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>>The New York Times
Published: 2020-05-18 22:08:42 BdST
Taken together, the developments triggered a surge in global stock prices and other financial markets Monday. The S&P 500 rose more than 2% in early trading, recouping an entire week’s worth of losses. Stocks in Europe were 3% to 4% higher.
The rally had already begun before drugmaker Moderna said its coronavirus vaccine showed promising early results in tests on humans. The early-stage tests were on just eight people, but the hope that a vaccine might be quickly developed was enough to lift stock prices even further. Moderna’s stock was up 15% in early trading.
Also bolstering markets was a pledge from Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, that there was “really no limit” to what the central bank could do with its emergency lending facilities.
“The one thing I can absolutely guarantee is that the Federal Reserve will be doing everything we can to support the people we serve,” Powell said during a television interview broadcast Sunday.
The Fed chair suggested that the worst economic readings were yet to come, even as states begin to gradually reopen. He said that he expected “a couple more months” of job losses and acknowledged that the unemployment rate, which hit 14.7% in April, could peak at 20% or even 25%.
Still, Monday’s rally had all the characteristics of one focused on the prospects for a return to normal. Travel stocks, like United Airlines, Expedia Group and Marriott International, were among the best performers in the S&P 500 — rising as much as 10%.
Reflecting optimism about the economy, oil prices were higher, with West Texas Intermediate, the US standard crude, rising above $30 a barrel for the first time since March, and government bond prices fell.
Investors were looking for silver linings as the world grapples with lockdowns and other restrictions. Japan released economic figures Monday that showed the world’s No. 3 economy formally fell into recession, but Tokyo has begun easing some of its containment efforts. Some restrictions have also been lifted in parts of Europe and the United States.
Last week, the S&P 500 had its sharpest weekly drop since late March, a 2.2% retreat that stood out after a long stretch in which stock investors seemed willing to look past the deeply negative outlook for the economy and the uncertain path of the pandemic.
Here’s the business news to watch this week.
It’s a big week for retail earnings, with Walmart and Kohl’s reporting Tuesday, Target and Marks & Spencer on Wednesday, and Best Buy and TJX on Thursday. Amazon set a high bar a few weeks ago, reporting a 26% jump in first-quarter sales.
Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are to testify Tuesday at a virtual hearing of the Senate Banking Committee, giving updates on coronavirus stimulus measures.
The June futures contract for West Texas Intermediate crude oil expires Tuesday. When that happened last month, oil prices plunged into negative territory. Traders don’t think that will happen again.
What’s next for L Brands? The parent of Bath & Body Works unexpectedly walked away from a deal this month to sell a majority stake in Victoria’s Secret. It will face questions about its Plan B on its earnings call Wednesday.
During lockdowns, people are doing more repairs, remodelling and intense cleaning than before; Home Depot and Lowe’s quantify the impact of that in their latest earnings Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Moving is tricky these days, and data on housing starts (Tuesday) and existing home sales (Wednesday) are expected to show steep declines for April.
— The National People’s Congress gets underway in Beijing on Friday, two months later than expected. Responding to the pandemic and rebutting criticism of China’s initial response is expected to dominate the proceedings. In corporate news, the Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba is to report its latest earnings on the same day.
The Japanese economy enters its first recession since 2015.
Japan fell into a recession for the first time since 2015, as its already weakened economy was dragged down by the coronavirus’s impact on businesses at home and abroad.
The world’s third-largest economy after the United States and China shrank by an annualised rate of 3.4% in the first three months of the year, the country’s government said Monday.
That makes it the largest economy to officially enter a recession, often defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth, in the coronavirus era. Other major economies around the world are set to follow, joining Japan as well as Germany and France in recession, as efforts to contain the outbreak ripple around the globe. The experiences of China, where the outbreak first emerged in December and January, suggest recovery will be long and difficult.
“The economy entered the coronavirus shock in a very weak position,” said Izumi Devalier, chief Japan economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, but “the real big ugly stuff is going to happen in the April, June print. It’s going to be three quarters of very negative growth.”
Apple plans to reopen some stores this week but will require distancing and masks.
Apple plans to reopen several stores this week in the United States, Canada and Italy, another sign of the gradual return to business across the world.
In March, Apple closed more than 450 of its stores — nearly every location outside of China — to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The company recently started to reopen shops in South Korea, Australia and Austria.
Now Apple is planning to add another 25 stores in the United States, 12 in Canada and 10 in Italy to its list of reopenings this week. The US stores are in California, Florida, Oklahoma, Hawaii, Colorado and Washington state, although some stores in those states will remain closed. Likewise, Apple is keeping 17 stores in Canada and seven stores in Italy closed.
Apple has set limits on the number of people inside its stores and requires social distancing. Apple Store employees are checking the temperatures of their colleagues and customers at the door and requiring everyone to wear face masks. Customers who don’t have a mask are given one.
Catch up: Here’s what else is happening.
The chief executive of Hertz, the century-old car rental company now at risk of bankruptcy, has resigned, the company said Monday. The company’s fate may be decided this week: It has until Friday to come up with a plan to pay back its lenders and continue to meet its ongoing financial obligations.
Consumer spending on video games, hardware and accessories surged to a record $10.86 billion in the first quarter of 2020, an increase of 9% compared with the same period last year, according to data from the NPD Group. Millions of Americans sought distractions while being ordered to shelter in place. Games such as “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” and “Doom Eternal” were top titles, and the Nintendo Switch console was a strong seller.
© 2020 New York Times News Service


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Facebook is holding a mysterious media event on Jan. 15 at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters to make a big announcement. The invite simply said, “Come and see what we’re building.”
Naturally, rumors are flying on what the mystery announcement could be. In April 2011 Facebook teased a big announcement, and the main speculation was that the site would be building a service to compete with Groupon. Instead, Facebook underwhelmed many by announcing it had built energy-efficient data storage servers in Oregon.
The last media gathering the site hosted announced a slew of new retail partners for its Gifts app.
This time around, people are once again coming up with wild ideas. We’ve rounded up some of the Internet’s guesses, both serious and absurd, for what the announcement might be. Next
TechCrunch is among many sources speculating that the site might be announcing a Facebook smartphone, despite Mark Zuckerberg denying an interest in one in the past. After all, Steve Jobs once said that 7-inch tablets (like the iPad mini) were a bad idea.
One possibility Zuck might have up his sleeve? Enhancing Facebook’s search capabilities to pull in outside content and compete with well-known search engines like Google. This will also make Facebook a good option as a homepage.
“Facebook is really uniquely positioned to answer a lot of the questions that people have,” the Harvard dropout said in September. Next
Facebook operating system
Many are suggesting that Facebook is not creating it’s own hardware, but a device made by a separate smartphone manufacturer that runs a Facebook-based operating system.
Forbes is guessing that HTC is working on a Facebook-friendly phone that will “take social media integration to a whole other level.” HTC’s last attempt at a smartphone with a Facebook button, however, proved to be unpopular.
Forbes also speculated that Facebook might be announcing an integration with automobiles, as the announcement happens to coincide with the North American International Auto Show. Next
Another widely reported rumor is that Facebook could be announcing a messenger for the iPad that could rival home phones. Next
New gaming platform
Due to the rapidly falling stock price of app developer Zynga, some people are speculating that the Facebook announcement will center around a new gaming platform that is optimized for mobile. Forbes also echoed this suggestion.
Pictured: Zynga General Manager Manuel Bronstein spoke during the Zynga Unleashed event at the company's headquarters in San Francisco. Next
A headquarters expansion
One possibility is an update on the new Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.
Last August, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Guggenheim Museum architect Frank Gehry would design a 3,400-employee engineering office connected to the main headquarters by underground tunnel, TechCrunch reported.
Construction was slated to begin in early 2013. Next
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Palm Beach County is home to just two marijuana dispensaries for now, but cannabis companies have signed deals for at least three more locations in the county.
And perhaps two dozen pot shops could open for business in the county in the coming years.
“There’s going to be a flurry of activity,” said commercial real estate broker Chris Fleming of Strategic Realty Services.
Fleming has negotiated two leases for Trulieve, which has created the most extensive retail network among Florida’s 13 state-approved pot producers. One of Trulieve’s locations is on Woolbright Road near Interstate 95 in Boynton Beach, the other is on Military Trail in central Palm Beach County.
Another cannabis company, Grow Healthy, says it will open a dispensary at an undisclosed location in unincorporated Palm Beach County sometime during the third quarter of 2018. And Liberty Health Sciences also is scouting spots in Palm Beach County, Chief Executive George Scorsis said.
The typical dispensary takes just 2,000 to 3,000 square feet, so pot shops aren’t snapping up huge swaths of space.
Palm Beach County’s first two dispensaries, Knox Medical


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Popular Lockyer business to take over Staging Post cafe
A well-known established Lockyer Valley business will bring the Staging Post Cafe back to life, following almost a year of closure.
The Lockyer Valley Function Centre and cafe is prepping for business again, after Council recently awarded the tender of the facility to a local supplier.
With decades of outstanding catering experience under their belt, Lockyer Valley’s own Colonial Catering was awarded the lease.
Lockyer Valley Mayor, Councillor Tanya Milligan said having the cafe and Function Centre back up and running was a massive win for the community, providing significant local benefit.
“Colonial Catering is a locally owned and operated business, with more than 25 years’ experience in the catering industry,” Cr Milligan said.
“Their broad scope of skills, coupled with their intricate local knowledge means they will be able to continue providing the high-quality food and functions our community has grown to know and love at this facility.”
Complimenting their quality home-style food with country hospitality, husband and wife duo Fiona and David Smith said they were excited to be able to hit the ground running.
“Colonial Catering has been embedded in the heart of the Lockyer Valley for many years now and was a way for our family to combine our shared passion of food,” Fiona said.
“The appointment of this tender will allow us to elevate our services and expand our footprint and we are excited to be working with Council to transition into the facility in coming months.
“Family is at the core of our business, and we want to re-establish a place for the community to come together, recharge, host a function, enjoy one another’s company, indulge in quality food and simply feel at ease.”
The reactivation of the Function Centre will help to raise the profile of the Lockyer Valley region through tourism opportunities, and the financial benefits of it will be felt by many local businesses.
“Colonial Catering has well established relationships with local businesses who will have the opportunity to offer their goods and services through events, functions and daily meals,” Cr Milligan said.
“Whether that be our local farmers who provide fresh produce, our butchers who supply meat or the businesses who benefit from tourists staying and shopping local – there is the potential for some really positive financial ripple effects.”
The return of the mouth-watering aromas previously flowing throughout the facility have been long awaited, after Council made the difficult decision to cease operating the Staging Post cafe and Lockyer Valley Cultural Centre in May last year.
“The initial closure of the Centre was a result of COVID-19 implications, and this temporary shutdown lent its hand to Council reassessing the most appropriate options for the financial viability and ongoing management of the facilities,” Cr Milligan said.
“It allowed us to explore opportunities that would better support residents and provide opportunity for businesses like Colonial Catering to diversify and expand their services.
“Council is strongly committed to supporting local businesses through its procurement processes and aims to award contracts to local suppliers wherever possible.”
Council’s procurement policy carries heavier weighting for local suppliers to ensure they get the best opportunity to secure contracts within a fair and equitable framework.


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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations is holding a hearing titled “Navigating Regulations: Alternative Pathways to Investing in Small Businesses.”
Subcommittee Chairman Van Duyne’s opening statement as prepared for delivery:
Good morning, and welcome to today’s hearing, which will highlight how small businesses across the nation are struggling to access capital because this Administration continues to impose undue restrictions.
Access to private credit is more critical today than it ever has been. I want to thank our witnesses for joining us today to have a robust conversation on this topic. I am eager to hear from you and discuss how we can empower our job creators to access the investment sources they need to grow.
Small businesses across America are continuing to navigate economic challenges in a post-pandemic world alongside the repercussions of reckless government spending that has given us decades-high inflation and crushing interest rates. Coupled with stifling regulations implemented by this Administration, it is now more expensive and strenuous to do business than ever.
Our job creators rely on access to capital to keep their doors open. Without stable access to capital, our small businesses don’t have the certainty they need to grow – or, in some cases, survive.
Along with limited access to small business investment options, bank lending standards have grown stricter and loan growth has slowed significantly, making it harder for mom-and-pop shops to stay afloat.
Instead of lenders being able to make decisions based on business models and risk assessments, this Administration is forcing them to base investment decisions on demographic quotas. Entrepreneurs, job creators, and employees at small businesses are much more than demographic boxes to check. Small businesses are critical to communities across our country and are the result of innovation and hard work.
As I’ve heard from a constituent who is a community banker, capital is sitting there unused and her hands are tied – our small businesses are getting left behind because this Administration continues to impose new regulations and direct investment where they think is best, rather than allowing meritocracy to prevail.
Over the next decade, compliance with President Biden’s regulations will cost Americans more than $1.5 trillion. Since the day President Biden took office, he has burdened our job creators with more than 287 million hours in additional paperwork. As regulatory complexity grows, so do costs to small businesses that are already overburdened by this Administration.
As we’ve heard time and time again, overregulation can shutter the doors of any small business. These regulations make it difficult, or even impossible, for businesses to comply, compete, and survive, let alone make a profit.
Private credit, which comes from nontraditional investors, has long been a lifeline for entrepreneurs across the country but is especially important now given this Administration’s agenda.
As the federal government attempts to regulate our small businesses out of existence, private investment is stepping up to fill the void. More than 80% of investments made by private equity support small businesses and, in my district, more than 130,000 jobs are supported by private equity. The bottom line is private financing has grown because it is needed, useful, and is successful at helping American businesses in every sector from healthcare and bio-sciences, to energy production and consumer services. I am grateful our small businesses have this option, and I am glad to hold this hearing today to put the needs of our job creators first and push back on the Biden Administration’s destructive regulatory environment.
With that, I would now like to yield to our Ranking Member.


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Digital TV News: Viacom
Paramount+ reveals global expansion plans
May 3, 2022 – Paramount+ (NASDAQ: PARA, PARAA) will launch in the UK and Ireland on 22 June 2022. Paramount+ will also launch in South Korea in June, with further launches planned in Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria in 2H 2022.
News categories: Paramount, Raffaele Annecchino, Maria Kyriacou, Austria, Digital TV, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Streaming, Switzerland, UK
Vivendi releases results for FY 2021
Mar 9, 2022 – Vivendi has released audited results for the year to December 31, 2021. At the end of 2021, Canal+ Group's total subscriber portfolio reached 23.7 million, compared to 22.1 million at the end of December 2020 on a pro forma basis.
News categories: Vivendi, Digital TV, France, Results, Worldwide
VideoAmp cross-platform measurement adds Comcast data
Feb 24, 2022 – VideoAmp will incorporate aggregated viewership data from Comcast's footprint into its measurement, bringing more stability and reliability to its local, national and cross-platform audience ratings and impression measurement.
News categories: VideoAmp, Comcast Advertising, Ross McCray, Marcien Jenckes, Advertising, Big Data, Digital TV, USA
ViacomCBS renames, and unveils international expansion plan for Paramount+
Feb 15, 2022 – ViacomCBS has announced that it will become Paramount Global effective February 16. The company will continue the global expansion of Paramount+ in 2022, with Paramount+ making its debut in France as a bundle through the CANAL+ Group.
News categories: Paramount, Shari Redstone, Bob Bakish, Tanya Giles, Digital TV, France, Streaming, Worldwide
SkyShowtime cleared for launch in European markets in 2022
Feb 2, 2022 – Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIAC, VIACA) have announced that SkyShowtime has received full regulatory approval and plans to launch in more than 20 European markets starting later this year.
News categories: Comcast, ViacomCBS, Monty Sarhan, Digital TV, Europe, Regulation, Streaming
ViacomCBS migrates from satellite to IP content distribution with CommScope
Jan 13, 2022 – CommScope (NASDAQ: COMM) has announced that ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIAC) has launched FAVE and migrated its DABL and select SHOWTIME linear channels from satellite to CDN IP distribution using its DigiCipher Streaming system.
News categories: CommScope, ViacomCBS, Ric Johnsen, Hardys Eggum, Content Distribution, Digital TV, USA
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Jan 10, 2022 – OpenAP and Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) have announced that Discovery will become a minority owner of OpenAP, the advanced advertising company bringing scale to audience-based campaigns in television.
News categories: Discovery, Inc., OpenAP, Jim Keller, David Levy, Advertising, Big Data, Digital TV, USA, Worldwide
Channel 5 joins Digital UK
Dec 20, 2021 – Channel 5 has joined Digital UK, alongside BBC, ITV and Channel 4. The four public service broadcasters have entered into a new Digital UK members' agreement, marking the first time that the venture has been wholly owned by all four PSBs.
News categories: Digital UK, ViacomCBS, Channel 5, Caroline Thomson, Sarah Rose, Digital TV, Terrestrial, UK
Parks Associates announces 2021's Top 10 US subscription OTT video services
Dec 17, 2021 – Parks Associates has released its updated list of the top 10 US paid subscription over-the-top (OTT) video services, based on estimated numbers of subscribers through September 2021 from the firm's OTT Video Market Tracker.
News categories: Parks Associates, Paul Erickson, Kristen Hanich, Digital TV, Market Research, Streaming, USA
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Fausse Cartier, vrai casier
The luxury sector continues to advocate against counterfeiting
“Buy a fake Cartier, get a genuine criminal record” “With this phone, you better be ready to call your lawyer!” “Real ladies don’t like fake” “Are you ready to unravel this one?” “A bet on the wrong horse can be very expensive” “Counterfeits are no bed of roses” “Lucky charm? Unlucky at customs”.
French Comité Colbert, standard-bearer for French style and the luxury industry, launched its new anti-counterfeiting campaign with 10 000 posters that will be displayed all summer in the 18 busiest French airports. The campaign has been taken up also in Europe: the Customs administrations in six other EU countries have adopted it to raise awareness among their citizens. There are now local language versions in Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Seven new tag lines were launched by the chairmen of companies belonging to the Comité Colbert, which likes to use humour to get travellers’ attention.
Longchamp and Van Cleef & Arpels have joined ranks with Cartier, Chanel, Christian Dior, Lacoste and Louis Vuitton, involved for years in this initiative conducted under the auspices of the French national anti-counterfeiting committee (CNAC).
And the initiative has proven effective: Consumers in France are more aware than those in other EU countries that common European laws exist to protect intellectual property rights (84% of respondents in France, which ranked first among EU countries, according to a Eurobarometer survey in 2009).
Given the magnitude of trafficking, the Comité Colbert continues to give top priority to the fight against counterfeiting.
In France, the number of knock-offs seized by Customs went from 200,000 in 1994 to 8.9 million in 2011. It is estimated that counterfeiting costs the French economy between 30,000 and 40,000 jobs a year and 6 billion euros in losses. The number of counterfeit products sold online and seized by Customs has grown exponentially, increasing by a factor of nearly 20 in five years.
“The protection of intellectual property rights makes it possible to grow competitive French businesses and safeguard French jobs. The combat of the Comité Colbert, which is of long date, illustrates the luxury sector’s commitment to the fight against counterfeiting to protect our know-how and creation,” said Elisabeth Ponsolle des Portes, President and CEO of the Comité Colbert.


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One of the most popular mobile payment apps in the world will soon start to integrate the Bitcoin Lightning Network.
In a new interview, the CEO of Square Jack Dorsey has said that he is starting to work with the team at Lightning Labs in order to bring the Lightning Network to Square’s Cash App. The network is a layer-2 solution which is designed to speed up Bitcoin transactions and address major criticisms that the number one crypto is far too slow for mainstream adoption.
Recently talking on the Stephan Livera’s Bitcoin podcast, the CEO said that making Bitcoin more transactional is a high priority and that it is only a matter of time before the firm implements the technology to speed it up to make it faster and easier to use the leading cryptocurrency for purchases. Dorsey says:
“We’ve been exploring with Elizabeth and the Lightning team… We would love to make it as fast and efficient and transactional as possible, and that includes looking at our seller base and our register. It’s not an ‘if’. It’s more of a ‘when’. And how do we make sure we’re getting the speed we need and the efficiency. A lot of what we’ve worked on the seller side is making transactions as fast as possible.”
In addition to this, Dorsey says that the app has already gone a long way toward exposing Bitcoin to users around the world and is giving them a way to spend Bitcoin using the firm’s Visa debit card.
“I think we have a pretty compelling experience that people who would not necessarily be able to get to Bitcoin in the past can now get to it with just one tap,


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Startup Producing Cell-Grown Meat Raises New Funding
Author: Jacob Bunge
German drugmaker Merck KGaA MKKGY 0.52% and a top European meat processor are backing a startup producing beef from cattle cells, ramping up a race to transform the global meat industry with cell-culture technology.
The $8.8 million investment in Netherlands-based Mosa Meat by Merck’s venture investing unit and Basel, Switzerland-based Bell Food Group BELL -10.14% fuels a continuing effort to fulfill growing global demand for meat via a process that developers say requires a fraction of the resources used in traditional livestock and poultry production.
Cell-culture meat makers have yet to begin selling any of their products. But the emerging technology has drawn investments from major U.S. meat processors like Cargill Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc. It also is raising complaints among cattle ranchers and hog farmers, some of whom regard it as a lab-developed imitation of traditional hamburgers and pork.
View the rest of this article on Wall Street Journal


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The adage about airline cargo is that, unlike airline passengers, cargo never complains.
Another benefit: Cargo, unlike airline passengers, is still flying during the coronavirus crisis. In fact, demand for air cargo capacity has surged because about half of the world’s air cargo once traveled in the belly of passenger aircraft.
While cargo accounted for less than 2% of Delta revenue in the first quarter, “In the short term, it’s more than 2% of current revenues,” CEO Ed Bastian said Wednesday on a first-quarter earnings call with reporters. Delta is “flying a lot of cargo missions, as well as carrying freight, medical supplies out of China [and] working with cargo carriers,” Bastian said.
On an earlier analysts’ earnings call, Bastian said, “We've instituted charters going over to China as we're bringing medical supplies, [personal protective equipment] back to the workers on the front line of this crisis …We're taking some of the main deck seats off a few of our international planes to facilitate taking greater lift in the short term, and we'll continue to use those resources where it makes sense for, certainly for some time to come.”
Does it make financial sense for passenger planes to operate as cargo carriers?
“With the present air freight prices, it does,” Bjorn Fehrm wrote in trade publication Leeham News on Thursday. “The high freight prices are a result of half the world’s freight capacity disappearing with the grounding of passenger jets.”
Fehrm noted that while widebody passenger aircraft carrying cargo only in the belly can make money, narrow body aircraft need to provide cabin capacity as well as cargo hold capacity. “For single-aisle jets the belly cargo holds are too small [so] a cabin cargo loading system is necessary for efficient operation,” he wrote.
However, long-term, it probably doesn’t make sense to take seats out.
An Airbus A320 can load five tons of standard containers, but could carry 18 tons with a cabin cargo system, Fehrm said. A Boeing
While cargo cannot possibly replace the majority of revenue lost due to the vast decline in passenger traffic, “It’s absolutely good for morale,” said aviation consultant Bob Mann. “It shows that [airlines] are agile and respond when called upon. It’s a public health logistics crisis, and they are helping out.”
Joe DePete, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, said in an interview that pilots “want to fly this mission; they are proud of doing this mission, and they know that the supplies coming back mean that people will live or die,”
DePete noted, however, the carriers must provide crews with safety guarantees including sufficient cockpit cleaning and disinfecting as well as notification when other pilots have tested positive for Covid-19.
A problem, Mann said, is that a lot of the traffic is one-way: delivery of health care supplies from China and elsewhere. “You fly one-way empty,” he said. “The live leg has to be exceptionally profitable. There is peak directional logistics demand. It won’t last in the normal course of business, assuming there is a normal course of business.”
Still, each day brings a new announcement of a passenger airline providing cargo service. American, for example, said Thursday that it operated an all-cargo Boeing 777-300 flight to carry soybean and corn seed from Buenos Aires to Miami on April 16.
The flight broke American’s all-time record for 777 freight, moving 115,349 pounds of soybean seeds. The previous record for American’s 777-300 was 103,384 pounds, set in 2014 on an LAX-Heathrow flight. American has shipped more than 290 tons of seeds in the past few weeks.
“Spring is planting season for soybean and corn crops in America’s heartland, and these seeds are a top commodity shipped aboard flights from Argentina to the United States,” American said. In the fall, “Seeds from the grown plants are shipped back to Argentina to wait for the next growing season in the warmth of the southern hemisphere,” it said.
American has expanded its cargo-only schedule to 46 weekly flights, offering more than 6.5 million pounds of capacity to transport critical goods each week between the United States and Europe, Asia and Latin America. The U.S.-bound cargo include personal protective equipment and pharmaceuticals.


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Samsung Electronics, which unveiled its pioneering Gear smartwatch in Berlin this week, opened an outlet at Harrods in London on Tuesday as it aims to take the European premier market by storm.
Founded in 1849, Harrods is one of the most luxurious department stores in Europe.
The same venue used to be occupied by Siemens, a leading European home appliance brand. Samsung has prominently displayed products that will appeal to European consumers at the shop. It hired British designer Kelly Hoppen to take care of the interior.


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If you really, really need to make sure those precious photos of yours last virtually forever - or at least longer than the average two- to five-year lifespan of consumer-grade DVDs, then start-up Cranberry LLC has the answer for you: a DVD that lite...
Watchers of streaming video trends are buzzing after a remark by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings in a Montley Fool podcast that DVDs may lose their number one spot for the company's video distribution after two years.
A team of researchers from an Australian university has developed a new DVD technology that could someday boost disc capacity by 10,000 times beyond today's standard 4.7GB DVDs, according to a study published in the journal <i>Nature</i>.
Toshiba filed suit Thursday in a U.S. court against Imation and several manufacturers and distributors of recordable DVD media for the alleged infringement of its patents.
RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser took the stand Tuesday in his company's ongoing legal battle against the motion picture industry, arguing that RealNetworks' DVD-copying software is not designed to create a free-for-all of illegal copying.
The latest release of the VLC media player is a huge hit, racking up nearly 8.6 million downloads since the 1.0 release last week, according to the makers of the software VideoLAN. But some observers - including movie studio lawyers - may feel the ne...
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December 7, 2012 - For decades, drug companies have been held to standards set by the Food and Drug Administration when promoting their products, allowing that they only market medications for approved purposes.
The practice of promoting drugs for non-approved uses, known as off-label marketing, has resulted in criminal convictions and billions of dollars in fines from the Department of Justice.
Unfortunately, a recent federal court decision could end the rules meant to protect consumers and give free reign allowing Big Pharma companies to promote drugs for whatever uses will result in higher profits.
The case involved the appeal of the 2008 criminal conviction of Alfred Caronia, a sales representative for Orphan Medical found to have promoted the narcolepsy drug Xyrem for uses not approved by the FDA.
Caronia argued that the requirement that he promote drugs for their FDA-approved use violated his right to free speech. The U.S. 2nd District Court of Appeals agreed, and also added that corporations can rely on the same protections.
Although the decision sounds like a reprieve for an unsuspecting sales representative, it could have much farther-reaching implications.
First, doctors may now recommend prescription drugs based on pharmaceutical company views of their effectiveness rather than on the tested standards of the FDA. Also, drug companies will be held to a much lower standard of care in promoting their products.
The lone judge on the panel that disagreed with the court’s decision commented that the longstanding principles of complying with FDA recommendations had been put into place to protect patients from misleading and unproven claims by drug companies.
Due to the far-reaching effects of the case, experts predict it is headed to the Supreme Court for clarification and perhaps a final showdown.
Until then, patients are cautioned to conduct their own research into the approved uses of any medication they are prescribed.


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The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce-NIC, Lucknow, conducted a webinar on the “Legal Impact of COVID-19” on June 26, 2020, i.e., Friday. The main aim of this webinar, organized by president Lalit Bhasin was to discuss how the pandemic has affected corporate and business laws.
There is no doubt that the pandemic has affected the business economy. But to ease the disruption, many regulatory firms are coming up with various ideas and measures that help us to stabilize the business and economy. It’s not just about the businesses, but the general activities that are conducted in the corporate boardrooms worldwide are also affected because of the pandemic.
Bhasin, who is also the president of the Bar Association of India, praised the Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath for coming with ideas to improve business activities in the state. He further acknowledged the presence of Brajesh Pathak, the Law Minister of UP, who was the chief guest for the webinar. Pathak addressed the viewers how they can reduce the pandemic’s intimidating impact on the trade, economy, and industry.
Pathak further addressed on how the businesses have been severely impacted because of the lockdown. He said that the government of UP has already started to work on how to combat the issues faced by the corporate sector due to the virus outbreak. The UP government is working efficiently under the guidance of Yogi Adityanath to come up with better job opportunities for the migrated laborers in the state.
There are critical actions taken up to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 on various parts of the economy. The outbreak has shocked the global market and disrupted way too many businesses and industries. The government is working upon finding ways to boost the economy, but still, we don’t know how and when the situation will be in control. Until then, it’s better to just be optimistic about whatsoever decision our government is taking, maybe it’s for our good.


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America’s Biggest Beer Brands Are Struggling
Yesterday, USA Today published the “Top 31 Beer Brands in America,” an annual list compiled by the site 24/7 Wall St. using domestic shipping volume data from the group Beer Marketer’s Insights. For those who follow the beer industry, the most interesting part of the list (which recaps 2018’s data) is that it reinforces things we already knew: A majority of America’s largest brands (19 out of 31) are losing traction, especially Budweiser. The King of Beers slipped to fourth on this year’s list, officially confirming that America’s top three beers are now all light beers.
Leading the pack, once again, is Bud Light — but the result isn’t quite worth proclaiming “dilly, dilly” over. America’s best-selling beer still managed to ship 3.75 million fewer barrels in the past year, and saw its market share slip from 15.4 percent to 14.3 percent. That’s still a mind-blowing share — in theory, one out of every seven beers is a Bud Light — but going back to 2013, Bud Light has seen its shipments sink by over 20 percent, and a turnaround is nowhere in sight.
However, those numbers are downright rosy compared to Budweiser’s current collapse. Bud moved 2 million fewer barrels in 2018, marking a more than 25 percent drop since 2013. As a result, Coors Light and Miller Lite have moved past the King into the second and third positions, respectively. All three beers have seen their shipments slip in the past five years, but Miller Lite has benefited from seeing the smallest drop of the group: only about 8 percent.
So what brands are growing? The first good news for big beer arrives at the #5 slot. Michelob Ultra moved 1.1 million more barrels last year, leapfrogging Corona as America’s fifth most popular beer. Sales of the low-cal, low-carb brew have more than doubled since 2013 (up 114.6 percent) which explains why so many other beer companies, even in the craft beer world, are trying to model their new offerings on Michelob Ultra’s success.
Rounding out the new top ten are Corona Extra (which saw a small decline of just over 100,000 barrels), Modelo Especial (holding the seven spot despite moving about a million more barrels), Natural Light, Busch Light, and Busch (which all held steady despite modest sales declines).
In fact, the entire top 26 beers (that’s all last year’s list included) remained relatively stagnant from the year before with the same brews simply jockeying for position. But that stagnancy might have a moral all its own: Though innovation has been driving the smaller craft beer segment, these new ideas haven’t quite cracked the mainstream. For instance, only two of the top 31 beers are ales: the very traditional Guinness stout and the MillerCoors-owned Blue Moon Belgian-Style Wheat Ale — neither of which saw any increase in shipments. Growth in the beer world has become mostly a small brewery game, helping to explain why beer sales overall have been slightly down as of late.


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There are many compelling reasons to participate in Singapore’s bustling tradeshow industry, including a business-friendly government, skilled tradeshow industry specialists and world-class facilities capable of extending exhibitors’ marketing reach into the emerging markets of Southeast Asia and beyond.
The Abilities Expo annually is held in several U.S. locations, but the tradeshow targeting those in need of products and services for people with various disabilities chose Singapore for its first overseas event in 2012.
“The country is experienced in hosting international events, and they have been doing it for 40 years,” said David Korse, CEO, Abilities Expo. “I knew we could count on the established general contractors. Singapore has the know-how and infrastructure for events on the international level.”
In addition to its know-how and infrastructure, Singapore is a nation generally friendly toward Western culture and business practices, making for relatively smooth transitions for tradeshow organizers and exhibitors looking for new opportunities.
“Being a key entry point for Western companies and people entering Asia, Singapore is a city frequented by tourists and is known for its comfortable climate and city environment,” said Shirley Li, general manager, Asia headquarters, EWI Worldwide. EWI is a global exhibit and event-designing company based in the United States and with offices in Shanghai and Hamburg, Germany.
Singapore has three primary convention centers with the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center the newest of the trio after opening in 2011. Workers are scheduled to complete a $150 million upgrade on the nearby Suntec Centre in May. And the Singapore EXPO Convention and Exhibition Centre recently opened its sustainability-designed MAX Atria convention center, is the first to earn Singapore’s BCA Green Mark Platinum award for being environmentally friendly.
In addition to its world-class exhibition facilities, Singapore offers highly experienced partners and general contractors to ensure exhibitors and tradeshow organizers have successful events.
“Their general contractors are similar to the ones here and are every bit as professional as GES and Freeman,” said Korse.
Officials for Abilities Expo worked with Singapore-based partners to ensure their tradeshow properly conformed to local laws and cultural norms in Asia, where messaging content can differ greatly than in North America. Also different is how tradeshow booths are built and powered with 220 to 240 volts.
“They have different power and exhibiting construction,” said Korse. “There is no pipe-and-drape. Some [Abilities Expo] exhibitors had to get used to booths with hard walls. There is a lot of tension fabric in the U.S.”
The types of tradeshows held in Singapore vary greatly, but ones focused on consumer goods and cutting-edge technology are very popular.
“Tradeshows held in Singapore are commonly focused on the fast-moving consumer goods industry and can include consumer products, food & beverage, hospitality, travel, jewelry, etc., as well as information technology, electronics and semiconductors,” said Li. “Well-known events in Singapore include SEMICON as well as major travel and logistics shows.”
And there are more tradeshows being held in Singapore each year with U.S. participation increasing, particularly among technology-based events.
“The trend of tradeshows in Singapore is rising, especially for the aerospace industry,” said Li. “SEMICON and IT-focused tradeshows are those that most often draw participation from U.S.-based associations and corporations.”
Part of that rise in U.S. participation likely is due to the expected regional increase in capital investment in high-tech industries, such as the semiconductor industry. SEMICON Singapore is an annual international tradeshow for the semiconductor industry now in its 20th year and featuring more than 40 programs and forums highlighting the industry’s latest trends and newest technologies.
For the Southeast Asia region, capital-equipment investment in the semiconductor industry is expected to increase in the second half of 2013 followed by a strong recovery in 2014, according to SEMI, a global association serving the nano- and microelectronics manufacturing supply chains. Overall front-end fab equipment spending is expected to double next year from $810 million in 2013 to $1.62 billion in 2014.
Many businesses recognize the economic potential of nearby China, but officials in many industries are wary of holding exhibitions and revealing new technologies in a nation in which intellectual property rights do not exist. But business-friendly Singapore is quite different with its stringent enforcement of intellectual property rights.
“While many international companies have moved their Pan-Pacific headquarters to China, Singapore still has many key shows, including those for the aerospace industry,” said Li. “The scale of these shows is much bigger due to Singapore’s advantage over countries like China, which may have sensitivity around technology and political issues.”
With a significant market advantage over China, Singapore continues drawing tradeshow events with a high-tech focus. But many other industries can prove successful there. Deciding to put on a tradeshow in Singapore really is similar to choosing participation in the states.
“You are looking for geography that does not have a similar event,” said Korse. “It’s the same process as you go through here. Singapore has a pretty well-represented and mature market.”
Despite having a mature market, abundant business opportunities exist in Singapore, where it is very easy to get a business started. The decision to hold the Abilities Expo in there came down to personal as well as business reasons.
“It was not as much a commercial reason,” said Korse. “I had a contact in Singapore who had a personal interest. We made him our licensee, and it’s been a very positive experience.”
The Abilities Expo Singapore proved successful during its inaugural run and has grown this year. Many new exhibitors awaited results of the first show, and when results proved positive, more have signed on for the 2013 run at the Suntec Centre. But not every tradeshow can be as successful.
“It’s important to note that there are very few industrial shows in Singapore, such as auto shows, heavy machinery shows, etc., as Singapore doesn’t have an industrial base in these markets,” said Li.
While there are some limitations, with proper foresight and planning, Singapore’s superlative tradeshow industry offers a great deal of promise and growth for enterprising organizations and individuals.


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Wataniya voted best Kuwaiti airline
Kuwait, January 12, 2011
Wataniya Airways was voted “Best Kuwaiti Airline” in the 2010 annual Service Hero awards.
The airline was also honoured by third place overall in Service Hero’s annual customer satisfaction survey, which assessed over 400 different firms in more than 15 sectors.
“This accolade is a tribute to all our hard working staff and the pride and commitment we all have in the quality of service we provide and in the comfort of our guests,” said George Cooper, chief executive officer of Wataniya Airways.
The airline’s third place in the overall satisfaction assessment was a reflection of staff behaviour, location, product and service, quality, value to price, speed and reliability and was based entirely on the opinions of customers who completed the online questionnaire.
Service Hero is the first annual customer satisfaction index in Kuwait to be based entirely on consumer votes.-TradeArabia News Service


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MIT researchers are at it again – this time by inventing a sensor that detects spoiled meat.
The sensor, which was developed by a team of chemists, is portable and can detect gases emitted by rotting meat. This allows consumers to determine whether the meat in their refrigerator is safe to eat.
The researchers put their sensor to the test and found that various mets last over four days in the fridge but decay at different rates when left out. They recently published their findings in a scientific journal and have filed a patent for the technology, hoping to license it for commercial use.
The chemists foresee their sensor being used on “smart packaging” that displays more accurate safety information than an expiration date. They also hope it can cut down on food waste because people throw things out that aren’t bad, just based on the expiration date.
The sensor may also be incorporated into a wireless platform developed by the same lab that enables a smartphone to read the freshness of the meat, making it easy for consumers to tell whether or not to cook that piece of chicken.
This isn’t the first sensor that the lab has detected for freshness either. The lead researcher and others have also created one to detect the ripeness of the fruit.


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Nippon Television (NTV) jumped on the growing broadband bandwagon by saying it will join two telecom companies to form an Internet-based entertainment contents delivery company. NTV along with NTT…
Film editing equipment maker Avid Technology has acquired Motion Factory, which specializes in software for the creation, delivery and playback of interactive 3D imagery for the Web. Buy will enable…
Multimedia company Sriven Multi-Tech bought U.S.-based 3-D animation studio Station X last week for $2.5 million. The acquisition will result in a company in the U.S. named X Station Entertainment…
Agreeing to cooperate in set-top box development, three of Japan's top electronics makers have called off a format war and joined hands to help promote digital satellite broadcasting.
Variety will co-sponsor the seventh annual Austin Film Festival and Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference, which runs Oct. 12-19.
CNN International launched a South Asian channel in India Monday.
Penny Harris has been upped to the new post of controller of acquisitions for Sky One, satcaster BSkyB's flagship TV channel.
Harold Nicholas, who as the younger half of the legendary tap-dancing Nicholas Brothers inspired generations of hoofers with his grace and spectacular agility, died Monday in New York of heart…
Sony’s “Air Force One” had the top R-rated opening in B.O. history with $37.1 million. Information was incorrect in Wednesday’s paper.


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Deutsche Telekom (DT) has reported a net profit of EUR1.7 billion for the second quarter of 2004, up from EUR256 million in the same period the previous year, boosted by strong growth at its cellular subsidiary T-Mobile. EBITDA stood at EUR9.4 billion at the same date, up 4% on the year ago period, while sales rose 6% to EUR14.4 billion. Debt was reduced by EUR3.3 billion to reach EUR43.3 billion at the end of June.
Customer growth at DT’s mobile and broadband sectors beat expectations, with the total number of DSL subscribers totaling almost five million at the end of June, of which 4.7 million were in Germany, up 17% in six months; by the end of the year it expects to have 5.6 million. T-Mobile, meanwhile, added 4.5 million customers worldwide in the second quarter, to total 71.6 million, an increase of 16% year-on-year. 27.1 million were T-Mobile Deutschland customers, with T-Mobile UK claiming 14.9 million, T-Mobile USA 15.4 million, T-Mobile Austria 2 million, T-Mobile Czech Republic 4.1 million and T-Mobile Netherlands 2.2 million. T-Mobile Hungary claimed 3.9 million customers, HT mobile 1.4 million and Mobimak 600,000. The total number of fixed lines in service stood at 57.7 million at the same date, down marginally from 58.1 million the previous year.
CEO Kai-Uwe Ricke said the second quarter results show that DT is ‘back on track’ in spite of the difficult economic and regulatory environment in the country. He expects to see net profit double to EUR2.5 billion by the end of the year, with results from ordinary business activities expected to triple from EUR1.4 billion to EUR4.2 billion. EBITDA is expected to grow from EUR1.8 billion to EUR19.2 billion.


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North American technology vendors are reacting to new set by the Chinese government which require manufactures install so-called backdoors on technology they sell to business and government agencies in the country.
The manufacturers said the new rules would entail “intrusive” security tests as well as the disclosure of intellectual property.
Partly in response to revelations about the United States National Security Agency’s surveillance activities on Chinese networks, the Chinese government in May announced it will roll out a new vetting process for IT hardware and software being sold to key industries in the country. The latest set of rules were released late in 2014.
Among the new requirements were that vendors had to turn over the source code of all software and firmware for computing and network equipment to the Chinese government and provide management ports so that the government can monitor and control the equipment, according to a report from the New York Times. The government also wants that 75 per cent of technology products sold to China’s financial sector be “secure and controllable” by 2019.
Industry organizations have protested the rules, according to a report from Ars Technica.
For example, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Chamber of Commerce in China, The Information Technology Industry Council and the Telecommunication Industry Association and other groups sent a letter to a Chinese Communist Party committee on cyber security calling for a dialogue. The American group is worried that security issues are being used to displace foreign firms including Cisco, IBM and Microsoft that doing business in China with companies that have strong relations with the government.
The letter warned “an overly broad, opaque, discriminatory approach to cyber security policy” will serve only to isolate Chinese companies and exacerbate cyber security concerns.
Surveillance and cyber espionage has long been a sore point between China and the U.S.
In North America, there have been long-pestering suspicions of cyber espionage activities by Chinese government back groups aimed at North American government agencies and businesses. China on the other hand has used the revelations by Edward Snowden of NSA surveillance program as an opportunity to point a finger on the U.S.’s own snooping activities.


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National and international information, reports and footage on the technology and our members as well as the latest news from our association and press releases.
Mitsubishi joins CharIN e.V.
Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), a Mitsubishi Group trading and investment company, has become a member of CharIN to be a part of developing scalable business of VGI (Vehicle Grid Integration) which contributes both to EV (Electric Vehicle) penetration and to grid sustainability even with more and more...
Master the Vehicle-2-Grid (V2G) communication with the first-ever digital masterclass
The V2G Clarity supports you in mastering the Vehicle-2-Grid (V2G) communication with the first-ever digital ISO 15118 Masterclass.
CharIN at the 2nd International Electric Vehicle Technology Conference iEVTech 2017 in Thailand
The 2nd International Electric Vehicle Technology Conference iEVTech 2017 will take place from June 8th – 9th 2017 with the title “Innovation for Sustainable Mobility” at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC).
EU permits BMW, Daimler, Ford und Porsche a cooperation for fast charging
The Brussels Competition Authority agreed to set up a joint venture between the four automakers BMW, Daimler, Ford and Porsche. This is an important foundation for the spread of electric vehicles.
CharIN position paper on the new revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive released
CharIN e.V. sees the current revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) as an opportunity to accelerate the development of charging infrastructure of electric vehicles in Europe.
CharIN member Fastned expands into Germany
Fastned, which is building a European network of fast-charging stations is expanding its network into Germany. Fastned announced that it has acquired its first 14 locations in Germany. At these locations Fastned will build and operate stations with multiple fast chargers, that are suited to charge...


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Word that Hillary Clinton maintained a personal email server while secretary of state has elevated cybersecurity and privacy as political issues. But it's just the latest example of such issues grabbing the attention of U.S. voters.
New exploits linked to Apple Pay aren't compromising the mobile device's security, but instead are taking advantage of lax authentication practices used by banking institutions to verify cards that are loaded to the iPhone for Apple Pay purchases.
Authorities have disrupted a botnet that was serving up the Ramnit banking malware, which has infected 3 million PCs worldwide. But information security experts warn that the disruption will likely be temporary.
ITSERT's Rajan Raj Pant discusses the formation of ITSERT-NP to address Nepal's security challenges. How will the public-private partnership model be leveraged to create a central platform for cybersecurity?
Visa Europe will launch in April a new mobile payments service to tokenize payment card data, enabling consumers to pay retailers with their smart phones and wearable devices. The move could pave the way for an Apple Pay rollout in Europe.
As new cyberthreats emerge, medical device maker Philips Healthcare is implementing a four-prong strategy for ensuring the cybersecurity of its products. Michael McNeil, global product security and services officer, outlines the steps.
Manufacturers of PCs and mobile devices must end the practice of preloading "bloatware." Lenovo's experience with offering "free" adware shows the hidden security and performance tradeoffs buyers must endure.
A British/American intelligence team hacked Gemalto - the world's largest SIM manufacturer - and stole encryption keys that can be used to intercept and eavesdrop on cellular communication, according to a news report citing leaked documents.
Cybercrime is on the rise. To combat it, GTU is launching e-Raksha Research Centre - a public private partnership initiative. The spin-off is also aimed at growing the capacity of InfoSec professionals.
Learning more about potential attackers and their preferred information targets is one of the best ways organizations can mitigate their cyber-attack risks, says Bank of the West's David Pollino, a featured speaker at ISMG's Fraud Summit LA.
Is your organization running its anti-malware defenses properly? Don't be so sure. A new study finds that essential features built into anti-virus software are not always being used. From an information security standpoint, that's a serious problem.
Extradited Russian national Vladimir Drinkman, who's been charged with masterminding the largest-ever hack attack in U.S. history, this week pleaded not guilty in U.S. federal court to 11 charges relating to the theft of 160 million payment cards.


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A growing shortage of key construction materials could delay housebuilding this year as builders fight for fresh supplies against a backdrop of coronavirus-related challenges and price increases.
One builders’ merchant said they were being given an August delivery date for roofing materials, such as pitched roof tiles, compared with a usual three-month wait because, even with extra shifts, UK factories were struggling to keep up.
The industry also continues to be affected by shortages of power tools, screws and fixings, stemming from congestion at UK ports. Companies now face increased shipping costs because of a global shortage of empty containers. Timber prices are also up by a fifth.
The Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) said if the problems were not resolved it could “have an impact on the number of houses that we are able to build in the UK” as well as cause delays to smaller projects, such as extensions and loft conversions.
“I wouldn’t say it’s having a major impact on contractors and housebuilders yet,” said John Newcomb, the BMF’s chief executive. “But it could do over the next couple of months because clearly you can’t build houses without roof tiles.”
Builders’ merchants and DIY stores have enjoyed a sales bonanza over the past year as Britons spent lockdowns renovating their homes. The trend did not even let up at Christmas, with merchants recording growth of more than 10%, a figure Newcomb said was unprecedented. Recent figures from B&Q’s owner, Kingfisher, showed sales up 17%.
The implications of the Brexit deal were bubbling away in the background but for builders the major concern was just getting their hands on enough materials to keep working.
“Right now, the main issue is that the demand for products like roof tiles is outstripping supply,” Newcomb said. “That will come into balance but a lot of these things are a spillover effect from April, May when factories were closed.”
The BMF said there continued to be shortages of plumbing materials and bathroom suites that come from the east Asia because of the problems at major container ports such as Felixstowe, which are struggling to cope with a combination of high container volumes and coronavirus restrictions.
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Three-quarters of building materials are made in the UK but Newcomb said the industry needed access to “goods from around the world to keep the industry running”. The cost of shipping goods from China to Europe has also hit record highs in recent weeks, with producers unable to absorb the huge price increases.
Lakes Showering, which imports bathroom equipment from China, said the cost of a container load had increased from $2,100 (£1,536) a year ago to $15,750. It was also finding carriers were reluctant to take bookings for the UK because of the congestion problems.
“We’ve found the shipping companies are not even quoting contract rates; it’s all based on spot pricing, where you get what’s available at a price, on that day,” said Mike Tattam, the sales and marketing director. “It’s having a very serious impact and it’s a situation that’s getting rapidly worse.”


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Download SmartNews: US Breaking News for iPhone, iPad
Updated: Apr 21, 2018
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Jeremy Corbyn says 'we might be in for years' of a war in Ukraine We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented…
Join the Secret Elves to get first access to our exclusive reviews of the must-have products this year.
Sainsbury’s staff who are about to be laid off were told they need to either work overtime or take unpaid leave for the shop's final ever Christmas party.
Workers at the Etruria Road supermarket in Hanley, Stoke found out about the 'Scrooge-like' decision this month when they were handed flyers advertising two Christmas parties — one running from midday to 1pm, and the other from 1.15pm to 2.15pm on 1 December.
The store is set to close in 2022 as part of cutbacks by the UK's second-largest supermarket chain.
The offending Christmas flyer, which has since been leaked to the public, reads: "The sittings are an hour long. Whatever time you use over your break you will need to either makeup or have as unpaid. Please inform us of your decision."
Axed colleagues and avid shoppers have joined forces to slam the supermarket giant's 'humbug' stance.
One former employee said to StokeOnTrent Live: "This is a pretty shabby way to treat people who are about to lose their jobs."
Businesswoman Lynn Shemirani said: “It’s a bit harsh. It’s going back to Scrooge with that sort of behaviour.
“At Christmas time they should show a bit of goodwill, especially after working through the pandemic as front-line workers.”
What do you think of the rules before the change? Let us know in the comments below!
Meanwhile, retired John Hannon added: "It’s ridiculous. The staff are pretty decent in here and they’ve been loyal to the company. I think the company ought to show them a bit of loyalty.”
Chloe Edwards thought the treatment was not only un-Christmassy but dehumanising, declaring: “It’s just not fair. You’re a number – not a person.”
A spokesperson for Sainsbury's told The Sun: "We have listened to our colleagues’ feedback and will be updating the plans at our Hanley store to ensure all colleagues can enjoy their Christmas celebrations during their break."
The supermarket giant was also under fire last year when it made pandemic-exhausted staff members work on Boxing Day.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.
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Pizza Huts Self Driving Delivery Truck
Recently, Pizza Hut has revealed that they will be teaming up with Toyota to come up with a self serving vehicle with the purpose of catering consumers in a number of ways. Toyota says that it will have the capabilities to host a mobile store and deliver packages. This concept of a servicing vehicle, which is developed by Toyota, this is called e-Palette. The vehicle is going to be electric and self driving. It will have a lower floor and an open interior which will allow consumers to be served and shop around. The length of it will be from 13 to 23 feet, just big enough to hold small stores. Toyota said that they will be teaming up with a handful of partners such as Amazon and other ride sharing services, meaning that these self driving vehicles could revolutionize they way consumers shop. Akio Toyoda stated that, “Today, you have to travel to the stores, in the future with e-Pallete, the store will come to you.”
How do you think e-Pallete will effect a consumers shopping patterns? What other stores besides Amazon and Pizza could you see utilizing this? Do you think this is a trend that will catch on or do you see it being something that will not last?


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During October, we hosted a Roundtable in partnership with Lloyds to help retailers understand and manage their financial exposure to potential cyber-attacks. During the Roundtable, we offered practical expert advice and guidance on the strategies and tools retailers can put in place to effectively prepare for, respond to and recover financially in the event of a cyber-breach.
Cyber-crime targeted at the Retail Industry has increased exponentially in the past two years, with the number of incidents now surpassing those experienced in the financial services sector. In the last 6 months, it is estimated there have been 10 trillion attempts on retail user credentials in the UK compared to 1 trillion against banks.
With this dramatic increase in targeted attacks, cyber risk needs to be understood as a collective responsibility and not solely as an issue for IT teams as it has been perceived to be in the past. CEOs need to be driving a cyber security strategy that can adapt and take into consideration the function of the whole business to prevent the agonising aftermath of an attack.
The risks to retailers
Cyber-attacks can target businesses with just one singular attack or multiple at a central computer, bringing down all digitised functions of an organisation. With retailers having more and more of a dependence on digitisation - from the ‘customer journey’ to ‘supply chains’ - the impacts of an attack on one element of the business could have detrimental ripple effects across all functions.
“I encourage all companies to maintain a dialog with their banks on cyber-security policies and relevant mitigation strategies. This will help facilitate their support to recover from a cyber-attack.”
Philipp Gutzwiller, Head of Retail, Large Corporates, Commercial Banking
What are the implications?
A cyber-attack has a direct impact on the company’s key financial drivers (sales liquidity, share performance, etc). Assessment of a company’s cyber-risk is also now part of their credit assessment, so ways in which companies deal with cyber risk may have an impact on their cost of funding.
Credit risk, liquidity risk, market risk, physical damage and business damage are also possible implications on a business from an attack and without a thorough strategy for when an attack does happen, your business could be left for days, weeks or even months before it regains control with unlimited financial implications.
What can you do now?
The question is not if, it’s when a cyber-attack happens and so businesses need to ensure they are doing what they can now to prevent an attack as well as plan for what they will do in an event of a cyber breach. Both Lloyds Bank and The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) can offer guidance to prepare and mitigate the effects of a cyber-attack
“Lloyds can help our clients to assess their cyber risk vulnerability based on their internet-facing connections, how they rate against peers, how often systems are patched or upgraded, client/colleague sentiment on social media, evidence of attempted attacks and more.”
Giles Taylor, Head of Cyber Security, Lloyds Bank
You can also find more information below on staying on step ahead of Cyber Risk:


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Vintage Wine Estates is betting big on California's Central Coast. The Sonoma-based wine company has purchased Laetitia, a Pinot Noir and sparkling wine specialist that helped pioneer the cool Arroyo Grande Valley in the Central Coast region. The sale includes the brand, the winery and 287 acres of vines planted mostly to Pinot and Chardonnay, as well as an additional 400 plantable acres. The sale price was not disclosed, but an industry source told Wine Spectator that it's in the range of $30 million to $40 million.
Laetitia winemaker Eric Hickey will remain in his role, but owner Selim Zilkha, 91, will be stepping back from the business. The winery produces 35,000 cases of still wine a year, but has the capacity to produce 120,000 cases, and Vintage plans to make the facility a hub for its Central Coast wine production, including its canned wine brand, Alloy Wine Works. It also plans to build a new winery for Qupé, another Central Coast brand it recently bought, on the nearly 2,000-acre property.
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"Laetitia has a great history and great scores," Vintage Wine Estates CEO Pat Roney told Wine Spectator. He says Laetitia's sparkling wines were also a draw, filling a category that was missing from the company's portfolio.
Laetitia was the former home of Maison Deutz, which was built along Highway 101 in southern San Louis Obispo County by France's Champagne Deutz in the 1980s, as its California outpost. It was later renamed Laetitia.
Zilkha, who was born in Iraq and moved to the U.S. as a child, made his fortune as founder of several energy companies before he bought the winery in 2001. Laetitia continued to make sparkling wine but it is best-known for its still Pinot Noirs and Chardonnay.
"We are very proud of the winery we have created here," said Hickey, who has been working at Laetitia for nearly 22 years. "I'm excited about the energy that [Vintage Wine Estates] is going to bring, and their focus."
Roney says Vintage will boost Laetitia's wine production up to 70,000 cases annually. It plans to grow the vineyard, adding Rhône varieties, and will use some of the grapes to bolster its other labels, such as Layer Cake and Cameron Hughes. But the company does not plan to change the trajectory of Laetitia's wines. "We bought [Laetitia] because of the fabulous style of the wines and won't change that," said Roney.
The deal is part of Vintage Wine Estate's larger move to expand into the Central Coast. The company has been on a buying spree of late, acquiring Santa Barbara–based Qupé in November 2018. Earlier this year it purchased the Alloy Wine Works brand from Field Recordings in Paso Robles, adding canned wine to its lineup.
Vintage now owns more than 30 brands, representing roughly 2 million cases of annual production. "We think the Central Coast is a strategic area to be in," Roney explained, adding that Laetitia will give the company greater access to markets in Southern California.


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Two years ago, Del Posto chef Mark Ladner opened up a pop-up version of his gluten-free pasta "fast casual" concept, Pasta Flyer. Now, he's going to leave the four-star restaurant to focus on a Pasta Flyer restaurant.
The NY Times reported yesterday Ladner, who has been with Del Posto since its opening in 2005, will depart in January and "is diving into the world of upscale fast food with a quick-serve restaurant, Pasta Flyer, that he hopes to develop into a chain." The first location of the potential chain will open in Greenwich Village.
The first Pasta Flyer restaurant is coming soon to NYC. Italian, Nonna-inspired, comfort food by yours truly, @chefmarkladner - and served at light speed.
A photo posted by Pasta Flyer (@pastaflyer) on
The new restaurant will be at 510 6th Avenue, between 13th and 14th Streets. Ladner originally developed Pasta Flyer with the help of Kickstarter: "Pasta Flyer delivers soulful, traditional Italian pasta to a hungry customer’s belly as fast as a bowl of Japanese ramen, for under $10."
The Times article points out that while fast casual concepts are springing up faster and faster, with more name chefs jumping in, "no one has yet cracked the complex code of how to produce a good bowl of pasta — reasonably al dente, appropriately sauced, made with high-quality ingredients — in the same amount of time it takes a Chipotle outlet to roll a burrito or a Sweetgreen branch to toss a salad, and for about the same price."
Mr. Ladner said he has worked out a method of parcooking pasta — he plans to use Felicetti, a top-quality brand of dried pasta from a small producer in the Dolomites — so that it can be reheated and ready to sauce in about 15 seconds.
It's unclear if the upcoming Pasta Flyer will be strictly gluten-free; the Times article didn't mention it, and it would make sense to offer both versions of pasta.
When we tried a few gluten-free Pasta Flyer dishes two years ago—pesto spirals, tubes with marinara and meatballs and brown rice lasagna— we wrote, "[T]he pasta did not seem gummy, like some gluten-free pastas tend to be—the tubes were hearty and lasagna was rich. The pesto spirals were a particular revelation, firm and flavorful."
Melissa Rodriguez, Ladner's sous chef at Del Posto, will become the restaurant's executive chef. The Times says, "She will be the first woman to head the kitchen of a New York City restaurant that has received four stars from The New York Times."


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Majesco Entertainment has announced their plans to release Harley Pasternak?s Hollywood Workout for the Wii and Kinect. Coming this Fall, the renowned fitness and nutrition expert Harley Pasternak will introduce players to his breakthrough 5-Factor program that isan easy yet effective approach to reaching personal fitness goals.
Pasternak will be using the same fitness program he uses to train celebrity clients utilizing his program of customizable 25-minute-a-day workouts, five days a week. Along with an easy to manage interface, Pasternak will be providing guidance on form, technique and nutrition every step of the way.
At the reigns is Heavy Iron Studios who previously released the motion fitness game UFC Personal Trainer. Unlike the UFC title, Harley Pasternak?s Hollywood Workout is looking to train players to look more like some of Hollywood?s hottest. Harley Pasternak has previously trained Lady Gaga, Megan Fox, Katy Perry, Hilary Duff, Jennifer Hudson, Robert Pattinson and Kanye West.
Gra ma mieć swoją premierę na jesieni 2012.


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Ecommerce PR Daily - Introducing Ecommerce PR Daily
Each day every day, the Ecommerce PR Daily team brings information from dozens if not hundreds of diverse areas.
Find out the latest happenings in your life, and learn about it with a…
Ecommerce News Now
Every day daily, the Ecommerce News Now team delivers you the most up-to-date news across a myriad of categories.
Learn about the world around you and discover what is happening with an ounce of intelligence.
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Every day daily, the Ecommerce News Journal team delivers you the most up-to-date information from a variety of categories.
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The Press Gate News team brings you the latest news from dozens of categories every day.
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Shop For Minimalist Lighting
Why and How to Use Minimal Lighting in Your Office or Home Right Now
Minimalist lighting is becoming a popular trend in home decor.
You can create a feeling of serenity, tranquility, and relaxation by using…


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Southern California Motorcycles is proud to announce the Grand Opening Celebration of its new Giant Group pedal assist bicycle store on Saturday, February 29th.
Bikes with small rechargeable electric motors that are gaining in popularity would be regulated in a new way under a bill the Wisconsin Legislature has passed.
Join us at the Northstar (Lake Tahoe) Electric Boogaloo race
How do e-bikes compare to motorcycles?
In an attempt to bolster cycling in NYC, Mayor Bill de Blasio begins the rule-making process to clarify that pedal-assist electric bicycles are permissable in the city.
It's Time To Get Out There
Portland, Oregon-based author Steve Domahidy has written a childrens' book about bikes. It's called "A Bike For You", and it's about bicycles and the animals who ride them. It's beautifully illustrated by Rob Snow. Who doesn't love a…
BMW has a couple of significant electric vehicles, two for sale here in the U.S. The compact i3 car, and the sportier, sexier and many times more expensive i8. They're also finally bringing in an electric scooter that had previously…
Three guys, friends since they were babies, grew up riding bicycles in Southern California. In 2010, they decided to start their own bicycle company. They began Pure Cycles in 2010 with a dream and out of a garage, and started…


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Sekur Private Data Ltd. Increases Identity Security for its Swiss Hosted Sekur Solutions for Businesses – Prepares to Launch SekurVPN April 7, 2023
March 31, 2023 in Company news
March 31, 2023 – Toronto, ON, and New York, NY, Sekur Private Data Ltd. (CSE:SKUR) (OTCQX:SWISF) (FRA:GDT0) (“Sekur” or the “Company”), a leading Swiss hosted secure and private communications platform, is pleased to announce that it has launched a new security feature for all its web based Sekur solutions. The feature is called 2FA or 2 Factor-Authentication and allows Sekur users to opt-in and increase their login credential security.
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an identity and access management security method that requires two forms of identification to access resources and data. 2FA gives businesses and consumers the ability to monitor and help safeguard their most vulnerable information and networks. 2FA will be applied to all the Company’s solutions including its upcoming SekurVPN.
Additionally, the Company is pleased to announce that it is on track to launch its anticipated SekurVPN private Swiss-hosted encrypted VPN solution. The launch is expected April 7, 2023. The Company has already received pre-registration requests for its launch promotion and will start a similar promotion to all its existing users and shareholders.
Alain Ghiai, CEO of Sekur Private Data said: “We are very pleased to launch the 2FA feature to all our solutions, and to announce that we are on track to launch SekurVPN on time April 7, 2023. The opt-in 2FA is optional of course, however, we recommend business users to implement this extra security measure to minimize cyber intrusions into their account. With 2FA implemented, we are increasing our chances of getting more and more businesses adopting Sekur as their communications platform of choice. Businesses have been asking for this implementation and we have answered their requests. We do anticipate some immediate benefits from this 2FA feature implementation. Our prime directive is to provide private and secure communications for everyone, and, as we are not connected to any BigTech or Hyperscaler platform, we offer a truly independent, private and secure means of communications without any data mining, through our proprietary technology and our secure servers based in Switzerland. We look forward to continuing to offer true data privacy to all individuals and their businesses and protect their intellectual property, and their privacy, from data miners and malicious hackers.”
Sekur, which includes SekurMessenger and SekurMail, is part of a bundle of email, messaging and file transfer into one application, includes the Company’s latest SekurMail technology, which includes proprietary anti-phishing and privacy feature called SekurSend®. SekurSend® lets a user send an email to any other recipient, whether they have Sekur or not, in full privacy and security as the email never leaves Sekur‘s encrypted email servers based in Switzerland. The recipient can then click on the notification and reply in the same manner using SekurReply®, without the recipient having to register for a Sekur account. The sender can also decide to protect any email sent by adding a password to open it, a read-limit and a self-destruct timer as well. Sending an email with the SekurSend® feature allows the senders and recipients to add limitless size attachments to the emails without crowding the recipients’ email box. This also eliminates BEC attacks for businesses and email phishing attacks. Additionally, SekurMail includes full control of email delivery, automatic data export for large Enterprises and an automatic Data Loss Prevention technology (“DLP”) with real time continuous archiving.
Recent data breaches in messaging applications have created a certain urgency for businesses and data privacy advocates to protect their communications from cyber-attacks and identity theft via mobile and desktop devices.
SekurMessenger now comes with a proprietary feature and technology called “Chat-By-Invites”. This feature allows a SekurMessenger user (“SM user”) invite a non-SM user, or a group of non-SM users, to chat in a fully private and secure way, without the recipient ever having to register to SekurMessenger or download the app. At the end of the chat, the initiator of the conversation can remotely terminate the conversation and all traces of the conversation are deleted from all users, including the recipient. This unique feature is now fully deployed and functional on all iOS and Android devices and web platforms. The target sectors are numerous, including but not limited to real estate, legal, finance, insurance, medical, government, energy, manufacturing, trade and pharmaceutical sectors.
SekurMessenger also eliminates many of the privacy and security risks by not only not requiring a phone number, which would divulge a user’s phone device ID, but also by not social engineering a user’s phone or computer contact list and infecting the contacts by default as well, eliminating a huge loophole in security and privacy. SekurMessenger issues each user a username and a Sekur number. The Sekur number is the contact ID a user would disclose in order for other Sekur users to be added. The service comes with a self-destruct timer and other features as well, including Sekur’s proprietary VirtualVaults and HeliX technologies with all data stored in Swiss hosted encrypted servers.
Sekur’s Data privacy solutions are all hosted in Switzerland, protecting users’ data from any outside data intrusion requests. In Switzerland, the right to privacy is guaranteed in article 13 of the Swiss Federal Constitution. The Federal Act on Data Protection (“FADP”) of 19 June 1992 (in force since 1993) has set up a strict protection of privacy by prohibiting virtually any processing of personal data which is not expressly authorized by the data subjects. The protection is subject to the authority of the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner.
Under Swiss federal law, it is a crime to publish information based on leaked “secret official discussions.” In 2010 the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland found that IP addresses are personal information and that under Swiss privacy laws they may not be used to track Internet usage without the knowledge of the individuals involved.
About Sekur Private Data Ltd.
Sekur Private Data Ltd. is a Cybersecurity and Internet privacy provider of Swiss hosted solutions for secure and private communications. The Company distributes a suite of encrypted e-mails, secure messengers, and secure communication tools. Sekur Private Data Ltd. sells its products through its own website at https://www.sekur.com, and approved distributors, and telecommunications companies worldwide. Sekur Private Data Ltd. serves consumers, businesses and governments worldwide.
On behalf of Management
SEKUR PRIVATE DATA LTD.
President and Chief Executive Officer


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Welfare groups have accused power companies of being too quick to disconnect services when households do not pay their bills.
A report by the Essential Services Commission has found gas disconnections in Victoria jumped by 50 per cent last financial year.
Electricity disconnections jumped by 33 per cent, but around half were reconnected within seven days.
Penny Wilson, from the Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS), says it is a sign the industry must show more leniency to people in financial hardship.
"More people are being disconnected from their essential energy supplies that any time since the industry was privatised," she said.
"We think the State Government needs to pull them into line."
Gerard Brody from the Consumer Action Law Centre says it shows companies are using disconnection as a form of debt collection.
"Disconnection is being used to resolve payment difficulties rather than other reasons," he said.
The commission has urged retailers to do more to identify customers in financial hardship and only use disconnection as a last resort.
The State Government says it's doing all it can to help struggling households.
Consumer Affairs Minister, Michael O'Brien, says Victoria has some of the toughest protections for vulnerable consumers in the country, but they must ask for more time to pay their bills if they need to.
"Every energy retailer operating in Victoria must have available hardship plans for customers," he said.
"What customers need to do is if they do find themselves getting into trouble, is make sure they ask their retailer for such a payment plan, because once the customer asks, then the retailer does have to comply."


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NEW YORK — Naterra Brands may be a small firm, but it’s ready to play with the big guys.
Naterra, best known for its Skin Milk line, is extending into two major categories dominated by the likes of Procter & Gamble and Unilever, with launches in hair care and skin care. Plus, the Texas-based company is initiating its first national advertising campaign with print advertising for Skin Milk, a milk-based skin care line. The new items could add more than $20 million in sales to Naterra’s portfolio, industry sources estimate.
For Naterra, the key to getting precious shelf space is to deliver niche items. “We can’t go head to head with the Procters of the world,” said Dan Zarazan, vice president of sales and marketing at Naterra and a former executive with consumer product marketing giants such as Dial, Clorox and Coca-Cola.
With its launch in November 2003 of Time Block, Naterra will vie against other antiaging skin care products such as P&G’s Regenerist and Neutrogena’s Healthy Skin. “However, we have an ingredient called INDOL-3 that no one else has,” said Zarazan. “It is a natural plant hormone that results in a visible reduction in wrinkles.”
Time Block comprises 14 items and retails for $9.99 to $12.99. “The antiaging portion of skin care is showing double-digit gains and we think this could be bigger than Skin Milk.”
Skin Milk, now stocked by more than 10,000 stores, will receive a shot in the arm with a print campaign, contends Zarazan. “We’ve grown so much by just word of mouth, but we think we’ve done the line an injustice by not advertising it.”
In addition to muscling its way into skin care, Naterra is expanding its popular shea butter products marketed under the Tree Hut logo into hair care. This fall the company will ship Tree Hut Shea Butter shampoos and moisturizers into stores. “Shea butter is an effective skin moisturizer and it is found to have moisturizing benefits for the scalp. It revitalizes damaged and processed hair,” Zarazan added. The hair care products will retail for less than $6 for 7 oz.The company has long offered shea butter products in traditional tubs and is now extending that with a Shea Butter Stick. Shea butters have traditionally been popular with ethnic markets. However, thanks to specialty retailers such as The Body Shop, which have spread the word about the benefits of the shea butter, the ingredient has had strong crossover sales. “Retailers are excited about the stick delivery form,” he said.
Drugstores are showing signs of better health. Three major drug chains reported buoyant July sales. Walgreen Co. had July sales of $2.7 billion, up 13.7 percent over the same month in 2002. Sales in comparable stores rose 9.8 percent. Front-end sales, where beauty is located, rose 3.9 percent in July. Rite Aid Corp. reported July sales at stores open at least one year rose 6.3 percent. Nonpharmacy products, including cosmetics, had a sales increase of 4.3 percent. And CVS had a 6.1 percent jump in same-store sales for July.
The gains are bright news after a slow summer and fall last year, especially at the front end for drug chains. Efforts to shore up sales of nonprescription products appear to be paying off for the drugstore channel.
As one of the most recognizable models in the world, Christy Turlington Burns has an insider’s view of the fashion industry and the allegations of sexual harassment swirling around it. “I can say that harassment and mistreatment have always been widely known and tolerated in the industry. The industry is surrounded by predators who thrive on the constant rejection and loneliness so many of us have experiences at some point in our careers,” Turlington told WWD, along with her suggestions for how the modeling world should protect younger women and men. Read more on WWD.com. Link in bio. (📷: Tony Palmieri) #wwdnews
@asics America has tapped a new brand ambassador: famed DJ/record producer @steveaoki. This initiative is intended to set the tone for the new brand identity and philosophy and will include partnerships with influencers and in-store and off-line activations that will continue into next year. This is Asics’ most significant marketing effort in two decades, and is expected to attract younger consumers to the brand. #wwdfashion
24-year-old Jean Prounis is redefining the rules of jewelry. Formerly a studio assistant to Jemima Kirke and a design apprentice at Ghuran, she focuses on handcrafted subtleties and ancient goldsmithing techniques. “There was a really sterile feel in the environment and I wanted to have jewelry with character that shapes how you wear it everyday,” Prounis said. Each piece is hand made in New York, either by Prounis or three other jewelers in the district. #wwdfashion
“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