U.S. and China Push for Ceasefire as Thailand–Cambodia Border Clashes Escalate 
Republicans Raise National Security Concerns Over Intel’s Testing of China-Linked Chipmaking Tools 
Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency 
Trump Signals Progress in Ukraine Peace Talks Ahead of U.S.–Russia Meeting 
Italy Supreme Court Upholds Salvini Acquittal in Migrant Kidnapping Case 
Trump Administration Reviews Nvidia H200 Chip Sales to China, Marking Major Shift in U.S. AI Export Policy 
EU Delays Mercosur Free Trade Agreement Signing Amid Ukraine War Funding Talks 
Union-Aligned Investors Question Amazon, Walmart and Alphabet on Trump Immigration Policies 
U.S. House Advances GOP Healthcare Bill as ACA Subsidies Near Expiration 
Trump Administration Plans Major Increase in Denaturalization Cases for Naturalized U.S. Citizens 
Trump Attends Dover Ceremony Honoring U.S. Personnel Killed in Syria 
Argentina Unions Rally Against Milei’s Labor Reform as Congress Debates Key Bill 
Putin Signals Possible Peace or Continued War in Ukraine at Major Year-End Address 
Canada Signals Delay in US Tariff Deal as Talks Shift to USMCA Review 
Dan Bongino to Step Down as FBI Deputy Director After Brief, Controversial Tenure 
Fernando Haddad Confirms He Will Not Run for Office in 2025, Signals Possible Exit as Brazil’s Finance Minister 
Federal Appeals Court Allows Trump’s National Guard Deployment in Washington, D.C. to Continue 
US President Joe Biden has reversed several of his immediate predecessor Donald Trump’s policies since taking office in January. Biden’s most recent reversal involves three national monuments, restoring the protections to the landmarks.
Biden reversed his immediate predecessor’s environmental policies by restoring protections to three US monuments last week. The protections to those monuments were rolled back by Trump during his presidency, resulting in backlash from conservationists and the Native American communities. Trump rolled back the protections by the end of 2017, opening the land to mining and fishing.
Biden signed the restoration of the protections at the North Lawn of the White House Friday. Bears Ears and the Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts area off the east coast were the monuments that were brought back to full size and status under these protections.
“After the last administration chipped away their protections, today I’m proud to announce the protection and expansion of three of our most treasured national monuments,” said the US leader.
The Grand Staircase is known worldwide for the quality and location of dinosaur fossils that have been discovered. Paleontologist Jim Kirkland who has visited the site for almost 50 years, said that almost 10 percent of “all dinosaurs known in the world are from Utah.”
In other news, the White House recently said that Biden wants to address the delays in the processing system of Green Cards, granting immigrants legal permanent residency in the US. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was pressed on the 80,000 unused employment-based Green Card numbers as the US Citizenship and Immigration Services is unable to allocate the said numbers to millions of immigrants looking to get a Green Card.
“The president absolutely wants to address the delays in the Green Card processing system as well,” said Psaki during the daily news conference Friday.
Earlier last week, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks introduced legislation known as the Preserving Employment Visas Act that would allow the USCIS to preserve the unused employment-based visas for use in both Fiscal years 2020 and 2021. This legislation would accompany the bill proposed by Sen. Thom Tillis back in September.
