Frigid temperatures, some that felt as cold as minus 30 degrees (-34 Celsius), moved across the East Coast on Friday as the region dug out from a massive winter storm that brought more than a foot of snow, hurricane-force winds and coastal flooding a day earlier. Forecasters predicted strong winds and record-breaking cold air to hang around through the weekend. The worst cold is likely to be in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. The Mount Washington Observatory, on its website, predicted the mountain’s highest summits could see wind chills of minus 100 degrees into Saturday. WATCH: East of the Rockies, North America Shivers Jess Flarity, a 32-year-old visiting a friend in Concord, New Hampshire, said the deep chill reminded him of his time in Alaska. “I’ve been in minus 60 before so minus 20 doesn’t frighten me,” he said as he waited for a bus back to Boston Friday. “But I did have to prepare, bring some extra cold weather gear — gloves, boots and those kinds of things.” In Portland, Maine, Jeanne Paterak said the cold snap revived her worries about the impact of climate change. “We are seeing some historic temperatures and everyone will be vulnerable,” she said as she stocked up on milk, vegetables and juice at a supermarket Friday morning. Wind chill a worry The arctic blast could make temperatures feel as low as minus 15 degrees to minus 25 (-26 to -31 Celsius) from Philadelphia to Boston and make residents of states like Maryland and …
Businesses Delay Patch, Fear Fix Will Be Worse Than Chip Flaw
Chances that a fix to a major microchip security flaw may slow down or crash some computer systems are leading some businesses to hold off installing software patches, fearing the cure may be worse than the original problem. Researchers this week revealed security problems with chips from Intel Corp and many of its rivals, sending businesses, governments and consumers scrambling to understand the extent of the threat and the cost of fixes. Rather than rushing to put on patches, a costly and time-intensive endeavor for major systems, some businesses are testing the fix, leaving their machines vulnerable. “If you start applying patches across your whole fleet without doing proper testing, you could cause systems to crash, essentially putting all of your employees out of work,” said Ben Johnson, co-founder of cyber-security startup Obsidian. Flaws not ‘critical’ Banks and other financial institutions spent much of the week studying the vulnerabilities, said Greg Temm, chief information risk officer with the Financial Services Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, an industry group that shares data on emerging cyber threats. The flaws affect virtually all computers and mobile devices, but are not considered “critical” because there is no evidence that hackers have figured out how to exploit them, said Temm, whose group works with many of the world’s largest banks. “It’s like getting a diagnosis of high blood pressure, but not having a cardiac arrest,” Temm said. “We’re taking it seriously, but it’s not something that is killing us.” Testing the patches Banks …
Bluefin Tuna Brings $320,000 at Japanese Market
An 892-pound (405-kilogram) bluefin tuna has sold for 36.5 million yen ($320,000) in what may really be Tsukiji market’s last New Year auction at its current site in downtown Tokyo, local media reports said Friday. The winning bid for the prized but threatened species at the predawn auction was well below the record 155.4 million yen bid at 2013’s annual New Year auction. It amounted to about 90,000 yen ($798) per kilogram and was paid by a local wholesaler, the reports said. This year’s top per kilogram price, for a smaller tuna, was $1,419, compared with about $7,930 per kilogram for the 2013 record-setting auction price, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun and other local media reported. That price was paid by Kiyomura Corp., whose owner, Kiyoshi Kimura, runs the Sushi Zanmai chain, the reports said. Kimura has often won the annual auction in the past. The reports said the top-priced tuna was one of the biggest ever sold at the auction. Last year’s New Year auction was supposed to be the last at Tsukiji’s current location, as was the New Year auction the year before. The market’s shift to a new facility on a former gas plant site on Tokyo Bay has been repeatedly delayed because of concerns over soil contamination. Japanese are the biggest consumers of the torpedo-shaped bluefin tuna, and surging consumption here and overseas has led to overfishing of the species. Experts warn it faces possible extinction, with stocks of Pacific bluefin depleted by more than 97 percent …
Компанія Ахметова оскаржуватиме рішення суду на Кіпрі про заморожування активів – заява
Група СКМ, яка належить українському бізнесменові Рінату Ахметову, заявила, що оскаржуватиме рішення суду на Кіпрі про заморожування активів на суму 820 мільйонів доларів. Про це йдеться в заяві СКМ, яка надійшла на запит Радіо Свобода 5 січня. «Компанія групи СКМ опосередковано придбала акції «Укртелекому» у Raga Establishment Limited (тоді називалася EPIC Telecom Invest Limited) в 2013 році, через 2 роки після приватизації «Укртелекому». В даний час ми справді отримали інформацію про попереднє визначення суду на Кіпрі щодо деяких компаній групи СКМ за позовом компанії Raga Establishment Limited. Ми категорично не згодні з цим визначенням, і воно буде нами оскаржено. Компанії групи СКМ будуть також активно захищатися в судах проти безпідставного позову компанії Raga Establishment Limited, в рамках якого було винесено ухвалу. Ми також нагадуємо, що група СКМ ні прямо, ні опосередковано не брала участі в приватизації «Укртелекому» в 2011 році. Як ми неодноразово заявляли, претензії Фонду держмайна та інших державних органів України щодо законності приватизації «Укртелекому» та виконання інвестиційних зобов’язань стосуються саме діяльності Raga Establishment Limited і її реальних кінцевих бенефіціарів, а також осіб, які фінансували приватизацію в 2011 році», – мовиться в заяві групи СКМ. Британське видання ділових кіл Financial Times раніше 5 січня оприлюднило статтю «В Ріната Ахметова з України заморозили активів на 820 мільйонів доларів». Як пише газета, «Рінат Ахметов, найбагатша людина України, отримав ордер суду з Кіпру про замороження його активів на 820 мільйонів доларів у давній юридичній суперечці з суперником навколо найбільшої в його країні телекомунікаційної компанії фіксованого зв’язку». Рішення Окружного суду Нікосії стосовно Ахметова …
WHO: Yemen Children Dying from Rapid Spread of Diphtheria
The World Health Organization warns that children in Yemen are dying as diphtheria, a preventable disease, spreads rapidly throughout the country. Forty-six of the more than 470 people with clinically diagnosed diphtheria in Yemen — or nearly 10 percent — have died in less than four months, according to WHO. “Diphtheria is a highly infectious but vaccine-preventable disease,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said. “It can be treated with antitoxins and antibiotics, both of which are in short supply in Yemen. The diphtheria vaccine is normally administered as a part of routine immunization programs for children around the world. “The rapid spread of diphtheria in Yemen highlights major gaps in routine vaccination and also means the health system is under severe strain.” Sixty-eight percent of suspected diphtheria cases are children under 15 years old, Jasarevic said. WHO has deployed Rapid Response Teams throughout affected parts of the country to ensure proper case detection, contact tracing and follow up, as well as health education. WHO has delivered $200,000 worth of antibiotics and 1,000 vials of diphtheria antitoxins, Jasarevic said. The medication can help stop the spread of the bacterium to vital organs in patients already infected with diphtheria. However, prevention remains the best way to contain the spread of the disease. In preparation for a nationwide immunization campaign, the U.N. children’s fund imported 5.5 million doses of anti-diphtheria vaccines into the country December 20. The final decision on when the campaign will kick off rests with Yemeni health authorities, who have not …
У 2017 році міжнародні резерви України зросли на 21 відсоток – НБУ
У 2017 році міжнародні резерви України зросли на 21 відсоток, заявила прес-служба Національного банку. Згідно з повідомленням, станом на 1 січня 2018 року міжнародні резерви становили понад 18,8 мільярди доларів. У НБУ пояснили ріст надходженням близько 1 мільярда доларів фінансування від Міжнародного валютного фонду та купівлею Національним банком 1,3 мільярда доларів. …
Гривня продовжує різке знецінення – 28,2 за долар США
Українська гривня 5 січня на міжбанківському валютному ринку втратила ще 19 копійок щодо долара США. Це сталося після того, як 4 січня втрати склали 12 копійок. Короткий тиждень торгів у парі «гривня – долар» позначився високою мінливістю – 3 січня, в перший у 2018 році день торгів на міжбанківському валютному ринку, гривня зміцнилася на 17 копійок. За підсумками торгів Національний банк України встановив на 9 січня курс 28 гривень 20 копійок за долар. У період новорічних свят, до 3 січня включно діяв курс, встановлений на останніх торгах 2017 року – 28 гривень 6 копійок за долар. За даними сайту «Мінфін», 5 січня Національний банк виходив із продажем валюти на ринок (регулятор продав понад 50 мільйонів доларів за курсом 28,20 гривні за одиницю американської валюти), але це сталося вже після чергового коливання, і фактично НБУ лише зафіксував результати торгів. …
Indian Innovators Offer Nose Filters to Counter Heavy Air Pollution
People walking outdoors with masks are an increasingly common sight in the capital of India, where the toxic air, which ranks among the world’s dirtiest, has rung alarm bells. Now a team of innovators from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, is offering another solution: a tiny respiratory filter that can be stuck in the nose to restrict particulate matter from entering the body without hampering breathing. The project involved creating a thin, flexible membrane which blocks out most dust and air pollutants, including concentrations of the deadly PM 2.5, the tiny particulate matter which doctors say causes maximum damage to lungs. The innovation, called Nasofilters, won the Indian president’s “National Startups Award” last May and was featured in South Korea’s 2017 list of “Top 50 technical startups in the world.” The idea of nasal filters is not new, and some are available in Western countries to help reduce exposure to allergens such as pollen. One study conducted in 2016 on a product made in Denmark found it reduced symptoms of allergies and was comfortable to use. The Indian device, however, focuses on the country’s pressing problem of air pollutants. Working out of one room on the sprawling IIT campus, which has been the home of several innovations, the young team is optimistic it will find acceptance in a city where the toxic cocktail of vehicle fumes, construction dust and burning waste spikes to as much as 30 times the safe limit in winter. Shaped roughly like a …
US Employers Add Modest 148,000 Jobs; Unemployment 4.1 Pct.
U.S. employers added 148,000 jobs in December, a modest gain but still enough to suggest that the economy entered the new year with solid momentum. The unemployment rate remained 4.1 percent for a third straight month, the lowest level since 2000, the Labor Department said Friday. For all of 2017, employers added nearly 2.1 million jobs, enough to lower the unemployment rate from 4.7 percent a year ago. Still, average job gains have slowed to 171,000 this year from a peak of 250,000 in 2014. That typically happens when the unemployment falls to ultra-low levels and fewer people are available to be hired. While modest, the job gains underscore the economy’s continued health in its ninth year of recovery. The unemployment rate for African-Americans dropped to a record low of 6.8 percent. Solid economic growth in both the United States and major countries overseas is supporting more hiring. Factory managers received the most new orders in December than in any month since 2004. Retailers have reported strong holiday sales. Builders are ramping up home construction to meet growing demand. Sales of existing homes reached their fastest pace in nearly 11 years in November. Consumer confidence is at nearly a 17-year high. And the Dow Jones industrial average reached 25,000 for the first time on Thursday. Most economists expect the Trump administration’s tax cuts to help speed the economy’s already decent pace of growth. Some envision the unemployment rate dropping as low as 3.5 percent by the end of 2018. A …
Headed to Mountains? Measure Some Snow for Science
America’s space agency wants you to head for the mountains with a smartphone and a measuring stick. NASA’s earth science arm is funding research that recruits citizen scientists on skis, snowshoes and snowmobiles to measure the depth of snow in backcountry locations in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Their measurements will be incorporated into computer models that calculate how much water will end up in the region’s rivers and reservoirs. Early results promising “Our initial model runs show that citizen science measurements are doing an amazing job of improving our simulations,” said David Hill, an Oregon State University professor of civil engineering, who is collaborating with Alaska and University of Washington researchers. They received one of 16 NASA citizen science grants for the project. The snowpack measurements are incorporated into computer models estimating “snow-water equivalent,” the amount of liquid water contained in snow cover, of a watershed. In Western states, according to NASA, nearly three-fourths of annual stream flow that provides drinking water comes from spring and summer melt. NASA in February began a multiyear research project to improve the accuracy of its snow measurements with partners in Europe and Canada, trying to solve challenges such as detecting snow through trees. Several projects The grant awarded to Hill, Anthony Arendt of the University of Washington and Gabriel Wolken, a research geologist with the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, is not directly connected to that project but has a mutual interest, said Kevin Murphy, …
Brits Call for ‘Latte Levy’ to Reduce Cup Waste
Britain should charge a 25-pence ($0.34) levy on disposable coffee cups to cut down waste and use the money to improve recycling facilities, a committee of lawmakers said Friday. Chains Pret A Manger, Costa Coffee, Caffe Nero and Greggs alongside U.S. firm Starbucks are among the biggest coffee-sellers in Britain, rapidly expanding in the last 10 years to meet increasing demand. Although some outlets give a discount to customers using their own cup, only 1-2 percent of buyers take up the offer, according to parliament’s environmental audit committee, which said a “latte levy” was needed instead. 2.5 billion cups a year “The UK throws away 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups every year; enough to circle the planet 5½ times,” said chair of the committee, Mary Creagh. “We’re calling for action to reduce the number of single-use cups, promote reusable cups over disposable cups and to recycle all coffee cups by 2023,” she said. The committee said that if the recycling target is not met then disposable coffee cups should be banned. Bag levy success In October 2015, Britain introduced a charge of 5-pence on all single-use plastic bags provided by large shops, which led to an 83 percent reduction in UK plastic bags used in the first year. On Friday the environment ministry said the government was working closely with the sector and had made progress in increasing recycling rates. “We are encouraged by industry action to increase the recycling of paper cups with some major retail chains now offering …
East of the Rockies, North America Shivers
A life threatening cold front swept across North America, bringing piles of snow and icy conditions. The National Weather Service issued wind chill advisories and freeze warnings covering a vast area from South Texas to Canada and from Montana through New England. VOA’s Carol Pearson reports doctors are issuing warnings about injuries from frostbite and ice. …
Starfish Eating Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Alarm Scientists
A major outbreak of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish has been found munching Australia’s world heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef, scientists said Friday, prompting the government to begin culling the spiky marine animals. The predator starfish feeds on corals by spreading its stomach over them and using digestive enzymes to liquefy tissue, and the outbreak hits as the reef is still reeling from two consecutive years of major coral bleaching. “Each starfish eats about its body diameter a night, and so over time that mounts up very significantly,” Hugh Sweatman, a senior research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio. “A lot of coral will be lost,” he said. That would be a blow for both the ecosystem and the lucrative tourism industry which it supports. The crown-of-thorns starfish were found in plague proportions last month in the Swains Reefs, at the southern edge of the Great Barrier Reef, by researchers from the reef’s Marine Park Authority, a spokeswoman for the authority told Reuters by phone. The remote reefs, about 200 km (120 miles) offshore from Yeppoon, a holiday and fishing town some 500 km north of Queensland state capital, Brisbane, are well south of the most-visited sections of the Great Barrier Reef, where most culling efforts are focused. But the government’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority already killed some starfish at Swains Reefs in December and will mount another mission this month, a director at the authority, Fred Nucifora, told the ABC. “The complexity …
Investors Skittish, but Marijuana Growers, Sellers to Stay the Course
Marijuana-related stocks plummeted, cannabis boosters worried about the industry’s future and defiant growers and sellers vowed to keep operating after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions signaled a tougher approach Thursday to federal pot enforcement. The plunging stock prices reversed a weekslong rally driven by optimism for legal recreational sales that started Monday in California. Several marijuana stocks saw double-digit losses in the hours after Sessions’ announcement, including the largest pot-producing company that is publicly traded. Canopy Growth, a Canada-based company with the ticker symbol WEED, lost $3.58 a share, or 10 percent, to close at $32.32 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Shares of garden-supply company Scotts Miracle-Gro also skidded Thursday, following a steady rise last year after it added fertilizer, lights and other products to serve marijuana growers. The company’s share price fell by as much as 7 percent before closing down 2.3 percent, or $2.49, to $106.17 on the New York Stock Exchange. Investors spooked “Jeff Sessions’ decision to rescind the Cole memoranda puts the marijuana industry and marijuana legalization efforts in a precarious position,” said Aaron Herzberg, a California lawyer and founder of the cannabis investment company CalCann Holding, referring to an Obama-era memo that limited U.S. crackdowns on pot in states where it’s legal. Brent Kenyon, a consultant who helps advise and establish recreational marijuana businesses in Oregon, said his phone had been ringing all Thursday with calls from worried clients. Investors, including some who are involved in his businesses, are spooked, he said. “I’m just telling …
Vitamin C Might Shorten Tuberculosis Treatment Time, Study Indicates
A new study has found that anti-tuberculosis drugs killed more bacteria in laboratory mice given a vitamin C supplement than those given drugs alone. If the findings hold up in human studies, the authors say, the result could be that there’s a cheap, safe way to reduce the months-long treatment time for one of the world’s leading killers. Also, the vitamin supplement could offer a way to cut down on the development of drug-resistant TB, a serious health threat. Tuberculosis is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, 1.7 million people died of the disease last year. Of more than 10 million new infections, about 600,000 were resistant to the leading drug. Front-line drugs attack TB cells as they multiply, but a small proportion of the bacteria survive by going dormant. If therapy stops too soon, these “persisters” start multiplying and the patient relapses, often with strains that are resistant to the drugs. Current TB treatment takes six months, largely to outlast the persisters. But it’s hard for patients to stay on treatment for so long. Accidental discovery Albert Einstein College of Medicine microbiologist William Jacobs and colleagues previously discovered by accident that antioxidants like vitamin C stopped TB bacteria in a test tube from becoming persisters. “When we first discovered it, it was like, ‘Wow! There’s just so much we don’t know yet. And wouldn’t that be really cool if it really works,’ ” Jacobs said. The study in the journal Antimicrobial Agents …
Wall Street’s Love of Tax Cuts Drives Dow to 25,000 Mark
Wall Street sure loves the tax bill, even if polls show most Americans don’t. The Dow Jones industrial average surged past 25,000 Thursday, a strong signal of investor enthusiasm for President Donald Trump’s $1.5 trillion tax cut. The milestone comes less than a year after the Dow topped 20,000. “We broke a very, very big barrier,” Trump said Thursday at the White House. “Every time you see that number go up on Wall Street it means jobs, it means success, it means 401(k)s that are flourishing.” It’s easy to see why investors like the tax overhaul: Businesses will benefit from a steep cut in the corporate tax rate. They’ll also be able to fully deduct the cost of major purchases from their taxable income, reducing the amount they owe. And companies with large stockpiles of cash overseas can bring the money back to the United States at new, lower rates. All told, Wall Street analysts estimate the tax package should boost earnings for companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index by roughly 8 percent this year. That’s much more generous than the average tax cut of 1.6 percent that middle-class families will receive, according to the Tax Policy Center. “All else being equal, this should go straight to the bottom line,” said David Joy, chief market strategist for Ameriprise Financial, a financial services company based in Minneapolis. Improved corporate profits contributed to the market’s gains last year. The public has been less enthusiastic about the tax law. A Monmouth …
Interior Department Wants to Open 90 Percent of US Continental Shelf to Drilling
The U.S. Department of the Interior has announced plans to open up 90 percent of America’s coastal waters to oil drilling, including off California and Florida, two areas where activists have worked for years to protect marine ecosystems from oil spills. The proposed five-year plan released Thursday is much more expansive than one issued by President Donald Trump in April last year. The Interior Department is proposing 47 possible auctions of drilling rights in nearly all parts of the U.S. continental shelf. It is a major increase from the 11 lease sales during the Obama administration. The draft plan would allow the sale of drilling leases in 25 of the nation’s 26 offshore planning areas, including 19 areas in the waters around Alaska, seven in the Pacific Ocean, and nine in the Atlantic Ocean. One area considered off-limits is the waters near Alaska’s far-western Aleutian Islands, which were protected by former President George W. Bush. “We are going to become the strongest energy superpower this world has ever known,” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told reporters Thursday in a conference call. “We want to grow our nation’s offshore energy industry, instead of slowly surrendering it to foreign shores. We will produce enough energy to meet our needs at home, and we will export enough energy to lead the world.” Zinke also said in a news release Thursday that “responsibly developing our energy resources” is important to the U.S. economy and will help fund coastline conservation. He said the broad proposal is …
Долар США знову коштує понад 28 гривень – НБУ
Українська гривня 4 січня на міжбанківському валютному ринку втратила 12 копійок щодо долара США. Це сталося після зміцнення на 17 копійок 3 січня, в перший у 2018 році день торгів на міжбанківському валютному ринку. За підсумками торгів, Національний банк України встановив на 5 січня курс 28 гривень 1 копійка за долар. У період новорічних свят, до 3 січня включно діяв курс, встановлений на останніх торгах 2017 року – 28 гривень 6 копійок за долар. Фахівці з сайту «Мінфін», пов’язують послабшання гривні з тим, що переважання пропозиції долара над попитом, яке фіксувалося 3 січня, нівелював Національний банк, який у середу поповнював золотовалютні резерви, а також деякі імпортери, які вийшли на ринок у четвер. …
Death Rates After Surgery Twice as High in African Hospitals
Patients in African hospitals are twice as likely to die after surgery than the global average, according to a new study. Although African patients were younger and at lower risk than average, 1 percent died of complications after elective surgery, compared to a 0.5 percent death rate worldwide. “It’s really concerning when you see how high the mortality is, considering that the patients are generally fit and they’re having a lot more minor surgeries,” lead author Bruce Biccard of the University of Cape Town said. Workforce and resource shortages across the continent are likely a major factor, the authors of the study write in the journal The Lancet. The group of more than 30 African researchers took a one-week snapshot of surgeries at 247 hospitals in 25 African countries, from Algeria to Madagascar. The study found a severe shortage of African surgeons, obstetricians and anesthesiologists. Previous research has found that fewer patients die after surgery when there are 20 to 40 specialists per 100,000 population. Across the continent, this study found an average of less than one per 100,000. In addition to the high death rate, “the most alarming finding was how few people actually received surgery,” noted a commentary accompanying the study. An expert panel has estimated that 5 percent of the population needs surgery in a year. African hospitals on average performed less than one-twentieth of that figure. It noted that patients were receiving surgery later in the course of their diseases. Nearly 60 percent of the operations …
Dow Breaks 25,000 Barrier for First Time
The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke through the 25,000-threshold for the first time Thursday, and notched another 1,000-point milestone. The index of blue-chip stocks is studded with industrial heavyweights such as Boeing and Caterpillar. Among the biggest gainers were technology companies and banks. Wells Fargo jumped 1.9 percent and Microsoft rose 0.7 percent. U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday morning, “Dow just crashes through 25,000. Congrats! Big cuts in unnecessary regulations continuing.” The Dow increased 118 points, or 0.5 percent, to 25,037. The Nasdaq edged up 16 points to 7,081. This latest record came in early trading Thursday — only five weeks after closing above 24,000 points for the first time. Other major indexes also rose to new levels, driven by a strong report on private jobs. The recent rally has been spurred by faster economic gains around the world, along with a more optimistic outlook from businesses and consumers. …
Путін продовжив на півроку заборону транзиту українських товарів у Казахстан через Росію
Президент Росії Володимир Путін продовжив на півроку заборону транзиту українських товарів у Казахстан та Киргизстан через Росію. Відповідний указ він підписав 30 грудня 2017 року, про що свідчать дані на російському порталі правової інформації. Обмеження продовжене до 30 червня 2018 року, указ набув чинності 30 грудня. Заборона на транзит українських товарів у Казахстан та Киргизстан через Росію діє від 1 січня 2016 року. У Кремлі пояснювали рішення призупиненням договору про зону вільної торгівлі між Україною та Росією. Згідно з документом, «міжнародні транзитні автомобільні та залізничні перевезення вантажів з території Україна на територію Республіки Казахстан через територію Російської Федерації здійснюються тільки з території Республіки Білорусь за умови застосування до вантажних приміщень (відсіків) транспортних засобів та залізничного рухомого складу, приміщень, ємностей і інших місць, в яких містяться або можуть міститися товари, засобів ідентифікації (пломб), в тому числі, які функціонують на основі технології глобальної навігаційної супутникової системи ГЛОНАСС». У липні 2016 року віце-прем’єр, міністр економічного розвитку і торгівлі України Степан Кубів закликав Казахстан вимагати від Росії скасувати обмеження на транзит. …
Marijuana Sales Brisk in California Following Monday’s Legalization
The recreational use of marijuana is now legal in California. But only a few cities in the U.S. state are ready to start selling pot, which was officially legalized on Jan. 1. The logistics of creating new business models is complicated, but it’s clear the demand is high. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
Australia Plans Legal Cannabis Exports to a Lucrative World Market
Australia said Thursday it planned to become the fourth country in the world to legalize medicinal marijuana exports in a bid to score a piece of the estimated $55 billion global market. Cannabis cultivation in Australia is still relatively small, as recreational use remains illegal. But the government hopes domestic medicinal use, legalized last year, and exports will rapidly boost production. “Our goal is very clear: to give farmers and producers the best shot at being the world’s No. 1 exporter of medicinal cannabis,” Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters in Melbourne. Company shares rise Shares in the more than a dozen Australian cannabis producers listed on the local exchange soared after the announcement. Cann Group ended the day up 35 percent; AusCann Group rose nearly 54 percent; and BOD Australia closed up about 39 percent. All were record highs for those companies. Hydroponics Company finished up 30 percent, hitting its highest price in five weeks. Peter Crock, chief executive of Cann Group, which cultivates cannabis for medicinal and research purposes, said medicinal marijuana production had been stymied by limited demand from Australian patients. “While the Australian patient base is growing, it is very small,” Crock told Reuters. “Being able to export will allow us to have the scale to increase production.” Hunt said the new legislation would include a requirement that growers first meet demand from local patients before exporting the remainder of their crop. Three countries export Despite growing demand, only Uruguay, Canada and the Netherlands have so …
Astronauts: Trump’s Proposed Moon Mission Will Take Time
American astronauts aboard the International Space Station told VOA on Wednesday that their excitement about recently announced plans to restore U.S. manned space missions to lunar orbit was eclipsed only by their skepticism about the logistical feasibility of completing the mission within six years. “Going back to the moon is a bigger project than a lot of people think,” said Expedition 54 Flight Engineer Scott Tingle, who joined fellow NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei at the ISS on December 19. Just last month, David Kring, head of the Lunar and Planetary Institute at the Universities Space Research Association, said the first unmanned launch in the program to get back to the moon could come in a little more than a year. Kring, who was present at Trump’s signing ceremony for the new lunar policy directive, which came 45 years to the day after Apollo 17’s final moon landing on December 13, 1972, said an unmanned mission to lunar orbit could happen by 2019. “That will launch the Orion crew vehicle and will orbit the moon without astronauts,” Kring told VOA. “Then in 2023 the vehicle launches again, this time with astronauts who will orbit the moon and return. After that is successful, we can actually deploy the astronauts in space [in between the Earth and the moon].” US, Russia to cooperate Russia and the United States in September agreed to cooperate on a NASA-led program to build the first lunar space station as part of a longer-term mission to send …