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☆ Jack Smith is investigating the Trump White House meeting with Sidney Powell where a plan to seize voting machines was discussed: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Special Counsel Jack Smith is investigating a December 2020 meeting at the Trump White House, per CNN. At the meeting, participants, including Sidney Powell, discussed a plan to seize voting machines. Of particular interest to Smith is a December 18, 2020 meeting at the White House where Trump was joined by attorney Sidney Powell, who was falsely claiming that electronic voting machines were hacked by foreign adversaries, sources told CNN. Flynn, prior to the meeting, had for weeks been pushing the idea of seizing voting machines, arguing that Trump could unilaterally demand it be done. O'Brien told prosecutors that he "had made clear there was no evidence of foreign interference affecting voting machines," according to the outlet.

☆ Congress Seeks Details on Spying Risks From Chinese Cargo Cranes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Gordon Lubold | Aruna Viswanatha | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Chinese company makes software used by many U.S. port cranes. Cranes in Baltimore. WASHINGTON—Top lawmakers who oversee the Department of Homeland Security want to hold hearings and obtain access to classified and unclassified government documents that expose potential security vulnerabilities posed by dozens of Chinese-made cranes at American ports across the country. It is “extremely worrisome” that about 80% of American port cranes use Chinese software that is manufactured by a Chinese company, said House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R., Tenn.) in a statement. “On behalf of the American people, this Committee is demanding answers on the risks these cranes pose to U.S. cybersecurity and the resilience of our critical infrastructure, which is a core aspect of the homeland security mission.”

☆ Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announces 2024 presidential bid, says Trump should drop out of race
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Asa Hutchinson is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, he announced Sunday. Trump's indictment marked a "sad day for America," Hutchinson said, but it is also a "great distraction." Hutchinson served as governor of Arkansas since 2015, and he has been positioning himself as an alternative to Trump. Since Trump's indictment Thursday, Hutchinson has been firm about his calls for Trump to drop out of the primary. He was also a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas.

☆ A United flight was grounded after a passenger found a bomb threat note in the bathroom: reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A United Airlines flight was grounded for several hours in Vermont on Sunday. A local NBC affiliate obtained audio of the plane's pilot discussing an apparent bomb threat. The Burlington airport was closed during the search and reopened around 7:30 p.m. local time. "A flight attendant just came up and said that a passenger found a note in the aft lav that said there was a bomb on board," the pilot can be heard saying. A spokesperson for United referred Insider to Republic Airways, which was operating the regional flight.

☆ Venture Capital Investors Are Trying to Take Over Pandemic Response
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

Private capital has been eyeing public health for years. Several founders and investors told me that the failure of Kleiner's fund made Silicon Valley wary of investing in pandemic preparedness. Venture investors love that kind of thing. Public health and private industryWhen COVID hit, Charity Dean was the assistant director of the California Department of Public Health. In the end, almost every pandemic-related product created by Silicon Valley will ultimately require the government as a primary customer.

How 31 Presidential Budgets Compared With RealityYear of budget 1994 Deficits Budgets Reality Spending Taxes and other revenueYou have probably heard of the main reason for this: The president’s budget has no force of law. But the president’s budget is often not predictive for another reason: Unexpected, cataclysmic events end up changing the trajectory of federal spending far more than shifts in any line item in a budget table. Bill ClintonDeficits Budgets Reality Spending Taxes and other revenueMr. Clinton’s budgets matched actual spending and revenue far more than those of the presidents who followed him. Another was the Budget Control Act, a bipartisan bill that reduced federal spending across the government that Mr. Obama had not proposed. And as we’re often reminded during budget season, budgets are also important because they tell you about a president’s goals and values.

☆ Biden administration to crack down on child labor
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Laura Strickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

More than 3,800 children were found to be working at U.S. companies last year in violation of federal law, the Labor Department said Monday in announcing a crackdown on child labor. Some 835 companies were founded to be illegally employing minors last year, the Labor Department said, and more than 600 child labor investigations remain ongoing. In stepping up its efforts to target companies that use child labor, the Labor Department will use new strategies to launch investigations where child labor violations are most likely to occur. The agency called on Congress to increase the maximum penalty for child labor violations, which is currently $15,000. "That's not high enough to be a deterrent for major profitable companies," the Labor Department said in a press release.

☆ Authorities seek arrest of man who allegedly mined crypto under a high school and stole $18,000 of electricity
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

In December 2021, a town found a secret crypto mining operation underneath a Massachusetts high school. Police are looking to arrest Nadeam Nahas, the town's former assistant facilities director. Sign up for our newsletter to get the inside scoop on what traders are talking about — delivered daily to your inbox. The town discovered 11 computers, electrical wiring, and ductwork in the crawl space of Cohasset High School in December 2021. According to court documents, authorities concluded a cryptocurrency mining operation was "unlawfully attached to the school electrical system," and alleged Nahas stole $17,492.57 of electricity from the school by running the computers nonstop from April to December of 2021.

☆ Cyberattack on food giant Dole temporarily shuts down North America production, company memo says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —A cyberattack earlier this month forced produce giant Dole to temporarily shut down production plants in North America and halt food shipments to grocery stores, according to a company memo about the incident obtained by CNN. “Dole Food Company is in the midst of a Cyber Attack and have subsequently shut down our systems throughout North America,” Emanuel Lazopoulos, senior vice president at Dole’s Fresh Vegetables division, said in a February 10 memo to retailers. “They [customers] are upset, but it happens,” Russell told CNN. Customers started asking questions about the bare shelves, Underwood said, prompting the store to post the Dole memo about the cyberattack on its Facebook page. The multibillion-dollar company — officially known as Dole Plc after a 2021 merger between Dole Food Company and Ireland’s Total Produce — sources produce from dozens of countries around the world.

☆ Federal officials find more than 100 children working in dangerous jobs for slaughterhouse cleaning firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Laura Strickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Packers Sanitation Services has paid a $1.5 million fine for the violations. The Labor Department says the children who were working overnight shifts used "caustic chemicals to clean razor-sharp saws." "Our investigation found Packers Sanitation Services' systems flagged some young workers as minors, but the company ignored the flags. The company signed a consent decree in December with the Labor Department and agreed to abide by child labor laws after federal investigators documented 50 children working at slaughterhouses for it. The compliance specialist will conduct child labor audits, which will be shared with the Labor Department for three years.

☆ The US economy needs immigrants. A rising share of both Democrats and Republicans don't want them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But a growing share of both Democrats and Republicans wants less immigration. This sentiment could be in response to the rise of migrants at the southern border in recent years. But a rising share of both Democrats and Republicans want the country to reduce immigration. After plummeting during 2020 due to the pandemic, the US Border Patrol reported a record-high nearly 1.7 million encounters with migrants at the US-Mexico border in 2021. Last year, a new record was set with over 2 million encounters.

☆ As Mystery Objects Get Shot Down, U.S. Sets Up New Task Force on UFOs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Gordon Lubold | Nancy A. Youssef | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Amid a baffling series of incidents in which the U.S. has shot down three unidentified flying objects, the White House said Monday it would create a team expected to study airborne objects and the potential security and safety risks they pose. The new group, created at the behest of national-security adviser Jake Sullivan, would comprise elements of the Pentagon, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies, said U.S. officials.

Under Musk’s leadership, Twitter has slashed its staff, relaxed some of its content moderation policies and reinstated a number of incendiary accounts that were previously banned. Those moves raised concerns that Musk’s Twitter could contribute to a rise in public displays of hate and antisemitism offline. Musk, however, has repeatedly pushed back at claims that hate speech is rising on the platform. Twitter, which eliminated much of its public relations team during last year’s layoffs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “With this direct and heightened threat environment in mind, how will you work with other stakeholders to combat the rise of antisemitism on Twitter?,” Moskowitz concludes in his letter to Musk.

☆ Mexico opposes restart of U.S. 'Remain in Mexico' immigration policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Kylie Madry | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The Mexican government said on Monday it is opposed to a possible restart of the U.S. immigration policy known as "Remain in Mexico" which required asylum seekers to wait for U.S. hearings in Mexico. President Joe Biden has sought to end the program, which had been introduced by the Trump administration and is currently suspended. Activists argue the policy, officially called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), leaves migrants in dangerous border cities where they face threats of kidnapping and extortion. Some 74,000 migrants went through Mexico under the program when former President Donald Trump was in power, the foreign ministry said. Marsha Espinosa, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement to Reuters on Monday that the Biden Administration will keep trying to terminate MPP through the courts.

There are "continued calls for violence directed at U.S. critical infrastructure," the agency warned last February, "as a means to create chaos and advance ideological goals." Law enforcement and utility companies, though, say they're working to resolve the open cases and prevent future attacks. Members of accelerationist groups have been charged with several plots in recent years to attack critical infrastructure. "The critical infrastructure element has become one of the core components of neo-fascist accelerationist movements in the US. "They don't really care who is doing the violence, who's doing the critical infrastructure attacks, Lewis said.

☆ A Texas 'Dreamer' found out during an immigration meeting that his dad wasn't his biological father. Now he could be trapped in Mexico for a decade.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

A DACA recipient is stuck in Mexico after traveling to Juárez for an immigration interview in August. For weeks leading up to the immigration interview in Juárez, he was plagued with premonitions of irrevocable consequences. It took more than two years, but in the summer of 2022, Avalos finally received word that his preliminary immigration interview in Juárez was set for August. "He found out a lot of truths at that interview," Martinez said. He sometimes speaks with his mother on the phone, though not about the revelations he learned during his immigration interview.

☆ Nearly 1,000 Migrant Children Separated From Parents at Border Haven’t Been Reunited, Data Shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Talal Ansari | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Nearly 1,000 children separated from their parents at the U.S. border under the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy on illegal immigration haven’t been reunited, federal data shows, despite a multiyear effort to do so. The federal program has reunited 600 migrant children with their parents, according to numbers released by the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, the second anniversary of the establishment of the Family Reunification Task Force by President Biden soon after he assumed office.

Fifty-five percent of adults share that sentiment, while 31% of adults believe the GOP will strike the right balance and 11% say the GOP won't spend enough time on investigating Biden. Majorities of independents and Democrats believe the GOP will spend too much time on investigations into Biden, while a majority of Republicans believe they'll spend too little time. It is also the most popular investigation for Republicans (52%) and independents (30%), but tied for the least important investigation among Democrats, of which only 9% call it the most important investigation. Eleven percent say the GOP won’t spend enough time on investigating Biden. The second-most popular investigation is one into the Department of Homeland Security's handling of the border with Mexico, the selection of 27% of respondents.

☆ 1 out of every 4 migrant kids separated at the border by Trump still hasn't been reunited with their family 2 years later
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Department of Homeland Security says nearly a thousand migrant children are still separated. The Biden administration set up a task force in 2021 to reunite the families separated under Trump. Out of those separated children, 2,926 have been reunited as of February 1, 2023, the Family Reunification Task Force said. The Family Reunification Task Force said it had reunited 600 children with their families, and the rest were reunited before the task force was established in February 2021. But the task force said it "will not stop until all the separated families are afforded the opportunity for reunification."

☆ Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro applies for 6-month U.S. visitor visa
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has filed a request for a six-month visitor visa to stay in the U.S., indicating he may have no immediate intention of returning home, where legal issues await. The application was first reported by The Financial Times, citing Bolsonaro's immigration lawyer, Felipe Alexandre. Bolsonaro left Brazil for Florida on Dec. 30, two days before the inauguration of his leftist rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. It has been widely assumed — though not confirmed — that Bolsonaro entered the U.S. on an A-1 visa reserved for sitting heads of state. The processes will continue, but maybe he thinks he can at least avoid some sort of revenge punishment."

☆ Haitians in the U.S. feel pressure to sponsor friends, family back home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Brian Ellsworth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Many people unfortunately are not in a position to sponsor family members or friends back home, but they are receiving calls nonstop." She said her clients have described being expected to sponsor entire extended families and in some cases face threats. "I would say it's also a program that will place undue stress on families and cause family divisions." "People will say 'I have more than one cousin I would like to sponsor, I'm only able to sponsor one of them,'" Jozef said. She is also opposed to the expulsions of Haitians and other migrants arriving at the southwest border, many who are seeking U.S. asylum.

☆ DOJ charges 3 men in murder-for-hire plot against journalist critical of Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Soon after the charges were announced, Masih Alinejad revealed that she was the target of the assassination plot. “Fortunately, their plot failed because we didn’t,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said at a press conference announcing the indictment. Amirov, a citizen of Azerbaijan and Russia who was living in Iran during the plot, was taken into custody in New York on Thursday. Omarov then directed Mehdiyev to carry out the plot against Alinejad and Amirov and Omarov arranged to pay Mehdiyev $30,000 in cash. Before he could carry out the plot, however, Mehdiyev was arrested near Alinejad's home in July with the assault rifle in his possession.

☆ 77 Democrats send a letter to Biden criticizing his border and immigration policies
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

A group of 77 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Wednesday criticizing his administration’s policies restricting asylum access for migrants crossing the southern border. At a press conference Thursday, Menendez said, “We recognize that the United States is experiencing a difficult migration challenge at the southern border. The Biden administration has said that its proposal is different because Miller did not allow for migrants to apply from their home countries to come to the U.S. legally. Biden has faced intense criticism over his border policies from both parties, with Republicans saying they are unwilling to negotiate on immigration legislation or more funding for border initiatives until the administration does more to secure the border. Customs and Border Protection encountered undocumented migrants more than 250,000 times in December, a record monthly high to end a record high year of border encounters.

☆ One-quarter of mass attackers driven by conspiracy theories or hateful ideologies, Secret Service report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Following the latest string of mass shootings in the U.S., the Secret Service published a 60-page report Wednesday detailing trends in mass attacks in public spaces to share patterns with community leaders who could help prevent the next tragedy. Among the findings: Although a personal grievance of some sort was the single most common motive, one-quarter of the attackers studied from 2016 to 2020 were motivated by conspiracy theories or hateful ideologies. Hateful ideologies that motivated attackers included anti-government, antisemitic or misogynistic views. More than three-quarters of all attacks involved firearms, and over 80% of attacks that used guns resulted in at least one death, the report found. Most of the attackers used handguns, but one-third used “long guns,” a category that includes automatic and semi-automatic weapons.

☆ Federal government drops charges against ex-Afghan soldier who crossed border into Texas
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Abdul Wasi Safi crossed the southern border illegally in late September, after, he said, he had passed through multiple countries to reach the U.S. and seek asylum. The Justice Department has given little explanation for charging Wasi Safi or for dropping the charges. In court filings charging Wasi Safi, Justice Department lawyers did not argue that Wasi Safi was a flight risk or a threat to national security, which are typical reasons prosecutors may argue a migrant should be held without bond. In its filing dropping the charges, Justice Department said it was “in the interest of justice” to “dismiss the information” it had filed against Wasi Safi. “Everyone says, ‘You’ve illegally crossed [the border],’ but no one hears my reason,” Wasi Safi said on the phone from the federal prison where he has been held.

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