Raphael Stevens

People walk past the official sign marking the Dubai Expo 2020 near the Sustainability Pavilion in Dubai on January 16, 2021. – The six-month world fair, a milestone for the emirate which has splashed out $8.2 billion on the eye-popping venue in the hope of boosting its soft power and resetting the economy, will now open its doors in October 2021.KARIM SAHIB | AFP | Getty ImagesDUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Rogue virus variants, the global vaccine rollout and international travel restrictions are being closely monitored as Expo 2020 Dubai draws close.The in-person mega event, likely the largest ever staged in the Arab world, has cost billions and taken more than a decade to plan. It’s now scheduled to go ahead on October 1, a year after it was postponed by the pandemic. “Here in the UAE, we are optimistic, but we are realistic and we are practical,” UAE Minister of State and Expo 2020 Dubai Director-General Reem Al Hashimy told CNBC on Tuesday.”We’re hopeful in the next five months, we’re going to see a better and a stronger overall picture,” Al Hashimy said. “We may still end up with vortexes here and there that still remain difficult, but by and large, we’re hoping for more of a recovery.”More cases of COVID-19 have been reported globally in the past two weeks than during the first six months of the pandemic, even as global vaccinations ramp up. India is grappling with a lethal third wave, and rogue variants of the virus – such as strains first detected in South Africa and the U.K – could still pose a significant risk. A World Health Organization (WHO) advisory group also said it found “evidence gaps” in how the Sinopharm vaccine, which has been widely rolled out across the UAE, protects against “variants of concern” as well as the duration of its protection, and the need for booster doses.The UAE sits near the top of the global vaccination league tables, and virus cases have stabilized in recent months at roughly 2,000 registered new infections per day. A decision on Sinopharm’s WHO emergency use approval is due in the coming days. Organizers still aim to attract 25 million visits to the Expo site, hoping residents and curious pandemic-era travelers will fill the mostly empty car parks and cavernous buildings that cover the expansive Expo site on Dubai’s desert fringe. “Across the 182 days, we remain confident that we will be able to attract that number,” Al Hashimy said, adding that regular tourists will not need a vaccination to attend, at least for now.”We’re trying to do this responsibly, so we have masks and social distancing in place, and everyone gets tested before coming in,” she added. Travel ban watchSheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, prime minister and ruler of Dubai, convened the final international participants meeting for Dubai Expo 2020 on Tuesday. “We are ready to welcome 190 countries to the World’s Greatest Event,” he said in a tweet. But five months out, target countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom are still banning or restricting travel to the Emirates. Al Hashimy said the situation was “fluid” and the UAE was working to alleviate issues of concern in the coming weeks and months. “We’re in regular conversations with them to understand how we can change the current trajectory,” Al Hashimy said when asked about the travel restrictions that could impact attendance.”I cannot wait to see the travel restrictions lifted, but we have to be sure that we can lift them without risks to the health of all citizens,” EU Ambassador to the UAE Andrea Mattero Fontana told CNBC on Tuesday.While much of the EU also remains locked, a plan to ease restrictions over the summer for travelers who have been fully inoculated with shots approved by the European Union is under active consideration. “If we continue to roll out this program of the distribution of the vaccines in the coming months, then five months down the road, we’re going to be in a much better situation,” Fontana added.Other countries with a full travel ban, including Australia, pointed to a virtual alternative. “If people can’t travel, they’ll be able to attend virtual events, and it will also draw on a whole range of Australians who don’t reside in Australia who can still come into Dubai,” Justin McGowan, Australian Commissioner General for Dubai Expo 2020, told CNBC. “That’s the harsh reality of the COVID pandemic,” Al Hashimy said. “We hoped it would finish or fizzle out, but it’s actually going to be here for a while.” More

In this articleYUMA pedestrian walks by a “now hiring” sign at a KFC restaurant in San Francisco, California.Justin Sullivan | Getty ImagesKFC on Wednesday announced it is looking to hire 20,000 workers as the restaurant industry struggles to find enough labor to meet returning demand.The Yum Brands chain and its franchisees are seeking to fill part-time and full-time positions nationwide. Roles include cooks, restaurant management, customer service, shift supervisors and assistant managers.Fast-food chains typically hire tens of thousands of workers in time for the summer months, which are among the busiest for the sector. This year, the hiring announcements arrive as restaurants report a shortage of willing workers. The labor crunch is felt further up the supply chain as well, putting pressure on ingredients like chickens. Consumers, on the other hand, are returning to eateries, eager to spend their extra cash from government coronavirus stimulus checks as states reopen their economies. KFC, for example, reported 14% U.S. same-store sales growth for the first quarter.Some restaurants and franchisees are offering bonuses for showing up to the interview or sticking around for more than 90 days. McDonald’s executives said that its company-owned restaurants aren’t feeling the crunch yet, but they’re considering increasing wages or benefits for those restaurants just in case it becomes a problem in the near future.Overall, unemployment remains elevated compared with pre-pandemic levels. The March unemployment rate was 6%, according to the Department of Labor. Restaurant operators have placed the blame for the labor crunch on higher unemployment benefits, but out-of-work restaurant staff say that their wages and tips aren’t enough to make up for the risk of catching of Covid-19. More

Bim | E+ | Getty ImagesThe supply of critical minerals crucial for technologies such as wind turbines and electric vehicles will have to be ramped up over the next decades if the planet’s climate targets are to be met, according to the International Energy Agency. A new report from the Paris-based organization, published Wednesday and entitled “The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions,” focuses on the importance of nickel, cobalt, lithium, copper and rare earth elements.In a statement accompanying the report’s release, the IEA outlined how much the need for these materials could increase going forward.”Demand outlooks and supply vulnerabilities vary widely by mineral,” it said, “but the energy sector’s overall needs for critical minerals could increase by as much as six times by 2040, depending on how rapidly governments act to reduce emissions.”In a sign of how the shift to renewable energy installations will increase the pressure on critical mineral supplies, the IEA said an onshore wind plant needed “nine times more mineral resources than a similarly sized gas-fired power plant.”Around the world, governments are laying out targets to cut emissions and increase renewable energy installations, with a number aiming to use wind and solar energy as a crucial tool in their pivot away from fossil fuels. The reality on the ground shows that for many countries, any such move will be a significant challenge requiring a huge amount of change.Despite the size of the task, slowly but surely, some shifts are taking place. At the end of April, for instance, the U.S. Department of Energy said it had awarded $19 million of funding to 13 projects focused on the production of rare earth elements and critical minerals.The projects will be located in what the DOE described as “traditionally fossil fuel-producing communities.” Rare earth elements and critical minerals, it added, were “vital to the manufacturing of batteries, magnets, and other components important to the clean energy economy.”With demand for these materials only set to increase, there will be a number of hurdles to overcome. For its part, the IEA highlighted a number of potential challenges.These include supply chains described as being “complex and sometimes opaque”; the high concentration of materials in a small number of countries; tougher environmental and social standards being expected of producers; and a drop in the quality of available deposits.”Today, the data shows a looming mismatch between the world’s strengthened climate ambitions and the availability of critical minerals that are essential to realising those ambitions,” Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said in a statement.”The challenges are not insurmountable, but governments must give clear signals about how they plan to turn their climate pledges into action,” Birol added.”By acting now and acting together, they can significantly reduce the risks of price volatility and supply disruptions,” he said. Birol went on to state that the potential vulnerabilities could, if not addressed, “make global progress towards a clean energy future slower and more costly.” This would in turn hamper global efforts to tackle climate change, he claimed. The IEA’s report makes six key recommendations for what it describes as a “new, comprehensive approach to mineral security.”These include a scaling up of recycling, promoting technological innovation, strengthening the resilience of supply chains and transparency of markets and ensuring “adequate investment in diversified sources of new supply.” More

A newborn baby is cuddled by her mother while asleep.Tim Clayton | Corbis News | Getty ImagesU.S. birth and fertility rates in 2020 dropped to another record low as births fell for the sixth consecutive year to the lowest levels since 1979, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.The number of births in the U.S. declined last year by 4% from 2019, double the average annual rate of decline of 2% since 2014, the CDC said in preliminary birth data released Wednesday. Total fertility rates and general fertility rates also declined by 4% since 2019, reaching record lows. The U.S. birth rate is so low, the nation is “below replacement levels,” meaning more people die every day than are being born, the CDC said.While the agency didn’t directly attribute the overall drop in births to the Covid-19 pandemic, it looked at birth rates among New York City women who delivered their babies outside the five boroughs during the height of the outbreak in the U.S.Women fled the city to give birth from March through November last year, with out-of-town births among NYC residents peaking in April and May at more than 10% for both months — a more than 70% increase from the previous year. Among white women, the percentage of out-of-town births was 2.5 times higher in 2020 than 2019. Out-of-town births among Black and Hispanic women were considerably lower and increased only for two of the months last year.Overall, the number of births declined 3% for Hispanic women and 4% for white and Black women from 2019 to 2020.Teen birth rates dropped considerably with births to 15- to-17-year olds falling by 6% and to 18- to-19-year olds falling by 7%, both hitting record lows.Birth rates among women ages 20 to 24 and 25 to 29 dipped by 6% and 4%, respectively, both to record lows. Birth rates fell by 4% and 2% respectively among women ages 30 to 34 and 35 to 39, but did not reach record lows, according to CDC data.Birth rates for women ages 40 to 44 fell by 2% from 2019, but birth rates for women 45 and up remained unchanged. according to the CDC.The data was based on population estimates derived from the 2010 census as of July 1 as well as counts of all birth records received and processed by the National Center for Health Statistics as of Feb. 11. The records represent nearly 100% of registered births occurring in 2020.Some experts say that a decline in birth rates could represent a lack of vital resources like housing and food among those demographics, with correlations between the rise in unemployment rates and the decline in birth rates. Still, the future economic impact of a decline in birth rates is still debated. More

In this articleGMDETROIT — General Motors on Wednesday reported first-quarter results that blew away Wall Street earnings expectations, saying it expects a strong first half of the year despite the global semiconductor chip shortage that has caused factory closures.Here’s how GM did compared with what Wall Street expected based on average estimates compiled by Refinitiv.Adjusted EPS: $2.25 vs. $1.04 expected based on average analysts’ estimates compiled by Refinitiv.Revenue: $32.47 billion, vs. $32.67 billion expected.GM reaffirmed its earnings expectations for the year, guiding toward the high-end of its range. The company forecast $10 billion to $11 billion, or $4.50 to $5.25 per share, in adjusted pretax profits, and adjusted automotive free cash flow of $1 billion to $2 billion for 2021.The forecasts factored in the potential impact of the chip shortage, including a hit of $1.5 billion to $2 billion to earnings and a decrease of $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion to its free cash flow.CEO Mary Barra said while the company will have production downtime in the second quarter, it expects “to have a strong first half” of about $5.5 billion in pretax and adjusted earnings.”The speed and agility of our team are front and center as we move from managing through a pandemic to managing the global semiconductor shortage,” she said in a letter to shareholders. “This remains a challenging period for the company as we emerge from 2020, but the team continues to demonstrate its ability to manage complex situations.”On a call with reporters Wednesday, Barra said the second quarter is expected to be GM’s weakest of the year followed by a recovery in semiconductor supply during the second half of the year.Shares of GM were up 3.8% during premarket trading. They are up by about 160% during the past 12 months and have risen 33% in 2021. Its market cap is $80 billion.On an unadjusted basis, net income was $3 billion for the first quarter compared with $294 million a year earlier as automakers began shuttering factories to help control early outbreaks in the pandemic. The automaker reported pretax adjusted earnings of $4.4 billion for the first quarter, up from $1.3 billion a year earlier.The chip shortage has led automakers to shutter factories for varying periods of time across the globe, leading to tight vehicle inventories on dealer lots. However, the lower supplies have led to higher profits per vehicle, allowing automakers to continue to perform well despite the shortage.GM’s first-quarter earnings came a week after Ford Motor beat Wall Street’s expectations for the quarter but warned it would lose about 50% of its planned second-quarter production due to the chip shortage.Barra declined to disclose how much production the company expects to lose. More

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the COVID-19 response and the vaccination program during an event at the State Dining Room of the White House May 4, 2021 in Washington, DC.Alex Wong | Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden on Tuesday said the United States would soon be entering a “new phase” of the country’s vaccination campaign once the most eager Americans have received a shot.Biden set two new goals for July 4: Getting 70% of U.S. adults to receive at least one dose of a Covid vaccine and having 160 million adults fully vaccinated.The country would hit those goals by mid-June if the current vaccination rate held steady between now and then, but the pace of daily inoculations has been falling for weeks, down 35% from peak levels a few weeks ago.In response, the government is making changes to its vaccination strategy. Covid vaccines that go unused or unwanted by some states will now be redistributed elsewhere. Biden also announced efforts to make getting a vaccine easier, such as directing federal pharmacy partners to provide walk-in hours and shipping new allocations of vaccine to rural health clinics.U.S. case counts fell further Tuesday to an average of 48,100 per day over the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University data.U.S. vaccine shots administeredCenters for Disease Control and Prevention data show the U.S. is reporting an average of 2.2 million daily vaccinations over the past week, down from a peak of 3.4 million on April 13.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsThe pace of individuals receiving their first vaccine doses has fallen even more steeply, indicating that there are fewer people initiating a vaccination program.U.S. share of the population vaccinatedAbout 56% of those aged 18 and older have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, with nearly 41% fully vaccinated.While Biden’s 70% target is for the country as a whole, a few states have already crossed the threshold. More than 70% of adults have received at least one vaccine dose in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsU.S. Covid casesThe rate of daily new infections fell below 50,000 per day over the weekend and continues to decline, according to Hopkins data, as the latest seven-day average stands at 48,100 cases per day.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsAverage daily case counts have fallen by at least 5% in more than half of U.S. states over the past week.U.S. Covid deathsThe U.S. has reported an average of more than 700 daily Covid deaths over the past seven days, Hopkins data shows.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsCNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:India foreign minister self-isolating after Covid scare at UK’s in-person G-7 summitWhy India — the world’s biggest producer of Covid vaccines — has a major shortage of doses   Biden’s new Covid vaccination goal is for 70% of adults to have at least one shot by July 4 Pfizer scientist expects elderly, people with underlying conditions to be first to get Covid booster shotsCNBC’s Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Kevin Breuninger contributed reporting. More

A healthcare worker cares for a Covid-19 patient in the ICU ward at the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart, Germany, on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe World Health Organization has announced plans for a “Global Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence” in Germany, which it says will help gather data to predict and prevent future pandemics.The new center for pandemic and epidemic intelligence, data, surveillance and analytics will be based in Berlin but will involve a global collaboration of countries and partners worldwide.The hub, due to officially open later this year, is envisaged as a way to create a large network of global data “to predict, prevent, detect prepare for and respond to  pandemic and epidemic risks worldwide,” WHO said in a statement Wednesday.WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that “one of the lessons of Covid-19 is that world needs a significant leap forward in data analysis to help leaders make informed public health decisions.””This requires harnessing the potential of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, combining diverse data sources, and collaborating across multiple disciplines. Better data and better analytics will lead to better decisions,” he noted at a press briefing announcing the creation of the hub.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a video message that the current Covid-19 pandemic “has taught us that we can only fight pandemics and epidemics together. The new WHO Hub will be a global platform for pandemic prevention, bringing together various governmental, academic and private sector institutions.”She welcomed WHO’s decision to base the hub in Berlin although the international public health body insisted that the hub would be a global collaboration of WHO’s member countries and public and private sector organizations, academia, and international partner networks.Sourcing funding for the hub is still ongoing although the startup costs had been covered by Germany, Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said.German Minister of Health Jens Spahn commented that the world needs to “identify pandemic and epidemic risks as quickly as possible, wherever they occur in the world. For that aim, we need to strengthen the global early warning surveillance system with improved collection of health-related data and inter-disciplinary risk analysis.”The Covid-19 pandemic first emerged in China in late 2019 and, to date, over 154 million cases have been reported worldwide. Over 3.2 million people have died worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.The origin of the pandemic remains unclear and there were questions from journalists on Wednesday over how, and whether, the WHO could guarantee that data would be openly shared with the hub given continued speculation over the initial outbreak of Covid-19 and whether China delayed alerting the rest of the world to the presence of the new virus.Earlier this year, global experts gathered by the WHO and a team of Chinese officials investigated the source of the virus but did not come to any concrete conclusions.The WHO said that it was “most likely” that the virus originated in animals before spreading to humans and dismissed a theory that the disease could have been leaked by a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis. More