX index hit a new record as plans for a massive German defense and infrastructure investment program stoked optimism for pulling the eurozone’s largest economy out of recession.France and other eurozone markets ended the day higher as the European Central Bank followed through with an expected quarter-point cut in interest rates.But ECB President Christine Lagarde said that rising trade tensions could knock eurozone economic growth.”We have risks all over and uncertainty all over,” Lagarde added.The ECB cut its growth forecasts for this year and the next while raising its 2025 inflation estimate.Meanwhile, bond yields continued to climb, and the rise extended to Asia, with Japanese 10-year yields hitting 1.5 percent for the first time in more than a decade.The increase signals expectations of higher inflation and that governments, companies and consumers will need to pay more to borrow.- Asia rises -Wednesday’s announcement of the tariff delay buoyed Asian stock markets, in particular lifting the auto sector.The move “helped reinforce hopes there may be some flexibility in the new administration’s trade policy,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.Chinese stocks responded well to Beijing announcing its 2025 growth target of around five percent, at the start of its annual meeting of the National People’s Congress on Wednesday.The meeting has heightened investors’ expectations that a huge fiscal stimulus package could be coming. China has vowed to make domestic demand its main economic driver despite facing persistent economic headwinds, and as an escalating trade war with the US hit exports.- Key figures around 2150 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 42,579.08 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 1.8 percent at 5,738.52 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 2.6 percent at 18,069.26 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 8,682.84 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 8,197.67 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.5 percent at 23,419.48 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 37,704.93 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 3.3 percent at 24,369.71 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.2 percent at 3,381.10 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at 1.0787 from 1.0789 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2882 from $1.2895Dollar/yen: DOWN 147.97 from 148.88 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.72 pence from 83.67 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at 69.46 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $66.31 per barrelburs-jmb/des

After an outcry from Detroit, President Donald Trump has granted one-month tariff exemptions on most auto imports from Canada and Mexico, underscoring the continued clout of US carmakers.The “Big Three” automakers — Ford, General Motors and Chrysler-owner Stellantis — operate their businesses on an integrated basis throughout North America, leaving them badly exposed to the proposed tariffs.Trump, who won hotly-contested Michigan during the 2024 presidential campaign, halted the auto tariffs on Wednesday, just a day after they took effect. The announcement represents relief “but not a cure” since the same tariffs could kick in next month, said Bank of America.- Diminished ‘Big 3’ still a force -While much diminished from their heyday, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis remain giant players in the United States in terms of jobs and economic impact.Automakers in the United States employ 436,000 workers, with the Big Three accounting for about 55 percent of that number.The trio also accounts for half of the US assembly plants and nearly half of the 10 million vehicles assembled annually in the United States, according to a report by the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC).By comparison, foreign automakers like Honda, BMW and Nissan each account for five percent or less of total US auto jobs, while electric vehicle maker Tesla — led by close Trump ally Elon Musk — accounts for 14 percent, according to the AAPC.- Integrated throughout North America -The Big Three also produce cars in overseas factories, but most of their imports come from Mexico and Canada under the terms of a free trade pact inked during Trump’s first term, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).Popular vehicles imported from Mexico in 2024 included the Chevrolet Silverado and the Ford Maverick, while the Chrysler Pacifica and the Lincoln Nautilus were imported from Canada, according to figures from GlobalData.Foreign automakers like Toyota and Honda also make use of the USMCA to produce cars in Canada and Mexico sold in the United States, and in organizing sophisticated supply chains in which parts and technology move seamlessly throughout the region.The auto supply industry employs 932,000 people across the 50 US states, according to MEMA, the Vehicle Suppliers Association. The US auto supply industry procures about 27 percent of its manufacturing sourcing from Mexico and 10 percent from Canada, according to MEMA.- Other car tariffs coming -The auto industry’s regional integration has made it among the sectors most exposed to Trump’s hefty 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada.Ford CEO Jim Farley warned in February that enactment of the tariffs “would blow a hole in the US industry that we have never seen.”While greeting Trump’s tariff reprieve for USMCA-covered auto imports, automakers recognized the pause is only for one month.The Trump administration has depicted the tariffs as a tool to encourage more manufacturing capacity in the United States, but such decisions are not taken overnight.”The reality is that a month is nowhere near enough time for automakers to relocate factories or reconfigure supply chains,” said Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at Edmunds.”In the short term, manufacturers may need to ramp up production and stockpile inventory as a hedge against potential tariffs —- an expensive and risky move that could lead to bloated inventories if the tariffs don’t take effect.”Trump has broadly discussed a desire for 25 percent tariffs on imported cars but has offered few details.If the administration maintains protection for USMCA imports, automakers from Germany, Japan and South Korea that import to the United States would seem to be the most exposed to such a policy.About 50 percent of the cars sold in the United States are manufactured within the country. Among imports, about half come from Mexico and Canada, with Japan, South Korea and Germany, also major suppliers.

The United States offered a $10-million reward on Thursday for information leading to the arrest of a Canadian former Olympic snowboarder wanted on drug and murder charges.Ryan Wedding, 43, who is believed to be in Mexico or another Latin American country, was also placed on the FBI’s list of the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.””Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of US cities and in his native Canada,” said Akil Davis, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.”The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man,” Davis said.Wedding, whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant” and “Public Enemy,” may possibly be living under the protection of the Sinaloa drug cartel, Davis said at a press conference.Acting US Attorney Joseph McNally said Wedding had allegedly shipped hundreds of millions of dollars of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico to the United States and Canada.Alan Hamilton, chief of detectives for the Los Angeles Police Department, said Wedding used the southern California city as the hub for the drug smuggling operation.”An estimated 60 metric tons of cocaine per year and five metric tons of fentanyl per month moved through Los Angeles on its way to US and Canadian cities,” Hamilton said.Wedding, who competed for Canada in snowboarding at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, finishing 24th in the parallel giant slalom, is one of 16 defendants facing US charges for their roles in the drug operation.”The organization is violent, responsible for deaths as part of its criminal operations,” McNally said.These include the November 2023 murders of two members of a family in Ontario, Canada, in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment and a May 2024 murder in Niagara Falls, Ontario, over a drug debt.The State Department is offering a $10-million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Wedding.Wedding’s second-in-command, fellow Canadian Andrew Clark, 34, known as “El Dictador,” was among 29 alleged or convicted narcotics traffickers extradited to the United States from Mexico last week.

President Donald Trump responded Thursday to growing criticism over unprecedented cuts to the US government overseen by his billionaire advisor Elon Musk, saying they should be carefully targeted.”We say the ‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet,'” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social.The president’s message represents the first move to rein in the power accorded to Musk, as his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) works toward gutting federal staffing and spending.But later, directly asked by reporters whether DOGE and Musk are moving too fast, Trump said: “No, I think they’ve done an amazing job.” While Musk is not the formal administrator of DOGE, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO is nonetheless directing operations and even attended the first cabinet meeting of Trump’s second term.The body’s cost-cutting campaign has faced increasing resistance on multiple fronts, however, including court rulings and some pressure from lawmakers.”DOGE has been an incredible success, and now that we have my Cabinet in place, I have instructed the Secretaries and Leadership to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and Staffing,” Trump posted.”As the Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go.”Trump confirmed reports in the US media that he had convened his cabinet in person on Thursday to deliver the message that they, not Musk, were in charge of their departments.Trump told his team, with Musk in the room and on board, that the tech billionaire and top donor was authorized to recommend firings and other cuts but not to enforce them, according to Politico.”It’s very important that we cut levels down to where they should be, but it’s also important to keep the best and most productive people,” the president said, adding that follow-up cabinet meetings on DOGE would come every two weeks.- Thousands fired -Trump’s message came with the administration having fired or threatened to axe tens of thousands of workers from numerous federal agencies as it pursues cost savings.More than two million federal employees received demands from the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) — the government’s human resources department — and Musk himself that they account for the work they have been doing in a bullet pointed memo or face the sack.Labor groups quickly opposed the request, with the largest federal employee union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), vowing to challenge any unlawful terminations.Several recent polls indicate that most Americans disapprove of the disruption to the nationwide federal workforce.Dozens of lawsuits against Musk’s threats or demands have yielded mixed results, with some requests for immediate halts to his executive orders being denied by judges.Politico said Musk — who had meetings with Republican lawmakers on Wednesday to reassure them over criticism of DOGE — acknowledged in front of the cabinet that the task force had made missteps.Around a third of DOGE staffers had resigned in protest over its methods by the end of February, saying they would not push through demanded changes that put the country at risk.”We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations,” 21 staffers of DOGE wrote in a letter, seen by AFP, to White House chief of staff Susan Wiles.”However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments,” they added.The cuts have even sparked criticism from the normally staunchly-loyal Senate Republicans, whose leader John Thune preempted Trump by telling CNN on Tuesday that cabinet officials should retain the full control of personnel decisions. 

Jane Goodall and William Shatner are set to receive honors from the Sierra Club, the major environmental group said Thursday, at a time when climate and conservation protections are being drastically rolled back in the United States.Primate researcher Goodall and “Star Trek” actor Shatner, both renowned activists, will be recognized at a star-studded Los Angeles fundraising gala on April 2 which aims to spotlight environmental concerns at a critical moment.”We do not have the luxury of waiting for action on climate change and environmental justice as communities grapple with the crisis on a daily basis. The choices we make today will shape the future of our planet and our communities,” Ben Jealous, executive director of the Sierra Club, told AFP. US President Donald Trump, who has called climate change a “scam,” recently pulled Washington out of the landmark Paris Agreement for a second time, expanded domestic oil drilling, and signed executive orders to slow the transition to electric vehicles.Government agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been targeted for mass layoffs.Goodall will receive the Sierra Club Lifetime Achievement Award “for her inspiring dedication to protect chimpanzees and conserving the natural world.”Shatner will collect a Visionary Award “for using his platform to raise awareness about the climate crisis.”Other honorees at the 2025 Trail Blazers Ball, which brings activists and environmentalists together with celebrities, include Indigenous climate activist and fashion model Quannah Chasinghorse.The Sierra Club boasts millions of members and supporters, and is the oldest US environmental group — formed in 1892.Most scientists agree that climate change currently underway differs from natural cycles of the past. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says it is indisputably attributable to human activity, and in particular to the burning of fossil fuels, especially since the end of the 19th century.

Obesity is on the rise not just in humans but in dogs, whose history of selective breeding makes them an ideal species for studying the balance between genetics, diet, and lifestyle in weight gain.In a new paper published Thursday in Science, researchers identified a gene strongly linked to obesity in pet pooches — and found it is also associated with weight gain in humans.”The prevailing attitude towards obesity is that people are just a bit rubbish about controlling what they eat, whereas actually, our data shows that if you’re a high-risk individual, it takes more effort to keep you slim,” lead author Eleanor Raffan, a researcher in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience, told AFP.A veterinarian as well as a scientist, Raffan has long sought to study animal genetics to uncover broader biological insights that apply across species, including our own.For this study, she and her colleagues focused on British Labrador Retrievers.”Anyone who knows dogs will understand that starting with Labradors is a good idea because they’re very prone to getting obese,” she said. “They’ve got this reputation for being really foodie dogs, really obsessed by food.”The team collected slobber samples from 241 dogs and conducted a genome-wide association study, which examines an organism’s entire set of genes to identify areas linked to a specific trait.The top five genes were also present in humans, with the one exerting the strongest influence called DENND1B.They also assessed how much the dogs pestered their owners for food and whether they were fussy eaters.”Low-risk dogs tended to remain a healthy weight, irrespective of how their owners managed their food and exercise,” said Raffan. “But if you were a high-genetic-risk dog, then if your owners were complacent about diet and exercise, you were likely to get really, really overweight.”For Raffan, the study has two major takeaways.First, it sheds new light on how DENND1B affects a brain pathway responsible for regulating energy balance and appetite. Known as the leptin-melanocortin pathway, this system is a key target for some anti-obesity drugs.”Only by understanding biology and the nuances of it can we possibly improve our treatment and management of obesity,” she said.Second, the study allowed researchers to quantify genetic risk for obesity in individual dogs — and the level of effort required to keep them at a healthy weight. This is easier to measure in dogs than in humans, since their diet and exercise are entirely controlled by their owners.”We shouldn’t be rude to owners of overweight dogs,” Raffan emphasized.”It’s not that they’re hopeless individuals who don’t care about their pets. It’s just that they’ve got animals who persistently seek out opportunities to eat, and just a little bit extra every day is enough to cause weight gain over time.”

A US company’s spaceship touched down on the Moon on Thursday, but its condition — including whether it landed upright — remains uncertain.Houston-based Intuitive Machines made history last year as the first private firm to achieve a lunar landing, though the moment was overshadowed when its lander ended up on its side.For the company’s second attempt, it sent the 15.6-foot (4.8-meter) tall hexagonal Athena lander to the vast Mons Mouton plateau — closer to the lunar south pole than any mission before it.They were aiming for a 12:32 pm ET (1732 GMT) touchdown, and mission control teams looked downcast as they worked to confirm the outcome.Twenty minutes past the scheduled landing time, company spokesman Josh Marshall announced on a webcast: “Athena is on the surface of the Moon.” However, teams were still analyzing incoming data to assess the lander’s status, and attempting to retrieve an image.”We are working to figure out the orientation of the vehicle,” Marshall added, before the live feed abruptly ended.The mission is designed to test an array of advanced technologies that could support future crewed lunar missions — including an ice-drilling system, a 4G network experiment, three rovers, and a first-of-its-kind hopping drone.The pressure was high after Texas rival Firefly Aerospace successfully landed its Blue Ghost lander on the Moon just days earlier, on Sunday.Both missions are part of US space agency NASA’s $2.6-billion Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which aims to leverage private industry to reduce costs and support Artemis — NASA’s effort to return astronauts to the Moon and, eventually, reach Mars.- A hopper named Grace -Athena aims to deploy three rovers and a unique hopping drone named Grace, named after late computer science pioneer Grace Hopper.One of Grace’s boldest objectives is a hop into a permanently shadowed crater, a place where sunlight has never shone — a first for humanity.While NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter proved flight is possible on Mars, the Moon’s lack of atmosphere makes traditional flying impossible, positioning hoppers like Grace as a key technology for future exploration.MAPP, the largest of Athena’s rovers and roughly the size of a beagle, will assist in testing a Nokia Bell Labs 4G cellular network linking it with the lander and Grace — technology designed to one day integrate into astronaut spacesuits.There’s also a more compact, tablet-sized rover from Japanese company Dymon, and a tiny AstroAnt rover, equipped with magnetic wheels to cling to MAPP and use its sensors to measure temperature variations.Also aboard Athena is PRIME-1, a NASA instrument carrying a drill to search for ice and other chemicals beneath the lunar surface, paired with a spectrometer to analyze its findings.- Sticking the landing -Lunar landings are notoriously difficult. The Moon’s lack of atmosphere rules out parachutes and forces spacecraft to rely on precise thrusts and navigation over hazardous terrain.Until Intuitive Machines’ first mission, only national space agencies had achieved the feat, with NASA’s last landing dating back to Apollo 17 in 1972.The company’s first lander, Odysseus, came in too fast, caught a foot on the surface and toppled over, cutting the mission short when its solar panels could not generate enough power.This time, the company said it had made critical upgrades, including better cabling for the laser altimeter, which provides altitude and velocity readings to ensure a safe touchdown.Athena launched last Wednesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which also carried NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer probe, which has also faced problems.Ground controllers are struggling to re-establish contact with the small satellite, designed to map the Moon’s water distribution.These missions come at a delicate time for NASA, amid speculation that the agency may scale back or even cancel the crewed Moon missions in favor of prioritizing Mars — a goal championed by President Donald Trump and his billionaire advisor Elon Musk.

Donald Trump said Thursday he was pausing some of the sweeping new tariffs on Mexican imports, amid continued trade tensions with Canada and sustained blowback from global markets on the US president’s policies.Trump said he would hold off some tariffs on Mexico, furthering a pullback in trade action a day after providing temporary reprieve for automakers.The president said after a phone call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum that fresh tariffs targeting Mexico would not apply to trade that falls under an existing regional pact between the United States, Mexico and Canada.The pause, he said, was “until April 2nd.” At that point, Canadian and Mexican goods could still face reciprocal levies.”I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum. Our relationship has been a very good one,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.His remarks stood in sharp contrast to the seething tensions with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.Trudeau said Thursday that Ottawa will remain in a trade war with Washington for “the foreseeable future” even if there are “breaks for certain sectors.””Our goal remains to get these tariffs, all tariffs removed,” Trudeau added.Global markets tumbled after Trump’s announcement of 25 percent tariffs on US imports from Canada and Mexico took effect Tuesday and economists say Americans are likely to face broad-based price rises.The United States’ expanded reprieve for Mexico came a day after the White House gave automakers temporary relief too from the levies that hit everything from lumber to avocado imports.- ‘Economic reality’ -“It’s a recognition of economic reality” that Trump walked back the 25 percent tariff on Mexico after implementation, said Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the Cato Institute.This is acknowledgement that tariffs disrupt supply chains, that the burden of levies fall to consumers, and “that the market doesn’t like them and certainly doesn’t like the uncertainty surrounding them,” he told AFP.Lincicome added that the relief Trump’s announcement brings to businesses depends on the details of his rollback.Since taking office in January, Trump has made a series of tariff threats on allies and adversaries alike, declaring trade wars will be a key part of his foreign policy.Trump justified the tariffs on the United States’ two giant neighbors and vital trade partners, along with China, as a way to stop illegal immigration and trafficking of the deadly drug fentanyl.However, Canada contributes less than one percent of fentanyl to the United States’ illicit supply, according to Canadian and US government data. It is also a relatively minor source of illegal immigration, compared to flows across the Mexican border.China, meanwhile, has pushed back on US allegations of its role in the fentanyl supply chain, calling this a domestic issue that tariffs will not resolve.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that he was not concerned Trump’s tariffs would be inflationary, adding that any impact on prices would likely be temporary.Economists warn that blanket tariffs stand to weigh on US economic growth and raise inflation in the near-term.Trump has referred to tariffs as a source of US government revenue, and a way to remedy trade imbalances and practices Washington deems unfair.The US trade deficit surged to a new record in January according to government data Thursday, as imports spiked while tariff worries flared in the month of Trump’s inauguration.The overall trade gap of the world’s biggest economy ballooned 34 percent to $131.4 billion, on the back of a 10 percent jump in imports for the month, said the Commerce Department.Analysts say the US deficit was likely bolstered by gold imports.But “stripping out this impact, all other imports rose 5.5 percent, indicating front-loading of shipments was in full swing,” said Oxford Economics senior economist Matthew Martin.This refers to a tendency for businesses to try and get ahead of additional costs from potential tariffs, and possible supply chain disruptions.

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order instructing his newly confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to dismantle the department she now leads, US media has reported.The Wall Street Journal cited a draft of the executive order circulating Wednesday which directs McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department” based on “the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt denied the order would be signed Thursday, but did not address the general plan to dismantle the agency through an executive order.”More Fake News!” Leavitt wrote on X on Thursday. “President Trump is NOT signing an Executive Order on the Department of Education today.”Trump, 78, promised to decentralize education as he campaigned for a return to the White House, saying he would devolve the department’s powers to state governments and directed McMahon “put herself out of a job.” Traditionally, the federal government has had a limited role in education in the United States, with only about 13 percent of funding for primary and secondary schools coming from federal coffers, the rest being funded by states and local communities.But federal funding is invaluable for low-income schools and students with special needs. And the federal government has been essential in enforcing key civil rights protections for students.By law, the Education Department, created in 1979, cannot be shuttered without the approval of Congress and Republicans do not have the votes to push that through.However, as with other federal agencies under Trump’s second administration, the department could see widespread slashes to programs and employees, which could significantly cripple its work.The Republican leader’s threat to shut down the education department has angered Democrats, teachers’ unions and many parents, who see it as an attack on the public education system.McMahon, a 76-year-old businesswoman who formerly served as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, said at a Senate education committee hearing last month that “the excessive consolidation of power” in Washington was damaging education.”So what’s the remedy? Fund education freedom, not government,” she said.The Washington Post reported McMahon and other officials have suggested moving some of the agency’s functions to other parts of the government in their effort to dismantle it, though it could prompt legal challenges.Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called the reported plan — if it is true — “the most destructive and devastating steps Donald Trump has ever taken” as it would hit the most vulnerable and underserved communities.”This would be horrible for our schools, our school leaders, our families, and the children Secretary McMahon is supposed to serve,” Schumer said in a statement. “The blast radius of this order will harm nearly every child, every teacher, every family, and every community in the country.”

SpaceX prepared for the next test flight of its massive Starship prototype rocket Thursday, as scrutiny grows over founder Elon Musk’s influence on the US government’s space program.The world’s biggest and most powerful launch vehicle is set to blast off from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, in a launch window that opens at 5:30 pm local time (2330 GMT).It will be Starship’s eighth orbital mission — all so far uncrewed — and the first since its dramatic mid-air explosion over the Caribbean during its last trial. Earlier attempts to carry out the test were called off on Monday and Wednesday.Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall — about 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. Starship is designed to eventually be fully reusable and is key to Musk’s vision of colonizing Mars. Meanwhile, NASA is awaiting a modified version of Starship as a lunar lander for its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon this decade.The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded Starship after its flight on January 16 ended with the upper stage disintegrating in a fiery cascade over the Turks and Caicos Islands, prompting cleanup efforts for fallen debris.Last Friday, the FAA announced that Starship could proceed with its next flight before the agency finalizes its review of SpaceX’s “mishap investigation.”During Joe Biden’s presidency, Musk frequently accused the FAA of excessively scrutinizing SpaceX over safety and environmental concerns. Now, as President Donald Trump’s cost-cutter-in-chief, the world’s richest person faces allegations of wielding undue influence over regulatory agencies overseeing his companies.According to Bloomberg News, a SpaceX engineer went to the Federal Aviation Administration headquarters two weeks ago and told employees they risked losing their jobs if they did not start work on a program to deploy thousands of the company’s Starlink satellite terminals in support of the national airspace system.Telecoms giant Verizon currently has a contract to upgrade the FAA’s infrastructure but now risks losing it, Bloomberg added. SpaceX said in a post that “recent media reports about SpaceX and the FAA are false.”For the upcoming flight, SpaceX says it has introduced numerous upgrades to the upper-stage spaceship that enhance its reliability and performance.The mission, expected to last just over an hour, includes another attempt to catch the booster stage using the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms — a feat SpaceX has successfully executed twice, including in the last flight.Additionally, Starship will deploy Starlink simulators designed to mimic Starlink satellites, which will burn up upon atmospheric re-entry.Eventually, SpaceX aims to recover the upper stage as well, but for now, it is targeting splashdown in the Indian Ocean off the western coast of Australia, as in previous flights.