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☆ US to dedicate specially trained asylum officers to centers in Guatemala, Colombia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - The United States will dedicate specially trained asylum officers to new refugee centers in Guatemala and Colombia, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters on Thursday as Washington seeks to create new lawful pathways for migrants. The announcement was part of a series of actions rolled out by President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday to address a possible increase in illegal immigration when COVID-19 border restrictions in place since 2020 are expected to end on May 11. "Our border is not open and will not be open after May 11," Mayorkas said. Reporting by Ted Hesson, Kanishka Singh and Daphne PsaledakisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Chinese police query Bain's Shanghai office staff - company spokesperson
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 26 (Reuters) - Chinese police have visited U.S. management consultancy Bain & Company's office in Shanghai and questioned staff there, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday without elaborating. "We are cooperating as appropriate with the Chinese authorities," the spokesperson told Reuters by email. The U.S. embassy in China and the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai did not immediately respond to requests for comment. American companies worry that China may be stepping up retaliatory action because of measures taken against Chinese firms by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration. Chinese authorities last month raided the office of U.S. corporate due diligence firm Mintz Group in Beijing and detained five local staff.

Circuit Court of Appeals, called the April 7 order by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk "abrupt and profoundly disruptive." The 5th Circuit is preparing to hear May 17 arguments on the matter after the U.S. Supreme Court last week put on hold Kacsmaryk's order. Danco Laboratories, which manufactures the brand-name version of the drug, was due to make a separate filing with the 5th Circuit. A panel of three 5th Circuit judges is scheduled to hear arguments on whether to uphold Kacsmaryk's order. The 5th Circuit has a conservative reputation, with 12 of its 16 active judges appointed by Republican presidents.

The dispute concerns Minnesota's tax regime under which the state takes "absolute title" of a property if an owner fails to pay property taxes for five years. Tyler's attorneys said in a court filing that 13 other states have similar policies that let government or private investors benefit when collecting delinquent property taxes. She owed $15,000, including roughly $2,300 in property taxes, as well as penalties, interests and costs. States have long permitted forfeitures of an entire property for neglecting to pay taxes, which are a reasonable condition of property ownership, the county said. Rulings in this case and any others not yet decided by the Supreme Court are due by the end of June.

☆ AOC says that the Supreme Court could strike down student-loan forgiveness, but that doesn't mean 'all is lost' with debt relief
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in June on Biden's student-debt relief plan. It depends on the grounds of the ruling and if the court leaves room for an alternate route, AOC said. After Biden announced the relief in August, two conservative-backed lawsuits paused the implementation of the plan in November, and the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the cases in February. The grounds/rationale for the ruling," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on her Instagram story on Sunday in response to a question on the topic. "If the court rules against Biden's loan program, I STILL don't think all is lost," she continued.

The justices turned away five appeals by the oil companies of lower court decisions that determined that the lawsuits belonged in state court, a venue often seen as more favorable to plaintiffs than federal court. A separate appeal filed by the oil companies challenging lower court decisions in cases out of New Jersey and Delaware is still pending before the Supreme Court. Theodore Boutrous, an attorney for Chevron, expressed confidence that the cases will be dismissed in state court. That decision prompted other federal appeals courts to reconsider whether they should send similar lawsuits by state and local governments back to state courts. Four other appeals courts reached similar conclusions in the lawsuits by Rhode Island and jurisdictions in California, Colorado, Hawaii and Maryland.

Most new gas plants currently do not pay for emitting carbon, so the rules could make it harder for them to compete with solar and wind power. Second, the Inflation Reduction Act created tax credits making carbon capture and hydrogen more affordable and affirmed EPA's authority to regulate power plants. Existing technology can capture and store approximately 90% of carbon emissions, Lynch said. The EIA projected that this year, 54% of new generation (21GW) will be solar and 14% will be natural gas (7.5GW). Southern, which also runs the National Carbon Capture Center with the Department of Energy, said commercial deployment of carbon capture technology "is many years away" despite the cost-reduction potential of the Inflation Reduction Act.

☆ Limit access to most secret US documents, Senate intel panel head says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) - Too many people have access to the U.S. government's closest secrets and a central entity should oversee the classification process, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said on Sunday, addressing leaks of documents in an online chat group. The United States has numerous intelligence gathering entities and Warner said the situation needed to be dealt with. "We need somebody fully in charge of the whole classification process and I think for those classified documents there ought to be a smaller universe," he said. As an example, Warner said the National Security Agency has suffered leaks in the past and internal controls limit the copying of documents. Warner also said that not everyone handling a document needs to see the whole document and that just seeing the header could be enough.

The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, is expected to act before the deadline to either grant or reject the requests or further pause the litigation. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. agency that signs off on the safety of food products, drugs and medical devices, approved mifepristone in 2000. Circuit Court of Appeals on April 12 declined to block the curbs ordered by Kacsmaryk. Anti-abortion groups led by the recently formed Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and four anti-abortion doctors sued the FDA in November. The plaintiffs contend that the agency used an unlawful process to approve the drug, which they consider to be dangerous.

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday bolstered a bid by Turkey's state-owned lender Halkbank (HALKB.IS) to avoid criminal charges in the United States for allegedly helping Iran evade American economic sanctions. The court's majority, while rejecting a key defense mounted by Halkbank, ordered the Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Shares in Vakifbank (VAKBN.IS), another Turkish state bank, jumped 9.9% and the bourse's banking index climbed more than 4%. Sovereign immunity generally protects countries from facing legal action in another country's courts. The majority found that the 2nd Circuit did not fully consider whether the bank has immunity under "common law" principles.

[1/6] Tundra trucks and Sequoia SUV's exit the assembly line as finished products at Toyota's truck plant in San Antonio, Texas, U.S. April 17, 2023. TOYOTA'S PAST SUCCESSWashington's push to accelerate the shift to battery-electric vehicles amplifies the threat posed by Tesla to Toyota's position as the world's largest automaker. Toyota San Antonio has weathered a series of challenges since it built its first truck in 2006. The future for factories like Toyota San Antonio will play out across the next several years. Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu in San Antonio, Texas, Joseph White in Detroit and David Shepardson in Washington Written by Joseph White Editing by Ben Klayman and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ US Supreme Court faces self-imposed deadline to act on abortion pill curbs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Andrew Chung | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday faces a self-imposed deadline to act before significant limits on access to the abortion pill mifepristone take effect in a challenge by anti-abortion groups to the drug's federal regulatory approval. The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, is expected to act before the deadline to either grant or reject the requests or further pause the litigation. In a case that could undercut federal regulatory authority over drug safety, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. The 5th Circuit did halt a part of Kacsmaryk's order that would have suspended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the drug in 2000 and effectively pull it off the market. Some 56% of respondents said they have an unfavorable view of the Supreme Court.

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday grappled with a convicted stalker's claim that thousands of unwanted Facebook messages he sent to a female musician in Colorado were protected speech in a case testing the limits of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment safeguards. Rather, Counterman was convicted based on a showing that his messages would cause a "reasonable person" serious distress, a so-called objective legal standard. Counterman, citing mental illness and delusions, argued his statements were never intended to be threatening and were thus protected speech. The First Amendment prohibits the government from enacting laws "abridging the freedom of speech," but the U.S. Supreme Court has decided that the provision does not protect true threats. His appeal was rejected by the Colorado Court of Appeals.

☆ US announces $325 mln in new arms aid for Ukraine, including HIMARS ammo
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Workers demolish a residential building heavily damaged during Russia's attack in the town of Irpin, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine April 19, 2023. REUTERS/Valentyn OgirenkoWASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's administration announced $325 million in new military aid for Ukraine on Wednesday to help its military in its war against Russia, including additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), advanced missiles and anti-tank mines. It is the 36th security package for Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022, and brings total U.S. military assistance for the Kyiv government to more than $35.4 billion in that time. HIMARS is a missile launcher mounted on a truck that can fire multiple guided missiles in quick succession. In addition to the HIMARS ammunition, the package includes artillery rounds; tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire-guided (TOW) missiles; anti-tank mines; port and harbor security equipment, and over 9 million rounds of small-arms ammunition, a Statement Department spokesperson said.

☆ A federal judge who first blocked broad student-loan forgiveness just gave Biden a win by agreeing to pass on a case challenging a debt relief rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A federal judge that blocked student-debt relief agreed to transfer a related case to a different court. The case was challenging a rule to help borrowers who say they were defrauded by their schools. The Education Department said it was filed in the wrong venue, and the Trump-appointed judge agreed in a rare win for the administration. On February 28, CCST filed an 87 page complaint against the Education Department, saying that the department's latest reforms to the borrower defense process creates a "framework with new federal standards, adjudicatory schemes, and evidentiary presumptions." Judge Reed O'Connor, who is in the same district as Pittman, ruled the Affordable Care Act invalid in 2018.

☆ Anti-abortion groups urge US Supreme Court to restrict abortion pill
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Andrew Chung | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court should restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone, anti-abortion groups challenging the medication's federal regulatory approval told the justices in a filing on Tuesday, urging them to implement curbs ordered by a conservative federal judge in Texas. Mifepristone is taken with another drug called misoprostol to perform medication abortion, which now accounts for more than half of all U.S. abortions. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Anti-abortion groups led by the recently formed Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and four anti-abortion doctors sued the FDA in November seeking to reverse approval of mifepristone. Since last year's Supreme Court decision, 12 U.S. states have put in place outright bans while many others prohibit abortion after a certain length of pregnancy.

☆ Some electric vehicles from BMW, Nissan, Hyundai and Volkswagen will no longer get federal tax credits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Brown | AFP | Getty ImagesFewer electric vehicles now qualify for federal tax credits after the Biden administration this week unveiled stricter rules for battery sources that will prioritize domestically manufactured models. The new list published by the Treasury Department includes 16 U.S. manufactured models from Ford , General Motors , Tesla and Stellantis . Ten of the models on the new list will qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit, with the rest qualifying for half that amount. Vehicles losing credits include those from BMW, Hyundai, Nissan, Rivian , Volkswagen and Volvo Cars. The bill set various manufacturing requirements for new all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to qualify for the $7,500 tax credit.

☆ US to advance small F-16 equipment sale to Turkey -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. State Department could send the formal notification for the smaller sale, which includes radars and avionics, as early as Monday, the sources said. If it is cleared by Congress during the formal approval process, the package would be the first major military sale to Turkey that Congress has approved for years. The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees, who have cleared the modernization package during the informal review, declined comment. The package is separate from the proposed $20 billion sale of new Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits that Turkey requested in October 2021. Such conditions are likely to anger Turkey, which has said the United States had "endless" demands relating to the sale of F-16s and that Washington's behavior wasn't fair.

Postal Service for alleged religious discrimination is set for U.S. Supreme Court review on April 18, poses in an undated handout image taken at an unknown location. Postal Service over his refusal to work on Sundays gives the Supreme Court another chance to widen religious rights but also has led to a debate over whether religious people are more legally deserving than others to weekend days off from work. The court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, has a track record of expanding religious rights in recent years, often siding with Christian plaintiffs. The Postal Service in 2013, in a bid to remain profitable, contracted with Amazon.com to deliver packages, including on Sundays. His absences caused tension among other carriers who had to cover his shifts, the Postal Service said.

☆ UnitedHealth flexes market and political power
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - UnitedHealth (UNH.N) powered on in the first quarter. Revenue grew 15% compared with the same period last year as the firm added about 2 million customers to its insurance arm. The company’s Optum division, which provides medical care among other things, expanded even faster as it keeps adding services. Health insurance is a highly concentrated business, giving UnitedHealth power over markets in which it operates. Further cuts may be a risk, but history suggests UnitedHealth will keep chugging along.

☆ Biden administration asks US Supreme Court to stop abortion pill limits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Andrew Chung | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of mifepristone, also asked the U.S. Supreme Court for similar relief on Friday. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority. The administration said the lower court orders would have "sweeping consequences" for women who need access to mifepristone and the FDA's scientific judgment authority over drug safety. "The resulting disruption would deny women lawful access to a drug FDA deemed a safe and effective alternative to invasive surgical abortion," the Justice Department told the justices. Since last year's Supreme Court decision, 12 U.S. states have put in place outright bans while many others prohibit abortion after a certain length of pregnancy.

☆ OpenAI's Sam Altman and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew just cracked the Time 100 Most Influential People list for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Time released its annual 100 Most Influential People list on Thursday. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew made the list for the first time. Altman has drawn attention following OpenAI's release of ChatGPT, and Chew is under scrutiny as governments consider banning TikTok. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyTime published its annual list of the world's 100 most influential people, and two business leaders made it for the first time: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. In his blurb on Altman in Time's list, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wrote, "If anyone knows where this is going, it's Sam.

☆ U.S. spending $5 billion to speed up development of new COVID vaccines
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationWASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. government is spending over $5 billion on an effort to speed up the development of new COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson and a Biden administration official said on Monday. "While our vaccines are still very effective at preventing serious illness and death, they are less capable of reducing infections and transmission over time," the HHS spokesperson said. "Project NextGen will accelerate and streamline the rapid development of the next generation of vaccines and treatments through public-private collaborations," said the administration official. The project, set to be based at HHS, will coordinate across the government and with the private sector on advancing a pipeline of new vaccines and treatments, the HHS spokesperson said. The project also seeks to speed up the development of vaccines that produce mucosal immunity and can be administered through the nose, in hopes they can dramatically reduce infection and transmission rates.

☆ US weighs action against Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab -WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Commerce is weighing an enforcement action against Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday citing people familiar with the matter. President Joe Biden's administration is looking at an enforcement action against the company under its online security rules, the report said. The administration ramped up its national security probe into Kaspersky Lab's antivirus software last year as fears grew about Russian cyberattacks after Moscow invaded Ukraine. Kaspersky Labs did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The reported enforcement action on Kaspersky follows the introduction of a new U.S. legislation that would allow the White House to ban China based TikTok or other foreign-based technologies if they pose a national security risk.

"Bump stocks allow a shooter to fire hundreds of bullets a minute by a single pull of the trigger. Like other machine guns, rifles modified with bump stocks are exceedingly dangerous." Bump stocks use a semiautomatic's recoil to allow it to slide back and forth while "bumping" the shooter's trigger finger, resulting in rapid fire. Cargill sued, challenging the ATF's rule in 2019, which required him to surrender his two bump stocks. Two days after that ruling, Biden signed into law the first major federal gun reform in three decades.

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