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- GAAP revenue for the fourth quarter of 2013 was $155.1 million. Non-GAAP revenue of $155.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2013 represents a 61.6% increase over the $96.4 million combined non-GAAP pro forma revenue (giving effect to the Stratasys-Objet merger as though it had closed on January 1, 2012) for the same period last year.
- GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter was $2.0 million, or ($0.04) per basic share, compared to a pro forma loss of $3.5 million, or ($0.09) per basic share, for the same period last year.
- Non-GAAP net income was $25.8 million for the fourth quarter, or $0.50 per diluted share, compared to pro forma non-GAAP net income of $16.3 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, reported for the same period last year.
- Fourth quarter per share calculations were impacted by the public issuance of approximately 5.2 million new ordinary shares in September which raised approximately $463 million; and the approximately 3.9 million new ordinary shares issued in consideration for the acquisition of MakerBot.
- The company invested a net amount of $15.5 million in R&D projects (non-GAAP basis) during the fourth quarter, representing 9.9% of net sales.
- The company generated $15.6 million in cash from operations during the fourth quarter, and finished the year with $616.1 million in cash, investments and bank deposits, amounting to $12.50 per share.
- EBITDA for the fourth quarter amounted to $36.0 million.
- Backlog at the end of 2013 amounted to $28.0 million, versus $28.6 million at the end of 2012.
- The company sold 10,963 3D printing and additive manufacturing systems during the quarter, and on a combined pro forma basis, a cumulative 75,818 systems worldwide as of December 31, 2013.
Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ:SSYS) today announced record financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013. Driven by the realization of Stratasys-Objet merger synergies and the rapidly expanding market for 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions, the company observed strong demand across all product lines during the fourth quarter. Hardware and consumable revenue in the fourth quarter, excluding the revenue contribution made by MakerBot, grew by 38% and 33%, respectively, over the pro forma results for the same quarter last year. Total non-GAAP revenue (excluding MakerBot’s contribution) increased by 36% for the fourth quarter over last year’s pro forma revenue. MakerBot made a significant contribution of $24.9 million to fourth quarter revenue, as its highly affordable and functional desktop 3D printers continued strong positive sales momentum within the rapidly growing desktop category. The company generated record non-GAAP profits in the fourth quarter, as strong sales of higher margin products contributed to a non-GAAP gross margin of 60.2% for the period compared to 57.8% for the pro forma period last year; and non-GAAP operating margin grew to 20.2% compared to 19.1% on a pro forma basis for the same period last year. Q4-2013 Financial Results Summary:


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One person’s trash is another one’s treasure – and this saying is especially fitting when you look at some of the nation’s ‘Coolest Campers’.
Shrewd Brits transformed scrapped vehicles into ideal mobile homes.
Aimee Bannister and Craig Holmes bought a battered old 24-seater school bus on eBay for £3,600, and transformed it into ‘Custard’, their two-seater home on wheels.
The van took a whopping 588 hours – the equivalent of more than 24 solid days – and cost about £26,000 to convert.
But Custard now has all the luxuries of home on the road and comes complete with a fully fitted water system and movie projector.
Craig and Aimee, 32 and 33, said: “We always had the idea to build our van, make it our own and drive it around wherever we want. We’ve had many great trips in it."
Woman turns run-down van into stunning motorhome and travels the world in it
The couple, from Barrie, Wales, added: “It’s so much fun to be able to go anywhere you want and have everything you need. It’s the perfect time to get a campervan and have an adventure.”
Meanwhile, freelance marketing consultant Amy Nicholson, aged 34, from Kent, bought a Mercedes van for £11,000 – and gutted it.
She then spent a further £8,000 on renovations through the winter, giving ‘Terry’, a complete revamp to include secret shelf compartments, solar panels, and USB points.
Amy Nicholson added: “I get to wake up with a different view every day and I can decide where I want to go every morning. Everything I own is all in one place and it feels so free.
“Staycations are on the rise and people are now exploring their home and enjoying it more.”
The mobile facelifts come after a study of 2,000 adults revealed a trend in campervan restoration, with one third of adults on the lookout to buy a motorhome.
And one in six already have one they are considering converting.
A further 53% of adults would love to own a vehicle which allowed them to hit the open road whenever they wanted for a little holiday.
Andy Goodson, spokesman for Lexham Insurance, which commissioned the research, said: “Creating your dream campervan doesn’t have to be a pipe dream as these Brits have shown.
“With just the right budget and dedication, you can have the campervan or motorhome of your dreams to live and travel anywhere you want.”
It emerged those adults considering a conversion currently are willing to spend a minimum of £1,500 and put in more than nine hours of work a day, to make their ideal home on wheels.
But adults who don’t own a campervan or motorhome are willing to put aside as much as £6,600 to buy or rent one with essential features including a bed (56%), fridge (56%), and cooking facilities (52%).
Brits would also like to install the latest tech, including a built-in TV (44%), sat nav (34%) and solar panels (30%).
But when asked why they may consider buying or renting a campervan, 40% of adults said they want to travel more freely and take spontaneous trips during the year.
And a third (33%) would even like to leave their existing lifestyle entirely to enjoy life on the road.
Nearly four in 10 (39%) are keen to explore multiple destinations at once while 35% said owning a campervan or motorhome to travel around is a much more affordable holiday.
The study, carried out via OnePoll, also found the average adult goes on two holidays or camping trips a year.
But by owning a campervan or motorhome, 65% of adults would enjoy a weekend getaway without any issues.
More than half (52%) of those polled said owning one would be a good excuse to spend more time with family and loved ones outdoors.
And once they secure one, 49% of adults would use it for themselves before letting their partner (47%) and children (34%) travel in it.
Couple ditch 'normal' life to raise kids on road in converted school bus – & save fortune
Source: Read Full Article

domain: news


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Samsung has posted up the first advertisements for its upcoming Galaxy S4 device. In the videos, embedded below, Samsung stays away from bashing Apple and Apple followers. Instead, Samsung does what most companies should: focus on the new features present in the device.
The first video, seen above, shows off Samsung's new S Translator. The next video, embedded below, shows off Samsung's new feature to enable audio to be embedded with pictures:
Finally, Samsung shows off the Galaxy S4's Group Play technology which allows multiple users to sync and play the same song for better--and louder--sound:
Watch the ads and let us know what you think of them!
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A new retail bank is entering the Whatcom County market with some new technology for customers.
First Federal plans to open its Bellingham branch on Monday, Nov. 9, at 1270 Barkley Blvd., near the Lowe’s home improvement store. The bank, based in Port Angeles, had a small lending office at 1313 E. Maple St. before the decision was made to build a full-service branch, said Jeanine Lee, marketing manager for First Federal.
Along with the typical services found at most banks, the new Bellingham branch will have Interactive Teller Machines, known as ITMs. They operate just like an ATM, but a customer with a question can tap the interactive tab, which brings up a First Federal customer service representative.
Lee said the representative can answer nearly every question that’s typically asked inside the branch to a bank teller, such as balance inquiries and check cashing. One service the interactive feature can’t do is open a new account for someone.
“It’s pretty new technology and it is going very well,” Lee said.
The ITMs provide extended hours for customers to talk to someone — 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. Outside those hours, the ITM functions as a standard ATM. The branch will have an ITM in the drive-through lane as well as the branch’s vestibule.
Along with the new technology, First Federal will have the traditional banking services for consumers and businesses, including commercial, consumer and mortgage loans. The branch also will have bankers with strong ties to the Whatcom County community, including Troy Wills, who will manage the branch.
First Federal currently has nine full-service branches in Western Washington. Details can be found at ourfirstfed.com.


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Catherine , Atlus’ action-puzzle game developed by the same team behind the Persona series, is being revisited on the PlayStation 4 and the Vita. This is reportedly a remake, with updated visuals and new stuff, including expansions made to the story.
If you missed it the first time, Catherine is a crazy box-moving puzzle game about a guy who struggles with his romantic life, and is punished for is bad decisions in a nightmare world where he has to climb towers while dressed as a sheep. The game will receive a new subtitle, releasing as Catherine: Full Body . No release date has been revealed, but Atlus did announce a livestream delivering further information for December 22, at 7:30 PM JST (5:30 AM ET).
So far, Famitsu has published some information on Catherine: Full Body, including a brief hint at some new features. The game will have new difficulty options, new mechanics, and even a new online multiplayer mode. In addition to the new gameplay features, the story is also introducing a new character, Rin, who will be added to the story’s central Katherine/Catherine dynamic. As a result, more cutscenes and even new endings will be introduced.


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The Nest Hub Max is the first member of the Google newly expanded Nest product family. Google has now also officially revealed the Nest Hub max which is just a 10-inch smart display that is also essentially the Google Home Max, Nest camera and the Google Home Hub integrated into just a singular device. It is coming by the end of this summer and will be priced at the cost of $229.
The Nest Hub Max is also designed to be a single device which will also serve as an entry point to the Google entire smart home range of different features. Apart from being the best smart display, or the best smart home security camera, or the best smart speaker, as it is an all in one device that will be going to target the users who are just getting started with the smart home products.
The camera on the Nest Hub max is also said to be as the smartest cam on any of the smart display. Moreover, to recognize your face, you can also use it as a security monitor and get alerts if it detects any of the motion. It is also smart enough to even recognize the gestures and track your motion if you are moving around at the time of video call.
At just the cost of $229, it is an absolute steal for someone who does not already have a smart speaker, Next Camera or display. By even encompassing all of these into just one device, designed to sit into the busiest parts of the home, it also offers a lot of value for the particular customer.


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According to cyber experts, the link claiming to change WhatsApp to pink is a virus and it can hack your mobile phone.
According to the details, a link claiming to make WhatsApp pink is circulating, cyber experts have warned that it is a virus and it can hack your mobile phone.
Cyber experts have warned WhatsApp users not to fall prey to virus links that claim to turn WhatsApp into pink. Clicking on this link will hack users’ phones and make their WhatsApp Will lose access to
This link is circulating in various WhatsApp groups. Raj Shekhar Raja Hariya, a cybersecurity expert, said don’t click on any link with the name WhatsApp Punk, if you click, your mobile phone will be hacked and you will lose full access to your own phone. Will go
The cyber intelligence firm has strongly advised WhatsApp users not to install any app other than Google or Apple’s official app store.
Cyber experts further say that by using the wrong app you compromise on your phone and through this app, your personal data like photos, SMS, and contacts, etc. can be stolen. Keyboard-based malware can be used to track everything you type.
— Gadgets 360 (@Gadgets360) April 19, 2021
Cybersecurity warns that clicking on such a link can not only capture your banking password but also steal your account.


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M.E.S.A to Launch MESA Mat in Partnership with AAMP of America
The Mobile Electronics Specialists of America announced that they will launch M.E.S.A Mat, a line of premium sound damping product, in partnership with AAMP of America.
Ryan Gunter, executive director of M.E.S.A, said in a press release:
"We couldn't be more excited to be working with AAMP on our latest M.E.S.A. product line. Delivering this full line of top quality and exclusive sound damping product to our Members will further the group's success in this profitable accessory category. While other brands of sound damping product are subject to Internet pressures and distribution beyond the retailer's control, M.E.S.A. Mat will only be available to M.E.S.A. Members."


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Herald Sun (Australia) December 03, 2007
Overfeeding is a major threat to children’s health, especially through sweet treats used as behaviour bribes, a new study has found. Up to half of all parents rely on popular treats such as Tiny Teddies, juice boxes or lolly snakes to get kids to sit still or behave in the supermarket, Queensland University of Technology research shows. “This is undermining a child’s ability to self-regulate, and how to eat when they are hungry and not to eat when they are not,” nutrition professor Lynne Daniels said. She called for an end to the overfeeding of children and the offering of food for emotional reasons. …Children’s food preferences were set by the time they were five, giving parents a narrow window to set good habits, Prof Daniels said. Feeding babies even titbits of cake and soft drink can give them a taste for sweet and salty foods over nutritious fruit and vegetables. Up to half of mothers are encouraging bad habits by using food as bribes, rewards or as a way to alleviate boredom, the QUT survey of 361 mothers of babies aged one to three has found.
Prof Daniels found that many parents:
OFFER food as rewards.
GIVE up too quickly when offering healthy food.
OFFER food to alleviate boredom or when their child was upset or needed to be kept occupied.
CONTINUE to offer food once the child has signalled he or she is not hungry.
Prof Daniels said children needed to be offered new foods about 10 times or more before they became familiar enough to accept and like it.


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Reverence Farms taking ‘local’ to another level
By Joel McNair
Saxapahaw, North Carolina — Quite frankly, what is taking place here at Reverence Farms is almost too much to describe.
There’s the 45-cow dairy herd with its rapidly growing raw milk sales program, plus the possibility of a further-processing venture at some point in the future. There’s the Jersey linebreeding program and bull/semen sales based on genetics that do well on no-grain rations and mediocre forages, along with a variety of milk qualities ranging from ultra-high solids to A2A2 genetics. Continue reading “Rebuilding soils and community”
By Joel McNair
Many dairy farmers believe that low milk prices are the biggest danger to their livelihoods. For more than a few, the thought is that the best solution would be a Canadian-style supply management program to boost milk prices and keep them at profitable levels.
I don’t buy all of the arguments for quotas and such, and there is no reason to believe that our elected representatives will ever enact anything approaching Canada’s system. Continue reading “Price alone won’t solve our problems”
Latest research shows that good grazing is good for the planet
By Allen Williams and Russ Conser
Somewhere along the road, cattle got a bad rap. Just when the fear that eating animal fats will kill you appears to be fading, concern is growing that cattle are intrinsically bad for the planet.
So, it’s refreshing to see some countering truth peek through the clouds of fear in a brand new scientific paper from Michigan State University, “Impacts of soil carbon sequestration on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in Midwestern USA beef finishing systems” (Stanley, et. al., 2018). Continue reading “What to tell environmentalists about cows”
Breitkreutzes up their game with covers and grazing
Redwood Falls, Minnesota — Most cash grain growers in the Upper Midwest run big equipment across thousands of acres of GMO corn and soybeans and maybe — just maybe — feed out some of those crops to feedlot cattle or confinement hogs. Often it doesn’t get much more complex than that.
Things aren’t quite that simple at Stoney Creek Farm. Over the past 20 years, Grant and Dawn Breitkreutz have converted a conventional crops and cattle farm into a multi-faceted enterprise that is one part experiment, two parts flexibility, and several parts complex. Continue reading “Doing what it takes to build soil health”
by Allen Williams, Ph.D.
Meat and milk consumers are becoming increasingly interested in fatty acids and are asking lots of questions about what they are and why they are important. With that in mind, I’ll offer a relatively straightforward explanation that might help your understanding of fatty acids and better enable you to answer such questions.
Fatty acids are simply the building blocks for the fats in our body and in all our foods. When we eat fats, they are broken down into fatty acids that are then used by the body to perform numerous vital functions. Chemically, a fatty acid is comprised of a long hydrocarbon chain that can have hydrogen atoms attached. It is capped by a carboxyl group (COOH) that makes these molecules acids. Continue reading “What are fatty acids, and why are they important?”
Nature’s Gourmet Farm is bringing good food to southern Mississippi
Petal, Mississippi — Ben and Beth Simmons have a lot going for them in terms of producing grassfed products and marketing to the public.
Pasture can grow here virtually year-round, rainfall is plentiful on an annual basis, and forage tonnage can be impressive. Ben can get many of his moderate-framed Red Angus steers to around 1,000 lbs. live weight, with hanging carcasses at 600 lbs., in no more than 16 months on mother’s milk and grazed forages. Continue reading “Stacking enterprises in the Deep South”


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Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) posted largely solid first-quarter results, showing gains in subscribers and better-than-expected financials. The company promised to sell two Clear-branded WiMAX smartphones by year-end, and said that it has revised its WiMAX-exclusive technology agreement with Intel, thereby giving Clearwire the option of adopting LTE.
On the handset front, the company said that a Samsung Android-based "3G/4G/WiFi device optimized for heavy video and video communications use" will makes its debut this year, as well as a 3G/4G/WiFi-enabled phone from HTC.
Clearwire executives said both devices will carry the company's "Clear" WiMAX brand, and that the HTC device will be different from the WiMAX-capable, Android-based Evo 4G smartphone HTC plans to release this summer for Sprint Nextel (NASDAQ: S). Clearwire did not provide further details on the planned devices, though executives said the voice-calling service for the phones would run over Sprint's network rather than via VoIP on Clearwire's WiMAX network.
In addition, company executives said they have revised their partnership agreement with Intel, a big backer of Clearwire, allowing Clearwire more flexibility when it comes to technology choices. The original Intel agreement required Clearwire to use WiMAX, and the change means Clearwire may consider switching to LTE. Although Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow said Clearwire had not made any decisions regarding LTE, he did say that the firm is talking to vendors about how it might inexpensively make the change.
Here's a breakdown of key metrics from Clearwire's quarter:
Subscribers: Clearwire ended the first quarter with 971,000 total subscribers: The number represents a combination of 814,000 retail (Clearwire) subscribers and 157,000 wholesale subscribers (those from Sprint, Comcast and Time Warner Cable). During the first quarter Clearwire added 283,000 net new subscribers, including 172,000 retail additions and 111,000 wholesale additions. Interestingly, Clearwire said that more than one-third of its wholesale subscribers "consist of subscribers on dual-mode devices that reside outside of our currently launched markets, but for whom we receive monthly recurring revenue." Such customers could be those subscribing to Sprint's Overdrive 3G/4G mobile hotspot.
Financials: Clearwire's revenue for the quarter clocked in at $106.7 million, up 72 percent from the carrier's year-ago quarter and above analysts' expectations of $97.18 million, according to Reuters. Clearwire's net loss reached $94.1 million, wider than the $71.1 million the carrier lost in the first quarter of 2009.
ARPU: Clearwire's retail average revenue per subscriber was $42.77 in the first quarter of 2010, up from $39.52 in the year-ago quarter
Churn: The carrier's retail monthly churn improved to 3 percent in the first quarter of 2010, down from the 3.6 percent it recorded in the fourth quarter of 2009, but up from 2.6 percent in the year-ago period.
Capex: Clearwire dramatically increased capital expenditures to $690 million in the first quarter of 2010, from $112 million in the first quarter of 2009. The carrier plans to cover 120 million POPs by the end of this year with its WiMAX network.
2010 outlook: Clearwire said it will end 2010 with more than 2 million total subscribers, and company executives promised Clearwire would reach profitability this year.
Clearwire outlines summer launch plans
Sprint narrows subscriber gap in Q1, but loss widens
4G phones: The promise and the peril
Clearwire net additions soar to 87K in Q4


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This $2 billion startup gives $3,000 to every new mom because 'unlimited' leave is expensive
Flickr / Valentina Yachichurova
According to a report by Fortune, Domo's maternity leave pakcage includes a $2,000 gift card, $1,000 in cash, and one month leave at full pay (or six weeks at 66% pay). The gift card can be used at shops like Nordstrom, A Pea In the Pod, and Asos, it said.
The report said the $2,000 gift card is aimed at solving "the challenge expectant mothers face in trying to dress professionally while carrying a child." Also, it's sort of a "deal sweetener" because Domo doesn't have the resources to offer an "unlimited" paid leave like Netflix does, it said.
Domo has more than 600 employees, but only five or six employees have been eligible for the gift card so far, as it was only made available last year. The benefit kicks in for every woman employed at Domo who has a new child.
Netflix announced it would start offering "unlimited" parental leave to all employees starting in August, in order to help recruit the best talent.
Domo is a startup that makes data analytics software. In April, it raised $200 million at a $2 billion valuation, when it made its product publicly avilable for the first time in four years. Domo's founder and CEO Josh James was also the CEO of Omniture, the company Adobe bought for $1.8 billion in 2009.
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By Andrew Sharpe and Myeongwan Kim
Over the past 20 years Chinese-made goods have occupied more and more space in the shopping baskets of Canadians. This has had costs and benefits. There is no shortage of research on the costs, which include job losses in manufacturing. In a recent report for Global Affairs Canada, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards has taken a detailed look at the benefits, which include lower prices for some products and lower inflation overall.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
China became an exporting powerhouse after it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. Much of this export surge, commonly called the “China Shock,” stemmed from internal factors in China, such as urbanization, the rising competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing and the Chinese government’s decision to, at least nominally, sign on to the rules of global trade. China wanted to sell its goods to the world and consumers around the world were happy to buy them. The expansion of superstores like Walmart, which focused on high-volume, low-margin sales, boosted the spread of Chinese products.
In 2000, consumer goods from China accounted for five per cent of all imported consumer goods in the basket of goods and services that Statistics Canada uses to calculate the consumer price index (CPI). A decade later they accounted for 14 per cent. The increase varied a lot by product category.
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Canadians experienced particularly large, trade-induced price declines in consumer products related to textiles, clothing, furniture and electronics. At the same time, technological progress, which may be interrelated with rising Chinese imports, may also have depressed prices. Increasing imports from China may have induced Canadian firms to adopt advanced technologies either to become more competitive or because trade with China made those technologies more available.
We estimate that, on average over the decade following 2001, a 1.0-percentage-point increase in the Chinese share in total imports of a given product led to a 0.221-percentage-point decrease per year in its consumer price — a little over a fifth of a percentage point. We also find, over the same decade, that cumulative inflation for all consumer goods in the consumer price index would have been 2.41 percentage points higher had there been no change in the Chinese share of total imports in Canada. In other words, the cumulative inflation for all consumer goods over this period would have been 20.0 per cent instead of 17.6 per cent.
For the total consumer price index, which includes services as well as goods, cumulative inflation would have been higher by 1.17 percentage points in 2011 had the Chinese share in total Canadian imports remained at the 2001 level. The average annual inflation for the total CPI was 2.1 per cent from 2001 to 2011, so annual inflation would have been about six per cent higher — 2.22 per cent per year rather than 2.1 per cent — without the China Shock.
How do these benefits stack up against the costs associated with the large increase in imported goods from China? An earlier CSLS study estimated that a loss of 113,500 manufacturing jobs between 2001 and 2011 could reasonably be attributed to the rise in imports of Chinese goods. The average annual wage for a manufacturing worker during that period was $58,464 in today’s dollars.
This current study implies that the lower inflation rate over this period translates into a cumulative gain of $745 per Canadian worker or $105,009 (again in today’s dollars) for every job lost. If this amount of money had been given to the workers who lost their jobs, it would have been more than sufficient to compensate for lost earnings and to help with training or other costs associated with finding a new job. Of course, the costs of the China Shock were borne by a small group or workers and firms whereas the benefits were widely spread across Canada. And the workers who were hit generally did not receive compensation, though our findings provide support for compensation, retraining and other policies that redistribute the gains from trade.
Since 2011, the share of consumer goods from China in the CPI has been increasing much more slowly than it did between 2001 and 2011 so the further reduction in prices and increase in real incomes for consumers presumably have been less. If the world moves to reduced trade flows, as it seems to be doing, the China Shock will be reversed and this source of net real income gains for Canadians will disappear.
Andrew Sharpe is executive director of the Ottawa-based Centre for the Study of Living Standards. Myeongwan Kim, currently a PhD student in economics at the University of Toronto, was an economist at the CSLS when the study was written.


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The relevant statistics were published by the RBC publication, citing reports from the Citilink retail chain and another major retailer. According to the source, stocks of digital equipment from Apple, Samsung and other brands that have suspended deliveries to the Russian market will be enough for 2-3 months of trading.
“We are trading the remaining goods from the warehouse, the iPhone 11 and 12 have been sold in Russia for several years, their stocks were small. In addition, after the increase in prices, the cost of these models turned out to be more affordable compared to new models. Now the iPhone 12 Pro Max costs about the same as the iPhone 13 Pro Max six months ago, ”said an employee of one of the large retail chains in an interview with the publication.
According to statistics provided by MTS, at the end of 2021, Samsung ranked first in the Russian smartphone market (32.1% of sales), Xiaomi second (29.1%), and Apple third (15.2%). According to analysts, the suspension of deliveries of devices of the South Korean brand will allow Chinese manufacturers to occupy its niche. However, the sources of the publication note that there may be problems with their supplies due to complicated logistics and currency fluctuations.
Some foreign manufacturers have announced that they are preparing to adapt their business to current conditions, but this may take some time. The possibility of legalizing parallel imports was also discussed as a method of combating the shortage of digital equipment in Russia , but representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade did not answer a direct question from journalists. At the same time, the representative of the ministry stressed that we are talking about the import of original goods through alternative supply channels.
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Donald Trump’s China Tariffs Could Lead To A Global Recession, Says Fox Business Host Charles Payne
During a recent appearance on America’s Newsroom, Fox Business host Charles Payne said he believes that President Donald Trump’s threat to add new tariffs to $300 billion more Chinese imports was behind the over 700-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Newsweek reported that America’s Newsroom co-host Sandra Smith highlighted that Morgan Stanley also warned that a “global recession” is possible if Trump moves forward with 25 percent tariffs on the $300 billion of the East Asia superpower’s imports. In response, Payne said that he agrees that a recession is a possibility.
“It could, it could,” Payne said. “I mean, we’ll see. A lot of people are hoping that maybe the backchannels [between U.S. and Chinese negotiators] are being used right now.”
According to Chad Brown, a trade policy expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), new tariffs will be bad news for American consumers. He predicts they will pay as much as $900 per household.
“What’s really different about this next round of President Trump’s tariffs is that they mostly hit goods bought by American consumers,” he said.
“For the first time, this means higher costs of clothing, shoes, toys, and a lot of consumer-electronics.”
Per The Inquisitr, a number of experts believe that Trump’s trade war is backfiring on America. In an interview with BBC News, Trump’s former chief economic adviser Gary Cohn said the President’s trade war is harming the United States economy while barely making a dent in China’s.
“I think the Chinese economy was going to slow down with or without a trade war,” he said.
Fox Business host says Donald Trump's China tariffs "could" lead to global recession https://t.co/9436dfgVPb
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) August 7, 2019
“I don’t really think it’s hitting the Chinese economy,” he said elsewhere during the interview, before saying he believes that the driving forces of the Chinese economy are credit and credit availability.
Cohn said he believes that the trade war has given China an opportunity to slow down their economy, which he suggests is overheated ?— meaning its productive capacity is lagging behind aggregate demand ?— and will benefit from a period of slowed production.
After the recent dip in Wall Street stock Monday, Trump took to Twitter to accuse China of using currency manipulation to steal from U.S. business and factories, harm jobs, decrease workers’ wages, and drag down farmers’ prices. But The Inquisitr reported that the market rebounded not long after China eased tensions with the United States following the accusations.
In the past, Trump has criticized China for keeping the yuan artificially low to ensure lower prices of its goods.


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New analysis from UNiDAYS, the world’s leading Student Affinity Network, demonstrates the continued benefits of investing in experiential marketing activity in retail shopping centres, breathing life back into the high street. UNiDAYS saw a 65% increase in on-the-night registrations at its dedicated shopping centre evening events throughout 2016 compared to the previous year.
Hosting a total of 15 student shopping events in 11 cities in 2016, UNiDAYS co-ordinated them mostly throughout the busy freshers period in September through to October, enabling brands to connect with hard-to-reach students across the country at this key time. Among the featured centres in major university cities were Manchester’s Arndale and Intu Trafford Centre, Sheffield’s Meadowhall Centre and Nottingham’s Intu Victoria Centre, to name a few.
The events also welcomed additional sponsors that participated through demonstrations and the distribution of samples and merchandise, including 80,000 Lucozade bottles. Celebrity endorsers including the familiar faces of former TOWIE star Lucy Mecklenburgh and Love Island’s Alex Bowen hyped the crowds at the events ensuring selfies and social sharing.
Being at the forefront of retail innovation, UNiDAYS ensured students experienced a fully immersive shopping experience, firstly being directed to the best in-store deals, secured by UNiDAYS, via beacons set up around the shopping centres. The events continued to offer students a glimpse into the future of retail with digital, smart billboards displaying their brand preferences drawn from their social media profiles. Visitors were also sent relevant discounts via push notifications on their smart phones. The success of these events saw UNiDAYS in the top three trending topics on Twitter.
Illustrating the importance of communicating with your audience in person, on-the-night registrations at the events were up 65% year-on-year. New centres working with UNiDAYS saw an increase in pre-registration for the events of over 17k. Total pre-registration across the events was over 100k as students signed up to visit the centres to secure exclusive discounts with brands they love.
By driving these pre registrations, UNiDAYS members accounted for a third (32%) of all footfall in the shopping centres during the events. The week on week comparison for the shopping centres saw UNiDAYS responsible for 98% of the uplift in traffic. Intu centres saw a footfall increase of over 50%, as more than 194,000 people were tracked during this time.
Carl Aelle, head of retail innovation, UNiDAYS said: “Retail events remain a huge untapped opportunity for retailers to get the chance to interact directly with an engaged student audience. No one knows students like UNiDAYS and we use our knowledge of what they want from an in-store shopping experience and tailor the events to those needs. We saw an increase in pre-registration and footfall, which shows the continued relevance of a truly omni channel approach that builds the strongest affinities.”
By joining the UNiDAYS Student Affinity Network, student members get exclusive access to discounts and benefits, helping them save money daily both in-store and online. Whether accessing the network online (www.myunidays.com), or via the app, members can access incredible savings on fashion, technology, music and fitness brands.


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Chinese Internet search provider
soared past its own guidance and Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter sales on Tuesday, and increased its income and revenue by triple-digit percentages from the same quarter last year.
Net income for the quarter was $3 million, an increase of 188.7% from the previous quarter, and up 285.6% from the corresponding quarter in 2004. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, the company made $4.3 million in profit, an increase of 208.3% from the quarter ending December 2004.
Per-share earnings were 13 cents, nearly double the 7-cent-a-share estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call.
Revenue for the quarter totaled $14.2 million, an increase of 167.7% from the same quarter last year, and above the company's top-end guidance of $13.1 million. Analysts had estimated the company would post $12.8 million in sales last quarter.
The stock surged 12.36% in after-market trading, up $6.39 to $58.08.
"We are pleased that Baidu has achieved another quarter of strong revenue and earnings growth despite increased efforts by our peers in the Chinese language search market," Robin Li, Baidu's chairman and CEO said in a statement.
Baidu CFO Shawn Wang attributed the robust financial results to continued traffic growth, customer base expansion and scalability in the company's "pay-for-performance" business model.
The company also completed an expansion of a major data center at the end of the third quarter, so depreciation expenses and bandwidth costs in the fourth quarter remained steady, and capital expenditures in fixed assets went down.
The company expects to bring in revenue between $15.5 million and $16.1 million for the current quarter ending in March.


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The slow roll towards electrified vehicles isn’t isolated to passenger cars and SUVs. Manufacturers are investing in commercial vehicles as well — everything from school buses and delivery vans to big commercial trucks.
VW Group’s vision for an electrified commercial vehicle future also includes a microbus. The automaker’s commercial vehicles unit unveiled five zero-emission vehicles at the 69th IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover, Germany. Among them is an all-electric cargo van that’s meant to be the commercial equivalent of the I.D. Buzz microbus revealed in 2017.
The others include a commercial-grade cargo e-bike, an electric concept van called the Crafter HyMotion that’s powered by hydrogen fuel cell system, a Transporter concept van with a 48-volt mild hybrid drive system that combines a turbodiesel engine with an electric drive and finally, the ABT e-Caddy, a small van that will to arrive on market in mid-2019.
Some of these concepts such as the hydrogen fuel cell Crafter HyMotion are far from hitting the streets. The Crafter HyMotion concept 3.5-ton van is equipped with a hydrogen tank that enable a total range of about 217 miles.
“This is still a concept vehicle, but the technical concept is already near-production,” Heinz-Jürgen Löw, head of sales and a board member of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles said in a statement. “We are conducting an intensive cost and benefit analysis to determine its market potential. The Crafter HyMotion with a fuel cell drive is absolutely a beneficial addition to our drive portfolio of petrol, diesel, natural gas and electric motors.”
The microbus with its 1970s hippie-turned Jetson-vibe is of course the show stopper, which VW describes at the “ideal vehicle for the urban traffic of tomorrow.” And unlike many other concepts, a version of this one might actually make it into production. The company said it could be launched into the market as early as 2021, a year ahead of the passenger version unveiled last year.
The I.D. Buzz cargo microbus concept is equipped with 20-inch wheels (smaller than the I.D. Buzz passenger van) and a solar roof that can extends the battery’s range another 9 miles a day.
It also wide-opening rear wing doors, a new rear bumper and is equipped with a “connected” system that allows all items on its interior shelves to be tracked. Users can unlock the vehicle from the outside via a sensor that recognizes authorized persons via a digital key which is sent to the van from a smartphone.
The cockpit has all the futuristic leanings you might expect with information like navigation projected in #D via an augmented reality head-up display and a portable tablet where the infotainment and climate control functions are housed. The main controls for driving are located on the steering wheel.
The concept also has autonomous driving capabilities, although it’s unclear if this technology will make it into a production version.
This isn’t the first microbus concept VW has shown off in recent years. There was the BUDD.e, which was introduced in January 2016 at CES. BUDD.e was intended to show the world that VW was serious about electric vehicles in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal that has led to arrests, jail sentences and fines.
The following year, VW unveiled an electric all-wheel drive microbus called I.D. Buzz, a futuristic take on the family camper van. The I.D. Buzz will go into production starting in 2022.
While the diesel emissions saga drags on, VW is pushing slowly ahead with its electric vehicle plans. VW Group’s board agreed in June 2016 to transform its core automotive business to focus more on electric vehicles, autonomous driving technology and launch mobility services such as shuttle on demand and ride hailing. Up to 25% of new vehicles under VW Group — a portfolio that includes Audi and Volkswagen Passenger Cars — will be all-electric under the board’s Strategy 2025 plan.
Those electric ambitions (and investments) doesn’t translate into an exodus of diesel — at least on the commercial vehicle front.
Thomas Sedran, board chairman of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said that despite progress made in the electrification of its products, the business unit would continue to rely on highly advanced diesels as the backbone for logistics, particularly vehicles that make long distance runs, in rough terrains and for heavy loads.


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The Mercedes SLS AMG is already a fast, powerful car but this version takes things a bit farther. It's lighter and -- with 622 horsepower from its 6.3-liter V8 -- even quicker to take off. It can get from a stop to 60 miles an hour in just 3.5 seconds, according to Mercedes. It will go on sale in the summer.
An association with actor McQueen can multiply the value of a machine.


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Already available in the US, Canada and Europe, JinJiji’s will be launched in India soon.
The market for gin in India is minuscule. Gin reportedly accounts for just 1 percent of the annual 300 million case spirits market, and liquor industry experts will tell you that over 98 percent of the gin sold here is of the rot-gut variety.
The underwhelming consumption figures — and the pandemic — though do not seem to have deterred the launch of six homegrown craft gin brands. The last seven-odd months have seen a burst of new craft gins — Terai, Samsara, Jin Jiji, Pumori, Tickle, and GinGin—and yet more gins could join them on the shelves by the time this horrendous year draws to a close.
Most of these gins are distilled in Goa by, in keeping, perhaps with gin’s popularity among millennials, people under 30. These include a former management consultant, a wine importer, and the scion of a business family that constructs swimming pools and water parks in northern India.
“Making gin is, relatively, a lot easier than, say, making whisky, or rum, and the entry barriers to distilling it are less in Goa. The whole process is also generally smoother than elsewhere in the country. If you know what you want, there are several distilleries there that you could sub-contract the distilling and bottling to,” says Vikram Achanta, co-founder and CEO of drinks training and consulting firm Tulleeho.
Listen | Corporate Buzz: Is Infosys back as IT bellwether? Hyundai's remarkable feat; Europe's second COVID wave may sting India Inc
Achanta hasn’t sampled any of the new gins just yet, but he wants to wait for a year before he passes judgement on them. “It’s one thing to make a good gin, and quite another to make sure the whole enterprise is sustainable.” Moneycontrol recently spoke to the men behind GinGin, Jin Jiji, and Samsara to find out more about their gin journeys.
Ansh Khanna, Jin Jiji
Ansh Khanna, 27, launched Delhi-based Massale Wines along with wine guru Sanjay Menon and acclaimed US-based sommelier Rajat Parr in 2018. Last year, he founded Peak Spirits, teamed up with Chicago-based sommelier Ken Fredrickson and their first product, JinJiji, is already available in several cities in the US, Canada, and Europe. An India launch (specifically— and initially — Goa and Maharashtra) is, says Khanna, just around the corner.
“Ken has been tasting and producing wine and spirits from around the world for over 25 years. This is his first gin,” says Khanna who shares a facility with another gin brand in Goa. Jin Jiji, an “India Dry Gin”, uses a variety of botanicals, including juniper and chamomile and there’s also a Darjeeling variant that looks pretty appealing. “Creating the Darjeeling gin was a fun journey for Ken and me. Jin JiJi Darjeeling has notes of tea and spices. We use FTGFOP -1 (Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe) grade tea and it is custom processed a few days before distillation to preserve freshness.”
Shubham Khanna experimented with 40 recipes before settling on hemp for GinGin.
Shubham Khanna, GinGin
Shubham Khanna belongs to a Delhi-based business family that constructs swimming pools and water parks and likes their whisky. “A lot of people in my family and even my friends are into brown spirits but I’ve always been a gin person. I like the happy high it gives me, and soon one thing led to another, and here I am.” Khanna, 24, has spent the last couple of years, most of them in Goa, deep-diving into the world of gin. He says he experimented with over 40 different recipes before locking in on the one he wanted for GinGin.
“GinGin is focused on the use of hemp. The other botanicals we use include lavender, caraway seeds and Himalayan juniper. But the use of hemp adds a different dimension to the gin,” says Khanna, who is especially proud of the column still that he developed and designed in India.
Aditya Aggarwal’s Samsara is a London Dry Gin that was launched in Goa in late September.
Aditya Aggarwal, Samsara
Aditya Aggarwal wears two hats. He heads Spaceman Spirits Lab, a platform that brings together mixologists, alcobev experts and distillers, and he also makes Samsara, which was launched in Goa late September. Samsara, a London Dry Gin, is distilled using 11 botanicals, including organic hemp seeds, sourced from the Bombay Hemp Company, and green cardamon, and the former consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, recommends having it with a slice of ginger or a sprig of rosemary. Aggarwal says that Samsara is “closest to Roku when it comes to taste, but in terms of our style of storytelling and marketing, we are inspired by Hendricks”.
The 26-year-old expects to sell about 25,000 cases between India and the US over the next 12 months, and he is also quite clear about his target audience: “We are positioning ourselves as a contemporary luxury brand for millennials.”(Murali K Menon works on content strategy at HaymarketSAC.)


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The last LaFerrari coupe ever made crossed the auction block December 3, setting records and raising some $7 million for charity.
The Florida sale was held by Ontario-based RM Sotheby’s in conjuction with Ferrari to help raise money for the National Italian American Foundation’s Earthquake Relief Fund.
The bidding war for the 949-hp hypercar lasted some 10 minutes before crowning at $7 million US, setting a new record for most expensive 21st-century car sold at auction.
- Take one 2017 Lexus IS sedan. Add 41,999 LED lights connected by a mile of wiring. You’ll end up with a LIT IS as bright as 100 100-Watt bulbs, and cool enough to star in a music video. (via Autoblog)
- Rolls-Royce just gave us its best look yet at its upcoming SUV – er, we mean “high-sided vehicle” – Project Cullinan, and we have to admit we’re kind of liking where it’s going.
- Podcaster, comedian, and car enthusiast Adam Carolla’s latest documentary film, The 24 Hour War, goes in-depth to explain the bitter rivalry between Ford and Ferrari that gave birth to the original Ford GT40 race car. Oh, we’re watching this. (via Apple)


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Word that the deal to bring back A-Treat sodas fizzled has us pining for those classic foods the Lehigh Valley can call its own.
Here are six brands the Lehigh Valley can proudly lay claim to. The brands were born or once produced in the area, though customers could find them outside the area. Some are no longer made, but all can trace roots here.
What's your favorite Lehigh Valley food brand? Vote in our poll below.
A-Treat was the stuff of sleepovers. For nearly 100 years, the Allentown company crafted sodas in unusual flavors like grape, grapefruit, blue raspberry and sarsparilla. Lehighvalleylive.com readers previously voted cream as the No. 1 flavor for A-Treat.
Just Born Peeps
Love 'em or hate 'em, sweet tooths will always claim Peeps as an iconic Lehigh Valley brand.
Peeps, produced by Just Born in Bethlehem, celebrated 60 years in 2013. The company reportedly "hatches" five million Peeps each day at the plant off Stefko Boulevard.
The classic Peep, once reserved for Easter baskets, has inspired candy-flavored milk, launched three retail stores and morphed into Peeps shaped and colored for Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day. Peeps shaped like dinosaur eggs, flavored with bubble gum and even dipped in chocolate, are now on store shelves across the country. And the Peep is so beloved in the Lehigh Valley that it's the focus of a two-day ArtsQuest Center festival in Bethlehem.
When I started looking into the Lehigh Valley's 16 strangest foods, Schafer Bologna was on the list. The story goes that a German butcher started making the not-too-sweet, not-too-spicy beef bologna in South Side Easton in 1847. A factory lasted until 2004 in Palmer Township, until Montgomery County-based Alderfer purchased the brand and recipe.
RELATED: Strange foods from the Lehigh Valley
For more than 90 years, freshly-baked bread scented the air in the Easton area. Schaible's Bakery started in Easton in 1884, and moved to Wilson Borough in 1920. Breads were sold under the Sunbeam label until 1975, when Maier's, of Reading, Pa., purchased the plant. Bimbo Bakeries purchased the Wilson Borough company in the last 10 years, and has moved operations to Upper Macungie Township.
I wasn't around for Neuweiler's reign, but the beer had a more than 100-year run in Allentown. According to articles from The Express-Times archives, Barry Szmodis resurrected the brand in 1991 with plans to produce 2,500-3,000 barrels annually. The beer can't be found any longer, though Fegley's Brew Works celebrated its run in 2008 with a relaunch of the company's signature ale. Ruckus Brewing announced in February 2014 it planned to buy the former Neuweiler Brewery in Allentown to establish a new brewery.
For more than 75 years, the North Whitehall Township-based turkey farm has supplied the star of the Thanksgiving table to families in the Lehigh Valley and beyond. Jaindl turkeys have been served at the White House, according to jaindl.com. For several years, the turkeys donated by the Obama family to local food banks for Thanksgiving have come from the Jaindl farm. Today, Jaindl turkeys can be purchased up and down the East Coast and as far west as Mississippi and Tennessee.
I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like there should be another brand in this list. Is there a food brand that I'm missing? Add it in the comments section below.


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Japan’s industrial output stutters in November as global risks pressure growth
Industrial output contracted by 1.1% in November on a month-on-month basis due to a pullback in output from the general-purpose machinery segment.
Japan’s factory output shrank for last month, reversing from the gains in October, government data showed on Friday.
Industrial output contracted by 1.1% in November on a month-on-month basis due to a pullback in output from the general-purpose machinery segment. The reading contrasts from a 2.9% increase in October. Economists had expected a 1.9% decline for the month.
Manufacturers are feeling dismal towards industrial output performance in the coming months. Based on a survey by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, manufacturers expect output to rise 2.2% in December but to fall by 0.8% in January.
After a slew of natural disasters which hit the nation from July to September this year, affecting businesses and disrupting factory production, economists expect the country to rebound for the last quarter of the year.
However it remains to be seen for the trade-dependent economy as the world continues to be mired in global risks such as the China-United States (US) trade war, US fiscal and monetary policies, and trade protectionism stance seen from some countries.
Live prices on most popular markets


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Xiaomi’s phones always appeal to the masses with unmatched value. The previous generation Mi series flagships have been high sellers in China and it’s no different for the Mi 10 series this year. A couple of days ago, there were reports of the Xiaomi Mi 10 getting the sold out’ tag in a few seconds and now, it’s better-equipped sibling, i.e. the Mi 10 Pro, has also gone out of stock in the first sale. That’s surprising given that China is currently undergoing the deadly Coronavirus epidemic.
In an official teaser on Weibo, Xiaomi says that the Mi 10 Pro was all sold out within the 55 seconds of the sale going live. That’s a big achievement for a premium flagship phone that start from almost Rs 50,000. Moroever, it’s not that Xiaomi had a few units available on sale. It is predicted that the company may have put up at least 33,000 units on sale and that’s a huge number of phones to go out of stock in the first sale.
The Mi 10 Pro is by no means an affordable phone but Xiaomi has ensured that it is offering the best user experience with the Mi 10 Pro. It also has a couple of figures to achieve that. The Mi 10 Pro’s display has a JNCD rating of
The Mi 10 Pro also gets the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset and in China, it supports all the 5G networks. Some of the other highlights on the Mi 10 Pro include a 90Hz refresh rate AMOLED display with curved edges, a big 4500mAh battery and lots of fast charging options to fill it up faster. The Mi 10 Pro gets 30W fast wired as well as 30W fast wireless charging. If you want higher charging speeds, you can use the 65W wired charger to fill it up even faster. The phone also supports 10W reverse wireless charging.
Xiaomi is expected to bring the Mi 10 series to India this year as its premium flagship offering. However, chances are that Xiaomi may bring only the Mi 10 to India and skip on the Mi 10 Pro due to cost. Xiaomi VP Manu Kumar Jain has already said that Xiaomi will need to import the Mi 10 series to India as the country does not have such high-standard manufacturing facilities suitable for the Mi 10’s quality control.


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In a bid to promote increased integration between fintech hubs in MENA and in Asia, the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN) has signed a partnership agreement with Fintech Galaxy, the MENA region’s open innovation platform and marketplace for collaboration between FinTechs and financial institutions.
Under the agreement, the parties will also promote AFIN’s API Exchange (APIX) platform to the FinTech community, further contributing to the development of the industry, AFIN and Fintech Galaxy said in a joint statement on 22 April.
AFIN was set up as a non-profit organization in 2018 by the ASEAN Bankers Association (ABA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). AFIN’s mission is to enhance and promote innovation and cooperation between financial institutions and FinTechs, in effort to digitally transform the banking and financial sectors across the ASEAN region and beyond to ultimately drive financial inclusion.
AFIN’s APIX platform is a global cloud-based platform that enables financial institutions and FinTech firms to discover one another on a curated global marketplace, design experiments collaboratively, and deploy innovative solutions rapidly at a lower cost.
“With the global economy nearing a standstill, we hope to play our part by continuing to help fintech startups find the capital and support they need to create timely solutions through innovative measures, as FinTechs are increasingly seen as the obvious choice at this time,” Mirna Sleiman, Founder & CEO, Fintech Galaxy, said in the statement.
According to Manish Diwaan, Managing Director, AFIN:
“We at AFIN aim to connect financial institutions that need digital transformation with FinTechs that have built innovative solutions through the APIX platform. And so, the synergies between us and Fintech Galaxy are strong and the network created and knowledge shared through our partnership will cement both, MENA’s and Asia’s reputation as world leaders in fintech.”


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Speaking at the ISBA Annual Conference at the Kia Oval in London, Jon Woods, Coke GB and Ireland general manager and ISBA president, told delegates that they should not get "too carried away" with recent good news about the UK economy.
Woods said: "We’ve started to see some momentum come back into the economy, and it’s good to see some confidence come back to consumers. But I wouldn’t get too carried away with the speed things are improving."
"Most businesses are emerging from the recession trimmer and significantly more demanding on return on investment. We have price-sensitive consumers, and top-line growth for most of us will be hard to come by. It will go to those who invest, innovate and are prepared to constantly review how they operate."
Woods praised the Government for "sticking to its task" with the economy and rejecting further "unnecessary regulation", despite calls from "ill-informed" interest groups.
He added that ISBA is investigating ways to make online advertising more transparent and to enhance "online brand safety", in particular relating to social media.
He said: "The industry body is launching a new Infringing Websites Register of illegal websites, which brands and agencies should avoid, and is pressing for online ads to be traded and billed on their viewability, rather than where they are served.
"Continuing technological change poses many challenges alongside some interesting possibilities. These challenges need to be addressed."


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Are we really still making body-shaming ads in 2021?
Melissa Chapman, Co-Chief Executive Officer at Jungle Creations, says that while steps have been taken to avoid overt body shaming adverts, the industry is still guilty of a subtle, pernicious attack on women's - and men's - insecurities.
Scrolling through your social platform of choice, it is easy to miss the sexism among a sea of snackable content. It’s not as overt as it once was. No, this is more subtle, though no less pernicious.
Women have long been subjected to ad campaigns about pleasing their husbands, looking after kids and keeping in 'good shape'. Women have long been plastered across billboards with the aim of sexualising everything from cars and beer, to air conditioning units. And we’ve long been shamed into feeling like we should be unhappy with our appearance, whether that’s through overt body shaming or more covert beauty filters and air brushing.
We’ve long been shamed into feeling like we should be unhappy with our appearance.
Ever since the Advertising Standards Authority banned ‘harmful gender stereotypes in advertising’ a couple of years back, very rarely today do laddish, offensive, objectifying brand comms make it out the door. Those that do are soon torn to shreds.
Above: An ad from 2015 which caused controversy after being accused of body shaming.
This is clearly good news. But it seems that demoralising women is a hard habit to kick for an industry still overwhelmingly male. While the worst has been all but eradicated, in its place has come a torrent of brand-led body-shaming hidden behind influencers and digitally enhanced bodies. It is a constant drip-feed of weight-loss teas and meal replacement shakes.
It feels, at times, as if exploiting women’s insecurities worked so well for so long that there are some creatives who have yet to come up with any better ideas.
There is a pressure applied to women that simply isn’t applied to men to the same degree with regards to our bodies and health. We’re constantly being told to eat less, exercise more, be less hairy, stop ageing, wear make-up and obtain an unrealistic standard of Western beauty, even if it kills us.
It feels, at times, as if exploiting women’s insecurities worked so well for so long that there are some creatives who have yet to come up with any better ideas. Making women feel bad about themselves, or intimating that they must present themselves in a way that is sexually appealing, is an approach that clearly drives sales. But that doesn’t make it right, it doesn’t sit well with consumers and, moreover, consumers are becoming wise to it. No longer are women sitting back and letting this damaging messaging insidiously weave into their subconscious, women are taking a stand and calling brands out for feeding their insecurities that are so often only there in the first place because of advertising.
Above: Brands such as Fenty have embraced a more inclusive, body positive approach to their products and advertising.
This sort of brand messaging is never more prevalent than during the New Year period. Every year we are told to reinvent ourselves. 'New Year, New Me' seems innocuous enough; many people make resolutions, after all, but many people do not, and pressuring them to do so causes unintended but very real harm.
We spent January raising awareness of this phenomenon through Four Nine’s New Year’s Revolution campaign. It encourages brands to take the pressure off following a year of Covid conditions and an acute rise in mental health problems. People already feel terrible, so why would you make them feel worse? With YouGov we carried out a 2,000 person survey to better understand how the public feel about this sort of targeting and messaging. A huge majority (70%) of both men and women feel as if women are targeted more often in weight loss adverts and messages.
The gender imbalance in messaging is designed to capitalise on women's perceived higher levels of insecurity surrounding their weight.
This doesn’t reflect the reality of obesity and associated ill-health in the UK. According to The Health Survey for England 2017, men are more likely than women to be overweight or obese. I think you could safely assess that the gender imbalance in messaging is designed to capitalise on women's perceived higher levels of insecurity surrounding their weight, rather than factual health reasons.
While the ASA banned ‘harmful gender stereotypes in advertising’, which goes some way to reducing sexist stereotyping in advertising, this still leaves plenty of room for exploiting gendered expectations of women. Interestingly, however, the ASA has just recently banned ‘misleading’ beauty ads – those which use filters and editing to make a product look better than it actually is, which helps to fill the void that the former ruling left.
Above: Four Nine, the 'female first community', launched a New Year's Revolution campaign encouraging body positivity.
However, I still don’t think these rulings go far enough. I would go one further and ban ads that promote unrealistic beauty standards altogether, especially those which overtly - or covertly - body shame. Of course, an outright ban is unlikely any time soon, and would be difficult to implement, let alone manage. Beauty is, after all, subjective, but our research shows there might be support for it. Around 46% of women want to see more of a focus on body positivity and self-acceptance in media and advertising than they presently see, a notion echoed by 27% of men.
If not a ban then a challenge to others in our industry: stop it. One only has to look at the success of Monki, Fenty and many more to see what difference body positivity and inclusivity can make. Brands have an opportunity to support women and capitalise on their growing confidence, yet still so many continue to try and exploit their insecurities instead.
Making women – or men, for that matter – feel guilty about their appearance feels like the dying breath of the old world of advertising.
Making women – or men, for that matter – feel guilty about their appearance feels like the dying breath of the old world of advertising. Making people feel good about the body they are in is far more effective than shaming them into submission. Not everyone is in a position – either physically or mentally – to make the changes to their life advertising pressures them to make. Indeed, not everyone wants to make changes. It may surprise brands that some people are perfectly happy as they are. Pressuring people to change when they can’t or don’t want to can be soul-crushing. So stop it.


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SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - The transformative power of online crowd funding is being poured into a bowl or two of potato salad.
A Kickstarter project with a simply stated goal of making the classic US summer picnic side-dish had raised more than US$29,000 (S$36,000) from 1,351 backers as of Tuesday morning, Singapore time and was attracting more support.
"Basically, I'm just making potato salad," project mastermind Zack Danger Brown said in an unabashedly succinct description at his page at the website where people pitch ideas in the hope that folks on the Internet will pitch in with funding.
"I haven't decided what kind yet." Mr Brown blasted past his original funding goal so fast that he added "stretch goals" that include making twice as much potato salad, trying more than one recipe, upgrading the mayonnaise, and sending people themed baseball caps.
His funding campaign shot past those faster than a spud out of a potato gun.
Upon passing the US$1,000 funding point, the Ohio man promised an online live stream starring him making the potato salad after the Kickstarter funding round closes on Aug 2.
Most of the pledges came in the form of one or two dollars each, with those backers to be rewarded in simple ways, including their names being said aloud while the potato salads is being made.
Bigger money backers kicking in US$10 or more are in line for rewards ranging from hand-written potato-themed haiku and access to the kitchen during the salad making to homage T-shirts or a "Potato Salads of the World" recipe book.
"I love this project!" a backer with the screen-name Devorah Brehony said in a Kickstarter chat forum post on Monday. " It's so insane!."


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When a company so new and so fresh off of a cash infusion from going public starts to make cost-cutting decisions surrounding their primary product, it doesn’t bode well for the future of the company. That seems to be the direction that Zynga may be heading after shutting down 11 of their titles.
According to Techcrunch:
The San Francisco-based company had overextended itself. During its heyday on Facebook it built dozens of games, then aggressively launched mobile games as smartphones gained popularity. It didn’t seem like a problem when the company was preparing for a big IPO.
The “big IPO” of which they speak has not performed nearly as well as anyone had hoped. It has lost over 70% of its value in a year and shows no signs of rebounding. The only thing it has going for it is the price tag – a bargain basement $2.33 per share at the time of this article. If they have any hope in survival, they will have to tighten up more than a handful of games. They will need to develop something that really resonates on mobile to continue their pull away from Facebook.


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Students Win with PulCe Muffins
By: Beth Ann Luedeker
Contact: Dr. Joseph Awika email@example.com 979-845-2985
Shreeya Ravisankar and Tadesse Teferra, both doctoral students under Dr. Joseph Awika, and with Celeste Totten, an undergraduate in food science, have been working for many months to create a new breakfast muffin. Last month their efforts were rewarded.
At the American Association of Cereal Chemists International (AACCI) annual meeting in San Diego, the trio claimed first place in the product development competition with their PulCe Muffins.
According to the students, PulCe muffins are a gluten-free, whole grain mix made from a blend of different ancient grains (sorghum, amaranth and teff) and pulces (garbanzo beans and lentils).
“The busy lifestyles of consumers is making many skip breakfast and they are looking for more convenient products,” said Ravisankar. “According to research data, the sale of muffins is projected to increase rapidly in the next ten years, so we set out to develop PulCe muffins, which derives its name from the ingredients - Pul from pulses and Ce from cereals.”
With many consumers considering gluten-free products to be healthier choices, the students wanted to create a quick, ready-to-bake, gluten-free muffin mix offering several nutritional benefits.
“The muffins are a complete source of proteins, as pulses are rich in lysine and cereals are rich in methionine, offering three to five times the protein of other muffins,” Taferra said. “In addition the blend makes the muffins rich in vitamins and several minerals, including calcium, iron and manganese.”
Whole grain cereals and pulses, in combination, are sources of beneficial polyphenolic compounds which have been shown to have synergistic antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential in recent in vitro studies, the students said.
The students faced several challenges as they developed their muffins.
First it was the “beany” flavor of the pulse flour, which they overcame by microwaving the whole beans and lentils briefly prior to grinding them into flour.
Texture was another challenge.
“The gluten in a wheat based muffin provides elasticity and extensibility to hold the product together. The lack of gluten in our product forced us to work with other additives to provide a moist product.” Ravisankar explained.
“We also had a hard time milling the garbanzo beans,” said Teferra. “The beans are naturally hard and difficult to mill, and the situation was worsened by the microwave treatment. It was a constant struggle.”
Perhaps one of the greatest challenges was time. The students all have class and research obligations which limited the time available to obtain some of the key ingredients in the form required.
“In the end, we were able to present a healthy muffin in three flavors, blueberry, strawberry and chocolate) that perfectly fits current consumer trends,” Ravisankar said. “They are gluten free, rich in protein and minerals, and have no artificial ingredients.”
The trio recognizes that whole grain products are more prone to oxidation, which limits their shelf lives, and they plan to address this during future research and development.
“We could not have achieved this without the support and guidance of Dr. Awika, and the cereal quality lab members,” Ravisankar said. “We also had support from Dr. Rhonda Miller in animal science, who helped with sensory analysis, and Dr. Suresh Pillai in nutrition and food science, who provided microbial analysis support.”


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The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM Korea) was very pleased to welcome Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and his delegation of four distinguished Members of Congress to Korea this week. Their visit symbolizes the strong ties that underline the U.S.-Korea bilateral relationship – and also the expectation that the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) will soon be taken up by the legislatures in both countries for a vote.
AMCHAM Korea is the oldest and largest foreign business association in Korea. We are a fully private organization, and we have around 2,000 individual members coming from about 1,000 companies that span all sectors of the economy – aerospace, automotive, agriculture, consumer products, financial services, healthcare, education, professional services, and many more. Our member companies are big and small and employee hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers throughout the United States.
Our key message to Secretary Locke and his delegation was that early ratification of the KORUS FTA is essential for the continued success of U.S. companies in the $1 trillion dollar Korean economy. Our members emphasized that they compete head-to-head with European companies here, and once the Korea-EU FTA goes into effect on July 1, European companies will have a significant cost advantage over their U.S. competitors. In addition, companies in the Congressional districts of the Members who accompanied the Secretary noted that they are already looking at changes in their supply chains as a result of the Korea-EU and KORUS FTAs. If KORUS goes into effect soon, this could mean significant increase in sourcing from U.S. suppliers.
At a large, luncheon meeting co-hosted by AMCHAM Korea and the Korea FTA Alliance today in Seoul, the 300 members of the audience were delighted to hear Secretary Locke state that the KORUS FTA is a top priority for the Obama Administration. The Secretary noted that this agreement is critical to the economies of both the U.S. and Korea, and that under the FTA, nearly 95 percent of bilateral trade in consumer and industrial products will become duty free within three years of the date the FTA enters into force. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) estimates that the KORUS FTA will increase U.S. GDP by at least $10 billion and increase U.S. goods exports to Korea by $10-11 billion annually.
In addition to the significant tariff benefits this agreement will bring about immediately, the FTA will also help level the playing field for American businesses, farmers, and workers by bringing new predictability, transparency, and fairness into all aspects of the Korean economy.
Passage of the KORUS FTA will not only demonstrate U.S. leadership in the Asia Pacific region, but it is also a key means for the United States to reinforce its bilateral relationship with one of its most important allies. The U.S.-Korea alliance is a multi-faceted bond that goes back more than half a century. This agreement will add an important third pillar of economic integration to our already strong bilateral political and military alliance.
We anticipate that the KORUS FTA will be a win-win for the national interests of both countries by creating unprecedented opportunities and economic benefits.
That is why it is so critical that Congress does not wait, and is why the Secretary has made this very important trip to Korea.


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Leading manufacturer reveals new flavour of chocolate
We’re constantly looking for innovative ways to improve the Springwise experience, and so we’re now introducing BeeLine Reader, a new technology that helps you read more quickly and efficiently. To learn more about BeeLine Reader, an award-winning startup funded by Intel Capital, see BeeLineReader.com.
The global chocolate market is worth just over USD 98 billion and chocolate is one of the most popular and widely consumed products in the world. With white chocolate, the third type of chocolate after dark and milk having launched back in the 1930s, Ruby is the first new flavour to be revealed in the last 80 years. Ruby chocolate is made from the ruby cocoa bean through a unique processing that unlocks the flavour and colour naturally present in the ruby bean. No berries, berry flavour or colour are added. The company behind the invention is Zurich-based Barry Callebaut Group, whose global R&D centres…
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11 August 2020 — It is still too early to say who is right and wrong in the aftermath of COVID-19, but the pandemic provides a unique opportunity to analyze the dynamics that influence how nations respond to a common threat. In this article, we provide an in-depth analysis of how Vietnam handled the first wave of the pandemic and propose a framework for business leaders to draft a crisis response and enhance their organization’s resilience in a crisis.
15 July 2020 — South Korea has been known as a rapidly growing prosperous economy, home to global conglomerates called chaebols. However, actual opportunities and challenges of the South Korean market remain unknown to most foreign companies. Here we discuss recent developments in the South Korean economy, and what they mean in terms of opportunities for market entry.
6 July 2020 — Consolidating Reddal’s learnings in China from the past few years, this article shares some observations on the dynamics of industrial goods market segmentation. It offers a continuous and iterative approach for industrial players to respond to these changing market aspects by revising their brand portfolio strategy.
29 June 2020 — Based on Reddal’s work in China over the past few years and recent insights, this article shares different realities around Chinese consumers and shares potential actions to tap into uncovered consumer potential in China.
When traditional manufacturers encounter digital disruptors: collaborate and compete on industrial digital solutions
23 June 2020 — The market landscape of traditional manufacturing companies has been facing large scale digital disruptions. This article discusses the patterns of disruption and suggests a potential response strategy.
10 June 2020 — As enhanced customer experience, customer centricity and intimacy become increasingly common as a winning strategy across the B2B world, we argue in this article that they no longer provide sufficient and clear strategic direction to drive companies toward market leadership. We also propose a revision to a classic framework on market leaders’ value disciplines in today's digitalized business world.
12 February 2020 — Reddal Client Director, Dr. Per Stenius, was invited to speak about the impact of SMEs on national economic development at the APEC Public-Private Dialogue “Capitalize on Research and Development” 2020 in Malaysia.
13 December 2019 — Reddal Client Director, Dr. Per Stenius, was invited to speak about how countries can strengthen innovation capabilities through a policy ecosystem at APCTT International Conference 2019, Malaysia.


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Coco Pops have been on breakfast tables for over 60 years – but now there’s a new version to try.
This month, Kellogg’s is launching a strawberry and white choc version of the puffed rice cereal.
And instead of the classic brown colour, this stuff is pink, giving the milk a splash of colour.
The new addition to the range contains 30% less sugar than regular chocolate-coated versions and it’s made with no artificial colours or flavours.
Boxes will be on supermarket shelves from February 12, but sadly the cereal will only be made for one year – so stock up if you’re a fan.
The cereal costs £2.99 for 480g, which is about the same as regular Coco Pops, when not on offer.
It comes after the successful launch of a white chocolate flavour back in 2019, with more than three million boxes selling in the first six months.
Harriet Oakes, activation brand manager from Kellogg’s said: ‘We are thrilled to launch new Strawberry & White Choc Coco Pops, it took over 50 recipe trials before we achieved the tastiest mix of strawberry and white chocolate that turned milk the perfect pink.
‘When we launched White Choc Coco Pops in 2019, they sold out in just a few days so we’re hoping Coco Pops fans will be just as excited to try the new flavour.
‘We’re sure kids and grown-ups alike will enjoy bringing a bit of pink to their breakfast.’
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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It’s that time of year again!
Clean out those closets, garages, and sort the toy box because the Town-Wide Garage Sale is coming! This year’s sale will take place on Saturday, June 3.
Contact the library at 306-452-3255 to register your garage sale and get added to the map. You can also message the library on Facebook, or email at firstname.lastname@example.org


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The UK cruise market, which doubled in size during the last decade, will double again over the next 10 years - to three million passengers annually.
This prediction comes from the Chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation Micky Arison and appears in the fifth annual cruise report to be published by the UK brands of Carnival UK* in The Cruise Report 2010.
He said it will be partly stimulated by a much-increased range of cruises coming onto the market, including more short duration cruises from UK ports.
The report also contains the results of a major online consumer survey carried out for Carnival UK by leading cruise retailer cruise.co.uk.
This attracted nearly 5,000 responses from frequent cruisers and revealed (among other findings highlighted in The Cruise Report) that more than a quarter would reduce other expenditure to ensure they could still afford their main cruise holiday.
And more than one in three would rather pay less than they would normally budget for a cruise than not book one at all.
Also, eight out of 10 prefer ships carrying at least 1,000 passengers with half voting for between 1,000 and 2,000 passengers as their ideal ship size. But just one in a hundred fancy cruising on a ship with more than 4,000 passengers and nearly a third prefer ships to have predominantly British passengers
In his report overview, Carnival UK CEO David Dingle revealed that, although 2009 was a tough year for the cruise industry, the company’s brands found they could hold prices at a higher level than they had initially expected.


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Israel to allow limited building supplies into Gaza
Ma'an News Agency
April 22, 2013
Israeli authorities opened the Kerem Shalom goods crossing into Gaza on Monday for the limited transfer of building materials, a Palestinian Authority official told Ma'an.
The building materials are earmarked for projects already under construction, PA liaison official Raed Fattouh said. Goods for other sectors and cooking gas will also be among the goods entering Gaza on Monday.
In April, a UN agency expressed concern over heightened Israeli restrictions placed on the movement of people and goods to and from the Gaza Strip, following rocket fire in the area.
"These measures are resulting in the depletion of stocks and essential supplies, including basic foodstuffs and cooking gas, and undermine the livelihoods and rights of many vulnerable Gazan families," James W Rawley, humanitarian coordinator at the UN's Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.
OCHA says that since February Israel imposed new restrictions on the movement of people and goods to, from and within the Gaza Strip, including a reduction in the fishing limit imposed on Gaza fishermen.
Related Topics: Gaza, Israel, Palestinians
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Take a look at the beta version of dw.com. We're not done yet! Your opinion can help us make it better.
US digital giant Amazon has filed a sealed lawsuit contesting the Pentagon's move to award a $10 billion deal to Microsoft. US President Donald Trump and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos are engaged in a long-running row.
Microsoft recently scored a massive deal to build a cloud computing system for the US military, beating frontrunner Amazon. The Pentagon's decision, widely seen as a snub to Amazon, will now be contested in court.
On Friday, Amazon filed a legal challenge to the move in Washington. They also asked the court for a protective order to keep the lawsuit's content away from the public eye.
The fillings contain "proprietary information, trade secrets, and confidential financial information" that could "cause either party severe competitive harm," Amazon said.
"The record in this bid protest likely will contain similarly sensitive information."
The $10 billion (€9.1 billion) contract saw tech giants Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle and IBM all compete for a chance to build the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) project to store and process vast amounts of classified data. This would allow the military to use artificial intelligence to speed up its war planning and field capabilities.
Trump vs Bezos?
While Amazon did not explain the basis for the lawsuit, company spokesman Drew Hardner previously decried "clear deficiencies, errors, and unmistakable bias" in Pentagon's decision making process.
Amazon is likely to claim that a long-running row between US President Donald Trump and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos played a role. In July, Trump said that his administration would "take a very long look" at the process after hearing complaints. Amazon also submitted videos of Trump to the Washington-based Court of Federal Claims, US broadcaster CNBC reported on Friday.
The Pentagon has rejected any allegations of political influence.
Microsoft also disputed Amazon's claims in a statement cited by Reuters.
"We believe the facts will show they (the US Department of Defense) ran a detailed, thorough and fair process in determining the needs of the warfighter were best met by Microsoft," they said on Friday.


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DA Calls for Unbanning of 'Non-Essential' Goods
The DA has called on the South African government to end “arbitrary limitations” on what South Africans can buy during the national lockdown.
Dean Macpherson, DA Shadow Minister of Trade and Industry, said the confusion around what is an “essential item” in stores and pharmacies “is unhelpful and should be ended”.
“I will write to Minister Ebrahim Patel and request him to recommend for gazetting that all stores that are open during the lockdown to be able to sell anything that is normally in their stores,” said Macpherson.
“It is illogical and makes no sense for instance that a store at a petrol station is not allowed to sell pies or that a grocery store is not allowed to sell prepared, warm food.”
“We have seen even more ridiculous examples of this in this week of lockdown, such as retail stores closing their magazines and snacks shelves and mothers of newborn babies not being able to buy clothes for their babies.”
Law enforcement and alcohol
Macpherson said another issue is that law enforcement officials are “often being allowed sole discretion to interpret these regulations”.
“Any item, from hygiene products to electronics, found in a retailer that is allowed to be open should be available for sale to consumers. Once existing stock is sold out, then these items won’t be replenished until after the lockdown.”
“The bottom line is that any good found in a store, that is already open under current regulations, should be allowed for sale.”
Macpherson said this should not include the sale of alcohol, but cigarettes should be available for sale.
“The DA supports these regulations as we believe alcohol sales could encourage people to make irresponsible decisions or to congregate in social groups.”
“We do not believe the same rationale can be applied to cigarettes and the DA therefore includes cigarettes in our call for all goods currently in stores, open to the public, to be for sale.”
He added that the current restrictions are damaging for retailers and spaza shops who are being forced to sit on stock they cannot sell.


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There have been countless "unconfirmed" reports that Apple has scheduled a major announcement for September 12, and all of the Apple fans and experts expect a new iPhone to be unveiled. However, if you're looking to buy Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) now, you've already missed a five percent move. There is still time to look into other ways to play the iPhone launch, and their biggest suppliers are a perfect way to dive in.
NXP Semiconductor (NASDAQ:NXPI) is my favorite way to play the launch. NXP has been a growing supplier for Apple over the last couple of years. With Qualcomm's (NASDAQ:QCOM) chip shortage still being sorted out, NXP has seen an uptick in desire for their product. Also, there has been heavy action on the $30 October calls. Even the experts see this stock taking off with a 20% priced in on the options only two and a half months out.
To make the case even stronger for NXP, they are in Android phones, just entered into the tablet market, and there are some rumors that they could possibly work their way into the Apple TV. Combine their extremely impressive client list with their cutting edge technology, and you have a short term play that could easily be held as a long term investment. On a conviction buy scale, I would give NXP Semiconductor a strong buy.
Another play on the iPhone launch is Broadcom (BRCM). While they are a much more developed company than NXP, they were the main substitute during the Qualcomm shortage. With the increased demand, a dreamy .79 PEG ratio, and a forward P/E of 11.24, it's easy to see more room for this stock to move higher. A beat on their earnings on October 25th could help this stock push against, and possibly through, it's 52-week high.
Qualcomm, despite their recent supply troubles, is still the biggest kid at the table. With a new order from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), being a main supplier for both Apple and Samsung, they are still a good way to play the iPhone launch. With a lower current P/E than rival Broadcom, Qualcomm could be a quick play. Long term price could be in trouble though with a PEG ratio north of 1, P/S closer to 6 than 5, and a forward P/E of 15.34, this company may need some innovation over the coming months and years.
While there are plenty of ways to play the iPhone launch, these are probably your best options for it. Apple has proven that it can make or break businesses, and NXPI is your strongest option for the now and in the future. Of course, always seek financial advice from a licensed professional. There is risk associated with all investments, and you should never invest more than you can afford to.


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Vietnam targets US$14-billion forestry exports in 2021
Vietnam exported US$13.17 billion worth of timber and forestry products in 2020, 5.4% above the year’s plan and up 16.4% year-on-year.
Vietnam’s forestry sector aims for an export turnover of US$14 billion this year, a slight increase from the $13.17 billion last year, according to Deputy General Director of the Forestry Department under the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development Pham Van Dien.
|Vietnam targets forestry exports of US$14 billion in 2021.|
“The biggest issue for the sector is a growing trend of trade probes from export markets, especially on anti-dumping,” noted Mr. Dien at a year-end conference of the Forestry Department this week.
Mr. Dien expected stronger efforts from local authorities in maintaining the forest coverage at 42% this year, and targets revenue from forest environmental services fees at VND2.8 trillion ($121 million).
Vietnam exported US$13.17 billion worth of timber and forestry products in 2020, 5.4% above the year’s plan and up 16.4% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the country’s imports of wood and wooden products rose by 11% year-on-year to US$2.58 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $10.5 billion, up 17.9%.
Minister of Agricultural and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong suggested the 2020 result is significant given the severe impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic, high logistics costs and natural disasters.
“ Afforestation is key for Vietnam to ensure sustainable development of wood exports,” added Mr. Cuong.
Sharing Mr. Dien concern over the fierce competition in international markets, the agricultural minister expressed concern that Vietnam’s two most important wood export markets of South Korea and the US have already initiated trade probes on Vietnamese products.
Mr. Dien said in the past few years, Vietnam has stepped up efforts against illegal logging, which is reflected by the signing of the EU – Vietnam Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), aiming to ensure that all timber and timer products destined for the EU market from Vietnam comply with the current laws and regulations.
“While the EU has recognized Vietnam’s efforts in realizing its commitment under the VPA, there remain issues of foreign companies forging Vietnamese origin for wood products to later export to a third country,” he said.
The fact that Vietnam is a member of major free trade agreements, including the EVFTA or CPTPP, has led to more foreign firms willing to commit trade frauds to enjoy preferential treatment.
“Vietnam wood sector will likely face severe consequences from such acts,” noted Mr. Dien, urging local firms to refrain from committing frauds for unfair trade gains.
- Hanoi to promote OCOP products from northern mountainous provinces
- PM urges favorable environment for businesses
- Vietnam willing to work with US on emerging issues: Spokeswoman
- OCOP promotion event underway in Hanoi
- Vietnam Manufacturing Expo 2022 to open in Hanoi
- Vietnamese Gov’t halves MFN tariff on petrol products to 10%
- Vietnamese tourism looks at niche markets
- EVFTA drives Vietnam’s exports forward
- Vietnam’s GDP growth set to expand 7.5% in 2022: World Bank
- People and businesses urged to take part in the digitalization: PM
Vietnam’s middle power diplomacy in ASEAN
Hotels in Hanoi heat up mooncake season
Hanoi verifies promoting Covid-19 vaccination as key task
Vietnam is stunning in South Korean artist’s MV
Hanoi focuses on supporting business recovery: Mayor
Construction of Hanoi’s Ring-road No.4 set to begin next June
Dolphin shows fascinate audiences in Hanoi
Vietnam's investment in education accounts 18% of total state expenditure
People and businesses urged to take part in the digitalization: PM


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REMINDER: Laundry Sale Tomorrow26 August 2018
Supporters are being reminded that Oldham Athletic are holding a laundry sale tomorrow (Monday, August 27).
Bank Holiday Monday Laundry Sale23 August 2018
Oldham Athletic will hold a laundry sale on Bank Holiday Monday, August 27.
Laundry Sale Tomorrow Morning9 June 2017
A reminder to supporters that there is a laundry sale at the club tomorrow morning (Saturday, June 10


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Street-legal EVs aren't usually speedsters, but British automotive journalist Jonny Smith's invention is. His little yellow buggy recently set the world record in a drag race against the other top EV competitors, becoming the first ever street-legal EV to complete a quarter-mile in fewer than 10 seconds.
Dubbed the 'Flux Capacitor', Smith's car repurposed an Enfield 8000, which was a limited-release electric car produced in the 1970s. Beefing it up with a new powertrain, a total of 188 cells of Hyperdrive Innovation lithium-ion battery, and a lower gear differential, the street-legal EV can fly -- relatively speaking. At a 9.87 second quarter-mile, the car doesn't even come close to gas-powered vehicles. Nonetheless, the Flux Capacitor shows that eco-conscious speed demons don't have to be limited by their morals.
The 'Flux Capacitor' is the World's Fastest Street-Legal EV
References: arstechnica & news.slashdot.org


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Emergency room visits from children accidentally eating melatonin have quadrupled in the last decade, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Melatonin is a hormone triggered by darkness that regulates the body’s natural sleep cycle or circadian rhythm. Supplements of the natural compound are commonly used as a sleep aid.
About 11,000 children 5 and younger (7%) landed in the emergency room between 2019 and 2022 after ingesting the sleepy time supplement while unsupervised, the CDC reported Thursday.
Melatonin use among American adults quintupled from 0.4% from 1999 to 2000 to 2.1% from 2017 to 2018, as did calls to poison control centers for pediatric melatonin exposures from 2012 to 2021, the CDC warned.
ER visits for unsupervised melatonin ingestion by infants and young children quadrupled from 2009 to 2020, the agency said.
The CDC warned that at least half of the ER visits for children’s melatonin ingestion involved flavored products — such as fruit gummies or chewable tablets — that may appear to be mistaken for candies.
The report also noted that melatonin products are not required to have child-resistant packaging — about three-quarters of incidents involved melatonin in bottles.
Fortunately, very few of these cases resulted in hospitalizations.
The safety of melatonin use among children is unclear — consumption can lead to headaches, dizziness, drowsiness, agitation, increased nighttime urination or bedwetting, possible disruption of normal hormone levels and interference with puberty, according to the Sleep Foundation.
Experts have noted that more research is needed to determine if the supervised use of melatonin for children is safe or necessary.
As a supplement, melatonin is not regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Research published in JAMA last year found that several products labeled as melatonin gummies contained dangerous levels of the hormone, while others instead contained cannabidiol, or CBD.
While the recent CDC report highlighted data about children ingesting melatonin unsupervised, a growing number of parents are allowing their youngsters to take the supplement to drift off to sleep.
One report found that almost half of American parents have given their children melatonin to sleep while another reported that nearly one in five American children are being given melatonin gummies and tablets by their parents — despite expert warnings.