Latest news with #Scandinavia
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Zenvo Is Making a Small Hypercar With a Naturally Aspirated V-10 Engine
Zenvo's 1,850 brake horsepower, V-12 powered Aurora was one of the more pleasant surprises of 2023, a new hypercar with real aspirations. Now, the car maker says it's working on a smaller version, too, a 'junior hypercar' powered by a V-10 that might be a bit more accessible. Zenvo doesn't have a prototype of this car that it can reveal, or even a name just yet, but the V-12 that the company is putting in the Aurora is versatile enough to slim down to a V-10 and possibly even a V-8. That has made Zenvo think of worlds beyond the hybrid Aurora, which is a would-be competitor to cars like the Koenigsegg Jesko. More from Robb Report Inside a Stately $9.5 Million Mansion on Washington D.C.'s Embassy Row A Record-Breaking Penthouse Sale in Asbury Park Signals a Bold New Chapter for the Jersey Shore This Year's Champagne Harvest Is 'Promising,' but the Yield Will Be the Lowest Since Covid 'We're already working on a V-10 version for our junior hypercar,' Jens Sverdrup, Zenvo's chairman, told Top Gear, adding that the V-10 would likely be naturally aspirated, as opposed to the quad-turbo V-12 in the Aurora. 'The engine was designed from day one with future-proofing in mind, so it can be naturally aspirated, it can of course run as a non-hybrid too if need be. Emissions are the real issue though. I think it will be tough to meet the next set of requirements without running a hybrid system.' A naturally aspirated V-10 version of the Aurora engine might make something in the realm of 800 horsepower, which would make this junior hypercar exist probably in the same general space as a car like the Lamborghini Huracán. A V-10 Zenvo is also, for now, merely a thing the company is working on, which means that it's a long way from execution. Zenvo still has to make sure the Aurora is a success at first, too. In that regard, Zenvo seems on track, with the Aurora making its operational debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed earlier this month and charging up the hill. The company is almost explicitly pitting itself directly against Koenigsegg, the Swedish hypercar maker, which is a formidable task but reminiscent of the days when regular old supercar makers like Lamborghini and Ferrari would go head-to-head. Zenvo, for example, says it is solely a hypercar company and won't be bothering with lesser vehicles like an SUV. 'There's no ambition to start doing family cars,' Sverdrup told Top Gear. 'Something like a Koenigsegg Gemera wouldn't be on our radar. But yes, we're planning a junior hypercar and hopefully we could make up to 500 of those, depending on what the brand and the market would take … I would love to make hypercars in new genres, too, so not an SUV but a hyper off-roader.' That's big talk for a relative newbie on the scene, but that's what you have to say to get noticed. Delivery remains to be seen. Best of Robb Report The 2024 Chevy C8 Corvette: Everything We Know About the Powerful Mid-Engine Beast The World's Best Superyacht Shipyards The ABCs of Chartering a Yacht Click here to read the full article.
Reuters
16 hours ago
- Climate
- Reuters
Danish police evacuate music festival amid heavy rain
COPENHAGEN, July 24 (Reuters) - Danish police evacuated a music festival on Thursday and warned people in the west coast city of Esbjerg to stay indoors amid flooding caused by a cloudburst. "Heavy rain came and we assessed that it was necessary to shut down the concert," a police spokesperson said. Police had initiated the evacuation of some 20,000 people, he said, adding there were no reports of injuries. Festival organisers said on Facebook that the rest of Thursday's programme would be cancelled due to safety concerns. Broadcasters DR and TV showed images of cars in Esbjerg that were partly submerged, and people wading through water in the city of around 71,500 inhabitants. "It is advised against going outside. Unnecessary driving is discouraged," the police said in a post on social media X. Several parts of the Scandinavian region are currently subject to flood warnings.
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
European optimism grows
Only in Denmark could a country create a world-class restaurant scene, rack up countless Michelin stars, and monetize culinary tourism to near perfection – and then give the planet an appetite suppressant like Ozempic. But Scandinavia, that wind-carved crown perched atop continental Europe, has always brimmed with irony. Sweden is known as a socialist's paradise, yet overflows with billionaires. Norway, awash in some of the world's largest proven oil reserves, sold 97% electric vehicles in June. And Finland – a land of silence and saunas – now shares the longest NATO border with Russia. Whatever the case, Forstrong's CEO is back in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. Yes, the dining scene and the city's almost irritatingly perfect blend of order and bohemia – a place with no bad angles – keep us coming back to the Nordic region. And evidently, we're not alone: The city is packed and tourism is booming across the continent. But beyond the vibe, something else is stirring: European stock markets are ripping. The numbers have surprised nearly everyone. During the first half of the year, European stocks outpaced their American peers by the widest margin on record (in U.S. dollar terms) – a dramatic reversal after more than a decade in the doldrums. And it's not just equities. The euro surged 13% against the dollar over the same period. Notably, European bank stocks – those crucial barometers of liquidity and risk appetite – are leading the way. The region's Stoxx 600 Financials Index posted its strongest first half since 1997, fueled by turnaround plans and a flurry of M&A activity. Germany's Commerzbank is soaring, lifted by strong earnings and takeover interest. Spanish and Italian lenders are also rallying on renewed dealmaking. And despite the surge in prices, bank valuations still trade well below long-term norms. Berlin goes big What's driving all this? The region has seen false dawns before, and the political instability and regulatory thickets that long deterred investors haven't disappeared. Broad equity valuations in Europe remain depressed relative to the U.S. But something more profound is now underway: an unintended consequence of Trump's economic nationalism and growing military isolationism has been to galvanize Europe into fiscal action on a scale not seen since German reunification in 1991. In a defining moment for Germany – and by extension, the EU – policymakers have agreed to break from constitutional budget constraints, clearing the way for a colossal €500 billion infrastructure and defense spending plan. The measures amount to 11.4% of Germany's GDP – enough to stave off recession risks and begin rebalancing the economy away from its heavy reliance on exports. Europe's largest economy is, at long last, committing to borrow and spend massively on defense and infrastructure. And the mood shift is real: Even with plenty of skepticism still in the air, a quiet optimism is starting to take root – palpable everywhere we went. The significance of this shift can't be overstated. The Eurozone's stagnation throughout the 2010s was shaped by two powerful forces: (1) a massive deleveraging cycle in the South following the credit-fueled boom of the 2000s, and (2) self-imposed austerity in the North, which brought on the most contractionary fiscal stance since the Great Depression. Both trends have now run their course – setting the stage for a reflationary boom in the second half of the 2020s. Europe's competitiveness problem But fiscal reform is just the visible tip of a much larger iceberg. The EU's policy consensus is now shifting from a near-obsession with austerity and cost control to a broader focus on innovation and domestic demand resilience. The old orthodoxy manifested in negative interest rates, a chronically weak euro, and fragmented capital markets. It's hardly surprising that while the EU accounts for roughly 17% of global GDP, it hosts only five of the 50 largest companies in the S&P Global 1200. Innovation has been stifled for years. Of course, the elephant in the room is Trump's trade war. Everywhere we went, Europeans expressed bafflement at the fickle, capricious nature of Trump's tariffs (join the club). But the direct economic impact on Europe will be far smaller than in the U.S. The OECD has estimated that the negative GDP impact on the U.S. of 10% U.S. tariffs will be four times greater than the effect on the EU. The reason is simple: While the U.S. is less reliant on trade than Europe, Trump's tariffs would disrupt nearly all U.S. trade – whereas they apply to only roughly 20% of EU exports that go to America. EU policymakers are now strolling through an orchard of low-hanging fruit. Unlike in the U.S., the university sector remains fragmented – along with public support for research and innovation. A lack of capital scale and risk appetite has left EU funding sources far less robust than those in America. A Berlin-based startup founder put it bluntly: 'We love Europe, but if we want to grow fast, we raise funds from U.S. venture capital and scale up in the American market.' Meanwhile, the IMF recently estimated that, despite the creation of a single market, the EU still suffers from major non-tariff barriers – ranging from inconsistent regulations to licensing requirements and other non-harmonized standards. The economic impact? These frictions amount to the equivalent of a 44% tariff on goods and a staggering 110% tariff on services. Former ECB head Mario Draghi, in a scathing report last year, argued that fixing the EU's lagging competitiveness (driven by 'fragmentation, over-regulation, insufficient spending and undue conservatism') would require €750-€800 billion in additional annual investment, equivalent to 4.4%-4.7% of EU GDP. That would push the region's investment-to-GDP ratio to levels not seen since the 1970s. Notably, no one seems to disagree with Draghi. To be sure, Europe still has a long road to competitiveness. But even marginal steps can have a big impact. In the meantime, the economic cycle is already turning and showing up in the data. Credit growth is picking up. Manufacturing is stabilizing. The property sector in the North is showing early signs of life. All of this will help unlock future consumption at a time when real wage growth rose 2.9% year-over-year in Q1 2025, and Eurozone households are still saving 15.2% of disposable income – well above the pre-pandemic average of 12.8%. The bull case is that this cyclical pickup, combined with structural tailwinds, helps shore up growth in the second half of 2025 – before igniting a more powerful turnaround in 2026. Strong markets are already sniffing that out. Investment implications We wrapped up the trip in Athens before venturing into the Aegean Sea to unwind in the Greek islands (pro tip: if you're prone to seasickness, skip the smaller island-hopping boats – they're not as glamorous as they sound.) Fittingly, we were last here 25 years ago (as a young analyst working for Germany's largest bank) – the start of the last major stretch of European equity outperformance over America (2000-09), a period that coincided with the painful unwinding of the U.S. tech bubble. U.S. tech is unlikely to be headed for the same fate this time around. The mega-cap names driving U.S. returns today are posting strong earnings and sitting on piles of cash. But these companies are at that tricky stage of having to live up to the AI hype and deliver a high return on the massive amounts of capital they have been deploying. By contrast, European stocks trade at a 35% discount to their U.S. peers – yet both are expected to deliver around 10% profit growth in 2026. The risk versus reward setup is compelling. The increasingly footloose nature of global capital means that investment themes can now shift quickly. This is already happening. After years of neglect, European equity funds have attracted billions in new inflows since the start of 2025 – a sharp reversal from the outflows of last year. Forstrong's strategies are aligned with this shift, holding active overweights in both European equities and bank stocks. Investors shouldn't ignore this unfolding European Super Trend. As one Swedish executive told us: 'The cycle has finally turned. It's time to catch the wave.' Tyler Mordy, CFA, is CEO and CIO of Forstrong Global Asset Management Inc., engaged in top-down strategy, investment policy, and securities selection. This article first appeared in Forstrong's Insights page. Used with permission. You can reach Tyler by phone at Forstrong Global, toll-free 1-888-419-6715, or by email at tmordy@ Follow Tyler on X at @TylerMordy and @ForstrongGlobal. Disclaimers Content © 2025 by Forstrong Global. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part by any means without prior written permission is prohibited. Used with permission. The foregoing is for general information purposes only and is the opinion of the writer. The author and clients of Forstrong Global Asset Management may have positions in securities mentioned. Performance statistics are calculated from documented actual investment strategies as set by Forstrong's Investment Committee and applied to its portfolios mandates, and are intended to provide an approximation of composite results for separately managed accounts. Actual performance of individual separate accounts may vary with average gross 'composite' performance statistics presented here due to client-specific portfolio differences with respect to size, inflow/outflow history, and inception dates, as well as intra-day market volatilities versus daily closing prices. Performance numbers are net of total ETF expense ratios and custody fees, but before withholding taxes, transaction costs and other investment management and advisor fees. Commissions and management fees may be associated with exchange-traded funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. Securities mentioned carry risk of loss, and no guarantee of performance is made or implied. This information is not intended to provide specific personalized advice including, without limitation, investment, financial, legal, accounting or tax advice.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Swedish neo-Nazis are using MMA to recruit new members
Swedish neo-Nazis are using MMA to recruit new members NewsFeed Neo-Nazis in Sweden are using mixed martial arts events to try to attract new followers to their white supremacist ideology. Al Jazeera's Nils Adler has been investigating. Video Duration 00 minutes 54 seconds 00:54 Video Duration 03 minutes 18 seconds 03:18 Video Duration 00 minutes 40 seconds 00:40 Video Duration 03 minutes 00 seconds 03:00 Video Duration 01 minutes 39 seconds 01:39 Video Duration 01 minutes 47 seconds 01:47 Video Duration 02 minutes 57 seconds 02:57
Medscape
2 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Diverse Early-Life Diet Linked to Lower Celiac Disease Risk
TOPLINE: Greater food variety in a child's second year of life — but not healthy eating — was linked to a reduced subsequent risk for celiac disease. METHODOLOGY: Researchers analysed data from an observational, longitudinal, population-based cohort study in Norway to examine associations between dietary diversity and healthy eating in the second year of life and the subsequent risk for celiac disease. Pregnant women were invited to participate between 1999 and 2008, and dietary data of toddlers were collected from their caregivers at 18 months of age. They used the dietary diversity score (0-4) to assess variation in dietary intake and the Healthy Eating Index (0-36) to assess children's diet quality, with higher scores indicating more varied diets and healthier foods, respectively. The diagnosis of celiac disease was on the basis of registry data and responses to questionnaires collected at ages 7 and 8 years regarding the presence of celiac disease. TAKEAWAY: Of 64,536 children followed up to a mean age of 16.1 years, 1033 (1.6%; 60.4% girls) were diagnosed with celiac disease (mean age at diagnosis, 8.6 years). Higher dietary diversity at 18 months of age was associated with a lower subsequent risk for celiac disease (adjusted odds ratio per SD increase, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.85-0.98) after adjusting for gluten intake, iron supplementation, and early-life infections. No significant association was found between healthy eating and the subsequent risk for celiac disease. IN PRACTICE: "These findings may indicate an interplay between the variation of the diet, gluten amounts, and infections as part of the celiac disease exposome that should be further investigated," the authors wrote. SOURCE: This study was led by Elin M. Hård af Segerstad, PhD, Department of Pediatric Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. It was published online on July 16, 2025, in Clinical Nutrition. LIMITATIONS: The 18-month dietary questionnaire provided limited and variable detail across food groups. Levels of food processing and saturated fat intake were not considered. Participant selection was skewed towards more educated women with healthier eating habits, potentially introducing bias. DISCLOSURES: This study was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program. One author was supported by the South East Norway Health Authorities. The cohort study was supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services and the Ministry of Education and Research. The authors reported having no conflicts of interest. This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
