Author: admin
CNN — With his hands and feet handcuffed, tied leg to leg with other detainees, José Daniel Simancas Rodríguez was put on a plane. He says he was told he would go to Miami. Hours later, when they landed, Simancas and his fellow passengers were transferred to a bus with the windows covered by bags. By then he already suspected where he had arrived: Guantanamo. What he did not imagine was that this was just the beginning of a nightmare that would last 15 days. Simancas was one of 177 Venezuelans deported by the United States who had been transferred…
CNN — In late January, Erik Prince, a long-time ally of President Donald Trump and a notorious private security contractor, gathered a meeting of executives in Washington, DC, to discuss ways their own private security firms might help the new administration deport millions of undocumented migrants. One proposal in particular caught Prince’s attention: the idea of sending migrants with criminal records for detention in another country as they awaited transit to their countries of origin. In the months leading up to Trump’s victory in November, Prince had struck up a working relationship with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, which not…
New York CNN — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told lawmakers in a congressional hearing last January that it didn’t make sense for his platforms to verify how old their users are in order to serve them age-appropriate experiences. Instead, that responsibility should lie with app stores, he said. Just over a year later, one state has taken his advice. Utah passed a first-of-its-kind bill last week requiring app stores to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent before minors could download apps to their devices. The bill, which is awaiting Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s signature, marks a win for Zuckerberg…
CNN — The Education Department’s civil rights office has been among the hardest hit by layoffs, with the Trump administration shuttering seven of its 12 regional offices and laying off nearly half of its staff. One current employee said the moves amount to a “soft closing” of the office. “This will completely halt the vast majority of cases that we can take in, evaluate and investigate,” said the employee, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution. The Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, aims to protect students by holding schools and colleges that receive federal funds accountable…
Doral, Florida CNN — South Florida’s Venezuelan community has long gathered at the restaurant El Arepazo to mark major milestones. This is where activists waved Venezuelan flags in celebration when President Joe Biden announced deportation protections for immigrants from the country four years ago, and where supporters of the Venezuelan opposition have gathered to hold rallies and anxiously follow election results back home. But the lunch crowd has thinned out since President Donald Trump’s administration moved last month to revoke the temporary status that had allowed hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants to stay legally in the US, and announced…
New York CNN — Gasoline prices are coming down, and President Donald Trump is happy to take credit for that. But he has little to do with it, experts say, and his policies could make it more expensive to increase domestic oil production from already record levels. The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark used for US crude oil, is at $66.71, down 11% from the day after Trump took office. Gasoline prices haven’t fallen as fast, but they are approaching $3 per gallon. The national average for a gallon of regular stands at $3.08, according…
CNN — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to impose a massive tariff on European alcohol in response to the European Union’s retaliation against his steel and aluminum tariffs – a tit-for-tat escalation of a trade war that could easily get out of hand. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said his administration would impose a 200% tariff on alcoholic beverages from the EU unless it rescinds the 50% tariff the European government imposed Wednesday on US whiskey. “If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC…
Brisbane, Australia CNN — An American tourist who was reportedly filmed picking up and running off with a wild baby wombat may be forced to leave Australia if officials reviewing her visa find she has breached its conditions. A video shared widely on social media purports to show Sam Jones, who has 92,000 followers on Instagram, running with the baby wombat towards a car while its distressed mother chases after her. It’s not clear when the video was shot, nor the location, but it was at night on what appears to be a country road somewhere in southeastern Australia, where…
CNN — New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s decision to not seek reelection marks the latest bit of tough luck for Senate Democrats, who face an increasingly challenging midterm election map as they fight to climb out of the minority. After losing four seats and control of the Senate in 2024, Democrats entered the 2026 cycle confronted by a 53-47 Republican majority and a daunting map with seemingly few offensive opportunities. The retirements of three incumbents in Minnesota, Michigan and now New Hampshire have only further complicated matters. President Donald Trump has won Michigan in two of the last three…
Dallas AP — A former pastor of a Texas megachurch who resigned after a woman accused him of sexually abusing her in the 1980s has been indicted in Oklahoma on child sexual abuse charges, that state’s attorney general’s office said Wednesday. Robert Preston Morris, 63, has been charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. The alleged abuse started in 1982 when the victim, referred to in the indictment as C.C., was 12 years old and Morris was a traveling evangelist staying in Hominy, Oklahoma, with her family, according to the attorney general’s office. The abuse…