Новости за 10.02.2024

Paris (AFP) Feb 8, 2024
French cosmetics giant L'Oreal reported Thursday that its net profit rose 8.4 percent in 2023 despite weak sales in China. Net profit for the year hit 6.2 billion euros ($6.8 billion) while sales grew 7.6 percent to 41.2 billion euros, it said in a statement. "In a challenging environment of geopolitical tensions, inflationary pressures, and a stagnating beauty market in China, we deli

Hong Kong (AFP) Feb 9, 2024
Asian markets were mixed in holiday-thinned trade Friday as investors struggled to build on another record-setting day on Wall Street, with focus on the upcoming release of key US inflation data. US equities have continued their march higher this week as strong earnings from big-name firms and data showing resilience in the world's number one economy helped overcome Federal Reserve warnings

Brussels (AFP) Feb 8, 2024
EU officials said negotiators struck a agreement on Thursday on rules that seek to improve conditions for those working through apps, but member states could still reject the deal. The European Union wants to approve the world's first law covering the gig economy in a bid to give clarity to the status of millions of workers. The draft text had already been agreed in December. But days la

Brussels (AFP) Feb 8, 2024
TikTok said on Thursday it is challenging an EU fee to enforce a content moderation law, a day after Facebook owner Meta announced a similar move. The video-sharing app is on a list of "very large" online platforms that must comply with stricter rules under the bloc's new Digital Services Act (DSA). Firms on the list must pay fees to the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, to fi

Paris (AFP) Feb 8, 2024
The French offices of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei were raided this week on suspicion of improper behaviour, a judicial source told AFP on Thursday. The source said Tuesday's raids were carried out as part of a preliminary investigation launched by France's financial prosecution service (PNF). No other details were immediately available about the probe into the company, whose French of

London (AFP) Feb 8, 2024
Britain's main opposition Labour Party on Thursday ditched a commitment to spend GBP28 billion a year on green infrastructure if it wins this year's UK general election. The pledge, originally made in 2021 but watered down as it came under attack from the ruling Conservatives, had been key to Labour's plans for tackling climate change. The centre-left party said it was still committed to i

London (AFP) Feb 8, 2024
The London Metal Exchange faces a lawsuit brought by campaigners on Thursday over the trading of "dirty metals", whose mining they claim sparks environmental disasters in Indonesia. The LME denies the allegations. London Mining Network, comprising green and human rights campaigners, is filing the "landmark" legal action at the High Court along with NGO grouping Global Legal Action Networ

San Francisco (AFP) Feb 8, 2024
US regulators on Thursday declared scam "robocalls" made using voices created with artificial intelligence (AI) as illegal. The phenomenon gained attention last month when a robocall impersonation of US President Joe Biden urged people to not cast ballots in the New Hampshire primary. "Bad actors are using AI-generated voices in unsolicited robocalls to extort vulnerable family members,

San Francisco (AFP) Feb 8, 2024
Google on Thursday rebranded its ChatGPT-style chatbot to Gemini, giving it unprecedented prominence on its products, as the tech titan's AI race with Microsoft heats up. The name change from Bard comes a year after the search engine giant rushed out its chatbot in a frantic bid to catch up with Microsoft's Bing chatbot, which was released through its partnership with OpenAI, the maker of Ch

Washington (AFP) Feb 7, 2024
President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday announced tough new air quality standards it said were sorely needed to protect the health of vulnerable communities, though industry groups have said the move would harm domestic manufacturing. It comes as the Democratic incumbent faces a tough election rematch against the likely Republican candidate Donald Trump, who rolled back dozens of a

Washington DC (UPI) Feb 8, 2024
The U.S. Department of Transportation is investing $1.5 billion in zero-emission buses and the infrastructure, facilities and workforce that go along with them. The new investment builds on previous clean bus investments and is designed to help replace America's fleet of aging buses, reduce air pollution, create jobs and improve transit system reliability, according to a release from th

Garching, Germany (SPX) Feb 09, 2024
The Joint European Torus (JET), a cornerstone in global fusion research, has once again made headlines by achieving a significant breakthrough in fusion energy generation. In its latest series of experiments, JET not only demonstrated the capability to generate fusion energy reliably but also set a new world record for energy output, marking a pivotal moment in the pursuit of sustainable and low

London (AFP) Feb 9, 2024
British bank Barclays said Friday it would stop directly financing its energy clients' new oil and gas projects, but still ran into fierce criticism from campaigners who said the moves don't far enough. As part of its updated climate strategy, the bank added it would scale back lending for existing fossil fuel projects as the sector faces intense pressure from activist investors to help tack

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Feb 09, 2024
An ambitious international research endeavor, spearheaded by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), is set to revolutionize seasonal thermal energy storage technologies. Titled "INTERSTORES," this project is at the forefront of designing and integrating novel storage systems into our energy infrastructure, marking a significant step forward in the energy transition movement.

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Feb 09, 2024
In a significant advancement for semiconductor technology, researchers from the Universities of Gottingen, Marburg, and Cambridge have leveraged electron spectroscopy to uncover the intricate details of exciton dynamics in two-dimensional semiconductors. This groundbreaking study, published in Science Advances, offers unprecedented insights into the charge transfer processes essential for the ne