2024-06-25 20:36

OTTAWA, June 25 (Reuters) - A wildfire in an eastern Canadian province moved closer to a huge power plant on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of workers from a nearby town, officials said. "So (this is) very concerning," Newfoundland and Labrador premier Anthony Furey told reporters, citing "an incredible amount of fuel" in front of the fire that could spread rapidly. Operations at the Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant, the second largest underground facility in North America, can still continue thanks to precautionary planning, said Jennifer Williams, head of the plant operator. If need be the plant can be operated remotely, she said. The operator later said the last few workers in Churchill Falls, which services the facility, had been evacuated. The wildfire had largely been held since several hundred people were evacuated last week, but unfavorable weather conditions stoked the blaze on Tuesday, Furey said. The forest fire, one of 10 active blazes in the province, was about 7 km (4.4 miles) from the town as of Tuesday afternoon, Furey said. The hydro plant, with a generating capacity of 5,428 megawatts, supplies power to Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as Quebec. Churchill Falls is in Labrador, a remote and sparsely territory that has an area of around 300,000 sq km (116,000 sq miles) in Atlantic Canada. The province also includes the island of Newfoundland. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/eastern-canada-wildfire-forces-more-hydro-plant-workers-evacuate-2024-06-25/

2024-06-25 20:31

TSX ends down 0.3% at 21,788.48 Bond yields climb on inflation surprise Annual rate of CPI rises to 2.9% Consumer discretionary falls 1.6% June 25 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Tuesday, giving back some of the previous day's strong gains, as hotter-than-expected domestic inflation data lowered expectations the Bank of Canada would cut interest rates again next month. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) New Tab, opens new tab ended down 60.11 points, or 0.3%, at 21,788.48, after posting on Monday it's biggest gain in seven weeks. Canada's annual rate of inflation accelerated to 2.9% in May from 2.7% in April, after showing signs of cooling since the start of the year. It led to investors pricing in a less-than even chance the BoC would cut interest rates for a second time at its next policy decision on July 24, down from 65% before the data, and to a jump in long-term borrowing costs. Still, roughly two 25 basis point rate cuts are expected by December. "The fact that we are seeing rates move higher it's putting some pressure on stocks today," said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones. "It introduces a little bit more uncertainty but doesn't change the broader narrative that earnings are accelerating, interest rates and the policy rate are moving lower, while the economy continues to chug along." Separate data, in an advanced estimate, showed Canadian manufacturing sales rising 0.2% in May from April. The interest rate sensitive real estate sector (.GSPTTRE) New Tab, opens new tab was down 0.8%, while consumer discretionary (.GSPTTCD) New Tab, opens new tab ended 1.6% lower. The materials group (.GSPTTMT) New Tab, opens new tab, which includes metal miners and fertilizer companies, fell 1%, as gold and copper prices lost ground. The price of oil also dropped, settling nearly 1% lower at $80.83 a barrel, which weighed on the energy sector (.SPTTEN) New Tab, opens new tab. It fell 0.5%. Technology (.SPTTTK) New Tab, opens new tab was a bright spot, rising 1.2%, and the defensive consumer staples sector added 0.8%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/tsx-futures-dip-ahead-canada-inflation-data-2024-06-25/

2024-06-25 20:30

June 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has begun testing more dairy products for evidence of the bird flu virus as outbreaks spread among dairy herds across the country. More than 120 dairy herds in 12 states have tested positive for bird flu since March, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Federal officials have warned that further spread among dairy cows could heighten the risk of human infections. The risk to the general public from bird flu remains low, federal officials have said, though it is higher for workers on dairy farms, who should wear personal protective equipment to reduce the risk of infection. The focus of additional testing, which will sample 155 products, is to ensure that pasteurization inactivates the virus, said Don Prater, acting director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, on a call with reporters. Prior FDA testing of 297 retail dairy samples came back negative for evidence of the virus. The agency continues to strongly advise against consumption of raw milk products, Prater said. No infected dairy cow herds are known to be contributing to the raw milk supply, said Eric Deeble, USDA's acting senior adviser for its bird flu response. More than 690 people who were exposed to infected or suspected infected animals have been monitored for flu symptoms, and 51 people who developed flu-like symptoms have been tested, Demetre Daskalakis, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said on the press call. Three dairy farm workers have tested positive for the virus with mild respiratory or conjunctivitis symptoms, and all have recovered. The CDC is providing technical support to the state of Michigan as it begins serological testing of farm workers for signs of prior infection by the virus and will ensure the testing can be completed in other states, Daskalakis said. The USDA is conducting research on how dairy cattle contract the virus through contact with infected milk or respiratory droplets, Deeble said. The development of a bird flu vaccine for dairy cows "is going to take some time," and the agency hopes to eradicate the virus in dairy cattle without the use of a vaccine, Deeble said. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Reuters on June 12 that the agency is in talks with two dozen companies on the development of a bird flu vaccine for cattle. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-food-safety-regulators-expand-bird-flu-testing-milk-products-2024-06-25/

2024-06-25 20:28

BRASILIA, June 25 (Reuters) - A majority of the justices on Brazil's Supreme Court are in favor of decriminalizing the possession of marijuana for personal consumption, following a crucial vote on Tuesday. "The position is clear that no user of any drug can be considered a criminal," said Justice Dias Toffoli, the sixth judge on the 11-member top court to vote for decriminalization. So far, three justices have opposed a decision to no longer make possession of cannabis a crime, including its most recent member, Cristiano Zanin, who was appointed by leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The consumption of marijuana in public will continue to be prohibited and cannabis remains illegal in Brazil. Decriminalizing its use has been discussed by the Supreme Court since 2015 and the justices reached a majority at a time when politicians are proposing a constitutional ban on the use of illegal drugs. A bill advancing in Congress, with the support of conservative and evangelical lawmakers, proposes amending the Constitution to make the use and possession of any kind of narcotics a criminal offense. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-top-court-majority-says-marijuana-possession-not-crime-2024-06-25/

2024-06-25 20:24

June 25 (Reuters) - Livestock farmers in the U.S. would have a clearer path to bringing antitrust complaints against meatpacking companies for unfair business practices under a rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday. The proposed rule is the fourth introduced by President Joe Biden's administration to boost competition in the highly consolidated meatpacking industry. Earlier rules would require fairer pay to chicken farmers, enhance transparency in poultry contracts, and prohibit retaliation against chicken farmers for raising concerns about anti-competitive behavior. The rule proposed on Tuesday would clarify how farmers and ranchers should prove they have been harmed by alleged anti-competitive behavior of meatpackers and will better enable the USDA to enforce antitrust laws, the agency said in a press release. "Entrenched market power and the abuses that flow from it remain an obstacle to achieving lower prices for consumers and fairer practices for producers," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement. "Today’s proposed rule stands for clear, transparent standards so that markets function fairly and competitively for consumers and producers alike." Farmers have argued that current regulations set the bar too high for proving they have been harmed by anti-competitive behavior, hindering their ability to seek recourse from USDA. "Farmers have long deserved this certainty," said Sarah Carden, research and policy development director for Farm Action, a farmer advocacy group. The North American Meat Institute, a trade group, said in a statement the rule would expose meat packers to litigation and uncertainty. "Under these proposed rules, everyone loses, the livestock producer, the packer and ultimately the consumer," said Julie Anna Potts, the group's president and CEO, in the statement. The proposed rule will be open to public comment for 60 days. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-clarify-enforcement-antitrust-laws-meatpacking-2024-06-25/

2024-06-25 20:18

SAO PAULO, June 25 (Reuters) - Record floods that killed over 170 people and displaced half a million in southern Brazil are a warning sign of more disasters to come throughout the Americas because of climate change, an official at the United Nations' refugee agency said on Tuesday. Roughly 389,000 people New Tab, opens new tab in the state of Rio Grande do Sul remain displaced from their homes because of the intense rain and flooding, which local officials say was the worst disaster in the region's history. Scientists say climate change made the flooding twice as likely to happen. Andrew Harper, special advisor on climate action to the refugee agency UNHCR, visited a flooded neighborhood in state capital Porto Alegre over the weekend and called it "a ghost town." "It was underwater for almost 40 days. There wasn't even any rats running around. Everything had died," Harper said in an interview on Tuesday. Even after the flood waters subsided, residents have not returned to the neighborhood where streets are piled high with water-logged garbage and debris. Many are still living in shelters, including Venezuelan refugees who had resettled in Porto Alegre. UNHCR is helping the local government to build temporary housing. Residents of some hard hit areas may never return, having been forced to move by repeated flooding, Harper said. But how many would become so-called climate migrants will only be known years after the disaster. The floods surpassed all expectations that local authorities had for climate disasters, and governments need to do more to prepare for these events, Harper said. "We're seeing the emergence in Brazil of what we may be seeing throughout the Americas. So to ignore this, they do it at their own peril," Harper said. Governments need to understand where the people most vulnerable to climate change live, like the neighborhood he visited in Porto Alegre, and include those people in their climate plans, he said. "It's a warning signal, but we've been seeing warning signals now for five, ten years," Harper added. "At what point do you basically have to slap somebody in the face and say, 'Wake up, you're not going to ignore this.'" Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/flooded-brazil-ghost-town-climate-warning-world-un-advisor-says-2024-06-25/