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JOHANNESBURG — Clothing workers in South Africa returned to work Thursday, two weeks after a nationwide strike organized by the South African Clothing & Textile Workers Union began, but problems persist for the industry.
Union General Secretary Andre Kriel said both sides had reached an agreement, with the assistance of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation & Arbitration. At a press conference, Kriel said, “The union has always said it is better to find a solution to this situation than to have a strike.”
Some 55,000 workers had abandoned their posts at the factories and taken to the streets in protest against what was considered lower-than-acceptable wage hikes.
Speaking on behalf of the National Employers Caucus, chief negotiator Johan Baard, who is also executive director of the Cape Clothing Association, expressed satisfaction the strike was over and employees had returned to work. “We soon hope to be in a position to disclose full details of the settlement, but it is an arrangement that is mutually acceptable to all parties,” Baard said.
The strike came after negotiations between the union and employers failed. The union demanded a 7.9 percent wage increase, while the employers had insisted on 5 percent. Shortly after the strike began, the employers raised their offer to 8 percent. The union, however, rejected that offer, claiming it came with conditions that were unacceptable.
Analysts estimate a loss of around $13 million to the clothing and textile sector during the strike. One casualty was the 30-year-old clothing factory Rhein Fashions, based in the Western Cape, which was forced to shut down because it could not fill its orders. In the process, 52 workers lost their jobs.
Renato Palmi, a Durban-based analyst specializing in the fashion and textile industry, said while he understood the reasons for the strike on the part of the union, “strategically, it was wrong to do this.”
He explained that wages were low and there was a discrepancy in pay between metro and non-metro workers, which meant wages were dependent on whether one worked in an urban area or a nonurban area. The average take-home pay was the equivalent of about $53 a week.
Palmi cited canceled orders, lost hours of productivity, damaged relationships with suppliers and customers as among the impacts of the strike.
The clothing and textile manufacturing sector has a registered workforce of 230,000 people who are directly employed. Add to that a 200,000-strong workforce employed in related areas such as designers, resulting in an overall industry with annual sales of about $540 million, contributing 11 percent to the manufacturing sector and 16.2 percent to the annual gross domestic product of South Africa.
“These collections continue to build on that vision, empowering differently abled adults to express themselves through fashion,” said @tommyhilfiger of his line of adaptive apparel, which launches today. The line consists of 37 men’s and 34 women’s styles based upon the pieces from the spring Tommy Hilfiger sportswear collection. #wwdnews
“Stranger Things” is getting a new cast member for season 2. Meet @sadiesink_, the 15-year-old who will be joining the Netflix series for its new season. You may recognize her from “The Glass Castle” with Brie Larson and Woody Harrelson, but the Texas native’s next role goes in an entirely different direction. She describes her character, Max, as “a rough and tumble skater girl [who] becomes friends with the boys at school.” The second season debuts on October 27. (📷: @jgreenery) #wwdeye
Amid the Harvey Weinstein controversy, there’s another sector that’s being put under the spotlight for sexual abuse: the modeling industry. While rumors about abuse and sexual harassment of female and male models — and the photographers, agents and others who perpetrated it — have circulated within the fashion world for years, model @cameronrussell started posting stories from models on Instagram last week about abusive situations they’ve encountered — from sexual harassment and molestation to attempted rape. Over 75 have weighed in so far. Read more on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdnews
To celebrate its 16th anniversary, @dylanscandybar tapped designers and celebrities to create mosaics out of candy. The mosaics will be auctioned off to support the philanthropic cause of each participant’s choice. Pictured here is the mural created by @aliceandolivia's Stacey Bendet. For a first look at some of the other artwork being unveiled tonight, go to WWD.com. #wwdeye
The annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in Pacific Palisades this weekend drew Kate Hudson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Laura Dern and more. See pictures of the star-studded event on WWD.com. (📷: @chelsealaurenla) #wwdeye
In his new book “Hollywood Royale,” Andy Warhol’s Protégé Matthew Rolston celebrates the Eighties revival of Hollywood glamour. Featuring more than 100 portraits taken by Rolston from 1977 to 1993, the book contains photos of icons like Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, and @drewbarrymore, pictured here in 1991. “Hollywood Royale,” out today, will be accompanied by an exhibition opening at Los Angeles’ Fahey/Klein Gallery on March 1. #wwdeye
"Nowadays when life is not so happy with everything going on in the world, I think people come to me for a little bit of whimsy and color and fun." - Designer Rebecca De Ravenel on her cult-favorite jewelry line. (📸 : @vsteves) #wwd40
“Everyone is talking about how the retail industry is struggling, but I think it’s an incredible time because brands who are doing something different and innovative are setting themselves up for the future,” said @adamgoldston, who founded the luxury athletic brand @apl with his brother @ryangoldsten. The Goldston’s are part of WWD’s 40 under 40: a group of industry notables. See the rest of the list on WWD.com. (📷: @vsteves) #wwd40
@eyeswoon blogger Athena Calderone debuted her first-ever cookbook, “Cook Beautiful,” which is heavily centered on the presentation and visual expression of food. Pictured here are her miso glazed carrots from the book. Get the recipe on WWD.com. (📷: @johnny_miller_) #wwdeye


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As Trump guts environmental policies, Apple and Wal-Mart are among the corporations that say they will continue to fight climate change.
By Christopher Flavelle, Bloomberg|March 30, 2017 at 04:10 AM
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Many of America’s biggest corporations including Apple and Wal-Mart Stores, are sticking by their pledges to fight climate change even as President Donald Trump guts his predecessor’s environmental policies.
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A resurgence in travel over China’s Lunar New Year holiday is offering some signs of a consumer spending pickup in the world’s second-largest economy as it struggles with low confidence and deflation.
More than 61 million rail trips were made in the first six days of the national new year holiday, according to official reports. That was the highest in data compiled by Bloomberg News in the last five years, and it marked a 61% increase over the same vacation period in 2023.
“The Chinese consumer is beginning to stir,” said Frederic Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC Holdings Plc., adding that spending indicators had exceeded expectations. He acknowledged, though, that surpassing 2023 was a “low bar” given the country was still contending with a rampant outbreak of Covid-19 at the time.
The travel data is welcome news for an economy struggling with concerns about growth this year as the ongoing property crisis dents confidence and deflationary pressures persist. Consumer prices dropped last month at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis, adding pressure on the government to step up support. A multi-trillion dollar selloff in Chinese stocks has underscored the economic gloom.
Some initial data on road and air trips during the holiday also showed improvement over last year, Chinese state media reported. Hotel sales on Chinese e-commerce platforms surged more than 60% from a year earlier, according to media reports citing the Ministry of Commerce.
The average daily consumer spending on Meituan’s online platforms during the holiday period jumped some 36% from the same period in 2019, according to Shanghai Securities News, citing a report from the delivery giant. The report didn’t give the actual value of consumption.
The travel and spending bright spots have helped boost market sentiment in Hong Kong this week, where markets reopened on Wednesday after a holiday break. A gauge tracking Chinese companies listed in the city has risen for two consecutive sessions, clocking a 2% gain through the end of trading on Thursday. China Tourism Group Duty Free Co. has jumped about 9%, while travel platform Trip.com Group Ltd. added 4.7%. Meituan and e-commerce firm JD.com Inc have inched 6% higher.
More muted initial box office receipt data, though, suggested that consumers may be reducing their spending per trip. Chinese cinemas took in 4.48 billion yuan in the first four days of the eight-day holiday period — down about 2% from last year, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data from Maoyan Entertainment.
Thriftier holiday spending was a pattern seen during national holidays last year in China. While travel surged above pre-pandemic levels, spending per person fell as consumers sought out cheaper deals.
The Lunar New Year — the most important holiday in China and one of a handful of week-long events that see hundreds of millions of people travel to see family — is a key barometer for consumption early in the year. This year’s holiday is one day longer than last year’s. China is expected to release comparable tourism spending data at the end of the holiday period, providing the best measure of consumption growth.
Consumer confidence in China has been weak for a range of reasons, including declines in home prices. Sales of some goods such as cars have also lost steam: Passenger car sales fell 26% in January compared to December, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
While traveling is the “main theme” of this year’s Lunar New Year holiday, “it is uncertain if this can fully offset the consumption shift away from durable goods, and the downgrade trend for some residents,” said Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis SA. “The extra spending cannot replace traditional big-ticket items, like automobiles.”


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Is Toilet Water Healthier Than Fast Food Ice?Posted by Paul Apple on Feb 21, 2006 in Health | Comments Off on Is Toilet Water Healthier Than Fast Food Ice?
Drinking water quality is always a huge issue in our household. My wife rejects water drawn from any other source than the kitchen faucet or refrigerator dispenser. I wonder how she will react to the recent science project findings of a twelve-year-old who sampled some fast food restaurants in South Florida.
Her simple study concluded that:
70 percent of the time, ice from fast food restaurants was dirtier than toilet water.
The 12-year-old collected ice samples from five restaurants in South Florida – from both self-serve machines inside the restaurant and from drive-thru windows. She then collected toilet water samples from the same restaurants and tested all of them for bacteria at the University of South Florida.
In several cases, the ice tested positive for E. coli bacteria, which comes from human waste and has been linked to several illness outbreaks across the country.
“These [bacteria] don’t belong there,” said Dr. David Katz, medical contributor to “Good Morning America.” “It’s not cause for panic, although it is alarming because what she found is nothing new. You’re not more likely to get sick now. But she’s done us a favor by sounding the alarm.”
Both Roberts and Katz said that the ice is likely dirtier because machines aren’t cleaned and people use unwashed hands to scoop ice. Toilet water is also surprisingly bacteria-free, because it comes from sanitized city water supplies.
I can see the stock prices on bottled water companies rising as we speak. Who wants to trust their health to the hygiene habits of the fast food workers? We might have to sneak a Big Mac once in awhile; but maybe we need to bring our own bottled water. This study does not paint a pretty picture. I don’t know what fast food bathrooms this girl sampled… but my experience does not conjure up any good images. It definitely makes me think twice about my morning regimen of scooping ice out of our corporate ice dispenser in the lunchroom.


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Assam Plants World’s 1st Genetically Modified Rubber Plant
Assam has planted World’s first genetically modified (GM) rubber plant in Guwahati.
On Tuesday, the genetically modified rubber plant was planted on the outskirts of Guwahati at the Rubber Board’s Sarutari research farm.
As per reports, the plant was developed at the Kerala-based Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII).
It is expected to grow under the climatic condition of the northeast, said reports.
KN Raghavan, Chairman and Executive Director of the Rubber Board said the first of its kind rubber plant is developed exclusively for this region. It is expected to grow well under the climatic conditions of the mountainous northeastern region.
He said, “The GM rubber plant is expected to tide over the severe cold conditions during winter, which is a major factor affecting the growth of young rubber plants. Natural rubber is a native of warm humid Amazon forests and it is not naturally suited for the cold conditions in this part of the country.”
Raghavan further added, “MnSOD gene was taken from the rubber plant itself. Its copies were multiplied in the laboratory and reinserted into a cell of the rubber plant which was then regenerated into a full plant that is now planted in the field. There are no plant species in India that can breed with natural rubber. Therefore, there is no risk of genes flowing from the GM rubber into any other native species, a concern often raised by environmental groups against GM plants in general.”


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The production capacity of the Chinese has always been beyond doubt. For millennia (literally,) the Chinese have been able to … Continue reading China: The giant manufacturer learned to produce small pen tips
In past years, products have started to become customizable and personalized, which is a huge demand by the grand majority … Continue reading Are Customizable Supply Chains The New Thing?
2017 just began and the world seems to be already being subject of unprecedented and unforeseeable changes: an unexpected presidential … Continue reading Unprecedented Changes: 2017 and the connotation of Supply Chain Management
Zara is a clothing line a chain of stores from Spain that belongs to the INDITEX group, a Spanish multinational … Continue reading Zara Is One Of The Best Examples Of Supply Chain Success
As David Kiger has said before on this blog, a supply chain is a process dedicated to moving a product … Continue reading The future of Supply Chain Management is here!


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Lyons Magnus has issued a voluntary recall of 53 dairy and nutritional drinks over potential microbial contamination, the company said in a statement on FDA’s website.
The brands that are impacted by the recall include Oatly, Stumptown, Glucerna, Intelligentsia, Aloha, and Kate Farms.
Oatly is one of many companies that came forward with a statement after the reports. Here’s how to find the lot numbers for the recalled products.
MORE: INSIDE MYSTIKAL’S NET WORTH AS RAPPER ARRESTED ON FALSE IMPRISONMENT CHARGES
Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Oatly lot numbers
Oatly’s recalled product is called the Oat Milk Barista Edition which comes in 12ct/32 fl oz slim cartons (Food Service Channel). Here are the lot codes for all products:
112 – 4/20/20231112 – 4/21/20232902 – 4/2/20233902 – 4/3/20234902 – 4/4/20236112 – 4/26/20239012 – 4/19/2023
To find the lot code and best by date, customers should refer to the top of the carton for individual cartons or the side of the case for multi-carton cases. The 53 products were distributed nationally, Lyons Magnus said in their statement, while other products were limited in scope.
The full list of recalled products is available on the Food and Drug Administration’s website.
OMG: DID KIM AND PETE BREAK UP? LONG DISTANCE AND LACK OF PICS SPARK RUMOURS
Hi, thanks for reaching out! This issue relates to a limited number of batches from our co-packer Lyons-Magnus (32oz Barista Edition in Slim packaging) primarily distributed to food service partners. No other Oatly batches or Oatly products are impacted.— Oatly (@oatly) August 2, 2022
Oatly responds on Twitter
Oatly said that the affected products are only related to the recall made by Lyons Magnus and no other batches or products have been impacted.
“This issue relates to a limited number of batches from our co-packer Lyons-Magnus and doesn’t impact any other Oatly products,” a Twitter post from the company reads. “We of course take food safety very seriously and are taking the appropriate steps together with them.”
Oatly said that they will be able to verify which products have been impacted if customers send them pictures of anything they have at email@example.com.
Hi! Our co-manufacturer’s recall is limited to a select number of batches of our shelf-stable Barista Edition Oatmilk, produced at a single facility during a certain time period. If you have cartons you’d like us to check out, please email our team at firstname.lastname@example.org.— Oatly (@oatly) August 1, 2022
More about the recall
Lyons Magnus confirmed that it is pulling 53 beverage products from shelves over possible contamination with Cronobacter sakazakii.
The company said that no illnesses or complaints have been reported but they made the decision due to a group of vulnerable and immunocompromised people who may be more susceptible to infection.
The manufacturer said in a statement: “While infection related to Cronobacter sakazakii is rare, the common symptoms of illness could include fever, vomiting and urinary tract infection.
“However, vulnerable and immunocompromised populations may be more susceptible to infection. To date, no illnesses or complaints related to these products have been reported. The recalled products should not be consumed.”
For further details, customers can get in touch with the Lyons Recall Support Center 24/7 at 1-800-627-0557 or visit its website at www.lyonsmagnus.com.
The company said that the recall doesn’t include any products intended for infants (under the age of one).
Everything I Know About Love | Official Trailer | Peacock OriginalBridTV11016Everything I Know About Love | Official Trailer | Peacock Originalhttps://i.ytimg.com/vi/yB6b0lTqk3I/hqdefault.jpg10670341067034center13872
The post Recalled Oatly lot numbers as Barista edition among 53 drinks pulled from shelves appeared first on Wothappen .


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U.S., CARICOM seek to strengthen trade
Senior officials from the United States and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) met Friday to discuss enhanced cooperation in multilateral fora, an increased focus on intellectual property protection, development of e-commerce infrastructure, and removal of barriers to bilateral trade as important work to be done under the recently inaugurated U.S.-CARICOM Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Miriam Sapiro and Neville Totaram of Guyana, on behalf of CARICOM, co-chaired the inaugural meeting of U.S.-CARICOM Council on Trade and Investment.
“The United States looks forward to strengthening our partnership with CARICOM and tackling important trade and investment issues under the framework of the new council,” Sapiro said in a statement. “We have a large and growing relationship with our Caribbean partners. Working together, we have great potential to support job growth and boost competitiveness across the region.”
In 2012, two-way trade between the United States and CARICOM member countries was greater than $22 billion. These Caribbean nations shipped $11 billion in goods to the United States, while U.S. exports to the CARICOM members were $11.7 billion, up 6 percent from 2011.
Leading U.S. exports to the CARICOM countries in 2012 were mineral fuel, machinery, and cereals. Top exports to the United States from CARICOM included mineral fuel, chemicals, and iron and steel.
Vice President Joe Biden and Haitian President Michel Martelly signed the U.S.-CARICOM TIFA in May. CARICOM is comprised of 15 Caribbean nations and dependencies, including Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.


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Apple is expected to shrink the bezels on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max and newly leaked front panels appear to confirm that.
Apple is expected to announce four new iPhones later in 2022 and if the rumors are true we can expect some tweaks to the way all of them look. Now a new leak of claimed iPhone 15-series front panels appears to have given us a look at some of those tweaks.
Previous rumors have Apple giving the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus the same Dynamic Island that is currently limited to the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. We’ve also been told to expect the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max to have thinner bezels than in previous years, too. This new leak shows both of those things.
The leak comes via Twitter and ShrimpApplePro, although the video originally came from Douyin, China’s version of TikTok. In the video, we see three iPhone front panels. From left to right we believe those panels are for the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPhone 15.
Based on that assumption we can see the thinner bezels used on the left and middle panels, while the one on the right has the same bezels that we can see in the current iPhone 14 lineup. It’s difficult to make out, but there also appears to be a slight curvature on the edges of the panels, just as we’d been told to expect in previous leaks.
ShrimpApplePro says that they’ve been able to confirm that these panels are indeed authentic, although the original source’s record isn’t one we’re familiar with.
If Apple follows the usual annual release cadence we can expect it to ship the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max this September. We should also expect to see more leaks between now and then as well.


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Lobbyists SchmobbyistsPosted: December 31, 2012 Filed under: Policy Leave a comment
Winner of this month’s award for the most annoying statement by a Tennessee lobbyist: Chip Christianson, vice president of legislative affairs for the Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association, who had this to say in a Tennessean state legislature preview piece the other day on the matter of allowing wine sales in grocery stores:
“This is 100 percent pushed by the grocers. Polls, schmolls. There’s no groundswell of people trying to get this done.”
Multiple polls-schmolls have found that upwards of two-thirds of Tennesseans want this to happen, so Christianson’s view can be not-so-loosely translated as “up yours, consumers.” Look, I get it — the TWSRA represents liquor store owners, and the last thing they want to see is the competition and downward price pressure that will come with grocery store sales. (And there is empirical evidence that retail wine prices will drop with grocery store availability.)
It’s quite remarkable that a conservative state legislature continues to find it so difficult to make this happen. What principles are more bedrock conservative than letting the people have what they clearly want, by way of more rather than less market competition? House Speaker Beth Harwell sounds almost reasonable when she says “I believe it’s time for grocery stores to be allowed to sell wine — and I believe Tennesseans want that — but we want to do it in a way that creates an equal playing field for the mom-and-pop stores as well.” But where is her “equal playing field for mom-and-pop stores” vibe when big-box retailers are decimating the mom-and-pop economies of small towns and cities?
And by the way wine in grocery stores is hardly novel or adventurous. More than two-thirds of states allow this in one form or another, including such bastions of radical progressivism as Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Montana, and North and South Carolina.
A version of this post appears on the Nashville Scene‘s Pith in the Wind blog.


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TECOM Group net profits soar to AED 427 mn
The Dubai-listed TECOM Group, which owns and operates business parks specializing in many vital sectors, announced today its financial results for the second quarter and first half of this year. The Group achieved strong performance supported by Dubai’s continued economic prosperity and business sector improvement.
According to data sent to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) today, the company’s net profit increased by 43.4 percent to 427.53 million dirhams ($269 million), up from 298.22 million dirhams.
Net profit increased by 54.1 percent year on year and 24.7 percent quarterly to 237 million dirhams in the second quarter.
Revenues increased 15.8 percent year on year in the first half of the year, totaling 989.4 million dirhams, due to higher occupancy rates in the commercial and industrial asset sectors. The exceptional strong performance of the services and other business sectors also contributed to the results.
“At the end of the period, the consolidated occupancy level at our operating assets was 83 percent, an encouraging increase from the 78 percent at the end of December 2021,” said Abdulla Belhoul, CEO of TECOM Group.


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The success of the Asus Eee has a lot of other manufacturers paying attention. Everex announced the Cloudbook back at CES 2008 and promised a release date in January. That date has since then delayed it a number of times. It now appears that it will be in stores like Wal-Mart starting on February 15 for USD$399.
The Cloudbook will be powered by a 1.2GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor and the Linux-based gOS. It will come with a 7-inch WVGA (800×480) display, 512MB RAM, a 30GB hard drive (unlike the SSD in the Eee), 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, a 4-in-1 media card reader, 2 USB2.0 ports, and a DVI video port. It weighs about 950 grams (about 2 pounds). In terms of software, it will feature many popular applications like Firefox and the OpenOffice suite.
The first model is not out yet that Everex is already considering future models. According to Paul C. Kim, Director of Marketing at Everex, we will see future models with an SSD, touch screens (expected in Q3), new colours including feminine shades, and larger screens (a 9-inch model is on its way and Everex is even looking at a 22-inch model!)


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Auto Parts Cos. To Pay $14.5M In Latest Cartel SettlementsFujikura Ltd. and T.Rad Co. Ltd. have agreed to collectively pay more than $14.5 million to end-payors in the sprawling multidistrict litigation against auto parts makers, bringing total recoveries for the plaintiff group to nearly $200 million.
Under the settlements outlined in court filings Monday, T.Rad will pay $7.41 million to the end-payor plaintiffs, and Fujikura will pay $7.14 million. The end-payors include businesses and consumers who purchased or leased new automobiles.
“We’re pleased that these additional settlements continue to compensate victims of the conspiracy,” Hollis Salzman,...
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Asian spot prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) extended their fall this week on slack demand, although production issues in Australia helped stem losses.
LNG for May delivery in Asia traded at around $4.20 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), compared with $4.30 per mmBtu last week.
LNG for June delivery was lower at around $4.00 per mmBtu.
Mechanical problems at Australia's Gorgon LNG export terminal are expected to halt production for 30 to 60 days, a development which traders said had helped stop prices sliding further this week.
"The impact is that the market hasn't come down quicker," a trader said.
On the shipping side, however, it had contributed to a glut in tankers.
"It's a huge disappointment because quite a few ships were lined up to trade and now they're potentially back in the market as it's a bit uncertain when it (the plant) will be back up," a shipping broker said.
Traders said there was buying interest in India but elsewhere in Asia it was quiet.
U.S. exporter Cheniere Energy is likely to tender to sell some of its commissioning cargoes, adding further pressure to the market.
"They've knocked out cargoes at a relatively high frequency so we guess the production is going well," the shipping broker.
Angola LNG vessels Malanje and Sonagol Sambizanga are heading towards Angola as the plant prepares to resume exports after a rupture on the flare line forced a shutdown in April 2014.
Traders said Egypt exported a single cargo via Shell from its Idku plant, necessary to keep the plant running, while the country remains a net importer of LNG.
Papua New Guinea's export plant has tendered to sell five LNG cargoes, two traders said.
A deal by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) with Qatargas to supply 0.5 million tonnes of LNG to Kuwait over four years, starting from March 2016, is expected to curb the country's spot demand.
Kuwait now sources a total of around 2.5 million tonnes of LNG per year via contracts for supply until 2019 with BP, Shell and Qatargas.
Other bearish news included Japan's Osaka Gas Co's plans to expand its trading activity to sell LNG it does not need both via short-term opportunities and long-term sales agreements.
On the demand side Argentina's YPF bought a total of 17 LNG cargoes for May to August delivery, including three cargoes each from Gazprom, Trafigura, Petrobras and Gas Natural, two cargoes each from BP and Vitol and a single cargo from Koch Supply & Trading, traders said.
Mexico's state-run power company CFE has purchased three cargoes from BP, two from Citi and one from Vitol, falling one cargo short of the initial seven-cargo tender, traders said.
The Dubai Supply Authority awarded a tender to buy three cargoes for delivery from May through July on Friday but traders said it was unclear who the suppliers were.
Prices were thought to be below $4 for the June and July shipments, three traders said.
(By Sarah McFarlane and Oleg Vukmanovic; Editing by Susan Thomas)


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US-based Jomar has launched a new series of injection blow moulding (IBM) machines, which are powered by custom-designed servo-driven hydraulic technology.
The new IntelliDrive machine improves output and performance, and requires less energy to operate.
Developed in collaboration with Bosch Rexroth, Jomar's proprietary servo-driven hydraulic technology reduces energy consumption by 40%-50% and provides a dry cycle period of 1.8s.
Jomar president Carlos Castro said: “Over the last couple of years, we’ve had numerous inquiries about our intentions in developing an all-electric machine.
“The IntelliDrive Series is a preferable alternative for Jomar because we’ve achieved energy savings comparable to all-electric machines while also maintaining our robust and versatile hydraulic system.”
The new machine includes a reinforced main platen that minimises the possibility of deflection.
It also features a closed-loop clamping system offers improved control over the clamp’s speed and position, as well as faster opening and closing speeds.
Castro added: “Not only are we lowering our customers’ per-part cost with utility savings, but we’re providing a solution that has a very low cost of ownership.
“This is consistent with our overall effort of delivering short- and long-term value to our customers.”
The IntelliDriveM series also features a quick-change mounting system for its preform cylinder, a digital displacement transducer, and a variable-frequency drive for a secondary motor.
Jomar plans to showcase the new machine at the upcoming K 2016 exhibition to be held in October in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The company provides IBM machinery for the pharmaceutical, healthcare, personal care, beauty, food and beverage and household products industries.
Image: Jomar’s new injection blow moulding machine IntelliDrive series. Photo: courtesy of Jomar.


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Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/09/2017 -- Transparency Market Research (TMR) has recently published a report titled "Smart and Mobile Supply Chain Solutions Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020", detailing the present dynamics and growth opportunities for the global smart and mobile supply chain solutions market.
It studies the prevalent demand and supply trends for smart and mobile supply chain solutions, and evaluates how the same is likely to impact the market in the near future. Based on in-depth findings, the analysts behind the report estimate that the global smart and mobile supply chain solutions market, which was valued at US$7,095.3 million in 2013, is likely to develop at a positive CAGR of 13.2% between 2014 and 2020.
Browse the full Smart and Mobile Supply Chain Solutions Market (By Component Type - Software and Services; By End-use Application - Retail, IT and Telecommunication, Manufacturing, BFSI, Government, Energy and Utility, Healthcare, Logistics and Transportation, and Others) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020 report at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/smart-mobile-supply-chain-solutions-market.html
Smart and mobile supply solutions provide users intelligent, interconnected, and instrumented information about the supply chain. The information thus obtained is crucial for supply chain executives who participate in decision making. Furthermore, it also helps product managers in analyzing the dynamics of consumer behavior.
Get A Brochure Of Report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=4323
The report has highlighted these as key factors fuelling demand from the global smart and mobile supply chain solutions market.On matters of the regional segmentation of the global market, a lead TMR analyst said, "Whilst North America held the largest share of the smart and mobile supply chain solutions market, accounting for 37.2% in 2013, the market is also anticipated to capitalize on the rising demand from the emerging economies around the world."
The smart and mobile supply chain solutions market comprises both software and services. The entry of multiple supply chain solution providers in the market has augmented the demand for integration services, which the report identifies as a major factor expected to drive the market over the report's forecast period. The two major software segments of the market – connected supply chain (SCP) and connected sourcing and procurement, collectively hold 50% of the global smart and mobile supply solutions market. Factors such as increasing e-tendering by governments from around the world, technological advances, and escalating emphasis on cost and carbon emission control drive the demand for the aforementioned software.
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Key end-use segments of the smart and mobile supply chain solutions market include IT and telecommunication, retail, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), energy and utility, logistics, manufacturing, government, healthcare, and transportation. Of these, retail and manufacturing held the two largest market shares in 2013, accounting for 18.5% and 18.4% of the market, respectively.
Accelerating demand for integrated supply chain solutions from the logistics and retail sectors is expected to boost the smart and mobile supply chain solutions market further during the report's forecast period. Some of the leading companies profiled in the report are JDA Software Group, Inc., SAP SE, Epicor Software Corporation, Manhattan Associates, Inc., Descartes Systems Group, Inc., GT Nexus Inc., Oracle Corporation, IBM Corporation, Infor Global Solutions, Inc., and Kewill Systems Plc.


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(This post originally appeared on The Hill)
Are small businesses really suffering? That depends on the business. Unfortunately, the biggest mistake people make when talking about “small business” is to sweep all of them into one big generalized group. You can’t do that in a country as large as this.
Sadly, that’s what the government is doing. And that’s why the Paycheck Protection Program is stalling.
Last weekend President Trump signed a bill that extended the Paycheck Protection Program – the act of Congress that offers forgivable loans to small businesses to help them cover payroll and other expenses – until August 8th. Why? Because there’s still roughly $130 billion remaining of the original $670 billion authorized.
All we see in the media are stories about how so many small businesses are suffering. Stores are shuttered, perhaps permanently. Bankruptcies are predicted to soar. And now, as COVID-19 cases rise, business owners are terrified that their local governments will shut them down…again.
For sure, many businesses are suffering, and we are in the midst of a serious economic recession. But if things are so bad for small businesses, why is it that out of the $670 billion allocated to the Paycheck Protection Program, only $540 billion of loans have been extended?
How can there be so much money left over? The issue is more confounding when you consider that just 5 million of the approximately 30 million small business owners took advantage of the program. Sure, there are 6 million employer-firms in the U.S., and the program was designed to maintain their employees. But many of the loans extended were to freelancers, solopreneurs and independent contractors. And many others were extended to firms that maybe didn’t really need the money at all, so it all kind of evens out.
Which brings me back to those other 25 million companies that didn’t take advantage of the program.
Some say they didn’t take advantage of the program because they’re concerned about taking on debt. But that issue was resolved with the Flexibility Act, which extended the forgiveness period to 24 weeks, a time frame that most certainly would result in most of these loans being wiped off their books (and any remaining balances due in five years’ time at a measly one percent interest rate). A few want to remain independent and not rely on taxpayer money. Many rural and minority-owned companies did not apply because of their lack of knowledge and resources. Others say that many small businesses who took the loans earlier have now run out of funds and are in need of more help as rising cases threaten more shutdowns and the economy is slow to recover.
All true. But there’s something else that explains the 25 million. While restaurants, retailers, salon owners and other consumer-facing businesses have been drawing media attention, the vast majority of firms – those that manufacture, perform construction, provide services, create technology, sell online and distribute parts and products – have been muddling along without government help.
Why? Because they had cash reserves, lines of credit and other resources. They’re located in areas not hit as hard by the pandemic. They have low overhead. Their supply lines and customer channels are diversified. Or they simply lucked out and weren’t forced to shut down. “We’re an essential business, so we’ve just been working through this,” one client told me. Many other clients and business owners I work with have reported the same. These times are tough, but they’re still selling.
Then, of course, there are the small firms that have prospered. There’s the cleaning company in Tampa who’s been “crazy” busy, the St. Louis firm that’s been breaking records selling puzzles, games and toys, the small firms benefiting from the e-commerce boom and the artisans on Etsy selling masks like hotcakes.
There are many examples of small firms not just surviving but prospering in these times, and I guess that’s why the National Federation of Independent Business’s latest Small Business Optimism Index, though drastically off its historic highs, has fallen down only to the levels we last saw in 2016 and well off the troughs of the Great Recession.
What does this mean for PPP? It means that Congress should stop trying to satisfy all small businesses in this vast country and instead focus the remaining (and perhaps additional) funds (along with additional educational resources) on those industries and business types that truly need it the most. By this I mean retail, restaurants, hospitality and minority-owned and rural businesses.
You can’t generalize when you talk about small businesses in the U.S. The country is just too big. For PPP to truly work, it must be truly targeted.


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... and off to work it goes. The favourite company of many generations, and the world's biggest media and entertainment company, Disney has decided that the middle of the recession is a great time to re-think everything, especially its retail philosophy. The entertainment giant owns 340 stores across the US and is now, inspired by its largest individual shareholder, Steve Jobs (via Pixar), taking a closer look at the success Apple (not the poisoned kind) had in its own retail offensive a couple of years ago. So where the competitors cut back, re-organise or just plain hibernate, waiting for bad times to blow over, Disney is doing a positively Jobsian move: investing aggressively, re-designing stores to become theme-parks themselves, bringing more joy and happiness to the paying customers. Worked for Apple; will probably work for Disney too.
While we have your attention...
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Donald Trump is the first American president not to own a dog since William McKinley in 1901.


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Henry the kitten blinked a little while curled up in a pink blanket in the recovery room Tuesday morning at the Edmonton Humane Society. The society’s “warrior cat” was sleepy after having his leg amputated. “It went really well,” society volunteer co-ordinator Kolbi Kukurba said that afternoon. “He’s just waking up.”
Gallery: Louis Vuitton - Paris Fashion Week Spring 2014
Designer Marc Jacobs shows his final collection for Louis Vuitton as part of Paris Fashion Week Spring 2014 on October 2, 2013 at The Louvre in Paris. Shortly after the show, the fashion house announced Jacobs was stepping down after 16 years as creative director.


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Good news for those waiting for the Steam deck (opens in new tab), or who might be in the market for one: Production capacity should now allow Valve to complete all preorders by the end of the year. But there’s also bad news for those waiting for the Steam deck in Canada, as this may not apply to you.
“Our distributors are already processing orders to Canada, so people in the region will see a (very) temporary order email pause,” Valve explained on Twitter. “We’re working on it and optimistic that We can resume sending emails to Canada soon.”
Valve clarified that the suspension is to allow resellers to clear the backlog of paid orders in Canada, and emails and shipments to other regions will not be affected.
As a Canadian resident of PC Gamer, I have to say, this sucks. Hopefully the pause is as short-lived as Valve suggested, and the decks will start flowing tomorrow or next week at the latest, but whatever the duration, that’s the principle of things.Unlike most of the rest of the world, which is separated by vast expanses of water, for us Canadians, the U.S. is actually there. Did you know that 90% of Canadians live in within 100 miles (opens in new tab) US border? It’s there!
Why only us? Why not Ireland or Spain or somewhere else?In the wider world, why does the country with the closest ties to the United States (we share the world’s longest international land border (opens in new tab), you know) must wait? This seems really unfair.
Orders to Canada are already being processed by our distributor, so people in the region will see the (very) temporary suspension order email. We are working on it and are optimistic that we can resume sending emails to Canada soon. This will not affect email or shipping in other regions.September 22, 2022
Regardless, showmanship aside, what’s really interesting about the announcement is that by 2023, anyone who wants a Steam deck can simply buy it off the shelf, so to speak, without having to pre-order and wait around. Inevitably, Valve will eventually complete its backlog, Valve announced earlier this week. (opens in new tab) It has already started fulfilling some Steam Deck shipments that aren’t expected to ship until the fourth quarter.Even so, it’s an impressive turnaround, as just six months ago, Valve couldn’t pinpoint some shipment targets more accurately than “after the second quarter.” (opens in new tab). “
I’ve reached out to Valve to ask if it really wants to start shipping Steam decks directly next year, and if there’s a time frame for the Canadian moratorium, and I’ll update if I hear back.


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Dubai – Fall is a time of year stacked with seasonal sales and promotional activities. For many MENA businesses November will be the year’s most profitable month.
Having analysed more than 210 million online orders, IT-company Admitad has been able to identify and accurately predict those product categories that will prove to be the most popular among MENA customers during this Black Friday and Autumn holiday season. The company also leveraged its data to determine the most effective sources of customer acquisition.
Pre-sales? Post-sales? Studies show: the more the better
Black Friday pre-sales not only serve to fuel an audience’s interest for the main event, but also expand a business’s opportunities to make a sale.
In 2021, online sales on Black Friday itself didn’t explode as we’ve seen in previous years. The peak of online orders during the traditional sale dates were actually lower than those of the previous year. Instead, sales grew in width, over a longer period as the promotion was extended - from a few days to a few weeks - and the period of high demand increased.
According to expert reports, the total volume of online sales for last year’s Black Friday slightly decreased - from $9 billion in 2020 to $8.9 billion in 2021. Many brands launched not only pre-sale discounts before November 26th, but also promised to extend their discounts beyond the traditional Black Friday period. In doing this, they spread their audiences’ buying activity over a much longer period.
In 2022, brands should prepare for a longer fight for customer interest - don’t focus all attention on just one day.
Which products will prove most popular?
Admitad found that, worldwide, buyers were spending the most money on electronics and apparel during last year’s Black Friday. Compared to 2020, much more interest was gained by the gaming and events industries. The company predicts that this trend will continue into 2022, since these are two industries showing swift and steady growth throughout the year.
At the same time, Admitad states that the average order value of MENA users increased by 11% during last year’s Black Friday, in comparison to regular sale periods, and reached 141$.
These are the product categories that proved to be the most popular among buyers worldwide - and MENA customers were perfectly aligned with these global trends:
Whereas ‘Home & Garden’ was among the top categories during the 11.11 Singles Day Sale, ‘Furniture and household goods’ made up only 4% of sales during Black Friday. Admitad concludes that many of the fuses for buying these goods had already been triggered by the previous sale, just two weeks earlier.
The "secret weapon" for success in the Autumn sales
According to Admitad, in 2021, a substantial number of users (36.4%) were motivated to shop on Black Friday by lucrative deals from cashback services. Another 19.4% of users decided to buy on the recommendations of online media and internet blogs, 7.8% by affiliate stores and 7.5% by coupon services. A large segment of customers (9.7%) came via messengers and social networks.
These platforms and ad networks are expected to become an even greater supplier of customers during 2022’s Autumn Sales season. In MENA, coupon sites, online media and blogs, and cashback services are already close to the hearts of local shoppers - and continue to be more so. Although, according to Admitad stats, cashback services experienced a slight decrease in sales - number of orders through content websites (blogs and media), affiliate stores and coupon services increased by 217%, 82% and 18% respectively over the year.
In addition, Admitad has analysed this year's order flow to find out which traffic channels are currently growing in performance in MENA. These may prove to be the "secret weapon" for success in these upcoming sales. Results show that contextual ads on networks of Google, Bing and other search engines continue to increase its influence on local buyers’ activities. Already in 2022, sales figures through these platforms have multiplied several times over.
Sales through mobile applications also have significantly increased. A great reason for not only preparing your app for sale activities, but also looking into using mobile publishers in partner networks and advertising through mobile ad networks.
For this report, Admitad analysed more than 210 million orders worldwide, including more than a million orders in MENA region.


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You are watching: Chick fil a back the blue shirts
The latest debate in i beg your pardon Chick-fil-A finds itself embroiled — one for which lock are, in fact, being downright roasted (not to cite grilled and also fried) — transforms out to it is in manufactured, and based ~ above false or misinterpreted information. While a variety of Facebook users have actually been share a viral photograph that purportedly shows Chick-fil-A employee wearing t-shirts the seem to indicate that the chain is acquisition a solid stance in supporting legislation enforcement, and thus implying that they protest the present Black Lives matter protests in the wake up of George Floyd"s fatality at the hand of police officers, the fact behind the issue shows the the shirt has nothing whatsoever to perform with present circumstances.
The picture depicts Chick-fil-A workers wearing t-shirts through the company logo add by the slogan "Back the Blue," which is a phrase frequently used to show support for the police. When publicly acquisition this stance just now might well be taken amiss, the photograph in question was bring away some five years ago. Follow to Reuters, a Chick-fil-A PR rep shown that the shirts were published up in 2015 by a locally owned and also operated Chick-fil-A franchise in order to support their local football team — and also perhaps indicating generalized support for legislation enforcement in ~ a time once so doing to be not perceived as acquisition sides on a controversial issue.
See more: Clintons Return Items To White House, Problems With The Presidential Gifts System
Snopes also reveals the this specific same photograph was likewise used on society media in 2016 to spread out the rumor the Chick-fil-A to be "dropping a bomb" on black Lives issue in the after-effects of a protest where five officers were killed. Snopes" rating? one unequivocal "False," for the same factors that to be uncovered by Reuters. In fact, Facebook has actually labeled few of the articles featuring this photo as having actually "Partly False Information," and Chick-fil-A themselves have published a explain that provides it fairly clear they are not at all opposed come the black Lives issue movement or to ending institutionalized racism. As they placed it, "Let"s open up the door come dialogue and also healing." possibly we"d much better start through making sure we uncover out the reality behind any assertion (or photo) before rushing to judgment or sharing perhaps false info on society media.


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More Articles for Pat Runnion president of Runnion Equipment
Runnion Equipment, a national crane dealer headquartered in Illinois, has moved its Wisconsin location to a new facility at N60 W14752 Kaul Avenue in Menomonee Falls, Wis. The new location as a yard is available to showcase new cranes. Used and ...
Runnion Equipment has hired Scott DesJarlais as outside sales representative in Wisconsin. In his new position, DesJarlais is responsible for new and used equipment sales in Wisconsin at Runnion Equipment. “Scott has had a major impact on sales volume in the ...
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It’s only the middle of December, but the presents are already coming for Apple fans, including today’s update to the Netflix iOS app, a new Pogoplug hardware device and a juicy rumor about new MacBook Pros with a type of “Retina Display” for early 2012. But that’s just scratching the surface of today’s news items, so read on and get all the details for this Wednesday, December 14, 2011.
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A former smartphone giant gets in a few well-placed digs at the two companies currently dominating their turf, claiming potential customers of those devices are unhappy with the choices. It might sound like something you’d hear from Research in Motion or Palm back in the day, but now it’s Nokia’s turn to blast iOS and Android for being the popular kids. This and tons of new app news make up our recap for Tuesday, December 13, 2011.
It’s been a rousing Monday on the Apple scene, with Cupertino dropping a new iOS 5.1 beta (and faking out bloggers at the same time), pulling a fake driver’s license app from the App Store and updating iTunes -- all while getting news that the Apple TV is no mere hobby. Ready to find out more from those tantalizing tidbits? Then read on and get a blast of all the news from this Monday, December 12, 2011.
It’s been an interesting week in the tech world, particularly for fans of “personalized reader” apps who now have a trio of solid choices that work on screens small and large (thanks to the new Google Currents and both Zite and Flipboard going universal on the iPhone). Hey, maybe you’re even reading this right now from your Currents app -- if so, you probably want to get on with the day’s news, so here’s the best and brightest from Friday, December 9, 2011.
Seems like all the big news this week is app-related! Twitter has a new iOS app update, Batman flies in with a slick new Arkham City game, OnLive is coming to iOS and a whole lot more. Hey, maybe someday we’ll all be giving virtual gifts for the holidays -- no more wrapping paper and bows, no more piles of gifts under the tree. While you ponder that future, read on for all the news from Thursday, December 8, 2011.
Today marks 70 years since the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, the catalyst for America leaping into World War Two. A rather somber day of remembrance for many of us, but the tech world isn’t about to stop, with no less than three major App Store events on top of a couple of juicy Apple product rumors as well. Let’s have a moment of silence for the 2,403 lost on that fateful day, then dive into what’s making tech news on this Wednesday, December 7, 2011.
It seems like the lazy part of December is upon us: The frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday is behind us and the last-minute mad rush for holiday gifts is still a week or two away. So what’s a MacLife.com reader to do? Why not take a bite out of some tasty tech news from around the internet while you wait -- here’s the latest and greatest for Tuesday, December 6, 2011.
December is already off to a rousing start, so why not curl up with some good rumors, news and speculation? We could all use some holiday drama that doesn’t involve our own families, and the tech world is happy to oblige this fine day. We’ve got news on a delayed ITC ruling for Apple and HTC, mumblings about Apple’s TV set, news on the potential non-threat of the Kindle Fire and oh so much more for this Monday, December 5, 2011.
Hooray, another Friday is here! It seems like they come faster and faster this time of year, which is a good thing for those of us who need to get out and do some Christmas (or other holiday) shopping, buy and trim the tree and start getting the apartment or house in order so those miscreant relatives have somewhere to stay. If the mere thought of all that has you exhausted, take a break for a few moments and catch up on all the tech news for Friday, December 2, 2011.
Like it or not, December is here, and in a few short weeks we’ll be saying hello to 2012 and another new year of Apple rumors and product announcements. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet -- there’s still plenty going on in the final days of 2011, including the discovery of Carrier IQ in iOS, a MacPaw Mac App Store bundle that expires at midnight and a new report claiming iPhone 4S users are even happier than iPhone 4 owners. All of this and much more for December 1, 2011.


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Consumers Sponsored by
The flavor and fragrance industry is at the forefront of the development of new tastes and aromas for these new consumers. Products developed and launched by Bell Flavors & Fragrances during the last two years have been developed directly from the processors, who in turn work directly with the consumer through evaluation of direct sales.
The company has found that the push for healthier products from the food and beverage industries exerts a great deal of influence on personal care markets, and flavors that launch in beverages cross over to personal care.
Below is a list of fruits and ideas that have started off, for the most part, in the food and beverage markets and have already entered into personal care markets—or have significant potential in these markets.


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Rackspace CEO Lanham Napier said the company will soon launch so-called managed cloud services. In a nutshell, Rackspace is looking to bring managed service levels to its cloud customers.
Napier briefly outlined the move on Rackspace's third quarter earnings conference call. Rackspace delivered a solid quarter overall with earnings of $11.8 million, or 9 cents a share, on revenue of $199.7 million. Wall Street was looking for earnings of 9 cents a share on $197.5 million.
Company executives outlined a few key trends. Among them:
- Enterprise demand was picking up for Rackspace as it grabs more wallet share.
- The company's launch of cloud services for Microsoft Windows has fueled demand.
- Napier noted that Rackspace isn't seeing any effects from Amazon Web Services and its recently announced free tier. In any case, Rackspace is looking to move upstream in cloud services and leave commodity infrastructure to Amazon.
But the more notable item is what's next. Napier talked a lot about hybrid cloud deployments and how Rackspace could blend its cloud service with its hosting business. Enter managed cloud services. Napier explained:
Another new capability that we are reading for launch is one that we call Managed Cloud. This new production extends our support to Cloud customers. The Managed service level in Cloud is designed it help ensure performance through monitoring, support for the operating system and application infrastructure, as well as provide technical guidance.
In addition to Managed service level in Cloud, we are also nearing completion of our Hybrid hosting product. Hybrid will enable customers to run a managed environment of dedicate and Cloud infrastructure solutions. For example, a high performance database running on dedicated gear with a link to Cloud service to handle peak load spikes or unpredictable traffic.
As the market becomes more familiar with cloud technologies, we believe that nearly all businesses will use a mix of both dedicated and cloud platforms. And we believe Hybrid will become one of our largest differentiators in the market.
Napier added that launch details will be released shortly. Managed cloud services are now in beta with select customers.
The melding of cloud and hosting makes sense for Rackspace. In the third quarter, managed hosting revenue was $173 million, up 18 percent from a year ago. Cloud revenue for the quarter was $27 million, up 75 percent from a year ago. Bringing the attributes of hosting and cloud services together could bring in more enterprise dollars.
Napier also talked about Amazon Web Services and the plan to avoid commodity services.
In terms of the competitive landscape, yes, there is certainly an announcement here from Amazon Web Services about offering a free development tier, which is really a micro-slice for free for a period of time for developer customers. Up to -- it's early in the game. Up to this we would say we have had no impact -- that has had no impact on us, and that what is happening here is really the market is starting to more clearly identify the different segments. So Amazon has done a great job, and the offerings they have out there are really a do-it-yourself offering. So it's about providing customers access to their infrastructure, and then the responsibility on customers to make the work happen and make the infrastructure generate the right results is really on the customers' shoulders.
When we look at our offerings out there, our core customer is going to be a customer that wants a partner, that values service, and is willing to pay for a world-class outcome. So as we look at the new offerings we have, for example, our Managed service layers on Cloud, we will be increasing the price in our offerings.
So what we believe is happening is the market is bifurcating here, and it's reinforcing the different segments in market opportunities. There will be a segment in the cloud market will people just want access to infrastructure, and it's going to be a commodity type experience, and Amazon is a great pick there. When we think about it, our core customer is that customer who is going to want to trusted partner, value the service, and be willing to pay a premium for a world-class customer outcome. That's who we're targeting.
Indeed, the managed cloud offering is a way to move upstream. Rackspace is looking to add better support to cloud services. For now, Rackspace is garnering cloud customers for a few applications and then upselling more services.


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To say that 2016 was a memorable year for the majority of the adult world may be an understatement. Many breathed a sigh of relief as this new year began - but how much did the apocalyptic media coverage of 2016 really affect centennials? We spoke to over 800 8-18 year olds from the US … Continue reading Was 2016 really “the worst year ever”? Kids give their opinions
Kids and teens today have been familiar with digital media and advertising from a very young age. With technology at their fingertips, the need for our youngest generation to understand what exactly is being suggested, promised and sold is greater than ever. Media Smart, a media literacy programme for 7 to 16 year-olds, backed by … Continue reading How much do kids (and teachers) really know about social media and advertising?
We’re often asked which ad formats are the most effective for engaging kids’ imaginations. Our Insights team recently spoke to over a thousand kids aged 6-14 across the US and UK, who gave some pretty blunt feedback about the various ad formats they encounter daily. Interestingly US kids are generally more ready to engage with … Continue reading We asked 1000 kids what they thought about online advertising
We’ve spent the last three years creating the infrastructure for safe brand engagement in the digital kids market. Today marks another milestone in this mission. Introducing the latest SuperAwesome product: the Kidfluencer YouTube Network. A long time ago (in a galaxy not so far away) we all came to terms with the inevitability that kids are on … Continue reading Introducing our Kidfluencer Network: bringing kid-safety to content marketing
SuperAwesome recently collaborated with US virtual reality research firm Greenlight VR to produce a 60-page report exploring attitudes towards the technology in the UK. 1,018 participants were interviewed, ranging in age from 10 - 60+. However, as kids experts, there was always going to be one group we were most interested in: ‘Generation Swipe’, the … Continue reading 5 things you need to know about Generation Swipe and VR
SuperAwesome was proud to support Safer Internet Day 2016 (#SID2016). Creating a safer online and mobile experience for kids is at the heart of everything we do. This year, Safer Internet Day 2016 took place on the 9th February with the theme 'Play your part for a better internet!' Coordinated by the UK Safer Internet Centre, the event … Continue reading SuperAwesome supports Safer Internet Day 2016 on PopJam!
SuperAwesome Insights have just released one of the first research reports on digital media activities in of 6-14 kids in Southeast Asia. The report gives a comprehensive picture of kids' media consumption habits across the main ASEAN markets including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Here are some of our key findings from this unique, digitally minded audience: For … Continue reading Infographic: What you need to know about kids’ digital behaviour in ASEAN
The US leads the world in data privacy compliance requirements for the kids digital media sector through its Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) legislation. Europe has been lagging behind in terms of standards until last month when the requirements of the upcoming new 2016 kids data privacy laws were revealed. Not only has the … Continue reading How the new EU data privacy laws change the kids ad market forever
With the election looming, it’s the question that every politician wants to answer – how to engage the youth. Voter apathy in this age group is high with over half of 18-24 year olds not using their vote. The next generation of voters are set to face an ever broader and splintered political field than … Continue reading The question that every politician wants to answer…
It may have caught your attention a few weeks ago that the kids on your nearby school run were sporting rather more fairy wings, hook hands and witch hats than usual. The reason? World Book Day: that time when schools across the country are flooded with little Heidis and Grinches, Gruffalos and Wimpy Kids. This year there was even … Continue reading Zoella and friends: the digital stars taking the book world by storm


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As part of this, the latter’s entire product portfolio will be integrated into Just Eat Takeaway.com’s marketplace and will be delivered directly by Getir couriers.
The partnership will kick off in Germany next week, with approximately 2.000 items ready for customers to buy online from all Getir stores, through Lieferando’s app and website.
Andrew Kenny, interim COO at Just Eat Takeaway.com, says: “Our grocery offer is going from strength to strength and this exciting new partnership signifies our commitment to only expand this further.”
“Being one of Europe’s most known food delivery marketplaces, our customers can access everything from delicious meals from their local takeaway or favourite restaurant brand, to stocking up on store cupboard essentials and fresh groceries.”
“We’re delighted to be working with Getir to bring even more choice and convenience to our customers across Europe.”
Getir Regional General Manager, Turancan Salur, says: “As the pioneer of ultrafast grocery delivery, we have found a strong partner in Just Eat Takeaway.com with their excellent market positioning in Europe.”
“The cooperation of two strong international brands is an absolute win-win situation for both: our customers can choose from a wider range of grocery and convenience products. At the same time, Getir will benefit from accessing the large consumer base and continue to grow across Europe.”
The partnership will be rolled out to other European markets including the UK, Spain, Italy and France, in the coming weeks.
UBER EATS AND GOPUFF
Earlier this week, Uber and Gopuff announced a new UK partnership that will enable customers across the country who use the Uber Eats app to order from Gopuff’s range of everyday essentials, including branded products and fresh food items, direct from said app.
This builds on a US tie up, which launched in May 2021.
The roll-out of Gopuff stores onto the Uber Eats app will be completed by mid-November.
Orders will be fulfilled by the former’s delivery partners.
Alex Troughton, Head of Commerce at Uber Eats UK, says: “We are delighted that Gopuff has expanded to Uber Eats in the UK today.”
“We want to offer the best choice for customers up and down the country and being able to offer thousands of Gopuff’s wide range of everyday essentials will help us in this mission.”
Daniel Folkman, SVP Business at Gopuff, says: “Since inception, customers have been at the core of what we do.”
“Our extended partnership with Uber Eats makes sense, as we continue to expand our presence in the UK, a major growth market for us. Expanding our platform enables us to reach more customers where they are, bringing them the products they want, in the moment they need them.”
“Through the collaboration with Uber Eats, we’re able to offer the unmatched, high quality Gopuff experience across both platforms and better serve consumers across the UK.”
Source: Retail Technology Innovation Hub


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The Sacramento-based media company McClatchy reported Friday that its digital-only subscribers grew by 34 percent compared from the same period last year.
The publisher of 30 daily newspapers, including The Sacramento Bee, also said its digital advertising revenue continued to outpace print revenue in the months of May and June.
Still, the company, which has pivoted toward digital growth, reported a net loss in the second quarter of 2018 of $20.4 million, or $2.62 per share.
“We ended the quarter with 122,400 digital-only subscribers, up 34.5 percent from the same period in 2017, an accelerated pace of growth from the first quarter,” McClatchy president and CEO Craig Forman said in a statement. “We continue to be excited about our digital future and to invest in the growth engines of our business.”
The company also cut its first-lien debt by 10 percent and extended future debt payments to 2026, Forman said.
“In our new debt structure, we will pay down the first lien notes from excess cash flows and certain asset sales and this ability to prepay debt is a positive term of the 2026 notes indenture that we sought from investors,” he said.
Revenues, overall, declined by 9.2 percent in the second quarter. The widest drops were in print advertising which fell by double-digits. Meanwhile, digital-only advertising revenues exceeded print newspaper advertising revenues, growing by more than 20 percent.
Like many newspaper publishers, McClatchy has faced tough headwinds in recent years as it tried to revamp its business.
Forman said he expects cost-reductions to continue but the company will also make strategic investments that support digital growth.
McClatchy will relocate of printing operations in Belleville, Ill. to Kansas City, Mo. in August, reducing its printing presses in all 30 markets. The company has already reorganized advertising teams that work in the same region, he said.
“Best in class digital journalism and advertising has become the mainstay of our business that was once print-centric and this transition takes time,” Forman said during an earnings call with investors Friday.
Lately, newspaper owners, including McClatchy, have also found challenges in the trade environment as tariffs threaten to boost the cost of paper products from abroad.
“The one item we cannot control is newsprint pricing,” said Elaine Lintecum, McClatchy chief financial officer said during the call. She also noted that newsprint makes up less than 4 percent of the operating budget. “We’re hopeful that the tariffs on newsprint from Canada, which are under a more intense review from the International Trade Commission and are the subject of bipartisan legislation, will be rolled back.”
McClatchy (MNI) shares closed at $10.06, up six cents, Friday.


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Hartselle Farmers Market opens Saturday
The Hartselle Farmers Market will welcome vendors and patrons alike Saturday as it opens for its 2023 season.
Patrons can expect to see strawberries, fresh-baked goods, select produce and more.
The market is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday and 7 a.m. until noon, or until sold out, on Saturday.
Market manager Erin Burleson said the market always starts off slow in the spring with a few vendors and grows as the weather warms up.
“Most of our farmers are just now putting their plants in the ground, however there will be plants, eggs, locally raised beef, some crafts like soaps, and baked goods in the weeks to come,” she said.
Growers with a 2023 Growers Permit can apply for the market at City Hall free of charge.
Those interested in becoming a vendor or who have questions about the market, can find the Hartselle Farmers Market on Facebook and Instagram or call 256-654-7266.
The market is located at 208 Sparkman St. SW, Hartselle.


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Meta just announced that it is slowing down the promotion of
NFTs across Instagram and Facebook and instead plans to focus on other elements
to facilitate its users including creators and businesses.
The company hopped on the NFT bandwagon in April last year and a month later, launched a live test of NFTs on Instagram as a monetization feature for creators. It looks like Meta couldn’t gain much out of its efforts dedicated to the digital collectibles and therefore decided to amplify elements that are more profitable to the company, such as Reels and messaging.
Meta’s decision would also help it in cutting costs that it
has been compelled to re-evaluate, as it continues to cut a significant number
of jobs that have since resulted in termination of several of its projects.
The NFT hype has slowly declined globally in the past few
months anyway, as a result of various impactful shifts in the crypto market. Seeing
how Meta is dedicated to experimenting with new and advance digital features in
alignment with the Metaverse, we could likely see the company making more
worthy digital efforts in the future.


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Fashion Football: NFL Targets Women
The National Football League (NFL) is aiming to capture its 45% female fan base with a new fashion-led marketing campaign. Created by global advertising and marketing agency Grey Group, the promotion features merchandise modelled by powerful women such as former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, American tennis superstar Serena Williams and former model Melania Trump.
The advertising campaign, featured in American fashion and lifestyle magazines, was styled by Tiina Laakkonen from Vogue Japan and shot by renowned fashion photographer Daniel Jackson. The ads merge NFL apparel with high-end fashion, such as shoes by Malaysian designer Jimmy Choo and French designer Christian Louboutin, as well as accessories from French luxury brand Hermès. A limited-edition T-shirt designed by New York-based luxury fashion label Marchesa will also debut in September 2012.
The NFL launched its first women’s collection in 2010, which consisted of slightly reworked team jerseys. The new line boasts more femininely fitted designs and stylised team logos. Rhiannon Madden, NFL’s director of apparel, told fashion site Women’s Wear Daily: "We want to show that you can be a fan by what you wear to work, going to the gym or out at night with girlfriends. It's also a message of empowerment. It's your team – not your guy's team.”
Read more about the opportunity for providing stylish, fashion-forward apparel for the growing female sportswear market in Ones to Watch: Women’s Sportswear Brands.


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"There's a gap between our own bodies ... and ideal bodies. They keep shrinking and getting smaller," she said.
New Israeli law bans underweight models in ads →
"On the one hand, maybe we'll hurt a few models," Adato said. "On the other hand, we'll save a lot of children."


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— The 2013 Chevrolet Volt has battery voltage problems, at least in more than 3,200 of the plug-in hybrid cars.
General Motors says a previous software update to improve the car actually did the opposite by disabling the cell balancing function, resulting in a low-voltage condition.
A GM engineer noticed the problem in May 2018, causing the automaker to open an investigation that proved a software update to the "vehicle interface control module" (VICM) was causing low-voltage issues. GM says it was already investigating complaints about low-voltage Volt batteries when the engineer discovered the VICM problem.
The Volt will experience reduced power and propulsion when the battery cells drop to a certain voltage level. General Motors says all propulsion will be lost if the car continues to be driven once power is reduced.
The 2013 Chevrolet Volt recall will see dealers reprogram the vehicle interface control modules, but GM doesn't know when that will happen.
Volt owners with questions or concerns should call the automaker at 800-222-1020 and tell customer service you need information about recall number 18215.


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It has long been said that beer is the drink of the working class. It’s an affordable luxury that basically everyone can enjoy. Because it’s Labour Day, I’ve tried to take both affordability and luxury into account.
You think you know your beers? Try this: Match the beer to the flag.
On your mark, get set – and make us some mac 'n cheese! And that's exactly what a group of esteemed foodies did recently, at the 2014 ‘Grate Canadian Mac 'N Cheese’ competition, which took place at the Dairy Farmers of Canada's All You Need is Cheese exhibit at Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition.
Well, well! Wasn't it just yesterday we were all singing school's out for summer? Now it's back to the backpacks, the lunch boxes, the scramble to fuel for school. Getting kids out of bed early next week is going to be brutal - and that's just the tip of the iceberg! Start planning the lunches now - and get the kids involved in the process. Time management can be painless, if properly executed.
The onset of the Labour Day weekend is a call to action.
LONDON, Ont. ─ All Tim Hortons fans will be ‘loving Reece’s to pieces’ in the near future.
A diet rich in tomatoes can significantly lower the risk of men developing prostate cancer.
Just when you thought it was safe to put the lunch bags away – it's time to start thinking back-to-school fuel.
LOST EDUCATION: THE REALITY OF HUNGER IN CANADIAN CLASSROOMS: A recent survey of active teachers across Canada revealed Canadian children may lose up to three months of learning time each year due to hunger, and that one in seven Canadian children is at risk of going to school on an empty stomach, having not eaten anything for breakfast.
Beer packaging has just gotten a lot bigger in Texas, where a small brewery is launching a 99-pack of its "Peacemaker" ale.


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You don't have to wait until after graduation to run your own business. From inception to launch, here's how to start up while you're still a student.
Weekly News Roundup
The length of the Facebook CEO's workday may surprise you.
In his latest Q&A, the billionaire Facebook CEO talked work habits, net neutrality and virtual reality. He even fielded Qs from Richard Branson and Shakira. And, no, he didn't hire that dude who asked him for a job.
The LinkedIn co-founder's investments in Facebook, Airbnb and Dropbox more than paid off. Will Silicon Valley's 'startup whisperer' be on the money about Bitcoin, too?
Are you more Zuckerberg or Branson? More innovator or opportunist? Take this fun flowchart quiz to find out.
Adaptability, courage, drive and grit have been the hallmarks of the best entrepreneurs throughout the ages.
Weekly Tips Roundup
Learn from the best on how to master your time time and maximize your talents.
60 Second Solutions
The Shark Tank star reveals ways to get "smarter" press and a former Olympian shares how he tackles adversity.
Facebook's CEO shared wisdom on hiring and delegation during the latest installment of 'Q&A with Mark.'
Facebook has created more billionaires under 40 than any other company.
That as well as 4.5 million jobs in 2014, according to a new study by consulting firm Deloitte & Touche.
Virtual reality goggles, drones and data centers are all driving a hiring spree at the big social network.
In his third-ever town hall-style Q&A, the Facebook founder discussed some misconceptions that surround entrepreneurship.
Whether they dropped out or stuck it out, going to college more than paid off for today's top tech startup billionaires -- higher ed skeptic and Stanford alum Peter Thiel included.
Copyright © 2015 Entrepreneur Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2015 Entrepreneur Media, Inc.


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Full profile →'">
The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
In December 2010, Jeff Yin, 37, officially gave up a hunt for a full-time job and decided to earn his living as part of the crowd. Yin, who holds a PhD in atmospheric science, got laid off from a wind-power company in Boulder, Colorado in September 2009. Since then he's been supporting himself and his wife by working on ad campaigns (and with a few other odd jobs) for Trada, a company that's letting freelancers build pay-per-click ad campaigns in Google and Microsoft-Bing for businesses. After earning a few monthly checks between $4,000 and $5,000, Yin decided he could earn a stable income working on these ad campaigns.
Niel Robertson, the CEO of Trada (which we profiled here in a recent magazine article) proselytizes for the economic power of crowdsourcing. "The whole concept of ‘Can I get a job or not?' will be moot in about ten years because everyone will be able to do something in the cloud," he says.
Even as the US unemployment rate ticked down to a recent low of 9.0% in January 2011, much of that drop from 9.8% in November 2010 came because Americans gave up looking for jobs and 13.9 million people are out of work, double the number before the recession started.
Is Jeff Yin the future of the American workforce? In an article I wrote last year that looked at new niche marketplaces popping up online, economist Paul Kedrosky said he was seeing a move towards "atomized" employment, where people piece together an income from multiple sources. Will crowdsourcing and atomized employment be the full-time job of the 21st Century?
What's crowdsourcing? According to Wikipedia, the not-for-profit global manifestation of the concept, Crowdsourcing is: "the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to an undefined, large group of people or community through an open call."
The web makes such open calls to the crowd or cloud much easier, and the Crowdsortium, an industry trade group, lists about 52 companies among its ranks, including uTest, where quality assurance professionals can crowd-test software, and 99Designs, that's crowdsourcing graphic design. Just over a year into operations, Trada that already tapped 1,000 people (all in the US) to help mostly small to medium-sized companies figure out to maximize their ad spending on Google search words and expects to increase that the number of freelancers tenfold in 2011.


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When Lekki Fashion Lovers Converged For Yomi Casual [Photos]
Famous Nigerian fashion designer Yomi Casual on Sunday 9th of October launched his shirt collection at his Lekki outlet on Caroline Atuonah Street, Off Bisola Durosinmi Etti Drive, Lekki Phase 1. Lagos.
The event, which turned out to be a fashion show/ cocktail and shopping party had celebrities and fashion icons like A.Y, Timi Dakolo, Alex Ekubo grace the occasion.
Checkout photos from the event below.
Pictures from the event were taken by Anazia Richy E.
Olumuyiwa is the founder of Lekki Republic. A seasoned PR & Branding Professional, he has worked with both local and international media houses including Linda Ikeji Media and Ringier Nigeria (owners of Pulse Nigeria TV). He currently leads the team at Delurge Consulting, a Digital Marketing & Talent Management Agency in Lagos, Nigeria. Follow him on Twitter @Delurge


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The London fashion label Issa has announced the departure of founder and creative director Daniella Helayel. Replacing her will be former Chloé and Stella McCartney designer Blue Farrier.
First launched in 2004 to reflect "the effortless elegance and laid-back spirit" of Helayel's Brazilian upbringing, Issa London has emerged as one of the UK's most up-and-coming labels.
"The time has come for me to move on to focus on my art, travel and other interests. Creating Issa has been one of the most rewarding things in my life. I may be leaving, but the Issa girl will live forever in my heart," said Helayel in a statement released on May 23.
The designer will finish her ongoing collaborations with River Island and C&A in Brazil before finalizing her departure. The brand was quick to name Helayel's replacement, appointing Blue Farrier to the role.
"Her vision and passion will be vital as we expand into new categories and markets and continue the development of Issa into a truly global lifestyle brand," said Angelina Ypma, Issa London CEO.
Stocked in around 350 locations worldwide, the brand opened its first international store in Japan earlier this year and will unveil the first freestanding boutique in Brazil towards the end of 2013.


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Japanese export ship orders fell in May for the first time in 18 months on a year-on-year basis, sliding 41 percent to 551,270 tons, according the Japan Ship Exporters Association.
The year-on-year pace of growth had slowed for three months in a row before turning negative in May, a sign of the struggles in the country’s industrial sector in the wake of the twin natural disasters in March.
After more than tripling year-over-year in January, ship orders grew 35.4 percent in February, 10.9 percent in March and 9.4 percent in April.
Japanese shipbuilders in May received orders for 18 export ships — 16 bulk carriers and two marine resource research vessels. The 18 ships total 303,556 compensated gross tons.
Japan is one of the world’s top shipbuilding nations, along with South Korea and China. Japan’s export ship orders started to plunge in October 2008 due to the deep global economic downturn triggered by the financial crisis that erupted in the United States the previous month.
Japan started providing official financial support in early 2010 to shore up slumping vessel exports through the government-affiliated Japan Bank for International Cooperation, one of the world’s biggest international financial institutions.
Japan now is struggling to recover from the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeastern part of the country on March 11.
Although some small shipyards in the disaster-hit areas were affected, major Japanese shipyards that build large vessels for exports are concentrated in western Japan and remain intact.
Speaking at his first press conference as new chairman of the Shipbuilders’ Association of Japan, Kazuaki Kama said last week the Japanese shipbuilding industry faces ongoing challenges.
“With the global economy slowing down broadly, the flow of goods by sea has fallen sharply, the demand-and-supply imbalance for shipping space has been widening, and the new shipbuilding market remains in the doldrums,” he said.
Kama also expressed concerns about the excessive ship building capacity in South Korea and China, higher prices for steel products and an appreciation of the yen.
In 2010, Japanese export ship orders totaled 11,153,401 gross tons, up 95.3 percent from the pervious year.


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Runa Capital, a new Russian venture capital fund, has announced its first investment of $2 million in OnAir3G, a voice-enabled mobile social networking platform. Moscow-based OnAir3G is a start-up founded by online and mobile specialist Andrey Vasilevsky who also co-founded SmartCom, a developer of navigation software for Symbian, Windows Mobile and J2ME.
Today’s announcement marks Runa Capital’s first investment since launching in August 2010 with the goal of offering $30 million in seed financing to start-ups in rapid growth tech sectors. These include cloud computing, machine learning, virtualisation and mobile & internet applications.
“There is a huge amount of innovation happening in the ever-expanding market for mobile software. This is why it is critical to ensure that promising start-ups are given the opportunity to accelerate their entry into this space,” said Dmitry Chikhachev, managing partner of Runa Capital. “The team at OnAirG has been involved in some pioneering work in both mobile software and Internet-based services. This is why we are extremely excited to be a part of what may well be the next killer mobile application.”
In 2007, OnAir3G founder and CEO Andrey Vasilevsky sold SmartCom to Yandex, Russia’s largest internet company. The mapping application is currently used every day by millions of motorists to avoid traffic jams in a number of major Russian cities. OnAir3G aims to replicate this success with a new voice-enabled mobile social networking platform designed for use on 30 million internet-enabled mobile phones currently used in the Russia.
“The current economic climate poses a number of challenges for start-ups, particularly when it comes to bringing new innovations to market,” said Andrey Vasilevsky OnAir3G founder and CEO. “In a short space of time Runa Capital has been able to bring to bear its significant expertise in the world stage to help accelerate our plans and ambition for success. We are very proud to be named the first investment opportunity from this exciting new venture capital fund.”
OnAir3G will be publicly launched in Q2 (April to June) 2011.


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Workplaces across all industries are experiencing a massive transformation thanks to the integration of technology. According to Gartner, the biggest source of competitive advantage for 30% of companies will come from their ability to use digital technologies in a creative way by 2020.
Modern workplaces understand that it is their workers that are true innovators and creators, and therefore it is vital for organizations to adapt their technologies to meet employees’ expectations.
In order to provide workers with the proper technology to drive a sustainable business, companies have to balance secure networks, analytics, artificial intelligence and collaboration.
While offering the ability to work from anywhere on any device is convenient, companies must enhance their cybersecurity stance and utilize AI to make data-driven decisions.


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German steel suppliers to the automotive sector are facing “existential threats” from production stoppages at European car manufacturers due to the coronavirus pandemic, associations told S&P Global Platts Tuesday.
Martin Kunkel, managing director of the German cold-rolling association FV Kaltwalzwerke, told Platts that cutting working hours will be unavoidable for companies as the automotive industry makes up two thirds of its customers.
German car manufacturer Volkswagen said Tuesday that it would halt all production in Europe for at least two weeks, with most plants to be shut by Friday. The world’s biggest carmaker followed the moves of Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and France’s PSA Group, which said Monday they would temporarily shut down most of their European plants. German carmaker Audi also said it would cease production at its plants.
“The effects of production stoppages at VW, PSA and FCA are going to be dependent on the duration and depth of the measures and the continued development of the [pandemic],” Kunkel said.
“A production stoppage is of course affecting us immediately and massively albeit with a bit of time lag,” he said. “Companies are therefore forced adopt reduced working hours.”
Kunkel called on the German government to support businesses.
“It is important for us that the German government ensures that liquidity is there in case of reductions to demand and in the case of sick employees,” he said.
The head of the German steel and metal processing industry, Christian Vietmeyer, told Platts that although the promised government aid in the form of reduced-hours pay and liquidity support would be positive, companies will be forced to increase debt capital.
“A lot of suppliers are facing existential threats,” Vietmeyer said. “If the government wants to avoid insolvencies because of the coronavirus crisis, then it has to look at financial support which is not disclosed under non-current debt.”
— Laura Varriale


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OnePlus One price rising in Europe due to bad exchange rates
OnePlus have announced that the OnePlus One price will be subject to an increase in Europe due to the drop of the Euro’s value recently. Although the company is famous for pricing their devices incredibly low, thus being able to successfully compete against big brands like Samsung and Apple, they could not have anticipated the steep drop in Euro over the past few months. We’ve seen the dollar value increase a lot in the past few weeks, but the Euro has exponentially dropped. affecting OnePlus One profits.
According to the company, the OnePlus One was already being sold in Europe with a low profit margin, and with the continuous drop in value of the currency, their profit margins will be close to zero. The increase in price is about 17 % compared to the 25 % drop in Euro value, which seems like a fair pricing option for the OnePlus One. Forum members and fans of the flagship killer praised the move from the company, appreciating the transparency and the warning that they issued ahead of time.
The new OnePlus One price will go official on March 25, which means that those in Europe interested in buying the handset should hurry up and get it on next Tuesday, which will offer up the OnePlus One at the original price of €269/€299. The new prices will be €299 for the 16 GB white version and €349 for the 64 GB version. While that looks like a bit much for a smartphone that is already a year old and has become outdated as a flagship killer, fans are still content with the pricing, because it’s still lower than flagship prices around the world. We don’t know whether OnePlus will reconsider the pricing of the handset if the Euro starts rising again, but fans are definitely hoping for that.
At least accessories won’t be affected in their pricing, according to the official blog post from the company. Seeing as the company is constantly expanding to new markets, the move seems logical if they want to make at least some profit out of their sales. Even though OnePlus is appreciated for the low prices they put on products, fans seem to understand that it’s still a company and it still needs to make some profit. The US price of the phone will remain the same, so this piece of news only concerns European customers.
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 now also available in red variant
- Nexus 6 officially announced and detailed, runs on Android Lollipop
- Microsoft Lumia 940 details leaked – Snapdragon 805 and 24MP PureView Camera to be featured
- Barnes & Noble will split in two as a last resort to save the Nook line
- Apple Ships 1 Billion iOS Devices


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As Federal Realty and LA Fitness continue to present their case before the Lower Merion Zoning Hearing Board, another business has moved into the space the gym hopes to eventually occupy. Bargain Book Warehouse plans to open as soon as early next week in the Wynnewood Shopping Center's old Borders building, said co-manager Arturo Garcia.
The bargain bookstore, which will offer both new releases and older books, will eventually occupy both floors of the old Borders building. But for the moment, as Spirit Halloween finishes moving out, Bargain Books will open just the second floor, Garcia said.
The building has attracted several short-term tenants since the Borders chain closed last year: first a Halloween store, then a discount furniture outlet, then most recently, another Halloween store, Spirit Halloween.
Federal Realty, the owner of Wynnewood Shopping Center, could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday to confirm the details of Bargain Book Warehouse's lease agreement. Garcia said that while he isn't sure of the details of the agreement, the bookstore plans to remain in Wynnewood for at least six months.
Federal Realty is still in the process of pursuing the possibility of LA Fitness as a long-term tenant for the space. The continuation of a zoning hearing board meeting, originally scheduled for Thursday night, was postponed at the mutual request of Federal Realty and Wynnewood and Shortridge Civic Associations, according to Zoning Officer Michael Wylie.
The civic associations have objected to certain aspects of the gym's plans for the center, particularly the gym's request to operate a 24/7 facility if deemed financially beneficial. The associations have been in discussions with Federal Realty in the past several months, according to Shortridge Civic Association President Joan Hindin.
Bargain Books will be open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. It is located at 50 E Wynnewood Rd. in the Wynnewood Shopping Center.