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Have you heard of a car called the Devel Sixteen? Probably not. Or maybe you have but have promptly forgotten about it, like we had. Back in 2013, the company behind mystery machine showed off a stunning Batmobile-like body on four wheels at the Dubai Motor Show, mounted behind the passenger cell was apparently a V16 quad-turbocharged engined that made some 5,000hp (or 3,728kW).
The stream of news has since dried up about the car since then, and the world believed that it was too extreme and too difficult to engineer to have a place in reality. Yet stranger things have happened, especially with astronomically expensive, ultra-exclusive, ridiculously powerful cars.
The Cizeta-Moroder V16T proved a sixteen cylinder V motor could exist in the modern era, and was produced for four years in the early 90s. In 1995, Vector Aeromotive proved even more outlandish designs for a supercar had a market and could gain street legal status. Then there's the Veyron and now Chiron from Bugatti, of course, the only current series production cars to use a sixteen-cylinder engine since 2005.
In 2015, though, Michigan-based Steve Morris Engines rolled out the 12.3-litre V16 engine commissioned by Devel for the Sixteen and hooked it up to a dynamometer to measure its actual output. Luckily, it also had a camera running, and that video quickly took off after it hit the internet. Back then, boost levels were set to a more conservative ‘street tune’.
About a week ago, though, Steve Morris Engines published another video that showed the V16 motor running with its full 36psi (2.8bar) of boost (the AMG A45 has a boost pressure of 26 psi or 1.8bar), nearly breaking the equipment which was designed to measure only up to 5,000hp. In that tune, peak torque is above 4,700Nm. Bless their hearts.
For the 2017 Dubai Motor Show, though, we might just see the hypothetical car’s return as Devel themselves have announced a real-life partnership with Manifattura Automobili Torino, a firm specialising in creating bespoke lightweight aerodynamic bodies for very high performance cars made from exotic materials. Most recent showcases of their work include the Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG 003 and the Apollo Intenza Emozione. They’re pretty good.
If ever there were specialists out there that would not only be sufficiently crazy to build a body outrageous enough to safely house a V16 quad-turbo engine (and one as styled as daringly as Devel’s original prototype), but also be capable of pulling it off, it’s probably these guys at MAT.
This tie-up has some speculating that we will indeed see some presence of the Sixteen at the upcoming Dubai Motor Show, perhaps announcing a timeline for the first production version while they’re at it. Whether or not the combination of an appropriate body and that titanic engine, and the car that results, would be capable of achieving the company’s initial goals is still up in the air.
What are they? Well, they want it to have the ability to surpass 500km/h in a straight line while still being refined and composed enough at low speed to be a daily driver. They certainly are nuts, but at least they’re ambitious. If they do fulfil these promises, Devel might end up being more well known than the similarly UAE-based W Motors.


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Deutsche Telekom and Airbnb have made a deal to pre-install the mobile application of Airbnb on Android phones across 13 European markets later this year, including Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Croatia.
The launch of this campaign is not yet confirmed but the company has said that you can expect to see Airbnb pre-installed on handsets from this spring.
The app will be pre-installed on Deutsche Telekom devices in Austria, Albania, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.
Users who sign up to the service through Deutsche Telekom will get $35 (€30) vouchers to spend on accommodation. This partnership is a first for Airbnb, but is a move that other startups like Spotify, Evernote, and Twitter have done in the past.

domain: news


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OriginTrail is an ecosystem dedicated to making global supply chains work together by enabling a universal, collaborative and trusted data exchange.
OriginTrail's ecosystem is built on Neutrality, Inclusiveness, and Usability – a protocol, an alliance, and a core development company working together to find the common ground for growing businesses.
Efficiently.Discover the tech
Openly.Connect with members
Seamlessly.Start your project
We are connected on so many levels. Let’s collaborate, learn, contribute, and spread the word. Together.
In early 2019, the business standards company BSI partnered up exclusively with Trace Labs, the core developers of OriginTrail, to deliver blockchain-enabled solutions. With such solutions, the British Standards Institution (BSI) seeks to enhance its global assurance, certification, and supply chain services by ensuring the integrity of digital records. In collaboration with Trace Labs, BSI is now launching a series of blockchain-based solutions catering to both organizations and individuals aiming to build resilience in their supply chains, a need becoming even more apparent in light of the COVID-19 virus outbreak. Solutions described in the recently released BSI white paper — titled “Instruments of Trust: BSI’s Blockchain-Based Solutions” — enable a secure and trusted way of verifying the authenticity of claimed personal credentials as well as company and product certifications. BSI has also introduced the SCAN Trusted Factory Blockchain Program designed for US importers to ensure the authenticity of a factory’s certification and factory credentials.Read more...
The COVID-19 crisis has revealed weak points in the procurement of medical equipment. As the number of suppliers went up quickly, many that had no track record in the sector were attempting to profit at the expense of public budgets and national healthcare systems. No reliable system that would allow buyers of medical supplies to verify supplier profiles is available to date. Many manual verifications are needed, rendering the purchase processes highly prone to errors. To tackle these issues, the Trace Alliance will leverage the OriginTrail Decentralized Network (ODN) to build a decentralized Trusted COVID-19 Essential Supplies Repository (tCESR) for global information about essential supplies for COVID-19 emergencies. With this single-source-of-truth repository built on the ODN, governments, businesses, and individuals will be able to seamlessly access relevant information about a particular product essential to fighting COVID-19 outbreaks. Open data will be collected with a crowdsourcing campaign and made freely available on the network to be accessed by anyone.Read more...
The booming development of innovative protocols in the DLT space has brought hundreds of nascent tokenized systems to the market over the last several years, including a range of different technical solutions, decentralization schemes, and economic models. As firm believers in decentralization, the team at Trace Labs sees this vast innovation landscape as a very promising one, out of which many well-thought-out, battle-tested and highly resilient systems will become the next layer of the global IT trust infrastructure.Read more...
Within the global food industry, food growers, manufacturers, processors, importers, exporters, distributors, retailers, and packagers are all expected to be certified according to food safety standards. This highlights the importance of food safety and certification. The food certification market (expected to be worth $11.45 billion by 2023) is vertical and multi-sided, and shares a common need: all involved stakeholders should share food safety data in well-defined, automated, and robust ways, using secured and controlled mechanisms that enhance trust and collaboration.Read more...


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Bluewolf Taps Einstein, Watson, Vlocity & Salesforce to Bring AI to Telecoms
Includes IBM Watson-powered Chatbot which will provide information on data usage, voice consumption, payment history and deliver personalised offers/targeted promotions.
Bluewolf is set to make AI a reality for the telecoms industry with a new Salesforce Fullforce Solution, dubbed Bluewolf AI Now for Telecommunications.
Bluewolf has brought together IBM Watson APIs, Vlocity and Salesforce Einstein to help CSPs connect customer experience to value through unified billing, commerce, phone activation, sales and communications across all channels.
The first Salesforce Fullforce-certified solution to include both Watson and Einstein, Bluewolf AI Now offers a range of capabilities which leverages IBM’s and Einstein’s AI power.
Once such capability is augmented customer intelligence which taps Watson Conversation and Personality Insights technologies to enhance customer engagement across multiple channels, including web, chat, mobile and social.


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Mumbai: India’s multinational car manufacturing company Mahindra and Mahindra will soon launched its much-awaited XUV300 in India on 14 February 2019. So here we present some features about which you can read our review here.
Here’s a quick recap of what we know about the SUV so far. At 3995mm x 1821mm x 1627m (LXWXH), the Mahindra XUV300 is the widest SUV in its class. Also, its 2600mm wheelbase is the longest in the segment.
Unlike some of its rivals, the XUV300 will be available with both petrol and diesel engine options. While the petrol SUV will get a 1.2-litre turbocharged engine that produces 110PS of power and 200Nm of torque, the diesel SUV, on the other hand, gets a 115PS/300Nm 1.5-litre motor. At launch, Mahindra will offer the XUV300 with a 6-speed manual transmission only.
Car major Mahindra will soon launch its new XUV300, here are its features:
As far as features are concerned, the XUV300 will be equipped with various segment-first features including 7 airbags, front parking sensors, rear disc brakes, tyre direction monitor and a dual-zone AC. Standard safety features on offer include dual front airbags, ABS with EBD and ISOFIX child seat anchors.
Other important features include ESP, HLA, tyre pressure monitoring system, auto projector headlamps with LED DRLs, electric sunroof, rear parking camera with sensors, rain-sensing wipers and a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The XUV300 will rival the likes of the Maruti Vitara Brezza, Ford EcoSport, Tata Nexon and the Honda WR-V. Mahindra is expected to price the XUV300 from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 12 lakh.
Yamaha India launches Fascino Darknight Edition with maintenance free battery
New Delhi: The new model of Yamaha Fascino Darknight Edition comes with Unified Braking System (UBS) along with additional feature like maintenance free battery.
The introductory price for Yamaha India has launched at an introductory price of Rs 56,793 (Ex showroom Delhi) in the country. The special edition comes with Unified Braking System (UBS) along with additional feature like maintenance free battery.
Being firstly introduced in 2015 in India, Yamaha Fascino has got a new color in form of “Season green” with UBS, maintenance free battery followed by today’s launch of the Darknight edition.
Yamaha Motor India group Chairman, Mr. Motofumi Shitara, of companies said on the occasion, “Yamaha is committed to establish its uniqueness through exciting, stylish and sporty products and experiences. Yamaha Fascino has already gone up and about its unique style and excitement in the market.
With maintenance free battery Yamaha India rolls out Fascino Darknight Edition at Rs 56793:
This brand new Darknight edition will further create an urbane style which is in line with Yamaha’s efforts to add DARKNIGHT editions in many other two wheelers.” Yamaha is all set to launch the MT-15 on March 15, 2019 in the Indian market.
The onslaught from the Japanese 2-wheeler maker in 2019 continues as it has already launched a plethora of new products in the Indian market such as ABS enabled YZF-R15 Version 3.0 (155 cc), the new FZ FI (149 cc), FZS FI (149 cc), FZ 25 (249 cc), Fazer 25 (249 cc) and scooters with UBS and maintenance free battery in exciting colours.
Yamaha’s new strategic campaign “The Call of the Blue” which parasols the overall product and marketing initiatives including motorcycles and scooters now brings excitement into the 113 cc scooter category with the introduction of Yamaha Fascino Darknight Edition.
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Shenzhen China, October 20, 2017-- HARMAN International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung focused on connected technologies company for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets, held a grand opening ceremony, celebrating the relocation of HARMAN Technology (Shenzhen) office to CMP Plaza, Shenzhen.
Dinesh C. Paliwal, President & CEO of HARMAN joined with other HARMAN global and China management teams at the opening ceremony.
Established in 2005, HARMAN Shenzhen is an important design and business hub for HARMAN in South China. Covering 11,700 square meters, the new office in CMP Plaza will be responsible for the R&D of Consumer Audio products, and Professional Solutions, and also sales of Connected Car business. At the same time, it will host corporate functions such as HR, Finance, Procurement, and IT.
Solid Local Footprint for HARMAN Global Business
China’s consumer electronics products market share is enjoying steady yearly growth, and the southern China area has become the country’s most dynamic and important electronics manufacturing base. With the expansion of HARMAN China’s business frontier, HARMAN Shenzhen gradually hosts more and more functions to integrate with the global business, for instance, Consumer Acoustics Engineering moved to Shenzhen in 2011; later on, Design Center, Consumer AKG engineering, Embedded Audio Business Unit, Consumer Headphone Business Unit successively moved here; Professional Engineering China for Global also moved to Shenzhen last year. It continues to attract a growing number of talents from home and abroad.
Over the past seven years, HARMAN has realized exceptional growth, and has developed a variety of Red Dot Design Award-winning consumer audio products. In the future, by harnessing its expertise, HARMAN Shenzhen will continue its commitment to technology R&D, developing increasingly personalized smart audio solutions.
New Business Milestone Starts A New Journey
HARMAN Shenzhen’s solid footprint features an epitome of HARMAN China’s robust growth. HARMAN China has burgeoned from a small team of less than ten people to more than 3,700 employees across the country. HARMAN has successively established world-class R&D centers in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Suzhou, and two manufacturing plants in Suzhou and Dandong, many flagship stores and experience centers.
“The Chinese economy has enjoyed rapid growth,” said Dinesh C. Paliwal, President & CEO of HARMAN. “The China market is very important for HARMAN for its exceptional talent and also as a market for growth in Automotive, Consumer and Enterprise markets. Our business milestone serves as a validation of our people and product strategy as well as the successful long-time partnerships we have cultivated. The new office also serves as a testament of our confidence in our future and the promising China market.”
HARMAN serves large industries in China, such as automotive, consumer electronics, and professional audio solutions, with a customer base that is growing exponentially. Along with R&D centers and two manufacturing plants, HARMAN Shenzhen operates with a Local for Global mindset, identifying customer needs and seeking the best possible solutions in order to provide the most state-of-art products for its clients.
HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions; and services supporting the Internet of Things. With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. More than 50 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems. Our software services power billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all platforms, from work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 30,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In March 2017, HARMAN became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.


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|I don't think this latest round of price gouging can be laid at OPEC's feet. I am under the impression that oil is being bid and that other countries, principally China, are bidding up the price to the stratosphere. China is in the middle of a huge economic expansion and modernization and requires ever more vast quantities of oil. OPEC cannot be expected to refuse to allow the prices to rise.
when this latest surge hit a couple of years ago, ( when gas surged from $1.35/gal or so to $3.00+/gal) OPEC had discussed the raising of prices, and then thebidding war started and drove prices far beyond OPEC's stated price floor.


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MSNBC.com - Science/Technology
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ActionStep Named First International Best of SaaS Showplace Award Winner
Multidimensional, On-Demand Software Vendor Delivers Measurable Business Benefits to Lumberlink
Wellesley, MA - January 26, 2009 - THINKstrategies, Inc., the leading strategic consulting company focused on the business implications of the on-demand services market, announced that ActionStep has been named the first international winner of the new Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program aimed at promoting the measurable business benefits being delivered by today's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.
The BoSS Awards program was announced earlier this month to bring attention to SaaS and cloud computing companies which are producing tangible business benefits for specific user organizations. These benefits include increased sales, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction, faster operations, and greater profitability.
ActionStep is a multi-dimensional SaaS vendor based in Auckland, New Zealand. Its end-to-end, Web-based, business system includes Marketing, CRM, Sales, Operations, Accounting, and HR management solutions for multi-divisional, multi-currency businesses.
A case example of the company's business benefits is Lumberlink, a small timber trading company based in Auckland which buys and sells internationally. By switching to ActionStep's SaaS solutions, Lumberlink has been able to reduce its administrative headcount; improve cashflow by shortening the time to complete back-office documents needed for payment; and increase sales volumes through smoother transfer of sales information to Lumberlink's back-office systems over the Web, helping sales people who usually enter sales orders from remote locations. These improvements have enabled Lumberlink to increase its operating margins approximately 20%.
"SaaS has captured the attention of corporate decision-makers in organizations of all sizes worldwide because of the measurable benefits generated by businesses like Lumberlink,"
stated Jeffrey M. Kaplan, the Founder of the SaaS Showplace and Managing Director of THINKstrategies, the strategic consulting firm which conceived and administers the Showplace. "This ActionStep customer success story clearly demonstrates how SaaS can help geographically dispersed organizations, like Lumberlink, improve their operations by generating new revenues while reducing their costs."
"We're extremely excited to be the first international winner of the Best of SaaS Showplace Awards, especially since the SaaS Showplace is the leading resource for information and strategy in this space," stated Ted Jordan of ActionStep. "We feel that the award is a testament to our unwavering commitment to SaaS and how it fundamentally changes the opportunity to deliver extraordinary value to businesses and government."
The first winner of a BoSS Award was CrownPeak, a Content Management System (CMS) provider that offers a SaaS solution which helps customers accelerate their Web publishing and better manage their web content.
# # #
About the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards
The BoSS Award program is an ongoing initiative to identify and promote SaaS, and 'cloud computing', companies which are offering on-demand solutions which are generating measurable business benefits for their customers.
BoSS awards nominations are not only accepted on an ongoing basis, but more than one winner can be awarded in each SaaS Showplace Application, Industry and Enabling Technology Supplier category.
BoSS award winners are given special designation on the SaaS Showplace, with a summary of their award-winning solution(s) and customer success story. Award winners are also recognized in the SaaS Showplace newsletter, and are able to promote their award designation on their website and in pre-approved company material.
Give enterprise decision-makers a quick directory of the leading SaaS providers and a convenient source of valuable insight regarding SaaS trends.
Give SaaS providers a targeted tool to increase their visibility among enterprise decision-makers, and gain access to key enabling technology suppliers.
Give enabling technology suppliers a specialized platform to increase industry awareness regarding their SaaS solutions.
The SaaS Showplace is now the largest and highest ranked, vendor-independent, online directory and resource center of industry best practices in the SaaS market. For more information, go to www.saas-showplace.com.
# # #
About THINKstrategies, Inc.
THINKstrategies, Inc. is the only strategic consulting services company formed specifically to address the unprecedented business challenges facing IT managers, solutions providers and investors today as the technology industry shifts toward a services orientation.
THINKstrategies' mission is to help our clients re-THINK their corporate strategies, and refocus their limited resources to achieve their business objectives. THINKstrategies helps enterprise decision-makers with their sourcing strategies, IT solutions providers with their marketing strategies, and VCs with their investment strategies.
In addition to the Software-as-a-Service Showplace, THINKstrategies is also the founder of the Managed Services Showplace, a vendor-independent, online directory and information resource center of managed service solutions.
For more information regarding THINKstrategies' unique consulting services, visit www.thinkstrategies.com, or contact us at firstname.lastname@example.org.
# # #
THINKstrategies, SaaS Showplace and Managed Services are registered trademarks of THINKstrategies, Inc.


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Release dates: every game confirmed for 2017
E3 2017: all the games, news and trailers from the biggest show of the year
Ever Oasis comes out tomorrow on 3DS, here’s an in-game look at it ahead of release
Land of the free.
Oprah hands out Kinect units, audience goes beserk


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RAIN 3/24: Radio legend Steve Dahl joins RAIN Summit West roster
HOST OF POPULAR PODCAST WILL APPEAR ON “BEYOND THE TOWER: EXTENDING YOUR AUDIO REACH” PANELChicago radio legend Steve Dahl has added his name to the growing list of radio and digital media luminaries who’ll share their knowledge as part of RAIN Summit West, our annual industry conference, April 12th in Las Vegas (during the NAB show).
For thirty years Dahl has entertained Chicago radio listeners during stints on stations like WLS, WLUP, WCKG, and WDAI (among others).
After Dahl’s most-recent on-air stint at CBS-owned WJMK ended in 2008, Dahl launched a daily podcast, “The Steve Dahl Show,” which fans download from his website, Dahl.com and the iTunes Music store. In 2009, Steve launched an iPhone app for the show. He also blogs on his site, writes a column for the Chicago Tribune, is an active “tweeter,” and posts video content on the site.
As a legendary radio personality who’s left broadcast for the world of “on-demand” audio and a digital platform, Dahl is an ideal contributor to the Summit’s “Beyond the Tower: Extending Your Audio Reach” panel. Hosted by Edison Media Research’s Tom Webster, the panel will examine how stations leverage alternative channels of audio distribution (e.g. podcasts, on-demand streams, and side channels) to grow audience and extend the brand.
Kinsey Wilson, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of NPR Digital Media, will present the keynote address at the Summit.
Our annual RAIN Summit West in Las Vegas is the premiere educational and networking event of the year for Internet radio. We’ve put together a day of informative panels and presentations on the technical and legal aspects of the Internet radio business, along with sessions to offering programming expertise and methods of improving your business strategies. Once again, the RAIN Summit will be an official co-located event of the NAB Show, meaning that RAIN Summit registrants have access to the 2010 NAB Show exhibits.
And, as always, the Summit will include Kurt Hanson’s “State of the Industry Address” and our famous RAIN Reader Cocktail Party to cap off the day. See the RAIN Summit West agenda here.
Register for the 2010 RAIN Summit West today here.
RAIN SUMMIT WEST ADDS WEEI GM TIM MURPHY, GOTRADIO FOUNDER VAL STARRJoining Steve Dahl on the “Beyond the Tower” RAIN Summit West panel is WEEI/Boston general manager Tim Murphy. The Entercom-owned WEEI is “The Number One Rated Sports Radio Station in the Country” and is Boston’s ESPN Radio affiliate and the radio home of the Red Sox, the Celtics, and Boston College. WEEI’s streams have been available since 2005, and is widely considered the sports talk format leader on the Internet, with a plethora of on-demand audio and video content, social networking tools, and a dedicated iPhone app. Murphy serves as chairman of Entercom’s Digital Leadership Council, which is accountable for defining the corporate digital strategy.
Val Starr is founder of Internet-only multichannel GotRadio.com. GotRadio has weathered the music licensing fee crisis and the recent economic downturn to hold its position as a leader among ad-supported Internet radio brands. Val with share her expertise on the “Improving Online Radio Advertising” panel, and will join previously-announced panelists Doug Sterne of Pandora, Katz 360’s Tom Perry, and ESPN Digital Media VP Marc Horine.
STUDY SHOWS AS MANY WOULD USE IPAD FOR MUSIC AS FOR READINGA comScore survey seems to indicate that consumers view the anticipated Apple iPad as a music device at least as much as they see it as an electronic reading device. The study asked 2,176 Internet users about their “awareness, attitudes and opinions of the Apple iPad and other e-readers/tablet devices.” When asked, “If you owned an iPad, how likely would you be to use the following features of activities on the device?,” 38% percent said they’d likely “listen to music,” edging out the 37% who said they’d be likely to use it to “read books.” Fully half said they’d likely “browse the Internet, and just a few fewer (48%) felt they’d use it for e-mail. The comScore press release is here and Hypebot reports here.
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RAIN has upgraded (and moved)!
RAIN 9/13: RAIN Summit Chicago takes place today!
RAIN 9/12: First Summit in RAIN's hometown takes place tomorrow
RAIN 9/9: Summer holidays, "doldrums" impact July Webcast Metrics, but audience up over last year
RAIN 9/8: Clear Channel launches new customizable iHeartRadio beta; RAIN goes hands-on
RAIN 9/7: Meet more speakers you'll hear at RAIN Summit Chicago in less than a week
RAIN 9/6: Clear Channel taps The Echo Nest to take on Pandora
RAIN 9/2: RAIN reviews Spotify's radio-like product Artist Radio
RAIN 9/1: UK online radio aggregator Radioplayer campaigns b'dcasters to create "all radio" ratings
RAIN 8/31: Execs from Merlin, Triton Digital, jacAPPS and more to appear at RAIN Summit Chicago


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Infocrest Technology debuts self-serve kiosk for retail
Infocrest Technology has introduced self-service ordering kiosks for retail applications, according to a press release.
Infocrest's self-ordering kiosk
The kiosks come as free-standing, dual-sided, wall mounted or tabletop. Units are customizable and can feature PCAP touch; 24-, 32- and 40-inch display sizes; commercial grade panel; stereo speaker; HD camera; microphone; label printer; and credit card reader.


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Bentley SUV teased in new video
A new video teasing the upcoming Bentley SUV has revealed hitherto unseen aspects of the production car's styling.
Entitled "See Through New Eyes", the video reveals for the first time the SUV's available five-spoke alloy wheels and cross-drilled brakes, as well as the B-shaped vent in the front fender that's a part of the character line running down the car's side.
Also shown are elements of the crossover's rear-end design, including tailgate, taillights, D-pillar, rear door handle and rear door shutline. The production SUV seems to feature the flared rear haunches employed on the controversial EXP 9F concept car, although the rear quarter window has been modified to include a Hofmeister-style kink.
The video, rendered in black and white, ends with a shot of the car's front end, which confirms the look revealed in an earlier teaser image.
Riding on underpinnings shared with the next generation Audi Q7, the Bentley SUV will go into production in 2016 and will be powered initially by a 12-cylinder engine with between 430kW and 485kW of power.
From 2017 the high-riding Bentley will be offered with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain that was premiered earlier this year at the Beijing motor show. Featuring Bentley's 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V8 at its heart, the plug-in hybrid version is said to offer up to 50km of electric-only driving.


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Cars aren’t going away any time soon. So the ultimate green move will be combining two emerging technologies: autonomous driving and fully electric cars.
Civil rights organisations criticised Facebook Inc following a meeting with the company’s top executives on July 7, claiming the company hasn’t taken seriously demands to better police its service from hate speech and misinformation.
NEW YORK: Shares of Tesla Inc surged 13% to a record high on Monday, extending their rally to over 40% in five sessions after analysts raised their price targets on the electric car maker following its strong quarterly deliveries
Facebook Inc said on June 29 it would submit itself to an audit of how it controls hate speech in a bid to appease a growing advertising boycott of the platform, as it prepared to address a group of advertisers on Tuesday.
Facebook Inc has succeeded for years in fending off critics and regulators in Washington who’ve complained about the company’s market power and its failure to protect privacy, police hate speech and curb political disinformation.
For years, social media platforms have fueled political polarisation and hosted an explosion of hate speech. Now, with four months until the US presidential election and the country’s divisions reaching a boiling point, these companies are upping their game against bigotry and threats of violence.
WASHINGTON: The U.S. Federal Reserve bought US$428 million in bonds of individual companies through mid-June, making investments in household names like Walmart and AT&T as well as in major oil firms, tobacco giant Philip Morris International Inc, and a utility subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holding company.
Apple, Cisco and Dell products are among the goods from US companies being caught up in India's border tensions with China, as Indian ports hold up imports from China, two sources said on June 24.
MICHIGAN: Ford Motor Co has a lot riding on the overhauled F-150 pickup it’s unveiling this week.
BEIJING/SHANGHAI: Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd said its board has approved a preliminary proposal to list new renminbi shares on mainland China's Nasdaq-like STAR board, sending its Hong Kong-listed shares up as much as 7% on Thursday.


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Bauhaus Sweden today has 2,600 employees and is now planning to hire an additional 1,100 employees. The recruitments are for a new store at Sisjön Gothenburg and to handle peak season.
Bauhaus changes its Swedish tv-commercial concept. Out goes the family. In comes the Hollywood actor Peter Stormare. “Peter is probably Hollywood’s best handyman. He simply plays the role of himself, “says marketing… Read more »
Bauhaus expands its service offering and introduces click and collect services in Denmark. Earlier after the summer – Bauhaus Denmark followed Germany and Sweden and started a pilot in Roskilde… Read more »
Bauhaus invests more to attract Nordic B2B-customers. The aim of the new Swedish campaign is primarily to increase awareness of Bauhaus Corporate service. But Marketing Director Johan Saxne says the goal… Read more »
Bauhaus has problems to deliver a surplus in Denmark. The loss of 19.3 million in 2013 was followed by a 13.5 million loss last year.
The building merchants are moving their sales online – following the customers. According to a report from HUI Research and Bauhaus the projected construction trade online will be doubled within five… Read more »
Bauhaus takes over as sponsor for one of Sweden’s most famous sporting events, according to Swedish media. The Diamond League athletics competition, that as been called DN-Galan since 1967, is… Read more »
Several heavy advertising buyers within the Swedish retail reschedules their media strategy and invests substantially more in digital channels. Bauhaus will this year invest 40 percent of the total budget primarily… Read more »


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According to eminent technology journalist Walt Mossberg, who writes for the Wall Street Journal and was one of the first people to get their hands on an iPhone for review, believes that a iPhone 3G is just sixty days (two months) away.
That coincides nicely with Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in June and the official launch of the first third party iPhone applications.
What else can I say? Mossberg is generally worth listening to when it comes to gadget reviews, but I’d be very surprised if he’s got any inside information on this. It’s probably an educated guess — better than an uneducated one, granted, but still from someone on the outside of the Cupertino fortress.


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Rite Aid said Thursday that for the four weeks ended April 25, same-store sales grew 3% year over year, continuing the drug chain’s monthly comp-store sales gains in this calendar year. For March, same-store sales rose 4.3%.
In the front end, comp-store sales dipped 0.5% in April, reflecting a negative impact of 0.9% from this year’s earlier Easter, which fell on April 5 versus April 20 last year. Comparable pharmacy sales were up 4.6%, including a negative impact of 145 basis points from introductions of new generic drugs.
Prescription count at comparable stores edged up 1.8% for the month.
Overall drug store sales in April increased 2.4% to $2.042 billion from $1.995 billion a year earlier. Prescription sales represented 68.9% of total drug store sales.
For Rite Aid’s fiscal 2016 year to date, the eight weeks ended April 25, same-store sales climbed 3.6% over the prior-year period, reflecting increases of 1% in the front end and 4.9% in the pharmacy. Prescriptions filled at comparable stores rose 2.2%.
Total drug store sales for the year to date came in at $4.068 billion, up 3.2% from $3.941 billion in the year-ago period. Prescription sales accounted for 69.4% of overall drug store sales.
As of April 25, Rite Aid operated 4,566 drug stores, compared with 4,583 stores a year earlier.


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Wayne, a business unit of GE, says it has installed its first compressed natural gas (CNG) dispenser featuring in-dispenser payment capability. The unit is at a CNG Texas fueling station in Dallas.
‘After spending several months researching less satisfactory dispenser options, we found the new Wayne design and jumped at the opportunity to deploy it,’ says Lynn Laughlin, president of CNG Station Contractors LLC and operator of the Dallas station.
The Wayne Vista CNG dispenser allows CNG station owners to have the ‘same look and feel and payment options that petroleum dispensers offer their customers, creating a familiar fueling experience,’ the company says. The dispenser provides the same payment terminal, dispenser interfaces and PCI-compliant in-dispenser terminal options as Wayne petroleum dispensers in order to facilitate point-of-sale integration.


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Angry French winegrowers blocked a border crossing with Spain on Thursday. They emptied trucks full of Spanish wine and destroyed a load of cava.
Trucks loaded with goods from Spain, mainly wine, encountered an unusual obstacle on their journey this week. Around 500 French vintners and winemakers blocked the border crossing in the Le Perthus region as part of a demonstration at the Le Boulou toll in southern France.
This protest was mainly to demand a halt to Spanish wine imports. According to information from Spanish news agency Efe, the protesters not only blocked the passage of trucks, but also destroyed batches of tomatoes and burned several car tyres.
Trade union condemns the action
Spanish agricultural trade union Unión de Uniones expressed its disapproval of this destruction of Spanish wines and other goods at the border by French winegrowers. In a communiqué, the agricultural organisation condemned the “acts of vandalism” that have taken place at the French border with the emptying of tanks and the destruction of hundreds of crates of Spanish wine and tomatoes.
For Unión de Uniones, these are illegal actions that are an attack on free trade and, moreover, do not affect those who are really ruining the winemakers, but other producers who are in the same or worse situation than them.
‘Spanish winemakers who, despite the short harvest this year, have delivered grapes at ridiculous prices, are suffering the same crisis situation in the sector, without being able to rely on the specific aid that the French government has put in place for its wine sector. ‘Destroying goods at the border has not solved anything in the past and will not do so now,’ the union stated.
The organisation believes that French winegrowers ‘have the wrong enemy’. Therefore, they see in these events a ‘wrong’ response to farmers’ fatigue with a European policy that allows the import of products from third countries that do not have to have the same excellence as European products, that does not correct the dysfunctions of the food chain, that does not effectively prosecute the abusive practices of the industry or that does not achieve a fair distribution of the value added generated.
‘If they want us to fight together against those responsible for this situation, Spanish farmers are ready to lend them a hand, but this irrational vandalism must stop,’ they denounced.


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FROM THE days when Ada Hollingsworth was growing up as one of nine children, she has known hard work and entrepreneurship.
The family owned a grocery store, restaurant and service station.
"I could always get interested in the creation of black businesses," says Hollingsworth, who owns A&A Travel with Venita Ready and Cheryl Evans.
She knows well the struggle minorities and women have in creating a business. The owners have experience in the travel industry, but Hollingsworth acknowledges it will take time for the year-old business to turn a significant profit.
"If we don't create businesses in the minority community such as beauty salons, neighborhood grocery stores, local cleaners and travel agencies, people with only high school diplomas or high school equivalences will get locked out of the job market."
Hollingsworth, 50, also is heavily involved politically, actively supporting Democratic candidates. She worked overtime for months on Bill Clinton's presidential campaign. She recently spent two weeks in Washington helping with the confirmation process for Webb Hubbell as associate attorney general.
She and her husband, Les, have four adult children. She is an avid golfer and loves to play at Chenal Country Club.
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|Title Annotation:||Minorities in Leadership; co-owner of A&A Travel|
|Author:||Smith, David (American novelist)|
|Date:||Aug 16, 1993|
|Previous Article:||Kantilal Patel.|
|Next Article:||Piles of business.|


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The season of goodwill and giving might be behind us, but with Valentine's Day just around the corner, the tech deals continue, and this one's a doozy.
It's not just a couple of Apple Watch models that have savings attached either.
All Apple Watch Sport models are now £50 cheaper, bringing costs down to £249 for the 38mm model, while the standard Apple Watch has £100 savings attached.
Depending on the strap you're after, there's bigger savings to be had too. Plump for the Apple Watch with Milanese Loop band and you'll save £120 – nice.
If you're after a cut-price Apple Watch, you'll have to act quickly. The deals, which start today, February 4, run until Wednesday, February 17.


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By Radar Staff
How could it happen? Pippa Middleton is being accused of yet another wedding fashion faux pas, and RadarOnline.com has the photographic evi… READ MORE
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Second Place: HandCraft Cleaners
Third Place: Bill’s Cleaners and Laundry
If Puritan Dry Cleaners made dry cleaning more convenient, your clothes would clean themselves. First, there are the yellow bags, tagged with your info. Fill with laundry and drop off — at midnight, if you must. That’s why the secure clothing drop exists. Then come email alerts and easy pay. Home delivery has taken off in the last year, says Norman Way, the company’s director of operations. “It’s exactly the same price as the in-store drop off and it’s picked up and delivered at home twice per week.” Throw in Puritan’s top-notch customer service and no wonder readers choose it year after year as Richmond’s best. HandCraft Cleaners presents some tough competition offering many of the same services and making a name for itself in rug and linen cleaning. And Bill’s is a Carytown institution, frequented by the neighborhood faithful who like its friendly, quick service.


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|By Marketwired .||
|November 8, 2012 12:01 AM EST||
SUNNYVALE, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 11/08/12 -- Fujitsu, building on its longstanding partnership with SAP AG (NYSE: SAP), today announced an agreement with SAP to enhance collaboration in the retail sector.
Fujitsu, in cooperation with SAP, plans to build a new packaged integration component, integrating Fujitsu's next-generation retail Point of Service ("PoS") application with the SAP(R) for Retail portfolio of solutions. The integration components will reside in and extend the existing products of both SAP and Fujitsu. These extended capabilities will deliver significant multichannel benefits in terms of customer service, front-office business process improvements and point-of-sale improvements to retailers.
"We are delighted to sign this agreement with SAP to build an integrated PoS and ERP component for modern multichannel retailers," said Richard Clarke, vice president, Global Retail Strategy, Fujitsu. "Retailers -- both current and future SAP Retail customers -- have long been asking for this 'out of the box' integration to simplify implementation and deliver a superior customer experience at the point of purchase."
As an SAP global technology, services and hosting partner and an SAP-certified provider of cloud services, Fujitsu provides companies with cohesive support at the level of applications and IT infrastructure, implementation and operation of SAP solutions, strategic consulting and ongoing improvement of business processes.
Fujitsu's current retail PoS solution, GlobalSTORE(R) software, is Fujitsu's full-featured, customizable PoS, cash management and back-office system, delivering a seamless customer experience across applications, devices and channels. Fujitsu's GlobalSTORE software has been ranked in the Leaders category of "The Forrester Wave(TM): Point of Service, Q2 2012," recently published by Forrester Research, Inc. GlobalSTORE software performed particularly well on transaction processing, implementation and deployment flexibility and a visionary strategic roadmap to Fujitsu's next-generation retail PoS solution.
The SAP for Retail solution portfolio helps retailers transform their businesses with unified and simplified processes to plan, market, target, sell, supply and operate better.
Teams from Fujitsu and SAP are now working together in multiple regions to deliver the integrated solution to the global retail market place.
"Providing our retail customers with the solutions that support their ability to run their retail operations better in these changing retail times is a priority for SAP," said Lori Mitchell-Keller, senior vice president and head of Global Retail Industry Business Unit, SAP. "The integration of point of service capabilities with SAP Retail solutions is an important component in providing a complete, multichannel offering for our retail customers. It allows them to provide a retail experience that keeps their shoppers coming back. Working with partners such as Fujitsu is essential to SAP achieving this goal."
Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Over 170,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.5 trillion yen (US$54 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com
Fujitsu America, Inc. is a leading ICT solutions provider for organizations in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. Fujitsu enables clients to meet their business objectives through integrated offerings and solutions, including consulting, systems integration, managed services, outsourcing and cloud services for infrastructure, platforms and applications; data center and field services; and server, storage, software and mobile/tablet technologies. For more information, please visit: http://solutions.us.fujitsu.com/ and http://twitter.com/fujitsuamerica
Fujitsu, the Fujitsu logo and "shaping tomorrow with you" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fujitsu Limited in the United States and other countries. GlobalSTORE is a trademark of registered trademark of Fujitsu America, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
SAP Forward-looking Statement
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
@GonzalezCarmen has been ranked the Number One Influencer and @ThingsExpo has been named the Number One Brand in the “M2M 2016: Top 100 Influencers and Brands” by Analytic. Onalytica analyzed tweets over the last 6 months mentioning the keywords M2M OR “Machine to Machine.” They then identified the top 100 most influential brands and individuals leading the discussion on Twitter.
Apr. 24, 2017 05:15 AM EDT
SYS-CON Events announced today that Grape Up will exhibit at SYS-CON's 21st International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on Oct. 31 – Nov 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Grape Up is a software company specializing in cloud native application development and professional services related to Cloud Foundry PaaS. With five expert teams that operate in various sectors of the market across the U.S. and Europe, Grape Up works with a variety of customers from emergi...
Apr. 24, 2017 05:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,671
The 20th International Cloud Expo has announced that its Call for Papers is open. Cloud Expo, to be held June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, brings together Cloud Computing, Big Data, Internet of Things, DevOps, Containers, Microservices and WebRTC to one location. With cloud computing driving a higher percentage of enterprise IT budgets every year, it becomes increasingly important to plant your flag in this fast-expanding business opportunity. Submit your speaking proposal ...
Apr. 24, 2017 04:45 AM EDT
With major technology companies and startups seriously embracing IoT strategies, now is the perfect time to attend @ThingsExpo 2016 in New York. Learn what is going on, contribute to the discussions, and ensure that your enterprise is as "IoT-Ready" as it can be! Internet of @ThingsExpo, taking place June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, New York, is co-located with 20th Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry p...
Apr. 24, 2017 04:15 AM EDT Reads: 133
SYS-CON Events announced today that Super Micro Computer, Inc., a global leader in compute, storage and networking technologies, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI), the leading innovator in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology, is a premier provider of advanced server Building Block Solutions® for Data Center, Cloud Computing, Enterprise IT, Hadoop/...
Apr. 24, 2017 04:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,811
Amazon has gradually rolled out parts of its IoT offerings in the last year, but these are just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to optimizing their back-end AWS offerings, Amazon is laying the ground work to be a major force in IoT – especially in the connected home and office. Amazon is extending its reach by building on its dominant Cloud IoT platform, its Dash Button strategy, recently announced Replenishment Services, the Echo/Alexa voice recognition control platform, the 6-7 strategic...
Apr. 24, 2017 04:00 AM EDT Reads: 4,810
Bert Loomis was a visionary. This general session will highlight how Bert Loomis and people like him inspire us to build great things with small inventions. In their general session at 19th Cloud Expo, Harold Hannon, Architect at IBM Bluemix, and Michael O'Neill, Strategic Business Development at Nvidia, discussed the accelerating pace of AI development and how IBM Cloud and NVIDIA are partnering to bring AI capabilities to "every day," on-demand. They also reviewed two "free infrastructure" pr...
Apr. 24, 2017 02:45 AM EDT Reads: 847
In his keynote at @ThingsExpo, Chris Matthieu, Director of IoT Engineering at Citrix and co-founder and CTO of Octoblu, focused on building an IoT platform and company. He provided a behind-the-scenes look at Octoblu’s platform, business, and pivots along the way (including the Citrix acquisition of Octoblu).
Apr. 24, 2017 02:45 AM EDT Reads: 798
Data is an unusual currency; it is not restricted by the same transactional limitations as money or people. In fact, the more that you leverage your data across multiple business use cases, the more valuable it becomes to the organization. And the same can be said about the organization’s analytics. In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Bill Schmarzo, CTO for the Big Data Practice at Dell EMC, introduced a methodology for capturing, enriching and sharing data (and analytics) across the organization...
Apr. 24, 2017 12:30 AM EDT Reads: 6,335
The explosion of new web/cloud/IoT-based applications and the data they generate are transforming our world right before our eyes. In this rush to adopt these new technologies, organizations are often ignoring fundamental questions concerning who owns the data and failing to ask for permission to conduct invasive surveillance of their customers. Organizations that are not transparent about how their systems gather data telemetry without offering shared data ownership risk product rejection, regu...
Apr. 24, 2017 12:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,044
Grape Up is a software company, specialized in cloud native application development and professional services related to Cloud Foundry PaaS. With five expert teams that operate in various sectors of the market across the USA and Europe, we work with a variety of customers from emerging startups to Fortune 1000 companies.
Apr. 23, 2017 11:45 PM EDT Reads: 1,996
Financial Technology has become a topic of intense interest throughout the cloud developer and enterprise IT communities. Accordingly, attendees at the upcoming 20th Cloud Expo at the Javits Center in New York, June 6-8, 2017, will find fresh new content in a new track called FinTech.
Apr. 23, 2017 11:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,192
SYS-CON Events announced today that Interoute, owner-operator of one of Europe's largest networks and a global cloud services platform, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 20th Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017 at the Javits Center in New York, New York. Interoute is the owner-operator of one of Europe's largest networks and a global cloud services platform which encompasses 12 data centers, 14 virtual data centers and 31 colocation centers, with connections to 195 add...
Apr. 23, 2017 11:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,605
Multiple data types are pouring into IoT deployments. Data is coming in small packages as well as enormous files and data streams of many sizes. Widespread use of mobile devices adds to the total. In this power panel at @ThingsExpo, moderated by Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff, panelists will look at the tools and environments that are being put to use in IoT deployments, as well as the team skills a modern enterprise IT shop needs to keep things running, get a handle on all this data, and deli...
Apr. 23, 2017 09:45 PM EDT Reads: 1,972
The age of Digital Disruption is evolving into the next era – Digital Cohesion, an age in which applications securely self-assemble and deliver predictive services that continuously adapt to user behavior. Information from devices, sensors and applications around us will drive services seamlessly across mobile and fixed devices/infrastructure. This evolution is happening now in software defined services and secure networking. Four key drivers – Performance, Economics, Interoperability and Trust ...
Apr. 23, 2017 09:30 PM EDT Reads: 3,552
The Internet of Things is clearly many things: data collection and analytics, wearables, Smart Grids and Smart Cities, the Industrial Internet, and more. Cool platforms like Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Intel's Galileo and Edison, and a diverse world of sensors are making the IoT a great toy box for developers in all these areas. In this Power Panel at @ThingsExpo, moderated by Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff, panelists discussed what things are the most important, which will have the most profound e...
Apr. 23, 2017 03:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,965
@ThingsExpo has been named the Most Influential ‘Smart Cities - IIoT' Account and @BigDataExpo has been named fourteenth by Right Relevance (RR), which provides curated information and intelligence on approximately 50,000 topics. In addition, Right Relevance provides an Insights offering that combines the above Topics and Influencers information with real time conversations to provide actionable intelligence with visualizations to enable decision making. The Insights service is applicable to eve...
Apr. 23, 2017 02:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,415
SYS-CON Events announced today that Hitachi, the leading provider the Internet of Things and Digital Transformation, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., offers an integrated portfolio of services and solutions that enable digital transformation through enhanced data management, governance, mobility and analytics. We help globa...
Apr. 23, 2017 01:45 PM EDT Reads: 1,905
SYS-CON Events announced today that SoftLayer, an IBM Company, has been named “Gold Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 18th Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York, New York. SoftLayer, an IBM Company, provides cloud infrastructure as a service from a growing number of data centers and network points of presence around the world. SoftLayer’s customers range from Web startups to global enterprises.
Apr. 23, 2017 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,895
20th Cloud Expo, taking place June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. Cloud computing is now being embraced by a majority of enterprises of all sizes. Yesterday's debate about public vs. private has transformed into the reality of hybrid cloud: a recent survey shows that 74% of enterprises have a hybrid cloud strategy.
Apr. 23, 2017 04:45 AM EDT Reads: 2,826


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Early arrivals at the Download Festival have experienced problems with the festival's new cashless payment system. However, Live Nation have told Gigwise that the situation is under control. Download's new system allows festival-goers pay for drink, food and items at the various stalls with a barcode on wristbands pre-loaded with money. However Festival-goers have been complaining of longer queues than ever, with many finding that their wristbands do not contain the money they loaded on. With no failsafe, back-up or cash alternative, hundreds have been left frustrated.
The Download Festival at Donington Park sees Muse headline alongside Slipknot, Kiss, Marilyn Manson, Judas Priest, The Darkness, Slash and many more.


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The US and Canada have reached a new trade deal, along with Mexico, to replace the current North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) gives the US greater access to Canada's dairy market and allows extra imports of Canadian cars.
The deal has 34 chapters and governs more than $1tn (£767bn) in trade.
US President Donald Trump, who has long sought to change Nafta, said the new deal was "wonderful".
Until recently it looked as if Canada could be excluded from a final trade agreement to replace Nafta which has been in place since 1994.
The new USMCA is intended to last 16 years and be reviewed every six years.
Following the agreement, Mr Trump tweeted that USMCA was a "great deal" for all three countries and solves the "deficiencies and mistakes" in Nafta.
Late last night, our deadline, we reached a wonderful new Trade Deal with Canada, to be added into the deal already reached with Mexico. The new name will be The United States Mexico Canada Agreement, or USMCA. It is a great deal for all three countries, solves the many......— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2018
.....deficiencies and mistakes in NAFTA, greatly opens markets to our Farmers and Manufacturers, reduce Trade Barriers to the U.S. and will bring all three Great Nations closer together in competition with the rest of the world. The USMCA is a historic transaction!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2018
The US has been fighting trade wars on several fronts this year, including placing tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Mexico and Canada, as part of President Trump's America First policy. Tariffs on cars are also threatened.
What is in the new deal?
The hundreds of pages of the agreement were released in the early hours of Monday and contain updated arrangements for Canada's dairy industry and measures aimed at shifting lower-paid car jobs from Mexico.
- On dairy, US farmers will have access to 3.5% of Canada's $16bn-a-year dairy market.
- On cars, Canada and Mexico have a quota of 2.6 million cars they can export to the US as a protection for their car industry if the US imposes a 25% global tariff on car imports
- In addition, 40% of car parts of vehicles produced in the USMCA area must be made in areas of North America, paying wages of $16 an hour
- On the lumber (or wood) industry, Canada secured protection from US anti-dumping tariffs through the preservation of a dispute-settlement mechanism.
How was the deal reached?
The US made a deal with Mexico in August, but relations with Canada over the trade pact had become increasingly strained in recent weeks.
The Trump administration set Sunday as a deadline for Canada to strike a deal.
A protectionist policy under the Mr Trump has seen the US forge ahead with individual trade deals, rejecting bigger multi-lateral trade agreements and posing a challenge to decades of global free trade.
A win for Trump?
Andrew Walker, BBC Economics Correspondent
Is this a win for President Trump? He certainly has got Canada and Mexico to agree some important things he wanted.
It will be harder, or at least more expensive, for car makers to use parts from outside North America, notably from China. American dairy farmers are getting better access to the highly protected Canadian market.
There may well be some political benefit for him in the forthcoming Congressional elections.
But he has another wider objective - to reduce the imbalance in US international trade, with individual trade partners and globally.
The US imports more than it exports and President Trump wants to change that. Judging whether he has won in that sense will need more time.
However, many economists don't think trade balances are primarily the outcome of trade policy - instead they reflect government borrowing, private investment and savings decisions and international capital movements.
What has been the reaction?
The Canadian dollar jumped to a five-month high and the Mexican peso rose to its highest level for seven weeks on news of the deal.
Meredith Crowley, international trade economist at the University of Cambridge, said the agreement on dairy looked to be a "cosmetic concession" so in one way Canada had done well out of the pact.
She said the insertion of a minimum wage level for car parts workers could lead to similar clauses in other trade deals.
"If it turns out to be very politically popular in the US it could [be used again]," she said,
Canadian dairy farmers were critical. "We fail to see how this deal can be good for the 220,000 Canadian families that depend on dairy for their livelihood," said Pierre Lampron, president of Dairy Farmers of Canada.
However, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: "It's a good day for Canada".
Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said it was a good deal for his country and North America.
The aim is for the agreement to be signed before Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto leaves office on 1 December.


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The infrastructure of America is in bad shape when you see crumbling bridges, airports, seaports and roads covered in hundreds of potholes. No one appreciates potholes, especially Domino’s who is so tired of the holes that it has started fixing it on its own. The pizza chain said in a press release that it is tired of the potholes ruining their amazing pizzas, therefore, it has started repairing them in some American towns.
The company has already filled potholes in Bartonville Texas, Milford Delaware, Athens Georgia and Burbank California. Domino is also asking its customers to vote on which town to repair the potholes in future. Customers can make a request to have their town’s potholes repaired on the new website of Domino’s which is dedicated to potholes. The potholes repaired by this project will be emblazoned with Domino’s logo and slogan.
The initiative taken by the company is great for those towns where Domino’s shows up regularly. However, the fact that a private company is making the road repairs shows clearly the infrastructure problems of the country.


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New 'Carbon Neutral Certification' Isn't Perfect, But It Makes Sustainability More Accessible (and Appeals to Younger Buyers)
Take a peek around any trade show that caters to apparel, housewares, really any consumer product under the sun, and you’ll probably notice that a good many of those companies boast how eco-friendly they are.
Their T-shirts are made with 100% recycled cotton and the production process uses X% less water than others. Their drinkware products are made from recycled single-use bottles salvaged from the Chesapeake Bay.
It all sounds great, because it is. And many consumers feel better when we know we’re buying a product from an ethical company. But it’s not always easy to verify that a company’s environmental promises are anything beyond surface-level.
That challenge could be made easier by a new certification label. The Climate Neutral Certified label would verify that a product “comes from a company taking responsibility for the carbon emissions of its entire supply chain,” according to Grist.
Grist reported that sustainability is a factor in purchasing decisions for nearly 70% of North American shoppers. That number skews toward younger generations like millennial and Gen Z buyers, too.
To earn the Climate Neutral certification, companies have to use the nonprofit’s Brand Emissions Estimator tool, a tool that’s less precise but also much less expensive than hiring outside consultants. After that, the company has to make purchases that actively mitigate its entire carbon output from the previous year, and commit to reducing its emissions by documenting each incremental bit of progress through carbon offsets.
These carbon offsets can be planting trees, financing the construction of wind turbines, or other ways to limit greenhouse gas emissions in the manufacturing process.
The issue is that it can, in theory, just be a 1:1 solution, meaning a company could pollute as much as it pleases, as long as it pays for offset measures. It’s not an instant fix, but it at least creates some incentive for companies to do something more than they had been.
So far, Climate Neutral has worked with 150 brands, including Allbirds, Kickstarter and more, and estimated that it offset 228,314 metric tons of carbon in 2019. The organization hopes to get an additional 250 brands on board by the end of 2021.
The Climate Neutral Certification is not a totally new concept, but it’s another way that brands can stand out among the competition and put their money where their mouth is. In the promo industry, we've seen an increasing number of companies prioritizing sustainability, including some of the industry's largest.
As Gen Z and millennials continue to age into power as consumers and leaders, this will only grow in importance. Companies will need to prove that they are committed to the causes that influence their buying habits, and environmental stewardship is close to the top, if not No. 1.


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Milacron Holdings Corp. announced that its newest European manufacturing facility in Polička, Czech Republic, is progressing as planned.
The US plastics machinery manufacturer will start delivery of its extended injection product portfolio including the Magna Toggle Servo (MTS) and Elektron EVO from Polička location, which also produces the Uniloy brand’s complete range of blow molding machine systems.
Opened in April 2015, the facility has a floor space of 11,000sqm, with a planned addition of 4,000sqm. Products from Polička are shipped to Europe, South America, China and the US. To date, Milacron said machine delivery is 100% on time.
The facility represents an investment of over €15 million. “Our investment in Europe is imperative to support our growing global customer base. Our goal here is simple; to be the European leader in blow molding system manufacturing,” said Ron Krisanda, Chief Operating Officer, Advanced Plastic Processing Technologies.


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As the largest wineries increase their vineyard holdings, industry veterans say future expansion of vineyards in Sonoma County may be minimal because there is little land left to plant.
The land that remains doesn't have the water or the warmth to support premium vineyards, and regulations on hillside planting are strong enough to dissuade those who can't afford to clear those hurdles, many say.
Search our interactive map of Sonoma County vineyards here
"It's like going to the supermarket at the end of the day, and all the best fruits and best tomatoes are picked over," said David Freed, chairman of Silverado Premium Properties, the third-largest vineyard owner in Sonoma County.
But 15 years ago, wine industry veterans were saying essentially the same thing.
Vineyard acreage had swelled from 28,000 acres in 1989 to 44,700 acres in 1998, an increase of nearly 60 percent in just nine years, according to data on the county's grape crop collected annually by the Agriculture Commissioner's office.
"No one thought there was any more room, and then the whole Sonoma Coast thing got started," said Jon Fredrikson, president of Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates, a Woodside wine industry consulting firm.
Over the next decade, vineyard acreage grew more than 40 percent in Sonoma County, peaking at 62,900 acres in 2009. It fell to 59,200 acres last year, after the recession led many wine consumers to trade down to cheaper wines, and growers and wineries had less capital to invest in replanting older vineyards.
Today, the 10 largest vineyard owners in Sonoma County control more than a quarter of the county's $400 million grape crop, according to a Press Democrat analysis of county property tax records.
The best vineyards are largely held by families or companies that don't want to sell, so those who want to buy in or expand will have to pay top dollar to compete. Some fear that small family farmers will recede as larger companies win out.
"It sure makes it hard for my son to buy 10 acres or 20 acres and become a grape farmer," said Pete Opatz, vice president and senior viticulturalist at Silverado Premium Properties. "He will be priced out of the market, unless his Dad wins the Lotto. When you start paying $100,000 an acre for land ... unless you have some scale and scope behind you and can keep your costs down, it becomes difficult."
Vineyard values more than doubled in the past two decades, even as new vineyards spread across the county's hills and valleys. Prices ranged from about $25,000 to $40,000 per acre in the mid '90s, but in the past several years, buyers have paid between $60,000 to about $125,000 per acre, according to the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.
The regulatory landscape has changed significantly since the mid 1990s, when there were fewer restrictions on planting vineyards and opening wineries than there are today.
The county passed measures to regulate hillside planting and limit erosion, restricting tree removal on steep slopes. Regulators have cracked down on water diversions from the Russian River, making it harder for growers to irrigate their land and protect their grapes from frost that can wipe out their crops.
"Now we are getting into a place in Sonoma County where we're getting into some difficult ground to develop," said Tony Linegar, the county's agricultural commissioner. "Ground that's steep, ground that has wetlands, ground that has endangered species. And some of the projects we look at now are more complicated, because they have those elements."
Smaller farmers are less able to deal with the growing amount of paperwork, permits and fees required to operate in the county, Opatz said. He feels the bureaucracy and regulations are unending, and said he's fortunate to work for a large company that can afford to hire legal and compliance staff.
"It's like a fox chewing its own leg off in a trap," Opatz said. "What you've done is you've changed the family character of the county forever, and made it much easier for people like me to operate."
Even so, his company is looking to acquire more vineyards, Freed said.
Jackson Family Wines is the largest vineyard owner in Sonoma County with about 3,230 planted acres owned by the company and its affiliates. It plans to expand its holdings here to 5,000 planted acres, said Hugh Reimers, chief operating officer.
"We love Sonoma County, it's our home," Reimers said. "They're not making any more land in Sonoma County. A lot of it is locked up in families who don't want to sell."
In the competitive landscape that vineyard buying has become, Jackson Family Wines is known for its willingness to pay the most per acre, said Dave Murray, a real estate broker in Alexander Valley.
E&J Gallo, the second-largest vineyard owner in Sonoma County with about 3,170 acres, also has picked up its vineyard buying pace in recent years.
Meanwhile, some in the wine industry speculate that Treasury Wine Estates, the Australian company that owns about 880 planted acres in Sonoma County, may be pressured sell off its U.S. assets because of its inventory problems and slow sales. Asked whether the company planned to acquire or unload any vineyards, spokesman Joel Fisher declined to comment.
Newer buyers have emerged, like Foley Family Wines, which owns about 790 planted acres in Sonoma County; Ken and Diane Wilson, who own about 250 planted acres; and Bill Price, who owns about 160 planted acres, according to county records.
As land gets more expensive and scarce, and the grapes on the land increase in price, some believe that may increase the cost to make wine in Sonoma County.
"Those that can pay more for grapes will win out," said Steve Smit, vice president of vineyards and grape management at Constellation. "The result is higher prices for wine."
But others believe fears that the industry is heading into a grape shortage and that wineries are taking over the supply of grapes are overblown.
There has been new planting in the past two to three years, taking the edge off concerns that supply would run short, said Joe Ciatti, principal at Zepponi & Company, a wine industry mergers and acquisitions firm based in Santa Rosa.
"Everyone should take a deep breath on that," Ciatti said.
Growers are rebounding financially after plentiful harvests in 2012 and 2013, and may have the capital to re-enter the vineyard buying game.
"We've seen the wineries as the big buyers the past few years, but you'll see the growers out there in the next year or two," said Tony Correia, founder of Correia-Xavier Inc., an agricultural appraisal and consulting company with offices in Fresno and Sonoma.
Any vineyard growth will be limited by what wineries can sell, and what consumers are willing to pay for high-end wine.
"When you think about growth in terms of total acreage, there's only so many winegrapes that can be purchased and produced," said Karissa Kruse, president of the Sonoma County Winegrowers, a trade group funded by local growers. "There's not an incentive to plant something that can't be sold."
Many of the best vineyards are held by families that don't want to sell, brokers and owners said.
The Sangiacomo family, which owns about 1,175 planted acres in Sonoma County, hasn't really expanded its vineyard holdings since 2000, although it has invested in replanting less productive vines, said Steve Sangiacomo, partner at Sangiacomo Family Vineyards. The family would consider buying more, but it's getting tougher for growers to pay what wineries are willing to shell out for vineyards, he said. But his family plans to hold on to its vineyards.
"We're committed to Sonoma County," Sangiacomo said. "It's our bread and butter. It's our home."
The growers' commitment to Sonoma County is unshaken despite recent studies by Stanford University and other institutions that predict rising temperatures could alter the climate in the world's leading wine regions.
Growers said they're already learning techniques to keep the vineyards cool and protect grapes from heat. But in general, most said climate change is not altering their vineyard plans.
"It's something we're concerned about," said Doug McIlroy, director of winegrowing for Rodney Strong Vineyards, a Healdsburg winery. "We're carbon neutral here, we farm sustainably, and we're definitely concerned about climate change, but it's not something we've really had to worry about on the vineyard side at this point."


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Severance Pay Doesn't Go Better With Coke
By Gretchen Morgenson
Read Original Article by Subscription
The New York Times
IT may be only one inch on the road to reining in executive pay, but given the way this world works, it is progress nonetheless. Last week, under pressure from one of its big shareholders, the Coca-Cola Company adopted a new policy requiring that its stockholders approve any future executive severance agreements that amount to at least 2.99 times the recipient's annual salary and bonus. The shareholder forcing the issue was the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Fund, which raised the proposal at Coca-Cola's annual meeting last April.
Before the shareholder vote, Coca-Cola's management recommended a "no" vote on the proposal. The company gave several reasons; one was that it would dictate a restrictive standard for all severance deals whether the executive involved was a veteran employee or a newer hire.
Another reason to reject the proposal, the company said, was that each time shareholder approval is sought, it would cost an estimated $2.5 million. That was a good one, considering the $2.86 million bonus the company gave to E. Neville Isdell, Coca-Cola's chief executive, in 2004.
In addition, "flexibility" to prepare appropriate severance packages would be undermined under the proposal, Coca-Cola said. "Separation from the company can be a trying experience for any employee - executive or non-executive," the company reasoned. "Prolonging the process to gain shareowner approval would be unproductive to an effective process, unfair to the individual and disruptive to the business." Bring up the violins.
But with more than 40 percent of the shares cast in favor of the proposal, Coca-Cola's board approved the change in October. Charlie Sutlive, a spokesman for Coca-Cola, said that the policy change was in shareholders' best interests and indicated that the company listens to its owners' wishes.
Coca-Cola is not the first company to adopt such a policy; Hewlett-Packard, Electronic Data Systems, American Electric Power, Union Pacific and AutoNation have already instituted such rules. But given how much Coca-Cola has paid to departing executives in recent years, you can see why the proposal was greeted enthusiastically by its shareholders.
In 2000, for example, after three years as chief executive, M. Douglas Ivester left Coca-Cola with almost $120 million jangling in his pocket. Included were a six-year consulting agreement, office space, furniture, home security service and country club dues. Steven J. Heyer, a former Coca-Cola president, struggled under the weight of a severance package worth $24 million when he left the company in 2004. He held his position for only three years as well. And Douglas N. Daft, a former chief executive, pocketed more than $36 million when he left Coca-Cola in 2004.
STILL, it is a testament to out-of-control executive pay that under the Coca-Cola proposal shareholders will have a say only when a severance package exceeds 2.99 times an executive's salary and bonus. Alas, that figure has become a benchmark in severance packages.
"The '2.99 times' severance multiple is the standard, which is what is making it so difficult to roll back severance benefits," said Michael Kesner, principal at Deloitte Consulting in Chicago. "While the board would like to be more conservative, management points to the fact that the data is overwhelmingly at 2.99 times. So, the board is forced to perpetuate the high multiple."
Never mind that a lot of these bums should receive diddly on their departure, since they destroyed shareholder value rather than enhanced it.
Shareholder interest in these giveaways comes not one minute too soon. Severance packages that result when a company is acquired or merges have contributed to some of the more ridiculous payouts this year. The merger of PacifiCare Health Systems and the UnitedHealth Group, completed last week, generated a $300 million windfall for 39 PacifiCare executives, including stock options and retention pay. And last April, Toys "R" Us disclosed that 21 current and former officers and directors could receive more than $170 million for selling the company to an investment group.
Forcing a shareholder vote when severance packages are more than 2.99 times salary and bonus should be just the beginning for activist owners. There is much more work to be done.
For example, Mr. Kesner said, shareholders should try to force directors to eliminate severance packages altogether when the executives involved hold a slug of stock or options that will vest when their company undergoes a change of control. After all, the idea behind these packages is that they should help an executive make do in retirement or until he or she lands another job. If the executives hold millions in stock, extra financial cushions are not necessary.
And, Mr. Kesner pointed out, the limit on severance pay at Coca-Cola and other companies ignores another big-ticket item that companies typically pay when executives leave: the so-called gross-up provisions that cover personal tax bills generated by severance packages. These can be enormous and are hidden from view.
Shareholders may also want to consider agitating for caps on severance. Last May, Brightpoint, a distributor of cellphones and accessories, instituted these limits on severance for its top three executives: $9 million, $4.5 million and $2.25 million. Immediate vesting of past stock awards, in the case of a change in control at the company, is subject to the caps, Brightpoint said.
"There are all kinds of other problems with severance arrangements that compensation committees and boards don't focus on until it is too late," said Jesse M. Brill, a securities lawyer and chairman of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals.
It's obvious that me-first executives will do nothing to stop the compensation insanity. Their shareholders will have to do it for them. Here's hoping that in 2006, they are fully up to the task.
FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The Campaign to Stop Killer Coke is making this article available in our efforts to advance the understanding of corporate accountability, human rights, labor rights, social and environmental justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.


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The historical backdrop of Cryptocurrency future returns many years prior when cryptography began making computerized propels.
While digital currency doesn’t have inherent worth, it holds esteem in the accompanying ways:
Privacy: The innovation that digital money is based on security that can permit clients and proprietors to stay unknown during exchanges.
The Dawning Of Decentralized Finance (Defi):
The requirement for straightforward, secure, and available monetary frameworks are supposed to mount and ending up being undeniable.
The increment sought after and availability of cryptographic money trades are progressively raising the fame of various Defi Cryptocurrency future around the world.
Differed Values Of Cryptocurrency:
Advanced Access and Ownership: Even individuals who have no admittance to customary banks can enter the monetary framework with the assistance of cryptographic money.
Advanced Gold: Cryptocurrencies and gold offer ascribes tantamount to cash.
Value-based And Banking Benefits:
As of now, these are the clear advantages the framework offers as a monetary framework. These techniques guarantee information assurance to keep away from data falling into some unacceptable hands At Least.
The historical backdrop of digital currency is extremely telling on what stake it holds in the fate of the money. As the innovation grows, more areas recognize and acknowledge digital currency as a feasible monetary framework. The Digital Cryptocurrency future could turn into the new ordinary monetary framework later on.


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Towards the 2007, then-Teacher E Warren reminded all of us you to definitely “it’s impossible to purchase good toaster who’s got a single-in-four danger of bursting to the flame and sipping away from your residence.” But as she indexed, it is possible to purchase a financial unit into the exact same likelihood of causing monetary damage-pay-day and you can automobile identity finance can come with annual interest levels out-of 300 per cent or maybe more, and also make of a lot borrowers bad away from than in the past.
But, of many anybody can’t afford to invest right back the newest mortgage within the next payday and you will/otherwise end of your day
Today, the user Monetary Coverage Company (CFPB) put-out the fresh legislation to greatly help bring including hazardous borrowing products off the fresh bookshelf. This password is anticipated to aid having difficulties family members prevent $8 mil within the costs out-of predatory financial institutions a year. However,, it deal with a constant battle-the brand new CFPB will need merely personal help for the rule to come calmly to fruition, however for Congress to not ruin the work and for state legislatures to help force they into finishing line.
Louis citizen Naya Burks discovered immediately after borrowing $step one,100000, their financing turned an effective $forty,100 funds thanks to notice, fees, and you can circumstances
Such reforms was sorely expected, because pay check and term credit make money to your backs of money-secured home. In exchange for use of a person’s checking account or a keen additional group of secrets to the vehicle, these lenders normally offer easy money-away from a few hundred bucks for most thousand-expecting it to be reduced perhaps regarding the second income if not within the next big date.
As an alternative, 4 away from 5 customers have to roll over financing, or take out several other to blow payday loans Fl Groveland Florida straight back the initial. Because of this, that desire and you can costs stack up, and you will some one can’t reduce the completely new mortgage in addition to. This leads to enormous pecuniary hardship. Just like the St. And as the latest CFPB’s very own research has shown, one out of 5 vehicle term consumers remove the vehicle so you can repossession.
It’s no wonder, upcoming, one to trust management out-of many different lifestyle keeps verbal away from this form of money. New says have chosen to take step also. Maybe fourteen claims in addition to Region out-of Columbia provides instituted desire hats of 30-six % otherwise smaller to prohibit these money. In fact, from inside the Arkansas, where condition Design now leaves a threshold into interest rates, merely multiple percent out-of former anyone asserted that these were even worse regarding therefore.
Unfortuitously, of several members of Congress seem to have skipped new memo one talking about harmful products that perform more damage than a great. Florida’s Congressional delegation, yet others, used to eliminate this new CFPB, arguing the official currently has got the county manageable-whilst loan providers promote $76 mil annually about state’s savings. And just a year ago, Congress made an effort to weaken tough anti-predatory credit legislation one to cover functions players and have imagine hampering brand new CFPB’s capacity to functions privately.
This new CFPB’s guidelines commonly rein in a number of of your own terrible steps inside industry. In lot of items, it will require creditors to determine probably the borrower is largely in a position to shell out-out of funding just before one in the initial lay. It does restriction exactly how many money consumers usually takes away, and in case. And this will restriction lenders’ ability to pickpocket of overtaking financial support aside-of borrowers’ savings account repeatedly in the place of agree.
This type of a great government legislation are very important due to multiple says haven’t were able to address this matter on their individual. Missouri have nearly normally payday loan metropolitan areas as the restaurants segments, that have a some mediocre desire throughout these capital out of 444 percent. Plus in 2014, the fresh new Louisiana legislature did not actually entryway a failing report restricting pay check financial support to ten a-year. That’s not to mention Kansas, in which voters extremely offered a payday credit exclude, not, creditors rechartered themselves while the financial organizations this means that of the ideal loophole. But claims not takes help buy in order to suppress and this abusive conclusion. They may be able follow the head of brand new York, Vermont, although some claims of the capping rates, an activity out of more pros just like the a beneficial loophole in Dodd-Truthful finishes the new CFPB out of getting this step. While having claims with a great guidelines toward guides need certainly to stand business and if inclined to realize a loose simple.


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RESIDENTS' mail has been destroyed after yobs started a fire in a post box.
Firefighters were called just before 4pm after smoke was seen coming from the post box at the junction of Smithills Dean Road and Abercorn Road.
A resident claimed to have seen youngsters near the post box before the fire started.
Firefighters from Bolton North fire station put out the blaze with a hose.
A fire service spokesman said: “Unfortunately the letters in the post box will have either been damaged by the fire or by the water used to put it out.”
The fire service has contacted Royal Mail to inform them the incident.
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