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DuckDuckGo goes offline in India; privacy focused search engine in talks with ISPs to resolve issue
DuckDuckGo has emerged as the 2nd most used search engine in the world after Google, due to its focus on privacy. The search engine says it doesn't collect any personal information on those who use it. It also doesn't throw up the IP address of the user.
DuckDuckGo back to help users search internet in India
DuckDuckGo said that the search engine is accessible to users to search the internet i...
Will Apple monetise DuckDuckGo, after acquisition, by charging a subscription fee for the privacy hounds?
The deal can be cut for around $1 b...
DuckDuckGo's Tracker Radar database to be an open-source tool for blocking web trackers
The data set contains information on 5,326 domains used by 1,727 entities to monitor users’ online activity.
Search engines don't need to track people to make money: DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg
DuckDuckGo— 'the search engine that doesn't track you'— is becoming popular in the US and Europe, especially after privacy concerns spiked over government agencies snooping on users.
Without us even realising it, Google has occupied every nook and cranny of our existence
It isn’t just that I am spending more time in a Google search, either. The Silicon Valley company has leveraged the act of looking for something online into such a vast technology empire that it has crept into my home, my work, my devices and much more. It has become the tech brand that dominates my life — and probably yours, too, writes the New York Times' Brian Chen.
Internet rights body questions govt's decision to ban 59 Chinese apps, files RTI
The firm filed a Right To Information (RTI) seeking reasons behind the ban but was informed that information is "restricted" and "prohibited".
Apple, Google and a deal that controls the internet
Apple and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, worth more than $3 trillion combined, do compete on plenty of fronts, like smartphones, digital maps and laptops. But they also know how to make nice when it suits their interests. And few deals have been nicer to both sides of the table than the iPhone search deal.
Google’s European search menu draws interest of US antitrust investigators
This so-called choice menu started appearing on new smartphones and tablet computers running Google software after March, part of an effort by the internet giant to address a 2018 ruling from European authorities that the company had abused its dominance in smartphone software to unfairly give an advantage to its search engine.
As Ambani goes on a shopping spree for Jio, startups may find their space shrinking
Reliance Jio is eager to become the tech titan of the country and its acquisition strategy may leave very little space for startups to operate and innovate.
We tried a data detox, and it’s hard work
No Netflix for eight days? And how will I get anywhere without Google Maps? That was my reaction to being told to do a data detox.
More Indians are logging on anonymously using browsers like Tor, Freenet, I2P and Tails
According to the Oxford Internet Institute, the Tor browser is estimated to have between 500,000 to 1 million daily users from India.
Best privacy-focussed web browsers
Whether your preferred browser is Chrome or Firefox, you have a few options to help you browse more securely.
FB has more data on me than I can imagine, even though I rarely use the network
Once you see the vast amount of data that has been collected about you, you won’t be able to unsee it.
How to encrypt everything
Thanks to Snowden, encryption has never been as easy as it is now.


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Jersey Pottery have recently signed a deal to manufacture Harrods signature range of teapots, mugs and tea bag tidies.
After receiving an enquiry from Harrods a year ago, Jersey Pottery have been working hard to produce samples that pass the stringent audit process in place at Harrods, and are now delivering the first consignment of ceramics in October.
Jonathan Jones, Director of Jersey Pottery, said: ‘Jersey Pottery have been supplying hotels and restaurants with ceramics for a number of years now. From our beginning in 1946 as a small family-owned studio pottery, we have become a renowned manufacturer supplying ceramics and giftware to over 700 retailers in 30 countries. Thanks to our fast and bespoke service, we have also become a favorite for many corporate accounts, and are proud to manufacture white label ceramics for a multitude of companies such as Waitrose, Root and Wings, Rococo Chocolates, and Aga-Rayburn.’
‘We have supplied other Harrods departments including their hospitality division for a few years now, and our restaurant knowledge along with our in depth ceramic knowledge gives us perfect standing to create ceramics that are durable, beautiful and functional. Because of this, we were able to rise above other possible suppliers and sign this exciting deal with Harrods. We are very pleased and excited to be the new manufacturer of their Signature Range.’
Harrods currently stock Jersey Pottery’s Fruits de Mer range, but are also looking at their new range Eden which has just been released locally. Harrods Signature Range, manufactured by Jersey Pottery will be available at Harrods online, in airport shops and the Knightsbridge department store.

domain: news


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Satya Nadella-led tech giant Microsoft plans to invest $5 billion into the Internet of Things globally for the next four years. The India division of the Windows-maker is eying a piece of that investment by providing IoT solutions to industry verticals such as manufacturing, auto, retail and healthcare in the country.
“According to a Nasscom and Deloitte report, the IoT market in India is expected to reach $15 billion by 2020, accounting for 5% of the global market. As demand for IoT in India is emerging across industries, we have already started investing in the space early,” Rajesh Rege, country general manager, cloud and solutions group, Microsoft India, said.
He added that the investment will go towards continued innovation in its technology platform and supporting programmes. “We are continuously conducting research and development in key areas, including securing IoT, creating development tools and intelligent services for IoT and the edge, and investments to grow our partner ecosystem,” Rege explained.
Microsoft’s IoT solutions
The Redmond-headquartered company began offering its IoT solutions and services from 2016. Currently, it offers the following:
Azure IoT Hub: This product allows customers to monitor and manage billions of IoT devices and establishes two-way communication to maintain network architecture.
Azure IoT Central: This service provides a software-as-a-service (SaaS) interface to connect and monitor IoT assets at scale for companies that don't have cloud solutions expertise.
Azure IoT Edge: This solution offers a fully managed service that delivers cloud intelligence locally.
Azure Sphere: This product securely connects microcontroller-powered devices to the cloud.
Azure Time Series Insights: This is an analytical service that scans billions of events streaming in from all over the world in seconds.
Azure Maps: This service combines geospatial application programming interfaces (APIs) with IoT solutions to provide customers add maps and search route traffic capabilities.
Other services such as Azure Machine Learning and Windows 10 IoT enable computers to learn from data and experiences and makes devices smart. The Dynamics 365 for Connected Field Service enhances the service experience.
Tie-ups with automakers
While Microsoft is not using its IoT capabilities to develop its own connected cars, it is working with multiple players via its connected vehicle platform. This is a set of services built on the Microsoft Azure cloud designed to empower auto manufacturers to create custom connected driving experiences.
“This is not an in-car operating system or a ‘finished product’ but a platform that aims to address five core scenarios that our partners have told us are key priorities: predictive maintenance, improved in-car productivity, advanced navigation, customer insights and building autonomous driving capabilities,” Rege added.
Besides this, Microsoft’s cloud ingests huge volumes of sensor and usage data from connected vehicles, thereby helping automakers apply that data in powerful ways.
In India, the company already has partnership agreements with Ola Cabs, Tata Motors, Uno Minda and Tyre Express. Microsoft helped Ola develop its in-car entertainment experience, Ola Play, which is already being offered as a service.
With Tata Motors, the company is offering drivers services such as shopping and route assist recommendations based on a driver’s profile, pre-emptive service alerts based on vehicle health data, firmware upgrades for cars, and live road and traffic information for customers.
Enterprise IoT solutions firm Tyre Express has developed a tyre lifecycle management solution for fleet owners by using Microsoft’s Azure IoT service.
Industrial IoT applications
Microsoft is also offering its IoT services to enterprises through a solution called Microsoft Industrial Internet of things (IIoT).
“Connected products, people and things produce terabytes of data every day that manufacturers can access and extract deep insights from to optimise business and manufacturing processes,” Rege said.
Data from IIoT services can help manufacturers identify new revenue streams by developing high-value offerings focused on how products and customers interact in the real world.
The company uses IIoT capabilities to monitor the quality of drinking water, for smart city street lights and agriculture.
Bengaluru-based TechSpan Engineering has implemented a monitoring system, which assesses water quality, built on the Azure IoT platform. It uses sensors provided by the Austrian firm s::can and their India Partner Aaxis Nano. Microsoft IoT data and s::can’s sensors provide measurements across 17 parameters, Rege explained.
“We are also behind the Smart Street Lighting Project for Jaipur. The Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) operates and maintains over 100,000 public street lights within the city,” he added.
The project is expected to benefit 1.65 million people through improved street lighting and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 36,750 metric tonnes/year. It will also result in $1 million per year in fiscal savings accrued to the government due to reduced energy consumption.
For agriculture, Microsoft is working on a research project called FarmBeats, which comprises two broad areas—one involves collecting data from various sensors, cameras and drones, and the other consists of analysing that data.
Microsoft has also provided machine learning capabilities to farm equipment-maker Escorts for its self-driving tractor.
Besides the above, the company also provides IoT solutions in healthcare, transportation and retail.
Microsoft competes with Cisco, Intel, Google and IBM in the IoT space among others.


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That writes Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, who is often the first to report Apple’s plans. The AirPods Pro 2 have been rumored for some time, with an introduction this fall being obvious. According to Gurman, the unveiling is part of Apple’s Far Out event Wednesday evening, where the iPhone 14 and three new Apple Watches are also expected.
The AirPods Pro 2 would have more or less the same design as the predecessor, which appeared at the end of 2019. They would have a new version of the H1 chip, which should provide longer battery life and better sound quality.
Apple’s firmware recently hinted at support for the LC3 audio codec, which would make the AirPods Pro 2 the first Apple earphones to receive support for Bluetooth 5.2. The new codec ensures a more stable and efficient connection. Phone calls also sound better and music with a higher bitrate is supported.
The AirPods Pro 2 would also support lossless audio. Since last year, Apple Music offers all this higher audio quality.
The charging case of the new AirPod Pros would also have a slightly different design. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the box still has a Lightning port. According to him, Apple will only make the switch to USB-c ports in the iPhone and its accessories next year, partly because the European Union will soon make USB-c mandatory.


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It turns out Snapchat is just like every other startup: It lost a lot of money before it started making any.
Snapchat lost $128 million in the first 11 months of 2014, according to documents obtained by Gawker. That’s a lot of spending for a three-year-old company. But it’s also not extraordinary for high-growth, high-value startups. See: The leaked information about Uber’s financials this month.
That said, there are a few things worth noting that put that $128 million number into a little more context.
For starters, Snapchat wasn’t bringing in revenue for the vast majority of the year, so it’s no surprise it spent a lot more than it brought in. It didn’t launch its first revenue product (which has since been placed on the back burner) until October of that year, and didn’t really get aggressive with advertising until early 2015 when it started selling ad space alongside its Discover content.
What’s more important is where Snapchat sits now. Re/code reported last month that the company is aiming for $50 million in revenue this year and more than $200 million in 2016. But Snapchat doesn’t share those numbers publicly — basically no private company does — so its business is still very much a mystery, at least on the spending side.
But there are a few surprising line items on the documents published by Gawker, including a $48.6 million item labeled “Extraordinary expense.” Also, Snapchat spent $47 million on “Product” last year, what feels like a hefty sum. It’s possible that number is tied to the app’s video efforts. It’s not cheap to host video content, and Snapchat started doing that regularly in 2014 with its My Story and Live Story features. It’s doing even more video today thanks to Discover.
Snapchat has also been raising money like crazy; it raised over $1 billion in capital in the first six months of 2015 alone. Any company raising massive money like that is probably spending the same way.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.


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* Quarterly sales slow globally as operators cut spending
* Reviewing options to strengthen balance sheet
* Asset sales, debt reprofiling among options - CFO
* Submarine cable, enterprise units could be sold - sources
* Pricing pressure hurts margins
By Leila Abboud and Gwénaëlle Barzic
PARIS, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent may sell assets to strengthen its balance sheet after posting a second straight quarterly loss as its customers around the world cut spending on mobile and fixed networks.
Chief Financial Officer Paul Tufano said the group was considering options such as “reprofiling our debt or an infusion of liquidity, including asset sales.”
Alcatel’s submarine cable business and a unit that sells telephone systems to big companies are both candidates for sale, three people familiar with the matter said.
Goldman Sachs analysts estimated that sales of the submarine optic and the corporate telephony units could raise up to 400 million euros. One of the sources said the valuation would be “much higher”, without giving details, while Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu said the submarine business alone could attract bids of over $1 billion “if sold at its best.”
Despite making cost cuts, Alcatel-Lucent burned through 1.03 billion euros in the first nine months of this year, compared with 978 million euros last year.
The company faces about 2.2 billion euros in debt repayments through to the end of 2015, with a major deadline on January 1, 2015, according to analysts.
Chief Executive Ben Verwaayen, who has been struggling to turn the company around since September 2008, said the group was on track with a cost-cutting plan to axe roughly 5,500 jobs.
Third-quarter revenue fell 2.8 percent year-on-year to 3.60 billion euros ($4.66 billion) in response to lower spending on n e twork gear in the United States and Asia, and a steep 15 percent decline in Europe.
Analysts were expecting third-quarter sales of 3.51 billion euros, according to the Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S mean forecast of 11 analyst estimates.
Alcatel-Lucent’s adjusted operating loss widened to 125 million euros in the third quarter, from a loss of 31 million in the second.
Like rivals Ericsson and Nokia-Siemens Networks , Alcatel-Lucent’s profit margins have been hit hard this year by customers’ spending cutbacks.
Even Verizon, Sprint and AT&T, which spent heavily last year to build super-fast fourth generation mobile networks, are slowing spending this year.
The U.S. carriers account for more than one-third of Alcatel’s sales and are a big profit driver because the absence of cheap Chinese rivals in the U.S. market has kept prices higher.
Alcatel-Lucent shares are at historical lows of around 0.77 euros, which has prompted some investors to bet against the group. Roughly 16 percent of its outstanding shares are out on loan, making it the most shorted stock on the Paris Bourse, according to Markit data.
Bernstein analyst Ferragu advised caution given the group’s structural challenge of being smaller than rivals Ericsson and China’s Huawei and the weak outlook for telecom gear spending.
“Despite a stock price largely reflecting liquidity concerns, at a significant discount of our estimate of the company’s liquidation value, we continue to recommend staying away from the name, as the operating performance of Alcatel-Lucent is likely to continue to deteriorate,” Ferragu wrote.
Alcatel confirmed its annual goals of achieving a second-half operating margin better than the first half and ending the year in a positive net cash position.
Under Verwaayen, Alcatel posted its first annual profit last year since it was formed in a 2006 tie-up between Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies. It could flip back into the red this year.
Alcatel-Lucent warned in July it would not make its annual profit target after swinging to a loss in the second quarter.


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For Starbucks (SBUX) Seattle Shift Supervisor Sydney Durkin, the unanimous vote to unionize at the company’s hometown location was a symbolic one.
“It’s immense, Starbucks’s presence in the city is really huge. It really looms over,” Durkin told Yahoo Finance Live (video above). “It’s one of the largest employers in the city and to really bring it to Starbucks’s doorstep is a huge moment. It’s letting them know that this movement is not stopping, and it’s certainly not stopping at their doorstep.”
The Broadway & Denny Starbucks location was the seventh in the country to unionize. The first unionized corporate location occurred in Buffalo, New York, after a highly publicized battle with corporate officials. As of March 24, there are 155 Starbucks union elections that are in process at the Board at the moment and there are 70 unfair labor practice cases open against Starbucks.
Out of 13 eligible voters in a National Labor Relations Board vote held Tuesday, nine Broadway & Denny Starbucks workers voted in favor of the measure, none voted against the measure, and one vote was challenged by the Seattle-based coffee giant’s corporate counsel.
“I haven’t been at work, but we have received a letter from our regional vice president basically saying, ‘Oh, thanks for voting, sorry that you voted for that way, that’s really sad,'” Durkin said. “They’re very like ‘Oh, we’re sorry for you for voting this way,’ but otherwise they’ve kind of left us alone. They haven’t said anything really direct. We expect there to be further response here in the next few days though.”
Now that the store is unionized, the workers will need to negotiate with the company for a contract. Durkin said there are a few things that will be brought to the table.
“One of the first things we’re bargaining for is just for them to agree to stop union busting, to sign the fair view principles,” Durkin explained, adding: “We don’t expect them to do that.”
Another pain point is the tipping system.
“We are looking for credit card tipping without loss of wages,” Durkin said. “Currently, we do not allow credit card tipping, which is how most people pay, which is a large loss of wages for us.”
Digital tipping is available for customers who are using a credit card that’s saved on the Starbucks app, according to a Starbucks spokesperson. Customers have the option to tip when they are placing an order ahead of time and can also tip with cash when they pick up their order from the store or drive-through.
“We are working on offering tipping for credit card transactions at the register for both the cafe and drive-throughs,” a Starbucks spokesperson told Yahoo Finance.
Workers are also requesting “free and improved health care,” Durkin said. “Currently, the premiums are extremely pretty much sky-high at this company, even though they do offer health insurance.”
Lastly, according to Durkin, workers are “looking at wage increases across the board, especially in areas that are not caught up to places like Seattle that have higher wages.” Though wage increases would be welcome in Seattle as well, she added, “as they’re still not quite enough to live.”
Last year, Starbucks said that the coffee giant would raise wages for U.S. hourly workers to nearly $17 per hour — up from the current $12 rate — by the summer of 2022. Furthermore, as of late January 2022, employees with two or more years of service could receive up to a 5% raise, and partners with five or more years of experience could receive up to a 10% raise.
In recent days, investors from Trillium Asset Management have urged the coffee company to adopt a policy of neutrality for workers attempting to unionize.
“Investors should absolutely be on our side and should be wanting this,” Durkin said. “When you have employees that are happy to be there, you and have employees that are productive, [and] that are protected, that feel safe and secure in their workplace, they turn in a better product.”
Starbucks has consistently opposed unionization. And with former CEO Howard Schultz announcing that he would be returning to his former role on an interim basis, Durkin has a message for the incoming CEO.
“While you’ve been effective in the past at union busting, this is a completely different campaign and a completely different set of circumstances that I don’t really think he’s prepared for,” Durkin said. “And I think if he’s walking into this expecting to be able to use his old union busting tactics on this current movement, he’s going to be sorely disappointed,” she added.
Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @daniromerotv
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance


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Drinking three cups of coffee a day may help you live longer, according to a study of almost half a million people from 10 European countries.
The research, published in the journal the Annals of Internal Medicine, suggests an extra cup of coffee could lengthen a person’s lifespan – even if it is decaffeinated.
But sceptical experts point out it is impossible to say for sure that it is the coffee that is having a protective effect, rather than say, a more healthy lifestyle in coffee drinkers.
They say there is no need to reach for that extra cup of coffee just yet.
What does the new study claim?
Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer and Imperial College London say they have found that drinking more coffee is linked to a lower risk of death – particularly for heart diseases and diseases of the gut.
They came to their conclusions after analysing data of healthy people over the age of 35 from 10 EU countries.
They asked them once at the beginning of the study how much coffee they tended to drink and then looked at deaths over an average of 16 years.
Prof Sir David Spiegelhalter, from the University of Cambridge, analyses the public understanding of risk and says that if the estimated reductions in death really were down to coffee, then an extra cup of coffee every day would extend the life of a man by around three months and a woman by around a month on average.
But despite the sheer scale of the study, it is by no means perfect and cannot prove that coffee beans are the magic ingredient.
Why you do not need to rush out and buy more coffee just yet
Frustratingly for coffee fiends, the findings really are not as clear-cut as they might first seem.
That’s because the study could not take every factor into account – clouding how certain one can be about coffee’s effects.
For example, it did not look at how much coffee drinkers earned in comparison with non-coffee drinkers. It might be that people who can afford three cups of coffee a day are richer and that extra money, in some way, helps protect their health.
It might be that people who drank three cups of coffee a day spent more time socialising and that in turn may have boosted their wellbeing.
And even if they were to be certain it was the coffee that was responsible, not every risk improved.
The researchers found higher coffee-drinking was linked to a higher rate of ovarian cancer in women, for example.
And although the paper looked at a lot of people, the researchers excluded anyone who had diabetes, heart attacks or strokes at the beginning of the study.
So it doesn’t tell us much about the risks or benefits of drinking coffee if people are unwell.
It is also possible some of those people became unwell while having their regular brews.
Is coffee good for you?
Previous studies have shown conflicting and often contradictory results.
For many people, experience suggests that drinks containing caffeine can temporarily make us feel more alert.
But caffeine affects some people more than others, and the effects can vary from person to person.
NHS experts have not set limits for coffee in the general population but they do say that pregnant women should avoid drinking more than 200mg of caffeine a day.
They say this is because coffee might increase the chance of the baby being born too small. Too much caffeine may also increase the risk of miscarriage.
And, of course, caffeine is not just found in coffee.
The 200mg caffeine limit could be reached by having two mugs of tea and a can of cola, for example, or two cups of instant coffee.
There was also recently the case of a US teen who, it’s thought, may have died from drinking too many caffeinated drinks too quickly.
How could we ever be sure whether coffee makes you live longer?
The most rigorous scientific way to be certain that coffee could make you live longer would be to force thousands of people all over the world to drink it regularly while preventing many thousands of otherwise similar people from ever drinking coffee.
Scientists would then have to monitor every other aspect of their life – what else they ate and drank, how much they earned, how much exercise they did, for example.
That’s a study that is never likely to take place.
So for now, some experts say, instead of putting all your bets on coffee being good for you, you could instead do something that has been proven to extend life – take a brisk, 20-minute walk to the nearest coffee shop – whether you order a cup or not.


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The Cable Television Laboratories Inc. verification panel overseeing the joint test suite for unidirectional digital-cable products -- so-called plug-and-play devices -- has approved Sony Electronics Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and LG Electronics (Zenith Electronics Corp.) digital-TV sets.
This clears the way for one-way TV sets from those manufacturers to be sold in retail outlets.
"CableLabs' completion of this first plug-and-play test wave and the successful verification of three manufacturers underscore cable's support for the digital transition," CableLabs CEO Richard Green said in a prepared statement.
Mike Hayashi, the Time Warner Cable executive who chaired the verification panel, added, "Verification testing is an important step in providing quality advanced digital-cable services to our subscribers."
After initial testing, manufacturers can "self-verify" for subsequent TV-set models under Federal Communications Commission rules.
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Want to join the conversation?
On the Los Angeles Refinery Integration and Compliance Project, $TSO said that it is continuing with the permitting process. The company is now in the public comment period. $TSO expects to get the necessary permits and approvals by the end of the year and to begin construction thereafter.
$GOOG’s Waymo accuses Uber of stealing its intellectual property. Startup Otto, which was recently acquired by Uber, also named in the lawsuit. Stage set for another dramatic legal battle!
We all knew $VALE CEO Murilo Ferreira was going out soon, but now I hear he has no idea who will succeed him!
$JCP, another traditional retailer that just shocked us with its biggest number of store closures.


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FRESH BEGINNING FOR NIGERIA'S AUTO INDUSTRY
Vice President Mohammed Sambo
The unexpected move a fortnight ago by government towards bailing out the ailing automotive industry has, once again, rekindled the hope of the revival of a sector globally regarded as vital to the development of the economy, but largely neglected by successive administrations in the country.
Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo had at a meeting with the management of PAN Nigeria Limited, Bank of Industry (BOI), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) and Union Bank of Nig Plc in Abuja, set up a committee to identify factors militating against the industry and recommend appropriate remedial measures.
The committee which submitted its recommendations last weekend, was chaired by the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Josephine Tapgun, with other members drawn from the Vice President's office, Ministries of Commerce and Industry and Finance, the National Automotive Council (NAC), BPE, FIRS, BOI and Union Bank.
From PAN Limited, Kaduna, to Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited (IVM), Nnewi and from NAC in Abuja to the Nigeria Automotive Manufacturers Association (NAMA) administrative office in Lagos, Government's intention has been largely greeted with optimism which is buoyed by the Vice President's specific charge to the committee to advise it on how best to create a clement environment for the auto manufacturers through policies, viable product models and relieving incentives.
One of the optimists is the Executive Director of Nigeria Automotive Manufacturers Association (NAMA), Mr. Arthur Madueke, who recalled that the Vice President was until recently the governor of Kaduna State, where PAN Nigeria Limited, is located, and by that proximity understands the perilous state of the auto industry, which snuffed life out of almost all the six auto manufacturing plants set up by the federal Government between the mid 70s and the early 80s as components of its development plans.
To Madueke, the plan to address the issues in the industry 'is a welcome development'. In sharp contrast to the lukewarm reaction of a few who say 'we have heard it many times before', Madueke believes the Federal Government should be given a chance, since the President and the Vice President seem to have realized that the industry is in dire straits.
But, what were the factors that conspired to make it difficult for the auto plants to survive after the buoyancy that lasted till the late 80s ? Chief among them was the unfair advantages the fully built imported vehicles enjoyed (and still enjoy) in form of low tariff differentials. Also contributing were dwindling patronage, especially by all tiers of government and their agencies who account for the bulk of vehicle purchases in the country, as well as poor infrastructure which, along with the weakness of the naira vis-Ã -vis the value of international currencies, jerked up the prices of the locally made vehicles.
The industry has since the late 80s been in serious distress; weighed down by many debilitating factors, and despite repeated cries by the stakeholders for the intervention of government through the creation of an enabling environment, the sector has largely been neglected, leading to a situation where imported brands thrived in the market to the detriment of the locally made products. The inevitable consequence? The gradual death of many of the existing plants and the allied (downstream) industry.
The cradle of the industry in Nigeria can be traced back to the commercial investment of UAC, a conglomerate which in 1959, set up a plant through one of its departments, Niger Motor. Niger Motors produced Bedford trucks using semi-knocked down kits. The company has over the years undergone many metamorphosis to become today's GM Nigeria, jointly owned by General Motors of USA and UAC of Nigeria Plc.
Auto manufacturing was never given priority in the scheme of things at the federal level, until the establishment of six assembly plants (two for cars and four for trucks), namely, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Limited (now PAN Nigeria Limited), Kaduna in 1975; Volkswagen of Nigeria Limited (VWoN), Lagos); Anambra Motor Manufacturing Limited (ANAMMCO), (Emene-Enugu) in 1980; Steyr Nigeria Limited, Bauchi; National Truck Manufacturers (NTM, Kano for Fiat); and Leyland Nigeria Limited, Ibadan.
At the peak of their operations, both PAN and VWoN met the local demand for cars to a very considerable extent, while ANAMMCO with an installed capacity of 7,500 vehicles per annum (in a single shift) along with NTM and Steyr, could make about 50,000 trucks. The local industry then had an installed capacity for 10,000 tractors per annum, thanks to Steyr.
Up to the mid 80s, PAN had local input manufacturers and suppliers in all parts of the country. That was the era when the middle-class still existed and every new employer's dream was to own a Peugeot 504 or a Volkswagen Beetle - both which were priced well below N10, 000 then. The network of suppliers was sustained because the volume was right, and was, therefore, every investment was worth it.
But, by the late 80s, a few years after the stifling impact of Gen Ibrahim Babangida's structural adjustment programme (SAP) and the cumulative negative effects of the 'anything-goes' attitude of successive regimes, started taking its toll on the industry, the signs of the bad days ahead were already showing. The steady decline in the patronage of locally made vehicles following inflationary trend which jerked up vehicle prices and weakened the purchasing power of the average buyer, never abated. Rather, the fortunes of the auto makers deteriorated till today.
Presently, no assembly plant in Nigeria is operating at up to 10 per cent of its installed capacity. It is, therefore, not surprising that in the past few years, vehicle imports averaged 100,000 units annually with the so called fairly used ones accounting for about 90 percent. In fact, in the past 12 to 15 years, 90 percent of automobiles sold in the Nigerian market was not made in the country.
Beyond the general inflationary effect of SAP, unregulated importation of new and old vehicles from all over the world, lack of clear-cut policies for the industry, absence of patronage from even the government that has stakes in some of the plants, decay of infrastructure and the inability of government to ensure the availability of basic raw materials and ancillary needs, made survival difficult for the plants.
The unfavorable differential between the duties on CKD used by the local manufacturers and fully built up units (FBUs) imported by marketers which the latter argue should be at least 40 percent, did not help matters. Ditto for the disdainful attitude of some Nigerians, to made-in Nigeria vehicles, which they regarded, and still regard, as inferior.
These factors explain why the local plants accounted only for about eight percent of the market share three years ago, down from 10 percent in 1996, and 66 percent in 1988 - a decline which has persisted till today.
These are draw-backs which the stakeholders say the Mrs. Tapgun-led committee was expected to recognise in drawing a blue-print for the impending government rescue plan for the industry. The NAMA Executive Secretary told Daily Sun that the specific steps which government needs to take include:
•Activate Gazette No 28 of 1994, which requires government and all its agencies and parastatals to source all their vehicles from the local plants, but which has never been implemented.
•Ensure a wide duty differential between fully built imports and CKD sets for local manufacturing of vehicles. For instance, in Malaysia, CKD attracts 35 percent duty against 105 to 165 percent for fully built vehicles (differential of 70 to 130) in favour of the CKD importers (local auto plants).
•Ensure easy access to finance, in form of soft funds which will attract low interest rates.
•Grant pioneer status to new plants like Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited (IVM), Nnewi; which means exemption from taxes and certain charges for a number of years, to enable them stabilize.
•Improve electricity supply and other facilities that lead to the high cost of locally made vehicles.
Speaking during a telephone interview before the Tapgun committee submitted its recommendations to government, the Director-General of NAC, Engr Aminu Jalal, hinted that the report was going to contain a recipe on how to rescue the auto industry through the creation of an enabling environment.
Jalal whose Council was represented in the committee, was also optimistic that government would consider favourably the recommendation that serious steps be taken to bail out the industry.
Auto industry analysts are of the opinion that PAN deserves special doses of encouragement for keeping the assembly lines active with the production of new generation cars like the 307 sedan. Moreover, even against daunting problems that stared at the new owners of the Peugeot plant, Alhaji Sani Dauda and ASD Motors, following the privatization of the company in December 2006, the management has continued to invest heavily in boosting production activities.
They are also of the opinion that new comers in the industry like Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company, which is an entirely private sector investment driven by a young entrepreneur, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, also need to be encouraged. Despite the obvious crisis in the industry, the Nnewi auto maker is said to have invested hugely in a plant which has started rolling out a range of high quality (mini, medium and luxury) buses, SUVs and pick-ups.
Sadly, like the older generation of auto manufacturers, there are indications that the Innoson plant is already being encumbered by challenges, such as access to zero-or -low interest funds, high cost of production and high charges on components. This is why it is being argued by stakeholders that new entrants, who defiled the odds to venture into the industry, need tax holidays, patronage and unhindered access to finance, as much as the older generation of plants.
Chief Chukwuma told Daily Sun on phone that his Nnewi plant is already producing 'very high quality vehicles', which some transporters now use for long distance trips to many cities in the country. Apart from mini, midi and luxury buses, Innoson makes SUVs (spot utility vehicles) pick-ups, and has plans to start the production of special purpose vehicles like refuse collectors. The vehicles will also be built to be able to compact and dispose the refuse.
But the Innoson Chairman pointed out that the cost of production is too high, urging government to accord his new auto company tax and duty relieves, in addition to making interest-free funds available.
According to him, government should encourage and patronize Innoson and other local plants, because unlike the importers of fully built vehicles, the Nigerian manufacturers make huge investments, employ thousands of workers and contribute to the growth and development of the economy, despite the harsh operating environment.
'Let me tell you something, I would have been better off importing built-up vehicles or other finished products, but I chose to set up a plant to generate employment and contribute to the economy. I am an industrialist and all I always think of is how to manufacture things. So we deserve to be encouraged', Chief Chukwuma remarked on phone.
Madueke advised government to borrow a leaf from countries with successful auto industries, like India and Malaysia, that have policies in place to encourage the local manufacturers. The Malaysian industry, for instance, is younger than Nigeria's, but is today far more vibrant, with exports to many parts of the world (including Nigeria). The success of the Malaysian Proton is credited to the former Prime Minister, Mahathir bin Mohammed, whose visionary regime set up the plant and gave it all the encouragement it deserved, including high tariff on imported vehicles.
Auto industry analysts are of the opinion that now that government has received the recommendations of the Tapgun committee, it has been equipped enough to ensure that the mistakes of the past will be used to guide the industry through the pitfalls of the present.


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Review-Journal reporter Todd Dewey, handicapper Kelly Stewart and Wynn Las Vegas sports book director Johnny Avello preview the early college football bowls.
Review-Journal reporter Todd Dewey, handicapper Kelly Stewart and Wynn Las Vegas sports book director Johnny Avello preview NFL Week 15.
In a major step forward for the struggling north Strip, Wynn Resorts has announced it reached an agreement to buy the empty lot on Las Vegas Boulevard where the New Frontier once stood.
On Sunday, the Wynn Golf and Country Club closes to make room for Steve Wynn’s new Paradise Park project, which will include a 47-story hotel and Carnivale-themed lagoon area.
Eureka! has opened in the Emergency Arts Building in the Fremont East District in downtown Las Vegas.
A convicted sex offender was ordered to serve 5 to 12 1/2 years behind bars Wednesday for trying to assault a woman at the Wynn valet.
Italian luxury fashion brand Bottega Veneta will open a new store on the Las Vegas Strip.


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This week its been calculated by the analysts at Asymco that in the world of recorded sales for PCs vs Apple‘s Mac computers, the ratio of the former’s sales to the latter is at its lowest since 1997. What we’re to understand from this situation is that there are around 16 PC computers sold- that’s every other kind of computer you can think of for the home or business, essentially – for every one Mac sold. Those are current day numbers. Compare that to 2004 when that number was closer to 50 to 1 and you’ll see the big difference right away – did you see this coming?
Breaking this chart down to the United States, it’s a lot closer to an amazing 3 to 1 ratio as Apple’s main focus strikes true in its home country. What’s most interesting though is Asymco’s several charts in one, one of them also including the iPad in with the Macs. If the iPad is considered part of Apple’s computer sales, you’ve got a whole lot smaller a gap between PC and Apple computer sales without a doubt.
In the fourth quarter of 2011, Apple sold 4.9 million laptops and desktops. In Q4 of 2010 Apple sold 3.9 million laptops and desktops, and in Q4 of 2009 they sold 3 million. Of course these numbers can be attributed not only to struggling PC makers in general, but to Apple’s massively successful launch of several products in the past few years such as the iPhone, the iPad, and the MacBook Air.
Even when the mobile products aren’t counted in the big chart, Asymco shows plainly that Apple is not only ramping up, they’re pushing the PC world down as they do it. Check the timeline below for more Asymco analysis action!


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Airlines improve on customer complaints, slip on baggage handling
- South Florida Business Journal
U.S. airlines noted fewer complaints last year but did a worse job handling baggage, Reuters reports.
A study by researchers at Witchita State and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical universities, the annual national Airline Quality Rating (AQR), which ranks airlines on several metrics based on U.S. Department of Transportation figures, also found that carriers had a lower bumped passenger rate but worse on-time performance in 2013 compared with the 2012, according to the news outlet's story.
The better showing on passenger complaints was mostly based on improvements at United Continental Holdings (UAL.N), which had the worst showing among carriers on that measure in 2012, the researchers said.
Among the 15 airlines included in the study, the rate of complaints filed against carriers fell to 1.13 per 100,000 passengers last year from 1.43 in 2012.
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MCH Group has relaunched Baselworld, a show that last ran in 2019 before the covid pandemic derailed its plans for 2020 and beyond.
It will take place in 2022 from March 31 to April 4, which is the same week as Watches and Wonders Geneva, a show that runs from March 30 to April 5 next year.
Hour Universe, a brand created to replace Baselworld, has been dropped altogether.
Baselworld has a monumental task to rebuild support among potential exhibitors, retailers and press.
Mishandling of the postponement and refunding of deposits to exhibitors in 2020 proved to be the final straw for the show’s biggest exhibitors: Rolex, Patek Philippe, Chopard, Tudor and Chanel, which decided to move to Geneva and join Richemont’s Watches and Wonders event.
LVMH brands Bulgari, TAG Heuer, Hublot and Zenith also left to set up their own LVMH Watch Week, and are also expected to appear at Watches and Wonders Geneva in 2022.
Swatch Group had already turned its back on Baselworld after a final appearance in 2018, which is thought to have saved the organisation around $50 million, but Baselworld managing director Michel Loris-Melikoff says he regularly speaks with Nick Hayek, president of Swatch Group.
“We have not agreed on what we want to communicate and how we communicate it. I have big respect for what he is doing and I keep him informed about what we are doing. Communications are open,” he Mr Loris-Melikoff revealed today in a question and answer session following a launch webinar.
Mr Loris-Melikoff says the new Baselworld show will be much less expensive for exhibitors, and will offer the option of pre-packaged stands for watch, jewellery and gems businesses.
He says that 80% of stakeholders that were planning to participate in the cancelled 2020 Baselworld wanted it to be cheaper and less complicated.
Mr Loris-Melikoff said that even smaller brands typically used to spend $1 million on square metre space at Baselworld, designing, building and storing their own stands, and running the booth for the week of the show.
No exhibitors were announced today, but Mr Loris-Melikoff said he expects mid-market and mass production watch brands to participate along with jewellery and gems businesses. There will also be a focus on technology and business solutions for retailers.
Broadly, the expectation is for the show to be one third watches, one third jewellery and one third gems.
There is certainly a gap in the market for a global trade fair. Baselworld in its pomp attracted over 1,500 exhibitors. Watches and Wonders Geneva would have had fewer than 40 if it had taken place this year.
The difficulty is that, with Richemont, LVMH, Swatch Group, Rolex/Tudor, Breitling, Chopard, Chanel and several of the most prestigious independent watch brands expected to support Watches and Wonders Geneva in 2022 or do their own events, there are very few brands remaining with pulling power for retailers or the press.
Basel’s hotels have also left visitors with mental scars from the staggering prices they once charged during Baselworld, and their refusal to refund bookings made for 2020 in a timely way.
Mr Loris-Melikoff promises that things will be better in 2022. “Nobody is going to pay five times the price of an average hotel room,” he says.
“Basel Tourism is very excited that we keep the name Basel. We invested a lot of time in the hospitality of Basel. Because of covid, it has been easier to make all stakeholders in tourism and hotels understand that it is important to change the pricing and the way we welcome people to the city. We are really happy about the collaboration,” he adds.
In a sign of trouble ahead, a search by WatchPro today for rooms at Les Trois Rois hotel — much favoured by all the Rolex authorised dealers that attended Baselworld in the past — found no availability from March 30 to April 4, 2022. Hotels.com showed only one hotel and one apartment hotel, rated at 4- or 5-stars, with availability for the same dates.
Baselworld goes global
It was also revealed today that MCH Group intends to launch additional events outside of Switzerland, possibly under the Baselworld name.
Replying to a question from WatchPro, Mr Loris-Melikoff disclosed: “There will be new shows, new platforms in the United States and in Asia.”
Sales for the 2022 Baselworld begin today, and the team will hope that it can offer an attractive alternative to Watches and Wonders Geneva while aiming to get the benefit of the global watch and jewellery community being in Switzerland at the end of March. “It is very important to organise at the same time as Watches and Wonders. It does not make sense to make everybody travel to Switzerland twice. Participating brands now have a choice. It is a free market. They will make decisions based on the best price, the best experience,” Mr Loris-Melikoff concludes.


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[Security] Hackers outwit online banking identity security systems
Criminal hackers have found a way round the latest generation of online banking security devices given out by banks, the BBC has learned.
After logging in to the bank's real site, account holders are being tricked by the offer of training in a new "upgraded security system".
Money is then moved out of the account but this is hidden from the user.
Experts say customers should follow banks' official advice, use up-to-date anti-virus software and be vigilant.
Devices like PINSentry from Barclays and SecureKey from HSBC - which look a lot like calculators - ask users to insert a card or a code to create a unique key at each login, valid for around 30 seconds, that cannot be used again.
This brought a new level of online banking security against password theft.
The additional line of defence provided security even if a user's computer along with any password information was hacked, and they still offer the best level of protection available against online banking fraud.
While these chip and pin devices make the hackers' job more difficult, the hackers themselves have raised their game.'Man in the Browser' attack
A test witnessed as part of a BBC Click investigation suggests even those with up-to-date anti-virus software could be at risk.
There is no specific risk to any one individual bank.
In the test the majority of web security software on standard settings did not spot that a previously unseen piece of malware created in the software testing lab was behaving suspiciously.
The threat does not strike until the user visits particular websites.
Called a Man in the Browser (MitB) attack, the malware lives in the web browser and can get between the user and the website, altering what is seen and changing details of what is being entered.
Some versions of the MitB will change payment details and amounts and also change on-screen balances to hide its activities.
With the additional security devices, the risk of fraud is only present for one transaction, and only if the customer falls for the "training exercise".
"The man in the browser attack is a very focused, very specific, advanced threat, specifically focused against banking," said Daniel Brett, of malware testing lab S21sec.
"[Although] many products won't pick this up, they've got a much bigger scope, they're having to defend against all the viruses since the beginning of time."
Every time a new update to the malware is released, it takes the security companies a number of weeks to learn how to spot it - to learn its common features.
But one security company did privately concede that, if this threat had come from a source not known to be bad and started communicating with a web address also not on the black-list of "bad" sites - until they had discovered and analysed it - it probably would have beaten their protection.Fraud detection software
Makers of many of the security products featured in tests argued that it was not valid as it only tested one part of their protection.
They point out that they continually search for and blacklist websites, emails, and other sources of malware.
Mark Bowerman, of Financial Fraud Action UK, said: "Banks also employ what's called back-end security and that's what's happening behind the scenes to protect you from online banking fraud.
"We've got intelligent fraud detection software, and it's used to seeing how you operate your online bank account.
"Any deviations from the norm and the software is going to pick it up - that may be the type of transaction you've made or the amount."
Most computer security products will block this kind of threat if their security settings are turned up to maximum but will also block many legitimate programs too.
Online banking fraud losses totalled £16.9 million in the first six months of 2011, according to Financial Fraud Action UK.
In the UK, banks usually refund victims of online fraud as a matter of course.
Banks and experts say customers must continue using online security anti-virus products.


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Wireless headphones are improving faster than anything else in tech
Wireless headphones are improving faster than anything else intech
Equippedwith USB-C, voice assistants, and better batteries, 2018’s wireless headphoneskick 2017’s butt
By firstname.lastname@example.org March5, 2019, 8:19am EDT
If you’re in themarket for new wireless headphones, IFA 2018 has been an absolute treat foryou. If, on the other hand, you just bought a pair, well... this is going to bean upsetting read. At this year’s IFA in Berlin, headphones manufacturersbrought out a litany of meaningful, tangible, delightful improvements that havemade the wireless audio market much more exciting than it was just a few daysago. Let’s take each new change in turn.
USB-C IS THE NEWCHARGING STANDARD
Anyone who’s beenfollowing my writing will know that I think this change is overdue. For months,I’ve been imploring headphone makers toget with the times — a majority of smartphones and laptops now charge via USB-C— but most of them kept updating their flagship models while keeping theflimsier and now outdated MicroUSB standard. No longer. Every new pair ofwireless headphones or earphones I’ve come across here at IFA has featured aUSB-C charging port. Whatever market data everyone has been looking at, it’sfinally showing the investment into USB-C to be worthwhile, and the industryhas promptly responded by flooding the Berlin Messe halls with USB-C-poweredheadphones.
You might thinkSennheiser’s 12-hour total battery life (four in the buds with two extrafour-hour charges in the case) on the Momentum True Wireless less monumental,but they’re extracted from a lightweight design that’s effortless to wear. Wealways say we want more battery life and would tolerate bulkier designs, butSennheiser has rightly listened to the way we spend our money — on extra-thinphones with fewer features but slicker design — and it’s made its firstwireless earbuds as small as possible. Plus, they sound pretty damn good, and12 hours of damn good music is worth more than 20 hours of discomfort andmediocre audio.
EQUAL PARTSEXCITING AND ENTICING, THE HEADPHONES MARKET IS EVOLVING THE WAY SMARTPHONESONCE DID
In all cases,whether larger over-ear designs or smaller in-ear ones, each successivegeneration of wireless headphones is taking major steps forward in increasingbattery life. The smartphone market hasn’t known such a rapid pace ofimprovement since the early days of 4G, when most phones had terrible batterylife and every new model offered a chance to make significant advances. Now,smartphones have plateaued in most respects, we’re still waiting to see howgood ARM-powered laptops will be with their extended battery, and smartwatchesare waiting for more efficient chips to push them forward. Headphones are theconsumer electronics category that is in the most fast-moving part of itsdevelopment cycle.
Give designersenough time and enough tries, and they’ll really perfect a product. Sony’sthird-generation 1000Xs are, once again, the cardinal example of this. Theseare a massive redesign from the first two 1000Xs, which were already supercomfy to wear for long periods of time. But the new edition, well, it justratchets the goodness up a couple of notches. Now even lighter, even moregentle in their embrace, these are benchmark-setting headphones. My colleaguesin the Verge New York office tried them out before me, and each was elated(one, already an owner of 1000X M2s was more frustrated than thrilled) with howcomfortable Sony’s latest headphones feel.
I alreadymentioned above that Sennheiser seems to have made the right trade-offs withits Momentum True Wireless, but the matter bears expanding upon. If we rewindto only a couple of years ago, truly wireless buds were huge, ugly, didn’t holda connection well, and sounded like an indistinct mess of exaggerated bass andtinny treble. This is hardly ancient history, yet here we are today, looking ata pair of neatly crafted buds that you might quickly forget you’re wearing ifit wasn’t for their great passive noise isolation. Oh yes, the Momentum TrueWireless are also great at isolating noise.
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A&P has appointed six executives to its merchandising and marketing team to help the US retailer enhance value for customers, while reducing structural and operating costs.
The troubled US grocery retailer today (16 February) announced the appointment of Marie Robinson as senior vice president of supply and logistics, Nancy Gaddy as vice president of deli and bakery and Kevin Broe as vice president of own brands.
Meanwhile, Harry Giglo has joined as vice president of meat and seafood, Bob Weidner has been named vice president of customer experience and space management and Corey Pearson has been appointed vice president of pricing and analytics.
Speaking about the appointments, A&P executive vice president of merchandising and marketing Tom O’Boyle said: “A key element of our comprehensive turnaround is to further enhance value for our customers and their shopping experience in our stores through our broad selection of food products and superior service. Marie, Nancy, Kevin, Harry, Bob and Corey are proven, high calibre leaders, and their combined expertise will significantly strengthen our merchandising and marketing organisation and supply chain, and advance our operational and financial restructuring.”
Robinson will be responsible for streamlining and enhancing A&P’s supply and logistics operations. She was previously senior vice president of supply and logistics at Smart & Final.
Gaddy will enhance the company’s deli and bakery offer to provide a “superior value proposition”. She was previously vice president of deli, bakery and food service operations for Winn-Dixie Stores.
Broe will lead the company’s private-label initiatives and was previously of president of sales and merchandising of own brands for SuperValu Inc.
Giglio will improve the meat and seafood offer and value proposition for customers. He was previously vice president of perishables for Weis Markets.
Weidner will work to revamp the instore experience including the merchandising sets and layouts. He was previously senior vice president of US operations for Prism.
Pearson will develop and implement pricing strategy and systems as well as everyday pricing, including costs and deals. He was previously director of merchandising execution for Supervalu.
A&P also announced plans to close some 32 stores as part of its restructuring plans yesterday, following an application for chapter 11 protection in December.


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Chase Manhattan is to purchase the operations of the commercial credit card-issuing subsidiary of Paymentech.
The Paymentech unit, based in Salt Lake City, is a Visa and MasterCard commercial card issuer. The transaction includes a commercial card portfolio totaling approximately 230,000 cards and approximately $200 million in receivables. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2001, pending regulatory approval.
Richard Srednicki, Chase executive vice president in charge of its credit card business comments: "This strategic purchase brings us the industry's first robust Internet-based administration and reporting platform."
He says Chase commercial card customers will be able to use the system to access a suite of Web-based account management, expense reporting, electronic statement and payment tools.
Lorraine Hricik, EVP, Chase treasury solutions, adds: "Now, Chase will not only be a premier provider of commercial cards, but our new capabilities will allow Chase to offer our customers improved e-procurement solutions to streamline payment, reconciliation and data integration for business-to-business purchases."


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New Meizu Smartphone Revealed to be in Works: Possible Battery 3C Certified; Key Specs Tipped
The Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer, Meizu, is revealed to be in the works with a new smartphone device and its possible battery has been certified by the 3C certification authority of China. Some of its expected specifications have also been tipped.
Check out more about this upcoming device below.
Meizu Likely to Launch a New Smartphone
On the 3C certification database, it is a battery with model number – “BA468” that has been spotted and this lithium ion battery is pointed out to have a rated battery capacity of 5400 mAh. Nothing else has been shared via the certification platform.
The tipster on the Weibo platform, Digital Chat Station has tipped some of its key specs, as per which, this smartphone could be featuring a flat display panel, a 5500 mAh typical battery, and might support a 66W fast charging feature. Tentatively, the moniker “Meizu 21x” has also been given for the upcoming device.
A new Meizu phone could be in works as a Meizu battery with 5,400mAh (rated) capacity has received 3C's approval in China
– Flat display
– 5,500mAh battery
– 66W fast charging
– Meizu 21x (tentative name)
— Anvin (@ZionsAnvin) March 14, 2024
The previous Meizu 20 series comprised of four smartphone devices – the Meizu 20, Meizu 20 Pro, Meizu 20 Classic, and Meizu 20 Infinity, and till date two smartphones have been unveiled in the brand’s latest Meizu 21 series – the Meizu 21 and Meizu 21 Pro.
Here are the specifications of the Meizu 21 Pro device that was released late last month.
Meizu 21 Pro – Specifications
|165 x 74.4 x 8 mm
|208 or 214 gm
|2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G
|Yes, Wi-Fi 802.11 а/b/g/n/ac/6e/7 with Dual Band Support
|Yes, Version 5.4
|Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm) Chipset
|Primary Clock Speed
|Android based Flyme OS Custom Skin
|12GB/256GB, 16GB/512GB, and 16GB/1TB
|LTPO AMOLED Display
|1368 x 3192 pixels
|50MP(Main, Wide) + 10MP(Periscope Telephoto) + 13MP(Ultrawide) Triple Camera Setup
|Yes, Under Display Ultrasonic Fingerprint Sensor
|80W Wired Fast Charging Feature
50W Wireless Fast Charging Feature
10W Reverse Wireless Charging Feature
|Black, White, Blue, and Green


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Company looks to build on Zagat buy with travel guides.
Google has made a deal that will see the company expand its reach in the publishing and travel spaces.
The company on Monday announced an agreement with publisher John Wiley & Sons that will give Google control over the Frommer's brand of travel publications. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Wiley said that the agreement itself was finalized on August 10.
The deal will add to a Google publishing group that already includes the Zagat travel and restaurant reviews and publications operation.
"The Frommer's team and the quality and scope of their content will be a great addition to the Zagat team," the company said in a statement provided to V3.
"We can't wait to start working with them on our goal to provide a review for every relevant place in the world."
The Frommer's content will likely be rolled into Google's mapping and local search platforms, much like the Zagat content has been thus far.
Since acquiring Zagat in September of last year, the company has made the review and guide platform a source of content for its Local platform. Zagat content has been integrated with services including Google+ and Google Maps platforms.
The Frommer's deal marks the latest in a string of acquisitions Google has made in recent months. Though the massive deal for Motorola Mobility has had the highest profile, the company has agreed to smaller strategic acquisitions as well, such as the purchase of email software developer Sparrow.
Shaun Nichols is the US correspondent for V3.co.uk. He has been with the company since 2006, originally joining as a news intern at the site's San Francisco offices.
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December 2, 2015
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Last Updated on January 26, 2021
Despite fiercely lobbying for mail-in voting in the 2020 Presidential Election, Amazon founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos – who also owns The Washington Post – has completed a complete 180 degree turn in his position in just three months. He is now demanding Amazon employees vote on unionization in person to ensure a “valid, fair and successful election.”
The sudden flip flop comes as employees at a Bessemer, Alabama Amazon warehouse prepare to vote on joining the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), who is overseeing the referendum, had originally planned to begin mail-in voting on February 8th, but Amazon has halted the process, with attorneys filing a motion last Thursday to delay the vote, which will include over an estimated 6,000 employees.
An Amazon spokeswoman detailed the company’s position on the voting process in a statement released to CNN:
“[T]he best approach to a valid, fair and successful election is one that is conducted manually, in-person, making it easy for associates to verify and cast their vote in close proximity to their workplace.”
“Amazon provided the NLRB with a safe, confidential and convenient proposal for associates to vote onsite which is in the best interest of all parties – associate convenience, vote fidelity, and timeliness of vote count. We will continue to insist on measures for a fair election, and we want everyone to vote, so our focus is ensuring that’s possible.”
Employees have reported poor work conditions and bottom of the barrel compensation at facilities owned by Bezos – the world’s richest man and a major backer of left wing movements worldwide. While the online retailer has reportedly seen record profits in recent months thanks to Amazon-backed COVID-19 shutdowns, some employees say they’re still relying on government assistance to get by due to low, stagnant wages.
Despite Bezos’ left-wing leanings, Amazon has stood firmly against the unionization of its employees throughout the years. In 2017, populist factions of the left and right alike joined forces to oppose the construction of a pair taxpayer-funded Amazon headquarters facilities in Arlington, Virginia and New York City, prompting the company to shift their planned New York operations to Tennessee.
Opponents of Amazon compared their plans to high tech versions of 20th century “company towns” seen across Appalachian coal country as employees of the planned headquarters will be encouraged to live in apartments owned by Amazon, shop at stores owned by Amazon, and live much of their day to day life within the company bubble.


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Lagardère Travel Retail France has teamed up with Phenix to distribute unsold food items to people in need, in the presence of the Minister of National Education and the Secretary of State for a Social, Solidarity-Based and Responsible Economy.
CSR, Lagardère Travel Retail
Paris, December 23, 2020
As poverty rises in France and the holidays are approaching, Lagardère Travel Retail has underscored its CSR commitments and strong human-focused values with this distribution of food to the disadvantages in partnership with Phenix, a startup specializing in anti-food waste measures, at its warehouse in Marly-la-Ville.
Due to the pandemic and the resulting travel restrictions, Lagardère Travel Retail France has seen a sharp decrease in traffic at its outlets in train stations and airports. Many products did not sell out, leading to surpluses at its warehouse in Marly-la-Ville. Since July, in partnership with Phenix, Lagardère Travel Retail France has donated over €240,000 in food, which has been redistributed to over 13 regional non-profits.
©Philippe Devernay – MENJS
At a time when 10 million tons of edible food are thrown away every year in France, Lagardère Travel Retail France felt it would be scandalous to destroy these products and decided to instead donate these quality items to people in need.
Lagardère Travel Retail France then contacted Phenix, which has been working to fight food waste in France since 2014, to optimize the distribution of these surpluses to regional non-profits serving the disadvantaged.
On Friday, December 18, the last unsold items were redistributed from the Marly-la-Ville warehouse in the presence of Jean-Michel Blanquer, Minister of National Education, Youth and Sports and Olivia Grégoire, Secretary of State (reporting to the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Recovery) in charge of a Social, Solidarity-Based and Responsible Economy.
Also on hand, adhering to current precautionary health measures, were: Fabrice Berbessou, Lagardère Travel Retail France Communications and Human Resources Director; Jean Moreau, Phenix founder and CEO; Frédéric Blot, La Mie de Pain Activity Co-Director, Abdelaali El Badaoui, Banlieues Santé Founder and President; Samuel Coppens, Salvation Army France Spokesman and Jean-Paul Bruneau, Espoir du Val d’Oise President.
©Philippe Devernay – MENJS
All praised Lagardère Travel Retail France’s initiative and Phenix’s essential role as intermediary and highlighted the new needs in terms of food aid, both structural and context-related (Covid-19), calling for more attention on this type of community-serving activity and efforts to make them permanent.
“Lagardère Travel Retail France definitely plans to roll out more of these initiatives,” commented Fabrice Berbessou. “I’m delighted that these actions have generated interest, especially as I know they are part of our responsibility as an employer. Collectively speaking, we’re very proud that the teams have rallied around these efforts to assist our fellow citizens.”
Phenix founder and CEO Jean Moreau added: “At a time when poverty is skyrocketing in France, particularly among young people, we and Lagardère Travel Retail France are demonstrating that large firms are ready and willing to step up to the challenge of fighting waste and benefiting people in need.”
Samuel Coppens reminded those on hand of the urgency of the current situation: “Since the beginning of the pandemic, an incredible number of people have come to see us for aid for the very first time. This was confirmed by Action Contre la Faim, which reported that fully half of them had never contacted any non-profits before the first lockdown. Not to mention the fact that 30% of the French population has seen their income drop considerably.”
Fortunately, at this point we have already moved on from the awareness-raising stage to taking real action in the field. This can be seen in the increasing number of initiatives underway in France, like the one being carried out by Lagardère Travel Retail France and Phenix, which not only help offset the tragic effects waste has on the environment but are also a considerable weapon in the fight against food insecurity.
Although both firms are pioneers, they may also become examples to emulate in a very short period of time. Furthermore – and the presence of the Minister of National Education is proof of this – there is now a true political commitment to making the Social and Solidary-Based Economy one of the priorities of future generations.
Olivia Grégoire, Secretary of State for a Social, Solidarity-Based and Responsible Economy, commented: “We have come to shine a spotlight on generosity and serving the community. Non-profits represent hope. They are always looking to serve others, but we’re here to remind them that the government looks to serve them too. Solidarity is a key value at times of crisis like these. Tax measures have been put in place to encourage everyone to contribute. Donations to food non-profits (known as “Coluche donations”) come with the right to a 75% tax reduction with a ceiling that will be maintained at €1,000 for both 2020 and 2021.”
Watch the video (French version)
About Lagardère Travel Retail France
Lagardère Travel Retail France is the French branch of Lagardère Travel Retail, one of the two divisions of the Lagardère Group, world leader in the Travel Retail sector. A global operator with over 4,800 points of sale across 39 countries, in travel essentials, food services and duty free & fashion, the Group is mainly present at train stations, airports and tourist sites. Lagardère Travel Retail has a unique and comprehensive approach aimed at offering travelers a memorable shopping experience and being the standard-setting partner for licensors and brands. In 2019, Lagardère Travel Retail’s revenues came to €5.5 billion (100% managed).
Launched in 2014, Phenix is the leading startup in anti-food waste efforts in France, with over 120,000 meals saved each day thanks to its network of participating professionals, non-profits and private individuals. With the goal of creating a world without waste, Phenix’s 170 anti-waste coaches design and implement innovative solutions aimed at ensuring that unsold food and non-food items never become waste. Phenix has recently unveiled a mobile app allowing users to actively fight waste by buying unsold items at a discount.
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Not over the Endgame? Then do we have great news for you. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has confirmed in an interview with ComicBook.com that Avengers: Endgame will return to theaters as early next
One British TV channel has taken a step towards eliminating the standing trend of all-male comedy writers' rooms by outright requiring women writers on all submitted projects. ITV Comedy Controller Saskia
Spider-Man: Far From Home doesn't hit theaters for another two weeks, but early reactions from critics promise we're in for a web-slingin' good time. Marvel's second standalone Spidey film and the final
Alphabet's annual shareholder meeting concluded with predictable results: every shareholder proposal was voted down despite protesting workers and increasingly pointed criticism. At Google parent company
Welcome to Small Humans, an ongoing series at Mashable that looks at how to take care of – and deal with – the kids in your life. Because Dr. Spock is nice and all, but it’s 2019 and we have the entire
TL;DR: These Arlo Pro wireless home security systems feature smart cameras with two-way audio, and Amazon has them on sale starting at just $200.22 for a two-camera kit. "Paint cans on strings." A "chainsaw
TL;DR: A value pack of 60 replacement film sheets for the Fujifilm Instax Mini camera is just $30, which is its lowest price yet on Amazon. When school is out, you need to keep the kids engaged somehow.
TL;DR: The high-tech Chefs Convection Oven by Cuisinart is on sale for $200.61 at Walmart, saving you $58.39 — or $79.34, if you ask Cuisinart's site. Toaster ovens have come to replace actual toasters.
TL;DR: The Dell Inspiron 5000 laptop is on sale for $637.49 with code SAVE15, saving you $211.50. Plus you’ll get a free $100 Visa promo card with purchase. Getting a new tech device is always fun, but
New York City public transportation might be a hellhole, but at least it's a hellhole with good music. On Sunday, for example, Twitter user @Wertwhile was traveling on the subway after a tough week when
TL;DR: Samsung's game-changing QLED TVs are on sale at Walmart — included in the bunch is this 75-inch model for $504 off, bringing it down to just $1,793.93. Picking up a brand-new 4K TV is an exciting
Now that Facebook, together with an army of partners, has entered the crypto space with Libra, the blockchain community is as polarized as ever. Some are merely brushing it off as just another coin; others


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Google has announced that the next generation of its Android operating system will encrypt data by default, making it impossible for law enforcement to scrape personal information directly from users’ smartphones and tablets.
The announcement comes less than a day after Apple announced similar measures, updating the security protocol for iOS 8 so that information stored on devices can only be unlocked using the customer’s passcode.
In both case however law enforcement will still be able to access data stored in the cloud. Photos, messages or contacts that only located on the device itself will be off limits, but both Google and Apple are still compelled by law to turn over information stored on their servers.
“For over three years Android has offered encryption, and keys are not stored off of the device, so they cannot be shared with law enforcement,” Google Niki Christoff told the Washington Post. “As part of our next Android release, encryption will be enabled by default out of the box, so you won't even have to think about turning it on.”
Google and Apple are apparently engaged in twin campaigns to convince customers that their data is safe. Apple CEO Tim Cook has made several pointed allusions to the rival company in recent days, telling journalists that unlike other companies, the iPhone-maker was only interesting in selling hardware – not collecting personal data.
“Our business model is very straightforward,” wrote Mr Cook in an open letter. “We sell great products. We don’t build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers.”
Both companies have been the target of increased scrutiny from both consumers and governments, after Edward Snowden’s leaked NSA documents revealed not only widespread surveillance by US and UK spy agencies but a worrying level of collusion between the tech giants and law enforcement.Reuse content


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Signing legal and business documents online will be made possible with the roll-out of a new feature on national digital identity system SingPass.
Its first user is the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), which is piloting the technology to allow the digital signing of property caveats e-lodged with the SLA.
The new Sign with SingPass feature is available on SingPass Mobile, an all-in-one app that stores the NRIC barcodes and personal details of 2.1 million users.
The app lets users access online government services by scanning their fingerprints or faces on their smartphones without needing to enter any passwords.
With the new digital signing feature, the app will also enable the virtual signing of documents.
The signature is encrypted and linked to the signee, whose identity is automatically validated against the Government's database at the point of signing.
GovTech, which developed the tool, said the new feature is timely as the Covid-19 pandemic has seen individuals and companies choose virtual options when conducting government transactions.
"Through Sign with SingPass, businesses will save cost and manpower by removing the manual processes of verifying physical paperwork," said Mr Kok Ping Soon, chief executive of GovTech, in a statement yesterday.
To start, the user calls up the SingPass Mobile app on his phone and launches the scan function.
When the user clicks on a document ready for signing on his computer, a unique QR code will be launched on his computer screen.
He then scans the QR code with the SingPass Mobile app to initiate a signing request. At the same time, the app will scan his face or fingerprint to authenticate and complete the digital signing process.
The initiative is in line with the Digital Government Blueprint target of letting citizens complete between 90 per cent and 95 per cent of their e-government transactions without leaving their homes, by 2023.
The service supports signing on all major platforms, including DocuSign, iText, Netrust, Adobe, OneSpan, Dedoco, Tessaract.io and Kofax.
During signing, confidential data residing in the documents will not be transferred between these platforms and GovTech. Instead, only an encrypted, random code representing the signed document will be transferred.
Private-sector organisations keen to use Sign with SingPass for their digital services can go to go.gov.sg/sign to register their interest. The service is free for now.
In July, GovTech launched SingPass Face Verification to allow private-sector organisations to tap the nation's digital identity infrastructure to securely verify online transactions without needing to build their own systems.
DBS Bank was the first private-sector entity to pilot SingPass Face Verification, which is integrated into its digibank app.


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The M-Class nameplate has been with us since 1998, but with the German carmaker refreshing its naming strategy, the popular SUV has a new name. Say hello to the 2016 Mercedes-Benz GLE, a mid-cycle refresh of the third-gen M-Class that offers a more rounded look up front with a revised grille, a new set of headlights, new LED taillights and squared-off sportier exhaust tips that are now integrated into the bottom of the rear bumper.
We'll admit, this probably isn't going to keep too many people from wanting one.
At the end of last year, Steve Saleen teased the world with a brief rendering of the then upcoming 302 Black Label Mustang. And now it’s made its official debut at a special event in Los Angeles. Saleen claims this is the "most powerful production Mustang to date." How so? Powered by the familiar 5.0-liter Coyote V8, additional oomph comes from a 2.8-liter twin-screw supercharger along with high-flow fuel injectors and an optimized ECU. With all that, the newly combined output is 730 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque.


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According to a new survey by the Consumer Research Center, consumer confidence nationally surpassed expectations and hit a three-year high in February. It was the latest optimistic report on the economic recovery now underway.
Lynn Franco, director of the Consumer Research Center, said the index spiked “due to growing optimism about the short-term future.”
“Consumers’ assessments of current business and labor market conditions has improved moderately, but still remains rather weak,” Franco said. “Looking ahead, consumers are more positive about the economy and their income prospects, but feel somewhat mixed about employment conditions.”
To be clear, the survey measured expectations and not current conditions. But locally, Alabama’s economy stabilized during 2010 and is expected to show steady growth in 2011. That’s the forecast presented by the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the annual Economic Outlook Conference held recently in Montgomery. Dr. Sam Addy, CBER Director, expects Alabama real GDP to grow more than 3.4 percent, faster than the 3.2 percent gain forecast by several economists.
Employment will begin to turn around this year, Addy said, following a decline in 2010. About 13,000 jobs should be added in Alabama. Unemployment will remain high for a while though, as the improving economy encourages more people to enter or reenter the labor force. State tax receipts could post a modest 1.2 percent gain in 2011, following two years of declining revenue.
After falling late, but steeply into the recent Great Recession, Alabama’s economy is rebounding more quickly than most states. Continuing diversification into biotechnology, aerospace, automotive, national defense, steel, shipbuilding, and other high-paying manufacturing and white-collar jobs is lending strength to the state’s recovery according to Dr. Addy.
William Bruce is an Accredited Business Broker and Appraiser. He currently serves as president of the American Business Brokers Association. He may be reached at WilliamBruce@bellsouth.net or (251) 990-5910.


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Breakout singer-rapper, Azelia Banks, who has been gaining buzz through her many Youtube tracks, has finally revealed which label she will now be calling home. Banks announced the big news to her fans on Twitter: "God just dealt me a new hand today I reaaaaaaaaaaallllly good hand,"…"I am now officially signed to Universal Music." With viral music videos like "212" and celebrity fans like Gwyneth Paltrow, the 20 year old Harlemite performer comes as a breath of fresh air to an industry lacking diverse woman of color and female MCs.
Banks had initially been signed to the British independent label XL recordings, but that deal ended unsuccessfully with Banks claiming, "There were a good seven to eight months where I was just sending them texts and no-one would say anything or pick up the phone or respond to my emails. Nothing. And it started to ruin me." Keeping the momentum of her newly found success, Banks will be performing at Coachella and kicking off her UK tour this February.
Does Banks have what it takes? Does she have a future in an industry that is hard on female rappers, or is she just hipster hype?


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The World Economic Forum at Davos is traditionally all about power — but in these cold, snowy conditions, a different type of power regulation may come into play, based on the internet of things.
This week I’ve been in Doha, Qatar for the QITCOM 2017, talking about innovations for the transport and logistics industries
I recently had the opportunity to join Concur experts as part of an Analytics tour in the UK, with two presentations in in Manchester and London. As you probably know, SAP acquired Concur, a leading provider of travel and expenses solutions, a little over 18 months ago. Concur is focused on providing the “Perfect Trip” with …
Last month, the US and German SAP user communities released a must-read paper on Digital Transformation. Here are some highlights.
Examples of how SAP’s customers are using our technology to improve people’s lives
At the #HANA2016 conference this week, Coca-Cola East Japan explained how the company uses a modern BI platform with SAP HANA, Hadoop, and SAP Lumira to provide powerful analytics and support new business models.
Keynote presentation from SAP Forum Slovakia, on the theme “Discover Simple”
My presentation and slides from the itelligence UK user conference 2015, covering different use cases of internet of things in the consumer and business world.
At the Hadoop Summit in Brussels, Irfan Khan explained SAP’s support for enterprise Hadoop deployments.
Presentation by Timo Elliott at SAP Select Berlin 2014 — examples of organizations using the latest technologies to “simply” transform the way they do business: getting closer to customers, empowering employees, optimizing resources in real time, and harnessing the full potential of the networked economy.


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Florida Politics reports..
A California-based medical marijuana dispensary has temporarily closed five of its eight Florida locations.
MedMen listed temporary closures on its website effective Sunday.
Locations are shuttered in Jacksonville Beach, Key West, Orlando, Sarasota and Tallahassee. Three stores in Pensacola, St. Petersburg and West Palm Beach remain open, according to the company’s website.
The closure notifications on each location’s website offered limited information.
“MedMen … is temporarily closed effective Sunday May 3rd. Thank you for your patience and support, please check back for updates on MedMen.com.”
t’s not clear whether the closures are related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic or if they will affect six other stores the company plans to open throughout the state in Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale, downtown and Southside Jacksonville, Miami Beach or Orlando.
A company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
However, the company has been doing well despite the pandemic.
The company had its best month in the state in April, according to Politico, with 123,817 ounces of medical cannabis flower sold, which was a 52% increase from January sales before the pandemic hit.


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Adidas Japan has named Pascal Martin as its president, effective March 1.
Martin succeeds Rob Langstaff, who took over the day-to-day operations of the Adidas North American business, based in Portland, as president Jan. 1.
Martin previously served as general manager of organizational development at Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.
"Japan is central to the success of our Asian business," said Christophe Bezu, head of Adidas Region Asia/Pacific. "I am sure we have found the right person to ensure the continued growth of the Japanese business and to secure our market leadership which we gained this year."
Martin, 45, will report directly to Bezu, who will continue to oversee the Japanese business until Martin begins.


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MILAN — The wait for Kim Jones’ debut at Fendi has been cut back by a few weeks.
The British designer will unveil a couture collection for Fendi on Jan. 27 in Paris during the city’s Haute Couture Week. In September, when Jones was named Fendi’s artistic director of couture and women’s wear collections, the Rome-based luxury house said his first collection would bow in February.
Dior Pre-Fall 2021 Preview
In July the following year, Fendi celebrated its 90th anniversary with a couture show of Lagerfeld’s designs at the Trevi Fountain, a first for the Baroque monument, and with an exhibition at the company’s then-new headquarters at the stately Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana. Fendi staged the spectacular show at the iconic Roman landmark, whose restoration the house supported, with a catwalk placed on the water and the closure of four neighboring streets.
Fendi Couture Fall 2016 Giovanni Giannoni
In 2017, the couture show returned to Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. In 2018, what was to be the last couture show by Lagerfeld, who died in February 2019, was held at Palais Brongniart.
In July 2019, the couture show returned to the Italian capital, staged at the Temple of Venus and Rome, which Fendi helped restore with a donation of 2.5 million euros. The collection, designed by Silvia Venturini Fendi and her team, paid homage to Lagerfeld with a collection, named “The Dawn of Romanity,” comprising 54 looks — one for each year of the designer at Fendi.
Fendi Couture Fall 2019 Stephane Feugere/WWD
In 2020, Fendi did not hold a couture show.
Jones remains at the creative helm of Dior Men.
A veteran of Fendi parent French luxury group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Jones came on board in 2011 as men’s artistic director at Louis Vuitton. He helped ignite the luxury streetwear phenomenon with the landmark 2017 collaboration with Supreme, the cult New York skatewear brand.
Since moving over to Dior Men in 2018, Jones has done collections with fine artists Daniel Arsham, Kaws and Amoako Boafo, the surfwear maven Shawn Stussy, and Air Jordan. The latter yielded one of the most sought-after sneakers of 2020, the Air Jordan 1 OG Dior limited-edition.
Earlier this month, Jones presented his Dior men’s pre-fall collection online, featuring models walking against an intergalactic backdrop conceived by Thomas Vanz, a French director known for his spectacular renderings of deep space, against a looping soundtrack of Deee-lite. The designer tapped Kenny Scharf, whose cartoon-like paintings are steeped in sci-fi, to lend his colorful touch to the line.
With Fendi Move, Kim Jones Expands His Impact
Gabriela Hearst and Chloé: A New Purpose for Both
When Fendi Conquered the Great Wall of China
Source: Read Full Article


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In the latest development, Russia has finally given a green signal to the use of crypto assets in cross-border payments. On Thursday, September 22, the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance reached an agreement for the cross-border use of cryptocurrencies. Russia’s local news publication Kommersant quoted the country’s Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev as saying:
Now we have a bill in this part already agreed with the Central Bank in general… In general, it describes how to acquire cryptocurrencies, what can be done with them and how you can or cannot cross-settle with them in the first place. border settlements.
The current rule will also allow Russian residents to send payments across the border using digital assets. The proposed policy in particular seeks to allow Russian citizens to gain access to digital wallets. For the past few weeks, the Bank of Russia had been discussing the issue of cross-border crypto payments with its government officials. However, he had been opposed to cryptocurrency exchanges operating legally without accepting the digital assets as legal tender.
Ensuring strong regulatory measures
Earlier this month, Moiseev said that the Russian government’s financial bloc had proposed “too rigid” an infrastructure for the use of cryptocurrencies. But Moiseev had backed legalizing the use of digital assets for cross-border deals. The Vice Minister of Finance also noted that they will ensure that proper regulations are in place to prevent the illicit use of cryptocurrencies. He further added:
On the one hand, to give people the opportunity to do it, on the other hand, to put it under control so that there is no laundering, payment of drugs, etc.Now people are opening crypto wallets outside the Russian Federation. It is necessary that this can be done in Russia, that this is done by entities supervised by the Central Bank, which are obliged to comply with the requirements of anti-money laundering legislation, and first of all, of course, know your client . .
Russia’s mixed relations with cryptocurrencies
Russia has had a rather mixed relationship with digital assets in recent years. In 2020, Russia sought to ban payments in Bitcoin and other crypto assets. Russian President Vladimir Putin himself signed a bill banning the use of digital assets. However, in May this year, Russian Trade Minister Denis Manturov said that they would legalize crypto payments sooner or later. Russia’s recent familiarity with digital assets comes as the country faces significant sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine this year. As a result, Russia has been cut off from the SWIFT financial system used throughout the world in global trade. Therefore, leveraging cryptocurrencies could be a means of mitigating the impact of sanctions.
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