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In a close vote, Guatemala's Congress rejects genetically modified seeds in country's agricultural development. The law would have authorized stricter property rights and risked monopolizing agricultural processes in the country by placing copyrights on agriculture for the next 25 years.
GM Golden Rice was developed at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines with the hope that it could provide more vitamin A through beta carotene. The project was a huge disaster, however, and basically shelved for years. But then Bill Gates came along, the college-drop-out-turned-billionaire who started Microsoft Corp., looking for something to spend his billions of dollars to promote. All of a sudden, with big money providing jobs to pursue a failed project, GM Golden Rice has new life. There are multiple problems with GMO Golden Rice, including the fact that the people from rice-producing countries do not want it! Recently many top scientists and farmer advocates from rice-producing countries met in the Philippines in an effort to try and stop more field testing, and the commercialization of Golden Rice. The science behind Golden Rice does not prove benefits, and it threatens genetic diversity among traditional rice varieties which is necessary in many parts of the world that experience natural and man-made disasters. Like any GMO seed crop, Golden Rice would take the future of farming in rice-producing countries away from the control of the farmers and give it to multinational corporations that would then control the rice seed supplies. MASIPAG (Farmer-Scientist Partnership for Development) in the Philippines hosted the event earlier this year, and has recently provided video interviews from some of the participants in English.
The Latin American countries are waking up to the fact that most of the world's export market does not want GMO food. Brazil recently increased their export of corn to China, for example, when China rejected U.S. genetically modified corn that was not approved in China. With an apparent eye to the potential export market for non-GMO corn, a court in Brazil banned approval of further GMO corn in the country. Likewise, judges in Mexico seem to also be waking up to the dangers of GMO corn and have recently banned GMO corn in some provinces. Unfortunately, the biotech industry responsible for producing GMO seeds in America has tremendous political power. We have documented in the past how the U.S. State Department has tried to force European countries to adopt made-in-the-USA GMO seeds. We have also documented how the United States has used their military might to force occupied countries to adopt our GMO seeds, at the expense of local agriculture. So it should come as no surprise that the United States is now trying to pressure Latin American countries to buy our GMO seeds. Sustainable Pulse is reporting that the U.S. is tying 277 million dollars in aid relief to El Salvador to a condition that they buy our GMO seeds. We can only hope that these poorer countries will resist this kind of political blackmail and walk away from tainted U.S. funds to develop their own export markets from countries and sources demanding non-GMO products.
Brazil is quickly trying to change course on its biotech policies and capture more of the world market demanding GMO-free products. We reported recently that the United State's lax GMO laws are hurting U.S. exports to countries who have stricter GMO policies. This includes a recent announcement that China had rejected U.S. GMO corn, resulting in a sales loss of over 1 million tons of corn. China instead turned to Brazil to purchase their corn this year. Now Brazil is reportedly looking to ban the use of glyphosate as well, the toxic herbicide (trade name of Roundup) which has been linked to many health problems with the recent publication of new research. Glyphosate is the herbicide sprayed on GMO crops which have been genetically altered to not die when sprayed with glyphosate. It is so pervasive in agriculture today, that a recent study indicated that tests of breast milk found the presence of glyphosate in 3 out 10 mothers tested. It would be nearly impossible at this time to ban glyphosate in the U.S., due to the strong sales of the product and the powerful biotech political lobbyists. If Brazil is successful, could Brazil become a major world producer and supplier of non-GMO and glyphosate-free products?
The biotech industry's success or failure in its strategy for planting GMO corn in Mexico could very well determine the future of the world's corn supply. We reported last year that a judge in Mexico had banned further planting of Monsanto and Pioneer GMO corn in Mexico, and earlier this year a Monsanto appeal to that ban was also struck down. Even if Mexico succeeds in eventually banning GMO corn completely, some wonder if it is already too late? The presence of GMO corn is already found in nearly half of Mexico's states, according to a new report written by Timothy A. Wise, Policy Research Director at Tufts University’s Global Development and Environment Institute. Still, if Mexico acts soon to completely ban GMO seeds, there is reason to hope it can stem the tide and preserve native seed varieties, and become a major player in the world market demanding GMO-free corn. It is estimated that 90% or more of the U.S. corn supply is already contaminated with GMO DNA, even in certified organic corn. Mexico could be positioned to become a major world leader in GMO-free corn. Some companies in the U.S. that emphasize GMO-free products, such as Tropical Traditions, have already stopped selling many organic corn products from the U.S. due to the presence of GMO DNA. They are beginning to look to Mexico and other countries outside the U.S. for their supplies of corn. Could the label "grown in Mexico" soon become a symbol of high-quality non-GMO products?
Health concerns aside, U.S. GMO policy is damaging the U.S. economy and costing jobs. China just announced they were rejecting U.S. GMO corn in favor of Brazilian corn, draining hundreds of millions of dollars out of the U.S. economy.
France's agriculture ministry has just banned the sale, use and cultivation of Monsanto's MON 810 genetically modified maize, the only variety currently authorised in the European Union. The French government, which maintains that GM crops present environmental risks, has been trying to institute a new ban on GM maize (corn) after its highest court has twice previously struck down similar measures. The decision is timed to avert any sowing of GM maize by farmers before a draft law is debated on April 10 aimed at banning planting of GMOs (genetically modified organisms).
Another court in Mexico has ruled against GMO crops. A ban against genetically modified soybeans in the Campeche region of Mexico was upheld last week by the Second District Court. This follows the decision by two other judges in Mexico last year (2013) to keep in place bans on GM corn. Could "Made in Mexico" become the new quality standard in organic agriculture for the future? Less than 1% of the population in the United States is involved in agriculture today, where it is dominated by biotech firms heading more and more to GMO seeds, supported by the U.S. government. Mexico, by contrast, still has over 13% of its population in agriculture, and much of that is still small-scale traditional farming. This is a smaller amount post NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), which opened the door for cheap subsidized crops from the U.S. to be imported to Mexico, putting many farmers out of work who could not compete with these cheap subsidized commodity crops from the U.S. If judges in Mexico continue ruling against biotech companies and their GMO products, Mexico could become a major exporter to the U.S. of high-quality non-GMO organic products. Almost all of the corn supply in the U.S., for example, has been contaminated by GM corn (even certified organic corn), while hundreds of heirloom varieties still exist in Mexico.
The Kauai County Council has overridden Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho’s veto of Bill 2491, freeing the way for the GMO-related bill. Bill 2491, which passed a County Council vote on Oct. 16, will force agricultural companies to disclose when and where they spray pesticides, restrict spraying to a certain distance away from public areas, and disclose what genetically engineered crops they grow on Kauai.
While recent research is looking at the health consequences of consuming genetically modified foods, equally concerning is the failure of glyphosate and other herbicides to control a new breed of "demon weeds" that have arisen as a byproduct of the GMO industry. Many older and more toxic classes of pesticides are also returning to the market place as pests become resistant to GMOs, and the government is allowing increased use of pesticides for food production. The Alliance for Natural Health has just released a new video highlighting the health concerns of these "demon weeds" as well as the toxic effects of glyphosate. A new study from ANH-USA finds that exposure to glyphosate, an ingredient in Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup is linked to very serious human health issues – including birth defects, miscarriages and cancer. With so many GMO-related initiatives around the country, your involvement can make a significant positive difference in this fight.


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Last year, Apple debuted a "cheap" iPhone, releasing a less pricey, plastic version to compete in emerging markets like Asia. But the iPhone 5C, as it was called, flopped.
The move was surprising. "Apple is a company that doesn’t do 'cheap,'" Ken Segall, an author and former ad executive who was on the team that developed the name "iMac," wrote last winter after reports that the 5C wasn't selling as well as Apple had hoped.
This year, Apple not only didn't "do cheap" -- it raised prices even further. The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 starts at $199, the same price Apple's premium phone has started at each year (with a two-year contract) since 2008. But the huge, 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus starts at $299.
These phones give people more for their money -- including new features and better memory, cameras and processing power. Apple does this with every release. But unlike last year, $199 is the minimum amount customers will need to shell out for the newest toy.
Customers are more than willing to spend $199 (or $650 off a contract) for the iPhone: The iPhone is Apple's most profitable product, and the company sells record numbers of them each year.
Apple is a company that sells premium products, and it rarely discounts products until new ones come out. As Segall wrote, "It makes products for people who care about design, simplicity, quality and a great experience — and are willing to pay more for these things."

domain: news


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Filtering your face is less demanding than recollecting a watchword that is without a doubt. Be that as it may, while facial acknowledgment innovation has run standard with Apple’s FaceID and Microsoft’s Windows Hello, we’re just presently thoroughly considering the cybersecurity and security concerns.
Presently Facebook, among different organizations, are finding sketchy approaches to utilize this new information. To get to the base of exactly how perilous that could be, we talked with Theresa Payton, the previous White House Chief Information Officer for the George W. Shrubbery organization. She’s presently profoundly engaged with the universe of cybersecurity — and has some genuine worries about how Facebook means to utilize the tech.
YOUR FACE BELONGS TO YOU, DOESN’T IT?
Facial acknowledgment innovation has incredible potential, even in the realm of cybersecurity. On account of verification, for instance, it makes locking gadgets and records less difficult for the individuals who are ease back to move to techniques like two-factor confirmation. Be that as it may, as Theresa Payton clarified, there’s a dim side to the innovation.
“I accept there is a considerable measure of extremely cool things that could leave this innovation, yet on-going history reveals to us we have to play out more terrible case situations,” Payton disclosed to Digital Trends. “We have to comprehend that new innovation will dependably be discharged multi-year or two preceding we truly comprehend the implications of anchoring that information, and in addition the legitimate parts of ensuring protection.”
As indicated by an on-going New York Times report, Facebook’s utilization of facial acknowledgment to select the face from photographs has a bunch of social equality association quite agitated. Utilizing man-made brainpower and its own restrictive calculation, Facebook definitely knows your face and in addition your closest companion.
In Facebook’s own particular words, checking and perceiving your face secures “you from a more interesting utilize your photograph to mimic you.” At a minimum, that is the thing that it said when it initially endeavored to present the innovation in Europe six years prior. Facebook pulled back when EU controllers began making inquiries about security and protection – yet now, the issue has returned.
You may figure Facebook would resign the thought totally due to these past worries, alongside the ongoing Cambridge Analytica information embarrassment, yet the organization has no arrangement to stop.
“They stated, ‘Approve, we took in a considerable measure,’ and essentially ‘We need to make it simpler to validate, to group their photographs and recordings,” said Payton. “They essentially said you shouldn’t stress in regards to this since we will give the clients a chance to control facial acknowledgment.”
Facebook’s arrangement to break down your face doesn’t stop with photographs and validation. As detailed by WWD, the online networking mammoth needs to adapt facial acknowledgment advance with what it calls “expanded business.” The thought is to enable brands to change basic Facebook promotions into intelligent AR encounters. The issue? Nobody recognizes what Facebook or its promotion accomplices will do with the information picked up from examining your face.
What’s more, that is just the start. Facebook holds a few troubling and out and out unpleasant licenses in regards to facial acknowledgment innovation. One Minority Report-like patent depicted an approach to set a “trust level” for every individual who enters a store. By perceiving their countenances and interfacing it to the information in their Facebook profile, the framework could make sense of which customers were “dependable,” or could open uncommon arrangements. Other aggravating licenses incorporate a framework for following your feelings by examining your face and coordinating that to what you’re right now taking a gander at.
“You are not going to get another face,” said Peyton. “This is cool innovation, yet for what reason don’t we as a whole make a stride back and discuss the utilization and uses of that innovation and play out future security and protection concerns?”
She has a point. It’s not hard to envision multi-day when biometrics are exact and routinely utilized for getting to your ledger. On the off chance that your face was then stolen, that could be unbelievably hazardous. In any case, that wouldn’t occur, isn’t that so?


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The federal government is launching emergency aid for gas customers worth billions. Gas and heat customers are to be released from their advance payments for the month of December.
To this end, the Ministry of Economic Affairs initiated the departmental coordination, as the German Press Agency learned from government circles on Wednesday. As a first step, the proposals of the gas expert commission set up by the government should be implemented.
The "emergency aid" should compensate for the increased energy bills in 2022 and bridge the time until the planned introduction of the gas price brake next spring. Tenants and members of homeowners' associations should receive the relief as part of their annual heating bill and corresponding information about the estimated amount of their relief.
Relief in the high single-digit billion range
Overall, the relief will be in the higher single-digit billions, according to government circles. Financing comes from the newly established Economic Stabilization Fund. With this "defense shield" of up to 200 billion euros, the federal government wants to cushion the consequences of high energy prices for consumers and companies.
A draft law on emergency aid is to be passed in the cabinet on November 2nd. Even if wholesale prices have recently fallen, the further development remains uncertain, it said.
Specifically, so-called final consumers of pipeline-bound natural gas and heat customers are to be exempted from the December down payment, as stated in a paper. It is about a one-time relief for the year 2022 in the amount of the down payment for the month of December 2022.
In the case of natural gas, the relief corresponds to the product of one twelfth of the annual consumption and the price agreed for December 2022, supplemented by a proportionate relief for the other price elements.
Many landlords have not yet adjusted advance payments
The reference to the prices agreed for December 2022 should ensure that the sometimes very different and sometimes considerable price increases at the end of 2022 are taken into account in favor of the end consumer.
For reasons of implementation, this differs from the proposals of the expert commission: This provided for a one-off payment based on consumption, on which the advance payment from September 2022 was based.
According to the federal government's paper, the relief for district heating should correspond to the amount of the September bill plus a flat-rate adjustment factor, which should reflect the price increases in the period up to December.
For tenants and landlords, there should be a separate regulation on the transfer of the relief. Many landlords have not yet adjusted the monthly advance payment to the increased gas and energy prices.
Many tenants therefore continue to pay comparatively moderate discounts, based on the prices and consumption of the previous year. These tenants would receive the higher prices as part of the heating cost bill for 2022, which will be drawn up in 2023. The relief planned for December should therefore be passed on by the landlords to the tenants with the next annual heating bill.


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More uncertainty for Gloucester’s flagship store
By Sarah Wood | 19th July 2019
The future of Gloucester's Debenhams store continues to look uncertain, after it was revealed the retailer is already bracing itself for a difficult Christmas period.
Debenhams is lining up a £50m cash buffer from its lenders in preparation for festive trading, as reported by The Guardian. It's thought that the buffer could fund a wave of price cuts as Debenhams fights for market share in a competitive market.
The department store chain is owned by a consortium of banks and hedge funds, after falling into administration in April. It is lining up the additional funds on top of a £200m lifeline it received as part of a rescue restructuring completed in May.
Like many high street retailers, Debenhams is continuing to find trading tough, but has not yet reached the limit of its funding package. It has been reported that the retailer's lenders remain supportive of its turnaround plans.
Debenhams, which employs more than 20,000 staff, has already revealed which 22 of its 166 UK stores are set to close in January. Gloucester's store is not on the initial list, but the company plans to close 50 stores over the course of five years. It has already forced rent cuts on many of its stores as part of its survival plan.
Punchline said: "Trading is still tough on the high street, with low consumer confidence and increasing online competition from the likes of Amazon. Debenhams has been a fixture in Gloucester for longer than most of us care to remember. If you value having it in the city centre, you need to get out and use it before it is too late!"
Copyright 2020 Moose Partnership Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any content is strictly forbidden without prior permission.


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You may have already seen, but Facebook has introduced a new Page Insights dashboard.
Great, there’s more information and more knowledge to utilise…but we only just got used to using the old one! For now Facebook is running the old insights (you will have to opt int to use the new version) but the company has already begun notifying page administrators that the old insights tool will be phased out on December 15. No more data collection from then, with the archives completely disappearing on February 15 2012.
That doesn’t leave long to learn the new one, which offers insights into Facebook’s latest metric “talking about this” and reach instead of impressions. Yet, this time around Facebook have been pro-active in helping those looking to maximise their metrics understanding.
Facebook has created an online tutorial about the new page insights over at The Learn Page Insights site. Here a series of videos hosted by Facebook Product Marketing Manager Fidji Simo, guides you through the new dashboard step-by-step, so you can get up and running quickly and making the most of the new tools. It is well worth checking out.
How are you getting on with the new insights?


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Some investors believe that cannabis has the potential to divert business from the alcohol and pharmaceutical industries. The marijuana industry also points to the prospect of bigger deals with companies and nations abroad that are relaxing their marijuana laws. But should you invest in marijuana stocks? We’ve compiled some information to help you make that very decision.
Earnings growth, or the expectation of growth, is a trait of superior stocks; however, the marijuana industry is suffering losses. The industry’s billion-dollar estimations overshadow million-dollar quarterly sales figures. It’s no surprise that marijuana stocks have poor Earnings Per Share Ratings. Then there’s marijuana’s legal status. Although Canada legalized marijuana, it’s still illegal under federal U.S. law and is classified as a controlled substance without proven medical benefit. But, with about 30 states voting to make cannabis legal for medicinal use, recreational use, or both, marijuana regulation in the U.S. may be relaxing.
Whether you should invest in marijuana stocks or not depends on your tolerance for high levels of risk. How aggressive you are as an investor will ultimately determine if you are up for investing in marijuana stocks.
Marijuana Stocks to Watch
We’ve listed some of the best marijuana stocks below. You may want to invest in growers, the “plant-touching” companies, or invest in companies solely focused on the business of medical marijuana.
- Canopy Growth Corp. (CGC), a marijuana company located in Canada, is the largest publicly-traded weed company in the world. The company runs many brands, Tweed being one of the most popular. In 2019, CGC showed close to $60 million in revenue.
- Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB) is another industrious Canadian pot company. Aurora Cannabis acquired rival MedReleaf, which will help the new entity cut costs and gain efficiency.
- AbbVie (ABBV) is a pharmaceutical company with a FDA-approved synthetic cannabis-based drug on the market. The drug, Marinol, works to reduce nausea in chemotherapy patients and appetite loss in AIDS patients.
- KushCo Holdings (OTC:KSHB), founded in 2010, provides packaging solutions, supplies and even branding services to cannabis producers. Operating across 12 facilities in the U.S., it reported a 2018 revenue of $52.07 million.
- GrowGeneration Corp (OTC:GRWG) owns and operates specialty hydroponic and organic gardening supplies stores across six states. GRWG sells nutrients, soil, lighting, and hydroponic supplies. The company generated $29 million in 2018.
- General Cannabis Corp (OTC:CANN) is based in Denver and provides additional services to producers and businesses in the marijuana industry. These services range from real estate, consulting, and business development, to security. The company also owns a specialty cannabis lifestyle apparel line under the brand Chiefton Supply Co.
So are marijuana stocks a viable investment? Investors who have a high-risk tolerance may jump at these opportunities. Still, you should bear in mind that marijuana stocks are volatile. Although the future of the marijuana stock industry looks bright and while the marijuana industry is passing milestones, some maturation of the cannabis industry is required before tangible results are seen by investors.


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Apple has apologized to some of its users in China after a wave of phishing attacks targeted accounts in the country last week.
The phishing scams involved unknown attackers using stolen Apple ID credentials to log into mobile payment wallets like Alipay or WeChat Pay, which so immensely popular in the region that they’re basically a ubiquitous fact of daily life. The wallets were then used to make unauthorized App Store purchases.
“We are deeply apologetic about the inconvenience caused to pour customers by these phishing scams,” Apple wrote in a Chinese-language statement (as seen by The Wall Street Journal).
The company did not release statistics on how many Apple IDs were impacted or how much total money was lost among affected users. In an English-language statement, Apple said that a “small number” of its users’ accounts were affected.
But while Apple didn’t release any specific numbers, the WSJ reported last week that some users said they received receipts for fraudulent single App Store transactions up to 2,000 yuan ($288).
According to current reports, the attacks were limited to users who specifically had their Alipay or WeChat Pay accounts linked to their Apple IDs.
It isn’t clear how those Apple IDs were stolen, however. It does not appear to be a data breach coming from Apple, so it’s likely that login credentials were stolen through phishing attacks or similar scams.
Apple indicated that the impacted Apple IDs did not have two-factor authentication enabled. That likely made it much easier for the attackers to log in and compromise those accounts.
While Apple doesn’t require it, the Cupertino tech giant encouraged all users to enable two-factor authentication on their Apple IDs. It’s likely that the extra security measure could have prevented some of the fraudulent transactions.
The incident underscores some of the issues that foreign technology firms face in China, which is a critical region for both the smartphone and the broader tech industry.
Apple has faced backlash from civil rights groups and privacy advocates over its moving of Chinese user iCloud data to state-owned servers. The company has also seen similar controversies over illegal gambling apps on the iOS App Store and the increasing problem of iMessage spam in the region.


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Waco-based H&B Packing Co., Inc. has recalled roughly 73,742 pounds of boneless beef products for possible E. coli contamination.
According to CBS-DFW, the product covers a 60-pound box and multiple combo bins containing boneless beef produced on March 6, 2017. Both the box and the combo bins are marked with the case code 69029.
While there have been no confirmed reports of illnesses linked to the products, FSIS and H&B Packing Co., Inc. are urging customers to dispose of or return of the possibly contaminated beef.
The beef was shipped to food manufacturers throughout Texas.
The following information was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):


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We all know being overweight is bad for health. But how exactly does it affect your health? Dr Ng Lee Beng, Consultant, Department of Family Medicine and Continuing Care, Singapore General Hospital (SGH), answers.
A person is considered overweight when he or she has a waist-to-hip ratio of more than 0.80 for women and 0.85 for men. But more than just about having to wear larger-sized clothes, being overweight indicates the presence of excessive fat around the waist or belly fat – which is associated with various health conditions, including high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and insulin resistance.
Known as metabolic syndrome, being overweight is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, said
Dr Ng Lee Beng, Consultant,
Department of Family Medicine and Continuing Care,
Singapore General Hospital (SGH), a member of the
She points to one big culprit: the modern diet.
“The modern diet is basically food that is eaten fast and digested fast because they have little or no fibre. Food like white rice, white bread and noodles cause sugar surges, overworking the pancreas to produce insulin to remove the sugar from the blood. Do this often enough and your pancreas will start failing,” Dr Ng said.
How being overweight affects the pancreas
Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, brings sugar into body cells to be used as energy, and helps store excess sugar in the tissues and liver for use later.
In people who are overweight, the pancreas has to work harder to produce more insulin than what is normally needed because their bodies cannot “sense the insulin” properly. This stress on the pancreas causes pancreatic cell fatigue and damage, increasing the chance of developing type 2 diabetes.
“The initially high insulin level in someone with insulin resistance signals to the brain that he is still hungry, though he might have just consumed a big amount of refined carbohydrate,” said Dr Ng. When that happens, the person feels perpetually hungry and continues to eat. Excessive eating – resulting in an increased sugar load entering the blood stream – prompts more insulin to be produced to normalise the body’s sugar balance.
This perpetuates the vicious cycle of more eating, more insulin being produced, excess sugar being stored as fat, continued fatigue and hunger, and even more eating. The pancreas experiences stress, then fatigue, and finally damage.
“You are killing your insulin factory,” said Dr Ng, pointing out that when 80 per cent of the pancreas is destroyed, the body’s sugar levels go out of control. “That’s the day diabetes will be diagnosed.”
How being overweight affects the liver
In addition, excess sugar turns into fat, which is deposited in and around organs like the liver. “Fat in these areas doesn’t just sit there and do nothing. It causes inflammation, and this literally leads to cells popping and dying,” she said.
Inflammation of the liver from fat, can lead to scarring, which increases the risk of developing liver cancer. Persistent and prolonged scarring of the liver can lead eventually to liver cirrhosis and cancer.
How to lose weight safely and effectively
The oft-repeated mantra to exercise regularly and follow a healthy diet is still the most effective step towards losing weight. White rice, refined carbohydrate, sugar-rich food and beverages are no-no’s. Instead, load up on food that digests and turns to sugar slowly, such as whole fruit and vegetables – not the juice – wholegrains like brown rice and oats, and wholemeal products.
“Juicing is not recommended. Fruit juice, with or without sugar added, is mainly fruit sugar water without fibre. Even blended fruit juice has its fibre partially broken down, and will be digested more rapidly and cause higher sugar surges than real fruit,” said Dr Ng about the common misconception that fruit juice is healthy.
Food packaged with fibre requires biting and chewing, which slows down the eating process, and requires digestion and so stays in the stomach longer.
“It makes you feel full longer, so you eat less. The sugar doesn’t enter the blood stream as a sugar surge, which stresses the pancreas to produce high levels of insulin. For the average busy Singaporean, a good start is to halve your rice, bread or noodles, double your vegetables, and walk briskly at least three times a week,” Dr Ng advises.


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How Netflix burns $10 million a day
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings once called his company a "rerun TV" company. Its transformation into an original content machine is impressive — and really expensive.
It takes about 2 years for a new show to go from production to screen. That means 2 years before Netflix sees a single cent in the form of marginal subscriber revenue from any given original show.
Driving the news: Netflix expects it will burn a bigger-than-expected $3.5 billion this year. Hastings sees the epic cash burn as a good thing for the company; still, he has reassured investors that 2019 will mark be “peak” negative free cash flow for his company.
- The near-consensus view for Wall Street's Netflix bulls is that its cash burn ultimately doesn’t matter, especially if it's consistently growing its subscriber base.
By the numbers: Judging by the stock's performance since Netflix went public in 2002, investors like Netflix whether the company is burning huge sums of cash or not.


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Hong Kong (10/12). The ongoing civil unrest has impacted the retail industry since June 2019. More unemployment and business closures are expected to plague the industry in the near future. Members of Hong Kong Retail Management Association comprising 8,000 retail businesses make up 50% of the total retail industry in the city.
97% of the respondents in a survey conducted recently expressed that their businesses have been making losses, the worst since 1992. The situation has not improved as most landlords have been reluctant in reducing rentals. If the situation does not improve, at least 5,600 retail staff will be retrenched and 7,000 retail shops will close down eventually.
30% of the respondents expressed that they will retrench at least 50% of their staff. Most are worried that the retail sales in December will be disappointing. The ongoing civil unrest has dampened consumer sentiment and with regards to pro-Beijing camp’s proposal to distribute HK$10,000 free cash to the public to stimulate spending, spokesperson for the Association felt that the money should be given after the civil unrest is resolved.
The down turn as a result of the riots by the Black Bloc raises questions on how the newly voted powers are going to reverse the economic disaster. Infrastructures are destroyed, fire bombings, arson attacks on civilian citizens, murders of innocent bystanders and discovered terror cells do not promote Hong Kong new found vigour of the pro-democratic movement.
The burden are usually borne by the average citizen. The lack of firm governance and proactive police leadership compounded the looming economic disaster.


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Oxfam is holding a fashion show on October 6th at Booths in Hale Barns.
Doors open at 7pm and it will cost you £15 per adult and £7.50 for children to gain entry on what will be a great nights entertainment.
Adults will be able to sample some wines and cheese before the fashion show which will feature some of biggest names on the high street, including shoes, bags and accessories that have been kindly donated.
All items seen during the fashion show plus a wide range of winter festive and party fashion will be for sale on the night.
In addition Oxfam will also have a NARS pop up stall and a NARS hamper raffle so you could be taking home more than clothes and bags on the night!
It is all set to be a great night out for all the family.
You can find booths by using these details in your sat nav systems:


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Searching for Twitter in Apple’s App Store, but can’t find it? You’re not alone!
Just this week, X dropped the bizarre “Blaze your glory!” slogan that appeared alongside the app’s name in Apple’s App Store. The Musk-created phrase took up valuable real estate, being one of the first things App Store visitors would see about the X app while telling them literally nothing about what the app is or does.
Here’s how the X app now looks on Apple’s App Store charts with the new “Formerly Twitter” tagline.
Credit: Mashable screenshot
In its place, Musk’s company has added something much more straightforward — and likely much better at attracting downloads. The tagline on the X app listing on the App Store now simply says “Formerly Twitter.”
Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has been tanking in Apple’s App Store rankings ever since he dropped the Twitter branding over the summer. One researcher found that drop in mobile downloads was immediate for X, starting the very same day that the app changed its name from “Twitter” to “X” in the App Store. From there, the X app continued on a downward spiral, falling more than 30 places in the “Top Downloaded” category, far and away from competing social media apps like TikTok and WhatsApp.
Here’s how the X app previously looked on the App Store with the “Blaze your glory!” slogan.
Credit: Mashable screenshot
Musk had been adamant about dropping all Twitter references – from the iconic blue bird logo to globally used terminology like “tweets” and “retweets” – as soon as he announced the name change. The changeover has been sloppy, with more technical changes, like swapping the Twitter domain name for X.com, still not running as of this writing. However, Musk was able to get the Twitter-to-X name change through Apple’s moderation process, which previously barred apps from using one-letter names.
However, even though the iOS app officially became X on July 31, a new poll released last week found that a whopping 69 percent of users prefer the name “Twitter” to “X” and still refer to the platform as such. Naturally, if users are calling it Twitter, that’s likely how they’re searching for it, too.
As mentioned, X has been plummeting in the App Store rankings and downloads, so we’ll keep a close eye on how the company intends to rectify its precarious current standing. X nixing its “Blaze your glory!” tagline for “Formerly Twitter” seems like a good first step in addressing its sudden overzealous, sweeping changes that clearly aren’t resonating with users.
Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has been struggling to maintain its rankings in Apple’s App Store ever since it dropped the Twitter branding. The app’s name changed from “Twitter” to “X” and the company added a slogan that gave no information about the app. This change resulted in a significant drop in mobile downloads and a fall in the “Top Downloaded” category. Musk was determined to remove all references to Twitter, including the logo and terminology. However, a recent poll showed that 69 percent of users still prefer the name “Twitter” and continue to refer to the platform as such. As a result, X has been losing rankings and downloads in the App Store. The company has now removed the confusing slogan and replaced it with a simple tagline that states “Formerly Twitter.” This change is seen as a step in the right direction to address the app’s declining popularity. The company will need to make further adjustments to rectify its current standing and regain user interest.


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PORTSMOUTH — Marion Cheney, president of the board of the Seacoast Family Food Pantry, told the story of meeting a father at the Hannaford on Islington Street one evening while she was at the supermarket to pick up its regular donation to the pantry.
"He had just lost his well-paying job, and much of his self-esteem," Cheney said. "He was trying to take care of a family of five at a minimum-wage job earning $7.50 an hour."
Cheney was addressing members of the Tenants Association at Pease during its annual Holiday Charitable Giving Breakfast Dec. 10 at Grill 28. Members of TAP chose the Seacoast Family Food Pantry as the organization to receive donations of goods and money this year.
"This is the face of those we serve," Cheney said. "Our agency began in 1816, and is the oldest social service agency in the state."
In 1816, 69 bags of food were given to needy Seacoast residents, mostly fishermen and sailors. This year, 350 food baskets were given to families for Thanksgiving. This is a 20 percent increase over last year.
"The need is great," Cheney said. "We see many veterans and elderly residents who have to decide between fuel, food and medication, and often going without one of them. One elderly woman has just been given $17 a month in food stamps. How can you survive on that?"
She told of other programs through SFFP, like Operation Bag Lunch for low-income students during the summer months; and a program that works with a nutritionist from the University of New Hampshire to help the temporarily displaced in Hampton's summer rentals during winter months.
"We teach them how to cook a nutritious meal on what they can get at the food pantry," Cheney said. "We also don't just put items in a bag. We let them choose what kind of soup they want, etc."
Cheney said there is a great need for "luxury items" not covered by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
"How can you call toilet paper and soap luxury items?" she asked.
Cheney praised the public elementary schools for teaching children to help the needy through school food drives.
Susanne Delaney, president of the board of TAP, said the group chose the SFFP as this year's recipient.
In her opening remarks during the breakfast, Delaney said TAP continues to grow with currently less than150 members. Last year, there were 100 members.
She talked about the multi-use path slated to open in summer 2014 on the Grafton Road entrance to the Tradeport.
"People will be able to run, walk and bike safely without being in the breakdown lane," she said. (See related story on page 11.)
Delaney said the board was looking for new members and that more breakfast meetings and after-work meet-ups were scheduled for next year for people employed at the many Tradeport businesses to get to know each other.
In the spirit of giving, Mark Sullivan talked about the Pease 'n Carrots Holiday Food Drive that 20 Tradeport businesses are participating in, many with shopping carts in their lobbies from Philbrick's Fresh Market.
The winning business with the most donations receives the coveted "My Cup Runneth Over" trophy.


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Duo manufacturing wooden skis
When Ian Seward picked up a hitchhiker on Mud Bay Road more than a year ago, the conversation drifted toward skiing.
Graham Kraft, who was bumming a ride into town from a piece of property he had purchased out Mud Bay, had been skiing all his life. Kraft had also fashioned his own makeshift ski press while attending school in Anchorage.
Seward, also an avid backcountry skier, had an 1,080-square-foot woodworking shop.
By the time the short ride to town was over, the two had planted the seed for what has become Fairweather Ski Works, a business producing one-of-a-kind, handcrafted wooden downhill skis and snowboards made with locally-sourced materials.
“It was like, ‘You wanna make skis? I know how to make skis. You got a shop?’ It just kind of worked out,” Kraft said.
Now, with Seward’s woodworking knowledge and Kraft’s ski-building experience, the two have made and sold about 35 pairs of custom skis to individuals and businesses across Alaska and the Lower 48.
Fairweather Ski Works started to take shape in the fall when Kraft and Seward built a wooden ski press in Seward’s shop and started holding ski-building workshops with friends and neighbors.
The device – made with a few parts salvaged from Kraft’s old metal press – compresses the five-layer skis with 60,000 pounds of pressure.
Most wooden ski presses tend to break or deform, which is why they’re usually made of steel, Seward said. Kraft and Seward’s design, though, is defying that trend.
“This might be the only wooden ski press out there that is successful... You won’t see a press like this anywhere else,” Seward said.
The skis start with a plastic base followed by a layer of heavy fiberglass. Next comes the core of the ski, which is made with spruce and birch harvested around Haines. The sidewall is made from purpleheart, a dense and water-resistant wood native to regions of Central and South America.
“I think (our skis) are pretty competitive with any ski out there, really,” Kraft said. “The wood is really better quality than what other companies are using, because not everybody has access to really awesome birch and spruce in their backyard.”
After the wooden core comes another layer of fiberglass or carbon fiber, depending on how light a ski a customer needs. The fifth and final layer is a paper-thin wooden veneer, which can be overlaid with customized designs drawn on rice paper and transferred to the skis before they’re sealed with polyurethane.
Designs so far have ranged from mountain peaks to a Kraken devouring a tall ship, and the business is working to recruit local artists to give some skis even more unique Haines flair.
The veneer, which has no structural value and is purely aesthetic, is primarily made from local spalted birch, though Kraft and Seward also use red and yellow cedar and tropical hardwoods like Australian walnut.
“We’re just making these things one of a kind. We’re doing what we want every day. They’re all individuals,” Seward said of their creations.
Local business owners are taking note of Kraft and Seward’s burgeoning business, including Dan Egolf of Alaska Backcountry Outfitter. Egolf will be selling Fairweather skis in his sporting goods shop and also has two demo pairs for rent that prospective customers can try out before making a purchase.
“We’re jazzed that there is a boutique ski industry in Haines,” Egolf said.
Kraft’s connections forged through years of skiing around the world have also given the business a toe-hold in the Lower 48. Dave McCoy, who owns a hostel and ski shop at the base of Mount Whitney in Lone Pine, Calif., recently traveled to Haines and made four pairs of skis in Seward’s shop. He also ordered another 10 pairs for his store.
McCoy and Kraft met three years ago while skiing the Andes in Argentina. The two hit it off and kept in touch through Facebook, which is how McCoy found out Kraft and Seward were starting to take their ski-building business seriously.
“The whole thing just kind of evolved into this circle of people coming together that have this mutual love for the mountains and love for building skis,” McCoy said.
McCoy called Fairweather skis “solid” and “absolutely beautiful,” reporting they handle particularly well on hard snow. “The wood core and the way it is built allows an even flex all the way through,” he said.
The market for handcrafted, one-of-a-kind skis is growing due to disillusionment with mass-produced merchandise, McCoy said. And though Seward and Kraft maintain their skis are more geared toward backcountry users, McCoy is confident Fairweather skis will appeal just as much to wealthy suburbanites at high-end resorts as to ski junkies living out of the back of their cars.
Aside from the “wonderful testimonials” Seward and Kraft have received from customers so far, Kraft has extensively tested the skis himself, including on Mount Logan and Mount Fairweather.
“He’s really put them to the test all over Alaska,” Seward said.
Though the business is still in its infancy, Seward and Kraft are looking toward how it might evolve and grow. They’ve applied for Made in Alaska status, and plan to start making cross-country skis this year. (Waxless cross-country skis will come next year, Seward said).
“So far, so good. Everything is looking very promising,” Seward said. “We have as many orders as we can keep up with right now. At least seasonally, this is going to be a full-time thing for us. We’ll just see how successful it gets.”
Fairweather skis start at around $600. They can also make splitboards, which are skis that can be connected and used as a snowboard.
Contact Fairweather Ski Works at 766-3540.


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Modernizing electric power grids is a top priority across the country. Smart grids will help:
State efforts to modernize the grid also open up new approaches to demand resources (including energy efficiency, demand response, and distributed generation) and for coordinating planning, operations, and pricing between the wholesale and retail sectors. But as customer power consumption becomes more price-responsive and as more customers produce their own power (for example, with solar photovoltaic systems), demand becomes less predictable, supply less controllable, and operations more complex. This poses operational challenges for the ISO.
ISO innovation is critical for preparing the power system to handle the complexities of expanded smart grid technology, demand resources, and renewable generation. Here are some examples of recent or ongoing ISO efforts:


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JSE-listed fast-moving consumer goods holding company Libstar has delivered robust interim results, with revenue increases reported for household and personal care products, as well as some food categories, despite Covid-19 impacts.
Libstar recorded a 1.9% year-on-year growth in group revenue to R4.7-billion for the six months to June 30.
The company’s normalised earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased by 3.7%, excluding Covid-19-related expenses of about R44-million.
However, normalised Ebitda including these expenses decreased by 5.4% year-on-year to R456-million.
These expenses also impact on normalised operating profit, which decreased by 16.4% year-on-year, and normalised earnings a share, which decreased by 19% year-on-year to R142-million.
The Covid-19-related expenses included R3.5-million of donations to needy communities, personnel-related benefits of R18.5-million, which included staff transport, and R22-million in direct operating expenses, including the acquisition of personal protective equipment.
The company still generated more cash from operating activities, at R225-million, than the R178-million in cash generated in the six months ended June 30, 2019.
In the six months under review, Libstar’s businesses introduced 88 new products and renovated 36 products.
CEO Andries van Rensburg says the company will continue to capitalise on existing and new growth opportunities, enabled by its well-diversified portfolio of brands, manufacturing capabilities and category growth plans.
He adds that the company's food categories will remain at the heart of its growth strategy, while it remains well positioned to capitalise on key consumer trends and changing consumer lifestyles – including the supply of products that cater to health and wellness, home cooking and baking, convenience and eco-friendly needs.
Van Rensburg explains that the company did not come out of the hard lockdown unscathed, since major disruption to supply chains worldwide resulted in the group needing higher inventory levels of certain products and raw materials to ensure product availability.
However, he states that an increased focus on production efficiency and staff attendance helped to protect the company’s service delivery in a difficult market.
Revenue growth from the food categories – which constitute 91% of Libstar’s overall revenue – grew by 1.1% year-on-year, while household and personal care revenue increased by 11.5% year-on-year.
The company’s normalised earnings a share from continuing operations decreased by 19% year-on-year to 23.8c, while normalised headline earnings a share from continuing operations decreased by 17.7% year-on-year to 24.2c.
Van Rensburg explains that the company’s perishables category, under its food division, was most adversely impacted by the effects of Covid-19, owing to the closure of quick-service restaurants during lockdown.
This impacted the performance of meat products sold in the food service channel and led to revenue decreasing by 1.7% year-on-year and normalised Ebitda decreasing by 21% year-year.
Revenue and normalised Ebitda in the groceries category decreased by 2.1% and 2% year-on-year, respectively, but maintained Ebitda at a margin of 14%, making groceries the largest contributor to group normalised Ebitda in the reporting period.
The snacks and confectionary category achieved an 18.1% year-on-year increase in revenue, mostly owing to the full-period inclusion of revenue from the contract manufacturing of Pringles snacks.
The Pringles plant started production in June 2019.
This category recorded a 44% year-on-year increase in normalised Ebitda, as well as an improved margin of 19.1%, compared with an Ebitda margin of 15.6% in the prior comparable six months.
Libstar’s baking and baking aids category achieved a 22.9% year-on-year increase in revenue, but normalised Ebitda was down 2% year-on-year. Without Covid-19-related expenses of R6.5-million in this category, normalised Ebitda would have increased by 11.1% year-on-year.
Further, the company’s household and personal care division reported increased revenue of 11.5% year-on-year, coupled with increased normalised Ebitda of 46.8% year-on-year, as well as an improved Ebitda margin of 8.9%.
Overall, the company’s gross profit margin from food categories increased from 23.7% in the prior comparable six months to 23.8% in the six months under review, while gross profit margins from household and personal care increased from 18.5% in the prior comparable period to 19.2% in the reporting period.
Van Rensburg points out that, since the end of June, shipment fulfilment rates of exported dry condiments have improved and are expected to boost earnings in the second half of the year.
He further mentions that, although the advent of Covid-19 has hampered the company’s anticipated timely delivery of returns from recent capital projects, such as the milk-receiving, cheese packaging and distribution centre upgrades at Lancewood, these benefits will manifest during the first half of 2021.
“The impact of extraordinary increases in unemployment levels, coupled with the full impact of Covid-19 yet to be seen on the economy, has yet to fully play out in consumer demand.
"This will determine whether Libstar can achieve its traditional 40:60 [split in the] first half and second half of the year normalised Ebitda ratio in the full year ending December 31.”
Van Rensburg expects the company to continue spending between R800 000 and R1-million a week going forward on Covid-19-related expenses.
Libstar’s board declared a dividend of 25c apiece for the year ended December 31, 2019. As it only declares one dividend a year, it will take a decision about whether to declare a dividend for 2020 at a later stage.


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A man has been jailed for taking part in a craze that saw people licking ice cream and putting it back in supermarket freezers.
D’Adrien Anderson, 24, was given a 30-day prison sentence after he posted a video of himself removing the container from a freezer at Walmart in Port Arthur, Texas, licking the top then putting it back on the shelf, in August last year.
He has also been ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and give $1,565 in compensation to Blue Bell Creameries for the cost of replacing all the products in the freezer which they removed as a precaution.
Security cameras from inside the supermarket revealed that he later removed the ice cream again and paid for it, but that was not in his social media post.
The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office said: ‘Anderson’s actions caused public concerns about the safety and quality of consumer products offered for public consumption, impacted Blue Bell consumer confidence and caused the company financial loss. This type of activity will not be tolerated.’
Walmart added: ‘If food is tampered with, or a customer wants to leave the impression that they left behind adulterated product, we will move quickly with law enforcement to identify, apprehend and prosecute those who think this is a joke – it is not.’
In July a woman was warned she faced a 20-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $10,000 for a similar prank in Lufkin, Texas.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Source: Read Full Article


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By Patrick J. McDonnell / Los Angeles Times
Mexico’s beloved grande dame of death, a stylishly attired skeleton named La Catrina, her grinning skull topped with trademark hat, has company in the market stands here: Hollywood extraterrestrials, Batman and other superheroes, along with sundry witches and monsters.
In Mexico, customs originating in Europe and the indigenous world often meld in a surprisingly seamless fashion.
So it is with Halloween, a tradition born in Europe and transported from the United States, and Day of the Dead, a Mexican remembrance of the deceased with pre-Hispanic origins.
The two holidays — Halloween on Oct. 31 and Day of the Dead two days later — have fused here into a multi-day, sometimes surreal celebration and a bonanza for pinata and mask makers, costume fabricators and bakers specializing in sugary offerings for the departed. At the sprawling Sonora Market here, the final shopping days are frantic.
On Saturday, Mexico City held its first Day of the Dead parade, a runaway success that saw the route through downtown jammed with more 250,000 people, many in full Halloween mode, decked out in skeleton regalia, their faces painted like skulls.
Across all social strata, many Mexicans dress up for Halloween, also known as Noche de Brujas, or Night of the Witches, then prepare altars known as ofrendas for deceased ancestors and loved ones.
“My mother liked to put up very big ofrendas with a lot of decoration,” says Alejandro Diaz Fernandez, 46, a school bus driver who has arrived at Sonora Market’s “auditorium,” a room the size of an airplane hangar, to load up on chocolate skulls, incense and marigolds. The orange flowers, known as cempasuchil, are ubiquitous in the run-up to Day of the Dead.


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Ho-hum Christmas for US shops
Santa's ho-ho-ho will be more like ho-hum for US retailers this Christmas. Economists are warning that the year-end national shopping extravaganza, which typically provides more than half of US retailers' annual profits, is not expected to equal last year's 5.4% rise in the UBS Warburg Index of 80 retailers and may be the slowest in a decade.
Wall Street has taken a dim view of the November -December sales prospects. Investors have hammered companies such as Best Buy, Target and even that perennial superstar, discount chain Wal-Mart. For the year, the Standard & Poor's indices for specialty and general merchandise retailers are off more than 30% as investors recalculate earnings momentum now the go-go spending that catapulted America's economy for the past few years has slowed.
Year-end forecasts for overall holiday retail sales range from gains of about 6% year-on-year to less than 3%, which would be the worst since 1990. In something of a vicious cycle, even as Wall Street downgrades retail stocks, it reinforces the weaker sales environment. One reason economists expect this holiday season to be modest at best is that the stock market's poor performance this year has wiped billions off family portfolios and prompted consumers to be a lot more cautious.
The Consumer Confidence Index is at its lowest point for more than a year. 'Much of the euphoria associated with stock options and portfolio gains that were so valuable last year and so worthless this year is gone,' said Cynthia Latta, of Standard & Poor's DRI in Boston. 'That will have some impact on retailers.'
High on the list of potential losers this year are car retailers. They are being squeezed by market saturation as well as by the stock market decline, which has sapped consumers' willingness to trade up to more expensive models. New car sales fell 1% in October to their slowest pace this year. Analysts say the outlook for a pickup in sales is bleak.
Luxury items are, however, expected to continue to be popular. America's wealthy spend lavishly no matter what the stock market is doing. Tiffany and Neiman Marcus, caterers to the rich, are both expected to report same-store sales up more than 6%. Discount retailers are in for a mixed bag. At one end of the spectrum, Wal-Mart and Target are forecast to hold their own because of consumers' love of shopping at stores with a multitude of inexpensive items.
Kmart, JC Penney and Sears, which all have a narrower inventory, are struggling. Gap had a tough autumn after making a bad call on consumers' desire for coloured leather pants and shirts, but could bounce back this month and next. Ann Taylor expects sales to rise about 5% in the fourth quarter. Electronics have been hot for several years running, filling retailers such as Radio Shack with joy. This sector may be the only one to enjoy double-digit gains this year.
Personal care services and recreation businesses will have something to cheer about if Bank One chief economist Diane Swonk is right in her calculations. She says Americans are spending more money on services, from holidays to foot massages, replacing traditional seasonal spending on goods. She expects spending in this sector to jump 10.5% from a year ago.
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Whistleblower Attorneys Blog. Abbott had promoted Depakote for other uses than.Depakote settlement talks underway over illegal promotion of the popular antiepileptic. The U.S. government has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Abbott,.
Depakote MedicationWhistleblower lawsuits allege that Abbott marketed Depakote,.Four whistleblower suits were filed under the qui tam provisions of the.Federal prosecutors are stepping in to take over three whistleblower lawsuits against Abbott Laboratories that claim the drug maker illegally promoted Depakote, an.
Prescription Drug Companies
Depakote Birth Defects Lawsuit
Pharmaceutical Pill PileFor off label marketing of the drug Depakote, a federal district judge last week ordered Abbott Laboratories to pay a.
Billion Dollars Stacks of Money PicturesFormer Abbott Rep Files Whistleblower Lawsuit. Depakote Seizures Birth Defects.
Depakote ER Side EffectsResearch shows the anticonvulsant drug divalproex sodium—sold under the brand name Depakote (and, less commonly, as.Depakote Birth Injury and Wall Street Journal Report That Abbott Laboratories Under Investigation For Off-Label Marketing of Depakote.
This Week: PharMerica Resolves Kickbacks. promoting Depakote, an Abbott drug.Abbott Laboratories is said to be in talks with federal prosecutors over allegations that it illegally marketed Depakote.ACS BookTalk features posts by authors of books on pressing law or policy concerns.
Omnicare has announced it will settle with the Department of Justice in two federal suits accusing the pharmacy giant of taking kickbacks from Abbott Laboratories.ABBOTT LABS TRYING TO SETTLE DEPAKOTE WHISTLEBLOWER LAWSUITS. and specialty executives with Abbott.DOJ joins Omnicare lawsuit over alleged Abbott Depakote kickbacks. a well-known whistleblower attorney who was lead.
Yellow Drug Pills
A former Abbott Laboratories saleswoman has filed a federal lawsuit against the.Omnicare allegedly entered into agreements with Abbott to recommend Depakote over competitor.
John R.DavisWhistleblower Lawsuit Alleges Abbott, Supplier Omnicare Involved in Illegal Kickback Scheme.
No one knows how big the settlement between Abbott Labs (ABT) and the Department of Justice will be in the whistleblower litigation over Depakote, an anti-seizure drug.
Nuclear Bunker Buster BombAbbott Laboratories. the U.S. Department of Justice joined in a whistleblower suit brought by former Abbott employees accusing.One of the uses for which Abbott Labs promoted Depakote was for.A former employee filed the whistleblower lawsuit. just weeks later, Abbott is in the hot seat again after Amy.
Amgen also enlisted these same pharmacy companies to promote its ...
Depakote Pregnancy Birth DefectsDepartment of Justice Joins Whistleblower Suit Against Abbott.
Whistleblower Lawsuits and Claims Seeger Weiss attorneys have successfully represented whistleblowers in a wide array of matters, including cases that have led to.Abbott Laboratories Inc. made untold amounts of money by misbranding and marketing anti-pshychotic Depakote.


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The company has rebuilt its ticketing system from the ground up so buyers who decide not to attend a gig can resell their ticket through TicketMaster’s own secondary market.
The new system, dubbed TicketMaster-Plus, is due to be introduced in the United States next week.
Live Nation’s chief operating officer, Joe Berchtold, said a British launch would follow soon. The company is waiting for “clarity” on regulation of secondary ticketing in Britain, however, following calls by the Metropolitan Police for a legislative clampdown on online fraud and exorbitant mark-ups.
“There’ve been a lot of issues in the UK of late with fraudulent tickets – we can authenticate and reissue the ticket so you don’t have those fraud issues,” said Mr Berchtold.
“We believe that by knowing the ticket exists and it’s valid… we’ll take substantial share in the secondary market.”
TicketMaster is already dabbling in the British secondary market on its website GetMeIn, which competes against Seatwave and Viagogo. Mr Berchtold said that after the TicketMaster-Plus is introduced, the separate brand will eventually disappear as reselling is offered via its main website.


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The MTS notes that now the video is the most popular among the majority of consumers of services of cellular operator. And the number of gigabytes of video processed, the MTS is growing.
MTS said that it will no longer take into account the video from sites YouTube, "VKontakte", Amediateka, IVI, KHL, Zoomby, NTV, Vimeo and some other popular services. But only for those who pay for it. The cost of the service will be from 3 rubles per day. However, such options may indeed be the point if you burn your traffic mainly in watching video.


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Volunteers in Loveland, Colorado, knew there weren’t any brew festivals in the winter.
Sure, there was the Great American Beer Festival that rounded out September and led into October, but no one had decided to create something for the colder months.
Until next week, that is.
The first annual Polar Pints will be held next Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Budweiser Events Center. Some of the proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Special Olympics.
Event organizer Phil Hossler wanted to help Left Hand Brewing create a winter brew fest after seeing the continued yearly success of their summer festival, the Gnarly Barley Brew Fest.
“Not too many facilities can hold a big brew fest during the wintertime,” he said. “But, the Budweiser Events Center is the perfect size for something like this. Everything just happened to work out perfectly for Polar Pints.”
Although Hossler would be hard-pressed to call Polar Pints the “winter version of Gnarly Barley,” much of the festival is mirrored off of its summer counterpart.
“Ultimately, the main goal for us is to get people out to drink some beer,” he said.
Polar Pints will feature 27 breweries, 19 of which are Colorado-based, inside of the events center. Each will have their own designated, decorated booth. Some will be serving seasonally-flavored beers, but Hossler couldn’t speak as to what types would be offered, saying he left it up to each brewery to choose what they’d like to show off. Over all, there will be over 100 beers on tap.
Anyone who purchases a general admission ticket will receive 10 tokens and a four-ounce sampling mug. Each token will purchase one tasting from a brewery. Once you run out of tokens, you’re welcome to purchase more, Hossler said. Each extra token will cost $1.
VIP ticket holders receive unlimited tasting tokens and are allowed into the events center one hour early. They will also receive access to a VIP area with food, specialty beers, a pint glass and a Polar Pints t-shirt.
Old Chicago and a gyro vendor will provide food during the event.
At the festival, all of the breweries will be locked in a friendly competition with each other, since the top three companies that obtain the most tokens from attendees will receive donations to the nonprofit organization of their choice. There will also be a prize for the people’s choice award, which will be handed out after the crowd is polled. The brewery that wins will be featured during summer events, Hossler said.
“No one else really does this, and we really hope it goes off without a hitch,” he said.


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Uber, Didi Armed With Billions Hold Breath on China RegulationsBloomberg News
Uber CEO Kalanick says it wants to be good partners in China
Didi says sharing economy offers solution to China's gridlock
Tom Teng has been driving part time using the Didi Kuaidi car-hailing app and finds the service a boon for car owners like him who want to supplement their income. His greatest fear, though, is being pulled over by police and fined for carrying out an illegal activity.
“I worry all the time about being caught and fined by the government,” said Teng, 38, who runs his own interior decoration business in Beijing. “My biggest concern is policy uncertainties. I wish there are clear signals soon.”
Uber Technologies Inc. and Didi Kuaidi are close to raising more than $4 billion combined from investors for their China operations in the latest fundraising rounds, according to people familiar with the plans. Despite being loaded with cash and armed with plans to expand into dozens of new cities, the companies continue to operate in an ill-defined area when it comes to enabling privately owned cars to provide paid transportation, an activity confined traditionally to licensed taxis and rental companies.
Both Uber and Didi have repeatedly pledged to operate in accordance with regulations while lobbying the government to update rules to reflect commuter habits that have changed with the sharing economy. After launching periodic crackdowns on unlicensed car-hire services, the central government is now working on nationwide rules on Internet-based transportation booking services.
“The biggest uncertainty for these companies is how well they are able to comply with the upcoming regulations by both the central and local governments,” said Huang Shaoqing, an associate research fellow at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, who was involved in the drafting of the car-booking regulations. “The regulations directly determine their legality so it’s very important.”
A potential scenario includes the government requiring car-hailing companies to own at least part of their fleets, which will increases costs, while local governments may also introduce specific rules in addition to the national framework, according to Huang.
Uber and Didi Kuaidi also have to be mindful of how the government views the disruption to taxi companies, and whether their use of subsidies to attract drivers and win over customers may be viewed as an unfair practice, Huang said. Having a lot of cash reserves allows the companies to be better prepared to meet whatever regulatory requirements the government imposes, he said.
Didi Kuaidi President Jean Liu said the problems of commuting in Chinese cities have created a “common language” between the company and government officials, who understand that congestion reduces the efficiency and competitiveness of a city.
The sharing economy, as represented by Internet-based technologies such as hailing apps, gives regulators a solution to urban gridlock by more efficiently allocating transportation resources, Liu said in speech at a forum on Monday.
Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick made clear the company wants to be good partners in China, creating jobs and cooperating with the government. He called Uber “co-architects in making cities of the future” in a speech at a conference in Beijing Tuesday for its role in helping ride-sharing and decreasing congestion.
He also emphasized the importance of government relations and compared hailing apps to the early days of taxis, where there were no rules and governments stepped in later to regulate the industry.
“We have already created hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Kalanick said, adding that Uber plans to operate in about 100 more Chinese cities over the next year. “As we grow, that will become millions of jobs.”
Like Uber, Didi Kuaidi is banking on becoming too big and important to be shut down.
Liu said that Didi Kuaidi now handles 7 million car and taxi bookings a day and have signed up about 9 million drivers. The company plans to continue and upgrade its different services, she said.
“Didi Kuaidi and Uber are like Taobao,” said Fu Weigang, a researcher at SIFL Institute in Shanghai, referring to the online marketplace operated by Alibaba that has been credited with enabling small-time businesses. “They are an essential platform that millions and millions of people count on. No matter what the policy framework, they will find their way.”
— With assistance by Ying Tian, and Tim Culpan
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Israel's Ashdod Port, one of the largest ports of the country and a crucial asset for the national economy, is continuing to operate normally despite the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to the executive chairman of the Ashdod Port Company's board of directors, Shaul Schneider.
Talking to Container News, he pointed out that employees of Ashdod Port Company continue to maintain operational continuity for the Israeli economy and are working even faster, understanding the importance of maintaining the normal operations of the port.
Port of Ashdod, the only state-owned port in Israel, is operating 24/7 with employees working longer shifts mainly for two reasons. The first reason is their own safety. According to Schneider, it is safer for port employees to remain at the port area, rather than be on the road in order to return home. Additionally, Israel's military has recruited 10% of the Ashdod Port Company personnel, and therefore, the remaining staff must fill the gap.
Regarding special measures and guidelines that the Israeli ports may have received from the government, Shau Schneider said there are no special regulations for Ashdod Port. "We are trying to maintain our normal operations under such circumstances," he noted.
Schneider also told Container News that the port is in contact with shipping companies, which for now keep moving cargo and goods through the port without any significant disruption.
Possible expansion of the conflict - Potential risks
At the time, we have not seen the conflict between Israel and Hamas cause difficulties in global trade. However, a possible expansion of the conflict could create challenges in crucial shipping lanes.
Christian Roeloffs, co-founder and CEO of Container xChange, an online platform for container logistics, explains, “In the case of the conflict in Israel, any expansion of the hostilities beyond the country's borders could introduce risks to two vital shipping choke points. The Suez Canal, a critical waterway for various commercial vessels, including container ships, may face disruptions. Similarly, the Strait of Hormuz, a backbone for oil and gas shipping, could be affected. However, the extent of these effects will largely depend on the conflict's expansion and duration.”
On the other hand, Israel represents a relatively small market for container shipping, with its primary ports of Ashdod and Haifa accounting for just 0.4% of global throughput and therefore, the threat of disruptions to container trade flow through the Mediterranean region remains limited, according to Container xChange's analysis.
First war-related surcharges
However, it is still important to see the impact of the conflict on container rates in and out of Israeli ports. Container News asked Schneider about his information and estimations about possible trends in Ashdod port box rates. He believes that shipping lines will not increase their rates in Ashdod and he said that he has not seen any rate increases, surcharges or additional fees so far. He expressed, however, his concerns about possible increased insurance costs.
In any case, South Korean ocean carrier HMM has already announced a war risk surcharge (WRS) on Israel cargo in a customer advisory on 18 October.
"As costs increase by deterioration situation from/to Israel, we would have to inform our customers that we implement the WRS with immediate effect on all equipment types to maintain our service from/to Israel," said HMM in its announcement.
HMM's WRS is as follows:
Israeli container carrier ZIM has also announced an additional fee. "In light of the war situation, insurers have imposed an additional war risk insurance premium on all vessels calling Israeli ports, which we are now obligated to pay in order to maintain service to and from Israel," said the company in its latest update.
ZIM has decided to implement the following new War Risk Premium (WRP) for cargo to/from Israel effective from the 12 October Gate-In date.
|War risk premium Surcharge
|ZMP, MGX, SAM, ZCA


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Blazblue: Central Fiction Gets a Japanese Release Date
The Japanese console release of the Arc System Works developed fighting game Blazblue: Central Fiction has been revealed.
The game will launch on PS4 and PS3 on October 6th. North America is actually also surprisingly getting the PS3 version, as well as the PS4 version of course, when the game releases later this year. The console version will feature at least one new fighter, as well as a full campaign mode in comparison to the currently available Japanese arcade version.
The hype is tangible.


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2016 was heralded as a particularly tough year, and small to medium businesses have in particular been affected. BRIAN TIMPERLEY, managing director of Turrito Networks, highlights the biggest pain points for SMEs and how these can be overcome in the future.
A key pain point for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in 2016 continued to be an influx of cheap and ill-supported fibre and internet solutions, which fall far short of the SME’s needs.
SMB decision makers have been overwhelmed by cheap consumer connectivity and attempt to use these to drive down the cost of connectivity in their organisations.
And, says Brian Timperley, managing director of Turrito Networks, this trend will continue into 2017, underscored — ironically enough — by a dazzling array of choice, combined with the trend of technologically-knowledgeable users who apply consumer-level thinking to their businesses.
“A consumer’s requirement for fibre is very different from that of a business. While many SME owners think that consumer-grade fibre will deliver the same requirements for their business, the lack of sound advice to the contrary from their service provider often leaves them with slow connectivity and downtime,” adds Timperley.
“Bandwidth has never been cheaper than it is now, and yet we’ve never had more discussions around price. The challenge is that there are no consumer-level or “cheap” broadband products in South Africa that match the performance of business-grade Internet products.”
He is emphatic that — unlike the consumer arena — “the Internet” for SMEs is about far more than just browsing: “Businesses require far more than consumers and a big part of how we approach solutions for businesses of this size, is by understanding what they use their connectivity for.
For SMEs, the internet isn’t about consumer activities like Internet surfing and accessing social media sites. It’s about a whole range of critical services including voice over IP, cloud, video, backups and accessing Office 365, Sage, Pastel, Microsoft Azure, hosting, and cloud-based PABX.”
All of these consume vastly different amounts of data compared with consumer use, and in very different ways.
“The analogy we use is that of a professional deep sea diver who goes into a dive shop and asks for the cheapest oxygen tanks available – that’s not the kind of equipment you want, when your life depends on it… a parallel to buying connectivity based on price alone,” Timperley explained.
“Despite knowing how important connectivity is, SMEs are asking their service providers for the cheapest solution, without clarity on the impact that ill-matched solutions may have on productivity, uptime and efficiency. SMEs were prepared to accept high prices in the days when that was the norm, and in turn demanded a high level of service from their providers.
“We are urging business owners and decision makers, to start demanding better value from their service providers and reap the benefits of a best fit connectivity solution for their organisations.”
Turrito Networks commercial director, Louis Jardim says that when it comes to selecting your partner and the connectivity solution for your business, it is important to understand the terminology, and challenge your provider to deliver best value.
He recommends being clear on the difference between a service level definition (SLD) and a service level agreement (SLA), contention ratios – how many other businesses and users will be sharing the same bandwidth, what the minimum upload and download speeds are that you can expect, and whether these can be consistently maintained, whether there is a 24/7 support desk, and what the mean time to respond and mean time to repair is.
He argues that before SMEs sign on the dotted line with service providers, that they understand what downtime is worth to them and the impact slow connectivity will have on their businesses.
For Timperley, the relationship between client and provider comes down to trust.
“As a neutral provider, we know precisely what the differences in pricing and services are from over 32 of the largest providers in SA. We have no incentive to sell any one of those network providers over the other. We have relationships with all of them and can deliver the same services they’re offering – but we know what works and what doesn’t.
This neutrality means we’ll ensure that our customers get the best bang for their buck, exactly in line with what their requirements are.”
Inside Netflix: Quest for content will sweep Africa
In the second of a series of behind-the-scenes reports from Netflix studios, ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK discovers an appetite for new stories.
It may have started out as a better way to rent movies, but now Netflix is revolutionising the entire American film and TV industries. That’s not news. The next big shift, however, is likely to be the transformation of content production worldwide, and Africa is squarely in the Netflix sights.
In an exclusive interview at the Netflix studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, last week, chief product officer Greg Peters said that South Africa and Nigeria were among the many key markets in which
“We’re looking to increasingly find storytellers from around the world, especially ones who haven’t been able to tell the story they want because traditional production partners are not willing to tell it, or they can’t find a big enough audience,” he said.
“Our job is to provide a platform, both a production platform, and then a distribution platform, because we are really good at finding audiences that are much much bigger than any storyteller has ever been able to find before. We’re going to invest in every part of the world, including Africa.”
Peters emphasised the need for fresh stories, as opposed to those that repeated traditionally popular formulae.
“We feel like it’s exciting that we don’t have a lot of restrictions. We want compelling stories, a strong vision, authentic story telling, that can come from a whole different range of formats. To open up storytelling in ways that was not opened before.”
Peters was speaking at the end of a two-day Netflix event called Labs Day, which exposed a small group of media from around the world to the inner workings of the business.
Peters revealed that, when he joined Netflix in 2008, he was just one of eight people working on streaming. At that stage, the company was making most of its money from distributing movies on DVD through the mail, with subscriptions and orders managed entirely on the Web.
Click here to read about how Netflix was founded, what it meant to competitors, and what Netflix means to traditional pay-TV.
Apple unveils TV+ and News+ subscription service
Apple’s video streaming service is set to launch in over 100 countries in the second half of this year, writes BRYAN TURNER.
Late to the premium video streaming game, Apple has unveiled its video streaming platform called Apple TV+.
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced yesterday that the service will feature Apple Original content, along with a redesigned Apple TV app that integrates major TV streaming platforms like Hulu and HBO directly into the Apple TV app.
In maintaining the company’s premium image, Cook claims the service will be the “destination for the highest-quality originals”. He backed the statement by handing over to multi-Oscar winning director Steven Speilberg who led the company’s “The Storyteller’s Behind” video. The video below shows off big Hollywood names, including J.J. Abrams, Jennifer Aniston, M. Night Shyamalan, Octavia Spencer, Reese Witherspoon, endorsing TV Plus.
Speilberg announced he would be bringing the 93-year-old Amazing Stories book series to TV on Apple’s streaming service. Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, and Steve Carrell discussed their involvement in a predominantly women-hosted Morning Show that deals with “issues that are spoken about behind closed doors”. The stage was filled with major TV personalities, including Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones), Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley), Big Bird (Sesame Street), and even Oprah.
Apple still has some catching up to do, because Netflix has already spent billions on acquiring and creating new content in 2019 alone.
In a move to remain competitive, subscribers to the service will have access to Apple TV+ through the new Apple TV app on iOS, Mac, Roku, Fire TV, and smart TVs from Samsung and LG, among other.
But will this service be sustainable for Apple in an already saturated market? Mark Skilton, professor of practice at Warwick Business School, said: “Apple TV is not just about seeking a new growth market, it is about a technical shift to “connected smart services” of the future that offer everything online.
“But is Apple going to beat Netflix? Even if they roll out the red carpet for movie stars, it will be a challenge for Apple to provide a compelling new TV experience.”
The service is set to launch in over 100 countries by the end of the year.
Click here to read about Apple News+.


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Most Recent Articles In Fashion Scoops
Latest Fashion Scoops Articles
SHOUTING LOUD: Alexander Wang has two new promotional ventures in the works: his first-ever print ad, exclusive to Interview Magazine’s March issue, and a billboard to be unveiled at the New York intersection of Lafayette and Great Jones Streets on Feb. 7. But don’t call this an advertising campaign. “We restrained from using those words, because you set yourself up for doing things in a systematic way — like rolling out ads in the magazines certain times of the year,” said Wang, who prefers the term “image piece.” “For us, it’s about testing the waters and doing something out of the box.”
The four images, shot by Craig McDean, feature model Aymeline Valade posing samurai-warrior-like against a spare, sky blue background. “We desaturated the colors, even drained her skin color a little bit, to make everything a little more austere,” explained Wang. A video of the shoot will make its debut on March 1.
As for the Interview exclusive, Wang notes that he enlisted Karl Templer as stylist and Fabien Baron of Baron and Baron as creative director. Both work at the glossy. Baron is editorial director, and Templer is creative director.


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It would be ideal if everyone fit into all cars, but that isn’t the case. Tall drivers often have trouble fitting into smaller vehicles, but not these options. Vehicles like the Kia Soul, BMW 7 Series, Audi A6, and Subaru Impreza are new car options that leave a little wiggle room for leggier drivers.
The best new cars for Tall Drivers according to Consumer Reports
“When judging cars, I pay particular attention to the balance of legroom, headroom, and comfortable reach to the steering wheel,” CR’s senior auto testing technician Ryan Pszczolkowski said. Pszczolkowski is over six feet tall and tends to focus on having a tilting telescope steering wheel was essential to him.
Here is a list of the best new cars for tall drivers, according to Consumer Reports.
- Kia Soul
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class
- Subaru Legacy
- Audi A6
- Dodge Charger
- BMW 7 Series
1. An unlikely option on the best new car list, the Kia Soul
You read that right. Consumer Reports says the 2021 Kia Soul is one of the best new cars for tall drivers. It might be compact, but it works. The Soul of a Soul is deceivingly large. CR notes that it is small on the outside but roomy on the inside. With 28 mpg and above-average predicted owner satisfaction, it is a solid choice for tall drivers.
Price Range: $17,590 – $27,650
Second option: 2021 Subaru Impreza
2. Best new car with a bit of luxury, Mercedes-Benz C-Class
The 2021 Mercedes-Benz C-Class is a roomy option for tall people. The Mercedes is going to cost more upfront, but it has a lot to offer. Consumer Reports found the Mercedes-Benz C-Class had above-average predicted reliability, but the owner satisfaction was just average. It gets 26 mpg overall and comes with tons of safety features. CR says it offers a “Gratifying balance of cushy ride and handling agility.”
Price Range: $41,600 – $85,600
Second option: BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe
3. A midsized option is the Subaru Legacy
The 2021 Subaru Legacy is a well-rounded vehicle. It gets 28 mpg and has above-average predicted reliability and owner satisfaction. It scored well on the road test and came in second on the list of midsize cars. Consumer Reports thought it had a comfortable ride, a roomy interior, and plenty of trunk space. Plus, standard safety features like automatic emergency braking.
Price Range: $22,895 – $36,145
Second option: Honda Accord
4. Consumer Reports liked the Audi A6
The 2021 Audi A6 came in third on the list of best new luxury cars. The price range is a little higher on this Audi option. The A6 only gets 26 mpg and has average predicted reliability and owner satisfaction. On the road test, Consumer Reports gave it a 93 out of 100. It comes with forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, and lane departure warning.
Price Range: $54,900 – $74,400
Second option: BMW 5 Series
5. Don’t overlook the new Dodge Charger
The 2021 Dodge Charger is a reasonably large car. It only came in third on the list of four large cars but scored elsewhere. Both the predicted owner satisfaction and predicted reliability were above-average. The Dodge Charger doesn’t have as many standard safety features, but it is fast and fun to drive. The Hemi V8 engine makes up for what it lacks elsewhere. The seats are large and comfortable, perfect for tall people.
Price Range: $30,755 – $70,755
Second option: Chrysler 300
6. An ultra-luxury new car for tall drivers is the BMW 7 Series
The 2021 BMW 7 Series is priced between $86,000 and $157,000, which makes it out of many budgets. However, it came in first on the list of ultra-luxury cars and scored well on the Consumer reports road test. This particular has seven recalls on it already, though, so make sure you check those out before driving off the lot.
Price Range: $86,800 – $157,800
Second option: Genesis G90
Overall, 2021 has a lot of new cars that fit tall drivers. Even the Kia Soul has room! Depending on your budget, these are some of the best new cars that Consumer Reports recommends for tall people.


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Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has made what he calls is a “significant” cash donation to the Yes campaign for same-sex marriage.
The Australian Financial Review says the amount is $1 million. Joyce’s pay packet in 2017 is expected to hit around $25 million, swollen by the value of shares he earned turning Qantas to a profit from a loss.
“The Australian Financial Review understands Mr Joyce’s donation is the largest individual contribution so far to the ‘yes’ campaign but it is believed two or three other business leaders have also pledged sizeable donations,” the newspaper reported.
Last month Joyce said: “I am proud of the fact I’m an Australian citizen. Where else in the world would an openly gay Irish man become the CEO of one of the biggest brands and most iconic brands … ?
“I will personally donate a significant amount of money to the campaign because I am passionate about it. I will spend as much time as the campaign wants me to speak about this.”
Joyce has been been under attack for using Qantas to push for change. Earlier this year Joyce had a pie pushed into his face in an apparent protest at the support for same sex marriage by Qantas.
Other business leaders have also come out to support same sex marriage. They include Australia’s richest man Anthony Pratt and AGL chief executive Andy Vesey.
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Watch the founder of Petcube pitch his start-up to a panel of experts on CNBC.» Read More
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel discusses his plans to overhaul the budget, and create opportunities for education and jobs.
J.B. Pritzker, Pritzker Group, shares his thought on Uber's future. In the end they will be number one because they were there first, says Pritzker.
Entrepreneur Ilene Greenberg says to stop the pain of high heels, you need to fix the shoe not the foot. She shows off her high-tech, low-pain heels to CNBC.
Zenefits, a cloud-based automated human resources business, said Wednesday it has raised $500 million, making it worth $4.5 billion.
Start-ups at the eMerge Americas conference in Miami share critical advice they wish someone would have told the before launching their companies.
CNBC's Melissa Lee speaks to Devon Grimme, Prometheon Pharma director of business, about a new patch that could end needle injections for people with diabetes.
Disruption is the name of the game, says Eric Hippeau, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, sharing his thoughts on tech startups and the outlook on "unicorns." Also Hippeau weighs in on the outlook for media companies.
Unicorns, start-ups valued at $1 billion or more, are Silicon Valley's sexiest bets, and it's a trend about to become increasingly global.
Phillipe von Borries, Refinery29 co-founder, and Justin Stefano, Refinery29 co-founder, discuss their plan to reach female consumers and monetize clicks.
It was hard not to notice the Holography Box startup at eMerge Americas in Miami. Behold! The power of holograms!
Slack, the enterprise communication platform, came in first, having reached a $2 billion valuation within two years of its founding.
Rock band Linkin Park is planning to rock startups with Machine Shop Ventures. Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson talk to the "Closing Bell" panel.
Tech companies in California are moving from the suburbs to the city, and they're settling in San Francisco's historic Tenderloin district. Here's a look at what changes are taking place in the traditionally run-down neighborhood.
Busy New Yorkers and Chicagoans will soon have another way to get meals delivered.
Founders Fund partner Scott Nolan doesn't see a bubble forming in the Nasdaq, but there are other red flags in the tech sector, he tells CNBC.
Shashi Fernando, CEO of angel investor and business incubator Yonder & Beyond, introduces the company's products, such as U.S. social media music app PlayMeet.
Azmat Yusuf, founder of London-based Citymapper, introduces the urban transport app which provides users with real-time information. He also discusses the company's launch in Singapore.
David Chao, DCM Ventures co-founder and general partner, is seeing the most growth in the medicinal delivery of cannabis in the industry.
The pot economy has bred a whole new wave of entrepreneurs looking to cash in and make a difference in the growing industry.
Six months ago, a year-old messaging app called Slack lit up the tech blogs when it raised money at a $1.2 billion valuation. Try $2.8 billion


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Danone has become the largest B Corporation (B Corp) certified food and drink company in Australia and New Zealand, joining a growing list of over 400 businesses to achieve the certification in the region and over 4,700 globally. Read more
Consumers seeking complex foods with a short and simple ingredient list are being encouraged to visit the 2015 Food ingredients Europe & Natural ingredients event.
Approximately 60 per cent of European consumers look at the ingredient list and claims on the back, suggesting that they are demanding shorter and more recognisable ingredient lists on the foods they buy.
Lu Ann Williams, Director of Innovation at Innova Market Insights, said “This demand for clean labels has now brought the need for clear labelling equally to the fore.”
For a product to be marked as “Free from artificial ingredients”, producers tend to incorporate as many natural ingredients as possible –highlighting the naturalness and origin to the customer.
By reformulating products to explore new avenues of communication, Williams believes that the broader industry will be encouraged to move to clearer and simpler claims and packaging designed for maximum transparency.
Although there are no standard labelling applications in place in the industry, ‘a clean label’ that signifies the removal of ingredients from the formulation can ensure that the product ranges meet quality standards without compromising the brand.
Williams claims that customers will soon have the potential to turn to the company for possibilities to replace cost-intensive ingredients such as fat or proteins with starch from the Clean Label Range.