Thought of the Day
Life offers so many great choices, all you have to do is see them.
March 12th 2025
US resumes military aid and intelligence sharing as Ukraine says it is open to a 30-day ceasefire
By MATTHEW LEE Associated Press
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — The Trump administration lifted its suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine, and Kyiv signaled that it was open to a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, pending Moscow’s agreement, American and Ukrainian officials said Tuesday following talks in Saudi Arabia.
The administration’s decision marked a sharp shift from only a week ago, when it imposed the measures to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to enter talks to end the war with invading Russian forces. The suspension of U.S. assistance came days after Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump argued about the war in a tense White House meeting.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the U.S. delegation to the talks in Jeddah, said Washington would present the ceasefire offer to the Kremlin, which has thus far opposed anything short of a permanent end to the conflict without accepting any concessions.
“We’re going to tell them this is what’s on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now it’ll be up to them to say yes or no,” Rubio told reporters after the talks. “If they say no, then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.”
Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, added: “The Ukrainian delegation today made something very clear, that they share President Trump’s vision for peace.”
Tuesday’s discussions, which lasted for nearly eight hours, appeared to put to rest, for the moment at least, the animosity between Trump and Zelenskyy that erupted during the Oval Office meeting last month.
Waltz said the negotiators “got into substantive details on how this war is going to permanently end,” including long-term security guarantees. And, he said, Trump agreed to immediately lift the pause in the supply of billions of of dollars of U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing.
Senior officials began meeting only hours after Russia shot down over 300 Ukrainian drones. It was Ukraine’s biggest attack since the Kremlin ordered the full-scale invasion of its neighbor. Neither U.S. nor Ukrainian officials offered any comment on the barrage.
Trump said he hoped that an agreement could be solidified “over the next few days.”
“I know we have a big meeting with Russia tomorrow, and some great conversations hopefully will ensue,” Trump said. He did not elaborate.
The Kremlin had no immediate comment on the U.S. and Ukrainian statements. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said only that negotiations with U.S. officials could take place this week.
Trump ‘s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel later this week to Moscow, where he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment publicly. The person cautioned that scheduling could change.
Zelenskyy renews calls for lasting peace
Meanwhile, in an address posted shortly after Tuesday’s talks ended, Zelenskyy reiterated Ukraine’s commitment to achieving a lasting peace, emphasizing that the country has sought an end to the war since its outset.
“Our position is absolutely clear: Ukraine has strived for peace from the very first second of this war, and we want to do everything possible to achieve it as soon as possible — securely and in a way that ensures war does not return,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak, who led the Ukrainian delegation, described the negotiations as positive. In a joint statement with the U.S., he said the two countries “share the same vision, and that we are moving in the same direction toward the just peace long awaited by all Ukrainians.”
Hawkish Russians push back against any ceasefire
In Moscow, hawkish politicians and military bloggers spoke strongly against a prospective ceasefire, arguing that it would play into Kyiv’s hands and damage Moscow’s interests at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the fighting.
“A ceasefire isn’t what we need,” wrote hard-line ideologue Alexander Dugin.
Viktor Sobolev, a retired general who is a member of the Russian parliament’s lower house, warned that a 30-day truce would allow Ukraine to beef up arms supplies and regroup its troops before resuming hostilities.
Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political commentator, suggested that Moscow could demand a halt on Western arms supplies to Ukraine as part of a ceasefire. “An embargo on arms supplies to Ukraine could be a condition for a truce,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Russia launched 126 drones and a ballistic missile at Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said, as part of Moscow’s relentless pounding of civilian areas.
Ukrainians watch the talks
On the streets of Kyiv, Ukrainians kept an eye on the Saudi talks.
Lena Herasymenko, a psychologist, said she accepts that compromises will be necessary to end the war, but she said they must be “reasonable.”
“We had massive losses during this war, and we don’t know yet how much more we’ll have,” she told The Associated Press. “We are suffering every day. Our kids are suffering, and we don’t know how the future generation will be affected.”
Oleksandr, a Ukrainian soldier who could give only his first name because of security restrictions, warned that Ukraine cannot let down its guard down.
“If there is a ceasefire, it would only give Russia time to increase its firepower, manpower, missiles and other arms. Then they would attack Ukraine again,” he said.
The meeting in Jeddah offered an opportunity for Kyiv officials to repair Ukraine’s relationship with the Trump administration after an unprecedented argument erupted during Zelenskyy’s Feb. 28 visit to the White House.
The Kremlin sticks to its conditions for peace
The Kremlin has not publicly offered any concessions. Putin has repeatedly declared that Moscow wants a comprehensive settlement, not a temporary truce.
Russia has said it’s ready to cease hostilities on condition that Ukraine drops its bid to join NATO and recognizes regions that Moscow occupies as Russian. Russia has captured nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s territory.
Russian forces have held the battlefield momentum for more than a year, though at a high cost in infantry and armor, and are pushing at selected points along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, especially in the eastern Donetsk region, against Ukraine’s understrength and weary army.
Ukraine has invested heavily in developing its arms industry, especially high-tech drones that have reached deep into Russia.
Most of the Ukrainian drones fired overnight — 126 of them — were shot down over the Kursk region across the border from Ukraine, parts of which Kyiv’s forces control, and 91 were shot down over the Moscow region, according to a statement by Russia’s Defense Ministry.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said over 70 drones targeted the Russian capital and were shot down as they were flying toward it — the biggest single attack on Moscow so far in the war.
The governor of the Moscow region surrounding the capital, Andrei Vorobyov, said the attack damaged several residential buildings and a number of cars.
Flights were temporarily restricted in and out of six airports, including Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky just outside Moscow, and airports in the Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod regions.
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Associated Press writers Baraa Anwer in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Hanna Arhirova and Dmytro Zhyhinas in Kyiv, Ukraine; and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Trump halts doubling of tariffs on Canadian metals, after Ontario suspends electricity price hikes
By JOSH BOAK, ROB GILLIES and MICHELLE PRICE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ‘s threat on Tuesday to double his planned tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25% to 50% for Canada led the provincial government of Ontario to suspend its planned surcharges on electricity sold to the United States.
As a result, the White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said the U.S. president pulled back on his doubling of steel and aluminum tariffs, even as the federal government still plans to place a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports starting Wednesday.
The drama on Tuesday delivered a win for Trump but also amplified concerns about tariffs that have roiled the stock market and stirred recession risks. Tuesday’s escalation and cooling in the ongoing trade war between the United States and Canada only compounded the rising sense of uncertainty of how Trump’s tariff hikes will affect the economies of both countries.
Trump shocked markets Tuesday morning by saying that the increase of the tariffs set to take effect on Wednesday had been a response to the 25% price hike that Ontario put on electricity sold to the United States.
“I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Tuesday afternoon that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called him and Ford agreed to remove the surcharge. He said he was confident that the U.S. president would also stand down on his own plans for 50% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
“He has to bounce it off the president but I’m pretty confident he will pull back,” Ford said on Trump’s steel and aluminum tariff threat. “By no means are we just going to roll over. What we are going to do is have a constructive conversation.”
After a brutal stock market selloff on Monday and further jitters Tuesday, Trump faces increased pressure to show he has a solid plan to grow the economy. So far the president is doubling down on tariffs and can point to Tuesday’s drama as evidence that taxes on imports are a valuable negotiating tool, even if they can generate turmoil in the stock market.
Trump suggested Tuesday that tariffs were critical for changing the U.S. economy, regardless of stock market gyrations.
The U.S. president has given a variety of explanations for his antagonism of Canada. He has said that his separate 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada, some of which are suspended for a month, are about fentanyl smuggling and voicing objections to Canada putting high taxes on dairy imports that penalize U.S. farmers. He also continued to call for Canada to become part of the United States as a solution, which has infuriated Canadian leaders.
“The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State,” Trump posted Tuesday. “This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear.”
Tensions between the United States and Canada
Incoming Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government will keep tariffs in place until Americans show respect and commit to free trade after Trump threatened historic financial devastation for his country.
Carney, who will be sworn in as Justin Trudeau’s replacement in coming days, said Trump’s latest tariffs are an attack on Canadian workers, families and businesses.
“My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect and make credible, reliable commitments to free and fair trade,” Carney said in a statement.
Canadian officials are planning retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump’s specific steel and aluminum tariffs. Those are expected to be announced Wednesday.
Carney was referring to an initial $30 billion Canadian (US$21 billion) worth of retaliatory tariffs that have been applied on items like American orange juice, peanut butter, coffee, appliances, footwear, cosmetics, motorcycles and certain pulp and paper products.
Trump also has targeted Mexico with 25% tariffs because of his dissatisfaction over drug trafficking and illegal immigration, though he suspended the taxes on imports that are compliant with the 2020 USMCA trade pact for one month.
Asked if Mexico feared it could face the same 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum as Canada, President Claudia Sheinbaum, said “No, we are respectful.”
Trump was set to deliver a Tuesday afternoon address to the Business Roundtable, a trade association of CEOs that during the 2024 campaign he wooed with the promise of lower corporate tax rates for domestic manufacturers. But his tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, with plans for more to possibly come on Europe, Brazil, South Korea, pharmaceutical drugs, copper, lumber and computer chips — would amount to a massive tax hike.
The stock market’s vote of no confidence over the past two weeks puts the president in a bind between his enthusiasm for taxing imports and his brand as a politician who understands business based on his own experiences in real estate, media and marketing.
Worries about a recession are growing
The investment bank Goldman Sachs revised down its growth forecast for this year to 1.7% from 2.2% previously. It modestly increased its recession probability to 20% “because the White House has the option to pull back policy changes if downside risks begin to look more serious.”
Trump has tried to assure the public that his tariffs would cause a bit of a “transition” to the economy, with the taxes prodding more companies to begin the years-long process of relocating factories to the United States to avoid the tariffs. But he set off alarms in an interview broadcast on Sunday in which he didn’t rule out a possible recession.
The stock market slide continues
The promise of great things ahead did not eliminate anxiety, with the S&P 500 stock index tumbling 2.7% on Monday in an unmistakable Trump slump that has erased the market gains that greeted his victory in November 2024. The S&P 500 index fell roughly 0.2% in Tuesday afternoon trading, paring earlier losses after Ontario backed down on electricity surcharges.
Trump has long relied on the stock market as an economic and political gauge to follow, only to look past it as he remains determined so far to impose tariffs. When he won the election last year, he proclaimed that he wanted his term to be considered to have started Nov. 6, 2024 on Election Day, rather than his Jan. 20, 2025 inauguration, so that he could be credited for post-election stock market gains.
Trump also repeatedly warned of an economic freefall if he lost the election.
“If I don’t win you will have a 1929 style depression. Enjoy it,” Trump said at an August rally in Pennsylvania.
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Associated Press writer Fabiola Sanchez contributed to this report from Mexico City. Gillies reported from Toronto.
Republicans are marching ahead with a government funding bill despite Democratic opposition
By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans will face a critical test of their unity when a spending bill that would avoid a partial government shutdown and keep federal agencies funded through September comes up for a vote.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is teeing up the bill for a vote as soon as Tuesday despite the lack of buy-in from Democrats, essentially daring them to oppose it and risk a shutdown that would begin Saturday if lawmakers fail to act.
Republicans will need overwhelming support from their members in both chambers — and some help from Senate Democrats — to get the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk. It’s one of the biggest legislative tests so far of the Republican president’s second term, prompting Vice President JD Vance to visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning to rally support.
“We have to keep the government in operation,” Johnson said as he emerged from a House Republican meeting. “It’s a fundamental responsibility of ours. The vice president echoed that sentiment. It was very well received and very well delivered. I think the holdouts are down to just one or two.”
The strategy has the backing of Trump, who is calling on Republicans to “remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right.”
House Republicans said the bill would trim $13 billion in non-defense spending from the levels in the 2024 budget year and increase defense spending by $6 billion, which are rather flat changes for both categories when compared with an overall topline of nearly $1.7 trillion in discretionary spending. The bill does not cover the majority of government spending, including Social Security and Medicare. Funding for those two programs is on auto pilot and not regularly reviewed by Congress.
Democrats are mostly worried about the discretion the bill gives the Trump administration on spending decisions. They are already alarmed by the administration’s efforts to make major cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, run by billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk. And they say the spending bill would fuel the effort.
“This is not a clean CR. This bill is a blank check,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. “It’s a blank check for Elon Musk and President Trump.”
Spending bills typically come with specific funding directives for key programs, but hundreds of those directives fall away under the legislation, according to a memo released by Senate Democrats. So the administration will have more leeway to reshape priorities.
“President Trump has endorsed this full-year CR because he understands what is in it for him: more power over federal spending to pick winners and losers and devastate Democratic states and priorities,” the memo warned.
For example, the Democratic memo said the bill would allow the administration to steer money away from combating fentanyl and instead use it on mass deportation initiatives.
Normally, when it comes to keeping the government fully open for business, Republicans have had to work with Democrats to craft a bipartisan measure that both sides can support. That’s because Republicans almost always lack the votes to pass spending bills on their own.
This time, Republican leaders are pushing for a vote despite Democratic opposition. Trump is showing an ability this term to hold Republicans in line. He met with several of the House chamber’s most conservative members last week.
Now, House Republicans who routinely vote against spending bills said they would support this one. The House Freedom Caucus, which includes many of the House’s most conservative members, issued a statement of support saying “contrary to Congress’ longtime abuse of this legislative tool, this CR is a paradigm shift.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is still a holdout, though. He says he’ll vote no.
“I guess deficits only matter when we’re in the minority,” said Massie, when asked why colleagues weren’t listening to his concerns.
Trump went after Massie on social media, calling him a “GRANDSTANDER, who’s too much trouble.”
“HE SHOULD BE PRIMARIED, and I will lead the charge against him,” Trump posted online.
Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, acknowledged the continuing resolution was not the outcome he was seeking but said it was time to end the cycle of short-term extensions Congress has been passing to keep the government open. This will be the third for the current budget year.
“Congress does have other things to do,” said Cole, of Oklahoma. “It’s got a lot on its plate this year.”
Meanwhile, House Democratic leaders have come out strongly against it. Less clear is how strongly they’ll push members in competitive battleground districts to follow their lead.
“House Democrats will not be complicit in the Republican efforts to hurt the American people,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said.
Senate Democrats generally seem to be emphasizing patience at this stage, waiting to see if Republicans can muscle the bill through the House before taking a stand.
“No comment,” said top Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York as he rushed through the hallway outside the Senate chamber.
Still, several rank-and-file Democrats criticized the measure. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said he was stunned that Republicans were “trying to jam through something that is their way or the highway.”
If the bill does move to the Senate later this week, support from at least eight Democratic senators will likely be needed for it to advance to passage.
“It’ll be up to the Democrats whether they want to deliver the votes and keep the government from shutting down,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
Democrats also introduced an alternative bill Monday night funding the government through April 11. The bill could serve as a Plan B if the GOP-led effort falters.
The spending bill could also have major ramifications for the District of Columbia’s government. City officials voiced their concerns during a news conference outside the Capitol on Monday, and district residents later in the day flooded the hearing room and surrounding hallway where lawmakers were considering debate rules for the measure.
The bill would limit the district to last year’s funding levels, though it’s already spending at 2025 levels. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said the proposal would require the district to cut $1.1 billion in spending in the next six months since it has already passed a balanced budget and is midway through its fiscal year. That means, officials said, cuts to critical services such as education and public safety.
The mayor also emphasized that the district’s 2025 budget focused on boosting three priorities: public safety, public education and economic growth.
“If the Congress goes through with this action, it will work against a priority that President Trump and I share, and that is to make Washington, D.C., the best, most beautiful city in the world,” Bowser said.
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Associated Press writers Leah Askarinam, Gary Fields and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
Blackberry-Lime Porch Punch
Blackberry-Lime Porch Punch
Blackberry-Lime Porch Punch Recipe from Southern Living
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: N/A
Serving size: 12 servings
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh blackberries
- 4 cups chilled sweet tea
- 2 cups cold water
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from 5 limes)
- 4 (12-oz.) cans chilled nonalcoholic ginger beer
- 1 (16-oz.) bag frozen blackberries
- Ice
- Lime slices
- Mint sprigs
Directions
- Place fresh blackberries in a large bowl; mash with a potato masher until fully broken. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a measuring cup or bowl, pressing pulp to release juice. Discard solids.
- Pour blackberry juice into a large (4- to 6-qt.) punch bowl. Stir in sweet tea, water, and lime juice until well combined. Gently stir in ginger beer and frozen blackberries until just combined. Serve over ice. Garnish with lime slices and mint sprigs.
March 11th 2025
Thought of the Day
There is more to life than increasing its speed.
Stocks’ sell-off worsens as Wall Street wonders how much pain Trump will accept for the economy
By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market’s sell-off cut deeper on Monday as Wall Street questioned how much pain President Donald Trump will let the economy endure through tariffs and other policies in order to get what he wants.
The S&P 500 dropped 2.7% to drag it close to 9% below its all-time high, which was set just last month. At one point, the S&P 500 was down 3.6% and on track for its worst day since 2022. That’s when the highest inflation in generations was shredding budgets and raising worries about a possible recession that ultimately never came.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 890 points, or 2.1%, after paring an earlier loss of more than 1,100, while the Nasdaq composite skidded by 4%.
It was the worst day yet in a scary stretch where the S&P 500 has swung more than 1%, up or down, seven times in eight days because of Trump’s on -and- off -again tariffs. The worry is that the whipsaw moves will either hurt the economy directly or create enough uncertainty to drive U.S. companies and consumers into an economy-freezing paralysis.
The economy has already given some signals of weakening, mostly through surveys showing increased pessimism. And a widely followed collection of real-time indicators compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta suggests the U.S. economy may already be shrinking.
Asked over the weekend whether he was expecting a recession in 2025, Trump told Fox News Channel: “I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big. We’re bringing wealth back to America. That’s a big thing.” He then added, “It takes a little time. It takes a little time.”
Trump says he wants to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, among other reasons he’s given for tariffs. His Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has also said the economy may go through a “detox” period as it weans off an addiction to spending by the government. The White House is trying to limit federal spending, while also cutting the federal workforce and increasing deportations, which could hinder the job market.
The U.S. job market is still showing stable hiring at the moment, to be sure, and the economy ended last year running at a solid rate. But economists are marking down their forecasts for how the economy will perform this year.
At Goldman Sachs, for example, David Mericle cut his estimate for U.S. economic growth to 1.7% from 2.2% for the end of 2025 over the year before, largely because tariffs look like they’ll be bigger than he was previously forecasting.
He sees a one-in-five chance of a recession over the next year, raising it only slightly because “the White House has the option to pull back policy changes” if the risks to the economy “begin to look more serious.”
“There are always multiple forces at work in the market, but right now, almost all of them are taking a back seat to tariffs,” according to Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.
In response to the market sell-off, White House spokesman Kush Desai noted that a number of companies have responded to Trump’s “America First” economic agenda with “trillions in investment commitments that will create thousands of jobs.”
Trump met on Monday with tech industry CEOs, but the event was closed to the news media.
The worries hitting Wall Street have so far been hurting some of its biggest stars the most. Big Tech stocks and companies that rode the artificial-intelligence frenzy in recent years have slumped sharply.
Nvidia fell another 5.1% Monday to bring its loss for the year so far to more than 20%. It’s a steep drop-off from its nearly 820% surge over 2023 and 2024.
Elon Musk’s Tesla fell 15.4% to deepen its loss for 2025 to 45%. After getting an initial post-election bump on hopes that Musk’s close relationship with Trump would help the electric-vehicle company, the stock has slumped on worries that its brand has become intertwined with Musk. Protests against the U.S. government’s efforts to cull its workforce and other moves have targeted Tesla dealerships, for example.
Stocks of companies that depend on U.S. households feeling good enough about their finances to spend also fell sharply. Cruise-ship operator Carnival dropped 7.6%, and United Airlines lost 6.3%.
It’s not just stocks struggling. Investors are sending prices lower for all kinds of investments whose momentum had earlier seemed nearly impossible to stop at times, such as bitcoin. The cryptocurrency’s value has dropped below $80,000 from more than $106,000 in December.
Instead, investors have bid up U.S. Treasury bonds as they look for things whose prices can hold up better when the economy is under pressure. That has sent prices for Treasurys sharply higher, which in turn has sent down their yields.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury tumbled again to 4.22% from 4.32% late Friday. It’s been dropping since January, when it was approaching 4.80%, as worries about the economy have grown. That’s a major move for the bond market.
All the uncertainty, though, hasn’t shut down dealmaking on Wall Street. Redfin’s stock jumped 67.9% after Rocket said it would buy the digital real estate brokerage in an all-stock deal valuing it at $1.75 billion. Rocket’s stock sank 15.3%.
ServiceNow fell 7.9% after the AI platform company said it was buying AI-assistant maker Moveworks for $2.85 billion in cash and stock.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 155.64 points to 5,614.56. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 890.01 to 41,911.71, and the Nasdaq composite sank 727.90 to 17,468.32.
In stock markets abroad, European indexes largely fell following a mixed session in Asia.
Indexes fell 1.8% in Hong Kong and 0.2% in Shanghai after China said consumer prices fell in February for the first time in 13 months. It’s the latest signal of weakness for the world’s second-largest economy, as persistent weak demand was compounded by the early timing of the Lunar New Year holiday.
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AP Business Writers Matt Ott, Elaine Kurtenbach and Josh Boak contributed.
A cargo ship hits a tanker and they catch fire off England, with one crew member missing
By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — A cargo ship hit a tanker carrying jet fuel for the U.S. military off eastern England on Monday, setting both vessels ablaze and sending fuel pouring into the North Sea.
One crew member was missing hours later, and search efforts continued, the cargo ship’s owner, Ernst Russ, said in a statement.
Earlier, local lawmaker Graham Stuart said all 37 from both ships were safe and accounted for, with one hospitalized. The collision triggered a major rescue operation by lifeboats, coast guard aircraft and commercial vessels.
Stuart said he was concerned about the “potential ecological impact” of the spill. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch was investigating its cause.
The U.S.-flagged chemical and oil products tanker MV Stena Immaculate was at anchor near the port of Grimsby on Monday morning after sailing from Greece, according to ship-tracking site VesselFinder. The Portugal-flagged container ship Solong was sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands when it struck the tanker’s side.
U.S.-based maritime management firm Crowley, which operates the Stena Immaculate, said the tanker “sustained a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel,” when the container ship struck it, triggering a fire and “multiple explosions onboard,” with fuel released into the sea.
It said all 23 mariners on the tanker were safe and accounted for.
The Stena Immaculate was operating as part of the U.S. government’s Tanker Security Program, a group of commercial vessels that can be contracted to carry fuel for the military when needed.
Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the alarm was raised at 9:48 a.m. (0948 GMT). Humber Coast Guard asked vessels with firefighting equipment and those who could help with search and rescue to head to the scene about 155 miles (250 kilometers) north of London.
Video footage aired by British broadcasters and apparently filmed from a nearby vessel showed thick black smoke pouring from both ships.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said details of the collision and its cause “are still becoming clear.”
Abdul Khalique, head of the Maritime Center at Liverpool John Moores University, said it appeared the crew of the cargo ship had not been “maintaining a proper lookout by radar” as required by international maritime regulations.
Greenpeace U.K. said it was too early to assess the extent of any environmental damage from the collision, which took place in a busy fishing ground and close to major seabird colonies.
Scientists said the environmental impact might be less severe than with a spill of heavier crude oil.
“Whilst the images look worrying, from the perspective of the impact to the aquatic environment, it’s less of a concern than if this had been crude oil because most of the jet fuel will evaporate very quickly,” said Mark Hartl of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology at Scotland’s Heriot-Watt University.
Mark Sephton, professor of organic geochemistry at Imperial College London, said jet fuel disintegrates more quickly than crude oil, and warmer temperatures speed biodegradation.
“In the end, it all depends on the rate of introduction of fuel and the rate of destruction by bacteria,” he said. “Let’s hope the latter wins out.”
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Associated Press journalist Krutika Pathi in London contributed.
EPA froze ‘green bank’ funds worth billions, climate group suit says
By MATTHEW DALY and MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A nonprofit that was awarded nearly $7 billion by the Biden administration to finance clean energy and climate-friendly projects has sued President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency, accusing it of improperly freezing a legally awarded grant.
Climate United Fund, a coalition of three nonprofit groups, demanded access to a Citibank account it received through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a program created in 2022 by the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act and more commonly known as the green bank. The freeze threatens its ability to issue loans and even pay employees, the group said.
“The combined actions of Citibank and EPA effectively nullify a congressionally mandated and funded program,” Maryland-based Climate United wrote in a Monday court filing.
In a related action, the Coalition for Green Capital, a separate group that received $5 billion from the Biden-era program, sued Citibank Monday, alleging breach of contract over the refusal to disburse the grant funds awarded by the EPA.
“Citi’s actions have blocked CGC from deploying funds appropriated by Congress for energy projects to lower electricity costs and provide clean air and water for all Americans,” the Washington-based group said in a statement.
The two nonprofits are among eight groups tapped by then-EPA Administrator Michael Regan to receive $20 billion to finance tens of thousands of projects to fight climate change and promote environmental justice. The money was formally awarded in August.
While favored by congressional Democrats, the green bank drew immediate criticism from Republicans, who routinely denounced it as an unaccountable “slush fund.” Regan sharply disputed that claim.
The bank was quickly targeted by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, who was confirmed to the role in late January. In a video posted on X, Zeldin said the EPA would revoke contracts for the still-emerging program. Zeldin cited a conservative journalist’s undercover video made late last year that showed a former EPA employee saying the agency was throwing “gold bars off the Titanic” — presumably a reference to spending before the start of Trump’s second term.
Zeldin has repeatedly used the term “gold bars” to accuse the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund’s recipients of misconduct, waste and possible fraud.
According to the lawsuit filed in federal court, Citibank cut off access to Climate United’s bank account on February 18 — an action the bank did not explain for weeks.
The cutoff took place as Zeldin made multiple public appearances accusing Climate United and other groups of misconduct, eventually announcing that the funds were frozen, according to the lawsuit. Climate United said the EPA has refused to meet with the group.
Several Democratic lawmakers slammed Zeldin’s attacks on the green bank as a “sham investigation and unsubstantiated funding freeze.”
The Trump administration’s “baseless attacks on these investments will only cost jobs, increase prices and harm our communities,” Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey and Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell said in a statement Monday. The three Democrats pushed for creation of the green bank.
Citibank said it was reviewing the Climate United lawsuit.
“As we’ve said previously, Citi has been working with the federal government in its efforts to address government officials’ concerns regarding this federal grant program,” the bank said in a statement Monday. “Our role as financial agent does not involve any discretion over which organizations receive grant funds. Citi will of course comply with any judicial decision.”
The EPA declined to comment, citing pending litigation. A hearing on the case is scheduled for Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
In its court filing, Climate United pointed to the resignation of Denise Cheung, a high-ranking prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Washington office, who said she was forced to step dow n after refusing demands from top Trump administration officials to freeze the climate groups’ assets.
Zeldin raised questions in a letter to the agency’s watchdog about the EPA’s use of Citibank to hold the money, a structure that allowed the eight entities to be used as “pass throughs” for eventual grant recipients. The process undermined transparency, Zeldin alleged.
He also questioned the qualifications of some of the entities overseeing the grants and said some were affiliated with the Biden administration or Democratic politics, including Stacey Abrams, a former Democratic nominee for Georgia governor. Trump singled out Abrams over her ties to the green bank in his address to Congress last week.
In a letter to EPA officials on March 4, Climate United disputed Zeldin’s allegations. The group’s lengthy application material is publicly available and the EPA used a rigorous selection process, Climate United said, adding that its spending is transparent.
In addition to Climate United, the new fund has awarded money to other nonprofits, including the Coalition for Green Capital, Power Forward Communities, Opportunity Finance Network, Inclusiv and the Justice Climate Fund. Those organizations have partnered with a range of groups, including Rewiring America, Habitat for Humanity and the Community Preservation Corporation.
The green bank represents ideas Congress enacted that the Trump administration doesn’t like: fighting climate change and helping communities that are often low-income or majority-Black and Hispanic, said Ilmi Granoff, a climate finance expert at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.
“The resources have already been spent, which means they’re trying to come up with pretexts to do something the government is not supposed to do, which is claw back resources” that Congress provided, Granoff said, comparing the Trump administration’s investigations to a “fishing expedition.”
The Trump administration said Friday that it’s pulling $400 million from Columbia University, canceling grants and contracts because of what the government describes as the Ivy League school’s failure to squelch antisemitism on campus.
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Phillis reported from St. Louis.
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Elon Musk claims X being targeted in ‘massive cyberattack’ as service goes down
By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer
Hours after a series of outages Monday that left X unavailable to thousands of users, Elon Musk claimed that the social media platform was being targeted in a “massive cyberattack.”
“We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources,” Musk claimed in a post. “Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved. Tracing …”
Complaints about outages spiked Monday at 6 a.m. Eastern and again at 10 a.m, with more than 40,000 users reporting no access to the platform, according to the tracking website Downdetector.com.
A sustained outage that lasted at least an hour began at noon, with the heaviest disruptions occurring along the U.S. coasts.
Downdetector.com said that 56% of problems were reported for the X app, while 33% were reported for the website.
In March 2023 the social media platform then known as Twitter experienced a bevy of glitches for over an hour as links stopped working, some users were unable to log in and images were not loading for others.