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Biden administration outlaws imports of key Chinese-made product used in solar panels
CBSN
The Biden administration is outlawing U.S. imports of a key Chinese-made product used to make solar panels, following an international pledge by the seven wealthiest democracies to rid the global supply chain of human rights abuses.
The narrow ban on silica-based products follows a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) investigation of Hoshine Silicon Industry Company that "reasonably indicates use of forced labor to produce silica products," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a briefing on Thursday. CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said in a press briefing Thursday that the agency's probe uncovered evidence of "intimidation and threats" and "restriction of movement" toward employees.
Billionaire Elon Musk's role in the Trump administration is to find ways to cut costs through the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. But a new court filing from the White House states that the Tesla CEO isn't an employee of DOGE, adding that Musk "has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself."
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When Brian Gibbs woke up on Valentine's Day on Friday, it was just another morning of getting to do what he loved at his "dream job" as an education park ranger at Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa. By that afternoon, the father and husband said he was "absolutely heartbroken and completely devastated" to have been one of hundreds of National Park Service employees suddenly fired from their jobs.
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In Fresno, California, social media rumors about impending immigration raids at the city's schools left some parents panicking - even though the raids were all hoaxes. In Denver, a real immigration raid at an apartment complex led to scores of students staying home from school, according to a lawsuit. And in Alice, Texas, a school official incorrectly told parents Border Patrol agents might board school buses to check immigration papers.