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EU chief in Uruguay for final talks on a huge trade deal with the South American Mercosur blocProvidence, Oklahoma hope key players are back in Bahamas
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands (AP) — Javohn Garcia scored 16 points as McNeese beat Illinois State 76-68 on Friday. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands (AP) — Javohn Garcia scored 16 points as McNeese beat Illinois State 76-68 on Friday. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands (AP) — Javohn Garcia scored 16 points as McNeese beat Illinois State 76-68 on Friday. Garcia also contributed seven rebounds for the Cowboys (3-2). Brandon Murray shot 4 of 10 from the field and 5 for 7 from the line to add 13 points. Sincere Parker shot 4 for 8 (2 for 5 from 3-point range) and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line to finish with 13 points. Ty Pence led the way for the Redbirds (3-2) with 14 points and six rebounds. Malachi Poindexter added 13 points for Illinois State. Logan Wolf had 11 points. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. AdvertisementRodgers: Jets 'my first option' if I play in 2025It looked like a recipe for disaster. So, when his country's swimmers were being accused of doping earlier this year, one Chinese official cooked up something fast. He blamed it on contaminated noodles. In fact, he argued, it could have been a culinary conspiracy concocted by criminals, whose actions led to the cooking wine used to prepare the noodles being laced with a banned heart drug that found its way into an athlete's system. This theory was spelled out to international anti-doping officials during a meeting and, after weeks of wrangling, finally made it into the thousands of pages of data handed over to the lawyer who investigated the case involving 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for that same drug. The attorney, appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, refused to consider that scenario as he sifted through the evidence. In spelling out his reasoning, lawyer Eric Cottier paid heed to the half-baked nature of the theory. "The Investigator considers this scenario, which he has described in the conditional tense, to be possible, no less, no more," Cottier wrote. Even without the contaminated-noodles theory, Cottier found problems with the way WADA and the Chinese handled the case but ultimately determined WADA had acted reasonably in not appealing China's conclusion that its athletes had been inadvertently contaminated. Critics of the way the China case was handled can't help but wonder if a wider exploration of the noodle theory, details of which were discovered by The Associated Press via notes and emails from after the meeting where it was delivered, might have lent a different flavor to Cottier's conclusions. "There are more story twists to the ways the Chinese explain the TMZ case than a James Bond movie," said Rob Koehler, the director general of the advocacy group Global Athlete. "And all of it is complete fiction." In April, reporting from the New York Times and the German broadcaster ARD revealed that the 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine, also known as TMZ. China's anti-doping agency determined the athletes had been contaminated, and so, did not sanction them. WADA accepted that explanation, did not press the case further, and China was never made to deliver a public notice about the "no-fault findings," as is often seen in similar cases. The stock explanation for the contamination was that traces of TMZ were found in the kitchen of a hotel where the swimmers were staying. In his 58-page report, Cottier relayed some suspicions about the feasibility of that chain of events — noting that WADA's chief scientist "saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities." But without evidence to support pursuing the case, and with the chance of winning an appeal at almost nil, Cottier determined WADA's "decision not to appeal appears indisputably reasonable." A mystery remained: How did those traces of TMZ get into the kitchen? Shortly after the doping positives were revealed, the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations held a meeting on April 30 where it heard from the leader of China's agency, Li Zhiquan. Li's presentation was mostly filled with the same talking points that have been delivered throughout the saga — that the positive tests resulted from contamination from the kitchen. But he expanded on one way the kitchen might have become contaminated, harkening to another case in China involving a low-level TMZ positive. A pharmaceutical factory, he explained, had used industrial alcohol in the distillation process for producing TMZ. The industrial alcohol laced with the drug "then entered the market through illegal channels," he said. The alcohol "was re-used by the perpetrators to process and produce cooking wine, which is an important seasoning used locally to make beef noodles," Li said. "The contaminated beef noodles were consumed by that athlete, resulting in an extremely low concentration of TMZ in the positive sample. "The wrongdoers involved have been brought to justice." This new information raised eyebrows among the anti-doping leaders listening to Li's report. So much so that over the next month, several emails ensued to make sure the details about the noodles and wine made their way to WADA lawyers, who could then pass it onto Cottier. Eventually, Li did pass on the information to WADA general counsel Ross Wenzel and, just to be sure, one of the anti-doping leaders forwarded it, as well, according to the emails seen by the AP. All this came with Li's request that the noodles story be kept confidential. Turns out, it made it into Cottier's report, though he took the information with a grain of salt. "Indeed, giving it more attention would have required it to be documented, then scientifically verified and validated," he wrote. Neither Wenzel nor officials at the Chinese anti-doping agency returned messages from AP asking about the noodles conspiracy and the other athlete who Li suggested had been contaminated by them. Meanwhile, 11 of the swimmers who originally tested positive competed at the Paris Games earlier this year in a meet held under the cloud of the Chinese doping case. Though WADA considers the case closed, Koehler and others point to situations like this as one of many reasons that an investigation by someone other than Cottier, who was hired by WADA, is still needed. "It gives the appearance that people are just making things up as they go along on this, and hoping the story just goes away," Koehler said. "Which clearly it has not." Get local news delivered to your inbox!
STILLWATER, Oklahoma: What do Blackpink’s Rose, a coastal town in Perak and a sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur have in common? All of them were recently at the centre of disinformation in Malaysia, no thanks to the viral nature of social media. In August, after a tourist fell into an 8m-deep sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur and disappeared, false claims surfaced on social media alleging that the city was built atop a “giant cave” and was unsafe for residents and visitors. A viral TikTok post even tagged this content as “AI-generated news for entertainment” accompanied by manipulated images of the skyline perched over a cavernous void. Despite geologists and the authorities dismissing these claims as impossible, such misinformation fuelled public fear and distrust, allowing sensationalism to overshadow factual reporting. In October, Malaysia’s Health Ministry refuted reports that it had called Rose's and Bruno Mars’ song APT “morally harmful”, saying that statements attributed to the ministry by K-pop entertainment sites were not issued by the government. And just earlier this month, the Manjung Municipal Council in Perak filed a police report over allegations in a viral video on TikTok that claimed it cruelly captured, shot and dumped stray dogs into a rubbish pit. DISINFORMATION AN ENTRENCHED ISSUE Disinformation is an entrenched issue in Malaysia, and polarisation remains a major concern. This is especially rampant during elections. For instance, during Malaysia’s 2022 general election, politically motivated falsehoods spread rapidly through social media platforms, stirring up ethnic and religious tensions. TikTok became a hotbed for ethnoreligious hate speech, with incendiary narratives targeting different communities. Alongside this, the usual rhetoric and recycled misinformation about “ghost voting” (undi hantu) circulated without any solid evidence, while baseless allegations of corruption against various politicians flooded social media platforms. A study by Kuala Lumpur-based non-profit Centre for Independent Journalism found that, during the peak of the election period between October and November 2022, the number of social media posts containing hate speech nearly doubled, with over 99,000 unique messages compared to 55,000 in the previous period. This shows how disinformation thrives on social media, often in local languages, making it harder to combat false narratives. The spread of misleading narratives during election campaigns can create an environment where facts are increasingly obscured by racially charged rhetoric. This damages both the integrity of elections and social cohesion, making it more challenging for the public to discern what is true amidst a sea of manipulated information. PLAYING CATCH-UP Malaysia’s regulatory framework has struggled to keep pace with the rapid spread and sheer volume of digital disinformation. While the country has a rather robust set of laws to address false information, including the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and the newly introduced Cyber Security Act 2024, the enforcement of these laws has historically been slow. Legal cases often take years to process, while false information can spread on social media in a matter of minutes and hours, which makes these laws less effective in real-time. Another problem is that state affiliated fact-checking agencies like Sebenarnya.my and MyCheck have explicitly stated that they do not verify political content, which leaves a big gap in countering political disinformation. While independent fact-checking groups attempt to bridge this gap during politically charged events like elections, the sheer volume of information across multiple languages and dialects makes it extremely difficult for fact-checkers to keep up, leaving these efforts insufficient and often ineffective. This is particularly concerning in the fast-paced context of elections. During these times, rapid verification of political claims is crucial to ensure informed public discourse. Yet, without real-time fact-checking and given the sluggish pace of legal enforcement, false political narratives can spread unchecked, shaping public perception and potentially swaying electoral outcomes. Additionally, the lack of comprehensive media and information literacy training across different age groups exacerbates the problem. Without the skills to critically evaluate digital content, individuals are more vulnerable to disinformation, especially as AI-driven technologies continue to advance. With deep fakes and manipulated images becoming increasingly sophisticated, the risk grows that public trust in the media and democratic institutions will erode because people won’t know how to distinguish between real and fabricated content. THE DEBATE OVER PLATFORM RESPONSIBILITY As Malaysia navigates the challenges of disinformation, the spotlight has turned onto the role social media platforms play in moderating user-generated content. Platforms like Telegram and X have adopted a “hands-off” approach to content moderation, prioritising free speech over the control of harmful content. This laissez-faire attitude allows disinformation, hate speech and divisive narratives to flourish. In a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society like Malaysia, where sensitive issues can easily escalate, this hands-off approach can fuel social instability and exacerbate polarisation. To address this, Malaysia will from January 2025 require social media companies with at least eight million users in the country to apply for an annual operating licence . Conversely, there is also perceived bias in content moderation by tech giants like Meta. In August, Meta faced criticism in Malaysia when it removed posts by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim expressing condolences over the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, labelling the content as problematic. While Anwar’s posts were later restored, the incident highlights broader concerns about selective censorship, particularly when politically or religiously charged content is involved. In a society like Malaysia’s, where discussions around race, religion and politics are both common and sensitive, the perception of bias in content moderation can deepen societal divisions. On one hand, the removal of certain politically significant content could stifle one side of the conversation, further polarising public opinion. On the other hand, platforms like Telegram and X that allow inflammatory content to go unchecked could fan the flames of ethnic or religious discord, leading to greater instability. BALANCING DISINFORMATION MITIGATION AND FREE EXPRESSION The ongoing debate over social media accountability in Malaysia is particularly urgent, as disinformation and hate speech pose serious threats to public trust and social cohesion. Social media platforms wield significant power in shaping narratives, yet their inconsistent approaches to content moderation - whether hands-off or perceived as biased - complicate efforts to maintain balanced public discourse. The preservation of free expression is essential in any democracy, but so is protecting society from the damaging effects of disinformation. Striking the right balance between these two goals remains a critical challenge for Malaysia as it contends with the complex dynamics of its diverse society. Dr Nuurrianti Jalli is Visiting Fellow at the Media, Technology and Society Programme at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute and Assistant Professor at the School of Media and Strategic Communications at Oklahoma State University.
Words on ammo in CEO shooting echo common phrase on insurer tactics: Delay, deny, defend A message left at the scene of an insurance executive’s fatal shooting echoes a phrase commonly used to describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims. The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were written on the ammunition used to kill UnitedHealthcare's CEO. That's according to two officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday. The words are similar to the phrase “delay, deny, defend.” That's how attorneys describe insurers denying services and payment, and the title of a 2010 book critical of the industry. Police haven’t officially commented on the words. But Thompson’s shooting and the messages on the ammunition have sparked outrage on social media and elsewhere, reflecting frustration Americans have over the cost and complexity of getting care. Bitcoin has surpassed the $100,000 mark as the post-election rally continues. What's next? NEW YORK (AP) — Bitcoin has topped the $100,000 mark, extending a rally in the world’s most popular cryptocurrency sparked by the election of Donald Trump. The milestone comes just hours after the president-elect signaled a lighter regulatory approach to the crypto industry with his choice of crypto advocate Paul Atkins to be the next chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bitcoin has soared to unprecedented heights since Trump won the election Nov. 5. The cryptocurrency has climbed dramatically from $69,374 on Election Day and rose to more than $103,000 before falling back below $100,000 by Thursday afternoon. US judge rejects Boeing's plea deal in a conspiracy case stemming from fatal plane crashes DALLAS (AP) — A federal judge has rejected a deal that would have let Boeing to plead guilty to a felony conspiracy charge and pay a fine for misleading U.S. regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed and 346 people died. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas said that diversity, inclusion and equity or DEI policies in the government and at Boeing could result in race being a factor in picking an official to oversee Boeing’s compliance with the agreement. His ruling on Thursday creates uncertainty around the criminal prosecution of the aerospace giant. The judge gave Boeing and the Justice Department 30 days to tell him how they plan to proceed. McKinsey subsidiary will pay $122M for scheme to bribe South African officials, US says WASHINGTON (AP) — An African subsidiary of the consulting firm McKinsey & Company Inc. will pay a criminal penalty of more than $122 million to resolve a U.S. Justice Department investigation into a yearslong scheme to bribe South African government officials. The Justice Department says the scheme involved bribes to officials with South Africa’s state-owned and state-controlled custodian of ports, rails, and pipelines, as well as its state-controlled energy company. It netted McKinsey Africa and its parent company $85 million in profits between 2012 and 2016, officials said. McKinsey said in a statement that it “welcomes the resolution of these matters and the closure of this regretful situation.” EPA hails 'revitalized' enforcement efforts as Biden administration heads to exit WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency says it concluded more than 1,850 civil cases this year, a 3.4% increase over 2023, and charged 121 criminal defendants, a 17.6% increase over the previous year. The agency also issued $1.7 billion in financial penalties, more than double last year's total. Thursday's report was the final one account of Biden-era enforcement actions before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. Enforcement efforts included first-ever criminal charges for a California man accused of smuggling climate-damaging air coolants into the United States. Engine maker Cummins Inc. paid more than $2 billion in fines and penalties after it was found to use illegal software to skirt diesel emissions tests. Work-life balance isn't working for women. Why? NEW YORK (AP) — About half of working women reported feeling stressed “a lot of the day,” compared to about 4 in 10 men, according to a Gallup report published Wednesday. The report suggests that competing demands of work and home comprise part of the problem: working women who are parents or guardians are more likely than men who are parents to say they have declined or delayed a promotion at work because of personal or family obligations, and mothers are more likely than fathers to “strongly agree” that they are the default responders for unexpected child care issues. But changing workplace culture and prioritizing well-being can improve the problem, according to Karen Guggenheim, creator of the World Happiness Summit. From outsider to the Oval Office, bitcoin surges as a new administration embraces crypto NEW YORK (AP) — Bitcoin burst on the scene after trust had withered in the financial system and Washington’s ability to protect people from it. Now, it’s Washington’s embrace of bitcoin that’s sending it to records. Bitcoin briefly surged above $103,000 after President-elect Donald Trump said he will nominate Paul Atkins, who's seen as friendly to crypto, to be the Securities and Exchange Commission's next chair. The crypto industry, meanwhile, did its part to bring politicians friendly to digital currencies into Washington. It's a twist from bitcoin's early days, when it was lauded as a kind of electronic cash that wouldn’t be beholden to any government or financial institution. Stock market today: Wall Street edges back from its records as bitcoin briefly pops above $100,000 NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks edged back from their records as Wall Street counted down to a big jobs report that’s coming on Friday. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.2% from its own all-time high. The crypto market had more action, and bitcoin briefly burst to a record above $103,000 before falling back toward $99,000. It's climbed dramatically since Election Day on hopes President-elect Donald Trump will be more friendly to crypto. Airline stocks were strong, while Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. Key members of OPEC+ alliance are putting off production increases amid slack crude prices FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Eight members of the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries have decided to put off increasing oil production as they face weaker than expected demand and competing production from non-allied countries — factors that could keep oil prices stagnant into next year. The OPEC+ members decided at an online meeting to postpone by three months production increases that had been scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. The plan had been to start gradually restoring 2.2 million barrels per day over the course of 2025. That process will now be pushed back to April 1, 2025 and production increases will gradually take place over 18 months until October 2026. Eli Lilly invests $3B to expand Wisconsin factory to help meet demand for Mounjaro, Zepbound Eli Lilly is spending another $3 billion to bulk up manufacturing as the drugmaker seeks to stoke production of some blockbuster drugs and future products. Lilly said Thursday it will expand a Kenosha County, Wisconsin, factory it bought early this year. The investment will help meet growing demand for injectable products like its diabetes and obesity drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound. Those drugs brought in a combined $4.4 billion in sales for Lilly in this year’s third quarter. The drugmaker plans to start construction of the expansion next year.The AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . SAINT PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kendall Blue and Nolan Minessale had 22 points each in St. Thomas’ 88-81 victory over Montana on Saturday. Miles Barnstable had 17 points for the Tommies (7-4). Malik Moore led the Grizzlies (6-4) with 30 points. Money Williams added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists for Montana. Jensen Bradtke had 11 points. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
SINGAPORE: Ringo Lee, a tour operator in Taiwan with over 30 years of experience, used to see brisk business from mainland tourists. “I used to own six large buses, ferrying tourists from mainland China around Taiwan for sightseeing every day,” he told CNA. That was in 2015. Lee has had to face a new reality in recent years. “I have none now, all of (those buses) have been sold," he lamented. “Today, there are virtually no tourists coming from across the strait.” Cross-strait tourism has effectively fallen into the doldrums over the past eight years, driven by a combination of politics and the pandemic. However, positive language from recent talks in Shanghai suggests an easing of travel curbs could be on the horizon, albeit at a city-to-city level, observers note. Analysts CNA spoke to believe this is a good first step in getting cross-strait tourism off the ground again, as well as in building mutual trust - although they caution this will require considerable goodwill from both sides. While the economic benefits to both Beijing and Taipei are clear, observers note that any action taken will invariably be politically tinged, posing concerns over whether it will last - especially as an increasingly assertive China eyes reunification while Taiwan baulks. BOOSTING TOURISM ON THE ITINERARY? Cross-strait tourism has become sharply limited since 2016 when Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party came into power. Amid heightened cross-strait tensions, the imposition of strict travel curbs due to the COVID-19 pandemic delivered another gut punch. China currently bars its citizens from travelling from the mainland to Taiwan for tourism. Mainland tourists from Fujian province are the exception - and even then, they can only visit Kinmen and Matsu. Meanwhile, Taiwan maintains a ban on group tours to mainland China. Taipei also raised its travel warnings for mainland China - along with Hong Kong and Macau - to the second-highest level in June, warning against “unnecessary travel”, after Beijing threatened the death penalty for “diehard” Taiwan separatists . But there have been recent indications that some easing of travel curbs could be on the cards. At the 2024 Shanghai-Taipei City Forum on Dec 17, Shanghai Vice Mayor Hua Yuan extended a cordial invitation to Taiwan residents to visit Shanghai. He also pledged to promote group tours to Taiwan for Shanghai residents, with Taipei as a key destination. Hua's remarks hint at a potential trial initiative to allow Shanghai residents to be the first to restart cross-strait tourism, said Lee, who is chairperson of the High-Quality Travel Association in Taipei as well as an assistant professor of tourism studies at Taipei City University of Science and Technology. "Starting with a city-to-city exchange allows trust to build gradually. It offers an ideal scenario where issues can be resolved at a local, non-central level, free from ideological and political interference," he said. A trial involving individual cities in both mainland China and Taiwan could be a “sensible option” for restarting cross-strait tourism, Lim Tai Wei, a professor from Soka University’s business faculty and an expert in East Asian studies, told CNA. But Lim emphasised that the “right political atmosphere” is ultimately necessary for such exchanges to be successful. Donald Trump’s return to the White House next month could also complicate matters, he pointed out, as how he addresses the Taiwan issue could significantly impact the future of cross-strait relations. TAIWANESE TOUR OPERATORS FEEL THE PINCH Cross-strait relations were arguably at their best between 2008 and 2016 when the Kuomintang’s (KMT) Ma Ying-Jeou was Taiwan’s president. During that time, direct sea, air and mail links were resumed after a six-decade ban. Mainland Chinese became Taiwan's largest source of inbound tourism within a year of the inaugural direct flight in 2008. By 2014, over 3 million Chinese tourists were visiting the island annually, according to government statistics. By 2016, mainlanders accounted for nearly half of the 10 million annual arrivals to the island, which has a population of 23 million. Since then, numbers have fallen off a cliff amid tough travel curbs. In the first ten months of this year, only around 14,000 mainland Chinese residents visited Taiwan for leisure, according to official Taiwanese data. Currently, only Chinese citizens who meet strict criteria are allowed to visit Taiwan for leisure, provided they depart from a third location and the trip is self-guided. This group represents less than one per cent of the entire market value chain, noted Lee the tour operator and industry academic. Taiwan’s tourism industry has endured "notable pains" in pivoting to alternative revenue streams since the decline in mainland Chinese tourist arrivals, with “a lot” of operators ending or abandoning investments made during the mainlander boom, Lee highlighted. "These extreme fluctuations in the number of mainland Chinese arrivals disrupt the market and distort related mechanisms. No other major tourist destination around the world faces a similar issue," he said. The indefinite suspension of group tours from Taiwan to mainland China has also caused significant economic losses for Taiwanese tour operators, over 90 per cent of whom organise such tours, Lee pointed out. Taiwan was set to lift the COVID-19-era restriction in March but halted the plan a month before, citing Beijing's failure to reciprocate the goodwill gesture. Lee asserts that demand in Taiwan for sightseeing visits to mainland China remains strong. According to China immigration data, mainland China welcomed 2.96 million Taiwanese visitors from the start of the year till October, a 68.4 per cent year-on-year increase. Analysts have attributed this upward trend to several mainland initiatives to attract Taiwanese visitors, including streamlined entry permit applications and discounted or complimentary tickets to major tourist attractions. With cross-strait tourism a far cry from its heyday, any boost would be welcome news to both Beijing and Taipei, analysts note. Taiwan is already grappling with a widening travel deficit, where more residents are heading abroad compared to the number of people who visited. Having access to mainland Chinese tourists would help narrow the gap and boost the island’s economy. Estimates suggest that outbound Taiwanese travellers could reach 17.5 million this year, while only 7.5 million international visitors are expected to come to Taiwan. This gap of 10 million trips and a trade value deficit of NT$738 billion (US$22.5 billion) would be the largest ever recorded. While allowing mainland Chinese tourists into Taiwan would be an economic boon for the island, the industry must beware of over-dependence, warned Wu Se-chih, director of the China Research Center at Taiwan Thinktank. He told CNA that based on past experiences, travel by mainland Chinese tourists has typically been heavily restricted, with requirements to sign up with designated operators and adhere to fixed itineraries. “This practice tends to benefit only a small group of industry players, with very little trickling down to the broader business community," he said. "Moreover, Chinese authorities have the ability to 'turn off the tap' whenever they choose, when it comes to allowing tourists into Taiwan. This presents significant risk and uncertainty to the sector." Meanwhile, China is trying to boost a stuttering economy weighed down by geopolitical and trade tensions with the West, as well as challenges at home like a beleaguered property market and a rapidly ageing population. “Taiwan, as a Northeast Asian entity, currently has the highest per capita income in the region, excluding Hong Kong and Macau. This makes it a significant source of tourism consumption for China, representing a clear convergence of interests between the two sides," said Lim from Soka University. TOURISM AS A BARGAINING CHIP While the economic gains are clear, analysts warn that any moves made to boost cross-strait tourism - if they do materialise - will inevitably have a political dimension. Taiwan Thinktank’s Wu asserts that both mainland China and Taiwan have strategically used tourism as a bargaining chip, particularly in their attempts to gain a “political upper hand” over one another. "We've seen both sides publicly express a willingness to facilitate more tourism visits for residents on both sides, but despite the passage of time, there has been little to no progress,” he noted. This is because any potential move by either side is tied to their respective political agendas, Wu noted. “For China, it views mainland Chinese arrivals as an 'economic gift', while for Taiwan, under the DPP leadership, it's about maintaining a firm stance against China’s carrot and stick cross-strait approach," he explained. Beijing views Taiwan as a part of China and has vowed to reunify it, by force if necessary. On the day of the Shanghai-Taipei forum, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office stated in response to a query that the mainland welcomes the early restoration of tourism to Taiwan for mainland residents. At the same time, the spokesperson urged Taiwan’s ruling DPP to remove existing restrictions and obstacles on cross-strait exchanges and cooperation. Taiwan's Minister of Transportation Chen Shih-kai said the following day that Taiwan would review and consider relaxing the ban on group tours and other tourism exchanges - if the mainland lifted its political restrictions. Lee, the tour operator and academic, hopes that both Beijing and Taipei can leave politics out of the equation, at least when it comes to cross-strait tourism. "(We) in the industry often hope that politics would not interfere with the development of tourism exchanges with mainland China. We wish for an open and free market, similar to what exists with other travel destinations," he added. But such a hope is effectively a pipe dream, said Soka University’s Lim. "When it comes to cross-strait matters, it is impossible for both sides to set aside their political standpoints and differences to establish a free and open market,” he explained.The last time a president signed an executive order with a price tag in the hundreds of billions of dollars, that president was , and the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the policy as administrative overreach. Now, president-elect has announced his own executive order worth hundreds of billions of dollars, promising to sign a massive on goods from Mexico, Canada and China on his first day in office. Those tariffs could be the first test of just how cravenly loyal the Supreme Court’s conservative wing is to the man who appointed three of the sitting justices to the bench. “Tariff” is just a fancy word for a tax paid by U.S. businesses on imported goods, with the added costs passed on to American consumers. Trump’s proposed tariffs of 25 percent on all products from Mexico and Canada, and 10 percent on all products from China, will cost about $272 billion per year, economists CNN. The president does have some congressional power to enact tariffs, but a policy as massive as the one Trump is proposing would normally trigger something called the “major questions doctrine,” legal analysts have . That’s the same doctrine the Supreme Court used to strike down Biden’s student loan forgiveness program and to hamper his efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It basically says that anytime a federal agency tries to enact a policy with “vast economic and political significance,” the courts have to scrutinize whether Congress actually intended to give the agency that power, the justices decided in 2022 in . In that case, the Supreme Court held that even though Congress had given the EPA the power to set environmental performance standards by applying “the best system of emission reduction,” Biden’s EPA couldn’t reduce emissions by phasing out coal and gas plants. A year later, in , the court struck down Biden’s $400 billion student loan forgiveness plan, even though Congress had given the Secretary of Education the power to “waive or modify” laws and regulations governing student loan programs. Critics have both decisions as a “judicial power grab” and accused the justices of legislating from the bench. But whatever the merits of the rule itself, the exact same justices that struck down Biden’s policies in 2022 and 2023 are likely to decide on Trump’s tariffs. Companies that will be impacted by the new taxes have been preparing lawsuits for weeks, according to a from NBC, meaning the rule will almost certainly end up litigation. The big question now is whether the Supreme Court will apply the same legal standard for Trump. In his statement on Monday, Trump seemed to hint at some type of national security justification for the tariffs. His planned executive order is in response to “thousands of people... pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing crime and drugs at levels never seen before,” including fentanyl originating in China, he said. But so far, national security hasn’t figured in the major questions doctrine. In fact, critics argue that the rule itself national security. And even if there were an exception, it’s not clear what an import tax paid by American companies has to do with illegal border crossings. Of course, it’s completely possible the Supreme Court’s conservative majority will suddenly, conveniently decide the major questions doctrine doesn’t apply to issues of national security, and that all a president has to do is say the phrase “national security” to end any legal scrutiny. In that case, the Supreme Court will have passed its first MAGA loyalty test.WASHINGTON D.C., DC — For Makenzie Gilkison, spelling is such a struggle that a word like rhinoceros might come out as “rineanswsaurs” or sarcastic as “srkastik.” The 14-year-old from suburban Indianapolis can sound out words, but her dyslexia makes the process so draining that she often struggles with comprehension. “I just assumed I was stupid,” she recalled of her early grade school years. But assistive technology powered by artificial intelligence has helped her keep up with classmates. Last year, Makenzie was named to the National Junior Honor Society. She credits a customized AI-powered chatbot, a word prediction program and other tools that can read for her. “I would have just probably given up if I didn’t have them,” she said. Artificial intelligence holds the promise of helping countless other students with a range of visual, speech, language and hearing impairments to execute tasks that come easily to others. Schools everywhere have been wrestling with how and where to incorporate AI , but many are fast-tracking applications for students with disabilities. Getting the latest technology into the hands of students with disabilities is a priority for the U.S. Education Department, which has told schools they must consider whether students need tools like text-to-speech and alternative communication devices. New rules from the Department of Justice also will require schools and other government entities to make apps and online content accessible to those with disabilities. There is concern about how to ensure students using it — including those with disabilities — are still learning. Students can use artificial intelligence to summarize jumbled thoughts into an outline, summarize complicated passages, or even translate Shakespeare into common English. And computer-generated voices that can read passages for visually impaired and dyslexic students are becoming less robotic and more natural. “I’m seeing that a lot of students are kind of exploring on their own, almost feeling like they’ve found a cheat code in a video game,” said Alexis Reid, an educational therapist in the Boston area who works with students with learning disabilities. But in her view, it is far from cheating : “We’re meeting students where they are.” Ben Snyder, a 14-year-old freshman from Larchmont, New York, who was recently diagnosed with a learning disability, has been increasingly using AI to help with homework. “Sometimes in math, my teachers will explain a problem to me, but it just makes absolutely no sense,” he said. “So if I plug that problem into AI, it’ll give me multiple different ways of explaining how to do that.” He likes a program called Question AI. Earlier in the day, he asked the program to help him write an outline for a book report — a task he completed in 15 minutes that otherwise would have taken him an hour and a half because of his struggles with writing and organization. But he does think using AI to write the whole report crosses a line. “That’s just cheating,” Ben said. Schools have been trying to balance the technology’s benefits against the risk that it will do too much. If a special education plan sets reading growth as a goal, the student needs to improve that skill. AI can’t do it for them, said Mary Lawson, general counsel at the Council of the Great City Schools. But the technology can help level the playing field for students with disabilities, said Paul Sanft, director of a Minnesota-based center where families can try out different assistive technology tools and borrow devices. “There are definitely going to be people who use some of these tools in nefarious ways. That’s always going to happen,” Sanft said. “But I don’t think that’s the biggest concern with people with disabilities, who are just trying to do something that they couldn’t do before.” Another risk is that AI will track students into less rigorous courses of study. And, because it is so good at identifying patterns , AI might be able to figure out a student has a disability. Having that disclosed by AI and not the student or their family could create ethical dilemmas, said Luis Pérez, the disability and digital inclusion lead at CAST, formerly the Center for Applied Specialized Technology. Schools are using the technology to help students who struggle academically, even if they do not qualify for special education services. In Iowa, a new law requires students deemed not proficient — about a quarter of them — to get an individualized reading plan. As part of that effort, the state’s education department spent $3 million on an AI-driven personalized tutoring program. When students struggle, a digital avatar intervenes. More AI tools are coming soon. The U.S. National Science Foundation is funding AI research and development. One firm is developing tools to help children with speech and language difficulties. Called the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education, it is headquartered at the University of Buffalo, which did pioneering work on handwriting recognition that helped the U.S. Postal Service save hundreds of millions of dollars by automating processing. “We are able to solve the postal application with very high accuracy. When it comes to children’s handwriting, we fail very badly,” said Venu Govindaraju, the director of the institute. He sees it as an area that needs more work, along with speech-to-text technology, which isn’t as good at understanding children’s voices, particularly if there is a speech impediment. Sorting through the sheer number of programs developed by education technology companies can be a time-consuming challenge for schools. Richard Culatta, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, said the nonprofit launched an effort this fall to make it easier for districts to vet what they are buying and ensure it is accessible. Makenzie wishes some of the tools were easier to use. Sometimes a feature will inexplicably be turned off, and she will be without it for a week while the tech team investigates. The challenges can be so cumbersome that some students resist the technology entirely. But Makenzie’s mother, Nadine Gilkison, who works as a technology integration supervisor at Franklin Township Community School Corporation in Indiana, said she sees more promise than downside. In September, her district rolled out chatbots to help special education students in high school. She said teachers, who sometimes struggled to provide students the help they needed, became emotional when they heard about the program. Until now, students were reliant on someone to help them, unable to move ahead on their own. “Now we don’t need to wait anymore,” she said. ___ This story corrects that Pérez works for CAST, formerly the Center for Applied Specialized Technology, not the Center for Accessible Technology. 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