Waiting for a small package from overseas? You might not get it, at least anytime soon. A growing number of postal services and shippers around the world are cutting off deliveries to the U.S., citing President Donald Trump's new tariff rules.

The interruption of deliveries is "threatening the flow of hundreds of millions of packages a year," said Axios. That's because last month Trump revoked the so-called de minimis exemption that had long blocked tariffs from being applied to packages valued at $800 or less. That exemption fueled a lot of e-commerce from Chinese companies like Shein and Temu. Now, global postal authorities and private shipping companies are putting at least a temporary stop to American deliveries, "citing uncertainty about the new rules."

What did the commentators say?
Critics of de minimis say the exemption has made it too easy to let "drugs and unwanted goods" enter the U.S., said The Hill. But the suspension of the rule will "likely impact the global economy significantly." Research suggests dropping de minimis could "result in costs of $11 billion to $13 billion for American consumers." For now, "more countries will likely continue to cease certain shipments" to America rather than deal with the headache.

"Ding-dong, de minimis is dead," George E. Bogden, a former trade official in the Trump administration, said at The New York Times. Changes to the rule had raised the threshold from $5 in 1978 to $800 in 2015. That allowed overseas exporters to "flood the U.S. market" with packages "without adequate inspection." Trump has reasserted the principle that "all goods must face the full scrutiny, and the full weight, of U.S. law."

What next?
Small businesses are "scrambling" to make new arrangements, said CNN. Depending on the country of origin, previously exempt packages coming into America will face at least an $80 charge, or as much as $200 for countries with a tariff rate of 25% or more. Some foreign exporters have decided to stop shipping to the U.S. for now, regardless of whether their postal services will carry the shipment. The de minimis exemption formally ends on Friday.

The Oropouche virus, also known as sloth fever, was not seen outside the Amazon until recently. Before 2023, only a few hundred cases were recorded annually. But now, the virus has been spreading across the Western Hemisphere, and infections are likely only going to increase.

What's sloth fever?
Sloth fever is mostly spread by a small insect called the biting midge, common in rural areas worldwide. Midges can transmit the virus to several animals, including sloths and humans. The virus is vector-borne and does not spread directly from person to person. Instead, when a midge "bites an infected host, it can pass on the pathogen to a human during a subsequent bite," said Vox. 

The Oropouche virus can cause fevers, coughs, chills and body aches. People largely survive infection and in many cases are asymptomatic, but the virus can sometimes be deadly. It may also "trigger a fever that may cause pregnant people to miscarry or their babies to have birth defects," said Salon.

Outbreaks of sloth fever used to be limited to forests, but then it began "spreading in metropolises like Rio de Janeiro," said Vox. Since then, Oropouche fever has "sprung up in the U.S., Canada and Europe in people returning from the afflicted region." 

Why is it spreading?
The expanded range of sloth fever is largely due to human activity. "Dynamics like deforestation, urban sprawl and international travel" are "converging to drive up the dangers from infections spread by animals," said Vox. Certain species of mosquitoes have also been found capable of spreading the infection. 

Past strains of Oropouche have "mutated to form a version that's better and faster at infecting cells," said National Geographic. As a result, people "previously infected in the Amazon could be susceptible to reinfection by the new strains," said virologist William de Souza to National Geographic. 

Climate change has also expanded the range of vectors for the virus. Higher temperatures and rainfall "make more of the world an ideal place to breed" for mites and mosquitoes, said National Geographic. This "could increase their contact with urban zones, which, for now, tend to have fewer midges."

Arctic wolves roam on Ellesmere Island, Canada. This photo, taken in temperatures of -31 degrees Fahrenheit by Amit Eshel, is part of the 61st Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition opening this fall at London's Natural History Museum.
Amit Eshel / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Most on-screen friendships between men and women ultimately turn romantic, even if it takes seven seasons, as it did with FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in "The X-Files." The TV characters who maintain boundaries are few but memorable. 

Ted and Rebecca, 'Ted Lasso'
When the Apple TV+ series "Ted Lasso" wrapped its third season in 2023, it left some fans disappointed that Jason Sudeikis' titular soccer coach and AFC Richmond team owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) don't get together. Upon first meeting, Rebecca disdains Ted but soon "finds herself unable to resist interacting with him," leading to a bond of mutual respect, said Kaleena Rivera at Pajiba.

Leslie and Ron, 'Parks and Recreation'
Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) (pictured above) are good-government icons of the mid-aughts as officials in the parks department of made-up Pawnee, Indiana. Ron, who exudes powerful pre-MAGA vibes as a gun-toting conservative, forms a sincere bond with his underling, the idealistic Leslie, despite their ideological differences. 

Joey and Phoebe, 'Friends'
The sextet of 20-something New York City pals produce two marriages by the end of the show's 10-season run, leaving Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) on the outside looking in — just not at each other. Even though they "understand one another in ways that nobody else does, with their slightly kooky and eccentric logic and personalities," it would be "too perfect for all the friends to end up with another person in the group," said Jay Snow at Collider.