BLOGONITY

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a new trade investigation that could heap more tariffs on imported lumber, adding to existing duties on Canadian softwood lumber and 25% tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican goods set to take effect next week.  In his third new tariff probe in a week, Trump signed a memo ordering Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to initiate a national security investigation into U.S. lumber imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Trump also used the trade law to impose tariffs on global steel and aluminum imports.  The probe covers derivative products made from lumber, which could include items such as kitchen cabinets that in some cases are made of U.S. lumber that had been exported, a White House official said.   The official said the investigation would be expedited by the Commerce Department but gave no specific timeline. Trump also ordered new steps to increase the domestic supply of lumber by streamlining the permitting process for harvesting lumber from public lands and improving the salvage of fallen trees from forests and waterways, the official said.  A White House fact sheet said the order calls for new or updated agency guidance to facilitate increased timber production, including quicker approvals for forestry projects under the Endangered Species Act.   White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said the lumber import probe would counteract the actions of big lumber exporters including Canada, Germany and Brazil, which he said were “dumping lumber into our markets at the expense of both our economic prosperity and national security.”  The White House official said that increasing reliance on imported lumber represents a possible national security risk partly because the U.S. military consumes significant quantities of lumber for its construction activities and because increasing dependence on imports for a commodity with ample domestic supplies is a danger to the U.S. economy.  The official did not provide details on a proposed tariff rate under the Section 232 lumber probe, but Trump earlier this month told reporters that he was thinking about imposing a 25% tariff rate on lumber and forest products.   The official said any tariffs resulting from the probe would be added to the existing 14.5% combined anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Canadian softwood lumber.  These duties were the result of a long-running U.S.-Canada trade dispute over Canada’s low stumpage fees on public lands, which Washington argues is an … “Trump orders probe into US lumber imports” →

NEW YORK — Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that he is running for mayor of New York City, relaunching his political career following a yearslong exile over sexual harassment accusations.  In a 17-minute video announcing his campaign, Cuomo pitched himself as an accomplished moderate who could save a city that felt threatening and “out of control,” and who could navigate the delicate balance between working with Republican President Donald Trump and fighting him when necessary.  “I am not saying this is going to be easy. It won’t be easy, but I know we can turn the city around and I believe I can help and that is why I announce my candidacy today for mayor of New York City today,” he said.  The Democrat is expected to mount a formidable campaign, despite the scandal that forced his resignation from New York’s governor’s office in 2021.  He takes on a large field of primary opponents with low name recognition plus an incumbent, Mayor Eric Adams.  Cuomo enters the race with fundraising prowess, a record of accomplishments over his three terms as governor, and potential support among many of the same moderate voters who helped propel Adams to office.  Yet it is unclear whether voters are willing to give Cuomo another chance following his remarkable downfall 3½ years ago, when he went from being hailed for his leadership during the onslaught of COVID-19 to being castigated for his behavior with women and questioned about his response to the pandemic.  Adams, asked for comment by a Politico reporter after Cuomo’s announcement, welcomed the former governor to the race.  “Come one, come all. Everybody should put their position forward. I have a great record to run on. We look forward to the campaign,” he said.  Adams is also seeking reelection but is facing a tempest over the criminal case against him, and the U.S. Justice Department’s extraordinary effort to end the case over the objection of the prosecutors who brought the charges.  An indictment said Adams accepted luxury travel perks and illegal campaign contributions from people who wanted to buy his influence, including a Turkish official and other foreign nationals. After Trump took office, a top Justice Department official ordered prosecutors to dismiss the charges so Adams could focus on assisting the president’s immigration agenda, while leaving open the possibly that the case could reemerge after the mayoral election.  That dynamic led … “Former Governor Andrew Cuomo announces run for New York City mayor” →

NEW YORK — David Johansen, the last surviving member of the glam and protopunk band the New York Dolls who later performed as his campy, pompadoured alter ego, Buster Poindexter, has died. He was 75.  Johansen died Friday at his home in New York City, according to Rolling Stone, citing a family spokesperson. It was revealed in early 2025 that he had stage 4 cancer and a brain tumor.  The New York Dolls were forerunners of punk and the band’s style — teased hair, women’s clothes and lots of makeup — inspired the glam movement that took up residence in heavy metal a decade later in bands like Faster Pussycat and Motley Crue.  “When you’re an artist, the main thing you want to do is inspire people, so if you succeed in doing that, it’s pretty gratifying,” Johansen told The Knoxville News-Sentinel in 2011.  Rolling Stone once called the Dolls “the mutant children of the hydrogen age” and Vogue called them the “darlings of downtown style, tarted-up toughs in boas and heels.”  “The New York Dolls were more than musicians; they were a phenomenon. They drew on old rock ‘n’ roll, big-city blues, show tunes, the Rolling Stones and girl groups, and that was just for starters,” Bill Bentley wrote in “Smithsonian Rock and Roll: Live and Unseen.”  The band never found commercial success and was torn by internal strife and drug addictions, breaking up after two albums by the middle of the decade. In 2004, former Smiths frontman and Dolls admirer Morrissey convinced Johansen and other surviving members to regroup for the Meltdown Festival in England, leading to three more studio albums.  In the 1980s, Johansen assumed the persona of Buster Poindexter, a pompadour-styled lounge lizard who had a hit with the kitschy party single “Hot, Hot, Hot” in 1987. He also appeared in such movies as “Candy Mountain,” “Let It Ride,” “Married to the Mob” and had a memorable turn as the Ghost of Christmas Past in Bill Murray-led hit “Scrooged.”  Johansen was in 2023 the subject of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s documentary “Personality Crisis: One Night Only,” which mixed footage of his two-night stand at the Cafe Carlyle in January 2020 with flashbacks through his wildly varied career and intimate interviews.  “I used to think about my voice like: ‘What’s it gonna sound like? What’s it going to be when I do this song?’ And I’d get … “David Johansen, singer from New York Dolls punk band, dies at 75” →

The United States will deploy nearly 3,000 additional troops to its border with Mexico, bringing the total number of active-duty personnel there to around 9,000, U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, said Saturday. Border security is a key priority for President Donald Trump, who declared a national emergency at the U.S. frontier with Mexico on his first day in office. “Approximately 2,400 soldiers from elements of the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), 4th Infantry Division” will be sent to the border, along with “approximately 500 soldiers from the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade,” NORTHCOM said in a statement. “Tasks carried out by 2nd SBCT will include detection and monitoring; administrative support; transportation support; warehousing and logistic support; vehicle maintenance; and engineering support. Personnel will not conduct or be involved in interdiction or deportation operations,” it said. Troops from the aviation unit will “assist in the movement of personnel, equipment, and supplies; and provide aerial medical evacuation capabilities,” NORTHCOM said. “These deployments will bring additional agility and capability to further efforts to stop the flow of illegal migrancy and drugs at the southern border,” its commander, General Gregory Guillot, said. The Trump administration has launched what it cast as a major effort to combat illegal migration that has included immigration raids, arrests and deportations, including via the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Trump unveiled a surprise plan last month to hold up to 30,000 migrants at the base — a facility notorious for abuses against terror suspects detained after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and U.S. forces have detained dozens of people there in recent weeks, many of whom have since been deported. …

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army said Saturday it had killed a top military leader of Hurras al-Din, a Syrian branch of Al-Qaida that announced its dissolution in January. The U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, which oversees American forces in the Middle East, said in a statement that its forces on Feb. 23 “conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria, targeting and killing Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay, the senior military leader of the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din.” “As we have said in the past, we will continue to relentlessly pursue these terrorists in order to defend our homeland, and U.S., allied, and partner personnel in the region,” said General Michael Erik Kurilla, CENTCOM commander. Since Hurras al-Din announced in late January that it was dissolving itself, U.S. airstrikes have killed several of the group’s leaders, according to CENTCOM. On Feb. 22, it said a “precision airstrike” had killed Wasim Tahsin Bayraqdar, a leader of the group, which the U.S. classifies as a terrorist organization. American forces are in Syria as part of an international coalition created in 2014 to fight the jihadis of the Islamic State group. After a rebel alliance led by radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham toppled President Bashar al-Assad and took power in Damascus on Dec. 8, Hurras al-Din said it no longer needed to exist. The group, including foreign jihadis, was based in mountainous northwestern Syria. Some information in this report is from Reuters. …

WASHINGTON — More than 50 years passed between the last Apollo mission and the United States’ return to the lunar surface, when the first private lander touched down last February 2024. Now, starting Sunday, two more missions are set to follow within a single week, marking a bold push by NASA and its industry partners to make moon landings a routine part of space exploration. First up is Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, nicknamed “Ghost Riders in the Sky.” After launching in January on a 45-day journey, it is targeting touchdown near Mons Latreille, a volcanic feature in Mare Crisium on the moon’s northeastern near side, at 3:34 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Along the way, it captured stunning footage of the moon, coming as close as 100 kilometers above the surface. The golden lander, about the size of a hippopotamus, carries 10 instruments, including one to analyze lunar soil, another to test radiation-tolerant computing and a GPS-based navigation system. Designed to operate for a full lunar day (14 Earth days), Blue Ghost is expected to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse on March 14, when Earth blocks the Sun from the Moon’s horizon. On March 16, it will record a lunar sunset, offering insights into how dust levitates above the surface under solar influence — creating the mysterious lunar horizon glow first documented by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan. Hopping drone Blue Ghost’s arrival will be followed on March 6 by Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission, featuring its lander, Athena. Last year, Intuitive Machines made history as the first private company to achieve a soft landing on the moon, although the moment was tempered by a mishap. Coming down too fast, one of the lander’s feet caught on the lunar surface, tipping it over and causing it to rest sideways — limiting its ability to generate solar power and cutting the mission short. This time, the company says it has made key improvements to the hexagonal-shaped lander, which has a taller, slimmer profile than Blue Ghost and is around the height of an adult giraffe. Athena launched Wednesday aboard a SpaceX rocket, taking a more direct route toward Mons Mouton — the southernmost lunar landing site ever attempted. It carries an ambitious set of payloads, including a unique hopping drone designed to explore the moon’s underground passages carved by ancient lava flows, a drill capable of digging 3 feet beneath the … “2 lunar landings in a week for NASA’s private moon fleet” →

Donald Trump, who at 78 is on course to become the oldest president in American history, will undergo an annual physical exam in coming weeks, a White House statement said Saturday. “President Donald J. Trump will complete his routine annual physical exam next month at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center,” said the announcement, dated March 1. “The date of his physical exam will be released publicly in the next few weeks,” said the statement, signed by his physician, Sean Barbabella, a career military doctor who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Trump has appeared vigorous for his age, but his earlier physical exams at times raised questions about the specifics of his health data and about the transparency of results. While Trump does not drink alcohol or smoke, he is known to enjoy fast food and steaks, and his main source of exercise appears to be golfing. A physical during his first term in 2018 suggested the president should aim to lose 10 to 15 pounds but was generally in “excellent health.” His doctor said that there were no signs of “any cognitive issues,” and that with a healthier diet, he could “live to be 200 years old.” A year later, an exam found the 6-foot-3 Trump weighed 243 pounds, up 7 pounds since shortly before taking office, making him technically obese. It said he was taking medication to treat high cholesterol. During Trump’s presidential campaign in 2015, his doctor, Harold Bornstein, released a letter saying the candidate’s blood pressure was “astonishingly excellent” and that if elected, “Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” Bornstein later told CNN that Trump himself “dictated that whole letter. I didn’t write that letter.” …

In Mexico, authorities reported that the delivery to the United States of 29 people linked to drug trafficking was possible through an unprecedented police operation, in which 20 aircraft and thousands of agents participated. Click here for the full story in Spanish.  …

omaha, nebraska — Egg producers blame the bird flu outbreak for driving prices to record highs, but critics believe giant companies are taking advantage of their market dominance to profit handsomely at the expense of budget-conscious egg buyers.  Advocacy groups, Democratic lawmakers and a Federal Trade Commission member are calling for a government investigation after egg prices spiked to a record average of $4.95 per dozen this month. The Trump administration did unveil a plan this week to combat bird flu, but how much that might ease egg prices — a key driver of inflation — remains to be seen.  “Donald Trump promised to lower food prices on ‘Day One,’ but with egg prices skyrocketing out of control, he fired the workers charged with containing bird flu. Working families need relief now,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a statement.  What’s behind the record egg prices?  The industry blames bird flu, as do most experts. More than 166 million birds have been slaughtered to try to contain the virus. Some 30 million egg layers have been wiped out just since January, significantly disrupting egg supplies. The Department of Agriculture’s long-standing policy has been to kill entire flocks anytime the virus is found on a farm.  As a result, the number of egg layers has dropped nationwide by about 12% from before the outbreak to 292 million birds, according to a Feb. 1 USDA estimate, but another 11 million egg layers have been killed since then, so it’s likely worse. When prices spiked to $4.82 two years ago and prompted initial calls for price gouging probes, the flock was above 300 million.  “This has nothing to do with anything other than bird flu. And I think to suggest anything else is a misreading of the facts and the reality,” American Egg Board President Emily Metz said.  “Our farmers are in the fight of their lives, period, full stop. And they’re doing everything they can to keep these birds safe,” Metz said. “This is a supply challenge. Due to bird flu. Nothing else.”  Farm Action suspects monopolistic behavior. The group that lobbies on behalf of smaller farmers, consumers and rural communities notes that egg production is down only about 4% from last year and 7.57 billion table eggs were produced last month, yet some consumers are still finding egg shelves empty at their local grocery stores.  “Dominant egg corporations are blaming avian flu for … “Are egg producers inflating prices during bird flu outbreak to boost profits?” →

DALLAS, TEXAS — The number of people with measles in Texas increased to 146 in an outbreak that led this week to the death of an unvaccinated school-aged child, health officials said Friday.  The number of cases — Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years — increased by 22 since Tuesday. The Texas Department of State Health Services said cases span over nine counties in Texas and 20 patients have been hospitalized.  The child who died Tuesday night in the outbreak is the first U.S. death from the highly contagious but preventable respiratory disease since 2015, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.  Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s top health official and a vaccine critic, said Wednesday that the U.S. Department of the Health and Human Services was watching cases but dismissed the outbreak as “not unusual.”  But on Friday afternoon, Kennedy said in a post on X that his heart went out to families impacted by the outbreak, and he recognized “the serious impact of this outbreak on families, children, and healthcare workers.”  Kennedy also said his agency will continue to fund Texas’ immunization program and that ending the outbreak is a “top priority” for him and his team.  The virus has largely spread through rural, oil rig-dotted West Texas, with cases concentrated in a “close-knit, undervaccinated” Mennonite community, state health department spokesperson Lara Anton has said.  Gaines County has a strong homeschooling and private school community. It is also home to one of the highest rates of school-aged children in Texas who have opted out of at least one required vaccine, with nearly 14% skipping a required dose last school year.  Texas law allows children to get an exemption from school vaccines for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs. Anton has said the number of unvaccinated kids in Gaines County is likely significantly higher because homeschooled children’s data would not be reported.  The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is safe and highly effective at preventing infection and severe cases. The first shot is recommended for children ages 12 to 15 months, and the second for ages 4 to 6 years. Most kids will recover from measles, but infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.  Vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic, and most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to … “Measles cases rise to 146 in outbreak that led to first US measles death in 10 years” →

Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman likely died on Feb. 17, the last day there was any activity on his pacemaker, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. “According to the pathologist,” Mendoza said, “that is a very good assumption that was his last day of life,” nine days before investigators found his body. The bodies of Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64, a classical pianist, were found, along with the dead body of one of their three dogs, Wednesday in their home in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico. The initial findings of autopsies on the couple revealed that Hackman and his wife both tested negative for carbon monoxide poisoning and “no external trauma” was reported to either of them.  Mendoza said, “There were no apparent signs of foul play.” However, the couple’s “manner and cause of death has not been determined,” according to the sheriff. “The official results of the autopsy and toxicology reports are pending.” Investigators have retrieved an assortment of prescription and over-the-counter medications, in addition to cellphones and records from medical diagnostics testing from the house. “I’m pretty confident there is no foul play,” Mendoza said Friday on The Today Show. He said the autopsy results “will steer us in the right direction” in determining what happened to Hackman and his wife. Without the autopsy, the sheriff said, it is difficult to determine how long the couple had been dead. A search warrant affidavit issued Thursday said the circumstances surrounding the couple’s deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.” Mendoza told The Today Show that several doors around the house were unlocked and one door in the rear of the house was open. Earlier reports said the front door was open. Hackman’s body was found near the rear of the house, while his wife’s body was found in a bathroom. The dead dog’s body was found in a dog crate, not far from Arakawa’s body. The couple had three German shepherds. The other two dogs were found alive and healthy at the property. The search warrant affidavit also revealed that police called the Santa Fe Fire Department and the New Mexico Gas Company to Hackman’s residence, but no toxic fumes or leaky pipes were found on the grounds. Storied career Hackman had a lengthy career on stage and screen, including appearing in Broadway shows, on television … “Gene Hackman likely died Feb. 17, last day of activity on pacemaker, official says” →

An Illinois jury on Friday found a man guilty of murder and hate crime charges for an October 2023 stabbing that killed a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy and severely wounded his mother, according to court documents. Joseph Czuba, 73, faces life in prison when he is sentenced in May for a murder that prosecutors said was sparked by anti-Muslim hatred. It took place just days after Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, carried out an Oct. 7, 2023, attack inside Israel. The murder of the boy, Wadee Alfayoumi, and the attack on his mother, Hanan Shaheen, constituted one of the earliest and worst hate crime incidents targeting Muslims in the U.S. after the Hamas attack on Israel. Rights advocates have noted rising Islamophobia and antisemitism in the U.S. since that attack. Czuba, who was the landlord for Shaheen and her son, stabbed the boy 26 times with a military-style knife with an 18-centimeter (7-inch) serrated blade, authorities said. Shaheen suffered multiple stab wounds in the attack, which occurred in Plainfield Township, about 64 kilometers (40 miles) southwest of Chicago. During the trial this week, Shaheen testified that Czuba told her “you, as a Muslim, must die,” according to local media reports. Michael Fitzgerald, prosecutor at the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, presented a 911 call recording in the trial. “The landlord is killing me and my baby,” Shaheen is heard saying on the audio, according to CBS Chicago. Other U.S. incidents raising alarm about anti-Arab bias include the attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Palestinian American girl in Texas and the stabbing of a Palestinian American man in Texas. A few incidents raising alarm about antisemitism include threats of violence against Jews at Cornell University that led to a conviction and sentencing, and an unsuccessful plot to attack a New York Jewish center. …

Authorities are continuing their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64, a classical pianist. The couple were found dead, along with one of their dogs, Wednesday in their home in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico.   Investigators have retrieved an assortment of prescription and over-the-counter medications, in addition to cellphones and records from medical diagnostics testing from the house.   “I’m pretty confident there is no foul play,” Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday on The Today Show. He said the autopsy results “will steer us in the right direction” in determining what happened to Hackman and his wife.   Without the autopsy, the sheriff said, it is difficult to determine how long the couple had been dead.   A search warrant affidavit issued Thursday said the circumstances surrounding the couple’s deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”  Mendoza told The Today Show that several doors around the house were unlocked and one door in the rear of the house was open. Earlier reports said the front door was open.    Hackman’s body was found near the rear of the house, while his wife’s body was found in a bathroom. The dead dog’s body was found in a dog crate, not far from Arakawa’s body.  The couple had three German shepherds. The other two dogs were found alive and healthy at the property.   The search warrant affidavit also revealed that police called the Santa Fe Fire Department and the New Mexico Gas Company to Hackman’s residence, but no toxic fumes or leaky pipes were found on the grounds.   Storied career  Hackman had a lengthy career on stage and screen, including appearing in Broadway shows, on television and in more than 80 films.  He won an Oscar for best actor for his role in the 1971 film The French Connection and a best supporting Oscar for the 1992 film Unforgiven.   Hackman’s resume featured three other Oscar nominations, including his breakout role in Bonnie and Clyde in 1967 as well as I Never Sang for My Father in 1970 and Mississippi Burning in 1988.   His work crossed genres as he appeared in action movies, thrillers and off-beat comedies.   In addition to his award-nominated works, he was also known for roles in films such as The Poseidon Adventure, Young Frankenstein, Superman, Hoosiers, The Birdcage, and … “Investigation into deaths of Gene Hackman, wife continues in New Mexico” →

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Friday designating English as the official language of the United States, according to the White House. The order will allow government agencies and organizations that receive federal funding to choose whether to continue to offer documents and services in languages other than English, according to a fact sheet about the impending order. It was not immediately clear when on Friday that Trump planned to sign the order. The executive order will rescind a mandate from former President Bill Clinton that required the government and organizations that received federal funding to provide language assistance to non-English speakers. Designating English as the national language “promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations and creates a pathway for civic engagement,” according to the White House. More than 30 states have already passed laws designating English as their official language, according to U.S. English, a group that advocates for making English the official language in the United States. For decades, lawmakers in Congress have introduced legislation to designate English as the official language of the U.S., but those efforts have not succeeded. Within hours of Trump’s inauguration last month, the new administration took down the Spanish language version of the official White House website. Hispanic advocacy groups and others expressed confusion and frustration at the change. The White House said at the time it was committed to bringing the Spanish language version of the website back online. As of Friday, it was still not restored. The White House did not immediately respond to a message about whether that would happen. Trump shut down the Spanish version of the website during his first term. It was restored when President Joe Biden was inaugurated. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the order Friday. …

A new gallery at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Virginia features the stories and experiences of U.S. Marines who served in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. From Triangle, Virginia, VOA’s Noshaba Ashna has the story, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. Roshan Noorzai contributed to this story. Camera: Hoshang Fahim …