Sales could dry up further if fears of contagion keep people at home

Sales could dry up further if fears of contagion keep people at home and out of already struggling supermarkets, shops and restaurants in the days ahead. “If the health crisis lasts for a week or two, it will have an impact, but not as much as if it takes a long time or there are direct restrictions on trade or tourism to Mexico,” Delgado said. Millions of Mexico City residents stayed at home, emptying shopping malls, cinemas and bars, as nightclubs, concert venues, soccer stadiums and even churches closed over the weekend The city government said closures could last 10 days. The federal government extended school closures across the nation on Monday, raising chances that spending in other cities will also be curbed. That could further hurt a service sector that makes up around 60 percent of the economy, Even though there was no evidence the new flu strain was directly related to the pork industry, Russia, China, and the Philippines were among a string of countries to slap bans on Mexican and U.S pork. While Mexico is not a major pork exporter, the actions raised the prospect of further protectionist measures. Delgado said Mexico’s economy could shed an additional percentage point of growth, should any major government ban its citizens from traveling to Mexico No country has taken that step yet, but U.S.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged caution about travel to Mexico and the European Union’s health chief said citizens should avoid non-essential travel to areas hit by swine flu Mexico is one of the world’s top vacation destinations. Tourists spent more than $13 billion in the country last year, visiting its lush beach resorts and inland colonial towns. So far tourism had held up well despite the global economic downturn and worries about drug violence, but the flu outbreak could spur a drop in foreign visitors. “Tourism will be directly affected by the worldwide population’s negative perception of traveling to Mexico as well as government recommendations of not doing so,” UBS economist Gabriel Casillas wrote in a report to clients. Casillas sees the economy losing an additional 0.5 to 0.8 percentage points of growth if the economic activity in major cities remains disrupted for between two weeks and a month.(Editing by Jan Paschal) China  |  Russia  |  Mexico China Russia Mexico.

Yesterday, James Shields was making noise, complaining that the Rays' home games were sounding more like Red Sox and Yankee home games. Sunday, he backed up his words in the best way possible, pitching a complete game-two hit, seven strikeout, and one walk-shutout. The Rays’ fans certainly had plenty to cheer about, and so they should, with the Rays extending their winning streak to a near-three-year-best six games, thanks in no small part to Shields' brilliant performance, retiring all but three batters at the plate and eliminating one more on a double play.The game had been billed as a pitchers’ duel and the starters did not disappoint. Josh Beckett brought what he delivered so many times in 2007, striking out eight Rays in the nine he faced through three innings, striking out 13 through his seven innings of work.While Beckett had more strikeouts, he surrendered more hits and ran up his pitch count quickly, effectively driving himself from the game. He only allowed two runs, one earned, the other coming on a double error play on a failed pickoff of Jason Bartlett at first base with the ball rolling all the way to the Boston bullpen.

The return throw then missed the cutoff man, trickling down the first base line giving Bartlett to score easily from third.Evan Longoria highlighted the Rays' offense, depositing a seventh-inning offering from Beckett over the fence in left-center field for his third home run of the year and a 2-0 Rays lead.Tampa Bay would add to its lead after Jason Bartlett, who hit on the helmet by a pitch, stole second base, and was driven home by Carl Crawford. Shields took his third win of the year to congratulations from his team mates and fans making all the noise they could on his behalf. He now has a 3-1 record with an ERA of 2.54.From here, the Red Sox get a day of rest, the occurrence of which many players seemed more concerned about than the Sunday lunchtime game. After that they will look to snap their losing streak at home to the struggling Toronto Blue Jays.The Rays also have the Monday off, which they hope will not affect their momentum, as they travel to Baltimore for a three game series before moving up to Fenway to face the Red Sox once more.. Throughout the late 1980s to the early 1990s, Detroit Red Wings’ enforcer, Bob Probert, was among the most feared men in all of hockey.  If Steve Yzerman was ever hit or cheap-shotted, the man responsible would have to answer to Probert. In those days, there was an average of over one fight per game, and players knew to treat the Red Wings’ star players with respect. The NHL now averages 0.61 fights per regular-season game. This drop off is caused by the instigator rule, not because tough guys are afraid of the extra two-minute penalty, or because the coach is worried about losing a fighter for ten minutes but because tough guys and coaches are afraid of losing their jobs.  After the institution of the shoot out, general managers are opting out of signing an enforcer, and instead signing a shootout specialist. The claim that tough guys are afraid of a two-minute penalty is completely false.

It is a team’s coach who is afraid, because of the instigator rule.  When the regular season ends, and the difference between being in the playoffs and being out is one game, the chances of instigating a fight are slim to none. Hockey is a business, and the instigator rule puts both the coaches and players on the chopping block.  This is why fighting has decreased, concussions have increased, and goalie injuries have spiked. To believe otherwise is ludicrous, and because of this the instigator rule must be abolished. . LONDON (Reuters) – ScottishPower, a unit of Spain’s Iberdrola, said on Monday its Whitelee wind farm near Glasgow is to be completed ahead of schedule in the next few weeks. Green BusinessScottishPower Renewables said all of the 140 turbines at the farm would be ready in the near future, raising its capacity to 322 megawatt — enough to power more than 180,000 homes. It would be Europe’s largest onshore wind farm.The company began working on the project 10 years ago, with planning consent awarded in 2006.