Author: Willard Adam Webster

The global auto industry is undergoing a sea change, with implications for the energy sector, as electrification is set to avoid the need for 5 million barrels of oil a day by 2030 Global sales of electric cars are set to surge to yet another record this year, expanding their share of the overall car market to close to one-fifth and leading a major transformation of the auto industry that has implications for the energy sector, especially oil. The new edition of the IEA’s annual Global Electric Vehicle Outlook shows that more than 10 million electric cars were sold worldwide…

Lawmakers applaud goal, but question how it will work A California bill that aims to ease newspapers’ internet-age woes by making Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook pay for the online articles their users access through their platforms advanced out of its first committee hearing Tuesday night, but not without lots of questions from lawmakers. “A free and diverse press is the backbone of a healthy and vibrant democracy,” Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat, told the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, which passed her bill on a 9-0 vote with two members abstaining. “These dominant companies are…

Former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull “will move mountains to stop their egos from being bruised” by journalists whose job it is to scrutinise and criticise their comments and actions, says Sky News Digital Editor Jack Houghton. Mr Rudd’s office formally made a complaint to Sky News which said he had not made any commentary criticising the government’s AUKUS arrangements. However, during an interview with SBS French in 2021, he made commentary that was “scathing of the deal and how it was announced”, Mr Houghton said. “Rudd does not want his public comments to be on the record,…

The head of US Indo-Pacific Command has said that efforts will be made to speed up the transfer of critical technology from the US to Australia under the second pillar of AUKUS. This will see Artificial Intelligence (AI), quantum technologies, undersea, hypersonic, and cyber capabilities shared with Australia, for which questions have been raised about how willing and quickly such transfers will be made due to US export controls.  Admiral John C. Aquilino made these remarks during the question-and-answer session at a special lecture organised by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) in Singapore. He was responding to a question…

New Delhi: Academy Award winning actor Reese Witherspoon and husband Jim Toth announced their separation after 11 years of marriage. The couple released a joint statement on Friday. The statement read: “We have some personal news to share… It is with a great deal of care and consideration that we have made the difficult decision to divorce. We have enjoyed so many wonderful years together and are moving forward with deep love, kindness and mutual respect for everything we have created together.” They asked for privacy and added in the statement: “Our biggest priority is our son and our entire family as we…

Model and influencer Veronika Rajek has some choice words for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.But not Tom Brady — the object of her ardour. The Bucs’ season — and possibly Brady’s storied career — ended with a disastrous 31-14 loss in the NFC wild-card game on Monday Night Football. Following the defeat, the leggy Slovakian took to Instagram Story. Her argument? Brady can’t win alone. Rajek wrote: “I’m just sorry. But one guy cannot play for everyone on the field. TB you did your best like always. But one piece of the puzzle doesn’t make a picture.” In some ways it…

Four Russian aircraft, including a fighter jet and bomber, flew into a buffer zone of international airspace near Alaska Monday, according to a release from the North American Aerospace Defense Command on Tuesday, prompting a handful of U.S. Air Force jets to scramble and intercept them. The activity was “routine,” according to NORAD, one of half-a-dozen yearly interactions between Russian and NORAD aircraft in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone “Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace,” the release said. “This Russian activity in the North American ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as…

London, Brussels (14/2 – 17) Pu·to·ni·a /ˈpo͞otəˈnēə/ Pu·to·ni·an /ˈpo͞otəˈnēyən/ (Noun: A state of dictatorship under the self-illusion of recreating a status quo by force to impose an ideology on others) Russia was a reflective nation. This is the DNA of Russian society, it manifests itself in its culture, politics and society. There is a constant balancing of war and peace. Today, Russia is at war. War against Ukraine, war against Europe, war with itself. However, Russia has made miscalculations. First, if the Ukrainians are defeated, defeating the Ukrainians in the battlefield will lead to the downfall of Putin’s empire. The Russian winning…

A forward-looking gauge of economic activity fell sharply in December, showing the U.S. economy weakened markedly as the year ended, the Conference Board reported on Monday. The business organization’s leading economic index fell 1% from November, when it dropped by 1.1%. “The US LEI fell sharply again in December – continuing to signal recession for the US economy in the near term,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director, economics, at the board. “There was widespread weakness among leading indicators in December, indicating deteriorating conditions for labor markets, manufacturing, housing construction, and financial markets in the months ahead.” “Overall economic activity is…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — She was dubbed a “rock princess,” but Lisa Marie Presley staked her own musical claim as a singer-songwriter, allowing her to express herself apart from — but sometimes alongside — her megastar father. Presley, who died Thursday at 54, bore a heavy weight: The daughter of musical royalty, the face of the Elvis estate and fodder for tabloid gossip about her marriages. There was no question music would be a center point of her life, starting when she was a child singing for her father, the King with the unmistakable voice. “He’s always been a huge…