Global Breaking News - Monday, December 23, 2024
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[Misc] (HL-20190728~20190803) Weekly Headlines
최고관리자 | 19-07-26 10:33
(Mon) Daimler warns of Q2 earnings well below expectations
다임러, 2분기 매출 전망치 크게 밑돌 수 있음을 경고해
Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler warned investors Friday to expect a second-quarter loss. The luxury carmaker blamed higher costs due to an extended recall in connection with faulty airbags made by Takata. Daimler said provisions for the airbag recall will increase by around 1 billion dollars. Shares dropped 2.5% in early trade after Daimler said it saw a potential loss of $1.8 billion. The update comes after the automaker cut its profit forecast in June for the third time in three months. The German automaker also took a 1.8 billion hit due to ongoing court costs related to Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles. Sales of the brand fell 7 percent in the first quarter - in part due to manufacturing bottlenecks in Mexico and the U.S. Carmakers have struggled with a crackdown on diesel emissions since 2015 - when Volkswagen admitted to cheating in U.S. pollution tests on diesel engines. The car industry also under pressure to invest in electric and self-driving cars - all in the midst of global trade tensions. Daimler's German rivals have also seen recent losses. BMW issued a profit warning in May, while Volkswagen said sales of passenger cars would come in at the lower end of its target.
(Tue) Ford, VW join forces on electric, autonomous cars
포드와 폭스바겐, 자율주행 전기차 개발에 협력
Another car industry tie-up Friday in the race to develop electric and autonomous vehicles. U.S. automaker Ford and Germany's Volkswagen the latest to join forces and pledge billions of dollars in investment. The venture strengthens an alliance between the two companies to slash development and production costs. They already cooperate in commercial vehicles as part of the industry's wider effort to redraw production and sales footprints. But Friday's announcement marks their first joint move into electric and autonomy development. VW said it will invest $2.6 billion in Ford's self-driving cars venture Argo AI. While Ford will build an electric car using VW's MEB electric vehicle platform. Ford expects to build more than 600,000 electric vehicles in Europe over six years. They will source components and the vehicles' underpinnings from VW, which helps both companies drive down costs. VW will contribute its Autonomous Intelligent Driving company to Argo and pay $500 million over three years to Ford for shares in Argo. The joint venture follows a trend among car manufacturers. In June VW's German rival BMW teamed-up with Britain's Jaguar Land Rover to jointly develop electric motors.
(Wed) The age of personal planes has arrived
개인용 항공기 시대 도래해
The future of a sky filled with personal airplanes might not be far off. The Austin, Texas-based LIFT Aircraft, no relationship to the ride-sharing, is looking to lead the pack. No license will be required for the flights, just a short training. "Depending on the time scale that you're looking at, no - 10 to 20 years - we'll all be using these things. It'll be in our lifetimes. And, you know, especially when you look at that time horizon you're going to see a lot of these things flying around. They're going to be fully autonomous. They're going to have full awareness of where each other are." The first generation of electric "vertical takeoff and landing" (eVTOL) aircrafts will also feature aerospace giants like Airbus. LIFT's 'Hexa' contains 18 electric propellers, which LIFT says help ensure safety. Engineers will be able to take over the Hexa should the need arise. "You know we truly are on the cusp of a revolution in aviation and it's being brought about by the electrification of aircraft, much like electric cars are gonna be the future of driving, electric aircraft are going to be the future of flying." LIFT says the FAA has verified its interpretation of the ultra light category. "So with LIFT aircraft, we really envision a future where anyone can fly. And so right now the FAA isn't certifying electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft quite yet. But they are available for recreation and sport use under the FAA's ultra light classification. So we want to get started. We want people to fly. We're building a safe, reliable aircraft that meets this ultra light classification. And we're gonna get started letting people fly for recreation and sport." LIFT will roll out the Hexa later this year in 25 cities. Fifteen minute ride will be available for $249.
(Thu) Amazon pledges to retrain 100,000 U.S. workers
아마존, 미국 근로자 10만 명 재교육하기로 해
For Amazon workers wary about more and more of these robots taking over their work there's now a path ahead. The e-commerce giant on Thursday said it will invest 700 million dollars to retrain 100,000 staffers - about a third of its U.S. workforce by 2025. The program is open to workers from warehouses to corporate offices. For example, someone with no technical background can pick up skills for a software engineering career and those with technical background can be trained for machine learning skills. The announcement comes at a time when Amazon faces criticism about poor pay and working conditions even after it hiked minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour last year. And one group of workers at a warehouse in Minnesota recently called for a strike during next week's Amazon Prime Day sales. Reuters reporter Jeffrey Dastin. "While we are in a period of historically low unemployment. There are questions as to what will change when more and more work is automated such as the hundreds of thousands of jobs that Amazon has created in its warehouses worldwide. Amazon has offered programs for retraining its workers before. What's new now is the scope. There are more programs and it's going to invest more money over a long period of time in that I guess one. One interesting thing about the announcement is Amazon is upfront that the workers who are retrained aren't necessarily going to get those higher skilled jobs at Amazon." While the training can help Amazon find the talent it needs, its human resources executive in a statement says quote "it might be a stepping stone to different aspirations" and adds Amazon wants to help create more professional options for its employees. Amazon says its fastest growing highly-skilled jobs in the past five years include data mapping specialists, data scientists, logistics coordinators and transportation specialists.
(Fri) British billionaire Dyson snaps up Singapore's priciest penthouse
영국 억만장자 다이슨, 싱가포르에서 가장 비싼 펜트하우스 매입
British billionaire James Dyson has bought Singapore's most expensive apartment. It gives him a base in the country where he plans to build electric cars. The three-story so-called 'super penthouse' was sold for $54.2 million, according to media reports. 'The Wallich Residence penthouse' sits on top of Singapore's tallest building - the Tanjong Pagar Centre. The apartment has five bedrooms. And Dyson can enjoy its private garden, a pool and a 600-bottle wine cellar. The 72 year-old is best known for inventing the bagless vacuum cleaner. He also supports Brexit - but announced plans in January to move his company's head office from Britain to Singapore. The Dyson company said the move was to be closer to the fastest-growing markets. And his firm now plans to build its first electric car in the city-state. Records seen by Reuters show Dyson and his wife became tenants of the apartment on June 20th. Dyson is one of the UK's best known entrepreneurs. He built a multibillion-dollar firm from an insight that a cyclone could collect household dust better than a clogged-up bag.
** Other Latest Headlines **
* US government will execute inmates for first time since 2003
The Justice Department said Thursday the federal government will resume executing death-row inmates for the first time since 2003, ending an informal moratorium even as the nation sees a broad shift away from capital punishment. Attorney General William Barr instructed the Bureau of Prisons to schedule executions starting in December for five men, all accused of murdering children. Although the death penalty remains legal in 30 states, executions on the federal level are rare. “The Justice Department upholds the rule of law — and we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system,” Barr said. The move is likely to stir up fresh interest in an issue that has largely lain dormant in recent years, adding a new front to the culture battles that President Donald Trump already is waging on matters such as abortion and immigration in the lead-up to the 2020 elections. Most Democrats oppose capital punishment. Vice President Joe Biden this week shifted to call for the elimination of the federal death penalty after years of supporting it.
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