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Migrants rush across US border in final hours before expiration of Title 42

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:39 GMT

By VALERIE GONZALEZ (Associated Press)MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — Migrants rushed across the Mexico border Thursday in hopes of entering the U.S. in the final hours before pandemic-related asylum restrictions are lifted — a change that many feared could make it more difficult for them to stay.With a midnight deadline looming, migrants in Mexico shed clothing before descending a steep bank into the Rio Grande, clutching plastic bags filled with clothes. One man held a baby in an open suitcase on his head.On the U.S. side of the river, migrants put on dry clothing and picked their way through concertina wire. Many surrendered immediately to authorities and hoped to be released while pursuing their cases in backlogged immigration courts, which takes years.President Joe Biden’s administration has been unveiling strict new measures to replace the restrictions known as Title 42. The outgoing rules have allowed border officials since March 2020 to quickly return asylum seeke...

Police regulators debate releasing partial list of disciplinary records for cops across Mass.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:39 GMT

State law enforcement regulators are debating releasing a partial list of sustained complaints against police officers, a move that would offer a first glimpse at thousands of disciplinary records for Massachusetts cops.More than 4,000 submitted complaints covering incidents through Jan. 31 had enough evidence to support the allegations against the accused officer, the head of the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission said Thursday morning.It is the second time that the commission has asked police departments to hand over disciplinary records for review. During the first round earlier this year, more than 36,000 records streamed in, of which 12,000-plus were deemed “sustained.”But the POST Commission went back to agencies in February and asked them to resubmit records because too many were either “not properly identified to the correct officer” or considered “not reportable,” the head of the agency, Enrique Zuniga, said.Of the 3,984 sustained complaints now before the comm...

Writers Guild of America says members will picket David Zaslav at Boston University’s commencement

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:39 GMT

After previously issuing a warning shot to Boston University, the Writers Guild of America has confirmed that striking union members will picket at BU’s commencement when the head of Warner Bros. Discovery takes the stage.BU recently announced that Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav would be this month’s commencement speaker amid the Hollywood writers’ strike.The university has been in hot water since the announcement last week, and the Writers Guild of America has blasted the decision and warned of picketers at Nickerson Field later this month.On Thursday, the union confirmed that members will picket the ceremony.“The Writers Guild of America will picket Warner Bros. Discovery President & CEO David Zaslav at Boston University’s All-Student Commencement Exercises at Nickerson Field on Sunday, May 21, 2023, beginning at 12:00 p.m. EDT,” the Writers Guild of America, East, said in a statement on Thursday.Related ArticlesLocal News | ...

Weekly US jobless claims highest since 2021, but companies avoid risk of being caught short-handed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:39 GMT

By MATT OTT (AP Business Writer)The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week rose to its highest level in a year-and-a-half, though jobs remain plentiful by historical standards even as companies cut costs as the economy slows. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending May 6 rose by 22,000 to 264,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s up from the previous week’s 242,000 and is the most since November of 2021. The weekly number of applications is seen as roughly representative of the number of U.S. layoffs.Many employers appear to have put a premium on retaining workers after some of them were caught short-handed by the rapid post-COVID-19 economic recovery. As a result, most economists don’t envision waves of layoffs even if a recession were to strike later this year as many expect. The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 6,000 to 245,250. Analysts have pointed to a sustain...

Coast Guard suspends search for plane crash survivors off California coast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:39 GMT

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its active search for survivors of a plane crash off San Clemente Island.The Gates Learjet 36A was carrying three people when it crashed Wednesday morning roughly one mile southwest of the island, officials said.San Clemente Island is the southernmost of California’s Channel Islands and is managed by the U.S. Navy.Coast Guard and U.S Customs and Border Protection crews on Wednesday located a debris field in the area where the plane is believed to have gone down. The search encompassed 334 square miles, the Coast Guard said.A map shows San Clemente Island in relation to Catalina Island, Orange County and San Diego. (KTLA)Officials have not stated where the flight originated or released any information about those aboard.The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

Migrants huddle at the border as food, water, shelter in short supply

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:39 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Dozens of border agents practiced riot techniques Wednesday while preparing for the end of Title 42. Hundreds of migrants have gathered on the border in hopes of accessing the U.S. asylum system, which has been blocked by a Center for Disease Control statute baring migrants because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Migrants watch the clock in asylum-seeking limbo On Thursday at 9 p.m. in San Diego, Title 42 will end and what happens next is a question mark.Migrant families have been taken o the limit line early to be processed at the border while other migrants have sat for days waiting to surrender to border agents. Food, water and shelter are in short supply as migrants huddle together while asking people to charge their cellphones through the border wall. Volunteers pass trash bags snacks and homemade food through the fence to eager hungry families. MORE: End of Title 42 As more people are lined up and processed, some migrants have become more optimistic about their tu...

Hundreds of migrants await the end of Title 42

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:39 GMT

“Help, help,” one migrant said through the 30-foot U.S.-Mexico border wall Wednesday.With just one day left until Title 42 expires, there is uncertainty and confusion at the border.“It’s a human rights nightmare,” said Pedro Rios, Director of the American Friends Service Committee. “We are trying the best we can here and still feel like we are only making a dent in terms of providing the support that’s needed…” Local mayors prepare for end of Title 42 He’s been assisting with various efforts at the border for decades and said this is unlike anything he’s seen before.“We were distributing food and water this morning and trying to make an assessment on some of the needs some of the asylum seekers need, making contact with Border Patrol when its necessary, whenever there might be an extreme health need,” Rios said.Rios and others were passing out water bottles, snacks and food to the migrants throughout the day. MORE: End of Title 42 He’s been in contact with CBP when migrants need...

Local mayors prepare for end of Title 42

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:39 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Several mayors in San Diego County are bracing for the end of Title 42 while stressing the importance of getting more resources from the federal government.Mayors in San Diego, El Cajon and National City have shared concerns about food, safety, space, and beds to house migrants.Mayors have told FOX 5 their resources are already limited and could be spread thin if there is a significant amount of migrants arriving to their cities. The mayors have also said they are not getting much communication from the federal government on what to expect once the policy is lifted. MORE: End of Title 42 "And so we don't really know what the scope of the problem is going to look like. So we are going to have to wait and see until it happens," El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells said.Wells said he worries about enough beds, food and stress on the city and its police and fire departments. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection told his staff El Cajon could see up to 400 migrants a day."I think th...

New fighting kills 2 Palestinian militant commanders, man in Israel as Egypt pursues truce

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:39 GMT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip killed two militant commanders on Thursday, while a 70-year-old man was killed by Palestinian rocket fire in the first fatality inside Israel amid the current wave of fighting. The continuing bloodshed, which has left 28 Palestinians dead, came despite Egyptian efforts to broker a cease-fire.It has been the worst bout of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza in months, with at least 10 civilians — mostly women and children — among the dead. The conflagration, now in its third day, comes at a time of soaring tensions and spiking violence over the past year in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian militants launched unrelenting rocket barrages into Israel throughout the day. One rocket struck an apartment block in the central Israeli city of Rehovot, killing a 70-year-old man, the MADA rescue service said. It said four others were moderately wounded.Earlier Thursday, Israeli military pressed ahead with...

Idaho prosecutors urge jurors to convict slain kids’ mom

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:39 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho prosecutors have spent the last four weeks painstakingly detailing their case against a woman accused of killing her two youngest children and a romantic rival in a bizarre doomsday-focused plot. On Thursday morning, Madison County Prosecutor Rob Wood gave an impassioned speech to jurors, urging them to convict Lori Vallow Daybell for the deaths of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, and her fifth husband’s previous wife Tammy Daybell. “Money, power and sex,” Wood told jurors, reprising the opening arguments they heard last month. “Beginning in October of 2018, Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell set in motion a series of events that led to three horrific murders in the state of Idaho.” Vallow Daybell wanted to be “unencumbered by obstacles,” Wood said, so that she could have what she truly desired: money, power and sex. “The plan that she set in motion must end today in the verdicts you render in this trial,” Wood said. Both defendants ha...