Divisive China, Taiwan bids to join Pacific trade pact in focus at meet

By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Members of a major trans-Pacific trade pact meeting in Auckland on Sunday are set to discuss applications by China and Taiwan to join the group, proposals that have deepened the rancour among the neighbours and divided the opinions of member-nations. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)…

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Analysis-Tumbling US dollar a boon to risk assets across the globe

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) – Cooling U.S. inflation is accelerating a decline in the dollar, and risk assets around the world stand to benefit. The dollar is down nearly 13% against a basket of currencies from last year’s two-decade high and stands at its lowest level in 15 months. Its decline quickened…

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Guatemala top court reverses ban on anti-graft presidential candidate

By Sofia Menchu GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – Guatemala’s top court on Thursday suspended an order barring the party of anti-graft candidate Bernardo Arevalo from running for the presidency, after a flood of international criticism that the country’s democracy was in jeopardy. The Constitutional Court said it had granted a provisional injunction filed by the Semilla…

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US bans former Panama president for ‘significant corruption,’ Blinken says

By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has banned former Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez from entering the U.S. for his “involvement in significant corruption,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday. “Today, I am announcing the designation of former Panamanian President, Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez as generally ineligible for entry…

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Biden urges Republicans to stand up against senator’s military holds

By Steve Holland, Doina Chiacu and Phil Stewart HELSINKI (Reuters) – President Joe Biden said on Thursday he expects Republicans to stand up against what he called Senator Tommy Tuberville’s “ridiculous” block of top U.S. military appointments over the Pentagon’s abortion policy. It was bizarre and irresponsible to inject a domestic social debate into fundamental…

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Canada’s CPKC signs deal to study passenger rail project in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s government and railroad company Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) have formalized an agreement to study the viability of a passenger rail line from Mexico City to the city of Queretaro, some 140 miles (220 km) north-west from the capital. “An agreement was signed 15, 20 days ago where the business…

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Mexico’s Sheinbaum leads rivals for ruling party candidacy -poll

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum holds a 10 percentage point lead in voter preferences in the contest to be the Mexican ruling party candidate for the 2024 presidential election, an opinion poll showed on Thursday. According to the June 30-July 4 survey by polling firm Parametria, the ruling National Regeneration…

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US slaps sanctions on Sinaloa Cartel fentanyl network

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on 10 Mexican nationals and one company in the country for their alleged involvement in the Sinaloa Cartel’s vast illicit fentanyl trafficking network. The U.S. Treasury accuses the 10 people of links to suppliers of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, a highly addictive…

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