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Egyptian media and entertainment startup Minly has announced the acquisition of Oulo, a Dubai-based celebrity shoutout platform focused on the Levant region, as it expands within the MENA region.
Co-founded last year by Mohamed El-Shinnawy, Tarek Hosny, Bassel El-Toukhy, Tarek ElGanainy and Ahmed Abass, Minly allows users to buy personalised video messages and shoutouts from their favourite celebrities.
Available on Android, iOS, and web, the platform has experienced rapid organic growth, and already has more than 130,000 registered users on the platform, along with over 1,000 celebrities.
The startup raised a US$3.6 million seed funding round, co-led by 4DX Ventures, B&Y Venture Partners, and Global Ventures, in June, and it is now pursuing its expansion plans with the acquisition of Oulo. Minly said the deal consolidated its position as the leading creator economy platform in the region, and would accelerate its growth trajectory and customer reach.
The merged business will operate under the Minly brand and roll out its combined experience offerings across the entire region. As part of the transaction, Oulo’s founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Kamal Nazha will join Minly as chief commercial officer (CCO).
“We are delighted to join forces with Kamal and the Oulo team. Consumers want authentic access to celebrities more than ever before, whilst stars need platforms to connect personally with their fan base. These market dynamics are very powerful, and scale is a competitive differentiator,” said Mohamed El-Shinnawy, co-founder and CEO of Minly.
“Minly and Oulo share a common passion to create authentic enjoyable moments by connecting creators with their fans in unique ways, so we’re very excited about our future together in this fast-growing market.”
Oulo founder Nazha said he was a believer in the age-old proverb “if you can’t beat them, join them”.
“I’ve always admired and respected the vision and execution of Minly, so I’m naturally very excited to join Shinnawy and the whole Minly team on this journey,” he said.
“With its top-tier technology, investors, and team members, Minly is very well positioned to develop and dominate the creator economy market in the region and beyond, and I am very motivated to ensure this happens.”


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Ever since California voted to keep commercially bred animals out of pet shops, a sinister threat has been warned of by those who first criticized the measure.
If the commercial breeders can’t do business with pet stores, they’ll just create their own black market.
The commercial breeder ban doesn’t go into effect until 2019, NPR reports, but groups like the American Kennel Club are already raising concerns. Restricting the number of purebred dogs at pet stores could drive people elsewhere to find the dog that fits their specific needs and desires. In some cases, that could mean unregulated breeders.
Others claim that this is a step in the right direction and will give countless shelter pets a better chance at finding a forever home.
The ASPCA estimates that about 6.5 million dogs and cats are taken in by U.S. shelters evey year, with only 710,000 of them returned to their owners. At least 1.5 million of the remaining animals are euthanized.
Less than half of those animals that enter shelters ever find new homes, and in the U.S. alone, there are at least 1.7 million currently hoping they’ll be on the better side of that statistic.
Some pet shop owners have aligned their business practices with the new law, happily selling rescue pets to caring pet parents, instead of those from commercial breeders. Shops like Bark n’ Bitches, NPR reports, are giving homeless dogs a second chance at life.
“We’re a humane pet shop,” store manager Jeana Alessio says. “So we rescue dogs from the high-kill shelters. We get calls just about every other day.”
Many of the animals that wind up at shelters came from commercial breeding facilities, anyway, the Pasadena Humane Society maintains. Julie Bank, president and CEO of the animal shelter, told NPR that at least 25 percent of the animals they take in have been purebred.
That typically means someone bought the animal from a breeder then realized they couldn’t care for it properly.
“It’s a pretty sad industry, a pretty abusive industry,” Bank says. “The consumers out there need to know, most of the times you were buying an animal you were supporting this industry rather than supporting the lives of an animal which are breathing living creatures that need our help and support.”
Remember to adopt, don’t shop, and make a difference in an animal’s life by clicking the button below!
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Search Tags: money
Warehouse stores such as Costco can offer great deals for shoppers, but many people are left wondering whether shopping there is worth their money.
The cost of groceries can take a bite out of shoppers' budgets, but Consumer Reports has some tips to combat rising food prices and other costs at stores.
Check out this coffee calculator to figure out just how much you could save by making that half-caf latte at home.
The cost for four years of college in 18 years could reach nearly $800,000. Tips and advice on when to start saving and how to go about paying for college.
A new survey is leading some experts to say millennials are not making the best choices when it comes to their long-term investments.
No one is immune to emergencies, which can often be costly -- and a new survey shows that more than a quarter of Americans have no emergency savings in the bank.
For most couples it's the start of a good argument. It's not about the chores and it is not about the sex
If your kid has a summer job, how can you, as a parent, give them the tools to save some of what they make?
For millennials, the "American Dream" of having a good job, owning a home and saving for retirement is more like a nightmare. Here are five steps to get on track.
High school seniors are opening their acceptance letters and finding out whether they've been accepted into their dream colleges. But before they commit, they should consider which ones are the best deals. And that might just be a university in the area.
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TGA warns of serious health risk of weight loss capsules
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which is the Australian government regulatory agency for medicines, legal drugs and complementary health products, has issued a public safety advisory to notify consumers (or potential consumers) of serious risks that a product known as Xiyouji Qingzhi weight loss capsules may pose to health.
The TGA has pointed out that the supply of Xiyouji Qingzhi weight loss capsules in Australia is illegal. However, a number of people in Australia have bought the product online.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has tested Xiyouji Qingzhi weight loss capsules and found that:
– it contains the undeclared prescription substance sibutramine (which was the active ingredient in Reductil) – this is despite the claim made on the box that it is a natural product and contains no medicines.
– consumers are advised that sibutramine was a prescription-only medicine supplied in Australia until it was withdrawn in October 2010 after a study showed an increased risk of major cardiac events.
– the levels of sibutramine the capsules contain are higher than the levels previously approved by the TGA for prescription sibutramine.
Information for consumers
The TGA advises that Xiyouji Qingzhi weight loss capsules pose a serious risk to your health. Stop taking Xiyouji Qingzhi weight loss capsules and discard any remaining capsules.
If you have any concerns arising from your use of this product, consult your health care practitioner.
Xiyouji Qingzhi weight loss capsules have not been assessed by the TGA for quality, safety or efficacy as required under Australian legislation, and the place of manufacture is not approved by the TGA.
Action the TGA is taking
The TGA is working with Australian Customs and Border Protection Services (Customs) to help stop future shipments of Xiyouji Qingzhi weight loss capsules from entering Australia.
If these tablets are found at the border by Customs they will be seized and destroyed.
The TGA is advising consumers to exercise extreme caution when purchasing medicines from unknown overseas Internet sites. Products purchased over the Internet:
– may contain undisclosed and potentially harmful ingredients
– may not meet the same standards of quality, safety and efficacy as those approved by the TGA for supply in Australia.
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A Rafferty’s Garden infant food product has been recalled as it may contain glass.
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We all know how important education is, but there are too many children and families struggling to stay connected digitally to their schools.
That’s why, as part of our schools.connected plan, we’re offering up to 250,000 free data SIMs – with 30GB data for 90 days – to children in primary and secondary schools across the UK, so they can #KeepConnecting and learning at home.
Courtesy of Vodafone.co.uk
Man faces jail after admitting setting fire to Vodafone’s phone mast in Liverpool, UK #Vodafone #PhoneMast #Liverpool #UK
Phone Mast Illustration
A number of attacks on phone masts across the UK are thought to be linked to false claims the 5G network is spreading coronavirus.
A man has been warned he is facing jail after admitting setting a telephone mast on fire in Merseyside.
A number of attacks on phone masts across the country are believed to be linked to false claims that the 5G network is spreading coronavirus.
Emergency services were called to Coopers Lane, Kirkby, on 5 April following reports the Vodafone-owned telephone mast was on fire.
Nobody was injured, but the structure was damaged.
Michael Whitty, 47, pleaded guilty to arson at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday via videolink from HMP Altcourse.
Andrew Alty, defending Whitty, of Kirkby, asked for a pre-sentence report to be prepared to provide further details of his client’s reasons for committing the offence.
He said: “There is more of an explanation behind this that he would like to give.”
The court heard material from the defendant’s mobile phone was being assessed by the prosecution.
Judge Andrew Menary QC adjourned the case until 8 June and warned Whitty: “You must recognise that it is inevitable there will be a custodial sentence in this case.”
Courtesy of Sky News
Coronavirus: Vodafone is giving 500,000 customers and vulnerable people free unlimited internet data for 30 days #Vodafone #COVID19 #coronavirus #UK #pandemic
VODAFONE is giving 500,000 pay-monthly customers free unlimited internet data for 30 days during the coronavirus crisis.
In addition, it will also upgrade vulnerable customers to an unlimited data plan for free, also for 30 days.
The offer will help Vodafone users stay connected if they don’t already have an unlimited data plan.
Vodafone says customers can access the deal through the mobile network provider’s VeryMe rewards scheme available on the My Vodafone app.
Any pay-monthly customer, whether on a consumer or business contract, can apply if they’re registered with VeryMe and don’t already have unlimited data as part of their package.
Vodafone says it will make the offer available to 500,000 customers to begin with.
It will then look at the possibility of extending the deal or offering other help to customers.
If you’re a customer who is classed as vulnerable, you won’t be included in this pool of 500,000 customers and will be guaranteed the upgrade.
The offer will expire after the first 500,000 people redeem it, on a first-come, first-served basis.
We’ve asked Vodafone how it will determine who is a vulnerable customer and we’ll update this article when we find out more.
However, it has said all vulnerable customers will be contacted automatically.
The Sun is also checking if the mobile provider is planning on offering money off for pay-monthly customers who are already signed up to unlimited data, and if it plans on offering any perks to pay-as-you-go users.
Vodafone has around 19.5million UK customers.
Vodafone UK CEO Nick Jeffery said: “Our role in these difficult and worrying times is to keep the UK connected, even while we have to stay apart.
“If our network capacity allows, we would love to be able to offer this to even more customers and will be monitoring the feasibility of this.
“In short, if we have more to give, we will.”
The My Vodafone app can be downloaded for free on the App Store or by Google Play.
You’ll then find the free data deal on the VeryMe section of the app.
The free data deal comes after all major network providers, including Vodafone, announced they wouldn’t charge customers, or take away from their data allowance, when accessing NHS websites.
Courtesy of thesun.co.uk
Vodafone customers worldwide have faced disruption to their mobile internet and broadband services because of a glitch.
Users in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Germany, Greece and Italy took to social media – despite connectivity difficulties – to say there were problems just before 3pm UK time.
The company later confirmed the failure of an international link also meant disruption further afield – in Australia and India.
A spokesperson said: “We aware that some customers are experiencing issues with their mobile data and broadband services.
“Our engineers are working hard to fix the issue and services are now being restored.
“This could take some time before they are working as normal. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”
It is understood the company was initially re-routing internet traffic to get around the problem.
Vodafone will be desperate to avoid PR disasters at a time when it is looking to recover from a big annual loss and invest in the 5G future at the same time.
The glitch happened just weeks before Vodafone in the UK is due to launch of its first 5G services.
The 5G fanfare – slated for 3 July – will be limited to seven cities initially.
Courtesy of Sky News


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NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: The fast foods we know and love are spreading across the globe. In the past 20 years they've hit developing countries where not so long ago, food was scarce for some people. Where they used to crave a feed, now they're craving fries. Here's a quick world tour of the damage.
It's Mother's Day here in one of the poorest areas of Mexico. Celebrations are underway at a local school, complete with free drinks provided by Coke. In fact, for the kids at this school they don't get water in class, they get soft drink. This is just one of the reasons that Mexicans drink more soft drink per person than any other country on earth. But how can people from such a poor area afford a luxury, like soft drink? Well it's always kept affordable - 70 cents for 2 litres in this area.
What do you do with your spare time? Well in China, kids are signing up to classes like this. But they don't just go for an hour. They stay in camps like this for months or even years. China is a big country with an increasingly big problem. Fast food chains have been opening up, in a place that used to be closed off to the outside world. That means foods high in both sugar and fat are now taking the place of traditional healthier meals. That's a recipe for problems.
This is the Nestle boat, a floating shop that visits all the small villages up and down the Amazon, in Brazil. It brings with it all the chocolate, biscuits and other processed foods you could want. And it visits many of the poorest areas of Brazil, to make sure they don't miss out. Convenient, but far from healthy.
Here in this diabetes clinic, they're seeing more and more Indian people diagnosed with the obesity related [type 2 diabetes] illness. Research suggests that because their bodies aren't used to a high fat, high sugar diet, diabetes is an even bigger risk. Half a billion people here are poor and hungry. But as with many developing countries, they are now joined by a growing group of obese people too.
Two opposite problems living right next to each other. So there you have it, a world tour of the new frontier for the obesity epidemic. Of course, western countries are still the overweight champions of the world. But the rate at which these developing countries are catching up has researchers worried.
The most worrying thing though, is who's having to shoulder this weight of unhealthy temptation. In most cases, it's kids. A growing problem among the world's smallest people.


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It’s a third week at No1 for ‘Tom Clancy’s The Division’ (-35%) in this week’s All Formats Chart.
Ubisoft take a second week at No1 with ‘Tom Clancy’s The Division’ (-73%).
The Division Breaks Q1 Record
Ubisoft knock themselves off the top of the chart this week as ‘Tom Clancy’s The Division’ topples ‘Far Cry Primal’ (-58%) and in the process becomes the biggest ever Q1 launch.
Ubisoft remain at No1 for a 2nd week thanks to ‘Far Cry Primal’ and PS4/Xbox One console versions are joined by PC this week (-64%).


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Hong Kong: Mukesh Ambani has surged past Europe’s wealthiest man, making him the world’s fourth-richest person.
Reliance Industries Ltd.’s chairman is now worth $80.6 billion, after amassing $22 billion this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That gives him a bigger wealth pile than France’s Bernard Arnault, whose LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE has suffered from customers curbing high-end fashion purchases faster than the company can cut costs.
India’s richest person has already surpassed some of the biggest tycoons in recent weeks — a list that includes Silicon Valley titans such as Elon Musk and Alphabet Inc. co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, as well as the so-called Oracle of Omaha himself, Warren Buffett.
While the conglomerate with a huge energy empire was slammed by a slump in demand for oil amid Covid-19, its shares have more than doubled from a low in March as its digital unit got billions in investments from companies including Facebook Inc. and Google.
Ambani has slowly been shifting his focus to e-commerce, with tech giants seeking to take a piece of India’s fast-growing digital business. Google said last month it will spend $10 billion in the coming years to help accelerate the adoption of digital technologies in the world’s second-most populous nation.
Meanwhile, with LVMH shares down this year, Arnault has become the biggest loser among the world’s 500 richest people. His net worth has plunged $25.1 billion to $80.2 billion. – Bloomberg
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Toyota said it was recalling 533,000 2004-2006 trucks and 2004-2007 Sequoia sport-utility vehicles because of potential steering problems.
The automaker said there was a possibility of excessive wear to a front suspension lower ball joint that could create noise and make it difficult to steer the vehicles.
said it has received reports of 11 accidents and six injuries connected to the recall.
Owners will be notified in mid-February of the and Tundra recall and dealers will replace the left and right front suspension lower ball joint at no charge. Owners can call: (888) 270-9371 or (800) 331-4331.


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Gary Cappeline Named Evoqua Water Technologies Interim CEO; Mark Roos Interim CFO
The Evoqua Water Technologies Board of Directors has named AEA Investors LP Operating Partner Gary Cappeline interim CEO and Mark Roos, formerly CFO of Unifrax LLC, previously an AEA portfolio company, interim CFO.
ABB Publishes Swirl Meter Application Guide
ABB’s Measurement Products’ business announces the availability of a 28-page application guide for Swirl flowmeters.
MOCON Launches New Oxygen Transmission Rate Test System For Ultra-High Barrier Applications
MOCON, Inc. the world’s leading manufacturer of permeation instrumentation, has developed a new oxygen transmission rate test instrument which accurately and repeatably measures barriers to 5x10-4 cc/(m2 x day), ten times lower than previous levels.
BouMatic Develops New Dairy Equipment Incorporating MIOX Technology
MIOX Corporation, the industry leader in on-site chemical generation technology, announces a strategic global partnership with HydroClean, a newly formed dairy hygiene and sanitation supplier. HydroClean joins sister-companies BouMatic and BouMatic Robotics.
Innovative Filtration And Dissolved Gas Control Products From One Reliable Supplier
MicroPES® and DuraPES® flat sheet membranes are superior microfiltration membranes used in many applications.
A New Kind Of Certainty In Beverage Production
Carbo 520 Optical is a new process CO2 sensor for beverages easily installed directly inline.
MIOX Launches New Website
MIOX Corporation, the industry leader in on-site chemical generation technology, recently announced the launch of its new website www.miox.com.
Endress+Hauser Expanding US Production
Endress+Hauser is set to serve its customers in North and South America with more US-sourced products.
Petrotest Becomes Part Of Anton Paar
“Petrotest’s products are an ideal complement to Anton Paar’s product portfolio. The combination of existing technologies from both companies results in a promising synergy effect and allows the development of new measuring instruments.
Endress+Hauser Releases Proline Promag H/P 200 Magmeter
Endress+Hauser releases the Proline Promag 200 electromagnetic flow meter, a two-wire magmeter that offers the same measuring performance as four-wire magmeters.


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NavInfo-backed Cennavi partners with mobility service platform Dida Chuxing
Beijing (Gasgoo)- Cennavi, a navigation-focused subsidiary of NavInfo, announced on September 23 the strategic cooperation with China’s mobility service platform, Dida Chuxing, for an elevated ride-hailing experience.
Photo credit: NavInfo
The cooperation specifies that the two companies will conduct in-depth interaction in location travel services, data closed-loop, smart city transportation, and other aspects to jointly upgrade the general ride-hailing experience for users. At the same time, by improving the accuracy and timeliness of platform operation and data service, the duo aims to improve the efficiency of urban traffic operation.
As their cooperation advances, Cennavi and Dida Chuxing plan to branch out their cooperation to more aspects as V2X, high-precision maps, and autonomous driving.
In the meantime, leveraging their respective advantages in technology, resources, branding, and other fields, the duo will build an intelligent network system with efficient synergy of people, vehicles, roads, clouds, networks, and maps based on general consumers’ travel behaviors.
According to the agreement, Cennavi and Dida Chuxing will combine their respective advantages and resources to explore more cooperation possibilities and opportunities. The two companies will jointly develop products or expand their market outreach to location mobility service and basic service engine.
Gasgoo not only offers timely news and profound insight about China auto industry, but also help with business connection and expansion for suppliers and purchasers via multiple channels and methods. Buyer service:firstname.lastname@example.org Service:email@example.com


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The Walmart Neighborhood store, as the company describes, would occupy 40,000 square feet of space — about one-fourth the size of a typical Walmart Supercenter — and carry common items found in an everyday grocery store.
The retail giant’s plan calls for building the store on what is now wooded land on the south side of S.C. 161 in Rock Hill between Ebinport and Ebinwood Roads. In drawings submitted to city planners, Ebinwood would be removed as part of the construction of a 14-acre shopping center and Ebinport re-aligned with S.C. 161 at a new traffic signal.
Residents turned out twice — once in November and again Tuesday night — in opposition of the plan. Some opposed specifically with the Walmart, while others were opposed with any form of development.
Between the two Planning Commission hearings, Walmart executives and the developer re-worked some plans in response to residents’ concerns. Those changes included a wider buffer between the rear of the store and nearby property, the erection of a six-foot privacy fence along the back of the shopping center and using mature trees as part of the land buffer.
But despite those efforts, residents like Steven Claron still voiced opposition to the plan.
“This case will lower our [property] values,” Claron said. “This project is not good for Swan Meadows and is not good for Rock Hill. The need simply is not there.”
Claron was joined by more than 500 others in a petition presented before the commission opposing the plan. Some petitioners live in nearby neighborhoods affected by the proposed development.
Rock Hill City Councilman John Black is one of seven members of council who have the final say in the project. Black, who was present for Tuesday’s meeting, said it’s difficult to separate neighbors’ emotions from root issues.
“Is it something that the neighbors don’t want that particular company or they don’t want development period?” Black said. “You try to get to the root of what the main issue is and resolve it.”
Black said the city can’t halt development, nor can it single out individual businesses for inclusion or exclusion.
“You have to make sure you individuals’ rights to sell their property,” Black said. “But you also have to balance the impact on neighbors.”
Council may consider the issue as early as January 13.


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Rishi Sunak presented his much anticipated budget earlier this week and the Downtown in Business chief executive believes that it was a positive announcement – as far as it went.
“This budget is welcomed. It tackles the problems around the pandemic and helps companies plan for the medium term. Business will appreciate the extension of… Read More »Budget response from Downtown CEO, Frank McKenna
Dougal Paver from Merrion Strategy asks ‘Where have all the heavyweights gone?’
Head of Events Heather Thornton interviewed Andi Herring who co-founded the LCR Pride Foundation and has recently been appointed the CEO, in celebration of LGBT+ History month in the UK.
The latest Business Distress Index from Real Business Rescue has revealed the number of SMEs in significant distress* now stands at 620,000 an increase of 76,000 in Q4 2020, putting 2.8 million jobs under threat.
DIB member and full below the line marketing agency, Pinch of Salts, discuss the importance of updating your company website regularly.
Gary Neville has been confirmed as one of the keynote speakers for DIBs first national property and regeneration conference which will take place at the Belfry on 9th September.
Read this months blog from Downtown London in Business Chairman, Simon Danczuk discussing the impacts of Brexit on the UK, plus the recent JD sports and European trade story.
Bruntwood have two free, online events taking place next week which are now available to register for.


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Scottish meat processing company AP Jess plunged into the red last year following a major fire at one of its manufacturing plants.
Accounts filed with Companies House reveal the firm, which also has a stake in an oyster business on the Isle of Barra, posted a pre-tax loss of £250,541 for the year ended March 31, 2017.
This follows pre-tax profits of £1.452million the year before.
Turnover at the firm was down slightly to £13.197million, from £13.658million before.
The firm, which is run by brothers Allan and David Jess, has its main beef processing operation at the Sandyford abattoir in Paisley.
Manufacturing and retail distribution is done at subsidiary firm McKechnie Jess Ltd in Greenock, while a cooked meat business – Charcuterie Continental Ltd – runs out of Twechar, near Glasgow.
In 2015 the company formed Traigh Mhor Oysters, following a tie-up with Isle of Barra Oysters. In his report accompanying the accounts, David Jess said the company had been on track to post an operating profit until a major fire hit the McKechnie Jess site in Greenock.
“Putting aside the destruction of the premises, this had a major effect on the future plans of the group due to ongoing plans for the expansion of this factory in order to expand our operations to meet the increasing demands for the products the group were offering,” said Mr Jess.
“At the point of the fire, the group had already invested in excess of £286,000 in the preparation of this expansion. Due to the fire this cost is viewed as a sunk cost and has been written off in the year which has resulted in an operating loss of £262,888.”
He said the Charcuterie Continental Ltd subsidiary made a loss in the year as expected. However changes to its product lines were bearing fruit and the division had been making a profit since November last year. The abattoir division posted a similar performance to last year and Mr Jess said: “Both turnover and profitability are up slightly despite the fall in the pound meaning that there were significant amounts of EU meat in the marketplace and cattle prices continued to be volatile.”
He said the group sold its first oysters during the year and it was unlikely that the oyster division would reach breakeven point until the year ending March 2019, after which “healthy profits” will be achieved.


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- Tony Hsieh, the former CEO of shoes and clothes retailer Zappos, has died at age 46.
- The cause of death was injuries he sustained from a house fire, a spokesperson told TechCrunch.
- After 20 years with the company, he had announced his retirement in late August.
- Zappos' current CEO, Kedar Deshpande, called Hsieh a "tremendous visionary and an incredible human being."
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Tony Hsieh, the former CEO of shoes and clothes retailer Zappos, has died aged 46.
The cause of death was injuries he sustained from a house fire, a spokesperson for Hsieh told TechCrunch. He was apparently visiting his family in Connecticut at the time.
CNN reported that he died peacefully and surrounded by his relatives.
Hsieh was a Harvard Graduate who first worked for the Las Vegas-based company in 1999, back when it was named ShoeSite.com, according to The LA Times. The company was sold 10 years later to Amazon for $1.2 billion.
Despite the sale, Hsieh was still involved with the company, and recently retired after working there for a total of 20 years.
The entrepreneur had also worked tirelessly to breathe new life into the neglected downtown Las Vegas area. In 2013, he moved the company headquarters from the suburbs to the old City Hall building, AP reported at the time.
Zappos CEO, Kedar Deshpande, wrote in a statement Friday: "The world has lost a tremendous visionary and an incredible human being. "We recognize that not only have we lost our inspiring former leader, but many of you have also lost a mentor and a friend."


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eBay’s Crypto Teaser, UK Seeks More Power to Seize Crypto + More News
Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
- E-commerce platform eBay may decide to start taking crypto payments, TheStreet reported, citing CEO Jamie Iannone. The firm could make an announcement on March 10 during its day dedicated to investors, it added.
- stc Bahrain, a telecommunications company based in Bahrain and owned by the Saudi Telecom Company, said it will launch a Chainlink (LINK) node, providing smart contracts with access to real-world data and secure off-chain computations.
- The UK government is proposing a set of reforms that would give it greater power to seize cryptoassets in order to tackle money laundering, the Financial Times reported. The reforms will be set out under a new economic crime bill aimed at addressing the use of digital currencies to hide the origin of potentially nefarious funding, it added.
- The US Department of Justice (DoJ) charged Satish Kumbhani, the founder of now-defunct exchange BitConnect, for allegedly misleading investors globally and defrauding them of USD 2.4bn in the process. He is charged for orchestrating what they called a Ponzi scheme, among a number of other allegations, and faces a maximum total penalty of 70 years in prison.
- The Israeli Defense Ministry said that it has seized digital wallets containing cryptoassets it claims are intended to fund the terrorist group Hamas. Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz signed a seizure order for “about” 30 wallets containing dozens of thousands of shekels linked to 12 digital accounts, according to a press release by the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing of Israel (NBCTF).
- The South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT pledged KRW 223.7bn (USD 186.9m) to the development of their new metaverse ecosystem. Per the announcement, the funds will be allocated to the development of a virtual world platform called the Expanded Virtual World, and will also be used to expand on core technology, education, and reorganizing the legal system surrounding the technology.
- Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten is launching its own NFT marketplace which will offer users digital collectibles of sports and entertainment. It also aims to offer minting services for intellectual property (IP) holders to create digital assets of their IP.
- An indie feature film called Calladita is starting its crowdfunding campaign on March 2 and offering NFTs as rewards and unique perks for NFT owners who contribute to the raise. The film tells the story of Ana, a young, Colombian domestic worker in a wealthy family’s Spanish holiday home.
- A number of programmers and executives that worked on Facebook’s now-sold stablecoin project Diem announced a new venture that they claim will be the “safest and most scalable Layer 1 blockchain” called Aptos. The blockchain is aimed at solving problems of reliability, safety, and usability, they added.
- Trading platform Mizar said it has raised USD 3m in a seed funding round led by Nexo (NEXO). The funds raised in this round will be used to further the goal of making smart trading tools accessible to everyone to automate their trading, they added.
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It truly is never ever been fewer pleasurable to be a “motor vehicle man or woman.”
In June, increasing automobile prices and interest rates on automobile loans pushed the average month-to-month car or truck payment to a file-large $712, for every a Cox Automotive/Moody’s Analytics evaluation. The median selection of months of revenue expected to acquire the normal new car or truck also grew for the fourth consecutive month, reaching 41.3 weeks in Could, the optimum mark given that at least 2012.
The result in of presently elevated motor vehicle selling prices can be traced again to the early days of the pandemic, when a steep drop in desire led makers to reduce orders for laptop or computer chips that are important for car creation. As desire returned — aided by stimulus steps and men and women moving away from cities — producers were quick on chips, and this dilemma has nonetheless to be totally solved.
The rate of new vehicles is up 12.6% when compared to a yr back, and utilized motor vehicles — which observed an uptick in demand in reaction to the new-automobile shortage — haven’t supplied the financial savings individuals could have hoped. Charges are up 16.1%.
raises curiosity charges to fight inflation, this elevates the borrowing expenses for Us citizens acquiring cars as nicely.
Increasing car payments do not even account for gasoline price ranges, which — when probably easing some in the coming months — continue being very well higher than where they have been a yr in the past. Then there is certainly
, parking, and — god-forbid — rushing tickets. For every a 2017 assessment by the knowledge and analytics company INRIX, the common US driver put in more than $10,000 on servicing, fuel, insurance policies, parking, toll expenses and other miscellaneous charges, a number that has possible risen in the latest a long time owing to inflation.
The “normal servicing transaction price tag” for a an vehicle rose from $232 in 2019 to $259 in 2021, for every the fleet administration enterprise Emkay, pushed by rising selling prices for sections, labor, and the prospects trying to keep their automobiles for a longer time as maintenance expenses for older cars have a tendency to be better.
With motorists returning to the highway en masse as COVID limitations have eased, the quantity of incidents is also up. And when a vehicle demands restore, inflation’s affect on vehicle components has manufactured this method additional expensive. Consequently, quite a few insurance plan carriers have lifted premiums to support foot the invoice for
It truly is unclear whether parking prices are on the increase, but for all those without having a garage, the cost can include up. For each the automotive fintech platform Way.com, month-to-month parking in New York Town fees around $550, or more than $6,000 for each calendar year. With regards to rushing tickets, the introduction of “robo digital camera systems” have contributed to much more remaining issued, in particular in cities like Chicago.
When advocates argue electrical autos make proudly owning a vehicle more cost-effective — due to less shelling out on fuel and routine maintenance — EV adoption has been sluggish. As of February, a lot less than 1% of vehicles on US roadways ended up electrical.
Inspite of the prices, obtaining a auto stays essential to millions of Us citizens — just one examination reported almost 92% of US households experienced access to a auto in 2020, up from around 91% in 2015.
For every a Statista survey, 76% of Us residents commute to do the job by means of car, in contrast to 11% that use community transportation and 10 p.c that choose for a bike. This is bigger than several European international locations in Germany and the Netherlands for instance, only 65% and 56% of commuters get to do the job with a car, respectively.
In addition to Individuals typically owning for a longer time commutes than Europeans — at moments building a bike for instance impractical — some experts attribute insufficient investments in public transit and biking infrastructure as important good reasons for the divide in automobile use. For every a recent analyze, the US accounted for only a few of the top rated 50 “bicycle-pleasant” cities in the globe: San Francisco, 39th Portland, 41st Seattle, 50th.
If employers and employees continue on to embrace distant operate even as the pandemic subsides — 1 specialist estimated 25% to 35% of employees ended up remote as of April — the will need for cars and trucks might diminish as well, enabling far more persons to choose “automobile-cost-free” life.
Right up until then, nonetheless, or right until provide chains enhance to support ease rates, Us residents are envisioned to go on shelling out a good deal for their automobiles. Even the beloved “new-motor vehicle scent” could not be adequate to brighten their moods.


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Auralex SpaceArray diffusor now fire rated
Auralex Acoustics has announced that its SpaceArray diffusor has recently passed the requirements to earn a Class B fire rating. Unique in the industry for a wood diffusor product, the newly rated SpaceArray will be showcased at InfoComm 2007 (booth 9430).
The SpaceArray successfully passed testing in accordance with ASTM E84, a standard test for surface burning characteristics of building materials. The test calculates both flame spread and smoke densities. Additionally, the SpaceArray recently passed acoustical testing in accordance with ISO 17497-1, a standard test method for sound scattering and sound scattering coefficients.
Designed by Russ Berger for Auralex Acoustics, the SpaceArray combines hemispherical acoustical diffusion with a wood finish. Based on a quasi-random series that provides excellent diffusion performance without visual patterning, the 24in by 24in solid paulownia wood panels install easily and can be used in a variety of placement options.
For more information, visit www.auralexelite.com.
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Enterprise blockchain news
Legal and IP
Travel & mobility
Management & legal
Tag - blockchain survey
Arthur D. Little survey: transport sector optimistic re blockchain, despite elusive...
AdLedger, MadHive study finds majority believe blockchain complements advertising
Wipro survey finds 75% see blockchain as strategic priority
EY: 75% of enterprises eye public blockchains
State Street: 92% of large asset managers bullish on DLT, digital assets more variable
Survey: 48%of finance professionals ignorant re blockchain
IDC sees trade finance as biggest blockchain application in China
Cambridge Uni: 71% of enterprise blockchains founded by single firms
NTT survey: 53% of financial services execs say blockchain, AI, IoT is top impact
EY survey: 68% of APAC businesses say lack blockchain understanding
Find out more.


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Forget about the battle being fought for where you spend your money the day after Thanksgiving. The battle being fought right now is over where you spend your turkey dollar before the holiday. Meijer, which has nine stores in its Lexington-Louisville market area but is the dominant grocer in Michigan, earlier this week set turkey prices as low as 29 cents a pound — a $1 drop — with a $20 additional purchase.
Stores Lower Turkey Prices
By Cheryl Truman, Lexington Herald-Leader • Nov 17, 2011


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Video: unboxing iPhone X. More details about the novelty
October 31, 2017, the company Apple has lifted a ban on the release of reviews iPhone X and gave a few smartphones to media representatives. On YouTube there are many clips describing the new product.
On the box depicts the front panel of the iPhone X. the Picture looks attractive and allows you to appreciate the beauty of the OLED display. The sides have traditionally placed the inscription with the name of the model.
To remove the film from the box, just pull slightly protruding “tail” on the back.
Included with the phone you get the usual charger, headphones and adapter with lightning connector 3.5-mm Jack, cord, decals, clip to open the slot under a SIM card and a brochure is a manual which tells about the basic functions almost besknopochnogo iPhone X.
Some bloggers have already removed high-quality video of the unboxing. Impressions with followers shared:
Marques Brownlee, MKBHD:
Jonathan Morrison, TLD:
Michael Josh, Gadget Match:
and many other foreign bloggers.
From a Russian YouTube bloggers video quality on unpacking yet had time to prepare only Size:
Pre-order the iPhone X started on 27 October 2017. The first batch of smartphones were sold out in less than half an hour. Sales of the new flagship of Apple in Russia and other countries of the first wave will begin on 3 November 2017.
Follow the news of the Apple in our Telegram-channel, as well as in the app on iOS MacDigger.


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Mobivity Schedules Third Quarter 2021 Conference Call for November 15, 2021
PHOENIX, Nov. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mobivity Holdings Corp. (OTCQB: MFON), a global provider of personalized guest engagement solutions that drive customer frequency and spend, today announced that the Company will release results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2021 on Monday, November 15, 2021 after the market close and has scheduled a conference call for the same day at 4:30 P.M. Eastern Time (ET).
Conference Call Information:
Date: Monday, November 15, 2021
Time: 4:30 P.M. Eastern Time (ET)
Dial in Number for U.S. Callers: 1-800-584-1507
Dial in Number for International Callers: 1-212-231-2909
Please Reference Conference ID: 21999103
The call will also be accompanied live by webcast over the Internet and accessible at https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1512728&tp_key=a323dd40db.
Participating on the call will be Mobivity’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dennis Becker, and Chief Financial Officer, Lisa Brennan. To join the live conference call, please dial in to the above referenced telephone numbers five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled conference call time.
A replay will be available for two weeks starting on November 15, 2021 at approximately 7:30 P.M. ET. To access the replay, please dial 1-844-512-2921 in the U.S. and 1-412-317-6671 for international callers. The conference ID# is 21999103. The replay will also be available on the Company’s website under the investor relations section.
Brick and mortar stores struggle to manage customer connections in a digital world. Mobivity provides a platform to connect national restaurants, retailers, personal care brands, and their partners with customers to increase retention, visits, and spend. Mobivity’s Recurrency platform increases customer engagement and frequency by capturing detailed POS transaction data, analyzing customer habits, and motivating customers and employees through data-driven messaging applications and rewards. For more information about Mobivity, visit mobivity.com or call (877) 282-7660.
Investor Relations Contact
Brett Maas • Managing Partner, Hayden IR
firstname.lastname@example.org • (646) 536-7331
Released November 10, 2021


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Always a favourite among Asian A-listers, South Korean Eyewear Label, Gentle Monster has announced a brand new collaboration that’s set to debut this week. For this collection, the eyewear tastemaker worked with Chinese rapper and former idol, Kris Wu. The “Gentle Wu” collection, as it is called, will feature four new eyewear designs in a varying colours that are the perfect blend of the futuristic and retro 90s elements.
Gentle Monster is known for not just being a celebrity favourite, but also for its collaboration efforts. Earlier this year, the eyewear label collaborated with BLACKPINK’s Jennie for the “Jentle Home” Collection, which naturally was a huge success. Part of what makes each collaboration so special is the brand’s seamless integration with art and space, along with their trend-setting designs. For instance, to celebrate the launch of “Jentle Home”, the Seoul based brand transformed a section of their store into a Barbie themed home.
It’ll be interesting to see what the corresponding retail decor and art installations that will be paired with the “Gentle Wu” collection, but we would wager that it might be something futuristic, judging from the campaign photos that have been released.
Check them out below:
The choice of Kris Wu for a brand like Gentle Monster is a complete no-brainer. The global star kickstarted his career by being one of the original members of the popular K-pop boy group, EXO before parting ways and focusing on his own solo career in China. Wu is also known for his sense of style and luxurious taste in fashion, particularly when it comes to streetwear. For context, this superstar revealed that he wears Supreme boxers on the daily when asked about his everyday essentials.
Not to mention, Wu has fronted global campaigns for Louis Vuitton Men and was appointed to be the first non-British, Asian global ambassador for Burberry in 2016. In 2017, Wu was announced to be Bulgari’s international ambassador at that year’s Baselworld. Hence, it’s safe to say that Wu has rubbed shoulders with the movers and shakers in the fashion scene for years.
The “Gentle Wu” collection is set to will make its debut on T-Mall on 17 June and will be available on Gentle Monster’s official channels from 25 June onwards. Check out every piece in this collection along with prices below:


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Content Written by Author
As ICOs become mainstream, entrepreneurs may wonder if they are a fit for their ventures.
ICO, which stand for initial coin offering, is a means of crowdfunding that is being increasingly used by startups as a replacement or supplement to raising venture capital. Already the amount raised by ICOs in 2017*, $180 million, exceeds the $101 million raised in all of 2016.
What is an ICO?
In an ICO, tokens are sold to the general public, which in turn, provides something similar to equity ownership for the token holder. The selling of these tokens is referred to as a “token sale” or “crowd sale.” Blockchain, the digital ledger behind bitcoin, enables the creation of tokens that have value in and of themselves.
Bitcoin and blockchain, the digital ledger used for bitcoin, have been headlining news. Bitcoin, once associated with illicit online transactions, is being recognized by big banks. Just this week State Street, one of the oldest banks in the US, made headlines as it set up its own innovation lab to deal with blockchain technology. JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, with more banks to come, backed R3, a blockchain consortium. To understand Bitcoin, blockchain and the crypto future we sat down with Tim Lee, founder of ArcBit bitcoin wallet, who has been dealing with the blockchain much earlier before the general public, or even large banks, heard about the Bitcoin or its digital ledger. Tim comes from the start-up background - similar to the Bitcoin and blockchain founders and disruptors. Byte Academy is excited to announce that Tim Lee will be doing a blockchain workshop October 16 in addition to other part-time classes.
Why did you decide to enter the Bitcoin market?
Although there are many wallets out there, we've still decided to enter the Bitcoin market because it is still early days. Bitcoin has not yet reach mainstream adoption, so until that happens there are a lot of opportunities for new Bitcoin startups.


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Budweiser has launched the latest edition of their beloved patriotic cans, with a new twist this year: the Budweiser name will be removed and replaced with the word “Freedom.” Available in time for Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer, Budweiser’s limited-edition cans feature a bold, new look with a red, white and blue…
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LITTLE more than a decade ago, Japan still had the gleaming look of one of history's greatest economic success stories.
Its economy, fully recovered from World War II, was propelling Asia so strongly that Japanese confidently described the region as a flock of geese following in its wake. For many people here, the question wasn't whether Japan would overtake the United States as the world's largest economy, but when.
Rarely have the assumptions about a major nation's trajectory changed so drastically. Now, after 11 years of unrelenting decline, the desire by Japan's neighbors to follow its model have been replaced by dismay over its decay.
Most tellingly, instead of talking about overtaking the United States, the Japanese now look over their shoulders in growing horror, wondering not if, but when their country will be eclipsed by China.
It is worth recalling amid all of the gloom here that conventional wisdom about Japan has often been dead wrong. In the late 1950's, no less an authority than Edwin O. Reischauer, America's pre-eminent postwar expert on Japan, is said to have worried that the country would never manage to export enough to develop its economy.Continue reading the main story
Even now, many of Japan's economic assets remain surprisingly strong. Not the least of them are manufacturing skills that still lead the world in old industries, like cars, and in newer ones, from industrial robots to esoteric lasers. Then there is the country's sheer financial wealth. Japan alone accounts for about one-third of the world's savings, according to some estimates.
''When we remember that Japan runs a large surplus in almost every tradable manufactured product, Japanese manufacturers pay some of the highest wages in the world, and nations with lower wage costs like the United States are rapidly increasing their trade deficits with Japan in high-tech goods, it is surely obvious that the Japanese economy is one of the strongest in the world, particularly judged by the yardsticks that matter to Japanese policy makers,'' wrote Eamonn Fingleton in a recent book about the global economy, ''In Praise of Hard Industries''(Houghton Mifflin, 1999). ''Japan's very different economy should be judged by Japanese objectives, and not Western ones.''
Nowadays, though, such arguments run into serious objections from the Japanese themselves. Writing about this century in an essay in the newspaper Asahi Shimbun, Yukichi Amano, a prominent commentator, recently said, ''For good or ill, it will be a century in which what we built up with great pains in the 20th century will crumble away.''
''The best measure of wealth is money and time,'' he added. ''Measured this way, today's Japanese are rich but too busy to have good time. But the 21st century will make them a poor people with plenty of free time.''
If it seems rash to write Japan off altogether as a global economic leader, the trends that underpin such deep pessimism are unmistakably stark. For one, the most basic raw ingredient in economic power -- people themselves -- is probably Japan's biggest vulnerability.
Its population is both aging and shrinking. The average household size in Tokyo is about to sink below two people, according to a recent report by the municipal government. The number of Japanese of working age peaked at 87 million in 1995, and is, according to official projections, set to decline to 55 million by 2050 -- a 37 percent drop.
Add to that the strong rise of new and revived competitors almost everywhere the Japanese look, and it becomes easy to understand why many Japanese feel gloomy. The landscape runs from Asia's so-called tigers to India and especially China next door, and on to the United States, whose companies are making huge inroads in Japan's franchise in consumer electronics.
JAPAN runs growing trade deficits with China, and now imports more from Asia than it does from North America and Europe combined. What is worse, other Asians are increasingly producing -- more cheaply and sometimes more quickly -- the kinds of sophisticated goods that made Japan rich. While those countries eat away at Japanese manufacturing from below, this country, at least since the advent of the personal computer, has had difficulty moving up the industrial food chain through the invention or perfection of new products. More often than not nowadays, it finds America's high-tech companies blocking its way.
''Japan is already not a considered source for manufacturing when it comes to new product development for the New Economy,'' said Zachary Pessin, an associate with CTR Ventures, an investment firm that focuses on start-up companies here. ''It may be a producer of systems which can be used to service the New Economy, but wholesaling machinery is one step lower on the value chain than doing the actual production of new revolutionary products which create new markets and enjoy large margins.''
As Japan prepares to choose its eighth prime minister since 1990, many people are concluding that the country's economic problems are at heart more political than the traditional hand-wringing over slow growth and low productivity suggest.
A study of global trends released by the Central Intelligence Agency in December described Japan as a virtually rudderless nation tht ''will have difficulty maintaining its current position'' in the world.
In fact, many experts in Japanese affairs are increasingly invoking a lack of democratic debate and alternatives as the country's principal source of weakness. The situation is best captured by the fact that the Liberal Democratic Party has been in power almost without interruption since 1955.
''EVEN now, with a prime minister whose popularity rating is at a historic low, and with the Liberal Democrats attracting only about 20 percent voter support, few Japanese are clamoring for change and strong rivals for the Liberal Democrats have yet to emerge.
Japan is a virtual one-party state, and it is the only industrialized economy that you can say that about,'' said Richard Katz, an economist and author of ''Japan, the System that Soured''(M. E. Sharpe, 1998). ''People are always expecting the very people who wrecked the economy to fix it. Rather than the fluid change that comes with alternation, problems build up for a long time until there is a wholesale change. It works, but it works differently.''Continue reading the main story


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At least two national ad campaigns have been launched this year promoting segments of the financial advisory business, but don’t look for leaders in the broadly diverse industry to collaborate on a unifying campaign a la “Got Milk?” anytime soon. Observers of the business say its competitive nature and balkanized structure make the launch of an overarching national promotion difficult. That doesn’t prevent channels within the industry from reaching out to potential investors and selling their story.
Last month Schwab Advisor Services launched a multimedia campaign, “RIA Stands for You,” to raise awareness of the registered investment advisor business among investors. The campaign, described by Schwab as a “multi-million” dollar endeavor, will run into 2012 and possibly longer if it catches on, says Bernie Clark, head of Advisor Services. Meanwhile, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards is in the sixth month of a four-year, $40 million campaign to promote its CFP mark to a targeted audience of investors.
Tim Welsh, president and founder of Nexus Strategy, a consultancy in Larkspur, Calif., says Schwab has done “one-off” ads for the industry in the past as a goodwill effort to promote its RIA clientele; with nearly 7,000 RIAs and $697 billion in custodied assets, Schwab is the nation’s largest custodian. The latest campaign is more elaborate but still falls short of efforts put out by firms like Nike or McDonald’s, he says, efforts that run in the hundreds of millions of dollars. “This is a drop in the bucket relative to how you really want to move consumer awareness. It’s a good effort, and Schwab should be applauded for making these moves. But how effective it will be ultimately, that has yet to be determined.”
“RIA Stands for You” consists of digital banner ads on major financial media websites, along with a consumer-facing website of its own, riastandsforyou.com. It has video interviews of advisors talking about their industry, and PDFs on topics such as how to choose an RIA and what the benefits are. Schwab’s own presence on the site is muted; there’s a “Compliments of Charles Schwab” caption in modest-sized type discretely located at the bottom right hand corner of the homepage. Advisors are offered tips for how to incorporate the “RIA Stands for You” campaign into their own marketing material. National print advertising is planned for this month. (The timing of the campaign’s launch, about six weeks before the annual Schwab IMPACT conference in San Francisco starting Nov. 1, is no accident, Clark says.) Schwab began discussing the campaign internally about a year ago.
It doesn’t bother him that competitors stand to benefit from the fruits of Schwab’s labor. “I think growing the $2.7 trillion already in the RIA space to a much larger number is what’s important,” Clark says. “I also recognize, as an industry leader we will gain a disproportionate share of the custody of the new assets that will come to this space.”
The CFP campaign aims to broaden awareness of the certification among its target demographic: consumers with at least $100,000 in investable assets. The board set a baseline for itself last spring with a survey of 600 Americans who fit the target; 19 percent recognized without help what the CFP mark stood for. The group will evaluate its campaign after two years with a second survey to see if the recognition has improved, CEO Kevin Keller says.
The biggest share of spending for the CFP campaign is for on-line media such as its website, letsmakeaplan.org. Keller says that’s because investors use the Internet to research advisors. He sees campaigns like the CFP’s and Schwab’s as complementary rather than competitive.
At the Financial Planning Association, managers have talked in the past about a national branding campaign, President Martin Kurtz says. But as a membership organization, the FPA lacks the fund-raising capacity that a certification body such as the CFP possesses, he says. (The CFP board nearly doubled monthly fees this year to cover the costs of the ad campaign.) The FPA would rather work collaboratively with fellow planning groups; the FPA, the CFP, and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors formed a lobbying group, the Financial Planning Coalition, to lobby legislators on national issues, Kurtz says.


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If you are finding it tough paying high prices for fresh food right now, spare a thought for the farmers supplying it.
- Coles reports a spike in supplier demand for higher payment
- The grocery regulator warns supermarkets should be more flexible with supplier contracts
- Suppliers are hurting as profit margins are eroded
Suppliers' costs went up during the pandemic and energy, labour, shipping and logistics have ballooned again this year due to the war in Ukraine, but suppliers need to negotiate with supermarkets before the price they receive for their products can change.
Supermarket giant Coles said it had received five times the usual number of pricing increase appeals from suppliers compared to the same time last year.
The company has forecast an "unprecedented round of pricing increase appeals over the next 12 months from the nation's food and grocery manufacturers" and said it would review the way it dealt with those requests.
In a statement, Coles said, "A major focus of the review is how suppliers will prove to Coles the size and scope of their own cost increases."
Coles supporting flooded farmers
The recent floods have had a dramatic effect on the supply of fresh food and farmers are reeling financially from the wet and cold conditions.
In a statement Coles said it had been helping those farmers by increasing the amount it paid for produce.
"There has been a sharp decline in the amount of fresh produce available, with payments for some of the harder-hit categories of fresh produce up by tens of millions."
One Lismore grower who has supplied vegetables to Coles for more than 35 years was badly hit by the flood.
Coles said it issued this supplier with a three-year supply agreement "to demonstrate our confidence in the business and support it through this extremely challenging period".
Jan Harwood from Margaret River Free Range Eggs is one of those struggling with rising production costs.
"Our packaging has gone up 30 per cent in 12 months, [while] the hatchery has just put up their prices by 20 per cent and that's really going to hurt us," she said.
Ms Harwood said egg prices in the United States went up 50 per cent last year and she thinks Australia should follow suit.
She was also worried about the impact of supermarket chain Woolworths' "price freeze" campaign on suppliers.
Eggs, oats and dairy products are all on the list of more than 200 home-brand goods that have had their prices "frozen".
"They're already walking a very thin line in terms of profits."
Regulator to survey every supplier
Independent reviewer of the Food and Grocery Code, Chris Leptos, said he was watching the major supermarkets closely.
"I plan to survey 100 per cent of the suppliers to Aldi, Coles, Metcash and Woolworths in September, and I expect to see more positive feedback from the suppliers than I received last year," Mr Leptos said.
In his last survey, 16 per cent of respondents claimed their wholesaler or retailer had acted unreasonably at times, and 30 per cent said they did not complain about their contracts for fear of reprisal from the supermarkets.
Mr Leptos met with the major supermarkets in May to explain that the complaints process in the code was not fit for purpose and a "less formal and more streamlined complaints process" was necessary.
Woolworths has appointed employment lawyer Helen McKenzie as an arbiter to watch over their dealings with suppliers, while Coles has appointed former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett to do the same.
In a letter to Mr Leptos, Coles said it was committed to an "open relationship with suppliers and proposes to establish a direct line of communication for suppliers" to raise issues directly with senior Coles staff.
The company said it wanted to develop a culture where issues could be raised directly at a senior level.
Mr Leptos said he would meet with the arbiters in August to discuss further improvements to the code.
Editor's note 22/6/2022: This story has been amended to better reflect the use of fixed-price contracts and to include the support Coles is giving flood-affected farmers.


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Another data point for the comparison: the price for 96 octane petrol here just hit NZ$1.729/litre (US$4.15/gallon) and 91 octane is at $1.679/litre (US$4.03/gallon).
It looks like the Ministry of Economic Development is keeping an eye on NZ fuel prices w.r.t. international crude oil prices; it would be nice to see other countries' retail prices included in the graphs too.
According to gasbuddy.com, the average price of regular gasoline (91 octane?) in the USA is $2.898, so it looks like we're paying about 40% more in NZ at the moment.
More scary is this comparison of prices over Europe, denominated in GBP. In the UK it looks like you pay 157% more than in the USA. The cheapest place in Europe to buy fuel is Greece, where you "only" pay 75% more than in the USA. So maybe things aren't that bad here in NZ after all :-)


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CMS Unveils Consumer Websites for Comparing Rehab Facilities, LTC Hospitals
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has unveiled two new websites for consumers that include information about the quality of inpatient rehabilitation facilities and long-term care hospitals.
Under federal law, these health care organizations are required to report quality data to CMS on various quality measures and health outcomes, such as regarding pressure ulcers or readmissions.
CMS says the websites will be optimized for mobile use. The sites are available online at medicare.gov/inpatientrehabilitationfacilitycompare and medicare.gov/longtermcarehospitalcompare.


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Reddit investors have discovered silver, with everything from silver miners, silver ETFs and the actual price of the physical metal itself soaring on Thursday.
Spot silver soared as much as 6.8 per cent, the biggest jump since August. IShares Silver Trust, the biggest exchange-traded instrument backed by the metal, rose as much as 7.2 per cent, the biggest intra-day gain since August.
“The GameStop/AMC/Reddit mania is spilling over to silver and gold is getting a lift. The economic data this morning have become a moot point,” Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures said by phone. “This isn’t predicated on any global events, it’s just people on a message board putting all their guns towards the precious metals markets.”
Breakdown: GameStop, a financial markets whodunnitUnderneath GameStop’s chaotic rise is a company, and some people – including Chief Executive George Sherman, and recent investor Ryan Cohen, the entrepreneur behind Chewy, the online pet retailer
First Majestic Silver Corp, which was cited as a short-squeeze target, soared as much as 39 per cent in New York on Thursday amid a frenzy of retail trading fuelled by Internet chat rooms.
Options markets were bid up in the frenzy, with brokers seeing wide bid/ask spreads on the ETF and Comex contracts.
Investors are looking at buying silver options for far-out months, according to Haberkorn. “You see some incredible price increases in options that normally wouldn’t be worth anything at this point,” he said.
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The Tire Industry Association (TIA) is adding four industry leaders to its Hall of Fame in 2016.
This year’s honorees are: Dan Brown, retired executive vice president and president of Tire Pros at American Tire Distributors Inc. (ATD); Richard “Dick” Gust, president of national account sales and director of government affairs for Liberty Tire Recycling; Fredrick Kovac, the late vice president of tire technology at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.; Charles “Husky” Sherkin, the late president of United Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd.
The Hall of Fame inductions will take place at the Tire Industry Honors Awards Ceremony from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 31, 2016, at the Tropicana Las Vegas. The event, sponsored by Michelin North America, is open to all and complimentary tickets may be reserved at www.tireindustry.org/global-tire-expo.
Dan Brown retired June 30, 2016, as executive vice president and president of Tire Pros at ATD. In his 41 years with the company, he held many managerial positions and leadership roles that helped ATD grow from a small, regional supplier, to what now encompasses the largest independent wholesale distribution footprint in the U.S.
He became president of Tire Pros in December 2010. Since assuming that role, the Tire Pros network of retail locations has more than tripled to exceed 725 stores, and has become the nation’s largest network of independent tire dealers.
Richard “Dick” Gust has nearly 40 years experience in the tire and rubber industry. With a degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, he began his career as a tire design engineer for Uniroyal and eventually moved into managerial positions. He then joined Sears as a product manager.
Gust has devoted considerable time pursuing solutions to the nation’s scrap tire problem. When scrap tire piles became an environmental concern, he expanded scrap tire collections and began serving the collection and recycling needs of major accounts in all 50 states.
He is recognized as an authority on scrap tire environmental issues and is frequently called upon by state regulators to assist in drafting rules and regulations for managing the flow of scrap tires. Gust worked with companies to develop tire derived fuel and the use of tire derived rubber as mulch and equestrian material.
Fredrick Kovac, the late vice president of tire technology for Goodyear, worked at Goodyear from 1956 to 1995 and was responsible for a number of significant tire successes including the belted-bias tire construction process and an all-season tire.
In 1978, Kovac transformed an old Akron tire plant into Goodyear’s technical center, which continues to operate today as one of the company's key global innovation centers.
Kovac earned degrees in law and rubber chemistry from The University of Akron and held 13 patents dealing primarily with fabric reinforcement of tires. Kovac died in 1996.
Charles “Husky” Sherkin began his career in the tire industry at age 15 working for his brother’s tire company, United Tire. As the business progressed he joined as part owner. Mining was booming in northern Ontario and Sherkin saw a need for improved tires and invented the concept and developed underground mining tires and forestry tires. United established a retread plant in Toronto in the 1950s and was Canada’s largest retreader of off-the-road tires.
In 1972, he established an independently owned Canadian tire manufacturing plant, and in 1985 that factory migrated to China and was one of the first Chinese-Canadian joint ventures signed that year. In 1995, United Tire merged its OTR business with Denman Tire. Sherkin stayed on for a few years before retiring in 2000. By that time he had transformed United from a small used tire trader in Toronto to a respected global player in OTR tires.
Sherkin was inducted into the Ontario Tire Dealers Association Hall of Fame in 2010. He died in 2011.
For more information about TIA, visit www.tireindustry.org.


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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Wal-Mart said Thursday that it is bringing guns back to many of its U.S. stores in an effort to lift slumping sales.
Wal-Mart currently sells rifles, shotguns and ammunition in about 1,300 stores in the United States.
Those firearms will now be available at about half of Wal-Mart's 4,000 stores.
The retailer doesn't sell handguns in any of its stores, other than in Alaska.
Reintroducing guns is part of the retailer's push, Wal-Mart spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said.
Lopez said Wal-Mart is focusing on stores in areas where hunting and fishing are popular activities.
'We realized there is broader appeal for guns in some areas because of sporting needs," said Lopez.
He also said that the majority of the firearms sold at Wal-Mart are made in the United States.
Aetna has struck a deal to buy rival health insurer Humana for $37 billion. More
Greek voters have rejected bailout offer, putting Greece's future in the eurozone at risk. More
Windows 10 will start rolling out slowly in waves, beginning on July 29. More
The most expensive schools in the nation are charging close to $50,000 a year in tuition and fees alone. More


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New Delhi [India], Sept 12 (ANI-NewsVoir): BSE, NSE listed 100 percent debt free Rama Steel Tubes Ltd.
engaged into manufacture of steel pipes and tubes announced excellent results for Q1 of FY18 with topline growth by 11 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs.715 million.
EBITDA grew by 23 percent YoY to Rs. 67 million while EBITDA margins expanded by 90 bps to 9.2 percent. The company has two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Sahibabad and Khopoli with a total installed capacity of 1,32,000 MT.
Rama, under its strong brand of 'TTT Rama' offers a wide product suite, with presence in key sectors and catering to diverse applications in sectors of automobiles, infrastructure, real estate and furniture amongst others.
The company has robust exports, which currently contribute to -75 percent of revenues. According to Richi Bansal, CEO, the current order book stands at around Rs. 50 crore, adding that the company is more orders from the export market. According to Buy report released by a leading Broking House, the xompany with focus on manufacturing, expanding capacities, shift in product mix and positive operating cash flows, going forward, the stock has great potential for long term investors.
Focus on expansion and value added products to drive growth and Margins. With commencement of production of additional capacities (from two new plants) along with higher capacity utilisation rates, the firm believes that margin expansion will continue.
As the management focuses on the value added products like pre-galvanised tubes along with strategic plan of increasing the capacity, number of dealers', distributors network will not only improve top-line but will also aide improve overall margins of the Company.
RST saw a significant jump in sales volumes, despite demonetisation, aided by Khopoli's volume. Sales volume will grow following the additional capacity and expect realisations to improve further as demand from the construction sector seems witnessing a marginal improvement backed by the strengthening economy and favourable raw material conditions.


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What are the current trends and issues in tourism and hospitality?
#1 – Staycations. #2 – Digitalized guest experiences & Contactless Technology. #3 – Personalization. #4 – Experience economy & essentialism.
What are the current issues in hospitality industry 2021?
Hospitality Trends and Challenges for 2021
- The long and winding road to recovery.
- Economy hotels and accommodation will likely recover faster.
- Customers will prefer closer destinations.
- Regaining the guests’ vote of confidence.
- The tech-savvy post-pandemic travellers.
What are 5 trends that might affect forecasting in the hospitality and tourism industry?
The biggest trends coming for the hospitality industry are sustainability, global perspective, finding balance with new lodging options, and growing demand.
What is the biggest challenge facing the hospitality industry?
Major Issues Facing the Hospitality Industry in 2021
- Implementation of Technology. …
- Reputation Management. …
- Retaining and Attracting Employees. …
- Environmentally Friendly Practices. …
- Personalising Customers Experience. …
- Loyalty Programs.
What are the two major challenges does tourism and hospitality facing right now?
Labor and skills shortage has been identified as one of the challenges that are facing the tourism and hospitality industry. This has mostly been complicated by the emergence of new technologies and trends that need to be satisfied and attended to.
What are the effects of Covid-19 in the tourism and hospitality industry?
Strategies to flatten the COVID-19 curve such as community lockdowns, social distancing, stay-at-home orders, travel and mobility restrictions have resulted in temporary closure of many hospitality businesses and significantly decreased the demand for businesses that were allowed to continue to operate (Bartik et al., …


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Forbes article about the market reach of FIDO-aligned Windows 10 — Microsoft Windows 10 Will Be Available In 190 Countries And 111 Languages By This Summer
At the Windows Hardware Engineering Community (WinHEC) event in Shenzhen, China, Microsoft MSFT -0.51% announced that Windows 10 will be available this summer in 190 countries and 111 languages. Windows is currently used by over 1.5 billion users around the world. Windows 10 will be offered as a free upgrade to customers who have Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 for the first year after it is released. Microsoft MSFT -0.51% Windows head Terry Myerson told Reuters that the free upgrade to Windows 10 is available for all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine.
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Sprint had two pretty big announcements today, one of which they hope everyone catches wind of and another they hope is quickly forgotten about. Lets start with the bad news first. Sprint, despite being the third largest wireless carrier in the United States, posted a loss of $29.5 billion for the fourth-quarter. Stock holders definitely can’t be happy since today they hit their 52-week low at $7.75!
Instead of just sitting there and taking a beating Sprint decided that today would be a good day to launch what’s dubbed as the $99 Simply Everything plan. With it users get unlimited voice, messaging, data, Direct Connect, GPS navigation, and more. This announcement comes after other carriers, such as Verizon, began offering similar plans for more money. Sprint definitely has the competitive edge right now.
With Sprint’s fast 3G network this is quite a steal, but before jumping on their bandwagon you might want to know that the price does not include tethering of a device so that it can be used as a modem. Here are some of the things that I found when reading the fine print:
Sprint may terminate service if a majority of minutes or a majority of kilobytes in a given month are used while roaming. Services are not available for use as a modem, in connection with server devices or host computer applications, other systems that drive continuous heavy traffic or data sessions, or as substitute for frame relay connections.
The plans are supposed to start appearing on their site starting today, and we’ll have to see if that will pull them deep out of the negatives for next quarter!


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This year’s holiday campaign at H&M will have a giving theme, where customers will be able to contribute. For every purchased gift card at H&M, the H&M Foundation will donate 5% of the total gift card amount to UNICEF. The donation will provide vulnerable children in Myanmar with quality education.
During the festivities around the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, the H&M Foundation joined forces with world leaders, artists and activists to support the new Global Goals. The Foundation committed to giving 45,000 of the poorest people in India access to clean water and toilets, through a partnership with Practical Action.
The H&M Foundation in support of UNICEF presented a new currency to the world – the Unicoin. The initiative aimed to enable children to support the right for other children around the world to access learning opportunities from an early age. The only way to get hold of a Unicoin was to exchange a drawing at a campaign site. And the only way to spend it is on educational supplies.
With the help from H&M customers around the globe, a donation of SEK 20 million will reach 5,000 poor women in Ethiopia. During the holidays H&M customers engaged in the cause of empowering Ethiopian women by buying sets of holiday gift labels. For each set of gift labels bought by an H&M customer the H&M Foundation made a donation to the global humanitarian organization CARE.


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World Tourism Day 2021: Inclusive growth at centre of tourism's restart
Ministers and experts explored how the pledge to drive inclusive growth can be achieved
Patrick Achi, Prime Minister, Ivory Coast and Siandou Fofana, Minister of Tourism, welcomed international delegates, signalling Cote d’Ivoire’s firm support of tourism and Tourism Ministers from 12 countries, the biggest Ministerial participation for an official World Tourism Day celebration. The day featured 1,500 participants, including representatives of international organizations and the private sector.
Ministers and experts explored how the pledge to drive inclusive growth can be achieved. The importance of innovation, targeted investments and strengthened collaboration between public and private sectors was made clear. The speakers also underscored the need for inclusive policymaking as tourism slowly returns and looks to the future. The sector should “commit to inclusive growth so that tourism’s restart brings hope for millions worldwide and ensures that everyone who has a stake in tourism also has a say in its future,” said Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General, UNWTO.
“Cote d’Ivoire is proud to host a World Tourism Day like no other. We must realign tourism so the sector meets the hopes and expectations of people. Tourism is a key sector for Cote d’Ivoire’s growth and development. And the right path for Cote d’Ivoire is also the right path for all of Africa, using tourism as locomotion to drive our economies forward and create jobs for women and youth,” said Achi. World Tourism Day 2021 “showed the human face of tourism,” said Fofana, stressing the sector’s unique ability to lead recovery from the impacts of the pandemic, in Africa and worldwide.
Underscoring UNWTO’s leadership in uniting all of the tourism sectors, its Affiliate Members also met in Abidjan, bringing together African businesses as well as civil society leaders, academics and destination management organizations. The side event showcased the benefits of being part of the global Affiliate Members Network and the technical support and networking opportunities available through being part of UNWTO’s work.
Around The World


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Innovations in Credit 2017
A successful kick-off event for CRIF Credit Solutions in Germany. Following on from successful editions in Vienna in Austria and Zurich in Switzerland, CRIF organized the first ‘Innovations in Credit’ Forum dedicated to the CRIF Credit Solutions offering in the DACH region in Frankfurt, Germany.
During the first part of the event, Tobias N. Ruland, Senior Consultant, CRIF GmbH Germany, showed how the EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which aims to enhance consumer protection, promoting innovation and improving the security of payment services across the European Union, will lead to completely new customer authentication and secure communication services in compliance with XS2A (Payment Initiation and Account Information Services). Thomas Schwalbe, Senior Key Account Manager, Bürgel Wirtschaftsinformationen, explained how banks can prevent fraud using a closed information system like the Deutsche Schutzportal, which leverages information sharing. Agnes Schneider from Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH gave interesting presentations on the benefits and insights of a new rating solution developed with CRIF. To conclude this session, Massimo Gentilini from CRIF illustrated the disruptive potential of blockchain technology.
The second part focused on a panel discussion with the two founders and CEOs of WebID Solutions GmbH, Frank Stefan Jorga and Franz Thomas Fürst, who explored the end-to-end digital process, from identification to contract conclusion, and speculated on future outlooks.
Special guests who shared their stories included Dalibor Kostic, who illustrated the T-Mobile Austria case study and fraud prevention tools already in use today, such as digital fingerprinting. The highlight of the conference was surely the keynote speech of the ‘innovation punk’ Jean-Philippe Hagmann, who clearly showed the reasons why innovation is so difficult to achieve and what successful companies do differently.


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J.D. Power, Motorq partnership to provide consumers with data on used EV battery health
J.D. Power said Wednesday it is collaborating with connected vehicle analytics and infrastructure company Motorq to provide insights to the auto industry based on connected vehicle data.
And this partnership kicks off with used electric vehicles — specifically, data to measure EV battery health.
The companies will utilize data from actual vehicles and work with OEMs to help EV owners and shoppers compare a used EV’s current battery health with its prior status when new.
J.D. Power will provide a validation to vehicles meeting a pre-determined battery health score.
“EV shoppers have concerns about range and battery longevity,” J.D. Power vice president and head of connected vehicles Dave Sargent said in a news release.
“For used EVs, the range can be affected by a number of factors including how the vehicle has been driven and charged, and the temperature where it is being operated,” Sargent said.
“By measuring the precise state of health of an individual EV battery over time, J.D. Power and Motorq will provide transparency into an area where it is difficult for the consumer to make their own assessment. This information will give used EV shoppers greater confidence that they are buying a high-quality vehicle at a fair price,” Sargent said
To determine the performance of an EV’s battery, the two companies plan to consider “thousands of measurements” over a vehicle’s lifecycle. They also are in talks with OEMs and “other industry participants” to bring EV battery health data to the industry, J.D. Power said.
“The most useful way of measuring the health of an EV battery is to see how it performs in the real world,” Motorq co-founder and CEO Arun Rajagopalan said in a news release. “We have developed a capability that leverages thousands of data points a day from each vehicle, takes account of different operating conditions and provides a normalized assessment of the true health of each individual vehicle’s battery.”


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Kabbage recently announced receiving $250 million from SoftBank Group. This Series F funding brings the total raised by Kabbage in equity funding up to $500 million and will help bump the company’s already billion-dollar-plus valuation. This marks the largest equity investment in a lender outside of China up to this time.
SoftBank has already jolted the venture capital world lately by investing billions into late-stage startups offering technology based in robotics, virtual reality, ride hailing, and new farming methods. This new deal only pushes that farther, with a stake in online lending. SoftBank had previously invested in Kabbage in 2014 and also backed consumer lending platform Social Finance Inc. in 2015.
Kabbage was founded in 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia where it was an early adopter with the concept of using big data analytics to monitor and underwrite loans. The company uses hundreds of sources of information, including social media profiles, QuickBooks accounts, and larger macro data sets to decide whether to loan money and how much to loan.
When a number of online business lenders, such as Can Capital and OnDeck, stumbled under their business models and there were larger problems in the loan industry as a whole, Kabbage continued to grow. Co-Founder Rob Frohwein believes that is based on big data play, which now crunches 1.5 million data connections to help aid in making decisions.
“When the proverbial shit hit the fan in the online lending space a little while back, people at Kabbage were nervous. All I said was, ‘finally!'” Frohwein recalled. “What’s happened is that now we have some separation between companies that were not focused on building differentiated solutions and those that are trying to do something different. We’ve gotten past the point of puffery. A small handful of companies have differentiated themselves and I think Kabbage is one of those.”
Kabbage is profitable in its loans, but not yet in platform operation, which is a new division launched in 2015 that powers other lending businesses. Kabbage plans to keep their own use of data to higher levels. One area will be in loans for specific types of businesses. The loans would be more personalized for an industry and less full of friction and defaults.
Kabbage will be using the money acquired to expand its small business lending products. Provided there is demand, they may also offer new products like payroll services and insurance. The company also plans to expand into Asia. There are current talks in place in China, India, and Japan to license its technology, according to Chief Executive Officer Rob Frohwein.
Kabbage will also be spending the next year positioning the company for a potential initial public offering. Expected revenue for 2017 is at least $200 million, which is double what was generated in 2015.
Kabbage is currently backed by Reverence Capital Partners LLC, ING Group NV, Bank of Nova Scotia, and Santander InnoVentures. Other investors have included Thomvest Ventures, BlueRun Ventures, and UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund.


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The Bank of Russia (BoR) has published the official logo for Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The commission fee rates have also been disclosed by the central bank. The BoR unveiled the corporate identity of its digital currency, the digital ruble, on August 3.
The logo, an international ruble symbol in a circle, is available in four basic colour combinations: red and white, black and white, and blue and white.
The BoR also presented the commission fees for certain CBDC operations.
All services will be free until the end of 2024, but beginning in 2025, business-to-business transactions will cost 15 rubles ($0.16), while individuals will pay 0.3% of the total transaction value when transferring to commercial accounts and 0.2% when paying for civic services.