Honda will become Aston Martin F1 team's engine partner
Aston Martin will be Honda’s sole Formula One engine partnership as teams are required to use more sustainable powerplants from 2026.
Honda Motor Co. will return to Formula One racing by supplying engines to Aston Martin's F1 team starting in 2026 and competing as Aston Martin Aramco Honda.
Honda officially withdrew from F1 in 2021 but the automaker has continued to provide engines to current world champions Red Bull, who have already announced a deal with Ford from 2026.
The start of the partnership will coincide with new F1 rules that require engines to be up to 50 percent electric and for cars to use fully-sustainable ethanol as fuel.
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said F1's push for sustainability is in line with the company's carbon neutrality goals.
"The key for winning will be a compact, lightweight, and high-power electric motor with a high-performance battery capable of handling high and swift power output, as well as the energy management technology," he said.
"We believe that the technologies and know-how gained from this new challenge can potentially be applied directly to our future mass production electric vehicles, such as an electric flagship sports model, and electrification technologies in various areas," Mibe added.
"The partnership with Honda is the final piece in the jigsaw to establish Aston Martin Formula 1 as a top team capable of winning world titles," Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll said at a briefing at Honda’s Tokyo headquarters on Wednesday.
"We need to exploit every single area of our technical package and now a bespoke PU (power unit) is the important last step in that journey," he said.
Stroll has invested heavily, building a new factory and wind tunnel and recruiting top staff from rival teams while also attracting significant title sponsorship from Cognizant and Saudi Aramco.
Renault-owned Alpine, Audi, Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG High-Performance Powertrains, and Red Bull Ford will be the other engine manufacturers from 2026.
Honda Racing Corp. President Koji Watanabe said the manufacturer had no plans to supply power units to other teams.
Honda's association with F1 stretches almost 60 years, from engine supplier to fully-fledged team. In 2021, Max Verstappen won the Drivers' Championship for Red Bull Racing Honda. Prior to that success, Honda had a short-lived partnership with McLaren from 2015 to 2017.
Source- Automotive News
Apple strikes major US-made semiconductor deal
Apple says it has struck a multi-billion dollar deal with chipmaker Broadcom to use more US-made parts.
Under the multi-year agreement, the two US companies will develop components for 5G devices that will be designed and manufactured in America.
Apple says the deal is part of a plan it announced in 2021 to invest $430bn (£346bn) in the US economy.
The move comes as a trade row centered on the technology industry intensifies between Washington and Beijing.
The long-running dispute has seen the US impose a series of measures against China's chip-making industry and invest billions of dollars to boost America's semiconductor sector.
In recent months, US tech giants have come under increased scrutiny from both Democrat and Republican lawmakers over their reliance on Chinese manufacturers and components.
Apple has been gradually diversifying its supply chains, with more of its devices now made in countries like India and Vietnam.
Last year, it said that it will buy semiconductors from a factory being built in the US state of Arizona by Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC.
In 2022, Apple also announced plans to make the iPhone 14 in India, a significant milestone in the company's strategy to diversify manufacturing outside of China.
The move expanded the company's Indian manufacturing operations - it has been making iPhones in the southern state of Tamil Nadu since 2017.
Last month, Apple launched its first Indian retail stores - in the financial hub Mumbai and the country's capital Delhi.
Under the latest deal, which expands the iPhone maker's existing relationship with Broadcom, components for Apple devices will be designed and built in Colorado and other parts of the US.
"We're thrilled to make commitments that harness the ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit of American manufacturing," Apple's chief executive Tim Cook said in a statement.
Tensions between the US and China have escalated in recent months.
Earlier this week, China said products made by US memory chip giant Micron Technology were a national security risk, in Beijing's first major move against a US chip maker.
The country's cyberspace regulator announced on Sunday that America's biggest maker of memory chips poses "serious network security risks".
Source- BBC
PSG want Silva to replace Messi
Manchester City's Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva, 28, is Paris St-Germain's top target as they look to replace 35-year-old Argentina forward Lionel Messi.
Arsenal are ready to offer West Ham a club record £90m for 24-year-old England midfielder Declan Rice, while Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka, 30, could be among the players sold by the Gunners.
Brighton's 21-year-old Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo is a key target for Arsenal as they plan to move early in the summer transfer market.
Napoli's South Korea defender Kim Min-jae, 26, has agreed to join Manchester United this summer after they agreed to pay his 50m euro (£43m) release clause.
Brighton's 24-year-old Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, who has been linked with Liverpool and Manchester United, wants to join a Champions League club.
Prospective new Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is set to hold talks with 24-year-old England midfielder Mason Mount over extending his contract, which expires in 2024.
Chelsea want Napoli's 24-year-old Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen as part of Pochettino's summer rebuild.
Barcelona are interested 26-year-old Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves, but Wolves want at least £45m.
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson, 75, is close to signing a new one-year contract.
Southampton's 28-year-old England midfielder James Ward-Prowse does not have a relegation release clause in his contract, but the club are expecting bids. Aston Villa, West Ham and Tottenham have expressed an interest.
Newcastle United's interest in RB Leipzig's 22-year-old Hungary midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, who has a 70m euro (£61m) release clause in his contract, has intensified, but there has been no contact between the clubs.
Newcastle are interested in Chelsea's 23-year-old England midfielder Conor Gallagher and face competition from Tottenham for Leicester's England midfielder James Maddison.
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund want 25-year-old Mexico midfielder Edson Alvarez, whom Ajax could be prepared to sell for £30m.
Manchester United's English defenders Phil Jones, 31, and Axel Tuanzebe, 25, are expected to be released this summer.
Manchester United are considering a move for Borussia Dortmund's 25-year-old Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, although the German club intend to offer him a new contract.
West Ham are looking to appoint a director of football to ease the demands on sporting director Mark Noble and reduce the influence of manager David Moyes.
West Ham are monitoring Valencia's 20-year-old United States midfielder Yunus Musah.
Brentford and Spain keeper David Raya, 27, is near the top of Tottenham's transfer list, with Frenchman Hugo Lloris, 36, expected to leave this summer.
Brentford could sign Freiburg's 29-year-old Netherlands goalkeeper Mark Flekken, who has a 13m euro (£11.3m) release clause in his contract.
Tottenham have held talks with Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto about their director of football role.
Source- BBC
Microsoft's Activision takeover approved by EU after UK veto
EU regulators have approved Microsoft's $69bn (£55bn) attempt to purchase Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard.
The European Commission (EC) said Microsoft had addressed their concerns on competition issues.
It comes three weeks after the UK blocked the deal over worries it would hurt competition in the emerging cloud gaming business.
The proposed takeover is poised to be the biggest deal in gaming history but has split global regulators.
In order for the deal to go through Microsoft and Activision need approval from regulatory bodies in the UK, EU and the US.
The US Federal Trace Commission filed a lawsuit in December to block the deal - a judge's decision is unlikely before the end of the year.
The EC have approved the acquisition, saying that Microsoft's offer of 10 year free licensing deals - which promise European consumers and cloud game streaming services access to Activision's PC and console games - mean there would be fair competition in the market.
"The commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the Commission and represent a significant improvement for cloud gaming as compared to the current situation," the EU competition watchdog said in a statement.
It said an in-depth market investigation indicated that Microsoft "would not be able to harm rival consoles and rival multi-game subscription services".
And it said cloud game streaming service providers "gave positive feedback and showed interest in the licenses", with some having already entered into agreements with Microsoft based on their proposals.
The deal is important for Microsoft who are trying to play catch-up with its main competitors Sony. They have been the more successful of the two in recent years when it comes to sales in the console market.
However, this attempted massive investment from Microsoft can been seen as a play for the future of games rather than its present. Microsoft is betting big on its Game Pass service, which can be described as a Netflix of games.
They think the future lies in players having subscriptions to libraries rather than making one off purchases - which is the predominant way of accessing games at the moment.
Their Game Pass offering is compelling but lacking the volume and caliber of new titles to fully transform the way most people play. This deal would give it control of some of the world's most popular games such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Overwatch. Being in charge of titles like that could be a big boost to the service.
Cloud gaming is an extension of that principle allowing people to stream their game on any device they own - form a phone to a console or high-end PC. Just like watching Amazon Prime or Disney+ but with video games.
Currently this is a small and emerging part of the games industry because of the technological requirements of making it work. It is however seemingly growing with the number of people playing this way in the UK having tripled between 2021 and 2022 according to the CMA.
Microsoft have invested in this space and so combined with its Game Pass offering it is in a good position to lead the way, should cloud gaming go on to become a significant part of the industry.
That is why the CMA decided to block the decision in the UK, arguing it would put Microsoft in too dominant a position in this up-and-coming sector.
However many within the games industry have disagreed with their analysis - especially given how small the cloud gaming sector is in the grand scheme of things and given it is not be guaranteed to become the dominant way of accessing games in future.
Source- BBC
Man gets three years for accidentally killing best friend
A man who accidentally killed his best friend and then fled the scene in a panic has been sentenced to three years in prison.
A tearful Godfrey ‘Nico’ Brown learnt of his fate when he appeared before the St James Circuit Court last week. He was represented by attorneys-at-law Albert Morgan and Sherneika Jackson.
On April 20, Brown pleaded not guilty to murder, guilty to manslaughter, and guilty to illegal possession of firearm.
During the mitigation hearing last Thursday, Morgan emphasized Brown's attributes and antecedents, highlighting that the only aggravating factor was his possession of an illegal firearm, which ultimately led to a fatality.
High Court Justice Judith Pusey subsequently sentenced Brown to three years, five months and two weeks in prison on the firearm charge and two years five months and two weeks in prison on the charge of manslaughter. The sentences will run concurrently so he will end up serving the longer term.
According to court documents, the shooting occurred on October 26, 2022.
It is alleged that 18-year-old Nicardo Grey of Cornwall Courts was on the road in front of a friend's house at the complex when Brown, who had a firearm, went outside to greet him.
An explosion was heard and Brown was heard saying he never meant to shoot Grey and that he had been unaware that there was a bullet in the chamber of the gun.
Brown then fled the scene.
Shortly after, Grey was seen lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the right side of his face.
He was rushed to the Cornwall Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Brown later turned himself in to the police.
Source- Jamaica Observer
HT- Jamaica, Accidental Death
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BUSINESS
- Elon Musk documents subpoenaed in Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit
Elon Musk has been subpoenaed by the US Virgin Islands in a lawsuit accusing a Wall Street bank of enabling Jeffrey Epstein to sex traffic women.
It calls on the Tesla boss to hand over any documents showing communication between him, JP Morgan Chase bank and Epstein, who died in 2019.
Mr. Musk is not accused of any wrongdoing in the case.
On Monday, he also reiterated denials of suggestions that Epstein had provided him with financial advice.
Jeffrey Epstein died in jail in New York in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The Virgin Islands is suing JP Morgan Chase for allegedly helping enable Epstein's alleged crimes.
Its case alleges trafficked women were sexually abused by Epstein and others on Little St. James, his private island in the territory.
The Virgin Islands government has accused the bank of not acting on warning signs about the alleged crimes. The bank has denied the allegations.
As part of the case, a court filing on Monday revealed the territory's authorities had tried to serve Mr. Musk, the multi-billionaire owner of Twitter, with the subpoena but had been unsuccessful.
"The Government [of the US Virgin Islands] contacted Mr. Musk's counsel via email to ask if he would be authorized to accept service on Mr. Musk's behalf in this matter, but did not receive a response confirming or denying his authority," the filing said.
The Virgin Islands also asked a Manhattan federal court judge to allow it to serve Mr. Musk with the subpoena with Tesla's registered agent.
Mr. Musk may have been referred to the Wall Street banking giant by Epstein, according to the court filing.
However, the Virgin Islands did not provide further explanation for its interest in obtaining documents from Mr. Musk.
Epstein, a financier, had been a client of JP Morgan from 2000 to 2013. Mr. Musk was also been a customer - with JP Morgan in charge of Tesla's commercial banking business for several years.
Mr. Musk tweeted on Monday that the suggestion that he taken advice from Epstein was "idiotic" and called the late financier a "dumb crook."
Epstein, who was convicted in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor, moved in social circles that included Prince Andrew and former presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as many key figures of the business world.
Prosecutors in 2019 accused him of running a "vast network" of underage girls for sex.
JP Morgan Chase has denied knowing about Epstein's crimes.
Source- BBC
Five men convicted of audacious 2019 heist
Five men have been found guilty of an audacious jewel heist in the German city of Dresden.
The thieves stole precious items worth €113m (£98m) from the city's state museum in 2019.
Police recovered many of the jewels, including a diamond encrusted sword, but it's feared the rest of the looted treasure may never be found.
The men, all members of a notorious criminal family network, face sentences of four to six years.
This was a meticulously planned heist. The gang, who lived in Berlin, visited the site several times and prepared their entry point in advance, using a hydraulic cutting machine to saw through the bars of a protective window covering before taping them back into place.
Then, in the early hours of the morning of 25 November 2019, they set fire to a circuit breaker panel near the museum, plunging the surrounding streets into darkness while two of the men slipped inside.
CCTV footage captured the thieves wearing masks and wielding axes as they entered the sumptuously decorated Gruenes Gewoelbe - or Green Vault - and smashed the glass display cases to get to the treasure.
The thieves then sprayed a foam fire extinguisher over the room to cover their tracks before making their getaway in an Audi which they then dumped in a car park, setting fire to the vehicle before they fled back to Berlin.
After a year-long investigation, police made their first arrests. All of those convicted today are members of the so called "Remmo clan". There are several "clans" in Germany; family networks with Arab roots responsible for major organized crime, including in recent years a raid on a department store and a bank robbery.
One of the Dresden thieves was previously convicted of the theft of a giant gold coin, which weighed 100kg (220lbs), from Berlin's Bode museum in 2017. The coin was never recovered and is believed to have been broken up or melted down.
"There are people who steal artworks out of passion for art, but this was really the opposite," says Marion Ackermann, general director of Dresden's State Art Collections. "They had no idea of what they had taken."
Initially there were fears that, like the golden coin, the treasure was lost forever.
But many of the stolen items were returned to the museum after three of the men confessed to the theft and agreed to divulge the location of the loot in return for lighter sentences as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Nevertheless, several pieces are still missing, including a very rare diamond called the White Stone of Saxony.
The items were part of a treasure trove collected in the 18th Century by Augustus the Strong, the Elector of Saxony. He not only amassed pieces covered in diamonds and precious stones but designed the Green Vault in which to display them.
Professor Ackermann says that the loss of part of the collection was particularly painful because Augustus' concept then, as now, was that a visitor should see the whole ensemble together and be overwhelmed by the variety of colours and stones.
The audacity of the heist shocked the art world. But the break-in also raised questions about the adequacy of the museum's security measures.
Even one of the thieves expressed surprise during the trial that they'd been able to saw through window bars apparently without detection, despite the noise generated by their cutting equipment.
Professor Ackermann, who emphasised that responsibility for the security concept at the museum was shared between Dresden's State Art Collection and another regional body, insisted that the security system was one of the best in Germany.
But, she added, "many aspects come together in a security system. The building, the organisation, and also technical aspects. And, like in a chain, every aspect must work and, in this case, many things didn't work."
She says that a system designed to scan the outer walls of the museum had failed, and that guards sitting in the central security room, who saw events unfold on their monitors, were slow to call the police.
Police opened an investigation into four security guards at the museum on suspicion that they had helped with preparations and reacted too slowly to the break in itself, but officers ended those enquiries last year.
Today the security system has been overhauled and museum staff have turned their attention to the restoration of the jewels.
Experts are optimistic that Augustus' treasure can be brought back to its former glory and, eventually, go back on public display.
But curators are resigned to the loss of the rest of the trove, and accept that it's unlikely the collection will ever be whole again.
Source- BBC
FORECAST FOR THURSDAY
WEATHER: PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY AND WARM WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THE CHANCE OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.
WINDS: EASTERLY AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET
Google reveals AI updates as it vies with Microsoft
Google has announced it is rolling out generative artificial intelligence (AI) to its core search engine.
The move comes after Microsoft incorporated GPT-4 into its Bing search engine earlier this year.
Search Generative Experience - which will be part of Google - will craft responses to open-ended queries, the company said.
However, the system will only be available to a limited number of users and is still in the "experimental" phase.
"We are reimagining all of our core products, including search," said Sundar Pichai, the boss of Google's parent company Alphabet.
Additionally, the company announced a new feature on Google's Android system that will proactively warn users about unknown AirTags, tiny devices developed to track personal items like keys and wallets.
The technology giant said the "unknown tracker alerts" would go live this summer.
The announcement came after Apple and Google said last week they were working together to address the problem.
Last year two women sued Apple over AirTag stalking.
Women who have been tracked using the devices told the BBC last year that not enough was being done to prevent misuse.
Google made the announcement at its annual developer conference, where leaders of the company touted their latest advancements in artificial intelligence and new hardware offerings, including a $1,799 (£1,425) phone that opens and closes like a book.
The company said it was removing the waitlist for "Bard", its experimental, conversational, chat service, which will be rolled out in English in 180 countries and territories.
It also said the chatbot would soon be able to respond to prompts with images as well as text.
Google has been under pressure to burnish its artificial intelligence offerings, after the runaway success of rival chatbot ChatGPT, which is funded by Microsoft.
A previous attempt to show off its credentials in the field, in February, ended in embarrassment, after it emerged that - in an advert intended to illustrate its capabilities - Bard had answered a question incorrectly.
The incident wiped $100bn (£82bn) off parent company Alphabet's share value - an indication of how keenly investors are watching how the tech giants' AI ventures play out.
Microsoft is deploying ChatGPT technology into its search engine Bing, after investing heavily in the company that developed it, OpenAI.
Chinese tech giant Baidu also has a chatbot, called Ernie.
Chirag Dekate, an analyst at Gartner, said Google remained an industry leader and was well poised to benefit in the interest in AI.
"Google has the tools to dominate the AI battles, the perennial question is - will they?" he said.
Source- BBC
Stephen Curry led with 27 points as the 3-2 series continues
Stephen Curry led with 27 points as the Golden State Warriors kept their hopes of reaching the Western Conference finals alive with a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in San Francisco.
The defending NBA champions won 121-106 to narrow their deficit in the best-of-seven semi-finals to 3-2.
Andrew Green added 25 points for the Warriors with Draymond Green making 20.
The Lakers, seeded seventh, have another opportunity to progress to the conference finals on Friday in LA.
However, they could be without star center Anthony Davis after he was accidentally struck on the head by Golden State's Kevon Looney and immediately taken off the court.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 25 points and matched Davis with a team-high nine rebounds against the Warriors, who are seeking a 20th successive playoff series win against the western competition.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, the New York Knicks also held off elimination with a 112-103 win over the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden.
Like Golden State, they trail their series 3-2 as they bid to reach the first conference finals since 2000.
Jalen Brunson led with a game-high 38 points, while he and Quentin Grimes became the first Knicks players since 1972 to play all 48 minutes of a playoff game.
The Knicks led by 19 points in the third quarter and, while the Heat narrowed the gap to just two late in the fourth, Isaiah Hartenstein answered with a dunk, and his New York side held on.
"You've got to give them credit, that's a hard team to play," Brunson told TNT. "But we just came out to fight."
Game six is in Miami on Friday.
Source- BBC
Ludacris to receive star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Ludacris is skipping the May 18 stop of Janet Jackson's Together Again tour for a very special occasion: He'll be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The rapper, who's acted in the Fast & Furious franchise, New Year’s Eve, No Strings Attached, Crash, and Hustle & Flow, will receive the 2,656th star in the Motion Picture category.
“Ludacris has been a pop culture staple for many years,” says Hollywood Walk of Fame producer Ana Martinez. “As both a rapper and actor, he has created some of our favorite music and film moments and we’re thrilled to welcome him to our historic landmark."
The unveiling of Ludacris' star will take place May 18 at 11:30 a.m. PT on 6426 Hollywood Blvd., with a live stream available at walkoffame.com. Ellen K will serve as emcee for the event, which will also feature appearances from Luda's friends Vin Diesel and LL Cool J.
While absent from the tour, Lil' Kim will replace him as Janet's special guest.
Source- ABC