USA and Canada

Dutch logistics giant TNT Express is to be acquired by its US-based rival UPS for €5.16 billion, it has been announced.

The two companies said the combined entity will create a global leader in the logistics industry with annual revenues of more than €45 billion.

TNT Express delivers close to one million consignments, from documents and parcels to palletized freight, each day. The company operates road and air transport networks in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas. In 2011, the company had revenues of €7.25 billion.

Atacama Pacific has entered into an option agreement with AMX de Chile to explore for and acquire water use rights near its Cerro Maricunga gold project.

"We are very pleased to have taken another significant step forward towards the potential development of the Cerro Maricunga project," said Carl Hansen, president and CEO of Atacama Pacific.

NASA and General Motors are jointly developing a robotic glove for astronauts and autoworkers to help them do their jobs better and reduce the risk of repetitive stress injuries.

The Human Grasp Assist device, known internally in both organizations as the K-glove or Robo-Glove, resulted from NASA and GM's Robonaut 2 – or R2 – project, which launched the first humanoid robot into space in 2011. R2 is a permanent resident of the International Space Station.

The latest figures from the US Department of Labor and the Commerce Department give rise to optimism for the recovery of the US economy.

The Labor Department has reported an increase of 233,000 private sector jobs last month, while the unemployment rate remained at 8.3 percent, its lowest level in nearly three years.

The number of new jobs being created has been consistently above 200,000 in each of the past three months, fuelling hopes that the US recovery is gathering pace.

US pharmaceutical company Mylan Inc. today announced plans to build a new corporate headquarters near its current location in the Southpointe Office Park in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

"Mylan's global operations have experienced transformational and phenomenal growth over the last five years, and we expect this growth will only continue in the years to come,” said Mylan executive chairman Robert J. Coury.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) in partnership with Auburn University released the third annual State of the Retail Supply Chain Report today.

The report findings reveal a shift by retailers and supply chain management (SCM) executives from cost cutting to growth. The report also places emphasis on multichannel retailing and explores how retailers are working to meet the increased consumer demand for continual access to products from any channel.

Canadian biopharmaceutical company Medicago Inc. today announced a strategic alliance with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (MTPC) to develop and commercialize at least three new vaccines.

DuPont announced today an extension of its collaboration with the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) to improve the productivity of cereal crops.

The expanded program brings a new focus on advanced cereal breeding through molecular markers, discovery research for agronomic traits and hybrid seed production in wheat. 

In its first partial year of production, Osisko Mining Corporation has reported net profit of $37.8 million for Q4 2011.

The Canadian Malartic mine reached commercial production on 19 May, 2011, contributing to a net profit of $18 million for the year, compared to a loss of $17.8 million in 2010.

Mine operating profits during the fourth quarter totaled $39.5 million, and $79.5 million for 2011.

Encana Natural Gas Inc, one of North America's largest natural gas producers, today opened the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling station in Louisiana.

Located at The Relay Station in Frierson, the station will serve the fueling needs of heavy duty truck fleets, but is also open for public use (to those with an LNG vehicle and proper safety training).