DeSantis reappoints Gary Nicklaus, two others to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Reuters
China's purchases of chipmaking equipment to decline in 2025, consultancy says
China's purchases of chipmaking equipment are set to decline this year after three years of growth, as the industry grapples with overcapacity and faces greater constraints from U.S. sanctions, a consultancy said on Wednesday. China has been the biggest buyer of wafer fabrication equipment for at least the past two years, purchasing $41 billion worth of tools and accounting for 40% of global sales in 2024, Canadian semiconductor research company TechInsights said. But this year, China's spending is expected to drop to $38 billion, down 6% year-on-year, and its share of global purchases will fall to 20% in the first decline since 2021, Boris Metodiev, a senior semiconductor manufacturing analyst at TechInsights, told an online seminar.
AFP
Zelensky offers land swaps as Russia heartens Trump with prisoner release
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready to swap land in negotiations with Russia, which freed at least one American prisoner in what US President Donald Trump described Tuesday as a goodwill gesture on ending the war."We will swap one territory for another," Zelensky said, adding that he was ready to trade land in Russia's Kursk region -- which Ukraine seized in a surprise offensive last year.
AFP
Nerves fray in Turkey textile sector as Syria refugees mull return
As excitement swept through the Syrian community after Bashar al-Assad's overthrow, businesses in Turkey that rely on them for labour began quickly crunching the numbers."If the Syrians leave, our labour costs will increase significantly, as well as our production costs," he told AFP. Turkey is the world's sixth-largest textile manufacturer and its industry is based in the southern regions that host most of its around 2.9 million Syrian migrants.
NBC News
After armed neo-Nazis get police protection, some Black residents in Ohio express disbelief
Some Black leaders and residents in greater Cincinnati expressed dismay after armed, masked neo-Nazis were allowed to gather on a freeway bridge without arrest.
Reuters
Trump administration readies reciprocal US tariffs as trade war fears mount
Donald Trump's trade advisers were finalizing plans on Wednesday for the reciprocal tariffs the U.S. president has vowed to impose on every country that charges duties on U.S. imports, ratcheting up fears of a widening global trade war. Trump stunned markets with his decision on Monday to impose tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports beginning March 12. Last week, Trump slapped an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods, effective February 4, with Chinese countermeasures taking effect this week.
Associated Press
Judge orders LSU to reinstate professor who was removed from class following political comments
A judge has ordered Louisiana State University to fully reinstate a professor who was removed from his teaching duties last month after he used vulgar language to criticize Gov. Jeff Landry and President Donald Trump during a lecture. The ruling, which allows tenured law professor Ken Levy to return to his classroom this week, was issued following the conclusion of Tuesday's hearing over a lawsuit Levy filed against the university. During two days of testimony, law students and another professor spoke about the “chilling effect” Levy's removal had on them and that it exacerbated fears over speaking freely in the classroom.
Associated Press
Snow and freezing rain pummel the mid-Atlantic while California prepares for likely flooding
Snow, sleet and freezing rain were expected to continue pummeling the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic states Wednesday, while California readied for a storm that could flood areas ravaged by the recent wildfires. Especially heavy snowfall — up to nearly 14 inches (25 centimeters) — was expected in parts of Virginia and West Virginia, according to the National Weather Service. Ice accumulations could reach more than a third of an inch (8.4 millimeters) in Stanleytown, Virginia, and a quarter of an inch (6.3 millimeters) in Glendale Springs, North Carolina.
Reuters
Taiwan's Foxconn says it can plan production around Trump tariffs
Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer and Apple's main iPhone maker, can plan its production around new U.S. tariffs, the company's chairman said on Wednesday. U.S. President Donald Trump announced and then paused until March 4 an across-the-board 25% tariff on all U.S. imports from Mexico and Canada. Foxconn Chairman Young Liu, speaking to reporters at the company's headquarters in New Taipei, outside the capital Taipei, noted it manufactures in both the United States and Mexico.
The Wall Street Journal
Why Today’s Inflation Report Is Especially Important
Fed officials are wary about getting through turn-of-the-year price resets, which contributed to big inflation jumps in recent years.
Associated Press
Relatives of Israeli hostages are terrified as the Gaza ceasefire teeters
After 16 months of excruciating uncertainty, Idit Ohel finally received word this week that her 24-year-old son, a hostage in Gaza, is still alive. Bound by chains in an underground tunnel, Alon Ohel has subsisted on a piece of bread or less each day. As the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas seems increasingly at risk of falling apart — Hamas says it will not free three hostages on Saturday as planned, and Israel says it's ready to resume the war if it doesn't — families of the hostages are struggling to maintain hope.
AFP
'Saudi is the best!': Why are TikTok mumfluencers lauding desert megacity?
Expat "mumfluencers" are taking to TikTok to sing the praises of life in Saudi Arabia and to extol the virtues of its new NEOM megacity, filming their idyllic lives spent picnicking by turquoise waters and shopping in gleaming malls."If you have children, Saudi Arabia is the best place," Aida McPherson, an Azerbaijani born in London, told her almost 60,000 followers as she filmed her daughter in traditional Saudi dress on a shopping trip.
Associated Press
Leaders of Indonesia and Turkey hold talks on defense and economic ties
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto on Wednesday for talks aimed at strengthening economic and defense ties between the two Muslim-majority nations. Erdogan’s state visit to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country and Southeast Asia's largest economy, was his second stop in a four-day visit that also includes Malaysia and Pakistan. On Monday, the Turkish leader met Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and reiterated his opposition to a U.S. proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza and said Israel should pay for the territory's reconstruction.
CNN
Wrongfully detained American teacher Marc Fogel meets with Trump after being released from Russia in an ‘exchange’
Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained for more than three years in Russia, was welcomed back to the US by President Donald Trump on Tuesday night after the White House secured his release in an “exchange.”
Associated Press
Amnesty International details gruesome impact of gang violence on children in Haiti
Haiti’s children are increasingly caught in the crossfire of gang violence, forced to carry weapons, spy on police and rival gangs and run errands for gunmen, according to a report released Wednesday by Amnesty International. One of 51 children interviewed by the human rights group said he was constantly pressured by a gang to fight alongside it. An estimated 30% to 50% of gang members are now children, according to UNICEF.
CNN
Musk shows why he’s such a powerful ally for Trump and would be an even more menacing enemy
Elon Musk’s Oval Office address showed why he’s a menacing foe for the federal government and why President Donald Trump is playing with fire by ceding him so much power.
Associated Press
Jim Justice says he turned West Virginia's budget from cow dung to gold. Gov. Morrisey disagrees
U.S. Sen. Jim Justice said he transformed West Virginia's financial policy from cow dung into gold during his time as governor. Newly inaugurated Gov. Patrick Morrisey has taken a closer look under the lid of the state’s coffers, and he said what he has found isn’t so shiny — and it stinks. Despite the now-U.S. senator's assurances that he was leaving the state in glowing financial condition, Morrisey announced a week into his term that he had “inherited” from the Justice administration a projected $400 million budget deficit for the fiscal year starting in July — one expected to grow to $600 million the following year.
Associated Press
Trump administration battles employee lawsuit to block dismantling of USAID
The Trump administration will present an unforgiving argument for dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development to a federal judge Wednesday: USAID is rife with “insubordination" and must be shut down for the administration to decide what pieces of it to salvage. The argument, made in an affidavit by political appointee and deputy USAID administrator Pete Marocco, comes as the administration confronts a lawsuit by two groups representing federal employees.
CNN
A potent winter storm brings treacherous conditions across a swath of the US. Two more are right behind it
Winter weather kicked into high gear in the United States and it’s not slowing down anytime soon.
Associated Press
When does a heartbeat start? South Carolina Supreme Court again takes up abortion issue
With a heartbeat abortion ban solidly in place in South Carolina, lawyers for the state and Planned Parenthood return to the state's highest court Wednesday to argue how restrictive the ban should be. The law is being enforced in South Carolina as a ban on almost all abortions around six weeks after conception, setting that mark as the time cardiac activity starts. Both sides are set to argue for just over an hour at the South Carolina Supreme Court in Columbia.
CNN
Monty the Giant Schnauzer wins Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
Five-year-old Monty, winner of the Working Group three straight years, was named Best in Show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden in New York on Tuesday.

Latest Stories