Author: James Martin

Placeholder while article actions loadFood and Drug Administration commissioner Robert M. Califf told lawmakers Thursday that his agency has been working “tirelessly” to increase supplies of baby formula nationally and that he expects an Abbott Nutrition plant in Michigan that made much of the country’s formula to be operating again within two weeks.But Califf, speaking before a House appropriations subcommittee, called the food supply fragile and urged Congress to authorize more funding to expand staffing and inspections to stave off additional supply chain crises. “We could be one natural disaster or cyberattack from being here again,” he said.The FDA has…

Placeholder while article actions loadNow that Ukraine has evacuated its fighters from Mariupol, ceding control of the city to Russian forces, we can begin to sort the consequences. One has so far gone largely unexplored — the effect on the production of noble gases. Azovstal, the besieged steel plant in Mariupol, is one of only a handful of facilities in the world capable of producing the materials needed to cost-effectively make noble gases such as neon, krypton, xenon and helium, which are critical for global manufacturing. What’s needed now is a better understanding of how supply has been hit so that alternative sources can be…

Placeholder while article actions loadOne of the most striking things about the Russo-Ukrainian war of 2022 is the variety of outcomes that both sides could declare as a victory — and the scarcity of outcomes that can last. What will determine the success of any declaration is its intended audience. What matters in the real world, however, is whether the outcome establishes a balance of forces and interests between the belligerents such that further armed conflict makes no sense, or even becomes impossible. Both sides’ declared goals in the war are relatively ambitious, even after Russia appeared to scale down its own. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s…

The Biden administration on Wednesday invoked a wartime tool, the Defense Production Act, in an effort to address the nationwide shortage of baby formula. Its use of the law, which Congress passed in the early days of the Korean War, reflects the magnitude of the supply crunch that has left many parents scrambling for formula.Supply chain disruptions tied to the coronavirus pandemic have fueled shortages of a wide range of consumer goods, but a recall on formula produced at an Abbott plant in Michigan exacerbated the shortfall. A majority of American parents and caregivers rely, at least partially, on formula…

Placeholder while article actions loadEurope aims to lead the global fight against climate change by rapidly shifting away from fossil fuels. Yet in the wake of the pandemic, the continent was rocked by disruptions in its energy supply that caused prices to surge -– even before the turmoil triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Now the forces have combined to put Europe’s so-called energy transition onto something of a wartime footing, testing the limits of an accelerated timeline to adopt new technologies and leaving consumers footing higher bills. 1. How fast is Europe changing? A decades-long push into wind and solar energy…

Placeholder while article actions loadWall Street equity strategists think resilient earnings will keep stocks buoyant through the end of the year even as the Federal Reserve lifts interest rates. If they’re right, the S&P 500 Index looks like a bargain, but serious cracks are emerging in their earnings thesis.A Bloomberg survey published this week showed the average strategist projects the index will end the year at 4,743, an implied upside of 21% from Wednesday’s close after the index fell more than 4% on the day. As the thinking goes, earnings have held up so far, and strategists still project that…

Placeholder while article actions loadTo listen to one of Australia’s most prominent politicians, you might be forgiven for thinking the pandemic began in Sydney, Melbourne or the national capital, Canberra. The political and administrative demands of the two-year war against Covid have deepened regional divides and challenged the limits of federal authority. National cohesion is in retreat. Provincial identity is ascendant. The trend isn’t unique to Australia, and the pandemic highlighted similar themes in much larger democracies, such as the U.S. and India, as expressions of state power became more visible. Just consider the many aspects of daily life that changed during the Covid…

Placeholder while article actions loadRaspberry Falls, a community of 201 single-family homes nestled around the award-winning Raspberry Falls Golf & Hunt Club, is loved by residents for its connection to nature, noteworthy amenities and convenient location just off Route 15 in Leesburg, Va.“I’ve never wanted to live anyplace else,” said Laura Maschler, a real estate agent with Century 21 New Millennium and resident of Raspberry Falls since 2005. “For a lot of residents, there was a real appreciation moving into a place where we have plenty of open space, and we really try to be good stewards of the land.”The…

Placeholder while article actions load“Eternal Threads” is a walking sim with a focus on exploration very much in the same vein as “Tacoma,” “Dear Esther” or “Gone Home” while, at the same time, fundamentally misunderstanding what made those narratives so compelling in the first place: the people whose lives you’re walking through.At some unnamed point in the future, humanity’s first experiments with time travel “broke the world,” poisoning the time stream with countless temporal anomalies. The cascading effects of these anomalies, while small and seemingly trivial deviations from the original timeline on their own, have devastated the planet.It’s textbook butterfly…

Placeholder while article actions loadAt the heart of Turkey’s threat to stop NATO’s Nordic expansion is a clash of viewpoints over Kurdish political groups. Sweden, which along with Finland is seeking entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has been one of Europe’s most willing recipients of migrants fleeing conflict, including Kurds. Turkey opposes Kurdish demands for statehood and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has called Sweden a “nesting ground for terrorist organizations.” Since NATO admits new members only by unanimous consent, his views can’t easily be ignored. 1. Why do the Kurds matter to Turkey?The Kurds are an Indo-European people,…