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The latest great leap forward for Apple iPhone users wasn't just a software update for some social media users, but cause for a wide range of emotions.
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Thursday's TV picks: 'Two and a Half Men' launches final season
Plus, 'Project Runway All Stars' kicks off Season 4. And does Watson have a new rival on 'Elementary'?
(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
Suge Knight and Katt Williams arrested for alleged robbery
Death Row records founder and comedian are accused of stealing a paparazzo’s camera last month.


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Source: citifmonline.com - The price of fresh tomatoes continues to drop in some major markets across the country this week.
Checks by Esoko Ghana revealed that there has been a stable supply of the local tomatoes from the growing areas such as Tuabodom, Akumadan and Navrongo.
A “medium size tomato tin” full of fresh tomatoes sold about Gh¢13.21 dropping 31 percent in Accra.
In Kumasi it dropped 24 percent to close the week at Gh¢7.00.
Techiman experienced an 11 percent decrease to close at Gh¢ 10.00, with Takoradi also loosing 6 percent to close the week at Gh¢ 14.40.
The commodity, however, gained 22 percent in Bawku to close the week at Gh¢12.00.
Meanwhile, some commodities made marginal gains this week.
The highest gain of 3 percent was made by cowpea and maize with an olunka of cowpea been sold at an average price of Gh¢7.40 while maize was sold at Gh¢ 4.50 per olunka.
Wheat, however, made losses of 9 and 1 percent respectively to close the week.
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Marburg virus and Ebola virus are the SAME..! Read Here!

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Digital Book World posted on Barnes & Noble and Samsung’s NEW $399 (USD) Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 NOOK.
GoodeReader reports that Barnes and Noble will release 2 new Nook E Ink eReaders this week and an 8-inch Nook Tablet later this month. That development after the bricks and mortar book giant has been counted out of the eBook Revolution multiple times.
Every marketplace needs competition. Welcome back Nook!
Digital Book World reports on Authors United requesting the Department of Justice (DoJ) to investigate Amazon for monopolistic practices and anti-competitive behavior.
Digital Book World reports that Kobo has partnered with the American Booksellers Association in a program designed to encourage local eReading.


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Customs agents have sealed a senator’s house in Kano where they also impounded13 Toyota Hilux vans and a Land Cruiser Jeep suspected to have been smuggled into the country.
Officials of the Nigerian Customs’ Comptroller General Special Compliance Task Force carried out the operation yesterday.
The house is said to belong to Senator Barau Jibril, but the Senator could not be reached for comment yesterday. All calls put to his mobile phone by our reporter could not go through nor did he reply to text messages.
Leader of the special task force, Chief Superintendent of Custom, Bala Dole, confirmed the seizure to newsmen in Kano.
A source at Customs Headquarters in Kano told Daily Trust yesterday that no one had come forward to claim ownership of the vehicles.
“As I am speaking with you now, nobody has approached us to claim ownership of the vehicles. They are under our custody and the house where the cars were kept has been sealed by our men,” he said.
The source said the vehicles were smuggled into Nigeria through the Maigatari border in Jigawa state. He said officials of the task force trailed the vehicles from Maigatari to the senator’s house, impounded them and sealed the house.
The source added that the operation was carried out based on a tipoff.
The task force also seized 210 trailers loaded with contraband goods that were smuggled into Kano and Jigawa states from the neighbouring countries.
He said the goods confiscated include 97,570 bags of foreign rice and 2,916 cartons of spaghetti, 2,770 cartons of vegetable oil and 889 belts of second hand clothes.
Other items are 50 belts of fairly used school bags, 110 cartons of brand new foreign shoes, 956 cartons of mosquito coil worth N269m.
He said the seizure was carried out from July 2016 to date, saying the goods were smuggled into Kano, Katsina and Jigawa state through Nigeria’s borders with Niger republic and Cameroun respectively.
Senate’s N298m car carries fake document
It emerged also yesterday that the SUV bullet-proof car purchased by the Senate at N298million was bearing fake documents.
The importer Tokunbo Akindele told the Senate Ethics committee investigating the matter that it was discovered in January, this year that the car carried a fake document.
He said the car was not imported for Senate president, Bukola Saraki and that at the time the vehicle was imported, it was not for his use.
“There was no document received at the National Assembly. The clearing documents were fake, this we found out in January 2017,” he said.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Services, Senator Ibrahim Gobir (APC, Sokoto), said: “The Senate does not import cars; we buy our cars from the importer. The problem is between the dealer, the importer and the Customs”.
The Chief Executive Officer of Lanre Shittu Motors, Chief Olarenwaju Shittu explained how the car was sold to the Senate.
“The car was consigned to Lanre Shittu in October 2015 from Wale Tinubu, they were not able to use it for what they wanted to. Not long there was complication; we facilitated the supply to National Assembly. There was never a time we sold vehicle to Saraki.
“When the vehicle had issue in January, 2017, we called Oando and documents were sent. The Customs said it was fake. We never had any document from National Assembly, “he said.
The public hearing continues today with the Nigeria Customs Service.
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Dave Plans To Hit Public Markets Via SPAC
Los Angeles-based banking app developer Dave said this morning that it is going public, via a merger with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings III, Inc., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsred by Victory Park Capital. According to the company, the deal will take the company public under the ticker symbol DAVE, and give it a pro forma, fully-diluted equity value of approximately $4 billion. Dave offers up an app which provides help with banking, financial insights, overdraft protection, building credit and finding side gigs. The company was launched in 2017, and now says it has over 10 million customers. The company recently launched its own spending and debit card account service called Dave Banking, which it says now has more than 1.3 million members.


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Diamond cutting industry hopes for tax sops in union budgetJune 28th, 2009 - 4:19 pm ICT by ANI
Surat (Gujrat), June 28 (ANI): As the government gears up to present this year’s union budget, the recession-hit diamond cutting industry is looking forward to some sops, which could bail it out from the economical rough waters.
Traders in Surat, nation’s diamond hub, said they are anticipating some tax relief in the budget.
“The interest rate in finance should be reduced and to reduce the diamond manufacturing cost to help competing in international market with Israel and China, all the service and custom taxes and other taxes should be removed and there should be given at least two years of waiver from the income tax,” said Praveen Nanavati, Joint Secretary of Gujarat Heera Bourse.
The Surat diamond industry is worth 800,000 million rupees and accounts for more than half of the total diamond exports from India.
It employs more than 700,000 workers from across the country. Over 2.5 million people are indirectly associated with the trade.
Many workers involved in the diamond cutting industry had committed suicide in the past due to global recession hitting their profession.
“I believe that of all industries in India, gems and jewellery is the most important and the industry does a total export of 22 percent i.e 800 million annually but due to recession this industry has incurred heavy losses and so we hope that the government will make provisions in the budget for us and would ensure that the diamond business remains in India,” observed Chandrakant Singhvi, Chairman of Gujarat State Chapter, Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.
The diamonds processed in Surat are sent to various parts of the world including the Middle East from where manufactured jewellery is then sold across the globe.
The United States, one of the largest markets for diamonds and other gemstones, imports 60 percent of diamonds cut and processed in Surat.
But these imports have come down by half due to deep economic crisis that America is currently reeling under. (ANI)
- Gujarat diamond merchants seek benefits in upcoming Budget - Feb 22, 2011
- Gujarat's diamond industry faces acute shortage of skilled workers - Aug 07, 2010
- Diamonds in demand, prices soar in Surat - Nov 18, 2010
- Surat diamond traders hope to shine at China's diamond festival - Sep 08, 2009
- Shortage of labour affecting Surat diamond industry profits - Dec 19, 2010
- Indian jewellery showcased at US show - Jun 02, 2012
- Gems and jewellery exports shine in 2010-11 - Apr 19, 2011
- Women entrepreneurs in gems and jewellery face many bottlenecks - Jul 22, 2012
- Government considering amendments to boost SEZ - Aug 23, 2012
- Gems industry worried at smuggling, poor facilities - Dec 24, 2010
- Small revival of Surat diamond industry brings smile back to workers - Apr 27, 2009
- Indian jewellery and textile industries upset with General Budget - Feb 27, 2010
- High prices behind weak demand for diamonds this V-Day - Feb 13, 2012
- International diamond grading facility launched at Surat - Apr 15, 2010
- New diamond sourcing company in Surat - Aug 17, 2010
Tags: custom taxes, diamond business, diamond exports, diamond industry, economic crisis, export promotion council, gears, gems, global recession, gujarat state, gujrat, heavy losses, heera, rough waters, rupees, s union, surat, tax relief, tax sops, union budget


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Primera Technology has launched the LX2000 Color Label
Printer, which produces on-demand, short-run labels and
can assist companies with: full-color, high-resolution graphics
and photos to 4,800 dpi, printing hundreds of labels a day
and quickly changing labels to update ingredient information.
According to the company, additional benefits include no
waste, no lead times, no setup fee, low cost per label, no
obsolete inventory, the ability to print all sizes, shapes and
substrates from papers, polyesters and vinyl, and personalizing
your labels one by one.
Ireland-based Vita Liberata, a company specializing in
sunless tanning and skin care products, has been acquired
by Crown Laboratories, Inc., for an undisclosed amount.
Founder of Vita Liberata, Alyson Hogg, will stay on as
president of consumer brands for Crown Laboratories.
Jeff Bedard, president and CEO of Crown Laboratories,
said, “We believe the Vita Liberata product line and
the company’s strength in premium retail are a terrific
complement to Crown’s Blue Lizard sunscreen brand and
builds on Crown’s consumer healthcare products strategy
in the dermatology space. Alyson and her entire team
have done a remarkable job disrupting the self-tanning
space, and we look forward to welcoming them to the
Crown family. We will work together to continue to provide
high-quality products that are at the forefront of skin care


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By RICK KALMANA/Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) It’s one of the few companies in the United States with the name “two’s” in its name, and its founder is a longtime Washington lawyer.
But the two people who have run two’s since its inception in 2010 have found a lot of problems with their company’s business model.
One of them is the business of selling knives at big box stores like Target and Walmart.
In recent years, two’s has lost customers at those stores, leaving it scrambling to find new customers.
And the company has run into troubles in other parts of the country, as well, as it’s had to close stores in Colorado, Texas, Wisconsin and Ohio.
It also has struggled to find a new location to open.
Now, the company is looking for a new home, and is looking to raise money.
Two’s is in need of $300,000 to open a new store in Denver, where it currently has a two-story brick building.
The new location will allow it to keep a full-time employee while building out its business.
The Denver location will be in a building that has been vacant for decades, and the owner said it has found a location that fits the size and the style of the building.
It would also be able to add a third floor, two bathrooms and two large open kitchens.
Two s also has a new director and a new executive director who are in the process of getting their permits for a second store in that building.
The building is owned by the Colorado Economic Development Authority, and a group of developers are trying to find someone to buy the building, and it’s a big building.
Two says it would have to raise $150 million to do the deal.
Two has struggled in the past to raise enough money to open stores in the Denver area, so it is looking at other locations.
It has a store at the new Target in Denver and a store in Chicago.
The owners of the Denver location say they have been able to attract customers, and they say they’re open to expanding their business.
The company is a two person operation.
The founder is an attorney in Denver.
The co-founder is a licensed personal injury attorney in Washington state.
The two’s CEO is an assistant to the chief executive officer.
The director is the executive director.
And there is also a director of public relations.
Two’s has about a dozen employees, including one in Denver who works as an associate manager and another in Denver where the company’s sales reps meet with customers and help them plan their shopping trips.


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KKR is doubling its investment in Reliance Retail, valuing it at $100bn with a new $250m investment in India’s largest retail chain. The deal comes after the Qatar Investment Authority invested $1bn in Mukesh Ambani’s retail empire last month. New York-based private equity firm KKR invested about $755 million in Reliance Retail in 2020, when the Indian firm was valued at about $62 billion. Reliance Retail, part of the Reliance Industries conglomerate, operates 18,500 stores and digital commerce platforms in India. It sells everything from electronics to fashion and medicine. KKR invested $ 100 million in Reliance Retail with a valuation of $ 250 billion.
The investment comes at a time when Reliance Retail is expanding into new categories, including low-cost fast fashion, and is also considering a public listing. The company, which recently partnered with Shein to help the Chinese e-commerce firm re-enter India, has also acquired a number of other businesses. It has integrated.
We have been impressed throughout our investment period in Reliance Retail by the company’s vision and extensive work to empower retailers in India through digitalisation, as well as its resilience and performance despite the pandemic and other disruptions.Joe Bae, co-managing director of KKR
KKR is also a promoter of Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Isha’s brother Akash heads Jio Platforms. Mukesh Ambani’s children were elevated to Reliance’s board last month as their father promised to mentor them to take charge of the company for the next five years.


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EV Cargo company Jigsaw is calling on UK hauliers with current capacity to help deal with the company’s increased national food and beverage volumes. “As the likelihood of an extended COVID-19 lock-down grows, and the UK experiences a significant spike in consumer spending, Jigsaw hopes its boosted volumes will provide additional support for hauliers currently being commercially impacted by the situation,” a statement said. The company currently has capacity for additional carrier resources to assist it manage the distribution of […]
The government has given supermarkets the go-ahead to ramp up night-time deliveries and is looking at extending delivery drivers’ hours to ensure stores remain stocked during the coronavirus outbreak.
Burger King restaurants across the country’s motorway network are reopening for takeaway service – but only for HGV drivers initially.
Bibby Distribution has won a warehousing and distribution contract with coffee company Lavazza.


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Thanks to new agricultural supply chain disruptions compounded with climate change related drought and low crop yields, consumers are left bracing for what could be unprecedented levels of global food insecurity.
Multiple outlets have reported on just how far this problem could stretch: Bloomberg covered the waves of panic in Turkey over an anticipated shortage in sunflower oil, a household essential in the West Asian country. The reporters also spoke with a Turkish official, who revealed that a total of 18 commercial vessels were being held in Russian ports. This trails a concerning trend of inflation in Turkey, with costs of everything from food and energy running at a 20-year high.
In Egypt and other neighboring countries like Lebanon, where subsidized bread is essential for survival, increased wheat prices have already provided cause for concern.
"Russia and Ukraine combine for nearly a third of the world's wheat and barley exports. Ukraine also is a major supplier of corn and the global leader in sunflower oil, used in food processing," the Associated Press reported. "The war could reduce food supplies just when prices are at their highest levels since 2011."
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In fact, the region surrounding the Black Sea is so pivotal to global food supply that it's referred to as the "breadbasket of the world." This means the already mounting list of disruptions in commerce could result in disaster for poverty-stricken regions of Europe, Asia and Africa.
It's only a matter of time before these constraints effect the availability of these goods. International Grains Council director Arnaud Petit told the Associated Press that a prolonged war in Ukraine could result in shortages for goods such as wheat as soon as July.
Even if production is able to commence sooner, there are no quick solutions for the lost time and crops that went unattended as farmers abandoned their work to join the military or flee to safety. Whatever the result may be, these mounting economic and social pressures are about to squeeze consumers much, much tighter.


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The inflation rate picked up for the first time in a year in April to 5% against 4.8% in March, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) announced Wednesday, May 5.
This increase was mainly due to the acceleration in the pace of price increases for food products (4.9% compared to 4.1%), as well as health and services products (8.8% compared to 8.1%) and transport (2.1% compared to 1.3%).
Food prices went up 4.9% year-on-year in April 2021. This rate is explained by the increase in prices of edible oils by 12.5%, vegetables by 10%, the group “milk, cheese and & eggs” by 8.0%.
In addition, fruit prices were down 3.9% from their levels in April 2020.
Manufactured goods and services
Over a year, prices for manufactured goods rose 5.1% due to price increases for pharmaceuticals of 11.5%, building materials by 8.4%, and routine household products by 6.2%.
For services, prices rose 5% year-over-year due to price increases for restaurant and cafe services by 9.8%, health services by 8.2%, and rents by 4.6%.
The core inflation rate (excluding food and energy) eased to 5.5% from 5.6% last month. Prices for free products rose 4.9% versus 5.3% for administered prices. The core inflation rate (excluding food and energy) fell to 5.5% from 5.6% last month.
As for free food products, they increased by 4.6% compared to 6.4% for administered food products.


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2020 Was A Big Year For Stellar Fashion Collaborations
The fashion industry endured a tumultuous time in 2020, but that didn’t stop some of the biggest brands from launching eye-catching collaborations with the world’s most famous people.
There is no doubt 2020 was a challenging year, especially for brands in the fashion industry that suffered rapidly declining sales throughout the year. However, adversity breeds opportunity, as the saying goes, and the following brands have done a fantastic job staying in the public eye despite the challenges through well-executed celebrity fashion collaborations.
Louis Vuitton x the NBA
Interestingly, the collaboration between Louis Vuitton and the National Basketball Association (NBA) also involves Virgil Abloh as Louis Vuitton’s menswear creative director. The design house signed a multi-year deal with the sports association in January 2020 to create a series of capsule collections. Each collection will be divided into three categories that are inspired by what a basketball player might need in his wardrobe on game day, namely: Travel, game arrival, and press conference.
Despite the collaboration being revealed in January, curious consumers and NBA fans had to wait until November for the first sneak peek at the initial collection, which included shoes, bags, jewellery with the NBA’s logo repurposed into somewhat of a houndstooth motif and went on sale towards the end of 2020.
Virgil Abloh x the Louvre
To mark the 500th anniversary of world-renowned artist Leonardo da Vinci’s death, the Louvre Museum in Paris teamed up with fashion designer and DJ Virgil Abloh joined forces. The idea was to create a unique capsule collection that includes t-shirts and hoodies featuring Da Vinci’s most famous paintings. Da Vinci is one of the most influential painters in history, and his impact can be noticed across different industries.
In the entertainment industry, a new TV series about his life, titled “Leonardo” is set for release in 2021. There are even self-titled Leonardo da Vinci video and board games. Da Vinci has gained popularity in the iGaming industry too, and many popular online casinos such as Rizk and 888casino are featuring Da Vinci inspired slot games. 888casino NJ has a wide game selection of Da Vinci themed slots such as Da Vinci Diamonds and Da Vinci Ways.
Drake x Nike
Canadian rapper and songwriter Drake and American multinational Nike teased a collaboration throughout 2020. While fans and potential customers had to wait almost the entire year to get the scoop, a flurry of news released in December ahead of the release of his latest album Certified Lover Boy in January 2021.
It started with the announcement of Drake’s sub-label under the Mike umbrella called NOCTA, described as the collection for the collective. This was followed by the reveal of the holiday 2020 NOCTA line of fashion with a Black and University Gold colour palette and featuring items for those on the go including a dapper puffer jacket, hoodie, and fleece pant.
Kith x BMW
The collaboration between Kith and BMW began long before the 94-piece fashion collection was released in October last year. The company’s founder, Ronnie Fieg, worked with the German car manufacturer for some time on a project to rebuild his grandfather’s 1989 E30 M3.
The fashion line was a means to celebrate the work they had done together and includes t-shirts, hoodies, tracksuits, homeware, and knitwear featuring a unique Kith-BMW logo and is the most extensive collection ever released by the fashion company. The marquee items include swarve suede and wool bomber jackets and a dashing kimono blazer.
Gucci x The North Face
Gucci and The North Face’s collaboration is unique because it represents the first time Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele has worked directly with another fashion brand on a full collection since joining the Italian clothing behemoth. Targeting a younger audience, the collection was announced on social media platforms Instagram and TikTok.
While it was announced in October 2020, the first images of the collection were only released to the public in January this year. It is as eye-catching as you would expect a line from Gucci to be, with vivid colours and whimsical florals that many mountain climbers probably wouldn’t want to be caught dead wearing. However, the collaboration with The North Face all but guarantees the clothes will be an excellent outdoor kit for those who like to go hiking up the mountain wearing a label.


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The sights and sounds of the Harry Potter universe are within reach at Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter. But now one of the magical world’s most beloved tastes is coming soon to a spoon near you.
Yuengling’s Ice Cream makers have released a butterbeer flavor to select shelves at supermarkets in the northeast. (You can find out precisely where on the Yuengling site, if and when its servers recover from this recent onslaught of attention.) Each pint will be a blend of buttercream and butterscotch flavors, with a scrumptious swirl of butterscotch ribboned throughout.
It’s a favorite treat for visitors to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, and Yuengling is far from the first to try to capture the magic in the muggle world: There’s reportedly an off-menu Starbucks Frappuccino that pulls off something similar, as well as a butterscotch soda marketed by Reed’s. But this is the first ice cream purported to be a butterbeer knockoff.
According to the Huffington Post, it’s not just a limited release, either; the flavor will be a permanent part of the company’s 20-flavor rotation. And don’t worry that your kids won’t be able to enjoy the flavor: Just because the brand shares a founder with the popular Pennsylvania brewery by the same name, Yuengling’s butterbeer ice cream will be 100 percent booze-free.
Just so long as the world steers clear of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans for other flavor inspirations, we welcome new Harry Potter crossovers in the culinary world.
H/T Huffington Post


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If you fall for the stereotype that millennials don’t hustle, think again — this week, Inc. Magazine released its “30 Under 30” list, and four female entrepreneurs were honored with the title for their successful businesses in the food industry. Honorees include Lisa Q. Fetterman of Nomiku, Chloe Coscarelli and Samantha Wasser of By Chloe, and Katlin Smith of Simple Mills.
Lisa Q. Fetterman of Nomiku
Nomiku is a sous-vide company that started when Fetterman built a cooker with her future husband, Abe, according to Inc. Fetterman says that the company initially catered to friends, but has since expanded to “professionals and food fanatics.” The Nomiku, which was founded in 2012, is now backed by Shark Tank.
Chloe Coscarelli and Samantha Wasser of By Chloe
The fast-casual vegan joint By Chloe was founded in 2015 by Chloe Coscarelli and Samantha Wasser. The restaurant has a cult following despite only being in business for two years and has racked up $10 million in revenue during 2016 alone. Although Coscarelli has since parted ways with the brand, By Chloe continues to grow and cater to health-conscious millennials in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and soon, Providence, Rhode Island.
Katlin Smith of Simple Mills
Smith, also considered the “new-age Betty Crocker,” founded Simple Mills in 2013 to reinvent the baking scene with natural products including flax seed, coconut sugar, and almond flour. She was inspired to create the company after noticing the difference in cutting out processed foods and sugar from her diet after experiencing joint paint. Now, the company provides products free of gluten, grain, soy, or GMOs.


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AjkerDeal Raises New Investment
AjkerDeal.com, one of the fast growing online B2C marketplaces in the country, has recently received a new round of investment, managed by Fenox Venture capital, a Silicon Valley venture fund company and participated by Innotech Corporation, a listed company in Japan, as the main investor.
The company did not disclose the amount or valuation. However, it claimed that it is the biggest amount of investment in any local e-commerce company in the country.
Co-founded by Fahim Mashroor of BDJobs.com fame, one of the most successful tech entrepreneurs of the country, AjkerDeal claims to be the largest ecommerce marketplace in the country. With the new investment, the company plans to invest heavily in expansion and technology.
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Getty Images / Eduardo Munoz Alvarez Irregular investing, waiting for an all-clear sign, and overconfidence are three of the biggest mistakes investors make. That's according to Chris Hyzy, the chief investment officer of Bank of America Global Wealth
Bring on healthcare earnings season. Ahead of earnings season for the group, we have selected three healthcare stocks beating the market in 2018. Using TipRanks' Stock Screener tool, we quickly discovered the best-rated stocks, filtering by "best analyst consensus" stocks in the healthcare sector.
The average American is holding too much cash in savings, and it's keeping them from building wealth. You should instead invest your excess savings in the stock market for the best returns, NerdWallet's retirement and investing specialist Arielle O'Shea recommends. The easiest way to put your savings to work is through a 401(k), which invests your money in stocks through low-cost index funds or exchange-traded funds.
In March of 2016, Keith Reynolds flew from California to Atlanta so he could claim his spot in line at 4 a.m., and get a three-hour head start on his West Coast competitors. Tesla was taking $1,000 deposits for its new electric car, the Model 3, priced starting at $35,000. Reynolds is still waiting.
Philip Morris International Inc. PM, one of the largest tobacco companies, came out with second-quarter 2018 results, wherein adjusted earnings of $1.41 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.23 and also surged 23.7% from the prior-year quarter.
Mike Wilson, Morgan Stanley, on the rocky market road ahead. Is it time to get defensive? With CNBC's Melissa Lee and the Fast Money traders, Tim Seymour, Karen Finerman, Steve Grasso and Guy Adami.
Money is to be made in marijuana stocks in the long run. Canada’s Tilray (TLRY) has become the first cannabis company to conduct a U.S. IPO. There may be sympathy plays in other cannabis stocks for a short-term trade.
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, the company's largest shareholder, says he has held his stock because "I'm a loyal dude." He spoke in the new episode of "The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations," taped
Much-maligned General Electric (NYSE:GE) stock is the most heavily traded stock in the market. According to Bloomberg, the average trading volume on GE stock in 2018 is a whopping 80 million shares a day. The spike in trading volume is mostly due to the fact that GE stock is a near-$10 stock (low price) that is widely covered and followed by the media, analysts and investors (lots of catalysts).
Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), one of the largest American telecom equipment companies, has been trying to settle its $43 billion acquisition of Dutch automotive chip firm NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ: NXPI) for almost two years. Qualcomm is one of the industry pioneers when it comes to 3G, 4G and other next-gen wireless tech, and the company has reported strong fundamentals in the recent quarters.
It’s been hard to be a shareholder in copper and gold stock Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) over the last few years. First, there was the collapsing copper and gold prices due to the recession. The latest battle and subsequent bruising to its share price stem from issues with the Indonesian government at its largest mine — and there is finally some closure on that front.
Millennials may have only a little saved for retirement, but they still want to retire early. A recent Bankrate.com survey asked millennials, classified as Americans ages 18 to 37, what the perfect time to retire would be. Of those millennials already saving, the median retirement account balance is about $19,100.
Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is one of the biggest automotive companies in the world. In addition to its Ford-branded vehicles, it also markets luxury vehicles under the Lincoln brand and auto parts under the Motorcraft name. In 2017, it reported annual
Texas Instruments has dumped CEO Brian Crutcher for personal misconduct less than two months after he took over the job, ruining the chip maker's hopes for a smooth transition to new leadership. Crutcher resigned Tuesday after TI's board determined he violated the company's code of conduct with behavior the company said was not consistent with its ethics and core values. TI emphasized Crutcher's transgression wasn't related to its operations or finances.
Investors in Rite Aid Corporation RAD need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. What is Implied Volatility? Options with high levels of implied volatility suggest that investors in the underlying stocks are expecting a big move in one direction or the other.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shares climbed the most in four months after the company signaled that investors may soon get their hands on part of a $109 billion mountain of cash that’s bedeviling Warren Buffett. The firm’s board announced late Tuesday that it’s removing a cap on stock buybacks, giving the Berkshire chairman and chief executive officer greater leeway to parcel out profits, rather than hunt for more acquisitions. Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger can now make repurchases whenever they both believe the price “is below Berkshire’s intrinsic value, conservatively determined,” the company said.
Shares of Apple AAPL are up roughly 10% over the last three months as investors show their confidence in the world’s most valuable company. Now let’s check out why the iPhone giant looks like a strong buy stock at the moment. Apple had been criticized for years about its overreliance on the iPhone.
Jim Lebenthal of HPM Partners and Jon Najarian of Najarian Family Office join CNBC's Scott Wapner on how the market is reacting to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's Senate testimony.
Semiconductor stocks have been the subject of unpredictable volatility so far this year, but the underlying business of this industry is growing—and should continue that trend in 2018 and beyond. Throughout the chip-making space, companies have successfully adapted to the changing needs of the consumer, including an increased demand for small, high-powered chips that enable “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices. For those that don’t know, the Internet of Things is the growing world of interconnected household and industrial devices.
Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) reported its latest quarterly earnings results after the bell on Wednesday, which included an earnings beat despite the company posting a loss. For its second quarter of fiscal 2018, the oil and natural gas pipeline managing company brought in a loss of roughly $141 million, which amounted to about 8 cents per share after reporting a profit in its second quarter of fiscal 2017. On an adjusted basis, the company’s earnings were a profit of 21 cents per share.
Frontier Communications Corporation FTR has been on a bit of a cold streak lately, but there might be light at the end of the tunnel for this overlooked stock. RSI stands for ‘Relative Strength Index’ and it is a popular indicator used by technically focused investors. This is especially true when investors take a deep dive into some of these estimate revision stats and recent changes to Frontier Communications’ earnings consensus.
General Electric Company GE is scheduled to report second-quarter 2018 results on Jul 20, before the market opens. The company’s average earnings surprise was a positive 3.27%. In the last reported quarter, the company’s earnings of 16 cents per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 11 cents by 45.45%.
eBay Inc.’s EBAY second-quarter 2018 earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2 cents. Pro-forma earnings of 53 cents improved 18% year over year.Gross revenues of $2.64 billion increased 9.1% year over year (up 6% on an Fx-neutral basis) and
The five-year agreement will bring Walmart use of Azure and Microsoft 365 company-wide. Microsoft will have employees embedded in Walmart offices. the retailer and Amazon the cloud service provider has been put on notice.
California legalized recreational marijuana at the very beginning of 2018. The cannabis industry grows very quickly. Dispensaries keep getting license to sell recreational weed products, necessitating more products from more businesses.


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WATERBURY — Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. has reported positive first-quarter results.
The Waterbury-based company said Wednesday its net sales were $1.3 billion for a 13-week period ending Dec. 29, up from $1.158 billion for the same quarter the previous year.
“Our strong first-quarter performance underscores the connection consumers have to their Keurig brewers; the soundness of our business model; and the value inherent in our brand portfolio,” said Brian P. Kelley, GMCR’s president and CEO, in a statement.
Single-serve portion packets made up the bulk of sales, amounting to $863.7 million worth of product, a 21 percent increase from the same period the previous year. Sales of brewers and accessories totaled $377.3 million, an increase of 14 percent. Other products and royalties decreased by 12 percent to $98.1 million.
The number of brewers sold was 4.95 million, an increase of 18 percent over the prior year period, but that amount doesn’t include returns.
Kelley, a former Coca-Cola executive who started at the end of last year, said there is untapped potential for the Keurig single-serve brand in the U.S. and globally. The company has formed an international business unit.
“We are in the early days of a marked evolution in how consumers purchase, prepare and customize hot beverages in their homes,” Kelley said in the statement.MORE IN Vermont NewsThe progress to get the historic Robinson Sawmill up and running again in Calais is slow going,... Full StoryMONTPELIER — A cold winter and trees still weary from last season’s massive apple crop have... Full Story
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In June 2011, Alex Gambin had his wallet stolen while on the Spanish island of Mallorca. A few minutes later, unauthorized charges of more than $1,800 were made to his HSBC credit card, despite the fact that his card contained a security chip designed specifically to prevent that kind of theft and that any transactions should have required a personal identification number.
The bank blamed Gambin, saying he must have kept his PIN recorded somewhere in his wallet, a claim he denies.
"They say that their system is a perfect system without loopholes and refused to refund the money," he said. "But I'm very much a victim of this system, which is not secure at all."
The incident, later investigated and corroborated by researchers from the University of Cambridge, is one of a growing number of cases where so-called Chip and PIN technology has seemingly failed to do its job: Protect the consumer against payment card counterfeiting or unauthorized use. Despite high hopes for Chip and PIN among merchants, credit card brands and payment industry compliance experts, a combination of security vulnerabilities, implementation issues and analytics failures has rendered some payment systems using the technology vulnerable to criminals, and in turn consumers like Gambin remain susceptible to fraud.
Chip and PIN technology: Ready or not, here it comes
With the massive credit card data breaches at Target Corp. and other retailers in the past year, the Europay-Mastercard-Visa (EMV) standard -- the technological underpinnings of the Chip and PIN movement -- has gained new momentum in the U.S., the most significant holdout nation in adoption of the technology. Starting in October 2015, both Visa and Mastercard plan to shift liability from merchants for fraudulent point-of-sale transactions if the retailers have not deployed the latest readers.
U.S. credit card companies have pushed the standard for years. Since 1994 -- when Europay, Mastercard and Visa joined together to create a specification for using smartcard technology to increase the security of payment cards -- credit card firms have promoted the technology as more secure. In 1999, they founded EMVCo LLC to handle licensing, eventually being joined by the other major credit card brands, including American Express, Discover, JCB and UnionPay.
Yet the enormous cost of deploying the technology has caused merchants, banks and payment processors to balk. According to the National Retail Federation, rolling out the infrastructure will require more than $10 billion in investments and require at least five years.
The technology, as envisioned, is more secure than today's magnetic stripe and signature system, but according to Avivah Litan, vice president and distinguished analyst at Stamford, Connecticut-based IT research firm Gartner Inc., that's a low bar.
"It is a more secure technology," Litan said, "but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to make something more secure than the current magnetic-stripe system."
Chip and PIN technology has been credited with reducing certain types of fraud in countries that have adopted it. In the U.K., an early adopter of the technology whose government collects data on fraud trends, counterfeit card fraud has fallen dramatically: losses dropped 74% to approximately $74.2 million in 2013, from a high that topped $290 million in 2008. EMV is primarily designed to protect against counterfeit card fraud, also known as card cloning, but implementations that require a PIN also protect against the use of stolen cards.
EMV specification: Bugs in the system
The EMV specification, however, has not been free of vulnerabilities. At the 2012 Black Hat conference, two researchers from U.K.-based security firm MWR InfoSecurity demonstrated a stack-based buffer-overflow vulnerability in the firmware of two Chip and PIN card readers. The proof-of-concept exploit used an unauthorized card to load malware onto the device that could grab customer-card information, and then write it back to a card subsequently placed in the reader.
Another scenario from the researchers allowed a user with a counterfeit card to cause the vulnerable readers to issue a receipt, seemingly processing the transaction, without sending any information to the card processor.
Nir Valtmanenterprise security architect, NCR Corp.
"We have shown that this can be done and there is no doubt in our minds that criminals are constantly testing these systems," Ian Shaw, managing director of MWR InfoSecurity, said in a 2012 statement. "It is surprising that the manufacturers of these machines have done little to safeguard retailers and Chip and PIN card users."
In May 2014, researchers from the University of Cambridge, who have found numerous security issues in the EMV protocol, presented their latest findings: A major implementation flaw that could allow attackers to create additional transactions that could be sent at a later time and a protocol flaw that allows a man-in-the middle attack to capture the unique number -- or so-called "unpredictable number" or UNs -- used to verify a transaction, allowing additional transactions to be created and used at a later time.
The two vulnerabilities highlighted by the University of Cambridge allow different types of what the researchers called "pre-play" attacks, using a compromised terminal or a man-in-the-middle attack to create several transactions -- instead of just one -- at the time the card is inserted. The transactions can be sent at a later time to charge the account or steal money. While the technique is not simple, it could likely be made practical, said Ross Anderson, a researcher and professor of security engineering at the University of Cambridge.
"The published protection profile for EMV is that is should cost you $25,000 to compromise a terminal," Anderson said. "The problem is that [this attack] costs $10."
Chip and PIN security: A perception problem
The proof that vulnerabilities in Chip and PIN technology are being exploited by real-world criminals poses significant problems for the payment-card ecosystem. Because the use of Chip and PIN should, in theory, mean that only an authorized user can complete a transaction using a Chip and PIN-enabled card, liability for fraudulent transactions is shifting back to the consumer. In many cases, banks are not investigating the claims using forensics on transaction data, the University of Cambridge researchers state, and, in some instances, banks are even deleting records of suspicious transactions.
"Many of these customers are credible witnesses and it is not believable that they are all mistaken or lying," the university researchers stated in an early publication about the flaws. "When we investigate their claims we often find serious vulnerabilities which the industry failed to disclose. It appears that some parties were already aware of the random number deficiencies we describe … but failed to take action."
Even if Chip and PIN technology were foolproof, fraud will not go away, say security experts. Only the largest retailers will likely deploy the technology by the card brands' 2015 liability shift deadline. While the National Retail Federation estimates that deploying the technology will cost $10 billion, other analysts have cited estimates from $2.5 billion to $25 billion. Merchants will have to buy expensive new point-of-sale terminals, banks will need to pay higher issuance fees for cards and processors will have to upgrade their backend systems to deal with the EMV cards.
Nir Valtman, enterprise security architect of retail services at Duluth, Georgia-based NCR Corp., said small and medium-sized businesses will not be able to afford the upgrades required by the technology nor the increased fees, further delaying the rollout of EMV.
"There are still a lot of retailers that work with magnetic stripe readers," Valtman said. "And a lot of smaller retailers will not comply with the requirement by 2015."
The lengthy changeover period, which Valtman and other experts estimate will take seven to 10 years, gives attackers a significant period during which they can seek out the same fraudulent transactions that merchants, banks and card brands struggle to prevent today. The reality is that, if retailers continue to accept magnetic stripe transactions, criminals will continue to abuse that technology's abundant security flaws, Valtman said.
Additionally, payment security experts widely recognize that when one channel is secured, fraud always moves to a less secure environment. Fraud increased, for example, on U.K.-issued cards used abroad from 2011 to 2013, with the overwhelming majority of fraud occurring in the U.S., where magnetic stripe transactions are still standard.
A reality few recognize today is that Chip and PIN technology does not solve the growing problem of online payment fraud. In that realm, where the card is never present, merchants and processors will need to use better analytics to detect suspicious consumer behavior, said Liron Damri, COO of Israel-based antifraud service Forter.
"The main challenge is to prevent the monetization of the data," Damri said. "You have to be able to detect the behavior and stop the transaction."
Learn why Ponemon says continuous monitoring is the key to retail cybersecurity.
Some U.K. retailers are already replacing their Chip and PIN systems with expensive contactless payment systems.


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It promised so much – the globe’s biggest cosmetic and food players L’Oréal and Nestlé applying serious marketing, research and NPD clout to drive a nascent category into the mainstream public consciousness. It was going to make beauty from within (BFW) or nutricosmetics a mainstream proposition.
Licorice extract may help protect human skin cells against UV damage by upping production of protective antioxidants, according to German researchers.
Benefit-risk ratios must be established for each antioxidant separately, considering risk groups and dosage, according to researchers reviewing polarised perceptions of vitamin E and beta-carotene.
From blood sugar management to an in-depth look at the retail sector, inflammation, outsourcing, and the latest trends in sports nutrition and immune support, Nutraingredients-USA’s 2015 editorial calendar of special editions spans the hottest trends in the industry.
Daily supplements of the high-viscosity macromolecular polymer hyaluronan (HA) may increase skin moisture in people with dry skin, and improve luster and suppleness of the face, says a new study from Japan.
ChromaDex has bolstered the IP protection around pTeroPure, one of its branded ingredients, with the announcement of two patents relating to pterostilbene, which are the second and third patents granted to the company on the ingredient.
With sales of $176.7 billion this year functional foods are a hot growth sector. But which ingredients, sectors and countries are the best bets for product launches?
Beauty from within, still in its infancy in North America, is a concept that has long been driven by dosage form innovation, an expert in the field says. This is especially true for the delivery of collagen, which requires a dose that exceeds what is practical for many delivery forms.
Extracts from vegetables may boost skin health by promoting the production of type 1 collagen and proliferation of skin cells responsible for skin recovery, says a new study from Korea.
From an €80 million market for anti-ageing placenta supplements to the world’s most innovative (and fad-driven) functional foods and drinks market, Japan’s healthy ageing market is unique and instructive.
San Diego will host the first ever Probiota Americas in June 2015, which will bring together eminent scientists and business leaders from the pre & probiotic and microbiota focused nutrition industries of North and South America.
Vitamin D supplementation improves winter-related atopic dermatitis (AD) in children at risk of vitamin D deficiency and could provide a safe alternative to UV light treatment, according to a new study led by Boston researchers.
DSM, previously focused on synthetic zeaxanthin, has launched a natural version sourced from longtime carotenoid partner Kemin.
The just-formed Global Nutrition & Health Alliance (GNHA) is tackling intake levels for vitamin D and omega-3 as the group formed by medical and health experts kicks into life.
DSM Nutritional Products (DNP) is not abandoning its folic acid (vitamin B9) offering but has added a high-end, folate form aimed at global supplement and food makers in a deal with Merck in Switzerland.
Dutch-Swiss ingredients giant DSM Nutritional Products (DNP) has called ‘time’ on Teavigo, a decade after launching the proprietary, weight management-focused green tea extract.
Horphag Research, suppliers of Pycnogenol, an extract of French maritime pine tree bark, announced the results of a new study that shows the extract significantly improves inner ear blood flow, helping to ameliorate the symptoms of conditions such as ringing in the ear, hearing loss and others.
Plandai Biotechnology Inc. will not be required to apply to the US Food and Drug Administration for New Dietary Ingredient status in order to market and sell its Phytofare Catechin Complex as a dietary supplement, enabling the firm to start marketing the supplement in the imminent third quarter.
The evidence has grown so strong for the best-documented probiotic strains that a generic digestive health claim should exist, according to a consensus statement from leading international researchers published this week in Nature Reviews: Gastroenterology & Hepatology.
“I am large, I contain multitudes,” poet Walt Whitman famously observed. He could have been talking about the potentially valuable proteins that are lost daily in the waste streams of ingredient operations for want of knowing what they are and what they can do. It’s a situation that a cross-Atlantic startup seeks to change.


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Quayle Munro is pleased to announce that it has advised Informa PLC on the sale of its Consumer Information Businesses to Progressive Digital Media Group PLC for consideration of £25 million in cash.
The transaction includes the sale of Datamonitor Consumer, Datamonitor Financial, MarketLine and Verdict businesses. The sale will be effected by Informa transferring the above named businesses into Verdict Research Limited, the entire share capital of which will be acquired by Progressive.
Gareth Wright, CFO of Informa said:“This transaction allows Informa to focus investment on its priority businesses that were identified as part of last year's strategy review, whilst ensuring that the Consumer Information businesses are within a structure where they can thrive. As such, we are pleased to undertake this transaction with Progressive Digital Media.”
Simon Pyper, CEO of Progressive Digital Media said:“The acquisition of these businesses will broaden Progressive’s Consumer offering, providing scale and additional categories in an important industry sector.”
Julian Moore, Managing Director of Quayle Munro said: “We are delighted to have advised Informa on the sale of its Consumer Information Businesses to Progressive Digital Media. This transaction has enabled us to leverage our significant experience in the business information sector.”
Quayle Munro has advised on over 50 transactions over the past five years with parties including Bloomberg, Dow Jones, Platts (McGraw Hill Financial), RELX Group, Thomson Reuters and Virgin Group.
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25 September 2020
It’s official. After months of speculation, Spider-Man: Miles Morales is coming to PS4 as well as the PS5, alongside two additional titles. The Marvel universe game is set to be one of the headline features alongside the PS5’s release this November – with it not currently being available to Xbox users. However, for all that we know about the newest Spider-Man game’s availability on PS5, some critics weren’t sure whether it would also be made available for the previous generation console – the PlayStation 4. Thankfully, for fans of the franchise who can’t immediately get their hands on the widely anticipated PS5, it will be coming out on both consoles from November onwards.
Alongside the Spider-Man: Mile Morales news, it was also declared that Sackboy a Big Adventure and Horizon Forbidden West would also be available on both platforms, despite previous rumours indicating otherwise. The news shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to fans, as it is common practice to still produce games for the previous generation console in the initial transition period to the newer device.
With that being said, however, the news does contradict some previous comments made by PlayStation boss Jim Ryan. Earlier this year, he stated that Sony were trying to create games that were “something new, something different, something that really only can be enjoyed on a PS5”. This made many pundits predict that new titles wouldn’t be coming to the PS4, but for whatever reason, the soon to be previous generation console will instead be fed new titles for the foreseeable future.
Sony’s decision comes fresh on the heels of Microsoft declaring that they will also continue to provide new titles for older consoles in the Series X and Series S era. Xbox chief Phil Spencer claimed that generational exclusives are “completely counter to what gaming is all about”. For both console manufactures to be making a decision like this is very good news for gamers who aren’t yet convinced about purchasing the PS5 or the Series X, as it guarantees them new titles for the next 12 months at least. Outside of the world of console gaming, you might want to check out some Canadian Casinos here on Casino Zone.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales is expected to be a huge commercial hit upon the PS5’s release in November of this year, hence why it was front and centre at the 2020 console reveal. Miles Morales is the second Spider-Man game of this current series, with the previous title, Marvel’s Spider-Man coming out in 2018. With the game capable of being played in crystal clear 4K, it is sure to be a sight to behold for Spider-Man fans and newbies alike.
Sony’s reasoning behind the decision to make all three titles available on PS4 as well as PS5 was delivered by way of a public statement. It reads as follows:
‘While these three games were designed to take advantage of PS5 and its unique next-gen features like the ultra-high-speed SSD and DualSense controller, PS4 owners will also be able to enjoy these experiences when they launch. The PS4 digital versions of launch games include a free upgrade on both PS5 consoles, while the PS4 disc versions of these games include a free upgrade on the PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive.’
In terms of the overall visual experience, there is no doubt that the PS5 versions of the game will be more spectacular. But next-gen features won’t be everybody’s cup of tea, so for those users, it surely isn’t a bad thing to keep the PS4 fresh and updated until the transition is fully complete. The only exception to this (that we know of so far) is the game Demon’s Souls, which Sony recently announced as a PS5 exclusive.


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Parents still fretting about Netflix losing SpongeBob should check out Amazon.com’s Prime Instant Video Service.
On Wednesday, the e-commerce giant announced that it has signed a deal with PBS to bring kids shows including “Dinosaur Train,” “Wild Kratts” and “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” to its streaming video service.
The deal marks the second time in less than a month that Amazon has bulked up its children’s programming. Earlier this month, the Seattle company announced a deal with Viacom to pick up “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “The Backyardigans,” “Dora the Explorer” and many other shows Netflix lost when it declined to renew its own deal with the Hollywood studio, which owns Nickelodeon.
Netflix officials have described their decisions to not renew agreements with Viacom and other companies as intentional, saying that the Internet video company is focusing on exclusive content. But such decisions have roiled many users.
Amazon offers some 41,000 streaming movies and TV episodes at no extra charge to Amazon Prime subscribers. The company charges $79 a year for that service, which also provides subscribers with two-day shipping on most of their orders at no extra charge and allows them to borrow one e-book a month from the company’s Kindle store.
Amazon’s streaming service offers more than just kids’ fare. Thanks to the new deal with PBS, for example, the company will also offer additional episodes of “NOVA” and “Masterpiece” and some additional documentaries by Ken Burns.
The companies did not disclose the terms of the agreement, saying only that it was a multi-year deal.
Image courtesy of PBS.


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Where does Violet Grey fit in? There’s a lot to learn from the LA retailer’s content and community-driven strategy, says Rogers. Exceptional curation has set Violet Grey apart, comments Michelle Kluz, a partner in the consumer practice of global strategy and management consulting firm Kearney. “Sephora and Ulta don’t have that same level of curation any longer. By virtue of getting large, they’ve had to become more mass.” By contrast, says that Violet Grey has done “an incredible job of tastemaking and creating relevant content”.
Luxury beauty brands are excited to sell on Farfetch. “Farfetch [has] a sizable audience of the most discerning Gen Z and millennial shoppers,” says Alessio Rossi, executive vice president of Shiseido and Clé de Peau Beauté US and head of digital transformation for the Americas at Shiseido. “We see an opportunity to create an exciting touchpoint for both existing and new consumers who appreciate design, product performance and are open to testing new ways to experience beauty.”
“I am always looking for ways to find and service new and existing customers in the most convenient and effective way possible. Farfetch invited me to be a partner skincare brand and I accepted, not because my business needs a new distribution partner, but because I don’t like to follow the typical beauty industry marketing playbook,” says eponymous founder Dr Barbara Sturm. “While the cornerstone of my brand is proven science-backed solutions for skin health and wellness, every product innovation is based on fresh thinking and new ideation. I am excited to find an innovation partner in FarFetch to take my brand message to the next level.”
The beauty team at Farfetch – and community
Behind the scenes at Farfetch is a newly formed team including head of beauty Sophie Wayman, who joined the business in January 2021 after senior beauty merchandising roles at Sephora and Net-a-Porter, and Sophia Panych, named as head of beauty content in February after nine years at Condé Nast, most recently as deputy digital beauty director at Allure. Both will focus on reaching millennials and Gen Z shoppers, who already make up “a huge percentage” of Farfetch’s customer base, according to Rogers. A dedicated makeup buying team and in-store beauty specialists have also been recruited at Browns.
Violet Grey founder Cassandra Grey plays a pivotal role in Farfetch’s global beauty collective, a committee of industry experts and creative visionaries assembled to educate and inspire through sharing tips, advice and personal beauty stories on Farfetch and their own social media platforms. At launch, they number 16 in total, including makeup artists Erin Parsons and Isamaya Ffrench; hair stylist Jawara Wauchope; dermatologist Michelle Henry; cosmetic chemist Michelle Wong; and drag queen and performer Violet Chachki. Browns has also developed its own beauty community of experts and enthusiasts. “These are great people we identify with. We want to be able to utilise their expertise and they also talk to a different consumer,” says Browns buying director Ida Petersson.
A global beauty community platform is also being launched, enabling potential customers to create a profile with their age, location and a custom biography detailing skin type, hair texture, skin and hair concerns and makeup and fragrance preferences. Users can leave reviews, post tutorials, provide advice and find inspiration. They can also track “community points” they have earned, enabling them to achieve three different statuses — fan, expert and pro — with a variety of benefits and discounts.


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HTC to launch first full-HD smartphone with 440 ppi display in Japan
The company's HTC J Butterfly smartphone has a 5-inch, 1920x1080-pixel display and will be sold bye Japanese carrier au from early December
IDG News Service - HTC said Wednesday it will launch a new smartphone with a full-HD 5-inch screen in the Japanese market from December.
The screen, with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, at 440 pixels per inch (ppi), is the main attraction of the HTC J Butterfly. The company said it can display HD images without any modification.
The phone is 143 millimeters tall and 71mm across, weighs 140 grams, and has a 1.5GHz quadcore processor and a 2,020mAh battery. HTC has yet to release estimates of how long the battery lasts powering the new screen.
With the smartphone market booming and makers scrambling to set their Android handsets apart from the pack, screen manufacturers have been racing to take advantage. LG said in May it had developed a five-inch 440ppi HD screen that would likely be released by the end of this year, and Sharp has said it will begin this month mass production of a similar five-inch HD screen that can display 443ppi. Apple's Retina display has 326ppi.
Au, one of Japan's main three mobile operators, announced the HTC J Butterfly as part of its winter collection at a press conference in Tokyo. The phone will run on au's high-speed LTE network and support tethering of up to eight other devices on the au network.
It will also have several features that are native to Japan, including the ability to show special TV broadcasts for mobile phones, compatibility with Japan's touch card payment system, and the ability to receive alerts from the government about earthquakes and other emergencies.
The phone is similar in appearance and features to the company's slightly lower-spec HTC J phone for the Hong Kong market, which has 4.3-inch display and a dual-core processor.
Takashi Tanaka, the president of KDDI, which operates au, briefly introduced the phone to reporters but said he didn't quite understand its advertising slogan, "We predict you'll fall in love with it at a single glance."
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Dubbed “Project Rosalind,” the investigation explored how a universal and extensible application programming interface (API) layer could connect central bank and private sector infrastructures to facilitate retail CBDC payments.
Bank of England Considers Retail Digital Pound
Project Rosalind identifies key design considerations for a potential future digital pound.
Significantly, it explored retail use cases for CBDCs. This aspect is important as, so far, the case for a retail CBDC has failed to gain significant support from policymakers in the U.K. Instead, the emphasis has been on wholesale CBDCs. These would only be available for high-value transactions between banks and large businesses but not the general public.
For example, in April, Sir Jon Cunliffe, the Bank of England’s Deputy Governor for Financial Stability, said that the first use case of any digital pound would likely be wholesale .
But in one of the BoE’s most significant explorations of a retail CBDC to date, Project Rosalind considered peer-to-peer transfers, retail payments for goods and services, and small-value business transactions.
Elsewhere, other countries are in various stages of their own retail CBDC investigations and pilots. For example, this week, the central bank of Thailand began testing “digital baht” retail payments with a small group of consumers and businesses.
Read More: Top 11 Crypto Communities To Join in 2023
UK Policymakers Split on the Value of CBDCs
Despite enthusiasm from some key officials at the Bank of England, there is no broad consensus on the need for a digital pound. The BoE’s role is to consider the implications of introducing the new technology and explore different design options. But the ultimate decision will be down to parliament.
Last year, the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee published a report : “Central bank digital currencies: a solution in search of a problem?”
As the title suggests, the report is skeptical that there is any real need for a digital pound. And it calls into question the advantages of CBDCs over the U.K.’s current payment and settlement systems.
Yet although there is hesitancy in parliament, Cunliffe said that the U.K. was “likely” to need a CBDC this week. He even put the odds of the digital pound going ahead at seven out of 10. However, he insisted that any move to introduce a new digital currency was still years away.
Read More: 9 Best Crypto Futures Trading Platforms in 2023
CBDC Opposition Builds
In its report, the House of Lords also identified risks posed by CBDCs. These include state surveillance of people’s spending, financial instability, an increase in central bank power without sufficient scrutiny, and a centralized point of failure for the U.K.’s payment system.
Similar concerns have also been flagged elsewhere.
For example, in direct opposition to the Biden administration, Florida became the first U.S. state to pass anti-CBDC legislation in May. Opposition to the technology is also gaining momentum in Canada.
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The post Bank of England Completes Key Retail CBDC Study, Moves One Step Closer to Digital Pound appeared first on BeInCrypto .
#Bank #England #Completes #Key #Retail #CBDC #Study #Moves #Step #Closer #Digital #Pound


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‘Diseased meat could go undetected’ due to new inspection rulesby Anticarnist
In light of an increased risk of infected pork, the European Food Safety Authority (an agency funded by the EU, who follows scientific advice from the Food Standards Agency), has perhaps rather ironically supported new regulations which are considered by many meat inspectors to be a backwards step in the industry. Before 1st June 2014, […]
The post ‘Diseased meat could go undetected’ due to new inspection rules appeared first on Anticarnist.
abscessess Carnism Disease EU FSA horse meat inspection meat Meat Industry Meat Inspection Pigs pork Slaughterhouses Uncategorized


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UPDATE: We now have an officially confirmed start date for Amazon Prime Day 2022, with the major sales event kicking off on July 12 and running for 48 hours until the end of July 13. Additional details below.
Amazon Prime Day 2022 is on the horizon, and we now know that the online retail giant's biggest sales event will be kicking off at 12AM (SGT) on July 12 and running until 11:59PM (SGT) on July 13 – that means you can look forward to 48 hours of epic sales from the world's largest online retailer.
Amazon Prime Day has become one of the biggest shopping events in the Singaporean retail calendar despite being around only for a few years. Prime Day is still growing in popularity and, like last time round, it could be an absolute whopper of a sale!
The last Prime Day saw prices tumbling down to record lows, especially on Amazon's Echo smart speakers, and those prices have not yet been beaten, not even during the last Black Friday event.
The only way to maximise your savings during the Prime Day sale is to become a Prime member. Click on the link below to sign up in the lead up to Prime Day 2022 and you'll get a 30-day free trial, plus access to a lot of other Amazon services, including Prime Video, Prime Reading and Prime Gaming (previously called Twitch)
Sign up for Amazon Prime now (opens in new tab)
Prime Day sales are the perfect opportunity to save a packet on whatever you might need. It's a great source for picking up laptops, cameras, smart home devices and so much more on the cheap, even if it's an item that costs under SG$10 at full price. However, to shop during Prime Day, you'll need to be a Prime member.
Being a Prime member not only gets you access to the Amazon Prime Day shopping, it gets you free shipping on all Prime-eligible items, no matter how little or how much they cost.
With that in mind, we'll be keeping you updated with the best international Amazon Prime Day until the sales event officially comes to a close so that you don't miss out.
So, if you're keen for an awesome bargain, keep your eyes peeled and on this page , because we'll be updating it frequently with the best discounts we can find, as soon as we find them!
All you'll need to take advantage of this year's sales event is an Amazon Prime membership, which you can try for free for 30 days (opens in new tab).
Best early Amazon Prime Day 2022 deals
Razer Basilisk Ultimate Wireless Gaming Mouse (opens in new tab) (with Charging Dock) |
SG$167.87 SG$141.15 (save SG$26.72)
One of Razer's best wireless gaming mice is currently reduced on Amazon ahead of Prime Day. The Razer Basilisk Ultimate wireless gaming mouse offers a 20K DPI optical sensor, Chroma RGB, 11 programmable buttons, a 100-hour battery and even includes a charging dock.
A versatile premium gaming headset that will work on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S and Mac, the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless XT delivers excellent spatial audio, crisp chat quality and powerful sound thanks to its 50mm high-density neodymium speaker drivers. Includes a Bluetooth dongle for easy connectivity.
What is Amazon Prime Day?
It all began in the US back in 2015 as a celebration of Amazon’s 20th birthday. Prime Day then offered more deals than Black Friday and, since then, has become Amazon’s mid-year sale event when the company thanks its Prime members by offering exclusive discounts on a wide range of products.
Another reason why Amazon hosts Prime Day each year is so it can shift staggering amounts of stock while giving eager shoppers a reason to spend their money.
While it began as a one-day sale, by 2018 it was extended to 36 hours and, and eventually it extended to 48, even in Singapore.
Prime Day isn’t just about selling Amazon-branded products – several brands and third-party sellers also save their best deals for Prime Day as they know thousands of extra shoppers will be hitting the online marketplace, looking for anything from groceries to electronics and clothes.
To participate in the Prime Day shopping spree though you’ll need to be an Amazon Prime member. If you haven’t already signed up, then you can do so now (opens in new tab) and you’ll be entitled to a 30-day free trial before you need to start paying the monthly fee.
What does Amazon Prime offer Singapore shoppers?
Singapore has one of the cheapest Prime memberships in the world. After the 30-day free trial, you’ll be paying just SG$2.99 a month and this gets you a few perks, the biggest being free and fast delivery on products labelled ‘Prime eligible’.
When we say “fast”, we do mean “fast”. If you’ve spent SG$60 or more, you can have your Prime eligible shopping delivered to you in two hours! If, however, you haven’t spent that much, you’re still entitled to free delivery for any Prime eligible purchase (no minimum spend), but they will arrive in a day or two.
If you happen to shop for items being imported from other markets, then you’re eligible for free expedited international shipping for purchases of SG$60 and more.
Prime members also get exclusive early access to deals on Amazon and, more importantly, get to shop during Prime Day.
While you’re paying for the privilege of free, swift delivery (although that’s currently being slowed down to make space for the essential items people are ordering), signing up for Prime means you’ll also have free access to Amazon’s streaming services, namely Prime Video and Prime Gaming (formerly known as Twitch). Unfortunately, that’s all the privileges Singapore Prime members are eligible for – other regions, in comparison, get free access to more Amazon services with their Prime subscriptions but they also pay way more for the privilege.
When is Amazon Prime Day 2022 in Singapore?
Typically Amazon Prime Day is held in the middle of July each year, but the last couple of years have been... well, different. The effects of the ongoing pandemic were felt quite strongly in 2020 and Amazon postponed Prime Day 2020 to October and kicked it off on a Tuesday – a first for Amazon either way. The tech giant was able to bring Prime Day 2021 forward to June last year – earlier than its usual mid-July timetable – and start it, as usual, on a Monday.
That said, we now know that Prime Day 2022 will be happening in July this year, which means things are starting to go back to normal. While an exact date is unknown at this point, it's possible that the next edition of Prime Day could start at 12am AEST on Monday, July 11. If so, that means Prime Day 2022 might officially end its Singaporean sale at 11:59pm SST on Tuesday, July 12.
Of course, it must be noted that these dates are as yet unconfirmed and is simply speculation based on what Amazon has historically done (with the exception of the last two years, of course). We'll be sure to update this page as soon as we have official word on when Prime Day 2022 will take place in Singapore.
What to expect from Prime Day 2022
With Amazon constantly adding to its catalogue of products, it’s not easy to predict what kind of deals to expect. However, we can make educated guesses based on what happened last year. And we think gamers are going to be in for a treat.
We don’t think Amazon will stop at just Switch consoles, either. Last year, PC components saw a whopping 40% off a wide selection, including cooling fans, motherboards and memory cards from the likes of Corsair and Asus.
Given the worldwide chip shortage, we wouldn't expect many graphics cards to get the discount treatment this year. That said, other PC and gaming accessories will likely be available for less – for example, a HyperX gaming mouse and headset saw a pretty steep 54% price drop during a previous Prime Day, while routers from DLink, Asus and Netgear saw discounts of up to 36%.
If you’re looking for backup devices to save your files, then portable storage from Sandisk, Seagate and Western Digital will also likely be on offer, and hopefully with similar discounts of up to 43%.
Anyone looking for audio gear should also be excited as last year saw selected speakers and headphones from well-known brands like Jabra, JBL, Sennheiser, Klipsch, B&O, 1MORE and Plantronics available for less than half price, and we’re expecting the same again this year. Soundbars from Sonos, Bose and Sony were marked down by up to 55% last year, and we see no reason why Amazon can’t repeat that feat again.
Also keep an eye out for fitness wearables (the Fitbit Blaze got a massive 60% off last year) and vacuum cleaners, including robot vacuums from iRobot and Ecovacs Robotics.
What happened during Prime Day last year?
Last year's Prime Day sales event saw some incredible discounts on a wide range of in-demand items, from headphones and soundbars, to routers and PC gaming peripherals, and everything in between.
Below you'll find just some examples of the deals that were offered during the last Prime Day, and these should give you a good indication of what you can expect to see reduced during Prime Day 2022.
Sony WH-1000XM3 ANC Wireless Headphones |
SG$394.84 SG$289 (save SG$105.84)
Although they've been superseded by the new WH-1000XM4 headphones, Sony's previous WH-1000XM3 cans are still absolutely magnificent and better than anything else in their category. Last year, they received a massive Prime Day discount of over SG$100, and we expect to see similar savings this year.
Sennheiser CX 400BT True Wireless |
SG$299 SG$135.62 (save SG$163.38)
Sennheiser is one of the most respected audio brands in the world, and its CX 400BT earbuds are among the best mid-range true wireless options around. Amazon Prime members were able to pick these up right last year at the discounted price of SG$129, which was 33% off the original listing price.
All-new Echo (4th generation) International Version |
SG$141.28 SG$85.31 (save SG$55.97)
Offering big sound and even bigger smarts, Amazon's All-new Echo (4th generation) is an excellent smart speaker for larger rooms in your household. Given Amazon's tendency to discount its own products on Prime Day, we fully expect this one to get discounted again in 2022.
Sonos Beam soundbar with Amazon Alexa Built-in |
SG$699 SG$599 (save SG$100)
In our 4-and-a-half star review (opens in new tab), we praised the Sonos Beam's excellent compact design and impressive audio punch, calling it the "Sonos soundbar we've been waiting for." Last year, the Sonos Beam was significantly reduced on Amazon Prime Day, so there's a good chance that could happen again this time around.
Amazon Kindle Oasis (International Version) |
SG$373.65 SG$278.17 (save SG$95.48)
Like with the All-new Echo we mentioned above, we totally expect Amazon to discount its Kindle Oasis on Prime Day once again. It's the best ereader money can buy, with a premium-looking metal chassis and page-turn buttons that are perfect for one-handed use. Last year, it was discounted by around SG$95, and we hope to see a comparable deal in 2022.
Razer Kiyo Pro streaming webcam |
SG$268.25 SG$217.56 (save SG$50.69)
Webcams are still in huge demand as people continue to work from home, so any discount you see on one is worth considering. During last Prime Day, Razer's Kiyo Pro saw a very decent discount, we we have every reason to believe that there will be more webcam deals during this year's sales event..
Logitech G815 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard |
SG$299 SG$199 (save SG$100)
Logitech's excellent G815 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard had its price slashed in the lead-up to last year's Amazon Prime Day, which is a good reminder that you don't always have to wait until the actual day to nab a great bargain.
Netgear Orbi (RBK50) Tri-band Mesh WiFi System |
SG$649 SG$359 (save SG$290)
If you're on the lookout for a new mesh router system, we suggest waiting until Prime Day, because Amazon traditionally offers massive savings on networking gear. Take this Netgear Orbi (RBK50) Tri-band Mesh WiFi System for instance, which was slashed by almost SG$300 last year.
Fitbit Charge 4 Activity Tracker (Rosewood) |
SG$248 SG$135.43 (save SG$112.57)
Prime Day is also a good time to make that lifestyle change you've been thinking about, thanks to the many deals and discounts we tend to see on fitness trackers each year. Last year saw the Fitbit Charge 4 heavily reduced, and we expect to see it and other activity trackers discounted again in 2022.
How to shop during Prime Day 2021
1. Check out our deals predictions and, eventually our Prime Day deals list
There are also too many deals available on Prime Day. It's never a problem finding discounts, it's always an issue of figuring out what deals are worth your money. That's why we always set up a curated list during the sales marathon, and you’ll find it right here on this very page.
We spent some good time last Black Friday thinking about smart ways to shop on Amazon – they're still some great Prime Day tips and tricks.
2. Amazon Prime Day has historically required being a Prime member, so be sure to have a subscription on Prime Day
Amazon started Prime Day as a clever way to drive up its Prime subscription count, and this online shopping marathon – conveniently opposite Black Friday – accomplished just that. You'll need to sign up for Prime (opens in new tab) (you can get a free 30-day trial), which comes with free shipping and Prime Video access.
3. Create a wish list to curate what you want, as there will be loads of deals
You're also going to want to create a wish list ahead of time, which will let you sort out what you want and how much everything costs. This will give you a head start. You'll be able to see which deals dropped in price and which did not.
4. Snap up the best Prime Day 2021 deals before they're gone
We often find the best deals to go in a matter of minutes, at which time Amazon rolls out a waitlist for those who were just behind the curve.


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Swank's fruit fineHilary Swank is refusing to pay a Ã‚Â£57 fine for bringing fruit into New Zealand from abroad.
The 'Million Dollar Baby' star, who commands a reported $5 million fee per movie, was hit with the penalty in January.
Customs officers at New Zealand's Auckland airport had discovered an apple and an orange in her hand luggage.
But the sexy star has refused to pay up and has instructed lawyers to contest the meagre fine in a New Zealand court next week.
The star's publicist, Troy Nankin, refused to comment further, telling New Zealand's Sunday-Star Times newspaper: "Oh, that was the apple in the purse incident."
The 30-year-old actress is not the first to fall foul of the island's strict import rules - many tourists have been hit with on-the-spot fines in a bid to protect the country's delicate eco-system from pests and diseases.
William Minchin from the Ministry of Agriculture said: "The only thing that's unusual in this case is it's Hilary Swank and she's famous.
"It's a pretty standard practice to issue an instant fine for a bio-security risk and she got done.
"Thousands of visitors are fined for not declaring products like fruit, which cannot be imported into New Zealand, and hundreds contest them."
Have an question? Get it answered by AskMen's guyQ.


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Recently, armored car specialist The Brink's Company (BCO -0.26%) announced it was launching Brink's Checkout, a payments processing service that leverages its well-respected reputation in security into online transactions.
With the revelations of security breaches at Target, Neiman Marcus, and most recently arts and crafts store Michael's, a cumulative situation where tens of millions of customers had their private data breached, the opportunity for capitalizing on the need for better, more secure systems is ripe for the picking.
Apparently, Apple (AAPL 0.42%) feels the same way, because The Wall Street Journal reports that it, too, wants to access the burgeoning payments processing market. Where Brink's will be trading on its name to launch its service -- but use the technologies and systems developed by existing service provider 2Checkout -- Apple believes it can tap into the vast wealth of experience it's already garnered through handling payments via its iTunes store.
Apple handles billions of transactions annually through iTunes. According to Billboard, the online store recorded 1.34 billion units of digital track sales made over the service in 2013, and though that's down 5.7% from the year before (yet another soft number for Apple to go along with disappointing iPhone sales), it marks a rather significant track record for the tech giant. And that's just music; you could also add a few hundred million more units in album sales, movies, and books. So, while Brink's has a name to run on, Apple has the track record to back it up.
The market analysts at Forrester Research expect payment processing volumes to triple over the next three years, growing from $30 billion today to $90 billion by 2017. And though PayPal is far and away the industry leader, the eBay (EBAY 0.48%) subsidiary is overseeing a fairly fractured and competitive marketplace that has new players entering the space almost daily.
Apple, then, could theoretically catapult itself ahead of the others, maybe even PayPal, too, because where the unit is eBay's fastest-growing business with 143 million active users as of the end of last year -- a 16% increase from 2012 -- Apple has 575 million registered iTunes users.
Activist shareholder Carl Icahn certainly thinks it's a business worth pursuing, urging Apple last week to go with gusto after this "very real opportunity." And why not? It moves a lot of product already, meaning iPhones, iPads, and iPods could allow it to leverage those mobile devices with the 400 million or so credit card numbers it keeps on file. According to eBay, around 40% of new PayPal users last year came from mobile devices. Looking at how both Google (GOOGL 1.01%) and Amazon.com have parlayed their success with content by moving into payments, it seems not so far of a leap for Apple to join them.
The Google Wallet application, for example, allows users to purchase digital goods through Google-hosted marketplaces, plus send money to family and friends. Since it's available on both Apple and Android phones, Apple would have a chance to drive a wedge between its rival's customers on its own device. As for Amazon, one of the selling points of its Login and Pay with Amazon service was how with 215 million accounts in its database, it had a natural edge over PayPal. Yet Apple wouldn't be seen as a competitor for a retailer's customers as Amazon would, so acceptance of an Apple service would likely be better received.
It could also piggyback on its recent iBeacon acquisition that allows users to find products, display product info, and provide indoor mapping services on iPhones at retail stores. And using its iPhone fingerprint reading technology, which it could use to have a customer complete a transaction, it's obvious an Apple payment processing service could go very far in providing a secure milieu in which transactions could be completed.
There's certainly a difference between digital downloads through iTunes and payments processing, particularly since it allows a third party into its transactions, which might not sit well with the insular Apple. Yet having been punished for a disappointing earnings report, a payments processing service could still prove to be a profitable niche useful for partially offsetting slowing business lines, even if it doesn't let it back up the Brink's truck to riches.


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IBM has agreed to buy software company Red Hat in what will be the largest software acquisition in history.
IBM, which has a market capitalisation of $114 billion USD, will pay $190 per share in cash for Red Hat. It will therefore pay a total of $34 billion.
The acquisition is IBM’s largest by far; in comparison, Canadian business intelligence company Cognos was acquired for $5 billion in 2007.
Red Hat launched 25 years ago as a specialist in Linux software. Its main offering is open-source software for enterprise, with other products including storage, middleware, applications and management products. Support, training and consulting services make up a large proportion of its revenue. In 2012, it became the first open-source company worth over $1 billion.
IBM hopes that the deal will help it to compete with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure in cloud computing. Last week Chinese tech group Alibaba also threw its hat in the ring by opening new data centres in London.
Red Hat will continue to operate as a distinct unit under IBM’s Hybrid Cloud. Furthermore, it will maintain its existing offices, staff, brands and practices.
“The acquisition of Red Hat is a game-changer. It changes everything about the cloud market,” said Ginni Rometty, president of IBM.
“IBM will become the world’s #1 hybrid cloud provider, offering companies the only open cloud solution that will unlock the full value of the cloud for their businesses.”
Red Hat president and CEO Jim Whitehurst said: “Joining forces with IBM will provide us with a greater level of scale, resources and capabilities to accelerate the impact of open source as the basis for digital transformation and bring Red Hat to an even wider audience – all while preserving our unique culture and unwavering commitment to open source innovation.”


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This year Corsair has released a new version of their popular HX series and therefore also the 1000W model underwent an overhaul. There is now a 80 Plus Platinum rating, which is pretty much standard these days in the case of high-end units and apart from that the exterior looks sleeker now. Improving the internals, which are being assembled by CWT, included better cooling more high-end components from Nichicon and Nippon Chemi Con for instance. Overall this should make for a very solid unit.
There is a lot of free Microsoft software to be had, programs which enable better web surfing and help protect against spyware are just two types. PCSTATS Tips