Panama’s comptroller general has lodged two cases with the country’s supreme court against the owners of two ports at the centre of a geopolitical struggle between the US and China, in a move likely to be seen as a victory for Donald Trump in his attempt to rid the Panama canal of Chinese influence. The decision follows a failed attempt to sell the ports to a consortium headed by the US investment fund BlackRock and Swiss shipping firm MSC. The two ports, at each end of the Panama Canal, were…
Tag: Americas
Weather tracker: Mexico’s Pacific coast hit by tropical storm and hurricane
While the western Atlantic has experienced a quiet start to the hurricane season, the eastern Pacific has recently become fairly active, producing a tropical storm and a category 4 hurricane within a few days. The first and weaker of these systems, Tropical Storm Dalila, developed into a tropical storm late last week. Although this storm stayed off the coast of Mexico and was relatively weak to other storms that have developed in this region, Dalila brought flooding and mudslides to the resort town of Acapulco, in western Mexico. On Tuesday,…
As Trump focuses on his trade war, Brazil and China forge closer ties
Few world leaders can say they’ve been hugged by Xi Jinping, China’s typically reserved president. Last year, an embrace between Xi and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, seemed to sum up the cosy – if at times slightly awkward – relationship between China and Russia. Now Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, can count himself among the hallowed few to have broken the handshake barrier with Chinese leader. Stepping off the stage after giving a speech in Beijing earlier this month, Lula shook Xi’s hand, but the moment swiftly…
World’s seven wealthiest countries agree to counter China’s trade practices
Top finance officials from the world’s seven wealthiest democracies set aside stark differences on US tariffs and agreed to counter global “economic imbalances”, a swipe at China’s trade practices. In a communique issued on Thursday, the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors, meeting in the Canadian Rockies, left out their traditional defense of free trade and toned down their references to Russia’s war in Ukraine compared with last year. But they did agree that further sanctions on Russia could be imposed if the two countries do not…
Draining cities dry: the giant tech companies queueing up to build datacentres in drought-hit Latin America
It is a warehouse the size of 12 football pitches that promises to create much-needed jobs and development in Caucaia city, north-east Brazil. But it won’t have shelves stocked with products. This vast building will be a datacentre, believed to be earmarked for TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app, as part of a 55bn reais (£7.3bn) project to expand its global datacentre infrastructure. As the demand for supercomputer facilities rises, fuelled by the AI boom, Brazil is attracting more and more tech companies. The choice of Caucaia is no accident. Several…
Which Trump tariffs are active, which are paused and what’s next?
Over the last few months, Donald Trump has introduced a confusing and evolving slate of tariffs against specific countries and industries that the president has deemed as threats to US industry. Many of his harshest tariffs have been paused, and some exemptions have been made, but a handful of tariffs are still in place. Trump has continued to threaten more of them, though the future of the president’s trade war remains unclear. Here’s what we know so far about the status of US tariffs on imported goods. Active Most of…
Brazil’s president seeks ‘indestructible’ links with China amid Trump trade war
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has heralded his desire to build “indestructible” relations with China, as the leaders of three of Latin America’s biggest economies flew to Beijing against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s trade war and the profound international uncertainty his presidency has generated. Lula touched down in China’s capital on Sunday for a four-day state visit, accompanied by 11 ministers, top politicians and a delegation of more than 150 business leaders. Hours later Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, arrived, making a beeline for the Great Wall…
No recent Xi-Trump call, says China despite US president’s claims – US politics live
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New daily weight-loss pill shows success at clinical trial
A significant trial of a daily weight-loss pill has found that it helped people to shed the pounds and reduce their blood sugar levels, making it a contender to join the new wave of drugs that combat obesity and diabetes. People who took a 36mg pill of orforglipron lost an average of 7.3kg (16lbs) over nine months, according to results from a phase 3 clinical trial reported by the drug’s manufacturer, Eli Lilly, on Thursday. The trial, which enrolled 559 obese people with type 2 diabetes from the US, China,…
China misleads on involvement in Panama Canal
China’s Foreign Ministry says China is committed to Panama Canal neutrality and has never interfered in its operation. VOA’s Leonid Martynyuk explains why this is misleading. Voice of America