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In an op-ed today for CNN, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International President Marc Perrone and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., called on large grocery retailers to reinstate hazard pay for frontline workers as cases of COVID-19 mount nationwide.
Perrone and Harris said in the Aug. 7 CNN opinion piece, headlined “Why Grocery Store Workers Deserve Hazard Pay,” that the coronavirus threat for grocery workers hasn’t abated, since they remain exposed to the disease in performing their daily tasks and interacting with fellow employees and shoppers.
However, they noted in the article, large food retailers such as Kroger, Albertsons, Whole Foods Market (owned by Amazon) and others have phased out temporary pay raises or bonuses — dubbed “hero pay” or “appreciation pay” — even as more areas of the country are grappling with a higher incidence of the virus.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.
"Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of America’s grocery workers have continued to report to work and serve their communities, despite the ongoing hazards and danger of being exposed to the novel coronavirus,” Harris and Perrone wrote. “The brave, dedicated workers who put themselves at risk when they enter their workplaces don’t make headlines, but each of us should value their quiet courage and sacrifice every time we visit our neighborhood grocery store. We cannot take their work or safety for granted — and their employers shouldn’t either.”
Grocery store workers are taking safety precautions for themselves, colleagues and customers by wearing masks, social distancing and constant cleaning of cash registers, food conveyor belts, shopping carts and other equipment and facilities, Harris and Perrone explained in the op-ed. At the same time, store associates have been continually restocking food, household goods, cleaning supplies, health products and other essential items throughout the COVID-19 crisis, they said.
“Grocery workers are essential workers — without them, families across the country would not have access to the food they need during this pandemic,” Harris and Perrone said. “Given the increasing dangers as COVID-19 continues to spread, the time is now to reinstate hazard pay for all of America's grocery workers.”
Since the coronavirus pandemic was declared a national emergency in mid-March, many grocery retailers have implemented emergency pay for frontline workers in stores, distribution centers and/or other facilities.
UFCW President Marc Perrone (Photo courtesy of UFCW)
Most programs entailed a temporary $2-per-hour or percentage wage increase for hourly workers and/or one-time bonuses. Some companies extended the hourly wage increases and bonuses more than once, including Kroger, Albertsons, Amazon/Whole Foods, Walmart and other chains. Retailers like Kroger, too, have invested millions of dollars in COVID-19 protection, health benefits and emergency sick-leave benefits for workers.
A number of chains, however, have ended the extra pay as the time periods for the programs have expired and states and municipalities nationwide have reopened businesses and public spaces shut during the pandemic.
But with coronavirus cases topping 4.9 million in the United States, and deaths now exceeding 160,000, Harris and Perrone noted that grocery workers are “continuing to put themselves in harm’s way.” As of Aug. 7, among UFCW members nationwide, there have been at least 97 grocery worker deaths, 7,188 grocery workers infected and 6,122 grocery workers exposed to the virus, the union reported.
Others voicing support for continuing grocery worker hazard pay include former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; Sherrod Brown, D-Mass.; Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.; and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, according to UFCW.
“As we all know, this pandemic is far from over,” Harris and Perrone wrote in the CNN op-ed, “and the health threats that grocery workers face are just as real now as they were when this crisis began.”


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Tuesday’s Digital Content Newfronts slate began with Hulu. The premium distribution site threw plenty of statistics at its potential advertising partners, noting that the platform’s Hulu Plus subscription service now has more than four million users.
Hulu reached three million paid subscribers at the end of the 2012, and has since added another million to its total. Beyond Hulu Plus, the website has undergone a significant amount of growth. “When we started Hulu was only available on computers; now we’re on 350 million connected devices,” said interim CEO Andy Forssell. Forssell, who is serving as Hulu’s top exec while the company searches for a replacement for former head Jason Kilar, also posted on Hulu’s blog with a rundown of the day’s news items.
Among said items is the reveal of two new original programs, East Los High and Quick Draw. The former is a high-school drama with an all-Latino cast, surely in an attempt to captivate the Internet’s growing Hispanic audience. The latter is a period comedy about a Harvard-educated sheriff who attempts to bring scientific methodology to a rough-and-tumble Wild West town.
Those two new entries join the nine new and upcoming shows Hulu revealed back in January. In our preview for Hulu’s Newfront, we noted how upcoming Hulu stars appeared at the 2012 event and explained that we expected more of the same this year. Sure enough, top names like Seth Meyers and Eva Longoria appeared to promote their upcoming programs (The Awesomes and Mother Up, respectively). Given that Meyers also touted The Awesomes at the 2012 Newfronts, I’m starting to wonder if Hulu will delay the series’ Comic-Con debut date so that they can roll him out again in 2014.
Finally, Hulu noted the release of One Life To Live and All My Children, the former ABC daytime soaps that have been adapted for the Internet by production company Prospect Park. Expect those revivals to be a hit among genre fans, so long as ABC stops egregiously killing off characters in order to muck things up.

domain: news


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Ever since Donald Trump fired the first shot in the US trade war with China, one technology company has been sitting in the middle, trying to avoid the crossfire. It’s wonderful to be able to sell weapons to all sides, until one forces you to choose. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is in the enviable position of being a critical supplier to both countries. The company, headquartered in famed Hsinchu Science Park, makes the world’s most advanced chips for the likes of Apple, Qualcomm, Nvidia and Huawei Technologies.
The US fear, as portrayed by the White House, Pentagon and commerce department, is that allowing China to procure the world’s best semiconductors while America is unable to make them at home is an urgent and critical national security threat. That’s spurred a two-pronged strategy in recent years: limit Chinese access to and development of chip technology, and bolster domestic prowess.
TSMC’s strategy has been to stay neutral. It has most of its capacity in Taiwan, one new and one not-so-new factory in China, and an old facility in Washington state. A year ago, I wrote that chairman Mark Liu had politely pushed back against pressure to expand in America, citing the steep costs. I concluded: “TSMC won’t be able to sit on the fence forever. While Liu may want to just make chips, he’ll eventually have to make a choice.”
That day has come.
The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted Washington’s need to protect supply chains from disruption, and heightened concerns about reliance on Taiwan, as the Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend. To that end, the administration is pushing hard to get chip makers, including Intel, TSMC and Samsung Electronics, to expand in the US, and to use their best technology, the WSJ wrote.
Unsurprisingly, Intel is making the case that the US should strengthen its domestic production for “geopolitical” reasons. The company has most of its staff, and more than half its plants and equipment, in the US, including manufacturing in Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon.
While best known for supplying processors used in PCs and servers under its own name, Intel also operates a foundry business that does contract manufacturing using clients’ own designs. Once the world leader in chip production, the Santa Clara, California-based company has fallen behind and now trails TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung.
Intel clearly sees an opportunity. If it can convince defence and commerce officials that it’s in the national security interest to mandate that at least some chips be made domestically, then it may have a shot at getting back into the foundry game.
TSMC has been trying to push back, or at least to get a seat in the policy discussions. It recently hired former Intel lobbyist Peter Cleveland to coordinate its efforts in Washington. As the old saying goes, “If you’re not at the table, then you’re on the menu.”
But the other aspect of American strategy may be harder for the Taiwanese company to negotiate. Beyond expanding domestic capacity, Washington wants to limit Chinese access. To do so, the Trump administration is considering new rules to curb the use of US equipment and materials in making chips for the likes of Huawei, arguing that the Chinese company is a conduit for Beijing’s espionage.
That’s put TSMC and numerous other companies in a difficult position. The American market accounted for 59% of its sales last year, against 19% for Chinese clients. Yet the growth momentum clearly favours the world’s largest country, which is focused on developing components used in artificial intelligence, 5G communications, surveillance and possibly weaponry.
TSMC has attempted to play Switzerland. A year ago, the company was sticking with the line that, “We are everybody’s foundry.”
Washington increasingly wants TSMC to be its foundry alone. Pressure has ramped up significantly over the past year, with the long list of US clients and significant revenue contribution being used as a battering ram to make the point that America is the side to choose. Ten years ago, when Taipei-Beijing relations were friendlier, companies may have leaned toward China. Today, with China showing increasing belligerence and the US supporting a greater global voice for Taiwan, the mood has shifted.
It’s true that China is an important and growing market — Beijing has used that momentum to bring global companies to its shores — yet it won’t replace the US in terms of size or technology leadership in the next 20 years. To assuage concerns, and win a reprieve on restrictions about supplying to China, TSMC has little choice but to offer something to the Americans.
After years of delay and resistance, it’s time for TSMC to build a shiny new factory in America. Expect to hear the company announce concrete plans, and large dollar figures for US investment, in the next year or so. — By Tim Culpan, (c) 2020 Bloomberg LP


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COVID-19 outbreak leads to largest collapse in eurozone business activity ever recorded
- Flash Eurozone PMI suffers record fall to 31.4 in March as COVID-19 outbreak hits business
- Service sector leads downturn but manufacturing also sees sharpest output fall since 2009
- Steep falls in activity across the region, with 'periphery' reporting largest downturn
Business activity across the eurozone collapsed in March to an extent far exceeding that seen even at the height of the global financial crisis. Steep downturns were seen in France, Germany and across the rest of the euro area as governments took increasingly tough measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
At 31.4 in March, the 'flash' IHS Markit Eurozone Composite PMI sank from 51.6 in February to register the largest monthly fall in business activity since comparable data were first collected in July 1998. The prior low was seen in February 2009, when the index hit 36.2.
The March PMI is indicative of GDP slumping at a quarterly rate of around 2%, and clearly there's scope for the downturn to intensify further as even more draconian policies to deal with the virus are potentially implemented in coming months. There's also a suggestion that, based on experience of the global financial crisis, official data series such as GDP could also fall further than the PMI diffusion indices suggest.
The March survey indicates that demand for many goods and services has fallen dramatically, while near-record supply chain delays have stymied production and business closures mean an increasingly large proportion of the economy is being mothballed.
The services sector was especially hard hit, notably within consumer-facing industries such as travel, tourism and restaurants. The survey's service sector business activity index slumped just over 24 points from 52.6 in February to reach 28.4, surpassing the survey's prior low of 39.2 (recorded in February 2009) by a wide margin.
Manufacturing saw a less severe, though nevertheless still steep, downturn in production. The survey's gauge of factory output dropped just over nine points, down from 48.7 to 39.5, registering the largest monthly contraction of production since April 2009.
New lows were seen for other survey variables as the virus hit demand for both goods and services. Inflows of news business fell at the sharpest rate yet recorded, linked in part to a record fall in export business as cross border trade flows seized up. A record slide in demand for services was accompanied by the sharpest fall in goods orders since April 2009.
Worryingly, the March survey showed that employment is already falling at a rate not seen since July 2009 as despair about the outlook broadens. Business sentiment about the year ahead has plunged to the gloomiest on record, suggesting policymakers' efforts to date have failed to brighten the darkening picture.
French business activity contracted at the sharpest rate in nearly 22 years of data collection, the composite flash PMI sliding from 52.0 in February to 30.2. A record decline in service sector activity was accompanied by the sharpest drop in factory production since March 2009.
The equivalent index for Germany meanwhile plunged from 50.7 in February to 37.2, signalling a weaker downturn than France but still down to its lowest since February 2009. Germany saw a record deterioration of service sector activity and the largest drop in manufacturing output since July 2012.
The rest of the euro area reported an even steeper decline than seen in both France and Germany, led by comfortably the sharpest fall in service sector activity ever recorded, though manufacturing output also shrank at the steepest rate for almost 11 years.
Given that PMI data are shown as diffusion indices, which measure month-on-month changes in each variable, base effects mean that they do not tend to stay low for very long (if output of a firm halts in one month and remains unchanged at zero in the following month, the second month would in fact show a flat picture, i.e. an index reading of 50). We can therefore expect the services PMI to stabilise once shutdowns last for more than one month, and to then rise when activity restarts. However, in manufacturing it may be the case that we have not yet seen the full impact of lockdowns on consumer spending, which could dampen orders and factory output further in the coming two-to-three months.
We might therefore expect the PMI output and new orders data to bottom out in the second quarter before improving in the third quarter. Employment declines could last longer, however, depending to a large extent on COVID-19 policy response measures.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist, IHS
Tel: +44 207 260 2329
© 2020, IHS Markit Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Purchasing Managers' Index™ (PMI™) data are compiled by IHS Markit for more than 40 economies worldwide. The monthly data are derived from surveys of senior executives at private sector companies, and are available only via subscription. The PMI dataset features a headline number, which indicates the overall health of an economy, and sub-indices, which provide insights into other key economic drivers such as GDP, inflation, exports, capacity utilization, employment and inventories. The PMI data are used by financial and corporate professionals to better understand where economies and markets are headed, and to uncover opportunities.
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Last month came word that The Bruery would soon be distributing to Louisiana. Today, I was able to get some more details from Nick Selby, one of the partners at Uncorked, who will distribute The Bruery beers. Nick said that the label approval process from the state is ongoing, but that he is hoping for a mid-December bottle release. Obviously, all of these beers are very limited, and that once they hit the market, there won’t be any more until late February or early March.
The exciting news is the list of beers coming. Here’s what we will be getting:
- Saison Rue – a farmhouse ale
- Mischief – a hoppy Belgian-style golden ale
- Rueuze – a gueuze
- Oude Tart – a Flanders red ale
- Bois – their 5th anniversary release, which is an old ale aged in bourbon barrels and weighing in at 15%
- Tart of Darkness – a dark wild ale, that I’m super excited for.
In the Baton Rouge area, Calandro’s Supermarket and Cuban Liquor will be the exclusive retailers, and The Cove will be the only bar to get any of it.
Very exciting news indeed, and as the release approaches, I’ll be sure to update.


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The revenue-generation engines of many HB 500 companies are relocating from brick & morter to Web & wire.
Across all industry sectors, companies on the Hispanic Business 500® are adopting the latest technology and using Web sites to score orders or lure customers. In 2005, 400 companies on the 500 depended on a Web site to generate some portion of their revenues, up from 66 in 1996.
Many of these companies are using multimedia advertising, including television, radio, and print as well as regular and e-mail to drive their Web-based revenue growth. Strategies range from targeted promotions and incentives to new business partnerships.
TradeStation Securities Inc., founded by brothers and co-CEOs William and Ralph Cruz, leads the way. The Plantation, Florida-based company – which sells sophisticated online securities trading platforms to traders and "serious investors" – earned nearly all its 2004 revenue of $71.8 million via the Internet (see chart, "2006 Top e-Business Companies," which ranks the top 20 Hispanic Business 500 companies by percent of revenues earned online in 2004).
But a Web-based sales presence doesn't stand on its own. TradeStation helped drive customers to its state-of-the-art site by spending $3.8 million on advertising in 2005, up from $2.7 million in 2004, according to the company's 2005 financial reports, which add that revenues climbed about 35 percent in 2005, to $97 million.
The company also uses telephone call centers, direct mail, and e-mail to attract customers to its Web site. "The e-mail blasts are pretty significant. It's an important part of our marketing strategy," says President and COO Salomon Sredni.
Investing in this multimedia push seems to be working. TradeStation reported 23,973 trading accounts at the end of 2005, up 31 percent from the previous year. The average TradeStation account trades about 530 times per year, while the average trade frequency for Ameritrade and E*Trade accounts is about 10 times per year, according to annual financial reports.
Other top-ranking Hispanic e-commerce businesses include:
• 7Search.com, a Chicago-based pay-per-click advertising and affiliate network that generated 100 percent of its 2004 revenues of $6.9 million online.
•Fulfillment Corporation of America, based in Portland, Oregon, which provides order processing and inventory management services, and earned 98 percent of its $9.2 million 2004 revenue via the Internet.
•Miami-based Alienware Corp., which sells gaming desktops, media centers, notebooks, and accessories.
In 2004, Alienware reported earning 75 percent of its total revenue of $112.4 million online, or $84.3 million. This qualifies the company as the top online revenue generator among the top 20.
Measures of Marketing Punch
Alienware's marketing strategy employs technology to target mostly males, generally between the ages of 20 and 30. E-mail blasts and the Alienware Insider, an online newsletter, reach more than a million people, says Mark Vena, senior vice-president for marketing. Customers who click on certain products
but don't buy them receive e-mails about those items.
A call center in Costa Rica also solicits customers and steers them to the Web site. Alienware advertises with banners on CNET, Yahoo!, and Google, and also has online partnerships with brick-and-mortar retailers. For example, consumers who click on the Alienware logo on Circuit City's Web site can see its products and prices.
Mr. Vena cites two measures of success. Alienware's Web site gets 400,000 to 500,000 visitors a day. And the company earns average sales of 60 to 70 cents per e-mail, four times better than the usual 15 cents per e-mail for online marketers.
Up the Growth Curve
Many of the top e-commerce companies say they are now overhauling their e-business operations to make them still bigger contributors to sales.
For example, Office Solutions Business Products and Services Inc., based in Yorba Linda, California, wants to increase the percentage of the company's sales that come via the Internet (around 25 percent in 2004 and 30 percent in 2005, according to the company) to 80 percent within the coming 18 months. Currently, Office Solutions generates about 30 percent of its sales via telephone and 30 percent via fax. Convincing more customers to order online will cut costs and increase efficiency, says CEO Robert Mairena.
To handle the growing number of online customers it intends to attract, Office Solutions is converting its e-commerce site to an SAP CRM system that will analyze customer purchasing patterns. For example: A customer buys a Hewlett-Packard printer and print cartridges but not paper. The customer might then receive an e-mail promoting a special offer for paper. Office Solutions also plans to offer more special online promotions and incentives such as rebates and discounts. "Customers will get the deals only if they do business online, and they will be aware of them only if they do business online," says Mr. Mairena.
Holman's Inc., an Albuquerque-based supplier of survey and engineering equipment and technology, is also stepping up efforts to attract more online customers.
As of 2004, e-commerce sales accounted for about 50 percent of the company's revenue. To date, Holman's has attracted customers through direct mail and advertisements in trade publications, and hired a consultant to work with Google to improve the company's rankings in search results.
But Holman's will begin this summer offering more incentives to encourage greater numbers of customers to do business on its Web site. The incentives will include free shipping, faster service, promotional items, and discounts.
Holman's also plans to improve its Web site to make it even easier to use. To solicit suggestions for improvements, the company is expanding its customer focus groups to include small businesses with 5 to 10 employees. "The easier the Web site is to use to procure products, the more we will see an increase in business volume," says CEO A. T. Trujillo.
Both Bricks and Clicks
Hispanic brick-and-mortar sales and service companies have been at the forefront in adopting the Internet as a sales and marketing tool.
In the auto industry, for example, Tucson, Arizona-based All Star Auto Exchange LLC earned 70 percent of its $5.7 million in 2004 sales via the Internet. The independent auto dealer's Web site is a virtual showroom that encourages visitors to apply for credit online. All Star's Web site accounts for about 20 percent of its Web driven sales – and leads purchased from Internet companies such as AutoTrader.com and Car.com account for the remaining 80 percent. The leads cost $20 to $25 each.
The cost of leads is a big reason for All Star's decision to increase the number of leads generated from its own Web site. The company buys 10- or 15-second television and radio spots asking customers to visit its Web site. Some advertisements urge consumers to "shop in your pajamas." All Star also buys banners on a University of Arizona Web site for sports fans.
Unlike many e-marketers, All Star doesn't send out e-mail blasts. "I think they are abrasive. I send information when people request it – and thank-you letters," says CEO Edmund Marquez.
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The ACCC’s Ad Tech Inquiry
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been tasked by the Government with conducting an 18 month inquiry into the ad tech services market to investigate the competitiveness and efficiency of the markets for the supply of digital advertising technology services and digital advertising agency services (Ad Tech Inquiry).
The final report from the Ad Tech Inquiry, due in August 2021, will make findings and recommendations in relation to the following key aspects of the competitiveness and efficiency of those markets, amongst others:
The Ad Tech Inquiry interim report was issued in January 2021 and highlights the importance of transparency within the ad tech markets. The ACCC’s interim report draws heavily on the experience of the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in its Online Platforms and Digital Advertising Market Study which was published on 1 July 2020.
The CMA found that the lack of transparency within the ad tech market has the potential to create or exacerbate various competition problems. Dominant platforms, such as Google, can utilise the opacity of the market to reduce other publishers’ ability to demonstrate the effectiveness of their advertising and force advertisers to rely on information and metrics provided by those dominant platforms. Advertisers and publishers, who cannot independently verify the effectiveness of Google’s ad tech services, are ultimately unable to make informed choices about the services they use, perpetuating the market dominance of these platforms. Following the release of that Market Study, the UK Government has established a Digital Markets Unit within the CMA and early indications are that the Unit has begun to develop codes of conduct for digital platforms.
The interim report also makes clear that the ACCC has been following the various litigation proceedings commenced in the United States, including two separate actions from 10 US States – led by the Texas Attorney-General – and 38 US States – led by Colorado – in relation to anti-competitive conduct alleged against Google.
The complaint filed by the Texas Attorney-General refers to marketing statements made by Google which liken its ad exchange to the New York Stock Exchange. However, while ad exchanges may, like stock exchanges, facilitate high volumes of transactions occurring rapidly in real-time, that is where the similarities end. Ad exchanges currently lack the transparency and well-defined rules that are fundamental to the effective and fair operation of a stock exchange.
Following release of the ACCC’s interim report, revelations arising from the Texas-led litigation have provided further indications that Google’s activities might not be fully transparent. Information about Google’s “Project Bernanke” – exposed publicly via unredacted documents filed recently with the Texas Court – shows that the digital platform has been using historical data about ad tech auctions to drive up advertisers’ bids.
What action might the ACCC take?
The interim report indicates that the ACCC is well aware of the various anti-competitive practices engaged in by dominant platforms within the ad tech industry which are likely, in part at least, to have been enabled by a lack of transparency. The question is whether the ACCC will ultimately decide it has sufficient information to challenge the likes of Google in relation to a breach of the existing Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), or whether the ACCC will recommend the introduction of new regulatory rules to improve transparency and otherwise facilitate competition within this market.
Proposals put forward in the ACCC’s interim report include the introduction of rules to manage dominant platforms’ conflicts of interest and self-preferencing behaviours as well as to enable the independent verification of advertising services.
Google’s analogy between the ad tech market and the stock exchange may offer an appropriate and reasonable model for the development of these rules. Regulation of stock market trading offers an appropriate structural model for the proposed regulation. The ACCC could be appointed as the “supervisor” of the ad tech market – in a similar way that ASIC is designated as the supervisor of financial markets. The ACCC would be well-placed to develop and enforce any rules introduced to promote transparency, competition and efficiency within the ad tech market.
For example, share trading is subject to a “best execution” obligation, requiring market participants to achieve the best outcome for their client and ensure their own interests do not interfere with those of their client. The implementation of an equivalent obligation for ad tech service providers could protect both advertisers and publishers.
Whatever the ACCC determines to recommend in its final report from the Ad Tech Inquiry, it is likely that it will be guided by international regulatory developments and litigation.
Authors: Angela Flannery & Clare Giugni
 As discussed on page 17 of the Market Study report available here.
The information in this publication is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavour to provide accurate and timely information, we do not guarantee that the information in this article is accurate at the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future.


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Neiman Marcus Group said Thursday that about 1.1 million customers have been affected by a three-month security breach that the retailer initially disclosed earlier this month.
So far, credit card companies have told the high-end retailer that about 2,400 cards from Neiman Marcus customers have been used in fraudulent transactions linked to the breach. The retailer has yet to see any fraudulent activity on its own Neiman Marcus cards, the company said in an online post.
This is the most detailed accounting of the incident, which occurred between July and October of 2013, the firm has released to date.
The upscale retail-store operator said online customers were not affected by the intrusion. It also said sensitive information such as social security numbers, birth dates and PIN numbers were not taken in the cyberattack.
The scope of the Neiman Marcus attack is far more limited than a similar breach at Target, where a December breach might ultimately affect more than 100 million customers. Though Neiman Marcus says it has “no knowledge” of a connection to the Target breach, the incidents are striking similar.
Karen Katz, the president and chief executive of Neiman Marcus Group, said in a statement to customers that criminals installed malicious software to collect payment information on the firm’s system for nearly three months. Despite the duration of the attack, the retailer said it was not notified of the problem until mid-December and did not confirm there had been an attack until Jan. 1 — about six months after the initial attack.
The firm is also continuing to investigate how many of its stores were affected. The Neiman Marcus Group includes Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Last Call, Horchow and Cusp stores.
The company is casting a wide net to notify customers about the breach. It is sending notifications to all customers for whom it has addresses or e-mail address on file and who have shopped at its stores in the past year. It is offering free credit monitoring to consumers using Experian’s ProtectMyID program, which is the same service Target is offering its users.
Follow The Post’s new tech blog, The Switch, where technology and policy connect.


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Dow Inc.’s second quarter adjusted earnings, though beat analysts’ estimates, fell sharply from the year-ago period.
The chemical and industrial products maker's net income declined to $75 million (or 10 cents a share), from $1.33 billion, (or $1.78 a share) in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, earnings fell to 86 cents from $1.41, but was able to surpass the 84 cents expected by the Street consensus.
Dow’s net sales fell to $11.01 from $12.85 billion a year ago. It missed FactSet consensus of $11.29 billion.
The company lowered its spending outlook by -25% to $2 billion in 2019, and said that it would delay a 450,000-ton polyolefins plant expansion in Europe and a feasibility study for a new siloxanes plant.
Dow Inc. has projected third-quarter revenue of $10.50 billion to $11 billion, a range lower than estimates of $12.03 billion.
"Macro environment is cautious, largely driven by geopolitical volatility and prolonged trade negotiations," Chief Executive Officer Jim Fitterling said on a post-earnings call.


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The bitcoin worth broke the psychological barrier early Saturday morning, returning to its blistering early-2021 bull market after taking a breather over latest weeks.
Forward of bitcoin’s surge over $60,000, Tesla chief government Elon Musk—who has been known to move the bitcoin price with his tweets—known as on the favored bitcoin and cryptocurrency alternate Coinbase to assist the meme-based dogecoin.
“Do you suppose Coinbase ought to allow dogecoin on their platform,” a Twitter person asked in response to Musk tweeting: “BTC (bitcoin) is an anagram of TBC (The Boring Firm). What a coincidence!”
“Sure!”—was Musk’s reply. Dogecoin has added nearly 10% since then, though Musk’s skill to maneuver the dogecoin worth appears to have diminished recently.
The San Francisco-based Coinbase, set to go public in a blockbuster $100 billion itemizing, at present helps 49 totally different cryptocurrencies to various levels however has up to now declined to record the Shiba Inu-inspired dogecoin.
Curiosity in dogecoin has exploded as bitcoin, by far the largest cryptocurrency with a complete worth of round $1.1 trillion after its newest surge, has climbed because of a mix of Wall Street institutional adoption, corporate interest, and retail traders piling into the market.
Elon Musk’s Tesla set the bitcoin and cryptocurrency market alight when it revealed it had bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin final month.
Dogecoin, a 2013 clone of bitcoin that was described as a “joke” by its creator soared at first of February, climbing to a complete worth of over $10 billion because of a meme-based marketing campaign that counted the likes of billionaire tech investor Mark Cuban, rockstars and YouTubers amongst its supporters.
Nonetheless, Musk, who was voted dogecoin CEO in a 2019 Twitter ballot, has beforehand mentioned all of his dogecoin-related tweets aren’t meant to be taken critically.
“Often I make jokes about dogecoin, however they’re actually meant to be jokes,” Musk said last month, talking throughout an interview on the invite-only chat app Clubhouse.


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Homaro Cantu Planning Organic Brewery For Summer 2015 Debut:
Homaro Cantu is getting into the beer business with an as-yet-fully-named brewery to be headed up by Moto general manager Trevor Rose-Hamblin (who is a partner in the project), according to the Chicago Tribune. Cantu has plans to serve food in the space, but don't expect anything close to what he's done at Moto or at the recently closed iNG.
The Last Dinner at Homaro Cantu's iNG is Tomorrow:
Your last chance to flavor trip at Homaro Cantu's iNG is tomorrow night. Cantu is closing his miracle berry-driven molecular tasting menu restaurant after more than three years in business on Fulton Market. Moto, his signature restaurant next door, will remain open.
Another Al's Beef Opening Within Three Weeks; Lush Roscoe Now Serving Booze; More:
LOOP—Look for an Al's Beef to open at 234 S. Wabash in "two or three weeks" depending on construction. It will be the ninth downtown location for the Italian beef chain. [DNAinfo/EaterWire]
ROSCOE VILLAGE—The Lush Wines and Spirits at 2232 W. Roscoe, which previously only had booze for retail, is now serving in-house. Beginning with wine by the glass tonight (read the full list below), they'll...
Former Baume & Brix Chef Teaming With Perennial Virant GM For New Spot in Sprout Space:
A couple loose ends from two of the most resounding shutters of 2013 are getting tied up. Knife & Tine, an interesting new restaurant with former Baume & Brix and iNG chef de cuisine Nate Park, is coming to the former Sprout space. Perennial Virant general manager Carissa Shaffer is leading the new ownership group.


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How the LG G6 has gone from a brand-new smartphone to a big seller
A smartphone can’t be considered as a standalone product if it isn’t integrated with other products.
That is the gist of a new study by Zoleo Communications, which has put together a guide for LG and the wider LG Group, which sells a range of LG products, including phones, tablets and TVs.
While the research shows that LG is now selling a lot more smartphones than any other company in the world, the LG Group still manages to be one of the most profitable.
Its revenue increased 7.2% in the second quarter of 2018 to $1.9 billion, up from $1 billion in the first quarter of 2017.
In addition to the LG phone, the company also sold the LG television and LG speakers.
However, it’s not just LG, and other big companies are struggling with sales growth.
Apple, for example, sold 5.7 million iPhones in the fourth quarter of last year.
In contrast, Samsung sold 13.7m in the same quarter, while Apple’s iPhone sales have only grown by 2.9% year on year.
This week, Apple has also reported that its iPad and iPhone sales in the third quarter fell 7.7% compared to the same period last year, and the company’s revenue fell 13.4% to $23.3 billion.
However in a statement, the iPhone maker said that the decline in iPhone sales is a result of the launch of the iPad Pro.
It said that sales of the new iPad are “on track” for the third-quarter of 2019.
Apple has been hit hard by the iPhone’s slump, as the company has lost over $6 billion in market value in the last two years.
In a similar vein, Sony, which was founded in 1992, is losing $2.4 billion annually.
The Sony Corporation has been facing tough times, with sales falling by over 50% last year to $4.5 billion.


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Bulletins of Brilliance
Our clients are headlining the headlines lately and we couldn’t be more proud. Check out these exciting news updates!
- Jack Gilmore’s latest project, Salt Trader’s Coastal Cooking, received an excellent review from Austin Monthly. Though still in its fledgling state, writer Jolène M. Bouchon saw nothing but promise for the new restaurant!
- We’ve finally been getting some chilly weather in Austin, which ups the craving for warming hot chocolate. According to Eater Austin, Dolce Neve has some of the best in town! Made with Italian chocolate and hazelnuts, this delicious cocoa is guaranteed to warm you up.
- Imbibe Magazine just included Argus Cidery’s founder and master winemaker, Wes Mickel in “The Imbibe 75’s” People to Watch. As the premiere frontrunner of Austin’s cider renaissance, one of Mickel’s most exciting future plans include a new fortified cider and a highly unusual cider exclusively made from Southern apples.
- Those who have kept up their new year’s resolutions can enjoy a cocktail with their health kick thanks to the Chaman’s Painkiller at Isla. Liquor.com featured this turmeric twist on the classic Painkiller in their list of “14 Super Healthy Turmeric Cocktails to Drink in Bars Now.”
- According to the Chicago Tribune, Texas gives Napa a run for its money when it comes to turning out great wines. Writer Michael Austin highlights William Chris Vineyards 2014 Mourvèdre as an excellent Lone Star State specimen! In other news, William Chris’ Pétillant Naturel Rosé was also featured as a “What to Buy” item in the December/January issue of The Local Palate!


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Investors are bracing for a busy week ahead packed with events that have market-moving potential. Tech behemoths such as Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Tesla, Facebook and Microsoft are gearing up to report earnings this week, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will be conducting its two-day meeting, and key economic data releases will test the market.
Earnings season kicks into high gear. About 140 S&P 500 (^GSPC) companies, a fifth of the index, are set to report quarterly results this week.
“The market response to [earnings] results has been generally positive, ex-Financials,” Raymond James Chief Investment Officer Larry Adam said in a note April 24. “Some of the best earnings reactions have come from Technology-oriented stocks, as supportive results were needed following very stable estimate revisions heading into earnings season (along with strong relative performance this year). Overall, the S&P 500 is now expected to see a 14.4% earnings contraction in Q1, with the majority of weakness coming from the Energy, Consumer Discretionary, Financials, Industrials, and Materials sectors. These stocks have, accordingly, felt the brunt of the weakness in this bear market. Whereas, sectors with the most stable estimate revisions - i.e., Health Care, Technology, and Consumer Staples - have seen some of the best performance.”
Some of the mega-cap companies reporting this week include PepsiCo, Caterpillar, 3M, Alphabet, Advanced Micro Devices, Starbucks, General Electric, Boeing, Microsoft, Facebook, Tesla, Apple, Amazon, Qualcomm, Twitter, Comcast, McDonald’s, Gilead and ExxonMobil.
The FOMC will be meeting Tuesday and Wednesday, and Fed Chair Jay Powell will hold a press conference at the conclusion of the two-day event. It is widely expected that the central bank will hold off from any major announcements, but market participants will be paying close attention to any updates in regards to the Fed’s recents actions to combat COVID-19 as well as additional insight into the committee’s ever-changing views about economic outlook.
“We don’t expect any major announcements coming out of next week’s FOMC meeting,” JPMorgan economist Michael Feroli wrote in a note April 24. “The Fed’s focus in recent months has been on the roll-out of its alphabet soup of lending programs. We believe that will continue to be the case next week. The traditional focus of monetary policy—the level of risk-free interest rates—will likely be on the back burner for now.”
Many changes are expected in the Fed’s language in its April statement.
“The Committee’s April statement will have to take on board this dramatic deterioration in the economy,” Goldman Sachs economist Jan Hatzius said in an April 23 note. “We expect the statement to note that economic activity has ‘contracted sharply,’ to take stock of the historic surge in layoffs, and to acknowledge that household spending and business investment have “declined sharply.” The appendix at the end shows our full expectations for the April statement.”
Investors will get a taste of the carnage inflicted by COVID-19 on the U.S. economy with the release of first-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on Wednesday morning.
“The plunge in activity in the second half of March, as coronavirus restrictions proliferated, means that the first-quarter GDP data will show output contracting for the first time in six years, and worse is to come in the second quarter,” Capital Economics said in a note to clients April 24.
GDP during the first quarter is expected to have contracted 3.7% quarter-on-quarter, down sharply from 2.1% growth in the fourth quarter. Following retail sales record plunge in March, Personal Consumption likely contracted 2.3% in Q1, down from a 1.8% increase in Q4.
“January and February showed solid growth, but COVID-19 contagion and the ensuing shutdowns led to a collapse in the final weeks of March, which should be enough to push growth for the entire quarter into negative territory,” Credit Suisse noted on April 23. “We expect March was the beginning of a recession in the US, followed by a more severe contraction in the second quarter.”
Monday: Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity, April (-76.0 expected, -70.0 in March)
Tuesday: Wholesale Inventories month-on-month, March preliminary (-0.7% in February); Conference Board Consumer Confidence, April (87.8 expected, 120.0 in March); Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index, April (-38 expected, 2 in March)
Wednesday: MBA Mortgage Applications, week ended April 24 (-0.3% prior); GDP annualized quarter-on-quarter, Q1 (-3.7% expected, +2.1% in Q4 2019); Personal consumption, Q1 (-2.3% expected, +1.8% in Q4 2019); GDP Price Index, Q1 (+1.0% expected, +1.3% in Q4 2019); Core PCE quarter-on-quarter, Q1 (+1.8% expected, +1.3% in Q4 2019); Pending home sales month-on-month, March (-11.0% expected, +2.4% in February);
Thursday: Personal income, March (-1.7% expected, +0.6% in February); Personal Spending, March (-4.2% expected, +0.2% in February); Initial Jobless Claims, week ended April 25 (3.5 million expected, 4.427 million prior); Continuing Claims, week ended April 18 (15.976 prior); Employment Cost Index, Q1 (+0.6% expected, +0.7% in Q4 2019); MNI Chicago PMI, April (36.0 expected, 47.8 in March); Bloomberg Consumer Comfort, week ended April 26 (41.4 prior)
Friday: Markit US Manufacturing PMI, April final (36.9 prior); Construction spending month-on-month, March (-3.6% expected, -1.3% in February); ISM Manufacturing, April (37.0 expected, 49.1 in March); ISM Prices Paid, April (37.4 in March)
Tuesday: PepsiCo (PEP), Caterpillar (CAT), 3M (MMM), Pfizer (PFE), DR Horton (DHI), Harley-Davidson (HOG), UPS (UPS), Southwest Airlines (LUV) before market open; Mondelez (MDLZ), Ford (F), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Alphabet (GOOGL), Starbucks (SBUX) after market close
Wednesday: Anthem (ANTM), Humana (HUM), General Electric (GE), Hasbro (HAS), Blue Apron (APRN), Yum Brands (YUM), Mastercard (MA), Boeing (BA), Brinker International (EAT), Dine Brands (DIN) before market open; eBay (EBAY), Facebook (FB), Microsoft (MSFT), Qualcomm (QCOM), Tesla (TSLA), United Rentals (URI), Vertex Pharma (VRTX) after market close
Thursday: Cigna (CI), Altria (MO), Twitter (TWTR), Dow Inc (DOW), Comcast (CMCSA), McDonald’s (MCD), Kraft Heinz (KHC), Dunkin Brands (DNKN), Molson Coors (TAP), Tapestry (TPR), American Airlines (AAL), Kellogg (K) before market open; Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), U.S. Steel (X), Visa (V), MGM Resorts (MGM), Gilead (GILD), Whirlpool (WHR) after market close
Heidi Chung is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @heidi_chung.
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Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a probe into Tesla's vehicles following multiple complaints about the electric cars suddenly accelerating without driver input. Now, it's Tesla's time to respond.
Tesla on Monday published a new blog post with a title that gets right to the point: "There is no 'unintended acceleration' in Tesla vehicles." The three-paragraph response refers to the petition that started the NHTSA probe as "completely false" and alleges it was introduced by a "short-seller," a person who has financial positions that bet against Tesla's continued stock-market success.
The automaker says it has data on its side. According to Tesla, "in every case where we had the vehicle's data," the vehicle did function as designed, meaning the cars went forward only when the accelerator was pushed, and they stopped only when the brake pedal was pressed.
"Over the past several years, we discussed with NHTSA the majority of the complaints alleged in the petition," Tesla wrote in its blog post. "In every case we reviewed with them, the data proved the vehicle functioned properly."
Furthermore, the automaker points to how its vehicles are engineered. All three of its vehicles (the Model S, Model X and Model 3) have two sensors that cut off torque from the electric motor if an issue is discovered. The blog post says that pressing both pedals will cause the brake to override the accelerator, prohibiting motion, and that any "sustained braking" will be guaranteed to stop the car.
This is a common setup in many vehicles, but Tesla takes it one step further by using its Autopilot sensors. While Tesla did not go into too much detail here, it says the sensors can "help distinguish potential pedal misapplications ... when we're confident the driver's input was unintentional."
News of NHTSA's probe into these incidents came at the tail end of last week. NHTSA's probe cites 127 complaints spanning 123 unique vehicles. 110 of those complaints mention crashes, and approximately half say that injuries resulted from unintended acceleration.


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Kimball Business Scorecard
Here's The Latest With Changes On Local Business Scene
September 2, 2021
For the next month, crews from Hennings Construction will be working on the water loop project that will improve the freshwater supply system for the city.
The work will be between 3rd and 5th streets, including Burg, Cedar and Locust streets. Water will be temporarily shut off, but residents will be notified. Streets may have one lane of traffic at times.
While the city makes water improvements, area businesses have a variety of things going on. Some are remodeling, while others are opening or reopening.
Here are the latest updates at some businesses listed in alphabetical order.
Beer and Loathing
Beer and Loathing is in the process of adding a desert motif to the front section of the establishment. Having just celebrated their seventh year in business, they continue to update and improve the facility. The new area is separated from the bar and will have an open view to the outside, rain or shine. According to owner Nate Entingh, people will be able to "enjoy the experience" of Kimball and Highway 71.
Hometown Hardware is making progress after the downtown flooding, but they are now simply in the wait-and-see mode. Rich Patterson stressed that they will reopen, but they must get an air-quality clearance. The air quality is pretty good on the main floor but air safety levels are a concern in the basement.
Patterson said they expect to get good news this week or the very beginning of next week. They ask their customers to be patient as the entire situation is out of their control. He said they are looking forward to serving their customers.
Kimball Ace Hardware
Owner Jeff Lepp from Kimball Ace Hardware explained that Kimballites should see some activity soon at the old Shopko building south of Kimball. He said they are "very anxious" to get going, and by the last week in September progress should be happening at that site. His initial opening date is set for the beginning of December.
Lepp also reported that they would be conducting a job fair in late September, although all the dates are provisional at this time.
Kimball Bakery and Merrycakes
Merrycakes is still open for business, taking special orders for cakes, cupcakes, Kolaches, and other items, while Kimball Bakery is planning to have the Emporium Coffee House from Scottsbluff come to Kimball to become part of the operation. When the business reopens, they plan to have more options, including healthy foods.
Rumors are circulating about the long-awaited opening of the Japanese restaurant happening soon, but nothing official has been announced.
Owner Hannah Snyder at Nebraska Coffee recently moved her business to the downtown area at 103 Chestnut, which is a much larger building. It is open Monday through Saturday.


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Cloudy Donut serves vegan treats, and ‘reverse gentrification’
The Black-owned, women-operated shop opened in Brooklyn Heights with lines around the block.
“It’s true that Brooklyn is the world — especially when it comes to food,” said Zewiditu Jewel, the shop operator. “We are grateful for the support of the community who came out not only to get a taste of our sweets, but to see what we’re about: ethically crafted, small-batch, homemade donuts, and breaking barriers.”
The women-led store, which is a true mom-and-pop business, is Black-owned and operates in affluent areas to challenge the status quo.


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A chandelier made from old vines.
This image best captures the feel of this year’s Auction Napa Valley – “prudent elegance.”
Several of these old vine chandeliers were hanging in the white tent at Meadowood Resort at Saturday’s live auction. While organizers only reeled in $4.3 million — about half of last year’s take — one thing is clear: Napa knows how to throw a party.
It’s the color — the fashion, the insider chatter and the humor — that gives the auction its flavor. To capture the color, here’s a list of “bests” — from “best dress” to “best deal’ to “best political strategy.” For those who went to the auction and for the curious who didn’t, let this serve as a snapshot.
Best political strategy: In jest, Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, was overheard saying: “I could finance my whole gubernatorial campaign right here, tonight. I should have started with the Napa Valley Wine auction.”
Best dress: Kiki Lee — who calls herself owner, CEO and cleaning lady of Napa’s Vinrock Wine Caves — was wearing a smart, British tan leather dress, with an Italian leopard scarf. “I wanted to match my (copper) business card,” she joked.
Best deal – The Staglin’s lot in 2007, a trip to Italy, reeled in $1.1 million. The winery’s lot this year, a trip to Burgundy, went for $400,000. Vintner Shari Staglin said the lots weren’t that different in terms of expense. “It’s absolutely a sign of the times,” Staglin said. “But we’re just happy we got this much for the charities.”
Best 3-liter bottle: Seems like you need a crane to lift these hefty bottles. It’s certainly not an easy feat for those in evening gowns, but naturally the pour is worth it. The Spottswoode 1997 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was complex and it still had a great showing of fruit.
Best full disclosure: Barry Schuler of Napa’s Meteor Vineyard said he would have paid $100,000 for 12-bottles of Heitz Wine Cellars Bella Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon even though his winning bid was $68,000. “It’s the worse economy in 30 years,” he said. “No one’s isolated from it, but all things considered the auction is doing pretty well.”
Best balance: Noel Dellofano and Kerri Kresinski, both of San Francisco, were flying trapeze artists at the auction who were dangling from a cable secured to a tree, and they looked like ballerinas in the sky. Dellofano, who danced with Joffrey Ballet 12 years ago, said flying trapeze is “circus and ballet, a perfect balance between beauty and strength.” Since when did ballet become high altitude entertainment?


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This article is more than 1 year old
AMD Opteron 250 to ship early 2004
Whatever it's called, it runs at 2.4GHz
The AMD Opteron 250 should ship early next year, if a Canadian high performance computing specialist's next major launch is anything to go by.
Little-known - to us, at any rate - British Columbia-based hardware company OctigaBay will ship its recently announced OctigaBay 12K 12-CPU machine "commercially... early in 2004", it says in a press release issued on Tuesday and pointed out to us by a number of eagle-eyed Reg readers.
The OctigaBay 12K is a rack-mount unit containing 12 Opterons running Linux. There are 12 "specialised communications processors" and a "1Tbps embedded switching fabric" linking the CPUs, and the company has squeezed in a further six field-programmable gate array chips for "application acceleration". The machine supports 24-96GB of PC3200 DDR registered ECC SDRAM per machine - or 2-8GB per processor.
Together they yield 58 gigaflops, OctigaBay claims. Better still, a dozen OctigaBay 12K units can be connected in a single rack to create a system capable of churning out calculations at a rate of 691 gigaflops. The company reports SpecInt_base2000 and SpecFP_base2000 ratings of 1440 and 1404 on a per-2.4 GHz basis, respectively.
But here's the key fact. According to the company's OctigaBay 12K tech specs, each Opteron "200 series" chip is clocked at 2.4GHz.
The current top-end Opteron 200 series chip, the 246, is clocked at 2GHz, if a recent AMD presentation we saw is anything to go by. Since the clock speed goes up by 0.2GHz with every two-unit rise in the product name's final digit, the as-yet-unavailable Opteron 248 should clock at 2.2GHz. Logically, then, the mysterious 2.4GHz Opteron mentioned by OctigaBay ought to be the 250.
And since the 12K is shipping in volume early next year, so too must the 250. ®


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The fashion merry-go-round never stops and frankly we wouldn’t have it any other way. The mensweek shows are upon us and Paris Haute Couture fashion week is hot on their heels at the end of this month. After five days viewing the most exquisite couture creations in Paris, the globetrotting begins again in New York in February with the presentation of the autumn/winter 2015 ready to wear collections. But what do we have in store for us this season? So far, we’ve seen dramatic comebacks, changes of location and cancellations that have in turn been cancelled. And that’s before a single model has hit the runway. It wouldn’t be as exciting otherwise, no?
As if Galliano’s return to the fold as Creative Director for Maison Margiela (the Martin has been dropped from the name) weren’t sensational enough, his first haute couture collection for the line was shown in London (during London’s Collections: Men) on January 12 at ‘around tea time’. How very British. The designer revealed that the decision was made in honour of his formative years on Savile Row. Showing in London means Galliano cannot also present the collection at Paris Haute Couture fashion week, where he will be taking private viewings only.
We can expect another homecoming of sorts – Gareth Pugh returns to London (from Paris and, last season, New York) for AW15 in celebration of the line’s tenth anniversary. The British designer with a flair for the avant-garde and a slew of pop-star clients is still leaving us guessing as to the venue. We do love surprises.
New York fashion week bids two farewells this season. One to the Lincoln Center, its home since 2010 and the other to its long-term sponsor, Mercedes-Benz, which has pulled out as title sponsor of the event (although its support for other international fashion weeks will continue). Intriguingly, WME-IMG, owner of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, is said to be acquiring Made Fashion Week, the younger, cooler (and, crucially, not-for-profit) counterpart to the traditional event in New York. Perhaps the two will combine?
Regardless, New York fashion week will be forced to find a new location after the AW15 presentations due to a dispute over alleged damage to neighbouring Damrosch Park. New York fixtures Diane Von Furstenberg and Michael Kors have already made the move to Spring studios in TriBeCa, while Zac Posen, Prabal Gurung, Vera Wang and others also traditionally show off-site in downtown venues. The sprawling Lincoln Center has never been a favourite of the fashion elite and the CFDA, which takes full control of the fashion calendar from this season, has plans to make the Culture Sheds at Hudson Yards the event’s future permanent venue. Until the site’s completion in 2017, New York fashion week will be looking for a place (or places) to call home.
Is it on or is it off? Rome’s couture fashion week, Alta Roma, has kept us guessing. Cancelled at the end of 2014 due to a lack of public funding, Rome’s municipality saved the event from the brink with a hefty New Year’s donation. The Italian event has long been a springboard for emerging designers such as Esme Vie and Mary Katrantzou protégé, Salvatore Piccione, as well as regional designers Rani Zakhem and Ali Karoui. We’re sure there are more than a few designers who are breathing a sigh of relief this month.
In the never-ending game of designer musical chairs we can expect both debuts and departures this season. Guillame Henry will show his first collection for Nina Ricci following his departure from Carven while Peter Copping (who exits Nina Ricci – keeping up?) will make his debut for Oscar De La Renta in what will surely be a poignant moment for the fashion world. Issa will show without a Creative Director at the helm after Blue Farrier’s departure, as will Schiaparelli after Marco Zanini parted ways with the house. The post at Carven remains up for grabs too. We say bonjour to Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski, new artistic director of women’s ready-to-wear at Hermès (formerly at The Row) and arrivederci to Frida Giannini who has announced an earlier than expected exit from Gucci. The fashion merry-go-round keeps on spinning.


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Proposed regulation seeks to severely restrict plant-based alternatives to dairy
A look at the European dairy products that have ‘cheesed off’ major trade partners.
Sarah Wiener went from using sustainable principles at her restaurants to promoting their merits in Brussels.
European Commission also says that a quarter of farmland should be organic by 2030.
Some see culinary jingoism as threat to the EU’s single market.
5,000 tons of Roquefort, Camembert and Brie could go to waste during the pandemic.
Capitals have formed a united front calling for the Commission to intervene, after agri boss says ‘We haven’t got any extra money.’
‘People don’t have faith anymore in these products without the packaging,’ says an industry lobbyist.
Europe’s South looks to protect its feta and its fetuccinne.
EU diplomats called the ideas vague and ‘aspirational.’
West African and EU officials struggle to see eye-to-eye on the influx of European milk.
Farmers and food suppliers say they need more guidance about what to do in case of no agreement.
The US president lashed out at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his dairy policy. Europe, and most of the milk world, sides with him.
Brussels plan to raises its cap on subsidy payments to €25,000 from €15,000.
A move to produce more Jarlsberg and less cheddar is facing fierce local opposition.
European multinationals are aggressively pursuing one of milk’s few growth markets, where locals say they can’t compete.
Brussels bought up a huge amount of milk to try to boost prices. The danger is that these stocks are now forcing prices down.
Documents show Brussels was warned a big gesture to French farmers could undermine the single market but proceeded anyway.
An EU protected name designation for dairy delicacy would be appetizing to both Greek and Turkish communities.
A hard border in Ireland would cut through intricately woven food and manufacturing supply chains on the island.
The Dutch dairy sector’s explosive recent growth has contributed to an explosion in manure too.
The move is designed to offset the impact of agriculture on climate change.


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Shizuo Kambayashi, Associated Press
TOKYO — Computer chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc. filed for Japan's largest manufacturing bankruptcy Monday after amassing debts from nose-diving prices, competition from Samsung and flooding in Thailand last year that stifled demand.
Elpida, the only manufacturer in Japan to specialize in DRAM chips used in mobile phones and computers, reported debt of 448 billion yen ($5.5 billion) in filing for bankruptcy at Tokyo District Court on Monday.
That was the largest ever for a bankruptcy in Japan in the manufacturing field, according to Teikoku Databank, which compiles such information.
Elpida, set up in 1999 as a joint venture between Japanese electronics companies NEC Corp. and Hitachi Ltd., has been struggling for years to close the gap with rival Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea.
The Tokyo-based company, which employs more than 3,000 people, said its business was hit when DRAM prices declined from about 2007, and got worse with the global downturn.
The surging yen also came as a blow as well as intense competition, it said.
Elpida said the flooding in Thailand last year battered DRAM demand, furthering hurting its operations. Global hard-drive production was disrupted by the floods as Thailand is a major production base for hard-drive makers.
"We have concluded that, if we continue the business by ourselves, we will face cash shortage soon," the company said.
In 2009, Elpida got government emergency aid totaling 30 billion yen ($375 million) in investments through the government-owned Development Bank of Japan. Other Japanese electronics makers have pulled out of the DRAM business.
Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama
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NestlÃ© Sri Lanka net profits down 5.7-pct in June quarter
ECONOMYNEXT – Profits at Nestlé Lanka Plc, unit of Swiss-based Nestle, fell 5.7 percent to 735.4 million rupees in the June 2018 quarter from a year earlier with higher taxes under a new law, despite margin gains, interim accounts showed.
The group reported earnings of 13.69 rupees per share. Nestlé shares closed at 1,840 rupees on Thursday, up from 1,820 rupees at previous close.
Gross profits increased 10.2 percent to 3.3 billion rupees for the quarter, with revenue increasing 5 percent to 9 billion rupees and cost of sales growing at a slower 2.1 percent to 5.7 billion rupees.
This was a recovery from last year, when gross margins fell as demand fell amid a drought and raw material prices also rose.
Sri Lanka was also collecting forex reserves in 2017, which tends to put a squeeze on credit and spending.
The bottom line fell in the June 2018 quarter due to income tax expenses which increased 83 percent to 451.3 million rupees from a year earlier.
From April 2018, Nestlé is charged 28 percent corporate tax under the new Inland Revenue Act. Under old laws, profits were taxed at a subsidized 12 percent, while profits from ready-to-drink milk was taxed at 10 percent, and offshore earnings were exempt.
Nestlé had obtained a 1.9 billion rupee related party loan from Nestlé Treasury Centre- Middle East and Africa Ltd during the quarter for the 5 billion rupee expansion of its dairy and coconut processing factory in Kurunegala.
Year to date, Nestlé net profits increased 2.3 percent to 1.7 billion rupees from 2017, while revenue increased 3.7 percent to 18.6 billion rupees from a year earlier. (COLOMBO, 10 August, 2018)


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The management of a Goodwill store in Winston-Salem, N.C. have notified the police department of a grenade that was apparently donated to the store about a week ago.
According to Inquistir, the grenade was found to still be useable.
The store explained to the police that the grenade had been placed in one of their outside collection boxes. The grenade was sitting on a desk when authorities arrived and had been previously handled by store employees.
It is unknown how many times the device was handled or any reasons as to why it wasn't until a week later that the police were notified of the grenade.
Goodwill's executive director, Arthur Gibel, told The Winston-Salem Journal that the organization receives devices every year that appear to be hand grenades. Another hand grenade was reportedly found at a different store in North Carolina in the year 2010.
The police took possession of the live grenade and properly disposed of the grenade. No one was hurt.


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The Lords’ Environment and Climate Change Committee has been exploring the issue of mobilising public action on climate change through behavioural change, with high-carbon activities like flying and meat-eating in focus throughout the inquiry.
Several witnesses have told the committee that encouraging the public to eat less meat and dairy is a useful way to reduce carbon emissions at an individual level.
When questioned about the government’s plans to encourage less meat consumption, however, Eustice said: “The government is very explicit in saying that from an environmental perspective, we’re not telling people that they shouldn’t eat meat.”
He said the government was exploring alternative ways to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture through technologies such as “methane inhibitors” for cattle.
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Eco-friendly gift hampers that make a positive impact
The Big Issue has collaborated with Social Stories Club to create limited edition gift hampers. Packed full of treats made by social ventures, this hamper would make the perfect gift for the festive season.
“This is an area where people often say ‘there’s no technological answer, therefore people just have to eat less meat. I think that’s wrong. There are very legitimate arguments that say that livestock are part of a healthy environment, and there are technological answers too,” Eustice said.
He said technological advances were “probably a better way to tackle the challenge than just trying to lecture people about meat eating, and the government’s got no intention of doing that beyond the eat well plate that’s [been] long-established”.
Eustice suggested the public could be encouraged to eat meat with a lower environmental impact through labelling on food products about its provenance that people could trust.
Simon Billing, executive director at the Eating Better Alliance said:
“Report after report by the world’s most renowned scientists have all reached the same conclusion that we won’t reach net zero without changing what we eat, in particular how we produce and consume meat. The government’s own advisers, the Climate Change Committee has set targets for meat reduction, recognising that livestock agriculture is a big emitter of greenhouse gases.
“The government needs to step up and take food out of the “too-hard” box and should use this “perfect storm” of rising food costs and global food insecurity to do things differently.”


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Calgary craft brewer Big Rock Brewery has picked a vacant warehouse in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant area for the site of a bigger-than-expected second brewery.
The company had announced plans last September to set up and open a second brewery somewhere in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland region, expecting to spend in the range of $1.5 million to $2 million.
However, plans for the now-chosen location at Alberta Street and Fourth Avenue West, which Big Rock on Monday described as “in the heart of the city’s burgeoning craft beer district,” now include a “craft beer destination.”
“We’ll be opening rather more than just a brewery in Mount Pleasant this year — we’ll be opening a hub that, in addition to fresh new brews, will include live entertainment, locally sourced food, educational tours and tastings,” Big Rock CEO Bob Sartor said in a release Monday.
The “nature and size” of the facility, and its broadened scope with the restaurant and lounge component, are expected to bump up the total project cost to the range of $3 million to $3.5 million, the company said Monday.
Big Rock added it plans to have the new Vancouver plant up and “operational” by the end of this year.
The company on Monday also announced the hiring of Jody Hammel, formerly of Whistler Brewing Co. and Bear Brewing, as the planned Vancouver location’s new brewmaster.
In the company’s release, Hammel described the province as “where smaller, innovative, more nimble breweries and brew pubs are most appreciated.”
Sartor said in September the new brewery would be expected to produce some of Big Rock’s current products for the B.C. market, but also “to develop new beers that will be specific to, and exclusive in, British Columbia.”
A B.C. brewery, he said at the time, will allow Big Rock to have “fresh, local beer” in the West Coast market and would “significantly” lower transportation costs.
Big Rock, founded in Calgary in 1985, sold 21.8 million litres of product in 2012, booking profit of $4.13 million on net revenue of $46.06 million. — AGCanada.com Network


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Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) reported financial results for the third quarter. The company reported a net loss of USD 1.7 Billion with net earnings of 1 Billion in the prior year. Net earnings fell 45.9% to USD 723 Million. For fiscal 2020 year to date net cash on operating activities amounted to USD 3.4 Billion, a USD 183 Million increase from the same period last year. Walgreens Boots Alliance took numerous steps to improve financial flexibility, this includes securing USD 5.1 Billion of incremental facilities.
Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Stefano Pessina said, “Prior to the pandemic our financial performance for fiscal 2020 was on track with our expectations. However, this unprecedented global crisis led to a loss in the quarter as stay-at-home orders affected all of our markets. I’m very proud of how all of our teams mobilized and adapted to deliver essential services in our communities across the world. Shopping patterns are evolving more rapidly than ever as consumers further embrace digital options, spurring us to accelerate our ongoing investments in digital transformation and neighborhood health destinations. This includes our two recent announcements: a significant expansion of our primary care clinics collaboration with VillageMD, and our strategic partnership with Microsoft and Adobe to launch a personalized omnichannel healthcare and shopping experience.”
The company expects adjusted EPS guidance for fiscal 2020 to range from USD 4.65 to USD 4.75. This guidance includes estimated impacts from COVID-19 in the fourth quarter. The company’s board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of46.75 cents per share.
Written by Bryan Shin.
View the original article at here.


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State Senator Avoids Questions About Hawaii Trips
KTTV TV-11 Los Angeles, CA
Doug Heller discusses why CA state senators avoid questions about exotic trips funded by special interest groups on KTTV TV-11 Los Angeles, CA.
1/3/2016News StoryWith four tax initiatives on track for the November ballot, California voters are going to have to decide how much is too much.... More >
6/10/2015News ReleaseGovernor Should Sack Chairman Of Affordable Housing Agency For Making Housing Less Affordable, Says Consumer WatchdogSanta Monica, CA – Consumer Watchdog today called on Governor Jerry Brown to remove Matthew Jacobs, Chairman of the Board... More >
8/17/2015News ReleaseConsumer Watchdog Disappointed California Senate Chose Hiking an Initiative Filing Fee Over Protecting Direct DemocracySanta Monica, CA – Consumer Watchdog said today it was disappointed that the California Senate passed AB 1100, by Evan Low... More >
9/2/2015News ReleaseGovernor Signs Misguided Bill Creating Another Financial Hurdle For Public’s Access to Direct Democracy, Says Consumer WatchdogSanta Monica, CA – Gov. Jerry Brown has signed misguided legislation hiking the ballot initiative filing fee to $2,000 from... More >
11/20/2015News ReleaseConsumer Watchdog Chides LA Mayor And City Attorney For LADWP Settlement That Delays Ratepayer Refunds into 2017 And Beyond While Paying Millions To Lawyers QuicklySanta Monica, CA — The latest proposed settlement of a $44 million LADWP overbilling scandal offers some improvements over... More >


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AG’s office issues gym membership warning
Published 7:00 am Tuesday, January 3, 2017
The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office issued a warning recently about new gym memberships when fulfilling your New Year’s resolutions.
“Health clubs nationwide will be doing big business in the next few weeks as consumers look to make good on their New Year’s resolutions,” Attorney General Hood said in a press release. “It’s important that we all stay financially fit, too, so I hope that consumers do their research to find the right gym at the right price for them. Consumers also have the assurance that state law provides them some protections when they enter into health club contracts.”
The release states that Mississippi law protects health club consumers from fraud and misrepresentation by requiring all for-profit heath clubs to provide written copies of membership contracts and maintain a five-day cancellation period after purchase.
State law also requires health clubs to show comprehensive lists of membership plans, and prohibits companies from selling any plan not included on that list, the release states.
Consumers cannot be obligated to sign a contract that extends beyond 36 months, and cannot be signed under false pretenses of misleading information, according to the release.
Misleading information can include staff qualifications, equipment availability or testimonials of other consumers through the gym’s programs, the release states.
These laws are known as the Health Spa Act and are punishable by up to a year in prison and a $2,000 fine, the release states.
When looking for a facility to achieve New Year’s resolutions, Hood recommended consumers shop around for the best deal, ensuring the facility’s hours and equipment suit your needs.
The release also recommends watching for additional fees for classes or other amenities like lockers or registration fees.
Some employers or insurance companies may also offer discounts if you purchase a membership with a specific company, according to the release.
For more information about state laws regarding health clubs, contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 800-281-4418 or visit http://www.ago.state.ms.us//.


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Over the last decade, payment services in Africa have grown in leaps and bounds. From the rise of mobile money services like Safaricom's M-PESA and MTN's MoMo in East Africa to fintechs like Interswitch and Flutterwave addressing interstate remittance, financial inclusion is on the rise in Africa.
According to Mastercard, the rate of financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa in 2011 was 23% but with a combination of fintechs, traditional banking, and mobile money, this rate grew to 43% by 2017. By 2021, the rate was calculated to have grown up to 50% with some experts going as high as 60%.
This growth is largely brought on by the investment boom in Africa which saw a number of financial technology (Fintech) startups getting funded. Raising over $3 billion in the last 5 years, there are over 573 fintechs helping Africans access the global trade economy by providing a variety of payments services ranging from providing point-of-sale (POS) services to transfers, loans, and even insurance.
Even with financial inclusion on the continent at an all-time high, there are still a number of problems Africans face when it comes to payments, one of which is cross-border payments. It's still quite difficult for Africans to travel within the continent, and access their funds without traversing the financial gymnastics of converting to dollars first, and then converting to local currencies. Nigerians, for example, cannot access funds in their Nigerian bank accounts in Kenya, Ghana, or any other country for that matter. Remote freelance workers, and digital business owners—increasingly rising since the COVID pandemic—often have to resort to services like Western Union, or WorldRemit in order to get paid by foreign buyers.
This is where the next battle of fintech lies, in solving inter-state and cross-border remittance, and Njoku Emmanuel believes that the solution lies in cryptocurrency.
A blockchain developer with 4 years of experience working for web3 companies like MakerDAO, Avarta, and Project Hydro, Njoku believes that crypto adoption will help solve Africa's remittance problem, and he is not far off from the truth. According to Chainanalysis, crypto adoption in Africa grew by 1200% between 2020 and 2021. Even though the continent has the smallest crypto-economy—valued at $105.6 billion, it has the biggest share of overall transaction volume made up of retail-sized transfers at 7.7%, higher than the 5% average of other regions.
Driving this growth is the hyperinflation of local currencies which is rising across many African countries including Nigeria, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. With hyperinflation reducing the value of fiat currencies, Africans are left paying higher prices, while earning significantly less, and many are turning to crypto which insures them against this loss. Buying crypto also helps solve cross-border payments for Africa since the currency is valid anywhere.
"A problem we have in Africa is the interoperability of currencies," says Njoku who has travelled to over 10 countries across 4 continents. "In Europe, you can easily send money from country to country. In the Middle East, you can move from Qatar, and still access your funds in Dubai, or in Saudi Arabia even. The same can't be said for Africa; Kenyans can't spend their shillings in Nigeria, and Nigerians have to find ways to buy cedis if they want to spend in Ghana. With crypto, you don't have this problem. The currency is valid wherever you are, and you can create and innovate around it."
How does Lazerpay work?
This solution is what Njoku's company, Lazerpay, is providing for Africans. Founded in 2021, Lazerpay is a blockchain-powered gateway that allows African businesses and individuals receive payments in cryptocurrency from anywhere in the world.
"Right now," Njoku states, "What we are doing is helping Africans accept payments in crypto, but we have plans for much more. We want to drive financial inclusion and interoperability in Africa. We are building a gateway where Africans will be able to send and receive crypto using their local currencies. For example, a Kenyan buyer can send Ksh to a Ghanaian seller, but the seller receives USDT instead of cedis, all without going to the bank or speaking to a middle man. People will be able to send USDT through their local currencies, and Lazerpay's role will be converting the local currency to crypto—USDT—so everyone can hold the real value of their monies."
A rising barrier to crypto adoption on the continent—and globally—is the overregulation of the sector. To date, over 23 African countries have placed some form of a ban on crypto trading and ownership with Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia enforcing absolute bans. These countries believe that crypto is a threat to financial sovereignty, citing reasons like fraud, tax evasion, and terror financing as reasons for the bans. Only one African country, the Central African Republic, has legalised crypto while many others—about 18—are pursuing the creation of their own digital currencies or central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as opposed to crypto.
"You can't use the old to fix the old, you have to bring in something new. The problem is that African governments think that crypto is going to kill the old way of things or kill fiat currencies but that's not true. We are not here to kill off the old; in fact, we need the old to build new integrations. Crypto is complementing the old way of banking and finance, and it's high time African governments find a way to address it."
One of the ways Njoku thinks governments can address their concerns about crypto is by legalising and taxing crypto. "India, Portugal, the UK and the US are great examples. Crypto isn't legal there yet but the governments tax it as a way to monitor crypto transactions."
If not for the potential revenues that governments could raise from regulating crypto, Njoku believes another reason—in support of regulating crypto—lies in raising awareness. Crypto adoption is already on the rise, and it won't stop. This also means that crypto fraud is growing on the continent with Chainanalysis stating that Africans have lost at least $320 million to illicit crypto activities, 55% of which consist of scams. "Legalising crypto means licensed firms and companies can provide more awareness and services so people don't get scammed," Njoku states.
Africa's crypto frontier may still be in its early days, but investments, interests, and innovations in the sector are on the rise. At the helm of Lazerpay, Njoku Emmanuel believes that there is more to come for the use of crypto on the continent. "There are still a lot of pertinent payments issues to solve in Africa," he concludes, "and crypto is the one that ensures interoperability and financial inclusion, so that Africans, regardless of the country they're in, can realise and retain the true value of their monies."
Written by Joyce Imiegha, PR and Communication Specialist.


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Apple is way ahead of its competition in the tablet market, not just in terms of the product they have, but also the way they market it. One example is the iPad “features” section on Apple’s website, which is much better than its Android counterparts.
Apple’s iPad Features Webpage Compared to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, Motorola’s Xyboard, Amazon’s Kindle Fire
The new iPad brings with it a never seen before, 2048 by 1536 pixels retina display, which Apple promises would make everything on the screen “more lifelike.” However, the enhanced viewing experience comes at a cost — storage.
As we move into what Apple calls the “Post-PC” era, the demand in the enterprise market for tablets, mainly the “poster child” of this era, the iPad, is increasing.
Apple is slowly extending support for Bluetooth 4.0 throughout its entire family of products.
Apple Unveils ‘The New iPad’; Comes With Retina Display, 5MP Rear Camera, Faster A5X Chip, Supports 4G LTE Networks
Apple today unveiled the third generation of the iPad at its media event this morning.
The new iPad, as expected, features a higher resolution Retina display, a better front camera, a faster processor and supports faster 4G LTE networks. The design remains largely the same with slight changes in dimensions.
Apple is expected to unveil the hotly anticipated next generation iPad. Apple’s special event is being held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
It looks like the iPad 3 event invite need some more decoding. The tagline on the invite for today’s iPad event reads “We have something you really have to see. And touch.”


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Tuesday May 7,2013 : BETFAIR FULL YEAR 2013 RESULTS POSTED
New CEO says business has gone through a significant period of change
The UK online gambling group Betfair plc, which is currently fighting off an acquisition attempt by a private equity partnership has posted an unaudited trading update following the end of its financial year on 30 April 2013.
Highlights of the report and a trading update include:
* Estimated results above the top end of Betfair's guidance range: FY13 estimated revenue of c.GBP 387 million.
* FY13 estimated underlying EBITDA of c.GBP 73 million
* Cash balance at 30 April 2013 of GBP 168 million (2012: GBP 118 million)
* Good progress made on the new strategic plan, with cost savings increased to c.GBP 30 million (from GBP 20 million) and full benefit now expected in FY14.
* Employee numbers reduced by c.500 following restructuring.
* Record UK customer acquisition (up 108 percent year-on-year) since sportsbook launch
* Evidence of improved player acquisition efficiency (Q4 cost per acquisition down 20 percent)
* 74 percent year-on-year increase in games cross-sell since sportsbook launch
* UK customer base up 18 percent year-on-year in the last 6 months
* 75 percent of Q4 revenue generated in sustainable jurisdictions (Q4 FY12: 66 percent)
* Recent customer acquisition and retention performance indicates that improved product and marketing strategies are working
* Plans to re-invest c.GBP 10 million of the cost savings in further product and marketing investment
* Evidence that the exchange and sportsbook operations are complementary: 24 percent of football customers are already using both products
* Acquisition of Blue Square helps achieve scale
Betfair's recently appointed CEO, Breon Corcoran, says:
“We have achieved much in the five months since we set out our strategy in December.
“The business has gone through significant change. A new management team is in place and a wide ranging restructuring has been completed ahead of schedule, allowing us to increase our cost savings substantially. At the same time, the pace of product delivery has accelerated, including the development and launch of a new sportsbook within three months.
“The strategy is working. We have had early success and shown that the combination of the exchange and sportsbook can deliver a sustainable competitive advantage. In the last couple of months, our sportsbook-led acquisition focus has resulted in improved marketing efficiency and a two fold increase in the number of UK customer activations. We are confident this will enable us to accelerate revenue growth in our most important market and I believe we can grow in-line with the market in the medium term.
“While we are rightly focusing on regulated jurisdictions, primarily the UK and Ireland, I firmly believe there is a significant international opportunity. We have recently seen positive regulatory momentum in Italy, Spain and the USA. In addition, revenue from the countries where we have ceased marketing is proving relatively resilient due to the uniqueness of our exchange.
“We intend to use our strong balance sheet to pursue a strategy of targeted acquisitions to add further domestic scale, achieve geographical expansion and close product gaps.
“This is just the beginning, however. In a few short months we have made considerable progress and demonstrated the opportunity that Betfair has ahead of it. I firmly believe that Betfair’s unique technology, customer value proposition, UK scale and strong balance sheet mean it is well placed to compete in an industry facing substantial changes. I am delighted to be leading the business at this exciting time.”
Giving a trading update, Management advised that Group revenue was approximately GBP 387 million (FY12: GBP 388 million), ahead of its earlier guidance notes, driven by stronger than expected UK sportsbook revenues, particularly via the mobile channel, and revenue resilience in countries where the company has ceased marketing.
Group underlying EBITDA was also higher than guidance at approximately GBP 73 million (FY12: GBP 86 million), driven primarily by better revenue performance.
Management expects costs savings to total approximately GBP 30 million, with the full impact now expected to benefit the current financial year (ending 30 April 2014).
Extensive restructuring has resulted in the shedding of around 500 jobs, which is expected to reduce costs by approximately GBP 23 million. A further GBP 7 million should flow from reducing spend with suppliers, such as the consolidation of office space.
The company plans to spend less on public affairs and legal resources in some jurisdictions due to its new geographical focus.
Management provided a summary of its current strategic plan, advising:
* Focus on investment on regulated jurisdictions to increase sustainability of revenues and reduce the regulatory risk
* Investment in product and brand to enhance Betfair's competitive position and drive growth
* Introduction of greater accountability and becoming a leaner and more dynamic business
* Looking to accelerate growth through international opportunities and balance sheet flexibility.


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Back in late March, the lower-end version of the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe (ZS550KL) began receiving its Android 8.0 Oreo update. Fast forward to a couple of days ago, and the more premium ZS570KL model of the ZenFone 3 Deluxe started to get Oreo as well. The ZenFone 3 Zoom (ZE553KL) has become the third phone in the ZF3 lineup to receive the update.
Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom gets Android Oreo update: How to install
Android Oreo-based ZenUI 40 update is being released to the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom. The new software brings latest Google security patch, improved battery life and more.


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IKEA is set to inject £1bn into London over the next three years, as it opens the doors to its first small store in Hammersmith.
The Swedish furniture retailer, known for its large warehouse stores, is looking to branch out into city centres with a smaller, more accessible offering.
The West London store, a quarter of the size of a traditional store, will have around 1,800 products available and 4,000 on display, with the full range available for delivery – as well as a new Swedish deli.
The new store will also be IKEA’s first cashless store in the UK, hopping onto the trend the Amazon-inspired trend in the capital.
“Whilst London is the initial focus of our city-centre approach, our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people,” said country retail manager and chief sustainability officer, Peter Jelkeby.
“All of our efforts centre on creating happy customers, and we will learn from our London approach, whilst continuing to develop plans for other city centre locations as well as the wider UK and Ireland, to bring our offer even closer.”
The Hammersmith site will set the tone for IKEA’s new offering in the capital, as it readies to open its Oxford Street store, as well as a second small UK store, in autumn next year.
Jelkby added: “Everything we do starts with our customers. Over the next three years, we will continue to transform as we respond to their needs and dreams, today and tomorrow.
“As one of the most innovative and exciting markets in the world for retail and e-commerce, we will step up our omnichannel investments in London with a simple goal: to become more customer centric, so that people can shop with us for a better, more sustainable life at home, whenever, wherever and however they choose.”


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MARCA DIGITAL SESSION 2021: THE EVENT’S SUCCESS EXCEEDS ALL EXPECTATIONS
Bologna, 26 March 2021 – MARCA DIGITAL SESSION was MarcabybolognaFiere’s response to the ongoing restrictions on holding in-person trade fair events as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The digital platform for meetings between producers and the grocery retail chain, created thanks to the know- how of the organisers of the reference event for the Private Label business community, served also as a preliminary event ahead of the next in-person edition.
The market’s response to MARCA DIGITAL SESSION exceeded all expectations: 325 partner Private Label producers present – 4000 meetings held – 9000 participants – 175 foreign buyers from important foreign retail groups –30% of foreign operators from Eastern Europe (the 2021 focus area) – plus retail groups from: the rest of Europe, USA, Canada, South America, Asia and the Middle East, 100 Italian buyers from the leading retail groups on the Committee of MarcabyBolognaFiere.
Read the press release :
Contact : France and Maghreb and Africa Subsaharienne : AeP Consultants Sarl : firstname.lastname@example.org


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BMW expects to earn a profit this year if demand continues to recover, despite posting a record loss for its auto division in the second quarter after sales declined 25% because of the coronavirus lockdowns, it stated on Wednesday.
The German manufacturer of BMWs, Minis, and Rolls-Royces said sales had started to recover during the recent three-month period, including a 17% increase in deliveries in China, but the recovery would not entirely make up for sales lost to COVID-19.
As a result of the sales decline, and higher costs for developing low-emission vehicles, BMW posted a pretax loss of 498 million euros, its first in more than 11 years, and an operating loss of 666 million euros ($790 million) for the quarter.
Shares in BMW dropped 3% after the results, with some experts saying they had not expected such a big loss in revenues before interest and taxes (EBIT).
“What matters now is how robust this upward trend is and when individual markets will follow suit,” said CEO Oliver Zipse, adding that its total car sales in July were higher compared to 2019.
BMW said, however, that its outlook did not factor in the potential impact of the second wave of coronavirus infections, nor the prospect of a more sustained or deeper recession than expected in its major markets.
Zipse said on a call that developments in the United States were “extremely worrying”.
Sales in the United States comprised 12.6% of deliveries in the first half of 2020, dropping from 15.2% in 2020. Overall, BMW said it expected worldwide demand for luxury cars to fall by a fifth this year.
BMW reiterated that it expected to make a pretax profit in 2020, albeit below last year levels, and for car deliveries to customers to decline significantly this year.