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PRAGUE, December 15, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The two-days of talks in Beijing were seen by both sides as being key to a long-term bilateral economic relationship.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who led the U.S. side at the meetings, said he wanted the talks to lay the basis for relations which will have consequences for generations of Americans. Deputy Premier Wu Yi -- who led China's delegation -- called the meetings critically important.
Lots Of Pledges
And though at the conclusion of the talks the two sides pledged better cooperation in promoting trade, opening markets, and Beijing liberalizing its currency -- the yuan, which is also known as the renminbi or RMB -- there were few concrete results from the meeting.
Wu, apparently prepared to fend off stiff demands from Washington, lost no time in telling the visitors as the talks got under way on December 14 that many Americans have a lot of misconceptions about China. She reiterated that idea after the talks today.
"For the last few years, whether it has been through communication with the governmental or private sectors in the United States or with different walks of life in U.S. society, we have felt strongly that Americans don't really understand the real situation in China, and there are some misunderstandings," she said.
Paulson -- mentioning Washington's number one concern -- said before the meeting that Americans hold the "strong view" that the Chinese yuan must be allowed to gain in value to reflect its true worth.
He let the facts speak for themselves: the U.S. trade deficit with China hit a record $202 billion in 2005 -- more than doubling over the previous four years. And it is heading for a new record in 2006.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who accompanied Paulson along with six other top economic officials, said this after the meetings: "Allowing the RMB to strengthen would make imports of consumer goods as well as capital goods into China less expensive. Greater scope for market forces to determine the value of the RMB would also reduce an important distortion in the Chinese economy, namely the incentive for Chinese firms to focus on exporting rather than producing for the domestic market."
Beijing has already said it will let the yuan rise beyond the relatively minor revaluations it has already made, but it says the timing and extent of revaluations are China's own business.
The United States has long been pressing for the yuan to be released from its carefully limited float and allowed to rise according to free-market forces. That's because a yuan artificially held down in value makes Chinese products cheaper and more competitive on export markets.
Paulson was already hammering this line in Washington before the present trip.
"Maintaining and relying on an overly-rigid exchange rate and outdated administrative controls increases the risk of 'boom and bust' cycles," Paulson said. "Also -- [and this is] to be underestimated only at China's own peril -- is the fact that their exchange rate is increasingly being viewed by their critics as a symbol of unfair competition."
Both sides have big stakes in improving their trade relations. China, for its part, wants recognition from the United States that it has arrived as a major economic power.
Recognition As A Power
Senior analyst Alexander Neill, of the London-based Royal United Services Institute, says that China is expressing its desire for a multipolar economic order, just as it has long called for a multipolar political world instead of one where the United States is the lone superpower.
"It's apparent with this summit that [Deputy] Premier Wu Yi is really trying to drive home the fact that China is [already] an economic power, its currency is growing in strength, and it also wants to be an independent economic power; I think that what [the Chinese] are touching on is the dominance of the United States over so many aspects of the world economy," he said.
For its part, Washington needs access to the vast and fast-growing Chinese market for its goods and services. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said on December 10 that the potential benefits for Americans are enormous, in terms of jobs, exports and in keeping America competitive.
But how would neighbor countries be affected by closer trade relations between the world's biggest economy, and the world's fastest-growing economy?
Neill suggests that an even stronger China closer to the United States might squeeze the Central Asian states out of the Chinese market.
"Central Asia might find it harder to have buying power, buying into Chinese markets for example," he said. "But having said that, given that they are neighbors, rather than the Central Asian economies basing themselves on a dollar economy, they may be looking far more at [yuan-based] or pegged economies, particularly in view of China's massive drive for business across the world."
As a sweetener to the Beijing talks, just in advance of the arrival of the U.S. delegation, China announced that it was fulfilling a commitment given to the World Trade Organization to allow foreign banks to conduct retail business in the yuan.
Although this marks the full on-shore arrival of foreign banks, the move is not considered likely to have an immediate impact on the investment scene in China.
That's because the established Chinese banks, although often lacking in customer service, have strong retail banking networks across the huge country that won't be easy for foreign banks to match anytime soon.
China In Central Asia
BEIJING ON THE RISE: The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States prompted Washington to topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. At the time, many predicted the United States would gain a new foothold in Central Asia: new U.S. military bases appeared in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, U.S. foreign aid increased, and much U.S. attention was lavished on the region. Russia and China looked on warily. But the pendulum may be swinging back in Moscow’s and Beijing’s favor. China, especially, has expended great effort at winning friends in Central Asia and is becoming a force to be reckoned with....(more)
ARCHIVE To view an archive of RFE/RL's coverage of China, click here.
SUBSCRIBE For weekly news and analysis on all five Central Asian countries by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Central Asia Report."


text: Honda Considering North American Minivan Plant: The auto maker may decide within weeks whether to build a new assembly plant to produce minivans, said Richard E. Colliver, senior vice president of American Honda Motor Co. The company does not plan to increase imports of the Japanese-built Odyssey, a small minivan based on its Accord sedan and introduced in the United States this year. By the end of this month, the company will have sold about 25,000 in the United States. If Honda wants to be a significant player, it will have to offer a product that is closer than the Odyssey is to the market leaders, Colliver said. If Honda replaces the Odyssey for the lucrative U.S. market, it will want a van tailored to American tastes and built in North America by the 1999 model year, Colliver said.

domain: news


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Press play then disable your screen reader. Use space bar to pause or play, and up and down arrows to control volume. Use left arrow to rewind and right arrow to fast forward.
Philippa Heir speaks to The Business
The revelations at the Royal Commission of hundreds and thousands of cold calls badgering unwitting or unwilling customers into buying products has shocked many.
The Consumer Action Law Centre says the only way to ensure more people aren't harassed and ripped off is for an outright ban on the practice.
Philippa Heir, a senior solicitor at the Centre speaks to Carrington.


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With retailers around the country welcoming customers back into their stores, it’s important not to forget lessons learned in recent months about evolving consumer shopping preferences and delivery methods. At a time when store visits can feel uncomfortable and recreational shopping has been hit hard, it’s a challenge for retailers to balance new regulations with customer experience.
Tried and tested methods to increase dwell-time and encourage impulse purchases simply don’t work in the current retail environment. Instead, offering a range of safe alternatives to connect customers with their purchases can give retailers a competitive edge.
Contactless alternative delivery options
Offering contactless delivery options will help alleviate the strain put on the home delivery network, and keep customers and staff safe. As a result of consumers navigating the ‘new normal’, increasing their interactions with brands online and integrating shopping habits into their daily routines; alternative delivery options are gaining traction, experiencing 30.3% year-on-year growth.
Recent research from Doddle reveals that almost one in two Australian shoppers have used Click & Collect (C&C) in the past 12 months, with cost and convenience cited as two of the major drivers. Despite this, only around 40% of Australian retailers currently offer the service. Yet, C&C is one of the key solutions to relieving Australia’s over-burdened delivery network, while providing a safe collections option for shoppers.
Putting words into practice
A completely contact-free C&C service where goods are placed directly into the boot of a car might seem counterproductive for retailers who want customers to return to the store, but it has both psychological and commercial benefits. It reassures customers that their concerns are being taken seriously and that their wellbeing is a priority. An efficient booking system where customers are notified via SMS about updates to their collection allows the retailer to maintain effective communication and manage traffic to and from their store. Stock management becomes more efficient as stores act as mini-distribution centres rather than being fully reliant on a main warehouse. Furthermore, orders can be picked and packed in-store, allowing retailers to fulfill online orders more time-and cost-effectively than home delivery, while saving on delivery costs.
Services like Australia Post’s Collect & Return network, enabling consumers to choose from over 4,500 locations Australia-wide to have their online purchases delivered to, will also play a vital role in driving footfall and re-engaging consumers with instore retail. After all, up to 70% of people collecting orders from retail outlets make additional purchases once they’re inside. However, the experience at the point of collection is pivotal. Effectively designing the dedicated C&C area into the store plan ensures convenience while providing eyeline opportunities to engage customers with further reasons to return.
A strategy to ensure retailers are future-ready, now
While consumer confidence won’t reach pre-pandemic levels for some time, these strategies will have both short and long-term benefits. Retailers can expand delivery and collection services to support consumer convenience and safety, effectively enhancing the brand perception and creating a competitive edge. From a commercial perspective, retailers can save on operational costs that come with the ability to get online orders into the hands of customers, quickly. More so, creating a seamless, safe delivery and returns experience for customers means that there’s further reason for even a nervous customer to visit a store. The result is a more cost-effective delivery process and the potential for additional in-store sales.
Despite the current climate remaining full of uncertainty, we can find some reassurance in the lessons learned over the past few months, such as the importance of alternative delivery options. New, innovative options for consumers won’t just be vital over the next few months but will shape customer expectations for years to come.
Justin Dery is CEO of Doddle Asia Pacific


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Vapers will no longer be able to import liquid nicotine for their devices without a doctor's prescription, if a proposal by Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt is successful.
- Regulations prohibiting the importation of liquid nicotine could be in place by July 1
- Nicotine vapers will require a doctor's prescription to continue obtaining the banned product
- Australia is different to the UK where smokers are encouraged to switch to vaping as a cessation device
Mr Hunt has announced he wants to prohibit the importation of vaping devices, or e-cigarettes, containing liquid nicotine, as well as refills, from July 1 — unless the product is prescribed by a doctor and ordered by a medical supplier.
His spokesperson said the ban, enforced by Australian Border Force, would be in place for 12 months while the Therapeutic Goods Administration undertook public consultation on regulating nicotine vaping products through an amendment to the Poisons Standard.
"The Australian Medical Association, the World Health Organisation, and the United States Food and Drug Administration have all expressed significant concern over the health dangers caused by vaping, and support a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes containing vaporising nicotine," the spokesperson said.
"Evidence suggests the use of e-cigarettes by non-smoking youths predicts future take-up of smoking."
Australian stores can sell vaping devices and flavours but not liquid nicotine. They can, however, provide advice on products that can be ordered from overseas, where liquid nicotine is freely available.
South Australia has even tougher regulations and bans the sale of vaping products online, categorising them with tobacco, which means they cannot be displayed or promoted in stores.
Doctors can prescribe nicotine
Mr Hunt's spokesperson said that if an "individual and their doctor believe the use of nicotine e-cigarettes can help them to stop smoking, then they would still be able to access e-cigarettes containing nicotine with appropriate medical supervision".
"It is presently against the law in each state and territory for anyone to sell e-cigarettes containing nicotine," he said.
"E-cigarettes not containing nicotine may continue to be sold."
But Australian Retail Vaping Industry Association member Savvas Dimitriou said the announcement had left businesses "reeling".
"This is quite a devastating blow to everybody and there are a lot of people very frightened about what's going to happen and how this is going to affect them going forward," he said.
"We've just been completely steamrolled by a Health Department that is very clearly moving along ideological lines.
"It's very hard to argue against that because if the entirety of the ministry thinks and tells people vaping is deadly and much more dangerous than smoking, it's reasonable for people to assume that's the truth."
'Less harmful' alternative
But some countries, including England, Scotland and New Zealand, have a different ideological stance to Australia with regard to e-cigarettes and have backed them in a bid to lower smoking rates and reduce harm.
The Public Health England [PHE] has previously declared vaping to be "95 per cent less harmful than tobacco" and reiterated in March that less than 1 per cent of vapers, including youth, were people who had never smoked.
It also said that "regulated nicotine products have a small fraction of the risks of smoking, but this does not mean it is safe".
"Smokers should be encouraged to try regulated nicotine vaping products along with smoking cessation medications and behavioural support," it reported
Mr Hunt's spokesperson cited a WHO statement released in February that said aerosols in the majority of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) contained toxic chemicals, including nicotine and substances that could cause cancer.
"ENDS are undoubtedly harmful, should be strictly regulated and, most importantly, must be kept away from children," WHO stated.
The same statement, however, also said there was "insufficient data to understand the full breadth of their impact on health as devices have not been on the market long enough".
Higher levels of nicotine
Australia's medical bodies have long advocated for a precautionary approach to vaping, with the AMA warning it was concerned about the quality of imported nicotine solutions.
"Some have been found to contain higher levels of nicotine than advertised, as well as other adulterants that may pose a risk to users' health," it said in a statement.
"Stronger enforcement should see a reduction in the amount of illegally imported nicotine solutions coming to Australia."
In the UK, PHE stated recently in its 2020 evidence update summary that a spate of serious lung diseases late last year in the United States seemed to be have been caused by people vaping cannabis and a vitamin E acetate.
The vitamin E acetate, a substance prohibited under UK regulations, is sometimes used in counterfeit or black market vape juice.
The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority said it was aware of two similar cases in the UK during the same time period, both of which proved fatal.


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38.17 -0.04 (-0.10%)
Pre-Market: 8:03AM EDT
|Bid||37.97 x 2200|
|Ask||38.19 x 800|
|Day's Range||36.09 - 38.24|
|52 Week Range||17.41 - 41.99|
|PE Ratio (TTM)||7.10|
|Earnings Date||Nov 14, 2018|
|Forward Dividend & Yield||1.51 (4.19%)|
|1y Target Est||36.23|
While Dillard's stock is a lot cheaper than it was a week ago, it still doesn't look like a bargain for investors.
The department store chain delivered profit and revenue beats for the second quarter, plus higher guidance. But the stock sank as investors reassessed the retailer's longer-term performance.
JCPenney’s (JCP) net sales fell 7.5% on a YoY (year-over-year) basis to $2.76 billion in the fiscal second quarter, which ended on August 4. The company’s fiscal second-quarter revenue (made up of retail net sales and credit income) fell 7.8% to $2.83 billion and missed analysts’ estimate of $2.86 billion. JCPenney’s 7.8% revenue fall in the quarter was steeper than its 4.1% fall in the fiscal first quarter.
JCPenney’s (JCP) dismal performance in the fiscal second quarter, which ended on August 4, triggered downward revisions to its price target by many analysts. The mid-tier department store chain disappointed investors with a significant fall in its fiscal second-quarter net sales and a poor outlook.
Macy’s (NYSE:M) second quarter results, reported on Tuesday, indicate that its positive catalysts remain intact. Investors should buy M stock, as these catalysts should continue to boost its results going forward, while its valuation is extremely attractive and lower than that of many brick-and-mortar retailers. The sharp drop in Macy’s stock on Wednesday was irrational and has created an extremely attractive entry point.
Despite reporting solid earnings and raising guidance on Wednesday, Macy's Inc. (NYSE:M) was punished by investors, who seemed to shrug off clear signs the company is reaping rewards from its aggressive revamping and adaptation strategy. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Sign with M. Click here to check it out. Macy's reported second-quarter earnings of 70 cents per share, beating analysts' expectations of 51 cents per share, and revenue of $5.57 billion, topping the $5.5 billion analysts had anticipated.
Macy’s (M) reported improved gross and operating margins in the fiscal second quarter despite lower sales. Macy’s gross margin expanded 80 basis points to 40.4% in the fiscal second quarter. Efficient inventory management helped the company improve its gross margin in the fiscal second quarter.
Macy's and Walmart both had good news for investors this week, but Walmart's shares rallied 9.3 percent while Macy's sank 16 percent. Before Macy's reported earnings Wednesday, its shares had more than doubled over the last year. Walmart WMT and Macy's M both had exceptionally good news for investors when they released their second-quarter earnings this week.
Although Macy’s fiscal second-quarter sales of $5.57 billion exceeded analysts’ estimate of $5.55 billion, its stock declined 1.1% year-over-year. Nordstrom (JWN), on the other hand, delivered impressive sales growth of 7.1% to $3.98 billion in the fiscal second quarter. Macy’s adjusted EPS grew 52.2% to $0.70 in the fiscal second quarter and beat analysts’ expectation of $0.51.
Wall Street analysts revised their price target for Macy’s (M) after the company reported its fiscal second quarter results on August 15. Although Macy’s beat analysts’ expectations, investors weren’t happy with the decline in the company’s fiscal second-quarter sales after two consecutive quarters of sales growth. Macy’s stock declined 15.9% on August 15 but recovered 1.9% on August 16.


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The push for alternative export routes has taken on urgency during the war after Russia blocked Ukraine's traditional export route via the Black Sea and only a limited volume is shipped out under a deal mediated by Türkiye and the United Nations.
Three Ukrainian Danube river ports processed a total of 5.5 million tonnes of all cargo in pre-war 2021, industrial sources said. The volume was at 4.06 million tonnes in 2020.
The share of Danube ports in Ukraine's overall port turnover was between 2.5% and 4.2% in the last four pre-war years.
"This is an absolute record for the ports of this region," the authority said in a statement late on Sunday.
Port Facilities And Fleet
"Even now, world-renowned companies are investing in the development of port facilities and fleet on the Danube, which allows us to constantly increase the volume of exports and imports," it said.
The insufficient depth of the canals leading to the sea from Danube ports, the inability to load large ships and the high cost of logistics compared to Black Sea ports have been traditional obstacles to trade via the Danube.
A senior Ukrainian official said last month that Kyiv aimed to begin work to make its Danube shipping canal deeper as early as this year to expand its alternative routes to export grain.
Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia last year, has already increased the depth of its southwestern Bystre Canal on the Danube River to 6.5 metres from 3.9 metres with the aim of increasing food exports from its river ports.
Ukraine would like to extend the depth to 7.2 metres, similar to that of the Romanian canal.
Ukrainian officials have said that since mid-April, Russia has "unreasonably restricted" the work of the Black Sea grain deal. Russia has denied this.
A quarter of Ukraine's agricultural exports currently pass through its Danube ports, while half exits via its Black Sea ports and another quarter traverses Ukraine's western land border.


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Data streaming platform Confluent has launched a new technology partner program globally offering more technical, sales and marketing support.
The US-headquartered vendor will now offer more go-to-market strategies focused on marketing efforts, including sales and marketing tooling built specifically for data streaming pipeline generation.
Confluent will also offer new data streaming use cases covering the entire Apache Kafka ecosystem, a distributed event store and stream-processing platform.
Partners can also integrate with a complete data streaming platform so customers can focus more on driving consumption and spend less time managing open-source Kafka.
“When companies can harness streams of real-time data from previously siloed teams and applications across their business, it creates a powerful network effect that opens new avenues for growth and innovation,” said Erica Schultz, president of field operations at Confluent.
“As technology partners bring Confluent data streams directly into their platforms, they unlock potential for more cutting edge, real-time applications to be developed on their platform.”
Confluent currently has alliances with Arcion, AWS Lambda, Clickhouse, Elastic, Google Cloud, HiveMQ, Imply, Materialize, MongoDB, Onehouse, Precisely, Qlik, Quix, Rockset, Startree, Tinybird and Waterstream.
Last year, Confluent appointed Kamal Brar as senior vice president of Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), with the remit of strengthening the provider’s presence across the region.
Singapore-based Brar previously worked at the likes of Oracle and IBM to MongoDB and most recently, Rubrik.


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A French Fashion Label is Showing People How to Make DIY Face Masks at Home
In order to save the medical masks for the professionals during this health crisis.
It will come as no surprise to anyone watching the news to hear that surgical/face masks are in high demand right now. Panic buying at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic by concerned citizens has led to a shortage in many countries around the world – leaving people like doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers on the front line without basic, essential supplies.
In the past week, many have stepped up to the plate to help alleviate this shortage. Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss announced he was a holding a medical supplies drive at Pyer Moss HQ and the producer of Grey’s Anatomy announced they were shipping all unused medical supplies from set to hospitals in Los Angeles. Now, over the weekend, French fashion brand Coperni has released a very easy-to-follow tutorial showing people how to make their own face masks at home if they feel inclined to wear one.
Co-founders Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant released a free sewing pattern on their Instagram, in addition to printable instructions (in French) and the pattern on their website, according to CR Fashion Book.
Vaillant took to his own personal Instagram to encourage people to “leave masks for hospitals and #makeyourownmask.” He added, “There is a huge lack of masks in France since last crisis and hospitals desperately need them. It takes 15 mins to make your own and let them use the most professional ones.”


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Starbucks gets creative with new partnership
While the mediums through which it has played have grown and changed throughout the years, music is something that has always been a constant in life. The evolution of music-playing mediums has been a fascinating journey, one that continues to impress.
The trend today is app-based services that provide a plethora of music at your fingertips. One of the most popular of these apps is Spotify, which offers music for everyone.
Spotify is now teaming up with Starbucks after the coffee powerhouse recently dumped CD sales, which they have famously sold at their counters for years.
This two-part team is collaborating on what is known as a “music ecosystem” where baristas at each individual Starbucks have a say in what is played. The baristas, along with other Starbucks employees, will have access to Spotify’s premium subscription.
A multi-year deal that is more than a jukebox
Starbucks and Spotify have created a multi-year deal that will allow the streaming service to create playlists suited for Starbucks customers. Coming this fall, employees and customers will begin to select the songs that fill the air of the famous coffee shop.
In addition, Spotify will be incorporated into the Starbucks app, allowing listeners the opportunity to collect Starbucks’ reward points as a part of the collaboration. The Starbucks mobile app offers a rewards loyalty program and will develop what is called “Stars as Currency.” This is the first time in history that Starbucks is allowing a third party to integrate with their program.
Through this “ecosystem,” customers will be able to suggest songs for playlists, giving the whole idea a sort of DJ feel. The process will begin in the U.S. and will then make it’s way through Canada and the United Kingdom.
Will the program have an impact?
Starbucks has always had a strong focus on music as they began selling CDs in 1994. The company even developed a music label with Concord known as Hear Music and signed Paul McCartney to a CD in 2007.
The concept is interesting and is seemingly a good step for Starbucks (especially in light of some locations being forced over the years to endure some horrible reggae music or screeching alt rock artists). However, Starbucks is a place where people grab a quick coffee while often on their computers or listening to their headphones. It may be difficult to get customers engaged with song-selection.


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The SEGA Genesis Mini was a huge hit when it was released in 2019, bringing back all the nostalgia of classic SEGA games in a compact, modern console. With its success, fans have been eagerly waiting for a follow-up release. And now, their wishes have been granted with the rumoured upcoming release of the SEGA Genesis Mini 2.
While there has been no official announcement from SEGA, there are many rumours and speculations circulating online about what we can expect from this highly anticipated console. Here are some of the things we know so far:
- More Games
One of the biggest complaints about the original SEGA Genesis Mini was the limited selection of games. While the 42 games included were all classic titles, fans were left wanting more. With the SEGA Genesis Mini 2, we can expect an even larger selection of games, potentially up to 80 or more.
- Improved Hardware
The SEGA Genesis Mini was praised for its accurate emulation of the original console, but there were still some complaints about the hardware. Specifically, some users reported issues with the controller input lag. With the SEGA Genesis Mini 2, we can expect improvements to the hardware, including better controllers and possibly even wireless options.
- New Features
SEGA has not released any information about new features for the SEGA Genesis Mini 2, but we can speculate that there will be some exciting new additions. For example, we could see the inclusion of online multiplayer options, leaderboards, or even the ability to create and share custom levels.
- Price and Release Date
Again, there has been no official announcement from SEGA about the price or release date of the SEGA Genesis Mini 2. However, based on the success of the original console, we can expect it to be priced similarly, around $80-100 USD. As for the release date, rumours suggest we could see the console hit shelves in late 2023 or early 2024.
Overall, the SEGA Genesis Mini 2 is shaping up to be an exciting release for fans of classic SEGA games. With more games, improved hardware, and potentially new features, this console will surely be a hit. We will continue to follow any updates on this upcoming release and provide you with the latest news and information.


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In a world of amazing archers, USA Paralympic archer Lee Ford-Faherty is simply — inspirational.
12 years ago, at the age of 31, Lee was diagnosed with not one, but two disorders affecting her body’s ability to absorb nutrients. The resulting damage to her bones and muscles is irreversible. Nonetheless, she continued her speed-skating until she fell during a competition, herniating a disc and paralyzing her left leg.
Most people would have hung it up right then and there. But Lee Ford-Faherty is not most people, and that might be an understatement. No orgies of self-pity here. Her eyes radiate merry impish mischief. And in addition to speed-skating and archery, she is also a belly dancer, a fire performer, a bead and silversmith jewelry artist, a silk painter, a costume designer as well as a wife and mother.
Can I just say – Wow.
My Newbie eye was caught by an article about Lee, published yesterday in a Georgia newspaper. Lee lives in Perry, Georgia, a scant few miles from my own tiny hometown of Reynolds. I feel instant affinity. Lee has probably heard of Reynolds, which would make her one of the 0.00001% of Earth’s population who has.
Lee’s Latest Project
What she is doing to merit that article is VERY cool. Lee is working with the local governments and equipment shops to provide support – and an indoor range — for a local archery team. She already has an archery club that meets weekly for outdoor shoots, but there is much about archery etiquette and technique that is better taught indoors. And of course, there’s rain to consider. (I know, but we’re talking sub-Maconal Jeaw-ja here. Snow is ranked just under Burning Bush on the Miracle scale.)
Reading the article, I was struck by one point in particular — the reporter stated that Lee’s progress with the equipment stores has been slow.
What Are These Equipment Stores Thinking??
If the stores help fund a happy place for archers, they’re going to sell more equipment, right? More archers = better profits. Plus which, Lee is setting this up so that the equipment stores get the range time fees. You might think this is insignificant, but archery centers everywhere are bursting at the seams. Range fees are a guaranteed continuous income, a very nice hedge for a discretionary income retail business. I mean, really. It’s a win-win-win. Get with Lee’s program, you folks!
Lee’s ultimate aim is to reach the kids that are not reached by other school sports. Lee says that archery is “the ultimate equalizing sport,” which also teaches self-discipline, math skills, concentration and personal responsibility. You don’t have to be the biggest, strongest, or fastest to succeed, she says. And impressively, as Lee also points out, archery has an excellent safety record – surprising considering you have eight year olds wielding lethal weapons, but the numbers don’t lie. (Parent Alert: Archery is good for your kids!!)
How could one NOT be awed and inspired by this woman?
I have no doubt that Lee Ford-Faherty will succeed in her aim. Her long list of career accomplishments attests to that.
And when she does, I hope my Google Alert for archery news will bring me a story of an aspiring archer from Reynolds, GA.
I’d like that.


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Craft distillery to open in Newport News
Newport News is getting its first craft distillery.
Ironclad Distillery announced Wednesday plans to open a small-batch bourbon distillery and tasting room in a revitalized warehouse district on the James River. The company will invest $100,000 in the venture and expects to create eight jobs.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe approved a $12,000 grant from the Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund to assist Newport News with the project. The company has committed to purchasing more than 675,000 pounds of Virginia corn, wheat, and rye over three years.


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Dirks, Van Essen & April is the leading merger and acquisition firm in the U.S. newspaper industry.
Since its inception in 1980, the firm has focused primarily on assisting companies in the sale, acquisition and valuation of daily and weekly newspapers for a variety of purposes. It has thus established itself as the industry’s top authority on transactions and valuations. In addition, DVM&A offers comprehensive operational and financial consulting services to newspaper companies.
The firm has successfully closed hundreds of newspaper transactions and has handled many more deals than all other firms combined. Since the mid-1990’s, Dirks, Van Essen, Murray & April has been involved in more than half of all daily newspaper transactions.
Latest Press Release
Nicholas Holdings Acquires Huskers Illustrated from Paxton Media Group
Omaha, NE - July 1, 2021 - Paxton Media Group (PMG) announced today that it has sold Huskers Illustrated to Nicholas Holdings. Nicholas Holdings is owned by long-time newspaper veteran Terry Kroeger, who also owns Smith Kroeger, an Omaha-based marketing and communications company. Huskers Illustrated, which focuses on University of Nebraska sports, was one of the 46 newspaper operations PMG recently acquired from Landmark Community Newspapers LLC.
When PMG announced its purchase of Landmark C... More
So much more than paper,
the newspaper industry doesn't under-emphasize the importance
of the digital and mobile device markets.


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Southeast moderates into April and May
July 2011 - Overall activity levels in the Southeast moderated into the second quarter as manufacturing and housing markets slowed and overall employment trends remained flat. Despite a sharp deceleration in April's durable goods new orders (5.5 percent year over year vs. March 2011 at 14.2 percent year over year and April 2010 at 21.3 percent year over year), the index remained in positive territory for the 16th straight month.
Overall manufacturing new orders and production remained positive despite auto producers and parts suppliers experiencing input limitations because of the Japanese earthquake. It should be noted that most producers were planning on making up lost volumes later in the year as supply chain functionality normalizes. Manufacturing employment ticked higher in states like Texas and Oklahoma as rig counts showed year over year percent growth rates of 24.7 percent and 44.6 percent, respectively.
Housing markets continued to remain weak as total permits and single-unit permits for the Southeast decreased 1 percent and rose 2.7 percent, respectively. Growth rates for total permits were the strongest in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Alabama as builders reported repairs and rebuilding from the April tornadoes were underway.
Industrial metals prices have cooled recently, providing some alleviation for buyers and end-users, as underlying demand trends have continued to weaken in markets like China. Global inventories for most industrial metals, such as copper and aluminum, remain plentiful, and global steel inventories remain sufficient in most markets despite a heavy drawdown in flat products in China during the past two months.
Going forward, we believe metal buyers should be concerned about how China will handle its currency, inflation issues and interest rates, all which ultimately have resounding impacts on global metal prices. A further softening and consolidation period in metal prices could be on the horizon as global demand experiences weak seasonality trends as well as restrictive monetary and fiscal policy in emerging markets.
To view the full report, click here.
Data provided by Bloomberg
Interested in purchasing reprints of this article? Click here


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As a company, Estée Lauder has done a lot within the beauty industry over the last few decades, but the brand has never launched one of its own products into space — until now. The company announced on Sept. 18 that it's sending one of its star products — the Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex — into space at the end of the month.
According to a release, the serum will be photographed and filmed by the crew aboard the International Space Station for Estée Lauder to later use for promotional purposes on its social media pages. "We are thrilled to reinforce our leadership once again as the first beauty brand to go into space," Stéphane de La Faverie, Estée Lauder's global brand president, said in a statement. "NASA is at the forefront of space exploration, and as a leader in skincare innovation, Estée Lauder is proud to support the incredible work NASA is doing to promote a space economy by being the second-ever commercial product to launch."
This news follows NASA's 2019 pledge open up its space station for business and allow brands to use it for marketing purposes.
"NASA is opening the International Space Station to business as part of the agency's efforts to enable a robust low-Earth orbit economy," Phil McAlister, NASA's director of commercial spaceflight development said. "Agreements like these directly support NASA's broad strategy to facilitate the commercialization of low-Earth orbit by U.S. entities by demonstrating new markets utilizing the unique environment of space."
Read More – Source


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Tech Giants Microsoft and Intel Lead the Dow Higher
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen is still learning how to dance around reporters' questions about monetary policy, but today she gave investors what they want to hear. Less than two weeks after spooking investors by indicating that interest rates could rise about six months after the Fed's bond-buying program is complete -- implying that rates would rise roughly a year from now -- Yellen said today that extraordinary support will be needed for "some time."
That's far from a specific timeline, but it was enough to get investors excited. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8% late in trading, with 27 of 30 blue-chip stocks moving higher.
Tech leads the charge
Two tech giants that haven't inspired much in the way of stock gains recently are the top performers of the day. Microsoft was up 2.6% after new CEO Satya Nadella shook up the management ranks. Former Nokia chief Stephen Elop will take over the devices group, Scott Guthrie will head the cloud and enterprise group, and Phil Spencer will lead the Xbox division, which is part of the operating systems group.
After announcing Office for iPad last week, and making moves to fortify Xbox and mobile devices, Nadella is making clear his willingness to shake things up quickly. In an internal email on the management shifts, he pointed to wanting Microsoft to "thrive in a mobile-first, cloud-first world"; investors are certainly buying into his vision today.
Meanwhile, Intel jumped 1.3% after announcing an additional $740 million investment in Cloudera, putting its stake at 18% of the company. Intel, too, is trying to adapt to a world of cloud computing and mobile devices; the open source database software business conducted by Cloudera is a piece of that new world.
This investment won't transform Intel's business, but in a world of big data this could be a key player in the future. At least Intel is getting a small piece of that pie.
Are you ready for this $14.4 trillion revolution?
Let's face it, every investor wants to get in on revolutionary ideas before they hit it big. Like buying PC-maker Dell in the late 1980s, before the consumer computing boom. Or purchasing stock in e-commerce pioneer Amazon.com in the late 1990s, when it was nothing more than an upstart online bookstore. The problem is, most investors don't understand the key to investing in hyper-growth markets. The real trick is to find a small-cap "pure-play" and then watch as it grows in EXPLOSIVE lockstep with its industry. Our expert team of equity analysts has identified one stock that's poised to produce rocket-ship returns with the next $14.4 TRILLION industry. Click here to get the full story in this eye-opening report.
The article Tech Giants Microsoft and Intel Lead the Dow Higher originally appeared on Fool.com.Travis Hoium manages an account that owns shares of Intel. The Motley Fool recommends Intel. The Motley Fool owns shares of Intel and Microsoft. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Grover is being promoted to president, international from his current position as vice-president and general manager, greater China, effective June 1. He will be responsible for Hershey’s international businesses including its scale markets, focused emerging markets and export priorities. Grover began his 20-year career in marketing at Colgate Palmolive and MTV in India, and has since worked in nearly all of Hershey’s international markets. He succeeds Steven Schiller, who is leaving the company.
O’Day, is the company’s senior vice-president, chief technology and data officer and will transition to full-time leadership of these efforts effective June 1. He will continue to oversee Hershey’s end-to-end technology and data strategy, including management of the company’s information technology and important enterprise resource planning initiatives, which remain on track.
Reiman, will become senior vice-president, chief supply chain officer effective June 1. He was previously vice-president, supply chain operations. A veteran of Hershey for more than 20 years, Reiman has operated in senior executive roles leading all aspects of the supply chain including manufacturing, engineering, supply chain planning and logistics across Hershey’s U.S. and international businesses.
Continuing in their executive leadership roles reporting to Buck are: Damien Atkins, senior vice-president, general counsel and secretary, Todd Tillemans, president, U.S., Kevin Walling, senior vice-president and chief human resources officer and Mary Beth West, senior vice-president and chief growth officer. C&ST


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Akaash Ramakrishnan, Co- Founder & COO, AdSkate
July 7: The global economy is in entering into a recession state. Recently the S&P 500, the stock market index for the top 500 performing companies in the United States, confirmed that the market is in a bear market state. The United States is currently the world’s largest economy and they are going to try the nation from slipping into a recession state. To do this the United States Federal Reserve is going to push for higher interest rates which would potentially lead different world economies into a state of pandemonium. The market has fallen for the past week straight leading to a frenzy. The S&P plummet by 21.8%. Experts are expecting people’s purchasing power to diminish over time. All of this sounds grim for the digital marketing industry.
Let us take a deeper look into how the looming global recession is going to potentially affect the digital advertising ecosystem. During the peak of the pandemic, ad-buying had increased by 38% compared to the previous year (2019) but in 2022 a deceleration in terms of ad buying is visible. A massive reason for the deceleration in advertising ad spend is because China accounts for 20% of ad spend and the ongoing war in Ukraine has had an adverse effect too. According to a recent statistic by GroupM e-commerce sales grew only by 6.7% in 2022 compared to the previous years. This has been the slowest growth rate noticed in the e-commerce industry since 2020. Additionally, GroupM predicted that consumer price inflation is going to soar upwards of 7%.
Despite these turn of events, the large agencies Zenith, MAGNA, and GroupM recently released their mid-year reports and all of them have noted an increase in their advertising spend for 2022. This provides hope to brands and advertisers of all sizes. Zenith is predicting a $33 billion increase in advertising spend across different digital platforms. Online advertising on OTT (Over-the-top) and CTV (Connected TV) is a big growth factor for a lot of agencies and brands. It is predicted that global advertising expenditure on online video advertising is to rise from $62 billion to $94 billion by 2024. The advertising industry has severely decreased its spending on TV ads this is because the younger generation is engaging more with different OTT platforms. Concurrently, advertisers find it easier to measure the success of campaigns on CTV and OTT compared to traditional TV.
Another space where advertising expenditure is set to increase is podcasting and online radio. It has been a market that has not been completely tapped into yet. MAGNA, the ad giant, claims it will be increasing its spending by 5.7% in 2022 on audio advertising. Additionally, MAGNA is forecasting its advertising revenue will grow by 9.2% in 2022. Along with CTV and OTT, out-of-home advertising is expected to grow as people are beginning to travel and spend more. In other words, brands are cramming to get their ads up on different types of OOH ads.
In India, the advertising budgets for 2022-2023 are said to increase by 20% despite inflation being around the corner. Companies like Maruti Suzuki are said to increase their advertising budgets through the remainder of the year. Large FMCG companies are increasing their pricing and passing on the cost to the consumers ensuring they are protected at all times. A number of companies in India would want to ensure that they can keep their expenses low during the inflation period.
A different aspect to also keep in mind is that all the major advertising agencies, trading desks, and global brands are at a critical junction given that Google is set to depreciate its cookie-based targeting by 2023. Audience-based targeting tools are going to be sunset and brands are on the hunt for other alternatives. Budget allocations need to be made for market testing and product fit to ensure that it will yield the best results. With the impending inflation, advertisers need to ensure that they are able to safely carry out their day-to-day operations as per normal.
Only time will tell whether brands, advertisers, and ad tech companies are able to make it through the inflation period unhinged.
By Akaash Ramakrishnan, Co-Founder & COO, AdSkate
If you have any objection to this press release content, kindly contact [email protected] to notify us. We will respond and rectify the situation in the next 24 hours.


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The judgment of the CJEU in GS Media in September 2016 caused a significant debate among those with an interest in copyright law and had wide-ranging consequences for virtually all website operators (whether they know it or not). William Smith of Bird & Bird reports.
- Broadcasting with caution 08-11-2017
- Event preview: Anti-Piracy and Content Protection Summit 23-06-2017
- Online copyright: where are we after GS Media and Filmspeler? 11-01-2017
- Teaching respect for IP 31-08-2016
- Keeping the internet functioning 29-06-2016
Latest online copyright news
The owner of a US internet service provider has filed a motion of objection against a judge‘s recommendation that it could be held liable for copyright infringement by its subscribers.


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Inflation Gauge Higher
October survey results at a glance:
- The leading economic indicator drops to lowest level since May 2009.
- Employment gauge sinks below growth neutral for the third straight month.
- Fallout from the drought and QE3 pushed the wholesale price index to its highest level since March of this year.
- Supply managers expect 2013 holiday sales to grow by only 2 percent from 2012.
For the third time in the past four months, the monthly Mid-America Business Conditions Index, a leading economic indicator for a nine-state region, declined below growth neutral. The index is pointing to slightly negative growth for the region in the next three to six months.
Overall index: The Business Conditions Index, which ranges between 0 and 100, slumped to 46.5 from September’s tepid 50.4. “Growth in the regional economy is definitely moving lower. Surveys over the past several months point to slightly negative growth for the next three to six months. However as in past months, two states with significant dependence on energy, North Dakota and Oklahoma, will continue to expand at a positive pace while the rest of the region pulls back,” said Ernie Goss, director of Creighton University’s Economic Forecasting Group and the Jack A. MacAllister Chair in Regional Economics.
Employment: The region’s employment gauge remained below growth neutral. The index increased to a weak 47.7 from September’s 46.1 but was down from August’s 49.5. These are the weakest job readings recorded since shortly after the recession ended in 2009. “The manufacturing sector has been shedding jobs over the past several months. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data for September indicate that the region lost more than just manufacturing jobs in September of this year. When this data are released for October later in November, I expect it to show that the region continues to shed jobs but at a slow pace. Job gains in North Dakota and Oklahoma will be more than offset by declines in the rest of the region,” said Goss.
Wholesale Prices: The prices-paid index, which tracks the cost of purchased raw materials and supplies, advanced to 71.5 from 66.0 in September. “The Federal Reserve’s latest stimulus, quantitative easing 3 (QE3), and regional drought conditions are pushing the wholesale price gauge well above acceptable levels. I expect this to show up in higher consumer prices in the months ahead. This will limit the Fed’s options regarding further monetary easing,” said Goss.
Confidence: Looking ahead six months, economic optimism, as captured by the October business confidence index, climbed 58.0 from September’s very weak 44.7. “Despite less favorable business conditions for their own firms, supply managers are more positive about the overall economy in the months ahead. Even with the looming fiscal cliff, improvements in the national unemployment rate and upturns in the U.S. housing market are boosting the outlook of supply managers,” said Goss.
This month supply managers were asked to gauge the likelihood of a 2013 recession. Almost one-fourth or 23.4 percent think a recession is likely, or very likely for 2013. An almost equal 22.7 think a 2013 recession is unlikely. The remaining 53.9 percent think there is a 50-50 chance of a recession next year.
Inventories: Regional inventory levels continued to decline and at an accelerating rate. The October inventory index declined to 43.5 from 49.2 in September. “Supply managers have cut inventories for four straight months. The last time this happened was in 2009 when supply managers were reducing inventories in anticipation of new orders and sales,” said Goss.
This month supply managers were also asked to estimate the percentage increase in 2013 holiday sales from 2012. Overall a very low 2 percent growth is expected. Approximately, 16.5 percent expect a gain of more than 4 percent. On the other hand, almost 15 percent expect a decrease in 2013 holiday sales over their 2012 levels. “To be considered healthy, holiday sales should grow in excess of 5 percent from the previous year sales,” said Goss.
Trade: New export orders were surprisingly strong for October. The new export orders index soared to 60.8 from September’s much weaker 48.7. At the same time, October imports contracted for the month with an index of 44.2 which was down from 48.9 in September. “We are seeing some benefits of the Fed’s weak dollar policy which has made U.S. goods more competitively priced abroad and foreign goods less competitively priced in the U.S.,” said Goss.
Other components: Other components of the October Business Conditions Index were new orders at 43.3, down from 48.7 in September; production or sales at 43.9, down from 51.7; and delivery lead time at 54.1, off from September’s 56.4.
The Creighton Economic Forecasting Group has conducted the monthly survey of supply managers in nine states since 1994 to produce leading economic indicators of the Mid-America economy. States included in the survey are Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
The forecasting group’s overall index, referred to as the Business Conditions Index, ranges between 0 and 100. An index greater than 50 indicates an expansionary economy over the course of the next three to six months. The Business Conditions Index is a mathematical average of indices for new orders, production or sales, employment, inventories and delivery lead time. This is the same methodology used by the National Institute for Supply Management, formerly the Purchasing Management Association, since 1931.
Arkansas: The October overall index, or leading economic indicator, for Arkansas fell to 42.3 from September’s 49.6. Components of the index from the monthly survey of supply managers were new orders at 34.3, production or sales at 37.3, delivery lead time at 50.1, inventories at 50.2, and employment at 39.5. “According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, even though the state’s unemployment rate declined, Arkansas lost jobs in September on a seasonally adjusted basis. Additionally, discouraged unemployed left the work force in September. Our results indicate that this trend continued in October and is likely to persist for the next three to six months,” said Goss.
Iowa: Iowa’s October Business Conditions Index declined to 54.2 from 56.5 in September. The overall index, from a survey of supply managers in the state, has remained above growth neutral for the last 34 months. Components of the index for October were new orders at 57.1, production or sales at 50.4, delivery lead time at 53.9, employment at 53.2, and inventories at 52.8. “According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the state’s unemployment rate plunged in September. While our survey of Iowa businesses over the past several months have been positive and pointing to reduced unemployment and job gains, they have not been nearly as robust as BLS data indicate. I expect significant upward revisions to the Iowa unemployment data in the months ahead even as the state continues to grow, but at a very modest pace,” said Goss.
Kansas: The Kansas Business Conditions Index for October advanced to a weak 47.9 from September’s 47.3. Components of the index from the October survey of supply managers in the state were new orders at 42.7, production or sales at 46.6, delivery lead time at 48.4, employment at 63.8, and inventories at 38.0. “According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the state’s unemployment rate plunged in September. Our surveys of Kansas businesses over the past several months have been much less positive and not nearly as robust as BLS data indicate. I expect significant upward revisions to the Kansas unemployment data in the months ahead as the state’s economic growth cools in the months ahead,” said Goss.
Minnesota: For a fourth straight month, the Minnesota Business Conditions Index slumped below growth neutral. The index, based on a survey of supply managers in the state, dipped to 47.1 from 47.2 in September. This is the first time since the recession that the overall index has been below 50.0 for four straight months. Components of the index from the October survey were new orders at 36.3, production or sales at 39.3, delivery lead time at 61.9, inventories at 50.1, and employment at 47.9. “U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that the state lost manufacturing jobs in September even as the unemployment rate declined. Our surveys indicate that Minnesota continued to lose manufacturing jobs in October. I expect these jobs losses to persist, though at a slight pace, in the months ahead. Nondurable goods producers, especially food processors are reporting weakness. Furthermore, I expect the BLS to revise September unemployment rates upward in the months ahead,” said Goss.
Missouri: The October Missouri Business Conditions Index slipped to 50.0 from 51.0 in September. Components of the survey of supply managers in the state for October were new orders at 48.4, production or sales at 51.0, delivery lead time at 55.9, inventories at 41.7, and employment at 52.9. “Missouri is one of four states in the region that did not experience an overall index reading below growth neutral for the month. Strong growth in durable goods manufacturing has more than offset weakness among nondurable goods producers. Even for Missouri, job growth for the next three to six months will be weaker than for the same period one year ago,” said Goss.
Nebraska: For the third time in the past four months, Nebraska’s leading economic indicator fell below growth neutral. The Business Conditions Index, from a survey of supply managers, slumped to 45.5 from September’s 50.3. Components of the index for October were new orders at 39.8, production or sales at 41.1, delivery lead time at 52.9, inventories at 49.5, and employment at 44.0. “Stronger growth among durable goods producers prevented the overall index from sinking lower. Nondurable goods producers, including food processors, are experiencing pullbacks in economic activity. Job growth will be slightly negative in the next three to six months according to our recent survey results,” said Goss.
North Dakota: The leading economic indicator for North Dakota once again expanded to a regional high. The Business Conditions Index from the survey of supply managers increased to 64.1 from 61.6 in September. Components of the overall index for October were new orders at 68.8, production or sales at 70.7, delivery lead time at 57.1, employment at 67.8, and inventories at 56.3. “Each month, employment in North Dakota rises to record levels for the state. We are tracking gains in both durable and nondurable goods producers. Transportation firms are experiencing very strong growth related to the state’s very healthy energy sector,” said Goss.
Oklahoma: The Business Conditions Index for Oklahoma advanced for October. The leading economic indicator from the supply manager survey climbed to 63.3 from September’s 56.6. Components of the October survey of supply managers in the state were new orders at 77.4, production or sales at 74.8, delivery lead time at 39.3, inventories at 71.0, and employment at 54.2. “Even as Oklahoma’s economy has expanded at a solid pace, we are tracking somewhat weaker, but positive, job growth. Companies in the state report shortages of skilled labor,” said Goss.
South Dakota: For a fourth straight month, the leading economic indicator for South Dakota remained below growth neutral. The Business Conditions Index from a survey of supply managers in the state slipped to 45.3 from 46.6 in September. Components of the index for October were new orders at 51.4, production or sales at 55.3, delivery lead time at 50.0, inventories at 27.7, and employment at 42.0. “Job growth for 2012 has been virtually nil for the state. Our surveys point to slightly negative employment growth for the next three to six months,” said Goss.
Survey results for November will be released Dec. 3.
Follow Goss on twitter at http://twitter.com/erniegoss
For historical data and forecasts visit our website at: http://www.creighton.edu/business/economicoutlook/ www.ernestgoss.com


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BraunAbility Europe is now certified as Ford's Qualified Vehicle Modifier (QVM). The certification ensures that Ford's high quality is kept even after extensive vehicle adaptation.
As the largest supplier of vehicle accessibility solutions, the BraunAbility range caters to a wide range of vehicle types, from passenger cars to community transport and buses.
- Working for increased accessibility is a personal passion for me and my colleagues. For us, Ford's QVM is not just a quality mark, it is also proof that Ford takes accessibility seriously. In short, we are extremely proud of our QVM certification, says Stefan Larsson, Area Sales Manager at BraunAbility Europe.
The QVM certification is a major and important step in the partnership between BraunAbility and Ford. The certification process was handled by Ford's Special Vehicle Engineering teams in both Cologne in Germany and Dunton in the UK.
At Ford in Sweden, there’s a sense of pride and joy: - It feels great that our long-time partner, BraunAbility, receives a quality assurance certification for our products within special adaptation, says Tobias Hägg, Head of Commercial Vehicles at Ford Sweden.
Original Swedish press release by Ford Sweden:
A translated version of the Swedish press release is available at the BraunAbility website:


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There are several excellent mobile phone manufacturers in the current mobile phone market, such as Apple, Huawei, Samsung, etc., each of which has special advantages, and thus becomes a major player in the market. In the first half of the year, Apple did not release 5G mobile phones. Both Huawei and Samsung released their own 5G flagships on the market, thus reaping significant benefits.
Samsung’s Samsung S20 series in the first half of the year brought surprises to consumers, and it also opened the era of high-resolution Samsung flagships. The role of the Samsung S20 series is absolutely immeasurable. There are almost no new phones on the market recently, but Samsung has reported a new 5G phone, and the new phone exposed is the Samsung Note20 in the second half of the year.
The news of Samsung note20 has also been reported before, but it is only a rumor, and this time the overall parameters of Samsung note20 have been exposed by foreign media. According to the exposed news, this Samsung note20 will be equipped with a brand new Snapdragon 865plus processor, which is upgraded on the basis of the original Snapdragon 865. The Snapdragon 865plus will add auxiliary functions, which will greatly reduce power consumption and increase operating speed. It is about 10% higher than the previous generation of Snapdragon 865.
In terms of battery life, it is said that the Samsung note20 will use a 5800 mAh battery to ensure efficient battery life.
There is also the screen part. Because Samsung has its own first-class screen, Samsung note20 will be equipped with a 6.5-inch high refresh rate screen. The refresh rate will also be increased from 120Hz in the first half of the year to 144Hz, and it will continue to use the center punch design.
According to reports, there will also be adjustments to the camera. This time Samsung note20 will be equipped with a rear three-camera, 64 million pixels main camera + 40 million pixels ultra wide-angle + 20 million pixel telephoto, it can be said to be equipped with the most practical camera for daily shooting I believe there is no problem with professional photos.
Running memory is also the first exposure. Samsung note20 not only has 8GB and 12GB running memory but also 16GB of large running memory.
The Samsung note series has always been Samsung’s flagship in the second half of each year, and each time it brings certain innovations, but the exposed Samsung note20 is said to work hard on the Spen, and the special pen of the Spen will also use new materials. The utilization rate of Spen will be higher, and there will be some new gestures added.
Samsung note20 will be released in early October, and the price of the Samsung note20 will also increase. If you like this exposed Samsung note20, you must prepare in advance, the price is certainly not low. So about the Samsung note20, that was exposed this time, do you have anything else to say?


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Crawley Borough Council’s ‘Wheels for All’ scheme has been donated £1,000 for four bikes.
The cycling initiative to give people with disabilities opportunities to cycle, will now be able to reach out to people with mental disabilities as well as those with physical disabilities. The bikes were bought with a £1,000 donation from the global movement Special Olympics. The bikes were bought from Evans Cycles - a bike shop which has helped fund the scheme through its online donation drive. To find out more call 01293 585350 or visit www.crawley.gov.uk.


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Italian politicians have accused France of neo protectionism and have strongly criticised the proposed merger between two French energy companies, Suez and Gaz de France, announced by the French prime minister, Dominique de Villepin last Saturday. The Italians see the French move as a way to prevent a deal between Suez and the Italian energy company Enel, which had expressed interest in buying Electrabel, a Belgian subsidy of Suez.
If the French merger goes ahead the French government would own 34 per cent of the combined businesses, but it denies that this policy restricts free market competition and claims that it is not against the spirit of European integration. The merger will create the second largest energy holding in Europe after Frances EDF. The two companies involved hope that the merger will be completed by the end of 2006.
The Italian minister for production Claudio Scajola has cancelled a meeting with his French counterpart scheduled for Monday 27 February and has expressed the hope that the European Union commissioner for competition will step in to ensure that France respects the EUs regulations.
French companies have recently made major investments in Italian companies; particularly in the retail food trade, food distribution and in the luxury goods industry.


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Amanda Holden is encouraging schoolchildren to eat more fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy meals campaign.
13 May 2013
The BBC’s £1 billion headquarters in central London has become infested with mice, just weeks after journalists moved in to the building.
10 May 2013
From offal to French cooking and foie gras toasties, the chef and director of Marlyebone's Argentine restaurants Zoilo and Casa Malevo tells us what he likes to eat out in London
02 May 2013
Whitbread has vowed to step up expansion of its Premier Inn and Costa chains in a move set to create 12,000 jobs over the next five years.
30 April 2013
The weather has been far from pub friendly, but Greene King reckons it has the brands to keep pulling in the punters.
29 April 2013
Ahead of next week's London Coffee Festival, Andrew Neather joins a workshop at Caravan King’s Cross, and finds one of the best cups of coffee he's ever had
17 April 2013
From octopus and black pudding with quail's egg to monkfish with roast bone marrow, Emma Duggan tells us what she likes eating out in London
16 April 2013
A small number of UK businesses may have received products from a Dutch company that supplied some 50,000 tonnes of meat that could have contained horsemeat, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said.
10 April 2013
TV presenter Carol Vorderman is recovering after falling down stairs while wearing four-inch heels and breaking her nose.
25 March 2013
23 March 2013
- Juan Mata hopes his ‘amazing’ Chelsea dream does not turn into a nightmare
- Tom Daley spotted house-hunting in Stratford with new partner Dustin Lance Black
- UK weather: Thousands flee homes as tidal surge hits coast - and warning of more floods to come
- In pictures: When cats take over your life
- I'm A Celebrity... Amy Willerton makes her bid for best bikini moment - in pictures
- Romanian minister says Britain should be grateful for immigrants
- EXCLUSIVE: Boris Johnson unveils London Underground and bus fares freeze
- ‘Dismal’ month for Boris Bikes as hire figures fall 30% in a year
- Tom Daley 'besotted' with Hollywood screenwriter 20 years older than him
- Nelson Mandela: The world mourns giant who showed path to peace
- Man, 26, arrested after woman knocked unconscious on London night bus
- A Celebration of Bert Jansch, Royal Festival Hall - music review
- Rocker Ian Dury's parody of the Lord's Prayer appears on London tube notice board
- Tom Daley leads the new pansexual pack
- Students 'punched and dragged to the ground by their hair' as police break up sit-in


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Kroger starts construction on Cedar Street store
FREMONT - Work has begun on the construction of a new Kroger store on Cedar Street.
Heavy equipment was on the site Monday, as rain mixed with snow pelted Fremont and surrounding areas.
Kroger Corporate Affairs Manager Amy McCormick said earlier this month that workers would start by putting surveyor stakes on the new Kroger property.
In June 2016, Kroger finalized purchase of the 12-acre site that had been the location of The News-Messenger, Aaron's Rental Purchase and the Travel Lodge Motel. The News-Messenger relocated its offices to 1800 East State Street.
Once the stakes were placed on the Cedar Street site, crews would begin working with the heavy construction equipment, McCormick said.
The turnaround time for building a new Kroger store is typically about 12 months, she said.
The store coming to Fremont will be 93,000 square feet in size, Kroger has said, which is smaller than the original plan to build one of the chain's 124,000-square-foot Marketplace stores. The downsized project was announced in June but Kroger offered no explanation for the change.
Kroger announced two weeks ago that it was canceling plans to build a Marketplace story in West Toledo, saying it is investing in its "Restock Kroger" project to fund technology and expand digital services, while making improvements to an existing, nearby Toledo store.
Bob Gross, executive assistant to Fremont Mayor Danny Sanchez, said city officials were told that construction of Kroger's Cedar Street store could be completed as soon as August 2019.
After stocking the store with inventory and hiring and training new employees, the new Kroger would be in line to open in October or November next year, Gross said.


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GlaxoSmithKline finance boss banned from leaving China
Chinese authorities looking into alleged bribery by GlaxoSmithKline have banned the UK drugmaker's British head of finance from leaving China.
The travel ban was imposed on Steve Nechelput at the end of June, said a company spokesperson.
On Monday, police in China said GSK had transferred 3bn yuan ($489m; £321m) to travel agencies and consultancies to facilitate bribes to doctors.
GSK has said it is deeply "concerned and disappointed" by the allegations.
Martin Patience reports from Beijing.
18 Jul 2013
- From the section Business


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Participants at the 2006 Palm and Lauric Oil Conference in Kuala Lumpur this week will be discussing hot topics like price stability and bio-diesel - but amid a recent spate of negative publicity, they will also be looking to set the record straight on palm oil's environmental impact.
It is no accident that the conference, dubbed POC2006, is being organised by the Bursa Malaysia stock exchange in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia exports over 50% of the world's total palm oil production, while the government and private organisations have been instrumental in bringing bio-diesel to the market.
Little wonder then that a strong and stable price outlook is on the agenda for POC2006. With such a wide exposure to the commodity, fluctuating prices could cause disproportionate harm on export receipts and the many plantation stocks listed on Bursa Malaysia.
Indeed, in 2005 bio-diesel was the best news for the sector in a year when prices looked flaccid, to say the least. The average price through 2005 was RM1400 ($376) per tonne, down from an average price of RM1610 ($432) per tonne in 2004.
However, with EU regulations requiring the use of fuel crops, rapeseed oil producers there are unable to meet demand, creating a need for an alternative. As the cheapest quality substitute, palm oil stocks have rallied and prices have been on an upward trajectory ever since. Some reports are of futures contracts for early 2007 trading at RM1700 ($456).
The hype around bio-diesel has led to a rapid expansion in blending plants by Malaysian firms. Ten are expected to become operational in 2006 with a total capacity of 800,000 tonnes per annum. Further plants involving Malaysian companies are planned in Rotterdam.
It is not just Europe that can keep demand up and prices buoyant though. With global hydrocarbon prices set to stay high, interest in alternative fuels is on the up around the globe. Whether palm oil is directly involved or not, according to analysts it will stand to benefit since any increase in demand for competing oils will potentially leave a gap in the market for edible oils or fuel crops, which palm oil can fill.
Steps towards price stability also took a step forwards with a pact between Malaysia and Indonesia, the world's second-largest producer of palm oil. The move aims to prevent unhealthy and disruptive competition between the two, which between them produce 80% of the world's palm oil, worth a combined total of some RM58bn ($15.6bn).
"A stronger relationship with Indonesia will help us to co-ordinate our moves and ensure a level playing field for palm oil to compete against other oils like soya and rapeseed," explained Yusof Basiron, CEO of the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council (MPOPC), when speaking to OBG recently.
Leveraging the demand for bio-diesel is part of a clear strategy by the government to head-off other pressures on prices, particularly tariffs on the commodity in India.
"The challenge is that buyers like India are using their size as leverage to depress the price using duties," continued Yusof. "They will collect a lot of revenue from this which they will use to subsidise their oil-seed farmers and produce more of their own products. This will further reduce demand for palm oil and start another cycle of downward pressure on prices."
Yet although the strategy for price stability is clear, another concern has reared its head recently.
"What's disturbing now are so-called environmental NGOs taking matters to the extreme," continued Yusof. "They have very extreme views and misrepresent the image of palm oil in a negative way."
The main worry came from Friends of the Earth, a UK-based group, which released a report called "Greasy Palms" in September 2005. Although the main thrust of the criticism was directed at the Indonesian palm oil sector, Malaysia was daubed as well, provoking responses from MPOPC, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and the Malaysia Palm Oil Association (MPOA).
In a series of open letters and press releases, these organisations have sought to address the accusations which they claim do not reflect the situation in Malaysia.
Among the various claims made in the report is one that large areas of rainforest, the habitat for a wealth of diverse species, are being destroyed to make room for oil palm plantations.
The Malaysian palm oil community has been quick to reject this claim, saying that the bulk of land converted to oil palm cultivation actually came as a result of replanting from other tree crops such as rubber, cocoa and coconut.
In line with conservation and sustainable development goals, clearing of primary forest is strictly prohibited unless logged over. Meanwhile, the growth rate of land devoted to palm oil cultivation has actually shrunk.
Among a number of other allegations, Malaysian palm oil firms are accused of clearing land for logging profits as well as "burning-off" - using fires to clear vegetation from land before planting - which contributes to air pollution.
The European press then picked up the report, and articles have followed from leading columnists expressing concern about palm oil production in Malaysia.
Yet, "The palm oil industry here is well organised and well managed and there is no way we are not practicing sustainable environmental management," said Yusof.
The outlook from the Malaysian end of the argument is that they have been unfairly lumped in with other palm oil producing countries which do not practice or enforce the same sustainable techniques and ignore international environment agreements to which Malaysia is a signatory - such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the International Tropical Timber Agreement.
"This perception has to be corrected and it will take a lot of efforts to explain our position and give the true picture," continued Yusof. "Otherwise, these people are just like any other economic saboteurs who stop a developing country coming up with good products and decent earning capabilities. I hope their intention is not to damage our economy and make us to come back with a begging bowl... They should be more guarded with their comments."
The MPOPC response to this attack on palm oil's environmental impact is the first step in a campaign to brand palm oil internationally. The nutritional benefits of the oil are also set to be promoted more, while its impact on health relative to other competing oils, such as soya oil, will hopefully mean that producers don't just have to rely on bio-diesel to keep up demand.


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Premier Sends ‘Powerful’ Signal for China to Join Asia-Pacific’s Largest Trade Pact
Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday that China is willing to consider joining the Asia-Pacific’s largest free-trade pact, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), as Beijing sets its priorities for trade talks this year to drive an economic recovery amid Covid-19 pandemic.
When asked about China’s plan to join the CPTPP, Li told reporters at a wide-ranging press conference on the final day of the national legislature’s annual meeting in Beijing that “China has a positive and open attitude toward joining the CPTPP.”
Li also said China aims to sign the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a mega trade deal involving 16 countries in East and Southeast Asia, within the year. Moreover, he said Beijing is working closely with Japan and South Korea to advance the three parties’ free trade talks this year.
The premier’s comment appears to be the first time that a Chinese leader has publicly confirmed China’s interest in joining the partnership, which consists of 11 Asia-Pacific countries, including Japan, Canada and Australia. Together, they account for more than 13% of the global economy.
Trade experts welcomed the positive signal from the premier regarding the further opening of China’s market, but they were also wary of predicting that China would join the pact in the near term as the coronavirus pandemic takes a toll on global growth.
Kishore Mahbubani, a professor and founding dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, told Caixin in an interview that he is “very encouraged” by Li’s “strong and powerful” signal about joining the partnership.
Mahbubani said that China’s willingness to consider joining the CPTPP would “make the region much more stable” geopolitically.
The 11-country CPTPP originated from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade pact promoted by former American President Barack Obama to help the U.S. counter China’s growing economic influence in Asia. China was excluded from the negotiations.
Obama’s successor, President Donald Trump, withdrew from the TPP in 2017, deriding it as a “bad deal” for the country. Instead, Trump later engaged in a nearly two-year trade war with China, blaming Beijing for the U.S.’ massive trade deficit and accusing it of allowing rampant intellectual property theft.
“The U.S. has decided to launch a geopolitical contest against China, unwisely,” Mahbubani said. “So the best way in which China can respond is not to close up its economy, but to open up its economy. Then China should strengthen its links with its neighbors and with the rest of the world.”
Opinion: Why Joining CPTPP Trade Pact Could be China’s Plan B If RCEP Further Stalls?
However, other than Li’s statement, Beijing has not announced any “feasibility research” into joining the CPTPP. The government usually announces such research at the start of the process of negotiating a new trade pact.
Critics also say that it would be difficult for Beijing to accept some provisions in the CPTPP agreement, including allowing organized labor unions and limiting the role of state-owned enterprises in the market.
But Mahbubani believed that China qualifies to join the trade block. “It would have been difficult for China to take part if another socialist country had not joined first,” he said, referring to Vietnam, a CPTPP member and another socialist country.
“Vietnam has been able to comply with the labor unions and SOE provisions. So in the same way, China can also qualify,” Mahbubani said. Under the TPP, which went into effect in December 2018, trade between Vietnam and the other 10 members grew rapidly. Vietnam customs data showed that in the first seven months of 2019, the country had a trade surplus of $1.8 billion, over half of which came from trade with other CPTPP members.
“It’s important for China to talk to some of the key players, like Japan, like Vietnam, like Singapore, and to explore the possibilities of joining CPTPP,” Mahbubani said.
Atsuyuki Oike, Japan’s former deputy TPP negotiator, told Caixin in an interview late last year that “CPTPP members welcome everybody who is willing to take on the high standard of market access commitments and the high standard rules. I think that’s the statement that we all agreed (to) among the eleven countries.”
Asked about China joining the CPTPP, Oike, who is now the head of Japan’s delegation to UNESCO, doubted if China would agree to the “high standard” of rules in the CPTPP.
“It is up to China, not CPTPP members, to decide whether China is willing to take on those CPTPP rules. We can always negotiate some exceptions. That’s no problem. But in terms of basic rules, we cannot change them,” he said.
Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said he questions whether Vietnam could serve as a precedent for China. “Vietnam’s exports are limited to a few industries. Its government can liberalize those industries without hurting the overall domestic political situation.”
Contact reporter Lu Zhenhua (email@example.com) and editor Michael Bellart (firstname.lastname@example.org)
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Litigation Capital to finance additional Comet liquidator
Dispute financial specialist Litigation Capital Management has entered an agreement to provide a finance facility to Geoffrey Carton-Kelly, a partner of FRP Advisory, as additional liquidator of CGL Realisations, which until 21 October 2019 was known as Comet Group.
The AIM-traded firm said the litigation finance deal would cover proceedings issued in the High Court against Darty Holdings.
Carton-Kelly was appointed as additional liquidator by the court to specifically investigate and pursue potential claims.
“Litigation Capital Management has been financing claims of this nature since its inception 23 years ago,” said chief executive officer Patrick Moloney.
“We are very comfortable funding the insolvency and restructuring sector.
“Over time, we expect to see increased applications from this part of the market.”
At the time of its insolvency, Comet was the UK's second-largest electrical retailer, with 239 stores and 6,900 employees.
Darty is a subsidiary of FNAC Darty, a multinational electrical retailer based in France, and listed on Euronext Paris.
The company said the additional liquidator alleged in the proceedings that a transaction prior to Comet entering into administration had the effect of a preference in Darty's favour, thus reducing the amounts that would otherwise have been available for Comet's creditors.
It said the proceedings were seeking recovery of more than £83m, to be returned to Comet for distribution to creditors.
Litigation Capital said an important preliminary issue in this case was whether Comet was ‘connected’ to Darty at the time of the alleged preference, which had been determined in favour of the additional liquidator at first instance and on appeal.
“With liquidations of this scale, Litigation Capital Management is leading the way as the funder of choice amongst leading insolvency practitioners such as FRP,” said executive vice-chairman Nick Rowles-Davies.
“We are witnessing significant demand for disputes financing in insolvency matters and we expect this to continue as the awareness of its key benefits continue to be recognised.”
At 1543 BST, shares in Litigation Capital Management were up 7.27% at 118p.


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Less than a fortnight ago, Microsoft rolled out the much-anticipated Windows 10 Mobile update for Windows Phone devices, prompting many to believe that it was the dawn of a new era for the software giant’s mobile business.
Subsequently, Windows loyalists hoped that the company would aggressively seek to counter the domination of Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS in the worldwide mobile market. However, it seems like Microsoft is embarking on a different strategy.
Apparently, 2016 is not going to be the year for Windows Phone, as explained by none other than Microsoft’s head of the OS group, Terry Myerson.
In a recent interview with The Verge, Myerson clarified that while the company was not giving up on Windows Phones, it had many other plans to work on in 2016.
He also admitted that Windows Phone has been consistently under pressure as other big players in the mobile market were still leading by a huge margin in terms of sales and market penetration.
“We’re fully committed to that 4-inch screen, there will be a time for it to be our focus, but right now it’s part of the family but it’s not the core of where I hope to generate developer interest over the next year. There’s no lack of recognition to realize how important that form factor is, but for Microsoft with Windows and for our platform it’s the wrong place for us to lead,” he said.
“If you wanted to reach a lot of phone customers, Windows Phone isn’t the way to do it. If you want to reach a lot of Windows customers, then this is the largest install base of 9 to 30-inch screens. If you wanted to do new and exciting things, then the Xbox and HoloLens is the place to have a discussion,” he added.


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This is a continuation of my coverage of the fortunes of the global semiconductor industry. I would like to acknowledge and thank Mike Cowan, an independent semiconductor analyst and developer of the Cowan LRA model, who has provided me the latest numbers. This Monday, (10-04-10) the WSTS posted the August 2010 global semiconductor sales report (Historical Billings Report, HBR) on its website. Therefore, with the WSTS having released its actual August 2010 global semiconductor sales number, Cowan has provided the latest monthly update to the Cowan LRA Model’s derived forecast numbers.
The updated sales forecast estimates for 3Q, 4Q and 2010 decreased very slightly from the previous month’s forecast estimates as summarized below.
The actual August 2010 global semiconductor sales published by the WSTS came in at $25.358 billion which is:
- 30.8 percent higher than 2009′s August sales of $19.175 billion;
- Up 3.2 percent from last month’s (July) sales of $24.570 billion;
- And lower (by $0.090 billion, or down 0.35 percent) compared to last month’s (July’s projection) sales forecast estimate, that is, $25.448 billion;
- The Cowan LRA Model’s Momentum Indicator, MI, went slightly negative (-0.35 percent) compared to last month’s plus posture (at +5.0 percent), as discussed below.
Click here to read more ...


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Self-driving delivery startup Nuro today announced a partnership to ferry prescriptions and other essentials to customers. The pilot, which will be limited to the Greater Houston area when it begins in June, will serve people across three zip codes near the CVS location at Bissonnet St. in Bellaire, according to Nuro.
CVS.com and CVS mobile app users within driving distance will get an option for autonomous delivery at checkout time, free of charge. Nuro says that to ensure the security of orders, shoppers will need to confirm their identity when Nuro’s vehicles arrive at their home.
Stateside autonomous delivery launches have picked up during the pandemic, with companies like Cruise, Pony.ai, Starship Technologies, and the Hyundai-Aptiv Autonomous Driving Joint Venture deploying vehicles to deliver goods to frontline workers, ecommerce shoppers, and those in need. In April, the Mayo Clinic branch in Florida began using Navya shuttles to transport COVID-19 tests from a testing site to a processing laboratory on the hospital’s campus. Elsewhere, KiwiBot’s autonomous robots are furnishing residents of Berkeley, Denver, and other large metropolitan areas with masks, sanitary supplies, antibacterial gels, and hygiene products.
While some of the self-driving cars, rovers, and vans are monitored by safety drivers behind the wheel, they may still pose less risk of spreading infection than conventional delivery vehicles. That’s because in many cases, the deliveries are contactless — customers themselves retrieve orders from the vehicles. The vehicles are also regularly sanitized. Postmates, whose delivery robot Serve is currently serving thousands of customers in downtown Los Angeles, West Hollywood, and San Francisco, is wiped down throughout the day with disinfectant, the company previously told VentureBeat.
Nuro’s pilot with CVS won’t involve its recently unveiled R2 vehicle, which earlier this year received approval from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to drive at speeds upwards of 25 miles per hour without equipment required for passenger vehicles. Instead, Nuro will initially use Toyota Priuses retrofitted with a computer and sensors — including radar, cameras, and lidar — that will be replaced by a small R2 fleet at some point in the future.
The CVS partnership comes after Nuro obtained a permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) allowing it to test driverless delivery vehicles on public roads within a portion of the San Francisco Bay Area. While the company already has California state authority to test autonomous vehicles on the road with safety drivers, this new permit from the DMV allows the startup to test two light-duty delivery vehicles without drivers behind the wheel in nine cities in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
Nuro was cofounded in 2016 by Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu, both veterans of the secretive Google self-driving car project that eventually spun out as Waymo. Mountain View, California-based Nuro has about 400 employees and 100 contract workers and has so far deployed over 75 delivery vehicles — a mix of self-driving Priuses and R2s.
For the better part of a year, Nuro’s fleet of Prius vehicles in Houston has been making deliveries to consumers from various partners, including Kroger. In June 2019, the company signed a deal with Domino’s to bring autonomous pizza delivery to parts of the city. And last month, Nuro began using a small number of R2 vehicles to transport medical supplies around the Event Center in San Mateo and the Sleep Train Arena for people stricken with COVID-19.
In April, CVS teamed up with UPS’ Flight Forward division to launch a residential drone delivery service in a Florida retirement community. UPS and CVS last year announced plans to explore the use of drone delivery, and in November 2019 they completed their first deliveries of prescriptions from a pharmacy in Cary, North Carolina.
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The organisers behind Core Bike have announced that record numbers of dealers visited the 2015 show.
Visitor numbers were up 20% from last year, the previous high.
The Core Bike Show committee said: "We are delighted to have seen so many dealers at this years show. We saw record pre-registration numbers with dealers attending from all over the UK.
"With a significant number of new attendees registered for 2015 as well as long standing customers it was great to show them the latest product, talk bikes and have a beer."
New exhibitors for 2015 included Oakley, Gore, Cyclescheme and le coq sportif.
A Polaris Bike Wear spokesperson said: "One of the best Core Bike shows Polaris has been involved with, such a busy event this year with fantastic support and interest in our Luggage Range and Women’s Ranges which are a big focus for us this year."
A Gore spokesperson added: "As it was Gore Bike Wear’s first experience of the show we were not sure what to expect but for certain all our goals were achieved. This was the perfect show to meet all our existing customer’s whilst at the same time it gave us the opportunity to introduce ourselves and our products to a whole new group of customers. Great to be part of this long established show and already planning for next year with a bigger presence."
Catch up with all the news and fresh product from the show on our Core Bike 2015 landing page.