Reuters World News - Deadly flight turbulence, China's weight loss market and Kenya’s Haiti deployment

Episode Date: May 22, 2024

Passengers are left shaken after severe turbulence hit a Singapore Airlines flight. Eli Lilly’s diabetes drug wins approval in China, intensifying weight loss drugmakers’ competition in the Asian market. And a Kenyan police deployment to Haiti to help combat gang violence is imminent.   Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, terror at 37,000 feet, a severe turbulence hits a London to Singapore flight. Eli Lilly lands a win in China, setting up fiercer competition for weight loss drug makers. And a Kenyan deployment is expected to touch down in Haiti to help combat gang violence. It's Wednesday, May 22nd. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Tara Oaks in Liverpool. A Singapore Airlines flight was hit with severe turbulence on Tuesday, flinging passengers and crew around the cabin and forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Bangkok. Dozens were injured. One died of a suspected heart attack.

More than 140 passengers and crew have now touched down in Singapore on a relief flight, including 28-year-old Zafran Asmir, who was on board the turbulence hit SQ 321 flight. I saw people from across the aisle just like going completely horizontal, hitting the ceiling and landing back down in like really awkward positions. People like getting massive gaseous in their head, concussions. So it's quite a sight. Joanna Plachinsky is a reporter on the global aviation team. So Joanna, what happened? It appears that the flight entered an air pocket.

There are also reports that there were some storms nearby that could have caused some of the turbulence. We don't know exactly what kind of turbulence it was, but needless to say, it was quite extreme turbulence, and it seemed to come without much warning. Is climate change making turbulence worse? So some studies have shown that turbulence is, in fact, increasing and that it is tied to climate change. There was a study out of the University of Reading here in the UK last year that showed that the frequency of turbulence and the severity of turbulence had gotten worse in the last few decades and that it's expected to double or triple in severity in the coming decades as climate change is expected to get more extreme. And how is that happening? So essentially, warmer air is being emitted from CO2 emissions and that is increasing.

the impact of something called wind shear in jet streams in certain parts of the sky. So if there's more wind shear, it's less expected. It kind of can create a more turbulent atmosphere in the sky. Oh, it's scary, right? Especially if you're a nervous flyer. How are airlines adapting to this new turbulent reality? There's a lot of investment by airlines into weather tracking technologies. some airlines are using artificial intelligence to try to better track weather conditions. Because often a skilled pilot with the right technology can fly around these areas of turbulence quite effectively. You can change your roots quite reliably. So there's a lot of testing being done and a lot of investment into this.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state by the end of the month. Spain is joined by Ireland and Norway, which have also announced their intention to recognize an independent Palestine. Israel has ordered a recall of its ambassadors to Ireland and Norway in response, saying the move undermines Israel's right to self-defense and efforts to bring home the October 7th hostages. The prosecution and the defense rest in Donald Trump's criminal Hushmane case, The former president opting not to take the witness stand in his own defense, clearing the way for jurors to begin deliberations next week. The town of Greenfield was struck by a devastating tornado.

Spokesperson Sergeant Alex Dinkler's remarks after a tornado killed multiple people in Iowa and wounded at least a dozen. Images from Greenfield show its complete destruction, with homes reduced to rubble and large wind turbines toppled over. Two of the biggest events on markets land today, and we've got Carmel Criminter to tell us more. It's three, actually, Tara. Three? Whatever could you be talking about Carmel?

So, we have earnings from Envidia, Fed Minutes, and... Drumroll, please. The launch of Reuters Econ World, our new weekly podcast on all things economics, and an accompanying newsletter. But I'll get on to that. I expected nothing less, but first, tell us about Envidia and the Fed. So earnings from AI darling Nvidia after the bell will likely determine whether the NASDAQ bursts through all-time highs it's set this week, or beat a hasty retreat. That's because Nvidia's results are seen as a barometer for the AI industry, and its shares of an outside impact on market moves because they've grown so much this year, 90%. They have a major weight in indexes and exchange traded funds.

Now, the minutes from the Fed are also out today, and they are going to be parsed carefully for clues on the likely. path for interest rates. And the pod and newsletter? I'm glad you asked that, Tara. Also out today, the newsletter is actually going to take our Fed team's analysis of those minutes and give a snapshot of how central bank rate cuts are shaping up around the world. And the pod, which looks at the economic principles behind the news, is going to home in on protectionism and the impacts of that on China and the US. We'll have links to both in the description of today's pod. Speaking of China, drug makers, Eli Lilly and Novo Norfolk. Nordisk are racing to increase production in the Asian powerhouse's weight loss market, estimated

to reach at least a hundred billion dollars globally by the decade's end. Eli Lilly's diabetes drug, Tazepatide, has received approval from Chinese regulators, setting up intensifying competition in the key Asian market. Michelle Gershberg is our global health editor. Michelle, experts estimate that China has the world's highest number of people who are overweight or obese. What's at stake here for drug makers? China is an incredibly important market for pharmaceuticals across the board. And in this case, Eli Lilly's drug, Tersepetide, that's the name of the active ingredient, was approved for use in China.

And it is the first drug of this new class of weight loss drugs that was approved in China. Eli Lilly is coming into this approval before Novo Nordisk. Novo Nordisk is the maker of Ozempic, and we go. and is the earlier player elsewhere in the United States and in Europe. And so it's also significant that its rival essentially is getting the first potential foothold in China. And what is the market likely to be worth? The expectations are right now that this market is going to be worth about $100 billion within a decade. This is our first indication of what might be happening in China. We know that there are companies in China, drug makers, who are looking to make their own version

of these drugs. The patent for Novo Nordists Wigovi expires in 2026 in China, and so how they are going to make their way in that market or whether or not they're going to face competition very quickly will be something else that we're watching closely. Joe Biden will host Kenyan President William Ruto for talks at the White House this week. High on their agenda will be an imminent deployment of Kenyan police to Haiti. It's part of a UN multinational mission to quell the widespread gang violence in the Caribbean country, but it's been delayed multiple times. Aaron Ross is in Nairobi.

So, Aaron, what's the latest on this Kenyan deployment to Haiti? The Kenyan government has been very tight-lipped about the timing and the specifics of the deployment. But there have been some comments by U.S. officials to send media outlets that the first officers will arrive in time to coincide with the state visit of Kenyan President William Ruto to Washington. But the situation on the ground is still pretty violent, right? What are the risks to the Kenyan-led force? This is an unprecedented deployment for a Kenyan police force. Police officers from Kenya

participated in international peacekeeping missions before, but never in a real active combat role. The gangs in Haiti are very well armed. They know the terrain. They've managed to seize most of the capital of Port of Prince. And the Kenyan forces are coming in. They don't speak to local language. They obviously don't know the terrain nearly as well. So they'll really have their work cut out for them. And so that pretty much explains the reluctance of other countries to join this multinational force, right? That's certainly been one of the factors. There are a few others. One is that there have been a number of prior foreign security interventions in Haiti over the years,

none of which has gone particularly well. Notoriously there was a UN peacekeeping mission that started a cholera outbreak. There's also been concern about the legitimacy of Haiti's national authorities. The president was assassinated in 2021. Since then, there hasn't been elected leadership at the top of the country. There was the unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henri, who has been leading the country since then. Countries were reluctant to commit forces to support his unelected government, which has been opposed by many Haitians. Ultimately, he resigned in March following this upsurge in violence.

Now there's a transition council in place, which also has questions about its legitimacy. That's it for Wednesday. tomorrow with our daily headline show. And don't forget to check out today's newly launched newsletter and podcast, Econ World. And to never miss an episode, subscribe on your favorite podcast player or download the Reuters app.