1 Australia’s automobile meltdown (Hywel Griffith on
BBC) Australia's final locally made car left the production line on Friday when
Holden stopped manufacturing in the nation. It is considered the end of an era
after similar exits by Ford and Toyota.
"We love football, meat pies, kangaroos and
Holden cars." The chorus to Holden's 1970s TV advert tells you everything
you need to know about the company that gave Australia its first homegrown,
mass-produced motorcar. Or almost everything - since 1931, this all-Aussie
brand has in fact been owned by the American giant General Motors.
It is Holden's position in the global market that is
key to understanding the rise and fall of car manufacturing in Australia. Holden
started off as an Adelaide saddle-maker before adapting to the arrival of
motorbikes and cars by supplying upholstery and vehicle bodies.
Following World War Two, it got the backing of the
Australian government, which wanted to kickstart domestic car manufacturing and
give the nation some global status. The birth of the first Holden 48-215 in
1948 began the public's love affair with "Australia's own car", which
would blossom over the decades.
But by 2013, with decades of government subsidies
drying up, the writing was on the wall and Holden announced it could no longer
afford to manufacture cars in Australia. With Ford and Toyota already having
ceased production in Australia, Holden said its vehicles would also be built
abroad. For now, the story of "Australia's own car" seems to be at
the end of the road.
2 China on track to hit growth target (Dawn) China’s
economy is on track to meet its official growth target for 2017, the head of
the state planning agency has said, despite a punishing war on pollution which
is expected to slash industrial output over the winter months.
China has forced 28 cities in smog-prone northern
regions to reduce emissions of airborne particles known as PM2.5 by at least 15
per cent from October to March 2017. But officials with the National
Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said the world’s second-largest
economy will remain on track.
“We expect to achieve the full-year growth target of
about 6.5pc,” He Lifeng, chairman of the National Development and Reform
Commission, told a briefing on the sidelines of China’s Communist Party
Congress.
Most economists believe China’s actual growth should
easily beat the target. The economy grew 6.8pc in the third quarter of the
year, and 6.9pc in the first half. Last year’s growth rate of 6.7pc was a
26-year low.
China’s economy has surprised global markets and
investors with robust growth so far this year, driven by a renaissance in its
long-ailing “smokestack” industries such as steel and stronger demand from
Europe and the US.
3 Alphabet balloon provides internet (Khaleej Times)
Experimental communications balloons provided by Alphabet in collaboration with
AT&T will allow some of the carrier's customers in storm-ravaged Puerto
Rico to send texts and access critical information on the internet.
Alphabet said the "Project Loon" balloon
project would deliver limited internet connectivity to LTE enabled phones in
the hardest-hit areas of Puerto Rico. The island's wireless and broadband
communications networks were devastated after Hurricane Maria made landfall
last month.
This month, the US Federal Communications Commission
approved Alphabet's application to provide emergency cellular service to Puerto
Rico using up to 30 balloons. The company said it does not expect to use that
many since each balloon can provide internet service to an area of roughly
5,000 square kilometres, or 1,930 square miles. Puerto Rico's area is 3,515
square miles.
Alphabet said this was "the first time we have
used our new machine learning powered algorithms to keep balloons clustered
over Puerto Rico, so we're still learning how best to do this. As we get more familiar
with the constantly shifting winds in this region, we hope to keep the balloons
over areas where connectivity is needed for as long as possible."
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