The week at a glance...Americas
Americas
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Saint John, New Brunswick
Lobster protest: Angry over a glut of Maine lobsters that has driven down prices, Canadian lobstermen have set up blockades around processing plants in New Brunswick. Hundreds of fishermen are preventing trucks from delivering Maine lobsters sent north for processing. The lobster season is earlier in the U.S. than in Canada, and better conservation coupled with warming waters has resulted in a bumper harvest. With lobster fetching just $2 a pound at the processing plants, fishermen can’t earn enough to cover the costs of fuel and bait. “Fishermen have boat payments, they have mortgages to pay, they have families,” said lobsterman Henry Augustine. “I may have to go on welfare.”
Caracas, Venezuela
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Diplomats smuggling drugs? Venezuelan officials vehemently denied allegations that the country’s ambassador to Kenya was killed to prevent her from blowing the whistle on embassy personnel smuggling drugs in diplomatic pouches. A diplomat at the Venezuelan Embassy, Dwight Sagaray, has been charged in Nairobi with the murder last month of Olga Fonseca, Venezuela’s acting ambassador to Kenya, who had been on the job less than two weeks. Kenyan news reports say Fonseca upset employees by exposing embassy drug trafficking and by ordering them to drop charges against her predecessor, who was removed from his post after three men accused him of sexual harassment. Venezuelan Justice Minister Tarek El Aissami called the drug allegations “irresponsible” and said all evidence suggests that the motive was a personnel dispute.
La Paz, Bolivia
Cokes still allowed: Bolivia has been forced to clarify that it is not, in fact, planning to ban Coca-Cola on the date of the Mayan apocalypse. Last week, speaking of the reputed end date of the ancient Mayan calendar, Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said, “Dec. 21 of 2012 will be the end of egoism and division. Dec. 21 will be the end of Coca-Cola.” Business media promptly reported the speech as announcing a ban on the company. Last week, Choquehuanca said he had just used Coke as a metaphor, and that what he meant was that a new planetary alignment would bring about “the end of capitalism and the beginning of communitarianism.”
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Recipe: beef and broccoli noodles by Pippa Middlehurst
The Week Recommends A simple adaptation of a classic Chinese dish
By The Week Staff Published
-
Libya: the 'tsunami' that washed away a city
Talking Point Climate change may have made the storm more likely, but many blame failures of governance for the scale of the tragedy
By The Week Staff Published
-
Volcanoes, lakes and jungle ruins in Guatemala
The Week Recommends Discover the 'vibrant indigenous culture' and biodiverse landscape of this Central American paradise
By The Week Staff Published
-
The news at a glance...International
feature International
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
The bottom line
feature Youthful startup founders; High salaries for anesthesiologists; The myth of too much homework; More mothers stay a home; Audiences are down, but box office revenue rises
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
The week at a glance...Americas
feature Americas
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
The news at a glance...United States
feature United States
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
The news at a glance
feature Comcast defends planned TWC merger; Toyota recalls 6.39 million vehicles; Takeda faces $6 billion in damages; American updates loyalty program; Regulators hike leverage ratio
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
The bottom line
feature The rising cost of graduate degrees; NSA surveillance affects tech profits; A glass ceiling for female chefs?; Bonding to a brand name; Generous Wall Street bonuses
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
The news at a glance
feature GM chief faces Congress; FBI targets high-frequency trading; Yellen confirms continued low rates; BofA settles mortgage claims for $9.3B; Apple and Samsung duke it out
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
The week at a glance...International
feature International
By The Week Staff Last updated