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SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday vetoed legislation that would have phased out a range of popular consumer products, including nonstick pots and pans, that contain synthetic chemicals with potential links to cancer.

“I appreciate the efforts to protect the health and safety of consumers, and while this bill is well-intentioned, I am deeply concerned about the impact this bill would have on the availability of affordable options in cooking products,” Newsom wrote in his veto statement. “I believe we must carefully consider the consequences that may result from a dramatic shift of products on our shelves.”

The legislation would have prohibited the selling or distributing of cookware with intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, by 2030. It phased out PFAS in products for infants and children, ski wax, dental floss, food packaging and cleaning products starting in 2028. Previously used items would have been exempt.

Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), who introduced the legislation, Senate Bill 682, said he will continue to work on the issue moving forward.

“We are obviously disappointed,” he said. “We know there are safer alternatives — [but] I understand there were strong voices on both sides on this topic.”

Allen previously explained he introduced the bill to help protect the state’s water supply from contamination.

A study released in 2023 by the U.S. Geological Survey found tap water in urban areas of Southern and Central California is more likely to contain PFAS than the drinking water in most of the nation’s other regions.

“The water agencies, sanitation agencies and local governments are faced with increasingly impossible-to-meet standards just to keep the water supply for our constituents clean,” Allen said during a Senate committee meeting in April. “They’re facing the costs while the producers who keep pushing these products out on the market are not being held accountable.”

PFAS are commonly dubbed “forever chemicals” because of their well-established longevity. They are linked to adverse health effects, including liver enzyme changes and kidney and testicular cancer, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The chemicals have been used for decades to prevent food from sticking to pans or packaging, or to make materials more resistant to stains. California has taken steps in recent years to ban their use in certain items, like cosmetics and menstrual products.

Dozens of organizations weighed-in on Allen’s bill, with the Sierra Club, California Health Coalition Advocacy and the League of California Cities supporting the legislation.

The Chemical Industry Council of California and the Cookware Sustainability Alliance were among those opposed.

Steve Burns, president of the sustainability alliance, was especially concerned by the provision barring the distribution of the banned products.

“California is the entry point for nonstick cookware and other products that come into the Port of Long Beach, the Port of Los Angeles or the Port of Oakland, and then get distributed throughout the country,” he told The Times. “They go to warehouses, distribution centers and get loaded up on rail or usually trucks — so there’s a lot of jobs in the California economy that depend on products that have Teflon.”

Burns said science hasn’t shown that all PFAS are harmful and argued California should have studied the issue further. He pointed to Illinois, which recently passed similar legislation but ultimately nixed the line banning nonstick cookware. An amendment instead directs the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to assess scientific data on fluoropolymers, the type of PFAS used in nonstick pots and pans.

Several states have recently moved toward restricting items with PFAS. Last January, Minnesota became the first state to ban PFAS in cookware. The Cookware Sustainability Alliance filed a lawsuit arguing the law discriminated against out-of-state commerce. A judge dismissed the suit in August.

The sustainability alliance has shared letters of opposition on its website from several prominent chefs and culinary personalities, including cook and television host Rachael Ray and Mark Dommen, the chef at Hestan, a new restaurant in Napa slated to open later this year.

Dommen explained the legislation would have placed an unfair burden on restaurants and food service providers.

“Non-stick cookware is essential to our daily operations and eliminating these products without a viable alternative would drive up costs, disrupt our supply chain, and put California restaurants at a competitive disadvantage,” Dommen wrote.

Ray, who has a cookware line, argued easy-clean cookware helps families eat healthier by making it easier to prepare meals without extra oils or fats.

Her letter drew a gentle rebuke from actor and environmental activist Mark Ruffalo, who implored Ray on social media to reconsider her stance and said her advocacy on behalf of the cookware industry was putting the bill in jeopardy.

“Some of us have so much PFAS in our blood that we face a far greater risk of developing cancer,” he wrote in a recent letter shared on X. “Let’s work together to get PFAS out of the everyday products we bring into our home.”

Scientific studies about the health effects of PFAS will continue, according to the CDC.

“Ongoing research has identified associations between PFAS exposure and several health impacts,” the agency’s website states. “There are many factors that can influence the risk of these effects, such as exposure, individual factors and other health determinants. Research is ongoing to understand the mechanisms of PFAS toxicity.”

Times staff writer Melody Gutierrez contributed to this report.

Sudan’s transitional Prime Minister Kamil Idris told the 80th United Nations General Assembly Sudan’s civil war has killed 150,000 and displaced 12 million. He urged lifting chemical weapons sanctions he called “political,” condemned foreign mercenaries, and demanded an end to the siege of el-Fasher.

Sept. 14 (UPI) — Ukraine launched large airstrikes late Saturday and into Sunday that hit a chemical plant and an oil refinery inside of Russia, authorities confirmed, as Russia tested a new hypersonic cruise missile during a joint exercise with Belarus.

Dmitry Makhonin, the governor of Russia’s Perm Krai territory, said in a statement Saturday that a Ukrainian drone flew into an industrial building in Gubakha. He said that no casualties were reported and that the chemical plant was operating normally.

“I appeal to all residents of the region — refrain from publishing photos and videos of the drone,” he said. “By posting such information on social networks, you are helping the enemy, who has made another pathetic attempt to intimidate us. They will not succeed. Victory will be ours.”

But a Ukrainian military intelligence source told The Kyiv Independent newspaper in Ukraine that equipment for urea production has been damaged. Urea is a nitrogen fertilizer used in agriculture that can also be used to make explosives.

The Russian independent media publication Astra reported that the plant hit is operated by Metafrax Chemicals, which has been targeted with sanctions by Britain and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed in a statement that it had hit the Kirish oil refinery in the Leningrad region of Russia.

“Explosions and fire were recorded at the refinery. The results of the impressions are being clarified,” Ukrainian officials said.

The Kirish refinery is one of the largest oil refineries in Russia and produces petroleum products, including automobile gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel.

Leningrad regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Telegram that three drones were destroyed in the Kirishi area but that falling debris sparked a fire, which was put out. Nobody was injured in the incident, he said.

Also on Saturday, falling debris from an intercepted drone hit another oil refinery in the Ufa district of the Bashkortostan region of Russia, regional governor Rady Khabirov confirmed. There were no casualties but the site suffered minor damage after a fire broke out.

“After that, another UAV was shot down. The scale of the consequences of its fall is still being clarified,” he said. “All services have been put on combat alert.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday its forces shot down 80 Ukrainian drones overnight across a wide area of Russia and occupied Crimea. The largest number, 30, were intercepted over the Bryansk region, while 15 were destroyed over Crimea, 12 over Smolensk, and 10 over Kaluga.

And on Friday, Russia said it had shot down hundreds of Ukrainian drones, many of them targeting facilities of the multinational Russian oil company, Lukoil, southwest of Moscow.

Ukraine’s airstrike comes as Russia on Sunday tested a new Zircon cruise missile on a target in the Barents Sea during a joint military exercise with Belarus.

“According to objective control data received in real time, the target was destroyed by a direct hit,” the Russian Defense Ministry said. “The area where the missile launch was conducted was closed in advance to civilian shipping and aircraft flights.”

An experiment intended to rid “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum Brandi Glanville of a facial parasite left the former reality TV star with chemical burns.

In a short video posted to TikTok on Sunday that is a little startling and also a little painful-looking, Glanville, 52, said that she decided to use Nair to try to eradicate the parasite. However, the popular hair removal product aggravated her skin, leaving her with apparent chemical burns.

“I know I look attractive,” she joked. “Good news, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on peels and lasers anymore.”

During the clip, she referred to the parasite as “Caroline,” a possible reference to her “Real Housewives” rival Caroline Manzo. In January 2023, Manzo accused Glanville of sexual assault during filming. This led to both of them departing the Morocco set of “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip.” That was also where Glanville previously said she might have contracted the parasite.

Glanville has denied all claims Manzo has made against her, calling them absurd, Page Six reports.

In her TikTok video, Glanville claims the Nair successfully moved the parasite (“Caroline”) to a different part of her face upon application.

“Nair is the fountain of youth, I figured it out,” she said. “But I overdid it … seven minutes, don’t do it.”

The first time Glanville shared information regarding the parasite, she claimed that she had consulted “every doctor under the sun” but to no avail. The mysterious condition was said to have left her with frequent facial swelling and missing teeth.

She told ET in December 2024 that she’d suspected a parasite had made its way into her system after the filming in Morocco.

“We had food sitting out for hours on end, and some of it was meat,” she said, adding that medical complications began six months later.

Glanville claimed that she had since spent more than $70,000 on noninvasive procedures to pinpoint exactly what was going on. Notably, she was on IV antibiotics that alleviated swelling but proved to be too expensive.

“I’ve been on meds this whole year. I don’t socialize. I don’t go out,” she said at the time.

Twelve years after a breakup that didn’t stick — and one year shy of the 20th anniversary of its biggest album — My Chemical Romance is on the road this summer playing 2006’s “The Black Parade” from beginning to end.

The tour, which stopped Saturday night at Dodger Stadium for the first of two concerts, doesn’t finally manifest the long-anticipated reunion of one of emo’s most influential bands; My Chem reconvened in 2019 and has been performing, pandemic-related delays aside, fairly consistently since then (including five nights at Inglewood’s Kia Forum in 2022 and two headlining appearances at Las Vegas’ When We Were Young festival).

Yet only now is the group visiting sold-out baseball parks — and without even the loss leader of new music to help drum up interest in its show.

“Thank you for being here tonight,” Gerard Way, My Chem’s 48-year-old frontman, told the crowd of tens of thousands at Saturday’s gig. “This is our first stadium tour, which is a wild thing to say.” To mark the occasion, he pointed out, his younger brother Mikey was playing a bass guitar inscribed with the Dodgers’ logo.

So how did this darkly witty, highly theatrical punk band reach a new peak so deep into its comeback? Certainly it’s benefiting from an overall resurgence of rock after years dominated by pop and hip-hop; My Chem’s Dodger Stadium run coincides this weekend with the return of the once-annual Warped Tour in Long Beach after a six-year dormancy.

Then again, Linkin Park — to name another rock group huge in the early 2000s — recently moved a planned Dodger Stadium date to Inglewood’s much smaller Intuit Dome, presumably as a result of lower-than-expected ticket sales.

The endurance of My Chemical Romance, which formed in New Jersey before eventually relocating to Los Angeles, feels rooted more specifically in its obsession with comic books and in Gerard Way’s frank lyrics about depression and his flexible portrayal of gender and sexuality. (“GERARD WAY TRANSED MY GENDER,” read a homemade-looking T-shirt worn Saturday by one fan.) Looking back now, it’s clear the band’s blend of drama and emotion — of world-building and bloodletting — set a crucial template for a generation or two of subsequent acts, from bands like Twenty One Pilots to rappers like the late Juice Wrld to a gloomy pop singer like Sombr, whose viral hit “Back to Friends” luxuriates in a kind of glamorous misery.

Gerard Way, from left, Mikey Way and Ray Toro perform as My Chemical Romance.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

For much of its audience, My Chem’s proudly sentimental music contains the stuff of identity — one reason thousands showed up to Dodger Stadium wearing elaborate outfits inspired by the band’s detailed iconography.

In 2006, the quadruple-platinum “Black Parade” LP arrived as a concept album about a dying cancer patient; Way and his bandmates dressed in military garb that made them look like members of Satan’s marching band. Nearly two decades later, the wardrobe remained the same as the band muscled through the album’s 14 tracks, though the narrative had transformed into a semi-coherent Trump-era satire of political authoritarianism: My Chemical Romance, in this telling a band from the fictional nation of Draag, was performing for the delectation of the country’s vain and ruthless dictator, who sat stony-faced on a throne near the pitcher’s mound flanked by a pair of soldiers.

The theater of it all was fun — important (if a bit crude), you could even say, given how young much of the band’s audience is and how carefully so many modern pop stars avoid taking political stands that could threaten to alienate some number of their fans. After “Welcome to the Black Parade,” a bearded guy playing a government apparatchik handed out Dodger Dogs to the band and to the dictator; Way waited to find out whether the dictator approved of the hot dog before he decided he liked it too.

Fans react as My Chemical Romance performs.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

Yet what really mattered was how great the songs still are: the deranged rockabilly stomp of “Teenagers,” the Eastern European oom-pah of “Mama,” the eruption of “Welcome to the Black Parade” from fist-pumping glam-rock processional to breakneck thrash-punk tantrum.

Indeed, the better part of Saturday’s show came after the complete “Black Parade” performance when My Chem — the Way brothers along with guitarists Frank Iero and Ray Toro, drummer Jarrod Alexander and keyboardist Jamie Muhoberac — reappeared sans costumes on a smaller secondary stage to “play some jams,” as Gerard Way put it, from elsewhere in the band’s catalog. (Its most recent studio album came out in 2010, though it’s since issued a smattering of archived material.)

Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance performs.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

“I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” was blistering atomic pop, while “Summertime” thrummed with nervy energy; “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)” was as delightfully snotty as its title suggests. The band reached back for what Way called his favorite My Chem song — “Vampires Will Never Hurt You,” from the group’s 2002 debut — and performed, evidently for the first time, a chugging power ballad called “War Beneath the Rain,” which Way recalled cutting in a North Hollywood studio “before the band broke up” as My Chem tried to make a record that never came out.

The group closed, as it often does, with its old hit “Helena,” a bleak yet turbo-charged meditation on what the living owe the dead, and as he belted the chorus, Way dropped to his knees in an apparent mix of exhaustion, despair, gratitude — maybe a bit of befuddlement too. He was leaving no feeling unfelt.

The ruling might set a precedent to allow prosecution of other government leaders linked to atrocities.

France’s highest court is set to rule on whether it can strip the state immunity of Bashar al-Assad, the toppled Syrian leader in exile in Russia, because of the sheer brutal scale of evidence in accusations documented against him by Syrian activists and European prosecutors.

If the judges at the Cour de Cassation lift al-Assad’s immunity on Friday, it could pave the way for his trial in absentia over the use of chemical weapons in Ghouta in 2013 and Douma in 2018.

It could also set a precedent to allow the prosecution of other government leaders linked to atrocities, human rights activists and lawyers say.

Al-Assad has retained no lawyers for these charges and has denied he was behind the chemical attacks.

The opposition has long rejected al-Assad’s denial, as his forces were the only side in the ruinous, nearly 14-year civil war to possess sarin.

A ruling against al-Assad would be “a huge victory for the victims”, said Mazen Darwish, president of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, which collected evidence of war crimes, quoted by The Associated Press news agency.

“It is not only about Syrians; this will open the door for the victims from any country and this will be the first time that a domestic investigative judge has the right to issue an arrest warrant for a president during his rule.”

He said the ruling could enable his group to legally go after government members, like launching a money laundering case against former Syrian Central Bank governor and Minister of Economy Adib Mayaleh, whose lawyers have argued he had immunity under international law.

Brutal crackdown

For more than 50 years, Syria was ruled by Hafez al-Assad and then his son, Bashar.

During the Arab Spring, rebellion broke out against their rule in 2011 across the country of 23 million, igniting a brutal civil war that killed more than half a million people, according to the the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Millions more fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkiye and Europe.

The al-Assad dynasty also fomented sectarian tensions to stay in power, a legacy driving renewed recent violence in Syria against minority groups, despite promises that the country’s new leaders will carve out a political future for Syria that includes and represents all its communities.

As the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for leaders accused of atrocities – such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza, and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines – the French judges’ ruling could empower the legal framework to prosecute not just deposed and exiled leaders but those currently in power.

The Syrian government denied in 2013 that it was behind the Ghouta attack, but the United States subsequently threatened military retaliation, then settled for a deal with Moscow for al-Assad to give up his chemical weapons stockpile, opening the way for Russia to wield huge influence in the war-torn nation.

Al-Assad survived more than a decade longer, aided militarily by Russia and Iranian-aligned groups, including Hezbollah, before being overthrown by rebel groups.

WASHINGTON — The Clinton administration shelved its bid to win Senate ratification of a chemical weapons treaty Thursday after Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole set in motion an eleventh-hour groundswell of opposition that threatened to send the measure to defeat.

At President Clinton’s request, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) pulled the item from the Senate floor before it could be put to a vote. Strategists said that the White House would try to resubmit it before the election but may have to wait until next year.

The unexpected withdrawal was an embarrassment for the president, whose administration had expected earlier this year that the treaty would easily win ratification.

Clinton and Vice President Al Gore had personally telephoned crucial senators over the last few days to try to shore up support. The Senate began debate on the measure Thursday morning, but by midafternoon the floor action was all over.

The pact had been gradually losing support even before Thursday. By this week, opponents had mustered at least 25 of the 34 votes necessary to block endorsement. The Constitution requires approval of two-thirds of the Senate–or 67 senators–to ratify a treaty.

On Wednesday night, Dole sent a letter to Republican senators saying he had serious problems with the treaty. The move set off a rush of opposition, increasing the chances that it would be defeated.

In his letter, the Republican presidential candidate said the Senate should insist that the treaty “recognize and safeguard American constitutional protections against unwarranted searches.”

Republicans have been divided over the pact, which was signed by President Bush. It has received strong support from the nation’s major chemical companies, who argued that if the U.S. did not join the new regulatory system set up by the treaty, American chemical export sales–worth about $60 billion annually–would be endangered.

But Dole and other opponents had questioned whether the pact would be effective because the countries whose chemical weapons programs pose some of the biggest threats to U.S. interests–North Korea, Libya, Syria and Iraq–have not even signed on to the treaty.

Opponents also voiced doubts that it would be possible to verify compliance, because many of the most lethal chemical weapons can be manufactured in makeshift laboratories unlikely to be detected by United Nations inspectors. And they argued that the inspections called for under the treaty would be a heavy burden for smaller chemical manufacturers.

The action prompted a bitter rejoinder from Clinton campaign headquarters. James Rubin, the campaign’s foreign policy spokesman, strongly criticized Dole for a “failure of leadership” in rallying opposition against the weapons pact. He called the action “a tragedy.”

It is unclear if the White House can push the measure through before the election, but officials conceded privately that the administration probably will have to wait for the new Congress before trying again.

However, a senior administration official said that allowing the Senate to reject the treaty formally would have been even worse for U.S. prestige. “The president reached a judgment that we could not risk” the vote and he stopped the floor action, the official said.

The treaty, which has been ratified by 63 countries, now appears likely to go into force without American participation. Only two more countries among the 160 that have signed the treaty need to ratify it for it to take effect.

If that happens without U.S. ratification, the United States would not be a part of the planning or implementation of the international inspection system, which is designed to ensure that prohibited chemicals are not being manufactured.

Considered a landmark by arms-control advocates, the treaty would oblige the United States and other signatories to eliminate all their chemical weapons within 10 years and shut down any facilities that could be used for developing or manufacturing them.

The ban would be enforced by a new U. N. agency that would be empowered to inspect suspected chemical weapons sites and factories at will–even those firms that are only peripherally involved in chemicals production–and demand prosecution of any violators.

Investigators in China are working to find the cause of a powerful explosion at a chemical plant that killed five people and injured 19 more. More than 200 emergency workers responded to the blast in Shandong province, which damaged properties up to a kilometre away.

THIS is the shocking moment a massive explosion shook a chemical plant in eastern China’s Shandong province.

Terrifying footage shows the moment of the eruption at the Gaomi Youdao Chemical plant in the city of Weifang at around midday local time.

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Images show the roaring inferno followed by billows of black smoke rising high into the sky.

Emergency Services sent more than 230 firefighters and 55 vehicles to the scene to try and bring the blaze caused by the explosion under control.

The explosion killed at least five people while 19 are reportedly injured, according to local emergency management authorities.

A further six people are currently missing.

A local resident told the The Associated Press news agency that his home – located than 7km (4.3 miles) from the plant – shook from the impact of the explosion.

The plant manufactures pesticides as well as chemicals for medical use, and has more than 500 employees, according to corporate registration records.

Local fire officials sent more than 230 personnel to the scene, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.

Workplace safety has improved over the years in China but remains a stubborn problem.

The National Ministry of Emergency Management recorded 21,800 incidents and 19,600 deaths in 2024.

A recent spate of such accidents has prompted calls from President Xi Jinping for “deep reflection” and greater efforts to stop them.

Last month, at least 15 people were killed and 44 injured in a fire at a residential building in the eastern city of Nanjing.

In January, dozens died after a fire broke out at a store in the central city of Xinyu, with state news agency Xinhua reporting the blaze had been caused by the “illegal” use of fire by workers in the store’s basement.

That fire came just days after a late-evening blaze at a school in central Henan province killed 13 schoolchildren as they slept in a dormitory.

Domestic media reports suggested the fire was caused by an electric heating device.

Meanwhile, a deadly explosion ripped through a fried chicken shop in northern China, killing two people and injuring 26 more last year.

Shops, homes, and cars were completely destroyed in the horror blast, which is believed to have been caused by a gas leak, according to state reported at the time.

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May 22 (UPI) — The United States will impose sanctions on Sudan after determining that its military used chemical weapons against its breakaway paramilitary forces during their civil war, the State Department said.

The determination that the government of Sudan used chemical weapons last year was made by the United States on April 24 under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 and was delivered to Congress on Thursday.

The sanctions, which include restrictions on U.S. exports and access to U.S. government lines of credit, will be imposed on June 6, following the 15-day Congressional notification period, the department said.

The Sudanese government has yet to respond to the development.

The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have been locked in a brutal civil war since April 15, 2023, following years of political instability.

In March, the Sudanese military captured the capital, Khartoum, marking a significant victory in the war that has killed an estimated 150,000 people and continues to rage.

The United States has accused both SAF and RSF of committing crimes against humanity and, last month, said atrocities committed by the paramilitary forces meet the threshold of genocide.

In January, The New York Times reported that the SAF used chemical weapons at least twice against the RSF since the war began in remote areas of the country. Officials cited in the report said the chemical weapon used was chlorine gas.

Sudan has denied the accusation.

The Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 is a U.S. law that requires the president to impose sanctions on countries determined to use chemical weapons.

Sudan is also a signatory to the international Chemical Weapons Convention, which obliges all signatories to chemically disarm by destroying their stockpiles of chemical weapons.

“The United States calls on the Government of Sudan to cease all chemical weapons use and uphold its obligations under the CWC,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

“The United States remains fully committed to hold to account those responsible for contributing to chemical weapons proliferation.”

The US will cut exports to Sudan and lines of government credit after determining banned weapons were used in the conflict between government forces and the RSF.

The United States will impose sanctions on Sudan after determining that the country’s military used chemical weapons last year while fighting against paramilitary forces.

“The United States calls on the Government of Sudan to cease all chemical weapons use and uphold its obligations” under the Chemical Weapons Convention, US Department of State spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement on Thursday.

Bruce said the US Congress has been notified of the State Department’s decision, and sanctions will be imposed around June 6.

They will include restrictions on US exports to Sudan and a block on access to US government lines of credit. Bruce’s statement did not include further details about when and where the chemical weapons were used by Sudanese government forces.

The New York Times reported in January that government forces had used chemical weapons on at least two occasions in remote parts of Sudan against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The report cited unnamed US officials who said the weapon may have been chlorine gas, which can lead to severe respiratory pain and death.

Sudan’s army and the RSF have been locked in a civil war since April 2023 following a power struggle between the two sides.

The conflict has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and a famine across Sudan, killing thousands and displacing 13 million people.

The US has also previously accused the RSF and its allies of committing genocide, and sanctioned top leaders like the RSF head, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

In January, the US also sanctioned Sudan’s military chief and de facto head of state, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, for refusing to participate in international peace talks.

A chemical spill in the city of Jundiaí has turned a lake bright blue, killing fish and dyeing local wildlife. Authorities are now investigating the environmental impact as the dyed water flows toward the Jundiaí River, whose water is used by nearby cities and companies.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — As a trade war sparked by President Trump’s tariffs stokes worry and uncertainty in the global economy, Puerto Rico sees an opportunity.

Government officials in the U.S. territory are jumping on planes to try to persuade international companies to relocate their manufacturing plants to the island, where they would be exempt from tariffs.

Any relocation would be a boost to Puerto Rico’s shaky economy as the government emerges from a historic bankruptcy and continues to struggle with chronic power outages. The island also is bracing for potentially big cuts in federal funding under the Trump administration, with federal funds accounting for more than half of Puerto Rico’s budget.

“The tariff issue is a controversial one, but for Puerto Rico, it’s a great opportunity,” said Gov. Jenniffer González.

Manufacturing remains the island’s biggest industry, representing nearly half of its gross domestic product. But the government wants to recapture Puerto Rico’s heyday, when dozens of big-name companies, especially in the pharmaceutical sector, were based here and kept the economy humming.

So far, officials have identified between 75 and 100 companies that might consider relocating operations to Puerto Rico given the ongoing trade war, said Ella Woger-Nieves, chief executive of Invest Puerto Rico, a public-private partnership that promotes the island as a business and investment destination.

The companies identified work in sectors including aerospace, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Officials also have welcomed site selectors to Puerto Rico and organized tours to show them the island’s infrastructure and emphasize that tariffs wouldn’t apply here.

“This is the moment to plant those seeds,” Woger-Nieves said.

She said officials with Invest Puerto Rico and various government agencies are expected to make nearly 20 more trips this year in a bid to attract more manufacturing. The government praised an executive order that Trump signed May 5 that aims to reduce the time it takes to approve construction of pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in the U.S.

From needlework to chemicals

In the mid-1900s, needlework was one of Puerto Rico’s largest industries, employing about 7,000 workers who labored on handkerchiefs, underwear, bedspreads and other items, according to a 1934 fair competition code signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Manufacturing later shifted to chemicals, clothes and electronics. By the late 1970s, a growing number of pharmaceutical companies began moving their operations to Puerto Rico, lured by a federal tax incentive created in 1976 to help boost the island’s economic growth. However, in 1996, the U.S. government began phasing out the incentive, which had exempted the subsidiaries of U.S. companies operating in Puerto Rico from federal taxes on local profits.

From 1995 to 2005, overall manufacturing employment fell by nearly 30%, but employment in the sectors of pharmaceuticals, medicines and chemicals increased by at least 10%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Puerto Rico continues to lead U.S. exports of pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing, representing nearly 20% of total U.S. exports in 2020, according to the bureau.

In 2024, the island exported nearly $25 billion worth of goods, including $11 billion in vaccines and certain cultures; $7 billion worth of packaged medicaments; $1 billion in hormones; $984 million in orthopedic items; and $625 million worth of medical instruments, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

Sergio Marxuach, policy director and general counsel for the Center for a New Economy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, said the push to attract more companies makes sense, especially recruiting those in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors.

“If I were advising the government, begin there, because you already have a footprint,” he said.

Marxuach noted that outside of those areas, Puerto Rico could have an advantage when it comes to national defense and security contracts, including the manufacturing of drones or underwater surveillance systems.

“They need a place to manufacture in scale,” he said, adding that doing so in a U.S. jurisdiction is key.

Puerto Rico’s government also is meeting with university officials to potentially change curriculums if needed to ensure students are graduating with the skills required by companies.

The Achilles’ heel

Puerto Rico touts its U.S. jurisdiction, tax incentives and skilled workforce as reasons international companies should relocate to the island.

But it cannot escape its well-known energy problems.

Chronic power outages continue to plague Puerto Rico, with two island-wide blackouts occurring, on Dec. 31 and April 16.

Crews are still repairing the power grid after it was razed by Hurricane Maria in September 2017, a powerful Category 4 storm. But the grid was already fragile from lack of maintenance and investment for decades.

“Puerto Rico needs more reliable energy for the economic growth to improve,” said Robert F. Mujica, executive director of a federal control board that oversees the island’s finances.

Woger-Nieves, of Invest Puerto Rico, said that when officials meet with company leaders, they explain the state of the island’s energy infrastructure and offer alternatives including cogeneration and renewables.

“Power doesn’t have to necessarily be an impediment,” she said.

Marxuach, with the Center for a New Economy, said Puerto Rico’s energy system is costly and inefficient, and he noted that alternatives can be expensive.

“Puerto Rico has to address some issues that actually create additional costs for investors to come here,” he said.

One of those costs is that any goods sent to the U.S. from Puerto Rico must by law be sent aboard a U.S.-flagged vessel with a U.S. crew.

Other challenges remain.

Currently, the short-term reaction of many CEOs and companies “is basically to wait and see” how the tariff war plays out, Marxuach said.

Trump has said that he wants to keep some tariffs in place, but he also has mentioned efforts to reach deals with trading partners. His team said Trump is using “strategic uncertainty” to his advantage.

Another problem is that relocating operations takes years, not months, and foreign competitors also are vying for the attention of international companies.

“We’re competing with Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, that have very advanced manufacturing facilities already,” Marxuach said. “It’s not a slam dunk.”

Coto writes for the Associated Press.