Day: October 25, 2019

The Trump administration just threw another obstacle at low-income immigrants by narrowing who can qualify for waivers of expensive fees associated with their applications for green cards, US citizenship, work permits, and dozens of other benefits.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Friday that, starting December 2, it will no longer consider use of certain public benefits in determining whether an immigrant is eligible for a fee waiver.

That means that fewer immigrants will be able to afford to pay the hefty fees for citizenship applications and green cards — which are typically $1,225 and $725 respectively — especially if …

The longest auto workers’ strike in 50 years is officially over.

General Motors employees voted overwhelmingly in favor of a deal struck by the United Auto Workers union and company executives. Nearly 48,000 workers who were on strike will return to work on Saturday.

The vote ends a painful work stoppage that has lasted six weeks, costing GM nearly $2 billion in lost production and employees nearly $1 billion in lost wages.

“Our members not only joined together in solidarity but felt the support of their whole community throughout this important stand,” Terry Dittes, the lead UAW negotiator at GM, …

Wildfires once again ignited this week across California, with conditions for more severe blazes remaining high. Utilities are responding by shutting off power to their customers, with blackouts in many parts of California likely to extend through the weekend.

The National Weather Service warned Friday that “extreme fire behavior” was possible in the southern part of the state and that “extreme fire weather conditions are likely” in the interior of Northern California through the weekend.

The largest blaze is the Kincaid Fire in Sonoma County, which has burned through more than 21,900 acres so far and …

Facebook’s News section, which launches Friday, is a big deal for newspapers, because Facebook is finally going to start paying them for their work.

It is also an interesting, tacit admission from Facebook: The best way for Facebook to act like a newspaper, it turns out, is for Facebook to actually behave like a newspaper.

Facebook isn’t changing its main “News Feed” — an almost-anything-goes jumble of dog pictures, rants from your uncle, and whatever news stories you and your friends want to share with each other. That one is run almost entirely by Facebook software, powered by free …

Come winter, it seems like you’re never more than 10 feet away from a puffer coat. People run down subway stairs bundled into jackets that look like duvets with sleeves. Restaurants are packed with puffy jackets thrown over the backs of chairs, sleeves poking out into the aisles. They’re found in Costco next to the paper towels and in Balenciaga next to the $900 fanny packs. Moms wear them, Rihanna has one the size of a Christian tent revival, and in South Korea, it’s the mark of class divide.

Down coats never go out of style, but they had …

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Trump ends Turkey sanctions

• President Trump announced that he would be lifting the sanctions against Turkey on Wednesday. [Washington Post / Felicia Sonmez and David Nakamura]
• Sanctions were first imposed against Turkey as a congressional response to Turkish “Operation Peace Spring” into northern Syria to establish a safe zone and eliminate Kurdish forces. Trump initially supported the sanctions if “Turkish leaders