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☆ U.S. to end COVID-19 emergency declarations on May 11
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's administration on Monday said it will end COVID-19 emergency declarations on May 11, nearly three years after the United States imposed sweeping pandemic measures to curb the spread of the illness. The COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) were put in place in 2020 by then-President Donald Trump. Biden has repeatedly extended the measures, which allow millions of Americans to receive free tests, vaccines and treatments. The government has been paying for COVID-19 vaccines, some tests and certain treatments under the PHE declaration. COVID-19 cases are declining in the United States, though more than 500 people continue to die each day from the disease, government data showed.

☆ 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.

[1/2] An oil tanker is docked while oil is pumped into it at the ships terminal of PDVSA's Jose Antonio Anzoategui industrial complex in the state of Anzoategui April 15, 2015. It reinforces measures implemented last year after several buyers skipped out on payments for oil, which provides most of the South American country's income. After taking the helm, Tellechea launched an extensive audit of supply contracts, according to a written order to PDVSA seen by Reuters. The new terms narrow a wide variety of contract modalities to a few requiring prepayment of cargoes entirely in cash or allowing payment via goods and services to Venezuela, but they must be received before Venezuela will release the oil, according to the documents. Even long-term buyers must abide by the new rules that require payment in full by cash before each oil delivery.

☆ TikTok Ban Faces Obscure Hurdle: The Berman Amendments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( John D. Mckinnon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—As lawmakers push to ban or restrict Chinese-owned TikTok, one of the many hurdles they face is a pair of measures passed by Congress decades ago to let films, books and music flow freely between the U.S. and hostile foreign countries. The measures, known as the Berman amendments, date to the last years of the Cold War. They took away the president’s authority to regulate or ban imports of “informational materials” from adversarial nations such as Cuba, and shielded those who produced such works—and their U.S. distributors—from penalties for violating economic sanctions.

☆ Tucker Carlson bizarrely suggested that the US should send an armed force to 'liberate' Canada from Justin Trudeau
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tucker Carlson called for the US to send an armed force to "liberate" Canada from Justin Trudeau. He compared Trudeau to Fidel Castro and said he was "completely in favor of a Bay of Pigs operation." We're spending all this money to liberate Ukraine from the Russians, why are we not sending an armed force to liberate Canada from Trudeau? Carlson has previously said he was rooting for Russia in the conflict in Ukraine, which he later claimed was a joke following widespread condemnation. He has also previously suggested military action against another of the United States' neighbors when in 2019, he advocated for the US to "strike back" at Mexico.

☆ Cubans signed with MLB teams will for first time play on national team at World Classic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

HAVANA — Cubans signed with Major League Baseball organizations and other foreign clubs will for the first time join domestic stars on the national team that will play in the World Baseball Classic, officials announced Wednesday evening. The Cuban Baseball Federation long defended the idea of amateurism and punished those who left the island to seek their fortunes in professional baseball. But that changed when a program on state television announced the roster of 30 players for Cuba’s national team that will play in the international tournament that begins March 8 in Taiwan. To arrange participation of the MLB players, Cuba had to get special permission from the United States because Washington maintains sanctions on Cuba. Under the agreement, those players are barred from coming to Cuba to work with the team.

☆ For the 2nd year in a row, Iran is sailing its biggest warship around the world to show off its growing navy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Iranian warships left Iran in September on what one official said was a journey around the world. Visiting far off landsIranian navy Makran near the Strait of Hormuz in May 2021. They have repeatedly seized Iranian arms shipments bound for Yemen and have often had tense encounters with Iranian warships. Iran has also started an indigenous shipbuilding program to grow its navy, which is designed to defend the Persian Gulf. "Yet the focus of Iran will continue to be the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and the Indian ocean.

☆ 77 Democrats send a letter to Biden criticizing his border and immigration policies
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

A group of 77 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Wednesday criticizing his administration’s policies restricting asylum access for migrants crossing the southern border. At a press conference Thursday, Menendez said, “We recognize that the United States is experiencing a difficult migration challenge at the southern border. The Biden administration has said that its proposal is different because Miller did not allow for migrants to apply from their home countries to come to the U.S. legally. Biden has faced intense criticism over his border policies from both parties, with Republicans saying they are unwilling to negotiate on immigration legislation or more funding for border initiatives until the administration does more to secure the border. Customs and Border Protection encountered undocumented migrants more than 250,000 times in December, a record monthly high to end a record high year of border encounters.

☆ Latin America, Caribbean call for more international funding at CELAC summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Countries from Latin America and the Caribbean on Tuesday called for more international funding in the region following economic and climate crises, in a final declaration after a summit held in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. The 111-point "Declaration of Buenos Aires" from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States' (CELAC) seventh summit described how effects of COVID-19, climate change and the war in Ukraine had rippled across the region. "We express our concern that several countries emerged from the pandemic with higher levels of public debt," it said. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro sent a recorded message saying he had chosen not to attend due to "permanent conspiracies, the permanent threat, calculated ambushes." Reporting by Lucila Sigal; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. arrests of Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants plummet under new restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The number of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border dropped 97% from December to January following new restrictions by U.S. President Joe Biden that expel them back to Mexico. U.S. authorities encountered an average of just 115 migrants from those countries over a weeklong period ending on Jan. 24, down from an average 3,367 on Dec. 11, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Wednesday. The department attributed the decrease to the restrictions and new legal pathways opened for migrants with U.S. sponsors who enter by air. Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington D.C.Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Ana de Armas garnered an Academy Award nomination for best actress in a leading role for her performance as Marilyn Monroe in Netflix's "Blonde" — amid controversy over the movie. De Armas, 34, was nominated for the Oscar a day after “Blonde” got eight Razzie Award nominations, including worst picture and screenplay, further underscoring how polarizing the film has been. This is the Cuban-born actor's first Oscar nomination. Her performance in the movie also earned de Armas her second Golden Globe nomination last year. “Argentina, 1985” won a Golden Globe last month for best non-English language motion picture.

Nash - one of the United States´ best-known contemporary jazz performers, will lead a project called Jazz X. He and several Cuban musicians will compose new works inspired by visual art in Cuba´s National Museum of Fine Arts, then present them together to the public in several sessions. Well-known Cuban musicians Alejandro Falcón, Arnulfo Guerra y Ruy López Nussa will perform alongside Nash. The project, Nash said, brings together musicians from the two countries, and art of different forms, in a fusion of creativity across cultures and mediums. The U.S. economic embargo on Cuba has for decades restricted most travel and official collaboration between the two countries.

☆ Cuba begins London court battle over unpaid Castro-era debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Students hold images of the late Cuban President Fidel Castro during an event commemorating the five year anniversary of his death, in Havana, Cuba, November 24, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini/File PhotoLONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Cuba began a high-stakes legal battle in London's High Court on Monday over unpaid Fidel Castro-era government debt now held by one of the communist-run country's creditors. CRF originally launched the claim almost three years ago after Havana refused a debt relief offer made by CRF and some other bond holders back in 2018. But having not dealt with its commercial creditors in the so-called London Club the country remains shut out of international capital markets. ($1 = 0.9210 euros)Reporting by Marc Jones and Sam Tobin; Editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ I was a career coach on the side for years before quitting my 6-figure consulting job to do it full time. Here are 3 steps I took to make the transition.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Yanet Borrego | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Yanet Borrego is a full-time career coach who used to work as an engineer at ExxonMobil. To make the transition, she reinvented herself and developed coaching skills on the job. These are the three steps that prepared me for the transition from corporate work to full-time entrepreneurship. To leverage my full-time job at the time, I looked within ExxonMobil for opportunities to further develop those skills. My desire to create an impact and fulfill my purpose as a full-time career coach was greater than the security offered by my corporate job.

☆ Illegal border crossings in December surged to highest of Biden's presidency
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — A surge in Cuban and Nicaraguan arrivals at the U.S. border with Mexico in December led to the highest number of illegal border crossings recorded during any month of Joe Biden’s presidency, authorities said Friday. The extraordinary influx came shortly before Biden introduced measures on Jan. 5 to deter Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. U.S. authorities stopped migrants 251,487 times along the Mexican border in December, up 7% from 234,896 times in November and up 40% from 179,253 times in December 2021, Customs and Border Protection said. Cubans were stopped nearly 43,000 times in December, up 23% from November and more than quintuple the same period a year earlier. Nicaraguans were stopped more than 35,000 times, up 3% from November and more than double from December 2021.

REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez ViloriaCARACAS, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group said on Saturday they will resume peace talks in Mexico next month, overcoming a recent impasse after the government recently declared and then called off a bilateral ceasefire. There was a first cycle of talks last year in Caracas to end the guerrillas' part in nearly six decades of war. The about-face on the ceasefire came after ELN said it had not agreed to it. "In said cycle, the issue of society's participation in peace building will be addressed. Colombia and the ELN said they would jointly examine progress in implementing agreements reached during the first cycle of talks and agreed to keep communication channels open even when not at the negotiating table.

☆ Here's what you need to know about a blockbuster court fight over Cuba's debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Michelle Caruso-Cabrera | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The legal battle is over a portion of Cuba's unpaid commercial debt dating back to the 1980s. If they don't reach a deal, Cuba could then face yet another court fight over whether it finally has to pay. Because of the U.S. embargo against Cuba, American investors are prohibited from owning and trading Cuban debt, which frustrates some frontier-market hedge fund managers in the U.S. They argue that holding Cuban debt would better serve U.S. foreign policy interests because it would give Americans a seat at some future negotiating table. CRF, meanwhile, says in court filings that it first reached out to Cuba 10 years ago to settle the debt but were ignored.

The app CBP One had already been in use by the administration for some purposes but was officially expanded to allow asylum seekers to be prescreened. Those who qualify are given appointments for a time and date and port of entry where they can enter the U.S. and begin their asylum request process. Many migrants have phones, but others arrive without them or have limited or no WiFi access. Groups have also raised concerns about how app users' personal information will be used and stored. He recommended migrants avoid taking the risks to cross the border and use the app instead.

☆ Texas spent nearly $9 million busing migrants over the holidays, according to records obtained by Insider
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Texas spent just under $9 million busing migrants across the country over the holidays. In total, Texas has now spent roughly $29 million on the program since April 2022. According to public records obtained by Insider, Abbott's migrant bus program cost the Texas Division of Emergency Management $8.97 million over the November and December holidays. Many of those on these Texas buses are people seeking asylum — a legal right — fleeing poverty and political persecution in countries such as Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela. In November, Domingo Garcia, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, argued that the millions spent busing migrants would have been better spent elsewhere, according to WFAA.

Jan 19 (Reuters) - David Crosby, one of the most influential rock singers of the 1960s and '70s with the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) has died at the age of 81, Variety reported on Thursday, citing a statement from Crosby's wife. "I don’t know what to say other than I’m heartbroken to hear about David Crosby. He fell "as low as a human being can go," Crosby told the Times. In the 2019 documentary "David Crosby: Remember My Name," he made clear he hoped they could work together again but conceded the others "really dislike me, strongly." After his release, Crosby told People magazine he had beaten his addictions.

The Library of Congress named Medina the national ambassador for young people’s literature for 2023-24. Meg Medina. Medina is taking on the job in a political uproar over literature aimed at young people and in school libraries, largely with LGBTQ themes and characters. But to Medina's daughter, whose first language is English, the word means “story me,” said Medina, who now lives in Richmond, Virginia. She knew little about American literature, but she bought Medina the World Book Encyclopedia, on installment, and took her to the library.

☆ 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

☆ Americans see Biden's handling of classified docs as inappropriate — but not criminal, poll shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The survey also found Biden's job approval among Americans sliding further into the red. But a plurality of Americans, 46% to 37%, do not think Biden should face criminal charges over the mishandling of those documents, Quinnipiac found. "Roughly two-thirds of Americans are aware of and troubled by the misplaced classified documents found in President Biden's home and private office. The questions about the classified documents had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.6 percentage points. For questions not related to Biden's handling of classified documents, Quinnipiac surveyed 1,659 adults between Wednesday and Sunday.

HOUSTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The new head Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA has suspended most oil export contracts while his team reviews them, according to an internal document seen by Reuters and two people familiar with the matter. The freeze is leading to port delays, as vessels that were loading have been sent away and are waiting for new directions, the people said. Cargoes chartered by U.S. oil firm Chevron Corp (CVX.N) and Cuba's Cubametales have not been affected by the contract revision, according to separate documents and the sources. As of Jan. 17, most berths at Venezuela's main oil terminal, Jose port, were empty after vessels were moved away while awaiting further directions. Venezuela's oil exports last year declined 2.5% to 616,540 barrels per day due to infrastructure outages, U.S. sanctions and rising competition in its key Asia market despite assistance from ally Iran, according to shipping data and documents.

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