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BRASILIA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's transition team has held meetings with the soy industry to discuss a new pact to stop deforestation in the Cerrado savanna, modeled on an agreement for the Amazon, a Lula adviser said on Wednesday. In 2006, soy traders voluntarily agreed to stop buying soy from areas deforested in the Amazon after a certain date. Since then, soy farming has expanded rapidly in the Cerrado, where environmental advocates have lobbied for a similar pact. "There are all the pacts that were done in the past - the soy moratorium, the legal wood pact, legal minerals. Minc did not give further details, and the transition team said it was still finalizing its first report to detail Lula's likely future environmental policy.

☆ Huge trade partner and ‘systemic rival.’ Europe has a China problem
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and tit-for-tat sanctions between China and EU lawmakers have strained relations since. The total value of the goods trade between China and Europe hit €696 billion ($732 billion) last year, up by nearly a quarter from 2019. China was the third largest destination for EU goods exports, accounting for 10% of the total, according to Eurostat data. Even so, the United States may exert more pressure on Europe to pull away from China, Borges de Castro noted. EU investment into China has also become more concentrated.

☆ After a slow start, the 2022 hurricane season roared in with memorable and destructive storms
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jennifer Gray | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —As the hurricane season closes, a handful of blockbuster storms made history after an eerily quiet first half of the season gave false hope. In fact, we didn’t have any named storms from July 3 to August 31, the first time that’s occurred since 1941. One of those storms was Hurricane Ian, which hit land in late September and will go down as the most memorable storm of the 2022 season. “Tropical storms have formed in every month outside of hurricane season, and there have been a few hurricanes, too,” NOAA said. Historically, we’ve seen at least 15 named storms form in the month of December, even all the way up to December 30.

☆ Oil up on China COVID hopes, but OPEC+ output concerns offset gains
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Laila Kearney | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary China to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations for elderlyOPEC+ to weigh rollover or oil output cut at Sunday meetingEU fails to agree on Russian oil price cap, say diplomatsNEW YORK, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Oil rose on Tuesday on expectations for a loosening of China's strict COVID-19 controls, but concerns that OPEC+ would keep its output unchanged at its upcoming meeting limited gains. Weakness in the U.S. dollar, which tends to trade inversely with oil, also helped to boost crude prices. Five OPEC+ sources said OPEC+ is likely to keep oil output policy unchanged at its Sunday meeting, while two sources said an additional production cut was also likely to be considered. OPEC+ started to lower its output target by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in November, aiming to shore up oil prices. Markets are also assessing the impact of a looming Western price cap on Russian oil.

☆ Oil jumps on hopes for easing of China's COVID controls
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Ahmad Ghaddar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary China to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations for elderlyInvestors eye next OPEC+ output meeting on Dec. 4EU fails to agree on Russian oil price cap, say diplomatsLONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped by 3% on Tuesday on hopes for a relaxation of China's strict COVID-19 controls after rare protests in Chinese cities over the weekend. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, hold their next meeting on Dec. 4. OPEC+ started to lower its output target by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in November, aiming to shore up oil prices. Markets are also assessing the impact of a looming Western price cap on Russian oil. The price cap is due to come into effect on Dec. 5, when an EU ban on Russian crude also takes effect.

☆ Oil steadies as China COVID hopes offset by OPEC+ output concerns
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Laila Kearney | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary China to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations for elderlyOPEC+ to weigh rollover or oil output cut at Sunday meetingEU fails to agree on Russian oil price cap, say diplomatsNEW YORK, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Oil steadied on Tuesday as gains on hopes for a loosening of China's strict COVID-19 controls were later offset by concerns that OPEC+ would keep its output unchanged at its upcoming meeting. Brent crude futures were up 48 cents at $83.67 a barrel by 11:24 a.m. 1624 GMT. Five OPEC+ sources said OPEC+ is likely to keep oil output policy unchanged at its Sunday meeting, while two sources said an additional production cut was also likely to be considered. OPEC+ started to lower its output target by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in November, aiming to shore up oil prices. Markets are also assessing the impact of a looming Western price cap on Russian oil.

☆ Neymar: Brazil looks to book place in knockout stage without injured star
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Fortunately for them, the player who has become this generation’s talisman will be fit in time to play in the 2022 World Cup knockout stage, should Brazil qualify, after being diagnosed with an ankle sprain. Now 30, this World Cup will likely be his best chance at lifting the trophy. Group H’s other match pits Ghana against South Korea, with both teams desperate for a win to kickstart their World Cup campaigns. In Ghana, Korea knows it faces a team with an abundance of quality in the final third, as the match against Portugal proved. ETSouth Korea vs. Ghana: 8 a.m.

☆ List of bidders for Citigroup's Mexican retail arm shrinks as Inbursa drops out
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Valentine Hilaire | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Mexican bank Grupo Financiero Inbursa (GFINBURO.MX) said on Wednesday it had pulled out of the bidding process for U.S. bank Citigroup's Mexican retail arm Citibanamex. Carlos Slim's Inbursa and German Larrea's Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX) were seen as the frontrunners in bidding for Citibanamex, known also as Banamex. "We considered from the beginning (of the bid) that it was going to be difficult for a player in the sector to make such an acquisition. Other heavyweight names such as Grupo Financiero Banorte (GFNORTEO.MX), Spanish bank Santander (SAN.MC) and media tycoon Ricardo Salinas have previously also pulled out of the process. Reporting by Carolina Pulice and Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Anthony Esposito, Stephen Coates and Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil's Lula won't have interventionist stance on Petrobras, aide says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Ricardo Brito | Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A logo of Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company is seen at their headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes/File PhotoBRASILIA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Brazil's incoming leftist government will not have an interventionist stance on state-run oil giant Petrobras (PETR4.SA), a member of the transition team for President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday. Market participants have been showing concern over how the Lula administration might run Petrobras. He also noted that the incoming administration, and not Petrobras itself, would set a new fuel pricing policy for the country. Shares of Petrobras, which slipped by roughly a quarter since mid-October, were up more than 4% on Thursday, outperforming Brazil's Bovespa stock index (.BVSP), which rose 2.5%.

The complaint was met with skepticism by election authorities and other political figures who have recognized Lula's victory. The head of Brazil's Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, said the election result was "unquestionable," while the center-right Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) called Bolsonaro's challenge "senseless." When the PSDB challenged the result of the 2014 presidential election, the investigation took one year and no irregularities were found. Vice President Hamilton Mourao, on a trip to Portugal, acknowledged on Wednesday that Bolsonaro's challenge was unlikely to succeed but said Brazil's electoral process needed more "transparency." Analyst Andre Cesar at Hold Legislativa consultancy said, however, that the challenge would provide ammunition for an ongoing protest movement of Bolsonaro's hardcore supporters.

☆ Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal: 'I'm waiting for someone to wake me up,' says Saudi sports minister after remarkable win over Argentina
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Zeena Saifi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A day after Saudi Arabia’s historic win against Argentina at the Qatar World Cup, the Kingdom’s sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal says he’s “waiting for someone to wake me up.”“It’s been an unbelievable result. Saudi Arabia's victory is the most famous in the Arab world, alongside Algeria's victory over West Germany in 1982. People that don’t know Saudi Arabia, have never been to Saudi Arabia, go out and talk about it as if they’ve lived there for 30 years, 40 years. In honor of the team’s historic win, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ordered a national public holiday for a day on Wednesday. Asked if Saudi Arabia would put in a bid, similar to its takeover of Newcastle United last year, Prince Abdulaziz didn’t confirm nor deny.

☆ Brazil's electoral court rejects Bolsonaro election challenge
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRASILIA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - The head of Brazil's electoral court Alexandre de Moraes on Wednesday rejected a complaint from President Jair Bolsonaro's party to challenge October's run-off vote, which the incumbent lost my a narrow margin, according to a court document. Moraes, who's also a Supreme Court justice, also fined the parties in Bolsonaro's coalition to the tune of 22.9 million reais for what the court described as bad faith litigation, the document showed. Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing by David Alire GarciaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Key Brazil senator pushing to waive at least $19 bln from spending cap
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Brazilian Senator Marcelo Castro said on Wednesday that a constitutional amendment backed by President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva must exempt at least 100 billion reais ($19 billion) from a constitutional spending cap next year. In an interview with Reuters, Castro, the key lawmaker handling 2023 budget talks, said the initial idea of permanently excluding the "Bolsa Familia" welfare program from the spending ceiling had "lost a lot of strength." Lula's transition team first proposed to remove the Bolsa Familia program from the spending cap indefinitely, opening space for 175 billion reais in new spending. The initial proposal also removed some public investments from the cap, opening room for another 23 billion reais in public spending next year. ($1 = 5.3907 reais)Reporting by Ricardo Brito and Bernardo Caram; Writing by Marcela Ayres; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro gives a press statement at the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, November 1, 2022. Bolsonaro's claim seems unlikely to get far, as Lula's victory has been ratified by the TSE and acknowledged by Brazil's leading politicians and international allies. Bolsonaro's right-wing electoral coalition, which filed the complaint, said its audit of the vote count had found "signs of irreparable... malfunction" in older voting machines. "There were signs of serious failures that generate uncertainties and make it impossible to validate the results generated" in several older models of the voting machines, Bolsonaro allies said in their complaint. Brazil's currency deepened losses after news of the electoral complaint, losing 1.5% against the U.S. dollar in afternoon trading.

The justices rebuffed Glenhaven Healthcare's appeal of a lower court's ruling allowing the family of deceased resident Ricardo Saldana to proceed with the lawsuit in a California state court. Under then-President Donald Trump in January 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, prodded by nursing homes, declared that cases filed in state court involving interpretation of the PREP Act should be moved to federal court. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the Saldana case that some state law claims can remain in state court. Glenhaven has argued that personal injury lawsuits against entities that provide COVID-19 countermeasures belong in federal court. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Hospital Association and the American Health Care Association, a nursing home industry group, weighed in to support its petition to the Supreme Court.

☆ Haiti cholera outbreak worsens, COVID-19 cases rise in Americas - PAHO
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Steven Grattan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Ricardo ArduengoSAO PAULO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The cholera situation in Haiti continues to worsen while COVID-19 cases rose over the past week, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday. Haitian health authorities have confirmed over 700 cases of cholera and 144 cholera-related deaths since early October, and are investigating more than 7,000 suspected cases, PAHO Director Dr. Carissa Etienne said. The Americas are facing a “triple threat” of respiratory diseases, as COVID-19, Influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) burden the region and its health systems, PAHO said. There was a 17% rise in COVID-19 cases, and deaths increased in South America and Central America over the past week, Etienne said. Although the Americas are still the region most impacted by monkeypox, PAHO said cases have fallen in most of the severely affected countries.

☆ Trump to launch new White House bid while Republicans lick their wounds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Andy Sullivan | Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump is set to launch a new White House bid on Tuesday, hoping to box out potential Republican rivals and return his false claims of election fraud to the center of U.S. politics. FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President Donald Trump talks to the press on the grounds of his Mar-a-Lago resort on midterm elections night in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. November 8, 2022. “It’s the third election in a row that Donald Trump has cost us the race ... I’m tired of losing,” he told CNN on Sunday. He cannot win the presidency with his base alone,” wrote Thiessen, former chief speechwriter for Republican President George W. Bush. Even though court and state election officials rejected Trump’s false election claims, about two-thirds of Republican voters believe Biden’s victory was illegitimate, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

[1/2] Former U.S. President Donald Trump talks to the press on the grounds of his Mar-a-Lago resort on midterm elections night in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Donald Trump is set to launch a fresh White House bid on Tuesday, hoping to box out potential Republican rivals and return his false claims of election fraud to the center of U.S. politics. Multiple Trump-aligned candidates who ran on platforms focused on his false claims of widespread election fraud were also defeated. "It's the third election in a row that Donald Trump has cost us the race ... Even though court and state election officials rejected Trump's false election claims, about two-thirds of Republican voters believe Biden's victory was illegitimate, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

[1/3] Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks outside a polling station during midterm election in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Ricardo ArduengoNEW YORK, Nov 14 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen accusing Trump, former Attorney General William Barr and others of abruptly returning him to prison in retaliation for writing a tell-all memoir. Authorities returned Cohen to prison amid a dispute over whether he could speak with the media about his forthcoming book while under home confinement. His book "Disloyal: A Memoir" topped the New York Times' hardcover nonfiction bestseller list in September 2020. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The Decline of Work
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Andy Kessler | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Or “I need a good work-life balance,” which suggests someone doesn’t want to work very hard. The CEO of a Fortune 500 company told me he recently spent an entire afternoon discussing his company’s pet-bereavement policy. He asked the human-resources folks, “Let me get this right, someone’s goldfish dies, and they get a week off from work?”Work has become a dirty word. And now this: The New York Times ran an opinion piece titled “How to Fight Back Against the Inhumanity of Modern Work.” What? The prevailing thinking is we’re all Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz wrapping chocolates on a conveyor belt.

☆ NASA left its $50 billion moon rocket exposed to Hurricane Nicole's powerful winds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA left its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on the launchpad during Hurricane Nicole. The rocket sustained minor damage, and NASA still plans to launch it for the first time Wednesday. But it's unusual for NASA to leave such a valuable rocket out on the launchpad in the middle of a hurricane. NASA rolled the rocket out with a storm on the horizonSatellite imagery shows Tropical Storm Nicole on November 10, 2022. People walk by a closed down damaged boardwalk following the passage of Hurricane Nicole in Vero Beach, Florida, November 10, 2022.

Forum, founded in 1948 to ensure that Mexican American World War II veterans could access their government benefits. “Latinos have a long and honorable tradition of military service,” he said, “only somehow it is not as well-known as that of other groups. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, there are nearly 1.3 million Latino veterans, or about 8 percent of the veteran population. Issues for Latino veterans, Vazquez-Contes noted, range from accessing medical care through the Veterans Administration system to homelessness to suicide. “The promotion rates for the top enlisted ranks, and the top officer ranks, are just basically void of Hispanic names.”Ricardo Aponte of the Hispanic Veterans Leadership Alliance.

[1/2] A street sign lies on the ground following the passage of Hurricane Nicole in Merritt Island, Florida, U.S. November 10, 2022. “The structural damage along our coastline is unprecedented,” Volusia County Manager George Recktenwald said in a statement. Nicole's storm surge also caused the collapse of parts of the scenic A1A highway, which runs along the Atlantic coast in Volusia County, sheriff's officials said. Hurricane Kate came ashore near Mexico Beach, Florida, on Nov. 21, 1985, said Philip Klotzbach, a hurricane expert at Colorado State University, on Twitter. The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

Former NFL football star Herschel Walker trailed Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in Georgia, as the two headed to a Dec. 6 run-off election. But Trump-backed Senate candidates J.D. The populist priorities of his "America First" agenda and his combative political style also helped shape the overall Republican campaign. Save America contributed close to $30 million to political allies and Republican Party accounts, including $20 million in October to a group that ran television ads supporting Republican Senate candidates in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arizona and Nevada. But Save America's contributions paled in comparison to spending by the Senate Leadership Fund, or SLF, a leading political action committee aligned with top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell.

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☆ Every World Cup 2022 squad announced: USMNT, Germany, Belgium and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

CNN —‘Tis the season for wall charts and fans gathering around to pick their starting teams for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. “It’s always difficult when a guy helps you get to the World Cup, he scores three goals in World Cup qualifying and isn’t going to be a part of the program. Again, it’s more about who we did add that we felt good about.”All but one of the 26 will be making their World Cup debut at this year’s tournament and, according to the USMNT, it will be the youngest team to qualify for the World Cup. Octavio Passos/Getty Images Europe/Getty ImagesGhanaManager: Otto AddoThe final squad has not been announced yet. READ: Meet Otto Addo, the coach responsible for guiding some of Europe’s brightest young talents (2021)—–PortugalManager: Fernando SantosThe final squad has not been announced yet.

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