Business

South Korean stocks shot up by more than 5 percent to close at a fresh high Monday, approaching the 7,000-point mark, as investors scooped up semiconductor shares while awaiting developments in U.S.-Iran peace talks. The Korean won rose sharply against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 338.12 points, or 5.12 percent, to a fresh record high of 6,936.99.

Trade volume was heavy at 864.3 million shares worth 41.3 trillion won (US$28.2 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 473 to 392.

Foreigners bought 3 trillion won worth of local shares, and institutions purchased a net 1.9 trillion won, while retail investors dumped a net 4.8 trillion won.

The index opened 2.79 percent higher after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a plan to guide ships not involved in the Iran conflict through the Strait of Hormuz as a “humanitarian gesture” starting this week.

Later, a senior Iranian official warned that Tehran would consider any U.S. interference in the strait a ceasefire breach.

However, the KOSPI extended its gains in the afternoon, supported by foreign and institutional buying.

“Tech shares were driven by gains on Wall Street over the weekend,” Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said. “Also, foreign investors expanded their net purchase ahead of the market closure for Children’s Day on Tuesday.”

The main index surpassed the 5,000-point mark in late January and topped another milestone of the 6,000-point level in February.

After recouping its losses in March following the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war in late February, the KOSPI is now approaching the uncharted 7,000-point level on continued optimism over the AI boom and hopes for the reopening of the key waterway.

Semiconductor stocks led the rally.

Chip giant Samsung Electronics jumped 5.44 percent to 232,500 won, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix surged 12.52 percent to a fresh record high of 1.4 million won, surpassing 10 trillion won in market capitalization for the first time.

Hanmi Semiconductor, a chip equipment manufacturer, rose 2.72 percent to 378,000 won, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronic components affiliate of Samsung Electronics Co., soared 10.34 percent to 918,000 won.

Defense shares were also strong as industry leader Hanwha Aerospace advanced 3.39 percent to 1.4 million won and LIG D&A gained 4.46 percent to 983,000 won.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor climbed 1.51 percent to 539,000 won, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution increased 2.5 percent to 472,000 won.

However, bio shares went south as Celltrion fell 1.35 percent to 197,800 won, and Samsung Biologics dropped 2.58 percent to 1.4 million won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,462.8 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 20.5 won from the previous session.

The quotation marks the highest since February 27, when the currency closed at 1,439.7 to the greenback.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys added 2 basis points to 3.615 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds gained 1.7 basis points to 3.797 percent.

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Why go now

My favourite way to enter Rione Sanità is by elevator: descending from a bridge into cobblestoned streets buzzing with mopeds and flanked by opulent but decaying 18th-century palazzi. Through the grand doorways of these once noble palaces are courtyards where bakers, butchers, cobblers and the odd contraband cigarette vendor do business.

La Sanità – to the locals – is a thriving working-class district with a grand history. In the 17th century, the Spanish viceroys took a fancy to the area perched on the hill above the dense and crowded streets of the old town. Its name, which translates as “healthy district”, reflected a cleaner reputation (rainfall ran downhill, depositing debris and waste in the historic centre below). They built vast houses here in the 18th century (see Palazzo dello Spagnolo and Palazzo San Felice), with architects vying for attention as the court passed through to Capodimonte, the royal summer residence above the city. Business flourished until Napoleon arrived in the early 19th century, found the route too slow, and built the overpass that eventually suffocated the area and left it fighting for its life.

Emboldened by one too many fatal gang wars and a blighted reputation, local residents came together several years ago to form associations such as Napoli in Vita, with the aim of opening up the area, supporting local business and creating employment. The result is a neighbourhood renaissance led by the community for the community, which has quickly become an example for the whole city in the midst of mass touristification.

Where to eat and drink

Trying the local pizzerias is non-negotiable. It was in La Sanità that Sophia Loren famously kneaded pizza dough in Vittorio De Sica’s film L’oro di Napoli (Gold of Naples); and the award-winning Isabella De Cham runs the city’s first all-female fried pizza spot – her tiny montanare pizzas are loaded with cheese, vegetables and ham.

Pizzeria Oliva da Carla e Salvatore, the locals’ favourite, has a view of the majolica-clad basilica. Concettina ai Tre Santi draws food pilgrims from across the world for head chef Ciro Oliva’s deconstructed pizza and his focus on using the best local producers and ingredients. Wash it down with Vesuvian wine at Antica Cantina Sepe on Via Vergini, a fixture for generations and one of the forces quietly reshaping the neighbourhood by hosting community events and keeping prices affordable and inclusive.

Cultural experiences

There is as much to see below ground in La Sanità as above. In the Hellenistic period, it was a sacred burial ground and beneath the soft tufo stone lies a warren of tunnels and hollowed-out chambers, now home to garages and workshops such as Fonderia Mercogliano, which casts religious objects from metal. The San Gennaro and San Gaudioso catacombs are run by a social cooperative, La Paranza, which employs young people from the neighbourhood and offers a fascinating tour, showing how the ancient populations negotiated death and legacy. The highlight is the Ipogeo dei Cristallini, a Greco-Roman crypt, recently uncovered beneath a 17th-century apartment block, featuring a perfectly intact relief sculpture of Medusa. It’s a marvel.

Where to shop

La Sanità is a den of indulgence, but it is the bakeries that set it apart, each with its own speciality. You can find taralli (crunchy savoury biscuits made with fennel seed and black pepper to accompany a beer) at Panificio Coppola Antonio; a perfectly moist rum babà at Pasticceria Mignone; and for La Sanità’s most famous sweet export head to Pasticceria Poppella for fiocchi di neve (snowflakes), small, soft brioche filled with a secret recipe of cream and ricotta.

Don’t miss

La Sanità has long been home to craftsmen and artists, their workshops tucked into courtyards and up hidden stairways. Omega Guanti has been hand-stitching leather gloves since the Bourbon period for the likes of Dior. Michele Iodice, a celebrated Neapolitan sculptor, works and exhibits from his studio dug into the tufo stone that is in itself a masterpiece. Atelier Alifuoco, a shared studio space, is home to the next generation of the city’s artists.

Where to stay

Casa D’Anna ai Cristallini (doubles from €220) is more sumptuous private home than hotel, where tasteful art lines the walls and photography books are stacked on antique furniture. Down the road, artist Vincenzo Oste and his wife Inès Sellami incorporate art, design and artisan work at their guesthouse Atelier Inès (doubles from €265), inside their newly restored palazzo, set within a leafy courtyard.

May 3 (UPI) — Oil exports from the United States have increased by more than 30% the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran started and the Strait of Hormuz was blockaded in response.

The Port of Corpus Christie has overtaken the ports in Saudi Arabia and Iraq in the last few weeks as the two Persian Gulf ports have been cut off from the rest of the world since the Strait has been blockaded.

Over the past two months, the United States has sold more than 250 million barrels of oil to foreign buyers as exports have increased by 30%, from 3.9 million barrels per day in February to 5.2 million barrels per day in April, Bloomberg and CNBC reported.

Experts have warned, however, that domestic oil inventories are depleting stockpiles and there is a question of how long the country will be able to continue replacing oil on the market that is stuck in the Strait.

Although selling oil is good for business, oil producers are struggling to keep up with the demand and it is possible that selling so much could have an add-on effect of pushing gas prices for American consumers even higher than they have gone since the war started.

“Ships are coming to take our oil, but once significant volumes of are leaving the United States, it can be expected that balances will tighten,” Clayton Seigle, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Bloomberg.

“We are digging ourselves a hole in terms of spending down inventories,” he said.

Roughly 20% of global oil supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s shutting of it has caused gas and fuel prices to skyrocket over the last two months, including massive effects on the airline industry, which has seen seen the price of jet fuel double since before the war.

Oil from the United States, Latin America and West Africa could for a short time be a substitute for Middle Eastern oil for countries in Asia, which has been hurt the most, but it is not ideal, Matt Smith, director of commodity research at Kpler, told CNBC.

“Asian markets are buying whatever they can get their hands on, so they’re taking a lot of light sweet [American] crude [oil],” Smith said, but their refineries are optimized for the heavier oil produced in the Middle East.

“It’a hole that can’t be plugged,” Smith told CNBC. “The answer has to be ensuring secure supply from the Middle East.”

[kicker]

Ministry of Commerce says sanctions against refineries accused of importing Iranian oil violate international law.

China has announced an injunction to block US sanctions placed on five Chinese refiners accused ‌of buying oil from Iran.

The sanctions announced by the United States Department of the Treasury late last month bar the companies from the US financial system and seek to penalise anyone doing business with the firms.

In a statement on Saturday, China’s Ministry of Commerce said the sanctions “improperly” restrict business between Chinese enterprises and third countries “in violation of international law and the basic norms governing international relations”.

The Commerce Ministry said it had issued a “prohibition order” stipulating that the sanctions “shall not be recognized, enforced, or complied with” to “safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests”.

“The Chinese government has consistently opposed unilateral sanctions that lack UN authorisation and basis in international law,” the ministry added.

It said the order blocked US measures against Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery and four other so-called “teapot” refineries: Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group, Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group, Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical and Shandong ⁠Shengxing Chemical.

Announcing the sanctions on April 24, the US Treasury Department called Hengli “one of Tehran’s most valued customers”, saying it had generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the Iranian military through crude oil purchases.

The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the other four refineries named by the Chinese ministry, among other facilities, last year.

China gets more than half of its oil from the Middle East, much of it from Iran.

According to commodities data firm Kpler, China bought more than 80 percent of the oil Iran shipped in 2025.

China’s “teapot” refineries operate independently and are generally smaller than the facilities run by state-owned oil giants, such as Sinopec.

The facilities, which have been crucial to China’s efforts to secure its oil supplies, capitalise on heavily discounted crude sold by countries under sanctions, such as Iran, Russia and Venezuela.

Teapots account for a quarter of Chinese ⁠refinery capacity, operate with narrow and sometimes negative margins, and have been squeezed recently by tepid domestic demand.

US sanctions have created additional hurdles for refiners, including difficulties selling refined products under their correct place-of-origin markings.

May 2 (UPI) — Spirit Airlines closed Saturday morning, with no options for those already booked on the airline.

“Unfortunately, despite the company’s efforts, the recent material increase in oil prices and other pressures on the business have significantly impacted Spirit’s financial outlook,” the airline said in a statement. “With no additional funding available to the company, Spirit had no choice but to begin this wind-down.”

All flights are canceled, and passengers shouldn’t go to the airport, Spirit said. Those who booked directly with the company will get refunds, but others should reach out to their travel agent or booking site, the company said.

The company reported around 17,000 employees as of the shutdown.

“We’ve activated our airline partners to ensure passengers are not stranded, communities maintain route access, fares do not skyrocket, and Spirit’s workforce is connected to new job opportunities,” Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said in a statement.

United, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest are all capping ticket prices for Spirit customers who now need to rebook cancelled flights, Duffy’s statement said. But those prices will only be available for 72 hours.

Spirit declared bankruptcy in 2024 and 2025. The company hoped to overcome its most recent bankruptcy, but high fuel prices brought on by the war in Iran have stymied those plans.

Last week, President Donald Trump said the government could buy the airline, and it has been working on a $500 million rescue plan that would give the government a large ownership stake. But the company couldn’t get support between bondholders and the government for the deal.

Trump told reporters at the White House Friday that an announcement about Spirit was coming within the next couple of days.

“I guess we’re looking at it. If we could do it, we’d do it, but only if it’s a good deal,” Trump said about a bailout plan. “But if we can’t make a good deal – no institution’s been able to do it. I said I’d like to save the jobs. … I would say we’re driving a tough deal, but it’s one of those things. We will do it or we won’t.”

Spirit CEO Dave Davis explained the shutdown.

“The sudden and sustained rise in fuel prices in recent weeks ultimately has left us with no alternative but to pursue an orderly wind-down of the company,” Davis said in a statement. “Sustaining the business required hundreds of millions of additional dollars of liquidity that Spirit simply does not have and could not procure. This is tremendously disappointing and not the outcome any of us wanted.”

Spirit customer Angela Moreno told NBC News that she was planning to fly from Fort Lauderdale to Nashville for a wedding Saturday.

“The whole family is going there from different states, so it’s very shocking,” she said. “There’s many people who cannot attend the wedding as of now.”

She said she’s struggling to find replacement tickets.

“They’re refunding the tickets, but the only tickets right now are $600,” she said. “I hope the best for those people who really needed that flight.”

Henry Hartevelt, airline industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group, told The Washington Post that Spirit was struggling long before the war. Bad business decisions, overexpansion and loss of focus caused its internal issues, and increased competition from other budget airlines added to its woes.

Spirit’s core demographic earns less than $80,000 per year, and those customers took the brunt of the inflation hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.

“So [there’s] no single cause of Spirit’s demise, but Spirit has been teeter-tottering on the verge of shutting down for a long time,” Harteveldt told The Post. “It’s very unfortunate. More than [17,000] people may lose their jobs if it does shut down, and we lose an airline and a source of price competition.”

May 2 (UPI) — A Texas judge on Friday temporarily paused the state’s ban on smokable hemp products, such as flower and joints, after three industry groups and multiple companies based in the state sued over it.

The state in March expanded its limit on THC in hemp products from 0.3% levels of Delta-9 THC to cover any form of THC beyond the state’s previous limit of 0.3% total THC in dry weight of the intoxicating group of chemicals.

This variety of chemicals includes Delta-8, various forms of Delta-9, and all other cannabinoids, with the exception of CBD and CBG.

The rule adopted by the state’s health department effectively banned all smokable forms of hemp because vapes and e-cigarettes that contain any form of cannabinoid were banned in Texas last September, the Texas State Law Library reported.

Since the federal government fully legalized hemp with low levels of Delta-9 THC, companies have produced hemp with boosted levels of other cannabinoids, including THCA, a non-psychoactive chemical that converts to Delta-9 THC when heated.

The groups that used the state contend that the health department overstepped their constitutional authority and that the new rules have done irreparable harm to the Texas hemp industry, CBS Austin reported.

“We are obviously excited about this ruling,” said Jason Snell, one of the attorneys that represents the industry groups and companies, KUT News reported.

“[The judge] issued a statewide injunction which prohibits what we believe are illegal rules from going into effect, which would cripple the hemp industry statewide and deprive consumers and every day Texans from access to legal products,” Snell said.

The Texas legislature last May passed a bill that would have effectively banned all of the products, but Texas Gov. Greg Abbot vetoed, which led the health department attempting to ban the products itself.

A previous temporary restraining order on the rule was set to expire Friday afternoon at 5 p.m., but the ruling — which covers all consumable hemp products — will now allow the industry to keep doing business.

, wit

May 2 (UPI) — A company that makes the abortion drug mifepristone on Saturday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to immediately pause a ruling that prevents doctors from prescribing it during telehealth visits.

Late Friday, a three judge panel on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled in favor of the state of Louisiana in a case asking the court to block doctors from prescribing the drug in telehealth visits.

Louisiana in the last four years has moved to prevent women in the state from obtaining abortion care legislators there were among the first to ban abortion after the repeal of Roe v. Wade, and later blocked doctors from prescribing the medical abortion pill in virtual telehealth visits.

The company, which is not the only drugmaker planning to file an appeal, said that patients will be stuck in limbo because of the lack of clarity it leaves for legal use of the drug, NBC News and Politico reported.

Roughly half of all abortions in the United States are performed using medications.

“Danco has been free to rely on procedures set by the FDA to distribute its product,” lawyers for the company said in a filing with the court.

“The Fifth Circuit’s decision immediately ends that,” the lawyers said. “A stay should issue to prevent the disruption and confusion that will result if the decision below were to remain operative.”

In addition to Danco, Politico reported that GenBioPro, which also manufactures the drug, has indicated that it will also file an appeal with the court.

Mifepristone was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000 for medical termination of pregnancy and, until the COVID-19 pandemic, could only be prescribed during in-person appointments.

Early in the pandemic and the country locked down in an effort to stem the spread of the virus, doctors sued the FDA to allow them to prescribe mifepristone during telehealth visits.

The FDA temporarily changed the rule, but in 2023 adopted it permanently as some states started to restrict access to abortion and abortion services after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade.

Pharmaceutical companies and patient advocates warned that the restriction circumvents the FDA’s regulatory authority, which is based on evidence and data, and that it may offer a path for people to challenge other medications based on personal interest or opinion.

In the case of Danco, it also immediately filed the appeal because it is the only product it makes and “without a valid legal framework for distributing that product, Danco will lose its only source of revenue and may be unable to continue operating.”

May 2 (UPI) — The United States has started warning allies that delivery of weapons systems are likely to be delayed because stockpiles have been drained during the war in Iran.

The Department of Defense has warned several allies in Europe — including the United Kingdom, Poland, Norway and Estonia — that there will be delivery delays for several missile systems, Breaking Defense and The Financial Times reported.

The delays, which may also spread to deliveries to Asian allies, have been linked to growing concerns about the numbers of U.S. weapons used since the war in Iran started.

Concerns have also come up as to whether lower stockpiles could affect the United States’ ability to defend itself and its allies.

The Department of Defense already has been relocating weapons from bases in other parts of the world both to the U.S. stockpile and for use in the Iran war, which President Donald Trump noted on Friday.

“All over the world, we have inventory,” he said. “And we can take that if we need it.”

Among the weapons systems that could be affected are the HIMARS and NASAMS missile systems, shortages of which were reported in Estonia and Norway in April.

The president of Finland also said in recent days that some U.S. weapons stockpiles normally stored in the country have been rerouted, which lines up with Trump’s comments yesterday.

In Asia, Japan and South Korea are reportedly bracing for delays beyond the ones it already has not received, including Patriot missile interceptors and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Delays that have already happened, and the potential for more, could affect foreign nations’ reliance on weapons manufactured by the United States, experts have said.

“Japan already was deeply frustrated with delivery delays for systems they have paid for,” former Pentagon official Christopher Johnstone told the Financial Times.

“This reality will drive Japan, South Korea and other allies to focus more heavily on indigenous and non-American options, even in areas where U.S. equipment is clearly superior,” he said.

The reports of delays come after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday told members of the Senate Arms Services Committee that he is aware of concerns about the stockpile after two months of an intense campaign in Iran.

In response to questions about the Pentagon’s request for a nearly 50% increase in its budget, Hegseth noted that some of the increase is because of weapons used during the war, and that it could take “months and years” to fully replenish the stockpile.

Trump has asked defense companies to “quadruple” their manufacturing pace, but there are limits to how much production can be sped up, according to industry experts.

May 1 (UPI) — May Day demonstrations are expected Friday, as organizers call for boycotts of school, work and shopping in protest of the Trump administration’s policies.

The May Day Strong protests are to mark International Labor Day. While Labor Day in the United States is in September and is a celebration of the achievements of organized labor, May Day — May 1 — is traditionally a day of protest.

The message this year is that the United States should be “focusing on workers over billionaires,” National Education Association President Becky Pringle told NPR.

“We know there are bus drivers in New York and teachers in Idaho and nurses in Louisiana who are feeling the impact of a system that has decided … to put billionaires ahead of everyone else,” she said.

More than 500 labor unions, student groups and community organizations are expected to participate, organizers said.

A student group, Sunrise Movement, said on X that more than 100,000 students were expected to miss school in the one-day strike. The organization said it is made of “young people fighting fascism to win a Green New Deal.”

This year, rising prices and stagnant wages make this year’s protest especially important, Terrence Wise, an organizer with Missouri Workers Center in Kansas City, Mo., told USA Today.

“If you want to see real change, you’ve got to be a part of the solution. Because if you’re not out organizing and you’re not out in the streets and you’re not talking to your neighbors, you’re part of the problem,” Wise said.

May Day began in Chicago in 1886 as a protest demanding an eight-hour workday and is celebrated around the world.

“People have figured out who’s rigging the game and are taking action,” People’s Action Executive Director Sulma Arias told USA Today. “What we expect is people to come out and deliver a clear message. … They understand that they’re seeing broken promises by an administration that promised to make things more affordable. And yet none of that has happened for everyday people who are still struggling.”

White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the administration of President Donald Trump supports workers.

“The Trump administration has never wavered from standing up for American workers, from renegotiating broken trade deals to securing trillions in manufacturing investments to slashing taxes on overtime to securing our border. President Trump will always have the backs of American workers,” Desai said.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Spirit Airlines, an impish upstart that shook the industry with its irreverent ads and deep discount fares, announced Saturday that it has gone out of business after 34 years.

The ultra-low-cost airline that once operated hundreds of daily flights on its bright yellow planes and employed about 17,000 people said it had “started an orderly wind-down of our operations, effective immediately.”

Although Spirit had gone bankrupt twice before, the company said high oil prices, which have been rising because of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, made it impossible to stay aloft.

The airline said on its website that all flights have been canceled and customer service is no longer available.

“We are proud of the impact of our ultra-low-cost model on the industry over the last 34 years and had hoped to serve our guests for many years to come,” the announcement said.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday that Spirit had a reserve fund set up for customers who bought directly from the airline to get refunds. People who bought from third-party vendors such as travel agents would have to seek refunds from them. He had a stark message for people flying with Spirit.

“If you have a flight scheduled with Spirit Airlines, don’t show up at the airport. There will be no one here to assist you,” Duffy said.

He said United, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest were offering $200 one-way flights for people who could confirm that they had Spirit confirmation numbers and proof of purchase for a limited time. Duffy also said other airlines would help with Spirit employees who might be stranded and would offer them a preferential application process as they look for work.

Spirit said in a statement that it was working to get more than 1,300 crew members to their home bases and that the final Spirit flight landed early Saturday at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport from Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The company advised customers that they could expect refunds but there would be no help in booking travel on other airlines.

The Trump administration had considered a government bailout for the cash-strapped business to keep it from going under, but a deal was not reached. Of the potential bailout, Duffy said Saturday that “we oftentimes don’t have half a billion dollars laying around.”

President Trump had floated the idea of a bailout last week after the airline found itself in bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in less than two years with jet fuel prices soaring since the start of the Iran war.

‘They get you there’

Five Spirit flights were still showing as “on time” on Saturday morning on the departure board in Atlanta. A trickle of passengers who hadn’t heard the news were still showing up.

“What!?” exclaimed Taylor Nantang as she, her husband and four children arrived for a Saturday afternoon Spirit flight from Atlanta to Miami for a spur-of-the-moment vacation. The family had driven down from Tennessee to the Atlanta airport.

“So the whole airline at every airport is out of business?” asked Nantang. “Oh my, that’s crazy.”

Other passengers wondered whether the airline would still answer its customer service phone, or when the refunds for canceled flights might arrive on their credit cards.

Joshua Sigler, who had bought a ticket Friday for a flight Saturday to Miami, said he would just return home after learning of the cancellation rather than try to take advantage of deals other airlines were offering to stranded Spirit passengers. He said he had gotten no communication from Spirit, which he had flown multiple times in the past.

“They get you there,” he said of his Spirit travels. “It was cheap.”

Waking to the news

Former Spirit flight attendant Freddy Peterson was on a Spirit flight from Detroit that arrived in Newark, N.J., around 11 p.m. Friday. He said that despite rumors flying on social media Friday, things seemed kind of normal, with more than 200 passengers on the plane.

“All our aircraft were packed,” he said.

Peterson, 60, said he set his alarm clock for 3 a.m. Saturday to check the company website at the hour of the rumored shutdown and learned all Spirit flights were canceled. He said Delta Air Lines brought him and another flight attendant back to Atlanta on Saturday morning, with Peterson leaving from there to drive to his home in Shellman in southwest Georgia.

“I’ll probably do my boo-hoo crying and all that other stuff once I get in the car.”

Peterson said he had been a flight attendant with Spirit for 10 years and the company has “done wonders for me.” He said the airline’s reputation for bargain-basement chaos was largely undeserved, but he did fault management for not communicating with the employees in the closing days, saying a promised employee town hall was canceled.

Bailout fizzles

As late as Friday afternoon, Trump had said his administration was looking at a bailout for Spirit and had given the budget carrier a “final proposal” for a taxpayer-funded takeover.

Spirit proudly disrupted the penny-pinching portion of the airline industry with its no-frills, low-cost flights and provocative ads like its “Check Out the Oil on Our Beaches” campaign after the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, referencing suntan oil but alluding to the massive spill of crude along the Gulf Coast.

But Spirit has struggled financially since the COVID-19 pandemic, weighed down by rising operating costs and growing debt. By the time it filed for Chapter 11 protection in November 2024, Spirit had lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020.

The budget carrier sought bankruptcy protection again in August 2025, when it reported having $8.1 billion in debts and $8.6 billion in assets, according to court filings.

White House blames Biden

The White House had blamed the Biden administration for Spirit’s tenuous financial situation, noting that President Biden opposed a proposed merger between Spirit and JetBlue in 2023. On Saturday, Trump administration officials took to social media to amplify voices of conservative critics who faulted that decision.

On Saturday, Duffy concentrated blame on Biden as well as Duffy’s predecessor, Pete Buttigieg. “Many at the time said that this was a disaster. This merger should have been allowed,” he said.

Tad DeHaven, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said the Trump administration also bears responsibility, arguing that the airline’s latest crisis reflected a chain reaction of policy missteps rather than a single decision. He pointed specifically to Trump’s decision to strike Iran as “bad foreign policy,” noting the conflict drove up jet fuel prices and therefore Spirit’s operating costs.

“They were already in trouble,” DeHaven said, describing the situation as “a compounding effect in terms of policy.”

Supporters of a rescue including labor unions representing Spirit’s pilots, flight attendants and ramp workers said a collapse would put thousands of Americans out of work and hurt consumers by reducing airline competition and increasing airfares. About 17,000 jobs could be impacted, according to Spirit lawyer Marshall Huebner.

Budget-conscious and leisure travelers are likely to feel Spirit’s absence the most, especially in places where the airline has a big footprint such as Las Vegas and the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.

The carrier flew about 1.7 million domestic passengers in February, roughly half a million fewer than during the same month a year earlier, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Spirit also has sharply reduced its capacity; about half as many seats had been available this month as in May 2024.

Madhani, Yamat, Amy and Catalini write for the Associated Press and reported from West Palm Beach, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Morrisville, Pa., respectively. AP writer Josh Funk in Omaha contributed to this report.

May 1 (UPI) — Former U.S. Rep. David Rivera, R-Fla., was found guilty on Friday of being paid to secretly lobby elected U.S. officials to ease sanctions against Venezuela.

Rivera and a co-conspirator were each found guilty of taking payment from Nicholas Maduro to try to repair ties between the South American nation and the United States but never registering as an agent of a foreign country, The Miami Herald and NBC News reported.

A 12-person jury found the former Miami-Dade congressman and consultant Esther Nuhfer guilty of lobbying Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and attempting to set meetings up for Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela’s then-foreign minister and current acting president.

Rivera was also found guilty of conspiring to commit money laundering and tax evasion.

Rivera had long been friends with his former roommate Rubio and became friends with Sessions when he was in Congress, and after Maduro gave him a $50 million contract he attempted to leverage those relationships.

Both Rivera and Nuhfer were caught having not registered themselves of lobbying for the federal government on behalf of another nation.

The convictions come after a 5-week trial that saw Rubio, who was in the Senate in 2017, when he met with Rivera and was told a plan to convince Maduro to step down was afoot.

Rivera denied that he was working on behalf of Maduro and the Venezuelan government, insisting that he was working to overthrow the now-deposed ruler rather than to promote his interests.

Nuhfur was released on bond ahead of her sentencing, while Rivera was judged to be a flight risk and will remain in jail until he is sentenced.

Rivera also still faces charges in another foreign lobbying case, as well.

May 1 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday said that his administration had made a “final” bailout offer to Spirit Airlines as reports suggest it is on the verge of shutting down.

Although Trump said his administration is still discussing a $500 million bailout for the beleaguered airline, its investors have not agreed to the government’s proposal and Spirit could shut down as soon as Saturday, The Wall Street Journal and CBS News reported.

Trump has for the past two weeks said the government would try to get involved to save the airline and its 7,500 employees, unveiling last weekend a plan to loan Spirit $500 million under the Defense Production Act and become its main debtor.

The price of jet fuel has doubled since Feb. 28 because of the war in Iran, raising costs for all airlines globally, but Spirit has been working to emerge from bankruptcy for the second time in a year and its financial plan has been completely upended.

“We’re looking at it,” Trump told reporters on Friday, hours after reports of the airline’s demise started to spread.

“If we could do it, we’d do it, but only if it’s a good deal,” he said. “No institution has been able to do it. I said I’d like to save the jobs but we’ll have an announcement sometime today … We gave them a final proposal.”

Spirit told a bankruptcy court on April 23 that its cash was “not going to last for very much longer” and that, without some sort of bailout, it would likely have to cease operations within a matter of days.

The Trump administration’s bailout plan — of which some Republicans and members of Trump’s administration have been critical — would give Spirit the loan it needs in exchange for the government becoming its largest debtor and potentially owning 90% of the airline.

The Fort Lauderdale-based airline told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that it is “operating as usual,” and travelers at its main hub at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport said that their flights had not been canceled.

Officials at Miami-International Airport also told the Sentinel that they had not been notified by Spirit that it was shutting down.

Spirit is said to have revolutionized air travel as one of the first of several value airlines that has managed to offer flights at rock-bottom prices, but it also has struggled since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company flew less than half the number of flights in April than it had two years ago — it dropped from roughly 25,000 to 12,000 — and has not turned an annual profit since 2019, The New York Times reported.

Having renegotiated contracts with its employees, shook off engine defects that doomed parts of its fleet and charted a path forward, Spirit was expected to emerge from bankruptcy in better shape sometime this summer.

After the war in Iran launched, affecting oil and gas prices worldwide, the cost of jet fuel doubled and tanked the company’s financial plan.

In the event that Spirit does shut down, United Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue Airways all have said they are preparing to assist the airline’s customers and employees, which includes helping customers to travel in places where they operate routes similar to Spirit, CNBC reported.

April 30 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Thursday lifted tariffs that he had levied but limited business between bourbon makers in Kentucky and Scotland.

Trump announced he was scrapping the tariffs after King Charles III and Queen Camilla were starting to wrap up their visit to the United States this week, which included the king addressing a joint session of Congress, a state dinner at the White House and a trip through Virginia before they head home.

King Charles and Queen Camilla have just wrapped up a four-day trip to the United States, which Trump scheduled and invited them for after a state dinner in the United Kingdom last year.

“In honor of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom … I will be removing the Tariffs and Restrictions on Whiskey having to do with Scotland’s ability to work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky on Whiskey and Bourbon, two very important Industries within Scotland and Kentucky,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

“People have wanted to do this for a long time, in that there had been great Inter-Country Trade, especially having to do with the Wooden Barrels used,” he said.

Trump reinstituted a tariff on whiskey and other spirits coming out of the European Union in March 2025 that he had instituted during his first term in the White House that had been discontinued by the Biden administration in 2021.

Some whiskey distilleries in Kentucky age their bourbon in barrels that have been used to age Scotch and the tariff had increased costs for U.S. whiskey manufacturers — and in the absence of a U.K. tariff on American spirits — had been a problem, USA Today reported.

In the reverse, bourbons that are sold as “Kentucky bourbon” — a specific product unique to Kentucky, and which includes brands such as Jim Beam, Woodford Reserve and Buffalo Trace, among many others — are required to be aged in new, charred oak barrels that are later sold to some scotch distillers who use them to age their spirits, Politico reported.

April 30 (UPI) — The Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern corporations announced Thursday a new merger proposal after a federal regulator rejected their initial plan in January.

The two companies applied for a merger in July, seeking to create the United States’ first transcontinental freight railroad.

The Surface Transportation Board rejected the proposal saying the application was incomplete.

A statement from the two companies said they resubmitted the application with “additional analysis” indicating cost savings for customers and improvement to the U.S. supply chain. It said the deal would take 2 million truckloads off the nation’s roadways and save $3.5 billion each year.

“After completing the additional work requested by the STB, the facts remain clear: This merger enhances competition and delivers real public benefits that make America’s supply chain stronger, Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena said in a statement.

The new submission includes traffic data from each of the six North American Class I railroads instead of sample data provided by the STB, the companies said.

The STB will have 30 days to review the new application.

ULSAN, South Korea, April 29 (UPI) — Founded in 1974, Korea Zinc began to churn out 50,000 tons of zinc in 1978 at its Onsan smelter about 250 miles southeast of Seoul. Over the next five decades, it expanded annual zinc capacity by more than 11-fold to 560,000 tons.

In addition, Korea Zinc added lead and copper into its production portfolio, a diversified smelting model it says underpins the competitive edge of the world’s largest non-ferrous metal manufacturer.

“In other smelters making just one substance, they have to deal with waste. But we take advantage of them to retrieve other materials,” Korea Zinc engineer Kang Ki-tae said. “That’s why our Onsan smelter is both competitive and environmentally friendly.”

That approach is evident on-site. Korea Zinc is reclaiming a former byproduct storage pond for the construction of a germanium plant targeted for operation in 2028, showing its reduced need for such storage facilities.

As a result, the company’s product portfolio extends beyond the three base metals of zinc, lead,and copper to include such precious and critical metals as gold, silver, indium, bismuth, antimony, gallium and germanium.

Among its customers are Hyundai Motor, Posco, Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Lockheed Martin. In August, Korea Zinc signed a memorandum of understanding with Lockheed Martin to supply germanium.

Kang said the company aims to replicate those competitive strengths in its U.S. facility to support the efforts of Washington in securing a stable supply chain of critical minerals.

Late last year, Korea Zinc laid out plans to develop an integrated smelter in Clarksville, Tenn., in cooperation with the U.S. government. Called Project Crucible, it will cost up to $7.4 billion.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for next year at a 160-acre site, with the plant targeted to come online in 2029. The complex is slated to produce 13 materials, including 11 designated as critical minerals.

At full ramp-up, Korea Zinc expects the facility to generate about 300,000 metric tons of zinc annually, in addition to 200,000 tons of lead and 35,000 tons of copper, as well as such strategic metals as antimony, indium, bismuth, tellurium and gallium.

China holds a dominant position in the production of rare earths and other critical minerals, often facing criticism for using export controls as leverage in trade tensions, including with the United States.

Amid those concerns, the Trump administration has pushed to develop alternative supply chains for rare earths and other critical minerals beyond China’s influence.

Korea Zinc engineer Lee Sung-jung said that the company also has focused heavily on the environment and automation.

“Autonomous forklifts have already been deployed, and last week we introduced a dozen of fuel-cell forklifts at our facilities,” he said.

Win-win initiative

Korea Zinc Executive Vice President Jimmy Kim said the U.S. investment could also help improve the Onsan smelter.

“We plan to incorporate more advanced technologies, including AI automation and digital twin systems developed by our core engineers, to build an even more sophisticated facility in the United States,” said Kim, who oversees the Onsan plant.

“If AI transformation proves successful there, it could also accelerate AI transformation at our factory here. We believe this could become a win-win opportunity for both countries while helping upgrade Onsan, as well,” he said.

Kim also welcomed the initiative’s selection last week for FAST-41, a federal fast‑track program that accelerates environmental reviews and permitting for major infrastructure projects.

“It shows the project is being highly valued by the U.S. government. We hope that by 2029, this will become an opportunity to further contribute to Korea-U.S. cooperation in technology security and mineral security,” he said.

According to the U.S. Permitting Council, FAST-41 participants have secured federal approvals about 18 months faster on average than comparable developments not covered by the program.

MINNEAPOLIS — Federal agents executed multiple searches in Minnesota on Tuesday, seizing records and other evidence in an ongoing fraud investigation by the Trump administration of publicly funded social programs for children, authorities said.

Few details were released, though armed agents were seen at child-care centers in the Minneapolis area. KSTP-TV said one crew even had a battering ram.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who has been on the defensive amid Trump administration claims that he hasn’t done enough to root out fraud, welcomed the raids. The state child welfare agency said it shared key information with law enforcement to “hold bad actors accountable.”

“We catch criminals when state and federal agencies share information. Joint investigations work, and securing justice depends on it,” Walz said.

The searches were being conducted at daycares, businesses and some residences, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.

Tensions between Minnesota officials and the federal government were high during an extraordinary immigration crackdown that led to the deaths of two people before Operation Metro Surge was eased in February.

Before that crackdown, the government had brought fraud charges against dozens of people, many of them Somali Americans, who were accused of fleecing a federal program that was meant to provide food to children. The investigation began during the Biden administration. More than 60 people have been convicted.

Various state and federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, participated in searches Tuesday. Officers from Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were removing boxes at some sites.

“The American people deserve to know how their taxpayer money was abused. … No stone will be left unturned,” DHS said.

Jason Steck, an attorney who represents childcare centers, said the names of targeted businesses that were shared with him show they’re operated by Somali immigrants. They were not his clients.

“A few childcare centers, a few autism centers, a few healthcare agencies of some type,” Steck said, adding that it appeared to be a “particular sweep for fraud.”

The executive director of Child Care Aware of Minnesota, a nonprofit that serves childhood educators, said the publicity will be unflattering.

“The majority are in business to do good business. You’re going to come across individuals who try to capitalize on systems that are broken and need to be fixed,” Candace Yates said.

Right-wing influencer Nick Shirley posted a video in December that caught the attention of the Trump administration. He alleged that members of Minnesota’s Somali community were running fake child care centers so they could collect federal subsidies, fueling suspicions on top of the food aid scandal. The claims were disproven by inspectors.

President Trump, meanwhile, has used dehumanizing rhetoric, calling Somali immigrants “garbage” and “low IQ.”

In February, Vice President JD Vance said the government would temporarily halt $243 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota over fraud concerns. Minnesota sued in response, warning it may have to cut healthcare for low-income families, but a judge on April 6 declined to grant a restraining order.

Walz told Congress in March that he wanted to work with the federal government in fraud investigations, but that the immigration surge had made it more difficult.

“The people of Minnesota have been singled out and targeted for political retribution at an unparalleled scale,” he said at the time.

Vancleave and Richer write for the Associated Press. Durkin Richer contributed from Washington. AP reporters Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis and Corey Williams and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this story.

April 27 (UPI) — An industry group that represents budget airlines has reached out to the Department of Transportation about creating a $2.5 billion pool to help keep them in business as the price of jet fuel remains high.

The Association of Value Airlines — which represents Allegiant Air, Avelo Air, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Sun Country — said Monday that it has approached the Trump administration about the pool because an 88% increase in the cost of jet fuel is endangering their ability to do business, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported.

Spirit Airlines itself has been negotiating a possible $500 million bailout from the federal government after warning that it is running out of cash that is separate from the AVA request.

Airlines worldwide started raising fees in March after the United States and Israel started the war in Iran, which led the country to blockade the Strait of Hormuz in response and has caused the price of gas and oil to increase significantly.

Fuel expenses account for about 30% of airline operating costs and even a sustained $1 increase in per barrel of oil can increase those costs by millions of dollars.

“Since February, jet fuel prices have increased by nearly 100% and are placing significant financial pressure on value airlines,” the industry group said in a statement.

It also said that the “liquidity pool” would be used “exclusively” to offset fuel costs that are expected to stay above $4 per gallon in North America for the rest of the year.

The AVA also has approached Congress about waiting a 7.5% excise tax and $5.30 per-segment fee that airlines pay the government for each passenger they transport for the same reason it asked the administration for the emergency pool.

President Donald Trump acknowledged last week that Spirit has been in conversation with his administration for a bailout as it has struggled to exit its second bankruptcy filing in a year.

Trump said that the discussions are ongoing, but that he would like to help keep Spirit in business because competition is good for consumers and he is concerned about job losses should it go out of business.

The trial’s outcome could sway the balance of power in AI, and jury selection starts on Monday.

Technology tycoons Elon Musk and Sam Altman are poised to face off in a high-stakes trial revolving around the alleged betrayal, deceit and unbridled ambition that blurred the bickering billionaires’ once-shared vision for the development of artificial intelligence.

The trial, which is scheduled to begin on Monday with jury selection, centres on the 2015 birth of ChatGPT maker OpenAI as a nonprofit start-up primarily funded by Musk before evolving into a capitalistic venture now valued at $852bn.

The trial’s outcome could sway the balance of power in AI, breakthrough technology that is increasingly being feared as a potential job killer and an existential threat to humanity’s survival.

Those perceived risks are among the reasons that Musk, the world’s richest person, has cited for filing a lawsuit in August 2024 that will now be decided by a jury and US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California.

The civil lawsuit accuses Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, and his top lieutenant and a cofounder, Greg Brockman, of double-crossing Musk by straying from the San Francisco company’s founding mission to be an altruistic steward of a revolutionary technology. The lawsuit alleges they shifted OpenAI into moneymaking mode behind his back.

The bitter legal fight may come down to a few pages in one executive’s personal diary.

“This is the only chance we have to get out from Elon,” wrote Brockman in the autumn of 2017. “Is he the ‘glorious leader’ that I would pick?”

Brockman’s diary entry is part of the thousands of pages of internal documents revealed in court.

Musk said the defendants kept him in the dark about their plans, exploited his name and financial support to create a “wealth machine” for themselves, and owe damages for having conned him and the public.

He also wants OpenAI to revert to a nonprofit, for Altman and Brockman to be removed as officers and for Altman to be removed from its board.

OpenAI has brushed off Musk’s allegations as an unfounded case of sour grapes that’s aimed at undercutting its rapid growth and bolstering Musk’s own xAI, which he launched in 2023 as a competitor.

The trial also carries risks for Musk, who last month was held liable by another jury for defrauding investors during his $44bn takeover of Twitter in 2022. Any damaging details about Musk and his business tactics could be particularly hurtful now because his rocket ship maker, SpaceX, plans to go public this summer in an initial public offering that could make him the world’s first trillionaire.

BUENOS AIRES, April 27 (UPI) — Argentina’s incentive program designed to attract large-scale investments, a key pillar of President Javier Milei economic agenda, is showing early signs of success through increased foreign currency flowing into the country.

In an economy in which hard currency shortages often shape government policy and financial stability, early results from the Large Investment Incentive Regime, known by its Spanish acronym RIGI, are being closely watched by government officials and financial markets.

According to figures from Argentina’s central bank, projects approved under the program generated a net inflow of $762 million through March. The funds entered the country directly and helped provide some stability to the exchange rate.

Gonzalo Brest, a legal partner at KPMG Argentina, told UPI the progress of the investment regime sends a positive signal for the country’s economy.

“In concrete terms, this could translate into more private-sector jobs, especially in areas such as construction, transportation, metalworking, logistics, energy and mining, along with greater economic activity in the provinces where the investments are established,” Brest said.

He added that the program’s impact could extend beyond employment and affect Argentina’s external accounts.

“If these projects move forward, Argentina could increase exports and generate greater foreign currency inflows — something that is critical for an economy that has historically faced external constraints and balance-of-payments pressures,” he said.

Brest said the RIGI program is also intended to address Argentina’s long-standing difficulty in attracting large-scale investment in capital-intensive industries that require stable rules over long periods.

“In the government’s view, the regime functions as a kind of ‘island of stability’ aimed at accelerating investment decisions that, without a special framework, would likely be postponed or relocated to other countries,” he said.

The program is primarily focused on sectors such as oil and gas, mining, renewable energy, ports and heavy industry, all with strong export potential. Brest said the initiative’s main goals are to boost exports, increase foreign currency inflows and create jobs.

Many of the proposed projects are tied to lithium, copper, gold, silver, liquefied natural gas and oil development in Vaca Muerta, one of Argentina’s largest shale oil and gas formations.

“These are sectors where Argentina has abundant resources, but needed greater certainty to turn them into production and exports,” Brest said.

He cautioned, however, that the program’s long-term success will depend on factors beyond the design of the regime itself, including macroeconomic stability, infrastructure, access to financing and public support for large-scale projects.

“Even so, the RIGI is already functioning as a strong signal to international markets that Argentina wants to compete for major investment capital,” he said.

The program has received more than 35 project proposals totaling more than $80 billion. Of those, 13 projects have received government approval, representing combined investments of more than $18 billion.

Among the latest proposals under review is the “Fértil Pampa” project led by Pampa Energía. The initiative calls for a nearly $2.4 billion investment to produce fertilizers in the industrial hub of Bahía Blanca in Buenos Aires province.

With these developments, the RIGI program is moving beyond its initial phase of announcements and expectations.

The next challenge will be determining whether the promised investments can be sustained over time and translated into real economic activity, jobs and a stable flow of foreign currency for a country seeking relief from one of its most persistent economic constraints.

April 27 (UPI) — The chief executive officer of United Airlines confirmed Monday that he pitched a potential merger to American Airlines, but was turned down.

United CEO Scott Kirby said in a statement Monday that American Airlines rejected his proposal.

“I approached American about exploring a combination because I thought we could do something incredible for customers together,” Kirby wrote in the statement.

Kirby wrote that he was seeking “a willing partner that shared my big, bold vision.”

He said the plan was aimed at increasing coverage for customers, creating a globally competitive airline and growing the U.S. economy.

“I was hoping to pitch that story to American, but they declined to engage and instead responded by publicly closing the door,” he wrote. “And without a willing partner, something this big simply can’t get done.”

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said last week that a merger with United would be anticompetitive and bad for customers.

Kirby had reportedly approached the Trump administration with his idea earlier this year, but President Donald Trump told CNBC last week that he would be against such a merger.

April 26 (UPI) — U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said on Sunday that he will end his blockade of Kevin Warsh’s confirmation as Federal Reserve chair after the Department of Justice ended its investigation into current chair Jerome Powell.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Friday said the Justice Department was ending its investigation into Powell over the Fed’s budget for renovations to its headquarters and has threatened him with criminal charges over testimony he gave about the costs.

Tillis made the announcement during an interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” because the department assured him that it has “completely and fully ended” the investigation.

He had previously said he would block all Trump nominees until the probe was dropped.

“We worked a lot over the weekend to make sure that we were very clear that we have assurances from the Department of Justice that I needed to feel like they were not using the department as a weapon to threaten the independence of the Fed,” Tillis told NBC News.

The Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into Powell in January after President Donald Trump questioned the Fed being over budget on renovations to its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The investigation was condemned by several members of Congress as improper, including Tillis, because it was seen as politically motivated punishment from Trump for not setting interest rates at levels he preferred.

Pirro said Friday that she has asked the Federal Reserve’s inspector general to investigate the renovation costs, which she said is “billions of dollars” over budget, and that she expects a “comprehensive report” on the matter.

She noted, however, that she “will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.”

April 25 (UPI) — An attraction planned for Central Florida called Sloth World Orlando will not open after at least 31 of its sloths died during the last two years in a facility that had not been properly permitted.

Sloth World Orlando had imported at least 69 wild-caught sloths that it planned to put on display in an educational “slotharium,” but an investigation by The Sloth Conservation Foundation, The Sloth Institute and investigative reporters found the animals were being mistreated and dying, the organizations said.

Orange County, Fla., building inspectors had posted a stop-work order at a warehouse that Sloth World Orlando was storing its sloths because of alterations made to the building with permits, and because the last use permit issued for the building was for vehicle storage, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Ben Agresta, who owns Sloth World Orlando, told Fox35Orlando, that he has ended plans for the slotharium and plans to file for bankruptcy after it was forced to give up its 13 surviving sloths in the wake of the reports.

The 13 sloths will live at the Central Florida Zoo until the Association of Zoos and Aquariums can help find long-term homes for them.

The two Costa Rica-based non-profits have been running a campaign about the facility and “following the initial press release, we received reports from former employees raising concerns about the welfare of the animals,” they said in a press release.

The organization’s report, published by Inside Climate News, found that at least 31 of Sloth World Orlando’s sloths died between December 2024 and February 2025 when they started importing the animals, and that another 24 slots remain unaccounted for.

A separate report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last year performed unannounced routine inspection of the storage facility that resulted in warnings about the sloths living conditions and improper records being kept on all of them.

Among the issues raised about the facility was the lack of power, heat or air conditioning and no water.

The state report also noted that in one shipment of 10 sloths wild-caught sloths, two arrived deceased, and the other eight appeared to be in poor health and later died as well.

Agresta said in a statement that allegations the animals were poorly treated are “false and inaccurate,” claiming instead that the company “lost sloths that had a virus with showed barely any symptoms and was undetectable even after necropsy.”