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TSA PreCheck surpassed 2 major records. Here’s how to join

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:11 GMT

The number of people enrolled in TSA PreCheck just set a record high — as did the number of people applying to join.The Transportation Security Administration said in March that TSA PreCheck surpassed 15 million active members, marking an all-time high since the program launched in December 2013.And the number of people applying seems to be growing. The TSA said that on Feb. 21, 2023, a record 19,200 people applied for TSA PreCheck membership on a single day.TSA PreCheck is one of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Trusted Traveler Programs, which includes others like Global Entry and Nexus. If approved for TSA PreCheck, travelers can pass through airport security without taking off their shoes or belts. They can also leave electronics and compliant liquids inside their bags.And without all that fumbling around of clothes, shoes and laptops, TSA PreCheck tends to improve security wait times. Across airports that have separate PreCheck lanes, the TSA says, 92% of members wait...

Musk confirms Twitter’s new CEO is ad guru Linda Yaccarino from NBCUniversal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:11 GMT

By BARBARA ORTUTAY and MATT O’BRIEN (AP Technology Writers)Elon Musk has confirmed that the new CEO for Twitter, or X Corp. as it’s now called, will be NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino, an executive with deep ties to the advertising industry. “I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!” Musk wrote in a Friday tweet. He added that Yaccarino “will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology.”Yaccarino has worked at NBCUniversal for nearly 12 years — with her team generating more than $100 billion in ad sales since 2011, her company bio notes. According to LinkedIn, Yaccarino previously served as NBC’s chair for advertising and client partnerships and as president of cable entertainment and digital advertising sales. Prior to her time with NBC, Yaccarino worked at global entertainment company Turner for almost two decades. Yaccarino interviewed Musk on a Miami s...

Local charities preparing for increase in migrants needing shelter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:11 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- As thousands of migrants are anticipated to cross the Southern Border nationwide now that Title 42 has expired, a local service provider, Catholic Charities, is doing everything it can to be prepared.“Hopefully we are not going to have a surge, but we have hired staff just to make sure that in case there’s a surge we have the full capacity of staffing,” the non-profit's CEO Vino Pajanor told FOX 5.Between its three locations -- one in San Diego and two in Imperial County -- Catholic Charities can house about 1,500 people each day. Asylum restrictions known as Title 42 expire, straining US immigration system The charity has partnered with the government for the last two years to temporarily house migrants once they’re released from the border. Jewish Family Services, another local service provider, is doing the same.On Thursday afternoon, migrants were seen being dropped off at a hotel Mission Valley before being bussed to area shelters.Pajanor says it’s a common misco...

Marine veteran who fatally choked NYC subway rider Jordan Neely is freed pending trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:11 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. Marine veteran who used a fatal chokehold on an agitated New York City subway passenger was freed from custody Friday hours after surrendering to face a manslaughter charge filed nearly two weeks after the encounter.Daniel Penny, 24, appeared in court after turning himself in at a police station to answer criminal charges in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely. He did not enter a plea. Neely’s death sparked protests, while others embraced Penny as a vigilante hero.A judge authorized Penny’s release on bond and ordered him to surrender his passport and not to leave New York without approval. Prosecutors said they are seeking a grand jury indictment. Penny is due back in court on July 17.Penny didn’t speak to reporters as he arrived at a Manhattan police station with his lawyers Friday morning, nor did he respond to questions shouted by reporters as he was led from the police precinct house in handcuffs several hours later.Inside the courtroom, Penny fac...

Stock market today: Wall Street slips as households get more nervous

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:11 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are slipping Friday as a listless week on Wall Street appears to be heading toward a quiet close, even as big worries continue to roil under the surface.The S&P 500 was 0.5% lower and on pace for a sixth straight week where it moved less than 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 135 points, or 0.4%, at 33,174, as of 12:24 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.7% lower.Despite the seemingly placid moves for the overall market, big swings have swirled underneath amid worries about a possible recession, high inflation and the U.S. government inching toward what could be a catastrophic default on its debt.It’s not just Wall Street that’s concerned. Sentiment among U.S. consumers is tumbling, according to a preliminary survey by the University of Michigan. That’s a worry because strong spending by consumers has been one of main pillars keeping an already slowing economy from sliding into a recession. Joanne Hsu, director...

Reports: Myanmar soldiers kill and burn bodies of 19 villagers, including 4 children

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:11 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Soldiers from Myanmar’s military government raided a village in the country’s central region, killing 19 villagers including four children and burning their bodies, independent media and a resident said Friday.The killings on Wednesday in Nyaung Pin Thar village in Bago region’s Htantabin township may have been in retaliation for an attack by resistance forces opposed to army rule.Radio Free Asia, a U.S.- funded news service, quoted a member of the locally formed People’s Defense Force as saying the killings occurred after fighting the same day between the army and his group and its allies from the Karen National Liberation Army, an ethnic rebel group that operates in the area. He said the resistance forces killed 20 soldiers and captured three officers.A farmer from the village told The Associated Press that he lost his wife, 7-year-old daughter and nine other relatives in the raid by about 10 soldiers.The farmer, who spoke on condition of anonymity becau...

‘Tears of the Kingdom’ gives ‘Zelda’ creators more time to play in their world

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:11 GMT

Hidemaro Fujibayashi and Eiji Aonuma were not done playing in the sandbox they helped create.Fujibayashi was the director and Aonuma the producer of Nintendo’s “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.” The 2017 release eschewed the beloved series’ familiar conventions and presented gamers with a massive adventure in the inviting open world of Hyrule.It was arguably the most ambitious game Nintendo had produced, but even with two releases of extra downloadable content, the development team felt they left a lot of ideas on the table.With this week’s release of “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,” a direct sequel to “Breath of the Wild” six years in the making, gamers get to see many of those ideas finally take form.“Looking at the Hyrule we created, I became convinced that there were still a lot of different opportunities and possibilities to play in that world,” Aonuma told The Canadian Press from New York through a translator in a recent interview.“And we kind of became exc...

Palestinian militants fire more rockets, as Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza despite cease-fire efforts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:11 GMT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli fighter jets struck targets in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian militants fired rockets toward Jerusalem on Friday, further escalating the most violent flare-up in months despite efforts to broker a cease-fire.An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians in an residential building in Gaza City in the afternoon, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The Israeli military said it targeted a senior commander of the Islamic Jihad movement. The militant group did not immediately offer comment.The strike sparked a fire on the seventh floor of the apartment tower. Rescuers pulled two lifeless bodies from the rubble. Neighbors crowded around the damaged building after the bombing. Earlier in the day, bursts of rocket fire from Gaza sent warning sirens wailing as far north as the contested capital of Jerusalem — about 48 miles (77 kilometers) from the Gaza border — breaking a 12-hour lull that had raised hopes regional powers could soon broker a truc...

US-Spain collaboration on migration looms large as Biden, Sánchez hold White House talks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:11 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez are set to hold talks Friday as their countries are collaborating along with Canada to establish migration hubs in Latin America where asylum seekers fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries can go to apply for protection.The two leaders are also expected to discuss Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, climate change and other issues. But efforts by the U.S. and Spain to cooperate on asylum processing will loom large over the White House talks as the Biden administration rolls out new immigration measures now that COVID-19 immigration restrictions have ended. The changes could fundamentally alter how migrants arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border.The new efforts are designed to crack down on illegal border crossings while opening up legal pathways meant to incentivize migrants to apply for asylum online where they are, instead of making the dangerous and often deadly journey to the border. Those m...

Pakistani court grants former Prime Minister Imran Khan bail, broad protection from arrests

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:11 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A high court in Islamabad on Friday granted former Prime Minister Imran Khan broad protection from arrest in multiple cases against him and ordered him freed on bail. The ruling struck a blow to the government in a stand-off that has sparked days of rioting by Khan’s followers.Khan and his lawyers spent hours in the Islamabad High Court, to ensure the rulings were fully documented, trying to close off any legal loopholes that could allow his arrest again later. In the evening, shots were heard in the area of the courthouse, delaying his departure for security reasons. Police were investigating who opened fire, the interior minister said.Khan was expected to head later to his residence in Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city, officials in his party said. The long list of around 100 court cases, on charges ranging from fomenting violence to corruption, still stands against Khan. But the week’s turmoil illustrated the danger of moving against him. After h...