Immigrants battle deportation fears in Harvey’s aftermath
Immigrants battle deportation fears in Harvey’s aftermath
HOUSTON (AP) — Alain Cisneros walked past thousands of cots filled with storm victims at the Houston convention center holding up a poster with the words, “Do you have questions?” written in Spanish in bold black letters.
He pulled up a chair next to a woman from Honduras and tried to deliver a reassuring message as the 23-year-old recounted in an exhausted voice how waters rose to her chest in her Houston apartment, forcing her to wade to safety with her three young children.
Ricxy Sanchez listened to Cisneros’ assurances that although she is in the country illegally she shouldn’t worry about being deported if she asks for help and that she should consider applying for disaster relief. With almost everything she owns destroyed in the storm, she’s thinking about moving back to violence-ravaged Honduras.
“Stay here to suffer with our children?” Sanchez asked, shaking her head.
The encounter illustrates the complexity of responding to a disaster on the magnitude of Harvey in a city where an estimated 600,000 residents are in the country illegally and immigrants have been on edge amid stepped-up immigration enforcement under the new White House. Authorities have gone out of their way to tell jittery immigrants that they will not be arrested for seeking help, and outreach workers like Cisneros have been delivering that message in person at shelters like the George R. Brown Convention Center and on social media and Spanish-language media outlets.
Iraq says Tal Afar ‘fully liberated’ from Islamic State
BAGHDAD (AP) — The northern town of Tal Afar has been “fully liberated” from the Islamic State group, Iraq’s prime minister said Thursday, further shrinking the territory controlled by the extremists who overran nearly a third of the country three years ago.
The militants have suffered a series of major defeats in recent months, including the loss of Mosul, the second-largest city, in July.
Iraqi troops “eliminated and smashed” the militant group in al-Ayadia district, northwest of Tal Afar, where they had fled last week, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement.
“To Daesh criminals we say: Wherever you are we will come to liberate and you have to choose only death or surrender,” al-Abadi added, using an Arabic acronym for the group.
With the fall of Tal Afar, all of Ninevah province is “in the hands of our brave troops,” he said. The ethnically mixed province was the first to fall to the Islamic State when its militants swept across large parts of Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014.
In tit for tat, US tells Russia to close post in San Francisco
WASHINGTON (AP) — In an escalating tit-for-tat, the United States forced Russia on Thursday to shutter its consulate in San Francisco and scale back its diplomatic presence in Washington and New York, as relations between the two former Cold War foes continued to unravel.
The Trump administration said the move constituted its response to the Kremlin’s “unwarranted and detrimental” decision to force the U.S. to cut its diplomatic staff in Russia. The U.S. gave Russia a mere 48 hours to close its San Francisco consulate, along with smaller Russian posts in Washington and New York.
“The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted,” said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. Still, she said the U.S. hoped both countries could now move toward “improved relations” and “increased cooperation.”
Russia said it regretted the order and pointed the finger at the U.S. for starting the “escalation of tensions” between the nuclear-armed powers. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Kremlin would return the volley by retaliating for the U.S. retaliation. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow was studying the decision to determine its response.
U.S. ties to Russia have soured in recent years over deep disagreements about Ukraine, Syria and Russian hacking. To the surprise of those who anticipated that President Donald Trump’s election would reverse that trend, the feud has only worsened this year, even as investigators continue probing whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow’s efforts to help him get elected.
Mattis begins sending additional troops to Afghanistan
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has begun sending additional troops to Afghanistan to carry out President Donald Trump’s new war strategy, which will stick to his predecessor’s approach of supporting the Afghans’ fight against the Taliban rather than doing the fighting for them, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday.
“Yes, I’ve signed orders, but it’s not complete,” Mattis told reporters in an impromptu news conference at the Pentagon.
He would not say how many additional troops are deploying or what their exact roles will be. Trump’s decision to deepen the American military commitment was taken after months of debate within the administration over whether the risk was worth the potential reward of eventually stabilizing Afghanistan to the point where its own forces can prevent a Taliban takeover and contain other militant threats.
Mattis stressed that Afghan forces will remain in the lead, with the extra U.S. troops taking a support role.
“By and large this is to enable the Afghan forces to fight more effectively,” Mattis said. “It’s more advisers, more enablers,” such as “fire support” teams, which he declined to specify but could be artillery units. He said the additional U.S. troops have not yet arrived in Afghanistan.
Apple expected to unveil next iPhones at Sept. 12 showcase
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple’s faithful fans and investors won’t have to wait much longer to see what the iPhone maker has in store next.
The company sent out invitations Thursday to set Sept. 12 as the date for an annual post-Labor Day showcase.
As usual, the famously secretive Apple didn’t say what’s on tap, but this is typically when the company unveils new iPhones.
Much of the anticipation is swirling around whether Apple will show off a dramatically different type of iPhone with a sleeker and even bigger screen to celebrate the device’s 10th anniversary. Even if a fancier version is unveiled, Apple will also likely announce upgrades to last year’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
It’s Apple’s first event at the Steve Jobs Theater at its new headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.