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Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has resigned
Nielsen played a major role in shaping one of President Donald Trump’s key policy priorities, immigration enforcement. She became the face of the administration’s policy of separating migrant families at the border.
In the days leading up to Nielsen’s exit, Trump made no secret of his anger with the increasing number of migrant families attempting to cross the border.
Nielsen will be replaced by Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, who will become acting secretary. McAleenan is a longtime CBP official, having served in the George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Trump administrations.
The bigger picture: Nielsen’s resignation comes as immigration authorities are unable to cope with the record number of Central American families arriving at the border — and in some cases, have been forced to release thousands of migrants in border cities.
A California hospital has apologized after dozens of women said they were secretly recorded
Last week, 81 women brought a complaint against Sharp Grossmont hospital in Southern California, saying motion-sensing cameras in gynecology operating rooms captured video of births, hysterectomies, sterilizations, and other procedures.
None of the women were told they were being recorded.
The hospital has apologized and said the cameras were part of an investigation into missing drugs and equipment from the anesthesia cart of three Women's Center operating rooms.
SNAPSHOTS
A man has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill Rep. Ilhan Omar. Pat Carlineo from New York, who described himself as a patriot and supporter of President Trump, was charged with threatening to murder Omar.
A suspected rhino poacher was killed by an elephant and then eaten by lions. Only a human skull and a pair of pants that belonged to a suspected poacher were left after a pride of lions devoured the remains, according to South African National Parks.
Fisher-Price is warning parents after 10 babies died in the Rock ‘n Play Sleeper. The issue, the company said, is that the sleeper is only meant for infants 3 months and younger. After that, infants tend to be able to roll over on their own.
Notre Dame’s basketball coach is going viral for her explanation for why she stopped hiring men. “We don’t have enough female role models,” head coach Muffet McGraw said. “We don’t have enough visible female leaders.” Notre Dame lost a nailbiter — 82-81 — to Baylor in the NCAA women’s championship game.
Drake welcomed British artist J Hus on stage shortly after he was released from prison. The Brit-nominated rapper performed alongside Drake in a moment British fans are describing as unforgettable.
People are getting sick from a US steel factory that is “grossly violating” health standards, experts say
In Clairton, Pennsylvania the childhood asthma rate is above 22% — more than twice the state average and almost three times the national average.
But that’s just the start of this story. While many towns are facing the serious public health consequences of fossil fuels, it’s quite acute in Clairton, where there is weak political will to push back against pollution.
A Christmas Eve fire at a US Steel factory wiped out its sulfur pollution controls. Since the fire, things got more bleak — the company has kept its operation running, raising concerns that the bad air would get even worse.
Politicians are struggling to weigh the lives of sick children and elderly people against desperately needed jobs. And mostly, they're choosing the jobs.
Read Dan Vergano’s excellent report on a dire situation.
An Instagram account about church leaders in expensive shoes is sending people down an existential morality spiral
The Instagram account was only started two weeks ago, but already it has amassed a substantial following and gone viral.
The idea is simple, really: The account — called PreachersNSneakers — features pastors and other church leaders who have large followings on social media, screenshots of the shoes they wear, and the shoes’ price tags.
We spoke to the creator of the account, and he told us he believes Christians should “have a discussion about what is appropriate.” The posts look a little like this:
