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VODERADY, Slovakia – Northvolt’s financial collapse has not entirely crushed Europe’s dream of developing its own electric vehicle batteries, but fulfilling it is likely to require Chinese cash and expertise. InoBat CEO Marian Bocek’s Slovakian start-up had to work hard to secure funding until China’s fifth-largest battery maker Gotion bought a 25% stake last year and formed a joint venture with InoBat to build European gigafactories. On Friday, InoBat announced €100 million ($104 million) in Series C funding, taking its total raised to well over €400 million. Source link

’Tis the holiday season, meaning joy and happiness and disagreement and litigation. In other words, it’s time for this year’s dispatches from the Christmas wars. Let’s begin in Lamont, California, where the Chamber of Commerce, organizer of the annual Christmas parade, originally announced that this year’s event would be canceled due to expenses involved in defending against a defamation lawsuit apparently stemming from events during last year’s parade. (I can’t quite work out the details from the news reports.) Happily, the local Lion’s Club has taken over organizing duties and the parade is scheduled to proceed as usual, but with an intriguing caveat: “There will be zero tolerance in terms of people intentionally creating conflict.” I’m not sure what’s going on in Lamont, but I do wish the town a Merry Christmas. As usual, our holiday cornucopia overfloweth with litigation. Source link

This is a pivotal moment for cinema, in which technology and art are converging. As senior programmer for the Women’s Empowerment section at the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) and a filmmaker myself, I am seeing firsthand how artificial intelligence is reshaping the film industry. While AI brings thrilling new possibilities, it also poses predicable as well as unforeseen challenges. Technology can open doors, but it is the human spirit behind the lens that gives films their true power — and I hope this remains unchanged. When I arrived in Japan in 2003, my doctoral proposal on digital cinema was dismissed as “too futuristic.” Back then, this topic was still far from mainstream. My work with a Japanese startup six years later, where I worked on creating a robot to simulate human emotions, reinforced my belief that while AI can replicate empathy or humor, it cannot fully capture the human essence and its nuances. Cinema at its core is an art form borne of lived experience and personal insight. Source link

MEXICO CITY – For the human smugglers who ferry migrants northward from Central America, the return of Donald Trump is a welcome New Year gift that promises to supercharge their business. “Bless Donald Trump for winning,” said one people smuggler, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal from Mexico’s authorities as well as its drug cartels. “We’re eagerly waiting January 20th to be back in business and start earning some more dollars,” said the 45-year-old, who has spent the past six years transporting undocumented migrants — most from Central America and the Caribbean — to the United States. Source link

Police in Chiba Prefecture are investigating two violent robbery incidents that occurred within hours of each other in the prefecture early Sunday morning, leaving two men injured. At approximately 5:25 a.m. Sunday, emergency services received a call from a woman in her 60s from the city of Asahi, Chiba Prefecture, stating that a young man had broken into her home through the windows and stabbed her husband in the back. The 69-year-old victim was taken to hospital. Authorities have confirmed that his injuries are not life-threatening. Three hours earlier, a 66-year-old man in the city of Kashiwa, also in Chiba Prefecture, sustained minor injuries after reportedly being assaulted by a home intruder. Police are treating both incidents as armed robberies and are analyzing potential links between the two cases. The attackers in both cases are at large. Police say that the victim in the Asahi robbery was stabbed after he discovered the intruder rummaging through his belongings. The suspect is described as being approximately 180 centimeters tall, with brown hair. He was reportedly wearing black clothes at the time of the incident. In the Kashiwa incident, the victim called authorities around 2.30 a.m., stating that an intruder had strangled him and hit him several times in the face. According to the victim, the attack occurred after he heard noises upstairs and went to investigate, only to discover two intruders, one of whom wore black clothing and a black mask. Translated by The Japan Times Source link

Traders are trimming their bets on a yen rally after policy meetings of the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan cast doubts on how quickly the rate differentials between the United States and Japan may narrow. Prior to last week’s back-to-back meetings, strategists were betting that 2025 would be the year for the yen. But the market is now feeling less optimistic on the yen’s outlook after BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda opened up the possibility of waiting longer for the next hike, while the Fed signaled a slowdown in the pace of monetary easing next year. Options metrics suggest that traders were the least bullish on the yen in a month after the meetings. Leveraged funds also raised their net short position on the yen to some 44,926 contracts, the most since July just before macro volatility roiled global currency markets, according to the latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission data for the week ended Dec. 17. Source link

Emperor Emeritus Akihito, the father of Emperor Naruhito, turned 91 on Monday. The emperor emeritus spends his days caring for Empress Emerita Michiko, 90, who broke her right thigh bone in October. He reads newspapers every morning and evening and watches television news during meals to keep an eye on domestic and international trends, according to aides. Source link

WEST PALM BEACH – President-elect Donald Trump threatened to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal on Sunday, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage and drawing a sharp rebuke from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino. Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Arizona, Trump also said he would not let the canal fall into the “wrong hands,” warning of potential Chinese influence on the passage. After the event, he posted an image on Truth Social of an American flag flying over a narrow body of water, with the comment: “Welcome to the United States Canal!” “Has anyone ever heard of the Panama Canal?” Trump said at AmericaFest, an annual event organized by Turning Point, an allied conservative group. “Because we’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else.” Source link

St. Moritz, Switzerland – U.S. ski legend Lindsey Vonn said she had made the “perfect start” to her comeback after finishing 14th in the women’s super-G in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Saturday, her first World Cup event in nearly six years. The 40-year-old American, who last raced at this level at the world championships in 2019, was 31st to start and clocked 1 minute, 16.36 seconds, 1.18 seconds behind the winner, Cornelia Huetter. “Today was the perfect start. I had a solid run, got to the finish,” said Vonn who was given a wild card to compete at St. Moritz. Source link

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pursuit of closer ties with China has raised private questions from Donald Trump’s incoming administration, European diplomats and even some senior British officials. It’s a courtship that risks leaving Starmer isolated among his allies. Last month, he became the first British leader to meet with President Xi Jinping in seven years and next month Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is due to meet top officials in Beijing with priorities that include deepening financial ties between Shanghai and the City of London. The new Labour government is trying to fix a relationship that has gone from a “golden age” in 2015 under the then-Conservative prime minister, David Cameron, to outright gloom. Ties all-but froze following Beijing’s crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, its stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a wave of alleged cyberattacks and spying operations in Britain. Source link