PARIS (Reuters) – Heavily indebted French supermarket chain Casino on Thursday announced it would sell its residual equity stake in Brazilian retailer Assai, representing around 12% of the company’s share capital. The deal helps Casino improve its liquidity, the company said one day after announcing it had also reached an agreement with the French government…
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – Honduras will return control of most of the country’s penal system to the military police for the next year, the Central American country’s presidential office said late on Wednesday, a day after a prison riot claimed nearly 50 lives. The measure is part of a fresh crackdown on crime which includes expanding…
By Elida Moreno PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – The Panama Canal will expand restrictions on the largest ships crossing the waterway, one of the world’s busiest trade passages, the canal authority’s administrator said on Wednesday, citing shallower waters due to drought. The measure follows a series of depth restrictions in the 50-mile (80 km) canal since…
(Reuters) – The Caribbean islands of St. Lucia and Martinique will shut down schools and nurseries tomorrow ahead of the arrival of one of the season’s first tropical storms, officials said on Wednesday. The storm is forecast to move across the area late on Thursday. “After 21 days into the hurricane season an unusually early…
By Gustavo Palencia TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – On Sunday, in their final telephone conversation, Paola Yamileth told her cousin she feared for her life: “I feel death here and I am afraid they are going to kill me.” Two days after that call, Paola, 26, and her mother, Belinda, 46, were among the at least 46…
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis met Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday and discussed a range of common concerns including peace, poverty, inequality and the environment, the Vatican said. Although the Vatican did not specifically mention Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Lula made clear before the meeting that seeking an end to…
By Daina Beth Solomon MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Grupo Mexico said Wednesday it legally resumed operations at its San Martin mine in 2018 after a decade-long strike, countering a Mexican union that recently submitted a petition to U.S. labor officials over alleged worker rights violations. The U.S. government last week asked Mexico to investigate the…
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada and the Dominican Republic have agreed that Canada will coordinate assistance for Haiti by boosting staff at its embassies in Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo, the countries said in a joint statement on Wednesday. The agreement settles a public dispute last week over a proposed Canadian office in Dominican territory that risked…
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina will make scheduled payments totaling some $1.9 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday, an economy ministry source said. The South American country is in talks with the IMF to revamp its $44 billion loan program with the lender as it battles with dwindling foreign currency reserves, a…
By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) -JPMorgan Chase said the U.S. Virgin Islands gave Jeffrey Epstein more than $300 million in tax incentives and waived sex offender monitoring requirements, shielding the disgraced late financier as he gave cash and gifts to top officials. In a Tuesday night court filing, the largest U.S. bank also described…
