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Written by: Leonard Parker | solar news | May 13, 2021
Generate, a solar developer and project owner, announced that it has put the first six of up to 23 New York State community solar projects into service under a multi-year facility with Starbucks Coffee Company. The 90-MW portfolio of projects is expected to supply solar energy for local Starbucks stores and up to 24,000 households, small businesses, nonprofits, churches, universities and stores in multiple geographies, including those designated as under-served communities. In addition to clean energy, program participants will receive a discount to their current electricity rates under New York State’s Community Distributed Generation program, making clean energy access more affordable.
The solar projects will provide more than 119,885 MWh of clean energy to Starbucks New York stores and the surrounding community annually, supporting Starbucks’ multi-decade commitment to becoming a resource-positive company by storing more carbon than it emits and reducing carbon by 50% by 2030. Starbucks has committed $97 million of tax equity to the community solar projects, in an innovative collaboration with Generate and Churchill Stateside Group.
“At Starbucks, our vision is to become resource positive, to give more than we take from the planet. People is what this climate crisis is all about and so we must focus on the people who are disproportionally impacted by climate change,” said Michael Kobori, chief sustainability officer at Starbucks. “That is why we go beyond simply powering our stores with green energy; we’re committed to supporting and strengthening underserved communities and using our scale for good to bring more clean power onto the grid.”
The projects represent some of the first community solar and storage projects in New York State’s fast-growing community solar market. 38 Degrees North collaborated with Generate on the projects and financing.
Starbucks made the investment through a fund established by financial services company Churchill Stateside Group. Additionally, Starbucks is receiving renewable energy credits from the projects, which are expected to offset over 70% of Starbucks electricity usage within the state.
About 24 MW of the Starbucks-backed projects are now in service.
News item from Generate


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Demand for pitches at the popular arts and crafts market in Stamford’s Red Lion Square means it has recently expanded to as many as 15 artists.
Artisans On Friday has now been running successfully for five years and is held throughout the summer as an addition to the town’s main Friday market and the fortnightly Farmers’ Markets.
Initially set up just for artwork, it has gradually grown to include crafts. It gets a large footfall and is fully supported by the retailers around the square. Pitches on any one day from May through to late September can include photography, jewellery, wood turning, soft furnishings, home-made preserves and knitting, as well as paintings and other artwork.
The market was introduced following Red Lion Square’s controversial £1.4m refurbishment five years ago as part of the Gateway project by Stamford Town Partnership.
The partnership decided that some colour and activity was needed, particularly on market day and provided funding for nine A-frames to allow local artists to showcase and sell their artwork.
More recently a number of tables have been added to enable other artisans to display and sell their crafts. Pitches are specifically for local artisans and cannot be used by anyone selling bought-in artefacts.
Cottesmore-based artist Stuart Ball, who produces quirky paintings of Stamford and other towns, has been there since the beginning while wood-turner Graham Hall is a more recent addition. Other regulars are Allan and Lorna Grey, of Oakham, who are current organisers of the market. They produce photo art images of the Stamford area and offer a photo restoration and montage service. Renting a frame or a table costs just £5 for the day.
Allan says: “We are always on the lookout for new artisans, particularly artists, as we have several display frames available each week at short notice.”
Being an open-air market, the weather is always the greatest challenge and one third of the markets were cancelled last summer and several others were interrupted by rain. To date this summer has been much better, and there are regularly crowds of visitors around the square.”
He said he felt the original concept of bringing a lively vibe to Red Lion Square on market days was being fulfilled and he can see no reason why it should not continue to draw crowds.
Allan also wanted to thank the Churches Conservation Trust for allowing the frames and tables to be stored in St John’s Church.
To find out more pop along on a Friday to speak to Allan or Lorna or call 01572 755863.

domain: news


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New colors, anti-fingerprint coating and a flatter camera?
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Patent troll obtains verdict in the hundreds of millions against Apple
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The iPhone 12 Pro Max is one of the best smartphones in 2021, says its American counterpart
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Probably launched together with iPhone 13 in September
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January 24, 2018
As 2018 sets up to be a record year of growth for the eCommerce industry, it also sets itself up for another record; increased cyber attacks. Cyber criminals are naturally attracted to markets where they see opportunity and vulnerability and the eCommerce industry fits that profile. According to Richard Mellor, former vice president of loss prevention for the National Retail Federation, “New ideas, concepts, and schemes are developed every day by cybercriminals, and their sophistication often includes virtual escape methods. Therefore, it will be even more important for loss prevention professionals, IT teams and cybersecurity specialists within a retail organization to find the right partners to protect their brand integrity.” Retailers will be faced with finding a balance between capitalizing on the opportunity of increased sales while also making investments that help ensure the protection of their online shoppers’ personal data and the their brand’s reputation.
Let’s dive into the 5 eCommerce stats that wil drive cybersecurity attakcs in 2018.
1. By 2021 e-retail revenues are projected to grow to 4.48 trillion US dollars.
Furthermore, e-retail sales are expected to account for 15.5 percent of total retail sales by 2021. In 2018 alone in the United States eCommerce sales are expected to reach 461 billion, up from 409 billion in 2017. As consumers move towards online retail, it opens up a new venue for hackers to gain access to a trove of consumers’ personal details online.
*image courtesy of statista
2. In 2018, 39.5% of all retail eCommerce is expected to be generated via mobile commerce; up 5% from 2017’s 34.5%.
This number is expected to continue to increase with 53.9% of all retail eCommerce sales predicted to originate from mobile by 2021. With app security vulnerabilities being discovered daily via hackers, it’s imperative that online stores ensure their eCommerce platform has the most strenuous cyber defense practices in place to protect consumers. If your store uses a popular eCommerce platform like Magento, NOP Commerce, WooCommerce, or Shopify, make sure you understand what security comes with your platform and always install the latest updates and patches. Most platforms deliver some basic security features, but it is up the retailer to take measures to secure the site with the many security extensions like BlindHash that are available.
3. According to Symantic, U.S. consumers lost $19.4 billion dollars and about 20 hours of time dealing with the impact of cyber attacks in 2017.
As consumers become more knowledgeable in the area of cybercrime and new regulations are enforced such as GDPR ,which will be enacted in May of this year, online shoppers will demand more from the stores they choose to do business with. Hackers are working 24 hours a day, seven days a week and if they know of a vulnerability that exists they will exploit it. As they turn their eyes on the eCommerce industry, online retailers and the eCommerce industry in general can no longer be complacent and “just get by” with the basic cybersecurity tools they’ve generally used up to this point. Nearly a third of all retailers have suffered revenue loss due to a cyber attack. This number is sure to go up in 2018.
4. Did you know that 29% of your website traffic is there to attack you?
Many website owners feel that their site is too small to be attacked and that no hacker would care enough to breach them. However, this is simply not true. Most website visitors are bots (website robots). These bots don’t care anything about you or your website. They just want to see if they can extort data from your site. In a recent study by non profit security research organization Honeynet, a nearly invisible web server with no domain was attacked more than 250,000 times in 24 hours. It’s no longer a matter of if you will be breached it’s a matter of if you will be ready when you are breached.
5. "Pretty much 99.99 percent of computer security incidents are oversights of solved problems."
While not an official stat, Swift on Security , is right. That’s why it’s important to layer your security to help protect against the various threat vectors hackers are using against your site. Simply having an SSL certificate in place is not enough anymore. As we all learned from the preventable Equifax breach, we must utilize the technology available to protect our consumers and our brand. Good cyber security is the result of doing many things right. Small investments in security understanding and protection can pay big dividends. Telling a client, a board, an investor, a boss, whoever, that a breach or loss of data could have been avoided by installing an inexpensive security extension, is not a position that anyone wants to be in.


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Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) September 18, 2014
Based on the 2014 Independent Grocers Financial Survey compiled by FMS Solutions (FMS) and the National Grocers Association, (NGA), FMS in collaboration with Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) developed the AWG Operator Financial Report. Results showed that Fiscal year 2013 was a strong year for AWG retailers, including higher-than-average net profits compared with independents overall.
While value remained front and center for many shoppers during the review period and the economy has far from returned to its pre-recession levels, AWG retailers managed to post a number of impressive results:
- Higher inflation-adjusted sales gains, at 0.94 percent compared with 0.51 percent in 2012.
- Steady margins, at 26.98 percent for the total store, and improvements in many key departments.
- Greater profits, at 1.83 percent in 2013 compared with 1.70 percent in fiscal year 2012. Independents as a whole saw a slight decrease in net profit performance, from 1.65 percent in 2012 to 1.51 percent in fiscal year 2013.
AWG independents did well in protecting margins — outperforming other independents in the total store margin and many key departments. Additionally, AWG operators showed better expense control, particularly in key areas of labor, benefits and rent. This led to a much higher-than-average profit of 1.83 percent, compared with 1.51 percent overall and 1.37 percent among non-AWG operators. For more information and to purchase the 2014 Independent Grocers Survey, please visit http://fmssolutions.com/2014survey.php
About FMS: FMS Solutions (http://www.fmssolutions.com) is an employee-owned company providing approximately 2,200 Independent Retailers with financial, accounting, and consulting services such as benchmarking, best practices, and mission-critical decision reports throughout North America.


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Team Cherry has announced that the wonderful Metroidvania Hollow Knight has sold over 1 million copies on PC.
Hollow Knight has been making waves for a little while now. The game came out last year on PC, cutting out a great little piece of the market by way of its charming look and unique gameplay that fuelled excellent word of mouth. The game has clearly done well too, with it being reported just recently that the title has sold a quarter of a million copies already on the newly release Nintendo Switch version.
Well, that is only a small portion of the picture as the game has had an incredible year on the PC as well. Speaking to Kotaku AU, Ari Gibson of Team Cherry announced that the game had sold 1 million copies on PC. That's not bad at all for a small little title by a new team.
Hollow Knight's success has in large part been driven by it's many fans on PC with the game having now sold over 1 million copies for Windows, Mac, and Linux (crossing that mark just 1 day before the Nintendo Switch launch). We've never publicly mentioned hitting the million mark on PC, so that is another big milestone!
These are numbers that most indie games can only dream of, with the title obviously striking a chord with a large audience. It's clear there is a hunger for the game and with it now available on the move, I don't expect that will die down anytime soon. Perhaps it would be cruel to already start looking towards a sequel… but maybe one day.


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Yep, if you want to play Remedy Entertainment’s upcoming action game, then you better cozy up to the Windows Store. This was confirmed by Xbox Games head of marketing, Aaron Greenberg, in a recent podcast with Major Nelson (which you can listen to over here).
This news comes days after Remedy and Microsoft announced that Quantum Break was no longer an Xbox One exclusive, and that it would be heading to Windows 10 PCs as well. A Cross-Buy feature for the game exists, whereby those pre-ordering a digital Xbox One copy will receive a coupon for the PC version as well, free of charge.
Microsoft’s decision to withhold the game from Steam isn’t that surprising. The company is making a renewed push into digital gaming sales with the launch of Windows 10 and the Cross-By feature that exists between PC and Xbox One. It’s perhaps a spot of bad news for those PC users who feel they have to have all their games in one digital distribution library, but hey, at least you’re getting the game!


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The Sperminator strikes again — this time donating his seed to an 18-year-old who lives in an East Harlem shelter. Her daughter, due July 12, will make it number 50 for the serial sperm donor. Ari Nagel,
Amazon shoppers know it’s not hard to find inexpensive beauty finds, miracle-working cleaning products, and helpful laundry items via the retailer, but that’s just the start. Amazon is also a mecca of
The mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, has apologised after video footage emerged showing police officers pointing their guns and threatening to shoot a father and his pregnant partner after their four-year-old
Outgoing Dem senator warns his party: When you talk 'Medicare-for-all,' you 'start losing the people in my state'
(CNN) — Outgoing Indiana Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly said Democrats need to be careful in promoting too many progressive ideas in red states like his because they'll "start losing the people in my state."


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Back in July, a group of cyberattackers called Magecart made the e-commerce word shake. Its malicious skimming code, which is inserted into the websites of these businesses to steal personal and financial data from their customers when making purchases, was discovered on nearly 18,000 domains. And this incident wasn’t the only one.
A year ago, British Airways announced that it had fallen victim to a massive data breach. Attackers managed to steal the personal data of around 500,000 BA customers including such sensitive information as names, credit card numbers and their CVV codes, and email addresses. Ten months later, the airline received a record fine of £183 million (€204,110,000) under the GDPR. Who was behind this attack? Magecart.
The hotel sector in the firing line
In September, two hotel chains were discovered to have been affected by a Magecart campaign. In this campaign, the skimming code was injected into the mobile websites of the two chains in a supply chain attack on a provider.
As is often the case with Magecart attacks, the skimming code is designed to function in a digital environment and steal data from payment forms. This data includes credit card details, names, email addresses, and phone numbers. This data is then doubly encrypted and exfiltrated to the attackers, who can decrypt it and view it.
Why did they only attack the mobile websites?
Another trick used by the attackers was to program the skimmer to replace the payment forms with slightly different versions created by the attackers. They even went so far as to translate the sites into the eight languages used by the companies they were attacking.
It is believed that this was done because many hotel booking forms don’t ask for the CVV code in advance, since customers pay on arrival at the hotel. The attackers needed this code in order to be able to use the stolen data, so they created a version of the form that requested it.
Don’t let Magecart steal you company’s data
The list of Magecart victims is long, and includes such well known companies as Ticketmaster, Forbes and Amazon CloudFront. In order to attack so many e-commerce companies, a wide range of techniques is needed, as well as constant adaptation to new situations, which means that organizations need to adopt a stance of permanent cyber-resilience. This is why it is so important to get ahead of these attacks and ensure that they cannot affect your organization.
Panda Adaptive Defense: constantly monitors all of your organization’s systems and processes. This way, it can prevent and avoid any cyberthreat before it can cause any problems, be it malicious code injection, ransomware, or spyware.
Another protection measure that no company can do without is to apply relevant patches for vulnerabilities as soon as possible. It is believed that the massive Magecart campaign that we saw this summer was facilitated by a vulnerability in an web application, which serves to highlight how important this measure is.
Panda Adaptive Defense has an additional module, Panda Patch Management. This module searches for and manages relevant patches for vulnerabilities. It audits, monitors and prioritizes updates for operating systems and hundreds of third party applications so that you can be sure to keep your system up-to-date.
According to RiskIQ, Magecart has been attacking online companies since at least 2016, and it is highly likely to continue carrying out operations against e-commerce businesses of all kinds. Be sure to properly protect your systems so that you don’t become the next victim.


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An Auckland startup - whose founder warns that AI will boost hackers - won the Rising Star category in the Partner Awards that accompanied AWS (Amazon Web Services) annual re:Invent conference in Las Vegas, which has attracted some 50,000 attendees from around the world.
“We’re proud to be bringing an AWS partner award home to New Zealand and to be recognised amongst the 100,000 partners who are part of the AWS partner network. We’re excited to continue building our relationship with AWS, working together to challenge the status quo when it comes to data security,” DataMasque founder and chief executive Grant de Leeuw told the Herald.
Another Kiwi firm, fintech Cogo, which helps its users track emissions-friendly spending, was a finalist in the same category.
In September, as his firm raised just under $3 million in a seed round (from an investor he met at an earlier AWS event) de Leeuw framed DataMasque as New Zealand’s first homegrown data security company.
The firm says its tech pulls the rug out from under global cyber criminals by replacing actual customer information with realistic-looking data that is fake.
Businesses have traditionally borrowed sensitive consumer data in its testing phase, creating an unnecessary vulnerability. This is something DataMasque has fixed by replacing customer data with “synthetic” alternatives, which serve the same purpose for a company without providing new fodder for “digital ram raiders”, as the firm puts it.
“We find sensitive data and replace it with realistic data that looks and acts like the real thing but is fully synthetic,” de Leeuw said.
The software firm was founded in mid-2021. Though small - with 12 staff - it rapidly acquired some big-name clients, including the Best Western hotel group, which includes 18 brands and 4700 hotels worldwide.’
DataMasque is taking advantage of global changes in the privacy space, much like First AML born out of global regulatory change in the AML space. The security standard ISO 27001 recently included data masking to its requirements for businesses, which has also helped the Auckland company to secure other major international clients such as Cohesity, and domestic and foreign government departments.
“DataMasque runs much faster than our internal solution, taking just two hours as opposed to six to eight previously,” said Joseph Landucci, director of technology management for Best Western, in a case study published by Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Resolution Life, the London-based multinational that owns AMP, is another hero customer.
DataMasque is also doing “quite a bit” for three government departments here (which de Leeuw can’t name publicly, but he shared their identity with the Herald and they are large and top-tier), plus two government agencies across the Tasman.
“AWS has been a fantastic partner for us. It’s been a very fruitful relationship,” de Leeuw said.
His startup has some services hosted on the Amazon service, but he’s primarily referring to its AWS Marketplace, which has proved an efficient vehicle for his company to reach global customers.
“Our opportunities are primarily coming in through AWS and Cohesity [a specialist platform for data security].”
DataMasque has also recently joined Microsoft’s Azure Marketplace.
Amazon also delivered DataMasque’s first outside investor - Australian venture capital firm OIF Ventures, which led the $2.7m raise. OIF now holds a 29.4 per cent stake, according to the Companies Office.
“OIF approached us. They’d heard about us through an AWS conference in Australia.”
It was a natural fit, given OIF (Our Innovation Fund) is something of a security specialist, with existing investments including Kasada, which protects against automated bot attacks, and XM Cyber, which offers “exposure management”.
Icehouse Ventures also supported the raise.
“It was important to the organisation that we had Kiwi money as well,” de Leeuw said. Icehouse now has a 3.7 per cent stake.
His company will use the $2.7m in part to double its staff numbers.
The founder sees rapid expansion ahead. The cybersecurity industry is growing at a rapid clip overall as threats escalate. De Leeuw said AI is increasing the risk, as it makes it easier for previously so-so hackers to put together the tools for more sophisticated attacks.
But, more specifically, opportunity has been created through the key global security standard ISO 27001 that was recently being updated to include mandatory data masking - with both the new requirement and the name used for it falling nicely into DataMasque’s hands.
De Leeuw said the Kiwi firm’s main competition is “usually people using sensitive customer data where they shouldn’t be”.
Many of those who’ve been winging it will now have to choose a solution. There are some 50,000 organisations accredited to the recently tightened ISO 27001 standard.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.


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Shamrock Expands With Digital Consulting, Audio Production
July 8, 2010 at 6:40 AM (PT)
SHAMROCK MEDIA GROUP is expanding its services to Digital Consulting and Audio Production. SHAMROCK will tap into the expertise of its new AC National Promotions Manager CHRIS LANEY, who served most recently as Digital Strategist with RADIO TRAINING NETWORK, and founder CHRIS CHICAGO in Audio Production.
“I have only been part of the SHAMROCK team for a month now but quickly realized the potential that lies underneath this already well developed company. CHICAGO is extremely knowledgeable and talented and I’m excited to see where this takes us,” said LANEY.
CHICAGO will expand his successful audio production on a commercial level. He is currently founder and host of HYPE RADIO WITH C-DUB CHRIS CHICAGO, the #1 syndicated Christian Hip-Hop show. HYPE RADIO airs in more than 125 markets and three countries.


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NOVATO, Calif. (BRAIN) — The Mike's Bikes Foundation, a non-profit founded by retailer Ken Martin, has teamed up with San Diego specialty retail chain Bicycle Warehouse to send more than 400 donated bikes to Africa. The bikes, along with helmets and bike parts, have been shipped to Botswana and will be distributed to a network of Mike's Bikes' sister shops and given to children, students, AIDS charity workers, commuters and aspiring bike racers.
The Mike's Bikes Foundation is dedicated to promoting bicycling as sustainable transportation in sub-Saharan Africa, and since 2007, it has shipped more than 11,000 bikes — many of which were donated by Mike's Bikes customers. Some of the retailer's vendors and suppliers have also sent overstock bikes to Africa to support the cause.
But over the years, the program's success and subsequent demand for bikes has stripped the Northern California used bike market, so Martin reached out to his fellow retailers to host bike drives in other regions.
"The bicycle is the most efficient transportation device ever created, and it's the absolute perfect solution for Africa," said Martin. "But as this idea caught on, our project became a victim of its own success, and we just couldn't supply bikes fast enough. I challenged Mike and Debbe (of Bicycle Warehouse) to run their own bike drive and they jumped in right away. This model of collaboration between shops is just awesome and I want to replicate it in other markets."
Bicycle Warehouse owners Debbe and Mike Simmons decided to get involved with the project, and began collecting donated bikes at all six of their stores. When they ran out of room to store the bikes, the Simmons built a storage unit to house them. Debbe Simmons said the Bicycle Warehouse staff and customers have rallied behind the ongoing project. "This will be an ongoing venture for us because it has been so well received by the community," said Simmons. "Many times our guests decide to buy a new bike instead of repairing an old one. We now have a perfect way to give their older bikes new purpose while improving lives."
Bicycle Warehouse has collected enough bikes to fill one container with donated bikes and the Simmons plan to continue collecting to fill at least one more. The first container left San Diego on May 8 and is expected to arrive in Botswana's capital of Gaborone on July 17.
All 11 Mike's Bikes Bay Area stores are also continuing to collect bikes, but the Mike's Bikes Foundation is working to partner with more retailers to expand the project's reach. To learn more about the foundation, visit mikesbikesafrica.com.


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– Stephanie McMahon has officially started an Instagram account. You can follow her updates at Instagram.com/StephanieMcMahon. So far she only has two photos on the account, one of which is a shot of she and Triple H on their way to today’s WrestleMania XXX press conference in New York City.
– Chris Jericho revealed his guests for his “Talk Is Jericho” podcasts this week. Jericho tweeted the following:
This week on @TalkIsJericho: Wed-LaJon Witherspoon of @Sevendust Fri-@ReyMysterio Plus more @WWE theme lyrics, & Egypt’s Mania predictions!
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) April 1, 2014
– The following is the official trailer for the “Ultimate Warrior: The Ultimate Collection” DVD, which is available in stores today.
**CLICK HERE** For The Absolute BEST WrestleMania XXX News Coverage ALL WEEK!!


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BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - Port Canaveral is finalizing some major expansion plans and WFTV’s Melanie Holt found out deals with two major cruise lines could bring many more passengers and millions of additional dollars to central Florida
On Thursday Port Canaveral CEO John Walsh was celebrating 24 years of Carnival cruises in central Florida with a barbeque. Walsh is looking forward to finalizing deals that will keep Royal Caribbean in port for at least 10 more years, and create a new homeport for a Norwegian cruise ship.
Walsh said he expects it to bring more people through the airport who maybe would plan an extended stay in central Florida.
“Folks maybe add several days into the theme parks in central Florida.”
Residents said the new homeport could be a good way to drive more tourists into Brevard County.
“I think it'll be great for the area for getting more traffic, getting people to visit even the Cocoa Beach area,” resident Cathy Sterling said.
A single ship can generate a million and a half to $5 million on port fees alone.
“The home ship has about 1,500 jobs associated with it on the docks in the terminals, bus and transportation drivers, hotels,” Walsh said.
The deals the port's board will likely finalize next month could mean a 25 percent increase in traffic at the port by 2015. At its current rate of expansion, the port is predicting it will have six million passengers by 2017, which may allow it to overtake port Miami as the world's busiest cruise port.


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FORT MYERS — Women's retailer Chico's FAS says it plans to pay a 5.25 cents-per-share cash dividend on June 25.
The quarterly payout, which will be paid to Chico's shareholders of record on June 11, is 5% higher than the dividend the company paid in June 2011.
Chico's initiated the company's quarterly cash dividend in March 2010 at 4 cents per share. It was the company's first dividend since its shares became publicly traded in 1993.
Chico's reported net income rose 25% last year to $144.4 million compared with the prior year on nearly $2.2 billion in sales.
The company operates about 1,300 stores through its flagship Chico's brand as well as White House | Black Market and Soma Intimates. The company acquired online and catalog retailer Boston Proper last year.


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Amazon and Google want to shake up the skies, so their delivery drones can take off.
Welcome to NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field. We are in the shadow of historic Hangar One in the heart of Silicon Valley. Google’s just a little bit over there, Yahoo and LinkedIn are over there. This is the wrap and we start off with the top three things you need to know this week.
Windows 10 is out! A few diehards queued up at Microsoft stores, but most were downloading the new OS when on Wednesday. It’s available as a free upgrade to Windows 7 and 8.1 users. There’s a lot riding on this for Microsoft, which relies on Windows to keep users in its ecosystem. Head over to our sister site, PC World, for Windows 10 guides, reviews, videos and a lot more.
This is Aquila, Facebook’s Internet drone. It’s as wide as a 737 but weighs less than a car and its first test flight should be later this year. Fleets of the drones will deliver Internet via 4G LTE or WiFi from 90,000 feet and they’ll all be connected back to the Internet via laser. Facebook wants to bring connectivity to underserved regions.
And over the Samsung where the company is planning to cut the price of the S6 and S6 Edge in some countries to increase demand. Sales of the flagship smartphone haven’t been going as well as hoped and the company is losing ground to Apple. It says a new large-screen smartphone is coming — look for that announcement on August 13, when Samsung holds an event in New York.
In depth this week, drones. It’s the reason we are here at Moffett Field. Everyone wants to put them in the air delivering packages, taking photographs, inspecting bridges. In the futue, the skies of the future could be full of them and that brings safety concerns.
Amazon wants a slice of low-altitude airspace set aside for delivery drones. Google, also speaking here, said it wants computer control systems that will identify and approve every drone flight.
NASA is working on an air traffic management system with the FAA and this is all due to be worked out in the next few years. But it can’t come soon enough for the big guys, which are eager to start using drones commercially.
We’ve seen some interesting drone demos. This one was 3D printined on board the USS Essex. The Navy is investigating designing custom drones on land, emailing files to ships and printing them on demand.
From Moffett Field, I’m Martyn Williams, and that’s a wrap.


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Havertys profit doubles in quarter as sales rise 12.9%
ATLANTA — Top 100 retailer Havertys said second-quarter profits more than doubled on a 12.9% increase in sales.
The company, which has 119 stores in the South and Midwest, said same-store sales rose 11.2% and the average ticket was up 7.7%.
Net sales for the three months ended June 30 were $171.1 million, up from $151.5 million in last year's second quarter.
Net income totaled $4.83 million or 21 cents per share. That was up from $2.36 million or 11 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
"Our initiatives to improve the productivity of our stores and the efficiency of our operations continue delivering positive results," said Clarence Smith, chairman, president and CEO. "The execution of our marketing and merchandising strategies increased our average sales ticket and improved store traffic."
He said housing sales, a key growth driver, are growing in the regions served by Havertys stores.
"We believe our financial strength and positioning of the Havertys brand will allow us to outpace our competition as housing and employment improves," Smith added.
For the six months ended June 30, sales rose 13.4% to $357.2 million. Same-stores sales were up 11.3% and the average ticket increased 10.3%.
Six-month net income was $13.1 million, or 58 cents per share. That was up from $4.82 million, or 22 cents per share, in the first half of 2012.
The company said it expects a 2% drop in selling space during 2013 because three stores were closed in the first half of the year, and several others are in the midst of remodeling and expansion.


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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Detectives from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department are searching for the men responsible for robbing a convenience store in south Charlotte.
The incident happened shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday, October 18 at the Circle K on South Blvd. in south Charlotte.
Police said one of the suspects entered the store prior to committing the robbery and purchased a piece of candy. A few minutes later, the man returned with an accomplice.
“Both suspects entered the store. One had an assault rifle, pointed it at the victim, demanded cash from the victim,” said detective Adrian Johnson with the CMPD Crime Stoppers.
The surveillance footage shows the men go behind the store counter and confront the store clerk. The rifle is clearly visible in the surveillance video.
“A lot of suspects, they have guns that we don’t even carry, so when we see those guns, we can only imagine what other people feel,” said Johnson.
The detective said the men demanded money from the store safe, but the clerk couldn’t get the safe open so she got the suspects money from the cash register.
“The suspects were demanding and were very aggressive with this victim. They pushed her around, shoved her to the floor,” said Johnson.
The surveillance footage shows one of the men throw the woman to the ground as she tried to make her way to the front door of the store. Johnson said the woman was not seriously hurt.
“It seems like they’ve done this before. That’s why it’s very important to us that we identify these suspects and put them in jail. We’re looking for the community’s help on this case,” said the detective.
Police said one of the suspects stands around 5′4″, has a thin build, and appears to be in his late teens or early 20s. The other suspect was described as standing close to 6′2″ and having a heavyset build. He was wearing a Nike sweatshirt and Nike shoes at the time of the robbery.
Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600. Tipsters can remain anonymous and they can receive a cash reward if they have information that leads to an arrest.


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Malawi is in the business of revival, be it creating Southern Africa’s newest safari destination by repopulating its epic wildernesses, opening a heritage hotel as a window to the grandeur of the colonial age or ushering travellers to its lakeside...
African Parks in the News
Source: National Geographic
Source: Business Insider
The Business Insider teamed up with the luxury travel agency, Original Travel, to find the hottest spots the elite are spending their money on in...
Catherine Marshall travels to Odzala-Kokoua National Park and reports on the park's long history and the opportunities available to travelers who wish to experience this pristine wilderness.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Some of Africa’s most exciting new destinations are in the wildest corners thanks to the ambitious conservation non-profit, African Parks. Here’s why you should add...
Source: The New York Times
African Parks if featured in the New York Times in an article by Patrick Adams that discusses the collaboration between wildlife authorities and nonprofit organizations...
Source: South China Morning Post
Bazaruto Archipelago National Park and African Parks featured in the South China Morning Post as a spectacular travel destination for 2019.
Source: Conde Nast Traveler
African Parks’ CEO and co-founder, Peter Fearnhead, has been listed by Conde Nast Traveler as one of the 44 people who are changing the way...
Source: Hideaway Report
The Editor of Hideaway Report describes Zakouma National Park, Chad, as one of 2019's most novel and enriching experiences.
Source: CNN Travel
Akagera National Park is featured as one of Rwanda’s luxury travel destinations in an article by CNN Travel. The article also features the One&Only Nyungwe...
Chris Carter picks some of the best new travel openings in 2019. Ranging from islands in Vietnam to Peru’s ancient cultures, Carter also features Zakouma...
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Pete Lau, co-founder of OnePlus, has released the phone’s features ahead of its rumoured January 11 launch in China. The camera, battery, and SoC of the flagship smartphone are all listed among the specifications. The display size and storage combinations that the phone will be available in have yet to be officially disclosed. It is one of just a few smartphones to include the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, which was just revealed. It will be available in at least two colours.
OnePlus is now revealing the camera features of the OnePlus 10 Pro.
Before we get into the functionality of the camera, let’s go through the technical characteristics. OnePlus has only announced that the OnePlus 10 Pro would have a 48MP+50MP+8MP dual-camera configuration on the back. We now know the Field of View figure for the secondary camera (150°) thanks to this latest information release.
The OnePlus 10 Pro’s camera system is highlighted by its Hasselblad partnership, which includes features like as the OnePlus Billion Color Solution and Hasselblad Pro Mode with RAW+. There’s also a new Movie Mode, and the 150° ultra-wide lens opens up new possibilities.
10-bit color photography: OnePlus Billion Color Solution
The OnePlus 10 Pro is the company’s first smartphone to provide 10-bit colour photography across all three of its back cameras. However, this isn’t the first phone to do so; the OPPO Find X3 Pro did the same. The OnePlus 10 Pro’s 10-bit colour photography will provide a larger gamut coverage, resulting in smoother colour transitions and fewer instances of colour banding.
Second Generation Hasselblad Pro Mode
The second-generation Hasselblad Pro Mode will be included with the OnePlus 10 Pro, allowing 12-bit RAW photography from all three rear cameras. There’s also RAW+ support, which should produce both a JPEG and a RAW file at the same time, allowing you to capture any moment in both formats. This way, you may have a JPEG with all of the computational photography aspects from your smartphone, while also being able to access the RAW file later for editing.
150° ultra-wide camera
The 150° ultra-wide camera is perhaps the most striking feature of today’s presentation. This is one of the broadest ultra-wide cameras available on a current-generation smartphone, and you can use it in a new Fisheye Mode.
You may also snap photographs with a 110° field of view and AI distortion correction if you want a more classic appearance on the ultra-wide.
With the OnePlus 10 Pro, Movie Mode makes its debut on OnePlus smartphones. When in Movie Mode, users can now alter ISO, shutter speed, and other settings before and during video capture. You can also shoot in LOG format without a predetermined image profile, which is ideal for videographers.
The OnePlus 10 Pro will be released in China on January 11, 2022, and will eventually be released in North America, Europe, India, and other territories.
Here we also have Oneplus 10 Pro Live Wallpapers: Here
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We’ve noticed a trend of automakers largely sticking with their 2011 prices for 2012 models, but Acura has chosen to price its TSX sports sedan and wagon lineup a modest $200 higher than last year’s models.
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The Acura TLX GT will make its official debut for the Pirelli World Challege at the Detroit Grand Prix.
The all-new 2013 Acura RDX—Acura's premium compact crossover—began production this week at Honda's East Liberty manufacturing plant in Ohio alongside the new 2013 Honda CR-V and Honda Crosstour.
The outgoing Acura RDX was a wacky combination of turbocharged-engine, super-handling-all-wheel-drive, and more high-strung, niche technology than what we've seen in a Honda product in ages.


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Eurobike announced earlier this week that it would launch a bicycle trade show to be held in Portland, Oregon, in the fall of 2007. Exact dates are not yet known, but the show is intended to compete with Interbike, the current industry standard US trade show. Eurobike selected Portland for its reputation as a bike-friendly, major city.
The 25th annual Interbike Outdoor Demo and International Bicycle Expo were held during the last week of September 2006. Interbike boasted that this year's edition occupied the largest exhibit footprint in its history and an attendance increase of twelve percent to 22,000 compared to 2005.
Responding to Eurobike's announcement, Interbike's Lance Camisasca said, I was interested to hear the news of Eurobikes proposed show. We welcome competition, as it will help us do a better job. However, we are also greatly concerned about the dividing effect Eurobikes announcement may have on the industry. Many will remember the time when the industry suffered through multiple shows resulting in additional expense and heartache."
We understand the Interbike show may not be perfect, but we have always tried to listen to retailers, exhibitors, and advocacy groups to improve the show and to help the industry grow," said Camisasca, who then promised to do "everything we can to make Interbike the best show for the North American market.


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THE overhaul of welfare in America may seem complicated, but it has been simple compared with the challenge in Iraq. In the United States, the people who relied on public assistance were defined as the underclass. In Iraq, they're the entire nation.
To Saddam Hussein, a culture of dependency was not a social problem but a political plus. Father Saddam, as he liked to be called, provided citizens with subsidized homes, cheap energy and, most important, free food. After international sanctions were imposed on Iraq in 1990, he started a program that now uses 300 government warehouses and more than 60,000 workers to deliver a billion pounds of groceries every month -- a basket of rations guaranteed to every citizen, rich or poor.
American and Iraqi authorities are now struggling to get out of the grocery-delivery business without letting anyone go hungry. They're trying to find a politically practical way of replacing the rations with cash payments or some version of food stamps. Planners would ultimately like to see the aid given only to the needy, but for starters they would simply like to get all Iraqis accustomed to shopping for themselves.
''We need to replace the food program and attack the dependency culture created by Saddam Hussein,'' said Barham Salih, the prime minister of a Kurdish section of northern Iraq, which also receives the rations. ''This culture has become one of the biggest obstacles to rebuilding Iraq. Everybody expects the U.S. to turn on its supercomputer and make all of our problems go away, but we should be learning to do things by ourselves.''
You can get a sense of the challenge facing reformers by visiting Zayuna, one of Baghdad's most affluent neighborhoods. While many Iraqis -- 60 percent of the population, by some estimates -- depend heavily on the food rations, the residents of Zayuna generally do not.Continue reading the main story
In fact, many of them disdain the items in the basket, which includes rice, flour, beans, sugar, oil, salt, powdered milk, tea, soap and laundry detergent. But most residents still make sure to collect -- or have their servants collect -- their monthly rations from the program's agent operating in their neighborhood.
Then they take the items they don't want and drive to a roadside kiosk at the nearby Thulatha market, where vendors are legally allowed to buy the rationed groceries and resell them to less picky consumers. After the citizens sell their government-issued groceries, they either pocket the cash or apply the proceeds toward the purchase of better products available at the market, like olive oil to replace the cheaper soy oil.
To an outsider watching people make these exchanges, it might seem odd for people in Mercedeses and BMW's to be profiting from government food aid, especially since the original justification for the aid has vanished. The program began as an emergency response to United Nations trade sanctions, and was later supplemented with provisions from the separate oil-for-food program of the United Nations. Even though the sanctions have ended, the program is still considered indispensable.
''It would be a disaster if the program ended,'' said Haidar Hassan, one of the vendors at the market, and he was not merely speaking of his own business as a middleman. ''If the government did not give out all this rice, there would be a shortage of rice in the market.'' He predicted the price of a kilogram (about two pounds) would quadruple from its current price of 10 cents.
His clientele was similarly alarmed. ''My economic situation is good, but even I could not afford the new higher prices if they stopped the program,'' said Thaeir Ezadden, a police captain whose salary had recently more than quintupled, to $150 per month, thanks to the new pay scales instituted by American authorities.
Mr. Ezadden said he might be willing to go along with one change currently being considered -- giving everyone cash payments instead of rations -- but only if it was accompanied by more central planning.
''If they gave out money instead of food,'' he said, ''the Americans would have to establish an office in the Ministry of Trade to control all the food prices. Otherwise businessmen would import food and make a profit with high prices. The Americans should also give jobs to everyone who needs one.''
Economists, while acknowledging the need for protecting consumers during the transition, say that a market economy would provide food much more cheaply and efficiently than the current government-run system. But the American and Iraqi officials in charge of the program know that economists' arguments are not going to assuage the fears of citizens who have forgotten how the market works.
''We want to phase out the rations program, but we must take into account the concerns of our most vulnerable citizens,'' said Fakhrldin Rashan, the acting officer in charge of the Ministry of Trade. ''The transition to a different system of payments must be done slowly.''
Planners are considering gradually replacing some groceries with cash welfare payments or some version of food stamps that could be redeemed at local markets. Besides giving shoppers more choices, the change would also help Iraqi merchants and farmers, because consumers would presumably buy more local fruits and vegetables instead of relying on the many imported foods in their rations.
Mr. Rashan said no major changes in the program would take place before next year, although one small part of it will be privatized soon. The drivers who now deliver the food to government warehouses will essentially be given their trucks and then paid as independent contractors instead of as government employees.
But that still leaves close to 20,000 other government employees in the food program, plus another 45,000 distributors who dole out the food at neighborhood storefronts. Any change in the program is sure to bring protests from the affected workers as well as from citizens accustomed to having their shopping done for them.
''People expected the Americans to come in and create a better rations system,'' said Robin Raphel, a State Department official who has advised Iraq's Trade Ministry. ''But we can never make the system work as well as it did when the whole country was a command-and-control system run from the center, and even then it was profoundly inefficient. We want to introduce market forces and get people used to making their own decisions.''
After Iraqis adjust to shopping for themselves with food stamps or welfare payments, planners would like to wean the more affluent citizens from any kind of aid. But no one expects American or Iraqi officials to take that step anytime soon.
''We have to be very careful with our food program,'' said Mr. Rashan, of the Trade Ministry. ''We already have enough social and political problems in this country. We don't want to create any more.''
Mr. Rashan, incidentally, said that he himself has not been picking up rations for the past several months, but not out of any ideological qualms.
''I've been so busy with the new responsibilities here that I haven't had time to pick up the basket,'' he said. ''But I hope I'll find the time next month.''Continue reading the main story


text: The iWatch rumor mill has grown suspiciously quiet over the past month, but the latest report might be the most exciting and substantial yet. According to C Technology, inside sources say that Apple’s smartwatch will be revealed alongside the next iPhone in October 2014. The report also states that Apple is making solid progress with its wearable prototypes, which currently feature 100 mAh batteries and the ability to charge wirelessly from up to one meter away from the charging station. As C Technology points out, the battery seems oddly small in its current state, especially considering the 315 mAh battery in the Galaxy Gear. Of course, this is only a prototype, and the battery will likely see an increase in size in the final model. That said, despite the larger battery of the Galaxy Gear, plugging the Gear into its charging cradle is a nightmare, so the wireless charging capabilities of the iWatch will be a welcome change.


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Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel's net consolidated profit zoomed 466.8% to ₹1,607 crore for the April-June period of FY23 on strong and consistent performance across the portfolio. The telco's net income before exceptional items for Q1 FY23 was ₹1,517 crore.
India's second-largest telecom service provider reported consolidated quarterly revenue of ₹32,805 crore, up 22.2% YoY, shows the company's stock exchange filing.
Bharti Airtel's India revenue was up 23.8% to ₹23,319 crore, while the Africa revenue for April-June rose 15.3% YoY. "ARPU (average revenue per user) for the quarter came in at ₹183 as compared to ₹146 in Q1’22. This is an outcome of the company’s focus on acquiring and retaining quality customers and a relentless obsession with customer experience," says Airtel.
Bharti Airtel's mobile services India revenues rose 27.4% YoY, led by an increase in ARPU and strong 4G customer additions during the three months. The consolidated EBITDA for the quarter was ₹16,604 crore, while the EBITDA margin rose 50.6%, up 150 bps YoY.
Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, says Bharti Airtel continues to deliver strong and sustained growth at 4.5% sequentially. " EBITDA margins are now at 50.6%. Our enterprise and homes business has strong momentum and delivered strong double-digit growth, improving the diversity of the overall portfolio. Airtel’s strategy of winning with quality customers continues to yield good results with an industry-beating ARPU at ₹183," he adds.
Bharti Airtel says it has the widest mobile broadband footprint across the country. During the recently-concluded auction for high-speed 5G spectrum, Airtel says it "acquired 19,867.8 MHz spectrum by securing a pan India footprint of 3.5 GHz, 26 GHz bands and selectively bolstering low & mid-band spectrum" for around ₹43,040 crore.
As per Airtel, this will ensure it would not need to spend any material sum on the spectrum for many years to come. "Specifically on 700 MHz band, we have enough mid-band spectrum to cater to 5G roll out and hence have been judicious on acquiring very high-cost sub-GHz spectrum," says the company.
The company's overall customer base stands at 49.7 crore across 16 countries. This includes the Indian customer base at 36.2 crore, while the rest is in Africa.
Airtel says it added 20.8 Mn 4G customers to its network over last year, an increase of 11.3% YoY. The average data usage per mobile data customer stands at 19.5 GBs per month, while the voice usage per customer is at 1,104 mins per month, says Airtel.
Besides, Airtel says it rolled out an additional 8,000 towers in the quarter. The company's home business also grew at 41.9% YoY, led by healthy additions of 1.4 million customers YoY to reach a total base of 4.79 million.
On Airtel Business, the company says it accelerated its momentum with 15.2% YoY growth on more account additions and offering a full set of products and solutions. Digital TV had a base of 17.4 million customers. On the digital ecosystem, Bharti Airtel says it has a "robust customer base of over 185 Mn across our key digital assets – Thanks, Xstream and Wynk”.
Ahead of the quarterly earning announcement, Bharti Airtel stock had surged 0.18% to ₹704.95 on the National Stock Exchange.


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Google has brought a set of new filters termed ‘Real Tone’ in Google Photos. The ideology that lies for the fresh filters is to reflect the true shade of the skin. The US manufacturer has officially announced the new rollout on its Twitter handle.
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Back in time, Google initially introduced the filters as Monk Skin Tone scale for the Pixel 6 series. At that time, the company was working on the optical elements of the respective device to capture the images with more accurate skin tones.
Later, the US tech maker announced at the I/O 2022 event that it will push off the Monk Skin Tone scale to the Google Photos as ‘Real Tone’ filters. Thus, the new filters will help in identifying the real shades of the skin more inclusively. At present, the bundle of fresh filters is rolling out to Android, iOS, and web users.
Real Tone Filters
As the feature becomes active, users will find several new options in the ‘Filters’ tab. For instance, Playa, Isla, Honey, and Desert. Once you click on any of these new filters, you will find a tagline mentioned as ‘Made with Real Tone’. Further, every filter has some adjustments to bring more enhancement to the image manually.
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Bitcoin will replace gold as the ultimate financial safe haven within a generation, predicts the chief executive of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory and fintech organizations, according to the information shared with Finbold.com.
The prediction from Nigel Green, the CEO and founder of deVere Group, comes as growing geopolitical uncertainty, including Brexit and the U.S. presidential election, and central banks’ historic money printing policies, amongst other issues, are prompting many investors to urgently rebalance their portfolios.
He has commented that for thousands of years, gold has been the ultimate financial safe haven.
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“It’s always been the go-to asset [gold] in times of political, social and economic uncertainty as it is expected to retain its value or even grow in value when other assets fall, therefore enabling investors to reduce their exposure to losses. Moving forward, older investors are likely to continue with gold, but millennials and Generation Z, who are so-called ‘digital natives’, can be expected to go for Bitcoin and other digital currencies instead.”
Mr. Green has also expressed his belief that the precious metal will lose its crown as the most sought-after reserve asset to Bitcoin within a generation – particularly because the biggest-ever generational transfer of wealth – likely to be more than $60tn – from baby boomers to millennials is already underway.
Mr Green continues: “Bitcoin’s key characteristics, such as its fixed supply and how transactions are immutable, distributed, non-sovereign and decentralized are highly attractive for investors in an uncertain but increasingly digitalized, tech-driven world.
“It has already earned it the label ‘digital gold’ and I believe its status in this regard will grow exponentially over the next year or two, especially with the economic fallout from COVID, central banks’ record-shattering levels of money-printing, heightening trade tensions between economic superpowers, and mounting social and political unrest.”
The deVere CEO concludes: “Until now, gold has been known as the ultimate safe-haven asset, but Bitcoin — which shares its key characteristics of being a store of value and scarcity — will take over.
“As the world turns ever-more digital and is more and more financially dominated by those who have grown up surrounded by technology, from an investment point of view, gold will increasingly be seen as a relic of the past.” -Mr. Green concluded.


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Express, a national retailer with four Indianapolis-area mall stores, plans to close about 100 stores as part of a restructuring plan as the chain grapples with drastic changes in where people spend their shopping dollars.
The retailer that caters to younger shoppers said earlier this month that it was laying of 10% of the staff at its Columbus, Ohio, headquarters and its New York City design studio.
The company did not identify which stores it plans to close.
Express Inc. said Wednesday that it can cut its costs by $80 million annually, partially through the store closures, nine of which took place in 2019. It plans to close another 31 stores this year, and 35 more by the end of next year.
The retailer has local stores at Circle Center, Greenwood Park Mall, Castleton Square and Clay Terrace. It also has a store in College Mall in Bloomington and at Indiana Premium Outlets in Edinburgh.
It was not immediately clear how that would affect the employees at those stores. Staff in Columbus and New York were provided severance pay and ongoing benefits.
Express operates about 600 stores. Its sales and profit growth have slid over the past three years.
Clothing retailers, particularly those in malls, have been devastated by changing consumer behavior. More than 9,000 stores were shuttered last year.
Shares jumped 20%, to almost $5 each in afternoon trading.
Limited Brands opened the first Express store in 1980 as women’s clothier “Limited Express” in Chicago’s Water Tower Place. The company went public in 2010.


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Analyst Insight: Data is important to businesses in formulating strategies, streamlining operations, introducing new products and services, and ensuring customer satisfaction. But data alone isn’t much good unless it’s analyzed, understood and acted upon. Data analysis is benefiting from new technology tools by allowing analysts to dig more deeply into supply chains. At the same time, human judgment remains the most important element in analysis.
Analyst Insight: The current and dominant state of supply-chain finance funding has proved to be unsustainable, given the increasingly global nature of today’s supply chains and economic volatility. The result has been a move away from single-funder, bank-led supply-chain finance programs to multi-funder programs that ensure all currencies and jurisdictions are covered.
The latest carrier survey by Transporeon reveals some surprising trends in pricing — ones that the carriers themselves didn't entirely anticipate, notes director of business development Patrick Pretorius.


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BUDGET 2018 maintained a strong emphasis on SMEs as industry observers note a bigger allocation for the sector compared with 2017. However, many also note that a cut in corporate tax was sorely lacking.
“I think there is more allocation than 2017. There were some good moves by the Government such as the RM7bil allocated under the Skim Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan (SJPP), and more funds given for export activities.
“But the one disappointment is the lack of announcement on reduction in corporate tax. We were expecting a gradual rollback of corporate tax of 1% per annum from 2015 to 2020 following the introduction of the GST. But there was none this year,” says Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia national council member and SME and HRD committee chairman Koong Lin Loong.
At the very least, he was expecting the threshold of taxable income for SMEs to increase from RM500,000 to RM1mil.
For 2017, SMEs with a paid-up capital of RM2.5mil and below saw a cut in tax rate to 18% from 19% for taxable income up to the first RM500,000. Corporate tax for SMEs was reduced from 20% to 19% under Budget 2016.
In a statement, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) adds that reducing the rates would make Malaysia, which has a corporate tax of 24%, as competitive as neighbouring countries such as Hong Kong (17%), Singapore (18%), Thailand (20%) and Vietnam (20%).
Nonetheless, Budget 2018 promotes a conducive market for SMEs through easier access to funding and support for export and talent development.
“The manufacturing sector is pleased that a lot of emphasis has been given to industry, trade, Industry 4.0, the digital economy, education and training,” says FMM.
International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the emphasis placed on SMEs would ensure that the sector would remain competitive.
“The Bbudget continues to empower our SMEs and for the first time ever, they receive a big boost of RM23.7bil in terms of allocation, grants, soft loans and guarantees,” he said.
“This time, we can definitely see more funding for SMEs. It is a good budget, it covers every angle,” adds SME Association of Malaysia president Datuk Michael Kang.
Among the goodies dished out for SMEs include RM7bil in funds under SJPP for working capital and services sector and RM1bil in government guarantee loans under SJPP to enable SMEs to automate their production.
There was also a notable focus on exports with an allocation of, among others, RM150mil to Matrade, Mida and SME Corp for export and promotional programmes, including the much welcomed Market Development Grant (MDG). This will help SMEs expand their exports and take advantage of the favourable exchange rates.
Kang says these funds and incentives would help accelerate SME contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). It is targeted that SMEs would contribute 41% of GDP by 2020.
Last year, SME contribution was about 36.6%, only a 0.3% increase from 36.3% in 2015. Kang estimates SME contribution to GDP this year to be at about 37%.
“SMEs have been faced with challenges over the last two years so the previous budgets for SMEs did not achieve as strong a growth as hoped for. So they will definitely need the boost,” says Kang.
One of the main issues faced by SMEs, he says, is the cost of labour.
“We hope this can be helped with automation so that we don’t depend too much on labour. So it’s good that there are measures for automation and also the 70% guarantee for loans by the Government,” he adds.
Meanwhile, Secretariat for the Advancement of Malaysian Entrepreneurs (SAME) chief executive officer Neil Foo says he was expecting more funds for the MDG and more incentives to encourage SMEs to go into e-commerce, particularly with the upcoming launch of the Digital Free Trade Zone.
“But this could just be a start to build up the infrastructure for DFTZ and e-commerce. There seems to be little concrete things for SMEs in this respect at the moment but it doesn’t meant that this is not a good start,” he says.
Foo, however, welcomes the additional RM50mil funding to Koperasi Jayadiri Malaysia Bhd (Kojadi) and the attention on the tourism sector.
“With the RM50mil, we now have RM200mil. We have helped about 800 SMEs. With additional funds, we expect to help more,” he says.
The Prime Minister has declared 2020 as Visit Malaysia Year and among the allocation made for tourism include RM2bil for SME Tourism Fund with interest subsidy of 2% and tax incentive for investment in new four-star and five-star hotels extended for two years as well as tax incentive for tour operating companies extended to Dec 31, 2020.
“Budget 2018 is a continuation of the ‘SME budget’ since 2014. It’s a good continuation programme for SME.
“We encourage SMEs to utilise any grant available to digitalise their companies,” says Foo.
Source :The Star Daily


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Real inflation is already two-digit: what’s next
On the eve of 17 December, analysts thought the key rate would rise to 8,5% again at a meeting of the Central Bank. Chairwoman of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina had noted as early as November that the key rate would have to grow again by the end of the year. It is necessary to tighten the monetary policy to control galloping inflation, which is getting out of control. In expectation of the key rate hike, banks raised deposit and loan rates. In his article, Realnoe Vremya’s columnist, economist with long-term banking experience Artur Safiulin writes that the price growth has lost touch with the regulator’s targets, the latter has to balance between the necessity of keeping prices and not destroying the beginnings of economic growth.
If inflation passed its peak, the rate will rise by 0,75%
The rate has already gradually risen by 3,25% since the beginning of the year, up from the record low of 4,25% in March to 7,5% in October. Moreover, the last increment was bigger than the market had expected. We saw the ruble get stronger, the stock market grew as a response to this decision. Earlier, a significant rise of the rate was in July when it climbed from 1% to 6,5%. As we see, the summer and autumn became a moment when the monetary policy was seriously tightened. From a purely economic perspective, it is the correct vector — the Central Bank should be thinking about macroeconomic stability, not the expansion of banks’ credit portfolios. Since real inflation is already two-digit despite the official statistics.
No analyst is expecting the rate to stay at the current level, the main question is how much it would rise. A 1% hike, to 8,5%, looked like a consensus. Annual inflation accelerated to 8,4%, moreover, in early December, the economic authorities claimed the previous outlooks didn’t become a reality and the price growth turned out bigger. The data on inflation, which will be published during the so-called week of silence (seven days to the meeting), will become a key factor to fix the rate hike. If inflation passed its peak, the rate will rise by 0,75%. If not, besides the 1% growth, there will be another surge in February 2022.
The press service of Ak Bars Bank noted: “Inflation in November reached the new peak of 8,4%. Obviously, the Central Bank will continue raising the key rate to achieve more stable control over inflation. By our estimates, the Central Bank will raise the rate by 100 pp to 8,5% in December. The growth of the key rate will lead to a further increase of credit and deposit rates, which will favour the population’s higher saving ratio and lower lending pace. Also, such a considerable rise of the rate as one of the main factors will back up the national currency rate. Therefore we won’t see big risks of the weakening ruble rate even amid the growth of geopolitical risks.”
Fight against recession is the main reason for galloping inflation
The situation with inflation in our economy remains strained — amid a high share of imports in food and non-food commodities, the global growth of prices for foods, the disruption of logistic chains and rise in transport expenses cannot help but influence consumer prices in the country.
The regulator notes that the decisions on the monetary policy influence the economy and inflation 3-6 quarters late. In fact, the changes that began in March must start yielding fruit soon. According to Nabiullina, the government must take inflation back to the target not to lose people’s trust. This indirectly proves that not everything is under control, there are problems. The Russian Federal Statistics Service says that annual inflation in early November was 8,07%, 8,14% down in October. Some experts assumed that it was the peak and the situation would stabilise later. But at the beginning of December, the number rose to 8,4%.
Judge yourself: when the Central Bank raised the rate by 1% in July (the biggest increase over the year), outlooks for annual inflations were corrected from 4,7-5,2% to 5,7-6,2%. In November, we were already above these forecasts, moreover, 2 points up. Also in July, the Central Bank thought that the return to 4-4,5% was possible only in 2022. This is simply impossible, even though inflation in the USA is over 5%. We enjoy the fruit of heavy rain of money thrown into markets to stimulate the pandemic-affected economy. The fight against recession is the main reason for galloping inflation around the world. And this is not only our problem.
The rate hike in the economy is bearing fruit: the growth of consumer lending is decelerating, savings on deposits are growing. But many experts doubt that the monetary policy alone can cope with inflation. Given the tone of the Central Bank’s statements this year, the price increase is conditioned mainly by stable factors — demand is outstripping supply. Earlier this year, the Central Bank considered that the rise in global prices for goods accelerated inflation, which was seen a temporary occurrence.
I would like to note that the population’s inflation expectations, according to the Central Bank’s survey, have increased from 13,6% to 14,8% in the last two months. In July, the Central Bank noted an improvement in food inflation and weakening of inflation pressure in June and July. The tone of the Central Bank’s comments then spoke about the limited potential of the rate rise. Autumn expectations and a further scheduled tightened monetary policy mean the Central Bank was in the early days to make favourable forecasts.
Generally speaking, given the current dynamics of price rise, one shouldn’t expect inflation to significantly decelerate till the end of the year — the price surge is far from the target of the Central Bank. Growing attractiveness of Russian assets is a plus, which will bring an influx of foreign capital to our financial markets, thus supporting the ruble. It isn’t ruled out that the ruble will be 69 rubles per dollar and 81 rubles per euro.
In conclusion, I would like to note that prices in Russia are growing constantly, all markets — from food to construction — are affected. The Central Bank has to balance: it is necessary to both keep the prices from growing and not to go too far here destroying the beginnings of economic growth. These processes have different vectors, they require accurate tuning. A balance between them hasn’t yet been found.
The author’s opinion does not necessarily coincide with the position of Realnoe Vremya’s editorial board.


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Consider us shaken, not stirred. MI6’s top agent will swoop onto the console scene soon enough. The latest video game featuring the UK’s most spectacular spy was just announced by IO Interactive, and “Project 007” promises to please everyone on the planet!
Agent 47 is back, looking more stunningly real than ever before. “Only death awaits” for all NPCs in “Hitman III” in January on the brand-new PlayStation 5.


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Brampton-born, Youssef Eid, has set out to make three changes in the GTA, combat poverty, grow local economy and expose consumers to ethically manufactured clothing.
The inspiration behind his business, Phil Anth Clothing, began on a trip the 17-year-old took to Aruba. While on vacation, Eid ventured into local towns and was shocked at the conditions people had to live in> it was a sharp contrast to what he had experienced in the resort he was staying in.
Witnessing others living in such an impoverished environment struck him and inspired him. He decided to take action and make change happen in his own community.
Two years ago, Eid started Phil Anth as his ongoing mission to help people living in poverty in the GTA through proceeds from each item sold in the Phil Anth store.
His journey began designing graphic t-shirts to raise money. He realized that this could be his opportunity to build a sustainable business that would help people.
Currently, Phil Anth’s product line features high quality essentials including basic t-shirts, polos, and henleys. Their current line is exclusively for men, but they are working on a foray into the women’s clothing market.Through Phil Anth Youssef has managed to shed light on the unethical practices of the clothing and fashion industry. Phil Anth’s transparent pricing outlines the real cost of the goods consumers are purchasing.
From the sustainably sourced materials, labour, and packaging, consumers are able to see the cost of every step including its retail markup. Phil Anth marks up its items 2% or less–a stark contrast to most items found in a regular retail store, generally at a markup of 30% or more. With Phil Anth, customers know exactly what goes into every product they purchase
Phil Anth’s ethical practices not only promotes transparency with consumers, but also supports the local economy. By manufacturing their products in Brampton, it provides employment opportunity for those in the local community. In doing so, Phil Anth can ensure the highest ethnical standards and employee practices in their factory.
Giving people in his community the opportunity to work and earn a living in a safe environment is one thing Youssef values.
With plans to continue expanding and growing his brand, we can expect great things in the future. Youssef hopes his journey will propel him to help those in need not just on a local level, but internationally also.


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International Maldives Travel Market (IMTM) has extended access to its virtual platform, IMTMAir for two more days (18th November and 19th November 2020). IMTM made this decision to extend access due to positive feedback. And also requests to allow participants of IMTM 2020 to further interact and build connections with other parties.
Participants of IMTM now have more time to interact with businesses. So, this allows businesses to build up current business connections and make new connections as well.
At the IMTM 2020 virtual fair, held on 16th and 17th November, multiple seminars were also conducted. The Digital Media Partner of IMTM 2020, Dhiraagu, provided a briefing on their products. This focused on assistance in hospitality with Digital Solutions for Businesses in the Hospitality Industry.
Meanwhile, on the second day of the event, experts in the field of rural tourism development from China, Malaysia, Bhutan, and the Maldives held a webinar on Fostering Rural Tourism Development. The webinar allowed each speaker from the respective countries to share and exchange views. The speakers also shared knowledge on a variety of methods adopted and experienced in their countries.
Speakers at IMTM 2020
- Chair of Maldives PATA Chapter, Mr. Abdulla Ghiyas
- Vice President of Guesthouse Association of the Maldives (GAM), Mr. Sameeu Imad
- Former Secretary-General of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture of Malaysia, Tan Sri Dr. Ong Hong Peng
- Assistant Director of Monitoring Centre for Sustainable Tourism Observatories, Sun Yat-sen University, China, Ms. Jiang Jiawei
- Head of Tourism Promotion Division, Tourism Council of Bhutan, Mr. Damcho Rinzin
The Advisor on Asia tourism and former director for Asia and the Pacific of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Mr. Xu Jing, was the moderator for the webinar session.
IMTM is the first Virtual B2B Exhibition on the Travel & Tourism industry in the Maldives. Moreover, the biggest fair in the Maldives is taking place on IMTMair; a brand new platform, which allows all the participants of the event to interact and also connect. Visit IMTMAir by clicking HERE.


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News tagged: 'Galaxy J6 Prime'
We have come across enough evidence in the past couple of months showing that Samsung is working on a larger variant of the Galaxy J6, believed to be the Galaxy J6+. Device certifications show the same model might be sold as the Galaxy J6 Prime in some markets. The device was supposed to be just […]read more »
Samsung is preparing a Galaxy J6 variant called the Galaxy J6 Prime, something that was revealed through various appearances of a device with the model number SM-J610F. We have now been able to get hold of the complete spec sheet of the Galaxy J6 Prime, which may also be launched in some markets as the […]read more »
Certifications and support pages have revealed that Samsung is gearing up to launch the Galaxy J6 Plus in the near future. There is also evidence showing that the company will market this model as the Galaxy J6 Prime in some markets. While the ‘Plus’ suffix is a hint for what to expect from this device, […]read more »
We reported about a new Galaxy device with the model number SM-J610F that surfaced at the FCC last week. It was believed to be the rumored Galaxy J6+, but the FCC listing mentions the device name as the Galaxy J6 Prime. Interestingly, the same model has now been spotted on the Bluetooth SIG website as the […]read more »
It was reported not too long ago that Samsung might have a new Galaxy J6 variant in the pipeline bearing model number SM-J610F. The handset has now been certified by the FCC and the listing confirms reports that this device is going to be launched as the Galaxy J6 Prime. It hasn’t been that long […]read more »
We reported about many upcoming Samsung budget and midrange smartphones a couple of weeks back. Two of them – the alleged Galaxy J4 Prime and Galaxy J6 Prime – have been now ‘confirmed’ by Samsung with references on its website. Support pages for model numbers SM-J415F and SM-J610F have been spotted on the Samsung Vietnam’s website. […]read more »
In a joint effort with our friends over at GalaxyClub, we can provide details about several upcoming Samsung handsets. A new version of the Galaxy A9 is heading to European markets, with several new J series devices coming to Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Galaxy A9 A new version of the Galaxy A9 is […]read more »


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A 24-YEAR-OLD woman who has a net worth of £192k has shared her savvy saving hacks and the four money mistakes you should stop making if you want to get ahead.
In her latest clip, she revealed the mistakes that she's made in the past, and they're pretty common things that many people do.
She also explains the difference between being frugal and being 'cheap', and why being cheap is worse off in the long run.
1. Stop buying cheap or bad quality devices and appliances
You might think that all appliances and devices do the same thing, so why spend more than you have to, right?
Well, according to Queenie, it's worth spending more money on any one item because buying cheap will often mean replacing it sooner, therefore, you'll be out of pocket even more.
The finance guru learnt the hard way when she bought her Sydney apartment in 2019. She settled for a cheap rangehood for her kitchen - but she seriously regrets it.
"We probably saved $100 (£55) by buying the cheaper model and I know I'm going to have to replace it as it doesn't do its job," Queenie said in the clip.
"I think it's a much better financial decision to spend a little bit more on something that will last you a longer amount of time."
She added: "If you buy something once, then you won't have to buy it three, four or even five times."
2. Be frugal, not cheap
While they might seem like the same thing, Queenie says there's a big difference between being frugal and being cheap.
"I strive to be frugal at all times," Queenie said. "I try to get the best deal, I try to reduce my bills, especially when it comes to things like the internet, electricity and phone."
The key is to know when to spend money and when to save - and treating family and friends to something nice, or enjoying a holiday, is okay, even if you're trying to save money.
The 24-year-old will save in other areas such as bills and unnecessary purchases such as shopping from convenient stores, which are always far more expensive than the supermarket.
3. Don't buy items that lose value
Queenie suggests never buying cars or furniture brand new, because they will always lose value in a matter of days.
Instead, she recommends Facebook Marketplace or other second-hand selling sites where you can find almost brand new pieces for a fraction of the price.
"Things like furniture and cars depreciate really quickly," she said. "I am a big Facebook Marketplace fan for furniture and always buy second-hand cars.
"When I'm looking for new furniture, I always head over to Facebook Marketplace because furniture depreciates rapidly and something that is brand new can sell for 50 per cent less than what it was bought for almost as soon as it gets home."
If you have the opportunity to do so, Queenie says investing in shares and property are good ways to make more money as they always appreciate in value.
4. Live below your means
If you want to be financially successful, Queenie says you should always live below your means.
"I know it can be really tempting to go out there and treat yourself as soon as you start earning extra money, but I think it's important to avoid increasing your lifestyle all that much when you get a raise," Queenie said.
By doing this, Queenie says you can save money and invest a lot more into your future rather than spending everything you have now.
Follow Fabulous' Instagram page for the hottest celebrity news, fashion, beauty and real life content @fabulousmag
Most read in Fabulous
Queenie previously revealed how she saves over £550 on groceries & bills a year – and you can too.
For more money-saving tips and ideas, a mum who cleared £40k debt reveals the ‘right’ amount of pocket money for kids to help teach them about cash.
In other news, this money-saving mum uses secret food website to save a fortune on groceries as she bags crisps for 10p & posh cereal for £1.


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Nokia has released some good Android phones with a handful of features. Nokia 8, Nokia 7 and Nokia 6 are the best smartphones from Nokia on Android platform known for their sleek and durable design. However, the upcoming Nokia 9 is said to be a worthy contestant for the likes of Mate 10, Galaxy S8 and even iPhone X. Leaks and rumors of the upcoming device had been surfacing during the whole year, but this new report from China seems to be something solid which claims that phone will be unveiled next month.
As reported by GSM Arena, HMD is planning to launch Nokia 9 in an event in China on January 19, 2018. The Nokia 9 is rumored to have 5.5-inch QHD display and Snapdragon 835 chipsets. The phone is also expected to have dual rear camera setup and IP67 certification for water and dust protection. The phone will have no headphone jack.
Moreover, Nokia 9 doesn’t come alone, along with it comes the Nokia 8 (2018) version. The next-gen Nokia 8 will also be made official during the same event. Both will be customized for China market, which likely entails special ROMs where Google services have been replaced by local alternatives. Both phones are likely to feature a panel with the bezel-less display of 18:9 aspect ratio.
The expected cost of Nokia 9 6GB/64GB model is $560, while the other 6GB/128GB variant will cost you $635. Well for those, who can’t wait out for the new device to launch in Pakistan, Nokia 8 is a good alternative for now, which is priced at PKR 75,000.


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- While travel demand is nonetheless large, an AAA review discovered tourists are changing their family vacation programs to compensate for mounting gas charges.
- Paula Twidale of AAA suggested making bookings as quickly as achievable this is not the time to wait for prices to go down.
- She also recommended a staycation that will set fewer miles on their motor vehicle.
Chantel Claywell of Richmond, Indiana favors “unique” destinations and observed the fantastic spot past 12 months: Tybee Island, Georgia.
Her four kids loved every little thing about it – the beach front, the regional ice product and toy outlets – and requested to go back this Could the moment the university calendar year wraps up.
“You can make reminiscences without the need of paying an arm and a leg to get on rides,” Claywell explained. “It truly is extremely peaceful and peaceful. The sand is attractive, the ocean is beautiful. It truly is just extremely friendly when it comes to loved ones.”
Claywell received as much as booking lodge rooms on Tybee Island prior to she had to pull the plug on the journey.
“Fuel prices skyrocketed,” she stated. As of Friday, the common cost of a gallon of common gasoline in Tennessee was $4.03, in accordance to AAA.
Gasoline Price ranges Throughout THE State:Gasoline gurus crack down expenditures from point out to condition
Claywell did the math: the 24-hour spherical journey to Tybee Island and again in the family’s Dodge Grand Caravan would price them almost $300 with gasoline rates at $4.25.
To reduce fees, the Claywells are taking into consideration switching to a street excursion to Santa Claus, Indiana, which is fewer than 4 several hours away.
“My young children are tremendous upset,” she explained. “We haven’t explained to them where we could possibly go instead, just in circumstance gas is like $5.30 by the stop of May perhaps. You under no circumstances know. We you should not want to hold breaking hearts.”
Claywell is not alone. Even though journey demand from customers is nevertheless significant, a latest examine from AAA located vacationers are changing their trip programs to compensate for rising gas charges.
WHY ARE Fuel Selling prices Rising SO Speedily?:And how higher are they predicted to get?
Substantial fuel selling prices are creating travelers adjust their plans
A survey of far more than 1,000 U.S.-based mostly travelers executed by AAA previous thirty day period identified 52% of system to take a holiday this summer time. Of those tourists, in excess of fifty percent (58%) stated they would take into account modifying their strategies if gas prices acquired “substantial adequate.”
Some vacationers, like Amie Jones of Sparta, Tennessee, are pushing back the family members holiday vacation.
Jones and her household were being setting up to take their camper to Gatlinburg, Tennessee – a three-hour drive – even though two of her kids had been on spring split. At the time fuel selling prices spiked, nevertheless, they resolved to travel somewhere closer to dwelling this summer months to lower prices.
“My spouse, he drives to Lebanon in Tennessee (for do the job), which is about an hour travel. We’re already forking out a tiny bit extra on gasoline, so we resolved we’ll just do a staycation,” Jones stated. “With the camper, we only get probably 10 miles a gallon. We were being just scared what we budgeted for was likely to go mainly to fuel.”
Paula Twidale, senior vice president of travel for AAA, mentioned while travelers might be adjusting their designs owing to fuel selling prices, it isn’t deterring travel.
“You will find a minor bit of a chameleon facet heading on,” Twidale stated. “Some items could be altering, but not essentially canceling.”
MY Vehicle Necessitates Quality Fuel:Can I change to standard gas to conserve on significant fuel selling prices?
Summertime travel demand even now significant, in spite of fuel price ranges
Twidale noted that 2022 bookings within warm-temperature locations like Hawaii, Florida and Mexico are essentially surpassing 2019 ranges, according to AAA data.
Other journey businesses are also looking at a surge in 2022 bookings.
A March 10 statement from vacation rental site Vrbo said demand for Vrbo qualities this summer time is already outpacing past summer time by just about 15%. Airlines are also seeing spring and summer bookings surpass 2019 degrees.
Twidale credited pent-up desire soon after the 2020 shutdowns and the supplemental discretionary earnings numerous Americans have in their pockets.
“(Vacation) will be far more high-priced,” Twidale stated. “Is it more than enough to make people transform their brain about truly getting time off savoring the trip? I do not assume so.”
Instead of outright canceling family vacation plans, Twidale expects to see travelers change their designs to help you save expenditures.
‘IT’S NOT FUN’:Soaring fuel charges are walloping People but hitting reduced-cash flow toughest
For travelers wanting to help you save charges on their 2022 vacation, Twidale suggests:
► Changing journey dates to stay away from peak home fees or flight charges
► Taking advantage of journey benefits and factors
► Discovering destinations that do not involve rental vehicles or driving or
► Looking at a staycation that will place fewer miles on their car or truck.
Twidale also instructed making plans and bookings such as airline ticket purchases as before long as achievable this is not the time to wait for selling prices to go down.
“It is all in the preparing,” she reported. “I would say ebook early.”
Have not BOOKED AIRLINE TICKETS However?:You should not dawdle. Bookings are bonkers, pushing costs up


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Harley-Davidson and the Harley Owners Group® are delighted to announce the return of the 29th European H.O.G. Rally to Portorož, Slovenia from 18th-21st June 2020. The 25th European H.O.G. Rally, held in Portorož in 2016, was a huge success with more than 25,000 attendees and 15,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles rolling into the stunning coastal town from more than 35 different countries, so we are expecting the event in 2020 to be even bigger! The nearby mediaeval picture-postcard town of Piran also hosted the legendary Harley-Davidson Custom Bike Show in 2016.
Within easy reach of Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana and just over a half hour’s ride from Trieste in Italy, Portorož also borders Croatia and is easily accessed via major European roads. Once there the resort provides ample accommodation, food and entertainment options, including a multitude of bars, restaurants and casinos.
The region offers spectacular scenery both inland and coastal are a real treat for riders, with lots to discover including countless historic villages in the Istrian hills, the Brijuni National Park set in an archipelago of 14 beautiful islands; the Slovenian Karst region between Trieste Bay and the Vipavska Valley which includes caves, springs and disappearing lakes and the amazing Postojna Cave and town of Skocjan.
The 29th European H.O.G. Rally in Portorož will be a free and open event for all motorcyclists, with any brand of motorcycle welcome, but it is traditionally a magnet for Harley owners to meet, ride together, swap stories and compare bikes – making it one of the ultimate destinations to see some of the most iconic motorcycles in the world.
It will also a fantastic opportunity to check out the latest model year 2020 Harley-Davidsons at the Harley-Davidson Expo, including the brand new LiveWire electric motorcycle. A jaw-dropping line-up of Model Year 2020 bikes will also be available to try out for free in the Demo Rides area.
The event will also feature free live music ‘till late every evening, Guided Tours of the local area led by the Lipa Chapter, Slovenia and the Pleter Chapter, Croatia, plus on-site motorcycle dealers including Harley-Davidson Ljubljana, all the best merchandise and an exclusive H.O.G. Zone for members to relax in and catch up with fellow riders and the H.O.G. team. And of course the official Harley-Davidson Parade on Saturday 20th June.
Save the date: 18th-21st June 2020! Visit http://events.harley-davidson.com for more.
Commenting on the announcement of the 29th European H.O.G. Rally in Portorož, Bev English, Harley-Davidson’s International Event Lead said: “The welcome we received from everyone in Portorož and the surrounding area in 2016 was phenomenal. It was incredible to see Harley-Davidson flags flying along all of the main roads and the local government, police, hotels, shops, bars and restaurants really embraced the event and made everything very smooth, even as thousands of riders virtually took over the town and surrounding roads! We’re very excited to be going back – and look forward to welcoming even more riders from 18th-21st June 2020!”
Mr Denio Zadković, the Mayor of Piran said: “The 29th European H.O.G. Rally will be one of the most exciting events in our calendar in 2020. There is so much to do and see around and on the way to Portorož, with excellent roads and scenery that are ideal for motorcyclists - it’s a must if you love riding. The town and region are ready for a huge party and we just can’t wait to welcome even more Harley owners, fans and other motorcyclists next June. Following the great organization and success of the event in 2016, we are excited to have Harley-Davidson back in Portoroz!”