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☆ Colombian president asks cabinet to resign ahead of reshuffle - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, April 25 (Reuters) - Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has asked his cabinet ministers to resign ahead of a reshuffle, two sources told Reuters late on Tuesday, as the leftist leader said he had lost his majority coalition in Congress. "The political coalition agreed as a majority has ended today due to decisions of some party presidents," Petro said in a message via Twitter late on Tuesday. Petro has largely backed his ministers, including Velez, though disagreement over the health reform proposal already lead to the exit of the education minister, Alejandro Gaviria. Interior Minister Alfonso Prada could be take over as defense minister, said one government source who declined to be identified. Others, including Velez, could hold on to their posts, the source said.

☆ This enormous former railway station once called the 'Titanic of the mountains' is now a luxury hotel. Check it out.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Canfranc Estación, the Royal Hideaway Hotel, reopened its doors after 50 years of decay. Manolo YlleraCanfranc Estación, located in the Pyrenees mountains in Aragon, Spain, was inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII in 1928 with French President Gaston Doumergue in attendance. Passengers could travel via Zaragoza and Madrid in Spain to Lisbon, Portugal as well as France. However, the travel options were not available for long as Franco closed the border in 1936 and ordered the rail tunnel to be shuttered, per the Financial Times. It reopened five years later but the line was not well used and a derailment on the French side closed it permanently.

☆ A Spanish Team Endures on a Toehold in Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( James Montague | Samuel Aranda | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

CEUTA, Spain — From the top of Alfonso Murube Stadium, you can see the peninsula of Ceuta stretching out into the Mediterranean Sea. Out on the water, ferries shuttle back and forth across the narrow Strait of Gibraltar to the coastline of southern Spain, just 30 short minutes away. Ceuta, a sliver of land seven square miles in size, hangs on to the edge of Africa, as thin as a toenail. But it is not part of Africa, not officially. It is a rarity for Spain, too, as a city where the Muslim and Christian populations are of similar size.

April 18 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google LLC (GOOGL.O) on Tuesday convinced a U.S. appeals court to cancel three anti-malware patents at the heart of a Texas jury's $20 million infringement verdict against the company. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said that Alfonso Cioffi and Allen Rozman's patents were invalid because they contained inventions that were not included in an earlier version of the patent. But the Federal Circuit said Tuesday that all of the patents were invalid. The appeals court said the new patents outlined technology specific to web browsers that the first patent did not mention. The case is Cioffi v. Google LLC, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No.

☆ Happy 100th Birthday, 16-Millimeter Film
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Devika Girish | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

One hundred years ago, the Eastman Kodak Company introduced a shiny new camera that promised to revolutionize moviemaking. The technical marvel, however, wasn’t just the camera but also the film inside. Until 1923, the film used most commonly in motion pictures was 35 millimeters wide. Until digital video arrived in the late 1990s, 16-millimeter film was the mainstay of the amateur or independent filmmaker, requiring neither the investment nor the know-how of commercial cinema. The third film, “Black Faces” from 1970, was an ebullient, one-minute montage of portraits of Harlem residents.

☆ Analysis: Investors revive inflation trades as 6% Fed rate risk grips Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Davide Barbuscia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

NEW YORK, March 7 (Reuters) - Spooked by a flurry of hotter-than-expected U.S. economic and inflation data last month, investors are reviving trading strategies that bet on a higher peak in interest rates. The recalibration in inflation expectations has led some investors to bet on a policy rate of 6% or even higher. Trading platform Tradeweb said it saw average daily volume in inflation swaps - derivatives used to hedge inflation risk - increase by 23% month-on-month in February. With higher inflation expectations lifting short-term bond yields higher than those at the longer end, some investors are wary of committing to debt maturities at the long end of the bond market yield curve. "The momentum in the economy is so strong that we may have to get into 2024 before the Fed funds rate peaks."

☆ Hostages taken by anti-oil firm protesters in Colombia are freed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, March 3 (Reuters) - A group of 88 police officers and employees of oil firm Emerald Energy taken hostage in Colombia amid a deadly protest against the company have been freed, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Friday. Rural and indigenous protesters also took 79 police officers and nine Emerald employees hostage, blocked access to an oil field, and set a fire to demand the company fix roads in the area, authorities said. Petro confirmed the hostages had been freed Friday, calling on investigators to find those responsible for the deaths. Emerald Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Violence in Colombia falls in first month of ceasefire
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Colombia's ceasefire with four armed groups has led to significant reductions in violence during its first month, Interior Minister Alfonso Prada said on Monday, with fewer murders and attacks on armed forces. Homicides in provinces heavily affected by conflict and where one or more of the groups participating in the ceasefire are active fell by up to 68%, he said, without giving absolute figures. The Pacific province of Choco saw the 68% reduction, followed closely by Arauca, on the Venezuelan border, which saw murders fall by 66%. In Cordoba homicides were down 52%, while in Magdalena they fell 37%, Prada said. Prada did not give figures for members of illegal armed groups killed this month, but the country's navy said earlier on Monday at least nine rebels from the ELN died in fighting last weekend close to Buenaventura.

Catalano's brother, Agostino, was a policeman who died in a 1992 bomb that killed anti-mob magistrate Paolo Borsellino - a attack that prosecutors say Messina Denaro helped mastermind. The last confirmed sighting of Messina Denaro was in 1993, making it difficult for police to identify the most wanted man in Italy. Only one of them decided to collaborate with justice," said Roberto Piscitello, a prosecutor who tried to capture Messina Denaro from 1996 to 2008. FALSE IDENTITYPolice say they managed to catch Messina Denaro after learning from wiretaps of his relatives that he had cancer. BUSINESS CONTACTSMagistrates said they found evidence that Messina Denaro had visited Spain, Greece and Austria over the years.

Ana de Armas garnered an Academy Award nomination for best actress in a leading role for her performance as Marilyn Monroe in Netflix's "Blonde" — amid controversy over the movie. De Armas, 34, was nominated for the Oscar a day after “Blonde” got eight Razzie Award nominations, including worst picture and screenplay, further underscoring how polarizing the film has been. This is the Cuban-born actor's first Oscar nomination. Her performance in the movie also earned de Armas her second Golden Globe nomination last year. “Argentina, 1985” won a Golden Globe last month for best non-English language motion picture.

[1/8] Anti-government protesters clash with the police, as they demand the release of protesters detained in the protests, after President Pedro Castillo was ousted, in Lima, Peru January 21, 2023. REUTERS/Sebastian CastanedaLIMA, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Peruvian police arrested over 200 people accused of illegally entering the campus of a major Lima university, while authorities in Cusco shut the Incan citadel of Machu Picchu and the Inca trail as deadly anti-government protests spread nationwide. Some 46 people have been killed in the weeks-long clashes and another nine in traffic accidents related to the barricades set up amid the protests. In videos circulating online, an armored vehicle can be seen breaking down a door on the university campus to allow entry for security forces. Protests have rocked Peru since former President Pedro Castillo was ousted in December after he attempted to dissolve the legislature to prevent an impeachment vote.

The Sundance Film Festival has long been known for premiering some of the most original — and ultimately the most award-winning — indie titles of the year. As the most notable international film festivals increasingly feature queer titles in their lineups, it’s no surprise that much of the exciting content premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival comes from LGBTQ filmmakers or features queer themes. The Premieres sectionAs usual, many of the year’s most high-profile films, including those from queer creators and featuring queer storylines, are coming out of the festival’s Premieres section. Courtesy of Sundance InstituteEnglert’s film will screen in the world cinema dramatic section alongside queer films “Girl,” from U.K. filmmaker Adura Onashile, and “Mamacruz,” from Spanish director Patricia Ortega. The list of LGBTQ creators and titles doesn’t end there, making this perhaps the most significant Sundance Film Festival for queer cinema yet.

☆ Factbox: How top Mafia boss Messina Denaro escaped justice for 30 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Alvise Armellini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

ROME, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Matteo Messina Denaro, a brutal Sicilian Mafia boss who was Italy's most wanted criminal before his capture on Monday, had been on the run for 30 years. Messina Denaro, 60, was the last runaway member of a generation of mobsters who masterminded a string of bombings and murders that terrorised Italy in the early 1990s. Nobody knows for sure, but there have long been suspicions that Messina Denaro had his back covered by politicians and other establishment connections. Crime writer Roberto Saviano has pointed out that a former junior justice minister, Antonio D'Ali, has been convicted for collusion with the Messina Denaro family. Messina Denaro was eventually caught outside a clinic in Palermo after police discovered he was sick with cancer.

☆ Venezuela foreign assets will not pass to Maduro -opposition
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Vivian Sequera | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CARACAS, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Opposition lawmakers in Venezuela seeking the removal of Juan Guaido as the country's interim president said on Thursday that foreign assets will not pass to the government of President Nicolas Maduro if Guaido is removed from his post. Three of four major opposition groups - Justice First, Democratic Action and A New Era - are backing a bill to oust Guaido and create a five-member commission to manage foreign assets, especially U.S.-based refiner Citgo, a subsidiary of state-owned oil company PDVSA. The effort received initial approval from the assembly last week, despite warnings from Guaido that Maduro could take control of assets abroad, but must be voted on a second time. But Maduro has remained in control of nearly all Venezuela's institutions, including its security forces, and Guaido's interim government, which has control over some foreign assets and runs many embassies, has seen international support wane. The Supreme Court in the United Kingdom - where Maduro has sued for access to the gold - has ruled British courts are bound to accept their government does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela's president "for any purpose."

☆ Six dead after bus plunges off bridge into river in Spain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Six people died and two were injured after a passenger bus careened off a bridge and plunged into an overflowing river in northwestern Spain, emergency services said on Sunday. Two survivors - the vehicle's 63-year-old driver and a female passenger - were pulled out of the river by firefighters with rope and taken to nearby hospitals with varying degrees of injury. The spokesperson added that the search-and-rescue operation around the bridge had now concluded, while engineers attempted to find a way to safely recover the wreckage from the river Lerez. Shortly afterwards, they received a second call from inside the bus as it was filling up with water. The river remained above its overflow threshold throughout the night, forcing emergency rescue workers to suspend the operation for nearly two hours before resuming in the morning.

CARACAS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition parties are seeking to remove Juan Guaido as head of Citgo, the country's most important asset abroad, and block his interim government from extending its mandate by another year, spokespeople from the country's main opposition parties said on Wednesday. But opposition political parties propose instead to replace Guaido with a commission of five parliament-appointed members to govern Citgo's assets, and block the one-year extension. Parties looking to replace Guaido have proposed delegating the functions of the interim government to the new commission. Three of Venezuela's largest opposition parties support the motion, Marquina said, while the fourth - which Guaido belongs to - supports the interim government. Guaido's failure to extend his leadership may spell trouble for the boards controlling those assets, whose legitimacy rests on the recognition of Guaido as Venezuela's interim leader.

☆ Analysis: Italy's rates clash with ECB a sign of things to come for euro zone
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Francesco Canepa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Summary Euro zone governments offering cost-of-living subsidiesECB has warned it won't compensate for "policy errors"Clashes seen widening beyond ItalyFRANKFURT, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Attacks by Italy's new government on the European Central Bank over its plans to raise borrowing costs may be a sign of things to come for a euro zone struggling with inflation and debt. It also showed the ECB did not fear penalising the most indebted of the 19 euro zone countries, Italy among them, which tend to see their borrowing costs rise disproportionately when credit becomes more expensive. "The ECB is clearly ready to take risks with fragmentation in the euro area," Gilles Moec, chief economist at AXA Investment Managers, said. With bigger deficits to refinance and the ECB raising interest rates while also winding down its bond purchases, markets have pushed up yields across the euro zone and particularly for the weakest borrowers, such as Italy. But the ECB has been clear it won't be used to rescue countries that have made imprudent "policy errors".

☆ Colombia ELN leftist guerrilla group declares Christmas ceasefire
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez ViloriaBOGOTA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Colombian leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) on Monday declared a nine-day unilateral ceasefire over the Christmas period, as part of a bid to support peace talks with the Andean country's government, which urged other illegal armed groups to follow suit. Colombia's government and the ELN last week completed the first cycle of peace talks between the two parties in Venezuela's capital Caracas. The unilateral ceasefire will only apply to Colombia's military and police, the ELN said in a recorded statement, adding it reserves the right to defend itself if attacked. Following the announcement, Colombia's government called on other armed groups also to call a ceasefire. Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra and Oliver Griffin Writing by Oliver Griffin Editing by Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ These Children Are Making Millions on YouTube
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( R.T. Watson | Photographs Alfonso Duran For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/youtube-vlad-niki-like-nastya-kids-diana-show-11669412051

☆ JPMorgan expects to keep growing in Latin America with improved outlook
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Tatiana Bautzer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAO PAULO, Nov 23 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) will keep growing in Latin America over the next few years as it expects the region's geopolitical outlook to improve, said Alfonso Eyzaguirre, the bank's chief executive for Latin America and Canada. He expects Latin America to profit from the changes. Latin America also stands to receive a large portion of private investment to tackle climate change, Eyzaguirre added. JPMorgan has been adding headcount and new services for corporate clients in Latin America. Brazil and Britain are the only countries apart from the United States where JPMorgan has retail banking activities.

☆ California tries to harness megastorm floods to ease crippling droughts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Sharon Bernstein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/3] The dried out Arroyo Pasajero Creek is seen alongside an aqueduct in Huron, California, U.S. on October 25, 2022. Outside the United States, countries including India are also beginning to increase the use of recharge ponds to store water in natural or human-made aquifers. While the idea of storing water underground is not new, a recent California law regulating groundwater use has spurred a spate of projects that the state is helping to fund. The new pond, on about 20 acres of former farmland , will help to guide water underground to store it for residents as well as agriculture. Since then the state's population has nearly doubled to 40 million residents.

☆ Italian mafia kingpin captured in Argentina - police
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Police escort Carmine Alfonso Maiorano after he was detained in Guernica, Argentina, in this undated handout image provided by Argentina's Federal Police October 31, 2022. Carmine Alfonso Maiorano, a 68-year-old leader of the Italian 'Ndrangheta mafia, was captured last Wednesday in the town of Guernica in the province of Buenos Aires, the statement said. The International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol, considers 'Ndrangheta "one of the most extensive and powerful criminal organizations in the world." The 'Ndrangheta mafia established itself in Argentina several years ago, the police statement said, operating in tandem with Albanian counterparts in Europe. The detainee was placed at the disposal of Argentina's Federal Criminal and Correctional Court.

☆ Televisa's ViX steaming platform to be profitable by end 2023 -executive
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Grupo Televisa (TLEVISACPO.MX), Mexico's largest broadcaster, expects its ViX streaming service to be profitable by the end of 2023, Chief Executive Alfonso de Angoitia said Friday. TelevisaUnivision, a joint venture with U.S. broadcaster Univision, earlier this year launched the Spanish-language streaming service ViX, which will compete with established rivals like Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) and Amazon.com Inc's Prime Video (AMZN.O). De Angoitia said about 50% of the subscribers for ViX+, the paid version of the platform, were coming from the ad-based version of the service through the app shared by both. The company posted on Thursday a net profit of 1.118 billion pesos ($55.6 million), a 47% increase from a year earlier. Those businesses accounted for about 7.4% of consolidated revenue and about 3.4% of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), executives said.

☆ Analysis: Top central bankers fear breaking economy if they raise rates too fast
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Francesco Canepa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

STUBBORNLY HIGHBut stubbornly high inflation is making central bankers' job incredibly tricky. While there is nothing central bankers can do about present inflation rates, the mere optics of runaway prices made a "pivot" more difficult to justify. This requires an extraordinary balancing act by central bankers: persuading the market that they are serious about bringing down inflation without choking the economy. "The Fed needs to open a path towards smaller interest rate hikes without sounding too dovish," Christian Scherrmann, U.S. economist at DWS, said. The change of tone was minimal but it was enough for investors to start pricing in smaller hikes further down the road.

Turkey Point sits on porous rock and underneath it is the Biscayne Aquifer – a primary source of drinking water. Nuclear plants have up to 60 years after they shut down to dispose of their nuclear waste. “FPL and the NRC regularly evaluate nuclear power plant operating conditions and physical infrastructure to ensure ongoing safe operations,” the company said. Electrical cables from Turkey Point Nuclear Power plant that power 1 million homes in South Florida. Alfonso Duran for NBC NewsNew homes under constructed near Turkey Point nuclear power plant in Miami in September.

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