Author: Ruben Maldonado

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recalled certain fruits after being linked to Listeria outbreaks in several states. Whole peaches, nectarines, and plums from HMC Farms have been recalled due to 11 known illnesses, 10 hospitalizations, and one death across seven states, including Florida. The products were sold in 2-pound bags between May 1 and Nov. 15 in 2022 and 2023, during the season. The package was branded “HMC Farms” or “Signature Farms.” The fruits were also sold individually with a sticker that has “USA-E-U” and the number 4044 or 4038 for yellow peaches, 4401 for white peaches, 4036 or 4378…

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Brussel, Frankfurt (16/11 – 23) A levying of embargoes and export bans, the imposition of sanctions, erection of fearsome “license” (= restriction) protocol: there’s nothing new about this back-and-forth in world trade, in the eternal jousting for advantage among markets and nations. The clever Chinese imagined they had the world tea market all locked up until an earnest Scottish botanist carrying the telling name of “Robert Fortune” snuck into the Middle Kingdom to observe their agriculture, steal tea plants, and pick up tricks of tea processing. The Chinese global tea monopoly was busted wide open. The fortunate Mr. Fortune was…

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Toronto, Frankfurt (2/11 – 42) World media are jumping all over the conflagration in Gaza following the 7 October attack, killing 1400 Israelis and kidnapping several hundred others – followed by an all-too-predictable retaliatory response from Israel, with indiscriminate bombardment and gunfire into Gaza. The number dead and injured in the Palestinian zone will likely never be known but it is currently estimated at over 5,000 – many of whom are women and children caught in the crossfire. Is Hamas sorry about those who voted for them and support their cause being machine-gunned or trapped by crumbling concrete in a…

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London (07/11 – 71) For ten years now, the authorities of Tajikistan have been engaged in forced assimilation of the ethnic Pamiri people, giving away the heartlands to China for debts,” Orzu M. shared with RFI – Radio France Internationale is a French news and current affairs public radio station that broadcasts worldwide. RFI met with Orzu in Paris, sharing the fact that more and more Pamiris are leaving their native homes in Gorno-Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous (GBAO) Region of Tajikistan; they are driven into exile by the persecution of the authorities, who are displacing indigenous peoples. RFI: How did it…

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Jakarta, Surakarta, Berlin (7/12 – 11) Amid a generally declining period for Germany’s national football team, the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia has been a shining light for them. Germany is one of the most successful national teams ever in international competition. They have won four World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014), three European Championships (1972, 1980, 1996), and a Confederations Cup (2017). Nevertheless, in recent years, Germany is suffering a horrid fate. In 2018, Germany suffered their first-ever first-round exit from the World Cup, since 1938. Germany became the fifth defending champions to be eliminated in the…

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Nvidia dominates the market for artificial intelligence computing chips. Now it is coming after Intel’s longtime stronghold of personal computers. Nvidia has quietly begun designing central processing units (CPUs) that would run Microsoft’s Windows operating system and use technology from Arm Holdings , two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The AI chip giant’s new pursuit is part of Microsoft’s effort to help chip companies build Arm-based processors for Windows PCs. Microsoft’s plans take aim at Apple, which has nearly doubled its market share in the three years since releasing its own Arm-based chips in-house for its Mac computers,…

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NEW YORK — Kevin McCarthy made the campaign cash flow as House speaker. His successor Mike Johnson will be playing catch-up for a while. And for vulnerable New York Republicans with tough reelection battles, the difference is stark. More than $1.8 million had been raised by McCarthy-associated committees versus just $12,000 by Johnson-affiliated ones for Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Brandon Williams and Nick LaLota, according to federal filings reviewed by POLITICO. The former speaker was a prodigious fundraiser. Overall, McCarthy’s campaign raised more than 20 times what Johnson’s did for the 2022 cycle and the 2024 one thus far. And his prowess was especially beneficial to his…

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London (04/11 – 50) US government last week intervened in a lawsuit triggered by Hamilton Reserve Bank in St Kitts & Nevis. Somehow, a small bank based in a county with 50,000 inhabitants and GDP of under $1billion has amassed a $250million face-value stake in a Sri Lankan bond. The mysterious ‘global financier’ aka cunning vulture investor, Benjamin Wey is suing Sri Lanka. This specific bond was issued in happier times in 2012 and lacks some now-common clauses that make bonds easier to restructure. HRB’s $250million is enough in theory to veto any restructuring proposal Sri Lanka makes to that…

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Berlin (3/11 – 40) Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will visit China in the upcoming week as the crisis-hit country makes progress on debt restructuring talks with its biggest lender. Wickremesinghe took office in July last year, after a popular uprising, brought on by an economic meltdown, had forced his predecessor out of power. His Oct. 15-19 visit to Beijing will be his first to China since then. Wickremesinghe, who is also finance minister, has been leading Sri Lanka’s push to manage its heavy debt and keep funds flowing from a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. He will…

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Frankfurt, Brussels (6/10 – 27) While Tajik authorities have not been able to lay their hands on their activist opponents living in Europe, they are able to turn the screws on their families and relatives, back in the old country. The recent case of arrest of family members took place shortly after President Emomali Rahmon’s visit to Germany, to attend a summit of Central Asian leaders, at the end of last month. Throughout Rahmon’s visit, he was trailed by demonstrators holding up placards bearing pictures of political prisoners and calling him a dictator. When Rahmon headed to the Bundestag on…

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