The U.N. says women’s and children’s health is improving faster than at any point in history. VOA’s Carol Pearson reports on a massive program has saved countless lives and is gaining momentum. …
Галина Пахачук замінила Олександра Шлапака на чолі «Приватбанку»
Наглядова рада державного «Приватбанку» ухвалила рішення про призначення виконувачкою обов’язків голови правління банку Галини Пахачук. На засіданні 20 липня члени Наглядової ради фінансової установи задовольнили прохання Олександра Шлапака про відставку з посади голови правління, мовиться в повідомленні на сайті банку. 12 липня Наглядова рада «Приватбанку» повідомила про обрання компанії з підбору управлінського персоналу Amrop Executive Search Ukraine для пошуку кандидатів на посаду голови правління та першого заступника голови банку. Згідно із заявою, голова правління «Приватбанку» Олександр Шлапак повною мірою виконав завдання щодо стабілізації ситуації в банку та проведення аудиту фінансового стану банку. «Олександр Шлапак прийняв виклик очолити найбільший у країні банк одразу після переходу в державну власність, у період великих ризиків та невизначеностей. Завдяки успішній програмі антикризового менеджменту під керівництвом Шлапака банк було стабілізовано й забезпечено його сталий розвиток», – вважає Наглядова рада. 21 грудня минулого року «Приватбанк» перейшов у державну власність, нині власником фінустанови є Міністерство фінансів. Це було частиною домовленостей із колишніми власниками фінансової установи. Упродовж червня бізнесмен, один з колишніх акціонерів «Приватбанку» Ігор Коломойський подав до суду низку позовів, направлених проти уряду, НБУ та «Приватбанку». Заступник голови Національного банку України Катерина Рожкова заявляє, що розгляд позовів щодо націоналізації «Приватбанку» не може завершитися поверненням фінустанови попереднім власникам. За її словами, дії Нацбанку у справі «Приватбанку» є повністю послідовними, публічними і зрозумілими. …
Slowdown in Energy Investment Could Come Back to Hurt Oil Producers
An international energy watchdog warns that the decline in global investment in the oil sector could lead to energy shortages when prices start to rebound. The International Energy Agency says energy investments have declined 20 percent in the past three years as oil profits fell. One analyst tells VOA that is a short-term recipe for long-term problems. Mil Arcega reports. …
Peru Government Fires Special Attorney on Odebrecht Graft Probe
The government of Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said on Thursday that it was firing its special counsel in a corruption probe of Brazilian builder Odebrecht, sparking accusations of interference. Justice Minister Marisol Perez said she dismissed special attorney Katherine Ampuero for blocking Odebrecht’s sale of its irrigation company Olmos. Perez said the decision put thousands of jobs at risk and deprived the state of revenues it would have seized as payment for reparations under a new anti-graft law. Ampuero argued that Odebrecht would have used the sale of Olmos to pay its creditors abroad instead of Peru, which the company denied. “Trust in Ampuero was lost because she did not apply the law, and by not applying the law she created economic loss for the state,” Perez told reporters on Thursday. The announcement put the Odebrecht graft probe in Peru under increased scrutiny and renewed tensions between Kuczynski’s year-old government and the opposition-controlled Congress, which has already pressured three of Kuczynski’s ministers to step down. “The president should ask Perez to resign immediately,” Popular Force lawmaker Hector Becerril said in broadcast comments on local broadcaster RPP. “This is a government of lobbyists.” Odebrecht has been offloading its assets as it faces at least $2.6 billion in fines and graft probes in several countries where it has admitted bribing officials. In Peru, the company has been negotiating a plea deal with the attorney general’s office in which Ampuero had taken part as the state’s representative. Anti-corruption state attorney Julia Principe …
Cities Aim to Reclaim Once-polluted Rivers for Swimming
They dove in, splashed around and blissfully floated in the murky river water. Intrepid swimmers got a once-a-year chance to beat the summer heat with a dip in the once-notorious dirty water of Boston’s Charles River on Tuesday. The annual “City Splash” is one of the few days a year the state permits public swimming on the city’s stretch of the 80-mile river, which gained notoriety in the Standells’ 1960s hit “Dirty Water.” The event, now in its fifth year, spotlights the nonprofit Charles River Conservancy’s efforts to build a “swim park” — floating docks where swimmers can safely jump into the river without touching the hazardous bottom and where water quality would be regularly tested. Nearly 300 people signed up to take the plunge. “It felt refreshing and wonderful,” said Ira Hart, a Newton, Massachusetts, resident as he hopped out of the river, goggles in hand. “They used to talk about how it was toxic sludge and you’d glow if you came out of the Charles. Well I’m not glowing, at least not yet.” Boston is among the cities hoping to follow the model of Copenhagen, Denmark, which opened the first of its floating harbor baths in the early 2000s. Paris opened public swimming areas in a once-polluted canal this week, and similar efforts are in the planning stages in New York, London, Berlin, Melbourne and elsewhere. In Boston, the Charles River Conservancy still needs to raise several million dollars and garner approvals …
Alexa, Turn Up My Kenmore AC; Sears Cuts Deal with Amazon
Sears will begin selling its appliances on Amazon.com, including smart appliances that can be synced with Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa. The announcement Thursday sent shares of Sears soaring almost 11 percent. The tie-up with the internet behemoth could give shares of the storied retailer one of its biggest one-day percentage gains ever. Sears, which also owns Kmart, said that its Kenmore Smart appliances will be fully integrated with Amazon’s Alexa, allowing users to control things like air conditioners through voice commands. “The launch of Kenmore products on Amazon.com will significantly expand the distribution and availability of the Kenmore brand in the U.S.,” Sears Chairman and CEO Edward Lampert said in a company release. Sears bleeding money? Sears has struggled with weak sales for years, and announced more store closings earlier this month, partly due to the emergence of Amazon.com and other internet operators. It said in March that there was “substantial doubt” it could continue as a business after years of bleeding money. Neil Saunders, managing director of research firm GlobalData Retail, said it’s a win for Sears, putting its products where customers are shopping. Sales at existing Sears stores, a key measure of a retailer’s health, have been in rapid retreat for years. “Other channels and routes to market are needed,” Saunders said. Lifeline for Sears Many saw the agreement with Amazon.com as a lifeline for Sears, with the volume of trading company shares enormous on Thursday. And the law of action-reaction is …
Study: Payments to Uganda Farmers to Not Cut Down Trees Pays Off
A pilot program that paid landowners in Uganda to not cut down trees was successful, according to researchers looking for ways to try to reduce carbon emissions. The researchers used interviews, periodic inspections and satellite images to monitor forests around 121 villages over two years. In 60 villages, they offered landowners $28 every year for each hectare of forest they preserved. Deforestation is responsible for about one-tenth of global carbon emissions, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, and leaving trees in place is one of the most cost-efficient options for capturing carbon. But it is hard to show it is effective. “If you put up solar panels, you can say, ‘Ha! I put in those solar panels. Please give me my credits towards my target.’ If you slow deforestation … it’s harder to really know what impact you had,” co-author Seema Jayachandran, an economist at Northwestern University, told VOA. Uganda deforestation The study was conducted by researchers at Northwestern and a Dutch organization named Porticus. Uganda was an ideal location to attempt the program because between 2005-2010, the country had one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, with a 2.7 percent loss each year. Researchers wanted to address concerns that payments wouldn’t actually reduce deforestation, either because participants in the program wouldn’t have harvested trees anyway, they would just harvest more from other unprotected forest or they would quickly harvest immediately after the end of the program. The study, published in the journal Science, found that …
Brazilian Judge Seizes $2.8 Million in Silva’s Pension Funds
A judge in Brazil on Thursday ordered the seizure of more than $2.8 million in pension funds from former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in connection with his corruption conviction. The funds were in one of Silva’s individual accounts and in another linked to his company LILS, which administers assets from his lectures, according to the ruling released by the office of federal judge Sergio Moro. Last week, Moro sentenced Silva to 9 1/2 years in prison in connection with a graft probe involving state-run oil giant Petrobras. A spokesman for Silva confirmed Thursday’s decision, but did not make comments to The Associated Press. The former president will remain free until his appeal of the conviction is heard by a group of magistrates. None of Silva’s pension funds can be used until there is a final ruling in the case. On Wednesday, Brazil’s central bank froze four of Silva’s bank accounts amounting to more than $190,000. Judge Moro also barred the ex-president from using three apartments, a piece of land and two cars linked to him. With the seizure of the pension funds, Silva’s assets frozen by Moro amount to almost 10 million Brazilian reals, or $3 million. That is the figure requested by the judge in Wednesday’s ruling “for the reparation of damages” for crimes committed. Last week the judge also seized a beachfront apartment in the city of Guaruja, Sao Paulo state, that is the centerpiece of the corruption and money laundering case against Silva. The apartment …
Northwest Passage’s History Marked by Dangers, Death
European explorers had long speculated about the existence of an Arctic route that connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and would avoid the long journey around South America’s Cape Horn. For centuries, able seafarers failed to find the Northwest Passage, among them John Cabot, Henry Hudson, Francis Drake and James Cook. Harsh weather, thick ice and treacherous shallows forced many expeditions to turn back. Those that didn’t ended in disaster, such as the expedition led by British naval officer John Franklin in 1845. Franklin’s men perished from scurvy, starvation and apparent lead poisoning from food tins, with some resorting to cannibalism toward the end. The wrecks of their formidable ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, were found in 2014 and 2016. Rescue parties sent to find Franklin’s expedition made key discoveries about the passage’s maritime geography, eventually paving the way for the first successful transit. In 1903, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and six other men set out in a tiny ship, the Gjoa. Sailing from east to west, they drew on the expertise of indigenous Inuit people to brave the dangerous conditions and reached Alaska in 1906. The next recorded transit of the Northwest Passage, this time from west to east, was completed by the Canadian RCMP vessel St. Roch in 1942. Over the years, there have been 410 recorded transits, mostly by Canadian icebreakers and small adventure yachts. The first cargo ship to achieve a transit was the SS Manhattan, a reinforced tanker accompanied by several icebreakers in 1969. …
No Trump Slump in Tourism, but There Could Be a Trump Bump
Last winter, the U.S. tourism industry fretted that Trump administration policies might lead to a “Trump slump” in travel. But those fears may have been premature. International arrivals and travel-related spending are up in 2017 compared with the same period in 2016. There might even be a “Trump bump,” says Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, a nonprofit representing the travel industry. A few months ago, Dow and others warned that President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and ban on travel from a handful of mostly Muslim countries could send an anti-tourism message. But “impending doom hasn’t manifested itself,” Dow said in an interview. “Right now we cannot identify a loss. It’s contrary to everything we’ve heard, but travel is in slightly better shape than it was a year ago. Everyone wants me to tell the story of the sky is falling, but for the travel industry, the sky is not falling.” Latest numbers from the U.S. Travel Association’s Travel Trends Index showed 6.6 percent growth in international travel to the U.S. in April and 5 percent growth in May compared with the same months last year. The Travel Trends Index uses hotel, airline and U.S. government data. Individual sectors have good news, too. Hotel occupancy for the first five months of 2017 was “higher than it has ever been before,” said Jan Freitag, senior vice president with STR, which tracks hotel industry data. American Express Meetings & Events has “not seen a slowdown in either domestic U.S. meetings …
Farmers Find Healthy Soils Yield Healthy Profits
Ancient civilizations plowed themselves into oblivion, and modern agriculture risks doing it again, geologist David Montgomery says. In his new book, Montgomery says a growing number of farmers are using techniques that can save their farms from slow death by erosion. In Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life, Montgomery meets farmers who are building healthy soil and buffering themselves against climate change — and saving money while doing it — by practicing what is called conservation agriculture. Experts worldwide are working to persuade farmers to reject thousands of years of agricultural tradition in order to save their soil. Erosion of civilizations Montgomery told VOA, while finishing his previous book, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, “It was very difficult to write the final chapter and not have it sound really depressing.” Dirt describes how tillage, one of the oldest practices in agriculture, degraded farms and civilizations from Mesopotamia to 1930’s Dust Bowl America. Farmers till the soil to control weeds and make planting easier, but exposed soil washes away in the rain and blows away in the wind, carrying with it the nutrients plants need to thrive. And yet, most farmers worldwide still plow their soil and leave it bare in the off-season. Many plant the same crops over and over again. All three practices wear out the soil. Growing a Revolution picks up where Dirt ends, with the promise of a relatively new kind of farming. “Conservation agriculture flip[s] all three of those ideas on their head,” …
Canada, Mexico Urge Quick NAFTA Talks to End Uncertainty
Top Canadian and Mexican diplomats expressed optimism on Thursday that a NAFTA deal could be reached early next year and cautioned that widespread uncertainty over the future of the three-way trade agreement had slowed business investment. Mexican sources say the plan is to hold seven rounds of talks at three-week intervals, a schedule that trade experts warned was aggressive and not easily attainable. Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, Geronimo Gutierrez, said his country wanted to get the negotiations over before a presidential election campaign ramps up next year. Gutierrez said no country would want trade discussions during a campaign. “That is not wise … because it becomes a Christmas tree, everybody wants to hang something onto the Christmas tree,” he told an audience at the Washington International Trade Association conference. Trump’s policies a concern U.S. officials say there is growing concern within the administration, business community, and among U.S. lawmakers that the policies of President Donald Trump could embolden anti-U.S. populist Lopez Obrador. The Trump administration released its objectives for the talks on Monday. The first round will start on Aug. 16. Gutierrez said there was still a possibility that Trump could back out of the talks. “In all honesty, I can’t say that risk has been completely dismissed,” he said, adding: “No one would sit down and negotiate under a strong threat that at any time he would pull out.” Gutierrez said all three governments agreed that uncertainty over the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement …
МВФ: вимогу до України про земельну реформу відклали на пізніше
Міжнародний валютний фонд відклав виконання Україною вимоги здійснити земельну реформу на пізніший час цього року, заявив речник МВФ Вільям Марі. Як сказав він на брифінгу у Вашингтоні, цієї вимоги не висуватимуть під час наступного перегляду в Раді директорів МВФ програми співпраці з Україною, що необхідний для отримання чергового траншу позики. «Розгляд Радою директорів МВФ четвертого перегляду програми співпраці стане можливий, коли заходи, необхідні для цього перегляду, будуть втілені. Цей перегляд буде зосереджений на пенсійній реформі і на заходах для прискорення приватизації і забезпечення конкретних результатів у боротьбі з корупцією», – сказав речник. За його словами, не менш важливо також, щоб фіскальні реформи і реформи в енергетиці далі відповідали зобов’язанням за програмою співпраці. Цьому буде приділятися головна увага в цьому перегляді, сказав він. «Земельна реформа залишається важливою умовою за програмою. Але, враховуючи необхідність добре розробити цю реформу і досягти консенсусу про головні кроки в ній, виникла потреба перенести термін її здійснення на час пізніше цього року. А тим часом важливо, щоб влада України наступними місяцями просувалася з необхідною підготовчою роботою до здійснення належної земельної реформи, що має потенціал перетворити сільськогосподарський сектор України», – наголосив речник МВФ. На початку липня прем’єр-міністр України Володимир Гройсман заявляв, що наступний транш позики від Міжнародного валютного фонду для України буде відкладений через те, що парламент не встигне ухвалити всі необхідні реформи до літніх канікулів. Як сказав він в інтерв’ю агентству Bloomberg, пенсійна реформа йде за графіком, кроки для створення антикорупційного суду вживаються, а от законопроект про земельну реформу не буде поданий вчасно. Це затримає виплату п’ятого …
US Piano Sellers Change Their Tune to Stay in the Money
A dramatic illustration of the economics of pianos can be found in Dean Petrich’s workshop and piano sheds. Petrich is a longtime piano tuner based on Whidbey Island, Washington. So many upright pianos of all ages and conditions are packed in so tightly in multiple sheds, Petrich has trouble counting them all. But he estimates he has about 82 pianos stored on his rural property. The prior owners gave them to Petrich just to get rid of them and then paid him to haul the instruments away. Americans are still making music, just not on traditional pianos. “As the technology for electronic instruments and keyboards has improved people have switched,” Petrich observes, “because you don’t have to tune an electronic keyboard. You can carry it with you, it’s lightweight. It can make any sound you want.” The economic difficulties of piano dealers reflect the larger issues that faced America’s piano manufacturers. Like the U.S. auto industry, it was hit hard by imports from Asia, as well as by the growing popularity of electronic keyboards. There were 160 piano makers in the U.S. a century ago. There are only four major producers today. Manufacturing has shifted largely to China, Korea and Japan. Restore, recycle, reuse “I am getting more creative for what to do with old pianos,” Petrich said, explaining how he’s whittling down his accumulation of cast-off pianos, from more than 200 a couple of years ago, to under 100 today. The irrepressible tuner has a book in the works …
Growing HIV Drug Resistance Posing Threat to Treatment
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports a survey of 11 countries finds evidence that HIV drug resistance is growing, posing a potential threat to the prevention and treatment of AIDS. According to the WHO, 36.7 million people are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. More than half that number are on life-saving antiretroviral therapy. In what it calls a wake-up call, the WHO says more than 10 percent of people starting antiretroviral therapy in six of the 11 countries surveyed in Africa, Asia and Latin America were resistant to the drugs. It warns this potentially could undermine progress in controlling and reducing the spread of this disease. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of HIV cases and accounts for nearly two-thirds of the global total of new HIV infections; but, the WHO coordinator for HIV treatment and care, Meg Doherty, told VOA other parts of the world, especially eastern Europe and central Asia, have some of the highest incidences of drug resistance. She added some of the higher incidences are in places with the lowest amount of antiretroviral coverage. “So, we know in most of Africa, in sub-Saharan Africa, that there is very good and the highest coverage of treatment. So, it is a good news story. But, once we have more people on therapy and more people who are potentially taking drugs that could alter the virus, the risk of this resistance can go up,” Doherty said. The World Health Organization is issuing new guidelines to help …
НАЗК затвердило результати повної перевірки декларацій 9 урядовців за 2015 рік – заява
Національне агентство з питань запобігання корупції затвердило результати повної перевірки декларацій щодо 9 членів Кабінету міністрів, мовиться у повідомленні на сайті відомства. За даними НАЗК, йдеться про віце-прем’єра Павла Розенка, міністра оборони Степана Полторака, міністра соціальної політики Андрія Реви, міністра екології та природних ресурсів Остапа Семерака, міністра інформаційної політики Юрія Стеця, міністра енергетики та вугільної промисловості Ігоря Насалика, міністра культури Євгена Нищука, міністра з питань тимчасово окупованих територій та внутрішньо переміщених осіб України Вадима Черниша та міністра інфраструктури Володимира Омеляна. Агентство заявило за результатами перевірки, що задекларовані активи чиновників відповідають даним, отриманим з наявних джерел, і порушень не виявлено. Як повідомляється, під час здійснення повної перевірки декларацій НАЗК використовувало інформацію, отриману з Національної автоматизованої інформаційної системи департаменту Державної автомобільної інспекції, Державного суднового реєстру України та Суднової книги, Державного реєстру речових прав на нерухоме майно, Державного реєстру іпотек, Єдиного реєстру заборон відчуження об’єктів нерухомого майна, Державного реєстру цивільних повітряних суден України, Державного земельного кадастру, Єдиного державного реєстру юридичних осіб, фізичних осіб-підприємців та громадських формувань, Державного реєстру фізичних осіб-платників податків, державних реєстрів патентів України на винаходи, корисні моделі, промислові зразки та знаки для товарів і послуг тощо,інформацію, отриману на запити від державних органів, юридичних осіб публічного та приватного права, а також інформацію, викладену в поясненнях суб’єктів декларування та доданих до них документах. …
Study: Drinking Coffee May Help You Live Longer
Many people enjoy a cup of coffee, especially in the morning. Turns out, that is giving them a good start – not just to their day – but to their lives. A new study indicates that people who drink at least three cups of coffee each day appear to live longer than those who don’t. In the largest study on coffee drinking so far, scientists examined data from 500,000 healthy people over the age of 35 in 10 European countries. VOA’s Deborah Block has more. …
Working to Close the Math Gap Between Rich and Poor
The achievement gap is defined as the persistently low scores disadvantaged children get on tests when compared to their middle and upper class peers. It has economic and racial components, and educators have been battling to solve the problem for decades. Some research done with low-income kids in India is providing some clues that may help close the gap. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
Australia Helping Sri Lanka Fight Dengue Outbreak
Australia is contributing funds to help Sri Lanka combat its worst outbreak of dengue fever, which has claimed 250 lives and infected nearly 100,000 people so far this year in the Indian Ocean island nation. Visiting Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Wednesday night that Australia is giving $475,000 Australian (US $377,000) to the World Health Organization to implement immediate dengue prevention, management and eradication programs in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s hospitals are overcrowded with patients, and the government has deployed soldiers, police and health officials to inspect houses and clear rotting garbage, stagnant water pools and other potential mosquito-breeding grounds across the country. Health officials blamed the public for their failure to clear puddles and piles of trash after last month’s heavy monsoon rains. The number of infections nationwide is 38 percent higher than last year, when 55,150 people were diagnosed with dengue and 97 died, according to the Health Ministry. Cases were concentrated around the main city of Colombo, though they were occurring across the tropical island nation. Bishop is on a two-day visit and will meet Thursday with government leaders. She said Australia is offering an additional $1 million (US $795,000) for a research partnership between Australia’s Monash University and Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry to test the introduction of naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria to eradicate dengue fever from Sri Lanka. She said the bacteria “prevent transmission of dengue virus between humans’’ and that it has shown success during the last six years in countries such as Brazil, Columbia, …
Indian Builders Pledge ‘Green’ Homes in Race to Meet Climate Goals
India’s top builders have pledged to make at least a fifth of their new housing developments sustainable by 2022, as the country looks to tap sectors other than renewable energy to meet its ambitious climate goals. The campaign is led by the Sustainable Housing Leadership Consortium (SHLC) comprising builders Godrej Properties, Mahindra Lifespaces, Shapoorji Pallonji, Tata Housing and VBHC Value Homes. It is backed by the Ministry of Housing. Builders will use mainly local and recycled material, and design homes that conserve water and electricity and make best use of natural light and wind patterns, while also pursuing more energy-efficient methods of construction. “The construction industry has one of the biggest carbon footprints, so it’s really important for us to take action to minimize the impact,” said Jainin Desai, head of design and sustainability at developer Mahindra Lifespaces. “This initiative pushes us to incorporate sustainability right from the selection of the site to the design, the use of materials and in increasing awareness in the industry, as well as among our clients,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. India is the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. As a signatory to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, India is committed to reducing its carbon emissions by a third by 2030. It is doing so with tougher emission norms, more electric vehicles and giant solar power plants to replace energy generated by coal. The real-estate sector is responsible for nearly a quarter of the country’s carbon …
In China, Ford Cars Pass ‘Golden Noses’ Test Before Sale
While Western drivers like the “new car smell” of a vehicle fresh off the production line, Chinese would rather their cars didn’t smell of anything — a cultural divide that’s testing carmakers seeking an edge to revive sales in the world’s biggest auto market. At Ford Motor Co., for example, 18 smell assessors, dubbed “golden noses,” at its research plant outside the eastern city of Nanjing test the smell of each material that goes inside a Ford car to be sold in China and around Asia. The China smell test isn’t unique, but illustrates the lengths automakers go to to attract buyers in markets where consumer attitudes vary widely. Smell matters “In North America, people want a new car smell and will even buy a ‘new car’ spray to make older cars feel new and fresh. In China it’s the opposite,” says Andy Pan, supervisor for material engineering at the Ford facility, which employs around 2,300 people. The smell of a new car in China can have an outsized effect. A J.D. Power report last year showed that unpleasant car smells were the top concern for Chinese drivers, ahead of engine issues, road noise or fuel consumption. The smell assessors at Ford, whose China sales are down 7 percent this year, carry out 300 tests a year, a third more than their counterparts in Europe. They rate the odor of all materials used in a car from “not perceptible” to “extremely disturbing.” Pungent materials, from carpets to seat covers and …
Venezuelan Business Leader Slams Maduro’s Congress Plan
Venezuela’s severe economic crisis will worsen if President Nicolas Maduro presses ahead with a controversial new congress that would further undermine investor confidence in the OPEC nation, the head of the country’s biggest business guild said. Despite months of protests by the majority-backed opposition and widespread international condemnation, the ruling Socialist Party is holding a vote on July 30 to set up a legislative superbody known as a Constituent Assembly. The assembly would have powers to rewrite the constitution and abolish the existing opposition-controlled legislature in what foes fear would enshrine a leftist dictatorship. “What country in the world has a successful socialist model? None!” Carlos Larrazabal, 60, president of Fedecamaras told Reuters on Tuesday during its annual meeting in the sweltering western city of Maracaibo. “In a constituent process, with the characteristics that are being proposed, there is no legal certainty and that does not attract investment but rather scares it away,” added the U.S-educated economist. Fedecamaras has long been at odds with the government after a former head briefly became interim president in a 2002 coup against late socialist leader Hugo Chavez. Though officials have given few details on what the Constituent Assembly – which the opposition is boycotting – might do, investors fear its legal and economic ramifications. Comments by a Socialist Party candidate that the assembly could rewrite parts of the constitution that allow joint ventures with foreign companies have spooked some in the country’s oil sector – though state energy company PDVSA later reassured partners …
Study: Production of Enough Plastic to Cover Argentina Causes Havoc
More than nine billion tons of plastic has been produced since 1950 with most of it discarded in landfills or the environment, hurting ecosystems and human health, according to the first major global analysis of mass-produced plastics. Nearly 80 percent of this plastic ended up in landfills or the environment and production in increasing quickly, researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, said in the study published on Wednesday. Less than 10 percent was recycled and about 12 percent was incinerated. “If you spread all of this plastic equally, ankle-deep, it would cover an area the size of Argentina,” Roland Geyer, a professor of industrial ecology and the study’s lead author, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “It is an enormous amount of material that does not biodegrade … I am very worried.” Burning plastics contributes to climate change and adversely impacts human health, while build-ups of the material can hurt the broader environment, Geyer said. Packaging is the largest market for plastic and the petroleum-based product accelerated a global shift from reusable to single-use containers, researchers said. As a result, the share of plastics in city dumps in high and middle income countries rose to more than 10 percent by 2005 from less than 1 percent in 1960. Unlike other materials, plastic can stay in the environment for thousands of years, Geyer said. There are more than 5 trillion pieces of plastic floating in the world’s oceans, according to a 2014 study published in a Public Library of Science …
Argentina Ratifies Treaty; Tariffs to Be Lifted Soon
Argentina said Wednesday that it has sent the regional bloc Mercosur its ratification of the group’s 2010 trade agreement with Egypt, and the pact will go into force within a month. The trade deal, which covers food, cars, auto parts and industrial supplies, was signed by Egypt and Mercosur members Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay in 2010, but it did not go into effect because Argentina’s Congress had not approved it. Argentina’s Congress signed off on the deal in May, and Argentina has sent Mercosur its formal ratification, the last step needed for implementation, Argentina’s production ministry said. “In 30 days the agreement will be in full force,” the ministry said in a statement Wednesday. The deal will eliminate tariffs on 60 percent of Argentina’s exports immediately and phase in reduced tariffs for other products over 10 years, the ministry said. Tariffs in Argentina on imports of beef, pears, apples and cars and auto parts from Egypt will also be lifted, it added. The announcement comes as Mercosur has been seeking to finalize trade deals with other blocs and countries, including the European Union, Canada and South Korea, after pro-business governments took office in Argentina and Brazil. …