Crypto Industry-Backed Stablecoin Bill Advances in US Senate
The Senate advanced bipartisan stablecoin legislation supported by the crypto industry and President Donald Trump, with final passage of the measure likely next week.
Senate leaders are expected to bat away efforts to attach language pushed by retailers and their allies in the Senate to mandate competition to Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. in credit card processing, as well as a Democratic push to ban Trump from profiting off his crypto ventures.
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CNN
6 minutes ago
- CNN
DHS defends social media post calling for public to help ICE locate ‘all foreign invaders'
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security posted a striking graphic on its official X account. Uncle Sam, a symbol of American patriotism, is depicted nailing a poster to a wall that reads, 'Help your country… and yourself.' Written underneath the poster is the sentence, 'REPORT ALL FOREIGN INVADERS,' and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement hot line. The post — which DHS and the White House also posted to Instagram — prompted a flood of criticism, with some social media users comparing the post to authoritarian propaganda. On Thursday, at least two far-right X accounts claimed to have a hand in creating or disseminating the image before it was shared by DHS. A source within DHS told CNN the agency did not create the graphic. The DHS's Uncle Sam post has more than 81,000 likes and comes as immigration protests roil Los Angeles and other cities around the country, amid a deportation crackdown by President Donald Trump and DHS. And it marks an escalation in the agency's communication strategy, after weeks of using social media to attack or mock perceived enemies, promote ICE arrests and ridicule media reports it disagrees with. In another recent post, DHS responded to a comment appearing to question a popular X user's immigration status with a meme of a character with magnifying glasses. In May, DHS also said it was reviewing a reality TV show pitch where immigrants would compete for US citizenship, which an agency spokesperson said at the time was in the early stages of vetting and had not yet been approved or denied. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem later told a Senate committee that she had 'no knowledge' of a reality show plan. The Uncle Sam graphic is reminiscent of media used previously by other governments to provoke fear, especially of immigrants, said Elisabeth Fondren, a journalism professor at St. John's University who has studied government propaganda and communications during war times. 'This poster fits within a long history of anti-immigrant rhetoric and, yes, state propaganda,' Fondren said. 'It evokes these remnants of Cold War, fake propaganda by the Russians, or, you know, authoritarian fear mongering messages … but what I think is so interesting is that this is a call to action in an environment where we're not in a war.' In defending the Uncle Sam post, the agency told CNN that it aligns with terminology used by other officials in the executive branch. DHS pointed CNN to a number of posts from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller using terms like 'invade' or 'invaders' when referring to undocumented immigrants. Asked for comment on this story, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told CNN that criticisms of the post 'are fundamentally unserious and reflect the completely juvenile state of mainstream journalism. These reporters should get off social media and start focusing on the very real victims of illegal alien crime.' 'Every American citizen should support federal law enforcement in their just effort to deport criminal illegal alien invaders from our country,' McLaughlin said in a statement. 'During the Biden Administration our borders were opened to an invasion by the very worst from around the world. Now President Trump and Secretary Noem are reversing the destruction of our nation.' Trump's overall handling of immigration tends to earn higher approval ratings than his performance on other issues, but there is also evidence that Americans are less supportive of the way he's carrying out deportations. A CNN poll in April showed 52% of Americans said Trump has gone too far in deporting undocumented immigrants. DHS's provocative social media strategy has led to a rapidly growing audience. Engagement with the DHS account has grown significantly since Trump took office; it's second only to the White House in online engagement among US government accounts, the agency said. DHS communication officials have in recent days frequently posted videos from the LA protests that it says indicate the demonstrations are not peaceful and highlight law enforcement efforts to quell disorder. The demonstrations have impacted a relatively small area of the city, mostly in a section of downtown LA, where largely peaceful daytime protests have been giving way to volatile, occasionally violent scenes each night that have resulted in hundreds of arrests. The curfew zone is about one square mile, in a city that covers more than 450 square miles. The agency's posts come as random and anonymous users on platforms like X and TikTok have also shared old and sometimes completely fake content about the unrest, projecting an image of chaos, often in an apparent attempt to juice their own engagement. The agency has also posted names, photos and alleged charges of people it has arrested as justification for ICE's operations in Los Angeles. And on Wednesday, DHS shared a post on X that said: 'Liberals don't know things.' Many of the posts to the DHS account are memes or content created by outside sources. The image of the Uncle Sam poster was posted on X last Friday, around the time tensions in Los Angeles escalated, by podcaster C. Jay Engel, who describes himself as 'Christian nationalist adjacent' and has claimed that 'nations cannot survive replacement migration.' After DHS shared the Uncle Sam image, Engel posted: 'This image came from my account. NEVER STOP POSTING.' 'The question is, 'Is there room for like-minded Christians and patriots in Tennessee?'' the podcaster, Engel, said in an October podcast, in response to a listener's question. 'Yes, there's an imperative for like-minded Christians to gather and fight with us.' Although Engel circulated the image of the Uncle Sam poster, another X user claimed to have created the image. That pseudonymous X account, which has the words 'Wake Up White Man' in its biography, is full of nativist rhetoric and reposted another X user who declared: 'Whites deserve our own nations, like everyone else is allowed to have.' The pseudonymous account appears to have been the first to post the image. CNN has requested comment from Engel and attempted to reach the X user who claimed to have created the image. CNN's Samantha Delouya contributed reporting.
CBS News
8 minutes ago
- CBS News
Brooklyn restaurant crawl kicks off Juneteenth celebrations with flavor and purpose
A savory blend of cheeses, creamy macaroni, and a fall-off-the-bone serving of oxtail makes up Brooklyn Beso's signature oxtail mac and cheese. The dish has been drawing food lovers to the heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant. "It is the right amount of cheese, the right amount of pasta. And then the oxtail, which is one of my favorite, is also very good. It's seasoned well," said Kaltmann Edwards, who traveled from Queens to enjoy the dish. The indulgent meal is just one of many offerings featured during a weeklong Juneteenth restaurant crawl celebrating Black-owned businesses across Brooklyn. "It was good, cheesy, nice and hot," said Fatou Sylla, another diner. "People go crazy over it. This is what we're really known for," said Donna Drakes, owner of Brooklyn Beso. Drakes, a native of St. Lucia, has operated her Latin-Caribbean fusion restaurant in Bed-Stuy for 15 years. She said she opened the restaurant to bring something new to a neighborhood rooted in Black culture. This week, she joins several local eateries taking part in a food crawl, which spotlights Black entrepreneurs and their culinary creativity. "I think it's more inspiring to little girls who want to start their own business no matter what avenue it is," Edwards added. "It's so important to celebrate that day" For Drakes, the event is about more than good food. It's about honoring the significance of Juneteenth. "It's a form of liberation," she said. "It's so important to celebrate that day. Everyone fought for it. Our ancestors fought for it." The restaurant crawl began Thursday and runs through June 19. It inviting locals and visitors alike to explore Brooklyn's rich food scene while supporting Black-owned establishments. "The winter was pretty rough. A lot of restaurants folded. And it is so important to keep Black-owned businesses alive, especially our culture, our foods," Drakes said. Back in the kitchen, orders of shrimp pasta were flying out, and margaritas were being poured at a steady clip. Diners packed the space, sampling the soulful menu that has been shaped by years of resilience and passion. "It's really important, especially for Black-owned businesses, to get the recognition that they do deserve, especially the local ones that have been here for 15 years and people might not have known about them," said uest Raysa Chouwdhury. "Food always makes people happy. It's for the soul. So if you can, you know, get to someone's soul, it's important. It's a way to bring people together," Drakes said. CBS News New York is a proud partner of Juneteenth NYC. The celebration continues this weekend with the Juneteenth NYC Festival at Gershwin Park in Brooklyn, where our team will host a pop-up newsroom for the second year in a row. Have a story idea or tip in Brooklyn? Email Hannah by CLICKING HERE.
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Air India crash refuels Boeing and airline's problems
The fatal crash of a 787 Dreamliner that was being operated by Air India from Ahmedabad in northwestern India to London Gatwick Airport has once again fueled scrutiny of both Boeing and the airline, as the two companies have been trying to emerge from years of crises and poor reputations. The nearly 12-year-old Dreamliner crashed on a densely populated part of the city soon after takeoff, killing 241 of the 242 people on board on Thursday. The total death toll is expected to rise as the plane fell on a medical college hostel and rescue operations are still under way. The crash raises new concerns for Boeing, which continues to face mounting safety issues that have undermined public trust in its aircraft. These challenges come as the Seattle-based aerospace giant grapples with economic pressures from tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump, as well as increased regulatory attention that followed its recent safety issues. The reason behind the crash is not yet clear. But it is yet another fatal accident involving a Boeing aircraft, adding to a string of public relations crises that have made many travellers wary of flying on its planes. 'Boeing has become notorious and infamous with flyers at this moment, regardless of the model of the plane. Even the word 'Boeing' triggers a lot of people,' Adnan Bashir, an independent global communications and corporate affairs consultant who specialises in crisis communications, told Al Jazeera. The company's safety reputation began to unravel in October 2018 when a Lion Air flight operating a 737 MAX crashed due to a malfunction in the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), a programme designed to prevent stalls. That crash killed all 189 people on board. Just months later, in March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines flight using the same aircraft model crashed for the same reason, killing all 157 people aboard. Turmoil resurfaced in January 2024, when a door panel detached mid-flight on an Alaska Airlines route between Ontario, California, and Portland, Oregon. But until now, the 787 Dreamliner aircraft had maintained a relatively strong safety record. 'This is the first fatal crash of the 787, so despite all of its problems in the early days and all the production issues that Boeing had with the aeroplane, this has had a perfect safety record up to this point,' aviation expert Scott Hamilton told Al launched in 2011, Boeing has sold more than 2,500 of the model globally. Air India bought 47 of them, and to date, Boeing has delivered 1,189 Dreamliners. The model has faced years of safety-related scrutiny. In 2024, John Barnett, a former Boeing quality manager, was found dead under suspicious circumstances after long voicing concerns about the 787. Barnett had alleged that Boeing cut corners to meet production deadlines, including installing inadequate parts. He also claimed that testing revealed a 25-percent failure rate in the aircraft's emergency oxygen systems. In 2019, The New York Times published an expose that revealed Boeing had pressured workers not to report safety violations, citing internal emails, documents, and employee interviews. More recently, another whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, told lawmakers he was threatened for raising safety concerns about Boeing aircraft. Today's crash is the latest fatal incident to occur under the leadership of Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who returned from retirement in 2024 to replace Dave Calhoun. Ortberg had pledged to restore the company's safety reputation. Previously, the last fatal Boeing incident occurred in December, when a Jeju Airlines flight crashed after a bird strike, killing 179 of the 181 people on board. Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice reached a settlement with Boeing that allowed the company to avoid prosecution for previous crashes. The deal required Boeing to pay $1.1bn, including investments to improve safety standards and compensation to victims' families. On Wall Street, Boeing's stock dropped nearly 5 percent from the previous day's market close. At this point, experts believe that ultimately, Boeing executives will be careful with their words because of the looming legal challenges they may face if an investigation finds the fault lies with the plane-maker. 'You can almost guarantee there's going to be lawsuits of some sort. Right now, they're likely triaging internal and external communication plans with their legal team. Because anything they say in public right now could be used as evidence. And so what they're going to be doing right now is staying quiet, most likely until more facts come out,' Amanda Orr, founder of the legal and policy communications consultancy firm Orr Strategy Group, told Al Jazeera. In response to today's crash, Boeing said, 'We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them … Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected.' Boeing did not respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment. For Air India, which has been undergoing a major reinvention in the last few years, today's crash is a major setback in its efforts to rebrand and modernise. Founded in 1932, the airline was nationalised in 1953. After years of financial struggles and mounting debt, Tata Group acquired the airline for $2.2bn in 2022. As India's only long-haul international carrier to Europe and North America, Air India has a strong hold on global travel from across the country. In 2023, the carrier ordered 220 Boeing aircraft, including 20 Dreamliners, 10 777x jets, and 190 of the embattled 737 MAX. For now, Air India is focused on its response to the crash. 'At this moment, our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families. We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site and to provide all necessary support and care to those impacted,' said N Chandrasekaran, chairperson of Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group, in a statement provided to Al Jazeera. 'I express our deep sorrow about this incident. This is a difficult day for all of us at Air India. Our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, their families and loved ones,' Craig Wilson, the airline's CEO, said in a video statement. The airline has experienced a few fatal accidents in recent years. In 2020, an Air India Express flight skidded off the runway in Kozhikode in India, killing 20. A similar accident in Mangalore involving a 737-800 claimed 156 lives. Despite the shock of today's crash, flying remains one of the safest modes of travel. According to a 2024 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the risk of dying in a commercial airline accident is one in every 13.7 million passengers. This continues to be the safest decade in aviation history.
