U.N. refugee agency to close four offices in Mexico amid funding crunch
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The U.N. refugee agency in Mexico plans to close four offices in the Latin American country due to a "serious funding crisis" the agency is facing, a UNHCR official told Reuters.
Two of the offices are in the southern Mexican cities of Palenque and Tenosique, near the border with Guatemala. The agency has also laid off 190 employees due to the funding crunch, the official said.
UNHCR's operation in Mexico has been heavily dependent on U.S. funding, which has been hit by President Donald Trump's global funding freeze.
On January 20, hours after taking office, Trump ordered a pause in foreign aid to review if it was aligned with his foreign policy priorities. Trump also enacted a sweeping crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border, aimed at slowing migration into the United States.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
13 minutes ago
- CNN
Police search for multiple suspects after NYC lounge shooting
Police search for multiple suspects after NYC lounge shooting Police have been searching for multiple shooters in a shooting stemming from a dispute at a crowded Brooklyn lounge Saturday night, authorities said Sunday morning. Police initially identified 11 victims, but they later updated that number to 12, three people dead and nine people wounded. 00:55 - Source: CNN Vertical Top News 14 videos Police search for multiple suspects after NYC lounge shooting Police have been searching for multiple shooters in a shooting stemming from a dispute at a crowded Brooklyn lounge Saturday night, authorities said Sunday morning. Police initially identified 11 victims, but they later updated that number to 12, three people dead and nine people wounded. 00:55 - Source: CNN Hurricane hunters fly through Hurricane Erin Hurricane hunters with the NOAA flew through Hurricane Erin after it rapidly intensified into a rare Category 5 hurricane. Erin is expected to continue to fluctuate in intensity as it undergoes an eyewall replacement cycle. 00:37 - Source: CNN Zelensky prepares for White House meeting In the wake of the Alaska summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, European leaders joined Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky for a conference call ahead of the leader's meeting with the US president at the White House on Monday. 01:24 - Source: CNN Nationwide demonstrations across Israel demanding hostage deal A planned nationwide strike in Israel on Sunday saw hundreds of thousands take part to call on the government to bring the remaining hostages in Gaza home. CNN's Oren Liebermann reports from Tel Aviv. 01:23 - Source: CNN Canadian government orders end to Air Canada strike After more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants went on strike seeking wage increases and paid compensation for work when planes are on the ground, the Canada Industrial Relations Board has ordered them to return to work according to an announcement by Canadian Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu. 01:05 - Source: CNN What to expect from Zelensky-Trump meeting President Trump will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday after the two leaders had a 'long and substantive conversation.' A European official told CNN that during the call they also discussed potential 'Article 5-type' security guarantees for Ukraine. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports. 01:46 - Source: CNN Russian media reacts positively to Trump-Putin Summit Russian state TV gave a positive coverage of the outcome of the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, celebrating the handshake between the two leaders. Russian officials also stated that the meeting resulted in progress on sanctions and opened up room for future negotiations. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports. 01:23 - Source: CNN F-22s that intercept Russian aircraft greet Putin on red carpet Four F-22 Raptors flanked the red carpet on the tarmac as Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson for his meeting with US President Donald Trump. CNN's Natasha Bertrand details how these F-22 are are the same type used to intercept Russian aircraft. 00:43 - Source: CNN London's toxic trash 'volcano' Arnolds Field landfill on Launders Lane in east London is better known to locals as the 'Rainham volcano.' The site was used as an illegal dump for years and now, every summer, it bursts into flames, sending plumes of acrid smoke over nearby homes, parks and schools. CNN's Laura Paddison speaks to residents who feel abandoned and trapped. 02:05 - Source: CNN Here's what happened during Trump-Putin meeting CNN's Kristen Holmes breaks down what happened during President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin's summit in Anchorage, Alaska. 02:35 - Source: CNN Trump-Putin summit ends with no deal US President Donald Trump said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin 'made some headway' and 'great progress' in their bilateral meeting, but added that 'there's no deal until there's a deal.' 01:15 - Source: CNN Putin makes faces as journalists ask about Ukraine Russian President Vladimir Putin did not respond to reporters' questions about the war in Ukraine as his meeting with President Donald Trump and top aides was set to begin. Putin appeared to make a confused expression as multiple journalists began shouting questions. 00:13 - Source: CNN Trump and Putin land in Alaska for historic summit US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived at a US military base in Alaska where the two leaders took part in a red carpet greeting ahead of their talks on Ukraine. As both leaders met on the tarmac, a flyover of American military planes passed overhead, including fighter jets and what appeared to be a B-2 stealth bomber. 00:59 - Source: CNN Erin becomes Atlantic season's first hurricane Erin strengthened to become the Atlantic season's first hurricane. The storm is expected to avoid landfall in the United States but might create dangerous beach conditions along the Atlantic coast, forecasters predict. CNN's Brandon Miller breaks down the hurricane's path. 00:58 - Source: CNN
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Opinion: Karoline Leavitt Can't Cover Up the Truth. Trump's Cankles and Hand Makeup Say It All
Forget the orange makeup on his hand. Forget the newly grey hair hovering above his scalp. Forget the slits for eyes. The real tell on Donald Trump is below the knee. His ankles, swollen and straining over his Oxfords, aren't just unsightly 'cankles'; they're flashing neon signs of a body under pressure. In medical terms, that puffiness often means venous or even cardiac insufficiency, the circulation slowing, the blood not moving as it should. These are not the hinges of stamina that can run a presidential marathon, but the hinges of a retiree glued to his La-Z-boy, feet up and watching Fox News all day. We've already seen this movie when it starred President Joe Biden. The stumbles, the shuffling, the vacant stares, all dismissed until his catastrophic debate meltdown, when the country suddenly realized the emperor had no recall. The press tiptoed around the obvious: he was too old. Then, boom. Reality hit on live TV. A year later, we're watching the sequel. Now it's Trump's turn under the unflattering fluorescent lights of mortality. He's 79, a number closer to octogenarian shuffleboard than to nuclear brinkmanship. Just this week, he twice announced he was 'going to Russia,' clearly confused about where his hastily scrambled Alaskan summit with President Putin was taking place. The confusion persisted. On Air Force One, he told Brett Baier he was a 'deal guy,' and if things didn't work with Putin he'd 'come back to the United States' and work on other things, as if peace in Europe could be abandoned llike a casino in Atlantic City. He's already forgotten his conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders, who earlier this week were promised a ceasefire. And in the last fortnight, he's started mixing up names, referring to his head of homeland security Kristi Noem, as Cristie Kerr, the name of an LPGA golfer. During a White House event with Tim 'Apple' Cook, Trump thanked his commerce secretary Howard Lutnick 'wherever you may be'. 'I'm right behind you,' said a startled Lutnick. Last month at a ceremonial signing of a veteran's bill, Trump paused to acknowledge the bill's sponsor, Congressman Derrick Van Orden, asking 'Where's Derrick? Where's Derrick?' 'I'm here, sir.' Said Van Orden, standing right next to him. Embarassing. The decline is as obvious as the white eye circles protected from his spray tan. Trump's camp knows it too. Karoline Leavitt has dusted off Karine Jean-Pierre's old binder of excuses: the president is 'working very hard… 'every day is a test…' 'the bruises come from shaking hands…' Sound familiar? Age matters in the Oval Office. The job is a high-stress centrifuge, spinning out younger men in six months with gray hair and crow's feet. Obama grayed, Clinton ballooned, Reagan drifted. But 79? That's beyond the actuarial horizon. For Biden, the tell was the papery whisper, frozen smile, and multiple face-plants. For Trump, it's the gait, the new halo of fat around his neck, and the laborious climb up the stairs of Air Force One, gripping the railing, puffing like an aging club pro on the back nine. This isn't age-shaming; it's reality-shaming. To ignore what's obvious is political malpractice. The press flinched with Biden. We cannot do the same with Trump, dismissing senior moments as 'gaffes' or just 'Trump being Trump.' We shouldn't need another public collapse to admit the obvious: Donald Trump is old, and showing it. His cankles may be an unglamorous tell, but they're telling us a lot. Biden had less than a year to go on his contract when the slippage became undeniable. Trump has three years and change. That is a long time for someone to be stumbling through the most dangerous crises of our time. When Biden reached this weary, stumbling stage, Democrats led improbably by George Clooney rang the alarm. Will Kid Rock now step up to ask the president to step aside for the sake of the country? Will Vice President JD Vance or Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought reach for the 25th Amendment? Or perhaps Trump's handlers see this as an opportunity to seize power and pull the puppet's strings from behind the curtain. If that's the plan, it may not go quite as expected. Anyone who has ever tried to take the car keys away from a loved one exhibiting elderly mental impairment knows how difficult it is to get them to let go. Now imagine those keys are not for starting a car but for launching a nuclear strike. Good luck to them. And good luck to all of us.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Bolivia set to elect first non-left wing president in two decades
Bolivia is set to elect a non-left wing president after nearly two decades of near-continuous rule by the incumbent socialist party, according to official preliminary results. Senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira and former president Jorge Quiroga came in first and second place respectively in Sunday's presidential elections. Neither received a high enough share of the vote to secure an outright win, so the vote will go to a run-off between these two candidates, due in October. Paz Pereira, of the Christian Democratic Party, was a surprise vote leader, after opinion polls had suggested Samuel Doria Medina, a businessman, was the frontrunner. The electoral authorities said it can take up to three days to finalise the results. Paz Pereira's campaign focused on redistributing more funds away from central government towards regional entities, and fighting corruption - with his slogan "capitalism for all, not just a few". He has suggested a programme of accessible credit, tax breaks to boost the formal economy, and eliminating import barriers for products that Bolivia doesn't manufacture. Quiroga briefly acted as interim president from 2001-2002 after serving as Vice President to Hugo Banzer, a military dictator until he was later elected. The election of a president from outside the left camp will likely see sharp changes in the Latin American country's foreign policy. In terms of trade, both candidate's capitalist stances could indicate more support for foreign investment in Bolivia's vast lithium reserves - the key ingredient for batteries used in many electric cars, laptops and solar panels. Politically, a change in government could mark closer ties with the US, after two decades of strengthening ties between Bolivia and China, Russia and Iran. A recent US Congress report briefing described US-Bolivia relations as "strained" under the socialist party's governance. The country's turn to the right comes as it is experiencing its worst economic crisis in years, with shortages of fuel, foreign reserves and some food items and high inflation and debt. Opinion polls ahead of the election suggested that many voters wanted to vote for change, or to punish the incumbent Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party. The current president, Luis Arce, mired in deep unpopularity, decided not to seek re-election. The punishment of the left is not just electoral, but physical in some cases. The candidate for MAS, Eduardo del Castillo, was booed out of the school where he cast his vote. Bolivian media reported that some fellow voters told him to "wait in line like they do for fuel" rather than skip the voting queue. People also threw stones at the highest-polling left-wing candidate, Andrónico Rodríguez, when he went to cast his ballot. Rodríguez was previously a member of MAS before splintering from the party. Authorities in Bolivia also said that an explosive device was set off at the polling station where Rodríguez cast his vote. There were no reports of significant damage or injuries. Rodríguez described it as an "isolated incident" orchestrated by a "small group" to a Bolivian newspaper. The left has not just faced recent unpopularity over the economy. It is also deeply divided. For the first time in about two decades, the former president, Evo Morales, was not on the ballot. Morales ruled the country from 2006-2019 and was barred from running again, despite attempts to challenge legal and constitutional rulings to let him run for a fourth term. He has urged his supporters to null their vote. Rodríguez was once seen as a protégé of Morales, but has since distanced himself from him. The last election in 2019 was disputed and protests erupted. Morales was accused of fraud after auditors found irregularities with the poll and he resigned under pressure from the military. In 2020, Luis Arce - a former finance minister under Morales - took office as president. Morales then announced he would return to politics in Bolivia, and deprived Arce of a majority - turning the pair from allies to rivals. Deep rifts and power struggles have existed in the ruling MAS party ever since. Morales's supporters have held protests and roadblocks against the re-election ban imposed on him, which have at times turned deadly with some emergency responders being killed. Judges ordered an arrest warrant for Morales over an alleged sexual relationship and rape of a 15-year-old girl. He has called the accusations politically-motivated. He has been living and operating from Chapare in Bolivia, protected at times by his supporters.
