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☆ Ongoing supply shortages threaten U.S. infrastructure and war efforts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Lisa Baertlein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"One of the big issues as we're trying to ramp up the military industrial base is having enough electronic components," Miller said. Companies that make war weapons like shoulder-fired Javelin and Stinger missiles are awaiting U.S. funding before starting new production for Ukraine. "Any general shortage in semiconductors will affect defense," said Brad Martin, director of Rand Corp's National Security Supply Chain Institute. On the other hand, ongoing demand for auto and farm equipment has kept stocks of microchips that act as electronic brains in that machinery tight. "As we've moved through the past year or so, we have seen gradual improvement in our supply chain, including semiconductors ... Short-term disruptions will continue to happen," GM spokesman Dan Flores told Reuters in an email.

The supply chain woes that sent costs soaring and spurred shortages of everything from toilet paper to passenger cars are easing for retail-focused industries, but remain stubbornly persistent in important growth sectors like autos, machinery, defense and non-residential construction, experts said. "One of the big issues as we're trying to ramp up the military industrial base is having enough electronic components," Miller said. Companies that make war weapons like shoulder-fired Javelin and Stinger missiles are awaiting U.S. funding before starting new production for Ukraine. "Any general shortage in semiconductors will affect defense," said Brad Martin, director of Rand Corp's National Security Supply Chain Institute. "As we've moved through the past year or so, we have seen gradual improvement in our supply chain, including semiconductors ... Short-term disruptions will continue to happen," GM spokesman Dan Flores told Reuters in an email.

☆ How drag was pushed back into the shadows in Tennessee
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Jonathan Allen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Now, a Tennessee law restricting drag in front of minors is due to come into force on April 1. Several planned drag events were canceled over the winter after protests, and many venues felt forced to make previously family-friendly drag shows into adults-only events. Drag performers and venue owners say they are worried about their livelihoods and their rights of free expression. The Starbucks say there is no such thing as family-friendly drag; drag performers cite Bugs Bunny, Shakespeare's cross-dressing comedies and the Robin Williams film "Mrs. Doubtfire" among counterexamples. Outside of public Pride events, most Tennessee drag performers largely work in clubs and bars that admit only those over 18.

[1/6] Pills are pictured at a fentanyl pill manufacturing center and a methamphetamine lab seized by the Mexican Army, in Culiacan, in Sinaloa state, Mexico February 14, 2023. Reuters GraphicsThe hiked up figures are not credible, say two former senior law enforcement figures in Mexico and the United States, as well as two serving Mexican security sources. The description of the drugs the Mexicans say they seized in the labs also raises questions about the accuracy of the lab data, said two of the security sources. Laboratory busts, often in hard-to-reach mountainous areas, have historically been a key metric for how active Mexican security forces have been in targeting drug trafficking groups. In 2022, FGR reported 18 lab raids by all security agencies, compared to the army's count of 492 raids.

☆ In Peru's Andes, scars of protest deaths cut deep as families seek justice
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Alexander Villegas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Relatives mourn victims during a mass after the deadliest clashes in anti-government protests against Peru's President Dina Boluarte, in Juliaca, Peru February 9, 2023. Brayan died of his wounds three days later on Jan. 12 in hospital after surgeons tried to clear a blockage in the brain. For Peru I'm willing to fight. Boluarte has said there will be no "impunity" when it comes to protest deaths, but families say they've seen little progress. Our dead aren't worth anything," said Dionisio Aroquipa, whose 17-year old daughter, Jhamlith Nataly, died on Jan 9.

☆ Biden's clean energy factory jobs may elude U.S. union workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Right to work laws allow employees to work in union-represented workplaces and be covered by collective bargaining agreements without joining a union or paying dues. American products, he vowed, would be made with union labor. Union labor. Many of the jobs created will be union jobs, the official added. "It's not a favorable environment, but we can still organize," Samantha Smith, senior adviser for clean energy jobs at the AFL-CIO, said in an interview.

☆ Exclusive: Mexico's Pemex increased gas flaring at top field, despite pledge to stop
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Stefanie Eschenbacher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/3] Gas flare is seen at the state energy company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) Papan plant, in Tierra Blanca, Veracruz state, Mexico February 18, 2023. The pledge to stop burning gas at the Ixachi field came after months of pressure over flaring from the hydrocarbon regulator, environmentalists and Mexico’s most important trade partner, the United States. But Pemex has repeatedly missed gas production targets, blaming it on missing infrastructure. Two senior company sources told Reuters last November Pemex would rather pay fines than deal with gas flaring problems. Pemex's updated business plan for 2023 to 2027, released in December, reiterated promises to reduce emissions but focused more on oil and gas production as well as refining.

☆ Explainer: Biden's EV highway takes shape
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Jarrett Renshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] A electric vehicle charger is seen as a vehicle charges in Manhattan, New York, U.S., December 7, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew KellyFeb 27 (Reuters) - Armed with billions of dollars, the Biden administration is embarking on the biggest transformation of the U.S. consumer driving landscape in generations, hoping to blanket the nation's highways with electric vehicle chargers. The federally-funded chargers must be placed within a mile of state-designated electric vehicle corridors. Ready and pending electric vehicle corridors — designations that determine if a highway has a sufficient number of charging stations for EV travel. The state received 167 site proposals from 30 different teams, officials told Reuters.

Executives across the technology sector are talking about how to operate AI like ChatGPT while accounting for the high expense. What makes this form of AI pricier than conventional search is the computing power involved. Still, footing the bill is one of two main reasons why search and social media giants with billions of users have not rolled out an AI chatbot overnight, said Paul Daugherty, Accenture's chief technology officer. Technology experts also said a workaround is applying smaller AI models to simpler tasks, which Alphabet is exploring. The company said this month a "smaller model" version of its massive LaMDA AI technology will power its chatbot Bard, requiring "significantly less computing power, enabling us to scale to more users."

☆ Bird flu spreads to new countries, threatens non-stop 'war' on poultry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Argentina found the virus in wild birds, while dead swans in Uruguay tested positive. The United States, Britain, France and Japan are among countries that have suffered record losses of poultry over the past year, leaving some farmers feeling helpless. Poultry in the Northern Hemisphere were previously considered to be most at risk when wild birds are active during spring migration. Some experts suspect climate change may be contributing to the global spread by altering wild birds' habitats and migratory paths. Farmers are trying unusual tactics to protect poultry, with some using machines that make loud noises to scare off wild birds, experts said.

☆ Explainer: What are the bird flu risks to people and animals?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WHICH COUNTRIES HAVE BIRD FLU? Bird flu spreads to new countries, threatens non-stop "war" on poultryWHAT BIRDS CAN BE INFECTED? Mammals including bears, seals, foxes and skunks have been infected with H5N1 avian flu, authorities said. If one bird in a flock has avian flu, farmers usually cull all their birds to prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus. Additionally, avian flu is not transmissible by eating properly cooked poultry and eggs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

☆ Explainer: Bird flu: what are the risks to people and animals?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WHICH COUNTRIES HAVE BIRD FLU? Wild birds including waterfowl like ducks can carry bird flu viruses without appearing sick and easily spread them to domesticated poultry like chickens and turkeys, experts said. Mammals including bears, seals, foxes and skunks have been infected with H5N1 avian flu, authorities said. If one bird in a flock has avian flu, farmers usually cull all their birds to prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus. Additionally, avian flu is not transmissible by eating properly cooked poultry and eggs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

☆ Bird flu spreads to new countries, threatens non-stop "war" on poultry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The United States, Britain, France and Japan are among countries that have suffered record losses of poultry over the past year, leaving some farmers feeling helpless. Poultry in the Northern Hemisphere were previously considered to be most at risk when wild birds are active during spring migration. Some experts suspect climate change may be contributing to the global spread by altering wild birds' habitats and migratory paths. Farmers are trying unusual tactics to protect poultry, with some using machines that make loud noises to scare off wild birds, experts said. Berkowitz said he is bracing for March and April when migration season will pose an even greater risk to poultry.

☆ Small California town wonders if restored floodplain prevented disaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Daniel Trotta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

[1/5] An aerial view shows the town of Grayson near floodwaters from the San Joaquin River in Grayson, California, U.S., January 25, 2023. Advocates for floodplain restoration say it can help solve California's dual dangers of flooding and drought, replenishing groundwater for future drought relief while protecting towns from the catastrophic flooding that scientists predict will come with climate change. One of the volunteers was David Guzman, who works in an almond processing plant and lives right up against a slough of the San Joaquin River. But some experts say floodplain restoration can help spare adjacent towns, and they envision a day when a proliferation of projects will prevent wider flooding throughout the state. The valley lies west of the north-south Sierra Nevada mountain range and includes the smaller San Joaquin Valley.

The sharp contrast with Bolsonaro, who criticized environmental agents, was a relief to some scientists concerned that the retreating Amazon rainforest may be near a point of no return. Ibama's staffing and resources expanded in Lula's 2003-2010 presidency, when he managed to reduce Amazon deforestation by 72%. Rodrigo Agostinho, whom Lula tapped to run Ibama, told Reuters in an interview that the agency now has about 350 active field agents for all of Brazil. That is less than half what it had at the start of Bolsonaro's term and well below the 2,000 field agents at the peak of its powers, he added. Sidelining Ibama, Bolsonaro deployed the military to protect the Amazon, but their inexperience in conservation failed to lower deforestation while running up a massive bill.

☆ Twitter research group stall complicates compliance with new EU law
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Twitter signed a voluntary agreement in June with the EU related to the DSA committing to "empowering the research community" through means including sharing datasets about disinformation with researchers. The EU law would require platforms with over 45 million EU users to respond to EU-vetted researcher proposals. THE WORK OF THE CONSORTIUMThe research consortium was formed in response to backlash against Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Twitter had been preparing to disclose at least a dozen new datasets to researchers before then, the former employees said. If the research consortium is eliminated, "we will be returning to the 2017 era of limited shared communication about malicious state actor activity," said Renée DiResta, research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory.

☆ Exclusive: WHO investigating links between cough syrup deaths, considers advice for parents
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Jennifer Rigby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The deaths of children from acute kidney injury began in July 2022 in Gambia, followed by cases in Indonesia and Uzbekistan. The WHO has said the deaths are linked to over-the-counter cough syrups the children took for common illnesses and which contained a known toxin, either diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol. The WHO, working with Indonesia’s drugs regulator, also issued an alert in October about cough syrups made by four Indonesian manufacturers and sold domestically. The manufacturers are: PT Yarindo Farmatama, PT Universal Pharmaceutical, PT Konimex, PT AFI Farma. PT Universal Pharmaceutical Industries’ lawyer, Hermansyah Hutagalung, said it had pulled from the market all cough syrups deemed dangerous.

☆ In Mexico, a reporter published a story. The next day he was dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Sarah Kinosian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

A day earlier, Lopez–who ran two online news sites in the southern Oaxaca state–had published a story on Facebook accusing local politician Arminda Espinosa Cartas of corruption related to her re-election efforts. As he lay dead, a nearby patrol car responded to an emergency call, intercepted the pickup and arrested the two men. "In silence zones people don't get access to basic information to conduct their lives," said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ's Mexico representative. The infrastructure was a part of the Interoceanic Corridor–one of Lopez Obrador's flagship development projects in southern Mexico. "You would think the biggest enemy would be armed groups and organized crime," said journalist Patricia Mayorga, who fled Mexico after investigating corruption.

☆ In Mexico, a reporter published a story. The next day he was shot dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Sarah Kinosian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

One man got out, walked inside and shot the 42-year-old journalist dead. As he lay dead, a nearby patrol car responded to an emergency call, intercepted the pickup and arrested the two men. "In silence zones people don't get access to basic information to conduct their lives," said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ's Mexico representative. One of those killed was Gustavo Sanchez, a journalist shot at close range in June 2021 by two motorcycle-riding hitmen. "You would think the biggest enemy would be armed groups and organized crime," said journalist Patricia Mayorga, who fled Mexico after investigating corruption.

Though a tiny fraction of the nation's plantings, the previously unreported total represents the company's biggest ever release of hybrid wheat. NEARLY 100 YEARSFarmers have used hybrid seeds since the 1930s to grow corn, followed by other crops ranging from peanuts to tomatoes. Producing hybrid wheat seeds is still more complicated and expensive than conventional wheat. Hybrid wheat can produce more uniform results across fields than conventional wheat, and may deliver better yields on poor soil, Hankey said. Syngenta projected in 2015 that its annual sales of hybrid wheat seeds could potentially reach $3 billion by 2032.

Banks still have to mark the loan to its market value on their books and set aside funds for losses that are reported in quarterly results. The deliberations of how some of these banks are thinking about accounting for these losses have not been previously reported. Three banking industry sources said the remaining $3 billion, which is unsecured, could lead to steeper losses for the seven Twitter banks. Some market participants expect the losses from the debt to be significant unless market conditions improve. Some $35 billion to $40 billion of such loans are stuck on banks' books, according to two fixed income bankers.

U.S. shale production costs are soaring and there is no sign that tight-fisted investors will change their demands for returns rather than investment in expanding drilling. At Helmerich & Payne (HP.N), one of the largest drilling contractors, its R&D budget will rise only $1 million, from 2022's $27 million. The U.S. government expects overall oil production to reach a new peak next year, but it has several times this year cut its forecasts. Shale production declines rapidly after peaking compared to conventional oil wells, falling about 50% after the first year. Lower production rates are "a longer-term prospect," said Mike Oestmann, chief executive of shale producer Tall City Exploration.

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☆ Merck could keep its patent edge by shifting Keytruda cancer drug to a simple shot
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Michael Erman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

If successful, Merck could begin marketing the new formulation within a few years, a top Merck executive told Reuters. "The clock for that patent would start ticking from the time we would get that patent approved." Drug patents have a guaranteed term of exclusivity for 20 years after receiving a patent under U.S. law, but sometimes the companies are able to add additional patents that extend their exclusivity. Merck's patents on the subcutaneous version of Keytruda could protect that formulation until at least 2040, according to Tahir Amin, co-founder of drug patents watchdog group Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK). Northwell's Mulloy said moving patients to subcutaneous versions of drugs also opens up spots in infusion centers for additional patients.

☆ Bankman-Fried's FTX, senior staff, parents bought Bahamas property worth $300 mln
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] View of the entrance to the condominium complex ONE Cable Beach, a beachfront residence in New Providence, Bahamas, November 18, 2022. The deeds show these properties, bought by a unit of FTX, were to be used as "residence for key personnel" of the company. PROPERTY PURCHASESReuters searched property records at the Bahamas Registrar General's Department for FTX, Bankman-Fried, his parents and some of the company's key executives. FTX Property Holdings Ltd, an FTX unit, bought 15 properties worth nearly $100 million in 2021 and 2022. The property records for the penthouse, dated March 17, were signed by Ryan Salame, the president of FTX Property, and showed it was intended as "residence for key personnel."

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