Wednesday, July 20, 2016 Venezuela edges closer to constitutional crisisCARACAS — Venezuela could be heading toward a constitutional crisis, to add to its economic collapse, after the opposition-controlled National Assembly challenged the power of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice that backs President Nicolás Maduro. The National Assembly last week voted to strip 13 of 32 Supreme Tribunal of Justice judges of their powers and said any decisions the justices participated in would be invalid. Diosdado Cabello, a government lawmaker, said the three lawmakers would probably end up in jail if reinstated, adding weight to Maduro’s repeated threats to close down the National Assembly. Lawmakers are now studying the appointment of its own judges, according to the head of the National Assembly President Henry Ramos Allup, of the opposition coalition, Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). “The opposition appears to be taking a calculated risk,” Francisco Rodriguez, chief economist at Torino Capital in New York, said Monday.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016 S&P pulls back from record; Dow notches eighth day of gainsThe S&P 500 pulled back from record highs on Tuesday, while the Dow industrials edged up for an eighth straight day of gains, as investors digested mixed earnings reports amid lowered expectations for global economic growth. The Dow's eighth straight session of gains marked its longest winning streak since March 2013. Even with the economic concerns triggered by Britain's recent vote, the S&P 500 and Dow have hit record highs in the past week. The S&P 500 lost 3.11 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,163.78 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 19.41 points, or 0.38 percent, to 5,036.37. Netflix's disappointing quarterly results weighed on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, while Johnson & Johnson's strong earnings and forecast helped prop up the Dow.

After eliminating 16 party rivals, warring with much of the Republican establishment and provoking controversy at the party convention, Donald Trump on Tuesday had his name formally placed in nomination for the White House. Senator Jeff Sessions, an early backer of Trump, placed the New York businessman's name in nomination, calling him "a warrior and a winner." Senator Mike Lee said efforts by some delegates to block Trump's nomination appeared finished. The alphabetical roll call vote began with Alabama. Despite threats of another chaotic day, anti-Trump Republican U.S.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016 After hitting highest mark in four months, US dollar slips backAfter hitting its highest mark in four months and reaching 15.50 pesos earlier, the US dollar today fell five cents to 15.31 pesos in banks and foreign exchange agencies. In the informal market, the “blue” dollar fell 16 cents to 15.23 pesos. Yesterday, the US currency jumped 23 cents accumulating a 49-cent rise during the last three working days amid an increase of the demand and a decline of liquidations from grain exporters.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016 Three arrested after hanging anti-Trump banner near Cleveland conventionA female activist is handcuffed with others after raising a banner from the flag poles outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. Three women were arrested on Tuesday after climbing a flagpole near the site of this week's US Republican National Convention and hanging a banner protesting the party's presidential candidate, Donald Trump. "Don't Trump our communities," read the banner hung near Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "They actually climbed the flagpole and hung a banner and our officers responded and made the arrests," Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told reporters. Using a ladder truck, fire officials brought down the protesters and the banner, which also had an anti-fracking message.

No closer to the truth despite the change of government — AMIA continues to be a byword for impunity. Tuesday, July 19, 2016 AMIA no closer to justiceThe 22nd anniversary of the AMIA Jewish community centre terrorist bomb massacre that killed 85 came and went yesterday without any basic change in the underlying sense of impunity. Macri’s government seems more politically interested in highlighting the undeniably deficient Kirchnerite handling of the AMIA case but the roots of the damage to the investigation came in the years immediately following the bombing — and the first five were under Menem. Not only does a fresh new presidency not beholden to Iran fail to offer any future breakthrough — it does not even show any signs of retreading old ground in order to place the AMIA probe back on track after all the previous detours. But that controversial agreement (which never really left the ground) has only clouded this issue for three of the past 22 years — otherwise the Macri administration is offering precious little to justify even the faintest optimism as to calls for justice ever being heeded.

“That makes it really hard for me to tell people to save, save, save.”Investment companies want as much of our money as possible, so it makes sense for them to promote the idea that all or even most of us should aim for triple-digit ages and save accordingly. Uncertainty about longevity is just one of many unknowns in financial planning, says Bob Veres, a financial planning industry consultant and publisher of the trade publication Inside Information. Now 95 and even 100 are common defaults when financial planners tell people how much to save for retirement. #factsoflife Tuesday, July 19, 2016 Should you save enough to live to 100? That notion so offends adviser Carolyn McClanahan that she confronted a speaker at a financial planning conference who contended that death at 100 should be the default assumption.

During the ceremonies, victims’ relatives lit a single candle in remembrance of the former special AMIA prosecutor Alberto Nisman. In the ongoing so-called AMIA “cover-up trial,” ex-president Carlos Menem (1989-1999), former judges, Jewish community leaders and ex-intelligence agency directors are under investigation. Criticized by relatives, president receives backing of Jewish community leaders Tuesday, July 19, 2016 AMIA victims mourned with contrasting tributesPresident Mauricio Macri greets the relatives of people who died in the AMIA bombing that killed 85 people as they commemorate the attack''s 22nd anniversary in Buenos Aires yesterday. DoubtsBut some human rights and Jewish community leaders question whether the Let’s Change administration is really committed to investigating the 1994 AMIA terrorist attack. The president, who was attending a remembrance service as president for the first time, received backing from community leaders however.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016 President announces mobile phone planPresident Mauricio Macri yesterday trumpeted the government’s Federal Internet Plan, which would offer the sale of smartphones equipped with 4G connectivity to citizens to be purchased in 12 installments. Flanked by Communications Minister Oscar Aguad and Production Minister Francisco Cabrera, the president continued calling for greater frugcitizens for “austerity,” complaining about the artificial heating at the CCK. During a rally at the Kirchner Cultural Centre (CCK), Macri said the government’s goal is to “help more than eight million Argentines who were unable to move from second-generation (2G) cell phones to fourth-generation (4G) ones,” although he failed to provide specifics. “This place is not cold enough,” he said. Days earlier, he had argued that anyone who was wearing a T-shirt or barefoot at home during winter was wasting energy, prompting anger about past instances in which his family was seen doing just that in photos uploaded to social media platform Snapchat during Argentina’s participation at the Copa América soccer tournament.

But the La Plata court rejected that move, just days before the judicial recess (which began yesterday and will last until Friday next week). Tuesday, July 19, 2016 Court to address gas hikes despite recessLa Plata judges acquiesce to gov’t request as ruling by Supreme Court edges closerA federal appeals court in La Plata has accepted a request by the Let’s Change (Cambiemos) administration and will interrupt their judicial recess to review a recent (lower) court decision imposing a roll back of natural gas rates. The government’s next step was to request that the Federal Appeals Court to review the case during the judicial recess. The announcement is good news for the Mauricio Macri administration, which believes the decision may help the case arrive at the Supreme Court sooner than originally anticipated. Ten days ago, the government’s economic plans were thrust into disarray after the La Plata Federal Appeals Court ordered the recent drastic increases on natural gas rates implemented by the government be frozen nationwide.

Monday, July 18, 2016 US dollar jumps 23 cents to 15.36 pesosThe US dollar opened the week jumping 23 cents to end at 15.36 pesos in banks and foreign exchange agencies after two consecutive sessions of rises amid a solid demand for greenbacks. The informal exchange rate or “blue” dollar added 13 cents to 15.39 pesos in underground houses after climbing 14 cents last week. On Friday, the US currency broke the 15-peso mark ending 17 cents higher.

"We ask the head of AMIA Special Unit Mario Cimadevilla, and Justice Minister Germán Garavano, that the case becomes a state priority. Monday, July 18, 2016 22 years on, AMIA urges probe to be 'state priority'Vice president first of AMIA Jewish community centre Ralph Thomas Saieg today urged the government to make the investigation into the 1994 terrorist attack a “state priority” and called for the judiciary to “exhaust all the steps” to take the responsible for the local connection to trial. President Mauricio Macri attended today’s event for the first time and left after Saieg’s speech. He considered the gestures of Mauricio Macri’s government towards the investigation “positive” and celebrated the nullification of Argentina’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Iran. “It was a useless instrument,” he stated.

best PLAYER AWARD Tuesday, July 19, 2016 Ronaldo, Messi on UEFA shortlistNYON, Switzerland — Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are on the 10-player shortlist to be named UEFA Best Player in Europe for last season. Ronaldo is joined by Pepe, his teammate on European champion teams Portugal and Real Madrid, on the shortlist voted by media from each of UEFA’s 55 member federation countries. The 10 candidates had the biggest points totals in a first-round poll of voters who each picked five players. Fan favourite Will Grigg missed out but got as many points as Paul Pogba. Grigg, the Northern Ireland forward who became a cult hero at the European Championship without even playing, finished in joint 25th position.

Monday, July 18, 2016 Alan Vega, Suicide frontman and punk pioneer, dies at 78The New York City punk rock legend and frontman for the band Suicide reportedly passed away quietly in his sleep. Alan Vega was born Alan Bermowitz, growing up in a traditionally Jewish household in Brooklyn. Along with Martin Rev, in the early 1970’s, they formed the two person avant band known as Suicide. Alan Vega moved away from music after suffering a stroke in 2012, though he still focused on other forms of art including painting, Brooklyn magazine noted. “Alan was not only relentlessly creative, writing music and painting until the end, he was also startlingly unique.

The government wanted the Supreme Court to rule fast by means of an extraordinary complaint (known as a per saltum). But the Supreme Court (currently working with four members pending the swearing in of a fifth justice) met on Tuesday. The Supreme Court is reportedly not interested in taking responsibility for an issue that ultimately falls squarely in the court of government policy. Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay had announced early this year an annual inflation rate target of 25 percent. You can’t spin much with utility rate hikes and inflation.