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(Paris) Exceptional harvest, top-of-the-range bottles and record exports: 2022 will have been an exceptional year for the champagne market, which could however face some shocks in 2023 due in particular to inflation.
After an already excellent year 2021, driven by the reopening of bars and restaurants after the COVID-19 pandemic, the prestigious drink confirms its rebound despite tensions over raw materials or logistics, taking advantage of a global thirst that is sharper than ever. .
According to the annual report of the Interprofessional Champagne Wine Committee (CIVC), 325.5 million bottles were sold in 2022 (1.6%), the highest volume in 15 years, with “record” turnover. of 6.3 billion euros (11%), he pointed out in December.
Since then, several Champagne groups have posted good results, with an increase in their net profit. That of Laurent-Perrier, number two in the sector according to the Champagne Committee, is up 16.4% over its staggered 2022/23 financial year, the group announced on Friday.
Earlier in March, its competitor Lanson-BCC (number 5 in France, according to the CIVC) had announced the doubling of its net profit last year compared to 2019, the reference year, before the pandemic.
To curb the rise in their production costs (glass, gas, etc.), champagne houses have pushed up the prices of their bottles, accelerating a policy of “moving upmarket” initiated a few years ago.
This increase – which the Lanson-BCC group estimates on average at 12% for its bottles and 9.4% for the entire profession – has not, however, discouraged wealthy buyers in the United States or the United Kingdom. .
Exports of prestige cuvées, for example, increased by 18.2% last year, according to the Champagne Committee. And nearly 58% of French bottles are now sold for export.
The average price per hectare in Champagne also rose again in 2022 and exceeded one million euros (2.4%), “on a very active land market”, rural land regulator Safer said on Thursday. .
However, the champagne market showed some signs of fatigue in the second half of 2022, due to tensions on raw materials, particularly glass, and inflation which is weighing increasingly heavily on consumer purchases.
The share of fine bubbles sold on the French market thus fell by around 2% last year, according to the CIVC.
While the rise in the price of bottles has made it possible to maintain the growth in turnover, sales in number of bottles have fallen for family groups such as Laurent-Perrier (-7.9%). Global giants like LVMH (Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot, etc.) are, on the other hand, less affected.
After “two years of recovery […] we believe that 2023 should be a difficult year”, broker Oddo BHF said in a note published on Monday.
According to financial analyst Fatma-Agnès Hamdani, the slowdown in demand “seems to have started in the second half of 2022 in the distribution channel in France, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany”.
Brands “highly exposed to French mass distribution”, such as Burtin and Chanoine for Lanson-BCC, also had a “more difficult” year than those sold abroad, the group said in mid-March.
According to the note from Oddo BHF, various houses have chosen to sell fewer bottles in the second half “to preserve future sales”, at the risk of encountering difficulties in fulfilling orders.
The sector also anticipates a drop of 5 to 8% in the volumes of champagne shipped, to which are added “the uncertainties linked to the geopolitical context and the economic situation”, underlined Lanson-BCC.


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Will crypto bill end the policy grey areas? | India Development Debate
This monsoon session. All eyes were on it because it would have perhaps given us an idea of what exactly the government plans to do. So. The finance ministry and the rbi all have their views on what they want to do with cryptocurrencies. The rbi is pretty clear: theyre not interested in having something like a cryptocurrency at all. They are working on developing their own virtual currency that can be utilized but uh its a horse that has left the stable um right now. Crypto currencies are being traded and bought more widely than ever before. As we mentioned, the amount of money put in uh cryptocurrencies has grown multiple times in just the last year, so many companies which are acting as exchanges for cryptocurrencies or are part of the ecosystem have mushroomed. In the last several months, there are about 300. At last count some of them moving towards unicorn status as well. So can you really come now and say that no lets shut this shop down its unlikely? So what exactly are they going to do? Nishal chetty founder and ceo of wazirex with me on the show today, ashish single co, founder and ceo of coin switch kuber joining us on the show today and im also going to be speaking with god of the hakey founder and ceo of bitbns were just trying To get him connected so welcome to all of you initially, i just want to get your take first on the story that the economic times filed today, an exclusive story would seem to suggest that the government may classify crypto currencies depending on the technology they use as Well, as their end use, are they an asset? Are they a commodity or are they a currency? Yeah absolutely, and i think i think, thats a really positive uh step for the entire ecosystem.
In fact, i think everyones uh finally happy about uh this classification news, because before this it was all about uh. You know putting crypto under one basic umbrella of currency and now theres uh. Finally talk about how do you classify into various categories so asset or commodities? Is one of the many categories theres also uh, the obvious which is currency, but the majority of the use cases they fall under their utility and uh? The fourth is a security, so there are four major classifications of crypto and its just uh. You know a welcome move for the entire industry to hear that the government is also now aligning with that classification, so were all excited um. I think its a great progress for the entire ecosystem. Well, they might do it. They may not its all under uh consideration. So far, um mr shetty explained to me that, as someone who is you know has has high stakes in this ecosystem. Has the regulatory uncertainty hampered your growth in any which way? Because uh, your company and others in the space seem to be growing leaps and bounds? Give us a sense of how many more users have been added just in the last one year during the pandemic, when investors of all kinds have cropped up yeah, i think uh in terms of absolute numbers, i think, on our exchange, buzzy likes alone, weve added more Than uh four or five million people now in uh under, i think not even one year, i think under uh, seven to eight months and uh thats, a massive number of people entering the whole crypto ecosystem.
I think, as an industry, we are now well over 15 to 17 million uh people in the whole crypto ecosystem and uh thats, just testament to the fact that everyone in india is looking forward to a crypto as an asset class. Now, your question about you know is this: hampering the growth, the lack of regulatory, uh, certainty and thats thats for sure thats, a yes uh, its hampering growth, not just for one or two companies, but for the entire sector lets take, for example, uh investments into startups. In the sector, i think india still ranks one of the lower numbers compared to anywhere in the world like us and uk in terms of uh, i think you know even the number of uh startups that have grown large uh in india, its considerably lower compared to The rest of the world – and this is, i think, the regulatory uncertainty playing um. Despite this, the growth and the number of people entering the ecosystem, i dont think thats been happened, thats really uh going well, but ultimately, we are in a financial sector and regulatory clarity. Uh it sort of brings in more investor confidence, which is the most important that this sector needs. So we are all pushing for regulations in this sector as an industry. No, so many are also wondering whether um you know all of these investors coming in. Do they know that this regulatory regulatory uncertainty uh even exists ashish give us your view of the whole situation? Do you think there is even an outside chance now that um authorities could, as i said in my introduction, just down the shutters on this and say that no were not going to get into this uh? That time has passed isnt it looking at the explosion of the number of investors in cryptocurrencies yeah, definitely – and i think, looking at the growth and how india has shown significant growth in crypto in the last one year.
Coin alone has added nine and a half million users uh into the ecosystem, and you know the ecosystem grown to 15 to 20 million users now with over four billion dollars invested, and these users are not just coming from the one population. You know 60 percent of these users come from tier 2 and tier 3 cities, so the entire india is investing into cryptocurrency uh. There is a bleak chance that you know any regulatory direction may be taken, because this is not a certainty uh at this point, yet there is no bill out yet, but we are very hopeful in the way the you know. The direction uh has moved from february, where you know the bill was about to be able to to ban cryptocurrencies to where, where we are today, where you know, uh government wants to encourage cryptocurrencies, wants to experiment uh and see how how can it add uh to The economy itself and how? What would be the next steps and india would definitely not want to miss out on uh the new internet. The new crypto revolution uh, which is which is happening not just in india but around the world. Yeah gaurav great. To have you on the show as well, what are your concerns about? What could be in this note? What are you looking out for and what would you hope to see? I think the way the regulators have taken a stance in the recent uh sort of few months has been really really positive.
Uh. What we anticipate is uh. There should be proper classification around different segments, so maybe say payments uh as a utility for crypto or may be classifying that for other use cases for every single sort of a thing. If there is proper guidelines defined, that could be really helpful and instead of restricting any particular sort of utility, there could be a sandbox environment that would kind of help facilitate that. So i think uh. The government has kind of taken steps around that direction and will uh will wait and watch as to what kind of comes up in the bill in the coming few months. So uh mitchell, one thing is fairly certain and of course we have to wait to see what the final regulation is. But one thing is fairly certain that authorities government rbi, no one – is very excited by the idea of paying for things with cryptocurrencies using it as an actual currency. There are papers upon papers would say that it cannot be used as a fiat currency because of the very nature of its being. If that window is shut, do you think it then limits the use case scenario for cryptocurrencies, hence its investments, hence its growth and future. In india, not really, i think, uh in fact, thats a good point that you raised, i dont think crypto is trying to replace, or you know, compete with fiat currencies like the inr or the us dollar. What its trying to do is fill the gaps on the internet, uh, which you know traditional currency, does not really fulfill and uh theres a lot of those uh opportunities that crypto is already existing uh because as simple as you know today in the lack of regulation And no payment use case.
The industry is still over two trillion dollars in market cap and that itself just proves that you know. Uh crypto does not really need to come into the traditional uh payment mechanism, but it can fulfill payment, uh use cases which traditional currencies dont, for example, cross border uh. You know payments that might be a use case in remittance for india. That might be a use case that might emerge in the future, but again as on today, i think the the success of cryptocurrencies uh they come in in the use case. Where uh, you need to pay for smart contracts from the blockchain, for example, there you cannot use traditional currency, so that is where majority of the use cases lie and thats, where the progress is happening as on today uh. So i dont. I dont really believe that uh payment uh, the traditional payment use cases are something of a dampener. If cryptos cant get into that yeah you, you think it doesnt really matter ashish. Do you agree? Because i remember when the first uh round of crypto boom began? I think 2016. 2017. Everyone was very excited by this one coffee shop in bengaluru, which you know you could buy your coffee in cryptocurrency. For that may be unlikely. Do you think that will hamper the growth of this asset class in this country, and will it eventually be just that an asset class like you in can invest in 10 other things you can invest in cryptocurrencies as well? Oh, i absolutely believe that that you know uh crypto has gone much better on that bitcoin started as a replacement for currency, but, as the use case grew.
As you know, the problem statement grew now. It has become a platform to solve uh and build uh. You know some amazing use cases, micro lending for once insurance for others right uh, where we can streamline – and you know, digitize a lot of these processes, removing the bureaucracy and removing uh the hurdles that people face and the infrastructure that they need to get to be Part of these infrastructures, right so uh, say uh, insurance or micro lending, for example, just an internet and uh an application can now have you uh. You know you can take loans from it, no matter where you are in india, using crypto right so uh like national talk about remittances, can the backend be driven by uh, blockchain and cryptocurrencies helping and enabling faster transactions across countries? So the use case of cryptocurrencies? Have you know, uh for the last uh six to seven years have evolved beyond uh as a use of currencies, and it has started to move toward our asset class. Every crypto is trying to solve a very unique uh use case similar to startups and trying to create those products and be a digital first company at its core right and, as these use cases, get solved better and better each day. The value of these currencies as an asset class would grow where people can invest in these use cases and as the demand and supply for these use cases increases uh. They can get the benefit out of their investment.
You know i got ta. I have a slightly different question for you, as the crypto boom uh explodes in india right now. Theres a lot of investors who are looking for places to put their money and crypto is exciting. Its you know, uh its new um and its cool, its a its very millennial kind of thing as well. Do they understand what really this asset class is about? What happens if you know its uses, get really limited tomorrow due to government policy? What, if theyre taxed uh in a way which is not very friendly tomorrow, do you think that kind of investor knowledge is there right so like a lot of the people who are participating, crypto right now already have considered some of these things. Uh and theyre still participating imagine the amount of people that would come when there is actual regulatory clarity crypto without all of these clarities and with a lot of negative news that used to come come in every few months still had pulled managed to pull in about 20 million users in a span of a few years uh and like with the rate of momentum that it has, it would kind of cross the stock market users within a couple of years. Uh. The actual equity sort of traders in india, uh crypto users would be kind of higher than that. So users have already considered these sort of uh aspects around that, but, like the broader point, remains that you cannot stop a technology as time has come right so tomorrow tomorrow, if india says we are not going to allow electric vehicles thats not going to fly, people Would kind of have a way to kind of uh get electric vehicles and uh within a few years or a decade or so like most of the cars that would fly in uh in india would be electric right.
So crypto is that sort of a movement and were seeing that sort of manifestation that has kind of happened. Quite a few countries started restricting it. So there are multiple examples like sidelined and others. We started restricting it, but it kind of got overturned and now theyre kind of pro crypto, with regulations kind of in place in the next 18 to 24 months, well see most countries most major countries, kind of having proper set regulations for crypto across the world. Yeah uh, i think, uh you cant, stop an idea whose time has come thats the big quote from this discussion: uh. Initially you want to come in on that. Do you think its only fair that investors who are coming into this actually no and thats a legitimate concern isnt it that do people putting in money in crypto and companies like yours and others have made it incredibly easier for them to do it? Its almost like you know just putting in a little amount of whenever they feel like the technology has become very easy. Do they actually know what theyre investing in yeah? Look, i think uh. The most important thing to understand out here is the largest age group. The demographic of uh people in crypto is in the 23 to 30 years, and this is this is the internet first population. And if you, if, if theres one thing, theyre really good at its extracting information online and i believe that most of them are well read and uh, they understand.
But apart from that as an ecosystem, what we are all doing is spreading the right information about crypto through a ton of education initiatives as an industry uh. We in fact also have uh a industry. Uh effort to you know sort of self regulate ourselves, even in the absence of regulation, so i think all of these are adding to an informed ecosystem. So i dont, i dont, really believe that we have a problem of misinformation. In fact, the misinformation tends to be more towards negative, where people still and there are people who who think that india has banned crypto, which is not the case um, so so theres. No one who thinks that you know crypto is all uh regulated and uh its all uh hunky dory out here. People are coming with a view that its still unregulated and uh, the governments still not taken a hard position on that. So lets invest cautiously and i think thats, what a majority of the people in the ecosystem are have an outlook towards this yeah. I think the fact that it is widely world over foxed governments, i would say who are not too sure what to do with this asset class, how to treat it, how to tax it, how to regulate it and it has backers in the united states like elon Musk has made it all the more exciting uh interesting insight there from nichol about the the 23 to 30 year old age bracket, who are fans of cryptocurrencies well lets hope that theres regulatory clarity, um no business no sector should really grow in this gray area, where No one knows what will happen next and the sooner that is cleared up the better, so well keep an eye on that story.

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Wizards of the Coast owner Hasbro is buying D&D Beyond, one of the most popular digital toolsets for playing Dungeons and Dragons. In a press release spotted by Gizmodo, the publisher said on Wednesday it had agreed to pay $146.3 million to acquire the platform from current owner Fandom. In a post over on the toolset’s official forums, the D&D Beyond team said the purchase would not change how players use the toolset to run their campaigns. “Wizards of the Coast has no plans to stop supporting D&D Beyond. Ever,” the team said.
In a way, today’s announcement effectively sees D&D Beyond return home. The toolset came out of a partnership Wizards of the Coast announced in 2017 with Curse, a gaming company that was then best known for its World of Warcraft addon manager. In 2018, Curse, following its 2016 acquisition by Twitch, sold D&D Beyond, among other media assets, to Fandom.
Outside of the origin story, the acquisition makes a lot of practical sense for Hasbro. The company notes the royalties Fandom paid to operate D&D Beyond represented “a significant contribution” to the revenue it was making from Dungeons and Dragons. What's more, the deal puts Hasbro where many of its fans are already heading. In 2021, more than 80 percent of D&D fans played the game virtually, according to the company.


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In the United States, the major automobile manufacturers – such as BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and Mercedes-Benz – are driven by IFA Rotorion-North America LLC. They’re attracted to the South Carolinaheadquartered company’s longitudinal drive shafts.
“Many of the cars those companies build in the United States contain our drive shafts,” says IFA Rotorion-North America’s President and Chief Executive Officer Felix von Nathusius.
There’s a good reason for that. IFA Rotorion-North America is the leading manufacturer of innovative, high-quality and light weight drive shafts in the United States (just as its parent company is turning out in Europe). Drive shafts are a critical automobile component, transmitting torque, delivering power from a vehicle’s engine to the rear wheels. There’s an increasing demand for the technology (especially low imbalance shafts, since vehicles are so quiet today and do not mask drive train noise any more), as well as demand for the best the market has to offer. After all, drive shafts are subject to increasing torque demand despite rising fuel economy and need to be strong. That’s what IFA Rotorion provides, and that places the South Carolina business in a good position.
“The entire enterprise is focused on providing superior technology and solutions,” says von Nathusius.
The US operation dates back to 2002. It was originally an independent sales organization and equipment producer for MTU Friedrichshafen and Daimler AG. Starting in 2004, this antecedent organization became a producer of the more advanced technology for longitudinal drive shafts. It became known as Rotorion America LLC and operated a plant in Ladson, which is near Charleston, S.C. In 2009, after the IFA Group acquired Rotorion America’s parent company, Rotorion GmbH, the business became known as IFA Rotorion North America LLC.
PRODUCTION GOALS MET
When it was still known as Rotorion America, the operation experienced a peak year in 2007, when it turned out about 800,000 drive shafts. But the company had a head-on collision with the 2008 economic downswing, same as it was for the entire automotive sector. After the merger, leaders in the newly combined company looked to turn things around, setting a goal to produce one million drive shafts by end of 2012.
IFA Rotorion-North America’s goal was reached about two years ahead of schedule. “Last year, we produced just over one million drive shafts,” reveals von Nathusius.
He adds: “In 2012, we are on track to produce 1.5 million shafts.”
Gratified by the success, the company has expanded its ambitions. “In the next three to five years, we’re looking to produce about two million drive shafts annually,” he says. To that effort, since 2004 the company has made a capital investment of more than $60 million.
Expansion also involves product portfolio. “Currently, in the United States, we focus on drive shafts for passenger cars and SUVs, but we want to bring in more products and technology from Europe to increase our offerings,” says von Nathusius. “We’re looking to move into industrial applications and to bring our composite solutions into the United States.”
IFA Rotorion North America LLC benefits from its use of the new flangeless IFA joint technology which reduces weight excellently. Similar applications utilizing carbon fiber tubing achieve even more weight reductions for their customers. With drive shafts – aside from the quality and processing standards considerations – there are three main interest areas, says von Nathusius. These include efficiency/weight, NVH /noise attenuation and safety. “Our solutions strongly focus on each area, and that has distinguished us from other companies,” von Nathusius relates.
He describes the significance of weight: “All of your energy goes through the drive shaft, and the engine produces the power that gets transmitted through the shaft. If the shaft is very heavy, which decreases efficiency, you lose some of the power. Energy is wasted. When that happens, fuel consumption is increased. So weight and efficiency become critical, and we pride ourselves on having the most efficient drive shafts, in terms of system integration.”
Painting comes into play. “We have the only facility in the United States that paints its drive shafts in house, which helps reduce weight and, in turn, increases drive-shaft efficiency,” von Nathusius points out. “This is something our US customers increasingly want, and it’s one of our areas of expertise.”
The next factor – NVH/noise, vibration and harshness – relates to driver comfort. “This involves vibration, which creates audible noise, and our customers want to have these reduced, so we have made this another area of expertise,” he says.
Third, and probably most important, is safety. “The drive shaft goes through the entire vehicle and it’s very close to the driver,” indicates von Nathusius. That could have serious ramifications in a crash scenario. “Also, you don’t want the drive shaft to harm the passenger room,” he adds. “Therefore, we have placed collapsible features in our drive shafts, which essentially have a telescopic effect on the product. Our focus on these three areas lends us distinction.”
IFA Rotorion-North America accomplishes all of this in its only production facility, the Ladson plant, which includes about 200,000 square feet of manufacturing space. The facility possesses all of the capabilities required to turn out more than a million drive shafts of the highest quality, observes von Nathusius.
The company’s other North American location, in Novi, Mich., focuses on sales, engineering, and business and product development activities. In all, the company has about 300 employees in the United States.
As IFA Rotorion-North America drives forward it plans to continue focusing on the three critical areas that von Nathusius mentioned, particularly weight. “In the United States, we’re introducing a system, already in use for IFA’s German customers,” he says.
This enables quicker assembly and removal of certain parts – such as connectors and adapters – that can reduce the weight of the drive shaft system by as much as between 40 and 70 percent (the highest reductions are achieved in conjunction with carbon fiber tubing).
“Our strategy with light weight is that if there is more focus on energy efficient cars, there will be other parts being looked at, where steel is substituted with carbon fiber, and we are the experts in designing high-performance parts from those materials – and we can produce them in large numbers. Already we see, with both electrical vehicles and conventional vehicles, many applications with carbon fiber,” says von Nathusius. “We’ve helped prove it’s possible. Indeed, we’re already doing it.”
Further – and beyond product and technology – IFA Rotorion-North America will continue to operate as a good neighbor. “The entire organization remains true to the communities in which it operates,” says von Nathusius. “That means we have a long-term plan here in the United States, and it involves job development, training and active community involvement. For instance, we have a middle-school program that involves reading classes, where we try to interest students in the strong US industrial heritage and point out options – that you can have a very interesting and rewarding career in engineering and manufacturing.”
It’s a very altruistic endeavor, but it also makes good business sense: IFA Rotorion-North America could be developing its own farm system of talent. As von Nathusius indicates, “We compete in the job market for skilled labor, and currently there is a lack in the United States.”


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A new fleet of electric Nissan LEAF taxis have entered service in Blackpool, England.
Back in mid-January, a video surfaced showing a Tesla Model S P85D drag racing against a 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat on the quarter mile, and when the Hellcat driver showed his gross incompet
Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor have teamed with the Japanese government to work together to accelerate the development of hydrogen refueling station infrastructure for fuel cell vehicle
The battery-electric Nissan LEAF was the only car given an IHS Award this year, being presented at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit.
Last month, a video surfaced showing a Tesla Model S P85D drag racing against a 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, with the electric sedan pummeling the very poorly driven Challenger.
Six months ago Torque News reported on the promising new power control unit (PCU) technology Toyota has developed. The technology centers on the power semiconductor chips used in the PCU.
The BMW i8 that launched last year gets another global award and this time it receives recognition for its innovative technological developments.
BMW has begun production of the MY2015 i3 and the new models are expected to arrive at U.S. showrooms in February.
If you were watching the Today Show back in 1994, you saw Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel talking about this new thing called the internet.
Around 17,800 customers have already taken delivery of the innovative BMW i3, and BMW wants to keep the momentum going in 2015.
The Chevrolet Volt hit the market back in 2010 and while it sold well during the first few years, sales numbers have slowly declined as fuel prices have dropped and the number of EV competitors in
If you had to guess, would you say that electric car owners drive more or less often than do gasoline or diesel car owners?
While General Motors might pull out some surprises for the 2015 NAIAS in Detroit, it looks like their two big debuts will come from the opposite ends of the spectrum, with the next generation Chevr
Year-end sales figures for 2014 are in, for the most part, and even if some changes are made to a few of the electric and plug-in car makers in the market, it's very clear that Nissan's LEAF has fa
Today, at the Consumer Electronics show, Toyota announced that it will share its patents for fuel cells, high-pressure hydrogen storage and fuel cell fueling systems at no cost to other automakers.


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- Facebook launched a campaign last week blasting Apple's decision to prompt iPhone users to disable apps from tracking their personal data.
- Facebook claims Apple's move will cripple small businesses that rely on Facebook for targeted advertising informed by that personal data.
- The latest battle is the culmination of simmering tensions between the two companies and their CEOs over the past decade.
Apple CEO Tim Cook gave a slap at the business practices of Big Tech rivals during an impassioned speech at a privacy conference in Brussels in October 2018.
"Every day, billions of dollars change hands, and countless decisions are made, on the basis of our likes and dislikes, our friends and families, our relationships and conversations. Our wishes and fears, our hopes and dreams," Cook said. "These scraps of data, each one harmless enough on its own, are carefully assembled, synthesized, traded and sold."
Although Cook didn't call out Facebook by name, it was clear Mark Zuckerberg's company was one of the targets. Facebook built an empire by hoovering up the data of its users to inform its targeted ad system. Its revenue topped $20 billion last quarter, and nearly 99% of it comes from advertising.
The speech was just one in a series of jabs Cook and Zuckerberg have taken at each other over nearly a decade. The tensions between Facebook and Apple date to the iPhone's infancy and the quest for control over the next wave of computing.
In a 2014 cover story in Time, for example, Zuckerberg criticized Apple and Cook's stance on privacy:
"A frustration I have is that a lot of people increasingly seem to equate an advertising business model with somehow being out of alignment with your customers," Zuckerberg said. "I think it's the most ridiculous concept. What, you think because you're paying Apple that you're somehow in alignment with them? If you were in alignment with them, then they'd make their products a lot cheaper."
The war of words over the last decade highlights the fundamental difference in opinion between two giants over how business should be done on the internet.
In Facebook's view, the internet is the Wild West, with a multitude of competing platforms offering innovative services for free. You may not pay for them with your money, but you pay by allowing your data to be tracked and packaged so advertisers can plop things you'd want to buy right in front of your face as you travel between devices and services.
In Apple's view, the internet is just an extension of the personal computing revolution the company helped start in the 1980s, and your phone is the most personal device of all. You should know what companies are going to do with the information collected through that phone before you share it.
A decadelong fight
The war of words culminated last week with Facebook's two-day campaign against Apple. The ads called foul on an impending change to the iPhone's operating system designed to alert you when an app will track your personal data like location and browsing history, which companies like Facebook use to target their ads. The alert gives you the option to block the tracking before using the app.
Facebook claimed that Apple's move is designed to crush small businesses that rely on that targeted advertising to reach their customers online. It also warned -- without evidence -- that Apple's move would force app makers to stop offering free, ad-supported apps to their customers. Instead, they would have to charge customers through digital subscriptions or other fees. Conveniently for Apple, it takes a cut of transactions conducted through its platform, including purchases or subscriptions that users make through apps they download on its App Store.
Facebook painted a devious picture of Apple in the campaign: Here's a company with complete control over the rules of its platform, making a change designed to squeeze small businesses and force them into a paid model, of which Apple will take a cut. Facebook delivered that messaging in newspaper ads, blog posts, Instagram posts and a glitzy website featuring small business owners who use Facebook to advertise.
Apple pushed back on Facebook's accusations. The company said the pop-up you'll see in apps is only designed to let you know when and how an app plans to track you, not ban tracking altogether. App makers like Facebook also have room in the pop-up and other screens to make their case to you for why you should allow tracking. Apps are still free to collect all the data on you that they were before, but you'll have to give them deliberate permission to do so. According to Apple, it's just the latest in a string of privacy-centric features it has added to products over the years.
The roots of the squabble stretch back more than a decade.
In the iPhone's infancy, there was a great debate over what the mobile internet should look like. Would it look the internet on a desktop PC, where people mostly used a mobile web browser to visit websites, with everything built on openly published standards? Or would users switch between a collection of internet-connected software "apps," giving more control to the companies that owned the mobile platforms?
Facebook, which was born on the open internet, favored the former option and pushed for rich web apps written to emerging standards. But it lost the fight in large part because of Apple, which pushed the app model as the default way of accomplishing tasks on the iPhone, then insisted that its own App Store would be the only legal and easy way to find and install those apps. (Google smartly played both sides, investing in the Android mobile platform and its own Google Play app store, as well as building out its Chrome web browser and exercising influence over web standards.)
As the future became clear, Facebook made attempts to build its own smartphone so it wouldn't have to concede so much control to Apple or Google. The device never saw the light of day, and Facebook instead developed a software "skin" for Android devices that featured its own services. That was also a flop.
Today, Facebook is laying the groundwork to own the next major computing platform so it doesn't have to play by another company's rules again. That's why it's currently developing products like digital glasses, which the company is expected to launch in 2021.
In the meantime, Facebook has to deal with Apple.
Facebook's end game is unclear
It's ironic that Facebook accused Apple of abusing its market power last week, just days after the FTC and a group of state attorneys general sued Facebook, alleging antitrust violations and recommending a breakup of the company.
On top of that, Facebook's argument exposed its own hold on the digital ads market. Small businesses wouldn't have to rely so much on Facebook if Facebook had a viable competitor for these companies to advertise through.
Apple faces similar government scrutiny, although there have been no formal antitrust lawsuits. In October, the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust released an epic report on the "monopoly power" of the four biggest tech giants, alleging Apple uses its control of the App Store to squash potential competitors.
Both companies have rejected claims that their businesses violate antitrust laws. But Facebook has now created an environment where two giants facing antitrust scrutiny in the U.S. and around the world are trading barbs over which one is more guilty when it comes to abuse of market power.
It's also hard to tell what Facebook's end game is here. Apple is not going to backtrack on a key privacy feature for the iPhone, and Facebook is not going to risk losing millions of users by yanking its apps off the App Store.
Steve Satterfield, Facebook's director of privacy and public policy, told CNBC this week that the company will still comply with Apple's new rules, and there's no chance Facebook would flagrantly violate them to ignite a legal battle like the one Apple and "Fortnite" developer Epic Games are embroiled in now. (Facebook said last week it would support Epic in its lawsuit against Apple.)
"Our goal is simple," Satterfield said. "We want Apple to start listening. They dropped this policy back in June with no meaningful consultation. ... Considering the far-reaching impact, it's important businesses can plan for it."
It's also difficult to buy Facebook's stated argument against the pop-up. For years the company has argued that its users prefer the personalized and targeted ads that its data collection enables, as opposed to random ads served to a broad audience with no targeting. If that's true, then users should have no problem enabling the tracking when Apple shows them the pop-up.
In August, Facebook undercut that argument when it released data from a study showing enough people would disable tracking to cause a 50% drop in revenue through its third-party ad networks. The company also warned investors this year that its own revenue would take a hit when Apple starts enforcing the tracking tool.
Facebook said it would prefer to use its own privacy checkup tools to help users limit what data to share, instead of the notification Apple will show you.
Apple said its customers want more privacy controls built into the iPhone. After years of criticizing the business practices of Facebook, the company has routinely added privacy features to tamp down on the abuses it's seen on its devices.
"Look at what we've done with the controls we've built in," Cook said in a 2018 interview with Axios when asked why companies like Google and Facebook are allowed to thrive on the iPhone despite his criticism of their practices. "We have private web browsing. We have an intelligent tracker prevention. What we've tried to do is come up with ways to help our users through their course of the day."
It wasn't just Apple pushing back against Facebook's arguments. Groups of small business advertisers, the same ones Facebook said it was trying to protect, took over Facebook's #SpeakUpForSmall hashtag on Twitter and filled it with complaints about the lack of attention they get compared with Facebook's larger ad clients the day the campaign launched.
And Bloomberg published a report earlier this week full of similar complaints from advertisers over the company's automated ad buying tools. BuzzFeed published a story Tuesday citing Facebook employees who were just as confused over the anti-Apple crusade as the small business advertisers.
For its part, Facebook spokeswoman Ashley Zandy told CNBC the company has heard from many supportive companies and that it allows its employees to speak freely and question company strategy.
"I think we've seen a lot of balanced and nuanced coverage of the announcement," Satterfield said. "I think we're pleased."


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We’ve already gone over the nuts and bolts of the Momcation in our post “Taking a Momcation- How
PortMiami, known as the “cruise capital” of the world, is recognized as the busiest cruise port
New Jersey has a lot more attractions than Atlantic City and Jersey Shore.
Tourists have started showing up again in Madrid, although the COVID epidemic is far from over.
Health is one of those issues that we simultaneously take for granted and yet still obsess over.
Did you know that the cherry blossom is Japan’s national flower?
RV travel has become increasingly popular over the last year, as RVs offer a safer travel altern


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The MarketWatch News Department was not involved in the creation of this content.
NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ —
NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The food & beverage industry is being profoundly impacted by the global pandemic. The duration of the viral outbreak remains a key factor in assessing the overall impact of the pandemic and the overall economy as well as this industry. Now, businesses have started to slowly open up and the rapidly transforming food service industry is of great importance to the adoption of technologies for better and more efficient operations. With the addition of scheduling software, digital inventory tracking, automated purchasing tools, and digital reservation table management, the food service industry has seen huge leaps in terms of revenue generation, inventory management, customer satisfaction, and operation efficiency.
Now, the food & beverage industry has become even more important for the fast-casual


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Some 11 asset managers spent more than £100,000 on advertising during lockdown, according to figures from AC Nielsen. It is those bold firms that keep their head above the parapet that will benefit in time, says Mike Richards, director of Capital City Media.
It was Pliny the Younger who reported his uncle, Pliny theElder, as having said: “Fortune favours the brave” (they said it in Latin, obviously). With the UK recently going into recession, the same motto can be applied to any company. We’ve seen lots of research which shows that this is highly relevant to FS brands too.
At rate card values, during Q2 2020, 11 asset management companies spent over £100,000, according to AC Nielsen advertising expenditure figures. Five of these 11 were investment trust companies. Their spend would have been aimed directly at the consumer – the key target audience according to a recent FCA report on asset management.
Source: AC Nielsen, Q2 2020. N.B. chart has a cut-off point of spending £30,000+ in this last quarter.
With the FCA also keen for equity ownership to grow (at the right price according to their Value For Money directives), these are the companies who are being ‘brave’ during this time and who will be the companies who profit in the end (although hopefully not too much, to avoid going against VFM requirements!)
Normally out-of-home (OOH) would have a larger share of the budgets. However, with lockdown and fewer people travelling, OOH would not have been the correct medium. That being said, after TV, it is well-known that OOH is the second-best branding medium. As things ease and people travel more, a better case for OOH activity can be made.
Our OOH specialists, Open Outdoor, part of the Dentsu Aegis network, produce weekly figures on mobility. During the first week in August this was 76% of what it was pre-lockdown – 18 percentage points higher than the lowest point – so people are going out more.
Marketing during a recession or crisis has been proven time and again to have a beneficial long-term effect on market share and sales. The research firm Kantar, stated in its Covid-19 Barometer that ‘strong brands recover nine-times faster after a crisis compared to average brands.’
Media is also cheaper as fewer companies spend money on advertising and share of voice can increase dramatically as others cut back.
However, consumers are not interested in companies that seem to just be trying to profit from the pandemic. Customers want solid advice from firms they can trust with recognisable, visible brands.
Given that none of the companies in the above chart have high-street distribution of their products, they are reliant on media brands which potential customers already trust – media like the Telegraph, Mail and The Times publishers. This is the asset managers’ method of high street distribution.
Most national press media owners have had their print circulations stay static, some have slightly dipped, but this would be down to people staying home and not picking up a paper as usual. Websites of the national press, such as thisismoney.co.uk and telegraph.co.uk, have seen growth on top of early gains made in Q1 through Q2. The ‘Money’ channel ontelegraph.co.uk, for example, saw the third-highest gains of viewers and unique users within the overall site.
Indeed, the Mail/Metro media group (which includes the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday as well as thisismoney.co.uk) has released research undertaken during the current crisis showing that people are looking for company brands for leadership and many investors are looking longer term. The survey also found people don’t want to see their trusted brands ‘going dark’ and failing to communicate.
Without wishing to use the word unprecedented, there is no escaping that these are strange times. The questions asset managers should be asking are: what constructive message can I tell my existing and potential customers? Have I made sure I am not taking advantage of the current crisis?With more people thinking long term, which vehicles have we got to offer?
And am I wearing my “What Would Pliny the Elder do?” bracelet?


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Major retailers other than Target (TGT) were the victims of cyber-attacks on customer credit card data during the holiday season, with Reuters reporting that hackers breached at least three well-known chains using methods similar to those used on Target.
However, as is often the way in the sector, the companies involved have yet to disclose the assaults.
The attacks are in addition to one on Neiman Marcus. The luxury retailer said on Friday that it is looking into the theft of data from customer payment cards, although the luxury department store doesn't know how many people have been affected.
Gartner analyst Avivah Litan says she learned about a separate series of beaches going back to a few months before Thanksgiving. These could have been used as trial runs for the big assault on Target, which said on Friday that the data of up to 70M people may have been stolen, not the 40M that was previously disclosed.


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Women are entering the technology sector in low and declining numbers. When they do, they often have difficulty navigating large technology companies. WBENC and Dell Technologies are on a mission to change this trend by dedicating resources to advancing women-owned businesses in technology.
In the fall of 2017, WBENC Board Member Piyush Bhargava, Vice President Procurement at Dell invited WBENC to join as their partner in developing a program to advance women-owned businesses in technology.
“We partnered with WBENC to deliver this signature program focused on women leaders because WBENC has consistently created an environment where women support and help each other develop and grow their businesses,” says Piyush.
After months of planning and collaboration, WBENC and Dell launched Women in Technology (WiT), a two-and-a-half-day program held in Austin, Texas (home to Dell Technologies) from September 17 – 20, 2018. Featuring an inaugural cohort of 34 Women’s Business Enterprises (WBEs) in the technology sector, the program was designed to help women business owners:
Understand the future of technology, how it will impact the business world, and how they can align their services in preparation for change.
Increase competence in day-to-day operations (sales, marketing, finance) and acquire high level strategic planning required to grow their business.
Gain business development and marketing knowledge to ensure growth/scale is managed properly.
Highlight the steps to form strategic alliances - and how they can get their foot in the door as suppliers to large tech companies, like Dell.
Moving forward, WiT will continue to help identify, promote and advance women-owned businesses in the underrepresented technology industry. “WiT allows us to contribute toward our goal of developing more diverse suppliers that can partner with technology companies like Dell to serve our customers,” says Piyush.
“Programs like these help move the needle,” says Pamela Prince Eason, WBENC President and CEO, who attended the program. “These programs connect women business owners with the resources and partnership opportunities they need to grow and be successful.”
Dell has a strong history and commitment to supporting women-owned businesses through programs like the Dell Women Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) and has been recognized as a WBENC Top Corporation for WBEs for the last decade. WBENC and Dell look forward to hosting another WiT program in 2019.
What WBEs are Saying
Check out some of the takeaways and learnings shared by the inaugural WiT cohort of WBEs:
“The WiT program provided me a rare opportunity to connect with my WBENC peers working in the technology field. This program allowed us to network and explore partnering and business connections, develop our strategic communication skills, examine business strategy for growth working on my business instead of just in my business.”
- Renee Coogan of Acquisition Logistics Engineering
“The Inaugural WiT Program was in a word, AMAZING! The content was rich, the speakers were informative and compelling, and the camaraderie amongst the WBEs was very strong.”
- Avis Rivers Yates of Technology Concepts Group International
“Three days, 22 subject matter experts, 34 women entrepreneurs and space to learn and create. Thank you to Dell and WBENC for making it happen!”
- Jennifer Naughton of Radiant Resources, Inc
Interested in participating in the WiT program in 2019? Stay tuned! More details to be shared in early 2019.


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Mahindra & Mahindra declared fourth quarter net profit up 44%, buoyed by a fall in tax expenses and a one-time tax gain.
Mahindra & Mahindra, India’s most important sport-utility vehicle maker, declared a January-March net profit of INR8.74 billion in the January-March period, compared to INR6.07 billion a year earlier. Sales were up 39% from INR66.34 billion to INR92.41 billion. Analysts expected the company to post a net profit of INR6.06 billion on sales of INR81.92 billion.
The increase of profits is due to good volume performance for both tractors and vehicles, and also tight cost control on expenses. The company sold a total of 202,217 passenger utility vehicles, up 19% in FY12. This year was the third consecutive one the company was the largest tractor company with sales of 236,666 tractors against 214,325 tractors sold in 2011, up 10%.
The company also exported 29,176 vehicles in Fy2012, compared to 17,138 vehicles in 2011, up 70%, to markets such as South America, South Africa and SAARC.


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New Zealand commodity prices rose for a fourth straight month in November, led by pelts, beef and wood pulp. Lamb prices fell to a 31-month low.
The ANZ Commodity Price Index rose 1% last month, with 10 commodity prices gaining, four declining and three unchanged.
A firmer New Zealand dollar meant the gain in the ANZ NZD Commodity Price Index was a slightly lower 0.9%.
"The increase in NZD commodity prices is an encouraging development, and if sustained looks set to contribute to a lift in the goods terms of trade over 2013," ANZ economist Steve Edwards says.
Pelts jumped 6% in November, reversing the previous month's decline. Beef rose 4% to its highest level since March and wood pulp was up 3%. Wool and whole milk powder rose 2%.
Timber, cheese, logs, casein and seafood all rose less than 1%, though cheese reached an eight-month high. Lamb fell to a 31-month low and venison declined to a 22-month low.
Prices for butter, apples and kiwifruit were unchanged.
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U.S. demand for fractional horsepower motors was higher in the fourth quarter of 2010 and pushed up the NEMA Motors Shipments Index (MSI), which grew 1.4% from the previous quarter.
Shipments were up 3.9% in 4Q 2010 compared to 4Q 2009. Inflation-adjusted shipments of fractional horsepower motors posted a large year-over-year increase while integral horsepower motors shipments declined versus 4Q 2009.
NEMA, a trade association for the electrical manufacturing industry, said motors shipments remain appreciably lower than during the 2006-2008 time period, but demand has trended higher in the past six quarters. Demand climbed nearly 14% since mid-2009.
The Motors Shipments Index is expected to show moderate gains in the next several quarters.
Back to Breaking News


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“This award reinforces our desire to propel the home network security market forward and establish Dojo by BullGuard as the market leader in the Smart Home cybersecurity sector.”
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (PRWEB) July 27, 2017
BullGuard (http://www.bullguard.com) today announced that Dojo by BullGuard has received the 2017 IoT Evolution Product of the Year Award from IoT Evolution Magazine and IoT Evolution World, the leading magazine and website covering IoT technologies. This marks the third award bestowed upon Dojo by BullGuard by Crossfire Media and TMC. Previously, Dojo by BullGuard won the 2017 IoT Evolution Security Excellence Award and the 2016 IoT Excellence Award.
“It’s an honor to win the IoT Product of the Year Award,” said Paul Lipman, CEO of BullGuard. “This award reinforces our desire to propel the home network security market forward and establish Dojo by BullGuard as the market leader in the Smart Home cybersecurity sector.”
Dojo by BullGuard is the only integrated smart home security solution that seamlessly protects the privacy and security of a consumer’s data, devices, home and family by monitoring the home network 24/7 against cyber threats. Dojo discovers devices connected to the home network – door alarms, baby monitors, lighting systems, thermostats, locks and more – secures them, and continuously analyzes their network activity for any suspicious behavior.
Key features of Dojo by BullGuard include:
- Dojo (hardware): a sleekly designed ‘pebble’ that monitors all your smart connected devices for security and privacy threats and ensures they are hacker-proof and secure 24/7/365. The Dojo Pebble is easy to set up and free to move about the home while its dock remains tucked away with the router. Rings of light on the Dojo pebble illuminate red, yellow or green when activity is detected on the user’s network.
- Dojo smartphone app: allows users to interact with the Dojo pebble via a simple, intuitive messaging interface that prompts them to allow or block network activity and informs them of potential cyber threats.
- Dojo Intelligence: cyber security engine powered by highly sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology. Its cloud-based platform continuously analyzes device and service patterns to protect a consumer’s privacy even better over time. The more it familiarizes itself with a home’s smart devices, the smarter it becomes in detecting, defending and mitigating against cyber threats and privacy breaches.
“The solutions selected for the IoT Evolution Product of Year Award reflect the diverse range of innovation driving the machine-to-machine market today. It is my honor to congratulate Dojo by BullGuard for their innovative work and superior contribution to the rapidly evolving IoT industry,” said Carl Ford, CEO of Crossfire Media, a co-publisher of IoT Evolution.
The winners of the 2017 IoT Evolution Product of the Year Award will be published in the next issue of IoT Evolution Magazine.
BullGuard is the leader in consumer security. As part of our ongoing promise to be champion of today’s digital consumer, we’ve added to our multi-award winning product portfolio with Dojo by BullGuard. It’s the best custom-built solution to protect Wi-Fi enabled devices in the home. Dojo gives customers the freedom to add as many Smart Home devices as they want without compromising privacy or security. Dojo by BullGuard is the cornerstone of a Smart Home, ensuring a connected world where every consumer, in every home, is smart, safe and protected. Follow us on Twitter @BullGuard and @DojoSafe, like us on Facebook at BullGuard and Dojo, or learn more at http://www.bullguard.com.


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Grab.in Incorporates Its Platform With The ONDC Network
Grab. in, which is a last-mile logistics service operator currently owned by the Indian retail firm Reliance Retail, has incorporated its platform with the private non-profit Section 8 e-commerce firm, the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
In the year 2019, India-based multinational conglomerate company, Reliance Industries Limited (NSE: RELIANCE) acquired Grab. in. Currently, Reliance Retail is the parent company of the firm, having 80% ownership in it.
Reliance Retail, even after already having Dunzo listed on the ONDC network as a logistics partner, it’s bringing in Grab. which signals the company’s official entrance into the highly anticipated network, which is positioned as a disruptor to end the influence of e-commerce giants in India such as Amazon India and Flipkart, by moving small retail enterprises to the online platform.
Pratish Sanghvi, who is the co-founder of Grab.in, stated that intracity hyperlocal deliveries would be supported by the firm. The test programme with the ONDC is now being started and is in its early stages. To give clients across various industries a seamless and well-organized delivery experience, the company is expecting to expand its cooperation with the ONDC network.
Also Read: ONDC And NABARD Collaborate: Set-up E-commerce In The Agri Tech Domain
The delivery of orders placed on the network would depend on the Open Network for Digital Commerce’s incorporation of 3rd party logistics service providers. Integrating traders, logistics operators, and various other contributors onto the network is a top priority for ONDC officials to facilitate more and more transactions all over the nation.
According to certain sources, at the moment, the emphasis is mostly on integrations and ensuring a positive user experience since it is crucial for the success of ONDC. As the network prepares to expand, platforms such as PhonePe are completely drawing attention to the incorporation of the buyer’s side.
Although the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is still in its infancy, it has been anticipated that it will have a similar effect on the e-commerce sector just as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) did on the online payments segment.


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By Caroline Stocks – Farmers Weekly Interactive
The livestock industry needs to think more carefully about animal health and increasing consumer interest in red meat if it is to continue to benefit from current high prices.
Nick Allen, EBLEX sector director, said there was a degree of stability in the industry which had not been seen for some years.
A forecast decline in beef coming into the European market meant record cattle prices were likely to remain, while high demand for European sheepmeat meant there was an optimistic outlook for the sector over the next few years.
Despite the positive short-term future, Mr Allen said the industry could not afford to be complacent.
“There are things out there that could change the whole view of the industry within five years,” he told the EBLEX annual conference in Warwickshire on Wednesday (2 November).
“We have got to keep the consumer buying meat. Sticking the Union Jack on packaging isn’t enough – we have to keep improving our assurance standards so people know British meat can be trusted and is worth buying.”
Mr Allen said the indications were that the next three to five years would offer a fair amount of stability for livestock farmers, but the industry had to protect itself against future shocks.
“If you look at what happened in the past to upset the markets, it’s been disease,” he told delegates.
“Foot-and-mouth and bluetongue have devastated the industry, so we really need to look at animal health issues to protect our gains.”
He said the industry had to look at new markets and offering differentiated products, as well as looking to improve efficiencies.
“We can’t think higher prices will solve our problems and bring everyone back into profitability,” he added.
“We have to think about efficiencies and ways to maximise the carcass.
“We also need to really get to grips with the halal market – there are two million Muslims in the UK and six million non-Muslim halal meat eaters, so the opportunity is huge.”


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Nissan is considering giving its Leaf EV a light facelift, or at least a modest round of improvements, when it goes into production in the UK in 2013.
The improvements will allow Nissan the chance to make improvements following customer feedback.
Changes would include the body and interior being retooled for European build. The motor and control systems will come from Japan.
The UK order books on the car opened on September 1, when initial deposits of £257 were accepted via Nissan’s website.
Depositors are being given the opportunity to test drive the Leaf before December 2010, before formally confirming their order. UK deliveries will begin in March 2011.
Nissan claimed in June this year that it had received 19,000 pre-orders for the car, a figure almost double the 10,000 that will be made in its first year of production.
The car will cost from £23,350 (including a £5000 government incentive) in the UK.


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Vivendi, the media group, has recently reached a significant agreement to sell Gala, a popular celebrity-gossip magazine, to Groupe Figaro, a newspaper publisher. This deal comes as Vivendi aims to address concerns raised by the European Union regarding its acquisition of rival group Lagardere.
The agreement, known as a put-option agreement, follows Vivendi's announcement earlier this month that its subsidiary, Prisma Media, which owns Gala, was in talks regarding the sale of the magazine to Groupe Figaro. Le Figaro, a daily publication, is owned by the Dassault Group, a prominent business family in France.
Vivendi has stated that the completion of this deal is expected by October, pending employee consultation procedures and approval from the European Commission. The sale of Gala is a part of the remedies demanded by the Commission in order for Vivendi's takeover of Lagardere to be approved. Lagardere owns Paris Match, a weekly magazine that is considered a major competitor to Gala in the celebrity-news domain.
In addition to this sale, last month Vivendi signed an agreement to sell its publishing business, Editis, to International Media Invest, a subsidiary of Czech Media Invest, a holding company founded by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. However, no financial details regarding the sales of Editis or Gala have been disclosed by Vivendi.


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Capcom is slowly revealing the games that will appear at its upcoming showcase on June 13th. First, it was Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, which could receive news on its post-launch title updates. Now it’s Resident Evil 4, a remake of the 2005 survival horror classic, that’s confirmed to be appearing.
According to a recent tweet, fans can expect a “fresh new look” at the title. Announced at this month’s State of Play, the remake features extensively revamped visuals but a much darker tone. Leon S. Kennedy is still there, along with Ada Wong and Ashley Graham (with Ella Freya confirmed as her model) not to mention all of the classic locales. There’s also PlayStation VR2 content in development.
Aside from the more serious tone, there isn’t a lot known about the remake. Perhaps the Capcom Showcase will shed more light on any changes so stay tuned for more details. Resident Evil 4 launches on March 24th, 2023 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.
Prepare for a fresh new look at Resident Evil 4 in the #CapcomShowcase livestream!
— Resident Evil (@RE_Games) June 8, 2022


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A meeting on Measures Taken and Action Plan for improving India’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranking was held under the chairpersonship of Special Secretary (Logistics), DPIIT, MoCI on Friday with the nodal officers of the LPI dedicated cell formed in eleven Stakeholder Ministries/Departments.
The dedicated cell meets every fortnight to assess the measures taken and outcomes achieved in improving performance across six parameters of LPI including (i) Customs., (ii) Infrastructure (iii) Ease of arranging shipments (iv) Quality of logistics services (v) Tracking and Tracing and (vi) Timeliness.
SmtSumitaDawra, Special Secretary (Logistics) DPIIT, during her opening remarks, highlighted that the targeted action plan is important to improve the logistics efficiency of the country and thereby India’s ranking in the World Bank LPI. She added that the measures taken by the stakeholder Ministries/ Departments will be showcased to the World Bank LPI team.
During the meeting, Ministries/ Departments presented the action plan, and best practices were showcased.
Mr. VivekVerma, Secretary, of the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), highlighted thatLPAI has implemented a Land Port Management System (LPMS) to digitiseoperations and facilitate a secure electronic flow of information between all stakeholders at the Integrated check posts (ICPs). The system is reducing the dwell time of cross-border movements (trade and passenger), enhancing the efficiency of customs and border management clearance, and improving the timely delivery of shipments. He added that LPAI has been successful in reducing the dwell time from 57 days to less than 24 hours.
Mr. Manoj Gangeya, ED (Planning), Ministry of Railways, stated about various initiatives that MoR is planning across six parameters of LPI. This includes 100% electrification of railway tracks, increasing CAPEX to INR 2.6 lakh crore in FY24 to improve the speed and volume of freight transport in the country, and the implementation of Eastern and Western dedicated freight corridors is likely to increase the average speed of freight trains, thereby by reducing transit time and inventory cost to customers. Additionally, the development of rail containerisationat ports and freight terminals is expected to increase the rail container loading from 80 million MT recorded last year to 3 times by FY31. MoR is also checking the feasibility of railway siding at Land Ports to promote multi-modal connectivity.
Mr. Ajay Kumar, CEO, AAICLAS highlighted the airport capacity building which is being undertaken at Kolkata with a target to construct an upgraded/new facility by December 2025. An air cargo village in an area of 37 acres approx. in Delhi (Jewar airport) is also being planned with an investment of 1200Cr which is likely to be commissioned by Dec 2024.
Mr. Rituraj Mishra, Deputy Secretary (Ports) presented the various initiatives that have been planned to improve logistics efficiency. Some of them include the automation of weighbridges, improving scanning facilities at the ports, increasing DPD/ DPE share to 80% by rail, and streamlining and simplifying processes by creating Standard Operating Procedures (SoPS) across all the ports.
Mr. R. Ananth, Director, CBIC highlighted that a Custom Revenue Control Laboratories (CRCL) will be launched in Guwahati by December 23 which will assist in field formations in chemical analysis of samples of various trade commodities.
In her closing remarks, the Special Secretary added that these initiatives with a targeted intervention will improve logistics efficiency in the country. Further, the good practices by Ministries will help in impressing the idea of objective-based assessment in LPI calculation to the World Bank. In this regards, she suggested:
Ministries/Departments including CBIC, MoCA, MoRTH, MoR, and MoPSW to share the initiatives, best practices, and interventions planned to address the gap/ issues pertaining to Ministries in the form of an action plan with a timeline in coordination with User Ministries (Coal, Steel, DGFT) and NICDC
A systematic approach needs to be followed to communicate the initiatives and good practices of Ministries/ Departments to the stakeholders which will improve the perception of the logistics sector in India
The eleven Stakeholder Ministries/Departmentsincludes Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), M/o Civil Aviation, M/o Railways, M/o Port Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), M/o Coal, M/o Civil Aviation (MOCA), CBIC, M/o Steel, and, D/o Commerce, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and, National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (NICDC).


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The lingering fuel scarcity in Lagos has made the prices of foodstuff to go up at various markets in Lagos.
A survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday, revealed that the prices of items like yam, rice, beans, vegetable oil and meat have sky-rocked, due to scarcity of petrol.
At Daleko Market, Mrs Tope Olaifa, a dealer in rice, said a bag of stallion, tomato and caprice gold brands of rice which previously sold for between N7,000 and N7,200 now sold for N8,500.
Olaifa said that traders were compelled to increase the price of different brands of rice because those transporting them to the market complained that they bought fuel from black markets at exorbitant rates.
Like rice, the cost of beans has also increased, with a 100kg bag being sold for N14,000 as against its former price of between N10,000 and N11,000 while a big tin of the commodity sold for N350 as against it former price of between N150 and N200.
Similarly, the price of yam has shot up in Mushin Market, with a medium-size tuber selling for between N500 and N600 as against the former price of between N350 and N400.
At Oyingbo Market, Mrs Sherifat Akinola, a trader, told NAN that a 25-litre can of various brands of vegetable oil like Turkey, Kings, Gino, Sunola are being sold for between N5,500 and N5,600 as against their former former prices of N5,000 before the fuel increase.
“Consumers just have to bear with us, the high cost of transporting these food items to the market is affecting their price as local farmers spend more money to transport them to the market,” Akinola said.
The survey also indicated that the price of meat has increased.
Mr Sefiu Ramoni, a meat seller at Mushin Market, attributed the increase to the high cost of rams.
He said that a big ram which was sold for between N50,000 and N60,000 was now being sold for between N68,000 and N70,000.
The survey, however, showed that unlike rice, beans and yams, the prices of edibles like pepper, tomatoes, and onions have gone down.
For instance, a basket of tomatoes which formerly sold for N1,500 is now selling for N1,200, while the cost of a big sack of pepper, costing between N4,000 and N6,000 has reduced to between N2,500 and N3,000 while a big sack of small pepper which used to cost N12,000 now sell for N9,000.
Similarly, a big sack of onions which formerly cost N24, 000 is now being sold for N7,000.


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New York sushi lovers are getting a raw deal.
Prices for the Japanese delicacy of fish and vinegary-flavored rice rolls are 33 percent higher in the Big Apple than the nationwide average.
Since last year, prices here have shot up 10 percent, according to a “Sushinomics Cost-of-Living Index’’ compiled by Bloomberg News.
Even LA, the long-reigning sushi capital of the country, was slightly cheaper than New York.
The survey was based on the price of spicy tuna and California rolls in 25 major US cities.
About 40 percent of the restaurants surveyed last year raised their prices by an average 22 cents for a California roll and 27 cents for a spicy tuna roll.
Food Network Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, owner of Morimoto in Chelsea, explained there’s nothing fishy about the price hike.
“Rent, cost of living, overall cost of doing business — everything is more expensive in New York,’’ he said. “Customers in New York are very knowledgeable about sushi and demand the freshest and highest-quality fish available.”
His signature fried soft-shell crab, asparagus, scallion, avocado with spicy sauce roll is $12 on the menu. In New Orleans a soft-shell crab roll runs about $7.50.
“The price of fish has increased dramatically over the past year while at the same time, the dollar has weakened significantly in Japan. All of these factors have contributed to the increase in sushi prices,” Morimoto said, noting many of the ingredients are imported.
New York scored 133 on the survey, meaning prices were 33 percent above the average. New Orleans had the cheapest prices, getting a rating of 80.


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- Publish Date
- Saturday, 30 May 2015, 11:12AM
A shopper was accidentally charged £223,000 for six bottles of beer at his local off licence.
The 28-year-old was expecting to pay £22.30 for the American Craft beers, but a mishap led to him being billed the price of a four bedroom house in Derbyshire.
The shocked customer did not notice the error until his card was declined at the till by his bank.
The blunder at Kris Wines in Islington, north London, was believed to have happened after the man's PIN number was added to the total.
'I wasn't really paying attention but I glanced down and saw the first two numbers,' he reportedly told the newspaper,' he reportedly told the Telegraph.
'They looked fine so I tapped in my PIN.
'As soon as it declined the shop assistant and I realised what had happened and we just laughed.'
Kris Menan, manager at the off licence, said: 'It was a mishap caused when the customer entered his PIN too quickly and the numbers added onto the final amount.
'Sometimes you have to wait a couple of seconds, but the customer was just too eager.
'The amount was declined and I gave the man the receipt.'


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But at the same time the state of California is making a push for this kind of shopping bag, a new study shows about one out of every 10 reusable shopping bags tests positive for E. coli.
But the man who co-wrote the report, Dr. Ryan Sinclair of /*Loma Linda University*/, is not surprised.
"I know that they're dirty. I wasn't surprised at all that we found bacteria in them. I expected to find bacteria," said Sinclair.
Sinclair says it's because people don't wash their shopping bags, probably because the thought never crossed their mind. But it should, especially when you consider what might be inside one of these bags.
"Somehow the bacteria from an intestinal tract of a mammal has gotten in your grocery bag, and you're not sure how that's happened, but it's not good," said Sinclair.
But Bryan Early of /*Californians Against Waste*/, who supports the ban on throwaway bags, says people shouldn't read too much into this study.
"This study was funded by the plastic industry, and they're trying to divert away from the fact that they produce 19 billion plastic bags that are distributed in California, far too many of which are littered," said Early.
But it is something to at least think about next time you're bringing home the family dinner.


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MANCHESTER finance firm Davenham has bought a Cheshire-based rival in a multi-million pound deal.
Davenham has acquired the é8m portfolio of Booker Montague Leasing, which specialises in providing asset-based lending products, such as trade and invoice finance, to small firms.
Davenham said the "small ticket" leasing firm is complimentary to its current leasing business, which specialises in sale and leaseback deals of more é50,000.
Davenham managing director Colin Davenport said: "We have always enjoyed a reputation for our flexibility and skill in structuring packages to finance growth and make deals happen - this deal further enhances our ability to do so,"
Originally formed in 1991, Davenham, which employs 90 people, was acquired by its management in June 2000 in a é60m buyout.
It is currently lending more than é90m to over 400 businesses throughout the UK - satisfying needs that the mainstream funders are not meeting.
Davenham was advised by law firm Berg & Co, which has worked with the firm for 14 years.
Senior partner Reuben Berg said: "The fact that the deal ran so smoothly is testament to the benefits to be gained from a long-term business relationship. Trust and appreciation of working process adds to the pace at which deals can be done."


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SAN ANTONIO – The manager of a Family Dollar store on the city’s west side said a break-in at the business happened quickly and appeared to be planned.
Matthew Rodriguez found out about the crime after 1:30 a.m. Monday by way of a phone call from an alarm company.
Someone had smashed one of the front windows, triggering the burglar alarm.
"I came over and sure enough, glass everywhere," Rodriguez said.
San Antonio police received a call around the same time and arrived within minutes in the 7400 block of West Military Drive.
Officers at the scene told KSAT 12 News they obtained surveillance video showing the crime in action.
They said it showed a man entering the business and carrying out a load of merchandise, including several electronic items, in a trash bag. The man put the bag into a shopping cart which he had waiting outside.
Rodriguez also viewed the video and said the burglar acted quickly.
"He was just going through," he said. "I mean he was shoving things in. Got out. Done. So, I mean he knew what he was doing. "
Rodriguez believes the burglary may have involved quite a bit of planning.
The man appeared to know exactly what to take, and he even brought the shopping cart with him, Rodriguez said.
Officers later found the shopping cart nearby, still loaded with stolen merchandise.
Rodriguez said it appears the burglar may have gotten away empty-handed.
"Everything that we saw him taking on camera, they basically got back. It was almost, like, everything," he said.
Even though they spent about an hour searching, officers never tracked down the man.
Rodriguez spent several hours minding the business until the window could be repaired.


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New Delhi, Feb 9 (ANI-NewsVoir): Morepen Laboratories Ltd, one of the largest producers of Montelukast Sodium (an anti-asthmatic drug), in global generic markets with an annual capacity of about 36 tons, is all set to en-cash billion dollar international market for the complex molecule. The company is tying up in European and North American markets for supplies to Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) holders for the sale of Montelukast Sodium.
“This will soon trigger the process of inspection of the company’s manufacturing plant at Parwanoo by US Food and Drug Administrator (USFDA),” Sushil Suri, Chairman and Managing Director, Morepen Laboratories Ltd., said after a meeting of the company’s board on Monday. The company’s board of Directors took on record its financial results for the third quarter and first nine months of the current financial year 2015-16.
The company has reported a 203 percent rise in its Profit after Tax (PAT) at Rs. 13.01 crore and a 15 percent rise in total income at Rs. 328.87 crore for the first nine months of the current fiscal ended December 31, 2015. For the third quarter ended December 31, 2015, the PAT stood at Rs. 7.28 crore on a total income of Rs. 112 crore, registering a growth of 146 percent and 10 percent respectively.
The profit before tax (PBT) for the 9-months stood at Rs. 12.87 crore compared to Rs. 5.38 crore in the corresponding period in the previous financial year, registering a growth of 139 percent. PBT for third quarter stood at Rs. 5.72 crore (Rs.3.70 crore).
The bulk drug (API) business, maintaining its lead in the company’s business registering a growth of 18.5 percent in its 9M revenues at Rs. 211.12 Crores. Home – Health business posted a healthy growth of 19 percent during 9M period ended December 31, 2015.
Anti-Asthmatic drug, Montelukast has contributed Rs. 48 crore to the company’s Total Income in the nine-month period and is likely to end fiscal 2015-16 with a total contribution of Rs. 70 crore (approx.) to the top line.
With its commercial launch in the international market, Montelukast is set to become the next major blockbuster bulk drug for the company after Loratadine. The company expects to notch a global turnover of Rs. 100 crore from this single bulk drug alone in the financial year 2016-17. Subsequently, with increased capacities, the global sales from Montelukast are likely to touch Rs. 250-300 cr in the coming few years, a company statement stated.
Speaking on the development, Suri, said, “We are working in a highly competitive global scenario where our focus is to position Morepen as the most cost-effective bulk drug producer and supplier.
We have always welcomed the challenge of change with aggressiveness and with the addition of Montelukast in our basket of products, would like to direct our energies towards providing more and more innovative products that help improve the quality of drug supply, the world over, and to attain the highest quality standards and win global accolades in the years to come.”
“As of today, Montelukast is commercially sold to customers in about 32 countries. The company aims at joining the ranks of world-class pharmaceutical companies by expanding the product’s presence in untouched international markets, resulting in substantial increase in its exports turnover in the years to come,” Suri added.
Montelukast is manufactured by Morepen at its manufacturing facility in Parwanoo (Himachal Pradesh), which has been inspected by various global regulatory agencies including USFDA, EUGMP, TGA and others. The product is manufactured under strict quality control complying with cGMP requirements and meeting various global manufacturing standards. Morepen already holds US Drug Master File (DMF), Certificate of European Pharmacopoeia (CEP), Import Drug Licence (IDL) for Chinese market and necessary accreditations for other countries including Canada, Russia, Taiwan and Iran. (ANI-NewsVoir)


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Shopping is cardio people, so get your workout this week by checking out some of the new shops popping up this spring.
1. Kit and Ace, Kenwood Towne Center
The clothing from this Canadian based luxury athleisure wear company opens its second location on May 26 (their first Cincinnati shop opened on Vine Street in OTR last year). The new store features local elements like images from Cincinnati based photographer Jon Medina and artwork from Louisville artist Gibbs Rounsavall.
3. Street Pops, Downtown
In addition to locations on Main Street in OTR and Madison Road in Oakley, Street Pops has opened its new headquarters at 4720 Vine Street.
4. Artichoke, Findlay Market
Former University of Cincinnati DAAP professor Karen Hughes and her husband, Brad, a longtime big pharma manager, have traded a predictable 9-to-5 lifestyle for a whirlwind entrepreneurial one. Their OTR culinary equipment emporium, Artichoke, opened on April 2, filled to its updated rafters (designed by fellow DAAP professor and practicing architect Terry Boling) with covetable European- and American-made kitchen necessities such as Fletcher’s Mill rolling pins, Garnier-Thiebaut linens, Staub enamel-coated cast iron pots, Cristel stainless steel pans, and Emile Henry porcelain cookware, not to mention plenty of seasonal sundries such as cherry pitters and apple peelers.
The Hugheses tested the proverbial retail waters with a well-received pop-up location at Findlay Market over the holidays. “It’s been fun doing all the branding and design, but the pop-up really helped us understand our target market,” says Karen. Consider us firmly within the crosshairs.
5. Elm & Iron, OTR
Columbus based retailer Elm & Iron expands its Cincinnati offerings in June when it opens a second location, Elm & Iron Loft, across the street from their first store on 1326 Vine Street. The new, multi-level space will feature furniture, textiles and vintage home goods.


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The quality of Australian diets is getting worse, with only two in five Australians eating enough vegetables, according to an eight-year study by the CSIRO.
Over 235,000 Australians have taken part in the ‘Healthy Diet Score’ survey between 2015 and 2023 – providing a snapshot of the quality, quantity and variety of what Australians eat.
The CSIRO diet score
After completing an online survey about food intake, the CSIRO gives respondents a score on their diet. The higher the score, the ‘healthier’ the diet.
The yearly Australian diet score fell from 56 in 2015 to 53 in 2023.
Women were more likely to have a healthier diet than men.
The key findings
Retirees had the best diet score, at 59.2. Personal trainers and healthcare workers also scored high.
Construction workers had one of the lowest scores, averaging 51.5.
Young Australians had worse eating habits than older adults. The average student diet scored 54.1.
The report said said the average Australian has 28 serves of ‘discretionary’ foods per week, which is ‘too high’. Discretionary foods are those with high saturated fat, added sugars, added salt and/or alcohol.
Alcohol made up nearly a third of respondents’ discretionary intake. This was slightly higher for men.
Cakes and biscuits were the next most popular items in this category.
The good news
Australians achieved a 92.8 when it comes to average water consumption.
Meat and its alternatives (e.g. tofu) intake performed strongly with an average score of 77.9.
The national average score for bread and cereal intake also returned a strong average of 70.4, with an even gender split.


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Selfridges’ sale for a lofty $5.4 billion suggests there is still life in the department store model. But how to grow in a shrinking category?
PARIS, France — Founded in 1997 by Colette Rousseau and her daughter Sarah Andelman, Parisian store Colette has quickly become part of Paris Fashion
The streetwear media authority will link with Colette and Selfridges for its first brick-and-mortar launch.
The consultant and former creative director of the famed Paris concept store that closed in 2017 says that ‘Colette wouldn’t work today.’ Here’s what she thinks resonates with fashion consumers in a post-internet era.
Sarah Andelman, co-founder of world-leading concept store Colette, gained global renown for her product selection and staging. Here, she discusses curation in a digital age as BoF explores the evolution of retail — in partnership with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.


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As per a tax reform, Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be levied on food and beverages made available in the trains. The tax reform that was implemented last year in July, had imposed 5 percent on canteen services then levied the 5 percent on the food delivery from the canteen and mess as well in November and now the same tax has been imposed on the Indian Railways.
GST On Railways’ Food
The Delhi Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) said that train cannot be deemed as a restaurant and that the food suppliers will be affected by this ruling. According to a report by the Econmic Times, the AAR ruling for food supplied on trains came about in response to a certain Deepak & Co, a company that had come into an agreement for the supply of food and beverages to the Indian Railways.
“Incidental services provided with supply of goods being the dominant intention would be treated as supply of goods in GST. Hence supply on board a train would be treated at par with like goods in a retail shop from a GST rate perspective,” said MS Mani, a partner at the consultancy firm Deloitte India to the Economic Times.


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'Relief for Japan' T-shirts by Maria Cornejo and Mark Borthwick
Tomorrow evening photographer Mark Borthwick and designer Maria Cornejo will be hosting an event to help those effected by the Japan earthquake. Borthwick and Cornejo have collaborated on a set of limited edition ‘Zero’ t-shirts that feature Borthwick’s photographic prints and will be signing them at the event, with all profits going to Doctors Without Borders.
The event is being held on Tuesday 22 March, from 6-8pm, 33 Bleecker Street, New York. Head along!


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USA/SWEDEN: New bid made for Volvo - report
A group led by former Ford executives this week submitted a revised bid to buy the Volvo Cars unit, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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With many manufacturers in gluten-free notching up growth rates rivals in the center of the store can barely dream of, you’d assume the burgeoning category is a hotbed of recipe innovation and excitement.
Canadian natural and organics group SunOpta has introduced a new rice fiber ingredient made from rice hulls, which the company says allows formulators to add clean label fiber without the bulk of rice bran.
Upward pressure on cereal prices looks set to continue, following yesterday’s announcement that the US Department of Agriculture has downgraded its yield projections for maize. The 2011 crop is now forecast at 12.5bn bushels, which is 50m larger than...
A new nutritional charter initiated by Cereal Partners France - a joint venture between Nestlé Cereals France and General Mills - reflects French government targets and pledges to boost fibre in its childrens' range.
Rice bran ingredient and nutraceutical supplier NutraCea has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy after just over a year – a move that allowed it to restructure and reduce overheads, the company has said.
Rice bran ingredient supplier NutraCea has said it expects to exit bankruptcy later this year after having filed for Chapter 11 protection in November to allow the company to restructure, reduce overheads and sell non-core assets.


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Reckitt Chief Information and Digitization Officer Filippo Catalano said the company plans to deploy Celonis Execution Management System into supply chain as well as manufacturing and human resources processes.
Speaking at Celonis World Tour 2022 New York, Catalano outlined Reckitt's plans. Today, Reckitt uses Celonis for more than 40 processes across Finance, Procurement, Order Management and Quality Management.
Also see: Celonis World Tour 2022: Everything you need to know
With a Center of Excellence in India, the British multinational focused on health, hygiene and nutrition products such as Lysol, Mucinex and Airborne, the company is looking to deliver value while navigating multiple challenges. The bet: applying technology to drive digitization and process excellence can enable the company to perform well despite demand spikes, supply chain imbalances and inflation.
Reckitt customer story: Scaling process excellence and 'automation-first' culture
Catalano said Reckitt has been "profoundly affected" by supply chain volatility and Celonis is an enabler to manage through those challenges. "The supply chain has been super volatile," said Catalano.
He said Celonis is being used to baseline transformation progress and hide the complexity in legacy systems. "We have 1,200 business users and 30 analysts with access to ML Workbench, Execution Apps, and full EMS capabilities," he said.
As for the roadmap, Catalano said Reckitt is working with Celonis to expand into more business units "with a particular focus on master data." He also added that sustainability was a big push for Reckitt.
"We are also co-innovating with Celonis to help in our sustainability initiative. We want to identify and fix waste that creates CO2/GHG and other physical inefficiencies in our own perimeter," said Catalano, who noted that sustainability goals can be achieved by making the overall value stream more efficient.
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Bella Hadid slayed it in a red silk custom Alexandre Vauthier Couture gown at the premiere of “The Unknown Girl” during the Cannes Film Festival Wednesday. She made headlines in the daring gown, which will reportedly go down in Cannes history as one of the most iconic gowns. The in-demand model’s stylist Elizabeth Sulcer is responsible for the 19-year-old’s Internet-breaking look and several other looks at Cannes.
The model put on a daring display of skin in the racy number that showed off her cleavage, toned arms and legs. Bella’s gown is a custom creation from the designer’s haute couture Look 34. The show-stopping gown featured a wrap-around detailing, spaghetti halterneck, bias cut, a slinky skirt with a long train and a thigh-baring split.
The bodice of the gown also featured a dangerously plunging neckline that left little to the imagination. Bella’s stylist for the first time made a shocking revelation about what the model wore underneath the gown. Sulcer said the “dress has a built-in silk bodysuit.”
She added that for such type of looks “top-stick [tape] is always a good idea and practice made things perfect. They wanted to create a beautiful and iconic dress in collaboration with Alexandre Vautheir and that every aspect of the gown was planned, the stylist said talking about how they decided on the red dress. She added that while fittings they considered everything about the dress like how it looked when Bella would pose and also when she moved.
“Bella is smart and confident, and we knew she could wear that dress,” said Sulcer, said talking to Vanity Fair. Besides, the stylist added that they were “very focused on the present moment, and so happy that this is having a lasting impact.” Sulcer said they had many other “stop-the-press” for Bella at Cannes.
The beauty accessorized with a pair of teardrop shaped earrings and a chunky diamond bracelet. She also wore a purple gemstone and diamond ring all by Swiss luxury jeweller De Grisogono. Bella paired her ensemble with black strappy sandals from Giuseppe Zanotti Design.