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China News Network, March 3 Comprehensive foreign media reported that recently, a factory in Bristol, Pennsylvania, USA, leaked an accident, and a large number of chemicals flowed into a tributary of the Delaware River. After the accident, Philadelphia officials advised local people to use bottled water, triggering panic purchases.
Image source: Screenshot of CNN report
According to reports, the leak occurred on the evening of the 24th and was allegedly related to a pipe burst at the Trinseo PLC plant in Bristol. More than 8000,<> gallons of chemicals used in latex products flowed into a tributary of the Delaware River.
According to a statement issued by the Trinseo PLC plant, the leak "appears to have been caused by a malfunction of equipment." The company estimates that about 8100,<> gallons of the solution were leaked. The statement also introduced that "latex emulsion is a white liquid used in various consumer products. Its pigmentation makes water-soluble substances visible in surface water. ”
In response, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said water sampling is underway and no contaminants have been detected at drinking water ingestion. Fish and wildlife were not affected.
However, the "Capitol Hill" said that local residents were advised to start using bottled water from 26 pm local time on the 2th until further notice.
Mike Carroll, Philadelphia's transport, infrastructure and sustainability official, said the health risks are "very low, if they exist," and that the recommendation was issued "out of great caution."
Mike Carroll added, "Since we can't be 100% sure that there will be traces of chemicals in tap water throughout the afternoon, we want the public to know about this so that we can consider switching to bottled water to further reduce any risks." Therefore, we inform the public in our service area that tap water may not be consumed or used for cooking. ”
Image source: American media screenshot
The news quickly sparked panic buying on the ground. Images on social media show shelves swept away and people walking down the streets carrying boxes of bottled water.
A store in South Philadelphia said bottled water was nearly sold out by 2 p.m. local time after the government issued a mobile phone push warning.
To this end, late on the 26th, Philadelphia officials issued a new recommendation again, saying that residents are encouraged to store tap water instead of buying bottled water in stores.


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THE boss of a car company which was set up in Caterham more than 50 years ago has thanked the town for its support over five decades.
Caterham Cars chief executive Graham Macdonald paid tribute to the town which gave its name to the company, as it bid farewell to its home of 54 years.
The car company closed the doors of its hometown showroom, in Station Avenue, for the final time earlier this month and has now moved to a new temporary home in Three Bridges, West Sussex.
Mr Macdonald said: “It was a very sad and emotional day for everybody involved with Caterham Cars. However, it is an exciting time for Caterham as a brand as we expand into new and uncharted territories.
“The town of Caterham will forever be linked with our brand and I hope residents will still feel that sense of pride when they watch our F1 team on TV or catch a glimpse of a Seven on the road.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the town of Caterham and its residents for their support over the years.”
A farewell event was held at the Caterham showroom on February 17 featuring an auto-jumble of parts, a lunch for hundreds of Seven owners and members of the Seven Owners Club, and a send-off drive.
The site is due to be redeveloped into a retirement home by Churchills.
Caterham Cars was founded by Graham Nearn in 1959 in the town and less than 15 years later staff started building the renowned two-seater sports vehicle, the Caterham Seven.
The company will be based at the new unit in Denvale Trade Park, Three Bridges, until it relocates to a large home not far from Caterham - details of which are still due to be revealed.
It plans to expand its range of Seven models this year and is due to embark on a joint venture with Renault to develop and build its first brand new road model for 18 years.

domain: news


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The new Subaru Ascent is the Japanese company's return into the large scale 3 row SUV after it killed off the Tribeca back in 2014. The eight seater full size SUV provides Subaru with a stylish vehicle to compete with the likes of the Chevrolet Traverse, Ford Expedition, Nissan Armada and Toyota Highlander just to name a few. Recently a recall was announced by Subaru of America that may affect up to 293 Ascents.
According to the recall: "There is a possibility that some spot welds were missed around the B-pillar. Therefore, the strength of the vehicle’s body may be reduced." This was due to an error in programming of the welding robots. This recall affects some 2019 model year Subaru Ascent that were built between JUL 16, 2018 - JUL 25, 2018.
If you own the new Subaru Ascent, it's highly recommended you go back to the dealer so that they may do a proper inspection. Not only is this a huge safety risk, but if it turns out that your vehicle is missing these welds, Subaru will outright give you a new vehicle.
"All potentially affected vehicles will be inspected by an SIA factory representative, and if the vehicle is missing any spot welds, the vehicle will be replaced with a new one. There is no physical remedy available; therefore, any vehicles found with missing welds will be destroyed"
Talk about one costly recall!


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Less than 40 per cent of small businesses have mobile device security, according to recent research commissioned by security vendor, Trend Micro.
While the message of antivirus and anti-spam has been getting through to small business owners, Advanced Persistent Threats and mobile device protection have yet to be widely embraced or understood.
As the use of mobile devices continues to rise in the workplace, 57 per cent of Australian small businesses identified the ability to protect mobile devices as extremely important or important. However, only 38 percent of Australian small businesses have deployed mobile device management as a security technology to date. Among the respondents that have not, 37 percent plan to deploy the technology in the next year.
The research indicated 82 percent of respondents were aware of antivirus security technology and 75 percent had heard of anti-spam and email security technology, only 22 percent of Australian small businesses had heard of Advanced Persistent Threat security technology.
Stellar Systems managing director, Steve Surleff, said security was slipping down the small business priority list.
Stellar Systems is IT solutions and consulting services company based in Western Australia.
“Small businesses are no longer seeing security as a priority as they have a growing list of other priorities they have to manage,” Surleff said.
“While this is happening, there is also a new breed of security challenges facing them such as data leakage, which most small organisations aren’t addressing appropriately, and viruses such as Cryptolocker, which can infiltrate small business networks despite having antivirus software in place.”
Respondents indicated some of the most important security technology factors included high performance (73 per cent), reliability with 24x7 availability and no downtime (71 per cent); product effectiveness (71 per cent); real-time security (70 per cent) and low or no maintenance required by onsite IT staff (68 per cent).
“As the workforce becomes more mobile and social media and cloud service adoption increases, the small business IT environment is becoming much more complex. Small businesses are increasingly being targeted as their networks aren’t always well protected and as a result, tend to be easier for cybercriminals to get into,” Trend Micro A/NZ director of small-medium sized business, Mark Sinclair, said.
The research also highlighted that small business owners have the most influence in the selection of IT security products and services (78 per cent), followed by in-house IT personnel, VARs and external IT consultants.


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- Is Trump defiling the U.S. flag in this MAGA dude’s artwork? Sunday 4:41 PM
- White woman claims she invented sleep bonnets, selling them for $100 Sunday 4:03 PM
- Even real cats are transfixed by the enigma that is the ‘Cats’ trailer Sunday 3:04 PM
- Wait, how tall is Peppa Pig? Sunday 1:55 PM
- Twitter suspends Iranian state media outlets for harassing members of a religious minority Sunday 1:06 PM
- Pro-MAGA pageant queen stripped of title over ‘offensive’ tweets Sunday 11:52 AM
- Marvel unveiled its Phase 4 plans at San Diego Comic-Con Sunday 9:16 AM
- How a queer Instagram is helping fight the opioid epidemic in Appalachia Sunday 6:30 AM
- Philadelphia to fire 13 officers for racist, violent Facebook posts Saturday 6:12 PM
- Nick Offerman is so down to play every single role in ‘Cats’ Saturday 4:27 PM
- Woman documents how airport staff broke her wheelchair Saturday 3:04 PM
- Funeral home allegedly posted photos of woman’s dead body on social media Saturday 1:56 PM
- Alinity Divine is being investigated after throwing her cat during stream (updated) Saturday 12:04 PM
- ‘Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee’ returns with Seinfeld making a racist joke about China Saturday 10:26 AM
- YouTubers Eugenia Cooney and Shane Dawson make a joint comeback Saturday 9:06 AM
How to watch Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime
Photo via Keith Allison/Flickr (CC-BY-SA)
It’s one more reason to invest in Amazon Prime.
Rejoice cord-cutters! Thursday Night Football is coming back to Amazon Prime for the 2018 season. After a wildly successful run last year, Amazon secured the streaming rights for 11 Thursday night games, starting in Week 4 with the Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 27. The games are available for anyone with an Amazon Prime account. Best of all, watching the game is as simple as logging on. Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime and the complete schedule and live links for the live stream.
How to watch Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime
Here’s how it works for Amazon Prime subscribers. Thursday Night Football games will be available on every device that supports Amazon Prime—even mobile phones, which have a history of blacking out NFL games even during live events. So whether you’re working with a Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, or a Chromecast, as long as you have a Prime subscription, you’re golden.
When you activate the app on Thursday evenings, just look for the Thursday Night Football banner and select the game, or you can just click on the live link for each game in the Thursday Night Football schedule listed below. Otherwise, if you want to make sure you never miss a game, head to Amazon’s Thursday Night Football page and add the season to your Watchlist. That way, if for some reason Amazon’s algorithm doesn’t put the Thursday Night Football banner on your home screen, you’ll be able to quickly find the game on your Watchlist.
- How to watch Thursday Night Football for free on Twitch
- How to stream NFL games online: A complete guide to the 2018 season
- How to watch NFL RedZone on Amazon Prime
Last year, Amazon’s stream didn’t feature the same bells and whistles of competitors like NBC’s Monday Night Football webstream, which allows viewers to see multiple camera angles and real-time stats. But there’s at least one new feature this year: The Drive, a pregame show hosted by Charissa Thompson and Rachel Lindsay that will feature interviews with two players from the game—on and off the field, and interestingly, in their car ride for their daily commute.
There are other ways to watch Thursday Night Football. Every game this season, including those airing on Amazon Prime, will also be available via NFL Network, and the 11 games streaming on Prime can also be watched on Fox, though they’re still subject to regional blackouts. (That may be reason enough to pick up an HD antenna.)
- How to watch ESPN without cable
- How to watch NFL Sunday Ticket without cable
- How to watch NFL RedZone without cable
- FuboTV is the sports streaming service you’ve been waiting for
Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime: 2018 NFL schedule
Week 4: Thursday, Sept. 27: Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime
Week 5: Thursday, October 4: Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime
Week 6: Thursday, October 11: Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime
Week 7: Thursday, October 18: Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime
Week 8: Thursday, October 25: Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime
Week 9: Thursday, November 1: Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime
Week 10: Thursday, November 8: Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime
Week 11: Thursday, November 15: Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime
Week 13: Thursday, November 29: Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime
Week 14: Thursday, December 6: Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime
Week 15: Thursday, December 13: Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime
Still not sure what to watch on Amazon? Here are the best Amazon originals, the best documentaries on Amazon Prime, what’s new on Amazon, the best 4K movies, thrillers on Amazon Prime, alien movies, and the sexiest movies you can stream right now. Here are the best comedies on Amazon Prime when you need a laugh, sad movies to make you cry, kids movies for the whole family, the best thrillers to get your heart racing, and the classic movies on Amazon Prime everyone should see.
Looking for more help? Here’s what you need to know about Amazon Alexa and how to use Amazon Alexa as an intercom system, Amazon Prime Pantry, Amazon Lockers, Amazon Prime Wardrobe, how to sell on Amazon, Amazon Prime membership and if it’s really worth it.
The Daily Dot may receive a payment in connection with purchases of products or services featured in this article. Click here to learn more.
John-Michael Bond is a tech reporter and culture writer for Daily Dot. A longtime cord-cutter and early adopter, he's an expert on streaming services (Hulu with Live TV), devices (Roku, Amazon Fire), and anime. A former staff writer for TUAW, he's knowledgeable on all things Apple and Android. You can also also find him regularly performing standup comedy in Los Angeles.


text: The Finance Ministry has been urged by the Commerce Ministry to have a relook at the Budget proposal of disallowing integrated goods and services tax (IGST) for exports before the Finance Act is finalised. Exporters have said that over time, the IGST refund system had become seamless, whereas input tax credit refunds took longer. Besides, while capital goods input taxes can be adjusted under IGST, it is not permitted under the input tax credit system. The move to disallow IGST for exports was aimed at plugging large-scale frauds in the GST system. The government came across cases where several exporters were wrongfully claiming IGST refunds, it is learnt. Therefore, it decided to do away with it. The Commerce Department has flagged the concern of exporters to the Revenue Department, as per a report.


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Our new Channel Development Director in Brazil, Rick Nelson, attended the World Agri Tech South American Summit on June 28-29, 2022. Gathering experts from across the world, this event focuses on catalysing the Latin American Agri-Business transition toward more sustainable food supply chain management.
As explained in our previous post, direct sales are not the most cost-effective route to reach cooperatives and other Farmforce users in strategic locations such as LATAM. With this in mind, Rick will be on the lookout for Brazil-based Farmforce resellers. On the other hand, he will also connect with coops, multinational corporations (MNCs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and startups to highlight the capabilities of our food traceability software in Brazil.
Brainstorming with potential partners on the application of our data-driven agtech innovation at the farm level, Rick will raise awareness of how crucial the first mile is to achieve production traceability and sustainability in the food supply chain.
“Like everyone at Farmforce, I’m passionate about food´s first mile. I’m fully aligned with the company mission: providing agtech players with more farm-level data to make smarter decisions and keep up with ever-stringent sustainability requirements,” Rick said.
So, why focus on Brazil?
We’ll let the country numbers speak for us:
- Accounting for 40% of the total agriculture & cattle raising in Latin America;
- Being the 2nd largest producer of soybeans in the world;
- Producing ⅓ of the planet’s oranges.
Besides being the world’s fourth-largest food producer, 70% of Brazil’s food comes from small farms. These often fail to adopt sustainable farming techniques, thus using toxic fertilisers, achieving poor yields, and driving deforestation. Along with cattle raising, soybean farming accounts for over two-thirds of Brazil’s Amazon loss. Ironically, a new study found that deforestation will bite into soybean yield. For this reason, Brazil could harness our forest-friendly software for farm management to mitigate its food supply chain risks.
Aside from streamlining the country’s food supply chain traceability, Farmforce matches Brazil’s crop diversity. And that’s because our supply chain management software as a service (SaaS) can cater to perennial, semi-perennial, and annual crops.
Leveraging the food tech congress intel, Rick aims to gain insights on opportunities, pain points, and unmet needs in the Brazilian agricultural scene. In particular, he will contribute to the broader discussion on the following topics:
- Online Marketplaces (e.g., performance vs brick-and-mortar retail, potential economic benefits for smallholder farmers (i.e., unleashing new markets and therefore increasing sales);
- Digital Transformation (e.g., adoption of smart tools like AI, machine learning, satellite imagery, and remote sensors and how they could help growers mitigate climate risks while increasing their income);
- Rural Connectivity (although Farmforce has the flexibility of working offline, the development of 4G and 5G networks in rural areas will supercharge our supply chain visibility software effectiveness);
- Collaboration & Partnerships (in one word, interoperability, a theme that Farmforce is already fostering along the farm-to-fork value chain).
Tapping into this knowledge, our mission is to fine-tune our agricultural supply chain software and help Brazilian agri-business meet its ESG targets.
“Here in Brazil, companies are very eager to understand real strategies to move forward with the ESG agenda. Besides being pressured by their customers, they’re trying to differentiate their brands,” Rick said.


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SEGA has revealed that Master System games will be the cheapest on the Virtual Console.
The 1980s gems will cost just 400 Wii Points (GBP 3 / EUR 4), which makes them a whole 50 pence cheaper than their old NES rivals. David Dickinson would like that.
The first of the Master System games to arrive in the US will be Wonder Boy and Fantasy Zone.
SEGA has revealed nothing for Europe so far, but has been contacted for comment.
What was your favourite Master System game, Eurogamer reader?
We liked RoboCop Versus The Terminator. But who would win in real-life? Sarah Connor?


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Payment Processing, Present and Future
Companies explore mobile and other processes for accepting rent.
By Jeffrey Steele, Contributing Editor
When it comes to payment processing, mobility is just one of many drivers shaping how owners/managers are doing business. Many are offering more ways to pay, striving to eliminate paper wherever possible, opening rent-payment kiosks at retail locations, seeking to incorporate greater security into payment systems and striving for ways to make the process more cost effective.
There’s no doubt the industry has embraced mobile as an increasingly popular way to provide payment. Residents are alerted to payments due by text messages or mobile-friendly apps, and rents are drawn from their checking accounts through Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfers and other means.
Mobile is so big it’s no longer a trend. It has transcended that term, says John Pendergast, senior vice president of client services with Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Yardi Systems. “The mobile population is not growing or increasing. Today, everyone is walking around with their smartphone or tablet,” he says. “If you’re preparing now to serve a mobile population, you’ve missed the boat.”
Checks for the 21st Century
In more emergent stages are innovations on payment’s back end, which were made possible by the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, or “Check 21,” says Seth Harlem, vice president of partnerships with New York City’s Zipmark.
The federal government opened the gates to payment innovation, especially as it affects billers such as property management companies, with the passage of the act in the early part of the last decade, according to Harlem.
“Check 21 rules are what allow billers to scan paper checks and create a digital version that carries all the same guarantees as the paper artifact,” he says. “And there’s a great deal more that Check 21 enables. Zipmark, for example, has developed a 100 percent digital check payment platform that completely eliminates the need for a paper check. The Zipmark software creates the check image that carries the same legal benefits as a paper check.”
Yardi, offering online and mobile payments from any mobile device via its RENTCafé Portal, offers a check scan routine separate from RENTCafé.
“You in the property management office run the check through a scanner, and we at Yardi capture an image of the check’s front and back and shoot it to the bank,” explains Pendergast. “The bank treats it just as a physical check.”
NWP’s payment-processing product, Resident ePay, provides a platform whereby payment can be made through multiple channels: online, mobile phone, voice response, in-person and scanner, says Cindy Style, Bloomingdale, Minn.-based product manager for Resident ePay with Costa Mesa, Calif.-based NWP.
“Through those channels we provide multiple payment methods, [including] ACH, credit and debit cards, money orders, checks and even cash via Western Union agents,” Style says. “Our goal is to provide greater access for residents and improve the receivables process for our customer properties.”
Another notable payment processing trend is kiosk-oriented rent collection. Some property management companies are opening kiosks at larger retail chains like Wal-Mart. “If you’re going to Wal-Mart this Saturday, you can write your rent check right there,” Pendergast says. “That kiosk service knows how to funnel the funds back to the correct property management bank account and how to send it into the company’s software system.”
Lower transaction costs
Reflecting on a payment innovation conference called “Money 2020” he just attended in Las Vegas, Harlem reports the leading topic among the 2,000 payment professionals at the conference remains mobile technology. “It’s difficult to forecast what transaction triggers, such as digital wallets, will take the lead,” he adds.
“For example, only time will tell whether the hype around near field communication (NFC) in payments will amount to significant adoption.” However, the conference made clear to Harlem that the key beneficiaries of payment innovation in the years ahead will be, first, the unbanked and under-banked among renters, and second, the companies accepting payments.
“There is an ever-increasing focus on enterprise payments, [meaning] the developments in payment processing will continue to reduce overall transactional costs and increase the number of payers paying electronically,” he says.
“Businesses should not have to pay a two or three percent transaction fee simply for getting paid … I’m certain the pain businesses feel related to payment processing will be the leading driver in payment innovation.”
Like Harlem, Style is convinced that the future will favor less costly payment methods. “We expect to see greater emphasis on the least expensive means of payment processing, ACH and PIN-based debit cards,” she says.
Also look for increased focus on security to battle credit card fraud, Style says. Resident ePay, for instance, doesn’t store credit card information on its servers or applications. Card numbers are stored with its credit card processor, and Resident ePay stores a reference number or token tied to that credit number for security purposes. Style foresees expansion of “tokenization” in years ahead.
Chip-and-PIN technology, currently more widely used in Europe, incorporates a chip in the credit card that is read by a different type of reader and requires the user to enter a PIN. It helps ensure a more secure transaction than magnetic strips can deliver. “I would anticipate that eventually, Chip-and-PIN technology will be part of online payments for security purposes,” Style predicts.
Pendergast foresees a decline in the prominence of the management office as payment processing evolves. “I would be guessing, but I think we’ll see the availability of the leasing office waning,” he says.
Historically, he notes, an apartment resident sat down at the kitchen table, wrote a check, and walked it to the manager’s office for an in-person handoff. Today, Pendergast observes, “managers want the residents to pay online, because they don’t have to do anything. The availability of the property manager’s office to accept checks will wane over time.”


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With the country's liberalisation throwing up many opportunities, several new private players have jumped into the fray, organising exhibitions and specialised fairs on almost anything: from one on information technology every year to an International Poultry Exhibition held for the first time in September 1996.
Besides power generation and automobiles, exhibitions have begun to be held on themes like furniture, interiors, lifestyle and fashion accessories and even goods for children. From a mere five in 1992-93, the number of exhibitions held by private players at Delhi's prime venue, Pragati Maidan, went up to 24 last year.
While ITPO did business worth around Rs 70 crore in 1995-96, the total industry size is reckoned at around Rs 160 crore currently-and slated to cross Rs 350 crore by the turn of the century.
The area occupied by the exhibitions is also growing exponentially. The IT India/Comdex held last month occupied four times the amount of space it did in 1995, with separate pavilions for exhibitors from Singapore and Thailand. In fact, as compared to four years ago, it had five times the number of participants and 12 times the total exhibit area.
And the Auto Expo held in February 1996 had 800 participants from 18 countries and occupied 55,000 sq m - in 1993, it had just 300 participants from seven countries, and occupied a space of 23,000 sq m. Says Dinesh Coomar, ITPO's general manager: "The importance of exhibitions and trade shows in bringing business to the country has grown steadily since liberalisation was ushered in."
Similarly, the poultry fair generated enquiries worth Rs 500 crore. The Rs 482-crore Eicher Ltd for example, which spent Rs 57 lakh on its stall at the Auto Expo '96 feels this helped boost sales of its new 35 HP tractor displayed there for the first time.
Says CEO Subodh Bhargava: "This contributed in a big way to today's sales of 600 units a month." To bolster its efforts, CII recently signed an MoU with the US-based Reed Exhibition Companies (REC) to organise joint trade shows in India. rec is one of the world's leading organisers of trade and public shows with more than 340 events in 26 countries to its credit.
Apart from these industry bodies, the market growth has spurred the emergence of independent players too. While the eight-year-old Business India Exhibitions, which began its career with a show on interiors and later branched into those on information technology, did transactions worth Rs 20 crore in 1995-96, other private players are doing equally well.
The fledgling ITE (India) - an arm of ITE of the UK - began by holding the Delhi International Motor Show in 1995, and is currently doing business worth Rs 6 crore. The Rs 2.5 crore Exhibitions India was initially a partner of rec and has grown from Rs 18 lakh in 1992 to Rs 2.5 crore in 1995-96. Its promoter Prem Behl expects this year's turnover to cross Rs 4 crore.
Tafcon-Trade Fair Management Consultants was started by three ITPO veterans in 1989 to provide consultancy services; today, it handles seven shows and expects turnover to touch Rs 4 crore by the turn of the century.
|The boom in the business of organising events and exhibitions has spawned a host of specialised support services.|
Apart from REC and ITE, other foreign firms trying to enter the market include Nowea International, the Indian arm of the German major Messe Dusseldorf. Nowea first set up its office in India in 1991and is now associated with 10 exhibitions, besides handling marketing and other aspects for Indian participants in shows organised by its parent company in Germany.
The boom in the business of organising exhibitions and trade fairs has also seen a host of support services coming up-people or firms which take up contracts like those for stall construction, security and lodging of participants.
PICO International, the Indian arm of the Singapore-based $1.2 billion Pico Art International, for example, has been set up just for design and construction of exhibition stalls. Says its managing director S.M. Tuli: "We set up a small liaison office way back in 1986 but began looking seriously at the Indian market only in 1991. Turnover surged from just about a crore in 1993-94 to Rs 4.5 crore last year, and is likely to show a steady 45 to 50 per cent growth till the turn of the century."
Similarly, R.E. Rogers (India), a fully owned subsidiary of R.E. Rogers International, was set up as a full-fledged freight forwarder and carry forward agent only for exhibition work. Says its managing director Ravinder Sethi: "From an eight-people organisation in 1991, we now have 85 people working for us." The company did business worth Rs 2.. crore last year and expects a 50 per cent hike this year. It has also been appointed as the official carry-forward agent for 38 exhibitions to be held in 1997.
For IETF '97, Exhibit is designing a 50,000 sq ft stall for BPL Sanyo worth Rs 9 crore. The same stall will be dismantled and flown to Chennai, Calcutta and Mumbai for BPL Sanyo's Techno-Fiestas in these cities. To keep up with the hectic pace, Exhibit has signed an mou with the $200 million Octanorm of Germany, the world's largest maker of display systems.
However, despite the booming business, the industry is facing many problems. Besides Pragati Maidan in Delhi and the World Trade Centre in Mumbai, the country has no other exhibition space for international level meets. Though the governments of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have identified land to be developed into exhibition space, nothing further has been done owing to paucity of funds.
Besides, ITPO itself is not in the pink of health. According to its chairman K.K. Mathur, "Despite the increasing number of events it does domestically, ITPO has been suffering operational losses of Rs 4 crore to Rs 7 crore annually."
Mathur has asked the Government to subsidise the cost of representing the country in international shows to make up for the losses. For now, however, with the cash registers continuing to ring, few organisers are bothered by problems such as shortage of space. Demand, they believe, will create its own supply.


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Editor’s pickFifth edition of Sylva Wood postponed to 29th June - 1st July, 2021
The organisers of Sylva Wood has decided to take the necessary precaution by postponing the fifth edition of Sylva Wood for the safety and well-being of exhibitors, sponsors, delegates, trade attendees as well as staff.
The fifth edition will not be held from 29th June to 1st July this year as originally planned, but postponed to the following year, 29th June to 1st July, 2021. This is in response to the escalation of the current COVID-19 situation, which the World Health Organisation has characterised as a pandemic and the unpredictable development of it.
The postponement of the fifth edition of Sylva Wood will help exhibitors and visitors to plan their participation in Sylva Wood so as to once again bring the global timber network together to trade and secure new avenues of growth in one of the world’s most exciting markets for wood.
Sylva Wood is Asia’s only specialised trade show for the wood materials. The event is organised by China Timber and Wood Products Distribution Association, Shanghai Timber Trade Association and Shanghai Pablo Exhibition. It is also endorsed by French Timber, the American Hardwood Export Council, American Softwoods, the Softwood Export Council, Canada Wood, the Thai Timber Association, the Malaysian Timber Council, and the National Hardwood Lumber Association.


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Rolex Rings IPO opens today with a price band of ₹880-900
- Rolex Rings IPO opens Wednesday and closes on July 30, Friday.
- The company is looking to raise ₹731 crore through the public listing with a price band of ₹880-900.
- The Rajkot-based company is a manufacturer and global supplier of forged and machined components. The firm has 3 manufacturing plants in Rajkot.
AdvertisementWith several initial public offering (IPO) announcements coming almost every day, there are two ongoing IPOs this week, one of automotive components manufacturer Rolex Rings that opens Wednesday and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals’ subsidiary Glenmark Life Sciences, which started on July 27 and ends on July 29.
Rolex Rings IPO opens on July 28 and closes on July 30 with a price band of ₹880-900.
The Rajkot-based company is a manufacturer and global supplier of forged and machined components. The firm has 3 manufacturing plants in Rajkot.
The offer comprises a fresh issue of ₹56 crore and an offer for sale by private equity firm Rivendell PE of up to 75 lakh equity shares.
The company will utilise the net proceeds of the IPO towards funding long-term working capital requirements and for general corporate purposes.
Here are the important details to note:
|Price band||₹880 to ₹900|
|IPO open date||July 28|
|IPO close date||July 30|
|Allotment date||August 4|
|Initiation of refunds||August 5|
|Credit of shares to demat account||August 6|
|IPO listing date||August 9|
In FY20, the company supplied bearing rings and automotive components to over 60 customers in 17 countries, primarily located in India, US and in European countries such as Germany, France, Italy, and Czech Republic, and Thailand.
SEE ALSO: InterGlobe Aviation, Maruti Suzuki, IndusInd Bank and other stocks to watch out for on July 28
Ratan Tata’s fund-backed Axio Biosolutions raises $6 million to strengthen its position in India
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Antonio Lucio helms global marketing and communications at HP Inc., the consumer-focused PC and printer company that officially split from HP Enterprise just over a year ago. His charge in that role has been to breathe new life into an iconic brand—and business.
He has worked to reframe the more than 75-year-old brand and grow it. That opportunity is what had attracted him to take the role. “I’ve been a global marketer all my life and have had the privilege to work with world’s best brands— PepsiCo, Visa,” Lucio told me in an interview last year. “Having the opportunity to reframe and reignite an iconic brand like HP was an opportunity I saw as a once-in-a-lifetime moment. It was a brand at a historic moment; this was the opportunity to position it for the future. That was incredibly appealing.”
While new advertising under the “Keep Reinventing” brand platform, innovative products, and concerted internal dialog and alignment all have been foundational to HP Inc.’s forward momentum, so has building a team that can best deliver on goals. Lucio has been working to increase the diversity of his team, putting more women in leadership roles, for example, while also asking the same of HP Inc.’s agency partners. It’s a move that’s core to HP’s business strategy and Lucio’s personal commitment to reinventing the ad and marketing industry.
He discussed that and much more at the recent 12th Annual Forbes CMO Summit in a keynote interview.
Watch our interview in its entirety below.


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A new restaurant with picturesque views of Osoyoos Lake has opened at Watermark Beach Resort in the Okanagan.
15 Park Bistro offers fresh, sustainable, and locally-inspired dishes such as pan-seared BC halibut with sprouted grains and braised fennel, paired with a menu of inventive cocktails and a thoughtfully curated wine list.
“I’m incredibly excited to introduce visitors to 15 Park Bistro,” says executive chef Nick Atkins. “It’s been amazing to collaborate with producers like Codfathers Seafood in Kelowna and Festers Peppers in Oliver to bring our menu to life–I’ve been working on it for a year, and it’s one of the largest menus Watermark Beach Resort has ever offered."
15 Park Bistro is open to the public Wednesday to Sunday for lakeside patio dining and take-out, and their indoor dining space is coming soon.


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|Over rocks, other hard places|
By Ira Kantor/ BostonHerald.com
Saturday, November 10, 2012
‘Strong,” “tough,” “enduring” — just a handful of terms that describe those who serve our country as members of the armed forces.
( -— email@example.com )
These characteristics also apply to some of the world’s most rugged and capable off-road sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks.
And while off-road dynamos aren’t known for their fuel economy, it’s their rough image and presence on our nation’s streets and highways that epitomize the definition of “powerful.”
“They certainly exude strength. They exude a lot of attitude. That’s part of their appeal,” said Scott Oldham, editor-in-chief of Edmunds.com. “Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t drive a Hummer because it got good gas mileage. The image attached is a big selling point. It’s the same mindset when a guy goes out and buys a Corvette or sports car.”
Certain large-scale models, such as Chevy Silverado and Ford F-Series pickups, have been the pride of the auto industry for decades (on Monday we’ll highlight the industry’s veteran models), while others rev up within a smaller market niche.
This Veterans Day we salute all who have served, regardless of their rank and military branch. Be prepared to do the same for the following models — our top 10 greatest tough and rugged vehicles for 2013.
10. Nissan Xterra
In the age of SUVs based on sedans, the Xterra has a truck mindset, a robust suspension and a drivetrain perfect for off-road adventure. Yet the model tends to put performance and rugged capabilities over comfort and fuel economy. For those ready for fun in the wilderness, this is “a different beast” to get behind the wheel of, said Oldham, adding: “If you want comfort and economy, you buy a Mazda C-X5. If you want to go off-road and put a mountain bike wherever you need it to be, you buy an Xterra.”
(Max Tow: 5,000 lbs; Max MPG: 18; MSRP: $30,592)
9. Toyota 4Runner
This is the first of three Toyota offerings on this list. A well-known, capable, mid-sized SUV for decades, the five-door 4Runner remains one of the Top 10 factory built, off-road machines still out there, yet a recently designed model is “not quite as hard-core as its predecessors, which is why it’s No. 9,” Oldham said.
(Max Tow: 5,000 lbs; Max MPG: 19; MSRP: $38,824)
8. Jeep Grand Cherokee
As rugged and off-road capable as ever, the Jeep Grand Cherokee is a “best of both worlds vehicle” that offers smooth on-road capability and the “high levels of comfort expected at its price point,” Oldham said. Leather-lined interiors, for example, contribute to the mid-sized SUV’s luxurious feel. “It doesn’t feel very much like a truck until you ask it to do something only a truck can do,” Oldham added.
(Max Tow: 7,400 lbs; Max MPG: 19; MSRP: $38,258)
7. Chevrolet Silverado
One of America’s best sellers for decades, this full-size pickup “can do real pickup duties and jobs,” according to Oldham. Fancy interiors, better comfort and greater fuel economy have given the Silverado 1500 a more modern look and feel, but make no mistake, this is “one of the most capable trucks ever built. It goes all the way up to diesel-powered dually versions that can pull a house off its foundation,” Oldham said.
(Max Tow: 10,700 lbs; Max MPG: 18; MSRP: $37,259)
6. Dodge Ram
The Ram 1500 has “extreme levels of refinement” compared to some of its competitors, including the Chevy Silverado, Toyota Tundra, and the Ford F-150 series, Oldham said. This model also provides for a smoother highway ride, which gives it an added element of exclusivity, Oldham said, adding, “It feels more like a normal car until you need it to act like a truck.”
(Max Tow: 10,450 lbs; Max MPG: 16; MSRP: $37,023)
5. Toyota FJ Cruiser
This is Toyota’s answer to the Jeep Wrangler in terms of U.S. collector appeal. Off-road capable and “very rugged,” this retro-style SUV still offers modern amenities. “It has one foot in the past and one foot in the present day. Just as a Chevy Camaro pays homage to a 1969 Camaro, the FJ Cruisers look very much like the FJ Cruisers of the past, but it’s obviously engineered as a complete modern vehicle underneath its skin,” Oldham said. Power windows, steering and brakes also make the FJ Cruiser easier for city driving.
(Max Tow: 5,000 lbs; Max MPG: 19; MSRP: $34,201)
4. Toyota Land Cruiser
Arguably the first modern SUV to be used “in the city for normal day duty,” the Land Cruiser remains rugged and capable for weekend trips to the country. “The modern Land Cruiser is unique in that it’s one of the most rugged SUVs you can buy and yet it’s also one of the most comfortable SUVs you can buy,” Oldham said. Yet this model costs a pretty penny, which is why Toyota doesn’t sell as many as it used to, Oldham added.
(Max Tow: 8,500 lbs; Max MPG: 15; MSRP: $79,379)
3. Land Rover Range Rover
Britain’s answer to the Jeep, the Land Rover’s ruggedness can best be attributed to its military upbringing. The 2013 model is “the ultimate luxury off-roader with a six-figure price tag,” according to Oldham. Drivers can expect high levels of horsepower, a very advanced four-wheel drive system, and such stylish amenities as special interior wood. “It’s basically a luxury sedan that can take you anyplace on Earth and it’s the only vehicle in the world like it,” Oldham said.
(Max Tow: 7,716 lbs; Max MPG: 14; MSRP: $96,202)
2. Ford F-150
Ford’s high ranking is best directed at one specific model — the Raptor, a “special off-road, sort of muscle truck version of the F-150 pickup,” Oldham said. While the F-150 is the “ultimate American pickup truck in almost every way,” the Raptor gives drivers the ability to “drive through the desert at 100 mph over very tough terrain,” Oldham added. “You pay a premium for it, but we’re talking about $40,000 instead of the Land Rover, which is $100,000 to start.”
(Max Tow: 11,300 lbs; Max MPG: 19; MSRP: $44,555)
1. Jeep Wrangler
The “prototypical American vehicle,” the Wrangler also got its start in the military, and “that DNA continues to exist” in each new model. Available in two-door or four-door models, the Wrangler remains as rugged as ever but does include the amenities that make it an “everyday” vehicle: automatic transmission and navigation systems, among them. “It’s the genesis for the hard-core, tough vehicle. It’s like the Porsche 911,” Oldham added. “You can show anyone in the world a picture of it and they know what it is.”
(Max Tow: 3,500 lbs; Max MPG: 18; MSRP: $30,010)


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QUOTATION OF THE DAY
Published: May 5, 2000
''I found 64 messages saying 'I love you' on my computer this morning. Given the state of e-commerce these days, I was strangely moved.''
DR. MATTHEW NAYTHONS, a vice president of PlanetRx, an Internet drug store, discussing a new computer virus. [C9]


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Glossier hires Elle.com digital director as head of content
Cherkinoff joins Glossier as its business continues to soar, having recently been valued as a $1.2 billion-dollar company following a $100 million round of Series D funding led by Sequoia Capital.
Glossier also launched its first makeup line outside of its core Glossier range, Glossier Play, earlier this month.
With no full-fledged strategy announced, time will tell if Chernikoff will build on Into the Gloss, the beauty and lifestyle blog launched by Glossier founder Emily Weiss before the widely popular beauty startup was founded in its current form.
The blog is still up and running with a dedicated fanbase, but its overall readership is low – according to ComScore, there isn't enough traffic coming to Into the Gloss to track.
Currently, Glossier has 1.9 million followers on Instagram, and operates across social media on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and YouTube.
At Elle, Chernikoff will reportedly be replaced by Katie Connor, the publication's print deputy editor.
Copyright © 2022 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.


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The climate crisis exacerbates hunger and malnutrition by threatening the nutritional quality of crops as well as crop productivity.
A recent report reveals there has been limited improvement in global diets over the last three decades.
Soils are living, biodiverse ecosystems, home to microscopic organisms that fix nitrogen and break down organic materials.
On Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg, Christopher Carter discusses the history of soul food, Black veganism, and staying true to his values.
Advocates worry that initiatives from COP27 are doing more to support industrial agriculture, which will only worsen the climate crisis.
Researchers released a public database of 50,000 foods, helping consumers identify ultra processed foods in their diets.


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Walldorf, Germany, e-business software vendor SAP AG announced on Thursday the appointment of European sales veteran Leo Apotheker as president of Global Field Operations. In the newly created position, Apotheker will be responsible for global sales.
Apotheker, who was previously responsible for sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), will also take temporary charge of North American operations, until he finds a replacement for Wolfgang Kemna, former chief executive officer (CEO) of SAP America Inc., said SAP spokeswoman Laurie Doyle-Kelly.
Kemna, who failed to bolster sales in the key North American market, will take over as head of a new unit for global strategy initiatives dedicated to SAP’s customer relationship management, supply chain management and R3 Enterprise product lines, she said.
“The main reason for creating the new global sales position is to relieve our CEO, Henning Kagermann, of this day-to-day responsibility,” Doyle-Kelly said.
One of Apotheker’s key tasks, in addition to finding a new CEO for the North American market, is to break up two of SAP’s three global sales regions — the Americas and Japan/Asia-Pacific — into smaller markets. The third region, EMEA, will remain as one. “We feel that the Latin American market has very little in common with the North American market and should have separate people in charge of each,” Doyle-Kelly said. “The same holds true for Asia. Japan has little in common, say, with Singapore.”
Hans-Peter Klaey will serve as president of the Asia-Pacific region, while Kiyotaka Fujii will continue as president of SAP in Japan. Raul Vejar will continue as senior vice president of SAP in Latin America. Les Hayman will take over as chairman of the EMEA region.
The choice of Apotheker to head global sales reflects changes in customer buying behavior, Doyle-Kelly said. “Our customers used to sign big deals; now they are signing smaller deals but more of them,” she said. “This is the type of sales environment in which Leo has excelled as head of the EMEA market.”
Doyle-Kelly said that although she didn’t know the exact hiring criteria for the new North American chief executive, she said the person would need “strong sales skills and global experience” and would “probably be an American.”
SAP’s net profit in the fourth quarter of 2001 fell to


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Colorless to Near-Colorless Diamonds, Emeralds from Pakistan, a History of European Royal Jewel Sales, and More…
Welcome to the Fall Gems & Gemology! This issue offers an exciting glimpse into the world of D-to-Z diamonds, characterizes the inclusion features and chemical composition of emeralds from Swat Valley, and details the acquisition and auction of crown jewels by European royalty.
“An exciting glimpse into the world of D-to-Z diamonds…”
In the lead article, a GIA team led by Sally Eaton-Magaña and Christopher M. Breeding examines colorless to light yellow/brown diamonds with a “D-to-Z” color grade, which make up the vast majority of the world’s gem diamond trade. Because this group of mostly type Ia diamonds has not been subjected to HPHT decolorizing treatment or laboratory growth, researchers usually investigate their more rare diamond type counterparts. This study evaluates diamond type properties and grading quality factors of D-to-Z diamonds submitted to GIA in 2017 and sheds light on their unique geological formation story.
The second article comes from a team led by Hongshu Guo, a student at the School of Gemology, China University of Geosciences in Beijing. The authors present the gemological and geochemical details of emeralds (including trapiche emeralds) from Swat Valley in Pakistan.
In the third article, Russell Shor examines how European royal families acquired their crown jewels, which were later sold at important auctions. The most recent of these was Sotheby’s historic Bourbon-Parma auction in 2018, in which 10 of the lots once belonged to Marie Antoinette.
Next, Ling Liu and colleagues from the Gemmological Institute, China University of Geosciences in Wuhan characterize turquoise from China’s Hubei Province with a rare surface pattern of spots resembling raindrops. They identify the color origin and formation mechanism of this distinctive pattern.
The final article is a field report from Hạ Long Bay in northern Vietnam, where in late 2019 Nicholas Sturman and coauthors visited a shell nucleus manufacturing factory and two pearl farms, all managed by Orient Pearls (Bangkok) Ltd. The team observed how high-quality bead nuclei are fabricated and used to produce Vietnamese bead cultured pearls suitable for fine jewelry on a commercial scale.
Our regular features continue to highlight interesting gemological findings from around the world. In Lab Notes, discover how gem cutters cleverly use color zoning in alexandrite and closely spaced needles in diaspore to showcase phenomena, and how areas of dramatic fluorescence correspond to diamond defects and produce a “lightsaber” effect. Curiosities abound in the Micro-World section: epigenetic residue mimicking a fried egg, metal sulfide inclusions resembling trees, and ferrocolumbite posing as star cruisers. Gem News International reports on bead cultured pearls with embedded electronic devices and Maxixe beryl with an unusual violet color, among other exciting topics.
This issue also contains the list of winners from this year’s G&G Challenge quiz. Congratulations, and our special thanks to everyone who participated!


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Lucasfilm Fuels Speculation By Filing Trademark For Shadow Trooper Toys And Games
Lucasfilm filed papers to secure the trademark on “Shadow Trooper” last month. The application filed covers merchandising rights including toys, games, and even Christmas tree ornaments and stockings.
Fans may remember the shadow trooper from Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. More recently, the shadow trooper armor was featured as a rank 50 unlockable skin for Imperial soldiers in EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront.
Star Wars news sites have speculated that the trademark hints at the appearance of the shadow trooper in the upcoming film Star Wars: Rogue One, set for release on December 16, 2016. If that’s true, Rogue One will mark the first film appearance for the shadow trooper.
For more Star Wars, read our review of Battlefront here.


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Binance is the latest company eyeing job cuts amid a layoff wave expanding beyond tech. Here's the full list of major US companies making slashes this year.
The wave of layoffs hitting tech companies and beyond shows no signs of slowing down. Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is the latest to consider cuts.
How music lawyers are crafting a new playbook to protect artists from AI imitators
AI songs are set to create new legal challenges — and creative opportunities — for artists. Entertainment lawyers laid out the risks and rewards.
That podcast ad you're listening to may soon be AI. Spotify is reportedly developing bots to mimic your favorite hosts.
Bill Simmons, the founder of The Ringer, said that Spotify is experimenting withAI-generated ads on an episode of his podcast.
People with podcasts can't stop talking about AI, Spotify's CEO says, citing a 500% rise in episodes about it in the past month
"Talk about AI is everywhere right now," Spotify CEO Daniel Ek tweeted. "I looked at how it's trending on Spotify and the growth is pretty insane."
Spotify takes down thousands of AI-generated songs after suspected bot use to inflate streams, report says
Spotify took down about 7% of tracks from AI startup Boomy, after Universal warned streaming services they were artificially boosted, the FT reported.
The creator of a viral AI-generated Drake song says it's scary how easy it was to make the music sound real
Jered Chavez, a student, told The Verge: "I was very surprised how easy it was. Right out of the AI, it sounds pretty good."
Microsoft made a big bet with ChatGPT. Months later, it’s already paying off.
In today's edition: "I do TikTok to rip people off," Amazon Web Services layoffs, and more headlines.
Spotify's CEO says the music industry has 'legitimate concerns' about AI-generated songs
Daniel Ek says the streaming platform wants to protect artists from copyright infringement by AI-generated music, but still allow for innovation.
An AI-generated viral Drake and The Weeknd dupe may provide clues into the mysterious case of the Spotify song with 49 different names
A Spotify user couldn't figure out why he kept getting served the same song under 49 different names. He thinks it may be AI.
China doesn’t want US cars like Ford and General Motors. That’s a big problem for their futures.
In today's edition: Using AI to generate headshots, Mark Zuckerberg's grilling session, and more headlines.
Spotify and creator payment startup Creative Juice are partnering on video podcasts as the space heats up
Creator economy startup Creative Juice has partnered with Spotify as the platform invests more in video podcasting.
TikTok is hiring an A&R lead and beefing up song marketing as it takes aim at the music industry
TikTok's ambitions are coming into focus one year after it launched SoundOn. It could soon be viewed as a competitor by much of the music world.
Cathie Wood's flagship Ark ETF just logged its best month in history as its stock darling Tesla makes a comeback
Famed money manager Cathie Wood's Ark Innovation ETF scored a 28% gain for January as tech stocks like Tesla rebounded from a hellish 2022.
The ultimate guide to surviving a layoff
Insider has all the information you need to know before, during, and after cutbacks at your company to land on your feet find a new job quickly.
Spotify's CEO sent a memo announcing layoffs. It also contained 'a powerful example of toxic positivity.'
Daniel Ek would have been wise to display empathy and explain how cutting about 6% of Spotify employees would help strengthen the company as a whole.
Spotify is laying off around 6% of its workforce — about 600 employees — as tech job cuts continue to mount
In a memo to Spotify staff Monday, CEO Daniel Ek said: "I take full accountability for the moves that got us here today."
TikTok is quietly testing a podcast feature that could make the app a bigger challenger to Spotify and YouTube
TikTok is trialing a feature that lets users listen to a video's audio in the background, positioning the company to compete with YouTube and Spotify.
3 key takeaways from a survey that shows why YouTube and video are making big gains in the podcast market
The podcast industry is changing. A recent survey found YouTube is listeners' go-to podcast platform, and that they like videos and celebrity guests.
How to use Spotify's new Playlist in a Bottle feature to make a musical time capsule that you can open next year
Once you make your Spotify Playlist in a Bottle time capsule, it'll be sealed away until January 2024.
The music industry's sights are set on social as its next big money maker. Here are 15 innovators changing the business at platforms from TikTok to YouTube.
These power players at TikTok, YouTube, Roblox, and other platforms are using social media to influence how music is discovered, licensed, and more.


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Google Inc., the world’s largest Internet search engine and maker of the Android operating system for mobile devices, was sued by Skyhook Wireless Inc. for infringing nine patents for global positioning detection.
The lawsuit targets location-identification technology including “Google Maps” used by Google customers in products such as tablet computers, according to a complaint filed by Boston-based Skyhook yesterday in federal court in Delaware.
Mountain View, California-based Google is using the inventions “without authority or license from Skyhook,” and should pay damages after a jury trial, according to court papers. Skyhook also seeks an injunction against further infringement by Google.
“We believe these claims are baseless and we intend to defend vigorously against them,” Niki Fenwick, a company spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement.
Location-tracking technology, which can pinpoint a person’s whereabouts, help advertisers tailor marketing messages to mobile-device users. Closely held Skyhook pioneered tracking a smartphone’s location by measuring its proximity to Wi-Fi hotspots instead of relying on global-positioning satellites or cell towers.
The case is Skyhook Wireless Inc. v. Google Inc., 12-1177, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).


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Nintendo and Disney are two of the biggest corporations on the planet, so it only makes sense that when they collide they produce something like a television show. Both companies are partnering to create a Nintendo Switch-focused family game show called Nintendo Switch Family Showdown.
Four families will be competing against one another using a Nintendo Switch game console. The show will feature such games as Mario Odyssey, Mario Tennis Aces, or Just Dance 2018. Families will be performing specific tasks in each game, like searching for collectibles in Mario Odyssey, winning a match in Mario Tennis Aces, or performing a dance off in, you guessed it, Just Dance 2018.
The show is scheduled to premiere this summer on both Disney XD and the Disney Channel. It will also be streamed on Disney’s streaming service, DisneyNOW.
Nintendo Switch Family Showdown is yet another example of Nintendo looking to secure an even bigger portion of the video game market. As of May, the Switch has sold over 17 million units, increasing Nintendo’s profit by 500 percent. Nintendo has stated that it plans to sell an additional 20 million Switch consoles.
It might not match the Wii’s incredible numbers (over 100 million units sold worldwide), but it doesn’t need to.
In a recent investor Q&A, outgoing Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima said, “The benchmark is not whether Nintendo Switch sales can surpass total Wii sales, but rather how we adapt and respond to changes in the market and strive to continue selling Nintendo Switch as long as possible.”
Thanks to its comparatively low price ($300) and Nintendo’s gradually growing success with indie titles, the Switch has little reason not to continue its success. Nintendo debuted over 25 minutes of footage from its upcoming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, detailing over 10,000 changes the company has made to its best-selling fighter game.
- The internet goes ‘Wah!’ over Waluigi’s exclusion from the Smash Bros. roster
- Minecraft: Story Mode is coming to Netflix—but not as a game
- Wario is the best Mario Kart character—and here’s the science to prove it
H/T: Business Insider


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The American auto industry is barely standing on its legs. Both biggest American car makers, Ford and GM are having big troubles keeping their money in their wallets.
Ford announced that in quarter 3 of 2008, it had lost 129 million after pre-tax of a total of $2.7 billion. Unfortunately these big losses will likely lead to a forecasted 10% cut in salaried workforce along with no executive bonuses or merit pay. With about $18.7 billion cash on hand and a $7.7 billion burn rate in 3Q it's no surprise that Ford is holding its hand out for the federal government to help tide the business over until things are back the way they were. But hey, the new Mustang could fix things up! And looking at the bright side, that is better than last year, where Ford lost $380 million.
On the other hand, GM is having bad times nowadays. General Motors just released earnings report for the same time period as Ford. And it's really bad. GM burned out $2.5 billion after pre-tax of a total of $6.9 billion. Like Ford, this is better than GM's losses of last year, where they lost $42.5 billion. However, this doesn't mean they're safe. GM is also having job-cuts and big changes. Such as deferring capacity expansion projects, lower sales promotion pending, i.e. less advertising, less support of dealer network activities and channel consolidations and even increase reduction in force from 20 to 30%. The biggest news out of this report, is that GM has stopped merger talks with Chrysler for the time being! So GM will focus on its own problems right now.
GM and Ford are looking into government aid to help them survive. So now it's in President Ombama's hand. We all hope he can help them.


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Shares of BlackRock advanced more than 4% after the company beat top and bottom line estimates during the third quarter. BlackRock, which is the world’s largest asset manager, earned $9.22 per share compared with the $7.80 expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
The company saw $129 billion in inflows during the quarter, boosted by the fixed income and cash management divisions. The shares of the furniture company (Ethan Allen) surged more than 12% after reporting preliminary fiscal first quarter results of 34 to 36 cents per share, compared to the Refinitiv estimate of 2 cents per share. Revenue also topped estimates, coming in at $151.1 million.
Disney shares advanced more than 4% after the company announced a major reorganization that will make streaming a “primary focus.” To accelerate its direct-to-consumer strategy, Disney will centralize its media businesses into a single organization that will be responsible for content distribution, ad sales and Disney+.
JP Morgan stock lost 1.8% despite beating Wall Street expectations for its third quarter results, thanks in part strong trading revenues and reducing loan-loss reserves. CEO Jamie Dimon said that, under a worst-case scenario that the bank considers unlikely, JPMorgan would need to book another $20 billion in reserves.
Shares of the e-commerce giant (Amazon) ticked up about 1% as the first day of Prime Day started on Tuesday. The two-day event could become the biggest online shopping day of the year, according to NPD, with 57% of consumers planning to do some if not all of their holiday shopping this week.


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Harper Reed, the man behind US President Barack Obama’s online campaign, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Nedbank Digital Edge Live brought to you by NATIVE, in Johannesburg on 3 October 2013.
“Harper Reed is a unique draw card. As Chief Technology Officer of the highly successful Obama for America online campaign, he engineered perhaps the most sophisticated political campaign of all time. He is a crowd-sourcing and social media pioneer as well as an expert on the future of big data. We have no doubt he will bring something inspiring and original to the event,” says Ben Wagner, Chief Marketing Warrior of NATIVE.
The Digital Edge Live, now in its fifth year, is a highly regarded thought leadership event and a ‘must attend’ forum for marketing, advertising and communications professionals. As one of the most prominent banks in the financial services sector, Nedbank has actively moved into the digital marketing arena, and by coming on board as title partner saw the opportunity to showcase its thought-leadership support. The theme of this year’s event is ICE – Intuitive Customer Experiences. , Head: Group Digital Marketing at Nedbank Integrated Marketing, explains that the focus will be on amplifying the global trend of showcasing how marketing and IT need to work in tandem to co-design intuitive customer experiences,” he says.
The new theme represents a dynamic lineup of speakers made up of advertising and digital marketing heavyweights together with leading CMO’s & CTO’s, including Chris Gotz (Ogilvy CT), Pepe Marais (Joe Public), Jason Xenopoulos (NATIVE), Fran Luckin (Quirk), Pete Case (Gloo), Alistair Fairweather (Mail & Guardian), Heidi Brauer (Hollard), and Fred Baumhardt (Microsoft).
Kalenga continues, “One of the biggest barriers to creating a truly customer-centred offering is the lack of integration between marketing and IT. Most CMO’s today understand the challenges involved in winning business in a consumer-led marketplace. Unfortunately, the IT systems and processes that govern their customers’ paths-to-purchase are often unable to facilitate the growing demands of the empowered consumer.”
“We will be bringing insights from forward thinking brands and agencies that have identified this problem and who are starting to break down the silos that exist within their businesses – particularly in the areas of marketing and IT,” he says.
03 October 2013
12.00 – 17.00 (registration opens at 11.00)
- Early bird: R 700 p/p (until 15 August 2013)
- Full ticket price: R 900 p/p
- Student ticket price: R400
- All tickets include free parking, lunch and beverages


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Here’s what you need to know:
Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, and Steven Mnuchin, the secretary of the Treasury, are testifying before the Senate Banking Committee. In prepared remarks, they painted starkly different visions of the challenges facing the United States economy in the months ahead, further exposing a rift that began to show earlier this month.
As the busiest shopping period of the year gets underway, two of Britain’s largest high-street retailers have collapsed.
Debenhams, a chain of department stores with about 12,000 employees, said on Tuesday that the company would begin to close down. The company would keep operating to clear out its stock and then stores would probably close early next year. Debenhams had already gone into administration, a form of bankruptcy protection, in April but efforts to find a buyer for the chain didn’t succeed. JD Sports, a sporting goods retailer, confirmed on Tuesday that it had dropped out of talks.
It’s the second domino to fall after the collapse on Monday of Arcadia Group, which owns brands including Topshop and Miss Selfridge. Arcadia’s brands have a heavy footprint in Debenhams, selling clothes through stands in the department stores. Arcadia has appointed Deloitte as an administrator to handle its finances because it failed to secure a multimillion-pound lifeline. It said none of the 13,000 staff were being laid off but more than 9,000 are already having their wages subsidized by the government’s furlough program.
“The retail house of cards on the high street is in danger of collapse,” said Susannah Streeter, an analyst, at Hargreaves Lansdown. She said Arcadia’s brands were among the most prominent in Debenhams, “so its collapse into administration clearly put the frighteners on management.”
For a time, Britain’s fashion retailers enjoyed a golden period and were seen as a source of national pride. Marks & Spencer was a byword for quality for decades, while the Debenhams evening wear department was a middle-class destination for all of life’s major celebrations. In the 2000s, Topshop — once considered the jewel in the crown of Philip Green’s Arcadia — was a genuine style authority.
But all these brands have suffered for years. Fast-fashion giants from overseas, like Zara from Spain and H&M from Sweden, started selling cheaper, trendier clothes. They were followed more recently by online-only upstarts such as Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing.
Last year, Debenhams went into administration, wiping out some shareholders, and Arcadia entered into a so-called company voluntary agreement in Britain, where it closed stores and renegotiated debt terms, and filed for bankruptcy in the United States.
But the pandemic has hastened their demise. Lockdowns have twice shuttered clothing stores in England and accelerated the e-commerce revolution. Old guard retailers and department stores that were too slow to invest in their online operations have found themselves grappling with the costly fallout of real estate empires visited by fewer and fewer people. This summer M&S said it planned to lay off 7,000 employees.
“Like Arcadia Group, Debenhams might have stood a better chance had its footprint of retail stores been smaller, but they were stuck with too many shops, on long leases they could not wriggle out of,” Ms. Streeter said.
The world will start to recover only gradually next year from a devastating global recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, but the revival is unlikely to repair an income divide that is leaving more people around the world poorer because of the crisis, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday.
The organization, in its half-yearly economic outlook, forecast the global economy would grow by 4.2 percent next year. Led by a massive rebound in China, the momentum is likely to pick up only after the summer.
Even then, most economies will be smaller at the end of 2021 than they were at the end of 2019. That’s because lockdowns to contain the pandemic have carved $7 trillion out of global gross domestic product, Angel Gurría, the O.E.C.D.’s secretary general, said during an online news conference.
“The impact is massive,” Mr. Gurría said. “In human and economic terms this pandemic will have been extremely costly,” he said, adding: “There is hope, but we are not out of the woods yet.”
The notable exception is China, which curbed the pandemic with aggressive quarantine policies. It has rebounded quickly and will end the year with growth of around 10 percent, said Laurence Boone, the organization’s chief economist. South Korea, Sweden and India have also weathered the economic crisis far better than most European countries and nations in Latin America, which have at times struggled to contain the virus, the organization said.
The recovery in Western countries especially is likely to remain fragile as governments continue social distancing policies and keep borders partly closed through the first half of 2021. It may also take at least a year for governments to fully roll out campaigns to vaccinate citizens against the coronavirus, the organization said.
The O.E.C.D. urged governments to continue shielding their economies from the fallout by extending financial support programs and strengthening national health care and social safety nets.
But even with such support, it said, millions of small and medium-sized businesses that are the main drivers of job creation are facing mounting debt levels putting their survival and capacity to invest and create jobs at risk.
The crisis has also worsened income inequality. Today, nearly half of all low-income adults in the 37 countries that are members of the organization have trouble paying their bills, while a third have had to get food from a food bank.
Their children have also suffered disproportionately. While the children of well-off parents have been able to plug into remote schooling fairly easily, dropout rates from online schooling for children in low-income households have been massive, Ms. Boone said, leaving them far behind their peers.
Mr. Gurría said the cost to governments of maintaining social and economic support programs is worth it if it allows countries to ride out the storm until a vaccine is widely available and business activity can resume.
“With the availability of vaccines there is an even stronger case for large scale support of the economy in the remaining months of the pandemic,” he said.
By: Ella Koeze·Source: Refinitiv
Stocks rose on Tuesday, extending last month’s rally as investors appeared to be looking beyond what is likely to be a bleak winter — with rising virus cases and businesses trying to survive lockdowns and other restrictions — and focusing instead on the prospect of an economic recovery generated by the rollout of vaccines next year. European and Asian stocks were also higher.
The S&P 500 index rose about 1 percent in early trading, a gain that could put it back in record territory. November was the strongest month since April for the S&P 500 and the second strongest month since 2011, as stocks were propelled higher by relief over vaccine development and the conclusion of a turbulent U.S. presidential election.
Asian markets rose on Tuesday after data showed Chinese manufacturing activity expanded at its fastest pace in a decade, and exceeded analysts’ expectations, according to the latest report from Caixin and IHS Markit. The Shanghai composite index rose 1.8 percent, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 0.9 percent higher and the Nikkei 225 in Japan gained 1.3 percent.
In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed nearly 2 percent, while benchmarks in Germany and France were about 1 percent higher.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development presented a counterargument to the optimism in financial markets on Tuesday. It lowered its forecast for global growth next year to 4.2 percent, saying the economy will “gain momentum only gradually” and China will account for more than a third of the growth.
Tesla rose about 4 percent in early trading, after S&P Dow Jones Indices said it would add the stock to the S&P 500 in a single step later in the month. S&P Dow Jones had been weighing adding Tesla to the index in a two-step process because of the company’s large market capitalization.
Airbnb is trying to ride the soaring stock market to a comeback.
The home rental start-up said on Tuesday that it intends to sell shares at between $44 and $50 each in its initial public offering, valuing it as high as nearly $35 billion.
The company said it plans to raise as much as $2.75 billion from the offering, according to a prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Its three founders also plan to sell stock that may be valued at as much as $95 million.
Such a sale would return Airbnb’s valuation to where it was before the pandemic battered its business. At the beginning of the year, investors had valued the company at $31 billion. But in the spring, with travel halted and cancellations pouring in, Airbnb raised emergency funding valuing it at $18 billion.
Airbnb is betting that Wall Street will buy into its narrative of a rebounding business. Even though its revenue shrank in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period last year, bookings in the most recent three-month period recovered as people took road trips to home rentals in remote areas.
Airbnb now plans to embark on a virtual “road show” to pitch its stock to investors over the next week, culminating with its shares listing on Nasdaq under the symbol “ABNB.”
The company is among a flock of high-profile tech companies going public before the end of the year. On Monday, the food delivery company DoorDash said it hoped to raise up to $2.8 billion from its I.P.O., in a sale that could value the company at as much as $31.6 billion. E-commerce company Wish and children’s game maker Roblox are expected to list their shares in the coming weeks.
Michael J. de la Merced contributed reporting.
Geoffrey S. Berman, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York who was fired by President Trump in June, has joined the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, the firm said on Tuesday.
Mr. Berman, 61, will head Fried Frank’s white collar defense, regulatory enforcement and investigations practice, the firm said.
Mr. Berman, who led the prosecutor’s office while it was conducting highly sensitive corruption investigations of people in Mr. Trump’s orbit, was dismissed on June 20 after the attorney general, William P. Barr, unsuccessfully tried to persuade him to step down.
Mr. Berman agreed not to fight his dismissal after Mr. Barr said Mr. Berman would be replaced by his handpicked deputy, Audrey Strauss.
During his two and a half years as U.S. attorney, Mr. Berman also oversaw a number of high-profile prosecutions: sex-trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein; a securities fraud conspiracy case against the former Republican congressman Chris Collins of New York; and a racketeering conspiracy case against Daniel Hernandez, the rapper and Instagram star known as Tekashi69.
Mr. Berman also supervised the prosecution of a Turkish state-owned bank, Halkbank, on charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. The bank has pleaded not guilty. The case was a key point of contention between Mr. Berman and Mr. Barr, who had pushed to allow the bank to avoid indictment as part of a settlement.
At the time of his dismissal, Mr. Berman also was overseeing an investigation into Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, over his activities in Ukraine. Mr. Giuliani has denied any wrongdoing.
“Geoff is one of the most respected prosecutors in the United States,” said James D. Wareham, the global chair of Fried Frank’s litigation department, “and his expertise trying major cases and leading high-profile investigations will translate seamlessly into his new role as head of our white collar practice.”
Mr. Berman, who spent the fall as a visiting professor at Stanford Law School, said in a statement that Fried Frank “is a great fit for me, personally and professionally, and I am excited to be part of the team.”
Mr. Berman will be a member of the governance committee at Fried Frank, a white-shoe firm of about 500 lawyers in the U.S. and Europe known for its litigation, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, and asset management practices, among others. Ms. Strauss, who continues to serve as the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, worked at Fried Frank for more than two decades.
Arcadia Group, the British retail company owned by Philip Green that includes the Topshop clothing chain, has gone into administration, a form of bankruptcy, the company said Monday. It is one of the biggest retail collapses in Britain since the start of the pandemic. Deloitte has been appointed as the administrator. Arcadia, which has 444 stores in Britain, 22 overseas and about 13,000 employees, said it would keep operating during administration.
Meredith Corporation has parted ways with J.D. Heyman, the editor in chief of Entertainment Weekly magazine, the company confirmed on Monday. A Meredith spokeswoman said that the end of the editor’s tenure at the publication would go into effect “immediately.” The reason was not disclosed.
DoorDash said on Monday that it hopes to raise up to $2.8 billion from its initial public offering, in a sale that could value the company at as much as $31.6 billion, including all shares and options. It has set a price range of $75 to $85 a share for the I.P.O. The fund-raising goal, disclosed in the food-delivery company’s latest I.P.O. prospectus, signals the company’s ambitions as it begins pitching prospective investors. It was valued at $16 billion in a private fund-raising round in June.
Nasdaq asked the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday for permission to adopt a new requirement for the companies listed on its main U.S. stock exchange: have at least one woman and one “diverse” director, and report data on boardroom diversity. If companies don’t comply they would face potential delisting, reports the DealBook newsletter.
If approved, Nasdaq will require boards to have at least one woman and one director who self-identifies as an underrepresented minority or L.G.B.T.Q. (Those categories are not, of course, mutually exclusive.)
It would be the first time a major stock exchange demanded more disclosure than the law requires, which Nasdaq’s chief executive, Adena Friedman, described as “an unusual step.” It raises questions about whether exchanges could use their listing rules to force action on other hot-button issues, like climate change.
To give Nasdaq-listed companies time to comply, they will need to publicly disclose their diversity data within a year of S.E.C. approval, and have at least one woman or diverse director within two years. Bigger companies will be expected to have one of each type of director within four years.
Companies that report their data but don’t meet the diversity standards would have to publicly explain why. Over the past six months, Nasdaq found that more than 75 percent of its listed companies did not meet its proposed diversity requirements.
Any potential rule changes would take months to come into effect: After Nasdaq files its request, the S.E.C. will solicit public comments. That typically lasts several weeks, and then the commission will decide how to proceed.
Nasdaq had lobbied the S.E.C. to make diversity disclosure a rule for all companies. “The ideal outcome would be for the S.E.C. to take a role here,” Ms. Friedman said. “They could actually apply it to public and private companies because they oversee the private equity industry as well.”
Nasdaq cites research showing the benefits of board diversity, from higher-quality financial disclosures to the lower likelihood of audit problems. “Diversity of the board is an important element of giving investors confidence in the future sustainability of the company,” Ms. Friedman said. “It’s not like we’re saying this is an optimal composition of a board, but it’s a minimum level of diversity that we think every board should have.”
The labor market has recovered 12 million of the 22 million jobs lost from February to April. But many jobs may not return any time soon, even when a vaccine is deployed, The New York Times’s Eduardo Porter reports.
This is likely to prove especially problematic for millions of low-paid workers in service industries like retailing, hospitality, building maintenance and transportation, which may be permanently impaired or fundamentally transformed. What will janitors do if fewer people work in offices? What will waiters do if the urban restaurant ecosystem never recovers its density?
CIRCLES ARE SIZED BY SHARE OF TOTAL JOBS
Decline in jobs
from the first
home health aides
Share of workers who transition
into occupations that are growing
Decline in jobs
from the first
through the third
quarter of 2020
Share of workers
that are growing
Waiters and Waitresses
Hosts and Hostesses
Food Prep Workers
Special Ed. Teachers
Practical and Voc. Nurses
Other Service Sales Rep.
Their prognosis is bleak. Marcela Escobari, an economist at the Brookings Institution, warns that even if the economy adds jobs as the coronavirus risk fades, “the rebound won’t help the people that have been hurt the most.”
Looking back over 16 years of data, Ms. Escobari finds that workers in the occupations most heavily hit since the spring will have a difficult time reinventing themselves. Taxi drivers, dancers and front-desk clerks have poor track records moving to jobs as, say, registered nurses, pipe layers or instrumentation technicians.
The challenge is not insurmountable. Stephanie Brown, who spent 11 years in the Air Force, found her footing relatively quickly after losing her job as a cook at a hotel in Rochester, Mich., in March. She took advantage of a training program offered by Salesforce, the big software platform for businesses, and got a full-time job in October as a Salesforce administrator for the New York software company Pymetrics from her home in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Yet despite scattered success stories, moving millions of workers into new occupations remains an enormous challenge.
Training has always been a challenge for policymakers, and the pandemic complicates matching new skills with jobs. At scale, it will be a considerable challenge to assist workers in the transition to a new economy in which many jobs are gone for good and those available often require proficiency in sophisticated digital tools.
Exxon Mobil announced on Monday that it would significantly cut spending on exploration and production over the next four years and would write off up to $20 billion of investments in natural gas.
The company struggled to adapt as oil and gas prices tumbled this spring when the coronavirus pandemic took hold. While oil prices have recovered somewhat in recent months, they remain much lower than they were at the start of the year.
The company said it was removing gas projects from its plans in Appalachia, the Rocky Mountains, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Canada and Argentina.
Darren Woods, Exxon Mobil’s chief executive, said in a statement that the moves were designed to “improve earnings power and cash generation, and rebuild balance sheet capacity to manage future commodity price cycles while working to maintain a reliable dividend.”
Exxon’s board of directors accepted a proposal by management to slash capital expenditures to between $16 billion and $19 billion next year, down from $23 billion in 2020. This year’s capital expenditures had already been reduced from a planned budget of $33 billion, as the company slowed projects in Africa and the Permian Basin in New Mexico and West Texas.
The company said capital spending would be limited to between $20 billion and $25 billion annually through 2025.
In 2010, Exxon Mobil acquired XTO Energy and its natural gas assets for more than $30 billion, just as gas prices were peaking. Over the next decade, the shale boom flooded the market with cheap gas.
Exxon Mobil had previously resisted writing down assets by large amounts. Several of the largest oil companies have recently written down assets, including Royal Dutch Shell by up to $22 billion, BP by more than $17 billion and Chevron by $10 billion.
But Exxon has fared worse than other major oil companies during the pandemic. It was removed from the Dow Jones industrial average in August and has suffered three consecutive quarterly losses. It recently said it would cut 14,000 jobs, or 15 percent of its global work force.
Exxon’s stock, which is down more than 40 percent over the past year, is back to where it was in 2003. Company executives continue to express confidence about the future because Exxon is producing more oil and gas in the Permian Basin and in the offshore waters of Guyana and Brazil. The company has also committed to maintaining its dividend, which yields more than an 8 percent return on its share price.
The chair of the Federal Reserve and the secretary of the Treasury painted starkly different visions of the challenges facing the United States economy in the months ahead on Tuesday, further exposing a rift that began to show last month.
While Jerome H. Powell, the Fed Chair, pointed to ongoing uncertainty over vaccine speed and distribution, the economic dangers of a surge in virus cases and the grim reality that many remain out of work while testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin painted a sunnier image of the economic recovery, emphasizing state and local lockdowns as the main threat to growth.
The contrast underlines the divide between two economic policymakers who, earlier in the crisis, worked closely as partners to usher in a sweeping economic response.
That cooperation has cracked. Mr. Mnuchin announced in November that he would end several Fed emergency loan programs, which are meant to keep credit flowing to state and local governments and medium-sized businesses alike. The Fed suggested it was disappointed with that decision in a responding release, and Mr. Powell addressed it in his remarks.
Mr. Powell noted that the Congress gave “sole authority over its funds” to the Treasury secretary and that the Fed will give the money back, as Mr. Mnuchin has asked. But he nodded to the fact that the Fed believes the programs still have a role to play in an economy that is not yet through the wilderness.
The programs are “available only in very unusual circumstances, such as those we find ourselves in today,” Mr. Powell said, signaling that he does not believe conditions have returned to normal.
Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the top Democrat on the committee, assailed Mr. Mnuchin’s decision and accused him of “malpractice.”
“You appear to be trying to sabotage our economy on the way out the door,” he said.
Mr. Powell reiterated that positive clinical trial results for several vaccine candidates spell good news for the medium term, but warned that there are still big risks on the horizon.
“For now, significant challenges and uncertainties remain, including timing, production and distribution, and efficacy across different groups,” Mr. Powell said.
Mr. Mnuchin touted the strength of the economic recovery but blamed continuing economic shutdowns in some parts of the country for impairing progress and causing “great harm” to American businesses and workers.
Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Powell appeared jointly on Tuesday, and on Wednesday they will testify together before the House Financial Services Committee.
Regarding the lending programs, which the Fed used to backstop key markets, Mr. Mnuchin repeated that he hopes Congress will reallocate the portion of the money that he is clawing back to provide economic relief in a new stimulus bill.
Mr. Mnuchin has said it was Congress’ intent for the programs to end, and has suggested that the money could be better used elsewhere. The Congressional Budget Office scored the Fed-tied money as costing hardly anything — since they are lent and expected to be paid back — so spending it directly would add to the deficit for accounting purposes.
“I continue to believe that a targeted fiscal package is the most appropriate federal response,” Mr. Mnuchin said. “The administration is standing ready to support Congress in this effort to help American workers and small businesses.”


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The Greenlight trailer for Episode 1: Diagnosis, which can be viewed below, shows “the game’s more realistic visual style and more focus on the subject matter of mental health.”
“I’m extremely happy to be able to put Echoes on the Greenlight page,” says Stephen Chapman, founder of Thermo-Dynamic Games. “It will be a great chance for those interested in the game to ask questions and see how the game is shaping up.”
Episode 1: Diagnosis will introduce the ‘mind break’ mechanic, challenging players to overcome the alien sections of the environment so that they can progress further in the story.
“Set in a world created by our character’s dream states, Echoes changes from charming to challenging and weaves in [a] narrative to tie the experience together,” Thermo-Dynamic Games said.
Despite being in its early stage of Steam Greenlight, Thermo-Dynamic Games has already revealed its intention of taking Echoes to other platforms, with the developer hoping to reveal more information on the matter soon.
Thermo-Dynamic Games has confirmed that Echoes will be at Dare to Be Digital, a video game design competition being held in Dundee, Scotland, in August.
Running on the Unreal Engine 4, Echoes Episode 1: Diagnosis is scheduled to launch at some point in 2016. Early access for Echoes will be made available through Itch.io’s Refinery’s program, Thermo-Dynamic Games has revealed.
Below are some screenshots from Echoes:


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Three weeks have passed since the B2B Marketing Expo, and we are still talking about the issues raised by the speakers and participants. Many thanks to everyone who visited us at our stand at EXCEL LONDON. It was a pleasure to meet you!
This time we also had a chance to present ourselves to our clients and prospects in a seminar. Radek Sadurski, our Enterprise Sales Coordinator, talked about reasons why traditional sales techniques are no longer effective. He shared his tips on how to stay in the game and close more sales by integrating video – and webinars – into the sales cycle.
Here are some highlights from that event – and more on that topic next week, so stay tuned!


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Canada's export of cherries to Vietnam has grown by 50 percent in 2015
Hundreds of luxury cars will be added to serve mobile app users
The livestock company has been accused of leaving the animals in the open witthout any proper treatment
JA Solar officials said the plant would be the firm's biggest overseas
China has found itself in an increasing number of disputes with trading partners that accuse it of dumping subsidized exports.
June exports rose 2.5 percent from the previous month to $14.72 billion
$112-million Mekong Enterprise Fund III targets businesses in retail, consumer and hospitality sectors
LG Innotek said in a regulatory filing that no specifics for a Vietnam plant have been determined.
Quang Nam Province has imposed many punitive measures in vain to collect the back taxes
Global crude prices saw a drop of 33.4 percent in prices
Agriculture dragged down the economy in the first six months, but long-term outlook appears positive
The chain has been expanding its businesses overseas
The company also owns 38 convenience stores around Ho Chi Minh City
Tardy public spending means the country is expected to miss its GDP growth target this year


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South Africa’s subsidy support for Sasol is inefficient and fails to achieve what it sets out to do, namely protect consumers from price shocks, according to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
The group calculated that subsidy support for Sasol was worth $490 million in 2019.
Subsidies for the company come through the market price support (MPS) for Sasol and exemptions from the carbon tax.
Looking at Sasol’s coal-to-liquids (CTL) plant at Secunda, the company supplies around 30% of South Africa’s fuel needs.
When prices are high, Sasol generates “massive profits”. Low oil prices make the company unprofitable, which leads to increased government subsidies, IISD said. “Since the pricing mechanism is unable to insulate South African consumers from oil price shocks, the subsidies to Sasol are not achieving their objectives.”
Sasol has said that breakeven prices for its synthetic fuels is around $35 per barrel. IISD opted to estimate the MPS using the cost of buying equivalent fuel in imports. The NGO calculated that of Sasol’s 2019 revenues of 95.22 billion rand ($5.77bn), 1.63% of this came from the MPS, 1.55bn rand ($94 million).
For every litre of synfuel a consumer buys at the pump, around 5% of the cost provides MPS for Sasol, the report said.
The South African government has also exempted Sasol from carbon taxes for 90% of its emissions. This is above the standard 60% exemption. IISD put the company’s exemption at 60.4mn tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year. The company’s actual emissions in 2019 were 64.83mn tonnes.
This represents a subsidy of more than 6.5bn rand ($394mn). Sasol plans to cut absolute emissions by 10% by 2030, from a 2017 baseline. Assuming South Africa achieves its best-case scenario under the Paris Agreement, Sasol would still be responsible for 9.6-14.9% of the country’s emissions.
As such, the use of coal-based synfuel makes it “difficult to see compatibility” with South Africa’s Paris targets.