Things To Do In SW Florida

By SIMINA MISTREANU and KEN MORITSUGU, Associated Press

YIWU, China (AP) — Visitors who bought fridge magnets at Times Square or other tourist hotspots around New York in recent years most likely were purchasing the work of Du Jing or one of her fellow exporters in a small Chinese city that supplies the U.S. and the world with tons of small commodities.

Du and her husband run Yiwu Xianchuang Handicraft Manufacturing in the eastern city of Yiwu, home to the world’s largest wholesale market. Products from here -– ranging from plushies to glass vases and portable toolboxes -– are sold in stores and on online platforms around the world, including to U.S. consumers on Amazon.

For years, the United States has been a major destination for Chinese goods, but exporters like those in Yiwu have been reducing their reliance on the world’s largest consumer market as Beijing and Washington feud over trade. Some have moved production to Southeast Asia and other parts of the world to evade U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. read more

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, Associated Press Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, is rolling back its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, joining a growing list of major corporations that have done the same after coming under attack by conservative activists.

The changes, confirmed by Walmart on Monday, are sweeping and include everything from not renewing a five-year commitment for an equity racial center set up in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd, to pulling out of a prominent gay rights index. And when it comes to race or gender, Walmart won’t be giving priority treatment to suppliers.

Walmart’s moves underscore the increasing pressure faced by corporate America as it continues to navigate the fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2023 ending affirmative action in college admissions. Emboldened by that decision, conservative groups have filed lawsuits making similar arguments about corporations, targeting workplace initiatives such as diversity programs and hiring practices that prioritize historically marginalized groups. read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — Months after an alarmist review from NASA’s Office of the Inspector General, hundreds of construction workers seem out to prove their critics wrong as progress picks up steam on the Artemis program’s mobile launcher 2, the platform atop which future versions of the powerful Space Launch System rocket will launch.

Taking shape on a patch of concrete at KSC just north of the massive Vehicle Assembly Building, ML2’s steel structure is part of NASA’s current battle plan to support SLS launches beginning with Artemis IV currently on the schedule for late 2028.

NASA OIG audits have warned of rising costs and growing delays for all facets of the Artemis program, and its future, including the Artemis II crewed flight planned for next year and the Artemis III moon landing in 2026, could be redefined by the direction of the incoming Trump administration.

“Our marching orders haven’t changed, and we can’t really speculate what the new administration is going to do,” said Darrell Foster, the ML2 project executive with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems based at KSC. “We know what our priorities are right now. We know what our mission is right now, and we’re staying focused on that.” read more

The customers came from far and wide on a sunny November morning. They strolled past raw buffalo ice cream, raw chocolate milk and camel milk, grabbed raw cottage cheese, raw butter, raw lemon yogurt, all labeled “not for human consumption” or “for pet consumption only.” Some requested raw milk in their coffee orders at the truck next door.

They were gym rats, granola moms, young couples, Donald Trump supporters, single men trying to be healthier, and immigrants from countries where raw milk is a way of life, not a forbidden fruit. Some were trying raw dairy for their first time. Others came prepared, speeding out of the store with giant coolers so that the milk would not rapidly spoil when exposed to the warm South Florida air. One man wore a hat that said “in raw we trust.”

Tucked away in a far-west corner of Broward County, the Southwest Ranches farmer’s market has quickly become a hot spot for the state’s raw dairy consumers, even though Florida law forbids the sale of raw milk to humans. Customers come despite the legal barriers, risks of illness and warnings from public health officials not to consume unpasteurized milk. And they are not alone: Raw milk has surged in popularity across the state and the rest of the country over the last few years, a trend in part driven by online influencers within rightwing, anti-establishment circles of the web. read more

By JILL COLVIN and ROB GILLIES

NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders.

The tariffs, if implemented, could dramatically raise prices for American consumers on everything from gas to automobiles to agricultural products. The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with Mexico, China and Canada its top three suppliers, according to the most recent U.S. Census data.

Trump made the threats Monday in a pair of posts on his Truth Social site in which he railed against an influx of illegal migrants, even though southern border apprehensions have been hovering near four-year lows.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” he wrote, complaining that “thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” even though violent crime is down from pandemic highs. read more