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This year brought a fascinating and eclectic number of books by Latino authors to store shelves and online selections, spanning different genres and earning high praise from readers and reviewers alike. Below is our list of 10 very distinctive works by U.S. Latino authors. The compelling novel has been recognized as one of the top 10 books of 2022 by The New York Times and The Washington Post and as one of the best books of 2022 by Time, NPR, Vogue, Oprah Daily and others. Although Villanueva's life took a different turn, many of his followers and their children, known as "Inca Jews," are still in Israel. She writes about how an abortion saved her life and candidly details her experiences dealing with suicidal thoughts and depression.

"It's a combination of the FTC and (Justice Department) being willing to litigate and the fact that companies are fighting back," Grosberg said. More recently, they have lost four attempts to block mergers in court, though they are appealing two of the cases. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Break-up fees that acquirers agree to pay their targets if their deal gets shot down by antitrust regulators are also on the rise. Many companies facing merger challenges say they will fight on, emboldened by the four court losses of the Justice Department and FTC.

REUTERS/Andrew KellyWASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A $1.7 trillion government funding bill approved by the U.S. Senate Thursday will bolster U.S. regulators and make it easier for states to bring antitrust lawsuits. The National Labor Relations Board is receiving a $25 million increase to $299 million after not receiving a funding lift in more than a decade. The International Trade Administration, which investigates foreign trade practices, is getting a $55 million increase to $625 million. The spending bill includes a measure that strengthens state attorneys general by allowing them to choose the venue where they bring antitrust lawsuits. The funding bill includes a new provision to ensure millions of working mothers have reasonable break time and a private place to pump breast milk.

☆ Latin America's 'pink tide' may have hit its high-water mark
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Brad Haynes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Alessandro Cinque/File PhotoDec 22 (Reuters) - Dramatic elections in Brazil, Chile and Colombia brought leftist governments into power across much of Latin America in 2022, capping the region's second "pink tide" in two decades. Chilean President Gabriel Boric, 36, took office in March as his country's most progressive leader in half a century and its youngest ever. Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 77, who narrowly beat incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in October, is a holdover from the region's first pink tide, when a commodity boom helped him finish his 2003-2010 presidency with record approval. WHAT IT MEANS FOR 2023The region's new pink tide has a distinct green tint, as progressive movements have embraced the fight against climate change. Castillo, ousted about a year and a half after his election, may not be the only leftist leader to face difficult times.

EL PASO, Texas — The nation began readying for an arctic storm that could plunge temperatures around the country, but on the southern border many migrants say they didn't know they were in for colder, nastier weather. Random El Paso residents also brought by food and clothes to migrants. Ruben García, director of Annunciation House, which provides shelter for migrants, said the focus needs to be on “hospitality capacity” in El Paso and elsewhere. “It’s very important for people to understand this is not an El Paso need, this is a borderwide need,” he said. Andrés González, Guad Venegas and Julia Ainsley reported from El Paso, Texas and Suzanne Gamboa reported from San Antonio.

☆ Cubans Spend Thousands to Flee to the U.S. Through Nicaragua
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( José De Córdoba | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

HIALEAH, Fla.—Ferrying Cubans to the U.S. in the past year has become a billion-dollar business involving airlines, charter operators and travel agents working from strip malls in Florida to airports across Central America and the Caribbean. Immigration figures show a quarter of a million Cubans have arrived in the U.S. in the past year. Many of them paid thousands of dollars each to get away from the communist island and its crumbling economy, flying to Nicaragua and then paying coyotes, or migrant smugglers, to guide them across Mexico to the U.S. border.

[1/2] Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany, February 15, 2020. REUTERS/Andreas GebertCompanies Meta Platforms Inc FollowSAN JOSE/WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) boss Mark Zuckerberg said the company is focused on building communications apps and developer platforms, speaking on Tuesday at a high-profile trial over the future of its budding metaverse business. Wearing a blue suit, a white mask, and glasses, Zuckerberg appeared in federal court in San Jose, California, to defend Meta's acquisition of virtual reality app developer Within. The FTC sued the Facebook and Instagram owner in July to stop the deal, saying its "campaign to conquer VR (virtual reality)" began in 2014 when it acquired Oculus, a VR headset manufacturer. It has accused Meta of trying to buy its way to dominance in the metaverse.

It will pay a record penalty of $275 million for violating a children's privacy law and adopt strong default privacy settings for young people. Epic Games will also pay $245 million to refund consumers duped by so-called "dark patterns" into making purchases they did not intend to make, the FTC said. "Epic used privacy-invasive default settings and deceptive interfaces that tricked Fortnite users, including teenagers and children," said FTC Chair Lina Khan in a statement. The Epic Games logo, maker of the popular video game "Fortnite", is pictured on a screen in this picture illustration August 14, 2020. Children's privacy advocates were pleased with the settlement, with Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy saying that "kids should also have their data privacy rights better respected through this enforcement of the federal kids data privacy law (COPPA)."

[1/2] Hundreds of migrants, mostly from Nicaragua, are released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection near a bus station in downtown El Paso, Texas, U.S. December 13, 2022. REUTERS/Ivan Pierre AguirreDec 17 (Reuters) - The mayor of the Texas border city of El Paso declared a state of emergency on Saturday, citing the hundreds of migrants sleeping on the streets in cold temperatures and the thousands being apprehended every day. Mayor Oscar Leeser, a Democrat, said the emergency declaration would give city authorities the resources and ability to shelter migrants who have crossed the Mexican border. The move comes as El Paso, a Democratic stronghold with a history of welcoming immigrants, has struggled in recent months to deal with tens of thousands of migrants crossing the border with Mexico. Even as government officials move migrants in El Paso to other U.S. cities, local shelters are beyond capacity and migrants have been sleeping on the streets as temperatures dip below freezing.

☆ Appeals court declines to block end of Trump-era rule known as Title 42 that expelled migrants at U.S. border
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday declined to block a lower court order lifting Covid restrictions for asylum seekers at the southern border by Wednesday. Attorneys general from 19 Republican-led states had asked the appeals court to temporarily prevent the end of restrictions known as Title 42. Since Title 42 was enacted in March 2020 by the Trump administration, migrants have been sent back to Mexico 2.4 million times. “Title 42 must end because it it is a public health law, not a border management tool,” said Lee Gelernt, the lead attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union suing to lift Title 42, in a statement. “The states seeking to keep Title 42 are acting hypocritically, to say the least, since they have opposed every COVID restriction except the one targeting vulnerable asylum seekers.”

EL PASO, Texas — At a downtown convenience store, María paced anxiously in the cold scanning people arriving at a nearby bus station to find her husband. Migrants who have crossed the border and have been released by Border Patrol wait at the airport in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday. Erika Angulo / NBC News“There is no capacity in El Paso” shelters, said Fernando García, executive director for the Border Network for Human Rights. When they are processed by Border Patrol, migrants are given paperwork with instructions to show up in 90 days at a specific immigration court. Gabe Gutierrez and Erika Angulo reported from El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and Suzanne Gamboa reported from San Antonio, Texas.

“The magnitude of the flow is unprecedented and unheard of,” said Jorge Duany, director of Florida International University’s Cuba Research Institute. Over 6,000 Cuban migrants were interdicted at sea in 2021 while attempting to cross the Florida straits in makeshift boats. Recent migrants have been staying with relatives until they’re able to find work and a room or efficiency to rent. “It’s basically chaos,” said Angel Leal, an immigration attorney in Miami with a large volume of Cuban clients. But previous waves of Cuban migrants, like those who came in the 1990s during the rafter crisis, also leaned Democratic and then ultimately turned Republican.

In this guide, we'll give you a crash course on how to quickly earn credit card rewards and book free travel. If everyone in the world expertly utilized credit card rewards to travel for free, there wouldn't be such amazing travel opportunities out there. Identify your travel goalsBefore you begin collecting credit card rewards, you should first identify your travel goals. Recommended credit card strategies for beginnersThe best practice for anyone new to credit card rewards is to invest in flexible points. You'll need: An annual fee-incurring Hilton credit card One of the greatest deals in credit card rewards is the free night certificate that comes with select American Express Hilton credit cards.

Title 42 is a part of U.S. law that deals with public health, social welfare and civil rights. Bottom line, a federal judge ordered the Biden administration to stop using Title 42 by Dec. 21, stating that it was "arbitrary and capricious." The administration had tried to stop using Title 42 sooner, but was blocked by a federal court in Louisiana. Why is using Title 42 controversial? So if we're still using Title 42, why are so many people illegally crossing the border now?

WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which enforces rules against deceptive practices, has contacted Twitter to ask if the company still has the resources to comply with a privacy consent decree, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Those concerns prompted the FTC last month to say it was "tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern. No CEO or company is above the law, and companies must follow our consent decrees," it said at the time. In a settlement in May, Twitter agreed to pay $150 million and assess potential features for data privacy and security issues. That settlement, in turn, was prompted by assertions that the company had violated a prior consent decree reached in 2011 after two data breaches, with Twitter pledging then that it would not mislead users about privacy protections.

☆ Peru diplomatic spat grows as envoys in Mexico, Argentina summoned home
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Marco Aquino | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Supporters of Peru's former President Pedro Castillo gather outside the police prison where he is being held, in Lima, December 15, 2022. REUTERS/Sebastian CastanedaLIMA, Dec 15 (Reuters) - A diplomatic spat over Peru deepened on Thursday as the new foreign minister formally summoned ambassadors home from countries including Mexico and Argentina, which have criticized the recent ouster of former president Pedro Castillo. On Monday, four nations led by leftist presidents - Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico - signed onto a joint statement declaring Castillo "a victim of undemocratic harassment." Gervasi wrote in a post on Twitter that the consultations "relate to interference in the internal affairs of Peru." Boluarte's week-old administration, which she has said will be a transition government, has been recognized by Chile's leftist president, plus by Uruguay, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Canada and the United States.

☆ Latin American leftist bloc closes ranks behind deposed Peruvian president
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Demonstrators gather as the government announced a nationwide state of emergency, following a week of protests sparked by the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo, in Cuzco, Peru December 14, 2022. REUTERS/Alejandra OroscoHAVANA, Dec 15 (Reuters) - A bloc of left-wing countries meeting in Havana on Wednesday closed ranks in support of the ousted former president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, amid protests and roadblocks in the South American nation that have left at least eight dead. Castillo's former vice president Dina Boluarte was sworn into office after his removal. On Monday, the governments of Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia and Argentina called for the protection of Castillo's human and judicial rights. Reporting by Marc Frank; additional reporting by Nelson Acosta; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Representative Jim Jordan, who will chair the House Judiciary Committee next Congress, gave a hint of what is to come with letters sent to five big tech companies requesting information about conservative material removed from their platforms. Republicans won control of the House in the midterm elections, which will give them control of key committees in January with the power to investigate and even subpoena witnesses. Jordan and other Republicans have argued that the companies stifle conservative voices, something that they have denied. "House Republicans have written a number of prior letters to you in attempts to obtain relevant information. "Committee Republicans will continue to pursue these matters, including into the 118th Congress if necessary."

The number of people granted asylum in immigration courts hit a historic high this fiscal year under the Biden administration's adjustments to the asylum process, a recent data analysis shows. The TRAC report, released in late November, said the 2022 number was the largest number of individuals granted asylum in any year in the courts' history. However, the analysis also showed that grants of asylum have slowed, with 50% of cases granted asylum in June falling to 41% of cases in September. Also, those released from detention had better asylum grant rates, 54% this fiscal year, compared to those who were detained, 15% of whom were granted asylum. Just 23% of people from Ecuador, or 3,380, were granted asylum, placing the country near the bottom.

☆ Photos: El Paso sees surge in border crossings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Migrants, mostly from Nicaragua, are seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, along the shore of the Rio Grande and below the US border wall on Tuesday, December 13. By Catherine E. Shoichet and Will Lanzoni, CNNAs a growing number of migrants arrive in the border city of El Paso, Texas, officials there say the situation is "unsustainable" and could intensify into a full-blown crisis. Many of the arriving migrants have told reporters they're from Nicaragua. El Paso Times reporter Lauren Villagran told CNN on Wednesday that she spoke with Nicaraguan migrants waiting outside in frigid temperatures. Deputy City Manager Mario D'Agostino told reporters in recent days about 2,500 migrants have crossed the border daily, noting that the situation is different than past surges of migrants across the border.

☆ Mexico, the deadliest country for journalists in 2022: watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File PhotoMEXICO CITY, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Mexico is the country where most journalists were killed in 2022, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Wednesday in a report that documented alarming evidence of kidnappings, assaults and arrests of media workers. The report registered 11 killings of media professionals in the Latin American country from January to Dec. 1, or nearly 20% of the global total, the report said. Freedom of speech advocacy groups have documented even more killings of media workers this year, making 2022 the deadliest year on record for journalists in Mexico. Worldwide, RSF reported 57 journalist killings, an 18.8% increase from 2021, driven mainly by the war in Ukraine. The organization reported 49 media workers went missing and other 65 were kidnapped globally.

"The legal precedent is not on the side of the FTC," said Andre Barlow, an antitrust lawyer at Doyle, Barlow & Mazard PLLC. Barlow pointed to three recent mergers challenged by the FTC or Justice Department that were ultimately allowed to proceed. Those cases share something else in common with the proposed Microsoft deal: in each instance, a company would merge with a supplier in a so-called "vertical" merger. "Vertical merger challenges are really difficult to win so it will be an uphill battle for the FTC," said Roger Alford, who teaches law at the University of Notre Dame. Reuters reported last month that Microsoft was expected to offer remedies to EU antitrust regulators in the coming weeks to stave off formal objections to the deal.

☆ Animals Are Running Out of Places to Live
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | Lauren Leatherby | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

In many places, poverty, powerful interests and a lack of law enforcement make habitat loss especially hard to address. Because animals there often have smaller ranges to begin with, habitat loss hits them especially hard. “That's the ultimate challenge of forest conservation globally.”Source: Map of Life | Photo: Chien C. Lee MOZAMBIQUE Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Est. habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR MOZAMBIQUE Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Source: Map of Life | Photo: Chien C. Lee MOZAMBIQUE Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR MOZAMBIQUE Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCARThis is the 2001 habitat of the white-headed lemur, a primate that eats fruit and flowers. Of the many targets being negotiated, the one that has gotten the most attention seeks to address habitat loss head on.

WASHINGTON/SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec 8 (Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust law, is about to engage in a real-life courtroom fight over virtual reality. On Thursday, a high-profile trial kicks off in which the FTC will try to prevent Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) from buying virtual reality app developer Within Inc. The FTC sued in July to stop the deal, saying Meta's acquisition of Within would "tend to create a monopoly" in the market for virtual reality (VR) fitness apps. The majority of the more than 400 apps available in the Quest app store are produced by external developers. Meta owns the most popular virtual reality app in the Quest app store, Beat Saber, which it acquired in 2019.

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, on Tuesday said giant companies like Ticketmaster (LYV.N), which faces a tsunami of criticism for problems in selling tickets to a 2023 Taylor Swift tour, can become "too big to care." "There can be concerns that when firms become (large) they can become too big to care," she added, saying giant firms may feel no need to invest in innovation because they do not face tough competition. Ticketmaster has drawn fresh heat from U.S. lawmakers over how it handled ticket sales for Swift's first tour in five years. Last month, U.S. lawmakers pressed the FTC to enforce a 2016 law against ticket scalpers using bots after Ticketmaster blamed the software for troubles selling tickets to Swift's tour. Ticketmaster has blamed problems with presale ticketing for the tour on unprecedented demand and an effort to keep out bots run by ticket scalpers.

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