3.8.2023

Kidnapped Americans (Cont.) 

Two of the four Americans kidnapped last week amid a cartel-related shootout in the Mexican border city Matamoros were found dead yesterday in a field outside the town. The two survivors, one of whom is wounded, were discovered inside a house near the field and brought quickly back to Brownsville, Texas, across the border.

Authorities said the Americans were kidnapped—and possibly mistaken for Haitian drug smugglers—amid a shootout between factions of the Gulf cartel, who operates in the area; one of the victims reportedly died from gunshot wounds at the scene. The group traveled from South Carolina to legally enter Tamaulipas province for a health procedure, which is generally less expensive than in neighboring Texas. The State Department warns Americans not to travel to the province due to the risk of kidnapping; estimates suggest hundreds of Americans are kidnapped in Mexico every year. 

Mexico's president announced the country's security ministry, as well as the American FBI, had detained a suspect in the kidnapping yesterday.

Criticality in Georgia

The US is one step closer to commercial operation of the first nuclear reactor built in the country in three decades after a Georgia power plant announced it had achieved

self-sustaining fission in one of its new units. 

The reactor is one of two that began construction in 2009 at Plant Vogtle, near the city of Augusta, which has had two operating reactors since 1989. The two new units would produce around 2,250 megawatts combined—roughly equal to three natural gas plants, and enough to power more than 1.5 million homes. 

Commercial operation of the new reactors would also mark a significant milestone for the country's nuclear industry. Advocates have hailed nuclear as an efficient source of clean energy, while construction costs, environmental concerns and regulations, and dropping cost of renewables have made traditional nuclear power less attractive.

Nuclear energy accounts for around 18% of US power generation; see a breakdown here.

JetBlue Antitrust Lawsuit 

The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit to block JetBlue Airway’s $3.8B proposed merger with Spirit Airlines yesterday, claiming the consolidation would result in higher fares and reduced travel choices for many passengers.

JetBlue launched a takeover bid for Spirit in May, with shareholders rejecting an earlier agreement to merge with Frontier Airlines. Shareholders agreed to the Spirit merger in October (see background). Opponents of the merger, which would make the airline the fifth largest in the US, contend it violates parts of the federal Clayton Act, prohibiting mergers and acquisitions that could lessen competition or result in monopolies. JetBlue claims the merger would make the newly combined airline more competitive against the other four airlines, which comprise over 80% of the market share.

JetBlue is also the subject of a separate DOJ lawsuit seeking to stop its alliance with American Airlines, which allows the airlines to coordinate schedules and share revenue.

Science & Technology

Business & Markets

Politics & World Affairs

> Nationwide protests against French government's plan to raise the pension age from 62 to 64 disrupt fuel delivers, schools, and travel for sixth time (More)

Archaeologists unearth smiling sphinx of Roman emperor.

How Instagram sparked the clear ice trend.

Mapping countries by the number of paid vacation days.

Notre Dame Cathedral set to reopen in December 2024. 

A $1.7M wine theft from a Michelin-starred restaurant. 

KitKat cereal is coming to the UK. 

... and Hershey's debuts plant-based chocolates.

When you live in a dumpster for art.

Clickbait: Introducing a PC powered by mushrooms.

Historybook: First stock car race held in Daytona Beach (1936); International Women's Day recognized by United Nations (1977); Baseball player Joe DiMaggio dies (1999); Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared en route to Beijing (2014); Sam Simon, director and codeveloper of "The Simpsons," dies (2015).