citizen

“The citizen wants a train that passes on time and does not break down”

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With the Government trying to boost train travel, Cercanías, conventional medium-distance and high-speed long-distance services lost travelers. That is what the CNMC report tells us, which has its annual report available on how our trains are doing. Downwards. That’s what the CNMC data says in whose report Some details are specified about the use of the train throughout the year 2025. According to these data, the number of travelers fell last year compared to 2024 in all types of connections and types of trips offered by Renfe as a public service operator: Cercanías: decrease of 0.4%. Technical tie. Conventional medium and long distance: drop of 10.8% compared to 2024. Decrease in occupancy from 67.9% in 2024 to 60.2%. High-speed medium distance: decrease of 0.7% but with an occupancy of 77.5% compared to the 79.3% occupancy in 2024. Competence. If we stick to the data where there is competition, train use has increased. And on the high-speed long distance where the roads are liberalized, the number of travelers grew by 12.2%. Madrid-Seville (+18.7%) and Madrid-Málaga (+14.1%) were the corridors that saw the most passengers board the train compared to 2024. These figures make sense if we take into account that Ouigo has been dedicating more resources to Andalusia in the second half of the year. It also, in fact, explains that passengers on the Madrid-Barcelona route fell by 1.7%, the only corridor that reduced the number of travelers in 2024. Punctual and reliable. The data confirms that, without competition, whether or not to get on the train depends largely on how reliable and punctual the train is. César Franco, engineer and former president of the General Council of Industrial Engineers, he pointed us out a few days ago that “the citizen prefers a conventional train that passes on time and does not break down, rather than a half-empty monumental station (…) If the answer is that we are going to spend hundreds of millions to run three trains a day, we are making an economic mistake” Last year, Renfe published its first punctuality report. According to the data collected then, the medium distance accumulated average delays of 15.4 minutes. At the end of the year, the portal where Renfe offers its data on punctuality stated that only 59.4% of medium-distance trains arrive on time or with a delay of less than five minutes. 19.4% of trains suffered delays of more than 10 minutes. And 2026? In 2026 we will most likely see much worse data than in 2025. It must be taken into account that the Adamuz accident (in which a Renfe Avant train derailed and collided with an Iryo train traveling in the opposite direction) closed part of the Andalusian corridor for weeks and led to a cascade of delays on all linessubjected to intense scrutiny and the decision of some drivers to reduce speed. In fact, according to data from the Renfe portal28.8% of Renfe’s long-distance and high-speed trains have arrived late in the first five months of the year (May is the last month with consolidated data) and 11.7% have been delayed by more than 30 minutes. an opportunity. Losing reliability in the Spanish train network is also losing the opportunity to prioritize a more efficient and less polluting transport system. In fact, it allows reducing pressure in large cities, as is happening with the Madrid workers living in Valladolid. Salvador Galve, president of the Railway Commission of the Council of Colleges of Industrial Engineers, said a few days ago in the Senate that “when I go to Barcelona from Zaragoza and have a meeting, I go by car. When I go to Madrid I try to go by train because it usually arrives, but the majority of managers who go from Zaragoza go by car because they don’t know when they will arrive.” And it is necessary to have the necessary frequencies and the minimum reliability required in medium and long distance trains with conventional track and high speed. It is key for thousands of people who need to take the train to, for example, go to the doctor in a big city and return to their place of residence on the same day, with the peace of mind that they will arrive and return at the expected time. Without surprises. Photo | Nelson Silva In Xataka | Spain has 7.5 million dogs, so Renfe has changed its rules for traveling with large pets by train

citizen science prepares for the great blackout of 2026

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He solar eclipse on August 12, 2026 will be a great opportunity for enjoyment for the general populationbut also a unique moment for scientists from very diverse disciplines. For just a few minutes, animals change their behavior, the skies become dark, with less light pollution because it’s not time to have the streetlights on, and our own physiology possibly undergoes changes as well. We have already talked of a citizen science project that aims to verify how the solar eclipse affects our heart rate and even our respiratory rate. But it is not the only study in which citizens can contribute their grain of sand. Currently, there are also projects aimed at study light pollution and the behavior of flying animals. Citizen science to study light pollution A solar eclipse is an ideal time to study light pollutionsince it is getting dark in a time zone in which there are no streetlights on yet. It really gets dark and, therefore, the sky can be seen much more clearly. A shame we only have a couple of minutes to enjoy it. Luckily, although two minutes is very little time for enjoyment, it is more than enough to do a small study on light pollution. The project, named EclipseDSMhas been developed by scientists from Catalan, Galician and Navarrese research centers and aims to distribute photometers throughout the entire strip of totality so that citizens themselves are in charge of collecting data with which they can establish the differences between the real night and the night generated by the eclipse. We want to study whether the lights in towns and cities are adequate Anyone who wants can sign up in a form on the website, which indicates the three ways to get photometers. For starters, it can be made at home. On the website you can download some instructions manufacturing with link to all materials. Most of them can be obtained on Aliexpress, with a very low price. In total, the entire photometer could be obtained for 30 euros. The problem, as explained from Sinc Agencyis that there has been a shortage of one of those components. Therefore, there are two other options. The first is to attend one of the workshops that the Eclipse DSM team will carry out in several areas of the strip of totality. There, participants will be able to make their own photometer and take it home. If this is not possible, there is always the option of ordering it directly through the indicated email, although it is important to note that units are limited. With all this, data will be obtained that will be used to study the more efficient ways to illuminate rural and urban environmentsreducing light pollution as much as possible. It’s simple. If the changes in sky illumination are not too great in a specific town, it may be because the luminaires installed there are less polluting than others with which more important changes are reported. Animals once again take center stage during a solar eclipse In 1932, a scientist named William Wheeler did what is possibly the first citizen science study during a solar eclipse. He asked people who lived in the zone of totality of an eclipse that they would observe around them and pay attention to all the changes in nature that caught their attention. With this, he received more than 500 testimonies about animals and plantswhich laid the foundations for many studies that came later. Now, a group of scientists from the Spanish Research Network in Ecoacoustics (REIE) has made a new call to citizens to listen to nature through the ECOECLIPSE project. To participate it is necessary to have a autonomous sound recorder and be able to locate it in an area where it can be reached at least 98% complete during the solar eclipse of August 12, 2026. In this case, the recorders will not be distributed. Participants must already have one. However, it has been reported that an app will be announced later with which you can participate. without the need for this device. What is known at the moment is that the recorders They should be placed two days before the solar eclipse and collected two days after. Although all types of sounds will be recorded, we want to examine above all the activity of birds and batsin order to check how this astronomical phenomenon affects them. If you want to participate in either project, you still have time. Science needs you. Image | Bryan Goff (Unsplash) | Magnificent In Xataka | A third of Spain will be completely dark for a minute or two. The astronomical event of the century is approaching

Tom Hanks assures that “this is the best movie ever made”, even above “Casablanca or Citizen Kane”

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Tom Hanks claims that the best film ever made is not ‘Casablanca’ or ‘Citizen Kane’, nor is it in the canon of absolute Hollywood classics. Nor is it any of his filmography. It is a 1963 title that failed at the box office and was officially vindicated by the actor when at the 1992 Oscars (although it was not on Oscar night itself) an honorary award was given to the person truly responsible for the magic of the film. 1992: the Harryhausen moment. That night, Hanks did not go on stage to compete for anything of his own, but rather to present the Gordon E. Sawyer Award, a technical recognition that the Academy grants outside of the main gala. The recipient was Ray Harryhausen, honored with this lifetime achievement award at a special ceremony held three weeks before the 1992 Oscars. There he uttered the famous phrase: “Some say Casablanca or Citizen Kane.” He prefers ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ Jason is going crazy. It is the best-known film that Ray Harryhausen made. Directed by Don Chaffey, it freely adapts the 3rd century BC Greek poem The Argonauticas, by Apollonius of Rhodes. The film was a box office failure at the time, but time has turned it into a fantasy classic thanks to the magnificent animations in stop motion from Harryhausen and a specific scene, the sword fight against an army of skeletons, which took the technician three months to animate. It is not the only amazing creature in the film: the bronze colossus Talos, the seven-headed hydra and the two Harpies are other mythological monsters in this adventure. It’s the monkey’s fault. Harryhausen knew that he wanted to dedicate himself to the world of effects because stop motion when he saw ‘King Kong’ as a child, and it was in fact the creator of the gigantic gorilla, Willis O’Brien, who advised him to take his first steps, advising him to study anatomy and art. Harryhausen ended up helping him as an apprentice on films like ‘The Big Gorilla’. Starting in the 1950s, he teamed up with producer Charles Schneer and there his key works would begin, which would ensure him a place in the pantheon of classics. With him, Harryhaysen began in science fiction films such as ‘The Beast from Ancient Times’, ‘Humanity in Danger’ or ‘Earth vs. the Flying Saucers’. Then came the fantasy adventures, often with mythological elements, that made him famous: ‘Sinbad and the Princess’, ‘Gulliver’s Travels’, ‘The Mysterious Island’, ‘A Million Years Ago’ and, closing his career in the eighties, ‘Clash of the Titans’, with Medusa as one of his most remembered creatures. Harryhausen was not just an animator: he designed the creatures, sculpted them, built the models with articulated metal skeletons and then animated them himself, almost always alone. Stop motion FTW. Some of the genius’s teachings are relevant today. In a 2006 interview he argued that visual effects with excessive realism They were reduced to something mundane, compared to the almost dreamlike quality that, in their opinion, the stop motion. And it is easy to understand why: any film animated with this artisanal technique, like, without going any further, the very recent ‘I’m Frankelda’ It has a texture of pure wonder that CGI simply cannot remotely aspire to. In Xataka | Warner wanted to change the ending of one of Clint Eastwood’s most acclaimed films. Luckily, he stood his ground.

‘Star Citizen’ has managed to reach $1 billion in financing. We have no idea when it will be released

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There are video games that fall behind, video games that change course, and video games that seem to live in a category of their own. ‘Star Citizen‘ clearly belongs to the latter. What we have seen for more than a decade is not only the development of an ambitious space simulator, but a phenomenon that is difficult to fit into the usual molds of the industry: thousands and thousands of players financing a promise that continues to grow without there being yet a closed date for its full commercial launch. A figure that is difficult to ignore. The official website of Roberts Space Industries places funding ‘Star Citizen’ at $1,011,412,026, with 6,560,271 Star Citizens registered at the time of capture contributed. We are not talking about an estimate or a figure reconstructed from outside, but rather the public accountant of the project itself. This data allows us to better understand the magnitude of the phenomenon: a community that has not only closely followed each progress, but has also financially supported one of the most ambitious and prolonged bets in modern video games. Fourteen years of waiting. The origin of the project helps to understand why this case has become so unique. ‘Star Citizen’ began to take shape in 2012when Chris Roberts, known for ‘Wing Commander’, co-founded Cloud Imperium Games with Sandi Roberts and decided to finance development directly with the community. The game was originally aimed at 2014a reference that today serves to measure the distance between that first ambition and the current state of the project. Open development as fuel. The study has not maintained interest only with an initial promise, but by showing the process almost live. We have seen a development accompanied by weekly broadcasts, blogs, roadmaps and early access to the alpha, a way of working that has made the community a visible part of the project. Sandi Roberts also points to that link when she talks about AMAs on Reddit, forums and ‘Bar Citizens’ events, gatherings organized by fans themselves. It’s not finished, but it’s not empty either.. It is convenient to separate two ideas that are often mixed. ‘Star Citizen’ does not yet have a full commercial version, but those who support the project You can now play an alpha with available content on PC. In its current state, the project allows for bounty hunting, mining, large-scale industrial transportation, medical rescue, and ship recovery. Ships, promises and thousands of dollars. The financing model also has a particularly striking side. Many of the highest-value contributions are tied to ships associated with the game, with options that can start at $15 and others that run into the thousands. The most recent example is the Anvil Odina ship worth more than $5,000. Also, there is an important nuance: it is a “concept pledge”, so it is not yet available in the game. The final stretch remains undated. In parallel to ‘Star Citizen’, Cloud Imperium is also working on ‘Squadron 42‘, a single-player campaign set in the same universe and with a cast that includes several figures. ANDn statements to VarietyChris Roberts assured that the team is in the final phases, although without a fixed schedule. Therein lies the big unknown: the project has reached an enormous scale, but we still don’t know when version 1.0 will arrive. Images | Roberts Space Industries In Xataka | If you had any hope of buying a Steam Deck OLED at a good price, the RAM crisis has something to tell you

“Citizen surveillance and autonomous weapons deserved more deliberation” OpenAI robotics director resigns

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A week ago we were just saying that “A dead king, a king“: Anthropic passage to pure ostracism after being considered a “risk to the supply chain” of the United States practically overlapped with the announcement of the US Defense Administration agreement with OpenAI in record time. Behind the scenes: the reasons for the no from the company led by Dario Amodei and the unknown of the terms of that agreement that installs ChatGPT on the Pentagon computers. A few days later, Caitlin Kalinowski says goodbye at his position at OpenAI, citing the military use of artificial intelligence as the reason. The resignation. Caitlin Kalinowski, head of the OpenAI robotics team since November 2024, announced her departure from the company a few hours ago in publications from X and from LinkedIn. He makes it clear that his decision is about principles and not people and expresses respect for Sam Altman and the team. In his brief statement there are two lines that, in his opinion, the company did not think about enough internally: The surveillance of American citizens without judicial supervision. Autonomous weapons capable of firing without human supervision. Tap to go to the post Context. The resignation occurs in the midst of Anthropic’s departure from the Pentagon (the transition will last six months), the entry of OpenAI and in the midst of a debate about how far AI companies should go in their collaboration with the US military establishment: Anthropic stood before the Pentagon drawing strict lines on domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons. OpenAI reached an agreement with the Department of Defense to deploy its models on a classified government network in a move that has been interpreted as opportunistic. According to the company led by Altman, the agreement excludes domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons, but the damage to its reputation had already been done: thousands of people uninstalled ChatGPT by way of cancellation. Why it is important. The goodbye of Caitlin Kalinowski is the first public and nominative resignation from a senior position at OpenAI motivated by ethical disagreements over the military use of AI explicitly. And this sets a precedent in the industry insofar as it exposes the internal fracture in the most influential company in the sector, placing OpenAI in a delicate situation before those who use its tools, its staff and also before society. And finally, it makes more clear than ever the need to legislate on artificial intelligence and its civil and military uses. Maybe Europe is behind in the AI ​​battlebut a long time ago he set about the arduous task of establish a regulatory framework. Which Kalinowski does not say. In the comments of her post on Kalinowski does not say it clearly, but when an agreement of this magnitude has already been signed and its CEO makes it publicthere is no room for much maneuver from within: resigning with a public statement like yours is one of the few pressure maneuvers left to exert. Consequences. For OpenAI, the pressure is growing and it faces more departures and more cancellations if it does not clearly show what its red lines are in a credible and verifiable way: the militarization of AI is something we are experiencing in real time. For the AI ​​industry, it is more fuel on the fire of the self-regulation debate. And Anthropic gains reputation, although in the short term it has lost an important agreement and its new status may put its existence in check. In Xataka | The US has decided to shoot itself in the foot and destroy one of the best AI companies in the country In Xataka | Sam Altman says he’s terrified of a world where AI companies believe themselves to be more powerful than the government. It’s just what you’re building Cover | Caitlin Kalinowski

What is and how the app works to find aid, scholarships and subsidies of the creators of my citizen folder

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Let’s explain What is and how the app works Help linesa public administration tool created by those responsible for My citizen folder. It is a new tool to centralize procedures, in this case related to aid you can get. We are going to start the article explaining what this application is and what you can do with it. Then we will tell you how it works and how you can use it to request various types of help, either to train or to undertake, independent or other things. What is the Aid lines app Help lines is an official application of public administration. It seeks to centralize information on all kinds of aid that the government gives, as well as scholarships or subsidies. Therefore, it is another application as interesting as My citizen folder either Midgt. In this application you can find subsidies, aid, scholarships and awards from all administrations. Therefore, it is basically an index to find this type of aid. The application has a search engine With various types of filters and options. You can search only in some provinces or specific communities, choose the type of aid, the convening body, or the subject with which it is related. Even if you have already heard of some help you will be able to search for your reference number. For the rest, it is a fairly simple application. Your interface is clear, in each type of help you have A complete description including the deadline to request it, and little else. It serves what it serves, it does well, and that’s it. How to use help lines The first thing you have to do is download application Help linesavailable In Google Play For Android and In the App Store From your iPhone. It is a totally free application, and that you do not need to log in. When opening the app for the first time you will have to accept the privacy agreements and their terms and conditions of use. The application itself is very simple. You only have three sections, one start with information about the latest aids issued, the Search and Favorites section. In the main one, you will see all subsidies, awards, aid, scholarships in general nationwide, as well as its location, responsible administration and the term date. If you enter the search engineyou can make simple searches or use the advanced ones. In the advanced searches section you will have many fields that you can specify, including subjects, type of aid, the convening organ or the geographical scope, in addition to the publication or limit dates. In the geographical field you can choose national, international or those of concrete autonomous communities. Everything to try to refine the type of help to the maximum and why you need it or where. When you press one of the aid you will enter your file. In it you will have all the information, including description of the aid and the beneficiaries to know if you can opt for it. Also the convening organ, the geographical scope or the deadlines. In addition, you will have external links to expand the information entering the aid website or to request it directly. Finally, at the top of the file you have options to share it or to mark help as a favorite and thus be able to access from the corresponding section without having to look for it again. In Xataka Basics | New public transport aid: free fertilizers and with discounts that return to 2025

Midni promises to be another success with Midgt and my citizen folder

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The digital ID is Officer from today. The Government has approved by Royal Decree the use of the MIDNI app as an official accrediting document. The alternative to the physical document follows the wake of Midgt and confirms a promising tendency: that of a successful digitalization by Spanish public bodies. First, Midgt. In 2020 the General Directorate of Traffic launched In open test phase The application Midgt. Carrying the physical driving license was no longer strictly necessary -go on having situations in which to carry it is advisable-, and the app demonstrated to fulfill its objective perfectly, in addition to allowing various types of operations related to the DGT. Even helps us avoid scams When looking for second -hand cars. Then my citizen folder. In September 2022 A surprise would come even more striking. My citizen folder was the APP of the Government of Spain that allowed Bring us the bureaucracy to the mobile screen and make A lot of efforts especially comfortable. In fact, it was not only good when it was launched, but TOcaught. And now, Midni. The last to arrive in this series of official applications It is midniwhich is developed by the National Police and will allow to prove the identity of citizens in various efforts. Initially its validity will be limited, but little by little that accreditation will extend to many more areas. Midni does not replace DNI for the moment. As Explain The Interior Minister, this application will be available tomorrow prior registration with our electronic ID and digital certificate in force. It has the same legal validity and security guarantees as the physical ID, but this digital ID is a complement to the physical and does not replace it. Good for public administration. It will still be necessary to evaluate this new app of the public administration, but the design and development of the application follows the same line as the MIDGT, using temporary QR codes to verify the intention of performing an operation and the validity of the document. It is therefore logical to think that its operation is correct, and Show that good trajectory In this type of public administration projects. But there are many pending subjects. These are three fantastic examples that things can be done well. At least, for now there have been hardly any problems and many good reviews. However, public administration in Spain has a long disaster history and criticism When digitizing procedures: what should be simple is sometimes In a nightmare Or something simply impossible. The Digital Certificate Managementfor example, many problems usually pose despite being A development Already very mature and offering Important advantages If it works. Unequal reception. The MIDGT ​​app already has more than five million downloads on Google Play Store and an average score of 1.8/5, while my citizen folder has been downloaded more than one million times from that store and its average score is 3.7/5. Theoretically the midni tool will be even more popular given the relevance of this document. As in the case of Midgt, the proposal is especially striking For those who have always wanted to do without the physical portfolio: Now they have one more excuse to do it, no doubt. In Xataka | A damage without threats: these are the strengths and weaknesses of Spain for the long -awaited digital transformation according to the government In Xataka Android | My citizen folder is updated and rises in level: now the companies will also use it

Elon Musk is a citizen of Canada since 1989. Now 230,000 Canadians have claimed to remove it

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As Trump Special Advisor Elon Musk is part of a government that it seems to threaten Canadian sovereignty, especially after Trump repeatedly hinted that Canada should become The 51st State of the United States. Canadians have responded with the bureaucratic tools they have, and now it is time to decide the government, bound by the law itself. Hundreds of thousands of signatures. Elon Musk’s Canadian citizenship, awarded in 1989 Thanks to his mother, Maye Muskoriginally from Saskatchewan, is located in the center of a growing political controversy in Canada. The reason? More than 200,000 citizens have signed A parliamentary request requesting that citizens be revoked due to its proximity to Donald Trump and their alleged involvement in activities contrary to the national interests of Canada. The requestpresented on February 20 at the Chamber of the Commons in Canada by the writer Qualia Reed and sponsored by the parliamentarian Charlie Angus, of the new Democratic Party (NDP), He has won traction Very fast. His main argument: that Musk, acting as a Trump advisor, has backed a foreign government that threatens Canadian sovereignty. In particular, they point out the aggressive rhetoric of the president, who has threatened Impose severe tariffs to Canadian products and has even suggested that more than unlikely Annexation of Canada as the 51 state of the nation. Reasons of the petition and reactions. As we said, the discontent of the signatories lies in Musk’s attitude Faced with American politics, as well as in its total support for Trump and its economic policies. Musk has promoted, for example, initiatives to reduce federal spending in the United States under the new administration, which has led to Mass cuts in agencies such as the Department of Venaries’ Affairs, the Department of Defense and the National Parks Service. The conflict between Musk and Trudeau. There is more, of course. Its use of social network X, acquired in 2022, has been key in the controversy. Musk mocked the Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau, after his announcement of resignation as the leader of the Liberal Party, praising instead of the conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, in what was seen as an interference in Canadian politics. Besides, Trump’s threats Towards Canada have intensified public outrage. In a recent speech, the president referred again to Trudeau as a simple “governor”, minimizing the independence of the country. The conflict climbed when Trump and his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the nation should become partly in the United Statesto which Trudeau responded bluntly In X: “There is no possibility in the hell that Canada becomes part of the United States. Workers and communities in both countries benefit from being the largest commercial and mutual security partners.” The economic factor and commercial tensions. Beyond the political debate, Trump’s position and Musk towards Canada has also generated concern in the economic field. Trump has threatened impose 25% tariffs to Canadian imports, a measure that would have had significant consequences for the country’s economy. Be that as it may, these tariffs have been delayed until March 4, after Trump declared that the Canada government had taken measures to combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking in cooperation with the United States. Is it possible to revoke citizens? It is the big question. According to the Canadian law, citizenship It can be revoked In cases of fraud, false information in the application for immigration or threat to national security, but there are no precedents of a revocation for political reasons or ideological alignments. It is also allowed Voluntary renunciation of citizenssomething that Musk has not indicated that he would consider. That said, the petition has overcome the threshold of 500 signatures required to be formally presented to Parliament. After its presentation, it will be the government who decides if it progresses or rejects it. Meanwhile, the House of Commons will resume sessions on March 24, although a possible call for general elections before that date could also affect the progress of the petition. An unknown scenario. Despite the magnitude of the petition, experts agree that the possibility of revoking the citizenship of Musk It is low. Irene Bloemraad, immigration and citizenship specialist at British Columbia University, explained to Washington Post That “although the petition reaches millions of signatures, the government cannot simply revoke the citizenship of a person.” Also, Gideon Christian, Professor of Law at the University of Calgary, He stressed that Any attempt at revocation should “follow the legal procedures established for all Canadian citizens.” In the distant scenario on which the revocation was approved and executed, Musk would have to wait 10 years to request the Canadian citizenship again. The businessman would continue to keep his American and South African citizenships, of course, but losing his Canadian passport could affect his investments and commercial relations in the country. Image | Duncan.hull, Open Grid Sche In Xataka | Mark Zuckerberg wanted to get on Elon Musk’s wake to improve his image: public opinion continues to hate him the same In Xataka | Tesla has sued customers and journalists for criticizing their cars in China: the surprising thing is that you are winning those judgments

Judge hears lawsuit over Trump’s order to cancel birthright citizenship

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A federal judge in Seattle will hear first arguments Thursday in a lawsuit filed by several states seeking to block President Donald Trump’s executive order ending the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship regardless of parents’ immigration status. Federal Judge John Coughenour scheduled the session to consider the request from Arizona, Illinois, Oregon and Washington. The case is one of five lawsuits brought by 22 states and several immigrant advocacy groups across the country. The lawsuits include personal testimony from prosecutors who are U.S. citizens by birthright, and names of pregnant women who fear their children will not become U.S. citizens. The order signed by Trump on the day of his inauguration is scheduled to go into effect on February 19. It could affect thousands of people born in the country, according to one of the lawsuits. In 2022, there were approximately 255,000 births of citizen children to mothers living in the country illegally and approximately 153,000 births to both parents in such a situation, according to the lawsuit filed by the four states in Seattle. The United States is among about 30 countries where birthright citizenship, the principle of jus soli or “right of the soil,” applies. Most are in the American Continent, including Canada and Mexico. The lawsuits argue that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship to people born and naturalized in the country and states have interpreted the amendment that way for a century. Ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, the amendment reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State in which they reside.” Trump’s order affirms that children of non-Americans are not subject to US jurisdiction and directs federal agencies not to recognize citizenship for children who do not have at least one parent who is a citizen. A key case on the issue unfolded in 1898. The Supreme Court held that Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants, was a U.S. citizen because he was born in the country. After a trip abroad, he faced denial of reentry by the federal government on the grounds that he was not a citizen under the Chinese Exclusion Act. But some advocates of immigration restrictions have argued that that case clearly applied to children born to parents who were both legal immigrants. They say it is less clear whether it applies to children born to parents who do not have a residence permit. Trump’s executive order prompted attorneys general to share their personal connections to birthright citizenship. For example, Connecticut state Attorney General William Tong, a birthright U.S. citizen and the nation’s first elected Chinese American attorney general, said the lawsuit was personal to him. “There is no legitimate legal debate on this issue. But the fact that Trump is completely wrong will not stop him from causing serious harm right now to American families like mine,” Tong said this week. One of the lawsuits includes the case of a pregnant woman, identified as “Carmen,” who is not a citizen, but has lived in the United States for more than 15 years and has a pending visa application that could give her permanent residency status. “Depriving children of the ‘priceless treasure’ of citizenship is a serious injury,” the lawsuit says. “It denies them the full membership in American society to which they are entitled.”

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