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Didnt mean to suggest it is all the consumers fault at all. But if we accept that quality journalism takes time and resource, and time and resource takes money, the 'user' must surely be one of the 'payers'.
Some personal observations on media trends: While the landscape is rapidly changing, I think paid media is still the main channel for delivery of news and current affairs in NZ.
As in many things, you get what you pay for. As a few people including Russell have pointed out the increasing disconnect between corporate media and the advertising revenue that is essential to pay for quality journalism is a problem.
Media is a business that is as affected as any other sector by the pressures of globalisation, digitisation, commercialisation, commoditisation, competition etc. and is in transition to a new age; the problem is that it is not a good thing for any of us if media businesses cannot afford to pay for the time needed to develop quality, well researched, journalism. And we should be prepared to pay for it so that the financial model works and quality journalism can be sustained.
Many current financial models for media are unsustainable. Business drivers are largely economic and based on market consumption patterns – ratings, circulation, advertising revenue; online hits etc. – we haven’t totally figured out yet a business model that rewards quality ahead of consumption – which as we all know is not always the same thing (although can be).
The lines are blurring. Corporate media is now news, entertainment, advertising, public, private, online, print, free to air TV, pay TV, radio, social media, professional media, op-ed contributions from ‘non-journalists’ such as academics. People get their news from many different sources now, blogs, newspapers, radio, TV, social media. These changing media consumption patterns in society are having real consequences on corporate media – i.e. how do they get revenue from it?
Media ownership is a powerful factor - but I really don’t know what is the perfect model for who should own it – public or private – what is the best mix – can it be both?
New Zealand has a thriving online news community, PA being a great example, and a media and politically savvy blogging community that are eating away at paid media - The rise of ‘citizen-generated’ media has only added to the business pressures on corporate media. Some of this online community offers very high-quality writing, news and analysis (the crème always rises to the top) and some just offer a bunch of people shouting at each other in a race to the bottom.
The sources of media content are also rapidly changing (PR, lobbying, advertorial, promotions, blogs, Twitter).
Media businesses must take some responsibility in cultivating a quality news environment. The flipside is that because media is largely consumer driven, it is also the consumer's responsibility to avoid, and not reward, media product that is poor, and to reward good journalism by being willing to pay for it.
By global standards NZ has a free media environment and a lot of great journalists. Vast majority of journalists want to do a great job – that’s why they work in such a challenging industry. But any business model that has lost its main source of revenue and is incentivised to grow reader or viewer numbers in order to attract advertising (that is usually aimed at a small slice of the overall demographics) in a world where people have a million sources of free news, opinion and information, has a major challenge on its hands.


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JANE UNCHAINED NEWS: BREAKING NEWS FIRST VEGAN CERTIFICATION STANDARD IN THE WORLD GAINS GLOBAL ACCREDITATION BEVEG INTERNATIONAL IS ISO 17065 ACCREDITED
It’s official! BeVeg International, a global leader in vegan certification is the first certification standard in the world — that is vegan in scope — to be globally accredited and recognized by ISO ISO/IEC 17065:2012 (ISO 17065). ISO 17065 is the international quality standard for organizations certifying products, processes and services.
“We pursued this rigorous accreditation to serve as an independent validation to assure our customers and consumers that BeVeg’s systems are comprehensive and that every BeVeg certified vegan company or product follows strict — uniform — standards to assure not only food safety but vegan quality assurance for all products across all industry sectors,” said Carissa Kranz, attorney founder & CEO of BeVeg.
The BeVeg vegan certification program protects consumers and furthers truth in labeling laws by confirming that a product meets strict standards for vegan quality assurance. To achieve ISO 17065, BeVeg underwent a vigorous audition process to ensure BeVeg follows internationally established best practices for audit and product certification in accordance with industry expectations.
BeVeg stands out as a trustworthy organization with true meaning behind its vegan trademarks, giving the consumer confidence that the products and processes certified vegan by BeVeg meet the highest standards for vegan certification. BeVeg sets the standard for vegan quality control and assurance through risk assessment, plant audits, equipment testing, and product testing both in the plant and at the point of consumer purchase.
The BeVeg vegan certification standard has demonstrated a dedication to holding the global community accountable to a single international standard and vegan standard.
“Vegan claims and labels are just as important and serious as kosher, gluten-free, organic, and other food and product safety certifications,” says Kranz.
The accreditation certificate was granted and announced by the National Accreditation Center (NAC), a global accreditation body under APAC, which is part of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) community.
The BeVeg Vegan Certified logo global BeVeg vegan trademark program is officially recognized as the vegan trademark of choice. BeVeg vegan trademark symbols are the only law firm issued vegan symbols in the world, the only law firm drafted vegan standard, and the first and only accredited vegan standard to be recognized in accordance with industry best practices as acknowledged by the world accreditation community and defined by ISO.
To date, no other vegan certifying body has yet to reach the same level of vegan quality assurance and accreditation by international standards.
This article was originally on JANE UNCHAINED NEWS NETWORK

domain: news


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Get Ready For Two Totally New Kia Pickup Trucks
In a surprising announcement, Kia says it is developing two new electric pickup trucks. But as you’ll see, this has been long in the works. In all, it plans on debuting 14 new EVs by 2027 at a rate of two per year. It has recently released its EV6 crossover, while sales of the Niro EV have picked up. The Niro has seen a 132 percent increase last month alone.
What is the difference between the two new Kia pickups?
One of the new pickups will be built around Kia’s E-GMP all-electric platform. Kia says the other pickup will be a “strategic model” aimed at markets in countries like India, Africa, and Mexico. This second pickup is thought to be a body-on-frame midsize truck. It is being developed for various gas-engine applications and all-electric according to Automotive News.
As with so many other manufacturers, Kia is doubling down on electric vehicle development. The next EV being readied for production is the Kia EV9. We got to see a concept version of it at the 2021 LA Auto Show. It will be a three-row crossover similar to the Telluride in size. The EV9 is targeting a 300-mile range with the charging ability to get 80 percent charge in a half-hour.
Does Kia make a pickup truck?
Kia has produced a pickup truck called the Bongo, but it isn’t sold in the US. It is a cab-over configuration and is available as a pickup or chassis-cab for rollbacks, flatbeds, and other work truck applications. The Bongo is available as a single cab, extended cab, or double cab configuration. It was first introduced in 1980.
This isn’t Kia’s first stab at making a pickup truck. In the early 2000s, Kia began developing a truck to fill in some of the “gaps” in its product portfolio. The new truck would use the Sorento SUV architecture as the basis for the truck. The Sorento was a V6-powered with ladder frame construction.
At the 2004 Chicago Auto Show, the KCV-4 Mojave concept truck debuted. To accommodate the bed, the Sorento frame was stretched. It was also using the Sorento all-wheel-drive, which was standard on all models.
What size was the Kia Mojave?
One of its nicest features was the rear portion of the cab could be slid forward for another few inches of cargo space. Sizewise, it fell somewhere near a Ford Ranger; which in 2004 might have been considered small. Of course today, that has proven to be a popular size. And don’t forget, this would not have been a unibody truck like the Santa Cruz or Ford Maverick.
“There was one major non-product obstacle that likely doomed the Kia Mojave pickup from the start,” a Kia product planner at the time told Pickup Truck News. “It had to be produced in a North American factory, and at the time, Kia did not have one.”
Kia has wanted a pickup in its lineup for a long time
The infamous “chicken tax” instituted in the 1960s dictates all commercial vehicles must be manufactured in the US. Today it has a plant in Georgia. But this shows that a pickup truck has always been on Kia’s radar.
Electrification development and other priorities have pushed pickup truck development back. But with this latest news, it is back on the table and ready to be manufactured soon. Should the other truck makers in this segment be worried?


text: Take a look at the one week chart for RadioShack ( RSH) if you don't mind. Check out the stock's sudden thrust higher after the close on Monday. Pretty sharp spike huh? As they say in Japan, The nail that sticks up gets hammered down. And boy did the Shack -- and overeager traders -- get nailed on Tuesday! Shares of the consumer electronics chain surged by 7% to $3.52 in extended hours trading Monday after unnamed sources told the WSJ that RadioShack secured a fresh round of financing from GE Capital. According to the deal, GE Capital will extend $835 million in new financing secured by inventory and other assets to RadioShack, $585 million in the form of a credit facility and $250 million in a second-lien term loan. Boo-yah! What's better than a boatload of fresh money for a foundering franchise? Jumping into the Shack on a report like that is a no-brainer. Right? Literally speaking, yes, it is true. You really did have to be brainless to chase that stock in the highly illiquid, shark-filled arena of extended hours trading. That's because the refinancing was only half the news. The rest of the story (thank you, Paul Harvey) emerged on Tuesday morning when RadioShack revealed it racked up a loss of $112 million on $805 million in revenue for the third quarter, compared to $47 million on $898 million in sales last year. The greater-than-expected loss was due to a write-off of inventory, with the company's margin taking a hit. Tuesday's announcement shellacked RadioShack's stock, which fell 18% Tuesday to close at $2.89. As for RadioShack's future, CEO Joe Magnacca said he is pushing as hard and fast as he can to turn around the company by renovating stores, obtaining improved store locations and securing exclusive products. And as for all those overzealous after-market investors that got flattened this week, maybe they'll be smarter next time and slow down.


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As the CEO of a fuel bunkering business that resold an estimated 5.5 million tons of marine fuel in 2019, Cem Saral embarked on 2020 with trepidation as the International Maritime Organisation imposed new sulphur limits on marine fuel oil. In fact, what looked at times like a perfect storm didn’t turn out so bad, he tells Damian Stewart, Managing Partner EMEA & Asia at Human Capital.
The year 2020 was never going to be an easy one for Cockett Group, the bunker reseller jointly owned by Swiss trader Vitol and South African holding company Grindrod. As one of the biggest players in the industry, Cockett typically handles around 18,000 deliveries to customers annually, in every single line of shipping, with around a third of its 160 employees based in the company’s operating headquarters in Dubai, and the rest across fifteen offices in five continents. With IMO 2020, the International Maritime Organisation’s new regulation to require all ocean-going vessels to burn only fuels with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5%, coming into effect on the 1 January last year, the industry – and Cockett’s business – was preparing for significant disruption. IMO 2020 represented the biggest change in the global shipping sector since the switch from coal to oil bunkering in the early 1900s, impacting all its connected industries.
“It was one of the largest disruptive regulatory changes for a century, for the entire oil barrel,” says Saral, chief executive at Cockett Marine since 2016. “We thought this was going to be our biggest challenge in 2020; it turned out to be the least of our problems. I’m impressed by the resilience of the industry, and by the transition. In the second half of 2019 we had a lot of worries.”
He says he always knew that transition from HSFO to the new regulation low sulphur alternatives would not happen until the last minute, simply because of the economics of dealing with ingoing and outgoing fuel variations. “It happened that way,” he says. “In November and December 2019, we saw real meaningful change – it was a quick flip in those 60 days. It was just like the financial crisis when we had a massive dislocation, and we thought the world was collapsing as well as our industry. This transition, in that short space of time, finding the right logistics capable of addressing both ingoing and outgoing fuel, matching demand to the right location, the right quality…the industry has done a phenomenal job.”
It was never a given, he insists. While it might be easy to assume the industry simply needed to come up with a new blend and put it in storage, it was a huge undertaking for all concerned. “The consumers went through a lot of pain, understanding these new fuels without ever putting a drop into their engines,” he says. “We spent three years assisting the industry and the market, and ourselves, to anticipate what was coming. I’m very pleased the transition went more smoothly than we thought it would.”
A global pandemic
Then there was Covid, which created its own brand of havoc for the shipping industry. Ironically, though, the spread of the pandemic that devastated consumer demand the world over actually helped ease the pain of the IMO 2020 transition. As demand for jet fuel and middle distillates was hardest hit, the availability of molecules needed for the highest quality LSFO & VLSFO improved considerably.
“The supply chain spent a few months quickly adapting to new regulations on sulphur limits, developing better blending practices and better onboard operating principles,” says Saral. “Then, to be perfectly honest, we were anticipating far more complex and complicated quality control issues, and we had hired additional staff to deal with that. We were prepared, and we didn’t see those issues materialising as frequently as we had anticipated. Despite that I consider this investment was money well spent, one can never be too ready for such transformation.”
The molecular availability was not a significant concern in the run-up to IMO 2020, he says, because he never doubted that there was enough refining and secondary blending capacity to meet the demand. But quality was improved by the availability of “a larger pool of blend components that couldn’t find homes in other distillate markets,” he says, which meant far more valuable distillate products found their way into the marine fuel pool.
But despite its silver lining, the pandemic still hit shipping hard. Looking back, Saral recalls: “Once the lockdown fully started coming into the marketplace, we saw a few months where the industry really felt the pressure in the middle of Q2. April and May were the real dip for our business, when we saw hundreds of container ships with schedules cancelled, oil demand significantly down, and in bulk markets – other than agri bulk – demand really fell off a cliff. You had a lot of crewing issues, manpower issues, and port issues: it’s a highly labour-intensive exercise to get fuel to end users. Again, I think our supply chains around the world did a phenomenal job.” The recovery started slowly in Q3 and has continued ever since.
To say the industry was challenged, then, is nothing short of an understatement. And Saral understands it is not an industry with a reputation for coping well with disruption. “We have always been viewed as two steps behind and resistant to change,” he concedes. “Sometimes we raise our head and show how resilient we are. But we surprised ourselves as well as industry observers.”
M&A around the corner
The next transformation that the sector could well have to endure could be a long-predicted swathe of consolidation, with some new entrants starting to come in and a sector traditionally dominated by small, niche businesses beginning to witness mergers and acquisitions.
“We have spent quite a good part of the last decade talking about the consolidation of our industry,” says Saral. “But you don’t yet see it happening with any intensity.”
He puts that down to a few things. Firstly, while there are huge benefits to trading as a large organisation globally, the geographically fragmented nature of the business still creates interesting value propositions for small players to stay resilient and available. Secondly, the buyer profile is also segmented, argues Saral, and talk of larger blue chips operating in hubs still misrepresents the scale of demand from smaller fleets.
What will drive consolidation though, is the erosion of liquidity from the commodities space coupled with a lack of trust from lenders as derisking continues to take place in the European banking system away from shipping. “It has not been a great decade for shipping,” says Saral, “and we are a secondary industry so if they don’t do well, we cannot do well.”
He adds: “I tend to think that around the middle of this decade we will see a far more visible dislocation and disruption into our marine industry mix. Come 2025, you will not be able to act on your decarbonisation strategy without investing in new talent and new enterprises, and those that are not able to sustain that will need to exit.”
Sadly, the bunker market also experienced its share of scandal in 2020, with several blow-ups, including some big names. “It’s a lesson that irrespective of your sentiment about the counterparty, you have no choice but to accelerate your KYC procedures to understand every aspect of how that business operates,” says Saral.
As someone who describes himself as a trader at heart, Saral has worked in petroleum products for more than 20 years across four continents, working at Vitol in Dubai before assuming the COO role at Cockett in 2015, to become CEO a year later.
That perspective leads him to the view that governance is not so much a bunker market issue as a commodities issue. “We tend to assume it happens in marine fuel, and part of that is true, but it’s often within a broader commodities market context. It’s not always a reflection of bad conduct in marine fuel delivery but how you get your oil into storage as part of your commodity trading.”
He adds: “What we’ve seen is that as markets have become more resilient as a result of better compliance and governance, money has started to become harder to earn. As the margins squeeze in commodities, you have no choice but to take risks, and when those risks go wrong, often people try to carry them on the books and eventually it becomes unsustainable.”
It is a subject Saral feels strongly about: “The cover-up is always worse than the crime,” he says. “I always say that the best quality of a trader – as an individual or as a company – is knowing when to take a loss, not how to make a profit. If you know when it’s time to accept a mistake and you exit, that defines your quality.”
It is his understanding of both commodities trading and marine fuels that sets him apart as a chief executive, he says. “I’m hopefully able to guide and lead the company to its core, which is as a marine fuel reseller, to focus on its core strengths of creating optionality for its clients rather than trying to pretend to be a commodity trader.”
Furthermore, he argues there is a false assumption in the industry that physical supply entities and reseller entities have much the same business models when nothing could be more wrong. “The margin generation, income proposition, risk engagement and business strategy are distinctively different,” he says. “I was able to work on both sides of the business. I know what the reselling entity should not be assuming, and I have started to steer the company in that direction rather than being shackled to the idea that not having a physical trading entity makes us somehow lacking. They are different businesses operating across the same value chain that complement each other, but they are not the same. I believe I was able to bring that perspective to the organisation.”
The bigger picture
Saral is only too aware of the key emerging trends impacting the shipping and bunker market, not least decarbonisation, sustainability, and digitisation. But as an asset-light entity that focuses its business on facilitating effective marine fuel delivery, “by connecting the parts that do not meet for a number of reasons,” he is happy for Cockett to sit on the sidelines.
“The underlying existence of companies like ours is independent of the fuels we use,” he says. “Our challenge is to upskill talent across the company to understand those trends and respond to new fuel options, because price discovery, risk generation and risk management of those products is not the same. I think that dynamic approach of active observation will be elemental to survival for at least this decade.”
On digitisation, he observes: “We will not be immune to it eventually, but we will probably be a lagging industry rather than a leader in adoption.”
As we conclude our conversation, Saral mentions his personal concerns about disinformation in the marine fuels market, citing a recent headline that misrepresented marine fuel sales trends in different ports by failing to appreciate that one port measures sales by weight and another by volume.
“So often the headline concludes something different to the actual article these days,” he says. “And we hardly read anything other than the headline because we are all busy and becoming lazier, but still those headlines easily influence our decision-making. I don’t think there is any intent towards misinformation, other than to come up with an enticing headline that may not in truth be factual.”
In an incredibly challenging year, that attention to detail has no doubt proved critical to Saral’s steady steering of the Cockett ship.
In Conversation with…
The ICW series looks at key trends in the energy and commodities markets with senior industry leaders. Whether discussing diversity in the workforce or the impact of new technologies, the aim is to shine a light on some unique market perspectives, showcasing both the personalities at the pinnacle of the market and their views on the issues of the day.


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Sixt (SIX2) Given a €118.00 Price Target at Hauck & Aufhaeuser
A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on SIX2. DZ Bank reiterated a buy rating on shares of Sixt in a report on Tuesday, June 26th. Oddo Bhf set a €125.00 ($145.35) price target on shares of Sixt and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, August 20th. Baader Bank set a €112.00 ($130.23) price target on shares of Sixt and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, July 19th. Warburg Research set a €98.00 ($113.95) price target on shares of Sixt and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, June 26th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a €105.00 ($122.09) price target on shares of Sixt and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of €107.43 ($124.92).
Shares of SIX2 stock opened at €88.60 ($103.02) on Wednesday. Sixt has a one year low of €47.22 ($54.91) and a one year high of €92.45 ($107.50).
Sixt SE, through its subsidiaries, provides mobility services for private and business customers worldwide. It operates through two segments, Vehicle Rental and Leasing. The Rental segment rents various utility vehicles and trucks; offers international holiday car rental services; provides mobility services for business travelers, as well as for sightseeing or special occasions; and offers luxury saloons and sports cars or SUVs, car sharing products, and chauffer and transfer services.
Featured Article: Calculate Your Return on Investment (ROI)
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That’s the prediction of Gale Thompson, vice president of International Operations with the Tucson, Arizona-based Offshore Group. And it’s no off-the-cuff remark from a man who has had extensive exposure to Mexico’s maquiladora industry during the past four decades.
“When you look back 10 to 12 years ago, there was very little manufacturing of aerospace products in the maquiladora industry,” Thompson notes. “There have always been MRO, or manufacture-and-repair operations, for aircraft flying into Mexico.
“But now, after attending many conferences and speaking with many aerospace executives, I know from first-hand experience that Mexico is rapidly becoming one of the largest suppliers in the world for manufactured aerospace parts.”
An early indicator for Thompson that aerospace manufacturing in Mexico would be big business came in 1999, when General Electric (GE) was encouraging suppliers to open Mexican manufacturing facilities. One of these suppliers – after being told his GE contract would be pulled if he didn’t follow suit – came to Thompson to discuss options.
“I visited with (the supplier) in March of 1999,” Thompson recalls. “In May of 1999, they shipped their first machined products to General Electric from Mexico.”
Historically, the Offshore Group’s Mexico Shelter Plan has provided outsourced manufacturing support to assembly operations requiring many employees, such as an automotive plant.
“Aerospace is not a high-headcount industry in Mexico, so there was a bit of a conflict between that and the shelter-company-in-Mexico business model at that time,” Thompson explains. “It was kind of interesting because, when I began talking aerospace with colleagues in the industry, they said: ‘Wait a minute. This is not a high-headcount manufacturing industry and (it) really doesn’t require a lot of personnel, so why would you pursue aerospace as a company offering shelter services in Mexico?’”
That question seems to be answering itself. Following passage of the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) in 2007, products manufactured in Mexico could be sent directly to the customer, enhancing manufacturing cost-effectiveness. And smaller, less complex functions that began with making wire harnessing opened the door for more sophisticated operations such as aerospace investment castings; metal finishing, coating and plating processes; heat treating; and aerospace machining in Mexico.
It also appears Thompson’s “top five” prediction is within reach. By the middle of last year, 260 manufacturing facilities in Mexico were producing parts for the global aviation industry – nearly quadruple the amount of facilities present in 2004. (In Chihuahua City alone, 36 aerospace plants have opened between 2007 and now.) The number of Mexican manufacturing facilities is expected to surpass 300 by next year, with predictions of more than 350 facilities in operation by 2015. Conservatively speaking, that means the 30,000 jobs now available in the industry will expand to 42,000.
Though many secondary operations are available in Mexico, there are still “many more opportunities for further secondary operations shops to offer their services in the growing aerospace manufacturing market,” Thompson affirms.
“As they are becoming available, larger companies are putting more pressure on their suppliers to do more of their work in Mexico,” he concludes.
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Sigma Tau Aims For First FDA Approval Of Live Biotherapeutic
This article was originally published in Pharmaceutical Approvals Monthly
Subsidiary of Italian specialty firm is seeking to develop a biologic containing live microorganisms to prevent necrotizing enterocolitis, the most common GI complication in very low birth weight premature infants. Sigma-Tau had to write an IND without any existing FDA guidance and faces numerous complications both due to the pioneering nature of its work and the high-risk status of its trial subjects.
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Focus on consumer brand and DIY market has helped Valspar's market share climb.
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Italian wine’s export is still growing According to estimates from Nomisma Wine Monitor and Vinitaly, presented in Verona on 26 November last year, 2018 is going to end with a 3,8% growth compared to the previous year, and with exportations being worth EUR 6,2 billion.
A good performance, behind which there is a driving force called Prosecco: +15% in the US, +12,6% in the United Kingdom as well as a steady and relentless growth in important markets like Russia, Brazil and the Scandinavian countries.
However, in spite of this reassuring data, there are some alarm bells. First and foremost, there is the decline of the exportations of still Italian wines in large markets such as the US, Germany, Switzerland and Japan, which have had a negative trend in 2018.
Denis Panini from Nomisma explains that the reasons of this decrease are several: a difficult grape harvest in 2017, Germany reconsidering (Germany is currently trying to promote local products) and France’s fierce competition (French rosé wines are holding their own against our still wines, especially in the US).
Mixed results are also those of the United Kingdom, a market that, despite the overall increase, is cause for concern because of the risks linked to the Brexit, where a slowdown in export is feared, due to customs issues, and to the excessive demand of the last years.
France, which boasts overall wine exports of nearly EUR 10 billion, is going to conclude the year 2018 with a 4,8% growth, compared to 2017.
Spain is growing more than Italy too: for the Iberian, 2018 is going to end with exportations worth EUR 3 billion total, amounting to a +5,2% increase compared to the previous year.
Hence, wasn’t it for prosecco, we would now be commenting much more worrisome data. Italian bubbles are getting more and more popular in the world, but it must not be forgotten that Italian still wines have collected prizes and recognition worldwide this year too.
All the more reason, according to Sandro Boscaini (president of Federvini) Ernesto Abbona (president of the Unione Italiana Vini) and Matilde Poggi (president of the Federazione Italiana Vignaioli Indipendenti), to ask the Government for an action aimed at the constant enhancement of Italian wines, at the lightening of complications and bureaucracy, and to the promotion of Made-in-Italy wines all across the world.
Here at Bell Italia, we are always committed to promoting only the best of (rigorously and authentically) Italian food all over the world; the best Italian wines and prosecco from all Italian regions are available in our catalogue at very convenient prices.
Contact us for a quotation, or register on our new website www.bell-italia.com.
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PUNE: Passenger vehicle (PV) sales registered an increase of 0.28 per cent in the domestic market in October 2019 after a continuous 11-month low.
According to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) around 2,85,027 cars were sold in the domestic market in October 2019, compared to 2,84,223 cars sold in October 2018.
However, in October 2019, passenger car sales have registered a decline of 6.34 per cent. The utility vehicle sales have registered a growth of 22.22 per cent in October 2019 over the same period last year. Apart from this, sales of vans too fell by 35.08 per cent.
As per SIAM, the October sales figures may be a relief for the car market.
But all other categories like commercial vehicle, three-wheeler and two-wheeler have not received any relief on the sales front for 12 consecutive months.
Sales of commercial vehicles, three-wheelers and two-wheelers have fallen for the 12th consecutive month. Commercial vehicle sales have registered a decline of 23.31 per cent in October 2019.
Two-wheeler sales in the domestic market during October 2019 were down by 14.43 per cent. SIAM President Rajan Wadera said that retail sales are better in this festive season than in the previous festive season. The main reason for this was the launch of new models and better finance facilities. Due to the positive attitude of customers, sales were expected to be better during November and December as compared to the same period last year.
Among all the sales figures, the concern was still most about two-wheelers. Two-wheeler sales fell by 14.43 per cent in October 2019 as compared to October 2018. The sale of two-wheelers was seen directly related to the rural economy. In such a situation, the decline in the sales of two-wheelers for 12 consecutive months was worrying.
Wadera said this time in some states there were flood conditions till October. “Apart from this, crops of farmers were damaged in many states. In such a situation, we hope that during the coming months, sales of two-wheelers will increase in rural areas,” he said.


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The blockchain technology, which is the core of the well-known bitcoin system, may be able to help drive new sources of income to the Danish and international media industry.
This is the idea behind a new concept for micropayment currently under development by Nets.
The micropayment system is a supplement that media houses can adopt to make it faster and cheaper for users to pay small amounts for single articles, music or other digital content - content that is currently a challenge to sell easily and efficiently.
Blockchain technology may contribute to solving this challenge because the method makes it possible to move money and assets at very low cost and with a high level of transparency.
It would, for example, be possible to introduce a kind of generic 'credits' to be used by content providers such as online newspapers, music providers, streaming services and Wi-Fi hotspot providers.
"The concept addresses various requests from our media industry customers, and also potentially opens a market for payments that Nets does not service today. We know that many media houses are looking for systems suited for handling small payments," says Simon Buchwaldt-Nissen, Senior Manager, Corporate Strategy at Nets.
Incorporated payment card
Micropayments will be done using a special kind of media credits, and both payment cards and account payments can be linked to the platform making it convenient for customers to use.
The system can become a significantly different bid for how media and other content providers in future will be able to monetize their content.
The method's low costs can potentially increase the earnings of media and other digital content providers because they can sell content at small amounts and still make a profit.
While still under development, the system will be the first koncept from the newly established Blockchain Development Lab at Nets where Nets investigates the potential of new technologies.
The system is still undergoing adaptation and is provisionally considered as a proof of concept to be adjusted to the commercial reality of the customers.


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The long wait is over and the chance to go off-road in the all-new and highly anticipated 2021 Ford Bronco Sport has arrived. Host Jack Nerad was one of a select few auto journalists who got the chance to put the Bronco Sport through its paces at the renowned Hungry Valley off-road park near Gorman, California. During the course of a very satisfying day, he had the chance to thoroughly wring out both versions of what is expected to be an extremely popular vehicle that will come to market in the next few weeks.
Also in the road test segment, co-host Chris Teague unveils his thoughts on the 2021 GMC Canyon AT4, the off-road version of GMC’s popular midsize pickup. GMC execs have high hopes the AT4 brand will bring them incremental sales as Americans return to nature.
If that isn’t enough off-roading for you, we also interview Jeff Roselli, chief engineer on the RAM 1500 TRX super truck. Nerad recently had a chance to sit down with Roselli for a lengthy interview during the TRX introductory drive event outside Reno, Nevada, and he got a behind-the-scenes look at what it took to build a truck with its amazing capabilities.
In the news segment, Teague and Nerad discuss the ongoing drama at Volkswagen, where the CEO is looking for a new contract and stronger backing on his bold plan to make VW a prominent electric vehicle manufacturer. And they’ll tell you which major product has encountered an unexpected delay in coming to market.


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Nest Bedding opens in California at a time when people are searching for alternatives to chemical-filled mattresses and furniture.
Berkeley, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/19/2012 -- Amid the growing concern over fire retardant chemicals in our mattresses and furniture, industry veteran Joe Alexander has opened a business in the San Francisco/Berkeley bay area in Northern California, providing consumers with organic and natural USA made mattresses and bedding.
In a recent NY Times article, it was reported that increasingly, the public outcry against flame retardant chemicals in our furniture and mattress has grown to a fever pitch. Consumers are no longer buying into marketing, opting rather to do research into what chemicals are being used in the items being brought into the home.
Joe Alexander, the owner of Nest Bedding says he opened the store in response to the growing need in the market for full disclosure, education and providing US made, non-chemically treated mattresses and bedding. His store, Nest Bedding located in the Berkeley/San Francisco market, sells a wide range of organic mattresses and bedding, as well as non-toxic memory foam mattresses, sheets and pillows, all made in the USA.
"I want to create a retail chain of stores which cater to US made organic and natural materials and bedding to help support and grow the mom and pop American farmers and mills struggling hard to make it work out there. I have found some great items like organic US made sheets and blankets at a price competitive with China made bedding and mattresses", said Joe.
Joe said his store, which opened just a few months ago, has been receiving overwhelming success, with customers looking for organic US made sheets and mattress sales all across the SF Bay Area. The store, called Nest Bedding is located at 1053 Solano Ave Albany Ca near Berkeley Ca 94706. They can be seen online as well at http://www.NestBedding.com and you can reach them at email@example.com


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Polish businesses are supporting the fight against the coronavirus by donating to hospitals, as well as extending free services to encourage Poles to stay safe and sane during the outbreak.
Sportswear manufacturer 4F, which kits out the Polish Olympic team, is selling a special T-shirt as part of a campaign to support hospitals, reports Business Insider. Proceeds from the garments, which are currently available for pre-sale at 49 zloty, will be used to purchase essential medical supplies.
4F’s owner Igor Klaja said that the company was working with the health ministry to make sure that the hospitals with the greatest need would be helped. “We have selected suppliers providing us with specialist protective masks for medical personnel and overalls,” he added.
The firm is also adapting its production to meet current needs, as other companies and institutions are approaching them with enquiries about protective and medical equipment. According to Klaja, they are able to transport masks from Asia to Poland within 7-10 days.
“We have the uniformed services, firefighters, police units, social organisations asking us. You could say that 4F is very rapidly converting to production of medical wear at the moment,” he said.
Polish food producer Maspex is another company pitching in to help hospitals. Business Insider reports that the company is donating over a million of its products, including Lubella pasta and Tymbark juices, to 21 hospitals around Poland this week.
The products, which also include ready meals and dietary supplements, “will make their way to patients and doctors, nurses and personnel, who are today standing on the front line of the fight against the coronavirus”, said Maspex in a press release.
Colian, owner of the Goplana and Grześki chocolate brands, is likewise donating 160,000 of its sweets to hospitals. “We can at least thank the medical staff for their efforts and sweeten these tough moments for them,” said Jan Kolański, head of the company, as reported by Salon24.
Several other companies have donated to hospitals, including the construction company Calbud, leather-goods producer Kazar, and CCC, the largest shoe company in Central Europe.
Meanwhile, Agata, a large family-owned furniture company, has donated a million zloty for the purchase of medical equipment and protective gear for medical personnel.
At the onset of the crisis, state-run energy firm Orlen announced that it would produce one million litres of disinfectant to help deal with the outbreak. After initially facing criticism for then selling the product in its petrol stations, the company argued that it was doing so “well below” market prices.
Nevertheless, the firm then decided to reduce the cost by around a third, as well as stepping up production to 2.5 million litres in March and 4.5 million in April, reported Radio Zet. It has also announced it is sending the product to doctor’s surgeries around the country.
Orlen was also joined by Polfa Tarchomin, a state-owned chemicals plant, and KGHM, the national mining giant, with the latter aiming to produce 20 tonnes of disinfectant per day for the next two weeks.
The government has also harnessed the efforts of Poland’s flagship carrier, LOT. After cancelling international air and rail traffic over the weekend, the airline has launched an operation to return people stranded abroad to Poland at subsidised prices.
As of Friday, LOT had completed 121 flights and brought back 18,035 people to Poland, all of whom are required to enter compulsory quarantine.
— LOT do domu (@LOTdoDomu) March 20, 2020
Smaller businesses are also chipping in. In Zielona Góra, the Polish city that recorded the first confirmed case of the virus, a flower wholesaler delivered 3,500 tulips to the local hospital as a sign of gratitude to nurses and doctors, as well as a show of support for patients, reported Gazeta Wyborcza.
In Białystok, the largest city in northeastern Poland, an organisation of psychologists and psychotherapists is offering a free hotline to ease the mental strain of the crisis, especially for doctors, nurses, police officers, pharmacists and people who have been quarantined, reported Gazeta Wyborcza.
Moreover, a number of restaurants have joined the “meal for a doctor” campaign, delivering free meals to medical staff held up for long shifts in hospitals. In Warsaw alone, there are over 60 restaurants participating in the campaign and around 400 across the country, reported Salon24.
As the campaign to encourage people to stay at home (#zostańwdomu) has gained traction, several businesses have expanded their online offering, following in the tracks of shutdown cultural and educational institutions.
Empik, Poland’s leading chain of multimedia stores, is offering free access to over 11,000 audiobooks, e-books and podcasts via its app for the next 60 days.
Supermarkets, which have remained open, have also taken precautions to diminish contagion, including limiting the number of customers allowed in the store at the same time and installing plastic screens in front of cashiers. Żabka, one of the largest chains of convenience stores, has also pledged to contribute 4.5 million zloty to the health ministry’s efforts to tackle the virus.
One of Poland's biggest chains of convenience stores has responded to coronavirus by allowing only 5 people at a time in stores, installing plastic screens in front of cashiers (who wear medical-style gloves), and asking customers to queue 1.5 m apart and pay by card, not cash pic.twitter.com/jwwgjNrvCj
— Daniel Tilles (@danieltilles1) March 17, 2020
The number of coronavirus cases in Poland had reach 378, including 6 deaths, as of Friday, according to government data. For all of our coverage of the emergency in Poland, see our constantly updated archive of stories here.
Main image credit: Widzialna Ręka – Zielona Góra/Facebook
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She also contributes regularly to The Economist and Al Jazeera, and has also written for The Times, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.


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Fintech is Australia's most popular startup sector, a new survey has found.
Fintech has strengthened its position as Australia’s most popular startup sector among company founders, according to a major survey released yesterday.
The Startup Muster 2017 report found that almost 20 percent of startup founders identified fintech as the industry they were in, up from 16 percent last year.
The report, which surveyed nearly 1,200 startup founders, also listed fintech in the top five industries targeted by startup supporters such as mentors, professional services firms and coworking spaces. FinTech Australia, the industry’s lobby group, was named as a recommended "meetup and industry organisation".
FinTech Australia’s CEO Danielle Szetho said that while the results were welcome, more work needed to be done to grow the fintech industry.
“The industry is facing ongoing challenges in areas such as collaboration with corporates, female participation and skills shortages, and these will be focus areas for FinTech Australia across 2018,” Ms Szetho said.
“We also need to continue to drive policy reforms to reform our industry, including to give consumers control over their financial services data, improve our regulatory sandbox and our bank licensing processes.


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Trade via surface transportation between the U.S. and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, Canada and Mexico, rose 8.3 percent in value in May from a year earlier, the Transportation Department said.
Adjusted for inflation and exchange rates, the May 2012 total was $60.7 billion in 2004 dollars, up 11.7 percent from May 2011.
U.S.-Mexico surface trade in May totaled $35.6 billion, up 14.9 percent year-over-year. U.S.-Canada trade totaled $48.1 billion, a 4 percent increase.
The top U.S.-Canada commodity in May was vehicles, valued at $9.5 billion. The top commodity category transported between the U.S. and Mexico by surface transportation was electrical machinery, $7.6 billion
The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico increased 5 percent in May 2012 from April 2012. Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal variations and other factors.
In May, 86.5 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved via land, 9.6 percent moved by vessel, and 3.8 percent moved by air.


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It is anticipated that there will be a scarcity of cocoa beans on the Ivory Coast. Thus, the government agency regulating the cocoa business will not allow bean grinders to amass inventories over the authorized limits during the significant harvest, which runs from October to March.
Cocoa futures have reached all-time highs due to predictions of a decline in production, notably in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s top two producers, which account for more than 70% of world output combined. These two countries produce more than 70% of the world’s cocoa.
As a result of the terrible weather, it is anticipated that Ivory Coast’s primary crop will decline by around 25 percent compared to the output of the previous season.
Cocoa bean grinders and exporters in Ivory Coast are subject to an annual purchase quota under the terms of their export contracts. However, the regulator, the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) provides grinders with an exception so that businesses may stockpile sufficient beans to satisfy 45 days’ worth of grinding operations.
This offers them an advantage over other dealers and ensures they will always have a consistent supply of beans, allowing them to continue their business without disruptions.
Yves Brahima Kone, the managing director of the CCC, told Reuters on Friday that the exemption will be unfair to exporters given the current circumstances since such exporters will have difficulty gaining access to the requisite volumes to fulfill the terms of their export contracts.
“We will not allow bean processors to purchase beyond the purchase limit this year because everyone may not be able to get the cocoa they need,” according to Kone.
“Unfortunately, we have no choice but to come to this challenging conclusion. He went on to say that there would not be enough cocoa for everyone.
Grinders are concerned that if they cannot stockpile beans, they may not have sufficient supplies to fulfill their export commitments and continue grinding beans.
Reuters spoke with many grinders in Ivory Coast who confirmed that the ruling will impact their output. Even though the price of cocoa grind had been falling in Europe for the previous two seasons owing to operational costs, they had continued to run at total capacity.
European bean grinders have decreased their capacity for grinding beans and have requested that their branches in Ivory Coast dramatically boost their monthly grinding volumes as a means of making up for the shortfall.
According to the statistics provided by the Ivory Coast exporters group GEPEX, the monthly average of cocoa grind production in Ivory Coast has been rapidly increasing due to this trend. It reached about 60,000 metric tons per month in September, up from approximately 45,000 tons in 2019/2020.
Cargill (CARG.UL), CEMOI, OLAM (OLAG.SI), and Barry Callebaut (BARN.S) are only some of the principal bean processors that are members of this group.
“Due to the gas and electricity crisis in Europe, it has become much more profitable to grind cocoa locally in Ivory Coast, which had led us to accelerate the pace here since 2021,” said a director of a grinding factory in San-Pedro, who asked anonymity to talk frankly. “With the crisis in Europe, it has become much more profitable to grind cocoa locally in Ivory Coast.”
The total amount of grinding that can be done in Ivory Coast is 712,000 tons. It is in close competition with the Netherlands for the position of the world’s leading grinder. Almost the previous two years, grinding production in Ivory Coast hit record highs, with the most recent season setting a new high of nearly 700,000 tons.
“Our stocks are replenishing very slowly, and if we cannot purchase beyond the authorized limits, it will be catastrophic for all bean grinders,” said the manager of another processing business. “If we cannot purchase beyond the authorized limits, it will be catastrophic for all bean grinders.


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This was a major development for Bitcoin as many countries considered El Salvador as an experiment and it seems like the Central African Republic has seen enough to follow the trend setter. It might be a matter of time until the next country makes the announcement.
Flipkart jumps into Web 3
Flipkart surprisingly tweeted on the 28th of April that it is now exploring Web 3.0. The timing of the announcement is interesting as it comes during an extreme uncertainty in the Indian crypto ecosystem. The second reason why it is surprising is that last April they mentioned that they would accept Bitcoin as a method of payment on their platform on April Fool's Day.
Bitcoin used as a collateral for loan
“Bitcoin is a vehicle for fraudsters” was the warning that Goldman Sachs leadership gave to the general public back in 2017. However, in the month of April, Goldman Sachs made its first ever Bitcoin-backed loan. This represents a significant step forward for institutional Bitcoin acceptance on Wall Street.
Did you Know?
SAP has launched a new enterprise on the Metaverse with the aim of accelerating cloud adoption among Indian firms. The interactive and immersive ‘cloud on wheels’ platform will enable customers to experience the full range of SAP’s offerings and reimagine processes for improved business outcomes.
NFT stands for non-fungible token. Non-fungible means it is unique and can’t be replaced by anything else. For instance, the US dollar is fungible, which means that USD isn’t unique and can be traded for another USD. For example, you borrow a $100 note from your friend. When you have to return his money back, you can repay it with a different $100 bill or in denominations of $10, $20, $50 etc., and not specifically return that same $100 bill that he gave you. While on the other hand, trading cards, art, and collectibles are non-fungible. For instance, a Ronaldo trading card is not the same as a Messi trading card.
The NFT interest based on sales and the number of unique buyers had skyrocketed in January of this year. However the interest has started to drop. Sales have fallen from a high of $4.64 billion (Jan 2022) to $3.13 billion (April 2022) while the unique buyers have dropped from a million (Jan 2022) to 700,000 (April 2022).
An NFT auction is a testimony to the downtrend or lack of interest in NFTs. The first-ever tweet sold was for $2.9 million. Unfortunately, the top bid still sits at only 1 per cent of the purchase price ($28.7K). The owner has mentioned that he will only sell it at a minimum of $50 million.
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Unleashing Creativity: While norms are needed for major companies, smaller players should be allowed to flourish, OpenAI CEO says in a conversation with Times Internet vice chairman Satyan Gajwani.Visa Delays for Chinese Pros Hit India Biz
The government’s strict approval process for granting visas to Chinese nationals and clearing investment plans of Chinese firms is now hurting Indian businesses, with projects getting delayed or even scrapped, multiple industry executives told ET.OECD Raises India’s FY24 Growth Forecast a Jot to 6%
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Wednesday moved its forecast on India’s economic expansion for this fiscal year higher to 6%, from 5.9%, while citing weak global demand and the effect of monetary policy tightening as factors constraining the growth.
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While the Casio smartwatch is likely to be more affordable than other watch manufacturers’ watches, it will probably be more expensive than the average Android Wear smartwatch. The company, which has developed watches in the past with various hear-rate and communication features, therefore wants to develop the flawless smartwatch – one that doesn’t break easily and is simple or feel goods to wear.
Casio says its smartwatch will be close to perfection, a device which will be easy to put on and feels good. Casio hopes to hit ¥10 billion [about $80 million] in smartwatch sales and then expand the biz from there. Furthermore, it’s expected to carry a price tag of around $400, similar to the entry-level Apple Watch, but it’s not final at the moment, and is targeting users involved in outdoor and leisure activities. Casio says it does.


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Apple Is Making 'Dramatic' Changes To The iPhone, And Insiders Are Suddenly Worried They Won't Be Done In Time (AAPL)
Apple is going to release a new version of the software that runs iPhones and iPads in June at its big conference for developers, called WWDC.
That's been the plan for a while now.
But according to a new report from Bloomberg's Adam Satariano, insiders are suddenly worried that the new version may not be done in time.
Satariano says that Jony Ive, the new guy in charge of the final look and feel of all Apple products, is being much more collaborative and deliberate about the product-making process than his predecessors Steve Jobs and Scott Forstall were.
"Internal deadlines for submitting features for testing are being set later than past releases, people said," writes Satariano.
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To help move things along, Ive has recruited developers from Apple's Mac software teams.
Apple has moved resources around like that for iOS development before, but not since the launch of version number one, back in 2007.
Yesterday, we relayed news that the new version of this software, called iOS, will be "radically" different.
For example, the Calendar app won't look it's made out of leather or that it has stitching.
In new information, Satariano says Ive is also working on "more dramatic changes to the e-mail and calendar tools."
Those changes are less likely to be finished by this summer's deadline, "people" tell Satariano.


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Big uptick in savings rates over the past month: The top payers now
The new tax year has seen a flurry of activity with providers upping rates on savings accounts and ISAs.
And over the past year, rates have risen off the back of 11 consecutive Bank of England base rate hikes.
All-in-all, this is positive news for savers who had become accustomed to lowly rates on their cash.
However, inflation remains the ‘sore point’ due to its eroding effect on cash, with the consumer prices index standing at 10.1% in the 12 months to March 2023.
While the figure has come down from the peak seen last year, there are currently no savings accounts on the market that can beat or even match this rate.
However, savers are urged to compare deals to get the best rate on their money and they shouldn’t be put off by the high inflation figure, according to Moneyfactscompare.
Rachel Springall, finance expert at the firm, said: “Savers may find it encouraging to see positive sentiment surrounding the top cash savings rates this month. Whether consumers wish to keep their cash in a flexible easy access account or tie it up within a fixed account earning a higher guaranteed return, it is imperative they take some time to compare the latest deals. Inflation is still a sore point, as it erodes the true spending power of savers’ cash, but this should not deter investors from switching their deals.”
Springall added that compared to a year ago, savers can now get a return of almost 3% more on the top one-year fixed bond, while the ISA market is also offering savers “attractive rates” across the variable and fixed sectors.
Below, Moneyfactscompare lists the top deals available to savers today:


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Rumors are gathering pace that Toyota is working on a two-door coupe version of its ultra-popular Prius hybrid, possibly scheduled to hit the market sometime in 2012.
The latest reports suggest that the Japanese outfit is currently developing a compact 2+2 Prius-based hybrid sports coupe featuring a beefed-up version of its 1.8-liter 2ZR-FXE four-cylinder engine, capable of achieving around 134 hp – 36 hp more than the sedan counterpart.
Although the higher power levels are likely to affect the Prius’s impressive fuel mileage, insiders are speculating that the company’s Hybrid Synergy Drive system will keep this to a minimum.
If the coupe does see the light of day, it is expected to be around 100 mm shorter than the sedan and feature the same interior spec as the standard Prius.
At this stage, there’s no indication of a name for the new coupe or any news on whether or not it will be sold in the US.
Image Credit – Autoblog


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Tourism Holdings sees further van downturn
Tourism Holdings Ltd is expecting further shrinkage in the campervan rentals market requiring a further reduction of 200 to 300 vehicles in its own fleet.
One view from the tourism industry is the campervan and tourism rental sector built up numbers too far in anticipation of the Rugby World Cup 2011. Earlier this week the receivership of established New Zealand campervan rental firm Pacific Horizon was announced.
THL chief chief financial officer Ian Lewington said the industry had cut back on building new vehicles. The company had further sales of its campervans planned.
"We're certainly aiming to reduce our fleet a bit further. We were at 2500 units at the merger, we're just over 2000 now and will probably aim to be around 1700 to 1800 units."
From last November the NZX- listed tourism business took KEA Campers and United Campervans under the umbrella of its own rental vehicle division. The merged company has about half of New Zealand's motorhome market.
A glut of campervans on the rental market and a lack of foreign visitors forced the merger.
Lewington said the campervan market had been tough for a few years. THL was itself still in the process of selling down excess fleet campervan units. The company had a network of dealers including a large "supercentre" in Auckland and another one in Christchurch selling new and second-hand campervans that might be seven or eight years old. Prices ranged from $30,000 up to $150,000.
"The [sales] market has been pretty reasonable since the merger. We've had a good run; it's a bit quiet now because it is the middle of winter. But the resale or used market has been sound."
He noted the Pacific Horizon receivers had said about 260 campervans were available. While these might go onto the market, he did not think they would flood the sale market. The finance firms that had helped back the large capital investment by campervan firms would want an orderly sale, he said.
"I obviously can't comment on Pacific Horizon specifically. But they can't have had a strong enough balance sheet for current trading conditions."
Despite the 2011 earthquakes, THL had not seen a falloff in business out of Christchurch because customers from the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia had picked up from the airport to drive off around the rest of the South Island.
"There was obviously a downturn but we can't put the overall market being down to the earthquake at all." The company had picked at the time of the October merger that the New Zealand market was 25 per cent "over fleeting".
Jucy chief executive Tim Alpe said his business, which provided both smaller campervans and other vehicles to the budget end of the market, had found recent trading positive and was also seeing strong forward bookings for the coming season to the point where it would be building extra vehicles for the market.
"We think our sector's growing. We had a pretty good last summer," Alpe said.
Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism industry partnerships manager Caroline Blanchfield said her personal view was that the campervan market became oversupplied in anticipation of the Rugby World Cup 2011. That was around the same time as the Christchurch earthquakes.
"A lot of these campervan and rental places geared up for all of these visitors, and maybe some of them didn't eventuate."


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People who say they hate paying for cable TV often say they only want to pay for the networks they want to watch — not the bundles of networks pay TV providers require them to buy.
Bundles aren’t going away anytime soon, since they’re the core of the pay TV business. But they are morphing a bit, because the pay TV guys are worried that people might really cut the cord — or, more likely, just never sign up for pay TV at all.
Here’s the latest: An offer from Verizon that lets its Fios TV customers buy a “skinny bundle” of TV channels, and then augment it with a variety of “channel packs” — groups of networks with similar themes, like a sports pack that includes ESPN and Fox Sports — that they can swap out each month. They can also buy extra ones for $10 each.
In theory, this gives customers much more flexibility than traditional pay TV bundles. Here’s a visual representation of Verizon’s pitch:
And here are the pricing tiers:
We’ve seen other skinny bundles, both from traditional pay TV providers like Comcast* and new digital entrants like Dish’s Sling TV, which offers more than a dozen channels over the Web for $20 a month. Apple wants to launch something similar this fall.
But Verizon’s mix-and-match offer is the first to offer this kind of flexibility. And in theory, it could appeal to someone who, say, wanted to watch football in the fall, then swap out a sports package for something else in the spring.
My hunch is that most people don’t want to actively manage their pay TV lineup, even if they say they do. Then again, they haven’t really had the chance until now, so we’ll see.
Regardless, this seems more like a package designed to help retain Verizon’s 5.6 million video subscribers, or perhaps peel some away from the likes of Comcast or Dish Network, than one for people who live on a broadband-only video diet of Netflix, iTunes and whatever else they can find on the Web.
What’s more interesting is that Verizon has been able to convince some programmers to let them carve up their bundles, which have been the foundation of their business models for years. Disney, for instance, usually insists that pay TV providers that sell ESPN also sell channels like the Disney Channel; Verizon’s deal lets subscribers get one without the other.
That newfound flexibility is yet another sign — HBO Now’s launch this month was a big, blinking billboard of its own — that the TV Industrial Complex doesn’t think it’s nearly as powerful as it was just a couple of years ago. That sound you hear is Reed Hastings rubbing his hands together.
* Comcast owns NBCUniversal, which is a minority investor in Revere Digital, Re/code’s parent company.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.


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There is a ton of pent-up demand for domestic travel in China, and Germany is mulling opening its border with Austria for travelers. But is the world destined for these limited corridors for travel?
The Chinese unit of Germany’s TUI , the world’s biggest tourism group, said on Sunday it has resumed offering holiday packages in China and urged the European Union (EU) to lift travel restrictions in place to curb the coronavirus.
The resumption of business in China, three months after TUI’s activities there were halted, is focused on short breaks in the mountains and beach resorts.
Other packages include trips in the vicinity of big cities.
“Our offices in Peking and Shanghai were open during the crisis but were not allowed to sell holiday packages,” TUI Chief Executive Fritz Joussen said in a statement.
“We now see a significant backlog of demand for holidays. TUI China will in the coming weeks broaden its offers step by step.”
The global tourism industry is closely watching trends in China for clues to travel patterns in other major markets once the virus, which has infected 3.44 million people and killed 243,00 worldwide, is under control and curbs on movement ease.
Since April, there have been signs of a recovery in China’s tourism market, and aviation experts expect domestic travel in most markets will recover before international travel.
Travel within China is also complicated by movement curbs retained in some regions, such as Beijing, the capital, to guard against a second wave of infections from aboard.
Joussen urged the EU to put in place a concept that allows for the resumption of holiday travel within the bloc, where border restrictions have been in place since March.
“The EU and its member states should develop a timetable for resuming travel within Europe and make holidays possible in 2020,” he said, citing Greece, Cyprus, Spanish islands, Austria and Bulgaria which have made progress toward reopening resorts.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer ruled out reopening Germany’s border with Austria to holidaymakers in an interview with mass-selling Bild newspaper, citing the risk of a second coronavirus outbreak.
The Ischgl ski resort has been linked to hundreds of coronavirus cases in Germany and Scandinavian countries. (Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach Writing by Joseph Nasr Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
Have a confidential tip for Skift? Get in touch
Photo credit: A China Southern flight attendant helps a passenger use the on-board entertainment system managed by TravelSky. TUI China has resumed selling domestic holidays. China Southern


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AMSTERDAM, Feb. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading 3D printer manufacturer Ultimaker announced that Robert Bosch GmbH, the leading global supplier of technology and services from Germany, will invest on a global scale in Ultimaker 3 Extended printers. After comparing several desktop 3D printers, the Additive Manufacturing department of Bosch selected Ultimaker as the most reliable, easy-to-use and professional machine. The printers will now be used in different locations across Germany, Hungary, China, India, the United States and Mexico for printing prototypes, tooling, jigs and fixtures—meant to boost innovation while cutting manufacturing and design costs.
Bosch, which has a strategic objective to deliver innovations for a connected world, is the world's largest supplier of automotive components and an important supplier of industrial technologies, consumer goods, and energy and building technology. In order to save time and costs, and for a faster time-to-market for its new products, the company decided to invest in desktop 3D printing on a global scale. Now, with the Ultimaker rollout, all departments of the Additive Manufacturing department of Bosch can benefit from a uniform 3D printing solution with materials, training and global support. This approach will ensure consistent, quality 3D printing results across teams and locations.
"We are very happy that this well-respected, leading supplier of technology and services chose our desktop 3D printers after an intensive selection procedure by its Additive Manufacturing department," said Jos Burger, CEO at Ultimaker. "The team at Ultimaker is working hard to make 3D printing accessible by continuously improving our hardware, software, materials and services. This global investment of Bosch confirms that our 3D printing ecosystem is ready to advance innovation on a global scale. The quality and speed of our service is the same in all countries, which helps our clients to go from an idea to manufacturing validation in just a few days, no matter where they are in the world."
Bosch is one of many global companies taking advantage of 3D printing—according to IDC, the global spending on 3D printing technologies is expected to reach nearly $12 billion in 2018. For more information about Ultimaker and its professional-grade 3D printing technology and services, visit www.ultimaker.com.
About Ultimaker Ultimaker has been in operation since 2011, and over the years has grown to become a market-leader; creating powerful, professional and accessible desktop 3D printers. With offices in the Netherlands, New York, and Boston, plus production facilities in Europe and the US, Ultimaker's team of over 300 employees continually strives to offer the highest-quality 3D printers, software, and materials on the market.


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Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda speaks throughout a small media roundtable on Sept. 29, 2022 in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS — Toyota Motor CEO Akio Toyoda final week merely said what he would really like his legacy to be: “I like automobiles.”
Simply how the 66-year-old racer, automotive fanatic and firm scion will likely be remembered relating to his strategy to all-electric automobiles in comparison with gas-powered efficiency automobiles, just like the Supra, or hybrids, just like the once-groundbreaking Prius, will play out within the years to come back.
Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, plans to take a position $70 billion in electrified automobiles over the subsequent 9 years. Half of that will likely be for all-electric battery ones. Whereas it is a substantial funding in EVs, it is smaller than some rivals’ plans, and never as a lot as some would really like given Toyota’s international footprint.
Regardless of criticism from some traders and environmental teams, Toyoda this previous week doubled down on his technique to proceed investing in a variety of electrified automobiles versus rivals similar to Volkswagen and Basic Motors, which have stated they’re going all-in on all-electric automobiles.
The plans may arguably cement Toyoda’s “I like automobiles” legacy or tarnish it, relying on how shortly drivers undertake electrical automobiles.
“For me, taking part in to win additionally means doing issues in a different way. Doing issues that others might query, however that we imagine will put us within the winner’s circle the longest,” he stated Wednesday throughout Toyota’s annual seller assembly in Las Vegas, which, by the way in which, was referred to as “Taking part in to Win.”
Akio Toyoda with new Toyota Supra
Paul Eisenstein | CNBC
Toyoda, who described Toyota as a big division retailer, stated the corporate’s objective “stays the identical, pleasing the widest potential vary of shoppers with the widest potential vary of powertrains.” These powertrains will embody hybrids and plug-in hybrids just like the Prius, hydrogen gasoline cell automobiles just like the Mirai and 15 all-electric battery fashions by 2025.
Apart from the EV plans, Toyoda mentioned a number of different points of the corporate’s enterprise final week through the seller assembly and a small roundtable with U.S. media.
EV laws and supplies
Toyoda reiterated that he doesn’t imagine all-electric automobiles will likely be adopted as shortly as coverage regulators and rivals suppose, as a consequence of a wide range of causes. He cited lack of infrastructure, pricing and the way clients’ decisions differ area to area as examples of potential roadblocks.
He believes it will likely be “tough” to meet current laws that decision for banning conventional automobiles with inner combustion engines by 2035, like California and New York have said they will adopt.
“Just like the fully autonomous cars that we are all supposed to be driving by now, EVs are just going to take longer to become mainstream than media would like us to believe,” Toyoda said in a recording of the remarks to dealers shown to reporters. “In the meantime, you have many options for customers.”
Toyoda also believes there will be “tremendous shortages” of lithium and battery grade nickel in the next five to 10 years, leading to production and supply chain problems.
Toyota’s goal is carbon neutrality by 2050, and not just through all-electric vehicles. Some have questioned the environmental impact of EVs when factoring in raw material mining and overall vehicle production.
Since the Prius launched in 1997, Toyota says it has sold more than 20 million electrified vehicles worldwide. The company says those sales have avoided 160 million tons of CO2 emissions, which is the equivalent to the impact of 5.5 million all-electric battery vehicles.
“Toyota can produce eight 40-mile plug-in hybrids for every one 320-mile battery electric vehicle and save up to eight times the carbon emitted into the atmosphere,” according to prepared remarks for Toyoda provided to media.
Toyota’s hesitancy to launch all-electric vehicles has been criticized by environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, which ranked the Japanese automaker at the bottom of its auto-industry decarbonization rankings the past two years.
Standing pat with dealers
Toyota has no plans to overhaul its franchised dealership network as it invests in electrified vehicles, like some competitors have announced.
“I know you are anxious about the future. I know you are worried about how this business will change. While I can’t predict the future, I can promise you this: You, me, us, this business, this franchised model is not going anywhere. It’s staying just as it is,” he told dealers to resounding applause.
The franchised dealer model has been under pressure after Tesla and newer EV startups began selling directly to consumers than rather through traditional dealers.
GM has offered buyouts to Buick and Cadillac dealers that don’t want to invest in EVs, while Ford last month announced dealers that want to sell EVs must become certified under one of two programs — with investments of $500,000 or $1.2 million.
As part of lighthearted and comedic comments to dealers, Toyoda said he danced when the automaker outsold GM last year for the first time ever in the U.S.
Despite Toyota executives saying the accomplishment wasn’t sustainable — GM led through the first half of this year — Toyoda still felt it was cause for celebration.
“At Toyota, we like to keep our head down and not talk about our success,” Toyoda said before reenacting the dance on stage. “But when I heard you became No. 1 in the U.S. last year, I actually did a little happy dance in my office.”


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It's the sweetest dream of every electric-car fan: a battery that could store enough energy to offer up to 1,000 miles of real-world range.
While it's not going to arrive in showrooms any time soon, Israeli startup Phinergy thinks its aluminum-air energy storage device might just be that battery.
Moreover, say CEO Aviv Tzidon, the company has signed a contract with a global automaker to deliver production volumes of the device starting in 2017.
Which isn't really all that far away in car time, since we're already seeing 2014 model-year cars on the road.
Filling up with water
The Bloomberg clip above, posted last Thursday, comes from reporter Elliott Gotkine driving a Citroen C1 minicar that's been modified to run as an electric car, with a Phinergy cell array mounted in the load bay.
The car's lithium-ion battery provides less than 100 miles of range, but the Phinergy aluminum-air cells acts as a range extender to provide up to an additional 1,000 miles.
The highlight of the video is a technician filling the test car with distilled water, while the projected range is shown rising on a display on the CEO's mobile phone.
The water serves as a base for the electrolyte through which ions pass to give off the energy that powers the test vehicle's electric motor.
In the test car, the water must be refilled "every few hundred kilometers"--perhaps every 200 miles.
Aluminum and air electrodes
Very simply, an aluminum-air battery uses an aluminum plate as the anode, and ambient air as the cathode, with the aluminum slowly being sacrificed as its molecules combine with oxygen to give off energy.
The basic chemical equation (courtesy of Wikipedia) is: 4Al + 3O2 + 6H2O → 4Al(OH)3 + energy
That is, four aluminum atoms, three oxygen molecules, and six water molecules combine to produce four molecules of hydrated aluminum oxide plus energy.
Historically, aluminum-air batteries have been confined to military applications because of the need to remove the aluminum oxide and replace the aluminum anode plates.
Phinergy says its patented cathode material allows oxygen from ambient air to enter the cell freely, while blocking contamination from carbon dioxide in the air--historically a cause of failure in aluminum-air cells.
It is also developing zinc-air batteries, which can be recharged electrically and do not sacrifice their metal electrode as the aluminum-air cells do.
Citroen test car fitted with Phinergy prototype aluminum-air battery
'Most promising candidates'
But in a 2002 study, researchers from the University of Rhode Island concluded that aluminum-air batteries were the only electric-car technology "projected to have a travel range comparable" to conventional cars.
The study said such batteries are the "most promising candidates...in terms of travel range, purchase price, fuel cost, and life-cycle cost" when compared to cars powered by internal-combustion engines.
Much higher energy density
Each aluminum plate, says Tzidon, has enough energy capacity to power the car for roughly 20 miles (we'd guesstimate it at perhaps 7 kWh), and the test car has 50 of those plates.
The entire battery, he says, weighs just 55 pounds (25 kilograms)--apparently giving it an energy density more than 100 times that of today's conventional lithium-ion pack.
We suspect that for a production vehicle, the battery might be considerably heavier once fitted with thermal conditioning and safety enclosures (which appear to be notably missing in the prototype).
Still, energy storage that's an order of magnitude higher in energy density than today's lithium-ion batteries would be a highly desirable technology for an automaker serious about electric cars--since it would essentially eliminate any issue of range anxiety.
As far as we know, there are no vehicles on the U.S. market today that offer 1,000 miles of continuous range using either gasoline or diesel fuel.
As with any early technology demonstration, many questions remain to be answered about how an aluminum-air battery would be used in high-volume production electric cars.


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Kawasaki Unveils 2008 Lineup
As expected, Kawasaki Motors Corp. elected to not introduce any new models for 2008, relying instead on the current lineup, highlighted by last year’s Ultra 250X, Watercraft World’s 2007 “Watercraft of the Year.”
In a somewhat unexpected move, however, the company discontinued the STX-12F three-seater and dramatically lowered the price of its STX-15F. How low? Try $8,099 for a craft that once was the flagship vehicle in the Kawasaki lineup. The move promises to truly shake up the lower end of the market, where 110-130 hp machines are the norm in this price range.
Elsewhere, the company has made tweaks to the popular Ultra 250X. Rather than the dual waterboxes featured in 2007, the 2008 Ultra will sport a single waterbox. The exhaust tube leading from the waterbox to the hull outlet also has been changed. It’s now a smaller diameter. The exhaust exit also has swapped sides in the hull. Kawasaki also has improved the spark plug cap for durability and added a third green-and-white color scheme for 2008.
Also of note, the Ultra is now Three Star compliant for ’08.
Clean Water Act Update
The American Watercraft Association (AWA) reports some progress on the Clean Water Act issue, where an amendment under consideration currently threatened to require all boat owners to purchase a federal permit in every state they planned to operate their watercraft.
The AWA reports that Florida Sen. Bill Nelson has dropped his amendment to review the plan in exchange for a commitment from California Sen. Barbara Boxer to address and preserve the 34-year-old exemption for recreational boating. “AWA applauds this bi-partisan effort,” noted Director Chris Manthos. psb
Copyright 2007 Powersports Business


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- Ielts British Council Vs AEO Which Is Better For Pakistani Students?
- Transform Windows 7 into Mac OS X 10.7 through Lion Skin Pack
- Google celebrates Pakistan’s 65th Independence Day with Dedicated Doodle
- Apple TV a new redesigned version may release soon
- Pakistan School Idol a New Student Singing Reality show on ATV Pakistan
With the steady advancement in IT Culture of Pakistan a lot of Internet Organisations are heading towards a rapidly growing Internet market of Pakistan for selling their products.
A lot of Internet Websites have realized the importance of Pakistani Audience on their Websites and have now started to create Content Admired by Pakistani Net Surfers.
In an Effort to Penetrate within the Computer Software Market of Pakistan The World’s Most Famous Software Development Solutions Company Microsoft has started advertising in Pakistan to promote its products.
It was 23rd March 2010 The Pakistan Resolution Day 70th Anniversary. Pakistani Media was giving coverage to Patriotic Anthems and Messages.
It was really good Listening to the transmission of One of the Pakistan’s most famous FM Radio station Radio One Fm 91 where the Pakistan Day transmission was sponsored by Microsft.
It was surprising to note that Microsft was promoting Internet Explorer 8 as a fast and secure web browser.
We were expecting the advertisment of Windows 7 and upcoming Internet Explorer 9.
It is worth Mentioning that Google Chrome the Browser developed and offered free of cost by Google has captured a large amount of Market Share in Pakistan as it is fast, secure and easy to handle with advanced features.
Although a lot of Individuals and Organisations prefer Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome still the built in Presence of Microsoft Internet Explorer in Windows has given it an edge and a majority of people use Internet Explorer because of availability and compatibility with Microsoft Windows.


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Crocs, Walmart, Unilever and others have stepped up during the coronavirus outbreak
Free coffee, donuts and shoes are among the items retailers and brands are bestowing on health professionals for the risks they’re taking combatting the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the freebies available for healthcare workers and first responders:
- Starbucks is giving a free tall brewed hot or iced coffee from March 25 through May 3 to anyone who “identifies themselves” as a police officer, firefighter, paramedic, doctor, nurse, hospital or medical staff member or a medical researcher;
- On March 25, Crocs began offering healthcare workers across the U.S. a free pair of clogs with free shipping while supplies last;
- Sweetgreen is delivering free fresh salads and bowls to hospitals in the cities it serves;
- Beginning today, Krispy Kreme will give out a free dozen glazed doughnuts every Monday to healthcare workers.
A second way companies are helping combat the virus is by providing safety equipment for health workers. Fanatics, Gap, Ralph Lauren and Canada Goose are among those making masks, gowns and/or scrubs for hospitals. Apple last week said it has sourced and is donating 10 million masks to the medical community in the U.S. Various alcohol and perfume brands are making hand sanitizers.
Walmart on March 18 committed $25 million to various organizations, including: $10 million for food banks, school meal programs and organizations that provide access to food for underserved populations; $10 million to “support local efforts” in the U.S. and around the world; and $5 million to help other countries fight the virus.
Nike’s founder and top executives are donating more than $15 million to support response efforts in its home state of Oregon. Amazon.com created a $5 million fund to support small businesses around its Seattle headquarters.
Unfortunately, many retailers and vendors find themselves foremost seeking to preserve cash in an uncertain environment.
Unilever stands out for offering €500 million ($580 million) in “cash flow relief to support livelihoods across its extended value chain,” including providing early payments to “vulnerable” small and medium-sized suppliers and offering credit to select small scale retail customers whose businesses rely on Unilever. Alan Jope, Unilever’s CEO, said in a statement, “The world is facing its greatest trial in decades.”
- Starbucks partners bring coffee and comfort to COVID-19 front-line responders – Starbucks
- Krispy Kreme to Give Away Thousands of Free Original Glazed Dozens to Thank Healthcare Community and Share Joy Among Customers and Neighbors – Krispy Kreme
- Walmart and the Walmart Foundation commit $25 million to global COVID-19 response effort – Walmart/Business Wire
- COVID-19 Community Response – Nike
- The world’s biggest retailers are using their factories to create hand sanitizer and hospital gowns and donating millions to help fight the coronavirus pandemic – Business Insider
- Helping to protect lives and livelihoods from the Covid-19 pandemic – Unilever
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What advice would you have for retailers and brands around supporting health professionals and other organizations fighting the coronavirus pandemic? Have you noticed any other support efforts that seem particularly praiseworthy or innovative?


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Following a mass layoff at Meta late final yr which affected 11,000 of its workers, the corporate introduced in the present day that it might be shedding one other 10,000 employees by way of a number of rounds.
Replace (March 14th, 2023): In line with a Facebook post by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Meta is shedding a further 10,000 workers throughout a number of rounds. It’s additionally set to shut hiring for five,000 open roles, and cancel extra low-priority initiatives. Layoffs are stated to start this week, first hitting the corporate’s recruiting group. A second weave in late April will have an effect on tech roles, whereas a 3rd in late Might will have an effect on enterprise roles.
Within the publish, Zuckerberg calls this the “12 months of Effectivity,” which the Meta chief says will optimize distributed work, improve developer productiveness and tooling, and make the group flatter by eradicating a number of layers of administration. Zuckerberg additionally hopes to make it leaner by prioritizing higher-priority initiatives.
Notably, Zuckerberg doesn’t point out particular initiatives, or XR in any capability. In the meantime, the corporate has lowered the value of each Quest 2 and Quest Professional earlier than the launch of Quest 3, which has come amid studies that Meta is planning a less expensive follow-up to Quest 3 in 2024 along with its AR initiatives.
The unique article detailing the primary giant layoff spherical follows beneath:
Unique Article (November ninth, 2022): Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated this in an inside memo obtained by Reuters:
“Not solely has on-line commerce returned to [pre-covid] prior traits, however the macroeconomic downturn, elevated competitors, and advertisements sign loss have brought about our income to be a lot decrease than I’d anticipated,” Zuckerberg stated. “I received this fallacious, and I take duty for that.”
Meta plans to chop discretionary spending and prolong its hiring freeze by way of the primary quarter, Reuters maintains. Laid off Meta workers are stated to obtain 16 weeks of base pay plus two extra weeks for yearly of service, in addition to all remaining paid time without work, as part of the severance bundle.
It’s not sure what share of layoffs will have an effect on these working in Actuality Labs. We’ve reached out to Meta for additional remark and can replace this if/after we hear again.
Hassle in XR Paradise?
Meta’s most up-to-date quarterly earnings spelled hassle when it was launched final month. Near celebrating its first yr after rebranding from Fb to turn out to be a self-described ‘metaverse’ firm, Meta battled slumping revenues throughout a number of divisions, not least of which was its XR centerpiece Actuality Labs, which took an anticipated hit that didn’t sit proper with traders.
Whereas Meta has been aggressively spending on its XR division over the previous few years, its current shift away from Fb amid all-time low revenues and document inflation has made layoffs virtually a assure to maintain inventory costs from plummeting additional.
Again in Might, Reuters reported that hiring freezes would have an effect on Actuality Labs, which has added greater than 13,000 workers final yr and almost 6,000 within the first quarter this yr.
Zuckerberg warned on the time that Actuality Labs in all probability wouldn’t really revenue for at the very least decade. Within the meantime, the Meta’s XR efforts has price the corporate $10.2 billion in 2021 and one other $3 billion within the first quarter this yr.
In the meantime, Meta has simply launched its $1,500 Meta Quest Professional combined actuality headset for prosumers and enterprise, and plans to launch a consumer-focused follow-up, possible dubbed Quest 3, someday in 2023.
VR Health Insider Podcast – Episode 13: Get PIPxr
No, you received’t get wealthy fast by cutting-and-pasting into ChatGPT – Hypergrid Enterprise
A short historical past of VR and AR
5 VR Video games We’re Most Excited for From Quest Gaming Showcase – Street to VR
Apple’s Headset Reportedly Will not Ship Till Later This Yr


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The images show people gathered in St. Peter's Square in Rome.*
The top photo is from 2005, two years before Apple's launch of the iPhone spawned the smartphone and tablet era.
The bottom photo is from 2013.
Hard to believe how much the world has changed in eight years.
*UPDATE: The Washington Post investigated these photos and found an important footnote, which is that the top photo was taken during the funeral procession for Pope John Paul II, rather than the announcement of the election of the new pope like the 2013 photo. (It would presumably have been inappropriate to be frantically recording the funeral procession.) The Post also found other photos of the announcement of the new pope in 2005. Those photos do show a few observers recording the event, though nothing like the photo in 2013.


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Electric Chevrolet Silverado EV reservations hit 110,000, GM CEO Mary Barra says
General Motors believes in an ‘all-electric’ future: CEO Mary Barra
GM CEO Mary Barra reveals the automakers plan to phase out internal combustion vehicles on ‘The Claman Countdown.’
The Chevrolet Silverado EV is racking up reservations like lightning. The Ford F-150 Lightning, that is.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra said during the automaker's earnings call on Tuesday night that it has received over 110,000 reservations for the all-electric pickup since it was revealed during CES in early January.