Global Breaking News - Sunday, December 22, 2024
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[Misc] (HL-20190407~20190413) Weekly Headlines
최고관리자 | 19-04-04 10:51
[동영상, 어휘, 표현 예문]
(Mon) Finland named the happiest country in the world
세상에서 가장 행복한 국가 핀란드
It's fondly known as the home of Santa Claus and the Northern Lights. And now, Finland has earned another official title - the happiest country in the world - for the second year running. That's according to an annual UN-affiliated survey released on Wednesday. The World Happiness Report ranked 156 countries in total. Reuters Gwladys Fouche. ''The Nordic countries tend to be at the top of those ranking and that's for several reasons. They have very good healthcare, there's very little crime, they have very generous welfare systems - for which they pay very high taxes - but in exchange, they get good social provisions. And also there's very little inequality between different social classes in society, or at least much less than in other countries.'' The report judges countries on six key variables that support well-being; income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy, social support and generosity. This year, the other top spots were taken by Denmark, Norway and Iceland. Following them were Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada and Austria. The U.S. on the other hand fell to 19th place. ''If there was a tip they would give to the US, would be I think to pay more taxes. In some of these countries you can pay something like half of your income or more on taxes. And if you want to have good social services, and less crime, and have better health among the population, then you'll probably need to pay more taxes.'' The five countries that have suffered the largest drops since 2005-2008 were Yemen, India, Syria, Botswana and Venezuela.
(Tue) Retrofitting inefficient houses to make them net zero energy
에너지 잡아 먹는 노후 주택, 개조로써 비용 대폭 낮춰
These are cold, expensive-to-heat houses, transformed into highly-insulated units that generate their own electricity. Dutch company Energiesprong renovates a house in under 10 days. It's refurbished houses across Europe. They use pre-fabricated facades, smart heating and cooling installations and insulated rooftops equipped with solar panels. To pay for the renovation, tenants pay the same or less than their old monthly energy bills. Energiesprong's Jon Warren. "I would say, here's a home energy makeover that can be in-part funded by energy savings that you can make on your home and it will give you a guarantee performance for 30 years and a clear maintenance plan so you know what you're going to need to do over those 30 years. A low cost of ownership and on top of it all, a really attractive and comfortable, warm home." It costs around €60,000 per home in the Netherlands and £70,000 in the UK. "That seems super expensive I know, but if you take into account all the maintenance savings you're going to make over that guaranteed 30-year period and all the energy savings you are going to make over that period, then the cost is essentially neutral." The company is targeting UK social housing, renovating more than 150 homes in Nottingham by 2020. It says there are millions of homes that can benefit as EU countries aim to stop contributing to climate change by 2050. Building carbon-neutral homes may not be the issue, when we have millions out there costing the Earth to heat.
(Wed) Smart trashcan counts your wasted meatballs
스마트 쓰레기통, 버려지는 음식물도 잡을 수 있어
"So, what I have here are some IKEA meatballs that were overproduced yesterday and unfortunately now have to be thrown away." This smart garbage can is on a mission: to prevent your food ending up in landfill. It uses a camera to assess the trash and then calculates how much that food would have cost. Not only is food waste bad for the environment, but it's also a huge expense to companies. We're currently throwing out 1.6 billion tons of food around the world annually, worth about $1.2 trillion dollars. So that's where Winnow Vision's new product comes in, says the company's CEO, Marc Zornes. "The technology is an artificial intelligence-enabled system that takes pictures of food as it's being thrown away, identifies that food, puts a cost on that food and then helps kitchens drive change. We're working here with IKEA. This system is installed in all of their sites across the UK and Ireland and in the UK and Ireland IKEA has been able to already cut their food waste, by value, by 50 percent." Winnow says about 15 percent of food bought for commercial kitchens like restaurants ends up being thrown out. To reduce this - and other consumer waste - the United Nations has set the world a target to halve it by 2030. This new device is an upgrade. Its developers claim the first model has already saved commercial kitchens more than $30 million in food costs - that's more than 23 million meals per year.
(Thu) Doctolib 'unicorn' bets on video doctors
유니콘 헬스케어 기업 닥터립, 원격진료에 투자
You're looking at a 'unicorn'. Franco-German startup Doctolib officially valued at over one billion dollars after its latest fund-raising round this week. The service provides an online booking system for doctor's appointments. Now it's betting there's big money in video consultations, too. This doctor uses the service. He says seeing patients online isn't about speed: "I take as much time as an in person consultation, about 15 to 20 minutes." Doctolib says about 100 practitioners are already doing video consultations. They can work from home, with payments and prescriptions all handled online. Doctolib says its software also cuts the no-show rate compared with regular doctor appointments. Stanislas Niox-Chateu is the cofounder: "We have created video consultations with 500 of our doctors. We developed it with them and launched it a few months ago. There is already enthusiasm beyond our expectations. About 100 practitioners are already using video consultations." Not everyone is so convinced. The mixture of tech with medical records has some worried. This Paris rheumatologist quit using the service: "I stopped doing it to take my appointments because I am not sure that my data or patient’s data are really secure and will not be used for any other purposes." Worries too about what video consultations could do to doctor-patient relationships. Some physicians fear an 'Uberization' of medicine. Doctolib is pressing ahead though. It plans to double its staff and expand outside France and Germany. Your next appointment might just be online.
(Fri) Levi’s is back to mine the stock market
리바이스, 뉴욕 증시에 다시 돌아오다
Levi Strauss & Co is coming back to the stock market on Thursday after more than three decades with a valuation of $6.6 billion dollars - higher than expected. The San Francisco-based retailer that invented blue jeans in the late 19th century is listing shares just as the 80s blue jeans fashion makes a comeback. Levi's has been working to attract young customers and plans to expand this tailor shop and print bar where customers can customize their Levi's products. The company is controlled by the descendants of founder Levi Strauss, the Hass family- which will keep 80 percent of voting control following the listing. Levi's, which also sells footwear, belts and wallets, reported annual net revenue of $5.6 billion in 2018. Its products are sold in more than 50,000 retail locations including about 3,000 standalone stores in 110 countries. It also has a Japanese arm, Levi Strauss K.K. which is publicly traded in Tokyo. Levi's shares in the U.S. will trade on the New York Stock Exchange – ticker symbol L-E-V-I.
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Joe Biden Responds to Accusations With Video
Joe Biden responded with a two-minute video on April 3 to allegations the former vice president inappropriately touched a number of women, most recently stemming from two accusers who came forward. Biden, in an attempt to stem the growing criticism against him, noted in the video that he would pay more attention to not invading people’s personal space. He also defended himself, describing it as “just who I am” while stating that the times have changed. “Social norms are changing,” Biden said in a Twitter post accompanying the video. “I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying.” “Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That’s my responsibility and I will meet it,” he added.
Trump to Press Amazon, Alibaba, eBay to Police Counterfeit Product Sellers
President Donald Trump has asked his administration to come up with ways to crack down on the online sales of counterfeit products. One of the ways could be increasing the liability of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Alibaba, and eBay for facilitating the sales, according to Peter Navarro, assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy. “This president has decided that it’s time to clean up this Wild West of counterfeiting and trafficking,” Navarro said in an April 3 conference call with reporters. Globally, imports of counterfeits are worth nearly half a trillion dollars a year, according to 2011–2013 data analyzed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office. U.S. brands have been hit the hardest.
Firefighters battle Gangwon mountain fires
Fire trucks from different regions of South Korea are being deployed to Gangwon Province following a series of mountain fires that struck the area, authorities said Thursday. The National Fire Agency said it has ordered all headquarters of major regions, including Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and North Chungcheong Province, to send fire trucks to the border town of Goseong, around 210 kilometers northeast of Seoul. According to the Gangwon Fire Headquarters, fire broke out on a roadside in Goseong at around 7:17 p.m. and spread to a nearby mountain, leading to the evacuation of residents and guests of a nearby condominium. The fire agency said it has issued the highest level alert -- level three -- as of 9:44 p.m. The first level indicates a fire is only affecting a limited area, while the second step is issued for a fire covering more than one city or province. The top level is issued for accidents affecting the entire nation, reflecting the seriousness of the situation.
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