Author: Embodo

Aug 1 (Reuters) – Peru’s finance minister said on Tuesday that preliminary data showed the country’s economy shrank in June, marking two consecutive quarters of contraction, which is a common definition for a recession. Finance Minister Alex Contreras told reporters he expects economic growth to return in July after preliminary data showed that the economy shrank by about 1% in June. That followed official data showing that the South American country’s economy contracted by 0.43% in the first quarter. In April, it expanded by 0.31%, but shrank by 1.43% in May. Despite the data, Contreras asserted that the economy is…

KYSHCHENTSI, Ukraine, July 19 (Reuters) – Farmers whose work on Ukraine’s fertile land has long been vital to its economy fear losing their livelihoods after Russia this week quit a wartime deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of grain. For Kees Huizinga, who moved from his native Netherlands to farm in central Ukraine in 2003, Moscow’s refusal to extend the deal makes his finances, already squeezed by Russia’s invasion last year, appear catastrophic. “We have some reserves so we can survive for a month or so, but if we can’t sell it’s going to be a disaster,” he told Reuters at his 15,000-hectare…

Thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets in Peru on Wednesday, part of a new round of marches organized by groups opposed to President Dina Boluarte’s eight-month-old administration, as police deployed to guard government offices. Local television showed several thousand protesters affiliated with left-wing groups and unions peacefully marching in the capital Lima, while isolated incidents with police were reported in an Andean region where social conflicts have often flared. Many Peruvians accuse Boluarte and her allies of illegitimately removing and jailing her leftist predecessor Pedro Castillo, which led to angry and sometimes violent protests through last March that…

The Ukrainian ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, has invited the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, to visit his war-torn country, describing the devastation inflicted by the Russian invasion. Myroshnychenko said on Sunday it would be “wonderful” to have Wong visit the capital Kyiv. Asked if he was inviting her, he said: “Absolutely.” “That would help her to understand Ukraine better,” he told ABC TV’s Insiders program. “She does understand Ukraine very well, but always when you visit it gives you a different angle. I have seen it with your prime minister [Anthony Albanese]. I was there on that trip and we were in Bucha, we…

Peruvian exports of annatto and its derivatives to the United States amounted to US$70,605 in the first four months of this year, a 154% increase compared to the same period in 2022, the Peruvian Exporters Association (Adex) reported on Sunday. Moreover, the country’s export association highlighted that the United States ranked first in the ranking of export markets for Peruvian annatto and its derivatives, thereby accounting for 34% of total exports in said period. Other main destinations for Peruvian exports of annatto and its derivatives were Colombia (US$57,590), Argentina (US$44,888) and Panama. In said group, all destinations exhibited a positive growth. The…

Colombian and Brazilian crudes are unlikely to face competition from rising Venezuelan crude volumes in international markets, even if US sanctions continue to ease, according to key Latin American producers. In Asia-Pacific — a top destination for crude from all three countries — independent refiners are facing a shortfall of Venezuelan heavy sour crude following Venezuelan state-owned PdV’s blanket order to suspend all contracts. Chinese demand for March and April has already picked up for Colombia’s heavy sour Castilla Blend, an ample and high quality substitute, Ecopetrol vice president Pedro Manrique said today at the Argus Americas Crude Summit in…

Eliane Karp, Peru’s former Jewish first lady, has flown from the United States to Israel in an attempt to avoid extradition to Peru in a money laundering case. Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Otárola announced the news on Wednesday at a press conference in Lima. “The United States Department of Justice has informed the Peruvian embassy in the U.S. that Mrs. Eliane Karp has taken a flight to Israel using her Israeli passport,” he said. Peru does not have an extradition treaty with Israel. Karp was first lady of Peru from 2001 to 2006. Born to Jewish parents in France, she…

The postponed meeting of the leaders of the Pacific Alliance will be held in the Peruvian capital city of Lima as soon as possible, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Thursday, APA reports citing Sputnik. The planned summit of the alliance has been postponed due to the absence of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, who had been banned by his country’s Congress from leaving Peru amid accusations of corruption-related crimes. The leaders of the participating countries were discussing the possibility of holding a summit in Peru, which is expected to assume the chairmanship of the organization. “One of the declarations adopted is…

Australian Senator Jordon Steele-John has slammed the government’s nuclear submarine agreement. Earlier in March, under the so-called AUKUS trilateral security partnership, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak jointly announced Australia’s acquisition of nuclear submarines. Local media estimated that the deal will cost 268 billion to 368 billion Australian dollars (178 billion to 245 billion U.S. dollars) by mid-2050. Eight AUKUS-class submarines will be built in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, with the first to be completed by 2042. In a recent speech to the Parliament, Steele-John, a member of the…

Brazil on Friday officially announced it will rejoin the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), from which it withdrew in 2019. “As Brazil resumes its main international alliances, it will once again join the Union of South American Nations,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement. It added that the measure will take effect on May 6 and “places the country back in the group created during President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s second administration.” “Brazil ratifies its commitment to the consolidation of South America as a zone of peace and cooperation, in line with … promoting regional integration,”…