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US resumes deportation flights to Venezuela with more than 100 migrants on board

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:20 GMT

MAIQUETIA, Venezuela (AP) — Deportation flights of Venezuelans from the U.S. resumed Wednesday with a first plane of more than a hundred migrants landing back in their economically troubled country under the Biden administration’s latest efforts to deal with swelling numbers of asylum-seekers. This is the first time in years that U.S. immigration authorities are deporting people to the South American nation, marking a significant concession by the government of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro to a longtime adversary.The first plane, a Boeing 737 jet, took off from the Texas border city of Harlingen and touched down in Miami before arriving hours later outside Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. The roughly 130 passengers were Venezuelan women and men who were shuttled to the plane on buses, and wore wrist and ankle restraints. As they boarded, U.S. immigration officers patted them down.“This flight to Venezuela is the first I’ve seen in my career of an entire charte...

Tropical Storm Tammy forms in tropical Atlantic heading toward group of islands, forecasters say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:20 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Tammy formed Wednesday afternoon in the Atlantic Ocean, putting a group of islands on alert for its expected approach.The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Tammy was centered at 5 p.m. EDT about 625 miles (1,005 kilometers) east of the Windward Islands. It was moving briskly to the west at 23 mph (37 kph) and expected to gradually strengthen in coming days.Tropical storm watches have been issued for Barbados, Dominica, and Martinique and Guadeloupe. Forecasters said tropical storm conditions were possible in the region starting within 48 hours and that further watches and warnings will likely be required Wednesday night or Thursday. Tammy is initially expected to spread heavy rains over the northern Windward and Leeward Islands through Friday and then across the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico over the weekend, according to the hurricane center.The center’s opening advisory on Tammy said total rainfall could measure between ...

Delta Air Lines scales back changes to its loyalty program after a revolt by customers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:20 GMT

Delta Air Lines is backtracking slightly on changes it previously announced in its frequent-flyer program, but it still plans to reshape SkyMiles to favor big spenders over customers who take the most flights.Delta outlined the revisions in an email from CEO Ed Bastian to SkyMiles members on Wednesday. “I have read hundreds of your emails, and what’s been most clear to me is how much you love Delta and the disappointment many of you felt by the significance of the changes,” Bastian wrote.The objections focused on the difficulty of achieving elite status and new restrictions on entering airport lounges.Delta announced the changes in mid-September, saying they were needed to address overcrowding at the lounges and a surge in elite-status customers that was making it harder to score upgrades.The airline proposed to make spending with Delta the only way to reach elite status — no longer counting flights taken or miles flown. In simplifying the path to status, Delta sharply raised spendi...

Netflix raising prices 'starting today,' company confirms in letter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:20 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Netflix is getting more expensive – again. The company told shareholders in a letter Wednesday that it is raising prices on some of its subscription plans. Netflix has three pricing tiers available to customers: An option with ads, "Standard" and "Premium." Some customers are also grandfathered into a "Basic" plan, but it's not an option people can choose now. More expensive tiers allow customers to stream on more devices and add members in other households. The new price hike is hitting Netflix's "Basic" and "Premium" tiers. Each option is now $2 more expensive than it used to be, $11.99 for "Basic" and $22.99 for "Premium." 3 things we know about Netflix’s efforts to crack down on password sharing The pricing of Netflix's cheapest option, which includes ads, will remain at $6.99 and the "Standard" tier will stay at $15.49. The adjustments would be "starting today," Netflix said in the letter. The company told Nexstar it impacts both new and existing customers. Netfl...

Senate prepares to pass massive Israel aid package

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:20 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Senators from both sides of the aisle are rallying behind the president's request to send more aid to Israel.The Senate is preparing to pass a massive aid package to help Israel defeat Hamas."Hamas is a terrorist organization dedicated to Israel's eradication," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said.Schumer, the Senate majority leader, says the plan will not only surge military aid to Israel. It will also include humanitarian funds to help those trapped in Gaza without food, water or electricity."Palestinian civilians who have nothing to do with Hamas," Schumer said.Across the board, Republicans say they're ready to help Israel.But Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, says she fears anything sent to Gaza could end up in the hands of Hamas."Until we can guarantee we can get that humanitarian aid directly to the people who need it, I think we should slow down," Ernst said.The Biden administration says it's already working with Egypt and Israel to ensure aid can be safely delivere...

Veteran's urn found in dumpster after cleaning crew accidentally throws it away, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:20 GMT

ELKINS, W.Va. (WBOY) — A veterans' group in West Virginia said it has tentatively identified a former Air Force serviceman whose urn was accidentally placed in a dumpster earlier this month. A sanitation worker in Elks, West Virginia, discovered an urn and a photo of an Air Force veteran in a dumpster in early October. (Courtesy: American Legion Post 29)American Legion Post 29 Commander John Miller said a sanitation worker noticed the urn and a photograph of the serviceman in a dumpster outside the Gateway Apartments in Elkins. The concerned worker retrieved both items before emptying the dumpster and took them to the local American Legion Hall. Miller said a cleaning crew accidentally disposed of the urn while cleaning one of the apartment units. He said the crew did not know what the urn was at the time and has since apologized. The urn and the photograph were not labeled with a name.Legion officials posted the photograph on their Facebook page, asking for help with identifying th...

Biden's announces aid to Israel in historic visit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:20 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) -- President Biden was in Israel on Wednesday to meet with the prime minister and war cabinet. He expressed staunch support for Israel, but also concern for innocent Palestinians.Biden's visit to Tel Aviv is a historic one, as the Israeli Prime Minister hasn't allowed any other U.S. President to visit Israel in a time of war."Thank you for standing with Israel today, tomorrow and always," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Biden strongly condemned the Hamas terrorist attack and U.S. officials announced plans for new aid to Israel."The brutality we saw we have cut deep anywhere in the world, but it cuts deeper here in Israel," Biden said. "I'm going to ask the United States Congress for an unprecedented support package for Israel's defense.""We know that virtually every Israeli has been touched by the bloody hand of Hamas," added Sec. of State Anthony Blinken.Biden also said the U.S. is "pursuing every avenue to bring home those who are being held captive by ...

Delta scales back changes to its loyalty program after a revolt by customers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:20 GMT

(AP) — Delta Air Lines is backtracking slightly on changes it previously announced in its frequent-flyer program, but it still plans to reshape SkyMiles to favor big spenders over customers who take the most flights.Delta outlined the revisions in an email from CEO Ed Bastian to SkyMiles members on Wednesday.“I have read hundreds of your emails, and what’s been most clear to me is how much you love Delta and the disappointment many of you felt by the significance of the changes,” Bastian wrote.The objections focused on the difficulty of achieving elite status and new restrictions on entering airport lounges.Delta announced the changes in mid-September, saying they were needed to address overcrowding at the lounges and a surge in elite-status customers that was making it harder to score upgrades.The airline proposed to make spending with Delta the only way to reach elite status — no longer counting flights taken or miles flown. In simplifying the path to status, Delta sharply ra...

Why did the City of Austin send you a Land Development Code notice in the mail?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:20 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- If you got a public notice in the mail from the City of Austin warning of proposed Land Development Code changes, you're one of more than 725,000 people and yes, they are new. Austin City Council is working to better notify land owners of zoning changes that may impact them after the City ended up in court over just that. "We’re working to provide the public ample notice about upcoming hearings and Council action, something that was lacking the last time. The process changes are the direct result of public feedback during CodeNext. We’ve heard you," Mayor Kirk Watson said in his newsletter. The notices going out now notify property owners of three proposed changes: Allowing up to three housing units, including tiny homes and RVs, on a single-family zoned propertyRevising regulations that apply to a property with two housing unitsRemoving restrictions on the number of unrelated adults living in a house How we got hereA group of homeowners has sued the city twice over...

Austin couple shares their list of local Halloween haunts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:20 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Halloween season has many of the usual events: haunted houses, costume parties, ghost tours. But in a large city like Austin, there can be too many to track. Leila Sales and Brian Pennington started tracking Austin-area Halloween events in 2019, a year after the couple moved to the city. The list took a pandemic pause in 2020 and 2021 and returned for 2022 and 2023."I have always loved Halloween; I feel like what we do with the newsletter and what we're interested in is creative, artsy, homegrown, DIY sort of stuff. And I feel like Halloween is the perfect holiday for that," Sales said.The list started as a way for the couple to promote their local events newsletter Lite + Brite Events. "We were trying to find at the time ways to help grow the newsletter," Pennington said. "[The spreadsheet] made sense on Reddit, because there's this great community of Austinites there that we want to reach. I think we grew [subscribers] like 100% the first time we did it."Some o...