Raphael Stevens

The U.S. has reported fewer than 30,000 cases for five straight days, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows, bringing the seven-day average of daily new infections to about 30,300.It’s the first time daily case counts have held below the 30,000 mark for five consecutive days since mid-June.Roughly 1.8 million vaccinations have been reported on average each day over the past week, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, and 48% of the population has received at least one vaccine dose.U.S. Covid casesHopkins data shows that nationwide case counts have been on a mostly downward trend since the latest high point about a month ago in mid-April, when the country was seeing more than 71,000 cases per day. The latest seven-day average of daily new infections is 30,300.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsDr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to the White House, said Wednesday that infections are decreasing in every state.Fauci did not specify over what time period these state-level declines in infections have occurred. A CNBC analysis of Hopkins data shows that average daily case counts have declined by 5% or more in 38 states over the past week.U.S. Covid deathsThe U.S. reported 655 Covid deaths on Wednesday, bringing the seven-day average to 572 deaths per day.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsU.S. vaccine shots administeredAbout 1.8 million vaccinations have been reported each day on average over the past week, according to the CDC, down from the peak level of 3.4 million shots per day in mid-April and also lower than the average of 2.2 million one week ago.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsU.S. share of the population vaccinatedAbout 48% of Americans are at least partially vaccinated, CDC data shows, and 38% are fully inoculated.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsOf those age 18 and older, slightly more than 60% have received at least one shot. President Joe Biden has set a goal of getting 70% of American adults to receive one shot or more by the Fourth of July.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:CDC chief says lab-based origin of Covid possible but animal host is most commonEmergent CEO says FDA is holding over 100 million J&J Covid vaccine doses for further testing after botched doses Employees at plant that ruined millions of J&J Covid vaccine doses failed to shower, change clothes60% of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine dose as case counts fall further India’s daily death toll crosses 4,500 as Covid-19 cases stay below 300,000 Texas Gov. Abbott threatens to fine cities and local officials if they impose mask mandatesAs more colleges decide to require Covid vaccines for students, some protest Olympic organizers should mandate Covid vaccines for athletes and fans at Tokyo Games  From employer mandates to TV ads: What full FDA approval could mean for Covid vaccines India Covid variant set to be dominant in UK ‘in a matter of days,’ posing unknown dangers More

In this articleFDane Hardware (right), Ford design and release engineer, and Mary Fredrick, Ford battery validation engineer, measure the voltage of a battery using a digital multimeter at Ford’s Battery Benchmarking and Test Laboratory in Allen Park, Michigan.FordDETROIT – Ford Motor plans to form a joint venture with South Korean battery maker SK Innovation that will eventually manufacture battery cells for electric vehicles in the U.S.The companies on Thursday announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding for a joint venture that will be called BlueOvalSK. Production of the battery cells as well as supporting modules is expected to start by mid-decade, they said.The announcement comes amid an expected surge in electric vehicle sales as well as a push by the Biden administration to increase domestic production of critical technologies for EVs such as battery cells, which power the vehicles.”As the industry changes, we have to insource now,” Ford CEO Jim Farley told reporters Wednesday night during the unveiling of the automaker’s new electric F-150 Lightning pickup.The supply and production of battery cells are crucial for automakers pivoting to electric vehicles. Farley compared it to automakers building their own engines and powertrain components in the early 1900s. He said it will help avoid any potential future shortages like the industry is currently experiencing with semiconductor chips.By 2030, Ford expects to produce up to 140 gigawatt (GWh) hours of energy for battery cells annually  in North America and up to 240 GWh globally.In the U.S., the companies plan to initially produce up to 60 GWh a year. That would be enough power for about 600,000 of automaker’s electric Mustang Mach-E crossover, Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s chief product platform and operations officer, told the media during a call Thursday.The creation of the joint venture, which was first reported Wednesday by Reuters, is subject to definitive agreements, regulatory approvals and other conditions.In May, CNBC first reported Ford expected to sell enough EVs to begin manufacturing its own battery cells by 2025.Ford didn’t plan to make its own battery cells until Farley took the helm on Oct. 1. He changed the course set by his predecessor, Jim Hackett, who had said the automaker saw “no advantage” in producing battery cells.Ford’s largest crosstown rival, General Motors, is years ahead on its EV battery plans, recently announcing its second $2.3 billion Ultium plant in the U.S. to produce battery cells through a joint venture with LG Chem. The two companies are already building an Ultium Cell plant in Lordstown, Ohio, that’s scheduled to be finished in 2022.Both of GM’s plants in the U.S. are expected to come online ahead of Ford’s production. More

Beachgoers sunbathe and swim at a beach in Portimao, Algarve region, Portugal.NurPhoto | NurPhoto | Getty ImagesDelicious pasta in Florence, a walk down the Champs-Élysées in Paris, or a beautiful sunset on one of the Greek islands — tourism in Europe is looking to get back to normal this summer.EU countries officially agreed on Thursday to welcome foreign travelers who have received one of the coronavirus vaccines approved by European regulators. So far, these include the vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Vaccinated people will be allowed to enter the bloc, if they’ve received the last recommended dose at least 14 days before their arrival in the EU.Ultimately, each member state will decide when to reopen its borders and to whom. Therefore, each government from the 27 nations will decide whether to completely lift quarantine measures and/or testing for international visitors.Children who are excluded from vaccination can travel to the bloc with their family, if they’ve had a negative test no more than 72 hours before arrival.Though it remains to be seen how each EU nation will welcome foreign travelers, the agreement at the EU level is a welcome step by the battered tourism industry.”We know that consumers want to be able to travel this summer and so we welcome that European countries could enable those who are vaccinated could travel without the need for testing,” a spokesperson for the airline easyJet told CNBC via email.”It is of course important that this is implemented in a simple way to ensure it is easy for passengers,” the same spokesperson said.The EU decision could be particularly important for British tourists, who are now outside of the EU and represent one of the most important markets for tourism-reliant EU nations. In addition, people in the United States, Israel and other highly vaccinated parts of the world are also likely to benefit from the EU’s stance.Up until now, the EU was only assessing a country’s coronavirus infection rate to decide whether visitors should be allowed in. But the bloc is also now relaxing this rule and more citizens from more countries will get the greenlight.  But, Brussels is also conscious that the health situation might change due to new variants of the virus.As a result, EU countries have also agreed on a new “emergency break,” meaning that if the epidemiological situation in one nation deteriorates, then they will be able to impose travel restrictions from that country quickly.Travel and leisure stocks in Europe closed higher by 1.5% on Thursday.Stephen Furlong, senior analyst at wealth management firm Davy, told CNBC that the EU’s decision was broadly expected by market players, hence the muted stock reaction.”It is still not clear whether the U.S. is opening to Europe,” he said, regarding one of the main uncertainties for international travel this summer, while predicting that he doesn’t expect “consumers will travel in scale.” More

In this articleENR-DEWorkers photographed walking past a section of solar panels at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai on March 20, 2017.STRINGER | AFP | Getty ImagesA Dubai-based project described as the “first industrial scale, solar-driven green hydrogen facility in the Middle East and North Africa” has been inaugurated, with those behind the development hoping it will help catalyze the region’s renewable energy sector.In a statement Wednesday, Siemens Energy said power for the pilot project — a collaboration with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and Expo 2020 Dubai — would come from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, a vast solar facility slated to have a production capacity of 5,000 megawatts by 2030.Described by the International Energy Agency as a “versatile energy carrier,” hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in sectors such as industry and transport.It can be produced in a number of ways. One method includes using electrolysis, with an electric current splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen.If the electricity used in the process comes from a renewable source, such as wind or solar, then some call it “green” or “renewable” hydrogen.Currently, the vast majority of hydrogen generation is based on fossil fuels, and “green” hydrogen is expensive to produce.In an interview with CNBC’s Dan Murphy, Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch was asked when the plant in Dubai — which is based at a DEWA testing facility at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park — would be commercially viable.Bruch explained his firm was “investing a lot of money” to develop the technology. “But I think we’re now in a situation where some of these elements could accelerate very fast,” he said, going on to draw parallels with other sectors.”If I look back on photovoltaics, it is not so long ago that everybody … said ‘it will never fly commercially,’ right?” Photovoltaic refers to a way of directly converting light from the sun into electricity, with the technology used in solar panels.  “Wind (was) the same … ‘this is never going to be competitive against hydrocarbons, it will not work’,” Bruch said. “It went much, much, much faster than we all believed once it got scaled,” he added.”And the same thing we may see here. We still have some way to go. So we still need bold movers and this pioneering spirit but I think now, with these types of projects, we can accelerate.”Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates. A member of oil cartel OPEC, the UAE is a significant producer of crude and gas but is also blessed with a huge amount of sunshine, the crucial ingredient for solar power installations. While it’s a major player in fossil fuels, Bruch was asked how much green hydrogen the UAE would be able to produce, and whether he could see a future where it became an exporter of hydrogen. “I wouldn’t see the limitation, really, on it from the UAE perspective, seeing also the massive resources you have on the renewable side.””I do believe it must be, it will be, it should be, one of the key future commercial models in the UAE and the wider region, to be also, in future, an energy exporter for the world.” More

Ford Motor Company’s chief executive officer Jim Farley poses next to the newly unveiled electric F-150 Lightning outside of their headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan on May 19, 2021.Jeff Kowalsky | AFP | Getty ImagesFord Motor has taken 20,000 reservations for its new electric F-150 Lightning pickup in less than 12 hours since the truck was officially unveiled to the public Wednesday night, CEO Jim Farley told CNBC.The automaker revealed the vehicle at 9:30 p.m. ET Wednesday night during an elaborate presentation at the company’s world headquarters in Dearborn, Mich. The company’s shares jumped by about 3% in premarket training.The reservations are being closely watched by the company as well as investors to gauge the interest of customers in EV pickups, which is an unproven segment that automakers are rushing to enter.Ford is taking reservations for the vehicle on its website. A refundable $100 deposit is required.This is breaking news. Check back for updates. More

What’s a trip to Italy without exploring the vaulted passages of the Colosseum, skipping down the Spanish Steps and staring up in wonderous rapture at the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel?”Absolutely relaxing,” said Margherita Migliorini of Villa di Capannole, a luxury accommodation in the Tuscan countryside. Her family has owned the villa — which used to be a working farm — for generations.Italy is one of the most popular places to travel in the world. The country received more than 95 million tourist arrivals in 2019, the third highest in Europe after France and Spain, and the sixth highest in the world after the United States, China and Mexico, according to The World Bank.With 55 in all, Italy is tied with China for having the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites, though not all are crawling with tourists, such as the rural landscape of Tuscany’s Val d’Orcia.Frank Bienewald | LightRocket | Getty ImagesNow, Italy is letting in some international tourists. The European Union this week agreed to reopen its borders to travelers who have been immunized with approved vaccines, as well as those coming from a list of countries with low Covid-19 infection rates. The list may be finalized as early as this week, according to Reuters.Italy had already announced that residents of the E.U., Europe’s Schengen Area, the United Kingdom and Israel can avoid quarantining if they test negative for Covid within 48 hours of arriving.Travelers from the United States, Canada, Japan and the United Arab Emirates can bypass quarantine requirements if they arrive in Italy via “Covid-tested flights” into Rome, Milan, Venice or Naples. Those flights require passengers to test negative before and after arriving in Italy.Those cities are some of the most heavily trodden tourist destinations in Italy, which leave lesser-known parts of the country quiet and peaceful, even during the summer.Driving trips through SicilyIn 2019, just under half (nearly 42 million) of all travelers to Italy arrived for vacations, according to the Bank of Italy’s 2020 “Survey on International Tourism.” More than 9 million of those arrivals purchased package trips, according to the report.While the term “package trip” may connote a bus caravan of tourists under the tutelage of a flag-waving guide, there are companies that design escorted or self-driving trips for solitude-seeking holidaymakers.Mondello, a borough of the Sicilian capital of Palermo.Michele Ponte / EyeEm | EyeEm | Getty ImagesMilan-based tour operator Find Your Italy specializes in “off-the-beaten-track” tours of the country. Small group tours are available to destinations like Abruzzo and Puglia, as are self-driving itineraries, which start from 645 euros ($780) to places such as Langhe, Piedmont and Sicily.”I think this year could be a good chance for individual travelers to visit also the art cities as they won’t be as crowded as usual, due to lack of big scheduled groups,” Roberta Leverone, a company manager, told CNBC.From March to November, Find Your Italy arranges 11-day self-driving tours through eastern Sicily, which includes excursions led by archaeologists, art historians, chefs and wine producers, according to the company’s website.”We propose this tour with [a] self-drive option, but it’s possible to have it with a private chauffeur,” said Leverone.Sicily is popular in July and August, so Leverone suggests a Milan and Lake Como tour to avoid crowds or a food, wine and nature tour through Sardinia, which she said is quiet year-round, except for August.Scuba dive to the sunken city of BaiaAristocrats once flocked to the thermal baths of the ancient Roman resort city of Baia, near the coast of Naples. The same volcanic activity that once attracted wealthy Romans to the area is why a part of the city now lies 50 feet under the sea.Baia was once a hedonistic retreat for the rich; now most of it, including parts of the nymphaeum shown here, lies at the bottom of the sea.© Francesco Pacienza | Moment Open | Getty ImagesSeven underwater archaeological sites with remnants of ancient villas, toppled columns and colorful mosaics can be explored by scuba divers and, to a lesser extent, snorkelers.One of the most important submerged sites is Claudio’s Nymphaeum, which was once part of an imperial palace. Though most of the site contains original Roman ruins, underwater statues have been reproduced, with the originals moved to the Museo Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei, a nearby museum that reopened in April.  Caving in MarcheWithin the region of Marche — located along the central “calf” of Italy’s boot — lies the Grotte di Frasassi, or Frasassi Caves.Guided tours take visitors along a pathway to see features such as Crystallized Lake and the Neverending Hall. Travelers can get a sneak peek into the caves through a video of a live acapella performance of “Silent Night” by Andrea Bocelli last December.Like the Grotte di Frasassi, the Temple of Valadier is also located near the small village of Genga, home to fewer than 1,700 people, in a remote part of the Ancona province of Marche.Luca Lorenzelli / EyeEm | EyeEm | Getty ImagesThe cave can be explored in less than two hours, leaving plenty of time to visit the Temple of Valadier, an octagonal church built into the entrance of a nearby cave. Grotte di Frasassi’s website features one-to-three-day itineraries for visitors, which include stops to see the 13th-century frescoes in the medieval town of Fabriano, the narrow alleyways of the ancient city of Jesi and tastings of Verdicchio, the area’s famous white wine, and a spreadable salami called ciausculo.”Le Marche is one of the best regions for travelers seeking a more immersive and authentic experience in Italy,” said Juliana de Brito, founder of the Wonderful Marche website. “In Le Marche, it is still possible to find the heritage of ancient crafts transmitted over time and [which are] at risk of fading away.”That includes paper-making traditions dating to the 12th century and artisans who make shoes by hand, which de Brito said can be found in the south of Marche, where some of the most famous Italian shoe factories are located.She recommends the area’s natural parks too, which include the many trails of the coastal Monte Conero which can be explored by foot, bike or horse. She calls the Marche “a paradise of food and wine.””It’s an incredible mosaic that mixes geography, climate, and history,” said de Brito.Hike Italy’s active volcanoesItaly contains the only active volcanos in mainland Europe, and one 15-day tour takes travelers to hike all of them — Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna and Stromboli, plus Vulcano (which is dormant, but not extinct). The summit caldera of Mount Vesuvius, near the Bay of Naples.Atlantide Phototravel | Corbis Documentary | Getty ImagesThe “Volcanoes of Italy — the Grand Tour” from Volcano Discovery, a travel company that specializes in volcano tourism, focuses on nature, culture and archaeology. It’s a walking and study tour, the latter describing a trip that combines learning with travel.The difficulty level is described as “easy to difficult,” and it’s conducted in small groups of six to 12 travelers, according to the website.  The next tour is scheduled to depart in October this year, though custom dates are available on request.Soaring above the colors of CastelluccioThough the tiny Umbrian village of Castelluccio located high in central Italy’s Apennines mountain range was badly damaged in an earthquake in 2016, people still come for the area’s naturally socially distanced outdoor activities, such as river rafting, biking and “La Fioritura,” or “The Flowering” that occurs every year from late May to early July. The blooming of flowers below Castelluccio di Norcia, prior to the 2016 earthquake that damaged much of the village.Antonio Masiello | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesDuring this time, vibrant daffodils, poppies, violets and shamrocks fill the plateau where the town sits, a remarkable sight when combined with hang gliding or paragliding. Tandem flights are available for beginners from 100 euros ($122), according to the website of Prodelta, a local gliding school.Wellness retreat to TuscanyTuscany is high on many travelers’ lists, but those who can avoid the allure of Florence, Cinque Terre and San Gimignano can find remote solace in luxury villas, such as Villa di Capannole, near the town of Bucine.The villa is a quintessential Tuscan country estate and comes with a pool, separate cottage (for larger groups) and expansive views of the bucolic landscape. Guests can pop into the tiny towns that dot the region during the day and relax with lavish home-cooked Italian dinners, prepared by the owners who live nearby, at night.Rates range from 3,500 to 5,920 euros ($4,285 to $7,250) per week.Travelers who prefer hotels can consider Como’s flagship European resort, Como Castello Del Nero, which is reopening on June 11 with a renovated wellness center. The hotel can arrange outdoor activities such as truffle hunting — the estate is home to three types of black truffles — as well as the ultimate remote experience — hot air balloon rides at sunrise.Those planning past this summer can look into Monteverdi Tuscany, a luxury boutique hotel in the village of Castiglioncello del Trinoro. Following an 18-month renovation, the hotel is reopening to guests with a regenerative clinic, revamped spa facilities and new hotel suites in January 2022.Like the Colosseum, but without the crowdsVisitors bereft about skipping Rome’s Colosseum this summer should know they have other options. TripAdvisor reviews are unequivocal about one of the best reasons to visit Pozzuoli’s Flavian Amphitheater: “quiet,” “practically for yourself,” and “we were the only tourists there.”The underground passageways of the Flavian Amphitheatre in Pozzuoli, Italy.DEA / A. VERGANI | De Agostini | Getty ImagesThe site, located outside of Naples, is the third-largest amphitheater in Italy and once held as many spectators as the Colosseum — around 50,000 people. It is known for the impressive preservation of its subterranean chambers which show where gladiators and animals were kept and how trap doors and pulley systems were used to hoist them into the arena.   The smaller Verona Arena attracts more visitors, though still far fewer than the 7 million tourists who went to the Colosseum prior to the pandemic. Violent gladiator matches have been replaced by a more benevolent form of entertainment — opera performances.The near 2,000-year-old site has been home to the Verona Opera Festival since 1913, and tickets to this year’s festival with shows scheduled throughout the summer, go on sale May 25. More