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(VAN) Walmart plans to import all forms of agro-forestry-fishery products from Vietnam to serve its customers, providing they meet all quality requirements.
Minister Le Minh Hoan (fifth person from the left) and Mr. Paul Dyck, Vice President of International Government Affairs of Walmart (fourth person from the left) take a photo with representatives of localities and enterprises from Vietnam. Photo: Le Trung Quan.
In his working trip, accompanying Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the US from May 11-17, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan worked with Walmart Corporation to promote Vietnam agriculture to the global hypermarket chain.
Minister Le Minh Hoan met Mr. Paul Dyck, Vice President, International Government Affairs of Walmart on May 13 in Washington DC. The meeting also featured the attendance of representatives of localities and fruit, seafood, timber, and timber products exporters.
Mr. Paul Dyck stated that Walmart relies mostly on the supply capacity of its partners to bump up its business's strength. Approximately one-third of Walmart's merchandise is provided by international partners. The hypermarket's products must adhere to food safety, quality, and sustainability regulations. It intends to acquire all sorts of agricultural, forestry, and fisheries goods from Vietnam to serve its customers, provided that these items fit the above criteria.
Therefore, there is no limit to future potential if Vietnamese agro-forestry-fishery providers can comprehend and effectively implement the requirements. Vietnamese agricultural products imported into Walmart may not only serve the US but also roll out to Canada and China via its systems in these markets.
MARD Minister Le Minh Hoan praised Walmart's position on the worldwide market and its approach to establishing standards to ensure customers’ benefits. The Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is pushing its role in coordinating material supply and developing codes for agricultural, livestock, and aquaculture facilities to assure food safety, quality, and adherence to environmental requirements. This sets the groundwork for connecting Vietnam's agro-forestry-fishery products to global hypermarkets, including Walmart, therefore mitigating market volatility and disruptions to the global supply chain.
Minister Le Minh Hoan presents and introduces Vietnam's OCOP products to Mr. Paul Dyck, Vice President of International Government Affairs of Walmart. Photo: Le Trung Quan.
He requested that Walmart cooperate closely with the ministry to build forums for informing Vietnam's agroforestry-fishery suppliers about the unit's standards and criteria. Together, the parties will develop material areas, packaging, preservation, and processing facilities that meet Walmart's standards. Then, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries goods from Vietnam would be delivered methodically and sustainably through the worldwide Walmart system.
Paul Dyck, vice president of Walmart, eagerly welcomed the proposals and stated that Walmart will send representatives to the aforementioned forums. The two sides agreed to establish a regular collaboration mechanism in the form of a Coalition between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, agro-forestry-fishery providers in Vietnam, localities, and Walmart.
Walmart is an American multinational retail corporation headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, in the United States. It operates a chain of hypermarket chains, grocery stores,s and department stores in the US. Walmart runs around 10,500 hypermarkets and e-commerce websites in 24 countries. International Walmart comprises 5,100 retail stores and over 550,000 affiliated businesses globally.
Authors: Anh Tuan - Thu Huyen


text: Remember the Google Stadia? No? You don't recall such a thing? It was a gaming device Google made. Perhaps the fact it didn't make enough of a splash that people recall it much has contributed to the fact Google is shutting it down in January 2023. A bunch of missed potential that looked promising but fell apart, Stadia is further proof that while Google is great at some big stuff, there are failures in its history. May Stadia be remembered with Google Glass (which still kind of exists) and Hangouts (which is good and dead). Oh, and in news that is encouraging, anyone who spent money on Stadia is getting a refund. Props to Google for that.

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Two major products of the company on display put LandGlass under the spotlight at this event: LandGlass’ Cyclone series JetConvection glass tempering furnaces and fully tempered vacuum insulated glass - LandVac.
On the afternoon of August 15th, Mr. Zhang Weining, Shi Jichun and other leaders from the Provincial Committee of Industry and Information Technology visited LandGlass and carried out a filed research.
Recently, LandVac made by LandGlass was chosen to be the designated construction material for the sunroom project in an upscale villa in Xi’An . The upgrade delivers outstanding sound and thermal insulation and is well received by the property owners.
LandGlass quietly launched the world’s very first real commercialized fully tempered vacuum glass – LandVac.
Group NewsTechnology Innovation – Never Stop ExploringSource: LandGlass Attention: 261 Published: 2016-04-11 “China Building Materials” just announced the winners of the 4th “Top Ten Influential Figures in Building Materials Industry Innovation” award.
In the selection result of Henan International Well-known Brand, which was announced in Zhengzhou, LandGlass won the title “2013-2015 Henan International Well-known Brand” once again.
On July 10th, 2014, Chairman Wang of LandGlass Labor Union and ten representatives of LandGlass staff performed a few generous donations of materials to Hancun Primary School of Dakou Village, Yanshi City.
On July 2, Longchi Yang, the inspector from the provincial Association of Industry and Commerce, Tianxing Liu, the researcher from the Economic Liaison Office of the provincial United Front Work Department
In a report “LandGlass – the Energy Conservation Star in Glass Processing Industry”, China Building Materials Daily (June 3, 2014) introduced how LandGlass by adhering to the concept of making high-end glass equipment, successfully developed “JetConvectio
The global vacuum insulated glass market for building and construction was valued at more than US $4.5 billion in 2017 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of more than 4 percent from 2018 to 2026
Walker Glass Co. partnered with Pilkington North America in the launch of Walker Textures AviProtek T, a line of bird-friendly glass products.
LandGlass will bring along its latest LandVac, showcasing to the audiences of its two major types of superior products ---- Fully tempered vacuum insulated glass and vacuum insulated glass door and window system. We will be at Hall 15.1, Booth C033.
GC Inc. and Ubiquitous Energy have entered into a strategic development agreement to jointly develop Ubiquitous Energy’s transparent and neutral solar coating to create windows that produce electricity.
By cutting heat gain while generating power, the windows "have huge prospects," Wheeler says, including the possibility that a large office building could power itself.
CORNING, N.Y., JULY 18, 2018 Corning Incorporated GLW, +11.33% today introduced its latest breakthrough in glass technology, Corning(R) Gorilla(R) Glass 6.
The China Building Materials Federation and the China Architectural and Industrial Glass Association had organized 2018 Leaders Roundtable Conference of Flat Glass(GT12 Summit） in April, Shanghai.
The sheet glass being tested just came off the production line in April, 2018. This ultra-thin glass is only 0.12 millimeter thick, the thinnest glass in the world manufactured using the float process.
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have made a breakthrough recently and developed zinc-based metal-organic glass.
NREL recently announced the invention of a solar energy glass that provides shading and energy generation when the temperature rises.


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The Washington Post pulls cartoon by Ann Telnaes depicting Sen. Ted Cruz’s daughters
Morning Brief: British family of 11 prevented from boarding flight from Gatwick to LA for trip to Disneyland, airline stiffs them of $13K flight costs, no explanation offered
The Washington Post pulled an animated cartoon from Ann Telnaes this morning that depicted the daughters of Sen Ted Cruz as small monkeys on leashes. The cartoon was created after Cruz used his daughters in a television commercial for his campaign.
“It’s generally been the policy of our editorial section to leave children out of it. I failed to look at this cartoon before it was published. I understand why Ann thought an exception to the policy was warranted in this case, but I do not agree,” said Fred Hiatt, the Post’s editorial page editor.
Cruz, meanwhile, used the cartoon as an excuse for another campaign fundraising effort, attempting to raise 1 million in 24 hours. “I knew I’d be facing attacks from day one of my campaign, but I never expected anything like this,” Cruz said in his fundraising email.
Telnaes was unapologetic, tweeting “Ted Cruz has put his children in a political ad- don’t start screaming when editorial cartoonists draw them as well.”
A British family of 11 was prevented at the last minute from boarding a flight from London’s Gatwick to Los Angeles on December 15. The family of 11 was planning a trip to Disneyland when US officials took the father aside to inform him that he and his family would not be allowed onboard.
“It’s because of the attacks on America – they think every Muslim poses a threat,” one of the family members told the Guardian.
To make matters worse, the airline told the family that they would not be refunded the $13,340 they spent on their flights. The family was also forced to return what they had bought at the airport’s duty-free shops before they were escorted from the airport.
The Washington Post also reported the story today, and with their wide open comment threads are attracting Muslim haters, leaving some readers to wonder about the paper’s comment policies.
“Who are these people that comment here? Seriously, anyone speaking like this in real life would be immediately isolated and branded an ignorant bigot,” wrote one reader. “Seriously, where do you all come from, I really want to know.”
EMarketer today reported on the growth of digital advertising in Canada, finding that digital advertising now makes up a third of all advertising in the country.
“The shift toward digital ad spending is inexorable, as marketers have clearly indicated they prefer the more concrete metrics associated with digital ad formats,” the research firm reported.
Television still dominates advertising in Canada, as it does in the US, and print will still account of a fifth of all ad expenditures in 2016, eMarketer predicts.
But newspapers will be faced with more ad pressure, with the industry’s share of ad dollars slipping to 16.5 percent from this year’s 20 percent share.
With holiday approaching, many of the major app stores will be shutting down. Apple, for instance, is not accepting new app or app update submissions from December 22 through December 29. Yesterday the App Store team cleared out many minor bug fix updates, so none should be seen today.
TNM will employ kind of a soft shutdown approach, only posting new stories should a major event occur.


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People are saying goodbye to dairy and hello to plant-based milks more than ever before. With health, animal welfare and environmental concerns, and lactose intolerance as reasons for the switch, demand for dairy milk has gotten so low that many dairy plants have lost their contracts, shut down, and some have even made the smart adjustment to grow almonds and produce plant-based milk instead. This rise in demand for plant-based milk has gotten so high that the global non-dairy milk industry is set to reach $14.4 billion just by 2020. Taking note of these trends, investors have been eager to get a piece of the financial success, including Ambrosia Investments, Sun Pacific, and Stripes Group, which all just invested more than $50 million in plant-based dairy alternative brand Califia Farms.
Pronounced similarly to California, where the company is based, Califia Farms has quickly shot up as a key contender in the plant-based milk market during the six years of its operation, introducing popular alternatives to dairy milks, creamers, and coffee beverages.
Greg Steltenpohl, CEO and Co-Founder of Califia Farms, said this about the latest investment: “This round of funding will allow us to further pursue our vision to be the leading plant-powered food and beverage company of the future by investing in our four brand pillars of sustainability, health and wellness, plant-based innovation and engaging consumer experiences … Serge Schoen and his partners at Ambrosia complement our current investors with global experience in optimizing plant-based supply chains and supporting the continued rapid growth of entrepreneurial companies like Califia Farms.”
Serge Schoen, Partner and Chairman of Ambrosia Investments, stated, “Califia Farms has achieved remarkable growth in its six years of operation through a disruptive suite of plant-based products … We’re excited about our investment in Califia and are committed to the long-term growth of the company as the brand continues to innovate and introduce products that truly live up to their motto of ‘Something Different, Something Better’.”
In addition to being able to produce more of their delicious plant-based beverages with their expanded facilities, Califia will also be able to grow their new line of Probiotic Dairy Free Yogurt Drinks! We are also excited about Califia Farms’ expansion, as it means the plant-based movement is growing powerfully, and the destructive dairy industry is dwindling, which is a good thing for the entire planet.
To learn more about Califia Farms and how they have become such a success, check out this podcast with Greg Steltenpohl and One Green Planet’s Nil Zacharias.
Image Source: califiafarms/Instagram


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LG provides details about much-anticipated G2
LG has finally lifted the lid on the details of its new G2 Android smartphone, which President and CEO of LG Mobile, Dr. Jong-seok Park, hails as “…the most ambitious phone of the smartphone era…”. He added that “Technology without empathy cannot be considered innovation. Innovation for the sake of innovation is old school. Innovations must resonate with consumers…”.
He is of the opinion that LG does its “…very best to understand the needs of consumers, their behaviours and habits…” and that the G2 “…better detects, learns and adapts to human behaviours and needs”. The phone is reported to be going on sale in October and for now, only Three and O2 seem to be speaking about stocking it in the UK.
- 5.2-inch display (1080p, full HD)
- 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor
- 16GB/32GB internal memory
- 2GB RAM
- Runs Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
- 4G compatible
- 13MP OIS Camera
- 3,000mAh Li-Polymer battery
- Dimensions: 138.5 x 70.9 x 9.1 mm
- Weight: 143g


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Oregon, Washington Suing EPA Over Vehicle Emission Standards
Oregon and Washington are joining a coalition of 17 states and the District of Columbia in suing the Environmental Protection Agency and its administrator Scott Pruitt over the decision to roll back greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles built between 2022 and 2025.
The states argue those emissions standards for cars and light-duty truck models were put in place to help reduce carbon pollution and oil consumption.
“The vehicle emissions standards protect the environment and save consumers money with better fuel economy,” said Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson in a press release.
“The EPA once again is ignoring the needs of consumers, its duty to protect the environment and most importantly, the law.”
Pruitt, the EPA administrator, has said the standards are costly for automakers and consumers. The EPA began re-examining emissions standards last year.
The states have questioned the EPA’s decisions on emissions standards throughout the process. In June, they sent a letter to Pruitt threatening legal action and arguing that those cars and light-duty trucks are responsible for 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
The coalition has argued that the car industry is already on track to meet or exceed many of the standards the EPA has argued are too costly for the industry.
Copyright 2018 Earthfix
Lowering the amount of carbon that comes out of your tailpipe has become a quest for some Washington lawmakers. Now, new standards that would promote biofuels over gasoline are closer to becoming law than ever before. Continue Reading Washington Lawmakers Move Closer To Passing Clean Fuels Bill; Opponents Say It’s Too Costly
You may be used to hearing a pushy car salesperson ask the timeless question, “What can I do to get you in this car?” But one big thing could be different in Washington state a decade from now. Proposals introduced this winter in the Washington Legislature would end sales of new gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2030. Continue Reading Washington Lawmakers Consider Shifting All New Car Sales To Electric Only By 2030
“No legitimate organic grower would ever use Glyphosate or Diquat” says one farmer of a product that WA, OR and CA have said farmers should stop using. The company that makes “Agro Gold WS” says they’ll appeal. Continue Reading Popular Organic Farm Product ‘Agro Gold WS’ Banned In WA, OR, CA, Under Investigation In Idaho


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Louis Vuitton has also decided to tap into the young actor’s style.
LV has also snatched the young celebrity’s look for their forthcoming womanswear campaign in January. LV creative director Nicholas Ghesquière even shared a few sneak-peek photos of what the season’s looks were bringing, featuring Jaden in the foreground standing amidst a group of pale, waifish models wearing a leather jacket and another skirt.
Jaden with his LV crew.
@sarahdonnealia @riannevanrompaey @jean_campbell #jadensmith @christiaingrey in the new @louisvuitton SS16 ad Campaign photographed by Bruce Weber A photo posted by ? (@nicolasghesquiere) on
But this isn’t the first time Jaden’s given gender norms the middle finger…
Jaden’s been proving gender has nothing to do his clothing choices for years.
— Aaron Fernandes (@AARONRFERNANDES) January 18, 2016
So will Jaden become the face of the gender-fluid fashion trend? We give him two thumbs up. If sexuality and gender aren’t binary, why should we see our clothes that way?
Don’t forget to SHARE!


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The GDPR came into force on the 25th of May 2018 after four years of debate and preparation before being passed by the EU Parliament last year. The rules and regulations stipulate how businesses should collect, process, and store the personal data of EU citizens, regardless of where they live. Any businesses that failed to implement GDPR-related measures by the aforementioned date, could find themselves in a difficult and costly situation.
As the way that businesses and companies collect and use data is being increasingly scrutinised, the privacy concerns of customers is increasing. It does not make sense for businesses of any size to take any unnecessary risks.
Those found breaching the GDPR regulations can expect to pay fines of up to EUR 20 million, or up to 4% of the total global annual turnover based on the previous fiscal year. These fines could cripple small or medium sized enterprises, and as citizens become more aware of their rights, the threat of breaches being discovered and reported is always increasing.
Exactly how much a government decides to fine a company is at the discretion of each jurisdiction. For example in the UK, the highest fine to date has been GBP 500,000, after two independent breaches were identified; including social media site Facebook and consumer credit reporting agency Equifax. Whilst there are no clear-cut guidelines, it is expected that the first cases in each country will set a precedent for future handling of such situations. It is however anticipated that all EU Jurisdictions will come down hard on those companies that choose to flout the law, or that fail to uphold their obligations.
It is also worth noting that fines are applied in addition to, or instead of remedies or corrective action that could be taken to alleviate the infringement. The relevant authorities in each jurisdiction will look to a statutory catalogue of criteria to assist them in making a decision as to whether, and what type of penalty will be levelled against the accused entity.
But it is not just finances that can suffer as a result of failure to comply with the GDPR, there is also reputational damage that must be considered. Businesses cannot afford to make headlines for the wrong reasons and it is likely that consumers will avoid a brand if they believe that their personal data and information is not secure.
In addition, if a company continues to use customer data in a way that is not accepted by the individual, or they refuse to comply with requests, they will lose business as well as risk incurring penalties from the authorities.
A punishable situation such as a breach of security, a leak, the illegal collection and sharing of data, or communicating without the permission of the receiver, can be reported by any individual, authority, employee, customer, or potential customers. It is also possible for the company to self-denounce, or for the press to report such matters.
Whilst complying with the GDPR may be complex and require significant alternations to policies or processes, the benefits far outweigh the financial and reputational consequences that could be incurred as a result of failing to conform. Adhering to GDPR will not only allow a business to avoid fines, but it will also improve the relationship with the customer and authorities, as well as paving the way for better processes and business relationships in the future.
At BDO, our team of experienced professionals is dedicated to helping our clients succeed. We start by helping them understand their GDPR compliance obligations, before creating and executing a remediation plan designed to minimize cost and disruption while meeting all requirements. While every plan is specifically customized to meet each of our clients’ unique situations, our main services are aligned to support the most common GDPR compliance requirements.


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With the newly appointed Country Manager, Sunday aims to expand partnerships with new-age products to accelerate innovation in Thailand’s ecosystem.
April 2022, Bangkok, Thailand – Sunday Ins Co., Ltd. (“Sunday”), the licensed brokerage arm that belongs to the larger full-stack InsurTech group, today announced, Yuwadee Pitawiwattananont as Country Manager to strike strategic partnerships. Sunday aims to do its part in promoting the adoption of digital healthcare, electric vehicles and innovation-in-action across all ecosystems as business models across Thailand continue to shift.
I am eager to create a big impact for Thailand’s InsurTech industry by committing to deepening the development of Sunday’s products while maintaining the highest standards of our services. All our customers and business partner will be able to access and integrate insurance intro their everyday lives and journey more easily. We have to devliver and continuously uplift our standard in the fastest-growing segments.Yuwadee Pitawiwattananont
Yuwadee spent more than 20 years of experience expanding new businesses for global insurance companies the likes of Cigna, Allianz and Aegon before switching to eBaoTech as Sales Director most recently. She has been responsible for numerous partnerships with financial services and telco players that successfully generated new and large-scale revenue streams.
Sunday’s mission is to make insurance relevant, reliable and exciting again in Thailand. We have invested in incredible talent and capital since our launch to develop advances data science and technology capabilities to support this mission. Our collaboration with Yuwadee is a partnership that will penetrate all ecosystems including financial services, healthcare, automotive and many more. We are extremely excited to leverage on her deep experience in delivering market-leading products to her partners and customers”Cindy Kua, Chief Executive Office of Sunday
This senior appointment follows from the full stack player’s most recent series B raise last year with participation from new heavyweight investors such as Tencent, Vertex Growth and SCB10X.
Sunday is a fully-integrated sales and services InsurTech that uses artificial intelligence and digital platforms to offer personalized insurance products and services that suit all individual and business risks. To reinvent the entire insurance value chain, the company provides its end-to-end solutions via its partners and proprietary distribution channels.
Learn more about Sunday: www.easysunday.com
For more information, please contact: firstname.lastname@example.org


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The iProperty Company, which is seeking £500,000 via crowdfunding site Seedrs.com, has reached its 60% target with three weeks to run.
The pitch puts the valuation of the company, which operates globally but has a tie up with developers in the UK via the NHBC, at £8m.
Its portal allows new homes developers and private sellers to list for nothing.
However, it bans estate agents – calling into question the deal done with the NHBC whose members are often reliant on agents to work on land deals and to sell new homes.
Most of the iProperty listings in UK are from new homes developers, and not private sellers.
At the weekend, of 8,064 listings, only 94 were for sale by owner adverts.
Brian Blake, former boss of Swinton Insurance and now chairman of iProperty, said: “It’s exciting to think that having spent only a modest amount on test marketing we have properties listed in around 20 countries and have more UK listings than any online agent.
“Most of the new funding will be spent on marketing so the impact we make will be significant.”
Thomas Davies, chief investment officer of Seedrs, said: “Seedrs is delighted to be offering this unique opportunity to investors.
“The iProperty Company is still a fairly new enterprise, but the number of listings and high calibre partners it has already attracted, demonstrates that this is a viable business model in an industry undergoing dramatic change.”
John Candia, CEO of the iProperty Company, said: “2015 will be a year of disruption in the UK estate agents’ market and there is great excitement about this within the investment community.
“There is growing interest in online property options and it is clear that consumers are increasingly turning away from the traditional way of selling property.
“Seedrs was an important part of our investment strategy because we want to offer everyone, especially our community of users, the opportunity to invest directly and earn a share in our future profits.’
The iProperty Company stresses that “it is completely free, providing individuals with the opportunity to buy, sell or rent property without incurring commission, fixed fee or otherwise.
“A ‘Buyer Guarantee’ is offered that means the buyer will always be contacting the owner directly – no agents are permitted on the site. Revenue is generated by offering a range of optional property related services.”
Those services include the supply of photography and estate agency boards.
* In a completely unrelated case, crowdfunding site Crowdcube has confirmed to Eye that it has disallowed the pitch from Property TV, after it closed. It had sailed some 58% over its fund-raising target of £200,000.
Luke Lang, co-founder of Crowdcube, said: “After our due diligence process, the Property TV investment has been cancelled and no money has been taken from investors.”


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Herbal drinks that claim to be specially blended for women should be treated with some scepticism, writes Dr James Brown
Tea is a fabulous drink. In its various guises it is the second most consumed beverage worldwide after water and contains many biologically active compounds that can improve health. Recently, tea has seen a product revitalisation similar to coffee’s over the past decade, with flavoured teas and herbal teas now sitting next to the traditional red label on our supermarket shelves. Alongside this, a slightly more insidious change has occurred, the emergence of teas targeting women for specific health benefits (The rise of women’s teas, 31 July).
These products are claimed to be specially blended for women, with ingredients including cranberry, rose, shatavari and vanilla. So far, so tasty. However, without the input of food scientists, or even basic clinical trials, it is impossible to make any robust claims for beneficial effects for womankind, as one will have no idea if these ingredients make the perilous journey though the stomach and into the bloodstream, and if they do, are they found in sufficient quantities to do anything good for the body?


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Julia Meehan, managing editor, fertilisers, ICIS, has examines the impact that the pandemic has had on the fertiliser market and how this is affecting other interconnected areas such as food-supply chains
The domino effect of the coronavirus, as it has spread across the globe, has so far had a limited impact on the fertiliser industry. However, the full effects of the global pandemic are starting to show in some sectors owing to cashflow problems caused by decomposing crops, such as fruit and vegetables.
China, having been the epicentre of the pandemic, is starting to get back to normal and production rates have increased for all fertilisers. The nation is the largest fertiliser consumer in the world, on average consuming close to 50mn tones per year.
When lockdown began in China, the impact was huge in terms of cuts in production owing to a shortage of labour. Problems with transportation, by both rail, road and sea, also had a big impact up and down the fertiliser chain resulting in stock piling up.
The biggest impact for China was on phosphoric acid which is used to produce phosphate. Fertiliser facilities in Hubei province account for up to a third of the country’s total capacity. Because of this, China turned from the largest exporter of diammonium phosphate (DAP) to a net importer.
However, as China started to ease its way out of lockdown, the flow of all fertilisers has recovered very quickly and life is getting back to normal again.
Urea was less impacted in China with Hubei province only accounting for around three per cent over China’s total capacity.
As the pandemic spread across nations, many countries started to feel the full impact of the deadly virus at a time when fertiliser application was at a seasonal high, particularly for the northern hemisphere. Indeed, during March, demand for all fertilisers was healthy and the value of feedstocks and nutrients held steady and in some instances firmed. There was pressure on pricing in April-May but the fertiliser sector most certainly did not experience the sharp and dramatic price falls seen in related markets such as gas, oil and petrochemicals.
In June, sentiment has turned and most fertiliser prices have increased.
As the virus took hold as it moved across the global, agricultural and industrial sectors learned lessons from China and many were given government support. The transportation of fertilisers across European boarders continued but with strict measures in place to protect truck drivers and the workforce.
There appears to have been be no serious demand destruction across the fertiliser sector since the first case of the virus outside China was confirmed on 13 January 2020. For many producers, cooperatives, wholesalers and farmers it has been business as usual.
Currency fluctuations, political unrest and huge levels of unemployment in both developed and developing nations will inevitably have an impact in the months and years ahead.
Regardless of all of these factors, the world still needs feeding. And considering that up to 50 per cent of the food we eat would not be available without fertilisers, this is an industry that will remain robust and continue to be deemed essential.


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© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and CURE - Oncology & Cancer News for Patients & Caregivers. All rights reserved.
Taste alterations during therapy can make food unpleasant.
Whether it’s a large family meal during the holidays or a comforting late-night snack, tasting and enjoying food is an important part of people’s lives. Unfortunately, a large percentage of patients find their sense of taste and smell changes during cancer therapy. And although it may seem like a minor side effect, taste alterations, also called dysgeusia, can significantly impact a patient’s well-being and quality of life. Patients with taste alterations may avoid certain food groups, which can lead to vitamin deficiency and a lowered immune system, or avoid food altogether, resulting in weight loss and poorer health.
“I saw in my clinic that people were having problems tasting foods and therefore not eating as much as they should and getting depressed about it,” says Jennifer Garst, MD, a lung cancer specialist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, who has a special interest in taste alterations. “I saw problems with taste affecting them physically, possibly affecting the outcome of treatment and quality of life.”
The four types of taste—sweet, bitter, salty and sour—can be magnified, muted or distorted. For example, foods may take on a bland or metallic taste. There have also been rare instances where certain tastes have been switched, such as salty foods tasting bitter.
Radiation and certain chemotherapy agents are factors in altering taste and smell. Natasha Mirza, MD, associate professor in the department of otorhinolaryngology, head and neck surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, says there are several theories to explain taste alteration. “There is damage, especially with radiation, to tissues that are rapidly multiplying, including taste buds,” Dr. Mirza says.
Those with radiation to the head and neck are particularly at risk for taste changes, which can begin several weeks after the first session. Radiation can also damage the salivary glands. With less saliva, the mouth doesn’t have the ability to transfer food particles to the taste buds, which can affect overall taste.
Although less damaging than radiation, certain chemotherapy drugs cause dysgeusia in about 50 percent of patients. Researchers believe cytotoxic drugs, including cisplatin, Adriamycin® (doxorubicin), Taxol® (paclitaxel), methotrexate, Cytoxan® (cyclophosphamide) and Oncovin® (vincristine), selectively injure certain taste cells so people get an imbalance of taste in their mouth.
Taste changes can also be caused by cancer itself. “Many of the tumors secrete substances that take away people’s drive to eat and can change their taste,” says Dr. Garst.
Patients can take steps to overcome taste alterations, including staying away from favorite foods before chemotherapy sessions to prevent learned food aversions and trying different foods as their tastes change. To combat a metallic taste, experts recommend eating with plastic utensils, and because meat can sometimes have a metallic aftertaste, patients should try other protein-rich foods to fill the gap, such as nuts, peanut butter, eggs and beans. Zinc sulfate supplements may help improve taste, as well as rinsing the mouth with a mixture of salt and baking soda (half a teaspoon each) with a cup of warm water to neutralize aftertastes.
Results of a study using flavor-enhancing powders with meals to test the effect on cancer patients’ eating habits are expected later this year. Another trial will study whether Marinol® (dronabinol), a synthetic cannabinoid used to stimulate appetite, can improve food enjoyment for advanced cancer patients who have taste alterations.
Substituting chemotherapy agents may also help patients regain normal taste. Research has shown that pegylated liposomal doxorubicin, a form of Adriamycin known as Doxil®, may not have the same taste-altering effect as Adriamycin.
Very few patients have permanent taste alterations, with most finding that normal taste returns within a few weeks to a couple of months after therapy ends. Addressing taste changes is an issue patients should discuss with their doctors, because it does have an impact on overall nutrition, and consequently recurrence risk, recovery and quality of life. “Patients need nutrition to come out of therapy healthy,” says Dr. Mirza.


text: The Ministry of Tourism celebrated the National Tourism Day by holding a two-hour program on a virtual platform today on the 25th of January 2022. During the program, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, Shri G. Kishan Reddy emphasised on aggressive promotion of various tourism products that India has to offer to the world. Tourism is one of the largest employmentsl generating sectors and it plays a vital role in direct and indirect employment. He also discussed the importance of domestic tourism and plans to start Tourism Clubs to create more awareness among the students and youth of our country. Further he stressed on the promotion of tourism with special focus on North-Eastern region and to tap the potentiality of the region.


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Govt restricts what IKEA can sell in India - reports
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The government has placed tight restrictions on what IKEA can sell in the country, in what would be the latest hitch for the furniture seller as it plots 1.5 billion euros expansion there, newspapers reported.
The finance ministry has forbidden IKEA from selling items including textile products and office supplies, cutting the number of product categories the company can sell to 15 from 29, the Economic Times reported.
The Sweden-based retailer was initially wary of entering India as it faced stiff local sourcing rules, which India later relaxed.
It was not immediately clear whether any further product restrictions would delay or alter IKEA's investment plans.
"IKEA is waiting for the formal notification of the details regarding the content of the latest approval from FIPB," an IKEA spokeswoman in India said on Friday, referring to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, part of the finance ministry which clears investment proposals from international companies.
"We will have to look into the details and review what it means for us. We will be able to comment after that," she added.
The government has presented IKEA's planned entry as a sign that foreign investors have kept faith with Asia's third-largest economy, at a time when growth has declined and political protests have erupted over expansion by foreign firms.
India has thrown open its doors to foreign retailers this year, liberalising its investment rules to allow in global supermarket chains and as well as lifting an investment cap on single-brand retailers such as IKEA.
But the rule changes have provoked a furious backlash from some political parties and domestic retailers, a reaction which threatens to derail a package of pro-market reforms aimed at reviving growth.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose; Editing by David Holmes)
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DAVOS, Switzerland - Central banks have done their best to rescue the world economy by printing money and politicians must now act fast to enact structural reforms and pro-investment policies to boost growth, central bankers said on Saturday.
Trending On Reuters
U.S. President Barack Obama ended a landmark day in India on Monday with a pledge of $4 billion in investments and loans, seeking to release what he called the "untapped potential" of a business and strategic partnership between the world's largest democracies. Full Article | Slideshow


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To ensure long-term success, companies need to address these challenges, so let’s have a look at the four key obstacles faced during financial software development.
In the last five years, modern advances have drastically changed how people engage with their finances; therefore Fintech companies have to face constant challenges due to the new trends, legislations and customer behaviors despite being a relatively young instrument, it still faces several difficulties and issues ahead of itself.
To ensure long-term success, companies need to address these challenges, so let’s have a look at the four key obstacles faced during financial software development:
1- Data security
Only in Latin America, the use of financial technology has doubled in size in the last three years, accompanied by massive Fintech investments. However, such an improvement can be followed by unintended consequences, the biggest of which are new security concerns. Cybercrime is on the rise, with new attacks occurring every 39 seconds, according to the University of North Georgia. And unfortunately, Fintech companies are one of the hackers’ most common targets.
Thus, there is always this question of risk in relation to fintech’s application security and data privacy. Information protection is becoming increasingly crucial.
2- Keeping up with modern technologies
Based on a 2019 Gartner CIO survey, more than 50% of financial services CIOs believe that most businesses will operate via digital channels, and technological initiatives will generate more revenue and value, which highlights the importance of Fintech trends in the future. However, it goes hand in hand with the need for constant development to catch up and the fear of ending up obsolete eventually. Important decisions are to be made based on forecasts like this, accompanied by constant training and research.
3- Reduce costs
FinTech’s should reconsider their income and expense strategies, as well as adapt or extend their resources. To cope with the economic downturn, many businesses are using cost-cutting tactics such as employee reductions and wage cutbacks. If the business takes up, there are many necessary changes that need to be applied within itself. Nonetheless, it does not always have to be the case as the solutions can be a professional away without having to compromise your employees, and still providing results in the finances solving the core problem.
4- Innovation and competition
According to Business Insider, 63% of European consumers abandoned their digital banking app onboarding process in 2020. This 25% increase compared to 2019 is well attributed to consumers moving to digital solutions as a result of the pandemic, but online banking technology is still struggling to meet their expectations.
Financial institutions that use the latest business technologies, particularly cloud applications, have a significant advantage in the digital transformation race: they can innovate faster. With no system hardware limiting flexibility, cloud technologies allow systems to evolve along with your business.
Technologies like cloud clusters, big data and machine learning offer significant benefits for organizations looking to resolve these problems.
Software-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service cloud computing allows companies to simplify and standardize their IT infrastructure. This way, they benefit from the flexibility and scalability while using the technology, therefore reducing costs in the long term.
Cuemby CCP enables you to target all four of the former issues and more, as it gives your business a single platform that automates the distribution of cloud resources, pipeline, and performance management. It has built-in governance and security with DevSecOps in mind, and traceability and observability to help with FinOps.
That’s why relying on professional help is a strategic move to enhance risk management and smooth development. You can take advantage of this new technology if you choose the right partner for your fintech needs.


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The study says we have never had it so good, with the average wage up 44 per cent and most prices on everyday items down. A pair of jeans would now cost pounds 230 if the price had increased in line with inflation since 1899 as measured by the Office for National Statistics. Similarly, a 1lb bar of chocolate would now cost about pounds 4.31 and a packet of cigarettes would cost pounds 14.40.
The research also shows that the average weekly wage in 1899 was pounds 4.62, equivalent to pounds 265.90 today. However, the average wage is actually pounds 384.50.
But the price of a pint of beer today should be 24p if it had risen in line with inflation. It actually costs an average of pounds 1.90. Equally, those attending Arsenal football matches with a top-price season ticket paid pounds 1 in 1899, today's equivalent of pounds 57.50. However, Gunners fans now pay pounds 868.50. Public transport today also costs relatively more than in 1899, when a return journey from Crystal Palace to Ludgate Hill cost 6d, or pounds 1.44 in today's terms. The trip now costs pounds 4.60 with the cheapest travelcard.
The survey also details household brand names that remain as popular today as they were a century ago, including Jacobs Cream Crackers, Bovril and Pears Soap. James Strachan, UK managing director of Encyclopaedia Britannica, said: "Only a small number of brands have lasted. Some are more affordable now than they were 100 years ago and we wonder who will be the Jacobs and Levi's of the next century."Reuse content


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New Zealand reaped fewer grapes for its vintage this year, though the quality was said to be “exceptional” across the wine-producing regions.
In a statement on Friday, industry group New Zealand Winegrowers said there were 370,000 tonnes of grapes harvested for the 2021 vintage, down 19% over the last year’s crop.
Among regions, Wairarapa, Marlborough, Nelson, and North Canterbury posted wide harvest declines of over 20% from last year. Central Otago, meanwhile, was the only region to record a harvest gain, increasing 21% over its last year’s crop.
Philip Gregan, CEO of New Zealand Winegrowers, said there will be a deficit in the 2021 vintage equal to around seven million 9-liter cases of wines.
“While the quality is exceptional, the overall smaller harvest means many of our wineries will face tough decisions over who they can supply in their key markets. There is going to be some supply and demand tension because of this, with the shortfall in the crop equivalent to roughly 7 million 9 litre cases of New Zealand wine,” Gregan said.
Despite the low harvest, there is still growing global demand for New Zealand wines as reflected by the industry’s “strong” export performance.
In the year ended March 2021, the country exported NZ$1.95 billion (US$1.4 billion) worth of wine, rising by 2% from the previous period. Most of the wine exports were brought to the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, and Germany.
“It is encouraging to see that during these uncertain times, consumers continue to choose a premium product they know that they can trust. Wines from vintage 2021 promise to be something special, but in some instances, the question may just be whether there is enough to go around,” Gregan exclaimed.
Cooler spring weather and late frosts in some regions affected this year’s harvest, while the industry was also facing rising production costs and labor shortages due to mobility restrictions mounted against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Moreover, 300 small wineries were also burdened with the looming increase in wine excise tax starting July 1, which the industry group is opposing.
“They have already been hit hard by the lack of international tourists post-Covid, surging production costs, and the difficulties being experienced in the hospitality sector. Adding to those stresses with yet another tax rise does not make sense right now,” Gregan stated.


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Micromax canvas knight was launched in India on 5th March 2014 and is currently available to buy only from the official Micromax eStore at Rs. 19,999. Indian users have now started buying mobile phones from 0nline stores even I bought my Micromax phone from online store (SnapDeal). Canvas knight is currently not available on any of the online shopping site but today the phone got listed on Flipkart with Coming Soon label. The phone will soon be available to buy from Flipkart store.
The phone is labeled to be coming soon and Flipkart hasn’t mentioned the price they are going to offer on their site. They have specified the specifications on their site.
Canvas knight specs:
- 5 inch Full HD display 1080p.
- 2.0GHz Octa core processor.
- 2GB DDR2 RAM.
- 4.2.2 Android Jelly Bean OS.
- 16MP Rear Camera.
- 8MP Front Camera.
- Dual SIM, GSM+GSM.
If you want to get the detailed information related to this phone, read this post.
The phone is available to buy from Micromax eStore at a price of Rs19,999 which looks decent as per the specifications offered in the phone. The price isn’t mentioned on Flipkart but soon when the stock will be available they will start selling out this phone.
According to a recent tweet by MMXNewsCaster 830 pieces of Canvas knight were shipped to India during the launch and I guess most of them would have been booked now.
Micromax Canvas Knight A350 Flipkart Price
This is the screenshot taken from the page on Flipkart where canvas knight is listed.
Flipkart link – The Phone is now available to buy from Flipkart.
The phone has been in quite lot of buzz since a while. The phone was launched in Russia a month back. Micromax has become an international brand now and has various plans for future. Check out this post for the detailed info regarding the upcoming smartphones by Micromax.


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Amazon was launched on September 1, 2021 in Egypt thanks to the replacement of the Souq.com store bought in 2017 by Amazon for a total of 580 million dollars allowing the American leader to switch from the identity of Souq.com to Amazon and to expand on the African continent.
But that's not all, on August 31, Amazon, the leader in e-commerce in the world, which has a turnover of 108 billion dollars for the first quarter of 2021, continues its expansion and inaugurates one of the largest logistics centers in the Middle East and the African continent, in Ramadan, Egypt. A ceremony highly anticipated by the Egyptian Prime Minister : Mostafa Madbouly and his Minister of Telecommunications Amr Talaat.
The consumption habits of Egyptians have changed significantly since the COVID-19, consumers are ordering more and more online for small or large purchases.
The giant Amazon wants to capitalize on this new transformation by helping the country's businesses to boost their sales. The new infrastructure would allow a fast and optimized delivery to meet the high demand of Egyptian users.
Sellers who are present in the marketplace will have the opportunity to increase the visibility of their products through Amazon's various advertising formats as well as the possibility to create ongoing promotions throughout the year such as:
Coming back to Amazon Ads, this choice to offer this kind of tool to Egyptian sellers is part of a continuous digital transformation.
The Egyptian companies will be able to increase the traffic on the highlighted products, but also to analyze the users and the potential buyers who would come to visit the product sheets.
To know everything about Amazon advertising, I invite you to consult our articles on the subject in our blog section.
Amazon intends to help Egypt in the development of its public transport and goods service, we can think of its Amazon Flex program that is already present in several countries.
In an effort to optimize deliveries, this program allows markets already benefiting from the Amazon Flex program to encourage employees to pick up packages located near their homes or nearby warehouses and deliver them to customers on time.
An additional income that is not negligible.
Amazon also has other ambitions for Egypt such as the development of artificial intelligence and digital payment…
Amazon is a real support for this developing country with a population of 106 million inhabitants in 2021, including a massive increase in a young population that is transforming the criteria of consumption and probably leading the country to a new era, that of the digitalization of services.
Digital Marketing Manager
Sep 20, 2021
In this series of articles, we reveal how to take advantage of Amazon Ads solutions. Sponsored Brand, Sponsored Product, Sponsored Display and Sponsored Video: we review the formats.
Every quarter, Amazon releases its results. Here they are, commented by Bizon!


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Happy St. Patrick’s Day: Google’s Irish Dancers
Today is St. Patrick’s Day and to celebrate, Google has a fun Google Logo, aka Google Doodle, with Irish Dancers doing their Irish dance.
Of course, the logo spells out Google’s name, GOOGLE on the dancer’s shirts.
Here is a video of them dancing:
For more St. Patrick’s Day logos and themes, see the Search Engine Roundtable.
Other Interactive Google Logos:
- Google Does Thanksgiving Logo Early, First Ever One Sharable On Google+
- Google “I Love Lucy” Logo For Lucille Ball’s 100th Birthday
- Google’s World’s Fair Logo For 160th Anniversary
- Early Look, Google’s Cool Interactive Jules Verne Logo Now Live
- Google Logo Honors John James Audubon’s Birthday
- Google Celebrates Freddie Mercury’s 65th Birthday With Google Logo
- Google’s Interactive Earth Day Logo
- What’s Up With The Google Balls Logo On The Google Homepage Today?
Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
(Some images used under license from Shutterstock.com.)
Get the best search news, tips and resources, delivered each day.


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Shopworkers are being attacked, threatened, and even killed while on duty in convenience stores. Armed robberies cause untold damage. Yet they’re occurring with worrying regularity
One morning in May 2019, Mike Mather, then store manager of Lowton Co-op in Warrington, received a call. “I never got phone calls on my day off,” Mather recalls. “But I took this call from the assistant manager, who was shouting: ‘We’re in an armed robbery’.”
Three men were forcing their way through the store’s reinforced doors with a getaway car waiting outside. “They had a machete,” Mather remembers. “There were some team members on the shop floor at the time and one of them was assaulted. She was shoved into some shelving. Bruising up and down her legs and on her torso. The other team members managed to lock themselves away.”
The gang shouted at those locked away: “If you come out, we’re going to kill you.” In less than three minutes, the men had filled a rubble bag with cash and tobacco from the gantry and fled the scene. By the time Mather arrived, 10 minutes later, the group was long gone and police were assessing the damage.
“They’ve taken 28 convenience stores but they’ve probably affected 70, 80, 90 people’s mental health”
Lowton Co-op wasn’t the only store attacked by the gang that year. The group carried out 28 armed robberies in a seven-month period, with Co-op, One Stop and McColl’s stores all targeted. Jack Yarwood, Michael Burke, Stuart Watson, Daniel Adamson and Michael and Connor Kedie were eventually jailed for a total of more than 50 years in June 2021.
In Mather’s opinion, it should have been longer. “They’ve taken 28 convenience stores but they’ve probably affected 70, 80, 90 people’s mental health,” he says. “It makes me really angry that you can’t come to work to earn a living without people thinking it’s OK to do this for a couple of thousand pounds per shop. They’ve changed somebody’s life.”
And it’s far from an isolated incident. Convenience store armed robberies in the north west continue to rise. The store in Lowton fell victim to another armed robbery just a year later, while two Warrington Co-ops both suffered incidents in the first week of 2022.
That pattern is reflected nationally. There has been a 650% rise in retail violence over the past five years and the Association of Convenience Stores estimates 40,000 violent incidents occurred in the sector in 2020 – equivalent to more than 100 per day. Sainsbury’s alone experienced 4,500 violent incidents involving a weapon in 2020, up by more than a third on the year before, it recently told the Home Affairs Committee. The most common weapons are knives, machetes, blades, needles, scissors, and screwdrivers, it says.
Dr Emmeline Taylor, criminologist at City, University of London, says the rise in the sector is partly due to changes in criminal tactics. “Historically, armed robbers used to target quite high-end banks,” she explains. “They have securitised to such an extent that, for your average robber, it’s just too much hard work.”
As a result, armed robbers have chosen “softer targets” with less security such as convenience stores, while amateur criminals can now commit violent incidents as often as professional gangs. Taylor says the average armed robber is a lone male in his 30s using a knife, often committing crime to fund substance abuse.
“Now you have these much more amateur and desperate robbers they’re much more high-risk,” Taylor says. “And much more willing to use violence.”
That is exemplified by the experience of Lynn Bodell, who was working her regular Sunday shift with 16-year-old son Dylan at One Stop in Woodcross, Wolverhampton, just before Christmas. At one point, Lynn went to the stockroom to fetch more carrier bags.
“As I came back into the shop there was a man behind the till shouting: ‘Give me the money, give me the money’ to my son Dylan,” she recalls. “The robber got a bottle from behind the till and started smashing the till drawer with it. I told him to stop because we were scared of the bottle smashing and him coming at me with a broken bottle.”
The attacker escaped with some notes and change from the till, as well as a couple of spirit bottles from behind the counter. “I was just panicking, shaking,” says Bodell. “It was awful, a horrible situation to be in.”
“Now you have these much more amateur and desperate robbers they’re much more high-risk”
Lynn pressed the panic alarm but the police didn’t turn up for about 20 minutes – around the same time it took for store owner Serge Khunkhun to arrive on the scene. Khunkhun, who has owned the One Stop for 14 years, has himself noticed an increase in criminality. “This year has probably been the worst year for shop losses,” he says. “In all the years we’ve been here, we’ve not encountered that level of attack on the shop.”
The police response left him frustrated. “It’s just ridiculous,” he says. “Twenty minutes for the police to turn up. It comes down to a lack of resources. The fact that numbers are being cut to such a bare minimum. It’s just frustrating you have to put up with this and live with the thought that it’s highly unlikely anyone’s going to get caught. It makes you angry.”
West Midlands Police says it called the store at 2.52pm, five minutes after it activated the alarm. They were told a robbery had taken place and the offenders had fled. When officers arrived at 3.12pm, CCTV was seized and witnesses interviewed.
The police clearly feel they are doing all they can – yet Khunkhun’s concerns around their response are shared across the sector. The ACS 2021 Crime Report found 84% of retailers that had experienced robberies were dissatisfied with the police investigation. A Co-op report found police are failing to attend two out of three of reported crimes at its stores. As a result, shopworkers now only report 30% of incidents.
“The police response is hugely lacking,” says City’s Taylor. “They don’t have the resources, they don’t have the time, and quite often they see this as a retailers’ problem.” If an incident has already happened and the perpetrator has left the premises, the police often simply want the CCTV and prioritise other callouts that are more urgent or serious, she says.
Yet diverting resources to “more serious” crimes may be a false economy. Around two-thirds of retail criminals are repeat offenders, according to the ACS crime survey, and their crimes often become increasingly violent. On occasion, with fatal consequences.
“We’ve got a high homeless population, high levels of drug abuse, more kids in poverty than for decades”
Alex Gunn, 31, was described as a “one-man crimewave” after he killed 54-year-old shopworker Ravi Katharkamar in March 2019. When he stabbed Katharkamar in the chest, he’d already committed eight other robberies to fund a drug habit, while on a suspended sentence for motor offences. The Grocer asked the Metropolitan Police about the status of the investigations into Gunn’s robberies when he murdered Katharkamar. They were unable to answer, explaining the investigating officer had since left the force.
Gunn’s case suggests if police want to have maximum impact, not only in reducing the volume of thefts, but in eliminating some of the most violent encounters as well, it will be essential to target repeat offenders.
In the meantime, shops have taken it into their own hands to boost security measures. The British Retail Consortium’s most recent figures relate to 2017/18, when retailers spent an estimated £1.2bn on crime prevention. Anecdotal evidence suggests it has risen since then. Last July, Co-op said it had spent £140m on technology such as body-worn cameras and intelligent CCTV to spot persistent offenders and give police access to a wealth of new evidence.
But for Taylor, such investments only go so far. “We’ve got a high homeless population, high levels of drug abuse, more kids in poverty than for decades.” Unless these are tackled, she concludes, it’s hard to envisage a day where shopworkers will be able to go to work entirely free from fear.
For Mather, that one phone call in May 2019 changed his life. “You never, ever get over something like that,” he says. “The store was put back together, the stock was replaced. But these people will never have the same feeling of coming to work in the morning, not knowing whether that knock on the door is the bread man or someone wanting to come and hurt them.”
What are those in power doing to deter offenders?
Four years ago, when the first signs of rising retail violence began to emerge, there was little recognition from those in power. “In 2018, no one was talking about this,” says Paul Gerrard, who leads campaigns for the Co-op. “Politically it was not an issue.”
This has now changed, largely thanks to the campaigning of Co-op and Usdaw, as well as the work of the National Retail Crime Steering Group, co-chaired by the BRC and Home Office minister Kit Malthouse.
In December, the government tabled an amendment to the Police and Crime Bill, to make assaults on shopworkers an aggravated offence. This should result in tougher sentences, and follows the introduction of a similar offence in Scotland.
Gerrard says the amendment is “a powerful statement that the government is taking this seriously”.
But the work doesn’t end there. According to Gerrard, the legislation “doesn’t change what’s happening on the ground unless the police start to take it more seriously.” The Co-op is therefore working with the Police and Crime Commissioners to ensure retail crime is appropriately resourced.
“We’ve had colleagues who lost an eye or miscarried or had permanent mental injury,” he says. “If you’re wishing your husband or wife off to work you don’t expect to be worrying about them coming back in one piece.”


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Not everything is as it seems. On October 31st, we expect this, but what about every other day of the year?
Sentenced earlier this year to ten years in prison for wire fraud charges, Obinwanne Okeke transferred over $10 million out of a company in the United Kingdom. Not long ago, a family member of mine was closing on her house. In the flurry of paperwork, she received a last-minute email from the closing company notifying her of an account number change for her down payment. Thinking nothing of it, she complied—and still has not been able to recover the tens of thousands lost.
Perhaps you can see the connection. If not, let me make it simple: Business Email Compromise has lost businesses in the US over $2 Billion, and even more globally. “Business email compromise (BEC) is one of the most financially damaging online crimes. It exploits the fact that so many of us rely on email to conduct business—both personal and professional.” While “tens of thousands lost” may not sound like much for a large corporation, it has long-lasting repercussions for individuals or small businesses. On average, the stakes are even higher. Palo Alto estimates that “the average wire fraud attempted was $567,000 and the highest was $6 million.”
As small and mid-sized businesses continue to experience cyberattacks, it’s not something we can afford to ignore. Through an email address made to look like someone the targeted staff interacts with (potentially a supervisor or vendor), criminals play off the relationships within organizations to get what they want. Who wants to question their CEO or CFO when they request a change of email address or an updated account number? We should.
Multi-factor authentication is foundational to good cyber hygiene, and the same principles apply here. In our business relationships, we need to prepare for the moment when the person we are interacting with is not who we think they are. At a previous employer, we took this seriously by requiring a phone call verification for any emails requesting an account number change (internally or externally) or anything of that nature. By calling the number on record, not an alternative one provided by the potential criminal, we could verify identity and instruction details. In addition to the rules of good cyber hygiene, protect your small business by remembering that not everything is as it seems.


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How Maruti Suzuki India transformed the auto industry through dealer digitalization
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How Maruti Suzuki India transformed the auto industry through dealer digitalizationNikhil Bansal August 2021
This video is a follow-up to our 2020 article showcasing the auto industry’s shift to dealer digitalization. Here we focus on how Maruti Suzuki, one of India’s leading automotive makers, brought more than 1,500 partners online and drove hyperlocal impact through its partnership with Google. Maruti Suzuki India led the charge in bringing automotive digital retailing to India, and turned the car buying experience into a customer-centric one.
A traditionally offline industry, the automotive sector in India was among the worst hit by COVID-19 in 2020. Amid the challenges of the pandemic, the need for digitalization in the automotive industry became pressing. Even pre-pandemic, the industry was witnessing a significant decline in dealer visits. COVID-19 exacerbated the situation, intensifying consumers’ preference for at-home offerings from online shopping to virtual test drives. So car dealerships needed to bring the store experience to people online.
Having started digitalizing pre-pandemic, Maruti Suzuki India was acutely aware that the rest of the auto industry needed to do the same, and quickly, to survive the pandemic. "It has helped us improve the number of walk-ins to our dealership. With Google My Business, customers are finding it very easy to reach us," said Naveen Sarawagi, director and CEO of Bimal Auto.
In this video, you’ll also learn how Maruti Suzuki India’s hyperlocal marketing program built the infrastructure to help dealerships digitalize. Creating a consistent infrastructure laid the foundation for dealers to adopt new tools, and this played an important role in transforming the car buying journey in India.
“The turning point was the realization that we need to change. We need to build the digital infrastructure,” says Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director of Maruti Suzuki India.
The successful digitalization of India’s automotive industry is proof that traditional industries can, and should, pivot to an online model if that’s what their consumers need. “We used to talk in terms of physical showrooms. But now we are talking in terms of how many of our dealerships are fully digital,” says Srivastava.
SHASHANK SRIVASTAVA: Remember earlier, we used to talk about largely physical infrastructure like number of showrooms, or number of outlets, number of cities covered and so on and so forth? But now we are talking in terms of how many of our dealers are fully digital?
SHASHANK SRIVASTAVA: The hyperlocal program allowed us to offer personalized solutions at scale. To own the digital real estate, build that great customer experience for all their auto retail needs. We have closely partnered with Google over the last four or five years. They have this great capacity to drive digitalization at scale.
SHASHANK SRIVASTAVA: This partnership enabled us to bring almost 1500 outlets at par with scaled training sessions for all the dealer principals and sales teams.
SANJAY PASSI: With a well laid approach by MSL and the Google team to reach high intent local audience and getting a direct connect with our customers, we were able to adapt and deliver consistently.
SANJAY PASSI: We have been able to improve our time to sales by 7 days. Drive 14% incremental leads at 20% lesser cost.
SANJAY PASSI: Improve our dealership margins by 2%.
SANJAY PASSI: And last but not the least, we have been able to connect with our customers for new car sales, service and other requirements.
NAVEEN SARAWGI: Quite a few dealerships had their own websites, each one of them was trying to do things in a very different way. With the hyperlocal program, they have now been able to align that to one single platform.
NAVEEN SARAWGI: Our number of leads has gone up by about 34%, our conversions have almost become 2x of what it used to be.
NAVEEN SARAWGI: It has also helped us to improve the number of walk-ins to our dealership. With Google My Business, customers are finding it very easy to reach us. So the team now is practically getting the leads in their pocket, and the quality of leads is obviously improving as it goes along.
SHASHANK SRIVASTAVA: The number of leads delivered through hyperlocal, they are more than 183,000.
SHASHANK SRIVASTAVA: That I think has been the power of partnership with Google.
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Downtown Abbotsford is about to get tastier.
Two new chain restaurant locations are coming to the corner of West Railway Street and Laurel Street. A sign outside the building announces that both Meat & Bread and Noodlebox will soon inhabit the space.
Neither company has announced an opening date or answered emails from The News, but the Noodlebox website says its first Abbotsford location will open this spring.
Noodlebox, which started in Victoria, sells Southeast Asian style street food.
Meat & Bread, whose first location was established in Vancouver, makes high-end sandwiches.


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WalkMe appoints Adriel Sanchez as chief marketing officer
Adriel Sanchez has been appointed as chief marketing officer, reporting to CEO and co-founder Dan Adika.
As CMO, Sanchez will lead the global marketing organisation to promote the WalkMe brand, including the development and execution of the company's strategic priorities and campaigns, while partnering closely with the sales and product organisations to drive revenue.
Sanchez joins WalkMe from Newsela, where he spent more than three years serving as CMO.
While at Newsela, he drove a go-to-market strategy that contributed to triple-digit ARR growth early in the pandemic while tripling marketing contribution to pipeline and revenue.
Before Newsela, Sanchez held a number of senior marketing roles with global B2B data management company Commvault, and software giant SAP, where he spent nearly a decade in various demand generation leadership positions.
"Adriel's experience in scaling global marketing organisations at high-growth and large enterprise software companies are what WalkMe needs today to take us to the next level of growth," Adika says.
"He is a proven leader with a reputation for building strong relationships at both a team and executive level. We are excited to expand our executive leadership bench with Adriel and look forward to seeing his contributions to WalkMe's success," Adika adds.
"Joining WalkMe was one of those once-in-a-career opportunities to join the market leader and creator of a burgeoning category on a clear path to reaching critical mass," Sanchez says.
"Throughout my career, and especially within the past few years alone, I've witnessed how critical it is to drive technology adoption among users.
"Winning the hearts and minds of the end user is key to realising the business outcomes sought when new technology is introduced. WalkMe pioneered how to do this.
"I look forward to expanding our reach and helping our customers realise the full value of their technology investments."


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Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) –Rio Tinto Group had 181 million pounds of so-called open copper shipments that will be priced in the first half of this year.
The sales were provisionally at $3.44 a pound at the end of last year, London-based Rio said in a statement today. Copper for March delivery was down 0.3 percent at $3.899 a pound on the Comex in New York today.
At the end of 2010, Rio had 270 million pounds of open copper shipments provisionally at $4.28 a pound, it said.
Mined copper production fell 23 percent last year due to lower grades at Kennecott Utah Copper, Escondida in Chile and Grasberg in Indonesia, Rio said.


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Tony Brodeur, owner of North Cove Construction in Old Saybrook, said that recently he’s had to wait as long as 23 weeks to get windows for a construction job. Usually, he said, windows would arrive in about 14 days.
“Appliances are just as bad,” Brodeur said. The appliances he ordered in March aren’t expected to arrive until October.
His experience isn’t uncommon, according to national industry data and reports from Connecticut and across the country about supply chain issues that have generated delays and price hikes for construction materials. These conditions are contributing to a jump in the cost of new homes, and could potentially tamp down the high demand for new houses in suburbs that began in March 2020.
Across the country, supply chain issues have generated delays and price hikes for construction materials, contributing to a jump in the cost of new homes, and potentially tamping down the high demand for houses in suburbs since March 2020.
Edward Noble, president of Noble Construction and Management in Essex, said that the delays have affected pretty much everything — reinforcing steel, plumbing fixtures, doors and lumber, for instance.
“Lead times on materials have doubled in many cases — nothing is in stock,” said Noble, who said his wait times have gone from 3 to 6 weeks to 6 to 10 weeks on average.
Jim Perras, the CEO of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Connecticut, said that he’d heard about seemingly random shortages, particularly of less common materials. He said he’s heard from suppliers that the cost of PVC pipes had tripled over the past year.
At the same time, demand for new homes and home improvements have increased. In Madison, for example, the number of permits filed with the town Building Department increased from 177 in June 2020 to 412 in June 2021. Old Lyme’s Building Department issued 58 permits in June 2020 and 109 in June 2021.
Vincent Garofalo III, the building official in Madison, said that the increases were a combination of new homes being built and people making modifications to their houses in light of newly discovered, pandemic-driven needs.
“Quite a few people had said that they needed separation from their children for home offices,” Garofalo wrote in an email. “Some just finish the basement for their kids to go play down there and away from them during the day.”
In contrast, Mark Wayland, the building official in Old Lyme, said that many of the permits issued in Old Lyme were for smaller scale projects like generators, electrical service upgrades and replacing windows.
The supply chain delays mean that contractors like Noble and Brodeur may be forced to postpone start dates and that unanticipated design changes can be a significant problem. Noble said the fluctuation in prices makes it hard to accurately estimate the cost of a job in advance.
“You bid a project at what the present value is,” said Noble. “It’s very difficult to carry the right number when the price is changing daily, weekly, monthly.”
According to Cuihong Li, a professor at UConn’s School of Business specializing in operations and information management, the shortages are the result of high demand and low supply. She echoed Garofalo’s observation — pandemic restrictions meant that more people were spending more time at home and looking at ways to make remote work easier. Restaurants have also constructed outdoor dining spaces. At the same time, pandemic restrictions forced the sawmills to shut down for three months, and have been slow to return to full capacity.
Li said there were labor shortages along every step of the supply chain — not just at the mills, but also shortages of truck drivers and workers at warehouses.
When “just in time” runs late
Many industries, including construction, operate supply chains on a “just in time” model, meaning that builders don’t keep a large stock of materials on hand. Frederick Warren McKinney, professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at Quinnipiac University’s School of Business, said that the pandemic-driven imbalance between demand and supply meant that materials were going to the people who could offer more money for them.
“There are some products that are coming off the production line and they’re going to the people who are willing to pay the most for it. And that’s bidding up prices for about every product or material that we’re talking about,” he said.
Although the price of lumber has dropped since hitting a peak in May, it hasn’t returned to normal. Brodeur estimated that the price has dropped from 400 percent to 300 percent of previous prices.
And lumber isn’t the only material that has seen exorbitant price hikes. The National Association of Home Builders reported this month that Oriented Strand Board, which is used in wall paneling, roof construction and floors, has increased 510% in price since January of 2020.
Noble said that the rising price of oil would probably cause the prices of other materials, like asphalt, to increase as well. He also said the lack of workers was delaying manufacturers from returning to normal operations.
“Everything is affected by the manpower shortages,” he said.
The cost of labor is an additional concern.
“The financial benefits of working need to exceed the financial benefit of not working,” he said.
Both Noble and Brodeur suggested that supply chain delays could be caused in part by workers deciding to remain on unemployment benefits rather than return to work.
But although McKinney agreed that the unemployment benefits have contributed to a tight labor market, he said that doesn’t necessarily mean the policy is a bad one, especially during the height of the crisis. McKinney said he believes wages will need to rise in order to incentivize people to come back into the workforce.
“The challenge is that the workers are saying, ‘Well, wait a minute, I’m not going back to work for $10 an hour,’” McKinney said. “Now companies are saying, ‘Well, okay, if I pay you more, what’s going to happen?’ Their profits go down or they’re going to have to raise prices even more. So this is kind of the struggle between profits, prices, costs and wages that we’re seeing right now.”
A “feeding frenzy”
When wood and PVC pipe become more expensive, it’s not just a problem for contractors. The National Association of Home Builders found that the increase in the price of wood has raised the prices of homes by an average of $30,000 across the country since April of 2020.
Carol Christiansen, the president of Connecticut Realtors, said that she’d seen this first-hand with her own home, which was built last year during the pandemic. Christiansen, who negotiated the price of her home before the pandemic, said that the last house that sold in her subdivision sold for $42,500 more than she paid for hers, despite having similar square footage.
Christiansen said she assumed that part of the price increase came from the increased cost of building materials, as well as the stretched-out length of time it now takes to complete a job. Contractors who might have taken between 6 to 8 months to build a house are now working on similar projects for 9 months or a year.
In spite of the higher prices, Christiansen said, the housing market remains hot, and developers are snapping up vacant lots as soon as they are available.
Perras said that Connecticut may be feeling the price spikes more than other states because of the state’s high taxes and cost of living. He also said that zoning regulations were creating a shortage of lots available for development.
“The lack of buildable lots is due, in part, to antiquated municipal zoning regulations, in addition to workforce shortages and higher regulatory burdens [that] are already impacting costs and build times,” he wrote in an email.
Christiansen also said that the number of houses on the market was far less than usual. In Ledyard, for example, there are normally 125 to 150 houses on the market at a given time. At the height of the pandemic, there were just 12 on the market, and now there are 30.
Although what she called the “feeding frenzy” that characterized the earlier part of the pandemic has subsided, she said that the prices of houses are still 15 to 18 percent above normal, and even high-priced houses in Fairfield County are selling.
According to data from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, the average price of a single family home in Connecticut increased from $344,843 in June 2020 to $464,396 in June 2021, the highest average since July 2008.
McKinney said that Connecticut’s proximity to New York has a unique effect on its housing market. He said that New Yorkers coming in to buy real estate are willing to pay a lot of money for houses because, expensive though they may be, they are still cheaper than prices in Manhattan.
“What you’re seeing is this convergence of the New York market and the Connecticut market, which is driving up prices,” he said.
He added that this could temporarily keep middle-income individuals and families out of the housing market until prices come down.
Christiansen said that she sees the housing boom as an opportunity for Connecticut to catch up from its losses during the 2008-09 recession. She said the state has lagged behind the country in recovering from the housing market crash over a decade ago.
“I think this is really just our correction at this point,” she said.
Data from the National Association of Home Builders showed that the demand for new residential construction has been dropping while the percentage of people looking only at existing homes has risen. Christiansen said she hasn’t seen this happening yet in Connecticut, but she expects a similar trend once foreclosures come back onto the market.
Brodeur said that he expects the construction of new homes to slow, but that he hasn’t seen any slow down in requests for home improvements.
Both Li and McKinney said that the supply chain will eventually right itself, but that it will take time.
Li said that while the lumber market is already re-stabilizing itself, any materials that are sourced overseas, like appliances, will take longer to return to normal. She said a lack of shipping containers was also contributing to the slowdown.
But McKinney warned that the recent influx of federal aid dollars could prolong shortages by fueling an increase in demand, and that as school districts and towns undertake infrastructure projects, this will place additional pressure on supply chains and high prices.
“You’re likely to see, again, an increase in prices, but also an increase in wages, but potentially an increase in profits. So it’s possible that everybody wins,” he said. “I think that the net effect of the infrastructure investment is going to be overwhelmingly positive for the economy, for workers and for companies.”
But will high prices last even after the cost of materials comes down?
“I have heard a lot of developers say that just because lumber comes down they aren’t going to start making houses for less,” said Christiansen.
McKinney and Li said that market forces should eventually stabilize prices — but when that happens, McKinney said, will depend heavily on the trajectory of the virus and the ability to keep variants under control.
“We still are having shocks from the pandemic,” he said. “I think that we cannot return to normal until we have the coronavirus and any of its variants down to what amounts to no difference from the annual flu.”
Li said that companies can use this experience to improve the way they manage their inventories in the future.
“We have to look further down the supply chain. We should not just react to our immediate customer, we have to look at the customers of our customers to get a good understanding of what the real demand is,” she said. “I think that’s something we need to learn.”


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As of 2021, global sales of EVs have reached 16 million as demand continues to accelerate, said the International Energy Agency. The transportation energy transition has only just begun. Most batteries retired from EVs still have about 70% of their capacity remaining, said Smartville, making them an ideal candidate for second-life uses.
This is the opportunity that San Diego-based startup Smartville looks to seize, by repurposing EV batteries as grid-scale energy storage to store renewable energy.
“Our second-life energy storage product repurposes EV batteries to reliably store power from solar and wind,” said Antoni Tong, chief executive officer of Smartville. “The outcome is that the system can sustainably power our communities, lessening our dependence on external energy sources.”
The startup announced it received a $5.9 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) to scale this service. The grant came as part of a $75 million funding package made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which awarded a total of 10 projects that advance EV battery recycling and reuse efforts.
The product, called MOAB, can hold between six to 10 battery packs with a nominal rating between 200 kWh to 500 kWh.
The company’s proprietary suite of software, hardware and diagnostics comes with a performance guarantee for stationary storage, serving enterprise and utility customers.
“We realized early on that the only way to grow a real market for this type of technology is to be able to absolutely warranty or guarantee the performance,” said Mike Ferry, president of Smartville.
“We validated our technology using battery modules obtained by disassembling EV battery packs, and we cycled modules of different chemistries from different automakers. As a result, we now have software and hardware that can use batteries of different states of health within the same system and we’re able to improve total system state of health over time,” said Ferry.
Ferry said Smartville sees benefits in focusing on repurposing battery packs rather than performing disassembly and repurposing battery modules. The company said labor and cost for disassembly is prohibitive when reaching a MWh or GWh scale.
Smartville said it will apply the DOE funds to accelerate commercialization of its repurposing product. The company first plans to achieve UL certification for the technology and will follow with a 4 MWh demonstration project. The demonstration will locate the repurposed battery with an existing central California power plant in an identified disadvantaged community.
The startup was launched out of the University of California, San Diego, starting with a $2 million DOE loan through the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy program.
The company reported it will be installing another prototype system at the end of Q2 with Southern Company. While Smartville has other early-stage projects in the works, the company is focusing on certification, commercialization, and scaling its manufacturing in the coming year.
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Square Enix Announces Online Manga Store
Square Enix has announced the launch of its online manga store. Fans can view electronic editions of Square Enix manga series, such as Fullmetal Alchemist and Soul Eater. Square Enix plans to provide easy access to localized version of their manga titles through streaming. Square Enix also aims for the online distribution service to "serve as a deterrent against illegal downloading and piracy." Fullmetal Alchemist and Soul Eater will be available at the special price of $5.99 for a limited time, starting today. The first update is expected January 11, 2011 and new titles will be added bi-monthly after that. Check out the Official Square Enix Manga Store.


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By Stanley James
ZIMBABWE’s retail and distribution sectors are dominating the Micro-Financial Institution’s (MFI) loan book due to increased participation by informal traders.
Presenting the state of affairs for micro-financial institutions this year, Zimbabwe Microfinance Fund Managing Director, Mr Brian Zimunhu revealed that despite high costs of borrowing, the appetite for loans in the retail sector is on an upward trajectory.
“The retail sector is dominating our loan book maybe due to the size of their nature and scale of business they need short term loans hence their ability to get the loans, purchase stock and repay, however, the worrying trend is how we can sustain the borrowing costs given the
resurfacing inflationary pressures,” said Zimunhu.
Zimbabwe Association of Micro-Finance Institutions Executive Director, Dr Godfrey Chitambo outlined how the sector will operate in line with the prevailing economic conditions in terms of loan provisions and viability.
“The prospects for us to maintain viability are there but that will also largely depend on how most of us can sustain the operating costs and balance books while conforming to the required or stipulated standard procedures,” said Dr Chitambo.
Regulatory authorities continue to review the operating terms of micro-finance institutions, to wipe out bogus or unregistered players.
The 2022 monetary policy statement states that the microfinance industry continues to register resilience and growth in key performance indicators after the relaxation of Covid-19 related- restrictions.
It also shows that the number of active clients accessing loans through microfinance institutions increased by 10.66 percent from 288 561 as of 31 December 2020, to 307 673 as of 31 December 2021.
The industry also recorded an increase in the number of women accessing loans during the year under review from 116 043 to 146 253 as of 31 December 2021.
The value of loans to female borrowers, over the same period, increased by 241.10 percent from ZWL$673.22 million to ZWL$2.30 billion Zimbabwe dollars as of 31 December 2021.
The statement states that a total of 28 credit-only microfinance institutions were non-compliant with the minimum capital requirements of US$25 000 effective 31 December last year.
It also noted that the non-compliant institutions are putting in place re-capitalisation strategies to comply with the requirements and to facilitate the underwriting of more meaningful business.


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Last 22 of May, the trade association Chiletec chose his new directive, which is chaired by our CEO Ubaldo Taladriz.
The trade association, Chiletec renew your policy annually and for this 2019 It will be chaired by Ubaldo Taladriz, founder and CEO of EXE. Already more than 4 years in which actively participated in Chiletec, He started as a partner highlighting its vision of technology as a response to social and economic growth of our country.
“…Our leader presiding Chiletec, It is a reaffirmation of our vision, how to bring market value travez of information technology and how we build a new and better Chilean digital industry…” says Fernando Gelcich, EXE commercial manager.
For this one 2019 I Chiletec policy was composed of directors Francisco Mardones (former president) de Mentor Graphic, Raimundo Page Option, Ignacio saves Magnet, Felipe Mancini treasurer of Asimov, secretario Andres Cargill, Martin Lewit vice president of Nunsum and President Ubaldo Taladriz EXE.
Chiletec, It is a trade association, non profit, which seeks to promote and build a new Chilean technology industry, that has local action and global reach. A date has over 140 Chilean companies, all in the field of technology.


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BIRMINGHAM, Mich. – A bakery in Birmingham announced it is closing for good because of the money it’s lost during the coronavirus (COVID-19) closure.
The Townsend Bakery, located within the Townsend Hotel property at 175 West Merrill Street, revealed it would not be reopening.
Owners said the COVID-19 pandemic has been a “very difficult and unprecedented time.”
“I can’t tell you how distraught I am to announce that the Townsend Bakery is now closed permanently," said Steven Kalczynski, the managing director of the hotel. “The staff, management and customers throughout the last 27 years have been amazing and I feel honored to have worked with such a great team of people.”
The bakery opened in 1997 and closed its doors due to social distancing measures in March. It didn’t offer takeout or delivery because the costs would outweigh sales, Kalczynski said.
All kinds of things go into making the best business decision possible, and there was no way that bakery could pull itself forward," Kalczynski said. "The numbers just did not work, so we made what was an unbelievably difficult decision, which was to close a successful bakery we felt had good neighborhood vibe in its offerings of baked goods and service.
“A heartbreaking loss of an irreplaceable gem of our city," said John Henke, of John Henke Law Group. "Thank you ladies for baking such sweet happiness for so many, to you a tearful goodbye. My mornings will never be the same.”
“Our customers are our family," Kalczynski said. "We know their kids. We know their families from different parts of the country. We take care of them every day and we consider them family.”


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More and more tech luminaries call out Apple on its shameless abuse of market power and the damage it does to innovation and the economy at large. As Epic Games' CEO Tim Sweeney has repeatedly said on Twitter, "Apple must be stopped." Nothing is even half as urgent in the tech regulation context (Google is a clear but distant second). Instead of addressing the issues, Apple brazenly keeps causing additional problems. Apple is the tech industry equivalent of the Lernaean Hydra.
Not everyone dares to speak out against the tyrant. That's always been a problem in any dictatorship in history. But Apple has gone so far, and suffering is so widespread, that slowly but surely its critics grow in numbers and in profile.
Take Twitter's current owner--Elon Musk has more than one reason to fight Apple's (and Google's) app store monopolies--and its former chairman, serial entrepreneur Jack Dorsey. On Thanksgiving, Mr. Dorsey tweeted the following:
We need a new mobile OS that’s web-only.— jack (@jack) November 24, 2022
He then laid out the three priorities, the first one of which he described by means of a hashtag: #AppleBrowserBan.
I'm particularly happy to see that Mr. Dorsey pointed to www.open-web-advocacy.org. In June, I republished various charts that Open Web Advocacy had previously posted to Twitter. They really do great work on the Apple browser engine monopoly issue.
That same month I also drew addition to long-time web browser developer Alex Russell's write-up that explains Apple is not defending browser engine choice. Apple forces all iOS browsers to use its WebKit engine (like Safari).
Apple's browser engine dictate is bad for competition, for innovation, for choice. It's a shame that Apple got away with it for so long, but it won't stay that way.
Some of Apple's sycophants, astroturfers and others vassals, and brainwashed followers incredibly argue that if Apple opened up browser engines on iOS, Google's Chrome would win and the last bastion to a total Chrome monoculture would fall. We should not take people seriously who say that. It's just crazy. If Google abused a browser monopoly, regulators would have to deal with it. But the fundamental difference between Chrome and Safari is that Chrome is a meritocratic monopoly. Chrome got there because of quality. Again, that doesn't justify abuse, but the first question is how a market gets monopolized, and Google undoubtedly did something right while Safari's market share on iOS is the result of anticompetitive wrongdoing that will hopefully be found unlawful. Safari never got serious traction on a third-party operating system, while Chrome managed to displace anyone, anywhere, provided that Chrome could come with its own engine.
Without mentioning the UK's Competition & Markets Authority (CMA), Mr. Dorsey effectively endorsed its very recent decision--a so-called market investigation reference (MIR)--concerning mobile browsers and cloud gaming.
In my commentary on two documents that became public on Wednesday owing to the CMA's Microsoft-ActivisionBlizzard merger review, I noted that Fortnite hasn't really succeeded on mobile devices as an Xbox Cloud Gaming offering and that Apple (and, to a lesser degree, Google) are responsible for large parts of the problem, and mentioned the CMA's market investigation reference.
The timing of Mr. Dorsey's public criticism of Apple's browser ban could hardly have been better.
I will soon write about the CMA's market investigation as well as a UK legislative initiative called Digital Markets Unit (DMU), but wanted to immediately share the news of one of the most famous tech entrepreneurs having spoken out in no uncertain terms. I also made my little contribution on Twitter:
Thank-you Florian and Jack for the support. We have a long way to go, but the momentum is building!— Open Web Advocacy (@OpenWebAdvocacy) November 25, 2022