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Hello and welcome to Daily Crunch for July 29, 2021. Between the IPO cycle and earnings it has been quite the day. And Nikola’s founder was indicted on three counts of fraud. It’s busy! Let’s get into it! — Alex
The TechCrunch Top 3 (OK, four, but it’s about Scarlett Johansson)
- Nikola founder indicted on fraud charges: From the you saw this coming files, former Nikola CEO and walking bottle of Mountain Dew Trevor Milton was indicted on three counts of fraud. Per the federal indictment unsealed by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan on Thursday, the former exec “engaged in a fraudulent scheme to deceive retail investors.” Not a great day for SPACs, frankly.
- Microsoft may invest in hotel unicorn OYO: Here’s an odd one. Microsoft, the U.S. software giant, may invest in OYO, the India-based hotels startup that raised capital from SoftBank’s first Vision Fund. Why? Per our reporting, there may be some sort of cloud deal in the mix. Both parties are staying mum for now.
- The Latin American startup market is hitting its stride: On the back of an epic boom in venture investment, founders in Latin America are finally getting their due, investors told TechCrunch. Between locally sourced capital, external funds and economies in the region that are increasingly digitally enabled, it’s a bullish time to build in the region.
- Scarlett Johansson files suit over Disney+ ‘Black Widow’ release: The actress alleges Disney breached its agreement with her when it released the Marvel flick on streaming service Disney+ at the same time it landed in theaters. Johansson’s attorneys say Disney is “hiding behind COVID-19,” but with the delta variant being very much a problem, we must say we’d prefer to observe our Avengers films from our couches for the time being.
- Tenderly wants more dApps: Decentralized apps, or dApps, are a big category in the larger blockchain economy. And Tenderly, a startup that just raised $15.3 million, wants folks to build more of them. The company has built a “a developer platform for Ethereum devs to monitor and test the smart contracts that power their decentralized apps.”
- Online grocery continues to attract capital: This time it’s Merqueo, which operates an on-demand service in Latin America. Between grocery delivery and so-called “instant” grocery startups, lots of capital is finding its way into the business of bringing food to folks’ houses. Merqueo just raised a $50 million Series C for its efforts.
- La Haus raises $100M for its online real estate marketplace: La Haus is a Colombian startup, as is Merqueo. See, we told you that Latin America was busy! In this case, La Haus raised $50 million in equity capital and $50 million in debt. Per our reporting, the company saw “transactions conducted on its Mexico portal climb by nearly 10x in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the 2020 second quarter.” Not bad!
- More money for mental health: Talkiatry announced earlier today that it has raised a $20 million Series A led by Left Lane Capital. The startup wants to make psychiatry services available through insurance providers and has partnered with a host of them. Anything to make mental health care easier and cheaper for consumers is good by us.
- Hello Divorce raises $2M so your divorce won’t cost $2M: Getting divorced is about as much fun as putting broken glass in your shoe while taking a hike. At least that’s what our friends have told us. Hello Divorce wants to make the whole process better. Given that divorce is something that happens rather often to lots of folks, it certainly won’t lack for TAM.
- Pangea raises $2M for its student labor marketplace: Hailing from Providence, Rhode Island, Pangea announced a seed round today. The company’s service connects digitally savvy college students with businesses looking for freelance talent. GMV is rising at the company, and now it has more capital in its accounts than ever. Let’s see how it grows the rest of the year.
- Odoo sells $215M of its stock: Now worth over €2 billion, Odoo, an open-source business management software play, is the first unicorn out of Wallonia, a region in Belgium. The round was purely secondary, notably. The company provides most of its software for free, while charging for certain features.
- Employee-success startup CultureAmp raises $100M: The startup, which was founded to let companies poll their workers, is now worth $150 million. You can think of it as management analytics, providing “turnover prediction and team goal tracking,” per our own reporting.
- In case you were looking for something entirely different, we present a review of Nothing’s new earpods.
Livestream e-commerce: Why companies and brands need to tune in
This year, livestream viewers in China are projected to spend more than $60 billion on digital shopping experiences where they can interact with influencers in real time.
Promoting everything from cosmetics to food, social media stars use Taobao, TikTok and other platforms to tout products and answer live questions.
On Taobao’s Single’s Day Global Shopping Festival in 2020, livestreams racked up $6 billion in sales, twice as much revenue as the year prior.
Sensing a trend, Western startups are getting in on the action, with companies like Whatnot and PopShop.Live raising rounds to build out their infrastructure. Looking forward, Alanna Gregory, senior global director at Afterpay, says she foresees four major trends:
- SaaS streaming tools.
- Host discovery and outreach tools.
- Host marketplaces and agencies.
“For brands, SaaS streaming tools will be the most impactful way to take advantage of livestream commerce trends,” Gregory writes in an Extra Crunch guest post. “All of this will be incredibly transformative.”
(Extra Crunch is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)
Big Tech Inc.
We went a bit long on the startup side of things, so let’s be brief when it comes to Big Tech.
- First up, Amazon’s FireTV Cube now supports Zoom. Everything should support Zoom. Zoom is good. So, it’s both unsurprising and welcome that Amazon is building out greater integration with the video chat provider.
- Next, Facebook’s next product will be a collab with Ray-Ban to build smart glasses. How you feel about this bit of news will depend on what you think about Facebook, but as a former Google Glass fan I suppose I am willing to wait to make judgment.
- PayPal has a super app in the wings, a service that will include messaging. Do we want this? I don’t know, but super apps — mobile applications that encompass a wide range of services in a single package — are big around the world, so why not here in U.S. as well?
TechCrunch Experts: Growth Marketing
We’re reaching out to startup founders to tell us who they turn to when they want the most up-to-date growth marketing practices. Fill out the survey here.
Read one of the testimonials we’ve received below!
Marketer: Scott Graham
Recommended by: Heather Larrabee, CMO, FORM
Testimonial: “He was referred to us and blew our socks off from his initial analysis. He’s the rare growth adviser expert at strategy and execution. He’s a servant leader, a systems thinker, integrates with the team with empathy and curiosity like he’s an internal teammate, brings a wealth of cutting-edge knowledge, and a stable of incredible partners and resources. He runs with the best and the brightest, but he’s the first one on and the last one off for the day, putting in the time to make things great. He has an uncanny ability to communicate complex concepts and make them accessible for all audiences, and he’s been a foundational game changer for our business and many others.”


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- As Nike deepens its relationship with key wholesale partners, the athletics retailer on Wednesday announced in a press release that its loyalty program would be available alongside Dick's Sporting Goods' in the Dick's mobile app.
- Through the joint loyalty experience, customers can shop an expanded selection of Nike footwear and apparel, access exclusive product launches and collections, and attend in-store events at Dick's House of Sport locations and other stores.
- The retailers both expect to reach more customers through the combined loyalty offering, and will work together in both the physical and digital environments to "deliver enhanced convenience, new experiences and content for customers."
The next step in a long partnership, Dick's and Nike are tying together the Dick's Scorecard and Nike Membership loyalty programs within the Dick's app so customers of both can connect their accounts and receive loyalty perks from both retailers.
"Dick's and Nike have a long and successful history of working together, and this partnership represents a significant strengthening of our relationship," Lauren Hobart, president and CEO of Dick's, said in a statement. "We are both focused on delivering best-in-class experiences and products and creating the best omnichannel experience for our athletes. Combining our capabilities in these areas will create a unique experience in the market for athletes who shop with Dick's and Nike."
Indeed, as Nike has moved further away from wholesale over the years in favor of its own channels, Dick's has been one of the few partners it has prioritized. In June, Nike named Dick's among three other "large strategic partners" it works closely with, alongside Foot Locker and JD Sports. That strong relationship has been a big part of Dick's success as well, according to analysts.
Nike's loyalty programs and approach to data have been another spoke in the wheel as the retailer has worked to craft an entire ecosystem around its shoppers. Many of its store concepts incorporate the Nike loyalty program to such an extent that customers that aren't members are at somewhat of a disadvantage.
"You don't have to be a member to shop in the Nike Rise store," Daniel Heaf, vice president of Nike Direct, said over the summer about one of Nike's newest concepts, "but it is unquestionably a better experience if you are because you can access all the services."
This move to tie its loyalty program to Dick's mobile app is another way to improve the experience for shoppers. According to Sarah Mensah, vice president and general manager of North America at Nike, the brand's loyalty program "fuels deeper engagement" and gives customers access to "the very best of Nike." The integration with Dick's mobile app will help expand that offering to wherever Nike's customers like to shop, and allow Nike to continue to control its relationship with shoppers.
"Nike Membership is how we serve our consumer personally," Mensah said in a statement.
Nike and Dick's are not the only ones to pursue a joint loyalty experience. Ulta and Target, in addition to opening beauty shop-in-shops within the mass merchant's stores, also announced plans to integrate their loyalty programs in some way so that Ulta members shopping at Target can still benefit from their Ulta membership and vice versa.

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By Lauren Howells.
Communication giants EE and Virgin Media have been fined a combined total of £13.3 million by Ofcom, for overcharging phone and broadband customers who wanted to leave their contracts early.
Ofcom said that the fines were the result of investigations into EE’s and Virgin Media’s early-exit charges.
Of the nearly 500,000 customers affected, around 400,000 were EE customers and almost 82,000 were with Virgin Media.
Ofcom fined EE £6.3 million and Virgin Media £7 million
Ofcom fined EE £6.3 million and Virgin Media £7 million for breaking consumer protection rules after both levied “excessive charges” to those customers who wanted to end their contracts early.
The law currently allows phone and broadband companies to charge customers who decide to leave their contracts early, but under Ofcom’s rules, those charges must be made clear to customers and must not result in switching to another provider becoming too costly.
“failed to make sufficiently clear” what customers had to pay
The regulator discovered that around 400,000 EE customers who ended their contracts early were over-billed and ended up overpaying by up to £4.3 million and nearly 82,000 Virgin Media customers were overcharged by a total of just under £2.8 million. Ofcom said that both companies had “failed to make sufficiently clear” what customers would have to pay if they ended their contract early. It also said that both EE’s and Virgin Media’s charges had disincentivised customers from switching to another provider, which is against Ofcom rules.
Ofcom said that EE has now refunded just over £2.7 million to those customers affected who it has been able to identify and has agreed to change its terms and significantly reduce its charges.
Virgin Media has now refunded or made donations to charity in respect of 99.8% of affected customers. It has also significantly reduced its early-exit charges by an average of 30%. In addition to this, those customers who move house within the Virgin Media network can now continue their existing contract at their new address.
Fines send a clear message
Gaucho Rasmussen, Ofcom’s Director of Investigations and Enforcement, said:
“EE and Virgin Media broke our rules by overcharging people who ended their contracts early. Those people were left out of pocket, and the charges amounted to millions of pounds.
“That is unacceptable. These fines send a clear message to all phone and broadband firms that they must play by the rules, in the interests of their customers.”
Virgin Media has said that it “strongly disagrees” with Ofcom’s decision and believes it to be “both unjustified and disproportionate”. It intends to appeal Ofcom’s decision in the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
EE recognise it had “made a mistake”
An EE spokesperson said that they accepted Ofcom’s findings and recognised that they had made a mistake.
“We apologise to customers with discounted tariffs who paid more than they should have when cancelling their contracts early”.


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The iPad Mini doesn't exist. Not yet. It could, possibly as soon as this fall — despite the best wishes of Steve Jobs — and it will certainly be a punch right to the gut of every Android tablet manufacturer out there.
Manufacturers have effectively ceded to the iPad's dominance, which has had ascendancy over the tablet market since it was introduced in 2010. Ask anyone on the street to name an alternative to Apple's tab (barring the Kindle Fire) and I guarantee they'd be hard pressed to call one out. That's the kind of mind (and market) share Apple has achieved over the past few years. Who can, or even wants to, compete with that?
That's not to say there aren't exceptional options out there. Most recently, Asus launched its Transformer Pad Infinity, which is a fantastic Android tablet that deserves a wider audience. But it won't get the attention, even though it has superior specs and great software. Not while the iPad and its expansive app ecosystem are around.
Amazon was the first to devise a new way to approach Apple's puissance. Instead of merely scaling down to a smaller form factor, the online retailer also shrunk the price significantly when it introduced the Kindle Fire last year. Seriously, $200 for what you get is almost on the impulse buy level. By taking an initial hit on individual units sold, Amazon banked on recouping its losses through its ecosystem of apps, books, movies and music. While the device wasn't particularly innovative in and of itself, the price was.
The iPad right now is expensive. It is a premium item that would even take a nibble out of Scrooge McDuck's fortune. Not everyone can afford $500+ of machinery in addition to a computer or smartphone, whether it's an iPad or not — though that hasn't stopped the millions and millions of consumers around the world from picking Apple's tab up. As such, manufacturers are beginning to follow Amazon's lead.
Google's new Nexus 7, while not directly competing with the iPad itself, will no doubt give a lot of folks food for thought when weighing up a $500 purchase over a tablet that costs $200. Price alone, however, doesn't automatically mean success for anyone who isn't Apple. According to data collected from CIRP, the new iPad's biggest competitor right now is the $400 iPad 2, even with cheaper and higher spec'd options on the market.
I have no doubts the Nexus 7 will be successful. It has the best version of Android Google has ever released, and it has hardware that feels much more premium than the $200 asking price would suggest. But if Apple crashed the party with an iPad Mini? Google's device might not even have the chance to reach its full market potential. That's a shame.
Google's products, as they exist now, are still by and large designed by and for geeks. Google Glass? Are people ready to wear a computer on their face? There's no doubt that Android smartphones have been a runaway success, but Android tablets? Not so much. The Nexus 7 can change that. The iPad Mini can ruin that forever.
Steve Jobs previously said that tablets in the 7-inch range are "too small to express the software." But things change, and the market evolves. When Jobs uttered those words back in 2010, the iPad essentially had no competition. Today? It's being undercut by two very well known companies. Do you expect Apple to sit around and allow that to happen, especially with Cook at the helm, a guy who has been described as being much more business minded than Jobs?
By introducing a smaller iPad, Apple will attract an audience that may have felt the Cupertino company's current tab was too big. A 9.7-inch screen is great for media consumption at home, but that size may be a bit too cumbersome to carry and put away on a whim while out and about. And the iPod Touch? Too small for most.
But the most important thing? A smaller iPad would immediately stomp out any and all threats.
Apple could market it like this: The new iPad is more for "content creation," a high-end device for those looking for great specs, storage and screen real estate. An iPad Mini can be purely, unequivocally for media consumption, and media consumption alone — apps, games, movies, books and magazines. It'll be thin, light, fast and have access to the largest ecosystem on the market. And if it's priced at $250-$350 range, do you expect most average (stress, average) consumers to pick up a Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire over that kind of deal?
Apple has consistently varied sizes of its product lineup to appeal to a wider market. Just look at the iPod family: the iPod, iPod mini, iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod Touch — all of which helped the Cupertino company completely and utterly dominate the portable music player industry. Over the past three years, the iPad as we know it hasn't changed much — it added a camera here, a better screen there and a faster processor, all while slimming the device down. Generally, though, it's very much the same product. Why change a good thing? With an iPad Mini, Apple could vary it's iPad lineup enough to entice holdouts, giving the market three flavors to choose from — new iPad, iPad 2 and iPad Mini. And if it hits around the suspected October timeframe, that would align the device perfectly to do battle during the busy holiday period.
The potential x-factor here is whether or not Apple is willing to cannibalize sales of iPads it sells now, because that'll almost certainly happen. But at the expense of stifling interest in competing 7-inch tabs? Why not? Apple's disdain for everything Android is consuming the company, as proved by the numerous lawsuits it continues to jump into around the world.
The Cupertino company absolutely has money to burn, and it's not content with world domination — it wants to wipe everyone else off the map. The iPad Mini, if it comes to exist, could turn out to be a calculated step toward making that happen.


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100 Stories of Growth in the media
As the 100 Stories of Growth campaign gains momentum, our message is reaching more and more people across the UK. And the campaign is being recognised by the media.
Check out the latest media coverage of the campaign.
A growth or scale-up entrepreneur’s journey is often a story of great optimism, enthusiasm and boundless energy early on. Their business has typically succeeded at the start-up phase: the business model is proven, revenues are flowing in and even more growth is on the cards. So what’s not to celebrate?
The World Health Organisation has recognised burnout as an illness, which is important for improving understanding of the relationship between work and wellbeing. Guy Tolhurst updates its 20,000 readers about the latest Mindful Investor event and the forward-thinking investors who are leading the way.
Guy Tolhurst is an entrepreneur, author and small business champion. He runs three small businesses that help investment to flow into growing companies, and this year will host the first Growth Finance Awards, celebrating the lenders that offer ‘more than finance’ to SMEs.
Guy Tolhurst announces the launch of Mindful Investor in CityAM, explaining the benefits of creating a more inclusive and supportive business culture.
Guy Tolhurst, leader of a new mental health initiative for businesses, on the mental and emotional toll entrepreneurship can have, and why we need a rethink on investor support.
“In the same way our sporting stars do, I passionately believe founders need the right people, tools and support around them to perform at their best on a national or global stage; and the courage to openly discuss the pressures and challenges they face to sustain growth in this competitive environment,” says Guy Tolhurst.
Guy Tolhurst speaks to Iain Dale about the pressure, stress and anxiety that come with external funding for a business. He discusses the How they did it book and the upcoming Mindful Investor initiative. Listen to their frank conversation about founders’ and CEOs’ mental health and how important mentorship is for budding entrepreneurs.
SME champion Guy Tolhurst touches on the fragile relationship between founder and shareholder, and how understanding pressure is key to growth.
An entrepreneur from Richmond has released an inspiring and motivational coffee table book which details candid stories of business and personal growth from 100 founders and CEOs.
100 Stories of Growth: How they did it has made the select list of CEO Today Magazine.
Ahead of the publication of the How they did it book, eporta founder Aneeqa Kahn explains why she believes it’s been important to profile women founders, bringing their inspiring stories to a wider audience of entrepreneurs.
On the brink of divorce, destitution and despondency: Entrepreneurs share their darkest hours as a part of Don’t Lose It initiative, powered by the 100 Stories of Growth campaign.
Guy Tolhurst asks: ‘Shouldn’t investors also be asking how much sleep their whizz-kids are getting?’
Using his personal experiences and the founders’ stories shared with the 100 Stories of Growth campaign, Guy Tolhurst addresses the flaws of relationships between investors and business leaders and offers solutions to the issue.
Speaking to talkRADIO, Guy Tolhurst shares a personal account of his mental wellbeing struggles while running three businesses. He reveals the findings of the 100 Stories of Growth campaign’s wellbeing and mental health survey of founders. Tolhurst also talks about the support they need and explains how social expectations can affect business founders’ mental health.
Guy Tolhurst talks to the Telegraph about how being an SME founder put a strain on his mental wellbeing. He also discusses the impact of the 100 Stories of Growth campaign on promoting mental health awareness among entrepreneurs.
Guy Tolhurst shares his personal story with the BBC of how being a business founder has affected his mental health to break the taboo about entrepreneurs’ mental health issues.
One quarter of British entrepreneurs say that growing their business has affected their mental health, and 8% have sought medical advice, a new study by Intelligent Partnership reveals.
Founders of some of the UK’s top high-growth businesses used World Mental Health Day to share the personal toll that building a successful company has had on their wellbeing.
The Don’t Lose It Initiative, encouraging entrepreneurs to be more open about the challenges they face, launches today ahead of World Mental Health Day.
SME leaders must find the right capital to help their business grow, says mentor and SME champion Guy Tolhurst.
Julie Chen, co-founder of the Cheeky Panda, one of the companies showcased in the 100 Stories of Growth campaign, shares her top tips on how to successfully raise money via crowdfunding.
Guy Tolhurst talks about the business lessons he learnt from quitting his studies and why building emotional resilience is so crucial for new entrepreneurs. He also shares takeaways from the 100 Stories of Growth campaign.
In a guest column, Guy Tolhurst explores self-belief, the investment runway and emotional wellbeing in the UK’s growth company community.
Sky News’ Sunrise journalists invited Guy Tolhurst and Rachel Carrell from Koru Kids to talk about female business founders. They discussed how female priorities are different from those of male leaders and highlighted the differences in investment between male- and female-led businesses.
Getting To Know You: Guy Tolhurst, entrepreneur, business mentor & founder, Intelligent Partnership.
Business Matters talks to Guy Tolhurst about who inspires him in business and what he’d do if he could turn his business clock back. He also introduces 100 Stories of Growth campaign and gives advice to start-up and scale-up businesses.
London Live interviewed Guy Tolhurst and Rachel Carrell from Koru Kids, featured in the campaign. They talk about our preliminary research findings and challenges that start-ups face on their journey to scale up.
Guy Tolhurst shares tips and guidance for scaling-up companies while announcing the launch of 100 Stories of Growth Campaign.
ES announces the launch of the campaign.


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A coffee enthusiast in St. Andrews, N.B., has learned the customer may not always be right.
After complaining three times about "burnt" decaffeinated coffee at the local Tim Hortons, Jimmy Craig is now banned for life from that outlet and the one in nearby St. Stephen.
"It was like brown, burnt water," said Craig. "I almost, you know, got sick in the sink."
Craig said he voiced his concerns to the store manager and corporate office, then got a meeting with the owner, Edwin Dow.
That's when Dow served Craig with a letter banning him under the province's trespass act.
"I was baffled," said Craig. "It didn't make any sense at all. All I wanted to do was bring it to his attention that there was a problem with the consistency of his product.
"I don't see this is a way to treat people. Whatever happened to the customer is always right?"
Dow contends his staff went the extra mile to satisfy Craig, brewing fresh pots of decaf on request.
He said Craig was upsetting his staff and he was tired of his complaints, so he banned him.
Craig has contacted a lawyer to try to get the ban overturned.
Meanwhile, he can only return to the Tim Hortons if he's on the job as a paramedic, responding to a medical emergency.
So he's brewing his own coffee at home, which, he said, is cheaper and always fresh.


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If you've been shopping exclusively for a luxury import, thinking you already know all about Cadillacs, you might want to...
Cadillac is considering expanding the Escalade nameplate to include a large crossover.
Read This Article
On August 22, exactly 110 years ago, Henry M.
The Nurburgring is a racetrack located in Nurburg, Germany and is considered one of the most demanding tracks in the world.
The first month of 2013 is already in the books and it's already mimicking what we saw in 2012.


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In Berlin, retrofitted lampposts can charge electric vehicles
We’re constantly looking for innovative ways to improve the Springwise experience, and so we’re now introducing BeeLine Reader, a new technology that helps you read more quickly and efficiently. To learn more about BeeLine Reader, an award-winning startup funded by Intel Capital, see BeeLineReader.com.
The fleet of electric vehicles is growing at a very encouraging rate — especially in the US where tax credits have been offered as incentives since 2008. We have already seen innovations such as the EV Arc — a parking space sized platform that can charge vehicles using energy from the sun. Now, Ubitricity hope to spur on the adoption of renewable transport further by allowing consumers to charge anywhere with their portable charging device. Ubitricity — the Berlin based start-up — is leading a transatlantic venture to do away with sophisticated but costly charging stations for electric vehicles. In…
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Gamers in India are waiting patiently for the launch of the much anticipated FAU-G in November. But, we are now at the end of November, there is no update on when the battle royal game will be launched by nCORE games.
There were speculations of the game releasing in Diwali, but the game did not arrive.
“Good always triumphs over evil,the light will always conquer the darkness.May victory bless Fearless And United Guards, our FAU-G. Launching in November 2020!” NCORE Games had tweeted on the occasion of Dusshera.
The build-up for PUBG Mobile India relaunch has been massive and that has unfortunately impacted another game which was dubbed as the alternative of PUBG. FAU-G, which was built by nCORE Games and which was announced by Bollywood star Akshay Kumar in September, has been pushed to the background due to the build-up around PUBG Mobile India.
The launch of FAU-G might not be on par with that of PUBG Mobile India, but there is still some hype around the game. According to one website, there are already over 134k pre-registrations for the game. However, the pre-registration page of FAU-G surfaced on TapTap had crossed the 60000-mark and the page had over 80000 followers a week back. However, the authenticity of the page is in doubt in the wake of no confirmed statement
The full form of FAU-G is Fearless And United-Guards and it will be war game and in a proper battlefield. The game has been developed by nCORE Games, a Bengaluru based mobile games and interactive entertainment company. Akshay Kumar, in his tweet, stated stated that the players would also learn about the soldiers’ sacrifices and that 20 percent of the net revenue generated will be donated to the ‘Bharat Ke Veer’ trust.
It is expected to replay a war-like situation. There are reports that the first stage of FAU-G will be modeled on the tense situation in Galwan Valley, Ladakh. In August, there was a tense standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan which saw about 20 soldiers getting killed. This resulted in a string of anti-China protests and it saw many Chinese apps being shut down by the Central Government. No, apparently, it will be added as a feature in the later updates. Multi-player options are reportedly not available in the first update.
The game will go head-to-head with PUBG in an effort to capture the indian market.
Recently, PUBG India became a registered company on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website with ownership details and address. However, that is not the first step in the game’s relaunch. “Any banned entity can’t operate just by floating new company. This even Tik Tok or anyone else can do. They will have to get permissions from MEITY to operate once again in India,” a source told InsideSports.
However, the current dynamics in India suggest that for any person or business to operate legitimately in India, they require a PAN or a GST Number. PUBG Mobile India does not have either and without that, they cannot start operating or dream of a comeback.
When it comes to data security, PUBG Mobile India seems to have ticked off one box with their tie-up with Microsoft Azure. Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing service created by Microsoft for building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and services through Microsoft-managed data centers. Microsoft Azure manages the computing and storage of resources on Microsoft’s data centers and this is what primarily keeps the data, such as servers and user information, secure.
The secure and safe storage of user information is what will ensure PUBG Mobile India makes a grand comeback. Security breach of user data was cited as the major reason behind the PUBG Mobile ban. With Tencent, the Chinese entity also being cut off from the Indian market and KRAFTON tying up with Microsoft Azure, PUBG Mobile’s passage to India is now virtually assured.
This article is auto-generated by Algorithm Source: www.dnaindia.com


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MILAN — Yoox SpA shares closed up 11.67 percent at 11.15 euros, or $14.18 at current exchange, on the Milan Stock Exchange Thursday following rumors about the Italian online retailer and PPR SA that reached a boiling point that day. So much so that each company issued a clarification about their relations in the afternoon.
Speculation in Milan had been mounting about PPR’s interest in taking a controlling stake in Yoox, while rumors of a joint venture between the two groups emerged in Paris. In their statements, PPR and Yoox said they are “currently holding commercial discussions” with one another as “part of the two groups’ normal business activities, to examine the possibility of working together on an e-commerce project. No definitive agreement has been signed to date.”
According to Milan-based sources, PPR, parent company of brands ranging from Gucci and Balenciaga to Puma and Stella McCartney, is interested in expanding its online business and sees Yoox as a possible platform to help develop it. Yoox has a multibrand division, which comprises online stores Yoox.com, Thecorner.com and its newly launched footwear store Shoescribe.com, and operates stores for designers including Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Brunello Cucinelli and Marni.


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US supermarket titan embraces ugly fruit and vegetables, follows success in Australia
AMERICA’S largest supermarket chain by revenue, Kroger has announced it is launching an imperfect product program called Peculiar Picks – fruits and vegetables that don’t meet the typical retail aesthetic standards, in an effort to reduce food wastage.
Kroger’s senior innovation manager Nicole Davis told attendees at the recent US Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Food Forward Summit that the new brand will go live in 2019.
The program will fall under the company’s Zero Hunger, Zero Waste initiative that aims to eliminate waste across the company by 2025.
But this movement is not new to the industry. Australian retailers such as Woolworths and Harris Farm Markets successfully rolled out similar programs a few years back.
In September 2014, Harris Farm Markets (NSW) launched its imperfect picks range and sold it up to 50 per cent cheaper than its usual range.
25% of ‘waste food’ saved
“The imperfect picks range at Harris Farm is reducing the 25 per cent of major fruit and vegetable lines which are wasted each year and as a result we are able to help Aussie farmers get their produce on shelf. It’s even better that NSW agrees, having purchased over 18 million kilos,” said Harris Farm Markets’ co-CEO Tristan Harris.
The retailer decided to double the imperfect range its stores in May 2016 as a move to further cement its commitment to reduce food wastage.
“We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response from our customers who previously might have thought twice about stocking up on everyday fruit and veg that broke the budget,” Harris said.
Similarly, Woolworths has been selling its Odd Bunch range since late 2014.
“Australians have bought more than 100 million kilos of this fruit and vegetable, helping to reduce food waste and support our growers,” according to a Woolworths spokesperson.
“Odd Bunch has proved incredibly popular with customers, growing 20 per cent in the last financial year, and we continue to look for opportunities to increase the range.”
The Kroger Co., or simply Kroger, is an American retailing company founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the United States’s largest supermarket chain by revenue ($115.34 billion for fiscal year 2016), the second-largest general retailer (behind Walmart) and the seventeenth largest company in the United States. Kroger is also the third-largest retailer in the world and the third largest private employer in the United States.
Also in Australian Food News
- See Kroger’s top five food trends for 2019
- See Europe’s award-winning alternative-protein startups
- Jobs growth and savings support Q4 retail spending but wage growth needed to sustain or improve the ‘steady’ figures
- Snapshot: Western Sydney is a food and grocery powerhouse
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Moments before his September 2007 arraignment on murder charges in the beating death of a Kutztown University student, Kenneth Kline smiled to a crowd of onlookers and greeted them with two middle fingers.
Sporting a Mohawk hairstyle, a mustache, a black T-shirt and jeans, the young Allentown man personified arrogance and defiance. His attorney, Eric Dowdle of Allentown, knew an image adjustment was required.
So when Kline appeared at his Berks County murder trial 14 months later, his hair was short and even, his mustache and brash attitude were gone and his attire was limited to stylish suits and ties.
That's because Dowdle and his brethren in the legal community know the appearance of a client can sway a jury one way or the other almost much as much as their arguments. And turning off jurors or judges with sloppy or offensive attire, non-traditional hairstyles, facial jewelry and tattoos can have devastating consequences.
"With a Mohawk, you're drawing attention to yourself," Dowdle said. "If a certain hairstyle looks appealing to you … it may be ultra-hip and ultra-cool but it may galvanize people against you, and you can't afford that."
"Hair grows back," Dowdle said. "Time doesn't."
Dressing defendants has become such a science for some attorneys that when they're not playing the role of fashion adviser or shopping for clients' clothes with their own money, they're often employing consultants to do the job for them.
Sending the right message
Tara Trask, a San Francisco-based trial consultant who has assisted Oprah Winfrey and television network ABC in lawsuits, says even the texture of clothes worn by defendants and witnesses can send messages. She said someone accused of a white-collar crime such as embezzling shouldn't wear a slick silver or blue suit, but a tweed blazer with earth tones and elbow patches.
Trask says the key is making witnesses and defendants look good, but "benign." Eyewear, she said, is the subject of some debate. Glasses can make someone look smarter, but attorneys don't always want that in a case in which a complicated scheme is alleged, she said.
Lehigh County public defender Karen Schular reaches into her own pockets to buy her clients' trial outfits when they don't have nice clothes. She wants her clients to look appropriate, but she doesn't want their attire to be over-exaggerated.
"You don't want a $200 suit on someone who hasn't graduated high school," Schular said. "You shouldn't try to turn someone into something they're not."
A flashpoint for what not to do came last month when actress Lindsay Lohan showed up in a Los Angeles courtroom to answer felony theft charges while wearing a body-hugging white mini-dress.
"There's no question that was inappropriate," Trask said of the dress. "It was disrespectful. It was better-suited for going out to a club."
Lohan's decision to write "F--- U" on the nail of her middle finger for a probation violation hearing last July also was viewed as a no-no that could have negatively affected her case.
Lehigh County Judge Robert L. Steinberg has seen his share of fashion faux pas over the years.
He said one woman showed up for a hearing on a simple assault charge wearing a Fighting Irish sweatshirt. Another wore a shirt that read, "This is where I nod and act like I'm listening."
"Some judges might get angry, but I think it's funny," the judge said.
Steinberg said he's seen defendants come to court on DUI charges with clothes bearing the names of beer companies while some charged with drug offenses have donned shirts with marijuana leaves.
"One of the attorneys told his client, 'I want you to dress as you'd go to church,'" Steinberg recalled. "And the defendant showed up in a T-shirt. The attorney was disappointed and the defendant said, 'This is how I dress for church.'"
Steinberg said he appreciates when defendants dress nicely for court, but doesn't hold it against them when they don't.
"It's not a decision maker, but it shows you their feelings on their cases and the courthouse," the judge said. "There's nobody rich or poor who can't dress appropriately."
Steinberg said he's seen some defendants clean up so dramatically from their formal arraignments — when many defendants don't yet have attorneys — to their trials that "you wouldn't be sure it's the same person."
Certainly there is no guarantee that sprucing up a client for trial will lead to a favorable ruling or lighter sentence, but Dowdle said if you're dressed nicely, "it sends a message that you care."
Dowdle's makeover didn't get Kline, now 24, off the hook — he and two others are serving 20 to 40 years in state prison for the beating death of 19-year-old Kutztown University student Kyle Quinn. But the new look gave Kline, who was acquitted of third-degree murder and convicted of conspiracy and other charges, a better chance, Dowdle said.
Many times defendants are judged by people from much different walks of life who, unlike judges, can't always put appearances aside, he said.
"When you're presenting yourself in front of a judge or jury, it's without a doubt the biggest job interview you're ever going to have," Dowdle said. "If you show up at a drug trial with a T-shirt that says, 'Legalize it,' you're cooked."
Dowdle says for larger cases involving female defendants, he solicits the help of Helly Saadzoi, an Allentown attorney with a passion for fashion. Saadzoi, who interned with Dowdle years ago, decides how the women will dress and what hairstyles they'll wear for their trials.
"If there's a trial coming up, I can't tell a young lady how to dress, so I bring Helly in," Dowdle said.
Saadzoi mostly handles immigration and family law for the Saadzoi Law Firm and says making sure her clients are dressed appropriately for court is a priority.
"You become their fashion adviser also," she said.
Of course, Saadzoi isn't always around for Dowdle, so he has had to issue some fashion directives to female clients. He said one showed up to a probation review hearing in a tube top and with several facial piercings.
"I said, 'You really should take as many piercings out of your face as you can. Look like a lady,'" Dowdle recalled.
Dowdle said he learned years ago as a prosecutor how important it is for even witnesses to look proper in court. He said a female witness once wore "satin hot pants," heels and a tank top and seemed to lose credibility because she was dressed too provocatively.
"She got a lot of attention, just not the attention we wanted," Dowdle said.
Trask said female witnesses in sexy attire can also distract jurors.
"It's very important to have no sexuality on display," she said.
Schular said her rules for female clients include: no cleavage, no jewelry and a limit to the number of earrings. She said she encourages long skirts and has sent clients home to change when they've arrived to court in improper attire.
"Some have the feeling that, 'I'm being sentenced so it doesn't matter what I wear,'" Schular said.
Dowdle says he measures some clients himself and goes shopping for the ones who are incarcerated. He rolls the clothing costs into his fees. Dowdle said he buys clients multiple outfits so they're not wearing the same one throughout their trial.
"If they win, I want them to use [the clothes] afterward for a job interview," Dowdle said. "This is about trying to help people get beyond where they find themselves now. I want to see them do big things and rise above where they are now."
Dowdle said there's not much he can do about defendants with tattoos on their hands and faces, but he often tells them not to get any more and to consider having them removed.
"Tattoos can be beautiful artwork, but at the same time, people can judge you because of them," he said.
Steinberg says more and more people have been dressing down in court over the years — a trend reflected in all of society. The judge said looking back at old photos of spectators at baseball games makes it clear how much we now dress down.
"When was the last time you saw someone at a ball game wearing a shirt and tie? Maybe in the owner's box," Steinberg said.
The judge hopes the courthouse remains a place where shirts and ties are the norm.
"If I'm at Wegmans, it's OK if I wear T-shirts and jeans. I don't need to show respect to Mr. and Mrs. Wegman," Steinberg said. "But there are places you need to show respect."


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While the business of search advertising is booming, a recent report questions whether its popularity is based more on "potential" than "payoff."
According to a new report from Borrell Associates, client churn rates for companies selling search is close to 60 percent, with most of the attrition by the third or fourth month. As many as 80 percent of clients may be gone in 12 months. Some companies lose as much as 90 percent of their clients.
The Borrell report commissioned by Clickable and released Monday (June 8) outlines ways companies can capitalize on an ad segment that didn't exist nine years ago but today represents 4 percent of all advertising expenditures.
"The quick emergency of the multibillion-dollar paid-search industry has spawned unrealistic expectations among local businesses eager to turn the Web into a cash register and a cottage industry of companies eager to bolster that dream," the Borrell report said. "SEM [search engine marketing] has no doubt been oversold and mismanaged by resellers, leaving many local businesses disillusioned with a product that holds so much promise."
For businesses that can offer a scalable platform to advertisers, the potential is considerable, especially in local advertising. Local search is projected to grow 29.5 percent over the next five years, from $4.1 billion last year to $5.3 billion in 2013.
In contrast, small and medium sized businesses are forecast to decrease ad spending on yellow pages, newspapers, radio and direct mail by 19 percent, representing average annual decline of $3.4 billion. While spending on paid search by local advertisers is forecast to rise 39 percent, representing average annual increased of $242 million. Other interactive media affiliated with local search, such as video and email, are forecast to increase at triple-digit rates by 2013, adding $1.1 billion per year to interactive media spending.
To harness the numbers and control churn, companies offering SEM services will need to develop better business models. "It has yet to scale," the Borrell report said. "What the industry desperately needs are analytical tools that advertisers can use to assess and recalibrate how they spend their dollars."


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iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Set New Sales Record for AT&T
Apple noted on Friday that it was "blown away" by demand for the iPhone 5, and today AT&T tells MacRumors that the iPhone 5 broke sales records over the weekend. AT&T customers ordered more iPhone 5 models than any previous iPhone, breaking records both for first day preorders and for the whole weekend.
AT&T set a sales record with iPhone 5 over the weekend, making it the fastest-selling iPhone the company has ever offered. Customers ordered more iPhones from AT&T than any previous model, both on its first day of preorders and over the weekend.
In June 2010, Apple announced that it took 600,000 pre-orders for the iPhone 4, a number that was "far higher" than the company anticipated and one that resulted in server issues for both Apple and its carrier partners. In October 2011, Apple had a much smoother pre-order process, taking 1,000,000 pre-orders for the iPhone 4S.
If Apple follows its usual protocol, the company should announce pre-order numbers in a press release later today.


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Seat's new range-topping SUV will be called the Tarraco, named after Roman city in northwest Spain, now known as Tarragona.
The seven-seat crossover, due to be launched at the end of the year, will be the third model in Seat's popular SUV lineup after the subcompact Arona and the compact Ateca.
The Nissan X-Trail rival will likely share a good deal of technology with another seven-seat model from Volkswagen Group, the Skoda Kodiaq, reports say.
Seat has benefited from a surge in demand for SUVs, with sales of the Ateca, the brand's first crossover, helping it return to profit in 2016 following 11 years of consecutive losses.
CEO Luca de Meo has said he expects the arrival of the new SUV to take the company to the "next level."


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The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) decried the pro-import stance of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the National Food Authority (NFA) and warned that excessive imports will again end up discouraging farmers from planting and make the country even more dependent on foreign suppliers for its food requirements.
In a recent public post, DA Secretary William Dar reported that the country will have an 84-day supply of rice by June 30, 2020 and will end the year with a surplus equivalent to 18% of the country’s total consumption for the year. The bulk of the surplus will come from about 1.8 million tons of private sector imports for which the DA has issued quarantine certificates, and a planned 300,000 metric ton importation by the government through the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC).
The FFF questioned the need for government imports considering that Secretary Dar has labeled the 84-day inventory level by June 30 as “comfortable”. It warned that the entry of large volumes of private sector imports will result in a supply glut that will again lead to a fall in palay farmgate prices during the main harvest season in September to November.
Raul Montemayor, FFF National Manager, deplored the inconsistent and conflicting signals that the DA has been giving to farmers. “On the one hand, it is encouraging farmers to expand their production and enticing them with loans, subsidies and other incentives. On the other hand, it is leaving the room open for private importers to bring in unlimited volumes of rice from abroad. The DA was even the one who proposed that government import another 300,000 metric tons. It appears that the DA just wants to flood the market with rice and is not really concerned about what happens to farmers in the process.”, said Montemayor.
The FFF also scored NFA Administrator Judy Dansal who was quoted in recent press reports as urging the private sector to bring in more rice from abroad to boost the country’s rice inventory amid the COVID crisis.
The FFF noted that most private traders are not importers, and that many of them in fact blame the unimpeded entry of rice imports as the main cause of the collapse of their businesses in 2019. “Many traders lost a lot of money last year because they had to suspend their operations when imports flooded the market and displaced local rice. These private businesses have invested a lot of money in their mills, warehouses, trucks, personnel and operations. Encouraging them to just import means asking them to throw away most of these investments.”, said Montemayor.
The FFF urged the NFA to focus on its local procurement operations and assist and encourage the private sector to buy farmers’ products instead of urging them to just import. “Private traders absorb up to 95% of total palay production in the country while the NFA can handle only 10% at the most of farmers’ harvests. Where will farmers sell their crops if all these traders just become importers?”, asked Montemayor.


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In response to the Financial Conduct Authority’s review into mobile phone insurance, Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said:
“This report from the Financial Conduct Authority exposes poor practice at every stage of the consumer journey. Mobile phone insurers are too often relying on technicalities buried in the small print to reject legitimate claims and are then failing to deal adequately with consumer complaints.
“Mobile phone insurance could be a good idea for those with a valuable handset, but the industry needs to show real improvement before consumers can have full confidence in the product. For anyone considering this cover, it’s vital to shop around and read the small print first, as well as checking their home insurance policy as it may offer the same cover at a lower price.”
The report ‘Mobile phone insurance – ensuring a fair deal for consumers’ follows an investigation by the FCA into the mobile phone insurance market.
We welcome the FCA’s focus on problem areas and hope that this will be the start of an improved insurance market that works for consumers. We want insurance policies to be written in plain English with key policy conditions clearly summarised.
Statement: Personal Finance


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Industry Voices: Dave Tilstone
Dave Tilstone is president of the 1,400-member National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA), the national association representing the precision custom manufacturing industry. He offers his views on the state of manufacturing and its future in 2013.
With some of the federal issues resolved for the moment, how would you evaluate the growth potential for the manufacturing sector?
The growth potential of the manufacturing sector is strong overall. Our members are reporting steady growth despite the uncertainties and challenges created by the lawmakers in DC. However, this question remains difficult to answer because, while the fiscal cliff deal struck on January 2 extended several important tax credits and deductions used by manufacturers, the deal left many issues unresolved. As a result, the political fighting in Washington continues.
How much of that growth is determined in the U.S., and how much is a matter of global issues?
We live in a global economy and our members compete every day in the global market. The health of global manufacturing can best be described as fragile. A number of our members export and/or maintain facilities abroad in addition to operations here in the U.S.
While the continuing fiscal crisis in the Eurozone has negatively impacted our members with operations in Europe as well as those who sell to the European market, the dynamics of the Eurozone do not affect the broader majority of our member companies.
We have seen a slight slowdown in Chinese manufacturing and an increase in U.S. companies moving manufacturing back to the U.S. from China. Our members can and do compete with Chinese and other manufacturers around the world every day. We continue to be concerned about Chinese currency manipulation, counterfeiting issues, and other unfair practices by the Chinese government that impact the ability of our member companies to compete globally.
What factors outside of government will continue to affect manufacturing in 2013?
The shortage of skilled workers continues to impact our members and the manufacturing sector as a whole. Manufacturers have tens of thousands of job openings for skilled workers that remain unfilled.
In December, the National Tooling and Machining Association and Precision Metalforming Association conducted a survey of 164 metalworking manufacturing companies and found that 67% of those businesses had current job openings and 20% had at least six vacancies. More than 90% of the companies that had job openings said they were experiencing "severe or moderate" challenges in finding workers. Thousands more manufacturing jobs will become available in the coming years as aging manufacturing workers retire.
The available manufacturing jobs often require advanced engineering and technology skills which young Americans are not acquiring. The jobs remain open because an insufficient number of young people today choose to pursue careers in manufacturing.
This drop-off in interest in manufacturing careers can be attributed to a variety of factors including an educational system that has deemphasized vocational training and discouraged students from pursuing manufacturing careers, misperceptions among young workers about the state of modern manufacturing, and our own industry’s need to continue to expand training programs and community college partnerships.


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IT exports totaled $81.24 billion in the January-June period, up 10.9 percent from the same period of last year, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Tuesday.
Yonhap News reported the exports were driven by growing demand for mobile communication devices and semiconductors.
The country exported 1.58 million automobile units in the six months of 2013, down 6.7 percent from last year, Yonhap said. The decline resulted because of sharply lower shipments to European and Asian destinations.
Tesla could face sales ban in Michigan
Twitpic to shut down after failed acquisition


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Sustainability is a big issue in the specialty coffee industry (and an equally big talking point). Folks across the industry are always looking for new ways to approach problems, creating solutions that positively impact the coffee industry and the environment. Each year, the Specialty Coffee Association honors companies and individuals looking to create a better future for coffee with their Sustainability Awards, and they have just announced the Finalists for 2023.
The awards, given out as part of the SCA Expo event—this year taking place in April in Portland, Oregon—are broken down into three categories: business model, individual, and project. Finalists are chosen for their “outstanding work in the field of sustainability, promoting sustainability within the coffee world while inspiring others to initiate,” per the press release. They are “only dedicated to confronting the enormous challenges facing the specialty coffee industry—from climate change to gender inequality—but also collaborating across geographies, cultures, and value chain roles, and sharing the lessons they have learned for the benefit of the entire coffee sector.
With nearly 60 submissions for this year’s Sustainability Awards, the selection committee chose a total of 18 finalists, six in year category. The finalists are as follows.
Primavera Green Coffee
Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee
Black Baza Coffee Co.
Ricardo Oteros Sánchez-Posuelo
Project D.I.R.E.C.T. by Farmer Brothers
The Cooperation On Fair, Free, Equitable Employment (COFFEE) Project by Verité
NKG Bloom by Neumann Kaffee Gruppe
RENACER Coffee Training School by Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
The Technological Park of Innovation in Coffee and Coffee Farming by TECNiCAFÉ
Low-Carbon coffee value-chain project in Kenya by Moyee Coffee, Agriterra, Fairchain Foundation, KDCU, KALRO (Consortium)
The official winner announcement will be made later this month, with the winners being celebrated at Expo at the Re:Co Symposium. For more information on the Sustainability Awards or the finalists, visit the Specialty Coffee Association’s official website.


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There has been a lot of talk recently about how the State of Maine is against raw milk sales. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In fact, Maine is one of only 10 states that allow the retail sale of raw milk from licensed producers.
Because of this, a great quantity of high-quality raw milk is available to Maine’s cheese makers, who have taken advantage of this source to produce more and more artisanal style cheeses that are making a positive impression around the country, and consistently winning national awards.
Mainers’ access to raw milk at the retail level is threatened by the sale of unregulated raw milk. Advocates for unregulated sales of raw milk undermine the longstanding — and rare — spirit of cooperation between Maine state regulators and its licensed raw milk producers, and thus threaten the livelihood of many family farms and cheese makers across the states who depend on these raw milk sales or on access to this legal source of raw milk.


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Clean-energy visionaries have long argued that the world needs a better battery capable of selling skeptical consumers on electric cars and running the grid on renewable power. And yet the battery of the future—at least for the coming decade—will almost certainly be the battery of the past.
The humble lithium-ion battery has built up such a commanding lead in the market that competing technologies may struggle to catch up. That lead will only widen as a wave of planned new lithium-ion factories comes online in the next five years.
The batteries pouring from new factories in China, the U.S., Thailand and elsewhere will further drive down prices, which have already plunged 85 percent since 2010. And the billions spent on factories will create a powerful incentive for the industry to keep tweaking lithium-ion technology, improving it bit by bit, rather than adopting something else.
Many startups now focus on upgrading lithium-ion batteries rather than competing head-to-head. “We don’t think lithium ion is going to be disrupted,” said Erik Terjesen, senior director of licensing and strategy for Ionic Materials Inc.
Terjesen’s Massachusetts-based company is one of several trying to perfect solid-state batteries, often billed as lithium ion’s likely successor. Solid-state batteries promise, among other things, to remove the flammable liquid that can cause lithium batteries in laptops and cars to occasionally catch fire.
For the rest of this article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-03/battery-reality-there-s-nothing-better-than-lithium-ion-coming-soon


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Greenfield recently celebrated the grand opening of a little bit of the North Pole with the opening of Kringle’s Confections, a pop-up shop that will be around through December.
Owner Bev Ross said they bought the building at 234 Jefferson St. in June with plans to renovate. She said one evening while buffing the floor her husband, Jared, had the idea for a Christmas pop-up shop. She said their friends knew how to make that happen in a short amount of time, and that’s where Kringle’s Confections got started.
Ross said her “partners in Christmas cheer” are Chris Cunningham, Jared Ross and Wade Hamilton. Additionally, she said it could not have all been pulled together without the help of Cody Noble.
Kringle’s Confections offers the spirit of the holiday with “selected unique, fun and exciting giftable items,” Ross said, like gourmet chocolates, desserts, and fresh baked goods, and there’s a special treats bar featuring coffee, hot cocoa, cider and more.
The shop is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. through the holiday season. For the little ones, Ross said Mrs. Claus is visiting on Fridays from 6-8 p.m. and on Saturdays from 2-6 p.m.
Ross said they opened the space because they have always wanted to create a space for the community to gather and enjoy. “While our ultimate vision will require more time, we wanted to do something a little magical to acquaint ourselves with the village of Greenfield,” she said.
The shop can be found on Facebook and Instagram @kringlesconfections. You can also call at 833-FOR-XMAS. Kringle’s Confections is also on Google Maps, Ross said, which makes finding hours and contact information easy.
Angela Shepherd is a correspondent for the village of Greenfield.


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Several retailers, including Macy’s, have kicked off the holiday season with robust sales, defying some analysts’ predictions that they’d take a battering from Amazon, notes CNBC’s Jim Cramer.
"Don't you think it's interesting that Macy's strong traffic leads Macy to hire 7,000 more holiday workers?" Cramer asked on Squawk on the Street.
Macy’s shares were up 1.2 percent on Friday.
"This group is defying. It's defying what we thought," said Cramer, host of CNBC's Mad Money. "Whether it be Kroger against the Death Star. Whether it be Macy's against the Death Star. Whether it be Walgreens against the Death Star," he said, likening Amazon to the Death Star of the Star Wars movies.
Last week Cramer observed that Kroger’s quarterly earnings indicate that Amazon is not about to “wreck” the supermarket chain’s margins, despite Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods.
By Edmund Mander


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As Tesla inventory tumbles to contemporary two-year lows, a wave of analysts grows more and more optimistic the worst could also be over for the electrical automobile maker’s shares, saying the market backlash ensuing from CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in newly acquired Twitter may have peaked, though it is unclear how lengthy it would take for shares to completely get better.
In a Wednesday morning observe to purchasers, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas stated Tesla’s current collapse, which despatched costs down 54% final 12 months, may current an “rising worth alternative.” for traders, as present costs of round $170 strategy. a projected worst case of $150.
Jonas stopped in need of predicting precisely how lengthy the inventory may get better, however reiterated a worth goal of $330 for Tesla, suggesting the inventory may soar round 94% over the 12 months. subsequent.
In a morning e-mail, the Wedbush analyst known as Tesla’s inventory drop “overdone,” accusing him of fears that Musk would possibly promote extra Tesla shares to fund Twitter’s money burn and Musk’s “model harm” as traders concern he is “all targeted on Twitter as a substitute of Tesla for now.” .”
Nonetheless, Ives, who reiterated a bullish worth goal of $250, says Tesla stays on monitor to supply 2 million automobiles this 12 months, a “very spectacular” feat given a “nervous” macroeconomic backdrop that has prompted many electrical automobile firms to chop prices.
“Musk must reassure traders…the Twitter cleaning soap opera will not intervene with Tesla’s long-term progress story,” Ives says, including that Twitter’s “overhang” will seemingly weigh on Tesla inventory not less than till additional discover. till the automaker releases its fourth quarter outcomes on the finish of January. , which Wedbush stated may revive investor confidence.
Citi analyst Itay Michaeli struck the same tone on Wednesday: Though Citi launched one in every of Wall Avenue’s lowest worth targets for Tesla – at $176 – Michaeli upgraded Tesla shares impartial in a morning observe, telling traders that the inventory’s pullback has made costs way more cheap. .
$289. That is the typical Tesla inventory worth goal amongst Wall Avenue analysts, suggesting a 70% upside, in response to FactSet.
Tesla shares soared to a report excessive final November however racked up large losses after Musk shortly started promoting shares and this 12 months drew consideration to social media big Twitter. “On the finish of the day, Musk is Tesla, and Tesla is Musk,” Ives says. “Any black eye for Musk might be mirrored in Tesla inventory, and this means that Tesla is down 26% for the reason that Twitter deal formally closed in late October. Including to investor issues, rate of interest hikes by the Federal Reserve have undermined market sentiment, sending the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 30% this 12 months.
$183 billion. That is what 51-year-old Musk, the world’s richest individual, is value Forbes estimates.
How Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover is ruining his personal mythos and Tesla’s inventory (Forbes)
Elon Musk has bought $3.9 billion value of Tesla shares since Friday (Forbes)
Tesla inventory ‘tarnished’ by Musk’s Twitter antics – ‘very jittery’ months after $650bn crash (Forbes)
Supply : https://www.forbes.com/websites/jonathanponciano/2022/11/23/is-tesla-stock-crash-over-analysts-think-it-might-be-twitter-backlash-now-overdone/


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Adidas has released a new commercial starring Tori Bowie to showcase the Z.N.E. hoodie, designed to let the world’s best athletes prepare for the biggest moments with ultimate focus. In the 40-second spot, titled “Find Focus”, the American track and field athlete watches...
- DIRECTV STREAM Serena Williams Matrix Commercial
- Google Black-Owned Friday Commercial Song – Feat. T-Pain, Normani, Desi Banks, Tanerélle
- Downy Unstopables Commercial Song
- EXTRA Gum Christmas Commercial – Feat. Family Members in Awkward Situations
- SiriusXM Kevin Hart Whaat? Commercial – Feat. LL Cool J, Bebe Rexha, Kehlani


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The new iPhones i.e. the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus are undoubtedly the fastest smartphones out there in the market. And by fastest, i mean literally fastest since the benchmark results show that they are on-par with some of the MacBook Pro models in the market. So when you such a powerful smartphones under your name, what else can you do to improve the performance further? You fix other basic issues like RAM management. And yes, that’s exactly what Apple has done here.
What is the point of having more RAM if your OS can’t use all the power right? Well, Apple decided to do something about it, and they have come up with a solution for the same. With the new iOS 10.1 beta update, it is now reported that most of the issues are now solved. Users have reported that more apps are being retained in the system memory, without having to load them over and over again.


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Indian stock markets are drifting through the second-quarter earnings season which is often buoyed by several macro factors. The key equity indices Sensex and Nifty have returned about 25% since January this year so far. Recently India finished its first demonetisation anniversary on 8 November, interestingly the benchmark Sensex has gained almost 6,000 points in 12 months from the last year’s levels of around 27,500. Undoubtedly, this year has emerged as a hit for the IPO (initial public offering) markets too, as about Rs 65,000 crore have been already raised through the public offers in 2017 so far. As investors’ remain in a lookout for investment opportunities, we bring you 4 stocks that may return you up to 50%.
Karur Vysya Bank — Angel Broking
Shares of Karur Vysya Bank have returned about 50% since January this year. The research and brokerage firm Angel Broking has given an upside of 44% to a target price of Rs 180 from its current market price of Rs 125. “Loan growth is likely to pick up after a sluggish FY17 and lower credit cost will help in strong bottom-line growth. Increasing share of CASA will help in NIM improvement,” according to Angel Broking.
GIC Housing — Angel Broking
Shares of GIC Housing have risen more than 60% in this year so far. Angel Broking has given a further upside of 49% to target price of Rs 655 from its current market price of Rs 440. “We expect loan book to grow at 24.3% over next two year; change in borrowing mix will help in NIM improvement,” according to Angel Broking.
Arvind — Sharekhan
Shares of Arvind have jumped about 20% in the current year. Sharekhan has given a target price of 500 from a current market price of 436 which implies an upside of 14%. “Demerger of branded & retail business and engineering business to enhance shareholders value,” according to Sharekhan.
VA Tech Wabag — Sharekhan
The research and brokerage firm Sharekhan has given a target price of Rs 660 from a current market price of Rs 584 which implies an upside 13%. Sharekhan said that the company’s management has reiterated order inflow guidance of Rs 4300-4500 crore in FY 2018.


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Ahhh, it’s was different in the 80’s and most of the 90’s on Long Island. Then again after hurricane ages in ‘71 and the clamming collapse in 82/83 here the whole dynamic of the bays, inlets and oceans changed, especially the fisheries. The difference between Mass/Maine was the management. New York in the mid 70’s into the 80’s had a population explosion. Sewage, roads, infrastructure, lawns! The management and keeping certain ways safe, clean, and long term lax’d off. It Is a shame. But, to stray anymore into the past floats into the realm of politics in this particular situation, which is slick enough to put a bacon factory to shame.No stripers ? where do you live ? When i was a youngun Sow & Pig, Canapitsit ,Devils bridge and all the places out there at night were Awesom.
The same thing is happening to prices for virtually all restaurant-fare fish and shellfish, including especially (maybe) out in Hawaii. Ex-vessel prices for many pelagic species there are less than half what they were in February. That is below break- even, of course, for most operations. Staying tied to the dock is tough, however, since fixed costs are often on a monthly-payment basis. The Marshal’s auctions are going to be a weekly soon event unless things change right away. Fingers crossed for a swift come back and a viable vaccine!Virus Makes Lobsters So Cheap That Sellers Face a Fatal Blow
Bloomberg•March 6, 2020
Virus Makes Lobsters So Cheap That Sellers Face a Fatal Blow
(Bloomberg) -- The coronavirus outbreak is turning one luxury treat reserved for special occasions into a meal bargain hunters can afford.
U.S. lobster prices have plummeted to the lowest in at least four years after the spread of the virus halted charter flights to Asia at a time when sales usually boom for Chinese New Year celebrations.
The fallout has left thousands of pounds of unsold lobster flooding North American markets and squeezing U.S. businesses that were already hurting from lost sales due to China’s tariffs from its trade war with Washington.
“This is like a fatal blow,” said Stephanie Nadeau, owner of Arundel, Maine-based The Lobster Co., which saw orders to Hong Kong shrivel from about 1,000 boxes a week to a total of 120 boxes -- each carrying 33 pounds -- since late January. “I’m about to lay off most of my employees.”
The U.S. used to be the main supplier of live lobster to China as exporters tapped into surging demand from the Asian nation’s growing middle class. Buyers turned to relatively cheaper supply from Canada after Beijing placed retaliatory tariffs on American crustaceans in 2018.
Canada typically sent about nine charter flights a week, with a total of 1.5 million pounds of the shellfish, from Nova Scotia to South Korea and mainland China for everything from restaurants and markets to business meetings and weddings.
But as restrictions were placed on the borders of Asian nations including China to contain the spread of the virus, Canadian product began flooding the U.S. market. That pushed prices lower, said Liz Cuozzo, seafood market reporter at research company Urner Barry, which has been tracking food prices since 1858.
Prices for New England halves -- a whole lobster weighing 1.5 pounds -- have tumbled 17% since Jan. 20 and are currently at $8.10, the lowest for the period since at least 2016, she said. They typically rise this time of year as supplies are tighter before the main fishing season begins. Last year, they cost $10.70, with the 10-year-average at $9.85.
Demand for live Canadian lobster has dwindled to 5% of normal volumes since the Chinese New Year when restaurants started canceling reservations and people stayed home, said Stewart Lamont, managing director of Tangier Lobster Company in Nova Scotia.
Companies are storing inventory, directing products to other markets in Europe, North America and the Middle East, and sending more lobster tails and frozen lobster to be processed, he said.
It’s not just the U.S. and Canada that are affected. Australia counts China as the main destination for its rock lobster exports and its seafood industry will likely see a significant short-term impact, the nation’s agriculture ministry said in a report. New Zealand said it’ll allow a limited release of rock lobster back into the wild after Chinese buyers canceled orders.
There’s a risk that other markets may shut down as the virus spreads, and uncertainty swirls over how many smaller merchants or mom-and-pop restaurants in China may be out of business and not return to buy following the outbreak, said Mark Barlow, owner of Island Seafood in Eliot, Maine.
The Lobster Co.’s Nadeau saw her inventory lose 40% of its value as shore prices dipped from C$10 ($7.45) to C$6, and was forced to sell 50,000 pounds at a loss. She is laying off eight people from her staff of 14. “My customers got creamed and I got creamed,” she said.
--With assistance from Anna Kitanaka.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jen Skerritt in Winnipeg at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Attwood at [email protected], Pratish Narayanan, Patrick McKiernan


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Microsoft logo Photograph:( Reuters )
The feature allows you to replace your background in Team meetings with your own custom images or with the ones provided online by Microsoft.
As work from home has become the new normal, Microsoft Teams has introduced a custom background option for video calls
The feature allows you to replace your background in Team meetings with your own custom images or with the ones provided online by Microsoft. Users also have the option to simply blur the background.
After changing the background, you can preview it before it's applied to your video calls. Microsoft has also rolled out an option to schedule meetings. "This capability builds upon the existing ability to “Meet Now, " the blog said.
Microsoft designers have also created 20 virtual backgrounds to show support for the LGBTQI+ community.
Furthermore, Teams users can now put on live captions during their calls and meetings. The company is working on introducing AI-based real-time noise suppression in Teams meetings later this year.
Videoconferencing has become necessary for work and social life as people around the world hunker down at home to avoid the spread coronavirus.
Microsoft Teams allows users to chat, share files, make calls and hold web video conferences. Microsoft charges fees to businesses for its full versions of Teams, but there is a free version that can be used by consumers.
In April, Microsoft reported that Teams had grown to 75 million daily users, more than double its early March figure. On one day, it logged 4.1 billion meeting minutes.
"As Covid-19 impacts every aspect of our work and life, we''ve seen two years'' worth of digital transformation in two months," Satya Nadella, CEO Microsoft said in April.
(With inputs from agencies)


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. Egypt’s central bank allows local banks to issue digital currency
According to Egyptian media reports, the Central Bank of Egypt announced on the 22nd local time that it will allow local banks to issue digital currencies under its supervision for mobile payment services and store them in electronic media. In addition to the issuing bank, other individuals or entities can use digital currency for payment operations. This kind of digital currency will be issued in accordance with the rules issued by the Central Bank of Egypt, which can be converted into Egyptian pounds in cash and equivalent to Egyptian pounds. On March 28 local time, the Central Bank of Egypt issued a statement warning its citizens not to conduct cryptocurrency transactions, stressing that “Egypt can only use the official currency approved by its central bank for transactions”.
. South Korean securities brokerage companies compete to apply for mydata license
In response to the challenge of “the fourth industrial revolution”, the South Korean government launched the mydata program, hoping to promote the digital process in the financial field. Through the mydata program, relevant financial service providers can collect and analyze personal data distributed in different fields according to the requirements of consumers, and create customized services and products. On April 23, 2021, the financial supervisory service of South Korea (FSS) began to conduct the second batch of qualification examination and approval of mydata institutions, mainly for banks, insurance companies, credit card issuers and other technology companies interested in this business. However, it seems that the major securities brokerage companies are also interested in this business, because in January 2021, mirae asset securities was the only one of the first selected institutions of mydata. It is reported that Shinhan investment, SK securities and Kyobo securities participated in the application. At present, these institutions are actively optimizing the mobile platform and expanding the digital talent team. Market observers believe that the mydata license is likely to be a guarantee of the asset management capabilities of brokerage firms, which is why so many institutions are attracted to compete.
. Standard Chartered group announces investment in currencyfair
Standard Chartered announced that it has completed the investment in the combined business of Irish global payment platform currencyfair and Singapore payment process automation platform assembly payments (to be approved by shareholders and regulators). Paul Byrne, chief executive of currencyfair, will lead the merged business. With the emergence of novel coronavirus pneumonia, businesses and consumers around the world are increasingly concerned about online trading markets. Global e-commerce sales are expected to grow further on the basis of nearly $26 trillion in 2018. Among them, a large number of transactions occur between different countries and markets, which makes the process of digital payment more complicated because it involves multiple steps, systems and interactions. Enterprise customers increasingly hope that their payment service providers can provide more value-added services to integrate different levels of their payment value chain into a seamless and cost-effective product, so as to meet the demand of payment flow. Under this opportunity, the new company after the merger will be committed to solving the key pain points, including the fragmentation of the payment ecosystem, the complexity of implementing different payment systems from the perspective of technology, operation, finance and supervision, the privacy and security of data, and the requirements of e-commerce for multi market and multi currency collection.
. IDC: China’s cloud service market has reached 19.38 billion US dollars, with the highest growth rate in the world
IDC’s latest “global and China’s public cloud service market (2020) tracking” report shows that in 2020, the overall market size of global public cloud service will reach US $312.42 billion, with a year-on-year growth of 24.1%. The overall market size of China’s public cloud service will reach US $19.38 billion, with a year-on-year growth of 49.7%, with the highest growth rate in all regions of the world. In 2020, the global IAAs market will reach US $67.19 billion, with a year-on-year growth of 33.9%. AWS, Microsoft, Alibaba, Google and IBM are among the top five in the market, accounting for 77.1% of the market share.
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- Mercedes-Benz and Nvidia have announced a new partnership that will bring upgradable AVs and, maybe, a Mercedes App Store.
- This new deal doesn’t exactly replace Benz’s previous deal with BMW, which was put on hold last week due to future model timing.
- Based on the Nvidia DRIVE platform, the new partnership will be used in every next-generation Mercedes-Benz vehicle starting in 2024.
When planning for the future, it doesn’t hurt to give yourself some options. Last year, for example, Mercedes-Benz and BMW announced that they would work together on autonomous passenger cars that would be available to private customers starting in 2024. Last week, that cooperation effort was put on hold and then this week, Mercedes announced a new partnership with Nvidia on automated-driving technology to be trolled out in new Benzes starting in 2024.
Even though that could be read as Daimler swapping out BMW for Nvidia for its


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As if winning an Oscar wasn't enough, Adele can also lay claim to the fact that her 21 sold more worldwide than any other album in 2012. (By the way, 21 did the same thing in 2011, the year it was released.)
According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), 21 sold 8.3 million copies last year.
Adele's nearest competition?
That would be Taylor Swift , whose Red sold 5.2 million copies globally.
Meanwhile, Swift's ex, Harry Styles, and his fellow One Direction dudes had the third and fourth best-selling albums with Up All Night and Take Me Home, which sold 4.5 million and 4.4 million respectively.
As for best-selling single, that honor goes to Carly Rae Jepsen's smash "Call Me Maybe," which sold 12.5 million. The Gotye hit "Somebody That I Used to Know" was second with 11.8 million copies sold, and PSY's "Gangnam Style" was third with 9.7 million.


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According to the UK based think-tank The New Economics Foundation and the California based Global Footprint Network, we blew our global resource budget for this year on August 21st(http://www.neweconomics.org/press-releases/world-enters-ecological-debt-on-saturday-21-august-2010 ).
This is month earlier than last year
(I blogged about it here http://environmentchaos.blogspot.com/2009/09/earth-overshoot-day-2009.html) reflecting the beginning of the recovery from the recent economic crisis and also the increased economic power of upcoming nations which are adopting the northern consumer based lifestyle.
So we are now living on ecological credit....
Just waiting for the crash.


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Maizex Seeds has named Blake Ashton as common supervisor.
“Blake has been integral to our success since joining the business in his role as Controller and has worked hard to understand all areas of the seed business and what is needed to ensure our growth into the future,” notes Dave Baute, founder, president, and CEO of Maizex Seeds. “This included his efforts in the formation of the joint venture between Maizex and Sollio Agriculture.”
Ashton joined Maizex in 2016, is a graduate of the College of Ottawa, and is a Chartered Skilled Accountant (CPA). He’s additionally lively in his household farm operation positioned close to Clachan, Ont.
Maizex has additionally appointed Stephen Denys as director of market and product growth.
“Steve has been integral to our success as a seed business and in the launch of our joint venture partnership. This role more fully encapsulates his efforts in leading our sales, marketing, and product development and research activities,” says Baute.
Denys, like Baute, is a previous president of the Canadian Seed Commerce.
The Maizex management committee is now comprised of Baute, Ashton, and Denys, in addition to nationwide gross sales supervisor Shane Jantzi, and operations supervisor Mike Vanderlip.


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Microsoft has officially revealed its horse in the VR headset race.
While everyone else was getting excited over VR, Microsoft showed us something a little different: The Hololens. It now appears that the lens was only the first stage in the company’s bid to enter the VR race, as at today’s Surface event, Microsoft has revealed that it has partnered with several PC manufacturers to create affordable VR headsets for Windows 10.
The partnership includes companies such as Lenovo, Dell, ASUS, HP and Acer, and that the headsets they create will start at the $300 mark. They will be compatible with Windows 10 – specifically as a part of the forthcoming Creators Update that was also announced today as part of a larger push to bring 3D designing and scanning capabilities to the masses.
We don’t have too much info on these headsets as of yet, but Microsoft has stated that they will be the “first and only [VR headsets] with inside-out” tracking sensors.
Either way, more VR headsets on the marketplace is always a good thing. Nothing like healthy competition to keep companies in check!


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Stewart Rhodes of Oath Keepers reports that a fellow veteran from Tennessee contacted him to say that federal agents visited a Mormon cannery where he buys bulk food supplies.
The facility’s manager reported to the veteran that the agents demanded to see a list of individuals who had purchased food there. He told the agent there was no such thing, since business was cash and carry.
Why would government agents be looking for such a list? They’re telling us to be prepared, aren’t they? Are they just making sure we’re doing that? Do they want us to have 72-hour kits and no more so there’s plenty of food and preps to go around for everybody?
Or is something more sinister afoot?
Could DHS and FEMA be making plans to confiscate storage food one day??
According to Kurt Nimmo’s article, federal executive orders are in place to do just that. Of course, there has to be the declaration of a national emergency in which the government believes such action is warranted.
Or does there?
Is this nothing more than alarmist hype?
What do you think? How will this affect your prepping? Will you stop buying storage food? Or are you motivated to buy even more?
Will this news change the way you buy and store your preps? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.


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FILE PHOTO: A worker welding car parts at a workshop producing car accessories in Huaibei, Anhui Province, China June 28, 2019. REUTERS / Stringer  August 31, 2019
By Roxanne Liu and Dominique Patton
BEIJING (Reuters) – China's manufacturing business shrank in August for the fourth consecutive month as the US increased trade pressure and domestic demand remained slow, pointing to a further slowdown in the world second largest economy.
Persistent weakness in China's huge manufacturing sector may cause expectations that Beijing needs to trigger stimulus faster and more aggressively to weather the biggest decline in decades. [1
A Reuters survey found that analysts expected PMI for August to remain unchanged from last month.
The official factory meter showed growing trade frictions with the United States and cooling global demand continued to destroy China's exporters.
Export orders fell for the 15th straight month in August, but at a slower pace, with the sub-index up to 47.2 from July 46.9.
Total new orders – from home and abroad – also continued to fall, indicating that domestic demand remains soft, despite numerous growth measures over the past year.
"Pre-load exports to the US ahead of higher tariff supported trade and general activity growth, but this effect is likely to disappear over the next few months," analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note.
Manufacturers in consumer-oriented industries that the automotive sector has Carmakers like Geely <0175.HK> and Great Wall <601633.SS> have lowered sales and profit expectations.
The data showed activity of medium and small large firms, even as large manufacturers, many government-supported, managed to expand in August
The factories continued to throw jobs in August amid precarious business prospects, the employment sub-index fell to 46.9, compared to 47.1 in July.
August saw dramatic increases in the bitter year long Sino-US trade deal, with President Donald Trump announcing early this month that he would impose new tariffs on Chinese goods from September 1, and China let its yuan currencies weaken sharply days later.
After Beijing rebounded with recurring tariffs, Trump said that existing fees would also be raised in the coming months. The combined moves now effectively cover all of China's exports to the United States.
Trump said late Friday that trade teams from both sides continue to talk and will meet in September, but tariff increases on Chinese goods should come into effect on Sunday will not be delayed.
Earlier this week, the US president had said that China wants to reach a "very bad" deal, citing what he described as growing financial pressure on Beijing and job losses.
But most analysts are in deep doubt about the end of the dispute at any time, and some have recently cut growth forecasts for China in the coming quarters.
The sudden deterioration in trade ties has led to speculation that China needs to roll out stronger measures to prevent growth slipping below 6% this year, the bottom end of the target range of around 6.0-6.5%.
Analysts expect Beijing to cut some of its key lending rates in September for the first time in four years to help stabilize growth.
However, sources had told Reuters before the latest trade escalations that large reference cuts were considered a last resort, as politicians worry about being able to further build up debt and squeeze the bank's profit margins, increasing the risk to the financial sector.
So far, Beijing has relied on a combination of fiscal stimulus and monetary easing to cope with the economic downturn, including hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure spending and corporate tax cuts.
However, analysts note that the growth in infrastructure investment has remained subdued despite previous pumping measures, which underscore the need for additional support.
Growth in China's service sector activity picked up for the first time in five months in August, with the official figures from a separate corporate survey rising to 53.8 from 53.7 in August.
Beijing has relied on a strong service sector to mitigate some of the economic impact of trade uncertainties and slow manufacturing operations.
Despite a higher overall figure, activity in the real estate sector decreased, the statistics agency said in a statement.
The service sector has been highlighted by Chinese consumers' rising wages and robust spending power in recent years. However, the sector softened late last year amid a major downturn.
(Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Dominique Patton; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Jacqueline Wong)


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INI Farms and Munger Farms to conduct research on growing blueberries in State
The technical study for the locations has begun and western Maharashtra or Marathwada are the likely choices.
PUNE/MUMBAI: Blueberries, which were priced earlier at around Rs 4,000 per kg, might become cheaper as Maharashtra-based horticulture company INI Farms and US-based Munger Farms have collaborated to grow the fruit in the State.
INI Farms deals with pomegranate and banana farmers, from educating them to ensuring a better quality of produce and procuring it.
INI Farms Chairman and Managing Director Pankaj Khandelwal said, “Doubling the income of farmers was quite a buzz but for that, we need to build an entire value for each product and holistically solve the problem. Berry is an extremely high-value product and can provide farmers with good returns. However, in India, farmers do not have the technology and knowhow to grow them. With this joint venture, we are going to teach this to them. This will help farmers in getting good returns as well as provide consumers with berries at a cheaper rate.”
Munger Farms Owner and Director David Munger said, “Initially there will be a research project in the State to understand what it will take to grow blueberries successfully and which of the varieties would be successful depending on the climate. The next step would be to support farmers to grow them with the help of our technology. After that, the product would be sold to consumers and once the production begins in India, we will export it to other parts of the world.”
“The entire procedure would take two to three years and requires extensive research. We can’t risk farmers money and, therefore, the entire R&D will be done by us. We take care till the product is ready, from training the farmers to procuring the produce,” added Khandelwal.
Khandelwal felt that the farmers of the State were highly competent and it would be an ideal location for the production. He said, “We are based out of Maharashtra and the competence of Maharashtra farmers is higher as compared to the farmers from other parts of the country. There are 10 times more advanced horticulture farmers in the State with the ability to understand the technology. At present, we are working with around 2,000 farmers in eight states, out of which 50 per cent are from Maharashtra.”
“The technical study for the locations has begun and western Maharashtra or Marathwada are the likely choices. Once the research is over, we will first educate the farmers who are already associated with us and help them,” said Khandelwal.