Month: January 2021

Nissan commits to UK car plant after post-Brexit trade deal

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Japanese carmaker Nissan confirmed Friday that it will maintain its operations in Britain in the wake of the post-Brexit trade deal between the country and the European Union.

The news was greeted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a “great vote of confidence.”

The future of Nissan’s car plant in the northeast England city of Sunderland was thrown into doubt in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the EU in June 2016, a decision that could have led to tariffs and quotas on trade between the two sides.

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European Central Bank keeps stimulus programs on track

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Advanced

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — With more than a trillion euros in stimulus still in the pipeline to the economy, the European Central Bank left its key bond-purchase program unchanged Thursday as the 19-country eurozone endures a winter economic slowdown due to the pandemic.

Attention will focus on post-decision remarks by bank President Christine Lagarde about the outlook for the recovery in the 19 countries that use the euro currency. The ECB faces potential concerns over political turbulence in heavily indebted Italy, where the government survived a confidence vote this week, and over the stronger euro, which can weigh on exports and growth.

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Mallard to go? Dig of Pompeii fast-food place reveals tastes

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press

ROME (AP) — A fast-food eatery at Pompeii has been excavated, helping to reveal dishes that were popular for the citizens of the ancient Roman city who were partial to eating out.

Pompeii Archaeological Park’s longtime chief, Massimo Osanna said Saturday that while some 80 such fast-foods have been found at Pompeii, it is the first time such a hot-food-drink eatery — known as a thermopolium — was completely unearthed.
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Netflix’s big 4Q lifts video service above 200M subscribers

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Advanced

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer

SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Netflix’s video streaming service has surpassed 200 million subscribers for the first time as its expanding line-up of TV series and movies continues to captivate people stuck at home during the ongoing battle against the pandemic.

The subscriber milestone highlighted Netflix’s fourth-quarter results released Tuesday. The service added another 8.5 million subscribers during the October-December period, capping Netflix’s biggest year since its inception as a DVD-by-mail service in 1997. Netflix ended the year with nearly 204 million worldwide subscribers.
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Teslas Are Finally Chasing Porsches Down the German Autobahn

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

The most remarkable thing about Jana Hoeffner’s 2,360 mile road trip from Stuttgart to Oslo and back was simply how unremarkable it was.

In a black Tesla Model S sedan.

Five years ago, making similar journeys across much of Germany in an electric Renault Zoe would have meant tiresome research to avoid running out of power, she says. These days, not so much. Or even at all.

“It doesn’t really involve much planning anymore,” she says.
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