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☆ Opinion: Why I risk death to run with the bulls
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( Stuart Ross | Opinion Bill Hillmann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —On July 11, 2014, I was running with a bull in Pamplona, Spain. The story is a fascinating adventure into the Fiesta de San Fermín, also known as The Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. By the time I finished reading that novel, I decided I would go to Spain and run with the bulls and I would become a writer. So I began to run with Lecuona, David Rodríguez, Aitor Arístegui and others leading bulls up the streets. Participants run ahead of bulls during the "encierro" (bull-run) of the San Fermín festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 14, 2023.

Persons: Bill Hillmann, CNN —, Victoriano del, swooped, gored, Michael Hemingway, Michael, Ernest Hemingway, “, ”, Jake Barnes, Hemingway, Toro Bravo, I’ve, Graeme Galloway, Joe Distler, Juan Pedro Lecuona, David Rodríguez, Aitor Arístegui, it’s, John Hemingway, Miguel Riopa, goring, Antonio Subies, Castilla y, Paula Andión Zabalza, Paula, Fernando Zabalza, Fernando Organizations: East, West University, NPR, The Toronto Star, Washington Post, The Daily Mail, CNN, Fiesta, Bulls, Spanish, las Fiestas, Castilla, Castilla y León Locations: Chicago, Pamplona, Spain, Victoriano del Río, Fermín, AFP, San, Valencia, San Fermín, Madrid, Navarra, Tafalla

☆ A Barcelona market used 5G to power an AR personal-shopper experience, helping tourists and locals alike shop smarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Chris Stokel-Walker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

La Boqueria, a famed Spanish market, participated in a 5G trial that brought AR to shoppers. Remote shoppers could also see through the AR shoppers' goggles and get a taste for the market. AdvertisementAdvertisementTourists traipsing through La Boqueria, Barcelona's famed market on La Rambla, are presented with an array of amazing food and drink. In the La Boqueria project, that was down to less than 10 milliseconds, Aranda Legazpe said. The La Boqueria trial has concluded, but the technology worked — so technologists from Cellnex are now exploring other 5G-powered tools.

Persons: —, Cellnex, José Antonio Aranda Legazpe, Aranda Legazpe Organizations: Service, Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs, Cellnex Telecom Locations: Spanish, La, Catalonia, Spain, France, Portugal

☆ Cuban entrepreneurs use 'aquaponics' for efficient food production
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Alien Fernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That's why two young Cuban entrepreneurs decided to turn to aquaponics to combine the two in a bid to get more bang for their buck and at the same time bolster the island's dwindling food supply, they told Reuters. Aquaponics is an aquaculture system in which wastewater from farming fish is fed to hydroponically grown plants like lettuce that purify the water. "From fish to the production of food plants, everything is natural," Lopez said on a tour of the facility outside Havana, home to arrays of fish tanks and greenhouses. Cuba is facing its worst economic downturn in decades, leading to shortages in food, medicine and fuel that has prompted the communist-run government to seek help from entrepreneurs in finding creative solutions. "There's a logic to it for young people, becoming entrepreneurs, to want to move forward, to be economically prosperous," said Jose Antonio Martinez, a former attorney who co-owns JoJo Aquaponics.

Persons: Joel Lopez, JoJo Acuaponics, Lopez, Jose Antonio Martinez, JoJo Aquaponics, Martinez, Alien Fernandez, Mario Fuentes, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: HAVANA, Cuba, Cuban, Aquaponics, Havana, United

☆ A divided Chile marks 50 years since Pinochet's bloody military coup
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Natalia A. Ramos Miranda | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] A woman dressed in black holds a candle as she walks around La Moneda presidential palace during an event ahead of the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Chilean military coup, in Santiago, Chile, September 10, 2023. Victims of military rule and their families have ramped up a push for justice and accountability, but politically the far-right has gained ground amid growing fears over rising crime. "Some people don't know anything about what happened and aren't interested, others are tired that...even after 50 years, many people still don't know what happened to their disappeared relatives," said Elvira Cádiz, who was six years old in 1973. According to various Chilean human rights commissions, there are 40,175 victims classified as politically executed, disappeared, imprisoned and tortured during military rule. "We don't know if we will achieve complete justice, but what we do have to do is get to the truth, find out where they are."

Persons: Carlos Barria, Augusto Pinochet, Salvador Allende, Gabriel Boric, aren't, Elvira Cádiz, Boric, he's, Allende's, Pinochet, José Antonio Kast, Cristián Valdivieso, Allende, Pinochet's, Gaby Rivera, Luis Rivera, Argentina's Alberto Fernández, Colombia's Gustavo Petro, Mexico's Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Carlos Gonzalez, Natalia Ramos, Adam Jourdan, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Hawker Hunter, Reuters, Thomson Locations: La, Santiago , Chile, Chile, South America, Estación Central, Santiago, Allende

☆ Lea Salonga on the groundbreaking representation of Broadway’s ‘Here Lies Love’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Ann Bindot | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“Here Lies Love” arrives onto Broadway, though, at a moment of greatly increased visibility, representation and empowered Filipino identity. Sonia Moskowitz/Getty Images“Here Lies Love” is an immersive experience that invites show-goers to the dancefloor, literally, imbuing the proceedings with a fun, nightclub-meets-karaoke vibe. That’s what I remember.”When the Marcoses fled to Hawaii in 1986, having been granted asylum by the United States, Salonga was celebrating her 15th birthday in Manila. The cast of "Here Lies Love" performing onstage. Watching “Here Lies Love” over two decades later, the emotion returned, packing an even stronger punch.

Persons: —, Lea Salonga, Kim, Salonga, Tony, ”, Imelda Marcos, Ferdinand Marcos, Aurora Aquino, Benigno “ Ninoy ” Aquino, Corazon Aquino, Marcoses, Corazon’s, Benigno “ Noynoy, Corazon III, Imelda, Andy Hernandez, Conrad Ricamora, Ninoy Aquino, she’s, “, ’, ’ ”, I’ve, ” Salonga, …, “ I’m, Willa Kim, Will Rogers, ” Lea Salonga, Jonathan Pryce, Sonia Moskowitz, Marcos, “ Laban, John Nacion, Jose Llana, ‘ We’ve, I’m, Ferdinand “ Bongbong ” Romualdez Marcos Jr, Ferdinand, Moses Villarama, Apl.de.Ap, H.E.R, Jo Koy, Jose Antonio Vargas, David Byrne —, Fatboy Slim, Moammar Gadhafi, Fidel Castro, Ronald Reagan, Castro, Gadhafi, Billy Bustamante, Matthew Murphy, Evan Zimmerman Organizations: CNN, New York, Broadway, San Francisco Bay Area, Manila International, Getty Locations: United States, Miss, ”, New, London, American, San Francisco Bay, Philippines, Manila, Mindoro, New York, ‘ Miss, New York City, Hawaii, “, Virginia

Roszarubezhneft's five joint ventures now must rely on PDVSA-designated intermediaries that take a large share of the revenues for their services, the people said. The joint ventures are owed about $3.2 billion from sales handled by PDVSA, one of the people said. Roszarubezhneft, Russia's oil ministry, PDVSA and Venezuela's oil and foreign affairs ministries did not reply to requests for comment. It also could help PDVSA make progress toward its goal of raising Venezuela's oil output by 40% this year. Oil production at the five joint ventures has dwindled as U.S. sanctions have hampered investment and maintenance work, and deterred many buyers of Venezuelan crude.

Persons: PDVSA's Jose Antonio, Carlos Garcia Rawlins, PDVSA, Rosneft, Nicolas Maduro's, Roszarubezhneft, Alexandra Ulmer, Marianna Parraga, Vivian Sequera, Daniel Flynn Organizations: REUTERS, Chevron, PDVSA, Reuters, Washington, U.S . Treasury, National Security, State Department, Nicolas Maduro's United Socialist Party, Assembly, Thomson Locations: PDVSA's, Anzoategui, Caracas, Moscow, Venezuela, U.S, Russia, Ukraine, Roszarubezhneft, Venezuela's, Rosneft

☆ Spain begins exhumation of 128 Civil War victims from Franco mausoleum
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Relatives have been fighting for years to give their loved ones a burial under their own names and near their families. "Spanish democracy is finally providing answers for these victims," government spokesperson Isabel Rodriguez said on state-owned TV station 24H. The process of identifying the remains could take weeks or months, meaning the results will probably be published after the election. Spain transitioned to democracy following Franco's death in 1975. Reporting by Inti Landauro; editing by Charlie Devereux and Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Read, General Francisco Franco, Franco, Pedro Sanchez, Isabel Rodriguez, Sanchez, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, Inti Landauro, Charlie Devereux, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Socialist, People's Party, Falange, Association, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Cuelgamuros, Madrid, Spain, MADRID, Spanish

☆ Spain to begin exhumation of 128 Civil War victims from burial complex, el Pais reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Relatives of late Spanish dictator Francisco Franco carry the coffin after the exhumation at The Valle de los Caidos (The Valley of the Fallen) in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain, October 24, 2019. Emilio Naranjo/Pool via REUTERSMADRID, June 11 (Reuters) - Forensic scientists will on Monday begin the exhumation of 128 victims of the Spanish Civil War from a vast burial complex near Madrid, El Pais newspaper reported. The remains of some 34,000 people, many of them victims of Franco's regime, are buried anonymously in the complex. Relatives of those whose remains lie inside have been fighting for years to give their loved ones a burial under their own names near their families. In 2016, a court approved the exhumation of the brothers, but seven years later the family is still waiting.

Persons: Francisco Franco, San Lorenzo de El, Emilio Naranjo, El Pais, Purificacion Lapena, Manuel Lapena, Antonio, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, Franco, Primo de, Felix Bolanos, Graham Keeley, Jan Harvey Organizations: REUTERS, Falange, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Spanish, Valle, San Lorenzo de, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain, REUTERS MADRID, Madrid , El Pais, Cuelgamuros, Madrid

☆ Chile right-wing parties win majority in vote to draft new constitution
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] A citizen casts their vote at a polling station during elections for a new assembly to draft constitution, at the Estadio Nacional, in Santiago, Chile April 7, 2023. REUTERS/Ivan AlvaradoSANTIAGO, May 7 (Reuters) - Chilean right-wing parties won a majority of votes on Sunday to elect advisers to draft a new constitution, marking a sharp shift from a progressive majority that drafted a failed first constitutional rewrite. With 95.13% of ballots tallied, Chile's Republican Party, led by former conservative firebrand presidential candidate Jose Antonio Kast, secured nearly 35% of the vote. A separate coalition of traditional right-wing parties gained just over 20% of the vote, while President Gabriel Boric's left-wing coalition garnered about 29%. "I want to invite the Republican Party, that's won an unquestionable majority, to not make the same mistakes we made," Boric said.

"This is the right's best chance for people to pick a Pinochet constitution without Pinochet's signature," said Patricio Navia a political scientist at New York University. "The political climate in Chile isn't the same as in 2019 or 2020," said political analyst Cristobal Bellolio. An estimated 3,200 Chileans were murdered and another 28,000 tortured by the state during Pinochet's rule. Many of the victims were affiliated with the socialist government of Salvador Allende, who was deposed in a 1973 coup. "The issue is that if it's more right then Pinochet's constitution, people are going to reject it," Navia added, who added the loss for Boric left the leader who once promised to bury Chile's market-led model sorely wounded.

☆ The Mexican government just sold its $218 million Boeing 787 private jet its president refused to use — see inside the plane
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

However, some experts say the move was just for political gain: "What matters to him is to say 'look at the luxuries and privileges of the past and instead I'm austere'," analyst and historian Jose Antonio Crespo told AFP in 2020. Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced the lottery in hopes of raising $142 million. Associated PressSource: France24

☆ Colombia’s President Replaces Market-Friendly Finance Minister in Cabinet Reshuffle
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Juan Forero | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

President Gustavo Petro has seen some of his signature proposals stall in Congress or run into political opposition. Photo: Oliver Contreras/Bloomberg NewsBOGOTÁ, Colombia—Colombian President Gustavo Petro , a leftist who has pressed for broadscale social reforms in eight months in office, replaced his market-friendly finance minister on Wednesday amid the breakup of his congressional coalition. José Antonio Ocampo, a Columbia University professor who was seen by the markets as a stabilizing force, was replaced as finance minister in a cabinet shuffle that saw seven ministers ousted. The shake-up weakened the long-battered Colombian peso and sent bonds tumbling.

☆ Spain to exhume fascist movement founder's body from Madrid mausoleum
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Charlie Devereux | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Juan MedinaMADRID, April 24 (Reuters) - Spain on Monday will dig up the body of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the fascist Falange movement that supported the Francoist regime, and remove it from a mausoleum carved into a mountainside near Madrid. Last year, the Valley of the Fallen was renamed Valley of Cuelgamuros - the original name of the site - under Spain's new Democratic Memory law. "It's another step in the resignification of the valley," Presidency Minister Felix Bolanos told reporters in Barcelona on Friday. The son of dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera, who governed Spain from 1923-1930, Jose Antonio was shot by firing squad in November 1936 by left-wing Republican forces in Alicante. Franco, a conservative general, and Primo de Rivera, a flamboyant playboy, had little love for each other, according to Francos's biographer Paul Preston.

The unpaid invoices originated with dozens of little-known companies acting as middlemen for Venezuela's oil exports since U.S. sanctions in 2020 halted deals with international trading firms and customers. Venezuela's Attorney General's office in October began a probe after oil tankers absconded without full payment to PDVSA. Venezuela's oil ministry and PDVSA did not reply to a request for comment. Maroil boosted Venezuela's petcoke exports following a commercial pact with PDVSA in 2016. In Venezuela, two heavy oil upgrading facilities controlled by PDVSA, Petro San Felix and Petrocedeno, produce and store petcoke.

☆ A Mexico soccer icon entered politics. Prosecutors say narcos followed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Cuernavaca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +27 min

Regional politicians, officials and military officers gathered in the Morelos state capital of Cuernavaca for breakfast in February 2022 to mark Mexico’s annual Army day. Mexican drug lords have a long tradition of buying off politicians in exchange for government protection of their illicit trade. Attempts to reach two of the alleged drug traffickers in the photo – Figueroa and Irving Solano Vera – were unsuccessful. Prosecutors in April asked the Morelos state congress to impeach Blanco so that he could be stripped of that shield. “He likes me very much because I’m not a politician,” Blanco told Reuters, in reference to the president.

[1/2] An oil tanker is docked while oil is pumped into it at the ships terminal of PDVSA's Jose Antonio Anzoategui industrial complex in the state of Anzoategui April 15, 2015. It reinforces measures implemented last year after several buyers skipped out on payments for oil, which provides most of the South American country's income. After taking the helm, Tellechea launched an extensive audit of supply contracts, according to a written order to PDVSA seen by Reuters. The new terms narrow a wide variety of contract modalities to a few requiring prepayment of cargoes entirely in cash or allowing payment via goods and services to Venezuela, but they must be received before Venezuela will release the oil, according to the documents. Even long-term buyers must abide by the new rules that require payment in full by cash before each oil delivery.

☆ Spain church machete attack suspect was 25-year-old Moroccan, police confirm
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] People observe a moment of silence a day after a 25-year-old Moroccan suspect attacked two churches, in Algeciras, Spain January 26, 2023. REUTERS/Marcelo del PozoMADRID, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The suspect in a machete attack on two churches in southern Spain in which one clergyman was killed and another seriously injured is a 25-year-old Moroccan man who was due to be deported from the country, police said on Thursday. A police source denied local media reports that the suspect had been under surveillance by security operatives in the days or months before the attack. The man was not in Spain legally and his deportation process began in June last year and was ongoing, the source added. According to a High Court ruling, the perpetrators were linked to Al Qaeda and the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group.

Jan 19 (Reuters) - Zambia needs "desperate debt relief" and agreements under a Group of 20 restructuring vehicle are proving difficult, the World Bank's managing director of operations said on Thursday. "In the last two years, we have seen the limitations of the common framework," Axel van Trotsenburg told a panel at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, moderated by Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni. Zambia has become a test case for the G20-led "Common Framework" restructuring vehicle launched during COVID-19 to streamline debt restructuring efforts as poorer countries buckle under the fallout from the pandemic hit. "Right now we have negotiations where there is not an established debt sustainability framework. What you see in the discussions is that different creditors are challenging all the underlying assumptions," van Trotsenburg added, without specifying which creditors he was referring to.

☆ Davos 2023: Global trade rethink: 'race of the big pockets'?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Mark John | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

SummarySummary Companies US climate bill concerns dominate Davos trade talkSome fear "rich-country game" of rising state subsidiesRevamped globalisation must benefit all, Davos toldDAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The United States pitched its vision of "worker-centric" trade. "I am very concerned," World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Three decades of free global trade have, the International Monetary Fund estimates, lifted more than a billion people out of extreme poverty. The United States notably built into its trade pact with Mexico a mechanism for identifying and dealing with the denial of worker rights. U.S. Trade Representative Tai told a panel on Wednesday the United States wanted to "lead a conversation" on a new version of globalisation.

☆ Davos 2023: Colombia pushes LatAm corporate tax accord
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Colombia is looking to supplement a global deal setting minimum tax levels for multinationals with an additional accord among its fellow Latin American countries, finance minister Jose Antonio Ocampo said on Tuesday. Ocampo said the OECD-brokered deal, which is expected to take effect in 2024, did not adequately reflect the interests of many developing economies. And there is still a bias in favour of (countries that host) the headquarters of multinationals," he said in Davos. Ocampo said he was approaching Brazil and Chile initially with the proposal, and planned to discuss it with Mexico. For daily Davos updates in your inbox sign up for the Reuters Daily Briefing hereReporting by Mark John in Davos; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ASOS identifies cost savings after Christmas sales slide
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Sarah Young | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ASOS said sales in its biggest market of Britain fell 8% in the period, hurt by Christmas delivery problems and a tough comparison against last year when the pandemic favoured online shops. Liberum analysts called recent trading weak, adding there had been "progress on new strategy but we remain wary." Britain is in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and ASOS blamed weak consumer sentiment for its UK sales fall but many other retailers, such as clothes chain Next (NXT.L), have managed to grow sales over Christmas, showing that ASOS is more challenged than others. Data from IMRG showed that online retail sales in the UK fell for the first time ever last year, down 10.5% year-on-year. In Europe, ASOS did better, growing sales more than 6% in the period.

☆ ASOS revenue down 3% in key Christmas period
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Britain is in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis but rival retailers with physical shops such as Next outperformed ASOS in the period as consumers prioritised festive spending and chose to visit stores rather than worry about delivery issues. ASOS said UK sales were down 8% in the period which it blamed on weak consumer sentiment, earlier cut-off dates for Christmas deliveries due to the delivery problems and a tough comparison against last year when the pandemic favoured online. Britain's delivery network was hamstrung during the final months of 2022 by more than a dozen days of postal walk-outs. European sales grew 6% in the period. Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ASOS bonus tweak stores up longer-term woes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

On Tuesday, the 653 million pound fast fashion retailer changed the targets for José Antonio Ramos Calamonte’s bonus next year. The portion of the up to 1.1 million pound payout linked to revenue growth will fall to 15% from 30%. Meanwhile the share linked to cash flow has been upgraded to 35%, and cost cuts will also be rewarded. With the years of rapid growth over, ASOS may look even more vulnerable to a takeover. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Colombia could be open to buying Venezuela's Monomeros -Finance Minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Colombia could be open to buying Venezuelan fertilizer maker Monomeros, Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo said on Wednesday, at a time when higher fertilizer prices have contributed to inflationary pressure. Though Monomeros is based in the Colombian city of Barranquilla, it is owned by Pequiven, which is a unit of Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA. The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro regained control of Monomeros' board of directors in mid-September, following a couple of years when it was controlled by opposition leader Juan Guaido. The recent changes to Monomeros' management occurred at a time when relations between Colombia and Venezuela - particularly in economic and military cooperation - have strengthened, following the election of Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Reporting by Carlos Vargas and Nelson Bocanegra Writing by Oliver Griffin Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Spain approves mortgage support for more than 1 mln households
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Jesús Aguado | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In Spain, around three-quarters of the population are homeowners, with most opting for floating-rate mortgages which are exposed to interest rate rises. Other countries, such as Hungary, Portugal, Poland and Greece, have approved different forms of mortgage support. Spain's banks will provide mortgage support for vulnerable families earning less than 25,200 euros ($25,815) per year through an amended industry-wide code of good practice. They will be able to restructure mortgages at a lower interest rate during a five-year grace period. Measures will also make it cheaper for families to switch from variable to fixed rate mortgage contracts.

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