Apple a victim of Chinese slowdown
The news that tech giant Apple has cut its revenue forecast for the last quarter of 2018 has made headlines in all leading media. The Guardian says the company’s first profit warning since 2002 resulted in shares falling by 7.45%, wiping $55bn off Apple’s value. Bloomberg cites Apple CEO Tim Cook saying that the unforeseen “magnitude of the economic deceleration” in emerging markets and particularly greater China, accounted for much of the revenue decline. CNBC also cites Cook as saying that “trade tensions between the United States and China put additional pressure on their [the Chinese] economy.” The BBC meanwhile, says that the news is further indication that the “phenomenal smart phone era” is winding down.
2-year old dies after father drives into crowd
A 47-year old man who deliberately drove into a group of pedestrians in Wiltz ended up killing his own 2-year old son. One of the pedestrians was the driver’s former partner and mother of the child. She and two other adults as well as another child were seriously injured as a result of the attack. The man has been charged with murder and manslaughter as well as attempted murder and attempted manslaughter.
China lands probe on dark side
The China National Space Administration has landed its Chang'e 4 lunar probe on the far side of the moon. The Guardian reports that Chinese state media said the unmanned craft landed on the “unexplored South Pole-Aitken basin, the largest, oldest, deepest, crater on the moon’s surface.” It called the achievement a “giant leap for human space exploration.”
US government shutdown continues
A meeting between president Donald Trump and senior politicians from the Democratic and Republican parties on Wednesday failed to resolve the government shutdown, Bloomberg reports. But house speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats would pass legislation to re-open the government on Thursday. All parties will meet again at the White House on Friday.
Tesla shares tumble
The Guardian reports that shares in electric car maker Tesla fell by over 9% when markets opened on Wednesday following news disappointing sales of its Model 3 sedan. The company delivered three times as many cars in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier and is also cutting the price of its Model S, Model X and Model 3 vehicles by $2,000 in the USA.
North Korean defection
The acting North Korean ambassador to Rome has applied for asylum “to an unidentified western country” according to a report in The Guardian. The paper says that Italian authorities were “agonising” over what to do with Jo Song-gil and his family.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts