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An Islamophobic Congress member beat an antisemetic influencer. It may be a sign of the GOP to come.

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The study found that air quality either improved or remained stable across the city in the first year of congestion pricing.

The New York City (NYC) Health Department has unveiled its first evaluation of the Congestion Relief Zone Tolling Program’s impact on neighborhood air quality. The study found that the city’s air quality remained stable or improved slightly in the first year of congestion pricing, continuing a 20-year trend of improving air quality and declining pollution. Further, the study revealed that environmental justice communities alongside major highway corridors identified in the Congestion Relief Zone Tolling Environmental Assessment did not experience increased air pollution attributable to congestion pricing. 

“Cleaner air means healthier communities, and New Yorkers deserve to know how major policies affect the air they breathe,” said NYC Health Department Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin. “This report gives us the clearest picture to date of how air quality has changed during the first year of congestion pricing, and we now know that air quality across New York City was not any different because of congestion pricing. By continuing to monitor neighborhood air quality over time, we’re helping to ensure that decisions affecting our city are informed by strong health data.”

The department also notes that the report found that the reduced congestion, improvements in transit systems and investments through the mitigation program—which directs funds toward initiatives in environmental justice communities—demonstrates the benefit of the program.

“With congestion pricing, we’ve seen fewer vehicles entering Manhattan’s central business district and more people choosing to bike, walk and take mass transit,” said New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn. “Health’s findings, combined with the program’s investment of over $120 million into the city’s air quality and public health initiatives like NYC [Department of Transportation]’s (NYCDOT) Clean Trucks Program, mean that congestion pricing will help communities across the city breathe cleaner.”

To conduct the evaluation, the Health Department says that it expanded its existing New York City Community Air Survey (NYCCAS) monitoring network in partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the NYCDOT and the New York State Department of Transportation.

The analysis examined concentrations of four traffic-related air pollutants, fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide and black carbon, within the Congestion Relief Zone and in environmental justice communities where concerns had been raised about potential traffic changes—areas that include the Major Deegan Expressway, Cross Bronx Expressway, Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Staten Island Expressway, FDR Drive and Trans-Manhattan Expressway. 

Using data starting one full year before tolling began and continuing one year after, researchers were able to distinguish the effects of congestion pricing from other factors that influence air quality, such as weather, seasonal changes and regional wildfire smoke, by using a control site that was not affected by congestion pricing and statistical modeling.

For nearly two decades, the Health Department has used NYCCAS to monitor neighborhood-level air quality to better understand what causes differences between neighborhoods, how pollution changes over time and how it affects health. NYCCAS has found that air quality improved dramatically in all NYC neighborhoods over the past decades, but more work is needed to mitigate traffic-related air pollution, which is linked to asthma, heart disease, stroke and other serious health conditions.

In May, the city announced a $20 million investment from the MTA to improve childhood asthma outcomes in the Bronx. The Health Department says this investment allows it to further support the Bronx Asthma Program and expand the Asthma Case Management Program.

“Before we turned the cameras on, there was concern about the potential for increased pollution caused by drivers looking to avoid the toll,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “As this study confirms, that didn’t happen, and congestion pricing is already funding additional investments to further improve air quality.”

Venezuela’s government made no mention of freeing jailed ex-president Nicolás Maduro during nearly two weeks of talks with the opposition this month, in the clearest sign yet that the regime has abandoned him to the US justice system.

Interim president Delcy Rodríguez in January called the US capture and exfiltration of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores a case of “vile aggression”. Her brother, leader of Venezuela’s parliament, said they “will not rest” until he is released from a Brooklyn jail cell, where he faces drug-trafficking charges.

But Rodríguez’s US-backed government surprised the opposition by not even raising those demands during the five negotiating sessions, which concluded last week, several people present told the FT.

“Maduro and Flores simply do not exist at the negotiating table,” said one opposition figure. “They have erased them from history.”

The US government has backed Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice-president, since its commandos snatched the autocratic leader in a brazen night-time raid on January 3. In return, she has opened up the country’s vast natural resources to overseas investors, giving US companies access to its oil reserves.

The first round of negotiations with the opposition was intended to agree on steps for a new presidential election but yielded few concrete results.

The two sides focused on how to fund the recovery from June’s devastating earthquakes, demanding the repatriation of some $4bn of gold bullion stored in Bank of England vaults. They also agreed to start working to reform the justice system.

After the talks concluded, the government said it had released 131 political prisoners, though rights group Foro Penal said they could only verify that at least 78 had been freed.

But such a fate did not seem to be on the cards for Maduro, whom life-long revolutionary socialist Rodríguez once called Venezuela’s “one and only” president, analysts said.

As far as the government is concerned, “his fate is already sealed”, said Edward Rodríguez, a Venezuelan analyst and consultant. “They’ll let the case run its course while they focus on their only priority: survival.”

Rodríguez was initially forthright in demanding Maduro’s release straight after his capture as she consolidated the support of hardliners in the security services. But she has since replaced top military leaders with her own supporters, while powerful security chief Diosdado Cabello has also abruptly drawn closer to Washington.

Signs and billboards calling for the pair’s release were erected in cities across Venezuela in January; many have since been taken down. Pro-Maduro murals painted before his arrest have been scrubbed over. Just a handful of oversized portraits of the deposed first couple remain in Caracas.

Rodríguez, whose succinct public speeches mark a break with Maduro’s folksy and fiery diatribes, seldom mentions her old boss during public appearances — including in her speech after the talks ended.

But Maduro, the handpicked heir to the revolutionary socialist project of the late president Hugo Chávez, continues to inspire support from hardcore Chavistas, as supporters of the movement are known.

“I disagree with these talks, because Trump cannot be allowed to keep imposing things on us while the agreement does not even mention the president who was kidnapped,” said Ricardo García, a grassroots Chavista who, like many loyalists, believes Maduro was betrayed by members of his inner circle and handed over to US forces.

The negotiations have also been controversial among the opposition, including for sidelining its most popular leader, Nobel laureate María Corina Machado.

The Venezuelan government did not respond to a request for comment.

Capacity will rise by a record 45GW this year, according to S&P Global Energy

Donald Trump is presiding over an unexpected clean energy boom, as rising electricity demand spurs investment in new capacity despite the US administration’s efforts to thwart a solar and wind rollout.

Clean energy additions will rise by a record 45 gigawatts this year, according to S&P Global Energy — equivalent to the average electricity demand of Turkey. The increase is roughly 25 per cent higher than the previous record set in 2024.

The US president’s war in Iran, which has driven up global energy prices, along with surging power demand from AI data centres and developers’ rush to capitalise on expiring tax credits, are driving the cleantech boom, said analysts. Trump’s administration has also been pragmatic in the face of its energy needs.

“There was a campaign promise to go against renewables, but at the same time they’re realising that you can’t do without it,” said Izzet Bensusan, chief executive of Captona, an energy infrastructure investment group. “I don’t see a world where power demand is flattening out.”

S&P said new solar and wind capacity will jump in 2026 by nearly a third and almost 50 per cent respectively. Solar will set another record in 2027, while wind falls back before recovering.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers, however, touted “record-high oil and gas production” under Trump.

“The president has delivered on his promise to unleash American energy,” Rogers said. “At the same time, the administration has ended subsidies for costly and unreliable energy sources that American taxpayers were unfairly forced to fund.”

The solar and wind additions come despite Trump’s early efforts to kill an energy transition pushed by his predecessor Joe Biden.

The Trump administration broke up Esmeralda 7 in Nevada. It would have been the largest single solar project in the US.

The president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act also slashed tax credits for solar and wind, and his administration has interfered with routine project approvals, including for more than 150 onshore wind projects. But under the terms of the OBBBA, solar and wind developers had until July 4 to begin work on projects and until 2030 to finish them.

The deadline “prompted developers to hurry and begin construction”, said S&P Global renewables analyst John Murray.

Expectations for sharply higher electricity demand are also driving the pace of the rollout.

US power consumption is expected to grow 39 per cent by 2035, according to consultancy ICF, driven by energy-hungry data centres and the electrification of household appliances and transport. The surge comes after demand remained steady for more than a decade.

Solar and wind are among the quickest, cheapest forms of energy to add to the grid. According to RMI, a think-tank, new solar and wind sites have a lead time of less than two years, compared to at least three years to develop gas projects.

Producers can break even by selling solar and wind power for as little as $38 and $37 per megawatt hour respectively, compared to at least $48 per megawatt hour for gas, according to investment bank Lazard. However, these figures do not fully account for system upgrade costs and batteries to smooth out intermittency.

Renewable power developers also stand to profit, as electricity prices are expected to rise 40 to 120 per cent once Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act subsidies expire.

“Candidly, it’s a good time to be a developer,” said Ethan Zindler, head of country and policy research at BloombergNEF. “Data centres need power and they need it basically yesterday.”

Extreme weather and Trump’s Iran war have also contributed to the growth.

Consumer investment in residential solar panels, batteries and zero-emission vehicles led clean energy spending in the second quarter of 2026, increasing 45 per cent from the previous quarter and 21 per cent from the same period in 2025, according to researcher Rhodium Group.

“People in Florida are installing a lot of home batteries to ensure their house still has power in a hurricane,” said Hannah Hess, a director with Rhodium’s energy and climate practice. “And with the Iran war driving higher fuel prices, we’re seeing more EV and hybrid [vehicle] purchasing.”

US courts have slowed Trump’s war on green energy. A district court judge in Oregon recently ordered the Pentagon to cease blocking onshore wind development. The courts have blocked all five of the administration’s attempts to halt construction at wind projects off the US’s east coast.

Developers are having some success lobbying the administration directly, leaning on people with ties to the administration to advocate for individual projects, people familiar told the FT. Among the arguments is that the projects will not displace fossil fuels — Trump’s preferred source of energy.

“What we found on the permit side is that the administration is pretty pragmatic,” said Cliff Graham, chief executive at clean energy company Avantus. “There’s a lot of land between Reno, Tucson and Barstow, where there’s no better use than solar-plus-storage.”

U.S. President Donald Trump's trade czar stood with Canada-U.S. Minister Dominic LeBlanc in Washington on Wednesday and touted a draft deal which appears to have averted a new round of punishing tariffs on Canada.

United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said he feels confident that the agreement will protect American workers and jobs while strengthening the North American market, making the continent a manufacturing and energy powerhouse.

"We certainly, I think, have eliminated some of the irritants that we've had over the past year," he said, "We also are taking a strong foot forward."

Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement that the new deal reinforces and builds on Canada's existing trade advantages with the U.S. He was set to brief his cabinet and Canada's premiers Wednesday afternoon.

LeBlanc and Greer had their latest meeting the morning after Trump announced a three-day pause on 50 per cent tariffs that were set to slam an array of Canadian goods just after midnight Wednesday.

LeBlanc did not provide many details about the specifics of the draft agreement he had hammered out with Greer during weeks of heightened negotiations. He did say Canada's dairy supply managed system would remain intact.

LeBlanc's spokesperson said Wednesday he was returning to Ottawa to meet with Carney and hold other meetings to put finishing touches on Canada's side of the trade negotiations.

Greer said he also will brief Congress and American stakeholders on what the two sides have been talking about.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump called the deal "very fair" and made claims about what was in the agreement, including that tariffs on U.S. farmers would be "totally eviscerated -- down to zero."

When asked whether the U.S would lower tariffs on Canadian automobiles, Trump said "we're doing certain things," adding Canada was paying high tariffs on certain industries.

"We've got to give something," Trump told reporters outside the White House.

The postponed round of tariffs would have hit $28 billion of Canadian goods, ranging from hockey sticks and ice skates to honey and some dairy products.

Unlike many of the previous tariffs Trump has imposed on Canada since his return to office in January 2025, the latest duties would not exempt any goods covered under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA.

The Trump administration said the duties were in response to Canada's dairy supply management system, as well as tariff-free auto quotas and provincial bans on American alcohol enacted in response to the president's earlier tariffs.

A proclamation on the delay from The White House said Canada agreed to work toward resolving these trade irritants.

The new tariff deadline if the documents aren't finalized is 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday.

Members of the prime minister's advisory council on Canada-U.S. relations, who were briefed about the deal Tuesday night, welcomed the tariff pause but said uncertainty continues to harm Canadian businesses.

Dan Darby, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association CEO, said the manufacturing sector still needs to see movement on the steel and aluminum tariffs.

Lana Payne, Unifor national president and fellow Canada-U.S. council member, said the "devil is going to be in the details" of the agreement.

"Hopefully everything is much better, but as I said, we will have to see what the details are," Payne said.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said his party was relieved to hear there was a "new and excellent deal" in the works but repeated his claim that any agreement must include zero tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and lumber as well as an exemption to the "Buy America" policies.

"We hope that over the next couple of days we'll hear the good news that Mr. Carney will have kept his promise and Canadians will get (an) even better deal than we had before," he said at a press conference in Charlottetown.

The deal could come together by Trump's latest deadline, said William Pellerin, a partner in international trade at McMillan LLP in Ottawa.

Unlike CUSMA negotiations, Pellerin said this would amount to adjustments to tariffs on the margins -- those rates and retaliatory measures can be adjusted with letters, executive orders in the U.S. or an order-in-council on the Canadian side.

But Pellerin also cautioned that there's very little Canada can do at this stage to hold the United States to its word. He noted Trump has gone back on tariff deals struck with other countries.

"We have to understand that any deal that we strike could get overturned and that we're buying temporary relief," Pellerin said.