In the news today: Trump promises cuts to migration; investigating the National Guard shooting; and the rising death toll in the Hong Kong apartment fire. Also, the unusual trophies of college football rivalries. |
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after speaking to troops via video from his Mar-a-Lago estate on Thanksgiving, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) |
Trump vows to ‘permanently pause’ migration from poor nations in anti-immigrant social media screed |
President Donald Trump vowed on Thanksgiving to “permanently pause migration” from poorer nations in a blistering late-night, anti-immigrant screed posted to social media. It came in the wake of the Wednesday shooting of two National Guard members. The suspect entered the U.S. in 2021 through a Biden administration program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, officials said. Read more.
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The president said on Truth Social that “most” foreign-born U.S. residents “are on welfare, from failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels” as he blamed them for crime across the country that is predominantly committed by U.S. citizens.
A study by economists initially released in 2023 found immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than people born in the U.S. Immigrants have been imprisoned at lower rates for 150 years, the study found, adding to past research undermining Trump’s claims.
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Trump pledged to “terminate” millions of admissions to the country made during the term of his predecessor, Joe Biden. He also wants to end federal benefits and subsidies for noncitizens, denaturalize people “who undermine domestic tranquility” and deport foreign nationals deemed “non-compatible with Western Civilization.”
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Trump says one of the two West Virginia National Guard members shot by Afghan national has died |
As part of a Thanksgiving call with U.S. troops, Trump announced that he had just learned that Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, had died, while Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was “fighting for his life.” Read more. |
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The president called Beckstrom an “incredible person, outstanding in every single way.” The White House said he spoke to her parents after his remarks.
The suspect charged with the shooting is Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29. The suspect had worked in a special CIA-backed Afghan Army unit before emigrating from Afghanistan, according to two sources who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, and #AfghanEvac, a group that helps resettle Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the two-decade war.
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As of Thursday morning, the suspect faced charges of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, but Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, suggested the charges would be upgraded if one of the National Guard members died.
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Some fire alarms failed in deadly Hong Kong high-rise fire |
Hong Kong firefighters found dozens more bodies Friday during an intensive search of a high-rise tower complex, after a massive fire engulfed seven of its eight buildings. The death toll in one of the city’s deadliest blazes is now at least 128. Read more. |
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Andy Yeung, the director of Hong Kong Fire Services, said that first responders found that some fire alarms in the complex were not functioning and that there could be legal consequences.
The fire started midafternoon Wednesday in one of the complex’s eight towers, jumping rapidly from one to the next as bamboo scaffolding covered in netting in place for renovations caught fire. It took firefighters some 24 hours to bring the blaze under control.
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Three men — the directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company — have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, and police said company leaders were suspected of gross negligence.
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