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Three Lexington restaurants were closed in the last month after health inspectors discovered serious issues as part of routine inspections.
All three restaurants were on the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department’s probation list, which means the food service establishments were subject to stepped-up inspections targeted to potential health hazards. Since 2015, the health department has placed restaurants on probation if they score 84 or below or have a critical violation that cannot be immediately remedied.
Shut down, but reopened
The three restaurants have all been allowed to reopen but remain on probation. They are:
▪ Subway at 2160 Sir Barton Way was closed on April 8 for not having hot water. The inspector also noted potentially hazardous food not being kept cold enough and an employee using a personal pocket knife to slice open packages of deli meat.
The health department gave Subway 10 days to fix the hot water issue, then returned. “It still wasn’t fixed so we gave them another day,” said Skip Castleman, health department supervisor. They replaced the water heater but that turned out not to be the issue. “When we came back and there still wasn’t any hot water, our hands were tied,” he said. A repairman apparently turned off the hot water valve to the restaurant. After the problem was fixed, Subway reopened the next day, Castleman said.
▪ Happy China at 1301 Winchester Road, was closed for two days after a May 8 inspection found multiple critical violations resulting in a score of 53. Inspection scores below 60 result in automatic closure; a restaurant also may be closed for critical violations deemed an imminent health hazard, Castleman said.
Problems included raw meats stored improperly, cabbage stored on the floor and vegetables not washed prior to slicing; employees not washing hands and people living at the restaurant. And there was a live turtle in the mop sink in the kitchen.
After a follow up inspection on May 10, the restaurant scored 94, the turtle was gone and Happy China was allowed to reopen. The owners told the health department the turtle was given to them as a pet for their son and was subsequently released near a lake.
▪ Dixie Value Mart at 1875 August Drive, a convenience store doing business under the name of Zenith Petroleum and formerly known as Swift Ventures, scored a 47 for food service, meriting instant closure.
On April 29, an inspector found potentially hazardous food at unsafe temperatures; raw eggs and chicken stored above ready-to-eat food; unhygienic practices including an employee not washing hands or gloving properly, personal food in kitchen, and personal toothpaste stored on cooking equipment; improper sanitizing; dirty and greasy countertops, shelves, cabinets, kitchen equipment, can opener, stove and microwave; improper storage of toxic items and much more.
But they successfully passed their follow-up inspection on May 3 with a score of 93 and reopened.
Newly added restaurants
As of May 8, about 180 food service providers were on probation, with 23 added between March 11 and May 8.
The new additions included UK student haunts Best Friend Bar, Lynagh’s and the McDonald’s on South Limestone next to campus, which is scheduled to be torn down and rebuilt; and two more sushi restaurants, Sushi Blue on Pasadena and Sakura Japanese Restaurant, home of “half-price sushi.”
Lynagh’s said, in an email, that the restaurant was “put on probation because of a problem with a bathroom. We’ve been reinspected and received a 96.”
Best Friend Bar co-owner Seth Brewer said that since the bar lost its permanent food provider they have used “the kitchen mostly for keg storage, and the floor had taken a beating. So there was some deferred maintenance that we got popped for — especially a damaged floor, leaking sink, and dirty hood, along with some other minor infractions. All have been remedied, and we have been revisited and regraded. We now have a 98.”
Restaurants come off probation after passing two consecutive regular inspections with no critical violations. Some restaurants have been on probation for years.
Placed on probation
Here are the restaurants placed on probation from March 11 to May 8:
▪ Best Friend Bar, 500 Euclid Avenue, was placed on probation on April 4 after scoring 81. The inspector found, among other things, the Gatorade spigot and the ice machine were dirty; the hand sink in the bar had no hot water; the plumbing to the three-sink compartment sink was leaking; floors, kitchen hood vent, and walls behind equipment were dirty; and chemicals were improperly stored.
▪ Big City Pizza, 1060 Chinoe Road, was placed on probation on April 24 despite scoring 92. The inspection noted the grease trap was in poor repair.
▪ Burger King, 451 New Circle Road, was placed on probation on May 2 after scoring 78. The inspector found contaminated uncooked chicken; employees not washing hands; improper sanitizing; dirty surfaces, shelves, coolers, floors, walls and ceiling; clean utensils stored in a dirty container; leaking sinks; and the back door propped open.
▪ Captain D’s, 245 New Circle Road, was placed on probation on April 3 after scoring 75. The inspection found unhygienic practices including employees not washing hands before putting on gloves and storing drinks on prep areas; no sanitizer in the bucket at the prep surface; dirty equipment and microwaves; dirty floors, walls and ceiling and more.
▪ C&J Food Bar, 1230 Eastland Parkway, was placed on probation April 9 after scoring 77. The inspection found potentially hazardous food including chicken and deli meat held beyond expiration, food not date-marked and expired milk; condiments held at unsafe temperatures; food service employee not wearing hair/beard restraint; improper sanitizing; leak at the three-compartment sink; dirty floor, walls and multiple surfaces including the can opener, cart, shelves, oven microwave and cooling units.
▪ Church of the Good Shepherd, 533 East Main Street, was placed on probation on March 29 despite scoring 95 after the inspector noted the dishwasher not properly sanitizing and the ice machine was unclean.
▪ Denny’s, 1949 Nicholasville Road, was placed on probation on April 10 after scoring 80. The inspector found flying insects throughout, unsafe food temps, and chemical spray bottles improperly stored next to food, among other things.
▪ Domino’s Pizza, 828 Lane Allen road, was placed on probation on April 1 despite scoring 95. The inspection found the dishes were not properly sanitized and clean dishes were stored on a dirty surface.
▪ Eastland Food Mart, 1542 Eastland Parkway, was placed on probation on May 3 after scoring 81. The inspector found expired eggs that were stored above ready-to-eat items; no soap or towels at the bathroom hand sink, which was dirty and in poor repair; dirty floors; toxic chemicals improperly stored above food; employee clothing and possessions improperly stored; and living and sleep quarters on site not completely separate as required.
▪ Fazoli’s, 3775 Harrodsburg Road, was placed on probation on April 30 after scoring 81. The inspector found unhygienic practices including personal drinks on food prep surfaces and a personal phone next to clean dishes, among other things.
▪ H&M Market, 1220 North Limestone, was placed on probation on April 2 after scoring 88 for food service. The inspector found potentially hazardous smoked sausages; hand sink being used for purposes other than hand washing; dirty floor, ceiling, cabinets and inside of microwave; and a mattress and blankets on site. On the retail inspection, the inspector also noted expired medication.
▪ Kids-N-Kapers daycare, 1896 Courtland Drive, was placed on probation on May 8 after scoring 89. The inspection found dirty cabinets, drawers and can opener; no mop sink; dirty floors and more.
▪ Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken, 3014 Richmond Road, was placed on probation on April 23 after scoring 79. The inspector found food improperly stored; employees not wearing hair restraints; employees not putting gloves on properly; personal drinks or food stored improperly; improper sanitizing; dirty kitchen equipment, floors, walls and hood; only one restroom in the restaurant and the toilet in poor repair.
▪ Lynagh’s, 384 Woodland Avenue, was placed on probation on April 25 after scoring 86. The inspection found fruit/drain flights throughout the establishment, particularly in the bar and in the men’s restroom; urinal in poor repair; dirty surfaces, floors, walls and ceiling.
▪ McDonald’s, 357 South Limestone, was placed on probation on March 11 after scoring 76 on an inspection that found a live roach in a sink; employees not wearing hair restraints; improper sanitizing; “many” food and other surfaces dirty, including dining room tables; ice machine leaking from the first floor into the basement; full garbage bags sitting in on the floor next to the back door and on the sidewalk near the back door; dirty floors throughout; walls, ceiling and vents dirty; and kitchen area “very unorganized and cluttered.”
▪ Minit Mart, 4096 Nichols Park, was placed on probation on April 8 after scoring 87 on food service and 89 on retail food. The inspector found potentially hazardous food; “food manager in charge does not demonstrate basic food safety principles;” improper sanitizing; personal clothing stored on canned food; dirty floors and no hand towels at sink.
▪ Penn Station, 1719 North Broadway, was placed on probation on April 2 after scoring 83. The inspector found an employee putting on gloves without washing hands, employees not wearing hair restraints and employee drinks stored on prep surfaces; too much sanitizer solution in the dishwasher; and dirty surfaces and floors under equipment.
▪ Provision Living at Beaumont Centre, 1165 Monarch Street, was placed on probation on April 5 despite scoring 94. The inspector noted employees without hair restraints and the dishwasher not sanitizing properly.
▪ Qdoba, 2630 Richmond Road, was placed on probation on March 15 after scoring 78. The inspector found mold in the ice machine contaminating the drinks; potentially hazardous food not kept hot enough; personal food stored improperly with customer food; lack of hair restraints and more.
▪ Sakura Japanese Restaurant, 1015 Winchester Road, was placed on probation on April 26 after scoring 74. The inspector found potentially hazardous food not kept cold enough; employee drinks, lacking lids and straws, stored improperly throughout the facility and two employees without adequate hair restraints; shelves lined with dirty aluminum; cardboard used to cover food in the walk-in cooler; thermometer not sanitized between uses; and improper sanitizing, including not using separate cloths for raw and ready-to-eat food.
▪ Southern Hills United Methodist Church Daycare, 2356 Harrodsburg Road, was placed on probation on April 4 despite scoring 96. The inspection noted improper sanitizing because they couldn’t be sure the rinse temperature in the dishwasher was reaching 180 degrees.
▪ Super Mercado Aguacalientes, 1424 Alexandria Drive, was placed on probation on April 12 after scoring 65. The inspection found potentially hazardous food including meat held at an improper temperature; chicken thawing in the three-compartment sink at room temperature; food stored uncovered; an ice scoop in a bucket with raw chicken pieces; employees without gloves; personal items throughout facility; employees in food prep area without proper hair restraint; improper sanitizing and more.
▪ Sushi Blue, 185 Pasadena Drive, was placed on probation on April 4 after scoring 86. The inspection noted potentially hazardous food, specifically flour for chicken was not changed every four hours; the dishes weren’t being properly sanitized with chlorine and more.


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KUALA LUMPUR: Maxis Bhd has been identified as a technology solutions partner (TSP) by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) for the RM500mil SME Digitalisation Grant under Budget 2020.
KUALA LUMPUR: Safety precautions against the Covid-19 pandemic have become part and parcel of every Malaysian’s daily life, bringing with it a new set of challenges that businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have to overcome.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) is proposing a designated hub interconnecting Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0 or 4IR) players in Malaysia to the rest of the world.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) expects a 20 per cent growth in e-commerce contribution to the digital economy this year despite the enforced Movement Control Order (MCO) to contain the spread of COVID-19.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd (MDV) has announced that the first round of applications for the RM100mil relief funding facility for technology start-ups will take place from May 18 to 31.
ONE of the things that have, perhaps, become clear to businesses during the movement control order (MCO) is that business is no longer “the usual”.
SERDANG: Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s EWAR mass screening thermal cameras which can detect people with fever in a crowd have been installed at the Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centre at Malaysia Agro Exposition Park (MAEPS) here.
AS governments across the globe rally to flatten the curve of the Covid-19 outbreak, businesses are forced to rethink and re-strategise the way they operate.

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Nurzhan Altaev: "Long-term contracts give entrepreneurs an opportunity to work on their competitiveness"
It is suggested to create a register of bona fide suppliers and an industrial certifier in Kazakhstan
NCE RK “Atameken” in conjunction with the National Welfare Fund “Samruk-Kazyna” is working on development of a new concept in the procurement system, i.e. the creation of so-called register of bona fide suppliers as well as creation of an industrial certifier, which will be issued instead of a CT-KZ certificate ", - said Deputy Chairman of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan "Atameken" Nurzhan Altaev at a briefing at the Service of the Central Communications.
According to the deputy chairman of the Board of NCE RK, an industrial certifier will replace the current CT-KZ certificate, confirming local content in domestically produced goods.
"As you know, today the CT-KZ certificate is a topical issue. This certificate is used to confirm that the manufacturer is a domestic producer. But in connection with the agreements that our country has signed in the framework of the WTO and the EAEU, the conditional discounts offered to domestic producers will be excluded. Of course, in connection with this, we need to move to a new mechanism, to a new order in this matter", - said Nurzhan Altaev.
According to him, in the nearest future "Atameken" and "Samruk-Kazyna" intend to propose to the Government to introduce an industrial certifier, and a register of bona fide suppliers in the domestic procurement.
As it was said by Nurzhan Altaev, in August of this year, NCE organized the audit of certificates issued to domestic enterprises, as there were a lot of complaints from entrepreneurs about the facts that holders of the certificates are not domestic producers in reality.
"Out of 95 companies that we have tested, only 40 confirmed the presence of local content, more than 50 companies didn’t confirm their domestic content. There were revealed many other facts, for example, there is a sign, but there is no production, as they often simply attached the logo "Made in Kazakhstan" on imported goods and the companies were involved in the procurement of state agencies and the system of "Samruk-Kazyna", - deputy chairman of NCE RK "Atameken" shared the facts of existing violations
According to him, the certificates confirming alleged domestic production are revoked in these situations, but in certain cases the information was transferred to law enforcement agencies. "There have already been initiated four criminal cases by the revealed facts, pre-trial verification has been conducted ", - said Nurzhan Altaev.
According to him, since the beginning of 2015 NCE together with the National Welfare Fund "Samruk-Kazyna" has done a lot to ensure local content in the procurement of "Samruk - Kazyna".
"Since the beginning of 2015 we conduct the work on the conclusion of contracts in the system of "Samruk - Kazyna ". The role of NCE RK is to identify the goods and services that need to be translated into long-term contracts. This enables entrepreneurs to plan their budget, to work on their competitiveness, to get engaged in purchase of new technologies, to invest in human capital", - said Nurzhan Altaev.
According to him, NCE RK together with the Fund "Samruk-Kazyna" has signed 2114 long-term contracts in 2015 in the amount of 883 billion tenge, including goods - 606 contracts, equaling 307 billion tenge.


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Discounts galore for card users boosts Baishakhi sales
Celebrating Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla New Year, is certainly a delight for customers who use plastic money, as boutiques and food courts partnered with banks and card issuing companies to offer discounts.
Most financial institutions are offering 5-20 percent discounts for both debit and credit cards used to buy clothes and dine out at different lifestyle brand shops.
MasterCard has launched a flat discount of 10 percent for its debit and credit cardholders at the outlets of leading brands such as Nipun, Kay Kraft, Anjan's, Rang, Banglar Mela, Sadakalo, Bibiana and Nogordola. The campaign will boost sales and promote electronic payments, said Syed Mohammad Kamal, country manager of MasterCard Bangladesh.
“I bought a panjabi from Deshi Dosh. The tax was around 15 percent, and paying with a MasterCard got me a 10 percent discount. It felt quite good,” said Prince Mittra, consumer research consultant at a firm in Dhaka.
Standard Chartered Bank is offering up to 15 percent discount to its debit and credit cardholders on the purchase of clothes, sweets and footwear. Any StanChart cardholder can also enjoy buffet lunch or dinner for two at the price of one at Long Beach Suites and Dhaka Regency Hotel, the bank told customers through mobile notifications.
Trust Bank offered discounts in three categories -- 5-12 percent on dining out, 50 percent on leisure and fun, and up to 25 percent at lifestyle brands. Aarong, which has 13 outlets across the country, is giving its customers 10 percent discount on purchases made through American Express cards.
“Many banks are teaming up with leading fashion and lifestyle brands to offer discounts and promote the use of cards,” said Anis A Khan, managing director of Mutual Trust Bank, which is giving 5-15 percent discounts for clothing items. As of September, the country has 5.77 lakh credit cards and 72.85 lakh debit cards in the market, according to Bangladesh Bank. A leading mobile financial service provider, bKash, has partnered with 28 major fashion houses and online stores and giving up to 20 percent cash-back benefit.
“We are offering discount mainly to encourage customers to use their mobile wallets for multiple purposes rather than just sending and receiving money,” said Asif Ahmed, head of marketing at bKash.
Payment through bKash this year has surpassed past records, he said. The offer will remain valid till April 18 at 244 outlets of the participating brands across the country.
Many boutiques have joined the financial institutions' discount campaigns to improve Baishakhi sales, said Azharul Haque Azad, president of Fashion Entrepreneurs Association of Bangladesh, representing more than 50 boutiques.
Many customers are using cards for making payments due to convenience, he said, adding that payments through cards and mobile wallets now account for around 20 percent of the boutiques' total sales. During the last season, fashion houses and boutiques logged sales worth around Tk 1,500 crore, up 10 percent from the previous season, he said.
Of the annual sales, Pahela Baishakh's sales make up 25 percent and the month of Ramadan 50 percent, Azad said. “So far we got a good response this season.”


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Cell phones can do a lot of amazing things. Connect people across the world, provide instant information on any topic, text tiny cartoons. But they still rely on people and machinery to put them together and bring them to life, CNN reports.
Researchers at MIT are trying to fix that by designing a phone that assembles itself.
The devices don't come with little robotic hands. Six separate pieces are placed in a tumbler, which spins at varying speeds until the elements click into place with magnets, creating two phones. The pieces are designed like a puzzle, only matching up with certain other parts, so there's only one possible outcome.
This is still a research project, and the final phones look like retro feature phones with physical keyboards and small screens. It can take less than minute for them to take shape. Speed is limited to prevent the hardware from being damaged during the spin cycle.
The project is led by Skylar Tibbits, an architect and research scientist, at MIT's Self-Assembly Lab. It was a collaboration with artist and researcher Marcelo Coelho, according to Fast Company.
They start with specially designed shapes and add an energy source -- energy is the 4th dimension in their 4D printing -- like heat or shaking, to nudge the designs into their final forms. They're working with partners on self-assembling toys, interactive retail spaces, and even space infrastructure.
Previous projects include a chair that assembled itself in a roiling tank of water and shoes that can be programmed to take on different shapes.
A phone that assembles itself could help manufacturers cut down on costs, or open the door for more experimental phone designs.


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CSC to double India headcount
The company plans to double its headcount in India in the next two years from 16000 to about 32000 people, reports Venkatesh Ganesh.
After majors like IBM, Accenture and Capgemini, it is the turn of the $16 billion California-based software giant Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) to expand its footprint in India.
The company plans to double its headcount in India in the next two years from 16000 to about 32000 people. This will include across the board from entry-level software coding, BPO work to complex technology and business consulting work.
The company plans to expand in tier II and tier III cities like Vadodara and Indore. It already has a few thousand employees in these places working on projects that CSC gets from companies in the US.
"We are looking at different models as compared to our competitors wherein we won't use India as a mere talent sourcing location. We will also look at areas like technology and business consulting and even setting up centers abroad using the India back-office model," says Padmaja Krishnan, director, planning and research, CSC India.
The company recently has boosted its Indian connection with a couple of acquisitions. It acquired Michigan-based Covansys Corporation, a technology consulting company, for $1.3 billion. Covansys has 8,000 employees across India.
In January, CSC acquired First Consulting Group, a California-based company that develops healthcare solutions for the global market. It has 600 employees in Bangalore.
Krishnan says with these buys, CSC gets a significant India presence.
CSC routinely gets huge volume of US government or federal jobs, which is why it is expanding at a time competitors are going slow. "The total US federal government work that is done by CSC is 35 per cent, more than other majors like EDS and IBM, and is expected to go up with the coming US elections," an industry expert said.


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MasterCard has appointed Raghav Prasad as the division president for sub-Saharan Africa.
The United States-based payment technology company said this followed its steady growth in the region and in line with its focus on investing in the continent.
Prasad will strengthen the company’s ongoing commitment to delivering value to customers and consumers in Africa by leveraging technology to build stronger and more inclusive payment ecosystems, according to a statement by MasterCard.
“Prasad brings his extensive 30-year global financial services and payments industry experience to further MasterCard’s goal of financially including 100 million people by 2020,” it said.
The company said the financial inclusion objective could only be achieved by working with partners across the public and private sectors and by introducing market-relevant digital payment solutions such as MasterPass QR, MasterCard payment gateway services along with its core debit, credit, prepaid and commercial solutions.
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In step with a file from the China Academy of Data and Communications Generation, from January to Might, the entire cell phone shipments within the Chinese language marketplace totalled 108 million gadgets, a year-on-year lower of 27.1%. Stories from China display that the “salary enlargement can not stay alongside of the doubling of cell phone costs”. So is there any method to support hand efficiency with out converting the telephone? Engineers on the Massachusetts Institute of Generation have lately advanced a brand new chip that assists in keeping smartphone units up to the moment.
Learn Additionally: HTC is BACK!!! What came about to the ex-world #1. smartphone emblem?
Desire a new smartphone – simply exchange the chips
The Lego-like chip design is composed of 2 layers, one with alternating sensing layers, the researchers mentioned. The opposite layer is the light-emitting diode layer used for the chip to keep up a correspondence optically. Of their new chip design, the researchers additionally paired symbol sensors with an array of synthetic synapses. The standard approach is to move the sensor’s sign to the processor throughout the bodily twine.
Moreover, the workforce fabricated an optical gadget between every sensor and the substitute synapse array to permit conversation between the layers with out requiring bodily connections. As well as, execs can simply configure, change, stack and upload new sensors and processors.
On this approach, folks best want to implant chips with the most recent sensors and processors of their telephones to improve their telephones to the most recent model with no need to shop for a brand new telephone. This fashion, customers don’t want to purchase smartphones again and again. This additionally is helping to cut back e-waste.
Moreover, Google has up to now labored on Challenge Ara, a modular telephone challenge designed to permit customers so as to add or take away additional batteries, cameras, audio system and different parts at any time. On the other hand, the Challenge Ara challenge was once in any case bring to an end, and Google has now not disclosed the particular explanation why. It’s imaginable that Google isn’t constructive in regards to the marketization of modular cellphones. It’s was hoping that MIT’s Lego-style AI chip can also be commercialized, permitting customers to appreciate the liberty of cell phone customization.


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Latest articles from Steve Ranger
Germany, US, and UK top a broadband study which claims there is a link between spending on telecoms infrastructure and GDP.
Security concerns raised by US are not an issue for enterprise customers, says Chinese company as it aims at the corporate tech market.
Number three smartphone maker says Android offers more opportunity for vendors to do something different.
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- When it comes to smartphones, size matters


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Rising incomes and technological change in the emerging economies present considerable investment opportunities for investors with longer-term horizons.
Investments in emerging markets weren’t spared the impacts of the global coronavirus pandemic. But the ongoing crisis has had uneven effects, with economies and sectors reporting widely-varying results while revealing important lessons for investors in 2021 and beyond.
While emerging markets ended 2020 on a high note, the year was also marked by a significant amount of money exiting the sector, says Philip Erhmann, senior portfolio manager for the emerging markets equity team at Manulife Financial Corp.
“It’s only been since late 2020 that we’ve seen a pickup in flows, which is appropriate given the recovery in economies and leverage and the changing nature of many of the sectors and companies that we’re investing in.”
He says performance in 2021 will be determined by how quickly global economies can drag themselves out of the “very sharp and deep recession” created by the pandemic. According to the International Monetary Fund, the global economy contracted by 4.4 per cent in 2020, the worst decline since the Great Depression. The organization noted China was the only major economy to report growth last year, while the U.S. shrank by 4.3 per cent.
This recovery will be unevenly distributed based on the relative fiscal positions of individual markets, but it could also lead to reforms that make economies even better prepared to weather the next crisis. “The hope is that the few recalcitrant emerging economies that have talked a lot about structural reforms but have failed to enact them may be pressured to do something.”
Asia: poised for growth
Several key Asian economies — namely China, South Korea and Taiwan — were among the first and most heavily-impacted in the early days of the crisis. The novel coronavirus is widely believed to have started in Wuhan, China, in 2019 before spreading around the globe and was ultimately declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. But with a strong and early response, these markets in the East minimized the economic effects of the global pandemic and not only remained open for business but grew their economies as others faltered. Ehrmann says this growth also speaks to strong management of businesses in these economies.
“China’s economy was assumed to be the factory of the world. Not only was it the factory of the world, it was the factory that never shut down. China had it very light and the Chinese economy grew by just over two per cent last year in real terms, whereas most of the rest of the world was trying to avoid double-digit declines.”
Underlying those factors in China is consumer spend by a “young, urban, and tech-friendly” market that seeks recognizable brands to symbolize their social status, says Jin Zhang, a portfolio manager at Vontobel Asset Management. He cites the growth of international brands in the country like brewer Anheuser-Busch Co. and Yum! Brands, Inc., the parent company of fast-food brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
In South Korea’s case, experience dealing with the severe-acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003 that it applied to this public-health crisis proved vital to keeping the economy afloat in 2020, says Nicholas Field, a fund manager at Schroders.
Tech continues to grow
Asia is also home to several of the world’s largest manufacturers of memory chips and semiconductors, products that are in increasingly high demand as the expansion of remote working arrangements and e-commerce accelerated by the pandemic continues to gain steam, Zhang says.
“We’re relying more on our smartphones and a good part of that is memory. A lot of our data is also stored in the cloud, which also needs a lot of memory. It’s a big driver for Korean companies like SK Hynix and Samsung. They’re the number-two and number-one players in memory chips. Samsung has a 50 per cent market share. That’s a very consolidated market.”
He also points to Taiwan, where WIN Semiconductors Corp. not only produces an in-demand electronic component, but weathered the economic fallout through strong management similar to other Asian firms.
“They have very good working relationships with their suppliers and customers. They’re a key supplier of specialized semiconductor chips. They have capacity — and they’re adding capacity. They’ll see another big increase in profits.
“What we’re seeing is the high-quality businesses are adaptive during a difficult time,” Zhang says. “They’ve made changes to the environment and bring good value to their customers. The main thing is they continued to operate and didn’t just sit on their hands.”
How other emerging markets are faring
While Asia’s technology offerings have helped buoy those economies during the pandemic, heavily consumer-based emerging markets such as Brazil and South Africa face a tougher recovery, which Field says will be largely determined by how their respective governments are handling the crisis.
“Time is a factor. Brazil and South Africa can’t say ‘what’s another six months?’ because it gets more costly to fund longer shutdowns. You’ve got two types of markets and recovery will depend on how the pandemic was handled.”
Still, there are opportunities to be found, Zhang says, citing the example of Brazil-based clothing retailer Lojas Renner, which adapted its business model in response to the pandemic and in the process, outsold international brands such as Hennes & Mauritz AB (or H&M) and Zara SA.
“When the pandemic hit, they were in the process of scaling up the online part of the business and the pandemic was an opportunity to accelerate it. They saw their online business explode. Now they’re online and offline is slowly coming back. They’re able to overcome difficult situations and bring value to customers.”
And Ehrmann says that while China will likely have the best year out of the emerging markets, there’s considerable potential in countries like Brazil and India. “Given that they fell sharply and their economies were curtailed and continue to be damaged by the pandemic, it’s hard to predict exactly when things will turn. But there’s been a move toward normalcy. I expect as the year progresses, some of these larger and strongly performing economies will catch the eye [of institutional investors].”
The pandemic has also highlighted the growing importance of environmental, social and governance factors for both investors and economies, with businesses that implement ESG factors being among the most resilient, he says. “[Environmental, social and governance issues] have been accentuated recently with the need to rebalance health care, including how it applies to [artificial intelligence] and simple tools like vaccines and other pharmaceuticals and providing primary health care throughout society. This is very important for markets like China, India and Brazil, which have very large and under-served rural populations.
“The best companies have the whole market paying attention, whether it’s environmental issues or spending money on their employees. Malfeasance, bad behaviour and inefficiency will all affect performance and the cost of capital a company requires to generate their returns.”
The pension perspective
Angela Lin-Reeve, senior portfolio manager of pension investments at the Royal Bank of Canada, says exposure to emerging markets comes from a variety of sources, with the pension’s portfolio managers targeting these markets by individual asset classes rather than on a macro level.
While these managers favour China for equities opportunities, she says fixed-income investments have mainly taken place in Latin America, based on factors such as each country’s growth rate, current account balances and interest rates. “It’s mostly at the country’s government-bond level where they’re getting exposures. These managers have more exposure to Latin American economies, like Mexico and Brazil and Colombia, based on the view that those economies are faster-growing and have a deferential with the U.S. rates.”
Again, each country’s pandemic response and subsequent economic recovery will factor into these investments, with China, Taiwan and South Korea favoured for strong performances in 2021, she says. “Given the amounts of fiscal stimulus going into developed countries versus emerging markets, factors like the increased need for inflation and reflation that will arise from the developed economies will put emerging economies into a better backdrop in terms of their abilities for [gross domestic product] growth and outlook for currency appreciation versus the U.S. dollar, which is forecasted to decrease as a result of the fiscal stimulus.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if more money flowed into emerging markets through these mandates but we haven’t yet seen a huge shift. Maybe later in 2021 we’ll see more of that happen.”
Alain Carrier, senior managing director and head of international at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, says emerging markets factor into all of the CPPIB’s investment programs and represent a growing area of focus within its overall investment strategy.
Focusing on a theme of the growing middle class and this consumption in emerging markets, the CPPIB is focusing on emerging-market investment in a number of sectors such as retail, logistics, education, health care, real estate and technology, with growth concentrated in Brazil, China and India, three markets in which the CPPIB maintains offices. With investments in these markets providing diversification benefits, an increased opportunity set and potential for higher risk-adjusted returns, he says the CPPIB plans to increase its emerging markets allocation to one-third of the fund by 2025.
“Economic conditions and resources available in emerging markets are creating a vast new consumer base and new-found prosperity for billions of people. This environment can foster favourable economic and corporate growth.”
Carrier says that while the pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to economies around the world — and volatility to global financial markets — the emerging-market economies in which the CPPIB invests were not only large and diverse enough to mitigate severe financial fallout, but faced the worst of the pandemic at different times.
“Each one is at a different stage of its own crisis and subsequent recovery. These economies are also developing at a different pace from one another. We don’t expect the pandemic to greatly alter the long-term trajectory for growth for emerging market economies.”
He says the pandemic has also provided both new opportunities, as well as the chance for the CPPIB’s various investment programs to recommit to long-term convictions around a number of existing portfolio companies in these markets.
With the uneven rollout of coronavirus vaccines among different countries, the United Nations said global herd immunity — a percentage which is still being determined by the World Health Organization — is unlikely this year. As of mid-March, the U.S. had administered approximately 96 million vaccine doses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while China had only vaccinated approximately 50 million citizens by mid-February.
Despite this, the IMF predicts global growth in 2021 will be as high as 5.2 per cent and this surge is set to be led by China and India, which the organization forecasts will grow by 8.2 per cent and 8.8 per cent, respectively. “We’re optimistic about an economic recovery taking place throughout the rest of 2021. For us, though, optimistic doesn’t mean we make material changes to our portfolio in the short term, it means we continue to view our long term capital market expectations as being consistent with where we think the global economy is headed.
“Rising incomes and technological change in the emerging economies present considerable investment opportunities for investors with longer-time horizons. As the economic engine shifts increasingly east and south and capital markets develop in tandem, emerging markets are expected to offer returns in excel of the developed world. Overall, we see room for the emerging market economies to continue to develop and play an increasing role in driving global growth.”
Blake Wolfe is an associate editor at Benefits Canada.


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WASHINGTON – The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for approximately 130,860 lbs of fully cooked, frozen, diced chicken products because they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
The items were packed on Jan. 25, 2021, Jan. 26, 2021, March 23, 2021, and March 24, 2021. The products subject to the public health alert include:
- 4-lb plastic bags containing "FULLY COOKED CHICKEN MEAT ¾ DICED WHITE" with code 13530, Est. number P-18237, and pack dates of "01/25/2021" and "01/26/2021."
- 4-lb plastic bags containing "FULLY COOKED CHICKEN MEAT DARK/WHITE ¾ DICED" with code 16598, Est. number P-45638, and pack dates "24/MAR/2021" and "23/MAR/2021."
The products bear establishment numbers "P-18237" or "P-45638" inside the USDA mark of inspection and were distributed by Big Daddy Foods, Inc., a Houston firm. These items were further distributed to consumers at local food banks in Florida through the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box program in individual food boxes. The products were distributed between Feb. 25, 2021 through March 1, 2021, and March 29, 2021 through April 8, 2021, at temporary locations.
The problem was discovered during routine FSIS inspection activities. Inspection personnel observed the products had been repackaged without the required recooking. A subsequent FSIS investigation determined other affected product had been further distributed in commerce. There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a health care provider.
Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that primarily affects older adults, persons with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women and their newborns. Less commonly, persons outside these risk groups are affected.
Consumers who have received these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away.


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Finest CBD For Dogs What You Required To Know
It’s not a surprise that CBD has actually been exploding over the previous couple of years, with more as well as extra clients crowding the marketplace daily. Several claim the drug to be miraculous as it assists many individuals with medical concerns such as seizures, anxiety, and a lot more, but a company out of Los Angeles, California (UrthLeaf) seems to have found a exciting and also new use for the wonder medication.
how to get the best massage of your life with cbd around the United States have actually started recommending CBD oil and capsules as a natural medicine for pets over the previous year, and also the outcomes have actually been extraordinary so far. UrthLeaf has actually led the cost for this new wave of dog-friendly CBD products, and also customers around the nation are loving it! CBD has actually been claimed as a natural solvent to aid these furry close friends supress seizures, stress and anxiety, stress and anxiety, joint inflammation, as well as even cancer sometimes.
Natural solvent-safe CBD is simply as risk-free for pet dogs as it is for humans, where CBD has actually never ever gone on document being administered in a dangerous dosage. If hemp cbd topicals what is in their CBD product as well as whether or not the supplier is reliable, there is absolutely nothing to stress concerning.
The key though is ensuring a reliable producer. In the past couple of years alone, the FDA has taken place record in declaring 40+ CBD companies to be selling hazardous chemicals to their customers in their CBD products.This is precisely why UrthLeaf’s CBD solvents vanquished all of the competitors, as the business has actually never done any of these horrible methods. UrthLeaf has actually performed several laboratory tests that they have released to the general public, and these examinations show a 100% pure CBD item without any traces of any kind of pesticides or hazardous chemicals.
Safety, one of the various other big worries for several purchasers is whether or not the medication does anything considerable for their dog. CBD is normally administered by mouth to these animals in the type of oil, gummies, or capsules, and also has actually been shown to aid canines in times where conventional medication is needed. Not only is it clinically proven that CBD can have a favorable effect for dogs, however also the Owner of UrthLeaf himself had his doubts turned around!
After I had success with CBD, I questioned whether or not the drug can aid my pet with his extreme stress and anxiety and aggressiveness. Ever because then, cbd hemp healing salve 900mg does it really work knew there was something special regarding this drug, so I wanted to show the world the miracles CBD can do through my company.”
To purchase CBD items for pet dogs from UrthLeaf, see them below.
Natural solvent-safe CBD is simply as secure for dogs as it is for humans, where CBD has never gone on record being provided in a lethal dosage. In the previous few years alone, the FDA has gone on document in claiming 40+ CBD business to be offering damaging chemicals to their customers in their CBD products.This is exactly why UrthLeaf’s CBD solvents beat out all of the competitors, as the company has never carried out any of these awful methods. CBD is typically carried out by mouth to these pet dogs in the kind of oil, gummies, or pills, as well as has actually been proven to aid pets in times where standard medicine is required. Not only is it clinically confirmed that CBD can have a positive influence for pet dogs, but even the Founder of UrthLeaf himself had his doubts reversed!


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There might be more Hybrids with AWD available than you think.
A handsome sedan, indeed.
Polestar Engineered V60s and XC60s will be available as of next year.
It will be built in South Carolina.
Lots of performance upgrades and a wee bit more power.
If you're shopping for a car, minivan or truck, here are the safest ones you can buy in 2017.
Volvo isn't letting off the gas as it continues its revival plan in the U.S. market.
More 2016 Volvo S60 and V60 Polestar models are coming to the U.S., it just might not be enough. (more…)
Volvo cars built in China are coming to the U.S. (more…)
Volvo's latest creation, the S60 Cross Country, just made its live debut at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show. (more…)


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Despite the show being wholly digital this year, Panasonic’s automotive division still had plenty to show off at CES 2021. On Monday, the company unveiled five futuristic technologies that will help make the autonomous vehicles of tomorrow more capable and more comfortable. Those include wireless Wi-Fi towing cameras, a Dolby Atmos surround sound system, and augmented reality HUDs.
First up, Panasonic Automotive has unveiled its “first fully wireless Wi-Fi camera.” This ruggedized camera captures 1080p at 60 fps, connects via the vehicle’s Wi-Fi network directly to the infotainment system display, and is designed to stick onto the trailer you’re towing to provide an unobstructed view of the traffic conditions around the vehicle. “Towing anything when your vehicle’s backup camera is blocked by the trailer can be a dangerous challenge for recreational enthusiasts and equipment hauling businesses,” noted Andrew Poliak, Chief Technology Officer for Panasonic Automotive in a press statement.
Speaking of infotainment systems, Poliak points out that Panasonic has been working closely with Google on the development of the dedicated Android Automotive operating system that we’ve seen in the Polestar 2 and the Volvo XC40 Recharge. “We've been core with Google's development,” Poliak told Engadget. “In fact, they use us as their reference design for both the development of their Android automotive operating system and as the base hardware platform.”
And as the cars of tomorrow grow even smarter and more capable, Poliak expects these infotainment systems to do the same. “You're seeing these IVI (in-vehicle infotainment) systems become the brain of the display in the cockpit environment of cars,” he continued. “So, absorbing the electronics content driving your fully digital instrument cluster, absorbing the brains for the content that's getting rendered in your HUD, adding extra technologies that will be in your IVI -- being able to stream Spotify and cache offline content and all kinds of cool stuff.”
One of those cool things is an immersive proof-of-concept sound system, born from a partnership between Panasonic Automotive, Klipsch, and Dolby Atmos Music. It’s effectively a Dolby Atmos sound system for your car. Though, there’s no word on when the technology will make it to market.
The other kind is Panasonic’s newly announced 4K augmented reality HUD. “Panasonic’s AR HUD solutions cover more of the roadway, with traditional cluster content like speed and fuel in the near field as well as 3D overlays in the far-field, showing navigation and other critical driver data mapping spatially to the road ahead,” Scott Kirchner, president Panasonic Automotive and executive director, Panasonic Smart Mobility said in a press statement. “And in a future with more self-driving vehicles, our AR HUD could provide an important added level of comfort and assurance for AV passengers as well.”
But as we pack more and more features, sensors, and capabilities into our cars, balancing onboard computing resources with those in the cloud will be paramount, Poliak explained, “a lot of it has to do with latency, and a lot of it has to do with bandwidth.”
For example, with Natural Language Processing, the technology that drives your virtual assistant’s voice command capabilities, the nature of your request will determine whether the command is handled on-board or in the cloud. When your car’s embedded Google Assistant gives you a list of nearby Starbucks locations and you pick number two -- that’s a command that would be handled on-board. It’s simply not efficient to send that request up to the Google servers for processing and then back down to the vehicle just to load an address into the navigation system. Now, if you ask your Assistant, “What films has Gerard Depardieu won an Oscar for,” that sort of question will have to get sent upstairs -- and not just because Gerard Depardieu has never actually won an Academy Award (Jeremy Irons beat him out the one time he was nominated in 1991) -- but because there’s only so much information you can pack into a car’s finite computing resources and there’s sadly not enough room for trivia about French film actors.
Surprisingly, we could soon see certain AI capabilities being handled as on-board functions as well. Panasonic announced at CES 2021 that it is collaborating with spatial AI developer Phair “to expand driver safety and navigation support in its automotive solutions,” according to a Monday press release. Its “deep learning AI technology runs on automotive infotainment systems, detects and analyzes the driver’s surroundings in real-time, and combines it with 3D localization of the vehicle to provide augmented guidance and safety information.”
The company also announced two variants of in-vehicle wireless charging systems -- moving coil and static coil -- at CES 2021 on Monday. The moving coil style will actually shift around slightly within the charging pad to optimize its position relative to the device’s charging coil. What’s more, it can deliver 15W of power, roughly equivalent to what traditional tethered chargers can deliver. Both variants use the Qi 1.3 charging standard.
Looking ahead, Poliak argues that the lines between your home space and your car space will continue to blur. “I think COVID really [instigated] an interesting change to the automotive environment, in that it brought home the idea of using your car as your second space, where before it was your work and your home,” he told Engadget. “Now it's your home and your car.”
“It’s really had an impact on what electronics are being updated and what we're looking at for what can be done in a vehicle,” Poliak continued. “And to be honest, autonomous was already starting the shift of turning the vehicle into your living room or office space, but this just accelerated it dramatically.”


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No Winter Lodging At Old Faithful
For the first time in nearly 50 years, there will be no winter lodging at Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park.
After a busy and successful summer season, the parks concession provider, Xanterra Travel Collection, closed the Old Faithful Snow Lodge early for the fall season and announced lodging will not be available over the winter.
Rick Hoeninghausen, Xanterra's director of sales and marketing, said the uptick of COVID-19 cases among employees during September was a factor.
"That combined with the fact that the clinic, the medical clinic, closed early in October, so there was a little less medical services available," said Hoeninghausen.
He said day trips will still go to Old Faithful where the restaurant and gift shop will be open for the winter season. But out of caution and safety the lodge will remain closed.
"If someone did become ill, you're pretty far away from medical attention and you're traveling by snowcoach….they're wonderful vehicles, but it's slow going," said Hoeninghausen.
Xanterra will continue to require masks and make sure visitors and employees are social distancing.
Have a question about this story? Contact the reporter, Kamila Kudelska, at email@example.com.


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Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra indicated Thursday that Thailand may conclude a free trade agreement with Japan, but without including the agricultural sector.
“Concluding the FTA does not necessarily mean all sectors must be involved, so we believe it is better to start with sectors that would incur no problems,” Thaksin said at an international forum at a Tokyo hotel.
Thailand, a major exporter of rice and other agricultural products, is pushing ahead with free trade pacts with several other countries, including China, India and Australia.
“We want to sign an FTA with Japan and we understand there are problems in the agricultural sector for the deal,” said Thaksin. “We can conclude it in areas without problems first, then handle other areas next after taking time for a while.”
Calling on Japan to facilitate its conclusion, Thaksin said the pact would increase trade, boost employment and help solve poverty.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.


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The market leader is Apple.
Strategy Analytics estimated the balance of forces on the world market of “smart” hours in the third quarter of this year.
For the three-month period, as reported in global scale was implemented approximately 10.0 million smart watches. This is an impressive 66.7 percent higher than last year, when shipments were estimated at 6.0 million units.
The market leader is Apple: during the quarter the company delivered 4.5 million smart watches, compared with 3.6 million a year earlier. Share “Apple of the Empire” were at the level of 45 %.
In second place, far behind Fitbit is: three months the company sold 1.5 million smart watches. This corresponds to a share of 15 %.
Next is Samsung, whose shipments for the year increased from 0.6 million to 1.1 million. The final result – 11 % of the market.
Thus, the share of the top three producers now account for over two thirds of the global market of “smart” hours. All other manufacturers collectively hold approximately 29% of the industry.
© 2018, z-news.link. All rights reserved.


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US-based off-price department retailer TJX Companies (TJX) has revealed plans to divest a stake in Russian off-price retail chain Familia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The company’s senior executive vice-presidents, Doug Mizzi and Scott Goldenberg, have resigned from their respective posts of director and observer on Familia’s board with immediate effect.
In a statement, TJX said: “Given the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine, TJX has committed to divesting its equity ownership in Familia in support of the people of Ukraine.
“As a result of this commitment to divest, TJX may recognise an investment loss when its Familia position is sold.
“Prior to a sale, TJX may be required to record an impairment charge if the fair value of its Familia investment declines below its carrying value on the balance sheet.”
Based on the equity accounting method, TJX estimates the ‘carrying value’ of its investment in Familia to be worth $186m as of 29 January.
The company acquired a 25% stake in the Russian firm for $225m in 2019.
Domiciled in Luxembourg, Familia operates a network of more than 400 stores in Russia.
TJX does not have any sales in Russia or Ukraine.
In a separate development, Swedish furniture retailer IKEA has decided to halt all its exports and imports into and out of Russia and Belarus.
The company has also paused all its IKEA Industry production operations in Russia.
These decisions are understood to have directly impacted 15,000 of its colleagues.
In a statement, IKEA said: “The war has had a huge human impact already. It is also resulting in serious disruptions to supply chain and trading conditions.
“For all of these reasons, the company groups have decided to temporarily pause IKEA operations in Russia.”
British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) is also suspending shipments to its Turkish franchisee’s Russian business with immediate effect.


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FTSE close: Footsie shrugs off economic gloom
A shock fall in UK output during the third quarter of 2009 did little to quell the advance of the London market today.
The FTSE 100 index actually reached a new 13-month high near 5300 at one stage before giving back some of the gains to close 35.2 points ahead at 5242.7.
Despite the 0.4% decline in GDP, markets were focused on strong quarterly trading figures from bellwethers of consumer demand, such as Amazon, in the US.
IG Index's Anthony Grech said: 'With today's surprise announcement suggesting that interest rates are likely to remain suppressed for some time to come, investors still seem happy to take the bet that shares are still going to offer amongst the best returns.'
The real impact of the figures came in the foreign exchange markets, as the pound lost ground against the euro and the dollar with a extension of the Bank of England's £175bn quantitative easing programme becoming more likely. The pound dropped below 1.09 euros and slid more to 1.63 against the dollar.
›› Read more on the GDP shock.
Lloyds Banking Group was higher as the figures appeared to revive speculation over its likely participation in the Government's asset protection scheme, limiting the amount of cash to be raised from shareholders.
Shares in the part-nationalised bank were up more than 1% or 1.43p to 96.23p, while Royal Bank of Scotland added 1.57p to 47.17p - almost 4%.
Miners drove the market's latest rally with Vedanta Resources up 72p at 2358p and Kazakhmys 42p higher at 1294p.
Another healthy set of weekly trading figures from John Lewis Partnership lifted retail stocks, with Next ahead 33p at 1870p and Argos owner Home Retail Group 4p stronger at 305.6p.
Elsewhere in the consumer sector, Unilever shares were 25p higher at 1866p and cruise ship operator Carnival lifted 21p to 2082p.
Insurance firms were also in favour after Aviva added 2.1p to 431.2p and Prudential topped the risers board with a gain of 31p to 633.5p.
In a quiet session for corporate news, shares in BSkyB were in positive territory early on after it reported a 40% leap in first quarter profits and said net customer additions were better-than-expected at 94,000 in the three months to September 30.
Shares were 2% higher at one stage before the gains faded to leave the satellite broadcaster 6.5p off at 553p.
Outside the top flight, doorstep lender Provident Financial held steady after it forecast further profits growth this year and said it had weathered the recession because of its cautious lending policies.
However, the Bradford-based lender said any pick-up in activity was unlikely until the spring at the earliest. Shares were down 9p to 951p.
The biggest Footsie risers were Prudential up 31p at 633.5p, Autonomy ahead 63p at 1444p, Anglo American up 95p at 2380p and Xstrata up 36p at 1012p.
The biggest Footsie fallers were BT down 4.4p at 135.3p, Bunzl off 13p at 651.5p, 3i down 5.6p at 296.3p and Cable & Wireless off 2.6p at 141p.
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By Hal Williams
BUSINESS support platform Rovva recently analysed World Bank figures on the cost of starting businesses around the world.
When the data were in, the firm had a list of the 10 cheapest countries in which to set-up a company. The UK came in at a surprising fourth place — or even third, depending on how you score it.
In joint number one spot are Rwanda and Slovenia, where there are no charges to register a business. Hard to beat. Then comes South Africa, with a £9 fee, Ukraine with a reasonable tenner, and Britain — where it costs just £12 to register a business with Companies House.
By way of contrast, check out Venezuela. Not exactly flavour-of-the-month for entrepreneurs, but those who brave hostile business operations laws, harsh regulations and generally elevated risk, a fee of £9,062 awaits. That’s the highest in the world; the United Arab Emirates is second, with fees equivalent to £5,198.
Not to beat up on poor Venezuela, but it listed 188th of 190 countries in the World Bank’s 2020 Doing Business rankings. But the question may be not so much “Why is Venezuela so expensive?” as “Why is Britain so cheap?”
Answers on a postcard (or email), but no mention of lockdowns, Covid stats or Brexit, please…


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You think that things will become a bit normal again after the flood of posts all over the internet after David Pasternack’s 3rd negative post about SEO, just to getÂ ”stabbed” from yet another side.
Did you notice that the last post by Mr. David Pasternack, titled ” “Is SEO â€œrocket science?â€: A Q&A with Dave Pasternack” from January, 23rd has no comments? There is a friendly invitation reading “Click here to make a comment” at the end of the article, but nobody seemed to be willing to take advantage […]
I wanted to follow up on my post LinkedIn versus Xing (aka Open BC) from November earlier, but did not get around to it until now. I did not expect such an interest in this topic when I wrote my post on a quite Sunday afternoon when I noticed that my OpenBC homepage was redirected […]
Michael Arrington at Techcrunch was a bit too early when he reported that PayPerPost will announce the acquisition of Performancing. That is a bit more than what PayPerPost actually did. Kate Kaye from ClickZ News reported based on statements of PayPerPost CEO Ted Murphy. PayPerPost has signed a letter of intent to acquire select Performancing […]
I was catching up with some of my podcast subscriptions and listened to the SEO Rockstars Episode from 12/19 with Greg “WebGuerrilla” Boser and Todd “Mad Oilman” Friesen. They talked about the post of Dave Pasternack at DMNews which I talked about on November 27 here at SEJ and also left a long comment at […]
Amazon launched quitely with only some little “Teaser Ads” on their Website and via Email to existing customers their new Service AskVille. I received only 3 days ago following email from Amazon.
Dave Pasternack from the SEM/PPC Firm Did-I could not resist it. Â He had to post at his DMNews.com Blog the story titled “An SEO critic answers his critics“, which is in fact a direct sequel to his post “Troubled times for SEO firms” from about a month ago. Â The original post was stirring […]
eBay China Rumors A lot of rumours about the future of eBay’s China division (eBay Eachnet) and its PayPal service are finding its way over the web. The most cited one is that eBay Eachnet and it’s paypal service will be sold to HONG Kong-listed Tom.com, a media company that already distributes Skype (owned by […]
Google Health Coming? According to a few rumors around the Web today: Inside Google, Google Operating System, Search Engine Watch, etc. – we might be seeing a new rollout from Google next week and that would be Google Health. More from Google Operating System: “Marissa Mayer told USA TODAY that Google will make some important […]
New Google “Search This Site” Feature Coming This from Yellow Pipe News via Cybernet; apparently Google is “testing a new search feature within its search results.” More from Yellow Pipe: “Google is testing a new search feature within its search results. It’s an expandable content that can display more information about a site including an […]


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“Over the next six months, we will continue to work toward the separation of the two businesses, proceeding down a dual track to prepare for either a spin-off or a sale,” L Brands said in a statement to CNN.Although Bath & Body Works is closing as many as 40 of its stores within malls, it will also open about 50 locations in North America this year, many of which will be standalone or off-mall locations.Mall retailers have struggled in recent years — even before the pandemic — as mall foot traffic has diminished. Gap and Macy’s have both announced plans to fully or partially exit malls.[CNN] — Sasha JonesContact Sasha Jones Share via Shortlink Email Address* Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare via Email Share via Shortlink (Getty, iStock)Victoria’s Secret’s plans for its future are, well, not so secret.The lingerie retailer will close 30 to 50 stores in the United States and Canada this year, CNN reported. The move comes after the brand closed 241 stores in 2020.The closures will leave Victoria’s Secret with 848 stores across the two countries, down from more than 1,100 just a year ago.Its parent company, L Brands, previously made a deal with private equity firm Sycamore Partners to sell a majority stake in Victoria’s Secret and take the company private, but those plans fell through. The company, which also owns Bath & Body Works, is still exploring a sale of the lingerie brand.Read moreGap Inc. will close 350 stores and exit malls entirelyMacy’s to open smaller stores, bigger fulfillment centersPE firm to take Victoria’s Secret private as Leslie Wexner steps down Full Name* Message*
bathroom supplies, has been our basic necessities of life. In fact, the small business choose to join the bathroom hardware projects, but also very wise, very powerful choice. If you join the bathroom hardware project, is also a very exciting. Come and leave a message!
modern family bathroom hardware usually includes showers, basin, faucet, racks, pendants, etc..
shower shower nozzle is generally divided into portable shower head shower head shower three kinds of shower nozzle is generally made of silica gel, often need to pay attention to cleaning.
basin is divided into two types of independent and desktop. According to the material can be divided into ceramic basin, glass basin, stainless steel, etc..
is not only used in the bathroom, kitchen also. Valve for draining water pipe.
is supported by the strip support, the open design is very convenient to take and place the objects, and ventilation, in the bathroom moist environment will not be damaged by moisture.
paper towel rack, towel rack, clothes rack, and shelf for placing toilet brush. These have been classified in the bathroom hardware pendants, these small accessories changeable shape, rich in materials, differentiated configuration to meet the different needs of consumers.


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News and Rumors
If you’re in Canada and and the new Alcatel Idol 3 has been on your radar, you’ll be glad to hear that Alcatel just announced its arrival, on June 30th. The Idol
You can now add the stock Google clock to the plethora of stock apps that Google has added to the list of available apps in the Play Store.
If you’ve had your eyes on Razer’s new Android console, the Forge TV, it now has some support from Google. It is now available on the Play Store as a bundle with
Huawei has uploaded a new teaser video for the Huawei Honor 7 which gives a glimpse of the actual device. The 15 second teaser briefly shows the device…
Earlier today at a press conference in San Francisco, Founder/CEO of Nest, Tony Fadell along with the Nest product team have unveiled a revamped Nest…
It has been a long time coming, but the Moto 360 is now officially receiving the Android 5.1.1 update. According to a post from Wayne Piekarski, the OTA has started and
Just last month Hyundai announced that the 2015 Hyundai Sonata would be the first to market in the US with Android Auto. About the same time, Honda also quietly announced
doubleTwist announced CloudPlayer yesterday on their blog. CloudPlayer turns your cloud storage providers into a music player. Currently, you can connect your Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive accounts to CloudPlayer
Earlier today we reported on a Samsung vulnerability that had to do with the preinstalled keyboard Swiftkey. This vulnerability would allow an attacker to remotely take control of your device
icrosoft’s version of Google Now, Cortana, is on its way to Android. We reported last month that Microsoft had stated that Cortana would be available for Android sometime this year.
Samsung has released an app, named Game Recorder+ that allows users to easily record, edit, and upload game play from select Samsung devices.
Today, the FCC has released a ruling that AT&T intentionally throttled the data from customers that are still on the old school unlimited data plans.
PhoneArena states that a BlackBerry device codenamed Venice running Lollipop has surfaced. Although BB10 OS can run some Android apps, it is not the most user-friendly experience. Not only would
These days, games are as much an integral part of owning a smartphone as making phone calls are. Which is not to say that everyone is an avid gamer (Spoiler
LG has extended the deadline for its G4 promotion by roughly nine days. If you’re on the prowl for a new flagship experience and have been thinking about the G4


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Because the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus turns into extra widespread among the many inhabitants of a number of international locations, the ESA has made the choice to show its occasion into a completely on-line endeavor. As such, the Digital Leisure Expo has not solely been confirmed to be occurring nevertheless it additionally has been confirmed that it will likely be an online-only occasion.
Predictably, that is what the ESA talks about in their statement to GamesBeat.
As a result of ongoing well being dangers surrounding covid-19 and its potential influence on the security of exhibitors and attendees, E3 is not going to be held in individual in 2022. We’re nonetheless enthusiastic about the way forward for E3 and look ahead to asserting extra particulars quickly.
However, why announce this so early? GamesBeat speculates that whereas E3 2022 is at the moment months away from occurring (and the spike in Omicron instances could be over by the point the occasion hits), the group is within the midst of signing up corporations to take exhibition house, because it typically takes months for corporations to tug their cubicles collectively for the massive present, which in regular occasions attracts greater than 50,000 trade individuals and 15,000 followers in-person to the Los Angeles Conference Heart each June.
This is not the primary time the occasion goes to be performed as an online-only endeavor because the present was additionally purely on-line final 12 months as effectively. This is not unusual as final 12 months additionally had issues concerning COVID-19 being the primary cause why the occasion turned an online-only one.
In distinction, CES 2022 is at the moment receiving some flack as a result of its present presentation. Why? Effectively, the occasion is at the moment being held in individual regardless of the various issues about the way it could possibly be an occasion by which the virus could possibly be unfold to many individuals world wide as many corporations come from a number of locations. In the identical vein, GDC 2022 can be aiming to be an in-person occasion when that occasion hits throughout March 21-25.
Talking of CES 2022, there’s some thrilling information across the occasion. MSI confirmed off its highly effective Gaming & Creator Lineup through the occasion which consists of a number of next-gen gaming laptops. We additionally recapped the Intel, NVIDIA, and AMD bulletins.


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A Mission store that's also a focal point for the neighborhood's arts community is closing next month after 14 years.
Kelly Lynn Jones announced last week that she's shuttering Little Paper Planes, a shop that initially started as an online store for handmade goods at 855 Valencia St. (between 19th and 20th streets).
Jones said she's moving to Los Angeles with her family, where she will teach art in an elementary school. "I am sad [about] leaving the neighborhood," she wrote, adding that she is also excited to be able to focus more on her own art practice.
Since opening the location in 2013, Jones launched an artist residency program, limited edition projects, pop-ups, screenings, a clothing line, art kits and an after school program. Via email, she told Hoodline that every part of the business will close.
"[T]he retail landscape has shifted drastically over the last couple years and it is really hard to stay afloat," she said on Instagram. "I have tried so hard to keep it going, but at the end of the day it isn’t working."
Last year, Jones launched a Kickstarter campaign to help the store build a rear workshop where it offered art classes and after school programs for children.
Even though the after school program and camps were well attended, she said the store didn't sell enough goods.
Via Instagram, Jones thanked the parents and customers who supported Little Paper Planes and said teaching kids has been one of the most rewarding things she has done in her career.
"I found my true passion is teaching children art," she told Hoodline.
"I know so many other shops [and] businesses that are struggling, so even buying a card helps out," Jones posted on Instagram.


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KARACHI: On Wednesday, PKR exhibited almost same net change as yesterday i.e., it remained unchanged against USD in interbank market while losing 10 paisas in open market. It however lost value against Euro in open market.
INTER-BANK MARKET RATES: In the interbank market, Pakistan Rupee remained unchanged for both buying and selling against USD over yesterday's rates closing at 160.45 and 160.55 respectively.
OPEN MARKET RATES: In the open market, PKR lost 10 paisas for buying while remaining unchanged for selling over yesterday's rates closing at 160.50 and 160.70 respectively.
Against Euro, PKR lost 50 paisas for both buying and selling closing at 193.50 and 195 respectively.
Against UAE Dirham, PKR remained unchanged for both buying and selling closing at 43.60 and 43.80 respectively.
Against Saudi Riyal, PKR remained unchanged for both buying and selling closing at 42.50 and 42.70 respectively.
======================== Open Bid Rs 160.50 Open Offer Rs 160.70 ========================
Interbank Closing Rates: Interbank Closing Rates For Dollar on Wednesday
======================== Bid Rate Rs 160.45 Offer Rate Rs 160.55 ========================
RUPEE IN LAHORE: The Pak rupee showed strength as it appreciated by 10 paisas in the process of trading against the greenback in the local currency market on Wednesday.
Following lack of buying spree in the market, the greenback remained under selling pressure throughout the trading session and ended lower for buying and selling at Rs 160.20 and Rs 161.20 against the overnight closing trend of 160.30 and Rs 161.30 respectively, local currency dealers said.
On the other hand, the national currency continued its declining slide for the second consecutive day against the pound sterling that was bought and sold at Rs 218.30 and Rs 219.50 against Tuesday's closing rates of Rs 217.50 and Rs 218.50 respectively, they added.
RUPEE IN ISLAMABAD AND RAWALPINDI: The dollar gained 10 paisas against the rupee at the open currency markets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi here on Wednesday.
The dollar opened at Rs161(buying) and Rs 161.10(selling) against last rate of Rs160.90(buying) and Rs 161(selling).
It closed at Rs161(buying) and Rs 161.10(selling).
The buying and selling rates of one tola of gold was Rs. 110,800 (selling) and Rs110,600(buying) at the local Sarafa (gold) markets of twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021


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August 27, 2008
Ricoh to Buy Ikon Office Solutions for 1,617 M. Dollars
Tokyo, Aug. 27 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Ricoh Co. said Wednesday it will acquire U.S. office equipment marketer Ikon Office Solutions Inc. for 1,617 million dollars through a friendly takeover bid.
The move is aimed at bolstering the Japanese office equipment maker's overseas sales of products including multifunction printers through Ikon, which has more than 400 sales bases mainly in Europe and the United States.Ikon's board of directors has agreed to the acquisition, Ricoh said.
Ricoh Americas Corp., a Ricoh wholly owned distribution unit, will buy all outstanding shares in Ikon at 17.25 dollars per share, a 33 pct premium over its average daily closing price in the past 60 trading days through Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
The acquisition is subject to approval from Ikon shareholders as well as antitrust authorities in North America and Europe, Ricoh said.
If the procedures go smoothly, Ricoh will complete the purchase by the end of this year, company officials said.
Ikon earned group sales of 4,168 million dollars in the year that ended in September 2007.END
(c) 2008 Jiji Press English News Service. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.


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Apple’s plan to bloat the Apple Card and Apple Pay and win the payments war
FINTECH SNARK TANK COMMENTS
Bloomberg reported that Apple is launching an initiative called “Breakout” to bring more financial services capabilities – like payment processing, risk and fraud analysis, credit checks and customer service – in-house. According to the article:
“This push would transform the company into a larger force in financial services, building on a suite that includes a credit card, peer-to-peer payments, the Wallet app and a mechanism for merchants to accept credit cards from an iPhone. Apple is also working on its own hardware subscription service and a buy-it-now and pay-later feature for Apple Pay transactions.”
Well, that helps explain why Apple acquired Credit Kudos, a UK-based public banking company that helps streamline and improve loan underwriting efforts.
But why the broader push to bring financial capabilities like payment processing and customer service functions in-house? Tom Noyes, CEO and Founder of Acc3pt and longtime payments industry insider, speculates that with Breakout, Apple wants to:
- Master the payment supply chain and minimize external vendors and partners touching consumer data.
- Launch a buy now, pay later (BNPL) feature to relaunch the Apple Card in various markets.
- Reduce network costs and improve integration into local schemes (e.g. see ApplePay India’s UPI integration).
- Improve the customer experience by deploying Apple Cash in all markets, connecting to local systems, and enabling P2P payments on Apple phones.
- Expand iPhone sales (with payments and financing) to demographics and geographies where consumer credit facilities are poor.
Apple is catching up in the commerce platform wars
Bloomberg says its sources are “people with knowledge of the matter…who asked not to be identified because the plans are not public.” Ha! Apple knows who these “people” are and would immediately fire them if they didn’t. want to these plans made public.
The plans were leaked because Apple is signaling to the market its intentions to compete with commerce platforms like Square, PayPal, Google and Klarna.
Apple’s penetration and control of the consumer market is incredibly strong, but until recently it had little presence on the merchant side. Apple realizes that it must pursue a platform business model to protect and grow its market position.
Other commerce platforms have been aggressively building bilateral capabilities for some time. Recent forays include:
- A Google/Square partnership. In June 2021, Square announced a partnership with Google’s Merchant Center to allow Square sellers to reach new customers through direct product listings on Google.
- Launch of Stripe Treasury by Stripe. In late 2020, Stripe announced Stripe Treasury which allowed it to expand its: 1) partnership with Shopify to create Shopify Balance, a business checking account specifically for independent businesses and entrepreneurs, and 2) banking partner network to Include Goldman Sachs and Evolve Bank as US Partners to enable standardized access to banking capabilities via APIs.
- The acquisition of Honey by PayPal. The 2019 acquisition allowed PayPal to offer targeted and more personalized promotions to consumers to acquire new business and increase sales. More importantly, it gave the payment company the ability to provide these capabilities to its merchant partners.
- The growth of the Klarna ecosystem for a decade. Stop thinking of Klarna as just a “buy now, pay later” company. Through its acquisitions and investments, the company becomes a commercial powerhouse.
Apple’s payment defaults
In a May 2021 article titled Apple Card grows to 6.4 million cardholders thanks to womenI wrote:
“Credit card issuers compete on rewards (who offers the most, tailored to cardholder preferences) or interest rates (for cardholders who typically rotate card balances). Apple’s strategy is different: Apple competes on the ecosystem.”
This is becoming more true day by day. But Apple has a few defaults that are likely influencing the acceleration of the Breakout initiative:
- Apple Pay usage is lagging behind. According to a Q1 2022 consumer survey I conducted for Cornerstone Advisors, approximately half (52%) of consumers with a checking account and a smartphone make person-to-person (P2P) mobile payments . Apple Pay’s share in this segment is 26%, in contrast to CashApp’s 43% share and PayPal’s 76% penetration.
- Apple Card growth is anemic. After seeing a doubling of Apple Card holders in 2020, growth in 2021 has slowed to a blistering pace. The Cornerstone survey found that the number of consumers with an Apple Card fell from 6.4 million at the start of 2021 to just 6.7 million at the start of 2022. This suggests that some (if not many) Apple cardholders Card have voluntarily or involuntarily abandoned their cards. in 2021.
Fintech Snark Tank takes: Apple is betting that a platform approach will help drive the growth of Apple Pay and Apple Card better (and maybe even faster) than its current marketing approaches.
Revenge of the Payments Nerds
Some time ago I was warned by a colleague who had worked in a bank for many years:
“Try to avoid paying people – they’re really smart, but they’re weird and corny.”
You can judge for yourself whether she was right or not, but payouts become more important competitive differentiators.
Marketing students learn about the “4 Ps of marketing”: product, location, price, and promotion. According to the creator of 4 Ps, Northwestern Professor Philip Kotler:
“The marketing mix is the set of controllable variables that the company can use to influence buyer response. The four variables help a business develop a unique selling point as well as a brand image. »
Payments have become an important part of the selling proposition and should be considered the 5th P of marketing.
By varying payment terms (for example, spreading payments for a purchase over a period of time) or extending credit before or during the purchase process, marketers can influence consumers’ likelihood of purchase .
Personalization of payment terms is another way for merchants to influence consumer choice of products and suppliers, and it is commerce platforms that have the data, analytics capabilities and connectivity to achieve it.
Apple, Square, Klarna, and Shopify know that reducing friction and cost in the checkout process influences shopping behavior. Therefore, having a superior checkout experience is key to building the commerce platform of the 2020s.


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In the 2007 Design Week Awards, Airside (the designers of this site) have been nominated for an award in the Digital Design – Information category for their design of this site. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in February.
19 December 2006
17 April 2019
Writer Jonathan Harvey and Pet Shop Boys are to present the world premiere of a new cabaret show at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe. Tickets are now on sale.


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AASA’s 2019 Vision Conference Attendees ‘Grabbed the Cash’ and Supported the University of the Aftermarket Foundation
Conference ‘Money Grab’ raised funds for UAF and awareness of AASA’s peer and product councils
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Attendees at the 2019 Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) Vision Conference had the opportunity to “grab cash and grab a Council seat” while benefitting the University of the Aftermarket Foundation (UAF) at the event’s Exit Ramp on April 3 at The Henry hotel in Dearborn, Mich.
AASA’s councils, representing key peer and product groups in the automotive aftermarket, sponsored a “money grab” booth at the reception. Participants took turns grasping for cash in the “wind tunnel” booth while learning more about the councils’ value, programs and activities. All cash caught in the booth was donated to the University of the Aftermarket Foundation, which has funded millions of dollars of scholarships, grants, research and ongoing educational programs to help develop a strong, knowledgeable aftermarket work force since 1986.
“The Money Grab was a popular attraction at the new Vision Conference Exit Ramp, and it supported one of our industry’s most important collaborative efforts, the University of the Aftermarket Foundation,” said Bill Long, president and CEO of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) and AASA president and COO. “It raised a very generous $750 for the UAF, which AASA has matched for a total donation of $1,500. This is part of our annual donations to the fund established by AASA through UAF in 2018 in honor of retired MEMA President and CEO Steve Handschuh.”
AASA received a University of the Aftermarket Foundation Lifetime Trustee Award recognizing its contribution to the UAF fund, a designation reserved for those donating $100,000 to $249,999 to support the foundation’s mission of providing scholarships and educational opportunities to the next generation of industry leaders. AASA Senior Vice President Chris Gardner serves AASA’s representative for the Lifetime Trustee position with the University of the Aftermarket Foundation.
AASA councils and committees participating in the “Money Grab” included:
- AASA Technology Council (ATC)
- AASA AAPEX Events Committee (AAEC)
- Brake Manufacturers Council (BMC)
- China Aftermarket Forum (CAF)
- Intellectual Property Council (IPC)
- Marketing Executives Council (MEC)
- Mobility Technology Council (MTC)
- Modern Industry eXpertise (MiX)
- Overseas Automotive Council (OAC)
AASA’s councils serve as forums for the exchange of best practices, networking with industry peers and drivers of the association’s key initiatives. More information about all of AASA’s councils is available here.
The Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (www.aftermarketsuppliers.org) exclusively serves manufacturers of aftermarket components, tools and equipment, and related products, an important part of the automotive parts manufacturing industry which supports 871,000 American jobs. AASA is a recognized industry change agent – promoting a collaborative industry environment, providing a forum to address issues and serving as a valued resource for members. AASA is the light vehicle aftermarket division of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA). “AASA, The Voice for the Automotive Aftermarket Supplier Industry”


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In a month where all but one contender showed sharp sales drops, the Toyota Camry held onto the top spot in the midsize sedan sales chart for October. In doing so, it also became the first car in its class to top the 300,000 sales mark.
For the month, the Camry’s sales were down 15 percent over October 2015 and are down 9.4 percent for the year. However, it was still plenty to lead the second-place Honda Accord by 4,000 sales for the month and extend its overall lead even more, almost guaranteeing a top spot by year’s end.
The Accord fared just about as well for the month as the Camry, with a drop of slightly more than 15 percent. Its yearly drop of 3.6 percent actually makes it one of the better performers in the category in a year where more sales are going to crossovers.
The only midsize sedan to show gains across the board was the Subaru Legacy, which showed positive gains for month-to-month, monthly and yearly sales, the only car to show a positive in all three, and one of only three to show positive gains for the year.
The Nissan Altima kept the third spot with a decent performance, its 3.3-percent loss being the second best monthly performance after the Subaru.
Midsize Sedan Sales – October 2016
|Oct 2016 #||Sept 2016 #||Oct ’16/Sept ’16 %||Oct 2016/2015||YTD 2016 #||YTD 2016/2015 %|
Check out this related TFLcar video of the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu taking on the 2014 version:


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Tk57 lakh in counterfeit currency seized, four men and a woman arrested
A counterfeit currency factory was busted in Dhaka’s Paltan area on Friday, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Detective Branch (DB) has said.
Five people, including one woman, have been arrested for their involvement in the making of the fake notes, DMP DB Deputy Commissioner (Gulshan division) Mashiur Rahman told Dhaka Tribune.
The suspects were identified as Hannan, Kawser, Arif, Ibrahim and Khushi. Tk57 lakh in counterfeit currency and materials to produce about Tk5 crore more of counterfeit money were recovered during the drive.
According to the DC Gulshan division, a team of law enforcement officials conducted the raid at a building in Paltan at around 3pm, after receiving a tip-off. During the raid, they found the counterfeit currency factory and arrested a specialty fabric maker, printer, manager and distributors.
The counterfeiters had been conducting their operations on the fifth and sixth floors of the building, which they had rented, since after Eid. Prior to Eid, they were in hiding outside Dhaka city as they feared that the law enforcement agencies would conduct a raid.
“The counterfeiters set up the large factory in Paltan to do business on a large scale, thinking police would not look for them after Eid,” the DC said.
“Shahin, the financier of this factory and leader of the gang, is accused in multiple cases. We are trying to arrest him,” he added.
Among the suspects who were arrested at the factory, Hannan was responsible for printing, Kawsar made the special paper and Arif was a manager, while Ibrahim and Khushi distributed the counterfeit currency to various places, the DC said.


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The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has addressed the confusion surrounding guideline allegedly released by the Federal Government to prepare airlines for flights resumption.
In a press statement made available to TechEconomy.ng, General Manager, Corporate Affairs at FAAN, Henrietta Yakubu (Mrs.), urged Nigerians should disregard the report.
According to her, FAAN is still working on a guideline hence the release did not emanate from them.
The release reads:
“The attention of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has been drawn to a statement released by a certain Tayo Olu today, May 16, 2020 to the effect that the Federal Government of Nigeria, through FAAN has released a post- Covid 19 travel guideline for air travellers.
“We want to state emphatically that although FAAN is carefully and seriously working on a guideline, the release did not emanate from us as it is still a work in progress.
“Consequently, the Authority will like to enjoin air travellers and the general public to disregard the content of the said release.
“At the appropriate time, FAAN will release the post Covid 19 travel guidelines via our official communication medium.


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The Canadian economy is showing signs of resilience in the face of ongoing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. While there are still some areas of concern, the latest data indicates that the economy is continuing to recover and adapt to the changing circumstances.
According to Statistics Canada, real gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2021, following a 0.8% increase in the third quarter. This growth was driven by gains in both goods and services-producing industries, with notable increases in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and transportation and warehousing.
In addition, employment is showing signs of improvement, with the unemployment rate declining to 6.0% in March 2022, down from a peak of 13.7% in May 2020. Wage growth has also been relatively strong, with average weekly earnings for employees increasing by 6.8% year-over-year in February 2022.
Despite the overall positive outlook, there are still some areas of weakness in the Canadian economy. The ongoing pandemic continues to pose challenges, particularly for industries such as travel and hospitality, which have been hit hard by restrictions and border closures. In addition, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages are creating challenges for businesses across a range of sectors.
One area of growth in the Canadian economy has been in the technology sector, which has seen continued investment and expansion. Canada is home to a number of successful tech companies, and the sector has been identified as a key driver of future economic growth.
Another area of growth has been in the green economy, as companies and governments alike seek to reduce their environmental footprint and transition to more sustainable practices. This has created opportunities for companies and workers involved in areas such as renewable energy, clean transportation, and sustainable agriculture.
Overall, the Canadian economy is showing signs of resilience and growth, with opportunities available in a range of industries and sectors. While challenges remain, particularly in the face of ongoing pandemic-related uncertainty, there is cause for optimism as the economy continues to adapt and evolve.


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You can now zoom in or out while watching YouTube videos
San Francisco: YouTube announced that it was rolling out new design elements and product features, including zoom in and out options for videos, to improve user experience on the platform.
The Google-owned streaming platform will allow users to zoom in and out of a video on their iOS or Android devices.
“Starting today, we’re rolling out a new look and several features that provide a more modern and immersive viewing experience while improving the way users watch videos. But don’t worry, the same YouTube you know and love is always at the heart of our business,” the company said in a blog post.
Using dynamic color sampling, Ambient Mode introduces a subtle effect, so the app’s background color matches the video.
He was inspired by the light the screens cast in a dark room and wanted to recreate the effect so that viewers were drawn directly into the content and the video focused even more on our watch page.
This feature will be available on web and mobile in a dark theme.
YouTube links in video descriptions will turn into buttons, and frequent actions, such as like, share and download, are now formatted to minimize distractions.
The subscribe button also gets a rework: the new shape and high contrast make it stand out, and although it’s no longer red, it’s easier to find and much more accessible to everyone on read pages and channel pages, the company said. .