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☆ Thousands of Afghans escaped the Taliban with the help of private veteran groups. Today, many remain in limbo in the UAE
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Haley Britzky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

Several thousand were brought there by the State Department directly from Kabul and have since been relocated to the US or Canada. Consequently, thousands of Afghans evacuated by private groups were left in a legal limbo with seemingly no clear path to the US – or anywhere else. It was unclear whether that documentation is sufficient for what the State Department has required. The first two groups were evacuated from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in August 2021 by both the State Department and private groups working independently. In her responses to CNN, Tekach said the State Department “had limited information” about refugees who came on those separate flights.

☆ Richardson storms to 100m win in Diamond League, Kerley wins 200m
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Like I said it before, I had to be kicked out from another 100 metres race, so I had to do my best no matter what. I am really happy with my race, third place is a good start and the time is decent," she said. "I feel really good, today was challenging for all athletes but I'm still satisfied with my result," Chopra said. The Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch, who won silver in Tokyo, finished second again -- four centimetres shy of Chopra's mark. "It was an exciting race but a little bit windy, so I decided to not push too much and just focus on winning the race," Kipyegon said.

☆ Peru actions in violent protests could be classified as massacre, rights group says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Police officers operate during a march against the government of Peru's President Dina Boluarte where demonstrators call for an indefinite nationwide strike, in Lima, Peru, February 9, 2023. REUTERS/Alessandro Cinque/File PhotoLIMA, May 3 (Reuters) - Peruvian authorities committed "serious" human rights violations during anti-government protests last December, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) said on Wednesday, adding the violent actions could be classified as a massacre. "There were serious human rights violations that must be investigated with due diligence and an ethnic-racial approach," IACHR President Margarette May Macaulay said in a report. The violent incidents could be classified as a massacre, the document added. The commission's report follows a recent publication by Human Rights Watch, which concluded that Peru's army and police were responsible for deaths in the protests.

As a young tycoon living in New York in the 1980s, Bernard Arnault quickly realized some of the most valuable real estate was located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. When he bought the building that houses the Louis Vuitton flagship store on the northeast corner, he got a close-up view of Tiffany & Co. across the street to the south. “We said, maybe at one point we’ll have more than one corner,” Mr. Arnault said in a rare interview from the glass-enclosed top floor of Tiffany’s newly renovated store, where he could gaze out and survey his domain. He now has three.

☆ Chipmaker ASMI sees more business coming in from China this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 26 (Reuters) - ASM International (ASMI.AS) sees more business coming from China this year compared with previous years, the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker said on Wednesday. When asked by analysts about how much growth the company would see in its domestic China business in the current year, Chief Financial Officer Paul Verhagen said: "I think you know we will see probably more business coming in from China compared to, you know, previous years, but it's not going to be at the same level as what perhaps one of our peers have mentioned." ASML Holding (ASML.AS) said last week that it expects sales to mainland China to pick up for the remainder of 2023 following a dip in the first quarter. Reporting by Dina Kartit. Editing by Jane MerrimanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ In surprise move, Peru's president names four new ministers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LIMA, April 23 (Reuters) - Peru's President Dina Boluarte on Sunday swore in new ministers of justice, education, work and external trade in a surprise move in the South American nation that has endured intense political infighting for years. Boluarte assumed power in December when then-President Pedro Castillo illegally tried to dissolve Congress and reorganize the judiciary. Protests against Boluarte taking power became violent and 50 people were killed. Boluarte swore in Daniel Maurate as minister of justice, Antonio Varela as minister of work, Magned Marquez as minister of education and Juan Carlos Mathews as minister of external trade. Reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ An idyllic California town, a celebrity landlord, and a rental from hell
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Tatiana Walk-Morris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Sonaar Luthra and Sarah Szalavitz left Los Angeles for a rental in La Quinta, California, last March. The couple found a rental home online for $4,000 a month in La Quinta, California, a palm-tree-dotted hamlet about 2½ hours away, nestled between the resort-haven Palm Springs and festival-famous Coachella. They were relieved, they told Insider, because they believed someone in the public eye would be a reliable landlord. Luthra and Szalavitz thought moving to La Quinta would afford them the time and space to begin personal projects, including planning a wedding. The couple detailed how the celebrity-owned house in a desert paradise became a rental from hell.

☆ You can now apply for your share of a $725 million Facebook data privacy settlement. Here’s how
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Facebook users who had an active account at any point between May 2007 and December 2022 can now apply to receive a piece of parent company Meta’s $725 million settlement related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The California judge overseeing the case granted preliminary approval of the settlement late last month, and Facebook users can now apply for a cash payment as part of a settlement. The claim form — which requires a few personal details and information about a user’s Facebook account — can be filled out online or printed and submitted by mail. It’s not yet clear how much each settlement payment will be. “Over the last three years we revamped our approach to privacy and implemented a comprehensive privacy program.

☆ Five Children’s Movies to Stream Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Dina Gachman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The “adorable animals on an epic journey” genre has enchanted young viewers for decades — “Homeward Bound” and “The Adventures of Milo and Otis” being just two beloved examples. Over in the United Forest of America, the evil Don Vulture is running for president against a bear, John Grizzly. (There is talk of “fake lies” and “big empty promises,” so you can probably guess which real-life former president the vulture is modeled after.) The law says no childless animal can become president, but the stork delivered Grizzly’s cub to the wrong home, so our heroes must race to return the cub in time for the election. Along the way they battle hungry hyenas and snowstorms, protecting the cooing baby bear so they can complete their quest.

☆ Peru prosecutors probe president, ex-president for alleged money laundering
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LIMA, March 28 (Reuters) - Peruvian prosecutors are investigating President Dina Boluarte and former president Pedro Castillo for allegedly laundering money as part of a criminal organization, the attorney general's office said on Twitter on Tuesday. The probe into the alleged crimes by Boluarte and Castillo is part of an ongoing investigation into alleged campaign finance crimes committed during Peru's 2021 presidential race. Castillo was removed from office in December after attempting to dissolve Congress before an impeachment vote. Boluarte over the weekend denied receiving illegal campaign contributions and said corruption accusations were a "political maneuver" seeking to undermine her government. Boluarte is also currently under investigation for her alleged role in the deaths of protesters killed in clashes with security forces in the months after she took office.

☆ A 2nd round of layoffs at Meta and Amazon shows companies are taking back their power — and they may not stop there
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Meta and Amazon have announced two series of mass layoffs in the span of months. After years of companies trying to attract and placate workers amid a labor shortage, businesses are reasserting some of their power. "We read about two rounds of layoffs now and shrug and say, 'When's the third?'" Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesIt's rare for a company to conduct multiple rounds of layoffs, according to data from Crunchbase. Amazon and Meta did it, so it won't stand out as much."

Google (GOOGL), which for years ranked as the top company to work for in the United States, laid off thousands of workers by e-mail. During her early years there, she worked in marketing and became known as the “The Bard of Google” for the internal emails she sent celebrating the company’s culture. Google employee affected by January layoffs“The problem was, suddenly, you didn’t work for a company that was sending stuff to space or building autonomous cars,” Rout said. Hundreds of Google employees in Switzerland staged a walkout last week to protest layoffs, partly out of frustration with the lack of transparency. About a month before the January layoffs, one former employee said Google painted “You Belong” on one of the walls in their working area.

America's biggest retailers say organized retail crime has grown into a multibillion-dollar problem, but the effectiveness of their strategies to solve it and the validity of the data overall have come into question. However, the problem isn't as clear-cut as retailers and trade groups have made it seem. External retail crime accounts for only 37% of those losses, or about $35 billion, the NRF data shows. Still, law enforcement agencies and retailers insist organized retail crime remains an issue and said they stand behind their data. We see it every day in our stores," Scott Glenn, Home Depot's vice president of asset protection, told CNBC.

☆ More Students Are Turning Away From College and Toward Apprenticeships
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Douglas Belkin | Photographs Valerie Plesch For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Last spring Dina Sosa Cruz sat with her parents and sister in the family’s living room and reviewed her options: a full academic ride to the University of the District of Columbia, or an apprenticeship in the insurance industry. The college route meant at the end of four years the 22-year-old would have a degree, a little debt and no work experience. The apprenticeship would leave her with a two-year degree, money in the bank and training in a profession that appealed to her.

In the short-term, regulators have found a solution for Silicon Valley Bank depositors and, we hope, calmed the fears of a wider run on regional banks. The much admired U.S. system for producing innovation has just received a body blow, and the turmoil that led to the death of Silicon Valley Bank isn't over. Silicon Valley Bank, founded in 1983, was born in a time when Silicon Valley was a synonym for "tech" and "innovation." SVB was the crown jewel of banks and the venture capital industry, not just in Silicon Valley, but globally. It's easy to picture these as large firms, and a tiny handful of famous venture firms have hundreds of employees.

March 13 (Reuters) - France's Sanofi SA (SASY.PA) on Monday agreed to acquire Provention Bio Inc <PRVB.O> for $2.9 billion to bolster its work on a U.S.-approved type 1 diabetes therapy and strengthen its drug pipeline following development setbacks. The deal builds on an existing co-promotion agreement between the two companies, and would give the French drugmaker full ownership of the drug, Tzield, Sanofi said, adding it expects to complete the acquisition in the second quarter of 2023. While growth in asthma and eczema drug Dupixent is boosting Sanofi's sales, investors have criticised its drug development pipeline as weak. Sanofi, the maker of long acting insulin products Toujeo and Lantus for type 2 diabetes, in 2019 quit further type 2 diabetes drug development. Chief Executive Officer Paul Hudson said last month the company saw great promise in type 1 diabetes drug development and reaffirmed his commitment to steer clear of further work on type 2 diabetes and obesity.

☆ France's Sanofi to acquire US-based Provention Bio for $2.9 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Dina Kartit | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 13 (Reuters) - France's Sanofi (SASY.PA) said on Monday it has entered into a deal to acquire U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company Provention Bio in a transaction worth $2.9 billion, or $25.00 per share in cash. This transaction builds on an existing co-promotion deal between Sanofi and Provention Bio to provide TZIELD to patients in need, said the French firm. "Provention Bio also brings certain pipeline assets in early development in immune-mediated diseases," added the group. Sanofi said it expects to complete the acquisition in the second quarter of 2023. Reporting by Dina Kartit; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'I lost everything': Cyclone Yaku unleashes destruction in Peru
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/6] View of damaged houses in the aftermath of the Moche river overflowing due to torrential rains caused by Cyclone Yaku, in Trujillo, Peru, March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Randy ReyesLIMA, March 13 (Reuters) - Powerful Cyclone Yaku has unleashed torrents of rain on Peru's northern region in recent days, burying homes and cars in mud and leading to the deaths of at least six people. In the northern coastal towns of Trujillo and Lambayeque, residents waded through knee-high water and cars crawled through inundated streets. "It reached us, we have lost everything, I lost everything. The cyclone is the latest crisis hitting Peru, where anti-government protests have rocked the country since Congress removed former President Pedro Castillo from power in December.

☆ Cyclone in Peru causes major flooding, at least six dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The government has declared a state of emergency as it seeks to bring relief to regions of Peru hard hit by the cyclone known as Yaku, which include Lambayeque, Piura and Tumbes. Early on Friday, the National Institute of Civil Defense (INDECI) said flooding caused by Yaku had claimed six lives. [1/5] Machinery is used to repair a bridge destroyed by rains and floods caused by direct influence of Cyclone Yaku, in Piura, Peru March 11, 2023. Peru has been riven by instability and anti-government protests over the past few months since Congress removed former President Pedro Castillo from power in December. His replacement, President Dina Boluarte, visited parts of northern Peru on Saturday as the government delivered humanitarian aid to areas badly hit by the cyclone.

☆ In Peru's Andes, scars of protest deaths cut deep as families seek justice
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Alexander Villegas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Relatives mourn victims during a mass after the deadliest clashes in anti-government protests against Peru's President Dina Boluarte, in Juliaca, Peru February 9, 2023. Brayan died of his wounds three days later on Jan. 12 in hospital after surgeons tried to clear a blockage in the brain. For Peru I'm willing to fight. Boluarte has said there will be no "impunity" when it comes to protest deaths, but families say they've seen little progress. Our dead aren't worth anything," said Dionisio Aroquipa, whose 17-year old daughter, Jhamlith Nataly, died on Jan 9.

☆ Peru court doubles detention time for ex-President Castillo
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 9 (Reuters) - A judge in Peru extended ex-President Pedro Castillo's pre-trial detention term to 36 months, up from 18 months, on Thursday, following the former leader's ouster and jailing for illegally attempting to dissolve Congress in December. The three-year detention ruling is related to accusations of organized crime, influence peddling and being an accomplice to collusion committed during Castillo's turbulent 17-month stint in office. "I emphatically, and categorically, deny being the leader or part of a criminal network," Castillo said in a virtual hearing. The court also handed down three years of pre-trial detention to Juan Silva, Castillo's former transportation minister, who has been on the run since last year. Castillo's former housing minister, Geiner Alvarado, who also served as transportation chief after Silva's exit, will remain free for the moment, the court ruled.

☆ Threats towards women deter political involvement - UN
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Dina Kartit | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 8 (Reuters) - Violence and threats towards women still act as a deterrent to their involvement in politics, the U.N. gender equality organisation said, despite more women holding office. Data showed that the number of women in political leadership posts, both in government and in parliament, has improved overall, though, some regions such as the Middle East and North Africa lagged far behind. "Full democracy needs the equal participation of women in all its processes," the U.N. body added in its report on Tuesday, ahead of International Women's Day. The organisation's data also showed the global average number of women in national parliaments had inched up to 26.5% as of Jan 1., from 25.5% a year ago. The region grouping the Middle East and North Africa remained at the bottom of the regional ranking with fewer than 18% of female members of parliament, the U.N. Women's data showed.

☆ Heineken blames Russia exit delay on local paperwork
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 7 (Reuters) - Heineken (HEIO.AS) on Tuesday blamed the delay in its Russia exit on local bureaucracy that it said was beyond its control, and reiterated it still planned to exit the country. Last month, a story by investigative website Follow The Money questioned whether Heineken had followed through on its March 2022 promise to leave Russia, including selling its non-Heineken international brands like Amstel. "There's no ambiguity about our promise: we will leave Russia," Heineken said in a Q&A section on its website on Monday, to which it referred in Tuesday's statement. Heineken is the third largest brewer in Russia and the local business accounts for just 2% of its global sales, the company said. Danish rival Carlsberg (CARLb.CO) said on Tuesday its chief executive Cees't Hart would retire at the end of September after seeing through the sale of its Russian business.

March 2 (Reuters) - French oil and gas services provider Technip Energies (TE.PA) announced on Thursday lower annual revenue and guidance for 2023, citing the impact of its exit from a major LNG project in Russia. By the end of Dec. 2021, the Russian projects accounted for 23% of Technip Energies' order backlog. Annual adjusted revenue came in at 6.4 billion euros ($6.82 billion), down 4% from 2021 and below a company-provided consensus of 6.5 billion on average. The group's Project Delivery segment had annual adjusted revenue down 6% year-on-year, to 5 billion euros, but adjusted revenue for the Technology, Product and Service (TPS) branch was up 8% from 2021, to 1.4 billion euros. In 2023, Technip Energies said it expected adjusted revenue of 5.7-6.2 billion euros and a recurring core margin of 6.7%–7.2% — both below 2022 guidance of 6.2-6.5 billion euros and 6.7%-6.9%.

☆ Peru announces $9 bln injection to boost economy amid protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Private investment in Peru fell 0.5% last year, while it posted a 37.4% growth in 2021, according to economy ministry data. "The goal is for private investment to increase 3% this year," Contreras told the conference. Peru's economic growth stood at 2.68% at the end of 2022, a steep decline from the 13.61% climb recorded the year before. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommended Peru earlier in February to implement "targeted, temporary" fiscal stimulus given the slump in economic activity. Protests in Peru sparked after the ousting of Castillo, with demonstrators asking for President Dina Boluarte's resignation, the closure of Congress, a new Constitution and early elections.

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