Business

Arizona has decided to divest state funds from Unilever over its subsidiary’s decision to stop selling its ice cream in Israeli-occupied territories. The decision is a result of anti-Israel boycott laws that bar Arizona from investing in businesses that are taking part in boycotts of Israel. The announcement has been made by Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee. The decision announced by Yee was mandated by a 2019 state law. The law prohibits the state government agencies from holding investments or doing business of more than USD 100,000 with any company that boycotts Israel or its territories. The state has already reduced its investment in the company, which owns Ben & Jerry’s, by USD 90 million in June. The state would reduce the investment in Unilever to zero by September 21. The information has been shared with Richard Williams of Unilever Investor Relations via an email sent by Yee. This is when Ben & Jerry’s has maintained that the decision is not a boycott. The company had announced earlier this year that it would stop selling ice cream in east Jerusalem and the West Bank by the end of 2022.

Ben & Jerry’s, which is based in Vermont, said that the company hears and recognizes the concerns shared by its trusted partners and fans. “We strongly believe that this is inconsistent with our values for the company’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the company said in a statement. Arizona seems to be the first state with such laws or regulations that are on the path of being fully divested from Unilever following the decision announced by Ben & Jerry’s. Yee said that an ultimatum was given to Unilever in August. “Unilever was warned about consequences in case it fails to comply with Arizona law. The company chose to face consequences,” Yee said. Under the law, Arizona is not allowed to invest or sign any kind of contract with anyone boycotting Israel. This is defined as any action that is intended to limit the investment in Israel. Commenting on the development, Unilever said the decision does not reflect an endorsement of the BDS movement. “Unilever acquired Ben & Jerry’s in the year 2000. It has always been the part of the acquisition agreement that we recognize and accept the decisions taken by its independent board,” the company said. The ice cream company has been insisting that it is still doing business in the country.

Laura Peterson, public relations manager for Ben & Jerry’s, said that the company is not boycotting Israel. “We are going to stay in Israel despite the fact that the company will no longer sell ice cream in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. We will very much stay in Israel but through a different business arrangement,” Peterson said. The board had earlier said that staying in the occupied territories was ‘inconsistent with the company’s values.” Israel reacted strongly to the development. The country even urged US governors to take strict action against the company under anti-boycott laws. Meanwhile, Illinois warned the company of action after the company’s board decided the move. Similarly, Florida and some other states are taking action against the company. But US groups who have extended support to Israel are divided over the move. They are not sure if taking action against the company would be appropriate. It must be noted that Arizona law was enacted in the year 2016. It was later revised in 2019.

Bill Gates has gained more control over the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts as his investment firm Cascade has acquired a controlling interest for USD 2.21 Billion. The luxury hotel has announced that Cascade has increased its stake to 71.25 percent from 47,5 percent. As per the deal, Cascade Investments, a private investment firm founded by Gates, has purchased half of the stake belonging to Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The Saudi prince had collaborated with Gates in 2007 to take the luxury hotel chain and resort private for USD 3.4 billion. This is the first major deal of Gates since he split his fortune with ex-wife Melinda French.

Gates shared ownership of the hotel with the Saudi prince for more than a decade. But now Gates’ investment vehicle is increasing its stakes. The deal values Four Seasons at USD 10 billion. This is including the debt. According to Kingdom Holding Company of the Saudi Prince, it is hopeful of having a gain of USD 1.5 billion on 24 percent stake that it is selling to Gates’ investment firm. Four Seasons was founded by Isadore Sharp in the year 1960. Sharp would continue to have his 5 percent stake in Four Seasons, which now has over 120 hotels and resorts along with 46 residential properties in around 50 countries.

When Gates and Alwaleed bin Talal invested in the company, it was operating 74 hotels, which has now almost doubled. The hotel chain entered public markets in 1997. But the company decided to go private through a transaction under an agreement between Gates’ Cascade, the Saudi Prince’s KHG, and Sharp. Cascade is being looked after by Michael Larson who has a crucial role to play in bolstering the wealth of Gates couple over the year. It is because of Larson that the Gates couple could primarily focus on their philanthropic work. He is the one who is managing USD 50 billion endowments of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Amid a logistics problem caused as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, China’s economy slowed down this month. From 50.4 in July, an official survey of industrial activity dropped to 50.1 in August. Even though it was slightly beyond the 50-point expansion threshold, it was nevertheless the lowest pace of development since the pandemic’s outbreak in 2009. For the first time since April 2020, the Caixin manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dropped to 49.2 in August. More worrisome is that service sectors, which already represent a large share of the world’s second-biggest economy, the Purchasing Managers’ Index for non-manufacturing fell to 47.5 from 53.3 in July.

Despite the pandemic, China’s GDP grew last year while others fell. Officials took drastic steps to slow the infection rates, this included shutting down cities, banning flights, and stopping commerce. The Delta variant has been contained as a result of the tough and inflexible policy but at the price of economic operations. As a result of “travel restrictions reinstituted and customers being more apprehensive amidst the ongoing viral flare-up,” he said the non-manufacturing PMI fell. Things have gotten worse as a result of ongoing supply system issues throughout the world Supply chains are further disrupted by container constraints, industrial closures in Vietnam, and the consequences of harbor shutdowns in China.  A dock worker who worked at the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, south of Shanghai tested positive for Covid-19, causing the port to be closed for weeks, contributing to the delay induced by a prior shutdown.

Evans-Pritchard stated, “The survey breakdown continues to show indicators of supply constraints, with delivery delays increasing as businesses continue to draw out their raw material stockpiles.” The country is also grappling with a slew of other issues, such as cholera epidemics, and Beijing has also launched a major crackdown against companies, which has affected various businesses such as the tech industry, private schools, etc., have gotten restricted by the crackdown. Oanda’s Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst for the Asia Pacific, said that the crackdowns, particularly in IT and education, “are hurting both unemployment worries among those impacted and general market optimism as fears of further interventions increase.” As long as Covid cases in China remain in control, Evans-Pritchard anticipated most of the deterioration recorded on Tuesday to recover. “Even with the instability created by China’s recent viral outbreak, the economy appears to be returning to normal,” he said. Information regarding more of such aspects affecting marketplaces around the world can be found at various research platforms.

As per Canoo’s second-quarter financial report, the business has recruited hundreds of people and is closing in on the manufacturing date, but crucial hurdles like securing a battery source persist. Canoo’s financial report came only a few weeks after the firm announced VDL Nedcar as their lifestyle vehicle’s contract production partner at the inaugural investor affairs day. Canoo projected at the moment that perhaps the Redcar factory could produce 1,000 vehicles for America as well as European countries in 2022, with a goal of 15,000 units by 2023. CEO Tony Aquila stated in Monday’s earnings conference that the business now expects 25,000 vehicles in 2023. Canoo also offered information on its intentions to establish a United States-based manufacturing facility for its pickup trucks as well as multifunctional delivery vehicles, which it refers to as a “mega microfactory.” The electric vehicle company revealed plans to open its first plant in Oklahoma in June.

To facilitate the plant and Phase 2 of production, the state legislature has contributed $300 million in non-dilutive monetary incentives. In Monday’s earnings conference, Aquila stated, “This two-pronged approach is critical for a couple of reasons.” “Collaborating with Redcar as a new OEM will enable us to fine-tune our production process. It will enable us to geologically broaden our production activities and place us to enhance our, products and volumes to acclimate to shifting market requirements and create distribution flexibility while enhancing our production expertise, which will be implemented in our Oklahoma production facility. Within the first 36 months, Aquila estimates that approximately a third of Oklahoma’s investment will be accessible. This funding will aid the company’s growth as it enters the Gamma phase, which indicates that Canoo is nearing its debut date.

Canoo grew its staff from 230 to 656 workers in a year, with software and hardware developers accounting for 70% of the total. The startup’s operational expenditures have surged from $19.8 million to $104.3 million years over year, with R&D accounting for most of the increase. The spike in pre-revenue expenditures indicates that Canoo is making effort toward its manufacturing targets. Canoo is in the last stages of choosing a construction manager, architect, and engineering company, according to Aquila, and will probably have further construction updates before the end of this quarter. In the third quarter, the firm is still looking for a battery supplier, a move that is becoming extremely relevant as most OEMs look to limit their supply system through strategic partnerships. Data regarding various company collaborations in the EV market are abundantly available online. The leisure vehicle is undoubtedly nearer to manufacturing, although Aquila claimed preorders for Canoo’s other 2 vehicles, the pickup truck as well as the multifunctional delivery vehicle, are the most desired out of the 9,500 non-binding refundable orders placed.

Walmart has started to prepare for the upcoming holiday shopping rush and has announced that it is planning to hire around 20,000 employees. The retail giant said that the employees hired will be both permanent full-time and part-time workers. The big-box retailer said that the roles will be in the supply chain. The employees will work across the distribution centers of the company. They will also work at fulfillment centers and transportation offices. It said that the new hiring will support the growth of the company. It will provide an average wage of USD 20.37 per hour to supply chain associated, the company said in the corporate blog post. Walmart will hold a special hiring event for this and it will be organized on September 8 and 9.

Walmart is hiring more workers as companies are facing a staff crunch. There is fierce competition among companies for workers ever since the coronavirus struck. As companies face problems in hiring the required workforce, Walmart has sweetened the deal by offering special bonuses to those working in warehouses. Walmart also announced recently that it would cover 100 percent college tuition and textbook costs. The pandemic has also halted manufacturing and congested ports across the globe have resulted in delays. Not only this, it resulted in items going out of stock and higher prices for the products. These things have put retailers in a situation where they are worried whether they would be able to fulfill higher demands during the peak season of gift-giving. This is especially when more and more people are opting for online shopping.

Meanwhile, Walmart has decided to ramp up the supply chain and has increased investment for it. The company is also adding advanced and high-tech automated systems at selected locations. This will help the company pick and pack online grocery orders. Earlier in August, the company said that it has witnessed a strong surge in demand for back-to-school supplies, luggage, apparel, and more. Commenting on the increase in demand, Walmart’s Chief financial officer Brett Biggs said that the company has increased lead times for orders. The company has now hired dedicated vessels to reduce the time period of import.

Electric car manufacturer Rivian Automotive has started the paperwork with regulators for an initial public offering (IPO). With this, Amazon-backed EV startup is set to join the list of publicly traded companies. The list is growing at a fast pace with Ford, Tesla, and General Motors already on the list. The company said that it has confidentially filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The California-based company said is still working on calculating its size and price range. The IPO will take place after the regulator completes its standard review process. Rivian, which has companies like Soros Fund Management, Amazon, and BlackRock as major investors, has not commented on the development so far.

Reports suggest that the company would seek evaluation of over USD 70 billion. If this happens, the EV startup would have a bigger market capitalization than General Motors. This would be significant as General Motors is the largest automaker in the United States. But it would be nothing when compared to Tesla, the leading electric vehicle manufacturer. Tesla has a market cap of around USD 700 billion. The company is reportedly planning on building a pickup truck that would compete with Rivian’s R1T truck. Rivian is also working on SUV R1S.

Rivian shot to fame when Amazon announced that it would purchase around 100,000 electric vehicles from the startup. The e-commerce giant said that it would use these vehicles like delivery trucks. Earlier in July, Rivian raised USD 2.5 billion in a fundraising round. The funding was led by Amazon and For Motor. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said that the company is stepping towards the production of vehicles and hence it is important to push Rivian to the next phase of growth. “The funds will help Rivian to scale new vehicle program. It is also necessary for the global expansion of the company,” the CEO said. The company has raised more than USD 10 billion since 2019. Rivian is likely to start delivery of its much-awaited trucks in September. The SUV is expected to be delivered in the fall.

Citadel has apparently decided to pull around USD 500 million from Melvin Capital Management. According to a person privy with the development, the money that is being redeemed is of the USD 2 billion invested in Melvin. The Citadel funds and firm partners are reportedly planning to withdraw money in the third quarter. This will scale back the investment into Gabe Plotkin’s hedge fund. A total of USD 2.75 billion was invested in Melvin’s hedge fund earlier in January this year. Out of this, USD 750 million was invested from Point72 Asset Management. In exchange for a rare monthly investment, the two companies received a three-year dominant revenue share. Reports suggest that the capital of Point72 will remain unchanged after the pull-out. So far no one has commented on the development.

Melvin was founded by Gabe Plotkin, former star portfolio manager of billionaire Steve Cohen. Melvin remained one of the top-performing hedge funds in recent years until the portfolio was overturned because of the misfortune of the meme stock. While some hedge funds managed to get benefitted from unprecedented market movements, Melvin lost over 50 percent within few weeks. The loss is estimated to be around USD 6 billion. New York-based Melvin still has assets worth USD 11 billion. The firm has also recently raised new funds and has been hiring new employees and adding office space.

Plotkin, considered to be one of Wall Street’s most successful traders in the past few years, has made some big gains by both investing in stocks and taking aggressive positions against companies. Melvin earned 70 percent of its profit from its bearish wagers. It had posted annual returns of 30 percent between 2014 and 2020, which is considered good in the market. As per the confidential documents released by Melvin, it held put options on several additional stocks at the end of the last year.

NASA has put on hold the ambitious lunar lander contract. The contract was awarded to private aerospace company SpaceX. SpaceX is owned by Elon Musk. NASA has asked SpaceX to suspend the work on the lunar lander. The development comes after Blue Origin sued NASA. Blue Origin is owned by Jeff Bezos. The company has filed a lawsuit against NASA’s decision to award the lunar lander contract to SpaceX. The contract worth USD 3 billion has been suspended by NASA for the second time. Earlier, the space agency had put the contract on hold after Blue Origin and Dynetics had moved to the Government Accountability Office against the awarding of the contract.

Reports say that NASA has voluntarily decided to suspend the contract temporarily. The suspension will remain in place till November 1. Blue Origin and Dynetics had earlier said that NASA’s selection procedure was not fair. This forced NASA to suspend the contract. NASA granted a go-ahead to SpaceX after the Government Accountability Office cleared it. It squashed Blue Origin’s challenge. The GAO in its ruling said that NASA complied with contracting law in deciding the awarding of the contract. Both Blue Origin and Dynetics were also bidding for the lunar lander contract. Dynetics is an IT firm. Its major clients are NASA and the Department of Defense. The lunar lander contract is a part of the Artemis program that will see humans returning to the Moon after 50 years.

Blue Origin in its lawsuit has asked urged for pausing the contract. It said that the lawsuit will create competition and ensure fairness in the awarding of the contract. According to Blue Origin, NASA violated its own procedure while making the selection. NASA had earlier hinted that it will select two lunar lander prototypes for development. It was likely that both SpaceX and Blue Origin will get a chance. But the funding cut by the US Congress forced the space agency to pick one between SpaceX over Blue Origin. The latest lawsuit is likely to cause further delay in launching the Artemis program. The agency has will launch three Moon-bound spacecraft under the Artemis program in 2021, 2023, and 2024. The last one will take two humans including the first woman to Moon. This will be the first crewed Moon mission after Apollo 17 which was launched in 1972.

Private aerospace company SpaceX has offered NASA to develop the necessary equipment required to send astronauts to the Moon. SpaceX is a private aerospace company. It is owned by space enthusiast Elon Musk. The firm has offered its services to expedite the work for the development of spacesuits. If NASA accepts SpaceX’s services, this will help the space agency to get the ambitious Artemis program back on schedule. The mission is facing an imminent delay as NASA spacesuits are unlikely to be ready in the prescribed time. The space agency had in 2019 directed to develop all the necessary equipment that will be required for sending astronauts back to the Moon under its Artemis program.

However, complications delayed the development of equipment. As a result, a delay is now looming over the Artemis schedule. NASA has plans to launch three Moon-bound spacecraft. The first will be an uncrewed spacecraft. It will be launched in 2021. It will return to Earth after orbiting the Moon. The second will be a crewed spacecraft. NASA has proposed to launch the spacecraft in 2023. The crewed spacecraft will circle the Moon and return to Earth. This will also be the first crewed spacecraft that will travel beyond Earth’s orbit after 50 years. The last spacecraft that flew beyond Earth’s orbit was Apollo 17 in 1972. The third and final spacecraft will be launched in 2024 under the Artemis program. It will see two astronauts landing on the lunar surface.

According to NASA, the new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Units spacesuits may not be ready by the time the agency prepares for the launch of spacecraft. Notably, the development of spacesuits started in 2007 as part of the Constellation Program. The crewed program was, however, canceled by NASA in 2009. The efforts to develop spacesuits gained momentum in 2017 when NASA launched the xEMU project. Astronauts aboard the ISS currently use these spacesuits for spacewalks. But these spacesuits require technological advancements. NASA wants to develop a next-generation spacesuit that can be used in other missions as well.

Blue Origin has sued NASA. Blue Origin is a private aerospace agency. It is owned by Jeff Bezos. The company has sued NASA over the awarding of an Artemis contract. For its USD 2.9 billion Moon lander program, NASA has selected SpaceX. SpaceX is also a private aerospace agency. It is owned by Elon Musk. The contract is a part of the agency’s Artemis program. The decision to sue NASA comes after the Government Accountability Office denied Blue Origin’s challenge against the awarding of the contract. The Washington headquartered company had earlier protested NASA’s decision. Blue Origin in its lawsuit claimed flaws in NASA’s acquisition process. It said that the lawsuit will create competition and ensure fairness.

NASA had earlier picked up SpaceX for the Moon lander program. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin were bidding for the prestigious contract. Besides, Dynetics was also bidding for it. Dynetics is an IT company. NASA and the Department of Defense are its primary customers. After NASA awarded the contract to SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics raised the matter with the Government Accountability Office. Following this, NASA asked SpaceX not to go ahead with the contract and asked Musk’s firm to wait for the accountability office’s decision. The office in July squashed Blue Origin’s protest. The verdict paved the way for SpaceX to resume the work.

According to the ruling passed by the accountability office, the space agency complied with contracting law while awarding the contract to SpaceX. The contract was about developing a lunar lander. NASA will use the lander to land astronauts on the lunar surface. NASA is planning to return humans to the Moon after 50 years. NASA has decided to launch three flights under its Artemis program. The third and final flight will take humans to Moon. The agency is aiming to launch the flight in 2024 that will see two astronauts including the first woman landing on Moon. However, Blue Origin’s lawsuit is likely to delay NASA’s plan to send astronauts to the Moon. NASA had hinted that it will select two lander prototypes that will be developed further. It was likely that both SpaceX and Blue Origin will get a chance to take forward their work. But a cut in funding by the US Congress forced the space agency to pick one between SpaceX over Blue Origin.

Tesla’s Model Y is undoubtedly is a popular segment from the electric vehicle maker. The company wants to increase the production of the car. Model Y is an electric SUV. Tesla has now sought permission from the Chinese government to produce more Model Y versions in the country. It has filed applications with the government. The company wants to cover the Chinese electric vehicles market. It sees huge growth potential. The Chinese market is emerging as one of the biggest global EV markets. Tesla in its plea said that it wants to produce five more versions of the SUV. The company wants a nod to start production at its Gigafactory Shanghai. The facility hosts the final assembly of Model 3 and Model Y. The company started deliveries of Model Y in China in January this year.

Tesla will start the production of five more versions once it receives the necessary approval. The company has plans to export some of the versions produced at the factory to other markets. Tesla is believed to be aiming at the markets where electric SUVs are yet to hit the roads. Notably, Tesla’s filing came soon after the government invited applications for new energy vehicle production in the country. Reports say that Tesla has moved batches of filings. It is believed that Tesla’s applications are related to new versions of the Model Y. The five versions of Model Y include two Standard Range versions. While one will have a domestically produced motor, the second one will see an imported motor.

Tesla has already launched a Standard Range of Model Y in China. However, the company is yet to begin the deliveries. It is targeting to start delivering the SUV from September. Tesla introduced the cheaper version of Model Y in the United States earlier this year. Notably, Model Y has dominated the global EV sales. It is Tesla’s star vehicle. It sold more than 76,000 units in the first half of 2021. Model Y is currently available in two configurations — Long Range and Performance. Both have dual-motor powertrains. This improves the vehicle’s energy efficiency and performance metrics.

Work from home has become a trend ever since the coronavirus pandemic struck. Several tech giants like Google and Facebook allowed their employees to work from remote locations as following norms of social distancing is one of the ways to keep COVID-19 at bay. But with vaccination drive picking pace and more and more people getting vaccinated, companies want people to report in offices. However, plans to call them have been again postponed amid a rising number of cases of Delta variant of COVID. Now there are reports that Google employees would see a change in their salaries if they opt for the permanent work from home option.

According to a company pay calculator, long commuters would be among the most affected. It is being done on an experimental basis but it could set the trend and other companies may follow it. Social media giant Facebook also decided to cut the salary of employees who are working from locations that are less expensive. Some smaller companies are following pay models which depend on locations. A Google spokesperson said that the company has always been giving a salary that is determined by location. “Our compensation has always been depended on the location of our employees and we pay at the top of the local market,” the spokesperson said.

According to Google’s internal salary calculator, seen by a news agency, shows that an employee working from Stamford, Connecticut is likely to get a 15 percent reduction in salary. While a colleague who will live in New York will continue to get the same pay even if he continues to work from home. Google has not clearly stated anything on this. It must be noted that several offices have openly expressed that they would their employees to come to the office. However, only those employees would be allowed to come to offices who are fully vaccinated. Several companies are encouraging their employees to get COVID-19 jabs at the earliest.

TikTok has left social media giant Facebook behind in terms of maximum download in the social media category. TikTok is a Chinese short-video making platform. It is hugely popular and attracts young people. It has now surpassed Facebook as the most downloaded app. According to a global survey of downloads conducted in 2020, TikTok grabbed the first rank in the list of social media providers. TikTok was followed by Facebook. While Facebook was the second most downloaded app, other apps owned by the US-based social media company too figured in the list. WhatsApp became the third-highest downloaded app. The fourth and fight positions were held by Instagram and Facebook Messenger, respectively. Notably, Facebook Messenger was most downloaded in 2019. It was followed by Facebook’s main app and WhatsApp.

Another chatting app Telegram has fetched a high ranking on account of providing better personal privacy. It figured among the top 10 most downloaded apps. Social media platforms saw a rise in demand during the pandemic. This period also saw users giving priority to data privacy. The other apps that figured in the latest list are Snapchat, Telegram, Likee, Pinterest, and Twitter. Notably, TikTok had come under fire from the US government over its links to the Chinese military. However, the app’s popularity grew despite challenges and went on to become the leading download. The pandemic also contributed to the numbers, especially from Europe and South America.

TikTok’s parent company ByteDance in 2017 launched the international version of the app. It attracted users from around the world because of its frivolous nature. It offers easy editing tools to make the content engaging. The company follows trends and thus users are attracted to it. The funny videos increase the engagement time. The company claims that it wants to make TikTok a destination where users can learn and entertain. TikTok faced huge criticism in the US over privacy concerns. It even faced a ban by the Trump administration. Earlier in June, the Joe Biden administration revoked orders targeting the Chinese app.

Electric vehicle maker Tesla has announced that its Cybertruck will be delayed. The company said that Cybertruck will now be launched in 2022. The confirmation comes amidst ample hints that Tesla could delay the Cybertruck. Cybertruck is an electric pickup. The company said that the production of the pickup will start next year. Tesla has updated the same on its order page. The footnote said that the vehicle will not hit roads this year. Tesla is planning to launch three variants of Cybertruck. The footnote is common for all the variants. Tesla had previously promised to launch two variants first. Both are higher-end models — Dual Motor and Tri-Motor.

The Cybertruck was unveiled in 2019. Tesla had then said that the vehicle will become available in the market by 2021 end. But the company hinted at a possible delay with the timeline coming closer. Tesla said that it has completed Cybertruck’s engineering design. But the production will take some extra time. Notably, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had earlier said that the company is facing challenges in the production of the electric pickup. He said that the production is delayed mainly because of the features. He said that new manufacturing processes are needed for its steel exoskeleton body. Despite these challenges, Tesla during its second-quarter results announced not to change the timeline.

Tesla had earlier said that Cybertruck production will begin at Gigafactory Texas. But now the company has confirmed that the production will be delayed, paving the way for the production of Model Y at the factory. Cybertruck’s design is like a trapezoid. Musk had even admitted that Cybertruck could be a flop. Musk, however, said that he loves the design and virtually ruled out any change in the design. He had underlined that other trucks are copies of the same design. But Cybertruck’s design gives an impression that aliens have made it. Cybertruck is likely to come with 4-wheel directional steering. Besides, Tesla is also believed to be updating its adaptive air suspension.

Space tourism is now becoming a reality. After Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos’s space flights, there was a buzz when commoners will get a chance to travel to space. Virgin Galactic has now announced to take commercial bookings. The American spaceflight company has reopened ticket sales. Virgin Galactic’s reopening of ticket sales comes after Richard Branson’s successful space trip. The company is offering a seat for USD 450,000. Richard Branson, who founded Virgin Galactic in 2004, flew to the edge of on July 11. This was the first-ever manned space trip. He along with three Virgin Galactic employees flew aboard SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes. It is a Suborbital spaceplane designed by Virgin Galactic for space tourism.

The current price is more than double what the company had announced before closing the sales in 2014 when the flight had met an accident during a test flight. Virgin Galactic said that it has reported a massive surge in consumer interest after Richard’s flight. The company said that it is excited to resume bookings. The tickets are initially available for the Spacefarer community. Virgin Galactic said that space tourism will bring wonders to people. It will open the door to a new industry and offer a new kind of experience. The company said that Richard wants to make space more accessible to humans. Virgin Galactic said that it is targeting to launch the first flight by September end.

Notably, Virgin Galactic has already a backlog of around 600 passengers who wish to fly to space first. At least 1,000 likely passengers have also deposited USD 1,000 with the company to reserve seats. Virgin Galactic said that it will offer multiple options to hitch rides. This includes a single-seat, package for couples or friends, or family. The company is also offering a package for a full-flight buyout. Notably, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has booked a seat for a space ride aboard Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane. He has paid USD 250,000 for a seat. Musk’s company is already sending crew for trips to the ISS. It is now planning to send an all-civilian crew into orbit in September.

Lockdown has impacted air travel across Australia and as a result around 2,500 employees of Qantas will be stood down for almost 2 months. The Australian airline said that the decision has been taken because of the impact of the lockdown on air travel. The announcement comes at a time when some of the major cities of Australia are under lockdown. The lockdown in these cities has been imposed because of the increase in the number of cases of delta variant of Covid-19. Sydney and Brisbane are also under lockdown these days. It is pertinent to mention that these cities are the largest and third-largest biggest cities ¬¬¬respectively. Growing clusters of delta variants is a cause of concern in these areas.

Among those affected by the decision will also include employees of the budget subsidiary Jetstar. There is around 26,000 staff of the airlines in the country. Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce said that considering the present situation, it is most likely that the borders of Sydney will remain closed for another two months at least. Qantas is headquartered in Sydney. It is under lockdown since June 26. There are other cities too where similar curbs are in place. The lockdown will remain in place at least August 28.

Meanwhile, experts are saying that the focus should be on vaccinating as many people as possible. There were even suggestions from the opposition to the citizens for getting vaccinated. However, Australia’s prime minister has outrightly rejected the proposal saying it would be an insult to Australians. There is an urgent need to focus on vaccination strategy in Australia as just 19 percent of adults in the country had been vaccinated so far. The dismal figure is mainly because of the concerns over the side effects of Covid-19 vaccines. There were reports of blood clotting caused by AstraZeneca and this is why most people want Pfizer. However, Pfizer is short in supply in the country and the only alternative is AstraZeneca.

Walmart has announced that it will now pay 100 percent of the college tuition and book costs for its around 1.5 million employees in the United States. The decision will be applicable from August 16. The retail giant is the largest private employer in the country and this announcement has been to attract as well as retain talent in a tight job market. Most employers are facing a tough time while retaining their workforce after the pandemic. They are announcing several perks to attract new workers as life is limping back to normalcy with more and more people being vaccinated for the Covid-19. As the number of coronavirus cases is depleting, all major offices are opening and trying to reach their full strength. But they are short of workers as several companies had laid off employees when the pandemic struck and led to the lockdown. Now when things are back to normal, employees are not willing to return. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the retail industry had around 974,000 unfulfilled jobs in the month of May. Because of this scarcity of workers, Walmart had raised the minimum wage of around 425,000 employees.

The move was intended at retaining current workers. After the raise, Walmart workers are now getting at USD 13 an hour. The minimum wage given by the retail giant is USD 11 an hour. This was below that what is being paid by its competitors such as Amazon and Target. Hourly starting wages given by these companies are considerably higher than Walmart. Other retailers are also increasing wages, offering referral bonuses and giving more benefits as they continue to hunt for more employees. Meanwhile, the new announcement made by Walmart will be applicable to some schools in the country. The academic partners for this program include likes of University of Arizona and Southern New Hampshire University. The company said that the number of academics partners has now increased to 10 as it recently added four more. The new partners include Johnson & Wales University and the University of Arizona. They will offer more certificate options and degrees in areas like business administration. These partners will also provide degrees in cybersecurity and the supply chain. In order to get benefits of the program, participants need to be full-time or part-time employees at the retail giant. With the help of these initiatives, Walmart is apparently trying to prepare workers for the jobs of the future.

The company also said that it will drop its ongoing USD 1 per day fee for workers who are part of its Live Better U education program. Under this program, the fee was paid by workers of Sam’s Club and Walmart who were willing to pursue a course and earn a degree. The program was launched in the year 2018. According to the company, there were around 52,000 workers who took part in the program. Out of them, around 8,000 have already graduated. Lorraine Stomski, senior vice president of learning and leadership at Walmart said that the decision of eradicating the USD 1 fee will remove the financial barrier faced by some employees while getting enrolled for the program. “We want to give them an opportunity to grow at Walmart. This will help them build better lives not for themselves but also for their families. The decision is just another way to support our workers. We have tried to remove the barriers that very often keep your workers away from learning. This is one of the largest investments on the education of the American workforce,” Stomski said.

Electric vehicle start-up Rivian has raised USD 2.5 billion in the latest fundraising round that was led by Amazon and Ford Motor. The company said that it has so far raised around USD 10.5 billion to date. Rivian had raised USD 2.65 billion in the month of January and another USD 2.5 billion round in July last year. Earlier in December 2019, the company had managed to raise USD 1.3 billion and USD 1.5 billion before that. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said that it is important for the company to make plans for the next. “Rivian is all set to start production of vehicles. While it is a very important stage for the company, it is vital that we continue to have a forward plan. There is a need to push the company to the next phase of the growth,” Scaringe said in a statement.

Explaining how the company plans to spend the money raised in the latest round of funding, Scaringe said that it will be used to expand new vehicle programs. “Apart from investing in new vehicle program, we would use this fresh funding on the rollout of our products in the international market along with increasing domestic facility footprint.” The company announced the funding just days after Rivian said that it is planning a second manufacturing plant in the United States. The facility is internally being referred to as ‘Project Tera.’ Several states of the US have submitted the bid for it. The company is planning to announce the plant in the next few months and reports suggest that it is most likely that the groundwork would begin early next year.

Rivian currently has a manufacturing plant operational in Normal, Illinois. The company is most likely to manufacture its all-electric pickup R1T and SUV R1S at this plant. However, Rivian recently announced that it would delay the deliveries of both vehicles. The company said that the delivery of the much-awaited R1T is now likely to start from September and that of the R1S in the fall. Scaringe has blamed a number of issues including the supply of semiconductors behind the delay in production. However, this has not impacted the plans of providing electric delivery vehicles to its investor Amazon.

Electric car giant Tesla has resumed the deliveries of Model S. This comes after a weeklong pause by the company. There were reports of delay in the deliveries by the company from customers’ end. Those with a booking for Model S were told by the company that delivery of their booked vehicles will be done later. Tesla, however, didn’t mention the reason behind the delay and preventing customers from booking the new vehicle. Several Model S buyers earlier reported that their vehicles arrived at the local delivery center. The sales advisers told them that the new cars cannot be delivered to them. Several buyers who reported about delayed deliveries have now confirmed picking up their new electric cars.

Buyers had said that sales advisers gave many different reasons about why the new cars cannot be delivered to the buyers. Initially, it was believed that the waiting could be due to some update in its software or missing part. The Model S was launched by Tesla in 2012. It is a five-door liftback sedan. In 2019, the 2013 model of the electric car was named the ‘car of the year’ by renowned American automobile magazine Motor Trend. The company launched a refreshed model of the variant in June 2021. Tesla has introduced changes in the new version of the variant. The company has updated its interior and exterior design.

Model S is one of two Tesla flagship electric vehicles. The second is the Model X. Tesla CEO Elon Musk had earlier announced that the company will no longer provide a regular steering wheel with the refreshed versions of the two vehicles. It has completely redesigned its steering. It looks like a yoke instead of a wheel. Tesla has also updated the vehicle’s battery pack. The 2021 version of the vehicle has already received an Environmental Protection Agency range rating. It tells the vehicles’ fuel-economy ratings. As per the law, car manufacturers must obtain fuel-economy ratings for their vehicles by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA rating shows an improvement in the new car’s efficiency level.

More than three weeks after US software firm Kaseya was hit by a massive ransomware attack, the software vendor has managed to get hold of the universal decryptor key. Swedish grocery chain Coop was among the first whose businesses were impacted by the ransomware attack. Overall, there were more than 1,500 businesses and public organizations whose computers were seized by hackers. Russia-linked REvil gang has claimed responsibility for the attack. But the notorious group responsible for this hacking disappeared from the internet. This left the Florida company with no option of paying up in order to get decryptor keys. But the issue seems to have been resolved now with the surprise appearance of the universal key required to decrypt all the files crippled in the attack. The hack was so widespread that not only Kaseya’s clients but also the files of all their customers were targeted by the group. The group managed to do it by exploiting a bug in managed service provider software known as Virtual System Administrator. This resulted in a wave of devastation. Kaseya is a company that provides software services to companies that would not deal with IT infrastructures.

Usually, in the cases of such ransomware attacks, the victims have two options – rebuild the entire thing again with the help of backup or simply pay the ransom to get access. In this case, the hackers demanded roughly USD 45,000 from individual businesses. REvil has initially demanded USD 70 million for a universal decryptor. However, the group later brought down this amount to USD 50 million. But eventually, the hackers vanished, leaving everyone stranded. They even took away their payment portal. Victims were not able to pay even if some of them wanted to. But the company has now confirmed that it had got access to the universal key. According to a spokesperson of the company, Kaseya got a universal decryptor from a ‘trusted third party.’ However, the spokesperson refused to elaborate on how exactly they got it. “Our team is actively working with companies and organizations that were affected. We will soon share the information about how the universal key will be made available to all who need it. The spokesperson said that the company is taking the help of antivirus firm Emsisoft in order to reach victims. The outreach program is already underway and the company hopes to reach most of them in a very short span of time.

Emsisoft threat analyst Brett Callow said that they confirmed that the universal key is effective files affected in the attack. “We are working with the software firm to provide all necessary support to its customers. The key is effective and we will help customers of Kaseya to access their files. However, experts believe that the number of victims at this point may be relatively small. “It is good news that we finally have a universal key. It would definitely help some clients. But it is likely that it’s too little too late. This is because all those who could have managed to rebuild their data through backups would have done it by now,” Jake Williams, CTO of security firm BreachQuest, was quoted as saying in a report. But many victims of this global ransomware attack were those who preferred to outsource their IT needs and hence it is very likely that they would have any reliable backups. While the development brings a sigh of relief for many, the larger concern about the ransomware threat still remains. Before targeting Kaseya, the group shut down the food supply giant JBS. REvil is known for using ransomware against big companies. There are other such groups who are active in these things. Earlier to this, another notorious group, known as Darkside, targeted Colonial Pipeline and cut off a large portion of the East Coast’s fuel supply.