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Biden sending 1,500 troops for Mexico border migrant surge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:34 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will send 1,500 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of an expected migrant surge following the end of coronavirus pandemic-era restrictions, according to four administration officials.Military personnel will do data entry, warehouse support and other administrative tasks so that U.S. Customs and Border Protection can focus on fieldwork, the officials said. The troops will not do law enforcement work and will be sent down for roughly 90 days, though their presence can be extended if necessary. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly about the request and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. It's unclear when the troops would be deployed. The COVID-19 restrictions allowed U.S. officials to turn away tens of thousands of migrants crossing the southern border, but those restrictions will lift May 11, and border officials are bracing for an expected surge of migrants. Even amid the restrictions, the adminis...

State senator makes shirtless vote during Zoom meeting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:34 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota state senator became a reluctant star on social media after he voted shirtless while lying in bed during what should have been a routine legislative commission meeting.In a video streamed on YouTube, Republican Sen. Calvin Bahr, of East Bethel, can briefly be seen voting — with a School House Rock “I’m Just a Bill” character on the wall behind him — during a Zoom call on Monday with the Legislative Audit Commission.After voting, Bahr quickly turned the camera off, leaving a black screen showing just his name.A GOP Senate spokeswoman said Bahr, a truck driver, worked until 4:45 a.m. and then went to bed before Monday’s meeting. She said he would not comment on the vote or the video. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.The video prompted several memes and social commentary before comments were turned off. The Associated Press

Vermont allows out-of-staters to use assisted suicide law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:34 GMT

Vermont on Tuesday became the first state in the country to change its medically assisted suicide law to allow terminally ill people from out of state to take advantage of it to end their lives. Republican Gov. Phil Scott signed the bill that removes the residency requirement for the decades-old law. Last year in a court settlement, Oregon agreed to stop enforcing the residency requirement of its law allowing terminally ill people to receive lethal medication. It also agreed to ask the Legislature to remove it from the law.Before Vermont removed its residency requirement Tuesday, it had reached a settlement with a Connecticut woman who has terminal cancer to allow her to take advantage of its law, provided she complies with other aspects of it. The state agreed “We are grateful to Vermont lawmakers for recognizing that a state border shouldn’t determine if you die peacefully or in agony,” said Kim Callinan, president and CEO of Compassion & Choices, a nonprofit advocacy organiza...

Myanmar leader welcomes foreign minister of key ally China

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:34 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — The head of Myanmar’s military-controlled government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, met Tuesday with the visiting foreign minister of China, which has provided key support to his regime since it seized power two years ago.Myanmar state television MRTV said Qin Gang held talks in the capital, Naypyitaw, with Min Aung Hlaing and other top officials and exchanged views on bilateral relations, Myanmar’s political situation and conditions needed for its stability and development.Myanmar is mired in strife because of a political crisis unleashed when the military took power in February 2021, deposing the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The takeover prompted widespread peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with deadly force, triggering armed resistance throughout the country that the army has been unable to quell.China has strategic geopolitical and economic interests in Myanmar, its southern neighbor, and is one of the few large nations that has maintaine...

Why Hollywood writers are striking and the immediate impact

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:34 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The union representing 11,500 writers of film, television and other entertainment forms are now on strike. It’s the first writers’ strike — and the first Hollywood strike of any kind — in 15 years. Here’s a look at the storylines the fight has spawned.WHY ARE THE WRITERS STRIKING?Streaming and its ripple effects are at the center of the dispute. The guild says that even as series budgets have increased, writers’ share of that money has consistently shrunk.Streaming services’ se of smaller staffs — known in the industry as “mini rooms” — for shorter stints has made sustained income harder to come by, the guild says. And the number of writers working at guild minimums has gone from about a third to about half in the past decade. Writers of comedy-variety shows for streaming have no minimum protections at all, the guild says.“On TV staffs, more writers are working at minimum regardless of experience, often for fewer weeks,” the guild said in a March...

Sudan evacuees ‘went through hell’ and Canada must help stop crisis: Joly in Kenya

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:34 GMT

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canadians evacuated from Sudan “went through hell” and Ottawa will do everything possible to help the country find peace.Joly is wrapping up a visit to Kenya, where she heard from people who escaped violence in Sudan and met with leaders from across East Africa to discuss how Canada can help bring about peace.In an interview with The Canadian Press from Nairobi, Joly says Canada needs to help, and can do so by sending humanitarian aid, advocating for safe routes for groups delivering help and elevating civilian voices.She says Sudan has a vibrant civil society that needs to have a voice on the future of the country, which has been plunged into brazen acts of violence as two rivalling generals fight for power.Joly says her main worry is the crisis will spin out of control and lead to violence in Sudan’s neighbouring countries.She says she also used the trip to meet with senior Kenyan officials about possible partne...

US tracking balloon over Pacific; not China’s, not a threat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:34 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Defense Department and the Federal Aviation Administration have been tracking a balloon that was flying off the coast of Hawaii last week, but a defense official said Tuesday there’s no indication it is connected to China or any other adversary, and it presents no threats to aviation or national security.The balloon was first detected by radar on Friday and “Pacific Air Forces launched three F-22s to assess the situation and visually identified a spherical object,” U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said. “We monitored the transit of the object and assessed that it posed no threat.”The defense official said the balloon was floating at about 36,000 feet (11,000 meters), and it did not fly over any critical defense infrastructure or sensitive sites. After determining that the balloon presented no threat to people on the ground or to aviation over Hawaii, the military took no action to bring it down, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss m...

Public employees’ remote work agreement just the beginning: labour expert

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:34 GMT

A labour expert says the agreement on remote work between public sector workers and the federal government could set the stage for future union negotiations. Armine Yalnizyan, an economist and the Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers, says we are entering a brand-new phase of what gets discussed in labour negotiations in the wake of the pandemic. The Public Service Alliance of Canada and Ottawa announced they had reached tentative agreements Monday morning for more than 120,000 workers, with wage gains and a letter of understanding about remote and hybrid work. The letter outside the collective agreement promises a joint review of the government’s directive on telework, and the union says the letter will mean managers have to assess telework requests individually instead of the government applying a one-size-fits-all approach. Yalnizyan says a case-by-case approach is appropriate for the post-pandemic era of work, even though it’s much more complicated than a one-size-fits-all p...

FBI: Armored truck robbed in Homewood; bank robbed on North Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:34 GMT

CHICAGO — It's been a busy Tuesday morning for the FBI following an armored truck robbery in the south suburbs and a bank robbery in the city.Authorities responded to an armored truck robbery in front of a Jewel-Osco at 183rd and Kedzie in Homewood. SkyCam9 was over the scene at around 10:45 a.m. which showed a Brinks truck parked with yellow crime tape around it.It was parked in front of the Huntington Bank sign, which is located inside the grocery store. 18-year-old woman killed in Matteson double shooting Also Tuesday morning in a separate incident, the FBI responded to a robbery at a Chase Bank in the 6100 block of North Western.At this time, it's unknown how much currency was stolen and if firearms were used in each incident.WGN News will update this story once more information becomes available.

6 dead, more than 30 hospitalized in I-55 crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:34 GMT

DIVERNON, Ill. (AP) — Both lanes of I-55 reopened Tuesday morning hours after a windstorm in central Illinois causing numerous crashes that killed at least six people Monday, police said.Six people were killed in a 72-car pileup late Monday morning near mile marker 76, between Diveron and Farmersville, about 20 miles south of Springfield. Multiple tractor-trailers were among the vehicles involved, two of which caught fire, Illinois State Police Maj. Ryan Starrick said.More than 30 people on both sides of I-55 were transported to hospitals with injuries.Authorities held a news conference Tuesday morning and said they are seeking the public's help to identify two of the victims killed in the crash. State police believe one person was driving a blue Chrysler 300 and one person was driving a Hyundai, color not known. Anyone with any information is asked to call authorities at 618-346-3653. ISP needs help identifying two adult victims from the crash on I-55 Monday. One victim was driving...