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To respond to changes in mobility, KAVO PARTS has added a range of parts for electric vehicles to its offer.
KAVO PARTS revealed its intention to position itself for the future needs of the automotive sector and, for this, decided to expand its product range. Recognized as a specialist in spare parts for Asian cars, KAVO PARTS has now added spare parts for battery electric vehicles to its offer.
On this decision, Peter Bloemberg, Sales and Marketing Director for the Netherlands supplier commented that “in a world that is constantly changing, like the automotive industry, you also have to change”. Bloemberg recognizes that the automotive sector is changing, while the wishes of customers are also different, and declares that the company is attentive to the growth of the sector and intends to follow this evolution.
With the launch of the aftermarket product range for electric vehicles, the CEO states that KAVO PARTS is “the first aftermarket supplier specializing in electric vehicles”. Currently, the Dutch brand offers more than 800 references for electric cars and intends to continue expanding its offer.


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The investment firm headed by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal says it has sold a majority stake in The Plaza Hotel in New York to a major Indian real estate conglomerate in a $575 million deal.
Kingdom Holding Co. says it will retain 25 percent equity ownership in the landmark hotel, now controlled by a group led by Sahara India Pariwar. A statement Tuesday said Kingdom Holding made $32.9 million profit on the deal.
The 115-year-old Plaza has 282 hotel rooms as well as condominium units and retail space.
Kingdom Holding is a major shareholder in Citigroup and holds stakes in other companies, including News Corp., Apple Inc. and Twitter.
More breaking news
- Priciest home sales in Hampton Bays
- Facing defections, Senate GOP leaders delay health care vote
- Rebound in LI construction jobs
- New cyberattack causes mass disruption globally
- Some shoppers fret when companies take over favorite brands
- Inked: Recent LI real estate deals
- Record-low holiday weekend fuel prices expected
- Lawyers launch networking group for attorneys
- LI children’s hospital again ranks among country’s best
- Uber makes it easier to arrange trips for other riders

domain: news


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America’s largest standalone grocer Kroger (NYSE: KR) is following Walmart’s lead and tapping Uber for delivery.
Uber drivers are delivering grocery orders from Kroger subsidiary Harris Teeter in Newport News, Virginia, The Daily Press reported. So far the service is being beta tested in seven zip codes in Newport News, Hampton Roads and Norfolk.
Customers access the Uber delivery option through Harris Teeter’s Home Delivery feature. Harris Teeter started testing Uber last year and launched it in Virginia in January, a Daily Press article indicates. Customers get a one hour delivery window and the ability to track their orders.
The service gives Kroger the potential to greatly expand its delivery options without hiring additional drivers or buying or leasing vehicles. There are some potential problems including unions, Uber is famously anti-union outside New York but Kroger is a staunch union shop.
Kroger is apparently testing the service in a number of other cities, CNBC reported. The idea behind the service is to counter Amazon’s push into the grocery business and to help Kroger expand into the growing takeout meal market.
Why Kroger is working with Uber
Data indicates that Americans spent more on restaurant meals than groceries for the first time in 2016. Kroger is well aware of those trends, it has been adding cafes, and ready cooked meals to many of its stores. Combining grocery orders with Uber Eats would give Kroger a tremendous lead in the grocery and take out business.
Kroger is the second major retailer to tap Uber for delivery. Walmart (NYSE: WMT) America’s largest grocer by sales volume, started delivery with Uber, Lyft and another service called Deliv last year. Kroger is trying to counter Walmart’s move and competitors; like Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFM), which are working with Instacart.
Expect to see many more grocers sign up with Uber because it can help them reach new customers. That includes Millennials who are less likely to own a car and more likely to live in urban areas far from suburban focused grocers like Walmart and Kroger.
A final reason why the grocers are tapping Uber is that it allows them to expand to new areas without building new stores. Instead of buying expensive land and investing a fortune to build a store in a fast-growing inner-city neighborhood, Kroger can simply use Uber to deliver groceries from its existing stores.
Grocery delivery by Uber should take off, and might become one of the app’s main functions. It will also give Uber an additional source of revenue that cannot be cut off by laws regulating taxi cabs.


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PayPal to Make Huge Changes to its ‘Frozen Funds’ Policy in 2013
Posted on January 21, 2013 10:15 AM by Rob Williams
Despite its enormous size and success, the Internet has proven that a lot of people don’t like how PayPal handles itself as a business. We’ve reported many times over the years of how its users, often in conjunction with eBay, can get screwed over. We in fact talked about one such example just last month. So why, after all these problems, do so many rely on the service? I don’t think it’s so much about the lack of competition, but instead the lack of support that these alternatives get by those accepting e-payments.
Regardless, that could change in the future, and PayPal realizes this. As such, the company has finally decided to investigate better ways to avoid situations where someone’s legitimate account gets frozen due to a sudden influx of payments. Charities have been bitten the worst by this. One moment, you’re bringing in many much-needed donations, and the next, the account is frozen, with all funds left inaccessible. Hardly a great situation to find yourself in.
It’s hard to say exactly what kind of solution PayPal will have for these problems, but the fact that the company is finally beginning to take things seriously is good to see. To its benefit, the company really isn’t sugar-coating the fact that changes have to be made. Anuj Naya, PayPal’s Senior Director of Communications, has said, “We are committed to getting back to being the center of our customers’ financial lives … Big changes are coming.“


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LinkedIn is out with its 2019 Top Companies list, a look at the top 50 most in-demand companies. The professional network platform dove into its treasure trove of anonymous data to determine which companies are attracting the most attention from jobseekers and how those companies are hanging on to their top talent.
In a blog post, LinkedIn Editor in Chief Daniel Roth outlines the top 50 companies along with valuable insights into each, such as “job functions with the most new hires,” and “fastest growing skills.” Aside from being a fascinating read, there are some interesting trends to point out.
TECH TOPS THE LIST
Tech Companies Dominate Rankings: Tech continues to be the fastest growing industry in the U.S., and more than half of this year’s top companies are from the tech industry. Traditional tech stalwarts such as Oracle (No. 9), Dell (No. 10), Cisco (No. 12), and Intel (No. 37) are competitively ranked alongside more recently founded companies including Airbnb (No. 8), Netflix (No. 11), Splunk (No. 39), and Snowflake Computing (No. 49).
The top 3: Alphabet, (Google’s parent company) reclaimed the top spot this year, it was #2 last year. Facebook (No. 2) and Amazon (No. 3) maintain a strong hold on the top three spots despite their challenges over the last year.
Hot Hiring Ahead of IPO: Companies that recently filed for an IPO or plan to file in 2019 are driving interest from job seekers, specifically: Uber (No. 6), Lyft (No. 19), Pinterest (No. 29), Spotify (No. 14), and Dropbox (No. 32).
Companies Emphasize Values over Perks: Companies are emphasizing company values over office perks, even as their values evolve with the times. Disney (No. 17) is paying full tuition even for its part-time workers; Slack (No. 23) is running a coding skills program within prisons; Lyft (No. 19) is offering free therapy to employees and their dependents; WeWork (No. 13) has all-vegetarian cafeterias; Goldman Sachs (No. 21) has relaxed their once-strict dress code.
Media Growth: Besides tech behemoths, job seekers also expressed interest in working for media companies like The Walt Disney Company and Comcast NBCUniversal, and financial firms like Bank of America and Goldman Sachs.
Financial Services: While technology companies continue to dominate the list, industries making a resurgence include financial services -- with Bank of America (No. 18), Citi (No. 22) and Wells Fargo (No. 25) making the list -- and advertising -- with representation from Interpublic Group (No. 31), Publicis Groupe (No. 34) and WPP (No. 40), all for the first time.
Nearly 40 percent of companies are new to the list: Of the 50 companies on the list, 19 are new to the rankings. Newly recognized Top Companies to work for include Bank of America (No. 18), Citi (No. 22), Slack (No. 23), Wells Fargo (No. 25), Pinterest (No. 29), Coinbase (No. 35), and others.
Biggest Gainers: moving on up are Deloitte, which jumped from No. 22 to No. 5, Cisco went from No. 31 to No. 12, and WeWork (The We Company) gained 23 spots to rise from No. 36 to No. 13.
Banking is making a comeback as a desirable industry: three newcomers on the list -- Bank of America (No. 17), Citi (No. 21) and Wells Fargo (No. 24) as well as cryptocurrency platform Coinbase (No. 35.)
Advertising debuts: for the first time, job applicant interest pushed advertising holding companies onto the list with three leaders debuting: Interpublic Group (No. 31), Publicis Group (No. 34) and WPP (No. 40).
LinkedIn ranked companies based on four criteria: interest in the company, engagement with employees, job demand and employee retention. For the full list of companies and more insight on each one, head over to the full list here.


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Fresh Thyme Farmers Market plans to open a store in Naperville, inking a deal to replace an OfficeMax in the office supply seller's former backyard.
Phoenix-based Fresh Thyme leased about 26,000 square feet in the Cress Creek Square shopping center at 790-796 Royal St. George Drive in the western suburb, said Arthur Goldner, president of Northbrook-based Arthur Goldner & Associates Inc. A venture of the firm owns the property.
The grocer plans to open in a space occupied by OfficeMax, whose lease expires at yearend, Mr. Goldner said. OfficeMax was headquartered in Naperville prior to its merger with Office Depot Inc., but the combined firm chose Boca Raton, Fla., for its headquarters.
Mr. Goldner said his firm has talked with Office Max about shifting the store to a 10,000-square-foot slot at Cress Creek, but it's unclear whether that will happen.
An OfficeMax spokeswoman did not immediately return a call. The merged company operated 1,912 retail stores at the end of the year but plans a “downsizing of a significant number of stores or closing lower-contributing stores at the end of their lease terms," according to the firm's annual report to investors.
EXPECTING TRAFFIC BOOST
Including the Fresh Thyme lease and a pending deal with a yoga studio, the 145,800-square-foot Cress Creek property is 89 percent leased, according to Mr. Goldner. He's betting the grocer will boost traffic at the property, helping the firm fill in the remaining empty slots.
“We feel this will make the center more compelling for smaller retailers,” Mr. Goldner said.
Fresh Thyme, whose backers are leaders of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retail giant Meijer Cos., is part of a wave of new-to-market grocers that focus on organic items, seasonal produce and high-quality meats and seafood.
The company wants to open more than 60 stores across the Midwest over the next five years.
Lynne Brackett, first vice president in the Oak Brook office of CBRE Inc., and Marisa Roussel, an associate with the brokerage, represented Mr. Goldner's firm in the deal.
Alvin Rodenbostel, managing principal at Oak Brook-based brokerage Arcore Real Estate Group, represented Fresh Thyme. Arcore is handling the grocer's rollout across the Midwest.


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4 Ways the 'New' Microsoft Is Dramatically Different From the 'Old' Microsoft
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who took the reins two months ago, isn't wasting any time helping Microsoft play some serious catch-up.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
So far Microsoft's new CEO Satya Nadella, a 22-year company insider who took the helm from Steve Ballmer two months ago tomorrow, is a bigger, badder game-changer than expected, and a hell of a fast mover, too.
So much for claims that he's a "sheep," with "no real reform" up his sleeve.
The tech giant's new leader, an elite electronics engineer who once headed up Microsoft's cloud and enterprise division, is quickly steamrolling ahead with his vision for a future where everything humans do will be digitized. And he's making all the right moves to execute his sweeping, hopefully revenue-boosting makeover strategy, one that he said puts customers at the "new core for Microsoft" and its "innovation agenda."
"Everything we do going forward is grounded in this worldview, which I describe as the world of ubiquitous computing and ambient intelligence," Nadella said while unveiling the new Office for iPad a week ago today. "It's an amazing canvas for innovation and it's an amazing opportunity for growth for our company."
Growth is an understatement, considering how deeply Nadella's already upended Microsoft. Here's a quick rundown of the four ways he's overhauled and improved Microsoft's stale business model, all in just shy of 8 short weeks in his brand new role as CEO:
1. Giving Windows away to smartphone and tablet makers for free.
Gone are the days of smartphone and tablet hardware manufacturers having to pay between $5 and $15 per device to feature Microsoft Windows on their products. Not now that Windows 8.1, like Google's Android, is 100-percent free to makers of mobile devices.
There's one caveat, though – it's free to manufacturers who make devices with screens that are nine inches or smaller. Microsoft announced the huge surprise move yesterday at its Build 2014 conference in San Francisco.
Windows mobile trumps Android, though, because handset and tablet makers reportedly won't have to fork over licensing fee money to Microsoft to feature the operating system. The big idea is to lure more mobile Windows users to sign up and pay for Microsoft's Skype and Office cloud products.
2. Introducing Cortana, Microsoft's killer answer to Apple's Siri.
Yesterday the world said hello to Cortana, the svelte new voice of the new and improved Windows 8.1. Both were also unveiled during Microsoft's epic, three-hour keynote at Build 2104.
Halo fans are already gushing over Cortana for Windows, which is voiced in large part (along with synthesized voices) by the popular American voiceover actress Jen Taylor. She provides the same sultry voice behind the character Cortana in the hit Microsoft Xbox Halo game series. You might also recognize her as the voice of Toad, Toadette and Princess Peach in a bunch of Mario games.
The cool addition of Cortana signals game-on in Microsoft's bid to snag fans of Siri and Google Now in the battle for sickest mobile voice assistant. We think Cortana wins for cool factor alone, even if she's still in beta for a while.
3. Finally bringing Office to the iPad.
Also thanks to Nadella, the long, frustrating iPad Office drought is over at last. On March 27 Microsoft announced that all three of the programs in its flagship Office suite -- Word, Excel and PowerPoint -- are now available for iPad.
While the apps are free to download, you can't create or edit existing Office documents if you don't pay for an Office 365 subscription; you can only read and present documents. Well played, Nadella. Cha-ching goes Microsoft's bottom line.
4. Dumping two top execs and promoting two.
Nadella's in a hurry to trim and reshape Microsoft's executive team. One of the first major moves he made after taking the lead was to initiate the departure of chief marketing officer Tami Reller and the head of Microsoft's business development group former Skype CEO Tony Bates.
In a March 3 company-wide email confirming rumors that both high-profile executives are indeed leaving Nadella said, "I have talked about the premium we need to place on getting very, very focused on things that we can uniquely do. How we articulate our value, how we market our message, how we deliver that value to customers through our advertising and other channels, all have to tie into an overarching strategy."
He also stated in the email that Eric Rudder, Microsoft's executive vice president of advanced strategy, would step into Bates' position "while continuing his current role." Meanwhile, Microsoft veteran Chris Capossela will take on the role of executive vice president and chief marketing officer as the "single leader running marketing for the company."
Also as part of the new chief executive's shakeup of Microsoft's marketing structure, veteran political and PR heavyweight Mark Penn -- a controversial former aide to President Bill Clinton, and to Hillary Clinton during her failed 2008 Democratic presidential nomination bid -- is segueing into a new leadership role as Nadella's chief strategy officer. According to Nadella, Penn, who has been a Microsoft employee for less than two years, will report directly to him regarding new product ideas and strategic investment opportunities.


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Oddities News Archive - May 25, 2007
Hogzilla is being made into a horror movie. But the sequel may be even bigger: Meet Monster Pig.
The world's largest beverage maker on Friday kicked off the holiday weekend by creating a 10-ton ice cream float to break a world record the company set nearly a decade ago.
Harley-Davidson enthusiasts who take the motto "Live to Ride, Ride to Live" to heart now have a proper conveyance to hog heaven.
- A gigantic fictional humanoid alien god being described with a head resembling an octopus and dragon wings and claws, around whom an insane cult developed.
- Pertaining to the mythos of Cthulhu and additional otherworldly beings created by H. P. Lovecraft or inspired by his writings and imitators.


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The Board of Directors of Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A., parent company of the Salvatore Ferragamo Group, one of the global leaders in the luxury sector, meeting under the chairmanship of Ferruccio Ferragamo, examined and approved the Consolidated Financial Statement as of 30 June 2013, drafted according to IAS/IFRS international accounting principles.
- Total Revenues: 625 million Euros (+11% vs. 565 million Euros at 30 June 2012)
- EBITDA1: 131 million Euros (+26% vs. 105 million Euros at 30 June 2012)
- EBIT: 112 million Euros (+26% vs. 88 million Euros at 30 June 2012)
- Net Profit: 87 million Euros (+55% vs. 56 million Euros at 30 June 2012), including 6 million Euros of Minority Interest
- Group Net Profit: 81 million Euros (+81% vs. 45 million Euros at 30 June 2012)
Consolidated Revenue figures
As of 30 June 2013, the Salvatore Ferragamo Group has posted Total Revenues of 625 million Euros, with a 11% increase at current exchange rates, over the 565 million Euros recorded in 1H 2012. Revenue growth at constant exchange rate has been 12%.
In 2Q 2013 the Total Revenue growth at current exchange rate has been 12% (+13% at constant exchange rate) vs. 2Q 2012, growing from 305 million Euros to 343 million Euros.
The solid growth registered in the first six months of 2013 is even more relevant considering that in the same period of 2012 Revenues had already increased by 23%.
Revenues by geographical area
The Asia Pacific area is confirmed as the Group's top market in terms of Revenues, with a turnover of 240 million Euros (about 38% of total), further increasing by 13% vs. a particularly challenging comparison base (+26% in 1H 2012) and significantly accelerating the 1Q performance. A major contribution came, once more, from the retail channel in China, that recorded a Revenue growth of 30% in 2Q 2013, further confirming the strong trend registered in 1Q.
Europe, validating the exceptional brand awareness of Ferragamo and its ability to attract the interest of the global tourist flows, posted an increase in Revenues of 14% compared to the same period in 2012, accelerating the 1Q performance.
North America recorded a Revenue increase of over 15% in the first six months of 2013, confirming also in the 2Q the long trend of double-digit growth.
The Japanese market increased 2% at constant exchange rates, though registering a decrease of 13% at current exchange rates, due to the unfavourable impact of the Japanese Yen fluctuationvs. Euro.
Revenues in the Central and South America marked an increase of over 7% in 1H 2013, thanks to the positive contribution of the retail channel (+17%), while the wholesale performance was affected by the conversion of the points of sale in Brazil to directly operated stores.
Click here to read full results


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A digest of important news from sources selected by our local editors. Delivered weekday mornings.
A fledgling company loses its only means of distributing its product, literally overnight.
That was the situation facing little broVo Spirits, seller of Washington state botanical liqueurs, when Initiative 1183 passed last November.
The state liquor control board had placed an order with broVo for 800 cases, a huge break for the two Seattle-area women who cashed in their 401ks to start the company. But the day after voters approved privatization of liquor sales, the state cancelled many orders, including broVo’s.
At that point, the company’s future seemed on the rocks. But now its liqueurs are in handcrafted cocktails all over Seattle, not to mention on store shelves around the state.
And by the end of this month, all 800 of those state-ordered cases will be sold, CEO Mhairi Voelsgen said.
For broVo, initially scary I-1183 now looks like a gateway to success.
”It’s meant a lot of opportunity,” she said. “Before, we were in eight to 10 liquor stores and it was hard to get into restaurants. Now we have 10 times as many retail outlets. Now, instead of a sales force of three of us, there’s a sales force of 30.”
The sales force boost came from Click Wholesale, a Kent-based distributor that added broVo to its spirits portfolio. Click has aggressively and effectively promoted that portfolio, getting into chain stores such as Costco Wholesale, Trader Joe’s, Metropolitan Market and Thriftway, along with specialty stores such as Wine World.
“I did more business in three days at Costco than in seven months with the state,” Voelsgen said.
Another key to broVo’s success has been smart marketing by Voelsgen and co-founder Erin Brophy. They met while working in marketing and sales, respectively, at the Museum of Flight.
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The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of American City Business Journals.


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WASHINGTON —U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced details of $470 million in Section 32 food purchases to occur in the third quarter of fiscal year 2020, in addition to purchases previously announced, which will enable USDA to purchase surplus food for distribution to communities nationwide. These Section 32 purchases will provide additional support for producers and Americans in need, in response to changing market conditions caused by the COVID-19 national emergency.
“President Trump has authorized USDA to support our farmers affected by this national emergency and this action to purchase food and deliver to those in need further demonstrates his unwavering support for the American people during these unprecedented times,” said Secretary Perdue. “America’s farmers and ranchers have experienced a dislocated supply chain caused by the coronavirus. USDA is in the unique position to purchase these foods and deliver them to the hungry Americans who need it most.”
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will purchase a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy and seafood products. Specific purchase amounts for each commodity are included in the chart below. Purchases are determined by industry requests, market analysis and food bank needs. AMS will begin issuing solicitations in June and intends to begin deliveries in July. Details on how vendors may participate are available on the Selling Food to USDA page on the AMS website. Solicitations will be posted to the AMS Open Purchases Request website once available. Industry requests for future purchases using Section 32 funds, including potential plans for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020, will be assessed on an ongoing basis.


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For the next 24 hours, Apple authorized reseller B&H Photo's Deal Zone Deal of the Day offers the lowest price we've seen on Apple's 128GB iPad Air 2 (WiFi Only) in Silver, Space Gray, or Gold at $499.00 with free shipping, a free case, and no sales tax on orders shipped outside NY.
AppleInsider would like to congratulate the winners of our latest giveaway, Carl J. and Tyler D., who scored a handcrafted laptop bag from WaterField Designs in the color of their choosing.
Apple's motion to dismiss a pending class action lawsuit related to the infamous "Error 53" Touch ID issue was countered in a recent court filing claiming the company's remedial actions, which include an iOS software update and reimbursement efforts, are inadequate.
Korean carmaker Hyundai plans to integrate CarPlay compatibility into a total of eight 2015 and 2016 vehicles, bringing the firm closer to offering Apple's infotainment system across its entire lineup.
Apple on Tuesday made a pair of improvements to its search services by bringing iOS 9's Spotlight Suggestions to seven more markets and adding NBC as an item in the fourth-generation Apple TV's universal search results.
Just over one month after Apple Pay rolled out to iPhone and Apple Watch users in Singapore through American Express integration, Apple on Tuesday announced new partnerships with five local banks that bring with them support for credit and debit cards issued by Visa and MasterCard.
An Apple job listing on Monday reveals the company is looking to hire a seasoned attorney with health privacy expertise to take on the role of Privacy Counsel , suggesting a health and medical systems expansion could be in the works.
Stylus maker Adonit on Tuesday launched its latest model, the Pixel, advancing its own technology and responding to new competition provided by Apple Pencil.
Apple on Tuesday released the first public beta versions of iOS 9.3.3 and OS X 10.11.6, both maintenance updates that bring minor bug fixes and performance improvements to iOS and Mac devices.
Five years after Siri launched with iPhone 4S, Apple is reportedly preparing to open its virtual assistant platform up to third-party developers through a dedicated SDK, and might dive deeper into AI services by embedding the technology into a speaker type device similar to Amazon's Echo.
Apple has re-hired Jon Callas, a cryptography expert responsible for much of Apple's security technology over the years, the company confirmed on Tuesday.
Pebble on Tuesday launched two new smartwatches on Kickstarter, the Pebble 2 and the Time 2, along with a new accessory, the Core -- aimed at people who want to go running without their smartphone, as well as hacking enthusiasts.
Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt has owned up to the worst-kept secret in Silicon Valley: that the leader of the Android mothership leans on an arch rival for his day-to-day communications.
Apple may not have secured permission to open its first stores in India after all, though the company has not been shut out of the process, a report said on Tuesday.
Apple is hoping to venture deeper into health tracking, through the Apple Watch and beyond, CEO Tim Cook hinted on Tuesday during a talk at Startup Fest Europe in Amsterdam.
Noted KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts Apple to launch a next-generation 13-inch MacBook model in the third quarter of 2016, which would expand the company's thin-and-light lineup directly into 13-inch MacBook Pro territory.
Apple is expected to drastically revamp its flagship laptop line in the second half of 2016, according to one informed insider, with the slimmed down 13- and 15-inch models said to sport Touch ID, an OLED display touch bar, USB-C and Thunderbolt 3, among other improvements.
Musician will.i.am's "i.am+" tech brand on Monday released a pair of pricey Bluetooth earphones dubbed the "EPs," with initial sales to be exclusive to Apple's online and brick-and-mortar retail stores.
Google's Chrome OS partners Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Samsung and Lenovo collectively shipped 37 percent more low-priced netbooks than the number of premium laptops Apple sold during the quarter in the U.S., although most of those Chromebook sales were to K-12 schools.
Adding to a growing pile of supposed parts leaks, a set of images posted to the web on Monday suggest Apple's upcoming "iPhone 7" series will indeed sport a larger rear camera aperture, as well as a dual-camera array for the larger "Plus" model, but might ship without a Smart Connector as previous rumors claimed.


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Amazon is set to launch a tablet as early as October, according to a report released late yesterday by the Wall Street Journal that cited people familiar with the matter.
Given Amazon’s recent cloud offering, existing billing systems, Android app store and customer base, many believe the online retailer could produce the first real competitor to Apple’s iPad, which by conservative estimates currently controls over 85 percent of the media tablet market globally. Apple says it has sold 19.5 million iPads since the launch of the popular device.
Amazon’s tablet will reportedly have a 9-inch screen and will run on Google’s Android platform but will not have a camera. No word was available on pricing or distribution as of this writing.
While Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has long insisted that the company would stay away from the tablet market, the lines between eReaders and tablets has been blurred with recent LCD-based entries like Barnes & Noble’s Nook Color, which also runs on Android.
On the eReader side, Amazon yesterday released a $139 3G version of the Kindle, which will serve ads provided by AT&T, the carrier tasked with providing cellular service to the Kindle devices. The Kindle 3G without ads now runs for $189.
Amazon is expected to update its Kindle line this fall, adding a possible touchscreen model to the mix, according to the Journal.


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Fallon to produce PETA UK's first ever film-based advertising creative
Advertising agency Fallon has been appointed by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) UK to produce its first UK film ahead of a major communications push.
Yvonne Taylor, the senior programme manager at PETA, commented: “PETA is hell bent on getting people to think about how to help animals by using extremely creative, amusing and sexy messaging which is why we have chosen Fallon.”
This will be the first time PETA UK has collaborated with a UK advertising agency on a film-based advertising creative, in doing so PETA UK is hoping to bring some of the flavour of its successful US and Asian affiliates to the UK market. In America, PETA is well known for its confrontational, often controversial creative work designed to highlight the abuse of animals.
Executive creative director of Fallon, Santiago Lucero, said Fallon were “looking forward to working with PETA to create something truly influential.”
Lucero added: “Winning a Client like PETA is incredibly motivating because it gives us the opportunity to defend a really good cause - and when that comes combined with a great creative opportunity, it's even more exciting.”
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On the April 20 marijuana holiday, several hundred multi-national protesters took over the intersection at 23rd and Union to protest the existence of “Uncle Ike’s” marijuana store. Some blockaded Ike’s parking lot, which was blocked off with police barricades for a 4/20 party.
The Unity on Union-Call to Action and “Irony on 23rd” petition group initiated the action targeting the pot shop which is part of the rapid gentrification of the formerly predominantly Black Central District community. The opening of Uncle Ike’s, (whose owner Ian Eisenberg holds title to four parcels in the neighborhood) is seen as the most visible face of a dramatic gentrification process centered at 23rd and Union.
Protesters came from a variety of organizations, including the NAACP of Seattle-King County, AfricaTown, the Black Book Club, the The Mount Calvary Christian Center, which is literally right next door to Uncle Ike’s, members of the Seattle MLK Celebration Committee and #NotThisTime, a group organizing around the police killing of Che Taylor, as well as local rapper Draze, author of “Irony on 23rd.”
At issue is the “irony” of a massive white-owned marijuana store, opened under the auspices of the state legalization initiative, at the corner of 23rd and Union, where countless young African Americans had been arrested (and some killed) in the “War on Drugs” for doing exactly the same thing–selling marijuana. In fact, one speaker at the rally in the intersection, LeShawn Gamble of Tacoma, a veteran, explained how he served one year and one day for selling four “blunts,” current value about $40. Gamble is now the founder of Renaissance 21, an arts, activism and advocacy business for disenfranchised youth.
Pastor Reggie Witherspoon of the Mount Calvary Christian Center explained the community’s outrage over the existence of a marijuana store next door to his church, where a youth center has existed since 1998. Ordinances governing the placement of legal marijuana stores stipulate that they shall not be located within 500 feet of schools and youth centers, and yet, when Witherspoon spoke to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray about this situation, he was told that while Uncle Ike’s was in violation of the law, the city would not shut it down because it was generating more than $1 million in revenue each month.
Witherspoon and other speakers made it clear that they were not protesting the legal sale of marijuana. Rather, they are demanding that the law regulating legal marijuana stores be implemented equally. As many speakers pointed out, if a large pot store were to try to open up next to a church teen center in a wealthy white neighborhood, the city’s reaction would have been very different.
As the rally in the intersection of 23rd and Union wound down, some protesters linked arms and blocked the entrance to Uncle Ike’s parking lot, where customers were entering to line up. “Gentrification stops here, Ike’s has got to disappear,” they chanted. Some entreated would-be customers to go a few blocks away to shop at a different pot store.
In a moment worthy of the hashtag #IronyOn23rd, Seattle police first met across the street with a security person from Uncle Ike’s, then lined up along the barricades to “protect” the marijuana store from non-violent protesters.


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Tickets are available online at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at 800.745.3000 or through the Rupp Arena Box Office by calling 859.233.3535.
They are also available to purchase through the UK Ticket Office by calling 800.928.2287. Remaining tickets for sale come from the unsold student ticket allotment. Upper level tickets are $42 each.
Florida and LSU games SOLD OUT
They are available online through Ticketmaster and at Ticketmaster outlets. There is a limit of eight tickets per household.
The Wildcats will host the Florida Gators later that day at 9:00 p.m.
Tickets to ESPN College GameDay Covered by State Farm are not valid for admission to the UK vs. Florida basketball game, but to the College GameDay event itself.
As always, UK Athletics encourages all fans to buy tickets to our athletics events through the UK Ticket Office or Ticketmaster outlets. Tickets bought from anywhere other than those two outlets may not be valid, and buyers should beware.For a complete listing of on sale dates, visit UK Athletics.
Information provided by UK Athletics
© Copyright 2015 SurfKY News Group, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, or rewritten without permission. SurfKY News encourages you to share this story on social media.
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Residents will be able to book fitness classes ranging from CrossFit to yoga or boxing through a monthly ClassPass membership
US-based fitness experience app ClassPass will launch in Dubai in October, when it will offer members one months’ free exercise classes to mark its introduction.
The launch in Dubai is part of its global expansion plans, which will see it open in seven new cities by the end of this year. It follow the firm’s debut in Singapore last month.
The company was established in New York City in 2013 and today operates in over 50 cities worldwide, with an existing global network of more than 10,000 studios and gyms available on its platform.
During a visit to Dubai, Fritz Lanman, CEO of ClassPass, said the launch comes as studio fitness is growing in the Gulf city.
“Dubai is a fast-paced and dynamic city where studio fitness is booming. We are excited to bring a completely different model to the market that we think is best for both consumers and studio partners," he said.
ClassPass’ Dubai membership aims to offer residents with entry routes into high-level premium gyms and studios, Lanman added.
Residents will be able to book fitness classes ranging from CrossFit to yoga or boxing, through a centralised app. They can choose from membership options with set monthly fees.
The expansion of ClassPass into Dubai follows the closing of its recent funding round, which saw it secure $85 million in series D financing led by Singapore-based investment firm Temasek. Since its inception, ClassPass has secured total funding of $255m.


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According to a report in the Daily Online Examiner, Apple has filed fresh court papers claiming the “tremendous procompetitive effects” of its entry into the ebook market. This comes prior to its petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal over the ebook agency pricing decision, due to be considered on February 19th.
I can’t claim to be any kind of authority on antitrust law. But so far both Apple’s new reported claims and the amicus brief filed by the Authors Guild don’t seem to have done anything to take the argument beyond the question of why Amazon and the Big Six (now Five) did it. The Authors Guild also declared that, “Whatever else may be said about how Apple entered the market, one thing is clear: Following its entry the industry became more competitive.” Apple’s latest arguments, if reported accurately, sound like a straight rerun of those.
Another claim reportedly made by Apple is that the procompetitive effects of its entry into the ebook market included an overall increase in ebook sales. That argument seems to be a bit challenged by the fact that, now that the Big Five has imposed agency pricing on Amazon for their titles at least, their sales are falling. As well as shooting themselves in the foot (feet?), they don’t seem to be doing their former ally’s case any good either. That wasn’t an item in the mix before, but now it is. And since Apple doesn’t seem to have moved its own arguments on at all, that could leave things looking even worse for them on this go-round.
Neither the plaintiff nor its allies, catspaws, and useful idiots appear ready to challenge the basic point that, yes, Apple and the Big Six did collude to fix prices. Is the Supreme Court likely to conclude that this was a Good Thing? I wouldn’t expect so, but could it be that the Apple Reality Distortion Field stretches up even as high as the U.S. Supreme Court?


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The march towards autonomous vehicles from ocean container ships to farm equipment - continues on. But, a new report from the Wall Street Journal says we are far more likely to see robot delivery vehicles than we are autonomous passenger cars any time soon.
"There are a number of reasons things are trending this way, including laws, physics, the nature of existing infrastructure, and the size of the addressable markets, writes Christopher Mims. "But the chief reason, argue academics, analysts and the heads of autonomous-delivery startups, is safety. Protecting human passengers while avoiding accidents with other vehicles is much higher stakes than protecting a pint of ice cream or those headphones you just ordered.However, there are many challenges even for ecommerce deliveries, a market being targeted by companies such as Starship Technologies, which has developed a delivery vehicle that look more like a mobile robot on wheels than a van.
But many logistical hurdles remain. The largest may be that unless cities can create special lanes for these delivery bots, interaction with humans on city sidewalks can be an issue.
In fact, the Wall Street Journal article notes that the delivery vehicle built by a team led by Michael Chia-Liang Lin, a Ph.D. candidate at MIT, crashed right into a bunch or journalist covering the demonstration of the new technology in 2015. No one was hurt, and Lin now says the vehicles, in on-going tests in Taiwan, no longer run into people...


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Being the leader of the processor market for a while, AMD continues to work to get ahead on the graphics card side. The company, which has recently presented its new solutions for users who want affordable options, has now come up with three new graphics card models.
Expanding its graphics card family, the company introduced the most powerful card of the Radeon RX 6000 series, the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT model, and the Radeon RX 6750 XT and Radeon RX 6650 XT graphics cards.
AMD’s most powerful graphics card was RX 6950 XT
RX 6950 XT, which appeared in performance tests a while ago, comes with 16 GB GDDR6 vRAM. Designed to play AAA games in 4K resolution, this card offers quite stunning performance in games.
With a memory speed of 2.3 MHz, the RX 6950 XT offers 256-bit memory width. The card with AMD Infinity Cache technology can thus reach 1793GB/s. The selling price of this product, which needs 335W power consumption, was determined as 1099 dollars.
Radeon RX 6750 XT is the new king of the middle class
AMD’s solution, which is not only looking for high-end gaming performance but also considering the middle class, was the RX 6750 XT. Designed for 1440p games, this card promises smooth performance in AAA games at ultra graphics settings.
RX 6750 XT, which comes with 12 GB DDR6 vRAM, has a memory speed of 2.6 MHz. Although it is ahead of the RX 6950 XT in this area, the 192-bit memory width and reduction in core count are the main reasons why this is possible. The selling price of the card, which needs 250W power consumption, is 549 dollars.
Will the RX 6650 XT be indispensable for 1080p games?
Considered for users who want affordable solutions, the RX 6650 XT specifically targets 1080p resolution. But don’t let the low resolution fool you. AMD has given the card enough power to play games at 1080p at ultra settings. The price of this card, which requires 180W of power in your system, is $ 399.
These cards also support AMD FSR 2.0 and AMD Radeon Super Resolution upscaling technologies as well as other visually stunning, high refresh advanced features.
Scott Herkelman, senior vice president and general manager, AMD Graphics Business Unit, said, “There are three billion gamers worldwide and that number is growing every day, with nearly half of them playing on PCs. The new Radeon graphics cards will take gamers’ gaming experience to the next level and provide better performance. “Coming with the incredible efficiency of the AMD RDNA 2 architecture, the new Radeon graphics cards offer significantly better performance than competitors.”


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eBay UK has today announced a new finance programme to help small businesses rebuild as startups across the country face a Covid-driven cashflow crunch.
Capital for eBay Business Sellers (CEBS) will offer financing products to support the 300,000 SMEs that sell through the platform to 29m active monthly buyers.
The launch follows new research released today from eBay, which found a third of the UK’s 5.9m small businesses face going bust in less than a month due to inadequate access to financing.
It also found that 40 per cent of SMEs have been denied a bank loan, while one in three have been turned down for a loan by the government.
Around 44 per cent said they have not accessed any Covid support in the past year.
Murray Lambell, general manager at eBay UK, said that the programme will protect jobs and help businesses to reinvest.
“Small businesses make up 99 per cent of all UK businesses, yet they have been financially excluded from traditional lenders and let down by Covid support schemes.
“That’s led to a serious under-investment, leaving many at risk of going under while others are prevented from reaching their full potential.”
YouLend is the first of three financing platforms announced today as part of CEBS, giving eBay business sellers access to funding ranging from £500 to £1m. This is repaid directly from their sales.
The further two financing partners are set to be announced in the coming weeks.
Commenting on the experience of CEBS, Stan Weekes, founder of eBay business SW Trading, said: “Greater access to financing will significantly help us to grow and bounce back after what has been a tough year for so many small businesses.”


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The HTC One M10 is on its way and we have already heard a lot of rumors confirming the specs.
Don't Miss: Nintendo Switch: Everything You Need To Know
Just today, we got two new confirmations via techtastic regarding HTC’s upcoming flagship phone.
To start with, the name for the phone is confirmed and yes it is surely going to be M10.
The announcement is not official but the name of the device was found in drop-down list of devices in an HTC online survey form.
The other part of the news today was that we get a camera sample to try and judge just how compelling the shooter is.
The shot taken was a dirty keyboard and that’s it, nothing else! However, the picture showed us letter marking and dirt between the keys.
However, the wide f/1.9 aperture and the picture from so near aren’t proper justifications.
But, the new shooter is definitely refined and improved than the f/2.2 glass of the One M9.
HTC is still trying to compete with LG G5 and Samsung Galaxy S7 which have f/1.8 aperture and f/1.7, respectively.
The HTC’s setup is still better than Samsung’s focal length with a generously wide 26mm equivalent.
As for the leaked image, it is shot in 16:9 aspect and has a resolution of 2,250 x 4,000px.
In 4:3 aspect it would make for a 3,000 x 4,000px 12MP image, which is already suggested by previous rumors.
How To: Buy a Pokemon Go Plus
As for now, we know that the HTC One M10 will be announced on April 11.


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Relax, you’re invited to a pyjama party
First it was loo roll, then eggs, but the most stylish thing to stockpile during lockdown are pairs of designer pyjamas.
Luxury sleepwear labels are reporting spikes in sales after the government advised people to stay at home last month. These are not your standard flannels — they cost hundreds of pounds, come in catwalk-worthy prints on tailored silk and are designed to be seen after midday.
The British brand Olivia von Halle has seen a 275 per cent increase in sales of its £420 silk pyjamas, a 675 per cent increase on the figures last year. Staffers at Vogue have long been wearing the Coco Chanel-inspired retro sets with heels to cocktail parties. Now they are de rigueur for working at home as well.


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Brewers in danger of losing everything, call for Ramaphosa to lift booze ban
The survival of small business owners and craft breweries is in peril due to the alcohol ban, says the Beer Association of South Africa (Basa). The association on Wednesday issued an urgent call to President Cyril Ramaphosa to lift the ban.
The booze ban, which came into effect on December 28, has had a devastating impact on the industry and forced some members to dip into their savings. But these have now been depleted in some cases, leaving them in desperate need of financial relief.
“The third ban is devastating to craft brewers, who are small businesses owners who work within small margins, always putting the welfare of their staff before their own. It is now no longer a question of keeping businesses open – it has become a question of whether business owners, their employees and families will have any food to eat this month,” said Wendy Pienaar, CEO of the Craft Brewers Association South Africa (CBASA).
“To make things worse, these craft brewers are the same people who stepped up during the hard lockdown last year by producing soup and stew in their brewhouses from donated vegetables to feed more than two million hungry people, while also manufacturing sanitiser to help fight Covid-19.
“It is heart-breaking to receive calls from brewers who are now in danger of losing everything.”
The association said it was aware of the severity of the Covid-19 crisis and understood the difficulties faced by both the government and citizens as infections surged. It expressed an interest in working with the government to save lives and livelihoods.
One of the most affected business owners is Lethu Tshabangu, the owner of Ukhamba Beerworx, who recently opened a new taproom at Makers Landing at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. He has incurred R300,000 in debt and has rental fees which he cannot afford to pay as he is unable to sell.
He is concerned for the education of his children. Without any sales, there has been no income - and he does not know how he will pay for his daughter to start her first year of high school in 2021, the association said.
“We need to fight Covid-19 without starting other fires – you don’t bring a snake into your home because you have a problem with rats. The president is protecting us from Covid-19, only to kill us with hunger because we are not allowed to work,” said Tshabangu.
“The government has condemned my livelihood, and those of my employees, whose jobs meant a great deal to them – they also have families and children to feed.”
Another hard-hit business owner, Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela, SA's first black female brewery owner, of Brewsters Craft, said she had no idea how they will make it through this third ban.
“I am hoping we can re-open to make a few sales so that we can at least pay our employees something. But I have had to make them aware to not expect much at month-end - that is our reality.”
The situation faced by small business owners and craft brewers is dire. The last two alcohol bans had a devastating impact on the beer industry, with an estimated 7,400 jobs lost, R14.2bn in lost sales revenue and more than a R7.4bn loss in taxes and excise duties, according to Pienaar.
CBASA said it was appealing to Ramaphosa to consider the plight of craft brewers by not extending the blanket ban on alcohol beyond January 15.
The association has proposed that alcohol be sold through safe alternatives, such as the use of click-and-collect platforms to assist in ensuring the safety of consumers.
CBASA said the current curfew (9pm to 6am) should remain in effect, along with the 8pm closing time for businesses.
“This, together with a ban on gatherings, increased policing and enforcement, will ensure that we protect lives and livelihoods while we fight the spread of the virus.”


text: Photo Gallery of Mercedes-Benz CL Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Pinterest Uploaded by: sluk Date: 22.10.2018 Image "HEX" Code: #2580990 Image size: 1600x1200 You can download photo Mercedes-Benz CL or use this pic as wallpaper or poster for desktop. Full size link https://carlakes.com/data_images/models/mercedes-benz-cl/mercedes-benz-cl-10.jpg We have more photo of Mercedes-Benz CL in our gallery. If you interesting to view them, you can follow on links below. Also you can see full gallery of Mercedes-Benz CL on this page. If you have your own good photos of Mercedes-Benz CL, you can upload them on our website and become one of our authors. See more photos Mercedes-Benz CL from our users Recent automotive trends, reviews, test drives and the latest news from the world of cars Fisker's new owners announced early plans The Wanxiang, the new owner of Fisker announced the first plans, including new cars. The first change occurred in your website now called thenewfisker.com. Land Rover Freelander forehead successor Land Rover gave the clue: the successor to the Freelander can be a smaller version of the new Discovery, to be released later this year. MINI Clubman Concept reveals The MINI decided to end the mystery and revealed the Clubman Concept, which will be presented to the public next week, during the Geneva Motor Show. First new C-Class is manufactured in Germany According to information provided by the German automaker, the novelty will have three engine options including a 2.2-liter diesel 170 horsepower, 1.6 liter four-cylinder petrol engine and 156 hp 2.0-liter four-cylinder petrol engine 184 hp.


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Despite the number of retail workers out of work or on furlough, the sector isn’t dead—it’s just evolving to reflect the categories that consumers are focused on.
Nowhere is that more evident than at traditionalbrick-and-mortar ope rations that have relied primarily on in-store traffic. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is one such example.
The big box home goods retailer on Wednesday said it has cut 2,800 jobs to realign its organizational structure, a move that’s effective immediately and will help Bed Bath & Beyond generate future annual pre-tax cost savings of $150 million. The reductions are part of a plan disclosed earlier this year to improve annualized EBITDA of between $250 million to $350 million, excluding one-time costs, over the next two-to-three years. In July it shuttered 200 stores.
The changes and savings will help shift investment to new strategic growth plans that will enhance the “omni-always shopping experience in store and online” approach started with the recent introduction of buy online and pickup in store and curbside pickup services, the company said. The headcount reductions are across its corporate headquarters and retail stores, and will also “reposition field operations to better serve customers in a digital-first shopping environment, as well as realign technology, supply chain and merchandising teams to support strategic growth initiatives,” Bed Bath & Beyond added.
“Saying goodbye to colleagues and friends is incredibly difficult, but this component of our comprehensive restructuring program is critical to rebuild the foundation of our business, construct a modern, balanced and durable business model, and meet the structural shift in customer shopping and service preferences that we have seen accelerate as a result of COVID-19,” Mark Tritton, CEO, said. Tritton, the former chief merchant at Target Corp., joined the home goods retailer in November.
Tritton’s not the only one who’s pivoting and upping the ante on digital. Also on Wednesday, Chico’s FAS Inc. reported a wider second quarter net loss versus year-ago figures, and said it was leaning into learnings on the digital side after having been shut down for weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak. Interim chief financial officer David Oliver told Wall Street that the company is also taking a closer look at its store network and will likely cut more doors.
Retailers such as Macy’s Inc. shed 3,900 jobs in its realignment, and Nordstrom Inc. has already cut headcount and shut 16 full-price stores and its Jeffreys concept.
A study by UBS on the retail sector says it expects 100,000 stores will close by 2025. That’s based on an assumption that online penetration rises to 25 percent by then. While hardline and food stores saw an increase of 480 doors to 193,200 stores as of June 30, the biggest contributors to store growth have been the discount and dollar channel at up 1,560 stores and in home improvement at up 180 locations, according to UBS retail analyst Michael Lasser.
“On the other hand, the biggest contributors to store closures have been home furnishings [at down 820 stores] and sporting goods [down by 270 store closures]. Within softlines, there’s been a 4,760 decline in total stores to 100,500,” Lasser said, adding that off-price was the biggest contributor to growth after adding 100 stores. Men’s and women’s apparel stores shed 2,390 locations, as jewelry and accessories retailers lost 950 locations and footwear companies axed 480 stores.
Lasser believes more store closures, and hence more job losses, are afoot on the apparel retail front as consumers shift wallet share to home and sporting goods, but noted that even they too could see pressure at some point when conditions change and spending reverses course.
So where are consumers spending now?
Grocery chain Lidl plans to add 50 new stores along the East Coast and create 2,000 new jobs by the end of 2021. The company said on Wednesday that it plans to invest over $500 million in the new stores.
Albertson’s, another grocer, is hiring 50,000 people, while Amazon said it has 175,000 positions open in its fulfillment centers and delivery network. And Instacart is looking to hire 300,000 contract workers as it looks to expand delivery services.
That means that right now working and sheltering at home—along with expectations for same-day or quick one- or two-day deliveries—remain top of mind for consumers as COVID hangs around for the immediate future. That’s a boon for food and essentials, but perhaps leaves little left in discretionary spending on apparel and footwear for the 10 million who are still unemployed as a result of COVID-19.


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A leader in the movement to unionize Amazon warehouse workers, Christian Smalls, was threatened with arrest yesterday while organizing at a fulfillment center bus stop near Albany, New York, where workers recently filed for a union election.
The workers at this warehouse — ALB1, located in Schodack, New York — are attempting to organize with the Amazon Labor Union. Smalls is the president of the group, which helped form Amazon’s first recognized labor union at the Staten Island warehouse where he used to work. Smalls has emerged as a leader in the American labor movement, speaking before Congress and meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.
Yesterday, Smalls organized an action at the bus stop at ALB1. The bus stop is operated by the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA), the local public transit provider, but Amazon claims that the bus stop is part of its private warehouse property….
More information: More Perfect Union


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Two months after The New York Times published an exposé of harsh working practices at Amazon, senior vice president of corporate affairs Jay Carney has accused the paper of sloppy and incomplete reporting. In a post on Medium, Carney — who served as White House press secretary before joining Amazon earlier this year — says the piece was missing crucial evidence that could have undercut its conclusions, making the story "a lot less sensational, a lot more balanced," and "a lot more boring."
Carney alleges that some of the Times report's most memorable anecdotes were published without sufficient fact-checking. His primary example is a quote saying that "nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk," delivered by former employee Bo Olson. Carney says Olson should have been considered a biased source — he allegedly left after admitting to attempted fraud and falsifying business records. In another case, he says an employee described being "strafed" with negative anonymous reports actually only received three notes, which "included positive feedback."
"[Co-author Jodi] Kantor never asked us to check or comment on any of the dozen or so negative anecdotes from named sources that form the narrative backbone of the story," writes Carney, despite ongoing communication with Amazon over a period of several months. He says that Amazon raised the issues described in today's post "several weeks ago," going public with them after not getting a correction.
"When there are two sides of a story, a reader deserves to know them both."
The piece's authors have said they based their reporting on interviews with over 100 current and former Amazon employees. The resulting report describes a culture of relentless competition and draconian oversight, complete with firing quotas and a disregard for employees' health problems — one employee, for example, was allegedly sent on a business trip the day after a miscarriage, an anecdote that isn't mentioned in Carney's piece.
The examples Carney's given here allow for some ambiguity. One employee, for instance, recalls being given a brutal face-to-face performance review followed by a promotion. While Carney says the man got a highly positive written review, that doesn't necessarily contradict the idea behind the anecdote: that even the highest praise at Amazon can be accompanied by harsh put-downs.
But this may still be the most specific and official condemnation we've seen so far. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has previously said that the article "doesn't describe the Amazon I know," and one employee published a detailed rebuttal shortly after publication. But at that point, Carney said that the company hadn't been able to check the accuracy of individual anecdotes. Today's piece, by contrast, outright accuses the Times of not following "Journalism 101" standards. "When there are two sides of a story, a reader deserves to know them both," writes Carney. "Why did the Times choose not to follow standard practice here?"
New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet soon responded to the complaints, including the claim that Olson resigned because of a fraud attempt. Olson "said he was never confronted with allegations of personally fraudulent conduct or falsifying records, nor did he admit to that," writes Baquet. "If there were criminal charges against him, or some formal accusation of wrongdoing, we would certainly consider that. If we had known his status was contested, we would have said so."
Carney then fired back in another Medium post. "The bottom line is The New York Times chose not to fact-check or vet its most important on-the-record sources, despite working on the story for six months," the response reads. "Falling back on the claim that [the authors] talked to 'more than a hundred' people doesn’t explain why they chose not to check the stories of their most critical on-the-record sources, or to inquire whether any of those sources might have an axe to grind."
Update October 19th 2:00PM ET: Added statement from Dean Baquet.
Update October 19th 3:30PM ET: Added second statement from Jay Carney.


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Android 4.3 Jelly Bean Breaks Cover in Listing For LG Optimus L7 2 Smartphone
Of course, this could just be a misunderstanding, or even a typographical error. That said, v4.3 is listed twice on the page, so it stands to reason that it was placed there on purpose. What's also odd is that a phone with an Android overlay would be listed with an advanced build; typically, Nexus devices are the first to receive new Android builds, with skinned phones receiving those updates much later.
This Youtube user video purports to show some of the features of the camera enhancements that could be coming with Android 4.3.
Perhaps this is all a sign that the Nexus 4 will be seeing a new build of Android in the coming weeks?


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Mercedes-Benz plans to expand its lineup with a series of new vehicles, ranging from a 911-fighter to more compact vehicles.
Read This Article
Our fellow reporters' lost looks echoed our own feelings as we stepped into the Mercedes-Benz Transmission LA event at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).
When automakers compete, the consumer is the winner.
It's not often when you hear about a car being made in the U.S.


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What is CBD?
Cannabis plants produce over 100 different chemicals called cannabinoids. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is the 2nd most plentiful chemical in marijuana plants. Many individuals will not feel altered after consuming CBD, but about 5%of people could be exceptions to this.
Human bodies naturally produce cannabinoids that are involved in pain experience, mood, sleep, hunger and other physical functions. CBD might interact with– and magnify– the results of these cannabinoids currently in the body. People consume CBD items by cigarette smoking, vaping, consuming gummies, taking pills, using spots and creams, and putting tinctures under their tongues.
Realities about CBD
In 2018, Congress passed a law legislating hemp in all 50 states and removing CBD from the controlled substance list. The CBD boom was a side result.
However do CBD items work? He attributes some CBD success stories to a placebo result.
Together with the effectiveness concern, absence of oversight in CBD items is an issue. “Today, there is no way to understand for specific whether a product consists of any CBD at all, or is safe from contamination,” says Tishler. “Worse, we’ve discovered that some companies have even added other medications to CBD items, like opioids and benzodiazepines.”
The Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) is still figuring out how to regulate CBD products. “Up until the FDA finalizes how it will control CBD, it’s not splitting down on lots of incorrect claims or overseeing how products are made,” says Tishler.
Some physicians are hopeful about showing the advantages of CBD items. Dr. Junella Chin, an osteopathic physician and a medical cannabis professional for cannabisMD, included, “[CBD] tells your body to soothe down and advises you that you’re safe. Chin stressed that CBD isn’t a cure-all.
Up until now, the FDA has actually only authorized one CBD product, a prescription drug to treat certain kinds of epilepsy. The FDA warns consumers about the capacity of damaging themselves with CBD products, mentioning liver injury and drug interactions as leading concerns. Consumers might not link subtler negative effects with CBD usage, such as sleepiness, irritability and intestinal distress. The FDA also highlights that the long-lasting impacts of CBD items are unidentified, as are the results on establishing teen brains, fetuses, breastfed babies and male reproduction.
Most popular CBD items
A Few Of the most popular CBD products include topical creams, CBD bath bombs, CBD skincare and CBD pet products, such as tinctures and soothing chews. How do you evaluate the attack of items made with CBD oil? None of these have actually up until now gone through FDA examination. And, in spite of what assures they make on their labels, CBD items are not a substitute for medical medical diagnosis and care.
When you take a look at a CBD item, keep in mind the label. All dietary supplements must have back panels consisting of an FDA disclaimer and a caution section. “Ideally, it would be preferable to have access to their third-party lab screening results too,” Brandon Beatty, an executive vice president of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, said in an interview with Health. Third-party screening validates that the label is precise. For example, a 2017 study by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 26%of the 84 CBD items evaluated contained lower dosages than the label mentioned. You can inspect the brand name’s website if you don’t see that info on the label.
You’ll also wish to check out the label thoroughly for dosing guidelines and to figure out whether the CBD is isolate or full-spectrum. The latter indicates the item might contain extra cannabinoids, which are in some cases more reliable– and as a result might need a smaller dosage.
“This is a huge indicator as to whether they are following excellent manufacturing practices,” said Beatty.
Images through Shutterstock and Pixabay


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Best and worst cities for online dating Naked mom room video webcam
It's even lonelier if you find yourself living in one of the worst cities in America for single people.
Wall Hub released their findings in a new report of 2017's Best & Worst Cities for Singles.
For single people looking to actually find a match, that is not a good thing.
present volume of daters as a positive, but the research of Sheena Iyengar suggests otherwise.
The best and worst cities were determined based on several criteria including online dating opportunities, the percentage of singles in the population, nightlife options, average beer and wine cost, and beauty salon costs.
The site analyzed the behavioral data of its more than 2.5 million users to find the location of the site's most popular users who self-identified as "big and beautiful." The site defines "popular" as those users who were getting messaged and flirted with the most.
Confidence, often seen as a turn-on, may be part of the attraction: 70 percent of single 50 daters reported they feel more comfortable in their bodies than ever before, according to the site. Lean is better than not lean, but I think we send a horrible message to the world, especially to girls," Alley told People.
Boca wasn’t the only city in the “Sunshine State” to make the list.
Three other Florida cities — Miami, Clearwater, and West Palm Beach — were great locales for older singles. Aside from Florida, 40-year-old singles didn’t get much love on the eastern half of the United States.


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On Saturday, Family Dollar temporarily closed 400 stores because a recent FDA inspection of their distribution facility in Arkansas revealed a massive rodent infestation. Here's a video of a worker feeding the rats.
This isn't a surprising story. Dollar Tree, which bought Family Dollar in 2014, relies on razor-thin labor costs to keep their stores profitable.
Workers in these stores are underpaid and overworked. I've been in at least a dozen of these stores across the Western US, from near the Canadian Border in Bellingham, all the way down to Bisbee, a few miles from the Mexican Border, and it's always the same. Each staff member is doing the work of 3 people.
This is a local news coverage about rats at a Family Dollar store in Tennessee back in January. They just don't have enough people working to combat stuff like this.
Nobody's shocked by these rats.
But what's happening with their stock price???
To me, this is where the story gets freaky
At the time of writing, they were topping the list of NYT's daily top gainers, with a gain of more than 5.2% today alone. This is on the first trading day after they had to close 400 stores and recall millions in product.
This is their stock ticker at the moment of writing.
Why did Dollar Tree's stockprice rocket upwards in the middle of an embarassing, and costly RAT CRISIS?
I'm way outside the circle on this, but it seems to be mostly about the fact that their long-time Executive Chairman, Bob Sasser, agreed to step aside on Friday, under pressure from an activist investor. (Sasser isn't actually leaving the board, he's just becoming chairman emeritus. 🙄)
Mantle Ridge is an investment company that likes to pretend they're saving the world 🙄. They own 5.7% of Dollar Tree, and they've been agitating for a change in leadership to strengthen profits. (Dollar Tree recently raised prices from $1 to $1.25.)
Anyways, to make a long story short, the stock price is up more than 5% on the news that the old chairman of the board is out. On the same day that they're dealing with the emergency closure of 400 stores.
Who cares about rats.
It's the old guy's fault. The new guy would never do that. 🙄
When elites fight with elites, which they're always doing lest someone usurp their position, it's the rest of us who lose out.
Like the corporate interests behind NATO and Russia, fighting over control of resources in Ukraine, the Dollar Tree pool-noodle-fight is just another example of what happens when you give a lot of power to a handful of laughably short-sighted idiots. They fight over control of what they have, until, like a racoon washing their cotton candy, the resources they were fighting over are gone.
And what do the rest of us get? Rapid stock growth. And rat infestations. And a continuous failure of the public trust.
The fact that Dollar Tree's stock price is soaring while they're dealing with RATS fits the pattern of Wall Street-as-full-blown-casino. There is little connection between stock prices and the real value being created by companies.
And when Wall Street and Main Street are completely disconnected, things start to get really dangerous. Elites poor decision making becomes even worse.
For 1,000 reasons, this is a dangerous situation.
Rats won't stop people from shopping at Dollar Tree or Family Dollar. Many of their customers don't have a lot of choice.
Dollar Tree (which owns Family Dollar) is competing for market share with Dollar General (both have about 15,000 stores). Both companies have cleverly expanded into rural and urban areas which cannot support full-fledge grocery stores.
These companies are a good long term bet, because rising energy costs and supply chain cholesterol will continue to push food prices through the roof, meaning that ever more Americans will be forced to shop at discount chains, rats or not.
We are being squeezed.
And here's my question:
How tightly do you think they'll squeeze?
At what point do you think the elites in the castle will stop battling each other long enough to hear the howls of pain coming from beyond the walls?
And what do you think they'll do when they finally, and truly hear us?


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The inflating price of textbooks has been one of the college students’ woes, the publishers’ El Dorado and the reason why college professors go Pontius Pilate. Intensive analyzation of the entire system has been made and thoughtful suggestions are offered.
Talk about the cost of going to college and more than often you will hear about the textbooks’ inflated price. But what more alarming than that is how the students seem to ignore the very steep rock face of the textbooks’ price that’s nearly impossible to climb; students feel so helpless to correct the entire system. The act of apparent unconcern gives the textbook companies a strategic position in the market. This has been taking place for years. Publishers have managed the academia somehow unaware of the textbook prices thus turning themselves an invincible force in the textbook market while turning the students vulnerable.
Students somehow are seizing the power back thru the emergence of new options available to them – online book sellers, book rentals, e-books, open source. These solutions are not one-size-fits-all to this ever-changing problem but with the enactment of reforms by the government, students can save a hundred or two. And in college this is a significant amount.
How Much Are We Talking About Here?
Major textbook publishers bleed college students dry by rising the textbook prices by twofold since mid 80′s.
Average cost of a single textbook is as worth as a person’s monthly budget for his groceries.
An annual cost of textbooks is enough for someone to buy a Mac Air or to pretty cover 75% of tuition costs at a two-year public school.
Textbook Market Analyzed
In a typical market, merchants, i.e. the publishers, compete with one another to sell the most products while the consumers, in this case the students, are free to choose what they want to buy based on quality and price. Unfortunately, this is not what happens in the current textbook market.
In present-day textbook market, professors indicate the recommended textbook for the course, while the publisher seems like charging whatever they want. This regrettable set-up renders the student both powerless and helpless.
Who’s to Blame?
Nobody is pointing the guilty finger at college professors. They select textbooks which they deem ideal for their course though most of them admit that they are not made aware, or at least informed, by the publishers about the textbook prices. Professors disclose that should they know about the price of the textbooks they require students to secure, they would rather switch to a cheaper textbook of same content.
As for the students, there are quite a lot of ways to win the game by not playing the normal rules, in a way publishers do not want you to. Each one is not picture-perfect; students can mix-and-match these solutions to suit their needs.
Up to half of the price of its new counterpart
Just up to a quarter of textbooks out in the market are used
Tend to sell out quickly
Up to 40% cheaper than you buy in regular bookstores
Because of that, once in a while, they run out of stock of the books you need
61% more affordable than buying textbooks
Almost all students said they would rent if they got a chance to
A new fad in the textbook market structure; not yet widely available on most campuses
Up to 52% cheaper than physical textbooks
Have no buyback value, more than often, expire after a semester
Only half of the students admit they’re comfortable using them
The average amount per book is $30
Students can choose between digital or print format
Not yet widely accessible
Congress Shake-up on Textbook Shakedown
Congress can no longer turn a blind eye. The Higher Education Opportunities Act (HEOA) effective July 1, 2010, contains provisions on textbooks and textbook costs that need to be complied:
Publishers will made textbook information (ISBN, cost) readily available for faculty and to share the data with campus bookstore
Universities and colleges must publish information on required textbook in course schedules or registrations.
Publishers must break down the textbook bundles and supplemental materials.
Things are about to change. With new technology, new market players and with legislative intervention, students now are starting to have their power back over the textbook problem.
Image by mystifiedbysocialmedia.com


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An investment app provider by the name of Abra is set to sell cryptocurrency for cash at around 6000 of its outlets that are located in the Philippines. This move to multiply follows a deal that was made by the firm with the local payment company ECPay, which will allow it to access the payments company’s network that includes about the entirety of all 7-Eleven stores in the Philippines.
The new service by the Investment app provider will allow any Abra wallet user to purchase cryptocurrency via 7-eleven CLIQQ app or kiosks. The terms of the deal include a required minimum deposit of 500 Philippines pesos, which are estimated to be roughly USD 10 and the maximum acquisition amount of 100000 pesos which translates to over USD 1900 per day.
The service also will duty users a minimum of 2% fee for the transaction costs, and the users will also be able to purchase all of Abra’s cryptocurrencies that are offered through their wallet. Abra founder who also serves as the company’s CEO, Bill Barhydt is quoted to have said in part during the announcement of the service, “now our producers in the Philippines can quickly and easily add pesos into Abra, and you start to invest in cryptocurrencies or popular stocks like Google, Amazon, Facebook and even more. This works to open up a world of new possibilities to build wealth with.”
The app company had insisted since February that it was launching a new service that would allow its customers to invest in segments of stocks of NASDAQ-listed firms. The service also facilitates the support of about 30 cryptocurrencies and a neat figure of about 50 Fiat currencies.
The new partnership between the app provider company, Abra and the local payment company in the Philippines ECPay “widens the product and service offerings of ECpay to its collection partners like 7-Eleven, NCCC department stores, and supermarkets, LCC malls and other remittance pawn shop partners.”
The above sentiments were made by Trisha D Pascual, who serves as the current general manager at ECPay in the Philippines. The news comes as a delight for every crypto enthusiast, trader, and even investor as this will provide the necessary support for the growth and continued development of cryptocurrency and the crypto market in the Philippines.
With such partnerships as that of Abra and the local payments company ECPay in the Philippines, more and more citizens will have increased access and control over their finances and have better storage of value. Additionally, such partnerships will work primarily to encourage trade and provide a better alternative for crypto enthusiasts, investors, and traders in the country by creating an avenue through which more wealth can be created.


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September 2014 Issue No. 422
Inside this month’s
Cheese/Butter Remain Seasonally Strong, Milk Powder Sector Collapsing (p. 1):
Dairy commodity prices are going in two directions at once. Domestic shortages of cheese and butter are propelling those commodities to peak prices. But the bottom has collapsed out of the U.S. milk powder sector, as export demand has seriously eroded.
Beef Imports from FMD-Infected Nations??? Vilsack Endangers
U.S. Livestock & Food Supply (p. 1):
In a page 1 editorial, Pete Hardin labels USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack a “dangerous ignoramus” and calls for his removal from office. What did Vilsack do? He’s back with two proposals to import beef from Foot-and-Mouth-Infected Argentina. Hardin concludes that Vilsack is a poor steward of the nation’s livestock and food supply, for repeated proposals to import beef from FMD-infected nations.
Beef from FMD-Infested Argentina After 10/28/14? (p. 2):
Contributor Jim Eichstadt has discovered that an August 28 announcement by USDA means that beef from the Patagonia Region of Argentina may start entering the U.S. in late October. Argentina has a Foot-and-Mouth Disease problem.
August 2014 Class III Price Announced at $22.25, Class IV
at $23.89 (p. 2):
Class prices for USDA’s federal milk orders are up again for August.
Russian Embargo Disrupts Global Trade; U.S. Dairy to Feel
Shrapnel (p. 3):
Russia’s embargo of dairy and food products from the EU nations, the U.S. and Australia has disrupted normal commerce in the global dairy industry. Since the U.S. has not set any dairy products to Russia since some time in spring 2010, the impact on this nation will be indirect. But high butter and cheese prices here will draw distressed global products.
New Russian Banking Sanctions Threaten Swiss Dairy Export
Hopes (p. 3):
Banks in Switzerland handle about 80% of Russia’s oil industry banking. Swiss authorities have now announced sanctions against five Russian banks and their Swiss subsidiaries. Take that, Putin!
Chinese Dairy Imports Above 2013, But U.S. Market Share
Declining Sharply (p. 3):
Trade data show China’s diary commodity imports for the first half of 2014 are significantly ahead of 2013’s first-half numbers. But the U.S. is finding it hard to maintain exports. Our prices have increased during 2014, while global market prices have generally declined. The U.S. milk powder sector sees prices declining sharply.
Nice Holstein Herd Brings Nice $$$ at Wisconsin On-Farm
Auction (p. 4):
The Milkweed attended the August 25 herd dispersal of Richard and Paulette Keene near Barron, Wisconsin. Their well-tended herd averaged about $2,250 apiece for the 100+ milk cows.
DFA Dumping Milk, Reblending Losses from Northeast Members’
Checks (p. 5):
Hard to believe, but Dairy Farmers of America has been dumping large volumes of milk in the Northeast in June and July. DFA is blaming Chobani Yogurt for reducing milk intake at that company’s upstate NY yogurt plant. But the story goes far deeper than that. DFA smacked members’ milk checks with a 15-cent/cwt. marketing loss assessment for July deliveries. More to come, The Milkweed projects …
WMP & SMP Exports/Production Way Down (p. 6):
Due to decreased global demand, U.S. production of Skim Milk Powder and Whole Milk Powder has declined from early monthly totals. WMP is piling up in warehouses, according to USDA data.
Questions/Answers with AMPI Butter Guru Jim Walsh (p. 7):
With commodity butter prices at a few cents below $3.00/lb., one of the nation’s most respected butter marketing professionals answers some “buttery” questions from The Milkweed.
Empire Specialty Cheese: See You in September? (No Way) (p.
Writer Nate Wilson takes another look at the lack of construction at a cheese plant in western New York State that, early last June, was promised to be completed this month. What with all the grants promised by various government agencies, there’s a big embarrassment brewing here.
Good Dairy, Better Dairy … GREAT Dairy! (p. 8):
Pete Hardin reviews the many changes in descriptors on dairy product packages. Consumers want more information about what’s in their dairy products and how they’re processed. Where is the industry headed???
Feature Story #1 – USDA Proposes Beef
Imports from FMD-Infected Argentina as U.S. Cattle Numbers Plummet (p. 9):
Jim Eichstadt dishes out the dirty details of USDA’s latest proposals – as U.S. cattle numbers slide to the lowest level in 60+ years – to import beef from Foot-and-Mouth Disease-infected nations. Read all about it here.
Impending Drought? Let’s Fight Back! (p. 10-11):
Writer Paris Reidhead makes a wide-ranging review of science involving moisture and crop issues. Modern agronomy and seed practices make major U.S. crops more susceptible to drought damages.
Artisan WI Plant Quits Raw Milk Cheese
Output, Due to FDA’s Confusion (p. 12):
Uplands Cheese Company – an award-winning business – has quit making raw milk cheeses. Owner Andy Hatch cites confusing rules coming from FDA about a variety of issues, including wooden aging boards, for his decision to quit producing a popular raw milk variety.
Feature Story #2 – R-CALF USA’s Bill
Bullard Provides Insights on Critical Issues Facing Cattle Producers (p. 12-14):
Read our second story of the month here.
Strange: Butter Prices Soar, Cheese Strong, Powder Prices
Nose-Dive (p. 13):
Pete Hardin analyzes the ups and downs of the current dairy commodity scene. Export demand has hammered the milk powder trade.
Dairy at the convergence of nutrition, wellness and health
Intelligent dairy farmers and marketers can be at or near the head of the parade that links nutrition, wellness and health. The linkage of good dairy nutrition gains increased scientific backing. But dairy must do much more than just repeat the same-old, same-old mantras about milk and health.
Time to cull a failed USDA Secretary (p. 15):
Pete Hardin beats up on poor Tom Vilsack again.
CA’s H2O Supplies Dire, Entering 3rd Year of “Worst Ever”
Drought 11 Biggest Reservoirs 20.5% of Capacity, Restrictions on Well Drilling
Using recent reservoir capacity data from the California Department of Water Resources, Pete Hardin calculates that the state’s 11 biggest reservoirs are only at 20.5% of their full capacity. Meanwhile, state legislators have passed a bill implementing stricter oversight of drilling wells for water.
USDA Rolls Out Dairy Margin Protection Program Details (p.
USDA has released information for dairy farmers who wish to study the new federal milk program. The program is based upon levels of margins over production costs.
© 2002 - 2014 The Milkweed all rights reserved


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INEO Tech Corp. (TSX-V: INEO) (OTCQB: INEOF) the developer and operator of the INEO Media Network, a digital advertising and analytics solution for retailers, has announced a programmatic partnership with Broadsign.
Kyle Hall, CEO of INEO, told us “Teaming with Broadsign allows us to make our inventory more accessible to advertisers looking to reach consumers at the last mile. We’re thrilled about the new revenue potential this partnership provides and look forward to continuing to grow the INEO Media Network and increasing our advertising fill rates.”
The agreement will see advertisers and media buying agencies who utilize Broadsign’s Reach platform gain access and be able to purchase ad space on INEO’s Media Network of display screens located at the front entrance of retail stores.
Broadsign Sales Director Karim Kanji said “Connecting with consumers in-store can influence purchasing decisions and help grow brand loyalty when the right messages are put forth. INEO’s network is highly desirable to advertisers as interest in reaching retail audiences at the point of purchase continues to grow, and we’re excited to onboard this inventory to Reach to benefit media buyers”.
This new programmatic advertising partnership with Broadsign will no doubt help solidify INEO’s position as a solutions provider in the DOOH advertising market focused on the retail segment.


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Topic of the week:
After over a year of low air cargo demand things may be starting to look up. This week the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released a report that has shown growth in air cargo demand for the first time in 19 months. Data that looked over August 2023 global air cargo markets indicated a 1.5% increase in demand when compared to data from August last year.
Demand was measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), and international operations showed a 2% increase. In terms of capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs) increased by 12.2% with 8% growth for international operations from August 2022.
According to IATA there are multiple factors that need to be considered when looking at the operating environment. First of all, In August, there was a slight improvement in two key indicators: the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for manufacturing output reached 49.4, and the PMI for new export orders was at 47.0. However, both numbers are still below the critical threshold of 50. This suggests that global manufacturing production and exports are still declining compared to the previous year, although at a slower rate. Reduced demand and overall economic conditions, have resulted in a 3.2% decline in global cross-border trade when compared to Jul 2022, which has been shrinking for four months in a row. IATA also stated that in the US inflation increased over two consecutive months, whilst Europe and Japan saw prices drop. China also saw a rise in consumer prices, as August inflation trends differed for each region.
While some carriers saw their volumes increase such as Asia-Pacific, some dipped in different regions over August. Asia-Pacific carriers saw a 4.9% increase from August 2022, as well as Middle Eastern carriers at an increase of 1.4%. However some saw volumes decline such as European carriers at -0.2% and North American carriers at -1.2%. African carriers experienced the largest drop in volume at 4.7% over the year.
“Looking ahead, while many uncertainties remain, we can take some optimism from PMI data moving towards positive territory. This is particularly significant as we head into air cargo’s traditional peak year-end season,” stated IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh.
Overall, it has been a difficult time for air freight, but as rays of hope begin to appear, demand could be on the horizon.
- Over the last two weeks China/East Asia to North America West Coast spot rates have fallen by 9.6% from $1,866 /FEU to $1,686 /FEU according to Freightos data.
- China/East Asia to North America East Coast spot rates have fallen over the last two weeks, decreasing by 15.6% to $2,433/FEU.
- Global container spot prices have declined over the last two weeks, and are now sitting at $1,389/FEU, a 15.8% decrease over the last two weeks, and a 71% decrease from spot rates in September 2022 according to the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX)
- The Japanese shipowner MOL is now working with EDF Renewables, in a collaborative effort to develop the offshore wind sector and green hydrogen. As more and more companies look at creating a greener freight industry “we believe this collaboration would accelerate the development of offshore wind farm and green hydrogen projects all over the world,” says Masayuki Sugiyama, executive officer at MOL’s wind power project and carbon power solution unit.
- Global Air Freight spot rates currently sit at $2.47, a slight increase as rates continue to fluctuate according to the Freightos Air Freight Index (FAX)
- Europe to Northern America spot rates currently sit at $1.67 (100-3000kg), says FAX, increasing by 0.6%
- Europe to Central Asia spot rates have fallen slightly by 1.2% currently sitting at $2.30 (100-3000kg), says FAX
- Europe to Asia, Greater China spot rates currently sit at $1.44 (100-3000kg), says FAX, a 0.7% increase
- Amazon Air’s new A330-300P2F aircraft have taken flight as October 2nd marked the beginning of their new passenger to freighter fleet. “These A330s aren’t just the first of their kind in our fleet. They’ll also be the newest, largest aircraft for Amazon Air, allowing us to transport more customer packages with each flight,” says Amazon Air.
- Qatar Airways Cargo introduced their new freighter service to Warsaw. This new service offers weekly flights with 100 tonnes cargo capacity. The freighter service is now operational as it commenced on 1st October.
That’s all for this week’s update…
Check out our other insights and articles for more in depth industry news and trending topics, or get in contact to discuss some of our best in class freight forwarding services!


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Durian lovers rejoice. Looks like you’ll be getting cheaper durians this year. Thanks to a bumper harvest in Penang this season, durian prices have dropped for the all-time high around the same time last year.
Due to an acute shortage of the “King of Fruits” last year, we saw durian prices skyrocket, especially for popular varieties like the “Musang King” and Black Thorne grade A. This year, however, the prices have dropped significantly. According to a report from The Star, the popular “Musang King” variety of durian is now going for around RM65 to RM50 a kg. That’s more than half the price that it was going for some time last year. The same can be said of another high-end durian variety, the Black Thorne Grade A, which is now going for RM70 per kg instead of the RM100 from last year.
While there has been a significant drop in the “higher-end” grade of durians this year, the more classic or vintage varieties didn’t see such a significant price drop, though they are still cheaper compared to 2017. The D167 or Hor Lor durian are now going for RM30 to RM45 per kg compared to their RM40 to RM55 per kg price last year while the D158 or Ganja durian is going for RM28 a kg compared to the RM35 of last year.
It seems this season’s bumper crop is a bit of an anomaly according to some durian farmers. In an interview with the Star, the owner of Bao Sheng durian Farm,Chang Teik Seng says he had never seen such a durian season in his 35 years in the trade. The season is expected to last until next month (April) and according to Chang, the next batch of durians to be harvested are expected to come around May or June. However, he doesn’t expect much of a harvest in September so prices could possibly go higher during that period.
And while these durian prices may be Penang prices, with the bumper crop in Penang and many of these durians being shipped over to other states, we can also expect a good drop in durian prices elsewhere in Malaysia as well.So if you’re a durian lover, you might want to head over to your nearest durian stall and get whiff and taste of them before the season ends. After all, you never know when you’ll be getting cheaper durian the next time.
Source: The Star