Mold is more than just an aesthetic problem in a home; it can also pose a threat to your health. Exposure to mold has been linked to conditions, including allergic rhinitis, asthma, and even cognitive issues like brain fog.
In the “Health 1+1” program, Shao-Hung Wang, professor and chair of the Microbiology, Immunology, and Biopharmaceuticals Department at National Chiayi University in Taiwan, discussed the increasing number of mold-related poisoning incidents in recent years. He cited the 2004 contamination of Pedigree dog food, which led to kidney failure in approximately 6,000 dogs in Taiwan alone. More recently, in March of last year, toxic puberulic acid was found in red yeast rice supplements from Japan’s Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, a drug-maker company, resulting in over 100 deaths.
During the program, Wang outlined effective strategies for mold prevention and removal, including essential cleaning products to help keep it at bay.
Health Risks of Indoor Mold
Beyond foodborne mold poisoning, indoor mold contamination is also a serious concern.
In damp environments, mold toxins can trigger allergic reactions and, in some cases, even severe asthma symptoms, Wang noted. He cited a 2023 review indicating that in old, moisture-prone buildings, mold growing on structures can release mycotoxins into the air. These airborne toxins, or bioaerosols, can be unknowingly inhaled by residents, leading to various health issues.
A recent review in the journal Toxicology found that exposure to environmental mycotoxins may compromise the blood-brain barrier, allowing these toxins to enter the central nervous system. This disruption can potentially trigger oxidative stress and neuroinflammation, both of which are linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Common Mold Habitats in Your Home
Mold thrives in damp, humid environments where nutrients are readily available, making certain areas of the home particularly susceptible, Wang noted.
Bathrooms and Kitchens
Bathrooms and kitchens are particularly susceptible to mold, especially on silicone sealants, countertops, and hard-to-reach areas.
These spaces tend to have high humidity, and organic matter—such as soap residue from bathing or food scraps in the kitchen—can serve as nutrients for mold growth.
Furniture and Wall Crevices
Mold can also form on furniture, walls, and ceilings.
For example, the paint or varnish on wooden wardrobes may provide nutrients for mold. In humid, poorly ventilated conditions, mold spots often appear behind closets or in corners.
Mold also tends to grow in hidden areas, sometimes producing a musty odor even when no visible mold is present.
Basements
Poor ventilation in basements makes them prone to moisture buildup, creating ideal conditions for mold growth—especially on wooden wall panels.
Potted Plants and Drip Trays
The soil in potted plants and the water collected in drip trays are also common breeding grounds for mold.
Wang recommends placing plants in sunlight regularly and replacing soil immediately if mold appears.
Household Appliances
Air Conditioners: Air conditioners tend to accumulate moisture, while indoor air contains skin flakes that serve as nutrients for mold.
Washing Machines: Constant exposure to water makes washing machines prone to mold growth. Wang recommends having them professionally inspected at least once a year and periodically using mold removers to clean the interior.
Dishwashers and Dryers: While high temperatures during washing and drying may help, they are not always sufficient to eliminate mold and spores completely. Mold can persist, particularly on rubber seals that do not come into direct contact with heat.
When drying clothes, Wang suggests using anti-static dryer sheets or wool dryer balls, as static electricity can attract mycotoxins. Whenever possible, let clothes dry in the sun after machine drying— this helps reduce static while breaking down particles that may contain fungal toxins.
Preventing Mold Growth
A musty smell in a room is a key indicator of excessive humidity.
A 2024 study showed that increasing air circulation promotes evaporation, helping to keep indoor surfaces like tiles dry. This prevents mold spores from germinating and inhibits mold growth.
In addition to ensuring proper ventilation, using a dehumidifier is essential when relative humidity exceeds 60 percent. Pairing it with an air purifier can further help remove fungal spores, mold fragments, and mycotoxins from the environment.
Safe Mold Removal Methods
If mold develops on walls or silicone surfaces at home, a variety of commercial mold removers are available in spray and foam form. However, Wang cautioned against mixing mold removers with other cleaning or disinfecting agents, as this may trigger harmful chemical reactions. If a mold remover is unavailable, bleach can be used as an alternative.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Bleach Solution:
Dilute bleach at a 1:100 ratio with water.
Soak a paper towel in the solution and place it over the mold-affected area.
Let it sit for one to three hours.
Scrub the area with a sponge or scouring pad.
For severe mold growth, use a higher concentration of bleach at a 1:10 ratio. However, when applying a high-concentration solution, be sure to leave the room to avoid inhaling fumes that can irritate the respiratory tract.
Fear Of Trump Led To The Release Of Hostages In Gaza: Waltz
The phase one of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage/prisoner exchange deal has held through multiple rounds of captive releases. US National Security Advisor Mike Walz, after six Israelis were recently freed on Saturday, has said it was Hamas’ fear of Trump that made this possible.
“Hamas is listening to the president … 29 hostages are alive today and reunited with their families because the whole world listened when President Trump said there would be all hell to pay after the Biden administration couldn’t get this done for 15 months,” Waltz told “Fox & Friends” on Monday.
The timeline of the deal seems to back this assessment – that indeed it was anticipation the Trump presidency would push the deal over the line. That deal had been agreed to on January 19, 2025 – literally the day before Trump was inaugurated.
“The needle we are trying to thread now is getting all our hostages out. At the same time though, Hamas will not rule Gaza. Period,” Walz continued in his comments. “They have a couple of off-ramps that we put on the table, but Hamas will not rule Gaza. They will not cause another Oct. 7. And we will work with Israel to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Both sides have lately warned the ceasefire’s collapse could be imminent, especially given that Hamas has released nearly all the hostages on a stage and ‘graduation’ of sorts complete with propaganda posters denouncing Netanyahu and ‘Zionist terrorism’…
“Israel will not overlook the inhumane, degrading ceremonies that humiliate our hostages for propaganda,” Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said at a press briefing.
Israel has delayed release of all Palestinian prisoners agreed to, but hundreds have been transferred, amid Palestinians celebrations especially in the West Bank.
At the same time, Israeli forces have ramped up West Bank operations, which has included the escalation of sending tanks into some refugee camps. This comes after several attempted bus bombings over the weekend.
Spokesman for Hamas’ political bureau Basem Naim days ago described, “Unfortunately, Netanyahu and his government have been rejecting to engage with the second phase while only one week is left from the first phase. We believe that again, these are dirty games from the right-wing government to sabotage and undermine the deal and to send a message of willingness to go back to war.”
It’s anything but certain whether the truce will hold into phase two and phase three, the details of which have yet to be fully defined or publicized.
The White House on Tuesday said that 1 million federal employees responded to a mass email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) asking them to list five things they had accomplished in the past week.
“We’ve had more than one million workers who have chosen to participate. … I actually participated in it myself. It took me about a minute and a half,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response to a reporter’s question about the OPM email deadline, describing what was asked in the email as something “very simple” that can be accomplished in a few minutes.
Leavitt confirmed that the email was an idea from Elon Musk and that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which he leads, helped OPM craft the email. She also said that federal workers need to respond to this email unless told otherwise by their agency heads.
However, agency leaders “are responsible for their specific workforce,” Leavitt said. “This is true of the hirings and firings that have taken place.”
The email drew a lawsuit from unions, businesses, veterans, and conservation organizations, arguing Musk had violated the law by threatening mass firings in a social media post referencing the OPM email. Meanwhile, OPM told agencies that employees are not mandated to respond to the email.
Over the weekend, Musk signaled that people who don’t respond to the mass email would be considered to have resigned from their jobs.
Musk wrote on Saturday on social media platform X that “all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” and that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
He later said that the email was designed to determine whether certain employees are even working, adding that he believes fraud is rampant.
“In some cases, we believe non-existent people or the identities of dead people are being used to collect paychecks,” he stated.
“In other words, there is outright fraud.”
The OPM sent out its email request afterward.
“Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager,” the message said.
However, it said nothing about the potential for employees to be fired for noncompliance.
One Million Workers Responded to Musk Email, Leavitt Says
So 2 million govt workers don’t exist/don’t know how to check email/can’t be bothered to write a 5 minute email?
Musk on Monday balked at the pushback, saying federal workers “hate even the tiniest amount of accountability” and continued to warn they could be fired.
“Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance,” he wrote on X, which he owns.
“Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”
When asked on Monday about Musk’s comments and the email, President Donald Trump indicated that he was supportive of the effort.
“What he’s doing is saying, ‘Are you actually working?’” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“And then, if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired or you’re fired, because a lot of people aren’t answering because they don’t even exist.”
The president said Musk and DOGE have found “hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud,” suggesting that federal paychecks are going to nonexistent employees.
Musk’s posts on X and the OPM email came shortly after Trump wrote on social media on Saturday that he wants Musk to “get more aggressive” in his efforts to downsize the federal workforce and eliminate fraud, abuse, and waste.
Massie Teases Senate Run – Jewish GOP Group Threatens ‘Unlimited’ Spending To Stop Him
Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie is teasing a potential run for Mitch McConnell’s Senate seat in 2026, and a Jewish Republican group is already threatening to unleash “unlimited” spending to thwart any such bid, given his frequent opposition to legislation pushed by the pro-Israel lobby.
On Thursday, Massie posted a poll on X, asking if he should stay in the House, run for Senate in 2026, or run for governor in 2027. A Senate campaign was the choice of 67% of the respondents.
Add it all up — and stir in the fact that he’s a member of a party whose legislators almost universally toe the pro-Israel line — and Massie is likely the House representative the pro-Israel lobby would most like to eliminate. The idea of him ascending to the Senate has pro-Israel forces racing to DEFCON1.
“If Tom Massie chooses to enter the race for US Senate in Kentucky, the RJC campaign budget to ensure he is defeated will be unlimited,” warned Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks in a statement to Jewish Insider. The Republican Jewish Coalition has tried to defeat Massie before. In 2020, the RJC backed Republican Todd McMurtry in challenging Massie in the GOP primary — only to see Massie trounce McMurtry in an 81% to 19% rout.
So intense is their opposition to Massie that last year, pro-Israel forces starting preemptively spending money to weaken Massie’s Senate prospects. Despite the fact that Massie faced no viable GOP opponent nor any Democrat opponent at all, the intentionally-vaguely-named United Democracy Project — the independent campaign-spending arm of the mighty American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — said it would spend $300,000 on ads on Fox television affiliates in Kentucky. “We are trying to shine a light on the radical anti-Israel record of Tom Massie,”said spokesman Patrick Dorton. “We want every single voter in the state of Kentucky to know about his anti-Israel actions.” Here’s their over-the-top ad:
— United Democracy Project (@UnitedDemocProj) May 9, 2024
In a direct challenge to the Israel lobby, Massie has pushed for the Department of Justice to compel AIPAC and its associates to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law that requires individuals and organizations that work to advance the policies of foreign governments to disclose their relationships, actions and compensation.
Thomas Massie has publicly stated that every Republican member of Congress, except himself, has an “AIPAC babysitter” to ensure they vote in line with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s interests. pic.twitter.com/VHTWSRm8rZ
If Massie does run for Senate, spending by the RJC and other pro-Israel groups on the race could make it an extraordinarily pricy race. That dynamic was on display in the 2024 cycle: AIPAC successfully targeted incumbent Democratic New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman, and poured an astonishing $14 million into the race — helping to make it the most expensive House primary contest ever.
Within hours of Mitch McConnell’s announcement that he would not run for re-election in 2026, former Kentucky attorney-general Daniel Cameron formally declared his candidacy. McConnell is considered a mentor to Cameron, making Cameron the establishment-designated heir apparent. Undeclared candidates who’ve signaled a strong interest in the seat include Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr and waste-and-recycling businessman Nate Morris. Last week at CPAC, Morris condemned both Cameron and Barr for “refus[ing] to call out Mitch McConnell for the sabotage of President Trump’s agenda.”
“It’s the the same circus with different monkeys…Here’s the good news: I’m not even in the race for Senate and the only poll that’s been released shows me in second place.”
The U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into the Maine Department of Education over its approval of male participation in women’s sporting events.
The investigation is being initiated by the federal department’s Office for Civil Rights “amid allegations that it continues to allow male athletes to compete in girls’ interscholastic athletics and that it has denied female athletes female-only intimate facilities,” the department said in a Feb. 21 statement. These actions are in violation of “federal anti-discrimination law.”
The Office for Civil Rights is also investigating Maine School Administrative District 51 following reports that a school under its jurisdiction, Greely High School, “is continuing to allow at least one male student to compete in girls’ categories.”
The investigation was begun after President Donald Trump said in remarks during the Feb. 20 Republican Governors Association Dinner that Maine risks losing federal funding if the state continues to allow males to take part in female sporting events.
“I heard men are still playing in Maine,” Trump said.
“I hate to tell you this, but we’re not going to give any federal money. They’re still saying we want men to play in women’s sports, and I cannot believe they’re doing that. So we’re not going to give them any federal funding—none whatsoever until they clean that up.”
On Feb. 21, Maine Gov. Janet Mills issued a response to Trump’s statement, saying the state “will not be intimidated by the President’s threats.”
If Trump does pull back funding, her administration and the attorney general “will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding,” Mills said.
The U.S. Department of Education clarified that no state law can override federal anti-discrimination laws and that Maine’s Education Department and its schools are subject to Title IX regulations. Title IX prohibits discrimination in education on the basis of sex. It established the foundation for women’s athletic programs.
“Maine would have you believe that it has no choice in how it treats women and girls in athletics – that is, that it must follow its state laws and allow male athletes to compete against women and girls,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education, said.
“Let me be clear: If Maine wants to continue to receive federal funds from the Education Department, it has to follow Title IX. If it wants to forgo federal funds and continue to trample the rights of its young female athletes, that, too, is its choice. [The Office for Civil Rights] will do everything in its power to ensure taxpayers are not funding blatant civil rights violators.”
Earlier this month, the department announced an investigation of the California Interscholastic Federation and the Minnesota State High School League after they publicly announced plans that could potentially allow male athletes to compete in female sports and also use women’s intimate facilities.
Protecting Female Sports
On Feb. 5, Trump signed an executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” that aims to protect women’s sporting events.
Many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to take part in women’s sports in recent years, which the order called “demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls,” and added that such actions deny “women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”
The order made it the policy of the United States to “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities” and to “oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports.”
On Feb. 6, the board of governors of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) voted to update the association’s “transgender student-athlete participation policy” following the Trump executive order.
The new NCAA rules restrict “competition in women’s sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth only.” The NCAA is made up of 1,100 universities and colleges across 50 states, enrolling more than 530,000 student-athletes.
Candice Jackson, deputy general counsel at the U.S. Department of Education, said the NCAA “has correctly changed its tune on its discriminatory practices against female athletes.”
Legacy Media Flips Out After White House Takes Control Of Press Pool
The White House on Tuesday announced that it’s taking control of which news outlets are allowed into the press pool, and will no longer allow the White House Correspondents’ Association to act as gatekeepers. The move paves the way for independent outlets to participate in the press pool – a small group of reporters that travel with and cover the president’s daily activities.
“It’s beyond time the White House press pool reflects the media habits of the American people in 2025,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who added that the goal is to give new or alternative media companies greater access to the administration, while continuing to allow certain “legacy” outlets to be in rotation.
“Legacy outlets who have participated in the press pool for decades will still be allowed to join … but we will also be offering the privilege to well-deserving outlets, who have never been allowed to share in this awesome responsibility,” she said.
🚨 @PressSec announces changes to the “press pool” that covers President Trump:
“For decades, a group of D.C.-based journalists — the @WHCA — has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of @POTUS in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore.” pic.twitter.com/fHd5Wkm3nE
The move comes after a federal judge denied a request by the Associated Press (AP) to force the White House to allow it access to the Oval Office and Air Force One.
In fact, the judge – Trevor McFadden, slammed AP in his ruling – suggesting they have no constitutional right to “special media access.”
“It feels a little odd that the White House is bound by certain decisions that this private organization is making,” said McFadden.
According to Eugene Daniels, president of the WHCA and Politico reporter, slammed the move – telling Axios that it “suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president.”
You mean like this?
I’m old enough to remember when the Biden White House revoked 442 reporters’ press credentials
According to the aggrieved Daniels, the move “tears at the independence of a free press in the United States,” adding “In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”
The NY Times was also triggered by the move – calling it “the latest in a string of aggressive efforts by the Trump administration to erode the access and influence of major news organizations that cover the White House.”
Cry harder…
One White House adviser told Axios: “The AP and the White House Correspondents Association wanted to f–k around. Now it’s finding out time.”
Excellent decision. The WHCA assignments in the briefing room and gate keeping in the press pool dramatically restrict access to irrelevant legacy media outlets and dramatically skew the type of questions to be asked in limited press availabilities with the President https://t.co/rok4czYhKv
Zelensky To Visit White House Friday To Sign Minerals Deal
Update(1720ET): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to visit the White House on Friday amid reports he is finalizing a mineral rights access deal with the Trump administration.
President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday that he heard Zelensky was visiting on Friday, “and certainly it’s OK with me if he’d like to” – as cited in The Hill and other outlets.
“Without the United States and its money and its military equipment, this war would have been over in a very short period of time,” Trump said in the remarks.
Apparently Zelensky finally acquiesced after the negotiating teams reached agreement on a final draft that does not include a US demand that it would have rights to $500 billion in future revenue. Details remain largely unknown at this early stage.
An American official involved the talks told Axios that “General Kellogg’s meetings with Zelensky in Kyiv last Wednesday and Thursday were extremely important. Patient, persistent diplomacy can yield results.”
“I hear Zelensky’s coming on Friday, it’s ok with me… It could be a trillion dollar deal, it could be whatever… Biden was throwing around money like it’s cotton candy.
Update(1348ET): Ukraine has tentatively agreed to Trump’s mineral rights access deal, Financial Times is reporting in breaking headline. The devil will of course be in the details, given as recently as Sunday Zelensky was openly resistant to the terms offered so far.
“Kyiv has agreed terms with Washington on a minerals deal that Ukrainian officials hope will improve relations with the Trump administration and pave the way for a long-term US security commitment,” FT reports early Tuesday afternoon.
“Ukrainian officials say Kyiv is now ready to sign the agreement on jointly developing its mineral resources, including oil and gas, after the US dropped demands for a right to $500bn in potential revenue from exploiting the resources,” the report continues.
But again nothing appears to be ultimately finalized, and there will yet be plenty of haggling over what exactly this will look like. Snippets of draft agreements have been leaked, but little in the way of the more controversial details.
“The minerals agreement is only part of the picture. We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it’s part of a bigger picture,” Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and justice minister who has led the negotiations, told the same publication.
As we detailed below, Europe is actually offering its own rival version, which could be part of yet more efforts to stall and sabotage a Washington deal. President Putin himself is also touting discussions over “major” cooperation with US companies, including on access to Russia’s rare earth minerals.
The US has said ‘no’ to NATO membership for Ukraine, even as some European leaders continue to push this dubious future scenario. Zelensky has even talked stepping down if this could guaranteed future NATO membership, but also as Ukraine’s parliament has extended his mandate, with no new elections on the horizon.
* * *
In a wide-ranging new interview with Russia 1 TV, President Vladimir Putin touted that his country is in talks with the United States over cooperating on “major” joint economic projects.
The Monday remarks came two weeks following his first phone call with President Trump after the US leader took office for the second time. “Some Russian and American companies are in contact and discussing major projects,” Putin said.
This is being confirmed by the US side as well, given Trump in a Truth Social post also revealed that major “economic development transactions which will take place between the US and Russia” are in the works. He said that ongoing discussions are “proceeding very well” — coming off last week’s bilateral Riyadh talks led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russia’s Sergey Lavrov.
Putin has also this week been taking steps to make Russia an inviting place for US companies to operate once again, after well over 1,000 of them have curtailed or closed up operations in the wake of the Ukraine war’s start.
“For many years, US trade policy has been tied to sanctions. We consider these sanctions illegal and harmful to global trade,” Putin described said in the interview.
As for which areas the US and Russia might cooperate on, Putin didn’t detail the talks down the that level, but did tease that Russia is ready to work with “foreign partners” including companies on mining minerals.
That’s when he claimed in the interview that we [Russia] “undoubtedly have, I want to emphasize, significantly more resources of this kind than Ukraine” and said: “We would be ready to offer this to our American partners… if they showed interest in working together.“
“As for the new territories, it’s the same. We are ready to attract foreign partners to the so-called new, to our historical territories, which have returned to the Russian Federation,” he added. This provocative statement appeared to reference the four annexed territories in Ukraine’s east: Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.
Western media has described that this is an “eye-catching” move by the Russian leader:
He also suggested that Russia and the US could collaborate on aluminium production in Krasnoyarsk, in Siberia, where one Russian aluminium maker, Rusal, has its largest smelters.
The televised comments followed a cabinet meeting on Russia’s natural resources.
On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists the proposal opened up “quite broad prospects”, adding that the US needed rare earth minerals and Russia had “a lot of them”.
Offering the US access to minerals is an eye-catching move by Putin, given how much pride the Kremlin has taken in keeping Russia’s natural wealth in Russian hands. In 2023 Putin accused the West, particularly the US, of trying to “dismember” Russia to gain access to its natural resources.
We’ve certainly come a long way from the Biden administration goal of ‘weakening Russia’ – to use the words of former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
🇷🇺🇺🇸 Putin reveals that Russia and the U.S. could launch joint aluminum mining projects in Krasnoyarsk, requiring $15B in investment.
One of the past problems in Russia-U.S. relations? A lack of deep business ties—Moscow mostly traded with the EU. Now, the strategy seems clear:… pic.twitter.com/GeqMoFDFby
Meanwhile, as the White House aggressively pursues a final deal for access to Ukraine’s mineral deposits, including rare earths, Zelensky has appeared to resist.
Europe has at the same time offered its own alternative deal which Zelensky is likely to favor. Europe’s Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stéphane Séjourné has said he’s pitching the rival plan to Kiev officials. “Twenty-one of the 30 critical materials Europe needs can be provided by Ukraine in a win-win partnership,” Séjourné said.
* * *
Below are more highlights from Putin’s Russia 1 interview, paraphrased and translated via Russian state media…
‘Rational’ Trump
Putin suggested that Trump sees Zelensky as an obstacle to stabilizing Ukraine and securing a peace deal: “Trump likely understands that Zelensky is a destabilizing factor. He wants to bring Ukrainians back together, consolidate its society, and create conditions for the survival of the Ukrainian state.”
Addressing claims that Trump’s position on Ukraine plays into Russia’s hands, Putin strongly disagreed: “In the current situation, strange as it may seem, we would be more interested in [Zelensky] sitting there and further corrupting the regime with which we are in an armed conflict. And from the point of view of strengthening Ukrainian statehood, it is necessary to act in a completely different direction – to bring to power those who will enjoy the trust of the people of Ukraine.”
The Russian president also commented on Trump’s political style, rejecting the notion that the US president acts based purely on emotion: “No, of course not. His actions are based on cold calculation and a rational approach to the situation.”
The role of Europe
Putin argued that European politicians are “shackled” by their past commitments and are unable to change their approach to Ukraine without losing credibility: “Unlike the newly elected US president, European leaders are tied to the current regime in Kiev. They are too invested and have made too many promises.”
He criticized Europe’s reaction to recent US-Russia diplomatic interactions, saying: “Their response was emotional and lacked practical meaning. Instead of addressing real issues, they focus on maintaining appearances.”
While dismissing demands by EU officials to have a say in Russia-US negotiations, Putin acknowledged that European involvement could be useful in broader discussions: “Their participation is welcome, of course. We never refused to engage with them.”
He also noted that Moscow values the efforts of non-European actors, such as BRICS nations, in promoting peace: “Not only Europeans but other countries as well have the right to participate, and we respect that.”
Military and trade relations with the US
Putin responded positively to Trump’s proposal to cut defense spending, indicating Moscow’s openness to negotiations: “We are not against it. The idea is good: the US cuts by 50%, we cut by 50%, and if China wants, they can join later.”
Commenting on US trade policies, Putin criticized American sanctions but acknowledged that each country sets its own trade priorities: “For many years, US trade policy has been tied to sanctions. We consider these sanctions illegal and harmful to global trade.”
Regarding Trump’s shift toward tariffs, Putin said he understood the reasoning behind the move: “Each country determines independently what is beneficial… I can understand the logic – to move production back home, create jobs, force taxes to be paid… But at some point, of course, these actions will encounter certain difficulties associated with inflationary pressure.”
Putin also confirmed that “some Russian and American companies are in contact and discussing major projects” but did not specify details.
* * *
As for Europe’s newly touted ‘rival’ rare earths deal being discussed with Ukrainian leadership, some observers might see this as yet another attempt of Washington’s European allies to sabotage Trump’s maneuvering toward peace. Critics have said Trump is essentially forcing Ukraine to give up its future economic sovereignty. But Trump has said the US must be paid back for the many billions in weapons sent throughout the war.
Lawmakers have raised concerns about the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s decision to award an 11-year E-ZPass contract to a Singaporean-owned company over its alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“This is an issue that transcends politics, where we’re truly concerned for the deal and whether or not we can have safeguards to make sure that we were being properly protected,” state Sen. Joe Pennacchio, a Republican from Morris County, told The Epoch Times on Feb. 22.
In September 2024, the Turnpike Authority awarded the E-ZPass customer service operations to Nashville-based TransCore for $1.73 billion. TransCore beat out Conduent, based in Newark, New Jersey, and its more competitive bid of $1.48 billion. TransCore’s parent company, Singapore Technologies Engineering (STE), is owned by Temasek Holdings, which is wholly owned by Singapore’s government.
Earlier this month, Pennacchio wrote a letter to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy asking him to use his executive power to void the contract. He explained that Fu Chengyu—a former chairman of China’s state-owned oil companies and a high-ranking CCP member with ties to China’s influence network, the United Front Work Department—was a member of Temasek’s board of directors until recently.
“You have a foreign entity with a former member of the CCP who used to be on the board,” Pennacchio said. “So, I mean, that should be red flags.
“So that’s where we’re dependent on our own government to make sure that these deals that are going to happen are properly vetted, and they’ve gone through the proper circles of national defense, of Homeland Security, and … the Treasury Department, making sure that our financial secrets are kept secret, not shared with other people.”
The senator said the E-ZPass system collects personal information such as driver’s license information, credit card numbers, and banking information, and can also track the movements of cargo and people.
Pennacchio questioned whether the deal was properly vetted during the Biden administration. He said he had received a response from Murphy directing him to reach out to the Turnpike Authority, but noted that the port agency had not conducted the vetting.
“The only thing that I was able to find through one of the news articles was that the U.S. Treasury Department vetted the company,” he said.
According to Pennacchio, it is important to make sure that Temasek will not use the collected personal information for nefarious means.
“We should have at least the Trump administration perhaps taking a second look and making sure that they’re comfortable … that these people won’t share that information, and that there are no Chinese military or Chinese government ties to this organization,” he said.
Bipartisan Concern
The New Jersey E-ZPass is accepted by the transportation authorities of several regions, including the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the South Jersey Transportation Authority, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, and the Burlington County Bridge Commission.
The issue has drawn scrutiny from New Jersey lawmakers.
“China keeps trying to steal Americans’ data,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) wrote on social media platform X on Feb. 7. “Their newest target: Jersey families. We cannot allow our personal information and whereabouts to get into the hands of our number one adversary.”
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) sent a letter to the Turnpike Authority’s Board of Commissioners on Feb. 5, calling their decision to award the contract to TransCore “misguided.”
“Handing over critical infrastructure operations to a company tied to China is reckless and unnecessary when American-based companies are fully capable of handling these services,” Van Drew said in a statement at the time. “The New Jersey Turnpike Authority must reconsider this contract immediately and put American interests first.”
In a Feb. 11 letter to Van Drew, TransCore stated that it “delivers the most secure toll systems” in the United States, given that its national security agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice would ensure that data collected by its tolling systems would not be accessible to or shared with any foreign entity or affiliate, including STE.
“There is no connection between TransCore, or its parent company ST Engineering (STE), with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” TransCore wrote. “Temasek, as a shareholder of STE, has no director appointed to the STE Board and has no role in STE’s business operations.”
Newark’s Conduent, which had the E-ZPass contract for eight years, filed a protest with the Turnpike Authority in October 2024.
“There is no justification for awarding TransCore a contract that is over $251 million more than what Conduent offered,” the appeal document stated.
In response to The Epoch Times’ inquiry, Sean Collins, vice president of external communications and analyst and adviser relations at Conduent, stated that in TransCore’s letter to Van Drew, the company failed to address Temasek’s role or mention that a high-ranking CCP member was a former chairman.
“The response portrayed Temasek as merely one of many shareholders, rather than acknowledging it as the majority and controlling shareholder that consented to Singapore Technologies’ acquisition of TransCore,” Collins said. “Importantly, TransCore failed to comply with the statutorily required ownership disclosure requirement in its proposal.
“Conduent’s proposal also provides for immediate implementation of AI-powered customer experience technologies, high-quality services, and more customer service agents—all without the substantial risks and delays of converting to a new vendor.”
Tesla Sales Fall 45% Across Europe, As Buyers Respond To Musk’s Move To Politics
Tesla Inc.’s European sales plummeted 45% in January, with just 9,945 registrations, down from 18,161 a year ago, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association and Bloomberg.
At the same time, overall EV sales surged 37%, with rival carmakers making strong gains in Germany and the UK.
In the UK, Tesla trailed China’s BYD for the first time, with sales falling nearly 8% in a market that grew 42%.
Tesla is overhauling production lines for its top-selling Model Y SUV while its CEO, Elon Musk, grows more politically divisive.
The Bloomberg report says that a YouGov poll in mid-January found Musk viewed unfavorably in Germany and the UK, where his political involvement was largely unwelcome. On Jan. 9, he hosted Alternative for Germany leader Alice Weidel on his platform X, backing the anti-immigration, pro-Russian party, which finished second in this week’s election.
After backing Donald Trump in the U.S. election cycle, Musk has turned to Europe, supporting far-right parties and criticizing incumbents. He has also joined Trump in attacking Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy, despite polls showing continued domestic support for the leader.
At an AfD rally in January, Musk urged Germans to embrace their culture and downplay historical guilt, a remark that sparked controversy ahead of the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation. He also called for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s imprisonment while advocating for jailed far-right activists.
Meanwhile, Tesla likely faced inventory shortages after an end-of-year sales push, compounded by Model Y assembly line changes. CFO Vaibhav Taneja warned that redesigning Tesla’s best-selling model would cause weeks of lost production.
Competition in Europe is intensifying, with Volkswagen, Stellantis, and Renault under mounting pressure to sell more EVs. Stricter EU emissions targets and the UK’s ramp-up to zero-emission sales by 2035 add to the challenge.
Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research said in a note out Tuesday morning that Q1 is “shaping up as an absolute disaster of a delivery quarter”.
Johnson argues that Tesla’s stock is poised to be one of the best short opportunities in 2025, citing a combination of business struggles and a lack of external factors that could artificially support the stock price. He believes Tesla faces a challenging year because it must finally deliver on promises related to its Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology and Optimus robot without any political or financial lifelines to prop up investor sentiment.
Johnson is particularly skeptical of Tesla’s driverless technology, predicting that its rollout in June 2025 will either be a failure or face significant delays due to fundamental flaws in its camera-only approach. He insists that without LiDAR and radar, Tesla’s system remains highly error-prone. Additionally, he criticizes the Optimus robot, arguing that it lags behind industry standards and is inferior even to robotics technology developed decades ago.
More importantly, he points to the deterioration of Tesla’s core automotive business, which accounted for nearly 90% of its revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, as a sign of deeper troubles. He asserts that Tesla’s brand is losing its appeal globally, with many consumers viewing its vehicles negatively.
House Republicans Advance Trump Agenda As Final Vote Looms Tonight
House Republicans took a major step toward enacting former President Donald Trump’s policy vision on Tuesday, advancing a budget resolution that could set the stage for a high-stakes showdown within the GOP. But with hardline conservatives digging in their heels, the bill’s fate remains uncertain.
In a narrow 217-211 vote along party lines, the House approved the procedural rule for the budget resolution, clearing the way for a final vote. The GOP’s spending blueprint aims to push Trump’s domestic agenda—border security funding, energy policy shifts, and tax cuts—through Congress.
But the measure is hanging by a thread, as a group of conservative deficit hawks is refusing to budge. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) acknowledged the uncertainty, telling reporters, “There may be a vote tonight, may not be. Stay tuned.”
Rebel Republicans Threaten to Tank Budget
At least four GOP lawmakers—Reps. Thomas Massie (KY), Victoria Spartz (IN), Warren Davidson (OH), and Tim Burchett (TN)—have vowed to oppose the final resolution, enough to sink the measure unless Johnson can win over last-minute holdouts.
Massie, an outspoken budget hawk, didn’t mince words. “I was a lean no before this meeting, now I’m a no,” he told reporters Tuesday, slamming the budget’s spending numbers as reckless.
“If the Republican plan passes under the rosiest assumptions, which aren’t even true, we’re gonna add $328 billion to the deficit this year, we’re gonna add $295 billion to the deficit the year after that, and $242 billion to the deficit after that, under the rosiest assumptions” Massie warned, adding “Why would I vote for that?”
With the GOP’s razor-thin House majority, Republicans can only afford to lose one of their own votes if Democrats remain united in opposition. That slim margin is making Johnson’s job even tougher as he tries to broker a compromise.
A Balancing Act Between Conservatives and Moderates
For weeks, GOP leadership has been wrangling members from both ends of the ideological spectrum. Conservative hardliners have been pushing for deeper spending cuts, while moderates are concerned about slashes to programs like Medicaid.
Some moderates, however, appear to be coming around. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), who had previously raised concerns, signaled on Tuesday that he was softening his stance. “I’m in a better place [than] where I was yesterday,” he told reporters after meeting with leadership.
The budget resolution sets a floor of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, a target of $2 trillion in reductions, and a $4.5 trillion cap on the deficit impact of extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. It also carves out $300 billion for border security and defense, alongside a controversial $4 trillion increase in the debt limit.
Johnson and his leadership team have been scrambling to shore up support, but the opposition from Massie and other fiscal hawks presents a serious roadblock. If the measure fails, it would be another embarrassing setback for House Republicans, who have struggled to unite behind a cohesive spending strategy.
The House is scheduled to take a final vote on the budget resolution around 6 p.m. Tuesday – but that timeline is now in limbo. With tensions running high, all eyes are on whether Johnson can twist enough arms to push Trump’s budget vision through.
