Keep body and soul together (2024)

17/04/2022

Chileans favored left-leaning independent candidates in electing an assembly that will draft a new constitution, replacing the one imposed in the 1980s during the military dictatorship.
In a major blow to the traditional political forces in Chile, weekend voting for the 155-member constitutional assembly gave 48 seats to independent candidates, most of them identified with leftist ideology, according to official results announced Monday.
The next biggest group was the governing center-right coalition, with 37 seats, and then the Communist Party with 28. Twenty-five seats went to another leftist coalition, and 17 were reserved for Indigenous people.

16/04/2022

Chile’s vaccination campaign against the coronavirus has been one of the world’s quickest and most extensive, but a recent surge in infections has sparked concern beyond its borders.
Almost 40% of the South American country’s total population have now received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to statistics compiled by Our World in Data, reflecting one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.
Only Israel and the U.K., respectively, have inoculated a larger share of their population with at least one dose.
Nonetheless, Chile has endured a sharp uptick in coronavirus infections in recent weeks, even with its world-renowned vaccine rollout and strict lockdowns in place for much of its 19 million inhabitants.
The Pan American Health Organization’s regional director has since emphasized that for most countries in the region, vaccines won’t be enough to prevent rising infection rates.
The number of daily cases in Chile rose to a record high on April 9, climbing above 9,000 for the first time since the pandemic began and significantly higher than the peak of almost 7,000 recorded last summer.

15/04/2022

Shares of copper mining company Antofagasta look set to deflate because of a political lurch to the left in Chile, raising the possibility of higher taxes on resource companies. Recent drops in the price of copper aren’t helping either.
As a result, investors might want to reduce their positions in the stock (ticker: ANTO: United Kingdom).
The major issue for U.K.-incorporated Antofagasta is Chile, where the company’s mines are based. In May, Chile’s lower house approved a bill that would impose a new royalty fee on producers operating in the top copper-producing nation.
“The left-wing is on the ascension in Chile, and that doesn’t bode well for where the taxes come out in the end,” says Tyler Broda, head of EU mining research at Canadian financial company RBC Capital Markets in London. “We think it is going to be hard for the shares to hold in where they are.”

14/04/2022

A second-half goal created by Luis Suarez rescued a point for Uruguay in the Copa America group stage in a 1-1 draw with Chile on Monday. Uruguay were coming off a 1-0 loss to Argentina where their attack was non-existent, and while it was improved in this one, it was far from the level the team expects as it stretched its winless streak to five games.
Chile managed just one shot on frame in this one, but it was all they needed to beat Fernando Muslera, as Eduardo Vargas scored this lovely opener 26 minutes in: With their backs against the wall again and looking to break a streak of four matches without a goal, Uruguay were much improved in the second half, showing creativity and putting the ball into dangerous spots, while giving Chile next to nothing.
But as the time was winding down, some key veteran was going to need to step up to get a point, and it came thanks to the attentive Suarez. Though it has been declared an own goal by Arturo Vidal, Suarez was able to get the ball into the back of the net on a corner kick in the 66th minute by battling his former Barcelona teammate for a ball at the far post. The ball hit the Chilean player and rocked off the crossbar and in, beating Claudio Bravo.

14/04/2022

Nigerians have been justifiably confused by conflicting poverty data presented by the Muhammadu Buhari administration and the World Bank. According to Buhari, his administration has lifted 10.5 million Nigerians out of poverty within the past two years. But no sooner had he made the statement than the World Bank asserted that inflation has plunged seven million Nigerians into poverty.
These statements might seem to be contradictory to non-economists. But closer analysis suggests that Buhari and the World Bank are right - depending on how poverty is measured.
The first is income or monetary measure of poverty, what economists refer to as the 'headcount index'. It measures the proportion of the population that is poor based on a minimum personal income - for example $1.90 per day. This minimum amount is deemed adequate to maintain an acceptable living standard, given the cost of living in a given country.
Based on this measure, Buhari is right to claim that - by transferring cash to 12 million households during the past five years - a majority of these Nigerians have exceeded the income threshold. Therefore, they have escaped poverty.
The other measure is known as the multidimensional poverty measure. It measures poverty by income, and by the access people have to health, education and living standard indicators. These include sanitation, drinking water, electricity, and housing. It is therefore possible for someone to be regarded as non-poor under Buhari's calculations, but poor when this measure is used.
This is the measure the World Bank appears to be applying. By this measure 47.3% Nigerians, or 98 million people, live in multidimensional poverty. Most of them are located in northern Nigeria. This poverty rate does not include Borno State, where insurgency has prevented data collection.
Aware of this, the Buhari administration has set the very ambitious goal of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030. This is a tall order, considering that another five million more Nigerians are expected to become poor as a result of COVID-19 in 2020.
The administration's cash transfer programme is commendable. But Buhari should turn his focus more on promoting structural transformation. This would move millions of poor Nigerians from low-productivity agricultural and informal-sector activities to high-productivity sectors such as manufacturing, agro-processing, as well as information and communication technologies.

13/04/2022

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been accused of “misleading the public” in a disastrous radio interview defending a proposed hate speech law, which could see offenders jailed for three years for offensive words.
Under proposed legislative changes unveiled last week, hate speech could become a criminal offense in New Zealand. Anyone who “intentionally stirs up, maintains or normalizes hatred against a protected group” by being “threatening, abusive or insulting, including by inciting violence” would break the law, and hence could face up to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to NZ$50,000 (US$35,182).

11/04/2022

The recipe for a quick and effective mask for healthy, beautiful and well-groomed hair. A home-made mask with honey is used for all hair types. Preparation is quick and easy. Mix half a cup of honey with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Put the mask on your hair and wrap it with a towel. After half an hour, rinse with warm water. Honey is the main ingredient for all masks for damaged hair. Mix one tablespoon of honey with one egg, avocado and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Whisk the ingredients to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Apply the mask from the roots of the head to the tips of the hair. Hold for 2 hours after which wash your hair. Each of these ingredients has a beneficial effect on hair. Honey hydrates the hair, egg nourishes the hair with proteins, avocado deeply cleanses and olive oil gives shine and a well-groomed look to the hair.

09/04/2022

Digital payments
As well as offering passengers more information through mobile phone applications, operators are also looking to make payments more efficient and COVID-safe through contactless options. Some Latin American cities already offer the option to pay using debit and credit cards, like Rio de Janeiro and Guatemala City, and others like Panama City and San José, Costa Rica are working to implement pilots. Cashless payments aim to simplify and streamline the experience for users by reducing the purchase and entry queues at transport hubs, minimising crowds at peak hours and increasing customer satisfaction using ‘tap and go’.
“The future is new Mobility-as-a-Service applications and there will be more integration in travel within the city and metropolitan regions without the need for interruptions to buy a new ticket,” said Fernanda Caraballo, Director of Business Development for Latin America at Mastercard. “This is a benefit for the frequent, infrequent and tourist travellers because they save time by paying with a debit or credit card and, in the case of tourists, the language barrier and doubts are eliminated, if they are in an unknown city.”
Caraballo says Mastercard’s aim is to transform the collection schemes for transportation systems to generate savings and efficiency for the city and for transportation operators, and to improve the quality of life for citizens.
“Mastercard seeks to offer the best solution that suits the specific needs of each city,” she added.

09/04/2022

This week we will take a look at prices and volumes of kiwifruit in the U.S. market.
In a recent article, we discussed how Chilean kiwifruit production had decreased due to labor shortages as a result of the pandemic, and how Northern California, whose season has already ended, also saw a drop in production. Add this to the increase in consumption of fruits rich in vitamin C, and you get high kiwifruit prices in the market.
To the above, we must add the fact that kiwifruit stocks in the Northern Hemisphere (United States, Italy, Greece, France) are lower compared to previous years, and that there are also delays in Chilean production. Let us also remember that the majority of kiwifruit volumes from New Zealand go to the Asian market and to Europe.
As we mentioned, and as can be seen in the graph below, the reported average prices of kiwifruit in the North American market have been the highest in recent years. The average reported price in May was US$25.68 for containers of nine kilograms or 19.8 pounds, which represents a 15 percent increase year-on-year.

07/04/2022

A party thrown in Chile to celebrate a cat's birthday has resulted in a local coronavirus outbreak, with some 15 people contracting the disease, a health official has confirmed. The celebratory feline, however, was fine.
The bizarre incident was confirmed by Francisco Alvarez, an official with the Ministry of Health for Chile's Valparaiso region. Speaking to Radio Bio-Bio on Saturday, Alvarez said that a coronavirus outbreak in the small seaside town of Santo Domingo, reported by local media a while ago, was indeed sparked by a birthday party thrown for a cat.
'Even though it sounds unbelievable and almost fiction, these things happen in our country,' Alvarez stated.
Health officials have doubted the cat's birthday was the true motive behind the gathering, suspecting there was something more to it, but the revelers have insisted that was the genuine reason for the get-together.
'When I knew about this, I said… it's a joke. Probably they said that to conceal something else, but it was exactly that,' the official added.

Keep body and soul together

17/04/2022

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15/04/2022

14/04/2022

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13/04/2022

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