President Joe Biden traveled to Ireland to celebrate the 25th anniversary of an agreement that ended decades of turmoil in the country. And a warning from the FBI on using public phone charging stations. These stories and more highlight the daily rundown for Wednesday, April 12, 2023.
President Biden visits Ireland
President Biden arrived in Northern Ireland overnight. The trip marks 25 years since the U.S. helped broker a peace deal, the Good Friday Agreement, that brought an end to more than 30 years of violence in Ireland. The Wednesday celebration of the peace agreement comes at a time the area is seeing unrest.
Hours ahead of the president’s visit, police recovered four suspected pipe bombs from a cemetery. And in recent days, attacks have been carried out on police.
Biden has already met with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and is expected to meet with Ireland’s president and prime minister.
While a portion of the trip will be for diplomacy, the president will spend April 12-15 abroad also exploring his roots as an Irish Catholic.
His son Hunter Biden, along with other relatives, are also taking part in the president’s Irish heritage journey this week.
Biden will visit two Irish towns connected to his family history on both his mother’s and father’s sides.
Ahead of the trip, the White House distributed an extensive family genealogy stretching as far back as 1803.
Fentanyl with xylazine threat to the U.S.
For the first time in history, a substance has been declared an “emerging threat” to the U.S.
The White House has declared the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, combined with xylazine, an animal tranquilizer often found in illicit drugs, is threatening the country due to its role in the opioid crisis. The drug is an animal sedative being mixed with fentanyl and found in almost all 50 states.
Declaring the drug “an emerging threat” initiates a national response process that must be implemented within 90 days.
According to the DEA, nearly a quarter of all fentanyl powder seized contained xylazine. Xylazine is FDA approved for use as a tranquilizer in veterinary medicine.
Our Washington correspondent Ray Bogan has a report on how Congress is looking to get involved to slow down the deadly impact of the drug.
Arrests made in migrant center fire
Last month a deadly fire that broke out inside a migration detention center in Mexico near El Paso, Texas. Now, officials say the 40 migrants who died had no chance of surviving. The person with the key to their locked jail cell wasn’t there when the fire broke out.
The head of Mexico’s immigration agency will face criminal charges along with other staff for one of Mexico’s deadliest migrant tragedies. Mexican authorities say the fire inside was started by migrants who set foam mattresses on fire in protest of their deportation.
The supervisor wasn’t on the premises and other surrounding staff were seen running from the scene. Authorities say they did not have keys to the jail cells.
So far, five people linked to the incident have been arrested.
FBI warns against public phone charging
While phone charging stations around airports, malls, hotels and businesses are meant to be a convenience for customers, it could also be putting your data in danger.
The FBI is warning of public charging spaces, saying hackers have been able to infect them with malware. If they’re able to get into your device, they could access your private messages, emails and other data. They could also install tracking software on your device.
The FBI suggests carrying your own portable charger when you’re in public spaces.
U.N. instructs Afghan workers to stay home
The United Nations says it’s being forced to instruct all of its personnel in Afghanistan to stay away from its offices in the country.
“U.N. national personnel, both women and men, have been instructed not to report to U.N. offices, with only limited and calibrated exceptions made for critical tasks. But they will be working from home and continue to be paid,” U.N. Secretary-General Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.
The announcement was triggered by the Taliban’s ban on females working with the organization. Afghan men working for the U.N. stayed home last week in solidarity with their female colleagues.
The Taliban announced women were no longer allowed to work for national or international organizations in December and are now enforcing that measure with the U.N.
It’s the latest setback for women in the country following the Taliban’s takeover in 2021 when the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan.
Schwarzenegger fills L.A. pothole
Arnold Schwarzenegger is reporting for duty! The actor and former California governor has been spotted filling potholes.
This pothole in a Los Angeles neighborhood has been visible and growing for weeks. It’s been ruining car tires and bikes in the process. So, Arnold Schwarzenegger took matters into his own hands. He bought some bags of concrete and filled the pothole himself.
California was ravaged by a stormy winter season. The conditions are taking a toll on roads. Los Angeles has received 20,000 requests for pothole repairs from its residents.