US judge says border officials violated her previous order on warrantless arrests

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - A federal judge in California said on Wednesday that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials had violated ‌a previous order from her on warrantless arrests when they carried ‌out an immigration sweep in a Home Depot parking lot in Sacramento.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston, an ​appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden, had issued an order in April last year barring federal agents from warrantless arrests without finding probable cause of a flight risk.

The judge said that border agents appeared to be in violation of her ‌order when they carried out ⁠an immigration enforcement action in a Home Depot parking lot in Sacramento in July 2025, and ordered agents throughout the Eastern ⁠District of California to properly document reasons to make future stops.

President Donald Trump's administration has pursued an aggressive and hardline immigration crackdown which has been widely condemned by ​human ​rights groups as being in violation of ​due process and free speech rights. ‌Rights groups also say the crackdown has created an unsafe environment for ethnic minorities in the U.S. and raised fears of racial profiling.

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Trump has cast his actions as being aimed at reducing illegal immigration and improving domestic security.

"Congress requires Agents to consider whether, when making warrantless arrests, the noncitizen poses a flight risk ‌or a danger to community if released. Rather ​than abide by Congress' mandate, Agents arrested ​everyone who could not establish citizenship," ​Thurston said in court records released on Wednesday.

The judge said ‌that in the July 2025 immigration ​enforcement action in the ​parking lot of the Home Depot in Sacramento, agents used 11 "virtually identical" forms to support detentions and arrests.

"Having carefully examined the entire record, including ​the recorded footage of the ‌Sacramento action, the Court finds that Defendants have again detained people ​without reasonable suspicion for doing so," the judge said.

(Reporting by Kanishka ​Singh in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

byVincento Seyarto

in

April 01, 2026

US judge says border officials violated her previous order on warrantless arrests

By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - A federal judge in California said on Wednesday that U.S. Cu...

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Plane crash in Northeast Philly injures two; what we know

PHILADELPHIA - A small plane crashed in the Torresdale section of Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon, injuring two people and prompting emergency response, The Philadelphia Fire Department said.The crash was the result of an emergency landing and occurred at approximately 3:45 p.m. in Fluehr Park.The department said in its release that both people on board were taken to the hospital in serious condition after being extricated from the structure.The incident was placed "under control" at approximately 4:06 p.m., and there was no fire to extinguishofficials said, directing further questions to the Legacy Flight School.

According to publicly available flight tracking websites, the Piper Cherokee took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport shortly after 3 p.m.

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The park where the plane went down is a little more than two miles southeast of the airport.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fluehr+Park,+4800+Grant+Ave,+Philadelphia,+PA+19114/@40.0540802,-74.989468,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x89c6b4a1b5e85b41:0x81eb55429e16a86d!8m2!3d40.0550821!4d-74.9902807!16s%2Fg%2F11b8tf55rn!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDMzMC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Northeast Philly plane crash injures two; what we know now

byVincento Seyarto

in

April 01, 2026

Plane crash in Northeast Philly injures two; what we know

PHILADELPHIA - A small plane crashed in the Torresdale section of Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon, injuring two people a...

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US lifts sanctions on Venezuela acting president, opening door for assets control

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. on Wednesday removed sanctions against Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez, according to the Treasury Department website, less than three months after U.S. forces ‌seized the country's then-President Nicolas Maduro in a raid on the capital.

The Trump administration ‌has closely engaged with the interim government led by former Vice President and Maduro ally Rodriguez, sending U.S. energy and interior ​secretaries on visits to Caracas with potential investors, making an agreement for the U.S. to sell Venezuelan oil, praising changes to the oil and mining sectors that are meant to attract foreign capital and issuing sanctions waivers.

Washington in March formally recognized Rodriguez as Venezuela's leader, opening the door for her government to reopen ‌embassies and consulates in the U.S. ⁠and regain control of Venezuela-owned companies abroad.

Rodriguez hailed the decision, saying in a post on X that it was "a step in the direction of normalizing and ⁠strengthening relations between our countries."

"We trust that this progress will allow for the lifting of the sanctions currently in place on our country, enabling the building and guaranteeing of an effective bilateral cooperation agenda for the ​benefit of ​our peoples," she said.

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The announcement of the sanctions ​removal came after Reuters reported earlier on ‌Wednesday that Rodriguez's administration is getting ready to take over the boards of state oil firm PDVSA's U.S. subsidiaries, including Citgo Petroleum, citing four sources close to the preparations.

Citgo, the crown jewel of Venezuela's foreign assets, has been run since 2019 by supervising boards appointed by an opposition-led congress that is no longer active.

It has repeatedly been rumored that Rodriguez was making preparations to travel to the U.S. ‌to meet with Trump. Though she has met with high-level ​delegations from other countries, she has not yet met in ​person with a head of state in ​her current role.

Many of the top ranking officials in Maduro's former government are ‌sanctioned and several, including Interior Minister Diosdado ​Cabello and recent Defense Minister ​Vladimir Padrino, face drug trafficking and other charges, which they deny.

Though neither Rodriguez nor her brother Jorge, who heads the National Assembly legislature, has been indicted for any alleged crimes ​in the U.S., Reuters reporting has ‌shown the Trump administration has been quietly building a legal case against her to ​strengthen its leverage with Caracas.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward, Daphne Psaledakis and Julia Symmes Cobb; ​Editing by Michelle Nichols, Christian Martinez and Daniel Wallis)

byVincento Seyarto

in

April 01, 2026

US lifts sanctions on Venezuela acting president, opening door for assets control

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. on Wednesday removed sanctions against Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodrig...

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AI machine sorts clothes faster than humans to boost textile recycling in China

ZHANGJIAGANG, China (AP) — In an industrial park in Zhangjiagang, a small city on China's east coast, a large humming and hissing machine feeds on piles of used clothes and sorts them.

The novelty? It usesartificial intelligenceto sort them by composition at high speed, offering a glimpse into how AI could play a role in reducing the impact of synthetic textile waste.

The Fastsort-Textile machine, named one of Time magazine's Best Inventions of 2025, was created by DataBeyond, a Chinese AI recycling company founded in 2018.

"We can make full use of textile waste and reduce the amount that is incinerated which will be a great help to recycling resources," DataBeyond CEO Mo Zhuoya said.

Synthetic textiles are derived from fossil fuels and are a low-cost, popular option for fashion production. Altogether they account for around 70% of global textile production, according to a report from Amsterdam-based nonprofit Circle Economy, which analyzes ways to reduce textile waste.

Textile waste is a major global pollutant, with China as the leading contributor. China led global textile exports at $142 billion, more than double that of the European Union, according to the World Trade Organization's 2025 Key Insights and Trends report.

Fastsort-Textile is being used only in one location in China: Shanhesheng Environmental Technology Ltd., a textile recycling facility in Zhangjiagang that installed the machine in 2025.

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The equipment uses an AI scanner to read the composition of such textiles and sorts them by fibers, after which they can be recycled.

Fastsort-Textile sorts through 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of clothes in two to three minutes , compared to around four hours for one worker to do the same thing. The machine can process two tons per hour, while two people would need two days and at reduced accuracy, according to analysis by Shanhesheng.

The AI scanner measuring 5-by-2 meters (16-by-6.5 feet) works with a series of conveyer belts. Workers load stacks of textiles onto belts that move them through the scanner, which emits a sharp hiss while reading the textiles' composition. A live video feed displays the reading on the scanner's side.

It takes less than one second to accurately read one item's material composition, which is set according to customers' desired benchmarks.

After the scanning process, the textiles are transported to nylon and polyester sorting areas for recycling. Items below the benchmark are sorted into a different area mainly for incineration or landfill, which is where textile pollution wreaks its most damage.

"This sort of thing saves money on labor costs, it saves time. When people sort materials, they can't tell accurately if it's 80 or 90% polyester. This machine rarely makes mistakes," Shanhesheng Sales Manager Cui Peng said.

Previously, up to 50% of the processed textiles were deemed unrecyclable and sent to landfills or incinerated. That number is down to 30% with the Fastsort-Textile machine, Sales Director Li Bin said.

"Now, though machines are already capable of sorting, people's energy is limited," he said. "People can't work for 24 hours straight, so robots may take over the roles in the end. The ultimate goal is a 'dark factory' with the robots running 24 hours."

byVincento Seyarto

in

April 01, 2026

AI machine sorts clothes faster than humans to boost textile recycling in China

ZHANGJIAGANG, China (AP) — In an industrial park in Zhangjiagang, a small city on China's east coast, a large humming...

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DHS cancels policy requiring secretary to review contracts over $100,000

By Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Wednesday rescinded a policy ‌requiring the secretary to approve contracts over $100,000, the ‌Department of Homeland Security said.

The news followed a re-evaluation of the ​department's contract process, DHS said, while adding that Mullin wanted to make sure the department is serving American taxpayers efficiently.

Mullin's cancellation of the policy came less than a week ‌after he was sworn ⁠in to succeed former DHS chief Kristi Noem.

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Congressional Democrats, who welcomed the decision, had written to Noem earlier ⁠this month, asking that she cancel the policy they said had "resulted in widespread delays in funding and mismanagement."

"Today, the ​Secretary rescinded ​the $100,000 contract review memo," ​the department said. "This will ‌streamline the contract process and empower components to carry out their mission to protect the homeland and make America safe again."

Contracts worth more than $25 million would still need to be reviewed by the secretary, CBS News reported on ‌Wednesday, citing a homeland security official. ​Reuters was not able to ​independently confirm this reporting.

"To ​ensure that DHS effectively performs its critical ‌national security functions on behalf ​of the American ​people, we call on DHS to rescind the $100,000 approval policy and return to the prior approval threshold, ​given the clear ‌risk of mismanagement, confusion, and self-dealing," Democrats wrote ​in the March 18 letter.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward ​in WashingtonEditing by Shri Navaratnam)

byVincento Seyarto

in

April 01, 2026

DHS cancels policy requiring secretary to review contracts over $100,000

By Jasper Ward WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Wednesday ...

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Plane crash in Northeast Philly injures two; what we know

PHILADELPHIA - A small plane crashed in the Torresdale section of Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon, injuring two people and prompting emergency response, The Philadelphia Fire Department said.The crash was the result of an emergency landing and occurred at approximately 3:45 p.m. in Fluehr Park.The department said in its release that both people on board were taken to the hospital in serious condition after being extricated from the structure.The incident was placed "under control" at approximately 4:06 p.m., and there was no fire to extinguishofficials said, directing further questions to the Legacy Flight School.

According to publicly available flight tracking websites, the Piper Cherokee took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport shortly after 3 p.m.

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The park where the plane went down is a little more than two miles southeast of the airport.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fluehr+Park,+4800+Grant+Ave,+Philadelphia,+PA+19114/@40.0540802,-74.989468,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x89c6b4a1b5e85b41:0x81eb55429e16a86d!8m2!3d40.0550821!4d-74.9902807!16s%2Fg%2F11b8tf55rn!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDMzMC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Northeast Philly plane crash injures two; what we know now

byVincento Seyarto

in

April 01, 2026

Plane crash in Northeast Philly injures two; what we know

PHILADELPHIA - A small plane crashed in the Torresdale section of Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon, injuring two people a...

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Trump rails against birthright citizenship, courts after Supreme Court arguments

President Donald Trump attendedoral arguments at the Supreme Courton Wednesday, a historic first for a sitting president, as the justices considered his executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship.

No cameras were allowed inside the courtroom. Trump's motorcade arrived outside the building on Wednesday morning shortly before arguments began. His motorcade later departed the court after Solicitor General John Sauer's presentation on behalf of the government.

Birthright citizenship case: Justices question administration's 'quirky' arguments

After the hearing concluded, Trump wrote in a social media post that the U.S. is "stupid" to allow the practice.

"We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow 'Birthright' Citizenship!" Trump posted.

According to the Pew Research Center, 32 other countries, most of them in the Western Hemisphere, have laws similar to the U.S. guaranteeing citizenship to children born in the country.

Later Wednesday in a video of an Easter lunch that was closed to the media that the White House briefly posted to its YouTube account before taking it down, Trump continued to slam the courts, saying judges and justices who disagreed with his policies are "stupid people."

"Now it's very unfair, and Republicans, judges and justices, they always want to show that they're independent," Trump says in the video that was captured by Reuters and other news outlets before it was taken down. "'I can -- I don't care if Trump appointed me. I don't care if he doesn't make any difference to me. I'm voting against him.' Because they want to show their independence. You know, stupid people."

Trump, who entered the court at 9:47 a.m. wearing a red tie and blue suit, was seated in the front row of the public gallery alongside White House Counsel David Warrington, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

As Sauer parried with the justices, Trump sat attentive and expressionless. His presence in the chamber was not publicly announced or acknowledged by any of the justices on the bench. Trump did not engage with anyone seated beside him or in the chamber.

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Trump previously floated attending arguments last year when the court took up his global tariff policy, but ultimately he did not attend.

Trump has repeatedly attacked the Supreme Court in the wake of the rulinginvalidating most of his tariffs, including two justices he appointed, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.

"I love a few of them, I don't like some others," Trump said on Tuesday when asked which justices he would be listening for most closely.

Trump is asking the justices to uphold his Day 1 executive order eliminatingbirthright citizenshipunder a novel interpretation of the 14th Amendment and requiring parents to prove their own legal status before citizenship is granted to their children.

Lower courts have struck down Trump's executive order.

What to know about SCOTUS hearing on Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship

American Civil Liberties Union Legal Director Cecillia Wang argued on behalf of the class of plaintiffs. Wang herself is a birthright citizen, born in Oregon to Taiwanese parents.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero addressed Trump's attendance, saying he will "watch the ACLU school him in the meaning of the Constitution and birthright citizenship."

"Any effort to distract from the gravity and importance of this case will not succeed. The Supreme Court is up to the task of interpreting and defending the Constitution even under the glare of a sitting president a couple dozen feet away from them," he said.

ABC News' Devin Dwyer, Nicholas Kerr and Emily Chang contributed to this report.

byVincento Seyarto

in

April 01, 2026

Trump rails against birthright citizenship, courts after Supreme Court arguments

President Donald Trump attendedoral arguments at the Supreme Courton Wednesday, a historic first for a sitting president,...

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