Category: Americas

Brazilian President Bolsonaro Urges Protesters to Lift Road Blockades

SAO PAULO—Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday asked protesters blocking roads nationwide to lift blockades. Protests erupted on Sunday after the election authority declared Bolsonaro’s narrow loss to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in an Oct. 30 runoff presidential election. In a video posted on social media, Bolsonaro said he understood people’s frustration at…


Hurricane Lisa Makes Landfall in Belize in Central America

MEXICO CITY—Hurricane Lisa made landfall Wednesday near Belize City in the Central American nation of Belize, and moved inland. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Lisa had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) at landfall. By late Wednesday the storm’s center was about 20 miles (30 kilometers) west of Belize City and moving…


Australia Inks Next-Gen mRNA Technology Deal With US

Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (CSL), an Australian biotechnology company and the world’s second-biggest flu vaccine manufacturer, has agreed to pay $312 million ($US200 million) to use groundbreaking mRNA vaccine technology from a U.S. company. The vaccine manufacturer announced on Nov. 2 that it had licenced the new technology with Arcturus Therapeutics, an American mRNA medicines biotechnology company….


Insect Protein Offering ‘Green’ Livestock Feed Alternative as Market Demand Soars

Making a meal out of bugs is at the top of many people’s “yuck” factor—as edible protein supplements made from crawling locusts, buzzing flies, and hopping crickets aren’t mainstream in Western cultures. Nevertheless, some advocates of sustainable farming have found a way around this stigma by using insect protein in livestock feed. Often marketed as…


Cryptocurrency Pioneer Wrote CIA Would ‘Frame’ Him a Day Before He Died in Puerto Rico

The co-founder of the cryptocurrency lending platform MakerDAO and the decentralized stablecoin Dai, Nikolai Mushegian, has been found dead in Puerto Rico at the age of 29, sparking speculation on Twitter regarding the circumstances surrounding his death. Mushegian’s death was confirmed by local news outlet El Nuevo Dia on Friday. The publication, citing police, reported that he had…


Did Brazil Have a Fair Election?

Commentary The second round of Brazil’s presidential elections was held this Sunday, Oct. 30. The former president, Lula da Silva, who has served prison time for corruption, won 50.9 percent of the vote, and the incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, received 49.1 percent. This is according to judges of the Electoral Superior Tribunal (TSE), Brazil’s top electoral…


Caribbean Storm Lisa Headed for Belize to Become Hurricane

MEXICO CITY—Tropical Storm Lisa will become a hurricane overnight, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast on Tuesday, as the churning weather system is likely to provoke “life-threatening” storm surges in Belize, Honduras, and parts of Mexico. Lisa is expected to “rapidly intensify” into a hurricane before passing over Honduras’ Bay Islands early Wednesday and…


Tropical Storm Lisa Forms in Caribbean, Likely to Grow

MEXICO CITY—Tropical Storm Lisa formed Monday in the Caribbean south of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands and was forecast to make landfall, likely as a hurricane, in Central America later in the week. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Lisa had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kmh) and was moving west at 14…


Lula Defeats Bolsonaro to Become Brazil’s President: Election Authority

SAO PAULO—Former Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday defeated incumbent Jair Bolsonaro to become the country’s next president, Brazil’s electoral authority said. Leftist Lula had 50.8 percent of votes compared with 49.2 percent for conservative Bolsonaro with 99.1 percent of voting machines counted, which the Supreme Electoral Court said was enough to “mathematically define”…


U.S. Congress, CECC, and Human Rights Groups Urge US Capital Giants to Boycott the Upcoming Global Investment Summit Hong Kong

The upcoming Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit in Hong Kong will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel on Nov 2, and at Hong Kong HKEX Connect Hall on Nov 3. Some of the said attendees include senior executives of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and other U.S. financial institutions. The U.S. Congress and Congressional-Executive Commission on…