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The grandson of the inventor of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups has lashed out at The Hershey Co., accusing the candy company of hurting the Reese's brand by shifting to cheaper ingredients in many products.

Hershey acknowledged some recipe changes but said that it was trying to meet consumer demand for innovation. High cocoa prices have also led Hershey and other manufacturers to experiment with using less chocolate in recent years.

Brad Reese said in a February 14 letter to Hershey's corporate brand manager that for multiple Reese's products, the company replaced milk chocolate with compound coatings and peanut butter with peanut crème.

How does The Hershey Co. continue to position Reese's as its flagship brand, a symbol of trust, quality, and leadership, while quietly replacing the very ingredients (Milk Chocolate + Peanut Butter) that built Reese's trust in the first place? Reese wrote in the letter, which he posted on his LinkedIn profile.

Hershey said that Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are made the same way they always have been, with milk chocolate and peanut butter that the company makes itself from roasted peanuts and a few other ingredients, including sugar and salt. But some Reese's ingredients vary, Hershey said.

As we've grown and expanded the Reese's product line, we make product recipe adjustments that allow us to make new shapes, sizes, and innovations that Reese's fans have come to love and ask for, while always protecting the essence of what makes Reese's unique and special: the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter, the company said.

Brad Reese said he thinks Hershey went too far. He said he recently threw out a bag of Reese's Mini Hearts, which were a new product released for Valentine's Day. The packaging notes that the heart-shaped candies are made from chocolate candy and peanut butter crème, not milk chocolate and peanut butter.

It was not edible, Reese told The Associated Press in an interview. You have to understand. I used to eat a Reese's product every day. This is very devastating for me.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to drop its longtime standard of requiring two rigorous studies to win approval for new drugs, the latest change from Trump administration officials vowing to speed up the availability of certain medical products.

Going forward, the FDA's “default position” will be to require one study for new drugs and other novel health products, FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and a top deputy, Dr. Vinay Prasad, wrote in a piece published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The announcement is the latest example of Makary and his team changing long-standing FDA standards and procedures with the stated goal of slashing bureaucracy and accelerating the availability of new medicines.

Since arriving at the agency last April, Makary has launched a series of directives that he says will shorten FDA reviews, including mandating the use of artificial intelligence by staffers and offering one-month drug assessments for new medications that serve “national interests.” It contrasts with the FDA's more restrictive approach to other products, including vaccines.

In their piece published in February, Makary and Prasad state that dropping the two-trial requirement reflects modern advances that have made drug research increasingly precise and scientific.

“In this setting, overreliance on two trials no longer makes sense,” they write. “In 2026, there are powerful alternative ways to feel assured that our products help people live longer or better than requiring manufacturers to test them yet again.” The FDA officials predicted the shift would lead to “a surge in drug development.”

Dr. Janet Woodcock, the FDA's former drug director, said the change makes sense and reflects the FDA's decades-long move toward relying on one trial, combined with supporting evidence, for various life-threatening diseases, including cancer.

The scientific point is well taken that as we move toward greater understanding of biology and disease, we don't need to do two trials all the time, said Woodcock, who led the FDA's drug center for about 20 years before retiring in 2024.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

If you daydream about getting a break from work, you might picture two weeks of vacation or a long weekend getaway. But some people dare to imagine something bigger and find ways to get a substantial breather from stress or their day-to-day routines.

Mini-sabbaticals. Adult gap years. Micro-retirement. Extended career breaks go by many names and take many forms, from using the time between jobs to explore, to taking an employer-approved leave, to becoming a digital nomad or saving up for a month-long adventure. Creating space for a reset, whether mental, physical, or spiritual, is the common thread.

Cost, personal responsibilities, and fears of being judged by colleagues, friends, and family members are some of the obstacles that prevent people from hitting pause on their work lives and setting out in search of new perspectives, according to sabbatical experts and people who have taken sabbaticals.

American attitudes toward taking time off are different from those in much of Europe, where free time and rest are prioritized, said Kira Schrabram, an assistant professor of management at the University of Washington’s business school who studies meaningful and sustainable work. In the European Union, workers are entitled by law to at least 20 days of paid vacation a year.

But more companies are allowing weeks or months of paid or unpaid leave as a way to retain valued employees, according to Schrabram. Seven years ago, she brought her experience researching burnout to the Sabbatical Project, an initiative founded by Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer DJ DiDonna that promotes sabbaticals as “a sacred human ritual” to which more people should have access.

Schrabram, DiDonna, and University of Notre Dame Professor Emeritus Matt Bloom interviewed 50 U.S. professionals who took an extended break from non-academic jobs. From the responses, they identified three types of sabbaticals: working holidays that involved pursuing a passion project; “free dives” that combined exciting adventures with periods of rest; and quests undertaken by burned-out people who engaged in life-changing explorations once they had recovered sufficiently.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

An ambitious universal childcare program aimed at fully footing the bill for working families across New Mexico is being enshrined into law, with state legislators making good on promises by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to make the state the first in the nation to offer such a program to families of all income levels.

As parents across the nation grapple with crippling daycare bills that threaten to keep them at home and out of the workforce, political leaders from New York to San Francisco have been angling to expand access to free and subsidized care. The political stakes are high as the potential for budget uncertainties and fraud looms large.

California has opted to eliminate copayments for some families, while Washington and Oregon cap what families pay. In Vermont, a payroll tax on employers funds childcare subsidies.

In New Mexico, the plan relies heavily on the financial windfall from oil and gas production—including earnings from a recently minted $10 billion trust fund for early childhood education. It's a delicate balance for a progressive governor who initially set out to rein in the industry.

“I think you're going to see more states look for ways to do it,” the governor said. “It's really a workforce engine, while paying real respect to the affordability crisis that families have.”

Lujan Grisham wraps up her tenure next year, and state lawmakers, wary of unchecked spending, opted during the legislative session to take a cautious approach. They're leaving the door open to copayments if public finances deteriorate. That's a compromise Lujan Grisham had to make.

The New Mexico legislation allows the state to create a waitlist when demand for assistance outpaces available slots. It's an effort to prioritize access for children in vulnerable circumstances—ranging from extreme poverty to disabilities and those at risk of developmental delays.

It's also a response to concerns that the rapid expansion of child care subsidies to all income brackets may squeeze out slots for low-income families. Attendance from low-income families declined as assistance expanded to higher income brackets, according to a review by legislative analysts.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

The Dutch branch of French-based luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton has agreed to pay half a million euros ($595,000) in an out-of-court settlement linked to a money laundering investigation, the Netherlands's national public prosecution office announced.

Prosecutors said the fashion house did not adhere to a law aimed at preventing money laundering and terrorism financing when a 36-year-old woman allegedly repeatedly used different names as she spent cash “on luxury goods at retailers such as Louis Vuitton.” The woman is suspected of spending more than 2 million euros in criminal proceeds from August 2021 to February 2023.

“Louis Vuitton violated the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act ... and did not do enough to prevent money laundering by its customers. For an extended period, the company failed to properly identify the customers who repeatedly came to spend large sums of cash,” the prosecutors' statement said.

A spokesperson at Louis Vuitton's head office in Paris did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Prosecutors alleged that after buying luxury handbags, the woman sent them to China to be resold to make it look like the proceeds came from legitimate trade.

A money laundering case is ongoing against the woman and two other suspects, including a former sales assistant at Louis Vuitton in the Netherlands. The assistant is alleged to have tipped off the woman when new and expensive bags came into stock and warned her that if her spending exceeded limits, Louis Vuitton would be required to alert authorities about suspect payments.

The settlement with the Dutch arm of Louis Vuitton was reached out of court “to free up limited courtroom space at the Rotterdam District Court,” prosecutors said.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

The famous New Orleans Mardi Gras sees revelers come from far and wide to watch the lavish parades roll through the historic US city.

In the narrow streets of the old French Quarter, raucous and continuous street parties take over. Traditionally, items like plastic beads are thrown from the parade floats to the watching crowds.

Once made of glass and cherished by parade spectators who were lucky enough to catch them, today cheap plastic bead necklaces from overseas are tossed from floats by the handful. Spectators sometimes pile dozens around their necks, but many are trashed or left on the ground. But the beads are increasingly seen as a problem. Despite efforts to collect them for reuse, many are trashed or left on the ground.

A few years ago, the city pulled 46 tons of them from its storm drains. This year, in an effort to be greener, three krewes are throwing biodegradable beads instead.

“Sustainability is a big, important thing. I think the city of New Orleans used to actually gauge the success of Carnival based upon the tonnage of waste from the street, and that is a terrible gauge. We should actually be looking at the excitement on people's faces, or what the memories they've taken away. That's the success of a Carnival season, not the garbage that we produce,” says Greg Rhoades, co-founder of Krewe of Freret, one of the three krewes using sustainable beads. Rhoades hopes those receiving the beads will make use of them.

“As you have thousands of riders going down the street throwing things to people, we wanted to limit our waste, ultimately. You know, this is something that people should take home, items they value. We wanted people to not discard these items, to value them, to put them on their altar,” he says.

The sustainable beads—called “PlantMe Beads”—were developed at Louisiana State University and are 3-D printed from a starch-based material. “The process for this is now pretty simple. We have a file that we made that has the geometry of these beads. It takes around two hours to print one using a basic 3-D printer,” explains Alexis Strain from Louisiana State University.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Romance in Zimbabwe is taking strikingly inventive forms, reflecting life in an economy where cash reigns supreme and sustainability gains new social value.

You can’t buy love, the saying goes. But from florists in traditional markets to social media sellers angling for attention on TikTok, dollar bills rolled and pinned together to resemble a floral bouquet are increasingly rivaling fresh flowers as Valentine's Day’s most coveted tokens of appreciation in the southern African country.

“Please God, make my lover see this,” commented one TikTok user under a video advertising glittering cash-and-flower arrangements. “May this bouquet locate me in Jesus name, amen,” wrote another.

At a decades-old flower market in the capital, Harare, florist Tongai Mufandaedza patiently assembled one such 'money bouquet.' Using adhesive and bamboo sticks, he folded crisp $50 notes into decorative cone shapes, weaving them with stems of white roses.

As Valentine’s Day approached, he expected business to surge. “The market has improved because of the money bouquets,” said Mufandaedza, who has worked at the country’s biggest flower market for three decades. “(On) Valentine’s Day, we are going to have more, more, more customers, because this is something which is trending. Everyone (wants to) impress,” he said, then patched the arrangement in bright red wrapping and ribbons.

Among those browsing the market was Kimberleigh Kawadza. Her preference was clear. “The person who came up with the trend, I just need to give them a hands up. They did a good job,” said the 23-year-old. “It’s a way of appreciating my partner, it’s a 100 for me, it’s a 100.” Prices vary widely.

Smaller bouquets may contain as little as $10, while larger arrangements can run into the thousands. In some cases, they are even cheaper than traditional floral gifts. A bouquet of dollar notes with a value of $10 costs $25, while a bouquet of 10 good-grade red roses costs between $35 and $40, Mufandaedza said.

Unlike traditional floral gifts, the appeal of money bouquets is as practical as it is romantic for Zimbabwe’s economic realities, where liquidity often carries more immediate value than luxury.

“People still love flowers, but when they see the notes on top, the love feels hotter and the gesture even more meaningful,” he said.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Highlights from a trove of more than 200 love letters that tell the story of a couple's courtship and marriage during World War II are now on display digitally through the Nashville Public Library, offering an intimate picture of love during wartime.

The letters by William Raymond Whittaker and Jane Dean were found in a Nashville home that had belonged to Jane and her siblings. They were donated in 2016 to the Metro Nashville Archives.

Whittaker, who went by Ray, was from New Rochelle, New York. He moved to the Tennessee capital to attend the historically Black Meharry Medical College, according to the library's metropolitan archivist, Kelley Sirko. That's where he met and dated Jane, another student at the college.

The pair lost touch when Ray left Nashville. In the summer of 1942, he was drafted into the Army. Stationed at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, he decided to reestablish contact with Jane, who was then working as a medical lab technician at Vanderbilt University.

The library doesn't have Ray's first letter to Jane, but it does have her reply. She greets him somewhat formally as Dear Wm R.

It sure was a pleasant and sad surprise to hear from you, she writes on July 30, 1942. Pleasant because you will always hold a place in my heart, and it's nice to know you think of me once in a while. Sad because you are in the armed forces—maybe I shouldn't say that, but war is so uncertain. However, I'm proud to know that you are doing your bit for your country.

You can't help but smile when you read through these letters, Sirko said. You really can't. And this was just such an intimate look at two regular people during a really complicated time in our history.

Sirko said Nashville archivists have not been able to locate any living relatives of Ray and Jane, so most of what they know about them is from the letters. The couple did not have any children, according to an obituary for Ray, who died in Nashville in 1989.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Africa was the world’s fastest-growing solar market in 2025, defying a global slowdown and reshaping where the momentum in renewable energy is concentrated, according to an industry report released in late January.

The report by the Africa Solar Industry Association says the continent's solar installed capacity expanded 17% in 2025, boosted by imports of Chinese-made solar panels. Global solar power capacity rose 23% in 2025 to 618 gigawatts, slowing from a 44% increase in 2024.

“Chinese companies are the main drivers in Africa’s green transition,” said Cynthia Angweya-Muhati, acting CEO of the Kenya Renewable Energy Association. “They are aggressively investing in and building robust supply chains in Africa green energy ecosystem.”

Some of that capacity has yet to be rolled out. Africa has only 23.4 gigawatts peak of working solar capacity, even though nearly 64 gigawatts peak of solar equipment has been shipped to the continent since 2017. A gigawatt peak represents 1 billion watts of maximum, optimum power output under ideal conditions.

“Africa's growth is driven by changing policies and enabling conditions in a number of countries,” said John Van Zuylen, CEO of the Africa Solar Industry Association.

“Solar energy has moved beyond a handful of early adopters to become a broader continental priority,” he said recently on the sidelines of the Intersolar Africa summit in Nairobi. “What we are seeing is not temporary. It is policies aligning with market dynamics.”

Historically, South Africa dominated solar imports in Africa, at one point accounting for roughly half of all panels shipped to the continent. The latest data show its share has slipped below a third as demand surged elsewhere. Last year, 20 African nations set new annual records for solar imports, as 25 countries imported a total of at least 100 megawatts of capacity.

Nigeria has overtaken Egypt as Africa's second-largest importer, as solar energy and battery storage provide a practical and affordable alternative to diesel generators and unreliable grid power. In Algeria, solar imports soared more than 30-fold year-on-year. Imports also surged in Zambia and Botswana.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

A dozen people outside a Milan metro station on February 11 stared intently at their phones until 8 a.m., when an Instagram post provided a location. “Run, don’t walk: we’re in the Castello area,” said the post. “Pins are available while supplies last.”

It sent the group sprinting. Early each morning in Milan, eager collectors gathered to await word of the exact spot where they could score highly prized, limited-edition Olympic pins that—if they were fast enough—were free.

Ilaria Pasqua got up and out early every day from February 7 to snag the coveted pins from YesMilano, the city's promotional agency, and she planned to complete the collection of seven neighborhoods—including Isola and Porta Venezia—and five iconic landmarks, like the Duomo. She teamed up with three collectors she met on the first day, and they developed a system to be among the first in line.

I know it can sound like it's a bit extreme, and (like) it's a waste of time. But actually, I've met these people that I am doing this with, so it's nice,'' said Pasqua, an English teacher in Milan. It's a way to get to know the city that you live in or are visiting. It's also social. I'm really enjoying it, to be honest. And you take a little treasure with you home every day, so it's fun.'' Each day after receiving her pins, Pasqua says she stuffs them deep in her coat pocket–out of view from latecomers looking for a trade that she doesn't want to make.

Pin collecting is an essential part of the Olympic subculture, with people traveling far and wide to the Games just to add to what is often a very substantial array of enameled pins at home.

Elite collectors know the intrinsic value of each category, including retail, delegation, team, sponsor, media, and national Olympic committees. Japanese media pins are among the most coveted by die-hard collectors, for their rarity, while in Cortina, athletes were keen to get an Iran pin, and in Paris, Snoop Dogg's pins were the buzziest.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.