Federal Government Reopens After Shutdown; Immigration Remains Contentious Issue
Washington D.C. - The federal government reopened Tuesday afternoon after President Donald Trump signed a funding package, ending a four-day partial shutdown that centered on immigration policy, according to Time. The measure gives lawmakers until next Friday to negotiate new funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and potentially new restrictions after the fatal shooting of two civilians by federal immigration agents last month in Minneapolis.
The shutdown became a focal point for the Trump Administration's immigration crackdown. The new funding package aims to address critical programs for safety. "This bill is a great victory for the American people," Trump said as he signed the package, according to Time. "Instead of a bloated and wasteful omnibus monstrosity full of special interest handouts, we've succeeded in passing a fiscally responsible package that actually cuts wasteful federal spending."
Meanwhile, the fate of hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants in the United States remains uncertain. A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump Administration's decision to terminate Haiti's designation for Temporary Protected Status (T.P.S.), an immigration program that allows migrants from countries facing wars or natural disasters to stay in the U.S. temporarily, Time reported. The termination, which was due to take effect on Tuesday, would have meant that over 300,000 Haitians would have lost their legal status overnight. The Trump Administration has already said it will appeal.
In other news, the field of quantum computing is experiencing rapid advancements. Just a few years ago, many researchers thought it would take several decades to develop machines that could solve complex tasks. However, there is growing hope that such machines could arrive in the next ten years, according to Nature News. Nathalie de Leon, an experimental quantum physicist at Princeton University, described the change as "a vibe shift," noting that "people are now starting to come around." The pace of progress in the field has picked up dramatically.
In the entertainment industry, Turkish production company Spongeworthy, the studio behind the AI-generated doc "Post Truth," announced their second AI movie, "A Woman Asleep," at the European Film Market (EFM), Variety reported.
Additionally, the housing crisis in the United States is being driven by hidden double standards, according to Vox. Marina Bolotnikova, a senior reporter for Vox's Future Perfect section, wrote that "for more than a century, American urban planning has been devoted to layering on ways to all but ban apartment buildings." She added that "as the US now tries to shift out of the anti-density gear thats driving our housing affordability crisis, policymakers..."
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