text:
Sony India has appointed Sunil Nayyar as the new Managing Director by replacing Kenichiro Hibi. The company announced it today. Hibi has been appointed as the President for Sony Brazil with effect from April 1.
Sony India said in the statement that Nair is the first Indian to be appointed as Managing Director of Sony India. In the new role, Nayyar’s responsibility will be to increase the company’s overall development and profits in the field.
Till now Nayyar was the head of North America’s Retail Experience. Earlier, from April 2006 until April 2015, he was the head of sales. Nayyar started his journey with Sony in 1995.
Also Read: Google Assistant Now Supports Hindi Language
“Being one of the most recognised consumer electronics brands, it is an exciting time to lead the company’s direction in India,” Nayyar said on his appointment. “In this time of transition, I look forward for an insight from our stakeholders and help guide in further strengthening Sony’s presence in India,” he added further.
Regarding this development, Sony said, “The change of guard marks a historic milestone, with Nayyar being the first Indian to be appointed as Managing Director for Sony India. In this new role, Nayyar will be responsible for spearheading the overall growth and profitability of the company within the region, by driving an integrated business and marketing strategy and directing excellence in market performance across all categories.”


text:
I thought this would interest readers as I know a number of you travel to Thailand and sometimes with British Airways.
Yesterday news emerged on social media to the effect that BA would be extending its longstanding suspension of its London-Bangkok route until 2023.
(Knowing how airlines work, it might be extended even further nearer the time).
Until now the official suspension date had been until October 2022. This seemed logical as the peak season for travel to Thailand is during the winter months.
I therefore asked BA today and here is its reply:
“We regularly keep our extensive global network under review, and we’ve taken the decision to extend the suspension of our Bangkok service. We’re in contact with affected customers to apologise, advise them of their consumer rights and offer them alternative options, including a refund or rebooking.”
Personally I am sad at hearing this news. I was also sorry at SAS’ decision in 2012 to remove Copenhagen-Bangkok from its year-round network. SAS had operated this route for no less than 63 years.
As SAS found in 2012, Thailand has become a low-yield route thanks to price competition from direct and indirect carriers.
In its heyday I am sure many of you can still remember when BA used to operate its one-stop Australian flights via Bangkok.
I suspect one of BA’s main alternatives will be to offer Qatar Airways via Doha. The latter is a fellow Oneworld member.
The other direct options from London Heathrow are Thai Airways and EVA Air.
EVA’s flights are running, but sales have been suspended during July and August due to the Heathrow flight cap, which is why I did not see the service displayed on its website.
Note that the Heathrow flight cap is expected to be extended until the end of October.
Eva Air’s fifth-freedom service remains suspended according to its website display.
What about Scoot from London Gatwick? It appears its flights have been axed. When I checked the inventory for future dates an alert said “no flights.”

domain: news


text:
Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here.
Signpost, a nine-year-old startup developing a cloud marketing platform for local businesses, today announced that it has secured $52 million in late-stage financing from HighBar Partners and BMO Bank of Montreal, with participation from Georgian Partners and Spark Capital. This latest round brings the New York-based company’s total raised to nearly $90 million following a $20.5 million series C in April 2015, and it comes after Signpost broke even early this year and notched 43% year-over-year growth and less than 1% customer churn.
Founder and CEO Stuart Wall said the capital infusion will enable Signpost to scale its footprint and “extend its leadership.”
“While large corporations have used powerful marketing technology to drive extraordinary growth for years, local businesses — which make up 99.7% of all U.S. businesses and account for nearly half of GDP — have been left behind,” said Wall. “Signpost puts the power of the world’s largest marketing departments in the hands of local business owners and empowers them to instantly capture their customer data, get better online reviews, and win new repeat business automatically and effortlessly.”
Signpost’s customer relationship management suite boasts tools aimed at automating data collection and cross-channel marketing. It’s able to capture the contact information of folks who call, text, email, or buy something from a business, and it autonomously sends personalized messages designed to drive feedback and acquire new customers. Its full-featured payments solution — Signpost Payments — comes with complimentary card reader, and the Signpost’s customer success team provides tips and tailored advice to increase engagement and revenue.
Intelligent Security Summit On-Demand
Learn the critical role of AI & ML in cybersecurity and industry specific case studies. Watch on-demand sessions today.
After an onboarding process that Wall says typically takes less than five minutes, Signpost connects to a client’s phone systems, email providers, and other key services like Mindbody and Quickbooks, and collates the customer contact information it uncovers in a master database. Mia — Signpost’s automated assistant — then intelligently detects things like purchases and solicits feedback or reaches out to customers who haven’t made purchases recently, and it helpfully flags buyers who leave positive reviews as promoters.
The way Wall tells it, businesses depend heavily on customer reviews in local Google Maps, Facebook, and Yelp searches for growth. He cites stats from a Search Engine Land survey conducted last year, which found that at least 82% of smartphone shoppers conduct “near me” searches and that 90% are likely to click on the first set of results.
“Local business owners struggle to manually create and maintain a customer list and to send consistent marketing communications,” said Wall. “Too often, they don’t have the time or resources to devote to marketing, which can make the difference between the success or failure of their business.”
It’s a message that’s resonated with Signpost’s over 20,000 customers, who’ve used its tech to scrape behavioral data on 70 million shoppers across the U.S. Signpost says that most local businesses leveraging its tools see a 34% improvement in ratings and 14% increase in revenues.
“HighBar’s investment is a vote of confidence in the right approach to applying technology to level the playing field for local businesses,” said HighBar Partners managing director Brian Peters, who intends to join Signpost’s board of directors. “The turnkey setup and level of automation in Signpost’s platform, as well as their ability to follow through on reviews and engage the modern customer well beyond their first interaction is what really sets them apart. When we consider the strength of the team, their focus on execution, and the magnitude of the market opportunity that sits before them, we couldn’t be more excited to partner with Signpost.”
Signpost expects to add employees to its headquarters this year, as well as to its offices in Austin and Denver.
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings.


text:
FALKIRK-based Empire Exports will be making its exhibition debut at ScotPlant 2022.
The business – which buys and sells used construction equipment – recently appointed Darren Petersen as Scottish sales manager following a period of rapid expansion. The firm will arrive at ScotPlant on the back of a record month for the company, which is benefiting from soaring demand for machines at a time when availability remains an issue for many.
Co-founder Sandy Fairweather said, “This is the first venture into ScotPlant for Empire Exports, though obviously I’ve attended the show many times. We intend to make the stand really spectacular. We’ve got a Formula One simulator coming up from down south, and we’re going to have a few unusual pieces on display as well.
“I personally believe this will be a pretty unique ScotPlant because I think people are going to go over and above to try to create something different on their stands, rather than just have a series of machines that you can walk round.”
The reason for this, Sandy explained, is the lack of product availability currently affecting parts of the plant sector. He expects many exhibitors will be more adventurous than ever before when it comes to using interactive features and innovations to stand out.
For many people, ScotPlant will be the first in-person exhibition they’ll have attended since before the pandemic. Sandy believes the lack of shows due to the restrictions has merely served to highlight the importance of them.
“From a point of view of people coming through the industry as a career, they’ve not had the opportunity to see who’s out there, and where they stand in the market in terms of size of company and respectability,” he said. “These shows are a good standing ground for people who want to move up through the industry, whether it’s move on from one type of product that they’re selling to another job. You get the chance to meet the people who run these companies. I know for a fact that I’ve had many job offers over the years by walking round a show and talking to people, as I’m sure many other people have.”
Sandy is looking forward to spending time with as many new and old contacts as he can, stating that it’s a nice opportunity to say thank you to people he’s had business from.
His previous experiences of ScotPlant have been wholly positive, and he’s expecting more of the same this time around.
“I’ve always found ScotPlant exceptionally well organised,” he said. “It’s really, really easy to go and visit and enjoy visiting. There’s a lot of space; they don’t cram stuff in, it’s extremely well laid out. What I like about ScotPlant is that all the big players aren’t just in one bit and then everybody (else) is scattered around. The concentration is if you want to enjoy the show, (you have) to walk round the full show. You’ve got people who you must see, and if you must see them, they are dotted all over the place, which is great. You get to see companies you would not have met in the past.
“Location is a key factor as well, with accommodation on the doorstep, and access to Ingliston is superb no matter where you’re coming from.”


text:
National Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has expressed concern about the reduction from Jan. 4 of the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme—a federal government measure to cushion the economic impact of the CCP virus.
The economic measure was put in place when the pandemic first struck Australia and was intended to help businesses keep workers on the books.
Albanese told the ABC that while JobKeeper should be phased out, it will remove critical support from the economy to do it now.
“The withdrawal of support when we’re still very much dealing with the economic impact of this crisis is premature,” Albanese said.
But the support is being tapered off, not withdrawn.
JobKeeper was initially legislated to be in place until Sept. 28, 2020, but was extended until March 28, 2021, in two stages, and at reduced amounts.
At first, the wage subsidy provided businesses $1500 per fortnight, per employee during the height of the Australian outbreak.
After the Sept. 28 extension, it was reduced to $1200 ($750 for tier 2), and now it has been reduced to $1000 ($650 for tier 2).
Although the current tapering of the JobKeeper rates has been planned for months, the final phase of reductions comes as parts of New South Wales, and Victoria are experiencing fresh outbreaks of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus (novel coronavirus).
The Guardian reported that Labor finance spokeswoman Katy Gallagher said 1.6 million Australians relied on the payment.
“These cuts will reduce critical support from the economy including from small businesses, regional communities, and vulnerable Australians at a time of heightened uncertainty and new COVID-19 outbreaks,” she said.
The reduction comes as 2.2 million Australians are looking for work or more work, and government figures show unemployment is expected to hit 7.5 percent in the March quarter.
But Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said that fewer businesses need the support. He also noted that the government has always said that JobKeeper was a temporary measure designed to taper off as economic confidence and momentum builds.
“We’re seeing that through the 734,000 jobs created over the last six months, with fewer businesses and their employees in need of JobKeeper and other temporary economic support,” Frydenberg said.
He said the government’s economic recovery plan also included a range of stimulus measures to keep Australians in jobs and business in business, including personal income tax cuts and the JobMaker hiring credit.
“With our economic recovery well underway, Australians have cause for optimism and hope as we emerge from the COVID-19 recession,” he said.
That said, outbreaks of the CCP virus are impacting businesses during peak tourist seasons, particularly in parts of Sydney and surrounding regions.
Labor industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke said there was added stress on businesses during the Christmas and New Year.
“Many business owners are seeing holiday bookings cancelled or empty tables in their cafes and restaurants at what is usually their busiest time of the year,” he said.
AAP contributed to this article.


text:
Built from original parts 1962 Lola T70 for sale on Hemmings.com. From the seller’s description: This beautiful Lola T-70 Spyder was constructed by Lee Chapman Racing in New Milford, Connecticut using original front and rear fabricated steel bulkheads, which John Bright found in California, while working in IMSA on a Lola T600 team. The bulkheads […]
Photo by Richard Lentinello. Ask a bunch of students to design a car and you’re guaranteed to end up with some unconventional results. Actually produce any of those unconventional results and you’re likely to end up with a striking car like the 1952 Pegaso Z-102 Cupola, a car that the International Historic Motoring Awards recently […]
The most attention-grabbing motorcycle is not an MV Agusta F4 or even a vintage Brough Superior. It’s a sidecar rig: Park up near a sidewalk in any city in the world, and you’ll immediately notice the foot traffic slowing down for a better look. It can’t just be the rarity value. Show More Summary
Normally, a car like the Renault Zoe doesn’t generate the same type of excitement in auto shows compared to those limited edition supercars that pop up every so often. But when said Renault Zoe promises something that no other car of its kind can do, that’s when it becomes a lot more interesting. Show More Summary
It’s been four years since Hyundai launched the first i20 WRC ar the 2012 Paris Motor Show, and the Korean automaker returned at the same event to showcase the fourth iteration of the rally-spec race car. Developed by the company’s Motorsport...Show More Summary
Although not exactly new, having debuted earlier in 2016 as an upgraded version of the Ferrari FF, the GTC4Lusso arrived at the 2016 Paris Motor Show to showcase its new T version, which uses a turbocharged, 3.9-liter V-8 engine. Essentially...Show More Summary
In the face of mushrooming SUV sales and the coming autonomous car, CEO says Nissan remains committed to sports cars.
The Paris Motor Show has always been a place for stunning concept cars, and this year’s edition is no exception. Among the futuristic design showcased in France, there’s the Renault Trezor, an all-electric grand tourer concept that preview trends likely to be seen in future production models. Show More Summary
The Mercedes-Benz AMG GT R is one part GT3 race car, one part road car and all parts amazeballs.
Credit Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] for keeping the new 2017 F-150 Raptor at the forefront of the automotive news cycle. The Raptor gets new tires, it's news. The Raptor gets fancy drive modes, it's news. The Raptor gets more gears than a mountain bike, yup. The Raptor saves an infant from a burning building—one of these is made up. The point...
Hyundai took this year’s Paris Motor Show by storm with two exciting production cars, including the redesigned i30, but none are as hot as the RN30 concept. And not because concept cars are usually more futuristic than production models. Show More Summary
Unveiled at the 2016 Paris Motorshow, the Honda Civic Type R concept will be pretty close to the car that will go on sale in 2017 and will, for the first time, be coming to American shores.
Audi’s new RS 3 has finally landed. The car is a compact sport sedan with essentially the same mechanical package as the TT RS—and it’s coming to the United States. Audi pulled the covers off on Thursday at the 2016 Paris auto show, and in the process likely unsettled the folks over at Mercedes-AMG. That’s because the RS 3...
Here it is, ladies and gentlemen. The long-awaited, U.S.-bound Honda Civic Type R has finally arrived. Okay, so this is a prototype version if we’re going to be technical about it. But by and large, we can at least expect the production...Show More Summary
It's got a 2-liter diesel engine and a special setting for soft roading, but unfortunately it will stay far from U.S. shores.
Ram just got serious about competing with the 2017 Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] F-150 Raptor. The truckmaker unveiled Thursday its Ram Rebel TRX concept, powered by a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 that makes 575 horsepower. Yup, that 6.2-liter supercharged V-8. This may be as close as we'll get to a factory Hellcat Ram 1500, and goodness, is it loud...
Space; it really is the final frontier. So many aspire to travel into the great unknown, yet so few have ever even made it outside of earth’s atmosphere. And, only a handful of them has ever stepped foot onto another celestial body.Show More Summary
The world's most powerful five-cylinder engine is being shoehorned into a compact sedan for us.
The BMW M2 may be regarded as the baby of BMW’s M family, but the sports coupe has earned a reputation for being a bona fide giant slayer. No less than Jeremy Clarkson called the M2 his favorite M car ever, glowing words from the notoriously complement-allergic host of The Grand Tour. Show More Summary
We knew it was coming, but Ferrari has finally taken the head off the LaFerrari hypercar. It's big, expensive and fast, and you're gonna want one.


text:
In a few hours from now, the biggest and most extravagant annual tech showcase which is popularly known as the Consumer Electronics Show 2012 (CES 2012) will soon open its gate live at Las Vegas to give us the latest and newest innovations from different known tech companies. We will soon see what to expect from these big companies’ engineers when they showcase their latest products. Tradition proves that every year, tech companies such as Samsung, Microsoft, Nokia, Sony, Google and many more are there flaunting their latest designs, innovations, gadgets, applications and many more – it’s more like a big school science fair. From home entertainment from the likes of Sony, Samsung and Panasonic, gadgets like new mobile phones, innovations and enhancements for the likes of Gorilla Glass OLED, Smart TVs, gaming consoles like what the rumor says – Wii U from Nintendo, Microsoft’s Xbox 720, and Sony’s PlayStation 4, and many more to delight your eyes.
Unfortunately, “less interest” is more likely to expect from the tablet industry. No one is really certain if there’s anything or something new will come out this year. If you recall last year, there had been great expectations from Google’s Honeycomb tablet but it only sold a few million before the end of 2011. One big disappointment was the Blackberry RIM’s Playbook – which was considered as one expensive flop of RIM. It looks like that if we talk of tablet only Apple retained its status as the largest earner of them all with their iPad sales.
The only expectation now for possible for tablets is Google’s ICS or Ice Cream Sandwich which is the 4th Android iteration. However, we still have no clue which tablet will be using ICS for the showcase.
One thing is certain, major players are going into “ultrabooks“. We’ll be seeing competing companies like Sony and Lenovo against Apple’s MAcBook Air.
Let us all wait and see what happens tonight at Las Vegas, USA for the next CES 2012.


text:
Right from the start, The Sinking City intrigued me as it is a very ambitious game, merging investigative gameplay we know so well from the
Day: Jun 25, 2019
If you don’t like browsing through multiple stores for the best video game deals out there, then we’ve got you covered. Today, we’ve found over
The Steam Summer Sale 2019 will be starting sooner than you think. According to the Chinese Steam community page, SteamCN, the dates point to the
The Matrix 4 rumours are circling again with new reports suggesting one or both Wachowskis could return to direct the upcoming film starring Michael B.
The iOS 13 Public Beta is now live and available for everyone to install. If you cannot wait to use Apple’s newest OS across your
The Windows Command Prompt has been around for decades and now, a potential replacement has finally arrived, at least in preview form. Microsoft’s Windows Terminal


text:
What do yoga mats, some shoe soles and fast-food restaurant breads have in common? They all contain a chemical known as azodicarbonamide. While there is little chance that someone might try to eat the first two, the chemical, which is used to condition dough so the bread will have a longer shelf life, has been found to turn into a known carcinogen called semicarbaxide when cooked.
As a result, NY’s crusading senator Chuck Schumer is calling on cahins such as Arby’s, McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King to ban the substance fom its products. Subway has already announced that it will stop using it.
“In a day when cancer rates are rising, you have to be careful,” stated Schumer, who noted that the European Union and Australia have already banned azodicarbon in their foods.
“The US should follow their examples,” he added. “All that needs to be done is for the FDA to add a clause in its regulations that prohibits them from approving anything carcinogenic for consumption.”


text:
ATLANTA Chick-fil-A said it is testing a “smart” safe that automatically tabulates units’ cash and credits the amounts to the chain’s bank account. “Receiving credit for funds that are physically in the store gives us better visibility into our cash position enterprise-wide and quicker access to capital," said Phillip Barrett, vice president and controller for the 1,300-unit, Atlanta-based chicken chain. He also noted the system's "potential to improve our cash management."Store ...
Register to view this article
It’s free but we need to know a little about you to continually improve our content.
Registering allows you to unlock a portion of our premium online content. You can access more in-depth stories and analysis, as well as news not found on any other website or any other media outlet. You also get free eNewsletters, blogs, real-time polls, archives and more.
Attention Print Subscribers: While you have already been granted free access to NRN we ask that you register now.We promise it will only take a few minutes!
Questions about your account or how to access content?


text:
Organizers of the Surfaces trade show are set to introduce three new exhibit pavilions at the annual meeting set for Jan. 30 – Feb. 1, 2008. In addition to a New Product Pavilion, the show will include specific exhibit areas devoted to Decorative Concrete items and Hand-Crafted Tile. The new product showcase will be situated adjacent to an entrance area to help maximize exposure.
“These new specialty products are the hottest trends in floor
covering and we felt it was important to give them a dedicated area on the show
floor that differentiates them from the thousands of other products attendees
will see at the show,” said Karen Romano, Sales Manager for Surfaces.
Organizers say the show
set for the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas is also expected to
boast more exhibit space that previous shows. Last year’s meeting drew 38,246
show goers and 1,065 exhibiting companies. For more information, call
(800) 547-3477 or (972) 536-6400, or visit www.Surfaces.com.
Surfaces to spotlight news products, concrete & hand-crafted tile
September 24, 2007


text:
The anticipated 12 month testosterone shortage in Italy announced last March is more than alarming: it’s a wake up call. The frequency and duration of testosterone shortages have been on the rise globally for the last decade. If you think this couldn’t happen to you, then you haven’t been paying attention. This investigative report will help you get informed so that you know what to do when a testosterone shortage hits your area.
Left Without Options, Italian Trans Men Turn To Underground Labs For Testosterone
“We gathered in front of the PC and we ordered a hundred vials from an Indian site.”–Daniele, 45 year old trans man in Italy.
Sadly, this is what it’s come to for Italian trans guys: having to illegally order testosterone from an underground lab in India.
“Many people resort to websites selling testosterone illegally on the Internet or at local gyms,” Michele Formisano, president of Italian trans advocacy group CEST, told Gay Star News. “It’s hormones we’re talking about. They often have no idea of what they’re about to inject themselves with.”
According to Libby Baney, executive director of the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies and a lawyer specializing in the regulation of the healthcare supply chain, people are taking a big risk when they order prescription medications through most online pharmacies. “One in two of these pharmacies are selling counterfeit medicine,” she says, citing a report by the World Health Organization.
Testoviron, manufactured by the German pharma giant Bayer, is the most affordable testosterone formulation on the market in Italy and not surprisingly, the testosterone of choice for Italian trans guys. When Testoviron disappeared from the shelves in September 2018, two things happened: first, fake Testoviron started popping up in various parts of the world, prompting a warning from the Israeli government, and shortly thereafter, Sustanon, the injectable alternative to Testoviron in Italy, also became unavailable.
This domino effect is common during testosterone shortages: the main product disappears, and people flock to the alternative which catches its manufacturer off guard and unprepared to handle the demand, leading to another shortage. In places like Canada where there are only two injectable formulations of testosterone on the market, the shortage becomes a complete outage.
Multiple Testosterone Shortages Hit Australia
The dire situation in Italy is not unique. Australia has also been in the thick of testosterone shortages this year. Plus, despite protest from trans Australians saying that the move would make it unaffordable, Primoteston was removed from Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) in January 2018, meaning it would no longer be subsidized.
“I have gone weeks without this medication because I was so broke that I couldn’t afford it at its full cost price, and I know many people do the same thing.” – A trans person from Western Australia
“Primoteston is the preferred method of hormone replacement therapy [in Australia]. Once the PBS remove it, trans people will be stuck with choosing between paying exorbitant prices for Primoteston or relying on an inferior method with greater side effects,” said Kai Schweizer, a trans advocate in Western Australia. “In Western Australia we have a serious issue with trans people accessing black market and illegal hormones and this change will likely serve to exacerbate the problem.”
As the dominos began to fall, Reandron was the next injectable testosterone to go out of stock. Then came an announcement that Primoteston, also manufactured by Bayer, would be unavailable for up to a year, affecting an estimated 20,000 Australians.
Besins Healthcare, the manufacturer of Testogel stepped in with reassurance that their products would remain unaffected by the shortages.
“We want to assure clinicians concerned by supply shortages of injectable testosterone products that Testogel is unaffected by these shortages,” said Geoff Blundell, Managing Director of Besins Healthcare.
That turned out to be short-sighted.
Following the sudden withdrawal of Axiron transdermal testosterone gel made by Eli Lilly late last year, Testogel sachets became subject to a global supply shortage. In March, it was announced that Testogel will be unavailable in Australia for several months.
National Testosterone Shortage in South Africa Causes Panic
Trans men in South Africa also experienced a four month nationwide shortage of testosterone earlier this year. Fearful and frustrated, a group of trans activists and allies created a petition and also released a statement detailing the effects of the “abrupt withdrawal” from testosterone on people’s health. These included: loss of muscle mass, redistribution of body fat, recurrence of the menstrual cycle, possible psychological and emotional distress that could cause or worsen gender dysphoria, and long-term complications related to bone and cardiovascular health in some cases.
“This has HUGE health implications for us,” wrote South African blogger Germaine de Larch. “It’s a hormone, so it controls a multitude of body functions. It controls moods, and with a large number of trans people struggling with depression, this has serious health implications. The trans community [in South Africa] is in a panic. This is completely fucking unacceptable.”
Alternatives to Depo-Testosterone were not readily available. Both Nebido and Sustanon are prohibitively priced in South Africa. De Larch couldn’t afford Nebido so he bought testosterone on the black market. “There’s no medical insert in the packaging and no medical information whatsoever on the website as to the contents of the stuff. But I have no option.”
“I’ve been off testosterone for nearly two months now and I have been experiencing severe depressive episodes that make it difficult for me to perform simple task, because of the fatigue and moodiness caused by low T levels. I haven’t been able to sleep much, and I wake up with anxiety every morning, because my hormones are all over the place. But I am relieved that my menses haven’t returned.” — Lwazi Mbokazi, trans man from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
In Venezuela, where finding hormones outside the black market is now impossible, one transgender man told BBC Mundo he once bought what he believed was testosterone online, but it turned out to be vegetable resin. He said lumps started forming in his buttocks after he injected it. Getting a shot of untreated mineral oil could result in an abscess, severe cellulite or septicemia, says Dr. Luis Madrid, a surgeon and psychiatrist specializing in transgender health in Caracas.
Recurring Testosterone Shortages in Canada and the United States
Canada and the United States are not immune to testosterone shortages either. In fact, there’s currently a confirmed shortage of Depo-Testosterone in Canada. It started in June and is expected to be resolved in September. There’s also a shortage of the nasal testosterone gel, Natesto, in Canada. These follow several shortages of Androgel, Testim and Taro testosterone gels earlier this year.
In the United States, there’s currently a confirmed shortage of T. enanthate, for the second time this year. There have also been anecdotal reports throughout the summer of a Depo-Testosterone shortage, though this hasn’t been confirmed by the FDA.
But It’s Never Happened To Me!
Testosterone shortages are actually quite common but not everyone will “feel the pinch” of a shortage. People who live in big cities tend to be less affected because big urban pharmacies stock a lot of testosterone and can continue filling prescriptions throughout a shortage. Conversely, people in small cities and rural communities are at a greater risk of being affected by a shortage because smaller pharmacies don’t tend to stock a lot of testosterone. When the pharmacies near you run out of testosterone and can’t order more from their distributor, that’s when YOU will be affected.
The Booming Testosterone Industry
In general, drug shortages have been a growing problem in Canada and around the world. Dr. Jacalyn Duffin, a Canadian medical historian and hematologist who researches drug shortages and runs the CanadaDrugShortage.com website, noted that the growing problem of drug shortages was known to both patients and physicians as early as 2010. She says that 75% of doctors hypothesized Big Pharma manipulation as the root of the problem.
Testosterone has become one of the most widely prescribed medications in the U.S., increasing five-fold according to 2011 data. According to one study, nearly four percent of men in their 60s are taking testosterone. The number of men between 40 and 64 went up 77 percent from 2010 to 2013 to 1.5 million men.
The reason for the growth of the testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) sector of the pharmaceutical industry can partly be attributed to the continued growth of the population over 65 years of age as well as a greater awareness of medical issues associated with low testosterone and aging.
‘T,’ (as it is known) is, by most accounts, as close to a direct anti-aging medication as science has yet produced. It can be manufactured cheaply in large quantities, and the risks seem manageable for most people. Users report increased energy, more muscle mass, decreased body fat, greater sex drive, and a general sense of well-being. In short, it’s one of the most transformative substances a human can take. — Splinter News
The popularity of testosterone opened the doors for the blossoming of a booming industry for entrepreneurial doctors with “age management” practices. Chains of low-T clinics exploded all over the U.S., especially across the South. This resulted in the dramatic growth of the TRT sector from $18 million (USD) in the 1980s to $2 billion in 2013.
All was not rosy though. In 2014, testosterone use was reported to be linked to heart attacks and strokes and the FDA issued a safety bulletin. This caused a staggering 48 percent decrease in testosterone prescriptions in established users and a 62 percent decrease in new users between 2013 and 2016.
Follow the Money
Presumably, the sharp drop in testosterone use deeply cut into the profits of manufacturers and left them looking for ways to boost sagging sales.
Comparatively speaking, injectable testosterone is a cheap drug that produces limited profits. Marketed as more convenient, transdermal and sublingual formulations of testosterone are always more expensive in the U.S. and generate more profit for their manufacturers, with one notable exception: Aveed.
Aveed is the U.S. equivalent to the long-acting injectable testosterone formulation known in other parts of the world as Nebido, and it was approved by the FDA in 2014. Aveed is touted as having “major advantages” over T. cypionate and T. enanthate, including fewer injections (every 2 to 3 months), less fluctuation in testosterone levels, and possibly less risk of erythrocytosis. For its manufacturer, Endo Pharmaceuticals, the advantage is a lot more profit: 1 vial (3ml) of Aveed 750mg/3ml costs more than $880 USD. That’s for a single dose!
At the time of the FDA approval, Endo Pharmaceuticals also manufactured Delatestryl, an affordable T. enanthate injectable formulation, as well as Fortesta testosterone gel. Fast forward to 2018, and Endo had not only added other expensive testosterone formulations to their product roster—Striant sublingual testosterone, Testopel pellets and Testim gel—but they also stopped selling Delatestryl.
This phasing out of cheap injectable testosterone should concern you.
2027 is when things could get interesting. That’s when the patent on Aveed expires and competitors will be free to enter the market with their own generic version of Aveed. The price will assuredly be lower than it is today but higher than what T. cypionate and T. enanthate cost—assuming those formulations are still around.
10 Ways To Avoid Getting Caught Up In a Testosterone Shortage
There’s zero indication that testosterone shortages are going away, so it’s important to arm yourself with information so that you know what to do when a shortage strikes.
1. The best way to avoid a testosterone shortage is to not let yourself run out of T to begin with. It’s a good idea to always keep a backup vial around, but this is becoming harder to do in many areas of the U.S. where 10ml and 5ml vials are no longer dispensed and only 1ml vials are available. (Seemingly all of the sudden, pharmacies are enforcing the 28-day rule that calls for multi-dose vials to be discarded 28 days after first use.) If you can, leave a spare vial in your emergency kit, and order your testosterone prescription refill BEFORE you actually run out of T!
2. Get informed about the shortage. Talk with your pharmacist and look up information about the shortage online. You may be able to find out when the shortage is expected to end. In the U.S., you can use this USA Drug Shortage Search tool.
In Canada, check here.
3. Take your prescription to another pharmacy. Pharmacies don’t all run out of testosterone at the same time, so if your pharmacy can’t fill your prescription crack the phone book and start calling all the pharmacies in your area, even pharmacies in nearby cities if you have to. You’ll probably need to see your doctor to move your prescription to a different pharmacy.
4. Switch to another brand or formulation. This can be harder to do than it sounds. First, you’ll have to see your doctor for a new prescription. Don’t delay as it’s unlikely that you’ll be the first in line for the alternative brand or formulation and what often happens during a shortage is that the alternative product also becomes unavailable due to increased demand.
In Canada, there are just two brands of injectable testosterone available. They have different concentrations of testosterone requiring a different dosage, as well as different suspension oils which some people are allergic to. If you obtain an alternative brand or formulation, be sure to read the label carefully and compare it to what you normally take.
Switching between different delivery methods, ie. intramuscular vs transdermal, can also lead to difficulty in maintaining stable hormone levels and it can take months for your body to adjust to the switch.
“Switching back and forth between different products is not ideal, and many doctors do not have experience in prescribing the different forms of testosterone,” said Dr. Anastacia Tomson during the recent South African shortage.
Of course, be prepared to pay more as all the alternatives to T. cypionate and T. enanthate will be more expensive.
“I noticed a difference when I switched from Reandron to Testex, but this [shortage] is much worse. It’s not just about getting my period back, which is bad enough because it means reliving everything I’ve struggled to get away from, it’s about general changes in my body. I feel more sluggish and tired. And I’ve put on weight.” —Yerai, transgender man in Spain
5. Check with your local trans health clinic. If you have access to a trans health clinic, you may find that they keep some testosterone on hand and can give you shots during a shortage (provided you have an existing prescription.)
6. Get injectable T compounded. Only certain compounding pharmacies can make injectable testosterone so you’ll need to search around. Depending on where you live in the U.S., New Era Pharmacy in Portland, OR may be able to ship to you. Some downsides are that the accuracy of testosterone concentrations in compounded T has been questioned and compounded injectable testosterone can cost twice as much as what you’re used to spending on testosterone.
7. Get T from a friend. This is illegal and would likely be frowned upon by your prescribing doctor, but when times are tough sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
8. Ration your supply of testosterone. If you can reduce your dosage or frequency of injections, you might be able to ride out the shortage, but you probably won’t feel 100%.
9. Patience. If a testosterone shortage isn’t expected to last very long, you might be able to just wait it out. Symptoms of low T will start to creep up as soon as two weeks after a shot.
10. Underground labs. This is illegal and not recommended. Buying testosterone from a rogue internet pharmacy is a dangerous way to obtain medicine, but when you’re left without options the risks can look a little less menacing. If you’re forced to resort to this, you absolutely must purchase a testosterone testing kit.
Hopefully, you’ll never feel the effects of a testosterone shortage, but if you do, at least you’ve got a game plan now.
Have you experienced a testosterone shortage? Share your comments below!
CLICK HERE to read – IS A LONG-TERM TESTOSTERONE TREATMENT SAFE?
CLICK HERE to read – GOVERNMENT-OWNED HOSPITAL REFUSES TO TREAT TRANSGENDER MAN
CLICK HERE to read – 10 THINGS TRANS MEN WANT YOU TO KNOW


text:
Hard left candidate’s wife sells coffee for £10 — but the farmers get just 93p
THE wife of Jeremy Corbyn was last night accused of exploiting workers in her native Mexico by selling luxury “fair trade” coffee made by impoverished farmers.
Laura Alvarez charges £10 for a 500g bag of “artisanal” coffee, which she sells from a business run from the north London home she shares with the left-wing MP known for his support of unions.
Workers in Mexico receive just 93p per bag, according to an investigation by The Mail on Sunday.
The revelation comes as Corbyn is accused of exploiting his political connections after it was revealed his son Seb is employed as a parliamentary researcher by Corbyn’s campaign manager, John McDonnell.
The political blogger James Bloodworth says in an article in News Review today that although Seb


text:
Peruvian superfood supplier NxtDried says long-term demand for nutritious superfoods, high in bioactive compounds, will help the company weather immediate coronavirus-related shocks. "The new consumer is very aware that food is a way to prevent disease,"...
From the Mexican bakery delivering cook-it-yourself experiences to nutrition apps advising the healthiest meal plans during quarantine, Latin American start-ups and SMEs are adapting their business models to survive the coronavirus crisis.
Chile's Algramo sells branded goods in reusable packaging, saving money for manufacturers - such as Nestlé and Unilever - and reducing plastic waste. “We keep packaging in the economy and out of the environment,” it says.
South American agriculture ministers discuss harmonizing regulations to ease cross-border food supplies during the coronavirus / COVID-19 crisis as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns that “lives and livelihoods will be lost” due to coronavirus.
Businesses across the country are adapting with lightning speed to adjust business plans, and in some cases, change their business model overnight, in order to adapt and survive as large swathes of the population go into lockdown.
Brazil's Marfrig pledges to keep all its meat plants operating; Mercado Libre cuts commission for non-perishable food products; Ambev brewery is now producing alcohol gel. We take a look at how the food industry is responding to the coronavirus outbreak...
When ultra-processed food costs more, it is associated with lower prevalence of overweight and obesity in Brazil, suggesting taxes could be an effective tool to fight obesity, argue the authors of a recent study.
As coronavirus spreads through Latin America, retailers are seeking to calm consumers that food supplies are stable, but the impact on the region's economy could last well after the pandemic, experts warn.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is expected to be launched later this year. Like the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, this one too will be a more affordable version of the flagship Samsung Galaxy S21 series. A new leak now reveals the design of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE, and also its possible colour options. Now, the official-looking renders of the smartphone have been leaked for the first time.
Reliable leakster Evan Blass (@evleaks) has published the renders of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE on Twitter, revealing the phone’s design, color options, and some features. The smartphone appears to have a design that’s quite similar to that of the Galaxy S21+, albeit with a plastic camera housing instead of metal and a metal frame. The Galaxy S21 has a bezel-less screen at the front and a triple-camera setup at the rear. The phone will be available in at least four colors that have been leaked: black, lilac (purple), olive green, and white.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE specifications (Rumoured)
Going by previous leaks and reports, the Galaxy S21 FE features a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-O display with Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Its dimensions are said to be 155.7 x 74.5 x 7.9mm. This Samsung phone will be powered by a Snapdragon 888 processor, combined with up to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage.It will boot Android 11-based One UI 3.1 and pack a 4,500mAh battery with 25W wired and 15W wireless fast-charging support. It might lack a microSD card slot, though, so storage space expansion might not be possible.
This samsung phone will be equipped with a triple rear camera module comprising a 12MP primary sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, and a 64MP telephoto shooter. For selfies and video calling, a 32MP snapper is expected.
Its connectivity options could include 5G, GPS, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, and a USB Type-C port. Other features of the upcoming Fan Edition smartphone could include stereo speakers, IP68 certification for dust and water resistance, Samsung Pay, and an under-display fingerprint reader.
Expected pricing and availability
The official pricing and availability details of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE will be announced at the time of launch, which is expected to take place on August 19. However, considering the rumored specifications, it is likely to cost around Rs. 40,000 – 45,000.


text:
Trade And Distorted Development: A Critique Of
By Sharat G. Lin
“Evidence is persuasive that trade openness delivers efficiencies and generates wealth. If trade opening takes place under the right conditions, all countries can benefit from international exchange.” This was the assessment of the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Pascal Lamy, speaking at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and the Stanford Center for International Development (SCID) on 27 October 2008.
He said that the multilateral system that came into being with the WTO “has brought transparency and predictability to international trade.”
“All of the models suggest that the gains to developing countries will be larger the more they open their markets to trade.” Citing specific cases, he said, “since opening their economies, Asian giants like China and India have together lifted more than 440 million people out of poverty, an economic success which, I think, we all can agree is without any precedent.”
While trade has been an engine of aggregate economic growth in the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and similar emerging countries, Lamy did not consider the unmitigated displacement of traditional sectors in these economies and the uneven development that has led to an alarming rise in income inequality both socially and geographically within each country.
With the 153 members of the WTO at all levels of development, and 30 more queuing for membership, Lamy acknowledged that the WTO framework is “no one size fits all paradigm.” He continued, “We acknowledge that the poorest are simply not equipped to take on the obligations of the rich.”
Lamy argued that a 30-fold growth in international trade in real terms over the past 60 years was made possible by progressive reductions in tariffs. “In 1947-48 before the GATT negotiations, average tariffs in the industrial world were around 20 to 30 per cent and trade was constrained by a myriad of quantitative restrictions. Eight successive rounds of negotiations succeeded in reducing average MFN tariffs on the imports of manufacturers to the 4 per cent today in industrial countries.”
The WTO has faced scathing criticism for the free trade policies that have accelerated globalization and the integration of a worldwide capitalist free market economy. But Lamy did make an important distinction: “trade opening is not synonymous with deregulation.” The tariff reductions negotiated under the WTO framework involve complex rules and formulas that are transparent to all parties. The problem is not one of deregulation or opacity, but that the industrially developed countries have, until recently, dominated the negotiations because of the differential rules and preferential subsidies that they have long had in place, and owing to their post-colonial political weight. Fortunately, that is changing. Recent trade negotiating rounds have conceded important preferences and exemptions for poor countries.
What free trade has done, however, through the facilitated movement of capital is accelerate the development of capitalist relations of production worldwide. The social alienation attributable to the production process is far more profound than the social alienation owing to competitive trade between structurally unequal economies. Once again, the legitimate concerns about economic justice must focus primarily on the relations of production, and secondarily on the relations of exchange.
Lamy admitted that free trade can be dislocating: “No doubt about it, trade opening has led to some job losses globally and in the U.S.” He added, “Some of the wage stagnation that has beset American workers is due to competition from lower-wage countries – exporters.”
But he insisted, “The role of trade has been rather small compared to other factors. Were trade the culprit for the declining manufacturing jobs, you would very likely have seen domestic manufacturing output decline as foreign products displaced local products on the marketplace. But this wasn’t the case. U.S. manufacturing output rose to an all-time record last year . For the last two decades the Fed says real manufacturing output has risen more than 120 per cent.”
In fact, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank reported that the period 1991-2000 witnessed a sustained cumulative manufacturing growth rate of over 50 per cent, led by the high-technology sector until free trade facilitated off-shoring of software development, manufacturing, and back office services to low-wage countries with qualified pools of talent. This was followed by a period of greatly reduced manufacturing growth. The index of U.S. industrial production rose about 7 per cent from 2000 to 2007, followed by a substantial decline in 2008. When a mean annual population growth rate of 0.9 per cent is taken into account, U.S. per capita industrial production was stagnant over the period 2000-2007, and experienced a net decline over the interval 2000-2008 during which free trade in North America under NAFTA and globally was in full swing.
Lamy attributed the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs primarily to “productivity growth brought about by advances in technology. According to Bob Lawrence at Harvard only about 10 per cent of job manufacturing losses in this decade are due to international trade. Other studies put this number at somewhere between 5 and 15 per cent. And in the U.S. until very recently productivity growth has been at an all-time high. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that non-farm business sector productivity rose at an annual rate of nearly 3 per cent for the decades 1950s and 1960s. Each year in the 1995-2000 average manufacturing productivity rose at 4 per cent. And though this rate has tapered off slightly since 2000, it is still with a rate of 3.7 per cent. Where more goods and services are being produced with fewer workers, job losses are inevitable.”
What Lamy did not mention is that this “productivity growth” has been measured as output per person, not output per hour of work. With salaried employees being pushed to work longer hours in the economy in general, and the high-tech sector in particular, output per person has risen much faster than output per hour of work owing to advances in technology.
Citing Lawrence again, Lamy acknowledged, “the principal factor in keeping wages flat has been the sharp rise of the share going to the super-rich, the top one per cent of taxpayers, and the share that has gone to profits which were at near record levels until this year.”
Lamy ascribed health care costs as a secondary cause of keeping wages flat. “Labour costs for U.S. corporations have actually risen 25 per cent since 2000, but nearly the entire increase went to pay the higher bill for health insurance which is twice as expensive today as it was at the beginning of this decade.”
However, he added that “WTO does not involve itself in the question of income inequality within a country’s border, nor does it in the reduction of health costs.”
“Policies aimed at trying to address job loss and stagnant wages through trade measures will not fix the problem of manufacturing job erosion and it could, on the contrary, lead to a deterioration of this most vibrant part of the U.S. economy today,” he said.
Financial Crisis: The Need for Regulation and Transparency
Turning to the global financial crisis, Lamy cautioned, “The immediate problem we face is the credit crunch. Roughly 90 per cent of international trade is financed with a short-term credit. Trade finance is … one of the [most] favoured since it provides creditors with an obvious collateral which is boatload of cargo. Yet trade finance is being offered at 300 basis points about the LIBOR, and even at this high price it has been very difficult for some developing countries to get trade finance.”
“As we witness the financial crisis bleed into the real economy, the lack of such a safety harness in the global financial system is in my view glaringly apparent. … What is clear is that the international financial system suffers from a lack of regulation, a lack of transparency, a lack of accountability,” he said. Trade in goods and services represents only about 2 per cent of international transactions, but it takes place in one of the most internationally-regulated environments ever created. No such regulations exist for international finance, and drawing them up will be considerably more difficult and complex than concluding the Doha round, itself a relatively complex series of negotiations.”
Pressing for a successful conclusion of the Doha Round of negotiations, he said, “No international agreement on finance or climate change is possible today without China, without India, without Brazil or Indonesia on board. And this is why the importance of reaching the Doha agreement extends beyond the confines of trade. Compared to negotiations regulating international finance and climate change measures, the Doha Round is a sort of low-hanging fruit.”
“In the media, this July meeting [of the Doha Round] was portrayed as a failure,” but Lamy observed, “An agreement is now on the table … for slashing trade-distorting domestic farm subsidies. We have known for some time that direct export subsidies will be eliminated in agriculture. Likewise we have known that in the rich countries duties will be eliminated on at least 97 per cent of exports from the poorest countries.”
“We all agree that the rules that were negotiated 15 years ago [in the Uruguay Round] do not fit the world of today. Rules, which permit rich countries to pour billions of dollars into agricultural programs which impoverish developing countries and farmers, are seen by many as inequitable. Many find it unjust to have a WTO tariff system where tariffs in rich countries are 3 or 4 times higher on exports from the poorest countries than they are on products from other rich countries.”
If and when agricultural farm subsidies are ended in the U.S., this would put additional pressure on U.S. farmers while relieving Mexican farmers, thus reducing the push to emigrate and potentially decelerating undocumented immigration into the U.S. It would likely reduce some of the socio-economically distorting effects of free trade under NAFTA between the U.S. and Mexico, and shift some economic hardships from one group to another.
Lamy concluded by saying that we can solve the economic crisis, climate change, poverty alleviation, instability of international finance “only if we pursue those solutions collectively through the rules-based international system that all of us have worked so hard to create.”
Free Trade, Global Imbalances, and Immigration
In response to a question on the potential differential impact of free trade on national economies characterized by great differences in purchasing power parity, wage structures, and sectoral value added, resulting in enormous trade imbalances and immigration flows, Lamy said, “The harsh reality is that opening trade reshuffles economic and social fabrics, and that creates political hardship. In whichever condition, the moment some of your constituencies are better off, others are worse off, you have a political problem.”
“Yes, there are large imbalances in the U.S. economy. There is a huge trade deficit. … This has to be seen sort of globally. Very talented economists will tell you that the U.S. trade deficit is nothing [more] than the other [side of the] coin of the U.S. rate of saving. It has to be financed, and it is external finance that sort of matches the lack of domestic savings,” he commented.
“And if you take the example of the U.S., and you look at this huge trade deficit with China, people see this as a U.S.-China issue. Whereas, they don’t realize that a large part of this huge trade deficit (bilateral) is offset by a Chinese deficit with many Asian countries who produce goods which then go to China which then go to the U.S. It’s the old example of the i-Pod which is shipped from China to the U.S. for $100 and you have $5 of Chinese added value in that.”
Lamy continued, “I personally believe that issue of immigration is there to stay. Trade, no trade, big trade, trade deficit, trade surplus – migrations in this planet occur for reasons which are of a sort of such a compelling nature that I wouldn’t link them to trade. The only prescription I would make is that if you believe that migrations are sort of a hardship for many, making sure that goods and money flow freely is the right way to reduce the incentive to immigration. If trade or finance were to flow less than they flow today, then the constraint on people to move would probably be harder.”
Lamy apparently brushed off concerns about swelling global financial and trade imbalances as well as the social hardships associated with immigration driven by economic desperation. Yet it is the monumental debt and deficit burdens in the U.S. that are at the root of the global financial crisis. Furthermore, his argument implies that the undocumented migration from Mexico and Central America to the U.S. would occur regardless of free trade, which is not borne out by its historical correlation with NAFTA. The argument that the free flow of goods and capital will reduce the incentive to immigration applies only between two national economic structures that are qualitatively similar and whose intensive parameters are quantitatively similar. Under these conditions the free flow of goods and capital may tend to equalize conditions geographically between similar socio-economic frameworks. But between structurally very different economies, the free flow of goods and capital, but not people, introduces profound socio-economic distortions that impel distressed populations to migrate.
Global policymakers need to understand not only the economics of aggregate growth, but the socio-economic impact of globalized flows on the distribution of income and on the welfare of human beings.
Sharat G. Lin writes on global political economy, the Middle East, India, and the environment. He is affiliated with the San Jose Peace and Justice Center.


text:
November 14, 2017
Canadian celebrity chef Mark McEwan shares his healthy, diabetes-friendly version of steamed mussels with flavourful herbs and a Spanish flair.
November 10, 2017
Canadian celebrity chef Mark McEwan’s muffins combine two traditional ingredients — bran and blueberries — with delicious, diabetes — friendly results.
November 07, 2017
Canadian celebrity chef Mark McEwan shares his healthy, diabetes-friendly take on sirloin steak pitas with grilled vegetables and piquant chimichurri.
October 31, 2017
Canadian celebrity chef Mark McEwan shares his healthy, diabetes-friendly recipe for mustard sun-glazed salmon with warm farro salad.
August 04, 2017
Summer is the perfect time to commit to eating more vegetables. Here’s how to make the most of nature’s bounty and raise your healthy eating game.
May 19, 2017
Added sugar has been called a health hazard, and Canadians are being urged to cut down. But how can you spot added sugar, and how can you avoid it?
February 09, 2017
"Low-fat" yogurt. "Whole-grain" bread. "Reduced-sodium" soup. "Low-cholesterol" cooking oil. Confused by nutrition labels and claims? Here's how to read between the lines.
January 20, 2017
If you’re tempted to fight the cold with carbs and fat (hello, chocolate-chip muffins), try these healthy recipes instead.
November 18, 2016
Suffering from sticker shock at the supermarket? You can afford good nutrition, with these tips from registered dietitians.
May 20, 2016
Celiac disease is on the rise — but so is information about this condition and the availability of foods that make its symptoms easier to manage.


text:
Today’s Big 5 daily begins from North Africa today. Here we go:
Tunisia start-ups raised $7 million in funding in a year. The fund was raised from 26 deals and Tunisian software start-ups alone raised about a third of total of the fund. See details here.
In some good news for the Gram, Instagram is going to introduce hour-long videos. The videos will only be accessible in portrait mode. This should sound great for Instagram lovers? See details here. It appears Instagram is going for Youtube. Or what do you think?
We think that French interest in Africa has increased in many leaps recently. French President, Emmanuel Macron has announced the creation of Digital Africa , a programme for African start-ups which aims to maintain the entrepreneurial momentum in Africa. Good move? Absolutely!
In the same vein, the African Development Bank in collaboration with The Rockefeller Foundation, Microsoft and Facebook have jointly launched a new programme for Africa called ‘Coding for Employment’, that was unveiled at the African Innovation Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.
Also, Pan-African telecoms group, Liquid Telecom has revealed the availability of Microsoft Azure Stack – an extension of an ever-expanding set of cloud services to consistently develop and run hybrid cloud applications – to select African markets. Another good news for Africa.
You may be interested in this too…. WorldRemit in collaboration with First Bank… the leading digital money transfer service has collaborated with First Bank of Nigeria for instant money transfers to all First Bank accounts in Nigeria. Way to go!
Let’s know what you think about today’s Big 5 news in African Technology.
Join us tomorrow and every other day to get the freshest and juiciest Tech news from Africa.
See you tomorrow!


text:
Hispanic Americans continue to grow in number at a rate four times that of the general population, with the 2010 Census expected to show their total rising to nearly 50 million, from 38 million in 2000.
And second-generation Hispanics are fast becoming the driver of the group’s growth, with 88 percent of Hispanic children born in America, versus 61 percent of adults.As a result, agencies that market to this segment are finding themselves in a strong position, armed with the skills and techniques to take on general assignments from big-name clients. Meanwhile, in a tight business environment, general agencies are starting to compete for work previously reserved for specialist shops.
“In the 2010 Census, we’ll see confirmation of a shift from Hispanic consumers who are first generation, where Spanish is the dominant language, to second-generation, bilingual, bicultural consumers. It totally transforms how we market,” says Cynthia McFarlane, chair of Publicis Groupe’s Conill, a Latino agency. “These are consumers who are as influenced by American culture as the country of origin of their families. There is a new American culture forming, and these consumers are having a tremendous impact on mainstream America.”
McDonald’s, which sees higher brand loyalty among its Hispanic consumers, has added offerings like breakfast burritos to its national menu. In further evidence of the growing bilingual voice of Hispanic consumers, McDonald’s runs ads with Spanish taglines in general-market media, and earlier this year used “Spanglish” in general-market advertising for the Quarter Pounder.
“We know the general market has become increasingly multicultural, with Hispanic music, Hispanic tastes, the Hispanic palate influencing a lot of general-market initiatives,” says Cristina Vilella, director of marketing at McDonald’s USA. “We lead with Hispanic insights but make sure they appeal to the general market.”
That blurring of distinctions within the Hispanic marketplace hints at the changes ahead for agencies and media firms. Hispanics now have about $863 billion in discretionary annual income, more than any other minority group in the country. (As of the third quarter, Americans overall had disposable income of $10.8 trillion.) Agencies argue that spending power is still underestimated and that upcoming Census findings — expected to be released beginning in early 2011 — will deliver a wake-up call to marketers.
“It will be a huge eye-opener when we see the growing affluence of the Hispanic marketplace, not just in buying power but also in household wealth,” says Conill’s McFarlane.
“We have 15 percent of the market but only 5 percent of the marketing dollars,” says Ingrid Otero-Smart, CEO of Interpublic Group’s Casanova Pendrill. “You’re going to see more general-market agencies pursue Hispanic accounts. They didn’t care when our budgets were $10 million or less, but now that we are dealing with more robust budgets and theirs are being cut, it’s a different story.”
Already, Hispanic agencies are extending their reach beyond Spanish-language media. Casanova Pendrill’s recent California Lottery TV spots were used in the general market, while San Antonio-based independent Creative Civilization is lead agency for the San Antonio Express News and the San Antonio Spurs. Last year, Omnicom Group’s Alma DDB, which also handles urban and general assignments for McDonald’s, launched Clorox’s environmentally friendly Green Works line into the general market. In 2006, Toyota liked a Conill TV concept for the Camry so well, it turned it into a Super Bowl spot.
“There are certain categories, geographies, brands where the Hispanic market is now the general market and the Hispanic marketing strategy will be the overriding strategy,” says Alex Lopez Negrete, CCO at independent Lopez Negrete Communications in Houston. “The Census will confirm the cultural pervasiveness of Hispanics. When general-market assignments start going to Hispanic agencies, it will manifest itself regionally first and then move to categories.”
And Hispanic agencies have to catch up to their ever savvier consumers: Earlier this year, Forrester Research said Hispanic Gen Y consumers 18-28 are “outpacing” their non-Hispanic peers in the amount of mobile activity and use of features in which they engage. Those young Hispanics are also more interested in technology; Forrester found 72 percent of them said it is important, compared to 44 percent of non-Hispanics.
Mark Gibson, vp of advertising at State Farm, says the insurer’s Hispanic marketing is an area of innovation.
“We’re doing things in the Hispanic market that are driving things to other targets, platforms,” he says. “Our Hispanic efforts are becoming a best-practices center at the company.”
Given those new approaches to the marketplace and the threat of competition from general-market shops, many traditional Hispanic agencies will need to reinvent themselves to survive. Last year, after spending 29 years at Hispanic agencies, Simon El Hage joined IPG’s Draftfcb in Chicago as group management director of multicultural marketing. “The old ethnic multicultural approach is passé,” he warns. “We have to look at integration not just from a channel but from a segment point of view. The reality is that Hispanic agencies got used to working with less. We fell into our own trap, and the expectations marketers have for us, we set ourselves. We’ve underestimated the sophistication of our consumers.”
And that provides opportunities for upstarts like MDC Partners’ Adrenalina. The agency says it uses digital executions as a starting point and bases its strategies on a behavioral model. “We speak in culture, not language,” says Manuel Wernicky, Adrenalina’s president. “Old-school agencies just focus on Census numbers, which are used to divide the whole into granular pieces. We try to understand the complexity of that consumer and how they are changing, regardless of language, whether they’re male or female, Mexican or Colombian.”
Language does remain an important factor. Some 44 percent of Hispanic consumers say, at home, they speak Spanish only or more often than English; 25 percent say they are equally bilingual; and 31 percent use English only or more often than Spanish, according to research from Synovate and Nielsen. (That last number offers a glimpse of the future Hispanic marketplace: Among second-generation consumers, 93 percent say they are bilingual or English dominant.)
As general-market broadcasters continue to battle audience erosion, Univision, the country’s No. 1 Spanish-language media company, posted a 5 percent gain last season. The company owns the most-watched single American TV station among adults 18-49 regardless of language — KMEX-TV in Los Angeles. Univision also said last season it was consistently within the top five broadcast networks in the U.S., and on many nights it was within the top three.
“We’re seeing a tipping point in Spanish-language media,” says David Lawenda, Univision’s president. “In our recently completed upfront, we saw shares shifting [from the general market] as we brought in new brands. The implications of the 2010 Census are huge. Marketers don’t necessarily know the spending power of the U.S. Hispanic population. Their purchasing power makes them equivalent to the 15th-largest consumer marketplace in the world.”
General broadcast networks posted a 22 percent decline in the last upfront, while Univision posted a 3 percent gain to $1.24 billion. In categories like quick-service restaurants, Univision posted a 25 percent gain, while consumer packaged goods rose 20 percent, Lawenda says.
Unlike general-market shops, many Hispanic agencies still maintain full-service media departments. That business is also under assault. Media agencies at big industry holding companies have created operations dedicated to multicultural planning and buying. The industry is also seeing more media-only agency reviews, which is not typical in the Hispanic sector.
“The competitive landscape will shift as more people compete for the money,” says Danielle Gonzalez, managing director of Starcom MediaVest Group’s Tapestry multicultural unit. “The general market has very good [media] buyers, but they might be lacking in strategic insights. You’ll see traditional Spanish agencies positioning themselves as saying, ‘You might have the [volume benefit of] dollars, but if you don’t have the insights or are smart at buying, then what are you bringing to the process?'”
The stakes in those media plans have clearly changed over the past decade. While the 2010 survey is expected to show that two-thirds of Hispanics in the U.S. continue to live in four states — California, Texas, Florida and New York — there will be surprising new expansion of the population base.
“In the 2010 Census, we’ll see dramatic growth east of the Mississippi in the Southeast corridor. This is going to be a profound game changer,” says Don Browne, president of NBC Universal’s Telemundo Spanish-language broadcast operations.
Luis Miguel Messianu, president and CCO at Alma DDB, concurs: “This Census will change the perception of what a national Hispanic marketing plan will look like. Now, it’s the 15 top markets. The reality is that it has grown beyond that in recent years.”


text:
- Farmers group says restrictive laws a major hurdle in the coffee, tea and macadamia sectors
- The association also wants the government to repeal Article 43 of the Macadamia Act that bans the export of raw nuts.
A farmers’ group has petitioned the Senate to review the licensing policies of the main cash crops in Kenya to allow farmers to trade freely.
The New Farmers Association has sought the intervention of the Senate Agriculture committee to get rid of middlemen in the coffee, tea and macadamia sector, who have perennially exploited farmers.
The farmers drawn from the Mt Kenya region also want the government to reconstitute or disband the Agriculture Food Authority, arguing that agriculture was a function of county governments.
“AFA is a barrier to farmers’ success, the directorate controls everything including oppressing the farmers. They have no legal mandate to regulate and license agriculture crops since the powers now lie with the county government,” noted Mr Harrison Munyi, the chairman of the association.
The petitioners say the restrictive laws were a major hurdle against the coffee, tea and macadamia sectors countrywide.
In the coffee sector, the association said the current guidelines under the Coffee Act only benefits the tycoons in the sector leaving out the ordinary farmers.
“We would like the government to review the clause under the Coffee Act to allow buyers to come and buy coffee from farmers directly and freely,” noted
Mr Munyi said the marketing licence was prohibiting some companies that had shown interest and offering a better price for their commodity.
“Marketing is our main worry because only a few multinational companies are licensed to market our coffee, we want a free market,” he said.
Complicated logistics, inability for farmers to market themselves on an international level, lack of government support and inconsistent seasons have ensured very minimal direct sales of coffee by farmers.
“Only a selected few are benefiting from the current marketing system and structures as prices are rigged out against the ordinary farmer,” added Mr Munyi.
The association also want the government to repeal Article 43 of the Macadamia Act that bans the export of raw nuts.
There have been numerous court cases lodged by farmers seeking to have the article removed, saying the law has subdued and frustrated the conduct of their business.
“Macadamia and coffee helps us takes our children to school but now we have the government suppressing our hard work with the restrictive guidelines controlling some of these agricultural produces,” he said.
The farmers also want the government to look into the farmers' assets including the Kenya Planters Cooperative Union, the Pyrethrum Board and the Kenya Farmers Association.


text:
Oh, that clever Mouse House. Netflix already faces a daunting future in the face of upcoming major subscription video on demand (SVOD) launches from Disney, Apple and AT&T. Not to mention strategically important content “take backs” (like Friends and The Office) from previously cooperative studios. But now this? Disney recently announced that it would offer its three flagship direct-to-consumer video services (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+) for an irresistibly low monthly price of $12.99. Yes, that’s right. “Magically,” the same price as Netflix’s standard monthly plan. Coincidence? I think not. Disney is rubbing salt in Netflix’s wounds. Netflix already lost U.S. subs for the first time in Q2 2019, and its increasingly critical international subscriber growth significantly underperformed.
Hey, Disney CEO Bob Iger, what gives?
Well, it’s all-out SVOD wars right now, and Disney and all other Netflix wannabes simply have too much at stake – too much to lose if they don’t succeed. It’s land-grab time, and Disney is flexing its much bigger – and significantly more flexible – business muscle as compared to Netflix to pull us into its new SVOD magic kingdom (and push us out of others). With its $12.99 bundle, Iger essentially challenges us not to buy into his streaming-first world order. And, as I recently wrote in Forbes, Disney – with its multi-faceted business model -- can endure the pricing pressure pain in a way that Netflix’s singularly focused business model can’t. “Predatory pricing," anyone?
Disney previously fired its first shot across Netflix’s bow when it announced that it would withhold crown jewels of its content kingdom from Netflix and all other SVODs. That means no Disney princesses, no Star Wars, no Pixar, no Marvel (not to mention recently purchased valuable properties from Fox). "No soup for you, Netflix!" Its second shot was to buy full control of increasingly competitive Hulu. Its third shot is pricing. Iger previously announced a rock bottom “shock and awe”-inducing price of $6.99 per month for Disney+ alone. Add that to Hulu’s ad-supported $5.99 monthly subscription tier, and Disney’s $12.99 bundle pricing means that Iger essentially throws in ESPN+ for “free.”
That’s a lot of valuable Disney-only content at Netflix’s most popular monthly price – a sum that doesn’t leave much wiggle room for Netflix to continue to raise its monthly pricing in a world of U.S. subscriber maturation and increasingly challenging global growth. After all, pricing still matters. $12.99 here, $16.99 over there … well, you get the picture. Pretty soon these seemingly low prices add up to numbers that approach the bloated cable bundle pricing that consumers tried to escape in the first place.
Certainly many of you believe that Disney’s upcoming SVOD shots will have little impact on Netflix. After all, Netflix counts more than 150 million subscribers worldwide and Disney isn’t even out of the gates yet. But don’t forget it’s not just Disney. Amazon Prime Video already is a massive SVOD player, as is Hulu (especially under Disney control). And soon, Apple TV+ and HBO Max enter the ring. HBO Max will, of course, also exclusively feature its own vast treasure trove of content like Friends (at Netflix’s expense). All of these “Netflix Killers” are investing big on their own exclusive programming strategies. So, Netflix no longer is alone in banking massively to feature the most-talked-about marquee content that generates the kind of FOMO (fear of missing out) that draws us in and keeps us there.
While Disney’s pricing isn’t great news for Apple TV+ or HBO Max either, those two giants can withstand the pain much more than Netflix. Like Disney (and unlike Netflix), their multifaceted business models mean that Disney’s pricing shots do not represent existential threats in the same way they do for Netflix. Netflix must succeed with its increasingly eye-poppingly expensive exclusive content-dependent hypergrowth strategy – or expand its current content-only business model (something I previously addressed in Forbes) – or its current “House of Cards” may collapse.
Faced with much bigger and more versatile behemoths like Disney entering the SVOD ring, that’s a lot of pressure on Netflix creative executives to come up with the next “Must-See TV” to not only continue to draw us in, but to keep us there.
[If you'd like to read more about Netflix and whether ads or an entirely new 360-degree strategy could mitigate some of the major risks I discuss here, see my earlier Forbes article titled, "Netflix Is Vulnerable & Ads Alone Won't Fix It -- A 360-Degree Strategy Can". And I discuss the entire SVOD universe in much greater depth -- as well as our tech-driven worlds of streaming music, immersive media (VR/AR), eSports and live experiential entertainment -- in my latest book "Fearless Media".]


text:
Jan 11, 2017, 6:00 pm103 ptsWondering what happened to Google's solar internet drone project? Unfortunately, we don't have good news. An Alphabet spokesperson has confirmed to 9to5Google that its X division quietly dropped the Titan project shortly after it folded into X in lat...
KFC: Enemy of waistlines, AI, arteries and logistics software The Register 123
U.S. Congress considers cryptocurrency rules and regulations VentureBeat 108
The petro — Venezuela's government-issued cryptocurrency — launches today Business Insider 106


text:
The Middle East cosmetics market is one that is divided. The Gulf region is booming, while the Levant continues to struggle, as Paul Cochrane reports
The personal care product market in the Middle East can be divided into two current trends: sales in the affluent Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, comprising Saudi Arabia, the UAE (United Arab Emirates), Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, are booming, while on the other side of the region, in the Levant, markets are feeling the effects of the Syrian conflict, with the loss of tourists and low consumer confidence impacting bottom lines.
“When I go to regional distributor meetings, those from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait are not complaining, but people from Syria, Lebanon and even Jordan are,” says Joanne Chehab, General Manager of Lebanese cosmetics firm Ch. Sarraf & Co. The company is part of the Lebanon based Malia Group, which has its own line of cosmetics, Cosmaline, and distributes for Japanese beauty giant Shiseido and German hair care brand Wella.
Demand for personal care products has dried up in Syria as the conflict has dragged on since it erupted in March 2011, with only essentials such as shampoo still selling. Manufacturers and distributors are trying to operate in the country but distribution is complicated by logistical issues and payment collection by the depreciation of the Syrian Pound. The conflict has also caused instability in neighbouring Lebanon, driving away tourism and affecting consumer sentiment, while there are an estimated one million Syrian refugees in the country, adding to domestic woes.
While not a big market, with just under five million consumers, Lebanon is an important regional market, both as a trendsetter because of Lebanese women’s penchant for beauty, and as a launch pad for brands and products. Before the Syrian conflict, affluent Gulf tourists were a key part of the sales mix, picking up on trends and bringing them back to their home markets. Furthermore, the loss of Gulf tourists – GCC countries banned nationals from travelling to Lebanon last year – has hit the market harder than just the loss of sales.
“Lebanon is the shopping window for the region. Arab women look at Lebanese women as someone that knows style and the market is considered professional. A Lebanese hairdresser is rated higher than a hairdresser from elsewhere. And in [beauty] consultancy [too]. It doesn’t mean they are better but there’s that perception,” says Fadi Sawaya, CEO of Beirut based Sawaya Group, which distributes for brands including Orly, US based Gelish, UK based Provoke Cosmetics and others throughout the Middle East. “Lebanese women are not the best clients, but the best consumers. The best client is the Gulf Arab woman, as in general, they have high purchasing power.”
Lebanese celebrities are also involved on a regional level as the faces and names behind brands. Pop singer Myriam Fares, for instance, is the face of Saudi Arabia based cosmetics and fragrance manufacturer Mikyajy, which has 234 stores in the GCC, two in Libya and one in Yemen. Mikyajy is part of the Kamal Osman Jamjoom Group, which manufactures western style fragrances and make-up products.
C&F Cosmetics and Fragrances, part of Fawaz Holding, has six retail stores in Lebanon and is the distributor for male Lebanese pop star Ragheb Alama’s perfume Notes D’amour. The fragrance was launched last year in the Middle East, as well as in France, Australia and the US. “Alama has a big fan base in Lebanon and the Middle East, and that’s where the idea came from,” says Ola Zaatari, C&F’s Operations Manager. “He created the perfume; it is manufactured in Paris, and has oud, jasmine and cedar notes, which relates to Lebanon. There is a new trend towards designers and celebrities having perfumes, like Elie Saab and Reem Acra.”
Celebrity scents such as Mikyajy’s Censored (left) and the Asian influence in Syed Junaid Alam’s Hanako (right) are popular trends
THE FAME GAME
While the Middle East has followed western companies’ examples of using celebrities to market products, western perfumeries have picked up on the popularity of oud in oriental perfumes. “Over the last two years, international fragrance makers such as Tom Ford and Chopard have been launching new fragrances that have oriental branding and that mention the oud name, which is different from the standard French categories of perfume,” says Hamad Akhtar, Director of Sales and Marketing at Bahrain based perfumery Syed Junaid Alam. “It is interesting to see how these big players see our tastes in perfume as a market to enter. That shows two important factors: firstly, the GCC consumer is a heavy spender on perfume, with per capita spending the highest in the world, and secondly, no matter what the economic situation is in the Middle East, you have the whole spectrum of customers wearing perfumes, from a baggage handler at the airport to the CEO of a bank; it is entrenched in their culture and putting on perfume is a daily routine.”
Indeed, despite the economic downturn in Lebanon, perfume sales are still robust. “No woman or man has only one perfume on their dressing table; there are definitely two to three. On average, women and men buy six perfumes a year,” explains Zaatari.
In the Gulf, sales are even higher, with the premium fragrance market in the UAE alone estimated to be worth around US$174m in 2012, and expected to increase 21% to $211.1m by 2016, according to market research firm Euromonitor International. Akhtar says high end and premium fragrances account for around 15%-20% of GCC sales.
Meanwhile, middle range products account for around 60% of sales and the rest is made up of mass market sales. But while oriental perfumes have retained their popularity in the region, there has been growing demand for international perfumes, which has caused regional producers to adapt to market demand.
“Over the last eight years GCC consumers have shifted towards international brands, so we have to keep up with these changes,” says Akhtar, with Junaid adding 30 new products a year to its portfolio of 250 products. “Earlier in the year, we launched an international perfume, Hanako, with the branding in Japanese and English, and no Arabic at all. Nobody would expect that from an Arab manufacturer but consumers find it attractive as it looks different.
The trend is slowly moving towards a fusion of international and oud fragrances, from the east and west, and this will happen in packaging as well. It will definitely not stay the same,” he explains.
Dubai based Epoc Messe Frankfurt, organiser of the annual Beautyworld Middle East exhibition, has also noticed an uptick in interest in Middle Eastern fragrance and beauty products from outside the region. “We wouldn’t have dreamed of buyers coming from Europe, as it is understood to be a regional show, but that is changing,” explains Michael Dehn, the company’s Group Exhibitions Director. “I think it is changing as, in the fragrance industry, there is a lot of Arabic influence, oud and so on, which is a trend from here that has gone international. Buyers from Europe and the US also want to see what they can get from here as there are different offerings.”
A noticeable difference is in the products themselves. “One difference in development is that customers here are very demanding when it comes to the long lasting aspect of a fragrance and in terms of intensity from the trail,” says Jim Ragsdale, Brand Director for Saudi Arabia’s Mikyajy.
Different requirements also extend to Mikyajy’s make-up line, which accounts for two thirds of the company’s overall sales.
“Products are developed with European suppliers but with the Middle Eastern customer in mind, particularly with regard to very harsh weather conditions, as a foundation product needs to withstand temperatures of up to 50°C, which is not what a French woman needs.”
Western brands such as Tom Ford and Chopard have been inspired by the Middle Eastern market
When personal care product companies look for robust sales in the Middle East, they are certainly looking to the GCC countries, which have largely been immune to the ‘Arab Spring’ that has caused major instability in much of the region. Combined with high purchasing power, personal care sales remain strong in the Gulf.
The UAE’s beauty and personal care market is valued at $1.1bn this year, says Epoc Messe Frankfurt, while the premium cosmetics market was valued at $570.8m in 2012, and predicted to rise to $684m by 2016, according to Euromonitor figures.
The region’s biggest market, Saudi Arabia, has witnessed growth in mass cosmetics of some 5% between 2011 and 2012, while the premium cosmetics sector grew 8.5% during the same period. Overall sales of beauty and personal care are forecast to rise by 6% per year from 2012 to 2017. Indicative of the growth in the sector, the number of exhibitors attending Beautyworld Middle East grew 23% year on year in 2012, and this year’s event had a 32% increase in exhibitor numbers.
On the retail side, Mikyajy has had double digit growth for the past three years, and is forecasting strong growth ahead. “The Middle East is a very dynamic market and the outlook is very positive,” says Ragsdale.
In fact, sales are strong across the board. “One of the trends happening in the Middle East is there is this assumption that there is a luxury customer, the medium customer and the mass market buyer, but in reality customers are buying all of those products, so all products are potentially competitors,” explains Ragsdale. “A sharp shopper today is occasionally making a dream buy, but also daily purchases of a near equivalent quality. When we speak with customers about purchases, you get the large luxury brand names verbatim, but they also have mass market products and everything in- between.”
Further driving sales is the region’s young demographic, with the UN reporting that an estimated 50% of the population in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is under 30 years old. Markets are also increasingly mature, with new malls and retail spaces springing up. “Retail space has been growing to quite staggering heights over the last few years, and still growing. The Dubai Mall announced they had 65 million visitors last year, so the business climate is pretty good for the retail sector,” says Dehn.
Increasing consumer awareness has enabled newcomers to enter the market, such as American brand MICA Beauty Cosmetics, which is distributed by Middle East Natural Cosmetics (MENC) in Dubai.
“We wanted to bring to the region natural cosmetics. And clients are looking for this. A few years ago, people didn’t know about nutrition, organic foods, or read the labelling. But there is more awareness now,” says Dr Maha Alnakkash, a health and beauty consultant for MICA Beauty and MENC. “There’s lots of potential in the region, with TV shows and magazines talking about how to take care of skin.”
Indeed, the UAE’s skin care market has grown by 5% over the past three years, and is forecast to reach US$141m by 2015, according to Euromonitor.
While there are clear similarities in GCC market trends, sales do differ from one country to the next. In Kuwait, for instance, Ragsdale says women use heavier make-up than elsewhere. “They like bright colours, bordering upon artistry, and they are not scared to make a colour statement. But in the UAE, with such a large expatriate population, that conditions the way you market, such as for skin tones. And in the UAE Arabic is not necessary, but in other countries you would miss out on sales if no-one [in the store] spoke Arabic.”
Retailers have to consider such issues, particularly in cosmopolitan Dubai. “I have Russian, Filipino and Arab employees, and everyone takes care of the nationality they are closest to,” says Sawaya.
In Saudi Arabia, however, the government caused management problems in cosmetics retail last year when it required lingerie and cosmetics stores to be staffed by women. “The law caused us a lot of change, as Mikyajy went from 400 male employees to 400 female employees, so it was a real human resources revolution. It is an ongoing process,” says Ragsdale.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, personal care sales are mixed. Iraq, for example, is Cosmaline’s largest market, seeing sales double that of Lebanon. “The Iraqi market is doing extremely well, and [experiencing] double digit growth. We are working to double our turnover in Iraq next year,” explains Chehab. “North Africa also has huge potential, but the situation is very shaky in Tunisia and Egypt.”
Mikyajy has two stores in Libya that were closed during the civil war in that country, but have since re opened. “Sales are surprisingly good and business is buoyant, better than expected,” says Ragsdale.As for the Levant market, tough times may be ahead, certainly in Syria, but Lebanese retailers are optimistic that demand will remain strong, buoyed by the craze for beauty. “In the Middle East, crises are becoming seasonable, it comes and goes. The market will rebound,” Sawaya concludes.


text:
Study suggests drones could quadruple their range – by taking the bus
One of the reasons that we're still not seeing delivery drones in common use lies in the fact that they can only fly for about half an hour per battery-charge. According to a new study, though, their range could be extended if they hitched rides on top of buses.
Led by associate professors Mykel Kochenderfer and Marco Pavone, a team at Stanford University started by creating computer models in which drones were making deliveries in North San Francisco and Washington, DC. These models incorporated the existing public bus networks, with up to 200 drones per city delivering as many as 5,000 packages.
Each aircraft started out at a depot, where a package was loaded onto it. If its destination was within battery range of the depot, the drone could fly directly to and from that location. If it was farther, though, the drone flew to a bus stop where it landed on top of a bus that covered much of the distance. Once the bus reached a stop within range of the destination, the drone flew off to it.
Because there was more than one depot in each city, any one drone could either return to its originating depot, or travel on to a different one where another package was waiting for it. With this in mind, the model determined which drones should make which deliveries, and in what order. In all cases, the system was aimed at minimizing the amount of time that each delivery took.
As a result, the longest delivery time in North San Francisco was under an hour, while it was less than two hours in Washington. Additionally, in both cities, the drones were able to quadruple their effective flight range.
"Delivery drones are the future," says Kochenderfer. "By using ground transit judiciously, drones have the potential to provide safe, clean and cost-effective transport."


text:
It looks like Samsung is preparing to release another Galaxy phone with a metal design just like the Galaxy Alpha, and this one will be its thinnest yet.
The Galaxy A7 just appeared in China's Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center, as blog Phone Arena spotted, suggesting that Samsung is likely to announce the phone soon. Here's what it looks like from the front and the side.
The device will reportedly be available in black and white color options, and measure 6.3mm thin.
That makes it even slimmer than 6.7mm Galaxy A5, which the company said was its thinnest smartphone to date. It's also thinner than the iPhone 6, which is 6.9mm.
The phone will come with a 5.5-inch 1080p screen, 16GB of storage space, 2GB of memory, and a processor with eight different cores.
Most high-end smartphones come with processors that include four cores, and the more cores there are in a processor the better it should be able to multitask. On paper, this technically means Samsung's new phone should be able to juggle multiple tasks more easily than some of its rivals.
It also seems like the Galaxy A7 will be available in China at launch through carrier China Telecom. The phone also passed through the Federal Communications Commission recently, so there's a chance we'll see it in the United States too.
The Galaxy A7 would be the third phone in Samsung's new line of A-series smartphones. Based on what we've learned, it sounds like it'll be a higher-end device when compared to the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5.