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Mexican truck drivers block major US-Mexico point of entry in protest of Texas border inspections

Published

3 years ago

April 12, 2022

Mexican truck drivers block major US-Mexico point of entry in protest of Texas border inspections

The protest on the Pharr-Reynosa Worldwide Bridge follows a transfer by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s workplace to reinforce security inspections at state border ports in response to Biden administration plans to finish pandemic-related restrictions on the border.

Main commerce teams see the border inspections by Texas as redundant, they’ve mentioned. The mayor of Reynosa, Mexico, Carlos Peña Ortiz, declined to touch upon the site visitors halt.

New border methods introduced by Abbott’s workplace are supposed to “curtail the movement of medication, human traffickers, unlawful immigrants, weapons and different contraband into Texas” and embrace “enhanced security inspections” of economic automobiles coming into the US by ports of entry in Texas.

The Texas Division of Public Security, or DPS, didn’t reply when requested by CNN if any industrial drivers have been charged with human smuggling or drug-related offenses. As of Sunday, the company had inspected 2,685 industrial automobiles at choose entry ports alongside the Texas-Mexico border and positioned 646 of them out of service for “critical security violations” which embrace faulty brakes, tires and lighting, it mentioned.

Abbott’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to CNN’s request for remark about criticism of the bottleneck on the border and the brand new coverage, which is a response to President Joe Biden’s plans to raise on the finish of Might the Trump-era Title 42 that successfully prevents migrants from searching for asylum within the US.

Commerce teams say new checks create turmoil

The border inspections by Texas are seen as redundant by not less than two main commerce teams that say the brand new coverage is already wreaking havoc on the border.

“Including a further Texas DPS inspection as soon as vehicles have crossed the border is inflicting critical delays with no commensurate improve in border security,” Lance Jungmeyer, Recent Produce Affiliation of the Americas president, wrote Saturday to Abbott.

“Over $9 billion {dollars} value of produce is traded by means of Texas,” he wrote, including the newly introduced border inspection coverage has “severely impacted commerce” all through the state.

The president of the Border Commerce Alliance issued a press release Sunday that warned Abbott’s coverage may drive up client costs. The nonprofit represents a community of over 4.2 million private and non-private sector representatives impacted by US, Mexico and Canadian commerce relations.

“We oppose any state-level motion that leads to an inspection course of that duplicates the inspections already carried out by US Customs and Border Safety,” or CBP, Britton Mullen mentioned in her assertion.

“Whereas border states like Texas have an necessary position to play in making certain truck security and code compliance, the state needs to be working in collaboration with CBP, not participating in a brand new inspection scheme that may gradual the motion of freight, which is able to solely exacerbate the nation’s provide chain disaster and put much more upward stress on client costs.”

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Two Bodies Found in Plane’s Landing Gear at Fort Lauderdale Airport

Published

2 hours ago

January 7, 2025

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Two Bodies Found in Plane’s Landing Gear at Fort Lauderdale Airport

Two bodies were discovered in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue plane on Monday after a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the airline said in a statement on Tuesday.

JetBlue Flight 1801 departed Kennedy Airport in New York at 7:49 p.m. Monday and landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport at 11:10 p.m., according to flight tracker data. The bodies were discovered during a routine post-flight maintenance assessment of the plane, the airline said.

Paramedics pronounced the two people dead at the scene, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. It was unclear how long the people had been in the landing gear compartment.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages Kennedy Airport, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how the individuals may have gained access to the aircraft.

Landing gear compartments, located under an aircraft’s wings and at the front of the plane, have long been used by people attempting to travel undetected on airplanes. The airline did not say whether the two people who were found dead on Monday were stowaways.

Such attempts to hide in landing gear compartments have proven deadly in the past. The compartments open and close upon takeoff and landing to deploy and retract wheels and other landing components, and other stowaways have fallen to their deaths from the openings, sometimes landing in public spaces along flight paths.

Those who can stay within the compartment risk being crushed by landing gear when it is withdrawn back into the aircraft, along with other hazards, including severe temperatures, pressure changes and lack of oxygen. Many stowaways die of hypothermia.

As recently as Christmas Day, a body was discovered in a wheel well of a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Hawaii. In 2023, a man was found alive in a landing gear compartment after a commercial flight from Algeria to France, though he was suffering from severe hypothermia.

An investigation was underway on Tuesday to determine the identities of the two individuals discovered in Fort Lauderdale and how they might have accessed the aircraft before it departed from New York, JetBlue said.

“This is a heartbreaking situation, and we are committed to working closely with authorities to support their efforts to understand how this occurred,” the airline said.

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Meta ends third party fact-checking scheme

Published

3 hours ago

January 7, 2025

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Meta ends third party fact-checking scheme

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Facebook owner Meta is ending its third party fact-checking programme and will instead rely on its users to flag misinformation.

The social media platform on Tuesday said it would “allow more speech by lifting restrictions on some topics that are part of mainstream discourse and focusing our enforcement on illegal and high-severity violations” and “take a more personalised approach to political content”.

Starting in the US, Meta will move to a so-called “community notes” model, similar to the one employed by Elon Musk’s X, which allows users to add context to controversial or misleading posts. Meta itself will not write community notes.

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Jimmy Carter’s body set to be transferred today to Washington, D.C., for state funeral

Published

3 hours ago

January 7, 2025

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Jimmy Carter’s body set to be transferred today to Washington, D.C., for state funeral

Former President Jimmy Carter‘s casket is being transferred Tuesday to Washington, D.C., for the next phase of his state funeral.

Carter has been lying in repose in Atlanta, as part of six days of observances that began Saturday with a service at his boyhood home in Plains, Georgia.

“This is somebody from a small town in south Georgia who was a peanut farmer who ultimately became the president of the United States,” said Carter’s grandson, Jason Carter, at the Plains service on Saturday. “It’s a pretty remarkable American story.”

Carter, the 39th president, died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100 — living longer than any president in U.S. history. His beloved wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, died in November 2023.

On Tuesday, Carter’s body will be flown from Atlanta to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where his casket will be transferred with ceremony to a hearse. From there, a motorcade will proceed to the U.S. Navy Memorial, where his casket will then be transferred from a hearse to a horse-drawn caisson with ceremony.

Members of the joint services military honor guard conduct a changing of the guard near the casket of former President Jimmy Carter as he lies in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, on Jan. 6, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100.

Erik S. Lesser / AP

The caisson will travel to the U.S. Capitol, where Carter’s casket will be carried up the stairs into the Rotunda by military body bearers. Members of Congress will be able to pay their respects during a service.

Beginning Tuesday afternoon, Carter will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda until Thursday, when his funeral service will be held at the National Cathedral before his remains are flown back to Georgia. President Biden is will be delivering a eulogy at Thursday’s service, along with several others. President-elect Donald Trump said he will attend.

There will be a final private service in Plains, and Carter will be buried next to Rosalynn Carter at his family’s peanut farm.

Full schedule of Tuesday’s events (all times Eastern):

9:30 a.m.: A departure ceremony from the Carter Presidential Center.

10 a.m.: The motorcade departs for Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia.

10:40 a.m.: The late president and his family arrive at Dobbins Air Reserve Base and board Special Air Mission 39 after an arrival ceremony.

11:15 a.m.: Special Air Mission 39 departs for Washington.

12:45 p.m.: Special Air Mission 39 arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, and Carter’s remains are transferred with ceremony to the hearse.

1:15 p.m.: The motorcade departs for the U.S. Navy Memorial.

2 p.m.: The motorcade arrives at the U.S. Navy Memorial and Carter’s remains are transferred from a hearse to a horse drawn caisson with ceremony.

2:15 p.m.: The funeral procession begins marching up to the U.S. Capitol via Pennsylvania Avenue, turning left onto Constitution Avenue.

2:40 p.m.: Upon arrival at the U.S. Capitol, the late president is carried up the stairs by military body bearers and into the Rotunda.

3 p.m.: Congress pays their respects during a service in the Rotunda.

3:45 p.m.: Carter begins lying in state while the military maintains a guard of honor.

7 p.m. to midnight: Lying in state opens to the public.

Caroline Linton

Caroline Linton is an associate managing editor on the political team for CBSNews.com. She has previously written for The Daily Beast, Newsweek and amNewYork.