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INCENTIVES | CONTESTS | WEBINARS | PODCASTS | EVENTS | JOBS
July was a historic month for Puerto Vallarta as the destination saw an increase of 23.3% in arrivals compared to the same month in 2019.
Travel Courier caught up with Luis Villaseñor, managing director of Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board, to find out more about what’s new, what’s hot and all about the new virtual Travel Agent Academy.
Puerto Vallarta reopened to tourism in June 2020, and we have enjoyed the best recovery among any of Mexico’s leading sun and sand destinations in terms of hotel occupancy and international arrivals. In 2020, we averaged 38% hotel occupancy — the best of any of the top three leisure destinations in Mexico.
During 2021 Puerto Vallarta continues to be the leader, in these first seven months, the average hotel occupancy has been 52.64% — considering that hotels were operating at 66% capacity the first five months, hotels can now operate at 80% capacity — for the same period in 2019, the hotel occupancy was 76.99%. The recovery continues to gain strength as last July reached 73% versus 77.7% in 2019.
In terms of international arrivals, July was historic with an increase of 23.3% compared to the same month in 2019 (prior to the pandemic). This year The Puerto Vallarta International Airport welcomed 240,800 passengers versus 195,300 in 2019. So far in 2021, we have recovered 56% of the number of international passengers from January to July compared to the pre-pandemic figures in 2019 (2,165,900 in 2019 versus 1,169,100 in 2019).
Without a doubt, the Canadian visitors have been “the push that was missing” to recover the pre-pandemic figures. The five airlines that flew before the pandemic have confirmed their return this year in the coming months, currently only WestJet operates flights to our destination.
Finally cruises, the important segment that was pending to be reactivated. On Aug. 24, Puerto Vallarta welcomed the first tourist cruise ship after more than a year — Carnival Cruise Lines’ Panorama.
Puerto Vallarta is one of Mexico’s most popular leisure destinations and a preferred travel option for North American travellers. The aim of introducing Puerto Vallarta Specialist through a virtual training platform is to expand knowledge of the destination among certified partners who specialize in sun and sea destinations.
We seek to update travel advisors on new products in the destination and the biosecurity measures implemented. Additionally, to provide them sales tools on new niches/segments such as wellness, outdoor adventures and romance/weddings that have been very strong in the destination and keys to its recovery. Also the elements that make us unique and that travellers are looking for to live a “revenge experience/moment.”
The travel agent has always been a key ally for the sale of the destination and now in times of pandemic their role is more important to recommend safe places and provide travel assistance in case of any eventuality. The destination has always recognized the importance of them and therefore this campus is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The state of Jalisco, which includes Puerto Vallarta, has had a responsible management of the pandemic which has allowed progress in both the health and economic reactivation. Since June 15, 2020, our city is open to receive tourists and currently the 90% of employees in the tourism sector have been vaccinated, two out of three locals have been vaccinated and only those under 18 years of age are waiting for the vaccine. We expect that by the end of 2021, 55% of the annual average hotel occupancy will be reached, the Canadian market will be key to achieve this and to be able to get as close as possible to the 2019 figures (72.4%).
Some of the most exciting new tourist-facing developments in Puerto Vallarta include:
Canada is the second most important market for Mexico and for Puerto Vallarta, its importance lies in the number of visitors and long average stays. Canadians are lovers and enthusiasts to explore the local culture and nature. Before the pandemic, five airlines flew, including Air Canada, Air Transat, Sunwing, Swoop and WestJet, connecting with 16 cities in Canada. The Puerto Vallarta International Airport was, in Latin America, the one with the largest number of Canadian cities with direct flights. Our goal is to regain that leadership.
In 2019, there were 2,296,061 Canadians who visited Mexico, by 2020 there were only 948,319 travellers from that country, which represented a decrease of 59%. For this 2021, from January to May only 33,871 visitors from “the land of the maple leaf” have come to our country.
In 2019, 438,015 passengers visited our destination, in 2020 the first three months (the most important in operation), contributed to bringing the figure to 198,230 tourists and for this 2021, the panorama continues to be low after the restriction measures established in that country. As of May of this year, only 4,714 Canadians have arrived. Puerto Vallarta will seek to recover at least 10% of the number of visitors we had in 2019.
Puerto Vallarta offers unique and incredible options to make the most of Revenge Travel:
Admire the city from Matamoros Lighthouse or Cerro de la Cruz, hiking to Colomitos (the smallest beach in México), eat “pescado zarandeado” and try “Cuala” for dessert, as a digestive try a “raicilla” from Hacienda El Divisadero, recently awarded in Paris and NYC.
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|INCENTIVES | CONTESTS | WEBINARS | PODCASTS | EVENTS | JOBS|


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Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson purchased a 25 percent share in the British meat processing company Muddy Boots, his first investment in the British retail market since Icelandic investment company Baugur, of which he was CEO and later chair, was declared bankrupt in 2009.
Jón Ásgeir. Photo copyright Icelandic Photo Agency.
According to The Telegraph, Muddy Boots is a Worcestershire-based premium burger business founded by husband and wife Roland and Miranda Ballard. Jón Ásgeir has also joined the company’s board as a non-executive director.
Mrs. Ballard confirmed the move: “We really wanted Jón on board. We had four firm offers of investment and we chose Jón. We trust him and we like him and we wanted someone with a bit of guts, as well as experience in retail.”
As reported last week, Jón Ásgeir and the other three defendants in the so-called Aurum case denied charges when it was filed at Reykjavík District Court.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor had earlier filed charges against Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson, Lárus Welding, Magnús Arnar Arngrímsson and Bjarni Jóhannesson. Jón Ásgeir and Bjarni are facing charges as abettors in the breach of trust case and Lárus and Magnús as main defendants.
The defense attorneys objected to the 6,000 pages of evidence submitted by the Special Prosecutor on the grounds that the defendants and their attorneys had not had the opportunity to review the documentation.
The case was postponed until Wednesday.

domain: news


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In a BSE filing, the Hinduja Group company said VBCL is a 100 per cent subsidiary and the initial capital of Rs 60 crore was fully infused by the company at par of Rs 10 each per share.
While car companies appear to have bounced back in December when sales revived after it nosedived in November following the demonetisation, TKM senior vice-president & director (marketing and sales) N Raja says this month's recovery is owing to heavy discounts offered by companies and do not reflect the true market sentiment that remains negative.
"The situation will ease once government lifts the cap on cash withdrawal. Till then, everyone wants cash at hand, even those who were not in a habit of keeping cash at home. Though 70% of cars that are sold are financed, demonetisation forced a change in priorities among prospective buyers," the official said.
TKM, whose sales dipped by 20-25% was one of the least impacted as it huge bookings for Innova Crysta and the new Fortuner. Innova's wait period has halved from two months to four weeks.
To clear the inventory, auto companies have announced aggressive incentives including discounts that range from Rs 35,000 to Rs 1 lakh. This has boosted sales in December. But come January, Raja expects sales to slide again.
"The year 2016 has been a challenging year for everyone. If one removes the new products that were introduced this year, industry sales would have been down 8-10%. Next year will be challenging as well. The first quarter definitely will," he said.
Even thereafter, industry sales may be an issue as companies will withhold launch plans till the situation normalises. Many companies, including Toyota, have already put off new product launches for two years till new emission and safety norms are notified.


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Industrial fastener group Bossard saw sales rise a modest 1% in the first half of 2019, to CHF 450.9 million compared to 2018 (1.9% in local currency).
Bossard Group noted “an increasingly difficult market environment” with a slowing economy and the strenthening of the Swiss franc affecting the Europe business.
Headwinds in America took a toll, with the completion of customer projects from the previous year. Weaker demand from major customers and a changing product mix of the largest US electric vehicle manufacturer adversely affected sales.
Asia saw solid growth, with distribution network investments and infrastructure modernisation paying off, the group said. Referencing the trade dispute between the US and China – the effects of which have been “palpable” – Bossard retained growth in China, India and Taiwan, among other territories.
EBIT was CHF 53.0 million after last year’s CHF 61.6 million, representing a EBIT margin of 11.7% (13.8% last year) – according to Bossard, consistently above the industry average. That’s a second-best half year result for the group. Higher procurement costs were among the factors eating into gross profit margin.
In the first six months, net income amounted to CHF 41.6
million following CHF 49.0 million last year.
Modest demand is expected in the rest of the year. Uncertainties like the US China trade conflict and – lest we forget – Brexit were flagged by Bossard as having the potential to hit H2 2019 results. It also underlined the impact of the strengthening Swiss franc on the Zug, Switzerland-headquartered group.
Bossard Group has 77 worldwide locations and 2,500 employees.


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NEW DELHI—India is gearing up for tech IPOs, including two worth more than $1 billion, as startups look to tap a stock market that has proved resilient despite Covid-19.
The initial public offerings reflect the maturing of a generation of e-commerce and digital-economy companies, bankers say, many of which have grown rapidly during the pandemic as well-off city-dwellers turn to them when purchasing products from milk to medicines.
On July 16, the operator of the Paytm digital-finance app, One97 Communications Ltd., filed a prospectus for what would be India’s largest IPO in local-currency terms. The group offers services such as a mobile wallet, loans and stock-trading, and is backed by Jack Ma’s Chinese financial-technology giant Ant Group Co. One97 aims to issue new and existing shares worth a total of up to 166 billion rupees, the equivalent of $2.23 billion.
Other companies considering IPOs include digital-payments platform One MobiKwik Systems Ltd., which filed its prospectus earlier this month, and logistics and supply-chain-services provider Delhivery Pvt., according to a company spokeswoman. Online cosmetics seller Nykaa E-Retail Pvt., API Holdings Pvt., the parent company of online pharmacy PharmEasy, and PB Fintech Pvt., the parent of insurance aggregator Policybazaar.com, are also considering listings, according to people familiar with their plans.
“This is the first set of these companies coming to the public market” in India, said Kaustubh Kulkarni, the head of investment banking for India at the local unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co.


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(Atlanta, GA) -- The U.S. Treasury Department will have a $1 billion public exhibit and many of the world's most famous and valuable rare coins will be displayed in Atlanta for the first time during the National Money Show™ in the Cobb Galleria Centre, Halls C & D, 2 Galleria Parkway, April 7 - 9, 2006.
But it won't cost a cent to see a billion bucks. The three-day educational event is free and open to the public, sponsored by the nonprofit, 33,000-member American Numismatic Association (www.money.org), the world's largest collector organization devoted to coins, paper money, tokens and medals.
Exhibits include a Bureau of Engraving and Printing display of genuine $100,000 bills, the highest denomination paper money ever made by the U.S. government; America's first silver dollar struck in 1794; Civil War-era money; and the multi-million dollar nickel that was the object of a recent worldwide search.
"Many of the 500 professional numismatists attending the show will provide free, informal appraisals for visitors who bring in their old coins and paper money," said Christopher Cipoletti, Executive Director of the Association.
A unique 1794 silver dollar will be one of the many colorful exhibits. Insured for $10 million, it is described by respected researchers as the very first silver dollar ever produced by the U.S. Mint. This is the first time this historic coin will be publicly displayed in Atlanta.
"Two of the five-known 1913 Liberty Head nickels will be exhibited, including the previously missing $2 million coin that made international headlines after it was unsuspectingly kept in a closet for 41 years," explained Cipoletti.
The United States Mint will showcase the new Jefferson nickels
and the popular 50 State Quarters® program. The Georgia commemorative quarter-dollar was issued in 1999.
There will be demonstrations of an antique, one-ton, hand-operated U.S. Treasury Dept. printing press that was used to print paper money 150 years ago.
"Money is history you can hold in your hands," said William H. Horton Jr., President of the American Numismatic Association. "We'll have thousands of collectors and dealers from around the country, buying and selling items ranging in value from a few cents each to $1 million; from ancient money to just-minted Euros. There are educational seminars, exhibits, and a children's treasure hunt with free prizes. You can see everything from a half-cent to a $100,000 bill, and it's free."
Heritage Galleries & Auctioneers of Dallas, Texas will conduct a multi-million dollar public sale of coins and currency, including a collection of rare gold coins struck at the Dahlonega, Georgia Mint in the mid 1800s.
The National Money Show™ is jointly hosted by the Georgia Numismatic Association and the Metropolitan Coin Club of Atlanta.
It will be held at the Cobb Galleria Centre Halls C & D, 2 Galleria Parkway, Atlanta, Georgia. Public hours are Friday and Saturday, April 7 and 8, from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and on Sunday, April 9, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For additional information, visit the American
Numismatic Association web site, https://www.money.org
, or call (719) 499-3591.
The American Numismatic Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and encouraging people to study and collect money and related items. With nearly 33,000 members, the Association serves the academic community, collectors and the general public with an interest in numismatics. The ANA
helps all people discover and explore the world of money through its vast array of programs including its education and outreach, museum, library, publications, conventions and seminars. For more information about the ANA
, call (719) 632-2646 or visit us online at https://www.MONEY.org.


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National spotlight shines on library's banned books trading cards, now available for purchase online
The Lawrence Public Library’s banned book trading cards are blowing up — even with no bubble gum in the pack.
With requests to get them coming in from across the country, the library ordered a second printing and started selling packs online last night.
Emails from teachers, book lovers and other libraries started rolling into library marketing director Susan Brown’s inbox Sunday, when we published a story about the innovative art-books collaboration and the colorful cards it created.
At first Brown figured the library could just mail cards, pay the postage and mention that a donation would be great. But things snowballed fast.
“Monday morning, my inbox was just flooded,” Brown said. “By Tuesday we knew that we had to have a plan.”
The library lassoed up a PayPal account and permission from each artist for the second printing. They set up a purchasing mechanism on the library website, www.lawrence.lib.ks.us, where shoppers can get a pack of all seven cards for $7. After-cost proceeds will go to the library and the artists.
The library believed the trading card project was the first of its kind and expected some national attention, at least in the library world, but Brown said this much attention was a good surprise.
The Associated Press picked up my story, and on Friday The Huffington Post wrote a story along with images of the cards. A number of blogs have highlighted the project, too.
Not only does the project’s popularity showcase the library’s efforts to promote reading, Brown said, “It really highlights the arts scene in Lawrence.”
Locals can still get the trading cards for free in-person at the library, 707 Vt., and the Arts Center, 940 N.H. — as long as supplies last.
Here's our photo gallery of all the cards:
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
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Machine vision sales expected to grow in 2013
The AIA reports that machine vision components and sales totaled $1.8 billion in 2012, a four percent decline from 2011. An optimistic outlook about manufacturing in North America is leading to a positive growth outlook for 2013, however.
Total sales of machine vision components and systems fell over four percent in 2012, but are expected to rebound in 2013 according to new statistics issued by Automated Imaging Association (AIA), the industry’s trade group.
"In 2012 the vision market in North America suffered from a slowdown in the second half of the year caused in part by the uncertainty over the U.S. Presidential election as well as a cooling manufacturing environment," said Jeff Burnstein, AIA President. "However, based on surveys of our members, we see an optimistic outlook about the economy and North American manufacturing, which indicates a likely return to growth in 2013."
The overall North American vision market totaled $1.8 billion in 2012. While some segments such as cameras, lighting and imaging boards saw increased sales last year, optics, software, smart cameras and application specific machine vision systems sales declined.
Alex Shikany, AIA’s Director of Market Analysis, said, "The contraction in machine vision sales in 2012 was not surprising, as many companies reduced capital equipment expenditures late in the year." Shikany added, "Despite the decline, the industry’s historical trend-line still points upward."
Automated Imaging Association (AIA)
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A huge growth opportunity for Macquarie Telecom. Watch this video
December 7, 2021
In this week’s video insight David interviews portfolio manager of the Montgomery Small Companies Fund Gary Rollo to discuss Megaport (ASX:MP1). Megaport has a market capitalisation of around 3.4 billion and the share price has increased 33 per cent in the past 6 months. Gary discusses the businesses’ competitive advantage and why we believe business growth will accelerate over the next couple of years. Continue…
by David Buckland Posted in Companies, Stocks We Like, Video Insights.
December 6, 2021
Roger joined Alec Renehan and Bryce Leske from Equity Mates on Ausbiz to discuss what to expect from markets in 2022. Markets tend to correct seriously when something completely unexpected transpires. Roger believes 2022 will be another good year for equities. Find out why in this interview. Listen here.
by Roger Montgomery Posted in On the Internet, TV Appearances.
December 5, 2021
In a sign that inflation may be stickier than once thought, Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, no longer describes it as ‘transitory’. And if you’ve been shopping for a bicycle of late, you’d probably agree. This is highlighted in a recent story by The Wall Street Journal, which gives a fascinating insight into the impact on prices of pandemic-inspired goods demand, and supply chain bottlenecks. Continue…
by Roger Montgomery Posted in Editor's Pick, Market commentary.
December 3, 2021
When it comes to home lending, most of the attention is put on the big four banks. But what about the non-bank lenders like Liberty Financial, Resimac, Pepper Money and AFG? It seems they are faring pretty well, and picking up new customers as the majors re-set their focus on the highest quality borrowers. Continue…
by Stuart Jackson Posted in Companies, Financial Services.
Discover how to value the best stocks and buy them for less than they’re worth.
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The very best investors in the world are “value” investors.”
December 2, 2021
Roger joined Alec Renehan and Bryce Leske from Equity Mates on Ausbiz for watchlist Wednesday. In this episode Roger discusses four stocks for your watchlist and why he likes them. Including National Storage REIT, Waypoint REIT, Macquarie Telecom and Accent Group. Markets are really good at overestimating the short term but underestimating the long term prospects of some companies and these companies are proof of that. Watch here. Continue…
by Roger Montgomery Posted in TV Appearances, Value.able.
December 2, 2021
Investors are generally taught that highly concentrated portfolios mean taking on more risk, but that may not always be the case. In Polen Capital’s experience, the perceived risk of holding a concentrated portfolio can be offset by owning high-quality investments. By owning a concentrated portfolio containing only the highest quality companies, investors can potentially take meaningfully less risk than the market while generating greater long-term performance. Continue…
by Polen Capital Posted in Polen Capital.
December 1, 2021
Roger joined Alec Renehan and Bryce Leske from Equity Mates on Ausbiz to discuss the thee key learnings from the recent AGM season. Results were generally better than expected, although margins have come under pressure in some areas and the retail sector has experienced a subdued start to FY22. Roger also identifies companies which stood out. Watch here.
by Roger Montgomery Posted in TV Appearances.
December 1, 2021
Despite the world speeding along on the road to electrification, we think the humble petrol station will still be needed for some years to come, particularly here in Australia. Which is why the Montgomery Small Companies Fund has invested in both Waypoint REIT (ASX:WPR), and mining companies producing the lithium that goes into electric vehicles batteries. Continue…
by Roger Montgomery Posted in Companies, Editor's Pick, Stocks We Like.


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According to several reports that circulate on the network, we will finally see a redesign of this heavy duty truck, which is expected to come as 2018 Dodge Ram 3500. As you probably know, Ram is a Chrysler’s division specialized for trucks, and it is definitely one of the best-knowns, when it comes to these type of vehicles. This nameplate is present for about 35 years, and we saw numerous modifications. Current model is present since 2009, and it is expected to come completely redesigned next year, as 2018 Dodge Ram 3500. New model will come with plenty of changes and novelties in all aspects.
2018 Dodge Ram 3500 redesign
If we compare Dodge’s lineup of full-size trucks with other manufacturers, we could easily conclude that it is about time for some big changes. Both Ford and GM redesigned their models recently, while Ram models are present since 2009. The whole process of redesign of Ram’s heavy duty trucks will start next year. The 2500 model will come first, while 2018 Dodge Ram 3500 is expected to come right after. What exactly to expect from this model is still unknown. Company keeps most of the details as secret. At this point, we must rely only on rumors and predictions.
2018 Ram 3500 interior
It is for sure that 2018 Dodge Ram 3500 will get completely new, more attractive look. At this point, we don’t know will there be some changes in dimensions. Same thing is with interior. The 2018 Ram 3500 will come with same cabin configurations in offer, but those cabins will come with completely new design, featuring new styling, new materials, features, advanced system in all aspects. More details about all this will be known in next few months.
2018 Dodge Ram 3500 engine
When it is about engine, it is expected that new model will be available in three variant. Current model came with revisited engine lineup some time ago, and we expected that those engines will carry over. There are two petrol and one diesel unit in offer. Those are well-known HEMI engines, with displacement of 5.7 and 6.4 liters. First one have max power of around 383 horses, while the second is good for about 410 hp. When it is about diesel unit, it is a 6.7 liter V8 turbodiesel, which has max output of 370 horsepower.
2018 Dodge Ram 3500 release date and price
The 2018 Dodge Ram 3500 is expected to come somewhere in the second half of next year. Exact price is still unknown, but it is expected that the base model will go around 33.000 dollars.


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Lafite 2008 underperforms
Lafite 2008 is the worst performer in terms of price of the last 10 physical vintages from the estate.
In the year to date (YTD), the price of the vintage from the first growth château has slipped by 26% with 2003 also showing poorly, down 15% according to Liv-ex.
Other vintages to show negative growth (although not as bad as the first two) were 1999, 2004 and 2006 but it is the fall of the supposedly sought-after 2003 and 2008 that is surprising.
Furthermore, 2008 has also been the worst performer since June, with a drop in price of around 13%.
The 2008 vintage, with its additional Chinese symbol for number eight, generated considerable interest with prices leaping 20% in 24 hours.
However, a recent downgrading of the vintage by wine critic Robert Parker where Lafite dropped from 98-100 points to just 98, may be the reason for this tailing off in interest.
The last trade on a case of Lafite 2008 on the index was £10,586 and the best list price is currently at £11,658. This is in contrast to March when it was fetching £15,215 on average.
Also interesting, the best performer of the YTD is the 2002 vintage, which has gone up by 12% in value, followed by 2007 at around 5%. Current best list price for a case of 2002 is £7,857 and £7,900 for 2007.
Overall, Liv-ex has calculated that Lafite has dropped by 8% since its March high point in the Liv-ex Claret Index and it has dropped a full 7% since June.
This makes it the worst performing first growth although it still stands head and shoulders above the other four despite these small set backs.


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On any given day, nearly half of American adults eat at least one sandwich, which accounts for one-fifth of the recommended daily sodium intake, reveals a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans is 2,300 mg of sodium for most Americans. For people over age 50, as well as African-Americans, and people with high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease or diabetes, it’s 1,500 mg of sodium per day. Excessive sodium consumption can result in high blood pressure, a cause of heart disease and stroke— two leading causes of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Depending on the person, sandwiches can contribute 30 to 46 percent of daily sodium intake recommendations.
In the study, about 5,760 adults over age 20 recorded what they ate and drank the previous day, Medical News Today reported. Participants listed exactly what was on each of their sandwiches, and researchers assigned each food and beverage one or more food codes to assess their nutritional content.
Previous studies didn’t take specific ingredients into account, but rather considered sandwiches based on a single code. Based on those studies, scientists believed that sandwiches were responsible for only 4 percent of daily sodium intake.
Some of the sandwiches in this study were still given a single code, specifically fast food items— such as a turkey submarine sandwich with cheese, lettuce, tomato and spread.
"In 2009-2010, only about 20 percent of all sandwiches were represented by a single food code," said study co-author Rhonda Sebastian, a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Research Service (ARS) nutritionist. "For that reason, previously published estimates of sandwich contributions to sodium intake that were based on only single-code sandwiches are considerably underestimated."
Researchers from the USDA and investigators at the Food Surveys Research group also found that those who ate a sandwich also consumed about 300 more calories than those who did not, Medical News Today reported.
Those who reported having a sandwich also ended up consuming around 600 mg more sodium per day than those who didn’t.
Study co-author and ARS nutritionist Cecilia Wilkinson Enns said these findings don’t suggest that sandwiches should be out-ruled as a lunch choice, but that consumers should consider ingredient choices when opting for the fare.
"The unanticipated finding that sandwich consumption is associated with higher overall intake of energy underscores the importance of making healthful choices of sandwich ingredients,” Enns said. “Many sandwiches, such as burgers and franks, and common sandwich components, such as yeast breads, cheese and cured meats, are among the top contributors not only to sodium but also to energy in the diets of adult Americans."


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Infiniti is set to launch its Q45 model in the Middle East, as part of its expansion plans in the region.
Infiniti’s range has eight models and is available in approximately 50 countries worldwide. That product and geographic expansion played a crucial part in helping the brand achieve a new sales record of 173,000 units in the 2012 financial year, an increase of 12 per cent over 2011 results, said a statement.
Samir Cherfan, managing director, Infiniti – Nissan, said: “We aim to compete at the top of the premium automotive league with our product, brand appeal and customer experience. In just over 12 months, we have come a long way in making the structural changes required to deliver this.”
“In the Middle East, we will pioneer this next phase in the global strategic plan as we roll out Infiniti’s new naming hierarchy, which is inspired by our first and iconic model – the Infiniti Q45,” he said.
Infiniti’s new nomenclature strategy will be implemented in logical stages within the existing product range, as new model year variants are introduced - the Infiniti QX70 (formerly Infiniti FX) will be the first in the Middle East, it said.
Source: TradeArabia News Service


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In his latest FT.com article, Tom Hazlett, professor of law and economics at George Mason University, points out that despite all the talk about the need for mandatory "openness" or wireless Net neutrality, Apple's "walled garden" i-Phone model has spawned some serious innovation. He argues:
"One million customers bought iPhones in the first 79 days; analysts project 4.5m units sold in the first year. Hosting this Apple party is a curious way for carriers to lock out innovation. It is even more remarkable that critics could configure Apple's entrepreneurship as an attack on creativity. They claim that only a device that is optimised for any application and capable of accessing any network is efficient.
They are wrong. What works best for consumers is a competitive process in which independent developers, content owners, hardware vendors and networks vie to discover preferred packages and pricing. When decision-makers compete for customers and answer to shareholders, a sophisticated balance obtains. The alternative proposition, business models voted on by regulators, is a recipe for stasis."
Hazlett goes on to show how it benefits consumers:
"Consumers evince strong preferences for network co-ordination. Perhaps the most impressive burst of wireless innovation was launched in 1999 by DoCoMo's iMode in Japan, enabling easy handset access to e-commerce sites. Content providers pay a cut to DoCoMo, which bills users.
The platform has been called a "walled garden", as applications must abide by strict rules. Economist Len Waverman, of the London Business School, writes that DoCoMo initiated three significant controls never before used in wireless: limiting prices charged by independent vendors; showing customers their charges for content in real time, as incurred; and restricting bandwidth-hogging applications.
Rejecting "neutrality", iMode proved a rousing success, attracting over 35m subscribers by mid-2003. DoCoMo's mobile rivals responded with managed web platforms of their own. Today, customers choose from bountiful, competing gardens.
Innovators such as DoCoMo and Apple bask in the opportunity to craft custom products and business models. Liberal spectrum policies that invigorate markets intensify that creative dynamic. Regulations that foist preordained structures on consumers and suppliers do not."


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The chain chain hoist market report includes competitive analysis, focusing on the main players and participants in the chain chain chain chain industry, covering in-depth data related to the compe
MHI's Overhead Alliance will host an annual overhead lifting safety webinar series from October to November. The Overhead Alliance represents members of the Crane Manufacturers Associ
NASA engineers have approved the Guyana Space Center team in South America to start loading 63 gallons of fuel and oxidizer into the James Webb Space Telescope after additional tests showed that th
The aerospace industry requires heavy handling, fine handling and precise positioning. Julian Champkin View required lifting and hoisting equipment.
Aerospace is the epitome of large-scale hi
John Gessert building trucks at his assembly plants in Michigan and Mississippi has never been more troublesome than it is now—even with only a few parts per unit.
The president of American
A modern waste processing plant in Spain ordered cranes and cranes from fellow manufacturer Jaso.
Spanish crane manufacturer Jaso has supplied 9 cranes to the Gipuzkoa Environmental Complex i
Imports, labor shortages, long-distance transportation-the crane industry in Australia and New Zealand is surviving all this and the pandemic. Julian Champkin reports.
Australia and New Zeala
The warehouse requires an open floor area and a large elevated porch to facilitate moving inventory in and out of storage racks and trucks at the loading dock. Today, robots are replacing forklifts


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We’ve just released a new issue of Swipe – the iPhone Magazine!
Welcome to another issue of Swipe! Now, it may seem like the idea of virtual reality has been on the cusp of transforming our leisure activities for decades now, but we really believe that, as with many recent tech revolutions, the smartphone could well be the key towards mass adoption. The market for high-end VR headsets is only just getting started with the likes of Oculus Ri , but another area of the market which focuses on your iPhone as the key driver to VR is producing headsets for less than a round of drinks. So, to introduce a wider audience to a fledgling market we’ve produced a Virtual Reality 101 article to help you get started – where you can get these headsets, what apps are already out there and waiting on Apple’s App Store, and where we’re heading in the future. Exciting times!
Elsewhere we’ve got some great how-tos which focus on a couple of new features in iOS 10 which are only available to a subset of users – the new Portrait Mode and the parked car finding feature, and show you how any iPhone user can achieve them. We’ve also got a roundup of great apps for creating fun animation, all the latest Apple news (including a report on the just revealed MacBook Pros) and some great apps and games reviews. Enjoy!
Inside this issue…
– A beginner’s guide to the potentially intimidating world of virtual reality
– We round up all of the best apps for creating animations on iPhone
– Reviews of mysterious puzzler Rusty Lake: Roots and the Lemmings-like Sticklings
– We also review the super-useful Timeglass and the new A.I. features in Duolingo
– Catch up on all the latest Apple and iPhone news, including the Macbook Pro launch
– How to emulate Apple’s Portrait mode feature without an iPhone 7 Plus
– Using your iPhone to remember where you parked your car
Download the Swipe app today and start a 7-day trial or purchase a single issue for only $1.99/£1.49!


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U.K. retailers kick off appeal against Visa, Mastercard fees
A fight between U.K. retailers and credit-card companies that has lasted five years and spawned wildly different court rulings reached a London appeals court Monday that could determine the fates of lawsuits potentially worth billions.
Supermarkets including Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Asda, Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc and J Sainsbury Plc are arguing that some fees set by Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are anti-competitive. At issue is the use of so-called interchange fees, levied by banks at rates set by the card companies each time a consumer’s plastic is swiped at a register.
A ruling on the competitive nature of the swipe fees will draw together various long-running disputes and put the world’s biggest payment networks on notice for billions of dollars in claims. Mastercard faces at least 10 lawsuits filed by retailers in the U.K. totaling as much as $2 billion in claims, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Visa is seeking to uphold a 2017 ruling by Judge Stephen Phillips, who said the transactions are legal. But the retailers are hoping the appeals court sides with a group of specialty antitrust judges who in 2016 ruled that Mastercard owed Sainsbury’s 69 million pounds ($99 million).
The appeal court hearing is scheduled to last 10 days.
The case is Sainsbury’s v. Visa Europe, Court of Appeal. Case number is A3/2017/3493.


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At first the government distributed the money through the Pakistan Post Office, the only system viable and available at the time the programme was implemented. Surprisingly, there was remarkably little abuse of the system thanks to the targeting and safeguards implemented into the scheme with the use of the poverty scorecard.Biometrics are really taking off among global development types.
Plans are now under way to shift from using the post system to making transfers by electronic debit card or smart card into a bank account held by the women (transfers by cellphone had also been considered); the electronic debit card is biometric, tied to the owner’s thumbprint so that nobody but the legal holder of the card can use it.
So far 800,000 hold this biometric debit card and by the end of 2012, this number will go up to four million women.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
800,000 Biometric ID's Facilitate Development Schemes in Pakistan
Revolution on the cards (Dawn)


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Manage episode 294046481 series 2653436
Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine would not have scaled without Ginkgo Bioworks. Reshma Shetty, co-founder and COO of Ginkgo – slated to go public via SPAC acquisition at a reported $15 billion valuation – explains how biotech innovation can build a better future now. Ginkgo's platform already serves industries from food and agriculture, to materials, to healthcare. Shetty acknowledges that engineering genes is a high stakes pursuit, and says Ginkgo is trying to pair the ambition of Silicon Valley with a "higher level of care" than consumer tech companies like social media have demonstrated. The key, Shetty says, is creating an unstable equilibrium – propelling progress but not at the expense of principles.


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Balenciaga’s creative director Demna on Friday came out with a personal statement apologizing for a recent ad campaign from the fashion brand.
The controversial gift collection campaign featured images of children holding the French label’s viral teddy bear bags dressed in what appeared to be leather bondage gear.
“I want to personally apologize for the wrong artistic choice of concept for the gifting campaign with the kids and I take my responsibility,” the designer wrote in an Instagram post. “It was inappropriate to have kids promote objects that had nothing to do with them.”
He added that he needs to “learn from this” to understand how to better protect children.
“As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images. The safety of children must be held with the highest regard and any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society — period,” she wrote.
Balenciaga pulled the campaigns and apologized in a statement on Instagram on Nov. 22.
“We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused. Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms,” the brand stated.
The controversial holiday campaign was shot by Gabriele Galimberti, a National Geographic photographer whose Instagram page highlights a 10-year project called “Toy Stories,” featuring images of children photographed with their favorite toys.
Galimberti issued his own statement on Instagram after the inappropriate ads were pulled by the fashion house. “Following the hundreds of hate mails and messages I received as a result of the photos I took for the Balenciaga campaign, I feel compelled to make this statement,” Galimberti wrote. “I am not in a position to comment [on] Balenciaga’s choices, but I must stress that I was not entitled in whatsoever manner to neither choose the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same.”
Another controversial campaign for Spring 2023 featured a Balenciaga x Adidas Hourglass bag laid across documents relating to the 2008 United States v. Williams Supreme Court decision regarding child pornography laws. This campaign, which also drew criticism, prompted Balenciaga to file a lawsuit against North Six Inc., the production company that created it, and its agent and set designer Nicholas Des Jardins.
However, Balenciaga on Friday said it decided not to pursue litigation. The brand initially sought $25 million in “extensive damages” that it said the campaign caused the luxury fashion house.


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ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- LG Electronics USA is back with its "Serious Watchers" nationwide survey, this time taking aim at the binge-worthy holiday traditions. Defined as those who watch 10 or more episodes a week and view content from multiple sources, the "Serious Watcher" takes the holiday season as an even more serious time to catch up on their favorite shows or television series.
It really is the season to spend time catching up on TV with nearly three quarters (72 percent) of Serious Watchers admitting to postponing a holiday tradition specifically so they could watch a TV show or event during the holidays, while almost two-fifths (38 percent) have put off speaking to a family member on the phone or video chat to watch their favorite show. When it comes to family time around the table, a surprising number of respondents (60 percent) shared they will plan a holiday meal around a TV program this year.
"Streaming content is now the norm in our everyday lives, and all it takes is a simple recommendation before a Serious Watcher starts a new show," said Michelle Fernandez, head of home entertainment marketing, LG Electronics USA, which commissioned the independent third-party consumer research for the second year in a row. "We're committed to understanding this trend and plan to continue offering transformative ways to view the content in the best way possible for an unparalleled experience of their favorite entertainment."
But Just How Serious Are We Taking Our Favorite TV Show?
We know that Serious Watchers are committed, but it doesn't just stop with their favorite show. While nearly a third (32 percent) of Serious Watchers expected to watch more TV per week this holiday season compared to the rest of the year, a striking number (72 percent) admit to owning items inspired by one of their favorite holiday TV shows or movies, including clothing, décor and dishes. Further findings include:
- When it's prime time, Serious Watchers are not just watching an extra episode or two – they're viewing, on average, an additional 14 hours per week during the holiday season.
- Nearly two-fifths (38 percent) have admitted to asking a family member or friend to use a streaming account while traveling.
- More than one-fifth (22 percent) surveyed say they plan to follow at least 10 shows this season.
What Are Serious Watchers Watching This Season?
More time off means more screen time and Serious Watchers are committing to entire series instead of one-off episodes or movies. In fact, TV series, such as dramas or comedies (66 percent) are more popular during the holidays than other times of the year.
- Nearly half (47 percent) predict dramas, such as House of Cards, will be the most popular this season.
- Almost one-fourth (35 percent) predict that horror shows, like The Haunting of Hill House, will be most popular this season.
- Looking for cooking inspiration, more than half (52 percent) will watch more culinary or baking shows during the holiday season.
Millennials Continue to See Serious Watching as a Way of Life
Leading the charge in Serious Watching, Millennials (80 percent) and Gen X (71 percent) are more likely than their Boomer peers (49 percent) to have gone to extremes to watch a TV show or event while traveling.
- Millennials (32 percent) are more likely to have exceeded their data limit to watch shows on their mobile device while Gen X (24 percent) and Boomers (8 percent) are less likely to do so.
- They're also the most dedicated with almost half of Millennials (46 percent) being likely to ask a family member or friend for their streaming account while traveling.
- And one-third (34 percent) of Millennials are expected to watch more TV this holiday season compared to the rest of the year.
"As an industry leader, we've always looked to create the ultimate experience for both Serious Watchers and viewers across various platforms," said Fernandez. "From the award-winning and top ranked by Consumer Reports OLED C8 to the exceptional OLED B8 and stunning glass design of OLED E8, LG's pioneering OLED technology offers superb and unparalleled picture and image quality that fits the needs of every television enthusiast this holiday season and beyond.
LG offers the industry's widest OLED TV selection, with 10 critically-acclaimed, category-leading 4K UHD models featuring proprietary LG OLED technology, which delivers perfect black levels, infinite contrast and over one billion rich colors. LG OLED TVs come equipped with LG's advanced ThinQ AI and third-party AI capabilities for enhanced connectivity and convenience, as well as advanced new processors that sharpen details and imagery.
For information on special holiday pricing and availability of LG's award-winning lineup of OLED TVs, please visit lg.com/us/experience-tvs/premium-tvs.
"LG" and the LG logo are trademarks of LG Corp. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
About the LG Serious Watchers Index
The LG Serious Watchers Index research was completed using an email invitation and an online survey among a random sample of 1,000 adults ages 18+ who watch 10+ episodes of television programming per week, have 2+ streaming services, and watch programs on multiple platforms. Interviewing was conducted by Wakefield Research between Oct. 31 and Nov. 7, 2018. The results reported have an overall margin of error of 3.1 at the 95% confidence interval.
About LG Electronics USA
LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a $55 billion global innovator in technology and manufacturing. In the United States, LG sells a wide range of innovative home appliances, home entertainment products, mobile phones, commercial displays, air conditioning systems, solar energy solutions and vehicle components. The "Life's Good" marketing theme encompasses how LG is dedicated to people's happiness by exceeding expectations today and tomorrow. LG is a 2018 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year. www.LG.com.
About Wakefield Research
Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) is a leading, independent provider of quantitative, qualitative, and hybrid market research. Wakefield Research supports the world's most prominent brands and agencies, including 50 of the Fortune 100, in 70 countries.
SOURCE LG Electronics USA


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Globally, the hotel industry should be enjoying the height of the summer tourist season. Instead, COVID-19 is impacting tourism numbers like we’ve never seen before – government lockdowns, border closures, and reduced airline schedules have all played a role in affecting people’s decision to travel.
Although travel is not yet returning on a global level, hotel occupancy is on the rise post-lockdown in many domestic and drive markets.
However, conventional summer hot spots (beaches, theme parks, world-famous cities, etc.) are being avoided in favor of more rural locations, as outdoor recreation has grown in popularity to allow for social distancing.
As more countries begin to reopen, what does travel look like? What are the new guest expectations that hoteliers should be aware of to incorporate into their business strategies? What are the latest data and booking trends telling us about industry recovery?
Here are five major areas of consideration for summer travel.
#1. Expect occupancy to change – often
In the age of COVID-19, historical trends no longer apply as hotel occupancy and revenue can change week-to-week.
A decline in group, corporate, and international travel paired with the rise of local last-minute getaways makes it imperative for hoteliers to have access to comprehensive, forward-looking data to truly understand local market performance and plan for recovery.
For example, U.S. data from Amadeus’ Demand360 solution shows the difference in consumer confidence to travel over the Memorial Day (May 25) holiday compared to Independence Day (July 4) holiday.
“May was very different from July, and as we get away from summer and into the fall, bookings are going to change even more,” says Katie Moro, vice president of data partnerships for hospitality at Amadeus.
“As consumer confidence fluctuates with states moving in and out of phased recovery, relying on data from last week or last year to drive a future revenue strategy will not be beneficial. Because of COVID-19, there is no time in history we can compare to what’s happening in the industry now.”
Just around the corner lies one of the most nerve wracking days of the entire year for U.S. hoteliers – the Tuesday after Labor Day (September 8).
“Historically, this is the window where leisure travel drops off as people return to school and work from summer holidays,” explains Moro.
“Hotels again rely on group and corporate travel, but given government regulations on social gatherings and events, these types of bookings have not yet returned. So where will the business be? Who is travelling? It can feel overwhelming, but forward-looking data can provide guidance on how to plan the next steps.”
Click here to read complete article at PhocusWire.


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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has extended anti-dumping duty on some steel products from China by five years, in a bid to retain protectionist barriers and stem the tide of cheap foreign products.
The long-term measure, on the import of seamless tubes, pipes and hollow profiles of iron, alloy or non-alloy steel, stands effective as of May 17 last year when the government had imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty, according to the circular.
Earlier this month, Steel Secretary Aruna Sharma told Reuters there was a "strong case" for imposing long-term anti-dumping duties on up to 124 steel products over the next two months.
Between April and January, India's steel imports fell 37.8 percent year-on-year, data from a government body showed, primarily due to the slew of protectionist steps announced by the government.
Indian steelmakers such as JSW Steel, Tata Steel, and Steel Authority of India have lobbied for more measures to protect them from cheaper imports from China, Japan and South Korea.
For details on the circular, see: http://bit.ly/2lCFdFN
(Reporting by Neha Dasgupta; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)


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The quickening pace of digital transformation prompted Dell Technologies to update its partner program, and on Wednesday, three of the company’s most influential movers and shakers spilled the beans about what the updates mean for channel partners.
Rola Dagher, Dell Technologies’ relatively new global channel chief, alongside Denise Millard, senior vice-president of global alliances and Cheryl Cook, SVP of global partner marketing, highlighted one of the most important updates to the revamped partner program: The ability for Dell Titanium and Platinum tiered partners to transact VMware licensing deals directly through the Dell Technologies Partner Program.
“We’re responding to the overwhelming trend of customer flexibility,” Cook said during an online briefing with reporters and analysts. She added it’s also helping reduce some of the confusion partners experienced when it came to selling VMware products.
Dell and VMware have jointly engineered products such as VxRail, a dominant hyperconverged infrastructure solution, and boast a strong sales partnership via channel partners. While the move to streamline VMware licensing deals was an important step to reduce clutter within the partner program, it’s also meant to ease partners into Project Apex, Dell’s long-term as-a-service strategy, Cook says.
In case you missed it:
Dell Technologies doubles down on as-a-service with Project APEX
“This is a multi-year journey,” she added. “Storage-as-a-Service is our first offering…and it will all be driven by our partners who will be able to build out core competencies and become more active in the field to address the issue of standing things up rapidly at scale and pushing to the hybrid cloud.”
Dell Technologies’ Storage-as-a-Service is available in the U.S., with a wider rollout in North America slated for sometime in 2021.
Millard noted that the lines are “blurring” within the Dell partner ecosystem. Global system integrators are looking more like cloud service providers. The numbers seem to back this notion. IDC data says by 2024, more than 75 per cent of infrastructure at the edge and roughly 50 per cent of all data centre infrastructure will be consumed as a service. IDC also projects that by 2023, over 500 million digital apps and services will be developed and deployed using cloud-native approaches – the same number of apps developed in the last 40 years.
Within the overarching Dell Technologies Partner Program comes a new program called Power Up.
Dell explained that Power Up connects the company’s Partner Preferred programs, meaning channel partners gain access to Dell Technologies enterprise, commercial and SMB accounts.
Dell also launched a new Incentives Center so partners can get a better view of all of their program incentives in one place. The added visibility also extends to pricing with the new Online Solutions Configurator.
Partner opportunities in security and telecommunications
When asked what opportunities channel partners might be overlooking in the midst of a global digital transformation overdrive, Dagher was quick to point out the telecommunications space.
“We’re seeing a huge investment in managed services among telcos,” Dagher said. “Now more than ever, they’re pushing hard in the direction of as-a-service and working with us.”
Millard says cybersecurity is still overlooked by many companies because they haven’t been hit with a breach, and that it’s an obvious entry-point for partners.


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Hamburg, Germany, July 10, 2016 --(PR.com
)-- According to the yStats.com report global online shoppers may differ in the items they buy, how they are delivered, or how they pay for items, but global growth is consistent, as are a couple of interesting trends.
One trend is increasing use of mobile devices to connect to the Internet, which leads to mobile shopping, or M-Commerce. The yStats.com report cites a consumer survey reflecting that almost half of online shoppers around the world bought items on their smartphone or tablet in 2015. In some countries in Africa, the vast majority of Internet connections are through mobile phones, so it naturally follows that as people turn to online shopping it will be over the phone. Even in regions with a tradition of high Internet connectivity via fixed computers such as Western Europe, mobile shopping is on the increase.
Another prevalent trend in online retail around the world is cross-border purchase. According to the yStats.com publication, shoppers in some smaller nations such as Singapore and Ireland are leaders worldwide in cross-border online shopping. The percentage of global online retail purchased outside shoppers’ home country is expected to grow at double-digit rates through the next five years.
For further information, see: https://www.ystats.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/20160706_Product-Brochure-Order-Form_Trends-in-Worldwide-Internet-Retail_by-yStats.com_.pdf
yStats.com GmbH & Co. KG
Behringstrasse 28a, D-22765 Hamburg
Phone: +49 (0)40 - 39 90 68 50
Fax: +49 (0)40 - 39 90 68 51
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, yStats.com is one of the world's leading secondary market research companies. We are committed to providing the most up-to-date and objective data on Global B2C E-Commerce and Online Payment markets to sector-leading companies worldwide.
Our multilingual staff researches, gathers, filters and translates information from thousands of reputable sources to synthesize accurate and timely reports in our areas of expertise, covering more than 100 countries and all global regions. Our market reports focus predominantly on online retail and payments, but also cover a broad range of related topics including M-Commerce, Cross-Border E-Commerce, E-Commerce Delivery, Online Gaming and many others. In addition to our wide selection of market reports, we also provide custom market research services.
We are proud to cooperate with companies like Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters. Given our numerous citations in leading media sources and journals worldwide, including Forbes and the Wall Street Journal, we are considered one of the most highly-reputed international secondary market research companies with an expertise in the areas of B2C E-Commerce and Online Payment.


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Where Are The Biggest Discounts On Black Friday?
Everyone is always chasing the best deal on Black Friday, so we have a list of the best retailers to go to for this event!
A website called, WalletHub, has found the best and worst items to buy during Black Friday and the retailers that will give you the biggest discounts!
WalletHub discovered that movies, music, and books will get you the biggest discounts on Black Friday.
Here are some other items that will you find a big discount on:
- video games, 38% off
- toys, 24% off
- computers, 19% off
- phones, also 19% off
The worst discounts are on jewelry and clothing. They'll only cost 7% less than they normally would on Amazon.
Here are the top 4 retailers with the biggest discounts for Black Friday:
- Kohl's, 66% off
- JC Penney, 66% off
- Sears, 50% off
- Macy's, 46% off
WalletHub also pointed out that Amazon is a totally different beast from traditional retailers. Amazon's average markdown is only 37%. But their everyday prices are lower than most places. So even on Black Friday, it still might be your best bet.


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Fashion is gearing up for the biggest night of the year... and if you're in Paris, we've got the details you need.
For four years now, the 21 international editions of Vogue have had some of the most exclusive shopping districts in the world buzzing for the biggest night on the fashion calendar: September 6th. In Paris, Vogue Fashion Night Out is set to take over one of the city's plushest shopping districts between the Elysée Palace on rue du Faubourg St Honoré, and Madeleine, an area in which some of fashion's finest flagships rub shoulders with the biggest luxury houses in the business.
This year, Vogue Paris is making the event even more exclusive, so if you're in the city, pick up the September edition of the magazine for an invitation to join the style people in Paris and shop the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, rue Saint-Honoré, rue Royale, and the Place du Marché Saint-Honoré. From diamond skipping ropes to limited edition Vogue Fashion Night Out T-shirts, the labels have come up with some weird and wonderful collectors' editions this year, plus DJ sets, plenty of cocktails and some very special in-store events.
Tune into Vogue.fr at 7pm CET September 6 for a live stream of the fourth Vogue Fashion Night Out to hit Paris, as we report direct from the Faubourg Saint-Honoré and Madeleine area to bring you the events not to miss, and talk to the style people out on the town as they shop the city.


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A car company embroiled in a diesel emissions cheating scandal was No.1 for customer loyalty in Australia with sentimental favourite Holden nowhere to be seen.
Volkswagen beat Toyota when it came to customer satisfaction with 61.5 per cent of motorists indicating they would buy the same brand again, Roy Morgan market research released this month showed.
The German car giant, which has the Golf hatchback as its volume seller, topped the customer satisfaction charts in June, just three years after being embroiled in a diesel emissions scandal.
Volkswagen (Golf hatch pictured) beat Toyota with 61.5 per cent of motorists indicating they would buy the same brand again, Roy Morgan research showed
In September 2015, Volkswagen’s brand loyalty score collapsed from 66 per cent to 49 per cent after Californian authorities discovered it had installed special software in its diesel cars that would produce clean results in laboratory tests.
Roy Morgan chief executive Michele Levine said Volkswagen’s triumph in the survey of 50,000 people illustrated how a brand, best known for the Beetle and the Kombi van, could rebuild its reputation.
‘Every CEO and marketing director in the world learned a lesson from the controversy that engulfed Volkswagen in 2015, but they can now learn another lesson – how a brand can recover from that kind of slump,’ she said.
Toyota, which has a good reputation for reliability, came a close second to Volkswagen with 59.6 per cent of customers indicating they would buy the brand again.
The Japanese car brand produces the Hilux ute, Australia’s top-selling vehicle again in September, and the Corolla, Australia’s top-selling small car.
TOP 10 BESTSELLERS
1. Toyota HiLux, 4,338 sales, 13.5%
2. Ford Ranger, 3,228 sales, -25.2%
3. Toyota Corolla, 2,917 sales, -4.5%
4. Hyundai i30, 2,508 sales, +9%
5. Mitsubishi ASX, 2,138 sales, +40.1%
6. Nissan X-Trail, 1,908 sales, +43.1%
7. Mitsubishi Triton, 1,857 sales, +7.2%
8. Mazda3, 1,842 sales, -33.6%
9. Toyota LandCruiser, 1,741 sales, +7.9%
10. Nissan Navara, 1,713 sales, +45.9%
Source: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries VFacts data for September 2018 versus September 2017
It was followed by Mazda, which inspired the loyalty of 57.6 per cent of customers, and Subaru on 54.4 per cent.
Honda, another Japanese brand, was the only other car company to satisfy a majority of its drivers with 50.9 per cent indicating they would buy it again.
Korean giant Hyundai came fifth with 47.7 per cent of customers declaring they would make a repeat purchase.
Holden was nowhere on the top five almost a year after it stopped manufacturing in Australia the Commodore, the local bestseller every year from 1996 to 2010.
When it came to sales, Toyota has been Australia’s most popular brand in 2018 so far, with an 18.4 per cent market share, significantly ahead of Mazda’s 9.8 per cent, Hyundai’s 8.3 per cent and Volkswagen’s 4.9 per cent.
The Volkswagen Golf, Australia’s 17th most popular car in September, is comfortably outsold by the Toyota Corolla, Mazda3 and the Hyundai i30 but not the Honda Civic or the Subaru Impreza.
Subaru wasn’t in the top 10 when it came to bestselling brands but the Forester was the 16th most popular car.
There was no Holden model in the top 20.


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Showcasing How FlashInfo’s Revenue Acceleration Supports Salesforce Customers
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, August 10, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — FlashIntel, a pioneering force in go-to-market intelligence solutions, is excited to announce its participation in Salesforce Dreamforce 2023. Attendees are invited to visit FlashIntel at Booth #230, where the company will showcase its flagship product, FlashInfo, and demonstrate how its revenue acceleration capabilities are enhancing the experience for Salesforce customers.
Dreamforce, Salesforce’s annual user conference, is renowned for bringing together thought leaders, industry pioneers, and thousands of IT professionals. FlashIntel’s presence at this prestigious event underscores its commitment to integrating with leading platforms like Salesforce and providing users with unparalleled sales intelligence.
“Being a part of Dreamforce 2023 is a significant milestone for us,” said Todd Schecter, VP of Sales, at FlashIntel. “We’re eager to demonstrate how FlashInfo’s revenue acceleration seamlessly supports Salesforce customers, driving enhanced sales outcomes and optimizing go-to-market strategies.”
At Booth #230, attendees will have the opportunity to:
– Experience live demos of FlashInfo in action.
– Understand how FlashInfo’s capabilities can be leveraged within the Salesforce ecosystem.
– Engage in one-on-one discussions with FlashIntel experts about tailored solutions for their businesses.
FlashIntel’s commitment to empowering businesses is evident in its continuous efforts to integrate with platforms like Salesforce. The synergy between FlashInfo and Salesforce ensures that businesses can harness the power of advanced sales intelligence, leading to accelerated revenue growth.
For those attending Salesforce Dreamforce 2023, make sure to stop by Booth #230 to discover how FlashIntel is shaping the future of revenue acceleration and enhancing the Salesforce user experience.


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Australian bitcoin mining
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The M1 chip is already driving the Mac to new heights.
What you need to know
- The Mac business hit a new Q1 revenue record of $8.4 billion.
- Apple attributes its success to the new M1 Macs.
Apple announced its Q1 2021 financial results today, and the call revealed good things for Apple’s new M1 Macs. Apple CFO Luca Maestri announced on the call that the Mac set a first-quarter record, growing 21% year over year to $8.7 billion in revenue.
“Next, I’d like to talk about Mac. We set a December quarter record for revenue at $8.7 billion, up 21% over last year. We grew strong double-digits in each geographic segment and set all-time revenue records in Europe and the rest of Asia Pacific, as well as December quarter records in the Americas, Greater China, and in Japan. This performance was driven by strong demand for the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, all powered by our brand new M1 chip.”
Tim Cook also touched on the Mac during his opening statement on the call, saying that demand for the new M1 Macs “has been very strong.”
“iPad and Mac grew by 41 and 21 percent respectively, reflecting the continuing role these devices have played in our users’ lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this quarter, availability began for both our new iPad Air, as well as the first generation of Macs to feature our groundbreaking M1 chip. The demand for all of these products has been very strong.”
Apple released the new M1 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini last November. The company plans to announce more Apple Silicon-based Macs in the future, with some rumors of a new iMac coming as soon as this year.


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H&M has launched its first modest clothing collection.
Like the name suggests, modest fashion is clothing that covers rather than reveals the body. Many brands have started to do make clothes like this for women who dress modestly for religious, cultural or personal reasons.
The line has is launching early May, and although it won’t be available in stores yet, the launch will be a two-part collection, with the other designs set to release May 24.
The retailer has been purposeful in making the brand more inclusive and in 2015 they released a campaign which featured a model wearing a hijab, this was a first for the brand.
The spring collection, called LTD, includes flowy designs with long sleeves and long hems. As well as the modest audience, the bright colours and pretty designs of the line will surely appeal to all shoppers.
According to Pernilla Wohlfahrt, head of design at H&M, who spoke to Glamour magazine, the brand is simply giving people what they want with this range. Wohlfahrt believes that the interest for modest clothing has increased in recent years. She said: “Today H&M is present in 69 markets, and we want to be diverse and inclusive to all the markets where we operate. We want to be able to offer something for everyone.”
All the designs in the collection, including the dresses, skirts, and trousers, feature hems that reach mid-calf or ankle and the prices range from £45 to £94.


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Electronic Arts kicked off the E3 press conferences with a rousing show that did everything it could to make up for the sins of the past year, including hosting a simultaneous three-day gaming festival where anyone could pick up and play the latest and greatest EA Games.
GiN Online Editor Neal Sayatovich got the chance to play Black Ops 4 at the big reveal event in Los Angeles hosted by Treyarch and Activision. Playing a pre-alpha version that ran surprisingly smoothly, his fireteam got to dive deep into all the secrets that the game held. Here are his findings.
Jesse Schell was one of the first developers to recognize the power of serious games when he founded his company, Schell Games, back in 2002. Today, it employs over 100 people, and works on some of the most interesting serious games around, right alongside its other original, purely entertainment based, titles.
The voting is finally complete. Come see what games earned a coveted GiN Game of the Year award in each category following an incredibly heated battle where thousands of gamers let their choices be known. Did the best games win? Find out right now!
Eight amazing game industry professionals were honored today at the London Games Festival’s first Ensemble showcase event. The group included longtime Gameindustry.com journalist Chella Ramanan. All eight artists honored for their contributions to the game industry will have their portraits hung in a featured gallery throughout the show.
Thousands of you nominated games worthy of the Game of the Year crown. We counted them all, and now present you with your choices for the top games of the year in various categories. Vote for your favorites, and may the best game win!
Over one hundred thought leaders in the burgeoning serious games market will be attending and speaking at the 2018 Serious Play Conference in Washington, D.C. this July. The show will include a five-year forecast showcasing where this part of the game industry is headed.
Apologies for the Gameindustry.com site being down for the past week. Our wonderful user base has been growing by leaps and bounds thanks to all of you, and we needed to upgrade our infrastructure to accommodate everyone. Thanks for sticking with us, and we hope you enjoy the new site!
It’s awards season once again! And that means it’s time for the academy, that’s all of you dear readers, to select the games that you think deserve Game of the Year nominations. Let us know which titles deserve to compete for the big prize, and may the best games win!
The Black Panther Panel at Baltimore Comic-Con was one of the most thrilling, giving fans a behind the scenes look at the popular cat-centric comic, explaining how the artists try to keep western influences out of the story, and what to expect from the upcoming feature film.


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New Delhi: Noise, an Indian connected lifestyle brand is betting big on the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, with its aim to manufacture 80 per cent of its products in India in next 8-10 months, said Gaurav Khatri, co-founder of the company in an interaction with ETRetail. Currently, it makes over 40 per cent of its wearables in the country.
The bootstrapped company forayed into local manufacturing after a few years of its inception in 2014. Presently, it is working with Optiemus Electronics Limited (OEL), a leading electronics manufacturing service (EMS) provider to boost production in India.
In FY22, its total revenue stood at Rs 850 crore. The company has grown almost 2.5 times in the last fiscal as compared to its revenue of Rs 350 crore in FY21 and expects more than 100 per cent year-on-year growth this year. Currently, its offline sales contribute about 20 per cent to its overall business.
The digital-first smartwatch brand also sees strong potential in tier 2 and 3 cities, as a significant part of consumers still prefer an offline experience of buying commodities. Its 65 per cent sales come from tier 2, 3 & other cities, and about 35 per cent business comes from tier 1 and metro cities.
According to the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) India monthly wearable device tracker, about 23.9 million wearable devices were shipped in April-June quarter this year, growing by 113 per cent year-over-year (YoY). Almost 38 million units were shipped in the first half (Jan-Jun) of 2022 growing at 65.8 per cent YoY, supported by new launches, discounts, and marketing.
Being in a highly competitive and growing market, Khatri said the company’s main focus is on consumer centricity, innovation and design.
Further, speaking about latest technological advancements, he said the brand launched Noise Labs early this year, a tech incubator where the focus is on creating first-of-its-kind products for New Age India – specialised in conceptualising and designing innovative products.
It is working with specialised partners like Bragi to launch new concept products in India soon, which Khatri believes to be a game changer. Under Noise Labs, the brand also came with its first pair of smart sunglasses mid of this year.
Sharing the plans of increasing the headcount, the company said it has over 300 employees, and aims to have 500 employees by the end of 2022 across all departments and teams, including research and development (R&D).
Currently, Noise is present across 8,800 offline retail stores in India and has also penetrated in large format retail.


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The newest hotel and casino in Las Vegas is opening its doors this week!
Resorts World will be opening its doors to the public this upcoming Thursday. With the opening up of this new hotel, there will be 6,000 jobs that will now be available.
There will be amazing headliners performing at Resorts World. Headliners like Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, and Katy Perry.
The casino floor will have digital logins for guests to be able to play slot machines and tables. They will also have cashless gaming and smart tables.


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MMC takes single-use plastic ban awareness drive but fails to give alternate substitutes to vendors
VASCO: Mormugao Municipal Council Chairperson, along with the market committee members, undertook an awareness drive on the single-use plastic ban in the Vasco market area on Tuesday.
Although MMC failed to give alternate substitutes to the plastic bags, which they have asked vendors to stop from using.
With the pan India ban on single-use plastic by the Central Government, there has been a move in all strata of the society by the local governing bodies to enforce this ban in toto. On a similar line, the Mormugao municipality on Tuesday undertook a hasty awareness drive in the market, requesting all the vendors to stop the usage of single-use plastic or else face a penalty.
The irony of the situation here is the MMC councillors who have warned the Goan traditional vendors to stop using single-use plastic, especially polythene bags, have failed to suggest and give a greener non-polluting alternate substitute for the polythene.
Later, speaking to the reporters, Leo Rodrigues, Chairperson of MMC, said that he, along with the market committee chairman Vinod Kinlekar and City Councillor Shami Salkar, along with the municipal inspectors, undertook this awareness drive in and around the market area.
He further added that the vendors had been warned not to use single-use plastic, and if someone is found using it from tomorrow onwards, there will be heavy fines imposed on such violators.
Vinod Kinlekar, chairman of the Vasco market committee, reiterated that the awareness drive on the single-use plastic ban was conducted today. The vendors have listened to our advice and have agreed to stop the use of a single-use plastic ban.


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The Samsung Electronics Company announced today that it would spend $500 million to upgrade its sole overseas chip plant, in Austin, Tex. Within hours of that announcement, Samsung's stock dropped 2.4 percent -- North Korean officials said that they had the capability to make nuclear bombs.
Such are the gritty challenges that confront Samsung, the largest company in South Korea, a pulsating, high-tech country that shares a peninsula with a militarized, impoverished nation where few people are allowed to have telephones.
In China, Samsung's largest Asian export market, consumer demand is withering as a respiratory virus scares people away from markets and department stores where cellphones, DVD players and flat-screen televisions are languishing on the shelves. Around Asia, prices of computer chips, a major Samsung product, are falling as new American and European tariff barriers against Hynix, a Korean-government-supported rival, are expected to cause excess Korean-made chips to flood the region.
Samsung sales in South Korea dropped by 28 percent this last quarter over the quarter last year. The decline seems to be a result of soaring credit card debt over the last year. About 500,000 South Koreans in their 20's, or about one in 15, are facing bankruptcy.
Last week, Samsung announced a 41 percent drop in profit for the quarter ended March 31, to $1.1 billion in operating profit. In response, Samsung increased its already aggressive investment budget to $5.65 billion, nearly two-thirds higher than last year's.Continue reading the main story
Since 1996, Samsung has been run by Yun Jong Yong, a soft-spoken engineer who seems to believe that a good dose of crisis and chaos will keep Samsung, South Korea's No. 1 company, agile and resourceful, fighting as if it were No. 3 when in many areas it has in fact become No. 1. And in many ways, Samsung's success is emblematic of Korea's rapid entry into the club of developed nations.
From a mass producer of cheap electronics a decade ago, Samsung is now the world's largest producer of memory chips and flat screens. Its market capitalization is now bigger than its Japanese rival, Sony. Last year, Samsung was the world's third-most-profitable electronics company, after General Electric and Microsoft.
And Samsung, a sponsor of the Olympics, has raised its profile as a global company. Last year, Interbrand, the brand consultant, ranked Samsung as the world's fastest- growing brand, ahead of Starbucks.
''Some people think that Samsung is a Japanese company,'' Chang Il Hyung, Samsung's top spokesman, said, gliding over 1,000 years of Korean-Japanese rivalry. ''We don't care about that. Nationality is not that important to us. We are focusing on making Samsung a global market player.''
Sony's sales volume still dwarfs Samsung's, but Sony's profitability is far lower. During the first quarter of this year, Samsung Electronics earned $942 million in net profit on $8 billion in sales. By comparison, Sony earned a similar amount, $963 million for the full fiscal year ended March 31, but that was on $62.3 billion in sales. On Thursday, Sony announced a profit on sales of 1.5 percent for the fiscal year, compared with 17.5 percent for Samsung last year.
In a reversal from a decade ago, when Japan dominated the world chip market, the nearly $500 million in profit recorded in the first quarter of this year by Samsung's semiconductor division is about equal to the forecasted combined profits for Japan's five largest chip makers -- Toshiba, NEC, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric and Fujitsu.
And Samsung has said it plans to invest about $3.4 billion in new chip plants and equipment this year. By contrast, the investment plans of Japan's five largest chip makers add up to about $2 billion. Last week, Sony announced that it would enter the chip market with a $1.67 billion investment.
Among memory chip makers, Samsung is the world's only profitable major manufacturer. This year, it expects to sell $7 billion worth of memory chips.
Niche products like graphics chips for game consoles and flash-memory chips for cellphones and hand-held computers have helped Samsung make money in an industry plagued by overcapacity and declining demand. And last year, Samsung moved into a newer, more expensive chip, the DDR, or double data-rate chip. But with overcapacity in the industry, prices for the standard DRAM chips are down by almost 50 percent compared with the period a year ago.
''We hope that in the latter half of this year, chip demand will increase,'' Mr. Chang said. ''In 1999, because of the Y2K problem, many PC's were replaced. Now is the time to replace them again.''
Although Samsung is dependent on the memory-chip market, chips accounted for only 23 percent of Samsung's sales in the last quarter.
''We are into every kind of electronic product, from chips to cellphones,'' said Mr. Chang, adding that Samsung also makes home appliances like refrigerators and air-conditioners.
But in a highly competitive sector, three of Samsung's main products -- chips, cellphones and liquid crystal display screens -- had increased sales last year, but with prices going down. The consumer credit problems have been an added burden.
''They have to inject money, from $110 million to $470 million, to bail out their credit card company,'' Jon Chong-Hwa, Daewoo Securities' director of equity research, said referring to Samsung Card, which is 56 percent owned by Samsung Electronics.
In the fast-moving flat screen field, LG.Philips LCD, a South Korean-Dutch joint venture, nosed ahead of Samsung late last year to become the world's largest producer for a quarter. In a sharp counterattack, Samsung announced a month ago that it would invest $1 billion in a new flat-screen production plant, adding 60 percent to its next generation production capacity.
Of the $650 million in new investments announced last week, almost all the money is to go to making thin-film-transistor liquid crystal displays, the main component in L.C.D. monitors, laptop computer screens and some flat-panel televisions.
In mobile phones, Samsung has come from virtually nowhere to become the fastest growing of the world's big three manufacturers -- the other two being Nokia of Finland and Motorola of the United States. In the last two years, Samsung has doubled its share of the world market, selling $10 billion worth of cellphones last year. This year, it plans to increase its market share to sell 12 percent of the 435 million cellphones expected to be sold around the world.
Aiming for the top end of the market, Samsung models increasingly feature color screens, cameras and more computing power than found in many laptops a decade ago.
Recalling the old attitude of expansion at any cost that gripped South Korean companies before the 1997 financial crisis, Mr. Chang said: ''Before, we looked at market share, not profit. Now, profit and market share are important.''
Some analysts say there will be more money to be made in the future with ''dumb'' phones, or simple inexpensive phones for a mass market.
''China and India will be the world's largest cellphone markets,'' said David Roddy, the editor of the Korean Stock Market Newsletter. ''They need cheap, simple phones.''
Next month, Nokia will start merging its four Chinese manufacturing joint ventures into one company to strengthen its brand presence.
Even in South Korea, where about 70 percent of adults use the Internet, third-generation cellphones that will allow subway commuters to watch video-on-demand, for example, will not be marketed until 2005.
The push for speed has helped Samsung rise from a second-rate electronics manufacturer a decade ago to a technology leader. In the late 1980's, as a student of development economics at Yale, Mr. Chang searched a New Haven department store one afternoon for Samsung products. ''The guy took me back to a corner and showed me stuff covered with dust,'' he recalled this week. ''The attitude was: the function is good, but it is cheap.''
But perceptions have changed. Mr. Chang attended an alumni function recently, and found an American peering at the business card on his jacket lapel. Mr. Chang said the man asked him, ''How did Samsung become so successful in just 10 years?''Continue reading the main story


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Companies are investing heavily in data and biometrics tools, but their people are struggling to keep up
Ivan Gonzalez talks about becoming North American CEO of Swiss Re Corporate Solutions and why his business unit remains steadfastly focused on growth and innovationit’s
Take cues from these leading companies to develop an environment where staff love to work
Auto insurance fraud is costing Canadians an estimated $2 billion a year
New Commercial Accident insurance offers comprehensive protection for accidental injury or death
Congratulations to scholarship recipient, Marianna Michael at Canfise Group Inc.
More than 3,800 attendees from more than 45 countries and over 200 vendors created interest from startups and incumbents to partner on predictive analytics platforms, commercial and cyber products, smart home and IoT devices, blockchain technology innovations and more


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In an early morning raid in Los Angeles’ Fashion District, some 1,000 federal and local law enforcement officers searched dozens of locations and made arrests at various businesses Wednesday in connection with investigations into alleged money laundering schemes linked to Mexican and other international drug cartels.
Los Angeles has turned into the “epicenter” of such drug money laundering operations, federal officials said in discussing what they referred to as “Operation Fashion Police.”
Aerial video from Sky5 showed agents rushing into businesses across the commercial and industrial downtown neighborhood.
At one location, agents found at least $35 million in cash stashed away in bankers boxes, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. Dugdale at a news conference on the takedown.
Nine people were arrested in connection with three federal indictments against them and the businesses with which they work, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice.
Some $65 million in cash was seized during the raid, including from various global bank accounts. Authorities displayed massive stacks of cash that were seized in the raids, which were the result of 80 search warrants, according to an FBI spokeswoman.
One of the indictments described the torture of a U.S. citizen drug distributer by the Sinaloa Cartel at a ranch in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. “Victim A” was kidnapped, held hostage and beaten, shot, electrocuted, and water-boarded at the ranch in fall 2012, according to the indictment.
The victim incurred a “debt” to the cartel when 100 kilograms of cocaine he or she and two family members intended to distribute in America was seized by U.S. federal agents.
The two relatives were forced to pay $140,000 in cash ransom for “Victim A” to Q.T. Fashion, a clothing wholesale business on 12th Street, according to an indictment. Q.T. Fashion allegedly worked with a Mexican clothing firm called Maria Ferre to funnel the ransom money through 17 other Fashion District businesses to the cartel.
“Victim A” was released from the Sinaloa ranch when a payment was made in December 2012; the victim is currently in the U.S., federal officials said.
Q.T. Fashion owner Andrew Jong Hack Park, 56, of La Canada Flintridge; business manager Sang Jun Park, 36, of La Crescenta; and Jose Isabel Gomez Arreoloa, 49, of downtown L.A. were all arrested.
Maria Ferre, along with its owner and several employees, was also indicted. Three Maria Ferre employees from Sinaloa were wanted by authorities.
That case was one of three that focused on downtown L.A. businesses.
“Los Angeles has become the epicenter of narco-dollar money laundering with couriers regularly bringing duffel bags and suitcases full of cash to many businesses,” said Dugdale, who oversees the Criminal Division in the Central District of California, in a statement. “Because Los Angeles is at the forefront of this money laundering activity, law enforcement in Los Angeles is now at the forefront of combating this issue.”
The two other indictments alleged that other businesses laundered drug money using a scheme called the Black Market Peso Exchange, which involves U.S. businesses accepting illegally obtained dollars that eventually find their way through foreign business partners to drug traffickers.
Also known as Trade-Based Money Laundering, the scheme is often used by Mexico-based drug trafficking organizations to collect money from U.S. drug sales without the risk of smuggling bulk currency across the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the Justice Department.
Three member of Temple City family — Xilin Chen, 55; Chuang Feng Chen, 24, who is Xilin Chen’s son; and Aixia Chen, 28, Xilin Chen’s daughter — were indicted for allegedly agreeing to launder money through their two underwear companies. They allegedly took cash from an L.A. drug trafficker and from a law enforcement officer posing as a narcotics trafficker.
Aixia Chen is a fugitive, while the other two family members have been arrested, authorities said. The three Chens were also accused of lying on federal immigration documents.
In the third case, four people connected to Fashion District business Pacific Eurotex Corp. were charged and alleged to have received some $370,000 in bulk U.S. cash and deposited it into various bank accounts, an indictment stated.
Some of the cash, which arrived in four drops from an undercover agent posing as a money courier, appeared to have been spattered in blood, according to a Justice Department news release.
Those taken into custody were: Hersel Neman, 55 of Beverly Hills; his brother Morad Neman, 54, of Westwood; Mehran Khalili, 45, of Beverly Hills, the Nemans’ brother-in-law; and Alma Villalobos, 52, of Arleta.
According to the indictment, the defendants had been “specifically advised by Homeland Security Investigations agents that bulk cash payments were frequently derived from illegal activity and that they were required to report cash transactions involving more than $10,000 in currency,” the news release stated.
All of the suspects arrested Wednesday were scheduled to be arraigned in the afternoon at U.S. District Court.


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SAN JOSE, Calif., March 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- RetailNext Inc., the worldwide leader and expert in applied retail analytics for physical stores, today released its monthly Retail Performance Pulse, showing a 10.4 percent year-over-year decrease in sales on a 12.5 percent decline in traffic at brick-and-mortar stores for the retail month of February (February 1 through February 28 on the retail 4-5-4 calendar).
"Winter weather was one of the big, recurring news stories in February, and it certainly made its impact felt at brick-and-mortar stores," said Shelley E. Kohan, vice president of retail consulting at RetailNext. "While store traffic declines were more severe in the Northeast and South regions as a result of the inclement weather, it was in those two regions, however, where Sales per Shopper (SpS) was the highest, boasting increases of over five percent year-over-year."
"Shoppers may well have been held captive by the weather for a time, but when they were able to get to the stores, they had a mindset to purchase," added Kohan. "Customers had the time and the technology to easily research products and pricing online. Shoppers' behaviors, and the corresponding store results, highlight the importance for retailers to allow and empower the convergence of digital and physical channels."
Valentine's Day, February 14, showed the highest sales, traffic and number of transactions of the month. Conversion and sales per shopper were highest the day before Valentine's Day, which is typical from a historical perspective. The lowest sales, traffic, and number of transactions occurred during the first week of the month when Super Bowl Sunday turned into Super Storm Monday and winter weather impacted the Northeast region in particular.
The complete Retail Performance Pulse can be downloaded at http://home.retailnext.net/Performance-Pulse.html.
The first technology platform to bring e-commerce style shopper analytics to brick-and-mortar stores and malls, RetailNext enables retailers to collect and correlate data from the broadest available set of data sources. More than 160 retailers and brands worldwide have adopted RetailNext solutions to glean the insights necessary to improve customer experience, increase same-store sales, reduce theft and eliminate unnecessary costs.
RetailNext measures the behavior of more than one billion shoppers per year by collecting data from tens of thousands of sensors in retail stores and analyzing trillions of data points annually. Headquartered in San Jose, CA, RetailNext is a growing global brand operating in 40 countries. For more information, please visit www.retailnext.net.
RetailNext Inc. and RetailNext are trademarks of RetailNext Inc. in the United States.