Apple designer Ive resigns
Jony Ive, the lead designer of the iMac, iPod, iPhone and Apple Watch, said he’s leaving Apple later this year. Ive is setting up his own design consultancy, with Apple as his first client. Sources: BBC, Financial Times, The Guardian, Reuters and The Verge.
Credit Suisse flagged by US central bank
The US Federal Reserve has found several “weaknesses” in the “capital planning process” at the American arm of Swiss bank Credit Suisse during its annual stress test. It gave the bank until October to fix the flaws. Sources: AFP, CNBC and Financial Times.
Lego family & Blackstone to take Madame Tussauds private
The Danish family behind the toymaker Lego, private equity group Blackstone and Canadian pension fund CPPIB are close to buying out Merlin Entertainments, which runs Legoland Resorts and Madame Tussauds wax museums, in a £6bn deal, according to the Financial Times.
Ford job cuts
The carmaker Ford said it would make 12,000 of its 51,000 employees in Europe redundant by 2020, and shut down or sell production sites, as it overhauls its European business. Sources: Associated Press, BBC and Detroit Free Press.
Putin: liberal values “obsolete”
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, told the Financial Times that liberalism has “outlived its purpose” and praised the rise of anti-immigrant populist movements in Europe and the US.
Polish judicial independence questioned in non-binding EJC opinion
“The newly created disciplinary chamber of the Polish Supreme Court does not satisfy the requirements of judicial independence established by EU law,” a European Court of Justice advocate general said in a preliminary opinion. Sources: Bloomberg, Politico and Reuters.
Merkel seen shaking again
For the second time this month, the German chancellor Angela Merkel was seen shaking during a public event. Merkel’s spokesman said afterwards that she was “fine”. Dehydration was blamed for the first incident. Sources: Associated Press, BBC and Deutsche Welle.
Heatwave to break after weekend
Temperatures in Luxembourg are forecast be cooler on Monday. Sources: Accuweather and Meteolux.
Later today
11am: Asteroid Day 2019 ‘launches’ at the Cercle Cité. 6pm: The Indian Chamber of Commerce of Luxembourg holds a conference on the “Future of fintech industry – new technologies & new dimensions” in Kirchberg.
Looking ahead
Saturday 29 June, 11am: The 5K Color Run kicks off at Lake Echternach. Tuesday 9 July, 2pm: Prof Peer Bork delivers a public lecture on “Tracing the invisible life in us and our planet: the world of microbes” at the University of Luxembourg campus in Belval.
Here are 10 science & technology stories you may have missed
Artificial intelligence: Researchers have designed a system for Alexa to “identify the telltale gasping sound” of people suffering a heart attack, per MIT Technology Review. Space, part 1: “Astronomers have come up empty-handed after scanning the heavens for signs of intelligent life in the most extensive search ever performed,” wrote the Guardian. Space, part 2: Nasa’s Curiosity rover has detected three times the level of methane gas (which could possibly but not surely signal life) on Mars than detected in 2013, per Nature. IT security, part 1: Hackers (probably state-backed) stole data about Nasa’s Mars Curiosity rover and the network used to communicate with spacecraft by accessing an authorised Raspberry Pi, per ZD Net. IT security, part 2: A cybersecurity firm said hackers have stolen call data records (the type of metadata collected by electronic spy agencies) from 10 unnamed mobile phone networks outside North America, per Techcrunch. Data centres: NBC News profiled the “data embassies” set up by Estonia and Monaco in Luxembourg. Drones, part 1: Singapore’s airport was the latest to have flights disrupted by drone sightings, per CNN. Drones, part 2: Japan outlawed flying a drone while drunk, per the BBC. Continuity planning, part 1: “A slug has been blamed for a power outage that halted dozens of trains and delayed 12,000 passengers in Japan,” reported the AFP. Continuity planning, part 2: A study estimated that a GPS outage would cost the US economy $1bn a day, per Ars Technica.
Seywert scores silver in archery
Luxembourg’s Gilles Seywert took silver in compound archery at the 2019 European Games in Minsk on Thursday. He missed winning the gold medal by one shot. Sources: Olympic Channel and World Archery. Luxembourg’s Ni Xialian won a bronze medal in table tennis on Wednesday, earning her a place in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald