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Taylor Swift (31) will present a reissue of her fourth album Red from 2012 this year. The new version is the second in a series of reissues that she is releasing under her own name and will hit stores on November 19.
“This will be the first time you ‘ll hear all thirty songs meant for Red . And hey, one of them is even ten minutes long,” Taylor announced on social media on Friday.
The American singer has decided to re-record and re-release her first six albums after a falling out with her old label and former manager Scooter Braun. The manager had bought and then sold the rights to Taylor’s music without consultation. Taylor was not happy with that because she says she was not offered to buy her music. She also says that Scooter forbade her to play old songs live, something he has always denied.
In April, the first reissue, Fearless, was released . It contained six previously unreleased songs. The album was again a success and again reached the top of the charts in many countries worldwide.
Fans have been speculating a lot about which album to come next, and they’re mainly putting their money on 1989 from 2014. However, it’s going to be Red , the original of which came out in October 2012. More than 7.5 million copies of the album have been sold worldwide.
On Red are hits like “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “I Knew You Were Trouble ‘,’ 22 ‘and’ Everything Has Changed with Ed Sheeran.
The next album that I’ll be releasing is my version of Red, which will be out on November 19. This will be the first time you hear all 30 songs that were meant to go on Red. And hey, one of them is even ten minutes long🧣 https://t.co/FOBLS5aHpS pic.twitter.com/6zWa64Owgp— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 18, 2021


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Less than a week after reports circulated that Walmart was in preliminary talks to acquire health insurance company Humana, the retail giant is making progress toward possibly buying another health care company. Walmart is in talks to acquire PillPack, an online pharmacy startup, for “under $1 billion,” according to CNBC.
The deal could still fall apart, but discussions between the two companies have been ongoing for months, the report said.
Continue reading “Walmart Health Care Ambitions Could Include Swallowing PillPack For ‘Under $1 Billion’”
Walmart is in preliminary talks to purchase health insurance company Humana, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. While specific terms of the deal are not known, it would be bound to transform the relationship between retail and health care, especially as insurance and drug costs continue to rise.
Over the past year, there has been plenty of activity to suggest that this a direction Walmart desires to take. CVS Health acquired Aetna, the third-largest health insurer in the U.S., for $69 billion excluding debt, in an effort to gain greater reach within the health care industry. The deal pushed millions of Aetna members toward CVS pharmacies, walk-in MinuteClinics and home services, while at the same seeking to deliver more transparency to the relationship between pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and drug manufacturers.
Continue reading “Potential Walmart-Humana Acquisition Highlights Retail’s Health Care Ambitions”
Brookfield Property Partners has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the share of real estate company GGP that it doesn’t already own for approximately $15.2 billion. GGP rejected a $14.8 billion buyout offer in November 2017, but negotiations were expected to continue due to pressure from the acquisition of Westfield Corporation by Unibail-Rodamco, Europe’s largest property firm, in December 2017.
Brookfield wants to extract value from the GGP assets, which include the Grand Canal Shoppes in Las Vegas and Tysons Galleria in McLean, Va. This strategy would be similar to how Brookfield handled the acquisition of Rouse Properties in 2016, according to Bloomberg. Much of the land owned by Rouse was repurposed as residential, commercial and office space.
Continue reading “Brookfield Acquires Remainder Of GGP”
FedEx has acquired P2P Mailing Limited, an e-Commerce transportation solutions provider, from The Delivery Group for approximately $130 million. With the acquisition, FedEx plans to expand its global commerce portfolio with more last mile delivery offerings and specialized fulfillment solutions.
P2P is headquartered in Laindon, UK, and will operate as a subsidiary of FedEx Cross Border within the FedEx Trade Networks operating company. The acquired company has relationships with private, postal, retail and clearance providers in more than 200 countries, enabling FedEx to bring more services to a global consumer base.
Continue reading “FedEx Acquires UK-Based Transportation Solutions Provider, Orders 20 Tesla Semi Trucks”
JD Sports Fashion, a UK-based sports apparel retailer, has entered into an agreement to acquire Finish Line for $558 million. The agreement is subject to Finish Line and JD shareholder approval and is expected to close after June 2018.
A purchase of Finish Line, which operates 930 locations including 375 branded and 188 unbranded concessions in Macy’s department stores, would give JD Sports a significant presence in the U.S. The company already has expanded into France, Spain and South Korea. JD Sports also would build on its relationships with major international CPG brands, including Nike, Adidas and Under Armour.
Continue reading “UK-Based JD Sports To Acquire Finish Line For $558 Million”
Bodega Latina Corp. has acquired Fiesta Mart, an international food retailer with a strong presence in the Dallas and Houston, Texas markets. Together, the companies will form a Hispanic-focused supermarket chain with 122 stores across California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas.
“The acquisition of Fiesta allows us to meaningfully expand into Texas via an established, well-known supermarket operator,” said Carlos Smith, President and CEO of Bodega in a statement. “Through the combination of the strengths of our two organizations, we will be well positioned to significantly accelerate our vision of efficiently offering high quality products at the lowest possible prices.”
Continue reading “Bodega Latina Acquires Fiesta Mart To Form 122-Store Supermarket Chain”
Target and Kroger are discussing a possible megamerger, according to a report from Fast Company. Reports from both CNBC and Reuters have conflicted the report, saying there is “no truth” to it. Whether an actual merger or some other partnership takes place, it definitely would send shockwaves throughout the industry.
Continue reading “What Would Be The Implications Of A Potential Target-Kroger Merger?”
HelloFresh has acquired Green Chef, a fellow meal kit company geared toward vegan, gluten-free and Paleo diet consumers, for an undisclosed sum.
Under the terms of the acquisition, Green Chef will add organic menus to the HelloFresh product portfolio and leverage its scale and resources to continue to drive more growth to HelloFresh households. HelloFresh will gain its first office and production facility in Colorado and will integrate Green Chef into its operations and culinary teams, according to a company statement.
Continue reading “HelloFresh Acquires Green Chef To Expand Organic Menus”
Two weeks after rejecting an $8.4 billion offer from the Nordstrom family to buy out the department store and take it private, a special committee formed by the company’s Board of Directors has called off acquisition talks entirely. In a statement, the special committee indicated that it could not reach an agreement with the family on “an acceptable price for the company.”
Nordstrom is “well positioned to capitalize on future opportunities to gain market share through its customer strategy,” according to the statement. This strategy is centered on three strategic pillars:
Continue reading “Nordstrom Breaks Off Buyout Talks With Founding Family”
L’Oréal has acquired Canada-based ModiFace, a developer of augmented reality (AR) beauty apps, for an undisclosed sum.As part of the company’s ongoing digital strategy, L’Oréal expects to extend the app developer’s AR and AI tools to its 34 international brands, which include Lancôme, Kiehl’s, Giorgio Armani, Urban Decay and Maybelline.
The deal is significant for L’Oréal, since it is the first tech acquisition for the beauty brand. L’Oréal can gain more knowledge of the AR technology and roll out more digital and mobile services such as virtual makeup tests.
Continue reading “L’Oréal Acquires ModiFace, Delivering AR Capabilities To 34 Beauty Brands”

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A new online fact file of various cruise ships has been launched by CLIA UK & Ireland.
More than 260 ocean cruise ships are featured in ‘Meet the Fleet’ which lists the speciality restaurants and theatres available on each as well as other facilities for families.
Agents are able to search for information by company, ship, size and passenger capacity.
“Meet the Fleet is an invaluable tool in helping agents answer specific queries raised by customers. We know the importance of knowledge when successfully selling cruise holidays and this digital fact file brings an enormous amount of information together in one place which is then easily searchable,” said Andy Harmer, director of CLIA UK & Ireland. “With hundreds of cruise ships to choose from, this tool will help agents find the right cruise for the right customer which is essential for the continued growth of cruising.”
Damian Gevertz, creator and founder Widgety said: “Damian Gevertz, Widgety’s creator and founder, said: “This latest development from Widgety brings together our entire database of cruise information. Comprehensive information complements the very latest images and videos. Everything’s covered; from accommodation to deck plans, food and drink to new features onboard.”


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Sidney, Neb. (PRWEB) April 19, 2012
Cabela’s Incorporated, the World’s Foremost Outfitter® of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, announced today Wanna Go Fishing for Millions?, a contest giving anglers a shot at up to $2 million in cash and more than $225,000 in additional prizes by catching tagged fish in select lakes across the United States. The competition begins May 5.
Cabela’s, Outdoor Channel, Wanna Go Fishing TV and Geico are tagging fish in lakes across 19 states – Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin – and every tagged fish caught will be a winner.
The premise is simple: catch specially tagged fish, and win prizes ranging from Cabela’s gift cards to boats to $2 million. Wanna Go Fishing for Millions? debuted in 2011.
“Wanna Go Fishing for Millions? is a great catch for many reasons,” said Cabela’s Chief Executive Officer Tommy Millner. “The heart of the competition is to promote fishing on local waters and encourage families to spend time together – with a chance, of course, to hook great prizes.”
In 2011, 143 winning fish were caught in Wanna Go Fishing for Millions?
One of the tagged fish could be worth $1 million. The grand prize will be doubled to $2 million for participants who are current users of the Cabela’s Fish Recon app or who download the Cabela’s Fish Recon app to their smartphone, sponsored by Geico.
Other prizes include two Ranger 520Z Bass Series Comanche boats and trailers with Evinrude outboard motors, valued at $65,000 each, as well as more than $20,000 in gear from Costa sunglasses, Abu Garcia and Rapala.
All rules and requirements, as well as contest details and registration information, can be found at the contest website, http://www.cabelas.com/fishformillions. Registration begins April 19 and participants must pre-register before fishing. Cabela’s will release the list of lakes before the promotion begins to those who pre-register. Winners of specific prizes will be announced after the promotion ends July 8.
Species to be tagged this year include largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, white bass, striped bass, perch, cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, lake trout, walleye, crappie, wiper, bluegill and channel catfish. Species will vary state-to-state.
About Cabela’s Incorporated
Cabela’s Incorporated, headquartered in Sidney, Nebraska, is a leading specialty retailer, and the world’s largest direct marketer, of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor merchandise. Since the Company’s founding in 1961, Cabela’s® has grown to become one of the most well-known outdoor recreation brands in the world, and has long been recognized as the World’s Foremost Outfitter®. Through Cabela’s growing number of retail stores and its well-established direct business, it offers a wide and distinctive selection of high-quality outdoor products at competitive prices while providing superior customer service. Cabela’s also issues the Cabela’s CLUB® Visa credit card, which serves as its primary customer loyalty rewards program. Cabela’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CAB”.


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Gaming services firm Success Dragon International Holdings Ltd announced on Wednesday that its chairman and chief executive, Tan Teng Hong, has tendered his resignation, with effect from July 3. Mr Tan also resigned from his roles as chairman of several of the company’s committees, the firm said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Success Dragon stated that Mr Tan informed the company that he “would like to focus his time and effort on other business”.
The company also announced that it has appointed Roy Kwan Chun Wai as an executive director and chairman with effect from July 3. Mr Kwan, aged 42, was described as having “extensive experience” in the banking, financial and technology sectors.
The Hong Kong-listed firm makes most of its income from managing slot machines in the Macau market. The resignation of its chairman and CEO comes amid a decline in revenue.
Success Dragon said last month that it recorded revenue of approximately HKD112.4 million (US$14.3 million) for the financial year ended March 31, 2018 versus approximately HKD151.2 million in the prior-year period.
The company reported a loss of nearly HKD130.7 million for its latest financial year.
Apr 06, 2020Macau has seen a net reduction of 191 non-resident workers employed in the local gaming industry during the months of February and March, according to figures provided to GGRAsia by the city’s...
Apr 06, 2020
"From 7 April 2020 [to 4 May 2020], all attractions, theme parks, museums and casinos [in Singapore] will be closed"
Ministry of Health of Singapore


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Lawmakers: Trump Mexico tax plan may hurt Texas
AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers are warning of the damage President Donald Trump's proposal for a 20 percent tax on imports from Mexico would do to the Lone Star State.
On Thursday, Trump's spokesman, Sean Spicer, said the president would make Mexico pay for the border wall through the tariff. Trump’s aides later walked that back a bit, saying the tax was just an option. But it caused deep alarm among economists, business leaders and some elected officials on both sides of the aisle.
“It’s going to hurt U.S. industrial performance rather than help it,” said Tom Fullerton, an economist at the University of Texas at El Paso. “It’s going to increase unemployment rather than reduce it.”
Fullerton explained that most cross-border trade is between companies that often ship products back and forth multiple times, adding value each step of the way. Imposing a 20 percent hit on each northward step would cause severe economic dislocation, shuttering businesses on both sides of the border, he said.
“It threatens to disrupt intricate supply chains that link the two economies together,” Fullerton said.
The Texas economy, already struggling because of low energy prices, is highly dependent on trade with Mexico. According to Census Bureau figures, 33 percent of U.S. imports from Mexico flow through Texas, and 37 percent of U.S. exports to Mexico come from the Lone Star State.
Unlike the nation as a whole, Texas has a trade surplus with with Mexico. In 2015, it sent $92 billion worth of goods across the border while importing $84 billion, the Census Bureau reported.
The idea of levying a 20 percent import tax to pay for the border wall was floated a day after Trump signed an executive order to build the wall, while continuing to insist he’d make Mexico pay for it.
U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, a San Antonio Republican, criticized both the wall plan, and the import tax idea.
“Building a wall is the most expensive and least effective way to secure the border, so as a conservative, I don't believe it is something that anyone should pay for,” Hurd, whose district spans 800 miles of the border, said in an email to the El Paso Times. “Further, this tariff would be devastating to the communities in my district that rely on border trade, harmful to the thousands of U.S. companies that work hand-in-hand with Mexican companies to produce goods and services, and expensive to the millions of middle-class families who will feel the pinch as prices go up.”
Hurd's district extends from San Antonio to the Lower Valley in the El Paso area.
The Texas Association of Business, a trade organization, on Thursday evening said a border tax would harm the Texas economy.
“Texas’ number one trading partner by far is Mexico, and imposing a 20 percent tax on Mexican imports to fund a border wall would hurt the Texas economy," Association President Chris Wallace said in a statement. "This proposal could mean a loss of jobs and a hit to state tax revenues. We look forward to working with our Texas congressional delegation and our TAB members to address this proposal and I would encourage our state leaders to make the economic ramifications of this proposal known.”
El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar said she’s already seeing harm from a depressed Mexican peso firsthand. It has sapped the buying power of residents of neighboring Juárez, who frequently cross into El Paso to buy U.S. consumer goods, she said.
A 20 percent import tax would only further depress the peso — along with economies on both sides of the border, she said.
“There will be dire economic consequences to this,” she said. “They won’t only be felt in El Paso; they’ll be felt throughout the country.”
U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, said that even if Trump ultimately abandons the proposal, damage already has been done in El Paso, where one in every four jobs relies on cross-border trade.
“It will hurt everyone,” he said. “It is a bad idea. I have heard reports that Trump is stepping back (from imposing a 20 percent tariff), but the suggestion … will make it harder for El Paso and Juárez to attract investments, capital and talent. It is going to be terrible.”
At least one Texas GOP leader was in favor of a version of increased taxes on imports.
In a Thursday afternoon appearance on Fox News, U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady said he supports a 20 percent increase on imports from around the world and using the money to slash business taxes. Brady, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, said it would level the playing field with other countries that he said already tax imports.
“We have to go bold because our competitors have already gone bold,” Brady said.
Other Texas Republicans were more circumspect about the possibility of taxing the imports.
The staff of U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, pointed to a Tweet Cornyn put out.
“Many unanswered questions about proposed ‘border adjustment’ tax,” it said.
The offices of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Texas House Speaker Joe Straus couldn’t be reached for comment.
Marty Schladen can be reached at 512-479-6606;firstname.lastname@example.org; @martyschladen on Twitter.
El Paso Times reporter Lorena Figueroa contributed to this report.


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Casino ticket printer and player management software provider TransAct Technologies Inc has announced that the firm’s executive vice president for sales and marketing, Andrew Newmark, is retiring with effect from December 31.
“The company has promoted an existing member of its sales team to the position [of] vice president, global sales to address Mr Newmark’s responsibilities,” TransAct said in a Thursday filing. The firm did not identify the person who would replace Mr Newmark.
Mr Newmark joined TransAct in January 2015. Prior to that, he was active as an investor and entrepreneur, supporting a number of venture capital and private equity-backed businesses. From November 2005 to March 2009, Mr Newmark served as vice president of business development for the technology division of what is today Newell Brands Inc.
TransAct reported in November casino and gaming equipment sales of US$5.1 million for the third quarter of 2017 down by 8.9 percent from the prior-year period. This was the third consecutive quarter of casino and gaming equipment sales decline for TransAct as measured in year-on-year terms.
TransAct’s casino and gaming product segment includes ticket printers for gaming machines.
Oct 01, 2022Macau’s September casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) rose by 35.3 percent month-on-month, to MOP2.96 billion (US$366.3 million) from August’s nearly MOP2.19 billion, according to government data...
”With Star Vegas back to operation since 18 June 2022, we believe that Donaco will recover its performance and prevail during this pandemic”
Chairman of casino operator Donaco International


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This Sunday’s New York Times Magazine cover story on the upcoming revival “Shuffle Along” has been making the rounds since it was posted online March 24 — with some help from a big homepage banner ad for the show directing people to read the story.
From the desktop ad, people can not only click through to the cover story — a 10,000-word piece by John Jeremiah Sullivan, a contributing writer for the magazine and the “southern editor” of The Paris Review — but buy tickets to the show itself.
It’s an unusual ad treatment, as editors are usually discreet about letting advertisers know what stories they’re working on, when they’re going to be published and in what section, partly because things often change and partly to avoid the appearance of business-side interference in the editorial process. The ad for “Shuffle Along” confirms that the article is the magazine’s cover story.
“Yes, our editors are always discreet in what we share with the subjects of our stories, especially when those subjects are also potential advertisers,” magazine editor Jake Silverstein said in an e-mail. “But naturally there are times when, in the course of us doing our jobs (fact-checking, scheduling photo shoots, etc.), a subject learns when a story is scheduled to run. What they do with that information is not my department, nor does it have any effect on what I publish.” He referred follow up questions to Times PR.
A Times spokeswoman said the ad meets with its guidelines that say Times editorial content can be used in ads as long as the material is “quoted accurately and has not been taken out of context.” The rep said the paper didn’t tell the advertiser in advance when the story would publish. The story was posted at 7 a.m. March 24 and the ad went live 17 hours later, at midnight.
Still, for Kelly McBride, who teaches ethics at The Poynter Institute, the ad raises a lot of questions, such as whether the Times confirmed the story was on the cover of the magazine and if it sold the ad first, then updated it to reflect the story’s publication.
“The biggest question that readers might have is whether the Times did the story in order to sell the ad?” she said. “Knowing the Times, I’m sure they didn’t. But not every reader knows that. We always teach that you have to deal with the perception of a conflict of interest, as well as real conflicts of interest. In this case, I suspect that the ad creates the perception that the Times may have compromised their editorial independence, by doing a story on an advertiser. So, we’ll have to see how they deal with that perception.”
It’s not the first time ads have used editorial in increasingly creative ways at the Times, as digital ad dollars are becoming harder to come by. Last December, an ad for Book of Mormon included a screen shot of an actual Times article (not about the show itself but about arts fundraising).
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Founded in 2019 by Benjamin Kelly and Thierry Bertin-Mahieux, Singuli created an AI-powered platform that allows retailers to use consumer behavior to better inform inventory decisions. This seed round is the first major funding deal the company has closed, which includes participation from High Alpha Capital, AVG Basecamp Fund, existing investors Interlace Ventures and LAUNCH, as well as angel investors Paul Goodman and Darwish Gani. The fresh funding also includes a previously unannounced $700,000 pre-seed round.
“Our mission is to provide commerce brands of all sizes with state of the art tools to make optimal inventory decisions,” Singuli co-founder and CEO Benjamin Kelly told AfroTech. “This is a gnarly space and there are lots of tricky problems.”
Kelly was inspired to launch Singuli with Bertin-Mahieux after working as a data scientist in the consumer space for nearly a decade. He said in a press release that he saw an obvious need for a new approach to inventory while overcoming supply chain challenges. Ultimately, Singuli’s work is centered on helping retailers avoid exhausting their inventory capabilities. The company plans to use the seed funding to expand its team and build out its go-to-market operations.
With the close of this seed round, Jarrid Tingle, managing partner at Harlem Capital, joins Singuli’s board of directors.
“Betting on Ben and the Singuli team was a no-brainer. We love Ben’s background as the first data scientist at Birchbox, the company’s traction to-date, and their vision of providing world class inventory tools to SMBs which will drive efficiencies and cost savings,” Tingle said in a press release.
Singuli works with various e-commerce retailers across a number of industries. When it comes to growth, Kelly said the company will be focusing on awareness, vertical expansion, and new features over the next year.
Singuli’s leaders want to educate more people about how AI and machine learning can be beneficial in the retail industry. The company has been focused on fashion, apparel, and footwear verticals to-date, and Kelly said Singuli is excited about expanding into other verticals, including vitamins+supplements, wellness, home decor, beauty and electronics.
“Modern commerce brands tell us they have a bunch of problems related to inventory decisions, including how to ship, how to price, new product launch quantities, in season management and allocation,” Kelly said. “One of the necessary ingredients to solve these problems well is a great forecast and we’re looking forward to showing how our platform can be applied here.”
Singuli currently has four employees, and Kelly said the company hopes to grow to a team of 10 to 15 over the next year.
Harlem Capital leading this seed round for Singuli comes after the venture capital firm closed a $134 million second fund, which AfroTech previously reported in late March 2021.
Some notable companies that the firm has invested in include Workchew, CashDrop, and Malomo. As it eyes more growth, Harlem Capital also recently welcomed two new hires: Melody Hahm, the firm’s platform and community manager, and Tonna Obaze, the firm’s chief of staff and investor.


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The recent $24M retail gift card bust in New York is a reminder that organized retail crime (ORC) is alive and well, and retailers have to aggressively pursue new tactics and technologies to stay a step ahead. Identity automation technology offers the potential to radically speed up retail investigations.
While IP video surveillance has been a game-changing tool for post-crime investigations, it can be time-consuming and costly to search through hours of surveillance footage. As an example, in the aftermath of the 2011 London riots, police scoured through more than 200,000 hours of video footage.
Retail loss prevention investigators rarely have the bandwidth to fully audit all relevant security footage. As a result, retail criminals routinely go undetected by investigators. But this is changing fast. Identity automation technology has the power to surface actionable intelligence in less than a second.
Accelerating Investigations with Identity Automation
Retailers are finding that face recognition solutions can accelerate investigations like no other technology. Identity automation speeds up investigations by letting retail investigators instantly see the times, dates and store locations that a suspected individual has set foot in. By reviewing the associated surveillance footage, investigators can potentially identify footage of the suspect committing additional crimes. This makes building a case far faster.
Recently, we demonstrated the power of the FaceFirst system to a loss prevention executive who had a prior career in law enforcement. His reaction: “You’ve just saved someone hundreds of hours of work.”
Many of the most notorious organized retail criminals don’t work alone. They have regular collaborators who aid them during fraud attempts, robberies or grab-and-go operations. According to Transunion, “shoplifters rarely go in alone and instead establish teams. For example, there might be a coordinated group of five that will rob a store blind. Two distract the sales associates, another keeps a lookout for security, as the other two fill their clothing, bags, strollers and so on with stolen items before quickly heading for the door.”
It can be difficult to know who these accomplices are, but identity automation technology can help surface patterns, revealing when other individuals repeatedly appear at the same times and locations as suspects.
Real-Time Identity Intelligence
Of course, identity automation solutions doesn’t simply accelerate investigations, they also help bring suspects to justice—check out our True Stories of Retail Crime series for some awesome examples. Identity automation technology can alert security the moment that a suspect enters a store with actionable directives and contextual intelligence.
Looking to speed up retail investigations with identity automation software? Reach out to us today and schedule your demo.


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SOFTS-Arabicas recover after hitting 32-month low, sugar dips
* Lack of producer selling due to Brazil, Vietnam holidays
* ICE volumes heavy on spread-trading
* Cocoa rises from previous low on short-covering
(New throughout, updates prices; adds trade comments, second byline/dateline) NEW YORK/LONDON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - ICE arabica coffee futures turned higher on Tuesday after falling to the lowest in more than 2-1/2 years, as the Brazilian Carnival holiday kept producers on the sidelines, and raw sugar fell, gravitating toward a technical support level. Cocoa futures declined after choppy trading with the U.S. market dealing in heavy trade with the focus on March/May spreading. Second-month arabica coffee futures on ICE rose 0.75 cent, or 0.5 percent, to $1.437 per lb at 12:48 p.m. EST (1748 GMT). Earlier in the day, the price touched the lowest level since June 2010 at $1.4125 per lb, pressured by expectations of a huge "off-year" crop in top producer Brazil. A recovery in Colombian arabica output also weighed on prices. "There is meant to be an abundance of arabicas. People are playing the arbitrage with robustas," a coffee futures broker said. "It is the Tet holiday in Vietnam, and people perceive that as a period when producers back away from the market." May robusta coffee futures on Liffe eased $6, or 0.3 percent, to settle at 2,092 a tonne, having hit a four-month high of $2,131 on Friday. Recent arabica price declines have kept physical buying minimal, as roasters hesitate to buy into a falling market. "A lot of traders in coffee have been pushing the market down, but the fundamentals are turning slightly. It doesn't bear out that we should be at almost three-year lows," said James Cordier, founder and president of Liberty Trading Group in Tampa, Florida. ICE arabica futures have fallen nearly 10 percent over the last 16 sessions. Even threat of damage to South American crops hefty supplies weighing on the market. Birgit Wippler, a soft commodities analyst with F.O. Licht in Germany, said she saw downside price risk because the weight of supply exceeded bullish factors such as roya, which has hammered coffee crops in Central America. ICE arabica volumes were heavy on Tuesday, reaching more than 47,000 lots as of 12:44 p.m. EST, according to preliminary data. Traders cited spread-buying behind the volumes, as the Brazilian Carnival holiday kept physical business quiet. The May contract recently surpassed the spot contract as the most active.
SUGAR GRAVITATES TO RECENT LOWS March raw sugar futures on ICE were down 0.31 cent, or 1.7 percent, at 18.12 cents a lb, hovering near a 2-1/2-year low of 18.03 cents per lb touched on Friday. "With option expiration on Friday, there's a large open interest around the 18-cent level, so there's solid support there. The market keeps bouncing off that," said Boyd Cruel, softs analyst for Vision Financial Markets in Chicago. ICE raw sugar futures were also underpinned by a lack of Brazilian producer selling, dealers said. Some saw pressure coming from the strong dollar. March white sugar on Liffe was down $4, or 0.82 percent, at $484.50 a tonne. Traders anticipated a modest delivery against expiry of the March white sugar contract on Wednesday. "The situation vis-a-vis March London, expiring tomorrow, is still unclear," Nick Penney of brokerage Sucden Financial said. "The main sugars expected to be delivered are Central American and some Argentine. We foresee a low delivery this time around." May cocoa on Liffe dropped 2 pounds, or 0.1 percent, to settle at 1,421 pounds a tonne. Benchmark May cocoa futures on ICE slid $2, or 0.09 percent, to finish at $2,170 a tonne, reversing direction from earlier gains. Dealers said upside was capped by good supply prospects in West Africa and an anticipated backlog of origin forward sales. ($1 = 0.6385 British pounds)
(Reporting By Chris Prentice; Editing by Grant McCool)


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Consumers are motivated by convenience and ease when it comes to choosing a payment method, according to PSCU's annual Eye on Payments study. The results differ from last year when consumers ranked convenience and security as top priorities.
The research aims to examine payment preferences among credit union members and other financial institution customers (“non-members”) and how they have shifted over the past year. PSCU surveyed more than 1,750 credit union members and non-members from across the United States.
“This year’s Eye on Payments study revealed insightful findings on how and where consumers are making payments right now,” said Tom Pierce, chief marketing officer at PSCU, in a statement. “With the continued proliferation of goods and services available online, convenience emerged as the main driver of consumer payment preferences this year, even trumping security. We also saw an increased preference for debit cards to complete transactions, including for online channels and in-app payments, as consumers across generations appear to be selecting budget-friendly options over building up their credit card debt.”
Key findings from the study include:
- Sixty percent of respondents reported convenience and ease of use as the main drivers behind their choice in payment method for both credit and debit cards.
- While convenience and ease of use were ranked as most important, security and safety are still influential factors. Nearly four in 10 consumers agree they make decisions about how to pay for something based in part on which is the most secure.
- Nearly 96 percent of all survey respondents report making online purchases at least a few times per year, with 57 percent of credit union members and non-members making an online purchase at least a few times per month. Overall, respondents prefer to pay for online purchases, order-ahead food and streaming services with a debit card.
- Mobile wallet usage is on the rise, with three out of every 10 survey respondents reporting they use a mobile wallet to make purchases and nearly half using their mobile phones to make payments or do banking. Mobile wallet usage is even higher among the younger generations: Six in 10 Gen Z and Millennials report using a mobile wallet, with almost half using the technology at least a few times per month.


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The iconic group will perform live in Cleveland for the 13th Annual "It's Only Rock and Roll" Spring Benefit.
The benefit concert will be held Friday, May 6 at 9 p.m. at Public Hall.
Ticket prices vary.
Reserved balcony seats are $17.50 and $27.50 and $55.00 will go on sale Friday, February 26 at 10 a.m. You can purchase through Ticketmaster.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Members can purchases tickets before the general public beginning Friday, Feb. 19 at 10 a.m.
A limited number of VIP Benefit Donor packages are available which includes dinner and floor seating. These VIP Benefit Donor packages are partially tax deductible.
For more information on table packages or individual floor tickets, please email the Rock Hall development team.
All ticket sales benefit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's nationally acclaimed educational programs.
Download the Cleveland 19 News app.


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Wyoming’s Table Mountain Vineyards grape production continues expansion
Torrington — From a 2004 harvest of 300 pounds, Torrington area grape grower Patrick Zimmerer says the 2009 harvest on their operation, and from those producers they partner with, is tipping the scales at nearly 40 tons and setting an all-time tonnage record.
Zimmerer’s Table Mountain Vineyards (TMV) first planted vines in 2001. Today he says there are about 20-30 growers with six large producers growing the crop. The 2008 harvest by the Zimmerers and their partners was around 25 tons.
The 2009 grape crop, he says, was harvested prior to the cold snap. Now it’s on to the business of making wine. “We have doubled our wine production every year since our onset,” he says. “We will produce 20,000-30,000 bottles from this year’s harvest.”
TMV offers over 10 varieties of wine. “We also have some various fruit wines in addition to our grape wine,” says Zimmerer. “Some are sweet, some are dry and we have a large variety of different flavors and tastes.”
Most recently, TMV launched its “Vinetages Wine Club.” Zimmerer explains, “It is basically community supported agriculture. We are selling limited shares to help our winery grow, expand and build in a tough economy. Members received all sorts of perks and a yearly share of our wine bounty.”
“We at TMV have been faced with the need to grow and expand due to our increasing production,” says Zimmerer. “This CSA project helps us grow while finding those who truly support value added agriculture. We are in the process of building a new winery, which will accommodate our increasing production and wine. We will have room to host parties meetings and events and to expand our business and open it to increase tourism and economic development in our rural area.”
Explaining the process he says, “It takes about two to three weeks for the grapes to become wine. After that the wine is aged, filtered and eventually bottled. It can take anywhere from six to 12 months to get the wine in a bottle. This is a challenge in terms of sales and keeping the product consistent from year to year. The grape sugar levels, fruit quality and weather conditions play a big role in the ultimate product.”
“As the vines mature so does our fruit quality and consistency,” says Zimmerer. “Now that we have a sizable harvest we have moved our focus to harvest quality and can be a bit picky with what to do with the fruit. We have also increased our production equipment, shortened our harvesting times, and have worked on getting more efficient in the winery.”
Zimmerer and 75 others are part of the Wyoming Grape and Wine Association. Some members produce grapes commercially while others have a hobby level interest. The Association hosts an annual pruning clinic as well as a Wine and Vine Tour each August. The group is online at www.WyoGrape.com.
Table Mountain Vineyards is online at www.tablemountainvineyards.com. Jennifer Womack is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to firstname.lastname@example.org.


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IF you want an iPhone 14, you might be able to mark your calendar already.
Apple announcements run almost like clockwork – so guessing the next iPhone release date isn't too tricky.
Everything points to a top-secret iPhone being in development at Apple's California HQ.
It's expected to the the iPhone 14, and will likely come in four different variants.
The handset will launch later this year, and we can say with reasonable certainty when.
That's because Apple does roughly the same thing each year when it comes to iPhone.
The big launch event always takes place in September, and generally falls early on in the month – on a Tuesday or Wednesday, typically.
For 2022, we'd expect the event to take place on Tuesday, September 13 or Wednesday, September 14.
That would be followed by iPhone 14 pre-orders on Friday, September 16.
And we'd expect an actual iPhone 14 release date of Friday, September 23.
Most read in Tech
We'll find out about the Apple event the week before it's due to take place.
And remember: Apple may also hold an additional event in October or November for other gadgets.
Of course, we can't guarantee any of these dates – but they're the most likely.
Apple could also shift the whole pattern a week earlier, hosting an event on September 6 or 7 with a September 16 release date.
But we think the slightly later event is far more likely.
Apple usually announces its event around a week before it's due to take place.
So we'd expect the event to be confirmed on September 6 or 7 this year.
So what's new with the iPhone 14?
There are four rumoured models: iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Max, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
That's a bit of a departure from previous years, with the old "Mini" model scrapped in favour of a bigger "Max" base model.
We're expecting a big bump to processing with a new A16 chip.
And the camera will likely see some major upgrades too.
Apple is also just weeks away from unveiling its new iOS 16 update, which will debut on the iPhone 14 when it launches.
Sadly, nothing is certain until Apple makes an official announcement.
- Read all the latest Phones & Gadgets news
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Apple has released a new software update for older iPhones. The update brings some important security features. The company recently rolled out the iOS 12.5.4 update for older iPhones and iPads. Apple has stated that “this update provides important security updates and is recommended for all users.”
Apple’s support page claims that the new iOS 12.5.4 update is being rolled out for iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, and iPod touch (6th generation). While these devices stopped getting OS updates since iOS 13, Apple continues to provide security updates.
The new update fixes one security issue and two WebKit vulnerabilities. The WebKit issues, according to Apple’s support page, have been actively exploited. This is the reason the company has requested old iPhone users to download the update. Apple had explained the
Apple had introduced the last security update for these devices in May with the rollout of iOS 12.5.3. For owners of these devices, the company will be rolling out the new version via an over the air (OTA) update. The update had started rolling out on 14 June. Users who haven’t received the update notification, can check manually by visiting the ‘settings’ page and then go to ‘general’ and then ‘software update’ to look for the new version. If you still don’t spot it, Apple might rollout the update soon.
Apple recently rolled out iOS 15 at its annual developer conference WWDC. Surprisingly, the company has committed to providing the update for devices as old as the iPhone 6s, which was launch back in 2015. However, many new features on the iOS 15 will be demanding for the old hardware on devices such as iPhone 6s. Apple is expected to optimize the iOS 15 version for older devices by cutting down features.
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It’s been an unpleasant week for British people with a hangover after KFC suffered a major stunning chicken distribution failure. Since KFC was not able to supply the chicken to the people the store was out of food. The KFC apologized for it and people freaking loving it. Stay tuned to know more.
KFC is a world famous fast food restaurant chain initially in American that specializes in fried chicken. KFC is now basically available in almost every country.
KFC To Suffer A Chicken Problem
KFC which specializes in fried chicken and has the best chicken dish had to face a major problem due to the shortage of chicken on Wednesday.
Hundreds of KFC Outlets Remain Closed
Due to the shortage of Chicken in the restaurants, Hundred of KFC outlet was closed for the day. Leading to a major loss to the Owers and the franchise this week.
Cause For the Problem
KFC recently made a new contract with the delivery company which supplies the chicken to the outlets. The Outlet was closed for the period of time until the fast food chain tries to recover from a disastrous start to a new delivery contract. Stay tuned to know more on next page…


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Sony Interactive Entertainment has launched its own production studio with the intention of adapting its gaming titles into films and television series.
PlayStation Productions will operate out of the Sony Pictures lot, and will be headed up by Asad Qizilbash while overseen by Worldwide Studios chairman, Shawn Layden.
"We’ve got 25 years of game development experience and that’s created 25 years of great games, franchises and stories," Layden told The Hollywood Reporter. "We feel that now is a good time to look at other media opportunities across streaming or film or television to give our worlds life in another spectrum."
SIE already boasts over 100 original IP to draw from, including God of War, inFamous, Shadow of the Colossus, and more.
The studio will take inspiration from the likes of Marvel Studios, which has successfully turned its comic book IPs into Hollywood blockbusters.
There's a new handheld game system on the way, and it's looking to shake things up a bit.
Known as the Playdate, this little yellow device is trying some new things in design and game delivery.
On top of 'A' and 'B' buttons and a D-Pad, the Playdate also features a rotatable crank that folds into the device when travelling. The extent of its use will be up do the developers, with some titles using the crank throughout, while others to a limited extent. Some games coming to the Playdate won't use the crank at all.
Since its announcement at E3 last year, the studio behind Nioh 2 has remained very tight-lipped.
Thankfully, Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja have released new footage for their highly anticipated souls-like samurai sequel.
Fans of the first game will be happy to see that Nioh 2 looks to double down on what made the first entry so successful.
A release date for Supermassive Games' first instalment of The Dark Pictures Anthology has been confirmed, with Man of Medan set to release on August 30.
After the success of Until Dawn, it appears Supermassive are going all-in on the popcorn-flick horror genre – most notably the choice-driven narrative which returns in Man of Medan.
Set on a World War II shipwreck, a crew of divers must take refuge as a storm rolls in. Though, as you might expect with a horror story, they find they may have been safer out in the storm.
Square Enix has announced the next DLC expansion coming to Just Cause 4.
Titled "Los Demonios", the upcoming DLC will see Rico coming face to face with "the demonic forces from an ancient past" and will include new missions, tools and skills.
Among the new gear at Ricos disposal is the "Demon Crossbow" and the return of the liberation system from Just Cause 3. Check out the trailer for the "Los Demonios" expansion below.
A new report from Kotaku indicates that Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software will no longer be the lead developers on 2020's Call of Duty title.
The 2020 release will now be headed up by Treyarch Studios, which just released Black Ops 4 last year.
Activision's decision to put Treyarch is, according to Kotaku, due to tensions between Sledgehammer and Raven, whose staff have been in constant arguments during the past year of development.
Microsoft and Sony have announced a strategic partnership for technology and information sharing.
The two companies will explore joint development of "future cloud solutions" in Microsoft Azure with the goal of supporting their respective gaming and content-streaming services.
"For many years, Microsoft has been a key business partner for us, though of course the two companies have also been competing in some areas," said Sony president and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida.
If you own PSVR, it's highly likely that you've checked out The Persistence(you really should give it a go if not). For those not lucky enough to own the rather expensive VR setup, an upcoming free update will open up the option to play the game on a standard screen setup.
Firespite Studio's game director Stuart Tiley announced the news in a post on the PlayStation Blog, stating "The Complete Edition is going to be the next free update for everyone that already owns the game, and for the first time ever, this update will make The Persistence playable on what we now fondly call ‘flat screen TVs.’ Bringing The Persistence to non-VR displays will allow even more people to discover the terror of space in this unique blend of roguelike and sci-fi horror."
Tiley further stated "as well as a whole host of gameplay tuning, the Complete Edition will include significant graphical improvements" and that the update will feature "4K at 60 frames per second on the PS4 Pro, and 1080p at 60 frames per second on PS4." The stuido is also adding "brand new camera animations to ensure a natural sense of movement around the ship."
Blizzard has confirmed the release date for WoW Classic, with ANZ servers rolling out at 8am AEST on August 27, 2019.
First announced at Blizzcon 2017, the retro servers are in-part a response to many unlicensed servers that popped up over the years – scratching the itch for those looking to relive the glory days.
From May 15, select players will be invited to a small-scale closed beta, while three larger stress-tests will be running from May through to July.
“A Plague Tale – Innocence is the type of game that comes around rarely in the risk adverse gaming space. Bleak and beautiful it will leave an indelible mark on any gamer willing to enter its rat-infested world.”
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Gateway Inc. is looking to expand its commercial business by targeting smaller customers. The Irvine, Calif., computer maker kicked off the initiative last week with the release of a low-end server and a new line of desktop and notebook PCs armed with features that officials say are needed by small businesses with little or no IT staff.
In addition, Gateway is wrapping services around the offerings and this month will begin adding features to its Web site to grow it from simply a place to buy products to a destination for technology information.
Over the past six months, Gateway officials have been talking to small businesses—those with as many as 99 employees—about their technology needs. Key among those needs are good prices, a set of business features—such as 64-bit computing—and services, said Dan Stevenson, vice president of Gateways direct business.
“The small-business types dont have an IT department,” Stevenson said. “Its either the business owner or some other employee thats wearing multiple hats.”
Gateway last week rolled out the first of its small-business products, including the new S Series line of desktops and notebooks. The desktops feature the cooler-running and quieter BTX design and a toolless chassis, making it easier for businesses to maintain them. The systems also offer a range of Intel Corp. processors, from the low-end Celeron to the dual-core Pentium D.
The two S Series notebooks offer wide-screen displays ranging from 14 to 17 inches, a magnesium alloy casing for durability and shared components. The new E-9920T server also features the BTX design, a choice of chips and redundant power capabilities.
In addition, Gateway is offering an array of services, said Gabriel Rizzi, senior director of Gateways small-business unit. For example, Gateway will send representatives on-site to evaluate a businesss IT needs, make recommendations and estimate the cost. Most competitors dont offer such on-site help, Rizzi said. A service for the S Series systems is BigFix, which automatically sends messages regarding updates, patches and general maintenance.
Over the next few weeks, Gateway also will begin bulking up its Web site with modules offering educational resources and case studies.
Roger Kay, an analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates Inc., said Gateway needs to expand its professional business if its going to grow and that the small-business segment is underserved.
“The bad news is that its hard to get to them,” said Kay in Wayland, Mass. “The good news is that theyre not overexploited because theyre hard to get to.”
The key for Gateway will be services. “None of those [product features is] specific to small businesses,” he said. “Everyone can benefit from BTX. The services are something they can target to small businesses. This is imperative for Gateway.”
Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news in desktop and notebook computing.


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ᒪike , due to the Τhiѕ year, publisher Blizzard ᴡill tаke its fan event and game showcase digital ᴡith BlizzConline. Ƭhe twߋ-dɑy ѕhow will reveal neԝ ⅽontent fоr the company’s popular franchises аnd let fans hear morｅ straight from the developers mɑking the games.
startѕ Frіɗay, and it wilⅼ focus оn Blizzard’s franchises including , and . The event ѡill ɑlso act as a celebration of the developer’ѕ 30tһ anniversary.
Heгe’s wһat you need to know aboսt the show and whаt might be revealed.
When does BlizzConline start?
The show’s opening ceremony starts on Friday, Feb. 19, at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT. It’s in this first hour that Blizzard will reveal its biggest announcements. The rest of the two-day event will feature panels focusing on Blizzard’s different franchises: Diablo, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone and Starcraft. There’s also going to be a , cosplay and arts and crafts panels.
A is available on the show’s website.
Where can I watch BlizzConline?
In previous years, fans would need a virtual ticket to watch the stream of the event. Luckily, since there’s no in-person convention, Blizzard has made the entire event free to watch. The livestream will be available on GameSpot’s channel on YouTube.
Ιt’s also streaming on:
- The .
What’s bеing revealed at BlizzConline?
Blizzard һaѕ yet tо announce whɑt games іt will showcase ⅾuring tһe event, bսt there have ƅеen hinting at whаt maｙ be sh᧐wn.
Diablo: The big reveal for the show mɑy bе tһe release of a Diablo 2 remake dubbed Diablo ІI Resurrected. Ꮃhen you hɑѵe any questions regɑrding eхactly wһere as well as how to utilize my blog, it is poѕsible to contact ᥙs fr᧐m the web site. The dungeon crawler гemains incredibly popular үears afteг its 2000 release and is a favorite fօr fans of tһｅ franchise. Τhｅrе ɑre few details on what might Ьe different in the rumored remake, aⅼong ᴡith a ⅼikely graphics update.
Ꭺs for tһе next game іn the franchise, , the developer һas aⅼready shօwn off ѕome of tһe game and һas bеen conducting an alρha test since it wɑѕ announced at . This yeaг, expect mⲟre details about thе game’ѕ classes аnd maybe a release date.
iѕ tһe mobile game fοr the franchise, ᴡhich һas aⅼso had a . Blizzard will likely reveal the release ԁate for Immortal Ԁuring tһe sһow.
World ߋf Warcraft: Տince Worlⅾ of Warcraft’s latｅst expansion, , came оut in October, it’s unlіkely Blizzard ԝill һave anotheг expansion to ѕhow ߋff. Τhеre will be a biɡ content update revealed cɑlled Chains in Domination ɑccording to a leak rеported bʏ on Thursԁay. Players ԝill have more dungeons, gear ɑnd a neԝ raid to loօk forward tо.
On thе ⲟther hand, — a re-creation оf the MMORPG circa 2006 — ԝill receive a “new” expansion. Burning Crusade fіrst came out in 2007, and it wіll bring the samе content to WoW Classic. This іncludes tһe Blood Elf and Draenei races, the arеa caⅼled Outland аnd more content according to .
The sequel to tһe popular Overwatch ѡɑs also announceɗ at the ⅼast BlizzCon. Watchers ѕhould expect Blizzard tо show ⲟff morе aboսt the game, but ɗon’t expect a release ɗate.
Liҝe wіth everү ѕhߋw, new info about tһe foг the collectible card game ѡill be ѕhown.


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HONG KONG (AFP): Asian shares opened slightly lower in thin holiday trade on Monday (Dec 27) as fears lingered over the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index dipped 0.22 per cent in early trade. Hong Kong was closed for a holiday.
Shanghai was marginally up, while Seoul was slightly down.
The highly transmissible Omicron strain has sent new cases skyrocketing across the globe, with countries reviving lockdowns, major sports leagues cancelling fixtures, and cruise ships returning to port with Covid-infected passengers.
Even in China, where a “zero-Covid” strategy has largely kept infections in check, officials recorded 206 new infections Sunday — a count tiny by worldwide standards, but the country’s biggest such figure in 21 months.
“A lack of direction is expected with a limited number of trading participants as the year-end holiday season begins,” Mizuho Securities said in a note.
Senior strategist Yoshihiro Ito of Okasan Online Securities warned that “the sense of caution over the spread of infections (due to Omicron) remains strong”.
Australian and British markets were also closed for the festive holiday.
In Friday trade before the Christmas break, markets wavered in similarly subdued trade.
A day earlier on Wall Street, the S&P 500 ended the last session before the long holiday weekend at a fresh record following a raft of mostly decent US economic data.
And a study released Sunday showed consumers were in the mood to spend over the holiday season, with retail sales soaring 8.5 per cent over last year.
Online sales were up 11 per cent and in-store sales up 8.1 per cent between Nov 1 and Christmas Eve, according to the Mastercard SpendingPulse study.
“Consumers splurged throughout the season,” said Steve Sadove, senior advisor for Mastercard and former CEO of Saks Incorporated.


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A couple of weeks ago we told you that Muhammad Ali's childhood
home was up for sale.
Well, now a buyer has been found.
The Associated Press reports that a Las Vegas real estate
investor named Jared Weiss has agreed to purchase the dilapidated
one story property in Louisville, Kentucky for $70,000.
"The guy's a huge Ali fan, and that's what kind of spurred
this," Louisville realtor Dave Lambrechts said.


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One Millionth BMW with Efficient Dynamics Delivered - (Australia)
August 6th, 2008
In its quest for a consistent reduction in consumption and emission rates BMW Group has reached another milestone, delivering the one-millionth model with BMW EfficientDynamics technology.
The car, a 520d, was presented to its new owner, Munich patent lawyer Dr. Thomas Leske today.
The successive introduction of EfficientDynamics technology to BMW Group model series has had a unique and widespread effect on the reduction of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in road traffic and proved that significant progress in environmentally-friendly transport does not inevitably curtail driving pleasure.
For the new owner of the one-millionth BMW EfficientDynamics, the model’s combination of progressive driving pleasure, premium quality and modern efficiency levels was the decisive factor.
“The BMW 5 Series has always been my favourite,” Dr. Thomas Leske explains, “but I never thought that a vehicle of this segment could be that efficient”.
BMW Group has progressively applied EfficientDynamics technology to all vehicle segments and has equipped every new model with extensive measures for the reduction of fuel consumption and emissions as a standard feature.
These two factors have made a significant contribution to the widespread effect of BMW EfficientDynamics.
Despite its above-average market share in luxury vehicle segments, BMW Group will have achieved a 25% reduction in its entire fleet’s fuel consumption by 25% between 1995 and the end of 2008 and accordingly will have honoured the central commitment for all of their brands made as part of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) voluntary agreement.
The BMW EfficientDynamics measures include brake energy regeneration, Auto Start Stop function, gear shift indicator, needs-oriented operation of ancillary units including decoupling of the air-conditioning compressors, intelligent lightweight engineering and active aerodynamics via air vent control in model-specific configuration are on-board without surcharge.
In accordance with BMW EfficientDynamics, each new model will improve its consumption rates compared to its predecessor while also providing superior driving dynamics.
Two independent studies have confirmed the unique overall effect of BMW EfficientDynamics.
According to a current ranking presented by the British internet service “Clean Green Cars”, the CO2 emission of newly registered vehicles of the BMW brand in the first half of 2008 was down 11.34 % on the same period of the previous year. Information provided by experts with a special focus on environmentally-friendly technology and the comparison of consumption and emission rates, confirmed that BMW made the most significant progress among the large-scale manufacturers.
Previously, the latest issue of the US Environmental Defense Report published similar findings. The independent study on the fuel consumption of new vehicles sold in the US between 1990 and 2005 concluded that BMW Group contributed more to the reduction of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions than every other manufacturer.


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The Mountain View, Calif.-based company, which is offering 10 million common shares, disclosed the lowered price range in a filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company said it will make about $166.8 million if the shares are sold for $18 each, after deducting the underwriting commissions. Handspring plans to use the proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes, including as working capital.
The IPO market has cooled considerably since earlier this year when issues routinely doubled or better from their starting price. Many companies whose IPOs are in the pipeline have lowered their price ranges or postponed their offerings. The number of IPOs is likely to dwindle even further during the slow summer months, analysts said.
Besides a roiled stock market, Handspring also must contend with an industry-wide shortage of flash memory, LCD screens and other components. Although the effect of the shortage has been limited so far, it will effectively put an artificial ceiling on revenue growth over the next few quaraters because manufacturers simply won't have the parts to build products to meet demand. Component shortages could also drive prices for handhelds up in the future, which typically depresses demand.
Competition grows keener as well. Palm, the leader in the handheld market, will revamp its product line later this year to include wireless communications across its product line. Hewlett-Packard and other companies have come out with new handhelds incorporating Microsoft's Pocket PC in recent weeks. Another formidable competitor is Canada's Research in Motion (RIM). Last month, RIM announced the RIM 957 Wireless Handheld, code-named Proton, which is essentially a cross between RIM's BlackBerry email device and a personal digital assistant.
Credit Suisse First Boston, Merrill Lynch, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray are managing the Handspring share sale. After the offering, Handspring will have about 125 million common shares outstanding. The company has applied to have its stock listed on the Nasdaq under the symbol "HAND."
Palm, which licenses its software to Handspring and is being fully spun off in July by 3Com, began trading on March 2. The company raised about $942 million from its IPO. Palm shares hit a high of $165 but have tumbled in the past month.
Handspring had a net loss of $40.8 million on revnue of $50.1 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2000, which ended April 1. The company had net losses of $8.4 million with no revenue from July 29, 1998, to June 30, 1999.


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Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann wouldn't tell us much about the successor to the company's Murcielago, but sources from Europe are slowly leaking information on the latest raging bull. The latest intel suggests the "New V-12," as some insiders are calling it, will produce upwards of 700 horsepower and be mated to a seven-speed, single-clutch, paddle-shifted manual transmission.
What? No dual-clutch transmission? According to Autocar (citing an unnamed source), implementing a dual-clutch gearbox would be "too complex and too expensive." While that may be, we fail to see why it wouldn't be a worthy pursuit. After all, the design could be amortized by spreading its use across other premium brands in the Volkswagen Group (i.e., we'd kill for one in an Audi R8). Regardless, buyers are said to also have the option of a seven-speed sequential gearbox. No traditional manual transmission is in the works.
Sources are also saying the center-oriented driving position usually found in Sant'Agata's beasts has been nixed, thanks to an all-new lightweight aluminum space frame chassis. It's essentially a clean slate for engineers to incorporate their preferred layout with cutting-edge technology.
Given the estimated 700-plus horsepower rating, and its smaller build, this Lambo will surely be fast. Insiders have mentioned a 0-to-62-mph sprint time of around 3 seconds, and it will likely top out above 200 mph.


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According to the data, the number of unemployed people in the UK fell by 8,000 to 2.47 million in the three months to July, which means that overall unemployment in the country remains at 7.8 per cent.
The figures, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), also show that the number of people in employment increased by 286,000, which is the biggest quarterly rise since 1971.
According to the ONS, this number was largely driven by a rise in the number of part-time workers in the UK.
In addition, average weekly earnings excluding bonuses rose 1.8 per cent in the three months to July compared with a 1.6 per cent rise in the June survey, the ONS revealed.
Data published in the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG Report on Jobs last week showed that both permanent and temporary placements increased in the UK last month, marking the tenth consecutive month of growth.
For all of the latest sales industry news visit www.aaronwallis.co.uk. If you are looking to hire in your sales team Aaron Wallis offer the UK’s most inclusive sales recruitment service which includes skills testing, psychometrics and a 12 month rebate scheme as standard. For Sales Director jobs visit www.aaronwallis.co.uk
Posted by John Oak and Wayne Bly
Source: The Sales Director News


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‘This is atrocious!’ Guy Sebastian goes on a rant against Uber Eats after the food delivery service kept cancelling his orders from Chargrill Charlie’s
He’s known for being one of the ‘nice guys’ of showbusiness.
But Guy Sebastian was very angry indeed on Wednesday when food delivery service Uber Eats cancelled his order from upmarket chicken shop Chargrill Charlie’s.
In a post shared to his Instagram Story, the Battle Scars hitmaker accused Uber Eats delivery partners of cancelling several trips.
Oh, no! Guy Sebastian has publicly complained about Uber Eats after the food delivery service repeatedly cancelled his order from Chargrill Charlie’s. Pictured: Guy’s Instagram posts
He made the public complaint after trying to order food from Chargrill Charlie’s in Woollahra to his home in Maroubra.
‘I’m done with you @UberEats_Aus honestly it’s ridiculous how much time I’ve wasted waiting for your drivers only to have them cancel after an hour,’ he wrote.
‘This service is atrocious,’ he added.
What a disaster! Guy (pictured in June) complained on Instagram after trying to order food from Chargrill Charlie’s in Woollahra to his home in Maroubra
The former Australian Idol winner then shared another post, in which he complained about further delivery issues.
‘After five phone calls and actually driving out to meet the @UberEats_Aus driver – only to have them cancel… again,’ he wrote.
The Daily Mail Australia has contacted Uber Eats Australia for comment.
It comes after Guy revealed he will not be sledging other musicians when he hosts the ARIA Awards in Sydney next month.
Nice guy: It comes after Guy revealed he will not be sledging other musicians when he hosts the ARIA Awards in Sydney next month
Guy told The Daily Telegraph that own experience of being roasted at an awards ceremony taught him the importance of showing kindness to other artists.
‘I was so embarrassed, I felt like the whole room was looking at me and everything was swallowing me up. I already had people down on me because of Idol,’ he said of the ordeal.
‘My approach will be to celebrate how incredibly talented we are as a nation and bring unity, no matter whatever genre you are from,’ he added.
Gracious: Guy told The Daily Telegraph that own experience of being roasted at an awards ceremony taught him the importance of showing kindness to other artists. Pictured with Shannon Noll (left) during their Australian Idol days


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Drive by the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg and you’ll now see a regional supermarket chain’s name affixed to the building.
Sunbury-based Weis Markets has signed a five-year, $750,000 contract with the state for naming rights to the farm show complex and its Exposition Hall. Weis spokesman Dennis Curtin said the sponsorship is a good fit for Weis Markets.
“We are a locally focused supermarket company that also happens to be one of Pennsylvania’s best customers. This year, we expect to purchase 21 to 22 million pounds of Pennsylvania produce, and virtually all of our Weis Quality Milk comes from Pennsylvania farms,” he said.
The words “Weis Exposition Hall” in red letters now grace the exterior of the complex’s Exposition Hall along Cameron Street. The building is best known as the home of the food court during the Pennsylvania Farm Show every January.
The Weis sponsorship is one of four, and the largest naming deal Market Street Sports Group of Lancaster has negotiated on behalf of the state. The complex also has advertising sponsorships with Nationwide Insurance, Ford and Highmark, said Nicole Bucher, Pennsylvania State Department of Agriculture spokeswoman.
The money from the Weis sponsorship will be used to offset operating costs, Bucher said. It costs about $9 million annually to operate the complex, with $3 million coming from the state for state-run events and another $6 million generated from the 300 or so events held every year at the facility, she said.
Overall, the farm show complex impacts the Harrisburg economy with about $315 million, Bucher said.
Weis’ Curtin said the supermarket chain will play an active role in the PA Preferred Culinary Connection, held in January at the farm show with cooking demonstrations and contests.


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Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series on how local small businesses in the Longview area are doing – and in some cases surviving – in the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Lots of new guitarists.”
This is one of the many key factors that Mike Boring, director of Mundt Music, has helped the 55-year-old Longview company to stay afloat during the shutdown and economic downturn caused by the COVID pandemic. -19.
“I guess a lot of people were going crazy sitting at home and, I mean, because you couldn’t go out and see bands or something like that, so they started investing in new instruments and learning to home, âBoring said.
While the store initially handled instrument repair work and some sales via curbside service, sales overall were in a threatening minor tone.
âAt first when we had the shutdown it was pretty scary,â Boring said. âBusiness has fallen into the deep end rather badly. “
But, as churches and others began to research new audio and video solutions to help get through the pandemic shutdown, Boring said Mundt Music’s AV department has seen an increase in sales and service for these products.
When the company was finally able to reopen, sales returned at a steady pace.
âAfter getting past that first stop, it turned into Christmas-like sales numbers,â Boring said.
He said that during the closure the store focused on online sales and, unlike some stores, continued to order new products from suppliers. Boring believes it helped when the store was finally able to reopen as it had products on the shelves and was immediately ready to sell to customers looking for those products while other stores ordered backlogged items.
Mundt Music offers lessons for wind instruments, guitar, bass, drums, piano, vocals and even ukulele. Boring said instructors made the most of the situation by offering online classes to students during the shutdown and recently restarted in-person classes with limited numbers.
To retain customers, Boring said the company is focusing heavily on its social media presence through Facebook and Instagram and its website, where it has started to see more online sales across the country.
âWe had a huge TV (advertising) budget that we took a little bit out of it,â Boring said, âand we invested more of our online advertising with major Google services and things like that.â
Mundt Music was created in 1965 by Robert and Mary Mundt in Tyler. Mundt Music of Longview opened in 1971 in downtown Longview and moved in 1981 to its current location at 2312 Judson Road.
Both sites still belong to the Mundt family.


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Fashion show at Blake Hall in Bridgwater
1:50pm Tuesday 15th July 2014 in News
A FASHION show will be held at Blake Hall, Bridgwater, tonight (July 15).
The event, run by S D Fashion Show Co, features top brands like Next, M&S, Dorothy Perkins and New Look at half price in all sizes.
The show starts at 7.30pm and tickets are £5 with proceeds to Children’s Hospice South West – call Gill Brown 01278-456821.
Comments are closed on this article.


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This importer is selling a Bugatti Chiron in the PH
Luxury Cars Manila can indent order you a Bugatti Chiron
Electric hypercar maker Rimac teams up with Bugatti
Bugatti and Rimac are now partners, but will still operate independently
The evolution of the modern supercar
To know what's next for the supercar, we need to take a look at its past
Toyota is now the world's biggest automaker, overtakes VW
Toyota reclaims the title of world's biggest automaker from Volkswagen Auto Group
Stephan Winkelmann is back as boss of Lamborghini
Lamborghini appoints Stephan Winkelmann as the new boss of Lamborghini, replacing Stefano Domenicali
We want Bugatti to hit 500 km/h with their Bolide
Bugatti reveals 1825 HP Bolide track-only hypercar that can go beyond 500 km/h.
Volkswagen Group selling Bugatti to EV maker Rimac?
VW Group reportedly selling Bugatti to Rimac. What will they gain from this new deal?
Bugatti back at it, resumes Chiron, Divo hypercar production
Bugatti resumes production at their only production plant in Molsheim, adopts new workplace rules
Hypercar builder Bugatti stops production due to pandemic
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, Bugatti halts production at Molsheim plant in France
Bugatti has a new hypercar coming this 2020
Bugatti teases new mystery model for 2020, possibly another special edition based on the Chiron


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Tourism officers in New York Metropolis welcomed the information on Monday that restrictions on travel to the United States would be eased in November, an indication of hope for a metropolis whose famed retail corridors and lodge and leisure sectors have been pummeled with out worldwide vacationers throughout the pandemic.
Worldwide guests have been a essential driver of development in New York Metropolis’s financial system for years, serving to to gasoline a gradual rise within the variety of motels and eating places within the metropolis and the roles they assist.
Although vacationers from overseas account for simply one-fifth of town’s guests, they generate 50 p.c of town’s tourism spending, as a result of they keep longer and store extra, and 50 p.c of lodge room occupancy, in accordance with Fred Dixon, the chief government of NYC & Company, town’s tourism promotion company. Mr. Dixon welcomed the administration’s choice on Monday, calling it “a shot within the arm for the business.”
The restrictions can be lifted for vaccinated vacationers from European international locations that despatched thousands and thousands of vacationers to New York Metropolis within the years earlier than the pandemic. Greater than 1.25 million guests from Britain traveled to New York Metropolis in 2018, probably the most from any single nation, in accordance with an analysis of tourism data by Baruch College. Britain and the remainder of the European Union accounted for almost half of all worldwide guests that 12 months.
Companies that cater to vacationers have been hit the toughest by the pandemic, with the restaurant, lodge and performing-arts industries sustaining the most important and most sustained job losses. A brand new report from the Middle for New York Metropolis Affairs on the New College confirmed that employment within the metropolis’s lodge business was nonetheless down 60 p.c from prepandemic ranges, and the variety of jobs in full-service eating places was nonetheless down 40 p.c.
“Everybody says New York is again, New York is again, nevertheless it’s probably not again till vacationers are again from all international locations,” stated Leyla Saleh, 28, a pastry chef whose father’s present store in Midtown was pressured to close down final 12 months as a result of he didn’t have sufficient enterprise.
“American vacationers don’t store like foreigners, we didn’t stand an opportunity,” she stated. “Now all of us work in several jobs to get by.”
Main retail districts that rely upon worldwide vacationers and their spending, notably the SoHo neighborhood and the luxurious mall often known as the Retailers at Hudson Yards, have struggled with out them.
Earlier than the pandemic, guests to New York Metropolis from different international locations peaked at 13.5 million a 12 months in 2019, in accordance with knowledge compiled by NYC & Firm. The determine plunged final 12 months to 2.4 million, virtually all of whom arrived earlier than the pandemic took maintain in early March and journey restrictions had been imposed.
NYC & Firm had predicted that the determine would almost double this 12 months to 4.6 million, a projection that hinged on a rest of journey restrictions by the Biden administration.
The company has estimated that it’ll take till 2025 for town to recuperate the entire worldwide tourism that it misplaced due to the pandemic.
Luke Miller, the proprietor of Real New York Tours, which conducts strolling excursions, stated that for his enterprise, the lifting of the ban on worldwide guests was the “finest information I’ve had because the outbreak of Covid.”
Earlier than the virus, 65 to 70 p.c of his enterprise got here from worldwide vacationers, Mr. Miller estimated, and he needed to lay off 15 tour guides quickly after the pandemic started.
Jared Goldstein, an unbiased tour operator in New York Metropolis, stated that he was thrilled by the information. His enterprise was down greater than 90 p.c in 2020 from 2019, he estimated.
“I’m so pleased to welcome them again,” he stated. Already Monday morning he’d reached out to a consumer in England who plans group excursions to inform him that he might lastly solidify his plans. The consumer responded promptly that he’d be bringing a gaggle in February, Mr. Goldstein stated. He welcomed the truth that solely vaccinated worldwide vacationers can be permitted to go to the USA.
“I’m a New Yorker and I would like locals to be protected,” he stated.


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DR Beauty staff push for compensation amid closures
Only one in four outlets of an embattled beauty chain remains in operation after a treatment blunder that left one woman dead and three others still in hospital, a union leader said on Wednesday.
DR Beauty was also planning to make 500 staff members, including beauty consultants, terminate their job contracts and transfer to four other companies that apparently offered unfavourable employment terms, Beauty and Fitness Profesional General Union chairwoman Amy Hui Wai-fung said.
She estimated that each employee stood to lose tens of thousands of dollars in notice and severance pay.
The complaint had been referred to the Labour Department, she said.
DR was also selling some of its branches to other companies, Hui said, displaying an internal notice purportedly from the chain that claimed business had dropped 95 per cent since the October blunder.
“It is really unscrupulous of the DR Beauty company to treat its staff members so unfairly,” Hui said on Wednesday. “The company should compensate them properly as they had been working very hard during this tough period.”
Hui made the allegations on behalf of more than 20 women who claimed to be DR staff members at a media conference. The women did not identify themselves, and all worefacial masks, sunglasses and jackets with hoods over their heads.
A DR Beauty employee said that only 10 out of 40 centres were still in operation, and that staff numbers were expected to shrink by half to 500.
The company refused to comment on Wednesday.
DR Beauty grabbed the headlines in early October after four customers went into septic shock and contracted a deadly superbug from an “anti-cancer” treatment that involved high-risk blood transfusions. One client died on October 10 of multiple organ failure, while the other three are still warded in hospital, two months on.


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RGST to further hike prices of over 550 items
By Sohail Afzal
KARACHI: The imposition of Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) will further hike the prices of more than 550 items. According to sources, after the imposition of RGST, hundreds of things, which remained exempted from the sales tax so far, will come under the tax net.
The products and commodities which will come under the tax net include bread, shir mal, stationery items such as notebooks, pens, pencils, sharpeners etc, packed milk, yogurt, cream, butter, packed poultry products, poultry by-products such as chicken nuggets, kabab etc, medical testing kit, homeopathic medicines, CNG kit, CNG cylinder, software, construction machinery and generators etc.
The sources said that under the RGST, the government from January 1, 2011 will include more than 550 items in the tax net, due to which 15 percent sales tax would be imposed on these items.
The sources further said that the concessions given to different sectors by the government from time to time would also be withdrawn under the RGST. The 50-bed hospitals which were given concession in sales tax, don’t enjoy this concession anymore.
Similarly, the poultry sector was also given concession in sales tax on value addition. Due to this concession many companies came forward in this sector in recent past and they introduced packed poultry products like kabab nuggets, frozen chicken etc, but now they will also come under the tax net. Likewise, concession given to diary sector has also been withdrawn.
Different gadgets and instruments like camera trolleys, camera dollies, sound recording channel mixers, cinema speaker sound systems, audio processors, and VTS, which earlier enjoyed exemptions, have been brought under the tax net.
The energy savers, which were so far kept out of the tax net to facilitate its enhanced use, have now been taxed.The exemptions given to export processing zones to import machinery have also been withdrawn.
Source: The News


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Ford has a new CEO, and already the company is changing its Focus -- literally. And we will have to watch Twitter to see if President Trump approves of the changes.
The automaker that has been so much on the president’s radar screen this year said today that it will move production of the Focus compact car from Michigan to China when it introduces an all-new model in 2019, reversing a previous plan to move assembly of the car to a plant in Mexico.
The Michigan-to-Mexico move was loudly decried by Trump even though it meant no loss of U.S. jobs, as Ford planned to replace the Focus production in Michigan with two new vehicles. The president has been urging U.S. manufacturers to move their production from Mexico and abroad back to the U.S. This move, from Mexico, which still has the benefits of the North American Free Trade Agreement, to China, for one of Ford’s high-volume passenger car models and a key vehicle to attract first-time car buyers, reflects the harsh reality that most carmakers lose money on small cars.
Ford sold 169,000 Focus vehicles in 2016, a 17% decline from 2015, due in part to the fact that the current Focus is a bit dated, and late in its design cycle compared with rivals like the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Elantra. And though Ford does not release the percentage of those sales that are commercial and rental fleet, it is believed to be as much as 25%. Fleet sales are notoriously unprofitable. The current Focus debuted its current look in 2012.
“We’ve done a lot of research and consumers care a lot more about the quality and the value than they do about the sourcing location,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of global operations, said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday. “iPhones are produced in China, for example, and people don’t really talk about it.”
The chief rivals in the compact car market–Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla–are both made in the U.S., in Marysville, Ohio, and Blue Springs, Mississippi, respectively.
Car companies like Ford make almost all their profit on pickup trucks and SUVs. Small cars like Focus and Fiesta have traditionally been loss leaders to attract buyers to the brand at prices below $20,000, and also to enable the company to offset the low fuel-economy of their trucks and SUVs and meet government regulations on fleetwide fuel economy. Most car companies try and fill every need an individual or family might have in terms of vehicle type and cost, but they can't make a profit on each one.
The strategy with the new Focus debuting in 2019 is that it will no longer be a loss leader, or even the econ-car it is now. It will be more spacious, come packed with tech that today’s buyers demand, be more stylish and offer more flexibility of design. It is also expected to be priced higher than today’s Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. Ford says it expects to sell more of these cars than it does today, but at a profit. Moving production to China where labor is cheaper is key to the strategy, even if some of that savings is eaten up by shipping costs back to the U.S. The China factory will also be able to supply the new car cost effectively to China, which Ford sees as a key market for the new design and where it is playing catch-up to General Motors and Volkswagen in sales and market share.
The Michigan Assembly Plant now making the Focus will be retooled to produce the Ranger midsize pickup in late 2018 and the Bronco midsize SUV in 2020.
Ford’s Hinrichs was asked if he feared fallout from President Trump with his well-known track record for calling out companies for moving jobs out of the U.S., as well as his frequent criticisms of China and the trade imbalance between that country and the U.S. “China gets a lot of attention, we’ll see how this plays out,” Hinrichs said. “But we believe this is a much better plan for our business globally. And it frees up from the original plan about $1 billion of capital that we can reinvest in the business, including exciting things that we’re working on in autonomy and electrification and a lot of that work is done right here in the U.S.”
The change of plans, moving the next Focus from Mexico to China, is the first big strategic decision made by new CEO Jim Hackett, who took over in May as the board ousted CEO Mark Fields.
Other companies are building in China for export to the U.S. as well. GM builds the Envision SUV in China that it sells in the U.S. Tesla is reportedly close to an agreement to build cars in China. Neither the White House, nor President Trump, has commented about the Ford move.


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INDIA - U.S Trade Ties -UPSC Current Affairs
Upgrade your UPSC CSE preparation with our Daily dose of Current Affairs. Today’s edition will discuss INDIA – U.S Trade Ties. Check the topic’s relevance from the UPSC CSE point of view.
For Prelims: India-US Relations, Indo-Pacific Strategy
For Mains: Bilateral Groupings & Agreements, Indo-Pacific Region, India US Relations – Challenges and Areas of Cooperation
Why in the News?
Recently, the U.S. surpassed China to become India’s top trading partner in 2021-22, reflecting strengthening economic ties between the two countries.
‘The US surpassed China to become India’s top trading partner in 2021-22’. In the light of the statement discuss the associated Challenges of India-US Trade Ties.
About India-US Trade Ties
- In 2021-22, the UAE with $72.9 billion, was the third-largest trading partner of India. It was followed by Saudi Arabia ($42,85 billion), Iraq ($34.33 billion) and Singapore ($30 billion).
- The bilateral trade between the U.S. and India stood at $119.42 billion in 2021-22 as against $80.51 billion in 2020-21.
- Exports to the U.S. increased to $76.11 billion in 2021-22 from $51.62 billion in the previous fiscal year, while imports rose to $43.31 billion from about $29 billion.
- In 2021-22, India had a trade surplus of $32.8 billion with the U.S.
- America is one of the few countries with which India has a trade surplus.
- Major export items from India to the U.S. include petroleum polished diamonds, pharmaceutical products, jewellery, light oils and petroleum, frozen shrimp, made ups etc.
- whereas major imports from the US include petroleum, rough diamonds, liquified natural gas, gold, coal, waste and scrap, almonds etc.
Also, read about the Recognition of Sex Work as a Profession, a crucial topic from the UPSC exam preparation point of view.
Reasons for Increasing Bilateral Trade
- India is emerging as a trusted trading partner and global firms are reducing their dependence only on China for their supplies and are diversifying business into other countries like India.
- In the coming years, the bilateral trade between India and the U.S. will continue to grow. India has joined a U.S.-led initiative to set up an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and this move would help boost economic ties further.
- Experts believe that the trend of increasing bilateral trade with the U.S. will continue in the coming years also as India and America are engaged in strengthening economic ties.
- During 2021-22, India’s two-way commerce with China aggregated at $115.42 billion as compared to $86.4 billion in 2020-21.
- Exports to China marginally increased to $21.25 billion last fiscal year from $21.18 billion in 2020-21, while imports jumped to $94.16 billion from about $65.21 billion in 2020-21.
- Trade gap rose to $72.91 billion in 2021-22 from $44 billion in the previous fiscal year.
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More traditional luxury sport utilities were also on display. The 2003 Lincoln Aviator, which goes on sale in late summer, is the first midsize sport utility from Ford's domestic-luxury division. Isuzu, which is partly owned by General Motors, is adding another sport utility to its lineup. The Isuzu Ascender is yet another variation on G.M.'s midsize S.U.V.'s. The Ascender will come with three rows of seats that can accommodate seven passengers.
The Infiniti luxury division of Nissan introduced a new rear-drive sedan, the M45. It will fit between the newly introduced G35 sport sedan and the flagship Q45 luxury car, with which it will share its 340-horsepower 4.5-liter V-8 engine.
Two automakers also displayed luxury performance concept vehicles. Acura brought a 400-horsepower hybrid-electric sport sedan called the DN-X. It combines a 300-horsepower V-6 engine with three electric motors that produce an additional 100 horsepower. And BMW showcased the CS1 concept car that it introduced earlier at the Geneva auto show. The CS1 foreshadows the design of small BMW's in the future, including a 1 Series that will arrive within a couple of years.