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'Stone Age' Trump going back to horse and cart says Schwarzenegger
By Fiachra GIBBONS
Cannes, France (AFP) May 21, 2017


SoftBank-Saudi high-tech Vision fund raises $93bn
Tokyo (AFP) May 21, 2017 - Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank said, with Saudi partners, it has raised nearly $100 billion in pledges to launch a major global fund for long-term, high-tech investments.

The SoftBank Vision Fund has received participation from industry titans and the likes of Apple, Qualcomm, and Taiwan's Foxconn and collected pledges totalling more than $93 billion so far, the fund said in a statement Saturday.

"The fund is targeting a total of $100 billion of committed capital, with a final close within six months," it said.

SoftBank announced its partnership with Saudi Arabia in October, with its flamboyant founder Masayoshi Son declaring that he was focused on the "Internet of Things," artificial intelligence and robotics.

Son was among the first business people to meet Donald Trump after his November election victory and pledged to invest $50 billion in the United States, winning open praise from the then-president-elect.

The announcement comes as Trump visits Saudi Arabia as a part of his first overseas tour as president.

"Technology has the potential to address the biggest challenges and risks facing humanity today," Son said in the statement.

"The SoftBank Vision Fund... will help build and grow businesses creating foundational platforms of the next stage of the information revolution," he said.

SoftBank has said it will put up about $25 billion for the Vision Fund over the next five years, while the Saudi public investment fund's contribution could reach $45 billion.

Arnold Schwarzenegger laid into US President Donald Trump Sunday, saying his plans to revive coal would bring the world back to the horse and cart.

"He's back in the Stone Age," the Hollywood star told AFP.

The former California governor said he despairs of what Trump's energy policy, which is heavy on fossil fuels, will do to the planet.

"As far as the environment is concerned, he is misinformed," he said.

But "one man" cannot destroy the Earth, he argued, particularly a leader as ineffective as the billionaire businessman.

"So far nothing has got done since he became president. Nothing," he added.

"When I hear he wants to bring coal back, that's going backwards. The next thing he'll want to bring horses and buggies (carts) back," the actor and activist told reporters at the Cannes film festival.

"Trump or no Trump we all have to move forward," he added.

"Only people power and embracing technology to replace fossil fuels will change this," insisted the actor, whose R20 network works with local and regional leaders across the world to combat climate change.

"All great movements -- civil rights, the vote for women, the anti-apartheid movement, the freedom movement in India -- all started on a grassroots level.

"We cannot wait for London, Moscow, Beijing, Washington, Berlin, Delhi... Let's do it locally," he told AFP.

"The people have to rise up and say we got to protect what we have so we don't have climate change and seven million people dying every year because of pollution."

Schwarzenegger produces and narrates a new documentary by the son of undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau, "Wonders of the Sea 3D", which he claimed would make "people fall in love with the ocean".

- Environmental shaming -

He said the movie's positive message worked much better than "the shaming, guilt and finger pointing" that Schwarzenegger believes puts people off environmentalism.

"You can't just tell people all the time that they shouldn't fly, or drive a big car or have a jacuzzi," he told the Hollywood Reporter.

"If you want people to change you got to make people feel good about it. When you see this film you will inevitably fall in love with the ocean," he added.

Even though both Trump and Schwarzenegger are Republicans, the star has had prickly relations both politically and personally with the president.

In January, Trump blamed the low ratings of "The Apprentice" television show on Schwarzenegger, who took over from Trump as presenter.

Schwarzenegger said in March that he was quitting the show because it had too much "baggage".

He said Trump's name in the credits as executive producer scared away sponsors and viewers.

While in Cannes, Schwarzenegger, 69, also congratulated French voters on electing centrist Emmanuel Macron as president earlier this month.

Trump had praised his opponent, far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

"I love being in France," he told Screen International, adding that French people had done "a great job with the election of the president".

The "Terminator" star is also playing the world's greatest hitman in a forthcoming film being sold at Cannes, "Why We're Killing Gunther" by "Saturday Night Live" performer Taran Killam.

Schwarzenegger also confirmed he would be making a sequel to "Twins" with Danny DeVito and Eddie Murphy, called "Triplets" and that he would be returning to the "Terminator" franchise.

SPACE TRAVEL
SoftBank-Saudi high-tech Vision fund raises $93bn
Tokyo (AFP) May 21, 2017
Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank said, with Saudi partners, it has raised nearly $100 billion in pledges to launch a major global fund for long-term, high-tech investments. The SoftBank Vision Fund has received participation from industry titans and the likes of Apple, Qualcomm, and Taiwan's Foxconn and collected pledges totalling more than $93 billion so far, the fund said in a statement Sa ... read more

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