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The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is over as Israeli fighter jets began striking the Gaza Strip after Hamas refused repeated hostage deal offers, officials said. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began striking Hamas terrorist targets across Gaza ‘in order to achieve the war objectives set by the political leadership, including the release of all our hostages—both the living and the fallen,’ the office of Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a letter. 

‘This decision comes after Hamas repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all proposals presented by U.S. President’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, as well as the mediators,’ the letter states. 

Israel will intensify its military actions against Hamas moving forward, authorities said.

‘Under the direction of the political echelon, the IDF and Shin Bet are widely attacking terrorist targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip, more details below,’ the IDF and Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, said in a joint statement. 

Netanyahu’s office said Hamas ‘rejected all offers it received’ from the Trump administration’s special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff and the other mediators, the Times of Israel reported. 

‘Tonight, we returned to fighting in Gaza due to Hamas’ refusal to release the hostages and threats to harm IDF soldiers and Israeli communities,’ Katz said. ‘If Hamas does not release all the hostages, the gates of hell will open in Gaza, and Hamas’ murderers and rapists will meet the IDF with forces they have never known before.’

He noted that Israel ‘will not stop fighting until all the hostages return home and all the war’s goals are achieved.’

In a statement, Hamas blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘and the Nazi Zionist occupation fully responsible for the repercussions of the treacherous aggression on Gaza, and for the defenseless civilians and our besieged Palestinian people, who are subjected to a brutal war and a systematic policy of starvation.’

The terror group called for the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council to urgently convene to adopt a resolution demanding Israel halt military operations and fully withdraw from Gaza. 

Hamas has insisted on sticking with the original terms of the deal, with Israel fully withdrawing from Gaza and agreeing to permanently end the war in exchange for the release of the remaining living hostages. 

Netanyahu has long insisted that Israel will not end the war until Hamas’s governing and military capabilities have been destroyed.

The strikes come after nearly two months of a ceasefire to pause the 17-month-long war where dozens of hostages were released for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

On Monday, Israeli forces launched airstrikes in Gaza, southern Lebanon and southern Syria. The IDF said it was targeting terrorists plotting attacks. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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President Donald Trump said he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about the final points of a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said many ‘elements’ of the Final Agreement’ have been agreed to ‘but much remains.’

‘Thousands of young soldiers, and others, are being killed. Each week brings 2,500 soldier deaths, from both sides, and it must end NOW,’ Trump wrote. ‘I look very much forward to the call with President Putin.’

Some points of discussion could involed territorial concessions by Kyiv and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The Trump administration has been working on a deal to end the three-year war. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko reportedly said that the Kremlin wants an ‘ironclad’ guarantee that Ukraine will be prohibited from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that ‘we have never been closer to peace,’ as the U.S. waits for Russia’s answer on a 30-day ceasefire agreement. 

Ukraine accepted the deal earlier in the week after a meeting with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia, on the condition that Moscow commits to the plan.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for tougher sanctions on Russia and accused Putin of trying to drag out the peace talks to prolong the war.

‘It’s clear to everyone in the world—even to those who refused to acknowledge the truth for the past three years—that it is Putin who continues to drag out this war,’ the Ukrainian leader wrote Monday on X. ‘For a week now, Putin has been unable to squeeze out ‘yes’ to the ceasefire proposal. He’s saying whatever he wants, but not what the whole world wants to hear.’

He called for world leaders to pressure Moscow into ending the conflict.

‘The unconditional ceasefire proposal is essentially about saving lives, allowing diplomats to work on ensuring security and a lasting peace—the proposal that Russia is ignoring,’ he said. ‘Pressure is needed to finally make Moscow accept that their war must be brought to an end.’

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President Donald Trump has signed more than 80 executive orders since returning to the White House in January — prompting more than 100 lawsuits against his administration. 

While Democratic lawmakers have accused the Trump administration of launching a ‘constitutional crisis’ within the U.S. as a result of these orders, the White House has claimed that ‘low-level’ judges have issued unconstitutional injunctions barring Trump from implementing his agenda and that it will appeal adverse rulings. 

‘You cannot have a low-level district court judge filing an injunction to usurp the executive authority of the President of the United States,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday. ‘That is completely absurd. … It’s very clear that there are judicial activists throughout our judicial branch who are trying to block this president’s executive authority.’ 

Here are some of the judges, appointed under the Obama and Biden administrations, who’ve pushed back against Trump’s orders: 

James Boasberg

Boasberg has served as the chief judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia since March 2023, and was first appointed as a judge to the District Court in March 2011 under the Obama administration. 

Boasberg issued several key rulings on various cases during Trump’s first administration. For example, he blocked Arkansas, Kentucky and New Hampshire from implementing work requirement waivers for Medicaid recipients, after the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services unveiled a policy permitting states to enforce the waivers for Medicaid recipients. 

Ultimately, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a ruling in February 2020 upholding Boasberg’s previous decision in the Kentucky and Arkansas case. In the ruling, the appeals court said that former Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar ‘failed to analyze whether the demonstrations would promote the primary objective of Medicaid — to furnish medical assistance.’

The Supreme Court then dismissed all pending cases related to the Medicaid work requirements in April 2022. 

On Saturday, Boasberg issued an order halting the Trump administration from deporting migrants under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which permits deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing. 

However, the flight continued to drop off the migrants in El Salvador, and Leavitt said Sunday the order had ‘no lawful basis’ since Boasberg issued it after the flight’s departure from U.S. airspace. 

Boasberg graduated from Yale College in 1985 and Yale Law School in 1990. He also served a seven-year term from 2014 to 2021 on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which handles surveillance requests for foreign intelligence gathering. 

Leo Sorokin

Sorokin, an Obama appointee, joined the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in 2014, after previously serving as magistrate judge on the same court. 

Sorokin spearheaded a delayed-sentencing program in Massachusetts known as the Repair, Invest, Succeed, Emerge, or RISE, program. The program offers some criminal offenders a yearlong delay in sentencing for some criminal offenders who qualify for pretrial release as they undergo an intensive supervision program.

‘I’m thrilled with how the restorative justice part of RISE has gone, so we’re expanding,’ Sorokin said at an event at Columbia Law School in 2020. ‘I think it’s lawful. I think it’s correct. I think it’s what we ought to be doing.’

Sorokin said his motivation to launch the RISE program stemmed from a conversation he had with a man convicted of bank robbery who explained he wanted to apologize to the bank teller and to his sisters for committing the crime. 

Sorokin blocked the Trump administration from implementing an executive order to ban birthright citizenship in February — joining other judges from Maryland and Washington state in issuing nationwide injunctions against the ban. The Trump administration requested the Supreme Court step in Friday and allow it to execute the order, and the Supreme Court requested responses from challengers by April 4. 

Sorokin attended Columbia Law School and has worked as a professor for Boston University School of Law. 

Amir Ali

Ali, a Biden appointee, is one of the newest judges to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, joining the court in December 2024. Ali also helped launch the MacArthur Justice Center’s Washington, D.C., branch in 2017, a nonprofit law firm that specializes in criminal justice reform and civil rights issues. 

Ali, who eventually led the firm as the executive director, argued and won two cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of the MacArthur Justice Center. 

Ali’s ties to the firm came under scrutiny during his confirmation hearing in February 2024 before the Senate, where lawmakers asked him about remarks his MacArthur Justice Center colleague, Cliff Johnson, made in 2020 asserting that defunding the police paves the way for a ‘movement toward making police departments obsolete.’

 

However, Ali told lawmakers that he didn’t espouse those views, nor did the MacArthur Justice Center. 

‘Let me be very clear about this,’ Ali said. ‘I have never advocated for taking away police funding. I would not take that position, and the MacArthur Justice Center has not taken that position.’

On March 11, Ali issued a ruling that determined the Trump administration likely exceeded its constitutional authority when it sought to halt payments the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) owed to contractors amounting to $2 billion in funding Congress had approved.

Ali has also taught classes on civil, criminal and appellate litigation at schools, including Harvard Law School and the Georgetown University Law Center. 

Beryl Howell

Howell, an Obama appointee, joined the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in 2010. She previously served as staff and as general counsel of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 1993 to 2003. 

Howell ruled against the Trump administration March 6, and wrote in her ruling that Trump did not have the authority to fire members of the National Labor Relations Board at will. The Trump administration dismissed National Labor Relations Board chair Gwynne Wilcox in January, prompting Wilcox to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration for violating the National Labor Relations Act, which states negligence and misconduct are the only causes to fire a member of the board. 

‘A president who touts an image of himself as a ‘king’ or a ‘dictator,’ perhaps as his vision of effective leadership, fundamentally misapprehends the role under Article II of the U.S. Constitution,’ Howell wrote in the ruling — a reference to a White House social media post in February depicting Trump wearing a crown with the caption ‘Long Live the King.’ 

Howell also ordered that Wilcox be reinstated to her position. 

Howell attended Columbia University School of Law, and served as the deputy chief of the narcotics section and an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York from 1987 until 1993. 

Her work at the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York earned her the Attorney General’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance and other commendations for her work focusing on international narcotics, money laundering and public corruption cases.

She’s also worked as a professor of legal ethics at American University’s Washington College of Law. 

Ana Reyes 

Reyes, a Biden appointee, joined the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in February 2023 following a career as a litigation attorney with Williams & Connolly LLP focusing on international litigation, representing foreign governments, foreign government officials and multinational companies. 

Previous pro bono work also includes representing refugees for groups like the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Human Rights First. She also received the Hispanic National Bar Foundation’s ‘Judicial Leadership Award’ in 2023. 

Reyes is overseeing a case that LGBTQ legal rights advocacy group GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed in February against the Trump administration for its executive order barring transgender individuals from serving in the military. 

The groups are seeking a preliminary injunction pausing the ban while litigation is pending, and Reyes is expected to issue a final decision on the preliminary injunction by March 25.

Reyes attended Harvard Law School, and has co-taught classes at Yale Law School and Georgetown University Law Center on trial practice and advocacy in international arbitration. 

Loren AliKhan

AliKhan, a Biden appointee, joined the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in December 2023, after previously serving as an associate judge for the D.C. Court of Appeals. 

AliKhan ruled against the Trump administration in February, indefinitely blocking the Trump administration from freezing federal grants and loans. The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit a group of nonprofit organizations filed in January after the Trump administration’s Office of Management announced a pause in loans and grants. Although the administration rescinded the memo, the White House clarified that the order still remained to freeze funds. 

‘In the simplest terms, the freeze was ill-conceived from the beginning,’ AliKhan wrote in a ruling in February. ‘Defendants either wanted to pause up to $3 trillion in federal spending practically overnight, or they expected each federal agency to review every single one of its grants, loans, and funds for compliance in less than twenty-four hours. The breadth of that command is almost unfathomable. Either way, defendants’ actions were irrational, imprudent and precipitated a nationwide crisis.’

AliKhan attended Georgetown University Law Center, and supported O’Melveny & Myers, LLP’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Clinic at Harvard Law School, as well as the legal writing program at Yale Law School.

She received the National Association of Attorneys General’s ‘Senior Staff of the Year’ award in 2020. 

Fox News Breanne Deppisch, Jake Gibson, Andrea Margolis, Lucas Y. Tomlinson and Bill Melugin contributed to this report. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Nestled in a modest storefront in New York City’s East Village, Mary O’s Irish Soda Bread Shop blends into the other red-brick businesses on the block. But one thing sets it apart: Customers routinely line up, sometimes for hours, to get their hands on her freshly baked goods before they sell out.

The shop’s menu is simple, featuring Irish soda bread loaves and scones served with salty butter and fresh raspberry jam. The recipes, passed down through generations of Mary O’Halloran’s family, are at the core of her operations. But the secret to her success is precision. Only O’Halloran herself handles the batter, a non-negotiable standard she insists maintains the quality of her baked goods.

“I’ve had people come and say, ‘Why don’t you have somebody come in and help you?’ It’s not going to work,” she said. “The scone does not come out the same.”

Mary O’Halloran mixes her next batch of soda bread batter for customers waiting in the store.NBC News
Mary O’s storefront in the East Village of New York.NBC News

O’Halloran said the demand for her soda bread scones surges every March for St. Patrick’s Day, but her journey to success hasn’t been easy. Five years ago, O’Halloran was facing the closure of her East Village pub due to the financial strain of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her husband, a longshoreman working in Alaska, was unable to return home due to travel restrictions, leaving her to manage the business alone.

Mary O’Halloran’s Irish soda bread loaf.NBC News
Mary O’Halloran’s Irish soda bread scone served with Irish butter and fresh raspberry jam.NBC News

It was her loyal pub customers who encouraged her to start selling her scones, a treat they had grown to love. What began as a small-scale venture soon caught the attention of Brandon Stanton, the creator of the viral “Humans of New York” social media account with more than 12 million followers.

After interviewing O’Halloran, Stanton offered to help spread the word about her scones. Reluctant at first, O’Halloran eventually agreed, leading to a spike in sales.

“So I wrote a story on this, and we ended up that night selling a million dollars’ worth of scones,” Stanton told NBC News. “It is one of the greatest stories in the world.”

Customers line up inside Mary O’Halloran’s shop for scones and loaves of Irish soda bread.NBC News

The overwhelming response turned O’Halloran’s small baking operation into a community effort. Regular customers and neighbors pitched in by packing orders, printing labels and decorating boxes with handwritten notes and custom drawings from one of her daughters. Despite the surge in demand, O’Halloran remained committed to quality, handling every batch of batter herself.

“Mary is where she is because that scone tastes so dang good,” Stanton said. “She would have got there without me.”

It took more than a year to fulfill the backlog of orders, but the hard work paid off. The revenue not only saved her pub, but allowed her to open Mary O’s Irish Soda Bread Shop in November 2024. Customers from around the world flock to her store to sample the viral scones and meet the woman behind the treats.

“I live in Los Angeles, but they told me, you know, next time you’re in town, there’s a place we have to go, and it’s the best scone you’ve ever had. It’s the best soda bread,” out-of-towner David Murphy said.

For O’Halloran, the hard work has been worth it.

“I love it, so it’s easy,” she said. “Of course I’m tired, but I love what I get from it with people. So it’s easy.”

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

Over a double cheeseburger and fries, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News host Sean Hannity earlier this month of his plans to improve the country’s health by incentivizing companies to step away from processed foods.

From across the red high-top table of a Florida Steak ’n Shake, the health and human services secretary went on to praise the Indianapolis-based fast-food chain as a shining example of change since it began cooking its shoestring fries in beef tallow instead of one of the many seed oils that have become targets of Kennedy’s health agenda.

“Steak ’n Shake has been great,” Kennedy said. “We’re very grateful to them for RFK’ing the french fries.”

The nationally televised praise marked the latest conservative endorsement for Steak ’n Shake, a 91-year-old company with 450 locations nationwide that has become one of the most high-profile businesses to support Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda — a move that has been boosted by Republican politicians and MAGA influencers including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Charlie Kirk, Laura Loomer, Kari Lake, Tony Shaffer and Benny Johnson.

“I just had a cheeseburger and fries cooked in beef tallow today for lunch! Delicious!!” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wrote on X.

At a time when many companies might be looking to avoid politics, Steak ’n Shake is opting to publicly align itself with Kennedy and other high-profile conservatives. On social media, the brand has transformed its feed from the usual steam of burgers and shakes into a near nonstop stream of Trump-adjacent iconography: Elon Musk, Teslas, Fox News clips and even a red hat emblazoned with the words “Make Frying Oil Tallow Again,” a version of which is available for purchase on Kennedy’s MAHA merchandise website.

The company has not publicly embraced Trump or any of his policies but has been full-throated in its embrace of Kennedy.

“We support MAHA,” Steak ’n Shake Chief Operations Officer Dan Edwards told NBC News last week. “Restaurant chains like ours would like to meet customer demand for better quality.”

Edwards said support for the company is “across the political spectrum” and that “there is nothing political about great-tasting fries.” He did not answer specifically whether the company had any fears about alienating customers who do not support Kennedy’s MAHA agenda or Trump.

“We are grateful to Secretary Kennedy for his leadership and for raising awareness about beef tallow,” he added.

It’s a bold move for a company that has weathered a rocky financial situation that forced the reported closure of 200 locations since 2018. While there is a wide array of relatively new and small brands that have sought to capitalize on the strength and passion of the MAGA movement, few, if any, established companies have shifted their public identity so quickly.

Politics aside, Steak ’n Shake’s choice to focus on seed oils comes with its own controversy.

The MAHA agenda, helmed by Kennedy, features several health-focused concerns of questionable veracity, including skepticism of the food and drug industry, fluoride in water and vaccines. Seed oils have also long been a target of unfounded theories about negative health impacts, some of which Kenney has touted, calling them “one of the most unhealthy ingredients we have in foods.”

Health experts have sought to counter those claims, noting that replacing seed oils with saturated fats offers little to no dietary benefit and can end up doing harm.

Maya Vadiveloo, an associate professor at the University of Rhode Island who specializes in nutrition, said it is “well established that saturated fats are linked to an increased risk of heart disease, while vegetable oils, including oils from seeds, protect heart health.”

Edwards said that while the burger brand supports Kennedy’s MAHA movement, Steak ’n Shake CEO Sardar Biglari, who acquired the company in 2008, has been trying to move to beef tallow for some time.

“My boss asked, ‘Why should Europeans have better fries than Americans?’” Edwards said. “My boss said one day that we need to RFK the fries. So, a verb was invented.”

As for the company’s sudden shift on social media, Edwards said the posts “sometimes are aspirational,” noting that “sometimes we refer to space or Mars.”

“NASA and Musk/SpaceX are the only two viable players in the area. We have referred to both,” Edwards said. “Regardless of politics, we admire Musk’s accomplishments.”

In February, Tesla wrote on X that it had signed a deal to build charging stations at several Steak ’n Shake locations after the fast food joint responded to Musk’s compliment on its fries. Edwards said discussions with Tesla and Steak ’n Shake started more than 18 months ago.

Steak ’n Shake’s shift hasn’t been entirely smooth. The Bulwark reported that the chain’s move inspired some in the MAHA world to look deeper at the company’s food practices, finding that its fries were precooked in seed oils. The company later acknowledged on its website that some of its foods arrived at locations prefried, and that the initial frying had been in seed oils.

However, Edwards said, because Kennedy has advocated for the removal of seed oils “completely,” the company is making a commitment to do so. And while he did not provide details as to how Hannity’s interview with Kennedy came about, he did say that when the Fox News host “calls, we answer.”

“Sean Hannity is the best. He knows the restaurant business,” he said. “We are honored Sean Hannity and Secretary Kennedy visited Steak ’n Shake.”

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

PepsiCo said Monday that it is buying prebiotic soda brand Poppi for nearly $2 billion.

While soda consumption has broadly fallen over the last two decades in the U.S., prebiotic sodas, fueled by industry newcomers Poppi and Olipop, have won over health-conscious consumers over the last five years. The category’s growth makes it attractive for Pepsi and its rival, Coca-Cola, which recently launched its own prebiotic soda brand, Simply Pop.

Pepsi said it plans to acquire the upstart Poppi for $1.95 billion. The deal includes $300 million of anticipated cash tax benefits, making the net purchase price $1.65 billion.

Pepsi will also have to make additional payments if Poppi achieves certain performance milestones within a set time frame after the acquisition closes.

Pepsi did not say when the deal is expected to close, pending regulatory approval.

Poppi’s founders Allison and Stephen Ellsworth launched the brand back in 2018, the same year that Olipop was founded. Poppi’s formula includes apple cider vinegar, prebiotics and just five grams of sugar.

The company recently made its second straight Super Bowl appearance with an ad during the big game, demonstrating both its deep pockets and a desire to reach an even wider audience.

But as Poppi’s sales have grown, it has also attracted backlash for its health claims. The company is currently in talks to settle a lawsuit that argued Poppi’s drinks are not as healthy as the company claims, according to court filings.

For its part, rival Olipop was valued at $1.85 billion during its latest funding round, which was announced in February. In 2023, Olipop founder and CEO Ben Goodwin told CNBC that soda giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola had already come knocking about a potential sale.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

Almost nothing is guaranteed in life. Certainly not weather, electricity, health, tariffs or eggs. But for more than 50 years, American consumers could count on Southwest Airlines letting them check bags for free.

Dallas-based Southwest is ending the policy in May. Customers are not happy.

“It was the only reason I flew Southwest,” said MaKensey Kaye Alford, a 21-year-old singer and actress who lives near Birmingham, Alabama.

Alford, who is planning to move to New York City later this year, said she would “definitely” consider taking another airline now.

Southwest’s customer-friendly policies have survived recessions, oil price spikes and even the Covid-19 pandemic, winning it years of goodwill and a loyal following, even as it has grown. No other airline carries more people in the United States than Southwest.

Now, the airline with an unrivaled streak of profitability (its almost never posted an annual loss) is under pressure to increase profits as big competitors outpace the airline. So it’s backpedaling off of years of banishing the thought that they would charge customers for bags, adding to other business-model tweaks like assigned seating that give it more in common with all other airlines.

Errol Joseph, 36, a sales consultant who lives in New York and Dallas, said he would now consider flying on Delta Air Lines if the price is the same as Southwest because its planes have seatback screens, unlike Southwest. Joseph added that with baggage policy change, there’s “pretty much no reason to be loyal.”

The bag policy had been around longer than most women were able to get credit cards on their own without a man’s signature. But those days are over. No more freebies, America.

Retailers, restaurants and airlines are among the businesses that have been pulling back on free perks, from complimentary birthday coffees to free package returns, since the pandemic ended.

Increasingly, airline perks are only available for loyalty program members or customers who buy a more expensive ticket.

Delta offers customers free Wi-Fi on board, but only for those who have signed up for its SkyMiles loyalty program. United Airlines is making a similar move, meanwhile, installing equipment on its planes so customers can soon connect to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite Wi-Fi for free if they are members of the airline’s MileagePlus program.

It typically takes real financial pressure for companies to return to giveaways, but it’s not unprecedented. Starbucks, for example, got rid of upcharges for dairy alternatives to attract customers to try to reverse a sales slump.

Southwest’s decision pits investors against customers.

Activist hedge fund and, as of last year, big Southwest shareholder Elliott Investment Management has been increasing pressure on the airline to raise its profits as rivals like Delta and United have pulled ahead. Elliott pushed for faster changes at the carrier, which has been long hesitant to change, so it could increase revenue. The firm last year won five board seats in a settlement with Southwest.

In fact, after Southwest unveiled the bag shift and other policy changes, its shares rose close to 9% this week, while Delta, United and American, each fell more than 11%. CEOs of all the carriers raised concerns about weaker-than-expected travel demand, but Southwest bucked the trend, as it expects the changes to add hundreds of millions of dollars to its bottom line.

“Shareholder activism is reshaping LUV into a company that we believe investors will eventually gravitate to,” wrote Seaport Research Partners airline analyst Dan McKenzie in a note Wednesday as he raised his price target on Southwest’s shares to $39 thanks to the policy changes even though “macro backdrop is glum.”

The decision to ditch the two-free-checked bags is part of the airline’s big profit-seeking makeover in which it is shedding other long-standing offerings like open-seating and single-class cabins for seat assignments and pricier extra legroom options.

It will also start offering a no-frills, no-changes basic economy ticket. Flight credits will also soon have expiration dates. Last month, Southwest had its first-ever mass layoff, cutting about 15% of corporate jobs. It has also slashed unprofitable flying.

Air travel hasn’t stood still over the last half century, and while it’s held onto many core tenets, neither has Southwest. It has gradually made changes over the years, starting to sell things like early boarding, for example. And with air travel breaking new records, assigned seating is necessary for both customers and to make the jobs of employees easier, Southwest executives have argued.

Charging for checked bags was something Southwest leaders repeatedly said would cost it more than it could make. (U.S. carriers brought in more than $7 billion in baggage fees in 2023.)

In a presentation at an investor day last September, Southwest said it would gain between $1 billion and $1.5 billion from charging for bags but lose $1.8 billion of market share.

Southwest executives said that’s changed.

Hours after breaking the news to customers, CEO Bob Jordan said at a JPMorgan industry conference on Tuesday that “in contrast to our previous analysis, actual customer booking behavior through our new booking channels such as metasearch, did not show that we are getting the same benefit from our bundled offering with free bags, which has led us to update the assumptions.”

Jordan added that the carrier has new executives with “direct experience implementing bag fees at multiple airlines, and that’s also helped further validate the new assumptions.”

But thousands joined in consumers’ cri de coeur.

Southwest posted on Instagram on Thursday, two days after its bombshell announcement, saying “It’s not like we traded Luka,” a nod to the shocking February trade of Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. As of Friday afternoon, the post, which also included information about the change, got more than 14,000 replies, far more than couple of hundred responses the account usually gets.

“Taking a screen shot of this as it will be the thumbnail for the harvard business review case study of destroying a brand an entire company,” replied Instagram user rappid_exposure.

Frances Frei, a professor of technology and operations management at Harvard Business School, said that, indeed, no other company is likely as studied as Southwest.

“I sure hope this isn’t a case of activist investors coming in and insisting on a set of decisions that they won’t be around to have to endure,” she said. “Great organizations get built over time. It doesn’t take very long to ruin an organization, and I really don’t want this to be an example of that.”

Southwest’s two checked bags-fly-free policy officially ends May 28 but for now the slogan is still found on board, printed on cocktail napkins.

There will be exceptions: Customers who have a Southwest Airlines co-branded credit card can get one bag for free, and customers in its top tiers of service (read: pricier tickets) or its top-tier loyalty program members will get one to two free checked bags.

Whether customers abandon Southwest or are simply reacting to the change remains to be seen.

The CEOs of Delta, United and Spirit this week said they see an opportunity to win over customers who might turn away from Southwest.

Many travelers won’t have a lot of other options, however, with so much consolidation among U.S. carriers and stronghold hubs, though they might have to venture to other airports.

Southwest has a roughly 73% share at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, a more than 83% share in San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport, and 89% share in Long Beach, California, according to aviation-data firm Cirium.

The real test, Harvard’s Frei said, will be whether the bag change will slow down Southwest’s operation, with more customers bringing carry-on bags on board to avoid the checked luggage fees.

“I just fear the cost is being underestimated,” she said. “It’s real operational harm to Southwest if they go slower.”

Southwest is already preparing its employees for an onslaught of customer luggage at the gate.

Just after its announcement on Tuesday, Southwest told its employees in a memo that customers will “undoubtedly carry on more luggage than before.”

Gate agents will receive mobile bag-tag printers “reducing the need for string bag tags” and the company will design new carry-on size guides so customers can see if their luggage fits as a carry on, according to a staff memo sent by Justin Jones, EVP of operations, and Adam Decaire, senior vice president of network planning, a copy of which was seen by CNBC.

The airline also plans to speed up retrofits of its Boeing 737-800s and Max aircraft with bigger overhead bins.

Frei said not charging for bags, unlike the Costco $1.50 hot dog, is not a loss leader, something a company sells at a loss just to win over customers who might buy more expensive, and profitable, items.

As much as it’s been beloved by customers, the checked bag policy also had a helped the airline turn planes around faster.

“The reason isn’t because it’s kinder to customers. It’s because it’s a fast turnaround airline,” she said. “If I charge for bags, you will be more likely to carry more luggage on board. And when you carry more luggage on board, I lose my fast turnaround advantage.”

Southwest is confident that it’s prepared for an increase in gate-checked bags and onboard luggage.

“We have a series of work streams that are underway with our with our current operations, to make this not impact our turn times,” COO Andrew Watterson said in an interview.

Time will tell how it shakes out. For now, we have the $1.50 Costco hot dogs.

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Flagging global sales and Elon Musk’s increasingly outspoken political activities are combining to rock the value of Tesla.

Shares in the once-trillion-dollar company saw their worst day in five years this week. Year to date, Tesla’s stock has plunged 41% — though it is still up by about 36% over the past 12 months.

On Monday, the stock was down another 5%.

For Musk, Tesla’s shares remain his primary source of paper wealth, though he has also turned his stake in SpaceX into a personal lending tool. But it was proceeds from selling Tesla shares that helped Musk complete his acquisition of Twitter, now known as X.

Musk’s wealth also allowed him to help vault Donald Trump into a second presidential term. Even as Musk’s net worth has diminished as a result of Tesla’s recent share-price declines, data suggests he is in no danger of losing his title as the world’s wealthiest person.

Musk has said on X that he is not concerned about Tesla’s recent drop in value. Still, evidence suggests the company is entering a period of transition.

A spokesperson for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

Musk’s wealth has propelled him to a global presence that lacks precedent — and has polarized world opinion about the tech entrepreneur in the process. Any weakening of his financial position, therefore, could undercut his influence in the political and tech spaces where he now commands outsize attention.According to Bank of America, Tesla’s European sales plummeted by about 50% in January compared with the same month a year prior.

Some say this is attributable to a growing distaste for Musk, who has begun dabbling in the continent’s politics in the wake of his successful support of Trump’s candidacy last year.

Others note Tesla’s European market is facing increased competition from the Chinese electric-vehicle maker BYD, which has telegraphed ambitious plans for expansion on the continent.  

A more decisive blow to Tesla’s near-term fortunes may be emanating from China itself. There, Tesla’s shipments plunged 49% in February from a year earlier, to just 30,688 vehicles, according to official data cited by Bloomberg News. That’s the lowest monthly figure registered since July 2022 — amid the throes of Covid-19 — when it shipped just 28,217 EVs, Bloomberg said.

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The Vatican has released the first photo of Pope Francis since his hospitalization. The photo shows Francis at the chapel in Rome’s Gemelli hospital.

He is seen wearing a stole, a vestment worn to concelebrate Mass.

The Vatican announced on Sunday, for the first time since his hospitalization a month ago, that Francis concelebrated Mass at the chapel in Rome’s Gemelli hospital.

Concelebration means to be among the priests presiding over the Mass. This would mean Francis has gone beyond just participating in Mass or receiving the Eucharist as he has been doing in the past weeks.

The Vatican said the pope continued with his treatments and therapies, worked and did not have any visitors on Sunday.

The 88-year-old pontiff has been battling pneumonia at the hospital in Rome, in what is his longest stay since his election as pope 12 years ago.

Earlier on Sunday, Francis thanked well-wishers for their prayers as he faces what he calls a “period of trial,” in the text of his weekly Angelus prayer that was sent in advance to the press.

Just after 5:30 a.m. ET, dozens of schoolchildren gathered in the hospital piazza to show their support holding up yellow and white balloons — the colors of the Holy See — and shouted out “viva il papa,” outside the hospital.

The children gathered prayed the Angelus together, and then a group of them entered the hospital with balloons and flowers.

“I thank you all for your prayers, and I thank those who assist me with such dedication. I know that many children are praying for me; some of them came here today to ‘Gemelli’ as a sign of closeness. Thank you, dearest children! The Pope loves you and is always waiting to meet you,” the Pontiff said in the text.

“Let us continue to pray for peace, especially in the countries wounded by war: tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” the Pope added.

The Pontiff remains in stable condition but still requires medical treatment, the Vatican press office said Saturday.

The need for non-invasive mechanical ventilation — which Francis has been receiving at night — has gradually reduced as he continues high-flow oxygen therapy during the day, the Vatican said.

Despite his hospital stay, the pope has signaled his plans to remain in the post, approving a new three-year reform process for the Catholic church.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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At least 59 people died and around 150 were injured after a fire tore through a nightclub in North Macedonia, with the country’s interior minister blaming pyrotechnics.

Hundreds had gathered at the ‘Pulse’ nightclub in the town of Kochani, east of the capital Skopje, to watch local act DNK perform when the blaze broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski, announced the casualties at a press conference on Sunday, saying on stage effects triggered a blaze that quickly spread.

“The fire was caused by pyrotechnics used for lighting effects at the concert and activated the sprinklers,” he said. “Most likely, sparks caught a part of the ceiling that was made of flammable material, causing the fire to spread to the entire discotheque in a short period of time, creating thick smoke.”

Video from inside the venue shows a band performing as pyrotechnic devices shoot out sparks at the front of the stage.

One concert-goer, 22-year-old Marija Taseva, told local television channel Kanal 5 that as she tried to escape the blaze, she fell to the ground and people ran over her, Reuters reported.

“Everyone was trying to save themselves,” Taseva said, adding that she lost contact with her sister in the chaos. “We can’t find her in any hospital,” she said.

At least 152 people who were injured in the tragedy were taken to hospitals across the country, state media outlet MIA reported, citing the country’s health ministry. Dozens of victims are being treated for second-degree burns on their hands and faces, Vlatko Zahariev, head of the city of Shtip’s hospital said, according to MIA.

Police detained the owner of the nightclub on Sunday morning, MIA reported, as the country’s Justice Minister, Igor Filkov, said that all those involved in the tragedy will be held responsible. Four people are wanted by police in connection to the disaster.

North Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said it was a “difficult and very sad day.”

“The loss of so many young lives is irreparable, while the pain of our families, our close ones and our friends is immeasurable,” he wrote on X.

Leaders from across Europe have taken to social media to express their condolences for the disaster, including Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Antonio Costa, President of the European Council.

Angela Aggeler, the US ambassador to North Macedonia, also posted about the incident on X, writing Sunday that her “heart breaks” for the victims of the tragedy and offering the US embassy’s assistance and resources.

The disaster is one of the deadliest nightclub fires to have taken place in at least a decade. In 2015, a crowded nightclub in Bucharest, Romania was engulfed in flames after pyrotechnics were set off during a concert, killing 64 people.

Two years earlier, more than 240 people died after a fire broke out at a nightclub in Santa Maria, Brazil. Pyrotechnics were also being used inside the club when the fire started.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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