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☆ Supreme Court keeps in place Trump-era immigration policy allowing asylum-seekers to be quickly turned away
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Lawrencehurley_Pic.Jpg | Lawrence Hurley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The court voted 5-4 to grant an emergency request by 19 Republican state attorneys general who sought to intervene in defense of the policy. The brief court order said that while the administration cannot set aside the Title 42 policy, the decision "does not prevent the federal government from taking any action with respect to that policy." Gavin Newsom, has warned that the system for handling migrants seeking asylum would “break” if Title 42 is ended. Chief Justice John Roberts on Dec. 19 placed a temporary hold on Sullivan’s ruling while the Supreme Court weighed its next steps. Title 42, named after a section of U.S. law, gives the federal government power to take emergency action to keep diseases out of the country.

☆ The F-14 Tomcat first flew 52 years ago. Here's why the US destroyed them rather than let anyone else buy them.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Blake Stilwell | We Are The Mighty | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US Navy's famed F-14 Tomcat fighter jet first flew on December 21, 1970. There was only one foreign customer for the advanced F-14 Tomcat fighter during its heyday: Iran. Rob Tabor/USAFThe Iranian air force was so skilled in the Iran-Iraq War that a lone Tomcat could clear the skies of enemy aircraft without firing a shot. The idea of selling Iran rare F-14 parts so it didn't have to cannibalize its own F-14 inventory was preposterous. It was this concern that led the Pentagon to shred every leftover F-14 Tomcat.

☆ Cuba says U.S. greenlights MLB players for World Baseball Classic
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAVANA, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Cuba said on Saturday the United States had granted permission for some of its top ballplayers to participate in the World Baseball Classic on the national team. The team will be the first since Fidel Castro's 1959 Revolution to include Cuban players from both countries. Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio told Reuters earlier this month the United States was blocking some of Cuba's top players from participating in the Classic. Cuba has asked several players who in recent years had defected from the Caribbean island - long famed for its baseball talent - to represent their home country in the event. As a result, Cuba's baseball talent has fled the country in unprecedented numbers in the past decade, emptying dugouts and denting national pride.

☆ Even Donald Trump laughed at Sidney Powell when she spouted baseless voter fraud claims: 'This does sound crazy, doesn't it?'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Even Donald Trump thought Sidney Powell sounded "crazy," per the January 6 panel's Capitol Riot report. Hope Hicks, Trump's former White House communications director, said he muted Powell during a call. While muted, Trump mocked Powell, saying: "This does sound crazy, doesn't it?" In the meantime, Dominion Voting Systems is suing Powell, Giuliani, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for defamation, alleging that the trio pushed a slew of baseless voter fraud claims that hurt its business. Dominion Voting Systems said in January that it is unlikely to settle the billion-dollar lawsuits given the "devastating harm" the three caused the company.

☆ A map shows the most popular Christmas dishes around the world
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

To see who's eating what this weekend, the culinary website Chef's Pencil created a map showing what it says are the most popular Christmas dishes around the world. Those headed to parts of South America can too — the map shows turkey is a top Christmas food in Brazil, Chile and Peru. Source: Chef's PencilItalians traditionally eat veal, while Rwandans grill both beef and goat for Christmas, the map shows. Carp, a freshwater fish, is popular in Central and Eastern Europe, while saltwater cod tops holiday menus in Italy and Portugal, the map shows. In a post about Christmas in Portugal, the travel website Portuguese for a Day states, "Christmas is not Christmas without codfish on the table!"

☆ 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.

☆ Artists in Cuba find themselves blocked from NFT trading sites
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“The first thing that drew me to it was the freedom,” said García Alarcón, known best by his artist name, Paolo De. García Alarcón is among at least 30 Cuban artists whose profiles have been delisted from at least two American-owned NFT trading sites sites, including the largest one, OpenSea, and KnownOrigin, according to Cuban NFT artist collectives. He’s the organizer of NFTcuba.ART, a collective of around 100 Cuban artists around the world. D’Alerta and other collective leaders told the AP that the bans have even extended to personal accounts of Cuban artists who don’t live on the island. Meanwhile, leaders in the Cuban NFT space worry that the deplatforming could have a long-term chilling effect on Cuban digital artists.

☆ I Knew Oswald, and He Acted Alone
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Paul Roderick Gregory | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Less than a year after John F. Kennedy ’s assassination, the Warren Commission released its findings to the public: JFK was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald , who acted alone. The new tranche of files the National Archives released last week contains nothing that calls that conclusion into question. When the Warren report came out in September 1964, some 80% agreed with its finding that Oswald acted alone. Today more than 60% don’t believe Oswald acted alone. One of the most amusing, in an effort to shift the blame from the leftist Oswald, lists my father and me as part of a White Russian conspiracy.

☆ The man behind Trump World’s myth of rigged voting machines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +32 min

He publicly announced his purchase of Montgomery’s data in August at a gathering in Missouri of hundreds of his followers. “I own it,” Lindell said of Montgomery’s data, touting it as irrefutable proof Trump was cheated. On Nov. 9, far-right podcaster Joe Oltmann linked Montgomery’s Hammer and Scorecard claims to a parallel conspiracy theory: that widely used voting machines manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems were rigged to flip votes from Trump to Biden. Powell amended her complaint a few days later and dropped the expert’s declaration and the references to Montgomery’s claims. But the government said in a recent court filing that the order has nothing to do with election data.

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)."

☆ 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.”

“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.

Dec 16 (Reuters) - India's rupee trade settlement mechanism, a means of using rupees instead of dollars and other big currencies for international transactions, is attracting interest from more countries. The four countries have shown interest in opening special rupee accounts, called vostro accounts, but partner banks in India have not yet provided those facilities, documents showed. Mauritius and Sri Lanka have also shown interest, and have seen their special vostro accounts approved by the RBI, documents showed. Details of potential rupee-dirham trade mechanism are being firmed up by the central banks of India and UAE, a second government official said, requesting anonymity. Talks with Saudi Arabia on a rupee-riyal trade mechanism also continue, the government official added.

☆ Biden releases most JFK assassination records — but withholds thousands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

“We’re 59 years after President John Kennedy was killed and there’s just no justification for this,” said Judge John H. Tunheim, who from 1994-98 chaired the Assassination Records Review Board that was established Under the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, which Biden voted for when it passed Congress unanimously. Many of those Joannides records were never put in the National Archives' JFK collection, according to the foundation's lawsuit, so the lion's share of the suspected records were not released Thursday. CIA officials dispute the number of Joannides records in their possession, but they confirmed two were scheduled to be released Thursday. Under the JFK records act, all documents related to the assassination were supposed to be released by 2017. His poll also showed that 71% of voters thought Biden should release all of the JFK records, regardless of agency opposition.

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.

☆ Senate passes legislation to ban TikTok from US government devices
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The Senate passed legislation Wednesday evening to ban TikTok from US government devices, in a move designed to limit perceived information-security risks stemming from the social media app. The vote by unanimous consent approved the No TikTok on Government Devices Act, a bill authored by Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley. “Once again, Sen. Hawley has moved forward with legislation to ban TikTok on government devices, a proposal which does nothing to advance U.S. national security interests,” a spokesperson for TikTok said in a statement. (Another state, Nebraska, banned TikTok from state devices in 2020.) Already, the US military, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have restricted the app from government-owned devices.

☆ Russia discusses debt, energy stability with Venezuela
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

CARACAS, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak met on Wednesday with Venezuela's oil minister in Caracas, where they discussed oil market volatility and the status of Venezuela's outstanding debts to Russia. "Oil- and gas-producing countries are the solid keystone of our trade and financial cooperation, which continues showing its resilience despite sanctions and pressure on Russia and Venezuela," Novak said. Moscow is negotiating a debt restructuring deal with Venezuela, Russian agency Interfax said on Wednesday, citing an official from Russia's finance ministry. The two countries signed a total of 11 agreements covering everything from medicine supply to oil well services, Venezuela's oil ministry said in a statement. Europe introduced an embargo on purchases of seaborne Russian oil starting this month, trying to cripple Moscow's military efforts in Ukraine.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

However, the latest cache will be useful for historians focusing on the events around the assassination. Thousands of books, articles, TV shows and films have explored the idea that Kennedy’s assassination was the result of an elaborate conspiracy. Many of the documents released on Thursday belonged to the Central Intelligence Agency, including several that focused on Oswald's movements and his contacts. Other documents focus on requests from the Warren Commission investigating the assassination. In 2017, then-President Donald Trump released a cache of records, but decided to release the remaining documents on a rolling basis.

☆ Advocates Urge Congress to Pass Permanent Residency Status for Afghans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesConvincing Republican senatorsThe House version of the Afghan Adjustment Act has 143 co-sponsors, including 10 Republicans. Demonstrators gather to support Afghan evacuees outside the Capitol on Nov. 16, 2022. At the moment, one prospect to advance the Afghan Adjustment Act is by attaching it to that larger spending bill, advocates say. But negotiations on the omnibus are ongoing, and whether the Afghan Adjustment Act will be included is up in the air. Yet without a deal by then, passage of the Afghan Adjustment Act appears doomed, advocates say, keeping Afghan evacuees in perpetual legal limbo.

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.

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