Canada pledges to help countries stop using Russian oil
Canada says it can provide more oil, gas and uranium to help solve the global energy crisis.
Prices have soared as a result of Russian supplies being squeezed because of its invasion of Ukraine.
Canada's natural resources minister said many countries are committed "to help as much as we can in terms of displacing Russian oil and gas".
The world's fourth biggest oil producer has committed to exporting an extra 200,000 barrels of oil.
Its Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told BBC News it would also export an additional 100,000 barrels of natural gas.
"We expect that by the end of the year we will be fully up to the 300,000 barrels," said Mr Wilkinson.
However, that is only a fraction of the three million barrels a day that the IEA says will be removed from global markets by next month because of sanctions against Russia.
NPR
The FDA is expected to authorize 2nd boosters for people 50 and up
Anyone 50 years and older could soon be eligible for a second booster dose of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize the additional booster shots without holding a meeting of its independent vaccine advisors.
The plan comes as evidence increases that protection from three shots is fading and a fourth shot would help boost immunity back up. And as BA.2, an even more contagious version of the omicron variant continues to spread in the U.S., concern is mounting it could fuel another surge.
"We have a large number of people who are at least four to six months past their third shot," says Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, who supports the move.
"Without protection against the omicron variant, particularly now we're confronting BA.2, there's a very high risk of hospitalization and death," he says.
The Guardian
Taal volcano: thousands flee after eruption in Philippines
Thousands of people fled their homes near a Philippine volcano after an eruption sent ash and steam hundreds of metres into the sky.
Taal volcano, which sits in a picturesque lake south of Manila, exploded with a “short-lived” burst at 7.22 am on Saturday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement.
It warned further eruptions were possible, which it said could trigger dangerous, fast-moving volcanic flows of gas, ash and debris, as well as a tsunami.
Residents in five fishing and farming settlements around the lake were ordered to leave their homes, in the third mass evacuation in as many years around one of the country’s most active volcanoes.The initial eruption was followed by “nearly continuous phreatomagmatic activity” that sent plumes stretching 1,500 metres (4,900 feet) into the air, the seismological agency said, raising the alert level from two to three on a scale of zero to five.
Al Jazeera
Turkey briefly stops traffic in Bosphorus Strait to defuse mine
Turkey’s military has deactivated a mine that had drifted in from the Black Sea, setting off a loud explosion in the process, days after Russia warned several of them had washed away from Ukrainian ports.
On Saturday, defence minister Hulusi Akar described the object, first discovered by fishermen in the upper Bosphorus strait, as an old type of mine and said he was in touch with both Russian and Ukrainian authorities about it.
The explosion was heard north of Istanbul, an area where naval vessels and military planes and helicopters were active.
“The mine, determined to be an old type, was neutralised by our team…and naval forces continue their vigilant work,” Akar said in a televised statement.
Deutsche Welle
Egypt: Soaring wheat prices turn food security into a priority
This week was a turbulent one for Egypt's 102 million people.
First, the government devalued the Egyptian pound by 14% against the US dollar after the war in Ukrainetriggered a hike in prices for wheat products and other foods. The devaluation was meant to counter pressure on the currency caused by foreign investors pulling billions of dollars out of Egypt's treasury markets.
Subsequently, to address the resulting spike in inflation, the central bank increased interest rates by 1%, citing "domestic inflationary pressures and increased pressure on the external balance."
Then, to counter the soaring prices for non-subsidized bread, Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly introduced a price cap for the next three months.
A 90-gram (3.2 US ounce) loaf will now be sold for 1 pound (€0.05, $0.05) at around 5,000 bakeries throughout the country, according to Abdullah Ghorab, head of the General Bakery Division of the Federation of Egyptian Industries.
But the country still needs to find a sustainable solution to replace the 80% of wheat imports from Ukraine and Russia.
"Importing wheat is essential for Egypt, as they cannot generate the amount themselves, and there are few other foods that provide the same number of calories and can be transported and stored," said Eckart Woertz, director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies and a food security expert.
Reuters
Biden to propose minimum tax on billionaires as part of 2023 budget
WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will propose a minimum tax on billionaires as part of the fiscal 2023 budget that is expected to be unveiled on Monday, a document released by the White House showed.
Biden's "Billionaire Minimum Income Tax" would set a 20% minimum tax rate on households worth more than $100 million, in a plan that would mostly target the United States' more than 700 billionaires, according to a White House fact sheet released on Saturday.
The plan would require such households to pay the minimum tax of 20% on all of their income including unrealized investment income that is now untaxed, the fact sheet said.
The tax will help reduce the budget deficit by about $360 billion in the next decade, the fact sheet added.
Washington Post
Western heat wave sets records, fuels fire near Boulder, Colo.
Although it’s still March, a heat wave has brought summerlike temperatures to the western United States, shattering long-standing records. The unseasonably high temperatures also helped to intensify a grass fire that erupted near Boulder, Colo., on Saturday, forcing thousands from their homes. The heat was intense enough to break records for the entire month in parts of the Southwest. Las Vegas soared to 93 degrees on Saturday, while Death Valley, Calif., hit 104 — both March records.
They were among dozens of heat records set in the western United States on Saturday. Daily records for March 26 were set in Salt Lake City (79 degrees); El Paso (87 degrees); Reno, Nev. (79 degrees); Clayton, N.M. (82 degrees); Pocatello, Idaho (70 degrees); and Pueblo, Colo. (84 degrees), among other locations.