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“The toy industry remains committed to New York City as the location for the 2006 Fall Toy Show,” explained Arnie Rubin, President, TIA and President of Funrise. “We are actively considering several venues in the Toy District and other locations.”
The show will take place from October 20th-23rd, with specific information on a New York City-based venue announced shortly.
In addition, buyer registration for the forthcoming Toy Fair in February is continuing to grow and is over 9,800, close to a 10 per cent increase on last year. The show will take place February 12th-15th at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and showroom locations in New York City.
Debuting in 2006 will be two special feature sections, e@play and Urban Bazaar: Indie Art Toys. Featuring electronic, edutainment and educational products, the e@play section will showcase handheld games, computer software and video games/accessories. In the Urban Bazaar: Indie Art Toys section, buyers will find artist-based action figures and toys that blend play with art, with influences from pop culture, music, graphic design and nostalgia.
Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times best-selling author of Blink! and The Tipping Point is the keynote speaker for the event on Sunday, February 12th, from 9-10am.
Meanwhile, the US toy industry’s search for a new permanent base seems once again to be pointing towards the previously dismissed space at 100 Church Street in New York.
Despite the Toy Industry Association's earlier rejection of it as the future home of the industry, the 200 Fifth Avenue Tenants' Association is continuing to lobby for the building as the new home of the toy industry in New York.
Tenant Association leader Andrew Stern argues that the building satisfies the original search criteria set out by the joint search committee comprised of the TIA and the tenants' group.
"Based on what is currently available, I like the 100 Church Street building for two reasons," he said. "One: It's available. Of all the things we looked at, it is available. And two: It addresses 90 percent of the criteria we established. Is it perfect? No."
Landlord, Zar Realty, is also understood to have made further concessions which may cause the TIA to reconsider.
"The owners have been aggressive in trying to allay our concerns and I would not take it completely off the table," said TIA chairman Arnie Rubin. "If they can make us an offer we can't refuse, we'll certainly look at it again. All I can say is that if the offer is good enough, I will bring it back to the board.
"It's just a building. It's concrete floors and a roof. We have nothing against the building. Everything else has to come into play to make it work for us. That's the bottom line.”


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VNN Launches Pro Shop With Amazon Business
New storefront gives much-needed assist to budget-conscious high school athletic departments
Aug 14, 2018, 10:47 ET
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Aug. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As budget talks wrap up across the nation, high school athletic directors in local communities are being asked to do more with less. Cutting programs, sharing gear, and in some cases, being forced to fundraise nearly all the expenses they incur over a season is becoming the new norm, and nearly everything that goes into coordinating high school sporting events from posts to pylons has a price tag. At the same time, participation continues to increase, nearing 8M in 2017 who will on average play 20 games per season at 20,000 high schools, making the finding of creative revenue-earning or cost-cutting opportunities one of the most important and necessary tasks an athletic director must do on a yearly basis.
Today, VNN, America's largest and fastest growing high school sports communication platform, is giving its 3,000 partner athletic directors a much-needed assist, launching the VNN Pro Shop with Amazon Business. The storefront gives high school athletic directors and their coaches instant access to hundreds of thousands of sports equipment SKUs stocked by Amazon, including discounts from major brands like Franklin Sports and Champion Sports. Now available through the professional portal of VNN's communication platform, VNN Home, the Pro Shop connects athletic departments to equipment purchases alongside the key administrative and content creation functions they already use to manage and engage with their local sports communities.
"So much in high school sports begins and ends with athletic directors and their office staff," said VNN Marketing Director Romy Glazer. "As a group, they often play an important, behind-the-scenes role in our local communities, ensuring young athletes have numerous opportunities to grow through sports programs. We're excited about the immediate impact the Pro Shop launch can have in supporting that mission by easing the pressure on our partners who now will be able to capitalize on the power of Amazon Business to meet their goals. At the same time, we're excited to reaffirm VNN's dedication to being a champion for school sports across the country."
VNN is America's largest and fastest growing high school sports communication platform. As the exclusive partner of over 15% of all US high school athletic communities, VNN connects the high school sports experience onto a single platform for 19-million passionate parents, athletes, fans, software providers, and athletic professionals across the country.
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Nine Oregon and Southwest Washington entrepreneurs are vying for top honors at this year’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards for the Pacific Northwest.
A total of 22 entrepreneurs were named finalist for the awards. The awards will be handed out at a black-tie gala in Seattle on June 15.
Each year, EY celebrates entrepreneurs and their work with regional awards. Last year, six Portland-area founders were nominated and two won. The 2017 winners were: Jill Nelson, founder of Ruby Receptionists, and Jaime Schmidt, founder of Schmidt’s Naturals. Other past winners include Puppet founder Luke Kanies and AWS Elemental's late co-founder Sam Blackman.
This year’s finalists come from a diverse set of companies, from fast kombucha brands and digital advertising to life sciences and senior living.
The awards acknowledge "innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities."
Regional award winners are then eligible for EY's overall Entrepreneur Of The Year national program.
Click through the photos to see the Oregon and Southwest Washington finalists.


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Revenues from Wi-Fi indoor location apps are set to hit $2.5 billion by 2020 as retailers turn to WLAN to improve the shopping experience, ABI has said.
The research firm said that a growing number of retailers were looking to in-store analytics in order to track customer numbers.
By knowing customer behaviour, retailers are able to measure footfall and ultimately improve store layout and staff management, measure the performance of advertising campaigns and enhance loyalty schemes, ABI said.
While Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons used by some retailers to provide proximity advertising are “stealing the headlines”, ABI said that the proliferation and range of Wi-Fi meant it presented a cheaper and superior means of providing analytics services.
It added the accuracy of Wi-Fi had improved considerably in recent times thanks to access point vendors such as Cisco and Zebra, while startup companies were helping boost the adoption of the technology.
Patrick Connolly, Principal Analyst at ABI Research, said: “Apple continues to create roadblocks, while BLE beacons have not only taken mindshare but also budgets. However, Wi-Fi is ubiquitous on smartphones and available in over 50 percent of major retail stores in the US, giving it unparalleled reach.”
However, ABI added that “high accuracy” standards like 802.11mc and Wi-Fi Aware were coming to market “too late”.
Connolly added: “The time for these was two years ago. In the meantime, most access point vendors have developed their own high accuracy algorithms to compete with other indoor technologies. Wi-Fi Aware has long term potential in a lot of markets, but there is very little for retail technology vendors to hang their hats on today.”


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Affluent couples prioritize their health and their family
While affluent women may have gained a reputation as non-working, yoga pants-wearing shopoholics, the realities of affluent households are far more complex. According to the YouGov Affluent Perspective Study, most affluent women contribute a significant amount of earned income and have taken their families from their middle-class roots (65%) into the top 10% of U.S. households – and for some, the top 2%.
Fifty-five percent of the affluent households surveyed (those with a household income of at least $150,000) are dual-income households. Together, these power-couples earn on average $300,000 annually and manage investment portfolios valued at $4 million. Many in these households have achieved higher education (46% have graduate degrees) and are professionally accomplished (25% are business owners/C-Level). While they enjoy their work (67%), they prioritize their health (66%) and their family (53%).
They've earned what they have and naturally like being recognized for this success by their peers (81%), and by brands they like (45%). But it goes deeper than the surface appeal of a brand name. They know that having the means to personalize is a truer signal of success than buying "off-the-shelf" – that's why 68% are willing to pay more for brands that customize their products just for them. But none of this matters if they don't feel wanted. For those brands who have earned their business, 8 in 10 seek out brands that appreciate their loyalty. The longevity of the relationship will depend on demonstrating appreciation, day in and day out.
For more information, please visit AffluentPerspective.com


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26/03/2011 Investment by SSE to create 7,000 jobs Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) will invest £3.5 billion in Scotland by 2016. Around 7,000 jobs will be created in total including posts with contractors. SSE has 5,000 staff in Scotland. The Herald
31/03/2011 Waitrose plan new distribution facility Waitrose are planning a new distribution facility in Chorley, Lancashire. The facility will deliver to 80 stores. Up to 600 jobs could be created across the north of England and Scotland. The Times
29/03/2011 A new bakery distribution service has been set up by 6 workers who were made redundant last week. Fords Bakery went into liquidation last week resulting in 30 job losses. The Mortons Rolls service will distribute products in Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian. New bakery distribution service creates 6 jobs. Metro
22/03/2011 Fords Bakery in liquidation Fords Bakery in Prestonpans, East Lothian has gone into liquidation resulting in over 60 job losses. Around 25 workers will be transferred to another site in Edinburgh. Fords Bakery was sold last summer to Scullions Wholesale Bakery Limited when it went into administration however the company is unable to continue running the bakery.
25/3/11 Community Bakery should return to Dunbar High Street by the summer after planning permission for a community bakery was granted last week. Premises at 60 High Street, which have lain empty since vacanted by Knox Newsagents, will now be converted into a working bakery within the next few months – an opening date will be announced in the coming weeks. Six full-time and a number of part-time staff will be recruited. The shop is to have a contemporary Scottish feel, offering a selection traditional goods and continental-style breads and pastries. East Lothian Courier
18/03/2011 More job cuts at Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group will cut 570 jobs and outsource up to 560 posts in the UK. Around 90 jobs will be affected in Scotland.
10/03/2011 Redundancies at Jewel and Esk College Edinburgh’s Jewel and Esk College will make some staff redundant as it saves £1.5 million from its budget. The college has 400 staff. The exact number of redundancies is not yet known. Edinburgh Evening News
Primark to open another Edinburgh store http://www.primark.co.uk/page.aspx?pointerid=d142c90b277e48c99b1f00edf738fef2 Primark will open a new store in the Gyle shopping centre in Edinburgh. The clothing store already has plans to open stores in Princes Street in Edinburgh city centre and Livingston. The new site will be opened by 2012. The exact number of jobs that will be created is not yet known. 07/03/2011 Edinburgh Evening News
250 jobs to be created at BlackRock http://www2.blackrock.com/global/home/Careers/CareersHome/index.htm The Scotsman Investment management firm Black Rock will create 250 jobs in Edinburgh. The jobs will bein divisions such as business operations and finance and technology. 04/03/2011 Scotsman
22/03/2011 Concern for Royal Mail jobs There is growing concern that around 130 Royal Mail managers in Scotland could lose their jobs. Royal Mail will decrease the number of delivery offices in the UK by 50 per cent by 2016. The Herald
23/03/2011 16 jobs cut at Edinburgh Zoo The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland has cut 16 jobs at Edinburgh Zoo. There could be more job losses in the future. Last year around 200 job losses were anticipated at the zoo. Edinburgh Evening News
24/03/2011 Edinburgh College of Art merges with university The Edinburgh College of Art has merged with Edinburgh University. There will be up to 70 jobs losses including 30 academic posts over the next 3 years. The Scotsman
21/03/2011 Computer software firm to create 20 jobs Software firm Reloaded Productions will open a new office in Edinburgh creating 20 jobs. Edinburgh Evening News


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“The 50th edition is recording record numbers”, said Franco Boni, President of BolognaFiere Group. Actually, this new edition will host 2.604 exhibiting companies (94 more than 2016) coming from 69 countries in the world. Among the 2017 exhibitors, 73% of them come from outside Italy. The exhibition is growing up to 7%, and there are great expectations on the number of visitors participating, too, with a +10% increase of online purchases to date, compared to 2016.
The landmark trade show, which is organized in collaboration with Cosmetica Italia, the Italian personal care association and with the support of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), has been recognized by the Italian Ministry of Economic Department as one of Italian fairs with the highest international appeal. The next edition will confirm this leadership with 29 Country Pavilions involved in the exhibition, +16% compared to the previous edition. For the first time ever Argentina, Chile, Japan, Latvia and United Arab Emirates will exhibit.
First edition of Cosmoprime
To celebrate its 50th edition, Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna will inaugurate Cosmoprime a new area dedicated to the masstige and prestige markets and to niche perfumery and opening from March 16th to 19th, 2017.
With 151 exhibitors (81% coming from abroad) from 28 countries, Cosmoprime meets the particular requirements of the retail sector with special initiatives with an international impact.
Within Cosmoprime, The Perfume Factory will offer attendants the opportunity to visit a real perfume manufacturing chain, from olfactory composition to maceration, from filtration to filling, packing and wrapping. A limited edition fragrance will be produced, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, in collaboration with some leading suppliers including: ICR, Bormioli Luigi, Candiani, Aptar, Ima Group, Coven Egidio, Pusterla 1880 and Industrial Box. The fragrance has been created by the perfumer Luca Maffei. It is a gender-free Eau de Cologne revised from a contemporary and sophisticated viewpoint.
Multi-ethnic and organic beauty under the spotlights
The next Cosmoprof show will also host the first edition of Tones of Beauty, a project devoted to the multi-ethnic beauty, with cosmetic brands of “Black & Brown” products.
Also presented for the first time at Cosmoprime, the BeOrganic area will be fully dedicated to companies producing certified organic beauty products.
Cosmopack on the rise too
The number of exhibitors participating in Cosmopack, the show within the show dedicated to the supply chain of the beauty industry, is expected to grow by 8%, 50% of them coming from outside Italy and from 29 countries, including most European countries, Turkey, the USA, China, South Korea and Japan.


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Wealth Club is delighted to announce realisations from two investments arranged by Seneca in the space of a month, returning capital and profit back to investors.
August saw the £10 million sale of a purpose-built store fully let to Tesco, delivering c.20% profit in less than two years. Wealth Club members invested alongside Seneca to fund the initial £8 million purchase.
In addition, the first Management Buy Out (‘MBO’) ever backed by Wealth Club members, specialist textile wholesaler Whyte & Ivory, was successfully refinanced last month following record sales growth. This saw Wealth Club investors’ loan notes repaid in full with interest. Investors also retain their equity interest in Whyte & Ivory which provides the opportunity to realise further profits on exit.
Alex Davies CEO and Founder of Wealth Club said, “In the last three years Wealth Club investors have backed four buy outs, investing just under £3 million in total and have also invested £2.8 million in property deals to date.
Whyte & Ivory was our very first Buy Out investment and we are delighted with the outcome for our clients. Within three years, our investors have had all their capital returned with interest from this Seneca arranged investment. Wealth Club investors also have the prospect of making strong capital gains from the eventual sale of their equity interest.
With the Tesco deal, securing a successful exit in uncertain times is impressive and we are delighted to secure a profitable and quick turn on investors capital.”
Wealth Club backed Whyte & Ivory has broken through £10m revenue this year continuing its year-on-year growth track record.
In a deal led by Seneca, the specialist investment, lending and advisory business based in the North West, Wealth Club is pleased to report that its private equity investment, Whyte and Ivory Ltd, continues its track record of year-on-year growth – breaking through £10m of sales this year.
The textiles business which focusses on wholesale contract curtain fabrics and curtain linings, has seen growth in its UK business, which exports a considerable proportion of sales into the EU, and in Whyte & Ivory LLC, its subsidiary based in North Carolina.
Private investors from Seneca and Wealth Club, which hold a combined 30% stake in the North West based business, invested in Whyte and Ivory in 2019 to support the founders in their plans to build out the team and expand its global customer base.
In the last three years US Sales have grown 650% – reward for the investment made in a North Carolina warehouse and £1m in stock to support key US accounts and markets. The business is now adding US customers at an average of one per week.
Since 2019, Wealth Club investors have invested just under £3 million in property deals.
This deal saw the purchase of a supermarket in Immingham, Lincolnshire in 2020. The modern, purpose-built store was developed in 2014 and is fully let to Tesco on a long-term lease with a break option in November 2029. The sale was agreed in July 2022 and has delivered a c.20% profit to investors in just two years.
Wealth Club Investors were offered the opportunity to invest alongside Seneca in the purchase of the Tesco supermarket with the investment benefiting from 10% annual capital repayments and a potential profit upon the successful exit. The exit has been achieved significantly quicker than the original plan and the attractiveness of securing this substantial profit, well ahead of the timetable, was heightened by current economic headwinds.
This is the second successful exit in the last 12 months for Wealth Club investors from a property investment having previously exited another Seneca arranged property investment in Macclesfield, Cheshire in 2021, generating a c.125% return for investors in a similar timeframe.


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A developer from Ukraine going by the 4PDA forum name "B-S-G" recently created and published a modified version of the Google Camera application, effectively giving HDR+ capabilities to smartphones other than Google's Pixels. The application is compatible with any device which is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, Snapdragon 821, or Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip, and it can be side-loaded as any other APK file without root access.
The Google Pixel smartphones have one of the best mobile cameras around, at least according to some experts. The phones previously received a top score in DxOMark, surpassing devices like the Samsung Galaxy S8, OnePlus 5, and the LG G6. Technically speaking, the Google Pixel camera is of the 12.3-megapixel variety, has an aperture of f/2.0, and takes advantage of numerous technologies including phase detection and laser autofocus, EIS, and a dual-LED flash. However, one of the best camera technologies available on the Google Pixel smartphones is HDR+, which allows users to capture well-lit, sharp, and generally high-quality images regardless of their first-hand experience with manual photography. Google's exclusive HDR+ technology is evidently available only for the Pixel smartphone series, however, with the modded Google Camera application developed by B-S-G, the HDR+ function can now be experienced on a wider range of smartphones as long as they take advantage of the Hexagon 680 DSP (or above), which is currently only present in Qualcomm's last three high-end mobile chips. With that in mind, the modded Google Camera app should be compatible with smartphones like the OnePlus 3T, OnePlus 5, LG G6, and some iterations of the Galaxy S8 series.
The modded Google Camera app is based on the Google Camera application initially released in the third Android O Developer Preview published in June. It can be installed on compatible devices running the appropriate system-on-chip even without root access, as long as the smartphones are set to allow the installation of applications from unknown sources. With that being said, while the newly released app seems to be perfectly safe, side-loading apps is something that you're always doing at your own risk and no one other than you will be responsible in case anything goes wrong.


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After 15 years in Cape Coral, Downtowner Car Wash is undergoing a change of ownership. Tuscon, Arizona-based Mister Car Wash announced the acquisition of the five locations serving the area since the father-son ownership team of Jay and Troy Montpetit carried over their business from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Southwest Florida. The deal totaled $23.5 million, according to public records.
“The Montpetit family and their team have built a nice platform of locations in Cape Coral, complementing our overall presence throughout Florida,” said Casey Lindsay, vice president of corporate development for Mister Car Wash, which will operate 65 locations in the state after rebranding. “We are looking forward to bringing Mister’s welcoming car wash experience to the customers of Cape Coral and plan to continue expanding in the region through a combination of acquisitions and new store development.”
Downtowner has locations on Del Prado Boulevard, Pine Island Road, Cape Coral Parkway, Skyline Boulevard and Santa Barbara Boulevard, offering a mix of full-service car washing and detailing.
“We are proud to have been a part of the Cape Coral community for the past 15 years and want to thank all of our customers for our success. Mister Car Wash has a reputation in the industry as best in class operators and a company that truly cares for their people and customers,” Jay Montpetit said.
Business is expected to continue operating as normal in the near term. Mister will be working with the current team in the next few months to rebrand the stores and optimize service and product offerings as it fully integrates the stores into the brand.
The company operates more than 360 car washes nationwide, with the largest car wash subscription program in North America. Mister also owns five Clean Machine Car Wash locations in Bonita Springs, Fort Myers, Naples and East Naples it plans to rebrand.
“We are excited for this new chapter for our team members,” Troy Montpetit said, “and know that our customers and the community are in good hands with the Mister team.”


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If you have been dying to find out whether Toyota defended its title of World’s Largest Automaker in 2016, or whether Volkswagen fulfilled its dream of becoming the world’s largest, you now have the official answer: This year, World’s Largest Automaker is whoever you want it to be. Volkswagen has beat Toyota. Or maybe not.
This will be a long story, full of numbers. If your eyes glaze over already, I will let you go with the news that Volkswagen is finally ahead of Toyota — if you believe the published numbers. If you share my perverse fetish for car counting, and if you read the rest of the story, expect your beliefs to be shaken.


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Bitcoin nears price discovery as options open interest rises alongside perpetual funding rates, bitcoin on Ethereum represents 1.5% of supply
A futures-backed BTC ETF appears to be on the cusp of approval, implied volatility in the options market hints that a big move is near.
CPI overshoots estimates while the labor market remains tight, the bitcoin basis trade is alive, DEX volume peaked in May of this year
Centralized exchanges want a piece of the NFT craze, bitcoin underperforms the market, MetaMask posts impressive revenue numbers.
Bitcoin dominance climbs above 46% for the first time in 2 months, FTX launches their NFT marketplace, LUNA and other layer-1’s underperform
Bitcoin price retreats to $54,000 after a strong run while fundamentals remain strong, Fantom total value locked explodes; its price follows.


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China to lift its longstanding British beef ban
China has today lifted its longstanding British beef ban, in a landmark move for British producers estimated to be worth £250 million in the first five years alone.
The Chinese government first imposed a ban on British beef in the wake of the BSE outbreak more than 20 years ago.
Today’s milestone is the culmination of several years of site inspections and negotiations between British and Chinese government officials.
A new market for beef
China is currently the UK’s eighth largest export market for agri-food, with over £560 million of food and drink bought by Chinese consumers last year.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: “This is fantastic news for our world-class food and farming industry and shows we can be a truly outward-looking Britain outside the European Union.
It is the result of painstaking and collaborative work by industry and the Defra team over many years.
“Today’s milestone will help to unlock UK agriculture’s full potential and is a major step to forging new trading relationships around the globe.”
British agri-food exports are worth £22bn
The Government, and its team of trade specialists, continues to encourage and support UK businesses as they consider launching into overseas markets or expanding their current global customer base.
Food exports from the UK continue to soar with record exports of over £22 billion in 2017. Our food and drink businesses are now selling their products to 217 markets.
It follows the Prime Minister’s trade mission to China earlier this year, where she agreed on new measures to improve market access to China.
It also follows a successful inspection visit in April 2018 hosted by Defra and the Animal Plant Health Agency, the Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland, DAERA, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board and the UK Export Certification Partnership.


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No Man’s Sky: Fractal now available with new ships, expeditions and more
Hello Games’ exploratory space sim No Man’s Sky has received a host of improvements in today’s Fractal update.
On the new things front, No Man Sky’s Fractal update will usher in a new limited-time Expedition, titled Utopia, shortly after launch. This challenges the Travelers to band together and rebuild an abandoned solar system for the mysterious Utopia Foundation.
By completing the various milestones of the Expedition, players can unlock a number of rewards, including the Fearsome Visor helmet, a new robotic drone, as well as a new type of ship known as the Utopia Speeder, capable of gliding across the surfaces of planets. at high speed.
Fractal also brings a number of quality-of-life improvements, including gyro controller support on Switch, Playstation, and Steam Deck. There’s also a new Catalog of Wonders where players’ most impressive discoveries are recorded, plus new accessibility features and new options aimed at giving Travelers more control over how they experience the game.
Out today for PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC, Fractal is the first No Man’s Sky release of 2023 after an extremely busy 12 months in 2022. Hello Games says its arrival marks the start of an “even bigger year.” planned for 2023 “


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Bad credit loans for car purchases increasing
Recent statistics from the car-lending industry are showing that it is easier to get car loans with bad credit. While lending is still slow for borrowers at every credit tier, it is improving. Lenders are also exploring alternative lending options that are helping expand available credit.
Drop in lending installment loans
During 2008, the amount of lending of installment loans to customers with bad credit dropped off a cliff. Usually, the approval rate for fast loans for autos hovered between 60 and 90 percent, depending on credit rating. In 2009, personal loans given to borrowers with bad credit for auto purchases dropped to 5 percent. The skittish market combined with lack of available credit meant that very few lenders were willing to provide loans to bad-credit borrowers. Even borrowers with good credit only had a 70 percent chance of getting an auto loan.
Effect of auto lending
Many financial industry watchers are keeping a very close eye on auto lending — and for good reason. The auto industry accounts for about 4 percent of the U.S. economy. More than a quarter-million auto industry jobs have been lost in just the last three years. In short, with fewer cars sold, more jobs are lost. The auto industry is also seen as a bellwether for the U.S. economy.
Improving lending options
For borrowers who are looking to buy a new vehicle, there are growing options for quick loans. Many dealerships and lenders are looking to higher down payments and higher value trade-ins. Incentives such as zero interest are also propping up auto sales. Regional and local banks, as well as specialty financiers are all increasing the number of loans offered to all levels of borrowers. Subprime borrowers, though, are still facing a tough lending market. Just two to three years ago, there was a 60 percent chance of a “subprime” borrower getting an auto loan. Today, the rates are sitting around 9 percent — and very slowly increasing.


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FINNISH PHONE MAKER Nokia's latest Windows Phone 8 handset went up for preorder today in the UK, courtesy of retailer Unlocked Mobiles.
It's just as cheap as we were expecting, as the retailer has slapped the budget Windows Phone with a £174.98 price tag. There's no word on a release date yet, but the retailer tells us it's expecting stock to arrive towards the end of January.
A sub-£175 price tag is impressive considering the Nokia Lumia 620's specifications. As well as the latest version of Microsoft's mobile operating system, the handset - which was unveiled at Le Web'12 early this month - features a 3.8in 480x800 Clearblack touchscreen and a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.
However, the handset's main selling point, according to Nokia, is its different coloured "dual-shot" casing.
"Dual-shot adds a second layer of coloured, transparent or translucent polycarbonate on top of a base layer to produce secondary colour blends and depth effects," it said at the handset's launch.
The Nokia Lumia 620 also features a 5MP rear-facing camera, a VGA front-facing camera, 8GB of internal storage and a 1,300mAh battery. µ
Next-gen devices enabled by integrating novel materials on silicon
Plus there's a new way to read comics in town
Find out which six games have most impressed us so far this year
Video shows off upcoming handset in Rose Gold compared to iPhone 6S predecessor


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Lately, some of Asus decisions, especially on its marketing and sales departments are being questioned, specifically the prices they have put some of their products. But it seems that there is something else that is not working well in the brand as they have just announced the launch of their new UltraBook Asus ZenBook UX310UQ which, again, uses a past generation graphics card.
This may come as a surprise to you but it’s not the first time Asus does it, because in September we were criticizing the launch of the ROG Strix GL553VW, a gaming laptop using a GTX 960M. Now, three months later, Asus repeats the move and although both NVIDIA and AMD already have two new generations of graphics cards, in which Asus actively participates for the desktop models, the manufacturer seems stuck in the year 2015 as far as portable hardware is concerned.
The Asus ZenBook UX310UQ is presented as the most powerful ultrabook of the brand. It has a screen size of 13.3 inches with Full HD resolution, and it is notable for its thinness (measuring 18.35mm thick) and its weight (weighs 1.4kg). This slim and lightweight ultrabook is powered by an Intel Core i5-6260U dual-core processor, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, a 256GB SSD, and boasts of incorporating “spectacular graphics” (literal words from its website) thanks to its NVIDIA GeForce 940MX graphics card with 2GB of dedicated memory.


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Electronic Arts said on Tuesday that it will acquire the casual gamemaker behind Zuma Blitz and Plants vs. Zombies.EA will pay $650 million and an additional $100 million in stock for PopCap Games, which also creates the popular Bejeweled series of puzzle games. As of last year, Bejeweled had sold over 50 million units. PopCap has moved a total of 150 million games, mostly on digital platforms like Facebook, iOS and Android.
The deal is expected to close in August.
In a statement from EA, the company’s CEO John Riccitiello said PopCap’s talent and stable of games, which includes hits such as Plants vs. Zombies and the perennial favorite, Bejeweled, accelerate the company’s drive towards a $1 billion digital business.
“EA’s global studio and publishing network will help PopCap rapidly expand their business to more digital devices, more countries and more channels,” Riccitiello said.
“We are really obsessed right now with figuring out how to tear down the barriers to entry to get into some of these games,” said Chip Lange, head of the EA Interactive division, at the event.


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Judge Marina Tavassi of the Tribunale di Milano has rejected Samsung’s request for a preliminary injunction against the sale of the iPhone 4S in Italy, reports ANSA. The decision on Thursday follows a similar ruling in France that Samsung lost as it attempted to block iPhone 4S sales there as well. Over the past year, Apple and Samsung have been caught up in a number of heated patent battles throughout the world, and Samsung’s requests to have the iPhone 4S banned has now been rejected three times in three locales. The South Korea-based company claims Apple is infringing two of Samsung’s wireless communications patents, one of which involves the use of the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standard in 3G phones.
[Via FOSS Patents]


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General Motors increased discounts on large pickups after its prominent units dropped in sales in June. Following the report, the US judge dismissed the compensation claims of the customers on the safety recalls in 2014.
Last month, the U.S. sales of Silverado and Sierra dropped by 3.7 percent and 7.8 percent respectively as the sales of Ford’s F-Series moved higher. GM made series of advertisements to to gain the interest of the car buyers and the full-size pickup enthusiast.
Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst with researcher Auto Trader, explained that GM had a big promotion in June and it didn’t really move the needle so they sweetened it. “It appears from the sales numbers in June that the truck-bed ad wars did not resonate with consumers in a way that sent them to Chevy and GMC trucks,” Mr. Krebs added.
The automotive accompany offered 20 percent off sticker prices, which accumulated significant increase of sales of its big pickups in the first two weeks of July.
GM spokesman Jim Cain reported that they had an eight-day sale that absolutely obliterated Ford and their other competition, especially in full-size pickups. Adding to the upbeat report, fully half of the full-size pickups sold to retail customers during the first 10 days of July were a Chevrolet Silverado or a GMC Sierra.
Despite the positive turn of report, GM might announce the same discounts offered by its major competitors before August. Mr. Cain lauded the contribution of the Chevy truck-bed ads in the success of the sales of GM trucks.
Separately, US District Judge Jesse Furman dismissed the compensation claims against GM and the accusation that the sold vehicles were defective.
Judge Furmann wrote in his report that plaintiffs’ pursuit of damages based purely on perceived harm to GM’s brand following more than 70 recalls in 2014 was “unprecedented and unsound.
“The court finds that that novel theory of damages is unsound in light of persuasive precedent interpreting consumer-protection law,” Mr. Furmann added.
One of the complainants accused the car maker of delaying the recall of defective units which triggered the death of 124 individuals. GM has paid $2 billion to address the claims on its defective steering, brakes and air bags.
Steve Berman, the lawyer of the plaintiffs remained firm on his stand in the case. Attorney Berman said that the GM recalls were unprecedented, and the law should be able to react to this. The plaintiffs’s lawyers may appeal to the court to seek the compensation for the damages done by the faulty units of the U.S. auto maker.
However, after the result was released, Mr. Cain sounded optimistic in the recovery of the company from the issue. “The court made it clear the plaintiffs overreached in many aspects of their complaint and the ruling significantly curtails the scope of their potential recovery,” Mr. Cain said.
Recently, General Motors Company went up 0.03 percent to $30.77 with a price earnings ratio of 4.61 percent. The Michigan based multinational firm had a market capitalization of $47.40 billion and a dividend yield of 4.94 percent.
General Motors is the team behind the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, Opel and Vauxhall brands. It mainly designs, builds and sells cars, trucks, crossovers and automobile parts. Also, it offers cars and trucks to fleet clients and provides daily rental cars.
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Gaming platform company Unity Technologies is doubling down on improving its software quality, and letting developers know what it has planned for the future with a new public roadmap.
- AISA 2018: Hunting for phishing kits
- Infrequent cyber wargames betray organisations’ inadequate data-breach response
- Big attacks a smokescreen for “low-level” North Korea cybercrime that the world is ignoring
- GitHub now warns devs about bugs that led to Equifax breach
- AISA 2018: Japan's journey from a cryptocurrency hack to better regulation


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By KAROLYN GEPHART
Pets and their owners are gearing up for this year’s 25th Paws in the Park presented by the City of Pearland Parks and Recreation Department and sponsored by Westside Veterinary Hospital of Pearland.
The event will be Saturday, March 30 and kicks off with the H-E-B Pet and Owner Fun Run.
Stage demonstrations, pet exhibitors, an obstacle course, pet adoptions and food vendors will be part of the event. The Fun Run races are 1K, 3K, and 5K races for youth and adults and participants can compete with or without pets. The races begin at 8 a.m.
The activities will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Sports Complex at Shadow Creek Ranch located at 13050 Shadow Creek Parkway in Pearland.
It is open to all ages of both humans and pets and has both free admission and free on-site parking.
Register for the H-E-B Pet and Owner Fun Run online at Active.com.
For health and safety reasons, pets must remain on a leash throughout the event.
For more information, call 281-412-8900 or email [email protected]
Paws in the Park Exhibitor and Food Vendor applications are available at www.pearlandtx.gov.


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Starlite to Open Charcoal Grill Restaurant in Davison
Looks like the folks from Starlite are taking another step to grow their business in the Davison area.
A new shopping plaza in Davison is under construction at the corner of Lapeer and Irish roads in Davison and the owners of Starlite want a piece of the action. They recently sent a letter of intent for land to build a new 3,000 square-foot, charcoal grill restaurant.
As of now, the plans for Gus & the Goar Bar will house craft beer, cocktails, and a lot of great food cooked over a charcoal grill. While the menu is still being produced, the food will center around the charcoal grills and include items such as burgers, chicken, fish tacos, gyros, and more.
There are so many great places popping up all over Genesee County and this is another one to add to the list. I love charcoal grills way more than gas grills, so I am very excited to try all the food. The restaurant will also add 25-30 jobs in the area and is expected to open in the spring of 2020.


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by Tanya Irwin, MediaPost Marketing Daily
Fifth Third Bank is expanding its Hispanic-focused marketing campaign to seven markets.
The campaign was soft-launched in Orlando, Fla., in April and the initial results have been positive, says Stacie Haas, the Cincinnati-based bank's vice president of public relations. The campaign will appear throughout the year in markets that are part of the bank's footprint: Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Myers and Naples, Fla.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Indianapolis and Chicago.
“The programming we’ve offered in the Orlando market has been well received and attended,” Haas tells Marketing Daily. “One of the primary goals of this campaign is to position Fifth Third Bank as a trusted advisor, and we expect to see that happen over time as we deepen relationships with our customers.”
The theme, “Las cosas que hacemos por los sueños” or “The Things We Do for Dreams,” is a part of the bank’s overall marketing strategy and vision, Haas says, adding: “We are adapting those universal messages for the specific Hispanic market, which includes translation into Spanish.”
The campaign combines advertising, community programming and public relations efforts. The bank has had previous Hispanic-aimed marketing, "but this campaign is a more comprehensive and concentrated effort than in years past," Haas says. "Partnering with The Vox Collective has helped raise our visibility in this area."
The ads will run in radio, print, out of home and online in Spanish language media. Part of the campaign is a series of financial workshops and television vignettes providing tips on how to best handle one's finances during the current economic climate and beyond. A comprehensive public relations push will support all initiatives.
The creative executions, from New York-based Vox, show variations of the “American Dream” such as owning a home or taking a family vacation, along with the Bank’s tips regarding how to make those dreams a reality through proper financial planning.
An African-American-focused effort will be launched later this year, Haas says.
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Strengthening its presence in the country, the Swedish international fashion retailer H&M (Hennes & Mauritz AB) is planning to open two stores in Mumbai this autumn. The stores will be located at High Street Phoenix, Lower Parel and Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla.
The H&M stores at High street Phoenix and Phoenix Marketcity will be spread over 30,000 sq ft and 37,000 sq ft respectively. The store will showcase a complete range of apparels for men, women, teenagers and children.
Expressing his excitement over the same, Janne Einola, country manager at H&M said that the company will continue its strong expansion in India with two store openings in strategic locations in Mumbai. H&M has seen huge demand in all cities alike, and plans to continue delivering fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way.
The company has also plans to open stores in Delhi, NCR, Bangalore, Mumbai and Mohali by the end of this year.


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Amazon.com has launched a bigger local store and marketplace in Singapore, expanding its product selection and intensifying competition with rivals such as Alibaba, reported Reuters.
The US company launched local online shopping in the wealthy Southeast Asian city-state more than two years ago with its fast delivery service through a mobile app. But its initial local selection, which focused on groceries and household essentials, has not been as wide as those offered by rivals.
“With Amazon.sg, we want to provide what customers have been asking us for: the ability for everyone to shop on desktop and mobile, more local and international selection from Amazon and trusted sellers, paired with fast and reliable delivery,” Henry Low, Amazon Singapore country manager, said in a statement.
Amazon also announced it will allow small and medium-sized businesses to offer their products to online shoppers with Amazon.sg. Other e-commerce firms including Lazada mainly operate via a marketplace model in Singapore.
Full Content: Reuters
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Apple has sold five million iPhone 5s in the first three days since the handset went on sale, the manufacturer has revealed.
The sixth iteration of the smartphone went on sale in nine countries, including the UK, on Friday. Another 22 countries will get the device this Friday (28 September), with Apple targeting more than 100 countries by the end of this year. The manufacturer also revealed that more than 100 million Apple devices have been updated with iOS6, the latest version of its operating system.
The launch of the iPhone 5 has been slightly overshadowed by the launch of Apple's own Maps application through iOS6. Users have complained many of the listings are out of date and some of the satellite imagery has made areas look like they have melted. A blog poking fun at the maps, the Amazing iOS 6 Maps, was set up shortly after iOS6 went live last week.
Tim Cook, Apple CEO, said: 'Demand for the iPhone 5 has been incredible and we are working hard to get an iPhone 5 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible. While we have sold out of our initial supply, stores continue to receive iPhone 5 shipments regularly and customers can continue to order online and receive an estimated delivery date. We appreciate everyone’s patience and are working hard to build enough iPhone 5s for everyone.'
Editor: Graeme Neill


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Gearbox Teases a New Borderlands 2 Short Film Set to Release This Week
Borderlands 2 may have released last year (boy does the time fly…), but their continued support of the game has been considerable in this past year with tons of new DLC, tweaks and add-ons. Now a tweet from Gearbox’s official Twitter account seems to be teasing a new short film that may be on its way…and quickly, too.
Gearbox tweeted a short tease, along with a screenshot, that they would be releasing a new animated short film in the world of Borderlands 2, announcing that it will be released this coming week.
Borderlands 2 released on PC, Xbox 360, PS3, and Mac in late 2012, and was recently announced that a PlayStation Vita port of the game will be coming in 2014.
You can check out the details of the tweet below, along with the teaser image, and stay tuned for the full short film’s release sometime later this week:
A new short film set inside the world of Borderlands 2 is coming next week! Here’s a peek: pic.twitter.com/S2LdvanaVm
— Gearbox Software (@GearboxSoftware) August 23, 2013


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Shops must change to beat internet
High street retailers must change the way they do business if they are to beat the rising threat of online shopping, a minister has warned.
Mark Prisk, the housing and local government minister, told the Daily Telegraph shop owners must do more if they are to win back customers who have turned to the internet.
The warning comes as the Department of Communities and Local Government awarded seven towns a share of £1 million in return for successfully breathing new life into their high streets.
Mr Prisk said the Government is doing "all it could" to help shops survive, including reducing business rates and encouraging local councils to be more flexible with parking.
"We will keep providing support where it is needed, but it takes more than funding to make this work," he told the Daily Telegraph. "As consumers, our behaviour has changed. High streets need to respond to that change if they are to prosper."
He added that local communities need to support their high street shops, with online shopping now accounting for 15% of retail trade.
The seven communities which who won a share of the grant are Herne Hill in south London, Northam Road in Southampton, Altrincham in Greater Manchester, Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, Gloucester and Rotherham.
Rotherham town centre was handed £268,058 of the High Street Renewal award for creating a strategy which focuses on supporting new and existing independent shops, which has resulted in an eight per cent increase in footfall.
Gloucester city centre received £133,057 for its launch of a night market while Herne Hill was given £93,057 for helping its market to thrive by cutting red tape.
The High Street Renewal fund is a new Government initiative, set up in the wake of retail guru Mary Portas's review into how to rejuvenate struggling town centres.


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In the midst of all the doom and gloom abou the dieslgate scandal, Volswagen finally has a reason to smile. The German car giant's 'home' factory at Wolfsburg, Germany saw car number 43 million roll off its production line a few days back.
The plant in Wolfsburg is where Volkswagen started producing cars again in 1946 after the Second World War had destroyed Germany's economy. It took the company 10 years to build one million cars. By 1974 that number had hit 11.9 units. It then speeded up even more after the Volkswagen Golf was introduced that year.
A total of more than 20 different car models have been produced at the Wolfsburg plant and car number 43 million was the Touran MPV.


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While Ford Motor Company’s plans to exit the “traditional sedan” segment in North America haven’t changed, the automaker isn’t entirely doing away with cars in the market. The Ford Focus will live on as a crossover-inspired “Active” model, for instance – a model that attempts to split the difference between car and crossover, offering an SUV attitude in a smaller package.
And then, there’s the Ford Fusion, which we’ve just learned could be transformed into a crossover-like “sport wagon” à la Subaru Outback. That’s according to The Detroit News, which received the news from some unnamed sources, and it’s more than a little ironic given that Ford Europe has for years offered a station wagon model of the Ford Mondeo (a.k.a. “Fusion”) that the automaker never deemed worthy to put in front of an American audience.
Still, the offering would mesh with Ford’s decision to axe its North American sedan models without entirely abandoning the car segment, exploring the “white space” that exists between cars and crossover utility vehicles. Moreover, it makes a lot of sense; the Fusion name has a lot of cachet with American consumers, even though scores of consumers continue to flock to CUVs, leaving traditional car segments a bit deflated.
“[Ford] spent hundreds of millions of dollars for brand equity in that Fusion name – not $10 million or $20 million, but hundreds of millions,” Ford dealer Rhett Ricart of Ohio told The Detroit News. “The smart thing is to play on that brand equity.”
Playing on the Fusion name’s equity is especially important given that owners aren’t necessarily loyal to the Ford brand. The Detroit News reports that a Kelley Blue Book analysis found that less than half of Fusion owners are loyal to the Blue Oval; when they’re ready to graduate to a CUV, the models they most often consider are the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V.
If there is indeed a crossover-like Ford Fusion wagon in the works, it’s still likely several years out; the current-generation Fusion sedan just received a 2019-model-year refresh, and isn’t slated to end production until some time in 2021. Until then, stay tuned for more as it develops.


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Bright blue bags will begin appearing on doorsteps in one part of Somerset from Monday (October 12) as the roll-out of a new recycling scheme moves ever closer.
The Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) is preparing to launch Recycle More, which will see more items recycled weekly at the kerbside and refuse collections moving from fortnightly to once every three weeks.
Ahead of these first collections, the SWP is delivering new blue bags to all Mendip residents to hold the additional items that will collected.
The new bags are base-weighted (to prevent them from blowing away in the wind), have a velcro-fastened lid to secure their contents, are completely waterproof and are easy to fold down and store when not being used.
In addition to the blue bags, residents will be provided with leaflets stickers for their existing recycling boxes to remind them which items go into which receptacle once the Recycle More collections officially begin.
The breakdown of items for each box or bag will be as follows:
- Bright blue bag – plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, tins and cans, empty aerosols and foil
- Green box – glass bottles and jars, and cartons (including TetraPak)
- Black box – paper and card
- Brown food waste bin – all food waste
- Carrier bags – small household batteries, small electrical items (crews will return these bags)
In light of extra materials being collected at the kerbside, the refuse collections will move from once every two weeks to once every three weeks.
The SWP said Recycle More would help to protect the environment and save taxpayers’ money by having less rubbish being sent to landfill.
Managing director Mickey Green said: “We know from our trials and experiences elsewhere that the bright blue bags will work really well, and we’re sure that people are going to be really happy with them.
“Lots of people are excited by the new service, but we’d ask them to stay patient and carry on recycling as they are now until their first collection date.”
A total of 51,768 households in Mendip will benefit in the first phase of the Recycle More roll-out, including those in Frome, Glastonbury, Shepton Mallet, Street, Wells and the neighbouring villages.
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South Somerset will benefit next, with the entire district (comprising 76,653 households) receiving the new service from June 28, 2021.
The former Taunton Deane area (now part of Somerset West and Taunton) will have Recycle More in place for all 55,207 households from September 27, 2021 – though this could be pushed back to October 25 if there are logical issues.
The remaining 72,312 households in Somerset (comprising Sedgemoor and the former West Somerset area) will begin new collections from February 28, 2022 – though this could be pushed back to March 28 if needs must.
For more information on Recycle More, including what items can be recycled, visit www.somersetwaste.gov.uk/recycle-more .


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China’s position as a buyer and producer of seafood has become so dominant that many appear to take it for granted that future growth is assured.
China produced 64.5 million tons of seafood – the figure includes seaweed and fishmeal – in 2018, up 0.19 percent, of which aquaculture accounted for 49.9 million tons, up 1.73 percent on the previous year. Distant-water fishing contributed 3.5 percent of the total volume, at 2.25 million tons.
According to Rabobank, China accounts for USD 14 billion (EUR 12.6 billion) of the USD 153 billion (EUR 137.6 billion) global seafood market. China’s consumption will rise from 61.3 million tons to 70.4 million tons between 2015 and 2025, Rabobank estimates. It also estimates that China’s internal production will go from 64.4 million tons to 70.4 million tons in the same timeframe.
Many Chinese predictions are even higher, but some analysts are beginning to worry that China’s economic outlook is starting to look a lot less certain, and there’s growing uncertainty as to whether these risks are priced into the projections.
While official figures have not yet been released, China’s growth in seafood production in 2019 is not expected to match the 2018 total due to a yearlong crackdown on illegal aquaculture facilities in environmentally sensitive areas. Chinese analysts are projecting continued shrinkage of domestic seafood production growth in seafood imports for 2020. In October, Chinese officials reaffirmed an ambitious target to reduce the total catch taken from domestic waters by three million tons, to 10 million tons, over the next three years. That’s a significant slice of the country’s overall seafood output from freshwater and seawater sources and suggests efficiencies or imports – or both – will have to rise significantly to make up the difference.
China’s slowing economy and mounting debt are also a growing cause of concern for investors and analysts. On the production side, the problem of debt is crimping investment in capacity and in research and development at seafood companies. And worries about the economy might also be affecting consumer confidence.
China vulture funds have been feeding on failed companies lately as corporate defaults have risen. Recent high-profile cases include that of the Tianjin-based commodities trading Tewoo Group. Seafoodsource talked to various economists over the holiday period to get a sense of how things could change in 2020, and the verdict was that economic malaise will worsen in the short-term, impacting Chinese consumption and buying power.
Debt-levels are a massive problem, according to those interviewed. Chinese companies have more leverage and weaker repayment capacity than global peers, according to a study of 3,000 Chinese firms by the French investment bank Natixis. Corporate leverage ratios are higher in China, while profit margins are lower (5.5 percent to 7.7 percent according to Natixis research), which also put the return on capital at 7 percent compared to a global average of 11 percent.
This is putting further pressure on the repayment capacity of Chinese firms. It should be seen in the context of an overall debt-load (both corporate and governmental), which one economist put at 300 percent of GDP, or USD 40 trillion (EUR 36 trillion) in dollar terms.
A debt crisis is particularly bad news in China from a consumption point of view, given the country lacks the kind of welfare system put in place in most Western nations. Such a system acts as a cushion in economic downturns.
Then there’s the confidence problem caused by the Sino-U.S. trade war, which has put a damper of unpredictability over economic activity. Most economists expect China’s GDP growth to fall below the 6 percent threshold for 2019, with GDP having reached 6.6 percent in 2018. That outcome is likely to put downward pressure on the currency, which has already slipped this year against the dollar. A weaker yuan isn’t conducive to growth in imports.
A weaker currency – some projections put the CNY 7.45 to USD 1.00 (EUR 0.90), compared to CNY 6.18 to the dollar early 2018 – will also weaken the local corporate appetite for offshore credit, which had become an option in a tight corporate debt market. This further limits the ability of Chinese companies to spend on expanding or improving their businesses.
A comparative lack of transparency makes it harder to assess the real debt situation at many Chinese companies – even listed ones – as well as in local government financing vehicles. This frustrates a key Chinese goal, and one of its avenues out of current troubles: drawing more foreign cash into its stock markets. The influx of foreign investors into Chinese stocks and bonds through various new access schemes gives China more credit options, but also brings with it increased scrutiny not always welcomed in China.
China’s debt load restricts government’s access to the traditional levers of economic kick-starts. The need to deleverage and stabilize the corporate sector, in turn, limits the ability to turn on credit taps through state-owned banks, the fiscal state’s stimulus method of choice during the financial crisis. Debt also limits the ability to splurge on major infrastructure projects, another favorite economic driver of local governments across China.
There’s some breathing space for China’s seafood sector, however, in the form of increased demand created by the huge hole in protein supply caused by the recent outbreak of swine flu. As a result of the disease, pork prices rose 110 percent in November, and beef, lamb, and chicken prices rose by 11.8 to 25 percent, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce. By contrast, prices for seafood products rose a mere 2.4 percent.
Similarly, a pause on environmental enforcement in some rural regions – apparently aimed to relieve the pressure on hog farmers wiped out by swine flu – has allowed many aquaculture producers to remain in action, thus limiting projected cuts to China’s seafood supply.
Apart from the obvious boost to confidence from a potential trade deal with the U.S. beyond the recently announced “Phase One” agreement, other avenues do exist for China to revive growth. Specifically, the country could put renewed focus on entering new markets and making regulatory reforms. Another avenue for China lies in the expansion of its exports across regional markets. Tmall and JD.com both run significant e-commerce operations in country in Malaysia and Thailand, offering a new access point for Chinese goods.
Free trade deals would likewise increase access to offset sales lost in the United States. China sought to replace the Trans-Pacific Partnership abandoned by the current American administration with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, but China’s mercantilist approach to trade has worried potential signatories. India withdrew from the pact citing worries about an influx of Chinese goods drowning out its own industry. Similar thoughts are shared by other Asian economies but are often left unspoken, given the compensatory allure of Chinese infrastructure and loans.
So, China has a few escape hatches from the tight spot it currently finds itself in. But it appears few in China – and notably, its economic prognosticators – appear to realize the precariousness of its current economic situation.
Photo courtesy of Hung Chung Chih/Shutterstock


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Asia's newly minted chocoholics are tempting sweets-makers, but challenges range from different cultural tastes to the region driving up cocoa prices.» Read More
Cocoa prices were firm ahead of the latest quarterly grind data, while sugar was higher. Arabica coffee prices hovered near a two-year high of $2.0755 per lb hit on March 11, underpinned by concern that rainfall at the end of top grower Brazil's wet season came too little too late after drought in January and February.
ZURICH, April 3- Barry Callebaut, the world's biggest chocolate maker, reported a rise in half-year profits on Thursday, boosted by the turnaround of the Petra Foods' cocoa business it bought over a year ago, and reaffirmed its medium-term sales growth target.
ZURICH, April 3- Barry Callebaut, the world's biggest chocolate maker, reported a rise in half-year profits on Thursday, boosted by the turnaround of the Petra cocoa business it bought over a year ago, and reaffirmed its medium-term sales growth target.
LONDON, March 19- Arabica coffee futures on ICE edged higher on Wednesday having slipped from last week's highs partly due to expectations that the weather in Brazil could improve in the coming weeks, while raw sugar held steady.
NEW YORK/ LONDON, March 18- ICE cocoa eased from Monday's 2-1/ 2- year high on profit-taking, while arabica coffee edged higher on renewed speculator buying and lingering worry over the extent of drought damage to crops in top grower Brazil.
*Cocoa 2013/ 14 consumption growth to exceed long-term trend. LONDON, March 18- Cocoa futures held near a 2-1/ 2 year high on Tuesday, boosted by strong consumption growth that was expected to outstrip supply. Cocoa futures on ICE were little changed with May off $2 or 0.1 percent at $3,028 at 1206 GMT, holding just below the previous session's 2-1/ 2- year high of $3,047.
*Sugar back on defensive after Brazil- driven rally. NEW YORK/ LONDON, March 17- Arabica coffee futures on ICE dropped for the second straight day on Monday, its biggest two-day tumble in 2-1/ 2 years, as a forecast for widespread rain in top grower Brazil's coffee belt took out some of the market's weather premium.
*Sugar back on defensive after Brazil- driven rally. LONDON, March 17- Arabica coffee futures on ICE were lower on Monday, extending a retreat from last week's two-year high with the focus remaining on the extent of damage to Brazil's crop prospects from dry weather earlier this year.
*Small delivery seen against London cocoa expiry. Cocoa edged up as traders focused on expiry of the London March contract. "The lower price has forced more people to fix contracts", before prices fall further, one London- based coffee futures broker said.
*Arabica crawls toward 2- yr high on Brazil weather worries. NEW YORK/ LONDON, March 13- ICE arabica coffee futures rose and traded near a two-year high on weather-related crop concerns in top grower Brazil, while cocoa rallied the most since January and recovered the previous day's sharp losses on bargain-hunting.
LONDON, March 13- Arabica coffee futures rose and traded near a two-year high, underpinned by concerns over drought in Brazil, while cocoa edged up on expectations of a global deficit and firm demand.
*Cocoa underpinned by expected 2013/ 14 global deficit. NEW YORK/ LONDON, March 11- Arabica futures extended their steep rally on Tuesday, touching a two-year high as parts of top grower Brazil's coffee belt failed to receive enough rain, while robusta rose to a one-year high.
*Analysts see damage to Brazil coffee due to drought. LONDON, March 11- Arabica coffee futures rose over 2 percent on Tuesday to hit a two-year high and sugar hovered near a four-month peak on concerns over a drought in top grower Brazil.
*Cocoa dealers worry about quality despite good weather. NEW YORK/ LONDON, March 10- Arabica coffee prices on ICE climbed to a two-year high in light volume on Monday after top grower Brazil's parched coffee belt received less weekend rain than expected, raising the prospect of a 2014/ 15 global deficit. Cocoa was up a shade after nearing 2-1/ 2- year highs.
*Cocoa moves sideways, underpinned by firm demand. NEW YORK/ LONDON, March 5- Arabica coffee futures surged on heavy investor buying on Wednesday, nearing a two-year high as concern about crop damage from a drought in top grower Brazil continued to fuel the volatile market, while raw sugar jumped to a four-month high. Cocoa on ICE Futures U.S. and Liffe were firm.
CNBC's Morgan Brennan reports cocoa prices are up more than 35 percent over the past 12 months.
"Chocolate is more popular than ever," explains Godiva CEO Jim Goldman, in discussing just how popular Valentine's Day is for his stores. He discusses high cocoa prices right now.
Jonathan Parkman, head of agriculture at Marex Spectron, says the strong performance of Mondelez and Nestle in the cocoa sector underpinned the commodity's price rally last year.
Cocoa is up about 30 percent in the last 12 months, reports CNBC's Morgan Brennan. Stronger demand, and fewer supplies are contributing.
Jonathan Parkman, head of agriculture at Marex Spectron, discusses the outlook for the cocoa market in 2014 and the role emerging markets will play in the price movement of the commodity.


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Hot on the heels of the new battery-electric Vauxhall Mokka-e, Vauxhall has revealed details of the advanced petrol and diesel engines that will power the all-new Mokka. Highly efficient and more compact than ever, the all-new Mokka is the perfect combination of fun and modernity – ideal for urban trips and long motorway drives. The design of the Mokka features stunning proportions and captivating precision with bold looks characterized by short overhangs and a wide, well-planted stance
Business Vans judges were impressed with the Vauxhall Combo Cargo model. The vehicle has managed to catch the attention with class-leading fuel efficiency and payload capacity. Under the WLTP testing, Vauxhall Combo Cargo has managed to achieve up to 68.8mpg and emissions as low as 107g/km CO2. Also, with its payload of up to 1,002kg, Combo Cargo is definitely a good choice for businesses and trades that look for efficient and yet, versatile van.
Vauxhall team has revealed the first images of the new Insignia, brand’s flagship large saloon. The car proudly showcases sexy exterior styling, high levels of efficiency and innovative functions. Let’s find out more, shall we? The new design of the saloon reveals the new front and rear styling, reshaping the ex
Vauxhall’s Combo Cargo was named Small Van of the Year at last night’s 2019 Commercial Fleet Awards. Fending off strong competition, the popular model continues to attract wide range of fans all across the globe. The Commercial Fleet Awards itself recognizes and celebrates the contribution of outstanding individual companies and automobile manufacturers. The winner was acclaimed by a carefully-selected jury, comprising of industry’s flee
A few weeks after the unveiling of the next-gen electric Corsa, Vauxhall team presents new range of high-efficiency petrol and diesel engines. Offering reduced fuel consumption and agility, new Corsa will benefit from even more options and even more enhanced technologies. Compared to the current engine in the new Co
Vauxhall team announces details for the new Movano lineup, arriving at dealers this September. This time the manufacturer has decided to rely on interior comfort, along with some handy and much needed drivetrain changes. Of course, there are some exterior touches and tweaks that honor the new generation of machines.
New Vauxhall Combo Life has been named as one of the finalists at “AUTOBEST 2019”. The event consists of a prestigious jury, formed from members of 31 European countries, that has tested new models for their utility features, pleasure of driving and overall performance rates. The jury evaluates participants in vari
Vauxhall has already introduced a new 1.6-liter Direct Injection Turbo petrol engine to the award-winning Insignia range and as it seems, gather more and more fans and enthusiasts. Available in Grand Sport and Sports Tourer body types, the agile four-cylinder power unit generates a total of 200hp at 5,500rpm and 280Nm of torque from 1,650-4,500rpm. For Grand Sport body type, the 1.6-liter Direct Injection Turbo can achieve a top speed of 268km


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Linux backers gather in San Diego to talk up how the open-source operating system can continue its gains on the desktop. Meanwhile, a German court ruling gives some legal weight to the increasingly important license that governs Linux.
The upstart operating system may be entrenched in the data center, but even Linux backers say it needs some sprucing up before it can grab a significant spot on the desktop PC. April 23, 2004 update
Dutch company Sitecom can get itself out of legal hot water, if it releases all the necessary software to comply with the General Public License, an attorney says. April 23, 2004
Germany's SoftMaker hopes its productivity applications for handheld computers will draw customers to the PC versions. April 22, 2004
Software maker NeTraverse hopes to eases problems for businesses migrating to Linux with its Win4Lin products. April 22, 2004
A German court lends some weight to the important open-source license, the legal foundation of Linux but an agreement that hasn't been interpreted by courts. April 22, 2004


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Massive Clothing Retailer is Planning to Close Some of Its Stores for Good
A well-known clothing retailer is planning to close down some of its stores in the future.
Massive retailer H&M recently announced that it is anticipating more store closures in the company’s future, mainly due to low physical sales.
While H&M has continued to grow throughout the year, the company states that growth was dampened by sales development falling significantly below expectations during the year’s fourth quarter (September 1, 2017 to November 30, 2017).
The quarter was weak for the brand's physical stores, citing “a challenging market situation with reduced footfall to stores due to the ongoing shift in the industry.” Meanwhile, the brand’s online sales are continuing to do well, indicating a push for H&M to start taking a more digital approach.
In order to meet customer demands, the company is focusing on integrating its physical and digital stores, a move that it believes will inevitably lead to more store closures and fewer openings.
At this time, the brand has not stated exactly which of its stores and locations are at risk of closing.
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- 5 Amazing Places for a Girls' Weekend Getaway Outside Brampton


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Recent reports suggest that as Disney tries to find its footing amidst financial losses and Hollywood challenges, its internal team is considering a pivot towards the gaming sector. As CEO Bob Iger navigates through these troubled waters, a new avenue has opened up for potential revenue growth – a major acquisition in the gaming world.
- Current Predicament: While Bob Iger’s return to Disney was celebrated, the company has since faced significant losses at the box office and on the stock market.
- Bloomberg’s Insight: Detailed reports from Bloomberg highlight internal discussions emphasizing a shift “from gaming licensee to gaming giant.”
- Potential Acquisition: Among the top contenders for a potential acquisition is gaming behemoth Electronic Arts (EA).
Why Electronic Arts (EA)?
Electronic Arts, a household name in the gaming industry, has consistently produced successful franchises and has a history of collaboration with Disney.
- Historical Collaboration: EA has licensed notable properties like Star Wars for its Battlefront and Jedi game series.
- Financial Strength: EA’s gaming catalogs, particularly the EA Sports series, generate millions annually, aligning well with Disney’s ESPN interests.
- Recent Reorganization: EA has recently segmented itself into EA Sports and EA Entertainment divisions, a move which many analysts believe makes the company more attractive and manageable for a potential acquisition.
Disney and EA: A Past in Collaboration
Disney’s relationship with EA is not new. Over the years, several Disney-owned intellectual properties have been transformed into games by EA:
- Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi series, with the recent successful release of “Star Wars: Jedi Survivor.”
- In 2020, the Star Wars: Squadrons game, received favorable reviews.
- Collaborations with Marvel for game titles, including a teased Iron Man game announced in September 2022 and the upcoming Black Panther game.
CEO Bob Iger’s Stance
Despite the financial allure and strategic alignment of acquiring a company like EA, Bob Iger remains noncommittal.
- Historical Perspective: Iger, during his first tenure as CEO, was instrumental in acquiring big names like Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, Pixar, and 21st Century Fox.
- Reason for Hesitation: The exact reasons for Iger’s reluctance are not clear, but speculation suggests that delving into the gaming industry might not align with his vision for Disney’s future.
Other Options for Disney’s Gaming Endeavors
While EA remains a top contender for acquisition, Disney has other avenues to explore:
- Potential for Selective Acquisitions: Disney could potentially acquire specific studios under EA Entertainment, like BioWare or Respawn.
- Exploring Other Publishers: Ubisoft has also been mentioned as a potential acquisition target.
Disney’s Gaming Legacy
Disney’s foray into the gaming space isn’t a new endeavor:
- Disney Interactive Studios: Previously responsible for games like Disney Infinity and Epic Mickey, this studio was eventually closed in 2016.
- Recent Releases: Disney has also recently released games like Disney Illusion Island, developed by Diala Studios, which met with mixed reviews.
A Strategic Pivot: The Gaming Realm
As the entertainment industry continues to evolve, so too do the opportunities for giants like Disney. The gaming industry, once considered a niche domain, has now blossomed into a multi-billion-dollar sector with a global audience that spans multiple demographics.
Benefits of a Gaming Foray
Diversifying into gaming offers Disney numerous potential benefits:
- Engaging Younger Audiences: Video games have a vast appeal among younger demographics, providing a new avenue to captivate and engage this segment.
- Leveraging Existing IP: With an array of beloved characters and stories, Disney can introduce or reintroduce these IPs to audiences in interactive formats, thereby amplifying their reach.
- Monetization Opportunities: Beyond initial game sales, there are potential revenues from in-game purchases, merchandise, and cross-promotions with other Disney properties.
As Disney weighs its options in the gaming world, it’s clear that the company is looking for effective strategies to reverse its current fortunes. Past decisions, like content reductions on Disney+ and price hikes, indicate a company in search of sustainable profitability.
To dive deeper into the potential acquisition dynamics between Disney and Electronic Arts, you can read the detailed report on Bloomberg.
In conclusion, while the future remains uncertain, Disney’s potential pivot into the gaming world could mark the beginning of a new chapter in its storied history. Only time will tell how these speculations unfold and shape the future of both the entertainment and gaming industries.


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While the word ‘millennial’ may initially remind you of avocados and Instagram hashtags, there’s much more to this generation that is perceived to be radical, progressive and in its own words, ‘woke’. Millennials as a cohort are both a researcher’s delight and worst nightmare. This is because they exhibit behaviour that is in stark contrast to the generations preceding them. From consumption and spending patterns to behavioural changes, millennials are an extremely peculiar group.
For starters, millennials are lovers of all things experiential. Millennials seem to love experiential travel, volunteering, going out for fancy breakfasts, wine tastings and the like. Millennials also spend more on comfort. According to an article published by Forbes magazine, over 50% of millennials spend money on taxis and Ubers> This is in comparison to 29% of Gen X and 15% of Boomers do the same. 70% of millennials will spend a little extra to eat at the hip restaurants in town. The same article stated that 60% of millennials spend more than $4 on a single coffee. All these numbers add up to a whole lot of spending. Some experts contend that this increased expense is because millennials are inheriting more money as compared to the previous generation.
However, it would be incorrect to contend that a millennial spends more in every sphere. While they enjoy spending on their Sunday brunches, their daily coffee and their annual backpacking holidays, fewer millennials are buying cars or houses today. In 2019, 51 per cent of millennials were questioning the need to own a vehicle, according to a global study by Deloitte. In the same study, 76 per cent of respondents in India were in favour of connected vehicles. 84 per cent feeling that shared mobility would be advantageous in providing suggestions regarding safer routes.
Millennials and mobility
Deloitte said, “Shared mobility is another trend which is gaining momentum in India. The report uncovers a clear generational divide when it comes to shared mobility,”. The report stated that 51 per cent of Gen Y/Z users in India questioned the need for an owned vehicle. In comparison, only 34 per cent of pre/boomers generation had questioned the need for an owned vehicle.
Today, millennials living in metros and Tier-1 cities are working corporate jobs and earning incredibly well. They have their holiday plans in place and their investments are on track. They value the joy of a single experience over a materialistic possession. The megacities they stay in have everything they need, except ample space. Buying a car in a metro city in India is expensive and the expenses don’t end when the car comes home. In fact, they begin at that very point. With these cities getting congested, parking space becomes an issue and in most residential areas, one must pay a hefty amount for the same. Additionally, paying for parking in all your outings is another cost. Paying toll while commuting within cities also contributes to a higher cost of owning a car.
At the same time, with mobility apps developing, the mobility industry is growing exponentially. A millennial books a ride for work before entering the lift and by the time he/she is out, a car is waiting. Shared mobility has made it easier for millennials to commute so they enjoy the perks of having a car. At the same time, they don’t have to worry about a single downside that accompanies ownership.
This interesting development in the consumption pattern of millennials, along with technological progress, have contributed to rapid growth in the shared mobility and luxury mobility space. In metro cities, millennials can get rides to work daily. They can also rent a luxury car for their weekend getaways and big meetings without devoting excess time in arranging these rides.
This amusing relationship between millennials and mobility is as pragmatic as it is astounding. As this cohort literally and figuratively, joins forces in a quest to facilitate shared mobility, the future of the automobile market seems interesting, to say the least.


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NAFTA and Supply Management
Chief economist suggests no immediate danger to Canadian Ag if U.S. pulls out of NAFTA.
The eighth round of NAFTA negotiations begins on April 8 in Washington, DC. Amidst the uncertainty, predictions continue to roll in about the fate of many sectors, including agriculture.
With U.S. threats of tariffs to Canadian steel, many wonder whether Canada can hold out on its commitment to protecting our supply managed dairy sector.
Supply management is a marketing system that enables Canadian farmers in dairy, chicken, turkey and eggs to collectively negotiate prices for their products. Marketing boards for each of these groups oversee production and limit it according to consumer demands. Imports are restricted.
Though it has been criticized by economic liberalists who favour deregulation and free market access, the system helps to keep independent family farms immune from global market fluctuations.
The Canadian dairy industry has come under fire thanks to NAFTA renegotiations, but the sector continues to receive encouraging support from government.
In March, Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s Deputy Ambassador to the U.S., acknowledged that the U.S.’s goal of increasing market access to dairy remains a sticking point in NAFTA negotiations, but asserted Canada’s support of supply management.
“It’s a system that works well and the government will continue to stand up and defend it. This particular issue – this particular product – has never stopped us from concluding any high-quality agreements in the past, and I have no reason to think it would here,” Hillman told American ag news source Brownfield in Lincoln, Nebraska.
But despite government support, supply management has received its fair share of flesh wounds in recently signed trade deals, which have offered up market access.
Kelvin Heppner, from RealAgriculture.com, reported in January that commodity boards were “voicing concern about the cumulative effect of giving up incremental market access in multiple trade deals, including the Canada-EU trade deal, TPP and, potentially, a new NAFTA.”
The ink is still wet on the eleven-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, signed on March 8 in Chile. Despite the departure of the U.S. last year, Canada gave remaining partners the same market access provisions offered in the original proposal.
Partnering countries now have access to small shares of the domestic market for each of the nation’s five supply managed sectors: 3.25 percent for dairy; 2.3 percent for eggs; 2.1 percent for chicken; 2 percent for turkey; and 1.5 percent for broiler hatching eggs. Many of the partnering countries hadn’t even asked for market share.
Currently, farmers and those working in the agriculture sector are generally confident in the Canadian government’s promise to defend the supply management system in Canada. But the lesson learned from the recent TPP deal has many wondering how many slivers of market share can be shaved off before the integrity of the system is lost.
Canadians concerned with keeping Canadian food on Canadian grocery shelves may want to keep a close eye on agricultural bargaining chips, both during NAFTA and in the future.


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In the first of its kind event, Apple AirTags has reportedly been hacked by a German cybersecurity researcher. The researcher used reverse-engineering on the latest Apple device’s microcontroller to do this.
Stack Smashing, a German security researcher and creator on YouTube, recently tweeted about the achievement. The tweet also included a video demo of the hacked AirTags, showing some modifications in its elements.
As mentioned in the Twitter thread, the cybersecurity researcher hacked into the AirTag by breaking into its microcontroller. For those unaware, a microcontroller is a small computer in itself, in the form of an integrated circuit with one (or more) CPUs, memory and programmable input/output peripherals.
The hardware hacker was then able to re-flash the microcontroller, much like jailbreaking, known to take place in other Apple products. With this, he modified elements of AirTag’s software, including the website that the AirTag redirects to upon connection.
While regular AirTags connect to found.apple.com for tracking lost items, the modified AirTag redirected the user to the demonstrator’s own website, stacksmashing.net. The redirection took place when an AirTag enabled in Lost Mode is tapped on by an NFC-enabled device, like an iPhone.
The researcher also shared that he damaged two AirTags in an attempt to hack into its microcontroller. Having finally achieved the goal, the attempt was lauded by the Twitterati.
The event has come to light as the first of its kind to date, with Apple only having launched the AirTags late last month alongside its new iPad Pro lineup. As or when more such attempts are made, it will be interesting to see how the physical components of AirTags can be modified further.
For now, the demonstration is sure to be a red flag for Apple. The company launched AirTags as a recovery device for important items that the users deem fit to use them on. These might include keys, wallets, luggage or any other precious cargo. Knowing that the AirTags can be hacked for modifications might not go down well with their claims for the use case.


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The trial of a new barcode tagging system for tracking elderly dementia sufferers and those at risk of getting lost is under way in Tokyo.
Stickers on Toenails
The new, free tagging system uses special 1cm (0.4in) square stickers which can be attached to a person’s toenail and are designed to stay on for 2 weeks. If the sticker was attached to items of clothing or badges for example, as well as not being discreet, there is a risk that clothing items could be left behind when the person goes out. The water-resistant stickers have QR codes which hold the address, telephone number and a unique identity number for the user.
All this means that if the person is picked up by police, a simple scan of the code will reveal contact telephone numbers, all relevant personal details, plus the location of the person’s local city hall. The benefits of this scheme are clear: saved time in getting the person back to their loved ones/their carers which means less stress and upset for the dementia sufferer, less stress and worry for family and friends. It also means some savings in costs and resources.
The last (2015) census revealed the extent of a challenge that Japan is now facing. Over 26% of the country’s population is now over the age of 65. This is the highest level since 1920, and experts believe that this number will grow to 40% by 2060.
These figures mean that the barcode tagging system could prove to be a very relevant and important idea for now and into the future for Japan.
There have already been other ideas and initiatives in Japan which have been designed to help with different aspects of the challenges of an ageing population.
Japan’s state-owned Post Group is an organisation that runs post offices, banks, and insurance services across the country. Post Group also provides a national Watch Over service. This service provides checks on elderly citizens for a small fee.
One other high profile initiative from last year was an alliance between Apple and IBM who teamed up Post Group with the aim of delivering iPads (with IBM-developed apps and analytics) to five million customers in Japan by the year 2020. The IBM apps on the iPads will give reminders and alerts about medications, exercise, and diet. They will also provide access to community activities and support services such as grocery shopping and job matching.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
As well as the UK also facing ageing population challenges (and the direct relevance of this story as a result), security and tracking tagging technology of this kind could have many applications across multiple sectors in the UK.
In terms of the story’s direct relevance to health in the UK, there are over 850,000 people living with dementia, and as well as the terrible human suffering it causes, is estimated to cost the UK £26 billion a year.
There are therefore opportunities for UK technology businesses and start-ups to develop products for the health sector which could help the UK to meet its own challenges by providing valuable help to sufferers and relatives/carers, and reducing care costs as well as making the best use of resources.


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Quezon City, Philippines/Gothenburg, Sweden - In the first public study of its kind, environmental health groups EcoWaste Coalition and IPEN uncovered spray paints with dangerous lead concentrations — some samples containing levels hundreds of times higher than global standards — on sale in the Philippines in violation of the country’s law banning lead in paints.
The report shows that nearly half of the spray paints tested exceeded the total lead content limit above 90 parts per million (ppm), and nearly a third contained levels higher than 10,000 ppm. Samples were obtained from various retail outlets, including hardware stores, home improvement centers, general merchandise marts, school and office supplies shops, in 20 cities and one municipality in Metro Manila and various parts of Luzon.
Several of the spray paints containing lead were imported from countries with existing, legally-binding lead paint regulations, such as China and Thailand. The Philippine Association of Paint Manufacturers (PAPM) confirmed that none of the analyzed samples in this study was produced by one of its affiliates.


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WTO authorizes duties against U.S.
European Union, others win ruling in dumping fight
The World Trade Organization on Tuesday authorized the European Union and seven other nations to impose $140 million in punitive duties on U.S. goods, on the grounds that Congress has failed to repeal an anti-dumping law.
The ruling is the latest setback for Washington at the Geneva-based trade body that has angered U.S. lawmakers.
A WTO panel held that U.S. exporters could be penalized for the damage caused to foreign firms by the "Byrd amendment," named for Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va. That law, which Congress approved four years ago, provides that when foreign manufacturers are found to be dumping goods in the U.S. market — that is, selling at unfairly low prices — any antidumping duties that are imposed can be handed over to the American companies that brought the dumping case, rather than to the U.S. Treasury.
Benefited U.S. firmsThe law is popular on Capitol Hill, and it has benefited U.S. firms in industries ranging from steel to pasta. But the WTO ruled in 2002 that it violates international trade rules, siding with major U.S. trading partners including the EU, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, South Korea and India.
Until Tuesday, it wasn't clear whether that ruling would carry the threat of sanctions. The Bush administration argued that no WTO sanctions were in order because even if the Byrd amendment was illegal, foreign producers were not being damaged by the fact that antidumping duties were being paid to U.S. firms rather than the government. The amendment's critics contended that it inflicts a double penalty on foreign companies, by forcing them to pay duties and also providing a reward to their American rivals.
"It is clear that the Byrd Amendment is a WTO-incompatible response to dumping ... and must therefore go," EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said.
The WTO essentially agreed with Washington's opponents, allowing them to slap retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods equal to 72 percent of the money collected under the amendment during the most recent fiscal year. That would translate into as much as $144 million in duties on U.S. exports, according to U.S. officials. Foreign governments put the figure slightly higher. Top EU and Japanese officials said they would not impose duties immediately, in the hope that Washington would change the law instead.
The retaliatory tariffs are less than the Europeans and others had sought, and they are far less than the $4 billion the WTO authorized the European Union to impose in another case involving U.S. export subsidies. In that case, the European Union has begun imposing duties on a range of U.S. products including lumber, carpets and jewelry, because Congress hasn't repealed the offending export subsidies either.
Attacks from DemocratsBut Tuesday's loss fueled grievances among lawmakers who have grown critical of the WTO for repeatedly ruling against U.S. laws. It also prompted attacks from Democrats eager to capitalize on the issue. The presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry released a statement deriding "the inability of the Bush administration to fight hard enough" to protect the Byrd amendment.
In response, Chris Padilla, a spokesman for U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, cited a number of recent antidumping decisions in which the Commerce Department has ruled in favor of complaints brought by U.S. companies.