DeSantis defends migrant flights in trip to US-Mexico border

By James Oliphant (Reuters) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis defended flying planeloads of migrants across the country during a trip to the U.S. southern border on Wednesday, as he looks to make hardline immigration policies a central tenet of his 2024 presidential bid. The Republican candidate’s stop in Arizona came a day after the state…

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Binance CEO’s trading firm received $11 billion via client deposit company, SEC says

By Tom Wilson LONDON (Reuters) – Merit Peak, an offshore trading company controlled by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, received around $11 billion of client assets through a Seychelles-based firm set up to take customer deposits, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows. The SEC filing, which on Tuesday asked a U.S. court to freeze…

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Brazil top court justice hands Congress more time to pass bill curtailing Indigenous rights

By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) – A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Wednesday asked for more time to study a case pitting the country’s Indigenous people against its powerful farm sector, a decision that is likely to give lawmakers more time to pass the measure favoring Big Agriculture. The decision by Justice Andre Mendonca, an…

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Petro urges congress to pass reforms as some try to shelve health bill

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s congress should approve health, labor and pension reforms, President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday, as the lower house weighed whether to shelve the health bill, which would be a major legislative defeat for leftist who campaigned on improving the beleaguered system. “We ask, with all due respect…that they approve the reforms,…

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Mexico investigates troops over video of ‘execution’ of five men

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican prosecutors are investigating what the country’s president on Wednesday called an “execution” after soldiers were filmed beating and then shooting five men they pulled from a crashed pick-up truck. The investigation, confirmed by the defense ministry, follows the publication by media outlets on Tuesday of a video dated May 18…

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Mexico foreign minister’s departure primed to spark more resignations

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -More top officials could soon follow the foreign minister in quitting to compete for the presidency, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday, as the race to succeed him begins to thin out the government. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, one of the favorites to be Mexico’s next leader, said on Tuesday…

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Argentine airline Flybondi grounds planes over dollar access

By Eliana Raszewski BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentine budget airline Flybondi said on Tuesday it would ground two planes due to an inability to access U.S. dollars needed to pay for services outside the country, underlining the strict capital controls facing many companies. Flight cancellations and delays will affect 5,500 passengers between Wednesday and Friday,…

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Mexico foreign minister quits in bid to clinch presidential nomination

By Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, one of the leading contenders to be the country’s next leader, said on Tuesday he will resign to focus on winning the presidential nomination of the ruling party for the 2024 election. Ebrard, a former mayor of Mexico City, wants to succeed President Andres…

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