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LAKELAND, Fla. — Lakeland city commissioners voted Monday to approve plans to open an Amazon cargo handling facility at Lakeland Linder International Airport.
The hub will be the e-commerce giant's largest facility in the southeast United States. Construction is scheduled to begin July 3 and be completed in roughly a year, meaning Amazon jets could be in the air by as early as July 2020.
Amazon will lease 47 acres of land on the northwest side of the airport, with the option to expand into the adjoining 62 acres of property. The company plans to build a 223,000-square-foot building on the site. Two smaller accessory buildings will also be constructed. They will be no larger than 60,000-square-feet combined.
In rent, Amazon will pay the airport $80,651 a month. That rent would increase 7.5 percent on every five-year anniversary date during the lease's first term, according to the city. The initial lease term is for 20 years – with three 10-year renewal opportunities, meaning Amazon could get a total lease term of 50 years if it exercised the renewal option all three times.
Talks with Amazon began in 2017. These are some of the incentives that reportedly helped close the deal with Amazon:
- According to the Lakeland Ledger, FDOT is kicking in $400,000, and the city of Lakeland is paying $100,000 to build five fuel tanks to help handle the hub.
- An FDOT grant for $2.24 million and an extra $433,807 from Lakeland will pay for upgrades to the airport's instrument landing system and runways, The Ledger reports. The instrument landing system upgrades will help planes land in bad weather. The city's chunk of this money can be reimbursed by the Federal Aviation Administration.
- According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Amazon is getting a tax incentive of $225,000 for creating up to 75 "high-paying" jobs with an average wage of at least $47,000. As 10News has previously reported, Amazon plans to create 800 to 1,000 jobs. So, only a small portion of the jobs would fall into that category.
A spokesperson for Tampa International Airport said it was the airport's understanding that Amazon intended to relocate Tampa air operations to Lakeland in the next couple years.
"This move makes sense for all parties," the spokesperson wrote by email. "We had been in conversations with Amazon, but we don’t have the space to accommodate their future needs. Right now the Amazon planes are staging on the site where we want to build a new Airside for passenger service, which is our primary mission. Lakeland has the room for Amazon, and the company’s interest in growing there attests to the economic strength of our region."
What other people are reading right now:
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- Counseling service offers special sessions for 'Game of Thrones' fans
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The first locally assembled Peugeot 2008 crossover has been ready to launch very soon in Pakistan. Peugeot collaborates with Lucky Motors in Pakistan to introduce its vehicles. The company has imported CBU units of Peugeot 2008 for road testing in Pakistan but never offer its booking in Pakistan. The company has completed local manufacturing to start booking both CBU units and CKD units. Meanwhile, other companies offer CBU units until they complete the making of locally assemble. This is a great step by the company and very favorable for the growth of the automotive industry. The manufacturing of locally assembled crossover will be very exciting news for crossover lovers in Pakistan.
Expected Launch of Locally Assembled Peugeot 2008
The video of locally assembled Peugeot 2008 has been viral on social media and after the video, everyone is waiting for its launch. In the video we have seen the manufacturing work has been done by the company and crossover is ready to hit the roads of Pakistan. The company has ready for its launch and it is expected that by the end of this month Lucky Motors launches its first European car in Pakistan. This is the first time European automaker introduces its locally manufactured car in Pakistan.
Peugeot 2008 Expected Price
However, the price is not confirmed yet by the company. Because there is no official statement released by the company about the price and launch. Meanwhile, according to the features and specifications, the price of this crossover will be around Rs 4.5 million to 5 million.
Engine & Transmission
The locally assembled Peugeot 2008 is equipped with a 1.2liter MPI Turbo engine that can produce 130 hp and 230 Nm of torque. The crossover is mated with 6-speed automatic transmission and it’s with the FWD option only.
It is expected that the car will launch in hybrid option because the pictures company has uploaded on the website are hybrid version pictures. Maybe these are taken from the international market model. However, if it’s a hybrid model it will be very great for crossover to drive a car with no high fuel worries.
The company has featured its exterior with 3-claw full LED headlights and LED DRLs. The crossover is standing on the 17-inches Alloy Rims. The great exterior feature that has company added is the Panoramic Sunroof. Overall the body style is unique and very attractive. The sleek style of the body will impress crossover lovers in Pakistan.
The interior is very luxury and the company had featured an interior with advanced technology. Here are the modern features that Peugeot 2008 offer us:
- 7-inches Floating Infotainment Touchscreen
- Single-Zone Climate Control
- Smart Key Entry
- Push Start Button
- Cruise Control
The European company offers CBU unit safety features in its locally manufactured crossover. The crossover is managed by the safety features to make sure traveling with Peugeot 2008 is safe:
- 6 Airbags
- Hill Start Assist
- Anti Lock Braking System
- Rear View Camera
- Front + Rear Parking Sensors
- Vehicle Stability Management
- Electronic Stability Program
- Blind Spot Detection
- Lane Keep Assist Warning
- High Beam Assist
The car is equipped with advanced features that surely would receive great reviews from its consumers. Locally assembled Peugeot 2008 launching will be a very good grown-up step for the automotive industry. It is not the first time locally assembled crossover launches in Pakistan but it is the first time a European company has launched a locally assembled crossover. This would be a very great experience for us.

domain: news


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CEMEX wins Supply Chain Management Award 2018 - InstaFreight earns Smart Supply Chain Solution Award 2018
CEMEX, a global manufacturer of building materials, has won the Supply Chain Management Award 2018. The award was presented for the 13th year by Strategy&, the global strategy consulting team at PwC, and by the industry trade journal LOGISTIK HEUTE, a publication of HUSS-VERLAG in Munich. InstaFreight, the digital freight forwarding company, was honored with the inaugural Smart Supply Chain Solution Award 2018. The award ceremony took place in Frankfurt on November 21, 2018, at "EXCHAiNGE - The Supply Chainers' Community" as part of the Hypermotion event platform.
Three companies have cleared the first hurdle: BASF, CEMEX, and Schaeffler will face the Supply Chain Management Award jury when it meets on November 20 during the EXCHAiNGE conference. Three other companies also reached the final round and will compete for the Smart Supply Chain Solution special prize: Bossard, InstaFreight, and Synfioo/SAP. The jury of experts from the worlds of business, research, consulting, and journalism will also consider the live voting of attendees on November 20, 2018. The awards will be presented during an evening gala on November 21.
In the following press release you will find out about the concepts and the jury's reasons.
Best regards Hendrikje Rother Marketing/Press EUROEXPO Messe- und Kongress-GmbH Joseph-Dollinger-Bogen 7 80807 München Tel.: +49 (0)89 32391-241 Fax: +49 (0)89 32391-246 E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.org www.logimat-messe.de | www.tradeworld.de |www.logimat.cn |www.exchainge.de Sitz München, Registergericht München HRB 114550 USt.-Ident.-Nr.: DE 812104196 GF: Christoph Huss, Peter Kazander, Dr. Petra Seebauer
Further material to download document: PM_EXCHAiNGE 2018_SC Award Winners CEMEX_InstaFreight.docx


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Indonesia’s press council finished a new online ethics policy, the Jakarta Globe reported.
According to the Jakarta Globe, the council’s guidelines address publishing unverified information, identifying if online material was sponsored or advertising, and online commenting for example. The council started work on the guidelines “in mid-2010 in response to increasing complaints from the public about online news reports that were either inaccurate or unverified, as well as the posting of user comments that were deemed insulting or obscene.”
The guidelines will be published “early next year, pending approval from the cybermedia community in the country,” according to the Jakarta Globe.
UPDATE 1/17/2012 9:23 AM EST: Read more about this new policy here.
CORRECTION - January 17, 2012 09:25 AM
The new policy only addresses online media and not online and social media. Read more here. http://www.imediaethics.org/index.php?option=com_news&task=detail&id=2563


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Enterprise software maker Oracle is planning to issue a total of 78 bug fixes for its software offerings, the company has announced.
The company, which is planning to release the Critical Patch update on Tuesday July 19th, said that 13 of the bug fixes were for vulnerabilities in the Oracle Database Server.
“2 of these vulnerabilities may be remotely exploitable without authentication, i.e., may be exploited over a network without the need for a username and password. 2 of these fixes are applicable to client-only installations, i.e., installations that do not have the Oracle Database Server installed,” Oracle explained in a post.
The company also said that it was also releasing three patches fixing vulnerabilities in its Secure Backup product, which can be remotely exploited by hackers.
Meanwhile, the company also said that it plans to release 7 patches covering its Fusion Middleware line and 18 patches for its Enterprise Manager Grid Control.
According to an article on PC World, Oracle will also release 23 patches for software products it received with the acquisition of Sun Microsystems including the GlassFish Server, VirtualBox, Solaris, SPARC Enterprise M Series and SPARC T3 series.


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Gigya, a major provider of social login services for big-brand websites, tracks which of their social accounts users look to to sign them in to other websites. Not surprisingly, Facebook gets the biggest slice of the pie, according to Gigya data from the second quarter of this year. But Google+, as a relative newcomer in the space, has moved in hard, already earning a quarter of all social logins. And Yahoo remains solidly competitive, shedding some light on why the struggling company continues to tinker with its email service.
Starting October 27, learn how to gain likes and followers on one of the most popular social media platforms! In this course, you'll learn how to develop an Instagram strategy that will make your profile stand out and gain new followers, tell a brand story through photos, and use your Instagram profile to drive your sales and business objectives. Register now!


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Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington were all in the running to be the test market for Allie's, Marriott Corp.'s new family restaurant chain. Marriott passed on all of them, however--from the City of Angels to the nation's capital--in favor of another major metropolitan area: San Diego.
The first Allie's, at the site of Marriott's former Big Boy restaurant on Sports Arena Boulevard, had its grand opening June 25. The Bethesda, Md.-based corporation plans to convert 15 of its San Diego Big Boys into Allie's by the end of 1988, and, if those restaurants pass the test, another 600 will open throughout the United States within the next five years.
Marriott is not the first major company to let San Diegans decide whether its products will sink or swim.
In February, the Clarion Corp. began test-marketing its digital audio tape car stereo system in San Diego, San Francisco and Chicago. Miller Brewing tested its Matilda Bay wine cooler here last summer. And the California Milk Advisory Board used San Diego to test for Vital 15, a 1%-fat, high-calcium milk targeted to women.
Cereal Bars and Canned Spuds
Other food and beverage products tested here in the past 18 months include Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bars, Idaho Supreme Canister Pack Potatoes, Rod's whipped toppings, Golden California Cheese and Chicago Brothers Pizza Shop Deluxe Pizza, according to Lynn Dornblaser, general manager of Gorman's New Product News, a monthly trade journal that keeps tabs on product introductions and testing.
The Premier Test Market
Despite the number of major companies that test new products ranging from food and beverages to soap and stereo equipment, San Diego's status as the premier U.S. test market is a matter of dispute.
Some marketers say the city is too big and, rather than being isolated, too contaminated by Los Angeles TV stations to be an ideal test market. Some claim it is so popular a test market that it is actually overused.
Saatchi & Saatchi DFS Compton, the world's largest advertising agency, compiles an annual test-marketing guide for which it first selects the top 45 markets, then ranks them according to how often they have been used in the past year. San Diego does not even appear on the list, which is headed by Minneapolis-St. Paul; Portland, Ore.; and Columbus, Ohio.
"The main problem we had with San Diego is it had considerably higher cable penetration than most areas," said Ira Weinblatt, senior vice president-director of Media Planning at Saatchi & Saatchi.
Because cable TV provides so many stations in an area, some of which don't sell commercial time, it makes it more difficult and expensive for a marketer to saturate the airwaves with ads for a test product, he said.
Useful for Several Reasons
But most marketing professionals interviewed seemed to think that, for a number of reasons, San Diego's heterogeneous population and media isolation make it a useful test market.
"We looked at the demographics of the areas around the (Allie's) units and the competition, and we thought that San Diego was a good, fair test," said Allen Schiffenbauer, Marriott's director of market research.
Success Not a Given
"It was representative of what we'd face in other places, and the competition (from other family restaurants) was strong enough that success wasn't a given," he said. If Allie's makes it in San Diego, it will be a portent of success in other places, he added.
A local Allie's spokesman also brought up the argument of San Diego's media isolation.
"We've got Mexico to the south, the desert to the east, the ocean to the west and Camp Pendleton to the north, which really separates us from that Los Angeles-Orange County market," he said. "When you do media and advertising here, you can really isolate the market."
Allie's test marketing is the current phase of an extended market research process. When Marriott decided to replace its unprofitable Big Boys two years ago, it embarked on a series of studies that cost more than $500,000 and included more than 10,000 family-restaurant patrons nationwide.
The cornerstone of the research was a study in which adults in five cities--Los Angeles, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Dallas and Cleveland--were asked to rank 16 hypothetical restaurants, each of which had a different combination of food, service and pricing. They also rated their favorite family restaurants according to the same categories.
Based on 1,500 of these interviews, Allie's ran computer simulations of a wide variety of possible restaurants as a way of predicting which of them would appeal to the greatest number of people, said Schiffenbauer. Although he would not give any details, he said the winning combination revolved around the food.
"We eventually ended up with an Allie's that, according to our computer games, was the best Allie's we could come up with and should be the leading restaurant in all the markets we did research in," he said.
To obtain the proof of the pudding--or, in Allie's case, of the fajita salad, Better-Than-Mom's Meat Loaf, char-broiled halibut and raspberry-apple shortcake--Marriott will do extensive research here during the test period.
With a potential restaurant empire riding on its outcome, the company's San Diego marketing represents a substantial investment. The price tag for the effort--which includes market research, the cost of converting 15 Big Boys into Allie's, promotional events and an advertising campaign that will debut near Labor Day--will total about $10 million for the first full year, Schiffenbauer said.
Clarion Corp. picked San Diego as a test market for its new digital audio tape car stereo product because there are "a lot of high-tech type people, as well as less affluent people" here, said Tom Mitchell, Clarion's director of marketing. Clarion is also testing the product in San Francisco and Chicago.
Must Expand Customer Base
Because the DAT is the first car stereo system costing more than $1,000, Clarion must expand beyond its typical customer base of 18- to 24-year-old males, Mitchell said. He said the company has not yet developed advertising for the product, but is using customer responses obtained in the test marketing to help determine the approach.
Miller Brewing prefers smaller markets that are easier to control, but selected San Diego specifically because it was marketing wine cooler, said Beverly Jurkowski, public relations manager for the Milwaukee company.
"San Diego was critical because at the time we did our testing (June 1 to Sept. 1, 1987), San Diego represented the ninth-largest cooler market in the United States," she said. "We felt if (Matilda Bay) were successful there, we had a product that had a pretty good chance of surviving elsewhere."
Matilda Bay--which was tested in San Diego, Denver, Kansas City and Atlanta--and its Australian origins are touted in its J. Walter Thompson-created commercials. It passed with the finesse of Crocodile Dundee and went into national distribution at the end of the test period.
The California Milk Advisory Board chose San Diego to test Vital 15 because "it's a large enough market to be significant so research data would be very valid," said Cal Crandall, Fluid Milk Project Manager.
The test, which began in September, 1986, illustrated the importance of a test-marketing approach. Although total San Diego milk sales went up 5.3% during the one-year test period, Vital 15's women-oriented positioning fell on its face.
Campaign Alienated the Men
Research showed that, rather than attracting women, the campaign alienated men. Vital 15 has essentially been replaced by other high-calcium milk products, such as Knudsen's Nice and Lite.
According to Nancy Roach, product communications specialist for the Kellogg Co., which is testing Nutri-Grain bars in San Diego and Los Angeles: "We felt Southern California was representative of the rest of the country. Also, people in the Southern California area are more in tune with products like this that have no sugar or preservatives added."
Despite its use in market tests, San Diego gets a thumbs-down from a number of national marketing research companies and manufacturers.
Robert E. Blanchard, vice president/general manager for Colgate-Palmolive's home care division, said he "has never considered" San Diego as a test market.
"San Diego gets so much (television) from Los Angeles, so many people watch L.A.-originated stations, you'd have to spend more to translate the media plan," he said.
Other marketers who have passed on San Diego said the city of more than a million has grown too large for a controlled, cost-efficient test.
"San Diego is not a very common test market for us," said Jack Stratton, marketing research director for General Mills' Betty Crocker division. "We tend to look for small markets that are somewhat isolated. Portland, Ore., would be a more likely candidate for a test market."
Portland has a population of 359,000. Even Minneapolis-St. Paul, the most popular test market according to Saatchi & Saatchi, comes in significantly below San Diego, at 597,000.
"For a particular test we want a medium size, people representative of the total U.S., and somewhat isolated--that's especially important from the media sense," said Sandy Eubank, vice president of SAMI/Burke, whose clients include eight of the top 10 U. S. food manufacturers, as ranked by Fortune magazine.
Even locally based Foodmaker tests new Jack in the Box products elsewhere.
"The biggest reason is sheer size," said Paul Haack, division vice president for Foodmaker product marketing. "We have a lot of units in San Diego, around 70. We prefer to test in a less risky situation."
San Diego may also be losing test-marketing business because it is not one of the permanent test sites established by major research companies. In those cities, expensive monitoring equipment keeps track of the purchases.


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The City of Yarra in Victoria is currently trialing a groundbreaking, green cleaning partnership program, in collaboration with its cleaning contractors.
The council’s Green Clean Program is being facilitated by Fresh Green Clean (FGC), and managed by its contract manager David Laidlaw. The original aim was to develop an auditable standard for the council’s green cleaning contracts, but it has achieved so much more.
Firstly, the common definition of a ‘green cleaning product’ is open to interpretation. According to a recent survey conducted with people responsible for cleaning product procurement, 45 per cent claimed they found it very difficult to differentiate which cleaning products were really green. And this was in the USA, where more than 500 products have Green Seal Certification. The survey highlighted another real barrier to green cleaning: concerns regarding effectiveness.
Two-thirds of participants agreed it was more important that cleaning and disinfecting products be effective than be perceived as green, while almost a third believed that being effective and green were mutually exclusive.
Further compounding this concern is the fact that competition in the cleaning industry has driven the price down to a barely sustainable level.
Without clear and auditable national guidelines for cleaning practices, plus the uncertain climate described above, the capacity of most cleaning contracts to deliver truly green outcomes is generally restricted. Read More>>
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at firstname.lastname@example.org.
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IRISH holidaymakers stunned by ‘groundbreaking’ hack to find cheapest flights online.
TikTok user Caoimhín, posting @yascaoimhin on the social media platform, has revealed his nifty trick to find cheap flights and compare prices across Europe in seconds.
Caoimhín said: “I started looking for flights and of course I chose Dublin – Sydney.
“But there is one thing you can do. And it’s especially helpful if you live in Europe.”
While many people are searching for the destination to fly to, the popular TikToker explained a different way.
He said: “If you go to Google Flights and it asks where you’re going, leave that blank.”
He explains that you must enter the country of destination in the “Where from?” field. Crate.
He types in Sydney and a map with different prices appears.
He continues: “What that will then show you is the cost of flying from Sydney to any number of places. So Sydney to Melbourne flight $47.
“But if I zoom out here and go to Europe, I see how much it costs from all European airports.”
Most read in The Irish Sun
He zooms into the map of Europe and displays the prices from different airports.
Caoimhín continued, “So just let me put the correct date in. So now I have all the prices for flights from Sydney to these European airports.
“It looks like Zurich is the cheapest airport to fly to from Sydney. So I will look into a flight from Zurich to Sydney and see if I can get a cheap one.”
This little trick could potentially save you a few hundred dollars.
He said: “But you might think Caoimhín, you don’t live in Zurich. They live in Dublin.
“Yes, but this is where Ryanair comes in. If I can find a flight to Sydney from a European airport that is significantly cheaper than flying from Dublin. I can just fly Ryanair for €20.”
He admits that the travel time would be longer, but it’s worth it.
He said: “But the flight to Australia is 24 hours anyway. I don’t think an extra pair [hours] coming to Zurich is becoming too much.
“Save €300, so some airports are just more expensive to fly to.”
He pointed out that for people who live in London and want to travel to Tokyo, it is cheaper to fly from Dublin.
Caoimhín said: “Take a Ryanair flight to Dublin and go from there. You can save almost €300.”
But he warned people trying this hack to “be careful” and get travel insurance.
He added: “If that Ryanair flight is delayed or canceled you are not entitled and simply cannot get your flight.”
Tik Tok users couldn’t believe the simple hack, and one said, “This is game-changing.”
Another added: “Excellent advice!”
Meanwhile, a Ryanair passenger has revealed how to save on luggage – and people are stunned by her brilliant tip.
https://www.thesun.ie/travel/8805061/irish-holidaymakers-stunned-game-changing-hack-cheapest-flights/ Irish holidaymakers stunned by ‘groundbreaking’ hack to find CHEAPEST flight deals online


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Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported higher than expected Q3 ad sales, signaling that the business has found a way to overcome the limitations of tracking mobile users and that online shopping is booming as we usher in the holiday season.
Through YouTube video services, its search engine, and partnerships on the internet, Google sells more internet ads than any online company. The demand for its services went up when the pandemic forced people to quarantine, which led to more online shopping, if only for convenience.
It would seem that even as lockdown eases, online shopping habits persist.
Beating the estimates
The average estimates by analysts tracked by Refinitiv stood at $63.3 billion. However, Google’s ad revenue rose by 41% to $53.1 billion in the third quarter. The overall sales by Alphabet went to $65.1 billion, beating the estimates.
Philip Schindler, Google’s chief business officer said that the consumer shift to digital is ‘real and will continue’ even as people return to stores.
He added that the key takeaway is that people want more choice, more information, and flexibility, something the company does not want to see reversed.
Despite challenges, Google lumbers on
Shares went down by 0.93% to $2,760.19 following the after-hours release of the results. The quarterly profit was $18.936 billion ($27.99 per share), exceeding the estimates ($24.08 per share) and making this the third straight quarter of record profits.
Alphabet’s profits tend to fluctuate because accounting rules mean the company has to measure unrealized gains from the investments it makes in startups as income.
Investors braced for sales challenges for the company, as people become aware of the criminal and invasive nature of how it collects information and targets users with ads. As Apple gave its users control over tracking, advertisers changed their spending but that did not stop the world’s biggest ad company from making money.


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Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, recently turned down an offer to acquire Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun’s ownership stake in rival exchange Huobi, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Binance wasn’t interested because of rumors that Huobi has ties to mainland China, which Binance wants nothing to do with, according to the person, who requested anonymity. In an interview last month with CoinDesk TV, Sun said Huobi wants to attain a license in Hong Kong and launch a new exchange there called Huobi Hong Kong.
The scope of Sun’s involvement with Huobi has been cloaked in secrecy. A company called About Capital purchased Huobi in October of last year. Sun’s representatives have said he’s not involved with About, though Huobi confirmed in January that he’s a leader of the company. Last week, following a Bloomberg report that Sun was trying to sell his Huobi stake, he compared such speculation to an April Fool’s joke.
Binance has been led to believe that Sun owns a majority stake in Huobi, the person said.
Sun’s overture was made directly to Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao in the last week or so, the person said.
“I must point out that in the past week or so, I have not proposed any offer to [CZ] regarding the purchase of [Huobi], nor have we even discussed Huobi in the past week or so,“ Sun tweeted after this story came out.
“We don’t have any comment to share,“ a Binance spokesperson said.
The price of Tron’s TRX token fell to its lowest price of the past 24 hours after this story was initially published, according to CoinDesk data.
UPDATE (April 5, 2023, 16:32 UTC): Adds that the price of Tron's TRX fell after this story was published.
UPDATE (April 5, 2023, 16:43 UTC): Adds Sun's tweet.
The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.


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What roles will you be hiring in the future? Two recent articles present interesting ideas about what new jobs we can expect to see in ten or twenty years. But—just like nobody could have predicted the rise of social media jobs—expect the future to be full of surprises.
First, Sci-fi writer Max Gladstone partnered with business card design website Moo to imagine six jobs of the future. Do you foresee any of these coming into play in your workplace?
1. Personal Reality Designer
With the rise of augmented reality and VR, it’s only a matter of time before we need professional designers to create virtual worlds for personal (as well as commercial) use.
2. Cloud Cleaner
A Cloud Cleaner “scrapes your personal data off the internet, protecting you from doxxing and surveillance,” says Gladstone. They’ll help you get rid of unwanted photos, accounts, news stories or anything else you can think of.
3. Pirate Radio Jockey
As Gladstone explains it, “As the internet becomes closely monitored, resisters and agitators will return to FM radio to tell their story.” To us, this sounds more like a volunteer role than a paid position—can you imagine writing a job description or holding an interview for this? But it’s intriguing nonetheless.
4. Home Cyberneticist
When all our homes become smart homes, we’ll need Home Cyberneticists to “build your interconnected super-house safely and securely.” Let’s hope they come up with a better way to clean your bathroom and dampen the sound of noisy neighbors.
5. Digital Archaeologist
Archaeology will be a whole different ballgame in the future. Digital Archaeologists will unearth ancient data from defunct systems. With technology changing faster and faster, these specially trained excavators will make sure information isn’t lost to the ages.
6. Fashion Programmer
Someday, fashion brands won’t make clothing in “sizes.” They’ll make clothes to custom fit your body. Fashion Programmers will “3D print a made-to-measure version of anything on your Pinterest board.” (Of course, Pinterest may be long gone by then.)
Continuing the list is Glamour Magazine contributor Caroline O’Donoghue with more “future-proof” careers. They include:
7. AI Personality Writer
Content writers are in high demand; it’s no surprise that we’ll soon have writers crafting artificial intelligence responses. Part psychologist, part screenwriter, AI Personality Writers may someday replace Content Creators as our media landscape’s most ubiquitous role.
8. Climate change reversal specialist
Climate Change Reversal Specialists will be scientists, engineers, and big thinkers with out of the box ideas to prevent the negative effects of climate change, strengthen damaged ecosystems and protect the planet in ways we can’t even imagine.
9. Internet/social media lawyer
“With 5.8 million cybercrimes a year and Facebook and Twitter incidents reported every 45 minutes, lawyers dealing with these will be a hot commodity,” O’Donoghue writes. Lawyers of tomorrow will need to know the ins and outs of law as it applies to social media, trolling, online bullying, doing, identity theft and more.
“Pharmer” is how O’Donoghue describes next-level farmers who combine agriculture with technology to overcome environmental challenges like climate change and water shortages. Think genetically engineered livestock, crops that cure diseases and hydroponic vertical farming.
11. Prosthetics technician
Engineers and designers will join forces to create a super-smart generation of prosthetics. Imagine artificial body parts or implantable devices that can be controlled by your brain, made of responsive materials that haven’t been invented yet.
What roles will your workplace need in the next ten years?


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The 30 largest credit reporting companies are about to have a brand new babysitter on the case — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says it will be begin to supervise those companies starting this fall. Together, they account for 94% of the market’s annual receipts.
There are some familiar names included under the CFPB’s federal oversight umbrella, including the top dogs: Experian Information Solutions Inc.,Equifax Inc. and TransUnion. Together, those companies issue more than 3 billion consumer credit report cards each year and have the goods on more than 200 million Americans in their files, reports the Los Angeles Times.
“Credit reporting is at the heart of our lending systems and enables many of us to get credit, afford a home or get an education,” said bureau Director Richard Cordray. “Supervising this market will help ensure that it works properly for consumers, lenders and the wider economy. There is much at stake in making sure it is both fair and effective.”
The CFPB will work to ensure that information produced by the companies is accurate, as those reports are the golden ticket to snagging a credit card, a mortgage and other important things in life. The bureau will also issue an advisory to consumers about the importance of checking their credit reports and how they can dispute mistakes.
“Up to this point, no single federal government agency could access all the information necessary to generate a complete picture of what was happening inside these companies,” Cordray said in written remarks prepared for Monday’s hearing. “Our country’s credit system is a resource in which we all have much at stake — both directly and indirectly — and we need this system to operate effectively in order for the credit markets to work properly and fairly,” he said.
U.S. consumer agency to oversee big credit reporting firms [Los Angeles Times]


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Cybercrime has jumped to the second most reported type of economic crime affecting 32 percent of global businesses, according to a just-released survey by PwC.
PwC’s Global Economic Crime Survey 2016 found that while traditional leaders of economic crime–asset misappropriation, bribery and corruption, procurement fraud and accounting fraud–all showed a slight decrease over 2014 statistics, cybercrime is on a steady increase.
In fact over one quarter of the 6,000 respondents to PwC’s survey said they’d been affected by cybercrime.
Despite a sharply higher incidence of reported cybercrime among PwC’s respondents, the survey found that most companies are still not adequately prepared for–or even understand the risks faced.
Only 37 percent of organizations have a cyber incident response plan in place and many boards are not sufficiently proactive regarding cyber threats.
Even though boards have a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders when it comes to cyber risk in several countries, PwC found that less than half of board members actually request information about their organization’s state of cyber-readiness.
Losses from cybercrime can be heavy, PwC reported. A handful of respondents (around 50 organizations) said they had suffered losses over $5 million. Of these, nearly one-third reported cybercrime-related losses sin excess of $100 million.
Reputational damage was considered the most damaging impact of a cyber breach among survey respondents, followed by legal investment and/or enforcement costs.
According to PwC:
This year’s results show that the incidence of economic crime has come down, for the first time since the global financial crisis of 2008-9 (albeit marginally by 1 percent).
Check out the I.I.I. white paper Cyber Risk: Threat and Opportunity for the latest on cybercrime, risks and insurance.


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Olympic star launches Baby TRYathlon for nutrition campaign
Rebecca Adlington has launched an inaugural Baby TRYathlon in the new nutritional campaign from SMA PRO Follow-on Milk and Growing up Milk.
Olympic Gold medallist Rebecca Adlington has launched the UK’s first Baby TRYathlon, set up to promote the importance of nutrition for babies and toddlers.
During the event, a team of seven infant TRYathletes aged between 12 months and 30 months was fronted by Albie, the two-year-old son of former Olympic swimming star Adlington.
The Baby TRYathlon was created by SMA PRO Follow-on Milk and Growing up Milk and was designed to celebrate happy, active play at the earliest stages of activity, movement, and coordination. Typical triathlon events include swimming, cycling and running but were replaced for the baby event with “The Crawl, The Push and The Beanbag Throw”.
The Baby TRYathlon promoted research that found that 47.7 percent of toddlers in the world are iron deficient (World Health Organization) and 20 percent of children aren’t getting enough Vitamin D2 (UK Government).
The event itself was a culmination of a three-week campaign by SMA PRO Follow-on Milk and Growing up Milk to raise awareness of the importance of Vitamin D and iron in children’s diet, specifically the role of Vitamin D in helping to support the normal growth and development of bones, and iron’s help in supporting normal cognitive development.
Nestle has said that, ahead of the event, the infants were “put through an ‘intensive’ three-week coaching programme, created by SMA Nutrition experts” including Children’s Sleep Coach Leigh Swanborough, Chartered Paediatric Physiotherapist Ruth Bayliss and SMA Nutrition expert Dr Amna Mahmood.
Commenting on her role in the event, Olympic star Adlington said: “Nutrition became a significant part of my daily routine to be my best as a swimmer, and so when I became a mum I was keen to understand more about child nutrition and how I could help my child flourish.
“However, the information on diet and vitamins can be confusing and overwhelming, leaving parents wondering where to turn.
“I had little idea about how Iron and Vitamin D help support with cognitive development and the normal function of the immune system within toddlers. As a spectator watching Albie, I’m proud to see him take his first steps (and stumbles) as a toddler TRYalthlete with the other little ones. It’s a hilarious and positive celebration of play, underpinned by an important purpose with essential advice from the experts at SMA Nutrition,” continued Adlington.
Meanwhile, Ingrid Hayes, Head of Marketing at SMA Nutrition shared: “Our expert team at SMA Nutrition have been dedicated to understanding the unique nutritional needs of babies and young children for over 100 years.
“We believe that the early years are a unique opportunity for parents to impact their children’s lives. For this reason, we’ve made it our mission to provide the support, information, and products to support parents. The aim of the first Baby TRYathlon was to raise awareness of the importance of Vitamin D and iron in a toddler’s varied and balanced diet and to celebrate the joy of the early years. Every child is a winner and, unlike the adult version, taking part really is everything.”


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HARARE – After exporting fresh citruses to China, blueberry producers in Zimbabwe are aiming to ship the nutritious berries to the vast Chinese market.
China presents a lucrative market for Zimbabwe’s blueberries, said Clarence Mwale, CEO of Fair-Mark, a company that supports exporters in meeting sourcing requirements for international markets.
As a major blueberry exporter in the Southern Africa region, Zimbabwe has traditionally exported the berries to the EU and Britain.
“We were very interested to see that there is a huge demand for Zimbabwean citrus in China, we also got very good response for Zimbabwean blueberries into China,” Mwale told Xinhua Friday following a visit to China.
“We are hoping that we get approval for blueberries soon enough so that we can start moving blueberries.”
Last year Zimbabwe signed a trade protocol with China for the export of citruses, including sweet oranges, mandarins, grapefruits, lemons, limes and bitter oranges.


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ou have to chuckle at the cheek of budget airline Kulula’s witty advertisements that riled might Fifa, the body that rules global soccer and the power behind the World Cup. Without referring to ‘‘World Cup’’ or ‘‘soccer’’ one of the ads claimed Kulula to be the ‘‘non-official national airline’’ of the ‘‘you-know-what’’.
Fifa complained, pointing out Kulula wasn’t among the official World Cup sponsors so wasn’t allowed to refer to the tournament in any way in its marketing.
Fifa’s biggest gripe was that the combination of elements used in Kulula’s ad left no doubt they referred to the World Cup. And that’s illegal, they say, because Kulula didn’t buy the right to use the World Cup as a marketing tool.
Many South Africans not familiar with Fifa’s strict marketing rules can’t believe the soccer body can prescribe to local business what they’re allowed to do with the country’s national symbols.
Kulula’s group marketing director Heidi Brauer says, ‘‘It’s nuts to say we can’t use the words South Africa or images of footballers in close proximity to footballs or vuvuzelas or the national flag. No one owns these things. It’s like owning the sky.’’
But a law does prohibit such ‘‘ambush marketing’’, says lawyerJanine Holessen.
SA’s trademark legislation says companies may not tie themselves to an event unless they’re an official sponsor or have bought the advertising rights. So no one may unlawfully use any images connected with the World Cup.
For instance it’s illegal to use the numbers ‘‘2010’’ together with the words ‘‘South Africa’’, ‘‘RSA’’ or ‘‘SA’’ in an advert unless the company is an official sponsor of the 2010 World Cup.
Marketing columnist Chris Moerdyk commented that Fifa should never have taken Kulula’s campaign seriously. ‘‘All Fifa did was make the Kulula campaign even more of a success.’’
Read the full article in the latest issue of YOU.


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The annual Inland Empire ADDY Awards, recognizing the finest in local advertising competition will be held Friday, March 11 at the Mission Inn in Riverside.
Conducted annually by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the Inland Empire ADDY Awards is the first of a three-tier, national competition. Concurrently, all across the U.S., local entrants vie for recognition as the very best in their respective markets, according to Mark Landon, chair of the AAF ADDY competition committee.
Only a few seats are available for the gala, according to Victoria Seitz, President of the Inland Empire AAF Chapter. “We are expecting an excellent turnout this year and only a few seats are available. Make your reservation right away.”
Viewing of the advertising entries in the ADDY competition begins at 6pm and dinner and awards begin at 7pm.
Tickets are $60 for AAF members and $70 for the public. For students, dinner is $55 and $20 with no meal.
For more information, visit www.aaf-InlandEmpire.com.
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BEIJING -- Car sales in China continued to decline in November, placing them on course to mark their first annual decline in 28 years as homegrown brands from state-owned manufacturers struggle to compete with foreign rivals.
New-auto sales dropped 13.9% on the year to 2,547,800 units in November, falling for five months in a row, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Tuesday. Cumulative sales from January are down 1.7% on the year.
The association publicly acknowledged for the first time that the full-year figure is likely to decline. It projects a 3% drop from 2017, an official said. An annual contraction would be the first since 1990, according to Chinese media.
As the world's largest auto market ages out of its period of rapid expansion, consumers are becoming more selective.
Passenger vehicle sales fell 16.1% in November to 2.17 million units, dragged down by an 18% drop by sport utility vehicles, which had driven growth earlier. Commercial vehicles fared better in comparison, rising 1.7% to 370,000.
State-owned enterprises Dongfeng Motor Group and BAIC Motor suffered declines of 17% and 11%, respectively, in the January-October period for sales of their own brands. The figures exclude those produced at joint ventures with foreign automakers.
Dongfeng has a tough time attracting consumers "even when features like car navigation systems are offered for free," said a dealer in Shenzhen.
One reason for the domestic brands' poor performance is price cuts by foreign rivals looking to boost sales volume. As the more established brands from abroad become more affordable, the appeal of homegrown vehicles touting low prices has diminished.
Hyundai Motor and other foreign manufacturers have slashed prices 10%-15%, rolling out models selling for less than 100,000 yuan ($14,500) in direct competition with cheaper local brands.
The slowdown in the Chinese economy is another factor, squeezing the purchasing power of lower and middle-class cohorts -- the target customers of the Chinese brands.
Private-sector Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motor suffered a 40% plunge of sales in its luxury Wey model in November. Wey dealerships in Beijing have launched a promotion to pay air fare and highway tolls for customers in an attempt to draw people from outside the city, with little success so far.
Some private-sector Chinese automakers are thriving. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group boosted sales volume by 29% for January-November. Geely cars are used widely as government vehicles thanks to the company's closeness with President Xi Jinping, who was once the Communist Party chief in Zhejiang Province. Manufacturing and design techniques absorbed from Swedish luxury car unit Volvo Cars have helped improve reputation of Geely products as well.
Luxury brands, many of which are imported, fare well in general. Toyota Motor's high-end Lexus sales jumped 24% for the January-November period, helped when China cut import tariffs on passenger cars to 15% from 25% in July. Toyota's overall sales in China increased 14% for the period.
Germany's Daimler, the owner of Mercedes-Benz, logged an 11% rise in sales for January-November. Volvo Cars enjoyed 14% growth in sales over the same period.
Sales are strong at manufacturers of new-energy vehicles. BYD, the Chinese leader in the field, saw more than 20% growth in sales for the January-November period. As Beijing pushes for a shift to electrified vehicles, new-energy vehicle sales in the country have reached 1.03 million during the period, already exceeding 1 million mark on an annual basis for the first time.


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The Meteoric Rise of Retail Media
Technology has empowered consumers and stripped their brand loyalty, often replacing it with relentless and unforgiving demands.
- Don’t have that product in my size until Thursday? You lose the sale.
- Won’t let me pick up my order curbside in 25 minutes from now? I’ll go somewhere else.
- Won’t refund my credit card immediately and let me drop off my return item at the grocery store whenever I feel like it? We’ll see if I ever shop from you again.
This insatiable thirst for retail convenience is fueling a massive – and hugely expensive – arms race in retail logistics. Amazon, Walmart, Instacart, UberEats, Google, Target, and many others are spending billions to offer consumers whatever they want (unlimited selection), whenever they want it (immediate gratification), however they want it (delivery, in-store, curbside, etc..). All while trying not to raise prices on the consumer. The only way they will be able to fund this war is if they can sell their access to these consumers to the brands that sell on these platforms in the form of advertising. This is is exactly what’s happening and why we are seeing a meteoric rise in what the industry calls “Retail Media” – the sale of advertising space on retailer websites and the sale of retailer.com data to target and measure consumers on programmatic media sources across the web and on connected television sets.
In the last year:
- Amazon’s advertising business surpassed $20B and now accounts for 10% of all digital ad buying.
- Walmart launched its own advertising business, rebranded it to Walmart Connect, and embarked on an ambitious partnership with the Trade Desk.
- Instacart launched a widely adopted self-service advertising product just in time for the massive surge in online grocery ordering resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- We have seen retail media networks pop up at CVS, Walgreens, Target, Wayfair, Kroger, Home Depot, Costco, BJs, Ulta Beauty and just about every other major retailer there is.
- We have seen strong growth and funding from technology companies that are partnering with retailers to attack this opportunity like Criteo, PromoteIQ, Citrus Ad and Quotient.
It is the very early days in retail media, but eCommerce tailwinds are blowing and it’s fair to assume this will continue to accelerate throughout 2021.
To put it another way, consumers are whining, retailers are spending billions to acquiesce, and brands are expected to hold the tab. On its face, this doesn’t sound like a good deal for the brands. However, at Momentum Commerce, we argue that the opposite is true. Brands will need to plan for a heavy and increasing “advertising tax” in order to generate growth on retailer.com platforms, and if not done carefully and responsibly this will surely challenge profitability. However, the brands that pay these taxes and invest in the right “accountants” to ensure they pay the “right amount” will find critical benefits in three core areas:
- Marketplace Clean Up: Brand competition on marketplace platforms is different than in physical retail due to the infinite nature of the digital shelf and the reduced barriers to access that shelf. As a result, brands face not only traditional competitors but are increasingly battling against overseas suppliers who provide similar products at much lower prices, resellers who provide grey-market inventory to consumers, and a smattering of upstart ankle-biter brands. Smart brands with good intellectual property should be able to command the widest margins and the rise of Retail Media allows them to wield that power to push these types of competitors down the search rankings and gain better control, performance, and share. Those of us that have been working in eCommerce for a long time will remember that this was the chief benefit brands saw as Google’s Froogle migrated to the entirely pay-for-play Google Shopping that we have today.
- Accelerated Learning: As trade marketing transitions to digital a whole new level of flexibility, speed and precision become possible. The planning cycles on shopper marketing are long and require heavy commitments to new product or promotional ideas without significant performance data to drive from. As a result, brands are shooting in the dark and often living in a world of opinions vs. facts. Retail Media, on the other hand, operates at the speed of digital – it is flexible, dynamic, and immediate. You can spin up a promotion or an ad blitz and within a day or two acquire statistically significant findings to fine-tune your strategy that you can turn into action immediately. Any brand that isn’t mining their retail media data sets for better more relevant consumer insights is leaving an opportunity on the table.
- A better more predictable next dollar spent: The rise of Retail Media is a new dawn for many categories that have traditionally never been able to draw a straight line between marketing investment and consumer transaction. For the very first time, marketers operating within grocery brands and big CPG companies have the opportunity to be true performance marketers and cut out a ton of waste. With this opportunity comes a much more predictable and controllable decision process around what is the next best dollar spent. Additionally, much of the promise of Retail Media’s efficacy is unaffected by the increasing privacy regulation and browser changes that will transform other avenues of performance digital advertising reinforcing the opportunity.
It’s the early days in Retail Media. At Momentum Commerce, our team has worked with brands through four major market disruptions over the last two decades: the rise of Google and the birth of search marketing, the rise of real-time ad exchanges and the birth of programmatic advertising, the rise of Facebook and the birth of social advertising, and the rise of the smartphone and the birth of business-to-consumer mobile communications. We have watched all four of these disruptions fundamentally change the way businesses reach consumers.
We believe what we are seeing in Retail Media today is the beginning of a fifth disruption. And just like with all of the other disruptions we have seen in the last two decades, we believe Retail Media will be a $100B+ business in short order, we believe new brands will be born entirely on the back of sophisticated Retail Media execution and we believe many incumbent brands will fail to adapt to this change and meet their expiration. Exciting times!


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We are all feeling the impact of rising prices in so many places. When you go to the grocery store, fill up your gas tank, or buy any of the many items in short supply, prices are soaring. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell had calmly responded to recent inflationary spikes by claiming they would be “transitory”. Powell suggested that prices were rising due to pent-up “post pandemic” buying. The Fed was comfortable with a little inflation of 2 % or slightly higher, which could jump start a stagnant economy. But price concerns are increasing for many consumers.
Even Powell now indicates inflation will extend far into 2022. Other economists question whether these spiking prices will actually end in the near term. Over the past decade, inflation has been relatively quiet. While some expenses like health care and higher education have been hard to contain, many costs have moved up at a gradual pace. Relatively stable prices have helped make financial budgeting more predictable.
But inflation has been a persistent problem in the past and it can be hard to control. We forget that previous double digit price increases have taken place. Borrowing costs have been much higher. Today 10-year treasury bills provide 1.6% interest. But in 1981 these same 10-year treasury bills paid over 14% interest to compensate nervous investors who feared future inflation. No economist I follow predicted back then we would have 40 years of declining interest rates. Can that long downward trend be coming to an end?
Things do feel different now and price increases may gain long-term momentum. We will need to monitor these inflationary trends more closely and adapt. It could impact our spending, savings, and investments. Perhaps the best advice on the recent world-wide inflationary trends was headlined in a recent issue of the Economist, “Don’t panic. But keep a watchful eye.”


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The Association of Automotive Companies of Ecuador (Aeade) reported that vehicle sales plummeted in the country between March and April due to the quarantine that forced activities to close, to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The sector notes that the containment measures had negative effects on car sales. Thus, between March and April this year vehicle sales had a reduction of 80%, in relation to the same months of 2019.
The fall in demand, according to Aeade, will also be reflected in the payment of taxes in the sector. In 2019, the $ 1,557 million that was canceled to the State was made through tariffs, VAT, ICE, ISD, Vehicle Property Tax, Income Tax, Fodinfa and Green Tax. The tax burden increases the cost of a vehicle by 110%, said the union.
The sector also faces inconveniences and delays due to the excessive paperwork that is required in the country. The Aeade has identified at least 20 processes that could be eliminated or simplified immediately, applying the Organic Law for the Optimization and Efficiency of Administrative Procedures.
The automotive chain proposes the reopening of industrial and commercial activities , through pilot programs in those cantons that are still at a red light.
The Aeade indicates that the proposal is in the hands of the cantonal COEs to authorize its application. Through our proposal, each company commits to implement biosafety protocols, prioritize teleworking with a maximum of 50% face-to-face work, and guarantee the mobilization of its workers. sector taxes.
At the moment, the Guayaquil Emergency Operations Committee has already authorized the pilot plan and, starting today, the partial reopening of activities in the main port began.


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Identity verification specialist Trulioo has officially attained tech unicorn status. The Vancouver-based company has raised $394 million in a Series D funding round, bringing it to a $1.75 billion valuation.
The company pitches itself as a data-focused ID verifier, using information from a range of data sources including credit bureaus and phone records to confirm identities. Trulioo says it uses more than 450 different data sources, and its automated process can be built into third party identity apps.
The company also supports selfie-based identity verification, in which end users are prompted to upload selfie images along with pictures of their official identity documents. Facial recognition is used to biometrically match the images together.
The latest funding round was led by TCV, a venture capital firm, with other participants including Amex Ventures, Blumberg Capital, Citi Ventures, and Mouro Capital. Speaking to Reuters, TCV general partner Jake Reynolds explained that his firm’s interest was piqued by the growing demand for digital identity verification among other financial services startups and online marketplaces in which his firm has invested, many of which were already using Trulioo’s services.
Speaking to VentureBeat, Trulioo Chief Operating Officer Zac Cohen affirmed that his company’s solutions are already used widely. “Look for an app on your phone, and they are likely a customer,” he said.
The new funding comes after Trulioo went through a Series C funding round in the late summer of 2019, in which it raised $52.8 million. Since then, Trulioo has welcomed American Express executive Lisa Stanton to its Board of Directors, and named former Mitek executive Garient Evans as its SVP of Identity Solutions, an appointment announced in April of this year.
(Originally posted on FindBiometrics)


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Cut Your Bills News British Gas Parent Company Warns Of Further Price Hikes 1557
British Gas’ parent company warns of further price hikes
13 May 2008 / by Rebecca Sargent
According to its statement, wholesale gas and power prices have increased by 100 per cent since last year, forcing Centrica to pass on the increases through British Gas.
British Gas is Britain’s biggest supplier of gas and electricity and has 15.9 million customers who have already experienced large price hikes in January. However, according to Centrica the rise in fuel bills was not enough, it said in its statement:
“Following our retail price increase in January the wholesale gas price continued to rise, which has caused profit margins in British Gas in the first half of the year to be squeezed to levels below our long run expectations.”
Consequently, Centrica warned that fuel prices would have to rise again, stating: “While the current outlook for gas prices does create a challenging environment for energy suppliers, we will take the necessary action to deliver reasonable margins in the retail business.
According to uSwitch.com, “if households are ‘lucky’ they will see a 10 per cent or £105 price rise by late summer with a further 15 per cent or £173 hike in January 2009.”
Tim Wolfenden, head of Home Services at uSwitch.com, said: “If Centrica is feeling such acute pressure over pricing then it’s safe to say that others are feeling it too.
“Suppliers have been holding firm, but the cracks are beginning to show. It’s pretty clear that something has to give and that household energy prices are going to be shooting up again this year.”
Commenting on Centrica’s Interim Management Statement, Paul Schofield, head of utilities at Moneysupermarket.com, said: “Today’s statement from Centrica is bad news for Britain’s bill payers. This is the clearest indication yet that they will have to withstand further price rises and soaring energy bills this year as wholesale prices continue to rise.
“Now is an excellent time for consumers to review the energy market and make sure they have the right provider and product for their area and consumption.” Mr Schofield added.
“Given this scenario, fixed rate energy plans are starting to look like a potential lifeline for worried consumers. Take up is traditionally low, however, their biggest strength is the security they offer at a time of rising prices, especially for those struggling with household bills or on a tight budget – for this reason a lot of people will be warming to them this year.” uSwitch.com’s Mr Wolfenden predicted.
© Fair Investment Company Ltd


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More purchases on Aliexpress can be made in Russia: the threshold for duty-free import of goods has been increased from 200 to 1000 euros
The Prime Minister of Russia, at a meeting with his deputies, announced that the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), at the suggestion of Russia, will increase the duty-free import limit for goods from foreign online stores for individuals in Russia from €200 to €1,000, and this measure has already been approved by the Council Eurasian Economic Commission. The increased limit will be valid until October 1, 2022.
The Prime Minister of Russia said: “Raising the duty-free threshold will allow citizens to continue shopping in foreign online stores, especially since some of them already accept payment with MIR cards.”
At the same time, the requirements for the weight of the parcel remained the same - the weight of the parcel from a foreign online store should not exceed the threshold of 31 kg, if this weight of the parcel is exceeded, a fee of 15% of the order value will be charged, but not less than 2 euros per 1 kg.
Created: 22 March 2022


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Rise of global ‘smart cities’ will increase digital OOH uptake
By our News Team | 2021
The technology and connectivity that characterises smart cities will also boost rapid growth of digital OOH advertising, say top executives.
The steady rise of the ‘smart city’ worldwide, as well as the growing move to digital technology in almost every facet of life, is quickly changing the face of out-of-home advertising.
New research reveals that 74% of global advertising executives strongly believe that these factors will provide explosive growth opportunities for the Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) sector, as it rapidly replaces the traditional billboard.
The study was conducted by Alfi Incorporated, a digital out-of-home advertising specialist operating in the US and Europe.


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Tim Lambesis side project Austrian Death Machine’s upcoming album Triple Brutal will hit the streets on April 1st despite Lambesis’ legal trouble. As I am sure you can guess from the name it will be the band’s third album and will be released via Artery Records on April 1st.
The band has debuted the song “I’ll be back” off of the upcoming album and you can see the video here.
“Artery Recordings has teamed up with Ahhnold to release Austrian Death Machine’s new record Triple Brutal. The record will hit retail stores and digital outlets on April 1st 2014. Triple Brutal was previously crowd funded on Indiegogo and had massive support. All contributors will start receiving their packages on March 28th. Austrian Death Machines previous record Double Brutal topped the scales and sold over 60,000 copies. Royalties from Triple Brutal will be going to the World Vision Charity. For more information on the charity you can go here. (http://www.worldvision.org/)”Add to My Radar


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The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has taken a significant step in fostering financial innovation and inclusion by granting in-principal approval (IPA) for the establishment of five digital retail banks (DRBs). This move is aimed at providing affordable digital financial services and expanding access to financial services in Pakistan.
Earlier in January 2023, SBP issued no-objection certificates to five successful applicants for setting up digital banks in the country. After meeting the necessary requirements, these entities have now received in-principal approval to prepare for the operational launch of digital financial services.
The five approved digital retail banks are HugoBank Limited, KT Bank Pakistan Limited, Mashreq Bank Pakistan Limited, Raqqami Islamic Digital Bank Limited, and Telenor Microfinance Bank Limited. These digital banks will operate primarily online, offering services that were traditionally available only at physical bank branches, with a focus on serving individual customers and small to medium-sized businesses.
The Governor of SBP emphasized the importance of introducing DRBs in Pakistan, highlighting the positive impact they will have on the financial system. He also acknowledged the challenges faced by such financial players and discussed key regulatory initiatives to support the growth of the digital financial ecosystem. SBP is fully committed to facilitating a digitally empowered future for banking in Pakistan.
The introduction of digital banks is expected to contribute to the development of a digital ecosystem, enhance customer experiences, and provide affordable digital financial services, including credit access to underserved segments of society. The in-principal approvals granted to these DRBs will enable them to proceed with achieving operational readiness across various functions, ensuring compliance, risk management, cybersecurity, and more.
Earlier this year, SBP issued no-objection certificates to these proposed DRBs, allowing them to incorporate as public limited companies with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). The selection of these institutions followed a rigorous evaluation process, considering factors like fitness and propriety, financial strength, business plans, IT strategies, and more. Once they achieve operational readiness, these institutions will seek final approval from SBP to commence their banking operations.


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These are the top upcoming EVs under Rs 20 Lakh arriving in India in 2024
In 2024, the Indian electric car market is set to witness a surge in affordable and eco-friendly options, with six upcoming electric cars priced under Rs 20 lakh. These vehicles are poised to revolutionize the way Indians commute and will offer a perfect blend of sustainability and affordability. With innovations in battery tech and a growing charging infrastructure, these EVs are expected to provide substantial driving range and a great value for money. From established automakers to emerging startups, the lineup promises variety and will cater to diverse preferences and needs. These upcoming electric cars represent a significant step forward in India’s transition towards sustainable transportation. Let’s take a deep dive into it.
1. Maruti Suzuki Wagon-R Electric
Maruti Suzuki is among the top automakers gearing up for the electric revolution in the Indian market. Maruti India’s largest and best-selling automaker will start its electric lineup with a variety of cars. Starting from the Wagon-R electric which packs a nicely done design and will offer a range of over 350 Km. It is among the best upcoming electric cars under Rs 20 lakh to buy in India. We expect the Wagon-R EV will launch in India in 2024.
2. Tata Nano EV
Tata Motors showed the Nano EV Concept at the Auto Expo last year. Tata Nano made headlines becoming one of the world’s cheapest cars retailing at just over Rs. 1.5 lakh. The Nano EV will like;y make its debut in 2024 with a refined design and will offer a range of up to 300 Km. The Nano EV will replace Tata’s entry-level car and is among the upcoming electric cars under Rs 20 lakh.
3. Mahindra BE.05
Mahindra displayed its electrified lineup last year with an array of electric cars solidifying the future of the home-grown carmaker. Among them, the BE.05 Concept will be the company’s entry-level EV sitting below the BE.09 Concept. It is among the best upcoming electric cars under Rs 20 lakh launching next year. The BE.05 will boast a cutting-edge design and will offer a range of up to 600 Km on a single charge.
4. Hyundai Venue Electric
Hyundai will also launch its electrified portfolio in the sub-20 lakh segment in India by next year. The South Korean automaker is already selling some of the best premium cars in their respecting segments. Hyundai’s electrified portfolio will consist of several cars, one of which is the Hyundai Venue electric. Priced at just under Rs. 20 lakh, the Venue Electric will likely be based on the current-gen Venue with an electrified powertrain. Combined with Hyundai’s best-in-segment features, safety and premium appeal, the Venue is a worthy car in our list of the best upcoming electric cars under Rs 20 lakh in India.
5. Tata Punch EV
Next comes the Tata Punch EV as one of the upcoming electric cars under Rs 20 lakh in India. After the Punch CNG, Tata Motors is set to unveil the electrified models of Altroz and the Punch. The Punch EV will be based on the current-gen model and will offer a new-age design as the Nexon EV Facelift. The Punch EV will cost between Rs. 10- 15 lakh in India and will offer range of around 350 Km on a single charge.
6. Honda Elevate Electric
Honda recently launched the Elevate, a compact SUV that is worthy of its segment leading comfort, refined performance, and offers loads of modern features. Along with that, Honda will launch its eelctrifed model soon in the Indian market. The Elevate EV will offer a single motor setup making over 200 hp of power and will offer a range of around 450 Km on a single charge.
Also read: Top 5 Safest Electric Cars In India To Buy


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Backdoor Return of Russian Fuel Oil Won't Change Bunker Market Fundamentals: Sources
Rotterdam: all quiet on the Northwestern front. File Image / Pixabay
Prior to the Russia-Ukraine war, around half of the fuel oil cargoes going into the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp market would be of Russian origin.But a year on from the outbreak of hostilities and that flow has all but disappeared as European Union sanctions have taken hold.
But according to a report by shipbroker Gibsons, changes in product tanker ownership have returned a fluidity to the oil markets that some players might not have thought possible as a flurry of sale-and-purchase deals has increased shippers' options.
Much of the product heading east is expected to end up in the Middle East. The region could become a blending hub where Russian components are transformed into products for re-export across the world.
"If this materialises, traditional Western export markets could see 'Middle East' gasoline competing with US and European supplies, perhaps even into the US itself despite the origin of the finished grades' original components," the broker said.
The disappearance of Russian fuel oil cargoes from the retail bunker market in Europe has to date had little impact (vis-a-vis other factors) as markets and players have adjusted to the new reality.
The advent of blended fuel with Russian origin components coming back into the market is unlikely to change that.
Evidence of market impact is absent while blended product by definition is hard to categorise as being 100% without certain components, market sources told Ship & Bunker.
"I don't see it, not yet, when asking about future prices," one player told Ship & Bunker.
Another said that while the effect of Russian-related products' circuitous route back into the European product market -- and by extension bunker market -- could be felt at the margin so could other events. It would be hard to know which was doing what, the source said, adding that if anything, the impact would be felt more in the cargo markets.
However, another view put quality ahead of price as the pertinent factor as far as market movements are concerned.
The line of argument relates to Russian fuel oil being relatively cheap straight run product. "Ships' engines can burn 500cSt without having to use any additives or other chemicals and the price differential if compared to 380cSt can be $50/80 per metric tonne," according to the source.


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Hello Offernloot Users Today I ma back with a new update For Jio Users.Reliance Jio on Friday announced that its existing Prime members will get to extend their membership for another year free of cost. The company, when it started operations in 2016, had offered Prime membership to users for a year till March 31, 2018, at a one-time charge of Rs 99. All Jio Prime members who have subscribed to the exclusive membership benefits till March 31, 2018, will get another year of complimentary Prime benefits at no additional fee, the telecom company said in a statement. For new Jio subscribers, the membership continues to be available at an annual fee of Rs 99, it added.
“All Jio Prime members who have subscribed to the exclusive membership benefits till 31st March 2018 will get another year of complimentary Prime benefits at no additional fee,” Reliance Jio said in a statement.
“The continued availability of the Jio Prime Membership to new subscribers reiterates Reliance Jio’s commitment to deliver a differentiated Digital Life experience to Indians and will propel this into the world’s largest loyalty program,” the statement added.
Jio Prime subscribers are those who have taken up one-time annual membership with the telecom operator to get additional benefits like access to exclusive content, and other facilities.
Reliance Jio, which currently has over 175 million customers, doubled its telecom market share to 13.71% as on 31 December 2017 from 6.40% a year ago, regulatory data shows
While Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai’s) latest order on tariff rules has given the green signal to Reliance Jio to continue with its promotional offers, the company could find it challenging to acquire new customers unlike a year ago when it garnered most of its subscriber base from small telecom players. With most of the consolidation already completed or on the verge of completion, large telecom firms could find it challenging to acquire new customers at the same pace as before.
Jio Prime subscription is essential if you want to benefit from the offers the company provides from time to time, such as the Rs. 50 discounts on recharge packs with daily data allocations. Similarly, the Jio promise to offer data tariffs 20 percent lower than the nearest competitor works out for Prime users only. Moreover, the access to content apps, which the operator values at Rs. 10,000 for the whole year, comes only with plans for which Prime subscription is a pre-requisite. Jio’s suite of apps includes Jio TV, Jio Music, Jio News, etc. However, despite the membership, customers are still required to purchase separate recharge packs with validities to use the network.
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Just Eat, MasterChef host Gregg Wallace team up for healthy eating pilot
Insights from the scheme will be used to create a programme to offer support for independents.
Just Eat announced a three-month healthy eating pilot scheme for restaurants, done in partnership with MasterChef host Gregg Wallace and nutritionist Charlotte Radcliffe.
Insights from the scheme will be used to create a programme to offer support to the thousands of independent restaurant partners.
Both Wallace and Radcliffe visited 10 restaurants in Birmingham to discuss aspects including adding healthier items to their menus to more effectively marketing the healthiest dishes to customers. As part of the project, each restaurant will now trial tailored changes to their menus.
The participating restaurants also benefited from a free trial of Nutritics, a tool that calculates the nutritional value of menu items, for the duration of the pilot.
Pilot participants include Rubery Fish Bar, Food Republic, Caspian Pizza, Sophie’s Pizza and Pasta, Slice of New York, Shazan'z Kebab House, Rumana’s, Big John’s, Mahfil Restaurant, and Chop & Wok.
“Consumers are increasingly looking to enjoy takeaways as part of a healthy balanced diet - but research we carried out earlier this year showed that less than a third think they can do so currently," said Andrew Kenny, UK Managing Director at Just Eat.


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A group of 11 co-workers won last week’s massive Mega Millions jackpot, lottery officials in California announced Friday. At the time of the drawing, the prize was listed as $522 million but was later revised upwards to $543 million.
The group didn’t usually form an office pool but decided to buy a ticket for the July 24 drawing on a whim, according to a statement from the California Lottery. Everyone, including the group’s supervisor, pitched in $2 each, according to the statement.
The lottery didn’t say how the winners would collect the jackpot. They could spread the prize out in payments over 30 years or take the lump-sum option of $320.5 million before taxes.
The winners ranged in age from 21 to 60 and said they planned to keep working. The lottery didn’t say where they worked other than that it’s in the financial industry.
"We love that company," winner Roland Reyes said in the statement. "We love what we’ve built there. We have a good time and want to stay together."
Reyes was the lone member of the group the lottery identified. The ticket was purchased at a liquor store in San Jose, which is about 50 miles south of San Francisco. Reyes said they deliberately sought out "a mom & pop shop" to buy the ticket, thinking it might give them better chance.
The owner of the liquor store received a million dollars for selling the winning ticket. The winning numbers were 1, 2, 4, 19 and 29 with a Mega number of 20.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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Schnucks expands its fleet of Tally robots
St. Louis-based grocery retailer Schnuck Markets has been using an autonomous inventory management robot named Tally since it first piloted the technology in 2017. Now the company has expanded the use of the robot to 46 additional stores—bringing the current number of Tally-equipped locations to 62.
Tally, produced by Simbe Robotics, can navigate an entire store as many as three times a day, scanning roughly 35,000 products each trip through. And thanks to its sensors—almost 40 of them—it has 360-degree situational awareness and can avoid obstacles in its path. No collisions with shoppers, staff, or a teetering pyramid of Froot Loops.


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Construction Machinery Company has announced the appointment of Kent Able as vice president of sales and rentals effective April 1.
Able has more than 30 years' experience in the construction equipment industry in the Louisville, Ky., market, and spent the past 17 years with a John Deere Construction and Forestry dealer, where he held various positions.
"We are excited to welcome Kent and look forward to his experience and knowledge in the Louisville and southern Indiana market," the company said in a statement.
"I look forward to the new challenge," Able said. "CMC has a great reputation in the industry and are dealers for some of the best equipment manufacturers in the construction market. They have a tremendous amount of experience in the market and a very strong customer base.
"We will continue to take care of our customers and provide the best equipment and product support to match. We will always strive to exceed the customer's expectations."
Today's top stories


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Wondering what’s new in Nexus? Just ask the experts. We’re hosting another Nexus Office Hours this Friday, on Google+ Hangout On Air. Our Nexus experts Brian Fox, Manfred Moser and Rich Seddon will demo the latest in Nexus and dedicate most of the hour to Q&A time with you! How to join: No registration required, [...]
Wondering what’s new in Nexus? Wishing you had a chance to ask some of our Nexus experts about Nexus best practices? Here’s your chance. We’re pleased to announce that Sonatype will be hosting Nexus Office Hours each month starting in March! Our Nexus experts Brian Fox, Manfred Moser and Rich Seddon will demo the latest [...]
With nearly 19,000 active instances of Nexus around the world, we thought we would reach out and ask the community to share their Nexus stories and experiences with us. Over the last six weeks we held our Nexus Stories Contest and we were blown away by the tremendous response we received from around the globe. [...]
Today we have a guest post from Sebastian Herold, a software architect at ImmobilienScout24, the largest German online marketplace for real estate. Sebastian and his team created a YUM plugin for Nexus to better interface between the Java and Linux worlds.
Sonatype makes it easy to add your projects to the Central Repository with a free, public hosting service called OSSRH, that we recently wrote about here. Many developers have found this a very useful service and easy to use with Apache Maven. However, if you’ve started using Gradle, you may have wondered if you could [...]


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Hanjin opposed Ashley Furniture’s motion for a freeze on the amounts it owes the carrier, along with a reduction in the amounts owed, saying in a court filing that if the motion was granted, its ability to reorganize would have been severely jeopardized.
The U.S. District Bankruptcy Court in Newark, N.J. will hear from companies today that said Hanjin is not “promptly” informing creditors when ships go off charter.
Thomson Reuters global trade management business, ONESOURCE Global Trade, conducted its second annual Global Trade Survey, shedding light on trends and challenges faced by trade experts and multinationals alike.
Registration takes less than 1 minute.
The South Korean carrier said certain providers have been charging its customers more than what it would have charged to transport cargo and has tried to intervene, taking its concern up with the Federal Maritime Commission.
The valuation provider VesselsValue said that during the past year, the value of a 2016-built Panamax containership with 4,250 TEUs of capacity tumbled 49.57 percent, while the value of a 2016-built ship with 7,000 TEUs of capacity fell 32.27 percent.
Various media reports have speculated the sale of South Korean liner carrier Hanjin Shipping, viewing COSCO and Maersk Line as possible buyers.


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NEW YORK (TheStreet -- The market may have a tough time topping Wednesday's dramatics but quarterly reports from a few blue chips will provide some headlines at the very least.
As expected, the
and said it sees no reason to back off its stimulus efforts. The bigger story was the
peek above 12,000 for the first time since June 2008.
While the Dow couldn't hold above that level through the close, traders have been waiting this move, and it should provide some pyschological support for the
to make its own push above 1,300 as long as earnings and economic data continue to cooperate.
The Fed wins the spin award of the week for saying that while commodity prices have risen, the outlook for longer-term inflation is still A-OK. The market just wants to know when rates are going up, so the dovish tone of the statement and the fact that none of the new members of the Federal Open Market Committee stepped into Thomas Hoenig's dissenter role would seem to be welcome news.
President Obama's State of the Union speech
may have been short on details about job creation, the Labor Department's release of data on weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET should be specific enough. But unless it's a blowout number, the market's more likely to take its cue from the next round of earnings reports.
reports its numbers after the close. The average estimate of analysts polled by
calls for earnings of 68 cents a share on revenue of $19.15 billion from Mr. Softie in its fiscal second quarter ended in December.
The company has a streak of seven straight earnings beats on the line, but that hasn't helped the stock much. It's down 3% over the past 52 weeks vs. a gain of more than 18% for the S&P 500. Since announcing a dividend increase in late September, however, the shares have appreciated 14% but there's little reason to think the company will go that route again, even with more than $40 billion in cash on hand. Don't forget Microsoft's board also approved taking on up to an additional $6 billion in debt when it okayed the dividend boost.
Looking at the stock's immediate post-earnings performance history, it turns out the shares usually don't do much in the wake of the reports, typically rising around 1% in after-hours action.
We know from
December quarter that PC shipments fell, but we also know that the Kinect sold more units than the market expected during the holidays.
So look for these two items to net each other out. At current levels, Microsoft trades at a 25% discount to the
, making it look like a cheap tech giant, but it can't rely on Kinect sales every quarter to make up for the declining PC market. Investors will want to know what the grand plan is, where are the tablets?
is slated to issue its fourth-quarter report after the close as well. Analysts were looking for a profit of 89 cents a share, but that number has started to slip of late.
The company enjoyed robust Kindle sales during the holidays, but some of that may have been due to a price cut. Competition in e-books is growing, so those sales may be harder to come by in the future.
Amazon.com is undeniably making the transition from physical books to digital books better than competitors
Barnes and Noble
, but the 40%-plus jump in its stock in the past year already reflects that. Any talk about shipping incentives is worth paying attention to.
It's a big day for telecom as well with
stepping up to the plate before the opening bell.
AT&T is on the defensive in the wake of
launch of the
iPhone. Its customers will undoubtedly be curious to hear if Verizon's service is better and may choose to wait and see before switching teams.
It's already been reported that AT&T has started to quietly offer unlimited data plans to some customers that have started to express an interest in Verizon, although the company wouldn't confirm that. AT&T recently made changes to its pension accounting that were seen as a positive move. For its part, Nokia will probably tell investors what it expects to hear -- it's still losing market share to Apple and Android phones and everyone else with a smart phone.
gets the morning started with its numbers. The stock has had a phenomenal run since summer, climbing 58%. Even with a spectacular quarter, it will be hard to keep that kind of momentum going.
The pride of Peoria, Ill. has already forecast that its U.S. sales should be up 15% this year. It's expecting global sales to be up 20-25%, except in the Middle East and Europe. If Caterpillar executives offer some good color on business in the U.S., it could give the bulls a reason to run even higher.
Also reporting is
, which should also get a lift if U.S. non-residential construction begins recovering.
And with the GDP number for the fourth quarter due before Friday's opening bell, traders may start positioning themselves Thursday afternoon.
--Written by Debra Borchardt in New York.
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Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors, reporters and analysts from holding positions in any individual stocks.


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Facebook asks, "What's on your mind?" Twitter wonders, "What are you doing?" Foursquare wants to know where you are. Flickr wants to see what photographs you're taking. Now, there's Foodspotting and the questions are: What are you eating and where?
Foodspotters post photos of their fave dishes on the site to share with others hungry for the same sort of thing, which is why Foodspotting's motto is "Find dishes, not just restaurants."
Launched in mid-January, Foodspotting now lists 15,000 foods "spotted" by 5,000 registered users, according to Alexa Andrzejewski, the application's San Francisco-based co-founder.
Andrzejewski came up with the idea after visiting Japan and Korea. She discovered many foods and decided people need to learn what's out there, like Japanese foods that are not sushi. She also discovered there was no easy way to find out where to get that food once you want it.
"So we started Foodspotting to create a better way for people to learn about new foods and find them using their mobile phone," she explained. "With existing guides, finding food can feel a little bit too much like research. With the Foodspotting app, you can just launch the app and see the foods around you. … It's more like looking in a bakery window. It's like window-shopping for food."
The app allows you to zero in on a dish by searching by name or by neighborhood. You can win "reputation points" whenever someone "wants" what you ate or nominates it as a great dish. As with Foursquare, you can earn "expert" badges.
Andrzejewski has big plans for Foodspotting.
"We want it to be a whole ecosystem of sites and even events and activities down the road,'' she said. "We don't mind if ‘foodspotter' becomes a generic word for people who take pictures of their food."
— Bill Daley


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At a press event in San Francisco, Intel and a group of 70 companies announced “Cloud 2015” Open Data Center Alliance to build a system of open standards for cloud computing. The ODCA makes it easier for customers to deploy cloud computing solutions, as it focuses on interoperability, flexibility and unifying industry standards. The ODCA will represent more than $50 billion in annual IT investment.
Intel, which powers 9 out 10 of the servers for the cloud today, will be a technical advisor and non voting member in the alliance. The companies involved are cross-vertical including Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, BMW and JP Morgan Chase, joining together with Intel towards the ultimate endgoal of simplified virtual computing.
Intel also announced an expansion of its Cloud Builders program, which allows companies like Citrix, Dell, HP, IBM, Microsoft, NetApp and VMware to provide solutions for many of the issues brought up by the alliance and the usage model roadmap.


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Icahn currently has a non-binding proposal before Apple shareholders that promotes a $50 billion buyback over the next eight months to drive up the share price. Apple has urged its stockholders to vote down the proposal, pointing out that it is in the midst of a multi-year $60 billion repurchasing plan and arguing that it needs its massive war chest to fend off competitors and invest in new products.
Icahn had scaled back his demands from an original $150 billion buyback scheme after getting nowhere in meetings with Cook last year. Icahn has argued that Apple's huge cash reserves — $147 billion as of the end of the third quarter, most of it sequestered overseas — should be used to return value to shareholders, even if that meant Apple had to borrow to fund his proposal.
Icahn has criticized Apple's cash strategy, if not Cook directly, since August 2013 when he first revealed he had been buying Apple shares.
Apple should expect to remain a top priority for Icahn, even if he puts his spotlight on any number of other companies, Moorhead said. "Apple is the kind of company that Icahn loves to target, as in many ways Apple will make decisions that are good for end users or for long-term versus short-term gains," said Moorhead.
Apple will hold its annual shareholders meeting Feb. 28, when stockholders will vote on Icahn's proposal.
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Mr Eric Amaning Okoree, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), National Biosafety Authority (NBA), has called for enhanced cooperation and collaboration between the NBA and regulatory institutions in the biosafety Space.
He said through knowledge exchange intensification and sharing of modern biotechnology, a lot can be achieved to enhance national development.
He explained that the field of modern biotechnology required a concerted effort of all professionals tasked to ensure that the product of modern biosafety and biotechnology were safe for human consumption and the environment.
“With the increase in the human population and the improvement in technology, we need to ensure that food security is attained. This requires we innovate and improve using modern biotechnology.
“We, therefore need to ensure that the various protocols on the regulation of products of modern biotechnology- genetically modified organisms are safe for Ghanaians,” he said.
The sensitization had the goal of enhancing the working knowledge of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and their regulation in Ghana.
Interacting with officers of the Customs Laboratory of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in Accra as part of the NBA’s public sensitization mandate, Mr Okoree indicated that the NBA had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with seven state regulatory institutions.
They are the Customs Laboratory Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The rest are Veterinary Services Department (VSD), Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Plant Protection & Regulatory Services Department (PPRSD) and Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).
On the role of the Customs Laboratory of the GRA as a partner in the regulation of GMOs in Ghana, Mr Okoree stated that with their role and mandate in cross border movement (clearance for passage of goods and cargoes, and a good resource laboratory), the importation of GMOs would be subjected to severe scrutiny to ensure that only products approved by the NBA would be imported or exported.
The CEO further indicated that with a concerted effort by all the regulatory agencies, only products that had passed the test of safety would be allowed into the country and urged all the agencies to exhibit professionalism in the regulatory value chain.
“We need to create a constructive synergy with all the regulatory provisions on GMOs to be able to handle the wider biosafety, biosecurity and bioethics,” he said.
Mr Okoree added that GMOs could be become evasive and spread without control hence the need for a stringent regulatory regime.
He, therefore, educated the officers on the NBA’s mandate, permit approval and decision-making process adding that the NBA provided regulation for confined field trials, introduction unto the market, placement, import and export and transit.
Mrs Phyllis Sekyi-Djan, Assistant Commissioner of the Customs Laboratory, entreated the officers to ensure that all goods for imports and exports were duly approved by the NBA
She further advised the NBA to sign into the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) platform to ensure that the approval process was streamlined and conformed to the regulatory standards.


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On Tuesday, the Consumer Confidence Index was reported for March. This monthly gauge of consumer sentiment is released by The Conference Board, a U.S.-based global provider of economic data and analytics. For the uninitiated, the index has a benchmark of 100. Any level above 100 indicates an optimism by consumers on their future outlook for the economy, jobs and income.
March’s report of 109.7 represented a new post-pandemic high. It greatly exceeded Wall Street’s forecast of just 96 and was a sizable jump from February’s report of 90.4. Since the initial fallout from the COVID-19 virus 12 months ago, Americans’ confidence has struggled to regain its footing. In April 2020, the index plummeted to 85.7, a six-year low, snapping a string of 44 consecutive months of 100-plus levels. For perspective, the all-time high for the Consumer Confidence Index is 144.7 set in May 2000.
March’s surge in consumer confidence was driven by the continued rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines and their role in reopening the economy. For Wall Street, the index’s relevance is that it tends to serve as a predictor of consumer spending — the key driver of America’s economy. Historically, optimistic consumers tend to spend more. Any increase in consumer demand for goods and services must be accompanied by an increase in production and labor force to meet that demand. For employees, this translates to rising wages and greater disposable income. For companies, economic growth means greater profits.