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In the news today: Legal status concerns rattle foreign students in the U.S.; 50 years since the Vietnam War ended; and a look at the contenders for Pope Francis' successor. Also, how a runaway kangaroo shut down traffic on an interstate. |
Students march at Arizona State University, Jan. 31, 2025, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) |
A new US policy says international students can lose legal status if their visas are revoked |
On Friday, after mounting court challenges, federal officials said the government was restoring international students' legal status while it developed a framework to guide future terminations. In a court filing this week, the U.S. government shared the new policy: a document issued over the weekend with guidance on a range of reasons students' status can be canceled, including the revocation of the visas they used to enter the country. Read more. |
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- The new details emerged in lawsuits filed by some of the students who suddenly had their status canceled with little explanation. Brad Banias, an immigration attorney, said the new guidelines vastly expand ICE's authority beyond the previous policy, which did not count visa revocation as grounds for losing legal status. Many of the students who had visas revoked or lost their legal status said they had only minor infractions on their record, including traffic violations. Some did not know why they were targeted.
- In a case concerning Banias' client Akshar Patel, an international student whose status was terminated and reinstated, Department of Homeland Security officials said they ran the names of student visa holders through the National Crime Information Center database. It includes the names of suspects, missing persons and people who have been arrested, even if they have never been charged with a crime or had charges dropped. About 6,400 students were identified in the database search, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said in a hearing Tuesday. One of the students was Patel, who had been pulled over and charged with reckless driving in 2018. The charge was ultimately dropped.
- Earlier, if a student had their visa revoked, they could stay in the U.S. to finish their studies. They would not be able to reenter if they left the country. Legal statuses typically were updated after colleges told the government the students were no longer studying at the school, college officials say.
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Vietnam celebrates 50 years since war's end with focus on peace and unity |
The fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, marked the end of a Vietnam divided into the communist North and U.S.-allied South. Thousands camped overnight on the streets of the former South Vietnamese capital, which was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after it fell to North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops, to get the best vantage point to watch a military parade. Read more. |
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- The Vietnam Communist Party's general and the country's top official, To Lam, told crowds the past decades had led to ever-increasing unity. "In a spirit of closing the past, respecting differences, aiming for the future, the whole party, the people and the army vow to make Vietnam become a country of peace, unity, prosperity and development," he said.
- Chinese, Laotian and Cambodian troops marched behind Vietnamese army formations, including some wearing uniforms similar to what was worn by northern Vietnamese troops during the war. Helicopters carrying the national flag and jets flew over the parade near Independence Palace, where a North Vietnamese tank smashed through the gates on the final day of the war
- The emphasis on reconciliation and not, like previous years, on military victory reflected how Vietnam was approaching the changing tides of the global economy and geopolitics today, said Nguyen Khac Giang, an analyst at Singapore's ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. In 2023, Vietnam upgraded its relations with the U.S. to that of a comprehensive strategic partner, the highest diplomatic status it gives to any country, though there are new signs of strain in the relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump's imposition of heavy tariffs.
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Contenders for the next pope include a theologian, a diplomat and a 'street priest' |
There are no official candidates for the papacy, but some cardinals are considered "papabile," or possessing the characteristics necessary to become pope. After St. John Paul II broke the centuries-long Italian hold on the papacy in 1978, the field of contenders has broadened considerably. Read more. |
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- The 70-year-old veteran diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was Pope Francis' secretary of state, essentially the Holy See's prime minister. Parolin oversaw the Holy See's controversial deal with China over bishop nominations and was involved — but not charged — in the Vatican's botched investment in a London real estate venture. He is widely respected for his diplomatic finesse on some of the thorniest dossiers facing the Catholic Church. If elected, he would return an Italian to the papacy after three successive outsiders.
- The 72-year-old Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdő, known by his peers as a serious theologian, scholar and educator, is a leading contender among conservatives. Holding doctorates in theology and canon law, Erdő is a proponent of doctrinal orthodoxy. Erdő opposes same-sex unions and has also resisted suggestions that Catholics who remarry after divorce be able to receive communion. An advocate for traditional family structures, he helped organize Francis' 2014 and 2015 Vatican meetings on the family.
- Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, 69, came up in the image of Francis, who promoted him quickly. After making him a cardinal, Francis made clear he wanted him in charge of Italy's bishops, a sign of his admiration for the prelate who, like Francis, is known as a "street priest" — someone who prioritizes ministering to poor and homeless people and refugees. He was also Francis' peace envoy for Russia's war in Ukraine.
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A woodpecker rests on a pickup truck door outside a home, April 2025, in Rockport, Mass. (Janelle Favaloro via AP) |
Despite a slew of broken car mirrors, Massachusetts residents take woodpecker invasion in stride
Rockport residents have a history of fighting off invaders, but not this time. During the War of 1812, townsfolk in the tiny fishing village hurled rocks at British soldiers, using their stockings as slings. Now, they're slinging trash bags and towels over the side mirrors of their cars to protect them from a destructive and determined pileated woodpecker. Over the last few weeks, the bird has broken more than two dozen mirrors and at least one vehicle's side window. |
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