DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ In title bout, 'Chocolatito' fights for Nicaragua leader Daniel Ortega
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Drazen Jorgic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Two years later, the wealthy Coen family contracted Gonzalez to promote their Grupo Coen conglomerate in three world title fights in exchange for a house worth $150,000. Gonzalez's relationship with Grupo Coen also fractured. In 2019, he sued Grupo Coen after it refused to pay the boxer, claiming he didn't contest enough world title fights to fullfil his contract. This year, the courts awarded an extra $150,000 to Gonzalez against Grupo Coen, according to court documents seen by Reuters. Grupo Coen declined to comment.

WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERSWASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The United States on Friday designated China, Iran and Russia, among others, as countries of particular concern under the Religious Freedom Act over severe violations, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Blinken in a statement said those designated as countries of particular concern - which also include North Korea and Myanmar - engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom. The United States has expressed grave concerns about human rights in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, which is home to 10 million Uyghurs. The other countries designated as countries of particular concern were Cuba, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Religious Freedom Act of 1998 requires the president – who assigns the function to the secretary of State – to designate as countries of particular concern states that are deemed to violate religious freedom on a systematic and ongoing basis.

☆ Prominent Guatemalan investigative newspaper “El Periódico” halts print edition
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

GUATEMALA CITY — The prominent Guatemalan investigative newspaper “El Periódico” announced Wednesday that it is stopping its print edition, after the government arrested the paper’s president. Zamora has overseen dozens of investigations into corruption during his leadership at El Periódico since the paper was founded in 1996. All of the paper’s reporters have been let go, and it is not clear how it can continue with digital editions only. Giammattei has been dismissive of U.S. officials’ criticism of his attorney general and what they see as Guatemala backsliding on battling corruption. His administration has silenced independent press outlets, driving journalists into exile and taking television stations off the air.

☆ I traveled to every country in the world, including North Korea, in 558 days. These are my top 10 travel tips.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Cassie De Pecol has traveled to all 193 sovereign nations in addition to Taiwan, Kosovo, and Palestine. These are some of her top travel tips — from her favorite airlines to how to stay safe as a solo traveler. So I decided to go after the Guinness World Record for traveling to every country in the fastest amount of time. How I traveled to 193 countries in just over 18 monthsCassie De Pecol in North Korea. If you can, pack lightFor my trip around the world, I traveled with just a backpack.

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Skeptical lawmakers from across the political spectrum questioned executives at grocers Kroger Co (KR.N) and Albertsons Companies Inc (ACI.N) on Tuesday about their planned $25 billion merger amid concerns the tie-up could boost already-high food prices. The deal will be reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission to ensure it is legal under antitrust law. Stores under the Albertsons umbrella include Balducci's, Haggen, Kings, Safeway, Star Market, Tom Thumb, United Supermarkets and Vons, among others. The companies have also been criticized for a plan to give Albertsons' shareholders a $4 billion dividend payment. Senator Tom Cotton, a conservative Republican, criticized Kroger for the company's aprons with a design that appeared to support gay pride.

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Top executives at Kroger Co (KR.N) and Albertsons Companies Inc (ACI.N) on Tuesday defended their planned $25 billion merger before skeptical lawmakers who fear the deal would push up food prices at a time of high inflation. "A combined Kroger and Albertsons will remain at number four as we will continue to compete with these companies to sell groceries. Those same three competitors have nearly three times the share of grocery sales of Kroger and Albertsons combined," he said, according to written remarks. In that case, the companies were forced to sell 168 stores to ensure that competition would remain fierce and prices would not rise. The companies have also been criticized for a plan to give Albertsons' shareholders a $4 billion dividend payment.

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday is set to consider whether President Joe Biden's administration can implement guidelines - challenged by two conservative-leaning states - shifting immigration enforcement toward public safety threats in a case testing executive branch power to set enforcement priorities. Biden campaigned on a more humane approach to immigration but has been faced with large numbers of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Republican state attorneys general in Texas and Louisiana sued to block the guidelines after Republican-led legal challenges successfully thwarted other Biden administration attempts to ease enforcement. Circuit Court of Appeals in July declined to put that ruling on hold, Biden's administration turned to the Supreme Court. The administration also told the justices that the guidelines do not violate federal immigration law and that the mandatory language of those statutes does not supersede the longstanding principle of law enforcement discretion.

[1/2] Taylor Swift's "Red (Taylor's Version)" receives the Favorite Pop Album award during 2022 American Music Awards, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 20, 2022. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday pressed the Federal Trade Commission to enforce a 2016 law against ticket scalpers using bots after Ticketmaster blamed the software for troubles selling tickets to pop superstar Taylor Swift's upcoming tour. Ticketmaster (LYV.N) canceled planned ticket sales to the general public for Swift's 2023 U.S. concert tour, her first in five years, earlier this month as 3.5 billion ticket requests from fans, bots and scalpers overwhelmed the website. A spokesman for the FTC confirmed that it had received the letter, but had no comment. Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The hearing was called by Klobuchar along with Senator Mike Lee, the top Republican on an antitrust panel of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "The hearing will examine the impact of the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons, the two largest grocery chains in the country," the statement said. The FTC is expected to aggressively review the deal to ensure it complies with antitrust law. While the two are the largest standalone grocers, Walmart is the market leader. Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoNov 25 (Reuters) - The Biden administration has banned approvals of new telecommunications equipment from China's Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL) and ZTE (000063.SZ) because they pose "an unacceptable risk" to U.S. national security. "These new rules are an important part of our ongoing actions to protect the American people from national security threats involving telecommunications," FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. ZTE, Dahua, Hytera and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The FCC said in June 2021 it was considering banning all equipment authorizations for all companies on the covered list. That came after a March 2021 designation of five Chinese companies on the so-called "covered list" as posing a threat to national security under a 2019 law aimed at protecting U.S. communications networks: Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications Corp Hikvision and Dahua.

WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Top Senate Republican Chuck Grassley urged Elon Musk, who recently acquired Twitter, to conduct a threat assessment at the social company to better protect U.S. user data, following up on concerns raised by a whistleblower. read moreIn a letter to Musk dated Tuesday and released on Wednesday, Grassley, the top Republican on the U.S. Judiciary Committee, asked Twitter to perform a threat assessment "of Twitter's current security posture and systems to better protect user data and privacy." "Twitter collects vast amounts of data on American citizens. Zatko testified that a foreign agent could use malware to steal Twitter users personal information, and use that to gain access to sensitive data on the person's phone, among other dangers. According to Grassley, Agrawal did not respond to the letter, citing litigation with Musk.

WASHINGTON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate antitrust panel will hold a hearing on the lack of competition in the ticketing industry after Ticketmaster's problems last week managing the sale of Taylor Swift tickets, Senator Amy Klobuchar, chair of the panel, said on Tuesday. "That’s why we will hold a hearing on how consolidation in the live entertainment and ticketing industry harms customers and artists alike." Senators Klobuchar and Mike Lee, the top Republican on the committee, did not provide a date for the hearing or a list of witnesses. For her part, the pop superstar on Friday said it was "excruciating" for her to watch fans struggle to secure tickets and that she had been assured that Ticketmaster could handle large demand. Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/3] Taylor Swift poses on the red carpet for the 2022 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) at the PSD Bank Dome in Duesseldorf, Germany, November 13, 2022. The company said it is working to shore up its technology "for the new bar that has been set by demand for the Taylor Swift's Eras Tour". Chaos around the Swift tour prompted calls for the U.S. government to break up the company. For those who did not get tickets to the Eras tour, Swift said her hope was to provide "more opportunities for us to all get together and sing these songs." She has promised hits from albums spanning her career on the Eras tour.

The U.S. Justice Department, which approved Ticketmaster's much-criticized purchase of Live Nation in 2010, is different than it was 12 years ago. A probe is well short of a decision to file a lawsuit asking a judge to break up a company. Ticketmaster previously said in a statement the Swift ticket sale problems were caused by unprecedented demand, much of it by bots trying to buy tickets to resell. "Live Nation was a new entrant, but it had the wherewithal to really compete," he said. A previous Ticketmaster fight with the department culminated in a December 2019 settlement that extended for another five years a consent decree that was part of the deal's initial approval.

☆ IMF sees Nicaragua's economy expanding by 3% next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 16 (Reuters) - Nicaragua's economy is forecast to grow 3% in 2023, down from expected growth of 4% this year, the International Monetary Fund said in a statement released on Wednesday, adding its economic outlook is favorable despite global risks going forward. "Nicaragua's economic outlook is favorable, although risks to the outlook are on the downside, primarily due to global headwinds," the IMF said in a statement after concluding a mission in the country. The IMF said real GDP growth is expected to moderate to 3% in 2023 due to weaker external demand and tighter external financial conditions. After contracting by about 9% during 2018-2020, Nicaragua's economic activity is recovering well, supported by appropriate macroeconomic and financial policies and substantial pre-crisis buffers from government deposits and international reserves, the fund added. The IMF underscored that Nicaragua still needs to maintain prudent monetary, fiscal, and financial policies in order to "build resilience" and achieve sustained medium-term growth.

☆ What Title 42 is and how it connects to El Paso migrants
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Catherine E. Shoichet | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The judge’s order ending Title 42 isn’t scheduled to go into effect until December 21. Is there a connection between Title 42 and what’s been happening in El Paso? At this point there isn’t any known connection between the rise in crossings and the looming end of Title 42. Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters“We’re talking about Title 42 being lifted and what that would do here in the community. “Title 42 was never about public health, and this ruling finally ends the charade of using Title 42 to bar desperate asylum seekers from even getting a hearing,” he said in a statement.

MIAMI — Florida Democrats are reeling and coming to terms with devastating Election Day losses, particularly among Latino voters who turned out solidly for Republicans in statewide contests. Most Republicans running in the state won by large margins, turning Florida into a solid red state. “Republicans became the real spokespeople for this community,” said Gamarra, referring to the governor, senators, and South Florida members of Congress. DeSantis always hammers down the message that Florida is a “free state.” Over 80,000 people have died of Covid in Florida. Meanwhile, the number of Democratic Latino registered voters decreased from 947,853 in 2020 to 901,481 in 2022.

David Vladeck, a former director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said there would likely be another investigation, and potentially another enforcement action before Twitter executives would be held personally liable. Many former FTC officials said the agency's current chair, Lina Khan, has shown interest in going after executives if consent orders are violated. The FTC on Thursday said it is "tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern. It is Twitter itself (not individual employees) who is a party and therefore only Twitter the company could be liable," he wrote. In the May settlement, Twitter agreed to pay $150 million and assess potential features for data privacy and security issues.

"This settlement makes it clear that companies must be transparent in how they track customers and abide by state and federal privacy laws." Arizona filed a similar case against Google and settled it for $85 million in October 2022. Texas, Indiana, Washington State and the District of Columbia sued Google in January over what they called deceptive location-tracking practices that invade users’ privacy. A consumer's location is key to helping an advertiser cut through the digital clutter to make the ad more relevant and grab the consumer's attention. Writing by Diane Bartz and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Anna Driver and Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. extends protected migrant status to mid-2024 for six nationalities
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN SALVADOR, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The United States has extended a protected status program that prevents migrants from being deported to mid-2024 for citizens of six countries, including Haiti and three Central American nations, its immigration service said on Thursday. The Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will be extended to June 30, 2024, for citizens of Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras, and Nepal, according to a document filed by the U.S. The TPS program provides recipients work permits and can protect them from deportation if their home countries go through extraordinary events such as natural disaster or armed conflict. The extension will affect about 392,000 people, of whom some 242,000 are citizens of El Salvador, according to USCIS data. "Thanks be to God," said Salvadoran Ambassador to the United States Milena Mayorga, tweeting a link to the document.

☆ Sen. Marco Rubio wins re-election in Florida, defeating Democratic Rep. Val Demings, NBC News projects
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

MIAMI — Republican Sen. Marco Rubio cruised to victory Tuesday night, securing his third term amid a statewide Democratic collapse, NBC News projects. Rubio is the first Florida Republican to win three terms in the Senate. Rubio’s career and his relationship with Trump tell the story of the Republican Party in Florida. "And that’s where we have really missed an opportunity of highlighting our strong Hispanic voices," Mucarsel-Powell said of her fellow Florida Democrats. The $30 million Demings spent just wasn't enough, he said.

The GOP, especially in South Florida, is trying to portray Democrats as "socialists" and soft on foreign policy, with Taddeo touting her hard-line stance against leftist governments. Salazar and Taddeo have similar hard-line foreign positions against the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Taddeo, according to a spokesperson, feels current foreign policy toward Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua cannot change until there are democratic transitions in those countries. There are about 275,000 Colombian eligible voters in Florida and a significant number live in the district. The two candidates recently left many puzzled when they tweeted that former Colombian President Iván Duque seemingly supports both of them.

☆ World Cup the test of Qatar's expensive bid to develop homegrown talent
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Andrew Mills | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

It's the most important... We're not asking them to (win) the World Cup," he added. Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, brother of Qatar's ruling emir, established Aspire in 2004 to develop homegrown players -- six years before Qatar's national team automatically qualified for the 2022 World Cup when it was named host country. Since June, Sanchez has taken Qatar's players to training camps in Spain and Austria. The mixed performance suggests the Gulf Arab state are no heavyweights - the team might not stand a chance against their other World Cup Group A opponents Senegal and the Netherlands. "We won't be able to tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing until after the World Cup."

WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - A planned $2.2 billion merger of Penguin Random House, the world's largest book publisher, and rival Simon & Schuster cannot go forward, a U.S. judge ruled on Monday. Unlike most merger fights, which are focused on what consumers pay, this one focused on authors' earnings. Penguin writers include cookbook author Ina Garten and novelists Zadie Smith and Danielle Steele, while Simon & Schuster publishes Stephen King, Jennifer Weiner and Hillary Rodham Clinton, among others. Penguin is owned by German media group Bertelsmann SE & Co (BTGGg.F) while Paramount Global (PARA.O) owns Simon & Schuster. The top five publishers are Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster and Hachette, with Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) also in the market.

☆ Venezuelans stranded in Panama by U.S. policy change return home
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The policy change shut the door on Venezuelan asylum seekers, many of whom previously were being paroled into the United States. We began to call relatives in the United States, in Chile and they us yes, it was true. We all lost the little that we had.”Some 900 Venezuelans have returned on charter flights from Panama since the U.S. policy change, according to Panama’s National Immigration Service. The U.S. policy change was driven by a surge in Venezuelans arriving at the U.S. border that put them second only to Mexicans this year. The program, which requires pre-registration online and that applicants have a sponsor in the United States, is similar to one set up for Ukrainians earlier this year.

Search resuls for: "nicaragua"

25 mentions found