WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. took the unprecedented step Monday of dropping the number of vaccines it recommends for every child — leaving other immunizations, such as flu shots, open to families to choose but without clear guidance.

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Officials said the overhaul to the federal vaccine schedule won’t result in any families losing access or insurance coverage for vaccines, but medical experts slammed the move, saying it could lead to reduced uptake of important vaccinations and increase disease.

The change came after President Donald Trump in December asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to review how peer nations approach vaccine recommendations and consider revising the U.S. schedule to align with their guidance.

This is a developing story; check back for updates.

City Limits rounds up the latest housing and land use-related events, public hearings and affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.

An apartment building on Third Ave. in East Harlem. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Welcome to City Limits’ NYC Housing Calendar, a weekly feature where we round up the latest housing and land use-related events and hearings, as well as affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.

Know of an event we should include in next week’s calendar? Email us.

Upcoming housing and land use-related events:

Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 9:30 a.m.: The Landmarks Preservation Commission will meet. More here.

Tuesday, Jan. 6 from 6 to 8 p.m.: The New York State Department of Transportation will hold an open house and public information session on its plans to replace or rehabilitate five bridges along the Cross Bronx Expressway. The event will take place at Bronx River Art Center at 1087 E Tremont Ave. More here.

Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 10 a.m.: The City Planning Commission will vote on the following land use applications: Seaside Park & Community Arts Center Special Permit, 33-01 11th Street Rezoning, 87 Romer Road and 507 Howard Avenue. More here.

Thursday, Jan. 8 at 6:30 p.m.: The Met Council on Housing will host an online workshop about New York City renters’ rights, and how tenants can organize for improvements. More here.

NYC Affordable Housing Lotteries: The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) are closing lotteries on the following subsidized buildings over the next week.

52 4th Avenue Apartments, Brooklyn, for households earning between $39,189 – $189,540 (last day to apply is 1/5)

1119 Boston Road Apartments, Bronx, for households earning between $75,635 – $140,000 (last day to apply is 1/5)

2043 Webster Avenue Apartments, Bronx, for households earning between $102,858 – $227,500 (last day to apply is 1/5)

Inkwell, Bronx, for households earning between $74,195 – $227,500 (last day to apply is 1/7)

1591 Jesup Avenue Apartments, Bronx, for households earning between $90,720 – $227,500 (last day to apply is 1/8)

233 East 202nd Street Apartments, Bronx, for households earning between $76,423 – $140,000 (last day to apply is 1/9)

The post NYC Housing Calendar, Jan. 5-12 appeared first on City Limits.

By REGINA GARCIA CANO

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The Venezuelan government on Monday sought to show its people and the world that the country is being run independently and not controlled by the United States following its stunning weekend arrest of Nicolás Maduro, the authoritarian leader who had ruled for almost 13 years.

Lawmakers aligned with the ruling party, including Maduro’s son, gathered in the capital, Caracas, to follow through with a scheduled swearing-in ceremony of the National Assembly for a term that will last until 2031. They reelected their longtime speaker — the brother of the newly named interim president, Delcy Rodríguez — and gave speeches focused on condemning Maduro’s capture Saturday by U.S. forces.

“If we normalize the kidnapping of a head of state, no country is safe. Today, it’s Venezuela. Tomorrow, it could be any nation that refuses to submit,” Maduro’s son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, said at the legislative palace in his first public appearance since Saturday. “This is not a regional problem. It is a direct threat to global political stability.”

Maduro Guerra, also known as “Nicolasito,” demanded that his father and stepmother, Cilia Flores, be returned to the South American country and called on international support. Maduro Guerra, the deposed leader’s only son, also denounced being named as a co-conspirator in the federal indictment charging his father and Flores.

FILE – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, left, and his son Nicolas Maduro Guerra who is running to represent Caracas as a lawmaker for the National Assembly attend a closing campaign rally for the regional election on May 25, in Caracas, Venezuela, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

While Venezuelan lawmakers met, Maduro made his first court appearance in a U.S. courtroom on the narco-terrorism charges the Trump administration used to justify capturing him and taking him to New York. Maduro declared himself “innocent” and a “decent man” as he pleaded not guilty to federal drug-trafficking charges.

The U.S. seized Maduro and Flores in a military operation Saturday, capturing them in their home on a military base. President Donald Trump said the U.S. would “run” Venezuela temporarily, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that it would not govern the country day-to-day other than enforcing an existing ” oil quarantine.”

Rubio said the U.S. was using pressure on Venezuela’s oil industry as a way to push for policy changes. “We expect to see that there will be changes, not just in the way the oil industry is run for the benefit of the people, but also so that they stop the drug trafficking,” Rubio said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Pro-government armed civilians attend a protest demanding the release of President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores, the day after U.S. forces captured and flew them to the United States, in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

On Sunday, Rodríguez said Venezuela is seeking “respectful relations” with the U.S., a shift from a more defiant tone she struck in the immediate aftermath of Maduro’s capture.

“We invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence,” Rodríguez said in a statement. Her conciliatory message came after Trump threatened that she could “pay a very big price” if she did not fall in line with U.S. demands.

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Before taking the oath of office, Venezuelan lawmaker Grecia Colmenares said she would “take every giant step to bring back (to Venezuela) the bravest of the brave, Nicolás Maduro Moreno, and our first lady, Cilia Flores.”

“I swear by the shared destiny we deserve,” she said.

A State Department official said Monday that the Trump administration is making preliminary plans to reopen the U.S. embassy in Venezuela.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations, said early preparations “to allow for a reopening” of the embassy in Caracas had begun in the event Trump decides to return American diplomats to the country.

Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

By FATIMA HUSSEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. multinational corporations will be exempted from paying more corporate taxes overseas in a deal finalized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The OECD announced Monday that nearly 150 countries have agreed on the plan, initially crafted in 2021, to stop large global companies from shifting profits to low-tax countries, no matter where they operate in the world.

The amended version excludes large U.S.-based multinational corporations from the 15% global minimum tax after negotiations between President Donald Trump’s administration and other members of the Group of Seven wealthy nations.

OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said in a statement that the agreement is a “landmark decision in international tax co-operation” and “enhances tax certainty, reduces complexity, and protects tax bases.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the agreement “a historic victory in preserving U.S. sovereignty and protecting American workers and businesses from extraterritorial overreach.”

The most recent version of the deal waters down a landmark 2021 agreement that set a minimum global corporate tax of 15%. The idea was to stop multinational corporations, including Apple and Nike, from using accounting and legal maneuvers to shift earnings to low- or no-tax havens.

Those havens are typically places like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, where the companies actually do little or no business.

Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was a key driver of the 2021 OECD global tax deal and made the corporate minimum tax one of her top priorities. The plan was widely panned by congressional Republicans who said it would make the U.S. less competitive in a global economy.

The Trump administration in June re-negotiated the deal when congressional Republicans rolled back a so-called revenge tax provision from Trump’s big tax and spending bill that would have allowed the federal government to impose taxes on companies with foreign owners, as well as on investors from countries judged as charging “unfair foreign taxes” on U.S. companies.

Tax transparency groups have criticized the amended OECD plan.

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“This deal risks nearly a decade of global progress on corporate taxation only to allow the largest, most profitable American companies to keep parking profits in tax havens,” said Zorka Milin, policy director at the FACT Coalition, a tax transparency nonprofit.

Tax watchdogs argue the minimum tax is supposed to halt an international race to the bottom for corporate taxation that has led multinational businesses to book their profits in countries with low tax rates.

Congressional Republicans applauded the finalized deal. Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a joint statement: “Today marks another significant milestone in putting America First and unwinding the Biden Administration’s unilateral global tax surrender.”