Aug. 10 (UPI) — A federal judge in Hawaii has outlawed commercial fishing in the Pacific Islands Heritage marine national monument, a protected and fragile ecosystem in the Pacific Ocean.
The action by judge Michael WJ Smith reverses a decision made by a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that banned fishing in parts of the monument that was signed by President Barack Obama while he was in office.
Friday’s court order by Smith means that commercial fishing cannot occur in waters 50 to 200 nautical miles around Johnson Atoll, Jarvis Island and Wake Island, and must stop immediately.
“The Fisheries Service cannot ignore our perspectives as the native people who belong to the islands and to the ocean that surrounds us,” said Solomon Pili, Kaho’ohalahala, a founding member of Kapa’a, the Conservation Council for Hawaii and the Center for Biological Diversity.
“The law guarantees a process where we can advocate for protecting the generations of our children’s children who are yet to be born.”
Earthjustice, an environmental conservation group, filed a lawsuit in May, arguing the National Marine Fisheries Service violated federal law by sidestepping the formal rulemaking process required to change fishing rules, which mandates public notice and comment.
President George W. Bush established the moment in 2009. It comprised 500,000 square miles of a remote part of the central Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii. Obama widened the area in 2014.
Hong Kong’s Security Bureau announces measures over activists’ alleged role in unofficial parliament overseas.
Hong Kong authorities have cancelled the passports of 12 activists based overseas in their latest crackdown on activities that they claim pose threats to national security.
Hong Kong’s Security Bureau announced the measures on Monday after a local court issued arrest warrants last month for the 12 activists and seven other pro-democracy campaigners over their alleged roles in establishing an unofficial parliament overseas.
The bureau said it had also banned individuals from providing financial support or leasing property to 16 of the “absconders,” and entering into joint ventures or partnerships with them.
The wanted activists include Chongyi Feng, an Australian citizen and professor at the University of Technology Sydney, and Sasha Gong, a United States citizen and journalist who previously worked for Voice of America.
Hong Kong authorities allege that the 19 activists’ participation in the “Hong Kong Parliament” advocacy group constitutes subversion under the Chinese-ruled city’s sweeping national security law.
A Hong Kong government spokesperson said the activists had continued to “blatantly engage in activities that endanger national security” while hiding in countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.
The Hong Kong parliament condemned last month’s announcement of arrest warrants and bounties for the campaigners as a “blatant abuse of legal instruments to pursue political persecution”.
“These actions represent a clear escalation of Beijing’s transnational repression, extending its coercive reach beyond China’s borders and infringing upon the sovereignty of democratic nations, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, and members of the European Union,” the group said.
Once known for its spirited political opposition and media, Hong Kong has radically curtailed the space for dissent since the introduction of a sweeping Beijing-decreed national security law in 2020 in response to violent anti-government protests.
Opposition parties have been effectively eliminated from the city’s legislature, and public commemorations of sensitive events, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, essentially outlawed.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said last month that 332 individuals had been arrested for national offences since 2020.
Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong officials have defended the law, and additional national security legislation introduced in 2024, as necessary to restore stability to the city after the turmoil caused by the mass protests.
Speakers at Los Angeles City Council meetings will be banned from using the N-word and the C-word, the council decided Wednesday.
The ban comes after years of tirades by a few speakers who attack officials’ weight, sexual orientation or gender and who sometimes use racial slurs.
Speakers will now receive a warning for using either word — or any variation of the word. If they continue with the offensive language, they will be removed from the room and possibly banned from future meetings.
Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who is Black, has said that the use of the words during public comment has discouraged people from coming to meetings.
“It is language that, anywhere outside this building where there aren’t four armed guards, would get you hurt if you said these things in public,” he said earlier this year.
The council’s decision to ban the words could be challenged in court, with some legal scholars saying it could violate speakers’ 1st Amendment free speech rights.
In 2014, the city paid $215,000 to a Black man who was ejected from a meeting for wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood and a T-shirt with the N-word on it.
Attorney Wayne Spindler, who often uses offensive language at council meetings, said Wednesday that he plans to sue the city over the ban. He said he will read Tupac Shakur lyrics, including offensive curse words, until he is banned from a meeting.
“I’m going to file my $400-million lawsuit that I already have prepared and ready to file. If you want to make me the next millionaire, vote yes,” he said during public comment Wednesday.
Spindler was arrested in 2016 after submitting a public comment card showing a burning cross and a man hanging from a tree. On the card, he also wrote “Herb = [N-word],” referring to Herb Wesson, the council president at the time, who is Black. Prosecutors declined to press charges against Spindler.
Armando Herman, who attended the City Council vote Wednesday, is also a frequent offender.
At a City Council meeting earlier this month, Herman said the council was trying to suppress his speech, repeatedly referring to himself as a white N-word. He also used the C-word to describe an official in the room.
In 2023, a judge barred Herman from attending in person any public meetings at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, where the L.A. County supervisors meet, after he allegedly sent sexually suggestive emails to four female supervisors. He denied sending the emails.
Numerous other members of the public have spoken against the new rule, saying it violates their freedom of speech.
“You’re so weak you have to curb freedom of speech for everyone, and you know this is going to bring lawsuits,” said Stacey Segarra-Bohlinger, a member of the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council who often punctuates her remarks with singing, at the council meeting earlier this month.
The Chinese government is preventing a Wells Fargo employee, as well as an employee of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, from leaving the country. File Photo by Larry W. Smith/EPA-EFE
July 20 (UPI) — The Chinese government is preventing a Chinese American banker for Wells Fargo and, separately, an employee of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from leaving the country, reports said Sunday.
The identity of the detained U.S. government employee was not known to the Washington Post, which first reported the news. Mao Chenyue, the managing director of Wells Fargo Credit Solutions, was confirmed as the bank employee facing the exit ban by the company in statements to The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
People familiar with the Patent and Trademark Office employee’s case told the Washington Post that he traveled to China to visit family but allegedly failed to disclose on his visa application that he worked for the government.
Wells Fargo has since reportedly suspended travel by its executives to China, noting in its statement to The New York Times that the company is tracking the situation and working “through the appropriate channels” to ensure their employee is returned.
The company did not provide any details as to why Mao was prevented from leaving the country but noted that she has not been detained in China and is free to move about the country.
“We have raised our concern with Chinese authorities about the impact arbitrary exit bans on U.S. citizens have on our bilateral relations and urged them to immediately allow impacted U.S. citizens to return home,” said a U.S. Embassy in Beijing spokesperson.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman was asked about Mao’s exit ban on Friday but said he was not aware of it.
Her LinkedIn account, reviewed by UPI, shows that she was active on social media as recently as two weeks ago when she thanked people for congratulatory messages on her recent election as chairman of FCI.
Brits are being warned to check local laws in their holiday destinations before setting off as multiple countries impose strict vape bans that could result in a hefty fine or even prison time
Brits are being warned of vape bans imposed in foreign countries(Image: Getty Images)
As summer holiday season kicks off, British travellers are being urged to double-check vaping laws at their holiday destinations or risk hefty fines, confiscation, or even prison.
While most holidaymakers remember to pack suncream, passports and sunglasses, one everyday item could land you in trouble abroad: your vape. UK-based retailer WizVape has issued a warning for travellers this summer after the UK’s own ban on disposable vapes came into effect on June 1, 2025.
With similar restrictions now appearing across Europe and beyond, vape users could easily be caught out by local laws. “Many travellers are unaware that simply carrying a disposable vape could result in confiscation, hefty fines, or even legal trouble abroad,” says Saif Khan, Director at WizVape.
The UK has also imposed a ban on disposable e-cigarettes(Image: PA)
“Whether you’re heading to the beach or the city this summer, it’s essential to check the local laws before you fly.”
In Europe, countries such as France and Belgium have already implemented full bans on disposable vapes.
In Spain, vaping may still be legal, but using your device on beaches in Barcelona or Benidorm could see you slapped with a fine of up to €750 (£650).
Other European nations are planning restrictions too. A disposable vape ban in Germany has passed the Bundesrat but awaits parliamentary approval.
Ireland are also expected to implement a ban by the end of 2025. In Hungary, flavoured e-liquids and popular devices like Elf Bars are already prohibited.
“Make sure you’re using a reusable device and have packed enough refills so you don’t need to purchase a non-UK friendly vape for your return,” adds Khan.
Outside Europe, the risks are even higher. In Thailand, tourists face severe penalties for possession of any vaping device – including large fines or even jail time. Other destinations with complete bans include:
Singapore – fines of up to £1,150 for possession.
Mexico – devices often confiscated at airports.
India, Qatar, Brazil and Argentina – strict bans and penalties in place.
Travellers returning to the UK should also be cautious about bringing disposables home. With the UK’s ban now in place, anyone caught with a single-use vape could have it confiscated at the border.
“Don’t assume what’s legal abroad is legal at home,” Khan warns. “Stay informed and travel smart this summer.”
Heat health alerts have been upgraded to amber for southern England, the Midlands and East of England as the third heatwave of the summer grips the UK.
The warnings came into force on Friday and will remain in place until Monday morning, the UK Health Security Agency said. Less severe yellow warnings remain in place for northern England.
Astwood Bank in the West Midlands recorded the highest temperature of 34.7C by 18:00 BST on Friday while Wales saw its hottest day of the year when the mercury reached 32.7C in Usk.
More than seven million people have had hosepipe bans imposed on them due to low water levels across England.
A hosepipe ban could include restrictions on certain activities like watering gardens, washing cars, or filling up paddling pools, and people who break the ban could face a fine.
On Monday, South East Water confirmed it would impose water usage restrictions on much of Kent and Sussex, and said it would “monitor the situation” in parts of Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire.
Hosepipe bans were already in place in Yorkshire, and parts of Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.
The weather alert service warns the public in England when high or low temperatures could damage their health or lead to disruption to critical public services.
NHS urgent care doctor Lorna Powell told the BBC that people with existing health conditions were more likely to suffer during a heatwave.
She said when someone has a health condition like a weak heart, kidney problems, or diabetes, an “extra load such as extreme heat can just deplete the body to the extent it can’t control that condition anymore”.
The NHS has advised that during a heatwave, people should keep out of the heat where possible, stay in the shade when outside, have cold food and drinks, wear light clothes, and close windows during the day and open them at night.
Getty Images
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service issued an extreme wildfire warning covering central and eastern Scotland on Friday, which will be extended to “all areas, except low-lying areas with green grass” from Saturday to Monday.
Leigh Hamilton, a ranger service manager at Loch Lomond National Park Authority, advised people to “avoid naked flames including disposable barbecues, dispose of waste properly, and call 999 immediately if you witness a wildfire”.
Many parts of the UK recorded temperatures above 30C on Friday. By 18:00 BST, Scotland’s highest recorded temperature was 28.9C in Aboyne, west of Aberdeen, while Magilligan in Northern Ireland experienced highs of 28.1C.
The heat will continue into Saturday, when temperature may reach 31C in parts of central and north-east Scotland, making it the hottest day of the year so far north of the border.
Sunday is set to be cooler as a north-easterly breeze sets in, though temperatures will still be in the high twenties and low thirties for many.
There is also a chance of a few showers across some eastern areas of England.
The heatwave will be over for most on Monday as cooler Atlantic air spreads, bringing cloud and some showers to northern and western areas.
The heat spreading across the UK marks the third official heatwave of 2025 already.
The BBC has told Greg Wallace that they don’t believe he’ll change his behaviour in a scathing letter from compliance boss Claire Powell that has been shared with The Mirror
22:04, 10 Jul 2025Updated 22:49, 10 Jul 2025
Gregg Wallace has been accused of misconduct claims that he denies(Image: BBC/Glenn Dearing)
Gregg Wallace struggles to grasp the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, BBC bosses claim. And in a letter sacking him from his MasterChef job, the corporation insisted he is unlikely to change amid accusations that include groping, flashing and making sexual comments that go back years.
While the 60-year-old has admitted using inappropriate language at times, he denies the more serious allegations and has now hired an “aggressive” lawyer who may challenge his axing. In the letter from the BBC to Wallace, extracts of which have been seen by the Mirror, compliance boss Claire Powell refers to the findings of a law firm’s probe into his behaviour – which are yet to be released.
Gregg Wallace has been fired from MasterChef(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
She said: “I do not have the confidence that you can change what seems to be learned behaviour for you to make what you perceive to be jokes in the work -environment, without understanding the boundaries of what is appropriate.
“You acknowledge some of your comments have offended or upset people. But it is clear that you struggle to distinguish the boundaries between appropriate and inappropriate -behaviour in the workplace, as well as lacking an awareness of why your behaviour impacts others.
“I do not have confidence that your behaviour can change.”
A source close to Wallace said the TV chef claims the letter is unfair. But show producers Banijay are understood to be in no doubt about the next steps that need to be taken after the report by law firm Lewis Silkin.
The insider said the letter refers to Wallace’s autism and appears to accept his condition. The source said: “He’s been formally diagnosed with autism, a recognised disability, but the BBC seems to be saying it can’t cope with a disabled person. It sounds a lot like discrimination to us.”
Wallace is now understood to have hired Dan Morrison, one of the UK’s top litigation lawyers who has worked with Nigel Farage and footballer John Terry.
His firm’s profile page states: “Dan has recovered billions of pounds for his clients over 25 years of legal practice. He is known for his aggressive approach to litigation and his ability to negotiate favourable settlements for his clients.”
Wallace is expected to try to sue the BBC, although it is not yet clear if this will be for unfair dismissal, or something else.
He was warned by the BBC after a complaint was raised about him in 2018 on the show Impossible Celebrities. He apologised and was offered counselling.
Wallace was told in a meeting to change his behaviour and had coaching the following year. There were also complaints about him that same year on MasterChef. He was given a dressing down by Kate Phillips, who was then controller of entertainment and is now the BBC’s chief content officer.
She reportedly told Wallace his behaviour had been -“unacceptable and cannot continue”. BBC News has claimed that 50 more people have made claims about him.
Banijay last night declined to comment. The BBC also said it would not comment beyond the statement issued on Tuesday, which stated: “Banijay UK instructed the law firm Lewis Silkin to run an investigation into allegations against Gregg Wallace.
“We are not going to comment until the investigation is complete and the findings are published.”
Wallace insisted earlier this week: “I will not go quietly. I will not be cancelled for convenience.”
University of Pennsylvania erases records set by trans swimmer as part of resolution to civil rights investigation.
A top university in the United States has agreed to bar transgender athletes from women’s sports and erase records set by a prominent trans swimmer following pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump.
The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and the US Department of Education on Tuesday announced the agreement to resolve a federal civil rights investigation focused on transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
Thomas, who was born male and came out as a trans woman in 2018, won a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I title in 2022, becoming the first trans athlete to accomplish the feat.
Thomas, who began hormone replacement therapy in 2019 as part of the transition from male to female, also set UPenn records in five women’s events, including the 100-metre and 500-metre freestyle competitions.
Thomas’s accomplishments became a focal point in the debate about fairness in sport, with LGBTQ campaigners hailing the swimmer’s participation as a victory for inclusion and critics, including some of Thomas’s teammates, casting it as an attack on women’s rights.
Larry Jameson, UPenn’s president, said in a statement that the university recognised that some student athletes had been disadvantaged by the NCAA eligibility rules that had been in place at the time of Thomas’s participation.
The NCAA changed its eligibility rules to limit participation in women’s events to female-born athletes in March, following Trump’s executive order denying funding to educational institutions that allow trans girls and women to compete.
“We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time,” Jameson said.
“We will review and update the Penn women’s swimming records set during that season to indicate who would now hold the records under current eligibility guidelines.”
UPenn later on Tuesday removed Thomas from its website’s list of “All-Time School Records”, and added a note stating that Thomas set records during the 2021-22 season under “eligibility rules in effect at the time”.
UPenn’s move comes after the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights in April announced that it had determined the university to have violated Title IX by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities”.
US Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the agreement a “great victory for women and girls”.
“The Department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IX’s proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law,” McMahon said in a statement.
Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD, two of the biggest LGBTQ advocacy organisations in the US, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
UPenn’s announcement is the latest in a series of moves to limit trans people’s participation in sport in the US and elsewhere since Trump returned to the White House in January.
Opinion polls have pointed to growing public opposition to trans women and girls competing against female-born athletes.
In a New York Times/Ipsos poll published in January, 79 percent of Americans said that trans women should be barred from female sports, up from 62 percent in 2021.
Met Police officers arrest a protester Monday during a demonstration in support of Palestine Action, which is facing being designated a terror organization by the British government, in Trafalgar Square in central London. Photo by Neil Hall/EPA-EFE
June 23 (UPI) — Britain’s Met police banned a pro-Palestinian protest in front of the Houses of Parliament in central London scheduled to take place on Monday to “prevent serious public order,” property damage and disruption to elected representatives.
Met Commissioner Mark Rowley said in a statement Sunday that while he could not stop the demonstration going ahead, he was using powers under public order legislation to impose an exclusion zone preventing protestors from assembling in a roughly 0.5 square mile area around the Palace of Westminster and restrict the duration to between noon and 3 p.m. local time.
The We Are All Palestine protest was being organized by Palestine Action but backed by around 35 other groups, including the Stop the War Coalition, Cage and Muslim Engagement and Development.
Calling Palestine Action “an extremist criminal group” with members awaiting trial on serious charges, Rowley said he was frustrated that he lacked legal authority to ban the protest outright.
“The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest,” he said.
Rowley added that criminal charges faced by Palestine Action members, including allegedly attacking a police officer with a sledgehammer and causing millions of dollars of damage, represented extremism of a type that the vast majority of the public found abhorrent.
Palestinian Action responded by moving the protest, telling supporters in a post on X early Monday that it would now go ahead in Trafalgar Square, which is just outside the northern edge of the exclusion zone.
“The Metropolitan police are trying to deter support from Palestine Action by banning the protest from taking place at the Houses of Parliament. Don’t let them win! Make sure everyone is aware of the location change to Trafalgar Square, London. Mobilize from 12 p.m.”
The move came as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper updated lawmakers on plans to proscribe Palestinian Action as a terrorist organization after members of the group claimed responsibility for damaging military aircraft Friday after breaking into an RAF base northwest of London.
They also allegedly damaged the offices of an insurance company, which the group claimed provided services to Elbit Systems, an Israel-based military technology company and defense contractor.
Activist Saeed Taji Farouky called the move to proscribe the group a ludicrous move that “rips apart the very basic concepts of British democracy and the rule of law.”
“It’s something everyone should be terrified about,” he told the BBC.
Cooper said in a written statement to the House that she expected to bring a draft order amending the country’s anti-terror legislation before Parliament next week. Proscribing Palestine Action would make membership or promotion of the group punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Palestinian Action, escalated from targeting arms producers to vandalizing the two Airbus refuelling tanker aircraft because Britain was, it claimed, deploying aircraft to its Akrotiri airbase on Cyprus from where it can “collect intelligence, refuel fighter jets and transport weapons to commit genocide in Gaza.”
The attack at RAF Brize Norton, the British military’s main hub for strategic air transport and refuelling, including flights to RAF Akrotiri, came the same day a British man appeared in a closed court in Cyprus on charges of planning an “imminent terrorist attack” on the island and espionage.
The suspect was arrested by Greek anti-terror officers on a tip-off from a foreign intelligence service claiming he’d had the RAF Akrotiri base under surveillance since April and had links with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
He faces charges of terrorism, espionage, conspiracy to commit a felony and other related offences.
RAF Akrotiri is the U.K. military’s largest base for the Middle East region and a key waypoint en route to its giant Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands, 3,800 miles to the southeast in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
For those planning on going abroad this summer, it’s important to be up to date with all of the regulations around what you can bring with you in your hand luggage and suitcases
It’s important to know what items are banned in airports (Image: Getty Images)
With many people jetting off on holidays this summer, it’s worth being up to date with regulations on what you can bring with you.
Travellers are warned not to pack these certain items in their cases to avoid being stopped at security and help make airport experiences as easy as possible.
There are certain items passengers are refrained from bringing on an aircraft according to the official government website and aircraft staff have the right to not let anything through that they feel is dangerous – even if it is an item that is allowed. So in order to make sure you don’t start your holiday off on the wrong foot, here’s some items that have certain restrictions…
There are bins provided for forbidden items(Image: Johnny Greig/Getty Images)
Food and powders
If you are planning on bringing food with you on holiday or on your travels, the advice given is to put the items in your hold luggage instead to help minimise delays. This is due to food items and powders in your hand luggage can obstruct images on x-ray machines and your bags may need to be checked again manually by security.
Frozen items
There are strict regulations on frozen items which aren’t allowed in your hand luggage. This includes frozen liquids, food and ice packs, however there are exceptions which include certain medications and types of baby food.
Lighters
While many people think lighters are banned, travellers are permitted to bring one lighter in their hand luggage but there are strict rules to comply with. The Gov.uk website stated: “You can only carry 1 lighter on board. You should put it inside a resealable plastic bag (like the ones used for liquids), which you must keep on you throughout the flight. You cannot put it in your hold luggage or put it in your hand luggage after screening.”
Portable chargers
In recent months, several airlines have banned travellers from carrying portable chargers in their checked suitcases, however airlines in the US are now taking the measures further and have banned seven types of battery-powered items from luggages with immediate effect. Portable chargers could catch fire and are not allowed in checked luggage in the hope of preventing any deadly disasters.
Batteries and electronics
While you’re allowed to bring up to 15 electronic devices with a lithium battery in your hand baggage, you’ll need to request permission to carry any lithium battery up to 160 Wh.
It’s also important to note that for flights from or via Dubai, passengers are forbidden from bringing pagers and walkie talkies. These items will be confiscated at Dubai airport without exceptions.
Some electronic items, while permissible for your hand baggage, are prohibited to use once you board an airplane including: remote control toys and televisions. The reason being that these devices may interfere with the plane’s navigation systems. E-cigarettes are not permissible in your hand baggage, though this rule may vary depending on the country to which you are travelling.
In his ongoing war on “woke,” President Trump has instructed the National Park Service to scrub any language he would deem negative, unpatriotic or smacking of “improper partisan ideology” from signs and presentations visitors encounter at national parks and historic sites.
Instead, his administration has ordered the national parks and hundreds of other monuments and museums supervised by the Department of the Interior to ensure that all of their signage reminds Americans of our “extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity and human flourishing.”
Those marching orders, which went into effect late last week, have left Trump opponents and free speech advocates gasping in disbelief, wondering how park employees are supposed to put a sunny spin on monuments acknowledging slavery and Jim Crow laws. And how they’ll square the story of Japanese Americans shipped off to incarceration camps during World War II with an “unmatched record of advancing liberty.”
At Manzanar National Historic Site, a dusty encampment in the high desert of eastern California, one of 10 camps where more than 120,000 Japanese American civilians were imprisoned during the early 1940s, employees put up a required notice describing the changes last week.
Like all such notices across the country, it includes a QR code visitors can use to report any signs they see that are “negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes”.
An identical sign is up at the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in Kern County, a tribute to the struggle to ensure better wages and safer working conditions for immigrant farm laborers. Such signs are going up across the sprawling system, which includes Fort Sumter National Monument, where Confederates fired the first shots of the Civil War; Ford’s Theater National Historic Site in Washington, D.C., where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated; and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Park.
So, nothing negative about John Wilkes Booth or James Earl Ray?
In response to an email requesting comment, a National Park Service spokesperson did not address questions about specific parks or monuments, saying only that changes would be made “where appropriate.”
The whole thing is “flabbergasting,” said Dennis Arguelles, Southern California director for the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Assn. “These stories may not be flattering to American heritage, but they’re an integral part of our history.
“If we lose these stories, then we’re in danger of repeating some of these mistakes,” Arguelles said.
Trump titled his March 27 executive order requiring federal sign writers to look on the bright side “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” He specifically instructed the Interior Department to scrutinize any signs put up since January 2020 — the beginning of the Biden administration — for language that perpetuates “a false reconstruction” of American history.
Trump called out signs that “undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”
He specifically cited the National Historical Park in Philadelphia and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., as bowing to what he described as the previous administration’s zeal to cast “our Nation’s unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness” as “inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.”
His solution? Order federal employees and historians to rewrite the “revisionist” history with language that exudes patriotism.
“It all seems pretty Orwellian,” said Kimbrough Moore, a rock climber and Yosemite National Park guide book author. After news of the impending changes began circulating in park circles, he posted on Instagram a sign he saw in the toilet at the Porcupine Flat campground in the middle of the park.
Across from the ubiquitous sign in all park bathrooms that says, “Please DO NOT put trash in toilets, it is extremely difficult to remove,” someone added a placard that reads, “Please DO NOT put trash in the White House. It is extremely difficult to remove.”
Predictably, the post went viral, proving what would-be censors have known for centuries: Policing language is a messy business and can be hard to control in a free society.
“Even the pooper can be a venue for resistance,” Moore wrote.
There are lots of items people are prohibited from bringing onto a cruise ship, but one company has added a popular travel accessory to the list leaving travellers confused
05:00, 18 Jun 2025Updated 13:40, 18 Jun 2025
Passengers have been left confused over the popular item being banned(Image: Getty Images/Glowimages RF)
Carnival Cruise passengers have been left baffled by a new rule that has seen people be banned from using one specific item onboard. There are certain items people are forbidden from bringing onto a cruise ship including candles and heating appliances, but now people are confused over the newest item added to the list.
The luxury cruise liner announced that passengers are now no longer able to bring handheld fans to certain areas on the ship, as noted in a cabin letter given to everyone as they first board the ship. The popular travel accessory for many is an essential in hot destinations, and the ban has left many people worried about it.
The letter states: “For safety reasons, handheld fans are not permitted in the nightclub or any indoor dance floor.” In a video message, Carnival Cruise Line’s brand ambassador John Heald, addressed the rules. The ambassador stressed that only handheld fans – paper fans ‘made of cardboard’ – are banned from the indoor dance floor.
The popular travel accessory has been banned from certain areas on the ship(Image: Windstar Cruises)
The cruise company further addressed the confusion and detailed that guests will still be allowed to bring small electric handheld fans onboard Carnival Cruise Line ships and Heald added: “Are fans allowed on board? Yes they are.
“We have not changed any rule regarding the fans that some of you like to have in your cabin. The electric fans – no bigger than 12 inches – they are allowed, of course. Please make sure they are in good working order. But you can, of course, continue to bring fans.”
And although some guests were confused by the rules, Heald added that the majority of passengers had reacted positively to the letter.
There are a number of items banned from being taken on a cruise ship, and rules can differ for each company but many of the banned items are outlawed for health and safety reasons. And cruise operators aim to stop fire, accidents and even violent incidents. This explains why baseball bats are certainly not permitted on board because they fall into an offensive weapons category
Bizarre items which cannot be taken include a skateboard or roller skates which are banned aboard a Princess ship. Another cruise liner operator Costa Cruises lists tattoo-making kits among its banned items. Other items such as balloons or handcuffs cannot be taken aboard a P&O Cruises ship.
There are also restrictions on personal alcohol which can be brought aboard, but many believe this is more about the operator wanting to make money in the cruise ship’s bars. Bags are scanned before being delivered to your cabin. Items which have been blacklisted will be confiscated and luggage access delayed. Worse still, you could be prevented from boarding.
Rules on cruise lines and can change quickly and each operator’s list of banned items varies. Royal Caribbean has now said no to multi-plug outlets in a new restriction. It’s vital to check with the cruise line if unsure.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia escalated its cold war with Thailand on Friday when it announced a ban on Thai movies and TV shows and a boycott of the neighboring country’s international internet links.
Tensions between the Southeast Asian countries have soared since an armed confrontation in a border area on May 28 that each side blamed on the other and which left one Cambodian soldier dead.
Cambodian officials said the import and screenings of Thai movies would be banned, and that broadcasters would be ordered not to air Thai-produced shows, which include popular soap operas. The government said it would inflict a financial blow on Thailand by rerouting its international internet traffic through other countries instead.
Cambodian and Thai authorities engaged in saber-rattling last week, though they have since walked back much of their earlier statements emphasizing their right to take military action.
But they continue to implement or threaten measures short of armed force, keeping tensions high. Thailand has added restrictions at border crossings. Much of their war of words actually has appeared intended to mollify nationalistic critics on their own sides.
The confrontation reportedly took place in a relatively small “no man’s land” constituting territory along their border that both countries claim is theirs.
The area is closed to journalists, but it appears that both sides withdrew soon after the fatal confrontation to avoid further clashes, without explicitly conceding the fact in order to save face.
“Neither side wants to use the word ‘withdraw’. We say ‘adjust troop deployments’ as a gesture of mutual respect—this applies to both Cambodia and Thailand.” Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was quoted telling reporters this past week.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said Friday on the Telegram social network that his government would act preemptively to establish self-reliance in response to exhortations by Thai nationalists to cut off electricity and internet connectivity to Cambodia.
Camboia’s Minister of Post and Telecommunication Chea Vandeth announced on his Facebook page that “all telecommunications operators in Cambodia have now disconnected all cross-border internet links with Thailand,” and that the move would deprive Thailand of as much as hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, a claim that could not be immediately checked.
The reported move to use circuits bypassing Thailand temporarily disrupted internet connectivity for users of at least one Cambodian service provider.
Thai officials said any plans to cut services to Cambodia were unrelated to the territorial conflict and would actually be targeting the infamous online scam centers in the Cambodian border town of Poipet that have been a problem for several years.
Cambodia’s Ministry of Fine Arts meanwhile informed all film distributors and cinemas owners that starting Friday, the import and screening of all Thai films must be immediately suspended.
Som Chhaya, deputy director general of a popular Cambodian TV channel, People Nation Network, told The Associated Press that his company will comply with another government order to drop Thai-produced shows, and in their place broadcast Chinese, Korean or Cambodian dramas.
Thai films and TV shows have a large audience in Cambodia.
Friday’s actions in Cambodia were taken one day ahead of a planned meeting in the capital Phnom Penh of the two countries’ Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary to help resolve the conflicting territorial claims that led to last month’s deadly confrontation.
There is a long history to their territorial disputes, Thailand is still rankled by a 1962 ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands that awarded to Cambodia the disputed territory where the historic Preah Vihear temple stands. There were sporadic though serious clashes there in 2011, and the ruling was reaffirmed in 2023.
“If you’re a parent, Lauren Greenfield’s new doc about teens and social media ‘is a horror movie.’”
That Los Angeles Times headline ran on an August story about Greenfield’s acclaimed five-part docuseries that followed Los Angeles-area high school students during the 2021-22 school year, tracking their cellphone and social media use for a revealing portrait of their online life.
Greenfield remembers the headline.
“I’ve heard that from parents,” Greenfield says. “And I keep hearing it whenever we screen the series.”
Greenfield has taken “Social Studies” to schools around the country since its premiere last summer, airing episodes and answering questions, speaking alongside a rotating group of the show’s subjects. And, yes, the most common takeaway remains: Parents have no idea what’s going on with their teenagers — though “horror” is in the eye of the beholder.
Today, Greenfield and three of the “Social Studies” participants — Cooper Klein, Dominic Brown and Jonathan Gelfond, all now 21 — are in a Venice bungalow, just back from showing the series to some 6,000 teenagers in San Francisco — young people who, by and large, had a much different reaction than their elders to the depictions of online bullying, body-image issues, partying, hooking up and FOMO culture.
These teens were sometimes gasping and talking to the screen, laughing at points, fully immersed, fully relating, even feeling nostalgic for TikTok trends that were popping three years ago.
In one episode, teenager Sydney Shear is having a text exchange with a guy Greenfield describes as “creepy.” We see the message he sends: “Permission to beat.” Right after she tells him no, the group of girls sitting behind Greenfield screamed, “You know he did anyway!”
“It’s really fascinating how differently adults versus adolescents reacted to the show,” says Klein, now a junior at Vanderbilt. “Adults are terrified by it, but young people find it funny. It’s like watching reality TV.”
Lauren Greenfield.
(Matt Seidel / For The Times)
Much has changed for these “Social Studies” subjects since Greenfield stopped filming in 2022. How could it not? The years immediately following high school usually bring about intense growth and change and, hopefully, a little maturity. The world around them is different. Palisades Charter High School, which many of the students in the series attended, was heavily damaged in the January wildfires. (“The show’s like a time capsule,” says Gelfond, a Pali High grad. “Looking back, the series is even more special now.”)
Some things haven’t changed at all, though. Technology remains addictive, they all agree. Even when you are aware that the algorithms exist to snare your time and attention, it can be hard to stop scrolling, the self-soothing leading to numbness and deepening insecurities.
“You can have a greater understanding about the effects, but it still pulls you in,” says Brown, who, like Gelfond and Cooper, has worked at teen mental health hotlines. “It’s hard to stay away from what is essentially our lifelines.”
Which is one reason why they all see the value in the Los Angeles Unified School District’s cellphone ban, which went into effect in February.
“The pull-away from tech only works if it applies to everyone,” Klein says. “When a whole group doesn’t have access, that’s when the magic happens. You’re going to start to connect with the people in front of you because …” She pauses, smiling. “I mean, you want to be engaging with something, right?”
Then you have time to do things like read and solve jigsaw puzzles with friends, two hobbies Klein says she has taken up again recently in a conscious effort to disengage from her phone. Reclaiming your time, she says, can only work if you’ve got a plan.
If the takeaway from the series was that parents couldn’t fully comprehend how technology shapes and defines their teens’ lives (“They’re the guinea pig generation,” Greenfield notes), watching “Social Studies,” either together or alone, has served as a conversation starter.
“I have always had a very open relationship with my parents,” Gelfond says, “but the way this really explains social media has led to eightfold more transparency.”
“It made me more grateful for the way my parents navigated all this,” Klein adds. “I thought they were overstepping boundaries, trying to protect me too much. And I think this show validated that they did a really great job. Because we were the first generation, they were kind of flying blind.”
Gelfond, left, and Klein, right, join one of the group discussions in “Social Studies.”
(Lauren Greenfield / INSTITUTE)
Now Klein wonders what she’d do differently if she ever has kids. She started on Instagram at 12. If she could go back, she’d probably delay that entry, even though Klein says it now seems normal for kids to join the app when they turn 8 or 9.
So what would be the ideal starter age?
“Maybe I’m crazy for saying this, but I think it should be 16,” Brown says. Greenfield nods her head, noting Australia recently banned social media — Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and X — for children under 16.
“I got on Instagram when I was 10 or 11, and I had no idea of the world that I had just gained access to,” Brown continues. “You should wait until you gain critical thinking skills. Sixteen, 17, 18, maybe.”
“It is the end of childhood,” Greenfield says. “You get that phone and everything that comes with it, and it is the end of innocence.”
In that respect, Greenfield sees “Social Studies” in conversation with “Adolescence,” the Netflix limited series about a 13-year-old boy suspected of killing a girl. The boy had been actively exploring incel culture online.
“What’s scary about ‘Adolescence’ is how did they not know he was involved in something so terrible,” Greenfield says. “But it makes sense. That’s the world we live in now.”
The Paralimni-Deryneia municipality in eastern Cyprus has had enough of tourists ‘reserving’ sun loungers by leaving towels or personal belongings on them early in the morning
Millions of Brits flock to Cyprus every year(Image: Getty Images)
A popular seaside spot in Europe has outlawed a contentious sunbed-reserving habit, sparking a range of reactions from holidaymakers. The Paralimni-Deryneia municipality, nestled in the sun-drenched Province of Famagusta in eastern Cyprus, has issued a stern warning to beachgoers who attempt to “claim” loungers by leaving towels or personal items on them early in the morning or even the previous night.
In an official statement, authorities highlighted that the increasing trend of “staking a claim” on beach loungers without prior rental is unjust and disruptive to other visitors. Effective immediately, any unattended personal belongings left on unrented beach beds will be collected by municipal staff.
“Beachgoers are required to rent their sun loungers and umbrellas upon arrival,” the municipality announced, adding that people should keep their receipt as evidence of payment.
This new regulation has sparked debate among tourists, with some applauding the clampdown as a victory for fairness, while others, particularly early birds, argue they’re merely trying to secure a prime spot before the beach becomes crowded.
“I rise at 6am on holiday for tranquillity and a top-notch view, this feels like a penalty,” one British holidaymaker remarked online.
People love to reserve their sunbeds early(Image: Getty Images)
However, others welcomed the change. “I’ve witnessed entire rows of loungers ‘reserved’ with a single towel and no one appears until midday. It’s absurd,” commented another visitor, reports the Express.
Authorities have also urged holidaymakers to utilise contactless or mobile payments for their sunbed rentals, highlighting the convenience it offers both visitors and staff.
Signs along the beach will emphasise the revised regulations, with beach attendants present to ensure compliance.
This prohibition emerges as an increasing number of European destinations grapple with the escalating issue of ‘sunbed hogging,’ especially at bustling seaside resorts during the summer period.
BA has cited security concerns over potential AI-powered location identification as the main reason for the ban, which follows another set of photo rules for staff that was introduced in 2023
12:02, 05 Jun 2025Updated 13:47, 05 Jun 2025
BA has introduced a new staff photo policy(Image: Handout)
British Airways staff have been banned from posting photos during layovers in popular destinations, it has been reported.
The UK’s flag carrier has implemented strict new social media restrictions aimed at stopping cabin crew from sharing layover snaps from their accommodation in locations such as the Maldives, Cape Town and Singapore.
The airline has not implemented the ban in a bid to ruin all of the fun, but instead to mitigate any potential security risks. BA has cited security concerns over potential AI-powered location identification as the main reason for the ban.
It claims that sophisticated computer software could analyze seemingly innocent background details to identify specific hotel locations and crew accommodation patterns, potentially putting the flight staff in jeopardy.
Now, crew members must delete such photos and videos from their personal accounts, even private ones. Aviation A2Z reports that all British Airways members, including pilots and cabin crew, are affected.
Are you a BA staff member with an opinion on the ban? Email us at [email protected]
The airline has cited security as the reason for the ban(Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Get Ready With Me videos – in which people film themselves putting on their outfit for the day – filmed in hotel rooms and bathrooms are now banned. Outfit of the Day content showing off BA uniform is also on the scrapheap.
Fun photos taken in hotel pools, at private beaches and in the lobby areas are also now forbidden.
Back in February 2023, BA introduced a raft of new rules that stopped staff from posting videos and pictures while they were “professionally engaged” in their duties. That included workers on security checks, passenger service, and operational activities.
Those rules were designed to clamp down on cabin crew members documenting their lives for TikTok and Instagram followers. A ban on sharing photos of crew sat inside aircraft engines was also brought in.
Staff were unhappy at the time, with the following backlash leading BA to clarify that crew could still share photos in their uniform, so long as they weren’t actively working.
A BA spokesperson said: “The safety of our people is really important to us and as a responsible employer, we’re continuously looking at how we can improve their security.”
June 4 (UPI) — The U.S. State Department has imposed visa restrictions on an unspecified number of Central American government officials accused of being involved in Cuba’s medical mission program.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the punitive measure in a statement Tuesday, describing those targeted with the visa restrictions as “officials responsible for Cuban medical mission programs that include elements of forced labor and the exploitation of Cuban workers.”
“These steps promote accountability for those who support and perpetuate these exploitative practices,” Rubio said. “The Cuban labor export program abuses the participants, enriches the corrupt Cuban regime and deprives everyday Cubans of essential medical care that they desperately need in their homeland.”
According to the State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report for Cuba, medical professionals comprise 75% of Cuba’s exported workforce, generating $4.9 billion of its total $7 billion in service exports in 2022.
The United States, citing doctors who have escaped from the program, accuses Cuba of human trafficking and worker exploitation, stating that those deployed to some 50 countries receive little or no pay, have their passports and medical credentials confiscated and have their rights restricted abroad, while also facing repercussions if they leave the program.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Human Rights Watch said the Cuban government imposes “draconian rules” on doctors deployed abroad.
The move comes after Rubio, in late February, announced that the State Department was expanding its visa restrictions policy targeting forced labor to enable the blacklisting of those linked to Cuba’s labor export programs.
Though Cuba has yet to respond to Tuesday’s move, it lashed out at the Trump administration following February’s announcement, with Havana’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, said the visa restrictions were “based on falsehoods and coercion.”
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., said on X Tuesday that she supports Rubio’s visa ban on those who benefit from Cuba’s international medical program.
“No nation should enrich a dictatorship by exploiting its own people,” she said.
“It’s time to end these slave missions and stand with the Cuban people.”
Gun rights advocates say these AR-15s are owned by millions of Americans, and they argue the 2nd Amendment protects weapons that are “in common use by law-abiding citizens.”
But they fell one vote short of winning a hearing on the question before the Supreme Court.
Three conservatives — Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch — voted to hear the 2nd Amendment challenge.
But Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh refused for now to cast the key fourth vote. He called the lower-court ruling upholding Maryland’s ban “questionable,” but agreed with the majority in turning down the appeal for now.
“In my view, this court should and presumably will address the AR–15 issue soon, in the next Term or two,” Kavanaugh said.
The closely watched appeal had been pending since December, and the outcome suggests that the majority, including Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., is not ready to strike down state laws that restrict semiautomatic guns.
Monday’s no-comment order lets stand laws in Maryland and Rhode Island that forbid the sale or possession of “assault weapons” and large-capacity magazines.
California adopted the nation’s first ban on assault weapons in 1989. Since then, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Washington have enacted similar laws, all of which would have been struck down if Maryland’s law were ruled unconstitutional.
Lawmakers in California and nine other Democratic-led states say these rapid-fire weapons are especially dangerous and not needed for self-defense.
Maryland said its ban applies to “certain highly dangerous, military-style assault weapons of the sort used in a series of highly publicized mass shootings.”
The case tested the reach of the 2nd Amendment and its “right to keep and bear arms.”
For more than a decade, the justices have turned away gun-rights appeals that challenged local or state bans on assault weapons.
In 2008, the court ruled for the first time that the 2nd Amendment protects an individual right to self-defense, but its constitutional rulings since then have been modest in their impact.
The justices struck down city ordinances in Washington and Chicago that prohibited private possession of handguns, and they ruled states may not deny law-abiding citizens a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
In opinion polls, most Americans are opposed to a ban on handgun possession but they support a ban on semiautomatic assault rifles.
Maryland passed its ban on “assault weapons” after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, where 20 children and six school employees were killed.
The law was upheld last year in an opinion written by a prominent conservative judge.
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee who was a finalist for a Supreme Court nomination in 2005, said the AR-15, AK-47 and similar rapid-fire rifles are not protected by the 2nd Amendment.
“They are military-style weapons designed for sustained combat operations that are ill-suited and disproportionate to the need for self-defense,” he wrote in a 9-5 decision by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. “We decline to wield the Constitution to declare that military-style armaments which have become primary instruments of mass killing and terrorist attacks in the United States are beyond the reach of our nation’s democratic processes.”
The dissenters said the 2nd Amendment protects the right to the “arms” that are in common use.
“Today, the AR-15 and its variants are one of the most popular and widely owned firearms in the Nation,” wrote Judge Julius Richardson, a Trump appointee.
“As of 2021, there are at least 28 million AR-style semiautomatic rifles in circulation. For context, this means that there are more AR-style rifles in the civilian market than there are Ford F-Series pickup trucks on the road — the most popular truck in America.”
Three years ago, the court said in an opinion by Thomas that the 2nd Amendment should be interpreted based on the nation’s history and tradition of gun regulations.
However, the two sides in the Maryland case differed on what to glean from that history.
Gun-rights advocates said there was no early history of laws banning common firearms.
But some judges and state lawyers said the history shows that when new dangers arose — including stored gunpowder, dynamite and machine guns — new restrictions were written into law. If so, that would support new laws adopted in response to the danger posed by rapid-fire weapons.
Supreme Court finds no factual basis for Ronen Bar’s dismissal, highlighting irregularities and lack of formal hearing.
Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that the government’s decision to fire domestic security chief Ronen Bar was “unlawful”, marking the latest twist in a bitter power struggle between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the country’s justice system.
The top court “ruled that the government’s decision to terminate the head of the Shin Bet’s tenure was made through an improper and unlawful process,” its ruling said on Wednesday.
It also said that Netanyahu had a conflict of interest in moving to get Bar fired, as the Shin Bet was also conducting a probe into alleged ties between the prime minister’s close aides and Qatar.
The two men have traded accusations and barbs over deep-seated security failures surrounding the Hamas-led October 7 attack.
Netanyahu first said he would fire Bar due to a breakdown in “trust”, suggesting it was linked to October 7, which then led to the Gaza war. But Bar said Netanyahu’s decision was motivated by a series of events between November 2024 and February 2025.
In the unclassified part of the court submission, Bar said Netanyahu had told him “on more than one occasion” that he expected Shin Bet to take action against Israelis involved in anti-government demonstrations, “with a particular focus on monitoring the protests’ financial backers”.
The Shin Bet head also said he had refused to sign off on a security request aimed at relieving Netanyahu from testifying at an ongoing corruption trial in which he faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of public trust.
The court said the decision to dismiss Bar was made without “a factual basis” and without giving him a formal hearing before firing him, according to a report by the Times of Israel.
Wednesday’s ruling noted “irregularities” in the process that led to Bar’s sacking, as well as “a disregard for fundamental principles regarding internal security.”
The Israeli cabinet voted to dismiss Bar in March, triggering mass protests and accusations of autocratic pursuits by the far-right government.
The High Court of Justice halted the decision until a hearing could be held. Several groups, including opposition politicians, had filed petitions with the court against the government’s decision.
In April, the government revoked the decision to fire Bar a day after he said he would step down.
Following Bar’s decision to quit the job, Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling said that “this announcement puts an end to the [legal] procedure.”
May 20 (UPI) — The Trump administration is imposing visa restrictions on India-based travel agencies and their owners for facilitating illegal migration to the United States.
The State Department announced the punitive measure Monday amid a Trump administration crackdown on immigration, saying it was banning entry to owners, executives and senior officials of Indian travel agencies who knowingly facilitate illegal migration.
Specifics of who and what firms were targeted were not disclosed, but the State Department said its Consular Affairs and Diplomatic Security Services mission in India was working to identify those involved in human smuggling and trafficking operations.
“We will continue to take steps to impose visa restrictions against owners, executives and senior officials of travel agencies to cut off alien smuggling networks,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
“Our immigration policy aims not only to inform foreign nationals about the dangers of illegal immigration to the United States but also to hold accountable individuals who violate our laws, including facilitators of illegal immigration.”
Under the previous Biden administration, the State Department announced a policy in July that prohibited entry to executives of travel agencies and tour operators offering services to bring migrants into the United States illegally.
It was one of several actions the Biden administration took to curb illegal migration amid criticism during a surge in migrants entering the country following the end of pandemic-era restrictions.
The Biden administration in November 2023 first implemented a policy to target Nicaraguan charter flight companies, which was late superseded by another policy that included ground and maritime transportation firms.
The Biden administration also imposed a policy to bar visa issuance to Colombian transportation companies executives and owners.
Then in March, the Trump administration announced a further expansion to the policy to ban entry to foreign government officials facilitating irregular migration by failing to enforce immigration laws or policies.
UPI has contacted the State Department for comment.
Since President Donald Trump‘s inauguration in January, the White House has conducted a crackdown on both legal and illegal immigration that includes mass deportation efforts, which have been challenged in court.
