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☆ U.S. VP Harris touts $4.2b private sector investment in Central America
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Private companies have committed to invest $4.2 billion in northern Central America as part of an effort by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to reduce migration, the White House said on Monday. Harris focused her efforts on addressing the factors that led migrants to leave the three countries, known as the northern triangle, including a lack of economic opportunity. Corruption and governance concerns in the three nations have limited the effectiveness of the Harris push, leading to the cancellation or suspension of projects likely worth millions of dollars. Arrivals from northern Central America have steadily declined since mid-2021. Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Mica Rosenberg and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A Swedish-made fighter jet could tip the scales against Russia in Ukraine, but it might not get there any time soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Sebastien Roblin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Ukraine's air force remains in the fight almost a year after Russia's shambolic invasion. Sooner or later, Ukraine must induct new jet fighters into service — and they sure aren't buying them from Russia. JAS-39 Gripen: background and capabilitiesA Swedish JAS 39 Gripen at Bobo, Norway in October 2018. A Hungarian Air Force JAS-39 Gripen in August 2010. JAS-39 Gripen vs. F-16A US Air Force F-16 takes off from Aviano Air Base in Italy in June 2020.

☆ Close to 1,000 migrant children separated by Trump yet to be reunited with parents
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Nearly 1,000 migrant children separated at the U.S.-Mexico border by the administration of former President Donald Trump have yet to be reunited with their parents despite a two-year effort by President Joe Biden. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Thursday of the 998 children still separated, 148 were in the process of reunification. Biden, a Democrat, issued an executive order shortly after taking office in January 2021 that established a task force to reunite children separated from their families under Trump, a Republican and immigration hardliner, calling such separations a "human tragedy." The Trump administration split apart thousands of migrant families under a blanket "zero-tolerance" policy that called for the prosecution of all unauthorized border crossers in spring 2018. To date the task force has reunited 600 families.

☆ Britain kicks crypto when it’s down
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Britain’s answer, unveiled by Financial Services Minister Andrew Griffith on Wednesday, is that the existing framework suffices. The government intends to regulate the digital assets using the Financial Services and Markets Act of 2000, legislation applied to the City of London. The consultation also notes that the City and Wall Street typically segregate activity consolidated by crypto groups, such as being a broker, exchange, lender or custodian. Coming on the heels of last year’s collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX means Britain’s kick lands when the industry is down. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Haitians in the U.S. feel pressure to sponsor friends, family back home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Brian Ellsworth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Many people unfortunately are not in a position to sponsor family members or friends back home, but they are receiving calls nonstop." She said her clients have described being expected to sponsor entire extended families and in some cases face threats. "I would say it's also a program that will place undue stress on families and cause family divisions." "People will say 'I have more than one cousin I would like to sponsor, I'm only able to sponsor one of them,'" Jozef said. She is also opposed to the expulsions of Haitians and other migrants arriving at the southwest border, many who are seeking U.S. asylum.

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The United States is poised to start using fast-track asylum screenings at the U.S.-Mexico border, part of U.S. President Joe Biden's recent efforts to address a record number of illegal crossings, five sources told Reuters. A group of Biden administration officials visited the U.S.-Mexico border this week in preparation for the new effort, said two of the sources, both U.S. officials. It was unclear when the fast-track screenings will begin. Under the plan, asylum seekers detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would have remote interviews with a U.S. asylum officer within days, the sources said. Reuters first reported in December that the fast-track screenings were under consideration.

☆ Americans can sponsor refugees directly under program launching this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Groups of Americans will be able to directly sponsor refugees for resettlement in the United States under a new program launching on Thursday, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters, a step that could bolster admissions and reduce government costs. The sponsor groups will also be required to pass background checks and create a support plan. The program will aim to find U.S. sponsors for 5,000 refugees in fiscal year 2023, which ends on Sept. 30, another of the sources said. The administration also used parole to admit Afghans and Ukrainians and piloted sponsor programs to support them in the United States. Refugee Resettlement Program, which takes referrals from the United Nations and U.S. embassies.

☆ Americans can sponsor refugees directly under program launching this week -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Major markets such as the United States need new statutory definitions of digital assets to provide regulatory clarity for the sector, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of USDC stablecoin issuer Circle said on Monday. Allaire said blockchain technology itself should be viewed similarly to an operating system, while individual use cases should be regulated separately. "New definitions ... would help provide more clarity on which regulators are involved in what activity," Allaire told the Reuters Global Markets Forum on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos. The European Union is leading in developing digital asset regulations, he said, with the region's Markets in Cryptoassets (MiCA) rules expected to come into effect in 2024. "We're quite optimistic that MiCA will create the conditions for a thriving competitive market in the EU," Allaire said.

☆ Some Olaplex users say their hair broke and fell out after using the TikTok-famous luxury hair brand. Experts question a connection to the products.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Allana Akhtar | Alex Bitter | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Insider interviewed 10 former Olaplex users who voiced concerns about Olaplex on social media and in emails to Insider. Asked about the symptoms that the Olaplex users experienced, an Olaplex spokesperson told Insider: "We take each and every customer inquiry very seriously. Aftering switching to a drugstore brand of hair products, she said she saw an immediate reduction in hair loss. Keannia Johnson said her hair fell out and turned straw-like in texture after using Olaplex products. She started using Olaplex products in April.

☆ Explainer: Why migrants are crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in record numbers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Mica Rosenberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

What is happening at the U.S.-Mexico border now and why are there record numbers of crossings? U.S. Border Patrol made more than 2.2 million arrests at the U.S.-Mexico in the 2022 fiscal year, which ended last September, the most ever recorded. The number of Venezuelans crossing the border plummeted after Mexico agreed to accept expulsions of Venezuelan migrants last October. The Biden administration has said it wants to surge resources to process more claims quicker but faces budgetary and other constraints. The Biden administration also set a goal of resettling 125,000 refugees in 2022 who apply from abroad after Trump dramatically slashed admissions during his term.

[1/4] Migrants queue near the border fence, after crossing the Rio Bravo river, to request asylum in El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January 5, 2023. Initial backlash to Biden's policy shift also signals it could be challenged in court, from both those who favor restricting immigration and advocates for asylum seekers. The restrictions, known as Title 42, allow U.S. authorities to rapidly expel migrants caught at the border back to Mexico without the chance to claim asylum in the United States. The Biden administration tried last year to end the Title 42 border restrictions, but U.S. courts have left them in place and legal challenges are ongoing. The court rulings that left the Title 42 order in place give the Biden administration time to experiment with different strategies.

☆ Police officer who was injured during January 6 riots mocks McCarthy's 'trouble' gaining the majority vote for House Speaker: 'I just came here to rub it in'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A former DC police officer who suffered major injuries on January 6 took a jab at Rep. Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy has unsuccessfully sought the majority vote for House Speaker six times in two days. The ex-officer, Michael Fanone, a McCarthy critic, was at the Capitol Wednesday "to rub it in." The GOP in the House has a slim majority and far-right GOP holdouts have voted for other candidates. One of the GOP holdouts Rep. Matt Gaetz has accused McCarthy of "squatting" in the House Speaker's office without having been voted in, Insider reported.

☆ U.S. ramps up immigration arrests mostly at Mexican border
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Mica Rosenberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Immigration arrests nearly doubled in 2022 compared to 2021 as border authorities apprehended more migrants and courts blocked efforts by U.S. President Joe Biden to more narrowly target detentions to focus on serious criminals. Around two-thirds of those arrests were of people with only immigration violations, the data showed. Most were migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border with no criminal convictions or charges pending and who were transferred to ICE, officials said on a call with reporters. U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended a record 2.2 million migrants at the southwest border in the 2022 fiscal year. Those not expelled are either released into the country to pursue immigration claims or detained by ICE.

Frosty diplomatic relations between the United States and the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have complicated deportations to those countries. The new rules for Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians would be modeled on an existing program for Venezuelans launched in October. Mexico has only accepted the expulsion of some nationalities, mostly Mexicans and Central Americans, under Title 42. Two officials said the policy shift for Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans could come as soon as this week. Close to half of those arrested were rapidly expelled under the Title 42 policy.

REUTERS/Jordan VonderhaarWASHINGTON/CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said COVID-era restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border that have prevented hundreds of thousands of migrants from seeking asylum should be kept in place for now, siding with Republicans who brought a legal challenge. U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, had campaigned on overturning Trump's hardline immigration measures before taking office in 2021 but kept Title 42 in place for more than a year. A federal judge last month ruled Title 42 was unlawful in response to a lawsuit originally by asylum-seeking migrants represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Hours later, Chief Justice John Roberts in a brief order issued a stay that will leave Title 42 in place until further notice from the court. In El Paso, shelters have struggled to house newcomers even as many ultimately are headed to join relatives in other parts of the United States.

They had traveled there in anticipation that the COVID-19 restrictions, known as Title 42, would be lifted on Wednesday as ordered by a U.S. court. Title 42 allows U.S. authorities to rapidly expel migrants to Mexico and other countries without a chance to seek U.S. asylum. But in an last-minute move, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed Title 42 to remain in place temporarily while a Republican legal challenge seeking to extend the measures is decided. Under Title 42, the United States typically can only expel migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela to Mexico. Title 42 was originally issued in March 2020 under Republican former President Donald Trump at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The temporary order from the nation's highest court means Title 42 will stay in place until further notice from the court. Title 42, aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19, was issued in March 2020 under Republican former President Donald Trump, an immigration restrictionist. Jean-Pierre stressed that migrants entering illegally could still be removed via other means even if eventually Title 42 goes away. "Truly, I am asking from my heart for the opportunity to enter" the United States. In El Paso, shelters have struggled to house newcomers even as many ultimately are headed to join relatives in other parts of the United States.

[1/5] A Texas National Guardsman watches as a group of migrants wades across the Rio Grande as U.S. border cities brace for an influx of asylum seekers when COVID-era Title 42 migration restrictions are set to end, in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S. December 18, 2022. But because of an ongoing legal battle, it remains unclear whether Title 42 will end on Wednesday. For months, El Paso has been receiving large groups of asylum-seeking migrants, including many Nicaraguans who cannot be expelled to Mexico. On Saturday, the city's mayor declared a state of emergency to move migrants from city streets as temperatures have dropped below freezing. In El Paso, shelters have struggled to house incoming migrants, straining limited resources that are already accommodating the local homeless population.

☆ The FTX disaster has set back crypto by 'years' — here are 3 ways it could reshape the industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

It aims to reduce the risks for consumers buying crypto, making exchanges liable if they lose investors' assets. The saga has set back adoption of crypto assets by "one or two years," according to Evgeny Gaevoy, founder and CEO of crypto market maker Wintermute. ConsolidationMany new companies and projects emerged in the years that followed the 2018 crypto winter — FTX among them. Marieke Flament, Near's CEO, said the firm had limited exposure to FTX — though the collapse was still "a surprise and a shock." Fears have risen over the financial health of other major crypto exchanges after FTX's failure.

☆ Child workers found throughout Hyundai-Kia supply chain in Alabama
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

Hyundai and Kia now have dozens of suppliers in Alabama, according to the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, a business group. The agency, they said, hired underage workers while they worked there. “It was my first job in the United States and this is not what you would expect to see here.”Six other former workers told Reuters they, too, saw underage workers at Ajin’s two factories in Cusseta. Herrera said he raised concerns about the underage workers with managers at SMART, but was brushed off. The officials, wearing shirts that bore Hyundai logos, inspected the assembly line even as underage workers labored there, Herrera said.

☆ Germany calls for global regulation of crypto industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Germany's top regulator this week called for global regulation of the cryptocurrency industry to protect consumers, prevent money laundering and preserve financial stability. Branson said a "crypto spring" may follow what has been a "crypto winter" but that the industry that emerges is likely to have more links with traditional finance, further increasing the need for regulation. "Now is the time for serious cryptocurrency regulation," he said. Regulation of the industry has been loose and patchwork. Last month he said in an interview on the ECB's website that "not all crypto business models are serious".

☆ Some crypto backers are purposely taking a 'very dangerous path,' EU regulator says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS — Some market players are purposely avoiding regulation in the crypto space, the EU's top regulator told CNBC as she called for a global approach to protect retail investors. The European Union agreed in June on the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. However, she added that some crypto players are choosing to, and are fundamentally against, stricter rules. "Some of those who were involved in crypto, from the very outset, were doing it because they didn't want to be part of the regulated, managed system. Recent crises in the crypto world have clearly exposed the risks for consumers.

☆ Biden appeals to keep COVID restrictions in place for migrants at U.S.-Mexico border
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The administration also said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working on a regulation to formalize the border restrictions. Biden, a Democrat who took office in 2021, pledged to undo Trump asylum restrictions. But his administration initially kept the order in place for more than a year amid record migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. officials have been preparing for a possible increase in illegal border crossings if Title 42 ends. The appeal comes as a coalition of states with Republican attorneys general are seeking to intervene in the lawsuit to keep Title 42 in place.

☆ Biden weighs reviving Trump-era immigration restrictions, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Since Biden took office in January 2021, his administration has struggled both operationally and politically with record numbers of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. Another U.S. official said the Biden administration is also considering other Trump-era deterrents that include having Border Patrol agents conduct accelerated asylum screenings. The policies under consideration, if adopted, would sharply backtrack on those pledges and have already drawn concern from immigration advocates. Similar Trump policies were challenged in court and overturned. Republicans, who take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in January, have assailed Biden's handling of the border and threatened to impeach his top border official, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

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