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One of the world's flashpoints is the disputed waters of the South China Sea. The Philippines and Vietnam want explicit U.S. support against Chinese incursions, and the U.S. Senate passed a nonbinding resolution Monday deploring Chinese actions. But China is hardly backing down. Last week, Deputy Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai warned that "the individual countries are actually playing with fire, and I hope the fire will not be drawn to the United States."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is so far holding to the line she laid down last July in Hanoi: The U.S. doesn't take sides on the territorial disputes, but it wants to play a role in their peaceful resolution because of its interests in the region and support for freedom of navigation. As China ratchets up tension, it's time for something stronger.
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WEST SWANZEY — Three friends have launched a new nanobrewery, added to the region’s expanding beer scene.
David Smith of Swanzey co-owns West LA Beer Co. with Ryan Gale and Eric Johnson. The trio conceived the idea about two years ago, with construction ongoing for the past year and a half, Smith said. The brewery hosted its grand opening Oct. 26 to an eager crowd and food from Street Savory Food Truck.
Inside what was formerly a convenience store at 647 West Swanzey Road, the brewery seats nearly 50 people and has six beers on tap, with two more likely on the way, Smith said. There’s also outdoor seating when the weather permits, he added, and often a food truck on the weekends.
Regarding the business’ name, Smith acknowledged that it might be jarring to those who recognize LA as Los Angeles, but he assured there’s a story behind it.
Before the mid-1700s, he said, the town of Swanzey was known as Lower Ashuelot, and since the brewery is less than a half-mile west of the Ashuelot River, the name West LA Beer Co. was born.
“It’s kind of confusing, and I get it, but it’s a name you don’t forget,” Smith said.

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One of the basic tenets of the Boy Scout code is to “leave no trace” when vacating a campsite. The same rule applies to proper supply chain management, according to some former scouts now serving as prominent reverse logistics practitioners.
“We owe it to our community and future generations,” says Gary Cullen, chief operating officer of 4PRL, the reverse logistics operation of The Georgetowne Group, a consultancy based in Clarksville, Md. “Consumer buying patterns in the past were more conservative and therefore pushed product obsolescence to a larger window—three to five years for a television, for example,” he adds.
“The secondary markets are effective in diverting a large number of products from landfill and creating numerous jobs.”
“But now, consumers want the newest television set on the market. One year it’s the flat screen, the next it’s got to be 3D.” And just as “secondary markets” exist in the financial world to offer investment alternatives, a similar convention helps manufacturers repurpose their supply chains.
“There are new revenue streams to be explored,” says Dale Rogers, the incoming director for Supply Chain Management at Rutgers University. “The secondary markets are effective in diverting a large number of products from landfill and creating numerous jobs.”
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Information abounds about the growing trend of electric lift trucks and the advantages and disadvantages of the electric solution. Amid all of the information from so many sources, what's the truth about electric lift trucks?
This complimentary white paper breaks through the clutter to review why electric lift trucks are gaining in popularity and also to review their challenges, as well as their economic and environmental benefits.
Three weeks after initiating a coordinated series of slowdowns that have mired the major West Coast ports of Tacoma, Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles and Long Beach, the ILWU has pushed away from the bargaining table.
DHL has released the third edition of its Global Connectedness Index (GCI), a detailed analysis of the state of globalization around the world.
The truck driver shortage is worsening, threatening the trucking industry’s ability to serve the nation’s supply chains. The shortage will almost certainly cause fleets’ costs to increase and shippers’ rate to continue to rise.
The Agriculture Transportation Coalition has asked the Administration to bring in a federal mediator to help resolve the negotiations, and if a strike or lockout occurs, the AgTC advocates the rarely-invoked Taft-Hartley Act.


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No, Apple didn’t change the Lightning connector on the iPhone 15 to make more money selling you new cables and dongles. It’s a common conspiracy theory that Apple switches the connector all the time for lining their pockets, but it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.
First of all, Apple changes the connector very rarely; this is only the second occurrence in 16 years. Secondly, Apple is actually giving up money to make the switch happen. Not that there’s much money to be made selling Lightning cables, anyway. And all that aside, it’s out of Apple’s hands — USB-C is European Union law.


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The latest retailer to be effected by the recession is Whittard of Chelsea which is thought to be on the brink of administration today.
The 122-year-old tea and homewares chain, which is backed by Landsbanki the failed Icelandic bank, called in Ernst & Young as standby administrator following the news that Landsbanki decided to stop funding the business.
The news comes as many retailers go on January sale before Christmas in a bid to tempt shoppers to spend.
PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that a record 82 of the country’s biggest retailers were running discounts.
Begbies Traynor, the restructuring firm, expects up to 15 retailers to go bust by the end of next month.
It is thought Whittard will trade through the Christmas period while Ernst & Young talks to interested parties who might buy some of its 130 store leases.
It is believed that Landsbanki decided to stop lending to Whittard after a team from KPMG appointed to sell the business last month failed to find a buyer.


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Boostly UK calls for better prevention of cloning scams on Facebook after hard-hit hospitality businesses suffer damage.
MAY 2021, UNITED KINGDOM – Facebook refused to remove scams targeting honest, struggling holiday accommodation operators, running competitions for their customers.
Credit card details were requested from competition entrants and followers of small accommodation businesses by scammers, in a huge scale operation targeting typical Facebook competitions, Boostly has revealed.
Hospitality community leader Mark Simpson was inundated with pleas for help from businesses who had their pages cloned on Facebook. Scam pages were set up to message competition entrants of the original, genuine business to tell them they had won a competition and had to give a deposit or their credit card details in order to claim the ‘prize’ (usually a couple of nights accommodation).
Facebook runs the most sophisticated technology in the world but this evidence suggests they fail to use it to prevent scammers from inundating the platform on a huge scale to target their victims. When fraudulent and illegal activity is reported, Facebook gives a standard response:
We’ve reviewed the profile reported and found that it isn't pretending to be you and doesn't go against our Community Standards. If you think we should take another look, please reply to this message and let us know.
Note: If you see something on someone’s profile that shouldn’t be on Facebook, make sure that you report the content (e.g. a photo or video), not the entire profile. For more information about our policies, please read the Facebook Community Standards: https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards
But the cloning scam clearly goes against Facebook’s guidelines for pages.
Joanne Carroll ran a competition on 16th April to win one night’s stay at Winchcombe Farm with a distillery tour and a bottle of rum as prizes in collaboration with another local business. They found out a fictitious account impersonated their page and Joanne posted to warn customers and competition entrants of the scam on April 20th.
“Police seemed unconcerned. Action Fraud told us to fill in a form, but we haven’t heard back since. Had about 70 messages and calls from followers alerting us that a new clone page directed people to a website which asked for their bank details. Facebook only took the page down after we appealed!!”Joanne Caroll, Winchcombe Farm
Small businesses seem to have nowhere to turn.
Boostly CEO Mark Simpson was made aware of a huge influx of fraudulent activity when he ran the ‘Get Booked Up’ Challenge on Facebook (March 2021). Accommodation business owners across the world – UK, Ireland, Australia, Japan, Tobago – took part in the challenge.
“We take accommodation hosts through an intense week utilising Facebook to get thousands of new eyes on their business, and teach them how to turn these lookers into bookers,” says Mark Simpson. “Hosts ran a legitimate Facebook competition as part of the challenge, giving their followers a chance to win a short stay at their holiday accommodation.”
Emma Khan, host of Riviera Guesthouse Whitby, was targeted when she ran a giveaway as part of a previous challenge (December 2020). Boostly CEO Mark Simpson expected a couple of cases to follow and prepared to advise businesses if it happened, but the sheer volume of scams from Facebook competitions in the March challenge was ‘shocking’:
“It’s really sophisticated, it’s all automated. It’s an absolutely shocking operation.”Mark Simpson, Boostly
“What’s even worse is that Facebook fails to prevent it. I was shocked it was allowed to happen, and Facebook did nothing in some cases,” says Mark Simpson. “Better rules and verification are needed to prevent this kind of scam in the first place.”
Holiday accommodation businesses targeted:
- Eileen Pratt, Old Ginn House Inn: We were targeted (November 2020). The other profile had a slightly different name and logo, but most people wouldn't notice the difference. I followed the Facebook profile and it changed back – to the original? A number of people reported the profile, but Facebook said it didn't contravene their rules. [See: Press Kit]
- Georgina Bearman, Sea Croft Bed, Breakfast and Bar: I had people report that my competition post had been scammed and people received messages saying they had won. Had to reply to all concerned explaining the winner had already been picked some days ago and it wasn't them!
“It discredits us as a business! We have worked hard to build what we have, so it makes me think twice about using Facebook for business.”Georgina Bearman, Sea Croft Bed, Breakfast and Bar.
- Ciara Tiernan, Willowtree Glamping Mournes: My page was cloned. I reported it and so did others then it was taken down.
- Charlotte Lovelock, Rock Cottage nr Padstow ran a competition to win a 2-night stay & a Cornish Cream Tea:
- Claudia Hodgson, Cheverton Farm Holidays: I began to get dozens of messages from people saying they had been messaged saying they had won and asking for card details.
“Horrendous! So stressful. I didn’t know what was happening! It feels terrible”.Claudia Hodgson, Cheverton Farm Holidays
- Emma Louise Khan, Riviera Guesthouse Whitby: “Ours was scammed and we had so many people report it to Facebook. Every single time, they told us that it didn’t contravene their rules. They made about 4 different clone pages and took all our posts and photos and shared them onto the scam pages so it looked real then started messaging guests from our page and taking money. It caused us an awful lot of admin during the week we ran it”. [See: Press Kit]
“In all honesty, it’s put us off Facebook competitions. The last thing we want is our guests scammed. It doesn’t make our business look hugely professional when there are about 5 pages with similar names and photos of our faces.”Emma Khan, Riviera Guesthouse Whitby
Facebook is failing hospitality businesses as they try to recover from the effects of the pandemic. Illegal, fraudulent activities scamming innocent people do not face repercussions from Facebook or authorities. But meanwhile, business owners are hit disproportionately with Facebook bans for harmless activities. In the last month:
- A warning was given for posting a youtube link for a helpful website tutorial.
- 24-hour ban given for calling someone “an absolute potato”.
- 30-day ban given for a non-violent image of a recorded historic fact.
“Facebook should upgrade their security instead of picking on words in our posts to penalise us.”Tereza Szalai, Foxy Fitness personal trainer.
Social SOS director Meredith Hicks manages Facebook competitions for small businesses: “Businesses are really struggling with this. Food and Hospitality businesses everywhere experience this and it causes huge issues. I’ve received a lot of messages from obvious scammers.”
“Sadly, Facebook has made it hard now to actually get anything done about fake accounts,” she says. “Business owners ask customers to support and help; they post on the real business page asking customers to be careful, and we warn people to never give out credit card details.”
“Cybercriminals targeting competition entrants pose as businesses to entice the ‘winners’ by hacking into their joy rather than their fear. In doing so they target people who ‘win a small break’, who are desperate to get away post lockdown.”
“A double blow for small businesses as they have their online page copied – they also have to explain to people that they did not win, have been scammed and hope that the targeted ‘winner’ hasn’t given their details to cybercriminals. But why should this responsibility fall to the business, why is Facebook not removing cloned accounts? Why is Facebook not creating a business account process where unverified accounts can be deleted to protect users?”Catherine Knibbs, Trauma Adult Psychotherapist and Online Harms and Cybertrauma Advisor
Mark Simpson explains the latest tactics used by scammers in this Linkedin video and advises small businesses to follow this process:
- Report the scam to Facebook.
- Comment on the competition post to warn entrants.
- Write a new post to inform followers.
Boostly CEO Mark Simpson is available for interviews or more information. Email: mark at boostly dot co dot uk
Boostly runs Boostly Academy, a CPD accredited Hospitality Training Portal and membership with resources for accommodation business owners. Boostly was founded to help hospitality businesses get “heads on beds” with 100% control through direct bookings and less dependency on third parties to get bookings. Boostly gives hospitality business owners the tools, tactics, knowledge and confidence to increase their direct bookings. Clients receive record numbers of direct bookings and increased profit.
The Boostly podcast shares practical marketing tips, tactics and tools for hospitality business owners. The podcast consistently makes the top 25 UK business podcast charts.
About Mark Simpson
Mark Simpson is the Founder of Boostly and runs the Hospitality Community Facebook Group. Over the past 5 years, Mark Simpson has helped 1000’s of short-stay accommodation owners all over the world skyrocket their direct bookings, slash their commission costs, and boost their bottom line.
- ‘Get Booked Up’ Challenge Group: Get Booked Up For 2021 – 5 Day Challenge w/ Mark Simpson | Boostly 🚀 | Facebook
- Hospitality Community Official Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HospitalityOwners
Accommodation businesses mentioned in this press release:
- Old Ginn House Inn
- Sea Croft Bed, Breakfast & Bar
- Willowhouse Glamping Mournes
- Rock Cottage nr Padstow
- Cheverton Farm Holidays
- Riviera Guesthouse Whitby
Meredith Hicks, Social SOS
Catherine Knibbs, Online Harms & Cybertrauma Advisor
Avoid and report internet scams and phishing – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
You can report a misleading website, email or phone number to:
- National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC): https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/report-suspicious-emails
- Action Fraud: http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud
Facebook Guidelines: Pages, Groups, and Events must not impersonate or falsely represent a brand, entity, or public figure. Where a Page, Group, or Event is being used to express support for or interest in a brand, entity, or public figure, it must make clear in the name or description that it is not an official representation. More: https://www.facebook.com/policies/pages_groups_events/


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On Tuesday, makeup brand Cover FX launched a lineup of new products: a tinted moisturizer with adaptogens and pre- and probiotics, and a patent-pending makeup application brush. These products are fueling a new launch strategy necessitated by Covid-19 limitations.
Cover FX’s traditional product launch strategy relied on influencer events, as well as wholesale retailer events in-store and online. It also included influencer gifting (through mailings) of free products. But like much of the beauty industry, the inability to host in-person events or have customers experience products firsthand in stores has required Cover FX to shift its approach, with many new tactics set to remain permanent fixtures of future launches. Cover FX is sold through Ulta, Sephora and Dermstore, among others.
The arrival of the tinted moisturizer, in particular, adds to a bevy of brands and products seeking to add much-needed innovation to the makeup category that has seen an accelerated decline in sales due to coronavirus. Many of these new formulas are tapping into the benefits of skin care: Saint Jane launched CBD-infused lip products, while Becca debuted a skin-care infused “invisible” foundation in July.
Cover FX has been owned by private equity firm L Catterton since 2011, and reportedly explored a sale option in 2018. That year, it expected to do $65 million to $70 million in gross sales, with more than $10 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in 2018, according to WWD.
“We recognize everyone has a lot of stress in their lives, and this product will help you feel radiant, while it also does the critical work of helping repair your skin at the same time,” said Emily Culp, Cover FX CEO.
The launch strategy for the products will focus on social media, physical sampling and computer-generated image videos. Cover FX is producing 10 videos for the brush and moisturizer, including five using CGI. Videos span tutorials on how customers can experiment and customize makeup looks using the tinted moisturizer and application brush, the latter of which features three small wells to deposit primer, foundation and highlighter. There are also ingredient story videos on adaptogens and the pre- and probiotics. Videos are displayed across CoverFX.com and Ulta.com product pages, and have been repurposed on Instagram.
Cover FX also joined Instagram’s beta IG Checkout program in June and increased its influencer budget by 500% after re-allocating its events budget. Cover FX used to work with only one influencer at a time, but it’s now working with 4-6 influencers. Its network of both paid and unpaid relationships is approximately 1,000 globally.
“Instagram is a high touchpoint, because we have different consumers on Instagram versus our owned email list and Facebook groups,” said Danielle Dinelli, Cover FX senior director of e-commerce and digital marketing. “Having the Instagram audience and giving them the ability to also shop from Instagram is going to be a game-changer for us.”
Finally, Cover FX is shifting its existing sampling strategy, as wholesalers like Ulta is not permitting dramming, which is when a customer receives an in-store sample of a product like foundation taken from a full-size tester. But offering single-use samples for dozens of products would be prohibitively expensive and environmentally wasteful, said Culp. Cover FX’s solution is to have paper postcards with small amounts of multiple shades of a product available. On CoverFX.com, this sampling strategy will most often apply to Cover FX’s four-step makeup application products: prep, cover, set and enhance. For example, when a customer buys one or two products that fall into any of those four steps, the brand will automatically send them up to two samples from the other steps. Samples are also available through Ulta, and Cover FX is producing 60,000 units for the tinted moisturizer.
There are other upcoming launch strategies, as well, with Cover FX debuting a virtual try-on tool through CoverFX.com on August 25, tied to its monochromatic lip products. Cover FX plans to playfully encourage customers to try a “monochromatic look,” said Dinelli.


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With sales still soft, BK to conduct consumer research, target more than young males
In an attempt to reverse its negative sales trends, Burger King said this week it plans to conduct more market research that may help the brand past its typical 18-35 year old, male demographic. The Miami-based parent company, Burger King Holdings Inc., is in the midst of a turbulent transition period with changes to management, prices, menu items and marketing. Co-chairman John W. Chidsey is set to resign April 18, after formerly serving as chief executive before Burger King’s ...
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The science of sustainable protein
Cultivated meat, plant-based foods and fermentation offer exciting research opportunities with huge societal benefits.
As an international NGO, the Good Food Institute Europe works with scientists to develop, fund and promote open-source research on sustainable proteins.
GFI’s global science and technology work
The Good Food Institute’s science and technology experts identify key knowledge gaps, allocate grant funding, and cultivate an engaged community of scientists. Find out more about their work.
Resources for researchers
Study of the cost of producing cultivated meat at scale, conducted by independent researchers CE Delft.
Study of the environmental impact – including carbon footprint, land use, water use and energy use – of cultivated meat, conducted by independent researchers CE Delft.
Our science and technology expert
Seren Kell leads our work to advance the science of sustainable protein and foster a thriving research ecosystem across Europe.
Latest science news
Horizon Europe has announced €32 million in funding, in its biggest-ever package of support covering plant-based, cultivated meat and fermentation.
New studies released today by independent research firm CE Delft show that — compared with conventional beef — meat cultivated directly from animal cells may cause up to 92% less…


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Whole Foods grocery stores in New York City have been labeling a variety of items with the wrong prices, according to an investigation by the city’s department of consumer affairs. The agency said it found more than 800 pricing violations in local Whole Foods stores since 2010.
Many of the violations are related to pre-packaged foods, such as chicken breasts and ready-to-eat sandwiches, that are individually priced by weight. For example, multiple packages of breaded chicken breasts, with weights ranging from six to nine ounces (170-255 grams), were identically labeled, and priced at $5.99 for seven ounces. In some cases, items were underpriced, but the majority of inaccuracies led to too-high prices.
“Our inspectors tell me this is the worst case of mislabeling they have seen in their careers,” said Julie Menin, commissioner of the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs. Potential fines of up to $1,700 per mispriced item could ultimately total millions of dollars, the agency said in a statement. Whole Foods, which was penalized with an $800,000 fine for similar offenses in its California stores last summer, said in a statement:”We disagree with the DCA’s overreaching allegations and we are vigorously defending ourselves.”
Consumers have long joked that the grocery chain, which specializes in notoriously expensive natural and organic products, should be called “whole paycheck.” Despite a reputation for higher prices, a Bloomberg Intelligence study found that it actually had the second-lowest prices among New York City grocery chains. Whole Foods has made an effort to lower some of its prices, and is even launching a new chain of “value” stores to appeal to younger and less wealthy consumers.


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DETROIT (AP) — Mercedes-Benz is recalling nearly 48,000 SUVs in the U.S. to fix a sensor problem that could stop the front passenger air bag from inflating in a crash.
The recall covers certain GL, GLE and GLS models from the 2016 and 2017 model years. Mercedes says in documents posted by U.S. safety regulators that a sensor in the front passenger seat may be calibrated incorrectly. It can classify passengers as child seats and deactivate the air bag.
It was unclear from the documents if the problem had caused any injuries. A Mercedes spokesman says he's seeking information on the recall. Documents say drivers will get a warning message on the dashboard saying the airbag is off even though a person is in the passenger seat.
Mercedes will notify owners and dealers will update the sensor software for free. The recall is expected to start this month.


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2020 Halloween Lego
A Hocus Pocus-themed Lego set was submitted to Lego Ideas and is in review to become a reality! See photos of the Sanderson Sisters’ Cottage set here! . Halloween fun will return to Legoland California this season with costumes, outdoor festivities, and delicious treats for guests. . Halloween is right around the corner—which means it’s officially time to bring out the jack-o’-lanterns, watch scary movies, buy your costume (s), and hang up your festive decorations. Although there .
LEGO’s 2020 Halloween Sets Revealed | All Hallows Geek
- Halloween 2020 LEGO Sets Revealed | Halloween Daily News.
- LEGO’s 2020 Halloween Sets Revealed | All Hallows Geek.
- 2020 LEGO Halloween Seasonal Sets & Trolls World Tour Vibe City .
Best LEGO Halloween Sets 2020 bricksfans.com
If you’re looking for a way to get into the Halloween spirit, you can find a terrifying alternative to a yule log over at Shudder.com, Bloody Disgusting reports. Unlike typical streaming services, . The new Halloween in Miniland event will run on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Oct. 2 to 31 at the Carlsbad theme park. .
LEGO Halloween Ideas Book Coming In 2020 | BricksFanz
Storybook Safari” is back this October, but with a few changes due to the pandemic. The modified, masked version of the Colorado fall tradition opens Thursday, Oct. 1 and continues through Saturday, The historic neighborhood attracts thousands of trick-or-treaters each year, but coronavirus risks have some residents keeping their lights off. .
LEGO Halloween 2020 sets A GREAT surprise! YouTube
- Brickfinder LEGO Seasonal Halloween Hayride (40423) – 01.
- New Halloween LEGO Sets Revealed | BricksFanz.
- Zombie Crunching Combine Harvester LEGO Halloween MOC! #combine .


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Thursday 11th October 2018
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New Zealand food prices eased in September, led by cheaper fruit and vegetables, including a 45 percent fall in lettuce prices.
Food prices eased 0.1 percent in September, but were up 0.3 percent after seasonal adjustment. Lettuce prices fell to an average $1.81 for a 500g head, from $3.26 in August and an all-time high of $5.42 in July when the weather had been poor, Statistics New Zealand said.
"Since then we’ve had two major price falls, which meant lettuce prices reached an unseasonably low level this September," consumer prices manager Geraldine Duoba said.
Vegetable prices fell 8.7 percent in September, influenced by lower prices for lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers. However, meat and poultry prices rose 2 percent, influenced by higher prices for beef and chicken. Restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices rose 0.2 percent.
Compared with a year earlier, food prices lifted 0.1 percent, driven by a 3.5 percent lift in ready-to-eat food prices and a 2.2 percent lift in milk, cheese and eggs. Declines in vegetable and fruit prices, down 8.9 percent and 3.6 percent respectively, helped keep overall food inflation low for the year, Stats NZ said.
The tepid lift in food prices will add to the view that inflation overall remains muted and monetary policy will continue to be stimulatory.
At its latest cash rate review, the Reserve Bank kept rates on hold at a record low 1.75 percent and reiterated that it could move to cut rates if the economy fails to fire.
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Gold Report 21st May 2019
NZ dollar falls after RBA governor flags potential rate cut
ASB reviews ownership of Aegis
Auckland Airport kicks off next phase of expansion
Cashed-up Plexure eyes acquisitions to accelerate growth as loss shrinks
Tower turns to 1H profit, lifts FY guidance
IRD should have doubled claim against Watson's Cullen Group - Professor
Investore FY profit falls 16% on smaller valuation gain, signals flat dividend for 2020
Synlait receives cease and desist letter regarding Pokeno plant
21st May 2019 Morning Report


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AkzoNobel to invest more than US$14 million to expand its production
Chemical Corporation AkzoNobel is investing over US$14.6 million to expand its installed capacity and update its organic peroxides plant in Los Reyes, State of Mexico. Organic peroxides are essential ingredients for the production of a wide variety of plastics. The new investment implies building a new plant expansion to manufacture Perkadox CH-50 organic peroxides, which are currently sold primarily in the heat treated resins market. One of the key segments to grow this market, is the room-temperature cured acrylic resins business, as they are used to paint on roads, re-paving and roofing applications.


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Snap shot to a record valuation of $5o billion after its third-quarter earnings call revealed unexpectedly high revenue and the biggest Q3 gain in daily active users since 2017.
The Snapchat developer was expected to bring in less than $550 million this quarter. Instead, it posted revenues of $679 million—$225 million more than it made in Q2, and a 52% year-over-year increase from Q3 2019.
Jeremi Gorman, Snap’s chief business officer, said the changing scape of digital ad sales was a significant part of the company’s revenue growth. Like most digital advertising-heavy companies, Snap suffered last quarter as marketers reined in their budgets to combat the economic effects of COVID-19. But recently, Gorman told investors, “we were pleased to see existing advertisers resume and even increase their budgets, as well as new advertisers allocate spend.”
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Simultaneously, Snap pivoted to focus on the ad sectors being ballooned by the pandemic, like packaged goods, streaming services, and financial services, Gorman added. It also introduced two programs for advertisers: Snap Focus, a digital how-to for marketers new to Snapchat; and Snap Connect, about the company’s direct-response ad formats.
As for user growth, Snapchat added 11 million daily actives this quarter—an 18% year-over-year increase—and now boasts a total of 249 million. Snap cofounder and CEO Evan Spiegel said this is the app’s fourth consecutive quarter with year-over-year daily active user growth of at least 15%.
Snapchat now reaches 90% of the Gen Z population and 75% of Millennials in the U.S., U.K., and France, Spiegel said. (And, as Snap revealed earlier this month, more and more of those folks are tuning in for its slate of more than 100 original shows.)
He attributed increases in DAUs and revenue to “product innovation and infrastructure improvements,” including recent features and additions like Profiles, Minis, Lens creation tools, and augmented reality ads.
“As we look to the future, we believe that the fundamental changes we made to our products and business over the past two years have put us in a strong position to continue executing in a rapidly evolving world,” Spiegel said. “We are so excited about our progress in AR, content, and our growing platform, especially as we look to build on our momentum in these areas going forward.”
Following the call, Snap’s stock jumped 33% to $38.06 per share.


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The RCMP are asking people to be cautious about a potential scam going on in the Whitecourt area.
Const. Heather Cosenzo told the Whitecourt Star that the RCMP have received a complaint regarding a male who was attempting to sell gold jewelry in downtown Whitecourt on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 23.
The complainant told police that a man was selling the jewelry out of the back of a grey Toyota SUV, saying that he needed to sell these items to pay for gas and food for a woman and child inside the vehicle.
Cosenzo said this is the second such report received by the RCMP this year.
“We are not sure if the incidents are related or that if there was any criminal intent,” she said. “But we want people to be cautious in dealing with anyone trying to sell or barter anything, especially out of a vehicle because you never know the quality or authenticity of the product you are buying.”
Cosenzo said the public should not hesitate to report suspicious activity, and to make note of any information such as type of vehicle, description of the individuals and direction of travel.
“Any information the public can give us is of great help when we are investigating a complaint,” Cosenzo said.
To report information about this or any other incident contact the Whitecourt RCMP at 780-778-5900 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).


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Chinese brand Xiaomi has released Android 8.0 Oreo-based MIUI 9 update to its flagship smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi 6. The Mi 6 users on MIUI 9 Global ROM v7.12.14 will receive an OTA update very soon, which brings Android Oreo to the smartphone. The new update is rolling out with version number 8.1.11. And this update is a Global Beta one, meaning it might have some bugs as well. Xiaomi is yet to reveal when it's going to roll out stable Android Oreo the Mi 6 and other smartphones.
Furthermore, Xiaomi is looking for new beta testers for testing out the Oreo ROM on Mi 6 and Mi Mix 2. Sadly, the Mi 6 never launched in India, but many people imported the smartphone from China, thanks to the affordable price tag. Xiaomi may release Oreo-based MIUI 9 for the Mi Mix 2 as well as the company has already selected a few developers to carry out the testing process.
Although Xiaomi is yet to reveal the official changelog of the MIUI 9 Global ROM 8.1.11, some of the users in MIUI forums page stated that the new update brings in cosmetic changes to the UI. For example, the Contacts application received a makeover, and several other Xiaomi apps have received design tweaks.
The company also fixed various bugs which were present in the earlier version 7.12.14. A critical bug which used to display a blank screen while unlocking the phone has been fixed too. Xiaomi also provided the OTA update link, meaning users on the earlier 7.12.14 version can download the zip file to manually update it, only if they can't wait for the update to appear on their phone.
Going forward, Xiaomi will be releasing the same Oreo update for the Mi Mix 2. Since December 22, 2017, Xiaomi hasn't released any Global Beta ROM for the Mi Mix 2 as the company is working on Oreo already. Thankfully, the Mi Mix 2 is launched in India, and the smartphone users in India can test out the upcoming Oreo update. Don't expect Xiaomi to roll out Stable ROM based on Android Oreo anytime soon.


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BTS’s Suga Stuns With Lovely New Hair Color
It’s a new twist on an old favorite.
After rocking blond hair, BTS‘s Suga caused chaos by going with a new color that fans hadn’t expected.
He went with a lovely blue hair that had ARMYs gushing over how well it suited him. Now he’s switched up his look once more to leave fans even more impressed with his visuals.
Suga was spotted heading to their SBS News interview with pink hair so pretty that it became a trending topic.
When Suga’s hair was seen under the studio’s bright lights, many were loving that it was actually a pale pink. In fact, it reminded fans of a past look.
Since Suga wore pink hair in the past, ARMYs were excited to see the look make a comeback with a refreshing twist.


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IT HAS been nine months since a convenience store was given funding from Bridging the Gap – and now its owner is encouraging other businesses to apply.
Andy Jones, from Kev Jones & Sons, has said the grant, backed by The News, is a great opportunity for small businesses.
As reported yesterday, the Bridging the Gap fund has £800,000 left to give away to companies in Portsmouth, Gosport, Fareham and Havant.
But with only two months left in which to apply, businesses are being encouraged to act now.
Kev Jones & Sons, based in Gosport, has already reaped the benefits from the fund.
In April last year, the family-run business received £45,750 from Solent LEP and since then, they have paid to have its shop, in Nobes Avenue, extended.
Andy said without the funding, it could have taken five to 10 years for the business to raise the money.
The 36-year-old said: ‘The Bridging the Gap fund is a great opportunity for small businesses which might not be able to raise the money they need to move forward.
‘There isn’t always a lot of funding out there for small businesses so this is a great chance for them to get money.
‘We used it to expand one of our stores and the work was finished in a few months.
‘If we didn’t have that money, it would have taken so much longer to raise the money ourselves.
‘Once you start calculating the costs, it can get quite expensive and our investment isn’t something that will bring profits straightaway – it will be a gradual thing.’
Andy took over the business from his parents, Kev and Kath, and together they outlined what the funding should be used for.
As well as the extension, they are hoping to create more jobs.
Andy added: ‘The extension was the first bit but by expanding, we can now hire more staff to help out.
‘We are looking to hire in the near future which shows how much we have grown.’
For the year ahead, Andy is looking forward to a full year of trading in the bigger store.
‘By the time the store was done, we only had about five months to trade so I am looking forward to having the year ahead to trade,’ he said.
Steve Futter, senior account manager for Solent LEP, said the funding is a great way for entrepreneurs to start-up a business or for existing businesses to create a project or safe-guard jobs.
HELPING small businesses grow in different ways, the Bridging the Gap fund has already handed out £730,000.
Launched in 2012 by the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership, along with Portsmouth City Council, The News and the University of Portsmouth, the main focus of the fund is on private sector job creation.
Up to £50,000 can be applied for in grants by entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with the best new business and growth proposals.
For businesses ready to start up, funding is available for new projects, help getting a new business up and running and encouraging young entrepreneurs. Bidders will need to invest 30 per cent of the required funding.
For SMEs, funding is available to help overcome barriers to growth or facilitate business improvement. Bidders will need to invest at least 50 per cent of the required funding.
More than 15 firms have benefited from the funding and, with the other recent winners, has brought the funding total to just over £732,000.
It has also seen more than 100 jobs created in the region and a total of more than £1.5m bought into the Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant areas.


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TEMPO Co, Jakarta – jersey worn by the stars basketball Michael Jordan while representing the United States in Olympics 1992 in Barcelona was auctioned for USD 3.03 million or around IDR 45.3 billion on Thursday, May 25, 2023. The auction was conducted by Goldin, an online crowdfunding marketplace.
The American basketball team, nicknamed The Dream Team, brings together some of the greatest players of all time, including Jordan (Chicago Bulls), Larry Bird (Boston Celtics), Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers), and John Stockton (Utah Jazz), while playing NBA the first time allowed to participate in the Olympics. The US men’s basketball team easily captured the gold medal in Barcelona.
The traditional jersey that Jordan wore in the semi-final against Lithuania was included in the auction. jersey signed by 12 team members.
jersey another worn by Jordan during the opening game of the 1998 NBA Finals was sold auction in September 2022 for more than $10 million, setting a new record for the most expensive sports memorabilia worn in a game in history.
Editors’ Choice: Malaysia Masters 2023 Results: Christian Adinata and Gregoria Mariska Tunjung Advance to Semi-Finals
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Apple’s Online Store Goes Down Ahead of Today’s ‘Unleashed’ Event
Apple is currently making significant updates to its online store. Preparations are being made ahead of today’s ‘Unleashed’ event, where the company is expected to unveil its new MacBook Pro, third-generation AirPods, and perhaps make other announcements as well.
As of the time of writing, Apple has taken its online store down. Navigating to the page, you’ll be met with a notice that the store will ‘Be right back.’ Apple notes updates are being made and to “Check back soon.” Apple’s Unleashed event will be taking place later today at 1 pm EDT/10 am PDT. Our full guide of how you can tune in and watch can be found here.
Following the event, the online store will be operational once more. If reports are indeed correct, users will be able to navigate the storefront and see details of the newly announced devices. The Unleashed event is expected to be the platform where Apple will show off its redesigned 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros. It’s been said that both devices will sport MagSafe charging once more and will not feature the TouchBar as it will be removed. Apple may also power the new MacBooks with the next-generation M1X silicon. Additionally, the third-generation AirPods, which take design elements from the AirPods Pro may also be featured alongside a new M1X Mac mini.
It won’t be long now until we know for certain. iPhone in Canada will be covering the event so you’ll have up-to-the-minute updates right here. Apple’s online store will also provide details on the new products when available as well.


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Marcus Theatres Corp. of Milwaukee said Wednesday that it has closed on the purchase of about 11 acres of property in a mixed-use development near Omaha, Neb., but the movie theater company has not announced plans for the site.
The property is part of the Southport West development, a 137-acre project east of Interstate 80 approaching Omaha. Plans for the development in La Vista, Neb., where a Cabela's sporting goods store opened in November 2006, include a combination of offices, hotels, restaurants and retailers.
Additional businesses, including an Embassy Suites Hotel and Convention Center, are scheduled to open this year.
The land acquisition follows Marcus Theatres entry into Nebraska in April when it acquired the operations of seven Douglas Theatre locations in Omaha and Lincoln.
"The Douglas locations, associates and customers have proven to be a valued addition to our theater circuit," said Bruce Olson, president of Marcus Theatres. "We are still in the process of finalizing our plans for this land in Southport West, but we are excited to be a part of this dynamic and growing area of Omaha."
Marcus Theatres, a division of Milwaukee-based Marcus Corp. (NYSE: MCS), owns or operates 678 screens at 56 locations in seven states and is the seventh largest exhibition chain in the United States.


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The latest internal documents coming out of the Samsung/Apple trial show some candid insight into Apple’s analysis of the future of the smartphone market.
“We would have a stronger position in the phone market today if I could redo the last 10 years.” — Steve Ballmer
Former Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer spoke candidly at the Saïd Business School in Oxford, U.K, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The retired CEO, replaced by Satya Nadella, emphasized his faith in Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Nokia’s devices and services unit and shared vague opinions on Facebook’s WhatsApp deal.
Will BlackBerry recover from its financial struggles and once again turn a profit? BlackBerry chief John Chen is at least honest — and sees the company’s future as a coin toss.
As we saw in 2013, tech giant Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) appears to be fighting a losing battle to keep up with the torrent growth of the overall smartphone market.
Indeed, Apple already dominates many developed markets like the United States, which are speeding toward saturation. This has forced Apple to double down on emerging countries like China to sell its iProducts in ever-greater numbers.
After a failed crowdfunding campaign last year, Ubuntu parent company Canonical is taking a more traditional approach with its first mobile devices.
Canonical announced today that it’s partnering with China-based Meizu and Spain-based Bq to build the first Ubuntu Mobile devices, which will run the “latest hardware” and will be available by the end of the year.
Today there’s a new report and quote going around from Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, and it’s one you’ll want to hear.
Apple has received a new damages claim of over $840 million dollars for conspiring with publishing companies to raise the price of ebooks across the entire industry.
Toward the end of last year, Apple (AAPL) scored two big breakthroughs in Asia. NTT Docomo (DCM), the No. 1 mobile operator in Japan, finally reached a deal with Apple in September to sell the iPhone in the world’s third-largest economy. And then China Mobile (CHL), the leading operator in the world’s second-largest economy, at last came to terms with Apple in December.


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This year Apple held court once again at their annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. 5000 attendees waited with baited breath as Tim Cook dropped bombshells throughout the night regarding the future of Apple products. Even though the event’s focus is supposed to be on developers and software, as always the rumors and buzz surround the hardware; Apple Car, AppleWacth 2, new Macbooks and possibly an affordable Apple TV.
Apple currently has over 2 million apps in the App Store with over 130 billion combined downloads, and without a doubt Apple’s 27 million registered developers were all awaiting what news Apple’s CEO was delivering.
The new watchOS 3 was developed with the sole intention to increase the adoptability and usage rate of the Apple Watch. Improvements revolved around increasing speeds and other refinements. Updates are less intrusive as they now run in the background, while speed boosted with quicker refresh rates (up to 7x faster than the previous watch OS version).
A new Dock system has been developed which aims to keep a handful of apps within easy reach for the user. Access to the Dock is made possible with a simple press of the side button. Among the many new features included with watchOS 3 is Control Center which, like iOS, can now be accessed with a swipe up on the face of the watch.
To add to the pizzazz is Scribble. This software allows the user to literally write on their watch. Users can now write messages and emails by writing letters and words on the watch face.
Finally, Activity Sharing allows friends and family a glimpse into their exercise and fitness progress. It seems like mobile app developers have a new scope here.
The new tvOS update falls under the “evolutionary not revolutionary” category.
It is small, incremental and yet, nonetheless, significant. The massive unpopularity of the old remote forced Apple to develop a new remote, and they chose instead to use the considerable powers of the iPhone in its place. So all mobile apps that developers have built can be helpful.
The gyros and accelerometers within the phone will also allow users to play games on the TV. Siri has also made its way on the new tvOS. Apple has also tried to step up its game with regards to providing better content by adding more live channels. Better viewing is to be had as well due to the presence of a dark mode for low light viewing. Perhaps most significant, apps in your phone can now be shared directly with your TV.
Bye bye “OS X”, hello macOS. With a new title comes a new name: Sierra. macOS Sierra is making a big splash in the community as it brings with it not just a new fancy name, but a host of features. Apple has proclaimed that Sierra’s main focus is Continuity, iCloud and Siri. Yes, Siri! After 5 long years the AI which mostly called the iPhone home has finally found its way onto Macs.
Accordingly to die hard Mac fans this alone is cause to celebrate. By Continuity, Apple is trying to make the use of their devices into an easy and seamless experience. Take the Mac for example. So long as you are wearing your Apple Watch, you will not have to unlock the Mac. No password entry required. Fast, painless, seamless. Exactly what Apple wanted.
Apple is bringing the fight to Evernote by releasing a universal clipboard functionality with Sierra. Now notes are available and accessible across devices, once again seamlessly. A better Tab function brings a cleaner experience to what may have been a window clogged display.
The announcement of a picture-in-picture (PiP) turned heads and raised eyebrows as well. Sierra will be open to the public in the Fall after enduring a public beta in July. It is currently available only to developers.
The beloved iPhone OS gets some nifty updates and features this release. Not the least of which is the emphasis on the use of 3D touch. Apple has redesigned the lock screen to almost force users to familiarize and use the technology. Now by just raising their wrist the user can wake the phone.
The use of 3D touch technology is in full swing when it comes to the notifications. Not only can users get rid of notifications with but a simple wave of their hand, but they can deal and respond to notification and messages without even unlocking the screen. Apple really listened to their consumers with this feature and took the user experience (in terms of convenience) to a new level. The top mobile app development companies must do the same.
The Control Center also got a minor makeover allowing widgets to be seen better, easier access to the camera and a larger music area. Speaking of music, Apple Music underwent a total overhaul and endured a total redesign. Apple wanted the “music to be the hero” with this version and dropped the bloat by bringing the features used on a daily basis to the forefront.
One of the most anticipated pieces of news finally hit this WWDC as Siri is now, in effect, an open-sourced app. Third party apps rejoiced at this long awaited development and several mobile app development companies have already jumped on board as Siri now supports Whatsapp, Lyft, Uber, Slack, Pinterest, MapMyRun, RunKeeper and Skype.
Photos received an inter-facelift known as Memories and is more powerful than ever. Now with facial recognition, geotagging and background recognition, it has never been easier to sort, categorize and recall photos.
Among the application that received updates was QuickType. It now comes with location information and pre-filling calendars. The same goes for Apple Maps which edges closer and closer in functionality and features o Googel Maps with each passing update. Alternate routes and contextual information are now presented via Apple Car Play.
Apple News which experienced tremendous growing pains since its first iteration is now seeing a ray of hope as sections are now cleaned up and your own subscribed content can now be loaded into the app. The future looks good for Apple News and with the renewed effort to make it more functional, its appeal with the consumer base is sure to rise steadily.
So too is the case with HomeKit which experienced similar stumbles since its initial release. In the case of HomeKit, it received a small rebranding and is now known simply as “Home”. The service will now feature door locks and cameras. Home is now part of the Control Center and has been integrated with Siri meaning that you can now control parts of your home (when the service has been implemented) with a simple voice command.
A new feature called Scenes basically allows the user to set customized, programmed settings which will activate at a touch of a button. Want instant romance, with dimmed lights and smooth music playing? There’s a Scene for that. Getting blasted with too much sun in the eyes in the morning? Program a Scene that will make it easier for you to wake up.
Finally, Home has been given geolocation capabilities. This means that Home will know when you are coming and going from your home and, if programmed correctly, can perform functions like turn on and off lights, music, television, your desktop, heat and air conditioning. It’s like having your very own Jarvis, without the British accent.
Even Calls got an upgrade and now has voicemail transcriptions and spam labeling. Private messages just got more private as they must now be swiped before they can be read. Links in emails are now rich links and have the ability to display video or phot directly without being clicked. And lest we forget, emojis are now 3 times bigger!
In conclusion, mobile app developers must study all this information and see how their mobile apps can improve and stay tunned with the new features. Developing an app that can use all the new possibilities that iOS offers is part of becoming successful. As a developer, you can check more information on the official site of the WWDC 2016 of Apple.


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(WATERFORD, NY – January 8th, 2021) – Soft-Tex International, a leading manufacturer of sleep and home comfort products, is pleased to announce it was honored by Graphic Design USA (GDUSA) as part of the 2020 American Graphic Design Awards for the new innovative packaging for the SensorPEDIC Epic Chill Memory Foam Pillow which features Soft-Tex’s proprietary REACTEX cooling technology.
The American Graphic Design Award program is an annual, juried competition this year featuring more than 10,000 applicants. In a statement on the competition, GDUSA notes this year’s showcase “reflects the increasingly expansive ways in which graphic design shapes business and society, products and services, commerce and culture and causes.” Soft-Tex was the sole bedding company awarded this honor.
Soft-Tex Graphic Design Manager, Wendi Hauck, created the winning design and Director of Marketing Operations, Katherine Burger, was responsible for production.
Speaking on the award, Burger noted, “It’s an honor that Soft-Tex was chosen to receive this recognition. The eyecatching ice cube and glacier design elements capture the essence of the best-in-class, REACTEX cooling technology.”
On creating the design, Hauck added, “We were proud of the look as we feel it creates an instant connection to consumers and is the ideal balance to convey cooling and technology.”
Soft-Tex Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Chris Marsh, added, “This award is a testament to the cutting-edge, innovative merchandising solutions we provide to our retail partners on a daily basis in addition to best-in-class products.”
The SensorPEDIC Epic Chill collection is currently available at JCPenney and Dillard’s.
View the full list of winners for the 2020 American Graphic Design Awards at http://contests.gdusa.com/competitions/2020-american-graphic-design-awards
Soft-Tex International is an innovation company focused on building the most comfortable products to help the world sleep and live better. With proprietary technologies spanning categories like personal climate control, wellness, antimicrobials, & allergen barriers, coupled with coveted national brands like SensorPEDIC®, SensorGel®, BioPEDIC®, & DreamSmart®, Soft-Tex offers its retail, distributor, and other partners the highest quality, most comfortable products with best-in-class, in-house merchandising, digital marketing, customer service and global supply chain capabilities.


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This week, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency hosted senior government officials, industry executives and other trade partners in Hanoi, Vietnam for the third annual Indo-Pacific Business Forum. While there, members of the fashion community made moves to protect the rights and wellbeing of women in their supply chains.
On Wednesday, during the virtual conference, Bonnie Glick, the deputy administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding with a cadre of American apparel, footwear and retail companies, as well as industry associations, to provide relief to female workers in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
Retailers and brands including Gap Inc., Carter’s, Global Brands Group, Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, Tapestry, Target, VF Corp. and Walmart, along with trade associations including the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), the National Retail Federation (NRF), the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the U.S. Fashion Industry Association, agreed to the terms of the MOU. Steve Lamar, president and CEO of the AAFA, signed on behalf of the consortium of companies and trade groups, while deputy administrator Glick signed on behalf of USAID.
The Covid crisis has had a massive impact on the livelihoods of garment workers, who have faced job losses due to supply chain disruptions, halted trade and canceled orders from brands across the globe—including some, like Gap, which signed the MOU. Asia represents one of the most affected markets, with clothing, shoes and accessories being a top export for the region, and many factories and suppliers left in the lurch by international partners.
In the U.S. and around the world, widespread stay-at-home orders and economic uncertainty have constrained consumer spending and decimated retail. Businesses were forced to shutter earlier this year, and many are operating at limited capacity months later. Downstream, these impacts have been felt by those responsible for bringing goods to market, and once-bustling supply chains have, in some cases, ground to a halt amid a dearth of demand.
The new memorandum establishes the intent of the consortium and USAID to come together over the course of the next year and work toward easing the burden on workers across the region. By collaborating with local organizations and partners, the groups aim to bolster the resilience of these supply chains, protect the rights and welfare of workers, and empower women.
Vietnam, whose government supported the event’s programming, is a strong and growing trade partner for the U.S. apparel and footwear sector, rivaled perhaps only by China in terms of capabilities and infrastructure.
Myron Brilliant, executive vice president and head of international affairs the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that no matter the outcome of next week’s high-stakes election, his organization would “continue to be an advocate for growth business policies to support economic growth and prosperity,” as the Indo-Pacific region will “remain vitally important to the United States economy.”
“I’m confident that no matter who wins the election, that the U.S. government will focus its attention on strengthening and deepening ties” to the region, he said, by creating greater market access through bilateral free trade agreements.
New trade strategy between the U.S. and Vietnam should be an utmost priority as the U.S. works to strengthen its ties to allied markets and reduce its dependence on China. “It is well past time” that the federal government engages in creating a successful version of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Brilliant said, the first version of which the U.S. withdrew from in 2016 under the direction of President Trump. Brilliant expressed an eagerness to see the U.S. engage in such a deal, which was designed to lower barriers to trade—like tariffs—and spur U.S. engagement and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The United States is not a party to many of the negotiations going on right now in the region,” he said, adding that standing on the sidelines puts U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage. American corporations and brands, he said, need to be “in the game.”
“The fact is, when we stand up on trade and when we engage, we help elevate the populations in these countries and bring new opportunities,” he said. “We bring the best of our management, our technology and know-how.”
“When we don’t get engaged,” Brilliant added, “the United States falls behind.”


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ORLANDO, Fla. - On Thursday, you can get a great meal and help the victims of the Orlando nightclub attack at the same time. Hundreds of restaurants around the state are participating in "Dine Out for Orlando United" -- donating their proceeds for the day to the OneOrlando Fund.
The daylong event is being led by the state's restaurant industry group, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, in partnership with Visit Florida.
Forty-nine people were killed and dozens more were wounded in this month's attack inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. The OneOrlando Fund is handling the collection and distribution of donations to the victims and their families.
"We are grateful for the support and leadership of Florida's hospitality industry as we continue to work together to help the victims of this tragedy. We want to encourage everybody to dine out on June 30 to help raise money for the families of the victims," said Buddy Dyer, Orlando's mayor.
The list of participating restaurants includes everything from coffee shops to burger joints to steak houses -- and most of the Tampa Bay Area's best known eateries are taking part. Check the list before you head out the door to see if your favorite place is joining in.


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Interesting to see a global perspective but this is only part of the story. The emerging market is massive and as indicated a huge install base of feature phones. New phone sales are only part of the picture the current install base needs to be taken into account.
The challenges around smartphones in emerging markets are not just price points., Power consumption, robustness and network infrastructure all play an important factors. Yes they are all being addressed but slowly. The operator network capacity and power consumption are significant issues in many places in the emerging markets. Many are the operators have only 2G to invest in 3G or even 4G requires significant capital resources.
Ovum say Feature phones has 63% of mobile market share by 2016.
Gartner say in recent report - India accounts for 12% of device sales globally with Smartphone sales making up only 6% in the first 3 quarters of 2011. This is expected to increase to 8% by the end of 2012.GSMA
Africa has overtaken Latin America to become the second largest mobile market after Asia.
By 2015, the total number of connections is estimated to reach 84% of the total African population.CISCO - GSM mobile data traffic is set to grow at 26 fold between 2010 and 2015 with the mobile-only Internet will grow to 788 million by end of 2015.
Contrary to popular developed nations thinking feature phones will be around for some time to come. We just have to widen our scope of thinking to appreciate this. iPhones and high end Androids are desired but out of the reach for many. Yes the cost of Android phones will come down but those feature phones will not go away they will be re-cycled, re-used and refurbished in the emerging markets.


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ICCIMA to host Iran-Syria business forum on Wednesday
Attended by officials, businessmen and entrepreneurs from both sides, the event is aimed at following up on the negotiations and agreements reached in the previous business forums.
As reported, representatives of Syrian companies active in manufacturing, importing and exporting sectors of various industries including garment and clothing, dairy, petrochemicals, foodstuff, production and assembly of bicycles and motorcycles, carton production, pipes and plastic profiles, production of sodium silicate and international shipping are among the event’s attendees.
A trade delegation from Syria visited Iran in March to attend a business forum which was held at Iran Chamber of Cooperatives and also to hold talks with Iranian private sector.
Iran and Syria have been exchanging numerous trade delegations in the past few months and Iranian private companies are already investing in different areas like providing construction materials especially cement and working on several reconstruction projects in Syria.
In August 2018, a delegation comprised of Iranian economic experts traveled to Syria to explore investment opportunities and finalize the reconstruction plans of the war-stricken country.
Also in January, the 14th preparatory meeting of Iran-Syria high joint technical committee of economic cooperation was held at Damascus.


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This past Tuesday, Connecticut Governor Daniel P. Malloy announced the state will be giving up to $3,000 rebates to those who purchase electric, fuel cell, or plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Rebates, which will be applied during the point of sale, are available to residents, municipalities, and businesses of Connecticut and can range from $750 to $3,000 depending on the range of the vehicle.
“This rebate puts money right back in people’s pockets and makes the cost of purchasing or leasing an electric vehicle competitive with the price of a conventional car,” Malloy said at Crowley Ford in Plainville.
A federal tax credit of $7,500 is also available to green vehicle purchasers, which can be added to the state rebates for increased overall vehicle cost reductions. Presently fuel cell cars are not available yet, but are expected to in the next couple of years or so.
These incentives are funded by $1 million from a multi-million dollar settlement paid to the state when Nstar, a Massachusetts utility company, merged with Northeast Utilities to create what’s now known as Eversource Energy.
In addition to the incentives introduced, a new bill is working its way through Connecticut’s General Assembly which would allow Tesla to sell its vehicles directly to the customers, bypassing third-party dealerships.
Currently in Connecticut, there are 2,754 electric and hybrid vehicles registered. The CTpost poses that these rebates are an excellent way to increase that number, which helps the state meet its goal for reducing harmful emissions.
“Putting more Connecticut drivers behind the wheel of an EV is what it will take to drive down harmful carbon emissions linked to climate change, reduce conventional pollutants that threaten our air quality and public health, and help motorists reduce the cost of owning and operating a car,” Governor Malloy said.


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Gossip Girl producers have reportedly been contacted about creating original Gossip Girl episodes in China, featuring Chinese actors, for broadcast in Asia. “100 percent we would love to do that,” [Josh] Schwartz tells the Post. On one hand, they really like their Gossip Girl in China: “They estimate that more people watch us online in China than watch us in all forms of viewing combined in the United States,” executive producer Stephanie Savage said. “We are not streaming it. They are watching it illegally.” But Josh Schwartz added, “I assume there would be a little bit of censorship [in the Chinese Gossip Girl].” Well, now that they’re allowing Internet porn in China, what’s a little racy, brilliant teen soap going to do?
’Gossip Girl’ to China [NYP]


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Growing up in Toronto was actually quite fun, especially when it came to music — every night of every weekend another big act was in town, and as a high school student with a solid part-time job and bulletproof fake I.D. I saw a lot of great shows. Even now when I visit one of the first things I do is grab a NOW magazine and look at the concert listings.
Thanks to HearWhere — a new website developed by Whistler’s own Pete Field — those listings are easier than ever to browse.
HearWhere is essentially a live music search engine that determines where you’re located geographically and then scans MySpace pages to generate a list of bands playing within driving distance. Clicking on a show will generate a map showing how to get the concert venue, samples of songs posted on MySpace, links to purchase their albums from Amazon.com, blog reviews of albums and concerts, and if applicable a link to the ticket vendor.
The beta test website is all about what’s playing when and where, but Field plans to add a band search feature where you can find out where your favourites are playing next — as someone who has driven as far as Portland to see bands, it’s a welcome addition.
Other concert listing databases than MySpace may also be added, but in his experience Field has found that most bands have pages and update the information frequently.
You can also customize your searches, searching by city, range, genre, and dates. That’s not as crucial for a smaller town like Whistler, but cities like Montreal and Toronto can generate thousands of search results.
Field calls the site a weekend project.
“The idea came from a few different things,” he said. “First of all I already had all the MySpace data for connecting artists for another project, and looking at it I saw that you could use that to go looking for concerts. Also, the Pemberton Festival’s main page had a LastFM player on there, and I could never get it to work because it didn’t have all the artists or music. From there it was a weekend project to put together a site that connects artists to the shows their playing, that you can search and use to play music.”
The test version is up now at www.hearwhere.com, and the next version should be up in a few weeks once it’s been tested. Field is also adding the ability to browse HearWhere by web-enabled cell phones. Which leads us to…
Android… still no iPhone killer
People who paid good money, and will continue to pay good money the next three years for their Apple iPhones can rest easy — the first phone built with Google Android is not going to take over the title as the coolest gadget for a little while yet.
That may seem like an unfair assessment as Google Android — essentially a software platform and graphic interface for cell phones — and the first T-Mobile G1 phone built for this platform are superior in a lot of ways. It has all the features of iPhone, like a touch screen interface, wireless, 3G cellular capability, GPS capability, a propriety music player, built-in accelerators that respond to tilt motions, and support for a dizzying number of applications available at the Google Android store for free or nominal fees.
Some of the features include a sliding screen that reveals a full QWERTY keyboard, built-in Google Maps support (including Street View), and Android itself — an open platform that can offer so much more than the iPhone Apps store. It also has a three megapixel camera compared to the iPhone’s two megapixel camera, but neither will work as a camcorder at this stage.
Other phones by Samsung and LG, leaders in technology these days, will probably offer even more.
But while Google Android probably is superior to the iPhone, it does have issues. The screen is slightly smaller, it doesn’t have the equivalent of iTunes or the iTunes store, or synchronized email or calendar features, or the simplicity that makes Apple the winner in this round of computing.
It’s complicated — Google Android is software by Google, the G1 is hardware by HTC. You just can’t buy a Google Android the same way you can buy an iPhone.
Also, iPhone is expensive but it’s one-size-fits-all — wait until there are five Google Android phones on the market, and dozens of choices for phone and data plans to choose from. Google Android doesn’t cost anything, but you’ll have to buy a phone and a plan separately, and right now that costs about the same as the iPhone.
And while Google will probably have more applications to choose from, Apple is somewhat picky about what third-party products they’ll allow into their store. Everything connected to the phone meets a certain standard, or is supposed to — MobileMe was a bit of a disaster, but apparently it’s been fixed.
Website of the Week
I used to be good at strategy games at one point in my life, but this latest find has me stumped. It’s called Light-Bot, and while the instructions are in German it’s pretty easy to figure out how it works. Solving the puzzles, essentially dragging and dropping command lines, gets to be very difficult after you solve the first few. Visit www.gameroo.nl/games/light-bot.


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Last year, it was reported that Amazon planned to use AI-equipped cameras to surveil delivery drivers on their routes. Now, the company has started installing such cameras on its vans in the UK, according to The Telegraph. The action has created concern from privacy groups who called it “excessive” and “creepy.”
Amazon will use a pair of cameras to record footage from inside vans and out to the road. They’re designed to detect road violations or poor driver practices and give an audio alert, while collecting data Amazon can use later to evaluate drivers.
They don’t allow drivers to be monitored in real time and won’t capture sound, but can supposedly upload footage to a dedicated safety team in certain circumstances. Some of the actions monitored include illegal road behavior like failure to stop or speeding, along with actions like hard braking or seatbelt violations.
A privacy group called Big Brother Watch said the system is “excessive, intrusive and creepy worker surveillance” and called for it to be paused. “This kind of directed surveillance could actually risk distracting drivers, let alone demoralizing them,” director Silkie Carlo told The Telegraph. “It is bad for workers’ rights and awful for privacy in our country.”
The GMB union that represents Amazon workers said the cameras inside the cabins aren’t necessary and create a major distraction. “We are against cameras being pointed in the face of the drivers every second of every day that they are working. This is surveillance, it does not aid driver safety,” a spokesperson said.
In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson told The Telegraph that “the purpose of introducing this technology is to keep drivers and communities safe, there is no other reason behind that. We have carried out a comprehensive data privacy assessment in line with applicable laws.”


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Borough Market traders were given a run for their money on February 7 when four local schools set up shop for the second year of the Young Marketeers Winter Sale. With pots full of soup and baskets of freshly baked bread, the primary and secondary students showed off their selling prowess, raising a very impressive £494 for FareShare. That means 1976 meals can be distributed to vulnerable families across the capital made from surplus food.
This month sees our Winter Sale schools visit iconic Borough Market for the next element of the Young Marketeers programme. Students from two secondary and two primary schools will enjoy a master class from chef Nicole Pisani on how to create delicious soups from surplus veg and a bread making class from the team at Bread Ahead bakery school. The recipes each school come up with will then be assessed by Borough Markets Food Quality Team.
December marks the start of the second year of our Young Marketeers Winter Sale involving four schools in Southwark. Later this month, each school will be visiting the Fareshare London depot where they will witness what happens to the nearly 8,000 tonnes of food saved from waste and understand of the challenge of food poverty. All the money they raise at the Sale Day in February will be used FareShare to re-distribute meals to vulnerable families across the capital.
November sees the launch of our brand new enterprise project for secondary school students, Know Your Onions. The programme will support schools develop food growing spaces and, with the help of a professional chef, give them top tips on how to cook what they harvest. Students will also get the chance to see food growing at scale with a visit to a Market Garden in London to develop ideas on how to make their school gardens more productive and planet friendly. At the end of the school year, students will harvest and sell their produce at their local street markets to raise money for more food education activities.
The 5th anniversary of our Young Marketeers Harvest Sale was a huge success this month with our tiny market traders raising £395 for food surplus charity FareShare. Students from 15 schools across London set up shop at Borough Market to sell their school-grown Autumn produce which included plenty of pumpkins, squash, apples, beetroot. Back in the Spring, schools received gardening training from Blue Peter Gardener, Chris Collins and a visit to borough Market to learn trade secrets on how to create a winning stall. An eye-opening visit to the FareShare depot showed students how the money they would raise would be used.
Schools to Market has just celebrated another fantastic Market Day.
Our enterprising young people from 32 schools across London and Cheltenham made a very impressive £2,292.30 for their food education programmes selling chutneys and sauces at their local Whole Foods Market. Chutneys came in many different varieties from Beetroot, Apple and Ginger to Strawberry and Red Onion along with a rather special Mint Sauce!
Here are some quotes from the day-
‘Working as a group on the project was the best part. And visiting the farm, I had never been to one before’ Y4 student Our Lady of Victories Primary School
‘I thought I hated chutney but I love it now!’ Nelson Primary Y5 student
Our four final primary schools from Scotland will be selling their chutneys & sauces on September 22 at Whole Foods Market Giffnock from 11.30-1.30pm .


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DC Universe Online has been given a festive update.
Sony Online Entertainment has released the 'Seasons Greedings' add-on for the superhero MMO, introducing in-game decorations and new enemies.
Larfleeze, an evil alien created by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver, and his Orange Lantern Corps feature in the new content, stealing holiday items from around Gotham City and Metropolis. Both hero and villain players can embark on a bonus mission to retrieve them.
DC Comics teamed up with Sony to release DC Universe Online in 2010. The game became a free-to-play title earlier this year, and has since gained an additional 1 million subscribers.
Gazillion Entertainment revealed this week that its MMO game based on Marvel Comics characters will be titled Marvel Heroes.
DC Universe Online is available to download for PC and PlayStation 3.


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Malicious hacking at Quora compromises 100 million users
CALIFORNIA, U.S. - The popular information sharing website Quora suffered a massive cyberattack, that compromised the personal data of 100 million users.
According to the question-and-answer website, the hacking occurred due to an "unauthorized access" to its systems, and exposed details of several users.
In a statement confirming the hacking, Quora said that the names, email addresses, encrypted passwords and website activity of 100 million of its users had been compromised in the security breach.
Confirming that the situation had now been contained, Quora released a security update in its question-and-answer format.
It said, "We recently became aware that some user data was compromised due to unauthorized access to our systems by a malicious third party. We have engaged leading digital forensic and security experts and launched an investigation, which is ongoing."
The company said that the breach had also compromised user data from social networks like Facebook and Twitter, if people chose to link them to their Quora accounts.
According to the website, hackers had obtained website users' activity details including their questions, answers, upvotes and downvotes.
Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo also noted in a blog post, "The overwhelming majority of the content accessed was already public on Quora, but the compromise of account and other private information is serious. We are in the process of notifying users whose data has been compromised."
The website also sought to reassure its users, claiming, "It is highly unlikely that the incident would lead to identity theft as we do not collect sensitive information like credit card or social security numbers."
Quota said that it had automatically logged out all of its users who might have been affected in the cyberattack, to prevent any further damage.
The company said that question and answers that are written anonymously were not affected by the data breach.
After issuing the security update, the website reportedly asked its users to reset their password and said that all users would be prompted to do the same the next time they try to log in on Quora.
Further, users seeking to deactivate their account, could use the 'delete account' option on the website's settings section.
Quora noted in its statement, "We have retained a leading digital forensics and security firm to assist us. We believe we've identified the root cause and taken steps to address the issue, although our investigation is ongoing and we'll continue to make security improvements."
The website added that it had notified law enforcement officials.


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Noncustodial parents in Nebraska can now make child support payments online without sharing their bank account information with the state. That's because in the first implementation of its kind, U.S. Bank has added the ability to make Secure Vault Payments (SVP) to the Nebraska Child Support Payment Center.
Parents making a child support payments can now initiate the transaction at the Nebraska Child Support Center's website and choose the SVP option to make a payment electronically through their bank account. The payment is secured, verified and processed within one business day, which helps avoid late payments due to insufficient funds or stop-pay notices on checks.
There are no convenience fees for choosing this this option, but the bank account used must be an SVP-enabled account. SVP was developed by the Electronic Payments Association to reduce paper checks and increase use of the Automated Clearing House Network.
"U.S. Bank is committed to providing organizations with innovative solutions to increase the efficiency of their payment collection and to enhance their payers' experience," said Eric Lim, vice president and senior product manager for U.S. Bank Treasury Management, in a statement. "U.S. Bank was the first top-ten bank to offer SVP. We believe Secure Vault Payments provides compelling benefits as an online consumer payment option for many industries including government, higher education and nonprofit organizations."


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Pittsfield's bag ban to roll out next week
PITTSFIELD — City shoppers might see a change next week as a new plastic-bag ban takes effect. Depending on where they get their groceries, that is.
Those who shop at Big Y, Guido's Fresh Marketplace or Harry's Supermarket won't see any difference at checkout, store managers told The Eagle Thursday. But the Wednesday rollback on thin-film plastic bags will affect those getting their goods at Market 32 and Stop & Shop.
The City Council approved the ban in March following a push from Rinaldo Del Gallo, a former city resident, and other local environmental advocates. The ban, which also applies to non-grocery retailers, allows for biodegradable alternatives.
The city plans to enforce the measure through its Health Department with a complaint-based system. For any businesses struggling to meet the deadline, the city will consider hardship deferment requests that are submitted by Tuesday.
Bob Nichols, an owner at Harry's Supermarket, said he stopped buying plastic bags months ago in anticipation of the ban's January start date. He ran out of the plastic inventory late last month, he said, and then began offering paper for 10 cents each.
Stores like Carr Hardware will also have to make the switch. The chain's owner, Bart Raser, said the Pittsfield location will roll out free paper bags at the register starting later this week or early next week. Of the change, he said he knows it's important to be good citizens.
"It has an economic impact, obviously," he said. "But it has an environmental impact, too."
Guido's owner Chris Masiero said the Berkshire grocer gave out some 8,500 plastic bags a year between the two stores before they did away with them — in 2013 in Great Barrington, and the following year in Pittsfield.
"That's what we're saving the environment per year," he said, noting "it was strictly an environmental decision."
The transition has yet to hit two of the city's major grocers, Market 32 and Stop & Shop. But managers said Thursday the stores are ready to pull the plug on plastic. It's easy enough for employees, they said, but it's more of a burden on shoppers.
"It's kind of a learning curve for the customers," said Mark Lefkowitz, assistant grocery manager at Market 32.
Raanan Hartman, sales and merchandise manager for the local Big Y district, said the Pittsfield location stopped providing plastic bags in August. The decision had nothing to do with the city's ban, he said.
"As a company we talked about it for a while," Hartman said, noting the whole also company went plastic bag-free in August.
Local legislation had already forced several Big Y stores to stop using the bags, he said, "and you could see it coming from town to town."
"And we knew it was the right thing to do," he said. "We just wanted to be the leaders out there, and support that, and support the communities."
Hartman said the company makes a concerted effort to sell reusable bags over paper ones, as "if you trade plastic for paper, you're not really helping the environment."
"It's a transition ," he said. "It's changing your shopping habits a little bit."
Amanda Drane can be contacted at email@example.com, @amandadrane on Twitter, and 413-496-6296.
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