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If our battered banks survive the downturn, it’ll be a lot to do with the sterling efforts of their front-line staff: according to a new survey by the Institute of Customer Service, UK consumers think the banking sector as a whole has actually improved its levels of service in the last 12 months, with first direct and the Co-operative Group leading the way. However, this wasn’t enough to rescue most of their reputations: the banks that are now part-owned by the state (particularly RBS and HBOS) all saw their scores nose-dive. Which suggests that when it comes to corporate image, good service can only get you so far…
The banking sector recorded an overall score of 75 out of 100 this year; that’s four points below the top-rated retail sector, but three points higher than its score this time last year. So it looks as though banks have had some success in getting their customers onside in the branches, whatever mistakes they’re making higher up the chain. But as the success of first direct and Co-op shows, the best-regarded banks are those that haven't been tainted by the crisis; in fact, in some cases, the well-publicised woes of their larger counterparts have actually boosted their reputations.
The list of top-rated companies across all sectors tells a similar story. The ICS results will have gone down a treat at John Lewis, which took first place (for its department stores) and second place (for Waitrose); while new M&S boss Marc Bolland will also be delighted to see that his new company comes in 3rd (for food) and 5th (for other stuff). This tallies with that recent Which? survey, which put both upmarket retailers well ahead of their supermarket rivals (who are again notable by their absence in the ICS results).
And then there’s the smaller local retailers. According to a recent survey of 3,000 people by a company called TheBestOf, 70% of us like shopping at smaller stores because staff are more approachable and knowledgeable about their products. This week it’s running something on its site called the 'Love-O-Meter', which allows people to post positive testimonials about their local firms and score them accordingly – culminating on Valentine’s Day (geddit?), when they’ll reveal the top 100 most loved local businesses in the UK. ‘This survey shows that big companies just don’t cut it when it comes to customer service, product knowledge or experience,’ insists CEO Nigel Botterill. ‘They are routinely outclassed by small local firms who are much better at providing that personal touch that Brits value’.
Although that clearly doesn't apply to the likes of Waitrose...
In today's bulletin:
Bank stops printing money - for now
1,000 job cuts in the pipeline at Shell as profits slide
Toyota counting the cost of 8m safety recalls
Sun CEO resigns in (Japanese) style - on Twitter
Good customer service not enough to rescue banks


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Laos seeks ways to bolster tourism industry
VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) - The public and private sectors will team up to tackle issues plaguing the tourism sector as part of the government’s efforts to bolster the contribution of the service sector to economic growth.
The Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) on Friday arranged a special meeting to brainstorm ways to promote the tourism industry.
The consultation meeting on tourism, attended by the public and private sectors, was co-chaired by the Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Savankhone Razmountry, and the LNCCI’s Vice Executive President Mr Daovone Phachanthavong.
The meeting was an open platform for both the public and private sectors to discuss tourism-related issues as well as to seek effective solutions to boost tourism-related businesses.
In his opening remarks Mr Daovone Phachanthavong said the gathering was exclusive as the public and private sectors would discuss issues being faced by the tourism sector.
“We often hear recent reports from the public sector that the number of foreign tourists is increasing, but private businesses engaged in tourism are seeing a drop in foreign travellers in several major tourism provinces,” he said.
Mr Daovone said the meeting would address these obstacles and brainstorm new ways to attract tourists and boost incomes in the service sector, especially for the tourism industry.
Representatives of service sector firms such as travel agents, hotels and restaurants took part in the meeting.
Mr Savankhone said both sides were responsible for translating the government’s policy on tourism promotion into a magnetic device to attract more foreign tourists.
“Significantly, the LNCCI plays a key role in contributing to national economic development. The service sector was boosted by the chamber until it became one of the outstanding drivers of the country’s economic growth,” he said.
The deputy minister said the number of world travellers will increase in the next decade as the Asean region is part of this growth and, accordingly, Laos’ tourism development roadmap will be back on track for responsible, sustainable and inclusive growth.
“Promoting and resolving tourism issues will require special and active collaboration between all parties concerned. The public sector is willing to support the private sector in tackling issues when needed,” Mr Savankhone said.
During the meeting, several interesting presentations were made in relation to the smart packaging and promotion of tourism, and local businesspeople shared their experiences concerning current tourism trends in Laos.
They also informed the public sector that the government could help in the removal of obstacles within this strategic sector.
The number of tourist arrivals in the first half of 2019 exceeded 2.2 million, an increase of 5 percent compared to the same period last year, according to statistics published by the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.

domain: news


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New energy vehicles are emerging strategic industries identified by the country. In the rapid rise, they also face many pain points in development. The reporters found that China’s new energy auto industry needs to work hard for a long time to achieve the goal of “change lanes and overtaking”.
The rapid rise of independent brands
In 2016, the Mudanjiang City Bus Group in Heilongjiang Province purchased 66 new energy bus buses, which currently transport an average of 400,000 passengers per day. Liu Yongchun, general manager assistant, calculated an account. Every day, a pure electric bus costs 80 yuan more than a fuel car. The reduction of carbon emissions by an 8-meter long bus is equivalent to 1.24 million trees per year.
The 66 new energy buses were purchased from Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co., Ltd. Yu Wei’s product manager, Zhao Wei, introduced that Yutong had sold more than 60,000 new energy buses in the past five years and only sold 26,000 electric buses in 2016.
Since the "12th Five-Year Plan", China's new energy vehicles have seen explosive growth. According to Dong Yang, executive vice president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the past five years, the production of new energy vehicles in China has grown from less than 5,000 to 510,000, and the number of possessions has increased from 10,000 to 1 million, accounting for half of the world's total. the first.
Qin Zhidong, deputy general manager of Beiqi Futian Beijing Ouhui Bus Branch, recalled that when the company produced the first batch of new energy buses in 2008, there was no state subsidy, and the new bus saved 30% of the operating cost from the fuel vehicles and won the market in Guangdong. At present, Futian Ouhui has sold a total of 10,000 new energy passenger vehicles nationwide and operates on public transportation lines in Hebei, Jiangsu, and other provinces.
BAIC Group established a new energy company in November 2009, initially only a preparatory group of more than 20 people. “At that time, there was no technical standard. We completely groped for ourselves. We dismantled the engine of the fuel vehicle, installed the battery, and built the first electric vehicle,” said Zhang Yong, deputy general manager of Beiqi New Energy. Today, BAIC New Energy has grown to over 3,000 people. It sold 50,000 electric cars last year and is expected to reach 150,000 this year.
The core industrial industrial chain of new energy vehicles is rising. According to Zhang Yong’s prediction, by 2020, China’s new energy vehicles will reach 2 million vehicles, with an annual production value of only 500 billion yuan in the production process, and the entire industrial chain will exceed RMB 1,000 billion. Predicting the future, China’s autonomous new energy auto industry is expected to replace the existing Western auto industry, which has monopolized core technologies, and has grown into a powerful new pillar industry for the national economy.
Encounter "growth troubles"
While the new energy automobile industry in China has risen at the same time, it has also encountered "growing troubles."
At present, the traditional fuel vehicle certification projects mainly include announcements, environmental protection, and 3C. These three certification system specifications require clear requirements. In addition to the above three items, new energy vehicles also added certification items such as the recommended catalogue, tax exemption list, environmental protection information disclosure, fuel consumption report, and safety technical standards, involving approvals from various government departments.
“Our first task is running licenses, bulletin announcements, fuel consumption, grade catalogs, safety technical standards, etc. Large certifications are covered with small certifications, adding up to a few hundred.” Chairman of Shenyang Hualong New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. Ju said, "It is necessary to use compulsory certification to guarantee the quality of vehicles. Can some duplicate certifications be simplified?"
"I hope the policy is relatively stable and do not change frequently. For example, if one of the batteries, the standards of the relevant departments are upgraded once, companies need to re-validate the whole chain of product development, design, etc., and it will cost several million yuan." Beijing Hengyu New Energy Fan Yongyue, deputy general manager of Car Rental Co., Ltd., said that policies should not only adapt to changes in technological progress, but also allow companies to develop steadily.
In order to get stuck, at the end of 2016, relevant departments issued notices that new energy vehicles purchased by non-individual users should apply for a subsidy, and the cumulative mileage of vehicles must reach 30,000 kilometers.
"In order to meet this requirement, some companies drive empty vehicles to run mileage. Commuter-type shuttles, school buses run tens of kilometers a day, and run less than 10,000 kilometers a year." It is suggested that if the specificity of the policy can be increased, the relevant departments will supervise the use of the vehicle.
Marvin Xiong, brand manager of Xiamen Golden Dragon Group, also hopes that the subsidy policy will be stable. He said: "Each year is almost the end of the year before the introduction of the subsidy details, which led to manufacturers before half a year to eat enough, overwhelming for the next two months, and the preparation of electric buses to prepare the fastest one month." Br />
The "hands" supported by the government should be robust
In the face of complex and complicated situations, the industry expects that the "hands" supported by the government will be more stable.
Fan Yongyue believes that for the independent brands, the international competition for new energy vehicles has opened up. The car companies that rely solely on subsidy for survival will certainly be eliminated, and the market environment will force independent brands to continuously promote technological advancement and service enhancement.
Zhang Yong pointed out that people are still worried about buying new energy vehicles. Problems such as difficulty in charging, short battery life, and unstable performance remain to be overcome. It is hoped that the government will give greater support to the technological innovation of self-owned car makers.
Xue Cheng, product manager of Zhuhai Yinlong New Energy Industrial Park, suggested that government departments should make efforts to establish basic threshold certifications, leaving the rest of the company room for innovation. Taking a battery as an example, at present, solid batteries, liquid batteries, and graphene batteries that have higher energy storage and longer cruising range are under research; charging methods such as charge change, charging, fast charging, and slow charging have their advantages and disadvantages. Should not be too fine.
“Is the company's products entering the market consistent with the approval of the application, the quality of the products is not qualified, and is there safety?” said a person in charge of a passenger bus operating company in Shandong, the government can't do it in batches, and it needs to strengthen supervision.
The government’s hands must also “support” infrastructure construction. Dong Yang said that China has built a total of 195,000 public charging piles. To face the demand for 1 million pure electric vehicles, at least 300,000 piles must be built to meet the needs.


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Google has announced that it will be updating its Gmail and Inbox by Gmail apps later this month. The new versions of the company’s email apps will soon come with a design that would enable content to adapt to smartphones regardless of screen size.
“Starting later this month, Gmail and Inbox by Gmail will support emails created with responsive design, meaning their content adapts to fit screens of all sizes,” Google said on its official Gmail blog. “Texts, links, and even buttons will enlarge to make reading and tapping easier on a smaller screen.”
Viewing emails on smartphones can sometimes be a headache. There are times when texts are just too small to read and links are harder to tap. This is because emails are still formatted to be viewed on larger computer screens.
Google’s update for Gmail and Inbox is intended to resolve these issues by enabling all of its emails to adapt to all types of screen sizes. When this update rolls out, emails should automatically be formatted to fit exactly on the user’s smartphone screen, and users won’t have to zoom in or out to read texts or to tap on any buttons or links.
This new responsive design for emails is also the same on how people view content on desktop/laptop computers. For example, changing the size of a browser’s window will prompt the webpage to automatically adjust the format of the page to make it more comfortable for people to view content.
Google isn’t only bring improvements to its email apps as the company has promised to bring the some improvements to desktop versions. After all, emails formatted for mobile already look better on computers.
Although Google is making an effort to make sure emails are easier to view on mobile devices, this update won’t affect all emails, as pointed out by The Next Web. The new responsive design will only apply to emails that look like small webpages (i.e. website newsletters).


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US consumer confidence slipped for the second straight month in February, according to the The Conference Board.
The Consumer Confidence Index fell to 102.9 in February vs. a downwardly revised figure of 106.0 in January.
“Consumer confidence declined again in February,” Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director of economics at The Conference Board, said in a statement. “The decrease reflected large drops in confidence for households aged 35 to 54 and for households earning $35,000 or more.”
He said that while consumers’ view of current business conditions worsened in February, the Present Situation Index inched up slightly “based on a more favorable view of the availability of jobs.”
The Present Situation Index rose to 152.8 this month from 151.1 in January.
Looking forward, the Expectations Index, based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions, declined to 69.7 in February from a downwardly revised 76.0 in January.
The Conference Board said the Expectations Index has now dipped “well below” 80—the level that often signals a recession within the next year. The Board noted it has been below this level for 11 of the last 12 months.
This has trickled down to spending habits. Ozyildirim said consumers may be showing early signs of pulling back spending in the face of high prices and rising interest rates.
“Fewer consumers are planning to purchase homes or autos, and they also appear to be scaling back plans to buy major appliances,” he added.
By Ethan Bernard, email@example.com
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text: American consumers hold the key to whether the unexpected drop in employment signals a continuation of a gentle slowdown or a tumble into outright recession for the economy. The question is if after years of spending, Americans are spooked enough now to lock up their credit cards. A net decline of 4,000 jobs reported by the government on Friday capped a summer of worrisome economic news - soaring mortgage foreclosures, declining housing prices, credit tightening and wild stock market swings. However, consumer spending remained a bright spot. Now the picture is turning decidedly mixed. While many corporations continue to report strong earnings and predict solid growth for the year, companies from Apple to Office Depot to Harley Davidson have signalled their concerns about consumer spending. Consumers, whose spending accounted for about 70 per cent of the economy, had already started pulling back, said Joel Naroff, a president and chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors. '[If the pullback accelerates] it almost sets off a domino effect. Businesses, which are increasingly uncertain in their spending decisions, could say, 'Why spend into a recession?' Then you've created one', he said. Apple cut the price on its 8GB iPhone to US$399 from US$599 on Wednesday and later offered US$100 store credits after complaints from buyers who had earlier paid the higher price. A day later, Kellwood, whose clothing brands and licenses included Phat Farm, Calvin Klein and Sag Harbor, lowered its earnings guidance for this year because of a downturn in consumer spending. Hovnanian Enterprises, a luxury homebuilder that reported its fourth consecutive quarterly loss this week, is taking an unusual approach - it is slashing prices for three days beginning from Friday in each of its 449 communities nationwide to trim excess inventory. Harley Davidson joined the parade on Friday, reducing its forecast for yearly earnings. Chief executive Jim Ziemer cited a 'difficult time for the United States consumer' in explaining why he was throttling back shipments of new motorcycles to dealers. Barbara Nell, a manager of The Daisy Shop, a designer resale shop, said her customers had been merely browsing since the beginning of last month. However, Marci Kessler, the owner of DoubleTake Consignment Boutique, said business had been brisker than usual lately. National retail chains are seeing the same push-pull on outlook. The jobs numbers brings the same mixed picture. Those who are forecasting a sharp economic slowdown point to numbers showing some industries are contracting dramatically. The manufacturing industry has lost 215,000 jobs over the past year. Construction employment has fallen by 96,000 since its peak in September last year and more cuts are likely as both residential and commercial building have hit the wall of tighter and more expensive borrowing costs. Analysts who argued for calm said the details of the jobs picture were nuanced. They said the labour department showed a good bit of the job weakness was in the government sector, which showed a net decline of 28,000 jobs last month. In contrast, private sector employers added 24,000 jobs. 'Given how resilient this economy has been in the past two years, with record high oil and [petrol] prices and 17 [consecutive] rate [increases] by the Fed, it's way too premature to bet on a recession,' said Bernard Baumohl, an executive director of The Economic Outlook Group.


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(JollofNews)-President Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia has again declared a prominent Lebanese businessman and investor accused by the United States of supporting terrorism persona non grata and demands his soonest possible departure from the country.
Hussein Tajudeen (also known as Tajideen by the US Government), co-owner of Tajco, parent company of the Gambia’s biggest shopping centre, Kairaba Shopping Centre, was given the red card by the Jammeh regime on Wednesday morning, which accused him, his family and business associates of taking part in ‘unacceptable’ business practices that are detrimental to the Gambian economy.
A statement from the Office of the President read on state television, GRTS, said Mr Tajudeen was asked to leave Banjul within 72 hours or face deportation.
Mr Tajudeen was also given 30 days to shut down all his businesses in the country including the grand Kairaba Shopping Centre.
This is Mr Tajudeen’s second expulsion from the West African country. He was first sent packing in June 2013 by President Jammeh after being accused of taking part in ‘undesirable’ business activities which have very serious health and economic consequences to the people and Government of the Gambia.
Although Mr Jammeh had vowed at the time to come down heavily on ‘greedy and unscrupulous businessmen’ like Mr Tajudeen, ‘who are just after their profit margins and not the welfare and well-being of the consumers to operate in the country’, he made a u-turn four months later and rescinded Mr Tajudeen’s persona non grata.
Mr Tajudeen is one of the main importers of rice, flour and other basic commodities in the Gambia. His Tajco Company provided employment opportunities for hundreds of Gambians.
In 2013, the Kairaba Shopping Centre and its parent company Tajco were accused by the US Government of forming part of a multinational network which generates funds for the Lebanese movement Hezbollah.
US investigators believed that Mr Tajudeen and associates used their lucrative and cash-rich food import and supermarket business to generate revenues, create smoke and mirrors, and launder money from other activities.


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In order to fully comply with the Québec provincial government’s quarantine orders, Loto-Québec will only be providing online sales for at least the next two weeks. All sales of lottery products at both retailers and kiosks have been suspended, while the operator also deactivated its network of sales terminals.
This move was made to follow measures in place to try to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Québec government ordered that all non-essential businesses close as the province’s total number of cases of the virus reached 628 on March 25. Most businesses, including bars, movie theaters, malls, gyms, libraries and others deemed non-essential, including retail betting and gaming facilities, will close.
As a result, Loto-Québec announced that they would contact the 8,500 retailers and kiosk operators across the province to inform them of the decision. Customers will still be able to purchase tickets using Loto-Québec’s online platform and physical tickets already purchased will remain valid for upcoming drawings.
“With the health and wellbeing of its customers in mind, Loto-Québec, takes the current situation very seriously and will not hesitate to put into place additional measures as needed,” the company explained in a statement. “We will inform the public as soon as possible concerning the implementation of this new measure.”
Québec became the first province in Canada to order the closure of non-essential businesses, but they would not be the last. Just a short time after the provincial government announced the closures, the government in Ontario implemented similar restrictions. Both governments ordered that these businesses would be closed for a period of 14 days but that this could possibly be extended depending upon the number of cases reported during that time.
Currently, there are 2,780 cases of COVID-19 either confirmed or presumptive, in Canada. Québec has the largest share of those cases, with 1,013.


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New Chinese restaurant Chop-Stix BBQ & Sushi to open July 5 on Wausau's west side
Note: This story has been updated since originally published to change information about the restaurant's ownership, which USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin has been unable to verify.
WAUSAU - A local favorite in Chinese fast food returns to Wausau next week.
Chop-Stix Bourbon BBQ & Sushi will open its doors on July 5 at 2111 Stewart Ave. It's managed by Kris Chen, the former manager of Zhou's Mongolian Barbeque, a longtime tenant of the Wausau Center mall food court.
Zhou's was well-loved by mall-goers for its bourbon chicken, the fried delight that Chen said is a customer favorite that will be back in the new restaurant.
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The new establishment will offer a wider selection of Chinese food options in addition to the beloved bourbon chicken, and will also add sushi to the menu, Chen said.
But for many people, the focus will probably be the chicken.
"Wausau loves the original bourbon chicken and we love Wausau," she said. "We are supporting each other."
Chen said that the restaurant will be great for on-the-go eaters, with delivery options and a pick-up window for convenience. There will also be space to dine in. The owners have been hard at work for about four months, turning the former Dickey's Barbecue Pit location into a welcoming, colorful restaurant. Chen declined to identify the owners.
Chop-Stix will be open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
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Blizzard released its most detailed roadmap yet for 2023 World of Warcraft Dragonflight content on Sept. 7, and with it, we now know some of the content coming in season three with Patch 10.2.
With a new zone, raid, and legendary weapon, among other things, there’s an abundance of content to look forward to. And with the beginning of the patch’s PTR, one would expect that the new patch will be in the hands of players sooner rather than later.
WoW Dragonflight Patch 10.2 release date
Dragonflight Patch 10.2 will release on Nov. 7, and the new season, season three, will start one week after, on Nov. 14. Since the new patch is going live on the day of the weekly reset, this means it will start for NA fans on Nov. 7, while EU players have to wait until Nov. 8 to start exploring the Emerald Dream.
Just like other major Dragonflight patches, Patch 10.2 will give players a ton of new toys to play with—new zone, raid, Renown faction, and various collectibles like toys, mounts, and, of course, transmogs. My first order of business when I finally step into the Emerald Dream will surely be to complete the new questlines, and unlock the new Dragonriding drake, all while exploring every nook and cranny of this long-awaited zone.
The Emerald Dream was first mentioned during the original release of the game, back in 2004, but it was scrapped. Finally, almost two decades after, Blizzard is putting this incredible zone into players’ hands, and I’m glad the wait is finally paying off.


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FOR how long will people continue to die due to the shortage of drugs when National Medical Stores (NMS) is stocked with medicine?
By Pascal Kwesiga and Violet Nabatanzi
FOR how long will people continue to die due to the shortage of drugs when National Medical Stores (NMS) is stocked with medicine? Why has it taken long for the Government to find the missing link?
These are the questions officials from Pan African Movement –Uganda Chapter asked after establishing that NMS warehouses are teeming with drugs.
The officials were shocked to hear from NMS general manager Moses Kamabale that the institution was running out of storage space for medicine, with huge containers of newly procured drugs waiting to be off-loaded outside.
Kamabale informed the team that more ten containers of drugs had just been cleared by Uganda Revenue Authority in Nakawa.
He led the officials through the warehouses where they found boxes containing all sorts of medicine and vaccines.
“The medicine you are seeing here is meant to be used this financial year which is about to end, but our stores are still full. The problem is not here because we have been delivering all medicines as requested by health facilities,” Kamabale explained. He denied recent media reports that the country had run out of vaccines for babies.
“We have never run out of medicine and vaccines. May be they run out of hospitals and we don’t get orders to deliver them,” he said.
As a way of addressing the problem, he said the health ministry had directed them to supply drugs to health facilities that delay to submit requisitions after a certain period.
“We will not assume that there are no patients in your health centre. We have been allowed to deliver medicines using old orders,” Kamabale added.
The general manager of National Medical Stores (NMS) Kamabare (in orange jacket) shows the members of Pan African Movement a fully drug packed store up to the ceiling level, plus drugs in the cold store room, during the visit to the warehouse at Entebe on May 21, 2013. Cancer drug and rabies vaccine are kept in the cold room. Photos by Francis Emorut
Medical stores f illed with unclaimed drugs


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According to a Wall Street Journal report, the coffee chain raised eyebrows by "reporting losses in its biggest European markets" even though it was also notching "hundreds of millions of dollars in annual sales."
At issue among regulators in the EU is a deal Starbucks made with the government in the Netherlands.
That deal allegedly puts Starbucks in a favorable tax position, allowing it to pay a questionably small fraction of its earnings on corporate taxes. The WSJ reports some of the numbers of concern here are the less than 1% corporate tax (2.6 million euros) Starbucks' business in Amsterdam paid last year on about 407 million euros in before-tax profits.
Starbucks has been accused of creative accounting before – including in 2012, when it was caught telling investors it was profitable in the UK, while reporting losses to the government. At the time, Starbucks defended itself, saying, "we seek to be good taxpayers and to pay our fair share of taxes."


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Product approval from flagship facility in Bengaluru to be marketed by Strides Pharma in the US market
Strides Pharma Science (Strides) has announced that its step-down wholly owned subsidiary, Strides Pharma Global, Singapore, has received approval for Triamcinolone Acetonide cream from the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA). The product is a generic version of Triamcinolone Acetonide cream of Mylan Pharmaceuticals.
According to IQVIA MAT data, the US market for Triamcinolone Acetonide cream is approximately US$ 55 Mn. The product will be manufactured at flagship facility in Bengaluru and will be marketed by Strides Pharma in the US market.
The company has 86 cumulative ANDA filings with USFDA of which 56 ANDAs have been approved, including 12 approvals received in FY 19.


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The 2025 Kia EV5 is gunning for the likes of the BYD Atto 3 in Australia’s electric vehicle (EV) sales race, with the Korean brand promising strong supply.
The battery-powered SUV will arrive in Australia in June 2024 with two variants, called Air and Earth.
A flagship GT-Line to follow in the fourth quarter of 2024 (October to December inclusive).
According to Kia Australia, it aims to import up to 850 EV5s every month – a figure which could put it on track to challenge the BYD Atto 3, which last year averaged 920 sales per month.
If Kia Australia brings in 850 EV5s each month, it could sell 10,200 EV5s annually. For context, it sold just 1000 Niro EVs in 2023.
“Kia Australia is confident the EV5 will suit the needs of many new car buyers who now more than ever, are considering the move into a full battery electric vehicle,” said Kia Australia CEO Damien Meredith.
“Sourcing Australia’s stock from the China factory allows us to launch earlier and secure supply of up to 850 per month which is needed to target mainstream appeal.”
As with other Kia models, though, the EV5 will benefit from a suspension tune developed by the brand’s Australian ride and handling team, in a bid to ensure it doesn’t feel out of place on local roads.
Additional Australian-specific calibrations have been made to the EV5’s safety systems to cope with local traffic conditions, lane markings, speed signs and parking spaces, while it has also been tested on EV chargers in Sydney and Canberra – which explains recent photos of a test vehicle in New South Wales.
Though it hasn’t confirmed specifications for the EV5’s Air and Earth variants, Kia Australia says both standard and long-range batteries will be offered, as well as single-motor front-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive layouts.
In China, the single-motor variant produces 160kW and is paired with a choice of 64kWh or 88kWh lithium iron phosphate battery packs, offering 530km to 720km of driving range in lenient CLTC lab testing, respectively.
The all-wheel drive EV5 gains a 70kW electric motor on the rear axle, increasing its combined outputs to 230kW. This drivetrain is powered by a 70kWh battery, enabling up to 650km of driving range in the same CLTC tests.
The EV5 adopts much of its Kia EV9 large SUV sibling’s design language, and is sold in China with a pair of 12.3-inch screens – one for the new-generation ccNC infotainment system, another for the instruments – as well as the brand’s connected services.
Kia Australia is yet to announce pricing and final specifications for the EV5, though it’s understood to be closely priced with the smaller – but South Korean-built – Niro EV, which is priced from $66,590 before on-road costs.
The 2024 Kia EV5 is due to arrive in Australia from June 2024.
MORE: Everything Kia EV5


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Statistics Canada data backs up what many expected: B.C.'s July port strike hurt the country's imports and exports.
International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada workers shut down more than 30 port terminals and other sites in B.C. between July 1 and July 13, including Canada's busiest, the port of Vancouver. Workers then came to terms with the BC Maritime Employers Association with a new contract in early August.
In July, customs-basis imports that were cleared in B.C. marine ports were down 18.5 per cent compared with June (not seasonally adjusted), according to Statistics Canada. This represented the strongest decline in July, from June, since 2005, according to the national number cruncher.
When the data are adjusted for seasonality, widespread declines in overall imports from countries on the Pacific Rim—such as China, Taiwan, South Korea, Peru and Japan—were seen in July on a balance-of-payments basis, according to Statistics Canada.
Trade with South Korea was particularly hard hit, according to the data. Canada exported $381 million worth of products to South Korea in July, down a whopping 63.1 per cent from $1.03 billion in the same month in 2022. Imports with that northeast Asian nation fell by 16.4 per cent, to $775 million in July from $927 million in the same month one year earlier.
Canadian exports to Japan fell by 31.2 per cent in July, to $1.076 billion from $1.565 billion in the same month one year earlier. Imports to Japan, however, somehow were able to rise by 10.7 per cent to $1.138 billion in July, from $1.028 billion in the same month in 2022.
"A lot of the declines were around coal markets, as well natural resource markets, that we do ship to," said Central 1 chief economist Bryan Yu.
Canada also saw the value of its trade with the U.K. suffer in July. Exports to the U.K. were down 39.1 per cent to $1,048 billion. Yu said that this decline partly stemmed from what Statistics Canada called a 60.5-per-cent decline in imports of unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys. That decline was because there was a lower amount of gold asset transfers between financial institutions, he said.
Much of the changes in the value of different Canadian product categories for imports and exports is confounded by the fact that most Canadian trade is with the U.S. and is not sent via ports in B.C., Yu said.
Nonetheless, imports of goods that typically arrive through B.C. marine ports, such as consumer goods, electronic products and industrial machinery and equipment, were down, he said.
Exports leaving B.C. marine ports also decreased in July, falling 23 per cent to their lowest level since February 2020.
While Statistics Canada data show declines in overall exports to countries such as Japan, South Korea and India, exports to China posted a large increase. This rise was mainly the result of higher exports for canola, as grain terminals remained active during the strike, according to Statistics Canada. Exports of coal, potash, and pulp and paper were among the notable July declines in terms of products typically exported through B.C. ports.
"We have seen in B.C., however, that the overall [trade] trend has been a little bit weaker in recent months anyways," Yu said. "Part of that is commodity prices, or fuel prices that were not great either."


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See highlights from Amazon Music's Prime Day concert
Last week, 10-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist Taylor Swift delivered a flawless performance at the Prime Day Concert for Amazon Music. Hosted by award-winning actress Jane Lynch, the concert also featured performances from two-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist Dua Lipa, multi-award-winning artist SZA, and global superstar Becky G.
Prime members who want to relive the event can stream the concert on-demand for a limited time on Prime Video at https://www.primevideo.com/primedayconcert, listen to the Prime Day Concert playlist only on Amazon Music or ask, “Alexa, play the Prime Day Concert" or “Alexa, show me the Prime Day Concert” to watch the show on their Fire TV or Echo Show devices.
Highlights from the concert
Customers can watch the Prime Day Concert in more than 200 countries, on-demand for a limited time. Those streaming the Prime Day concert will get a taste of Carnival Row, the upcoming Amazon Original fantasy drama starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne, along with never before seen clips of Modern Love, an upcoming romantic series based on the popular New York Times column of the same name. Additional clips of the Emmy Award-winning The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, will be shared ahead of their new seasons, in addition to exclusive clips and teasers of upcoming Prime Video releases including edgy superhero drama The Boys, new animated series Undone, from the creators of BoJack Horseman, and brand-new stand-up comedy specials.
And through Prime Day, Prime members who haven’t yet tried Amazon Music Unlimited can get four months of the premium streaming tier for just $0.99 and enjoy unlimited access to more than 50 million songs, ad-free.


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Seventy-five different companies from across the technology and computing channel have become finalists for the PCR Awards 2013. Find the full list below.
The Awards take place on Thursday March 14th at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington – you can buy tickets and find out more at www.pcr-awards.com.
With the finalists now decided, a panel of some 100 UK computing/technology channel execs will be asked to vote. Judges will be named once the winners have been revealed.
There are two exceptions – the Grand Prix Award, which will be voted for by the PCR team, and the new Special Recognition Award, which will be chosen by PCR’s Retail Advisory Panel.
Here is the full list of companies that are up for an Award across the Frontline, Distribution and Vendor categories:
Micro Plus Computers
PCs Made Simple
Mirus IT Solutions
Wyvern Business Systems
Service and Support
Gaming (PC hardware and software)
Marketing & PR
Distributor of the Year
Business and Utility publisher
Leisure software publisher
Excalibur Publishing/Contact Sales
Special Recognition Award
Michael Buchanan, Corsair
Andy Dow, Computer 2000
Alex Tatham, Westcoast
There are limited sponsorship opportunities available for the PCR Awards 2013 – for more information contact firstname.lastname@example.org.
The event is already supported by Entatech as Platinum Partner, VIP Computers as Drinks Reception Host, Meroncourt as Vendor Category Partner, Micro-P as After-Show Party Host and Philips/MMD as Gold Partner.
Want to receive up-to-the-minute tech news straight to your inbox? Then click here to sign up for the completely free PCR Daily Digest and Newsflash email services. You can also follow PCR on Twitter and Facebook.


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New Delhi, Feb 27 (PTI) Scooters India today said its board has approved to hive off 89.69 acres of its non-core land. Considering the strategic disinvestment process initiated by the government of India, the board at its meeting held on February 26, 2018, has accorded consent to hive off its 89.69 acres of non-core land, Scooters India said in a filing to BSE. Incorporated in 1972, Scooters India is engaged in designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad spectrum of conventional and non-conventional fuel driven 3-wheelers. Shares of Scooters India were today trading at Rs 49.95 per scrip in afternoon trade on BSE, up 4.94 per cent from its previous close. PTI AKT AKT ANS ANS -
Scooters India gets board nod to hive off non-core land
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.
Get real-time alerts and all the news on your phone with the all-new India Today app. Download from


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The new car show set to be hosted by ex-Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May on Amazon Prime, will be “very, very, very expensive,” for Amazon, according to the company head and 15th world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos. While he wouldn’t confirm how much any of them had been paid, or what kind of budget they would be given, previous statements by the new show (and also ex-Top Gear) producer, Andy Wilman, have put the figure at around £160 million.
Top Gear was said to be worth around £50 million a year to the BBC, with regular viewing audiences north of five million. While Amazon’s Prime service certainly has enough users to eclipse that, the fact that it’s limiting the show to paying customers may mean viewing numbers are substantially lower in the initial stages of the show’s life.
But this hasn’t stopped Bezos and Amazon as a whole from backing it.
“They’re worth a lot, and they know it,” Bezos said in an interview with the Telegraph, while talking about various shows that his company had been pushing and would do so in the future. He’s pretty excited about the new car showing – clearly – but didn’t say whether he’d met with the presenters as of yet.
He also didn’t put all his eggs in the Clarkson-led basket, suggesting that while the new show – whatever it ends up being called – is an important get for Amazon, “we’re in a golden age of television,” and there are many great shows that Amazon has driven forward in recent years. One of its biggest hits has been cross-dressing comedy-drama Transparent, which has won many awards since debuting in 2014.
Bezos also talked Esports in the interview, saying he and his family went to the recent DotA 2 International live show and watched all of the hotly contested games. The fact that someone so rich and powerful ‘gets’ Esports like that, suggests it won’t be long before we see Amazon supporting it in some guise or another.
Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.
KitGuru Say: Any Top Gear fans among you that would be willing to purchase Amazon Prime to get a look at the new show when it eventually airs?
Image source: Wikimedia


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- Microsoft is permanently closing its physical retail stores, in a decision that stands to cost Microsoft $450 million this quarter — but analysts say it's a smart move in the long run.
- Microsoft stores never achieved the same success as Apple stores, and their contribution to the bottom line was "negligible," analysts say.
- Coupled with the pandemic-driven uncertainty around physical retail overall, closing the stores was the safe choice.
- Besides, Microsoft can always change its mind and open new stores later.
- Are you a Microsoft employee? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-425-344-8242) or email (email@example.com).
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Microsoft on Friday said it would permanently close the vast majority of its physical stores, in a move that the company says will cost $450 million in the current quarter.
Despite the high cost of the sudden move, Microsoft analysts who spoke to Business Insider say it's a smart decision because the stores never achieved the same success as their Apple counterparts — and that the pandemic-driven uncertainty in the physical retail business made the timing right.
"This is a tough, but smart strategic decision," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note to clients. "In this COVID-19 environment this was the right time for Redmond to rip the Band-Aid off and close the stores strategically speaking."
Microsoft's retail stores are part of the company's more than decade-long effort to take on Apple in consumer PCs and promote Microsoft's gaming products, Forrester analyst J.P. Gownder told Business Insider in an email. The stores showcases Microsoft's own Surface PCs and Xbox game consoles, as well as devices from partners like HP, Dell, and Lenovo. However, the concept never really seemed to click with shoppers.
"Unfortunately, the spaces were too often underutilized; while crowds thronged Apple Stores in the same mall or on the same street, the foot traffic, revenue per square foot, and usage of services didn't match up to Apple Store," Gownder said.
While the stores served as an event space for Microsoft, and a way for users to go hands-on with Windows devices, the stores ultimately contributed "negligible retail revenue," Ives wrote in an note to investors.
Futurum Research analyst Daniel Newman said Microsoft has other means to showcase and sell its products, including the digital storefronts the company said it will now focus on.
"Microsoft is one of the companies leading the post COVID-19 digital transformation narrative and leaving retail for the company makes sense to me," Newman told Business Insider in an email. "The stores never had the sameas Apple and with retail partners like Best Buy, its products can be consumed and viewed in retail without the massive overhead of retail."
Microsoft in March closed physical locations indefinitely, citing the coronavirus crisis.
The permanent store closures are an indication Microsoft's consumer PC business may have come under pressure during the pandemic, Gownder, the Forrester analyst, said. While Microsoft's cloud businesses, including Office 365, are thriving, changing consumer spending habits may be putting pressure on other areas of the company.
"Microsoft no longer relies nearly so much on Windows as it used to; the company is truly an intelligent cloud, intelligent edge firm," he said.
It's still unclear whether the permanent store closures mean layoffs, but Microsoft in its press release announcing the store closure plans said "the retail team members will serve consumers, small-business, education, and enterprise customers, while building a pipeline of talent with transferable skills."
"Interestingly, Microsoft plans to employ the store talent as remote troubleshooters to preserve the services function," Gownder said. "But it's clear that the [consumer PC] channel no longer served its purpose, at least not with the cost structure that it had, and certainly not during a global pandemic."
Ultimately, the pandemic means it will be a while before physical retail returns to normal, Newman, the Futurum analyst, said — and Microsoft can always change its mind later.
"Retail will likely have a longer come back journey and if timing is right, there is no reason Microsoft can't selectively re-enter the retail experience with a new and improved approach," he said.
Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at firstname.lastname@example.org, message her on Twitter @ashannstew, or send her a secure message through Signal at 425-344-8242.


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Parents of teens can block Apple products from accessing their children’s social media accounts, according to an ESPN story published Sunday.
The story says that parents can block the devices for up to 30 days from the teens accounts and for up, and a year from their kids accounts.
The restrictions are not permanent, but they do not appear to be enforceable, according a source familiar with the situation.
The source told ESPN the restrictions could not be enforced on devices manufactured in China, but could not comment on specific models.
Apple is the largest supplier of iPhones in the world, and the company has been at the forefront of the fight against hacking.
A source familiar to the situation told ESPN that parents would have to first sign a form before they could block devices on their kids social media pages.
This source also said that parents could block their kids from accessing certain Apple services, including iMessage, FaceTime and Instagram.
As of Monday morning, more than 3 million iPhone devices had been blocked from accessing the apps, according the ESPN report.
An Apple spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The source familiar the situation said the restrictions do not apply to iPhones that are being used by teens.
The source said the iPhone restrictions have been in place since at least November, but that they had not been enforced.
Apple has been among the companies leading the fight in the United States against hackers who target its products, with the company’s products including iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iPod all being targeted by hackers in the past.
Apple said in a statement to the ESPN story that it is committed to fighting this threat, and that the company would continue to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in their investigations.
The move is another sign that Apple is becoming more involved in the fight.
In January, the company announced that it had begun blocking certain Apple devices from accessing apps in China after it learned that Chinese hackers were using its products to launch ransomware attacks.
Apple’s push into China has been a priority for the company in the years ahead.
Last year, Apple began selling an iPhone 6 and an iPad Pro in China and China, respectively, in a move that has also raised questions about the company using Chinese government-issued licenses to manufacture its products.
Apple also began selling a range of new iPhones in China in January, including the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6s Plus.
In February, Apple announced plans to expand its cooperation with the People’s Republic of China, with a new partnership with the government that will enable the company to sell iPhones in more countries around the world.


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media trough M&M Global.“
Spain leading mobile internet consumption – with 75% internet use set to be mobile in 201728.10.2016
Zenith’s Mobile Advertising Forecasts has revealed that in 2017, 75% of internet use will be mobile, with Spain, Hong Kong and China leading mobile internet consumption.
The report, which looks at mobile advertising and technology in 60 countries, shows the increasing time that users spend on the mobile internet, the spread of smartphone and tablets and the growth of ad spend.
According to the forecast, the mobile proportion of internet use has increased from 40% in 2012, to 68% in 2016, with it predicted to reach 79% by 2018.
In Spain, mobile internet use in 2016 accounted for 85% total internet use, followed by 79% in Hong Kong and 76% in China, with USA at 74%. Hong Kong is expected to overtake to 89% by 2018, with China in second at 87%.
Smartphone penetration has increased from 23% to 56% since 2012, an increase of 2.4 times in four years, which is expected to rise to 63% in 2018. Smartphones are most common in Western Europe and Asia, with Ireland top of the list at 92% and set to remain at the top in 2018, followed by 91% in Singapore, set to increase a percent in 2018.
The report also predicts that internet advertising will overtake mobile in 2017, reaching 60% in 2018 with expenditure of $134bn – more than spent on newspaper, magazine, cinema and OOH put together.
Therefore, advertisers are advised to take their communication mobile-first and build cross screen brand experiences. The report also shows that advertisers should consider all devices, as consumers tend to use the more specialist tech, such as smartwatches and activity trackers, on specific occasions allowing users to be targeted accurately.
“Mobile devices are already the primary means of accessing the internet across the world,’ said Zenith head of forecasting Jonathan Barnard. “Countries in Western Europe, Asia and North America are leading the transition, but mobile technology is spreading rapidly everywhere. Next year mobile devices will become the main vehicle for internet advertising as well.”


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New Jersey Cannabis Licensing – What’s Happening Now?
Nearly a year after New Jersey voters overwhelmingly passed the marijuana legalization amendment on November 3, 2020, the state is now in motion to start cannabis licensing processes for its adult-use program.
Though New Jersey may be the fourth smallest state in the nation, it is estimated that by 2021 adult-use annual sales could soar between $850-950M. Here are the latest updates for cannabis stakeholders interested in entering the market.
Application Process & Timeline
The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission is expected to publish applications for new marijuana businesses by September 20th. The notice for applications will be published here and the next upcoming Commission meeting will occur on October 5, where the public is invited to submit questions and offer comments.
New Jersey has six classes of cannabis licenses, including:
- Class 1 License: Cannabis Cultivator (growing cannabis)
- New Jersey has issued a statewide limitation on the number of licenses for all types, including a cap of 37 cultivation licenses until February 2023, which includes existing licenses. This leaves only 12-13 cultivation permits available.
- Class 2 License: Cannabis Manufacturer (preparing and packaging)
- Class 3 License: Cannabis Wholesaler (selling to other wholesalers and retailers)
- Class 4 License: Cannabis Distributor (transport between cultivators/establishments)
- Class 5 License: Cannabis Retailer (selling to customers)
- Class 6 License: Cannabis Delivery (delivery from retailers to customers)
As of now, the Commission has made no other limitations on other license types, but there is the possibility more information will be released when the application is published.
Social Equity and Diversity
New Jersey is one of the most diverse in the country with residents of color comprising nearly 45 percent of the population. Under the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act that legalized adult-use cannabis, the state included a large social equity and diversity component which requires 30 percent of marijuana licenses to be allocated to businesses owned by women, minorities or disabled veterans.
For priority businesses under the Social Equity, Diversity, and Impact Zone law, diverse businesses must be certified by the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services in the Department of the Treasury.
Additionally, at least 25 percent of licenses should be allocated to residents of impact zones, which are municipalities that have more than 120,000 residents that: rank in the top 40 percent of municipalities in the state for cannabis-related arrests; have a crime index of 825 or higher; and have a local average annual unemployment rate that ranks in the top 15 percent of municipalities.
In addition to priority businesses, the New Jersey marijuana program also allows the commission to issue conditional licenses, which allows applicants the ability to avoid certain regulatory requirements of a full license initially. Conditional license applicants who have decision making authority must be able to show an adjusted gross income of no more than $200,000 or no more than $400,000 if filing jointly with another for the immediately preceding taxable year (2020).
During the 120-day period following the issuance of a conditional license, applicants must be able to provide a strategy and plans to achieve full compliance.
A microbusiness license in New Jersey requires established local connections with the state that is restricted by number of employees and other operational limitations. There is no limit on the number of microbusiness licenses in New Jersey and after being operational for a year, microbusinesses are allowed to transition to an annual/standard license. Ownership limitations include that 51% of the total number of persons included in the business (owners, employees, etc.) must reside in the local municipality they are operating in or bordering neighborhoods. The Ownership and employees must be comprised of 100% New Jersey residents.
Next Steps for New Jersey Licenses Applicants
If you’re interested in applying for a New Jersey adult-use cannabis license, contact the CB Advisors team today to start developing your licensing plan and approach.


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Facebook Gaming partners will now be able to play music people actually recognize during livestreams, the social media giant said Monday. Through a partnership with the music industry, Facebook is making a "vast catalogue of popular music" available to Facebook Gaming partners, the company said in a blog post.
Facebook is working with music labels and publishers, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, to add various songs spanning a range of genres. Level Up creators can expect to have access to this perk soon, Facebook noted.
Facebook Gaming, watch livestreams, play instant games and connect via gaming groups., lets users
Currently, all creators can access a library of free custom music and sound effects through Facebook's Sound Collection. Until Facebook extends use of copyrighted music to all gaming creators, everyone except for partnered creators will need to stick to using those royalty-free music options in Sound Collection.
There are still some restricted tracks, Facebook notes, and streams should focus on gaming rather than music. "In other words, you're okay to stream music as long as it's in the background, with game sound effects and your voice (and anything else) over the top," the blog post reads. "Playing DJ without gaming is a no-no."
Gaming creators can play songs from whatever source they prefer, such asor downloads from a personal collection. So far, Facebook has secured licenses covering over 90 countries.


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Why did you think Ilhan Omar wanted power? To spread democracy? Ilhan Omar was elected to represent all the people, not a special class of people.
These stealth jihad maneuvers are but another front in the islamization of America.
Muslims employed by Amazon have breaks. Not good enough. They want to stop the line to impose Islam on the secular workplace. Mind you, these Muslim workers don’t have to pray at those times. They can make up the missed prayers later. They don’t stop production lines in Iran and other Muslim countries for prayer. But here in the West, it is a way to impose Islam on the workplace, on the secular marketplace — and on their co-workers.
Muslim lawsuits against Hertz, Wal-Mart, Target, Disney and a host of other American businesses for special rights and special accommodation have been largely successful creating a special rights for a special class of people — which is an accordance with Islam (in which Muslims are superior to the kuffar). But it goes against every American tenet of individual rights and separation of mosque and state.
Read the chapter, “Mosqueing the Workplace” in my book, Stop the Islamization of America, to better understand this de facto imposition of sharia in America.
Ilhan Omar Protests With Islamic Amazon Employees to Demand More A More Islamic Work Place
Somali immigrants in Minnesota who are now working for Amazon staged a walkout protest on Friday to demand a more Islamic workplace.
The protesters, many of whom are “refugees” claiming victimhood status in America which has ben generous enough to accept them from the terror hotbed otherwise known as Somalia, are demanding that Amazon give them longer breaks for Islamic prayers. Muslims pray five times a day, which means the Muslim employees at Amazon in Minnesota are requesting at least 5 paid breaks a day.
It is worth noting that one never hears stories about Jewish and Christian employees who work for Amazon and other large companies staging protests demanding more breaks for so called “religious reasons”. On Fridays, Jews celebrate Shabbat, yet you never see Jewish employees who work at Amazon demanding the company pay them so they can leave early to go home and pray. Praying is an extracurricular activity that is separate from one’s job, and employers are not responsible for making sure people are able to hold religious services while on the clock.
Something must be said of how Jews and Christians have managed to assimilate into the American workplace and Congress without constantly demanding special treatments.
Not only did the Muslim employees walk out to demand a more Islamic workplace, but the organizers of the protest chose to hold the protest during the busy holiday season, less than 2 weeks before Christmas, to “send a message” to Amazon.
Newly elected Congresswoman Ilhan Omar who herself is a Somali who represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional district was present at the protest to demand Amazon become more Islamic. She suggested that making Muslims package holiday gifts in the factory stripped them of their “dignity”.
“On this holiday season, you all are doing the important work of making sure people are bale to celebrate cheerfully as they receive their holiday gifts. And what people are looking forward to is that happy celebration. And people who are going to receive those gifts, the packages that you guys are putting together, need to know that not every (Muslim) worker here is not fully happy. Their dignity is not being uplifted,” Omar said at the protest.
Omar, who is a practicing Muslim, is on the record making hateful remarks towards Jews and Christians. In 2012, Omar tweeted that Israel was “evil”, and just days ago, she mocked Vice President Mike Pence’s Christian faith on Twitter, sparking outrage from Christians.
So why do the Somali employees at Amazon and Ilhan Omar think they are so special?
The Somalis who protested are claiming that the working conditions at Amazon are poor because they “aren’t Muslim enough”.
However, since hiring large amounts of Somali refugees to work at the Amazon warehouse in Shakopee, Minnesota, Amazon has been more than accommodating to Muslim employees.
Besides taking on the burden of hiring many non-English speaking Somali workers, Amazon has also provided prayer mats for workers, converted a conference room into an Islamic prayer room during Ramadan, and changed shift transfers for workers who were fasting during Ramadan.
But the Somali workers are still complaining they don’t have enough time to pray.
When was the last time Amazon converted a conference room into a church or a synagogue?
The answer is never, because Jews and Christians have come to value and appreciate assimilation, and there is an understanding in the civilized West that one’s professional business is separate from their personal or religious business.
Not only are the Muslim employees demanding they be paid on the clock to pray, but they are also requesting Amazon pay reparations to “struggling Muslim immigrant families” in Minnesota to make up for all of the Muslim labor at Amazon, apparently failing to grasp the concept of a timesheet. Here in America, people are paid for their labor by the hour.
“It’s not a handout or a donation. This is so Amazon can give back into the community a portion of what they have taken so much of,” said Mohamed Omar, a local imam.
Newsflash Mohamed: You don’t get a bonus just because you’re Muslim.
Welcome to America.
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The world is currently experiencing tremendous inflation in food prices. As a report in a recent issue of The Economist (December 8, pp. 81 – 83) argues, there are two major causes of this global food inflation (not to deny the potential for other factors as well – and see my note below on the contribution of oil prices to food inflation).
One of these contributing factors is actually a side effect of a positive development. The level of affluence has risen dramatically in China and India and some other developing nations in recent years. As in already developed countries, affluence has some negative consequences, e.g. greater environmental impact from higher per capita energy consumption. Higher affluence has also led to a boom in meat eating in China and India – The Economist reports that meat-eating in China went from 20 kg of meat per capita per year in 1985 to more than 50 kg per capita per year now. More meat equals more grain grown for feed equals (unless tremendous, even stupendous, quantities of land were put into grain production – causing a whole new set of ecological problems) higher prices for grain.
The second major cause of current global food inflation is the diversion of enormous amounts of grain, especially maize, to subsidized biofuel production in places like the U.S. This has resulted in an increase in maize prices, which alone contributes to food inflation, but with the further result that many farmers have switched from cultivating other grains to maize, much for biofuel purposes, further contributing to food inflation.
An article, “Biofuels: Danger or New Opportunity for Africa?,” makes clear that the problem (to the extent that food inflation is a problem – The Economist report argues that with increased food prices, some farmers, including some in the developing world, will benefit, depending on how food inflation is managed by governments) is not the use of biofuels per se.
The “Biofuels” news article reports on a conference on biofuel and food held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where a number of perspectives on biofuels were presented. Many voices call for cautious development of biofuel production in Burkina Faso and other African nations.
Within this framework of caution, some individuals expressed hope for biofuel development in Africa for a variety of reasons. (1) In non-oil-producing countries, like Burkina Faso, biofuels could potentially provide a lower price source of fuel than oil imports, given the current astronomical price of oil. (It seems clear to me, and I was surprised that the report in The Economist didn’t deal with this, that global oil prices are a major contributor to food inflation in two ways: [a] increased transportation cost due to higher oil prices adds to the cost of all commodities; [b] the high price of oil is the main spur for biofuel development.) (2) Biofuel and food aren’t mutually exclusive. For example, biofuel byproducts can still be used for feed for livestock or for fertilizer. Further, biofuel need not be produced strictly from edible grains. Brazil’s sugar cane (edible, but not a grain) provides a far more efficient source for biofuel production than North America’s maize, and for countries like Burkina Faso, biofuel might be best produced from non-edible plants grown on land less well suited for direct food production purposes. (3) Biofuels don’t have to fuel everything in order to be useful – they can be used strategically. For example, in poor countries, diverting small proportions of crops to biofuel production specifically to fuel tractors and other agricultural equipment could be a way to simultaneously increase the scale of production and have agricultural production fuel itself.
Again, the problem isn’t biofuels per se, but the diversion of large portions of the world’s food supply (especially North American maize) into fuel production in a context of trade and other policies that stymies more efficient and sensible biofuel production.


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The break-up of a potash marketing cartel may signal the deathknell for plans by BHP Billiton Ltd., the biggest mining company, to spend as much as US$15-billion to expand into production of the crop nutrient.
[np_storybar title=”‘The end of the potash world as we know it:’ Shares plummet on threat of price pullback” link=”http://financialpost.com/2013/07/30/shares-of-potash-producers-set-to-collapse/”]Shares of North America’s three main potash producers plunged on Tuesday after the blockbuster announcement that Russian company OAO Uralkali plans to break up one of the two main potash marketing groups to boost its sales. Read more.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
OAO Uralkali, the world’s largest potash producer, today quit a marketing venture that controlled about 43% of global exports and signaled prices may fall by as much as a quarter. BHP’s Jansen project in Canada contains a 3 billion metric ton resource.
“This could be a game changer” for the project, Heath Jansen, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., wrote today in a note to clients. “Uralkali appears to have started a price war. We would argue that the risk reward of proceeding with the project is moving toward not proceeding.”
A spokeswoman for BHP declined to comment.
The move by Uralkali to end its venture with Belarus sent shares of potash producers plunging as much as 27% from Israel to Germany to Canada and the U.S. as investors speculated a flood of supplies will lead to lower prices for potash, a soil nutrient that strengthens plant roots. Uralkali, part-owned by billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, said it exited the venture after Belarus undermined the sales agreements.
BHP Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie last month said the mine was “a great option, but it’s just an option.” According to the Melbourne-based company’s website, Jansen has the “potential to become one of the world’s premier potash mines.”
While the company has said it sees the fertilizer ingredient becoming the fifth pillar of its business in addition to copper, iron ore, coal and petroleum production, BHP has delayed a final investment decision amid a freeze at the company on approving new projects to combat waning demand for raw materials.
Uralkali now plans to boost sales to consumers including China, which imports about a fifth of global supplies, the Berezniki, Russia-based company said. The change in trading policy may push prices below US$300 a ton, CEO Vladislav Baumgertner told reporters. That’s at least 25% below the current contract price for China.
Prices for the nutrient have been falling, demand is waning and stockpiles have been growing. The so-called price war started by Uralkali may last as long as 18 months, leading to even lower prices, Citigroup said.
“If everyone knocks down their price forecast, then obviously that’s going to make a lot of difference to a lot of people’s cash-flow models,” Paul Burnside, principal consultant on potash for London-based research company CRU, said today. “I’m fairly skeptical about further additions of capacity in general. I’m really struggling to see why it’s needed.”
London-based Sirius Minerals Plc is among companies weighing new potash output. It is studying building a US$1.9 billion potash mine in a national park in Yorkshire, in northeastern England. The company requires approval from local planners and financing before starting development. The economics of the project can withstand a fall in prices, Chief Executive Officer Chris Fraser said in e-mailed comments to Bloomberg News today, after Uralkali’s annoncement.
“The expected margins within the York Potash Project are sufficiently robust to enable the project to withstand short term price downside scenarios,” Fraser said. “The long-term outlook remains for increased demand and the fundamentals of that demand remain strong.”
For BHP, the Jansen mine may cost as much as US$15 billion to build and the company may only proceed on a “de-risked basis,” either through selling a stake or bringing in a joint-venture partner to help fund construction, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said last month.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan CEO Bill Doyle said in May the economics of Jansen “don’t work” and that it’s unlikely to proceed. BHP said in 2011 it had committed to spending US$1.2 billion on the project and almost US$2 billion in Saskatchewan as part of its “commitment to develop a world-class potash business in the province.”
A potash price of US$300 a ton cuts Citigroup’s valuation of Jansen from US$7.2 billion, at a US$500-a-ton estimate, to a negative valuation of US$2.2 billion, it said.
This development will affect their decision making process
BHP made a US$40 billion hostile bid for Potash Corp. in 2010 as it sought to add production of the crop nutrient. The bid was blocked by the Canadian government. Saskatchewan is the world’s biggest potash-producing region.
BHP may see the move by Uralkali as accelerating a switch to more market-oriented pricing for potash, a process it has encouraged in other commodities such as iron ore, and a development that may bolster its faith in Jansen’s economics.
“This development will affect their decision making process,” Sophie Jourdier, an analyst at Liberum Capital Ltd. in London, said today by phone. “Obviously a company like BHP looks at a very long-term view and it may be that they come to a decision that they still want to go ahead with this.”


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NOT long ago, Jessica Chavkin, a children’s clothing designer who lives in Gramercy, returned from a two-week trip to smog-saturated Beijing and Shanghai, and booked a Deep Sea Detox massage and body wrap treatment, costing $165, at a Bliss spa. “My skin just felt puffy,” she said. She also spent $35 more for a process called dry brushing, which entailed natural bristles being run over her skin in short, quick strokes.
Why did a rubdown with a scratchy brush sound good?
Ms. Chavkin, 28, swears it feels both soothing and stimulating. In fact, she also dry brushes before showering with a brush Bliss gave her for at-home use. “It exfoliates and sloughs off dead skin cells,” she said. “The second thing is it gets circulation going, and third, it gets toxins moving out of my body.”
Ah, toxins that modern-day bugaboo the spa crowd has been attacking with increasing ferocity; first internally, with high colonics and BluePrint juice cleanses, and now externally, with dry brushing, an ancient ritual once done in Japan and Greece. Dry brushing is being promoted by spas and in magazines as a way to purge unwanted substances from skin (along with other benefits: Glamour.com promised a good brushing would render skin “über-touchable” before sex). Some of today’s proponents say skin brushing can eliminate up to a pound of toxins a day.
Such claims irk Dr. Tina S. Alster, a clinical professor of dermatology at Georgetown University Medical Center, who said, exasperated: “It sounds trendy. Everyone wants to flush toxins from their skin. Give the body more credit than that.”
For the record, the liver, not the skin, is the body’s largest eliminator of waste, Dr. Alster said. “Regular environmental exposures and toxins, does your skin eliminate those?” she asked rhetorically. “No, it doesn’t.”
Yet word is spreading about the joys of dry brushing, stoked in part by erroneous claims that it can would that it were so! improve the look of cellulite. Never mind that over a decade ago dry brushing was the anticellulite treatment of choice for Bridget Jones, a character not known for her judgment.
Devotees like Ms. Chavkin who brush their skin often with abrasive fibers at home, discover the ritual in a spa. But you don’t need a professional: Beauty products like the Ultimate Detox set ($50) from Elemental Herbology, a British company, sold at Spacenk.com, include exfoliating sisal mitts. Eight Body Moisture, a body-product line from Edmond, Okla., offers a ginger lime dry brushing kit ($43) that includes instructions imploring users to stroke “toward the heart.” Mitts and bristly brushes can also be found at natural food stores. The International SPA Association doesn’t track how many treatments feature dry brushing, but it has been done quietly (if not altogether painlessly) in spas for years.
All body treatments offered by Dermalogica start with a vigorous skin brushing. That’s about 3,500 spas nationwide, said Annet King, the director of global education for Dermalogica. “It’s our belief and understanding that dry body brushing is a fantastic technique to improve detoxification,” and spur a sluggish lymphatic system, said Ms. King, 41, who said she took a hard-bristle brush to her skin daily, even though it “stings.”
This year, Mama Mio skin care began offering two spa treatments, with cutesy names like Bootcamp for Tummies, that begin with dry brushing, said Ann Marie Cilmi, a spa consultant in Manhattan who counts Mama Mio among her clients. More than 50 spas nationwide offer these type of treatments at roughly $150 apiece.
In 2011, Bliss spas plan to sell their own natural-bristle brush. Their most popular body treatment (out of 10) is currently the FatGirlSlim, which the company’s Web site calls a “detoxifying, circulation-stimulating, body-toning treatment” that “includes dry brushing.” (The Bliss spa in SoHo and the one in the W hotel at 541 Lexington Avenue sell three times as many FatGirlSlim sessions as other locations in Dallas and Miami Beach presumably New Yorkers just feel dirtier.) “People are becoming more aware that ‘If I eat a bunch of cheese, and eat a bunch of chocolate cake, it will go to my face or my rear,’ ” said Wendy Allred, education manager at Bliss. “ ‘I kind of need to go detox.’ ”
A daily brush at home, or as part of a $150 FatGirlSlim treatment, will help guests fit into their cocktail dresses better, she maintains.
After brushing, Mrs. Allred said, “I always say it feels like I went to the gym all week, even though we all I know I didn’t.”
Andrea Layman, a 31-year-old hairstylist from Laguna Niguel, Calif., had not heard of body brushing until the model Molly Sims gushed about it in Health Magazine this year. It is “great for your circulation,” Ms. Sims told her interviewer. “Oh my God, it’s amazing.”
After some research on the Internet, Ms. Layman was sold. “A lot of the models do it to reduce cellulite, and to keep their skin looking really good, and to stay thin,” she said. Ms. Layman, who now body brushes twice a week before showering, said her skin feels “amazing” and she has lost weight (though she admitted this could be the result of her workouts).
Dry brushing does get rid of dead skin cells, increase circulation (as a brisk walk would) and help the lymphatic system work better and decrease bloating (as a massage would), Dr. Alster said. However, the grander claims are more suspect.
While Ms. Cilmi, the spa consultant, said body brushing done religiously over time “does definitely reduce the appearance of cellulite,” this is unlikely, said Dr. Carolyn Jacob, a dermatologist in Chicago. Why? Cellulite is a complex problem that involves thin skin and the kind of fibrous bands holding in women’s fat. Dry brushing “won’t change fibrous bands at all,” Dr. Jacob said a dagger to the hearts of women with cottage-cheese thighs. Twisting the dagger, Dr. Jacob cautioned that avid dry brushers put their skin at risk for inflammation, redness and an eczema-like itchy rash.
Indeed, it’s remarkable that a practice that is stimulating at best, agonizing at worst, is offered by spas that purport to pamper. “It’s pretty intense,” said Steve Capellini, a spa consultant in Miami, adding “some spas are not willing to offer strongly stimulating treatments to their customer. They want something more soothing.”
Day and luxury spas that do offer body brushing rarely make it a stand-alone treatment. Instead, it is often done after a body wrap or a massage, as at Bliss, or before, as at the Spa at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, Calif., where the director, Liza Esayian said: “Some people have a cup of coffee to start their day. Dry brushing is that for me.”


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Update 11:11PM Eastern: On Twitter, Brichter reports the problem has been smoothed out and version 1.3 has been approved and should be showing up in the App Store shortly. All is right with the world, but it would still be nice if the rules were a little clearer.
Apple has struck a new level of bizarreness when it comes to approving submissions to the App Store. On Tuesday, Loren Brichter of atebits, developer of popular iPhone Twitter client Tweetie said via Twitter that Apple had rejected the latest update to the app because it contained an obscenity; he later confirmed that in an e-mail to Macworld.
Here’s the catch: the obscenity was in Tweetie’s Trends feature, shown at left, which scans the social networking to find the most popular keywords that people are talking about (and no, the obscenity in question was not “Kindle,” smartypants). If there’s a naughty word in that section, it’s not because Tweetie’s developers put it there, but because people on Twitter were talking about it. It’s akin to rejecting the app because somebody was posting swears to their Twitter feed.
What? There’s swearing on the Internet? Say it ain’t so! This is ridiculous. In fact, it’s so ridiculous, I can’t even express how ridiculous it is. Because Apple would ban me.
If that’s the level we’re looking at here, then Safari ought to be banned for indecency because you can use it to look at porn and Apple ought to take out Notes because you can clearly write swears in that too. While we’re at it, we should probably just get rid of the whole virtual keyboard, because that’s nothing but trouble waiting to happen.
Of course, that’s not the real problem here—the issue is that App Store approval process is fast becoming untenable. It’s always been a black box, but moves like this one are starting to make it seem like a black hole. With over 25,000 applications on the store and more coming in every day, it seems like perhaps the approval process is simply overwhelming Apple. Whatever the case, it’s desperately in need of an overhaul.
Brichter himself is of two minds about the situation. “As part of the bigger picture, this is going to be a growing issue,” he says. “At the same time, I understand the App Store is still a toddler. I have plenty of faith that the kinks will be worked out eventually.” He points out that what makes the rejection even stranger is that the previous version of Tweetie was a “Featured” app in the store just last week.
So how do you solve a problem like the iPhone app review process? It’s hard to say, exactly, since it’s so inscrutable to us in the outside world. If it’s a matter of sheer volume, then Apple simply needs to hire more bodies—that’s relatively easy to fix.
But I suspect it’s more than that. The rejections that make the news often seem to lack rhyme or reason, which suggests a set of criteria that are not uniform between the various personnel doing the approval. There are a couple of changes that could help this situation: the first is to post a straightforward rubric for what merits rejection from the App Store—for both developers and those on the inside. And I’m talking Crystal Pepsi clear, here. For obscenity that may even involve the literal spelling out of certain objectionable words—George Carlin would be proud.
The other potential change is accepting more types of content and figuring out some way to rate or categorize that content rather than flat-out rejecting it. There’s already explicit content in both the audio and video sections of the iTunes Store, but it’s usually marked as such (although not across the board—you’ll find a lot of movies that actually lack ratings).
Such a move could help avoid potential embarassment in the future, too. From what I can tell, it would be a pretty trivial matter to get something onto the store that would only reveal its true nature after a certain amount of time. Widening the type of content accepted to the store could forestall that eventuality by providing a legitimate route for developers to submit edgier applications. “It seems to me that App Store rejections are the rule when they should be the exception,” says Brichter.
It’s a solution that’s not without its own problems, especially when it comes to overhead—unlike music and movies, there’s no external rating body for software, so Apple would have to make the determination themselves. But that’s something the company already does for both iPod and iPhone/iPod touch games. Perhaps an extention to that system is worth considering.
Regardless, the review process for iPhone apps needs to be standardized, and it needs to be done now, not later. Apple’s created an impressive business out of the App Store—it’s time to stop acting like it’s being run out of a garage.


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NEW research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) shows that for every £1 spent by a council with a small or medium-sized business (SME) 63p was re-spent in the area compared to 40p in every £1 spent with a larger business.
Cookstown District Council is one of a few councils from across the UK that has been held up as being a model of good practice in this area.
The FSB wants to see more local authorities using businesses in their areas to help boost economic growth.
Cookstown District Council’s innovative Multi Sectoral Tendering Programme was cited in a recent report as a model of good practice. The programme delivered bespoke procurement support to 80 SMEs from the Cookstown District between 2010 and 2012.
Upon the Programme’s completion, an independent review revealed that the support provided to participating SME’s helped inject a staggering £15million into the local Cookstown economy, generating the following outstanding results new contracts won worth £12.6million, 43 new jobs created valued at £2million, 965 existing jobs sustained and £354,000 of additional support accessed by participating companies.
This ambitious programme also scooped top prize in the NI Local Government Association’s awards by winning the ‘Best European Funded Project’ (2012) for ‘the design and implementation of an initiative which improved the local economy and which recognised its tangible impact and outcomes at a local level.
Due to these outstanding achievements, Council has developed a further ‘Tender Programme’ in its new range of business support programmes launched by the Enterprise Minister, Mrs Arlene Foster, MLA, in April.
Councillor Pearse McAleer, Chairman of Cookstown District Council welcomed the FSB’s recognition of the Programme’s impact.
“We set very ambitious targets at the outset of the programme, and I am delighted to report that we have surpassed them all, many times over,” he said.


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UK insurance firm Prudential has agreed to sell Egg, its online bank.
Prudential announced on Monday morning that it has accepted an offer of £575m for Egg from Citigroup, the US financial services giant.
Egg was one of the UK's most high-profile online brands. It was launched by the Prudential in 1998, and claims to be the world's largest "pure-online" bank with no physical branches.
Being based purely online should deliver significant cost advantages. However, Egg has struggled to maintain profitability. It made its first profit in 2001, but last year made an operating pre-tax loss of £145m, according to the Financial Times.
The Prudential had resisted earlier offers for Egg.
"The sale of Egg to Citigroup realises greater value for our shareholders than retaining the business within the group," explained Mark Tucker, chief executive of the Prudential, on Monday. "Citigroup is the largest credit card issuer in the world and sees enormous opportunities to develop Egg's business in the UK."


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The CEO of CBS threatens to go all-subscription. He should do it.
All posts tagged ‘Netflix’
- 6:30 AM
- 3:59 PM
The ability to watch House of Cards without Netflix sends a clear signal that the entertainment and cable industries aren’t about to let some Northern California tech company change television without exacting a price.
- 2:26 PM
It’s been a little more than 100 years since this country witnessed an accumulation of economic power to rival what Comcast is assembling. Like the Gilded Age magnates who controlled oil and refining and leveraged their product with railroads, Comcast, …
- 4:08 PM
Just weeks after CEO Reed Hastings trashed HBO during a quarterly earnings call, the company is taking an easy potshot at online video rival Amazon with a fake ad for DVD drone delivery.
- 6:30 AM
Amazon started as an online bookseller and transformed the entire publishing industry. Now it’s assembling the pieces it needs to do the same to an even bigger medium: television.


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Business Travel Executives Conference
For the first time in Israel, a business event was held similar to the international GBTA / ACTE format, in which travel executives and various service providers from Israel and the entire globe are gathered.
Throughout the event, professional lectures were given to enrich the participants’ knowledge, and new travel management technologies and tools were presented.
About 200 travel executives from small and medium-sized organizations participated in the event. Concurrently, there was an expo of about 20 companies relating to business travel.


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The radio and TV presenter was snapped leaving the Radio 1 studios in every girl's wardrobe staple - black skinny jeans.
She teamed the skinnies with a white shirt that featured a black stripe down the front and along the collar. The mum-of-one kept with the black theme by adding a chic black blazer.
Fearne, who is well known for a cool rock-chick look, added a pair of fierce studded black boots and also toted two black bags.
The Celebrity Juice star wore her blonde locks loose and a tiny pair of gold hoops in ears – cute! She upped her fashion credentials in a pair of glam black sunnies.
We couldn't help noticing that Fearne had covered up in a rather wintery outfit yesterday - and today's was also pretty snug.
She even took to Twitter to express her dismay at the disappointing weather, sarcastically quipping: "Oh another glorious winter's day in June!"
Although it was rainy earlier, the sun has made an appearance this afternoon. Here's hoping it stays – for our sake and poor Fearne's!
Reveal is now on Google Plus! Join us here for the latest pictures, fashion and celebrity news!


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According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American consumes 36 pounds of cheese, 200 pounds of milk and cream and 24 pounds of ice cream or frozen dairy products annually. But what benefits do dairy products provide in the first place? The dairy industry touts bone health and calcium, but research suggesting dairy helps bone health is weak at best. If you are deficient in calcium, there are plenty of non-dairy calcium sources, including kale, collard greens, tempeh and beans.
On the other hand, there may be some health reasons to reduce or cut dairy out completely. What happens to your body when you go cold turkey on dairy?
1. Fewer Zits
Excluding dairy products could make you less prone to getting acne. According to research from Dartmouth Medical School, milk has testosterone-like hormones, which may stimulate oil glands in the skin and contribute to breakouts.
2. Better Digestion, Less Gas
Nearly two-thirds of the world’s population has a hard time digesting milk, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. This varies with ethnic groups from mild to severe lactose intolerance. If you have an intolerance to lactose, cutting out dairy could reduce bloating, flatulence, diarrhea and stomach cramps says the NHS.
3. Reduced Cancer Risk
Swedish researchers found women who drink more than one glass of milk per day may double their risk of ovarian cancer. A Harvard study found men who consumed more than two daily dairy servings had a 34 percent increased risk of developing prostate cancer, compared with those who consumed little or no dairy.
4. Longer Life
According to a study published in the BMJ, each daily glass of milk elevated mortality risk by 15 percent. Women who drank three or more glasses of milk per day were nearly twice as likely to die over the next two decades than those who drank less than one glass a day. The culprit: galactose, a simple milk sugar that induces oxidative stress and low-grade inflammation, often a precursor to disease.
In a YahooNews article, Julieanna Hever, MS, RD, CPT, a plant-based dietitian and author of The Vegiterranean Diet and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition adds that abstaining from dairy could reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and most other chronic diseases. That because most dairy products contain saturated fats, cholesterol-hormones and steroids.
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
By Jared Kaufman
Eating a better diet has been linked with lower levels of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. But unfortunately 821 million people — about 1 in 9 worldwide — face hunger, and roughly 2 billion people worldwide are overweight or obese, according to the U.N. World Health Organization. In addition, food insecurity is associated with even higher health care costs in the U.S., particularly among older people. To help direct worldwide focus toward solving these issues, the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals call for the elimination of hunger, food insecurity and undernutrition by 2030.
mevans / E+ / Getty Images
Calls for Radical Climate Action Grow Louder as NOAA Reports Last Month Was Hottest June Ever Recorded
By Jessica Corbett
As meteorologists warned Thursday that temperatures above 100°F are expected to impact two-thirds of the country this weekend, U.S. government scientists revealed that last month was the hottest June ever recorded — bolstering calls for radical global action on the climate emergency.
By John R. Platt
For years now conservationists have warned that many of Madagascar's iconic lemur species face the risk of extinction due to rampant deforestation, the illegal pet trade and the emerging market for the primates' meat.
Yes, people eat lemurs, and the reasons they do aren't exactly what we might expect.