AFP USA

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said Washington could hold off reciprocal tariffs for countries that halt practices it deems unfair, adding that officials will produce a list of levies on April 2.This is the date on which President Donald Trump has promised reciprocal duties set to affect both US allies and competitors, with tariffs tailored to each trading partner.”What’s going to happen on April 2 — each country will receive a number that we believe represents their tariffs,” Bessent told Fox Business in an interview, adding that the level could vary.”We are going to go to them and say, look, here’s where we think the tariff levels are, non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation, unfair funding, labor suppression,” he added.If they stop these practices, Bessent said, “we will not put up the tariff wall.”He expressed optimism that on April 2, some duties “may not have to go on because a deal is pre-negotiated” or because countries swiftly approach Washington for talks once they receive their number.- ‘No reason’ for recession -Bessent also told Fox Business that he saw “no reason we need to have a recession” in the world’s biggest economy, saying “the underlying economy is healthy.”But he dismissed the premise of guaranteeing there will not be a downturn.He raised the idea of “a pause” as officials transition from an “unsustainable” level of government spending, saying that the Trump administration would rein in expenditures and bring manufacturing home.Trump’s tariff plans and the uncertainty surrounding them have shaken markets in recent times, fanning fears that an economic ebb could be in the cards.The president has referred to tariffs as a way to raise revenue, remedy trade imbalances and pressure countries to act on US concerns.On Tuesday, Bessent stressed that Trump has identified “critical industries” — like steel and aluminum among manufacturing sectors — for which he hopes to bring production back to the United States.He added that “we’re going to take in substantial revenues,” pointing to these as a means to offset the government deficit.Economists note that while tariffs raise revenue for the government, they also shift demand towards domestic industries that make the protected goods.They caution that this does not always mean a net expansion of demand.Bessent also said Tuesday that the Treasury is working with Congress on further outbound investment rules: “We will make sure that our outbound investment doesn’t turn around and get used against us.”

As President Donald Trump moves to axe Voice of America and other US-funded media, China and Russia are eager to fill the void.The targeting of VOA, Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia not only freezes some of the most dogged reporting on countries with heavily restricted media, but it comes after years of concerted efforts by Beijing and Moscow to promote their own worldview on the global media landscape.Trump issued an executive order Friday to pare down the nearly $1 billion US Agency for Global Media, with hundreds of journalists swiftly put on leave or fired, in his latest sweeping cut to the federal government.Lisa Curtis, who was a senior official on the National Security Council in Trump’s first term and serves as board chair of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, formed in the Cold War to reach behind the Iron Curtain, said that closing the service “will actually help our adversaries.””Countries like China, Russia and Iran are investing hundreds of millions of dollars pumping out anti-American propaganda and disinformation,” she said.”Why would the Trump administration want to disarm itself in this environment?” she asked.She said a pro bono legal team was challenging the authority to cut the funding, which was appropriated by Congress.- Aggressive marketing -A 2022 study by Freedom House, the democracy promotion research group which has also seen US government funding slashed by Trump, found that China has ramped up its media footprint globally.The report said China has found success by offering free or low-cost content and providing equipment and other services needed by resources-stretched outlets.While Chinese media are often formal in tone, Russia has aggressively challenged the West through government-run Sputnik and RT.After Europeans banned the outlets in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia has set its sights on Africa, including through social media campaigns targeting Western health projects, according to the Global Engagement Center, the State Department’s anti-disinformation arm that also recently closed.After budget cuts in 2023 in Britain, the BBC ended long-time radio services including in Arabic. The BBC director general later said that Russian media took over the BBC Arabic radio frequency in Lebanon.Sarah Cook, a researcher who led the 2022 Freedom House report, said it was not as simple as China taking over from VOA, which did not enter into local contracts in the same way as Chinese media.But a very different sort of journalism could dominate if China rather than the United States funds reporting in the developing world.”Even if Chinese state media are doing it, the content is completely different. It’s all pro-government, even pro-local government,” she said.- ‘Lie factory’ -Observers say the impact could be greatest in countries such as Cambodia and Laos, which lack the sophisticated online censorship of China. Cambodia’s longtime former leader Hun Sen wrote on Facebook to thank Trump “for his courage to lead the world to combat fake news.”In China, the Global Times hailed the end of “lie factory” VOA, and Sputnik said VOA and RFE were behind “fakes” about Russia’s alleged massacre of civilians in Kyiv’s Bucha suburb.Kari Lake, a firebrand Trump supporter brought to the US Agency for Global Media, described it as a “giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer” that is not “salvageable.”Trump often rails against media coverage of him, and his administration has called government-funded media outdated, as private news sources are readily available.But US-funded broadcasters ran in dozens of languages and often relied on exiles with unique sourcing in their homelands.Curtis pointed to a figure that Persian-language Radio Farda reached 10 percent of Iran’s adult population every week and to original reporting, including a 2016 RFE/RL story on a Chinese military base in Tajikistan.Radio Free Asia broadcasts in the Tibetan and Uyghur languages, a unique outlet for journalists from the minority groups to operate outside the constraints both of the Chinese government and of commercial pressure.”They are going to cover the stories that don’t get picked up by other outlets, because big media cover more broadly and don’t necessarily have as many native speakers employed,” said Mareike Ohlberg, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund who has researched Chinese media policies.Ohlberg said China began a global hiring spree in media during the 2008 financial crisis as it saw the struggles of Western commercial outlets, which have long angered Beijing with critical coverage.”They saw an opportunity — let’s offer our narrative,” she said.”That expansion is going to continue, and it would have regardless of this decision.”It just makes it easier for the narrative to take hold as there are now fewer alternatives.”

Bone and muscle deterioration, radiation exposure, vision impairment — these are just a few of the challenges space travelers face on long-duration missions, even before considering the psychological toll of isolation.As US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams prepare to return home after nine months aboard the International Space Station (ISS), some of the health risks they’ve faced are well-documented and managed, while others remain a mystery.These dangers will only grow as humanity pushes deeper into the solar system, including to Mars, demanding innovative solutions to safeguard the future of space exploration.- Exercise key -Despite the attention their mission has received, Wilmore and Williams’ nine-month stay is “par for the course,” said Rihana Bokhari, an assistant professor at the Center for Space Medicine at Baylor College. ISS missions typically last six months, but some astronauts stay up to a year, and researchers are confident in their ability to maintain astronaut health for that duration.Most people know that lifting weights builds muscle and strengthens bones, but even basic movement on Earth resists gravity, an element missing in orbit.To counteract this, astronauts use three exercise machines on the ISS, including a 2009-installed resistance device that simulates free weights using vacuum tubes and flywheel cables.A two-hour daily workout keeps them in shape. “The best results that we have to show that we’re being very effective is that we don’t really have a fracture problem in astronauts when they return to the ground,” though bone loss is still detectable on scans, Bokhari told AFP.Balance disruption is another issue, added Emmanuel Urquieta, vice chair of Aerospace Medicine at the University of Central Florida.”This happens to every single astronaut, even those who go into space just for a few days,” he told AFP, as they work to rebuild trust in their inner ear. Astronauts must retrain their bodies during NASA’s 45-day post-mission rehabilitation program.Another challenge is “fluid shift” — the redistribution of bodily fluids toward the head in microgravity. This can increase calcium levels in urine, raising the risk of kidney stones.Fluid shifts might also contribute to increased intracranial pressure, altering the shape of the eyeball and causing spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS), causing mild-to-moderate vision impairment. Another theory suggests raised carbon dioxide levels are the cause.But in at least one case, the effects have been beneficial. “I had a pretty severe case of SANS,” NASA astronaut Jessica Meir said before the latest launch.”When I launched, I wore glasses and contacts, but due to globe flattening, I now have 20/15 vision — most expensive corrective surgery possible. Thank you, taxpayers.”- Managing radiation -Radiation levels aboard the ISS are higher than on the ground, as it passes through through the Van Allen radiation belt, but Earth’s magnetic field still provides significant protection.The shielding is crucial, as NASA aims to limit astronauts’ increased lifetime cancer risk to within three percent.However, missions to the Moon and Mars will give astronauts far greater exposure, explained astrophysicist Siegfried Eggl.Future space probes could provide some warning time for high-radiation events, such coronal mass ejections — plasma clouds from the Sun — but cosmic radiation remains unpredictable.”Shielding is best done with heavy materials like lead or water, but you need vast quantities of it,” said Eggl, of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.Artificial gravity, created by rotating spacecraft frames, could help astronauts stay functional upon arrival after a nine-month journey to Mars.Alternatively, a spacecraft could use powerful acceleration and deceleration that matches the force of Earth’s gravity.That approach would be speedier — reducing radiation exposure risks — but requires nuclear propulsion technologies that don’t yet exist.Future drugs and even gene therapies could enhance the body’s defenses against space radiation. “There’s a lot of research into that area,” said Urquieta.Preventing infighting among teams will be critical, said Joseph Keebler, a psychologist at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.”Imagine being stuck in a van with anybody for three years: these vessels aren’t that big, there’s no privacy, there’s no backyard to go to,” he said.”I really commend astronauts that commit to this. It’s an unfathomable job.”

Google said Tuesday it will acquire cloud security platform Wiz for $32 billion, citing the need for greater cybersecurity capacity as artificial intelligence embeds itself in technology infrastructure.The all-cash deal brings Wiz into the Google Cloud operation, boosting the capacity of consumers to use “multiple clouds” and providing “an end-to-end security platform for customers, of all types and sizes, in the AI era,” the companies said in a joint press release.The deepening influence of AI makes “cybersecurity increasingly important in defending against emergent risks and protecting national security,” the companies said.The transaction, the largest ever sought by Google or parent Alphabet, will test President Donald Trump’s openness to large takeovers after resistance to such deals by the administration of Joe Biden.Alphabet had been close to a Wiz takeover last summer, but the deal fell apart due in part to regulatory concerns, according to the Wall Street Journal.Started in 2020 by co-founder and CEO Assaf Rappaport and a team who sold a previous venture to Microsoft, Wiz will continue to work and provide services to platform led by other tech giants including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.Wiz is based in New York, with offices in Tel Aviv and three other US cities.In a webcast after the deal was announced, Rappaport said the service “continuously scans an organization’s code and cloud environments, monitoring them in real time” to “prioritize the most critical risk based on real impact and blocks active threats.”

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will hold a highly-anticipated phone call Tuesday to discuss the Ukraine war, with Kyiv and its European allies demanding that Russia agree to an unconditional US-proposed ceasefire.  Washington and Moscow have expressed optimism about recent talks but it remains to be seen if Trump can convince Putin to agree to a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire, more than three years into Russia’s invasion. Kyiv has agreed to halting fighting, but Putin instead set a string of conditions, with European countries criticising him for not committing to an immediate ceasefire. Many in Europe worry Trump — who has for years expressed admiration for Russia — will cede to Putin’s demands. The Kremlin said the call will take place “from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Moscow time” (1300 to 1500 GMT) — giving, unusually, a precise time.Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the leaders will discuss Ukraine and the “normalisation” of US-Russia ties, with Trump’s previous call to Putin ending the Kremlin chief’s isolation during the Ukraine invasion. Kyiv urged Russia on Tuesday to accept to the ceasefire. “It is time for Russia to show whether it really wants peace,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said. “We expect the Russian side to unconditionally agree to this proposal.”Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Putin does not want peace and is trying to achieve a better position militarily ahead of any halt in fighting. Putin has said that a ceasefire only benefits Kyiv and Moscow hinted Tuesday that it was sceptical.  “It’s been a week since the moment of the (ceasefire) proposal,” Putin aide Yuri Ushakov told the Kommersant newspaper. “And what do we see? The biggest Ukrainian drone attack on Russian territory in history,” he said, referring to an attack on the Moscow region last week.But Ushakov added that “we are not losing hope”, adding: “They (Putin and Trump) need to speak.”  Russia has attacked Ukraine with near daily barrages of drones and missiles for more than three years, occupying swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine and pressing a grinding advance in recent months.   – ‘Land and power plants’ -Ukraine said Russia attacked with 137 drones ahead of the call, with Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko saying some debris fell on a school in the capital.Trump said Monday he would discuss issues of “land” and “power plants” with Putin — a likely reference to the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest that fell to Russia in the first days of its invasion.  He said both sides had already discussed “a lot” and that the pair will also talk about “dividing up certain assets.”The United States has made clear that Ukraine will likely have to cede territory in any deal, with European countries worried Trump will force Kyiv into an unfair agreement.Zelensky said over the weekend that any discussions over territory should take place at the negotiating table only after a ceasefire.Trump was intent on delivering on an election pledge to end fighting in Ukraine, blaming his predecessor Joe Biden’s policy on Russia for fuelling the war.”It must end NOW,” he said on the Truth Social network late on Monday. – ‘Only solution’ -In addition to occupying around a fifth of Ukraine, Kyiv says Russia has “stolen” thousands of Ukrainian children taken to Russian territory since the invasion. A presidential advisor, Daria Zarivna, said ahead of the talks that “at least 744,000 (children) were forcibly transferred” to Russia, with Kyiv seeking their return. As Washington and Moscow prepared for the talks, authorities in Russia’s Kursk region were evacuating several hundred civilians from areas retaken from Ukraine. The Kremlin has hailed Moscow’s quick offensive there last week as a major success, with Putin calling for Ukrainian soldiers to surrender — or be killed. Russian pensioner Olga Shkuratova’s husband was killed last week during fighting as Russia ousted Ukrainian troops from her village of Goncharovka. “A shell hit. Everything was blown apart in a second. No house, no garage, no barn,” the 62-year-old told AFP as she was taken to safety by volunteers. She buried him with the help of a neighbour in the couple’s garden. Many in Russia have placed their hopes in Trump, hoping he can help end the fighting. “Peace negotiations… This is the only solution,” Yelena Sukhareva, a volunteer helping evacuations said.

A 46-year-old man convicted of rape and murder is to be put to death by nitrogen gas in the southern state of Louisiana on Tuesday, the first of four executions scheduled this week in the United States.Jessie Hoffman, who was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Molly Elliott, a 28-year-old advertising executive, will be the first person executed in Louisiana in 15 years.A district court judge last week stayed Hoffman’s execution on the grounds that the use of nitrogen gas may amount to cruel and unusual punishment, which is banned under the US Constitution.But the stay was lifted by the conservative-dominated US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, allowing the execution to proceed.Only one other US state, Alabama, has carried out executions by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a facemask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.The method has been denounced by UN experts as cruel and inhumane.- ‘Plenty of execution methods’ -The vast majority of US executions since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 have been performed using lethal injection, although South Carolina executed a man by firing squad on March 7.Hoffman, a parking lot attendant, was convicted in 1998 of abducting Elliott in New Orleans as she went to retrieve her car and join her husband for dinner.Hoffman forced Elliott to withdraw $200 from an ATM machine, before raping and killing her with a single shot to the head.He was 18 years old at the time.Elliott’s nude body was found by a duck hunter the next day on a makeshift dock by the Middle Pearl River.Hoffman’s lawyers have appealed to the Supreme Court to halt the execution on the grounds that the nitrogen gas would “interfere with Jessie’s ability to practice his Buddhist meditative breathing.””The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that prisoners must be allowed to practice their religion as their lives are being taken by execution,” said Cecelia Kappel, one of Hoffman’s attorneys.”There are plenty of execution methods Louisiana could adopt that would not interfere with Jessie’s ability to practice his Buddhist meditative breathing, and only one, nitrogen gas, that makes it impossible for him to do so,” Kappel said.- Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma executions -Three other executions are scheduled in the United States this week — in Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma.Aaron Gunches, 53, is to be executed by lethal injection in Arizona on Wednesday for the 2002 murder of Ted Price, his girlfriend’s ex-husband.Gunches has dropped legal efforts to halt his execution, which would be the first in the southwestern state since November 2022.Wendell Grissom, 56, is to be executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on Thursday for shooting and killing Amber Matthews, 23, in 2005 during a home robbery.Edward James, 63, is to be executed by lethal injection in Florida on Thursday.James was sentenced to death for the 1993 rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl, Toni Neuner, and the murder of Betty Dick, her 58-year-old grandmother.There have been six executions in the United States this year, following 25 last year.The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and on his first day in office called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”

Hit by massive funding cuts and a crackdown on student protesters, Columbia University is under fire from US President Donald Trump, putting the world of higher education on tenterhooks.The arrest of student activist Mahmoud Khalil has crystallized concerns over freedom of speech under the Republican leader’s administration — and fueled warnings that Trump is out to quell dissent.Khalil, a US permanent resident with Palestinian roots, recently earned a graduate degree from the prestigious Ivy League school in New York.But he was detained in early March by plainclothes immigration agents over his role in the student movement protesting Israel’s war on Gaza.Trump has vowed Khalil’s detention is the first in a line of arrests to come.Columbia’s student movement has been at the vanguard of protests that have exposed deep rifts over the war.Activists call them a show of support for the Palestinian people. Trump condemns them as anti-Semitic, and says they must end.The president has cut $400 million in federal funding from Columbia — including research grants and other contracts — on the questionable grounds that the institution has not adequately protected Jewish students from harassment.Experts say the move aims to send a message to other universities: fall in line or face the consequences.”Columbia has been placed in an impossible position,” Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, told AFP.”We can be sure that the other 60 higher education institutions that have been targeted for a perceived failure to comply with federal mandates are paying close attention to Columbia’s response.”- ‘Critical moment’ -Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, acknowledged the “critical moment for higher education” in a recent statement.US universities are still reeling from a furor over pro-Palestinian protests that has felled several institutions’ presidents since the Gaza war began, including at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia itself.”The stakes are high not only for Columbia, but for every college and university in this country,” Armstrong said, vowing a commitment to “open dialogue and free debate” as well as “efforts to combat hate and discrimination on campus.”Beyond that cautious official position — which has come under criticism from various sides — Columbia is making moves.Entry to campus is barricaded, though immigration officers have entered for surprise searches, and the university gave police the green light to remove pro-Palestinian activists last spring.Last week, the private university announced a battery of disciplinary measures — including suspensions, temporary degree revocations and expulsions — aimed at student protesters who occupied a campus building last year.Still, in a letter sent to Columbia last week, the Trump administration gave the university one week to agree to a series of drastic reforms if it wants to open negotiations to recover the $400 million.The letter demands Columbia codify a definition of anti-Semitism that includes a focus on anti-Zionism, and insists the Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies departments be put under “academic receivership.”That rare step puts an academic department under outside administrative oversight, and is generally only used to reset — or axe — a department in crisis.- ‘Existential threat’ -Pasquerella said Trump’s moves put core principles of higher education at risk, seeking to control the curriculum and “impose a particular definition of anti-Semitism on the university by ostensibly conflating any pro-Palestinian sentiment and activity with unlawful activity.”The administration’s demands “threaten to undermine the democratic purposes of higher education by impeding academic freedom,” she said.For Jameel Jaffer, who directs the free speech-focused Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia, the White House’s bid to control university policies poses an “existential threat to academic life itself.”The undertone of the letter is clear, he said: “It basically says, ‘We’ll destroy Columbia unless you destroy it first.'””The subjugation of universities to official power is a hallmark of autocracy. No one should be under any illusions about what’s going on here,” Jaffer told AFP.Trump’s pressure has also given new life to pro-Palestinian protests, which are again happening virtually every day throughout New York — including a recent one at Trump Tower in Manhattan.But that engagement in the streets is not undoing the damage already done at academic institutions across the nation, Pasquerella said.”Many institutions are already engaging in anticipatory or preemptive compliance with requests by the current administration, even if they are not legally required, in order to avoid being targeted,” she said.”The real losers in all of this are the students.”

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.