Tag Archives: United States

U.S. pledges sustained help for India in tackling COVID crisis

By Humeyra Pamuk and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Senior U.S. officials on Tuesday pledged sustained support for India in helping it deal with the world’s worst current surge of COVID-19 infections, warning the country is still at the “front end” of the crisis and overcoming it will take some time.

The White House’s National Security Council coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, Kurt Campbell, told a virtual event on the U.S. assistance that President Joe Biden had told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a phone call on Monday: “You let me know what you need and we will do it.”

Campbell said at the event, organized by the U.S.-India Business Council and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, that Washington was committed to helping the world’s second most populous country get to grips with the crisis.

“We all have to realize that this is not a challenge that is going to resolve (in) the next several days,” he said.

Tackling the crisis, he said, was important not just for the people of India but for the United States, given India’s essential role as global provider of vaccines.

India is now the epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic as a second wave of infections has driven the death toll up to almost 200,000.

On Tuesday, vital medical supplies began to reach the country of 1.35 billion people but hospitals starved of life-saving oxygen and beds still were turning away coronavirus patients.

The United States and other countries pledged urgent medical aid to try to contain the emergency in India.

The U.S. State Department’s coordinator for global COVID-19 response, Gayle Smith, added: “We all need to understand that we are still at the front end of this. This hasn’t peaked yet.

“So this is going to require determination…We’re going to work really hard for some time, but we’re confident we can do it,” she said. “We anticipate that at the height of this kind of complex emergency, it’s going to be very fluid for a while as things fall into place. We are collectively going to have to be very agile and very nimble.”

Jeremy Konyndyk, global COVID-19 adviser for USAID, said the agency was concerned about the situation in countries in the same region as India and wanted to support both India’s capacity to get the situation under control and the wider region.

He said the United States was providing some badly needed raw materials to the Serum Institute of India to allow it to scale up the production of the AstraZeneca vaccine there.

Aside from the United States, countries including Britain and Germany have pledged support, while the World Health Organization said it was working to deliver 4,000 oxygen concentrators, calling India’s plight “beyond heartbreaking”.

Two Indian government sources told Reuters earlier on Tuesday that New Delhi expects to secure the biggest chunk of the 60 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses the United States will share globally.

On Monday, senior U.S. officials said an agreement between the United States and three of its closest Indo-Pacific partners to produce up to a billion coronavirus vaccine doses in India by the end of 2022 to supply other Asian countries were “still on track,” despite the current crisis in the country.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Nigeria urges U.S. to move Africa Command headquarters to continent

ABUJA (Reuters) – The United States should consider moving its military headquarters overseeing Africa to the continent, from Germany, to better tackle growing armed violence in the region, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said on Tuesday.

Nigerian security forces face multiple security challenges including school kidnappings by armed gangs in its northwest and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea as well as the decade-long insurgency by Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which also carries out attacks in neighboring Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

West Africa’s Sahel region is in the grip of a security crisis as groups with ties to al Qaeda and Islamic State attack military forces and civilians, despite help from French and United Nations forces.

Buhari, in a virtual meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, said U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), should be relocated to Africa itself.

“Considering the growing security challenges in West and Central Africa, Gulf of Guinea, Lake Chad region and the Sahel, weighing heavily on Africa, it underscores the need for the United States to consider re-locating AFRICOM headquarters… near the theatre of operation,” said Buhari, according a statement issued by the presidency.

He spoke a week after the death of the longtime president of Chad, Idriss Deby, in a battle against rebels.

Deby was an important Western ally in the fight against Islamist militants and under him Chadian soldiers formed a key component of a multinational force fighting Boko Haram and its offshoot, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

“The security challenges in Nigeria remain of great concern to us and impacted more negatively by existing complex negative pressures in the Sahel, Central and West Africa, as well as the Lake Chad Region,” said Buhari, a retired major general.

AFRICOM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja; Additional reporting and writing by Alexis Akwagyiram in Lagos; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Russia holds naval drills as U.S. vessel heads to Black Sea

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia’s Black Sea fleet launched naval combat exercises on Tuesday as a U.S. coastguard vessel made its way to the region amid simmering tensions between Russia and the West.

Moscow recently alarmed Kyiv and Western capitals by building up its forces along the Ukrainian border, though last week it ordered a withdrawal of some troops.

Russia’s Black Sea fleet said on Tuesday its Moskva cruiser would hold live-fire drills with other ships and military helicopters, the Interfax news agency reported.

The fleet’s announcement came hours after U.S. Naval Forces in Europe said cutter Hamilton, a U.S. Coast Guard vessel, was moving into the Black Sea to work with NATO allies and partners in the region.

Russia has accused the United States and NATO of fueling military tensions in Europe. It has said the Russian troop build-up near the Ukrainian border were part of drills in response to what it called NATO’s threatening behavior.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that Russia had not pulled back its forces from the Ukrainian border because of external pressure, adding that Moscow moved troops around on its own territory as it saw fit.

“The actions of the U.S. and NATO in the European region to increase the combat readiness of troops and strengthen their forward presence is contributing to an increase in military danger,” Shoigu said in comments circulated by the defense ministry.

Kyiv and the West have said it is too early to assess Russia’s troop drawdown.

“We cannot guarantee 100% that Russian troops won’t turn around,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a statement on Tuesday.

A senior U.S. defense official told Reuters on Friday it was seeing some Russian personnel withdrawing and that Moscow’s announcement of its redeployment alone was “insufficient to give us comfort.”

Relations between Moscow and Kyiv have been dire since Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula in 2014 and backed a pro-Russian separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov in Moscow and Matthias Williams and Natalia Zinets in Kyiv; Writing by Alexander Marrow/Tom Balmforth/Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Gareth Jones)

Parties to Iran nuclear talks to speed up efforts for Iranian, U.S. compliance

VIENNA (Reuters) -The parties negotiating a revival of the Iran nuclear deal agreed on Tuesday to speed up efforts to bring the United States and Iran back into compliance, diplomats said.

Iran, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia began a third round of meetings in Vienna on Tuesday to agree yo steps that would be needed if the 2015 agreement is to be revived.

The main differences are over what sanctions the United States will need to remove, what steps Iran will need to take to resume its obligations to curb its nuclear program, and how to sequence this process to satisfy both sides.

“The discussions proved that participants are guided by the unity of purpose which is full restoration of the nuclear deal in its original form,” Mikhail Ulyanov, Moscow’s ambassador to the U.N. atomic watchdog, said on Twitter after senior diplomats met in the Austrian capital.

“It was decided to expedite the process.”

A U.S. delegation is in a separate location in Vienna, enabling representatives of the five powers to shuttle between both sides because Iran has rejected direct talks.

Three expert working groups have been tasked with unravelling the most important issues and drafting solutions.

At the end of talks last week, the United States and its European allies said serious differences still persisted despite making some progress in their latest indirect talks.

“We hope all parties will sustain the momentum we have already reached in their efforts towards an earliest resolution of this issue before us,” Wang Qun, China’s envoy to the U.N. watchdog, told reporters, adding that senior diplomats would reconvene on Wednesday to take stock.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Writing by John Irish; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Timothy Heritage)

U.S. administers 230.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines – CDC

(Reuters) – The United States has administered 230,768,454 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Monday morning, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday.

The figure is up from the 228,661,408 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Sunday out of 290,692,005 doses delivered.

The agency said 140,969,663 people had received at least one dose while 95,888,088 people are fully vaccinated as of Monday.

The CDC tally includes two-dose vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, as well as Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Monday.

A total of 7,791,592 vaccine doses have been administered in long-term care facilities, the agency said.

The number of vaccine doses delivered remained at 290,692,005, as of Monday morning as shipments are not always sent on Sundays, according to the CDC.

(Reporting by Trisha Roy in Bengaluru)

Important to get U.S. vaccine help along border, Mexican official says

By Adriana Barrera and Cassandra Garrison

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico is ramping up requests for more COVID-19 shots from the United States, and in the coming days may ask for assistance vaccinating people along the countries’ shared border, the Mexican government official in charge of vaccine diplomacy said.

Mexico has received 2.7 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine from the United States, but has not made progress on accessing larger U.S. stocks, deputy foreign minister for multilateral affairs Martha Delgado said in an interview with Reuters late last week.

“We are once again taking up dialogue to insist on this need,” she said, ahead of an upcoming visit by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to the United States.

Mexico may also put forward a proposal to prioritize vaccination along its border with the United States, Delgado said, describing the issue as important and a concern in Mexico.

The proximity and human ties between populous towns and cities along the border means it is easy for the coronavirus to re-infect both sides.

The U.S.-Mexico border region, which stretches 3,175 km (1,973 miles), is home to at least 14.6 million people, according to government data from 2018.

Tens of thousands of Central Americans have trekked to the U.S. border in recent months, in a growing humanitarian challenge for U.S. President Joe Biden. Delgado did not specify whether a new proposal for vaccines in the border area would include migrants.

The supply of vaccines has become a global diplomatic tussle.

Mexico government officials on Friday declared the doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine shipped from the United States safe and approved by two health regulators after operations were halted at the U.S. plant that produced them due to contamination.

Following Delgado’s interview with Reuters, a representative for her declined to comment on whether the issue could impact future vaccine agreements with the United States.

Ebrard will also make trips to Russia, China and India, as part of efforts to ensure supply agreements are honored.

Part of his agenda in the United States will be devoted to vaccines, including “scientific exchange,” Delgado said.

Mexico has so far received more than 21 million shots, primarily from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, China’s Sinovac and Cansino and Russia’s Sputnik V.

But supply delays and shortages have hampered the campaign to vaccinate its population of 126 million.

The country has relied on deals with China and Russia amid gaps by Western suppliers and slow shipments through global COVAX facility mechanism, led by the GAVI vaccines alliance and the World Health Organization to promote equitable access.

Mexico was considering hosting Phase III trials for an additional Chinese vaccine, Delgado said. She declined to say which one.

(Reporting by Adriana Barrera and Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Karishma Singh)

Soaring lumber prices reverberate through U.S. housing market

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Skyrocketing lumber prices threaten to thwart the momentum of the U.S. housing market, which for months has been one of the brightest stars of the recovery from the pandemic recession.

At the onset of the health crisis, “the mills stopped producing,” said Dustin Jalbert, senior economist and lumber industry specialist at Fastmarkets in Burlington, Massachusetts. “As soon as they saw 20 million unemployed, they shut down production.”

But COVID turned out to be a boon for the sector. Demand for low population density and home office space spiked, with historically low mortgage rates acting as an accelerant.

Surging demand pushed housing inventories to record lows. Homebuilders got to work, and lumber producers have struggled to catch up, which might take some time. Meanwhile, lumber prices have jumped more than 300% year-on-year to record highs.

“The logging operation, the shipping of the logs to the mill, the shipping of the finished product, getting workers back on the job, it’s not like flipping a switch to bring those back online,” Jalbert said.

With lumber prices sky high and a slim supply of housing stock, median home prices of existing homes jumped by a record-breaking 17.2% last month.

The chart below shows lumber prices and inventories over the last two years, along with various housing indicators home prices, residential construction spending, building permits and homebuilder sentiment:

While homebuilder sentiment remains optimistic, as indicated by the National Association of Homebuilders’ (NAHB) Housing Market index, headwinds due to rising building costs have pulled the index down from recent highs.

“The supply chain for residential construction is tight, particularly regarding the cost and availability of lumber, appliances, and other building materials,” wrote Robert Dietz, chief economist at NAHB.

On Thursday, homebuilder DR Horton Inc reported its quarterly profit nearly doubled, and said on its earnings call that lumber prices might see some relief as mills re-open and the international trade picture improves.

Pultegroup is due to report on April 27, while Lennar Corp and Toll Brothers Inc are expected to post results on May 5 and 25, respectively.

In the meantime, “the builders’ margins have done fine,” Jalbert added. “What does that tell us? The costs are being passed on to the homebuyer.”

Whether those costs will dampen demand is an open question, but a report from the Commerce Department released on Thursday showed sales of newly constructed U.S. homes jumped by 20.7% last month to an annualized rate not seen since 2006, the zenith of the housing bubble.

The stock market appears to be looking beyond current price surges.

 

U.S. manufacturing activity accelerates in early April; supply constraints worsening

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. factory activity powered ahead in early April, but manufacturers increasingly struggled to source raw materials and other inputs as a reopening economy leads to a boom in domestic demand.

Data firm IHS Markit said on Friday its flash U.S. manufacturing PMI increased to 60.6 in the first half of this month. That was the highest reading since the series started in May 2007 and followed a final reading of 59.1 in March.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index rising to 60.5 in early April. A reading above 50 indicates growth in manufacturing, which accounts for 11.9% of the U.S. economy.

More than half of American adults have had at least one vaccine dose, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A third of U.S. adults are fully vaccinated, as well as 26% of the population overall.

That, together with the White House’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 pandemic rescue package, has allowed for broader economic re-engagement, unleashing pent-up demand.

“The U.S. economy is enjoying a strong start to the second quarter, firing on all cylinders as loosening virus restrictions, an impressive vaccine roll-out, a brighter outlook and stimulus measures all helped boost demand,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.

But the strong demand is pushing against supply constraints. The pandemic, now in its second year, has disrupted labor at factories and their suppliers, causing shortages that are boosting prices of raw materials and other inputs.

The IHS Markit survey’s measure of prices paid by manufacturers jumped to the highest level since July 2008. It attributed the higher input prices to “severe supplier shortages and marked rises in transportation fees.”

The continued rise in input costs is one of many factors expected to drive inflation above the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target this year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has expressed confidence that the supply chains will adapt and become more efficient, and prevent prices from remaining higher for a sustained period.

The raw material squeeze is most evident in the automobile industry, where a global semiconductor shortage has forced production cuts at motor vehicle assembly plants. According to IHS Market supply shortages were causing backlogs of uncompleted work “of a magnitude not surpassed for over seven years.”

The IHS survey’s new orders measure increased and as a result, factories boosted hiring.

The improvement in activity also spilled over to the services sector, which has been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The IHS Markit flash services sector PMI jumped to 63.1, the highest since the series started in October 2009, from a final reading of 60.4.

It said growth in the services sector, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, was driven by “stronger client demand and the reopening of many businesses amid the easing of restrictions.”

The strength in manufacturing and the services industries boosted overall business activity. The survey’s flash composite PMI output index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, rebounded to 62.2. That was also the highest reading since the series started in October 2009 and followed 59.7 in March.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

U.S. lawmakers back $100 billion science push to compete with China

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation calling for $100 billion in government spending over five years on basic and advanced technology research and science in the face of rising competitive pressure from China.

The measure, sponsored by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Republican Senator Todd Young and others, would also authorize another $10 billion to designate at least 10 regional technology hubs and create a supply chain crisis response program.

The bill, called the “Endless Frontier Act,” represents a significant effort by the government to shore up private sector and university research efforts in advanced technologies with federal funding.

“There is a bipartisan consensus that the United States must invest in the technologies of the future to out-compete China,” Schumer said, adding “whichever nation develops new technologies first – be they democratic or authoritarian – will set the terms for their use.”

Republican Representative Mike Gallagher, another sponsor, said U.S. superiority in science and technology “is at risk. The Chinese Communist Party has used decades of intellectual property theft and industrial espionage to close this technological gap in a way that threatens not only our economic security, but also our way of life.”

The Senate Commerce Committee is expected to mark up the bill next week as Schumer looks to fast-track approval.

Schumer said separately he will push for “emergency spending” to implement the semiconductor manufacturing provisions in last year’s defense bill.

In February, President Joe Biden said he would seek $37 billion in funding for legislation to boost chip manufacturing in the United States as a shortfall of semiconductors has forced U.S. automakers and other manufacturers to cut production.

Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure and jobs bill calls for $50 billion for semiconductor manufacturing and research.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation called the bill a “seminal piece of legislation taking definitive steps to restore American competitiveness in 10 key advanced-technology industries of the future, such as biotech, clean energy, and semiconductors.”

(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul and Sonya Hepinstall)

New rules allowing small drones to fly over people in U.S. take effect

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that final rules announced in December took effect on Wednesday allowing for small drones to fly over people and at night, a significant step toward their eventual use for widespread commercial deliveries.

The effective date was delayed about a month during the change in administration. The FAA said its long-awaited rules for the drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, will address security concerns by requiring remote identification technology in most cases to enable their identification from the ground.

Previously, small drone operations over people were limited to operations over people who were directly participating in the operation, located under a covered structure, or inside a stationary vehicle – unless operators had obtained a waiver from the FAA.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday the rules “are an important first step in safely and securely managing the growing use of drones in our airspace, though more work remains on the journey to full integration” of drones.

Drone manufacturers have 18 months to begin producing drones with Remote ID, and operators will have an additional year to provide Remote ID.

Companies have been racing to create drone fleets to speed deliveries. As of December, the United States had over 1.7 million drone registrations and 203,000 FAA-certificated remote pilots.

For at-night operations, the FAA said drones must be equipped with anti-collision lights. The final rules allow operations over moving vehicles in some circumstances.

The new rules eliminate requirements that drones be connected to the internet to transmit location data but do require that they broadcast remote ID messages via radio frequency broadcast.

One change, since the rules were first proposed in 2019, requires that small drones not have any exposed rotating parts that would lacerate human skin.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Aurora Ellis)