Author: San Jaros

Jakarta, Surabaya (19/11 – 20) With the elimination of their national team on Saturday, Indonesia’s capabilities to put on its finest show as the host of the 2023 Under-17 World Cup will be tested. Indonesia has been given a second chance to host a global football tournament once again, with the 19th Edition of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, a moving spectacle held in Jakarta, Surabaya, Surakarta and Bandung, from 10 November to 2 December 2023. This opportunity arrived just months after FIFA stripped out Indonesia’s hosting rights for the 2023 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. The bid wa doomed by…

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…

Brussels (3/11 – 34) Dubai is calling for a united front to spur the development of generative artificial intelligence to maximise its potential and reap economic benefits, the chief executive of the Dubai Future Foundation has said. Countries need to come together to prepare society for the innovation and to help bridge the gap between policies and the advancement of the emerging technology, which has a reported business opportunity of as much as $4.4 trillion, Khalfan Belhoul said at the Dubai Assembly for Generative AI conference on Wednesday. The industries with highest AI potential include banking, software and platforms, energy, communications and media, and health, according to the DFF.…

The day before, a high-level commission from the Petrobras corporation visited the Potassium Chloride Industrial Plant in the town of Llipi, in Uyuni, department of Potosí, where the Industrial Complex of the state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) is located. “We came to learn how Bolivia is exploring and exploiting those very important resources it has and to learn a little from the Bolivian experience,” said the institutional relations manager of the Brazilian firm, Joao Madruga, according to an institutional report by YLB. He stressed that “of course”, they look at the possibilities of cooperation in the future. When referring…

Colombia, the world’s top supplier of washed arabica coffee, will close this year with production of between 11.6 million and 12 million 60-kg (130-pound) bags, ending three years of output falls, the head of the national coffee federation said on Thursday. Coffee production fell 12% to 11.1 million bags in 2022, the lowest since 2013 and the third annual consecutive fall on delayed flowering caused by wet weather. “The estimates for production that we have for 2023 are to end at about 11.6 million bags at least and up to 12 million,” federation head German Bahamon told Reuters. “In either…

As the war in Israel rages, an ongoing struggle to control the narrative of the conflict is unfolding between Hamas and the Jewish state. This propaganda battle is not novel, as it has long been observed to coexist with the kinetic action between Israel and the Palestinian armed groups, dating back to at least 2014. Drawing from its prior clashes with Israel, Hamas has gained vital insights on how to effectively counter Israel. Despite being at a military disadvantage in nearly every area, Hamas has developed unconventional methods to attack Israel, including a powerful propaganda system to garner global backing…

Brazil, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, called a Friday meeting of the body to discuss the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, its foreign affairs ministry said Wednesday. Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira has interrupted an Asia trip to travel “to New York to participate in a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, called by Brazil… to address the situation in the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said in a statement. Brazil previously called an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Sunday, the day after Hamas launched its murderous assault on Israel…

Toronto, Atlanta (24/10 – 10) Not too long ago, “Halloween”, a contraction of the Christian holiday known as “All Hallows’ Eve,” was a time to honors dead saints. Take a look at the multi-billion-dollar enterprise, celebrated on October 31st every year, which it has evolved into, at least in North America, and you’ll find no sainted creatures – but a plethora of devils and the dead. Not to mention the Undead (imagine Yoko Ono) which have leaked out of the hundreds upon hundreds of horror movies, many of them truly horrible horrors, since brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière invented the…

Frankfurt, Paris (22/10 – 20)  Many tourists consider traveling to Europe during the summer months of June – September, but autumn’s cooler temperature, colorful leaves and diverse culinary choices can also charm visitors of the blue continent. Here are several events and attractions you can visit across Europe during autumn. 1. Amsterdam, Netherlands Amsterdam offers a wide array of activities during autumn, such as Amsterdam Marathon, an annual marathon in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. There is also Amsterdam Dance Event, held between Oct. 18 and 22, is the largest electronic club festival in the world but also the…

The United Arab Emirates’ state-owned EDGE Group announced its partial acquisition of a Brazilian weapons firm on Friday, another sign of growing cooperation between Brazil and the UAE as the latter moves to join BRICS. The EDGE Group, a defense technology firm, acquired a 50% stake in SIATT, a Brazilian high-tech weapons systems company. The deal was signed at SIATT’s headquarters in the southeastern city of Sao Jose dos Campos, according to an EDGE press release. EDGE Group CEO and managing director Mansour AlMulla called Brazil a part of the company’s “Latin America development roadmap.” The company did not disclose the financials…