proposes

The new plan follows a proclamation on Friday requiring a $100,000 fee for new H-1B applications.

The White House has released a proposal that would rework the H-1B visa selection process to favour higher-skilled and better-paid workers, according to a Federal Register notice.

The new proposal released on Tuesday followed a White House proclamation on Friday introducing a $100,000 fee for the visas.

The new process, if finalised, would give heavier weight to applications by employers who pay high wages if annual requests for the visas exceed the statutory limit of 85,000, the notice said. The move aims to better protect US workers from unfair wage competition from foreign workers, it said.

United States President Donald Trump launched a wide-ranging immigration crackdown after taking office in January, including a push for mass deportations and trying to block citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants born in the US. In recent days, his administration has intensified its focus on the H-1B programme, popular with technology and outsourcing companies for hiring skilled foreign workers.

The administration said on Friday that it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for each H-1B visa. Some big tech companies warned visa holders to stay in the US or quickly return, sparking a chaotic scramble to get back to the US. The White House later clarified the fee would apply only to new visas.

On Wall Street, tech company stocks have not responded well to the looming changes. Shares in Amazon, which sponsors the most H-1B visas of any company, have tumbled by almost 5 percent over the past five days.

The planned regulation posted on Tuesday would change an existing lottery process to obtain the visas if demand surpasses supply in a given year, creating wage tiers through which higher-paying jobs would have a better chance of being selected.

The process to finalise a regulation can take months or even years. The notice suggested that the new rules could be in place for the 2026 lottery, meaning before a March registration period.

The total wages paid to H-1B workers were expected to increase to $502m in fiscal year 2026, which begins on October 1, the notice said, citing US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates.

Those wages would increase by $1bn in fiscal 2027, $1.5bn in fiscal 2028 and $2bn in fiscal 2029-2035, it said.

An estimated 5,200 small businesses that currently receive H-1B visas would suffer a significant economic impact due to loss of labour, DHS said.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which issued the proposal, will give the public 30 days to comment starting on Wednesday, the notice said.

Slowing job market

The heightened requirements were proposed as a new AP-NORC poll was released that suggested about six in 10 US adults think companies see a major benefit from immigrants entering the US workforce, up from four in 10 in March 2024.

According to the poll, 51 percent of US adults said a “major” benefit of legal immigration is that US companies get the expertise of skilled workers in fields like science and technology.

The new proposal comes as job growth stalls in the US.

In August, the economy added only 22,000 jobs, according to the most recent jobs report released by the Department of Labor.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell cited Trump’s hardline immigration policy as a reason for a slowdown in the jobs market and part of the central bank’s rationale for cutting interest rates by 25 basis points last week, the first cut since December.

Sept. 5 (UPI) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s government has introduced a new tax reform bill in Congress to cover the $6.3 billion shortfall in the 2026 budget. It is the third tax reform of his administration and is intended to secure the $139 billion the state says it needs next year.

In 2022, Petro introduced his first tax reform, which was approved and raised $2.7 billion. In 2024, however, Congress rejected a similar proposal seeking $3 billion, leaving the 2025 budget unfunded and forcing the executive branch to issue it by decree.

The initiative, presented Sept. 1 by Finance Minister Germán Ávila, faces strong opposition in Congress and has become the center of a political battle over fiscal sustainability, public security and the finances of millions of Colombians.

The bill calls for higher taxes on high-income individuals and wealth, along with new levies on fuel, liquor and gambling. It would also tax foreign companies that provide digital services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and HBO.

Petro contends the bill seeks greater equity and will not affect the middle class or the poor, but will instead target the “mega rich.”

However, opposition leaders have rejected the measure, calling it poorly timed and harmful to the economy.

They argue that higher fuel taxes would raise food prices, directly affecting household budgets. They also criticize the government for imposing new burdens on citizens instead of cutting public spending.

On one of the most criticized points of the reform, Óscar Darío Pérez, a representative of the Democratic Center Party, said raising the income tax surcharge already paid by financial institutions — including banks, insurers and brokerage firms — 50% from 40% — would lead to more expensive loans or less access to the formal credit market.

Bruce Mac Master, president of the National Business Association of Colombia (Andi), has warned of a domino effect from the reform. He said it could raise production and transportation costs, hurting the country’s competitiveness.

“This reform will probably be the one that most affects Colombian families of all the projects presented in recent years,” Mac Master told local media.

Opposition lawmakers in Congress have vowed to block the bill, underscoring the governing challenges facing Petro, who needs support from the economic committees for the reform to advance.

“The government presents this only to follow the same strategy as last year. It puts forward impossible proposals and then blames Congress because this has no chance of passing,” Darío Pérez said.

“Colombia has a long history of tax reforms, with more than 21 attempts since 1990 and at least 14 significant reforms since 2000,” political analyst Mauricio Morris noted.

He added that each administration has pursued changes with different aims, from broadening the tax base to encouraging investment or confronting fiscal crises.

An easyJet flight to Spain “erupted” recently as a man proposed to his partner in an unexpected way. Passengers were left floored as the romantic incident played out

Over the years people have witnessed all sorts of weird and wonderful marriage proposals, and it’s not the first time one has taken place in the air. Recently a man was captured proposing to his partner while travelling to Spain on an easyJet flight, and it’s left people totally stunned.

A video of the romantic moment was recently shared on TikTok by Nicki Gunner, and it’s since gone viral, as people can’t believe how it played out on the flight. Over a clip of the video, Nicki wrote: “Nothing beats an easyJet proposal outside the toilets on a flight to Benidorm.”

The video has been viewed over 80,000 times since it was shared, and people were left in total disbelief that it happened. In the clip, the man is seen holding his partner’s hands, while standing outside the loo, and popping the question – and it’s not the first romantic tale to have unfolded on a plane.

After chatting, the man gets down on one knee, and takes a ring out of his pocket before popping the question. The plane then erupts into cheers after his partner says “yes”.

A flight attendant is heard congratulating the couple after the brilliant moment takes place. People had all sorts of thoughts and questions after the video was posted, with many questioning why he chose the plane journey to ask for her hand in marriage.

One person said: “Why not propose on the holiday?” Another added: “This is real romance.”

A third joked: “Engaged on the plane, married at baggage claim and honeymoon in Benidorm.” Meanwhile, a fourth commented: “Imagine walking out of the loo, and everyone clapping in your direction.”

Someone else also chimed in with: “Cute. They probably have been on holiday several times going on easyJet. They may have met on easyJet, It means something.

“Don’t mock people for having connections. I’ve seen way worse – a man proposing at his kebab shop; however, it still has meaning.”

Some also pointed out that you can’t fly directly to Benidorm, but you can travel to Alicante-Elche Airport, as this is the closest airport to the resort. From here, you can take a bus, taxi or shuttle transfer from Alicante Airport to Benidorm, as there is no airport directly in the town itself.

None the less, many understood what Nicki meant, and were keen to celebrate the couple’s happiness. Several offered kind words to the newly engaged couple.

One said: “Just let them enjoy life. We don’t know the backstory. [It] could be they met on a plane, could be this is when he knew that he loved her. People are so sad to put these people down for what they are doing.”

Another replied: “Maybe she works for easyJet and he surprised her by getting on the flight. Sounds like the crew knew about it. That’s cute.”

Someone else also added: “They might have met on this same route 10 years ago. This might be really sentimental. Congratulations to them.”

United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to convene a face-to-face summit between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his latest bid to end Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Trump’s proposal on Monday came as he hosted Zelenskyy and top European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, at the White House for high-stakes talks on ending the conflict, which has raged since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Trump said he had “begun arrangements” for the summit after speaking with Putin by phone, and that he would hold a trilateral meeting with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts following their two-way meeting.

“Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

“Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte separately confirmed that Putin had agreed to the bilateral meeting, but did not specify a date or location.

Zelenskyy, who described his meeting with Trump as a “very good conversation,” told reporters that he was “ready” to meet the Russian leader one-on-one.

Moscow did not immediately confirm that it had agreed to a summit, but Russia’s state-run TASS news agency cited presidential aide Yuri Ushakov as saying that Putin and Trump “spoke in favour of continuing direct talks” between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

The proposals for a summit, which would be the first meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy since Moscow’s invasion, came as the fraught issue of security guarantees for Ukraine took centre stage during the talks at the White House.

The specifics of what those guarantees would look like remained unclear on Monday.

Asked if the US could send peacekeepers to Ukraine, Trump said that European countries would be the “first line of defence”, but that Washington would provide “a lot of help”.

“We’re going to help them out also, we’re going to be involved,” Trump said.

Trump said on Truth Social later that discussions had focused on which security guarantees would be provided by European countries with “coordination” by the US.

Zelenskyy said that the guarantees would be “unpacked” by Kyiv’s partners and formalised within the next week to 10 days.

While Trump has ruled out NATO membership for Ukraine, his special envoy, Witkoff, said on Sunday that Putin was open to a security guarantee resembling the 32-member alliance’s collective defence mandate.

Under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, an armed attack against any one NATO member nation is considered an attack on all members of the alliance.

Speaking on Fox News after Monday’s talks, Rutte called Washington’s commitment to be involved in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security a “breakthrough”, but said the exact nature of that involvement would be discussed over the coming days.

Rutte said the discussions had not touched on the possibility of deploying US or European troops.

“What we all agree on is that if this war does come to end… it has to be definitive – that Russia will never, ever, ever again try to get a catch a square mile of territory of Ukraine post a peace deal,” Rutte said.

Konstantin Sonin, a Russian exile and Putin critic who is a professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, said that meaningful security guarantees for Kyiv would need to include European troops on the ground.

“This is all ‘unacceptable’ to Putin, so for European leaders, it is the question how to persuade President Trump that without such guarantees, the war, even if it stops now, will start again in the near future,” Sonin told Al Jazeera.

Sonin said that Ukraine had been failed by “written” guarantees for decades, including during Moscow’s 2014 invasion and occupation of Crimea.

“Russia has signed many international treaties recognising Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders – including Putin himself signing one such treaty in 2004 – and still violated all of these treaties, both in 2014 and 2022,” Sonin said.

“This is all to say that the sticking point is not the language in some documents,” he added.

The issue of what territory Kyiv might be asked to give up in a peace deal also remained unclear after the talks at the White House.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump warned that the return to Ukraine of Russian-occupied Crimea would be off the table in any negotiated settlement.

Trump has indicated that a deal to end the war would involve “some swapping, changes in land” between Russia and Ukraine.

Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine, according to open-source estimates. Ukraine, which took control of a large swath of Russia’s Kursk region during a surprise counter-offensive last year, is not believed to hold any Russian territory at present.

Speaking on Fox News, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said both Moscow and Kyiv would have to make concessions for a deal.

“Obviously, land or where you draw those lines – where the war stops – is going to be part of that conversation,” Rubio said.

“And it’s not easy, and maybe it’s not even fair, but it’s what it takes in order to bring about an end to a war. And that’s been true in every war.”

Zelenskyy, who has repeatedly ruled out handing over Ukrainian territory to Moscow, said on Monday that land would be an issue for him and Putin to work out between them.

“We will leave the issue of territories between me and Putin,” Zelenskyy told reporters.

BILLINGS, Mont. — More than 2 million acres of federal lands would be sold or transferred to states or other entities under a budget proposal from Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, reviving a longtime ambition of Western conservatives to cede lands to local control after a similar proposal failed in the House.

Lee, who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, included a mandate for the sales in a draft provision of the GOP’s sweeping tax cut package released Wednesday.

Sharp disagreement over such sales has laid bare a split among Republicans who support wholesale transfers of federal property to spur development and generate revenue, and other lawmakers who are staunchly opposed.

A spokesperson for Montana Sen. Steve Daines said Thursday that he opposes public land sales and was reviewing the proposal.

Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, who served as interior secretary in President Trump’s first term and led the effort to strip land sales out of the House version, said he remained a “hard no” on any legislation that includes large-scale sales.

Most public lands are in Western states. In some such as Utah and Nevada, the government controls the vast majority of lands, protecting them from potential exploitation but hindering growth.

Lee’s proposal does not specify what properties would be sold. It directs the secretaries of interior and agriculture to sell or transfer at least 0.5% and up to 0.75% of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management holdings. That equals at least 2.2 million acres and up to 3.3 million acres.

The Republican said in a video released by his office that the sales would not include national parks, national monuments or wilderness. They would instead target “isolated parcels” that could be used for housing or infrastructure, he said.

“Washington has proven time and again it can’t manage this land. This bill puts it in better hands,” Lee said.

Conservation groups reacted with outrage, saying it would set a precedent to fast-track the handover of cherished lands to developers.

“Shoving the sale of public lands back into the budget reconciliation bill, all to fund tax cuts for the wealthy, is a betrayal of future generations and folks on both sides of the aisle,” said Michael Carroll with The Wilderness Society.

Housing advocates have cautioned that federal land is not universally suitable for affordable housing. Some of the parcels up for sale in Utah and Nevada under the House proposal were far from developed areas.

Republican officials in Utah last year filed a lawsuit seeking to take over huge swaths of federal land in the state, but they were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. Twelve other states backed Utah’s bid.

Brown writes for the Associated Press.

A ban on a “destructive” type of fishing that drags large nets along the seafloor could be extended across English waters, the government has said.

The proposal would expand the the prohibition of bottom trawling from 18,000km2 to 30,000km2 (around 11,500 sq miles) of the UK’s offshore areas that are already designated as protected. The plan is subject to a 12-week industry consultation.

The announcement comes as a UN Ocean Conference begins on Monday in France, and amid warnings from Sir David Attenborough that bottom trawling is destroying areas of the seabed and marine life.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed said “without urgent action our oceans will be irreversibly destroyed”.

Speaking before the summit, Sir David told Prince William he was “appalled” by the fishing method.

The naturalist’s latest documentary Ocean With David Attenborough showed new footage of a bottom trawling net bulldozing through silt on the seafloor and scooping up species indiscriminately.

Last week, MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee renewed calls to ban bottom trawling, dredging and mining for aggregates on the seabed in what are known as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

The extension proposed by the government would cover 41 of the UK’s 178 MPAs, and would protect rare marine animals and the delicate seabed they rely upon.

It says it has carried out detailed assessments into the harms caused to habitats and species.

A 12-week consultation will run until 1 September and will seek the views of the marine and fishing industry.

Ariana Densham, head of oceans at Greenpeace UK, said the consultation was “ultimately a long-overdue completion of a process started by the previous government”.

The Wildlife Trust said it hoped the extended ban would be put in place “rapidly”.

It would be a “win-win for both nature and the climate,” added the trust’s director of policy and public affairs, Joan Edwards.

Pressure is also building for more countries to ratify the High Seas Treaty at the Ocean Conference in Nice.

The treaty was agreed by 193 countries two years ago to put 30% of the ocean into protected areas.

The treaty will not come into force until it is ratified by 60 countries, with the current number standing at 28. The UK is among those countries that has yet to ratify.

TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa’s new mayor on Sunday proposed a $100 million private trust as part of a reparations plan to give descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre scholarships and housing help in a city-backed bid to make amends for one of the worst racial attacks in U.S. history.

The plan by Mayor Monroe Nichols, the first Black mayor of Oklahoma’s second-largest city, would not provide direct cash payments to descendants or the last two centenarian survivors of the attack that killed as many as 300 Black people. He made the announcement at the Greenwood Cultural Center, located in the once-thriving district of North Tulsa that was destroyed by a white mob.

Nichols said he does not use the term reparations, which he calls politically charged, characterizing his sweeping plan instead as a “road to repair.”

“For 104 years, the Tulsa Race Massacre has been a stain on our city’s history,” Nichols said Sunday after receiving a standing ovation from several hundred people. “The massacre was hidden from history books, only to be followed by the intentional acts of redlining, a highway built to choke off economic vitality and the perpetual underinvestment of local, state and federal governments.

“Now it’s time to take the next big steps to restore.”

Nichols said the proposal wouldn’t require city council approval, although the council would need to authorize the transfer of any city property to the trust, something he said was highly likely.

The private charitable trust would be created with a goal to secure $105 million in assets, with most of the funding either secured or committed by June 1, 2026. Although details would be developed over the next year by an executive director and a board of managers, the plan calls for the bulk of the funding, $60 million, to go toward improving buildings and revitalizing the city’s north side.

“The Greenwood District at its height was a center of commerce,” Nichols said in a telephone interview. “So what was lost was not just something from North Tulsa or the Black community. It actually robbed Tulsa of an economic future that would have rivaled anywhere else in the world.”

Nichols’ proposal follows an executive order he signed earlier this year recognizing June 1 as Tulsa Race Massacre Observance Day, an official city holiday. Events Sunday in the Greenwood District included a picnic for families, worship services and an evening candlelight vigil.

Nichols also realizes the current national political climate, particularly President Trump’s sweeping assault on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, poses challenging political crosswinds.

“The fact that this lines up with a broader national conversation is a tough environment,” Nichols admitted, “but it doesn’t change the work we have to do.”

Jacqueline Weary, is a granddaughter of massacre survivor John R. Emerson, Sr., who owned a hotel and cab company in Greenwood that were destroyed. She acknowledged the political difficulty of giving cash payments to descendants. But at the same time, she wondered how much of her family’s wealth was lost in the violence.

“If Greenwood was still there, my grandfather would still have his hotel,” said Weary, 65. “It rightfully was our inheritance, and it was literally taken away.”

Tulsa is not the first U.S. city to explore reparations. The Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, was the first U.S. city to make reparations available to its Black residents for past discrimination, offering qualifying households $25,000 for home repairs, down payments on property, and interest or late penalties on property in the city. The funding for the program came from taxes on the sale of recreational marijuana.

Other communities and organizations that have considered providing reparations range from the state of California to cities including Amherst, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; Asheville, North Carolina; and Iowa City, Iowa; religious denominations like the Episcopal Church; and prominent colleges like Georgetown University in Washington.

In Tulsa, there are only two living survivors of the Race Massacre, both of whom are 110 years old: Leslie Benningfield Randle and Viola Fletcher. The women, both of whom were in attendance on Sunday, received direct financial compensation from both a Tulsa-based nonprofit and a New York-based philanthropic organization, but have not received any recompense from the city or state.

Damario Solomon-Simmons, an attorney for the survivors and the founder of the Justice for Greenwood Foundation, said earlier this year that any reparations plan should include direct payments to Randle and Fletcher and a victims’ compensation fund for outstanding claims.

A lawsuit filed by Solomon-Simmons on behalf of the survivors was rejected by the Oklahoma Supreme Court last year, dampening racial justice advocates’ hopes that the city would ever make financial amends.

Murphy writes for the Associated Press.

May 16 (UPI) — Microsoft said Thursday it is proposing a resolution to European Commission concerns over how it bundles Teams with MS Office and Office 365.

Microsoft said its proposed commitments to resolve issues with the Commission “require Microsoft to maintain availability of those suites in the European Economic Area over the next seven years, and they set minimum price deltas that Microsoft must maintain between the versions of those suites without and with Teams.”

“The proposed commitments are the result of constructive, good-faith discussions with the European Commission over several months. We believe that they represent a clear and complete resolution to the concerns raised by our competitors and will provide European customers with more choices.”

Microsoft said that if the Commission accepts their proposed commitments, “we have decided that we will, at the same time, align the options and pricing for our suites and Teams service globally, as we’ve done in the past.”

The commission launched a public consultation period Thursday on Microsoft’s offered commitments.

“Microsoft would make available versions of these suites without Teams and at a reduced price; allow customers to switch to suites without Teams, including in the framework of existing contracts; offer Teams’ competitors increased interoperability with other Microsoft products; and allow customers to move their data out of Teams to facilitate the use of competing solutions,” the commission said under the proposed commitments.

In a preliminary finding, the commission found Microsoft restricted competition in the European market by bundling Teams with other Microsoft software giving Teams a competitive advantage in distribution.

The commission said Microsoft’s proposed commitments include offering customers purchasing EEA versions of its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites without Teams to get a lower price than the one for corresponding suites that include Teams.

In addition, Microsoft would allow Team’s competitors and certain third parties to access effective interoperability with identified Microsoft products and services.

Customers would also be allowed to extract their Teams messaging data for use in competing platforms and to switch to software suites without Teams.

Microsoft’s blog statement said, “We are hopeful that following the market test, the European Commission will conclude that the proposed commitments resolve its concerns, and in the following months, adopt a final decision closing its investigation.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed slashing funding by 67% for a pioneering deal with Google to support struggling California newsrooms, citing financial pressures that have promoted wider budget cuts.

California newsrooms had expected to receive $30 million from the state as part of a deal brokered last year in which Google and the state would jointly contribute money over five years to support local newsrooms through a News Transformation Fund. The state Department of Finance confirmed Wednesday that California instead will pay out $10 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

“The sole reason for the reduction is more limited/fewer resources than projected in the January budget,” Department of Finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer said.

Newsom announced Wednesday that the state is facing an additional $12-billion budget shortfall next year. The revised $321.9-billion plan will also include a reduction in healthcare for low-income undocumented immigrants and a decrease in overtime hours for select government employees.

The deal was born of negotiations that began with a proposed funding bill written by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), which is known as the California Journalism Preservation Act. It would have required Google to pay into a fund annually that would have distributed millions to California news outlets based on the number of journalists they employ. The California News Publishers Assn., of which the Los Angeles Times is a member, backed the larger effort.

It was designed to aid newspapers that have seen their finances collapse in recent years, leaving fewer journalists to cover institutions and communities.

The proposal was modeled after a Canadian bill that has Google paying about $74 million per year. Google fought the bill, arguing its passage would force the company to remove California news from its platform, thus restricting access for Californians.

Instead, the state and Google agreed in August to provide nearly $250 million to newsrooms over five years, starting in 2025, with funding slated for two projects.

The second initiative was a $68-million pledge for Google to fund artificial intelligence in the form of a National AI Accelerator. The AI funding element of the deal drew sharp rebukes from Democratic lawmakers and journalists.

California had pledged $30 million in 2025 and $10 million for each of the next four years. Google agreed to an initial payment of $15 million in 2025 and $55 million in total into the journalism fund. Google also agreed to boost its own journalism programs with a separate $50-million grant.