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US halts online asylum appointments at Texas crossing after extortion warnings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:45 GMT

By VALERIE GONZALEZ and JULIE WATSON (Associated Press)LAREDO, Texas (AP) — The Biden administration has stopped taking mobile app appointments to admit asylum-seekers at a Texas border crossing that connects to a notoriously dangerous Mexican city after advocates warned U.S. authorities that migrants were being targeted there for extortion.U.S. Customs and Border Protection gave no explanation for its decision to stop scheduling new appointments via the CBP One app for the crossing in Laredo, Texas.Several asylum-seekers told The Associated Press that Mexican officials in Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Texas, had threatened to hold them and make them miss their scheduled asylum appointments unless they paid them. Humanitarian groups in Laredo say they had recently warned CBP of the problems and that certain groups were controlling access to the international crossing on the Mexican side.Migrant advocates say the situation in Nuevo Laredo, which is plagued by car...

Patriots release top free-agent signing after 3 months

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:45 GMT

The Patriots waived running back James Robinson on Monday, less than three months after making him one of their highest-profile free-agent additions.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Mac Jones reacts to DeAndre Hopkins’ reported Patriots visit: ‘Obviously we’d love to have him’ New England Patriots | Bill Belichick expresses uncertainty about DeAndre Hopkins’ Patriots visit New England Patriots | Mac Jones, Bill O’Brien and 5 things to follow at Patriots minicamp New England Patriots | Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson ready to be ‘the guy’ in 2023 after Damien Harris’ departure New England Patriots | Belichick: Patriots ‘moved on’ after losing 2 workout days for NFL rules violation The 24-year-old was expected to serve as the primary backup to Rhamondre Stevenson. His departure leaves Stevenson as the only proven rusher on the roster. Robinson signed a ...

What’s the point of TV cliffhangers in the streaming age?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:45 GMT

Take this with a grain of salt and a whole lot of pepper: TV cliffhangers don’t work in the streaming era.Maybe they do once in a while. I can’t think of any off the top of my head. My colleague Michael Phillips recently singled out the ending of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” as an exception to the rule, and movie audiences can be fairly certain another installment will turn up in theaters.When it comes to streaming originals, that expectation is less assured.I happen to like a narrative that unfolds, beginning to end, with some economy. Wrap it up, I say! I want off this narrative treadmill! But Hollywood isn’t in the business of telling a satisfying story over the course of a single episode anymore. Serialization remains ascendant and streaming shows are defined by their season-long (sometimes series-long) story arcs.If you’re lucky, those seasons end with some semblance of resolution.Often, they don’t.So what purpose does a cliffhanger serve if you don’t know when a show ...

Epstein fallout: JPMorgan settles victim lawsuit for $290M

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:45 GMT

JPMorgan Chase announced a tentative $290 million settlement Monday with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein who had accused the bank of being the financial conduit that allowed the financier to continue operating a sex trafficking operation.Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal charges accusing him of paying underage girls for massages and then molesting them at his homes in Florida and New York. He was found dead in jail in August of that year, at age 66. A medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.The lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court in November sought to hold JPMorgan financially liable for Epstein’s decades-long abuse of teenage girls and young women. A related lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. Virgin Islands.The proposed settlement comes roughly two weeks after JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon testified in a deposition for the case, where he denied knowing about Epstein and his crimes until the financier was arrested in 2019, according to a transcript of the videota...

Biden got a root canal and it upended his schedule for the day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:45 GMT

By SEUNG MIN KIM (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden got a root canal Monday and it left something of a cavity in his daily schedule, forcing him to bow out of a public event with college athletes and postpone his meeting with NATO’s general secretary by a day. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre minimized the significance of the procedure at the Monday afternoon news briefing. She called it “routine” and said Biden is feeling “just fine.” She declined to say what caused Biden’s dental pain and led to the root canal.“I am certainly not a dentist by any means,” Jean Pierre said. “As far as the health of the president’s teeth, I cannot speak to that.”More than 15 million root canals are completed each year, according to the American Association of Endodontists.Biden’s personal physician, Kevin O’Connor, said in a memo released by the White House that Biden reported the pa...

Concerns about traffic, safety raised in Naperville’s second stadium meeting with Chicago Bears, councilman says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:45 GMT

Questions about traffic and public safety were raised in Naperville’s second conversation with the Chicago Bears about building an NFL stadium in the city instead of Arlington Heights, Naperville City Councilman Benny White said.White was part of an online meeting organized by Mayor Scott Wehrli with Bears representatives last week. He would not disclose who else was part of the session, how things were left or if a third meeting was planned.The concept of Naperville as a possible alternative stadium location was broached by Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli when he wrote a letter to the team and then held a June 2 in-person meeting with Bears President/CEO Kevin Warren. Wehrli has stressed that conversation was very preliminary.White, a council liaison to the Naperville Development Partnership and senior council member, said his goal in the second meeting was to ask the questions residents have raised after news of the first meeting became public.“My main concern was the im...

A third of Canadians support changing anthem to ‘our home on native land’: poll

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:45 GMT

A new poll suggests only a third of Canadians support a proposal from Mississauga to ask the federal government to change the lyrics of the national anthem.The proposed resolution put forward by Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie would – if passed by council – ask Ottawa to alter the line that reads “O Canada! Our home and native land” to “O Canada! Our home on native land.”Market research firm Leger surveyed 1,525 people online between June 7 and June 11, asking whether they support the proposal.The results indicate 33 per cent of those polled support changing the anthem, with 48 per cent opposed and 19 per cent saying they don’t know.Support for the change was higher among younger Canadians, with 42 per cent of respondents aged 18 to 34 supporting the proposed move.RELATED: ‘Our home on Native land’: Crombie motion pushes for permanent change to national anthemMeanwhile, 53 per cent of respondents aged 35 or older said they oppose the change...

Political collateral? Oregon GOP walkout on abortion, trans health bill threatens school funds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:45 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Funding for schools, literacy programs and special education teachers in Oregon — a state where 60% of third graders can’t read at grade level — could be jeopardized by a Republican walkout that has stalled hundreds of bills and derailed the Legislature for nearly six weeks.The standoff over a bill that would expand access to abortion and gender-affirming health care could scuttle much-needed education funding in a year when the stars seemed to align for Oregon’s budget. Tax revenues have exceeded state economists’ projections, allowing lawmakers to approve a record K-12 budget of $10.2 billion. But the education spending legislation needs a vote from the Senate, which hasn’t been able to conduct business since May 3 because of the GOP boycott, and time is running out, with just two weeks left until the legislative session ends.“Supporting strong schools and improving student outcomes should be enough to make anyone show up for work,” De...

S&P/TSX composite ekes out gain despite oil below US$70 a barrel, U.S. stocks higher

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:45 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index eked out a small gain Wednesday despite losses in the energy sector as oil fell below US$70 a barrel, while U.S. markets rose as investors anticipate the upcoming central bank interest rate decision. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 29.25 points at 19,921.31, with the energy index down 2.3 per cent. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 189.55 points at 34,066.33.The S&P 500 index was up 40.07 points at 4,338.93, while the Nasdaq composite was up 202.78 points at 13,461.92.Markets are in wait-and-see mode ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday rate announcement, said Ashish Utarid, assistant vice-president of investment strategy at IG Wealth Management. Another hike of a quarter percentage point isn’t out of the question, he said, but neither is a pause. “It’s almost 50-50 whether they’re going to raise or pause,” said Utarid.  But investors are almost equally awaiting the latest U.S. inflation data Tuesday, whi...

The Athletic cuts nearly 20 jobs, 4% of newsroom for New York Times-owned sports site

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:45 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Athletic, a subscription sports outlet owned by The New York Times, is laying off about 4% of its newsroom staff as part of reorganization efforts, the company confirmed on Monday.The job cuts will impact nearly 20 journalists of The Athletic’s 450-person newsroom. In addition to the layoffs, more than 20 additional reporters from the San Francisco-based outlet will be moved to new assignments, The New York Times reported.The New York Times Co. bought The Athletic for $550 million in January 2022, marking one of the news company’s largest-ever acquisitions. In a Monday statement to The Associated Press, New York Times Co. executive director of communications Jordan Cohen noted that the company had reorganized the sports site “to cover the most compelling stories that matter to fans across all the teams in a given league daily.”“As part of the reorganization, we made the difficult decision to eliminate a limited number (4%) of newsroom roles,” ...