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US agency raises ‘serious concerns’ about tech visa lottery

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:55:17 GMT

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — The number of applications for visas used in the technology industry soared for a second straight year, raising “serious concerns” that some are manipulating the system to gain an unfair advantage, authorities said Friday.There were 780,884 applications for H-1B visas in this year’s computer-generated lottery, up 61% from 483,927 last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a message to “stakeholders.” Last year’s haul was up 57% from 308,613 applications the year before. Each year, up to 85,000 people are selected for H-1B visas, a mainstay for technology giants such as Amazon.com Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc., Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. Last year, the government began requiring workers who won the lottery to sign affidavits stating they didn’t try to game the system by working with others to file multiple bids under different company names, even if there was no underlyi...

Downtown section of Queen Street to be closed for years starting next week

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:55:17 GMT

Drivers and transit users will be facing a major detour in downtown Toronto starting next week — and it’s going to last for years.Queen Street will be fully closed to traffic between Bay and Victoria streets starting Monday, May 1, to accommodate work on a new station for the Ontario Line subway.The stretch of Queen is scheduled to remain off limits to vehicles for at least four and-a-half years, until sometime in 2027. Pedestrians will still be able to walk along Queen and north/south vehicle traffic on Yonge Street will be unaffected.The city says the extended closure will help “expedite construction” of the Ontario Line by about a year.“If we did it in a partial closure here, partial closure there, it would take us another year to get this station completed,” says Metrolinx spokesperson James Wattie. “The way we’re doing it now provides a bit more predictability.”Source: MetrolinxThe closure will also mean a major change for t...

Azeri protesters say they’ll end blockage of key road

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:55:17 GMT

Protesters who have blocked the road leading from Armenia to an ethnic Armenian region within Azerbaijan for four months said Friday that they will end their actions because Azerbaijan has established a checkpoint at the start of the road.The blockage of the so-called Lachin Corridor, which leads from the Armenian border to the Nagorno-Karabakh region, impeded food supplies to the region and aggravated tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which fought a six-week war in 2020.Nagorno-Karabakh, which had substantial autonomy under the Soviet Union, came under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military in 1994 at the end of years of separatist fighting. Armenian forces also took sizable territory surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh itself.Azerbaijan regained most of the surrounding territory and pieces of Nagorno-Karabakh itself in the 2020 war that killed about 6,800 soldiers. Under a Russia-brokered armistice, transit along the Lachin Corridor was to continue under...

Passenger with 'vampire straw' arrested at Boston airport

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:55:17 GMT

(NewsNation/NEXSTAR) — A passenger was arrested at Logan International Airport in Boston on Monday after attempting to bring a self-defense device known as a "vampire straw" through security, officials with the Transportation Security Administration said.The item, a drinking straw featuring a sharp pointed tip, is described by an online retailer as an "edged instrument" that can double as a dagger or a "very effective tire deflator.""The straw's strength, length and dagger-like point make it a prohibited item," TSA spokesperson Dan Velez confirmed in an emailed statement to Nexstar.The item was confiscated by Massachusetts State Police, the TSA said. (Transportation Security Administration)The passenger, identified as a 26-year-old male, had also concealed the straw "among titanium chopsticks in his carry-on bag," Velez said. ‘Disruptive’ passenger forces Israel-bound United flight back to Newark after 3 hours TSA officers turned the item over to the Massachusetts State Police, w...

United plane returns to Connecticut airport after cockpit window 'unlatched'

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:55:17 GMT

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. (WWLP) -- A United Airlines plane that departed from Connecticut's Bradley International Airport had to return due to an issue with a window in the cockpit.A passenger on United Airlines Flight 1274 on April 18 told WWLP that she heard a loud noise about 15 minutes into the flight, then the plane dropped down and abruptly took a sharp turn. The plane safely landed back at Bradley Airport and passengers were told, according to the passenger that "the co-pilot's window blew out of the plane." United Airlines CEO warns travelers more disruptions ahead Photos sent to WWLP show the missing window, including one that shows the window covered by a box.(Photo courtesy of United Airlines passenger sent to 22News)(Photo courtesy of United Airlines passenger sent to 22News)United Airlines sent WWLP the following statement:"On Tuesday, April 18, a flight departing Bradley International Airport returned to the airport to address an unlatched cockpit window. The flight...

Smokey Robinson, 83, has steamy new album called 'Gasms'

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:55:17 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — When Smokey Robinson started dating his now-wife more than 20 years ago, she didn't want people to know about it.Robinson and Frances Glandney, who married in 2002, were part of a group of longtime pals and she knew they'd start gossiping about her and the legendary singer-songwriter.“When we first started seeing each other, she wanted to keep it on the down-low. She didn’t want anybody to know because we were friends. And then all our friends were going to be talking about us,” Robinson said.Naturally, that became fodder for a song — “I Keep Calling.” Robinson has been holding onto it for years — complete with the lyrics “Simple things like touching in public/Private touches goin’ unseen” — until this month when it appears on his “Gasms” album, his first collection in almost a decade.“Gasms” finds the 83-year-old in a frisky mood, with the Motown icon writing a collection for the bedroom, with yearning across its nine tracks. Just a few titles alone hint at that: “B...

Dean's Reviews: 'Are You There God, It's Me Margaret' and 'Big George Foreman…'

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:55:17 GMT

Check out Dean's reviews on the new movies coming to theaters, "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret' and 'Big George Foreman…'Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

What severe thunderstorm winds can mean

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:55:17 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A severe thunderstorm is a thunderstorm with hail 1" diameter or larger, or a tornado, or wind gusts at or above 58 mph.Wind gusts from severe thunderstorms can reach in excess of 100 mph and can be responsible for more damage than some weaker tornadoes.When severe thunderstorm wind gusts are expected think of the following that may impact your day:What do we mean by unsecured objects? Objects that may blow around or blow over with wind gusts 60 mph or greater.Unsecured objectsAfter a storm, watch for unexpected debris in the road, especially at night when it would be hard to see. Never drive over or touch downed power lines.Stay with the First Warning Weather Team for the latest forecast.

LIST: Cancellations, delays due to severe weather April 28

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:55:17 GMT

(KXAN) — Severe weather is expected throughout parts of Central Texas on Friday. Here are some of the current cancellations and delays due to the storms.Lago Vista ISD said due to weather, its track event has been pushed up to 2 p.m. Field events began at 9 a.m., while track preliminaries would start at 2 p.m. instead of 3 p.m.Jarrell ISD also moved the start of the running preliminaries to 2 p.m.Marble Falls ISD said due to the threat of severe weather, JV Baseball had been canceled, and Varsity Baseball would play at 3:45 p.m.As of 10:30 a.m., Founders Day in Dripping Springs is still set to start this evening with the parade. According to the City of Dripping Springs, everything was still on as scheduled at the moment. The city said it was monitoring the weather and would not be making any decisions until later this afternoon.

New bill aims to improve the forecasting, understanding of tornadoes

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:55:17 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Thursday, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Tornado Observation Research Notification and Deployment to Operations (TORNADO) Act. The legislation aims to improve the forecasting and understanding of tornadoes and other hazardous weather.According to U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-AR), the legislation would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to implement new technology and procedures that could help increase the lead times provided to the public in advance of extreme weather events.Boozman said among other provisions, the TORNADO Act would:Require NOAA to prepare and submit an action plan for the national implementation of high-resolution probabilistic guidance for tornado forecasting and prediction;Encourage NOAA to evaluate the current tornado rating system and make updates;Direct NOAA to coordinate with appropriate entities when conducting post-storm assessments to optimize data collection, sharing and integra...