With Pandemic Restrictions Poised to Lift, Thousands Converge on Border
Migrants streamed across the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday and others gathered in makeshift camps, waiting for the midnight end to Title 42 restrictions, as authorities in Washington prepared to impose tough new rules the moment that Title 42 would no longer be in effect. All along the border, agents, soldiers and local officials were striving to maintain order as migrants waded across the Rio Grande. The latest surge comes after two years in which a Democratic-led overhaul of the immigration system has stalled in the face of Republican opposition. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that more patrol officers, troops and Department of Homeland Security employees had been sent to the border.
FDA Eases Ban on Blood Donations From Gay and Bisexual Men
The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it had formally ended a wide-ranging prohibition on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. Instead, the FDA is finalizing guidance that includes a questionnaire for all donors that is aimed at learning about their recent sexual activity. Potential donors who had recent sex with new or multiple partners and anal sex would still be turned away. The revised policy would also preclude blood donations from people taking oral PrEP to prevent HIV infection, a restriction the agency said was designed to avoid false-negative results during blood screening.
EPA Proposes First Limits on Climate Pollution From Existing Power Plants
The Biden administration on Thursday announced the first regulations to limit pollution from existing power plants, capping an unparalleled string of climate policies that, taken together, could substantially reduce the nation’s contribution to global warming. The proposals, designed to effectively eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s electricity sector by 2040, are sure to face opposition from the fossil fuel industry, power plant operators and their allies in Congress. The plan is also likely to draw an immediate legal challenge from a group of Republican attorneys general that has already sued the Biden administration to stop other climate policies.
Yellen Calls Invoking 14th Amendment to Raise Debt Limit ‘Legally Questionable’
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday called the idea that President Joe Biden could essentially ignore the debt limit by invoking the 14th Amendment “legally questionable.” Lawmakers and the Biden administration remain locked in a standoff over whether and how to raise the $31.4 trillion borrowing cap. The brinkmanship has raised questions about whether the administration can act on its own to raise the cap by relying on a strategy that would effectively be a constitutional change to the debt limit. Yellen warned that failing to lift the debt limit would have dire consequences.
As COVID Emergency Ends, Surveillance Shifts to the Sewers
With the COVID-19 public health emergency expiring Thursday in the United States, many of the data streams that have helped Americans monitor the virus will go dark. But experts who want to keep tabs on the virus will still have one valuable option: sewage. People who are infected with the coronavirus shed the pathogen in their stool, enabling officials to track levels of the virus in communities over time and to watch for the emergence of new variants. This approach expanded rapidly during the pandemic. The CDC will still track deaths and hospitalizations, but wastewater is likely to remain a critical early warning system for officials and the public.
U.S. News Releases Its Latest, Disputed Rankings of Law and Medical Schools
U.S. News &World Report released its annual rankings of top law and medical schools Thursday, after a delay of weeks. After criticizing the U.S. News rankings for years, many elite law and medical schools decided to boycott the 2023-24 rankings by refusing to hand over data, saying that the rankings were unreliable and unfair, skewing education priorities. Still, the schools at the top of the list were familiar. There were some big shifts among the lower ranks, as a result of a new methodology. Many organizations rank colleges and universities, but the U.S. News rankings are probably the most widely followed.
Erdogan’s Election Prospects Take a Hit as a Challenger Drops Out
Three days before Turks vote in presidential elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s chances of securing a swift victory took a hit Thursday when a challenger left the race, a move likely to benefit Erdogan’s main competitor. The withdrawal of one of the race’s four contenders increased the possibility that the main opposition candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, could obtain a simple majority of votes Sunday, a win that would end Erdogan’s 20-year streak as Turkey’s most prominent politician. The simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections will set the future course for Turkey, a major economy at the intersection of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and a NATO ally of the United States.
Pakistan’s Top Court Orders Release of Imran Khan
Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s release from custody Thursday, offering a major victory for the onetime leader who was arrested this week as part of a corruption inquiry, and escalating a political crisis that has engulfed the country. The court declared that authorities had unlawfully arrested Khan, who was in a hearing Tuesday when he was taken into custody, stressing that security forces must obtain permission before carrying out an arrest on court premises. His lawyers challenged the legality of the arrest Thursday morning and requested his release. The court’s decision left open the possibility that Khan could be rearrested under different circumstances.
Sudan’s Clashing Forces Agree to Allow Aid In, but Not to a Truce, U.S. Says
The warring parties in Sudan could not agree to a cease-fire but signed a commitment to allow deliveries of humanitarian aid and to restore some services for residents battered by nearly four weeks of fighting, two senior U.S. administration officials said Thursday. The deal, brokered by diplomats from the United States and Saudi Arabia after six days of talks, fell short of the negotiators’ original goal of reaching a truce. It was cast instead as a “declaration of commitment to protect the civilians of Sudan.” The goals of the pact include delivering humanitarian aid, restoring essential services, withdrawing fighters from hospitals and clinics, and allowing residents to bury the dead.
Israel and Gaza Trade Fire Amid Cease-Fire Talks
The Israeli military and Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip, traded fire Thursday amid mounting tensions in the region as Israel stepped up its campaign of targeted assassinations of Islamic Jihad commanders, killing two more to take the toll to five in three days. While an effort by Egypt and other regional powers to persuade the two sides to agree to a cease-fire was underway Thursday, Islamic Jihad fired rockets and mortar rounds into Israel, and Israeli forces struck against what they said were military targets linked to the group in Gaza
By wire sources