Business Highlights
Roundup of top economy stories
LONDON — British people have had to ration their salad staples like tomatoes and cucumbers for the past two weeks amid a shortage of fresh vegetables. Officials blame the problem on recent bad weather in Spain and North Africa and say the shortages could persist for up to a month. But many people are quick to point out that other European countries don’t seem to be suffering from the same shortages, leading some to question: Is this a consequence of Brexit? Experts say Britain’s exit from the European Union likely played a part. But they say a more complex set of factors including climate change, the U.K.’S overreliance on imports during the winter and soaring energy costs are more salient explanations.
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WASHINGTON — Republican senators says the Biden administration is taking $39 billion in federal money that’s meant to build computer chip factories and using it to further “woke” ideas such as requiring some recipients to offer child care and encouraging the use of union labor. The administration responds that those parts of guidelines announced this week will improve the likelihood of attracting companies to build semiconductor factories and people to work there. The administration sees the guidelines as a starting point for working with companies to ensure value for taxpayers. But Republican Sen. Mitt Romney says President Joe Biden is jamming in “woke and green agenda items” that’ll make it harder for him to pass future legislation.
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WARSAW, Poland — Greenpeace environmental group says that wastewater discharge from Poland’s coal mines was most likely responsible for the 2022 massive fish die-off in the Oder River. Greenpeace Poland also warned that the situation may reoccur this year and also hit Poland’s largest river the Vistula if the government and the coalmining industry don’t take immediate steps to counter the problem. The fish die-out was blamed on deadly type of algae that thrives in highly salty water and in hot temperatures. The group presented results from their salinity levels tests in the Oder and Vistula Rivers that showed that the levels shot up after the rivers’ waters travel through Poland’s southern coalmining region of Silesia.
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U.S. airlines have made steady improvements to their overall accident rate in recent years. But turbulence continues to be a major cause of accidents and injuries. A Lufthansa flight from Texas to Germany is the latest example. The Airbus A330 reported severe turbulence over Tennessee Wednesday and was diverted to Virginia’s Washington Dulles International Airport. Seven people were taken to hospitals with injuries believed to be minor. Experts say that climate change is expected to make turbulence worse. And while improvements in forecasting will help, not everyone expects the technology to be perfect. Experts say that simply wearing a seatbelt during the entire flight will significantly reduce one’s risk of getting hurt.