美國會議員審查福特與寧德時代的技術合作 美國「眾議院對中共特別委員會」（Select Committee on the CCP）正在審查福特（Ford）公司與寧德時代（CATL）的電池合作協議。該協議涉及福特使用寧德時代許可技術，在美國電池製造設施生產磷酸鐵鋰電池和儲能系統電池。 審查現有合作協議 據路透社報道，眾議院「美國對中共戰略競爭特別委員會」（Select Committee on Str...
美國會議員審查福特與寧德時代的技術合作 美國「眾議院對中共特別委員會」（Select Committee on the CCP）正在審查福特（Ford）公司與寧德時代（CATL）的電池合作協議。該協議涉及福特使用寧德時代許可技術，在美國電池製造設施生產磷酸鐵鋰電池和儲能系統電池。 審查現有合作協議 據路透社報道，眾議院「美國對中共戰略競爭特別委員會」（Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party）主席穆羅爾（John Moolenaar）周三（1月28日）致信「福特汽車」行政總裁Jim Farley，對福特使用中國公司「寧德時代」的技術建造數據中心電池，以及進入美國儲能業務的合作協議表示關切。 這位密歇根州（Michigan）共和黨議員在信中要求福特回答一系列關於其與寧德時代之間合作協議的問題，其中包括：自去年通過一項針對新資格實施限制的法律以來，福特與「寧德時代」之間的技術許可和合作生產協議是否已被更新、擴展或以其它方式修改。 與中國企業合作「是嚴重漏洞」 福特在去年12月宣布提列195億美元減值（writedown）準備，並取消幾款電動車型生產。該公司表示，將利用位於肯塔基州（Kentucky）和密歇根州的電池工廠生產儲能系統電池，並計劃在18個月內使初始產能上線。 福特當時指出，「擴大在美國的磷酸鐵鋰電池生產，不僅僅是對能源安全的投資，而且也是對美國工人的投資。每個新設施意味著數千個高技能製造崗位和更強勁的地方經濟。」 穆羅爾還要求福特澄清，它是否計劃與中國汽車製造商比亞迪（BYD）成立合資企業。 他表示：「最近幾個月的情況顯示，中國（中共）已將汽車供應鏈武器化。這項合作協議是一個嚴重漏洞，如果福特與比亞迪建立新的合作關係，情況只會更糟。」 福特2023年宣布將在密歇根州投資30億美元建造電池工廠，使用「寧德時代」技術生產電池單元。該工廠位於密歇根州馬歇爾（Marshall, Michigan），預計今年開始生產，並將為福特出產的3萬美元的中型電動農夫車生產電池。 福特與中國企業合作廣泛 此前，《華爾街日報》報道稱，福特正在與中國比亞迪公司討論為其海外工廠生產的混合動力汽車供應電池的問題。 據熟悉談判情況人士...
No longer confined to the partisans and activists, the fierce backlash against Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has begun to break out across American culture, spanning the worlds of business, sports and entertainment. Bruce Springsteen released a new song on Wednesday that slammed “Trump’s federal thugs”. OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman told employees that “what’s happening with ICE is goin...
No longer confined to the partisans and activists, the fierce backlash against Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has begun to break out across American culture, spanning the worlds of business, sports and entertainment. Bruce Springsteen released a new song on Wednesday that slammed “Trump’s federal thugs”. OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman told employees that “what’s happening with ICE is going too far”, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And lifestyle icon Martha Stewart lamented that “we can be attacked and even killed”. “Things must and have to change quickly and peacefully,” Stewart wrote to her 2.9 million Instagram followers this week. Advertisement A little more than one year into his second term, Trump is facing a broad cultural revolt that threatens to undermine his signature domestic priority, the Republican Party’s grip on power and his own political strength ahead of the midterm elections. A man in handcuffs runs from federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. Photo: AP Trump tried to shift the conversation this week by dispatching border tsar Tom Homan to Minnesota to replace Greg Bovino, a Border Patrol commander who has been a lightning rod.
(RTTNews) - Swiss drug major Roche Holding AG (RHHBY) reported Thursday higher profit and sales in fiscal 2025, mainly with growth in Pharmaceuticals Division sales. The company also announced higher dividend, and issued fiscal 2026 outlook, expecting year-over-year growth in sales and Core earnings per share at constant exzchange rates. In fiscal 2025, IFRS net income grew 50 percent to 13.80 bil...
(RTTNews) - Swiss drug major Roche Holding AG (RHHBY) reported Thursday higher profit and sales in fiscal 2025, mainly with growth in Pharmaceuticals Division sales. The company also announced higher dividend, and issued fiscal 2026 outlook, expecting year-over-year growth in sales and Core earnings per share at constant exzchange rates. In fiscal 2025, IFRS net income grew 50 percent to 13.80 billion Swiss francs from last year's 9.19 billion francs. IFRS net income Attributable to shareholders was 12.88 billion francs or 16.04 francs per share. Higher results reflected the strong operating performance in 2025 and the base effect of impairment charges in 2024. Core earnings were 15.62 billion francs or 19.46 francs per share, up 4 percent from 18.80 francs a year ago. Core operating profit grew 5 percent from last year to 21.83 billion francs. Group sales increased 2 percent to 61.52 billion francs from last year's 60.50 billion francs. Group sales grew by 7 percent at constant exchange rates, driven by strong demand for medicines and diagnostic solutions. Pharmaceuticals Division sales increased 3 percent mainly with growth in Phesgo (breast cancer), Xolair (food allergies), Ocrevus (multiple sclerosis), Hemlibra (haemophilia A) and Vabysmo (severe eye diseases). Diagnostics Division sales fell 3 percent amid the impact of healthcare pricing reforms in China, despite demand for pathology and molecular solutions . Sales in the fourth quarter increased 8 percent, reflecting the positive momentum. Further, the Board proposed a dividend increase to 9.80 francs per share and non-voting equity security. Looking ahead for fiscal 2026, Roche expects an increase in Group sales in the mid single digit range at CER. Core earnings per share are targeted to develop in the high single digit range at CER. Roche expects to further increase its dividend in Swiss francs. The company also announced that the Board of Directors will propose Lubomira Rochet, Executive Vice President an...
This tender satire of a dysfunctional American family’s search for moral guidance is precisely what our times need Making the comic novel succeed is a rich, tricky project in our age of desperate, sometimes weirdly eager apocalypticism. Madeline Cash has spotted that a combination of tenderness and satire may be precisely what our times require. Lost Lambs, her debut novel about the Flynn family, ...
This tender satire of a dysfunctional American family’s search for moral guidance is precisely what our times need Making the comic novel succeed is a rich, tricky project in our age of desperate, sometimes weirdly eager apocalypticism. Madeline Cash has spotted that a combination of tenderness and satire may be precisely what our times require. Lost Lambs, her debut novel about the Flynn family, is a witty, quickfire book set in a small American town, punch-drunk on clever, skewering lists and infested typographically by the gnats that plague the local church the family attends (“explagnation”, “extermignation”). The Flynns are in a mess. It was easy for Catherine and Bud to be passionate when he was a young rock star and she was an aspiring artist. But since then they’ve acquired three daughters and a lot of Tupperware. Catherine succumbs to the advances of Jim, an amateur artist who gives her “the youthful comfort of being understood”. He’s rekindled her artistic ambitions, prompting her to decorate the Flynn house with nude self-portraits and proclaim an open marriage. She doesn’t yet know that Jim has a collection of pottery vaginas in his basement (“each of these pussies has touched my life”). Continue reading...
Almost two in three women over 50 in the UK struggle with their mental health as they deal with menopause, relationship breakdowns and changes to their appearance, a survey has found. Brain fog, parents dying, children leaving home and financial pressures can also trigger difficulties such as sleeping problems, feeling anxious or overwhelmed, and a loss of zest for life. However, an “epidemic of s...
Almost two in three women over 50 in the UK struggle with their mental health as they deal with menopause, relationship breakdowns and changes to their appearance, a survey has found. Brain fog, parents dying, children leaving home and financial pressures can also trigger difficulties such as sleeping problems, feeling anxious or overwhelmed, and a loss of zest for life. However, an “epidemic of silence” surrounds the challenges women face to their mental health in midlife, as almost nine out of 10 of those affected seek no help to cope. The findings emerged from a survey of 2,000 women aged 50 and over across Britain, commissioned by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), which represents therapists. The findings were “a sobering read”, said Dr Lisa Morrison, BACP’s director of professional standards, policy and research. “We know that for many women this stage in life presents a convergence of major challenges – from the menopause and other physical changes, to relationship breakdowns, caring responsibilities and empty-nest syndrome. “What is most alarming is that a staggering nearly nine in 10 women [affected] are facing mental health struggles but feel the need to hide it. For many women over 50, midlife mental wellbeing challenges are having a devastating impact on their day-to-day lives.” The negative consequences of a widespread “holding back from opening up” included trouble sleeping (59%), gaining or losing weight (43%), avoiding social events (38%) and withdrawing from friendship groups (28%), according to the survey, undertaken by the market research firm 3Gem. Overall, 58% felt more anxious and overwhelmed by things that would previously not have affected them. Asked what stopped them opening up about their mental welfare, women said they did not want to burden people (4%), felt they needed to “hold it together” for others (45%), feared that other people would not understand (27%), and tended to keep a “stiff upper lip” (24%). ...
‘Of course I’m scared’: people confront their final days – in pictures Sibylle Fendt’s intimate photographs of terminally ill patients and their carers were inspired by the death of her own husband – a period in which she experienced pain, tenderness and love
‘Of course I’m scared’: people confront their final days – in pictures Sibylle Fendt’s intimate photographs of terminally ill patients and their carers were inspired by the death of her own husband – a period in which she experienced pain, tenderness and love
American robotaxis due to be unleashed on London’s streets before the end of the year have been quietly undergoing training to understand the city’s quirks, not least the zebra crossings, their promoters said on Thursday as they showed off one of the UK-specific driverless cars for the first time. The US self-driving ride-hailing company Waymo has a fleet of about 24 cars in London, each rigged wi...
American robotaxis due to be unleashed on London’s streets before the end of the year have been quietly undergoing training to understand the city’s quirks, not least the zebra crossings, their promoters said on Thursday as they showed off one of the UK-specific driverless cars for the first time. The US self-driving ride-hailing company Waymo has a fleet of about 24 cars in London, each rigged with cameras, radar and lidar (light detection and ranging) censors. Waymo’s bosses hope the taxis will be allowed to start taking paying customers in the last quarter of this year – the first rollout of the driverless technology outside the US. For the last two months the cars have been manually steered around the city to “learn the nuances, learn about the zebra crossings”, said Ben Loewenstein, head of EU and UK policy and government affairs at Waymo. The schooling comes as the company, which is owned by the Google parent company Alphabet, awaits government legislation permitting driverless cars on UK streets for the first time. Wayve, a British self-driving taxi company, and Uber are also vying for a slice of the potential London market. So far, Waymo has operated only in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix and San Francisco, and there has been concern that London’s tighter packed and often medieval streets could be much more challenging for the AI-powered technology. Zebra crossings, for example, differ considerably from cross-walks in the US. In London they are marked by Belisha beacons – flashing yellow orbs on striped poles – and often rely on a subtle eye contact-based interaction between driver and pedestrian about who has right of way, rather than stop/go lights. At the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden on Thursday, Waymo unveiled one of the Jaguar cars it hopes to use. Similar to those in use in the US, it bristles with cameras, radar and lidar censors which Nicole Gavel, senior director, claimed allowed it to “perceive the world around them more a...