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Apparently the monarch of hamburger patties served on a bun doesn’t have the army to unseat the Belgian sovereign. The company said it was ending its ad campaign about who is king of Belgium after a “conversation” with the royal palace.
Burger King backed out so far that it even removed the word “king” from its logo on the campaign’s site. We now assume that the Burger King has been arrested on high treason charges.
Belgium, Europe’s favorite place to fight major wartime battles, has a royal family. This may come as a surprise to many in the U.S., because we like to obsess over the British royal family like a woman we broke up with but still miss. But the Belgian king now finds himself under attack from a foreign power that wants to unseat him.
Burger King in a new ad campaign is asking Belgian citizens to vote on who should be their king: King Philippe, or the Benevolent Dictator of Broiled Meats. Stubbornly, the sovereign has refused to let the people have it their way in the free, online election. In fact, the campaign has drawn the ire of the Belgian royal family, which issued a warning to Burger King to not use Philippe’s image in its advertising.
I’m not a Trump supporter, but I think I know what it’s like to be one. After all, I’m a New England Patriots fan. I know what it’s like to be part of a group that has clearly had the rules systematically bent in their favor, only to develop a persecution complex when things don’t go our way once or twice. Also, I’ve talked myself into believing that the leader of my team doesn’t really mean it when he supports questionable political ideas. Most of the country hates us, but we win anyway. No wonder Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are friends with this Trump guy. If you were busy this week taking weird photos to announce that you are pregnant with twins, odds are you missed it.
Trump vs. Australia
This week, President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had a phone conversation, and it did not go well. At one point, Trump criticized a refugee agreement between the U.S. and Australia, and eventually he hung up on Malcolm. Sen. John McCain called Australia Ambassador Joe Hockey (who should really be the Canadian ambassador) to smooth things over between the two countries. I don’t know if the good-cop-bad-cop routine has ever been used in international diplomacy, this should be interesting.
Attention whore gets attention in attention-grabbing move
In the most predictable news story of the week, alt-right white nationalist darling Milo Yiannopoulos was forced to cancel his speaking engagement at Berkeley due to student protests. Yiannopoulos and his supporters criticized the violence conducted by some demonstrators, including a big fire, but really, they were just upset they couldn’t throw books into it.
Don’t eat fast food packaging
And finally, scientists revealed this week that chemicals used to block grease in fast food containers are leeching into our burgers, fries and burritos. Great plan, guys, telling Americans that fast food is bad for them hasn’t worked so far, but why not try it again?
When it comes to junk food, we’re used to companies disregarding our actual health to convince us to eat only their products and as much of them as possible. For instance, Jack’s Links telling us that beef jerky’s how professional athletes build muscle mass or Gatorade saying we haven’t defeated dehydration until Lemon-Lime seeps out of our pores.
So, it comes as a surprise that Mars, the company responsible for M&Ms, Snickers and Skittles, wants out of the fast food dessert market. They want to discontinue providing their candy for McDonalds McFlurries, Dairy Queen Blizzards and Burger King Snicker Pies because we allegedly eat too much of it. (No word if they plan to stop The Guys from stuffing Skittles into Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and shooting them with root beer floats.)
Mars is ducking out of fast food desserts to convince people to eat sweets in moderation — and this is news to us, but, apparently, combining ice cream and candy isn’t moderation.
Well, you’re not the boss of us, Mars! (Not until our manned space program finally provokes your intergalactic overlords on the red planet.) We can buy our own candy and sprinkle it into our own ice cream. And, if your goal was to raise your stock by making us eat more candy in protest, then you win!
With Chipotle looking more vulnerable than ever, Taco Bell believes that the norovirus could do for fast food what it did for trains and air travel against cruise lines. The most successful restaurant chain to appear in Demolition Man is testing new store formats to convince diners to stay in for dinner, not just try to sound sober enough to use the drive-thru at 2 am.
And why not? Remember when our taco-flavored barf only cost $1 per taco? We can live that beautiful dream again, thanks to the miracle of interior design.
We don’t like shaming people these days, unless it’s shaming the shamers. And then there are some who shame the shamers of the shamers. But aside from that, Americans see shaming as bad. That’s why we can’t make fun of KFC’s newest offering.
So let’s not make fun of people who bite their nails for now having a flavor to enjoy. Let’s not mock people who buy this, because wearing nail polish shouldn’t be a gender-specific thing. An otherwise toxic product that has fast food flavoring is officially the most American product, but it’s only being released in Hong Kong.
No matter how many weight-loss reality shows we watch, Americans just can’t seem to lose any weight. It’s no secret that America is in the midst of an obesity epidemic, but it’s good to know that the Brits are struggling with the same thing — their pets are, anyway.
According to a veterinarian group in the U.K., British pets are fat because their owners keep feeding them fast food and leftovers from dining out. Here in America, we save that stuff for ourselves. (Let the dog go buy his own Taco Bell!) What’s worse, is that some U.K. pet owners are even feeding their animals booze.
After nearly 50 years of unimpeded cookie menacing, the Cookie Monster has been arrested where all depressing crime stories end: Houston, Texas. Police caught the Cookie Monster using surveillance video from one of over 30 fast food restaurants that he robbed in the past two months, demanding a cookie with the money at each one.
OK, so it’s not the Cookie Monster. The furry blue monster that we all know in love is in treatment at a cookie methadone facility on Sesame Street. He is in recovery and, according to CM himself, “take one day at time.” He’s now able to enjoy cookies in moderation, calling them “sometime food.”
So, we believe that the Houston-area Cookie Monster can be rehabilitated and perhaps one day teach kids how to count calories.
If there’s an upside to our constant consumption of fast food, it’s that we’re giving scavengers unhealthy diets, too.
According to a new report, ants that live in cities are more likely to consume fast food than ants in less populated areas. Out in the country, ants have a diet of grasses and whatever you hit with your car, but in the city, it’s that greasy food or sugary drink that you drop on the ground.
The long game here is to give urban ants heart attacks, and we’re doing well.


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How successful is Apple Pay to date? Is Snapchat turning in to a video platform? What are the latest forecasts for mobile games in India?
You’ll find the answers to these and many more mobile data related questions in this week’s MEF market stats round up…
The vast majority of iPhone users that can run Apple Pay haven’t yet done so, says a new report by Trustev. And the number is slightly worse for https://mobileecosystemforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MEF-Day-One-104-Large-1.pngsung Pay.
Trustev polled 2,000 smartphone owners and found of those who could use Apple Pay, only 21 per cent had tried it. The https://mobileecosystemforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MEF-Day-One-104-Large-1.pngsung Pay number is 14 per cent.
It represents a pretty slow start, and will add fuel to the argument that both services do little to improve on a card transaction in-store. Among those who do make mobile payments, here is the breakdown of usage.
- 56 per cent: Once a week
- 16 per cent: 2-3 times a week
- 8 per cent: 4-10 times a week
- 2 per cent: 11-20 times a week
- 2 per cent: 20 times or more per week
- 36 per cent: Once a week
- 11 per cent: 2-3 times a week
- 5 per cent: 4-10 times a week
- 1 per cent: 11-20 times a week
- 9 per cent: 20 times or more per week
“What we’re seeing from this research is that adoption of these contactless payment schemes is still very early,” Rurik Bradbury, chief marketing officer at Trustev, told NFC World.
“Even though they are much more secure and would help to prevent fraud, consumers don’t seem to have a pain point when it comes to paying with a credit card. Old payment habits die hard.”
15 years ago, it was Nokia fascias, then it was Bluetooth headsets, now it’s iPhone cases. Fashions change, but people keep on buying accessories for their phones.
ABI Research says global revenues for mobile accessories will hit $81.5 billion this year and will grow to $101 billion by 2020. Protective carry cases are the fastest growing category, followed by chargers, screen protectors and headsets.
The most margin appears to be in headsets since consumers feel more comfortable making large investments in earphones. Witness those $250 Beats units. New tech like noise cancelling helps too.
“The thinness and lightness of a smartphone makes a protective case a necessity, and new features with cases, such as wireless charging and digital payment, will likewise drive the protective cases market,” says Marina Lu, Research Analyst at ABI Research.
The report says Asia-Pacific will account for 52.9 per cent of all mobile accessories shipments.
There’s no let up in the rise of the self-destructing message app Snapchat: it says videos on its the app are now being viewed over six billion times every day.
To put that into perspective, it was serving two billion views as recently as May. The company confirmed the six billion figure to The Financial Times.
Some think Snapchat is an unlikely social media success. Its original product let people send pics and videos that expired after one viewing. That’s still the core offer, but the firm keeps adding new options.
The big one is SnapChat stories, which lets user record a longer form video that stays live for 24 hours and which can be viewed by any follower not just a single recipient. SnapChat has sold this function aggressively to corporate and media brands.
Recently it beefed up the video options too, giving users the chance to add animated overlays, or offer videos that play in slo-mo or backwards.
Just a few years ago, Facebook was nowhere in mobile. Now, it’s whole business depends on it.
New quarterly numbers from the social network show mobile ads alone accounted for $3.35bn of the total $4.29bn ad revenue. In fact, the company made more money on mobile advertising alone in one quarter than the whole business took in during the same period last year.
It may be helped in future by the fact that ads inside Facebook walled garden cannot be impeded by the ad-blockers which are now available on iPhone devices.
Overall, Facebook now averages 1.1 billion users a day having passed the one billion mark in August. It’s helped by the firm’s other platforms such as Instagram with 400 million monthly active users, and WhatsApp with 900 million.
“We had a good quarter and got a lot done,” said Zuckerberg in a statement to shareholders. “We’re focused on innovating and investing for the long term to serve our community and connect the entire world.”
The rise of mobile is powering the market for video gaming across South East Asia. A new report by Niko Partners says the number of people playing mobile games should double those playing PC games in the region by 2019.
This surge will lead to 400 million people playing mobile games, against 148 million playing on computers. However, the
survey of 8,400 players across six Southeast Asian countries did reveal that the PC will still deliver more revenue: $1.3 billion versus $1.1 billion for mobile.
Up to 50 million Indians currently play games on their phones, driving a market worth $150 million across all revenue models.
So says a new report from market watcher NASSCOM. And it says the market will keep growing on the back of smartphone ownership that will rise by 100 million every year.
All of this is fuelling a healthy domestic content creation market too. The report says the industry now comprises over 200 games development studios and service providers.
More than half were established from 2012 onwards and 57 per cent have fewer than 10 employees. 96 per cent of developers work on mobile games, with 61 per cent focusing on free-to-play titles

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In today’s world, it’s not uncommon to see every person attached to a smartphone. In fact, according to research conducted from Business Insider, Americans spend an average of 37 minutes daily on social media, which is more time spent on any other major Internet activity, including email. Sixty percent of social media time is spent on smartphones and tablets.
Like any other habit, there are positives and negatives from spending your time on social media. When it starts to dominate your life, you might want to consider a social media detox.
Here's a question to ask yourself: You may have over 400 friends on Facebook, but does that make you fulfilled?
What do you lose and what do you gain when you move from face-to-face contact (and no, not "FaceTime") to electronic options?
The way you communicate with your significant other, best friend, colleagues and family is changing. Face-to-face interaction used to be the most important form of communication. However, now you get upset when it takes someone more than five minutes to respond via text.
Social media isn't ALL bad. Many people would say it's reconnected them with different family members and friends and continues to keep them communicating and connected.
Researcher, author and professional speaker, Joanne Cantor, PhD, joins Dr. Pam Peeke and Michelle King Robson to discuss the growing rate of social media usage and if social media is becoming unhealthy.


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Last week, the governments of EU countries, including the Czech Republic, unanimously approved a new law to cut down the number of plastic bags by 80 percent within the next ten years, with the aim to curb litter on land and in seas. A small non-profit organisation in Prague, called Bezobalu or Unpackaged, is already doing its share in the fight against excessive use of plastic. The group has recently opened a shop in the centre of Prague, where you can only buy unpackaged goods and take them home in your own containers.
In the past, ads which have “won” Sexist Piggy Awards have been largely commercial in nature: scantily-clad women draped over cars or propping up chainsaws or other power tools. While this remains true even now, participants and the jury in this year’s sixth inception noted that exploitative motifs had surfaced in the field of politics. This year’s “winner” is none other than a local branch of the Social Democratic Party, while a student-produced ad for a university, featuring sex in the bathroom, came second.
On a state visit to Kazakhstan Czech President Milos Zeman said the country had achieved an economic miracle since his last visit as prime minister in 1999 and offered considerable potential for economic cooperation. President Zeman who is accompanied by a group of Czech business leaders, including Škoda representatives, the heads of engineering firms and bankers, aims to boost business ties especially in the areas of energy, engineering and infrastructure. During talks with his Kazakhstani counterpart Nursultan Nazarbajev, President Zeman said he would push to simplify the visa procedure for Kazakhs travelling to the Czech Republic.
Czech companies have scored pretty high in a global survey on their openness to innovation and ability to push through new products and processes. But they still have some significant weak points and the government too is attempting to up its game so that it can give a better lead on where to channel state funds and what to expect from the investment.
The Czech Republic’s foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 19.3 billion crowns in September. Economists say the news is encouraging and proves that the slide in August of this year was a temporary problem caused by seasonal factors and the fact that the automobile producer Škoda, one of the main driving forces in foreign trade, was in the process of launching production of its new model Fabia.
The Czech Republic would like the planned EU-US trade deal, known as TTIP, to replace the current bilateral investment protection treaty between the US and the Czech Republic, the news agency ČTK reported, quoting Finance Ministry documents. Finance Minister Andrej Babiš raised the issue during Wednesday talks with the head of the EU’s Directorate General for Trade, Ignacio Garcia, the union’s chief negotiator of the trade deal. The Czech government believes the TTIP, which could be finalized by the end of the year, will increase the country’s GDP by up to 2.6 percent.
In Business News this week: Czech ministry says planed EU-US trade deal should help Czech economy; Czech Republic moves up in Ease of Doing Business survey; Czech firm to help build artificial islands in Caspian Sea; beer producer Plzeňský Prazdroj announces layoffs; and one third of Czech travel agencies do not respect obligations to clients.
Language exams for foreigners seeking permanent residency permit to become tougher
Czech teenager builds second-largest ever Millennium Falcon LEGO model
Gunman kills six patients in Ostrava hospital, two more fighting for their lives
HN: Developers aiming to sell co-living concept in Prague
Press: Era of 100-crown lunch special is over, as food prices rocket


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Akinwumi Adesina, president of African Development Bank Group has said the size of the electric vehicles value chain is estimated to increase from the current $7 trillion to $57 trillion by 2050 and that future depends on Africa.
Adesina made the submission at the Africa Investment Forum 2023 Wednesday at the Palace Congress, Marrakech, Morocco. He noted that this is because Africa accounts for the largest source of green metals for the development of electric vehicles, including platinum (70%), cobalt (52%), manganese (46%), bauxite (25%), and graphite (21%).
“Africa has the largest sources of renewable energy sources in the world, including hydro and solar. And right here in Morocco, you have the Noor Ouarzazate, the largest concentrated solar zone in the world,” Adesina said.
The electric vehicle land grab is reshaping economies and challenging political allegiances around the world.
The historic transition from the century-long era of the internal combustion engine to the electric vehicle age is creating flashpoints in surprising corners of the world economy.
Adesina cited an assessment by Bloomberg NEF which shows that the cost of manufacturing of lithium-ion precursor batteries in Africa is 3 times less than in the U.S., China, and Poland.
“The African Development Bank and partners are developing the $20 billion Desert-to-Power project across 11 countries that share the Sahel zone, which when completed will be the largest solar zone in the world,” Adesina said.
He said in the midst of the challenges, Africa is growing well and showing resilience. “African economies witnessed a real GDP growth of 3.8 percent in 2022, higher than the world average of 3.5 percent.
“Five of the six pre-pandemic top-performing African countries are projected to be back in the league of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies for 2023–2024. African economies provide some of the best investment opportunities in the world.”
Mohammed VI, king of Morroco said that given the unprecedented situation and the scale of development financing needs in Africa, the role of the private sector has been gaining greater importance in achieving African countries’ development objectives.
“State budgets alone cannot cover all the investment needed, especially in high-potential, job-intensive sectors,” he said, adding that considering the great many investment opportunities it offers private operators, Africa needs, now more than ever, bold, innovative initiatives to encourage private entrepreneurship and unleash the full potential of our continent.”
The king of Morroco said that is why initiatives such as the African Investment Forum, which is sponsored by the African Development Bank, are commendable because they help direct private investment towards the most promising economic sectors, thus reinforcing the integration of African economies into global value chains.


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A new survey conducted by online car servicing provider, Servicing Stop, asked motorists if they were planning on purchasing an electric car; or even considering it, and overwhelmingly the answer was no.
The survey asked more than 1,300 motorists what; if anything, attracted them to electric vehicles and almost a third said it was the lower driving costs.
More than 90 per cent of motorists believe that electric cars are a cheaper alternative over conventionally fuelled vehicles.
The second most popular answer was the positive effect electric cars can have on the environment and more than a quarter of motorists said that the government grant of up to £4,500 was attractive.
A further 11 per cent said that the lower service costs of electric vehicles was a bonus.
However, 71 per cent think electric cars are “ugly”.
CEO and founder of Servicing Stop, Oly Richmond said: “With so many big time brands bringing out an electric range and with the government offering financial incentives, I am surprised to see just 22 per cent of motorists considering the change.
“Perhaps we all just need warming to the idea but anything that provides cheaper running and servicing costs is a great idea in my eyes and that’s still a great number of people moving onto electric vehicles.
“As we get ready to welcome a new fleet of electric cars into our garages, we are on another recruitment drive for garages with the facilities to service all things electric.
“We are always looking for more garages to join our increasing network of 1,500 which we have already given £60m to since starting and if you’re ready for the electric enlightenment, even better.”
For further information about Servicing Stop, click ‘more details’ below.


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Windows 8 beats out iOS and Android at Seton Hall
- 06 August, 2012 14:20
The release of Windows 8 may still be months away, but Seton Hall University isn't waiting for general availability of the new operating system in October. It's already using it on tablets and ultrabooks.
As part of its SHUmobile program -- a collaboration with Microsoft, AT&T and Nokia -- Seton Hall is giving incoming freshman either a Samsung Series 7 tablet running the Windows 8 Release Preview version or a Samsung Series 5 laptop running Windows 7, depending on what area of study the student is pursuing.
All devices will be upgraded to Windows 8 RTM when the OS is generally available this fall.
Seton Hall students will also get a Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone loaded with a customized app that contains student and faculty contact information as well as general campus information.
To complete the initiative, the university is upgrading its campus-wide email, storage, communications and collaboration platform to Microsoft Office 365.
Such offerings are a reboot of Seton Hall's 14-year-old Mobile Computing Program, which provided incoming freshmen with a laptop as part of their tuition and then an upgraded machine in their junior year.
Students Want Tablets: Is Windows 8 the Answer?
While laptops have been the traditional hardware choice for college students, lately, there's been an itch for lighter, more modern hardware, says Stephen Landry, CIO of Seton Hall.
"There has definitely been a growing interest in tablets," Landry says. "In the science department we've been issuing students and faculty the Lenovo X Series machines running Windows 7, a convertible laptop with a touchscreen that swivels and folds down to become a tablet that uses a stylus pen."
But Windows 7 was not designed for touchscreen functionality and although it works well with a pen, Landry says, it is "not a satisfactory" tablet experience.
However, Landry still pushed for a full-bore tablet environment this year. After considering putting tablets off until 2013, Landry warmed to Windows 8, Microsoft's highly anticipated next iteration of Windows, launching in late October. Landry got on board as a Microsoft First Wave customer in April and cut his teeth on Windows 8 through a sometimes frustrating Consumer Preview.
"Windows 8 consumer preview had its problems, from getting the devices to recognize our Seton Hall sh.edu domain to bumpy navigation with the Metro interface," Landry says.
"But Microsoft provided great support. We had a list of what we thought was wrong. And the patches came. That gave me comfort. And 99 percent of our issues were resolved with the Windows 8 Release Preview. It was ultimately enough of a game-changer for us on tablets."
Landry adds that students in orientation took to the Windows 8 Metro UI like "ducks to water." For faculty and staff, however, Windows 8 training will be more aggressive & and mandatory. "Faculty and staff is where the pain point will be in the transition," he says.
But between writing off Windows 7 and going all in for Windows 8 tablets, Seton Hall first tested out a popular tablet you may have heard of: the iPad.
iPads and Android Tablets: A Nightmare to Manage
Landry and his staff, of course, are well-aware of Apple's ubiquitous iPad tablet and the rise of Google's Android OS. They are also aware of the BYOD (bring your own device) movement at work in many enterprises.
But to give the best possible IT support to their students and faculty, Landry decided that standardization on Windows 8 made the most sense, especially after testing out the iPad and Android tablets in pilot programs.
As expected, students were excited about the iPad form factor and long battery life, but soon enough there were obstacles.
Members of Seton Hall's Class of 2016 and their new Windows 8 tablets.
(Credit: Seton Hall University)
"Students would say, 'This is great, but it's not a replacement for my laptop.' They complained that they needed the full Microsoft Office suite on their tablet to be as productive as they needed to be," Landry says.
Paul Fisher, Seton Hall's associate CIO and director of the Teaching, Learning and Technology Center at Seton Hall, agrees that the full Office experience on a laptop is tough act for a tablet to follow.
"It's hard to hand tablets to students and faculty and not give them the same experience and level of support that they got with the full Office suite," Fisher says.
In addition, Android tablets and iPads are a bear to manage, Landry says. For example, neither provide a blanket warrantee that covers support for all devices.
"We wanted to buy 200 iPads and told Apple we wanted one warrantee document and Apple said we don't do that because the iPad is a consumer device," Landry says.
"They give you Apple Care support for each iPad based on a serial number. But I don't want our technician to go through a drawer for a warrantee code for each iPad to get support. I want a blanket warrantee. So that's a big logistical issue when integrating a consumer tablet into an enterprise environment."
Distributing applications to large groups is also a problem on the iPad, Fisher says.
"Rolling out a simple 99 cent app for the whole university is very manual on the iPad and a huge administrative pain. I'm sure that feature on the iPad will mature. But, for now, enterprise distribution on the iPad wasn't ready for us."
Fisher points out that Apple now has volume purchasing for iPads, but their method is still to distribute one code to each student.
"That's fine for a pilot program, but think about handing out activation codes to 5,000 students. It can be a management nightmare."
Windows 8 Security and Management Tools Seal the Deal
In the end, Windows 8 won Landry and team over with its capability to be deployed on tablets in bulk with added management and security features. It will give students and IT the best of both worlds, Landry says.
"The students wanted a real computing experience on a tablet, not a lightweight experience," he says. "We're confident Windows 8 will give them the productivity tools they need. In turn, we can manage the tablets the same way we've been managing our Windows laptops and desktops."
The Windows 8 devices will be joined to Seton Hall's Active Directory domain, which includes secure SSO (single sign-on) to the university's resources and services. Just as he has done with previous Windows machines, Landry will use Active Directory to inventory and manage Windows 8 tablets and ultrabooks, push out patches and anti-virus updates, and do remote wipes if necessary.
As recently as March, Seton Hall had nearly given up on a tablet deployment after deciding that broad adoption of Android and the iPad was not in the cards. But Fisher says he believes that converging onto a Windows platform for tablets is the best solution for today's tech-minded college student.
"It's one device for students to maintain and it transitions well from tablet to laptop to desktop," says Fisher. "When they sign in with single-sign-on they go straight to Outlook email, Office 365 or Sharepoint. When they buy an app for their Windows Phone it's going to work on their tablet and ultrabook, too."
This kind of seamless access to student tools, Fisher says, can often be the difference between academic success and failure.
"The more barriers we break down to get students the tools they need, the more the more likely they are to engage with the school and graduate," he says.
"I'm not saying technology is the be-all-and-end-all, but it is the facilitator."
Shane O'Neill is the Assistant Managing Editor for CIO.com. Follow Shane on Twitter @smoneill. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline and on Facebook. Email Shane at firstname.lastname@example.org


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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was willing to offer more visas to India in exchange for this year’s signing of a free-trade agreement that could increase annual bilateral trade by billions of pounds.
On his way to the world’s second-most populous country, Johnson signalled his willingness to be more accommodating on an issue that could have stymied the talks.
“I have always been in favour of talented people coming to this country,” Johnson told reporters. “We are short to the tune of hundreds of thousands of people in our economy and we need to have a progressive approach and we will.”
Britain has made a trade deal with India one of its post-Brexit priorities, as ministers look to shift policy away from the European Union’s common trade policy and toward faster-growing economies in the Indo-Pacific region. India wants more opportunities for Indians to live and work in the United Kingdom. Each and every trade agreement will almost certainly be contingent on easing rules and lowering fees for Indian students and professionals visiting the country. India and former imperial power Britain already have strong trade ties, and after decades of migration, more than a million people of Indian origin live in Britain.
Britain wishes to capitalise on the wealth of India’s middle classes, as well as their appetite for premium British products such as Scotch whisky. They also hope that India will become a customer of their green technology, as well as that service trade will be bolstered. Britain has stated that the trade agreement could nearly double British exports to India and increase total trade by 28 billion pounds ($38 billion) per year by 2035. As per British statistics, total trade in 2019 was worth 23 billion pounds.
Legal Disclaimer: This article is provided for information purposes only.


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- Why it matters: New car buyers hoping to get a better deal will have to rethink, because of a 300,000 vehicle structural undersupply.
- About half of new car buyers signing up now are still being put into the back order list at car dealerships.
- Discounts in the electric vehicle segment are rare, with demand having run well ahead of supply from inception.
A structural undersupply of more than 300,000 new vehicles along with the rise of electric cars, where demand is crushing supply, means new-car buyers face paying the full sticker price on their next vehicle.
The chief executives of the three large ASX-listed car dealership groups say order banks are still long, even though new vehicle supply from overseas carmakers is improving and logjams at ports are slowly easing.
But the sheer size of the back order books, which will take almost two years to run down, means motorists will be paying full price for an extended period, and preserving dealer margins.
Mark Weaver, the chief executive of Peter Warren Automotive, which sells 27 car brands including Toyota, Volkswagen and Mazda and has 25 dealerships in the eastern states, says it will probably take about 18 months for the group to fully unwind its order book. Population growth through a stepped-up migrant intake will add extra pressure.
“We see these taking a minimum 18 months to tackle and consumers should think now if they plan a new car in the next six months,” he said.
Mr Weaver said there were “clearly signals of supply improving, but port congestion makes model availability inconsistent”. He said 50 per cent of new-car buyers signing on the dotted line were waiting a minimum of one month for orders to arrive, depending on the brand.
“The supply limitations arising over the last few years have meant wait times and full retail price outcomes for consumers,” he said. “For those seeking exactly what they want in their motor car, we expect an orderly wait time and full list price to continue.”
Keith Thornton, the chief executive of Eagers Automotive, Australia’s largest car dealership group with about 10 per cent of the new vehicle market, said there was a 300,000 vehicle “hole” in the Australian market which had built up in the pandemic and never been fully plugged.
That was based on the annual take-up of new vehicles in Australia pre-pandemic, and the cumulative shortage since then. The car manufacturers had been accelerating production to try to catch up, but had realised that “if they oversupply the market it’s going to cost them money” should discounting become rife again.
Autosports Group, which sells 20 brands including BMW, Audi, Volvo, Jaguar and Lamborghini and listed on the ASX in 2016, lifted net profit by 23 per cent to $65.4 million in 2022-23. Chief executive Nick Pagent said while overall economic conditions would be tougher this financial year, the group was in a strong position with order books at record levels.
“The structural undersupply in new vehicles we have endured over the past two years has left us well-positioned to leverage our order banks which are at, or near, record levels,” he said.
The advance of electric vehicles has introduced a fresh dynamic, with buyers used to long waits for orders to be fulfilled, and having been conditioned to pay full price by pioneers such as Tesla. The prices of EVs are generally high compared with petrol and diesel models.
Peter Warren Auto’s Mark Weaver said there had been limited availability in Australia of EV models, but that was starting to improve.
“The market has had only limited availability of models in recent years and hence prices have been naturally high,” he said.
“However, a second wave of electric vehicles is breaking in Australia and the number of available models is dramatically increasing, bringing with it household automotive brands to the electric market.”
Eagers Automotive’s Mr Thornton said about 10 per cent of all new vehicles sold across his group were electric in the June half, with the Chinese brand BYD at the forefront. He said Eagers had “moved early and deliberately to be a leader” in the EV transition.
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If you haven’t heard by now, the drone registration task force is reportedly recommending simple and free registration be mandatory for all drones that weigh over 9 oz.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has estimated 1 million drones will be purchased this holiday season, and it’s safe to say the majority of those drones will weigh more than 9 oz. DJI’s Phantom 3 Standard, one of the newer drones out there, weighs 43 oz. (2.7 lb.) 3D Robotics’ Solo Drone weighs 53 oz. (3.3 lb.), and its Iris+ weighs 45 oz. (2.8 lb.).
You get the picture. The more popular and more sophisticated drones are easily over the 9-oz. weight threshold for registration.
The recommendation for free registration has been made in hopes of getting more people to register. We’ll have to wait to find out more specifics about the registration process once it’s up and running this holiday season – that’s the goal, according to the FAA. But there seem to be many loopholes with the plan, including what could be done with DIY drones that weren’t purchased from Amazon or Best Buy.
And what about nano-sized drones? They certainly don’t have the capabilities of a DJI or 3DR drone, but for someone who just wants to fly around for 10 minutes, this could be a potential solution. Will we see a boon in nano drones due to registration for larger drones?
There are plenty of nano drones already on the market, and surely there will be more to come. For the growing number of anti-registration folks out there, we’ve compiled some of the top nano-sized drones you can buy today and won’t have to register – if the FAA adheres to the task force’s recommendations. Again, they come with limitations, but they’ll certainly help you get your drone fix.
What are your thoughts on mandatory registration for drones over 9 oz.? Create a free account with Robotics Trends today and leave your thoughts below!


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"Testing by Health Canada has found cadmium may be increasingly substituted for lead in inexpensive jewellery."
Government of Canada Calls on Industry to Voluntarily Stop the Use of Cadmium in Children's Jewellery
Today, the Government of Canada took action to protect the health and safety of children by appealing to members of industry to voluntarily stop production, importation and sale of children's jewellery made with the intentional use of cadmium or cadmium-containing materials.
"The health and safety of Canadian children continues to be a top priority for our Government" said the Honorable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health. "I strongly urge industry to act in the interest of the well-being of children and to stop using this toxic heavy metal in children's jewellery."
Testing by Health Canada has found cadmium may be increasingly substituted for lead in inexpensive jewellery.
While there is no known risk to health from simply wearing jewellery made with high levels of cadmium, Health Canada's risk assessment has concluded that there is foreseeable potential for sucking, chewing or swallowing of such jewellery which may lead to serious health effects from cadmium exposure.
Health Canada will continue to closely monitor compliance with this request for voluntary action. If no improvement is found, then mandatory requirements may be introduced via the federal regulatory process.
In June 2010, the Government introduced Bill C-36, the proposed Canada Consumer Safety Act. If passed into law, the Act would modernize the government's approach to consumer product safety and include new measures, such as the ability for Health Canada to order mandatory product recalls of unreasonably hazardous consumer products and the mandatory reporting of incidents or deaths for all consumer products in Canada.
Loan Information for low income singles, families, seniors and disabled. Includes home, vehicle and personal loans.
Famous People with Disabilities - Well known people with disabilities and conditions who contributed to society.


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Jon Russell was Asia Editor for The Next Web from 2011 to 2014. Originally from the UK, he lives in Bangkok, Thailand. You can find him on T Jon Russell was Asia Editor for The Next Web from 2011 to 2014. Originally from the UK, he lives in Bangkok, Thailand. You can find him on Twitter, Angel List, LinkedIn.
Samsung topped China’s smartphone sales for the first time last year, and the Korean firm has taken that momentum into this year, after selling a record 12.5 million smartphones in China during Q1 2013, according to Strategy Analytics.
The research firm’s latest figures are reported by the Korea Herald (via Sammy Hub) and are particularly impressive given that Samsung sold a total of 30.06 million smartphones last year. That 2012 figure was a record annual sales haul for the firm — and tripled its sales from 2011 — but, given its early progress this year, Samsung looks set to smash that record once again in 2013.
Strategy Analytics’s Q1 2013 data put Huawei behind Samsung in second place on 8.1 million units sold, having overtaken Lenovo — which has announced its intention to launch devices in the US within one year — which sold 7.9 million smartphones.
Chinese phone makers Coolpad (7 million smartphones sold) and ZTE (6.4 million) rounded out the top five, with Apple coming in sixth with an estimated 6.1 million iPhones sold during the three-month period.
Nokia was ranked first on Chinese smartphone sales back in 2011, but its slide continues and it was not even noted in the Korea Times report. LG, another struggler, recorded its worst ever quarter of business in China to date, shifting just 100,000 smartphones to give it a meagre 0.1 percent of the market.
All in all, 67.4 million smartphones were sold in China during Q1 2013, Strategy Analytics estimates. That accounts for 32 percent of all global shipments during the period.
Note: The data provided cited by Korea Herald appears (once again) to be from private, client-facing Strategy Analytics reports. We’ve touched based with the research firm to try to get our hands on further details.
Samsung’s industry dominance is developing into a norm in many parts of the world, and the Korea electronics giant is undoubtedly the driving force behind Android. The Google-owned platform was responsible for 43 percent of smartphone profits in 2012, according to Strategy Analytics, which determined that Samsung accounted for a dominant 95 percent share of all Android revenue itself.
Android is the dominant platform in China. As of November 2012, it accounted for a whopping 90 percent of smartphones in China, according to Analysys International.
However, proving success isn’t just about market share, Apple’s Greater China revenue climbed 8 percent year-on-year to reach $8.2 billion in Q2 2013. That figure represented 18.8 percent of the company’s global revenue total.
A recent milestone from last week: Samsung’s Galaxy S4 passes 10 million channel sales within one month of launch
Headline image via Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
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Currently, based on (1) price per hash and (2) electrical efficiency the best Bitcoin miner options are.On 3 March 2017, the price of a bitcoin surpassed the market value of an ounce of gold for the first time as its price surged to an all-time high.THE controversial digital currency bitcoin has soared in value and is worth more than a nugget of gold.This is a positive development, as the Bitcoin price saw a sharp dip over the weekend.Bitcoin is an innovative payment network and a new kind of money.With the newfound. the Motley Fool takes a quick look at Bitcoin and outlines what it is. so it can be subject to rapid changes in price.
Many would argue there is not, and that 2014 is evidence that the price in no way reflects the progress.Bitcoin is the currency of the Internet: a distributed, worldwide, decentralized digital money.This graph shows the price of one Bitcoin since the start of 2011, when the currency began to adopt mainstream attention.
There are a wealth of tickers, value monitors, and exchanges that help track the value of Bitcoin.
BTC to USD: Bitcoin to US Dollar Market Price - Blockchain
Bitcoin: Why Its Price Is So Volatile Right Now | Fortune.comA new exchange is courting users of the now-defunct BTC-e exchange, but it bears a striking resemblance to its illicit predecessor.
On a serious note nobody can exact predict the prices year by year.JP Buntinx is a FinTech and Bitcoin enthusiast living in Belgium.With news from China sending the bitcoin markets tumbling, technical analysis suggests key price indicators could determine when the selling will end.
Our Bitcoin (BTC) price prediction 2017 remains upbeat, owing to both heavy investment in blockchain technology and capital controls in the East.Bitcoin Price IQ is a Bitcoin Price Checker that lets you study, monitor, check and track the latest bitcoin prices calculated using data from over 30.
BITCOIN PRICE | Bitcoin Insider
OKCoin and Huobi will end yuan-to-bitcoin trading by the end of next month, but are set to keep offering crypto-to-crypto trades.So I made this list for him. 1. Growing use of bitcoin for the.With bitcoin making new all-time highs (ATHs) in price and market capitalization almost every day, the block size and scalability debate has taken a back.


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October 2015 is the deadline for switching credit cards and readers to EMV/Chip & PIN technology in the US. At this point fraud liability switches to the party with the lesser technology, which will have substantial impact on unprepared merchants. The eCommerce channel must also get ready as stopping fraud at physical retail stores will intensify online fraud attempts.
When Chip & PIN cards and the EMV standard were implemented on a large-scale in Europe and other markets, point-of-sale and counterfeit card fraud declined drastically, and in response fraudsters surged to the online channel. As more secure credit cards gain ground in the US, eCommerce merchants need to prepare and ensure their risk management programs are equipped to handle an increase in fraud attempts.
The credit card technology currently used in the USA stems from the 1960s, and the US is the only major country to still use cards with an easily forged magnetic stripe on the backside. In other areas, the swipe and sign technology has been replaced by cards with a microchip accompanied by a PIN code. Half of the credit card fraud in the world occurs in the US, while only accounting for a quarter of credit card transactions, but brick-and-mortar merchants unwilling to upgrade to new technology will in the future be responsible for fraudulent purchases.
The introduction of EMV in Europe caused a major reduction in card fraud at the point of sale and was especially effective in preventing counterfeit card fraud.
In the UK, Chip and Pin cards gained ground in 2004, and by 2006 nearly all card payments were fully migrated to the new system. In 2007, CNP fraud on cards issued in the UK ballooned 37 percent. 2008 saw another increase with 13 percent. CNP fraud losses more than doubled from 2004 to 2008, but have declined each year since then, until 2012 when there was a slight increase.
The implementation of Chip and PIN cards made using counterfeit cards and other forms of card present fraud much more difficult. This lead to an increase in fraud attempts attacking the CNP channel, and eCommerce merchants sought ways to contain losses.
Financial Fraud Action UK is an industry group under the UK payments administration, and they attribute much of the reduction in CNP fraud on UK issued cards to increased use of Consumer Authentication schemes such as AmEx SafeKey, MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by Visa.
In the US, card issuers have set a deadline of October 2015 for EMV compliant payment terminals. At this point, the liability for fraud will switch to whichever party has the lesser technology. That means that merchants with old card readers will still be able to do business, but they will be liable for any fraudulent transactions if the customer has a Chip and PIN card. If the merchant has a new reader but the bank hasn’t issued a new Chip and PIN card, the bank will be liable. There is one exception; gas stations with automated fuel dispensers will have until October 2017 to upgrade their equipment.
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Microsoft has posted a reminder that Windows Phone 7.8 will lose its mainstream support on September 9 as part of a recently updated list of its software products that will see either their mainstream or extended support end in the next six months.
That means that after September 9, phones that have Windows Phone 7.8 won't be getting any more new operating system features or major performance improvements. However, those same phones will still receive free security updates for the next five years. Most people will likely purchase an all new phone with Windows Phone 8.1 installed rather than continuing to use their old device for the next five years.
The same list also shows that Windows 7, which is currently the most installed OS on PCs, will lose its own mainstream support on January 13, 2015. Extended support will end for that operating system on January 13, 2020.
Are you still using a Windows Phone 7.8 device and do you plan to trade up to a new Windows Phone 8.1 product in the near future?
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Intel's Expected Revenue Weakness Might Be Contagious
Intel attributed its weaker revenue expectations to lower consumer PC purchases, while it said corporate spending is holding solid. It expects "third-quarter revenue to be $11 billion, plus or minus $200 million, compared to the previous expectation of between $11.2 and $12 billion."
The chipmaking giant added its "expectation for third-quarter gross margin is now 66%, plus or minus a point, lower than the previous expectation of 67%, plus or minus a couple of points. The impact of lower volume is being partially offset by slightly higher average selling prices stemming from solid enterprise demand." Initially, Intel's stock rose on the news, up over 1% to $18.37, but during the day it fell to a new 52-week low at $17.81. The 52-week high for the shares is $24.37.
Rippling Outwards From Intel
And the numbers could get even worse, particularly in the fourth quarter now that the U.S. economic recovery appears to be slowing down. The Commerce Department revised second-quarter GDP downwards to 1.6%. Some economists do not expect much better than that in the second half of the year amidst growing concern about a double-dip recession.
The ripples from the Intel news and the growing threat from slowing hardware sales will almost certainly hit three sectors. The first is chips. Intel's two primary competitors, AMD (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) are likely to suffer. Nvidia's stock is off 48% year-to-date, which makes it the second-largest loser among all S&P 500 stocks.
The improvement in Microsoft's (MSFT) sales could also begin to stall. Windows 7 sales have been critical in the turnaround for Redmond's fortunes from last year. Slowing Windows 7 sales would not only hurt the company's earnings, it would confirm some investors' fears that Microsoft is no longer a growth company.
PC sales weakness will be felt most at Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Dell (DELL). Dell has more at risk because it's less diversified than HP. A drop in sales would add to a long list of woes at Dell, which include SEC investigations about accounting fraud and bribery, and the release of court documents that allegedly show the company shipped millions of flawed PCs that some Dell employees knew about.
Intel's announcement goes beyond Intel. It's likely to be the beginning of a domino effect.


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Biju Thomas, founder of Biju's Little Curry Shop
, has been steadily growing his brand since opening his first fast-casual South Indian restaurant at 1441 26th Street in RiNo in 2014. In 2016, he added a second Biju's
at 4279 Tennyson Street and also struck a deal with Whole Foods Market to open two walk-up kiosks inside the Whole Foods in Boulder and at Tamarac in south Denver.
The deal with Whole Foods is coming to an end, though, and Thomas will close both kiosks after lunch service on October 5 to focus on the placement of retail products and packaged foods. Thomas says the plan for the kiosks, which were a first for Whole Foods in any market, had always been short-term, to allow other local food producers the opportunity to take over the spaces. "The original plan was to be in there for six months to a year," Thomas notes. "We ended up staying a lot longer than I anticipated."
Biju's spice blends will soon hit Whole Foods markets and other outlets.
Courtesy of Biju's Little Curry Shop
The reason for the extended stay, he adds, is that getting local vendors into Whole Foods proved complicated because of the company's strict standards for food sourcing and quality. But knowing that the gig was not permanent, Thomas was working on making introductions between Whole Foods and Denver-area restaurants to line up the next vendors.
The kiosks at the two current locations, in addition to other Whole Foods Markets (in Belmar and the upcoming Union Station location, for example), will host the likes of Dae Gee
(Korean barbecue), Etai's
and Yellowbelly Chicken
, all Colorado companies with multiple locations. Now that the system has been tested, new vendors will stay for several weeks to six months; the idea is to build in local ties with the grocery stores and restaurants so that lunch and dinner options will feel a little more familiar to customers.
The idea of partnerships between Whole Foods and Denver restaurants has recently expanded beyond kiosks, as Birdcall just announced that it will open a 100-seat restaurant, complete with 24 tap handles, at the new Union Station Whole Foods
scheduled to open later this fall.
While Biju's will give ups its kiosk space, the brand won't disappear from Whole Foods. Thomas has created a new line of Indian spice blends and sauce packets that will soon debut not just in Denver, but all over the Rocky Mountain region. He's also planning to get placement of the products in other national retail outlets and is working on new brick-and-mortar restaurants outside of Colorado.
With spices and sauces in hand, will you be able to replicate a Biju's meal at home? A stop at the Berkeley or RiNo restaurants will still be your best bet, but a taste of South India will certainly be a good addition to the repertoires of home cooks.


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Free trial period extended once again
Apple has announced that people living with the year’s free trial of its Apple TV+ streaming service will now have free access until July 2021.
You get a free year’s worth of Apple TV+ action when you buy an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV or Mac. However, that initiative kicked off at the tail end of 2019 so anyone on board then will be looking at an extra 9 months of gratis-viewing.
Back in October the Cupertino company revealed plans to extend the free period to February 2021 but the new date adds a further five months to the deal.
Read this: Apple TV 4K review
It’s thought that, because of the pandemic, Apple is keen to keep people on board despite the updates in terms of new original content not rolling out as fast as originally planned.
If you have coughed up the £4.99 subscription fee, you should see an Apple Store credit hitting your balance.
Apple TV+ is Apple’s horse in the race to own our TV time – it’s essentially Apple’s answer to Netflix.
The service, which launched in November 2019, is filled with Apple’s original programming, with 4K, HDR/Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos all along for the ride.
It’s available on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV or Mac and the app has also launched on some third-party smart TV platforms from the likes of Sony, LG, Samsung and Vizio.
The Apple TV+ app can also be found on Xbox and PlayStation consoles and streaming sticks from the likes of Roku and Amazon.


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tech2 News Staff
March 16, 2019 11:21:43 IST
Foldable smartphones have become the new trend in 2019. With Samsung and Huawei, they present their respective folding flagship smartphones with It is time for the other technicians to get up. Now, a new patent has revealed Google's plans for a receding smartphone.
The patent, which was first discovered by Patently Mobile showed that the Google phone will have a horizontal fold as the rumored Motorola folding Razr phone. The image of the patent also shows that the phone will have a small gap when folded, some smartphone manufacturers seem to avoid a perfectly folding smartphone.
Apart from that, there is no other information about the device, but we also have to warn readers that this patent does not definitely mean that Google is working on a collapsible smartphone. Many times patents gather dust with no one to work on them. We will surely know in the near future for sure.
Tech2 is now on WhatsApp. For all the latest technology and science connect, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Tech2.com/Whatsapp and press the Subscribe button.


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Catering Insight can now officially reveal the 10 Young Trailblazers from distributor companies who have made it into this year’s Power List.
This category spotlights the next generation – individuals that are relatively new to the industry but are already making their mark.
This year’s Young Trailblazers is backed by Welbilt, as supporting the next generation within the industry is absolutely key for the kitchen equipment manufacturer. It feels these new talents will be the future of the industry and that it’s incredibly important that we provide them with all of the support that we can to ensure that they have successful futures within foodservice.
The Young Trailblazers category not only supports the younger generation at the start of their careers, but it also recognises their hard work and achievements whilst they break into the industry. For Welbilt, supporting this category is the next natural step in formally recognising and highlighting its acknowledgement of their success.
Therefore the final 10 Power List Young Trailblazers 2017 are:
Alex McEvoy, Accounts Manager, Bournville Catering Equipment
Adam Hall, Catering Designer, ABDA Creative Design & Build
Sam Parkes, Catering Machine Sales Manager, JLA
Louise Smith, Sales Director, Primo Catering Equipment
Matthew Kitchin, Commercial Manager, C&C Catering Equipment
Adam Todd, Sales & Marketing Co-ordinator, Sylvester Keal
Paul Holder, Technical Manager, Court Catering Equipment
Grace Cox, Business Co-ordinator, Fulcrum Commercial Kitchens
Matt Jennings, Project Manager, Hallmark Kitchens
Simon Neill, Sales & Design Engineer, GastroNorth
To see the whole Power List 2017 at a glance, access the July 2017 digital edition of Catering Insight HERE.


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Hong Kong closes in on New York as retail rents soar
Wednesday 08 June 2011
Corrects figures, details in paragraph 5] As a shopping destination, Hong Kong has over the past decade charted a course towards the very high-end in brands - and it seems retailers are now paying a very expensive price for the trend.
With a 46 percent rise in rents, quarter on quarter, as 2010 drew to a close, Hong Kong is now second only to New York in terms of what tenants pay for retail locations across the city.
According to the latest figures released by global commercial property company CB Richard Ellis last week, Hong Kong last year surpassed Sydney as the second-most expensive city in the world, with the average cost being paid now hitting US$1,687 per square foot per year. Sydney retailers now pay US$1,301, according to CBRE.
New York still tops the charts with rents at US$1,900 - but Hong Kong seems intent on closing the gap as the world's leading brands continue to set up shop all over town.
Local media here have reported that even US casual retailer Abercrombie & Fitch has gotten in on the act and is paying HK$7.5 million (US$964,000) a month for a shop in downtown Central that's estimated to cover around 12,000 square feet. It has up until now been occupied by high-end clothing company Shanghai Tang.
In the bustling district of Causeway Bay, meanwhile, LVMH (Watch) is renting a 600 square foot space for HK$1.5 million (US$193,000) per month.
The fact that Hong Kong is the favorite shopping destination for mainland China plays a significant role in the demand for retail space here - a record 22.7 million arrived during 2010 and April saw 2.1 million cross the border.
According to a recent report from Swiss-based tax refund and shopping service provider Global Blue, more than 70 percent of outbound consumption by Chinese travelers was taken up by shopping.
Overall, retail rental rates grew 3.8 percent globally, year on year, according to CBRE.
The world's most expensive retail rents (US$/sq ft per annum)
1. (1) New York 1,900
2. (3) Hong Kong 1,697
3. (2) Sydney 1.301
4. (4) London 909
5. (6) Zurich 829
6. (5) Tokyo 807
7. (7) Paris 783
8. (8) Brisbane 753
9. (9) Moscow 721
10. (10) Melbourne 691
11. (11) Guangzhou 575
12. (12) Los Angeles 520
13. (14) Milan 500
14. (16) Munich 490
15. (13) Chicago 480
16. (15) Singapore 470
17. (17) Rome 461
18. (18) Beijing 449
19. (19) Frankfurt 442
20. (23) Shanghai 414
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Vegan meat producer Beyond Meat is preparing to go public, and based on the company’s filing, it could be worth up to $1.2 billion.
According to the El Segundo, California-based company’s filing with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Beyond Meat plans to sell 8.75 million shares for $19 to $21 each.
At the upper end, that would push Beyond Meat, which is currently valued at over half a billion dollars, to a market valuation of $1.2 billion.
Beyond Meat has quickly grown to become one of the most recognizable names in the plant-based meat category, due in large part to its flagship Beyond Burger.
The Beyond Burger, unlike a number of vegan burgers created in the past, is said to taste, look, even cook like a beef burger.
The burger was an instant crowd favorite, following its May 2016 launch in a Colorado Whole Foods grocery store, where the product sold out in just one hour.
Beyond Meat, which makes other vegan meats like sausages and beef crumbles, has struggled to keep its products stocked in stores over the past few years.
The company’s creation of products that appeal not only to vegans but also to meat eaters has proven crucial to its success, as non-vegans account for the vast majority of consumers.
Beyond Meat has also been successful in drawing in investors that include Bill Gates, Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone, and even the world’s second largest meat processor, Tyson Foods, which is also rapidly producing its own plant-based protein as demand grows.
Beyond Meat, which will be listed as BYND, is considered a unicorn in finance, that is a privately-held startup valued at over $1 billion.
However, despite the company’s accomplishments, Beyond Meat has yet to turn a profit and warns that it might not ever do so.
“We have a history of losses, and we may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability,” the company wrote in its filing.
“We may not succeed in increasing our revenues and margins sufficiently to offset the anticipated higher expenses.”
Perhaps more promising for Beyond Meat is the fact that demand is so overwhelming that the company is struggling to keep up.
“We currently do not have sufficient capacity to meet our customers’ demands and to satisfy increased demand, we need to expand our operations, supply and manufacturing capabilities,” the company wrote.
The vegan meat producer is hoping that the potential $183.8 million raised in the IPO will help take it to the next level.
Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown has stated that funds raised in an IPO will help the company with its plans to lower its price below the price of animal-derived meat, and that could lead to a much large number of consumers switching to plant-based meat.


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An article written by Korea Times earlier this week revealed that Apple is negotiating with LG to make displays for a bigger iPhone and a smaller iPad.The article was later deleted due to unknown reason. The next generation iPhone, the iPhone 5 is rumoured to have a bigger screen of 5″.
Apple have realized that bigger the smartphone the more popular it will get that's why they are trying to add even bigger screen to the next generation iPhone 5. The leaked information published by the Korean Times was removed, after Apple asked them to remove. The publication also revealed that the iPhone 5 will be featuring a retina display which will keep the resolution of its forerunners, 960×640 pixels.
The publication also mentioned that Apple Inc will be shrinking the next generation iPad to a smaller screen from 9.5 inch to 7.35 inch. Two other Korean based news agency also published the same news regarding the next generation iPhone and iPad, but they were also deleted quickly for the same reason.
The current size of iPhone and iPad for me is quite perfect. It would be great if Apple sticks to the size of current iPhone size and make a bigger screen for the iPad. The phone should not be that much big, so that it irritates you when keeping it in pockets.


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Wawa is opening its first store in Georgia with the potential for up to 20 more stores in the market in the future, the company said. The store will be built at 1401 Tallahassee Hwy in Bainbridge, according to construction plans cited by What Now Atlanta, and the building will be 6,119 square feet.
Buy/sell, rent/lease residential &
commercials real estate properties.
“Our continued expansion plans will allow us to reach more customers with our quality fresh food, beverages and community support friends and neighbors,” said John Poplawski, vice president of real estate for Wawa said in 2022 when the company revealed the plan to expand into the Peach State. “Expanding to Georgia is a natural extension from the Florida Panhandle and we look forward to serving more communities along the East Coast.”
The chain also unveiled its next-generation store design in October, which debuted at its new store in Henrico, Virginia. The new design includes an all-new exterior with a defined centered entry point, V-shaped column and a cantilever roof canopy. Inside, there are modern materials with a raised ceiling and large windows. The interior showcases Wawa’s food and beverage offers and provide enhanced interior space for customers and associates.
Wawa has about 1,000 stores primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C.
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BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) – A Colombian business owner in Brownsville is serving a taste of her home country while honoring the people and culture that make her product special.
Colombia may not be known as the biggest coffee bean exporter, but it does have a reputation as the best. The South American country’s geographic location, high altitude, and climate make it a suitable place for coffee plants to grow, but the high standard for the bean’s cultivation is what makes it unique.
Because of the hard-to-access, mountain-side terrain, small family farms make up the totality of the production force in Colombia. High-skilled workers select the coffee bean to ensure its quality and consistent flavor.
The quantity at which the country exports is not too shabby either. A region in Colombia comprised of three departments, Caldas, Risaralda, and Quindio, is responsible for much of the yearly export of 14 million bags of coffee that make up at least 10% of the global supply.
It is in this coffee region where Johanna Lozano grew up picking coffee on her parent’s farm. Though Lozano’s is far from her home in Armenia, Quindo, she did not leave her culture behind.
Lozano has been in the United States since the age of 18 and moved to the Rio Grande Valley eight years ago when her husband was offered a job in the Harlingen school district. Once here, she continued her education in business administration and later began importing coffee and selling it at local farmer’s markets. She later decided to open her first coffee shop: Café Canasto.
“I wanted to give some exposure to the product before I opened a store, to see if people were going to like it. We got good feedback, so we decided to look for a location and we found this one here in Brownsville,” Lozano said.
The drive-thru was the main selling point for the location in Brownsville and was what helped her keep business going during the pandemic when restaurants were forced to close. “I think God put it in my heart because when we opened, five days later is when everything shut down,” Lozano said. “What saved us was having the drive-thru.”
Lozano was able to wait until vaccines rolled out to open her café for walk-in business and her vision of exposing people in the RGV to authentic Colombian food and drinks was finally becoming reality.
Each of the food combo on her menu is named after the area where they are most popular, and the drinks, not just the specialty coffee, are authentic to Colombia as well.
“I wanted to include food so people could have a taste of my culture, my country. It took me a long time to create a menu,” Lozano said. She went back home to learn how to make the food and drinks from her family that could be made quickly for drive-thru customers.
It is not just food and drinks that Lozano uses to create an immersive experience for her walk-in customers, she also used art. She worked with local artist Alejandra Zertuche to create murals in her café representing the life of a coffee grower in Colombia.
“My main focus is to honor the coffee farmers,” Lozano said. “I grew up in a coffee farm and I know how hard it is to be up on the hill regardless if it’s super hot outside or if it’s raining. It’s a very difficult job that they do.”
The name Café Canasto comes from the baskets that are used by the coffee farm workers to carry their beans.
Café Canasto opens weekdays at 7 a.m. and is located at 4008 Paredes Line Rd, Brownsville, Texas.


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If you purchased a ticket in a recent Mega Millions lottery drawing, you may be a winner!
According to a release from the North Carolina Education Lottery, two Mega Millions players who purchased their tickets from stores across the state have each won $1 million in Friday (July 29) night's drawing. Both tickets matched all five white balls called in the drawing: 13, 36, 45, 57 and 67 while the gold Mega ball was 14. A 2X Megaplier was also called in the drawing.
One winning ticket was sold at the Adam's Mart on Elm Lane in Charlotte while the other was sold at the Shop N Save on Mecklenburg Highway in Mooresville. In addition to the two $1 million prize winners, 12 tickets in Friday's drawing won $10,000 prizes and two Megaplier tickets won $20,000 thanks to the 2X Megaplier doubling their prizes.
According to lottery officials, one lucky ticket sold in Illinois won the $1.337 billion jackpot in Friday's Mega Millions drawing, the second largest jackpot in the history of the game and the third largest jackpot overall. The ticket was purchased from a gas station near Chicago O'Hare International Airport, causing speculation that the unknown winner could be anywhere. The gas station will receive a 1% commission for selling the winning ticket.


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HONDA CR V
Honda WR-V launched in India
Honda Cars India launched its new crossover vehicle Honda WR-V priced between Rs 7.75-8.99 lakh for the petrol variants and Rs 8.99 - 9.99 lakh for the diesel variants.
First drive: Honda WR-V
India is the first global market to get the Honda WR-V and is also the first model developed by Honda R&D India in as...
Honda to launch compact SUV WR-V on March 16
HCIL on Thursday commenced the pre-bookings of the WR-V at all authorised Honda dealerships across the country with a booking amount of Rs 21,000.
Honda launches compact SUV WR-V starting at Rs 7.75 lakh
WR-V is the first model developed by Honda R&D India along with Honda R&D Japan.
Honda bets on WR-V, new City to rev up sales in next fiscal
Currently, HCIL sells around two lakh units annually, while its production capacity stands at around 2.4 lakh units from its two plants in Greater Noida and Tapukara (Rajasthan).
Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur
SOCCER-ENGLAND-CHE-TOT:STATBOX - Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur
After City, Honda may bring new Civic, sports vehicle WR-V
The company has a reason to be optimistic as the fourth-generation City, launched only last week, has already notched up over 5,500 bookings as of Friday.
Autocar: Hyundai Creta vs Honda BR-V
Honda’s newest car, the BR-V is put up against a car that has been a favourite in India – the Hyundai Creta. And already, there are two things that stand out about the BR-V – it seats seven, instead of five, and it is offered with a CVT unlike the Creta’s torque converter.
Autocar: Honda BR-V review
Honda will be launching its highly-awaited SUV, the Honda BR-V, on May 5, 2016. The BR-V was showcased at the Indian Auto Expo this year in February.
In conversation with V Ramakrishnan, Ajoyendra Mukherjee
In a chat with ET Now, V Ramakrishnan, CFO and Ajoyendra Mukherjee, Executive VP & Head-Global HR at Tata Consultancy Services discuss the IT major’s performance in Q4.


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West Virginia Makes Rare Breakthrough in Rare Earth Minerals
- Category: tungsten‘s News
- Published on Thursday, 19 August 2021 22:17
Due to the semiconductor chip crisis, West Virginia has a rare opportunity in rare earth minerals during the pandemic. During the pandemic last year, the demand for chips that power computers, phones, and other consumer electronics products increased sharply. Chips are transferred to meet demand.
Demand for durable goods is now on the rise, and the shortage of chips is severely hitting the automotive industry. Rare earths are composed of 17 elements, and the chip is made of rare earth elements. These elements have similar chemical properties, which allow them to release and accept electrons.
Rare earths are not uncommon because they are abundant in the earth's crust. However, rare earth elements are usually not found intensively, so it is difficult to extract them through traditional mining methods.
The West Virginia Water Research Institute (WVWRI) is a project of the WVU Energy Research Institute, and its researchers are working to transform acid mine drainage from coal mining so that it can be used for rare earth extraction. They recently received a $2.1 million renewal contract from the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).
In an interview with WVU Today, WVWRI Director Paul Ziemkiewicz stated that they have cooperated with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to establish a pilot plant. The plant mainly processes acid mine drainage to meet clean water standards.
This technology will be able to extract one ton of rare earth and core mineral concentrates every year. In addition, they are conducting a study for NETL on how to develop a national factory supply chain in coal and metal mining areas based on this technology.
These factories can create a number of technical jobs and may produce at least 400 tons of rare earths each year. In the United States, about 11,000 metric tons of rare earths are used to make high-tech products such as fighter jets and smartphones every year.
The U.S. Department of Energy believes that the current global market for rare earth elements worth $5 billion will grow by 40% in the next five years. According to the International Energy Agency, the United States extracts approximately 13% of rare earth elements, China extracts 60%, and Myanmar extracts 11%.
The second part of the supply chain is processing. China processes 87% of the world's rare earth elements and concentrates them. Because China has advantages in rare earth mining and processing, it occupies an important position in the price and supply of rare earths.
Nowadays, under the influence of globalization, countries all over the world are working hard to develop new rare earth element supply chains. The U.S. Department of Energy has allocated millions of dollars through the Democratic and Republican governments to fund the extraction, research, and processing of the rare earth elements market in the United States.
The Biden administration and the US Congress are strengthening this important commitment. This will also have a real opportunity to create a better future for West Virginians to stay, rebuild and succeed.
Now is the time for the United States to start making things again. For a long time, the United States has relied on the originality of other countries. If we can not better control the manufacturing supply chain in the United States, we can not ignore that this will put the United States in danger. The United States must put aside political differences to help American states and countries prosper and develop.
Secretary of State Granholm said that West Virginia has fallen behind, but more promising days are coming. She emphasized President Biden's commitment to the United States. Helping this state to seize this rare opportunity and play a key role in the future of rare earth minerals is a good start to fulfill this promise.
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Changes coming one click at a time
Illustration: Rocco Fazzari
WHERE do you get your inspiration for holidays?
If you look at where travel companies are investing their efforts, you'd think social media applications such as Facebook and Twitter are playing a big role in our plans and choices.
The use of social media is still in its early stages.
But are we paying much attention to these platforms - aside from clicking on the occasional "like" button in the hope of winning a holiday?
A recent study by the major British advertising company Conrad Advertising threw some tangible information into a long-running debate on whether social media really influences travellers. The study, which involved interviews with more than 2000 travellers, found that while social media might be widely used, it was not considered the best source of inspiration and recommendation by travellers.
Only 8 per cent had used Facebook for planning a holiday in the previous 12 months and only 5 per cent said Twitter had any influence on their decision-making.
Newspapers, holiday brochures, websites and television continued to be the most used sources of information and inspiration.
However, the use of social media is still in its early stages in travel and its influence is likely to grow as travel companies get more innovative with their social media offerings, rather than just using the applications to throw marketing information at consumers.
KLM recently launched a "Meet & Seat" service that allows travellers to link their Facebook and LinkedIn profiles to their flight booking.
The service (available for selected routes through the "manage my booking" service on the airline's website) is aimed at helping travellers find like-minded people to sit next to or even just someone to share a taxi with, depending on how much information they choose to share.
Malaysia Airlines also has a "social seating" application, MHbuddy, that allows travellers to use Facebook to connect with travellers taking the same flight.
KLM, which has been leading the way in using social media, has also been active on the creative side, offering fun Facebook applications such as one that turns your photos into a holiday movie you can share with others and a "Stewardress Yourself" application where you can see what you look like as a KLM flight attendant.
This follows on from one of the best examples of social media usage, "KLM Surprise", which involved the airline analysing customers' social media profiles and surprising them in airports with gifts aligned to their interests.
Another company that has put the "social" into social media is YTL Hotels, which has a Facebook application that allows families to connect with others who will be staying at the same resort. When guests with children confirm a reservation on the YTL website, they are encouraged to go to the company's Facebook page where they can either post their holiday details (travellers should be careful when publicising that they are going to be away from home) or look for other families booked at the same resort.
Facebook itself has also upped the ante, with users now able to add a wide range of travel information to their Facebook Timeline.
Under the new Facebook format, users can create maps pinpointing places they have been or want to go and can bring in information from applications including TripAdvisor (travel reviews) and Gogobot (trip planning).
Of course, trip planning is only one side of the social media equation; the other is how travellers use social media forums to provide feedback on their travel experiences.
There have been some high-profile examples of travellers letting off steam, such as the singer Lily Allen complaining about Ryanair charges and the comedian Alan Davies letting rip at his treatment on Qantas, but are we making ourselves heard or just making ourselves feel better?
A study by the market research firm MarketTools last year found that while 10 per cent of American travellers had used social media channels to voice their complaints about airlines, only a quarter of those had received any response.
Are airlines still catching up or choosing to ignore?
Research by another agency, TravelClick, found hotels were also yet to fully embrace social media.
Facebook was popular, with 65 per cent of hotels using it to encourage bookings, but only 20 per cent were using Twitter and only 8 per cent were running promotions through FourSquare, which gives businesses the ability to send special deals to nearby smartphone users.
Advice for millions
One platform that does influence travellers is TripAdvisor.
The Conrad Advertising study found 50 per cent of respondents had used TripAdvisor for holiday planning, putting it well ahead of any other platform.
TripAdvisor now claims to have more than 50 million unique monthly visitors to its site and says for every person who goes directly to the site, there are another three viewing TripAdvisor reviews on other sites.


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APTOS >> Tickets are on sale for the annual Sip for Second Harvest benefit, which is 3-5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, at Seascape Golf Club (610 Clubhouse Dr.). The event includes local wines such as Roudon-Smith Winery, Byington Vineyard, Wrights Station, La Vida Bella Vineyard, Stockwell Cellars, Burrell School Vineyards, Wargin Wines, Kathryn Kennedy Winery, Pelican Ranch Winery and Hallcrest. Cost is $40 per person (includes six tasting tickets plus appetizers) or $70 for two people (12 tickets and appetizers). Purchase tickets at thefoodbank.networkforgood.com/events/4927-sip-for-second-harvest-2018. Tickets will not be available at the door. All proceeds benefit Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County, which helps 55,000 local residents in need each month.
Quick Bites, compiled by Tara Fatemi Walker, is your weekly helping of Santa Cruz County restaurant and food news. Send items to firstname.lastname@example.org. Want local food and wine news as it happens? Follow the Sentinel’s food crew on Twitter (@santacruzfood); on Instagram (@santacruzfood); or on Facebook (Santa Cruz Food).


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Bloomfield Hills, Michigan – August 15, 2016 – The Crypton Companies, a leading provider of performance fabrics in the contract, home furnishings and apparel markets, today announced the expansion of its fabric design and merchandising team. Janna Sendra has been hired as the new Director for Fabric Design and Merchandising for Crypton. She will be based in the company’s Bloomfield Hills office.
Sendra joins Crypton from Arden Companies where she was a Senior Stylist and Director of Textiles responsible for fabric line product and trend presentations to some of the nation’s largest retailers. Prior to Arden, she worked at companies such as Robert Allen Design and Wearbest, where she focused on collections for high end fabrics sold to interior designers. Sendra earned her B.A. from Michigan State University and her M.S. in Textile Design from Philadelphia University.
“Being able to flawlessly integrate client retail goals and the end consumers desires are a must in this industry,” said Randy Rubin, Chairman of Crypton. “Janna’s proven track record as a commercial and trend driven designer and merchandiser makes her a natural fit to our growing company.”
Sendra’s responsibilities at Crypton include working with all stakeholders including mills, retailers, designers and end consumers to advance Crypton’s various products to market.
About The Crypton Companies
The Crypton Companies have patented and branded environmentally responsible textile performance solutions since 1993. The company’s flagship product, CRYPTON® Fabric, revolutionized the use of fabrics in the healthcare, hospitality, government, education and contract segments. Crypton Home® fabric is a leading provider of fabrics for the home furnishing industry and available at national retailers. In 2014, Crypton acquired Nanotex, which was among the first to market nanotechnology solutions for textiles. Since that time, Nanotex technology has been significantly enhanced, and is being re-launched to the apparel markets through a new integrated marketing and promotion campaign. For more information on The Crypton Companies, please visit www.crypton.com and for Nanotex, please visit www.nanotex.com.


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Former Apple TV Designer Ben Keighran is Building Caffeine.tv
A year ago Ben Keighran quit at Apple, where he was in the Apple TV division working on the latest version of the Apple TV.
Now he's the co-founder and leader of Caffeine, a streaming service that aims to compete with Twitch and YouTube Gaming for the hearts and eyeballs of gaming nerds everywhere.
Caffeine is currently in beta - you can set up an account, like mine, for free via Twitter but you can't actually stream anything until you're approved by Caffeine. Which I'm not.
No word on how exactly they're implementing the streaming but due to the fact that using the site currently requires Chrome or Firefox, I'm guessing they're using a browser based method of capturing gameplay as opposed to using downloaded software like OBS or Gameshow.
It'll be a tough uphill fight against the big players - Twitch is owned by Amazon and YouTube is an Alphabet/Google property - but internet nerds love an underdog story and an opportunity to be an early adopter on a new platform is hard to resist.
Why be one of millions on YouTube when you can be in the top 10 on Twitch or Caffeine?


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Customers today expect easier online checkout and faster transactions. While they don’t want to be bogged down by too many steps, they’re also highly concerned about security and protection. A recent report by Vanson Bourne found that 92% of 7,000 consumers surveyed across North America and Europe said they expect a fast, frictionless experience that is also trustworthy and secure.
This juxtaposition of “fast and frictionless yet safe” can often put a large burden on retailers who may be tempted to add extra steps to provide increased security. While there are many ways to meet these growing customer expectations, the best approach is to prioritize the user experience. From building machine learning models for pre-authorization risk assessment to offering fast and easy POS lending options at checkout, here are a few trends to watch for in the coming years as retailers double down on the customer experience:
Trend 1: Retailers that cut checkout friction will see double-digit conversion rate gains
According to the same Vanson Bourne report, an astounding 66% of consumers have abandoned opening an account or a transaction on at least one occasion due to friction, including the process taking too long. Further, a recent Baymard Research Study found the global average cart abandonment rate is 69.2%, with 23% of U.S. ecommerce shoppers claiming the abandonment was solely due to a “too long/complicated checkout process.”
Takeaway: Luckily, Baymard also found that the average large-sized ecommerce site can gain a 35.26% increase in conversion though better checkout experiences. With combined ecommerce sales of $738 billion in the U.S. and EU, that amounts to $260 billion of lost orders recoverable through addressing checkout usability issues.
Trend 2: POS lending at checkout to attract more shoppers with fast/easy approval key
2020 will bring a whole slew of new POS lending options, aka fixed payment loans, for shoppers who want to make payments over time without the hassle of a credit card. While POS financing has been around for a while, the pace of growth has accelerated in response to enhanced integration of POS financing offers into purchase processes, better application experiences and newer business models. According to McKinsey Consumer Finance pools, the total U.S. outstanding balances originated through POS installment lending solutions more than doubled between 2015 and 2019.
Takeaway: While fraudsters will also be trying these layaway-like options to make off with goods, the biggest risk to merchants won’t be letting fraud through; it will be not having an authorization process that matches the ease of the fixed payment option itself to ultimately secure these new customers.
Trend 3: A shift to pre-authorization risk screening through ML models to improve CX
Whether it’s the fear of pushing out good customers, the price tags tied to rejected transaction, or the Transaction Risk Analysis (TRA) requirements under PSD2, machine learning (ML) pre-authorization is the answer to improve the customer experience, positively affect authorizations, and adhere to the new regulations. Pre-authorization screening becomes even more important in verticals such as digital goods and on-demand delivery, where consumers expect instant fulfillment and have even less patience for false declines or having to wait for their transaction to be assessed for fraud in typically slow, high-friction, manual review processes.
Takeaway: With ML as a central part of their strategy, retailers won’t just invest in third-party models and data, but will look to build their own models for optimal performance, reduced fraud and more control over the customer experience.
Trend 4: Regulatory initiatives for consumer protection will remain a priority
In the U.S., Congress will push to pass a GDPR-like law in the near future, but a full plate of priorities will prove too much of a distraction for getting a new law passed in the next calendar year. Take for instance, the EU’s Payment Service Directive 2 (PSD2) deadline that was slotted for Sept. 14, 2019, only to be pushed out into 2020. The U.S. will see similar delays and distractions in passing its own regulation in 2020. In the meantime, CCPA will likely function as the default privacy standard in the U.S., led by forward-looking businesses such as Microsoft.
Takeaway: It could be a while before the U.S. establishes a data privacy regulation. Retailers that want to stay ahead will elect to meet the CCPA requirements early, earning customer trust and loyalty over laggards.
Combating fraud is certainly an important initiative for merchants across industries. However, it will be equally important in 2020 for retailers to prioritize the customer experience or risk losing valuable customers along the way.
Kushal Shah is Senior VP Product and Global Expansion at Ekata


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A BRITAIN'S Next Top Model finalist has revealed the miracle 'vegan' face cream that cured her following a seven-year battle with acne.
Louisa Northcote, 22, a blogger and former Top Model contestant, had suffered from acne since she was 13 - blaming the condition for her 'low self-esteem'.
The fashion graduate started her #freethepimple campaign on social media after years of trauma caused by her acne - with the spots seriously affecting her mental health.
She explained online that at times the spots would stop her from leaving her bedroom to spend time with family, and instead choosing to wear heavy makeup all the time.
But the 22-year-old says her skin has been totally transformed by the Rescue No. One cream by vegan brand Science of Skin, and it took just a month.
The £19 cream is formulated to tackle acne scarring and redness, using magnolia tree bark extract to calm the skin with powerful anti-inflammatory effects.
- Rescue No. One, Science of Skin, £18.99 - buy now
Showing her skin off in a blog post, Louisa said: "I could cry with how happy I am with my skin. I have clear skin. I never thought this day would happen.
"How insanely ridiculous is that. It's super duper crazy and it's all thanks to this miracle cream. This is no joke."
While cutting out dairy and gluten helped her acne go down, Louisa was left with painful scars and red marks from years of the condition.
She explained to the Mirror: "I used the cream for four weeks. It was in the third week that I started to notice the redness had really gone down."
most read in Fabulous
Louisa, who campaigns about body positivity even for those suffering from acne, says she will continue to speak out on the issue even with clear skin.
"Even if you are working towards clear skin it's still a journey," she continued. "So I use the hashtag #freethepimple soother people can fit it and know that they are not alone."
In other news, a teen who suffered severe acne shares the four 'miracle' products that have cleared her skin.