Stories for June 2016

Wednesday, June 15th 2016 - 16:49 UTC
Adidas will open its first factory in Germany in 30 years, with robots

Adidas will be opening its first factory in Germany in more than 30 years is one of the most visible examples of global brands bringing manufacturing home because of rising labor costs in Asia. Adidas’s 50,000 square-foot factory, in the Bavarian town of Ansbach, will rely on robots and customized automation to produce 500,000 pairs of athletic shoes a year—well below 1% of Adidas’s total annual production of 300 million pairs—when full production starts in 2017.
Wednesday, June 15th 2016 - 12:40 UTC
Brexit: What if?

By Gwynne Dyer - After months in which opinion polls showed a six to ten percentage points lead for the 'Remain' side in the referendum campaign on continued British membership of the European Union (EU), the numbers have suddenly shifted in favor of 'Leave'.
Wednesday, June 15th 2016 - 11:46 UTC
Rio Games receive the blessing from Olympic Committee president

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said on Tuesday he was “happy” with interim Brazilian president Michel Temer's commitment to the Rio Games, following his first meeting with the host country's new leader.
Wednesday, June 15th 2016 - 11:27 UTC
Falklands Holdings expects quieter period following suspension of oil exploration but trusts increased tourism

Falkland Islands Holdings PLC on Tuesday reported a fall in pre-tax profit for its recently ended financial year, and said it expects to see a quieter period in the Falklands for the year ahead, to be offset by its Portsmouth Harbour Ferry and Momart businesses.
Wednesday, June 15th 2016 - 07:54 UTC
Brexit debate escalates: Remains warn of a fiscal “black hole”; Vote Leave slams “hysterical prophecies”

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne says he will have to slash public spending and increase taxes in an emergency Budget to tackle a £30bn “black hole” if the UK votes to leave the European Union. The chancellor will say this could include raising income and inheritance taxes and cutting the NHS budget.
Wednesday, June 15th 2016 - 07:15 UTC
Kerry announces at OAS assembly high-level talks to ease tensions with Venezuela

United States Secretary of State John Kerry announced high-level talks to ease tensions with Venezuela's populist government on Tuesday, just hours after he backed calls for a referendum that could force President Nicolas Maduro from office. Kerry said the talks would start immediately in Caracas and be led by Thomas Shannon, a veteran of U.S. diplomacy in the region. Attempts last year at dialogue between the ideological foes were stalled by Venezuela's deepening crisis.
Wednesday, June 15th 2016 - 05:26 UTC
An Argentine ex-Kirchnerite official caught red-handed trying to hide bags of cash in a monastery

An Argentine former secretary of Public Works with the Cristina Fernandez administration, Jose Lopez, and currently a member of the Mercosur parliament, was arrested on Tuesday in the Buenos Aires province locality of General Rodríguez while he was trying to hide bags full of money and an automatic gun in the garden of a convent.
Tuesday, June 14th 2016 - 17:07 UTC
Falklands commemorates 34th anniversary of Liberation Day

Commemorations are being held today in the Falkland Islands to mark the ending of the Falklands War, which ended 34 years ago after 74 days of Argentine occupation. Liberation Day as it is officially known in the Falklands is commemorated every year on the 14th June in the Islands and is a national holiday.
Tuesday, June 14th 2016 - 12:23 UTC
Maduro appeals to bureaucratic chicaneries to impede the recall referendum

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's allies asked the Supreme Court on Monday to block a bid to call a referendum on sacking him, accusing the opposition of “fraud.” The move casts doubt on the recall vote sought by the opposition, which accuses the high court of pro-Maduro bias and has clashed with it repeatedly since winning control of congress in December.
Tuesday, June 14th 2016 - 12:15 UTC
“No animosity at all towards the president”, said Macorra following a meeting with Pope Francis

“There is no animosity”, said Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra after meeting with Pope Francis in Rome on the sidelines of an event sponsored by the United Nations, just days after the pontiff publicly rejected a multi-million-peso “donation” from the administration of President Mauricio Macri destined for the pope’s Scholas Occurrentes program.