Raphael Stevens

A commuter rolls up his sleeve to receive a vaccination shot for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Grand Central Station Terminal train station in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., May 12, 2021.Carlo Allegri | ReutersAfter weeks of declines, the U.S. pace of daily vaccinations is improving in recent days. The country is reporting an average of 2.2 million shots per day over the past week, federal data shows, up slightly from the most recent low reported Saturday, when it dipped below 2 million for the first time since early March. A key Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel is set to vote Wednesday on whether to recommend expanding usage of Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine to kids ages 12 to 15. An endorsement is the last step before officials give states the go-ahead to open vaccinations to millions of adolescents as early as Thursday.U.S. vaccine shots administeredCDC data shows the U.S. is averaging 2.2 million reported daily vaccinations over the past week, down 35% from the peak level in mid-April but up over the past few days.While too early to say whether this recent uptick will turn into a steady trend, the data does show an increase in reported first doses, indicating that new people are entering a vaccination program.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsTuesday’s reported totals also included 150,000 Johnson & Johnson shots, the highest one-day total since April 15. The latest seven-day average of J&J shots is 106,000 per day, down from a high point of 425,000 in mid-April.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsWhite House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci told lawmakers at a Senate hearing Tuesday that the pause in the J&J shot due to a rare blood-clotting problem did not disrupt the U.S. vaccine rollout, though some polls have shown low confidence in the vaccine’s safety.U.S. share of the population vaccinatedMore than 46% of the U.S. population has received one or more shots and 35% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsIf and when states roll out the vaccine to the 12 to 15 age group, the vaccination pace could get a further boost.U.S. Covid casesAverage daily U.S. Covid cases fell further Tuesday, with the seven-day average at about 38,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsNew case counts are below 40,000 per day this week for the first time since September.U.S. Covid deathsThe latest seven-day average of daily U.S. Covid deaths is 608, Hopkins data shows.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsTo date, more than 582,000 deaths have been reported in the U.S., more than in any other country.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:Indian authorities warn of rare fungal infection seen in some Covid-19 patientsWHO labels a Covid strain in India as a ‘variant of concern’ — here’s what we knowWHO classifies triple-mutant Covid variant from India as global health risk’We were scared’: Asian-owned small businesses have been devastated by the double whammy of Covid and hateCNBC’s Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Rich Mendez contributed reporting. More

In this articleVOW3-DEARGOA rendering of the electric ID.Buzz microvan from Volkswagen equipped with Argo AI’s self-dricing technology.VWVolkswagen is planning to bring to market by 2025 a version of its upcoming microbus, a retro-styled electric van, with the ability to drive itself in certain circumstances, the automaker announced Wednesday.VW is developing the vehicle with Argo AI, a Pittsburgh-based autonomous vehicle start-up backed by the German automaker and Ford Motor. Testing of the ID.Buzz vans to transport people and goods is expected to begin this summer in Munich, according to the companies.”Our aim with the self-driving version of the ID.Buzz is to facilitate commercial deployment of transport and delivery services starting in 2025,” Christian Senger, head of autonomous driving at VW’s van unit, said in a press release.  The ID.Buzz models are expected to offer what is known as Level 4 autonomy, which means drivers will not be required to take control but the vehicles can only operate in specific conditions such as geofenced areas or defined routes. That compares with fully autonomous systems at Level 5.Current driver-assist technologies such as General Motors’ Super Cruise or Tesla’s Autopilot that require constant driver supervision are considered Level 2. The systems use a host of onboard cameras, sensors and radar to drive the vehicle. Some also use high-definition mapping and other technology.Argo is currently testing its self-driving technology in six U.S. cities using Ford vehicles. The company last week unveiled its own lidar, which many believe is the key technology to commercializing autonomous vehicles. Lidar will be used on the ID.Buzz, Argo’s first VW test vehicle, as well as Ford models, the company said.Lidars, or light detection and ranging systems, can sense surroundings and help cars avoid obstacles. They use light to create high-resolution images that provide a more accurate view of the world than cameras or radar alone.Lidar offers ultra-high resolution perception, providing the photorealistic imaging required to identify small objects for safe operation on complex city streets.VWArgo CEO Bryan Salesky told Blomberg News last week that the company will raise additional funding this summer, followed potentially by an initial public offering “in the future.””We’ll be looking at an IPO in the future as well. I think that it’s one of those things where we don’t know the exact source we’re going to take the funding from next. We’re looking at a bunch of options,” he said, adding a deal with a SPAC, or special purpose acquisition company, is a possibility.Bloomberg previously reported Argo was considering a public listing as soon as this year. More

The world could be facing a shortage of an underappreciated yet crucial commodity in the years ahead: sand.Sand is used in the construction and manufacturing of everything from buildings to roadways, bridges, windows, computer screens, semiconductors and more. This has helped make sand mining the largest mining industry in the world.”We don’t think about it like a strategic resource, and yet it is everywhere in our societies and our economies,” Louise Gallagher of the United Nations Environment Programme told CNBC.However, sand use around the world has tripled in the last twenty years as global industrialization has increased, according to UNEP. This is causing concern over a potential shortage, which could have ripple effects around the world.Watch the video above to learn more about what’s behind the looming sand crisis, the ways sand is used and how this sustainability challenge can be combatted and managed by policy and regulation. More

Tetra Images | Tetra images | Getty ImagesOver the last year, lawmakers have passed many tax breaks for businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic.Now, the Biden administration is encouraging the hardest-hit businesses to take advantage of one especially large tax break, the employee retention credit.The tax break was first established in March 2020 in the CARES Act and has been expanded since in the December relief package and the American Rescue Plan Act signed in March.More from Invest in You:Covid and racism have been devastating for Asian-owned businessesSmall businesses struggle to find workers as pandemic easesAs small businesses slowly recover, financial help becomes more targetedMore than 30,000 small businesses have claimed more than $1 billion via the credit this year, the White House said Monday. Still, the Biden administration wants to increase awareness of the program and said the Treasury Department will release further guidance around the credit this week.Here’s what businesses need to know.How the credit worksThe 2020 employee retention credit gives eligible businesses a refundable tax credit of 50% of up to $10,000 in qualified wages paid per employee in 2020. That means eligible businesses can receive a credit of up to $5,000 per employee for last year.The American Rescue Plan Act signed into law in March expanded the credit even further, making more businesses potentially eligible and pushing back when they could claim the credit through the end of the year. In 2021, eligible businesses can deduct up to 70% of up to $10,000 in qualified wages paid per employee per quarter — bringing the total annual amount of potential credit to $28,000 per employee this year.That’s a significant bonus for certain businesses. In addition to using it to reduce the employment taxes businesses need to pay, those with fewer than 500 employees can request an advance payment of the credit from the IRS and get it in cash if the credit is more than they’d owe on employment taxes.”What we’re finding is that it can be pretty darn significant,” said Tony Nitti, CPA and partner in RubinBrown’s Tax Services Group. “A lot of businesses can reduce their payroll deposit requirement to next to nothing or even negative numbers, basically where they get a refund back from the federal government.”Who is eligibleTo be sure, there are strict eligibility rules for which businesses can claim the credit, which is designed to focus on those hardest hit by the pandemic.For the 2020 credit, businesses must have either experienced a full or partial shutdown of operations during the year because of a government order limiting commerce, travel or meetings due to the pandemic, or have had a more than 50% quarterly decline in gross receipts, according to the IRS.The rules for the 2021 credit were expanded to include businesses that had either experienced a full or partial shutdown or had seen a more than 20% quarterly decline in gross receipts.”You might not have qualified in 2020, but you could in 2021,” said Erin Vukelich, an accountant at JCCS Certified Public Accountants in Whitefish, Montana.  The numbers for 2021 are just tremendous.Tony NittiCPA and partner in RubinBrown’s Tax Services GroupIn addition, the act passed in December clarified that you can apply for the credit if you’ve had a Paycheck Protection Program loan — but you can’t double dip, so to speak, so you need to clarify which wages were covered by PPP and which ones are being applied to the credit.This added a layer of complexity to the program, according to experts. Still, the additional benefit is significant — for some businesses that got PPP loans and are eligible, the amount they got from the 2021 credit doubled the total benefit.”The numbers for 2021 are just tremendous,” said Nitti.The size of businesses that can claim the wages of all employees — versus only the ones that were working during the quarter — also changed for 2021. In 2020, businesses that had averaged more than 100 employees generally couldn’t claim all wages, but in 2021, that number went up to an average of 500 employees.Extra complexityDue to the complexity of the program and the rules that changed between 2020 and 2021, businesses should make sure they’re working with an expert to claim the credit on their employment taxes.”It’s very complicated, even though it’s very favorable,” said Mark Steber, chief tax officer at Jackson Hewitt Tax Services. “Do not wade into this program without some competent help.”This is especially true if businesses had a PPP loan and are also eligible to claim the employee retention credit. To maximize both benefits, they’ll likely need the help of a tax professional who can work with both the loan and payroll documents.It’s also still possible for businesses to claim the employee retention credit for 2020, even if they’ve already submitted their tax returns for that year, according to Vukelich.  To go back and claim the credit, they must amend their 2020 returns, something quite a few businesses are choosing to do to get the benefit, she said.Going forward, businesses should keep track of any documentation they need to prove eligibility, especially if they’re made eligible by a local government order shutting down operations, said Vukelich.SIGN UP: Money 101 is an 8-week learning course to financial freedom, delivered weekly to your inbox.CHECK OUT: How to make money with creative side hustles, from people who earn thousands on sites like Etsy and Twitch via Grow with Acorns+CNBC.Disclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns. More

Ellen DeGeneres during a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres ShowBrooks Kraft/Getty ImagesEllen DeGeneres’ long-running syndicated daytime talk show will come to an end this year after 19 seasons.The talk show host told The Hollywood Reporter that she informed her staff of the decision on Tuesday and will sit down with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday to discuss the news.”When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged — and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore,” DeGeneres told the trade publication.The announcement also comes after reports of a toxic work culture, discrimination and sexual harassment in the last year at the show. At that time, she acknowledged that the atmosphere had developed into something that did not reflect the values with which she started the show, and pledged to do better.”It almost impacted the show,” Ellen told THR. “It was very hurtful to me. I mean, very. But if I was quitting the show because of that, I wouldn’t have come back this season.”The backlash did take a toll on the show’s ratings, however. While the season 18 opener had the highest rating of an “Ellen” premiere in four years, the show has lost more than a million viewers since September. According to data from Nielsen, the program averaged around 1.5 million viewers between in the six month period between September and March, down from 2.6 million during the same period last year.DeGeneres, 63, has been a pioneer for the LGBTQ community ever since her “Yep, I’m Gay” cover story on Time magazine nearly torpedoed her career in 1997. Since starting “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” the comedian has racked up more than 64 Daytime Emmys and helped normalize queer representation on television.In the Hollywood Reporter interview, DeGeneres said she had planned to end the show after season 16, but agreed to extend her contract by three years.”That’s been the plan all along,” she said.It appears that DeGeneres will remain as the host of “Ellen’s Game of Games,” a series based on the game segments from her daytime talk show, which airs on NBC.Read the full report from The Hollywood Reporter.Disclosure: NBCUniversal, CNBC’s parent company, syndicates episodes of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” More

In this article22UA-DEPFE[The stream is slated to start at 11 a.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.]A key CDC advisory panel is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to recommend expanding usage of Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine to kids ages 12 to 15.The endorsement from CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is widely expected, is the last step before U.S. officials give states the thumbs up to open vaccinations to millions of adolescents as early as Thursday.Allowing adolescents to get the shots will accelerate the nation’s efforts to drive down infections and return to some form of normalcy, public health officials and infectious disease experts say. It also allows states to get middle school students vaccinated before summer camps begin and school starts in the fall More

GERARD JULIEN | AFP | Getty ImagesOil companies will increase their investment in renewables over the coming years but won’t become major investors in the technology that underpins the sector, according to a lead author of the International Energy Agency’s Renewable Energy Market Update.Speaking to CNBC’s “Street Signs Europe” on Tuesday, Heymi Bahar explained there was a “changing momentum” when it came to oil firms investing in renewables.”Today, our numbers show that only 0.5%, or even less than that, (of) renewable capacity installed is owned or contracted by oil companies, oil majors,” said Bahar, senior renewable energy analyst at the IEA. “However, we expect the investment of oil companies in renewable electricity to increase by tenfold in the next five years,” he added.”This is an important trend. Will they become the major investors of renewable technology? The answer is no. Will they increase their pace? Yes, for sure.”His comments come at a time when energy majors are facing intense pressure to develop emissions targets that are consistent with the Paris Agreement.According to the IEA’s report, renewable electricity capacity additions in 2020 hit 280 gigawatts (GW). This represents a 45% increase compared to 2019 and is the biggest year-on-year rise since 1999.India’s uncertain outlookOne chunk of the IEA’s publication focuses on the situation in India, which is targeting 450 GW of renewable capacity by 2030.”The Covid-19 impact on renewable energy deployment has affected India more than any other country,” the report states, adding that, “pandemic-induced construction delays and grid connection challenges caused India’s capacity additions to decline by almost 50% from 2019 to 2020.”And, while a ramping up of capacity is expected in 2021 and 2022, the current surge of Covid-19 cases in India “has created short-term forecast uncertainty.”This point was reinforced by Bahar during his discussion with CNBC. “Obviously, the situation is very critical there right now,” he said, “and we will assess in our November report whether the impact is huge on renewables or not.” More