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Cannabis 2.0: Where are they now?
Medipharm Labs CEO reviews the first year of extracts legalization
October 16, 2020 By Jean Ko Din
Around this time last year, the industry was gearing up for a second cannabis boom.
On Oct. 17, 2019, Canada opened up the market to edibles, infused beverages, topicals, oils, concentrates and other extract products one year after the legalization of recreational cannabis. This wave of new cannabis products were meant to inject $2.7 billion into the Canadian market in its first year. But as we near the close of 2020, the market shows a different story.
Medipharm Labs Corp. has been in the forefront of cannabis processing and extraction in Canada. In March 2018, it was the first company to become a licensed producer (LP) for cannabis oil production under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) without first receiving a cultivation licence.
While other LPs focused on producing dried flower on a mass scale, chief executive Pat McCutcheon told Grow Opportunity that Medipharm has been positioning itself to stake its claim on its own corner of the cannabis value chain since the very beginning of its founding in 2015.
Grow Opportunity: Why was it important for the company to distinguish itself strictly as an extraction and processing company from the very beginning?
Pat McCutcheon: We were licence number 95 in the application process. In our application, we made the case that if we really look at any other industry, we see a separation and specialization. Many companies have done really well in history when they picked their point on the value chain, and then really run it as a specialist on that value chain. So we picked our spot. On the second page of our pitch spec, it says, “Do what you do best and forget the rest.” And that’s very much the mantra that we live by today.
GO: By the time Canada opened up the market to edibles, topicals and extracts, Medipharm Labs must have been ready for the market. What was the prep like before the 2.0 launch?
PM: We sent a ton of bulk distillates and bulk rosin to a ton of our major clients, including Canopy Growth which was our first one. We had the largest oil deal at that point prior to Cannabis 2.0 launching. We also did a number of large deals to Cronos and TerrAscend and Hydropothecary, which now has turned into Hexo Corp. We were able to produce more volume of extract than anyone else in the game, at a very high quality, and we were able to support all of our partners or peers so they could prepare their Cannabis 2.0 strategy.
GO: Looking back at the lead up to Cannabis 2.0, there was a lot of excitement around the potential of this market. From where you stand, how has the market changed since then?
PM: Not unlike the launch of Cannabis 1.0, it was challenging for the different provincial governments to be prepared for this new bricks and mortar scenario. Rather than them deciding to use the existing LCBO or the existing alcohol distribution bricks-and-mortar stores, they were faced with the challenge of being able to now build a whole new industry and new infrastructure to move these products out.
So this is something that not only plagued the industry out of the gates, but also put significant challenges for our company as we tried to push large volumes across the country. We have contracts from all provinces now, but particularly in Ontario, we positioned the company to be in a great position geographically, to set up our products to be accessible to the warehouse supply chain. And basically, when so few stores launched, then this held back the explosion that I think a lot of people were expecting with Cannabis 2.0.
GO: Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Overall, how has your company been affected?
PM: I would take this chance to say it really wasn’t chaos because we were being advised so closely by a lot of physicians that were dealing with infectious control in the major hospitals. We have Dr. Paul Tam as one of our board members, who is head of dialysis in Scarborough General and has a number of hospitals that work within his jurisdiction. He was a fantastic help with our policies and procedures.
Even though it was a disturbance, and even as we look at it from direct costs and efficiencies output, we did see some challenges. I think we did a fantastic job because we stayed so closely to the way that the hospitals were managing this directly into the headwinds.
I also think that with the deeming of cannabis as an essential service, that has helped accelerate the fact that patients, physicians, regulatory bodies are now more accepting of the industry. Consumer research shows many are using cannabis-based products to deal with anxiety or sleep disorders, which are commonly found with the global pandemic right now. I think it’s helping reduce the stigma of cannabis with the world we’re in today.
GO: Is Medipharm more focused on the medical or the recreational cannabis space?
PM: This is obviously a question we get all the time. If I could just reframe the way you’ve articulated it, is MediPharm interested in the global medical market? Yes, absolutely. We’ve built two of the most impressive, large-scale cannabis processing facilities that are both GMP-certified. Now, we’re not only able to deliver products into the medical channel and the wellness, recreational channel in Canada but we’re able to move product around the world. Very few companies have this ability.
Having said that, from a recreational standpoint, we also do a lot of white label manufacturing. We are seeing dynamic growth of the provincial adult-use and wellness segment. Even though this sector is regulated, there is very much a difference in terms of the comfort level that a lot of physicians feel when considering recommending these products.
GO: Can you expand a bit more on physicians and their comfort level with cannabis?
PM: We’re able to sell and distribute a line of Medipharm Labs products of 25mg of CBD per mL to 1mg of THC per mL, 50 to 2 and 25 to 5 in the medical channel which requires a prescription, but are also available in the recreational channel or wellness channel.
These duo streams, and the fact that our products are manufactured in our pharma-quality facility, should give physicians the confidence and option to recommend these as over-the-counter products. Or, consumers can test out products themselves.
And the point of it is, I think that it gives physicians more tools in their tool chest, or in their medical doctor handbag. That’s brought enhanced comfort for our physicians.
It’s still very young, the medical cannabis land and the wellness/recreational industry. And I think as we move forward, patients will start understanding these elements of purity, potency and quality because physicians can now finally feel comfortable.
GO: Is that why Medipharm wanted to participate in the study that the University Health Network is conducting?
PM: The study will be using blockchain technology to collect data on the therapeutic effects of medical cannabis in adults. Through Medical Cannabis by Shoppers, we’re going to be providing over 20 per cent of the products that are going to these patients in the study. And because we are a GMP-certified platform, it’s been a great additive element to show and to look at the differentiation between a product that’s been made in a certified facility versus some products that have not been made in a certified facility. And whether that reduction in differentiating potencies really does, or does not, have an effect in long-term consumption of these products.
It’s a very exciting trial. There’s very little data, still. And one of the things that we’re doing is launching a clinical research trials portfolio with different investigators across Canada and in Australia. We’re looking at products that we are already selling on the shelves to qualify more data and to further enhance the physician comfortability in writing those scripts.
But also, with the patients’ outcomes – and I say this to express where it is going and not where it is today because we need data to make these claims – hopefully, it gets to a point where the qualified data will suggest an improved, advanced efficacy-based outcome. That’s the goal.
GO: Medical research around cannabis will definitely play a part in moving the industry forward. As we move beyond 2.0, are there other places with room to improve?
PM: In a very young industry and just coming out of the gate now, quality should be very important to the producers. And it should be very important to the patients and to the consumers to ensure that they’re actually getting what they’re buying and at the right prices. One of the things we’re going to be working on now as a member of the Canadian Cannabis Association, I plan to be quite active in how certain elements of this association are changing and updating some of the rules to create more standardization and testing and safety qualifications for the actual manufacturing of such products.
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Apple is set to a launch a new NFC-based mobile payment system and two drugstore companies, CVS and Walgreens have signed up with the company.
The yet-to-named mobile payment system is expected to be launched with the latest iPhone 6. The deal with two major drugstore companies in the US will accept the “new iPhone payment system” that will cover 15,000 retail stores. Apple is aiming to bring in Nordstorm for the new payment system,though it is unclear if the company will sign the deal before the launch event. CVS and Walgreens have declined to comment regarding the deal. Earlier, American Express had signed up with the company for the new payment system.
“We don’t know what Apple may be planning in terms of payment system so it is not possible for us to say whether it is something our stores may be able to accept,” said a CVS spokesperson regarding the new e-wallet system.
The new payment system will utilize Near Field Technology (NFC) along with the existing fingerprint technology. Consumers will just have to tap the e-wallet at stores for payment instead of using a debit, credit or the physical cash as the payment data will be stored on the iPhones. Users will also have a easier way of paying for iTunes music using the system on entering the data.
Details regarding the wireless protocols are not yet known as they are used at terminals for touch-less payment. The iPhone 6 will be the first smartphone to use this feature. Apple might also include the feature in the upcoming iWatch though it might not be present due to the sleek and lightweight design of the device.
- Apple kills 32GB version of iPhone 6; to offer 128 GB of internal storage.
- Apple partners with American Express for iPhone 6 NFC Payment system.
- Fanboys lining up outside Apple Store days before the new iPhone unveiling.
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Univision, a U.S. Spanish-language TV network, has gone into partnership with Televisa, a Mexican multimedia company, to launch a new Pay TV channel, which will become the Latin American version of Univision Channel. The name of the new channel has not been disclosed yet.
The channel will be available as from “early 2020” in 17 Latin American countries, excluding Brazil. Both companies will work together in programming and marketing operations for the channel, which will feature new productions as well as content already broadcast by Univision and Televisa. The Mexican company will be in charge of distribution and ad sales.
It is important to highlight that in mid-2019 the above-mentioned companies launched TUDN (Televisa Univision Deportes Network), a sports channel available in Mexico and the U.S. The difference between TUDN and the new channel is that the latter is expected to reach virtually the entire Latin American region. Previously, both companies had been working together in content production and interchange for several years.


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Today, Bethesda shared more details about Fallout 76's post-launch content. According to the developers, the game will get mods and private "worlds" — essentially servers — down the line. This will allow server administrators to tailor the experience. For example, let's say you want to have hyper-aggressive creatures and weak weapons. You can do that. Project Leader Jeff Gardiner said the following in an interview with Wikia.
Sometime in the future — way in the future — we are fully going to embrace mods and then do something we're calling private worlds. We don't usually try to use the word server so much... we're trying to call them worlds, and these are going to be private worlds that folks will be able to set up and mod to their heart's content... It'd be sort of up to that curator — or whatever you want to call them — to be responsible for that experience... So, if it's, you know, they can do all – cotton candy houses – or whatever they wanted to do... Your characters at that point will have to stay on those servers. You couldn't bring them back into a game like this where you could go in that world, grab all ammo, come back into a regular game and grief all day.
Design Director, Chris Meyer clarified that "We obviously love the mod community and love supporting them, but allowing the mod community to come in and mod this game… The possibility of breaking the experience... it's something we couldn't risk." It's great to see that mods and private servers will be added after a lot of thought and testing.
Cross-play may be coming to Fallout 76 down the line if it's not too complicated. Production Director Chris Meyer said during the same interview, "this is not something we can do the last final weeks, so, this might be something that we look at in the future. It's not just flicking a switch — there's a lot of work." Now that Sony has changed its stance by allowing Fortnite cross-play, it may become a reality in other games.
Since Microsoft has a marketing agreement with Bethesda, Xbox One players can access the B.E.T.A on October 23, 2018. The B.E.T.A. begins for PC and PlayStation 4 players a week later on October 30. In order to play the game early, you'll have to preorder Fallout 76 and then redeem a code that comes with your purchase on the game's website. There doesn't appear to be any other way at the moment.
Keep an eye on WindowsCentral.com/Gaming for all the latest in Xbox and Windows 10 gaming, accessories, news, and reviews!
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There’s a new law going into effect on August 15, 2010. It’s called Regulation E (Reg E), and deals specifically with overdrafts. Basically now you have to choose to Opt In or Opt Out of overdraft protection.
Currently many banks will approve your debit card even though there is not enough money in your account. Effective August 15, every banking client will be opted out of overdraft protection unless they choose to opt in. Should you opt in or opt out?
Opt In for Overdraft
If you choose to opt in for overdrafts, your card may get approved even though the funds are not available in your checking account. This may be good in the event of an emergency where you are stuck with absolutely no cash and your car has broken down, or even to avoid embarrassment when you’re out to dinner with a date and your card would normally be declined. On the other hand, opting in to overdraft protection would not be a good idea for someone who doesn’t balance their checkbook. I definitely wouldn’t recommend opting in if you don’t keep up with your balance. There’s no sense in risking overdraft fees!
Opt Out of Overdrafts
Opting out is just what it sounds like: no overdrawing your checking account with the debit card. Don’t be overly confident, though: recurring debit card transactions are an exception. If you’ve let your car insurance company charge your debit card, the transaction may be approved even though the funds are not available. Otherwise, if you don’t have the money in your account, your card won’t get approved to cover the transaction. This is definitely helpful in the fact that you’re less likely to get overdraft fees.
If you don’t do anything, you’ll automatically be opted out of overdraft protection.
Under the Fed rules, banks would have to explain what overdraft protection is, the details of how it works and the fees associated with it before asking consumers to opt in to the program. (See model opt-in disclosure.)
“The final overdraft rules represent an important step forward in consumer protection,” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, said in a press release on the rules. “Both new and existing account holders will be able to make informed decisions about whether to sign up for an overdraft service.”
Another blow to banks
The new rules are the latest setback for the nation’s banks and credit unions already reeling from the effects of the economy and new consumer credit card rules coming online. Thursday’s overdraft regulations are sure to trim back what had become a growing income source, estimated at $23.7 billion in 2008 and projected to hit $38.5 billion in 2009.
In third quarter financial statements filed this month, Wells Fargo indicated it expects to take in $300 million less in fee revenues in 2010 because of policies the bank has implemented to help consumers limit overdraft and returned item fees. Facing a rising tide of consumer complaints, Bank of America and Chase have also revised their policies to give customers the choice of using overdraft services.
Edward L. Yingling, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association trade group, said the bankers have created an overdraft task force to look at consumer concerns as well as how technology can be improved and the role of retailers and merchants processing transactions.
“This new rule addresses the primary concerns that have been raised by consumers and policymakers and will help bring consistency and clarity to overdraft programs. Our goal is to have a system that works well for banks and customers and keeps the payment system running efficiently,” Yingling said in a statement.
The Fed rules also come as lawmakers in both houses of Congress are considering bills (H.R. 3904 and S. 1799) to curb overdraft abuses. The proposed bills are more far reaching than the Fed rules and include bans on multiple overdraft fees during a single month. Those bills also seek to regulate how debit card transactions are processed by banks. Consumer advocates have complained that transactions are processed to maximize fees for banks rather than chronologically as they occur. A hearing on the Senate bill is scheduled for Nov. 17 before the Senate Banking Committee.
Lawmaker: Fed rules don’t go far enough
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, co-sponsor of the House bill, applauded the Fed for recognizing that the overdraft fee problem needs review, but said the Fed rules don’t go far enough to address all of the practices harmful to consumers.
While these rules are a good, solid step forward, they don’t eliminate the need for congressional action on this issue,” Maloney said in a statement. “The Fed still allows institutions to charge an unlimited quantity of overdraft fees, would do nothing to make fees proportional to the amount of the overdraft, and would not address the manipulation of posting order of charges to accounts. Under the Fed’s new rule, a $5 cup of coffee could still become a $40 cup of coffee after an overdraft fee is added!”
She added: “My bill does all that — it caps the quantity of fees at one per month or six per year, requires that fees be reasonable, and prohibits posting-order manipulation, and includes all transactions, not just debit cards. Those are provisions I believe make for the strongest consumer protections, that’s why Chairman [Barney] Frank and I have proposed this legislation, and that’s what I believe the House will be passing.”
Consumer groups have called overdraft fees “high-cost loans” and note that banks can decline debit transactions when there aren’t enough funds but don’t because of the profits they can make from the fees consumers pay. Advocates say banks often don’t explain to consumers that they can avoid overdraft fees by linking their debit cards to other savings accounts or opening a line of credit — less expensive alternatives to overdraft fees.
Eric Halperin, director of the Washington, D.C., office of the Center for Responsible Lending, criticized the Fed’s “failure to propose or enact necessary safeguards against a host of unfair practices.”
“Congress needs to step in to stop the abusive practices the Fed has known about for nearly a decade, but once again has failed to address,” Halperin said in a statement.
Fed research: Consumers want choice
According to the Fed, which conducted consumer research on overdraft practices, most consumers would prefer to have a choice in enrolling — or “opt in” for — overdraft programs for ATM and debit card transactions. The research also showed that most people do want overdraft coverage for important bills such as rent, telephone and other utilities. Thus, the new rule applies to ATM and one-time debit card transactions but not checks. A 2009 study by the Center for Responsible Lending found most overdraft fees were generated at the point of sale, when consumers are using their cards at check-out.
The Fed rule also took steps to prevent banks from discriminating against customers who do not opt in by requiring that they have the same account terms, conditions and features as account holders who opt in to the fees. Anyone with ATM or debit cards prior to July 1, 2010, cannot be charged overdraft fees after Aug. 15, 2010, unless the bank or credit union has first gotten the consumer’s consent to participate in an overdraft program.
“Overdraft fees can be costly,” Fed Gov. Elizabeth A. Duke, who heads the agency’s Committee on Consumer and Community Affairs, said in a press release. “Our rule will help consumers better understand the terms and conditions of overdraft services and will give them an opportunity to avoid fees when these services do not meet their needs.”
Said Maloney at an Oct. 30 congressional hearing on her overdraft bill: “The overdraft problem is significant and getting worse. The quantity of debit card transactions now exceeds the quantity of credit card transactions.”


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A scuffle between two men at a Walmart store started when one man entered the store through the exit door, police say.


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TESCO yesterday insisted it will be a winner this Christmas - despite a recent sales slowdown.
Finance director Andrew Higginson said the chain - which takes nearly one pound in every three spent at a supermarket checkout - was "looking good".
Sales in the 13 weeks to November 25 were up 5.6 per cent on last year. This compares to 6.6 per cent in the previous three months.
Tesco has suffered increased competition on expensive food and organic ranges from Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer.
But Higginson said: "We are looking forward to having a good Christmas. There's all to play for, but so far so good."


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New York City Williams-Sonoma Inc. has scaled back the size of its catalogs by nearly a third while winnowing down the number of consumers across the country who receive the publications, according to the Associated Press.
Speaking at an investor conference on Tuesday, the company said it cut the circulation of its catalogs by about 25% while reducing the number of pages by 31%.
We know that the pages we would have mailed would not have yielded a profitable return," said Patrick Connolly, executive VP and chief marketing officer, at the Thomas Weisel Partners Consumer Conference in New York.
The moves have helped the retailer shave up to $40 million off its advertising costs as it tries to better focus its marketing efforts on customers who are still buying home-furnishing items amid a weakening economy, executives said.
Connolly also said the nation's retail environment is the worst in 30 years, particularly in areas where the housing market has suffered the most.


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LG is building Google's long-awaited smartwatch, according to The Wall Street Journal. Citing "a person familiar with the situation" in Barcelona, the Journal claims that LG's hardware partnership with Google will soon expand to include the wrist-worn device. But it may not be the only manufacturer involved; other companies may also produce Google smartwatches, according to the report. That strategy would be similar to the one Google uses for its Nexus family of smartphones and tablets, which pulls in hardware from more than one company. According to CNET, Google plans to unveil the watch's operating system sometime in March, saving the device's big reveal for its I/O conference in June. Famed Twitter leaker @evleaks also tweeted similar details earlier today.
Back in October, the Journal reported that Google's smartwatch "could be ready within months." The device is expected to place a strong focus on Google Now and glanceable information, but little else about its capabilities is known at this early stage. If and when Google does enter the smartwatch market, it will immediately face major competition from Pebble and Samsung, among other contenders. And of course there's Apple's rumored "iWatch," which may also debut at some point this year. Google I/O 2014 takes place between June 25th and 26th.
Update: The Journal has confirmed the report based on comments that LG mobile chief Park Jong-seok made in Seoul today. The watch will reportedly be compatible with devices from various companies, and a Journal source says it will be based on Android.


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Beyoncé’s exclusive weeklong distribution deal with Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iTunes has sparked a feud between the pop diva and retail giants Target (NYSE:TGT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). As noted by Business Insider, the feud may push even more album sales into the Cupertino-based company’s lap.
Target spokesperson Erica Julkowski recently told Billboard that the retailer will not be selling Beyoncé’s latest album, while online retailer Amazon has refused to stock the CD version of the album, although it is still selling the MP3 version. However, the CD version is also available via third -party resellers on Amazon.
“At Target we focus on offering our guests a wide assortment of physical CDs, and when a new album is available digitally before it is available physically, it impacts demand and sales projections,” Julkowski told Billboard. “At this time, Target will not be carrying Beyonce’s new self-titled album ‘Beyonce.’”
Although some retailers may have resented the preferential treatment that Beyoncé gave to Apple, most merchants were happy to stock the CD version of the album that was released this past week. Soon after Target’s announcement, Beyoncé made a surprise visit to a Walmart (NYSE:WMT) store in Massachusetts, where she showered shoppers with $50 gift cards and made a point of purchasing her own CD.


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Billionaire Philip Green, chairman of Topshop parent company Arcadia Group, faces new offense charges, this time in Arizona for allegedly misappropriating and making nasty comments to a Pilates instructor, who called him “the British Harvey Weinstein,” Bloomberg reports.
Last year five former employees accused the retail mogul of sexual harassment and abuse. He has denied their claims.
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The 64-year-old has a bad business reputation after soled British Home Stores (BHS), for only $1.50 (1 GBP) in 2015. In April 2016 BHS declared bankruptcy, fired many of its 11, 000 employees and placed the pension fund of more than 20,000 people in jeopardy.
In the 15 years before the sale of BHS, Green padded his fortune by more than $800 million and left its pension fund almost $700 million in the red.
This has led to an inquiry by England’s Parliament and calls for Green’s head.
The Daily Beast titled Sir Philip Green, Britain’s Most Hated Billionaire,” and Vanity Fair asked, “how Sir Philip Green made an outrageous fortune and outraged an entire nation.”
The new allegation comes at a time Green put effort to save his empire from insolvency. In June laid off some 1,000 workers and closing 50 stores out of its 566 stores, including all 11 American Topshop locations. He also injected about $500 million into Arcadia company directly, mostly to shore up its ailing pension fund.
Meanwhile, top model Kate Moss, who designed 14 lines of clothing for the store, and Beyoncé, who partnered with Topshop to sell an activewear line 3 years ago, have ended their business relationships with Green.
Two other women the chairwoman of the holding company that owns Arcadia and Topshop fashion director Maddy Evans and Karren Brady left the company.
According to Bloomberg, some analysts say Green may have no choice but to sell or break up his company, as it struggles to keep pace with online retailers and direct competitors like Primark and Boohoo.


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The latest entry on the mid-range smartphones category from Samsung is a device called Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime. This has just been released on the market in Vietnam and it is expected to be launched on other Asian markets in the near future. Other countries outside Asia should also receive the phone soon.
Recently, there were some reports showing that India also received the handset and they are retailing it for Rs 18,790 (Indian rupees). Fans in Vietnam are now able to order a Galaxy J7 Prime device and on the official Samsung website in Vietnam you can check out the price. It costs VND 6,290,000 (Vietnamese Dong), which equals $282 (American dollars).
As to its specifications, the new device offers enough to satisfy the average needs of a regular customer and even a little bit more. It sports a 5.5 inches screen that brings Full HD resolution (1080p). Moreover, it is very resistant since the company included Corning Gorilla Glass 4. This doesn’t mean you should bash it against the walls, though.
it seems that the phone will run Samsung’s own System on Chip, called Exynos 7870. The recorded clock speed is 1.6 GHz and it’s going to offer 3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal storage that can be increased with the help of a MicroSD slot (but not more than 256 GB).
The main feature that fascinates fans on the new smartphone is the S Bike Mode, a feature that was also included on the Galaxy J3 model released earlier this year. S Bike Mode has the same function as the answering machines had on old telephones. The difference is the fact that it sends a message if you miss a call, which proves to be really useful when you can’t answer right now.
Sadly, there is no information as to when the new device is going to hit the markets in the US or in Europe, so fans on other continents will have to wait more.


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Amman, June 17 (Petra) -During its first meeting, the new administrative body of Jordan Exporters Association (JEA) picked Mohammad Jaafari, General Manager of the Jordan Loan Guarantee Corporation (JLGC), as Chairman of JEA’s Board of Directors for a term that extends until 2025.
The JEA’s General Assembly chose its new administrative members during its 2022 regular meeting and approved financial and administrative reports.
In a statement on Saturday, Jaafari said JEA will continue to provide services to Jordanian exporters from various sectors and search for non-traditional exporting markets for their products by taking part in global exhibitions, and introducing them to ways on benefiting from privileges of trade agreements, which Jordan signed with various international economic blocs.
Jaafari also stressed need to focus on increasing exports of Jordanian industrial products, raising their competitiveness, targeting non-traditional markets, primarily in Africa, and strengthening their presence in U.S. and European Union countries.
During 2023, Jaafari noted the JEA will work to continue its role to organize Jordan’s participation in specialized international exhibitions to promote Jordanian industry and supporte presence of the Kingdom’s exporters in international forums.
The association, which was established in 1988, seeks to support export of Jordanian industrial sector’s products and services, implement activities aimed at developing the Kingdom’s exports, provide an “appropriate” environment for exchanging businesspeople’s expertise in export fields, promote Jordanian products in various international markets, participate in world exhibitions, and hold specialized seminars.


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Property holding company posts decreased profit
West Hamilton Holdings Limited, the BSX-listed Bermuda property holding company, has reported net income of $948,364 (2021: $1,023,449) for the six-month period ending March 31.
In a letter to shareholders filed with the BSX that set out the company’s unaudited financial results for the period, J Michael Collier, the company president, said total revenue was $1,529,573 representing a decrease of $90,560 in comparison to 2021.
Rental income for the first half of 2022 decreased marginally as a result of lower occupancy level in the Belvedere Building.
The company said the parking garage continues to enjoy full occupancy levels with more than 75 potential customers on a waiting list for available parking spaces.
Operating income for the period increased by 7.3 per cent compared to 2021.
Operating expenses increased by 9.4 per cent due to higher maintenance costs.
Interest expense decreased by more than 50 per cent due to significant lower borrowing rates negotiated during the period.
Earnings per share were $0.32 for the period as compared to $0.35 per share in 2021.
The company reported total shareholders’ equity as at March 31 of $40.85 million (September 2021: $39.9 million) an increase of 2.4 per cent.
Current assets, which include cash and other assets that could readily be converted into cash, totalled $3,598,169 as at March 31 compared with $2,555,972 as at September 30 2021.
The company generated free cashflow during the period of $1,586,496; the accumulated cash reserves will be used to fund future dividend payments and potential further development of the company’s assets.
Total assets amounted to $51.53 million compared with $50.39 million at the end of fiscal 2021, an increase of 2.3 per cent.
Book value per share at March 31 was $14.04 (September 2021: $13.72). This represents an increase of $0.32 per share or 2.3 per cent, the company said.


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New Delhi: Drug maker Wockhardt on Friday said it has received tentative approval from the US health regulator to market Olopatadine hydrochloride eye drops in the American market.
The company has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market 0.1% solution of Olopatadine hydrochloride eye drops, used in treating allergic conjunctivitis, Wockhardt said in a statement.
“This is a major approval for Wockhardt in opthalmic segment,” Wockhardt Chairman Habil Khorakiwala said, adding that sterile products, including opthalmic products, continue to form an important part of the company’s US product portfolio.
Olopatadine hydrochloride eye drops are the generic equivalent of Alcon Laboratories Inc’s Patanol brand.
“The patent covering this product is under litigation in the US courts and Wockhardt will launch the product after resolution of the same,” the company said.
According to IMS Health data, the total market for Olopatadine in the US is nearly $230 million.
“Wockhardt is only one of the three companies to receive a tentative approval for this product till date,” it said, adding that the firm produces the product in its USFDA certified plant at Waluj in Aurangabad.
Shares of Wockhardt were today trading at Rs 369.55 on the Bombay Stock Exchange in the late afternoon trade, up 0.79% from previous close.


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Sainsbury's shares drop
Financial squeeze hits the third biggest supermarket group in the UK.
Shares in Sainsbury's fell by around 6 per cent it was revealed.
Growth has not been as high as expected for the supermarket, with only a 1 per cent increase in like-for-like sales in fourth quarter, against 3.6 per cent growth in the previous quarter.
Chief executive Justin King in explation said that consumers were "facing fuel price inflation, uncertain employment prospects and government spending cuts".


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Sky may quickly be compelled to inform prospects about higher TV offers when their present contract is coming to an finish. This dramatic change is being sought by Ofcom who needs the satellite tv for pc tv agency to abide by new guidelines that have been launched final 12 months. Proper now, all broadband and telecoms corporations should notify their customers when their present deal is because of expire. Nonetheless, though Sky tells its broadband prospects of those adjustments it would not really feel it has to do the identical with its TV customers.
Sky, which is now owned by US big Comcast, is adamant it has finished nothing mistaken. The satellite tv for pc TV firm says it doesn’t contemplate that its standalone pay-TV companies fall inside the definition of an digital communications service and maintains it’s not required to adjust to the brand new algorithm.
However Ofcom disagrees, with the telecoms regulator now within the remaining levels of an investigation into whether or not or not Sky TV is breaking the foundations.
In an replace on its web site Ofcom says, “it has decided that there are cheap grounds to imagine that Sky has contravened, and continues to contravene, GC C1.10 of the Normal Situations from at the very least 26 March 2020.
“Now we have provisionally discovered that as a supplier of pay TV companies transmitted via satellite tv for pc distribution community, Sky gives an digital communications service. As such, we provisionally contemplate that Sky is a Regulated Supplier inside the which means of GC C1.10 and is required to adjust to that situation in respect of its pay TV companies.”
Ofcom says it can decide later within the 12 months but when Sky is compelled to observe the brand new guidelines it may imply prospects get extra warnings earlier than their offers come to an finish giving them time to barter a brand new value.
It solely takes a fast journey to Sky’s web site to see the financial savings that may be made.
For instance, proper now you may get Sky TV with Sports activities for simply £41 per 30 days which is a little bit of a discount. However on the finish of the 18-month contract, this leaps as much as £63 per 30 days, or an additional £264 per 12 months.
It is these kind of jumps in value that Ofcom needs shoppers to be made conscious of.
In response to Ofcom’s newest replace, a Sky spokesperson mentioned: “We’re happy to have the chance to make clear what has been a protracted operating distinction of views on interpretation of the regulation. We can not remark additional till Ofcom has introduced its remaining choice.”
We must look ahead to the ultimate end result however Ernest Doku, tech knowledgeable at Uswitch.com says the choice may have an effect on 1000’s of shoppers who use pay-TV companies like Sky’s.
“Sky and Ofcom have been at loggerheads for greater than a 12 months about whether or not pay TV companies must adjust to guidelines concerning end-of-contract notifications,” Doku mentioned.
“Finish-of-contract notifications are supposed to put extra energy within the arms of shoppers and assist make knowledgeable selections about whether or not their present plan is the perfect worth for them.”


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2 major updates are being made to the web version of WhatsApp.
Chat search and privacy are being improved in the web version of WhatsApp.
WABetaInfo reports that a search by date feature has been added to the beta version of the web version.
As the name suggests, it will allow users to search for specific chats through history.
It should be noted that this feature was available on the mobile app for a long time and now it is being made a part of the web version.
According to the report, when a user clicks on the chat search option, a new calendar icon will appear in front of him.
Clicking on this icon will allow you to search for chats by selecting a specific date, month and year.
This new feature will make searching for chats much easier and will eliminate the need to use specific keywords.
As mentioned above, this feature is currently in beta so it may take a few weeks or months to roll out to all users.
Similarly, the privacy of users using the WhatsApp web version has also been improved with a feature called screen lock.
Earlier the chat lock feature was introduced in the web version after the mobile as well.
But in the web version, this feature is called screen lock.
This option is present in the privacy settings of the web version and going there will show a screen lock option that will make access to WhatsApp web subject to a password.
If a user forgets the password to lock the chat with password, he/she has to logout from the web version and sign in again by scanning the QR code to use WhatsApp.
This feature will be useful for users who use WhatsApp web version in offices.
Likewise, even if their computer is left open, they don’t have to worry that someone can see their private chats.


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Heineken sells less beer, and higher prices lead to more sales
Heineken sold less beer, but due to the higher drink prices, the brewer was able to record a higher turnover. In the US and Europe, among others, people have bought less beer, but CEO Dolf van den Brink thinks the downturn in those areas isn’t so bad. “Consumer demand held up better than expected in the first quarter,” he said.
Worldwide, Heineken sold 54.8 million hectoliters of beer in the first three months of 2023. This is 3 percent less than in the same period last year. But turnover for the group, which also owns brands such as Amstel, Desperados and Birra Moretti, rose nearly 9 percent. This is largely due to higher prices, as Heineken reported in its quarterly numbers. Profits fell to 403 million euros, compared to 417 million euros in the first quarter of 2022.
In the past year, Heineken has already had to deal with greatly increased costs, which have been largely outpaced in the sales prices of beer cans and bottles. More expensive packaging materials and ingredients are expected to make beer more expensive this year, too. This is why Heineken actually relied on sales in the Netherlands and other Western European countries to crash.
But the beer group also had to deal with setbacks in Vietnam and Nigeria, where there was less demand for Heineken-brand beers. In addition, Heineken reports that it has stopped selling its most popular brand in Russia. The Amsterdam brewery has been increasing sales of the “premium brand” Heineken for years in order to increase profitability.
Heineken has recently swept through the dust after an uproar over its activities in Russia. In March last year, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the company announced its intention to leave the country. But after research by the news site Follow The Money, it turned out that the Russian subsidiary of Heineken launched dozens of new products in 2022. Then Heineken stated that it “should have been clearer sooner about the need to introduce new products” in the country.
The intention is still that Heineken will sell its Russian part. But uncertainty about the rules applied by the Russian authorities will make the deal more difficult. However, Heineken is now reporting “good progress.” For example, an application for sale has been submitted to the Russian authorities.
“Travel enthusiast. Alcohol lover. Friendly entrepreneur. Coffeeaholic. Award-winning writer.”


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These are external links and will open in a new window Close share panel Image copyright AP People have called her Braveheart, Fearless and India's Daughter, among other things, and sent up a billion prayers for a speedy recovery.
The article adds that the problems noted here are not decreasing. Sports apparel market are mainly worn during workout sessions or while playing sports. The torque and power delivery are decent and this two-tonne SUV can reach speeds easily even with the slightly lazy torque convertor on the version that we tested.
Thus, increasing disposable income is one of the major growth factors of global sports apparel market. Get more information on this report: Retail stores dominated the market in the market by mode-of-sale.
This lack of transparency, combined with official corruption and dire political accountability, has made China a haven for polluters. The side profile also has all the right elements to make it look like a brawny off-roader. The pressure on factories like those studied by CLW will accelerate as Apple and its competitors cope with surges in their need for components.
In a period of 10 years, P will be having the same income as he does not possess human capital. To some, none of this was a surprise and fit the narrative of a country characterised by narrow agendas that cater solely to the wealthier sections of Indian society.
The pronounced wheel arches, contrasting roof rails, side step and the massive wheel well, all do their bit for the design but the rear looks hurriedly done. Neighbours accounted for a third of the offenders, while parents and other relatives were also involved.
Based on mode-of-sale, the market is segmented into retail stores and online stores. A fairly typical way of forecasting growth would be to use the previous year's trend as a baseline and augment it with the latest economic data and projections that are most relevant to their products and services.
Of course there are obstacles, but instead of falling cheaply like some second-rate batsman, the conditions have never been better for Indian sport to come of age.
This has created the demand for fitness and sports apparel among all age groups, thereby, fostering the market growth. However, poor governance, slow decision-making, and excessive bureaucracy preclude still further the possibility of an Indian model of sport emerging, even 60 years after the country became independent.
This will worsen the situation of government schools which are already under-funded. Nor was the report comprehensive: The Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has estimated that more than m women are "missing" worldwide - women who would have been around had they received similar healthcare, medicine and nutrition as men.
If the same amount can be used to construct a school and employ high quality teachers who are paid well then a larger section of the society will enjoy the benefit of education.
Transportations System in India: Forms, Significance and Recent Developments! 1. Meaning & Introduction: Transport is a means of carrying goods and people from one place to another.
Transport refers to the activity that facilitates physical movement of goods as. Iain Wright MP, who led the damning inquiry into Sports Direct said he was “disgusted” by the findings and said he would like the company to explain itself in front of MPs.
6 days ago · Road outside Andheri Station is left in bad condition after repair work. We act as an intermediary internet service provider in relation to this content and disclaim all liability in relation to.
It is a reflection of India’s growing economic strength and its love of sport that the country is host to one of world sport’s most compelling competitions – the Indian Premier League. India's water crisis is often attributed to lack of government planning, increased corporate privatization, industrial and human waste and government corruption.
In addition, water scarcity in India is expected to worsen as the overall population is expected to increase to billion by year Jan 15, · With the heat and conditions tough, it was one of the hardest spells I’ve bowled,” Morkel said. “It’s unheard of that a spinner bowls that amount of overs on the first day.
We even took the option to open in the over before lunch with a spinner.Bad condition of sports in india


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Forget stick straight or crunchy curly—When it comes to spring’s must-have hairstyle, the tide has turned. This season it’s all about waves, and thanks to a bevy of new styling product, it’s never been easier to catch the perfect one.
This story first appeared in the March 14, 2008 issue of WWD. Subscribe Today.
Wavy hair has been a hit on runways for the past several seasons, and now, big-name fashion houses—Chloé’s spring-summer 2008 campaign, for example—are acknowledging the trend, too. So it makes sense that hair care products formulated to help achieve these soft, slightly frizzy styles are available in stores this spring. Sunsilk has a Sea Mist, Gel & Cream Twist and shampoo and conditioner under its Waves of Envy brand; Redken is launching Elastic Works 09 Waving Gel; Charles Worthington has Big Waves, a range comprising a shampoo and conditioner, a Definition Creme and an Enhance Spray, and Sally Hershberger has an entire wave-enhancing collection under her mass market brand, Supreme Head. Hairstylist Tommy Buckett, who works out of Hershberger’s Manhattan Meatpacking District salon, says today’s waves are more matte than shiny, and more carefree than highly styled, à la Carrie Bradshaw. “Waves now have that Eighties feel, unlike the Seventies when it was all polished. Little flyaways are okay. If it’s a little wavier in some areas than others, that’s okay. Even frizz is okay,” says Buckett. Wave-specific products, he explains, have more moisture in them since the new wave is not “a crunchy curl. You can touch it, it’s more natural.” Long-lasting humidity resistance is achieved through ingredients such as brown algae extract in Hershberger’s items; Redken’s products utilize a high-tech bonding system; Sunsilk uses sea salt and Worthington uses conditioning agents to tame dryness.


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chief executive Jo Causon.
Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.telegraph.co.uk
Online bank First Direct has the best customer service in the UK, customers say, ousting John Lewis from the top spot
"Overall we are seeing the move away from a transactional economy to a relationship economy, where customers expect dialogue, not monologue. The organisations that adjust to this new environment quickest are the ones we see providing the best levels of customer service achieving business success," Chief executive Jo Causon of the Institute of Customer Service said.


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A federal judge in San Francisco has rejected AT&T's attempt to dismiss a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit charging that the company misled consumers by selling “unlimited” data plans and then throttling data speeds. Specifically, the judge ruled that AT&T cannot hide behind common-carrier exemptions to avoid the lawsuit, as Courthouse News Service reports.
The FTC first filed its suit late last October, alleging that AT&T misled consumers by promising “unlimited” data plans while engaging in data throttling to reduce their data speeds, sometimes by up to 90%.
As its name suggests, “data throttling” is when someone's network connection is deliberately slowed down, or throttled, sometimes to the point where streaming videos and other common online activities become impossible until the throttling stops.
Granted, it's true that sometimes, when networks are congested from heavy use, some level of throttling the heaviest users genuinely is necessary to keep the network running.
On a related note, that's why when hurricanes or other natural disasters damage infrastructure and knock out utilities over a wide area, cell phone and smartphone users are asked to use text messages rather than voice or video calls to contact friends and family: because texts use far less bandwidth and are less likely to overwhelm the system.
Should you ever have the misfortune to find yourself in a literal disaster area someday, don't be surprised to discover that everybody's wireless connections have been throttled so that streaming video and other data-heavy online activity is impossible for the duration.
But that's not what AT&T is allegedly doing. Long before the FTC filed its lawsuit, AT&T's critics have claimed that the company uses data throttling not for network management reasons but for revenue enhancement — and pointed to the company's own advertised pricing policies as evidence.
For example: in January 2014, AT&T launched its then-new “Sponsored Data” program, which it said would shift “mobile data costs from the consumer to the content provider.” (In other words, websites would have to pay in order to ensure AT&T mobile visitors could access them in a timely fashion, in complete opposition to proposed “net neutrality” rules.)
At the time, TechDirt called the program “an admission that data caps have nothing to do with congestion.”
And last September, a month before the FTC filed its data-throttling suit against AT&T, the company ran another promotion called the “Mobile Share Value plan,” which offered to double the data limits of new subscribers who signed up for it. Data throttling isn't used on all AT&T mobile customers, only those who signed up for unlimited data plans before the company stopped offering them.
The FTC's suit alleges that in July 2011, AT&T first started throttling data for customers with unlimited data plans. In densely populated markets such as San Francisco and New York City, “unlimited” plans were actually given 2 gigabyte thresholds, with data speeds capped at only 128 kilobytes per second (kps). The FTC says that AT&T raised the threshold to 3 gigabytes in March 2012, but even with the increase, unlimited data-plan users are on slow networks with top speeds of 256 kps, whereas LTE customers have doubly fast connections at 512 kps.
AT&T's courtroom counter-argument disputed none of this. Instead, the company asked U.S. District Judge Edward Chen to dismiss the suit on the grounds that it fell beyond the FTC's jurisdiction, since AT&T is a “common carrier” according to the Communications Act, which exempts common carriers from FTC oversight (since that jurisdiction goes to the Federal Communications Commission).
The FTC countered that, according to the Communications Act, AT&T does not qualify as a “common carrier” in this instance, because mobile data isn't considered common carrier (the way old-fashioned landline phone connections are). AT&T in turn argued that, since some of its services have common carrier status, all of its services should be considered that way for FTC purposes.
But Judge Chen disagreed with that argument. In the 23-page ruling he released, he noted that “Contrary to what AT&T argues, the common carrier exception applies only where the entity has the status of common carrier and is actually engaging in common carrier activity.”
Chen's ruling also states that:
The gravamen of the FTC's complaint is based on AT&T's failure to disclose its throttling practice to certain customers. More specifically, in Count I, the FTC asserts that AT&T's throttling program is unfair because AT&T 'entered into numerous mobile data contracts that were advertised as providing access to unlimited mobile data, and that do not provide that AT&T may modify, diminish, or impair the service of customers who use more than a specified amount of data for permissible activities.' Thus, the FTC is not arguing in the case at bar that the throttling program is unfair per se; instead it challenges AT&T's failure to disclose the practice to certain customers and afford them alternative options.
Since yesterday's ruling allows the FTC to continue its suit against AT&T, FTC Chairperson Edith Ramirez said that the agency intends to seek refunds on behalf of millions of AT&T's “unlimited” data customers.


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Ashish Chauhan, MD & CEO, Bombay Stock Exchange believes that in the current times technology is the only catalyst of change in retail while citing the example of how volumes of trading transactions at BSE have shot up exponentially over the years. Tech is rapidly changing the form of conducting the retail businesses across the world. It is thus enabling ecommerce to evolve rapidly with the pace of speed of change. According to him online, offline and phygital will be the future of retail with their balance will continue to shift over a period of time.
How retail business can be reframed with technology?
In consumer retail any business gets reshaped by modern age technologies. The consumer retail happening 100 years back was very different from how it was 500 years back. The technology of shipping has changed the way of conducting business over the years. The telephones and printing technology started catalogue retailing in US and in other countries and then supermarts and hypermarts started coming in lately with large amount of goods started getting shipped and manufactured across the world.
While, retail gets shaped by many influences including changing laws and regulatory compliances, most importantly, it gets changed due to technology. The ecommerce oriented retail will continue to evolve with rapid pace of speed of change.
How technology has enabled in the volumes of trading transactions at BSE?
Trading transaction volumes at BSE has gone up from 200cr in the period of Harshad Mehta to 20 lakh crore currently. Basically, the technology has become easier. With automation, people have been transacting more therefore trading volumes have gone up by 5,000 to 20,000 times across many exchanges in the world. This has also led to emergence of commodities, currencies, carbon management and other exchanges.
It’s a 2 percent online ecommerce and 25 percent digitally influenced buying so what would be the move in the future?
Somewhere down the line there is a physical requirement of people to experience things so online and offline will remain together for sometimes to come. Will the equilibrium be established between pure digital and somewhere in between is what remains to be seen. Though currently it is 2 just percent of buying online but the growth could be much higher on the digital further,than the growth in physical retail.
Over a period of time probably 25-30 percent of the retail will happen through digital and few companies would end up capturing that value chain than that ends up becoming very large sort of influencer on pricing and logistics and all.
Do you suggest that phygital will acquire more volumes?
Phygital will also have very large proportion of volumes. Pure non-digital physical retail may slowly shrink but it will not completely wipe out because the economies at which that business works, the digital, which is centralized, may not be able to reach there. So, I think all three channels will continue to work with their balance to shift over a period of time. Thus, in future whoever will be able to crack omni-channel integration will be able to create billions of dollars of wealth going forward.
How cloud technology can come to the rescue of small retailers?
In contrast to large vendors, many small retailers are not been able to set up the technologies and interface it with their partner’s technology because it is expensive. But, cloud technology can enable seamless interfacing with your partner vendors and provide solutions in very real time even though they are not tech savvy and cannot invest in expensive technology.


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Coles has apologised after several of its supermarkets across Australia were forced to close on Sunday morning because of a technical glitch.
A number of stores posted notices on their doors about the outage, including in Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast, according to posts on social media.
Coles confirmed some “minor IT problems” had affected some supermarkets, “which were out of our team members’ control”, but all were now open and trading.
“We apologise for any inconvenience our customers experienced earlier this morning,” Coles said in a statement. “All Coles supermarkets are open and trading.”
The announcement was also made on the store’s Twitter page at 12.22pm, when all stores were back up and running.
Many customers keen to get an early morning shop out of the way, took to social media to vent their frustration at the closure.
Coles introduces new single-use computer system. #Coles
— David M. Green (@David_M_Green) August 19, 2018
— Anne O'Keeffe (@Anne_OKeeffe) August 18, 2018
In a follow-up statement, a spokesman told News.com.au that only some stores in the eastern states were affected.
“The majority of our stores were able to open at their regular time, however we apologise to those customers whose shopping was delayed,” he said.
“We thank our team members in affected stores who worked hard to ensure customers could complete their shopping as smoothly as possible once all stores were open.”


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The M&G YouGov Inflation Expectations Survey – Q4 2013
The M&G YouGov Inflation Expectations Survey for November shows that consumers in all countries surveyed expect inflation to rise from current levels in both one and five years’ time. In the UK, short-term inflation expectations fell over the quarter to 2.8%, following recent downward pressure on UK CPI. It may also suggest that the shock from recent increases in utility bills may be fading. Over five years, however, inflation is once again expected to rise to 3.0%, suggesting expectations for future inflation remain well anchored above the Bank of England’s (BoE) CPI target of 2.0%. We did not see the same spike in inflation expectations as in other recent inflation expectations surveys such as the Bank of England’s own survey, possibly as ours is more recent and was conducted between November 22-25.
In Europe, all countries surveyed with the exception of Switzerland, expect inflation to be equal to or higher than the European Central Bank’s (ECB) CPI target of 2.0% on both a one- and five-year ahead basis. All European Monetary Union (EMU) countries expect inflation to be higher in both one and five years than it is currently, while only two countries – Spain and Switzerland – anticipate it being less than 3.0% in 5 years’ time.
Comparing the results with those from earlier surveys reveals a number of noteworthy observations. Inflation expectations for one year ahead have fallen in all surveyed EMU countries since the start of 2013. This is unsurprising given the weak macroeconomic environment and the fact that commodity prices have declined by roughly 5.6% in the past three months. Consumers have also benefitted from a stronger euro, which has gained around 6.6% over the past year on a real effective exchange rate (REER) basis. Notably, short-term inflation expectations in France, Spain and Italy are now running well above their current inflation rates.
Survey respondents in Hong Kong show no signs of moderating their inflation expectations, which remain at a high level of 5.0% and 5.5% over one and five years, respectively. In Singapore, inflation expectations over one year are double current inflation (2%) whilst the five-year reading remains stable at 5.0%, as it has done throughout the course of 2013.
The findings and data from our November survey, which polled over 8,500 consumers internationally, is available in our latest report here.
The value of investments will fluctuate, which will cause prices to fall as well as rise and you may not get back the original amount you invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
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Ubisoft has released a new trailer that goes into exact detail what's included in the upcoming Watch Dogs DLC Season Pass. As previously reported, the add-on will expand the single-player campaign with a new playable character: T-Bone, "a brilliant but eccentric hacker who lives by his own rules."
Aiden will also get extra playable missions, including a new Digital Trip mode that seems to combine Red Dead Redemption's Undead Nightmare with Blade Runner. Called "Conspiracy," players will have to hunt down cyborgs in a "mind-bending alternate game universe."
Other bonuses included in the $20 collection include the "Untouchables" pack, which adds a M1 SMG and 1920s mobster outfit to your inventory. These bonuses are exclusive to the Season Pass and won't be sold separately. Season Pass holders also get one week early access to all DLC. According to Ubisoft, the Season Pass represents a savings of at least $5 over buying the content standalone.
Here's the trailer:


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Washington state's minimum wage will rise to the highest in the nation on Jan. 1.» Read More
Electronic cigarettes have surpassed traditional smoking in popularity among teens, the government's annual drug use survey found.
Dozens more companies—including big banks, retailers and start-ups—have begun to adopt Apple's mobile payments platform, The New York Times reports.
The SEC sought to dismiss the civil charges against Jordan Peixoto because two crucial witnesses were not available for the trial.
Sony Pictures is warning current and former employees about fraudsters who might be prowling to take advantage of leaked personal information.
The Russian ruble's dramatic fall may have triggered memories of 1998 for some, but veteran trader Art Cashin isn't sold on the comparison.
Elon Musk's investments in electric cars and alternative energy is taking a beating due to tumbling gas prices.
From a $147 million Hamptons estate to a $38 million Ferrari, the most sought-after status symbols and collectibles reached an entirely new level.
Do you have the best credit card in your wallet? Probably not—and that's a mistake that's costing you hundreds of dollars.
Internet giant Google has revealed the biggest news stories and trends that have captured the public's imagination in the past year.
Coca-Cola Co on Monday said earnings-per-share growth this quarter would be flat to slightly positive on a constant currency basis.
Boeing raised its share repurchase plan to $12 billion and said it would increase its quarterly dividend by 25 percent.
Top hedge fund manager Sir Michael Hintze is worried about what the continued low price of oil could mean for the global economy.
For anyone interested in the nation's economy and financial markets, a Federal Reserve meeting is a little like a present at holiday time.
A new rule caps a 17-year effort to help consumers save money on closing costs.
An unprecedented cyber attack on Sony's computer systems has led to the spilling of the company’s private information.
Bill Gross said in an exclusive interview with CNBC on Monday that economic growth will likely fall to 2 percent.
Shoppers can take some proactive steps to make sure their packages arrive on time, TODAY reports.
Vice Media is considering an IPO as well as a series of major strategic deals, reports Financial Times.
McDonald's menu has become so unwieldy that even the chain's U.S. president doesn't know how many items it contains.
Fed officials will decide this week whether to make a critical change to their policy statement that would widen the door for interest rate hikes.
Get the best of CNBC in your inbox
CNBC's Mary Thompson explains why today is traditionally the best day of the year for the S&P 500, and takes a close look at the retail sector.
Discussing what was behind Christmas Eve trading action and where investors should be deploying cash in 2015, with Matt Cheslock, Virtu Financial.
Discussing how the malls are faring and what consumers are buying this holiday season, with Trinity D'Andrea-Almiger, Lodi Station Outlets general manager.


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Absolut Vodka has put Aspen Latino, the Hispanic promotional division of Aspen Marketing Services, in charge of its nationwide Hispanic experiential marketing.
As part of that account, Aspen Latino will execute and oversee all Hispanic on-premise activation for the yearlong “Absolut Global Cooling” promotion that the spirits brand launched in March.
In that campaign, Aspen Latino has already begun to manage a campaign of more than 250 events in three major metro markets: New York, Miami and Los Angeles.
The “Global Cooling” campaign invites patrons to buy cocktails made with Absolut Vodka and then use the access codes on bar cards they receive to register on the Web page www.absolut.com/global cooling/. Registered visitors can decide to have Absolut donate $1 for them to one of three ecological charities. The charity that receives the most nominations at the end of the year—up to a $500,000 limit—will get the contribution.
Other in-bar events in the campaign will give customers access to Absolut “Global Cooling Stations,” interactive displays that let users visualize their personal carbon footprint or “environmental mug shot.”
“Absolut Vodka is committed to reaching its Hispanic consumers through targeted events,” on-premise director Terry Williams said, in a statement. “We are impressed with Aspen Latino’s strategic and creative insights and are looking forward to working with them to produce meaningful and lasting relationships with our consumers.”
Aspen Marketing Services is headquartered in West Chicago IL and has contributed to campaigns for General Motors, AT&T, HP, Kraft Foods and Motorola among other clients.


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While libraries remain a place of books, gatherings and solitude, the delivery method of books, journals and magazines is changing at a rapid pace. The Pima County Public Library even has a special name for its online delivery: the Virtual Library.
“Your reference collection is probably half the size, maybe even less, than it was 10 years ago, because you can get that digitally. Instead of buying--we have 27 branches--27 sets of an encyclopedia, we can buy the encyclopedia online and everyone can access it from the computer,” says Jen Maney, manager of the Virtual Library.
Maney oversees 5 ½ employees of the Virtual Library, which circulated 35,000 items in 2010. It is already ahead of that number to date this year, with 43,000 checkouts since January.
The library supports most major smartphones, e-readers and tablet computers.
Debate over what the library of the future will look like rages on, even among librarians. While Maney says paper books won’t go away in the near future, Pima County Public Library's electronic resources librarian, Shawn Flecken, disagrees.
“It will start with magazines and journals, as it already has. Popular fiction will probably follow. Actually, I suppose academic nonfiction will be the next big thing to go, followed by the popular titles,” Flecken says.
“Every day I have conversations with people and have a chance to tell stories about the library and what we do,” she says.
The advancing technology also means the library is looking for employees with varied experience, such as still photographers, videographers and editors, says Bunker.


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Hackers are carrying out a scam where they promise to send people bitcoin if they sent payments of BTC.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Today – BTC / USD
In the recent version of a cybersecurity breach, scammers have briefly gained control of Target’s Twitter account. This event occurred on Tuesday morning, and other accounts were affected as well.
The social media network confirmed that the account of Target and others were compromised briefly. It stated that the account owners were helped to gain access to their accounts quickly. Twitter is also investigating the matter, saying that impersonation is a violation of Twitter’s policy.
Target regained control of its social media account in less than an hour. However, the hackers succeeded in posting a tweet that promised to give 5,000 bitcoin out in what was termed “the biggest crypto-giveaway in the globe!”
The scammers tweeted,
“We present cryptocurrency payments for your purchases in our store, and want to celebrate this event with all users!”
Tracing the scammers
Bitcoin is really hard to trace. The scammers have also hacked accounts of high profile Twitter accounts and made similar posts. In so many cases, the scammers have impersonated Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla.
The billionaire has been an easy target for impersonation. Scammers often hack verified accounts and use Musk’s Twitter avatar and name to push their scams. However, Musk’s Twitter account has never been compromised.
A few weeks ago, the Billionaire CEO poked fun at the scammers by posting about bitcoin. Twitter thought his account had been compromised and restricted his account temporarily.
Hackers pose as Elon Musk using high profile Twitter accounts with thousands of followers to get them to send untraceable BTC payments.
The scam is often promoted by verified accounts and direct unsuspecting users to click a link to participate in a giveaway. They are promised a return when they send some BTC to an address.
Twitter’s role in eradicating the menace
Some hackers have paid Twitter to promote fraudulent ads. It isn’t clear why the social media site has not been able to stop the promotions.
Twitter hasn’t been able to stop such hacks and have asked its users to use the 2-factor authentication feature to keep their accounts safe. The social media site reported the hack in a tweet and Target issued a statement later on. They said,
“We’re in close contact with Twitter, have deleted the tweet and have locked the account while we investigate further,”
The company acknowledged that the account was compromised for about thirty minutes. Tesla has not commented.


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Josh Goodman and Alan Greenblatt are double-teaming the Spitzer story over at Ballot Box.
Check it out for updates. We'll post anything Earth-shattering here, too.
UPDATE: Well, obviously, Spitzer's out. Long live Gov. Paterson!
At the same time states are looking to beef up corporate tax collections, they are also cutting corporate taxes.


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China is an economic power house. Over the past several decades it has emerged from a strict communist regime where some struggled to survive, to the point where it sells a vast range of products worldwide, cheaply and highly competitively. It also offers a huge target market for companies that want to expand, and many companies want a piece of the pie.
However, change has occurred over time since the day that Deng Ziaoping opened up the country to trade. Writing for the World Economic Forum in 2015, Feike Sijbesma suggests that China has gone through four stages of development. During the first stage it is argued that the country was perceived as being a massive market where products could be sold. In the second phase, China began creating products and started selling these competitively on the world stage. In the third stage the company’s manufacturing industry increased in power due to strengthening as a result of Western organisations producing in China, as well as Chinese companies. China is currently considered to be in the fourth stage of modern economic development. During this stage the country is starting to embrace innovation into its manufacturing to offer additional strength to the country.
An interesting change has been taking place. As Sijbesma reports:
“Structural reforms and partial liberalisation are easing China’s reliance on growth through investments and net exports mainly driven by manufacturing.”
The change that has emerged is a model that is focused far more on domestic sales, and the offering of domestic services. The model is also much more innovation focused than ever before in the past. It is reported that this is a sizeable step away from approaches that have been taken in the past. It is a new paradigm that will help the country to continue growing economically, and also to filter wealth to all of its citizens. The changes that are happening now are thought to be likely to have an impact on China for generations to come, and are also likely to help it to succeed in the future.
China is a country that is not without problems. The economy has been growing very rapidly, and while it is explained that this growth has slowed up recently, growth is still rather high. Over the course of the upcoming ten years it is predicted that the economy will double in size. This is based on an expected slower growth rate of seven per cent per year. This growth in the economy presents opportunities for China to deal with some of its longer term problems and needs.
People that could benefit in particular are identified to be in rural areas in the west of the country. These people have not experienced much of a trickle down effect compared to others elsewhere in the country. However, it is not just China and the Chinese that need China’s economic growth. There are many parts of the rest of the world who are argued to be tied into this growth and development.
There needs to be attention paid to certain areas to make sure that economic growth is sustainable, and for stability to be achieved and maintained across the nation. This requires social balance to be brought into the economic growth agenda. Anyone that has been to Beijing will also be well aware of the need to do something about the environment. Urban pollution is a big problem and is related to the use of fossil fuels. It is reported that there is a clear need to find renewable and clean sources that provide a greater level of sustainability for the future. In addition, as more people move off the land and move to the cities, this means that “a small food producer will be lost and a food consumer gained,” and China needs to ensure that it can address this challenge effectively.
It is believed that meeting all these challenges will require a great deal of innovation. The leadership is explained to be already taking steps to encourage sustainability and innovation. The world will be watching how China takes its next step forwards, to see how it consolidates the massive gains it has made and how it really helps all to take advantage of the opportunities that this growth can bring.
Paula Newton is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Paula’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Paula has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Paula has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.


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You Can Now Unlock Your Phone With FaceID While Wearing a Mask, Thanks to Apple’s Latest Update
New and noteworthy Apple launches often drop in the fall, but the tech brand just released some game-changing new software and hardware for users this spring. On April 26, Apple dropped the iOS 14.5 update for iPhone and iPad, which arrived in style with plenty of convenient new features. One of the coolest new additions: You'll now be able to unlock your phone with your face—even while wearing a face mask or covering.
Apple's FaceID—the technology that lets you unlock your device via facial recognition—has been a godsend since its first release in 2017. But it's not a flawless feature if and when your face is partially obscured—aka when you're wearing a mask or covering, an inconvenience that's been frustrating many an Apple user during the pandemic.
The iOS 14.5 update is here to help, but the catch is that you have to have an Apple Watch (an Apple Watch Series 3 or later version, to be exact). To unlock your iPhone securely and safely without removing your mask, simply glance at your iPhone while wearing the Apple Watch on your wrist (unlocked and in close proximity to your phone). Your watch will vibrate to indicate that your phone has been successfully unlocked.
Other notable features to arrive with the update include enhanced privacy controls (you can ask apps not to track your activity and data) and the ability to report incidents like vehicle accidents, road hazards, and other traffic concerns in Apple Maps (via Siri, so eyes stay on the road and hands stay on the wheel). Siri also got an upgrade, "allowing users to choose the voice that speaks to them when they first set up their device," among other inclusive improvements, according to Apple Newsroom. You'll find a streamlined Podcast app that makes it way easier to save, download, and access episodes and curated show suggestions in the Search tab for podcast inspiration and discovery. Apple News, Fitness+, Reminders, Emojis have also been given makeovers with the latest software drop.
Here's how to update your iPad or iPhone to iOS 14.5 to take advantage of these new features: Go to Settings, then General, then tap Software Update on your iPhone or iPad.


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Despite hitting theaters less than a month ago, we already have a streaming release date for Strange World. Today, Disney announced that the box-office dud will go to Disney+ on December 23rd, just a month after its initial theatrical release. Encanto and Pixar’s Lightyear got similar release windows.
At this point, these announcements come as little surprise. I don’t think it’s a great business move to make these big-budget movies available to stream so soon after they go to theaters. That’s especially evident in the case of Encanto, which proved very popular on Disney+. I think it could have been a big hit in cinemas like Moana if they hadn’t made it clear that it would be free in a few weeks. In Strange World‘s case, though, I don’t think it matters. This movie was going to bomb because it wasn’t advertised well, and it’s not very good. I also don’t expect it to perform as well on the streaming service as Lightyear and certainly not Encanto.
But what do you think? Did you see Strange World, or will you watch it on Disney+? Is Disney leaving money on the table? Leave us a comment below!


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Chinese tech giant improves brand image, product sales in major overseas markets
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Huawei Technologies Co has shrugged off the impact from U.S. restrictions with steady growth in core businesses and a slew of impressive product launches in the overseas market, further embellishing its image as a global technology giant.
Yang Chaobin, president of Huawei's 5G product unit, said the company has already started shipping 5G base station modems without any U.S. components to the rest of the world.
Out of the 400,000 units of 5G active antennas, a type of modem used in 5G base stations, that Huawei has shipped so far, about 300,000 units have been shipped after the U.S. imposed restrictions in May.
"Some of these modems don't include U.S. components, and their performance is as good as those that have U.S. components," Yang said.
His remarks should come as sweet music for the tech giant, which was put on the "Entity List" in May this year by the U.S. government and barred from buying U.S. technologies sans special government approvals.
Ding Yun, president of Huawei's carrier business group, which supplies telecom equipment and solutions to global carriers, told China Daily: "We have seen the fastest growth in areas where we were hit the hardest."
While the tech giant has been able to maintain normal supplies to its customers after the ban, its popularity seemed to have risen, rather than wane, in the overseas market.
Latest data showed that the company has signed more than 60 commercial contracts for 5G with leading carriers globally, an increase from 40 contracts at the time of the U.S. ban in May.
Telecom carriers have launched 40 commercial 5G networks in more than 20 countries and regions, with 136 5G devices available in the world, said Hu Houkun, rotating chairman of Huawei, adding that he expected 60 5G commercial networks by the end of this year.
"The increasing 5G orders from global markets once again proves Huawei's technological prowess and innovation capacity in 5G technology," said Xiang Ligang, director-general of the telecom industry association Information Consumption Alliance.
"It also shows that so far, the trade uncertainties have not had a big impact on Huawei's businesses in the foreign markets," he said.
All these figures seem to buck those groundless speculations that Huawei's products contain "back doors" or security risks, for which the U.S. government has been persuading its allies not to use the company's (Huawei's) equipment, experts said.
It is unreasonable for countries to surrender to political pressure from Washington, which has leveraged its political might to suppress tech powers globally, said Xiang from ICA.
Among the total 5G commercial contracts, nearly half of them are from Europe, with 32 in total, and 11 from the Middle East, 10 from Asia-Pacific, seven from the Americas and one from Africa.
Wang Yanhui, secretary-general of the Mobile China Alliance, said Huawei has been serving European telecom carriers since the 3G era and no evidence has been found of it conducting any malicious cyber activities.
"The world should let the facts speak, and not worry about fears fanned by some countries," Wang said.
Last week, Reuters reported that Germany said it would not single out any telecom player, including Huawei, in its 5G build-out. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert also said at a news conference in Berlin that "we are not taking a preemptive decision to ban any actor, or any company".
It echoed German Chancellor Angela Merkel's stance earlier this year where she said the country would not exclude individual vendors while toughening the security of its mobile networks.
Robert Hannigan, former head of the Government Communications Headquarters, one of the United Kingdom's intelligence arms, said in an opinion article in the Financial Times that the West should put an end to "hysteria" over Chinese technology.
The key point here is that "the NCSC has never found evidence of malicious Chinese state cyber activity through Huawei", Hannigan said in his article. NCSC refers to the National Cyber Security Center in the UK.
During the first three quarters of this year, the company generated a revenue of 610.8 billion yuan ($86 billion), up 24.4 percent year-on-year. The tech giant had earned revenue of 401.3 billion yuan during the first six months of the year, up 23.2 percent from the same period a year ago.
Despite some worries that the U.S. ban may have a big impact on its smartphone business, more than 185 million Huawei smartphones were shipped in the first three quarters of 2019, up 26 percent year-on-year.
"Huawei shipped an all-time high of 67 million smartphones in the third quarter alone. The company's solid performance was largely due to its continued expansion in the domestic market," said Jia Mo, an analyst from market research company Canalys.
However, in the overseas market, Huawei must find new solutions to maintain its leading position as its competitors will continue to update their products, Jia said.