Ikeas new collection is all about accessibility.The furniture makers new Bsingen collection, which is available this month, includes six items for the bathroom that the company designed to be easy to use for people with disabilities: a shower chair, two kids of stools with rails, a towel rail, a shower shelf, and a toilet roll holder. The products range from about $12 to about $39.The collection was designed to be sturdy and non-slippery, with tube handles on the stools and that are thick for an easy grip. The dark color for the products in the collections was also chosen so the items would be easily visible, but stylish enough so to be something youd want to keep out in view, Ikea says.Sarah Fager, Ikeas senior designer, said she started working on the Bsingen collection by wanting to learn more about the needs and wishes of people with physical limitations. She said it was one of her most challenging design projects because it was about meeting needs that were new to me, but it was also one of her most enlightening.The products were created to bring great functionality together with a beautiful design, as they have a minimalistic expression that is rooted in our Scandinavian design tradition, she said. Bsingen is designed to help customers create a comfortable experience.At least 61 million U.S. adults have at least one disability, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows. Some may have more requirements than the average user for household products, like stools with handles they can hold onto for stability for safety in the bathroom or shower.Global sales of assistive furniture reached an estimated $4.93 billion in 2024, according to data from Fact.MR, a market research firm. And Ikea isnt the only furniture maker thats designing for accessibility. Last year, Pottery Barn added optional, accessible features to three of its most popular furniture lines. Ikea released Omtnksam, a collection of ergonomic products for comfort and support in 2020.There are many people who experience impactful and common circumstantial changes that can make something as simple as taking a shower challenging, Ikea product design developer Watts Zijlstra said in a statement. Yet, we see that the home environment is often not equipped for change. The starting point for Bsingen was a clear need for specific product functions.

Walking around the factory floor of Twincraft Skincare, outside Burlington, Vermont, there is the unmistakable scent of soap. The general manager points out the luxury lines and designer labels for whom they manufacture soaps and lotions, as well as the basic, inexpensive bars and bottles left on hotel room sinks. The factory runs two 10-hour shifts per day, four days a week, with an overtime option as needed. At over 400 employees, Twincraft is one of the top employers in the state.In the last few years, theres been a boom in skincare products and, to meet demand,Michele Asch, Twincrafts chief people officer, says theyve had to hire over 180 people over the past 18 months.But, pre-pandemic, Asch had begun to notice a problem in hiring workers: People couldnt find local childcare. One standout employee, she recalls, spent an hour driving each morning to drop her kids off in two different towns before driving to workthough she lived only 15 minutes away.In 2020, Asch met with Aly Richards, the director of Lets Grow Kids, the organization responsible for spearheading the decade-long campaign to provide a comprehensive fix for the states childcare shortage. Via Zoom, Asch recalls asking, Aly, we make skincare. Cant I just pay into a system so we can get this childcare fixed?But fixed isnt so simple for childcare. Childcare is an industry in crisis, where the demand is high, the supply is low, and market forces alone cannot correct it. The high teacher-to-student ratios required for childcare mean that parents pay high costsoften more than they can reasonably affordwhile providers are compensated little.Many providers rely on public benefits or are unable to afford sending their own children to the childcare locations in which they work. Like Aschs employee who had to drive an hour to find care, half of the country is living in childcare deserts, where no workable care options exist.Vermont is in a deep demographic crisis now, says Richards. With a dwindling and aging population, Vermont was losing potential workers and the tax base that accompanies it. Many women with education and careers would work if they had access to affordable childcare. And if businesses, like Twincraft, wanted to stay, grow, and manufacture products in the state, they needed to find a way to retain young employees and bring new ones in.Richards appointed Asch to the board of Lets Grow Kids and to the CEO Task Force, a group assigned to devise a funding plan for childcare that business leaders in the state could get behind, facilitated by a former state tax commissioner. Initially, the task force was adamantly against a payroll tax to finance childcare. But after exploring every funding optionincluding an income tax and property taxthe payroll tax emerged as the solution that checked every box, according to Asch. A payroll tax allowed the payment burden of the childcare program to be placed on workers, not retirees. As more people took advantage of the program and went to work, the revenue stream would grow.Asch began speaking one-on-one with business leaders on the need to invest in childcare. She personally invited other manufacturing leaders in the state to meet with Richards, vet the proposal, and ask any and all pointed questions. The Twincraft conference room was filled with business leaders of Vermonts most recognizable brands: Bag Balm, Runamok Maple, Birrn Chocolates, Vermont Creamery, Lake Champlain Chocolates, Burtons Snowboard, and Mamava.Those peer-to-peer conversations were critically important, explains Richards, because you have a trusted business partner running a successful business. They can literally say, Ive studied this deeply with my values and my prowess and Im here to tell you, [this] is the deal with childcare in summary form.Childcare is necessary infrastructure for doing businessChildcare has long been a social policy issue without a designated home. It is part education, part parenting, part economicsas obstacles to childcare remain one of the top reasons that parents cannot access paid work. Even in message testing surrounding childcare, arguments about the economic and workforce benefits are considered the most persuasive. Data from Lets Grow Kids and the University of Vermont estimated that with the additional childcare funds in the state, 5,000 additional parents could participate in Vermonts workforce, and by parents paying less for care and receiving more income as wage-earners, and providers receiving more, there would be a $375 million annual boost to the states economy due to such influx.Aschs biggest challenge wasnt that her business colleagues disagreed with the need for childcare, but that they didnt fully understand why this state-organized effort funded by the payroll tax was the proposed solution. Once they understood [the childcare plan] they would enthusiastically or reluctantly support it,she said. I dont pay individually to have our roads done. I pay into a system to have the trucks come in to pick up the soap. [Childcare] is necessary infrastructure for doing business.In January of 2023, Vermonts business leaders testified in support of the childcare legislation, now named Act 76, in front of the states Senate Economic Development Committee, both for the need for childcare to support their employees and hire more, and to show their willingness to shoulder the payroll tax that accompanied it. Cara Tobin, a chef and mother of two whod opened the restaurant Honey Road in Burlington and become a James Beard finalist, testified that it was easier to open a restaurant than find childcare. Tobin was one of 10 business leaders who testified in support of Act 76, including a cross-section of business interests of the state: a solar company, an entrepreneur, a ski resort, and, of course, manufacturers.In June 2023, the legislation passed with bipartisan support, and after a veto from the governor, passed with a bipartisan veto override. The payroll tax took effect in July 2024: 0.44% split between employees (0.11%) and employers (0.33%). Some employers, Twincraft among them, have opted to cover the entire tax for their workers. In January 2024, childcare providers began seeing a change in compensation, and since the legislation has taken effect, childcare supply has boomed in the state: 90 new childcare programs have opened, with a net gain of 1,000 new childcare spots. For the first time since 2018, more childcare programs have opened in the state than closed.Asch has noticed that more of her employees can find childcare closer to where they work, and have more affordable options and therefore less stress, she said. Shes exploring opening a childcare center adjacent to Twincraft.Tobins youngest child went to kindergarten when Act 76 took effect; she hasnt been able to personally take advantage of the program, but her restaurant employees have. I see it working for other people for sure, Tobin said. This completes the circle: You are supporting your workers who can make money, then spend money in the community, and it keeps coming back around. When we support the community, they support us.

As of this year, EV chargers now outnumber gas pumps in the state of California.The state has an estimated 178,000 shared chargers for electric carsnot counting another 700,000 private chargers that are installed in single-family homes, according to the California Energy Commission. Thats compared to roughly 120,000 gas pumps across the state.The number of EV chargers nearly doubled since 2023, though part of the increase came from identifying charging stations that hadnt previously been counted. The official stats include both public chargers and those that are shared at workplaces or in apartment buildings.Its still only a fraction of the number of chargers that are coming. By the most recent estimate, California will need around 1 million public and shared private chargers by 2030, enough to support the estimated 7 million light-duty electric vehicles that may be on the road by then. By 2035, when a rule requiring new vehicles to be electric will go into effectthe state could need more than 2 million shared EV chargers. (Thats assuming the rule survives Trumps attempts to kill it.)For drivers who own a house with a garage, charging overnight at home can easily cover most needs. Still, those drivers obviously need access to public chargers for longer trips. And around 45% of Californians are renters who dont have garages of their own. New building codes require new apartment buildings to make parking spaces EV ready, and also apply to existing parking spaces when older buildings are renovated or expanded. Renters also have the right to install chargers themselves when they have a designated parking space. The rules also require a certain number of parking spaces at motels and retail and commercial parking lots to be EV ready. Retrofitting the existing stock of multifamily dwellings with chargers is a substantial challenge, says Esther Conrad, a research manager at Stanford University who has studied the rollout of EV chargers.Charging EVs takes substantially longer than filling up with gas, which is the main reason so why more charging ports are needed than gas pumpsboth in order to prevent bottlenecks at charging stations and because chargers are used in different places, from parking lots to street parking in cities. But as charging tech and vehicles improve, the total number of chargers that are needed is likely to shrink from current estimates, says Harrison Reilly, a spokesperson for the California Energy Commission. (In China, tech is already much farther ahead, with some new cars capable of charging in roughly as quickly as it takes to pump gas.) The state will publish a new estimate of charging needs later this year.For the moment, Reilly says, there are enough chargers to support the number of light-duty EVs that are on California roads. Thats a major milestone; with nearly 2 million electric cars and light-duty trucks, California also has more EVs than any other state. Last year, around 25% of all new car sales there were electric.Other states can learn from Californias policy. First, states should be developing clear and ambitious EV targets, especially as the federal government pulls back on some of the targets for the transition, says Jeff Prosserman, CEO and cofounder of Voltpost, a company that converts streetlights so they can double as curbside EV chargers. They were leading the charge by looking to have as a mandate 100% of new car sales to be electric by 2035.The states requirement for new apartment buildings to add EV chargers is critical. It has also provided important financial support, including grants to add chargers in disadvantaged neighborhoods, and has pushed to help streamline permitting so projects can be built faster.There are still obstacles as it moves forward. One of the big challenges is the need for additional grid capacity to handle all of the charging, says Conrad, though the state is trying to help address that. She says that even more funding is needed to add chargers in some locations where private developers might not otherwise build them. As the Trump administration tries to cancel promised support for EV chargers, it puts more financial pressure on the state.But the network is still quickly growing now. Voltpost, for example, is moving forward on a project to add curbside EV chargers in some neighborhoods in San Francisco. Its in no way impacted by federal policyits state and city-driven, says Prosserman.From what weve seen at Voltpost, progressive states like California are going to continue providing funding opportunities to meet their climate targets with or without support from the federal government, he says.

Four years ago, if you found yourself at one particular intersection of Buenos Aires, you would see a nondescript, three-story parking garage with no cars inside. That building still existsbut its completely unrecognizable.Today, that structure looks like a stubby, UFO-like tower mushrooming from a concrete pedestal with a landscaped ramp curving upward. The metamorphosis is thanks to a multiyear project by New York architecture firm ODA.Ola Palermo, as the reimagined structure is known, has become a mixed-use building with cafs, restaurants, and Class A office space. The cherry on top of this (concrete) cake is an open-air promenade that peels off the sidewalk, winds up to what used to be the roof of the garage, blossoms into a rooftop park, then winds back down to the other side of the building. In a structure once defined by cars, the ramp is now be synonymous with people.[Photo: Alan Karchmer/courtesy ODA]To demolish or not to demolishODA (ranked among the Worlds Most Innovative Companies of 2025 by Fast Company)has a history of working on adaptive reuse projects, including Detroits Book Tower and 10 Jay Street in Brooklyn, but when founder Eran Chen first heard about the project from real estate firm BSD Investments, it was presented to him as an empty site.The building, which had been vacant for years, sits on a tricky plot sandwiched between two busy roads and an elevated train line. It is very close to the edge of Tres de Febrero Park (also known as Bosques de Palermo, or Palermo Woods), but before ODA got involved the two were not connected.[Image: courtesy ODA]Before arriving on-site, Chen had considered demolishing the parking garage, but when he saw the building, the idea just clicked. The building immediately captured my imagination, Chen says, noting the first thing that surprised him was the structures ceiling height. Most parking garages have low ceilings, which makes them challenging to convertthis one had a 14- to 15-foot ceiling. (For perspective: Most homes have 8- to 9-foot ceilings.) The ceiling had a waffle design, which looks like a grid of intersecting beams that create a pattern of recessed squares. This helped distribute the weight of the ceiling evenly, allowing it to span large areas without the need for additional columns for support, and creating a more open and flexible space for the buildings use.[Photo: Alan Karchmer/courtesy ODA]To top it all off, the roof afforded a clear 360-degree view. On one side, you could see through Palermo Woods, all the way to downtown Buenos Aires. On the other, theres a private racetrack and polo fields that people can visit only if they have exclusive memberships. On one side you have the haves, and on the other, you have everybody else, and this is smack dab in between the two, says Chen. He saw the rooftop as an opportunity to turn the tables and allow the parks visitors to look down on the exclusive grounds and catch a (free) glimpse of any events that take place there.[Photo: Alan Karchmer/courtesy ODA]Form follows experiencesODA kept 80% of the original structure to create a 160,000-square-foot building. A quarter of this surfaceabout 40,000 square feetis dedicated to public terraces, green spaces, and the open-air promenade. The rest is taken up by restaurants, cafs, and retail spaces. Parking for 250 cars is also available on the ground floor.But the program, or function, of the building wasnt always clear. The area isnt zoned for residential use, and commercial use wasnt the obvious choice, says Chen, as most companies who could afford rent for a modern office building would opt for a space in downtown Buenos Aires. Retail, which thrives on heavy footfall, wasnt obvious either since the site is so isolated and on the edge of the city.[Photo: Alan Karchmer/courtesy ODA]But for many years now, Chen has been honing a new mantra. Form should not follow function anymore. Form should follow experiences, he says. If we design buildings for the human experience, people will visit these buildingsand enjoy themregardless of the program. In other words, build it and they will come? I ask. Build it well and they will come, he says. An important distinction.To turn the building into an irresistible destination, ODA made four incisions. They carved out one courtyard to let light into the widest part of the building, and shaved off slivers of the facade to make room for two sets of stairs and the ramp.These incisions amount to 20% of the floor area, but the architects didnt lose that space; they redistributed it. At one end of the building, there once was a water tower that rose above the areas height restrictions. The tower was obsolete, so Chen convinced the city to remove it. In its place, Chens team built a four-story tower based on the memory of the water tower. This concrete mushroom as he calls it, now rises above the rest of the structure, holding its most premium office spaces.[Photo: Alan Karchmer/courtesy ODA]A blueprint for the U.S.The resulting building is what Chen calls a win-win-win. It benefits city agencies because it makes a meaningful contribution to the public realm. It benefits the local community, which now has access to a public rooftop park. And it benefits the developer, who saved on construction costs (no new foundations were required) by not demolishing the building.It also benefits the environment, since giving buildings a second chance, as Chen puts it, can help lower the environmental footprint associated with building anew. (Though there could be costs associated with bringing an old building up to code.)Cities are filled with structures that are either dated or unnecessary, and of course, a big chunk of it is parking garages, Chen says.Already, architects are starting to build future-proof parking garages like this multistory car park in Calgary, Alberta, that was specifically designed to transform into a 600-person office or 50-unit residential building if (and when) the need arises.But Chen believes that residential and commercial are not the only options, especially if the buildings ceilings are low, as they often are. He includes indoor/outdoor sports venues, like pickleball courts; urban farms; and even open-air markets among the possibilities. The key, he says, is not to be fixated on the obvious programs that people might think of.

As the deadline to strike a deal over TikTok approaches this week, President Donald Trump has signaled that he is confident his administration can broker an agreement with ByteDance, the social media apps China-based parent company.Speaking with reporters on Air Force One late Sunday, Trump said that theres tremendous interest in TikTok. He added that he would like to see TikTok remain alive. The presidents comments came less than one week before an April deadline requiring ByteDance to divest or face a ban in the United States.We have a lot of potential buyers, Trump said.Trump also said that the administration is dealing with China who also want it because they may have something to do with it. Last week, Trump said he wouldconsider a reduction in tariffson China if that countrys government approves a sale of TikToks operations in the U.S.Questions about the fate of the popular video sharing app have continued to linger since a law requiring ByteDances divestment took effect on January 19. After taking office, Trump gave TikTok a 75-day reprieve by signing an executive order that delayed enforcement of the statute until April 5.During his first term, Trump tried to ban TikTok on national security grounds, which was halted by the courts before his administration negotiated a sale of the platform that eventually failed to materialize. He changed his position on the popular app during last years presidential election and has credited the platform with helping him win more young voters.I won the young vote by 36 points. Republicans generally dont do very well with the young vote, he said Sunday. I think a lot of it could have been TikTok.Trump has said that the deadline on a TikTok deal could be extended further if needed. He previously proposed terms in which the U.S. would have a 50% stake in a joint venture. The administration hasnt provided details on what that type of deal would entail.TikTok and ByteDance have not publicly commented on the talks. Its also unclear if ByteDance has changed its position on selling TikTok, which it said early last year it does not plan to do.What will happen on April 5?If TikTok is not sold to an approved buyer by April 5, the original law that bans it nationwide would once again go into effect. However, the deadline for the executive order doesnt appear to be set in stone and the president has reiterated it could be extended further if needed.Trumps order came a few days after theSupreme Court unanimously upheld a federal lawthat required ByteDance to divest or be banned in January. The day after the ruling, TikTok went dark for U.S. users and came back online after Trump vowed to stall the ban.The decision to keep TikTok alive through an executive order has received some scrutiny, but it has not faced a legal challenge in court.Who wants to buy TikTok?Although its unclear if ByteDance plans to sell TikTok, several potential bidders have come forward in the past few months.Aides for Vice President JDVance, who was tapped to oversee a potential deal,have reached out to some parties, such as the artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI, to get additional details about their bids, according to a person familiar with the matter. In January, Perplexity AI presented ByteDancewith a merger proposalthat would combine Perplexitys business with TikToks U.S. operation.Other potential bidders include a consortium organized by billionaire businessman Frank McCourt, which recently recruited Reddit cofounderAlexis Ohanian as a strategicadviser. Investors in the consortium say theyve offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash for TikToks U.S. platform. And if successful, they plan to redesign the popular app with blockchain technology they say will provide users with more control over their online data.Jesse Tinsley, the founder of the payroll firm Employer.com, says he too has organized a consortium, which includes the CEO of the video game platform Roblox, and is offering ByteDance more than $30 billion for TikTok.Trump said in January thatMicrosoft was also eyeing the popular app. Other interested parties include Trumps former Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and Rumble, the video site popular with some conservatives and far-right groups. In a post on X last March, Rumble said it was ready to join a consortium of parties interested in purchasing TikTok and serving as a tech partner for the company.Sarah Parvini, AP technology writer

Work is full of potential rejection. Ask a colleague for a favor, and they may refuse. Apply for a job, and you may not get it. Seek a promotion, and you may be passed over. Submit a proposal to a client, and it may not be accepted.One key part of success is to be willing to learn from these failures, rather than to be paralyzed by them. Yet, you may find it hard to get over a rejection. Before you can learn anything from a failure, you first have to get beyond the emotions associated with rejection.Dealing with rejection sensitivityThe first question you have to ask is whether a particular rejection is bothering you, or whether rejection in general is a problem. A long line of research suggests that some people have a high level of rejection sensitivity. There is even a measure of rejection sensitivity called the Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire. This measure asks you to consider a variety of situations in which you ask for something from another person. You rate both the level of anxiety or concern you might experience in that situation as well as the degree to which you expect someone would accept or reject your request. People high in rejection sensitivity get quite anxious when faced with the possibility of rejection and may also expect that their requests will be rejected. Rejection sensitivity may be a reaction people develop to feelings of rejection by key loved ones when growing up.If you generally have anxiety about rejection, then it can hamper you in the workplace. You may avoid asking for things you need or pursuing new opportunities. You may also react with fear or anger when you feel like others are rejecting you. You might also take criticism of a project or your performance as a personal rejection rather than as feedback that provides an opportunity for you to improve.If youre sensitive to rejection in general, then you have ingrained a set of habits that probably will not go away on their own. This sensitivity is going to affect both your work and personal life, and so its worth addressing. A good therapist can be a valuable part of the process of understanding the source of your anxiety and expectation of rejection and help you to develop strategies to help you handle future situations more effectively.Dealing with a specific painful rejectionEven if youre not a rejection-sensitive person, you may still find a particular rejection at work hard to handle. Perhaps you had a trusted friend or colleague who has now turned your back on you. Maybe a longtime client has decided to work with someone else. You might have applied for a job that you really wanted and lost out to another candidate.Of course, nobody should expected to get over a rejection immediately. Rejection stings, and that pain can last for a while. Sleep is an important part of your ability to deal with difficult emotions, so getting several good nights sleep can help you move past a painful rejection.If theres a specific rejection that stays with you, it probably reflects a significant loss for you that is worth understanding. You might be prone to avoid thinking about rejections, but it can be helpful to write about them. That writing can help you to get the thoughts outside of yourself, which can be healing. In addition, it may help you to understand the source of the loss. Perhaps you feel betrayed by someone you trusted. It might be that the rejection affects something that is part of your self-concept. The rejection might feel like it is closing off a career or life path that you were invested in. If writing about the rejection doesnt help, you might benefit from working with a counselor or therapist.Career success ultimately requires that you put yourself in situations in which you could face rejection. Not only that, its virtually impossible to do anything of significance without being rejected often. That means you must develop strategies to learn to accept rejections, to analyze them so that you learn how to be more effective in the future, and to continue to try difficult things that might lead to additional rejections in the future.

If youre in need of some good and satisfying news, Chipotle has got you covered. The beloved burrito brand is bringing back its free burrito promotion for April 3rds National Burrito Day.According to the chains March 31 announcement, Chipotle Rewards members will once again be able to play the popular Burrito Vault game at UnlockBurritoDay.com.The game, which involves customers trying to guess exact burrito order combinations, is easy to play but comes with delicious prizes. Players will get four attempts to win BOGO (buy-one-get-one) codes. Each hour, the first 2,500 members to choose burrito orders with the correct ingredients will win free food.Last year, our Burrito Vault drove unprecedented fan engagement that resulted in our highest digital transaction day of all time, Chris Brandt, chief brand officer, said in the announcement. Now, we are giving them another chance to crack the code and score more free burritos.In addition to the BOGO deals, Chipotle is also giving Rewards Members $0 delivery fee offer for orders placed on National Burrito Day. Customers just have to use the code DELIVER on Chipotles app or website.The reprised promotion comes shortly after rumors about Chipotle restaurants being shuttered have swirled online. Chipotle dispelled bankruptcy rumors in a statement to Good Morning America. The claim that Chipotle is closing restaurants is false, a spokesperson for Chipotle told the outlet. The false information stemmed from an inaccurate online article confusing Chipotle with a venture it tested in 2023. The story has since been corrected.Despite rumors about the brands demise, it seems the reverse is actually true. In February, Fast Company reported that Chipotle was breaking records in terms of its growth. In 2024, the brand opened 304 new restaurantsthe most in a single year for the chain.

Rumors of a Tumblr comeback have been bubbling for a couple of yearsthink a pair of Doc Martens here, a splash of pastel hair dye there. Now, Gen Z is embracing the platform as a refuge from an internet saturated with influencers and algorithm fatigue.Launched in 2007, just ahead of Instagrams 2010 debut, Tumblr, with its blog-style format, encouraged users to craft personal aesthetics and immerse themselves in niche communitieswhere American Apparel tennis skirts, oversize flannels, and black wire chokers once reigned supreme. At its peak in early 2014, the platform had more than 100 million users and was often mentioned in the same breath as Facebook and other rising social media giants.But Tumblr struggled to monetize, even after Yahoos $1.1 billion acquisition in 2013. As competitors leaned into the creator economy with sponsored posts and digital storefronts, Tumblr faded into millennial nostalgia.Thanks to Gen Z, the site has found new life. As of 2025, Gen Z makes up 50% of Tumblrs active monthly users and accounts for 60% of new sign-ups, according to data shared with Business Insiders Amanda Hoover, who recently reported on the platforms resurgence.User numbers spiked in January during the near-ban of TikTok and jumped again last year when Brazil temporarily banned X. In response, Tumblr users launched dedicated communities to archive and share their favorite TikToks. Meanwhile, progressives disillusioned with the political shifts of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are fleeing Facebook and X in favor of Tumblrs more independent, chaotic charm.To keep up with the momentum, Tumblr introduced Reddit-style Communities in December, letting users connect over shared interests like photography and video games. In January, it debuted Tumblr TVa TikTok-like feature that serves as both a GIF search engine and a short-form video platform.But perhaps Tumblrs greatest strength is that it isnt TikTok or Facebook. Currently the 10th most popular social platform in the U.S., according to analytics firm Similarweb, Tumblr is dwarfed by giants like Instagram and X. For its users, though, thats part of the appeal.

When the Biden administration set new auto emissions standards, it was a landmark climate move; passenger vehicles currently account for more than a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. But the new standards also included fuel efficiency elements that would save drivers money.President Trump has said he wants to roll back both emissions and fuel economy standards, calling the regulations an EV mandate. If he does roll those back, drivers of new models may end up spending thousands more just to fill their gas tanks.Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office this week, Trump reiterated his plan to roll back the regulations, saying Were going to go back, probably, to a 2020 standard. Doing so could result in consumers paying at least $8,000 more to fuel a vehicle in 2029, than they would have if the standards stayed in place, says Chris Harto, a senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports who focuses on energy efficiency.Under Biden, the EPA enacted the emissions standards and and the Department of Transportation enacted the fuel economy standards. Both help clean up combustion vehiclesand both are in Trumps crosshairs, as the standards were created in coordination with each other. Making vehicles more efficient, Harto explains, comes with the very fortunate side benefit of making the vehicle cheaper to fuel. Biden announced the newest standards in 2024; they phase in over model years 2027 to 2032. They built on standards the EPA put in place in 2021 that cover model years 2023 to 2026. The standards established a 50.4 miles per gallon average for light-duty vehicles by model year 2031. Those combined rules, a Consumer Reports analysis found, would deliver more than $2 trillion in consumer fuel savings by 2050. Thats a massive amount of money thats at stake, Harto says.In the past three years, the new standards have already delivered $2,200 in fuel savings for new vehicles (and over the next five years, theyre on track to deliver another $6,000 in savings). Thats a stark difference from the four years prior, 2018 to 2021, when standards were being rolled back during Trumps first term. Over those four years, consumers saw less than $500 in savings delivered per vehicle.Though Trump says the standards promote EVs, Harto says they help drive all sorts of efficiency technology, including hybrids and plug-in hybrids, that can save consumers a lot of money without having to change the way they drive their vehicle. If those standards get frozen in the past, he adds theres a strong chance well see a pull back [from automakers] in some of those newer technologies across the board.Speaking to reporters, Trump said that the new auto emissions standards dont mean a damn bit of difference for the environment but make it impossible for people to build cars. Harto contests both those claims. The Consumer Reports analysis also found that by 2050, the auto emissions standards would reduce pollution by 12 billion tons. Its the single most impactful piece of climate regulation that the U.S. has ever put in place, he says.As for how difficult it is for automakers to comply, Harto says research shows that over the past two decades, automakers have been able to deliver $9,000 in consumer fuel savings for the average new vehicle, without an increase to that vehicle price, once adjusted for inflation. Every time regulation is on the table, the industry screams that its going to drive up costs for consumers, he says. In the end, they deliver significant savings to consumers with very little or no detectable cost. . . . It really is a win-win in terms of consumer and climate benefits. Though Harto said he couldnt speak for automakers about the future of these rules, he said most industries tend to like fewer regulations.Consumers broadly dont support a roll back in emissions standards. In a January 2025 Consumer Reports survey, 96% of American drivers said fuel economy is at least somewhat important to them when considering a new vehicle, and nearly two-thirds agree that the government should continue to increase fuel-economy standards.The Big Three U.S. automakers didnt respond to requests for comment about whether they support the rolling back of standards. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation said in a statement that the current emissions rules are extremely challenging to achieve and that a balanced approach to emission in the U.S. is key to preserving vehicle choice. Since not all model years that the standards cover are in full production yet, carmakers could also adapt to regulatory changes by canceling upcoming vehicles or adjusting production volumes. Some U.S. automakers have already pulled back on EV plans, canceling some future models, and the U.S. significantly lags behind markets like China that have accelerated EV technologies.Whether the standards are rolled back or not, Harto says Consumer Reports will continue to test vehicles for fuel economy and environmental impact and include those predominantly in their ratings. At a time when consumers pocketbooks are already stretched, basically locking in larger fuel bills for consumers for decades to come is a really bad idea, he adds.

For Jews in Canada, much like their American counterparts, Manischewitz kosher wine has become a staple of Passover and other religious celebrations.But now many are struggling to find the New York state-made drink for the wine-heavy spring holiday as Canadian government retailers and wholesale monopolies pull American-made products from shelves in protest of U.S. President Donald Trumps tariffs and annexation threats.The missing wine illustrates how Trumps instigation of a trade war with Canada and his bellicose talk is causing pain for Canadian consumers and U.S. beverage companies like Manischewitz owner E & J Gallo Winery, as well as potential opportunities for Canadian competitors.Many Canadian consumers are embracing a Buy Canadian movement and avoiding U.S.-made goods, but for some specialized products like sweet and fruity Manischewitz kosher wine, there is no true alternative, kosher goods retailers and consumers say.Canadas provincial governments control liquor sales and wholesaling, and since early March have all banned U.S. alcohol imports as well as most distribution and sales, including Manischewitz wine and Jack Daniels bourbon whiskey.Existing stocks have been yanked from shelves across the sprawling nation. Private stores, allowed to sell existing supplies, told Reuters their Manischewitz bottles were snapped up by shoppers soon after the provincial governments bans were announced.People are freaking out, said Louise Waldman, a Winnipeg Jew who associates the particular taste of Manischewitz wine with a lifetime of Passover meals.Manischewitz and Gallo did not respond to requests for comment.During Passover, which begins on April 12, Jews gather for traditional meals, called seders, and eat specific foods including horseradish, parsley and eggs. Traditionally, each participant drinks four glasses of wine throughout the meal.Aaron Bernstein of family-owned Bernsteins Delicatessen, a Jewish food store and restaurant in Winnipeg in Western Canada, said he has had to tell patriotic Canadian shoppers that there are not domestically made versions of some kosher products.Theres no other product like Manischewitz wine, he said.Made kosher in CanadaCanadian Jews seeking kosher wine to fulfill the ceremonial obligation might still find some Israeli wine in some government-operated liquor stores. Manitoba Liquor Marts offer three kosher wines, such as both red and white from the Galil Mountain Winery, a spokesperson said.But for some kosher foods producers in Canada, the upsurge in patriotic pride and the desire for Made in Canada goods is a chance to expand business.Ritesh Patel, the director of operations for Elmans Food Products, a Winnipeg kosher foods processor since 1938, hopes to capture more of the domestic kosher market.The company is in talks with major national chains about carrying their pickled products like sauerkraut, eggs and horseradish, he said.To replace some American products, Bernstein said his deli has been ordering more products from Israel, but imports take longer to arrive because of the extended supply chain.For some Canadian Jews who keep kosher, the concern goes beyond missing holiday foods and extends to the risk of tariffs and higher prices on other staple products making groceries unaffordable.Were very concerned in general. The price of food is astronomical and the price of kosher food is even more concerning, said Richard Rabkin, the managing director of the Kashruth Council of Canada, the countrys largest kosher certification agency.Ed White and Leah Douglas, Reuters

On Wednesday, Tesla reported its largest drop in delivery numbers to date, and a 13% drop in sales since the beginning of the year, in part due to backlash against CEO Elon Musks role in the U.S. government, coupled with growing competition in the EV market.However, by midday, shares of the EV maker started moving higher following an unconfirmedPolitico reportthat Musk may soon step away from his role in the Trump administration. That report said Trump insiders and allies have become increasingly frustrated with his unpredictability and see him as a political liability. But the retreat is also likely the result of the hit his businesses have taken.Heres what to know about the latest Tesla delivery numbers and sales, as well as how the companys stock is doing today.Tesla first-quarter sales and delivery numbers plummetA look at the numbers shows Tesla posted its worst sales in nearly three years. It delivered 336,681 cars in the first quarter, down from 387,000 in the first three months of 2024 and less than in any period since the second quarter of 2022. The EV maker missed analyst estimates of as low as 350,000 vehicles.Analysts had predicted lower sales following poor European numbers and because Tesla temporarily closed some factories to update the new Model Y. On Tuesday,Electrek reportedTesla has $200 million worth of unsold Cybertrucks sitting in its inventory.Tesla sales in Europe and China are downWednesdays sales report follows data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, which confirms Tesla sales fell 49% in Europe in the first two months of the quarter, despite the fact that overall EV sales in Europe were up 28%, pointing to a loss of the electric vehicle market share.Another reason for the drop can be attributed to European Tesla boycotts over Musks controversial political views, including his support for Europes far-right parties.Yet, Europe isnt the largest market for electric vehicles, China is. China is also Teslas second-largest market after the U.S., where it now faces growing competition from other EV automakers. Chinese automaker BYDreported sales of more than 416,000 fully electric passenger vehicles in the quarter, up 39% from the previous year, overtaking Tesla as the worlds largest seller of EVs.What does this mean for TSLA stock?Shares of Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) fell about 2% in early trading and are now up about 4% in midday trading at the time of this writing, due in part to that Politico report that Musk may be soon moving on from the White House.While Tesla stock started the year strong, and nearly doubled after the presidential election, it has lost 44% since Decembers all-time high. In 2025, the stock is down over 35% year to date, taking a major hit due to the Musk backlash, including protests at Tesla dealerships in the form of Tesla Takedowns.Arecent CNN pollfound 53% of Americans rate Musk negatively, with only 35% giving him a positive rating, making him even more unpopular than Vice President JD Vance (who has a 44% unfavorable rating).

You cant talk about the manosphere without mentioning Andrew Tate. The British-American influencer and former professional kickboxer built his platform by promoting misogynistic ideasclaiming women should be subservient to men, suggesting rape victims should bear responsibility for their assaults, and openly describing acts of domestic violence.The manosphere, which birthed Tate and others like him, is a network of right-wing influencers and grifters who peddle misogyny, toxic masculinity, and regressive gender rolesoften aimed at radicalizing disaffected young men. And if Tate and his brother Tristans warm welcome from American right-wing podcasters is any indication, this ideology is no longer confined to the darkest corners of the internet. Its creeping into the mainstream.Recently, the Tate brothers were allowed to leave Romania after prosecutors lifted their travel restrictions in late February. The two remain under investigation there for allegedly forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking, trafficking of minors, and money laundering. Shortly after, they landed in the United States. Around the same time, an ex-girlfriend, Brianna Stern, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles accusing Andrew of beating and choking her during their relationship.Now, a new report from Media Matters reveals how several pro-Trump and manosphere-aligned podcasters eagerly welcomed Tate during his U.S. visit. Between February and March, he appeared on the Hodgetwins podcast, the Nelk Boys Full Send, Sean Kellys Digital Social Hour, Patrick Bet-Davids PBD Podcast, and Candace with Candace Owens.These interviews were shared widelyfull episodes uploaded to YouTube, Rumble, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify drew more than 9 million views. Shorter clips posted to social media racked up an additional 30.8 million.The Nelk BoysCanadian-American YouTubers who began with prank content but now lean into right-wing politicseven walked into a UFC Power Slap event alongside the Tate brothers. There, UFC president and Trump ally Dana White greeted them with a hug and said, Welcome to the States, boys.The current online media ecosystem incentivizes outrage and extremismand that is exactly what we saw when MAGA and manosphere podcasts platformed Andrew Tate when he returned to the U.S., Kayla Gogarty, research director at Media Matters, tells Fast Company. These podcasters allowing Tate to push extreme misogyny and hate to their large followings, and then amplifying clips to millions more, is concerning, as young men that follow these shows can be radicalized down a path that could lead to abuse and violence against women.Not everyone on the right embraced Tates return. Socially conservative figures such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have voiced disgust over the support hes received. Still, prominent MAGA personalitiesincluding White House counselor Alina Habba, Candace Owens, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump Jr.remain in his corner.

The White House said on Wednesday that tech billionaire Elon Musk will stay on to complete his mission to slash government spending and downsize the federal workforce, dismissing media reports that he will leave the role soon.Politico and ABC reported that President Donald Trump had told members of his Cabinet that Musk will soon depart and return to the private sector, although the reports did not make clear if that would mean Musk leaving before his 130-day mandate as a special government employee is set to expire around late May.Trump has tasked the Tesla and SpaceX CEO with leading efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency to cut government funding and reshape the federal bureaucracy.Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.Musk and DOGE did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reports.On Tuesday, Musk and Trump suffered a setback as a liberal judge in Wisconsin won election to the state Supreme Court, easily defeating a conservative judge whose campaign had been heavily bankrolled by Musk and groups tied to him.The vote had been seen as an early referendum on Trumps presidency and Musks campaign to remake the U.S. civil service.Shares of some government contracting companies rose following the reports of Musks possible impending return to the private sector. Shares of Musks Tesla, which had been down more than 6% in early trading after a sharper-than-expected fall in first-quarter deliveries, reversed course and were up about 5% on Wednesday afternoon.Musk told Fox News Special Report with Bret Baier last week that he was confident he would finish most of his stated aim of cutting $1 trillion in federal spending by the end of his 130 days.But in a March 10 interview with Fox Business Networks Kudlow, when he was asked by host Larry Kudlow, You going to go another year? Musk replied, Yeah, I think so.According to the DOGE website, the only official window into its operations, DOGE estimates it has saved U.S. taxpayers $140 billion as of April 2 through a series of actions including workforce reductions, asset sales, and contract cancellations, still far short of Musks $1 trillion goal.But evidence for the stated savings is often missing, and the websites calculations have been riddled with errors and corrections.DOGEs mandate as a whole is set to continue to July 4, 2026. However, many of the top figures in DOGE are tied to Musk and have not said whether they would want to stay on after the departure of the billionaire, who has been the ideological force behind the government overhaul.There has been growing unease across the U.S. over Musks blunt approach to mass layoffs from the government workforce. Nearly 200,000 employees have been fired, earmarked for termination or have accepted buyouts.Republican lawmakers have faced the wrath of angry voters at unruly town halls, while many of DOGEs efforts have become the subject of lawsuits.Tesla dealerships have been vandalized in the U.S. and abroad, and a nationwide protest against DOGE and Trumps agenda is planned for this Saturday.Susan Heavey, Nandita Bose, Andrea Shalal, and Tim Reid, ReutersAdditional reporting by Shivani Jayesh Tanna, Akash Sriram, Abhirup Roy, and Sayantani Ghosh.

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more.A beautiful object, expertly designed, can bring you joy throughout your busy day, unless you are unable to use it because of a permanent, temporary, or situational disability. How does design fail or succeed in creating an inclusive experience for all?As CEO of Michael Graves Design, I am deeply committed to advancing the functionality and accessibility of everyday products, with a special focus on enhancing the lives of those with disabilities. Our mission is to improve quality of life beyond aesthetics, addressing real-world challenges faced by individuals with temporary or permanent disabilities. What drives this commitment? A profound conviction in the transformative power of design to simplify daily tasks and infuse them with dignity and delight.Imagine if every aspect of your daily routine, from waking up to going to bed, was designed with your needs in mind. Activities of daily living (ADLs) such as eating, bathing, dressing, and moving around are foundational to our independence. Yet, for individuals facing temporary or permanent disabilities, these essential tasks can pose significant challenges. This also happens due to situational disabilities that we all experience as we go through our day: full hands, loud environments, low lighting, etc. Design can address these challenges head on, transforming everyday activities into seamless experiences, while enabling us to target the widest audience possible.Focus on consumer experiences over tasksThis design philosophy empowers brands to tackle everyday challenges by transforming routine tasks into seamless experiences for consumers. Were eager to share our approach, helping you broaden your reach and enhance how you connect with the widest audience possible.Take, for example, our latest collaboration with Pottery Barn. We introduced bedroom furniture that embodies our design for all ethos. At first glance, the furniture collections looks like any other Pottery Barn furniture in its catalogue, relaying an aspirational lifestyle that resonates so well with consumers. But a closer look reveals how dignity has been woven into each piece. Beds come with integrated armrests for easier mobility, and nightstands feature enhancements to store CPAP machines and prevent items from tumbling offjust a few of the many simple, yet profound modifications that make independence both accessible and delightful. The twist here is that while these novel functional enhancements were designed around the needs of those with various disabilities, they were designed to be attractive and useful to everybody. A true embodiment of universal design, equal measure is given to the emotional and functional desires of consumers, essential to design for all.This product development strategy is underpinned by decades of research into the needs and preferences of aging adults and those with disabilities. This is not just designits empathy in action. You must be able to identify real-world problems that need solving, guided by a deep understanding of what people truly desire. Our roadmap is centered on the various ADLs, which are crucial for independent living.The future of designThe future of design must be proactive, not reactive. The brands that take this approach will be the leaders of the future. What challenges lie ahead? How can design continue to evolve to meet the unmet needs of our society? To do this successfully, design must merge todays common expertise in the emotionally driven aspects of a products personality and purpose with the less incorporated ability to include and translate various ability levels as creative constraints in the product development process. In short, new products must be alluring, but push their usefulness to a broader audience. We believe the future is in the merging of these two approaches.To have a pioneering brand today, you need to exceed customers expectations for enhanced independence, empowering them with the dignity we all deserve. This is the true power of thoughtful design. It goes beyond making daily tasks possible; its about transforming how theyre experienced. Anyone living with a disability knows that interruption, modification, and adaptation become part of the daily habits and rituals. Designing with dignity in mind means designing habits and rituals that can be enjoyed for the long term, through shifting conditions.As we look forward, we must ask ourselves how our work as designers and creators of experiences can continue to break barriers and open doors for all members of society. Challenge yourself to think beyond human-centered design and instead widen your aperture to focus on society-centered design. Lets not just design for some; lets design for every body, and make every interaction with our products a reaffirmation of our shared humanity.Ben Wintner is CEO of Michael Graves Design.

UFC is joining up with Facebooks parent company Meta in a deal that will bring mixed martial arts to more fans around the world.The companies said Wednesday that their multiyear partnership will give UFC the ability to use Metas technology platforms, services, and products, including Meta AI, Meta Glasses, Meta Quest, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, so that UFC fans have more ways to view its content.Meta and UFC, whose parent company is TKO Group, said they will work together to incorporate Metas AI glasses into UFC events.Meta has the greatest minds in tech and they are going to take fan engagement to the next level, UFC President and CEO Dana White said in a statement.White mentioned that Meta is already working on some innovations for a new fighter rankings system.The deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed, will also see the Meta brand appear in UFCs Octagon, as well as across numerous broadcasts. Metas social media platform Threads will feature exclusive original UFC content.I love this sport and Im looking forward to working with the UFC to let fans experience it in new ways, Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.Zuckerberg is trained in mixed martial arts and posted about completing his first jiu jitsu tournament in 2023. That same year, there were talks of him and Tesla CEO Elon Musk squaring off in acage match,but the event never happened.Zuckerberg and White are no strangers to each other, with WhitejoiningMetas board of directors in January.Both Zuckerberg and White are among the many high profile business figures within the orbit of President Donald Trump. After Trump won reelection in November,Zuckerberg dinedat the president-elects Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and Meta donated $1 million to Trumpsinauguration fund. Other Big Tech companies such as Amazon have donated similar amounts.Trump is a longtime UFC fan and frequent attendee of major fights. His ties with White date back to 2001, when White hosted a UFC at the Republicans former casino-hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Trump Taj Mahal. Trump has also appeared with White at UFC matches over the years, especially in his 2024 campaign as part of efforts to appeal to younger male voters.White has had speaking roles at the 2016, 2020 and 2024 Republican conventions and appeared on stage at Trumps election victory party in November.Shares of Meta Platforms Inc. rose slightly in midday trading, while shares of TKO Group Holdings Inc. climbed more than 2%.Michelle Chapman, AP business writer

Its no secret that raising kids in the U.S. has become grossly expensive. The price of childcare alone has ballooned over the past decade, with many families reporting that it costs them at least a quarter of their annual income. Across many states, families need to earn an average of $180,000 to comfortably afford infant care; the high cost of living in states like California and New York can require an income exceeding $250,000.An increasing burden on familiesA new analysis by the online lending marketplace LendingTree captures why so many families are struggling to manage the enormous cost of having children. The study found that since 2023, the annual cost of raising a young child has jumped by nearly 36%, coming to about $30,000 per year. Over the course of 18 years, that amounts to almost a whopping $300,000. In four statesHawaii, North Dakota, Washington, and Marylandthat figure can be well over $300,000, even rising over $360,000. Overall, families report spending nearly 23% of their income on the annual expenses of raising children. Childcare comprises a significant portion of those expenses for families with young kids: According to LendingTrees analysis, childcare costs spiked by more than 50% in just the past two years. Childcare centers have always struggled to make ends meet due to the steep cost of labor. As federal funding has dried up following the pandemic, however, that financial strain has only been exacerbated.Beyond childcareThe cost of care is just one of the many additional expenses borne by families with children. Theres the cost of housing, as well as the attendant expenses associated with food, clothing, transportation, and healthcare. The LendingTree analysis found, for example, that food costs jumped by nearly 30% since 2023. That means even in states where childcare is less expensivelike North Dakotathe annual cost of raising children can remain high due to other expenses, like housing. (In fact, the average cost of raising children over 18 years is lower in Massachusetts than it is in North Dakota.)LendingTrees findings also indicate that even as these costs rise precipitously, families are receiving less assistance from the government. Between 2023 and 2025, the value of federal tax credits decreased by over 44%, in part because the expanded child tax credit secured by the Biden administration expired. While its true that the cost of childcare continues to be one of the greatest challenges for many families, the financial burden doesnt end thereand thats unlikely to change without broader federal investment.

An artificial intelligence watchdog is accusing OpenAI of training its default ChatGPT model on copyrighted book content without permission.In a new paper published this week, the AI Disclosures Project alleges that OpenAI likely trained its GPT-4o model using nonpublic material from OReilly Media. The researchers used a legally obtained dataset of 34 copyrighted OReilly books and found that GPT-4o showed strong recognition of the companys paywalled content. By contrast, GPT-3.5 Turbo appeared more familiar with publicly accessible OReilly book samples.These results highlight the urgent need for increased corporate transparency regarding pre-training data sources as a means to develop formal licensing frameworks for AI content training, the authors wrote in the paper. Tim OReilly, one of the papers authors, is a cofounder and CEO of OReilly Media. An OpenAI spokesperson didnt immediately respond to Fast Companys request for comment. Training data lies at the heart of all artificial intelligence models. Large language models (LLMs) require an incredible amount of information that it uses to guide back on when it churns out text or images for users.OpenAI has struck up some licensing deals to be able to train their models on certain content. But the company, which recently fundraised and is worth $300 billion, has also come under fire for sourcing certain content. The New York Times, for example, is leading a charge against OpenAI and minority owner Microsoft over alleged copyright infringement.The researchers acknowledged limitations in their study but argued that the issue is likely part of a broader systemic problem in how large language models are developed.Sustainable ecosystems need to be designed so that both creators and developers can benefit from generative AI, the authors wrote. Otherwise, model developers are likely to rapidly plateau in their progress, especially as newer content becomes produced less and less by humans.

The world is bracing for impact as the so-called Liberation Day arrives Wednesdaythe latest installment of President Trumps tariff announcements since his return to office in January.In a Rose Garden address at 4 p.m. ET, the president is set to unveil a sweeping reciprocal tariff plan, targeting not only Mexico, Canada, and China, but also other countries in a trade surplus with the U.S. or those holding tariffs on American products.It is still unclear what countries and industries will be impacted by todays announcement, as well as the rate of tariffs imposed, and if they will be imposed universally or by country. However, the policy changes are said to go into effect after his speech.While much is still uncertain, here is how many world leaders are reacting ahead of Trumps Liberation Day speech.MexicoPresident Claudia Sheinbaums cool head approach has helped Mexico evade some of Trumps tariffs since he first announced 25% levies on Mexican exports in early February. Sheinbaum said Wednesday in her daily morning briefing that she would announce an integral plan on Thursday. Our interest is to strengthen the Mexican economy, Sheinbaum said. Its not an issue of if you tariff me, I tariff you.CanadaFollowing on-again-off-again tariffs between the U.S. and Canadathe country America long considered its closest allyCanadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned Trump that Canada will impose retaliatory tariffs on American exports, although no specifics have been revealed yet.ChinaIn early February, Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports, upending a tariff war between the worlds two largest economies. After the U.S. raised tariffs to 20% in early March, China responded with retaliatory tariffs, with 10% and 15% levies on various food and agricultural goods.Ahead of Liberation Day, China held economic dialogue with Japan and South Korea, seeking a coordinated response among the three nations. However, Japanese and South Korean officials said that decision was not taken.EUAhead of the April 2 announcement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, Europe did not start this confrontation, we do not necessarily want to retaliate, but if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it.In early March, the European Commission responded to Trumps tariffs on aluminum and steel by launching swift and proportionatecountermeasures on U.S. imports into the EU, a statement read. Countermeasures included tariffs on American goods such as bourbon and motorbikes worth up to $28 billion in exports.

Top minds at the worlds largest atom smasher have released a blueprint fora much bigger successorthat could vastly improve research into the remaining enigmas of physics.The plans for the Future Circular Collider a nearly 91-kilometer (56.5-mile) loop along the French-Swiss border and below Lake Geneva published late Monday put the finishing details on a project roughly a decade in the making atCERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.The FCC would carry out high-precision experiments in the mid-2040s to study known physics in greater detail, then enter a second phase planned for 2070 that would conduct high-energy collisions of protons and heavy ions that would open the door to the unknown, said Giorgio Chiarelli, a research director at Italys National Institute of Nuclear Physics.History of physics tells that when there is more data, the human ingenuity is able to extract more information than originally expected, Chiarelli, who was not involved in the plans, said in an e-mail.For roughly a decade, top minds at CERN have been making plans for a successor to the Large Hadron Collider, a network of magnets that accelerate particles through a 27-kilometer (17-mile) underground tunnel and slam them together at velocities approaching the speed of light.The blueprint lays out the proposed path, environmental impact, scientific ambitions and project cost. Independent experts will take a look before CERNs two dozen member countries all European except for Israel decide in 2028 whether to go forward, starting in the mid-2040s at a cost of some 14 billion Swiss francs (about $16 billion).CERN officials tout the promise of scientific discoveries that could drive innovation in fields like cryogenics, superconducting magnets and vacuum technologies that could benefit humankind.Outside experts point to the promise of learning more about theHiggs boson,the elusive particlethat has been controversially dubbed the God particle, which helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang.Work at the Large Hadron Colliderconfirmed in 2013 the existence of the Higgs boson, the central piece in a puzzle known as the standard model that helps explains some fundamental forces in the universe.CERN Director-General Fabiola Gianotti said the future collider could become the most extraordinary instrument ever built by humanity to study the constituents and the laws of nature at the most fundamental levels in two ways, by improving study of the Higgs boson and paving the way to explore the energy frontier, and by looking for new physics that explain the structure and evolution of the universe.One unknown is whether the Trump administration, which has been cuttingforeign aidandspending in academia and research, will continue to support CERN a year after the Biden administration pledged U.S. support for the study and collaboration on the FCCs construction and physics exploitation if its approved.The United States is home to 2,000 users of CERN, making them the single largest national contingent among the 17,000 people working there, including outside experts abroad and staff on site, Gianotti said.While an observer state and not a member, the U.S. doesnt pay into the CERN regular budget but has contributed to specific projects. Most of the CERN regular budget comes from Europe.Costas Fountas, the CERN Council president, said he had spoken with some U.S. National Science Foundation and Department of Energy staff who relayed the message that so far theyre under the radar of the cuts of the Trump administration. Thats their words.CERN scientists, engineers and partners behind the plans considered at least 100 scenarios for the new collider before coming up with the proposed 91-kilometer circumference at an average depth of 200 meters (656 feet). The tunnel would be about 5 meters (16 feet) in diameter, CERN said.Jamey Keaten, Associated Press

Nationwide Hands Off! protests of the Trump administration and adviser Elon Musk are planned for this Saturday, April 5 in all 50 states including many red states like Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Florida, and major cities such as New York, L.A., San Francisco, with a flagship march scheduled to take place on the grounds of the Washington Monument in D.C.We expect April 5th to be the largest single-day protest since Donald Trumps second inauguration, a spokesperson for Hands Off! told Fast Company. Actions are scheduled in over 1000 cities nationwideand counting, with over 250,000 people expected to attend. Events [will] include marches, demonstrations and rallies.The protests are organized by Indivisible, a grassroots movement aimed at rebuilding democracy and defeating Trump, which is partnering with a broad coalition of groups including: the Womens March, the United Federation of Teachers, Public Citizen, the Progressive Democrats of America, Common Cause, Human Rights Campaign, MoveOn, the League of Women Voters, Planned Parenthood, and some unions including AFL-CIO, UAW and SEIU.The aim of the protests is to voice opposition to various Trump administration policies, and massive budget cuts and layoffs across federal agencies spearheaded by Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Many of the protests are scheduled to take place at state capitals, federal buildings, and congressional offices including at Social Securitys headquarters, the Daley Center in Chicago, city halls in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, Bryant Park in Manhattan; along with multiple cities outsider the U.S, in London, Madrid and Zurich.This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history Theyre taking everything they can get their hands on, Hands Off! said on their website. Our health care, our data, our jobs, our services were taking to the streets nationwide to fight back with a clear message: Hands off!Indivisibles co-executive director Ezra Levintold MSNBCs Rachel Maddow that Hands Off! is going through a wave moment in which they are seeing a larger number of people interested in volunteering, organizing and participating.

The U.S. Naval Academy has removed nearly 400 books from its library after being told by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseths office to review and get rid of ones that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, U.S officials said Tuesday.Academy officials were told to review the library late last week, and an initial search had identified about 900 books for a closer look. They decided on nearly 400 to remove and began doing so Monday, finishing before Hegseth arrived for a visit Tuesday that had already been planned and was not connected to the library purge, officials said. A list of the books has not yet been made available.Pulling the books off the shelves is another step in the Trump administrations far-reaching effort to eliminate so-called DEI content from federal agencies, including policies, programs, online and social media postings and curriculum at schools.Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said late Tuesday, All service academies are fully committed to executing and implementing President Trumps Executive Orders.The Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, had not been included in President Donald Trumps executive order in January that banned DEI instruction, programs or curriculum in kindergarten through 12th grade schools that receive federal funding. That is because the academies are colleges.Pentagon leaders, however, suddenly turned their attention to the Naval Academy last week when a media report noted that the school had not removed books that promoted DEI. A U.S. official said the academy was told late last week to conduct the review and removal. It isnt clear if the order was directed by Hegseth or someone else on his staff.A West Point official confirmed that the school had completed a review of its curriculum and was prepared to review library content if directed by the Army. The Air Force and Naval academies had also done curriculum reviews as had been required.An Air Force Academy official said the school continually reviews its curriculum, coursework and other materials to ensure it all complies with executive orders and Defense Department policies. Last week, Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, the Air Force Academy superintendent, told Congress that the school was in the middle of its course review, but there was no mention of books.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss academy policies.Hegseth has aggressively pushed the department to erase DEI programs and online content, but the campaign has been met with questions from angry lawmakers, local leaders and citizens over the removal of military heroes and historic mentions from Defense Department websites and social media pages.In response, the department has scrambled to restore some of those posts as their removals have come to light.The confusion about how to interpret the DEI policy was underscored Monday as Naval Academy personnel mistakenly removed some photos of distinguished female Jewish graduates from a display case as they prepared for Hegseths visit. The photos were put back.In a statement, the Navy said it is aware that photos were mistakenly removed from the Naval Academy Jewish Center. It said U.S. Naval Academy leadership was immediately taking steps to review and correct the unauthorized removal.Hegseth spoke with students and had lunch at the academy Tuesday, but media were not invited or allowed to cover the visit.Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press

Seven years ago, when a joint bid by the United States, Canada and Mexico was awarded the 2026 World Cup, rifts created by tariffsyes, back then, too!and a proposed border wall were glossed over because of the neighbors longstanding political and economic alliances.The unity of the three nations was the overriding theme articulated by Carlos Cordeiro, then-president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. A powerful message, he called it.Well, here we are now, with the soccer showcase arriving in North America in about 15 months, and President Donald Trump back in officeinciting trade wars between the neighbors, not to mention across the globe, by levying tariffs that come, then go, then return, with more promised, including what the Republican calls reciprocal tariffs starting Wednesday.Its hard to know how, exactly, the current geopolitical fissures, made all the more stark every time Trump or those in his administration talk provocatively about making Canada the 51st state, might affect the World Cup, its organization and coordination, fans travel plans, and more.Oh, I think its going to make it more exciting, was Trumps take during an Oval Office appearance with FIFA President Gianni Infantino last month. Tensions a good thing.Will the world come to the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics?Given that the U.S. also is preparing to welcome the world for FIFAs Club World Cup in June, golfs Ryder Cup in September, and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, the question becomes: Will the world want to come?And, taking Trumps border and visa policies into account, will the world be able to?Alan Rothenberg, who ran the 1994 World Cup and successfully oversaw the bid to host the 1999 Womens World Cup as then-president of U.S. Soccer, thinks the answers to those questions are Yes. Pointing to concerns about the last two World Cups, in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, he noted those still attracted attendance totals above three million apiece.People love the United States around the worldfrankly, we wouldnt have the immigration issue that were dealing with if that werent the caseso a lot of this is government-to-government, Rothenberg said. A passionate soccer fan is not going to be held up by that.He doesnt think one of the host nations would drop out of the World Cup, say, or that other countries might boycott, as happened at the 1976, 1980, and 1984 Summer Olympics.More than anything, theyll see it as an opportunity for, perhaps, rapprochement, rather than escalating the tensions, Rothenberg said.Besides, from an organizing standpoint, if either Canada or Mexico withdrew from the World Cup, he said, the U.S. would pick up the games in a heartbeat.Spectators booing the U.S. national anthemStill, as the White House stance on tariffs and Russias war in Ukraine have put Europe on edge, and relations with other countries have become fraught, it might not be a surprise if soccer stadiums for the U.S. games at the World Cup offer the same sort of anti-American sentiment heard when spectators in Canada booed The Star-Spangled Banner during hockeys 4 Nations Face-Off in February.FIFA, soccers governing body, did not respond to Associated Press requests for comment, but Infantino has never hidden his admiration for Trump, which he often demonstrates via social media. They have met at least five times since the U.S. election in November.Last week, when Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committeebecoming the first woman in that positionshe was asked how she would work with Trump and what she would tell athletes about traveling to the U.S. for the next Games.I have been dealing with, lets say, difficult men, in high positions since I was 20 years old, Coventry said with a chuckle, and first and foremost, what I have learned is that communication will be key. That is something that will happen early on. And my firm belief is that President Trump is a huge lover of sports. He will want these Games to be significant. He will want them to be a success.Referring to concerns about whether the administration might deny some athletes visas, she added: We will not waver from our values . . . of solidarity in ensuring that every athlete that qualifies for the Olympic Games has the possibility to attend the Olympic Games and be safe during the Olympic Games.The overriding assumption among those involved in the Olympics is that Trump will assure the 2028 Games are a success.As U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee chairman Gene Sykes put it: I cant speak for him, but I think hes the kind of person who probably believes that having these go very, very well is a reflection of his leadership.Will Trumps tariffs and other policies affect soccers World Cup?The most likely outcome is that Trumps nonsense wont have an impact, said Smith College professor Andrew Zimbalist, an expert on the economics of sports.My guess is that if relations between Canada and the U.S. deteriorate to the point that there are travel restrictions and spending restrictions, Zimbalist said, Trump wouldjust like hes making exceptions all the time on his tariffs policiesmake an exception for a month or six weeks.The U.S. and Canadian soccer federations declined AP requests for comment on how White House policies might affect the 2026 World Cup.Gabriela Cuevas, who represents Mexicos government in meetings with FIFA, said she considers the tariffs and the soccer event separate issues, adding that she believes the World Cup could be a route to engage in a conversation.Observers tend to agree, saying logistics such as security cooperation or team transportation from city to cityor country to countryshould not be hampered when it comes to the World Cup, scheduled to take place in 16 cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026.The borders might become an issue, though.The main thing FIFA needs to move for this event is not car parts, and its not wheat, and its not electricity. Its people. Thats your real concern, said Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.What were previously pretty reasonable border crossings could become much more challenging, simply because both sides amp up their level of inspections and the United States, in particular, cuts down government services that allow people to move effectively between countries.As for the fans, 29-year-old Mexican businessman German Camacho Pacheco said soccer is religion in his country, so when it comes to the World Cup, I dont think they care about tariffs.Camacho, wearing the Monterrey club jersey of defender Sergio Ramos while on the way to watch a game at a sports bar in Mexico City, said he doesnt expect there to be any effect at all on the World Cup unless this goes from a trade war to an actual war.AP writers Greg Beacham in Inglewood, California; Nancy Benac in Washington; Ronald Blum in New York; Graham Dunbar in Costa Navarino, Greece; Eddie Pells in Denver; Anne M. Peterson in Portland, Oregon, and Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City contributed.Howard Fendrich is an AP national writer. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP sports: https://apnews.com/sportsHoward Fendrich, AP National Writer

Judge Susan Crawford preserved liberals narrow majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court Tuesday by defeating conservative Brad Schimel, but in a way the real loser of the election was billionaire Elon Musk.Musk and his affiliated groups sunk at least $21 million into the normally low-profile race and paid three individual voters $1 million each for signing a petition in an effort to goose turnout in the pivotal battleground state contest. That made the race the first major test of the political impact of Musk, whose prominence in President Donald Trumps administration has skyrocketed with his chaotic cost-cutting initiative that has slashed federal agencies.Crawford and the Democrats who backed her made Musk the focus of their arguments for holding the seat, contending he was buying the election, which set records for the costliest judicial race in history.Today Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair elections, and our Supreme Court, Crawford said in her victory speech. And Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price, our courts are not for sale.Trump endorsed Schimel as the race turned into a proxy fight over national political issues. The states high court can rule on cases involving voting rights and redistricting in a state likely to be at the center of both next years midterm elections and the 2028 presidential contest.But Musks involvement dialed those dynamics up to 11: A seemingly small election could determine the fate of Western civilization, the billionaire said Tuesday in a last-ditch call to voters on his social media site X. I think it matters for the future of the world.Notably, America PAC, the super PAC backed by Musk, spent at least $6 million on vendors who sent door-to-door canvassers across the state, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. It was a reprise of what the group did across the seven most competitive presidential battleground states, including Wisconsin, which were carried by Trump in November.But the end results this time were not good for Musk. Despite the millions he spent on Schimel, as of late Tuesday night the Supreme Court candidate was losing by four percentage points more than the other Republican-backed statewide candidate, Brittany Kinser, who also fell short in her bid for superintendent of public instruction.Musks court race defeat wasnt only because of crushing Democratic margins in deep blue cities like Madison and Milwaukee. Crawfords margins were higher in places where the Musk-backed group America PAC had been active, including Sauk County, just north of Madison, which Crawford was carrying by 10 points after Trump won it by less than two points in November.In Brown County, the home of Green Bay where Musk headlined a campaign rally with 2,000 people on Sunday, Crawford beat Schimel. Trump won the county by seven percentage points last year.Overnight, Musk posted on his X platform that The long con of the left is corruption of the judiciary. In another comment, he seemed to take solace from voters approval to elevate the states photo ID requirement from state law to constitutional amendment. The platform was rife with criticism from Trump opponents for his involvement in the race.Please send @elonmusk to all the close races! Jon Favreau, former speechwriter for President Barack Obama, wrote.Elon Musk is not good at this, J.B. Pritzker, Illinois Democratic governor and a billionaire himself who donated to support Crawford, posted on X.Voters definitely had Musk on their minds.Theres an insane situation going on with the Trump administration, and it feels like Elon Musk is trying to buy votes, said Kenneth Gifford, a 22-year-old Milwaukee college student, as he cast his ballot on Tuesday. I want an actual, respectable democracy.Others may not have had their vote decided by the billionaire but were all-too aware of the money pouring into their state.Jim Seeger, a 68-year-old retiree who previously worked in communications and marketing, said he voted for Schimel because he wants Republicans to maintain their outsized majority in Wisconsins congressional delegation, which could be at risk if Crawford wins and the court orders the maps redrawn. But, he added, he was disappointed the election had become a financial race.I think its a shame that we have to spend this much money, especially on a judicial race, Seeger said as he voted in Eau Claire.Wisconsins Democratic Attorney General, Josh Kaul, sued to bar Musk from making his payments to voters if they signed a petition against activist judges. The state Supreme Court unanimously declined to rule on the case over a technicality.Musk swooped into the race shortly after Trumps inauguration. Republicans were pessimistic about being able to win the seat. They lost a longtime conservative majority on the state high court in 2023, and Democrats have excelled in turning out their educated, politically tuned-in coalition during obscure elections such as the one in Wisconsin.Musk duplicated and expanded on some of the methods he used in the final weeks of last years presidential race, when he spent more than $200 million on Trumps behalf in the seven swing states, including Wisconsin.This time, in addition to the $1 million checks, Musk offered to pay $20 to anyone who signed up on his groups site to knock on doors for Schimel and posted a photo of themselves as proof. His organization promised $100 to every voter who signed the petition against liberal judges and another $100 for every signer they referred.Democrats were happy to make Musk a lightning rod in the race.People do not want to see Elon Musk buying election after election after election, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler said Monday. If it works here, hes going to do it all over the country.Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Washington contributed to this report.Nicholas Riccardi and Thomas Beaumont, Associated Press

A top employee of billionaire Elon Musk who is now working in the U.S. Justice Department previously bragged about hacking and distributing pirated software, according to archived copies of his former websites reviewed by Reuters.Christopher Stanley, a 33-year-old engineer who has worked at both Musks social media company X and space-launch company SpaceX, is a senior adviser in the Deputy Attorney Generals office, according to a former Justice Department official and a staff directory listing reviewed by Reuters.Stanley was assigned there while working for Musks Department of Government Efficiency that President Donald Trump set up to slash the federal bureaucracy. Musk has said no organization has been more transparent than DOGE, but theres been little public information on the responsibilities and background of its staff.Stanley ran a series of websites and forums starting as far back as 2006, when he was 15, registration data preserved by the internet intelligence firm DomainTools shows. Several of those sites distributed pirated ebooks, bootleg software and video game cheats, according to copies maintained by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit whose Wayback Machine preserves old websites.Stanley boasted about hacking into websites on at least two of the forums, according to archived posts, one of which dates to when he was 19. At the time, he said he had put his hacking days behind him. But a YouTube video he posted in 2014 shows his involvement in the breach of customer data from a rival hacking group, when he was 23.In response to questions for this story, the Justice Department did not directly address Stanleys current role or his past but said he had an active security clearance that predated his employment at DOGE. In a statement to Reuters, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said she had full trust and confidence in Chriss ability to help the federal government. Stanley, the White House, SpaceX and X did not respond to requests for comment.In the hours after Reuters contacted Stanley, several of his old websites vanished from the Internet Archive. Mark Graham, director of the Wayback Machine, declined to answer specific questions about the disappearance of Stanleys websites but said people who own the rights to sites can request to have their content withheld from the archive.National security professionals were largely split on how seriously to take Stanleys past. Six former Justice officials told Reuters his background raised red flags, noting that the department handles sensitive information, including details of federal investigations and other information protected by grand jury secrecy rules.I would have very serious concerns about hiring him in and giving him access to these kinds of records, said Jonathan Rusch, who spent more than 25 years as a Justice Department prosecutor before going into academia. Rusch said Stanleys background was worrisome, particularly for a Justice Department employee, because he had disclosed data which he had acquired apparently illegally.Dan Guido, whose digital security firm Trail of Bits has worked with the Justice and Defense departments, was more forgiving. Stanleys history of hacking shouldnt disqualify him from working at the DOJ, he said, citing Stanleys youthfulness and the way he targeted other hackers as mitigating factors. That is a way Ive seen a lot of people learn.Reuters could not determine Stanleys specific Justice Department responsibilities. The Deputy Attorney Generals office, run by Trumps former private attorney, Todd Blanche, oversees all the U.S. Attorneys offices, and manages criminal investigations into a range of offenses, including hacking and other malicious cyber activity.Reuters also could not establish whether Stanley remains employed by X and SpaceX. On LinkedIn, he still identifies himself as working for them and makes no reference to his Justice Department work. A profile photo on X shows him standing before the emblem for the Office of Justice Programs, an office in the department that awards grant funds. Like Musk, Stanley is classified as a special government employee and is not drawing a government salary, the DOJ said.PIRACY, VIDEO GAME CHEATS AND HACKINGOther members of Musks DOGE team have faced scrutiny over their backgrounds.When Reuters reported last week that DOGE staffer Edward Coristine had previously provided network infrastructure to a gang of cybercriminals, Democrats in the Republican-led House of Representatives Oversight Committee said in a post on X that it was another reason we need a full investigation into WHO is working for DOGE. Coristine has not responded to requests for comment.Starting about 10 years before joining SpaceX, Stanley ran several online forums that covered software piracy, video game cheats and hacking. He used various pseudonyms on those sites, including eNkrypt and Reneg4d3, both of which he still uses on some social media accounts.Reuters was able to link the now-defunct forum websites and the usernames to Stanley by cross-referencing the sites registration data against his old email address and by matching Reneg4d3s biographical data to Stanleys.On some of Stanleys earliest sites, he claimed credit for hacking. The website, fkn-pwnd.com, launched in 2006 while he was in high school, boasted of Fucking Up Servers! and featured a crude sketch of a penis, according to a copy of the site preserved by the Internet Archive.On reneg4d3.com, which he registered the following year, the archives show Stanley described how he hijacked a competing message board. Got admin access, he said in a 2008 post, just before he turned 17, describing the sites operators as stupid noobs. Easy exploit, he wrote.Around that time, a rival video game-cheating website, rev0lution-cheats.com, was hijacked and defaced with the message: This site has been hacked by RENEG4D3.com. Reneg4d3.com was suspended by its internet service provider a few months later, according to a screenshot of the site preserved by DomainTools.Reuters could not corroborate certain aspects of the hacking activity, including the identity of the site Stanley claimed credit for hijacking or the circumstances of rev0lution-cheats defacement.Stanley went on to start other websites where he and other participants discussed hacking, video-game cheating or piracy, including error33.net and electonic.net (sic), the Internet Archives records show.I NO LONGER HACKAt age 19, Stanley distanced himself from malicious cyber activity in an archived 2010 post on electonic.net, writing: I no longer hack into Paypals, gain root access into other peoples computer (sic), or exploit online websites like StickAM an apparent reference to a video streaming service that shut down in 2013.In that same post, he said hed been threatened with a lawsuit by the South Korean gaming company Nexon Co for infiltrating their game software and altering certain aspects of the game.They did not take kindly to this, he said.Reuters could not independently corroborate the claims of theft, computer hijacking and software tampering, or the threatened lawsuit. A Nexon spokesperson said the company had been unable to locate any information regarding the matter. PayPal did not respond to a request for comment.Discussions on the electonic.net forum show that Stanley had not entirely left the hacking world behind. The website like others Stanley had created offered contraband ebooks and warez internet slang for pirated software.In December 2014, when he was 23, Stanley posted footage of himself carrying out a hack of the customer database connected to Lizard Squad, a hacking group that took credit for several high-profile outages that included attacks against Sony Corps PlayStation Network. Reuters was unable to reach former members of Lizard Squad for comment.Stanley posted the footage to his YouTube channel, where he still goes by the Reneg4d3 nickname and uses a photo of himself with Elon Musk as his profile picture.

Welcome toPressing Questions,Fast Companys work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host ofThe New Way We Workpodcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions.Q: Help! None of my coworkers have kids and dont understand what its like.A: No two peoples lives are the same and people with all kinds of family structures have issues that pull their time and attention away from work. That said, few things in life are as schedule-disrupting as being a parent.In an ideal world, your boss and coworkers wouldnt need to be parents themselves to understand things like needing to miss work when you have a sick kid or having a hard out each day at daycare pick-up time. Also, in an ideal world the school day and calendar would align better with the typical work day. We are obviously not in an ideal world, and unfortunately resentment between parents and coworkers without children is common. Here are my suggestions to deal with it.Suggest changes that would benefit everyoneMost parents cant make 8 a.m. meetings, as thats prime time for getting the kids out the door and to school. You know who else hates 8 a.m. meetings? Just about everyone. Rather have your colleagues resent you for being exempt from attending, suggest to your manager that morning meetings get rescheduled for after 9 a.m.The same goes for taking time off for lifes unexpected problems. You have to leave work when your kid is sick or when theres a snow day, doctors appointment or a recital.But everyone has things pop up, whether its their own dentist and doctor appointments, or the needs of their relatives or pets. If youre in a leadership position, you can help foster a culture that recognizes that lifes obligations sometimes need to take priority over work.If youre not in a leadership position, you can be the change you want to see by happily covering for your colleagues when something comes up. Hopefully the next time your kid gets pink eye theyll remember the time you took over for them when their dog had to go to the vet.Call it outIf you feel like youve made a good faith effort to prove how youre a team player, have demonstrated that you are just as productive as the non-parents on your team, and have offered solutions and you still feel resentment, you might want to be direct and talk to your coworker or manager about it. As with any difficult workplace conversation, you can still enter it with a collaborative mindset. Theres a problem and you are going to solve it together. You are not on opposing teams.As with other workplace disagreements, it can be helpful to approach the conversation with curiosity. Try something like: Ive noticed a lot of comments about my schedule. Is there something thats causing an issue for the team or workflow that Im not aware of? If there is an issue youre not aware of (like a domino effect of work falling on one person when you leave), once its out in the air you can problem solve. If theres not an actual issue, just vague resentment, calling it out might force the person to address their own bias, or at least be the start of a conversation that can lead to more understanding.Want some more reading on working parents? Here you go:Im the CEO of a family tech company. Heres how Ive created kid-friendly work hoursThe school year used to favor working parents, but not anymore4 simple ways leaders can better support working parentsHow longer school days benefit working mothers

Its rarely possible to be 100% efficient, 100% of our workday.We need breaks and working with others means we need time and space for that collaboration to happen. But oftentimes, a needed break or interaction can balloon into an unneeded time suck that leaves you feeling frustrated that you didnt accomplish what you actually needed to get done.So how do you identify when youre spending way too much time in an area and then eliminate that waste so that you have more time for whats most important? As a time management coach, heres what Ive found to be the most effective ways to make this happen.Identifying your time sucksHonest awareness: Sometimes you already know exactly whats stealing your time. You just need to be honest with yourself and willing to address it.Do you know that you just cant resist checking your email every time a new message indicator pops up?Do you know that you think you can just watch one YouTube video and then seemingly the next second you realize youve watched 10?Do you know that you can never just send a quick text to your best friend, it always becomes a 20-minute text conversation?Write down what you already know is taking more time than it should during your day as a commitment to admitting it and fixing the issue.Automatic monitoring: Once youve recorded what you already know, one of the easiest next steps is to look at the automatic monitoring already in place on your phone.Most phones will give you a weekly report of where you spent time on different apps. You may think that youre not scrolling that much on Instagram, but the data may tell a different story.You can also set up automatic reports of your computer usage if you find thats an issue in addition to your phone.Personal time tracking: A third way to identify your time sucks is through personal time tracking where you can make note of where your time is going both on and off the screen. I typically recommend tracking your time for at least two days, but if you want to do a more thorough analysis, document it for a week.This can be done on paper, in an Excel document, or by using tools like Toggl or Timeular. My clients sometimes prefer the software options because of the ability to see consolidated reports. But if you find them overwhelming, its completely fine to keep things simple.If you complete the above three steps, youre starting to get a clear picture of where your time might be overinvested. Then its time to take action. Here are some tips on eliminating, or at least reducing, the three biggest time sucks in most peoples days.Eliminating Your Time SucksScreen timeSome screen time can be a nice mental break. But if your data shows that you have more than 30 minutes of personal screen time during the workday that doesnt fall into designated times off, like your lunch break, then youre probably spending too much time in that category.If you cant handle social media or news sites, put the nuclear option on your device so that youre completely blocked from viewing them outside of scheduled times and have no option to undo the choice. You can also add online shopping sites or TV or movie sites like NetFlix or Hulu to the blocked list. If you work from home and are a gamer, considering locking up your controllers in a timed box so that you cant even think about beating the next level.CommunicationIn addition to screen time, inefficient communication can be a huge time suck in your workday. In fact, I see it as one of the biggest time wasters among people who are working much longer hours than they would prefer.To start, youll want to reduce or eliminate any scheduled meetings that dont actually need to happen. There are many times where an email could suffice instead of a meeting. For example, when people contact me who I dont know asking for a 15-minute meeting to explain something, I always reply by asking them to send over more information in written form. That way in less than a minute, I can scan what they sent and decide if it merits a conversation, and my workflow isnt interrupted by unnecessary meetings.If youre in an office environment, beware of the drive-by meetings. They can be super useful, but they also can be productivity destroying. If you really need to focus and have a door, close it. If you dont have a door or people open your door spontaneously, put up a sign and/or put on headphones. Some of my clients even go so far to set up office hours, which are times when theyre OK with drop-in chats. Outside of those office hours, they request that people schedule a meeting.And finally, email and other asynchronous communication tools like IM or Slack can consume massive amounts more time than needed if you let them. One of the best ways to reduce time in these areas is to have designated times you log in and batch reply to all of the new messages, such as at the beginning, middle, and end of the workday. If thats not permissible, at least give yourself a few spaces throughout the day to get focused work done by turning off notifications and if needed, putting up Do not disturb.DisorganizationA final category of time suck during the workday is plain disorganization. You can waste so much time by being lost or losing items.Start with a plan: I encourage all of my clients to make daily and weekly planning a ritual so that theyre clear on their priorities and always know what to do next. But if thats too overwhelming to start, at least write down the three most important things to accomplish for the day. That simple act can dramatically increase your progress on your most critical tasks.Leverage your energy: If youre a super morning person, purposefully block that time from meetings, spend minimal time on email, and get your hardest tasks done first. If youre barely awake until 10 a.m., do the opposite. Start slow responding to others and having a few meetings, and then block off 3 p.m. and later for your own work. Failing to organize your tasks around your energy levels can leave you frustrated because you have the time but not the mental capacity to get hard work done.Organize your environment: You dont need office drawers worthy of a Pinterest post. But you do need to be able to find what you need when you need it. If your physical disorganization or electronic disorganization is causing you to waste needless time searching for things, take some time to get yourself in order. Sometimes that looks like spending a couple of hours purging your desk and filing things away. Other times, its best to work on a few papers or folders a day until you have sufficient organization.Your time will rarely be 100% utilized. But by following these tips you can dramatically reduce the time lost on time sucks so that you can invest it in what matters to you most.

Its telling that the plot premise of the first episode for the new Apple show The Studioepisode three drops todayrevolves entirely around the notion of a Kool-Aid movie.Created by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the entire show revolves around the elevation of Rogens character Matt Remick to studio head, a job he got only because he committed to getting into bed with the brand IP of a 98-year-old beverage. How the premiere episode subsequently ties in Martin Scorcese and a film about Jonestown to the Kool-Aid brand is both hilariously absurd and somehow absolutely believable.Speaking of believable, watch the scene in which filmmaker Nick Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Captain Underpants, Neighbors) pitches Remick his Kool-Aid script idea and tell me it couldnt be hitting theaters next summer.There is a scene in the first episode that undoubtedly had marketers of all stripes howling with laughter and cringing with recognition. It takes place in a boardroom of the fictional film studio Continental Studios, in which newly promoted Remick tells the studios head of marketing (played by Kathryn Hahn) that they will be making a movie based on Kool-Aid brand IP.Lets fucking go! exclaims Hahns character, holding a giant Stanley cup. I could sell the fuck out of that!Kathryn Hahn and Chase Sui Wonders [Photo: Apple TV+]We then get a very short, yet incredibly accurate, summary of the current tension in Hollywood when it comes to brand IP. Remick details why Barbie was successful. It had Greta Gerwig, a writer-director behind it, he says. It had a filmmakers vision. Thats what were going to do with Kool-Aid. Were going to make the auteur-driven, Oscar-winning Kool-Aid film.Hahns character groans. Oh fuck me, you want to make a fucking fancy Kool-Aid movie? she says. Why? Nobody even fucking watches the Oscars anymore. Did Mario Bros win an Oscar? No, it didnt. But you know what it did win? $1.3 billion.Rogen said last week on the podcast Armchair Expert that prior to writing the show, he and Goldberg interviewed just about every studio head, and their heads of marketing. As profanely hysterical as this show is, its depiction of the relationship between Hollywood, marketing, and brands is rooted in an immediately recognizable reality.I spoke to sources that include execs and creatives who work across brands and entertainment, studio marketers, and yes, Kool-Aid parent Kraft Heinz, to see just how recognizable it really is. Here are three things The Studio gets right.[Photo: Apple TV+]The MarketerKathryn Hahn is both brilliant and brilliantly over-the-top, but her characters role in the studio decision making process is illustrated perfectly. The modern studio marketer is now a part of the project approval process for films, given the ongoing challenges of getting our attention and convincing us to actually go to the movie theaters.But just as Remick initially ignores her advice, the marketers are also at the mercy of those above them in the studio food chain. In his Armchair Expert interview, Rogen said (starting around 50-minute mark), even though the marketer is on the greenlight committee, Often they get directly overruled, he said. They would say, We should not make this movie! We cannot sell it! And then theyre told (by studio execs) Guess what, we made it anyway and if it fails youre the one whos going to get fired. That was just a really funny dynamic to have in the show.Of course, sometimes that dynamic works incredibly well. Back in 2023, I spoke to Universals CMO Michael Moses about Cocaine Bear, which went on to make $88 million worldwide on a $35 million budget. Moses department helped boost the hype around that film by making fun social posts like the bear snorting the chalk lines of the football field, and creating a 8-bit, Pac-Man-style online game called The Rise of Pablo Escobear.Rogen told the podcast that the studio marketers he spoke to view themselves as more creative than the executives. Theyre like, We actually make stuff. We create things. Were making commercials, content, posters, were thinking of little ads, while these guys (execs) are just sitting in rooms and giving notes, said Rogen.Studio marketers I spoke to on background told me that the show has been a hot topic in their office hallways. They said that the balance between how recognizable and farcical it is, is a ton of fun, and they love Hahns sweatily trendy marketer and her willingness to tell the truth.Bryan Cranston [Photo: Apple TV+]The Brand TensionPatient zero of Hollywoods latest Great Brand IP Experiment is obviously Barbie, and the iconic doll subsequently catches some hilariously vulgar strays in The Studio.While the hype around brands and Hollywood is very real, there is really a small number of companies like Superconnector Studios, ACE Content, and Modern Arts that have been able to bridge the two in a meaningful and consistent way.Modern Arts cofounder and cochief creative officer Zac Ryder says The Studios first episode nails how hungry Hollywood is for IP that it believes audiences already know and love. And I think it nails how hungry brands are to be part of pop culture in a real way, says Ryder. Now more than ever, they need each other if theyre going to survive. Theres a sense of desperation to the episode, which I think is spot on.In the wake of Barbies success back in 2023, Mattel announced plans for more IP-driven film projects that sound straight out of The Studiolike a Polly Pocket movie directed by Lena Dunham, or a Barney movie produced by Daniel Kaluuya. Dunham dropped out of the former last year, but Mattel confirmed to Fast Company earlier this month the film is still in development. The Barney project is very much in progress, written by Ayo Edebiri and co-developed and produced by A24. This sounds straight from the Remick playbook.Ryder says a lot of studio execs still think of brands as a blank check. That a brand will just go along with anything for an opportunity to be involved in a project, he says. The connection between Kool-Aid and the Jonestown massacre is an insanely far fetched, hilarious example. But I do think theres some truth to it.However, as evidenced in the dramatically slowing pace of brand IP projects being announced since the initial Barbie afterglow, that attitude towards brands has evolved. There are a lot more executives and producers in the business who see the value a brand can bring to the table, especially when it comes to marketing and understanding an audience, says Ryder.Ryder says there are insights for brand marketers watching The Studio. Make sure you arent just getting your brand involved in a project because you want to tell people about your movie at a cocktail party, he says. Be very clear and very intentional with what you want the brand to get out of the deal. Also, know what you bring to the table. In many ways, the studios need you more than you need them.Martin Scorsese [Photo: Apple TV+]The Kool-Aid MovieWhile Martin Scorceses repurposed Jonestown film is so very clearly miles over the line, Stollers treatment is entirely believable.Superconnector Studios cofounder Jae Goodman says that its believability extends beyond the fictional world of The Studio. Despite the hilarity of the brands role in the studio, no chance any reasonable brand manager stays officially connected to the studio once the Jonestown idea appears, says Goodman. If the storyline veers away from Scorceses Jonestown, then I think theres an opportunity down the line to do an actual Seth-and-Evan-led Kool Aid movie.One thing that nagged me while watching this episode was just how visible and upfront Kool-Aid was in all the jokes. The iconic Kool-Aid Man character even makes an appearance in a quick TIKTok dance diversion created by Hahns marketing team. Could the real Kool-Aid brand actually be involved here?Sources close with the brand and its parent Kraft Heinz say that Rogen and Goldberg did approach the brand, including sharing scripts and rough edits, in the hopes Kool-Aid would be officially involved. Obviously, the Jonestown plotline and jokes got in the way of that.But sources also said that Kraft Heinz has been in discussions with Apple to explore potential paths forward. While the shows portrayal of Kool-Aid may not always align with its brand ethos, the company recognizes the value in having its brands in the cultural zeitgeist.Its refreshing to see that a brand has enough self-awareness and confidence to not freak out over its portrayal in a subversive comedy. Ive got a feeling that Kool-Aid isnt the last IRL brand to get name-checked and more as the show goes on.As much as Mattel must be doing its best Lloyd Christmas impression while watching the show, do you think the folks at Kraft Heinz are cautiously optimistic for where all this could lead? Mr. Kool-Aid has a catchphrase for that.

With the release of his latest book, Bill Gates is enjoying fawning profiles meant to set him apart from other tech billionaires, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, who have all come under increased scrutiny for their recent turn to the right. While he may not be using technology to further political divisiveness, Gates does have an important kinship with his fellow billionaires, past and present: the paternalistic belief that his fortune, no matter how ill-gotten, is a good thing, because hes using it to save the world.This philosophy was first laid out in 1889 by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, one of the richest Americans in history, in an influential essay titled the Gospel of Wealth. Carnegies response to the rising progressive sentiment of his day was to argue that wealth concentration is beneficial to society because it incentivizes innovation, efficiency, and economic growthand it also provides a further social good through philanthropy. The harsh treatment of workers and environmental degradation became worth the price of thousands of libraries.Sound familiar? Todays tech leaders provide almost the exact same logic for the legitimacy of their fortunes and as a justification for inequality. Influential venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, for instance, explicitly refers to this as a deal he believes exists between Silicon Valley and society, such that tech moguls should be given significant freedom to generate wealth through the innovations they create, and any negative societal or environmental impacts that result will eventually be offset by their future generosity.Andreessen says Joe Bidens breaking of this unspoken compact is what led to his and other tech leaders rightward turn and support of fellow billionaire Donald Trump.But of all the philanthropists following the neo-Carnegie deal, Gates is the pacesetter, despite the fact that there has been significant criticism of this model. Carnegies ideas are so discredited that when I taught a class on philanthropy at Harvard Kennedy School a number of years ago, we read Carnegies Gospel in the first session as an example of what not to do. Not only is the idea that business success somehow gives individuals both the right and the expertise to determine solutions to vexing social issues problematic, the Carnegie model is a blatant guidebook for philanthropy-washing and undermines democracy by concentrating decision-making in the hands of unelected billionaires rather than public institutions.Like Carnegie, the start of Gatess philanthropy was closely tied to significant critiques of his business practices and the source of his wealth. Twenty-five years ago, Microsoft was sued by the U.S. government for bundling Internet Explorer with other products in anti-competitive ways. When videos of Gatess deposition for the case were made public, his image took a significant hit. He came across as evasive and arrogant, refusing to acknowledge basic facts, denying understanding of common words like concern and support, and often dodging accountability.While at the time he and other tech moguls were known as the cyber-stingy for their lack of giving back, like Carnegie he came to see philanthropy as a way to restore and eventually burnish his reputation. Today there are many public testaments to the work of the Gates Foundation. For instance its funding of vaccines for polio, rotavirus, and COVID-19 and its work on malaria and HIV prevention have been estimated to have saved well over 100 million lives.But like Carnegie, Gates work has also come under criticism for a selective focus, and reflecting a billionaires know best ideology. While Carnegies interest inbuilding libraries and museums was laudable, it reflected his own biases and priorities, not the needs of the communities he sought to serve. At the time, the working-class and immigrant communities that suffered from his businesses employment practices often had little access or interest in these institutions, and would have benefited more fromlabor protections, housing, or public health infrastructure.Some of the Gates Foundations most well-known failures also illustrate an underlying imperial style that reflects Gatess own idiosyncratic interests rather than grassroots, democratic solutions, resulting in questionable outcomes.The Foundations education reform efforts pushed for standardized testing and charter schools in the U.S., which ignored teacher expertise and worsened inequality. In Africa, it has promoted industrial farming and genetically modified cropsoften against the wishes of local farmers who advocate for sustainable, small-scale agricultureand a number of reports have shown that these activities have not provided food security. Similarly, Gatess focus on addressing climate change centers on questionable technologies like direct air capture and geo-engineering that require extensive financial support rather than addressing emissions reductions solutions that consider climate justice needs.Many of my students who had worked in nonprofits expressed significant frustration about the dominance of the Gates Foundation in skewing the nonprofit landscape to Gatess personal interests, and further, how its bias toward quantification reflects a rigid, engineering-style approach to problem-solving that ignores the cultural, social, and historical contexts that shape human behavior. This is seen as a root cause of its educational reform failures. A focus on creating measures of teaching effectiveness and tracking them in detail led to stress for teachers, and contributed to teaching to the test, as opposed to more meaningful learning.This overly data-driven approach to philanthropy also closely tracks with effective altruism (EA), a philosophy that has wide resonance among the tech-elite. EA advocates a strict utilitarian logic to ethical decisions and treats problems as optimization puzzles rather than complex moral or social dilemmas. For example, its focus on assessing the outcome of charity based on the metric quality-adjusted life years ignores how such measures implicitly devalue certain groupssuch as the disabledand any approaches that dont fit into a neat cost-benefit framework.Disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was an effective altruist, and Elon Musk has described EA as a close match for his own personal philosophy.The level of hubris exhibited by Gates, Musk, and Andreessen when rationalizing their actions hasnt been seen since the Gilded Age. But we cant forget that theres a reason why these 19th-century industrialists were known as robber barons.Our current era has much in common with Carnegies day, when leaps in industrial, communications, and transportation technologies transformed the ways that people lived, and also led to extreme income inequality and the rise of a new class of ultrarich entrepreneurs. There was political gridlock and significant backlash against immigration too. Eventually, outrage at the widespread and systemic injustice of the Gilded Age led to the Progressive Era.But will todays polycrisis of climate change, economic inequality, public health challenges, and more create enough momentum for a fundamental shift in how we assess wealth and its sources? During the second Trump administration, it may be tempting to rely on Gates and his cohort of good billionaires, as newly elected Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin recently suggested. But there will be no 21st-century Progressive Era unless we start to question how one person is able to amass such wealth in the first place.

Shares of Newsmax continued to rise on Tuesday following a massive public debut on Monday, in which shares shot up more than 700% for the best-performing first day since 2022.Investors who bought in at the $10 IPO price are reaping a massive potential return. When trading opened on Monday morning, Newsmax shares, trading under the NMAX ticker, rose from $10 to close at nearly $78. After hours, values continued to rise, and when trading opened on Tuesday, the stock saw another surge.As of roughly 2 p.m. ET, shares were trading at around $215, an increase of almost 160%.The trading has been intense, and was even halted numerous times on Monday due to volatility. That volatility has evidently caught the attention of retail investors, some of whom, on social media and trader forums, are comparing it to the GameStop meme stock mania from a few years ago.Newsmax may also have some other similarities to GameStopnotably, that its a company thats been losing money (it lost $55.5 million during the first six months of 2024); and as a cable news network, is competing in a field that is losing steam, similarly to GameStops physical video game retail model.Also, Newsmax is a competitor to Fox News, which has been able to beat its chief competitors MSNBC and CNN in recent years and recently had its best February on record, averaging 3.1 million primetime viewers for the entire month. Newsmaxwhich tends to offer programming that is often even further to the right than Foxis hoping to tap into that audience and pilfer some of those viewers for itself.As for whats playing out in the markets? Its something of a cherry on top for Newsmax. The company was founded by Christopher Ruddy in 1998; its cable news network launched in 2014 and now, with Trump back in the White House, appears to be flying high.

Gadgets sold without batteries. Toys sold in slimmed-down boxes or no packaging at all. More household goods that shoppers need to assemble themselves.These are some of the ways consumer product companies are retooling their wares to reduce costs and avoid raising pricesas President Donald Trump leviesnew import taxes on key trading partners as well as some materials used by American manufacturers.The economic environment in which the president has imposed, threatened and occasionally postponed repeated rounds of tariffs is more precarious than during his first term. U.S. consumers arefeeling tapped outafter several years of inflation. Businesses say tariffsadd to their expensesand eat into their profits, but they are wary of losing sales if they try to pass all of the increase on to customers.Instead, some companies are exploring cost-cutting options, both ones that consumers likely would notice in time remembershrinkflation? and ones that exist too far down the supply chain for them to see. The changes may help minimize price increases, yet wont be enough in every case to offset them completely.These are some of the strategies retailers and brands have in mind:A kink in the supply chainAfter putting an extra 20% tariff on all goods from China, as well as a 25% tariff on imported steel, aluminum andautomobiles, Trump said he would announce on Wednesday the targets ofreciprocal tariffsthat mirror the taxes all other nations apply to certain U.S. exports.He argues the tariffs will spur domestic manufacturing, among other goals.Also on the horizon: twice-delayed tariffs on most goodsfrom Canadaand Mexico, and duties on copper,lumberand pharmaceutical drugs.Kimberly Kirkendall, president of supply-chain consulting firm International Resource Development, has told clients U.S. makers of shelving, home goods and food products that given all the uncertainty, this is not the time for long-term moves like seeking factories outside of China.She encouraged them to focus on the short term, particularly the need to scrutinize product lines from every angle for possible savings.Youve got to collaborate and work together with your suppliers in this situation to be able to bring costs down, Kirkendall said.Sourcing concerns are not only a worry for big companies that rely on Chinese manufacturers. Sasha Iglehart, founder of a small online clothing company called Shirt Story, has a collection of upcycled mens shirts that sell for around $235. She said she typically gets her vintage buttons from an Austrian supplier and knows Trump has talked about taxing goods from the European Union.I will continue to look for local vendors and collectors here in the States as back up, said Iglehart, whose company is based in Connecticut.Reworking a productFor many companies, evaluating which components or details they can remove from their products or replace with less expensive ones is the go-to move for absorbing the potential financial hit from tariffs.Los Angeles-based toy company Abacus Brands Inc., which designs science kits and other educational toys, has most of its products made in China. By using slightly thinner paper in an 80-page project book that comes with two of its kits, the company expects to avert a $10 retail price increase, President Steve Rad said.Three or 4 cents here, Rad said. Seven or 6 cents there. Two more pennies over there. All of a sudden, youve made up the difference.Aurora World Inc., known for its plush pets and toy vehicles, is looking at using fewer paint colors as a way to counteract tariff costs, according to Gabe Higa, managing director of the California companys toy division. All of Aurora Worlds toys come from factories in China.This is something that makes it a little bit simpler so that theres less manual labor involved or less material cost, Higa said. (It) doesnt have a lot of incremental value so its easy to take away.The company still may have to raise prices as long as the new tariffs are in effect, he said.Economy packagingTweaking or reducingproduct packagingis another area where importers may cut back and carries the advantage of possibly appealing toeco-conscious customers.Basic Fun CEO Jay Foreman, whose company markets classic toys like Tonka trucks, Lincoln Logs and Care Bears, said he is presenting retailers with three different packaging options and asking them to decide which ones they prefer for the trucks and some other products that will be in stores next spring.The first is the current packaging, which consists of a box with a big open window that lets customers see whats inside. The second option: no box, just a tray attached to the bottom of toys to hold them in place on shelves. The third: unwrapped but affixed with a simple paper price tag that features brand information.The second-tier packaging would reduce the toy companys cost per item by $1.25, and the package-free version would yield savings of $1.75, Foreman said. Both would diminish the appeal of the products and would not come close to canceling out the tariff on goods made in China, Foreman said.He said he would make pricing decisions later this week after Trump provides details about his planned reciprocal tariffs.To further reduce its production costs, Abacus Brands is thinking of switching from plastic to cardboard for the package inserts that keep toy parts in place. Cardboard trays cost 7 cents per unit compared to 30 cents for the plastic version, according to Rad.The change requires finding a new factory to make the inserts, a move that did not make financial sense before now, he said. The various tariff-related modifications should be effective for fall and holiday deliveries to stores, Rad said.The compromises were making are things that do not matter to the consumer, he said.Forget the extrasShoppers will likely have to assemble more of their products at home as companies look to reduce shipping costs, according to Kirkendall of International Resource Development.One of her clients manufactures self-watering planters that are made in China. The product is undergoing a redesign so it can be shipped as separate nesting components instead of fully assembled.Companies also are reevaluating the pieces of their products that are essential or extra. Chris Bajda, managing partner at online wedding gift retailer Groomsday, said accessories like batteries and decorative gift boxes may end up in the latter category.We now carefully assess whats truly necessary and avoid including items that dont serve a functional purpose for the customer, Bajda said.The return of shrinkflation?Reducing the size or weight of products without lowering prices proliferated as a business practice from 2021 through 2024 as companies grappled with rising costs for ingredients, packaging, labor and transportation.Edgar Dworsky, a consumer advocate and former assistant attorney general in Massachusetts, suspects the makers of consumer goods will embrace shrinkflation again to hide costs given the blast of new tariffs. The additional import tax on Canadian soft lumber, for example, might show up in smaller toilet paper rolls, he said.Shrinkflation has been a little quiet in the last few months, Dworksy said. But I would expect to see both price increases and product shrinkage.Anne DInnocenzio, AP retail writer