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Newsweek
a day ago
- Automotive
- Newsweek
Mercedes to Race Both F1 Cars With Touching Tribute to Departed Team Member
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Mercedes Formula One team has revealed a touching gesture to honor a team member who passed away last week. The tribute will be highlighted this weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix. Mercedes announced the passing of Mark Hudson, who worked in the team's Composite Build Department for 12 years. Honoring him, both Mercedes W16 F1 cars will feature the message: "In memory of Mark Hudson." Mercedes' British driver George Russell drives to the start of the first practice session at the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg, Austria, on June 27, 2025, ahead of the Formula One Austrian Grand... Mercedes' British driver George Russell drives to the start of the first practice session at the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg, Austria, on June 27, 2025, ahead of the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix. More Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP/Getty Images A nice touch to the tribute is a 'Pre-fit OK' sticker above his name, which explains the nature of the role he performed. Mercedes revealed the special gesture on X, stating: "In memory of our late and dear teammate. "Last week, we sadly lost our colleague and friend Mark Hudson. Mark worked in our Composite Build Department for 12 years and was much loved by all at Lauda Drive. In his honour, we carry his name on our car this weekend. "Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time. ❤" In memory of our late and dear teammate. Last week, we sadly lost our colleague and friend Mark Hudson. Mark worked in our Composite Build Department for 12 years and was much loved by all at Lauda Drive. In his honour, we carry his name on our car this weekend. Our thoughts… — Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) June 27, 2025 Mercedes heads to the Red Bull Ring for the race weekend, coming off a dominant weekend in Canada, where George Russell secured his first win of the season, while his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured his first podium finish in the premier class of racing by finishing third. The victory marked Russell's fifth podium finish of the season, suggesting his top form. However, Mercedes has yet to extend his contract, which expires at the end of 2025. Russell stated that he had met all performance expectations, but the team has yet to confirm his future seat officially. Newsweek Sports reported his comments: "No major updates yet. "It's not something that I'm pressing massively because, as I've always said, the performance is the priority, and I feel with the performance I'm showing at the moment - still in line with the performance I've shown over all these years - I've got zero reasons to be worried. "But obviously, it does help if there was pen on paper. But let's see." Russell also admitted that Mercedes was in talks with Max Verstappen following a failed attempt to have him on board last year. He added: "From my side, I don't think I have anything really to worry about. I think, as a team, it depends where you put your aspirations. "We're second best at the moment, maybe third best. We might be overperforming slightly to be second best. "As Mercedes, they want to be back on top, and if you're going to be back on top you need to make sure you've got the best drivers, the best engineers, the best pit crew, and that's what Mercedes are chasing. "So, it's only normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing. But from my side, if I'm performing as I'm doing, what have I got to be concerned about? There are two seats in every Formula 1 team."
IOL News
a day ago
- IOL News
Why sentencing was postponed for Chinese nationals convicted of human trafficking in SA
The trial against seven Chinese nationals charged with human trafficking and child labour is expected to resume on July 4. Image: File The Department of Employment and Labour has confirmed that sentencing proceedings in the high-profile trial of seven Chinese nationals convicted of human trafficking and child labour have been postponed to next week. The matter was due to proceed at the Gauteng South Division Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday, June 26, 2025. However, the Court was informed that pre-sentencing reports had not yet been officially submitted. According to the Department, Advocate Valencia Dube informed the Court that all the accused were allocated probation officers to prepare pre-sentencing reports. While all the accused were visited by social services, their reports were not yet ready for submission. The convicted individuals, Kevin Tsao Shu-Uei, Chen Hui, Qin Li, Jiaqing Zhou, Ma Biao, Dai Junying, and Zhang Zhilian, were found guilty on February 25, 2025, of 160 counts. These included human trafficking, aiding and benefiting from trafficking, keeping persons in bondage, and a wide range of labour law violations. The convictions followed a joint operation in November 2019 at Beautiful City Pty Ltd, a textile factory based in Village Deep, Johannesburg. The operation was conducted by the Department's Inspection and Enforcement Services branch, the SAPS/Hawks, and the Department of Home Affairs, following a tip-off. The raid uncovered illegal immigrants, some of them minors, who were working in locked factory conditions. 'The seven were found guilty of violating South Africa's labour laws by not registering with the Compensation Fund and declaring their operations; failure to keep records of their earnings; failure to submit their return on earnings; failure to pay and declare assessments; failure to maintain a safe workplace; failure to report incidents; failure to register and declare with the Unemployment Insurance Fund Commissioner; failure to inform the Commissioner on Unemployment Insurance changes.' Departmental spokesperson Teboho Thejane said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading 'In addition, they were found guilty of human trafficking, aiding/facilitating human trafficking, bondage, benefiting from victims of human trafficking, and assisting illegal immigrants to remain in South Africa.' A new legal twist emerged during proceedings when defence Counsel J. Kruger, who had represented the accused since 2019, announced that his mandate had been terminated. 'Defence Counsel J. Kruger regretted to tell the Court that his mandate has been terminated,' Thejane said. The accused are now expected to be represented by Goodgall Attorneys. Six of the seven convicted individuals remain in custody. Only accused number six, Dai Junying, has been released on medical grounds. The case is provisionally scheduled to return to court on July 4, 2025, for submission and review of the pre-sentencing reports. IOL News
The Hindu
a day ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Aavin comes up with action plan to increase sales in rural areas: T.N. Dairy Minister
The Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers Federation (Aavin) has come out with an action plan to increase its milk and milk product sales in rural areas of Tamil Nadu. The Minister for Milk and Dairy Development T. Mano Thangaraj told the media in Coimbatore on Friday (June 27, 2025) that at a recent review meeting, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin advised the Department to look at increasing sales in rural areas. Based on his suggestions, the milk and dairy development department has come up with an action plan. It will soon open Aavin booths in rural areas too and the sales will increase in a couple of months. Mission White Wave The Department has also come out with a project called the Mission White Wave to make the sick co-operative societies profitable. It has signed agreements with Rathinam and Kumaraguru business schools in Coimbatore. The second year MBA students in these institutions will work with 1,365 milk co-operative societies for three-and-a-half months to turn them profitable. They will take up social analysis, resource mapping and drafting of business plans. Of the 9,200 odd co-operative milk societies in Tamil Nadu, as many as 2,484 were revived or formed newly in the last four years and almost one lakh farmers have benefitted from this Sustainable Milk Producers Co-operative Societies programme. The other societies that are either sick or defunct will also be revived with the support of the management students. Aavin has huge learning potential for students and the Department will explore possibilities of opening up for collaborations with educational institutions for the benefit of students, he added.
South Wales Guardian
a day ago
- Health
- South Wales Guardian
Government announces plans to put ‘digital front doors' on mental health care
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the Government is 'putting digital front doors on mental health services for patients up and down the country'. The Government also confirmed that 85 new mental health emergency departments will be built across England. It comes as new figures suggest mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression are on the rise in England. Plans to build dedicated emergency departments for mental health patients were announced last month. The 85 units will be funded by £120 million secured in the Spending Review, the Department of Health and Social Care said. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, they will be staffed by specialist nurses and doctors. Patients who need help will be able to walk in, or will be able to be referred by their GP. Elsewhere, patients will be offered better access to mental health support through the NHS App, including being able to self-refer for talking therapies without the need to see their family doctor. The measures form part of the Government's 10 Year Plan and could also pave the way for AI-driven virtual support, according to the Department. Mr Streeting said: 'Not getting the right support for your mental health isn't just debilitating, it can hit a painful pause button on your life – stopping you working, enjoying time with family and friends, or living day-to-day life. 'Patients have faced the crisis of access to mental health services for far too long, and this Government is determined to change that through our Plan for Change to rebuild the NHS. 'That's why we're putting digital front doors on mental health services for patients up and down the country and harnessing technology to provide 24-hour care. And we're creating more opportunities for support not just through the NHS App but through care in your community too. 'We are already over halfway towards our target of recruiting 8,500 extra mental health workers, and through our upcoming 10 Year Health Plan we will get more people back to health and back to work.' It comes as the latest Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey suggested more than one in five people aged 16 to 74 had reported so-called 'common mental health conditions'. These include generalised anxiety disorder, depressive episodes, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and panic disorder. These problems were most common among young people, with more than a quarter of those aged 16 to 24 reporting having any of these conditions, up from 17.5% in 2007. There was also a sharp increase in the number of women aged 16 to 24 reporting the conditions, with 36.1% saying they had any one of the issues listed, up from 28.2% in 2014 and 22.2% in 2007. Meanwhile, the survey found the number of 16 to 74-year-olds with common mental health conditions who reported having treatment rose from 39.4% in 2014 to 47.7% in 2023/24. Dr Lade Smith, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: 'Digital technologies can make it easier for people with mental illness to access care. 'While people have long been able to self-refer to talking therapies, providing access through the NHS App will make this more accessible. 'There are many evidence-based digital interventions which can support people with mental ill-health; however, a lack of investment has stalled their progress. 'The Government must also invest in the necessary technological infrastructure for mental health organisations and their staff, to allow access to digital interventions.'
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Trump's threat of more tariffs makes US trade partners wary of signing deals
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tariff negotiations with the Trump administration are running into roadblocks, as partners including Japan, India and the European Union balk at signing deals without knowing how badly they'll be hit by separate levies on exports including chips, drugs and US Commerce Department is set within weeks to announce the outcomes of its investigations into sectors deemed vital to national security, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals. The probes are widely expected to result in levies applied under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act on a range of foreign-made products in those is, governments seeking agreements to whittle down country-by-country tariffs President Donald Trump announced on April 2, and then suspended till July 9, have no idea where those sectoral levies will land. For many, industry-specific tariffs may be more damaging than the broader levies.'Imagine you're a Vietnam or Japan or Korea, and you've just agreed to some potentially painful compromises on reciprocal tariffs, and the very next day after this is announced, they turn around and levy new 232s against you,' said Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation. 'The last thing you want is to agree to a deal only to be hammered the next day.'A cautionary tale for many countries is the partial deal Britain accepted. That pact left key details about bilateral steel trade subject to further negotiation on a quota system and stronger origin requirements. In the meantime, the Trump's tariffs of UK steel remain at 25% — failing to meet the British government's goal of lowering them to zero.'There is no clarity in how all of these tariffs would interplay, which is also causing major concerns among our partners,' said Wendy Cutler, a former senior US trade negotiator who's now vice president of the Asia Society Policy UK framework showed there is some wiggle room with the US on sectoral tariffs, but other nations should not view it as a template for their own negotiations, according to a White House official. The 232 tariffs are meant to reshore manufacturing of goods viewed as critical to national security, which is separate from the aims of the April 2 tariffs, the official the difficulties for many countries is understanding how the Trump administration can at times view the tariffs — and the threat of them — in a transactional Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, testifying before the Senate earlier this month, gave an example of how 232 tariffs could be used in negotiations to induce commercial deals. Part of the UK's deal was no American tariffs on aerospace products — which are subject to a pending 232 investigation.'In exchange for us doing a zero tariff — I mean think of Donald Trump — he then gets an agreement by British Airways to buy $10 billion,' Lutnick said. 'They were competing with Airbus, and in part of that agreement, they committed to buying Boeing aircraft of $10 billion.'Lutnick added that 'if other countries play ball with us, I would expect that's an offer we make provided they're buying our aircraft.'For the EU, which is already getting hit hard by 25% auto tariffs and 50% on steel, talks around the sectoral levies have made less progress and are unlikely to be solved before July 9, according to people familiar with the in Brussels see an agreement on broad principles to allow negotiations to continue as the best-case scenario at this stage in the EU-US talks, the people is keen on settling all potential US tariffs — from duties on cars, auto parts and metals to Trump's country-specific levies – in one go. But a sticking point in negotiations has been the 25% tariffs on cars and car parts imposed by the Trump is focused on autos because it's the sector that's responsible for most of its trade deficit with Japan. But Tokyo sees that industry as a key economic pillar, since it employs about 8.3% of Japan's workforce and generates around 10% of gross domestic product.'For Japan, automobiles are truly a matter of national interest. We will do whatever it takes to protect that,' Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters in Canada earlier this month, shortly after he failed to reach a deal with Trump in their in-person meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Seven hand-picked trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, has said Japan won't fixate on the July 9 tariff deadline as he continues talks with his US counterparts. Akazawa has said he expects a deal with the US will spare Japan from higher auto tariffs, even if Trump increases them against other has dug in its heels on the issue and is unwilling to sign a trade deal with Washington that doesn't address both sectoral and reciprocal tariffs for its exports, people familiar with the matter it comes to potential sectoral tariffs, Indian officials are pushing for a commitment from Washington that any deal matches the best agreement offered to any other nation it's in talks with, they deal with the US has to be defensible in the eyes of domestic stakeholders and the US insistence on retaining these additional levies will render Indian producers uncompetitive, the people said, requesting anonymity to disclose private officials are also reluctant to sign a tariff deal amid uncertainty over their legality after a US federal court deemed illegal last month, the people said. A higher court later gave Trump a temporary reprieve of that the legal uncertainty, some Trump administration officials believe the 232 levies could effectively supplant the country-by-country duties, Bloomberg News has tariffs on steel and aluminium, automobiles and the expected levies on pharmaceuticals have raised concerns among Indian exporters that have been urging the government to not ink a deal that will adversely impact their shipments. Exporters say the US move to raise levies on metals and autos are a huge setback for them.'These duties impact India's engineering exports to the US, which are valued at over $20 billion annually,' said Pankaj Chadha, chairman of Engineering Exports Promotion Council. 'We hope that these sectoral tariffs will be suitably addressed in the bilateral trade agreement.
