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WASHINGTON — When President-elect Donald Trump announced he would impose sweeping tariffs on key trading partners on his first day in office, he signaled a return to a favorite strategy: a reverse carrot-and-stick that applies the stick of dire consequences in order to force countries to give him what he wants. In this case, that means a tougher crackdown on illegal migration and the movement of drugs into the U.S. The risk of applying this tactic to foreign trade is that the whole U.S. economy is so reliant on the status quo that any miscalculation could have damaging consequences, especially in California and other trade-dependent states. To some extent, that happened in Trump’s first term, when selective tariff increases set off costly trade wars with China and others. The fallout from tariffs could have major damaging effects on California’s globally integrated economy, affecting thousands of businesses and many more jobs, consumer prices and choices of goods. And, if trading partners retaliate, tariff increases could hurt the state’s sales of farm goods, electronics, transportation equipment and other leading exports. Mexico and Canada are the top two destinations for California exports, and China and Mexico account for a bulk of the state’s imports. Even uncertainty over such possibilities can cause havoc in financial markets and raise fears of higher prices, as well as disruptions to vital businesses dependent particularly on Mexico and the Pacific Rim. Trump posted on his Truth Social site late Monday that on his first day on the job he would impose 25% tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico, and also tack on an additional 10% levy on Chinese imports. He said these countries — which are the United States’ top three trading partners — would be paying the price for not doing enough on illegal migration and drugs flowing into the U.S. “This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” Trump wrote. The reality is that illegal border crossings from Mexico have fallen dramatically in recent months as the Biden administration has tightened up especially on asylum arrivals. And U.S. drug seizures along the Southwest border have changed little in recent years, according to Department of Homeland Security statistics. For years, China has been a major producer of fentanyl coming into the U.S., and Trump said in his post that Beijing has failed to clamp down on drug suppliers as it had promised. Canada is not a big source of illicit drugs or illegal migration into the U.S., although there has been a sharp increase in unauthorized crossings along the northern border in the last year, driven in large part by Indians. Trump didn’t explain why Canada was targeted, but some analysts said he may be viewing the drug and migration situation as a North American problem. U.S. stock markets, which had been on a run in recent days, opened mixed Tuesday but ended the day higher, suggesting that investors are familiar with Trump’s playbook and that these three countries could avoid the tariffs if they present a credible plan to curb the drug supplies and secure the borders, said analysts at Capital Economics. Mexico staved off a similar Trump threat over illegal migration in 2019. But Trump’s salvo just three weeks after the election, plus his frequent campaign promises of hiking tariffs, suggests that he will move more quickly in carrying out his trade agenda than in his first term. Trump has said he would slap tariffs of 10% to 20% on goods from around the world, and up to 60% on imports from China. The consequences could be dire for California’s economy, given its heavy trade with China and Mexico. Imports from China ($120 billion) and Mexico ($62 billion) accounted for a full 40% of the $450 billion worth of products from the world that entered California last year. And Mexico, Canada and China rank as the state’s top three export markets. Overall, international trade and investment and related commerce employ hundreds of thousands of Californians and are a major economic engine for the state. At the Port of Los Angeles, China’s share of all cargo, as measured by containers, has fallen to 43% from 57% in 2022. But the Port of L.A., the busiest in the nation, has kept growing in overall volume due to increased shipments from other Pacific Rim countries. With U.S.-China relations worsening over the last decade, many manufacturers in California, as elsewhere, shifted at least some production and suppliers away from China to other sites in Asia and also to Mexico. But the scale of tariffs that Trump is announcing, whether 10% across the globe or separate duties on Chinese, Mexican and Canadian goods, would be too great for other countries to make up. Much of U.S. imports from China and Mexico are consumer goods and intermediate parts that go into autos, appliances and other products. Southern California apparel companies have for years been sending clothes to be sewn and finished in Mexico, duty-free. Vehicle components often cross North American borders back and forth several times before final assembly — and tariffs added along the way will mean higher prices for everybody. Now those long-established supply chains may be in jeopardy as analysts expect Trump to try to remake trade deals with North American partners, among others, using tariffs and the big American economic market as leverage. “It’s going to be a jolt to the system, and at the end of the day it will be impactful to consumer pocketbooks,” said Rachel Michelin, president of the California Retailers Assn. She said her member companies have been trying to get ahead of higher tariffs by ordering products before Trump takes office. “From a California perspective, it’s going to be alarming because the cost of living here is higher,” Michelin said. “We really are pricing people out of living in California.” In Trump’s first term, China and other countries hit back by raising tariffs on sensitive American farm goods, including soybean and wine. But overall trade also slowed, with U.S. companies scurrying to file for tariff exemptions and trying to curry favor with his administration for relief. Jock O’Connell, a California trade specialist at Beacon Economics, said the Trump administration’s trade skirmishes with China in 2017 caused a dramatic falloff in the state’s trade volume. California exporters learned to diversify their markets. This time around, he said, the state may have even fewer options. . “There’s not going to be a lot of political payoff” in helping California, O’Connell said. “Can you imagine [Gov.] Newsom flying to Washington to meet with trade officials in the White House to deal with tariffs?” Greg Danenhauer, co-owner of Parker Boiler, a manufacturer in City of Commerce, said he still buys some steel and cast iron burners from China, but overall looks to China for less than 18% of his supplies, compared with as much as 25% in 2016. Parker Boiler also buys temperature controls and other products from Mexico. Danenhauer said Trump’s earlier tariffs on Chinese products actually helped level the playing field for domestic makers such as himself. And he’s not worrying about higher tariffs down the road. “To me, everybody is panicked about it,” he said. “But we don’t know yet” what’s coming, he said. Dan Ujczo, a trade lawyer at the Ohio-based firm Thompson Hine, drew a distinction between Monday’s tariff announcement, which he said was “very tactical and transactional, targeted for a specific purpose,” and Trump’s plans on universal tariffs and those aimed at China. The latter “are more transformative or transitional when it comes to global trade,” he said, adding that they are likely to be proposed later and closer to when tax cuts and other fiscal plans are ready. During his first term, Trump often used threats such as high tariffs to browbeat America’s allies into concessions. On defense policy, for instance, he famously raised doubts about continued U.S. participation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; European allies responded by boosting their contributions to the cost of mutual defense. Chinese imports are already subject to U.S. tariffs of 10% to 25% stemming from Trump’s actions in his first term and which were left in place by President Biden. That helped Mexico overtake China in 2021 as the United States’ top two-way trading partner. Still, the United States’ biggest trade deficit, by far, remains with China, in excess of $279 billion last year, according to the Census Bureau. Trump’s tariffs announced Monday, if implemented, would almost certainly cause significant disruptions for industries and raise consumer costs for gas, autos and all sorts of other products, possibly reigniting inflation, which appeared to be a key factor in his election victory. The U.S. imported a total of about $1.3 trillion worth of goods from those three countries last year, and about two-thirds of that amount came in tariff-free, thanks to the U.S. free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. Despite that trade pact, experts said Trump could impose the tariffs by using the statutory authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, which he cited extensively in his first term, including in his dealings with Mexico and China. Whether tactical or not, the tariff threats could escalate — Mexico already said it could retaliate with counter-tariffs. And some economists warned that Trump’s plans could backfire. “It’s a reckless grenade toss,” said Michael Clemens, an economics professor at George Mason University who specializes in international migration. “Harming American consumers and workers with a trade war will do nothing at all to address their concerns about immigration and drugs.”Most Americans, like most Canadians, probably have no idea how important Canada is to American energy security and its comparatively cheap gasoline. But they may soon find out. Should Donald Trump’s threats of 25 per cent tariffs across the board on Canadian imports include oil and natural gas, there would be a crude awakening. American consumers would invariably be hit with price hikes at the gas pumps, should Canadian oil producers be hit with 25 per cent tariffs, as about one-third of American refining capacity is configured for heavy crude, most of which comes from Alberta’s oil sands. American LNG exporters would also feel the pain, as some of the natural gas used to feed LNG terminals on the Gulf Coast comes from Alberta and B.C. via pipeline. Trump’s threat of across-the-board tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports is sending “shockwaves” through the Canadian business community, said Bridgitte Anderson, president of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade (GVBOT) at an energy and resources forum Tuesday in Vancouver. “The president-elect is threatening 25 per cent across the board on all Canadian projects,” said Lisa Baiton, president of the Canadian Petroleum Producers (CAPP). “This would be catastrophic for Canada's economy. And these kinds of events underscore the impacts of global instability and show how our resource sector, the economy and national security are all highly interdependent.” B.C. lumber exports to the U.S. are already subject to duties of about 15 per cent. Presumably, blanket tariffs on Canadian goods would add another 10 per cent. During his previous administration, Trump implemented tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, but energy exports, like oil and gas were not included. While it’s not yet clear whether the threatened tariffs would include energy exports -- oil, natural gas and electricity -- Trump did make a point of upper-casing his threat to suggest they would apply to everything. “On January 20 , as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25 per cent Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network on November 24. The five top exports from Canada to the U.S., in order of value, are crude oil and refined petroleum products, automotive parts, natural gas, electricity, and lumber and wood products. Business groups and chambers of commerce in Canada are reacting to the threat with alarm. “A tariff of this magnitude will have significant consequences for B.C. businesses of all sizes and will negatively impact communities and workers across British Columbia,” said BC Chamber of Commerce president Fiona Famulak. “These proposed tariffs would have devastating consequences for our local businesses, further straining supply chains and diminishing the economic recovery we’ve worked so hard to achieve,” said Surrey Board of Trade spokesman Jasroop Gosal. “Some might say that the president-elect's tariff threat is meant to be provocative," Baiton said. “I would say it's expected. And Canada needs to remember how closely integrated our market is in the U.S. “Our supply chains are highly intertwined. In 2022, Canada exported, in U.S. dollars $438 billion to the US, and a significant portion of that – or 27 per cent of that -- Canada's merchandise exports to the U.S. were energy related, including oil, gas, electricity and uranium." What’s not well understood about Canada’s role in American energy security is the configuration of American oil refineries. Many of the large refineries in the U.S. – notably in the midwest and Gulf Coast -- are built to refine heavy crude, not the lighter oil produced in the U.S. in its shale oil sector. As a result of this, 61 per cent of the crude oil imported by the U.S. comes from Canada, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Canadian heavy crude accounts for about 24 per cent of all crude oil consumption in the U.S. Depending on where oil prices are at, a 25 per cent tariff could add about $20 to the price of a barrel of oil for refiners, which would invariably result in higher prices for gasoline in the U.S. As for natural gas, in 2022, 99 per cent of American imports of natural gas were from Canada, according to the EIA, most of it from Alberta and B.C. The U.S. imported three trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2022. Some of the natural gas now exported to the U.S. from Alberta and B.C. now feed LNG projects on the Gulf Coast, which would be affected by higher natural gas prices, as a result of tariffs. “Imposing tariffs on products like energy would cause chaos for our very integrated markets and our very integrated supply chains, and would have a devastating effect on Canada," Baiton said. 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Pep Guardiola backed the right of Manchester City fans to boo his side after the Champions League draw with Feyenoord - but believes his side can prove them wrong going forward. City collapsed from 3-0 ahead with 15 minutes left to draw 3-3 as the defence capitulated, prompting boos from some supporters at full-time. City ended their five-game losing streak, but are winless in six and have conceded seven goals in two home games this week - and 17 during this run. Guardiola was asked about the boos after the game and refused to be critical, instead pointing to the support his side receive every week. "Last game against Tottenham, 0-4 supporters were there, applause. They are disappointed of course and we understand it," the manager said, before being asked if boos were justified given City's recent successes. ALSO READ: Feyenoord unusual celebration adds to Liverpool FC taunt for sorry Man City ALSO READ: Man City player ratings vs Feyenoord with one 4/10 and three 5/10s after dramatic Blues collapse "People come here not to remember success of the pass, they come here to see the team win and perform well. I am not the one when the situation is bad or good [to say] what they have to do. These supporters, when we go away, our fans are amazing, travelling. There is nothing to do and they are right to express what they feel." Guardiola insisted that City played well before the collapse and will work to put things right. "It will be a tough season for us and we have to accept it for many circumstances," he admitted. "Today unfortunately the game was well done and we couldn’t punish them in the right moment. The team was so committed in many many things but unfortunately in the moment something happens and we are not strong enough. We have to try and avoid those mistakes. "We have to [lift them], we have to. That is my job. We play a good game but we need to do it and were not able to control the last minutes."Chargers DB out for season with broken fibula

With just days left before Ireland goes to the polls, the leaders of Ireland’s three largest political parties appeared on the national broadcaster for their final televised debate before the general election. The leaders of the three main political parties took part in the final debate of the campaign in a Prime Time special led by Miriam O’Callaghan and Sarah McInerney. Speaking to reporters on arrival, Mr Harris said he was ‘really looking forward to the debate’ but acknowledged that ‘things don’t always go right in campaigns’. He was questioned on contact between his team and RTE before the clip of a contentious exchange he had with a care worker went public. The Taoiseach has previously said he ‘made mistakes’ in how he handled the interaction. When asked if one his officials had alleged to RTE that the care worker was a member of Sinn Fein, Mr Harris said: ‘I don’t believe so at all.’ Later asked if he was tired, Mr Harris added: ‘Not at all, I’m really energised.’ The final leader’s debate on RTÉ came just over a week after the debate which included all ten political party leaders, which was hosted on Upfront with Katie Hannon. In the debate, the party leaders outlined their policies and briefly touched on who they would or wouldn’t go into coalition with. The debate comes also in the wake of what could potentially be the defining moment for An Taoiseach Simon Harris as he continues to deal with the fall out following a frosty interaction with a care worker while campaigning in North Cork last week. Simon Harris responds to questions about his interaction with care sector worker, Charlotte Fallon, in Kanturk, and whether his staff contacted RTÉ about coverage of it. #rtept | @RTENews pic.twitter.com/pRpAoKboNe The Taoiseach and party leader was forced to apologise to Charlotte Fallon on Saturday after a clip of him engaging with her – and walking off mid-conversation as she became emotional – went viral. In the video, which has been viewed more than 3.4million times, Mr Harris can be seen disagreeing with Ms Fallon about the work the Government has done for carers, and becoming frustrated. Asked on Monday if any member of his team had contacted RTÉ in a bid not to have the footage run , Mr Harris said: ‘I don’t believe so.’ But the Irish Daily Mail established that Fine Gael figures contacted staff in RTÉ to express their concern over the video and how it would be featured. The first question was to Simon Harris about the video from Kanturk on his interaction with a carer and whether Fine Gael communicated with RTÉ in the aftermath about coverage of the matter. Harris said he had ‘no knowledge’ of any request being made not to air the clip. Micheal Martin and Simon Harris should feel ‘very ashamed’ over the Government’s record on carers and disability, Mary Lou McDonald said. The Sinn Fein leader took aim at the heads of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael during RTE Prime Time’s televised leaders’ debate. She said the outgoing Government did not seem ‘capable’ of listening to people’s experiences. Asked if he felt ashamed, Mr Martin said he was not happy with the ‘level of progress’ but said there had been advancements in some areas. Mr Harris said the issue of disability is something he has been passionate about his entire life. He said there needed to be a radical expansion of training places for occupational therapy and speech and language therapy. As the debate moved on, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said Sinn Fein’s ‘enormous’ tax increases will destroy Ireland’s enterprise economy. Mr Martin said: ‘Sinn Fein do not get the enterprise economy, they don’t get trade.’ Meanwhile, Fine Gael leader Simon Harris said his party was proposing the least amount of spending in its manifesto, when compared to the other two parties. Mr Harris said Friday marks election day and the 14th anniversary of the bailout programme following the financial crash. He said: ‘People sitting at home tonight are still living with the scars of that financial crash, and we have to learn from that as a country.’ Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the financial crash was instigated and driven by Fianna Fail, while austerity was brought by Fine Gael. Ms McDonald said she would agree with Mr Harris and added: ‘There are people watching this programme who still the bear the scars of your crash and of your austerity.’ Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said he “learned from” his time in Government during the financial crash. Speaking during the RTE Prime Time debate, he said: ‘I get the crash, I was in Government.’ Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald interrupted: ‘I know, sure you authored it.’ Mr Martin continued: ‘I learned from the experience, I kept with politics, I kept with public service. ‘I supported through confidence and supply the [Fine Gael] Government to get the country through Brexit. ‘One thing that people can be guaranteed with Micheal Martin is I will always put the country before party.’ Fianna Fail has taken ‘radical action’ on housing, Micheal Martin later said. He was responding to a question on the Housing Commission’s recommendation for a radical reset in housing policy. Mr Martin defended actions already taken by Fianna Fail and added: ‘It is not about some magical reset right now.’ Asked if Fine Gael had failed to make housing a top priority – as contended by former housing minister Eoghan Murphy, party leader Simon Harris said those comments came in the context of Brexit. He added: ‘Housing is the number one priority.’ Pressed on whether Fine Gael had put the party in front of the country on reforming housing policy, Mr Harris said: ‘My party never put party before country.’ He added: ‘My party’s never crashed the economy.’ "There is a need for a radical reset on housing policy..." Simon Harris responds to questions from Sarah McInerney about Fine Gael's approach to housing. #rtept | @RTENews pic.twitter.com/uwnzqydjIS Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has said Government parties ‘do not recognise the scale of the problem’ around housing delivery, as she defended her own party’s policies. Pressed on whether banks would definitely lend to home buyers under a Sinn Fein scheme where people would not own the land under the house, Ms McDonald said: ‘We’ve engaged with the banks. The banks have requirements that will have to be met. ‘I don’t think anybody should be shocked by that, they’re not some kind of Robin Hood institution giving money away. ‘The bottom line is they will want to know that if they invest that they’ll get their money back. We’re absolutely confident that those requirements can be met.’ Ms McDonald said her party had done “due diligence” in relation to the policy. “At no stage has the banking Federation said that ‘we will not lend into a scheme of this nature’.” Viewers took to X to have their say on all the key moments of the final TV debate of the General Election 2024 trail. One viewer spoke about An Taoiseach’s response towards whether FG communicated with RTE over the now-viral clip and said: ‘Still dodging it basically not a black or white yes/no’. Another person wrote: ‘Simon Harris is very shifty so far, Kanturk has him absolutely rattled.’ TD for Wicklow John Brady wrote: ‘Simon Harris talks about his ‘lived experience’ and ‘since his teenage years’ the fact is Fine Gael has been in government since his teenage years and disability services have been on a downward spiral during all those years! The reality is that the longer Fine Gael are in Government the worse the lived experience is for those with disabilities.’ Michael Martin: “I get the crash, I was in government for the crash.” @MaryLouMcDonald : “I know, sure you were the author of it.” Zinger #RTEPT There’s just something about Mary Lou calmly calling Micheál Martin and Simon Harris “Gentlemen” when they try to argue with her #leadersdebate pic.twitter.com/uDygTaZDem Debate drinking game: Take a drink every time Simon Harris talks about his "lived experience " #RTEPT At the end of the day, FFers will think Michéal Martin won, SFers will think Mary Lou McDonald has won, and FGers will think Simon Harris won Beauty is in the eye of the beholder #LeadersDebate One other viewer wrote: This isn’t a debate, it is just 2 RTÉ journos asking questions of the three leaders. Rather than call it the #leadersdebate maybe it should be called the #leadersgrilling.’ Another viewer took to X to say: ‘The winner of this debate is Sarah McInerney. She’s not letting them dodge her questions.’Lewandowski scores his 100th Champions League goal. He is the 3rd player to reach the milestone

As U.S. president-elect Donald Trump threatens Canada with major tariffs, sounding alarms over the number of people and drugs illegally crossing into America, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and some premiers say they agree that more could be done. Trump is threatening to implement the 25 per cent tariff on day one of his presidency, until both Canada and Mexico address the "long simmering problem" of drugs and illegal immigrants crossing into the United States. "We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!" Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social Monday night. Trump also wrote: "This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!" In a press conference in response on Tuesday, Poilievre called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to "put partisanship aside" and "fully reverse his liberalization of drugs" to prevent more overdoses. "I don't want to stop drug overdoses to please Donald Trump, I want to stop drug overdoses so that there's not one more mother with her face buried in a pillow sobbing that she just lost her kid after 47,000 other Canadians have died," Poilievre said. Ontario Premier Doug Ford also responded to Trump's tariff threat, telling reporters on Tuesday that "Canada is no Mexico," and adding that he "found his comments unfair." "One ounce of any illegal drug is one ounce too many going back and forth across the border," Ford said, before pointing the finger at the issue of drugs being moved from Mexico and through the United States before being brought into Canada. "The threat is serious," he said. "We need to do better on our borders." Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in an interview on CTV News Channel's Power Play that Canada needs to work on addressing several of Trump's concerns, from the border, to worries China is using Mexico as a backdoor into North American free trade, to defence spending. "But I would say that the best thing that we could do would be to start hiring a border patrol so that we can guarantee that we aren't having a free flow of drugs and illegal migrants across the border," Smith told host Vassy Kapelos. "We've got to address the issues that have been identified as pressure points and alleviate them," she added. "We have a common interest in trying to get a handle on our border issues, and a common interest in trying to get a handle on the organized crime that is bringing fentanyl onto our streets," Smith said. Responding to Trump's threat, and the deluge of reaction, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters Tuesday that work is done "daily," between U.S. and Canadian law enforcement, to address illegal border activity. "Intelligence information is shared between both countries, including in the fight against fentanyl and the toxic drug crisis that is affecting Canadians and Canadian families as it is the United States," LeBlanc said. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said that the Canadian government knew the border was going to be a top issue with the incoming administration and they've been working behind the scenes to prepare. Trudeau told reporters on his way into Tuesday's cabinet meeting that he spoke with Trump Monday night but didn't specify what the two discussed beyond "some of the challenges that we can work on together." A senior government source told CTV News, meanwhile, that the two discussed the fentanyl problem in both countries during their first phone call after election day, earlier this month. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer canine unit searches vehicles at the Peace Bridge Port of Entry in Buffalo, N.Y., May 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston What does the data say? Statistics from America's own border agency, however, show it's seizing only a fraction of the illegal drugs at the Canadian border compared to Mexico's. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency has seized 43 lbs of fentanyl at the Canada-U.S. border in the last year, excluding October, compared to 21,148 lbs at its southern border with Mexico in the same time period. In 2023 and 2022, CBP states it seized two lbs and 14 lbs of fentanyl, respectively, at the Canadian border. At the border with Mexico, the agency seized more than 26,700 lbs of fentanyl, and more than 14,100 lbs, in 2023 and 2022, respectively. And, data obtained by the Washington, D.C.-based public policy research Cato Institute — citing information obtained through a freedom of information request — states 80 per cent of the individuals caught with fentanyl during border crossings at ports of entry from 2019 to 2024 were U.S. citizens. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has publicly available data for the amount of illegal goods seized at the border, but does not break down the country of origin for those illegal goods. The statistics related to illegal drug seizures at the U.S. border with Canada compared to Mexico's is in line with those related to encounters between CBP and individuals illegally attempting to cross the border. According to CBP, in the last year, but excluding October, there were 23,721 encounters at the Canada-U.S. border. At the U.S. southern border with Mexico, there were more than 1.5 million. LeBlanc said Tuesday the Canadian government is working with law enforcement to provide additional resources, whether they're required to staunch the flow of illegal drugs, human crossings, or both. "In recent days, I've worked with the RCMP and Border Services about continuing to support them in terms of acquiring new technologies, drones, helicopters, additional human resources necessary in the case of surge requirements," LeBlanc said Tuesday. "All of this work is being done and has been done for many months." He also said he doesn't think it's "about thickening or thinning the border," but rather working with American officials to "have an efficient, effective border that's secure for both countries." "And it's not an either-or choice," he said. With files from CTV News' Colton Praill, Rachel Aiello, Mike Le Couteur and Brennan MacDonaldNEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 13, 2024-- Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE: BXMT) declared a dividend of $0.47 per share of class A common stock with respect to the fourth quarter of 2024. This dividend is payable on January 15, 2025 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on December 31, 2024. About Blackstone Mortgage Trust Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT) is a real estate finance company that originates senior loans collateralized by commercial real estate in North America, Europe, and Australia. Our investment objective is to preserve and protect shareholder capital while producing attractive risk-adjusted returns primarily through dividends generated from current income from our loan portfolio. Our portfolio is composed primarily of loans secured by high-quality, institutional assets in major markets, sponsored by experienced, well-capitalized real estate investment owners and operators. These senior loans are capitalized by accessing a variety of financing options, depending on our view of the most prudent strategy available for each of our investments. We are externally managed by BXMT Advisors L.L.C., a subsidiary of Blackstone. About Blackstone Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which we invest. Our more than $1.1 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, credit, real assets, secondaries and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com . Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn , X (Twitter) , and Instagram . Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which reflect BXMT’s current views with respect to, among other things, its operations and financial performance, its business plans and the impact of the current macroeconomic environment, including interest rate changes. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “outlook,” “objective,” “indicator,” “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “continues,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates” or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. BXMT believes these factors include but are not limited to those described under the section entitled “Risk Factors” in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, as such factors may be updated from time to time in its periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov . These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this release and in the filings. BXMT assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events or circumstances. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241213685391/en/ CONTACT: Investor Relations Blackstone +1 (888) 756-8443 BlackstoneShareholderRelations@Blackstone.comPublic Affairs Blackstone +1 (212) 583-5263 PressInquiries@Blackstone.com KEYWORD: NEW YORK UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: FINANCE BANKING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES COMMERCIAL BUILDING & REAL ESTATE CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY SOURCE: Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/13/2024 04:15 PM/DISC: 12/13/2024 04:15 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241213685391/enAbortion has become slightly more common despite bans or deep restrictions in most Republican-controlled states, and the legal and political fights over its future are not over yet. It's now been two and a half years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door for states to implement bans. The policies and their impact have been in flux ever since the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Here's a look at data on where things stand: Overturning Roe and enforcing abortion bans has changed how woman obtain abortions in the U.S. But one thing it hasn't done is put a dent in the number of abortions being obtained. There have been slightly more monthly abortions across the country recently than there were in the months leading up to the June 2022 ruling, even as the number in states with bans dropped to near zero. “Abortion bans don’t actually prevent abortions from happening,” said Ushma Upadhyay, a public health social scientist at the University of California San Francisco. But, she said, they do change care. For women in some states, there are major obstacles to getting abortions — and advocates say that low-income, minority and immigrant women are least likely to be able to get them when they want. For those living in states with bans, the ways to access abortion are through travel or abortion pills. As the bans swept in, abortion pills became a bigger part of the equation. They were involved in about half the abortions before Dobbs. More recently, it’s been closer to two-thirds of them, according to research by the Guttmacher Institute. The uptick of that kind of abortion, usually involving a combination of two drugs, was underway before the ruling. But now, it's become more common for pill prescriptions to be made by telehealth. By the summer of 2024, about 1 in 10 abortions was via pills prescribed via telehealth to patients in states where abortion is banned. As a result, the pills are now at the center of battles over abortion access. This month, Texas sued a New York doctor for prescribing pills to a Texas woman via telemedicine. There's also an effort by Idaho, Kansas and Missouri to roll back their federal approvals and treat them as “controlled dangerous substances,” and a push for the federal government to start enforcing a 19th-century federal law to ban mailing them. Clinics have closed or halted abortions in states with bans. But a network of efforts to get women seeking abortions to places where they're legal has strengthened and travel for abortion is now common. The Guttmacher Institute found that more than twice as many Texas residents obtained abortion in 2023 in New Mexico as New Mexico residents did. And as many Texans received them in Kansas as Kansans. Abortion funds, which benefitted from “rage giving” in 2022, have helped pay the costs for many abortion-seekers. But some funds have had to cap how much they can give . Since the downfall of Roe, the actions of lawmakers and courts have kept shifting where abortion is legal and under what conditions. Here's where it stands now: Florida, the nation’s third most-populous state, began enforcing a ban on abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy on May 1. That immediately changed the state from one that was a refuge for other Southerners seeking abortion to an exporter of people looking for them. There were about 30% fewer abortions there in May compared with the average for the first three months of the year. And in June, there were 35% fewer. While the ban is not unique, the impact is especially large. The average driving time from Florida to a facility in North Carolina where abortion is available for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is more than nine hours, according to data maintained by Caitlin Myers, a Middlebury College economics professor. The bans have meant clinics closed or stopped offering abortions in some states. But some states where abortion remains legal until viability – generally considered to be sometime past 21 weeks of pregnancy , though there’s no fixed time for it – have seen clinics open and expand . Illinois, Kansas and New Mexico are among the states with new clinics. There were 799 publicly identifiable abortion providers in the U.S. in May 2022, the month before the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. And by this November, it was 792, according to a tally by Myers, who is collecting data on abortion providers. But Myers says some hospitals that always provided some abortions have begun advertising it. So they’re now in the count of clinics – even though they might provide few of them. How hospitals handle pregnancy complications , especially those that threaten the lives of the women, has emerged as a major issue since Roe was overturned. President Joe Biden's administration says hospitals must offer abortions when they're needed to prevent organ loss, hemorrhage or deadly infections, even in states with bans. Texas is challenging the administration’s policy and the U.S. Supreme Court this year declined to take it up after the Biden administration sued Idaho. More than 100 pregnant women seeking help in emergency rooms and were turned away or left unstable since 2022, The Associated Press found in an analysis of federal hospital investigative records. Among the complaints were a woman who miscarried in the lobby restroom of Texas emergency room after staff refused to see her and a woman who gave birth in a car after a North Carolina hospital couldn't offer an ultrasound. The baby later died. “It is increasingly less safe to be pregnant and seeking emergency care in an emergency department,” Dara Kass, an emergency medicine doctor and former U.S. Health and Human Services official told the AP earlier this year. Since Roe was overturned, there have been 18 reproductive rights-related statewide ballot questions. Abortion rights advocates have prevailed on 14 of them and lost on four. In the 2024 election , they amended the constitutions in five states to add the right to abortion. Such measures failed in three states: In Florida, where it required 60% support; in Nebraska, which had competing abortion ballot measures; and in South Dakota, where most national abortion rights groups did support the measure. AP VoteCast data found that more than three-fifths of voters in 2024 supported abortion being legal in all or most cases – a slight uptick from 2020. The support came even as voters supported Republicans to control the White House and both houses of Congress. Associated Press writers Linley Sanders, Amanda Seitz and Laura Ungar contributed to this article.

Today's Curious Question takes a look at one of the nation's favourite parlour games. At its simplest, tiddlywinks is a game for up to four people, played on a flat felt mat. The object is to shoot a wink — a coloured disc — into a pot using a squidger — a larger disc — but there is also a defensive element to the game. This involves ‘squopping’, landing your disc over an opponent’s so effectively barring them from ‘squidging’ their disc. Among aficionados it can be fiercely competitive, with regular tournaments held in Britain and the US and even a world title. The rules governing the modern version of the game were established on January 16, 1955 by a group of undergraduates who met at Christ’s College, Cambridge, determined to invent a game at which they could represent the Varsity. Their success attracted the attention of the then Duke of Edinburgh, who, in 1960, commissioned the ‘Silver Wink’ trophy. Standing 151⁄2 inches tall, topped with a ring inside of which is a silver rotating wink, it was presented in January 1961 to the English Tiddlywinks Association to be awarded to the winner of the all-British universities series of competitions. As many as 37 universities competed for the trophy in the 1960s. However, the antecedents of the modern game of tiddlywinks can be traced back to the late 19 th century, the heyday of the British parlour game. A provisional patent application for ‘a new and improved game’ was delivered to Her Majesty’s Stationery Office on November 8, 1888, by the 25-year-old, Hampshire-born, Joseph Assheton Fincher, by then living at 9, Berners Street in London and describing himself as a ‘gentleman’. The game, which Fincher called Tiddledy-Winks, was played with ‘counters or flippers made of wood, ivory, bone or other substance, and a bowl or vessel of any shape, made of wood, china, glass, ivory or other substance, the object of the said counters or flippers being to press the edge of a smaller set of counters provided for the purpose and so cause them to jump into the bowl or vessel placed in the centre of the table’. The application helpfully included illustrations of the technique required to flip the counters. What was new about the game, Fincher claimed, was the use of a bowl and counters, the act of flipping the counter, and the use of one counter to flip another. It is not clear how or why he devised the game, but he did have an inventive streak, patenting in 1890 ‘improvements in Sleeve Links’ as cufflinks were known at the time, although later had an application rejected in 1897 for improvements to a candlestick. Sadly, he died aged 36 on a platform of Waterloo Station on July 14, 1900, having suffered ‘convulsions from congestion of the brain’. Fincher engaged the distinguished London games manufacturer, Jaques and Son of Hatton Gardens, to publish the sets, which featured wooden winks cups hand-turned on a lathe by the company’s craftsmen. An early advertisement for the ‘splendid new game’ called Tiddledy Winks appeared in The Evening Standard on March 1, 1889, with sets available for one shilling. With Fincher’s patent accepted on October 19, 1889, and the trademark approved on March 6, 1890, Tiddledy Winks quickly became an established parlour game. It livened up many an evening, judging from an entry in the 17-year-old Lady Emily Lutyens’ diary for April 24, 1892: ‘After dinner we all played the most exciting game that ever was invented, called Tiddleywinks...to begin with, everyone begins to scream at the top of their voices and to accuse everyone else of cheating. Even I forgot my shyness and howled with excitement... I assure you no words can picture either the intense excitement or the noise. I almost scream in describing it.’ Commercial and societal success came with perils. First there were counterfeiters; Jaques and Son had to resort to affixing a notice on the inside of the box warning of cheap imitations. Then there were competitors, with a surge in games launched on to the market that were based on counters and flippers. One such was Flitterkins devised by Harold Wilson and Alice Margary and also published by Jaques and Sons, described as ‘A Modification of Lawn Tennis Forming and Indoor Game’, played with a counter rather than a ball. It was granted a patent (GB 1888/18789A) on March 16, 1889, seven months before Fincher received his, making it the first tiddlywinks-based patent to be issued in the world. However, Fincher’s provisional submission was made a month and a half before the Flitterkins submission. Another variant was Spoof, produced by F H Ayres of 111, Aldergate Street in London, copyrighted on November 6, 1888 and first published six days earlier, a week before Fincher’s initial provisional submission. Described as ‘a new and interesting game’, players had six counters (Men) of the same colour which they tried to flip with a larger counter (the Spoof) into a Spoof cup. Each player would take it in turns to shoot all their men, the winner being the player who shot the most in an agreed time into the cup. Sporting variants such as Spoof Golf, Cricket, Tennis, Croquet, and Quoits were marketed until the turn of the century. The third patent granted in England for a tiddlywinks-style game was for George Scott’s Golfette or Table Golf, awarded on March 22, 1890, shortly after Fincher’s. It consisted of a course made from felt or other elastic material, a series of hazards to be placed across the course and some ‘springers’ or clubs used to propel counters around the field of play. The object, as in golf, was to sink the counter in the hole in the fewest shots. Scott also secured the first US patent for a tiddlywinks game. Another notable games manufacturer, J W Spear & Sons, published variations around the tiddlywinks theme including Sweet Wedding Bells, where winks were shot to ring a bell in a bell tower, North Pole, where players fired their counters on to a map with the aim of getting to the pole, and Over the Garden Wall, where counters were propelled over a wall with players scoring a point if they landed on the grass, two in the flower beds, three on the path, and five in the pond. Chronowinks added some jeopardy in 1891, with each game limited to the time it took all of the sand to drop from the top of an hourglass. From tiddledywinks and then tidley winks, the spelling soon settled down as tiddlywinks. Perhaps there was an initial reluctance to use tiddlywinks as it was a slang term for an unlicensed public house selling beer and hard cider, a ‘wayside mart’, observed Bailey’s Magazine of Sports and Pastimes in October 1863, ‘where poachers congregated and flash men came to make inquiries about the architectural contrivances of the neighbouring mansions’. On the B4039 near the village of Yatton Keynell, about three miles northwest of Chippenham lies the hamlet of Tiddlywink, so called, apparently, because beer was sold from one of its cottages to passing cattle drovers. Having had their bid for recognition ‘squopped’ by the Bartholomew Gazeteer of Places in Britain and its successor, Collins British Atlas and Gazeteer , the residents finally ‘squidged’ their wink when they were granted permission to erect two road signs in February 2003. There is more to tiddlywinks than meets the eye. Martin Fone is the author of ‘Fifty Curious Questions: Pabulum for the Enquiring Mind’Paycor to Present at the UBS Global Technology and AI Conference

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