Things To Do In SW Florida

By LORNE COOK, Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union published on Thursday a list of U.S. imports that it would target with retaliatory duties if no solution is found to end U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war, which could include aircraft maker Boeing.

At the same time, the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, said that it would begin legal action at the World Trade Organization over the “reciprocal tariffs” that Trump imposed on countries around the world a month ago.

“The EU remains fully committed to finding negotiated outcomes with the U.S.,” commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “At the same time, we continue preparing for all possibilities.”

The commission manages trade deals and disputes on behalf of the 27 EU countries.

In early April, Trump imposed a 20% levy on goods from the EU as part of his tariff onslaught against global trading partners. A week later he paused them for 90 days to give countries a chance to negotiate solutions to U.S. trade concerns. read more

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he would sign a bill into law to prohibit doing exactly what his administration had proposed last year: building golf courses, hotels and other destructive amenities on state park land.

His signature would represent another step in an extraordinary — and rare — reversal of course for DeSantis that came after a tsunami of pressure exerted by politicians and the public against the plans, which were first revealed by the Tampa Bay Times before being released and promoted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

In the face of that overwhelming backlash, DeSantis shelved the designs and said, contrary to former environmental employees who worked on the plans, that he had nothing to do with their creation.

DeSantis was asked by a Times reporter Wednesday if he’d sign the bill following a roundtable event in Tampa. He settled the months of speculation and politicking in a single word, replying “Yes.” He did not elaborate.

Eric Draper, who served as the former director of Florida’s state parks under DeSantis, said the governor’s comments are “a big relief.” read more

The year’s first moon landing was a big success. The second not so much. Now a third commercial lunar lander has entered orbit around the moon ahead of its chance for glory next month.

Japanese company ispace’s Hakuto-R lander Resilience looks to touch lunar dirt following the landings of American companies Firefly Aerospace with its Blue Ghost lander and Intuitive Machines with its lander named Athena.

The Tokyo-based private company announced Resilience had successfully entered lunar orbit late Tuesday. A landing attempt is planned for no earlier than June 5.

“I am very proud of the crew for successfully completing the most critical maneuver and entering lunar orbit,” said ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada in a press release. “We will continue to proceed with careful operations and thorough preparations to ensure the success of the lunar landing.”

Blue Ghost and Athena flew as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, with Blue Ghost delivering the best success to date with its March landing. The Athena lander suffered a more difficult landing just days later and that mission was declared over soon after touchdown. read more

By JOSH BOAK

WASHINGTON (AP) — The more President Donald Trump talks about his efforts to reach deals with America’s trading partners, the more confusing the tariff picture gets. His team seems good with that, saying Trump is using “strategic uncertainty” to his advantage.

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Trump says the United States does not have to sign any agreements, and that it could sign 25 of them right now. He says he is looking for fair deals on all sides, and that he does not care about other countries’ markets. He says his team can sit down to negotiate the terms of a deal, and that he might just impose a set of tariffs on his own. read more