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☆ Help! Spirit Airlines Left Us Behind in Guatemala City
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Seth Kugel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Dear Tripped Up,My two sons and I checked in at the Guatemala City airport three hours before the first leg of our return flight to Detroit. When we returned to our gate at 3:40, we were told the plane had been readied earlier than expected and the doors had closed. The gate staff said it would be three days before another flight was available, and they refused to book us on another airline. We eventually received a partial $297 credit from Spirit, but we want them to reimburse us for the JetBlue flight, since they should have alerted us when the departure time was again revised. “They always tell you not to go too far,” said one wizened veteran, a consultant who flies nearly every week.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington called self-ruled Taiwan "an inalienable part of China" and said the one-China principle was an "overwhelming trend" internationally. When Taiwan temporarily averted a split with Honduras after President Xiomara Castro took office in January 2022, U.S. State Department officials remained wary. The Biden administration is also keeping a close eye on tiny Belize for any cracks in its Taiwan relationship. Two U.S. officials said Washington was putting less stock in Taiwan maintaining its diplomatic allies in favor of efforts to increase its participation in international organizations. While denied a seat in the United Nations, Taiwan is a member of the WTO and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

☆ Taiwan strengthens ties with Guatemala following Honduras rupture
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Sofia Menchu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen walks with her Guatemalan counterpart Alejandro Giammattei, during her visit at Chimaltenango hospital in Chimaltenango, Guatemala, in this photo released on April 2, 2023. Guatemala Presidency/Handout via REUTERSGUATEMALA CITY, April 2 (Reuters) - Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen completed a three-day trip to Guatemala on Sunday where she offered more cooperation with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei's government, one of Taiwan's few allies in the world. Tsai's tour, which will take her to Belize on Sunday afternoon, comes a week after Honduras severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in favor of Beijing. China refuses to allow other countries to maintain diplomatic relations with both at the same time. While visiting Guatemala, Tsai signed a $4 million agreement to modernize rural areas and promised to promote and increase cooperation between the two countries.

☆ Cocaine production is taking root in a new region
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Gavin Voss | Insight Crime | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The countries are still not major cocaine producers, but the seizures reflect the crop's hardiness. Honduras, on the other hand, has shown minimal cocaine production capabilities, with rudimentary labs capable of producing small amounts of cocaine. While they have limited cocaine production ability, increasing coca cultivation in traditionally non-producing countries could be a sign of bigger things to come. For anti-narcotics authorities around the region, the danger posed by up-and-coming coca producers is palpable. The US State Department has recognized this in its latest report, dubbing coca production in Honduras and Venezuela "troublesome."

The plaintiffs accused Ocala of violating the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment "establishment clause," which restricts governmental involvement in religion. Ocala city officials helped organize and conduct the one-hour prayer vigil held in response to a series of shootings in which three children were struck by stray bullets. The city then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. A federal district court will now weigh the plaintiffs' establishment clause claims in light of the football coach ruling. The conservative-majority Supreme Court in recent years has chipped away at the wall separating church and state, eroding American legal traditions aimed at barring government officials from promoting any particular faith.

☆ Vast Maya Kingdom Is Revealed in Guatemalan Jungle
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Aylin Woodward | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Part of the ancient Maya city El Mirador in northern Guatemala that was detailed using light-detection and ranging equipment. Nestled in the jungle of northern Guatemala, a vast network of interconnected Maya settlements built millennia ago has been mapped in unprecedented detail. The civilization featured towering pyramids, palaces, terraces, ball courts and reservoirs connected by a sprawling web of causeways, an international group of archaeologists reported during a presentation at Francisco Marroquín University in Guatemala City this month.

☆ Guatemalan ex-president Colom dies from cancer, says former minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GUATEMALA CITY, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Guatemala's former president Alvaro Colom died on Monday aged 71 from esophageal cancer, his former security minister Carlos Menocal told Reuters. The former president, who led the Central American country from 2008 to 2012, was very sick and released from the hospital a week and a half ago, Menocal told Reuters. Colom, a soft-spoken politician and textile businessman, beat former head of army intelligence Otto Perez Molina in 2007 to become Guatemala's first leftist president since the country's civil war ended in 1996. When he died, Colom was under preventative home arrest still awaiting a trial. Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Writing by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Sarah MorlandOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Guatemala summons ambassador in Colombia for consultations in defense minister tussle
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GUATEMALA CITY, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Guatemala summoned its ambassador in Colombia for consultations, Guatemala's foreign ministry said on Tuesday, a day after Colombia did the same in regard to a conflict over Colombia's defense minister. Guatemala on Monday accused Colombian Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez, who led a United Nations anti-corruption unit in the Central American country, of committing illegal acts. Colombian President Gustavo Petro came out to defend the minister, saying he would not accept any "order for the arrest" of Velasquez. Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei told Spanish news agency EFE on Tuesday that Velasquez was not facing "criminal prosecution." Arrest warrants were issued for several others as part of the investigation, including former Guatemalan Attorney General Thelma Aldana.

☆ Ancient Maya cities, 'super highways' revealed in latest survey
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It is the latest discovery of roughly 3,000-year-old Maya centers and related infrastructure, according to a statement on Monday from a team from Guatemala's FARES anthropological research foundation overseeing the so-called LiDAR studies. All of the newly-identified structures were built centuries before the largest Maya city-states emerged, ushering in major human achievements in math and writing. LiDAR technology uses planes to shoot pulses of light into dense forest, allowing researchers to peel away vegetation and map ancient structures below. Among the details revealed in the latest analysis are the ancient world's first-ever extensive system of stone "highways or super-highways," according to the researchers. Reporting by Sofia Menchu and David Alire Garcia, editing by Deepa BabingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Oil companies sue Los Angeles over ban on oil and gas drilling
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

An oil company with a drilling operation in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles has filed a lawsuit against the city over its law to ban new wells and phase out all drilling within city limits. Warren Resources, which operates the 10-acre, oil-extraction site, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in LA Superior Court seeking to stop the ordinance from taking effect. The company argued the city failed to conduct an adequate environmental review of the potential impacts of halting extraction. There are 26 oil and gas fields and more than 5,000 active and idle wells in LA, in areas like Wilmington, Harbor Gateway, downtown, West LA, South LA and the northwest San Fernando Valley. Ian Thompson, a spokesperson for the LA City Attorney's office, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

☆ Oil tank in Colombia's Barranquilla explodes into flames, one dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Black smoke rises during a fire in a hydrocarbon storage area of the Bravo Petroleum company in Barranquilla, Colombia December 21, 2022. Barranquilla City Hall Press Office/Handout via REUTERSBOGOTA, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A fuel tank exploded into flames in Colombia's Caribbean city of Barranquilla early on Wednesday, killing a firefighter who fell during the explosion, local authorities said. "Right now the fire is being controlled and allowed to burn out at the tank, which is on fire," Pumarejo told journalists, adding that the area around the tank was being evacuated. Operations to control the fire could take between three and four days as firefighters wait for the blaze to consume all the fuel, authorities said. Operations at Barranquilla's port were suspended until the fire is fully controlled, authorities added.

☆ Kevin de Leon: Video shows LA city councimember involved in a physical altercation months after involvement in racist conversation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Shawna Mizelle | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —Los Angeles city council member Kevin de León is facing renewed scrutiny after a video surfaced online Friday night of him engaged in a physical altercation with a community activist during a holiday event. De León said in a statement Saturday that he was acting in self-defense after being headbutted by Reedy. “Video footage clearly shows him and his supporters initiating this assault while Mr. Reedy stands with his hands up. Calls for de León’s resignation have continued since October when audio of a year-old conversation between de Léon and fellow council members was posted anonymously on Reddit and obtained by the Los Angeles Times. Much of the conversation focused on maps proposed by the city’s redistricting commission and the council members’ frustration with them, but it also featured racist remarks about a fellow council member’s Black son and about Oaxacans.

☆ Guatemalan court approves sending detained renowned journalist to trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/6] Journalist Jose Ruben Zamora Marroquin, founder and president of El Periodico newspaper, talks with the media after attending his court hearing in Guatemala City, in Guatemala, December 8, 2022. REUTERS/Josue DecaveleGUATEMALA CITY, Dec 8 (Reuters) - A Guatemalan court decided on Thursday to take to trial a case against a well-known Guatemalan journalist who was arrested four months ago on charges of money laundering, influence peddling and blackmail. Jose Ruben Zamora Marroquin, an outspoken government critic, was detained in late July after a police raid on his home and will now remain in prison until the trial begins. Zamora, 65, is the founder of the elPeriodico newspaper, an outlet famous for investigations into government corruption. Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Writing by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Bradley PerrettOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Guatemalan former president and vice president convicted of fraud, conspiracy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

GUATEMALA CITY — A court in Guatemala convicted former President Otto Pérez Molina and his vice president, Roxana Baldetti, on fraud and conspiracy counts Wednesday. Johan Ordonez / AFP - Getty Images“It is a lie,” the former president, 72, said during a break in the court proceedings Wednesday. Then President Jimmy Morales ended the CICIG’s mission in 2019 while he was under investigation. Anticorruption efforts have faltered since then and those who worked closely with the international mission have seen the justice system turned against them. Around 30 former anti-corruption officials have fled the country.

☆ Guatemala court sentences ex-President Perez, ex-VP in graft case
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Sofia Menchu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Former Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina leaves the courtroom after being found guilty of a corruption case during his administration, at the judicial building, in Guatemala City, Guatemala December 7, 2022. Perez, who was president of Guatemala from 2012 to 2015, has spent the last seven years in prison awaiting a verdict in the case. Baldetti was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison in 2018 in a separate fraud case. Perez was ordered to pay 8.7 million quetzales ($1.10 million) while Baldetti was fined 8.4 million quetzales ($1.06 million) on Wednesday. The case, known as "La Linea," was originally investigated under the now-defunct International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), backed by the United Nations.

☆ Trump foe Michael Avenatti sentenced to 14 years in prison for stealing millions from clients
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Lawyer Michael Avenatti speaks to the media after he walks out of federal court in New York, New York, U.S., March 25, 2019. The judge also ordered Avenatti to pay more than $10.8 million in restitution to four clients and to the Internal Revenue Service. Michael Avenatti, the brash lawyer who gained notoriety for legal actions involving former President Donald Trump , was sentenced Monday in California to 14 years in prison for stealing about $7.6 million from clients, as well as for tax fraud. For months in 2018, Avenatti was a ubiquitous presence on television news shows, where he delighted in verbally skewering the president and Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen. "He stole millions of dollars from his clients – all to finance his extravagant lifestyle that included a private jet and race cars," the top prosecutor said.

☆ Prominent Guatemalan investigative newspaper “El Periódico” halts print edition
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

GUATEMALA CITY — The prominent Guatemalan investigative newspaper “El Periódico” announced Wednesday that it is stopping its print edition, after the government arrested the paper’s president. Zamora has overseen dozens of investigations into corruption during his leadership at El Periódico since the paper was founded in 1996. All of the paper’s reporters have been let go, and it is not clear how it can continue with digital editions only. Giammattei has been dismissive of U.S. officials’ criticism of his attorney general and what they see as Guatemala backsliding on battling corruption. His administration has silenced independent press outlets, driving journalists into exile and taking television stations off the air.

☆ Hurricane Lisa strikes coast near top Belize port
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Jose Sanchez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BELIZE CITY, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Hurricane Lisa bore down on Belize on Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported in a bulletin, predicting it will later move across the jungles of northern Guatemala and southeastern Mexico. Weather models show Lisa's heavy rainfall and powerful winds will likely target tourist destinations in Belize, Guatemala and Mexico's Caribbean-facing Yucatan Peninsula, dotted by beach resorts, pristine coral reefs and Mayan ruins. The eye of Lisa, now at Category 1 strength, is currently located about 5 miles (8 km) south of Belize City, the tiny Caribbean country's commercial hub, as it churns westward. Palm trees buckled as winds picked up in the Caribbean port city, as residents reported water and power outages plus some flooding. The Belize government's emergency services announced on Wednesday afternoon a state of emergency including a curfew across two districts covering large swathes of its Caribbean coast through Thursday.

☆ Hurricane Lisa edges close to Belize barrier reef, major port
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Hurricane Lisa will strike coastal Belize Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicted, edging very close to the country's barrier reef before it moves across northern Guatemala and southeastern Mexico. Weather models show Lisa's heavy rains and dangerous winds likely targeting some top tourist destinations in Belize, Guatemala and Mexico's Caribbean-facing Yucatan Peninsula, dotted by beach resorts, pristine coral reefs and Mayan ruins. The Category 1 hurricane was about 35 miles (60 km) east-southeast of Belize City, a major port, packing maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour (130 km per hour), the Miami-based NHC said in a bulletin. Belize's national emergency organization said borders would close at 2 p.m. (2000 GMT), with ports and airports shuttering. President Alejandro Giammattei of neighboring Guatemala told a news conference food rations were being sent to vulnerable areas.

☆ LA City Council censures Latino members amid racism scandal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council formally rebuked two members and its former president Wednesday for their involvement in a racism scandal that has led to days of protests, police and state investigations and shaken public faith in City Hall. Earlier, the council meeting was called into recess to allow police to clear chanting protesters. Council President Paul Krekorian warned the protesters they would not deter the council’s business. “We will continue to do the work of the people of Los Angeles,” he said. Krekorian, the president, and other council members have said Cedillo and de León must resign.

☆ LA City Council member embroiled in racist audio scandal says he won't resign: 'There is a lot of work ahead.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

LA City Council member Kevin de León said he will not resign amid scandal over leaked audio. "No, I will not resign, because there is a lot of work ahead," de León said, invoking Los Angeles' homelessness problem. De León's decision comes just days after LA City Council member Nury Martinez resigned amid mounting pressure over the same audio. "People should not ask me for forgiveness, because I can't forgive them because it's not my prerogative," he said during a council meeting. Then-acting City Council President Mitch O'Farrell stripped de León and Cedillo of their committee duties earlier this week.

☆ Los Angeles City Council member Nury Martinez resigns – but does not apologize – after explosive audio of racist comments leaked
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

LA City Council member Nury Martinez has resigned after she was caught making racist comments. Earlier this week, fellow city council members and US president Joe Biden called on her to resign. On Monday, Martinez resigned from her position as City Council president, but not the council itself, and taken a leave of absence as calls for her full resignation grew. Advocate groups from across Los Angeles spoke out at City Council meetings earlier this week, calling for all of the involved council members to resign. Earlier this week, Martinez offered a short apology for her words, according to KTLA.

☆ LA City Council president resigns after she was caught on tape calling the Black son of a fellow Democratic politician a 'monkey'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The president of Los Angeles City Council resigned on Monday after leaked audio revealed that she made racist remarks about a fellow Democratic politician's Black son. Martinez came under heavy criticism after the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that she made racist comments behind closed doors about Councilman Mike Bonin's son. In a conversation with other local officials, Martinez described Bonin's son, who is Black, as a "monkey." However, her statement said she was resigning as president of the council. Martinez, a 49-year-old Democrat, became the City Council president in 2019 after previously serving as a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.

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☆ Manchester United a dat prima lovitură a verii! L-a transferat pe Jadon Sancho de la Dortmund. Cât va încasa rivala City
▼ + stars: | 2021-07-01 | by ( ) www.jurnal.md time to read: +1 min

Sursa foto: Getty ImagesManchester United a dat prima lovitură a verii! Cât va încasa rivala CityManchester United a reușit primul mare transfer al verii - l-a cumpărat pe Jadon Sancho de la Borussia Dortmund pentru 85 de milioane de euro. Mai mult, United va plăti suma în rate stabilite pentru 4 ani. Jadon Sancho va semna un contract pe 5 ani și va efectua vizita medicală după ce va reveni de la naționala Angliei, el fiind prezent în lotul lui Gareth Southgate. Sancho a ajuns la Dortmund în 2017 de la Manchester City pentru 9 milioane de euro - de altfel, rivala lui United va încasa și un procent de 15% din suma de transfer, adică 10 milioane de euro.

Persons: Sancho, Jadon Sancho, Gareth Southgate Organizations: Manchester United, City Manchester United, Borussia, Old Trafford, United, Manchester City Locations: Dortmund, Borussia Dortmund, Bundesliga, Angliei, Germaniei

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