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US foreign aid rollback seems reasonable — for now

The Trump administration will always couch even its most reasonable decisions in the most dramatic terms possible, and so it was with a State Department announcement that the U.S. would be sending a significantly smaller humanitarian aid package to the United Nations: “Individual U.N. agencies will need to adapt, shrink or die.” The $2 billion announced last week is down from $3.8 billion in 2025 and a major reduction from America’s contributions under President Joe Biden, which peaked at $17 billion in 2022. It’s easy to write this off as a shortsighted America First policy, ...

AAA suggests four 2026 safe driving resolutions

AAA Michigan has offered some grim arguments for making safer motor vehicle practices part of your New Year’s resolutions for 2026. Preventable crashes claim lives and devastate families every day, AAA states in a news release. “These tragedies are not accidents; they are the result of choices made behind the wheel,” AAA warns. “That’s why AAA urges drivers to make safety their top priority in 2026.” In 2024, more than 39,000 people were killed in U.S. traffic crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. On average, someone is killed in a car ...

Keeping food and water safe when power is lost

With the widespread power outages early this week due to the winter storm — some in Marquette County still have not had service restored — and it only being the start of what normally is a long winter in the region, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is providing guidance on keeping food and drinking water safe when electricity is cut off. MDARD tips include: • Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain safe internal temperatures. • Perishable refrigerated foods — meats, poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs, leftovers, ...

The Washington Post on Trump’s China policy, deal with Taiwan

The Washington Post on Trump's China policy, deal with Taiwan The Trump administration’s approval of an $11.1 billion arms sale will help Taiwan gear up for, and therefore deter, a potential Chinese attack. It’s an overdo correction after months of policy changes that favored Beijing over Taipei. The package, which has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, will be one of the largest-ever arms sales to the island democracy. It includes High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which Ukraine has proved are critical when fighting a better armed and more populous enemy. This helps ...

Trump’s mass firing of diplomats a danger to US standing

President Trump, would-be peacemaker on a global scale, has apparently decided he can fulfill that role with a decimated diplomatic corps that by mid-January will see more than half of the U.S. embassies lacking an ambassador. Nearly 30 ambassadors were told just before Christmas to pack up and leave their postings next month, adding to what is already 79 ambassadorial vacancies, according to the Ambassador Tracker maintained by the American Foreign Service Association, the union that represents career diplomats. The U.S. at full complement has some 195 ambassadorships. And the ...

AGs call on public to report gift card fraud

Coming off the holiday season, attorneys general from 13 states — including Michigan — and the District of Columbia are calling on the public to be aware of gift card scams and report if they experience them. The AGs have joined in a public service announcement campaign paid for by the Gift Card Fraud Prevention Alliance, aimed at protecting consumers from the growing threat of gift card fraud. This collaborative effort comes as millions of Americans prepare to redeem gift cards — a prime opportunity for scammers to target unsuspecting individuals, the group warns in a news ...