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Piastri’s stance has knock-on effects for other teams

Piastri's stance has knock-on effects for other teams

LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Oscar Piastri’s rift with Alpine has also forced a change of plan at Williams and could have a knock-on effect around the Formula One paddock.

While the main focus has been on Renault-owned Alpine and McLaren, who both want the 21-year-old Australian to drive for them next season, tail-enders Williams have had to reassess their next step.

Alpine’s original plan was to loan their reserve, and last year’s Formula Two champion, to Williams for at least a year and possibly more until he returned as Fernando Alonso’s replacement.

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The principle was the same as when Mercedes placed George Russell for three seasons at Williams to learn the ropes before bringing him back as team mate to seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Talks were so far advanced that the Australian had a seat fitting at Williams and a contract for 2023 was drawn up between the two teams, with Alpine having already agreed on Piastri’s salary.

Then Alonso decided to race for Aston Martin next year and Piastri, offered the Alpine seat, said no — with a McLaren deal apparently more tempting. read more

Piastri would have replaced Canadian Nicholas Latifi at Williams, the only driver on the starting grid who has yet to score a point in 13 races this season, alongside British-born Thai Alexander Albon.

Latifi brings sponsorship and could potentially retain the seat, with many of the potential replacements lacking such financial clout.

With Alpine currently fourth in the championship and Williams last, the seat spurned by Piastri is the most attractive.

If Alpine do not take McLaren’s soon-to-be-discarded Australian Daniel Ricciardo, then they may be in the same market as Williams.

One possibility who stands out is current Formula E champion and 2019 Formula Two title-holder Nyck de Vries, a Mercedes F1 reserve who has already taken part in Friday first practice with Williams.

De Vries, 27, is also looking for a seat for 2023, with Mercedes pulling out of Formula E after selling their championship-leading team to McLaren.

Williams have 21-year-old American Logan Sargeant on their books, with team boss Jost Capito saying last month that he saw the F2 driver as a prospect for the future, but it may be too early for him. read more

The future of Mick Schumacher, currently with Ferrari-powered Haas, has yet to be determined while China’s former Alpine academy driver Guanyu Zhou is having a solid first season at Alfa Romeo.

Alfa, run by Swiss-based Sauber with former Renault team boss Fred Vasseur at the helm, have 18-year-old French F2 prospect Theo Pourchaire on their books as a talent for the future.

Beyond that there are racers looking for a way back into Formula One and others, such as India’s Jehan Daruvala, hoping for a door to open from the junior series.

“I’ve had all sorts of people (calling),” Alpine principal Otmar Szafnauer told Reuters this week. “Some of the guys in the junior formulas, some of the Formula E guys. Maybe eight or 10.”

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Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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US

US to send $4.5 billion more to Ukraine for budget needs

US to send $4.5 billion more to Ukraine for budget needs

National flags of Ukraine and the US fly at a compound of a police training base outside kyiv, Ukraine, May 6, 2016. Picture taken May 6, 2016. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

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Aug 8 (Reuters) – The United States will provide an additional $4.5 billion to Ukraine’s government, bringing its total budgetary support since Russia’s February invasion to $8.5 billion, the US Agency for International Development said on Monday.

The funding, coordinated with the US Treasury Department through the World Bank, will go to the Ukraine government in tranches, beginning with a $3 billion disbursement in August, USAID, the Agency for International Development, said.

It follows previous transfers of $1.7 billion in July and $1.3 billion in June, USAID said. Washington has also provided billions of dollars in military and security support. The Pentagon announced a $1 billion arms aid package on Monday. read more

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Overall, the United States has contributed more than $18 billion to Ukraine this year.

The new budgetary funds are to help the Ukrainian government maintain essential functions, including social and financial assistance for the growing poor population, children with disabilities, and millions of internally displaced persons, as the war drags on.

Ukrainian officials estimate the country faces a $5 billion-a-month fiscal shortfall – or 2.5% of pre-war gross domestic product – due to the cost of the war and declining tax revenues. Economists say that Ukraine’s annual deficit will swell to 25% of GDP, compared with 3.5% before the conflict.

The World Bank estimates that 55% of Ukrainians will be living in poverty by the end of 2023 as a result of the war and the large numbers of displaced persons, compared with 2.5% before the start of the war.

USAID said US budget support has enabled the Ukrainian government to keep gas and electricity flowing to hospitals, schools and other critical infrastructure and deliver urgently needed humanitarian supplies to citizens.

The funds have also paid for healthcare workers, teachers and other civil servants.

USAID said robust safeguards had been put in place by the World Bank, along with USAID-funded, third-party watchdogs embedded within the Ukrainian government to make sure the funds are directed where they are meant to go.

“This economic assistance is critical in supporting the Ukrainian people as they defend their democracy against Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement provided to Reuters.

The injection of fresh cash for Ukraine comes as the war, which Russia calls “a special military operation,” stretches into a sixth month, with millions of displaced Ukrainians and authorities warning of likely gas shortages in winter.

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Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Heather Timmons and Howard Goller

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US

US declares monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency

US declares monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency

Aug 4 (Reuters) – The United States has declared monkeypox a public health emergency, the health secretary said on Thursday, a move expected to free up additional funding and tools to fight the disease.

The US tally topped 6,600 on Wednesday, almost all of the cases among men who have sex with men.

“We’re prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus, and we urge every American to take monkeypox seriously,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said at a briefing.

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The declaration will improve the availability of data on monkeypox infections that is needed for the response, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said, speaking alongside Bacerra.

The US government has come under pressure for its handling of the outbreak.

The disease began spreading in Europe before moving to the United States, which now has the most cases in the world. Vaccines and treatments have been in short supply and the disease often left for historically underfunded sexual health clinics to manage. read more

The World Health Organization declared monkeypox a “public health emergency of international concern,” its highest alert level. The WHO declaration last month sought to trigger a coordinated international response and unlock funding to collaborate on vaccines and treatments. read more

Governments are deploying vaccines and treatments that were first approved for smallpox but also work for monkeypox.

The US government has distributed 600,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic’s (BAVA.CO) Jynneos vaccine and deployed 14,000 of Siga Technologies’ (SIGA.O) TPOXX treatment, officials said, though they did not disclose how many have been administered.

Walensky said the government aims to vaccinate more than 1.6 million high-risk individuals.

US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf said the agency was considering freeing up more Jynneos vaccine doses by allowing doctors to draw 5 doses of vaccine from each vial instead of the current 1 dose by using a different subcutaneous method of inoculation.

US President Joe Biden this month appointed two federal officials to coordinate his administration’s response to monkeypox, following declarations of emergencies by California, Illinois and New York. read more

First identified in monkeys in 1958, the disease has mild symptoms including fever, aches and pus-filled skin lesions, and people tend to recover from it within two to four weeks, the WHO says. It spreads through close physical contact and is rarely fatal.

Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, told Reuters on Thursday that it was critical to engage leaders from the gay community as part of efforts to rein in the outbreak, but cautioned against stigmatizing the lifestyle.

“Engagement of the community has always come to be successful,” Fauci said.

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Reporting by Manas Mishra and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru, Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, Caroline Humer and Leela de Kretser, Editing by Anil D’Silva, Deepa Babington and Howard Goller

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Technology

Apple drops mask requirements for most of its corporate workers – The Verge

Apple drops mask requirements for most of its corporate workers - The Verge

People await the start of a product launch event at Apple’s new campus in Cupertino, California, US September 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

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Aug 1 (Reuters) – Apple Inc is dropping its mask mandate for corporate employees at most locations, the Verge reported on Monday, citing an internal memo. (https://bit.ly/3oJ3EQN)

This comes even as COVID-19 infections in the United States have been on the rise with the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the Omicron variant accounting for more than 90% of infections, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

These subvariants have significant mutations from the earliest versions of Omicron and protection from vaccines wanes over time.

“Don’t hesitate to continue wearing a face mask if you feel more comfortable doing so,” the report quoted Apple as saying in the internal email. “Also, please respect every individual’s decision to wear a mask or not.”

Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment outside regular business hours.

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Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu

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Technology

SK Hynix says has developed its most advanced 238-layer storage chip

SK Hynix says has developed its most advanced 238-layer storage chip

Employees walk past the logo of SK Hynix at its headquarters in Seongnam, South Korea, April 25, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

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SEOUL, Aug 3 (Reuters) – South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc (000660.KS) has developed its most advanced NAND flash chip made up of 238 layers of memory cells for use in PC storage devices and later smartphones and servers, the world’s second- largest memory chip maker said on Wednesday.

SK Hynix described it as the “industry’s highest” NAND flash chip and it follows US rival Micron Technology Inc (MU.O) saying last week it had begun shipping a 232-layer NAND chip. read more

SK Hynix said the new 238-layer chip is the smallest NAND flash chip in size, boasts a 50% improvement in data transfer speed over previous generation chips and power efficiency as well, as it cuts the volume of energy consumed for data reading by 21 %.

The company plans to start mass production of the chip in the first half of 2023.

SK Hynix and Solidigm, the new name of Intel’s NAND business which SK acquired, hold a combined 18% share of the NAND flash market, behind Samsung Electronics with 35.3% and Kioxia with 18.9%, according to first-quarter data from TrendForce.

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Reporting by Joyce Lee; editing by Jason Neely

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