FAA grounds flights after Musk’s Starship rocket explodes
Another one of Elon Musk’s Starship rockets exploded in flight yesterday, creating a trail of flaming debris that forced numerous airliners to be diverted and ground stops and flights being delayed some U.S. airports, especially in Florida. This is the second consecutive inflight explosion of one of Musk’s Starships. After the first inflight explosion, the FAA ordered the rockets grounded pending the results of an investigation. Donald Trump then fired the administrator of the FAA and appointed a new administrator. The FAA then gave Musk approval to resume rocket launches.
Trump establishes bitcoin reserve
Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, which is described as a Fort Knox for cryptocurrency. It will initially be funded using the bitcoins the government now owns because they were forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings or collected as fines or penalties. Donald Trump and his wife Melania both have business interests in cryptocurrency. The Trump Administration has been dropping cases brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against alleged cryptocurrency fraudsters. Some of those who were charged will meet with Trump at the White House today for a cryptocurrency summit.
Donald Trump again backs down on tariffs
Donald Trump has again backed down on the imposition of trade tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He previously announced them, then delayed them for a month. Yesterday, after partially backing down and saying he would exempt automobiles from the tariffs, he delayed imposition of all of the new tariffs on Mexico and Canada for another month. Trump allowed the 20% tariffs on goods imported from China to remain in place. The U.S. stock markets showed heavy losses again yesterday as a result of worries over the economic effects of the tariffs.
Russia stages new attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure
Russia overnight staged new missile and drone attacks on the electric and gas infrastructure in Ukraine. Russia has been increasing attacks, especially on the electric grid, to deprive Ukrainian civilians of heat and electricity during the winter. Turkish Dictator Erdogan today expressed support for Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s proposals for both Russia and Ukraine to stop using missiles and drones to attack infrastructure and also to protect shipping in the Black Sea by stopping military activity there.
Employment rises less than anticipated in February
Employment rose 151,000 in February, a bit less than forecast, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.1%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment trended up in health care, financial activities, transportation and warehousing, and social assistance. Federal government employment declined as a result of the wholesale firings ordered by Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Both the unemployment rate, at 4.1%, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.1 million, changed little in February. The number of long-term unemployed, those jobless for 27 weeks or more, was 1.5 million in February.
Pope Francis had a restful night
Pope Francis had a restful night in a Rome hospital and woke up shortly after 8:00 a.m., the Vatican said this morning. The Vatican said he continued his prescribed therapy to treat the breathing problems brought on by pneumonia in both lungs and has been on mechanical ventilation at night and high-flow supplemental oxygen during the day. The Vatican said that the Pope’s situation appears stable without any episodes of respiratory insufficiency. The Pope recorded a message thanking people for their prayers.
