Latest news with #GregDavis
Daily Mirror
29-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Man could face 95 years in prison as cops make horror discovery on his phone
A 68-year-old man was charged with multiple offences after police made a shocking discovery during a random bag search at an Australian airport after he returned from abroad A man could face 95 years behind bars after police allegedly made a horrific discovery on his phone during a random bag check. A 68-year-old man has been charged with child sexual abuse crimes after cops reportedly found child abuse materials, which included sexually explicit photos, videos and even disgusting video calls to facilitators - making them livestream the sexual abuse of young children. The suspect was randomly stopped and checked when he returned to Darwin Airport, in Australia. This discovery prompted police to issue a search warrant for several locations the man had been known to live at. He had allegedly instructed people in the Philippines to sexually abuse children, some as young as six, while he watched online. The Australian man had returned to the country on New Year's Day and he was captured by cops on January 3 in their operation. He was pictured being arrested in a carpark by cops. The man was charged with five serious offences after cops uncovered an alleged online abuse case. These included two counts of sexual intercourse with a child outside Australia, two counts of sexual activity with a child outside Australia, and one count of possessing child abuse material. If the 68-year-old is found guilty of all five of these charges, he could face up to 95 years in prison. Two suspects were also arrested in the Philippines, and six children were moved from abusive environments, after Australian investigators shared information with cops in Manila. The Australian suspect appeared in court on January 7 and was remanded in custody until a second hearing on May 27. The suspect did not show up in court but he was represented by a lawyer. His case was adjourned until June 24 to give the prosecution time to gather "outstanding material". Australian Border Force Superintendent Greg Davis said protecting children was one of the agencies top priorities. He said: "All victims of child sexual exploitation experience lifelong harm because of the selfish actions of their abusers. "The AFP will continue to work closely with local, Commonwealth and international partners to protect children from sickening abuse and together identify offenders and bring them before the courts." ABF Commander Tracie Griffin said the border officers at Darwin Airport were key to protecting children in this case. Griffin said: "I want to commend the work of the ABF officers involved in the alleged discovery of child abuse material on this man's phone. Six children are safe because of their diligence and the work of our domestic and international law enforcement partners." Philippines National Police Brigadier General Portia Manalad praised the cooperation between the agencies. She said: "The PNP Women and Children Protection Centre will continue to locate alleged offenders and rescue victims with the assistance of our foreign partners."
Mint
26-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Investors pile into ETFs at record pace despite market turmoil
This year's volatile, trade war-obsessed market didn't shake American investors' fondness for exchange-traded funds. In fact, it only made them love them more. Investors have plowed a record $437 billion into U.S. ETFs so far this year, unfazed by the wildest markets since Covid. And if inflows maintain the current pace—historically, they accelerate in the summer and fall months—it will mark the second straight record year for U.S. ETF flows. That is happening in part because of the relentless flow of money out of mutual funds and into ETFs, which tend to offer lower fees and certain tax advantages that their older cousins can't match. But the decadelong trend doesn't fully explain this year's surge; indeed, when U.S. markets turned choppy, many began to double down on their bets on U.S. assets. And, now more than ever, they placed those wagers by buying ETFs. 'Investors are seeing selloffs as buying opportunities," said Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at data provider VettaFi. The hundreds of billions of dollars that investors poured into ETFs found their way into every major fund category: Stock funds and bond funds. Funds that track popular indexes continue to sell well, but so have those managed by professional stock and bond pickers, a relatively new corner of the ETF market that has gained momentum. No one fund benefited more from the surge than the ETF industry's new champ: Vanguard Group's S&P 500 ETF. The ultracheap index fund has soaked up a stunning $65 billion in net inflows this year, along the way becoming the world's biggest ETF by assets. Known by ticker symbol VOO, the fund more than doubled the previous annual ETF inflow record when it took in $116 billion last year. Now it is on pace to reset that mark again by October. VOO's rise illustrates how investors more broadly turned to ETFs this year. When stock-market volatility soared to a five-year high in April, Vanguard's S&P 500 fund reported its highest monthly inflows ever. Many investors had built up large cash holdings by then, and had been waiting for the right moment to shift money back into stocks, according to Greg Davis, president and chief investment officer at Vanguard. 'During that period of tumult in early April, we saw a 5-to-1 buy-to-sell ratio," Davis said. 'Investors have a tremendous amount of cash sitting on the sidelines and they know that if things are on sale, it is time to put money to work." Swelling ETF assets have been a windfall for Vanguard and BlackRock, the two largest U.S. fund managers. BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink has talked repeatedly about the opportunity for his firm to capitalize on a reallocation from cash to stock and bond funds. 'In the United States, there's $11 trillion sitting in money-market funds," Fink said at the Saudi-U. S. investment forum in Riyadh earlier this month. 'When there is uncertainty, you're going to keep more money in cash and that is what we witnessed." Several years after the Federal Reserve began lifting interest rates to combat inflation, the allure of cash is still strong for many investors. The second-most popular ETF this year has been a BlackRock 0-3 month Treasury bond fund, which has almost $17 billion in inflows. The cashlike fund has a 12-month trailing yield of 4.7%. A similar offering from State Street is also in the top 10 of the flows leaderboard. 'We are seeing some defensiveness on the fixed-income side," said VettaFi's Rosenbluth. 'With several short-term Treasury products in the top 10, that's a sign investors are happy being paid to wait." Still, equity funds have taken in a majority of this year's flows. Joining VOO in the top 10 are State Street's S&P 500 fund, Vanguard's total stock-market and equity growth funds, and two Nasdaq-100 funds from Invesco. An actively managed equity fund from JPMorgan that aims to reduce volatility and produce above-average dividend income through an options strategy also cracked the top 10. Part of a broader class of active funds that some analysts have dubbed 'boomer candy" thanks to their popularity with retirees, the JPMorgan fund is building on a breakout 2024. Actively managed funds continue to capture an outsize share of new assets. According to Trackinsight, 30% of this year's ETF flows have gone to active funds even though they make up less than 10% of the industry's total assets. Longtime mutual-fund giant Fidelity has been focusing on active ETF launches in recent years, and interest continues to grow, said Greg Friedman, Fidelity's head of ETF management and strategy. 'For the last 12 to 24 months, we've been seeing a very nice level of inflows with most of it on the active side," Friedman said. 'That has held up even during extreme volatility." For years, investors have been swapping their mutual funds for the tax benefits and liquidity offered by ETFs, boosting inflows. That trend could soon accelerate even further. Dozens of fund managers have filed applications with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer new ETF share classes of existing mutual funds, which would allow them to offer popular strategies in the ETF wrapper without starting from scratch. SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda said earlier this year he has told the agency's staff to give priority to the issue, and many in the industry are expecting approval as soon as this year. Write to Jack Pitcher at
News.com.au
09-05-2025
- News.com.au
Northern Territory: Man jailed after assaulting fellow passenger during flight
A man has been jailed for 10 months after groping a woman during a domestic flight. The Katherine man was travelling on a plane from Brisbane to Darwin on October 14, 2024, when he behaved in a sexual manner towards a female passenger seated near him. He then placed his hand between her thighs. Airline staff, who were alerted to the incident by the woman, moved her to another seat and monitored the man for the remainder of the journey. The man was escorted from the aircraft by AFP officers upon arrival for further questioning. He was charged and pleaded guilty to one count of an act of indecency in the third degree on an aircraft, and has remained in custody since. On Tuesday, the man learned his fate at the Local Darwin Court. Slapped with 10 months jail time, the man was released from custody this week to serve the remainder of the term on a $2000 recognizance order and a two-year good behaviour bond. AFP Superintendent Greg Davis said the AFP had a zero tolerance for criminal behaviour on aircraft or within Australian airports. 'All passengers and airline staff have the right to feel safe and it would be particularly frightening to be trapped in a confined space in the air with someone behaving badly,' Supt Davis said. 'Travellers who break the law will be dealt with swiftly.'
Perth Now
09-05-2025
- Perth Now
Man jailed after assault on domestic flight
A man has been jailed for 10 months after groping a woman during a domestic flight. The Katherine man was travelling on a plane from Brisbane to Darwin on October 14, 2024, when he behaved in a sexual manner towards a female passenger seated near him. He then placed his hand between her thighs. Airline staff, who were alerted to the incident by the woman, moved her to another seat and monitored the man for the remainder of the journey. The 52-year-old man behaved in a sexual matter towards a female passenger seated near him during a flight from Brisbane to Darwin in October last year. Credit: Supplied The man was escorted from the aircraft by AFP officers upon arrival for further questioning. He was charged and pleaded guilty to one count of an act of indecency in the third degree on an aircraft, and has remained in custody since. On Tuesday, the man learned his fate at the Local Darwin Court. Slapped with 10 months jail time, the man was released from custody this week to serve the remainder of the term on a $2000 recognizance order and a two-year good behaviour bond. AFP Superintendent Greg Davis said the AFP had a zero tolerance for criminal behaviour on aircraft or within Australian airports. He has been sentenced with 10 months imprisonment and was released from custody this week to serve the remainder of the term on a $2000 recognizance order and a two-year good behaviour bond. Gera Kazakov Credit: News Corp Australia 'All passengers and airline staff have the right to feel safe and it would be particularly frightening to be trapped in a confined space in the air with someone behaving badly,' Supt Davis said. 'Travellers who break the law will be dealt with swiftly.'
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Electrified gasoline engines may be the powertrain of the future
In 1966, General Motors built the Electrovair II, an electric version of the Chevrolet Corvair packed with the latest technology from the aerospace and electronics industries. The car's acceleration nearly matched the 110-hp gasoline-fueled Corvair, but without the noise and vibration of a combustion engine. Still, the Electrovair II lacked the driving range and rapid fill of its gasoline sibling. In a promotional video, the narrator says: 'Electrovair II can only travel 40 to 80 miles depending on how you drive it before its silver zinc batteries must be recharged. Recharging takes almost six hours. Obviously, a better battery must be found to make a practical car, but Electrovair II has demonstrated for the first time what electric car performance could be like when that better power source is found.' Six decades later, scientists are still looking for that better battery — one that charges as fast as a pump fills a gasoline tank and propels the vehicle for well over 350 miles before recharging. Sign up for the weekly Automotive News Mobility Report newsletter for the latest developments at the intersection of transportation and technology. As Automotive News celebrates its 100-year anniversary, we are taking a look at today's topics through both a historic and future lens. This installment looks at the future of powertrains. The effort to displace gasoline as the primary fuel for automobiles is as old as the car itself. Steam, turbines that could run on anything from french fry grease to perfume, hydrogen and natural gas have all been looked at as replacements. Until recently, battery-electric vehicles looked to be the successor. But a flurry of announcements from various automakers in recent years saying they wouldn't invest heavily in new combustion engines has turned into a false alarm for those who like the roar and vibration from putting the pedal to the metal. Toyota is working to improve the thermal efficiency of its engines, a move that increases fuel economy and reduces emissions by converting more of the heat generated in the combustion process into work. Toyota's Dynamic Force engines can achieve 41 percent thermal efficiency. Most combustion engines run at about 30 percent efficiency. (EVs operate in the 70 percent range, according to the Department of Energy.) Porsche plans a combustion-engine SUV that could be a replacement for its gasoline Macan as the automaker boosts investments in gasoline models amid slower-than-expected EV sales. Mercedes-Benz said this year that is it developing a new combustion engine, a reaction to its tepid EV sales. But even as they start to invest in new engines, automakers are also looking at how to pair electricity with gasoline motors. 'I believe that the most cost effective gains can be made by modifying the internal combustion engine's operation through the use of electrification,' said Greg Davis, director of the advanced engine research laboratory at Kettering University in Flint, Mich. 'Internal combustion engines do not have broad regions of high efficiency, so combining them with electric drives in hybrid electric vehicles is a great way to limit the use of the engine to operating regions with better efficiency,' Davis said. The early Toyota Prius and Honda Insight were the first step in this direction. They used electricity to launch from a stop — the portion of the drive cycle that needs the most power — and then let the gasoline engine take over. What may emerge, at least in some global markets, is a permanent marriage between gasoline engines and electric motors. Even early tinkerers, including Ferdinand Porsche, recognized the benefits of electrifying the gasoline powertrain. In the early 1900s, Porsche installed electric wheel hub motors in a giant wagon called the Lohner-Porsche. That vehicle debuted in 1900 at the World Exposition in Paris. But the excessive weight of the 80-volt lead-acid batteries and electric motors severely limited driving range. On his next vehicle, the Mixte, Porsche added a gasoline engine to power a generator to recharge the batteries. It was the first range-extended hybrid. Fast-forward 125 years and the range-extended gasoline-electric powertrain that Porsche pioneered is on the cusp of making a comeback. Ram is launching the extended-range Ramcharger truck this year. Scout plans to offer a range extender in its SUVs and pickups. Ford CEO Jim Farley said a range-extender powertrain in the company's SUVs and pickups is coming in 2027. Nissan's e-Power engine, used in a range-extended vehicle sold overseas, achieves 50 percent thermal efficiency and will launch in U.S. versions of the Rogue in 2026. Mazda and Subaru are also working on a new generation of engines geared specifically for hybrid powertrains. And Mercedes-Benz's AMG division is working on a 'highly electrified' V-8. Davis believes we'll see electric motors not just bolted to a gasoline engine but integrated into its design. 'This also allows the use of smaller displacement engines, lowering costs, as the engine output can be combined with the electric output during transitory high-demand situations,' he said. Nonetheless, EVs are a potent challenger to the combustion engine's reign. EVs made up 8 percent of new-vehicle registrations in the U.S. last year, or 1.28 million vehicles, according to S&P Global Mobility. That was an 11 percent gain from the prior year and outpaced the 2.5 percent gain for all light-vehicle sales last year. Those vehicles all rely on forms of lithium ion battery chemistry. For most models, that allows a range of at least 250 miles, high-voltage charging in 45 to 60 minutes and easy overnight home charging. Two emerging battery chemistries, sodium ion and solid state, have the potential to replace today's lithium ion cells in most EVs, allowing them to match combustion engine convenience. Sodium ion batteries could be less expensive to manufacture because the raw materials they use are abundant. But lower power density and a shorter life are two major issues battery engineers are working to solve. Solid state batteries, which could be on American roads by 2030, promise faster charging, lower risk of fires and greater energy density. But solid state batteries have challenges, too. They are expensive to manufacture. In China on March 17, BYD announced that its Super e-Platform batteries can deliver 248 miles of range in just five minutes, bringing an EV into parity with the speed at which a gasoline-fueled car can be refilled. Chris Borroni-Bird, a research scientist who worked on fuel cell development at Chrysler and General Motors, said he sees a very different type of automobile on the road a century from today. Powertrains will be battery electric, getting most of their energy from solar panels, he said. Advanced wheel motors will improve maneuverability and provide greater design flexibility. The powertrain won't be the only part of the car with a smaller environmental footprint. 'Right-sized vehicles made of recycled and natural materials and having a solar panel roof can be used to complement public transport and make moving people and goods easier on the wallet and on the planet,' he said. Throughout 2025, we will honor our legacy by connecting topics of today with our historical coverage as we look ahead to the next 100 years. Have an opinion about this story? Tell us about it and we may publish it in print. Click here to submit a letter to the editor.
