内容摘要：The world is currently reliant on fossil fuels for much of its electricity, heating and transportation, as well as agriculture and industry. It’s hoped that cleaner alternatives — such as solar and wind energy — will replace much of that demand. As costs of renewables plummet, more and more energy is being produced in sustainable ways, although the total amount of energy produced globally has also gone up.

The world is currently reliant on fossil fuels for much of its electricity, heating and transportation, as well as agriculture and industry. It’s hoped that cleaner alternatives — such as solar and wind energy — will replace much of that demand. As costs of renewables plummet, more and more energy is being produced in sustainable ways, although the total amount of energy produced globally has also gone up.

“We don’t believe they had the proper oversight,” she said.Miranda Margowsky, a spokesperson for the Financial Technology Association, an industry group that counts many financial technology companies as members, said her organization anticipates and hopes several CFPB rules, including those governing “buy now, pay later” plans and other fintech products, will be reversed “with the stroke of a pen.”

She characterized the rules as “overly broad, overreaching, and harmful.”Supporters of the CFPB protested outside the bureau’s shuttered Washington headquarters this week. NAACP President Derrick Johnson and others have demanded the office’s reopening.“The CFPB has provided crucial protections against big banks and lenders,” Johnson said in a statement. “Without this critical oversight, consumers — especially Black and Brown communities — will be vulnerable to fraud, predatory lending, and discriminatory financial practices.”

Kitty Richards, senior strategic advisor at the advocacy group Groundwork Collaborative, said consumers today are more vulnerable to data privacy violations, junk fees, and financial scams. Without the CFPB, corporations are “freer to prey on the American people without fearing they might have to give back the money,” she said.The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

If you haven’t filed your 2021 tax returns you might be missing out on a COVID stimulus payment. Taxpayers who haven’t filed 2021 tax returns who may be eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit must file it by April 15, 2025 to claim the credit.

Earlier this year, the IRS announced that it’s distributing about $2.4 billion to taxpayers who didn’t receive their COVID stimulus payments. The agency said it’s distributing these payments to taxpayers who failed to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns. The Recovery Rebate Credit is a refundable credit for individuals who did not receive one or more Economic Impact Payments (EIP), also known as stimulus payments.In this photo released by the Saudi Royal Palace, Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, left, shakes hands with President Donald Trump, centre, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. At right is Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.(Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP)

Israel, which still views Syria as a security threat and had urged Trump to keep the sanctions in place, was ignored, as it apparently was on a number of recent U.S. initiatives in the region, from the. Asked Friday if he knew Israel opposes U.S. recognition of Syria’s new government, Trump replied: “I don’t know, I didn’t ask them about that.”

“This week there was a party in the Middle East — a grand ball full of colorful costumes, money and gold changing hands — and we found ourselves playing the role of Cinderella before the transformation,” columnist Sima Kadmon wrote in Israel’s Yediot Ahronot daily.“The fairy godmother we thought we had flew off to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.”