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Canadian giant Andrew Peller Limited announced today that it has entered agreements to purchase Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, Black Hills Estate Winery and Gray Monk Estate Winery – three of British Columbia’s most important wineries.
The publicly traded company with headquarters in Grimsby, Ontario, said the combined total of the three transactions will cost $95 million in a combination of cash and stock. The sales are expected to be finalized by Nov. 1. According to Peller, the three Okanagan Valley wineries generated a total of $25 million in their most recent fiscal year.
“It has been the honour of my life to have helped build Tinhorn Creek, to make great wines with an attention to sustainability and most importantly, to run our business with empathy toward our employees, our customers and our community,” Tinhorn CEO Sandra Oldfield stated in a news release. “Andrew Peller will continue the long term development and growth in the Okanagan that we started.”
Oldfield, a proud graduate of University of California-Davis and product of the Bay Area, used her winemaking and business acumen to help turn the Oliver winery into one of Canada’s most recognizable and successful brands with a production of 40,000 cases and 150 acres of vineyards. She also helped spearhead the effort that turned the Golden Mile Bench as the Okanagan Valley’s first sub-appellation. Next year, Tinhorn Creek will celebrate its 25th anniversary.
Peller noted that it has signed agreements to acquire 100 percent of both Black Hills and Gray Monk, and that it has entered into a letter of intent to acquire all of Tinhorn Creek Vineyards. It added that each is an individual transaction. The company also noted that the issuance Class A common shares as part of the transactions need Toronto Stock Exchange approval.
3-generation wine company grows its BC portfolio
Peller CEO John Peller said, “My grandfather started our business in the Okanagan nearly 60 years ago, and we have always been inspired by the Valley’s promise to make wines that rival the very best in the world. We have long admired these leading estate VQA wineries and now it is a privilege to bring their ultra-premium wines and talented people into our family. With our investment and resources, these wines have the potential to grow, develop and compete in the growing luxury wine market around the world.”
Black Hills, almost directly east across the Okanagan Valley from Tinhorn Creek, is home to perhaps Canada’s most recognizable premium red wine — Nota Bene, a Left Bank Bordeaux-style blend. Black Hills President Glenn Fawcett said in an email to his wine club that he and longtime winemaker Graham Pierce plan to remain at the winery, which was co-founded in 1996 by Bob and Senka Tennant inside a Quonset hut along the Black Sage Bench.
“It is expected that most, if not all, of the employees currently with our business will continue with the winery under the new ownership, including myself and winemaker, Graham Pierce,” Fawcett said. “We will continue to maintain all relationships with our loyal customer base and honor all commitments and privileges for all Wine Club members.”
Fawcett noted that Andrew Peller Ltd., is a three-generation wine company, adding, “With their resources and support they provide us with an opportunity we could only dream about before, and that is to compete on the global stage.”
Black Hills production stood at 12,000 cases from the 2014 vintage, and Fawcett reportedly owns a 54 percent of the general partnership with nine others making up the remaining 46 percent.
Gray Monk roots date to 1972
George and Trudy Heiss founded Gray Monk Estate Winery in 1972 in the beautiful Lake Country north of Kelowna. They established 50 acres of vines and helped develop Pinot Gris into one of the Okanagan Valley’s most important grapes, and the former hair stylists have been key figures behind the Vintners Quality Alliance. Their production of Pinot Gris reached 26,000 cases in 2015, which reportedly makes up about one-third its reported 75,000 cases, and their holdings include 50 acres of vineyards.
“We’ve known the Peller family for many years and share and appreciate the same values and approach to quality winemaking,” George Heiss said. “We are delighted to partner with them to continue the legacy of Gray Monk Estate Winery in the Okanagan.”
The three wineries will join APL’s growing family of Canadian properties, which includes Okanagan Valley brands Sandhill and Red Rooster. Sister projects include Peller Estates, Trius, Thirty Bench, Wayne Gretzky and Conviction. Last year, APL launched Wayne Gretzky No. 99 Red Cask Canadian Whisky.
Peller President Randy Powell, said, “Canadian consumers are becoming more and more interested in super and ultra-premium wines, and these are some of the greatest brands in the country. They complement our Western Canada VQA portfolio well and will significantly strengthen our presence in the region.”


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The Southern Cross Border Traders Association says their business are still operating at a loss despite the stability in the Kwacha.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News Association Secretary General Jacob Makabwe says the stability in the kwacha is not an indication that business is operating at a profit.
“Cross border traders would like to see a situation where the kwacha can gain more strength against major convertible currencies.” He said.
He however says the stability in the kwacha is an advantage to cross border traders as it will allow them to plan for their business for a long time.
Mr Makambo adds that constancy in the kwacha has also helped the traders to maintain the stocks they buy from outside the country.
In the last three months the US dollar has been buying at eleven kwacha seventy Nine ngwee and selling at twelve kwacha.
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CIRA Calls For Nominations For Board Election – The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) has a issued a call for individuals to be considered by the Nomination Committee for the Board of Directors election to be held this September. The last day for applications to the Nomination Committee is Monday, May 21. The 2007 election, to be held this September, will be a split ballot composed of candidates selected by the Nomination Committee and nominated directly by Members. The Member nomination process will take place during July.
I had the unfortunate experience of spilling an entire cup of tea into my keyboard last Monday morning. This may be as much a testimonial to Dell that I am writing this email on the same keyboard today, but here is my recipe for keyboard recovery in the event of a spill:
Still struggling with organic search engine optimization? The folks at SEOmoz recently published their list of Search Engine Ranking Factors and if you care about being found on the Internet, you should take note. So who are these people? More than just another Internet Marketing company, SEOmoz is a hub for search marketers worldwide, providing education, tools and resources to help individuals, non-profits and government organizations leverage the unique reach of the Internet to increase their online visibility and success. They also maintain a top-notch blog about search engine optimization, social media, online marketing, useability and other important stuff that affects your online world.
More Registry Price Increases – Following VeriSign’s registry price increases announced for .com and .net, Public Interest Registry and Afilias have announced registry-level price increases for .info names, respectively. The increases for each are 2.5%, from $US 6.00 to $6.15, and will take effect in October. Individual registrars will decide whether or not to change their retail prices. and
Our new and improved webmail user interface has launched. This upgrade will enable you to accomplish more with your Webnames.ca Webmail.
In addition to the flexibility of sending and receiving e-mail from any computer with Internet access, our new webmail comes with calendaring and contacts manager, e-mail search functionality, shared task manager, notepad, enhanced folder management, allowed senders and blocked senders, among other features. We hope find the improved interface and new features easy-to-use.
Winning the War on Spam
Spam, or unsolicited bulk e-mail, has risen in both quantity and sophistication over recent years. In 2006 spam made up 40% of all e-mail, a number expected to increase to an unnerving 63% in 2007. With the average person receiving over 2,200 unsolicited messages last year alone, spam has reached unsavory new heights. To help combat the impacts of spam on our customers, Webnames.ca has made comprehensive upgrades to our e-mail service.
ICANN Board Rejects .XXX Domain Application – By a 9-5 vote with one abstention, the ICANN Board has rejected the .xxx domain application from ICM Registry. The decision came nearly seven years after the proposal was first made. ICM Registry is reportedly considering .
We did it again… for the third consecutive year Webnames.ca exhibited at the. This year the business-to-business technology tradeshow and networking event was held at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre (Canada Place) on March 28th.
As an ICANN Accredited Registrar, Webnames.ca follows the domain name industry very closely and the recenthas been on our radar this month. The Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will revoke RegisterFly’s accreditation by the end of this month and plans to review how it accredits and disciplines domain name registrars after this fiasco put tens of thousands of websites at risk. ICANN president Paul Twomey has called for decisive action to reform its standard Registrar Accreditation Agreement to help protect domain customers.
Simple websites between one and a dozen pages, commonly referred to as “brochure” websites, are widely used by small businesses and organizations to accomplish two things on the Internet: get found on search engines and provide information about products/services to potential customers 24/7. The term “brochure website” is actually something of a misnomer. One of the worst mistakes a small business can make is duplicating their marketing material online.
ICANN Terminates Registrar Accreditation Agreement For Registerfly – ICANN has issued formal notice of termination of its accrediation agreement with registrar Registerfly.com. According to the letter, Registerfly.com will no longer be allowed to operate as an ICANN-Accredited Registrar effective March 31.
Information Week reported yesterday that Microsoft is stepping up efforts against those who illegally profit from their trademarks by registering domains with slightly altered spellings. Paul Mc Dougall writes that the software maker will more aggressively pursue legal action against companies that register domain names that are misspellings of Microsoft product names in order to capture Internet traffic from typo-prone computer users.
Today on DomainNameWire.com, Andrew Allenmann stresses the importance of a good domain name and points to a $1 Million lesson.
An article in today’s Wall Street Journal confirms that the domain name Topix.com was purchased for $1M in January. The new owner is Topix.net, which receives 10M visitors per month. The company understood the user confusion of not owning the .com version of the domain and negotiated the purchase.


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Tustin Ranch Elementary School's Brownie Troop 1689 sold 3,039 boxes of Girl Scout cookies this year.
The girls in the troop chose to donate $560 of their cookie money profit to purchase new recess equipment and library books for the school.
The girls presented more than 40 handballs, soccer, and basketballs, 30 jump ropes and 30 hardcover library books at an assembly.
- Man back in U.S. to face charge in Garden Grove shooting death
- Dodgers' Rich Hill proves worth the wait as his six scoreless innings help beat Giants, 1
- Kickoff 2016: See the photos from our high school football preview section
- CIA releases declassified briefings given to Nixon, Ford
- Plane crashes into hangar at Fullerton Airport, two aboard injured
- Girl Scouts at 100: Still 'courageous and strong'
- Girl Scouts say farewell to pet project: a service dog
- Celebrating 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts
- Dolphins can't partake in Girl Scout 100th anniversary
- Girl Scouts donate 200 prom dresses
- Girl Scout cookies do O.C. firm's marketing
- Donations needed for soccer coach's wheelchair
- Clothing drive being held at Denny’s restaurant
- Tustin school news: Students donate lengthy locks
- Toy donations needed for hospital Joy Jars
- Hewes holds toy, gift card drive
- Tustin home tour slated for Saturday
- Girl Scouts Brownie troop helps children in Haiti
- Girl Scout leaders left mark on Tustin
- Sisters love Girl Scout camp – in two languages
- Girl Scout exhibit at OC Fair celebrates 100 years
- Photos: A look at famous Girl Scouts through the years


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Insulet (NSDQ:PODD) broke ground at its new manufacturing facility in Acton, Mass. yesterday, hosting a ceremony that featured the state’s governor, Charlie Baker, members of Baker’s administration and a young “Podder” named Lexi Bentinganan.
Diagnosed at age 7 with Type I diabetes, Lexi has been using Insulet’s tubeless insulin delivery device, the Omnipod, since 2013.
“It has given me complete control over my diabetes and reminded me that I’m just a normal kid,” she told the crowd of people gathered at Insulet’s 26-acre site.
The Omnipod device is currently manufactured overseas, chairman & CEO Patrick Sullivan said. The 300,000 square-foot site will help Insulet support 200,000 additional Omnipod users, according to the chief executive.
“There are many key decisions to be made in building a great and last enterprise. Few of those decisions are bigger and have higher stakes than choosing where to invest to build your company’s future,” Sullivan said. “After considering locations from coast-to-coast, we decided to bet big on the future of manufacturing in Massachusetts.”
The new firm will bring more than 1,000 jobs to Acton and result in a $100 million investment to the town over the next few years, he added. The facility is slated to include multiple new manufacturing lines and an innovation center.
“The statement this makes about the commonwealth is an important one,” Baker said. “It says, yet again, that this is a state that deserves its ranking as the number one place to live and raise a family…that this is, in fact, the number one innovation state in the country, according to Bloomberg News, and that this is, in fact, a truly wonderful place to start and build a technology company and a healthcare organization.”
“Today Omnipod helps a person get more discrete, more precise delivery of insulin,” president & COO Shacey Petrovic added. “Tomorrow, Omnipod will do this and so much more.”


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Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the pardon is "undeserved, unprincipled and one more stain on President Trump's rapidly diminishing legacy."
"There is bipartisan agreement in Congress and among federal and state antitrust enforcers that protecting competition and innovation online is essential to our economy. Today's antitrust lawsuit against Google is an important step for ensuring a competitive online space," Mr. Nadler said.
© Copyright 2020 The Washington Times, LLC
3600 New York Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002


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Xiaomi Mi Band 4 is coming: What do you expect?
Chinese manufacturing giant, Xiaomi, has enjoyed a great time in the wearable market. Many thanks to its most recent Xiaomi Mi Band 3 which had sold about 10 million units as at November 2018 (it was released in June 2018). As of now, Xiaomi is the second largest wearable manufacturer in the world. It is also the number one wearable device manufacturer in China. It is already nine months since the release of the Mi Band 3. Now, netizens are beginning to wonder when Xiaomi will release the Mi Band 4.
Huami is the sub-brand that is responsible for Xiaomi’s smartbands. Last week, Huami released its Q4 2018 performance as well as a report for 2018 in its entirety. At the conference, Huami’s CFO, David Cui was asked about the Xiaomi Mi Band 4. He confirmed that there is definitely a Xiaomi Mi Band 4. However, when he was asked if this device will be released in March or April, he said: “it will come in 2019”.
As for the expectation, Mr. Cui said “each generation teaches us something new, and the later generation is always better than the previous”.聽According to IDC statistics, Xiaomi shipped 16.97 million wearables in the Chinese market last year, up 20.5% year-on-year. It also shipped 23.3 million in the global market, up 44% year-on-year. With this performance, it is second in the world, just behind Apple. If Xiaomi smartbands improves on its 2018 performance, it would breach the gap with Apple. What do you expect from the Xiaomi Mi Band 4? For me, a larger display with a better touch response would do. I will also appreciate in-built GPS and default NFC.
Read Also: Redmi Note 11 4G full specifications have been revealed


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Find out whether you get yourself in legal trouble by gambling with bitcoins. Read more about bitcoins as cryptocurrency for online gambling and its legality.
Dec 15, 2017. The UK's top financial market regulator warned bitcoin is not a real currency and people could lose their money if they invest. Andrew Bailey said bitcoin was a high risk commodity, and investing was like gambling. Bailey said he was not pressing for changes in legislation to bring bitcoin and other.
Better Than Bitcoin – Make Millions With This Stock – A new technology is set to rocket up 8,000%
A year ago, bitcoin’s market capitalization was about 85% of the total sector. It’s now around 40%, according to website Coinmarketcap.com. “Merchants,
selling bitcoin mining hardware; Currency exchange services; and transaction.
Visit the best Bitcoin Gambling Sites on the Web. We review the best and worst player ranked bitcoin casinos and sportsbooks. Get the hottest bitcoin gambling news here!
For anyone still unsure whether SatoshiDICE supports Bitcoin Cash (BCH), the cryptocurrency gambling site has laid all doubts to rest by donating 100 BCH to.
Peter Thiel’s Founders’ Fund has reportedly invested between 15 and 20 million dollars into the volatile digital currency, Bitcoin. Thiel’s fund has already.
How To Buy Bitcoins With Blockchain We reveal beginners insights about how to buy bitcoin in UAE. What is Bitcoin and What Is Blockchain?. on your voucher which is the door to buy bitcoin in. From SpankChain to Bigboobscoin, Startups Keep Trying to Get People to Pay for Sex on the Blockchain – In this presentation, “Spanktoshi Nakabooty” (a riff on
Bank of Canada Head Likens Bitcoin Mania to 'Gambling' – WSJ – Dec 14, 2017. Bank of Canada Gov. Stephen Poloz said Thursday that bitcoin's ascent has all “ the ingredients of something that could be a significant disturbance” to the financial system.
You Do Not Need To Know About Bitcoin & You Do Not Need To Have A Lot Of Money!
Dec 15, 2017 · The UK’s top financial market regulator warned bitcoin is not a real currency and people could lose their money if they invest. Andrew Bailey said bitcoin.
Best bitcoin gambling sites. Here is a list of bitcoin gambling sites with their own faucets. They offer free Satoshis instantly deposited to your player account
How Buy A Bitcoin Every Day Someone Is Growing Rich From Cryptocurrencies. Make That Someone You! How To Buy Bitcoin. Coinbase makes it easy to convert your local currency into and out of bitcoin. On this page, you'll learn how to buy bitcoin and store it securely in a wallet. 1. I can’t help thinking about the money I
6 days ago. However, as someone who lives in a country that considers gambling illegal, I know that it can be a real pain to find a casino that accepts players from such countries. Nowadays casinos have a new solution for this issue – Bitcoin. Since Bitcoin is somewhat anonymous many Bitcoin casinos have started.
Nov 19, 2013 · What started as an idea in 2008 has since become a currency found in automated teller machines, used by black markets and put in portfolios that some.
Bitcoin is being used to buy cars and houses. says Thurber was always.
Bitcoin Discussion General discussion about the Bitcoin ecosystem that doesn’t fit better elsewhere. News, the Bitcoin community, innovations, the general environment.
The Best Place To Buy Bitcoins When trying to decide what is the best place to buy bitcoins, a problem many investors run into is finding a trustworthy site that has. Best place to buy bitcoins – Exchange E Currecy Safely | huobi.pro – Trade Bitcoins Safely and Easily at the Best Price. Earn Money Now! Earn Free Bitcoin Daily in
Bitcoin trading is 'gambling': Canada central bank governor – Stephen Poloz, governor of the Bank of Canada, called bitcoin trading "gambling".
Have you ever wondered what the best online slot machines to play for Bitcoin or.
Every Day Someone Is Growing Rich From Cryptocurrencies. Make That Someone You!
Grant Sabatier of Millennial Money put $5,000 in bitcoin in 2013 and his investment is now worth more than $1 million. But he still wouldn’t recommend it.
If you have been gambling online for a while you may have heard about Bitcoin casinos. This is an area of gambling that debuted a few years ago, starting off as an underground method for players to gamble on sports to casino games. As the years have gone on and Bitcoin is becoming accepted as a legitimate currency,
What's bustabit? bustabit is an online multiplayer bitcoin gambling game consisting of an increasing curve that can crash anytime. It's fun and thrilling. It can also make you millions. bustabit curve. How does it work? Place a bet. Watch the multiplier increase from 1x upwards! Cash out any time to get your bet multiplied by.
Getting into the world of Bitcoin gambling isn’t a gamble in and of itself – so long as you know which houses are the safest to bet at. Take a look at the top 5 safe.


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Over the past week, several leaks had pointed to Rockstar Dundee working on Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition. The collection would be a remaster of the titles, except this time with much of the game being rebuilt in the Unreal Engine. Maybe due to these leaks, or simply because it was time, but Rockstar has officially confirmed that the classic GTA games are indeed getting remasters.
The collection will comprise Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and will be released on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via the Rockstar Games Launcher later this year. Mobile versions of the game are planned as well, set to release in 2022.
The company stated that the games will feature “across-the-board upgrades including graphical improvements and modern gameplay enhancements for all three titles, while still maintaining the classic look and feel of the originals.” They also stated that more details will be made available in the next coming weeks. The existing versions of the games will be getting removed from digital storefronts next week.
These games are planned to release as part of the 20th anniversary of Grand Theft Auto III. Other things planned as part of this include content for GTA Online which will include themed clothing and more. Rockstar has also been hinting at a new expansion for Online, most likely to release by the end of this year. It will include “the upcoming possibility of some unusual activity occurring in and around Southern San Andreas…”
The three games included in the trilogy are considered great games in their own right, but we will have to wait and see if these upgrades do them justice. Hopefully, this will tie fans over until the next-gen upgrade of Grand Theft Auto V releases in March of next year.


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This week, Gartner issued a new report pointing to how the “rampant interest” in mobile payments among U.S. consumers will impact online shopping in the coming years.
Looking at strong growth patterns in mobile commerce, Gartner predicts that by 2017, U.S. customers’ mobile engagement behavior will drive domestic mobile commerce revenue to 50 percent of U.S. digital commerce revenue.
A recent Gartner survey found that mobile commerce currently generates 22 percent of digital commerce revenue.
“Some sectors will migrate more quickly than others to accepting mobile payments and promoting mobile commerce,” said Jennifer Polk, research director at Gartner.
“For example,” Polk posits, “big-box retailers may not need to move as quickly as other industries because the in-store experience is still a critical part of their value proposition and the customer experience, making digital and mobile commerce a smaller portion of their overall revenue. However, new credit card standards will cause a shift in liability for fraudulent transactions in 2015, requiring retailers to update their point-of-sale systems for safer credit card transactions. This opens the door for point-of-updates to also accept mobile payment.”
The bottom line? Marketers with digital and mobile commerce initiatives “need to focus” on encouraging the development of cross-functional teams — including IT, sales, customer support and legal — to create seamless path-to-purchase experiences, and postpurchase relationships with consumers who are increasingly using mobile devices to research and purchase products and services.


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LeapRate's Daily Forex Industry Newsletter
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Screenshot of a breaking news alert e-mail from Q2 2017
Spreadbetting, FX and CFDs broker GKFX has announced that it has now joined the growing number of FCA regulated brokers offering their clients the opportunity to trade Bitcoin on MT4.
Traders with GKFX will now have the chance to diversify their portfolios and trade BTCUSD and BTCEUR across all account types.
Trading Bitcoin on the MT4 platform provides clients with exposure to the increasingly popular cryptocurrency – without investing huge amounts of capital. It offers tight spreads as low as $20.00 and margins as low as 20%, with all the benefits of the popular MT4 platform, including automated trading and advanced charting tools.
Brian Myers, Managing Director of GKFX commented:
At GKFX, we focus on constantly driving new enhancements to our product offering to provide our traders with the latest trading opportunities. After actively listening to our client’s requests, we are delighted to unveil Bitcoin on our MT4 platform.


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35% of mobile device owners watch videos on their device.
Archives for June 5, 2013
Online video ads bested their March record of 13.2 billion views by about 70 million or so views in April.
Among mobile owners who booked travel in the past 90 days, only 53% used a single device (smart phone, tablet, or laptop) to do so.
Business-to-business (B2B) media and information industry revenues reached $25.5 billion in 2012, representing 3.4% growth from $24.7 billion in 2011.
Double-digit mobile gaming growth rates will continue into 2015, when half of all US residents are expected to play games via their mobile phone at least once per month.
This year, the largest share of revenues will come from downloads of games themselves, with in-game purchases accounting for just slightly less.
Mobile gaming has been a high-growth market in recent years, with revenues increasing at triple-digit rates in 2012 and 2011.
Marketers allocated 60% of their offline budget to branding vs. 42% of their digital budget.
Marketers seem to have no hesitations about social, as 55% of respondents said they were putting more dollars to the format, while no advertisers reported decreasing social investments.


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Apple is placing its bets on iPhones with bigger screens, and a whole lot of them. The company is asking suppliers to make between 70 and 80 million of the new models with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens by December 30, according to the Wall Street Journal. This is larger than the current models with 4-inch displays.
Apple had stuck with its smaller displays even as rival smartphone companies rolled out bigger screens and customers sought larger models. Now, Apple will join their ranks.
There have been huge protests in the former British colony Hong Kong recently. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets to demand that Beijing honor China’s commitment to Hong Kong’s political and judicial independence.
As the BBC’s Juliana Liu reports, there is deep anxiety in Hong Kong that China has no intention of allowing people on the island to choose their next leader, but there are also protestors on the other side, with leanings more toward China.
Earlier this year, Here & Nowtold the story of the so-called “Clovis boy,” a young boy buried in what is now Montana, more than 12,000 years ago. His remains were discovered there in 1968 and eventually his DNA was analyzed, showing the boy was part of the Clovis culture, which existed in North America about 13,000 years ago.
When Germany invaded the Soviet Union during World War II, Nazi commanders had another worry besides the Red Army. Epidemics of typhus fever, which is transmitted by body lice, killed untold numbers of soldiers and civilians during and after World War I.
As World War II raged, typhus reappeared in war-torn areas and in Jewish ghettos, where cramped, harsh conditions were a perfect breeding ground for lice.


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Amazon aggregators have raised just $2.2 billion in the first half of the year after raising $5.1 billion in the first half of 2021. The race to launch and fund new aggregators has ceased.
Only 12 new aggregators announced funding in the first half of 2022, attracting a combined $1 billion. The rest of the $2.2 billion raised went to firms raising additional rounds. For comparison, in 2021, 22 new aggregators announced funding in the first half and 17 in the second half of the year.
New Amazon aggregators were RubiBrands from Turkey, eBrands from Finland, Evenflow from India, Wholesum and Boosters from South Korea, Go North from Sweden, The Mothership from the United Kingdom, Flummox from Switzerland, Yaba from Spain, Riogrande from Mexico, and Society Brands and Dragonfly from the U.S.
Low interest rates, e-commerce’s historical growth, cheap multiples, and headlines about Thrasio and other first aggregators drove most of the investments in 2021. That euphoria has now dissipated. Capital got more expensive, e-commerce’s growth became flat, increasing costs squeezed the margins, and multiples continued to increase up to the end of 2021.
Macro issues aside, some aggregators turned out to be worse at being Amazon sellers than the Amazon sellers they acquired. Unsurprisingly, capital doesn’t solve this. As sales shrunk, the reality that Amazon aggregators are nothing without being Amazon sellers first set in. Operational skills matter a lot more than M&A experience.
Not everyone is struggling, however. Acquisitions are still happening while the industry is readjusting to the lessons and mistakes - most of the capital raised is yet to be deployed, even if the debt covenants are sometimes an issue. For some, that meant pausing acquisitions; for others, accelerating deals while the market is full of uncertainty. For others, that meant retaining the founders or their teams rather than purchasing only assets.
The industry attracted over $15 billion in less than two years. Most of that, $12 billion, came in just 2021. A lot of that capital funded business models that by now had to change materially. Funding figures will be significantly smaller this year, and investors have little appetite for more aggregators with the same pitch deck. At least not until clear winners emerge.


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San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) October 08, 2013 -- Appoxee, a fast growing mobile app engagement platform, announced today that it raised $1.8 million in additional seed funding, led by Lazarus Israel Opportunities Fund and Moshe Lichtman and included existing investors Cyhawk Ventures and Oryzn Capital, bringing total funding to $2.4 million. Based in Tel Aviv, Israel, Appoxee is quickly becoming a leading platform amongst app publishers, delivering nearly half a billion push notifications and rich messages to iOS and Android users each month. The new funding will go towards scaling product development and expanding operations in the US, with plans to open an office in San Francisco by end of year.
“We’ve reached a tipping point where app developers understand they need to do more to keep users engaged with their app,” says Itay Levy, CEO of Appoxee. “A download is meaningless if the user abandons the app. Our platform is smart, robust and makes it easy to get up and running quickly, which is exactly what app developers want.”
Appoxee has grown rapidly over the past year. Working with companies like Social Point, Sygic and Win.com, Appoxee powers a wide range of engagement campaigns across a variety of app categories including games, news, entertainment and utilities. App publishers using Appoxee typically see a 3x increase in app engagement and open rates.
Joining Appoxee to head up global marketing is Dennis Mink, former CMO at DudaMobile, another Israeli startup currently disrupting the mobile space. “With nearly 1 million unique apps in Google Play and the iOS AppStore, the competition for attention is fierce,” says Mink. “Appoxee offers some of the best mobile app engagement and messaging tools on the market to help app publishers keep their users actively engaged.”
Appoxee is a cloud-based mobile app engagement platform providing app publishers and marketers with a robust set of tools to increase app engagement and retention. Services include push notifications, in-app messaging, multi-app messaging, audience profiling, location targeting, campaign analytics and more. Appoxee is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel with plans to open an office in San Francisco by end of year.
Dennis Mink, Appoxee, http://www.appoxee.com, +1 415-938-6465, [email protected]


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On account of the financial success in the year 2014, Switzerland’s third largest telecom company Orange has announced a rebrand to meet the growing competition in the market. Its new identity will be unveiled on 23rd April, 2015.
The company, which had a recent ownership change exhibited a financial success of 1.9 percent when compared to the previous year and has reached a revenue margin of 1.3 billion francs. Its customer base too had a rise of 0.9 percent, reaching to 2,166,000.
Although the reason for the name change is bestowed to its new market scenario, a better reason would be the annual payment of 20 million francs, which the company has pay for the right to use the name Orange.
Compared to the rebranding cost Orange had in the year 2012, estimated at 40 million francs, the current rebranding too is expected to cost a fortune for the company. Orange has launched a dedicated website — new.orange.ch/de – featuring a video of its CEO, Johan Andsjö talking about the new chapter in Orange’s history.


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Business chiefs have warned that continued strike actions would cause “incredible” damage to the UK in both the short-term and long-term as firms brace themselves for heavy disruption.
Economists at the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) have warned that the three strikes across Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday will have a fallout worth at least £91 million to the UK economy.
Industry leaders have warned that the costs could be even more as travellers and commuters decide to stay at home.
Richard Burge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, warned that the capital “cannot afford a summer of chaos on the railways and tube lines”.
“While this strike will be damaging, a recession is looking likely regardless; as such, I wouldn’t pin an eventual recession on this strike,” he said.
“However, what is very worrying is the possibility that this dispute continues through the year and we see multiple strikes into the future.
“A week lost every month for the foreseeable future is going to do incredible short-term and long-term damage to the economy and the UK’s reputation as an attractive destination for investment.”
The CEBR has predicted that almost 50% of the impact of the strikes will be felt on Tuesday, when both tube and rail workers are involved in strike action.
Hospitality and retail firms are expected to be particularly vulnerable to a financial hit from the loss of trade.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, has warned that the rail strike could cost the sector up to £540 million.
She said: “Fragile consumer confidence will take a further hit, thousands of people able and willing to spend money in hospitality venues across the country will be prevented from doing so, while staff will undoubtedly struggle to even get to work.
“We should all be pulling in the same direction if we’re to get the UK economy back on track, and want to see urgent and productive talks to avoid widespread disruption, next week.”
Meanwhile, James Hardiman, senior analyst at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said: “Unsurprisingly, the upcoming rail strikes will be damaging for retail, as the strikes limit commuter and customer traffic.
“UK footfall is already down on pre-pandemic levels, and this will only slow the progress retailers have made to bring people back in-store.”


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RISING SUN – On September 26th, Tactical Shepherd located on 1573 Theodore Road Rising Sun MD 21911 embraced the crowd of Second Amendment supporters. The community showed up by the masses. Tactical Shepherd worked tirelessly to enforce Covid Restrictions while servicing as many customers as possible. It was impressive.
Tactical Shepherd is a veteran and law enforcement owned and operated company. One staff member stated we are a proud Christian operated business with a mission of providing quality firearms and training to the good citizens of the community. Tactical Shepherd has been offering Maryland HQL (Handgun Qualification License), MD Wear and Carry, Basic and Advanced Level Pistol Training. Utah Wear and Carry is coming soon.
The staff at Tactical Shepherd reported they sold dozens of firearms, nearly 500 boxes of ammunition, hand forged knives, and accessories, Tactical Shepherd merchandise (shirts, mugs, and decals) were flying off the shelves. Tactical Shepherd has also partnered with 1A Fingerprinting and will be offering “Walk In” fingerprinting every Thursday from 3pm – 7pm. 1A Fingerprinting was onsite for a couple hours and processed dozens of fingerprints.
The team stated that they understand firearms are hard to come by so to giveback to the community they are lowering their firearm transfer fees. From now until the end of the of year, transfer fess are just $15 (plus the $10 Maryland State Police Transfer Fee)
The highlight of the evening was a free door prize raffle. Just when you though the day couldn’t get any better. After all the guns for the day were sold, great music, awesome vendor food, and just a fun environment, Tactical Shepherd went on Facebook Live to give back to the community. Lucky winners received free ammunition, hand forged knives, a bushel of steamed crabs (from Justin’s Seafood) and the 870 Remington Shotgun.
I spoke with the partners Mel Adam, John Lowe, Kenny Porter and Duane Janney. These four men were exhaust but had nothing but remarks gratitude and appreciation for community. John Lowe and Kenny Porter gave a big thumbs up. Duane Janney stated “We encourage the community to follow us on Facebook to see future giveaways, discounts and upcoming inventory.” Mel Adam later stated “Tactical Shepherd is hear is stay!”


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New brands are increasingly emerging in the street fashion market. Among them, a budding street fashion brand stands out that aims to go beyond fashion and create arts by collaborating with artists in various fields.
Celebrating its official launch Monday, “Be.T.ow” is a brand with simple silhouette, colorful logos and lettering. The brand is mainly targeted at men in their 20s and 30s, but its practical design basically allows anyone to easily wear its clothes regardless of gender.
Under the slogan of “Believe me, Trust me, Follow me,” Be.T.ow aspires to lead the direction of the street fashion as well as a life-style. The brand also plans to collaborate with artists in a variety of fields and support them as partners.
Be.T.ow’s summer line “Believe” is available at online select shop Musinsa Store (store.musinsa.com). The brand’s stories and latest news can be found at the official website (www.betowofficial.com) and its social media account (@betow_official).
Ga-In son firstname.lastname@example.org


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In the latest edition of Bloomberg’s Power On Newsletter, Mark Gurman reveals more tidbits about what he is hearing for the upcoming 2024 iPad Pro redesign. Specifically, the will be significantly redesigned, using aluminum materials for the first time.
This will make it more like a laptop than ever, as referenced in a Bloomberg report published last week. The new Magic Keyboard case will also feature a larger surface area trackpad, for easier cursor movements on the iPad.
Go to Source
Author: Benjamin Mayo


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The stock market lost ground on Friday, but things ended up a lot better than it appeared they would earlier in the day. The Dow and S&P 500 finished down less than a quarter percent after having seen declines of well over 1% at their worst levels of the day, as news about special counsel Robert Mueller's plea agreement with the Trump administration's former national security advisor sent stocks plunging briefly. After an initial panic, investors seemed to revert to a buy-the-dip mentality. Still, some companies weren't able to make up lost ground, and Zumiez (NASDAQ: ZUMZ), Genesco (NYSE: GCO), and Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) were among the worst performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.
Zumiez takes a tumble
Zumiez stock finished down 8.5% despite the company's fairly solid third-quarter financial report. Several of the skateboard-focused retailer's business metrics looked good, including an 11% jump in quarterly revenue and a nearly 8% rise in comparable sales. November looked particularly strong for the company, matching the same 8% rise in comps. Yet even though Zumiez did a good job of reining in overhead expenses and other operating costs, a decline in gross margin suggested that the retailer still faces some pricing pressures with its merchandise. To get moving in the right direction, Zumiez will have to keep delivering strong results and make further progress toward controlling costs.
Genesco puts a lid on growth
Shares of footwear and apparel retail specialist Genesco plunged 18% after the company reported some discouraging third-quarter results. The company behind the Journeys, Lids Sports, Schuh, and Johnston & Murphy franchises said that its various product lines had mixed performance, with Journeys continuing to rebound convincingly even as Lids faced additional challenges that hurt the segment's numbers. Genesco CEO Robert Dennis tried to give an upbeat assessment of the retail company's prospects, pointing to good trends over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Yet lower demand for NFL licensed merchandise led Genesco to cut its earnings guidance for the full year. Without a better holiday season, Genesco could keep languishing into 2018.
Overstock.com faces bitcoin skeptics
Finally, shares of Overstock.com dropped 10%. The e-commerce company has faced a lot of difficulties over the years, but recently, it has gotten the most attention because of its willingness to accept a large number of cryptocurrencies. Not only has bitcoin surged to record levels, but less popular cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash are also among the digital currencies that Overstock.com is willing to accept. As long as bitcoin and its peers do well, then that should leave Overstock.com in a good position. Yet some long-term investors fear that being a first-mover in this realm could backfire if bitcoin's success quickly turns to failure.
Offer from The Motley Fool: The 10 best stocks to buy nowMotley Fool co-founders Tom and David Gardner have spent more than a decade beating the market. In fact, the newsletter they run, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the S&P 500!*
Tom and David just revealed their ten top stock picks for investors to buy right now.
*Stock Advisor returns as of Nov. 6, 2017.


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TALLAHASSEE — Florida continues to move closer to ending financial ties with ice-cream giant Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company, Unilever PLC.
Ash Williams, executive director and chief investment officer of the State Board of Administration, said Tuesday he anticipates Unilever will be added to what is known as Florida’s list of “Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel,” prohibiting state investments and contracts with the companies.
The potential addition to the list is based on a decision by Ben & Jerry’s to stop selling its products in the West Bank and Gaza in 2022.
“We’ve not been not seeing any meaningful response from Unilever, period,” Williams told Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who serve as the State Board of Administration, which oversees state investments.
The state has about $139 million in holdings in Unilever and its subsidiaries.
Unilever was advised of the state’s position in July, and a 90-day period will end Oct. 26 for Ben & Jerry’s to reverse its decision to stop selling ice cream in the West Bank and Gaza.
On Monday, the State Board of Administration’s Investment Advisory Council adopted a proposed revision to the state’s investment policy statement to handle the anticipated ban, Williams said.
Williams said after the meeting he’s had contact with Unilever officials and doesn’t anticipate a change in position from the Britain-based company, which represents a “small part” of the state’s overall investments.
Florida isn’t the only state taking such action because of Ben & Jerry’s decision to stop selling its products in the West Bank and Gaza.
Similar action was taken in the past week by New Jersey, which has about $182 million invested in Unilever stock, bonds and securities, and Arizona, which has $143 million in public funds linked to Unilever. New York and Illinois have threatened similar action.
Ben & Jerry’s has said its decision remains consistent with its values and “concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners.”
“We have a longstanding partnership with our licensee, who manufactures Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Israel and distributes it in the region,” the company said online. “We have been working to change this, and so we have informed our licensee that we will not renew the license agreement when it expires at the end of next year.”
The company disagrees that it is part of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement.
“Although Ben & Jerry’s will no longer be sold in the (Occupied Palestinian Territories), we will stay in Israel through a different business arrangement,” the company said.
The company, founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, said they are “Jewish supporters of the state of Israel” and that its action “is not a rejection of Israel. It is a rejection of Israeli policy, which perpetuates an illegal occupation that is a barrier to peace and violates the basic human rights of the Palestinian people who live under the occupation.”
Unilever, which sells products ranging from Hellmann’s mayonnaise to Dove soap, purchased Ben & Jerry’s in 2000. The company said in a July news release it has always recognized the “right of the brand and its independent board to take decisions about its social mission.”
DeSantis’ office has criticized the stance of Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever, saying there is “nothing progressive about boycotting the only democracy in the Middle East.”
— By Jim Turner


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11.40 lakh transactions settled in 8 hours after RBI operationalises NEFT 24X7
Around 11.40 lakh transactions were settled in the first eight hours after widely-used National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) was made operational on a 24X7 basis, the RBI said. The RBI operationalised NEFT System 24X7 from 12:00 am on Monday.
"This ensures availability of anytime electronic funds transfer," it said.
The RBI now joins an elite club of countries having payment systems, which enable round-the-clock funds transfer and settlement of any value.
"Between 12:00 am and 8:00 am this morning, NEFT settled over 11.40 lakh transactions," it said.
The RBI said making NEFT available 24x7 is part of its vision of empowering every Indian with access to a bouquet of e-payment options.
In order to give further impetus to digital retail payments, banks have been asked to levy any charges from their savings bank account holders for funds transfers done through NEFT system, which are initiated online from January 1, 2020.
Online transactions include internet banking and through mobile apps of banks.
Earlier, in August, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), said,
“Currently, the NEFT payment system operated by the Reserve Bank as a retail payment system is available for customers from 8.00 am to 7.00 pm on all working days of the week (except 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month). As mentioned in the Payment System Vision 2021 document, the Reserve Bank will make available the NEFT system on a 24x7 basis from December 2019.”
According to the Central Bank, this move is expected to revolutionise the retail payments system of the country, and further give an impetus in the growth of digital payments in the country.
As part of the vision, the RBI expects payments made through NEFT to increase by over 40 percent by 2021. It also expects the number of digital transactions to increase more than four times from 2,069 crore (20.69 billion transactions) in December 2018 to 8,707 crore (80.07 billion transactions) in December 2021.
(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)
(Edited by Megha Reddy)


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Eminem Is Filming A River music video for “Revival” with Ed Sheeran
River, Marshall’s newest guitar-filled single from the Revival album currently sits in the Top 30s on the Billboard Hot 100 chart owing to the collab with Pop superstar Ed Sheeran. The Revival album, as a result, has since made an excellent recovery after a steep drop after first-week sales.
A Tesla Model 3 was driven in peak winter from LA to New York in 50 hours!
The Tesla Model 3 claims a record just a few months after rolling onto the streets: it made the quickest trip across the United States for an electric vehicle ever, taking just over 50 hours in the extremes of peak North American winter. The Model 3 holds!
Kodi media player coming back home on the Xbox One Gaming Console
Kodi - the world's most notorious, yet legal media player has now come to the Xbox One and is available to download. If you own an Xbox One, you might have to wait for the sweet Kodi Media Player content just a while longer, as reports suggest that availability is restricted to Europeans only, for now.
Netflix original Bright reached 11 Million viewers in just 3 days : Nielsen
Netflix spent close to $100 million on its ambitious new project, Bright. Despite mostly savage reviews, Nielsen released initial numbers, reporting that 11 million U.S viewers watched the movie in the first 3 days of its release. A win for Netflix's future in original programming.
Interact with life-size Charizards with the new AR+ update for Pokemon Go
The global Augmented reality phenomenon Pokemon Go has a new update - but it doesn't add a new generation of Pokemon. Instead, it takes advantage of iOS 11's new advanced augmented reality features to give you an almost life-like & in-depth look at them.
2019 onwards, Google Play Store will host 64-bit Android apps only
Taking the next step in the ever-running race to maintain a high degree of security and performance in Android apps, Google announced this week that starting from August 2019, only 64-bit apps will be allowed in the Google Play store.
Twitch launches a gaming live-streaming reality show called ‘Stream On’
'Stream On' by Twitch Studios brings live-streaming games a reality TV spin by putting gamers through a series of elimination challenges and giving them the chance to win $5,000 a month for a year!
AOL Instant Messenger AIM is shutting down after 20 years of ‘ASL?’
Irrespective of whatever value it had or didn't have in the modern era of the Internet, AOL Messenger will always remain one of the most vital and revolutionary pieces of internet history and it truly is sad to see it go after 20 years of helping us connect to one another.
Rinspeed Snap: A concept EV that puts swappable pods on wheels
Rinspeed Snap is a two-part modular vehicle made up of interchangeable pods attached to a rolling chassis which is supposedly going to be equipped with a robotic helper to take care of errands and even help with shopping.
Apple Maps adds indoor mapping for more than 30 airports worldwide
Apple Maps has now started mapping indoor layouts of 30 airports across the globe with primary focus on airports in the continental U.S. such as JFK, LaGuardia, LAX as well as international airports in Geneva, Amsterdam, Hong Kong International, two in London, Berlin and a few more in Canada.


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Ubisoft has confirmed the existence of Assassin's Creed Unity in this trailer showing off the game's next-gen graphics.
Puppetworks Studios' CG for The Crew
Puppetworks Studios made 13 minutes of full CG cutscenes for The Crew. Here is a trailer of their work.
Watch Dogs - Nvidia tech
Ubisoft have released a video about their collaboration with Nvidia on the PC version of Watch Dogs.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Live Action Trailer
Ubisoft have released a live action trailer for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.


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Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur, a taxi-booking app launched by state owned enterprises Shouqi Group and Xianglong Taxi Co., has completed RMB220 million (US$34 million) series A round of financing led by a subsidiary of China Jianyin Investment Ltd., according to Chinese media reports.
Officially launched in September, Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur provides app-based car booking services with a fleet of authorized vehicles, which might give the start-up an advantage if China decides to initiate stricter controls over ride share companies.
Its business model is similar to that of Ucar Group, which is controlled by Chinese car rental firm Car Inc.’s founder and CEO, Charles Zhengyao Lu.
Didi Kuaidi, on the other hand, has mostly private car owners providing ride shares to others.
Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur has launched nearly one thousand vehicles in Beijing, and plans to complete pilot programs in cooperation with local car rental companies in 20 other Chinese cities early next year.


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KIA has indicated that it will launch two electric utes as part of a range of new zero-emissions models by 2027. The line-up will comprise as many as 14 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs).
One of the utes will be designed specifically for emerging markets, Kia said, while the other was earmarked for mature markets, such as Australia, where it will compete with rivals such as the Chevrolet Silverado EV, Ford F-150 Lightning, Ram 1500 EV, Rivian R1T and Tesla Cybertruck.
Kia has yet to reveal full details of its utility BEVs, but confirmed that the load-carrying variants would be in showrooms by as early as 2026.
The light commercial utilities form part of a range of electric cars that Kia plans to launch by 2027 and will arrive alongside a further 17 BEVs from sister company Hyundai. The Korean giant says it (including luxury arm Genesis) will roll out the, um, battery of BEVs by the end of the decade.
Hyundai announced its strategic roadmap towards electrification recently, when Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) president and CEO, Jaehoon Chang, said his company would continue to advance both its hardware and software technologies.
“Hyundai is successfully accelerating its transition to electrification and becoming a global leader in EVs despite a challenging business environment caused by the (industry-wide) chip shortage and ongoing pandemic,” Mr Chang said.
“Along with our seamless efforts to improve EV value, HMC will continue to secure its business sustainability as a Mobility Solutions Provider through advanced technologies of not only hardware, but also software,” he added.
Mr Chang unveiled sales and financial performance targets that he said were expected to be achieved by the end of the decade, including annual global BEV sales of 1.87 million units (or a 7% global share) by 2030.
Hyundai also presented its mid- to long-term financial goals earmarking ₩95.5 trillion ($A105.6 billion) of investment for future business by 2030, including ₩19.4 trillion ($A21.4 billion) for electrification and ₩12 trillion ($A13.3 billion) for software capabilities.
The Korean giant said that by the end of the decade, it hoped to achieve an operating profit margin of 10 per cent or higher in EV businesses by “enhancing competitiveness in hardware and software capabilities” and “an expanded (vehicle) line-up”.
That line-up will include 11 electric models from Hyundai – including three sedan models, six SUVs, one light commercial vehicle, as well as “one new-type model” – and six from Genesis, including two passenger cars and four SUVs.
Hyundai also said it would diversify battery sourcing (with the aim of securing 170GWh of batteries for its models by 2030) and introduce an Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA) – an evolution of the electric global modular platform (E-GMP) that underpins the Ioniq 5 and GV60.
The IMA was being developed to standardise a battery system and up to five motor types, which will be utilised in a wide range of BEVs and the exclusive purpose-built vehicle (PBV) platform.
The Korean firm was also developing new software architectures capable of applying over-the-air updates to new models from the end of 2022 and a Level 3 autonomous driving technology (dubbed Highway Driving Pilot), which would be applied to the Genesis G90 later this year.
For Kia, the future looks equally electric. The firm is targeting annual vehicle sales of four million units globally in 2030, including 1.2 million BEVs. It will reportedly introduce up to 14 new BEVs by 2027 and offer over two million eco-friendly models for annual global sale by the year 2030.
Like Hyundai, Kia will also offer advanced autonomous driving capabilities dubbed AutoMode by 2023. The technology will debut in the brand’s EV9 and roll out elsewhere in following years.
“Kia has been undergoing a full-scale transformation which has included changes in corporate vision, logo, product and design and strategy,” Kia’s president and CEO Ho Sung Song said.
“To achieve the company’s vision of becoming a sustainable mobility solutions provider, we will focus on accelerating the transition to future business models. We will become increasingly customer-centric in our approach and pursue a dynamic transformation while maintaining sound business operations,” he added.
Mr Sung Song said the company aimed to expand the proportion of eco-friendly cars within its portfolio from 17 per cent in 2022 to 52 per cent in 2030. Kia planned to launch at least two new BEVs per year from 2023 and build a full line-up of 14 BEVs by 2027.
Furthermore, the company was planning to establish a battery supply-and-demand strategy and constantly upgrade its battery technology. It forecasted that battery demand would increase significantly from 13GWh in 2022 to 119GWh in 2030 on the back of increased EV sales.
Kia’s mid- to long-term financial goals show that by 2026, the company aims to reach a total of ₩120 trillion ($A132.3 billion) in gross revenue with ₩10 trillion ($A11.1 billion) in operating profit and an operating profit margin of 8.3 per cent. Kia aims to increase its market capitalisation to ₩100 trillion ($A110.2 billion) by 2026 – a threefold increase compared to the end of 2021.


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"I've known him for years and I've worked side by side with John. He's a great guy. There's no way I'm not going to hire him."
- Jamie Rusling, an assistant store leader at Plum Market.
"Please consider the potential consequences if the suspected shoplifter had a gun or knife or if the team member had caused an accident while crossing a five-lane road in pursuit of a shoplifter. Groceries can be replaced, but human life cannot."
- Whole Foods spokeswoman Kate Klotz.
Previous story: Grocery worker fired for stopping shoplifter
BY DAVE GERSHMAN
The Ann Arbor News
John Schultz, the Whole Foods Market employee who was fired after he tried to stop a shoplifter, said he has received several job offers and lots of support from the public after publicity over the incident.
"It makes me feel great," said Schultz, who is weighing a job offer from an organic market set to open in Ann Arbor in February.
Meanwhile, officials of Whole Foods, which has been harshly criticized in blog postings about the incident, have reiterated that their policy is designed with employee safety in mind. And a representative of the Michigan Retailers Association says the policy is not unusual.
On Christmas Eve, Schultz, a 35-year-old former Marine from Ypsilanti Township, was fired from his job of five years at Whole Foods, 3135 Washtenaw Ave., after he tried to help stop a shoplifter the day before. Store management said he went too far and violated a policy against touching customers when he caught up to the man and grabbed his jacket.Kate Klotz, a spokeswoman for Whole Foods Market, said Thursday in a statement that the safety of employees, customers and the community comes first.
"Please consider the potential consequences if the suspected shoplifter had a gun or knife or if the team member had caused an accident while crossing a five-lane road in pursuit of a shoplifter," she said. "Groceries can be replaced, but human life cannot."
Security systems and trained personnel are in place in stores to handle shoplifters, she said. Company policy, she said, restricts employees from physically confronting others.
When it comes to dealing with shoplifting, there's no single policy favored by retailers, said Tom Scott, a spokesman for the Michigan Retailers Association. Some adopt zero-tolerance policies against shoplifting; others do not seek to prosecute smaller thefts.
Employee safety is the biggest concern of retailers, said Scott. "But another big concern - and there have been cases in the not too distant past - (is that) retailers also have to protect themselves against lawsuits," he said.
What's most important, he said, is that the employer clearly communicates its policies to the employees. "It's a difficult situation because there's the potential for harm no matter what you do," said Scott.
Schultz said he is considering a job offer with Plum Market, which plans to open its second store in Michigan at the former Maple Village Theater site, off Maple Road.
"I've known him for years and I've worked side by side with John," said Jamie Rusling, a former Whole Foods employee who is the assistant store leader at Plum Market in Bloomfield Township and is involved with opening the local store. "He's a great guy. There's no way I'm not going to hire him."
Schultz had just punched out for his break when he heard a manager yell for help, and he dashed outside the store. Schultz, a manager and another employee cornered the shoplifter between cars, but the man broke away and Schultz gave chase, eventually grabbing the suspect's jacket.
When the manager caught up to them down the street at the corner of Washtenaw Avenue and Huron Parkway, the manager told Schultz to let the man go and the shoplifter got away. A bag with $346 in groceries and other items was recovered.
Despite losing his job, would Schultz do it again?
"Absolutely, 100 percent yes," he said, calling it his civic duty.
Reporter Dave Gershman can be reached at 734-994-6818 or firstname.lastname@example.org.


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The holidays are a big time for fundraisers, whether people are donating money, food, clothes or even toys to those in need.
Bonney Lake’s fourth-annual Mayor’s Food Drive on Nov. 16 had its biggest year since its inception, having more than 560 households donate 6,600 pounds of food that was donated to the Bonney Lake Food Bank.
“I am very happy and thankful to see the generosity of 500-plus homes,” Mayor Neil Johnson said. “DM Disposal has been a great partner to work with, so with their help and a few minor tweaks, our goal for Nov. 15, 2018 will be to net 9,000 pounds for Stew at the Food Bank.”
Following that, the United Service Organizations (USO) held a toy drive at the Bonney Lake Wal-Mart on Black Friday, collecting toys for the children of deployed soldiers.
According to volunteer Debbie McDonald, the drive yielded more than $3,000 in cash and toys.
People who want to learn more about the toy drive or donate toys can contact Victoria Shilley at 253-720-2536.
Bonney Lake Police Department’s annual Shop With A Cop event is scheduled for Dec. 9 at 7:15 a.m. at the local Target.
Officer Daron Wolschleger said there will be approximately 20 officers from the BLPD and another five from Orting assigned to students shopping at the event.
With help from Target, the BLPD collects enough money to give each kid a $100 gift card to use however they want in the store that day, plus take pictures with Santa Claus.
“The kids are great, they buy things for their parents, their sisters, their brothers, and then a little thing for themselves,” Wolschleger said. “It’s an awesome program, to see these kids’ eyes light up.”
Cash gift card donations for the event can be delivered to the BLPD lobby.
In Enumclaw, the Community Food Basket Program and the Toys for Tots ‘n Teens fundraiser is in full swing, thanks to the Enumclaw Fire Department taking over the Food Basket program when funding ran dry.
The goal of both programs is to help provide a holiday meal for close to 200 families and gifts for more than 400 kids in the Enumclaw area.
The Santa Run, from Dec. 6 – 9, is their big donation-receiving time when Santa and firefighters parade around Enumclaw.
Food-wise, the department is looking for Enumclaw grocery store gift cards ($25 or less), canned pineapples, veggies, green beans and pumpkin, pre-made pie crusts, evaporated milk, gravy packets, stovetop stuffing, instant potatoes or french fried onions.
Donations can also be dropped off at the fire department at 1330 Wells St. by Dec. 14, so volunteers can distribute food and gifts by Dec. 16.
The fire department is working in conjunction with Fugate Ford for toys — drop off points are at Work Sports and More and Grocery Outlet in Enumclaw and Blue Max Meats in Buckley.
Fugate Ford is also hosting a food drive with the same drop off points, with all food donations going to local food banks.
Both drives are being held through Dec. 31.
Of course, even people on the naughty list deserve a gift too — that’s why Palmer Coking Coal Co. is once again offering lumps of coal as a gag gift for your loved ones in exchange for donations to Vine Maple Place in Maple Valley, a non-profit dedicated to serving homeless children and their families.
For more information, email William Kombol at firstname.lastname@example.org or call 425-432-4700, or visit the company at 31407 Highway 169 or their website, www.palmercc.com.


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But most are relatively confident in their personal finances and the economy
Market volatility in the past year has likely led to a growing concern about the value of investments.
A survey of British Columbians by Insights West has found that 67% (up 4 percentage points from last survey in 2017) said they are worried about the value of their investments, including 15% who say they are frequently worried.
Respondents are also more worried about their employer running into financial trouble (up 6pp to 31%) and about paying their mortgage or rent (up 3pp to 37%).
Generally, there was a more positive outlook for the economy and personal finances in 2019; 71% of British Columbians described their personal financial situation as “good” (60%) or “very good” (11%), a level which is slightly higher than the national average at 67%. This is the highest since Insights West began tracking in 2014.
“Despite gloominess on the horizon in terms of overall economic confidence, British Columbians are very optimistic about their personal financial situation,” says Steve Mossop, President of Insights West.
Optimism is higher among over 55s and those earning $75K or more.
BC residents more positive on the economy
British Columbians are more positive than most other Canadian provinces on the outlook for the Canadian economy in 2019.
Almost two-thirds (64%) of BC residents describe the economic conditions in Canada as “very good” (6%) or “good” (58%), which is the highest rating in all of Canada other than in Quebec. Only 31% rate the economy as “poor” (28%) or “very poor” (15%).
Respondents in BC felt that the cost of living will rise with groceries, cars, real estate, and TVs among the items expected to be more expensive in the year ahead.
Very few are likely to buy a new home (8%, -1%), buy a new vehicle (11%), undertake a major home renovation (15%, -2%), or go on a major overseas holiday (33%, +4%).


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Twitter crashes soon after it announces expansion
Published 4:00 am, Friday, June 22, 2012
Twitter had its ups and downs Thursday.
First, at an advertising conference in France, the San Francisco microblogging service announced plans to expand its promoted tweets program to nearly 50 new countries by the end of the year, aiming to increase its advertising revenue.
A few hours later, a software glitch disrupted access to its service for about an hour before it was mostly repaired.
Twitter engineers were investigating a "cascading bug" that cut service to millions of its users Thursday morning and caused intermittent problems later. A spokesman said the glitch cascaded into other parts of Twitter's system.
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Twitter has solved problems that it faced in its earlier years, when service was frequently down and users would only see a "fail whale" graphic. With the latest problem, however, users could not connect to the site and were not even able to see the whale.
As to the announcement earlier in France, Adam Bain, president of global revenue, said Twitter plans to offer its Promoted Products advertising suite to companies in Europe, including Spain, Italy, Germany, France and the Netherlands, and Caribbean and Latin American countries.
Twitter already offers these advertising services - tweets, trends and accounts sponsored by companies or brands - in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan.
Bloomberg News reported that Twitter expects $1 billion in advertising revenue by 2014.
"The growth we're seeing on the platform is interestingly still broad-based and global, still growing quite fast," Bloomberg News quoted Chief Executive Officer Dick Costolo during a press conference at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.


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It’s been days since Hurricane Sandy took its toll along the Northeast, and recovery efforts are still going strong, with electricity, utilities, and transportation still a luxury for many in the area.
For those unaffected — or those lucky enough to emerge relatively unscathed — retailers and brands are increasingly doing their part to help support relief efforts by donating a portion of their proceeds right now. From shopping at Barneys’ Madison Avenue flagship this weekend to donating a few dollars through iTunes, there are more and more ways for people to do their part to help. Here, we’ve rounded up some of the places where your retail dollars will contribute to recovery efforts, and we’ll be updating the gallery as more announce plans.
Of course, you can also donate through more traditional means! Here are a list of organizations to help get you started.
The American Red Cross
This giant organization has been key when it comes to responding to —and raising funds for — a variety of international disasters, including Hurricane Sandy.
Donate online to this religious organization, which provides funds and volunteers.
The Brooklyn Kitchen
If you’re located in New York, Williamsburg cooking supply store Brooklyn Kitchen is collecting donations in the form of canned food, clothing and tools for victims located in New York’s Rockaways and Breezy Point.
A worthwhile organization that provides food and water to victims of disaster.
Barneys New York
On Sunday, the iconic department store's Madison Avenue flagship plans to donate 10% of all sales to the American Red Cross to support the organization's work in area affected by Hurricane Sandy. How's this for generous: Barneys already pledged a minimum of $50,000, but with shoppers' contribution, that number will be even greater.
Through Sunday, jewelry brand Dannijo — a perennial fashion-set favorite — plans to donate 20% of all sales made at Dannijo.com to the American Red Cross.
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Apple decided to use its super-profitable iTunes platform to make it easy for users to donate to storm victims. When users start up the music app, they'll see a large Red Cross donation button and can contribute anywhere from $5 to $200 with the click of a button.
High-fashion label Salvatore Ferragamo also plans to donate a percentage of proceeds from sales made at Ferragamo boutiques nationwide and ferragamo.com to the American Red Cross through Sunday.
Online consignment shop ThredUp has launched a new feature called Groups, which allows consumers to generate donations for charitable causes (Hurricane Sandy relief is kicking things off). Users can sell stuff lying around the house and choose to have 100% of the proceeds go to The American Red Cross. The group's goal is to raise $25, 000 by January.
Apparel brand Michael Stars will be making a $3,000 donation to the American Red Cross, as well as donating 10% of in-store and online sales to International Relief Teams through Sunday.


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Laura Clawson, June 15th, 2012
Americans spend a lot of money eating in restaurants—75 percent of us eat out at least once a week. If you’re a person who likes food or hates to cook but also doesn’t like the fact that 19 percent of restaurant workers earn less than minimum wage, what are you to do?
Advocating for better policy is the most important thing, of course. The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is just $2.13 an hour; if tips aren’t enough to bring that up to $7.25 an hour, employers are supposed to make up the difference, but many do not. Increasing the minimum wage for tipped workers and passing paid sick leave laws are important moves; passing laws that crack down on wage theft is another.
But while changing the law would improve working conditions for the greatest number of restaurant workers, we can also try to have an effect as consumers. That’s where the Restaurant Opportunities Center National Diners’ Guide comes in. It includes information on the 150 most popular restaurants in the United States, as well as others that have especially good labor practices. Here’s the bad news: If you eat in restaurants, it’s a near certainty that you’re eating in places with poverty pay and no sick days or opportunities for advancement. That’s the average. Except for the chains that ROC is organizing against around discrimination and wage theft, the restaurants that stand out, stand out because they’re better.
Nationally, Five Guys stands out as a good restaurant choice—the burger chain, in addition to being delicious, offers paid sick leave and opportunities for advancement, promoting at least 50 percent of its workers, and participates in a ROC Restaurant Industry Roundtable to promote a “high road to profitability.” Among regional chains, In-N-Out offers paid sick days and pays a wage of at least $9 to all its employees, and Elephant Bar, which has restaurants in 10 states, pays $5 an hour to tipped workers and offers opportunities for advancement. Some other chains offer paid sick leave or opportunities for advancement, but beyond that, you’re looking local. The local restaurants in the Diner’s Guide are, understandably, concentrated in places where the Restaurant Opportunities Centers are organizing. If you’re in New York City, Detroit or Ann Arbor, Michigan, Washington, DC, Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia, or several California locations, there may be options for you.
ROC also offers a consumer toolkit and tip cards for restaurant workers, owners, and managers that you can print out.


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Zynga, the largest maker of social games on Facebook, has filed papers to raise $400 million in a secondary public offering. The money will go to shareholders.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, certain shareholders will sell their stock in the offering, but Zynga itself will not sell any shares and will not receive any proceeds from the offering.
The purpose of the offering is to facilitate “an orderly distribution of shares and to increase the company’s public float.” The latter means to have more shares available for the public to buy. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Co. will handle the offering, while BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, J.P. Morgan Securities and Allen & Co. will assist. The pricing of the offering hasn’t been set yet.
As VentureBeat reported yesterday, the implicit purpose of the new offering is to let Zynga investors sell stock while getting large shareholders to agree to a longer lock-up period that stops them from dumping shares. Typically, employees and other shareholders are allowed to sell their stock about six months after an IPO, which often leads to a dip in the stock price as the market becomes flooded with sellers. The secondary IPO could reassure investors that employees won’t dump their stock as soon as they are able.
Zynga previously raised $1 billion in December through its initial public offering.
The maker of games such as CityVille and FarmVille, Zynga has more than 240 million monthly active users on Facebook, and it has generated more than $1.85 billion in revenue since its founding in 2007, the filing says.
The names of selling shareholders won’t be available until later. Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Securities, said the offering could be positive for Zynga’s stock price because it will result in staggered lock-up release dates for inside shareholders.


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While Kanye West's epic Madison Square Garden Yeezy Season 3 fashion show rolled out piles of new gear to get excited about, what really got fans excited were the new Yeezy Boosts on display. And the past few weeks, West has been spotted wearing the running-style kicks—unofficially named the Yeezy Boost 550s—that appear to be a slightly tweaked and reshaped version of the wildly popular 350. From what we can tell, gone is the suede patch from the medial side of the shoe, and, unlike the dusty, muted hues that have dominated Yeezy Seasons 1 and 2, the new kicks also feature a contrast stripe in Yeezy's new favorite color—bright orange—across their lateral side. To tease sneakerheads even further, Kanye gave a pair of all-white "550s" to French Montana, who later bragged on Snapchat that they were never coming out.
But now, a new black colorway of the yet-to-be-released sneakers has been unveiled by one of Kanye's friends, A$AP Bari (whom you may recognize as the guy with the killer dance moves during West's recent SNL performance).
Before you go Googling release dates and lotteries, know that these are most likely just a sample. In fact, this pair, like Montana's, may never even see the light of day. But if they are in the Adidas production pipeline, there's a lot to get excited about. With a Primeknit upper and aforementioned even-more-streamlined design, they have the potential to outshine the already-in-demand Yeezy Boosts still going for ridiculous prices. Stay tuned for more info.


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Amazon is revamping FreeTime and FreeTime Unlimited, its curated, kid-friendly experiences on Amazon Fire tablets and other devices. It's giving them clearer names (Amazon Kids and Amazon Kids+ respectively), and it's adding more features and content.
There's a new home screen theme that gives Fire tablets a more grown-up look — in other words, a bit more like the traditional tablet experience. Amazon is recommending it for kids aged eight and older. The company will roll that out over the coming weeks, and you can select it from the Adjust Age Filters and Themes section in the Parent Dashboard.
Kids will also soon be able to use their Fire tablets to broadcast a message to other Alexa devices in their home. A parent will have to approve the Alexa Announcements feature, which will become available in the next few weeks. Kids will just need to tap on the Announce icon on their home screen to broadcast a voice message.
On top of that, Amazon has added hundreds more video titles aimed at kids aged 6-12. They include titles from the likes of Angry Birds, Lego, Transformers, Barbie and Carmen Sandiego, along with game playthroughs (aka let's plays). The Amazon Kids home screen also includes quick access to iHeartRadio music stations.
Amazon Kids is free, while Kids+ costs $3/month for Prime members and $5/month for everyone else. The latter includes expanded access to audiobooks, Spanish-language media, books, shows, movies and games.


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New Delhi– Reacting to current attempts for boycott of Chinese goods in India, the Chinese embassy here on Thursday said such actions will not only hurt the sale of Chinese goods but also hit consumers here.
“In the long run, boycott will not only hurt Chinese goods sale, but also cause negative impact on the consumers in India,” a Chinese embassy statement said.
“Without proper substitutes, the biggest losers of the boycott of Chinese goods will be Indian traders and consumers,” Counsellor Xie Liyan said in the statement posted on the embassy website.
Citing media reports about the traders of the capital’s wholesale market Sadar Bazaar complaining about a 20 per cent drop in sale of Chinese goods, the statement said: “The boycott effect will not be limited to Diwali-related products, but will extend to other Chinese products that are not related to the festival.”
“Chinese products not only lowered India’s inflation rate, but also fulfilled Indian ordinary people’s, especially the low-income people’s, aspirations and greatly improved their life quality.”
The statement noted that China-India trade cooperation has deepened over the years.
“Bilateral trade has grown 24 times in 15 years, from $2.9 billion in 2000 to $71.6 billion in 2015,” it said.
China has become India’s largest trading partner, source of imports and fourth largest export market, it added.
Calls for boycott of China-made goods in India gathered momentum following China’s opposition to a United Nations ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar.
Indian Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said earlier this month that blanket ban on import of Chinese goods, as being demanded by some sections in India, is not a feasible option.
“Just because we may not like certain things about a country is not reason enough to block imports from that country. We could impose anti-dumping duties, but there are established ways to go about it and dumping has to be proved,” she told reporters here responding to a query on curbs on imports from China.
“Curbs can only be placed if there are quality issues or if the imports are subsidised or dumped. Anti-dumping duties are levied on particular items, on certain tariff lines … they cannot be levied across the board,” she added.
In her bilateral talks with Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce and Finance Wang Shouwen here earlier this month, Sitharaman said she raised concerns about India’s growing trade deficit with China.
“Several issues have remained unresolved since I assumed charge in June 2014. I raised the issue of the difficulties faced by the Indian IT companies in China with project approvals with the Chinese minister.
“Our pharma companies, for instance, have been recognised by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and the European Union (EU). Why is it then that the permission from China is taking so long,” Sitharaman said.
She said that the talks had been positive.
“The Chinese minister assured that he will come back to us on the matter, expeditiously. My impression is that they will come back to us sooner. The trade imbalance issue will addressed,” she said.
An Indian commerce ministry release said Wang assured that China would act on the concerns expressed by India regarding market access for Indian goods, and said that recently China has quickened the pace of granting clearances to Indian pharmaceutical companies.
In 2015-16, India’s exports to China were $9 billion (nearly Rs 59,874.8 crore), imports were $61.7 billion (nearly Rs 4,10,474.7 crore), leaving a trade deficit of $52.7 billion (nearly Rs 3,50,599.9 crore).


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On February 16th 2018, China will celebrate the New Year of the Dog, which means it’s the perfect time to find out a bit more about this market dominated by BATX (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi).
As the biggest e-commerce market in the world, China is dominated by two players, Alibaba and JD.com. These platforms are embracing more and more foreign brands who want to conquer this market whose demand for foreign products continues to grow without sign of stopping. As a case in point, half of online shoppers will be making cross-border purchases by 2020.
To make it easier for foreign brands to start out in China and to offer international products to their consumers, Alibaba and JD.com have developed their own cross-border platforms: Tmall Global and JD Worldwide.
With 25% of the market share held by Tmall Global, Alibaba’s cross-border marketplace today counts 14,500 brands from 63 countries and regions and 430 million customers.
Tmall Global has teamed up with Royal Mail to facilitate the selling of British brands in China. The partnership allows British brands to be featured on the store front, with quintessential British brands like Cambridge Satchel Company and Linwoods health products taking their place in the spotlight.
The cosmetic brand Nuxe also chose to go through Tmall Global to test its products on the market and to introduce itself to Chinese consumers. The brand was helped by Next Beauty to get its footing in the market.
To sell on Tmall Global, Alibaba advises brands to call on a ‘Tmall Partner’. Tmall partners are certified agencies or service providers that help retailers set up their boutiques on the platform, according to the marketplace’s requirements.
Coming second (in terms of business volume), JD.com also allows foreign brands to sell their products through its cross-border platform JD Worldwide.
More and more western brands are integrating their catalogues on to JD Worldwide, following in the steps of Chanel, Dior, L’Oréal and Marionnaud, with the goal of serving a new target audience. Notably, JD.com teamed up with the China-Britain Business Council to create a ‘Best of British’ pop up. The shop allows both well-known and up and coming British brands to be introduced to the Chinese consumer. Brands like BarryM and Cowshed were featured in its first month. As for numbers, JD.com currently counts over 266 million users on its platform.
If you want to expand your business internationally on the Chinese market, you will have to turn to one of these two big players to develop your visibility on the market. However, their potential is so high that during Double Eleven sale in 2017, JD.com raked in 19 billion dollars of sales in 11 days Alibaba carried out 25 million dollars of sales in just 24 hours.
To find out more about the Chinese market, download our guide:
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It's Force Friday, the day Disney and Lucasfilm dump a mountain of new merchandise in celebration of the next Star Wars film.
Naturally, Minnesota's two retail giants are getting a piece of the action, with a wide range of in-store demos and exclusive deals aimed right at the fans – and their wallets.
So if you're interested in swinging a lightsaber and linking your smartphone to a galaxy far, far away, here's what's going on at Target and Best Buy this weekend.
The Bullseye made a Black Friday-style event out of it, opening some 500 stores to anxious Star Wars fans at midnight on Friday morning.
It was a chance for the retailer to "unveil hundreds of new products, including several items available only at Target," according to a release.
One item you can only find at Target is this action figure six-pack from Hasbro (you can check out a gallery of the other exclusive products right here):
Users who download the app can walk around Target and scan specially marked items (like cardboard standees of their favorite characters), and then watch cool stuff pop up on their phones.
This video explains how it works:
The festivities will run through the weekend, so expect a lot of Darth Vader and R2-D2 if you make a Target run.
Okay, about those lightsabers we mentioned.
Best Buy says it is the only big-box retailer where you can pre-order the upcoming Star Wars: Jedi Challenges, a virtual reality game where you get to duel with bad guys like Kylo Ren and Darth Maul in your living room.
We'd explain it further, but honestly this trailer does a much better job than we ever could:
In addition to letting customers pre-order this awesome-looking game (for $199.99), Best Buy is also letting customers try out new Star Wars Sphero droids, "including characters R2-D2, BB-8 and the latest BB-9E."
You can find which locations have the droid demos right here.
Best Buy, like Target, is also taking part in Find the Force and selling its own exclusive Star Wars items.
Star Wars hype
As mentioned above, all this is aimed not only at profits, but also at building up excitement for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which is scheduled to arrive in theaters this December.


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BuzzFeed plans to tackle serious news events, initially intending to create around three videos a week for the channel, said Jon Steinberg, BuzzFeed's chief operating officer.
Mr. Steinberg said BuzzFeed plans to invest a low "eight-digit sum" over two years to launch and build the platform.
The announcement marks BuzzFeed's latest effort to establish itself as a news source among 18-34 year olds, a demographic that advertisers are eager to reach through the Web. Earlier this month, BuzzFeed launched a business news site aimed at expanding its social-media reach to sites like LinkedIn.
Watch their first video, AFTER THE JUMP…


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This post is in partnership with Fortune, which offers the latest business and finance news. Read the article below originally published at Fortune.com.
Hormel Foods has agreed to pay about $450 million to acquire sports-nutrition maker CytoSport, a deal meant to broaden the company’s reach to younger consumers.
The deal to acquire CytoSport, which makes Muscle Milk products, is expected to close within 30 days. CytoSport’s 2014 annual sales are expected to total about $370 million. Hormel HRL 0.61% expects the deal will add about five cents a share to earnings in fiscal 2015, with a neutral impact on fiscal 2014 results.
CytoSport first formed in 1998 by Greg and Michael Pickett, a father and son team that aimed to compete in the sports nutrition category. The company’s first protein products hit the market in 1999, though the Muscle Milk powder — which is the company’s most popular product — was released in 2000. CytoSport has also expanded abroad in recent years, in Canada and the United Kingdom.
For the rest of the story, go to Fortune.com.
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Facebook acquired video supply-side platform LiveRail for an estimated $500 million in early July. Yahoo one week later snapped up video distribution platform RayV, which answered some questions about its video content delivery plans, but opened up more about monetizing those assets. And last week, video demand-side platform (DSP) TubeMogul boarded the IPO roller coaster, debuting at a lower-than-planned $7 per share before surging to a peak of $11.50 on its first day trading on NASDAQ.
“The reason we’ll probably see more transactions here is it’s not just three or four big digital companies making the buys – you can predict three or four Comcast-like companies making deals there, too,” said Dave Morgan, CEO of Simulmedia. “Everybody has to have a play in video because that’s the growth engine in digital at this point, in addition to mobile.”
This begs the question: What will happen to standalone video platforms like BrightRoll and SpotXchange?
Mike Shehan, SpotXchange’s founder and CEO, spoke about the evolution of the platform and where its tech will fit in the future.
AdExchanger: Are you an ad server or SSP doing yield management for publishers?
MIKE SHEHAN: We definitely view ourselves as a video ad monetization platform for the supply side – the publishers. But it’s really a combination of components that make up our platform. It’s not just an SSP. It’s not just an ad server. We view ourselves really providing a next-generation ad server for publishers and ultimately, everything we offer is designed to achieve two goals for publishers. One is for them to achieve higher yield. And two, drive down their operational cost as much as possible.


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The Country Director for Chastex Consult, Ini Archibong, in a telephone conversation with Vanguard, said: “Shoprite is not leaving Nigeria.
“We have only just opened to Nigerian investors which we have also been talking to just before now. We are not leaving, who leaves over a $30billion invest and close shop? It doesn’t sound right.
“We only just given this opportunity to Nigeria investors to come in and also help drive our expansion plan in Nigeria. So we are not leaving.
“I have tried to say this as too many people as I can. There should be no panic at all and all of that. There is no truth in that report.”
Recall that reports have been circulating that the retail outlet has started a formal process to consider the potential sale of all or a majority of stake in its supermarkets in Nigeria.
The report said the retailer had struggled in the Nigeria market after some South African owned retailer shops exited the Nigeria market.
The report further stated that Shoprite results for the year do not reflect any of their operations in Nigeria as it will be classified as a discontinued operation.
The report also said international markets excluding Nigeria contributed 11.6 per cent to the group sales and reported 1.4 per cent decline in sales from 2018.
South African operations contributed 78 per cent of the overall sales and saw 8.7 per cent rise for the years.
The report went further to say that as a result of the lockdown, customers’ visits declined 7.4 per cent but the average basket spends increased by 18.4 per cent.


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The meme coke brand has become a hot property in Ireland.
In the last six months alone, it has been used by more than 100,000 people in Ireland, and more than 6.5 million views on YouTube, according to Google Trends.
While coke is not normally associated with food, this year it has become something of a holiday gift for some.
Its popularity has been fuelled by a campaign that is spreading across social media.
The campaign, which has been shared over 10 million times, involves people buying coke and then cooking it at home.
This is the recipe that has gone viral on social media, with thousands of users sharing their recipes.
Coke has been a staple of holiday celebrations and celebrations for generations.
In Ireland, there is a tradition of cooking a dish with a special ingredient.
It is called coke oven, and it is made of an open flame and is often eaten in the evening as a light dinner.
It was invented by a Dublin-based company called Colette.
This recipe has become an overnight success.
In just three days, it is now shared on Twitter and Facebook more than 5.3 million times.
People have also been using the hashtag #CookeIsHere to share photos of themselves cooking it.
But it has also been picked up by other companies in the social media sphere.
It has also created a stir on social networking sites, with people using the #CokeIshere hashtag to argue that it is a “fraud” and “not worth the money”.
Many of these comments were shared on social news platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
However, it was not until this week that a new meme was created.
On Friday, a woman who has a Twitter account named Lulu created a CookeIshere.com website.
She shared the recipe, and the hashtag cokeishere.
In the first hour of sharing, she shared the hashtag more than 2.2 million times and was liked more than 11,000 times.
On Sunday, the site has been picked apart by the Irish media and other people, who are claiming that it promotes “a fraud”.
In the comments section of one post, a person called Jodi described it as a “coup de grâce”.
In another comment, a man wrote: “It’s not worth the cash.”
But Lulu has responded by saying it is actually a very good recipe and has even sold a coke stove, which is made from a wood and a charcoal.
This has been retweeted more than 150,000 time, and has already been shared more than 25,000,000.