Blog Archive Archives » Page 9 of 118 » Global Asset Management Seoul Korea

France enjoys indoor dining with new lifting of Covid-19 curbs

PARIS (AFP) – People in France enjoyed indoor dining and gyms for the first time in months on Wednesday (June 9), as the country relaxed coronavirus rules that will also see a curfew pushed to 11:00 pm as Covid cases ease and vaccines pick up. Rules for travellers from within the EU were also eased, while cultural venues relaxed their measures in line with France’s phased reopening for the summer months. The return of simple joys was welcome for some. “It’s a pleasure to have a coffee inside. Normal life is gradually resuming,” said transport employee Hammou Mraoui, sipping a coffee in a bar in the Meudon suburb of Paris. Bar owner Christophe Guedes said it was an adjustment to serve indoors again. “It’s almost strange to hear a client say ‘a coffee inside please’, but it’s a huge relief,” he told AFP. The overnight curfew will now start later – at 11:00 pm instead of 9:00 pm – before being dropped entirely on June 30 if all goes to plan. The new measures also mean that spectators will be able to enjoy night sessions for the final stages of the French Open tennis in Paris, after

Volkswagen Invests Further $620 Mln In Swedish Battery Cell Partner Northvolt

(RTTNews) – Volkswagen AG (VKW.L, VLKAF.PK, VOW.BE) announced Wednesday a contribution of $620 million or about 500 million euros in a financing round of its Swedish battery partner Northvolt AB with a total volume of $2.75 billion. The German automaker will maintain its about 20 percent stake in the cell producer. Volkswagen had already invested about 900 million euros in Northvolt in June 2019, and holds a seat on the Board of Directors. The funds are to be used for capacity expansion in the fields of production, recycling and research and development. Among other activities, Northvolt intends to expand the capacity of its Northvolt Ett gigafactory in Skellefteå, Northern Sweden to 60 GWh from 40 GWh per year, in order to meet higher demand from customers. According to Volkswagen’s Thomas Schmall, batteries are one of the key success factors in its unprecedented electric offensive. The production of Volkswagen premium cells is to be concentrated at Skellefteå in cooperation with Northvolt. Production of these cells is due to start in 2023 and the annual capacity intended for Volkswagen is to be built up step-by-step to as much as 40 Gwh. The second Volkswagen gigafactory is located in Salzgitter and will

U.S. Stock Futures Edge Higher

El Salvador approves law to make Bitcoin legal tender

SAN SALVADOR (AFP) – The Congress of El Salvador has approved a law that will classify Bitcoin as legal tender in the Central American country, its president said, making it the world’s first nation to adopt a cryptocurrency. “The #BitcoinLaw has just been approved by a qualified majority” in the legislative assembly, President Nayib Bukele tweeted after the vote late on Tuesday (June 8). “History!” the president added. He said a majority of 62 out of 84 lawmakers approved the Bill, which he proposed last week. The law passed with the support of Mr Bukele’s allies despite minority opposition parties – who had criticised the speed of the vote – refusing to back it. Before the vote, Mr Bukele said adopting the cryptocurrency would bring “financial inclusion, investment, tourism, innovation and economic development” to the country. The Salvadoran leader has hailed Bitcoin as “the fastest growing way to transfer” billions of dollars in remittances and prevent millions from being lost to intermediaries. Remittances from Salvadorans working overseas represent a major chunk of the economy – equivalent to roughly 22 per cent of gross domestic product. In 2020, remittances to the country totalled US$5.9 billion

Concentric's joint-venture Alfdex wins an important contract for an electric disc separator

SKÅNES FAGERHULT, Sweden, June 9, 2021/PRNewswire/ — Alfdex AB, a 50/50 joint venture between Alfa Laval and Concentric, today announces it has won a contract to supply an electric disc separator to a major global truck OEM. This contract with one of the world’s largest leading truck manufacturers proves the new patented electric disc separator offers market-leading technology. Production will start in 2024 and sales revenues from this new contract are estimated to be worth more than MSEK 400 over the next five years.Alfdex has a long history of providing reliable and high performing solutions for the active cleaning of crankcase gases in heavy-duty truck engines, a market the company leads globally. With the onset of even more stringent emission legislation, as well as new demands on CO2 efficiency, Alfdex has invested in a new range of electrically powered disc separators. These combine the rugged and maintenance free design of the original Alfdex separator with a state-of-the-art electric drive unit, enabling even higher cleaning performance controlled precisely by software. The fit and forget benefits of the product was always important to the total cost of ownership proposition, but it is now crucial with impending legislation that holds the truck manufacture

To stem nature loss, start by ending harmful subsidies, economists say

LONDON (THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION) – Raising huge new sums of “nature” finance to better protect the planet’s ailing biodiversity will have no significant impact unless the underlying economic rules now driving environmental losses are shifted, economists warned on Tuesday (June 8). Raising and spending the hundreds of billions of dollars needed each year to protect and repair natural systems would have only a “trivial” impact compared to reforming economic incentives – including ditching agricultural and related subsidies, said Cambridge University economist Partha Dasgupta. In an online event, he urged governments and global financial institutions to focus more on eliminating fishing, logging and agricultural incentives that lead to nature loss than on raising vast sums to try to rebalance those impacts. Governments between 2017 and 2019 provided more than US$500 billion (S$661 billion) a year in agricultural subsidies alone, which distorted markets and harmed the environment, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in 2020. Dasgupta, who released a landmark study in February on the economics of biodiversity, said ensuring businesses that profit from nature pay for the full value of the benefits they gain also could create a new source of income to protect the

Ferrari Appoints STMicroelectronics' Benedetto Vigna As CEO, Effective Sept. 1

(RTTNews) – Italian luxury sports car manufacturer Ferrari N.V. (RACE) announced Wednesday the appointment of Benedetto Vigna as its Chief Executive Officer. Vigna will join Ferrari on September 1 from STMicroelectronics (STM), where he is currently President of its Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group, ST’s largest and most profitable operating business in 2020. He is also a Member of the ST Group’s Executive Committee. Vigna, 52, holds over 26 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. He joined ST in 1995, and founded the company’s MEMS activities. John Elkann, Chairman of Ferrari said, “His deep understanding of the technologies driving much of the change in our industry, and his proven innovation, business-building and leadership skills, will further strengthen Ferrari and its unique story of passion and performance, in the exciting era ahead.”

SoftBank is launching an accelerator program for diverse start-up founders in Europe

In this article9984.T-JPThe logo of SoftBank Group in Tokyo.Philip Fong | AFP via Getty ImagesLONDON — SoftBank is aiming to put its money where its mouth is on diversity.SoftBank Investment Advisers, which manages the Japanese conglomerate’s Vision Fund for tech investing, said Wednesday it will launch its diversity-focused Emerge accelerator program in Europe.The company first introduced Emerge last year in the U.S. with WeWork Labs, the office rental firm’s start-up incubator, to back 14 start-ups whose founders come from underrepresented backgrounds. SoftBank says it has invested $5 million across 13 start-ups in the program so far.Now, SoftBank is bringing Emerge to Europe — but with a twist. This time, it’s bringing in Speedinvest and a number of other notable venture capital investors in the continent to provide access to a broader network of potential investors and partners.”Softbank is a famous investor in the later stages, with massive global successes” such as Uber, Oliver Holle, co-founder and managing partner of Speedinvest, told CNBC in an interview. “But they are not set up for investing in those very early nascent stages of company building.”Other venture funds participating in the European program include Breega, Cherry Ventures, firstminute capital and Kindred.Start-up accelerator programs are

Havana Zoo introduces Yanek, a rare white tiger, Cuba's first

HAVANA (AFP) – A Havana zoo has introduced the country’s first-ever white Bengal tiger, a rare type not known to exist in the wild. Mother Fiona gave birth to four cubs – including white tiger Yanek – at the National Zoo of Cuba in March; but only now, it said, are the cubs independent enough to be presented to the public as they play and swim in their special zoo pool. “We are very happy that a white tiger has been born in Cuba; it is the first time that this has happened,” said the animals’ caretaker Angel Cordero. They were also the first tiger cubs born on Cuban soil in more than 20 years. Along with Yanek, Fiona and fellow Bengal tiger Garfield are the proud parents of sisters Melissa and Gaby, and brother Miguel. Conservation group WWF describes white tigers as “a genetic anomaly,” with none known to exist in the wild. There are several dozen in captivity. White tigers are Bengal tigers whose parents carry a recessive gene, according to the nonprofit Wildcat Sanctuary in Minnesota, which helps and studies felines. They are not albinos or a separate species. Some parks

Cathie Wood Sells Snapchat, DocuSign For Second Straight Day, Buys Spotify

Cathie Wood-led Ark Investment Management on Monday booked profit in DocuSign Inc (NASDAQ:DOCU) for a second straight day, after boosting confidence in the e-signature company’s ability to draw more customers.Ark Invest sold 46,938 shares, estimated to be worth about $11.37 million, in DocuSign as shares of the San Francisco, California-based company closed 0.56% higher at $242.32 on Tuesday. Shares of DocuSign have risen about 4% since Friday.Wood’s firm said on Friday, after market hours, DocuSign appears to be gaining traction in international markets and the growth in its Agreement Cloud amid COVID-19 is not a temporary shift. Wood’s firm sold the shares in DocuSign via the Ark Innovation ETF (NYSE:ARKK). Ark also holds a stake in the company via the Ark Next Generation Internet ETF (NYSE:ARKW).The popular investment firm’s holding in DocuSign, whose worth is estimated to be about $592.9 million based on Tuesday’s closing price, is now down to 2.46 million shares. See Also: Cathie Wood Sells $26M In DocuSign Days After Spelling Bull Case, Also Sheds $6M In SnapchatThe investment firm also sold 77,407 shares, estimated to be worth about $4.65 million, in Snapchat parent Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP).Shares of the social media company closed 1.99% lower at $60.15 on Tuesday.Wood’s firm