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The Gates Foundation will not change course in the face of massive foreign aid cuts, holding out hope that the U.S. specifically will return to funding the global health projects the foundation has long championed, its CEO said Tuesday. Instead, the foundation one of the largest in the world will concentrate at least 70% of its funding over the next 20 years on ending preventable maternal and child deaths and controlling key infectious diseases. A third goal focused on poverty will divide its work between U.S. education and agriculture in poorer countries. We are saying not only will we not be taking on new priorities, were actively narrowing our priorities against three core North Star goals, Mark Suzman said in an interview with The Associated Press as the foundation published an annual update on its plans Tuesday. In May, Bill Gates, who started the foundation with his ex-wife Melinda French Gates in 2000, announced it would close in 20 years, earlier than planned. In the letter Tuesday, Suzman gave more details about what work would end and what would continue. He also affirmed that the foundation would not rethink its plans given the cuts to foreign assistance by donor countries around the world. While these conditions will have significant repercussions for global health and development for the next few years, priorities can shift. Debt can be restructured. Generosity can return, Suzman wrote in the letter, referring also to the significant debt burden that many low- and middle-income countries carry, which eats into their public health budgets, for example. The foundation will renew its campaign for donor countries to fund global health, specifically, Suzman said, even as he acknowledged that overall funding levels were unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels. We definitely have not lost hope that the U.S. will stay engaged over the medium and longer term as a champion of global health, Suzman said. The foundation will renew its advocacy with campaigns that argue for saving the lives of pregnant women and young children. We think that is powerful and evocative, Suzman said. The U.S. has historically been the largest funder of global health. It’s not yet clear how much funding Congress and the Trump administration will ultimately allocate toward foreign assistance or global health this year, but the State Department has said foreign assistance going forward will look extremely different. This year, the U.S. refused to fund Gavi, which offers vaccinations to children around the world, but it did pledge to contribute to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, of which it has historically been the largest supporter. What Gates Foundation programs will end? The foundation will wind down its program that aimed to give more people in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia access to digital financial services, with Suzman saying they think that goal will be met by 2030. The foundation also has planned the end of its program to help people move out of poverty in the U.S., which it launched in 2022 with a $460 million commitment. In 2023, Ryan Rippel, the head of the program, said they aimed to improve economic mobility for 50 million people in the U.S. who earn 200% of the poverty level or less, which was $29,160 in annual income for an individual at the time. The foundation said it hadn’t assessed the program’s impact against that goal specifically. The economic mobility work will continue in a modified form as a partnership announced in July to develop AI tools that benefit frontline workers. For the next five years, the foundation plans to hold its budget steady, spending $9 billion annually, regardless of market changes, Suzman said. They then anticipate increasing that amount as they seek to meet Gates commitment to spend the vast remainder of his fortune through the foundation by 2045. The foundation said in January that it would cap operating expenses at 14% of its annual budget and anticipated reducing its workforce by 2030. The proposed changes were developed before the U.S. government released files on Jeffrey Epstein that include mentions of Gates and unsubstantiated claims that a spokesperson called false. Betting on AI to make big gains in multiple areas The foundation is also betting on the potential of artificial intelligence tools in other areas, including U.S. education and agriculture, where it’s funded projects delivering information like weather conditions to small farmers. While U.S. education was an early focus for Gates and French Gates, Suzman said looking back, those efforts did not deliver the desired impact. However, they think AI applications could help a large number of students, teachers and schools. In January, the foundation announced a new $50 million partnership with OpenAI’s for-profit subsidiary to develop ways for primary health clinics in Rwanda and potentially other countries to use AI to amplify the reach of health workers and improve outcomes for patients. When the foundation works with corporations, it requires them to offer what they develop without any markup to poorer countries. “Wherever possible, were looking for things that are going be interoperable and open source to allow for these very new public goods,” Suzman said, meaning users aren’t locked into working with a specific company. John Halamka, a physician and president of the Mayo Clinic Platform, who has worked at the intersection of health care and technology for many years, said these types of projects need to empower the local municipality to develop and fine tune the AI model for their population. Halamka, who has previously worked with the Gates Foundation on projects but is not involved in this initiative, sad interventions also need to meet patients at their level of comfort and trust with the technologies. How do you ensure these kinds of tools will be used, trusted, adopted?” he asked. “And what are you doing to make the population comfortable with the use of these new technologies? ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy. Thalia Beaty, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
The internet-famous monks that have captured the attention of the world on their cross-country “walk for peace” are in the final stretch of their 2,300-mile journey. The group of around 19 Buddhist monks and their rescue dog companion, Aloka, have been trekking from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., to promote world peace. They began their walk on October 26, 2025. The journey was expected to take 120 days. Despite the recent frigid temperatures and snow storms, theyre ahead of schedule. According to a recent post on the groups Facebook page, they plan to arrive in Washington, D.C., one week from today, Tuesday, February 10, 2026. While the exact route and schedule could change, the current pace has them completing the journey in 108 days. On February 2, 2026the 100th day of their walkthe monks arrived in Richmond, Virginia. Today, theyre making their way from Richmond to Ashland, Virginia. Their Facebook page notes that they are walking to raise awareness of inner peace and mindfulness across America and the world. The movement has drawn widespread positive attention. Massive crowds of supporters have gathered to welcome the monks as they make their way to each planned stop along their route. The final stretch: Less than 100 miles left to walk The monks shared their most current schedule on Facebook. Heres what to expect: February 10, 2026: The monks will visit the Washington National Cathedral. February 11, 2026: The group will host a meditation retreat in the afternoon and evening. February 12, 2026: The monks will depart Washington, D.C., by bus for Fort Worth, Texas. The post read, We look forward to welcoming everyone with open hearts as we complete this peaceful journey together. Your presence would be a blessing and a gift to us all. More details will be made available as they are confirmed. If you want to stay up to date on the group’s whereabouts, check their Facebook page. They share updates about their daily route. You can also track their progress each day in this live interactive map. Over 5 million followers are feeling inspired by the movement The moments message of hope and peace has been well-received. Millions of people worldwide have been following the Walk for Peace movement through social media. Every social media post is flooded with positive comments from well-wishers. The monks have attracted a large social media presence that continues to grow. Since January 2, 2026, the Walk for Peace Facebook page has grown from 575,000 to 2.5 million followers. The Walk for Peace Instagram account, which had 618,000 followers, now has 1.8 million. The groups rescue dog, Aloka, has also attracted a massive social media following. The Aloka The Peace Dog Facebook page is nearing one million followers. In mid-January, Aloka had to have surgery to heal a leg injury. Hes doing well, but since hes still recovering, and has been traveling in an escort car that follows the walking route along with the monks.
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E-Commerce
Disney earnings are out, and by the looks of it, the entertainment giant is starting 2026 with some strong points in its first-quarter report, powered in part by two big hits at the box office. However, some disappointing news looking ahead to the second quarter may have spooked investors, causing shares of the stock to slide over 7% to $104.72 in afternoon trading on Monday. Shares of the Walt Disney Company (DIS) were up briefly on Tuesday morning after news that Disney named Josh D’Amaro as its new chief executive officer (starting March 18), but were back down by another half a percent to $103.99 in afternoon trading on Tuesday at the time of this writing. First, the good news: Disney’s first quarter earnings beat estimates with revenue coming in at $25.98 billion, above analyst expectations of $25.74 billion; and higher-than-expected earnings per share (EPS) of $1.63 adjusted, 6 cents above Wall Street estimates of $1.57. That’s due in large part to the entertainment giant’s experiences unit, which operates 12 theme parks across six global resorts, along with cruises and vacation clubs, which reported more than $10 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time. It also got a nice boost from Disney’s studios box office blockbuster releases Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash,” that each surpassed $1 billion at the global box office, according to Disney’s earnings report. The company also highlighted its streaming services, and said sports channel ESPN delivered strong quarterly ratings. (“ESPN capturing more than 30% of all sports viewership across networks, including ESPN on ABC.”) Now the bad news: Disney cautioned that looking ahead to its second quarter, it forecasts that its theme parks will likely see “modest operating income growth” due in part to the decline in visits from international tourists to the U.S., the Associate Press reported. In answer to a question on Monday’s earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger said “because international visitors tend to stay in Disney hotels less “the company was “able to read it from other indicators” and as a result “pivoted marketing and sales efforts… to a more domestic audience and we are able to keep attendance rates high.” That overall drop in foreign tourism to the U.S. could likely be the result of a few different factors, including President Donald Trumps crackdown on immigration; his administration’s aggressive stance toward foreign countriesincluding our close European allies and Canadaover the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and push to take over Greenland; and his high tariffs on global nations, often accompanied by anti-foreigner rhetoric.
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