Le Journal

What’s open and closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
By The Associated Press Government offices, the stock market and many schools are closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but most businesses are open. National Parks are still open on MLK Day although they are no longer free this year after President Donald Trump made a change in the two days that will be free this year. When in doubt, call ahead or look up more specific schedules online for stores in your neighborhood. Here’s a rundown of what’s open and closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2026: Government offices MLK Day is an official holiday honoring the civil rights leader’s birthday and legacy, so federal and state government offices are closed. Courts and most schools are also closed. Banks and the stock market U.S. stock markets and banks are closed Monday but will reopen on Tuesday. National and state parks Last month, the National Park Service announced it will no longer offer free admission to parks on King Day and Juneteenth, but instead on Flag Day and Trump’s birthday. But California Gov. Gavin Newsom defied Trump and ordered more than 200 state parks to offer free admission on Monday. Retailers Most stores and other businesses are open.

Diplomacy or retaliation? The EU mulls its options as tensions with U.S. rise over Greenland
By SAM McNEIL, Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Threats from the White House over Greenland have sparked outrage and a flurry of diplomatic activity across Europe, as leaders consider possible countermeasures, including retaliatory tariffs and the first-ever use of the European Union’s anti-coercion instrument. Related Articles Trump’s Board of Peace has several invited leaders trying to figure out how it’ll work Trump ties his stance on Greenland to not getting Nobel Peace Prize, European officials say One year of Trump. The cost is already too much to measure. Bruce Springsteen dedicates song to Renee Good and says ICE should ‘get the f— out of Minneapolis’ $1 billion in cash buys a permanent seat on Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would charge a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations because of their opposition to American control of Greenland. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would face the tariff, Trump said in a social media post while at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The rate would climb to 25% on June 1 if no deal was in place for “the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland” by the United States, he said. European leaders from Dublin to Helsinki quickly condemned the announcement as economic coercion and sent representatives to Brussels on Sunday for an emergency meeting. If diplomacy fails, they have signaled a new willingness to wield the economic might of the 27-nation European Union. “Our priority is to engage, not escalate. Sometimes the most responsible form of leadership is restraint,” said European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill on Monday. “The EU has tools at its disposal and is prepared to respond should the threatened tariffs be imposed.” What next for the EU? Trump, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and other world leaders will are now traveling to Davos for the annual World Economic Forum. No meetings are yet scheduled between European leaders and Trump. After Davos, the 27 EU leaders will convene in Brussels on Thursday evening for an emergency meeting on transatlantic relations. Costa has said EU leaders agree “that tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and are incompatible with the EU-U.S. trade agreement.” The leaders expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion.” What are options on the table? Europe has a lot of tools at its disposal but a fraught path ahead, said Penny Naas, senior vice president of the German Marshall Fund, a Washington-based think tank. “It’s tough for the Europeans to find that space where they can both demonstrate strength without incurring significant retaliation. And as long as they’re unwilling to accept retaliation, they’re going to have trouble projecting strength,” she said. The EU has three major economic tools it could use to pressure Washington: new tariffs, suspension of the U.S.-EU trade deal, and a “trade bazooka,” the unofficial term for the bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument that could sanction individuals or institutions found to be putting undue pressure on the EU. The EU and the U.S. agreed in June on a framework for a trade deal. It was due to be ratified by the European Parliament this week, but on Saturday, the leader of the largest group in the Parliament, center-right German lawmaker Manfred Weber, said approval was “not possible at this stage.” The EU could also levy tariffs on U.S. goods worth 93 billion euros ($108 billion) that it suspended after the July deal. However, commission spokesperson Gill said that unless that suspension is extended, those levies would take effect on Feb. 7 if the U.S. follows through on its tariff threat. Europe’s biggest exports to the U.S. are pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments, and wine and spirits. The value of EU-U.S. trade in goods and services amounted to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) in…

The current US political climate is spurring a ‘reclaim’ and rallying on the MLK holiday
By TERRY TANG, Associated Press As communities across the country on Monday host parades, panels and service projects for the 40th federal observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the political climate for some is more fraught with tensions than festive with reflection on the slain Black American civil rights icon’s legacy. In the year since Donald Trump’s second inauguration fell on King Day, the Republican president has gone scorched earth against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and targeted mostly Black-led cities for federal law enforcement operations, among other policies that many King admirers have criticized. One year ago, Trump’s executive orders, “Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” and “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” accelerated a rollback of civil rights and racial justice initiatives in federal agencies, corporations and universities. Last month, the National Park Service announced it will no longer offer free admission to parks on King Day and Juneteenth, but instead on Flag Day and Trump’s birthday. The fatal shooting this month of an unarmed Minneapolis woman in her car by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sent there to target the city’s Somali immigrant population, as well as Trump recently decrying civil rights as discrimination against white people, have only intensified fears of a regression from the social progress King and many others advocated for. Still, the concerns have not chilled many King holiday events planned this year. Some conservative admirers of King say the holiday should be a reminder of the civil rights icon’s plea that all people be judged by their character and not their skin color. Some Black advocacy groups, however, are vowing a day of resistance and rallies nationwide. FILE – The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial during the 9th Annual Wreath Laying and Day of Reflection and Reconciliation, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) ‘We’ve always strived to be a more perfect union’ In a recent interview with the New York Times, Trump said he felt the Civil Rights Movement and the reforms it helped usher in were harmful to white people, who “were very badly treated.” Politicians and advocates say Trump’s comments are what are harmful, because they dismiss the hard work of King and others that helped not just Black Americans but other groups, including women and the LGBTQ+ community. “I think the Civil Rights Movement was one of the things that made our country so unique, that we haven’t always been perfect, but we’ve always strived to be this more perfect union, and that’s what I think the Civil Rights Movement represents,” Gov. Wes Moore, Maryland’s first Black governor and only the nation’s third elected Black governor, said this week in an interview with The Associated Press. Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, one of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights coalitions, said the Trump administration’s priorities make clear it is actively trying to erase the movement. “From health care access and affordable housing to good paying jobs and union representation,” Wiley said, “things Dr. King made part of his clarion call for a beloved community are still at stake and is even more so because (the administration) has dismantled the very terms of government and the norms of our culture.” The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The conservative Heritage Foundation think tank is encouraging the holiday’s focus to stay solely on King himself. Brenda Hafera, a foundation research fellow, urged people to visit the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta or reread his “I have a dream” speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington nearly 63 years ago. But using the holiday as a platform to rally and speak about “anti-racism” and “critical race theory” actually…

Oregon baby is still battling infant botulism after ByHeart formula exposure
By JONEL ALECCIA, Associated Press Health Writer A Portland, Oregon, boy is struggling to recover from infant botulism after drinking contaminated ByHeart baby formula donated through a program that aims to help poor and homeless families. Related Articles What’s open and closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day The current US political climate is spurring a ‘reclaim’ and rallying on the MLK holiday US futures sink after Trump warns of higher tariffs for 8 countries over Greenland issue DOJ vows to press charges after activists disrupt church where Minnesota ICE official is a pastor Today in History: January 19, Indira Gandhi becomes first prime minister of an independent India Ashaan Carter, now 10 months old, was hospitalized twice and remains on a feeding tube after contracting the dangerous infection that has sickened more than 50 babies across the U.S. His mother, Angel Carter, said she received a can of ByHeart formula from a case worker with the Oregon Department of Human Services in early November, days before a nationwide recall of the product. Carter, who receives state food and housing assistance, said she had been exclusively breastfeeding her son, but her milk supply was waning. The case worker told the 27-year-old that the ByHeart formula “was closest to breast milk” and could help, she said. “I accepted it thinking, ‘OK, I’m hoping my baby can get on a bottle,’” Carter said. “It’s been all downhill since then.” State officials wouldn’t comment on Carter’s case, but they acknowledged that the agency received ByHeart formula from PDX Diaper Bank. That was one of nearly two dozen nonprofit groups nationwide who are part of ByHeart’s “OpenHearted Initiative” that donated formula to “families in need,” according to the company’s website. Since June 2022, nearly 24,000 cans of formula have been distributed to groups that aid homeless and other vulnerable families, the company said. All the company’s products have been recalled since production began in March 2022 because of potential contamination. Soon after consuming the ByHeart formula, Ashaan developed severe constipation and muscle weakness, becoming so limp that he couldn’t move his head, Carter said. After a trip to an emergency room, he was sent to Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland. Doctors there diagnosed him with presumed infant botulism tied to the ByHeart formula, according to Dr. Sylvia Peterson-Perry, a family medicine doctor who delivered Ashaan and cares for him and his mother. He was treated with BabyBIG, an IV medication that provides antibodies to the infection to stop the progress of the disease. Ashaan was hospitalized for nearly two weeks in November and discharged without a feeding tube. His health rapidly declined, including dramatic weight loss, and he was hospitalized again in December. He got so sick that his mother was afraid he would die. “He was just withering away,” Carter said. The Oregon caseworker texted Carter after the recall, she said, warning her to stop using the formula. But it was too late for Ashaan, who had to have the feeding tube down his throat replaced because his muscles remain weak, his doctor said. It’s not clear how long it will remain. He is having to relearn how to crawl and to talk. “It’s devastating, especially for our vulnerable families who are trusting this product to nourish their child and trusting our social services to provide safe food for their babies,” Peterson-Perry said. ByHeart had partnered with Baby2Baby, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that includes high-profile celebrities among its supporters. The news outlet Healthbeat was first to report that recalled formula went to groups serving at-risk families. PDX Diaper Bank received about 400 cans of donated ByHeart formula through Baby2Baby and distributed more than 300 of them before they were recalled, Rachel Alston, the group’s executive director, said in an email. “All of our partners confirmed that they took immediate action to inform families,…

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IMF upgrades outlook for surprisingly resilient world economy to 3.3% growth this year
By PAUL WISEMAN, Associated Press Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — An unexpectedly sturdy world economy is likely to shrug off President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies this year, thanks partly to a surge of investment in artificial intelligence in North America and Asia, the International Monetary Fund said in a report out Monday. Related Articles US futures sink after Trump warns of higher tariffs for 8 countries over Greenland issue Downtown St. Paul: The man with a plan for U.S. Bank Center, other empty buildings Business people: Laura Watterson to lead human relations at Andersen Corp. Real World Economics: How the Fed ends, with a whimper For Dungarvin’s Tim Madden, whose grandfather wrote the Winter Carnival legend, sponsoring the festival is full-circle The 191-nation lending organization expects that global growth will come in at 3.3% this year, same as in 2025 but up from from the 3.1% it had forecast for 2026 back in October. The world economy “continues to show notable resilience despite significant US-led trade disruptions and heightened uncertainty,” IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas and his colleague Tobias Adrian wrote in a blog post accompanying the latest update to the fund’s World Economic Outlook. The U.S. economy, benefiting from the strongest pace of technology investment since 2001, is forecast to expand 2.4% this year, an upgrade on the fund’s October forecast and on expected 2025 growth — both 2.1%. China — the world’s second-largest economy — is forecast to see 4.5% growth, an improvement on the 4.2% the IMF had predicted October, partly because a trade truce with the United States has reduced American tariffs on Chinese exports. India, which as supplanted China as the world’s fastest-growing major economy, is expected to see growth decelerate from 7.3% last year (when it was juiced by an unexpectedly strong second half) to a still-healthy 6.4% in 2026.

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