Asylum-seekers thought they were following the rules. Now some are told to start over

The Trump administration is stripping protections of some asylum applicants who filed as far back as 2019.

NPR has learned that dozens of immigrants across the U.S. have received letters in the mail notifying them that their asylum cases have been dismissed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a branch of the Department of Homeland Security.

The reason, according to the letters: These asylum-seekers, many of whom entered between 2019 and 2022, did not receive a mandatory screening, known as a “credible fear” interview, at the border.

NPR

Cities hope to attract more police officers by cutting education requirements

Some cities hope that relaxing education hiring standards may solve lingering staffing shortages. Is that a good idea?

USA Today

Sex is getting scrubbed from the internet, but a billionaire can sell you AI nudes

Online safety laws keep ordinary people from expressing themselves, while companies like xAI cause real harm.

The Verge

Blue whales are going eerily silent—and scientists say it’s a warning sign

A six-year study off California’s coast shows how marine heat waves and noise pollution are silencing the ocean’s largest singers. Does saving the ocean start with hearing it?

National Geographic

After a deadly shooting at the CDC, shaken scientists demand answers from RFK Jr.

CDC Director Susan Monarez convened an online all-hands meeting of the agency division that focuses on vaccines, and employees called out Kennedy’s rhetoric specifically.

MSNBC

Gaza Isn’t the First Genocide the US Has Denied — and Abetted

From Guatemala to East Timor to Yemen, the US has a pattern of obfuscating and aiding crimes against humanity.

Truthout

Texas Rep. James Talarico calls Democrats’ redistricting exodus an act of faith

Talarico said: ‘It’s not just a political struggle, it is a spiritual struggle, and we need to shield ourselves and be ready for the fight ahead.’

Religion News Service

Trump EPA claws back $7B in solar funding already promised to states

“We are appalled and outraged at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) blatant and unlawful termination of $7 billion in federal funding for the 60 organizations that received awards through the Solar for All program,” the five Democratic members of Oregon’s congressional delegation wrote in a Friday letter to Zeldin and White House Budget Director Russell Vought.

“Solar for All funding has been approved by Congress and signed into law, and cancelling or rescinding these obligated funds is a violation of the law and the Constitution.”

Michigan Advance

What’s it like to have Frank Lloyd Wright design your house? This 101-year-old knows

“I am the last original client of Frank Lloyd Wright, still living in the home he designed for me,” Reisley told NPR, sitting in the bright open living room of the home designed by the famed architect.

NPR

Trump’s War on Big Law Means It’s Harder to Challenge the Administration

Some of America’s largest law firms are refusing to take pro bono and paid legal work from groups that seek to hold the government to account on issues like environmental protection, LGBTQ+ rights and police accountability.

ProPublica

U.S.-Mexico Border Militarization Fails to Stop Modern Drug Smuggling Industry

Efforts by Trump and Mexico don’t address root causes or measure up to an evolving, international fentanyl market, experts say.

Texas Observer

NYC to shut down migrant shelter at the Row, last hotel used to house asylum seekers

“Three years ago, thousands of migrants and asylum seekers began streaming into our city every week — and the Adams administration stepped up,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “We opened hundreds of emergency migrant shelters to ensure no family slept on the street. Since then, we have successfully helped more than 200,000 migrants leave our shelter system and take the next step toward self-sufficiency.”

Gothamist

Guess Who’s Eligible for Student Loan Forgiveness: New ICE Agents

“This just shows the lengths that the Trump administration will go to to weaponize Public Service Loan Forgiveness and debt more broadly to achieve their fascist objectives,” said Persis Yu, deputy executive director and managing counsel at the Student Borrower Protection Center.

The Intercept

Nepal’s Indigenous Bote community is caught between conservation and survival

A moratorium on fishing licenses has restricted their access to natural resources and ancestral rights

Global Voices

Recovering Suzanne Césaire’s Legacy

A Fort Worth modern art exhibition and a new experimental film are part of a renaissance of work about an influential Caribbean writer.

Texas Observer

Israel Secretly Recruited Iranian Dissidents to Attack Their Country From Within

As described by their handlers, their motives were a mix of personal and political. Some were seeking revenge against a repressive, clerical regime that had imposed strict limits on political expression and daily life. Others were enticed by cash, the promise of medical care for family members or opportunities to attend college overseas.

ProPublica

Meta brought AI to rural Colombia. Now students are failing exams

When Meta embedded AI bots in its apps, even students in the most remote corners of Colombia gained access. But rather than boosting learning, it’s getting in the way.

Rest of World

Georgia’s EU aspirations are becoming distorted amid daily political turmoil

The wave of political imprisonments targeting opposition leaders continues unabated

Global Voices

Palestinians Displaced in West Bank by Israeli Settlers Ask: Where Can We Go?

Settlers have destroyed homes in the West Bank, forcibly displacing Palestinians from nearly 50 Bedouin communities.

Truthout

At meeting of African Catholic leaders, bishops urge peace on the continent

The overarching forum of African Catholic leaders looked to the future of the church on the continent.

Religion News Service

Deadly floods hit Pakistan as government preparedness faces scrutiny

Pakistan is once again bearing the brunt of climate change this year. Following an extreme heatwave in early June, glaciers have been melting at an accelerated pace, triggering flash floods and landslides that have wreaked havoc across the country. At least 72 people have lost their lives, properties have been damaged, livestock have been killed, and the human death toll is expected to rise.

Global Voices