• Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban critiqued President Donald Trump's trade plan on Bluesky.
• Cuban said Trump's aggressive tariffs, combined with DOGE cuts, could cause long-term economic harm.
• The combination of policies may lead the country to "a far worse situation than 2008," Cuban warned.

While President Donald Trump has acknowledged his aggressive tariff plan may result in "little pain" in the short term, some business figures, like billionaire "Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban, see a greater risk of long-term economic harm.

In a series of Bluesky posts Saturday, Cuban expanded on his previous critiques of Trump's trade policies. The Cost Plus Drugs cofounder suggested the extensive tariffs announced by the Trump administration on Wednesday, combined with cuts to the federal workforce spearheaded by the White House DOGE office, could result in a worse financial crisis than the Great Recession of 2008.

"If the new tariffs stay in place for multiple years, and are enforced and inflationary, and DOGE continues to cut and fire, we will be in a far worse situation than 2008," Cuban wrote in response to another user's question about the economic impacts of Trump's tariff plan.

The minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks did not expand upon why he sees the sweeping cuts to the federal workforce led by the DOGE office as related to the nation's economic health. However, the reductions have targeted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the tax evasion enforcement wing of the Internal Revenue Service, among other agencies.

Cuban and representatives for the Trump administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

During the 2008 financial crisis and its immediate aftermath, the country's GDP declined by more than 4%, the unemployment rate reached 10%, and the housing market crashed in what economists have recognized as the deepest recession since World War II.

The president, in comments to the press about his trade policy, has acknowledged, "We may have, short-term, some little pain, and people understand that," but in a Saturday post on Truth Social said, "ONLY THE WEAK WILL FAIL!"

The economic uncertainty stemming from Trump's tariff plan has sent the stock market spiraling downward and prompted consumers to stockpile essentials while cutting back on luxury goods. Economists and supply chain experts previously told Business Insider that increased import costs caused by the tariffs are expected to result in higher prices for everything from pantry staples like coffee and sugar to apparel and larger purchases like cars and appliances.

Cuban isn't alone in worrying about the lasting economic impacts of the president's policies. Many commentators in the financial field have questioned the tariffs and highlighted their potential consequences.

JPMorgan's chief global economist, in a research note to clients published on Thursday titled "There Will Be Blood," warned that the risk of the global economy falling into a recession increased from 40% to 60% in response to Wednesday's tariff announcement.

• Kevin Bacon discussed losing money in former financier Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme.
• Bacon told Esquire that he and his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, were "certainly angry" over the ordeal.
• The FBI called Madoff's operation "history's biggest Ponzi scheme."

Actor Kevin Bacon says he isn't jaded after losing money in former financier Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, but it still stings all these years later.

Bacon discussed the incident during a recent interview with Esquire, nearly two decades after Madoff's criminal operation crumbled.

Madoff, founder of an eponymous Wall Street firm, received a 150-year prison sentence in 2009 for leading "history's largest Ponzi scheme," according to the FBI.

Authorities arrested Madoff in December 2008 for securities fraud amounting to $64 billion. In 2021, Madoff died in federal prison at age 82.

Bacon and his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, were among those Madoff defrauded. It's unclear how much money the couple lost, but Bacon told the "SmartLess" podcast in 2022 that they kept "most" of their money with Madoff.

During his interview with Esquire, Bacon said the memory of Madoff still lingers nearly two decades later.

"I go to this gym. It has a few machines and only a handful of people there at any given time. There's no showers, it's very bare bones. But there's a leg press machine. A leg press can be brutal. You're on your back, and you're going like this," Bacon said. "The machine is right next to a window, and when I look out that window, I'm looking right at the building where Madoff was."

Bacon said the view of Madoff's old building is motivational.

"I'm in excruciating pain, doing the leg press, staring out that window. It's perfect, in a funny way, because I also have to think, 'I can get through this.' And that's how we felt about Madoff," Bacon said. "It sucked, and we were certainly angry and all the things. But then we woke up the next day and said, 'What do we got? We love each other. We love our children. We're healthy. No one took away our ability to make a living.' So we got back to work."

Those affected by the Ponzi scheme have received compensation through the Madoff Victim Fund. In December 2024, the Justice Department said the Madoff Victim Fund had paid $131.4 million, a fraction of what was lost, to about 23,400 victims.

Representatives for Kevin Bacon did not immediately respond to Business Insider.

• Elon Musk on Saturday defended the work of the White House DOGE Office.
• Musk spoke remotely to a meeting of Italy's League Party, saying DOGE is "attacked like crazy."
• "We're only cutting the most obvious terrible expenses that make no sense," he argued.

Elon Musk on Saturday defended the White House DOGE Office, arguing that the task force is "extremely transparent." Musk has faced a growing backlash over his work to reshape the federal government.

"We're very transparent with the Department of Government Efficiency," Musk told Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini virtually at a meeting of Italy's League Party.

"Any action that we make, we post on the doge.gov website, and we post on our X account, so it's extreme transparency," he said.

Musk described the challenges he's faced while implementing President Donald Trump's vision of a leaner government.

"It's very difficult to reduce the size of the bureaucracy and government spending," he said. "It comes with immense opposition, even when the things that we are cutting make no sense at all."

"We're only cutting the most obvious terrible expenses that make no sense," he said. "Nonetheless, we get attacked like crazy."

Since its formation in January, DOGE staffers have upended myriad departments and agencies, from the Departments of Treasury and State to the Social Security Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and USAID.

A new report from the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that DOGE's actions have led to over 216,000 firings throughout the federal workforce.

Pushback against Musk and DOGE, meanwhile, has swelled among the general public. Nationwide protests — called the "Tesla Takedown" — targeted the company he leads last week. At the nationwide anti-Trump demonstrations this weekend, Musk was again the focus of many protesters.

Musk's influence may be waning amid the growing backlash. On Tuesday, he suffered a major political loss as Susan Crawford, the Democratic-backed candidate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, easily defeated conservative judge Brad Schimel. Musk's America PAC poured millions into the race to support Schimel.

This week was also a highly consequential one for Trump, as the president on Wednesday rolled out his "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of trading partners — which has drawn broad criticism and caused one of the worst market sell-offs in recent memory.

Notably, while speaking with Salvini on Saturday, Musk said he wanted to see a "zero-tariff" system between the United States and Europe, a surprising break from the rhetoric coming from the Trump White House.

"I hope it's agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally, in my view, to a zero-tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America," Musk said. "That's what I hope occurs."

• I heard my then 10-month-old baby screaming from the bathroom at the back of the plane.
• I've been cautious about his well-being since he was in the hospital with RSV at 5 months old.
• He had hit his head while changing his diaper, and I obsessed about his health during our trip.

We were somewhere over Greenland when I heard my 10-month-old start screaming from the back of the plane. My husband had taken him to the bathroom to change his diaper while I remained in our seats with our sleepy 7-year-old.

As passengers' heads started to turn toward the bathroom door, I felt embarrassed but not necessarily panicked (yet) — maybe he was just throwing a tantrum about the diaper change.

Then, suddenly, my husband was hurrying down the aisle toward me, toddler in arms. "I'm sorry," he said in a low voice. "I didn't mean to. I hit his head."

My heart sank.

He had been hospitalized before

We already had some PTSD when it came to our baby son Sunny's health and safety. At just 5 months old, he had been hospitalized with a bad case of RSV. One night, his coughs had turned into heaves as his tiny chest struggled to breathe, and we rushed him to the ER. From there, they took him in an ambulance to a pediatric hospital, where they suctioned his lungs.

I'll never forget the look on my 7-year-old's face as he watched his little brother get taken away in the ambulance. He begged for Sunny to come back.

Sunny did come back, but I don't think I realized until I was 30,000 feet above Greenland just how tenuous I felt Sunny's continued presence was. Now 10 months old, he was a strong and cheerful baby — but he was still a baby. Fragile, helpless.

It was an accident but I panicked

As my husband placed him in my lap on that flight, Sunny looked up at me with wide, wet eyes, screaming. "Head, mama! Head!" he cried. I could see the skin of his forehead already starting to change colors, forming a bright bump. I could have murdered my husband right then and there. I kept thinking, how could he be so careless?

Of course, it was an accident that could have happened to anyone: a parent scrambling to change a squirmy toddler's dirty diaper inside a too-tiny airplane bathroom. The parent's spatial reasoning being not his sharpest due to, you know, being exhausted on a long international flight with a baby, he steps with quickness and confidence through the bathroom door without any idea that in doing so, he's whacking that baby's soft forehead sharply on the frame.

It didn't help that I was working as a parenting editor at the time and was immersed daily in an excess of news stories and studies about all things baby. I knew very well how serious a head injury can be in children. I had read story after story about head bumps gone terribly wrong.

And in the moment, as my sweet toddler sobbed in my lap, those stories were all that filled my head.

I obsessively monitored him

As we landed in Iceland, our destination, I tried to watch for any of the telltale signs of distress in Sunny: nonstop crying, vomiting multiple times, noticeable changes in body movements, sleeping more than normal, or having problems waking up. Luckily, Sunny was free from almost all of the above, minus sleep changes, which could easily be chalked up to jet lag.

Still, I continued to obsess over monitoring Sunny through the entirety of our trip — as we explored geysers and waterfalls and ate cardamom buns and fermented shark. I spent sleepless nights at our Airbnb listening to Sunny breathe and annoying him by waking him up to ensure that he did, indeed, wake up. And, perhaps worst of all, I continued to quietly blame and resent my husband for the injury; I could hardly look at him the whole week.

My kids, however, forgot the injury by day two in Reykjavik. Sunny was running around, swimming in thermal pools, and playing with Icelandic tots.

Ultimately, Sunny had a far better time on our trip than I did, and the injury to his head ended up being milder than the injury to my psyche as a mom. Sunny's forehead bump had yellowed into a faded memory by the flight home. As our boys played peek-a-boo in their seats, shouting "halló!" at each other (pretty much the only Icelandic they had picked up), I was finally ready to hold my husband's hand again.

• Protesters turned out in large numbers to nationwide demonstrations against the Trump administration.
• Trump has upended government agencies, fired thousands of federal workers, and shaken the economy.
• Many protesters told Business Insider they were worried about their retirement savings.

Last week, nationwide protests targeted Elon Musk for his role in dismantling government agencies and firing federal workers through the White House DOGE Office.

This week, they are targeting the man who gave him that role: President Donald Trump.

In coordinated demonstrations that organizers said took place across all 50 states, the "Hands Off!" protest accused Trump and his administration of championing policies that benefit the rich while making life harder for everyone else.

Business Insider sent reporters to protests in different parts of the country to hear from them directly. Many said they were most worried about the economy and their retirement investments, which have dwindled in tandem with Trump's tariff announcements.

Trump says the tariffs will help jump-start US manufacturing, promote US goods, protect jobs and ultimately create more of them. He has urged Americans to wait out the initial market volatility and price increases.

That has, however, so far done little to alleviate fears. Here's what protesters told us and what surprised us the most.

New York City

As I rode the train from Brooklyn to Midtown Manhattan, the subway car filled with protesters, their cardboard signs bumping up against umbrellas on a rainy Saturday in New York.

By 1 p.m., the 42nd Street station was even more crowded than usual. Older people clutched slippery canes, and young kids clutched their parents' hands. One man wore a once trendy Harris Walz camo hat. Another waved a small American flag, an unusual display of patriotism at anti-Trump rallies.

The damp horde of protesters shuffled toward Bryant Park, and in some ways, it all felt familiar. There were chants about abortion, signs featuring the face of now-deceased Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a progressive icon, and a steady cacophony of car horns.

But some things were different this time.

For one, the crowd looked older, with middle-aged Americans seeming to outnumber the 20-somethings that dominated rallies during the pandemic. It makes sense since many Americans are watching their retirement savings dwindle in the face of crashing markets and worry that staff cuts to the Social Security Administration could impact the crucial safety net.

While the anti-government protests held during Trump's first term focused on social issues — like abortion and civil rights issues — many of the signs today targeted the economy.

Most of the people I spoke to didn't want to share their last names because they worried about their privacy in the current political environment. Yet they weren't shy about their rage and despair.

Dorothy Auer, 62, told me she wished people would get angrier.

"I've been working for over 40 years, and I looked at my investments yesterday — my retirement plan — and I literally don't think I'll ever be able to retire," she said, starting to choke up.

Wiping her eyes with her free hand — the other held a black and white sign bashing Musk — Auer told me it's distressing to see a man of such wealth "turn around and crap on us."

Jian, 33, held a sign that read, "Tariffs are killing my 401(k)," but he told me he's most upset about what's happening to his retired father.

"My dad just lost about 25% of his savings in the last three days because of the tariffs," he said.

It's not just the economy, of course, that brought thousands of people out to Midtown Manhattan.

Penny, 54, said the Trump administration affected virtually every issue she cares about. Even so, we ended up talking about Musk.

"I'm horrified that a person who wasn't born here, wasn't elected, seems to be getting carte blanche to do whatever he wants in our government," she said. "How did he get a security clearance?"

Most of those I talked to as they slowly trudged toward Madison Square Park didn't think the protest would change Trump's mind.

A few said they hoped Congress would pay attention, but more than that, people said they felt they needed to do something.

"Even if it's sort of hopeless right now, at least it's showing people that we're here," Pyare, 49, told me. "And that we don't like it."

Novi, Michigan

Another week, another protest.

On Saturday, I attended the Hands Off! rally in Novi, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit where 55% of the vote went to Kamala Harris during the election. Thousands of people showed up.

The crowd was emotionally charged and united by the spirit of collective action. Many attendees said they were first-time protesters. The Tesla Takedown protests I attended last weekend seemed somber by comparison. Protesters here got loud.

"Call me Old Lady Army Fighting for Democracy," one 66-year-old woman, who didn't want to give her real name, told me. She held up a sign she had made. It was a charcoal drawing of the Statue of Liberty, whose hands covered her eyes in shame.

"I just copied this off of Facebook," she said. But to her it symbolized that "everything that our country stands for is being destroyed, and the world is looking at us."

Liana Gettel, 58, said she was outraged for several reasons, including the administration's stance on abortion. She said she had an abortion 29 years ago.

"I had lost a child. The child would not come out on its own. So I had to have a procedure. Had I not had that procedure, I wouldn't be here," she said. "And that's what they want to block, is things like that?"

Protesters targeted many different issues, including abortion, trans, and minority rights. One protester holding up a sign for trans rights said, "Trans people are just the appetizer, but everyone will be on the menu now."

The line echoed remarks made by human rights advocate Channyn Lynne Parker at the Rally for Trans Visibility in Chicago last weekend.

Unlike protests during Trump's first term, which focused on social issues, however, many people today were also worried about the president's economic policies.

Matt Watts said he was protesting Musk's takeover of Social Security and Trump's tariffs on "countries that don't deserve it." After the stock market began to take a hit from all the talk of tariffs, Watts said he took his money out of his 401(k) and invested it into a more stable fund. "I'm getting ready to retire pretty soon. I've got to count on that savings," he said.

Most protesters were middle-aged or older, but they captured some younger activists with their energy.

Yajat Verma, 18, said he hadn't known about the protest but was driving by with a friend when he saw the crowd. He decided to join in and started handing out water bottles to protesters.

"Everyone should be protesting," he said.

San Francisco

Protesters crowding together near the San Francisco City Hall had much to be angry about.

On one end of the 150,000 square-foot Civic Center Plaza, a man's voice boomed through the microphone about the dangers of fascism and how it was time for people to go "on the offensive."

On the other end was Michelle Gutierrez Vo, president of the California Nurses Association, warning folks about Trump's move to strip federal workers of their union rights.

With so many grievances against the current administration in the air, some protesters resorted to bullet-point lists of the issues on large signs.

That spoke to one of the concerns for Maria, a 67-year-old San Francisco resident who declined to provide her last name.

"My focus has been a lot about the environment," Maria told BI, later adding, "There's so much going on right now, but I know it's important to try and stay focused on one thing and hope other people are focused on the other things."

Maria's friend chimed in, saying she was worried about her Social Security, which she said she had been paying into for six decades.

For Frida Ruiz, 18, a student at the University of San Francisco who held a sign that read "Billionaire Cucks," Trump's stance on immigration hits close to home as a daughter of Mexican immigrant parents.

For George Chikovani, a 42-year-old SF resident, who came to protest with his wife Lisa Isola, 40, and their three-year-old and 10-months-old children, his most personal issue was the Ukraine war.

"My grandmother is from Ukraine and then I grew up in Georgia, so that cause has felt very personal to me. I still have family and friends there," Chikovani said.

At least 7,500 people gathered near city hall on Saturday afternoon, according to an officer with the San Francisco Police Department. 

As my colleague observed in New York, older millennials and seniors made up large swaths of the crowd. Some came out in full costumes, sticking true to SF's colorful character.

Maria, who is also a member of Third Act, a left-leaning political advocacy group focused on mobilizing senior voters, said she was encouraged by people who came out to protest but was "hoping to see more."

"We need more younger people to come," she said.

• My husband and I have different backgrounds and upbringings, which affect our parenting.
• I'm raising my children to be independent, but my husband wants them to rely on him.
• My husband and I fight over our differences, but we just want what's best for our kids.

I am a South Asian woman raised in the melting pot of New Delhi, the capital of India. As a progressive-minded person with international exposure from childhood, I grew up experiencing different cultures, perspectives, and backgrounds.

My husband, on the other hand, grew up more conservative and now has a traditional outlook on life and culture.

Before getting married, we discussed our backgrounds but didn't explore how our differences would affect our parenting. We naively thought love would conquer any problems we faced.

But those differences have seeped into how we raise our children, which is causing some issues.

I want my kids to be independent and become socially responsible people

I have two kids: my daughter is 16, and my son is 11. I'm raising them to be independent children. I want them to think and fend for themselves — and not rely on anyone for anything.

I let my kids complete their homework independently. I don't constantly hover over them to ensure their work is getting done. I also don't baby them or run around picking up after them. I try to teach my children to be responsible and accountable.

From a young age, my kids have helped out around the house. They've helped me put clothes in the washing machine, wash the cupboards, and clean the tables. My children also love to help out while I'm cooking or baking.

I'm also teaching them to be free, independent thinkers. Unlike typical Indian parents who want their children to become doctors or engineers, I want them to pursue fields they are passionate about — not become whoever my husband and I want them to be.

My kids are aware of a world beyond the limited worldview they see in India and can fit in as global citizens. I take them to museums, zoos, and aquariums. I let them read an eclectic range of books to expand their minds.

I believe social responsibility starts at a young age. My kids have volunteered with me, planted saplings, and spent time with older people at an old-age home.

My husband, on the other hand, wants to baby our kids

My husband's conservative background has influenced his parenting. He wants our kids to be fully dependent on him. He also wants to make all the decisions for them.

My husband still feeds our son and sometimes even our teenage daughter. They're both old enough to feed themselves.

My husband goes overboard with shopping and splurges on them. He wants to provide them with everything that he did not have while growing up.

Additionally, I don't like the idea of my kids being on digital devices for long hours, but my husband lets them get away with anything. They both have phones, laptops, and an Xbox. I would rather they get transported into magical worlds through books, play board games, or do arts and crafts.

Our differences in parenting have created some friction in our relationship

Every now and then, my husband and I encounter situations where we clash on how to raise our kids, which leads to friction in our marriage. Sometimes, our differences even cause arguments, so we constantly discuss our viewpoints to ensure we understand each other.

Since mom and dad aren't always on the same page, my children notice and sometimes even take advantage. When they don't get their way with one parent, they often go to the other.

Ultimately, I know my husband and I just want the best for our children and will do our best to provide it. Even though my kids are getting a mix of parenting styles, I know they will become successful, educated adults in the end.

• Elon Musk on Saturday said he wants to see a "free trade zone" between the US and Europe.
• On April 2, US President Donald Trump set a 20% tariff rate for the European Union.
• Musk's comments came as he spoke remotely to a meeting of Italy's League Party.

Elon Musk on Saturday said he'd like to see a "zero-tariff" system between the United States and Europe, days after President Donald Trump implemented baseline "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of trading partners.

"I hope it's agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally, in my view, to a zero-tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America," Musk told Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini virtually at a meeting of Italy's League Party. "That's what I hope occurs."

Under Trump's latest tariff plan, which he announced this week on what he called "Liberation Day," the European Union, which includes Italy, will be subject to a 20% tariff rate.

Musk has been one of the most consequential figures of Trump's second term with his plethora of cost-cutting efforts tied to the White House DOGE office.

During the talk, Musk also said he'd like to see increased freedom for individuals to move between Europe and North America.

"If people wish to work in Europe or wish to work in North America, they should be allowed to do so, in my view," he said. "That has certainly been my advice to the president."

• My grandfather gave me a unique name that now carries much meaning for me.
• My name has been mispronounced and shortened since childhood and I didn't always correct people.
• Now, when introducing myself, I make sure people have my name right.

My grandfather named me Nishtha, a Sanskrit word that means loyalty and commitment. It's not a name you're likely to hear in passing. Even in India, it's not very popular. The only time I hear it is when leaders take an oath to serve the nation 'with nishtha' (unwavering loyalty).

That rarity always made me feel special, like my name carried a quiet kind of power. But it also meant a lifetime of hesitation before introductions, of watching my name be reshaped, mispronounced, and whittled down until it was unrecognizable.

The first of many mispronunciations

The first time I heard my name pronounced wrong, I was too young to know I could push back.

It was my first day at a new school. I was a shy, anxious kid, gripping the edge of my desk, counting the seconds until I'd have to introduce myself. But the teacher skipped right past that opportunity, straight to roll call.

And then she paused.

"Nis… Nees… Nista… How do you say this?" She asked, her eyes narrowing in confusion.

I could feel the other kids looking at me. "It's Nishtha," I said quietly. "'Ni, like the first sound in nickel, sh like the soft but clear sound in shoe, and tha, with a sharp burst of air."

She tried again, still wrong, then shrugged and moved on. She didn't even bother to keep trying to get it right. Almost every teacher did the same. Some asked if they were saying it right. Some didn't. And after a while, I just stopped correcting them.

I moved around a lot, seven schools, four cities over ten years, so I heard every possible version of my name. In one place, I became Nishka. In another, Nishitha. Sometimes kids called me Nashtha, which means breakfast in Hindi, and laughed as if it was the most original thing they'd ever come up with.

Each mispronunciation chipped away at me, but I told myself it didn't matter. Until it did.

Moving abroad brought a new level of erasure

When I moved to Ireland for my master's, my name wasn't just mispronounced, it was erased.

People called me Nish, Niz, or whatever was easiest for them. At first, I corrected them. I smiled, repeated it slowly, and gave them a chance. I knew how hard some names were to pronounce. Irish names were tricky for me too, but I always asked for clarification, and I kept asking until I got them right — it was important to me

Some people made the effort, and it felt like a small victory. But most didn't.

I then started introducing myself with a version I knew they could say. Nisha was simple enough, so I used it at work. When ordering takeout, I became Nessa, because I was tired of repeating myself over the phone. It was easier that way, right? Less awkward pauses, fewer forced smiles.

One time, at a party, I introduced myself as Nesta. It was a character's name from a book I was obsessed with at the time. If I was going to change my name for their convenience, I figured I might as well pick one I actually liked. But every time I did that, I felt like I was making myself smaller.

"I'll just call you N"

During one holiday season, I was working a retail job when a colleague turned to me and said, "I'm terrible with names, so I'll just call you N. The store is busy, and it's quicker for me that way."

It wasn't a question. She didn't stumble over my name. She didn't try and fail. She just decided it was too much effort and cut it down to a single letter. Like my name, my identity, who I was — it all just took up too much space for her.

I should've corrected her. I should've said something. Instead, I let it happen.

That night, lying in bed replaying the moment, I felt angry. Not just at her. At myself. Why did I let people shrink my name? Why did I make myself smaller for their convenience?

My name is meaningful

What's in a name? More than you think.

My name is my history. It carries the weight of generations. It's my grandfather's gift to me. It's my roots. It's not too long. Not too hard. Not yours to cut down, twist, or erase.

If I can show you respect by learning your name, you can do the same for me.

It's just three syllables. Not Nish. Not N. Nishtha. And now I will correct you until you get it right.

• UK carmaker Jaguar Land Rover is pausing shipments to the US in April over US tariffs.
• President Donald Trump introduced a 25% levy on imported cars that came into effect on Thursday.
• Jaguar Land Rover said the US remained an important market.

British luxury automaker Jaguar Land Rover is halting shipments of its cars to the US this month as it navigates President Donald Trump's new 25% tariff on imported automobiles.

In a statement Saturday, a spokesperson for the company told Business Insider: "The USA is an important market for JLR's luxury brands. As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are enacting our short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans."

The Times of London first reported the pause.

JLR said in a separate statement on Wednesday that its brands were "accustomed to changing market conditions" and that it was prioritizing "delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new US trading terms."

The company, which employs almost 40,000 people across the world, is one of the UK's most iconic carmakers and has long been popular with celebrities in both Britain and the US. JLR's retail sales were up 21.7% to just over 430,000 vehicles in the fiscal year 2023 to 2024, including roughly 95,000 in North America, according to its annual report.

JLR's decision to pause US shipments follows a massive global stock market sell-off sparked by Trump's slew of new tariffs, which he announced this week.

A baseline 10% tariff on trading partners came into effect on Saturday, while higher levies on some nations are set to begin on April 9.

While Trump sees the duties as a means of bolstering domestic investment and "supercharging" the economy, many analysts are questioning the potential economic consequences.

• In my family we take turns preparing dinner, and that includes our teens.
• The kids are responsible for choosing the recipe and adding the ingredients to our shopping list.
• Having them involved helps my husband and I, but also sparks conversations with our kids.

Like many families, ours finds there often isn't enough time for everything — especially time to hang out with each other in between school, work, activities and other responsibilities.

In my family, cooking is one way we work around that.

Sometimes I cook, sometimes my husband cooks, and sometimes one or both of our kids makes dinner. Not only has it helped everyone learn useful life skills, it has given us much to talk about — whether it's seasonality of produce, the rising costs of some ingredients, or how to read nutrition labels.

My husband and I helped in the kitchen as kids

I know this isn't a novel approach; we know many families where kids are engaged in meal planning and prep, and there are plenty of kids' cooking classes, camps, and resources available online. For our family, we've enjoyed cooking this way for years and trying myriad types of foods — and it doesn't surprise us that studies back up the idea that engaging children in cooking is linked to improvements in their dietary habits.

My husband and I relate to this from when we were growing up. We were each responsible for cooking family dinners from time to time starting in grade school due to our parents being busy with work or graduate school. Talking about it now, I think we both gained confidence, a sense of responsibility, and some solid skills. We were proud of what we accomplished — even when the recipe didn't quite turn out as expected — and we felt prepared for when we'd be out of the house and would need to feed ourselves.

When we had kids, we wanted to teach them some of those lessons. Among the tools we used were kid-sized utensils, plastic plates and bowls, and "Pretend Soup," one of chef-author Mollie Katzen's cookbooks for children. I spoke with her years ago for a short vignette I was writing, and she explained how to make food accessible to young kids. That could mean putting ingredients on a surface at kid level where they can easily see them or engaging them in basic skills like mixing, using extra-large bowls until they get comfortable with it. It helps them feel useful and engaged with the process, she told me, and we found that to be true in our home.

They've taken over cooking

The foundation we provided at home, plus skills gleaned at Scout camping trips, cooking camps or informal "Chopped"-style contests over school breaks, gave my kids enough interest and know-how to want to help — and then take over — some of our dinner prep and cooking.

Grilled cheese, scrambled eggs, and simple salads were among their early dishes; now that they are teens, they often assign each other a cookbook to pick a recipe from each week. Sometimes it's a tried-and-true Betty Crocker cookbook, and other times it's a tome from chef and humanitarian José Andrés. Some recent meals they've made include turkey bolognese, spiced catfish sandwiches with Haitian pickled slaw, and gado gado — a traditional Indonesian salad that I'd never heard of until our son prepared and served it recently.

The kids are responsible for picking a recipe, adding ingredients we need to our shared grocery list app, choosing the day they'll cook, and then making it happen — with at least one adult nearby to answer questions, assist with large-blade appliances, or act as a sous chef when needed.

We adapt recipes to our tastes

No one in our house tends to follow recipes to the letter when they cook; I don't eat much meat so we often use a different protein in place of whatever the recipe lists. Our versions generally work — but my son tested that when he didn't know where to find white wine and used white wine vinegar instead. It gave the gnocchi soup he was making a little extra zing. And the pad thai that my daughter made one weeknight took well more than an hour even with time-saving modifications, so bedtimes were rapidly approaching as we sat down to dinner.

That pad thai recipe is one I've never tried to make, and getting to enjoy the resulting noodle dish illustrates one of the great benefits of having multiple chefs in the house. The kids appear undaunted by ingredients or preparation tasks. I skip some recipes because they look time consuming or use a lot of dishes, but my kids are willing to try those. We've enjoyed homemade pasta, sushi, soft pretzels, and filled croissants because they were interested in making those things and we knew we'd all be OK however they turned out. (And we always have peanut butter in the pantry in case of a culinary emergency.)

Other benefits for my husband and me include having time to finish up work meetings or do other things while dinner is being made, knowing that we're giving the kids time and space to contribute to the household in a way that they enjoy, and providing a springboard for discussions about bioengineered foods and buying locally.

In the gado gado recipe, which came from Katzen's well-known Moosewood Cookbook, she notes toward the top: "HAVE FUN WITH THIS!" And my kids do.

• We started buying a lot of our groceries at Trader Joe's once my husband began working there.
• The chain's frozen mac and cheese and fried rice are perfect for our busy lifestyle.
• We find Trader Joe's meats, produce, and wines are high quality but not too pricey.

Ever since my husband started working at Trader Joe's, our grocery hauls have completely changed.

The chain has so many convenient, high-quality, and affordable options that we find ourselves stocking up on the same must-haves week after week.

From frozen favorites to pantry staples, here are the Trader Joe's products we can't live without right now.

We use Trader Joe's Dutch griddle cakes to make fast-food-style breakfast sandwiches at home.

These fluffy griddle cakes are the secret to our homemade version of popular fast-food breakfast sandwiches.

Add an egg and some Trader Joe's chicken breakfast sausage, and you've got a protein-packed breakfast in minutes. The cakes are also good on their own and easy to heat up in a toaster or microwave.

Frozen mac and cheese is a staple at our house.

Forget the boxed stuff you have to cook on the stove — Joe's Diner frozen mac and cheese is creamy, rich, and indulgent.

It heats up in minutes, making it a perfect lunch for busy days or side dish with dinner. This is one of my favorite things to buy at Trader Joe's.

We love getting high-quality meat for a solid price.

The centerpiece of most meals my husband cooks is some sort of meat, so we buy it regularly. Fortunately, Trader Joe's offers an impressive selection of it at competitive prices.

I've been impressed by the quality of the meat we've gotten at the chain, so we grab beef, poultry, or pork on each shopping trip.

Plantain chips are our ultimate anytime snack.

Trader Joe's plantain chips deliver when the craving hits for something salty, sweet, and crunchy.

Made with just three ingredients — plantains, sunflower oil, and salt— these chips are my guilt-free, go-to snack.

We always keep a few bags on hand for road trips, late-night cravings, and afternoon desk snacks. If you prefer a little kick, try Trader Joe's jerk-style plantain chips.

Ice-cream sandwiches are some of our favorite perfectly portioned treats.

We always have ice cream in our freezer, and Trader Joe's ice-cream sandwiches are some of our favorite buys.

They're the perfect portion-controlled treat for when we're watching TV after dinner.

Some of our top picks are the Mini Mint Mouthfuls, brownie-coffee crisp ice-cream sandwiches, and classic Sublime cookie ice-cream sandwiches.

We no longer order takeout since Trader Joe's has such good frozen alternatives.

We've been so impressed by Trader Joe's frozen foods inspired by other countries that we rarely order takeout these days.

Trader Joe's soup dumplings and fried rice are some of our favorite buys. Both dishes deliver on flavor and cost far less than if we'd ordered them from a restaurant.

For us, these heat-and-eat options are a game changer for busy nights when cooking from scratch isn't an option.

A few things from the produce section are always in our cart.

Eating clean is important to us, so fresh produce is always in our kitchen.

We regularly stock up on bananas, berries, and mini carrots for easy snacking for us and our dogs. Plus, the chain's seasonal fruits and vegetables can be great for trying new recipes.

My husband also swears by Trader Joe's salad kits for quick, no-fuss lunches.

Chocolate milk is a staple in our fridge.

Open our fridge, and you'll always find a half-gallon of Trader Joe's chocolate milk. It's so creamy and delicious.

We like to drink it as a coffee alternative, after-dinner sweet treat, or post-workout pick-me-up.

We use Goddess dressing as way more than just a salad topper.

Trader Joe's Goddess dressing is a staple for us. It's fantastic on salads or as a veggie dip. We also like using it to upgrade pasta or tuna salad.

It's one of the most versatile condiments we own and a great value, as a little goes a long way in terms of flavor.

Breaded chicken tenderloin breasts are the star of some quick meals in our house.

Trader Joe's breaded chicken tenderloins are a lifesaver when I'm trying to make a quick, stress-free meal.

I like pairing them with Trader Joe's mac and cheese and some veggies for a dinner that's ready in minutes. The tenders are also great for adding protein to salads.

Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle shampoo and conditioner have become shower staples.

Infused with eucalyptus and other botanicals, Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle products leave our hair feeling soft and clean. I like how they make our hair smell, too.

A little bit of these goes a long way, which makes them a great value for us.

We regularly grab a bottle from Trader Joe's excellent wine section.

I think Trader Joe's wine selection is unbeatable in terms of value and quality.

Whether we need a bottle for a special occasion, a hostess gift, or something to pair with dinner, there's always an affordable option that tastes like it cost way more than it actually did.

There are a lot of bottles available for under $20, and many cost less than $10.

• My husband and I retired early at 55 with modest plans to travel around the US and Canada.
• Our lower retirement income has not gone far, and bad luck in the past year cut into our savings.
• Given how quickly our savings have dwindled in just a year, we have nixed our plans to travel.

I'd always dreamed of traveling during retirement, and my husband and I had made modest plans to do so.

As Canadians, we planned to mostly go on road trips here and in the neighboring United States, maybe occasionally flying to places like Nashville and Las Vegas.

My husband retired in 2015 at 55, and I joined him in 2023 when I turned 55. That first summer after I retired, we had an amazing time going to outdoor concerts, car shows, and impromptu day trips.

In the coming year, I expected us to do more of the same. However, in the past few months, we realized our retirement dreams may be out of reach.

Our income and savings aren't going as far as we expected

My husband has started receiving payments from his Canada Pension Plan, which we both contributed to while working, but mine haven't yet kicked in.

Like many others, we also sought other ways to make money during retirement. As a former teacher, I take substitute-teaching jobs at local schools and writing gigs. My husband also brings in extra money building hunting shacks.

When planning our pre-retirement with financial advisors, we felt confident we could live off our savings, pension, and money from our gigs and still travel — especially since our home is new and paid off (in part thanks to an inheritance I received).

We were going to budget for a road trip every year or two until our full benefits kicked in, but we've already spent half of what we'd saved in this past year alone.

In that time, we've had four appliance breakdowns in four months in our new home. We've taken in our son's family until they rebuild following a devastating house fire, and the basement bathroom renovation to accommodate them also cost us 30% more than we anticipated.

This unexpected, expensive string of bad luck in a short period of time quickly made a huge dent in our savings that we hadn't accounted for.

On top of that, living on what amounts to about half of my pre-retirement paycheck has been challenging. Between tariffs and inflation, the costs of many essentials, like food, are still higher than we expected.

At this rate, we feel like our savings would be depleted far too quickly if we worked travel into our budget.

We've chosen to be grateful for what we have instead of relying on travel to find joy

Worried about the future, we've shifted our dreams and put our travel retirement plans on hold.

Although we still have some investments and savings, we don't feel financially comfortable or secure enough to dip into them to spend money on travel as we'd originally planned.

This realization was difficult to handle. At times, it took a toll on our relationship: I really wanted to make travel work, while my husband wanted to make sure we could afford to get through the next few years — especially in the event we encounter more bad luck or costly health issues as we age.

After taking a step back and looking at what is really important, we've finally found the blurry line between wants and needs and made peace with it.

We've focused on becoming content in our home and finding happiness in small, local outings: going out to dinner, heading to the movies, driving around to look at Christmas lights, or even just visiting friends and family.

After all, we are luckier than many, and our situation could be much worse. We can afford essentials like food and housing. We are surrounded by friends and family. We are healthy, safe, and happy.

Knowing what we know now, I think we both would've worked a few more years and maybe diversified our investments to further ensure our financial security. Fortunately, we're at least mortgage-free.

Once my benefits also kick in or if I take on another well-paying gig in the future, we may take a trip or two — but even if not, I have accepted it.

I've found solace in feeling gratitude for all that we have rather than envy for the things we don't.

• I've been to Disney World dozens of times but I went with my daughter for the first time this year.
• At 2 years old, there was a lot she couldn't (and didn't want to) do there.
• Her experience of the park was so different from mine and made me feel like it was new again.

I'm not exaggerating when I say my introduction to Disney World is a core memory. When I first stepped through the gates of Magic Kingdom at age 4, it was love at first sight.

Over the next three decades, dozens more trips followed. Going as a little kid was wildly different from going as a zitty teen with my younger brother or a recent college grad dragging my boyfriend along.

However, even as the parks changed, and I changed, my attachment to them remained consistent. That emotional tie is precisely what's enabled Disney parks to hold firm as the most visited theme parks in the world, even as the price of a Disney trip has become out of reach for many families.

In January, I had the opportunity to visit the parks for a Magic of Milestones media event and thought it was the perfect opportunity to introduce my toddler to Disney life for the first time.

At first, I worried she was too young. Googling "What's the best age to take a kid to Disney for the first time?" yielded nothing conclusive — some said under a year, while others insisted never take a kid under 5.

Lacking a direct answer, I decided to throw caution to the wind and take my 2-year-old and go for it. Surely she'd have an identical experience to my inaugural visit, I thought.

I was wrong.

Going to Disney World for the first time as a parent didn't match my expectations at all — and I can't wait to go again.

Your toddler's individual temperament will really determine the Disney World rides they can go on

My 2-year-old is a daredevil, but she's short, so the majority of height-limit rides were out of the question.

I was looking forward to taking her on more of the baby-friendly rides, where you just sit in a slow-moving car and cruise along, waving at animatronics.

What I didn't anticipate was her sudden onset fear of even moderate darkness.

This kid has never asked for a nightlight in her 27 months of life, but suddenly, waiting in the grotto-inspired line for "Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid," the dim undersea lighting and slightly spooky ocean sounds were too much for her.

"I scared," she loudly declared approximately 3 ½ minutes into the wait. We turned around and left.

We actually made it onto the "Frozen" ride in Norway at Epcot, but that was also a mixed bag. I had completely forgotten that Marshmallow, the giant snowman, makes an appearance near the end, and we were wholly unprepared for the freakout.

We avoided dark rides after that.

She did love the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel, which we figured would be the case since she makes a point to ride every carrousel she sees.

The Mad Tea Party teacup ride was also a big hit — we were all happy to just sit in it without spinning.

On the flip side, toddlers will find Disney magic in the most unlikely of places

My daughter's favorite "ride" was the Skyliner that took us from our hotel to Hollywood Studios.

She couldn't get enough of it. Every time we rode that thing, she hopped up on the bench to stare out the window, singing loudly (much to the amusement of other families who were shuttled in with us), and screaming the names of all the characters she saw on the gondolas swinging by.

Beyond the rides, I had measured my expectations for other Disney experiences, like character meet and greets.

I'd anticipated that we would need to steer clear of most characters. We'd limited screen time until she turned 2, so she wasn't super familiar with any of them, and I worried she'd be freaked out seeing them (some for the first time ever) in life-size form. We'd also had an encounter with an Easter bunny the previous year that gave me pause.

Surprisingly, she was only a little apprehensive and warmed up to them very quickly. By the end of the Disney Jr. Play and Dance, she was having a dance party with Minnie Mouse and giving her hugs.

She couldn't quite work up the nerve to get that close to Goofy, who is much larger than Minnie, but all these months later, she's still talking about giving Goofy a high-five "next time."

The princesses were an even bigger hit, and it was such a joy seeing her interact with them. Princess Elena was her favorite, despite never having watched the show.

The live music shows were also a great choice. On my pre-parenthood trips, I'd never bothered to go to them — who cares about abbreviated versions of Disney movies I've seen a trillion times? For my toddler, though, they were a major win.

At under 30 minutes, they're the perfect length for short attention spans and a great primer for some of the movies she hadn't seen yet. "For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration" was her favorite and has sparked an intense Queen Elsa phase.

The safari ride at Animal Kingdom was also something I'd never done, but we prioritized it knowing my toddler's love of zoos. It was a major hit.

The fireworks shows were always a highlight of my Disney World trips, but they were too much for my toddler

The "Fantasmic!" show at Hollywood Studios is my single favorite Disney experience, and I've always made a point to go multiple times during each of my past trips. However, we didn't even consider going with my daughter.

She had never experienced a fireworks show before, so to test the waters, we took her to "Luminous: The Symphony of Us," a 17-minute show in Epcot. We watched from the World Showcase because I figured that was far enough away from the sights and sounds not to be too overwhelming. I was extremely wrong.

My toddler was immediately freaked out by the first boom. Unfortunately, because the show was at 9 p.m. (technically after the park closed), all the stores and restaurants were inaccessible for an escape. My husband ended up taking refuge near a trash can, singing songs to keep her distracted until the show ended.

Part of this was a rookie mistake: We forgot to bring noise-canceling headphones for her. That said, I doubt she would have kept them on even if we had.

After that mishap, we knew to avoid "Fantasmic!" and other fireworks shows, such as "Happily Ever After at Magic Kingdom."

My toddler ate way more at Disney World than I expected

At home, my daughter is a very picky eater, convinced she can exist on air and the occasional Cheerio alone. It's a major stressor for both my husband and me in our day-to-day lives, but I made the decision to forcibly chill out and not worry about it while on vacation.

However, instead of the skipped meals and crankiness we were anticipating, we were pleasantly surprised by her slightly more adventurous appetite at Disney World. Now, she wasn’t exactly angling to chow down on a turkey leg, but it was better than I expected.

Her favorites included the Mickey-shaped blueberry muffins at Cinderella's Royal Table, the pizza at Connections Cafe, and clementines and french fries wherever we could find them.

The biggest win, though, was the Nemo Fin-tastic Cake at Coral Reef, one of my favorite restaurants in Disney World. She's usually not a sweets girl (much to my distress, as a big Dole Whip fan) and the cake was so cute she wasn't initially sure whether it was even edible. Once she took the first bite, though, she couldn't get enough.

Another bonus is that kids under 3 eat free at all-you-care-to-enjoy Disney restaurants. Roundup Rodeo, a new barbecue restaurant in Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios, was a great option for this — there was more than enough food for all of us, and plenty for my daughter to sample — meaning she'd pretend to try it and then surreptitiously remove it from her mouth.

Portion sizes are pretty big, especially at à la carte table service and quick-service restaurants, so we never went hungry.

What's the best age to take a kid to Disney World? There isn't one

I know this isn't a very satisfying answer, but at the end of the day, the best age for a first Disney trip is extremely variable.

While we were limited in what we could do with my toddler in terms of certain rides, experiences, and restaurants, there was plenty still available to us. And the rider swap option, which allows one parent to wait with the child and then swap to ride without waiting in line separately, was also very helpful in still allowing me to ride my favorite rides.

Do I regret taking my 2-year-old to Disney World? Not at all. It wasn't the trip I'd imagined, but it was still plenty magical — largely because the things that were magical to her were things I didn't expect or things I hadn't even experienced before.

I'm reminded of seeing her face light up meeting princesses or chowing down on a Mickey-shaped treat every time she bops me in the head with her prized Olaf bubble wand.

My only hope is that next time she'll be brave enough to share a Dole Whip with me.

• The Trump administration is using US troops and military assets in its costly immigration crackdown.
• Navy warships, military aircraft, and combat vehicles have been deployed to the US-Mexico border.
• The Pentagon has spent $376 million on militarizing the southern US border since January 20.

US Navy destroyers are cruising coastal waters, spy planes are flying overhead, and troops are out patrolling desert trails in armored fighting vehicles.

America's southern border is starting to resemble a military front line as the Trump administration ramps up its crackdown on illegal immigration at the divide between the US and Mexico.

President Donald Trump swiftly put his mass deportation plan into motion after taking office, using US military personnel and assets to execute it by formally declaring illegal immigration a federal emergency.

About 10,000 active-duty troops have been deployed to support the Pentagon's southern border operation, as have two warships, a handful of military aircraft, and over 100 combat vehicles.

Costly crackdown on immigration

On April 1, Defense Department officials said the militarization at the US-Mexico border had cost roughly $376 million since Trump returned to the White House on January 20, or about $5.3 million per day.

After making illegal immigration a major campaign issue, with Trump criticizing Biden's border policies, the Trump White House has touted plummeting numbers of illicit border crossings. US Customs and Border Patrol reported that March saw the lowest number of attempted crossings in decades.

Illegal immigration was already on the decline prior to the start of Trump's second term, but the president is taking things further. He's got numerous military assets at the border. Here's what the administration has deployed.

Thousands of troops

During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on April 1, Pentagon officials said 6,700 active-duty troops had been deployed to the US-Mexico border, in addition to about 2,500 National Guardsmen that were already stationed there.

Only Border Patrol agents or civilian law enforcement can actually apprehend migrants, leaving a large majority of the troops tasked with "detection and monitoring," Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of the US Northern Command, said.

Active-duty forces are limited in their actions on US soil.

The general said that deployed military personnel "operating in close proximity to the border" are armed with rifles or pistols, and military officials are seeking authorization for troops to shoot down suspected cartel drones surveilling the border.

USS Gravely

Two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers — USS Gravely and USS Spruance — have also been deployed to help "restore territorial integrity at the US southern border," officials said in two statements in March.

"Gravely's sea-going capacity improves our ability to protect the United States' territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security," Guillot said. The destroyer departed Yorktown, Virginia, in mid-March to waters off the Texas coast to support the border mission and counter maritime weapons and drug crime in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gravely played a key role in Red Sea combat prior to this deployment. In December 2023, USS Gravely shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles and was involved in sinking three Houthi small boats, marking the first time the US Navy killed Houthi fighters since the Red Sea conflict began.

USS Spruance

A second Navy destroyer, USS Spruance, which also saw combat in the Red Sea, left its homeport in San Diego last month to patrol waters off the West Coast as part of the border operation.

Guillot said that the warship "brings additional capability and expands the geography of unique military capabilities working with the Department of Homeland Security."

"With Spruance off the West Coast and USS Gravely in the Gulf of America, our maritime presence contributes to the all-domain, coordinated DOD response to the Presidential Executive Order and demonstrates our resolve to achieve operational control of the border," the general added.

The warships have been conducting operations alongside the Coast Guard.

Airlifters flying deportation flights

Migrant deportations are typically carried out using civilian charter flights operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Trump administration supplemented the deportation effort by using military cargo aircraft, like the C-17 Globemaster and C-130 Hercules, to transport migrants to Guatemala, Ecuador, Honduras, Panama, Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, and even India.

Military vs civilian flight costs

But the military aircraft, which are designed to transport both troops and cargo, come with a steep operational price tag. It costs about $28,000 per flight for one deportation on a C-17, whereas civilian flights cost an estimated $8,500.

Following backlash from Democratic lawmakers, the Trump administration halted military deportation flights in early March.

Though there are no further flights scheduled, Air Force Gen. Randall Reed told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March that his command is prepared to carry them out should the order be reversed.

"If I get the task, I'll absolutely fly it," Reed said.

Surveillance aircraft and drones

The big cargo planes aren't the only military aircraft being used at the southern US border. Spy planes and drones have been conducting regular intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance flights.

Reconnaissance aircraft like the U-2 "Dragon Lady" and Boeing RC-135 Rivet Joint have been used for ISR missions above Mexico. The Navy has also reportedly used Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft to conduct maritime patrol and surveillance along the US-Mexico border.

Additionally, there have been reports of MQ-9 Reaper drones conducting flights as well. The Reaper is an uncrewed surveillance and combat asset.

The Trump administration also directed Pentagon intelligence agencies to direct satellite surveillance to the southern border region, Reuters reported last month.

Armored vehicles

Border patrol agents typically drive SUVs, sedans, and pick-up trucks donning a green-and-white paint scheme to traverse the rugged terrain at the border.

But as more active-duty troops are deployed to the region, armored tactical vehicles have become a regular sight in an apparent intimidation tactic.

"This sends a clear and unequivocal message to the criminal organizations operating on either side of the border that we will not tolerate illegal incursions or illicit activities along our border," Border Patrol spokesman Claudio Herrera-Baeza said.

He added that "these vehicles have incredible detection technology that the Border Patrol will incorporate into its mission of safeguarding our borders."

'More military assets'

The US Army sent over 100 Stryker armored fighting vehicles, along with hundreds of soldiers, to an installation near the border between Yuma, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas. Black Hawk helicopters and Chinooks for support aviation were also deployed.

Typically deployed to warzones, the 20-ton eight-wheeled Stryker combat vehicles can be armed with a machine gun or grenade launcher and carry up to 11 troops. They can also reach speeds of up to 60 mph and have a range of 300 miles.

"That's really what we're doing with the Stryker out here," Lt. Col. Travis Stellfox told Scripps News. "It provides us great mobility to get soldiers where they need to be to observe on the border."

There is always the possibility more military assets could be deployed. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said previously that "whatever is needed at the border will be provided."

• Ride AI hosted its first autonomous vehicle conference in LA, featuring some top AV players.
• Companies like Waymo have demonstrated the real-world applications of AI and autonomous driving.
• But human drivers are still very much in play, at least for the next few decades. Here's why.

My day at an autonomous vehicle conference in Los Angeles started in a human-driven Uber.

On a Wednesday morning, Waymo said it would take at least 15 minutes to snag a car for a five-minute ride to NeueHouse Hollywood, where Ride AI was hosting its first-ever autonomous vehicle summit, featuring some of the sector's leading players.

I wasn't particularly in a time crunch, but, like most people, I don't call a rideshare driver half an hour or more before I leave the house to get to a destination.

Exit app. Open Uber.

It's fair to say that, at least for now, the battle between human and robot drivers is still raging.

Stephen Hayes, Lyft's VP of autonomous operations, and Ryan Green, CEO of Gridwise — a platform for rideshare drivers to track their earnings — both said at the conference that the future of ride-hailing will look like a hybrid market of human and robot drivers.

Green estimated that that'll be the case for at least the next 10 to 15 years.

It may be Hayes' and Green's prerogative to make such a claim. But that outlook made perfect sense to me — even as someone who has had great experiences in a Waymo — and appeared to resonate throughout the summit.

A hybrid future

Toyota Research Institute CEO Gill Pratt jumpstarted the event as the first speaker to say it's a "myth that we need autonomy to help with terrible human driving."

"Humans are actually reasonably safe, pretty good drivers. For every hundred million miles there's an accident," Avinash Balachandran, TRI's VP of the Human Interacting Driving division, told me. "Where we really see value for autonomy is this ability to help drivers in situations where they tend to struggle."

For a conference centered entirely on the future of autonomous mobility, I was surprised that some of the top players in the AV field weren't throwing out rosy pictures or estimates of when robots will take over the wheel and our city roads.

Tesla, whose CEO has made wild predictions like one million robotaxis by 2020, was noticeably absent from the conference but still came up during panel talks.

Instead, voices from various autonomous mobility players, from ride-hailing to OEM software providers, spoke on the challenges of perfecting full self-driving technology and the still-fresh business opportunities for the human-driven vehicle segment.

Amnon Shashua, CEO of Mobileye, talked about the lack of "precision" in AI, stemming partly from the need to perfect the application of redundancies and a lack of data.

Over at Wayve, a UK-based autonomous driving software company, Kaity Fischer, the VP of commercial and operations, talked about the "very large untapped market" of level two and level three assisted and autonomous driving systems for consumer vehicles.

Both levels still need humans behind the wheel but with varying degrees of driver input.

"For the foreseeable future, there'll be a very long period of time where it's a hybrid solution of vehicle ownership intermingled with varying levels of autonomy, and those things all need to be able to coexist," Fisher told me when I asked her what she thought city streets will look like decades down the line. "So levels two, three, and four all need to be able to share a space on the road and operate safely in conjunction."

Christoph Lütge, an economist and AI ethics expert at the Technical University of Munich, told me that in Germany, where robotaxis exist only for limited testing, Level 3 driving is still not widely implemented.

"It should have happened already, but it's not really happening," he said.

Riding the hype cycle

This is not to underestimate the progress folks in San Francisco and other markets have experienced firsthand. One of the reasons everyone gathered in Los Angeles for an autonomous vehicle conference is undoubtedly because of Waymo.

As Sophia Tung, a former engineer and now an AV-focused content creator, told me, we've seen an autonomous vehicle hype cycle before — this time's just a bit different.

Timothy B. Lee, one of the Ride AI moderators who has reported on transportation for Ars Technica before launching his Substack, Understanding AI, pointed to the Gartner hype cycle: Technological innovation first comes with the skyrocketing of what's called peak "inflated expectations" before crashing into a "trough of disillusionment," then rising again, more gradually, on a "slope of enlightenment" followed by a "plateau of productivity."

The peak of inflated expectations happened around 2016 or '17, Lee told me, before an Uber autonomous test vehicle killed a woman in Tempe, Arizona, in 2018.

"Then there was a period of three or four years, from 2018 to 2022 or so, when things were going very badly for these companies," he said. "You had Uber shut down their program, Lyft shut down their program. Ford had Argo (AI) that shut down. That was a bad time to be in the industry and not as much fun to cover. And then, the last two years I would say it's been on the upswing pretty much since Waymo started expanding to San Francisco."

Lee's prognosis is that the great human-driver replacement will be gradual. In the next 20-plus years, city roads will see fewer human drivers before they completely disappear.

For example, he cited the decades it took before automatic elevators made human elevator operators obsolete.

"There's going to be a long process," he said.

My day in Los Angeles ended with another human-driven rideshare, which arrived in the same amount of time it took to say goodbye to my friends, put on my shoes, and walk out of their apartment.

The closest Waymo was 13 minutes away.

Exit app. Open Uber.

The offers and details on this page may have updated or changed since the time of publication. See our article on Business Insider for current information.

• My husband cut our $2,000 monthly grocery bill by $415 just by shopping differently.
• Switching from name brands to store brands saved us thousands — and my kids didn't even notice.
• His engineering mindset means no impulse buys and less food waste.

In May 2023, my husband and I sat down to look over our budget app on his laptop — one of my least favorite activities.

As a family of six living in the Chicago suburbs, our grocery bills were already sky-high and climbing with inflation. I hated budget conversations.

Even though my husband never made me feel this way, I always felt like I was getting in trouble for overspending. So when he pointed out that our Walmart grocery bill for the month was $1,923, I felt the guilt creep in.

But then, he said something that I didn't expect: "Let me take over the grocery shopping."

I laughed. Not because I thought he'd do a bad job but because I couldn't imagine it would make any real difference. Plus, grocery shopping was my domain: I knew what we liked, and I meal planned. I didn't love the idea of him double-checking my choices. But I was exhausted from the weekly trips, so I handed him the grocery list — half expecting him to come back overwhelmed.

The next month, our grocery bill dropped to $1,511. I figured he was just cutting corners to prove he could spend less. But the following month? $1,555. Our pantry was full, our kids were happy, and we were spending around $400 less a month.

I had to admit: maybe my husband was onto something.

He started by taking his time in the store to consider all the options

I got curious about his method: "How are you doing this?" I asked.

It turns out his first grocery shopping trip took almost two hours — and not because he couldn't find anything. While I was home imagining him wandering lost in the aisles, he was carefully reading ads (the ones I would have tossed aside) and checking prices on every single item.

Ever the engineer, my husband pulled out his phone to show me some of the side-by-side price comparisons he made. I was beyond surprised.

My husband made some big money-saving switches

My kids go through ketchup like water. I had been buying Heinz at $4.48 for years without thinking twice. The Great Value brand my husband chose is just $1.92 for the same size bottle, and it tastes exactly the same, saving us $2.56 every time.

But the ranch savings may be one of our biggest. Switching from Hidden Valley at $6.97 to Great Value at $3.54 saves us $3.43 per bottle, and no one can even tell the difference. We use it for everything from salads to dipping vegetables, so these savings add up quickly. We even did a blind taste test with our pickiest eater, and he liked the generic brand best.

The cereal aisle turned out to have big savings, too. Name-brand Rice Krispies were costing us $3.98 per box, but Great Value Rice Crisps are only $1.97. This cut our cost in half while keeping breakfast the same.

For the kids' school snacks, I used to buy the individually packaged Goldfish for $9.76 out of convenience. My husband started buying the bulk carton for $7.79 which saves us almost $2.00 for even more crackers. For what we are saving, I don't mind taking the extra minute to put the Goldfish into individual baggies for school snacks.

It's not just about switching to store brands or buying in bulk. Even with name-brand things we love, my husband finds a way to save money. For example, with our coffee, instead of paying $31.08 at Walmart for three pounds, he gets it directly from Dunkin on his way home for $26.21. That's saving $4.87 just by changing where we buy it. It's the exact same amount, but almost $5.00 cheaper.

We're happier and saving money

There have been unexpected benefits beyond just saving money. I no longer dread those weekly grocery trips because I'm not making them anymore. Since my husband actually sticks to the grocery list (unlike me and my impulse purchases), we're wasting less food.

I still handle meal planning, but he approaches grocery shopping with his engineering mindset.

I wish we'd made this switch years ago. It's funny how sometimes the best solutions come from playing to each other's strengths and letting the more cost-conscious partner do the shopping.

That one conversation didn't just change how we grocery shop — it's saving our family about $4,980 a year. And, all because I was willing to hand over the grocery list to my husband, who was willing to spend two hours comparing ketchup prices.

• Cruise lines like MSC, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean own resorts and private islands throughout the Caribbean.
• They're increasingly upgrading their properties and expanding their real estate portfolios.
• Satellite imagery shows how cruise lines have changed the Caribbean landscape.

A decade ago, Ocean Cay, a Bahamian island 65 miles from Miami's coastline, stood abandoned, bearing the scars of its previous life as an industrial sand mining site.

These days, the 95-acre island looks less like an excavation facility and more like a slice of Caribbean paradise.

Gone are the debris and floating metal fragments. Now a vacation destination, Ocean Cay is home to seven pristine beaches, waterfront cabanas, and family-fun activities — all thanks to a $500 million investment from MSC Cruises.

In 2019, after three years of cleanup and development, MSC opened the island as Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, a private retreat exclusively for its cruise passengers. It now sees thousands of travelers virtually every day of the year, many of whom are ready to spend big on a swim with stingrays and a beachside massage.

Cruise lines like MSC, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean collectively own 17 ports and resorts in the Caribbean. Some are still under development as these at-sea vacation companies increasingly build back onshore, transforming swaths of the warm-weathered landscape into unrecognizable but highly profitable exclusive vacation destinations.

The transformation of neighboring rivals

About 85 miles from Ocean Cay, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings have claimed two private islands separated only by a mile-long stretch of the Atlantic Ocean.

Norwegian was an early trendsetter, having been the first cruise line to acquire an island, now known as Great Stirrup Cay, for its guests in 1977.

The company has recently upgraded its 270-acre buildout, expanding the dining and walkways in 2017 and launching a luxurious hotel-like retreat in 2019.

Later this year, Great Stirrup Cay is also expected to debut a new pier that can concurrently accommodate two of Norwegian's largest ships — a $150 million investment in an attempt to rival its successful neighbor, Royal Caribbean's Perfect Day at CocoCay.

Like Ocean Cay, their locations are strategic. Perfect Day at CocoCay and Great Stirrup Cay are less than a day's sail from Florida's busy ports, allowing the companies to save on increasingly costly fuel expenses.

A closer look at CocoCay

CocoCay is as much a "perfect day" as it is a perfect investment, having opened in 2019 as a resort-like extension of Royal Caribbean's splashy ships.

The more than 130-acre island has since become a massive hit, accommodating almost all of the company's Caribbean cruise guests with its waterpark, lounge-lined beaches, and, as of last year, an adult-only beach club.

The cruise line has poured a cool $350 million into developing the property. Yet, amid strong guest demand, financial returns have been "exceptionally high and significantly above its target," Naftali Holtz, the CFO of Royal Caribbean Group, told analysts in 2023.

It's now hoping to replicate CocoCay's success with a private resort 63 miles away on Paradise Island, located just offshore from Nassau, Bahamas, and near Atlantis' sprawling resort.

Royal Caribbean began purchasing land on Paradise Island in early 2017. Seven years later, it started developing the 17-acre property into what would soon become its first Royal Beach Club, a sprawling exclusive resort.

Royal Beach Club Paradise Island is scheduled to open in December 2025.

Guests will have to pay to enter the all-inclusive property. Once inside, they can expect access to 10 bars, shopping, cabanas, and several pools and beaches, including some for families.

Another island, another resort

In addition to expanding its island — RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay — Carnival Corp is also following the private resort strategy with a mile-long getaway on Grand Bahama Island.

Celebration Key, as it's been dubbed, is scheduled to begin welcoming Carnival cruisers in July.

The land is expected to be transformed into a vacation hub with beach clubs, a family lagoon, and plenty of dining options — "clearly following Royal Caribbean's footsteps," Patrick Scholes, lodging and leisure research analyst at Truist Securities, told Business Insider in 2024.

The resort is expected to accommodate 4 million visitors annually when Carnival builds two additional berths in 2028.

The $600 million project is set to be the company's largest. Yet, Carnival Corp's CFO, David Bernstein, told analysts in 2024 that Celebration Key is already expected to be a "smash hit and provide an excellent return on investment. "

• My husband and I went on our first African safari last year.
• The bucket-list trip was incredible, but there are a few things I wish I had known before we left.
• I didn't realize how different each safari drive would be or that I should've packed differently.

Last year, my husband and I took a 10-day guided group tour of South Africa with Adventures By Disney.

Part of the trip included a three-day African safari at the Kapama River Lodge, a luxury safari resort on the Kapama Game Reserve near Kruger National Park.

Even though most of the trip's schedule and transportation details were planned for us through the tour group, it was our first time in South Africa — and our first time on safari in general.

Needless to say, we weren't totally prepared for what the experience would entail. Here are the five things I wish I had known before going on the trip.

I should have packed more layers.

We went on safari in August, which is Africa's winter. During this time of year, the temperature can fluctuate greatly during the course of a day.

Even after researching the weather patterns, the range in temperature caught me off guard. For example, our morning safaris were very cold, but by early afternoon, it became T-shirt weather.

I mainly brought sweaters for the trip, but looking back, I would have focused on packing layers instead.

I also found headgear to be absolutely vital for blocking the sun and keeping my hair from getting unruly in the wind. On my next trip, I'll definitely bring more than one hat with me.

I didn't realize I'd want to spend more time at our resort.

While planning the trip, I was so focused on the safari experience that I didn't realize how amazing our resort would be.

With its beautiful spa and gourmet dining options, it felt like an all-inclusive resort. Three days there was not nearly enough time.

Next time, I'd carve out additional time to explore the lodge's restaurant, spa, and amenities in more depth.

Each safari drive offered something unique.

As part of our vacation package, we were able to go on two safaris each day: one in the morning and one in the evening. Ahead of the trip, I had a preconceived notion that things would get redundant. However, that couldn't be further from the truth.

I'm so glad I didn't skip any of the safaris because I was able to see all of the Big 5 animals: lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, and African buffalo.

Night rides ended up being my favorite as we stopped in the middle of the bush for a happy hour at a makeshift bar. If I had only gone on the daytime rides, I would have missed this entire experience.

It would've been nice to have a professional camera.

I had no idea just how many animals we would spot and how close we would get — sometimes, within several yards.

Although there's definitely value in enjoying a moment, I do regret not bringing a professional camera on at least a few safari rides to get incredible photos.

I had no reason to be stressed before the trip.

"Bucket list" isn't a term I take lightly, but I absolutely feel comfortable labeling this trip as such.

This was the most outside-of-my-comfort-zone vacation I've taken to date. I knew very little about what to expect and was worried about letting others take control of the planning.

However, it ended up being one of the best trips I've ever taken, and I wish I'd gone into it less stressed.

• My husband died when I was 46, and I received a wake-up call about financial preparedness.
• His life insurance policy was a lifesaver as I developed a more long-term plan for our family.
• I sought professional advice to get through that time, and I'm glad I did.

In the wee hours of the morning, several days after my husband's death in 2003 from sudden cardiac arrest, I awoke out of breath, my heart racing. Would my daughters be able to stay in their schools? Could I continue to pay the mortgage on our home?

When my husband accepted his first overseas diplomatic assignment, I gave up my career. Once back in the States, I began to slowly rebuild my professional life, but I was far behind my peers in earning power and savings. Still, I didn't worry too much about our income and my slow-growing 403b. We weren't diligent savers; we had mortgages, car loans, and two children in private schools. We relied on the assumption that Uncle Sam had our backs.

Insurance was a lifesaver for me during that time

Suddenly, with a base salary of $42,000 a year, I became responsible for my two teenage daughters and, as an only child, my elderly mom. My husband had good life insurance in place (with his morbid sense of humor, he often joked about how "well off" I'd be when he died), which was a godsend, but I needed to understand how to use our money efficiently.

Most financial experts say you should have enough money in your emergency savings fund to cover three to six months' worth of living expenses. Being unprepared is exacerbated if you are not used to navigating the finances. In my case, I was aware of our position in general terms, but large decisions, such as our daughters' education and buying or selling a home or vehicle, were always joint.

As my husband's beneficiary, I received his federal life insurance payout. Early on, I received incorrect information, leading me to believe that I needed to keep the insurance payout I received in the low-interest settlement account. Learning that I was able to move it to an account that delivered a higher rate of return eased a lot of stress. My initial priority was not investing but making sure I had enough money coming in to pay our bills. I chose to work with an advisor at our credit union to invest the money in instruments that would conserve — and hopefully increase — my principal and provide an income stream to supplement my small salary.

I developed a long-term financial plan

My advisor suggested investments that would help me achieve the goals we had planned for our daughters. I was happy to learn I'd be able to keep my younger daughter in parochial high school and enable my older daughter to remain at her current college. Next, I paid off some high-interest items with part of the insurance money, which eased the burden on my modest income and saved me from having to make large draws from our investment accounts. Later, I tackled estate planning issues such as updating my own will and beneficiaries on all financial items.

Even though I knew how to access our bill-paying software and bank accounts, having no real savings of my own and a meager retirement plan due to contributions of only the 10 years we'd been back in the States made me anxious. The reality of planning a possible solo retirement made me again wish I'd been wiser about my personal saving practices. Soon after tragedy strikes, many widows and widowers rush to make huge — and sometimes unwise —

major financial decisions. A short time after my husband's death, I considered selling our home. but an accountant friend advised me to wait until I was on steadier emotional ground. I'm glad I did because the house appreciated in value, and I was able to secure a good price when I did sell it 15 years later.

I learned a lot about financial preparedness when I became a young widow

In my grief support group, I saw firsthand others having to sell homes or move in with family after losing a spouse or partner's income. I know I was fortunate because of my husband's foresight in planning for a future that did not include him. Because my life insurance had always come as a benefit of my employment, I purchased additional insurance to guarantee that the girls would have some assets should my financial situation change, or I could no longer work.

Even though I learned a lot by becoming a young widow, I wish I'd known more about financial planning before tragedy struck. Having to shoulder the weight of a family's financial present and future only added to my already fragile emotional state. At least, seeking both professional and personal help and a dose of strategic planning eased one of the burdens I felt immediately after my husband's death.

• This post originally appeared in the BI Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Welcome back to our Saturday edition! The season finale of "The White Lotus" is almost here, and we'll finally find out who dies this season. Any predictions? Find out who we think might be floating in that resort.

On the agenda:

• The new "it" cosmetic procedure: veneers, but without the filling, drilling, and grinding.
• A millennial engineer dreamed of a walkable small town with big-city vibrancy. So, she's building it herself.
• A GI doctor who researches the gut microbiome shared the 3 things he does to prevent colon cancer.
• First came the trad wives. Meet divine feminine energy.

But first: Spring Break smarter.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Business Insider's app here.

This week's dispatch

Let's optimize Spring Break

Spring Break isn't just for college students. It's also the perfect time for corporate types, finance bros, and entrepreneurs to recharge before sprinting into Q2.

If you want to plan your own rejuvenating retreat, here are some tips to ensure you leave feeling restored and ready for the rest of the year.

• Ditch the screens: Whether you're committing to less screen time, turning off Slack notifications, or doing a full-on digital detox, now is the time to step away from the black mirror. Instead, experience the outdoors now that the weather is turning. It's not only good for you mentally, but it can also lower your blood pressure and improve your memory.
• Rest isn't overrated: Now that our nights are getting shorter, sticking to an effective sleep routine is crucial. It also doesn't help that we just lost an hour of shut-eye. Spring also means it's a perfect time to invest in your sleep with fresh bedding — especially if it's been a while. No judgement!
• Have a little fun: The best part of any Spring Break is the adventure. Make sure you go on one — whether it's with your partner, with your family, or solo. And you don't have to travel far to have a new experience. Instead of prioritizing location, focus on the quality and take advantage of creating a new memory.

A new kind of veneer

Traditional veneers have been a favorite of celebrities since the 1980s. But plenty of would-be takers balk at the process, which requires shaving down the surface of the tooth.

Now, patients are gravitating toward a less invasive, lower-risk veneer procedure. It's part of the "quiet glow-up" trend, which is all about little fixes rather than sweeping changes.

What to know about the procedure.

Small town, big city

Disenchanted with pandemic-era San Francisco, software engineer Devon Zuegel sought to recreate the small-town atmosphere she experienced when visiting upstate New York.

The result is Esmeralda, a walkable and bikeable northern California town that Zuegel plans to build within another city's existing limits. The goal is revitalization, not starting from scratch.

An intentional-community experiment.

A GI doctor's advice for colon cancer prevention

Surgeon James Kinross researches how gut health affects cancer risk. He told BI that ultra-processed foods and microplastics are just a few factors that are likely linked to rising colon cancer cases in young people.

Kinross shared the three dietary principles he follows to lower his own risk of developing colon cancer.

Read his recommendations.

The deal with divine feminine

Posts about divine feminine energy are proliferating on social media. Content creators claim tapping into their divine feminine energy was the key to manifesting the life they wanted.

Experts say it's more complicated than that. You could end up creating helpful rituals … but you could also end up falling down an alt-right pipeline.

Approach it with nuance.

What we're watching this weekend

• "One of Them Days": After releasing in theaters in January, the R-rated buddy comedy starring Keke Palmer and SZA is now streaming on Netflix.
• "The White Lotus": Season three of HBO's thrilling anthology series comes to an end this weekend.
• "Pulse": Netflix's new medical procedural follows doctors under professional and personal pressure at a Miami hospital.

See the full list

What to shop

• Salon-worthy manicures at home: Getting your nails done in a salon takes a lot of time and money, especially if you maintain them regularly. That's why we tested the best press-on nails for a fast fix.
• Your own home bakery: There's a subscription box for just about everything, so it's no surprise that you can get artisan bread and pastry dough delivered to your doorstep. We gave it a try — learn more in our Wildgrain review.
• Away's new luggage: Away is famous for its sleekly designed, durable, and feature-packed suitcases. The brand released a new Softside Carry-on, so we gave it a shot.

More of this week's top reads:

• I never buy birthday presents for kids' parties. They often miss the mark and unwrapping them is chaos, so I give money instead.
• The fall of Lonely Planet.
• A 25-year-old strategy analyst breaks down how she spends $648 each month on staying fit.
• We splurged on extras and all-inclusive plans for our first trip to Disney World. It was a magical disaster.
• How Steph Curry spends his 5-9 — from recovering after training to no-rules summers.
• Mike White on why he almost didn't cast Blackpink's Lisa in 'The White Lotus': 'She's like Taylor Swift meets Princess Diana'.
• Meghan Markle silences critics after As Ever sells out in an hour.
• A 62-year-old dermatologist with barely any wrinkles shares what to do now for great skin at her age.
• Your Rolex is about to get more expensive.

The BI Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York City (on paternity leave). Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago.