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Huge number of asylum seekers at US-Mexico border as COVID-19 restrictions end, new rules begin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:50 GMT

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday will begin denying asylum to migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border without first applying online or seeking protection in a country they passed through. It marks a fundamental shift in immigration policy as the U.S. readies for the end of a key pandemic restriction.Asylum seekers have been showing up at the border in huge numbers in anticipation of this week’s end of the use of a restriction known as Title 42. That rule has allowed the government to quickly expel migrants to Mexico. U.S. officials warned of difficult days ahead as the program tied to the COVID-19 pandemic expires this week.The rule announced Wednesday is part of new measures meant to crack down on illegal border crossings while creating new legal pathways. Families who cross the border will face curfews and monitoring; the head of household will wear an ankle bracelet as their cases are heard within 30 days.But there’s also a plan to open 100 ...

Prosecutors reveal link between terror defendant in Virginia and Islamic State ’empress’ from Kansas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:50 GMT

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia man arrested on terrorism charges has a husband-wife relationship with another American who was dubbed by authorities as an “ empress of ISIS ” for her work to establish an all-female battalion of the Islamic State, prosecutors said Wednesday. Mohammed Chhipa, 33, of Springfield, Virginia, was arrested last week on charges that he provided support to a terrorist group. Prosecutors allege that he transferred nearly $200,000 in cryptocurrency, with some of that money traced back to the Islamic State, to support Chhipa’s stated goal of helping smuggle female ISIS members from detention camps. Other funds remain unaccounted for. At a detention hearing Wednesday, prosecutors also disclosed a relationship between Chhipa and Allison Fluke-Ekren, an American from Kansas who is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Fluke-Ekren pleaded guilty last year to organizing and leading the Khatiba Nusaybah, a battalion in which roughly 100 women and girls...

Evacuee numbers fall in Alberta wildfires as firefighters brace for hot weather

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:50 GMT

The number of Alberta wildfire evacuees dropped Wednesday, but thousands remain out of their homes as firefighters braced for hotter, drier conditions in the coming days.  Colin Blair, director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, said the number of people out of their homes had fallen to below 18,000 from about 24,000.“Alberta continues to be under a provincial state of emergency,” he said Wednesday. Wildfire danger also forced the evacuation of part of a First Nation southwest of Edmonton. Corrine Bell with the O’Chiese First Nation Emergency Management Response Team said 103 people have been forced to leave the northern area of the reserve. One home has been lost and several have smoke damage.“We’re taking advantage of the gap in weather to tend to hot spots,” said Bell, adding the community is hoping the wind won’t change directions.Six nearby First Nations have also offered their fire services to help.“We’ve had an am...

New Mexico constitution focus of legal fight over oil and gas drilling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:50 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico and its Democratic governor are being sued over alleged failures to meet constitutional provisions for protecting against oil and gas pollution, a challenge that comes as the nation’s No. 2 oil-producing state rides a wave of record revenue from drilling in one of the most prolific collection of oil fields in the world.A coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday in state district court, marking the first time the state constitution’s pollution-control clause has been the basis of such a legal claim. The 1971 amendment mandates that New Mexico prevent the despoilment of air, water and other natural resources. The challenge comes as New Mexico rides a wave of record revenue from development in the Permian Basin, currently one of the world’s most productive oil-producing regions. Oil-related revenue collections have surged passed five-year averages to fund a considerable amount of the state’s budget, including education ...

Gun safety proposals take big step forward at Minnesota Legislature

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:50 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn, (AP) — A pair of gun violence prevention measures long sought by Minnesota Democrats were added Wednesday to a broad public safety budget bill, significantly raising their chances of becoming law.By unanimous voice votes, an all-Democratic House-Senate conference committee approved expanded background checks for gun transfers and a separate proposal for a “red flag law.” It would allow authorities to obtain “extreme risk protection orders” to temporarily take guns away from people deemed to be an imminent threat to others or themselves.But the gun measures still have a ways to go before they can become law. The conference committee had other work to complete on the package before sending it back to the full House and Senate. Lawmakers will then have to vote on the entire must-pass funding bill, which could make the choice easier to swallow for a handful of rural Democratic senators who have been on the fence. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz has pledged to sign it.Mich...

Indiana sheriff’s deputy killed in dog attack that left her son, 8, wounded

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:50 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A sheriff’s deputy died after being attacked in her Indianapolis home by a dog that also bit and wounded her 8-year-old son, authorities said Wednesday.Tamieka White, 46, was pronounced dead at the scene Tuesday night shortly after Indianapolis police officers responded to her home on the city’s east side, officials said. She had been a deputy with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office since 2007.Her young son was also bitten in the dog attack, which was reported about 7:45 p.m., officials said. He is recovering from non-life-threatening injuries, The Indianapolis Star reported. Indianapolis police said the attacking dog charged at a responding officer, who fatally shot the animal.A spokesperson with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said the dog was not owned by White, and police have identified the owner. They declined to release further information about the owner.Indianapolis Animal Care Services said in a statement that workers impound...

Officials: Florida sex offender charged with illegal voting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:50 GMT

MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) — A registered sex offender in Florida has been arrested on charges that he voted illegally in the November 2020 election.Louis Palmieri, 77, of Melbourne, was charged Tuesday with false affirmation in connection with an election and voting by an unqualified elector, both third-degree felonies, according to Brevard County jail records. Melbourne is on the Atlantic coast, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Orlando.Palmieri voted in the November 2020 election after signing paperwork claiming he was eligible to vote, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Election Crime Unit said in a news release. Florida voters passed a state constitutional amendment in 2018 to restore the voting rights of most convicted felons, but the amendment exempted felons convicted of murder or sexual offences. Palmieri is on state’s sex offender registry following a 2003 lewd and lascivious conviction on a child under 16 from St. Lucie County.The case was origina...

Beyoncé dazzles fans in ‘Renaissance’ world tour opening concert

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:50 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Tens of thousands of fans descended upon the Swedish capital of Stockholm to celebrate the opening show of Beyoncé’s new world tour on Wednesday.“Renaissance” is the superstar’s first solo tour since 2016 and shares the namesake of her 2022 dance-centric album, the success of which landed Beyoncé at the top of the Grammy throne as the ceremony’s most decorated artist in history. Fans who had complained in recent months about the lack of music videos for “Renaissance” hits were in for a treat Wednesday as video projections and animations took center stage. The rapid succession of costume changes and decor shifts was baffling. The singer played on interactions between a digital and physical world where robotic devices make space for weird silver moon rovers or an inflatable horse. Even Queen Bey herself morphs into a cybernetic character. Seems confusing? It was. Yet despite the impressive scale of the stage set, some moments still felt intimate. Beyoncé express...

Democrats upset Arizona budget doesn’t limit school voucher expansion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:50 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — A $17 billion budget package that Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs negotiated with leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature and won approval on Wednesday is drawing criticism from Democrats for failing to put limits on an expansion of a school voucher program that they say is a drain on the state’s coffers.The Democratic governor came into office in January with plans to undo the massive explosion in the voucher program, championed by her GOP predecessor Gov. Doug Ducey, that lets students apply to use public money for private-school tuition and other education costs. Hobbs’ office had said the expansion siphons money from underfunded public schools and would cost $1.5 billion over the next decade.The governor didn’t propose doing away with all vouchers, but she wanted to return to the voucher program to what it was before Ducey expanded it to include every child in the state — when disabled children, students living on American Indian reservations, students att...

People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier eyes Manitoba seat long held by Tories

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:50 GMT

OTTAWA — People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier appears set to announce his candidacy in an coming byelection for a federal seat in Manitoba.A news release says Bernier, a former cabinet minister who quit the Conservative caucus in 2018 to found the party, will make an important announcement about the byelection in the Portage-Lisgar riding on Friday.The byelection was prompted by longtime member of Parliament Candice Bergen, who served as interim Conservative leader last year, stepping down in February.Bernier has previously said he was considering running for the seat, in part because it is in a rural area with a large francophone community.The People’s Party of Canada candidate in the 2021 election lost to Bergen but nonetheless gained 22 per cent of the vote.Bernier would not confirm his prospective run in an interview, but said he wants to become an MP again — and people in Portage will be in a position to make history. “I can tell you that I believe t...