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Over the past few years, this parallel product industry has exploded alongside the traditional one; “Clean” beauty, “natural” toothpaste, “organic” cotton balls, etc. Many new brands and retailers are coming to light saying, “Your regular products contain all sorts of dangerous stuff. Use these safer ones instead.” It’s a complicated claim and pretty hard to prove conclusively, but it’s a message that has caused quite a radical change in the personal and home-care products industry. Picture this; you’re shopping for a new face cream and two different types are next to each other on the shelf, one claimed as “organic” or “natural” and the other, a generic cream. You’d probably feel slightly better purchasing the self-claimed “natural” option considering it’s going onto your skin. This is a realization a lot of consumers are coming to lately.
When Gwyneth Paltrow launched her lifestyle brand Goop in 2016, she expressed how vital it was that her line of beauty products —including a face cleanser, eye cream, and moisturizer — was all-natural. “The idea that you’re exercising and trying to eat well and then slathering yourself with chemicals, parabens, and silicones — it’s not great.” A few months later, she went on The Tonight Show to promote the line. She and host Jimmy Fallon dipped McDonald’s french fries into a pot of her moisturizer and ate it! I guess to show how pure it was? Either way, what we clean with and the products we put on our bodies matter to people. As consumers, especially of the millennial generation, we’re aligning more with eco-friendly and natural alternatives to our purchases.
Millennial and Gen Z shoppers care about avoiding synthetic ingredients and chemicals that are seen as hazardous to the environment and our health. Simply put, we want to support brands with a purpose, and it’s completely changed the game in market strategies.
In addition to launching Burt’s Bees toothpaste, P&G recently bought Native natural deodorant and has slowly been building Zevo, a direct-to-consumer brand of bug traps and bug sprays made from essential oils (an alternative to insecticides with synthetic chemicals). A P&G rival, Unilever, bought the natural-products titan, Seventh Generation, named for a concept that urges the current generation of humans to live and work for the benefit of the seventh generation into the future. And just a little more than a year ago, Unilever launched the new natural brand Love Beauty and Planet, which is free from Parabens, has “ethically sourced” ingredients, is made of 100% recycled plastic and is 100% recyclable. What’s there not to love?
These big players now occupy A LOT of shelf space, almost secretly though, as many of them don’t explicitly plaster their name anywhere on the packaging. It’s making it pretty tough for startups to compete, but not impossible. My impression is that more trust lies in reviews from complete strangers and the number of likes on an Instagram feed than in the name of a big brand… and those brands probably know that.
Aside from Gwenyth Paltrow’s beauty/lifestyle route, other celebrities are using their platform to get in on the action too. Co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, The Honest Co. is a consumer goods brand that emphasizes household products “to supply the marketplace for ethical consumerism”. She was inspired by the 2008 birth of her first child, Honor, and her own history of childhood illnesses to create a company that provided an alternative to the prevalent baby products with ingredients such as petrochemicals and synthetic fragrances. Along with building her company, Alba has personally lobbied the United States Congress to make testing of consumer products in the marketplace for chemical inputs more stringent.
Actors Kristen Bell and Dax Sheppard came out with a plant based baby brand as well, named Hello Bello, similar to The Honest Co. products. However, their products are being sold at a more reasonable price as part of their partnership with Walmart which allows them to mass produce. They certainly had affordability in mind when working on the range, but didn’t compromise on the ingredients. It’s great to see that people with a platform are advocating for the health of our future.
Although Unilever and big names are moving to occupy every niche of the market, CEO of Seventh Generation, Joey Bergstein, says the impact of new players at the recent “Natural Products Expo West” show tells him that there’s plenty of room for startups and the smaller guys to make a difference. Overall, there’s certainly many more alternative options out there than there has ever been before, which at the end of the day, is beneficial to everyone. Big or small, brands getting involved in healthier and environmentally friendly business ventures is such a positive move in the right direction. Who knows, maybe in the future, these types of products will consist of the majority rather than the minority on retail shelves…


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Taping into export potential for personal care, beauty products
The consumption trends across the world have seen people becoming more conscious about their health and well-being than ever before.
Natural products such as natural skin, hair, and dental care are creating trends that are impacting significantly on consumer trends across the world.
These trends are driven by the consumer desire to use natural and organic products, as they are perceived to have more benefits to their skin, do not have long term effects, and are less harmful to the environment.
As the world is looking at natural personal care and beauty products as the in-thing, Zimbabwean businesses have a shot at exploring emerging markets, riding on resources available in the country.
Zimbabwe is naturally endowed with indigenous plants and trees of which by-products such as organic oils are highly sought after in the cosmetic sector both in international and domestic markets.
Today, a growing number of formulators and manufacturers within the cosmetic and pharmaceutical sector are using these organic oils as active ingredients in the manufacture of medical treatments for anti-aging and dermatologic disorders.
Some of the famous and highly demanded organic oils found in Zimbabwe include marula oil, ximenia, moringa, teatree, aloe, avocado and eembeke oil.
All these oils are used as active ingredients in the manufacturing of various cosmetics products.
To tap into the potential of these natural products, President Mnangagwa’s Government is already positioning local producers to value-add local resources into high-end products, that can fetch more on the international markets.
For example, following the identification of Mwenezi as a potential regional hub for marula products, President Mnangagwa commissioned a marula/mapfura processing and value-addition factory at Rutenga, which is a landmark and game-changing investment that has put the rural area on the cusp of industrialisation.
The plant, which is the first industry at Rutenga is expected to rake in nearly $400 million seasonally from marula/mapfura processing and value addition when in full operation.
Undoubtedly, some of the outputs from the plant such as oils have a ready market in international markets, and proceeds from exports will improve livelihoods of rural communities.
Marula/mapfura is one example of the many naturally-growing plants found across the country that have been identified as a potential game changer for Zimbabwe’s exports of personal care, essential oils and beauty products.
To increase capacities around these products, ZimTrade – national trade development and promotion organisation – is developing export clusters across provinces which will help organise producers and improve the quantities and qualities of export offerings.
Along the lines of the Government’s devolution programme, the export clusters currently under development, are expected to increase exports of personal care and beauty products at district and provincial level.
The global market for personal care and beauty products has been on an upward trend over the past few years and is projected to continue growing.
According to a report by Grand Review Research, the global beauty and personal care products market size is expected to reach US 937.1 billion by 2030.
The report notes that natural and organic substitutes are gaining traction among a sizable number of consumers, driven by rising consumer awareness related to the harmful effects of chemicals on the skin.
Industry trends are showing that people are now shifting towards beauty products that have no long-term effects and are manufactured using natural and organic materials.
This has led to increased use of new active ingredients, including natural products with defined and specific biological effect.
The shift towards natural products has seen an increase in essential oils, which are produced from plant sources such as flowers and fruits, herbs, resins, and wood oils.
According to Trad Map, the global import value of essential oils and resinoids; perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations has been growing over the past five years, from around US$128 billion to US$168 in 2021.
Top markets are China, United States of America, Hong Kong, Germany, France, and United Kingdom, Singapore, and Netherlands.
Of this figure, the global import value of plant-based essential oils has grown from US$5.4 billion in 2017 to US$5.8 billion in 2021.
Top importing markets for plant-based essential oils that offer opportunities for Zimbabwean businesses include France, Germany, China, United Kingdom, and Netherlands.
These countries already enjoy good trading relations with Zimbabwe and local suppliers can leverage on current performing products to introduce personal care and beauty products into the market.
The import value of beauty or make-up preparations and preparations for the care of the skin has also grown from US$48.8 billion in 2017, to US$74.3 billion in 2021.
Further to this, global import value for preparations for use on the hair have been growing over the past five years, from US$13.8 billion in 2017 to US$16.3 billion in 2021.
Countries such as China, Germany, United Kingdom, and Netherlands are among top importers of the products that Zimbabwean companies can target.
Need to grow local capacity
Trade data shows that Zimbabwe’s exports of essential oils have been growing over the past decade, although the country still faces trade deficit in the same products.
As women are often more interested in personal care and beauty products, there is need for deliberate approach to capacitate women-led businesses in the sector.
The cosmetics sector value chain in most countries relies on women who participate from production, manufacturing, marketing, and sales.
This means easier wins could be achieved if capacity building interventions are provided to women-led enterprises, which in turn will increase their participation in the economy, drive trade, and create new jobs.
Financiers also need to come up with solutions that allows small businesses to access capital investments at favourable terms as some small enterprises might not have collateral.
As personal care and beauty products are available in a wide range of variety, businesses also need to capitalise on niche areas where they can enjoy competitive and comparative advantages.
Here, businesses can ride on, for example, natural products available in abundance in their communities, and unique production techniques and product qualities that can differentiate their offerings from competition.
For local producers who are riding on organic and other healthy selling points, there is need to invest in research and development, so that they can effectively communicate the benefits of their products.
Here, producers need to identify specific components in their products, what health benefits they have, and why consumers should be interested.
Investing in e-commerce will also allow local producers to reach consumers across the world.
As most producers in the country are small business, they normally do not have capacity to stock their products in major retail stores in international markets.
They can however make use of digital platforms to market their products and ship when transactions are made.

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On October 14, 2014, rent-to-own retailer Aaron’s, Inc. (“Aaron’s”) entered into a $28.4 million settlement with the California Office of the California Attorney General related to charges that the company permitted its franchised stores to unlawfully monitor their customers’ leased laptops.
The settlement stems from a complaint filed on October 7 in the Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles by the Attorney General of California. The complaint accused Aaron’s of violating its California customers’ constitutional right to privacy when it “turned a blind eye as its franchisees installed spyware on computers rented to unsuspecting customers.” The complaint also accused Aaron’s of violating California’s unfair business practices law by making false and misleading statements in advertisements and by engaging in unlawful billing and rental practices.
Under the settlement, Aaron’s agreed to refund $25 million to California consumers who leased laptops from the company’s franchised stores between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2014, and to pay $3.4 million in civil penalties and fees. The company also agreed not to use any monitoring technology on its customers’ leased computers without appropriate notice and consent.
In October 2013, Aaron’s entered into a settlement agreement with the FTC over similar charges that the franchisor knowingly assisted its franchisees in spying on consumers. And last month, Vermont’s Attorney General reached a settlement with one of the company’s franchisees, SEI/Aaron’s, Inc., over charges that the franchisee’s spying activities violated Vermont’s debt collection laws.


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Tablet shipments rose 19 percent to 57.6 million units in Q1 2014 from 48.3 million in Q1 2013, said Strategy Analytics.
In Q1 2013, tablet shipment was a whopping 83 percent.
In Q1 2014, Apple iOS market share in the tablet space decreased to 28.4 percent from 40.3 percent in Q1 2013.
Google Android increased OS market share to 65.8 percent from 53 percent.
Microsoft Windows OS remained at 5.8 percent.
Strategy Analytics said Android secured a robust two thirds global share, while Apple iPad shipments were below expectations and iOS lost market share.
Peter King, director of Tablets at Strategy Analytics, said: “Apple iOS shipments were 16.4 million iPads in Q1 2014 which declined 16 percent annually, but Apple claimed that due to channel inventory changes which were reduced significantly from the same period last year, sell-through only declined 3 percent.”
Strategy Analytics said Apple iOS will likely lose share over the next several months to refreshed Android products. However, Apple will win back meaningful high-end market share during the final months of the calendar year.
There may be an uptick in Windows following Microsoft’s decision to offer Windows for free for sub 9-inch devices. The global tablet industry may see a new batch of 8 inch Windows based Tablets with reduced prices; they will still not be as inexpensive as Android.
The report said the shortage of apps continues to be a problem, with seemingly little incentive for developers to work on the platform.


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MURFREESBORO, TN - Murfreesboro Police Detectives are actively seeking information to identify a person of interest connected to a recent theft and credit card fraud case that unfolded on November 16, 2023. The case initiated when a man reported to the police that he might be a victim of identity theft after receiving two emails containing receipts for purchases made at Best Buy in Murfreesboro, purchases he adamantly claims not to have made. Further scrutiny of his credit report revealed three unauthorized inquiries for credit cards from Best Buy, Target, and Big Lots. The victim asserts he neither applied for nor authorized the applications for these cards in his name, prompting a thorough investigation by Murfreesboro detectives.
The person of interest was reportedly captured on surveillance exiting a Target store wearing a distinctive green zip-up hoodie with the inscription "1996" just right of his zipper, paired with green sweatpants. Authorities believe that public assistance is crucial in identifying this individual and urge anyone with relevant information to contact Detective Jessica Rice at 629-201-5550 or via email at email@example.com. Hopefully, police will be able to nab someone for these incidents and prevent further cases of identity theft and fraud involving the subject who committed these crimes in the Murfreesboro area.
DISCLAIMER: All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The arrest records or information about an arrest that are published or reported on NewsRadio WGNS and www.WGNSradio.com are not an indication of guilt or evidence that an actual crime has been committed.


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Independent researcher downplays Apple’s ‘bendgate’ woes
Non-profit US tester performs formal tests; concludes iPhone 6 models ‘stand up to typical use’
A US non-profit bench-testing firm has downplayed the significance of recent complaints made against Apple Inc's iPhone 6 series, which several users had claimed bent in trouser pockets.
As ITP.net reported earlier this week, YouTube review blog Unbox Therapy posted a video where a presenter claimed his iPhone 6 Plus was slightly bent. He then performed a bend test on the phone using his bare hands. It was not only impossible to gauge the exact force he exerted, but also impossible to determine if he used the phone that was already bent as the test subject.
According to a report from The Guardian, US company, Consumer Reports, conducted formal three-point flexural tests, in which it measured the force exerted on a number of different handsets from different vendors.
Consumer Reports found that the 5-inch HTC One M8 bent under the same force as the 4.7-inch iPhone 6; the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus proved stronger than both. Other handsets included in the tests were the LG G3, Apple iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3, all of which proved more robust than the One M8 or either of the iPhone 6 models.
According to Consumer Reports, deformation occurred at 70lbs of force for both the One M8 and iPhone 6; at 90lbs for the iPhone 6 Plus; at 130lbs for the G3 and iPhone 5; and at 150lbs for Samsung's Galaxy Note 3.
Consumer Reports regarded the results as demonstrating the resilience of all the handsets involved.
"All the phones we tested showed themselves to be pretty tough," the company said in its report. "While nothing is (evidently) indestructible, we expect that any of these phones should stand up to typical use."


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All americans desires to be Shein: the $15 billion Chinese language fast-vogue retailer that efficiently cracked foreign Gen-Z markets by churning out trending apparel at ultra-low costs.
The company has come to be viewed as a paradigm for a hit inappropriate-border e-commerce, after overtaking Zara and H&M because the U.S.’s top-selling fast-vogue retailer earlier this year. Now, the Shein imitators are right here.
Sixth Tone has discovered no lower than 10 Chinese language fast-vogue corporations equally chasing global buyers, including Cider, Urbanic, ChicV, Doublefs, Cupshe, JollyChic. Five were founded for the reason that originate of 2019, and three for the reason that originate of this year.
These fast-vogue producers mainly express foreign Gen-Z and millennial purchasers to their self ample e-commerce internet sites by skill of ads on Instagram, mostly focused on the feeds of young female customers. On YouTube and TikTok, heaps of of influencers submit making an try hauls that range from 10 to 20 pieces per video featuring these producers. Zaful, a swimming gear keep and one of many absolute top of the sever, has over 5 million followers on its major Instagram myth, and a few thousand on every of its several country-particular accounts, including Russia and Australia.
Based mostly entirely on an estimate from global consultancy Deloitte, Shein and its imitators will promote 150 to 200 billion yuan ($23.5 to 31.4 billion) in apparel in 2021. “Shein takes up the absolute top portion with 100 billion yuan tainted merchandise payment (GMV), corporations in the 2nd echelon are sized at around 1 to 5 billion yuan, and there are many extra with a GMV below 1 billion,” Pu Qinglu, a associate at Deloitte and one of many authors of a 2020 fable on China Sort E-Commerce Worldwide Increase, urged Sixth Tone.
Dozens of influencers submit about their making an try hauls for Cider, a Shein-admire fast-vogue keep. From YouTube
The flock of latest corporations all boast cheap costs and rely on social media influencers for advertising. Companies admire these attracted no lower than $300 million in investment in 2021, based entirely totally on affords reported in the media. The one-year-well-liked Doublefs, which sells sportswear in the $30 to $50 range below the name Halara, no longer too long in the past closed its latest spherical of investment, value $100 million, from finishing up capital corporations including Capital Nowadays and Hike Capital.
Chinese language tech giants have also jumped on the brandwagon. Alibaba started selling females’s apparel by skill of an self ample internet explain called allyLikes for the U.K., Europe, the US, and Canada in June. The explain is pitched at a low designate point, with “9.99 and below” featured at the tip of the positioning per week sooner than Unlit Friday. TikTok owner Bytedance invested an undisclosed amount in the fast-vogue originate-up Limitless Waves in June. The latter originate-up has no longer yielded any publicly known products.
It’s clear to Anna Xu, a associate at Hike Capital, why so many startups and investors are looking out out for to enter the fast-vogue market: When she sees Doublefs, the broken-down investor said, she doesn’t check a system company, nonetheless a possibility that is driven by “digitalization.”
A screenshot of Alibaba’s Shein-admire e-commerce platform, which started selling female apparel to the U.K., Europe, the US, and Canada in latest months. From allyLikes
Modeled after Shein’s recordsdata and algorithm-driven provide chain, many identical corporations can in total churn out apparel from uncover to produce in seven days, based entirely totally on domestic media reviews.
“The honeymoon generation for the win commerce is virtually over. Because the order fades, people want to sail into industries to digitize bodily economies,” Xu said. “China’s production functionality can pork up world-class products.”
To develop into sustainable, they want to overhaul their industry mannequin.
– Karen Du, sustainability professional
Xu’s tips are echoed in Deloitte’s fable, which says it’s a long way a huge time for domestic vogue e-commerce merchants to sail foreign on condition that China’s e-commerce market, which is dominated by giants admire Alibaba, JD.com, and Pinduoduo, leaves exiguous site for order.
Increasingly extra extra, Chinese language producers are transferring from the wholesale commerce to express sales to buyers all the design in which by the sphere. Within the first half of 2021, the buying and selling volume of Chinese language inappropriate-border e-commerce accounted for around one-third of China’s import and export volume, reaching 600 million yuan in full, based entirely totally on a as much as the moment fable by the China-based entirely mostly market research platform 100EC.com.
Workers at sure Shein suppliers work as much as 75 hours per week in uncomfortable prerequisites, which violate assorted explain labour guidelines. Courtesy of Public Take into myth
On the other hand, cheap manufacturing comes at a designate, especially when these corporations’ production is outsourced to hundreds of workshops scattered all the design in which by China. Earlier this year, a Sixth Tone investigation discovered that many Shein products are made at contract factories that flout labor and fireside safety regulations. Swiss advocacy neighborhood Public Take into myth also no longer too long in the past reported that staff at sure Shein suppliers work as much as 75 hours per week in uncomfortable prerequisites, which violate assorted Chinese language labor guidelines.
However the corporate argues that its centered manufacturing map reduces raze and improves sustainability. “The usage of real-time evaluation of vogue traits, all of our products originate from runt orders of 100 to 200, whereas the commerce well-liked is no longer any lower than a few hundreds or tens of hundreds,” a Shein spokesperson said. “That system, we have exiguous raze.”
However, sustainability experts shriek fast-vogue corporations want to full significant extra. “To develop into sustainable, they want to overhaul their industry mannequin,” said Karen Du, the pinnacle of Shanghai-based entirely mostly sustainable vogue group R.I.S.E. Lab. “They want to construct sustainability something that every person buyers can uncover half in with ease and comfort.”
Editor: David Cohen.
(Header image: A screenshot of Alibaba’s Shein-admire e-commerce platform, which started selling female apparel to the U.K., Europe, the US, and Canada in latest months. From allyLikes)


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Coinciding with International Toy Fair, the LEGO Group has officially announced Technic Bugatti Chiron will be released on August 1, 2018.
Reporting from the International Toy Fair, PromoBricks confirms that the LEGO Group has announced LEGO Technic Chiron, developed in collaboration with Bugatti. The set will be in 1:8 scale, contain 3,599 parts and be released on August 1.
LEGO designer Aurelien Rouffiange appears in this teaser video designed to whet fans’ appetites for the set.
The current LEGO Technic range is available now at shop.LEGO.com.


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Engineering plastics company Ensinger GmbH has taken over Swiss plastics processing company ‘next composites GmbH’.
Based in Otelfingen, near Zurich, next composites develops technologies for manufacturing products made of thermoplastic fibre composite materials.
According to a 15 May press release by Ensinger, next composites specialises in designing and processing the composite materials, creating prototypes and putting complete production lines into operation on behalf of its customers.
Ensinger already offers semi-finished products made of highly filled carbon fiber composite material and expects the process technologies from next composites will enhance the range of its technologies for manufacturing components.
Carbon reinforced thermoplastics are particularly suitable for lightweight construction applications in the automotive industry, in medical technology, and in mechanical engineering.
Sports goods such as bike components or winter sports equipment are an additional growth market for these modern materials.


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Fake IPS officer nabbed from mall in WB
Kolkata: A man was arrested from a shopping mall here on Sunday night for allegedly impersonating as a senior IPS officer and taking items from shops without paying for them.
Debraj Majumder, who had been pretending to be the Deputy Commissioner (Special Branch), Delhi Police, was apprehended from a shop in a mall off E M Bypass, Kolkata Police sources said.
Majumder, who had been using a North Indian name, had allegedly duped many shops, particularly in the malls of the city, in past several months by taking products without paying for them, they said.
The Delhi Police had tipped their Kolkata counterparts on receiving complaints that "one of its officers" was taking away products without payment, the sources said.
Majumder hails from Agartala in Tripura.
This is the second case of cheating by impersonation cracked today.
A former call centre employee Vikash Beri was netted for enjoying hospitality of different luxury hotels in the city by posing as an executive of leading firms.
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Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect re-openings and new closures.
VALDOSTA, Ga. — Several truck stops are closed or have altered hours/services due to Hurricane Idalia.
“We are closely tracking Hurricane Idalia and any resulting impacts on our store operations,” Pilot Flying J officials stated in a news release. “Safety is our number one priority. Some stores may experience periodic outages due to local conditions, and we will work to restore service as quickly as possible. Please check below for current store status and fuel availability.”
- Pilot No. 575 — St. Mary’s, Georgia (Closed)
- Pilot No. 4561 – Valdosta, Georgia (Closed)
- Flying J No. 631 — Lake Park, Georgia (Re-opened)
- Pilot No. 4561 — Valdosta, Georgia (Re-opened)
- Pilot No. 500 — Jasper, Florida (Re-opened)
- Pilot Dealer No. 1058 — Waldo, Florida (Re-opened)
Love’s issued a similar statement about their stores located in the affected areas.
“Love’s teams are monitoring the latest developments from Hurricane Idalia,” a news release stated. “Our stores are prepared to safely serve customers as long as possible. We will provide regular updates on loves.com/weather and the Love’s Connect app.”
- Love’s No. 470 — Jasper, Florida (Truck care and restaurant closed)
- Love’s No. 379 — Lee, Florida (Closed)
- Love’s No. 724 — Lake City, Florida (Restaurant closed)
- Love’s No. 325 — Tifton, Georgia (Closed)
- Love’s No. 405 — Brunswick, Georgia (Restaurants closed)
- Love’s No. 933 — Lake Park, Georgia (Closed)
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.


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(WVVA)- There’s a high demand and desire to travel right now, especially this holiday weekend. Families are starting to pack up and head out for the last vacation of the summer. Before leaving, a travel expert recommends researching how widespread COVID-19 is at your destination.
“The landscape of travel has change. People aren’t visiting theme parks and things like that, but they are opting for more scenic destinations. In our area people are going to see state parks, national parks. There’s a parkway called Natchez Trace that goes through Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama and that’s a popular road trip for people in our region,” Kristen Farley, Associate Manager at AAA said.
Farley says the top hotspots within a 400 mile radius of the two Virginias includes, Myrtle Beach in South Carolina and Nashville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg in Tennessee.
“We don’t discourage people to take vacation, it is a personal decision, but if you do decide to visit one of those hotspots just remember to take more precautions to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus,” Farley said.
Britiany Arnold is traveling from Ohio to see her mother in Florida. It’s a trip she says she put off due to the pandemic. She says she’s following safety protocols on the road.
“We’ve been doing hand sanitizing, we’ve been doing mask wearing, washing our hands. We have the antibacterial wipes in the car. We try not to stop and have snacks so that we can stay away from all of the hot spot areas,” Arnold said.
Although some families are opting out to travel this Labor Day weekend, they are making their travel plans for 2021. They hope the pandemic is in their rear-view mirror.


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A Pablo Picasso painting called “Le Marin” (“The Sailor”) was accidentally damaged prior to its auction this year.
The “Le Marin” is owned by billionaire businessman and art collector Steve Wynn. Wynn entrusted the painting to the auction house Christie’s, where it was supposed to be sold last May. However, the painting was damaged while under the auction house’s care.
According to an anonymous source, the damage was caused by a paint roller that fell on the painting. The accident left a hole in the artwork’s lower right side. Consequently, the painting was pulled out from its scheduled auction.
The 1943 painting is one of Picasso’s self-portraits. Like the artist’s other works that usually fetch millions of dollars in the market, “Le Marin” was supposed to be sold for at least $70 million at the auction.
According to Wynn’s consultant, what happened had infuriated the businessman. Wynn also reportedly believed that the incident left the artwork so severely damaged that it was beyond repair.
In response, Christie’s made a statement assuring that it is already taking all the necessary steps to restore the painting.
The piece has already been handed over to art restoration experts who are not part of the auction house. Contrary to what Wynn feared, “Le Marin” is said to still be repairable. However, some experts say that how the painting would sell later on would depend on several factors, such as the location of the damage, the extent of its damage, and the quality of the painting’s restoration.


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Google+ is shutting down. Google announced last Monday that it was officially shutting down the platform for consumers. The process will be concluded in ten months.
The final decision has been taken by Google after a bug was discovered in March. The internal system found a security glitch that exposed 500 thousand Google Plus users’ data. The company didn’t share this information in the last months, maybe because it was scared to create a news scandal like Facebook did with Cambridge Analytica.
To explain this decision, Google said in its blog post that it currently sees low usage and engagement, with 90 percent of interactions lasting less than five seconds. It also said the enterprise version of the service will remain open for office workers who use it for internal discussions.
Google Plus rolled out in 2011 as a competitor to the rising social platforms of Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. It tied in a strong SEO capability for publishers to include the social platform’s +1 button on their sites so you could share their content to your Circles. None of this worked. After the shocking news, the big question in the SEO community has been: how will it impact SEO and SEOs?
The truth is, it won’t impact SEOs all that much. The platform has very little interaction in search or the search community. It doesn’t impact rankings, it doesn’t influence personalization anymore and it doesn’t impact anything around authors or content.


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Microsoft does not have a very good record in making PC gaming fun. They have tried all they can to revert PC users towards their console gaming and favored the Xbox constantly over the Windows PC. But now, apparently, they have seen that they were wrong (only when Xbox One is in the trail for the console war). Yes, the Xbox boss Phil Spencer asked the PC gamers to give them another chance and let them redefine gaming on the PC for its fans. At the Game Developers Conference, he admitted:
"We've lost our way on PC gaming"
Finally Microsoft Realised That Gaming on PC's is Possible
Firstly, lets see what doe the Xbox Chief means. There have been several instances where the releases by Microsoft have not been upto the industry standard these which has basically depicted that they're disinterested in making PC gaming easy or better for the gamers. Lets take the example of exclusives where the Xbox and PS4 gets those by the tons and are recognised by the different gaming experiences they offer. But, have we ever heard of a game exclusive to the Windows PC to be marketed on such a scale and hype as the gaming consoles? Some might just argue that it might be because of the fact that there is no competitor for PC in that category but the fact remains that we're talking about gaming platforms and nt the difference between PCs and consoles. And also, PC games are usually the one's that already hold the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 platforms. So basically, what we've seen is that PC is a secondary platform for gaming and not taken as a primary platform.
Lets take another live example of a Microsoft "app" for gaming. "Games for Windows Live" was an unoptimised mess which is much more annoying instead of making gaming easier for the gamer. An example of how annoyed users were from the app can be viewed here. Here, the user basically offers how annoying the experience of "Games for Windows Live" was from him. He argued that for a game that he bought and wanted to play offline, the application just kept bugging him continuously with odd requirements and hard solutions.
So as you can see, gaming with Windows PC has not been easy for the gamers with PC always being taken as a secondary source of gaming innovation and when that innovation does appear, it's usually a year after the Xbox and the PlayStation consoles. Phil Spencer argued that "Xbox" no longer means consoles, It means "gaming with Microsoft." He said that this was the ideology they wanted to change through Windows 10 which will innovate PC gaming and is dedicated to make use of new technology like HoloLens in Gaming on the Windows PC.
"The way forward, then, is in changing how Microsoft thinks about its customers: They're not people who play games on Windows PCs, or tablets, or consoles. They're customers of the Xbox Live service," said Spencer. "That means that games can and should work across multiple devices, with the same friends list and the same high scores, and people should be able to play each other no matter what device they're on."
He also acknowledged that the Windows 8 App Store could not be referred to as a success and that in Windows, they are looking to completely rework it. And while laying out Microsoft's plan for the PC gaming, he said that they should rename "Game Developers Conference" to "PC Developers Conference," considering the plethora of news dedicated to serving the PC gamers.
I really hope that Microsoft has good, workable plans for PC gaming and that we get some "PC exclusives" our way so that PC can be taken as a real platform for gaming rather than a machine which can "also run games."


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has rolled out a solution allowing
line-of-business owners to take part in decision-optimization work that has
thus far been the exclusive province of optimization experts.
The Optimization Decision Management System (ODMS) allows executives to
review predictive mathematical models in terms they can understand, and help
translate strategic decisions into tactical and operational decisions.
Thus, they can perform what-if analysis and scenario comparisons so they can
understand their options and balance conflicting business goals, such as
service level agreements and various costs such as labor or fuel.
Heretofore, these business owners had to rely on PhD-level mathematicians to
develop those predictive models.
According to Jeff Kilbreth, director of optimizations product marketing for
ILOG, ODMS allows business owners to peek into the black box and give
quicker, more accurate feedback to the math wizards.
“Historically there needed to be a mathematical god to build the models.
ODMS is making it easy for business people to participate in the model
development process and trust the results of the models,” he told
ODMS allows the developers to generate a working application for which
executives can provide feedback.
“With a working decision support application, the non-mathematician can
easily understand all of the costs, constraints, resources, and goals” input
into the model.
This allows them to vet the assumptions made by the developer.
“They tell the optimization expert what is missing or incorrect and then
they do it again. Typically three prototype applications gets you to a final
model and therefore a final application,” said Kilbreth.
“Business users won’t use the information unless they’re sure they can trust
it,” he added.
Most companies using this type of solution are in manufacturing, where ODMS
can be used to resolve supply chain issues like optimizing truck routes or
raw materials utilization.
Solutions of this kind are also being used to resolve complex
decision-making puzzles in other industries, such as scheduling staff in
large hospitals, pricing routes in the airline industry or calculating
portfolio weightings in financial services.
Ilog solutions are already imbedded as rules engines within supply chain
applications from vendors like SAP
But the modeling used by those applications tends to be too generic for many
larger companies with specialized problems to resolve.
Ilog solutions have also been adopted as stand-alone applications run by
operations research professionals at large enterprises.
Ilog says 88 of the world’s 200 largest companies use its solutions to build
their own optimization models.
Bob Parker, vice president of research at Manufacturing Insight, noted that
ODMS will help companies actually implement better decisions more quickly.
“What this gets you is you can iterate the decisions much faster,” he
ODMS doesn’t solve every problem in the decision chain, however.
“You still need to write the new decision back to the transaction system so you
operate against that [new] plan. That process is still not streamlined,”
Still, he said, the solution addresses a very real problem.
“It’s something that’s been needed in the market in this area for quite a
while,” he told internetnews.com.
Manufacturing Insight includes decision optimization modeling as part of the
business intelligence market, which Parker said drives approximately 20
percent of external IT spending.
“We see that doubling over the next five years,” he said. “Demand for this
is really going to grow.”
Ilog currently generates $50 million from decision optimization solutions,
and Kilbreth said the company expects to double that figure within three
Kilbreth said the solution costs anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000,
depending on the amount of customization of the ODM-generated screens, the
complexity of the optimization model, the complexity of the integration work
and whether the company has any operations research skills in-house.


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Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC
Gates Lays Out Strategy for Building Better Business Software
Microsoft believes it has figured out what kind of software midsize companies need to run their finance, sales, and other operations. And it's not what it's been trying to sell them. So today, it laid out a change of strategy for its 5-year-old business-software division.
The new direction, around which it has pinned large hopes for future growth, centers on a simple but so far elusive idea: Different kinds of workers in a company use PCs differently. At an event on the company's Redmond, Wash., campus today, Microsoft officials planned to detail the new approach for its $800-million-a-year Business Solutions group. The concept is that applications should be tailored to an employee's role in a company.
Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates said the company is investing in midmarket apps--where it lost more than $200 million last year--for the long term. "Applications can be way better than they are today," Gates said in an interview with InformationWeek. "We are putting a lot of R&D dollars into the business, and that's because we believe it can be a much bigger business. We can have a much higher share of the business than we have today."
After two years of market research, Microsoft managers have identified more than 50 everyday job roles at midsize companies they say will benefit from desktop environments created just for them--everything from a president or CFO, to account managers in a sales department, to line workers on a factory floor. Instead of dozens of screens and menus, those workers will get Web pages that show only the information they are most likely to care about, often at a glance. Companies will be able to customize those entry points into Microsoft's applications, too. Microsoft plans to deliver two dozen of these role-based applications this fall as part of upgrades to its Great Plains enterprise-resource-planning line and to its customer-relationship-management package. Next year, it plans to roll out 25 more for its Axapta and Navision business applications.
The new software spans a broad array of job titles that extends well beyond IT and operations managers that tend to run ERP software. It's a reflection of new workplace realities in which PC data gets consumed by nearly all workers. It's also an effort to catch Microsoft up to its toughest competitors in the business-apps market, Oracle and SAP.
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I could start this post, “So a guy walked into a bar.” But, in this case, the real story began when that guy walked out of the bar — and left a top-secret prototype of Apple’s next-generation iPhone behind.
The Apple software engineer, identified as Gray Powell by the technology blogging website Gizmodo.com, had been testing the new phone, carrying it around in a case that kept it disguised as a standard iPhone 3GS. On March 18, while celebrating his birthday at a beer garden, Powell reportedly used the phone to update his Facebook page, and then left it on a bar stool.
According to Gizmodo’s account, several beer-garden patrons debated whose phone it was before eventually coming to the conclusion that its owner must have already left. The person who ended up with the phone saw that there was a Facebook account open, providing him with the owner’s name. He figured he’d get around to returning the phone the next day.
But, by the next day, the phone had been remotely shut off, the display reduced to a blank screen. In the light of day, the phone looked a bit funny. After a bit of prodding, the case popped off, revealing the phone’s true identity.
That’s when the person who had brought home the phone called Apple. The customer service representatives he spoke with had not been told about the missing prototype and dismissed his story. Eventually, the phone was sold to Gizmodo, which is owned by Gawker Media LLC, for $5,000. Although the phone’s software was disabled, Gizmodo dissected the device and posted pictures of its insides, along with conjecture about how the differences in hardware might translate into functional changes from earlier models.
Gizmodo had plenty of evidence that the phone had come from Apple, including the fact that it had the word Apple written on it in three separate places. But the site had no definite proof of the phone’s authenticity until Apple sent a letter asking for it back. Brian Lam, the site’s editorial director, immediately put Apple in touch with the editor who had the phone to arrange a hand-off.
If the story had ended there, its lesson would have been simple: Don’t carry a top-secret next-generation iPhone with you when you head out drinking. But the story didn’t there, and the rest of the tale is much more disturbing.
Four days after Apple recovered the phone from Gizmodo editor Jason Chen, Chen’s home was ransacked by police. Members of the Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) task force broke down Chen’s door and seized several computers, hard drives and documents, allegedly looking for evidence about the “theft” of the prototype.
But according to Gizmodo’s version of the story, with its substantial documentation, there never was any theft. Under California law, a person who takes charge of lost property must inform the owner within a reasonable period of time, if the owner is known. But, until Gizmodo received Apple’s letter, it could not be certain that the phone belonged to Apple. Lam promptly made arrangements for the phone’s return once Apple claimed it. Prior to receiving the letter from Apple, Gizmodo had contacted Gray Powell to inform him that they had the device. This is not the way thieves generally operate.
If it was not even clear that a crime had occurred, why did police obtain a search warrant and enter a private citizen’s home? And how did they convince a judge to sign that warrant?
An article in The Los Angeles Times reported that, even before this incident, there were doubts about the independence of police units, like REACT, which investigate high technology crimes. These units often rely on large technology companies for equipment, training, and even, in some cases, funding. In one example mentioned by the newspaper, Intel Corp. made a $100,000 donation to the police department of Hillsboro, Ore. The donation was used to pay the full annual salary of one of the officers on the seven-person computer crimes team.
Steve Meister, a former Los Angeles County deputy district attorney called REACT “the iPolice.” He commented, “This whole thing appears, rightly or wrongly, to be law enforcement doing the bidding of a private company.”
Meister’s “iPolice” nickname almost sounds hip and cool. An old coot like me would come up with something harsher, like the iPhone Gestapo.
While law enforcement may not have had much justification for entering Chen’s home, Apple certainly had plenty of reasons why it might have wanted that house turned upside down. The company is clearly not happy about the leak, which may lead other companies to copy aspects of its new design. The fact that Apple has not yet sued Gizmodo is probably all the evidence we need to know that the company has no legal basis for challenging the website. After all, there is no law stopping anyone from photographing and distributing pictures of things found lying around in bars. Gizmodo had not entered into any sort of confidentiality agreement with Apple.
It seems reasonable to infer that Apple convinced REACT to ransack Chen’s house to ensure that Chen would not publish any further information about the new iPhone. It’s hard to publish anything when your computers and hard drives are all in police custody.
Gizmodo is challenging the search warrant, claiming that Chen is covered by California’s shield laws, which protect journalists from having their notes seized. In a letter to law enforcement, Gaby Berbyshire, Chief Operating Officer of Gawker Media, cited section 1524(g) of the California Penal Code. The law states that “a publisher, editor, reporter, or other person connected with or employed upon a newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication, or by a press association or wire service” need not disclose information “obtained or prepared in gathering, receiving or processing of information for communication to the public.”
Law enforcement may contend that Chen is not protected by shield laws because Gizmodo is a blogging site, rather than a traditional “periodical publication.” As I wrote last October, this question of whether bloggers are “journalists” simply underlines the basic problem with shield laws. The constitution provides no basis for creating a specific class of people, such as journalists, whose rights are given greater protection than the rights of others. All individuals who want to expose corruption in the government, or to give eager technology aficionados a sneak peek at a new product, should have equal rights to do so, whether they plan to publish their findings in The New York Times or on a Facebook page.
But in Chen’s case, no special journalists-only protections should have been needed. The ordinary rights of an ordinary citizen ought to have sufficed to stop police from raiding the home of a man accused of maybe having had something to do with something that, from all outward appearances, was not criminal in the first place.
It is, of course, possible that Gizmodo’s account is a self-serving fiction, fabricating everything from the bar scene to phone’s amiable return. Perhaps Chen is a mountain climber in his spare time and scaled Apple’s walls to grab the phone, dodging motion detectors and security cameras. But it seems more likely that police were goaded into serving the interests of a powerful company at the expense of a private citizen’s personal rights.
I hope the courts impose sanctions if the search warrant was fraudulently issued. That might help teach law enforcement officers to consider the self-interest of complainants to avoid being manipulated into violating the rights of law-abiding citizens.
And I hope Apple learns to take better care of its stuff.


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BENGALURU: Skyrocketing prices of vegetables have left both consumers and vendors worried. While buyers are being forced to trim their purchases, sellers fear their business may be hit.
Most vegetables have got costlier over the past week. Prices of beans, peas, carrots
, tomatoes, methi and coriander have nearly doubled. Available for Rs 56 per kg last week, beans
cost Rs 117 on Friday. Carrot price has gone up from Rs 40 to Rs 70 a kg.
TOI spoke to a few customers
and vendors and found the spurt in prices has affected the purchasing power of consumers. “Earlier, I used to buy half a kg of beans for Rs 30 but now I purchase just about 250 grams,” said Nagmani PK, a homemaker and frequent customer at HAL Market.
Vendors at Russell Market are facing huge losses with the tomato and capsicum prices rising by Rs 15 per kg. “The tomato crop hasn’t been good in Bengaluru’s neighbourhood and it’s being brought from Maharashtra. With prices going northward, my profits have vanished,” rued Syed Mohammad, a vendor.
Government-run Hopcoms outlets are also affected by the fluctuation in vegetable prices. “The price of beans has gone up almost three times, from Rs 56 to Rs 150 per kg,” said Narayan Gowda, a Hopcoms stall owner in Rajarajeshwarinagar.
Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha leader Badagalapura Nagendra said the yield is less as underground water is scarce. Beans, for example, are not being grown much because of the plummeting groundwater table, while coriander is facing a pest problem, he explained.
“Successive droughts are making farmers suffer. We have no option but to charge more as we need to make a living,” Nagendra said. Lack of seeds is another reason for prices shooting up. “If we don’t sow seeds at the right time, production gets delayed affecting our land cost,” he added.
Due to lack of rain, only two of five flowers ripen into a vegetable, resulting in lower production and higher prices, said Janaradhan S, who owns a vegetable stall at HAL Market.
“Now, one has to think even before cooking. It’s cheaper to order food from outside instead of cooking vegetables at home,” said Nalini Surya, a resident of CV Raman Nagar.
Another vegetable vendor at Russell Market, Abdul Khadar, said most people have cut down on the quantity of vegetables they buy but some aren’t complaining as they think higher prices would ensure better quality.
(Inputs from Yogita Jain, Anoushkha J, Shambhavi Khemka, Shravya Marakini, MS Ananya)


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How do you follow up acts like visiting and consuming purchases at all 171 Starbucks locations in Manhattan in less than 24 hours, living and sleeping in an IKEA store for an entire week and setting a Guinness World Record by making a video series that features you staying on a commercial airplane for an entire month to get over your fear of flying? If you’re Mark Malkoff, your next ploy is to jump in America’s most fuel-efficient midsize sedan and embark on a 28-day quest to see how many mayors east of the Mississippi you can convince to give you keys to their cities.
Mark Malkoff is a comedian, writer and filmmaker who has been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS Early Show, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, NPR and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He started his latest adventure in a 2010 Ford
Fusion Hybrid, and he says he hopes to earn 100 keys before his journey on Nov. 1.
“Mark came to us with the idea, and we loved it,” said Jeffrey Eggen, manager, Ford Car Experiential Marketing. “It fits in well with our strategy to raise awareness of our new Ford vehicles by getting real customers behind the wheel and letting them tell their own story.”
“I always tell people I feel like I’m driving KITT from ‘Knight Rider’ because of all the cool technology in the car,” said Mark Malkoff. “It’s the best car I’ve ever driven.”
All of Malkoff’s adventures behind the wheel of the Fusion Hybrid will be chronicled online. Videos, photos and blogs will be featured daily at www.markmalkoff.com,and Malkoff will provide interested followers with regular updates on social networking sites such as Twitter, Flickr and Facebook. You can view all of his content on our Ford on Blogs page by clicking here.
The Fusion Hybrid is America’s most fuel-efficient midsize sedan, boasting EPA-estimated 41 mpg in the city.
Malkoff and the Ford Fusion Hybrid began their odyssey into the unknown Monday in Harrisburg, Pa., where the mayor had a somewhat peculiar task in store for him to complete in order to earn a key to the city.
“Apparently, all of the police officers ride on horses, so the mayor wanted me to follow them around and clean up after the horses in order to get the key,” chuckled Malkoff, who readily admits he will do just about anything to get a key. “In Fairfax, Virginia, they want me to climb into their town fountain, collect all of the coins and donate them to charity because no one else wants to do it.”
“Once people start finding out about this, mayors from all over the country are going to be Twittering me to come to their cities,” he said. “I like doing things that on paper look almost impossible to pull off.”


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Uber, Lyft Vow To Stop Driving In Austin After Voters Keep Regulations
After voters in Austin, Texas, rejected a proposal for loosened regulations on ride-hailing apps, both Uber and Lyft have announced they will be "pausing" operations in the city.
In late 2015, Austin's City Council approved an ordinance requiring companies like Uber and Lyft to be regulated like taxis. That meant, among other things, drivers would have to be fingerprinted as part of a background check.
Uber and Lyft, in response, pushed a ballot proposal asking voters to choose between that city ordinance and a looser statewide law.
NPR's John Burnett reports that the two companies dropped $8 million to promote their stance on Proposal 1 — a record for Austin ballot proposals. "Despite spending what amounted to $200 on each vote in their favor, Uber and Lyft lost by 44 to 56," John says.
Before the vote on Saturday, Uber and Lyft had threatened to pull out of Austin, a market John describes as "lucrative."
Since the decision, both companies have said they intend to follow through on their threats, Austin-based member station KUT reports.
Lyft told KUT they "want to stay in the city," but Austin's rules "don't allow true ridesharing to operate."
"Because of this, we have to take a stand for a long-term path forward that lets ridesharing continue to grow across the country, and will pause operations in Austin on Monday, May 9th," Lyft said.
"Disappointment does not begin to describe how we feel about shutting down operations in Austin," said Uber's Austin general manager, Chris Nakutis, KUT reports.
Austin Councilmember Ann Kitchen, who spearheaded the effort to increase regulation of ride-hailing companies, told KUT that nobody wants Uber and Lyft to withdraw from Austin.
"We're not asking them to leave," she said. "The voters have spoken and they want these requirements."
Last year, Uber and Lyft withdrew from San Antonio over a similar requirement that drivers be fingerprinted. The companies returned months later under a program that made fingerprinting voluntary.
Meanwhile, Houston also has rules requiring drivers for ride-hailing apps to be fingerprinted. Uber has previously threatened to withdraw from Houston over that ordinance. According to Culturemap Houston, the city's mayor, Sylvester Turner, responded, "If it comes down to public safety on one hand and Uber staying on the other, I don't think it is even close."
Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles are considering similar regulations on ride-hailing apps, The Associated Press reports.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Australia-listed casino gaming provider Aristocrat Leisure Ltd has announced that Anaxi, the group’s online real money gaming (RMG) division, has entered into a “strategic partnership” with U.S.-based online betting platform BetMGM.
BetMGM LLC is a sports betting and gaming entertainment company, founded by casino operator MGM Resorts International and online betting conglomerate Entain Plc.
In a Thursday press release, Aristocrat said the partnership aimed to deliver the group’s gaming content to North American iGaming markets. Aristocrat’s gaming content would “first be available via BetMGM online casino,” it added.
The statement quoted Cath Burns, Anaxi’s executive vice president, as saying the firm was “thrilled to be collaborating” with BetMGM.
“This is the first content release for Anaxi, and we look forward to continuing to innovate and create online gaming experiences that entertain,” added Ms Burns.
Aristocrat is working to scale its online RMG segment, having launched Anaxi in October last year. Earlier this month, the group completed the acquisition of Roxor Gaming Ltd, an online RMG supplier based in London, in the United Kingdom.
Matt Prevost, BetMGM’s chief revenue officer, said in remarks included in Thursday’s announcement that BetMGM would be the “first operator in North America” to offer Anaxi’s content.
He added: “Partnering with Anaxi to provide some of Aristocrat’s most iconic games supports our goal of making BetMGM online casino the best destination for players.”
Apr 17, 2024Brokerage Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd has trimmed by 14.5 percent its forecast for 2024 earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) for Macau casino operator Galaxy...
Apr 17, 2024
Aggregate revenue generated by VIP baccarat in Macau in the first quarter of 2024


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The first wing of Hearthstone’s Curse of Naxxramas adventure is set to roll out later today, July 22, and what better way to build the hype than the reveal of five new cards that players will be able to get their hands on soon.
The adventure will add a total of 30 new cards to the game, nine of which will be class specific cards. This latest batch of reveals includes cards such as the “Mad Scientist,” which allows players to put a secret onto the filed when it dies, and the “Sludge Belcher,” which has taunt and also summons a 1/2 slime with taunt when it dies.
Curse of Naxxramas will be released over five weeks, with one new wing released each week. Wings can either be purchased with real money or in-game gold. All five wings can be purchased for $24.99, but if players log in during the first month of release they will get the first wing for free, meaning that it only costs $19.99 for the other four.
The new cards can be found below.


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Understanding online communities, social media, social media tools, and social commerce are important to your business, and you need to spend some quality time using them to really get what they're all about. The power of user-driven tools lies in the using.
Not so fast.
Younger generations [future customers and employees] rarely notice the techno
"The growing number of companies offering private-label social network soluti
Over the last few years, management gurus Malone, Hagel, and now Hamel have
" Akanksha Goel, newly appointed Editor-in-Chief of Stuff Singapore
"A NEW fad is sweeping across Silicon Valley, causing excitement, confusion a
"McAfee said he first realized the potential of Web 2.0 technologies to becom
With business social networking software - managers and employees now have a


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Welspun Retail, the retailing arm of the Goenka-promoted Welspun Group, is planning to introduce international home decor brands in the Indian market.
“Brands including Christie’s from the United Kingdom and Surima from Portugal will be available to our customers within the next six months. Besides, we are also actively looking at acquisitions in the domestic market,” Dipali Goenka, director, Welspun Retail, told the media on the sidelines of the 9th Marketing & Retail Conclave organised by Technopak.
The company is also planning to hive off its retail venture Welspun Retail by next fiscal, as it prepares for a pan-India footprint. “Hiving off the retail operations is under consideration, and we will surely do so in due course of time,” said Goenka.
As part of expansion plans, the company is aiming to establish a pan-India presence by setting up 370 outlets by 2010. The company operates through two formats: WelHome, dealing in value-added products, and Spaces, dealing in high-end home furnishings.
The company is expecting to touch a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore by 2010, while working towards a business of Rs 100 crore in 2008.


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CPR Cell Phone Repair Expands Services with the Opening of New Store in Baytown, TX
This article was originally published on CPR Cell Phone Repair on June 26, 2019.
Independence, OH—June 26, 2019—CPR Cell Phone Repair, the largest and fastest growing retail mobile device repair franchise network in North America, is pleased to announce the opening of a new store in Baytown, TX. The worldwide leader of mobile device repair congratulates new owners Shannon Porter and Patrick Wood.
“We are thrilled to welcome Shannon Porter and Patrick Wood to the CPR Network,” said Josh Sevick, CEO of CPR Cell Phone Repair. “We know that their Baytown store will serve customers with top quality repairs and service, and we wish them success with this venture.”
Baytown is located on the Gulf coast, about 30 minutes east of Houston. The city boomed with the discovery of oil in the early 1900s and petroleum continues to be a major part of its economy. The Baytown Refinery, run by ExxonMobil, is the second largest oil refinery in the United States. Additionally, Baytown has a vibrant arts district downtown, motorsports complex, and large regional shopping mall. Shannon and Patrick’s new CPR location is conveniently located near the shopping center.
“Shannon and I are excited to embark on this journey with CPR,” said franchisee, Patrick. “As a CPR Owners, we look forward to being able to service our community with fast, affordable, and reliable repair services for all of their devices.”
CPR Baytown offers everything from simple fixes such as cracked screens to more complex issues like diagnostic issues and water damage. To start a repair with CPR Baytown, visit the store or contact the technicians at the details listed below.
CPR Baytown is located at:
3618 Garth Rd.
Baytown, TX 77521
Please contact the store at 281-787-7736
Please visit the website: https://www.cellphonerepair.com/baytown-tx/
About CPR Cell Phone Repair
Founded in Orlando, Fla. in 1996, CPR Cell Phone Repair is the fastest growing wireless technology franchise in North America and operates over 750 locations internationally. As a pioneer and leader in the electronics repair industry, CPR offers same-day repair and refurbishing services for cell phones, laptops, gaming systems, digital music players, tablets, and other personal electronic devices. For four straight years, CPR was named in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 List. In 2019, CPR was ranked in the top 25 of the list and placed as the number one business for tech business franchises. For more information about CPR Cell Phone Repair and franchise opportunities, visit https://www.cellphonerepair.com/ or call 877-856-5101.
For further information, please contact:
Partner & Vice President of Franchise Sales


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When I was back in my British homeland last summer, it sat squarely in the North Atlantic. France is just a stone's throw to the southeast. The very north of Scotland is on a latitude with southern Norway. I caught a train from London to Amsterdam.
I'm pretty sure about all that. But a post-Brexit Great Britain is doing a little geographic rejigging with its decision to put some UK in the CPTPP, a trade bloc that is equivalent to around US$13.5 trillion in economic might.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Friday that the United Kingdom will become the first nation to join the CPTPP since it formed with its original 11 member nations. Combined, the bloc will contain 500 million people and economies contributing 15% of global GDP once the United Kingdom joins.
The group, however, needs a new name. The second "P" in CPTPP stands for the Pacific Ocean; the full name is the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
It was once true that the sun did not set on the British Empire. But I've broken out my atlas to check, and no, Britain does not share any shores lapped by the warm waters and fringed by the coral reefs of the Pacific. It is literally an ocean away. That's a heck of a lot of "trans" over the Pacific. The land masses of Europe or the Americas stand in the way.
Geographic realities aside, it's quite a coup to join the body, which originally spun out of free-trade talks between the United States and Japan. And it's a missed opportunity as long as the United States refuses to sign on. There's always been a "my way or the highway" streak of individualism and protectionism about U.S. trade and foreign policy. But the free world faces its challenges, with dictatorships such as Russia and China flexing their might. Creating a mighty trade bloc that can act in unison is a great way to mount an economic and sanctions-driven fight back.
The late Shinzo Abe spent a significant amount of political capital to get Japan, which also has a protectionist nature as well as powerful labor and farm lobbies, to agree to the deal. But the then-Japanese prime minister was jilted at the alter by former president Donald Trump, who literally made pulling out of the free-trade deal his first act on taking office in January 2017.
Japan chaired talks on Britain's accession to the group. The Tokyo leadership is continuing to chase the United States to get back on board, but U.S. President Joe Biden has resisted those overtures. I'm not sure why, as the United States would benefit immensely from joining, too.
Brexit was a colossal mistake, in my eyes. Brits in rural areas and northern cities cast a protest vote against immigration while the southern cities that get the most immigrants voted to remain.
There were also false promises -- let's just call them what they were, lies -- by former PM Boris Johnson that Brits would gain enormous oil-drilling income from the North Sea. He lied that Britain would reclaim £350 million (US$433 million) per week that it was shoveling in fees to the European Union -- a figure that even the mos -strident pro-Brexit campaigners knew was nonsense.
And now just look at the dire straits the U.K. economy is in. It's the only G7 economy expected by the International Monetary Fund to enter recession in 2023, and it will have the worst economic performance among its G7 peers in 2024. There's a strike of some kind almost every week. I commiserate with Brits here in my adoptive hometown of Hong Kong, and we agree that Britain is falling apart.
Maybe this CPTPP deal will undo some of the damage, or at least forge new trade partnerships that offset the problems produced by Brexit. You still won't be able to find an affordable plumber or get anyone to put your scaffolding up -- all the Poles, Slovakians and Romanians who were doing that dirty work had to leave -- but the free-trade bloc is supposed to ease doing business and moving between member nations.
It is appropriate that it is Sunak, the Southampton-born son of East African immigrants to England and ultimately of Indian descent, who is the man to ink the deal. He is the face of modern England, not to mention absolutely loaded, because he married the daughter of the man who founded the Indian IT outsourcing company Infosys (INFY) . He knows a thing or two about global commerce.
"We are at our heart an open and free-trading nation, and this deal demonstrates the real economic benefits of our post-Brexit freedoms," Sunak said in announcing the agreement. This is the fruition of talks that started in June 2021, concluded at trade talks on the Vietnamese resort island of Phu Quoc earlier this month, and was finally agreed today in a virtual meeting of ministers from the various nations.
Globalization has faced its setbacks, and the nativist streak evident in many Western nations runs deep. But anyone complaining about the perils of global trade is likely posting their polemic to Beijing-owned Tiktok on an iPhone designed in California but assembled in China, India or Vietnam. Then they hop in their U.S.-made Toyota to drive to pick up groceries at German-owned Trader Joe's or Dutch-owned Stop & Shop before heading to work at an e-commerce multinational doing business all around the world.
Britain's Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who was born in London but grew up partly in Nigeria and the United States herself, says the deal is "an important moment" for the United Kingdom. She sees it as a "powerful signal" that Britain is using its post-Brexit freedom to reach out to new markets elsewhere in the world.
The United Kingdom already has trade deals with many of the members of the CPTPP. For the record they are, by economic size: Japan, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Chile, New Zealand, Peru and Brunei.
The United Kingdom would slot in just above Canada, so it's a significant addition. Sunak's office estimates that the move will boost the U.K. economy by £1.8 billion (US$2.2 billion) each year in the long run and lead to an £800 million (US$990 million) increase in wages.
For U.K. exports, 99% will now have zero tariffs for shipments into that grouping. For the year through September 2022, exports to those nations were already valued at £60.5 billion (US$75 billion) and are only set to grow now.
While the immediate benefits on exports are limited because of Britain's existing trade deals, there's an important clause for the "rules of origin" in the CPTPP. Those new rules allow for a U.K. company to, for instance, make a car engine and ship it tariff-free to a company assembling a car in, say, low-cost Vietnam. The Vietnamese company can then sell the finished vehicle tariff-free to another nation in the bloc, something that's not possible with bilateral trade deals.
Britain can use the other 11 nations as a beachhead to ship goods elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region. This is also the first time Britain has struck a trade deal with Malaysia. Although we normally think about shipping goods -- cheese, cars and chocolate are the first things Sunak mentioned as part of the deal -- services are arguably more important, accounting for 43% of Britain's exports to CPTPP nations.
The CPTPP has been championed as a "next-gen" trade deal that focuses as much on services, digital goods and intellectual property as it does on heavy manufacturing. U.K. service providers will now not need to set up an individual office in each of those countries to serve them. Such remotely delivered services to CPTPP member nations were valued at £20.5 billion (US$25.4 billion) in 2020. The deal also cuts red tape on cross-border investment among the member nations. CPTPP member nations have invested £182 billion (US$225 billion) in stocks into U.K. markets.
It is going to take a lot of work to undo the damage and disruption caused by Brexit, but the U.K. has taken the first step. That long journey of repair can begin.


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Amazon is ready to don its game-face with the firm’s next big hardware project reportedly an Android video game console priced at well below $300 [£182].
Multiple sources told VG24/7 that the ecommerce specialist is looking at an Android OS-based system that will allows owners to download and stream games, music, movies and TV content.
Publishers that have met with Amazon have seen a unit the same size as the PSone redesign that is an oblong, grey, and has sharp edges with a full makeover likely before it ever sees the light of day
The hardware will be created in conjunction with Lab 126, the subsidiary that is responsible for designing the Kindle line of devices and it is being targeted at the affordable end of the market with plans to price it at less than $300 [£182].
It’s possible the device will be designed to be the central point of the living room and take advantage of Amazon’s vast catalogue of digital entertainment that stretches to music, films, TV shows and games.
Amazon sent out invites earlier this month to a recruitment event in Boston for a secretive new product that it claimed will “be even bigger than Kindle,” and it wouldn’t be a surprise were the home entertainment centrepiece what it was alluding to.
In terms of an Android-based games console, it isn’t the first time there has been noises in that direction and as far back as August 2013 it was being reported that a device would be on the way before 2013 was out.
When those rumours were outed, it was reported a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor would power the device and that it had already been chatting to game developers to try to add controller support to future tablet games.
If Amazon does end up entering the console space its likely the console, which was reportedly delayed at the last minute in 2013, will release at some point in the coming months.


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'You can be selling when you are sleeping'
MORE than 7,500 businesses are expected to seek State funding for expanding their businesses online under government plans announced today.
The Trading Online Voucher Scheme which helps small businesses to get online quickly has received a funding boost that will see almost €20m up for grabs by businesses as they seek to recover from the impact of the coronavirus lockdown.
That's up from the average annual funding for the scheme of around €2m.
Business Minister Heather Humprheys said the scheme got more than three years' worth of applications in less then three months following the Covid-19 outbreak.
She said there have been "success stories" in recent months of florists, restaurants and Irish fashion outlets trading online.
Ms Humphreys warned that businesses who remain offline are "missing out" on an opportunity to change their business model to tackle the "current challenges".
Increased funding was previously announced in April and another €14.3m has been allocated to the scheme today.
Under the scheme, small businesses can claim up to €5,000 in two grants of €2,500 each.
Ms Humprheys said: "It's an essential part of our COVID-19 business supports for small firms and it is vital that we continue to make it available for enterprises to meet ongoing trading challenges.
Online sales have been a lifeline to many SMEs during COVID-19."
She said the ability to trade online will continue to be critically important for many small and medium enterprises: "Particularly as we face into a period of reduced capacity on shop floors."
Ms Humphreys added: "A quality online presence compliments your existing bricks and mortar business allows you to advertise and trade to a much wider customer base.
"It's what I call 24-hour sales, you can be selling when you are sleeping."
The Trading Online Voucher Scheme is run by the network of Local enterprise Offices (LEOs).
The chairman of the network, Oisin Geoghegan welcomed the extra funding saying the LEOs have been "inundated" with applications.
He said: "Since March, nearly 4,000 businesses nationwide have applied for a Trading Online Voucher... to help them get online and to do more business, online.
"We’re seeing hundreds of examples from around the country of small businesses starting to sell online for the first time, during the Covid-19 crisis.
"While they may have had a website presence before, thanks to the funding and training under the Trading Online Voucher, they have been able to upgrade their websites and can now sell directly to customers both at home and abroad."
The Trading Online Voucher Scheme is open to small businesses in most sectors that have been trading for at least six months, employ up to ten people with a turnover of less than €2 million annually.
Details of how to apply are on LEO websites.


text: Earlier this week, we took a look at the upcoming Nike Lunar Force 1 “Liquid Metal Pack”. Today, we find out the official release date, which will be this Saturday. Much like the Liquid Metal Packs recently, such as the Nike WMNS Dunk Sky Hi and Air Max 1, the show will come in two colorways; Metallic Silver and Metallic Gold. Each shoe has an entirely metallic upper, paid with a White speckled sole. The Nike Lunar Force 1 “Liquid Metal Pack” will be available at select boutiques such as Undefeated.


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With growing membership numbers and interest in the work of Play Australia in South Australia, the organisation is to expand its network and principles of promoting healthy and stimulating…read more
The Color Run Malaysia (TCR Malaysia) and The Color Run Singapore (TCR Singapore) events both sold out to the general public in under five days in June and July. Dubbed the ‘happiest…read more
Concept images have been released for the interior of the planned $428 million Western Australian Museum, complete with its famed blue whale skeleton hanging overhead. The design concept…read more
One of the most comprehensive studies of snow-related accidents has revealed a significant increase in serious snowboarding injuries and has prompted renewed calls for the wearing of…read more
With the NSW Government encouraging Sydney's National Rugby League clubs to move many of their games to major stadia, the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) is to stage 18 matches in its new…read more
Leading commercial fitness supplier Precor has undertaken a global launch of its completely redesigned Experience™ Series commercial treadmill line, containing unique features and…read more
With the world's first ever surf management plan to be implemented on the Gold Coast next year, surfers are being urged to give their input in the management of the region's…read more
Four years after opening, Resorts World Sentosa's attractions - Universal Studios, Adventure Cove Water Park and S.E.A Aquarium - welcomed their 20th million visitor last Thursday (17th…read more
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Asda this week says its online sales were 5% lower in 2021 than the previous year, but were still 75% higher than pre-pandemic 2019. The supermarket says it has regained its position as the UK’s second-largest online grocer by market share and now wants to become the country’s second-largest grocer.
The update came as Asda this week gave investors an update on its 2021 figures. In its 2021 full-year, total Asda Group sales increased by 0.5% to £20.4bn, from £20.3bn a year earlier. Sales were 0.6% ahead on a like-for-like basis that strips out the effect of store openings and closures. Sales of homewares, outdoor equipment and clothing drove that growth. Grocery like-for-like sales were 0.5% lower in 2021 than 2020 – but 4.6% higher than in 2019.
Online sales fell by 5% in 2021 compared to 2020, but were 75% ahead of 2019.
Asda operating profit for 2021 came in at £693.1m, 42% higher than the £486.5m it reported in 2020. That, says Asda, was primarily due to a reduction in Covid-related costs compared to the previous year.
In the fourth quarter alone, LFL sales of £5.4bn were 2.9% down on the previous year, but 2.6% up on the same period two years earlier. In December it says it hit its target of providing 1m delivery slots in the week running up to Christmas.
Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa says: “When we bought Asda we were clear that we wanted to grow this great business and our ambition is for Asda to regain its position as the UK’s second largest grocery retailer. We are pleased with the progress made in the six months since we officially took over the business and are confident we can achieve this long-term ambition by providing customers with exceptional value wherever and however they choose to shop with us.”
Statista analysis shows Sainsbury’s staying just ahead of Asda in terms of their share of the UK grocery market in recent years – with their positions briefly reversed in spring 2019 – and their market shares are very close in size. As of January 2022, says Statista, Asda had a 14.4% share of the grocery market in Great Britain, while Sainsbury’s had a 15.6% share, while Tesco remains the clear leader with a 27.9% share.
Asda has launched a new Just Essentials brand, with a range of 300 products, that it says is 50% larger than the Smart Price Range it will replace. The full range will be sold in all 581 of its food shops and online.
Issa says: “We understand that customers are increasingly worried about the cost of living and want help to keep their grocery bills in check, whilst still being able to buy healthy and nutritious food for their families. Our new ‘Just Essentials’ range has been specifically designed with this in mind, combing our lowest prices with a much larger and more diverse range of great value products to meet all household needs.”
Mohsin and Zuber Issa previously founded EG Group, which they own together with TDR Capital, before the partners teamed up again in 2020 to buy Asda as well. The acquisition came soon after Asda had almost doubled its online capacity to 700,000 slots a week during the first Covid-19 lockdown, as the company responded to higher online demand. By Christmas 2021, it had grown online capacity again to a million slots a week.
Strategy of convenience across channels
The retailer has looked to give shoppers more convenient ways to buy as it pursues a target of being the UK’s second largest grocery. It describes its strategy over the last year as being one of giving customers more convenient ways to shop – and more reasons to visit its stores. It has, for example, opened Asda On the Move convenience stores at EG Group fuel stations and plans to roll them out across all EG Group sites in the coming year.
It has also worked with more than 40 different partner brands in more than 1,000 partnership propositions in 400 shops. In the coming year it says it will scale up the partnerships that have proved most successful.
Trialling new approaches
More recently, Asda last week announced a trial that enables online shoppers to communicate with a ‘personal shopper’ in-store, before taking delivery of their shop in as little as an hour. The new service works through on-demand delivery company buymie. Shoppers in one Leeds store can download a new Asda Express, powered by buymie, that has been created for the three-month trial. Customers using the Asda Express customised app will be able to connect with the buymie shopper in store. The service will create an initial 60 jobs, and will roll out further if here is demand.
In a second, parallel, trial, customers at a Bristol store will be able to order via the existing buymie app for delivery in as little as an hour.
At launch, Simon Gregg, senior vice president of ecommerce at Asda, said: “As we look to further expand the number of convenient delivery options we offer, we know that customers are increasingly looking for a more personalised service. The trial in Leeds and Bristol will give access to our full online range and a ‘personal shopper’ experience for bigger basket shops through buymie’s interactive platform.
“By partnering with buymie we are able to offer express delivery in more locations more quickly, without the need to implement new technology, infrastructure or cause disruption to our store teams.”
Devan Hughes, co-founder and chief executive of buymie, said: “With the impact of COVID and the acceleration of online adoption, speedy grocery delivery has become a must-win channel. Today, we are thrilled to be not only launching this partnership with Asda, but also the launch of an entirely new “powered by” enterprise technology.
“buymie is entirely unique in its approach, exclusively championing existing grocery retail brands, and handling the entire fulfilment process end-to-end from order placement, right through to in-store picking and delivery.”
Asda is also extending its Asda Rewards loyalty app trial to customers in 48 shops following an initial 16 store trial. Customers using the Asda Rewards app build up a cashpot as they shop and as they complete in-app missions. That cashpot can then be turned into vouchers to spend in store.


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Shoe retailers push back against Trump’s China tariffs
Retail analyst Hitha Herzog on how the U.S.-China tariff battle may raise the price of running shoes.
Eco-friendly footwear brand Allbirds is expanding its physical footprint.
Continue Reading Below
The San Francisco-based company, which counts Leonardo DiCaprio as an investor, plans to open 20 stores next year, expanding its operation to 35 total stores worldwide, according to the Associated Press.
Allbirds currently has retail stores in six U.S. cities, London, China, and New Zealand on its website. The company is apparently focusing on new cities, including Atlanta, Dallas and Denver, in the latest expansion. The company joins a trend of online startups, such as men’s clothing brand Untuckit and mattress company Casper, moving into the retail space as big box retailers and department stores shut down.
Allbirds said it can’t ignore the importance of a physical presence despite its beginnings as an online-only retailer, especially since most shoe sales still take place in brick-and-mortar stores.
MORE FROM FOXBUSINESS.COM…
Founder Tim Brown’s sustainable shoe brand grew from humble beginnings. Partnering with biotech engineer Joey Zwillinger, the startup launched online with a single wool-based running shoe in March of 2016 with the aid of a research grant from the New Zealand wool industry and a successful campaign on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.
Less than four years after the initial launch, Allbirds carved out a sizeable, internationally appealing niche in the market. Time magazine called Allbirds “the world’s most comfortable” upon the brand’s launch. The $95 kicks are among the rich and famous.


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We have outlooked several promising Forex pairs and the result can surprise you!
EUR/USD will have a busy week
Information is not investment advice
With the Federal Reserve’s meeting and the release of Nonfarm Payrolls, EUR/USD is going to have an active week. Last week, it turned down from the 100-day MA and closed below 1.11 on Friday. On Monday, we witness a recovery in the euro. However, sellers will likely re-emerge between 1.11 and 1.1117 (50-period MA on the H4). The downside targets lie at 1.1055 and 1.1035 (50-day MA). Only the rise above 1.1130 will open the way up to 1.1150 and then possibly 1.1185/1.1200.
Great Britain released retail sales data on May 20, 9:00 GMT+3. The reading outperformed expectations greatly (+1.4% actual vs. -0.3% forecast).
The stock market has reversed, and now it’s going lower and lower…
Walmart is one of the biggest retail corporations in the US, with $244 billion in total assets. Does it worth buying amid rising prices and supply concerns that shatter the world economy?


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The 8th generation Suzuki Alto 660cc which is currently the bestselling local assembled car in Pakistan has witnessed highest-ever sales in a month in July 2021. Alto, which is the only kei car to be assembled in our country, saw sales of 6,110 units in July which is also the highest-ever monthly sales record not only for Pak Suzuki but for any local assembled car in Pakistan.
The previous highest monthly record was also posted by Alto in September 2019, when it registered sales of 4,924 units breaking the record of Suzuki Mehran which was 4,684 units. This also helped Pak Suzuki to post its highest-ever sales in a month with 15,207 units sold in July 2021.
According to the data released by Pakistan Automobile Manufacturers Association (PAMA), Suzuki Alto saw 37,720 units sold in FY20-21 compared to 30,916 units sold a year earlier rendering a 22% increase. And it just got an ideal start to FY21-22 with record-breaking sales, as Alto enjoys the status of the only mass-produced local assembled small car available in Pakistan.
Pak Suzuki enjoys unchallenged dominance in small car segment which enables the automaker to enjoy a thumping 66% share of Pakistan’s automobile market. As per sources, the company is ramping up production to meet the rising demand which is expected to remain high in forthcoming months following a reduction in prices after the government reduced various duties & taxes in the recently announced Auto Policy 2021-26. Additionally, booking of cars under Roshan Apni Car for overseas Pakistanis having Roshan Digital Account (RDA), has also played its part in the increase in sales of locally assembled vehicles.
A 3d animation professional with over 20 years of industry experience having served in leading organizations & production facilities of Pakistan, an avid car enthusiast and petrolhead with an affection to deliver writings to help shape opinions. Formerly written for PakWheels as well as major publications including Dawn. Founder of CarSpiritPK.com


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For The Culture With Farajii: Gov. Hogan eases COVID-19 restrictions
BALTIMORE, MD (WEAA) — Beginning Friday at 5 p.m, Maryland will relax several COVID-related restrictions.
On Tuesday, Governor Larry Hogan announced capacity limits will be lifted on outdoor and indoor dining, retail, religious facilities, fitness centers, casinos, personal services and indoor recreational establishments.
Additionally, large outdoor and indoor venues may expand their capacity to 50%.