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Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina retires. A much loved player he was always gracious. He won the 2009 US Open final with a win over Federer and was runner up to Djokovic in the 2018 US Open final. After wrist injuries and surgeries he had to retire from tennis and is missed in the tennis circuit. In a period of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic dominating world tennis Del Potro had to make a lot of effort to compete and he did this with grace and style of play, adored by the fans.

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Cathedral site and other places near Porto and Lisbon- Mosteiro de Santa Maria like Cathedral of Chartres in France.

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With Federer's retirement from world tennis comes a look at another player Martin Del Potro who retires after fighting a constant battle with injuries throughout his career and doing this with grace and in the way that Federer was kinetic and fluid.

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The drop in oil prices and the credit crunch is driving a push for mergers in the oil industry. Suncor Energy of Canda is acquiring Petro-Canada for about $15 billion in stock,bringing together two of Canada's oil sands and oil companies. To do the deal Suncor will giv each Petro-Canada shareholder 1,28 shares of the combined company for each share of Petro-Canda. Suncor will shareholders will end up owning 60% of the new company and Petro-Canada shareholders 40%. Suncor founded in 1953 is the second largest oil sands producer. It posted profit of $4.1 billion on sales of $24.3 billion, debt load of $5.8 billion and has market value of $23.4 billion. Petro-Canada was established by the government of Canada in 1975 and in involved in exploration, production and distribution of oil and natural gas, with operations in Canda, Trinidad and Tobago, and Syria. The government reduced its stake to 19% in 2004. Petro-Canda had operating profit of $7 billion on $22.2 billion in sales, and $2.7 billion debt, with market value of $11.6 billion on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Its stock has suffered a larger decline, and shareholders like the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund, which owns 3.3% of Petro-Canada, was looking for ways to get more value out of the company with pressure to sell some of its assets or the whole company. Both companies have cut spending by a third, amid falling oil prices....

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Growing protests in Brazilian cities of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Curitiba, Belem, Brasilia, over inflation and the cost of living, government lavish spending on soccer stadiums even as public services of transportation, education and health care are being neglected. Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered with one estimate of 100,000 for protests in Rio. The protests started with the Free Fare Movement in Porto Alegre, which calls for lower transportation fares, organizing demonstrations against an increase in fares.

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In 2015 the new government of Antonio Costa took a U turn from austerity policies followed in return for a bailout from the European Union. This has helped Portugal achieve the highest growth in a decade coming back from a severe slump. Unemployment is cut in half with growth in the tourist industry, and investment in agriculture, construction, aerospace.  Traditional industries such as paper mills and textiles have invested in new technology resulting in a boom in exports. German companies Bosch, Mercedes Benz, and others have also invested in the country. Portugal has a good relationship with Germany and the European Union which has also helped attract foreign investment. Prime minister Antonio Costa says "too much austerity deepens a recession and leads to a vicious circle." Antonio Costa came to power in 2015 on promises to reverse cuts in income made by the previous government to reduce the deficit in exchange for a 78 billion euro international bailout. The government backed by left parties left out of government since 1974 with the collapse of the dictatorship, was able to increase public sector salaries, the minimum wage and pensions, over objections of the IMF and the German government. Incentives were given to small business in the form of tax incentives, development subsidies and funding. Budget balancing was achieved by cutting expenditure on infrastructure and other spending, cutting the budget deficit from 4.4% when Costa took office to 1%. A surplus is planned for 2020, ending a quarter century of budget deficits. ...