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☆ Democrats say Florida is 'dead for Biden' as his 2024 presidential campaign starts: 'We just need to be realistic'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

"It's like a dead carcass on the side of the road," DeSantis said in April of the Florida Democratic Party. Nearly two decades ago, Florida Democrats were "similarly declared dead, you know, forever, Amen," Schale said, but they rebounded. Wilfredo Lee/AP PhotoDemocrats say they still have spend in FloridaBut it's important for Democrats to still invest campaign resources in Florida, Democratic insiders said. Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said the party had no infrastructure and no voter registration drive when she took the helm in February. Joe Raedle/Getty Images, Scott Olson/Getty ImagesBuilding a Democratic benchFried she's optimistic about Florida Democrats' future — and Biden's potential there.

[1/5] Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva attend an international conference on the political crisis in Venezuela, at Palacio de San Carlos in Bogota, Colombia April 25, 2023. The meeting in Bogota, hosted by Colombian President Gustavo Petro with support from the United States, included Spain, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil and others. The meeting was meant to help Maduro and the opposition restart stalled talks in Mexico focused on free elections and the possible lifting of sanctions against the government. Attendees found common ground over the need for free elections and lifting of sanctions parallel to agreements between the two sides, he said. The Mexico talks, held briefly last year and in 2021, are supposed to provide a roadmap out of the long-running crisis.

☆ Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy after running out of options
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 protection in New Jersey Sunday, a court filing showed. The retailer had suffered from sliding sales, making its financial position increasingly precarious. The US home goods retailer warned last year that it had "serious doubt" about surviving after grappling with sliding sales. In another last-ditch move, Bed Bath & Beyond tried this month to raise $300 million from other investors. Holly Etlin, who was appointed as interim CFO in February, has been tapped by the company to serve as chief restructuring officer and will oversee the liquidation and sale process, the Chapter 11 filing shows.

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Bed Bath & Beyond, founded in 1971, has long been a go-to destination for home goods. Take a look at the rise and fall of the retailer loved by many shoppers. In September 2022, Bed Bath & Beyond announced it would be closing 150 stores and slashing 20% of its corporate positions in an effort to cut costs. Bed Bath & Beyond was once a leading home goods retailer, appealing to shoppers across the nation with its strategy of abundance. We took a closer look at Bed Bath & Beyond's rise from a small linen store in New Jersey to a major national retail chain filing for bankruptcy.

☆ Under Lisbon's streets, ancient Roman galleries tell story of the past
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] View of Roman galleries under downtown is seen in Lisbon, Portugal, April 20, 2023. The city remained under Roman control for several centuries. The galleries were first discovered in 1771, when Lisbon was being rebuilt after the devastating Great Earthquake of 1755. Tickets to visit the galleries usually sell out within 15 minutes. Reporting by Catarina Demony, Miguel Pereira and Pedro Nunes in Lisbon; Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pace of rise in global sea level has doubled, UN climate report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The remains of houses are pictured as rising sea levels destroy homes built along the shoreline, forcing villagers to relocate, in El Bosque, Mexico, November 7, 2022. Extreme glacier melt and record ocean heat levels - which cause water to expand - contributed to an average rise in sea levels of 4.62mm a year between 2013-2022, the U.N. agency said in a major report detailing the havoc of climate change. "We have already lost this melting of glaciers game and sea level rise game so that's bad news," WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told a press conference. Rising sea levels threaten some coastal cities and the very existence of low-lying states such as the island of Tuvalu - which plans to build a digital version of itself in case it is submerged. Climate scientists have warned that the world could breach a new average temperature record in 2023 or 2024, fuelled by climate change and the anticipated return of warming El Niño conditions.

☆ Andes Turmoil Rattles Governments, Spurs Migration to U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Ryan Dube | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LIMA, Peru—Mounting violent crime and political upheaval are buffeting Andean countries in South America that had recently been stable, threatening fragile governments and prompting hundreds of thousands to flee north to the U.S. In Ecuador, President Guillermo Lasso faces an impeachment vote in May as drug-related homicides have risen. Bolivia has run out of dollars, its government hobbled by tumbling natural-gas exports. Peru’s economy has contracted sharply since President Pedro Castillo was removed from office in December, sparking violent protests. Colombian drug gangs run rampant in some rural regions, even as the former guerrilla who leads the government, Gustavo Petro , embarks on peace negotiations with them.

[1/4] U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Colombian President Gustavo Petro in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueApril 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden praised Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Thursday for his country's treatment of refugees from Venezuela and for his commitment to democracy and human rights. "As we begin the next century of our partnership, I believe we can do even more" to deepen and develop cooperation, Biden told Petro during Thursday's meeting. Biden thanked Petro for the hospitality and support that Colombia was showing to Venezuelan refugees. REGIONAL PARTNERS"We're working closely with regional partners to help Colombia meet this challenge," Biden said.

☆ Searching for the disappeared must be priority at Colombia peace talks -official
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Julia Symmes Cobb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

At least 104,600 people have been forcibly disappeared in connection with Colombia's conflict between leftist rebels, right-wing paramilitaries, criminal groups and the government. The Search Unit for Disappeared People was created under a 2016 peace deal with the FARC rebels to find and identify missing people or their remains and give suffering families answers. Forero added she hopes the unit will be able to tally many more recoveries of remains and identifications during her tenure. The disappeared unit is the least well-known of the justice mechanisms created by the 2016 accord, which also include the truth commission and a tribunal tasked with trying war crimes. The country's truth commission estimated the number of disappeared could be as high as 210,000.

☆ Biden to discuss Venezuela sanctions with Colombia's Petro in White House talks -official
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Matt Spetalnick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Colombia's President Gustavo Petro speaks on the day of a presentation of the labor reform that his government wants to carry out, in Bogota, Colombia March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Luisa GonzalezWASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will tell Colombian President Gustavo Petro in White House talks on Thursday that he is willing to further ease sanctions on Venezuela only in return for concrete steps toward free elections there, a senior administration official told Reuters. The White House talks are aimed at renewing historically strong ties between Washington and Bogota and charting a new relationship with Colombia’s first leftist president. Since taking office, Biden has eased some U.S. sanctions on OPEC-member Venezuela to encourage dialogue. “Unilateral lifting of sanctions," the official said on condition of anonymity, "will line the pockets of people who have already stolen billions of dollars from Venezuela ...

☆ FARC dissident group says to start peace talks with Colombian government in May
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Julia Symmes Cobb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, April 16 (Reuters) - Dissident FARC rebels who rejected a landmark peace agreement in 2016 said on Sunday they are ready to set up a dialogue with the government on May 16 to begin peace talks to bring their group, the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), out of the armed conflict. The group, made up of 3,530 people - 2,180 combatants and 1,350 auxiliaries - has maintained a bilateral ceasefire with the Colombian government since the beginning of the year. The other dissident FARC faction is the Segunda Marquetalia, which in August 2019 returned to the armed struggle, claiming that the state failed to comply with the peace agreement. Petro's government reestablished peace talks with the rebels of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the two parties seek to advance towards a bilateral ceasefire agreement in a third round of talks to begin soon in Cuba. Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb, Additional reporting by Nelson Bocanegra Editing by Drazen Jorgic and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: Mexican firm seeks $380 million from Honduras over blocked unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Valentine Hilaire | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MEXICO CITY, April 14 (Reuters) - Mexican investment firm JLL Capital, whose Honduran operation has been blocked since 2018 in a local dispute, is seeking some $380 million from the Central American country in arbitration proceedings, claiming that it violated foreign investment protections, documents reviewed by Reuters show. The invitations were properly handled, countered Daniel Garcia Barragan of the law firm Garcia Barragan Abogados representing JLL last week. This is the second claim against Honduras submitted to World Bank's ICSID this year, its website shows. Some analysts say this casts doubt on the Central American nation's ability to attract foreign investment. Executives had planned to expand operations to Guatemala, but pulled the plug due to its legal troubles in Honduras.

☆ Biden to host Colombian President Petro on April 20
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will host a bilateral meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement on Friday. "I am grateful to President Biden for his invitation," Petro said on Twitter. The meeting will take place in Washington on April 20. Petro, who took office last year, has derided the U.S.-led war on drugs as a failure and called for a new international approach. Colombia's attorney general, who is critical of Petro's policies, has said the country risks losing U.S. support because of rising coca output and a the bill to allow criminal gangs to surrender in exchange for lesser sentences.

☆ Argentina cenbank mulls another rate hike to tame 100% inflation - adviser, analysts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Jorge Otaola | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUENOS AIRES, April 12 (Reuters) - Argentina central bank board have been discussing the idea of another potential interest rate hike from the current 78% level, an adviser to the bank said on Wednesday, with analysts anticipating a 200-basis-point raise to contend with annual inflation running at over 100%. "The possibility of a new rate rise has been raised, but it is not yet defined," an advisor to the central bank told Reuters, asking not to be named as the discussions were private. A central bank spokesman declined to comment. Analysts, however, unanimously agreed another hike was likely, with monthly inflation for March expected to have accelerated to above 7%, the fastest since July last year. He agreed the rate would likely rise to 80%.

BUENOS AIRES, April 10 (Reuters) - Argentina has patched up its wobbly economy with a so-called "soy dollar" preferential exchange rate to boost grains exports and bring in much-needed foreign currency, which analysts said would give the government breathing room, at least temporarily. "The 'farm dollar' will not create extra foreign currency, but at least will accelerate it coming in and so provide temporary relief," said economist Gustavo Ber, adding that foreign currency reserves had hit "critical levels." Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsThe so-called "soy dollar" was used twice last year and did help create a boost in exports, at least in the short-term helping ease availability of foreign currency. "This new measure aims to buy two months, which in the current context is not insignificant," Geretto told Reuters. Reporting by Walter Bianchi and Anna-Catherine Brigida; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Honduras again extends emergency powers to fight violent gangs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TEGUCIGALPA, April 7 (Reuters) - Honduras' government on Friday extended until late May emergency powers that suspend some constitutional rights, part of an anti-gang push implemented by leftist President Xiomara Castro in the Central American country's largest cities. Earlier this week, Castro's government deployed soldiers across the nation to fight violent criminal groups. This is the third extension - this time by another 45 days - of the so-called state of exception that is now set to expire on May 21, the government said in a statement. "This legal measure has made it possible for security authorities to capture more than a hundred members of criminal organizations," the statement added. Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Some people living near Colombian volcano loathe to evacuate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] The Arenas crater is seen after the authorities declared an orange alert at the Nevado del Ruiz volcano and asked the population for a preventive evacuation in Herveo, Colombia April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Andres Camilo ValenciaBOGOTA, April 6 (Reuters) - Colombia's government is trying to speed up the evacuation of some 2,500 families living closest to the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, which is being monitored for a possible eruption, but some residents are refusing to leave. The volcano's eruption in 1985 killed more than 25,000 people in Colombia's biggest-ever natural disaster, with avalanches of earth and rock fragments burying entire settlements. "It doesn't scare me because it already exploded," said Evelio Ortiz, a potato farmer who survived the 1985 eruption with his wife and five children. The Nevado del Ruiz is a stratovolcano or composite volcano.

☆ Some people living near Colombian volcano are loath to evacuate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Colombia's peso to stay weak on c.bank pause signs, mismatch vs oil price
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Gabriel Burin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BUENOS AIRES, April 5 (Reuters) - Colombia's peso will likely stay weak on signs the central bank is turning to a wait-and-see approach on interest rates, combined with downside pressures from the currency's mismatch against oil prices, a Reuters poll showed. Officials at BanRep, as the central bank is known, last week raised the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 13.0%, a more than 20-year high. "If March inflation behaves as expected, they suggested this could be the last hike," J.P. Morgan analysts wrote in a report. We think this supports our underweight (view) for the peso, which has also decoupled from lower oil prices these past few weeks and offers good entry levels for shorts." The currency has fared poorly for months even while Colombia's central bank conducted an aggressive tightening cycle that added 1,125 basis points in rate increments since a pandemic-time low of 1.75%.

☆ Inside Nike: Sources share claims of sexism, cheating, abuse at the world's wokest brand
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Joshua Hunt | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +51 min

The conservative blowback came as no surprise to Parker, who told Nike's board of directors to expect some short-term backlash. In late 2014, the BBC sent a film crew to Portland to interview several former Oregon Project employees. "He would be at the side of the track calling out runners' splits but wouldn't call Kara's out," Adam Goucher told me. When people asked why she left the Oregon Project, she said it was a "personal decision." "I don't think it has anything to do with who the CEO is," Goucher told me.

☆ Honduras deploys hundreds of military agents to fight crime
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TEGUCIGALPA, April 3 (Reuters) - Honduras' government deployed soldiers across the country as part of a plan to fight criminal groups, authorities said Monday, with official images showing hundreds of soldiers being commissioned for the project. "In this new stage we have the task of ending drug trafficking, crime and also capturing the leaders of maras (violent street gangs) and gangs. We will guarantee peace for the life of the Honduran people," Defense Minister Jose Manuel Zelaya said at a ceremony. The state of emergency, which suspends some constitutional rights, is set to last until April 20. Honduras registers an average of 10 homicides a day, according to security authorities.

☆ Colombia raises alert level for deadly volcano on increased seismic activity
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] An aerial view of Nevado Del Ruiz volcano located on the border of Caldas and Tolima April 10, 2013. REUTERS/John Vizcaino/BOGOTA, March 31 (Reuters) - Colombian authorities have raised the alert level for the deadly Nevado del Ruiz volcano to orange, suggesting a greater probability of an eruption in the coming days or weeks, due to an increase in seismic activity. The Nevado del Ruiz is a stratovolcano, or composite volcano, which straddles the border between Colombia's Tolima and Caldas provinces. "We have an orange alert due to the change in seismology at the Ruiz volcano. Mayors must prepare the protocols for this state of alert," President Gustavo Petro said in a Twitter message on Friday.

Venezuelan oil resumed flowing to the U.S. in January under a Treasury Department license granted to Chevron that allowed it to expand output there and export the oil. Refiners including Valero and Phillips 66 (PSX.N) have bought cargoes from Chevron, according to U.S. Customs and shipping data. Chevron's license - and approvals granted to European firms Eni (ENI.MI) and Repsol (REP.MC) - allow only for oil or debt swaps. Chevron's resumption of Venezuelan crude imports has not led to an increase in the country's overall exports this year, according to PDVSA schedules and Refinitiv Eikon data. 2 U.S. oil company exported some 86,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan oil in February.

☆ 35 secret terms only cruise workers know — and the ones you don't want to hear as a passenger
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Cruise workers have their own secret language they use to communicate with one another. That's because crew members have dozens of secret code words and sayings they use to communicate while keeping passengers in the dark. Insider compiled a dictionary of cruise ship language based on interviews with cruise workers, previous reporting, and industry blogs. GUSTAVO GRANADO/AFP via Getty ImagesBabaloo: Alternatively spelled "Babalu," this is widespread cruise worker slang that means "fool" or "idiot." Cruise to Nowhere: Also called a "stay-cation" by some cruise workers, this is when a ship cruises at sea without stopping at any ports.

☆ Honduras President Castro to visit China after cutting Taiwan ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TEGUCIGALPA, March 29 (Reuters) - Honduran President Xiomara Castro will travel to China "soon," the Honduran foreign ministry said on Twitter on Wednesday, without providing a date for the trip. The announcement came days after China established diplomatic ties with Honduras as the Central American country ended its decades-long relationship with Taiwan. Honduras' foreign minister traveled to China last week, days after Castro tweeted her government would seek to open relations with Beijing, which officially established ties with Honduras on Sunday. Taiwan, left with diplomatic relations with only 13 countries, accused Honduras of demanding exorbitant sums before severing ties. Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Anthony Esposito and Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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