Good morning. India is hungry for energy — could Canada help? We'll see, as Prime Minister Mark Carney's trip begins. Also in this issue: what the memory chip shortage means for consumer gadgets, and why not everything may be as it seems when it comes to sunscreen.
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FEATURED STORIES
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(Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
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Energy-hungry India tells Carney 'we are willing to buy whatever Canada is offering'
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India wants to buy any energy product it can from Canada, with officials urging Ottawa to streamline approvals for various projects to help it feed its rapidly growing country.
What's happening: That's what India's high commissioner to Canada, Dinesh Patnaik, said in an interview with CBC News before Prime Minister Mark Carney's departure for a five-day visit to the country. That trip is said to be focused on getting new deals and negotiating for a free trade agreement. Patnaik says going full steam ahead on a trade relationship will help the two countries smooth over years of poor bilateral relations.
What's next: Relations have improved significantly since Carney invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 in Alberta last year. Now, as they come face-to-face in New Delhi, they're expected to make a comprehensive economic deal closer to reality. A senior government official told CBC News that Carney could broker a uranium supply agreement with India on this trip, which would be a boon for Saskatchewan. India is also looking to diversify its energy supplies; it's long relied on Russia, and has been sanctioned by the U.S. for this.
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Why a memory chip shortage is wreaking havoc on the consumer electronics industry
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The rise of artificial intelligence has led to a global shortage in memory chips. That's become a crisis for consumer electronics companies.
What's happening: A shortage of random access memory, or RAM, could soon drive up prices and force shipping delays on laptops, smartphones, cars and more. RAM is a critical component in most modern devices, and just three companies are responsible for manufacturing the world's supply of it — Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron Technology. The latter two are completely sold out of high-bandwidth memory chips through the end of the year.
Why the shortage: These companies used to manufacture dynamic random access memory and flash memory for consumer electronics. But they've since reallocated much of their capacity to the newer — and more profitable — high-bandwidth segment. Apple has already warned that market pricing for memory will increase significantly soon, and has said it'll look at "a range of options" to deal with it.
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Uncovering the truth behind SPF testing
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Did you know they burn people to figure out SPF on sunscreen? I did not.
For this Marketplace investigation, we went inside a sunscreen lab to see how SPF testing actually works. We also try to understand how a product labelled SPF 50, which we sent to five different test labs, came back with five different results. Which number was real?
There’s no one clear answer. Seeing the testing process up close was fascinating. Parts of it are standardized, right down to a gloved finger applying sunscreen with a specific amount of pressure. But much of it is subjective. That subjectivity also makes it easy for labs to fake results — and some have. A lax and outdated regulatory system doesn’t help: Health Canada checks safety, but it does not verify SPF claims.
I also tried applying the same amount of sunscreen to my face that labs use. It's a lot. I don’t often reapply and will be buying a bigger hat. With skin cancer rates rising in Canada, this story has been a jolt.
Seeing how SPF is tested and how shaky the system can be was a reminder that sunscreen is only one layer of protection.
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