News Headlines - 27 June 2020

▽Trump administration says Huawei, Hikvision backed by Chinese military - Reuters

The Trump administration has determined that top Chinese firms, including telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies and video surveillance company Hikvision, are owned or controlled by the Chinese military, laying the groundwork for new U.S. financial sanctions... A Department of Defense (DOD) document listing 20 companies operating in the United States that Washington alleges are backed by the Chinese military was first reported by Reuters.
The DOD document also includes China Mobile Communications Group and China Telecommunications Corp as well as aircraft manufacturer Aviation Industry Corp of China.

▽Brexit: UK starts work on buying own sat-nav system to rival Galileo - BBC News

The London start-up had been trying to build a network of spacecraft to deliver broadband connections but was forced to seek bankruptcy protection in March because of insufficient funds.
It's understood Boris Johnson's government could now put about ￡500m into the project, in part because it believes OneWeb can also provide a satellite navigation service.
This has become an important issue since the UK lost its membership of the European Galileo sat-nav system after exiting the EU.

▽Daimler and Nvidia team up to close tech gap to Tesla - Reuters

Daimler and Nvidia unveiled a deal on Tuesday to develop and equip the German company’s Mercedes-Benz cars with a next-generation chip and software platform that could eventually be used to help vehicles drive by themselves.
The move is a response to Tesla’s ability to integrate custom designed chips with thousands of lines of code, which has allowed the Silicon Valley-based company to develop new features faster than its competitors.

▽Locusts invade satellite city of India's capital - CNA

Desert locusts on Saturday (Jun 27) invaded Gurugram, a satellite city of India's capital New Delhi, prompting authorities to ask people to keep their windows shut and bang utensils to ward off the fast-spreading swarms.
Delhi's international airport, which borders Gurugram - home to some of the world's top corporations, has asked pilots to take extra precautions during takeoff and landing due to the locusts, Reuters partner ANI reported.
Gurugram has never faced a locust attack before. Previous infestations have been mainly confined to some villages in the western state of Gujarat and Rajasthan in the north, which share a border with Pakistan's desert areas.

▽Hello Kitty Founder Steps Down As CEO Of Sanrio : NPR

Shintaro Tsuji, CEO of Sanrio, will step down on July 1 and hand over the reins of the Japanese company that created global mega-star character Hello Kitty to his grandson.