Tag Archives: United States

Russia calls U.S. ‘adversary,’ rejects NATO call to end Ukraine build-up

By Robin Emmott and Andrew Osborn

BRUSSELS/MOSCOW (Reuters) -The United States called on Russia to halt a military build-up on Ukraine’s border on Tuesday as Moscow, in words recalling the Cold War, said its “adversary” should keep U.S. warships well away from annexed Crimea.

Moscow seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and fighting has escalated in recent weeks in eastern Ukraine, where government forces have battled Russian-backed separatists in a seven-year conflict that Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people.

Two U.S. warships are due to arrive in the Black Sea this week.

In Brussels for talks with NATO leaders and Ukraine’s foreign minister, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington stood firmly behind Ukraine.

He also said he would discuss Kyiv’s ambitions to one day join NATO – although France and Germany have long worried that bringing the former Soviet republic into the Western alliance would antagonize Russia.

“The United States is our adversary and does everything it can to undermine Russia’s position on the world stage,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies on Tuesday.

Ryabkov’s remarks suggest that the diplomatic niceties which the former Cold War enemies have generally sought to observe in recent decades is fraying, and that Russia would robustly push back against what it regards as unacceptable U.S. interference in its sphere of influence.

“We warn the United States that it will be better for them to stay far away from Crimea and our Black Sea coast. It will be for their own good,” Ryabkov said, calling the U.S. deployment a provocation designed to test Russian nerves.

CALL FOR DE-ESCALATION

Blinken met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba after Group of Seven foreign ministers condemned what they said was the unexplained rise in Russian troop numbers.

Echoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who met Kuleba earlier, Blinken said Moscow was massing forces in its biggest build-up since 2014, since Moscow annexed Crimea. He called Russia’s actions “very provocative”.

“In recent weeks Russia has moved thousands of combat-ready troops to Ukraine’s borders, the largest massing of Russian troops since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014,” Stoltenberg said.

“Russia must end this military build-up in and around Ukraine, stop its provocations and de-escalate immediately,” Stoltenberg said at a news conference with Kuleba.

Russia has said it moves its forces around as it sees fit, including for defensive purposes. It has regularly accused NATO of destabilizing Europe with its troop reinforcements in the Baltics and Poland since the annexation of Crimea.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday Russia had moved two armies and three paratrooper units to near its western borders in the last three weeks, responding to what it called threatening military action by NATO.

Shoigu, speaking on state television, said NATO was deploying 40,000 troops near Russia’s borders, mainly in the Black Sea and the Baltic regions.

“In total, 40,000 troops and 15,000 weapons and pieces of military equipment are concentrated near our territory, including strategic aircraft,” Shoigu said.

The Western alliance denies any such plans.

SANCTIONS, MILITARY HELP

Kuleba said Kyiv wanted a diplomatic solution.

Kyiv and Moscow have traded blame over the worsening situation in the eastern Donbass region, where Ukrainian troops have battled Russian-backed separatist forces.

Kuleba appealed for further economic sanctions against Moscow and more military help to Kyiv.

“At the operational level, we need measures which will deter Russia and which will contain its aggressive intentions,” Kuleba said after the NATO-Ukraine Commission met at the alliance headquarters.

This could be direct support aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s defense capabilities.

Separately, two diplomats said Stoltenberg would chair a video conference with allied defense and foreign ministers on Wednesday. Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were expected to be present at NATO headquarters in Brussels to brief the other 29 allies on Ukraine, as well as on Afghanistan, the diplomats said.

Austin, on a visit to Berlin, said the United States would ramp up its forces in Germany in light of the friction with Moscow, abandoning former President Donald Trump’s plans to withdraw about round 12,000 of the 36,000 troops from there.

Kyiv has welcomed the show of Western support, but it falls short of Ukraine’s desire for full membership of NATO.

(Additional reporting by Alexander Marrow in Moscow, Editing by Mark Heinrich and Angus MacSwan)

Regeneron to seek U.S. OK for COVID-19 cocktail to be used for prevention

By John Miller

ZURICH (Reuters) – Regeneron is pursuing U.S. approval for its COVID-19 monoclonal antibody cocktail as a preventative treatment after it helped cut the risk of symptomatic infections in households where someone else is ill, the U.S. drugmaker said on Monday.

REGEN-COV, a combination of casirivimab and imdevimab, protected household contacts from exposure to SARS-CoV-2, with 72% protection against symptomatic infections in the first week, and 93% after that, according to trial data released by the company.

In a separate trial, Regeneron also said the treatment reduced overall risk of progressing to symptomatic COVID-19 by 31%, and by 76% after the third day.

Regeneron has enlisted Switzerland’s Roche and its massive biotech facility in South San Francisco to make around 2 million doses annually. The cocktail already has emergency U.S. approval for mild to moderate COVID-19 patients, and the companies are hoping the latest trials convince regulators to expand deployment.

“These data suggest that REGEN-COV can complement widespread vaccination strategies, particularly for those at high risk of infection,” said Myron Cohen, who leads monoclonal antibody efforts for the U.S. National Institutes of Health-sponsored COVID Prevention Network.

A challenge in breaking infection chains, he said, is that some 10% of unvaccinated people in the study who didn’t get the Roche-Regeneron drug while living in a household with an infected individual developed symptomatic infection even with efforts to reduce transmission.

‘HIGH-RISK SETTINGS’

“REGEN-COV could help control outbreaks in high-risk settings” where people haven’t been vaccinated, Cohen said.

In the separate trial, Regeneron said the cocktail also cut symptomatic infection risk and helped nearly halve the total weeks that patients experienced symptoms, with the viral burden – the amount of virus present – cut by more than 90%.

“These data pave the way for REGEN-COV to be used before patients become symptomatic,” Katharine Bar, co-principal investigator and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania hospital, said.

India approves Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

By Nigam Prusty and Krishna N. Das

NEW DELHI/MOSCOW (Reuters) -India has approved the use of Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said on Monday, confirming earlier reports of its imminent endorsement.

India overtook Brazil to become the nation with the second highest number of infections worldwide after the United States, as it battles a second wave, having given about 105 million doses among a population of 1.4 billion.

The RDIF, which is responsible for marketing the vaccine abroad, said the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) had approved the use of Sputnik V.

“India, the world’s 2nd most populous nation, became the 60th country to register #SputnikV after positive results of local Phase 3 clinical study. Sputnik V is now authorized in 60 countries with population of over 3 bln people,” a post on the Sputnik V official Twitter account said.

Earlier on Monday, two people familiar with the matter said the panel of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) had recommended the authorization.

The RDIF has signed deals to produce more than 750 million doses of Sputnik V in India with six domestic firms.

India has so far used two vaccines, one developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and the other by domestic firm Bharat Biotech.

Sputnik V, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, has proved 91.6% effective against COVID-19 and has been approved for use in more than 50 countries.

The Indian drugs regulator did not respond to a request for comment on the expert panel’s approval of the Russian vaccine.

Indian pharmaceutical firm Dr. Reddy’s, which is marketing the vaccine in India, said it was awaiting formal word from the authorities.

“Dr. Reddy’s and RDIF are working diligently with the Indian regulatory authorities to obtain the approval for Sputnik V. We are fully committed to playing our part in India’s fight against COVID,” the company said.

Shares of Dr. Reddy’s ended up 5% after the Economic Times newspaper first reported the news.

The firm has helped run a small domestic trial to test the vaccine’s safety and ability to generate an immune response.

(Additional reporting by Rama Venkat and Shivani Singh in Bengaluru, Polina Ivanova and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; Writing by Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by William Maclean and Angus MacSwan)

GM, Ford cutting more North American production due to chip shortage

By David Shepardson and Ankit Ajmera

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co both said on Thursday they will cut more vehicle production due to a semiconductor chip shortage that has roiled the global automotive industry.

The White House plans a summit on the chip shortage issue next Monday that is expected to include GM Chief Executive Mary Barra and Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley and top technology firm executives.

A U.S. auto industry group this week urged the government to help and warned that a global semiconductor shortage could result in 1.28 million fewer vehicles built this year and disrupt production for another six months.

President Joe Biden wants at least $50 billion to help boost U.S. semiconductor production, but that will not address short-term needs. “This is something that there is a great deal of focus at the highest level across government,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

The largest U.S. automaker said it will cut production for two weeks at its Spring Hill assembly plant that makes popular SUVs starting on Monday, and cut a week of Chevrolet Blazer production at its Ramos plant in Mexico and its Lansing Delta Township factory in Michigan.

GM’s Lansing Grand River Assembly will extend its downtime through the week of April 26, while its CAMI Assembly (Canada) and Fairfax Assembly plants will extend production shutdowns through the week of May 10.

Ford, the second-largest U.S automaker, said it will cancel production next week at its Chicago Assembly Plant, its Flat Rock Assembly Plant and part of its Kansas City Assembly Plant. It will also operate its Ohio Assembly Plant on a reduced schedule.

Ford said it will operate more plants this summer during traditional shutdown weeks to make up for lost production.

GM said the latest cuts have been factored into its forecast that the shortage could reduce this year’s profit by up to $2 billion.

GM said it has not taken downtime or reduced shifts at any of its more profitable full-size truck or full-size SUV plants due to the shortage.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Sriraj Kalluvila)

U.S. weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rise, but labor market improving

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, but the increase likely understated the rapidly improving labor market conditions as more parts of the economy reopen and fiscal stimulus kicks in.

The second straight weekly increase in claims reported by the Labor Department on Thursday was at odds with reports this month showing the economy created 916,000 jobs in March, the most in seven months, and job openings increased to a two-year high in February.

“Our belief is that continued moves to reopen the economy will result in a solid further advance in payrolls in the April jobs report and that the claims data are likely not capturing the pace of improvement in the labor market,” said Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor at Brean Capital in New York.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 744,000 for the week ended April 3 compared to 728,000 in the prior week. Data for the prior week was revised to show 9,000 more applications received than previously reported.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 680,000 applications for the latest week. Though claims have dropped from a record 6.149 million in early April of 2020, they remain more than double their pre-pandemic level. In a healthy labor market, claims are normally in a range of 200,000 to 250,000.

Part of the elevation in claims is because of fraud, multiple filings and backlogs following the enhancement of the unemployment benefit programs.

The government is paying a weekly $300 unemployment supplement, as well as funding benefits for the self-employed, gig workers and others who do not qualify for the regular state unemployment insurance programs.

The weekly subsidy and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program will run through Sept. 6.

Including the PUA program, 892,539 people filed claims last week, remaining below one million for a third straight week.

The increase in applications was led by California and New York. There were big drops in Alabama and Texas, as well as Ohio, which has been beset by fraudulent applications.

“The total number of filings for all unemployment insurance programs has remained stubbornly steady over the last few months despite net re-hiring in monthly employment reports,” said Veronica Clark, an economist at Citigroup in New York.

“This could partly be a reflection of more workers wanting to stay on unemployment benefits even if some return to work part-time given the greater size of payments.”

U.S. stocks opened largely higher. The dollar fell against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices gained.

COMPANIES HIRING

The labor market has regained its footing after stumbling in December, thanks to the White House’s massive $1.9 trillion pandemic rescue package and an acceleration in the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations, which are allowing more services businesses to resume operations.

In the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March 16-17 policy meeting released on Wednesday, U.S. central bank officials acknowledged the improvement in labor market conditions and “expected strong job gains to continue over coming months and into the medium term.”

Several Fed officials suggested the latest relief package “could hasten the recovery, which could help limit longer-term damage in labor markets caused by the pandemic.”

Anecdotal evidence suggests companies are recalling workers laid off during the pandemic and hiring new employees. An Institute for Supply Management survey on Monday showed services businesses reporting they “have recalled everyone put on waivers and made new hires” and had “additional employees added to service the needs of new customers at new locations.”

Still, the labor market recovery has a long way to go. Employment is 8.4 million jobs below its peak in February 2020.

The claims report also showed the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid decreased 16,000 to 3.734 million in the week ended March 27. That was the lowest reading since March 2020 when mandatory closures of non-essential businesses were being enforced across many states to slow the first wave of COVID-19 infections.

The 12th straight weekly decline in the so-called continuing claims in likely due to people finding work and exhausting their eligibility for benefits, limited to 26 weeks in most states. About 5.634 million people were on extended benefits during the week ended March 20, up 117,108 from the prior week.

Another 786,962 were on a state program for those who have exhausted their initial six months of aid, down 230,780 from the week before. There were 18.2 million receiving benefits under all programs during the week ended March 20.

(Reporting by Lucia MutikaniEditing by Chizu Nomiyama and Paul Simao)

U.S. could face a sixth year of above-average Atlantic storms -forecasters

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON (Reuters) – The United States should prepare for a sixth year of above-average number of Atlantic hurricanes, Colorado State University (CSU) forecasters said in the first official 2021 outlook on Thursday.

The closely-watched outlook points to an active year, but below the vast scale of 2020’s season. Last year saw a record of 30 named storms that ran through the initial 21 chosen names and required nine Greek letters.

Colorado State forecasters on Thursday estimated 17 named storms and eight hurricanes will form this year, above the historical average of 12 storms and six hurricanes. Those storms will produce four major hurricanes packing winds of at least 111 miles per hour (178.6 kph), according to CSU’s forecast.

“We are forecasting a well-above average hurricane season,” said Colorado State research scientist Philip Klotzbach.

The season begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30.

If CSU’s forecast proves correct, it would continue a streak of above-average storms and damaging hurricanes that has lasted since 2016. Scientists have cited warming ocean temperatures leading to larger, more damaging storms.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will release its hurricane outlook in the second half of May, according to spokesman Dennis Feltgen. NOAA will start twice-daily tropical weather outlooks on May 15, two weeks earlier than in the past, reflecting May storms in each of the past six years.

Commodity weather specialist DTN forecasts 20 named storms, with nine becoming hurricanes. Upper level air flows will steer more storms to the U.S. Northeast this year, estimates Vice President of Weather Operations Renny Vandewege.

The year should be “much more normal and less costly” than 2020 for oil producing and refining regions of the U.S. Gulf Coast, DTN said. The Gulf Coast area last year suffered the largest drop in crude oil output since 2008.

In recent years, thousands have died and property damages routinely topped tens of billions of dollars from bigger storms’ fierce winds and storm surges. Insured losses from natural catastrophes in 2020 hit $76 billion, estimated Swiss Re.

The current La Nina weather system is expected to enter a neutral phase during this year, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in March. La Nina, caused by cooler water in the central and eastern Pacific encourages the formation of tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean.

Offshore Gulf of Mexico oil production accounts for 17% of U.S. crude production and about 5% of natural gas production. Over 45% of total U.S. petroleum refining capacity as well as 51% of total U.S. natural gas processing plant capacity lie along the Gulf Coast.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by David Gregorio and Nick Zieminski)

U.S. Senate moves ahead with sweeping effort to counter China

By Patricia Zengerle and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scheduled a meeting on April 14 to consider major bipartisan legislation to boost the country’s ability to push back against China’s expanding global influence, Senate sources said on Thursday.

The draft measure, seen by Reuters and titled the Strategic Competition Act of 2021, mandates a range of diplomatic and strategic initiatives to counteract Beijing, reflecting hardline sentiment on dealings with China from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

The bill is intended to address economic competition with China, but also humanitarian and democratic values, such as the treatment of the minority Muslim Uighurs, suppression of dissent in Hong Kong and aggression in the South China Sea.

It stressed the need to “prioritize the military investments necessary to achieve United States political objectives in the Indo-Pacific.” It called for spending to do so, saying Congress must ensure the federal budget is “properly aligned” with the strategic imperative to compete with China.

It calls for an enhanced partnership with Taiwan, calling the democratic self-governed island “a vital part of the United States Indo-Pacific strategy” and saying there should be no restrictions on the ability of U.S. officials to interact with Taiwanese counterparts. China considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province.

The bill also says Washington must encourage allies to do more to check Beijing’s “aggressive and assertive behavior.” And it calls on every federal department and agency to designate a senior official to coordinate policies with respect to strategic competition with China.

“The United States must ensure that all Federal departments and agencies are organized to reflect the fact that strategic competition with the PRC is the United States top foreign policy priority,” the draft said, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.

Another clause would limit assistance to countries hosting Chinese military installations, saying Beijing uses its so-called Belt and Road Initiative to advance its security interests and facilitate greater military access.

Introduced by Senators Bob Menendez, the committee’s Democratic chairman, and Jim Risch, its ranking Republican, the draft bill is 283 pages long. It was released to committee members overnight to allow a markup, a meeting during which the panel will discuss amendments and vote, in a week.

The measure is the Foreign Relations panel’s contribution to a fast-track effort in the Senate announced in February by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to write legislation to counter China.

The effort is supported by Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.

The Senate Commerce Committee announced on Wednesday that it would hold a hearing on April 14 on its bipartisan measure to bolster U.S. technology. That bill, titled the Endless Frontier Act, was first proposed in 2020 and calls for $110 billion over five years to advance U.S. technology efforts.

Separately on Thursday, the U.S. Commerce Department said it was adding seven Chinese supercomputing entities to an economic blacklist for assisting China’s military.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Toby Chopra and Jonathan Oatis)

UK variant of COVID-19 is now most common strain in United States: CDC

By Susan Heavey and Carl O’Donnell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The highly contagious variant of COVID-19 first discovered in the United Kingdom has become the most common strain of the virus in the United States as cases continue to climb, a top U.S. health official said on Wednesday.

The strain, known as B.1.1.7, was identified in Britain last fall and has since been detected in 52 jurisdictions in the United States, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters at a White House briefing.

U.S. public health officials have urged Americans to get vaccinated as soon as possible in part to prevent new variants of the novel coronavirus from spreading.

The United States has also detected cases of a variant first discovered in South Africa that is thought to be resistant to some COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. That strain has been found in 36 U.S. jurisdictions, according to federal data last updated on Tuesday.

The United States is administering about 3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses per day on average over the past week, up 8% over the previous seven-day average, Walensky said.

Vaccine supply has increased significantly in the United States in recent weeks as Johnson & Johnson has begun making millions of doses of its recently authorized shots. Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have also recently boosted their vaccine production capacity.

Still, daily U.S. cases of novel coronavirus are averaging 63,000 over the past seven days, up 2.3% from the previous seven-day average, Walensky said.

Walensky said that the CDC has identified a number of COVID-19 outbreaks tied to youth sporting events and that communities experiencing high case counts should avoid holding such events. Testing should also happen twice a week, she said.

White House COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt also told reporters that the U.S. government is expanding its community health center program, which it set up in recent weeks to help get vaccines into underserved communities.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Jeff Mason and Carl O’Donnell; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

U.S. delivering about 3 million COVID-19 vaccines per day, up 8%: CDC director

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has delivered about 3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses per day on average over the past week, up 8% over the previous 7-day average, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said on Wednesday.

Still, daily U.S. cases of novel coronavirus are averaging 63,000 over the past seven days, up 2.3% from the previous 7-day average, she told reporters at a White House briefing.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Jeff Mason and Carl O’Donnell)

U.S. administers 168.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines: CDC

(Reuters) – The United States has administered 168,592,075 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Tuesday morning and distributed 219,194,215 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The tally is for Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the agency said.

According to the tally posted on April 5, the agency had administered 167,187,795 doses of the vaccines, and distributed 207,891,395 doses.

The agency said 108,301,234 people had received at least one dose while 63,016,976 people are fully vaccinated as of Tuesday.

A total of 7,748,620 vaccine doses have been administered in long-term care facilities, the agency said.

(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru)