Trump scraps tariffs on beef, coffee and tropical fruit in a push to lower grocery store prices

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was scrapping U.S. tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruits and a broad swath of other commodities — a dramatic move that comes amid mounting pressure on his administration to better combat high consumer prices.

Trump has built his second term around imposing steep levies on goods imported into the U.S. in hopes of encouraging domestic production and lifting the U.S. economy. His abrupt retreat from his signature tariff policy on so many staples key to the American diet is significant, and it comes after voters in off-year elections this month cited economic concerns as their top issue, resulting in big wins for Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey and other key races around the country.

“We just did a little bit of a rollback on some foods like coffee,” Trump said aboard Air Force One as he flew to Florida hours after the tariff announcement was made.

Pressed on his tariffs helping to increase consumer prices, Trump acknowledged, “I say they may, in some cases" have that effect.

“But to a large extent they’ve been borne by other countries,” the president added.

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Once a shadowy dealmaker, former Zelenskyy associate is accused in Ukrainian corruption scandal

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Before the revelation of a multi-million dollar embezzlement and kickbacks scandal involving Ukraine's state nuclear energy company brought his name to the forefront, Tymur Mindich was a shadowy presence — navigating deals and moving behind the scenes with unseen influence, known to many, yet rarely spoken of.

Mindich was linked to growing fears over his expanding influence within the country’s lucrative industries, his access facilitated by his ties to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The two were once business partners and Mindich’s influence had expanded under Zelenskyy's tenure.

The full extent of that influence was exposed this week when Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdogs released the findings of a 15-month investigation into a $100 million embezzlement scheme involving top officials and Ukraine’s state nuclear power company, accusing Mindich of being the mastermind behind the plot.

Mindich has fled the country, with any criminal proceedings against him likely to be carried out in absentia. Two top government ministers have resigned.

Ukrainian officials, experts and activists contend Mindich’s rise to power is closely tied to his privileged relationship with the president and Zelenskyy's inner circle.

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FAA takes first steps to restore flights after shutdown strain, but some limits remain

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday halved the number of flights that U.S. airlines must cut from their schedules at 40 airports as the country’s aviation system recovers from a shortage of air traffic controllers during the record government shutdown.

The agency said airlines will only have to cancel 3% of their flights beginning at 6 a.m. Saturday instead of 6%. Citing safety concerns, the FAA first ordered flights reduced at the busy airports on Nov. 7 as absences mounted at air traffic facilities and airport towers. Controllers were among the federal employees who were required to work while going unpaid during the shutdown.

Cancellations peaked last Sunday at nearly 3,000 flights, about 10% of the ones scheduled, as a result of the FAA order combined with continued controller shortages and bad weather in parts of the country. The numbers started to improve as the week went on and more controllers returned to work amid news of a possible shutdown deal in Congress, prompting the FAA to pause plans for further increases.

The rollback comes amid improved staffing levels after the 43-day shutdown ended Wednesday night, the FAA and Department of Transportation said, adding that they will continue to monitor the situation throughout the weekend and evaluate when normal operations can resume.

Before the FAA released its updated guidance, airlines already seemed to be anticipating a change. Despite the restrictions still in place, just 2% of flights scheduled to depart Friday from the U.S. were canceled, according to the aviation analytics firm Cirium. By Friday evening, the flight-tracking site FlightAware was showing 273 cancellations for Saturday.

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Government will release September jobs report next week, ending data drought from federal shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department will release its numbers on September hiring and unemployment next Thursday, a month and a half late, marking the beginning of the end of a data drought caused by the 43-day federal government shutdown.

The statistical blackout meant that the Federal Reserve, businesses, policymakers and investors have largely been in the dark about inflation, job creation, GDP growth and other measures of the U.S. economic health since late summer.

Thomas Simons and Michael Bacolas at Jefferies, a financial firm, wrote in a commentary Friday that over 30 reports from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau were delayed by the political standoff.

The Labor Department did not release its weekly report on the number of Americans signing up for unemployment benefits for seven straight weeks. That jobless claims report is seen as a potential early indicator of where the labor market is headed.

The Labor Department did release its consumer price index for September — the most popular measurement of inflation — nine days late on Oct. 24. The government made an exception for that report because of its urgency: It is used to calculate the annual cost of living adjustment for tens of millions of Americans receiving Social Security and other federal benefits.

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At Trump’s urging, Bondi says US will investigate Epstein’s ties to Clinton and other political foes

NEW YORK (AP) — Acceding to President Donald Trump’s demands, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday that she has ordered a top federal prosecutor to investigate sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to Trump political foes, including former President Bill Clinton.

Bondi posted on X that she was assigning Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to lead the probe, capping an eventful week in which congressional Republicans released nearly 23,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate and House Democrats seized on emails mentioning Trump.

Trump, who was friends with Epstein for years, didn’t explain what supposed crimes he wanted the Justice Department to investigate. None of the men he mentioned in a social media post demanding the probe has been accused of sexual misconduct by any of Epstein’s victims.

Hours before Bondi’s announcement, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he would ask her, the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate Epstein’s “involvement and relationship” with Clinton and others, including former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and LinkedIn founder and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman.

Trump, calling the matter “the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans,” said the investigation should also include financial giant JPMorgan Chase, which provided banking services to Epstein, and “many other people and institutions.”

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Officials in North Carolina city vow to resist looming federal immigration crackdown

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Officials and community leaders opposing a pending federal immigration crackdown in North Carolina’s largest city characterized it Friday as an invasion and urged Charlotte residents to protest peacefully and record agents' actions from a distance.

“We are living in the strangest of times,” said Mecklenburg County Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell, the granddaughter and wife of immigrants. “A time when a felonious reality TV personality is occupying the White House. Unfortunately we have seen this movie before, and now they want to film an episode of Shock and Awe show here in our city.”

On Thursday, Sheriff Garry McFadden confirmed that federal officials, whom he declined to identify, told him U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents would start an enforcement operation there by Saturday or early next week. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP, won't comment on future or potential operations. But the community is preparing for the types of enforcement actions seen in Chicago and other Democratic-led cities.

“We’ve seen what has taken place in other cities across this country when the federal government gets involved,” state Rep. Jordan Lopez said. “We have seen the undisciplined agents pointing weapons at unarmed civilians, the indiscriminate rounding up of civilians who are sleeping in their homes” in Chicago.

"We have seen the worst of law enforcement,” Lopez added.

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Trump cuts ties with 'Wacky' Marjorie Taylor Greene, once among his top MAGA-world defenders

President Donald Trump has publicly called it quits with one of his most stalwart MAGA-world supporters, calling Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene “'Wacky' Marjorie” and saying he would endorse a challenger against her in next year's midterms “if the right person runs.”

The dismissal of Greene — once the epitome of “Make America Great Again,” sporting the signature red cap for President Joe Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address and acting as a go-between for Trump and other Capitol Hill Republicans — appeared to be the final break in a dispute simmering for months, as Greene has seemingly moderated her political profile. The three-term U.S. House member has increasingly dissented from Republican leaders, attacking them during the just-ended federal government shutdown and saying they need a plan to help people who are losing subsidies to afford health insurance policies.

Accusing the Georgia Republican of going “Far Left,” Trump wrote that all he had witnessed from Greene in recent months is “COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!” adding, of Greene's purported irritation that he doesn't return her phone calls, “I can't take a ranting Lunatic's call every day.”

In a response on X, Greene wrote Friday that Trump had “attacked me and lied about me." She added a screenshot of a text she said she had sent the president earlier in the day about releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, which she said “is what sent him over the edge.”

Greene called it “astonishing really how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level,” referencing next week’s U.S. House vote over releasing the Epstein files.

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Winning ticket for $980 million jackpot sold in Georgia, Mega Millions says

A Mega Millions player in Georgia won the $980 million jackpot on Friday, overcoming abysmal odds to win the huge prize.

The numbers selected were 1, 8, 11, 12 and 57 with the gold Mega Ball 7.

The winner overcame Mega Millions' astronomical odds of 1 in 290.5 million by matching all six numbers. The next drawing will be on Tuesday.

A winner can choose an annuity or the cash option — a one-time, lump-sum payment of $452.2 million before taxes. If there are multiple jackpot winners, the prize is shared.

There were four Mega Millions jackpot wins earlier this year, but Friday’s drawing was the 40th since the last win on June 27, a game record, officials said.

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US military's 20th strike on alleged drug-running boat kills 4 in the Caribbean

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military's 20th strike on a boat accused of transporting drugs has killed four people in the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. military said Friday, coming as the Trump administration escalates its campaign in South American waters.

The latest strike happened Monday, according to a social media post on Friday by U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in the Caribbean and Latin America. The latest strike brings the death toll from the attacks that began in September to 80, with the Mexican Navy suspending its search for a survivor of a strike in late October after four days.

Southern Command's post on X shows a boat speeding over water before it's engulfed in flames. The command said intelligence confirmed the vessel “was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics.”

Southern Command's post marked a shift away from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's practice of typically announcing the attacks on social media, although he quickly reposted Southern Command's statement.

Hegseth had announced the previous two strikes on Monday after they had been carried out on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is expanding the U.S. military's already large presence in the region by bringing in the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier. The nation's most advanced warship is expected to arrive in the coming days after traveling from the Mediterranean Sea.

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College football coach John Beam from ‘Last Chance U’ has died after being shot

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Oakland's celebrated former football coach John Beam, who was featured in the Netflix series “Last Chance U” that showcased his success with players others wouldn’t gamble on, died Friday, a day after being shot on the college campus where he worked.

Police arrested the 27-year-old suspect Friday. Authorities said he knew the 66-year-old coach, and it was a targeted attack.

The shooting at Laney College rattled Oakland, with scores holding a vigil outside the hospital before he died. He was remembered as someone who would help anyone.

Mayor Barbara Lee described Beam as a “giant” in the city who mentored thousands of young people, including her own nephew, and “gave Oakland’s youth their best chance” at success.

“For over 40 years, he has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family,” Lee said.

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