
South Carolina peach grower took money from farmworkers' pay for political donations, Feds say
CBSN
Titan Farms, a South Carolina company that supplies fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables to major U.S. retailers, illegally deducted political contributions and cleaning fees from more than 1,300 seasonal foreign workers, according to federal officials.
Billed as the largest peach grower on the East Coast, Titan violated H-2A program rules by requesting workers make political contributions that brought their pay below the required $11.13 hour rate; and by charging workers a cleaning fee for employer-provided housing, the U.S. Department of Labor found.
Titan was required to pay $338,446 to 1,341 workers, with more than $200,000 distributed to about half of those affected. The agency is now trying to find the remaining 617 workers collectively owed $132,308, it stated.

Trump's tariffs target Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Australian territory inhabited by penguins
With his announcement of widespread new tariffs on Wednesday, President Trump spared very few places on the globe from his effort to upend global trade — even the remote Heard Island and McDonald Islands, a sub-Antarctic Australian territory inhabited by penguins, but no people.

Researchers are predicting an above-average Atlantic hurricane season in 2025, likely producing stronger and more frequent storms than a typical year but at the same time with less intensity expected than last season. The annual prediction is closely watched in Florida and other coastal states at risk when hurricane season officially starts June 1.