A partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) went into effect Friday after funding ran out, as lawmakers remained at an impasse over immigration enforcement, according to ABC News. This marks the third funding lapse since October. Meanwhile, the Justice Department sued Harvard University over alleged withholding of race-related admissions documents, and Amazon's Ring ended a deal with surveillance firm Flock Safety following public backlash.
The DHS shutdown was triggered when Congress failed to pass a funding bill before the deadline. Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought directed DHS to begin implementing shutdown plans, ABC News reported. Members of Congress have either left Washington for a weeklong recess or traveled overseas for a security conference. Trump indicated he would be involved in the DHS funding negotiations, according to ABC News.
In other news, the Justice Department's lawsuit against Harvard alleges the university withheld admissions data needed to determine if it was discriminating on the basis of race, ABC News reported. This action follows the Trump administration's previous attempts to cut federal funding to Harvard and block international student enrollment due to campus protests. Federal judges blocked both efforts.
Additionally, Amazon's Ring decided to end its partnership with Flock Safety, a surveillance firm, after facing scrutiny over its privacy practices, according to BBC Technology. The deal, announced in October, would have allowed agencies working with Flock to retrieve video captured on Ring devices for investigations. The decision came after a Ring advertisement aired during the Super Bowl sparked widespread backlash.
In related developments, the federal government's account of an incident involving an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shooting Julio C. Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis was questioned. Initially, a DHS spokeswoman claimed the agent fired in self-defense after being attacked. However, the government's account shifted, and the initial version of events "fully unraveled," according to NY Times.
Furthermore, a planned US-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau has been criticized by the World Health Organization as "unethical," according to BBC World. The trial, funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would have involved thousands of newborns. The WHO expressed "significant concerns" about the plan, describing the birth-dose vaccine as "an effective and essential public health intervention, with a proven record."
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