- Ohtani makes MLB history with first 50-homer, 50-steal season
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases, 49 homers
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases
- Barca downed by Monaco as Arsenal held in Champions League stalemate
- Head's 'good night at office' after century seals win over England
- Dubois seeks legitimacy with Joshua scalp
- Rate cut could lift consumer spirits before US elections
- Last-gasp Gimenez strike sends Atletico past Leipzig
- Barca stumble at Monaco after early red card
- Raya heroics save Arsenal in Champions League opener at Atalanta
- Cathay Airbus engine fire linked to cleaning: EU regulator
- Guardians beat Twins to secure MLB playoff berth
- Jihadist attack in Mali capital killed more than 70: security sources
- Alonso hails 'efficient' Leverkusen after Feyenoord rout
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI
- Ex-Man United striker Anthony Martial joins AEK Athens
- NFL unbeatens meet as Texans visit Vikings, Steelers host Chargers
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI after Labuschagne strikes
- Dream debut for Wirtz as Leverkusen thump dire Feyenoord
- Myanmar flood death toll climbs to 293: state media
- Israel army says West Bank air strike kills 4 militants
- LIV golfers get green light for US Ryder Cup team, PGA Championship
- US accuses social media giants of 'vast surveillance'
- Ten Hag to bed Hojlund, Mount in carefully when they return for Man Utd
- Breaking bad as McIlroy endures 'weird' day
- EU chief announces $11 bn for nations hit by 'heartbreaking' floods
- Spanish PM, Palestinian leader urge Mideast de-escalation
- New study reinforces theory Covid emerged at Chinese market
- World Bank boosts climate financing by 10 percent
- Bagnaia eyeing summit on home ground in 100th MotoGP
- 'Something was wrong', defendant in French mass rape tells court
- Hezbollah chief admits 'unprecedented' blow in device blasts
- Sales of US existing homes slip slightly in August
- Fear, panic haunt Lebanese after devices explode
- Labuschagne sparks Australia fightback in England ODI opener
- S.Africa's HIV research power couple says fight goes on
- Why is Israel focusing on border with Lebanon?
- Mpox vaccines administered in Rwanda, first in Africa
- US Fed rate cut is 'very positive sign' for economy: Yellen
- Unknown Mozart string trio discovered in Germany
- 'Are we five-year-olds?' F1 drivers won't mind their language
- Brazil judge orders X to reimpose block or face hefty fine
- Munich to rename stadium street after Beckenbauer
- Champions Italy to face Argentina in Davis Cup Final 8
- The winding, fitful path to weight loss drug Ozempic
- Italians defeat American Magic to reach Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Norris has 'nothing to lose' as he hunts Verstappen in Singapore
- Kyiv 'outraged' at Swiss showing of Russian war film
- French city renames Abbe Pierre square after abuse claims
- Footballer charged after huge cannabis seizure at UK airport
'Coca' pits indigenous Colombians against soft drink giant
Indigenous Colombians are going head to head with the world's biggest soft drink company over the commercial use of the word "coca" -- the name of an indigenous South American plant.
Representatives of the Nasa and Embera Chami tribes are threatening to ban the sale of Coca-Cola in their territories after the Coca-Cola Company incurred their ire by taking issue with the name of a locally-produced beer, Coca Pola.
They sent a letter to the multinational corporation, a copy of which AFP has seen, giving it 10 days to explain its "non-consensual use" of the word "Coca" in Coca-Cola -- the world's most popular fizzy drink.
If the company fails to reply, the communities threatened "judicial and commercial measures" including "the prohibition of the sale of its products in indigenous territories."
These reserved territories, according to Colombia's National Land Agency, cover almost a third of the country, or 33 million hectares, though less than 10 percent of the population identifies as indigenous.
For centuries, indigenous peoples in Colombia, Peru and elsewhere on the continent have chewed the coca leaf and defended it as part of their cultural heritage.
The plant is also used in the production of cocaine, of which Colombia is the world's largest exporter and the United States its biggest consumer.
- 'Abusive' trademark -
Indigenous peoples in Colombia are allowed by law to grow the plant and market products manufactured from it.
One such product, Coca Pola, has been manufactured by local company Coca Nasa for four years. "Pola" means beer in Colombia.
Three months ago, Coca-Cola threatened legal action against Coca Nasa, which employs about 20 people and produces food, traditional medicine, drinks and other coca products.
Coca-Cola asked the company -- run by members of the indigenous Nasa community -- to "cease and desist permanently from using the name Coca Pola or any similar term that could be confused with the commercial brands" owned by the drinks giant.
In turn, the Nasa and Embera Chami now claim the more than 100-year-old Coca-Cola trademark, registered without consulting them, amounts to an "abusive practice" that violates "the national, Andean and international human rights systems."
Nasa leader Fabiola Pinacue, who signed the letter to Coca-Cola, defended her community's right to use the trademark Coca Pola.
"The coca leaf is a key element of the Nasa culture," insisted Pinacue.
Legal firm Brigard Castro, the legal representative for Coca-Cola in Colombia, did not reply to a request from AFP for comment.
David Curtidor, a lawyer representing Coca Nasa, pointed out that in 2012 a judge ruled in favor of an indigenous organization that sued a Colombian businessman for registering the brand "Indigenous Coca" without consulting the community.
After the ruling, the brand left the market.
K.Brown--BTB