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☆ Trump attorney says Manhattan is an 'unfair venue' for the former president, calling it 'pro-Joe Biden.' Yet that's where he built his empire.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Donald Trump's attorney argued the former president can't get a fair trial in Manhattan. Donald Trump was born in New York City, where his family built their empire. Even before he was officially charged, Trump complained that the investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was politically motivated. Donald Trump was quoted in the obituary saying he was grateful that his father focused his construction business in Brooklyn and Queens. ''It was good for me,'' a chuckling Donald Trump said, according to the Times.

☆ Venezuela arrests nine CVG officials over corruption probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CARACAS, April 2 (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities have taken nine officials from state-owned metals conglomerate Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana (CVG) - including from steel-maker subsidiary Sidor - into custody during corruption investigations, attorney general Tarek Saab said on Sunday. Prosecutors began investigating irregularities at CVG and Sidor on Friday, adding to investigations into alleged corruption at state oil company PDVSA and a government agency overseeing cryptocurrency transactions, both led by Tareck El Aissami who subsequently resigned as oil minister. Nestor Astudillo and Pedro Maldonado, the presidents of Sidor and CVG respectively, are under arrest, as well as four company vice presidents and three managers, Saab said on Twitter. Some 42 people have been arrested as part of investigations into corruption, Saab tweeted on Saturday night, without giving more details. Reporting by Mayela Armas Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago Writing by Oliver Griffin Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The high-speed train in Saudi Arabia that connects Mecca and Medina
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Lilit Marcus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia CNN —In the distant past, Muslim pilgrims came to the holy city of Mecca on foot. Haramain means “two sanctuaries” in Arabic, named for the holy cities of Mecca and Medina that sit on the line’s opposite ends. Business class passengers on the train can watch seat-back TVs. Even on a short journey like the one from Jeddah to KAEC, business class passengers are entitled to a full meal service. When it comes to high-speed railway, it seems as though the Haramain line is only the beginning in Saudi Arabia.

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☆ Turkish parliament ratifies Finland's NATO accession as Sweden kept waiting
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Turkish parliament was the last among the 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland's membership after Hungary's legislature approved a similar bill earlier this week. Finland and Sweden asked to join NATO last year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "NATO membership will strengthen Finland's security and improve stability and security in the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe," the Finnish government said in a statement following the Turkish parliament vote. Twe Turkish parliament's ratification of Finland's NATO membership is set to be approved by President Tayyip Erdogan and then published in the country's Official Gazette. When Finland's instrument of accession document reaches the U.S. State Department, the Nordic country will formally become a NATO member.

☆ Factbox: Steps in Finnish, Swedish path to NATO membership
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Hungary's parliament approved a bill this week to allow Finland to join NATO after Erdogan declared Turkey was ready to approve that bid. Turkey's parliament is expected to follow through on Erdogan's commitment with a vote this week, clearing the way for Finland to join NATO within weeks. Here are the key steps in Finland's and Sweden's path towards NATO membership so far:FINLAND AND SWEDEN SUBMIT MEMBERSHIP REQUESTThe applications, letters signed by the countries' foreign ministers, were formally handed in by Finland's and Sweden's NATO ambassadors on May 18, 2022. FINLAND FORGES AHEADAll NATO countries must ratify a would-be member's application before it can join the alliance. But NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said getting Sweden's application over the line is a top priority.

☆ Venezuela's Maduro suspends PDVSA restructuring committee after minister quits
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Deisy Buitrago | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CARACAS, March 27 (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro suspended a committee he had appointed to restructure state oil firm PDVSA under the supervision of Tareck El Aissami, the oil minister who resigned last week amid an expanding anti-corruption probe into the company and the judiciary. The probe has led to 10 officials and 11 businessmen being arrested and 11 more wanted. PDVSA President Pedro Tellechea was appointed as the new oil minister last week, giving him wide control of the industry. Maduro said last week a new restructuring process must begin in PDVSA, formally known as Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., to audit its accounts and uncover corruption. PDVSA's restructuring commission was created to adopt urgent measures to "protect the industry from imperialist aggression."

☆ Brazil's monetary policy director leaves office amid government uncertainty over replacement
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The central bank stated in a note that Serra's departure follows the end of his term on Feb. 28. The day after Serra's departure, the director of Economic Policy, Diogo Guillen, began temporarily accumulating his function, a common practice at the central bank until substitutions are made. Supervision director Paulo Souza, whose term also expired at the end of February, remains in his current position. Under a 2021 law granting formal autonomy to the central bank, Governor Roberto Campos Neto will remain in office until December 2024. Lula, who has criticized Campos Neto and the central bank for keeping interest rates high to combat inflation, will eventually replace all nine members of the bank's board, which decides monetary policy.

☆ 'In memory of Jordyn's fingers please lend a hand': Family has cheeky fundraiser for worker who lost fingers in Cold Stone Creamery incident
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Jordyn Martin, 21, lost three fingers to an ice cream machine after a hand got caught, reports say. Jordyn Martin, a 21-year-old who worked at a Cold Stone Creamery in Corvallis, Oregon, was in a workplace incident on March 15 that left her with only seven fingers, the Corvallis Gazette-Times reported. According to the local news, Martin's hand was mangled by an ice cream machine after a towel she was holding got caught in its rotors. "In memory of Jordyn's fingers please lend a hand," the fundraiser is titled. According to Martin's fundraiser description, her dominant hand was hurt, and doctors were unable to reattach the amputated digits during surgery.

☆ Argentina orders public sector to give up dollar bonds in debt shake-up
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Eliana Raszewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File PhotoBUENOS AIRES, March 23 (Reuters) - Argentina ordered public sector bodies on Thursday to sell or exchange their holdings of 11 sovereign dollar bonds in a bid to reorganize its debt as inflation soared above 100% and its foreign reserves dropped. A presidential decree in Argentina's official gazette said public sector bodies would have to sell or auction five local law dollar bonds maturing between 2029 and 2041, and to swap six foreign law dollar bonds for peso debt. The order makes official plans announced earlier in the week, which had dragged down the value of Argentina's sovereign bonds. These are already in distressed debt territory after a ninth sovereign default and a major debt restructuring in 2020. Public sector bodies will have to sell the local law dollar bonds and exchange foreign law dollar bonds maturing between 2029 and 2046 for debt payable in pesos issued by the Treasury.

☆ Thai PM slips in opinion poll, rival pulls ahead as election looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha speaks to members of media at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, March 20, 2023. Thailand is expected to hold an election in May, which will continue a long-running political battle between the Shinawatra family and conservative pro-military establishment. "Poll is a poll. Paetongtarn, 36, better known locally by her nickname "Ung Ing" is one of the nominees for prime minister for the Pheu Thai party, which together with its previous incarnations has won every Thai election since 2001. The NIDA Poll, which surveyed 2,000 voters across Thailand in March, also showed that nearly 50% of respondents said they would back parliamentary candidates from Pheu Thai.

[1/5] A Venezuelan flag next to some flags of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA is pictured near the company's headquarters, in Caracas, Venezuela March 20, 2023. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez ViloriaCARACAS, March 20 (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Monday accepted the resignation of the country's powerful oil minister following the detention of at least six high level officials amid a corruption probe focused on state-run company PDVSA and the judiciary. Arresting government officials for corruption is rare in Venezuela, a country that rights groups such as Transparency International have described as opaque. The sources also said that at least 20 lower level officials at PDVSA have been arrested in recent days. The arrests are the largest recent crackdown on alleged PDVSA corruption.

☆ Thailand dissolves parliament for election
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn has endorsed a decree to dissolve parliament, according to an announcement in the Royal Gazette on Monday, paving the way for elections in May. An election must be held 45 to 60 days after the house dissolution, which takes effect immediately. "This is a return of political decision-making power to the people swiftly to continue democratic government with the King as head of state," said the decree published on Monday. An election date has yet to be announced but Deputy Prime Minster Wissanu Krea-ngam earlier in the day said it would likely be held on May 14, if the house were dissolved on Monday. Thailand's election is expected to showcase a long-running political battle between the billionaire Shinawatra family and the country's conservative pro-military establishment.

☆ Thailand prepares to dissolve parliament ahead of election
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BANGKOK, March 17 (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Friday he had prepared a decree seeking to dissolve parliament ahead of an election, an expected step as his government heads into the last week of its four-year term. The decree would require approval of Thailand's monarch and would take effect once published in the Royal Gazette. We have to wait for the announcement in the Royal Gazette," Prayuth told reporters in the northern city of Chiang Mai. He will be up against Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and Yingluck's niece. Paetongtarn, 36, has led Prayuth in opinion polls for months as the top choice for Thailand's next prime minister.

Egypt desperately needs the proceeds from privatisation after a series of economic shocks. STAKE SALE DRIVEEgypt set a target in 2022 of raising $10 billion annually over four years through private investment in state assets. Egypt has established its own sovereign fund to bring in private investors to develop state assets, but the move appears designed to attract capital without relinquishing control, said Sayigh. "They want others to help the state with its financial burden, but it's still the state that determines priorities and investments," he said. MILITARY TAX BREAKSFuture asset sales will be complicated by an expansion under Sisi of the military's often opaque economic role, analysts say.

☆ Israel urges Brazil to undock Iranian warships
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, March 2 (Reuters) - Israel on Thursday criticised Brazil's decision to grant berth to two Iranian warships in the face of U.S. pressure, and urged President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government to send them away. Reuters reported that Brazil had declined to admit them in January, in a goodwill gesture from Lula as he flew to Washington to meet U.S. President Joe Biden. Lior Haiat, spokesperson for Israel's Foreign Ministry, called the Brazilian berth for the warships "a dangerous and regretful development," accusing the Iranian navy of cooperating with sanctioned entities in Tehran. In a Feb. 15 press conference, the U.S. ambassador to Brazil had urged it not to allow the ships to dock. A Feb. 23 notice in a Brazilian gazette said the warships had been given permission to dock between Feb. 26 and March 4.

[1/2] Iranian military ship Iris Makran navigates on the coast of Rio de Janeiro as a Brazilian flag flutters in Copacabana Beach, Brazil, February 27, 2023. REUTERS/Ricardo MoraesRIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Two Iranian warships docked in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government granted permission despite pressure from the United States to bar them. "In the past, those ships facilitated illegal trade and terrorist activities, and have also been sanctioned by the United States. Brazil is a sovereign nation, but we firmly believe those ships should not dock anywhere," she said. He traveled to Tehran to meet then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2010 as he sought to broker a nuclear deal between Iran and the United States.

[1/3] A man carries a sofa out of a destroyed apartment building in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Antakya, Hatay province, Turkey, February 20, 2023. More than 160,000 buildings, containing 520,000 apartments, collapsed or were severely damaged in Turkey in the earthquakes. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to rebuild homes within a year, although experts have said the authorities should put safety before speed. Many survivors have left the region of southern Turkey that was hit or have been settled in tents, container homes and other government-sponsored accommodation. Additional reporting by Mehmet Dinar; Editing by Michael Georgy and Edmund BlairOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Turkey introduces regulations for earthquake rebuild -Official Gazette
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A man walks by a collapsed building and rubble, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, in Antakya, Hatay province, Turkey, February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Clodagh KilcoyneISTANBUL, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Turkey has imposed regulations for earthquake rebuilding work in its region hit by this month's devastating tremors, according to a presidential decree published in the country's Official Gazette on Friday. More than 160,000 buildings, containing 520,000 apartments, collapsed or were severely damaged as a result of earthquakes that killed more than 43,000 people in Turkey and left millions homeless in cold winter weather. According to the decree, individuals, institutions and organisations will be able to build residences and workplaces to be donated to the urbanisation ministry and later to be distributed to people impacted by the earthquake. Reporting by Mehmet Dinar; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Daren Butler and Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A Florida TV station offered viewers raw, emotional coverage of the shooting of its own journalists
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

And now, in February 2023, it’s Spectrum News 13, a Charter Communications-owned cable news outlet in Florida. For now, Spectrum News 13 said it is withholding the names of the two journalists who were shot. “This is extremely devastating for all of us,” Spectrum News 13 reporter Celeste Springer said on the air. The Spectrum News 13 journalists were attacked while doing a job aimed at serving the public. “I don’t have the words,” Rebecca Turco, one of Spectrum News 13’s journalists, tweeted Wednesday evening.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Feb. 6 killed more than 47,000 people, damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of buildings in Turkey and Syria and left millions homeless. In Turkey, 865,000 people are living in tents and 23,500 in containers, while 376,000 are in student dormitories and public guesthouses outside the earthquake zone, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday. Six people were killed in the latest earthquake to strike the border region of Turkey and Syria, authorities said on Tuesday. Turkey's internet authority blocked access to a popular online forum, Eksi Sozluk, on Tuesday, two weeks after it briefly blocked access to Twitter, citing the spread of disinformation. Information Technologies and Communications Authority (BTK) website shows the website was blocked late on Tuesday, without citing any explicit reason.

☆ Miles Before Ohio Derailment, Train Axle Was On Fire, Video Shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Esther Fung | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Norfolk Southern Corp. train appears to have been on fire miles before it derailed in eastern Ohio, putting scrutiny on the safety detectors along tracks that are supposed to alert crews to such hazards. A manufacturer in Salem, Ohio, posted a clip Friday on its Facebook page of video from a surveillance camera, which showed a fire under one of the cars being pulled by the Norfolk locomotive as it passed its facility. The video surveillance footage was earlier reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

☆ Walmart's experiment with pickup-and-delivery stores appears to be over as the last two prepare to close
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Walmart opened up its first pickup-and-delivery-only store in its headquarters city of Bentonville, Arkansas, in 2014. The retailer appears to be abandoning the model by closing the concept's last 2 remaining stores. But less than nine years after this launch, Walmart appears to be abandoning the concept as it closes the only two remaining standalone Walmart pickup and delivery stores in the country. In addition to the locations in Lincolnwood and Bentonville, a Walmart pickup and delivery only store opened in Metairie, Louisiana, in 2017 and closed last year. Walmart's decision to close these stores, where customers placed orders on walmart.com or the Walmart app, comes as the company has seen ecommerce growth slow greatly.

That window has been scrapped, with the ships now authorized to dock between Feb. 26 and March 3, the Brazil's foreign ministry said. A Brazilian military source confirmed that the federal government, via the foreign ministry, had shifted the dates and blocked the Iranian ships from docking. "The Iranian ships could not come during this period." A spokesperson for Brazil's foreign ministry said it was a "wrong assumption" to say Washington had pressured Brazil. Lula recoiled at U.S. sanctions on Iran and has declined to choose sides in the Russia-Ukraine war, saying Brazil is neutral and wants dialogue to reach peace.

☆ Spain launched its long-awaited 'digital nomad visa' — here's who qualifies and how to apply
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Spanish government has officially approved a new digital nomad visa for remote workers. How Spain's visa for remote workers compares to Portugal's digital nomad visa:Portugal's digital nomad visa has a slightly higher minimum income requirement than Spain's. Cavan Images/Getty ImagesSpain's digital nomad visa is very similar to its neighbor Portugal's, which was released back in November. In order to qualify for Portugal's digital nomad visa, remote workers must make at least four times its minimum wage to apply. Spain's Startup Act and digital nomad visa saw support from both sides of the political spectrum.

☆ Cargo airlines have until July to move flights from Mexico's capital airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Cargo airlines operating out of Mexico's busiest airport will have until July to leave the hub, a decree published in the country's national gazette Thursday evening said. The decree comes from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has said he would have cargo flights moved due to lack of space at the Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City. Around 3% of flights at the airport in 2022 were for cargo, according to flight data. The closest airport is the Felipe Angeles International Airport on the northern outskirts of the city, one of Lopez Obrador's flagship public works projects opened last March. The decree will still allow flights carrying both cargo and passengers to operate out of the Benito Juarez airport.

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