Latest news with #English-language
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
Korean industry giants bet on battery recycling as global EV market matures
South Korea's leading industrial players are ramping up their efforts in the electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling sector, reflecting growing expectations that the currently sluggish market will develop into a vital part of the battery value chain, the Korea Herald reported on June 20. The LG Energy Solution , the South Korea's top battery manufacturer, has recently established joint ventures in both Europe and the United States -- partnering with France's Derichebourg and Toyota Tsusho Co., respectively. These initiatives mark LG's first direct entry into recycling operations in these key global markets. Meanwhile, SK Ecoplant, the construction and engineering arm of SK Group, is expanding its European operations in the Netherlands. The facility will add an annual processing capacity of 25,000 metric tons of black mass, with the expansion slated for completion in 2025, the South Korean English-language daily newspaper added. Going further, Posco-GS Eco Materials -- a joint venture between Posco Holdings and GS Energy, with ownership split 51:49 -- has also made a notable move by acquiring full ownership of its recycling unit, Posco HY Clean Metal. This was achieved by purchasing the 35 percent stake held by China's Huayou Cobalt in April, the South Korea's news platform added. These strategic shifts come amid a prolonged downturn in the battery recycling sector, fueled by weakened EV demand and falling prices of core battery minerals such as nickel, lithium, and manganese. Lithium carbonate prices, which exceeded 450 Chinese yuan (USD 63) per kilogram in January 2023, have plummeted to about 50 yuan. Nickel has also seen a steep drop from over USD 31,000 per ton to around USD 20,000. As a result, SungEel HiTech -- one of only two battery recycling companies listed on Korea's tech-heavy Kosdaq -- has faced falling profitability and declining free cash flow for two consecutive years. A joint recycling venture between SungEel HiTech and SK Innovation, announced in 2022, has been postponed indefinitely. Additionally, SK Ecoplant's planned facilities in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, and in Kentucky have shown little to no progress for several years. The news report added that the Korean industry watchers expect a sharp rise in used EV batteries reaching end-of-life status, generally around 10 years after initial use -- a timeline that aligns with the global EV sales boom in the 2010s, which topped one million units by 2015. With global EV adoption continuing to rise, the battery recycling market -- valued at USD 8 billion in 2022 -- is forecast to grow to as much as USD 53.57 billion by 2030, according to SNE Research. Experts argue that participating in the recycling segment is becoming crucial for maintaining competitiveness in the battery industry, especially as regulatory pressure mounts globally for the use of recycled materials. The European Union, for instance, mandates that EV batteries sold in the region must contain minimum percentages of recycled metals by 2031: 16 percent for cobalt, 85 percent for lead, 6 percent for lithium, and 6 percent for nickel. These thresholds will increase by 2036. In the United States, the Inflation Reduction Act excludes EVs from tax credits if key battery materials are sourced from "foreign entities of concern," further pushing manufacturers to procure materials domestically -- often through recycling.
Nikkei Asia
5 hours ago
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
NIKKEI Film: Why learn English in the age of AI?
WATARU ITO TOKYO -- AI can correctly answer about 90% of the University of Tokyo's English entrance exam questions and is capable of achieving a 900 out of a 990 perfect score on the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication). The average TOEIC score for Japanese in 2023 was 561. Developments such as these are significant enough that AI translation researcher Eiichiro Sumita asserts, "Practical English for business use should be left to AI." Meanwhile, English-language education has accelerated in Japan in order to better nurture people who can play active roles in the world -- a move that has received a strong push from the business community. English-language kindergartens and international schools are also popular, and parents are enthusiastic about English education. However, these advancements in AI have raised an intriguing question: Is English-language education even necessary anymore? NIKKEI Film explores the future of English learning in the age of AI, with the help of a class of fifth-grade elementary school students just starting to study English.
Korea Herald
6 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Three Busan students die in suspected suicide; notes cite school stress
Three students from one high school in Busan were found dead early Saturday morning after falling from the rooftop of an apartment building in Busan, in what police are investigating as a suspected group suicide. According to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, the incident occurred at approximately 1:39 a.m. on Saturday in Haeundae District. The students, all female, second-year students at the same high school in Busan, were found collapsed in a landscaped area at the base of the apartment complex. They were transported to a nearby hospital but were pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Security camera footage from the building showed the three girls entering an elevator together at 11:42 p.m. Friday and exiting on the 20th floor. Authorities believe they then went to the roof. Investigators recovered notes left by two of the students, which cited academic stress and pressure as primary factors. Police reported no evidence of physical assault or external injuries beyond those consistent with the fall. There were no indications of school violence or third-party involvement, according to the ongoing investigation. In response to the tragedy, the Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education convened a joint response team to examine the circumstances of the incident. A crisis management committee meeting was held at the students' school Saturday morning, followed by an emergency response meeting led by the Superintendent of the Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education. To support the bereaved families, the education office dispatched senior staff to the three funeral homes where memorial altars were established. The students' school also held an internal meeting to coordinate its response. Authorities have not released the names of the students or the school, in accordance with privacy protections for minors. The investigation remains ongoing. If you're thinking about self-harm or suicide, contact the Ministry of Health and Welfare's helpline at 109, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please request a translator for English-language services.
Toronto Star
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Mark Carney's minority government has an unexpected partner in the Conservatives — for now
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, left, and Liberal Leader Mark Carney talk following the English-language federal leaders' debate in Montreal on April 17, 2025. Christopher Katsarov The Canadia
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Private Revolutions: Read an excerpt from Yuan Yang's new book on China
On Sunday afternoons, which were sometimes the only spare time she had in the week, June would scrub her clothes by hand while resenting the time she had to waste doing so. She relieved her boredom by listening to podcasts on her smartphone. She particularly liked the speeches of Yu Minhong, the founder of New Oriental, the country's biggest private education company. . (.) In 2013, around the time June started high school, a film had been released loosely based on Yu's life called American Dreams in China. Filled with slapstick comedy, it describes the lives of three young men from poor backgrounds who dream of studying in the US. The character based on Yu is repeatedly denied an entry visa, but the three end up founding an English-language tuition company together and striking it rich. The film includes several dramatic shots of Yu's speeches, superimposed against a stadium of cheering fans: he is a rock star, easy and confident. By the time the film was released, Yu had become a dollar billionaire and was known in China as the godfather of English teaching. A witty public speaker with a self-deprecating sense of humour, Yu liked to mix personal anecdotes with pep talks:Hew a stone of hope out of a mountain of despair and you can make your life a splendid the beginning, there were no roads in the world; only as people began travelling did roads come into being. Successful roads are formed not when people roam aimlessly, but when they are headed in the same direction. The same is true for New Oriental; it was formed as people gathered to study. *** June carried on being the top in her class, but she knew it wasn't that good a class. As the three years of high school passed by, university drew nearer. Far from being a dream, it was becoming inevitable. The only uncertainty was where she'd end up. China has around 1,400 universities that grant undergraduate degrees. About a hundred of these belong to the 'Project 211' group of elite universities, where less than half a million students enter each year. The competition to squeeze into China's top universities is higher than almost anywhere else in the world. Overall, China's 211 group admit five out of every hundred students who apply, the same rate as Harvard University. Beijing's Peking University accepts just one in a hundred applicants. *** Being from a family with a Beijing hukou helps tremendously, because universities have a quota for local students. In one year, Beijing's two top universities took 84 out of every 10,000 applicants from Beijing but fewer than 5 out of every 10,000 applicants from some of China's poorest provinces, including June's. June aimed high for her top five choices. For number 6, her fall-back option, she chose a local university, one she was sure to get into. Towards the end of high school, Teacher Song visited June in the county town where she was studying. Squeezed between June's classes and her evening study session, Teacher Song took June for dinner at a Western restaurant that had just opened. That invitation in itself – to eat Western food – sounded like a luxury to June, who had spent the previous week eating from street-food stalls. Sitting in the restaurant, Teacher Song poured tea for June from a glass teapot filled with large owers steeped in a light pink liquid. After they finished eating and got up to leave, June held on to Teacher Song tightly and cried, not knowing when they would see each other again after she finished school: whether she went to university or out to work, she would have to go far from her home town. 'I hope you live very well,' Teacher Song said. (Excerpted with permission from Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China by Yuan Yang, published by Bloomsbury; 2024)
