Biden administration is resuming deportation flights for Venezuelan migrants as arrivals grow

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Biden administration will resume deporting Venezuelan migrants, the largest single group encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border last month, back to their economically troubled country as their arrivals continue to grow.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, speaking in Mexico City Thursday, cited the new measure as one of the “strict consequences” the Biden administration is pairing with the expansion of legal pathways for asylum seekers.

“Our two countries are being challenged by an unprecedented level of migration throughout our hemisphere,” Mayorkas said, referring to Mexico.

The repatriation flights are expected to begin shortly, said two U.S. officials, though they did not provide specific details on when the flights would begin taking off. The officials were not authorized to disclose details of the government’s plan and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The resumption of deportation flights comes not long after the administration increased protected status for thousands of Venezuelans who had previously arrived to the U.S., they must have entered the country before July 31 of this year to be eligible for temporary protected status.

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Trump's penthouse value estimate boosted by millions due to his fame, execs testify in fraud trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’ s corporate executives once boosted the estimated worth of his Trump Tower penthouse by $20 million partly because of the value of his celebrity, according to trial testimony Thursday.

Another $100 million hike in the estimate was based on a single email from a real estate broker, who hadn’t commissioned an appraisal, didn't inspect the triplex and was told it was three times its actual size.

From a witness stand, former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney shed light Thursday on calculations central to Trump's New York civil business fraud trial.

New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit alleges the former president conspired with top executives to exaggerate his wealth and deceived lenders and others. Trump denies any wrongdoing.

In pretrial testimony, the former president said that people who did business with him were given ample warning not to trust the statements, and that he never thought that the documents “would be taken very seriously.” He described the financial statements as more a “compilation of properties” than a true representation of their value, saying some numbers were “guesstimates.”

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Who might replace McCarthy as House speaker? What are Republicans already demanding for their vote?

WASHINGTON (AP) — For Republicans, it's a question with no clear answer: Who becomes House speaker after Kevin McCarthy?

It’s not at all certain that any of the GOP candidates will be able to round up enough votes — 218, if all lawmakers are present and voting — to ascend to one of the most powerful positions in government, second in line to the presidency.

Two longtime party stalwarts and hard-liners, Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, have begun making their case though phone calls and texts to colleagues.

With the House trying to pick a new leader as soon as next week, others are waiting in the wings, including Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern, who as chair of the Republican Study Committee leads the largest faction of Republicans in the chamber.

McCarthy’s chaotic election as speaker in January took 15 punishing rounds and left him in a weakened position that contributed to his unprecedented downfall. Now, top Republicans want party members to work it out behind closed doors before a floor vote.

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Millions of children are displaced due to extreme weather events. Climate change will make it worse

Storms, floods, fires and other extreme weather events led to more than 43 million displacements involving children between 2016 and 2021, according to a United Nations report.

More than 113 million displacements of children will occur in the next three decades, estimated the UNICEF report released Friday, which took into account risks from flooding rivers, cyclonic winds and floods that follow a storm.

Some children, like 10-year-old Shukri Mohamed Ibrahim, are already on the move. Her family left their home in Somalia after dawn prayers on a Saturday morning five months ago.

The worst drought in more than 50 years scorched the once-fertile pastures the family relied on, leaving them barren. So, bundling only a few clothes and some utensils into sacks, they moved to a camp in the capital Mogadishu, where Ibrahim, who dreams of being a doctor, is now going to school for the first time. That’s a plus, but the camp lacks proper shelter and sanitation, and food is scarce.

“We need something that can protect us from the heat during the day and the cold at night,” Ibrahim said.

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Ex-treasurer for Rep. George Santos pleads guilty to conspiracy, tells of bogus loan and fake donors

NEW YORK (AP) — The ex-treasurer for U.S. Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty Thursday to a fraud conspiracy charge and implicated the indicted New York Republican in a scheme to embellish his campaign finance reports with a fake loan and fake donors.

Nancy Marks, who was a close aide to Santos during his two congressional bids, entered the plea at a federal courthouse on Long Island, where she was a longtime political operative and bookkeeper for multiple candidates.

Speaking to the judge, Marks briefly outlined a scam she said was intended to hoodwink Republican Party officials into throwing their support behind Santos, who at the time had lost an earlier race for Congress and was struggling to get financial support for a second run.

To impress party leaders, she said, Santos submitted bogus campaign finance reports falsely saying he had loaned his campaign $500,000 even though in reality he didn't have that kind of money and the loan didn't exist. The fake loan made Santos look way richer than he really was, and also helped him hit fundraising thresholds needed to qualify for backing from a national GOP committee.

Reading from a prepared statement, Marks also said she had provided the Federal Elections Commission with a fake list of people who had supposedly given large donations to the campaign. Prosecutors said the list included the names of multiple members of Santos' and Marks' families.

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Russian strike on cafe kills 51, Ukrainian officials say, as Zelenskyy seeks more Western support

HROZA, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian rocket blast turned a village cafe and store in eastern Ukraine into rubble Thursday, killing at least 51 civilians in one of the deadliest attacks in the war in months, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top officials in Kyiv.

Rescuers searched for survivors in the remains of the only cafe in the village of Hroza. Body parts were strewn across a nearby children's playground that was severely damaged by the strike. Cellphones were collected and put in a courtyard nearby, waiting to be claimed. Occasionally, one of them rang, lighting up a shattered screen.

Around 60 people, including children, were attending a wake at the cafe when the missile hit, Ukrainian officials said.

Zelenskyy, attending a summit of about 50 European leaders in Spain to drum up support from Ukraine's allies, denounced the strike as a “demonstrably brutal Russian crime” and “a completely deliberate act of terrorism.”

According to preliminary information from Kyiv, the village was hit by an Iskander missile.

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Drone attack kills 80 and wounds 240 at a packed Syrian military graduation ceremony, official says

BEIRUT (AP) — A drone attack hit a crowded military graduation ceremony Thursday in the Syrian city of Homs, killing 80 people and wounding 240, the health minister said, in one of the deadliest recent attacks on an army that’s been fighting a civil war for more than a decade.

The strike killed civilians, including six children, as well as military personnel, and there were concerns the death toll could rise as many of the wounded were in serious condition, Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabash said.

Syria’s military said in an earlier statement that drones laden with explosives targeted the ceremony packed with young officers and their families as it was wrapping up. Without naming any particular group, the military accused insurgents “backed by known international forces” of the attack and said “it will respond with full force and decisiveness to these terrorist organizations, wherever they exist.”

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack as Syria endures its 13th year of conflict.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “expressed deep concern” about the drone attack in Homs as well as reports of retaliatory shelling in northwest Syria, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. Guterres condemned all violence and called for a nationwide cease-fire, the spokesperson added.

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Ex-USC gynecologist charged with sexually assaulting students dies before going to trial

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The former University of Southern California campus gynecologist at the center of more than $1 billion worth of university payouts stemming from sexual abuse allegations by hundreds of women was found dead inside his home Wednesday, his lawyer said.

George Tyndall, 76, was awaiting trial on more than two dozen criminal counts of sexual misconduct between 2009 and 2016 at the university’s student health center. He pleaded not guilty in 2019 and was free on bond ahead of a trial that had not yet been scheduled. His lawyer, Leonard Levine, confirmed his death Thursday.

A close friend went to Tyndall’s home in Los Angeles on Wednesday after he had not answered her phone calls, Levine said. She found him dead in his bed.

Levine said there is “no evidence of foul play or suicide.”

Levine said Tyndall was due back in court later this month to set a date for his trial. His client had denied any wrongdoing and wanted to present his case before a jury.

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‘Prophet of Doom’ who wounded 10 in New York City subway shooting is sentenced to life in prison

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who sprayed a New York City subway car with bullets during rush hour, wounding 10 people and sparking a citywide manhunt, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison after several of his victims tearfully and angrily recounted their ongoing trauma.

Frank James, 64, pleaded guilty earlier this year to terrorism charges in the April 12, 2022, mass shooting aboard a Manhattan-bound train. He received a life sentence on 10 counts and 10 years for an 11th count of discharging a firearm during an act of violence.

Three of his victims spoke in court of the physical and emotional pain they continue to experience more than a year after the attack in a packed subway car. They described the panic and the splattered blood on the train, and how they used their own clothes as tourniquets to stanch the bleeding from victims' wounds.

“I have not been able to make sense of it,” said a young man identified as B.K. At times his voice cracked as he spoke and his eyes turned glassy from tears.

Another victim, a 51-year-old man identified as L.C., told the court he had post-traumatic stress disorder and thoughts of suicide.

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Dick Butkus, fearsome Hall of Fame Chicago Bears linebacker, dies at 80

CHICAGO (AP) — A photo of Dick Butkus sneering behind his facemask filled the cover of Sports Illustrated’s 1970 NFL preview, topped by the headline, “The Most Feared Man in the Game.” Opponents who wound up on the business end of his bone-rattling hits could testify that wasn’t an exaggeration.

Butkus, a middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears whose speed and ferocity set the standards for the position in the modern era, died Thursday, the team announced. He was 80.

According to a statement released by the team, Butkus' family confirmed that he died in his sleep at his home in Malibu, California.

Butkus was a first-team All-Pro five times and made the Pro Bowl in eight of his nine seasons before a knee injury forced him to retire at 31. He was the quintessential Monster of the Midway and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility. He is still considered one of the greatest defensive players in league history.

“Dick Butkus was a fierce and passionate competitor who helped define the linebacker position as one of the NFL’s all-time greats. Dick’s intuition, toughness and athleticism made him the model linebacker whose name will forever be linked to the position and the Chicago Bears,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “We also remember Dick as a long-time advocate for former players, and players at all levels of the game.”

News from © The Associated Press, 2023