Tag

#Americas

Home » Americas

2292 posts

Argentine fossils shed light on vicious group of dinosaurs

WASHINGTON Fossils of a carnivorous dinosaur unearthed in Argentina are shedding new light on an intriguing group of predators that apparently were just as happy to slash victims to death with sickle-shaped hand claws as to chomp them into an early grave. Scie... More »

Crude prices trade little-changed after Turkey’s failed coup

NEW YORK Oil prices were either side of unchanged on Sunday in early trade as the impact from Turkey’s failed military coup was broadly expected to be limited on global markets. The most-active Brent futures for September delivery rose $0.02, or 0.04 percent, ... More »

Mexican taxi driver seeks to ride Pokemon Go craze

MEXICO CITY A Mexican taxi driver has jumped on the Pokemon GO craze sweeping the world by driving smartphone-armed customers around in search of the augmented reality game’s target creatures. The mobile phone game has become an instant hit with more users in ... More »

Canada launches tax probe of property cheats in Vancouver

OTTAWA Canada’s tax authority is probing real estate deals in British Columbia for underpayment of taxes, amid a boom in sales, prices and property flipping, and said on Friday it is not specifically focusing on foreign investors. The Canada Revenue Agency sai... More »

New York reports first female-to-male Zika transmission via sex

CHICAGO New York City’s health department on Friday reported the first documented case of sexual transmission of Zika from a woman to her male partner, raising new concerns about the spread of the virus, which is typically contracted through mosquito bites. Sc... More »

Surprise: Social Security benefits are for children too

CHICAGOYou have heard of greedy geezers: that mythical army of militant seniors out to defend their Social Security benefits at any cost, even if it robs their own children and grandchildren of their futures. The greedy geezer trope, invented by now-retired Se... More »

Fearsome Argentine dinosaur had pitifully puny arms

WASHINGTON A newly discovered meat-eating dinosaur that prowled Argentina 90 million years ago would have had a hard time using strong-arm tactics against its prey. That’s because the beast, though a fearsome hunter, possessed a pitifully puny pair of arms. Sc... More »

Adapting to Rio the key for India shuttler Nehwal

BENGALURU, India Adapting quickly to playing conditions at the Rio Olympics will pose the biggest challenge for players, says India’s Saina Nehwal, who is aiming to better the badminton bronze she won in London four years ago. After fighting her way back to fi... More »

Big brewers see strong potential for weak beer

BRUSSELS Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR), which will soon make almost 30 percent of the world’s beer, wants to serve more low and alcohol-free brews to drinkers trying to live a healthier lifestyle. The Belgium-based brewer, on the verge of buying its largest ri... More »

Investors keep record cash on U.S. election fears: UBS executive

NEW YORK Wealthy U.S. investors are holding record cash balances out of fear that the U.S. presidential election will wreak havoc on their retirement accounts, a senior UBS Group AG (UBSG.S) executive said. Bob McCann, who chairs the Swiss bank’s Americas divi... More »

AL rides early homers to 4-2 win in All-Star Game

(The Sports Xchange) – Second-inning homers by Kansas City teammates Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez powered the American League to a 4-2 victory over the National League on Tuesday night in the 87th All-Star Game before 42,386 at Petco Park. The National Leagu... More »

McIlroy’s Postage Stamp advice: Try to hit it in the middle

TROON, Scotland Rory McIlroy had never played Royal Troon before he came to town last Thursday to get ready for the 145th British Open and after his practice round on Tuesday, you could not blame him if he never played it again. Specifically, he might not want... More »

Man arrested in Brazil for attempt to douse Olympic torch

RIO DE JANEIRO A man has been arrested for trying to extinguish the Olympic torch by throwing a bucket of water over it as it passed through his farming town of Maracaju in central Brazil, an officer at the local police station said on Monday. Police arrested ... More »

U.S. committed to bringing American hostages home -Obama

WASHINGTON U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday said the United States remains committed to bringing home Americans held captive overseas and helping their families, a year after the administration promised to overhaul its handling of hostage situations. “We ... More »

Solar plane lands in Spain after three-day Atlantic crossing

SEVILLE, Spain An airplane powered solely by the sun landed safely in Seville in Spain early on Thursday after an almost three-day flight across the Atlantic from New York in one of the longest legs of the first ever fuel-less flight around the world. The sing... More »

Britain would not be able to rejoin EU: foreign minister

LUXEMBOURG Britain could not rejoin the European Union after leaving because membership requirements would be too onerous, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Monday. He said Thursday’s referendum on EU membership offered “no way back”. Since becoming a m... More »

Muhammad Ali, ‘the greatest,’ remembered as a true champion

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali died on Friday, aged 74. Following are some of the reactions to his death: U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA “A man who fought for us. He stood with King and Mandela- stood up when it was hard- spoke out when oth... More »

Obama: Muhammad Ali ‘fought for us’

PALM CITY, Fla President Barack Obama paid tribute on Saturday to boxer Muhammad Ali, saying his fight for racial justice and religious tolerance “shook up the world” and was an inspiration. “Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it. We ... More »

Fujimori scion faces another tight race for Peru’s presidency

LIMA Keiko Fujimori aims to steer the right-wing populist movement she inherited from her disgraced father back into power in a run-off election for Peru’s presidency on Sunday, but the latest polls suggest she could suffer another narrow loss. Her lead over r... More »

After grim payrolls, focus turns to economy

NEW YORK With a June Federal Reserve interest rate hike likely off the table following Friday’s dismal jobs data, U.S. equity investors may shift their focus again to whether the economy is losing too much steam to allow stocks to advance. Investors will comb ... More »

Obama to Democrats: ‘I want us to run scared’ in election

MIAMI President Barack Obama warned Democrats on Friday that they need to work hard to defeat likely Republican nominee Donald Trump in the Nov. 8 presidential election but must avoid violence like that at a rally in California this week. “Strange things can h... More »

Oil price ultra-bear Goldman Sachs turns mildly bullish

U.S. bank Goldman Sachs, one of the most bearish forecasters on oil over the past year, on Monday raised its short-term price outlook as it said the market had flipped into a deficit due to production outages in Nigeria and Canada. Goldman, one of the most act... More »

Verstappen makes F1 history as Mercedes crash out

BARCELONA Dutch teenager Max Verstappen made Formula One history as the youngest race winner on Sunday in a sensational Spanish Grand Prix that saw dominant Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collide and crash out on the opening lap. Verstappen, ... More »

Canada newspaper ad revenue slumped in 2015: industry group

TORONTO Business got even tougher for Canada’s newspaper industry last year, data showed on Friday, with nationally distributed advertising cut by almost a quarter and online ad sales barely taking up any of the slack. Total daily-newspaper revenue in 2015 fel... More »

Russia says truce extended for 48 hours in Syria’s Aleppo: RIA

MOSCOW Russia and the United States have agreed to extend the “regime of calm” in Syria’s city of Aleppo for another 48 hours starting from May 10, RIA news agency on Tuesday quoted Russia’s Defence Ministry as saying. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly- Editing by Dmi... More »

Viacom board weighs further cuts in Redstone’s pay: WSJ

Viacom Inc’s board is considering whether to further cut the pay of its Chairman Emeritus Sumner Redstone, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Viacom and CBS Corp board members are also planning to visit Redstone, the chai... More »

Republican Rubio distances himself from Trump VP talk

WASHINGTON Republican Senator Marco Rubio on Monday sought to quash speculation that he might emerge as the vice presidential running mate for Republican candidate Donald Trump, saying he still has deep reservations about the billionaire. “He will be best serv... More »

White House: Puerto Rico debt crisis could hamper Zika response

WASHINGTON The White House said on Monday it was concerned the debt crisis confronting Puerto Rico could hamper its ability to deal with the potential public health crisis caused by the spread of the Zika virus, which has sickened nearly people 700 on the isla... More »

Youth orchestra plucks oasis out of gangland El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The sweet sounds of classical music float across a sunny courtyard as a group of teenagers pluck the strings of violins and cellos. But beyond the high gates enclosing the courtyard of the Don Bosco Industrial Polygo... More »

News Corp’s quarterly revenue falls 7.3 percent, posts loss

News Corp (NWSA.O), owner of the Wall Street Journal and book publisher HarperCollins, reported its fifth drop in quarterly revenue in a row as print ad sales declined and a strong dollar hit income from outside the United States. The 7.3 percent fall in reven... More »

U.S. agencies issues rules to protect workers from Zika

CHICAGO U.S. health and safety officials issued new guidelines on Friday to help protect workers from exposure to Zika, a mosquito-borne and sexually-transmitted virus that causes the birth defect microcephaly and other neurological disorders. The new rules, i... More »

Daily Mail says may partner to bid for Yahoo

The parent of Britain’s Daily Mail said on Wednesday it had not submitted its own bid to buy Yahoo Inc’s core Internet business, but was still in talks to partner with other suitors of the U.S. company. Yahoo, which has been struggling with falling ad revenue ... More »

Monkey mariners made monumental migration 21 million years ago

WASHINGTON Monkeys resembling today’s capuchins accomplished the astonishing feat of crossing at least 100 miles (160 km) of open ocean 21 million years ago to get from South America to North America eons before the two continents joined together. Scientists s... More »

Botched Doha deal undermines OPEC credibility, oil prices tumble

SINGAPORE Oil prices tumbled on Monday after a meeting by major exporters in Qatar collapsed without an agreement to freeze output, leaving the credibility of the OPEC producer cartel in tatters and the world awash with unwanted fuel. Tensions between Saudi Ar... More »

How a boardroom feud left Brazilian steel giant on the brink

CUBATAO, Brazil On a warm September morning in 2014, the 10-man board of Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas met on the ninth floor of a blue glass tower in Sao Paulo. In the room, the board members grappled over whether to fire the company’s chief executive and two... More »

Chinese official calls Trump ‘irrational’ on trade

WASHINGTON Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei criticized Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, calling him “an irrational type” due to his proposal that tariffs on imported Chinese goods be increased to up to 45 percent. In an interview with the W... More »

Obama immigration action goes before Supreme Court

WASHINGTON The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case on Monday that tests the boundaries of presidential powers, confronting the question of whether President Barack Obama exceeded his authority with unilateral action to spare millions of people in the country i... More »

Peru reports first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus

LIMA Peruvian health authorities on Saturday reported the first case of the Zika virus having been sexually transmitted in the country, after a resident contracted the disease while traveling in Venezuela and then infected his wife once back in Peru. Zika has ... More »

Venezuela scraps half-hour time difference set by Chavez

CARACAS Venezuela on Friday reversed a half-hour time change that was one of the signature measures of former president Hugo Chavez’s idiosyncratic 14-year rule. Chavez turned Venezuela’s clocks back 30 minutes in 2007 so that children could wake up for school... More »

Suffering bank investors search for bright spots

NEW YORK U.S. banks are generally expected to post dismal results when their earnings season gets under way next week, but some analysts say to dig deeper: the fine print in the results, and what bank bosses say, could actually help these long-suffering stocks... More »

Peru election goes to run-off, Fujimori vulnerable despite lead

LIMA Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of a jailed former president, led Peru’s election on Sunday but she likely faces a tight run-off against centrist economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in a vote that would protect the country’s free-market economic model. Fujimori,... More »

Vatican trip could boost Sanders’ fight against Clinton

WASHINGTON U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will speak at an event in the Vatican next week, likely broadening his appeal to Catholic voters ahead of crucial nominating contests in a series of Northeastern states. Like Pope Francis, Sander... More »

SAP quarterly results fall short as U.S. market slows

FRANKFURT Europe’s largest software company, SAP (SAPG.DE), warned late on Friday that first-quarter results would be weaker than expected due to slower sales of software licenses to corporate customers, particularly in Brazil and the United States. Software l... More »

Cash-rich Brazil funds to lag behind benchmark as turmoil bites

SAO PAULO Equity funds in Brazil are expected to post returns below the benchmark Bovespa stock index’s performance in coming months, partly as their preference for maintaining high cash holdings and heightened market volatility made them miss a recent rally. ... More »

UK watchdog asks banks to check for ties to Panama Papers

LONDON Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority has asked 20 banks and other financial firms to check if they have any ties to Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, the regulator said on Thursday. A massive leak of documents from the firm released this week detailed h... More »

Panama lawyer at center of data leak denounces attack on privacy

PANAMA CITY The head of a Panama-based law firm at the center of a massive leak of offshore financial data on Sunday denied any wrongdoing, and said his firm has fallen victim to “an international campaign against privacy”. German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung... More »

China’s ZTE to name new management team on Tuesday: spokesman

HONG KONG Chinese telecom equipment and smartphone maker ZTE Corp will announce a new management team on Tuesday, a spokesman said. ZTE’s board of directors will meet to approve the new team, and a stock exchange filing is expected on Tuesday afternoon, ZTE sp... More »

FIFA ethics committee investigates one of its own members

ZURICHA member of the ethics committee responsible for rooting out corruption in soccer’s governing body FIFA has himself been placed under a preliminary investigation, the watchdog said on Sunday. Juan Pedro Damiani was being investigated over a possible busi... More »

Marquez wins in Argentina to take overall lead

Spain’s Marc Marquez won the Argentine Grand Prix for Honda on Sunday to take the overall lead in the MotoGP standings after a shortened race overshadowed by concerns about tyre safety. Marquez’s first win of 2016, after taking the lead on the second lap, came... More »

Trump predicts ‘very massive recession’ in U.S.

MILWAUKEE Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump predicted that the United States is on course for a “very massive recession,” warning that a combination of high unemployment and an overvalued stock market had set the stage for another economic slum... More »

Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid dies suddenly at 65

LONDON Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, whose fluid, futuristic designs were used in buildings across the world to widespread acclaim, has died of a heart attack at the age of 65, her company said on Thursday. Hadid, whose projects included the MAXXI museum... More »

Canada’s Rogers to offer sports channels as streaming services

TORONTO Canada’s Rogers Communications Inc (RCIb.TO), the primary national broadcaster of National Hockey League games, said on Thursday it will begin selling its top sports channels online without a cable subscription. Taking its cue from services like Netfli... More »

Twenty-First Century interested in Paramount deal: source

Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (FOXA.O) is interested in acquiring a minority stake in Viacom Inc’s (VIAB.O) Paramount Pictures, a source close to the situation said on Wednesday. The company would be interested in exploring a deal that would create synergies fo... More »

Suspected money launderer for ‘El Chapo’ detained in Mexico

MEXICO CITY A man suspected of laundering money for jailed drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was detained in southwestern Mexico, and faces extradition to the United States, Mexican authorities said on Sunday. Juan Manuel Alvarez, who was arrested in Oaxa... More »

Mexicans burn Donald Trump effigies in Easter ritual

MEXICO CITY Mexicans celebrating an Easter ritual late on Saturday burnt effigies of U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, whose anti-immigrant views have sparked outrage south of the American border. In Mexico City’s poor La Merced neighborhood, ... More »

Chile reports its first sexually transmitted Zika case

BUENOS AIRES Chile has confirmed its first case of the Zika virus having been sexually transmitted, the health ministry said in a statement on its website on Saturday. The virus is linked to thousands of suspected cases of birth defects in Brazil. The new case... More »

U.S. urges waiting period before conception after Zika infection

U.S. health officials are recommending that women wait at least two months, and men at least six, before attempting to conceive after infection with Zika, a virus linked to thousands of suspected cases of birth defects in Brazil. The new guidance, issued on Fr... More »

Mariah Carey cancels show in Brussels amid safety concerns

U.S. pop star Mariah Carey said on Friday that she was canceling a tour stop in Brussels amid safety concerns following attacks this week that killed 31 people and injured some 270 more. The songstress, one of the best-selling female solo artists of recent tim... More »

Cuba’s journey from rock labor brigades to the Rolling Stones

HAVANA When Carlos Carnero’s rock band Los Kent plugged in guitars and drums to play Rolling Stones covers on Cuba’s Island of Pines in the 1960s, soldiers stopped the gig at gunpoint in minutes and marched the musicians onto a boat heading back to the mainlan... More »

Playboy magazine publisher exploring sale: source

Playboy Enterprises [ICONAP.UL], the owner of Playboy magazine, is exploring a sale, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, in a move that comes after the storied magazine stopped publishing nude photos of women and put up the iconic Playboy Mansion u... More »