Biblical stories like Jonah and the whale would be required reading for Texas public schools students under proposals that are putting the state at the center of another contentious wrangling over the role of religion in classrooms. Religious leaders, teachers, parents and students spent hours Tuesday before the state education board arguing about the reading list for the state’s 5.4 million kindergartners to 12th-graders. The board also is considering social studies standards that have been criticized as too state-centric. The list stems from a state law passed in 2023 that calls for the creation of a state-approved list of high-quality reading materials.
McALLEN, Texas – An immigrant family is grappling with the ordeal suffered by a 3-year-old girl who endured alleged sexual abuse while her father fought for five months for her release from federal custody. She had been placed in a foster home after immigration officials separated her from her mother when they crossed the border illegally. Attorneys had to file a lawsuit to reunite her with her father, a legal permanent U.S. resident. Under the Trump administration, the average custody times for children cared for by the Office of Refugee Resettlement have grown from 37 days to almost 200 days in federal custody.
A Frontier Airlines jet nearly collided with two trucks that crossed in front of it Wednesday night at Los Angeles International Airport. But unlike last month’s deadly crash in New York while a plane was landing, this incident happened on a taxiway while the plane was moving slowly and no one was hurt. The Frontier pilot was alarmed and used an expletive as he told the tower he had to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating what happened. Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said close calls like the one in Los Angeles happen every day but usually don’t get attention because a collision is avoided.
KYIV, Ukraine – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukrainian military personnel shot down Iranian-designed Shahed drones in multiple Middle Eastern countries during the Iran war, describing the operations as part of a broader effort to help partners counter the same weapons used by Russia in Ukraine. He made his first public acknowledgment of the operations Wednesday in remarks to reporters that were embargoed until Friday. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces took part in active operations abroad using domestically produced, battle-tested interceptor drones.
– The Associated Press