Global Breaking News - Monday, December 23, 2024
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[Misc] 2018 Reuters News - June 18 ~ June 22
최고관리자 | 18-06-15 11:22
Chinese demand for classy French oak leaves sawmills woodless
중국 내 고급 떡갈나무 수요 증가로, 프랑스 제재소들 공급 부족 사태 초래돼
China's love affair for high-class oak furniture and flooring is pitting French loggers and sawmills against each other. While French oak producers traditionally sold logs to local sawmills, some have now begun to sell directly to Chinese buyers who pay higher prices and do the processing themselves. This has left many French sawmills short of wood and struggling to fulfill orders. "We really need to look at this problem very closely. The market's so vast it can sweep us away at an unimaginable speed. The disappearance of French sawmills is a possibility in the next weeks, months or few years. That's it. We're not talking about ten or 20 years from now." Demand for French oak accelerated after Beijing banned commercial timber harvests at home to end decades of overcutting. And it's fueled by a growing, younger and more affluent consumer base with a penchant for European interior design. "Our target customers, people born in the 80s and 90s, go for this style, because it's relatively light in color. The other kinds of wood don't match up to this requirement and effect. That's why they go for this." Last year China imported five times the volume of French oak than ten years earlier. French sawmill owners fear that total could more than double in a matter of months or years and that could leave many of them knocking on wood for the foreseeable future.
Mexico hits back for U.S. tariffs
멕시코, 미국 관세에 반격 시작
Mexico is hitting back. It's imposing tariffs of up to 25 percent on American steel and agricultural products, such as pork, potatoes, and bourbon. The move comes in response to duties U.S. President Donald Trump imposed on imported steel and aluminum in March. At that time, Trump gave Canada, Mexico, and the European Union a two-month exemption. But that extension came to an end last week. Cato Institue's Daniel Ikenson: "I think it is to be expected that Mexico, as Canada and the European Union and China are all planning to do, would retaliate against the United States for its steel and aluminum tariffs. At the same time, they are bringing cases to the World Trade Organization to claiming that the United States is in violation of its obligations in levying these tariffs in the first place." White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said that Trump is considering a shift to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement by moving to separate talks with Canada and Mexico.
Indian engineers convert soot from diesel fumes into ink
인도 기술자들, 디젤 매연의 그을음으로 잉크 만들어
As the summer heat takes hold in New Delhi, two things are inevitable: power cuts and air pollution from the diesel generators that then kick in. But a team of Indian engineers have figured out a way to bring some good from the choking exhaust fumes. They have created what they say is the first device to capture emissions specifically from diesel generators. The soot from the fumes is then turned into ink. "We have created a product that can capture the smoke particles out of the exhaust of diesel generators by 70-90 percent. So we are aiming to bring down the pollution levels in the major cities of India by very significant percentage in a very short span of time." The inventors say their device, which attaches to generators, captures up to 90 percent of soot particles from cooled diesel exhaust. The material can then be sold to ink manufacturers. Their company has so far installed 50 devices, earning more than 200,000 dollars in revenue in the first year. It has so far sold more than 500 kg of collected soot, which has been used to create more than 20,000 liters of ink.
Microsoft to buy GitHub for $7.5 bln
마이크로소프트, 75억 달러에 깃허브 인수
Microsoft is buying privately held coding website GitHub for $7.5 billion in an all-stock deal. It's a big bet on its fast-growing cloud business. And it's aiming at market leader Amazon. GitHub supplies coding tools and calls itself the world's largest code host, with more than 28 million developers using its platform. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. Microsoft shares were up on the news. Jack Gold of J.Gold Associates: "I think it's a great buy for Microsoft. Microsoft is trying to establish themselves as the premier app hosting service in the cloud. And they've been very successful in the enterprise, not as much in commercial, where AWS, in particular, and also Google has done a very good job. By getting GitHub under their belt, this allows them to build a pretty substantial community of app developers in the commercial space and even in the enterprise space." GitHub is Microsoft's largest acquisition since its $26 billion purchase of LinkedIn in 2016.
Apple focuses on speed, controls in software upgrades
애플, 소프트웨어 업그레이드의 속도와 통제력에 집중할 것
Apple led a rally in technology stocks after it kicked off its annual developers conference in San Jose, California. "Every year we deliver a major iOS update that brings awesome new features that will impact the world." Apple unveiled the latest version of its operating system iOS 12 saying it will make older devices - like iPhone 6 - work faster. It introduced a new augmented reality multiplayer format with improved face tracking and it's in 3-D. And it addressed digital privacy and smartphone addiction issues. Its new "Screen Time" app helps users manage how much time they spend with their devices. The company also said it will make it 'dramatically more difficult' for advertisers to track users of Apple devices. Jack Gold of J.Gold Associates: "I think if you're looking for a blockbuster announcement you were disappointed. What they did provide was an update for their iOS style 12 that will work on multiple devices. That's an important announcement, but not a huge announcement. They also allow developers to connect into Siri to do a few things, and they announced Apple 4K TV with some capabilities, the iWatch capabilities. So, all in all, I'd have to say that the biggest announcement was probably the iOS 12. That's probably is going to be affecting the most people in the short term." Apple's Services business - including the App Store - represents one of the company's fastest-growing businesses. And App developers are a big part of it. Apple CEO Tim Cook said that their earnings will pass $100 billion next week.
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