Trump injects new dose of uncertainty in tariffs as he pushes start date back to Aug. 7

WASHINGTON (AP) — For weeks, President Donald Trump was promising the world economy would change on Friday with his new tariffs in place. It was an ironclad deadline, administration officials assured the public.

But when Trump signed the order Thursday night imposing new tariffs on 68 countries and the European Union, the start date of the punishing import taxes was pushed back seven days so that the tariff schedule could be updated. The change — while potentially welcome news to countries that had not yet reached a deal with the U.S. — injected a new dose of uncertainty for consumers and businesses still wondering what's going to happen and when.

Trump has promised that his tax hikes on the nearly $3 trillion in goods imported to the United States will usher in newfound wealth, launch a cavalcade of new factory jobs, reduce the budget deficits and, simply, get other countries to treat America with more respect.

The vast tariffs risk jeopardizing America's global standing as allies feel forced into unfriendly deals. As taxes on the raw materials used by U.S. factories and basic goods, the tariffs also threaten to create new inflationary pressures and hamper economic growth — concerns the Trump White House has dismissed.

As the clock ticked toward Trump's self-imposed deadline, few things seemed to be settled other than the president's determination to levy the taxes he has talked about for decades. The very legality of the tariffs remains an open question as a U.S. appeals court on Thursday heard arguments on whether Trump had exceeded his authority by declaring an “emergency” under a 1977 law to charge the tariffs, allowing him to avoid congressional approval.

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Trump signs order imposing new tariffs on a number of trading partners that go into effect in 7 days

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that set new tariffs on a wide swath of U.S. trading partners to go into effect on Aug. 7 — the next step in his trade agenda that will test the global economy and sturdiness of American alliances built up over decades.

The order was issued shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday. It came after a flurry of tariff-related activity in the last several days, as the White House announced agreements with various nations and blocs ahead of the president's self-imposed Friday deadline. The tariffs are being implemented at a later date in order for the rates schedule to be harmonized, according to a senior administration official who spoke to reporters on a call on the condition of anonymity.

After initially threatening the African nation of Lesotho with a 50% tariff, the country's goods will now be taxed at 15%. Taiwan will have tariffs set at 20%, Pakistan at 19% and Israel, Iceland, Norway, Fiji, Ghana, Guyana and Ecuador among the countries with imported goods taxed at 15%. Switzerland would be tariffed at 39%.

Trump had announced a 50% tariff on goods from Brazil, but the order was only 10% as the other 40% were part of a separate measure approved by Trump on Wednesday.

The order capped off a hectic Thursday as nations sought to continue negotiating with Trump. It set the rates for 68 countries and the 27-member European Union, with a baseline 10% rate to be charged on countries not listed in the order. The senior administration official said the rates were based on trade imbalance with the U.S. and regional economic profiles.

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Judge blocks Trump administration from ending protections for 60,000 from Central America and Nepal

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge ruled on Thursday against the Trump administration's plans and extended Temporary Protected Status for 60,000 people from Central America and Asia, including people from Nepal, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Temporary Protected Status is a protection that can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary to people of various nationalities who are in the United States, preventing from being deported and allowing them to work. The Trump administration has aggressively been seeking to remove the protection, thus making more people eligible for removal. It's part of a wider effort by the administration to carry out mass deportations of immigrants.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem can extend Temporary Protected Status to immigrants in the U.S. if conditions in their homelands are deemed unsafe to return due to a natural disaster, political instability or other dangerous conditions. Noem had ruled to end protections for tens of thousands of Hondurans and Nicaraguans after determining that conditions in their homelands no longer warranted them.

The secretary said the two countries had made “significant progress” in recovering from 1998's Hurricane Mitch, one of the deadliest Atlantic storms in history.

The designation for an estimated 7,000 from Nepal was scheduled to end Aug. 5 while protections allowing 51,000 Hondurans and nearly 3,000 Nicaraguans who have been in the U.S. for more than 25 years were set to expire Sept. 8.

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US envoy arrives in Israel to monitor Gaza food distribution as humanitarian crisis worsens

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel on Thursday to discuss the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, as the death toll of Palestinians waiting for food and other aid continued to climb.

Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee will inspect food distribution in Gaza on Friday, the White House said.

At least 91 Palestinians were killed and more than 600 wounded while attempting to get aid in the past 24 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday. The victims included 54 people killed while awaiting food in northern Gaza near the Zikim crossing on Wednesday, the ministry said. The toll is expected to rise further as many of those killed or wounded were brought to isolated, undersupplied hospitals in northern Gaza and have not yet been counted.

Israel's military said Palestinians surrounded aid trucks and the Israeli military fired warning shots into the crowd, but reported no awareness of injuries resulting from Israeli fire.

A security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, said the gunfire came from within the crowd and resulted from altercations between Palestinians attempting to access aid.

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Why not enough food is reaching people in Gaza even after Israel eased its blockade

International outcry over images of emaciated children and increasing reports of hunger-related deaths have pressured Israel to let more aid into the Gaza Strip. This week, Israel paused fighting in parts of Gaza and airdropped food.

But aid groups and Palestinians say the changes have only been incremental and are not enough to reverse what food experts say is a “ worst-case scenario of famine” unfolding in the war-ravaged territory.

The new measures have brought an uptick in the number of aid trucks entering Gaza. But almost none of it reaches U.N. warehouses for distribution.

Instead, nearly all the trucks are stripped of their cargo by crowds that overwhelm them on the roads as they drive from the borders. The crowds are a mix of Palestinians desperate for food and gangs armed with knives, axes or pistols who loot the goods to then hoard or sell.

Many have also been killed trying to grab the aid. Witnesses say Israeli troops often open fire on crowds around the aid trucks, and hospitals have reported hundreds killed or wounded. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots to control crowds or at people who approach its forces. The alternative food distribution system run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has also been marred by violence.

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Rural Texas county's top leaders were asleep, out of town during initial hours of flood crisis

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Two top leaders in a rural Texas county were asleep and a third was out of town in the initial hours of a catastrophic flood that came barreling through the region, causing widespread destruction and killing more than 130 people earlier this month.

Kerr County's sheriff and its emergency management director both acknowledged Thursday during a legislative hearing that they were asleep in the early morning hours of July 4, even after emergency calls were coming into county dispatchers and it became apparent that a major flood event was unfolding. Moreover, Judge Rob Kelly, the top executive of Kerr County, was out of town on the day of the flood.

Their testimony, which came during a joint House and Senate panel of lawmakers who visited the hard-hit Texas Hill Country, was the first indication of the whereabouts of the trio of men who were charged with preparing for the impending weather and dispatching resources to rescue those affected. It also revealed a lack of on-duty leadership in the key initial moments of the flooding that killed at least 136 people, including 27 youths and counselors at an all-girls camp.

Public records requested by The Associated Press seeking their communications, schedules and other materials that could shed light on the flooding response have been rejected or remain pending, and the three have not replied to repeated interview requests.

William “Dub” Thomas, Kerr County's emergency management coordinator, told lawmakers that he was sick the day before the flooding occurred and missed two calls with Texas Emergency Management officials. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha and Thomas both acknowledged being asleep as a crisis was unfolding.

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Teacher admits to fatally stabbing couple on a hike with their kids in a random attack in Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A teacher admitted he fatally stabbed a couple he didn't know who were hiking with two of their children in an Arkansas state park, authorities said Thursday, after a five-day search and hundreds of tips led to his arrest.

State Police arrested 28-year-old Andrew James McGann on Wednesday at a barbershop in Springdale, approximately 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Devil’s Den State Park, said Maj. Stacie Rhoads, commander of the department’s criminal investigation division.

McGann is charged with two counts of capital murder in the killing Saturday of Clinton David Brink, 43, and his 41-year-old wife Cristen Amanda Brink. McGann is being held without bond.

“He did indicate that he committed the murders,” Rhoads said during a news conference Thursday. When asked to elaborate, she said: “I would call it an admission.”

Arkansas State Police Col. Mike Hagar said authorities are trying to determine a motive for the attack and have no reason to believe McGann knew the couple or their children.

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Heavy rain pummels the East Coast and sparks isolated flash flooding

Strong rain storms lashed the East Coast Thursday, delaying flights throughout the region and prompting emergency rescues of motorists trapped in deep water on busy highways from the Philadelphia area to New York City.

In New York, flash flooding briefly closed sections of major roadways and flooded train stations across the metropolitan region as the evening rush hour approached.

Commuters captured video of water pouring over a train on a platform in Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal and water pooling on the floor of a city bus as it pushed through a flooded Brooklyn street.

Riders of one Long Island-bound commuter train were evacuated by firefighters as floodwaters rose. Other commuter rail lines on Long Island and New Jersey were suspended or severely delayed.

Amtrak officials announced Thursday evening that trains between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware were stopped because of severe storms sending high water over the tracks.

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Mourners honor the NYPD officer killed in the attack at the NFL headquarters building

NEW YORK (AP) — Mourners packed a New York mosque on Thursday to honor a Bangladesh-born police officer who embraced the job of protecting his adopted city and gave his life for it when a gunman opened fire in an office building this week.

Officer Didarul Islam “did believe in the American dream, not as something handed down but as something built with your own hands,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told Islam's family and friends as his fellow officers lined up rows deep outside the Bronx house of worship.

Dignitaries and members of the New York's thriving Bangladeshi community also paid tribute to the fallen officer during a memorial that emphasized the importance he placed on his family, background and service to the city.

A married father of two with a third child on the way, the 36-year-old was working a New York Police Department-approved private security detail, in uniform, when he and three other people were killed Monday at the Manhattan skyscraper that houses the NFL's headquarters and other corporate offices.

“To our family, he was our world. To the city, he was a proud NYPD officer who served with compassion and integrity. He lived to help others,” Islam's widow said in a statement that a relative read on her behalf at the service at the Parkchester Jame Masjid mosque.

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Hulk Hogan's cause of death was a heart attack, medical examiner says

Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan 's death last week was caused by a heart attack, according to a Florida medical examiner's report released Thursday.

Hogan, 71, whose real name was Terry Bollea, previously had leukemia and atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm, the report from the District Six Medical Examiner said.

To honor the “Hulkster,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said, flags will be flown at half-staff at all official buildings Friday, which he declared “Hulk Hogan Day in Florida.”

“He was a true Floridian through and through,” the Republican governor wrote in a memo Thursday.

Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital less than 90 minutes after medics arrived at his home in Clearwater to answer a call about a cardiac arrest on the morning of July 24, police said. The report said the cause of death was "natural."

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