Author Archives: Reuters News Agency

The Mexican town where making Christmas baubles is a way of life

TLALPUJAHUA, Mexico (Reuters) – In Tlalpujahua, Mexico, the spirit of Christmas is baked into the small town’s very existence.

While people around the world prepare to decorate Christmas trees and buy gifts to celebrate the holiday, in Tlalpujahua thousands of workers do the delicate work of blowing glass into Christmas ornaments that are then hand-painted.

“We are a people who are very creative and we have developed this industry ourselves, from our art,” baubles maker Jose Luis Munoz told Reuters Television. “And clearly we are committed to making Mexican families and families from around the world feel good this coming Christmas.”

Munoz is one of more than 2,000 people in Tlalpujahua, located about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Mexico City in the state of Michoacán, who are employed directly in making Christmas ornaments. They produce millions of ornaments each year.

Artisans hand-blow glass over a 750-degree Celsius (1,382 Fahrenheit) flame, transforming long glass tubes into shapes ranging from standard round baubles to flowers, apples, birds and bells. They are then painted with sparkling colors.

Most of the ornaments, about 60%, are shipped overseas, to the United States and Canada, as well as Europe, Japan and Malaysia.

The ornaments are popular with visitors to the town, as well.

“I think that this is a craft like no other and I think the work of artisans from Michoacán is very beautiful,” said Consuelo Herrera, a visitor.

Tlalpujahua once thrived on income from gold and silver mines, but it fell on hard times after a 1937 mudslide shut down most mining.

It underwent a renaissance after a local man, Joaquin Munoz Orta, returned from Chicago where he had learned to make ornaments while working in a factory that produced artificial Christmas trees. He set up a workshop that grew steadily and inspired others in the town to also make ornaments.

(Reporting by Reuters Television; Writing by Leslie Adler; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

Putin and Xi cement partnership in face of Western pressure

By Anastasia Lyrchikova

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia and China should stand firm in rejecting Western interference and defending each other’s security interests, presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping agreed in a video call on Wednesday.

Their conversation, eight days after Putin spoke to U.S. President Joe Biden in a similar format, underscored how shared hostility to the West is bringing Moscow and Beijing closer together.

“At present, certain international forces under the guise of ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights’ are interfering in the internal affairs of China and Russia, and brutally trampling on international law and recognized norms of international relations,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying.

“China and Russia should increase their joint efforts to more effectively safeguard the security interests of both parties.”

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Xi had offered support to Putin for his push to obtain binding security guarantees for Russia from the West, saying he understood Moscow’s concerns.

He said the pair also expressed their “negative view” of the creation of new military alliances such as the AUKUS partnership between Australia, Britain and the United States and the Indo-Pacific “Quad” of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.

PRESSURE

The call highlighted the ways in which Russia and China are drawing on each other for mutual support at a time of high tension in their relations with the West. China is under pressure over human rights and Russia is accused of threatening behavior towards Ukraine.

The Kremlin said Putin briefed Xi on his conversation with Biden, in which the U.S. president warned Russia against invading Ukraine – which Moscow denies it is planning – and Putin set out his demand for security pledges.

“A new model of cooperation has been formed between our countries, based, among other things, on such principles as non-interference in internal affairs and respect for each other’s interests,” Putin told Xi.

He said he looked forward to meeting Xi at the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February – an event that the White House last week said U.S. government officials would boycott because of China’s human rights “atrocities” against Muslims in its western region of Xinjiang.

“I would like to note that we invariably support each other on issues of international sports cooperation, including rejection of any attempts to politicize sports and the Olympic movement,” Putin said.

Putin has used Russia’s partnership with China as a way of balancing U.S. influence while striking lucrative deals, especially on energy. He and Xi this year agreed to extend a 20-year friendship and cooperation treaty.

The Russian leader said bilateral trade was up 31% in the first 11 months of this year to $123 billion, and the two countries aimed to exceed $200 billion in the near future.

He said China was becoming an international center for production of Russia’s Sputnik and Sputnik Light vaccines against COVID-19, with contracts signed with six manufacturers to make more than 150 million doses.

(Additional reporting by Ryan Woo and Ella Cao in Beijing; Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Arizona asks U.S. Supreme Court to allow abortion restriction

By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The state of Arizona on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow a Republican-backed law that bans abortions performed due to fetal genetic abnormalities such as Down syndrome to go into effect.

The emergency request to the justices, made by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, seeks to block part of a September ruling by a federal judge in the state that put the newly enacted measure on hold.

The Arizona Medical Association physicians’ group and abortion rights advocates were among those filing suit after Arizona Governor Doug Ducey in April signed into law the measure banning abortions performed strictly on the basis of genetic disorders detected in the fetus, such as Down syndrome or cystic fibrosis, unless the condition is considered lethal.

It is one of a series of Republican-backed abortion restrictions pursued at the state level in recent years.

Brnovich has asked the high court to allow the provision to go into effect while litigation continues on the appeal.

His request reaches the conservative-majority court as the justices weigh another major abortion case from Mississippi that could lead to the overturning of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized the procedure nationwide. Such a move would make it easier for states to impose restrictions on abortion or possibly ban it entirely.

Mississippi’s law, blocked by lower courts, bans abortions at 15 weeks of pregnancy. The conservative justices during arguments on Dec. 1 indicated sympathy toward Mississippi’s law and potential support for overturning Roe.

In another case, the Supreme Court last Friday left in place a Texas ban on abortions starting at about six weeks of pregnancy but allowed a legal challenge to proceed, with the fate of the Republican-backed measure that allows private citizens to enforce it still hanging in the balance.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)

Kentucky tornado killed dozen children, including two-month-old

By Cheney Orr

MAYFIELD, Ky. (Reuters) – The barrage of tornadoes that tore through Kentucky and surrounding states killed a dozen children, including a 2-month-old infant, Governor Andy Beshear said on Tuesday.

A total of 74 people died in Kentucky, with the oldest victim at 98 years old. Eight people have yet to be identified.

Beshear said the storms produced “the strongest set of tornadoes that we have ever seen in Kentucky and what we believe will probably be one of the most devastating tornado events in U.S. history.”

The fatalities included eight at a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, that was reduced to rubble. Deaths at the candle factory were initially feared to be much higher, but a company spokesman said on Monday that the remaining 102 workers on duty at the time are alive and have been accounted for.

“If you saw it in person, you would believe that’s a miracle,” Beshear said of the fact that only eight were killed at candle factory.

(Reporting by Cheney Orr in Mayfield, Kentucky, and Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Cameroonian refugees cross river to Chad as carnage displaces thousands

By Mahamat Ramadane

KOUNDOUL, Chad (Reuters) – Cameroonian farmer Saleh Abderamane was bleeding from a machete wound to his head when his relatives ferried him across the river border to Chad among thousands of refugees fleeing violence between farmers and herders.

The 34-year-old was attacked during a spate of fighting fueled by water disputes in the Far North region that has driven 48,000 people to seek refuge in Chad so far this month, according to Chadian authorities.

“I nearly died far out in the bush but luckily my relatives found me and took me across the river,” said Abderamane at a camp on the outskirts of Chad’s capital N’Djamena.

A bloodstained bandage swathed the entire crown of his head.

“We can’t go back there soon because even if the other communities don’t kill us, we would die of hunger,” he said, recalling the destruction of food stores, markets and fields.

Refugees, mostly women and children, are still trying to reach Chad, crossing the rivers Chari and Logone on rickety boats. Exhausted new arrivals to one of the camps were greeted with tears and wails of recognition from friends and relatives.

The number of such refugees has risen 60% in the past week, putting substantial pressure on local communities which were already facing food shortages, said Chad’s Minister of Territorial Administration Mahamat Bechir Chérif.

The refugees are staying in informal camps along the river bank outside the capital. Lacking proper shelter, they sleep in the open air. Teary-eyed children line up in the midday sun for meals from the local Red Cross.

Chad is already home to close to 1 million refugees and internally displaced people and its resources to respond to their needs are critically low, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said.

The agency, which is responding to the crisis, said the situation in the Far North region remained volatile, although security forces had been sent in an effort to restore calm.

At least 22 people have been killed since the clashes broke out in early December following disputes between Arab Choa herders and Mousgoum and Massa farmers and fishermen, local authorities said last week.

Similar violence in August killed dozens of people and forced thousands to flee to Chad.

(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

U.S. appeals court declines to block United Airlines vaccine mandate

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A divided U.S. appeals court has rebuffed a request by six employees to block United Airlines from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for workers that imposes unpaid leave on those who are granted religious or medical exceptions.

A panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 on Monday night to reject the emergency request for an injunction blocking the mandate while the employees appeal a November ruling by a federal judge in favor of the airline.

The case is one of many legal battles over vaccine requirements imposed by companies and governments.

United Airlines was the first major air carrier to issue a vaccine requirement and others followed. United has granted around 2,000 religious and medical exemptions to employees in roles including pilots, flight attendants and customer service agents.

A United spokesperson declined to comment on the 5th Circuit decision.

The dissenting member of the three-judge panel, Judge James Ho, sharply criticized the decision, writing that “vaccine mandates like the one United is attempting to impose here present a crisis of conscience for many people of faith.”

“To hypothesize that the earthly reward of monetary damages could compensate for these profound challenges of faith is to misunderstand the entire nature of religious conviction at its most foundational level. And that is so whether the mandate comes from D.C. or the C-Suite,” added Ho, who was appointed to the bench by Republican former President Donald Trump.

The 5th Circuit panel’s majority issued a two-sentence order rebuffing the plaintiffs, citing the rationale made by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Texas last month.

Pittman rejected arguments by the employees that United improperly put them in an “impossible position” by forcing them to choose to receive a vaccine or face unpaid leave. Pittman was critical of United’s approach toward employees seeking religious exemptions, but said in the end that human resources policy is up to a company and no employee was forced to be vaccinated.

The plaintiffs in the case asserted religious objections to the vaccine. The six employees accused the company of employment discrimination and retaliation, saying the airline violated a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to provide reasonable religious accommodations.

Vaccine mandates have become a flashpoint in the United States, with many conservatives opposed. These mandates have generally been upheld by courts, but White House efforts to require large employers or federal contractors to set vaccine or testing requirements have been blocked by courts.

United said allowing unvaccinated employees in the workplace would undermine the safety of its flights amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Pittman noted that the company acknowledged there was almost no chance of COVID-19 outbreaks on its planes.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected challenges brought by a group of Christian doctors and nurses and an organization that promotes vaccine skepticism to New York’s refusal to allow religious exemptions to the state’s mandate that healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID-19.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Will Dunham)

UK to remove all countries from COVID travel red list on Wednesday

LONDON (Reuters) -The British government will remove all 11 countries from its COVID-19 travel red list from Wednesday because there is now community transmission of Omicron in Britain, Health Secretary Sajid Javid told parliament.

The new Omicron variant was first detected in southern Africa and Hong Kong. The British government added 11 African countries to its red list from late November, meaning that only UK citizens or residents arriving from those nations were allowed in and then had to quarantine in a hotel.

“Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad,” Javid said.

“We will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list effective from 4 a.m. tomorrow morning.”

The 11 countries which will be removed are Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

CANCELLATIONS

Travel companies had urged the government to reduce restrictions as soon as possible. London’s Heathrow Airport said last week it was seeing high levels of business travelers cancelling due to concerns over restrictions.

Britain will still require all inbound travelers to take either a PCR or a rapid lateral flow test a maximum of 48 hours before departure, a measure Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said would be reviewed in the first week of January.

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive of travel association ABTA, welcomed the removal of the red list but said testing should also have been scrapped.

“With the testing measures now extending over the Christmas and New Year period, and the industry quickly approaching peak-booking season for summer 2022, travel businesses are facing a very serious situation,” he said in a statement.

“Consumer confidence in travel has suffered a significant setback, which will outlast these restrictions.”

Arrivals from the red list countries have had to pay thousands of pounds to quarantine in government-approved hotels. Many have complained on social media about the costs and conditions of their stay.

A lack of available rooms also left some people trapped abroad waiting for space to become available in the hotels.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan and Elizabeth Piper; editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Paul Sandle and Gareth Jones)

 

Argentina exchange says dry summer poses ‘big challenge’ for soybeans, corn

By Maximilian Heath

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Argentina’s weather outlook poses a “big challenge” for soybean and corn production, with lower-than-normal rainfall due to the La Niña climate pattern expected during the region’s summer, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said.

Argentina is the world’s leading exporter of processed soybeans and the second-largest exporter of corn. Farmers are currently sowing soy and corn for the 2021/22 season.

“We are facing a climatic scenario … that poses strong challenges to production,” the exchange said in its monthly climate report posted late on Monday, adding that “the return of the rains could be delayed until mid-March.”

“One of the most damaging effects caused by ‘La Niña’ in the Pampeana Region (the central farming area) and adjacent areas, is to extend the seasonal drought, which normally takes place during January,” it said.

The Buenos Aires exchange expects a record corn harvest of 57 million tonnes and soybean production of 44 million tonnes. Corn sowing is 39.5% complete and soybeans 56.1% finished.

As for 2021/22 wheat, whose harvest ends in January, the exchange raised its harvest estimate last week to a record 21 million tonnes, although it noted in its report that adverse weather could affect the cereal in the weeks ahead.

Applied Climatology Consultancy (CCA) meteorologist Germán Heinzenknecht agreed that the summer season would be dry, with less-than-normal rainfall but said it may not be as dramatic as feared for crops.

“You have to differentiate between the east and the west. The lack of rain is going to be more severe in the agricultural east,” Heinzenknecht told Reuters on Tuesday.

“I don’t think we will have an ideal summer, but there are going to be damp windows,” Heinzenknecht said.

While La Niña causes dryness in central regions of Argentina, it also increases the level of rainfall in the northern provinces, increasing the risk of extreme storms and flooding in the coming months.

This should also boost rains in southern Brazil, refilling the Paraná River, a key grains waterway that carries some 80% of Argentina’s farm exports to the sea. It hit a 77-year low level earlier this year due to a historic drought upriver, hindering transport.

“This will allow the waterway and river ports to be recovered to a great extent, though this will only take place toward the end of the season,” the Buenos Aires exchange added.

(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Editing by Lucila Sigal, Paul Simao and Mark Porter)

European court tells Russia ‘urgent changes’ needed to curb domestic violence

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday ruled that Russia had not done enough to curb domestic violence and ordered it to pay substantial compensation to four women who were victims of brutal attacks.

Margarita Gracheva, whose husband kidnapped her and chopped off both her hands in 2007 after police dismissed her complaints about his aggressive behavior, is to receive more than 370,000 euros in compensation.

“The Court found, in particular, that the Russian authorities had failed to establish a legal framework to combat domestic violence effectively,” the European Court of Human Rights said in a statement.

The court said it recommended “urgent changes to domestic law and practice to prevent similar violations from occurring.”

The Russian justice ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2017, President Vladimir Putin signed a law easing penalties for domestic violence, citing a need to reduce state meddling in family life, but rights activists called it a step backwards.

In Russia, domestic violence is a particularly acute problem because patterns of macho male behavior are deeply ingrained and rights groups say the laws protecting women are inadequate.

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Ed Osmond)

Ukraine allows foreign forces to join planned 2022 military drills

KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s parliament approved on Tuesday a draft law that allows foreign troops to take part in military exercises on the territory of the former Soviet republic in 2022, a move likely to infuriate Russia.

According to the draft law, submitted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine plans to hold 10 large military exercises next year.

Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO, has stepped up military cooperation with Western countries amid an increase in hostile activity by Russia and its proxies that has raised the risk of open war between the two neighbors.

Kyiv accuses Moscow of deploying some 90,000 troops along their long shared border. Moscow says its moves are purely defensive and that it has the right to move forces around its own territory as it sees fit.

Ukraine’s deputy defense minister Anatoliy Petrenko told parliament before the vote that 21,000 Ukrainians and 11,500 military personnel from the United States, Britain, Poland, Romania and other countries would participate in exercises on land, at sea and in the air.

“Conducting multinational exercises on the territory will help to strengthen national defense capabilities and support political and diplomatic efforts to maintain stability in the region,” said Petrenko.

There was no immediate response on Tuesday from Russia to the Ukrainian parliament’s approval of the draft law.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Editing by Gareth Jones)