Meta chief co-hosting GOP reception
WASHINGTON -- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is co-hosting a reception with billionaire Republican donors next week for President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
The reception co-hosted by Zuckerberg is set for Monday evening, shortly before the inaugural balls, according to two people familiar with the private plans who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss them.
The other cohosts are Miriam Adelson, the Dallas Mavericks owner and widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson; Tilman Fertitta, casino magnate, Houston Rockets owner and Trump's pick to serve as U.S. ambassador to Italy; Todd Ricketts, the co-owner of the Chicago Cubs; and Ricketts' wife, Sylvie Légère.
Zuckerberg once banned Trump from Facebook and Instagram after Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. But weeks after Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Zuckerberg flew to Florida and dined with the Republican at his Mar-a-Lago club.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, also donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund. Meta declined to comment Tuesday.
Oscar nods delayed by California fires
The Oscar nominations are being pushed back nearly a week from their original date amid the ongoing California wildfires. Nominations will now be announced Jan. 23, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Monday.
"We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community," Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a joint statement. "The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship."
With fires still active in the Los Angeles area, the film academy also extended the nominations voting period for its members through Friday. Originally, nominations were to be announced that morning.
The organization that puts on the Oscars has also made the decision to cancel its annual nominees luncheon. The Scientific and Technical Awards, previously set for Feb. 18, will be rescheduled later.
Also Monday, the Writers Guild of America postponed the announcement of their nominees "until further notice." Originally scheduled for Jan. 9, the nominations ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 15.
The 97th Oscars will still happen beginning at 6 p.m. March 2.
Blue Origin looks to retry rocket launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Blue Origin will try again to launch its large new rocket as early as Thursday after calling off the debut launch because of ice buildup in critical plumbing.
The 320-foot New Glenn rocket was supposed to blast off before dawn Monday with a prototype satellite. But ice formed in a purge line for a unit powering some of the rocket's hydraulic systems and launch controllers ran out of time to clear it, according to the company.
Founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin further delayed the launch because of Tuesday's poor weather forecast for Cape Canaveral and a moonshot planned Wednesday by SpaceX. The test flight already had been postponed by rough seas that posed a risk to Blue Origin's plan to land the first-stage booster on a floating platform in the Atlantic.
New Glenn is named after the first American to orbit Earth, John Glenn. It is five times taller than Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket that carries paying customers to the edge of space from Texas.
No matter what happens, Bezos said this weekend, "We're going to pick ourselves up and keep going."
Trump talks international tax collection
WASHINGTON -- President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday plans to create a new agency called the External Revenue Service to collect tariffs and other revenue from foreign nations.
"We will begin charging those that make money off of us with Trade, and they will start paying," Trump said Tuesday on Truth Social.
The Republican compared his planned creation to the Internal Revenue Service, which is the nation's domestic tax collector. The creation of a new agency requires an act of Congress, and Republicans hold the majority of both the House and the Senate.
Democratic lawmakers were quick to criticize the External Revenue Service plan.
"No amount of silly rebranding will hide the fact that Trump is planning a multi-trillion-dollar tax hike on American families and small businesses to pay for another round of tax handouts to the rich," Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement.
Tariffs, with the threat of a potential 25% levy on all goods from allies like Canada and Mexico and 60% on goods from China, have become a benchmark of Trump's economic agenda as he heads into his second term.
Economists have said the cost of the tariffs will be passed on to consumers, and are generally skeptical of them, considering them a mostly inefficient way for governments to raise money and promote prosperity.
-- COMPILED BY DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS