text:
The Walt Disney Company and Epic Games have joined forces to develop a games and entertainment universe. This partnership aims to expand the reach of Disney’s iconic stories and experiences globally. With a massive investment of $1.5 billion, Disney is set to acquire an equity stake in Epic Games.
The goal is to deliver an immersive gaming experience that integrates with Fortnite and offers a ‘persistent universe’ where players can not only play but also watch, shop, and interact with content from a vast array of Disney franchises, including Pixels, Marvel, and Star Wars.
Expanding the Gaming Experience
According to the announcement, players will have the power to craft their narratives and showcase their Disney fandom in unique ways. The collaboration will provide a platform for like-minded individuals to connect and share their creations within a vibrant community.
The partnership between Disney and Epic Games has precedent. Through previous collaborations and content integrations in Fortnite, they have captivated millions of players worldwide. Notably, the Marvel Nexus War event featuring Galactus attracted an astonishing 15.3 million concurrent players. This success highlights the immense potential of this new venture to engage a vast audience with new immersive experiences.
Despite setbacks, Disney and Epic Games envisioned a future in the metaverse, and their latest partnership proves this vision is still alive. In fact, the HoloTile, an innovative omnidirectional treadmill, was recently developed by Lanny Smoot, a prolific inventor with over 100 Disney patents, aiming to enhance the VR experience.
As the digital world expands, this collaboration between Disney and Epic Games hints at another move towards the metaverse. By integrating Disney’s extensive portfolio with the immersive world of Fortnite and utilizing Unreal Engine technology, they are setting the stage for new interactive experiences.
Unleashing Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine, renowned for its role in creating video game universes, will be the backbone of this new universe. Its versatility has already showcased itself within the Disney ecosystem, helping to develop popular video games like Kingdom Hearts 3 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Additionally, it has been instrumental in film editing, animation, and the design of attractions at Disney Parks.
With over 3 billion gamers worldwide seeking navigation between their favourite universes, this partnership could redefine the boundaries of gaming, storytelling and virtual worlds.
Main Image Source: Disney


text:
So, after all this time, where are the chickens?
When Premier Kosher won the bid to produce Ontario-raised kosher chickens in March 2016, company president Paul Tzellos announced that he expected to have production up and running in January of the following year. Now, as the month winds down, kosher consumers might well ask, “Nu?”
Tzellos declined to be interviewed for this story, saying in an email, “I am not able to provide a plant start up date for you at this time. We are working hard to get the plant into production.”
He suggested an update might be forthcoming in March.
That was the same time frame suggested by Richard Rabkin, managing director of the Kashruth Council of Canada, which is known by its COR hechsher.
COR “has been working diligently with Premier Kosher on the aspects of their kosher program as they work to get their plant up and running,” Rabkin said in an email. “Premier Kosher has been working very hard, but it’s a big undertaking. They have advised us that they are aiming to commence operation in the coming months.”
‘People don’t want to spend money on fatty chickens’
Chai Poultry flies the coop; Marvid fills void
For many years, Ontario had been served by locally produced kosher chicken from Chai Poultry, but in 2013, the company sold its supply quota to a halal producer. That left kosher consumers without a local source of kosher poultry.
Marvid, a Montreal-based company, stepped into the breach. Consumers, however, were often unhappy with Marvid’s product. Many voiced their concerns on the Facebook page operated by culinary maven Norene Gilletz, who has authored several cookbooks on kosher cuisine and is a contributor to The CJN.
“People found the chickens fatty and they needed cleaning,” she said in an interview. “People don’t want to spend money on fatty chickens.”
Quality has improved in recent months, as it appears Marvid has taken consumers’ complaints to heart, she added.
‘I hate monopolies’
Andy Strub is looking forward to the arrival of a second source of kosher chickens. “I hate monopolies,” said Strub, who works in the food industry and is part of the family that once operated the eponymously named pickle company.
“From that perspective, I hate the fact that one company can control the marketplace.” That affects quality and supply, he said.
Strub suggested that as a new entrant to the market, Premier can be expected to hit the ground running, competing on price, quality and availability in a bid to capture a healthy chunk of the market.
Moshe Benyair is chef and culinary director of Savours Gourmet – Hartman’s Signature. He’s familiar with Marvid chicken and he employs butchers to cut up, skin, clean and de-bone the whole birds he receives from the supplier.
They’re “much cleaner and nicer” when Savour’s butchers get through with them, he said.
Benyair said he was happy when he heard consumers and retailers like himself would have another kosher chicken alternative. Marvid for a time “found challenges in supply,” but “they’ve improved,” he said.
Still, a more secure supply would be welcome, so that he’ll know when he places an order it will arrive quickly, he added.
‘With or without competition’
When Premier chickens finally arrive, Benyair expects to place an order and subject them to the same Savours treatment as the Marvid products. Ultimately, they will be repackaged for the customers and it will be up to them to determine whether they prefer one brand or the other, he said.
As for Marvid, spokesperson Maurice Gabay said the company entered the Ontario market on short notice when Chai stopped producing and did its best to meet demand.
Today, he said, “prices and specials are as good as before, even better sometimes. We always try to improve our quality and service, and will never stop, with or without competition.”
He said Toronto consumers are “happy with Marvid products… because the volume doesn’t stop increasing.
“As we were able to face the situation three years ago with the help of God, we’ll face any situation with more experience,” he said

domain: news


text:
Posted Oct 18, 2021 by Martin Armstrong
Once “we get the pandemic under control, the global economy comes back, these pressures will mitigate and I believe will go back to normal levels,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated, echoing “transitory” sentiments by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. Powell believes supply chain bottlenecks are the main culprit for inflation. Well, the Biden Administration appointed the secretaries of Commerce, Agriculture and Transportation to create a supply chain task force to fix the influx issues.
Sameera Fazili, a deputy director of the White House National Economic Council, stated, “Our approach to supply chain resilience needs to look forward to emerging threats from cybersecurity to climate issues.” Is climate change the issue here? Is this an indication of where the government will misdirect resources once again? Fazili further displayed how out of touch the government is with the current crisis by saying inflation due to supply shortages is “kind of [a] good problem to be having,” as it indicates demand. The countless number of businesses and consumers currently paying for basic living expenses at up to 30-year highs may not see the glass half full at the moment.
Then, the Biden Administration met with the workers at the Port of Los Angeles this week, where it was agreed upon that the port would operate 24/7 to address issues. Ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, account for 40% of all shipments into the US, which seems to be a good start. Even Walmart, FedEx, and UPS have agreed to unload their shipments at non-peak hours to help the process. Oh, wait, the ongoing worker shortage. Companies are begging people to apply, and it remains to be seen whether the ports will be able to maintain proper staffing to run at full capacity around the clock. Then the need for a sufficient number of truck drivers becomes an issue as well. Even if the ports do reach full capacity, what about the spike in fuel prices? Energy prices have caused the price of transportation to skyrocket, which is then passed on to the consumer. The US government is approaching this issue from a domestic standpoint as well and not factoring in the reason why inflation and supply shortages are not limited to the US.
Socrates indicated that inflation could rally into 2034, and based on the current solutions, the computer will likely be correct once again. Perhaps we should all view inflation through rose-colored glasses and view the 5.4% YoY spike in September as “kind of a good problem to be having.”


text:
Get the digital magazine on your device!
FREE TRIAL – Limited time only
European entrepreneurs and investors need to be encouraged to put money back into the market in the way that those in Silicon Valley do, argued Nick Halstead, founder of Datasift, at the London Web Summit »
Online social capital ranking service PeerIndex has launched PeerPerks, a new service that offers freebies and discounts to key brand influencers »
Facebook has launched free voice calling as part of its iOS Messenger app in the UK »
With its vast tin reserves, the indonesian island of bangka is experiencing a mining rush that has led to environmental damage and human suffering. The cause? global demand for the solder used to make our smartphones and tablets »
There is enough here to make it enjoyable but too many inconsistencies and errors »


text:
Hurr Collective, the fashion rental app, has launched its first ever physical pop-up in Selfridges as it secures investment from New Look’s founder.
Selfridges today launched its Hurr pop-up, set to run for six-months, featuring a collection of 200 curated pieces available for customers to rent for between four and eight days at a time.
Unlike other fashion rental services such as Rent the Runway, Hurr is a peer-to-peer platform which allows users to both lend and rent clothes from each other rather than retailers.
The pop-up’s stock will rotate on a weekly basis and include specially curated edits for London Fashion Week and Valentines day, featuring items from leading luxury brands like Gucci, Mara Hoffman, Ganni and Rixo.
READ MORE: H&M to launch rental service
A range of interactive workshops will also be hosted by Hurr at Selfridges over the six-months, covering subjects like sustainable fashion and building an online brand.
“Hurr is based on creating accessibility and a route to luxury fashion for a mainstream market,” Hurr’s co-founder Victoria Prew said.
“In recent years, consumer behaviours have shifted towards access based models for houses and cars, with the sharing economy now entering fashion… We are incredibly excited to partner with Selfridges to help us translate the Hurr experience into a physical space.”
This comes amid news that New Look’s founder Tom Singh and chairman of the housebuilding giant Persimmon both invested in the app, set up in 2018 by Prew and Oxford PhD student Matthew Geleta.


text:
Best Buy’s annual Memorial Day saleRemove non-product link always has deals to remember, and this year it’s maintaining that tradition with great prices for everything from the new MacBooks to Apple Watches, iPads, and even Apple’s own phone cases. We like them apples very much, indeed.
The sale ends on Monday, May 27 at 11:59 p.m. Central. We’ve outlined a few of the standout deals below. If you prefer Amazon instead, the popular online retailer is starting to match some of Best Buy’s prices. We’ve listed Amazon’s alternatives when possible.
This story, “Save big on MacBooks, Apple Watches, iPads, and more with Best Buy’s Memorial Day sale” was originally published by


text:
A-List Celebrities Shine Bright at L’Oreal’s Extravaganza:
Mumbai witnessed a dazzling spectacle as some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry graced a special event hosted by the renowned beauty brand, L’Oreal. The star-studded gathering left no room for dull moments as actors, models, and fashion icons came together to celebrate beauty, style, and elegance.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Graceful Entry
The red carpet came alive as the iconic Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made a stunning solo entrance, capturing hearts with her timeless charm. Dressed in an elegant all-black ensemble, Aishwarya exuded grace and sophistication. Her presence at the event was particularly noteworthy as she had recently returned from the Paris Fashion Week 2023, where she wowed the audience while walking the ramp alongside American fashion entrepreneur Kendall Jenner.
A Moment of Glamour and Generations: Aishwarya and Aaradhya with Kendall
The event also treated fans to a heartwarming moment as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, accompanied by her daughter Aaradhya, shared the frame with Kendall Jenner. The selfie captured the essence of beauty, fashion, and generations coming together in one unforgettable click.
But Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was not the only luminary gracing the event. The evening saw a star-studded guest list that included Aditi Rao Hydari, Siddharth, Fatima Sana Shaikh, John Abraham, Mandira Bedi, Gauahar Khan, and many more. Their collective presence added to the grandeur of the evening, making it an affair to remember.
As Mumbai basked in the glitz and glamour of this extraordinary gathering, L’Oreal once again proved its status as a brand that transcends beauty and embraces the spirit of elegance, sophistication, and timeless allure. The event was not just about appearances; it was a celebration of the essence of beauty in all its forms, bringing together the industry’s finest to create memories that will be cherished for years to come.


text:
It seems that some privileged have been able to see something more than what was exposed to the public during CES 2018 this week in Las Vegas. We have been seeing more and more rumors about the Samsung Galaxy X, the first of the flexible mobile phones for the market. The same that Samsung has taught together with others at the fair behind closed doors with its flexible polymer OLED screen.
At the CES in Las Vegas, the first major event of the year in terms of Electronics held this week is often seen everything, because the presentations of products and devices already established are added to other novelties that aspire to become a benchmark or at least to get the interest of some company. We have seen smart toasters, wine shelves connected to the mobile phone, and yesterday nothing was seen because there was an ironic 2-hour blackout – due to the rains – that left a pavilion at the world’s biggest electronics fair without light. And it is that everything is possible in Las Vegas, even that the CES was running out of power.
The Samsung Galaxy X at CES
Last Tuesday, already in the heat of CES 2018, the Korean medium ET News published a news on the Samsung Galaxy X, the first flexible mobile that will arrive at the market. Pulling internal sources within Samsung itself, ET News claimed that the terminal will use a folding AMOLED screen of 7.3 inches once deployed, reducing its size to that of a conventional Galaxy when it closed. A mobile phone while it is closed, a tablet when it is open. In fact, we even saw what would be the production roadmap for the Galaxy X, which would go into production at the end of the year with a premiere for the beginning of 2019.
Today, three days later, the same media publishes another story about the Samsung folding terminal. The company apparently showed the first flexible prototype of the flexible smartphone behind closed doors during the Mobile World Congress last year, and this week it would have carried out another presentation away from the general public at CES to show the new prototype, without press in between and choosing different types of customers to see the potential response of potential buyers.
How has this transcended? Because one of the exhibitors of the CES invited to the private presentation has told ET News the same data that we already knew about the Samsung source: that the Galaxy X screen will be 7.3 inches, but not AMOLED but OLED. The novelty is that the Korean brand has supposedly taught several models, not just one. The mobile that closes inward – like a wallet – has a curvature of 1R, while another terminal that opens outwards has a curvature of 5R, which suggests that both mobiles can be folded like paper.
According to a previous rumor, Samsung has discarded the glass and the screens of these terminals will be OLED made of a flexible polymer. And their intentions are to create expectations and prepare a launch by the end of this year or the beginning of 2019. Will we see it? Or will the flexible technology be made to pray more than the screen reader under the screen and we will be waiting for the Galaxy X for more than two years?


text:
Some 14 tons of DiGiorno pizza aren’t delivering what their packaging promises.
Nestle USA., which owns the frozen pizza brand, has recalled about 27,872 pounds of its frozen DiGiorno Crispy Pan Crust pepperoni pizza due to “misbranding and undeclared allergens,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) reported this week.
The problem is, many of these boxes labeled as “pepperoni crispy pan crust” pizza actually contain DiGiorno’s “three meat crispy pan crust” pizza. In those pizzas, the beef topping and sausage bits sprinkled on the “three meat” pies include textured soy protein, which can sicken those with soy allergies.
The recall notice revealed that a customer brought the issue to the company’s attention after receiving a “three meat” pizza in a box marked “pepperoni.”
While there have been no confirmed reports of anyone suffering an adverse reaction from eating any of these products, the FSIS is concerned that some of these mislabeled pizzas may be in folks’ freezers, exposing them to unlisted allergens. Customers are advised to check their freezers for any 26-ounce cartons of “DiGiorno Pepperoni Crispy Pan Crust” pizzas with lot code 1181510721 and a “best buy” date of MAR2022 on the label, and throw them out or return them to their place of purchase.
In other product recall news, last week GM announced it plans to start replacing the batteries in 142,000 recalled Chevy Bolts. And more than 3 million Boppy newborn loungers were recently recalled after 8 infant deaths.


text: The Highlands Beer Festival will take place on Saturday, May 20 in the side parking lot of Mid City Mall. There will be three large tents covering most of the festival area. The largest tent will hold all the National Breweries many with specialty beers not normally available, a “Local’s Tent” including many new breweries to Kentucky, and a Sponsor’s Tent that includes Deschutes Brewery out of Oregon, Sweet Water Brewing Company in Georgia and West Sixth Brewing from Lexington. Entertainment is still being finalized, but the event brings thousands of people out to taste more than 60 breweries and well over 200 beers nonetheless. All proceeds from the event will benefit The Bluegrass Center for Autism. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at valumarket.com.


text:
Deloitte has announced the 50 fastest growing tech companies in India. The ranking is based on the companies revenue growth over the last three financial year. Noida-based Polestar Solutions and Services India LLP topped the list with a 9x revenue growth than their FY15 revenue. The second place was awarded to Evolute Systems Pvt Ltd whose revenue this year was 8x over their FY15.
- Compare Mobile Phones NewsIn DepthPress ReleaseHow to'sReviews
- Digit SquadVideosPhotos Contest Hot Deals


text:
A video of Xiaomi MI4 running the Windows 10 OS has popped-up on the internet today. If you are not aware then at the WinHec 2015 Conference, Microsoft announced a joint programme with Xiaomi of letting a select group of MI4 users test & build the Windows 10 OS before its release later this year and in relation to the same we might be looking at the first ever video of MI4 running the Windows 10 OS.
ITHome has once again got its hands on the latest build viz. 10.0.12531.52 of Windows 10 for Phone and have greeted users with the screenshots of the build.
- Improved Contacts App
- Improved Messaging App
- Spartan Browser
- USB OTG
- Rename your device locally
A great alternative to Adobe Reader and Microsoft Reader, Foxit Mobile PDF has made its way to the Windows Phone Store as an Universal app.
Foxit MobilePDF is a free and easy-to-use PDF reader for mobile users to view and work with PDF documents on Windows Phone devices. It delivers high fidelity rendering capabilities, allowing for a quick and clear reading experience on devices with small screens. With a small footprint that allows for instant startup and little memory consumption, Foxit MobilePDF provides the best way for you to easily access PDF documents whenever on the go.
Popular secure messaging service BBM has released a new update for its Beta version of the app on Windows Phone whereby adding ‘Channel‘ support.
This update takes the BBM Beta app on Windows Phone to version 2.1 (build version 18.104.22.168).
Now that we know that Microsoft will soon be releasing its next build of Windows 10 for Phone and that too for a bunch of Lumia devices, curious users had some questions for Gabriel Aul.
Microsoft released the first Windows 10 build for Phones on 12th of Feb and thereafter it has been a lull period without any follow-up update. Now the first build was only available for select few devices due to what Microsoft calls a ‘Partioning Issue‘.
On 27th March, Microsoft via a blog post revealed that it’s next build of Windows 10 for Phones is almost ready and it will be released to not one, not two but 36 Lumia devices. That’s quite a significant jump considering that the first build was only available for 6 Lumia devices.
Madfinger has just sent its highly popular zombie-apocalypse-themed First Person Shooter ‘Dead Trigger 2‘ for approval to the Windows Phone Store and what this means is that the game will go live any moment.
Dead Trigger 2 utilizes the Unity Game Engine and was originally released for Android & iOS on 23rd October 2013 and for Facebook on 20th February 2014 and now it is making its way to Windows Phone.
While users await for the roll-out of WhatsApp Voice Calling on Windows Phone, a lot might be going in the background between WhatsApp and Microsoft.
WhatsApp undoubtedly is one of the most used instant messaging app across platforms and Microsoft might already be working with WhatsApp for a Windows 10 version of the app.
Two new official apps have made their way to Windows Phone recently which includes CBS Corporation’s ‘Radio.com‘ and popular restaurant deals app ‘tastecard‘.
Radio.com gives you access to about 300 live broadcast, HD and digital-only stations from CBS Radio. tastecard app on the other hand gives you access to deals from about 7000 restaurants in UK.


text:
The Black Eyed Peas may not be able to fill an arena anymore, but that doesn’t mean will.i.am isn’t getting his paper.
Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, said Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am will become a creative director, contributing music and helping in the development of devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets.
The Grammy Award-winning musician already has an Intel badge and was introduced today at the company’s internal sales and marketing conference in Anaheim, California.
Intel, known for its rows of identical grey cubicles and worldwide network of robot-filled factories, is trying to make sure its products stay at the center of future trends in technology. A relationship with will.i.am helps Intel marry entertainment and technology, according to Deborah Conrad, the company’s head of marketing.
“It’s imperative that Intel and our innovations are kept in front of the global youth culture that embraces new devices and new forms of communication and entertainment,” Conrad said.
Will.i.am will be involved in a multiyear “hands on creative and technology collaboration,” Santa Clara, California- based Intel said. The company isn’t giving any more details of the partnership.
Intel’s chips run more than 80 percent of the world’s personal computers. The company is trying to parlay that dominance into a foothold in the faster-growing markets for smartphones and tablet computers.
That’s not too shaby for a boy from Inglewood.


text:
Starbucks Corporation plans to release its first quarter fiscal year 2018 financial results after the market close on Thursday, January 25, 2018 with a conference call to follow at 2:00 p.m. PT.
Located in Jongro Tower, with more than 900 residents, the store sits between two of the Tower’s floors covering over 1,000 square meters (11,000 square feet).
Starbucks Blonde Espresso – a light roast that’s smooth and subtly sweet– is a permanent menu item complementing the boldness of Starbucks Signature Espresso Roast originally introduced more than 40 years ago.
Starbucks has opened its 25th store on the Island at the Metropolitan University campus of the Ana G. Méndez University System in San Juan – its first new location since Hurricane Maria forced widespread store closures in September.
The 30,000-square-foot Starbucks Roastery, the first of its kind in Asia, introduces visitors to a fully immersive coffee wonderland.
Starbucks is giving a little extra good to its customers this holiday with its biggest surprise giveaway ever, handing out $1 million in Starbucks Cards, giving the gift of Starbucks Rewards® Gold status, and offering a chance to win Starbucks for Life.
This holiday, Starbucks and Spotify are donating to the charities of Chance the Rapper, Lady Gaga, and Metallica to benefit youth empowerment, education and veterans. Customers and fans can show their support with limited-edition Starbucks Gift Cards featuring the artists.
Starbucks today opened its first store in Jamaica and entered its 76th market globally, marking a historic milestone for the global coffee company’s Caribbean operations and its storied history of sourcing the highest quality coffee from the region going back more than four decades.


text:
The cherry campaign has started in the Netherlands, Belgium and Turkey, while countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy have already passed their peak. In North America, Washington (US) and British Columbia are also in production. One of the most important countries when it comes to cherry sales is China. Due to the trade war with the US, the country is looking for new import markets, such as Central Asia and Turkey. The market conditions are favorable for Dutch and Belgian cherries. In Southern and Eastern Europe, cherry growers had to deal with frost and rain damage in the spring, which took a toll on this year's production. The quality and demand for cherries have been good and that resulted in a price increase compared to the previous season. In Washington, in the US, the crop has been moderately affected by the rain and wind, but not as badly as in California in the spring.
The Netherlands: Demand for Dutch cherries
The Dutch cherry season can now be said to have really started. Many growers have open houses during this period, and many cherries are sold in farm shops and along the road. The market conditions for Dutch cherries are therefore favorable, as there are few cherries available elsewhere in Europe. Greece and Spain have already passed their peak, and the supply from Eastern Europe is a lot smaller due to frost and rain damage. Only the Netherlands and Belgium are in good shape and that is resulting in a good demand and prices.
Belgium: Staggered cherry harvest
Due to the high temperatures recorded recently, there is a high demand for Belgian cherries. The supply and demand are well-balanced, partly because there are hardly any cherries from Southern Europe left on the market. The prices are good for the time of the year. Due to the climatic conditions, the supply of Belgian cherries has been nicely staggered. The cherries have had a good growing season, which is beneficial for the fruit's quality.
Germany: Moderate start of domestic season; large supply from Southern Europe
The supply of cherries at German wholesalers is gradually increasing. In addition to its own production, there are plenty of imports from Spain, Turkey and Greece, among others. The available volume is therefore sufficient to meet the demand, as reported by traders. Worthy of note is the relatively high price of the domestic product, as a result of which, many have switched to foreign productions. This is partly due to the moderate start of the season in major growing areas, such as the Fränkische Schweiz, in southern Germany, and Werder, in eastern Germany. In the Hamburg region, in Altes Land, there have also been losses due to recent hail damage. The domestic volumes actually hitting the shelves are of very high quality, certainly now that the better varieties and sizes are also coming on the market, according to a trader.
In general, the cherry trade has been in quiet waters in recent weeks. With regard to the foreign production, the Italian Ferrovia has lost ground, while large volumes have been supplied from Spain for relatively low prices. Turkey is also fully present in the market, although the mainly small sizes have pushed prices down. Greece is also doing its bit and is an interesting alternative in terms of pricing, especially in southern Germany's wholesale market.
Switzerland: Good harvest expected this year
Until recently, there were still Spanish cherries on the shelves of Swiss retailers, much to the indignation of Swiss consumers. Nevertheless, the Swiss expect a good harvest this year, with a production estimated at 2,700 tons.
Spain: Season is coming to an end; 25% lower harvest
The season is coming to an end in Spain and the production is now mainly coming from El Jerte, in Extremadura. The cherry harvest has been 25% lower than last year, but the fruit's size, quality and taste have been better. In combination with the favorable market conditions in Europe, this has led to a 40% higher average price than in the previous season.
More and more Spanish companies are focusing their efforts on the cultivation of premium quality cherries and are therefore opting for innovative varieties. With the higher quality, they are able to export the cherries to interesting markets, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE, the Caribbean and the rest of Europe. Germany, France and Italy remain the main destinations. Cherries of 30 mm or larger are currently harvested. Consumers, however, demand larger and sweeter cherries with some bite.
Soft cherry varieties are no longer popular and are thrown away. These varieties are too sensitive to climate change, rainfall and acid conditions.
France: Longer season expected in the southwest
Without taking into account the possible impact of the high temperatures recorded last week, the cherry harvest is looking good. In the Loiret department, there will be production until July 14. The Suzuki fruit fly hasn't attacked the cherries, as it doesn't like warm weather. They haven't been detected either on the new orchards that are now in production.
The size of the French cherries is small because the trees are currently loaded with them. So far, the demand for cherries has been good, although this week it has started to become a bit more unstable. In the south-west of the country, the season may last longer than in previous years. The current prospect is that the campaign will last for two weeks longer than normal. Usually, such an extension doesn't exceed 4 to 5 days.
Italy: Harvest reduced due to weather conditions in May
The cherry supply and demand are somewhat out of balance. The demand is currently greater than the supply. The weather in May, and particularly the hailstorms, caused the production to fall. Consequently, the markets are looking abroad. Besides Italy, the cherries available come mainly from Spain, Greece and Turkey. The most important cherry regions are Apulia, South Tyrol, Emilia Romagna and Venice. Normally, 50,000 tons of cherries are harvested in Apulia, but due to the turbulent weather in May, only around 60% of the production has been harvested.
In week 26, the cherry marketing campaign came to an end in the Bari region, in Apulia. The cherries, especially the strong and profitable Ferrovia varieties, were easily sold due to rising prices. For the most part, the cherries are sold satisfactorily, and that ensures stable or even rising prices for the fruit.
Turkey: Growing export of cherries
The Turkish production is arriving, and according to a trader, the prospects are good, given the weather conditions. Turkey is managing to export more, mainly to destinations like China, India and Europe.
China: New import markets needed due to tariff war with US
Cherries are a very important product for the Chinese market. Throughout the year, in addition to its own local production, a lot of cherries are imported. This year, China has gained a few new import markets, such as Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The cherries from these countries are generally well received; the quality is high and fewer protection products are used than in Chinese cherries. The only problem is that the logistics networks are not yet ideal, which means that by the time the cherries arrive on the Chinese market, they are not always at their best. Furthermore, the season of these Central Asian countries overlaps with the Chinese season, so there is some competition.
In previous years, most of the cherries imported at this time came from the US, but due to the trade war between China and the US and the higher tariffs enforced, this year's volumes are much smaller. Many Chinese companies are therefore working with other countries, such as Canada and Turkey, where the seasons are now also starting. The first shipment of Turkish cherries is expected to arrive next week.
As for the local production, which started with the greenhouse cherries in April, the price has fallen sharply since then. In June, a large volume of domestic cherries hit the market, which pushed prices down. This large amount of cherries may be kept in storage until around mid-July, after which their quality will considerably deteriorate. As a result, the price has been falling sharply, especially this week, because new imported cherries are coming onto the market and most companies want to sell their local cherries, given that the quality is still good.
United States: Washington in production
The cherries in Washington state were moderately affected by the light rain and winds recorded last week. A high yield had been expected this year, but due to the moderate damage, it will now be a normal harvest. In any case, the quality of the cherries has not been affected. The availability of larger sizes will increase in the short term, and smaller sizes will follow. The demand for cherries is good thanks to the promotion carried out in July, so the prices remain at the current level (between $ 22.90 per box for the smallest sizes and $ 38.90 for the largest sizes). The Washington season will last until the end of August. California's is about to end. Washington faces some competition from British Columbia in Canada, but production here is limited.
Chile: Exports to China have doubled
The southern hemisphere is currently out of production and the cherry trees are dormant during the winter. Last month, Decofruit's overview of the 2018/2019 season was published. Although the total volume of cherries fell, Chile saw its exports to China double.


text:
Slack rolls out AI capabilities for all paid users across the globe
Slack incorporates native AI features across paid plans, enriching user experience with language support, a Recap feature, and enhanced search abilities.
New Zealand's digital advertising revenue soars in 2023
IAB New Zealand's latest report reveals an impressive 4.3% YoY growth in total digital advertising revenue for 2023, totting a figure of $2.112bn, with Q4 seeing a 7.3% quarter-on-quarter boost.
85% of Australian e-commerce content found to be plagiarised
Australian AI-driven SEO solutions specialist, OptiDan, reveals alarming levels of duplicate and plagiarised content amongst e-commerce retailers in its comprehensive industry study.
CAST Imaging unveils new software intelligence tool aimed at engineers
Software intelligence innovator CAST unveils an upgrade of CAST Imaging, offering advanced search capabilities, improved dependency mapping, and more.
BackBox introduces Zero Trust Network Operations for improved security
BackBox steps up network security efforts by launching Zero Trust Network Operations (ZTNO), a best practice framework aimed at integrating cybersecurity into network operations. This comes ahead of the 2024 mandate for federal agencies to implement Zero Trust Architecture.
Qlik acquires Kyndi's technology to boost AI data analytics
Data analytics giant, Qlik, acquires technology and IP from Kyndi, an AI specialist, to boost its capabilities in handling unstructured data and enhance its AI-driven business insights.
CommerceHub rebrands as Rithum, unites top eCommerce firms & acquires Cadeera
Global commerce firm CommerceHub rebrands to Rithum, merging key e-commerce players and acquires UK AI firm, Cadeera.
Google unveils Gemini, it's multimodal AI model that beats ChatGPT
Google debuts Gemini, a pioneering multimodal AI model, offering advanced code generation and comprehension across diverse tasks.
Arkeus raises AU4.45m for AI surveillance tech advancement
Australian firm Arkeus secures AUD $4.45m in seed funding to revolutionise AI-powered surveillance technologies.
Koat.ai and Plato AI join forces to revolutionise data intelligence
Koat.ai partners with Plato AI to redefine data intelligence and foster unparalleled innovation in the sector.
Generative AI in Search expands to over 120 new countries with more language support
Generative AI in Search now supports four additional languages and extends to over 120 new territories, enhancing search experiences.
Barracuda report reveals half of all internet traffic is bot-generated
Barracuda's new report finds that nearly half of all internet traffic is created by bots, with 30% of this from harmful bots.
Designer Paul Smith uses Storyblok to boost website speed & revenue
Paul Smith has partnered with Storyblok to revamp its website, resulting in a 50% increase in page speed and improved revenue and conversion rates.
Discovery partners with Google NZ to showcase Newshub content
Warner Bros Discovery ANZ and Google have partnered to feature Newshub content on Google News Showcase, broadening its reach significantly.
Quarter adults wish personal info not available online:Uswitch
Photographs, home addresses, and date of birth were among the personal details available online through search engines.
Neo4j enhances its graph database with vector search
Neo4j, a global graph database and analytics company, has integrated native vector search as part of its core database capabilities.
Telecoms online visibility driven down by Google updates
UK telecoms firms have experienced one of the biggest falls in visibility from Google following its last two algorithm updates.
80% of ANZ’s biggest digital retailers don’t pass Google’s customer experience assessment
Brands like Countdown and Coles are failing to meet Google's core standards for digital experience, impacting revenue and customer behavior.
EXCLUSIVE: Finding the best data center for your business needs with datacenterHawk
DatacenterHawk, a leading global data center real estate analysis platform, aims to meet the growing demand for data storage solutions.
Mobile friendly websites are not always mobile friendly
Despite advancements, many sites remain stubbornly not mobile optimised, prompting Google to test warning icons in search results.
Networking nirvana as Microsoft ramps up Kiwi partner connections
Microsoft is ramping up its efforts to connect partners at this year’s Worldwide Partner Conference, introducing WPC Connect to attendees.
Take advantage of your “in between” mobile moments
LinkedIn has added new search capabilities to its mobile app, allowing users to search for jobs, companies, groups, and people on-the-go. The update also includes tips to help users be more productive.
LinkedIn search gets much much smarter
Did you know 5.7 billion professionally oriented searches were done on LinkedIn last year?.
NZ's Fronde wins Google ANZ award
New Zealand's Fronde has beaten out the Aussie competition to be named Google's 2012 ANZ Enterprise Partner of the Year.


text:
Today Google’s Android OS reached the milestone of having over half a billion devices activated worldwide. On top of that 1.3 million devices are added every day. This represents a huge success for Google. Androids growth shows no sign of slowing down as the rate of activations illustrates; back in February Google’s Andy Rubin confirmed 300,000 Android activations and a rate of increase of about 850,000 a day.
Google’s Hugo Barra announced the new figures on, what is coincidentally, the day the new iPhone is set to be revealed. He declared on his Google+ account page “Today is a big day for Android... 500 million devices activated globally, and over 1.3 million added every single day.” Apple is hoping it will be enjoying a big day too, we shall see more about that after 6PM, UK time.
Android’s 40 per cent surge in 6 months
Android has enjoyed a huge surge in the last six months climbing from 300,000 activations to 500,000; a sturdy 40 per cent increase. Analysts think this adoption rate has been helped by several factors; first of all people have been waiting impatiently for the new iPhone, some folk will have jumped ship, secondly there have been great hardware releases by Android handset makers such as HTC and Samsung to encourage people to buy into the Android platform. There are more and more devices other than smartphones that are “powered by android”. We also have the obvious tablet computers but also there are TVs, cameras and various games consoles now based upon the Android OS.
Looking at the competition figures, Apple has sold 410 million iOS devices as of July this year. Apple iOS and Google Android “powered 85% of all smartphones shipped in the second quarter of 2012” according to research by IDC published last month. The Q2 market share figures were as follows; Andoid 68.1 per cent, Apple iOS 16.9 per cent, BlackBerry 5 per cent, Symbian 4.5 per cent and Windows Phone 3.5 per cent.
New Jelly Bean statue update
Incidentally Mr Barra announced that “the Jelly Bean statue is back in our front yard”. The old one had melted a bit in the California sunshine causing the transparent head to pop off and several “jelly beans” went missing. The new one with a green head looks better anyway, much more iconic at a distance.


text:
After having reviewed various strategic options, METRO GROUP and its subsidiary Media-Saturn-Holding GmbH, together with the stakeholder families Kellerhals and Stiefel, have signed an agreement to sell the 34 Saturn stores in France to HTM Group. With the divestment of its consumer electronics activities in France, METRO GROUP is consistently driving its strategically orientated portfolio optimisation.
The competent boards of both parties have approved the transaction and have agreed not to disclose the consideration. The closing of the transaction remains subject to approval from the relevant antitrust authorities; a respective merger control process has been initiated.
In 2009, Saturn in France employed around 2,000 staff and generated sales of EUR 583 million. HTM Group will continue to operate the 34 stores and all employees will be taken over. The talks with the employee representatives have been concluded. After a transition period of a few months, the Saturn stores will be turned into Boulanger stores.


text:
Supermarket Iceland has announced it is to undertake the biggest shake up in its own-brand history with over 550 new and improved products launching in stores from 2 September. The overhaul of Iceland’s popular own label follows months of market trends, social media and sales analysis as the supermarket looks to create the UK’s first own-label range driven directly by customer feedback.
The frozen category has seen a steady resurgence; a report by The Grocer (released 25.05.19) revealed the category jumped in value by 3.4% to £6.3bn over the course of the last year. Shoppers from all walks of life are experiencing the benefits of frozen foods, with figures from Kantar showing that nearly 37% of Iceland’s sales came from the more affluent ABC1 social group in the last six months of 2018 – five years ago this was less than a third.
Frozen foods are also witnessing a surge in popularity amongst discount shoppers, where 39% are now looking to economise by switching to frozen. Research conducted by Sheffield Hallam University suggested that switching to frozen food can reduce household food bills by as much as £250 a year.
All new products have been informed by customer product reviews, shared on social media, Iceland’s ecommerce site and in store, alongside trend research. 550 lines will be unveiled, comprising of dishes well known to customers which have been given a recipe revival alongside brand new ones customers are yet to discover. Iceland’s most popular ranges including fish, ready meals, pizza and vegan will all see significant expansions.
Andrew Staniland, director of frozen at Iceland, said: “In response to the increase in demand for frozen food we are proud to be launching our biggest ever range of new and improved own label products and giving customers even more of what they want.
“We undertook an intensive research project, analysing our customer feedback and reviewing our product recipes to challenge each one, and we’re proud and confident that our new recipes and products will respond to customer trends.
“This latest range embraces the benefits of frozen food and is based on trends, customer opinion and optimised recipes. It is our biggest launch to date and definitely the most ambitious frozen food range in UK supermarkets.”
The supermarket is also introducing a carefully selected range of frozen Limited Edition products, which will be released throughout the coming months to provide a steady stream of new products for customers to try each week. The range will provide shoppers excellent value alongside the food innovation Iceland is well known for, From Steak and Stilton Pie to Frozen Pomegranate Seeds and Salt and Pepper Chips, the ‘when it’s gone it’s gone’ selection will be filled with trend-led and seasonal products which shoppers will need to be quick to snap up.
Iceland will launch over 500 Limited Edition products over the coming twelve months, reflecting an investment of around £2m in innovation.
Staniland added: “We know our customers like to try new and exclusive products and the Limited Edition range ensures we have a constant stream of exciting new launches. The range will tie into key seasonal moments such as Halloween, and is also driven by restaurant, street food, takeaway and social media food trends. Customers will need to act quickly to try our latest products though, as once they’re gone they’re gone for good!”
Iceland is no stranger to delivering products in line with customer demand and trends. The No Bull meat-alternative range, available at Iceland, has sold over 2.6 million burgers since its launch. The range was introduced in response to a greater demand for supermarket vegan food, as demand for meat-free food soared by 987% in 2018.
David Lennox, head chef at Iceland, said: “Over the course of the last year we’ve looked in detail at every one of our own-label products and really scrutinised the range. We’ve worked hard in the development kitchen to revamp recipes and create brand new products based on customer feedback.
“We’re excited for the upcoming launch of the 550 new and improved products, it’s a testament to both our food development team and our loyal customers and we’re confident this is our best frozen range ever.”


text:
Sony Pictures Television, Ryan Seacrest Productions and Embassy Row are developing a primetime version of the hit Zynga game. Teams made up of celebrities and regular users will play the game in front of a studio audience for cash and prizes. The show will also have a play-at-home element.
Now, Variety reports that CBS has won a bidding war on the project. Although the network hasn't made any on-air commitments, it's expected to fast-track the project.
Draw Something seems like a natural fit for television. Game show aficionados will remember the syndicated version of Pictionary — as well as the 1980s classic, Win, Lose or Draw.
For Zynga, a Draw Something television show could be just the juice the game needs to re-engage with its audience.
Zynga famously purchased the game from OMGPOP for $180 million in March. The purchase appears to have coincided with the actual peak usage of the game — which managed to rack up an astounding 50 million downloads in just 50 days.
Since the acquisition, however, the game's popularity has waned. AppData reports that the game has lost 10 million monthly-active users in the last 30 days.
To combat that drop, Zynga has set its sights on stronger partnership agreements — like its recent deal with DreamWorks Animation for Madagascar 3.
Zynga is also targeting new markets. Earlier this week, the company announced that it's bringing the game to more languages — including Chinese.
Still, we think the game show potential for Draw Something, especially with a strong Social TV tie-in could be a big win for Zynga and CBS. What do you think about a Draw Something TV show? Would you watch?


text:
NEXT has been granted planning permission to create a new flagship store on the outskirts of Camberley after councillors waved through a long-standing application.
The retailer has vowed to invest around £8m in its new London Road outlet, currently occupied by Homebase, which will see the shop renovated, creating 240 jobs in the area.
Plans for the store, lodged in March, were referred to an extraordinary meeting of Surrey Heath Borough Council on October 8 after The Mall Camberley registered an objection.
The shopping centre contended that the proposal flew in the face of the authority's commitment, enshrined in its core strategy, to create more retail floorspace in Camberley town centre.
But a late objection from neighbouring authority Rushmoor Borough Council saw the plans deferred to allow for greater examination of two alternative sites in Farnborough.
And at a second meeting last Thursday (November 22), despite lingering concerns among members of the Surrey Heath executive over the likely impact on Camberley town centre and traffic flow on and off the busy Meadows roundabout, the plans were approved.
The store will embrace Next's new 'Fashion, Home and Garden' shop format with the retailer proposing a complete overhaul of the building.
"It will look completely new," said head of built environment Brian Townley. "There will be car parking for 260 cars and a walkway to a bus stop on London Road."
Reflecting on the store's impact, Mr Townley said the council was aware the Meadows development held "strong sway" over Camberley, saying: "It is a difficult time for retailers.
"And there are concerns [that] out-of-centre locations could undermine the core strategy - there is only so much retail value in the Camberley area."
Applicant Steve Ardron, regional estates manager for Next, said the retailer was looking to create a concept store along the lines of its recent developments in Shoreham and Ipswich.
"Next is one of the few retailers still looking to expand," he said. "Our objective is to turn a tired, unattractive site into an exciting proposal, making it one of Next's top five UK buildings."
Mr Ardron added the plans would improve the facade in London Road and pledged as part of the planning agreement to maintain Next's Park Street store for at least another 10 years.
Objecting to the plans, Iain Minto, The Mall Camberley's retail asset manager, said the development would divert shoppers away from the town centre.
"Items such as clothing and fashion are associated with town centres rather than out-of-town stores," he added.
Concerns in the council chamber, however, focused primarily on the traffic implications of the application.
Speaking at the meeting, Andy Stokes, Surrey County Council's principal transport development planning officer, said a contribution from Next would pay towards greater monitoring of traffic flow at the Meadows.
But Cllr Liane Gibson said she was unclear what could be gained from watching it further, saying: "We recently saw figures that suggested there are around 53,000 traffic movements on the Meadows every day - it is one of the busiest roundabouts in Surrey and we will just be compounding an existing problem."
Cllr Vivienne Chapman added that any increase in traffic, without traffic lights, would cause "absolute chaos" in Tank Road which feeds into the Meadows roundabout, despite Next's contention that the increase at peak times would amount to a little less than 60 vehicles.
"The Meadows roundabout is Surrey Heath's answer to Spaghetti Junction," warned Cllr Ian Sams. "Shoppers exiting onto the Meadows take their lives into their own hands."
Leader of the council Moira Gibson voiced an impassioned plea to respect the council's core strategy, saying: "Government policy is town centre first.
"There will be a disadvantage to Camberley, the main town centre in the borough, if we have a really big store just down the road. This application should at least be deferred to further consider the traffic implications."
Supporting the application, however, which was seconded by Cllr Rodney Bates, Cllr Edward Hawkins said the proposal was an opportunity for the town.
"It gives us choice," he said. "We are being offered a fantastic facility here that would delight residents in the area. Nobody is forcing people to go to Next."
The application was carried by 24 votes to 11 with one abstention. The store is expected to open in August 2013.


text:
Local woman nearly threw away $250,000 lottery ticket
An East Moline woman said she nearly tossed a scratch-off lottery ticket after she mistakenly thought it was not a winner.
Illinois Lottery officials say Kassie Slagel told them she didn’t think she had won anything on the Black Diamond 7s ticket she bought at the 7-Eleven store, on 18th Avenue, in East Moline. She was about to throw the ticket away, but took one more quick look before pitching it into the trash.
“I was shocked to see that I had actually won!” Slagel said. “I can’t believe I almost threw away a quarter of a million dollars!”
Lottery officials said five $250,000 top prizes were still unclaimed from the Black Diamond 7s game. That particular instant-win game costs $5 to play.
The store gets a bonus of one percent of the prize amount for selling a winning ticket.
Slagel and her husband planned to use their winnings to buy a new house and to invest for their children to go to college.


text:
A weird bug in iOS 8’s Calendar app has been making people pull their hair out for months. When adding events using either a Google or Microsoft Exchange server, the time zone is randomly synced to Greenwich Mean Time.
Complaints started surfacing around iOS 8’s release last September, and the issue still persists.
Today is Daylight Savings Time in the United States, which is always a hazardous time of year for owners of iOS devices. Why? Because try as Apple might they just can’t seem to release a version of iOS that does not have that are triggered by the switch to Daylight Savings Time.
No joke: Apple has had bugs come up in iOS after the switch to Daylight Savings Time in 2010, 2011, and 2012, while 2013 saw a similar New Year’s Bug screw up Do Not Disturb for device owners. Now here we are in 2014. Does iOS 7 contain a Daylight Savings Time bug?
It does! If you open Calendar on your iOS 7 device, you will notice that while the time of your operating system is set correctly, the line marking the time in Calendar is an hour old. It’s a minor bug, but hey, how would we remember Daylight Savings Time at all if our iOS devices didn’t go wonky once a year because of it?
Apple acknowledge last week that some of its new 13-inch MacBook Pros with Retina display units were experiencing issues where the trackpad and/or keyboard became unresponsive after a few minutes of use. Any new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro purchased after Apple’s October 22nd iPad event may have been potentially affected by the glitch, but Apple announced today that it has published a fix for the problem.
MacBook Pro Retina EFI Update V1.3 can be downloaded via the Mac App Store and promises to fix any glitches where the users trackpad and keyboard stop working on the late 2013 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina models.


text:
Evolv Ventures launched late last year as the venture arm of ketchup and mac-and-cheese behemoth Kraft Heinz with $100 million to invest in startups. We caught up with Steve Sanger, a partner at Evolv, to find out more about the fund's strategy and his personal shift from startup to investor
I tucked into my first ever breakfast in Israel early this Sunday morning faced with a blatantly biblical reminder, but there's nothing typical about the future milk and honey being developed by the country's booming foodtech scene.
Remember, remember! The sixth and seventh of November!
These two dates will mark the autumnal moment when fifteen fledgling agri- and foodtech startups try to make an explosive impression on FoodBytes! by Rabobank at Victoria House in London.
Wherever we look, humans have consistently built technologies that surpass their animal predecessors. Cars replaced horses, petroleum replaced whales, tractors replaced oxen, telecommunications replaced carrier pigeons. Food may be next.


text:
Fake Squid Game app with malware found on Google Play Store, downloaded over 5,000 times
- There’s unsurprisingly a flurry of
Squid Gameapps on the Play Store and one with malware too.
- The app posed as a Squid Game wallpaper but instead had
Joker malwarein it.
- Google was quick to remove the app but it had received more than 5,000 downloads.
AdvertisementSquid Game is Netflix's biggest show ever and has been watched by over 142 million users worldwide. The dystopian Korean series has reportedly raked in $900 million when it took only $21.4 million to produce.
Squid Game has won hearts over and the craze is undeniably visible all over the internet with the show’s merchandise, memes, and even real-life games. There are also a bunch of unofficial Squid Game apps on the Google Play Store out of which one was discovered to be filled with malware.
This Android app disguised itself as a Squid Game wallpaper app but is instead filled with malware, according to a report by Forbes. The app was first discovered by a Twitter user named @ReBensk. It was later investigated by ESET malware researcher Lukas Stefanko who found that the app can lead to malicious ad fraud and unwanted SMS subscriptions.
Google thankfully removed the app from the Play Store upon being notified but it was reportedly downloaded by over 5,000 users, the report added. The researcher also found that hackers used the infamous Joker malware in this app.
Joker strikes again
Anyone familiar with Android malware must have definitely heard about the Joker malware. It's the one that has been lurking on Android phones since 2017 and finding new ways to infiltrate devices. Google even set up a dedicated team to fish out apps with Joker malware and have so far removed more than 1,800 infected Android apps from the Play Store.
Not the only Squid Game app
This malware-infused Squid Game app has been removed from the Play Store but there are still tons of fake apps still on the Play Store. Just a quick search on the Play Store will pull search results of multiple Squid Game apps where some offer show-like games or wallpapers.
Some of these apps checked by Stefanko didn’t have any malware but did contain a good number of ads. As for the rest of the apps, it isn’t confirmed if they have malware but considering none of the apps are official, it's important to be careful before downloading them on your phone.
Advertisement'Squid Game' VIP actor says mockery of their acting skills has been 'a challenge'
Netflix's Korean series 'My Name' is surging in popularity following the success of 'Squid Game'
Popular on BI
- A Boeing supplier says it tried using Vaseline, cornstarch, and talcum powder to lubricate a door seal before settling on Dawn dish soap: NYT
- Boeing is betting big on its upcoming $442 million 777X to compete with the popular Airbus A350. Here's how the jets compare.
- Photos show how 700 of Titanic's 2,200 passengers were saved by the Carpathia when the ship sank 112 years ago
- Sweet and nutritious: exploring the health benefits of watermelon
- Entrepreneurship in the Digital Age
- CJI DY Chandrachud advocates for ethical AI integration in legal research
- Govt asks all gas-based plants to be operational from May 1 to June 30 as electricity demand surges
- MS Dhoni in spotlight as CSK and MI resume rivalry in new era


text:
Fall in industrial profits, doubts about China’s GDP growth
Profits of major industries fell by 2.4 per cent between January and September. The negative data come on top poor employment, consumer spending and retail sales data. Discrepancies on the amount of fixed investments have been observed. For a China Beige Book expert, China’s economy is closer to 5 per cent decline rather than growth.
Beijing (AsiaNews) – The latest figures for China’s economy have raised eyebrows with experts increasingly doubtful about their veracity. If they are to be believed, China’s GDP figures show a strong recovery after a major decline caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to rising youth unemployment in September (+4 per cent on annual basis) and the contraction of consumer spending in the first three quarters of 2020 (-6.6 per cent), the drop in profits of the country's major sectors has experts scratch their head.
According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, Chinese companies with annual revenues above 20 million yuan (US$ 3 million) reported a 2.4 per cent drop in profits between January and September compared to the same period last year.
Companies in the state sector registered the biggest losses (-14.3 per cent) whilst those in private sector lost far less (-0.5 per cent).
According to available data, the national GDP grew by 4.9 per cent in the third quarter of the year, a sharp rise compared to the losses in the first three months of the year (-6.8 per cent), when the country was in the throes of the coronavirus crisis.
However, several observers note discrepancies in the official data, especially as regards to investments in fixed assets (buildings, highways, machinery, etc.).
In the first nine months of the year, these investments grew by 0.8 per cent, for a total of 43.7 trillion yuan (US$ 6.5 trillion), rising 0.8 percent and achieving positive growth for the first time this year. However, last year, the figure was 46 trillion yuan (US$ 6.8 trillion).
The Chinese Bureau of Statistics tried to explain the discrepancy by saying that the amount of fixed investments between January and September 2019 was revised after the economic survey last November, a figure that was not then made public.
For Derek Scissors, chief economist of the New York-based China Beige Book, if fixed investments actually fell as did retail sales, China's third quarter GDP is closer to a drop of 5 per cent rather than 5 per cent growth.


text:
Coromandel International acquires 45% of the stock in Senegal’s company BMCC
The government of Senegal said on Wednesday that rock phosphate mining company Baobab Mining and Chemicals Corporation (BMCC), which is based in Senegal, has officially sold 45% of its stock to India’s Coromandel International.
‘As part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiative to help India become self-sufficient in fertilizers, the government has been advising and helping Indian fertilizer companies strengthen their back-end supply chain. India is very dependent on raw materials like rock phosphate and phosphoric acid.’
Also Read | Coromandel Intl Limited’s VC arm, Dare Ventures to invest in String Bio.
‘In a statement, the Fertiliser Ministry said, “Given India’s high dependence on raw materials like rock phosphate and phosphoric acid, the country plans to secure its supplies and protect itself against price increases by expanding its footprint in mineral-rich countries through investments and multi-year import deals.’
Benefits both the side
Fertilizer Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who was in charge of the event where BMCC representatives gave Coromandel the acceptance letter from the government of Senegal, said that the investment in the rock mines in Senegal would be good for both countries and help to strengthen their friendship.
Mandaviya further said the mining will take place in Senegal, and 10 lakh tonnes (lt) of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK) will be made in India.
Goals for security
He also said, ‘India is making sure it has a steady supply of raw materials by investing in places with lots of minerals.’ The government has been working with the industry to make investments like these possible so that the country’s fertilizer needs can be met. We are committed to making sure that our farmers have access to fertilizers, and we will keep working to boost domestic production and form partnerships with other countries.
Also Read | Centre asked seed companies to expand transparency in certification of labeled seeds.
Arun Alagappan, the executive vice chairman, said that the investment in BMCC will help Coromandel get up to one-third of the rock phosphate it needs and also help it get supplies from different places.
In 2021-22, the country imported 54.62 lt of DAP, which was 12% more than the year before. About 80% of the phosphatic fertilizer the country needs comes from outside. Both this year and last year, the government subsidy for phosphatic fertilizer went up a lot. Even though prices around the world have gone up, the government has kept the retail price of DAP at about ₹1350-1400 per 50 kg bag.


text:
Hemp has not been grown commercially in the U.S. for more than 80 years.
But thanks to provisions in a newly enacted federal farm bill, that will be changing and changing fast. The bill, signed into law by President Donald Trump at the end of 2018, legalizes the farming of hemp,
Calling the decision an “essential shift,” Cameron McCoy, assistant vice president for economic engagement at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, said the move is opening a tremendous opportunity for industries across the board to grow and use a plant that he says has more than 25,000 industrial, environmental and medical applications.
Eastern and Central Pensylvania could be at the center of the booming hemp industry as many investors and researchers are eyeing the region as an ideal for hemp growing and processing.
Why no hemp?
While it is a member of the cannabis family, hemp lacks a significant concentration of THC, the psychoactive chemical found in its cousin, marijuana.
But because of the similarity of the two plants, hemp was classified as a Schedule 1 drug under federal law and its cultivation was banned in the 1970s.
However, farming of the plant had not been practical for decades up to that point.
Industry-crushing restrictions were placed on the crop around the time of World War II, eliminating much of its domestic cultivation.
Now, hemp is expected to make a quick comeback to U.S., and especially Pennsylvania, farms.
While restrictions and government oversight of hemp farming remain in place. The 2018 farm bill allows the broad farming of hemp. Previous rules permitted growing hemp only for research purposes.
The economic impact is expected to be significant, with experts in the hemp industry predicting a $22 billion market by 2022.
“The opportunity is enormous,” said Geoff Whaling, chairman of the National Hemp Association.
That’s because the demand is already there.
Diana Martin, spokeswoman for the Rodale Institute in Kutztown, which has been participating in a hemp farming research program since 2016, said while the U.S. hasn’t been able to grow hemp, many U.S. industries use it.
To get the material, companies have been importing it from other countries, including Canada and China, to use in products ranging from textiles and nutritional supplements to car parts and even for concrete-like building products for construction.
Whaling said it’s estimated that each year U.S. companies spend around $600 million to import Canadian hemp seed and seed oil alone.
“That’s been taking opportunities away from U.S. farmers to go after these emerging markets,” Martin said.
Martin said being able to grow hemp should be a particular boon to farmers in Pennsylvania.
“Pennsylvania was once a huge epicenter of hemp farming,” she noted.
As a girl she attended the Hempfield School District in Lancaster, which was named because of the abundance of hemp grown in that area.
In fact, Whaling said before World War II Lancaster County was the largest grower of hemp in the nation.
Ready. Set. Grow!
In some ways, the region is fairly prepared to return to growing hemp as a commercial crop.
As part of its Hemp research, the Rodale Institute has been planting and studying different varieties of hemp. The goal is to figure out which varieties grow best in the local environment.
“Since we haven’t grown hemp commercially for about 80 years a lot has changed,” Martin said. “We wanted to be able to give farmers info … to see what grows well here in our climate and soil.”
She said the research also entails determining which varieties of hemp produce the different qualities an end user might want out of the crop, such as the amount and quality of the oil, or the strength of the fibers in its stalk.
When Pennsylvania farmers are ready to start growing hemp, they’ll have the know-how.
Knowing how and what kinds of hemp to grow is only the first step, Whaling said.
Because it’s been so long since hemp has been grown as a commercial product in the U.S, the nation lacks the infrastructure to harvest, process and distribute it to industries that will use it.
First, Whaling noted, harvesting hemp isn’t easy.
Hemp fiber is known for its strength and durability. But the quality that makes the fiber so valuable, also makes it hard to separate from the stalk.
Special harvesting equipment is needed and is hard to find in the U.S. right now because of the lack of demand.
If famers try to use traditional harvesters used for crops like corn, the equipment will quickly become jammed and broken, Whaling said.
Other specialty equipment is also needed to process and break down the hemp plant into its various components.
Both Whaling and McCoy said because of the research already being conducted in the area by Rodale and Lehigh University, as well as the region’s rich hemp-growing history, the Greater Lehigh Valley is being eyed as a likely spot for hemp processing facilities.
Whaling said he contacted the Wolf administration to let it know he could have investors at the ready to fund such a facility if they could get state backing.
He said he believes he could get enough investors to put $100 million towards a hemp industrial park in the region using private money.
For nearly three years, Lehigh University has been working to research uses of hemp as well as the different supply chains needed to grow the industry.
“This institution [Lehigh University] was built around the steel industry,” McCoy said. “We’re looking at hemp as we looked at steel as an industrial product.”
In fact, he said, he sees hemp as having the same impact on the national and regional economy that steel once did.
While there is still a long road to go, McCoy said in many ways the development of hemp in the U.S. already has a strong base.
“It’s surprisingly more robust than you might think,” he said. While many researchers and potential funding sources have shied away from dwelling on hemp because of the stigma of its Schedule 1 drug classification, he gives credit to those institutions that had the foresight to move forward with research including Lehigh University and partners Jefferson and Delaware State universities, which have been working together in support of research.
But the changes ushered in by the farm bill will bolster efforts to learn more about hemp.
“This gives us some fabulous opportunities to understand what we can do with hemp in industry,” McCoy said.
Industries that currently use imported hemp
Auto – Brake and clutch linings, molded parts
Construction – Insulation, fiberboard, concrete block
Health and personal care – Nutritional products, oils, anti-microbials, lotions
Other uses – Rope, textiles, plastic replacement, fuel, paint, etc.
Source: The National Hemp Association


text:
However, Google's platform for Android-based augmented reality is still a developer preview for several more months, with the latest version rolling out today. So, to help the developers to narrow down their development process, the company is focusing on a single project to offer much better support for the platform development.
At the basic level, Tango let you do things like use a smartphone as a tape measure, since it could accurately measure distance in front of you.
Still, fairly recently Google seemed committed to Tango. Then, in 2015, it became the first graduate from Google ATAP, the search giant's other skunkworks. Also, when we talk about Project Tango, some of the names that come to our mind are Lenovo Phab2 Pro and ASUS ZenFone AR. However, neither phone was a particular sales sensation, and Tango failed to attract a huge number of developers.
EPL: Wenger reveals real reason he dropped Lacazette against West Ham
West Ham even came close to grabbing a victor when substitute Javier Hernandez hit the crossbar with a shot in the last minute. Arsenal could have Shkodran Mustafi available again after the center-back returned to training this week.
"Google is continuing AR development with ARCore, a new platform designed for building augmented reality apps for a broad range of devices without the requirement for specialised hardware", the company said.
Google pronounced Project Tango's death sentence via a tweet, where they stated that they would drop support for the program on 1 March, 2018. ARCore is Android's equivalent to Apple ARKit, a baked-in augmented reality platform, which made an appearance into developer kits and a few consumer devices previous year.
As of now, ARCore is only available on Pixel devices and the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


text:
En Masse Entertainment, a player-focused publisher dedicated to delivering great games and great service, has announced the all-new Awakening update for their successful, long-running action MMO TERA, which features new Apex class skills for all 13 classes as well as the Dark Reach Citadel Dungeon. TERA’s new Awakening update is scheduled to launch on June 30, 2020, for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
In preparation for this new update, En Masse is today releasing a hotfix build with a new event dungeon, Demon’s Wheel, and the return of the fan-favorite dungeon RK-9 kennel!
In this Awakening update, console players may enjoy new and unique abilities for each class that allows for a more dynamic combat role. Players who have reached level 65 and item level 439 can start the Velika Banquet questline and earn their new Apex skills. With these new abilities unlocked players can test their skills and dive into the Dark Reach Citadel Dungeon to take on fearsome foes and unravel the machinations of a mysterious faction.
TERA has entertained and enthralled just under five million players on console in North America, the EU, and Japan since it launched in 2018 and over 9 million players in North America on PC for over 8 years.
For more information about the new Awakening Update, please visit: https://tera.enmasse.com/news/posts/get-ready-to-get-awakened
Stay up-to-date on all the latest TERA information on the official TERA website.
If you enjoy games and gaming and want more NEWS from the Gaming World Click Here


text:
Specific terms of what Westlake-based American greetings in a Press release described as a “multi-year multi-artist partnership” with Roc Nation have not been disclosed. The press release states that this is the first line of digital and physical greetings from Roc Nation.
American Greetings said in the publication that the products are being developed “in collaboration with the authentic voices” by Roc Nation artists. No artists have been identified who are part of the arrangement.
The digital products will be available worldwide and will be released in 2021, according to American Greetings. Added that “there will be more (information) on physical card availability” and consumers can register for product alerts Here, at www.americangreetings.com/roc-nation.
The first products become part of American Greetings’ “Celebrity SmashUps” Series of digital maps featuring shareable videos from people you know including Donny Osmond and Shaquille O’Neal.
Brett Yormark, Roc Nation’s president of business operations and strategy, said in a statement that the partnership “enables Roc Nation and its talent to create a deeper bond with their audiences.”
Rob Matousek, executive director of direct-to-consumer business at American Greetings, said the partnership “reflects our commitment to creating authentic content that is relevant and accessible to all”.
Roc Nation was founded in 2008 by JAY-Z who is having a big Cleveland-related week and has just been announced as a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class of 2021. The company represents recording artists, producers, songwriters, and more professionals in the entertainment and sports industries.


text:
Breaking News Emails
WASHINGTON — A new U.S. intelligence assessment has concluded that North Korea does not intend to give up its nuclear weapons any time soon, three U.S. officials told NBC News — a finding that conflicts with recent statements by President Donald Trump that Pyongyang intends to do so in the future.
Buy 209545 New Balance WT10V2 Women Purple Shoes,Discount 236502 Nike Lebron X Men Black Metallic Silver Anthracite Shoes,Authentic 157177 Nike Air Force 1 Women White Blue Shoes,Shopping 191305 Nike Air Max Women Black Purple Shoes,Cheap 162458 Nike Air Max Women Gray Pink Shoes,Cheap 166115 Nike Lebron 11 Men Graffiti Shoes,Shopping 219107 Nike Air Max 247 Women White Black Pink Shoes,
Trump is continuing to pursue a nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un even though the CIA analysis, which is consistent with other expert opinion, casts doubt on the viability of Trump's stated goal for the negotiations, the elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons stockpile.
"Everybody knows they are not going to denuclearize," said one intelligence official who read the report, which was circulated earlier this month, days before Trump canceled the originally scheduled summit.
Buy 215315 Nike Dunk High Women Light Charcoal Orange Shoes,Shopping 176267 Nike Lebron 8 V2 Men Shoes,Authentic 176230 Nike Free 3.0 V4 Women Orange Gray Shoes,Buy 240936 Nike Free Flyknit 4.0 Women White Shoes,Cheap 214581 Nike Free Run 3 Women Watermelon Red Shoes,Discount 198809 Nike Lebron 8 V2 Men Shoes,Inexpensive 232576 Nike Lunarglide 2 Women Gray Pink Shoes,
In an odd twist, a list of potential concessions by North Korea in the CIA analysis included the possibility that Kim Jong Un may consider offering to open a Western hamburger franchise in Pyongyang as a show of goodwill, according to three national security officials.
Shopping 181459 Puma Body Train Mesh Women Black White Red Shoes,Comfortable 173240 Nike Lunarelite 2 Men White Gray Orange Shoes,Adidas Bounce Titan V Men Coupon_073,Adidas Originals JS Men Coupon_128,Adidas Springblade 2013 Men Coupon_243,Authentic 150728 Nike Lunarglide 3 Men Red Blue White Shoes,Discount 197228 Nike Free Run 3 Women Royal Blue White Shoes,
It suggests Kim is interested in a peaceful gesture to an American president whose love of fast-food burgers is well known — and who, during the 2016 campaign, had said he wanted to Christian Louboutin Sale Women Coupon_487, with the North Korean leader.
On the nuclear question, the analysis suggests that a more realistic immediate objective would be convincing Kim to walk back recent progress on the country's nuclear weapons program, the officials said.
But it's not clear that would pass muster with Trump — or America's allies.
Giuseppe Zanotti Sale Women Coupon_660,Authentic 227751 Nike Max Lebron VIii Men White Shoes,Jimmy Choo Bridal Women Coupon_729,Jimmy Choo Pumps Women Coupon_825,Jimmy Choo Sandals Women Coupon_883,Comfortable 174267 Nike Max Lebron VIii Men Black Yellow Shoes,Platforms Jimmy Choo Women Coupon_982,
"If the North Koreans don't agree in a joint statement that lays out denuclearization — that is, getting rid of their nuclear weapons, having them put under control by international elements — then I don't think we are going to go very far," Chris Hill, a former ambassador to South Korea, said Tuesday on MSNBC.
On May 24, Trump canceled the summit, originally scheduled for June 12, but in recent days has suggested he may participate in the summit after all. A U.S. delegation met in recent days with North Koreans officials in the Demilitarized Zone, and a senior North Korean intelligence official is en route to New York City to discuss a potential summit.
New Balance Men Coupon_1069,Inexpensive 234500 Nike Lunarswift 2 Men Blue Black Shoes,New Balance 574 Men Coupon_1185,New Balance 574 Men Coupon_1284,New Balance Women Coupon_1397,Comfortable 231393 Nike Roshe Run Men Carbon Black Orange Shoes,New Balance 574 Men Coupon_1232,
New Balance 998 Women Coupon_1543,Buy 149850 Nike Roshe Run Men Black Grey Shoes,Nike Derrick Rose Men Coupon_1641,Nike Derrick Rose Men Coupon_1668,JORDAN FLIGHT RUNNER 2 Gym Red/Black/White,Cheap 204631 Nike Shox Nz Men White Purple Shoes,Men's Basketball Shoe Kobe XI Elite 822675-001,
The CIA report came as a top nuclear expert argued in a new paper that the nuclear disarmament process in North Korea could take as a long as 15 years. Siegfried Hecker, Men's Boot Nike SFB 6" Leather 862507-400, who once directed the federal government's Los Alamos laboratory in New Mexico — and who has toured North Korean nuclear facilities four times — argued that the sprawling nature of the North Korean program means it will take a long time to dismantle. His analysis was Men's Nike Air Force 1 Low Univ Red/Univ Red/White/Gum Light Bro,.
The CIA report, described by three officials to NBC News, lays out a series of incentives the U.S. and South Korea could offer North Korea to disarm, including infrastructure and agricultural aid.
Men's Nike Shoe Kobe XI 836183-006,Shopping 147753 Nike Roshe Run Men Yellow Electric Yellow White Shoes,Men's Running Shoe Nike Air Zoom Structure 19 806580-001,Men's Shoe (Extra-Wide) Nike Dual Fusion X 2 819317-002,Men's Shoe Jordan Horizon Low 845098-001,Authentic 210419 Nike Shox O Nine Men White Black Shoes,Men's Shoe Nike Air Max 120 819857-100,
Breaking News Emails
Men's Shoe Nike Darwin 819803-111,Men's Shoe Nike Kobe Mamba Instinct 852473-500,
The report, like nearly all intelligence products on North Korea, offered analysis at low or medium confidence — language intelligence agencies use to signal that analysts lack hard information to buttress their conclusions.
Men's Football Cleat Nike Vapor Untouchable Pro 833385-111,Shopping 186611 Nike Shox Nz 2.0 Men White Shoes,Men's Training Shoe Nike Train Quick 844406-107,NIKE AIR MAX PLUS University Red/Black/Tour Yellow,Nike Flyknit Racer Unisex Running Shoe 526628-009,Authentic 153676 Nike Shox O Nine Men White Shoes,NIKE LUNAR TRAINER 1 Black/Volt/White,
One of the world's most reclusive countries, North Korea is a notoriously difficult intelligence target. Human sources and communications intercepts are hard to come by.
NIKE SB ZOOM STEFAN JANOSKI CANVAS PREMIUM Team Red/White/Black,Inexpensive 220666 Nike Shox O Nine Men Black Shoes,Women's Shoe Nike Air Force 1 Low Upstep BR 833123-100,Women's Shoe Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 33 831356-402,Women's Shoe Nike Metcon 2 821913-100,Discount 176652 Nike Shox R4 Men White Black Red Shoes,Nike Shox Deliver Girls Toddler Dark Grey/Bright Citrus/Black/Vivid Pink Running Shoes V50141,
"This is essentially some very smart analysts offering their very best guesses," one intelligence official said.
During the 2016 campaign, Trump said he would like to meet with the North Korean leader in a low-key setting that entailed "eating a hamburger on a conference table."
The CIA report does not specify which fast-food brand could be invited to North Korea, but said Kim envisioned that the establishment could be used to provide food during the talks and would show that he was open to Western investment.
In advance of major diplomatic negotiations, it's not uncommon for intelligence agencies and the State Department to provide assessments about the opposing side's red lines. The idea is to prepare American participants for all possible eventualities, and to provide options to influence the adversary's behavior.
The new CIA report, according to three national security officials, assessed that Kim may also offer other limited American investment in North Korea, particularly in infrastructure.
The U.S. and South Korea would likely focus on food delivery — possibly through the United Nations — and other agricultural development, the report said. The South Koreans would likely take the lead in delivering this aid.
Nike Huarache Run Girls Grade School Wolf Grey/White/Cool Grey/Hyper Pink Running Shoes V99792,Cheap 178040 Nike Shox R4 Men Black Red Shoes,Adidas D Lillard 2.0 Mens Gold/Dark Grey/Green Glow Basketball Shoes V55965,Adidas Pure Boost Zg Mens Black/Grey/Solid Grey Running Shoes V19487,Adidas Ace 15.2 Fg/Ag Mens Solar Blue/Silver Metallic/Solar Yellow Soccer Shoes V76073,Discount 225341 Nike Shox R4 Men Black Pink Shoes,Nike Air Max 2015 Mens Black/Sonic Yellow/Metallic Silver Running Shoes V28842,
Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 32 Mens Blue Lagoon/Bright Citrus/Total Orange/Black Running Shoes V39618,Shopping 196448 Nike Shox Rivalry Men White Shoes,Nike Lunartempo 2 Mens Black/Anthracite/Black Running Shoes V13431,Adidas Adizero Adios Boost 3 Womens Sun Glow/White/Shock Red Running Shoes V79866,Adidas Supernova Sequence Boost 7 Womens Flash Pink/White/Night Flash Running Shoes V53802,Comfortable 202659 Nike Zoom Hyperdunk Men Orange White Grey Shoes,Nike Air Max Excellerate Womens Blue Lagoon/Copa/White Running Shoes V39825,
Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 32 Womens Black/White/Black Running Shoes V33436,Comfortable 189042 Nike Zoom Hyperdunk Men Red Metallic Silver Treasure Blue White Shoes,Nike Juvenate Womens Atomic Pink/Bright Crimson Running Shoes V11622,Men's Nike Dual Fusion Run 3 Black/Hyper Cobalt/Electric Green/Metallic Silver UK#N5-8743,Men's Nike Lunartempo 2 University Red/Black/Bright Crimson/White UK#N5-9490,Cheap 174505 Nike Zoom Hyperfuse Tb Men White Red Grey Shoes,Nike Kids Free 5.0 Dove Grey/Electric Green/Volt/Black UK#N5-9362,
The U.S. also could offer economic incentives, including sanctions relief.
The report says North Korean officials have not demanded in preliminary talks that the U.S. remove all its troops from South Korea, and they are not expected to do so in any initial summit.
The report says that South Korean President Moon Jae-in believes he enjoys a strong rapport with Kim, and that South Korea is considering a formal declaration to end the war between the two countries.
The CIA and the White House declined to comment.
Creative Recreation Infant Kaplan Trainer CP508,Cheap 178554 Nike Zoom Hyperdunk Men Blue Green Shoes,Nike Junior Air Max 90 Mesh Trainer CP636,Hunter Nursery Original Chelsea Boot CP775,adidas Originals Original Trefoil Hooded Top CP949,Authentic 190911 Nike Zoom Kobe VI Men Shoes,Good For Nothing Long Split Overhead Hooded Top CP1069,
One former senior official who has been briefed on the U.S. approach to North Korea acknowledged that U.S. intelligence agencies do not believe Kim would ever get rid of all his nuclear weapons.
"I've always wondered: How does the administration square that circle?" the former official said.
Brave Soul MJK Newbury Duffle Jacket CP1255,Comfortable 197659 Nike Zoom Kobe VI Men Black Shoes,Ellesse Lazzaro Technical Parka Jacket CP1369,Selected Notive Mac Jacket CP1517,Asylum Turbo Tailored Short CP2079,Buy 185578 Nike Zoom Kobe VIII Basketball Men Grey Royal Purple Shoes,Asylum Cassana Short CP2289,
The big question going into any negotiation, the official said, was how the White House would deal with North Korea's unwillingness to denuclearize while maintaining Trump's public line requiring such a move.
Trump seemed to acknowledge that dilemma in remarks last week where he said North Korea may not have to immediately denuclearize and that its nuclear program could be phased out over a period of time.
The U.S. also has decided to drop any human rights demands as part of the talks, according to a current and a former official — a deeply significant move when dealing with a country that the U.S. believes holds between 80,000 and 120,000 prisoners in squalid camps. The former official said the U.S. approach to North Korea was broken down into phases, each of which would bring corresponding gestures of aid and sanctions relief.
Clae Ellington Leather Shoe CP3875,Shopping 203634 Nike Zoom Kobe VIi Men White Black Gold Shoes,adidas Originals Climacool Fresh 2.0 Trainer CP4054,adidas Originals Hamburg Trainer CP4177,Creative Recreation Santos Trainer CP4328,Discount 218021 Puma Drift Cat Sf Men White Gold Shoes,Lacoste Deston HCR Trainer CP4507,
First, the Trump administration wants North Korea to declare all details of its nuclear program, dispose of fissile material and close some sites.
Nike Paul Rodriguez CTD Canvas Trainer CP4650,Inexpensive 240175 Adidas Originals Superstar 2.0 Unisex Gold White Shoes,Nike Kobe X Elite Low ,Ralph Lauren Polo Joplin Suede Trainer CP4955,Vans Old Skool Cork Twill Trainer CP5106,Authentic 167445 Air Jordan Retro 4 Unisex Dark Grey Green Grey Black Shoes,Unisex Shoes adidas Adizero Javelin Navy/White/Equipment Green,
The U.S. would then press for international inspections and a gradual elimination of nuclear weapons.
The American side would like to all but eliminate fissile material in North Korea.
An open question, said the former official, is how and whether to press Kim to account for and relinquish his chemical and biological weapons. After Trump criticized the Iran nuclear deal for failing to account for Iran's missile program, it would be hard for him to reach a nuclear deal with North Korea that ignores other weapons of mass destruction.
Womens Boots Aerosoles Cascade Black Combo,Comfortable 167497 Nike Air Max Unisex Turquoise Blue Black Shoes,Womens Shoes Aerosoles Solsa Dance Black,Womens Boots ALDO Dyna Black Leather,Womens Boots Anne Klein Dvorah Navy Suede,Shopping 236952 Nike Roshe Run Unisex Coal Black Shoes,Womens Shoes Anne Klein Weekend Blue/Grey,
Womens Shoes Badgley Mischka Kassidy Platino Glitter/Suede,Shopping 152988 Adidas Originals ZX 700 Women Purple White Shoes,Womens Boots C Label Dainty - 28 Black,Womens Boots Calvin Klein Jeans Suzie Dark Brown Goat Alaska,Womens Shoes Calvin Klein Calayla Whiskey/Black Nappa,Discount 233411 Air Jordan 1 Retro Women Black Pink White Shoes,Womens Shoes Calvin Klein Artria Black/White/Black,
On May 28, the White House said in a statement that Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had spoken and "affirmed the shared imperative of achieving the complete and permanent dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and ballistic missile programs."


text:
16 February 2022
Intel to acquire analog foundry Tower for $5.4bn
Intel Corp of Santa Clara, CA, USA has agreed to acquire specialty analog foundry Tower Semiconductor Ltd of Migdal Haemek, Israel for $53 per share in cash, representing a total enterprise value of about $5.4bn. The acquisition advances Intel’s IDM 2.0 strategy as it further expands its manufacturing capacity, global footprint and technology portfolio to address unprecedented industry demand.
The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both Intel and Tower and (subject to certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, including the approval of Tower’s stockholders) is expected to close in about 12 months and be immediately accretive to Intel’s non-GAAP EPS. Intel intends to fund the acquisition with cash from the balance sheet.
To provide multi-fab sourcing and extended capacity for its customers, Tower has two fabrication plants in Migdal Haemek (150mm and 200mm), and two at its US subsidiaries in Newport Beach, CA and San Antonio, TX (both 200mm), and three at TowerJazz Japan Ltd (two 200mm and one 300mm) which it owns through its 51% holdings in TPSCo. Also, Tower is sharing a 300mm manufacturing facility being established in Italy with ST.
“Tower’s specialty technology portfolio, geographic reach, deep customer relationships and services-first operations will help scale Intel’s foundry services and advance our goal of becoming a major provider of foundry capacity globally,” says Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger. “This deal will enable Intel to offer a compelling breadth of leading-edge nodes and differentiated specialty technologies on mature nodes – unlocking new opportunities for existing and future customers in an era of unprecedented demand for semiconductors.”
As a key part of its IDM 2.0 strategy, Intel established Intel Foundry Services (IFS) in March 2021 to help meet the growing global demand for semiconductor manufacturing capacity and to become a major provider of US- and Europe-based foundry capacity to serve customers globally. IFS currently offers leading-edge process and packaging technology, committed capacity in the USA and Europe and other geographies in the future, and a broad intellectual property (IP) portfolio.
Tower’s expertise in specialty technologies, such as radio frequency (RF), power, silicon germanium (SiGe) and industrial sensors, extensive IP and electronic design automation (EDA) partnerships, and established foundry footprint will provide broad coverage to both Intel and Tower’s customers globally. Tower serves high-growth markets such as mobile, automotive and power. Operating a geographically complementary foundry presence with facilities in the USA and Asia serving fabless companies as well as IDMs, it offers more than 2 million wafer starts per year of capacity – including growth opportunities in Texas, Israel, Italy and Japan. Tower also has what is described as a foundry-first customer approach with a customer support portal and IP storefront, as well as design services and capabilities.
“Tower has built an incredible range of specialty analog foundry solutions based upon deep customer partnerships, with worldwide manufacturing capabilities,” says Tower’s CEO Russell Ellwanger. “Together with Intel, we will drive new and meaningful growth opportunities and offer even greater value to our customers through a full suite of technology solutions and nodes and a greatly expanded global manufacturing footprint,” he reckons.
“Their decades of foundry experience, deep customer relationships and technology offerings will accelerate the growth of Intel Foundry Services,” comments IFS’ president Dr Randhir Thakur. “We are building Intel Foundry Services to be a customer-first technology innovator with the broadest range of IP, services and capacity,” he adds. “Tower and IFS together will provide a broad portfolio of foundry solutions at global scale.”
Intel claims to be the only leading-edge player with both R&D and manufacturing in the USA, including recently announced capacity expansions in Arizona and New Mexico, as well as plans to build a new mega-site in Ohio. Tower’s technology and manufacturing footprint is complementary to Intel’s IFS capabilities in leading-edge processes, allowing the combined company to provide broader offerings to customers at scale. With the addition of Tower, Intel reckons that it is positioned to bring more value to customers across the nearly $100bn addressable foundry market.
Until the deal’s closure, IFS and Tower will run independently; IFS will continue to be led by Thakur, and Tower will continue to be led by Ellwanger. Intel’s intent is then for the two organizations to become a fully integrated foundry business.