Drinks giant Diageo sees share price slide after warning about sales in Caribbean and Latin America
Spirits and beer giant Diageo saw billions wiped off its market value on Friday after it warned that a sharp slowdown in its business in Latin America and the Caribbean was hitting sales and potential profits.
As US poised to restrict abortion, other nations ease access
As women in the United States find themselves on the verge of possibly losing the constitutional right to access abortion services, courts in other parts of the world, including in many historically conservative societies, have moved in the opposite direction.
Chinese loans to Latin America plunge as virus strains ties
A deep 7.4% recession in the Latin America and Caribbean last year wiped out nearly a decadeโs worth of growth, according to International Monetary Fund data. The slowdown in lending to Latin America reflects a broader, global pullback, as China turns inward to bolster its own recovery efforts amid the pandemic. The China Development Bank and the foreign ministry didnโt respond to questions about the reasons for the decline in Chinese loans to Latin America. AdFor the regionโs leaders, Chinese loans for big ticket infrastructure projects are hard to resist. No American firms placed bids for the project, which did not directly benefit from any Chinese loans.
Argentina's abortion law enters force under watchful eyes
The abortion law goes into force Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)BUENOS AIRES โ Argentinaโs groundbreaking abortion law went into force Sunday under the watchful eyes of womenโs groups and government officials, who hope to ensure its full implementation despite opposition from some conservative and church groups. Supporters of the law say they expect lawsuits from anti-abortion groups in Argentinaโs conservative provinces and some private health clinics might refuse to carry out the procedure. The lawโs supporters expect backlash in Argentinaโs conservative provinces. Gรณmez Alcorta said criminal charges currently pending against more than 1,500 women and doctors who performed abortions should be lifted.
At 78 and the oldest president, Biden sees a world changed
WASHINGTON โ When Joe Biden took the oath of office as the 46th president, he became not only the oldest newly inaugurated U.S. chief executive in history but also the oldest sitting president ever. Thatโs 78 days older than President Ronald Reagan was when he left office in 1989. A look at how the country Biden now leads has changed over his lifetime and how his presidency might reflect that. The world population in Bidenโs lifetime has grown from about 2.3 billion to 7.8 billion. The month Biden was born, a dozen eggs averaged about 60 cents in U.S. cities -- two hours of minimum wage work.
World hopes for renewed cooperation with US under Biden
Many expressed hope Biden would right U.S. democracy two weeks after rioters stormed the Capitol, shaking the faith of those fighting for democracy in their own countries. Biden โunderstands the importance of cooperation among nations,โ said former Colombian president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Juan Manuel Santos, who left office in 2018. โPresident Bidenโs message of unity as he takes office is one that resonates with New Zealanders,โ Ardern said. World leaders also acknowledged the history of Vice President Kamala Harris taking office. โThat is an historic moment and one that, I think as a father of daughters, you can only celebrate," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
Rejecting criticism, Pompeo says US isn't 'banana republic'
WASHINGTON โ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has met with his designated successor as Americaโs top diplomat and is rejecting suggestions that the United States is a โbanana republicโ because of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. As Pompeo spoke, the State Department instructed U.S. embassies overseas to defend the American political process even while Trump sought to subvert it. โIn the wake of yesterdayโs reprehensible attack on the U.S. Capitol, many prominent people โ including journalists and politicians โ have likened the United States to a banana republic,โ Pompeo said late Thursday. โThe slander reveals a faulty understanding of banana republics and of democracy in America.โโIn a banana republic, mob violence determines the exercise of power,โ he continued. โIn the United States, law enforcement officials quash mob violence so that the peopleโs representatives can exercise power in accordance with the rule of law and constitutional government.
Bill legalizing abortion passed in pope's native Argentina
Abortion-rights activists watch live video streaming of lawmakers in session, outside Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020. Congress approved a bill that legalize abortion in Argentina. โSafe, legal and free abortion is now the law,โ Fernรกndez tweeted after the vote, noting that it had been an election pledge. The generational shift was reflected in the stance taken by Vice President Fernรกndez de Kirchner. Argentinaโs feminist movement has been demanding legal abortion for more than 30 years and activists say the billโs approval could mark a watershed in Latin America, where the Catholic Church has long dominated.
Mexico starts giving first shots of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine
The country's 1.4 million health workers will be the first to get the shots, followed by the elderly, those with underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the disease, and teachers. Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Mexico was the first country in Latin America to get the vaccine, though others were close behind. In Costa Rica, which is the third country in the region to begin using the Pfizer vaccine, the first shot was given Thursday to Elizabeth Castillo, 91. Argentina, which has run into problems obtaining the Pfizer vaccine, received a flight carrying 300,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. Argentina plans to become the first country in Latin America to administer the Russian vaccine starting next week.
NYC cathedral gunman's note says he planned to take hostages
New York police officers move in on the scene of a shooting at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020, in New York. A man was shot by police after shots rang out at the end of a Christmas choral concert on the steps of the Manhattan cathedral Sunday afternoon. The shooting happened just before 4 p.m. at the church which is the mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and seat of its bishop. The note was first reported by NBC New York. In the note, the law enforcement official said, Vasquez wrote he did not expect to make it home.
Fiat Chrysler posts record Q3 profit ahead of PSA merger
The Italian-American automaker, which is finalizing its full merger with French rival PSA Peugeot, reported a net profit in the three months ending Sept. 30 of 1.2 billion ($1.4 billion). That compares with a loss of 179 million euros a year earlier. Latin America, the only other region to post a profit, saw it narrow by two-thirds to 46 million euros. Overall, the carmaker said global earnings before tax and interest were a record 2.3 billion euros despite a 6% fall in revenues to 26 billion euros. PSA on Wednesday said that revenue in its auto division grew by 1.2% in the quarter to 12 billion euros, as a strong product mix offset lower volumes.
Colombia reaches 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases
(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)BOGOTA โ Colombia reached 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, becoming the second country in Latin America to report that number in less than a week. The nation of 50 million saw cases peak in August and has seen a decline since but still continues to register around 8,000 new infections a day. Argentina hit 1 million confirmed cases on Monday and Peru and Mexico are expected to reach the grim marker in the weeks ahead. Brazil ranks third worldwide in the number of virus cases and passed 1 million infections back in June. Colombia has become the eighth country to hit 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases.
The Latest: Imported workers test positive in New Zealand
All remain in quarantine at a Christchurch hotel, and health officials say they expect more to test positive. โ British PM Johnson imposing strict coronavirus restrictions on Greater Manchester, Englandโs second-largest urban area, after talks fail on financial support. Local health officials said Tuesday that the surge is overwhelming their ability to confront the pandemic. Officials say coronavirus cases related to the university represent 61% of the total in Washtenaw County, compared to just 2% in August. ___PHOENIX โ Arizona reported more than 1,000 daily coronavirus cases for the second time in a week.
Argentina is 5th nation to pass 1 million coronavirus cases
BUENOS AIRES โ Argentina reached 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases Monday, making it the second nation in Latin America to reach the grim milestone and only the fifth in the world to do so. Brazil reached 1 million cases in June and now reports 5.2 million total. Latin America is one of the worst hit regions and home to half the 10 nations reporting the highest number of confirmed cases. Three other nations in Latin America are expected to reach 1 million cases in the coming weeks โ Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The trajectory is showing that the pandemic is likely to leave no corner of Latin America unscathed.
UN: Pandemic has cost 34 million jobs in Latin America
All rights reserved)MEXICO CITY โ The U.N.โs International Labour Organization said Wednesday that at least 34 million jobs have been lost in Latin America due to the coronavirus pandemic. The count was up from the ILOโs previous estimates in early August that 14 million jobs had been lost in the region. The organization's Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Vinรญcius Pinheiro, called it โan unprecedented challenge.โPinheiro said the third quarter had brought a recovery in economic activity and, according to preliminary data, a tentative recovery in employment. The ILO figures were based on data from nine countries which account for 80% of the region's workforce. The ILO lists Latin America and the Caribbean as the worst-hit region in the world in terms of lost working hours, with a drop of 20.9% in the first three quarters of the year, compared to an average of 11.7% worldwide.
Pandemic's toll among journalists in Peru is especially high
Whats happening with the journalists in Peru is somewhat a reflection of whats happening with the Peruvian population, said Zuliana Lainez, secretary general of the National Association of Journalists of Peru, a union based in Lima. At least 82 reporters in Peru died from the disease between March 16, when Peru imposed a lockdown because of the health crisis, and Aug. 17, according to the association. The Press Emblem Campaign, a Geneva-based group launched by journalists, said July 1 that Peru had lost the most journalists to COVID-19 of any country in the world. It has logged 560,000 coronavirus cases, placing it in the top 10 countries half of them in Latin America with the most confirmed cases in the world. Freelancer Ricardo Gutirrez Aparicio was among the first Peruvian journalists reported to have died of COVID-19.
El Salvador political stalemate a drag on pandemic response
SAN SALVADOR โ For months, the strictest measures confronting the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America seemed to keep infections in check in El Salvador, but a gradual reopening combined with a political stalemate has seen infections increase nearly fourfold. Itโs a reversal in a country that early in the pandemic seemed to have the situation under control. On Friday, the Supreme Court declared Bukele's decree regulating the economic re-opening unconstitutional, saying the president cannot suspend fundamental rights. Bukele responded with a tweet that read: โIn every country in the world, governments order gradual re-openings to control the pandemic. "If El Salvador collapses, we all go down and weโre already sinking.โ
UN refugee agency fears for displaced Venezuelans amid COVID
Of course, it is good that countries are taking these measures of prudence against the virus, Grandi said. The impact could be especially stark for 3.7 million Venezuelans abroad, the world's second-largest nationality of refugees after the 6.6 million Syrians displaced by their country's war. One region about which were very worried is, of course, Latin America and South America and in particular where countries host many millions of Venezuelans, Grandi said in an interview. Amid the outbreak, UNHCR has stepped up its cash transfer programs that put money directly in the pockets of displaced people. Grandi says 65 countries now benefit from such programs, and we have added 40 countries in just the last few months.
Spread of coronavirus fuels corruption in Latin America
Even amid a global pandemic, theres no sign that corruption is slowing down in Latin America. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)MIAMI Even in a pandemic, there's no slowdown for swindlers in Latin America. Coronavirus clusters are still spreading in Latin America, fueling a spike in deaths, swamping already-precarious hospitals and threatening to ravage slumping economies. To be sure, disasters breed corruption all over the world, not just in Latin America. But stealing state funds is especially vexing in Latin America because of gaping poverty and a tattered social safety net.
Holiday amid pandemic: Americans divided on how to respond
Statewide, New York reported its lowest number of daily coronavirus deaths 84 in many weeks in what Gov. To the south, Trump played golf at one of his private clubs for the first time during the pandemic the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia. He has been pushing for state and local leaders to fully reopen after months of closures and tight restrictions. New coronavirus cases reported in China were zero Saturday for the first time since the outbreak began but surged in India and overwhelmed hospitals across Latin America. Religious events helped spread the virus early in the pandemic; resuming such gatherings is an especially thorny issue.
UPS to deliver 89 million flowers this Valentine's Day
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ UPS says it will ship 89 million flowers for the Valentineโs Day holiday this year. That's about 8 million pounds -- or 514,000 boxes. That's up from 88 million last year. UPS transports them through the Miami International Airport to their recipients in less than two days. The National Retail Federation reports Americans will spend about $2 billion on flowers this year.