News Digest

 President Trump launched a broad attack on the wind power industry in the United States, with a sweeping executive order that could block not just new offshore wind farms in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans but potentially many smaller wind farms on federal land and even on private property across the country. The order, which Mr. Trump signed in the Oval Office on Monday night, would halt all leasing of federal lands and waters for new wind farms pending a fresh government review of the industry. It also directs federal agencies to stop issuing permits for all wind farms anywhere in the country for the time being, a move that could disrupt projects on private land, which sometimes need federal wildlife or other environmental permits. While the order does not call for a freeze on wind projects that are already under construction, Mr. Trump directed the U.S. Attorney General and secretary of the interior to explore the possibility of “terminating or amending” any leases that have al...

 REMOVING BARRIERS TO AMERICAN AI INNOVATION: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order eliminating harmful Biden Administration AI policies and enhancing America’s global AI dominance. President Trump is fulfilling his promise to revoke Joe Biden’s dangerous Executive Order that hinders AI innovation and imposes onerous and unnecessary government control over the development of AI. The Biden AI Executive Order established unnecessarily burdensome requirements for companies developing and deploying AI that would stifle private sector innovation and threaten American technological leadership. Today’s executive order: Revokes the Biden AI Executive Order which hampered the private sector’s ability to innovate in AI by imposing government control over AI development and deployment. Calls for departments and agencies to revise or rescind all policies, directives, regulations, orders, and other actions taken under the Biden AI order that are inconsistent with enhancing ...

 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to promote United States leadership in digital assets and financial technology while protecting economic liberty, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1.  Purpose and Policies.  (a)  The digital asset industry plays a crucial role in innovation and economic development in the United States, as well as our Nation’s international leadership.  It is therefore the policy of my Administration to support the responsible growth and use of digital assets, blockchain technology, and related technologies across all sectors of the economy, including by: (i)    protecting and promoting the ability of individual citizens and private-sector entities alike to access and use for lawful purposes open public blockchain networks without persecution, including the ability to develop and deploy software, to participate in mining and validating, to ...

 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Purpose. The United States has long been at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation, driven by the strength of our free markets, world-class research institutions, and entrepreneurial spirit. To maintain this leadership, we must develop AI systems that are free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas. With the right Government policies, we can solidify our position as the global leader in AI and secure a brighter future for all Americans. This order revokes certain existing AI policies and directives that act as barriers to American AI innovation, clearing a path for the United States to act decisively to retain global leadership in artificial intelligence. Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance in order to promote human flourishing, ec...

 day, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to establish regulatory clarity for digital financial technology and secure America’s position as the world’s leader in the digital asset economy, driving innovation and economic opportunity for all Americans. The Executive Order establishes the Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets to strengthen U.S. leadership in digital finance. The Working Group will be tasked with developing a Federal regulatory framework governing digital assets, including stablecoins, and evaluating the creation of a strategic national digital assets stockpile. The Working Group will be chaired by the White House AI & Crypto Czar and include the Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the heads of other relevant departments and agencies. The White House AI & Crypto Czar will engage leading experts in digital assets and digital markets to ensure that the actions of the Working Group a...

 oday, President Donald J. Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum to deliver emergency price relief for American families and defeat the cost-of-living crisis. The Presidential Memorandum recognizes a critical component of the crushing cost of everyday living. The Biden Administration imposed complex regulatory burdens and radical policies designed to weaken American production.  President Trump is ordering all Federal agencies to untangle the American economy from Biden constraints and improve affordability of necessary goods and services and increase the prosperity of the American workers. This includes action to: Drastically lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply; Eliminate unnecessary administrative expenses and rent-seeking practices that drive up healthcare costs; Eliminate counterproductive requirements raising the costs of home appliances; Create employment opportunities for American workers including drawing discouraged workers into the labor force; and E...

 President Trump on Tuesday announced a joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle to create at least $100 billion in computing infrastructure to power artificial intelligence. The venture, called Stargate, adds to tech companies’ significant investments in U.S. data centers, huge buildings full of servers that provide computing power. Stargate could eventually invest as much as $500 billion over four years. The three companies plan to contribute funds to the venture, which will be open to other investors and start with 10 data centers already under construction in Texas. The announcement of the joint venture was an early trophy for Mr. Trump, even though the effort to form the venture predates his taking office on Monday. Mr. Trump has promised to accelerate the production of American-made A.I. to compete against China for global leadership in the technology, and on Monday he rolled back an executive order from former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. that imposed standards on ...

 President Trump on Monday signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the pact among almost all nations to fight climate change. By withdrawing, the United States will join Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only four countries not party to the agreement, under which nations work together to keep global warming below levels that could lead to environmental catastrophe. The move, one of several energy-related announcements in the hours  following his inauguration, is yet another about-face in United States participation in global climate negotiations. During his first term Mr. Trump withdrew from the Paris accord, but then President Biden quickly rejoined in 2020 after winning the White House. Scientists, activists and Democratic officials assailed the move as one that would deepen the climate crisis and backfire on American workers. Coupled with Mr. Trump’s other energy measures on Monday, withdrawal from the pact signals his administration’s d...

 e State of Alaska holds an abundant and largely untapped supply of natural resources including, among others, energy, mineral, timber, and seafood. Unlocking this bounty of natural wealth will raise the prosperity of our citizens while helping to enhance our Nation’s economic and national security for generations to come.  By developing these resources to the fullest extent possible, we can help deliver price relief for Americans, create high-quality jobs for our citizens, ameliorate our trade imbalances, augment the Nation’s exercise of global energy dominance, and guard against foreign powers weaponizing energy supplies in theaters of geopolitical conflict. Unleashing this opportunity, however, requires an immediate end to the assault on Alaska’s sovereignty and its ability to responsibly develop these resources for the benefit of the Nation.  It is, therefore, imperative to immediately reverse the punitive restrictions implemented by the previous administration that s...

 This active threat to the American people from high energy prices is exacerbated by our Nation’s diminished capacity to insulate itself from hostile foreign actors.  Energy security is an increasingly crucial theater of global competition.  In an effort to harm the American people, hostile state and non-state foreign actors have targeted our domestic energy infrastructure, weaponized our reliance on foreign energy, and abused their ability to cause dramatic swings within international commodity markets.  An affordable and reliable domestic supply of energy is a fundamental requirement for the national and economic security of any nation. The integrity and expansion of our Nation’s energy infrastructure —- from coast to coast -— is an immediate and pressing priority for the protection of the United States’ national and economic security.  It is imperative that the Federal government puts the physical and economic wellbeing of the American people first. Moreover,...

 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:  Section 1.  Background.  America is blessed with an abundance of energy and natural resources that have historically powered our Nation’s economic prosperity.  In recent years, burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations have impeded the development of these resources, limited the generation of reliable and affordable electricity, reduced job creation, and inflicted high energy costs upon our citizens.  These high energy costs devastate American consumers by driving up the cost of transportation, heating, utilities, farming, and manufacturing, while weakening our national security. It is thus in the national interest to unleash America’s affordable and reliable energy and natural resources.  This will restore American prosperity —- including for those men and women who have been forgotten by our economy in recent y...

      Sec. 2.  Revocation of Orders and Actions.  The following executive actions are hereby revoked: Executive Order 13985 of January 20, 2021 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government). Executive Order 13986 of January 20, 2021 (Ensuring a Lawful and Accurate Enumeration and Apportionment Pursuant to the Decennial Census). Executive Order 13987 of January 20, 2021 (Organizing and Mobilizing the United States Government To Provide a Unified and Effective Response To Combat COVID-19 and To Provide United States Leadership on Global Health and Security). Executive Order 13988 of January 20, 2021 (Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation). Executive Order 13989 of January 20, 2021 (Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel). Executive Order 13990 of January 20, 2021 (Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Clima...

 America’s efforts to cut its climate change pollution stalled in 2024, with greenhouse gas emissions dropping just a fraction, 0.2 percent, compared to the year before, according to estimates published Thursday by the Rhodium Group, a research firm. Despite continued rapid growth in solar and wind power, emissions levels stayed relatively flat last year because demand for electricity surged nationwide, which led to a spike in the amount of natural gas burned by power plants. The fact that emissions didn’t decline much means the United States is even further off-track from hitting President Biden’s goal of slashing greenhouse gases 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Scientists say all major economies would have to cut their emissions deeply this decade to keep global warming at relatively low levels. Since 2005, United States emissions have fallen roughly 20 percent, a significant drop at a time when the economy has also expanded. But to meet its climate goals, U.S. emissions wo...

 There were more than 32,000 cases of whooping cough in 2024, the highest tally in a decade. In California alone, the disease struck 2,000 people between January and October last year. More than 60 infants younger than 4 months were hospitalized in the state. One died. Whooping cough, or pertussis, is just the most stark example of what happens when vaccination rates decline. But it is far from the only one. The pandemic interrupted childhood immunizations across the country, and rates have not yet recovered. As a result, hundreds of thousands of children are increasingly vulnerable to diseases once largely relegated to history books. Most of them predominantly affect young children, like measles, mumps and rubella. But if immunizations continue to fall over the next few years — because of rising distrust, or more restrictive federal policies — preventable infectious diseases will resurface in all age groups, experts say. “It might take a year or two, but there’s no question,” said...

 Altogether, according to a 2011 Institute of Medicine report, roughly 100 million Americans, almost one-third of the U.S. population, have chronic pain, more than have diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined. Globally, some studies put the number at two billion. Despite this, the study of pain has long been neglected. The National Institutes of Health has no center devoted to pain, and for decades, pain research received only a fraction of the funding that went to the study of illnesses like heart disease and diabetes. One reason for this, paradoxically, is that pain is a part of so many different conditions. “It touches on cancer, it touches on neurodegeneration, it touches on diabetes, it touches on biomechanics and injury, it touches on mental health,” says Robert Gereau, who directs the Washington University Pain Center in St. Louis. “Because it’s everywhere, it’s sort of nowhere.” As a result, our understanding of pain, and especially chronic pain, is far behind where it ...

 The number of people in the United States who develop dementia each year will double over the next 35 years to about one million annually by 2060, a new study estimates, and the number of new cases per year among Black Americans will triple. The increase will primarily be due to the growing aging population, as many Americans are living longer than previous generations. By 2060, some of the youngest baby boomers will be in their 90s and many millennials will be in their 70s. Older age is the biggest risk factor for dementia. The study found that the vast majority of dementia risk occurred after age 75, increasing further as people reached age 95. The study, published Monday in Nature Medicine, found that adults over 55 had a 42 percent lifetime risk of developing dementia. That is considerably higher than previous lifetime risk estimates, a result the authors attributed to updated information about Americans’ health and longevity and the fact that their study population was more d...

 Across the United States, technology centered on cellphones — in the form of text messages, videos and social media — has increasingly fueled and sometimes intensified campus brawls, disrupting schools and derailing learning. The school fight videos then often spark new cycles of student cyberbullying, verbal aggression and violence. A New York Times review of more than 400 fight videos from schools in California, Georgia, Texas and a dozen other states — as well as interviews with three dozen school leaders, teachers, police officers, pupils, parents and researchers — found a pattern of middle and high school students exploiting phones and social media to arrange, provoke, capture and spread footage of brutal beatings among their peers. In several cases, students later died from the injuries. Technology has increasingly fostered and amplified every stage of this aggression. The arguments often begin with student cyberbullying — or even perceived online disrespect among friends — ...

 Sean Karaman, a freshman at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, hadn’t always paid close attention to his credit card spending. But after taking a personal finance course on campus last fall, he said, he is much more likely to pay as he goes. “I’ve become best friends with my debit card,” said Mr. Karaman, 21, who plays on the U.N.L.V. hockey team. More than two-thirds of states require high school students to take a personal finance class before graduation, according to the Council for Economic Education. Now, personal finance courses, offered mostly as electives, are sprouting up at public and private colleges nationwide and getting a boost from a new initiative by Stanford University. While some colleges have long offered personal finance classes, the new effort to develop and promote college-level personal finance instruction carries Stanford’s academic heft. “There really is a need among all students, and society as a whole, to learn more about personal finance,” said J. Dan...

 Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming central to both security and economic strength. The United States must act decisively to lead this transition by ensuring that U.S. technology undergirds global AI use and that adversaries cannot easily abuse advanced AI. In the wrong hands, powerful AI systems have the potential to exacerbate significant national security risks, including by enabling the development of weapons of mass destruction, supporting powerful offensive cyber operations, and aiding human rights abuses, such as mass surveillance. Today, countries of concern actively employ AI – including U.S.-made AI – in this way, and seek to undermine U.S. AI leadership.   To enhance U.S. national security and economic strength, it is essential that we do not offshore this critical technology and that the world’s AI runs on American rails. It is important to work with AI companies and foreign governments to put in place critical security and trust standards as they build ou...