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Google Drive To Offer 5GB Of Free Storage?
Google has been rumored to launch its Google Drive product for quite awhile. Most recently, we heard the product is set to launch in early April, but we’re still waiting on official word from Google. Tonight, it’s been revealed that Google Drive may offer its users 5GB of free storage when first signing up.
Talk Android’s tipster has provided a screen shot of the Google Drive beta page, that says “You get 5GB from the start, and you can upgrade to get more space at any time.” It was previously reported that Drive would offer 2GB of storage at start, but hey, the more the merrier.
The screenshot also reveals that Google Drive will sync on all platforms, including Android devices. It’s not yet clear if Drive will be fully integrated on the OS level or just available through an app on the Google Play Store.
Google Drive will work similar to current market leader, Dropbox, allowing users to simply sync files to the cloud though a web interface and apps. Google Docs has had the ability to save any type of file, but doesn’t offer a great way to manage those.
At any rate, it appears that Google is getting even closer to launching their Drive product. We’re really hoping for next week sometime. Stay tuned!


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BANGOR, Maine — Redzone Wireless announced Tuesday a pair of major developments aimed at wooing customers dissatisfied with their current internet service providers.
The Rockland-based broadband provider held an event in Bangor’s Tarratine Club to announce the latest target of its burgeoning expansion efforts — Greater Bangor. Redzone switched on a series of five 4G LTE wireless broadband transmission sites in the area, which will allow the company to serve customers in Bangor, Brewer, Hermon, Hampden, Glenburn, Levant, Carmel, Newburgh and Orrington.
“This growth initiative represents our most ambitious network development project to date and pushes our technical capabilities to an entirely new level,” said James McKenna, the company’s president.
The expansion means more than 150,000 Maine homes and businesses will have the option of picking Redzone as an internet service provider. To this point, the company’s primary service areas have been in Portland and along the coast.
In addition to expanding to Bangor, the company announced Tuesday plans to launch a new program to allow more rural areas of the state to offer wireless LTE internet to homes and businesses.
The program is called “Fast for 5.” Redzone says it will fully cover the costs of designing, building and managing a Redzone Wireless network in municipalities interested in bringing high-speed wireless broadband. In exchange, the communities must commit to ensuring a certain number of residents use Redzone broadband for a five-year term.
The idea is to bring broadband service to communities that have struggled to find a way to make the investment in the past. For Redzone, it means more potential customers. Redzone plans to commit $1 million to launch that effort in 2017.
Redzone has been open about the fact that it’s hoping to court customers who aren’t satisfied with their existing internet service and are looking for a change.
“The ultimate goal is for businesses and citizens in Maine to have access to high-speed broadband wherever they may be,” said Dick Thompson, interim chairman of the ConnectME Authority. “Engaging and supporting municipalities is a sound investment that will further serve our rural population.”
Tuesday’s event was primarily attended by community and economic development officials from the area.
McKenna said Maine frequently ranks among the worst states in the nation in terms of broadband availability, which can have a negative impact on efforts to attract business to the state. Redzone plans to expand rapidly by ensuring 90 percent of the state’s households have the option of using Redzone by 2018. Currently, about 25 percent of Mainers have it as an option, but that’s up from about 6 percent this time last year, according to the company.
“The variable of broadband is hugely significant,” McKenna said. “If you don’t address that piece, the businesses just can’t come.”
The company’s residential plan starts at $39 per month for service that delivers up to 10 million bits per second. It offers faster services, including business plans starting at $89 per month for up to 50 Mbps. The best “ultra fast” business plan they have available is up to 200 Mbps for $159 per month.
McKenna said that as the company expands, it will be able to do so at a lesser cost than other companies that rely on fiber-optic connections. He declined to go into detail on what effect the investments and expansions might have on Redzone’s rates, but did say “we’re trying to keep rates as low as possible. Mainers purchase with their wallets.”
Redzone says Mainers interested in seeing whether Redzone service is an option for their home or business can find out by visiting www.redzonewireless.com/special-offer and entering their address.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.

domain: news


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COMPANY NEWS; Apple's Stock Falls $3; Estimates of Profit Cut
By LAWRENCE M. FISHER, Special to The New York Times
Published: June 17, 1989
SAN FRANCISCO, June 16— Shares in Apple Computer Inc. fell $3 today, to $44.50, in heavy trading as analysts reduced their earnings estimates for the quarter ending June 30.
On Thursday, Apple said it was more comfortable with the low end of Wall Street estimates, which had ranged from 70 cents to 85 cents a share in the third fiscal quarter.
Carleen LeVasseur, an Apple spokeswoman, said the company had ''refined'' its earnings estimates to 70 to 75 cents, from 70 to 80 cents. ''Analysts' estimates were higher than the company's,'' she said.
Ms. LeVasseur said Apple had been unable to keep up with demand for the Macintosh II/CX, a new model that packs most of the power of the top-of-the-line Mac II/X into a more compact and less expensive box. Also, sales have waned for the older Mac II and Macintosh SE models.
Apple's stock was the second-most-active over-the-counter issue, with more that 4.8 million shares traded.
While some analysts thought the market reaction was excessive, there was still concern that Apple had failed to gauge demand for the new machine. This was seen as one more in a series of poor operational decisions. These include investing heavily in memory chips in a period of short supply and high prices and raising prices on its more expensive products, a strategy that backfired when customers began buying more lower-priced Macintosh computers.
''The stock has been up rather dramatically on hope,'' said Bruce Lupatkin, an analyst with Hambrecht & Quist. ''It is now down on disillusionment.'' He dropped his estimate for the quarter to 75 cents, from 85 cents. In the second quarter Apple reported earnings of 44 cents a share, down from 61 cents the previous year.
''Apple has traditionally had great strength as a creative company; it now needs to execute as well as it creates,'' Mr. Lupatkin said. '' He said he was encouraged that Joseph A. Graziano was returning to Apple to be chief financial officer, a post he left in 1985. Since then, Mr. Graziano has been chief financial officer of Sun Microsystems Inc.
Steven L. Ossad, an analyst with Montgomery Securities, said Apple's shortfall seemed to stem from the company's inability to get enough 80-megabyte hard disk drives. He noted that shares in the Quantum Corporation, Apple's sole supplier, were up $1.125 today, to $19.50.


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What’s up Badger Nation? This is your host, The Badger, providing you with the top Amazon news this week.
Your Amazon Weekly Digest
As a continuation of our last Amazon digest, we explore Amazon’s new targeted product sampling, the adoption of a new MRC viewability standard, Amazon’s lucrative influencer program, Gene Munster weighs in on Amazon acquiring Walmart and whole foods, and more.
Marketing Land reports Amazon is in the early stages of a Product Sampling Program. Though the product sampling isn’t available on the ad platform yet, Amazon has been recruiting employees for the program. Currently, a job description says, “The technology team builds the core systems to automate and track sampling campaigns — and ultimately enable self-service.” The program will be tasked with driving product adoption using machine learning with Amazon’s treasure trove of data. The Badger loves data.
Amazon has adopted the Media Rating Council’s (MRC) viewability standard for view-through conversion attribution. Campaign results will now be more straightforward and improve seller experience. Read more here.
Image: Tube Filter
Amazon is offering lucrative incentives to Amazon influencers who choose to favor Amazon’s own products. Amazon influencers include Mark Cuban and iJustine, but Business Insider said a number of micro-influencers have been onboarded in the recent months. Read more to find out the commission for specific Amazon products. I wonder if they let Badgers be Amazon influencers?
Here’s more Amazon gossip. Amazon’s acquisitions have been aggressive so far, but what else is in store for the eCommerce dinosaur? Gene Munster and Forbes’ contributor Brittain Ladd weigh in.
Image: Tech Crunch
Being the top streaming service is hard work. Spotify’s hard work prioritizing podcasts in 2018 has led them to dabble in podcast ad sales.
Image: Tech Crunch
Attention gamers. Amazon is developing its own game streaming service and plans to launch next year (2020).


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14/11/2019 · California was one of the first states to provide an express right of privacy in its constitution and the first to pass a data breach notification law, so it was not surprising when state lawmakers in June 2018 passed the CCPA, the nation’s first statewide data privacy law. 29/11/2018 · As with many security and privacy-driven policies, Europe was first to lead with General Data Protection Regulation GDPR. Now progressives, like California, are following suitand as we know, as California goes, so does the rest of the country. California already has some of the strictest privacy laws in the United States. Under existing legislation, companies that experience a breach of personal information must notify affected individuals if their computerized data is exposed or stolen. This law takes privacy protections much further and gives state residents several new GDPR-style.
16/07/2018 · California’s ‘GDPR-like’ privacy law passes: What you need to know Luke Irwin July 16, 2018 Last month, California lawmakers passed one of the toughest privacy laws in the US. Based in the heart of Southern California, Metaverse Law assists startups to multinationals across the country in the high-tech, digital marketing, healthcare, and e-commerce industries with their privacy and data security obligations. 09/07/2018 · Why California’s new consumer privacy law won’t be GDPR 2.0. July 9, 2018 by Tim Peterson. The consumer privacy law that California’s governor signed into law on June 28 is considered the strongest, most aggressive privacy protection measure in. 06/07/2018 · “I think in some cases, companies that are start-ups and next generation technologies here in San Francisco, they think that data is theirs.We need a national privacy law here in the United States that probably looks a lot like GDPR.” California’s new privacy law is similar to a proposition that data rights advocates previously hoped.
Consumers can sue for up to $750 each in data breaches in California one new consumer protection law in effect.
11/07/2018 · Late last month, California passed a sweeping consumer privacy law that might force significant changes on companies that deal in personal data — and especially those operating in the digital space. The law’s passage comes on the heels of a few days of intense negotiation among privacy. The law is unprecedented in the United States that it applies European-level compliance obligations akin to the now infamous General Data Protection Regulation GDPR, which took effect only a month ago. The EU Institutions have Agreed upon a General Data Protection Regulation. Many business and website operators in the EU and around the globe will need to construct new privacy bridges soon. Unlike the EU’s Data Protection Direction 95/46/EC that was adopted in 1995, the new GDPR will have direct applicability.
GDPR-esque rights of California residents to their data; Business and legal practitioners dealing with the implementation of GDPR over the past months will find familiar several of the rights granted to California residents with respect to their personal information, including. 15/07/2019 · The Most Comprehensive Data Protection Solution. Discover, classify, and protect your data from all threats with the only Gartner Magic Quadrant DLP and Forrester Wave EDR Leader. The General Data Protection Regulation EU 2016/679 GDPR is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individual citizens of the European Union EU and the European Economic Area EEA. It also addresses the transfer of personal data outside the EU and EEA areas. Under the CCPA, California citizens will have the ability to bring a civil action lawsuit against companies that do not abide by the law. The state can also bring these charges to a company directly — charging a $7,500 fine for any violation that is not addressed within 30 days. Why does California’s new law matter for everyone else? 24/05/2018 · California to vote on ‘GDPR-like’ privacy law. Luke Irwin May 24, 2018. California will soon vote on a proposed privacy law that would give individuals more control over the way organizations collect and use their data.
California adopts GDPR-like data privacy law By Will Troutman US and Spencer Persson US on June 29, 2018 Posted in General, Recent legislation and regulations. 02/07/2018 · At the same time, Congress should consider whether it is time for a federal privacy law that harmonizes or preempts the fragmented landscape of divergent state privacy laws, including the 49 different state laws on data breach notifications that followed California's 2002 law and make it unnecessarily difficult and costly for companies to deal with crisis situations when they become victims. 02/07/2018 · Working under a tight deadline, California state legislators cobbled together and passed a sweeping privacy law in just 3 months, with much of the work done in about a week. By comparison, Europe’s similar GDPR regulation took about four years. At 31 pages and over 10,000 words, the California. As many companies had to determine when becoming GDPR compliant, prior to making the legally-required policy updates, companies will need to determine if they will maintain one privacy notice for California residents and one for other consumers, or have one universal policy.
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SMITE Lore: Who is Ullr?
Nevercake introduces Ullr, a glorious god indeed.
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Sales in the third quarter jumped 17 percent to 55.5 billion kronor, beating expectations of analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires of 52.7 billion kronor.
Sales soared by 24 percent when currency effects were excluded, with strong showings in Latin America, Northern Europe and Central Asia, said Ericsson, the world leader in mobile phone network equipment.
The report sent Ericsson’s stock soaring on the Stockholm exchange, up 5.50 percent to 69 kronor in midday trading, in an overall market down by 0.35 percent.
The strong figures were driven by “continued strong demand for mobile broadband and well as increased services revenues,” Ericsson chief executive Hans Vestberg said.
He noted that the remaining effects of the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan on Ericsson’s supply chain had been eliminated.
While the quarterly figures were strong, Ericsson remained cautious in its outlook in light of the global financial and economic crises.
“With economic uncertainties in parts of the world, we cannot exclude somewhat more cautious short-term operator spending,” it said.
However, Vestberg told Swedish news agency TT he had seen no effects of the eurozone crisis in his meetings with customers.
“I have met with clients who account for 70 to 75 percent of our income in the past 45 days. It (the crisis) isn’t the first subject that has come up,” he said, adding that “the main issue with our clients hasn’t been financing.”
“But we can’t exclude that our clients’ investments will be affected if the world experiences great uncertainty,” he said.
Vestberg said Ericsson’s sales had increased on eight of 10 markets.
“Yes, we think we’re growing faster than the market,” he told reporters at a press conference.
Sales in North America were however down by six percent from the same quarter a year earlier, a decline Vestberg attributed to “structural changes” among operators.
He said operators were holding off on investments following a wave of consolidations, and many were now switching from 3G to 4G technology.
The decline contributed to a drop in the company’s gross margin, falling from 37.8 percent in the second quarter to 35 percent. Analysts had forecast the figure would come in around 37 percent.
The drop is attributed to the fact that Ericsson is selling fewer of its more lucrative products in the US, and replacing aging networks in Europe amid fierce price pressure.
Telecoms analyst Håkan Wranne of Swedbank said the company had nonetheless presented “a strong report.”
“Ericsson is a company that’s in a very good position on the market,” he told TT.
“There have been concerns that we would see a weakening. But what we see in this report is that there is still strong demand and that’s important.”
Finally, Vestberg reiterated he would not comment on media reports last week that Japan’s Sony was looking to buy out Ericsson for full control of their mobile phone joint venture Sony Ericsson.


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Samsung’s newest phone has no online connectivity at all, T-Mobile has been fined $40 million for faking ringtones, 4 companies must change their games or be considered gambling under Dutch law and it appears as though cryptocurrency has truly arrived, PornHub will now accept it as payment.
The FTC rules that you can legally open your electronics and not violate warranty, AI is starting to take shape that will combat journalistic bias, New York power companies can charge bitcoin miners more for electricity and a look at a slick match 3 game that provides you with the right amount of enjoyment.
AI & Robots may not be taking as many of our jobs as feared, Monolith’s Shadow of War game is dropping all microtransactions, Uber and Lyft drivers are paid less per hour than you think and a new feature in Google makes looking up movie times and info a breeze.
Geforce Now lets you stream games by the hour, vinyl and CD sales are outpacing digital downloads, cord-cutting is rapidly increasing and satellite tv is starting to suffer and a new Firefox add-on can help prevent Facebook from tracking you.
Ford is testing autonomous pizza delivery vehicles, the ESRB responds to loot box controversy by creating warning labels for games, dog cloning is now a thing and cryptocurrency mining is aiding AMD’s market position.
A new AI can predict heart disease by just looking at your eyes, Google has removed its view image option from results, Bitcoin’s transaction fee has dropped massively and AT&T defies the idea of net neutrality with its sponsored data service.
According to a recent analysis of Spotify data, our music tastes peak in our teens, ESPN Plus, the streaming service to launch this Spring, starting in July Chrome will mark all websites using HTTP as “Not Secure” and over half of Activision Blizzard’s revenue comes courtesy of microtransactions.
eBay is dropping PayPal as its main payment provider, Samsung is now the world’s largest chip maker, Android Oreo is on less than 1% of devices, and Android P is nearly here and songwriters are poised to make a larger portion of money from streamed songs.
Facebook is challenging Twitch and YouTube at streaming professional games, Unlimited data plans are apparently back on the mobile menu, Nvidia puts a half-hearted foot down about Crypto miners using video cards and Amazon Go opens to the public, one of the first cashier-less stores.


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At the end of the last month of July, TudoCelular announced first hand the integration of Digio’s virtual credit card with Google Pay, for an approach-based payment feature. Now, bantech has announced a new feature to digioConta’s customers.
As of this Wednesday (5), the company’s digital account will offer 100% return on the CDI. In other words, all the money you put into the tool will automatically yield every working day, at a rate similar to the Selic – that is, above savings.
DigioConta also offers the possibility to pay any bank slip and agreement for the financial service, such as water, electricity, telephone and tax bills.
“DigioConta allows you to control spending in a simple and intuitive way and now provides a complete payment service and a return on the amount deposited in the account.”
Carlos Giovane Neves
In addition, the company also announced a new feature that will be available soon: pay portability for digioConta. However, the date on which the appeal was released was not disclosed.
DigioConta can be opened entirely digitally, using the bantech application. Download links are available on the card below the text.


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San Lorenzo Express News
No More Private Parties in Bockman Road Stores
NOVEMBER 10, 2000 (updated NOV. 16)
The owner of a Bockman Road retail center has been cited for unlawfully leasing stores for private parties. Citations were issued a week after a melee at the center ignited village residents to action, including complaints to the county planning department.
On the night of Oct. 21 a brawl erupted while two large parties were in progress at the center. Three men involved in the fracas were stabbed.
The retail center, owned by George Chang of San Francisco, has two empty stores -- 1311 and 1349 Bockman -- that Chang had been renting for large private parties. Chang does not have a "conditional use permit" for such events at these locations. A conditional use permit is issued by the county Zoning Administrator only after the county planning department has studied the consequences of the proposed use and a public hearing has been held.
According to the county Zoning Administrator, Daryl Gray, Chang was cited for unlawful events under county ordinances that permit the county's planning department to enforce zoning laws. Gray noted that police can stop an event if the event poses an immediate threat to public safety.
Sources include The Daily Review and San Leandro Times


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NEW YORK News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media said it has bought Strategic Data Corp., an ad technology firm, in the hopes it will bump up the value of the massive amount of ads served on MySpace.
SDC, based in Santa Monica, Calif., and founded in 2000, provides an ad-serving technology that uses yield optimization to make sure a publisher gets maximum value out of each ad it serves. FIM plans to use the technology with its properties that include MySpace, IGN, AskMen.com and AmericanIdol.com. FIM properties generated more than 40.4 billion page views in January, according to ComScore, with the vast majority coming from MySpace.
"SDC will enable us to realize the full potential of our massive online network," FIM president Peter Levinsohn said in a statement. "SDC's expert team and technologies combined with our own top-notch engineers and vast audience will enable us to ensure the optimal performance of our advertising for the benefit of clients and consumers alike."
News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch recently said MySpace is generating about $25 million per month in ad revenue, growing at about 30 percent per quarter. Yet despite the fast growth rate, the site lags far behind revenue generated by sites of similar size, with generic ad impressions often priced at less than $1 CPMs because FIM is unable to target them to visitor interests.
"We have a mountain of data of personal information on users," said Michael Barrett, chief revenue officer at FIM, referring to interests users post on their MySpace profiles. "We've never been able to take that data and put it into a format that a third-party ad server can use."
FIM and other Internet properties are looking to sophisticated technology to increase the value they get from their ad inventory. Many top sites use Rapt, a New York technology firm that has software to help publishers determine the best price for their ad space. Yahoo last October bought 20 percent of Right Media, which operates an exchange to have advertisers bid on ad impressions. In all cases, the systems are designed to increase the CPMs for non-premium ad inventory, which has exploded on user-created sites like MySpace.
The SDC purchase is the first FIM has made since Levinsohn took over. His predecessor, Ross Levinsohn, led a buying spree that included MySpace and gaming network IGN.


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First striped bass fishery in 20 years makes a splash
Eel Ground First Nation began fishing commercially in early October
The first Canadian striped bass fishery in 20 years is making a splash in the U.S. and across Canada.
Eel Ground First Nation obtained a commercial fishery licence this year, marking the first time the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has allowed the fishery since striped bass were labelled endangered in 1996.
Joseph Nagle, purchasing and sales manager at Boston wholesaler John Nagle Co., says the first shipment of 1,800 pounds sold out on the first day.
"It was quite successful in terms of just the initial interest and the quality of the fish," he said. "It flew out the door, if you will.
"People were just genuinely interested when we mentioned to customers we have striped bass in Canada … most people haven't heard of that before."
He said people also enjoyed the story of where the fish came from — the Miramichi River, where they've been traditional food for Indigenous people for a long time.
"We always like to sell out that fast," Nagle said. "The next day, people were already looking for that stuff. Right out of the gate, I'd say people appreciate the quality. They are really interested in the story of the fish. There's a lot of people with Canadian ancestry around New England, people from New Brunswick or Nova Scotia lineage."
Nagle also said striped bass is a well-known fish in the area, but the "novelty" of Canadian striped bass set it apart.
John Nagle Co. sells to restaurants and grocery stores such as Whole Foods.
In the 1990s, the striped bass population in the Miramichi River declined to about 5,000, but in the last 10 years the population has boomed. Some people estimate there are a million fish in the river.
Eel Ground First Nation can catch 25,000 striped bass this fall.
Optimistic First Nation
Chief George Ginnish of Eel Ground said the crew of one boat and four or five fishers started the catch in early October using trap nets.
"We're excited," he said. "The number have actually been increasing in the last couple of weeks … It's our first kick at it and we expect that spring fishery would be much better, much larger."
He said it's difficult to estimate exactly how much revenue the First Nation is receiving from the fishery, but it is selling the fish for $4 a pound. Some days fishermen catch 1,200 pounds, other days about 300 pounds, he said.
The Fisheries Department stipulates that striped bass caught commercially must be 19 to 25 inches long (about 48 to 63 centimetres). Other sizes, up to 200 fish, can go to communal freezers for members of the community.
Ginnish said the fishery has been going well, but the weather can always change.
"If it gets really cold and it starts to ice up, then we've got to take our trap out and it's done for this year."
A sustainable story
Hana Nelson, owner of Afishionado Fishmongers, who's buying and distributing the striped bass from Eel Ground, said the fish is also being sold in Toronto, Montreal, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Nelson said product reception has been great.
"It's fully traceable back to where it's from," he said of the fish. "And it's a great story of the recovery of striped bass in the Miramichi.
"More and more the seafood world is catching up to the terrestrial world of agriculture because people want to have more connection to their food and the people behind their food."


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Technology major HP was expanding its Make in India product portfolio with the commencement of manufacturing laptops, desktops and monitors at its facility near here, the company said on Wednesday.
"HP today announced local manufacturing of multiple PC products including laptops in India. Powering the Make in India initiative of the Centre, HP has started manufacturing multiple models of laptops, desktop towers and mini desktops at the Flex facility in Sriperumbudur near Chennai", the company said in a statement here.
Some of the products qualify under public procurement order of the Government and would be available on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal to meet the demands of the government departments and other customers, the statement said.
HP India Market managing director Ketan Patel said, HP has partnered closely with India since it began its operations in the country. "As India made significant progress and emphasis on digital transformation, we have worked with the Government of India and state governments in their mission to empower lives of millions of citizens and enhance the communities' quality of life."
"Today's announcement marks a significant step for HP India towards local manufacturing in line with the 'Make in India' program. We hope to play a meaningful role in fulfilling the dream of Atmanirbhar Bharat, by expanding the scale and reach of our manufacturing operations," he said.
HP said it was for the first time the company was manufacturing such a wide range of laptops in India, with products such as HP EliteBooks, HP ProBooks and HP G8 series notebooks.
HP also expanded locally manufactured commercial desktops by adding various models of desktop mini towers, mini desktops, small form factor desktops and all-in-one personal computers.
The company said by partnering with Flex to manufacture commercial desktops, it has significantly expanded operations to reaffirm its commitment to Make in India initiative.
"The proximity of the Flex facility to the Chennai port improves operational efficiency and ease of sourcing of raw materials for manufacturing laptops and other PC products," the statement added.
According to company sources, the Gold membership is currently being offered on an invite-only basis. However, users with existing Pro memberships are being offered Gold subscriptions for three months.
2022 saw some significant changes in the e-commerce ecosystem in India. The industry primarily dominated by the two big wigs of e-commerce - Amazon and Flipkart, saw growing competition from giant conglomerates such as JioMart and Tata Digital and startups like Nykaa, Meesho, Udaan, and DealShare. Further, the launch of state-backed ONDC created waves of disruption in the established e-commerce market. Last year, also saw e-commerce players refocusing their strategies to tap the next set of internet consumers from the hinterlands.


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The dti to Spend R100 Million to Support Emerging Black Filmmakers The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) will have spent R100 million to support emerging black filmmakers through the South Africa Emerging Black Filmmakers Incentive by the end of March 2018. This was announced by the Director of Film Production at the dti, […]
I like this video of a rural griot in Mali because it reminds me of griots I have heard and met.
APO Appointed as Official Newswire for the 12th Edition of DISCOP AFRICA, Africa’s Premier Industry Gathering for TV and Online Content
Basic Lead LLC (www.BasicLead.com) has today announced that APO (http://www.APO-opa.com) will be the Official Newswire of the 12th Edition of DISCOP AFRICA (www.DiscopAfrica.com), Africa’s premier industry gathering for TV and online content to be held at Sofitel Ivoire Hotel in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, May 31st to June 2, 2016. Launched in 2008, DISCOP AFRICA is […]
GENEVA, Switzerland, December 19, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — IOM Tunisia has launched an awareness campaign to warn young people about the risks of irregular migration, as the country marks International Migrants Day on 18th December.


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Fewer tourists came to the Czech Republic in 2009 than the year before. Reasons are the global financial crisis and the continuous decline in interest in the Czech Republic as a tourism destination.
According to the annual report by an analytic company Mag Consulting, less than six million foreign tourists visited the Czech Republic last year. It is a ten per cent decline in year-to-year comparison. Mag Consulting expects similar development also for 2010.
The manager of Mag Consulting, Jaromir Beranek, claims there were two key factors that caused the decline: “The interest in the Czech Republic as a tourism destination on foreign markets has dropped. This decline in interest was observed as early as in 2008. The global economic crisis has also influenced tourists’ behavior.”
Czech News Agency informed that hotelkeepers were not only interested in the numbers of tourists coming to the country but naturally, mainly in the number of nights they spent in hotels. According to the analytic company, in 2009 foreigners stayed only 17.6 million nights in Czech hotels, which is an 11 per cent decline in year-to-year comparison. This means that tourists spend fewer days in the country than they did before.
Mag Consulting expects the number of visitors to further drop in 2010. They estimate that there will be five per cent less visitors and the number of nights spent in hotels will drop by six per cent.
Revenues of hotels and restaurants were understandably down last year. According to Mag Consulting, revenues of tourism related businesses dropped by nine per cent to €5 billion. Because of the negative development in the sector, businesses had to lay off employees. According to Mr. Beranek 3,000 people lost their jobs last year.


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Amazon’s upcoming digital assets company and NFT marketplace are expected to launch this spring, according to sources.
There are reports that Amazon is developing a digital assets company that will power this spring’s NFT marketplace.
The retail giant has purchased digital collectibles companies from various players in the crypto ecosystem, according to sources interviewed by Blockworks.
Amazon has invested in layer-1 blockchains and crypto gaming companies, as well as hired blockchain developers from NFT companies and cryptocurrency exchanges.
Amazon Makes a Bet on the Crypto Gaming Industry
According to one source, Amazon is planning to launch a series of crypto games in which customers can win free NFTs. This would be a significant move for the crypto gaming industry, which has seen a decline in players as a result of the numerous project scams that hit the market in late 2021. However, Amazon does not appear to be concerned about that data, as the company witnessed the best of times for crypto gaming when many of those projects were forced to expand the storage services provided by Amazon Web Services due to massive player demand.
The presence of a behemoth like Amazon in the crypto ecosystem is significant, as it will undoubtedly attract many players who have been waiting for the right moment to return to the crypto gaming industry. Sources appeared to be quite optimistic about Amazon’s entry into the Web3 space.
Amazon Has the Potential to Be the Biggest Thing in the NFT Industry
According to multiple sources, Amazon will run the new NFT platform directly rather than through subsidiaries in order to maintain complete control over a platform that could become the largest in the NFT industry. It is unclear whether Amazon’s new platform will compete directly with major NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea, Rarible, or the latest Samsung NFT Platform, or whether it will be more focused on crypto gaming—especially given that Amazon owns Twitch.
With such a large user base, Amazon’s entry into the crypto ecosystem will not go unnoticed. It will attract many investors who recognize the potential of a growing industry with a lot of room for improvement and growth within the larger gaming industry — the largest business in the entertainment sector.
Although the company continues to refuse cryptocurrency payments, it is gradually opening its doors to the crypto ecosystem. So, who knows, maybe Amazon will be a crypto-friendly company in a couple of years.


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Conventional wisdom says that women account for most retail expenditures in the U.S. But there's one arena where men are more likely to open their wallets than women — online shopping. If you're selling products and services that men are looking for, you might want to ramp up online campaigns to draw traffic and increase sales.
Here's what a recent Media Audit study reveals about gender and online shopping.
- Nearly 1 out of every 4 men qualifies as a heavy online shopper (having made at least 12 purchases online in one year)
- The average household income for the heavy male online shopper is over $98,000
- Over 8 in 10 of these men shop between 6 and 10 p.m. while 4 in 10 shop between 10 p.m. and midnight
A particularly interesting detail is that male shoppers significantly outnumber female shoppers in the evening.
Keep these statistics in mind as you develop online marketing campaigns for specific day-parts.[Source: Media Audit newsletter, May 2009]


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Leading advanced private electronic prescription system Clynxx has announced a new partnership with identity platform Yoti to provide a “secure solution” for checking medical prescribers’ identities.
Clynxx said it will be able to offer prescribers instant access by combining the regulatory information on approved prescribers with Yoti’s identity services, adding that the move will further help in reducing wait times for patients requiring urgent care.
“Until recently, prescribers have to write a paper-based prescription and copy, fax or email a proof to a pharmacy on the promise that the prescriber will supply them with the original pen-signed prescription within 72 hours. Now however, prescribers can send a digital (advanced electronic) prescription directly to a patient instantly – negating the need for a paper prescription to follow by post or otherwise,” Tuck Muswizu, founder and director of Clynxx, explained.
The solution will allow Clynxx to revoke access of those prescribers who leave the regulatory register, ensuring that all of its prescriptions have been made only by someone legally allowed to do so.
“By using ID verification from Yoti, we no longer need to carry out manual checks and we can grant prescribers immediate instant access to our system so they can provide crucial care to their patients. Critically for us, faster sign ups also mean that we aren’t losing customers to competitors too,” Muswizu added.
Yoti delivers identity verification for business including the NHS, Co-op and Virgin Atlantic and is the strategic identity partner for the Post Office in the UK.
Commenting on the new partneship, Robin Tombs, Yoti chief executive, said: “We’re proud to see Yoti technology powering the UK’s official private advanced electronic prescription system. Quickly verifying prescribers identity is an important step that will give pharmacies and patients further confidence that the prescription they receive is compliant. It’s another important step forward in the digital transformation of healthcare.”


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Researchers have designed novel physiological-sensing textiles, dubbed “phyjamas,” that contain unobtrusive, portable devices for monitoring heart rate and respiratory rhythm during sleep.
The researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the US said the textiles that can be woven or stitched into sleep garments will prove clinically useful in health care.
“The challenge we faced was how to obtain useful signals without changing the aesthetics or feel of the textile,” said professor Trisha L Andrew, a materials chemist.
“Generally, people assume that smart textiles refer to tightly worn clothing that has various sensors embedded in it for measuring physiological and physical signals, but this is clearly not a solution for everyday clothing and, in particular, sleepwear,” Andrew said.
“Our insight was that even though sleepwear is worn loosely, there are several parts of such a textile that are pressed against the body due to our posture and contact with external surfaces,” said computer scientist Deepak Ganesan.
“This includes pressure exerted by the torso against a chair or bed, pressure when the arm rests on the side of the body while sleeping, and light pressure from a blanket over the sleepwear,” Ganesan said.
Such pressured regions of the textile are potential locations where we can measure ballistic movements caused by heartbeats and breathing, and these can be used to extract physiological variables, researchers wrote in the journal The Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies.
The difficulty is that these signals can be individually unreliable, particularly in loose-fitting clothing, but signals from many sensors placed across different parts of the body can be intelligently combined to get a more accurate composite reading.
Andrew, Ganesan and colleagues explain that their team had to come up with several new ideas to make their vision a reality.
They realised that there is no existing fabric-based method to sense continuous and dynamic changes in pressure, particularly given the small signals that they needed to measure.
The team designed a new fabric-based pressure sensor and combined that with a triboelectric sensor—one activated by a change in physical contact—to develop a distributed sensor suite that could be integrated into loose-fitting clothing like pajamas.
They also developed data analytics to fuse signals from many points that took into account the quality of the signal coming in from each location.
The researchers said this combination allowed them to detect physiological signals across many different postures.
They performed multiple user studies in both controlled and natural settings and showed that they can extract heartbeat peaks with high accuracy, breathing rate with less than one beat per minute error, and perfectly predict sleep posture.
“We expect that these advances can be particularly useful for monitoring elderly patients, many of whom suffer from sleep disorders,” said Andrew.
Researchers noted that current generation wearables, like smartwatches, are not ideal for this population since elderly individuals often forget to consistently wear or are resistant to wearing additional devices, while sleepwear is already a normal part of their daily life.
“More than that, your watch can’t tell you which position you sleep in, and whether your sleep posture is affecting your sleep quality; our Phyjama can,” Andrew said.


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The business world was abuzz yesterday with rumors that Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) has gone to antitrust authorities in the European Union with concerns about Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn, reports the New York Times.
According to the New York Times, the antitrust concerns are focused on whether the deal would hinder access to the data collected by LinkedIn. Salesforce allegedly is concerned that Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn would give it an unfair advantage over competitors by combining the strengths of Microsoft software services and LinkedIn’s data.
The comments are a response to a questionnaire sent by the European Commission that allows third-party companies, including competitors, to comment on pending takeovers. Though not addressing the Microsoft-LinkedIn acquisition specifically, Margrethe Vestager of Denmark, the region’s antitrust chief, spoke at a Big Data and Competition conference yesterday.
“We don’t just assume that holding a large amount of data lets you stop others competing,” Vestager said. “After all, it might not be difficult for other companies to get hold of the same data, by collecting it from their own users or even buying it in.”
She discussed the commission’s review of Google purchase of DoubleClick in 2008. The commission didn’t identify any concerns and approved the acquisition.
“But it’s possible that in other cases, data could be an important factor in how a merger affects competition. A company might even buy up a rival just to get hold of its data, even though it hasn’t yet managed to turn that data into money,” Vestager added. “We are therefore exploring whether we need to start looking at mergers with valuable data involved, even though the company that owns it doesn’t have a large turnover.”
In 2010, Microsoft purchased Yahoo’s search business, and rather than undermining the competition, the merger made the market more competitive.
“We’re not here to get in the way of innovative ideas,” Vestager said. “If companies need to collect large sets of data, or share data with their rivals to build better products, we don’t object to that. As long as they don’t hurt consumers in the process, by undermining competition.”
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s chief legal officer, said that the merger has already been approved in the United States, Canada and Brazil. They will likely submit the merger to the EU by early November. They hope to complete the process by year end.
“We’re committed to continuing to work to bring price competition to a CRM market in which Salesforce is the dominant participant charging customers higher prices today,” said Smith.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Salesforce had been in negotiations with LinkedIn this spring and reportedly would have bid “much higher” than Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn. Microsoft came out ahead in that bidding war, but not before Salesforce could drive up the selling price.
When the stakes are in the multi-billion dollar range, companies like Salesforce, MIcrosoft and LinkedIn don’t mess around. They are all trying to gain market share, and acquisitions can help companies grow. That certainly seems to be the direction that Microsoft is moving in.
Earlier this week we reported that LinkedIn was launching a new LinkedIn Learning subscription-based learning portal. That product stemmed from its own purchase of Lynda.com last year, but was likely moved along because of LinkedIn’s new relationship of Microsoft. We’ll be following the antitrust news and keep you posted on developments as they unfold.


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24 December 2019, 18:33
Base metals, products thereof make up 73 pct of LPR exports - Customs Committee
LUGANSK, December 24 (Lugansk Media Centre) - Base metals and products thereof make up 73 percent of the Lugansk People’s Republic exports, LPR State Customs Committee acting chairman Yury Afanasyevskiy said at a press briefing at the House of Government.
“In 2019, the LPR increased exports by 33.1 percent and imports by 30.9 percent year-on-year,” Afanasyevskiy said. “The growth largely occurred due to the launching and development of production facilities in the Republic’s territory.”
“For example, base metals and products thereof are the largest export item (accounting for some 73 percent). This is the result of operation of our metallurgical companies. The largest import item is raw materials making up 36 percent of this commodity group, he said.
In 2019, the Republic’s trade turnover increased by nearly 32 percent year-on-year, according to Afanasyevskiy.
LuganskMediaCentre — 24 December — Lugansk


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Paramount+ and Peacock have started talks to merge into a single streaming service, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
The report said that Comcast and Paramount recently met to look at options to possibly merge their respective streaming services into a single offering, among other options that include a joint venture structure. This would bring Paramount’s and NBCUniversal’s content under a single streaming app.
Details are still thin. No pricing, naming, or other details have been decided at this time. At this time, neither company has made any formal announcement about the talks.
Paramount+ had 63 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter of 2023. Peacock recently announced that it hit 31 million subscribers paying for the service. Some subscribers pay for both but merging together will help the services compete with larger services like Max and Disney+.
Both services are still struggling to turn a profit. Paramount+ is expected to become profitable by the end of 2025. No timeline is known for when Peacock will become profitable. Merging the services could also help them reach profitability sooner.
This adds another wrinkle to Paramount, which has been in talks with various companies about a deal, from Warner Bros. Discovery to Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, which put in a $30 billion business for much of the assets, and Skydance Media, which reportedly put in a preliminary bid.


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Malaysia’s Petronas reports weaker financial results for Q2
The company also reported that its profit after tax for the quarter declined by 16% to MYR533 million ($132.2 million) mainly due to assets write-offs amounting to RM241 million (US$59 million) stemming from the cancellation of its elastomers project.
In the January-June period, Petronas’ net profit declined to MYR1.05 billion ($260.6 million) from MYR1.16 billion a year earlier. The company’s revenue for the same period also dropped to MYR6.35 billion ($1.57 billion) from RM6.45 billion a year earlier.
The company expects lower crude oil costs and petrochemical product prices will continue to weigh down the company’s operations.
More free plastics newsPlastic resin (PP, LDPE, LLDPE ,HDPE, PVC, GPS; HIPS, PET, ABS) prices, polymer market trends, and more...
- Bearish PP trend takes no respite on lackluster demand in Turkey
- India import PVC market recedes from all-time high on COVID-hit demand
- Stats: China’s total PP, PE imports in Q1 mark lowest volume in a year
- Vietnamese PE buyers hold off purchases on fears of further price pullback
- European PS on brink of a softer trend after 6 months
- Turkish PP and PE players voice bearish expectations for May
- China’s local homo-PP prices slide below imports
- Irregular PE origins emerge at competitive prices in Europe
- Mid-Eastern sellers backpedal in Africa on competitive PP, PE offers from Asia
- European PVC set to extend longest rising streak into May


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Here's a quick look at LG G6's new UI
LG already confirmed various details about its upcoming G6 flagship smartphone. We know, for example, that the handset sports an unusual 5.7-inch display with 1440 x 2880 pixels, has a new Quad DAC (digital to analog converter) for high quality sound, and will be announced at MWC 2017 on February 26.
In a fresh video teaser, LG today revealed another thing about the G6: the phone will come with a new UI (obviously based on Android 7 Nougat). While the video - embedded above - is very short, we can see that the new interface continues to evolve in the direction set by LG G5's UX 5.0 and LG V20's UX 5.0+. Interestingly, the video reveals that the screen of the G6 has curved corners and the interface fits perfectly to them. We don't know if the interface will be dubbed LG UX 6.0, but we're going to find out later this month.
Although it will be announced on February 26, the LG G6 may not be released in the US before early April. Regardless of when it hits the market, in addition to the features presented above, the new smartphone should offer a water-resistant metal body, a Snapdragon 821 processor, improved rear and front cameras, and a 3200 mAh battery.
All in all, it looks like the G6 has the potential to make us forget about the rather disappointing LG G5.
source: LG (YouTube)


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Product recalls aren’t exactly new, but those especially related to fire hazards caused by batteries have recently become more publicized. This time, however, the culprit isn’t a smartphone but almost an unlikely one. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission or CPSC has announced a recall of PDP’s Energizer Xbox One 2X controller chargers, citing reports of overheating that could potentially lead to fires.
The problem with almost all wireless devices, like wireless Xbox One controllers, is that they will inevitably need to be recharged. Unlike the consoles themselves, however, chargers don’t have cooling systems to combat overheating and simply rely on circuits to try stop the flow of power in hazardous conditions.
For whatever reason, that, unfortunately, isn’t the case with Performance Designed Products’ latest Energizer-branded chargers for the Xbox One controllers. Several owners have reported that the charger overheats to the point that even the charger’s plastic cover has started to deform. Some have even reported burning odors, pointing to a fire hazard waiting happen.
The Xbox One 2X Smart Charger has only been in the market for about a month but now the CPSC is recalling those units, particular those with model numbers “048-052-NA”. Owners are, of course, advised to send theirs back. Sadly, the units are still on the market from various retailers, both online and in-store. It should probably be a good time for Xbox One owners to use their networks to spread the word to help prevent potential further mishaps.


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The gig: Drinking beer. More precisely, Jeremy Raub runs Eagle Rock Brewery, an artisanal beer maker he co-founded with his wife, Ting Su, in 2009 that helped spark L.A.'s craft suds scene. The company runs a popular taproom at its brewery in Glassell Park where it also offers tours. Raub is opening a second brewery in Eagle Rock that will feature a 50-seat restaurant.
It's in the genes: Raub, 39, grew up in Rochester, N.Y., where his father regularly made beer in the family kitchen. Back then, there weren't any home brewing supply stores. Dad used what he could, like a lobster pot to boil the malt and hops. Father and son eventually bonded over the process, crafting amber ales and dark porters they would share with family and friends. "I got bit by the brewing bug," Raub said.
Career change: Raub studied postproduction at a Florida college, drinking a lot of watery, mass-produced beer in the process. The degree landed him a well-paying job in L.A. working on film and television projects.
He got back into home brewing when his parents retired and traded coasts to live closer to their son. Proper equipment and ingredients were much easier to find this time because of an established home brewing community. It was during one messy brew session with his dad about 10 years ago that Raub realized making beer could be his full-time calling.
"We had this moment brewing in the garage at home, and everything was going wrong with hoses spraying everywhere," Raub said. "In the middle of all that chaos my dad and I looked at each other smiling and we thought, 'We can do this every day.'"
White Rabbit: Raub still needed to be convinced anyone would buy his beer. That changed when Su, his most trusted taste tester, relished a Belgian wheat ale Raub and his dad had been refining. They called it White Rabbit at the time because of its pale complexion and the way its alcoholic buzz would sneak up on a taster. "That was sort of confirmation to move forward as a business," Raub said.
It wasn't long after that Su, who has a background in the restaurant industry, registered the brewery's name as a gift for Raub's 30th birthday. The White Rabbit evolved into the Manifesto Wit Bier, one of the brewery's most popular pours.
Red tape hangover: After spending a year to write a business plan and raising $600,000 from investors, friends and family, Raub and Su struggled to get the project off the ground because of permitting problems. There was nothing quite like Eagle Rock Brewery in L.A., which had a disappointingly small craft beer scene for a city of its size at the time.
Health inspectors, with nothing to compare it to, decided to regulate the brewery the way it would a wholesale food processing facility. That required expensive building upgrades that prevented Eagle Rock Brewery from opening for 18 months.
"That was definitely the low," said Raub, who had quit his postproduction job. "I thought we were going to close before we opened." The health department eventually relaxed its demands when it decided the brewery was sufficiently regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Heady success: Lines formed outside the door for the brewery's 2009 opening. The beer got so popular that Raub eventually had to hire someone to take over the brewing so he and Su could run other aspects of the business. Production is expected to hit 3,000 barrels this year, up from 1,800 in 2012 (a barrel contains 31 gallons of beer). Production will double once the Eagle Rock brewery is open.
The company also won a coveted best in show award at last year's San Diego International Beer Competition for a wood barrel-aged sour blond ale called Equinox, beating hundreds of entries from around the globe.
Tapping community: Raub has taken a populist bent to his marketing, using the tag line "Beer for the People." The idea was always to encourage a broader community of people who appreciated craft beer much like San Diego or Portland, Ore.
"There's definitely a sense of pride to be part of this community as it's grown," Raub said. "I think a bellwether was how friends would go to San Diego for the weekend to drink beer. That trend has started to reverse with people from San Diego coming to visit. L.A. stands up on its own."


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The FINANCIAL — According to the National Statistics Office of Georgia the annual inflation rate fell to 10.0% in June 2011. This alteration has caused an expectation of reduction of the inflation rate in society.
In September last year the rapid growth of prices was a big shock for Georgia. There were speculations about the main cause of the high inflation. Some experts said that the price growth was the consequence of wrong monetary policy; some thought it was the after-effect of imported products; mostly it was the effect of a bad harvest plus some other economic and political shocks.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is the most commonly used way of measuring the inflation rate, mainly contains food, vegetables, fruits, beverages etc. In June, because of it being summer, supply of these products has grown which caused a decrease of prices.
Comparing the prices of June to the prices of May for the following foodstuffs: the price of apples has fallen by 72%, pear – by 70%, watermelon – 70%, grapes – 67%, cherries – 45%, peaches – 55%, green beans – 61%, cabbage – 37%, cucumber – 51%, tomato – 57%, beet – 48%, onion – 70%, garlic – 63%, and potatoes – 78%. As we can see fruit and vegetable were primary pretexts in the decrease of the inflation rate. These changes are very attractive but if we compare these indexes to 2010’s summer prices we’ll see that they have not changed at all.
“At the beginning of the year National Bank forecast that inflation would decrease in a few months which is also described in press releases of Monetary Policy Committee meetings,” commented Archil Mestvirishvili, Vice Governor of the National Bank of Georgia.
“I would like to note that prices are influenced by exogenous shocks and fundamental factors, changes in demand and inflation expectations. As a result of anti-inflationary measures carried out by the National Bank and the Government, demand-side inflationary pressures have been low in the last few months. This is a precondition, that once the temporary shocks fade away, inflation will start to fall. As a consequence, the inflation rate decreased in June. As for the sharp change in the inflation figure, it was the result of a decrease in fruit and vegetable prices that had significantly increased during the last year due to bad harvest in the region and temporary exogenous shocks.”
“Due to the base effect, a significant decrease in inflation is expected through September, because, as you might remember, the price increase was high in August-September last year. During this period the wheat price rose due to the bad harvest. Wheat price hikes resulted in high international prices of its substitute and related products. As for the long-term trend, the inflation target of the National Bank is defined at 6% in the medium term. Therefore, the National Bank will employ all its instruments to keep the inflation rate around the target.”
“The National Bank adjusts monetary policy in accordance with the inflation forecast. If the inflation forecast exceeds the target level, the National Bank will implement contractionary monetary policy as happened from June 2010 through February 2011. For this purpose, the National Bank applied the monetary policy rate and reserve requirements on foreign currency liabilities, open market operation and tightened macroprudential policy as well,” said Archil Mestvirishvili, National Bank of Georgia.
“In my opinion, such a rapid fall of inflation has no base,” believes Prof. Vladimer Papava.
“I can’t explain it. It looks like political bespeak that the National Statistics Office of Georgia takes from the Government. As we have the information in December 2011 annual inflation should be 8%. A sharp reduction will be very suspicious and that’s why they are changing it gradually.”
To the question has or hasn’t the policy of the National Bank been the determinative factor of this change Papava answered: “National Bank of Georgia (NBG) since autumn of 2010 has been trying to make the inflation rate more stable. Its policy is very correct. Besides this, NBG has more useful monetary policy instruments with the help of which it can influence the inflation rate more powerfully. But we have to take into consideration that a reducing inflation rate doesn’t mean reducing prices on food. In the consumer basket besides the food basket other products are included too.
Secondly inflationary effects can be caused by the wrong budget policy. It’s essential to reduce budget expenditures. Of course developing the infrastructure is very important but it causes inflation itself; and why when the Government decides to build a road should the work be done perfectly – so as not to have the same road fall in to disrepair again so soon, as happens very often.
And last but not the least a source of inflation could become Agricultural Policy. As we know 80% of the food in our country is imported and in recent times prices have been growing in those countries as well.
According to the National Statistics Office of Georgia in 2010 the only economic field in which was seen a reducing trend was Agriculture. In the other fields there was growth.”
Prof. Papava explains that generally, autumn is the anti-inflation period of the year. It’s a logical chain, because of the harvest the supply of food increases and this reduces the prices of food. He supposes that the reducing trend will go on in the autumn.


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Bay Area inflation rates are softening
Inflation in the Bay Area was at its lowest rate all year in December — a hopeful sign that soaring prices are starting to soften.
What’s happening: The San Francisco Bay Area’s consumer price index — which measures the average cost of goods and services over time — was up 4.9% in December compared with the previous year, but it dropped from 6% in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week.
- The area's CPI spiked in June, at 6.8%.
Why it matters: The cooling amounted to an overall 0.3% decline in prices on essentials like groceries and clothing across the Bay Area from October to December.
- And when living in one of the most expensive areas in the country, any relief is welcome.
Details: Fueling the decrease was a 25.5% drop in gasoline prices from October to December.
- Still, overall food prices were up 0.8%, with meats, poultry, fish and eggs up 1.2%.
Zoom out: Nationally, the consumer price index showed a 6.5% hike in December 2022 from December 2021 — the smallest year-over-year increase since October 2020-2021.
- Overall, CPI decreased 0.1% in December compared with November.
Of note: Eggs prices have been of particular concern due to the avian influenza outbreak that began last February.
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Businesses try to pick up pieces after Jerome Ave. firePosted: Updated:
Five business owners with stores damaged by a four-alarm blaze on Jerome Avenue last week say they are trying to pick up the pieces.
Officials say the fire broke out Friday morning at 2111 Jerome Ave. in a Laundromat. About nine firefighters suffered minor injuries.
Many of business owners say they are unable to open their stores making them lose income everyday. The say they need to rebuild quickly after the fire took away their livelihood.
Businesses try to pick up pieces after Jerome Ave. fire


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|Main » Reviews » ICO Reviews|
Eligma, a cognitive commerce platform, will be connecting existing e-commerces and second-hand marketplaces into a one-point-stop for users. By harnessing AI and blockchain technology, Eligma is changing the way users discover, purchase, track and resell items online. To provide a new simplified user experience, a Slovenian-based company is set to launch its crowd sale on April 17 with a hard cap of $24 million.
Eligma was born as a response to problems identified in traditional retail and especially e-commerce, which has exploded in the recent decade. The project is entering a market, in which sales reached 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars in 2017. It aims to offer a set of previously unanticipated solutions to discover, purchase, track and resell items. This is now viable due to the development of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology.
All details about ICO you can read in whitepaper.
|Views: 55 ||
|Total comments: 0|


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Total telecom and pay-TV services revenue in Japan is set to grow at a moderate compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.3% between 2018 and 2023, according to a new analyst report.
Nokia has come out on top in the global telecom software market with a marketshare valued at US$4.8 billion in a market which grew about 1% to US$66.1 billion in 2018, according to a newly published global study.
North American telecom market performance analytics provider Comlinkdata has acquired mobile crowdsourced customer experience data company Tutela.
New customers are being added to the satellite service because NBN Co hasn't rolled out fibre to the area because[…]
Might I respectively suggest that this is probably another survey designed for feel good results and as such was a[…]
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Ive got Amayasim 100gb + UNL calls+text for $30/28days so its not so bad and they have been giving me[…]


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TOKYO (AP) — Nissan Executive Vice President Daniele Schillaci bowed deeply for several seconds in a Japanese-style apology Wednesday, expressing his remorse for widespread illegal inspections at the automaker.
"I would like to take this opportunity to express a sincere apology for our recent issues," he said at the Nissan Motor Co. booth at the Tokyo Motor Show. "We sincerely regret any inconvenience and concern this has caused our valued customers."
This year's show highlights smart and green vehicles that talk, connect online and stop on their own before crashes. But scandals surfacing within weeks of the auto show, including another one at Kobe Steel that's hit the entire industry, are casting a shadow over the festivities.
Reporters got a preview of the show at Tokyo Big Sight hall, ahead of its opening to the public Saturday.
Schillaci switched from his nearly tearful apology to an upbeat demeanor after a resonating electronic beep — the special sound called Canto, designed for Nissan electric cars to protect pedestrians. Electric cars are extremely quiet compared to gas-engine cars, and people have complained about not being aware of their approaching.
"What you just heard is the sound of the future," he said, proceeding happily with his presentation on automated driving and electric sports cars.
Taking center stage at the Nissan booth was a sleek zero-emissions electric "concept" car, billed as "Nissan intelligent mobility." It comes with surrounding 360-degree sensors capability from radars, cameras, lasers and sonars, to deliver accident-free driving as well as a future in which the car can drop its owner off somewhere before parking or returning home, according to Schillaci.
Japanese automakers have been hit by a series of scandals in recent years, including a massive recall of defective air-bags made by Japanese supplier Takata Corp. that involves some 100 million air-bag inflators worldwide. The defect has been linked to 19 deaths and dozens of injuries. The global industry has also been rocked by a scandal at Volkswagen AG of Germany over cars it had illegally rigged to cheat on U.S. emissions tests.
Nissan, allied with Renault SA of France, acknowledged last month inspection irregularities had been going on for years at its plants in Japan, with the final inspections routinely done by unauthorized staff.
Shortly after apologizing for that, Nissan said the illegal checks had continued. It has halted production in Japan for the domestic market until it can figure out how a recurrence can be prevented.
Nissan company officials say the practice was so ingrained it was hard to change. Better communication is needed among managers, and production will not resume until the government gives its approval, they said. Thousands of cars will have to be re-inspected.
"We have formed an investigative team with a third party, which is working hard to find out what happened and why," said Schallaci. He said the company was working to prevent a recurrence.
The other scandal, over the falsification of data at Kobe Steel, spans dozens of products made of steel, aluminum, copper and other materials, affecting some 500 companies including major automakers around the world and the aircraft, electronics and railway industries.
Toyota Motor Corp. Executive Vice President Didier Leroy said Toyota was checking aluminum plates and other Kobe Steel components used in its models and had found no safety or quality problems so far.
"We were very worried," he told reporters. "We deeply apologize to our customers."
He declined to comment on Nissan's scandal, but stressed all of Toyota's inspections are being carried out according to regulations, by qualified inspectors.
Leroy rejected the idea that the scandals may hinder Toyota's ability to develop zero-emission and "smart" vehicles or that Japan may be falling behind in such technologies.
Analysts say Japan has no time to waste on cleaning up after scandals given the big push by U.S. players like Google, General Motors and Uber to put self-driving cars on the roads, possibly within five to 10 years.
"Introduction of self-driving cars will lead to new business models," said Bart Selman, a professor of computer science at Cornell University. The Japanese could catch up with rivals if they move quickly, he said.
"This means the space is very competitive. There will quite likely be just a few surviving companies to handle all demand."
U.S. automakers, such as General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., are skipping the show. They have long struggled in the Japanese market, which is dominated by the domestic brands.


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The GST Council is likely to meet on August 27 to discuss the compensation payout to states and the opinion of the Attorney General on the legality of market borrowing to meet revenue shortfall.
Sources said the 41st meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council would be a single agenda meeting on states’ compensation to be held via video conferencing.
Besides, a full-fledged meeting of the Council would be held on September 19, agenda for which is to be decided in due course, they added.
The Attorney General- who is the chief legal officer of the government – has opined that the Centre has no statutory obligation to make up for any shortfall in GST revenues of states from its coffers , sources had said.
They had earlier indicated that following the AG’s opinion, states may now have to look at market borrowings to meet the revenue shortfall and the GST Council will take a final call.
The Centre had in March sought views from Attorney General K K Venugopal on the legality of market borrowing by the GST Council to make up for any shortfall in compensation fund – a corpus created from levy of additional tax on luxury and sin goods to compensate states for revenue shortfall arising from their taxes being subsumed into GST.
The AG had also opined that the Council has to decide on meeting the shortfall in the GST compensation fund by providing the sufficient amount to be credited to the fund.
Sources said the options before the Council for meeting the shortfall could be to rationalize GST rates, cover more items under the compensation cess or increase the compensation cess, or recommend higher borrowing by states to be repaid by the future collection into the compensation fund.
Since raising tax or cess rates might not be feasible in the current pandemic situation, the option that remains is each state borrowing from market against the consolidated fund of the state.
Under the GST law, states were guaranteed to be compensated bi-monthly for any loss of revenue in the first five years of the GST implementation from July 1, 2017. The shortfall is calculated assuming a 14 per cent annual growth in GST collections by states over the base year of 2015-16.
Under the GST structure, taxes are levied under 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent slabs. On top of the highest tax slab, a cess is levied on luxury, sin and demerit goods and the proceeds from the same are used to compensate states for any revenue loss.
The GST Council has to decide how to meet the shortfall in such circumstances and not the central government, sources added.
Any borrowing of the central government is upon the security of the Consolidated Fund of India. Similarly, borrowing by a state government is upon the security of the consolidated fund of the state.
In either case, it would lead to increased general government debt burden and also a higher fiscal deficit.
The payment of GST compensation to states became an issue after revenues from the imposition of cess started dwindling since August 2019 and the Centre had to dive into the excess cess amount collected during 2017-18 and 2018-19.
The Centre had released over ₹1.65 lakh crore in 2019-20 as GST compensation. However, the amount of cess collected during the year 2019-20 was ₹95,444 crore.
The compensation payout amount was ₹69,275 crore in 2018-19 and ₹41,146 crore in 2017-18.
Our GST software enables you to file your GST returns free of any hassle. Get more details by writing to us at email@example.com.


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BMW scores better than expected results
BMW BECAME the third German car maker to report better-than-expected quarterly results ahead of schedule yesterday, benefiting rival Daimler from strong demand in China and a revaluation of its stake in map maker Here.
Pretax profit jumped 27 percent to 3.01 billion (R43bn) in the first quarter, more than expected even taking into account one-off gains that included
183 million from revaluing Here after Intel invested in it.
Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler last week posted an 87 percent jump in quarterly operating profit, while Volkswagen on Tuesday reported a 28 percent rise, helped by a return to earnings growth at its core VW brand.
“The European market, China and some emerging markets are developing much better than expected. Only the US market is tougher,” said Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst, explaining the strong results from German car makers. He rates BMW shares “in line”.
German car association VDA expects global car sales to rise 2 percent this year, driven by China, where sales are seen rising by 6 percent, while demand in the US and Western Europe is seen stable. Impressed But European car sales leapt 10.9 percent last month, led by buoyant demand in the region’s top five markets and extra-selling days due to a late Easter this year that saw the holiday fall into this month.
Analysts were impressed by the extent to which BMW beat expectations, noting increased Jump in car maker’s pretax profit in the first quarter owner together with Volkswagen – increased the valuation of its stake. Other valuation effects lifted BMW’s financial result by a further 122m.
Intel said in January it was buying a 15 percent stake in Here for an undisclosed sum, after Navinfo, Tencent and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund agreed to buy a 10 percent stake in December.
BMW affirmed its guidance for a slight rise in full-year group pretax profit and an operating margin of 8 to 10 percent at its automotive business, which posted a first-quarter margin of 9 percent, down from 9.4 percent a year earlier.
Sales rose 12 percent in the quarter to 23.5bn, above the average analyst forecast of 22.1bn, Thomson Reuters estimates show. BMW is set to publish detailed first-quarter results on May 4. – Reuters


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By Cecilia Butini
On Thursday, Roche Holding AG reported that first-half profit declined, although sales rose, driven by the diagnostics division.
The largest Swiss pharmaceutical company reported net profit for the period of 7.80 billion Swiss francs ($ 8.50 billion), up from 8.08 billion Swiss francs a year earlier, with sales rising to 30.71 billion Swiss francs from 29 , 28 billion Swiss francs.
Operating income was CHF 10.08 billion, up from CHF 10.64 billion in the previous year.
Sales in the diagnostics division were up 51% on the back of strong demand for Covid-19 tests and strong routine testing dynamics, the company said.
In the pharmaceutical division, on the other hand, sales fell 3% in the first half, hit by the pandemic in the first quarter, followed by some growth in the second, Roche said.
Roche reaffirmed its full-year outlook, saying it expects sales to grow in the low to medium single digits at constant exchange rates, as well as general earnings per share growth in line with sales. He added that he expects further dividend increases in Swiss francs.
Email Cecilia Butini at [email protected]


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Despite scandal, VW in running for global sales crown
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — It's ironic: Volkswagen spent 2016 battling a huge scandal over cars it rigged to cheat on emissions tests.
And now stands a decent chance to pass Toyota for the title of world's biggest carmaker for the year.
Booming business in China helped Volkswagen increase its sales to 10.31 million vehicles last year across all its brands, which include Audi, Porsche and Skoda, the company said Tuesday.
That was an increase of 3.8 percent over 2015, when Volkswagen came in second to Toyota. And a strong finish to the year in December — 11.8 percent better than the same month the year before — improves the company's chances of moving from No. 2 to No. 1 in global sales.
That Volkswagen is even in the running for top spot seems remarkable considering how terrible the year was on the legal and image front.
The company based in Wolfsburg, Germany, said Tuesday it was in advanced talks on a draft settlement with the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection under which it would pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties in the emissions scandal.
That sum would come on top of a $15 billion civil settlement with U.S. environmental authorities and owners of 500,000 cars. Volkswagen also faces investor lawsuits and criminal probes in Germany. Volkswagen has admitted to equipping diesel cars with software that turned emission controls on when the vehicle was being tested and off during daily driving.
The scandal news kept coming this week as Oliver Schmidt, Volkswagen's former head of U.S. environmental compliance, was arrested in Florida and appeared in a Detroit court in prison garb and shackles. Engineer James Liang had earlier pleaded guilty and offered to assist federal law enforcement in their investigation.
Despite all that, huge demand in China may be enough to push Volkswagen past its Japanese rival and Detroit-based General Motors. Neither rival has reported 2016 sales yet. For 2015, Toyota Motor Co. came in first with 10.15 million, Volkswagen was second with 9.93 million, and GM third with 9.8 million.
Volkswagen's improved sales show how crucial China has become for Germany's carmakers, including BMW and Daimler. Of the three, Volkswagen is the most dependent on the Middle Kingdom. It sold 3.98 million cars there last year, more than a third of its total unit sales.
Volkswagen was barely behind Toyota after 11 months of 2016, but China in particular fueled the strong December. U.S. sales, which are much smaller, were off 2.6 percent for the year.
To add a layer of irony, overtaking Toyota would come only after Volkswagen abandoned its goal of achieving global supremacy in raw sales numbers.
Dethroning Toyota was part of the company's Strategy 2018 pushed by CEO Martin Winterkorn, who lost his job due to the scandal. But the new CEO, Matthias Mueller, has dropped that emphasis on unit sales in the latest strategy, amid concerns it fostered a management culture that could have helped create the emissions scandal. The new plan focuses more profitability and a greater emphasis on electric vehicles, digital services such as car-sharing and ride-hailing. Toyota also downplays the sales race.
Other factors helping Volkswagen sales: The company's other brands, particularly Audi, Porsche and Skoda, helped make up for any weakness at the namesake grand.
And Volkswagen didn't sell many cars in the first place in the U.S., where the scandal first broke in September, 2015.
"China is the big equalizer," Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the CAR-Center Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, said in an email. "Diesel plays no role there, so your reputation can't suffer. China today is the center of the automotive world, for Volkswagen as well."
"And when you look more closely at the numbers, Volkswagen didn't lose so much in the end in Europe, because Audi and Skoda were able to buck the trend a little."
After a strong last quarter of the year in China, where Volkswagen is stronger than Toyota, "Volkswagen would have to have the edge," Dudenhoeffer said.
For decades, Volkswagen has steadily grown its business in China. High-end offerings such as Porsche, Lamborghini and Bentley vehicles are imported, but the company has a large presence on the ground making cars specifically for the mass market there with Chinese partners. Its joint-venture agreements with its local partners, SAIC Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen, date to 1984 and 1990.
China's car market has grown for 26 straight years, and did so again in 2016. Sales were boosted by a tax cut on cars with smaller engines; some people may have brought forward purchases because it isn't clear if the tax break will be extended next year.
Volkswagen still faces serious challenges. The Volkswagen brand has shown skimpy profits due to chronically high costs, and more than half of the wider group's profits come from the luxury Audi and Porsche units. The Volkswagen division is shedding 23,000 jobs to save some $4 billion a year from 2020, but still has a long way to go.
The top three carmakers make roughly the same number of vehicles per year, but Toyota needs 349,000 workers and GM only 202,000 while Volkswagen employs 624,000. The company remains a niche producer in the large U.S. market, and the damage to its image from the scandal won't help that. Investigations and lawsuits remain open.
And along with all the carmakers, it faces possible disruptive competition from tech companies who may muscle into their business through new ways of getting from one place to another, including ride-hailing apps, car-sharing and autonomous vehicles.
But it's a crown Volkswagen definitely wouldn't refuse.


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Deputy Consul General Mr. Shaiq Ahmed Bhutto has said that bilateral trade relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia has seen gradual increase over last few years which has resulted in more economic activity between the two countries. He was speaking at the Inaugural session of the Foodex 2019 Exhibition in Jeddah. He said that 15 Pakistani companies are participating in the Foodex exhibition, which shows the increasing interest and opportunities for the Pakistani exporters in Saudi Market. Last year nine Pakistani companies participated in the Foodex.
The Exhibition was inaugurated by HRH Prince Fahd Bin Muqrin Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
Mr. Shaiq told that the Pakistani companies, participating in the event, are among the top exporters from Pakistan dealing in rice, spices, sauces, processed food, ready to cook pratha and tandoori items, beverages, bakery products and confectionaries.
The Pakistani companies’ representatives while talking to media told that the increasing demand of the food items in the kingdom, offer huge opportunity to Pakistani companies to increase their space in Saudi market and enhance market share by aggressive marketing. Since Pakistan is an agricultural country, and more than 70 percent of its exports are agro and textile based, it has enormous potential to increase its exports share by tapping halal food market of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia currently imports more that 80 percent of its total food and beverages requirement.
Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) in collaboration with the Consulate General of Pakistan is participating in the 7th edition of Foodex Saudi Exhibition Jeddah organized by Reed Sunaidi Exhibition from 11-14 November 2019 at Jeddah Center for Events & Forums. Pakistan’s Pavilion has been established in the Exhibition. Commercial Section of the Consulate is extending full cooperation to Pakistani companies for match-making of their products in Saudi Arabia and to tap enormous opportunities emerging out of Saudi Vision 2030 to promote bilateral trade and investment.


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LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Home Depot HD, -0.19% said that it's expecting earnings per share to decline by between 4% to 9% in 2007, from 2006's level of $2.79 a share. Analysts were expecting earnings per share of $2.78, according to data compiled by Thomson Financial. Sales growth is expected at between 0% to 2% in 2007, with negative mid-single-digit retail comparatives. The home improvement retailer said that it's also expecting capital expenditure to rise by 29% to $4.5 billion. Home Depot expects to increase square footage by 4.6% by opening 115 new stores. Beyond 2007, the Company believes that investments made in its retail business will allow sales in the retail business to return to above market growth rates and that earnings will grow faster than sales. It's expecting annual sales growth of around 5% after 2007, and earnings per share growth of at least 10%. Home Depot also said that it intends to use available cash to deliver a predictable dividend payout of around 30%, to buy back shares and to maintain a high return on invested capital. "While the current home improvement market remains challenging, the long-term fundamentals of our company are strong," said chairman and CEO, Frank Blake.
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VoIP operator Vonage has announced a new partnership with broadband provider Covad to offer residential and small business customers 3—6 Mbps DSL service under a new package called Vonage Broadband. The service will run on Covad’s nationwide DSL network, and enable Vonage to offer a “double-play” package of VoIP phone service and broadband Internet access in a single plan.
“Consistent with our strategy of focusing on the customer, Vonage Broadband enables us to respond to the demand we hear from customers who prefer the Vonage brand,” said Vonage’s interim CEO Jeffrey Citron, in a statement. “In addition, it provides us with a competitive offering that continues to give customers the freedom of choice.”
Vonage currently claims over 2.5 million subscribers to its VoIP service; the company has been on a rocky path, first rolling out a much-hyped IPO in 2006 then seeing its value plummet—and almost seeing its network shut off—in the face of patent lawsuits from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, Nortel. Vonage just reported a first-quarter loss of $8.9 million, and says it signed up a net 30,000 new subscribers during the quarter, down from 56,000 in the previous quarter and over 160,000 in the same quarter a year ago. Overall the company continues to lose customers, with reports putting Vonage’s month subscriber “churn” rate at about 3.3 percent per month. However, the company hopes the new broadband bundling deal—and a renewed advertising push—will enable it to re-grow its subscriber base.


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The group increases the pace at Valenciennes, where the Yaris ‘green’ will be manufactured.
Pioneer in this field with the launch of the Prius in 1997, Toyota launched this weekend’s hybrid Yaris in Europe. This is the first time that marketed a small car with this technology. The bet is daring, because the hybrid, which uses a gasoline engine and another powered by electricity, is an expensive solution.And its cost seems more difficult to sell to consumers in the niche of urban, particularly price sensitive.
“Our goal with the Yaris hybrid is to make this technology available to as many people, the largest segment in Europe,” said Pascal Ruch, CEO of Toyota France. The manufacturer’s target buyers of small diesel cars, looking for fuel efficient vehicles. This model consumes only 3.5 liters per 100 kilometers and emits only 79 grams of CO2 per kilometer .
If the Yaris hybrid, proposed from 16,500 euros (after deduction of a bonus of 2,000 euros), still more expensive than the base diesel version of this model (15,800 euros), it costs 700 euros less at level finish equivalent. According to the manufacturer, the purchase of this technology will become comparatively more attractive in the future. “The pressure from European authorities will be increasingly high on pollution from diesel engines, including new standards in 2014, which will lead to rate increases,” said Pascal Ruch. Diesel, which releases fine particulates and nitrogen oxides (NOx), has just been declared a carcinogen by the World Health Organization.
On a small car market very sluggish in Europe, Toyota expects to sell 185,000 Yaris this year, including 25,000 hybrid, and 200,000 copies in 2013, including 40,000 hybrid.
The Valenciennes site, which manufactures all Yaris (the latest generation of the thermal model was released in September), has recruited 700 temporary workers to increase production, fell to 150,000 cars in 2011. The anticipated volumes will however not enough to run at full capacity the plant Nordic, whose capacity stands at 270,000 copies.
On the Yaris hybrid, full-year forecast “allow us to make money on this model, although will not be much,” said Pascal Ruch. The group, which recently passed the 4 million mark hybrids sold worldwide, explains indeed benefit from economies of scale. “We will sell over a million hybrid cars worldwide this year, “says the boss of Toyota France, against 629,000 last year.
Toyota, which has 18 models of this type, in particular created a range of four Prius and pulled out a Auris hybrid on the Old Continent.
Proof of the supremacy of the technology from Toyota, the Prius was ranked in the first quarter on the third step of best-selling models in the world. Sales in Europe remains limited, due to competition from diesel. The Japanese giant has elapsed than 26,500 hybrids in the first four months of the year on the Old Continent, including 2,800 in France. It provides that such cars will represent 14% of its volumes this year in Europe and 19% in France.


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Aurigny sees quarter of passengers cancel due to Covid fears
UP TO a quarter of bookings on some Aurigny flights have been cancelled as a result of the emergence of the Omicron variant and the rising number of cases in the island and elsewhere.
But while bookings are much lower than anticipated, yesterday was still the airline’s busiest day before Christmas, said commercial director Malcolm Coupar.
Aurigny has not been alone among British airlines in seeing a sharp downturn in new bookings coupled with increased rates of cancellations, primarily around the Christmas and New Year period.
‘Up until the [Omicron] announcement we were expecting a bumper holiday period and forward sales were looking great,’ Mr Coupar said.
‘Unfortunately bookings for the holiday period are now much lower than in normal times and many flights that were full have seen up to 25% of the bookings being cancelled.’
Up to two weeks’ ago yesterday’s flights were set to be carrying about 2,000 passengers, but he said that in the end about 1,500 were carried.
‘This pattern of cancellations prevails right through the holiday period. It is very disappointing for our staff who have worked so hard to prepare for the holiday rush, but understandable in the circumstances.’
Throughout the pandemic the airline has offered Aurigny Assurance which allows people to cancel flights without losing their money, regardless of the reason for their cancellation.
Mr Coupar said he had no doubt that this made the decision to cancel easier.
Numbers travelling will still be fairly low into the new year, he added.
‘We have recently been reducing the number of flights on offer in January and February to try to better match the capacity available to the low demand patterns we are experiencing.’
But Aurigny is still planning to operate its seasons ski services to Grenoble and Geneva and hopes that the French and Swiss governments loosen their border controls in the weeks to come to allow leisure travel to their skiing resorts from the British isles.
‘We will be watching this closely over the next few weeks and keeping customers with bookings informed of what is happening.’


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NEW YORK (CBS.MW) – Citing a drop in dot-com advertising, e-mail marketing specialist NetCreations trimmed its third quarter profit outlook on Tuesday. Shares lost 35 percent.
The company also named Robert Mattes chief financial officer.
Shares of NetCreations (NTCR) dropped $8.88, or 43 percent, to 12 on Tuesday.
The company said it expects to report earnings of 4 cents to 6 cents a share on revenue of $14 million to $15 million for the third quarter, below expectations.
Wall Street had been forecasting earnings of 11 cents per share, according to a survey of analysts by First Call.
The company attributed the shortfall to a decline in marketing-related spending by dot-com customers.
The company said its business is "on track" for the fourth quarter.


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President Donald Trump said that any negative impact on the U.S. economy from his trade war with China was worth it, because "somebody had to take on China."
What did Trump say?
"Whether it's good or bad short-term is irrelevant," Trump told reporters in the White House on Tuesday. "We have to solve the problem with China. Because they're taking our $500 billion a year plus, and that doesn't include intellectual property theft. And other things. And also national security. So I am doing this whether it's good or bad — for your statement about 'oh, will we fall into a recession for two months?
"The fact is, somebody had to take China on. My life would have been a lot easier if I didn't take China on. But I like doing it, because I have to do it. And we're getting great results."
This seems to contradict Trump's earlier statements that trade wars "are good, and easy to win," and that the U.S. would be boosted by the collection of tariffs on Chinese imports. While Trump has insisted that China will pay these tariffs, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow admitted in May that China did not pay the tariffs.
The $500 billion that Trump mentioned refers to the $540 billion in goods that the U.S. purchased from China last year. The U.S. also sold $120 billion in goods to China, leading to a $420 billion trade deficit between the two countries. While Trump has repeatedly bashed the existence of this trade deficit, some economists argue that this is an indicator of U.S. citizens having more disposable income.
Due to Trump's trade war, U.S. imports to and exports from China have decreased. In the first half of 2019, U.S. exporters sold $12 billion less to China than they had the following year, according to data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
On Tuesday, an attendee at a GOP donor luncheon in Wyoming told Politico that Trump's Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney told those at the luncheon that there could be the possibility of a recession but that it would be "moderate and short."