Pressured by record migrant crossings, White House weighs tough concession in border talks with Congress
While the senators and the White House have reached high-level agreements on tightening asylum interviews, expanding expedited deportations and creating an authority to expel migrants without humanitarian screenings when border agents are overwhelmed, the negotiators have not resolved their differences on some key issues. Among those issues is immigration parole, a legal tool used by the Biden administration to resettle hundreds of thousands of migrants that Republicans want to severely limit.
CBS News
A push to expand Medicaid has Kansas governor embracing politics and cutting against her brand
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is more aggressive and openly political in pushing to expand Medicaid in Kansas as the Republican-controlled Legislature prepares to open its annual session Monday following five years of failed efforts to provide state health coverage to another 150,000 people.
AP News
How Troubled Teens Became a Billion-Dollar Industry
Reform camps across the United States are inundated with abuse allegations from former students. They’re still making billions.
Rolling Stone
Gaza war protest in Chicago blocks traffic on Lake Shore Drive
Protesters from two organizations, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network and the Coalition for Justice in Palestine, lined up on the road to block traffic for hours. The groups were protesting the Biden administration for bypassing congressional approval twice to use its emergency powers to sell ammunition to Israel.
Washington Examiner
Student Loans: How Debtors’ Unions and Co-ops Are Supporting a Student Debt Strike
The Department of Education has approved about $127 billion in student debt cancellation, affecting millions of borrowers, which, in part, has been framed as a “fix” to past errors. But this move doesn’t cancel all student loan debt as organizers have been demanding. According to the Federal Reserve, student loan borrowers owe over $1.6 trillion in student debt. And Black and Hispanic borrowers are more likely to be behind on their student loan payments than white borrowers, contributing to the racial wealth gap.
Teen Vogue
Former NRA executive pleads guilty to fraud, agrees to testify in New York AG trial
Former National Rifle Association operations director Joshua Powell has settled civil claims of fraud and abuse brought by the New York Attorney General’s office.
The admission comes hours after Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the NRA, announced his resignation ahead of a trial scheduled to begin Monday. LaPierre cited health reasons, according to the NRA. The resignation will be effective Jan. 31.
ABC News
Biden to deliver State of the Union speech on March 7
President Joe Biden will deliver his annual State of the Union address on March 7.
Biden on Saturday accepted House Speaker Mike Johnson’s invitation to hold the address that day, posting on X that he is “looking forward to it.”
CNN
A transgender candidate in Ohio was disqualified from the state ballot for omitting her former name
Despite receiving enough signatures to appear on the ballot, a transgender woman has been disqualified from an Ohio House race because she omitted her previous name, raising concern that other transgender candidates nationwide may face similar barriers.
AP News
Michael Smolens: Solutions to migration morass remain elusive
Immigrant rights groups have filed two complaints, contending the Border Patrol is violating federal standards by holding migrants in the outdoor camps.
The slice of local humanity, courtesy of the volunteers, has received national attention but nevertheless has been overshadowed by the fallout from a crush of cross-border migration that seems destined to continue.
The San Diego Union-Tribune
White House wasn’t notified of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization for several days
“I also understand the media concerns about transparency and I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better. But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”
CBS News
Can Democrats bounce back in North Carolina after 2023 ‘gut punch’?
Democrats are trying again to reel in their white whale of North Carolina this November after years of losses culminated in Republicans clinching a historically strong position to end 2023.
The GOP dealt Democrats a body blow last year when a new legislative supermajority, secured after the defection of a liberal state lawmaker, bulldozed through Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto and passed a 12-week abortion ban, gerrymandered legislative maps and enacted other conservative bills on education and transgender rights. Democrats, stuck in a deep minority, watched from the political sidelines.
CBS News
Mike Pence refutes Trump on Jan. 6, urges GOP voters to pick different candidate in 2024
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who said his life was threatened during the violent U.S. Capitol attack three years ago, is refuting the unsubstantiated claims of former President Donald Trump and encouraging Republicans to choose another candidate in 2024.
USA Today
‘We Don’t Want to Be a National Laughingstock’: How Lauren Boebert Blew Her Safe Seat
Every evening, as Maisy Reid prepares to take her dog for a walk, she makes sure she has her essentials in hand: a plastic waste bag, a leash and a 9mm pistol. Her Honda Pilot sports a ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ bumper sticker. The 58-year-old runs a conservative Bible study every third Sunday of the month, and she plays darts in her garage with a dartboard whose bullseye is marked by a sticker of Joe Biden’s face.
She had never, ever voted for a Democrat — until she switched sides in the 2022 election. She hadn’t changed party allegiances. Instead, Lauren Boebert had pushed her over the edge.
Politico
Young voters helped Biden to victory. They may abandon him this year
“My generation is appalled. There’s a lot of people who are not willing to put their votes towards this administration as a result of their actions in Gaza,” she said.
And if Democrats think their climate track record will be enough to redeem them, she said, then they’re miscalculating how young people view the current administration’s actions on climate in the first place.
The Guardian
Social Security Has an Immigration Problem — and It’s Getting Progressively Worse
Social Security is a program that’s heavily reliant on people legally migrating into the U.S. each year. Most people who move to the U.S. tend to be younger, which means they’ll spend decades in the labor force. Social Security collects approximately 90% of its annual revenue from the 12.4% payroll tax on wages and salaries (up to $168,600 in 2024).
The dilemma for Social Security is that net migration into the U.S. peaked a quarter of a century ago and has been precipitously declining every year since then. According to data from the United Nations, the net migration rate for the U.S. per 1,000 people has fallen from 6.48 in 1998 to 2.748 in 2023, representing a nearly 58% drop in legal net immigration.
The Motley Fool
Ohio’s GOP Governor Vetoed an Anti-Trans Bill. Then, He Made It Worse.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed an executive order on Friday that will immediately ban gender-affirming surgeries for minors within the state, making Ohio the second state in the nation to ban the procedure.
DeWine’s decision comes about a week after the Republican governor vetoed a bill that would have banned all gender-affirming care for minors, from surgeries to hormone blockers. But then, after the rest of his party threatened to override his veto, DeWine did something unexpected. He went above and beyond the original bill, restricting some access to gender-affirming care for adults as well.
The New Republic
Florida Republican lawmaker proposes law erasing transgender identities
A Florida Republican lawmaker wants the state to disavow any recognition of transgender identity.
In one of the most sweeping anti-trans bills filed in the country, Florida state Rep. Dean Black’s “What Is A Woman?” Act would eliminate the term gender from government documents, including driver’s licenses, and require instead for the sex assigned at birth to be listed under sex.
Advocate
What The New Deal Teaches Us About the Current Rise of Fascism
As we enter another important election year, looking back on the past can help us inform our future. Especially as the rights of marginalized people around the country remain under threat. This month, I asked Heather Cox Richardson about the rise of fascism in the U.S. and how Americans have resisted it in the past. In her words, “We are living in another time of testing.” Her advice? Stay focused and get creative.
Teen Vogue
Israeli strike kills son of Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Gaza
The eldest son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief has been killed in an Israeli strike in southern Gaza, weeks after several other members of his immediate family died in a separate bombing.
The Telegraph
‘Eradication of Journalism in Gaza’ Continues as Israel Kills Two More Reporters
The Al Jazeera Media Network said in a statement that the Israeli military targeted the journalists’ car as they were driving through the northern part of Rafah. The strike killed Hamza Dahdouh, the 27-year-old son of Al Jazeera‘s Gaza bureau chief, and Mustafa Thuraya, a freelance videographer working with Agence France-Presse. Hazem Rajab was injured in the Israeli strike.
Common Dreams
Israel-Palestinian bitterness deepened by Hamas attack and war
Even as war rages on in Gaza, causing huge loss of life, a recent survey suggests there is wide support among Palestinians for Hamas’s deadly attacks on Israel which triggered it. Meanwhile, most Israelis are not focused on the killing of Palestinian civilians and back their country’s military offensive to crush Hamas and bring home hostages, polls suggest.
BBC
Maldives suspends officials over ‘clown’ jibe against Modi
The Maldives government suspended three deputy ministers on Sunday after they mocked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media.
Deutsche Welle
Michel sparks scramble to stop Orbán taking control of European Council
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has said he is running as an MEP in June’s European elections and will stand down if elected, sparking a race to replace him or risk the role reverting to Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán.
The Guardian
Israel Must Recognize Palestinian Rights – Starting With the Right of Return
There are 2,3 million people in Gaza that Israel wishes to “cleanse,” as has been unabashedly stated by Israeli politicians and public figures. Israel’s impunity for its total disregard of international law and its ability to dump its obligations onto others must be stopped. If warnings that Gaza has become uninhabitable because of the devastation Israel has caused are taken seriously, then the solution should be straight-forward: it is high time that Israel enables the 2.3 million people trapped in Gaza to be evacuated to the Israeli territory – for the great majority of them this will present only a rightful recognition of their right of return.
Z Network
Netanyahu demands lie detector tests for cabinet ministers after leaks
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly demanded high ranking Israeli officials take lie detector tests, saying too many government deliberations are being leaked to the press.
The Telegraph
Death toll in Gaza rises to nearly 23,000 amid Israel’s war on Palestine
The Gaza Health Ministry said Sunday that nearly 23,000 people have been killed amid Israel’s war on Palestine. Nearly 2 million people have been displaced amid the war.
UPI
Bangladesh vote: Sheikh Hasina wins amid opposition boycott
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared on track to gain an overwhelming majority in Bangladesh’s parliamentary election that was boycotted by opposition parties, according to local media reports on Sunday.
Deutsche Welle
Pakistan Internet Disrupted As Opposition Launches Election Campaign
Internet and social media services across Pakistan were severely disrupted Sunday night as the party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan prepared to launch a massive online campaign ahead of elections next month.
International Business Times
UK accused of hypocrisy in not backing claim of genocide in Gaza before ICJ
The UK is facing accusations of double standards after formally submitting detailed legal arguments to the international court of justice in The Hague six weeks ago to support claims that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya ethnic group through its mass mistreatment of children and systematically depriving people of their homes and food.
The Guardian
Jordan’s King Abdullah presses Blinken for Gaza ceasefire, aid deliveries
Jordan’s king urged the top United States diplomat on Sunday to push for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and an end to the humanitarian crisis brought by three months of Israeli siege and bombardment, the royal palace said.
The New Arab
German minister urges end to cycle of violence before Israel trip
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on Sunday for an end to the cycle of violence in the Middle East ahead of her fourth visit to the region since the October 7 attacks mounted from the Gaza Strip.
“Terrorism must end, people’s humanitarian need must end, the region must emerge from the eternal cycle of violence,” she said before leaving for Israel, where she is due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
DPA