Latest news with #SouthAmerica
New York Times
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Chelsea's 2024-25 player of the season: Moises Caicedo
Who is the best player in the Premier League never to have featured in the Champions League? It is hard to think of a worthier answer to this particular question than Moises Caicedo, but he will not be eligible for much longer. Chelsea will be back in Europe's elite club competition next season, and the soft-spoken but tough-tackling Ecuador international might be the single most significant reason why. Advertisement Caicedo is the only member of Enzo Maresca's young squad to start all 38 of Chelsea's Premier League matches in 2024-25. The last Chelsea player to achieve the feat was Cesar Azpilicueta in 2018-19, and the last midfielder to do it was Frank Lampard in 2004-05. Joining that exclusive club is a testament to the 23-year-old's endurance, but also to his vital importance. He has been the ever-present reference point for Maresca's midfield, around which an inverted full-back can roam, ahead of which Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez can focus the bulk of their energies on the final third without worrying that Chelsea's defence is liable to be exposed. At times, it has felt as if he holds the entire team together — even on the occasions when he has been the nominal right-back inverting into midfield next to Romeo Lavia. 'When you've got Caicedo next to you, it's a dream, really,' Palmer told Sky Sports, as reported by MSN, after Chelsea's 3-1 win over Liverpool earlier this month. 'From the start of the season until now, he's been our best player. He's a machine. He wins everything back (for the team), always gives 100 per cent every day, he's humble, he's nice to everyone, and everyone loves him.' Palmer would have had a strong case to retain his Chelsea player of the season crown if he had managed to carry his 2024 production into 2025. Fernandez has had excellent stretches of form under Maresca this season. Marc Cucurella has bolstered his Stamford Bridge cult-hero credentials by darting upfield from left-back to score several key goals. Levi Colwill has been a fixture in Maresca's defence and scored the most important goal of the season against Nottingham Forest to seal a fourth-place finish. Yet it is a mark of just how good Caicedo has been that among his team-mates and Chelsea supporters, there was no real debate before the voting and no argument after he swept the board for men's first team awards at the club's awards ceremony earlier this month. Advertisement Midfielders who do their best work winning the ball back can sometimes be overlooked for individual credit, but not at Chelsea. This is the club where Claude Makelele was adored, where Nemanja Matic became a revered two-time Premier League champion, and where N'Golo Kante regularly drew gasps from the Stamford Bridge crowd as his otherworldly ability to take the ball from opponents cemented him as the most uniquely dominant midfielder of his generation. Caicedo, with his prime years still ahead of him, has already done enough to distinguish himself as part of that proud lineage. His aggression can sometimes get the better of him, and there are moments when he is overly ambitious in his attempts to poke the ball away. But relatively regular yellow cards are a small price to pay as he engages in the process of exploring the limits of his destructive talents. Opponents already respect his ability to disrupt or derail their attacks, and Chelsea's vast defensive improvement, impossible to ignore under Maresca, has a lot to do with Caicedo. 'Moi is just breaking up everything and making everything look so easy,' Colwill told Chelsea's official YouTube channel after last month's 1-0 win over rivals Tottenham. 'If I had a mic on me when I'm playing, all you'd hear is, 'Wow, Moi'. That's all I do because he makes it so easy for us in defence because he stops everything before it gets to us.' Caicedo's consistent aggression is all the more important at the heart of a young, technical Chelsea team that is often accused of lacking physicality and bite. On good days and bad, he sets the tone without the ball, as well as directing possession with poise and polish. Maresca has already publicly claimed that he is the best defensive midfielder in the world, and any Premier League team of the 2024-25 season which does not include Caicedo raises eyebrows at Stamford Bridge. The question going into next season is not whether he is ready for the Champions League, but whether the Champions League is ready for him.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Sarasota researcher discovers four new species of airplants in South American rainforest
The Brief Four new species of Epiphytes or airplants have been discovered in the jungles of South America. This is a discovery more than 15 years in the making that could help with the conservation and protection of the rainforest. Each new species has been named after women researchers who have dedicated their lives to science, conservation and research. SARASOTA, Fla. - It's a discovery more than 15 years in the making. Dr. John Clark, a research botanist with Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, discovered four new species of airplants. They were found in the rainforest of South America. Follow FOX 13 on YouTube The findings come after numerous field expeditions and research throughout the rainforests of Columbia, Ecuador and Peru. "The flowers are beautiful, some of them are red, some of them are white with red streaks. It also has these really large bracks of leaves," said Clark. The backstory Clark with Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, began research 15 years ago on these species while at the University of Alabama. READ: Florida's solar boom could face federal road block if tax credit eliminated "Over the years, I figured out some of these are new to science. They are actually very different than we thought they were," he told FOX 13. After being employed with Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, he's spent the last two years identifying four new species of epiphytes or their household name, airplants. "We find new species frequently, but we often don't find four things that are similar, but very different," he said. Dig deeper He said this discovery proves the unique richness of the rainforest in South America – non-replaceable habitat for both plants and animals. MORE: Popular beers found with high levels of dangerous 'forever chemicals,' study reveals "Having the experience of seeing them in the field and utilizing the collections here at Selby Gardens, and being able to do field work, which is a big part of our mission here, and sharing the information with a broader audience, that's what made a difference," said Clark. Each was named after those who've dedicated their lives to research and conservation. They include the drymonia rominieckiae, which honors Jennifer Rominiecki, the president and CEO of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. "This is a well-deserved epithet when someone has transformed an institution like this that plays a role not just locally here in Sarasota, but a broader mission to promote plant diversity. It's well deserved," said Clark. Drymonia silvanae honors Silvana G. Nazzaro Clark, the head of school at Princeton Junior School. Drymonia katzensteiniae honors Jeanne Katzenstein, a horticulturist and life-long promoter of the taxonomic study of Gesneriaceae. Drymonia clavijoae honors Dr. Laura Vibiana Clavijo Romero, a preeminent botanist whose work has helped advance the understanding of Drymonia systematics. READ: Florida state parks gain new protections after DeSantis signs 'State Land Management' bill into law Big picture view It's science that is working to help preserve the very habitat of the rainforest, which comes under threat from logging, mining and outsiders. "It's a piece of the puzzle. We are trying to understand some of these rain forests that are critically endangered. Being able to name some of the things that make them unique. Some of the plant diversity that makes these forests unique. It helps us put together that piece of puzzle," he said. What's next Clark is back in Ecuador. Right now, he's helping build collections and identify even more species of plants. He's in a conservation area where he once volunteered as part of the Peace Corps. He said the work is vital for helping to protect the rainforest. The Source The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon and from Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. WATCH FOX 13 NEWS: STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app:Apple |Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
Arab News
5 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
The world's most unpopular president? Peru's leader clings to power
LIMA: With an approval rating of just two percent, Peru's President Dina Boluarte may be the world's most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed 'Rolexgate.' She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is being investigated for her role in a police crackdown that caused the deaths of 50 protesters. Against that bleak backdrop, Boluarte's never-high popularity hit rock bottom this month. The Ipsos polling agency found she had a two-percent approval rating, down from 21 percent when she took office. 'We might be talking about a world record of sustained presidential disapproval,' Ipsos Peru president Alfredo Torres told AFP. It is the lowest score Ipsos has measured in any of the other 90 countries it surveys, Torres said. Yet as far as recent Peruvian presidents go, she is not just a survivor, but positively an elder stateswoman. The South American nation has had six presidents in eight years and if Boluarte lasts to the end of her term next year, she would be the longest-serving of them all. Backed by corrupt majority rightwing parties Despite not having a party in Congress, she has managed to stay in power with the backing of Peru's majority right-wing parties. Analysts say voter lethargy and political expediency have so far helped Boluarte buck the trend of prematurely ousted Peruvian leaders. 'In Peru, there is a political paradox: Boluarte is the weakest president of the last decade,' political analyst Augusto Alvarez of the University of the Pacific told AFP. But her weakness is 'also her strength,' he said, explaining that a lame-duck president is politically useful for Congress. 'It is a great business to have a fragile president whom they (lawmakers) use' to entrench their own power and pass laws beneficial to allies and backers, said Alvarez. Transparency International's Peruvian chapter Proetica has cited Congress for 'counter-reforms, setbacks in anti-corruption instruments... and shielding of members of Congress who are ethically questioned.' Boluarte has other factors counting in her favor. Congress is seemingly keeping her around for lack of a better, consensus, candidate. Another plus for Boluarte: Peru's economy has been performing well, with GDP growing 3.3 percent last year and 3.9 percent in the first quarter of 2025 — a steep improvement from the 2020 recession blamed on Covid pandemic lockdowns. Peru's inflation rate is one of the lowest in the region. 'The economy continues to function, there is enormous resilience, and the population's income is growing,' said Alvarez. But this may have little to do with policy, observers say, and more with external factors such as rising copper prices. Peru is one of the top producers of the metal. Little love for her from the street On the street, there is little love for Boluarte, as Peru battles a surge in gang violence characterized by a wave of killings linked to extortion rackets. Boluarte 'has no empathy, she is an incapable president, she does not solve the security problem,' Saturnino Conde, a 63-year-old teacher, told AFP. At frequent marches against the president, the catchphrase: 'Dina, Asesina!' (Dina, Murderer!) has become a popular refrain. But a full-out rebellion appears unlikely, say analysts. Peruvians 'feel it's not worth it: if she resigns or is dismissed, she would be replaced by a member of Congress, but Congress also has a terrible image,' said Ipsos manager Torres. In addition, 'there is no other candidate that captivates, which is why people are not in a hurry to remove her from power.'
Bloomberg
6 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Moody's Cuts Brazil Outlook, Delivering Fiscal Warning to Lula
By , Giovanna Bellotti Azevedo, and Martha Viotti Beck Updated on Save Moody's Ratings lowered Brazil 's credit outlook to stable from positive, delivering a reproof to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government at a time when it is under increasing pressure to shore up the country's fiscal situation. The ratings firm, which upgraded the country in October, reaffirmed its Ba1 rating, one level below investment grade. But it cited expectations of larger fiscal deficits, slower progress in structural reforms and budget pressure from high interest rates to alter its overall outlook for Latin America's largest economy on Friday.
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Peru Two's Michaella McCollum reveals the hell that could await Brits accused of drug trafficking abroad - and why she sees them as 'victims'
Michaella McCollum has vivid memories of prison paella, and the maggots lurking within. 'I remember how I'd lay all the rice out, to see which grains I could eat and which were maggots. Back home, it was reported that I'd gone on hunger strike, but I hadn't.' She also remembers her poor mum arriving, braving corrupt prison guards and six-hour waits in the blazing Peruvian heat, with bags of food, which Michaella would fall upon. 'She'd bring a whole chicken, which I'd eat with my fingers, and there would be cockroaches climbing up onto the table and I'd just flick them away. I mean, they didn't even bother me, by then. You become so used to it. And I suppose there is a level of guilt and shame that you feel it's acceptable, even though it isn't.' The cockroaches bother her now, though. She raises her forearm. 'I've got goosebumps, just talking about them. But then... normal. It's astonishing what you adapt to, and how resilient you can be.' Even her resilience has limits, though. As one of the notorious Peru Two, Michaella served three years in a hardcore prison near Lima when she was convicted of drug smuggling. She does not quibble with the sentence, acknowledging she deserved it, but reckons today that three years was her 'top limit'. 'I could not do 20 years in a prison like that,' she says. 'I just couldn't. And that's what those girls are facing.' By 'those girls' she means the two young British women facing similar drug smuggling charges, currently locked up in prisons that must feel as far from home as hers did. The arrests of Bella May Culley, 18, and Charlotte May Lee, 21, have made global headlines in recent weeks. The cases are unrelated: Bella, from Teesside, is charged with trying to smuggle 14kg of cannabis into Georgia; while Charlotte, from Coulsdon in south London, faces similar charges in Sri Lanka relating to 46kg of synthetic drug kush – which can be 25 times more potent than opioid fentanyl. Charlotte appeared in court yesterday, handcuffed and tearful. If found guilty, both will be looking at up to 20 years behind bars. Few can possibly understand what they and their families are going through, but Northern Irish-born Michaella, who is now a 31-year-old mother to twin boys, can. She was just 19 when she made 'the greatest mistake of my life', effectively agreeing to become a drugs mule. She was arrested with 20-year-old Scot Melissa Reid, whom she had never met before their fateful trip from Ibiza to Peru. The pictures of the Peru Two as they came to be known, standing forlornly by mismatching suitcases – Michaella with her then black hair, scraped into a high, 'doughnut' bun – went round the world. An iconic illustration of how stupid, and perhaps gullible, young people can be. And now history appears to be repeating itself. Michaella says it was her mother who first heard about the arrest of Bella Culley and called her. 'The situation was almost exactly the same. Her mum had reported her missing, then it emerged that she'd been arrested. There were such parallels with my case – except it was just in a different country.' Her heart immediately went out to Bella, then to Charlotte, a former TUI air stewardess whose story emerged days later. Both women have denied the charges against them. 'I couldn't help but feel bad for them,' Michaella says. 'They are 19 and 21. Whatever they have done, it's so young to be caught up in something like this, and I know what they are going to go through. And their families. It's the worst thing anybody can have to face.' Bella's situation seems even more precarious. She told the court in Tbilisi that she was pregnant which, if true, adds a layer of horror. 'As a mum, I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to give birth in that sort of place, and to potentially have the child taken from you and put into care,' says Michaella. 'That adds a whole new, terrifying, dimension. It's just incredibly sad.' In some quarters there has been scant public sympathy for these two, which Michaella understands. She challenges it, though. 'It's easy to look at girls like this and think 'how could you be so stupid?' but I look back at myself and think exactly that. 'I don't know the circumstances in detail here, but I do know that of all the women I came across who had been involved in drug smuggling, only about 10 per cent were doing it as a business, who knew the risks and accepted them. 'The vast majority were the victims of some sort of coercion, usually by men. Prisons all over the world are full of women who have been caught up in something like this. 'And the men at the top rarely get caught. The men who pulled all the strings in my case were never held to account.' Indeed, Charlotte May Lee has already spoken to investigators about a mysterious British man called 'Dan' whom she claims she'd met on the beach in Thailand, who – she says – bought her a ticket to Colombo, promised to join her later for a holiday, then promptly vanished. Ironically, it wasn't until Michaella cooperated with a 2022 Netflix documentary about her case that she started to regard herself as a 'victim'. 'It was when I was watching an actress do some of the re-enactments of my story that I realised there had been exploitation and coercion going on here. 'At the time I was so high (on cocaine) that I could barely walk. Yet the men around me were all sober. I thought they were my friends, but actually they didn't give a s*** about me. When you are 19 and 20 you are so hopelessly naive. You don't even know that there are such bad things in the world, never mind that it could happen to you.' Michaella had been offered £5,000 to smuggle those drugs – a pitiful figure, she admits. 'But in a lot of cases like mine the money isn't life changing, which makes me think even more that there is an element of being tricked into it. I mean who would risk spending 20 years of your life in prison for £3,000 or £4,000 or even £10,000. Even £50,000 isn't enough. No amount of money is worth your freedom.' A few years ago, Michaella wrote a book about her ordeal, which brought understandable criticism from those who feel she should not have been allowed to capitalise on her notoriety. She denies it was a money-spinner ('the financial return was very small, and I wasn't paid for the Netflix documentary either'). Still, on reading it, you do rather wish it could be handed out with boarding passes to youngsters venturing abroad for the first time, as she was. To her credit, Michaella has worked with the police to tell her story to impressionable teens. She grew up in Dungannon, County Tyrone, in a large and seemingly loving family, but her parents were separated and they were a Catholic family in a largely Protestant area. She cites sectarianism as one of the things she wanted to escape, first with drink, drugs and partying, before heading to Ibiza, to work as a hostess in clubs. She says she threw herself into the hedonism in the summer of 2013, taking cocaine and ketamine. 'I think the drugs were a big part of what happened. Everybody was doing them. It was just normal.' She 'fell in with a crowd' that included a drug dealer – 'a Cockney called Dave'. Alarm bells should have rung over the fact he was always sober 'when everyone else was drunk or high', but they didn't. The first time she was asked to transport a 'package', she refused. The second time, she agreed. The word 'drugs' was never mentioned, but she knew, 'sort of'. The naivety is extraordinary but she reminds me she was 'off her head, thinking in a way that wasn't stable'. On that fateful trip, she flew first from Ibiza to Mallorca, where it had been arranged that she would meet up with Melissa Reid, and fly to Peru. To this day, Michaella maintains she was so clueless that she didn't even know where Peru was. 'I thought it was another city in Spain,' she says. When the two arrived, their orders were to pass themselves off as tourists – hence a surreal trip to Machu Picchu. It was on the return trip – with bags full of cocaine – that they were arrested. So began 'the worst nightmare you can imagine'. Her account of her three years in Lima's notorious Ancon 2 prison is grim. Michaella shared a 'bedroom' with hundreds of other female inmates, sleeping on concrete bunks 'like a zoo'. The prisoners included a woman who had killed her own child and served the baby up as food for her unfaithful husband, and another who had murdered and dismembered her mother-in-law. Corruption was rife, with guards routinely taking 'food, magazines, books, chocolates' from visitors' bags. Also prevalent was the trading of sexual favours for basics like water. One of the first Spanish phrases Michaella learned was 'don't touch me'. There were specific challenges that came with being white and British. 'That made it worse for us. Some of the guards thought we were princesses. They just see white skin, blue eyes.' She says she was also 'scammed' by legal professionals. 'People see foreigners as money magnets and charge a lot more to help them. I remember looking back and thinking 'we have been robbed'.' Both girls were eventually sentenced to six years and eight months, after pleading guilty to drug trafficking. They ended up serving three years, and were released back home, on parole, in 2016. Michaella knows they were lucky – at one point they were facing 15 years. Whatever sentence she served – and deserved – the toll on her family was horrendous. The saddest part of her story is when she talks about the impact on her mother, who had a stroke as Michaella was waiting for her trial. 'She was suffering panic attacks. She was so depressed. Her life went on hold, the whole family's did.' Her mother, now in her 70s, made a full recovery but the guilt is still there for Michaella. She counts herself fortunate that her family stood by her. 'Some people in prison didn't have that. Their families didn't visit. They had no one on the outside. I only kept going because I knew I had to make amends to mine.' The last year of her sentence was particularly difficult. 'I think for the first two I tricked myself that it was fine, I was learning Spanish, getting my life in order – away from the drugs. 'But that final year, I struggled. When you are in that environment – there was always noise, screaming, chaos – it's hard not to go insane. I honestly don't think I would have been able to do another four or five or ten years. I would probably have thought of just taking a way out.' Michaella today is barely recognisable from the terrified young girl in those iconic photos. She jokes a little about her hairstyle: 'I didn't have a mirror. I thought I was making myself presentable.' She and Melissa are only in touch via Christmas cards. 'We obviously bonded through this experience that only we understood, but you don't always want to be reminded of that'. She appears to have made good her promise to her mum that she would rebuild her life. She has since gained a degree in business studies, and is soon to start a masters in cybersecurity. This reinventing of her life has gone alongside raising her twins, Rafael and Rio, who have just turned seven. There is no father on the scene. 'No, they weren't planned. I'm doing it on my own, but my mum has been my rock.' One day, she will have to tell her sons about her three years in a Peruvian prison. 'It's probably something that will wait until they are teens, but I will be honest with them. I don't think there's any shame in explaining that I made a huge mistake.' It may be too late for Bella May Culley and Charlotte May Lee, their fates very much in the hands of a legal system of which they have no understanding. But what advice would she give to them now? 'That's a difficult one, but I would tell them to never let their current circumstances define their future. It may seem hopeless at times, but there is always a way forward and don't let go of the fact that life can be rebuilt.'
