U.N. says pilot "integration" program for refugees in Mexico could ease U.S. border crossings
CBSN
United Nations — The number of migrants and asylum seekers crossing the U.S. border from Mexico has soared in the past six months, leading several U.S. cities near southwest border entry points to declare emergencies. The United Nations refugee chief believes a pilot program in southern Mexico, while still running on a small scale, could eventually help relieve migration pressure on American communities by helping people long before they reach the U.S. border.
"Take Mexico, for example, which is the last country of transit before people arrive in the U.S," United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi told CBS News on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly last week: "In Mexico, we have initiated ourselves incredible programs to employ refugees that come from countries upstream so that they don't feel the need to go further, because they get opportunities in Mexico, with Mexico's support and agreement."
Zhytomyr, Ukraine — Exactly 1,000 days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Russia's defense ministry accused Ukrainian forces on Tuesday of firing six U.S.-made and -supplied ATACMS missiles at the Russian region of Bryansk. If confirmed, it could be the first time Ukrainian troops had taken advantage of President Biden easing restrictions over the weekend on Ukraine's use of the U.S.-made missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russian territory.
President Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to fire U.S.-made and supplied missiles deeper into Russia — a major policy shift announced over the weekend after months of intense lobbying by Kyiv — has drawn a furious response from Moscow. While there was no immediate reaction directly from the man who launched the nearly three-year war on his neighboring nation, lawmakers aligned with President Vladimir Putin in Russia said Monday that the move was unacceptable and warned it could lead to a third world war.
Tel Aviv — After more than a year of bombing and homelessness, Gazans are looking to a new administration in Washington for help. President-elect Donald Trump's election victory has raised hopes and fears among the five million residents of the Palestinian territories — the warn-torn Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Johannesburg — It's often called the forgotten conflict, but the civil war that has torn Sudan apart for 19 months is fueling the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. In just over a year and a half, 13 million people have been displaced from their homes. At least one overcrowded camp for displaced civilians is already dealing with famine, while other parts of the country are suffering though famine-like conditions.