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☆ Mexico's mighty peso hits 7-year record high against U.S. dollar
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Noe Torres | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Some analysts chalk up the peso's latest gains, however, as mostly the flip side of a weakening greenback. The peso gained 0.95% on Monday to trade at 17.42 pesos per dollar, its strongest level since May 2016. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador repeatedly touts the peso's strength as evidence of sound macroeconomic policies, especially his administration's budget austerity and pledge to avoid taking on new debt. "A big part of (the peso's strength) is the dollar's weakness," he said, adding that the Mexican economy further benefits from growing flows of fixed investments into the country. "Mexico has shown itself to be the least ugly person at the party," quipped Gonzali, helping it attract more dance partners.

☆ Former Trump probe prosecutor refuses to answer House Judiciary Committee questions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Pomerantz, author, "People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account," appears on "Meet the Press" in Washington, Feb. 12, 2023. A former prosecutor refused Friday to answer questions at a deposition by the House Judiciary Committee about a criminal investigation of Donald Trump in which he once played a leading role. The Judiciary Committee, whose chairman Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio is a close Republican ally of Trump, has been investigating whether the Manhattan District Attorney's Office probe and charging of Trump was politically motivated. He argued he had the right to not answer questions if they were not pertinent "to a legitimate legislative function." Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., a committee member, told reporters later Pomerantz refused to answer any questions at the deposition.

MEXICO CITY, May 8 (Reuters) - The Mexican government on Monday set out fresh details of a plan to attract businesses to a corridor straddling a narrow isthmus of southern Mexico, part of a larger push to pump investment into the relatively poor region. The plan, called the Inter-Oceanic Corridor, will include 10 new industrial parks along the stretch connecting the Pacific port of Salina Cruz in Oaxaca state with the Gulf coast hub of Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz state, officials said. Officials also hinted at plans to construct four wind plants across the area, home to major installations of state-run oil company Pemex. Another reason to push manufacturing to the south is that the north - which benefits from its proximity with the United States - is facing a drought, officials say. Reporting by Kylie Madry; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by David Alire GarciaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Mexican officials roll out investment plans for southern corridor
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Officials announced details for 10 industrial parks along the corridor connecting the Pacific port of Salina Cruz in Oaxaca state with the Gulf coast hub of Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz state. Four of the parks will be located in Veracruz and six in Oaxaca, officials said during an event touting the potential of the Interoceanic Corridor development plan. Lopez Obrador has repeatedly argued that southern states like Oaxaca are prime for investment versus the country's more industrial north. He has also touted southern Mexico's more ample water resources. The minister added that the Interoceanic Corridor project will be presented to companies from the United States, Canada, Taiwan and Germany, among others.

☆ Mexican president backs U.S. dollar as globe's 'principal currency'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, May 8 (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gave the U.S. dollar a vote on confidence on Monday after he was asked if a weakening greenback might spur a move to diversify Mexico's foreign currency reserves. "We are going to continue considering the dollar as the world's principal currency," Lopez Obrador told a press conference. "We have sufficient reasons to not move to other currencies," he said, underscoring Mexico's "increasingly close" economic ties to the United States. The United States is by far Mexico's largest trading partner, with both economies closely integrated over decades in sectors ranging from energy, autos and agriculture. The dollar remained weaker against most of its major peers on Monday as fears persist about a potential recession in the United States later this year.

May 8 (Reuters) - A Texas man accused of mowing down a group of pedestrians with his SUV near a Brownsville homeless shelter that attends to migrants was charged on Monday with eight counts of manslaughter, police said. Responding to a question from a reporter, Sauceda said investigators have not ruled out that the crash was intentional. The driver attempted to flee the scene after impact but was held down by several bystanders, Sauceda said. Alvarez, who was also charged with 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, has an extensive criminal history, the chief said. A video circulating online purporting to show the crash shows a speeding SUV plowing into a row of people sitting on the curb.

☆ Texas mall shooting prompts Biden to renew call for gun control
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Maria Caspani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Reuters TVMay 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday called on Congress to pass gun control bills in the wake of yet another mass shooting that left nine people dead, including the gunman, at a Texas mall on Saturday. The gunman killed eight people, including children, and wounded at least seven, before a police officer killed him, police said on Saturday. Some Twitter users said people and politicians needed to see videos like this one to grasp the magnitude and horrific nature of gun violence. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats stressed the need to pass stronger gun safety legislation to curtail gun violence. One unidentified eyewitness told local ABC affiliate WFAA TV that the gunman was "walking down the sidewalk just ... shooting his gun outside."

☆ No harmful chemical levels in air after Shell Texas chemical plant fire, company says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] An olefins unit burns in fire at Shell Deer Park, Texas chemical plant in this screengrab obtained from social media on May 5, 2023, in Deer Park, Texas, U.S. Johnny Walea via TMX/via REUTERSMay 6 (Reuters) - Air monitoring around an extinguished fire at the Shell Plc's (SHEL.L) chemical plant in Deer Park, Texas, showed no harmful levels of chemicals in the air, the company said on Saturday, added that there was no threat to the surrounding community. The fire broke out shortly before 3 p.m. CDT (2000 GMT) on Friday after in an olefins unit at the plant in the Houston suburb. Five people were taken for evaluation of possible injuries due to exposure to burned chemicals, the county sheriff said on Friday. The company on Saturday said in a series of tweets that the fire was extinguished and air monitoring has detected no harmful levels of chemicals. Operations at the refinery continued despite the fire in the chemical plant, sources familiar with the refinery's operations said.

☆ Police responding to shooting at Texas mall, multiple people injured
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Police respond to a shooting in the Dallas area's Allen Premium Outlets, which authorities said has left multiple people injured in Allen, Texas, U.S. May 6, 2023 in a still image from video. ABC Affiliate WFAA via REUTERSMay 6 (Reuters) - Police were responding to a shooting at a busy suburban Dallas mall on Saturday that left multiple people injured, authorities said. There was no word on deaths or the number of people injured at the Allen Premium Outlets mall where the shooting took place, about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Dallas. "Law enforcement is on the scene at Allen Premium Outlets. Allen, Texas, is a community of about 100,000 people.

☆ New Yorkers to protest chokehold killing on subway, demand criminal charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Julia Harte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The examiner's homicide finding alone does not imply intent or culpability, which are issues that prosecutors will consider in deciding whether to bring criminal charges. The 24-year-old former Marine, who was white, was questioned by police and released on Monday, local media said. A video of the incident that has circulated on social media showed an unidentified passenger applying a chokehold to a man identified as Neely on the floor of a subway train for more than three minutes. Democratic U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose district includes neighborhoods in the New York City boroughs of the Bronx and Queens, said Neely was murdered and called for his killer's arrest. Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago and Julia Harte in New York Editing by Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Paraguay presidential candidate Cubas arrested after post-election protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Paraguayo Cubas, who placed third in Paraguay's presidential elections last week, talks to police officers after his arrest, in Asuncion, Paraguay, May 5, 2023. REUTERS/Cesar OlmedoASUNCION, May 5 (Reuters) - Paraguayo Cubas, who placed third in Paraguay's presidential elections, has been arrested following post-election protests, authorities said on Friday. Cubas led protests to dispute Sunday's election results and call for a recount, though international organizations said there was no reason to doubt the integrity of the vote. "All the criminals in this country should be handcuffed like Paraguayo Cubas," he added as he got into a patrol car. Cubas had announced plans for renewed protests after his arrival in the capital.

☆ LATAM Airlines reverses loss, posts $122 mln net profit in Q1
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 3 (Reuters) - LATAM Airlines (LTM.SN) reported a first-quarter net profit of $121.8 million, the company said on Wednesday, reversing a net loss of $380 million in the year-ago period. The airline, created by the 2012 merger of Chile's LAN with Brazilian rival TAM, operates units in Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Revenue for Santiago-based LATAM during the quarter rose about 43.2% to $2.8 billion from the year-ago period, boosted by an increase in passenger revenue. Last November, LATAM announced the completion of a years-long restructuring process after it declared bankruptcy in 2020. Reporting by Noe Torres and Carolina Pulice; Editing by Brendan O'BoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Sons of Mexican drug lord 'El Chapo' deny trafficking fentanyl in rare letter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, May 4 (Reuters) - Sons of former Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman denied U.S. allegations that they were major traffickers flooding the United States with synthetic opioid fentanyl, addressing the claims against them in a rare letter. The U.S. Justice Department last month charged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel with trafficking fentanyl and other drugs, including four sons of El Chapo, the cartel's one time leader who is now imprisoned in the U.S. "We have never produced, manufactured or marketed fentanyl or any of its derivatives," the sons wrote in the letter, published by Mexican news outlet Milenio late on Wednesday. They also singled out Los Chapitos as key figures in the Sinaloa Cartel, blaming them for worsening the U.S. opioid epidemic. Mexico and the United States agreed last month to ramp up efforts to stop the trafficking of fentanyl, which has driven a surge in overdose deaths in the United States.

☆ Chokehold death of homeless man on New York subway ruled a homicide
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

May 4 (Reuters) - The death of a man who was placed in a chokehold by a fellow passenger on a New York City subway train earlier this week has been ruled a homicide by the city's medical examiner as calls for an arrest in the incident have intensified. A video of the incident that has circulated on social media showed an unidentified passenger applying a chokehold to a man identified as Neely on the floor of a subway train for more than three minutes. The altercation occurred after he boarded the train and began saying he was hungry and ready to die, the New York Times reported, citing police. The 24-year-old former Marine who placed Neely in the chokehold was questioned by police and released on Monday, local media reported. Democratic U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose district includes neighborhoods in the New York City boroughs of the Bronx and Queens, said Neely was murdered.

[1/2] Deion Patterson, who Atlanta Police describe as the suspect in a lunchtime mass shooting at a medical building, poses in an undated photograph. Atlanta Police Department/Handout via REUTERSATLANTA, May 4 (Reuters) - A former U.S. Coast Guardsman accused of killing a woman and wounding four others in a shooting in an Atlanta medical building was expected to make his first court appearance on Thursday. The suspect is accused of opening fire in the Northside Medical facility in the city's busy Midtown area at about 12:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday. The woman killed in the shooting was 39-year-old Amy St. Pierre, an employee of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency said. The mother of the suspect told a local ABC affiliate he was upset that doctors would not refill for him a prescription for Ativan, an anti-anxiety drug.

☆ Texas authorities arrest several people who may have helped fugitive hide
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The bloodshed erupted on Friday in Cleveland, Texas, after neighbors asked the suspect to stop firing his semiautomatic rifle in his yard because it was keeping their baby awake. Instead, the man reloaded, entered the home of the neighbors and killed five, including an 8-year-old boy, officials said. "Anybody that helped this maniac definitely has some issues as far as I am concerned," Kean said. The suspect, identified as 38-year-old Francisco Oropesa, was apprehended on Tuesday after a four-day manhunt conducted by local, state and federal officials. The suspect is a Mexican national who immigration officials said had been deported from the United States four times since 2009.

☆ US to continue humanitarian program after Title 42 end date - joint statement
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, May 2 (Reuters) - The United States will continue to accept migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela under a humanitarian program after May 11, when the COVID-19 health policy known as Title 42 is set to end, the U.S. and Mexican governments said on Tuesday. Mexico, for its part, will continue accepting back migrants returned to Mexico on humanitarian grounds, the two countries said in a joint statement. The statement also said the United States would accept some 100,000 people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras under a family reunification program announced last week, but did not give a time frame for that number. The statement came after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met with White House Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall on Tuesday to discuss migration ahead Title 42's impending end. Tuesday's announcement indicates that a humanitarian parole program providing legal migration pathways for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans will continue after Title 42's end.

☆ Jerry Springer, raucous talk show host, dead at 79
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Television personality Jerry Springer at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 25, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File PhotoLONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - Television personality Jerry Springer, known for a long-running talk show that featured raucous audiences, controversial topics and fist-fighting guests and who briefly served as Cincinnati mayor, died at age 79 on Thursday, his family said. Springer was born in London on Feb. 13, 1944, and immigrated to New York City when he was 4 years old. In 1991, Springer landed his own television program, a syndicated talk show broadcast across the United States until 2018. The daytime program, known as "The Jerry Springer Show," was initially a politically oriented show but later featured everyday people discussing sensationalistic topics, often related to unconventional sexuality.

Solis, 64, lives on the banks of Mexico's Villa Victoria reservoir, which supplies water to the bustling capital hours away but does not reach her own faucets. Villa Victoria is part of the Cutzamala System, the source of water for about six million people in Mexico City and the surrounding state of Mexico. Climate change, chaotic urban growth and inefficient infrastructure have strained Mexico's water supplies, pushing the Cutzamala System's stores to their lowest level in 27 years. Mexico City is also tapping alternative sources of water outside the Cutzamala System, including by replacing wells in the Zumpango area in the state of Mexico. But for people like Israel, who lives just a few minutes' drive from the Cutzamala System's water treatment plant and asked not to use his last name, the constitution's promise is increasingly distant.

☆ Walmart in Mexico sees net profit rise in first quarter, yet trails competitors
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 26 (Reuters) - Walmart's Mexico unit (WALMEX.MX) on Wednesday posted a 3.7% rise in first quarter net profit as same-store sales rose in all markets, but it flagged inflation concerns after falling behind competitors in Mexico. Walmart de Mexico, known as Walmex, recorded 11.5 billion pesos ($639 million) in net profit for the first three months of the year, missing a Refinitiv estimate of 12.3 billion pesos. The company said changes in how taxes were calculated in a Central American country hit net profit, which otherwise would have grown 15.6%. Both Mexico and Central America posted same-store sales growth, with revenue up 9.7% from a year earlier to land at 206 billion pesos. Walmex's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew 7.7% to 22.31 billion pesos.

☆ Walmart Mexico's profit edges up as it adds new stores
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 26 (Reuters) - Walmart's Mexico unit (WALMEX.MX) on Wednesday posted a 3.7% rise in its net profit for the first three months of 2023, rising to 11.5 billion pesos ($639 million), as it expanded its footprint with 12 new stores over the quarter. The company, known as Walmex, posted a first quarter revenue up 9.7% from a year earlier, landing at 206.07 billion pesos. Walmex's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) meanwhile grew 7.7% to 22.31 billion pesos, with same-store sales up 12.4% in Central America and 8.7% in Mexico. "New stores contributed 1.4% to total sales growth," Walmex said in a statement. ($1 = 18.0201 pesos at end-March)Reporting by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Brendan O'BoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Chile, US miner Albemarle hold talks on lithium nationalization plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Lithium evaporation ponds are seen at Albemarle Lithium production facility in Silver Peak, Nevada, U.S. October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos BarriaSANTIAGO, April 25 (Reuters) - Chile's state development office Corfo said on Tuesday it met with U.S.-based miner Albemarle (ALB.N) to discuss the South American country's plan to nationalize the lithium industry. Chile's leftist President Gabriel Boric last week announced that control of the country's vast lithium operations would over time be transferred from Albemarle and SQM (SQMA.SN) to a separate state-owned company. Chile has the world's largest lithium reserves. He added that Albemarle, the world's largest producer of lithium, wants to grow in Chile and in the Atacama salt flat with new technologies.

☆ Harry Belafonte, who mixed music, acting, and activism, dies at 96
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Belafonte was born in New York City's borough of Manhattan but spent his early childhood in his family's native Jamaica. A few weeks before the launch, Belafonte told Rolling Stone magazine that singing was a way for him to express injustices in the world. "We were instructed to never capitulate, to never yield, to always resist oppression," Belafonte told Yes! "The Navy came as a place of relief for me," Belafonte told Yes! Belafonte was the first Black performer to win a major Emmy in 1960 with his appearance on a television variety special.

☆ Harry Belafonte, singer, actor and rights campaigner, dies at age 96 -New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 25 (Reuters) - Harry Belafonte, a singer, songwriter and groundbreaking actor who started his entertainment career belting "Day O" in his 1950s hit song "Banana Boat" before turning to political activism, died on Tuesday at age 96, the New York Times reported. (This story has been refiled to fix the case in the headline)Reporting by Brendan O'Brien; Editing by Doina Chiacu;Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Police officers guard the Tree of Life synagogue following Saturday's shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 28, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron JosefczykApril 24 (Reuters) - The man accused of opening fire and killing 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history faces a potential death sentence at the end of a federal trial that begins on Monday with jury selection. Robert Bowers, 50, is accused of dozens of charges, including 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, in a massacre that unfolded at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018. In seeking the death penalty, federal prosecutors will try to prove aggravating factors in their case against Bowers, including that he substantially planned the attack and that he targeted vulnerable victims. Federal authorities said Bowers entered the synagogue in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood where many residents are Jewish, armed with multiple firearms.

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