One of the key conclusions made by a head of a major oil giant last week was recognition of a shift to electric vehicles. Royal Dutch Shell's CEO Ben van Beurden said he is ditching his diesel-powered car for a plug-in vehicle. When the boss of Europe's biggest listed oil company says his next car will be electric, it signals significant changes in global markets.
Changes in the list of the world's richest people have been another global trend of recent days. Thus, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, was recognized as the richest men with shares of his company soaring to unprecedented levels and leaving Bill Gates' company behind. After a while they fell again, but experts believe that is not going to be for long.
A number of executives, namely 11 current and former members of the board of directors of the largest financial institution Deutsche Bank, had to give up 38.4 million euros ($44.9 million) in disputed bonuses. Due to various violations committed by the bank's management, the financial institution was fined billions of dollars. As a result, bankers had to bear financial responsibility.
The UK regulators of the banking sector decided to abandon the Libor interest rate, which is used as a basis for calculating interest rates on loans, including mortgage loans. They also said it is necessary to reduce consumption of gasoline and diesel fuel. The British authorities believe that no new petrol or diesel cars will be sold in the UK after 2040. Experts do not rule out this possibility.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is trying to minimize the cost of flights and at the same time not to reduce the quality of produced vehicles. The agency expects to reduce the flight time by 1.5 times. It announced a tender for the creation of a supersonic aircraft silently crossing the sound barrier. NASA needs only to get the permission of the US Congress for supersonic flights over land. The ban was introduced in 1973.