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Most of the clothes and gadgets you buy in stores today were once in shipping containers that sailed across the ocean. Sailing ships more than 80% of the world’s traded goods. But they have a problem: the majority of them burn heavy sulfur fuel oil, which is a driver of climate change.
Whereas the engines of cargo ships do become more efficient over time, the industry is under increasing pressure to eliminate its carbon footprint.
The Parliament of the European Union voted this year to a 80% reduction in the greenhouse gas intensity of marine fuels by 2050 and to require shipping companies to pay for the greenhouse gases emitted by their ships. The International Maritime Organization, the United Nations agency that regulates international shipping, is also planning strengthen its climate strategy this summer. The IMO’s current target is to reduce shipping emissions by 50% by 2050. President Joe Biden said on April 20, 2023 that the US strive for a new international goal of zero emissions instead by 2050.
We asked a researcher in the maritime industry Don Maier if the industry can meet those stricter targets.
Why is it so hard for the shipping industry to move away from fossil fuels?
Economy and the ship life are two main reasons.
Most major shippers’ fleets are less than 20 years old, but even the newer ships don’t necessarily have the most advanced technology. It will take about a year and a half to come out with a new build ship, and it will still be based on technology from a few years ago. Most engines therefore still run on fossil fuel oil.
If companies do buy ships that run on alternative fuels, such as hydrogen, methanol and ammonia, they run into another challenge: there are only a few ports until now with the infrastructure to supply those fuels. Without a way to refuel at all the ports a ship might use, companies will lose their return on investment, so they will keep using the same technology instead of.
It is not necessary that the maritime industry does not want to move towards cleaner fuels. But their assets – their fleets – were bought with longevity and alternative fuels in mind are not yet available everywhere.
Ships be built which can run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and methanol, and even hydrogen will come online. Often these are dual fuel – ships that can run on alternative fuels as well as on fossil fuels. But so far too few ships of this type have been ordered to make the costs financially justified for most builders or buyers.
Costs of alternative fuels, such as methanol and hydrogen fuels made with renewable energy (as opposed to made with natural gas), are also silent significantly higher than fuel oil or LNG. But the good news is that those costs are there starting Unpleasant reject. As production increases, emissions will fall further.
Can stricter regulation and carbon pricing effectively drive industry change?
A little pressure on the industry can be helpful, but too much, too soon, can really make things more disruptive.
Like most industries, shipping companies want standardized rules that they can count on not changing next year. Some of these companies have invested millions of dollars in new ships in recent years, and now they are being told that those ships may not meet the new standards – even though the ships are almost brand new.
Another concern about the EU’s moves is whether it understands all the ‘what if’ scenarios. For example, if the EU has stricter rules than other countries, which affects which ships companies can use on European routes. All the ships they have on board routes to Europe will have to meet those emission standards. If there is more demand for products in Europe, they may have fewer ships to use.
I think the change will soon come in the industrybut changes are necessary make financial sense also for the shipping companies and their customers.
Economists have estimated that the cost of cutting emissions by 50% by 2050 will come from everywhere 1 trillion dollars to, more realistically, more than 3 trillion dollars, and full decarbonization would be even higher. Much of that cost will be passed on to charterers, shippers and ultimately consumers – so you and me.
Are there ways companies can reduce emissions now as they prepare to upgrade their fleets?
There are a number of options that shipping companies are now using to reduce emissions.
One that has been used for at least 10 years is wells higher quality paint on the hulls, which reduces the friction between the hull and the water. With less friction, the engine doesn’t work as hard, which reduces emissions.
Another is slow speed. When ships travel at higher speeds, their engines work harder, using more fuel and emitting more emissions. So shippers will use steam slowly. Usually, ships will move slowly when they are close to shore to reduce the emissions that smog creates in port cities like Los Angeles. On the open ocean, they return to normal speed.
Another commonly used option in the US and Europe is to turn off the ship’s engines in the harbor and connect to the electricity of the port. It is called ‘cold ironing’. It prevents more of the ship’s fuel from being burned, which affects air quality. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where smog from idling ships has been a health concern, has been a major driver of electrification. It is also less expensive for shipping companies than to burn their fuel in the port.
As simple as those may sound, they made massive improvements in emissionsbut she are not enough in themselves.
Will a higher target from the IMO be enough to pressure the industry to change?
I used to work in the shipping industry and I know that the maritime industry is a very old fashioned industry centuries ago. But the industry has invested millions in recent years in new ships with the most effective technology available.
When the IMO began requiring all ships using heavy fuel in world trade to switch to low-sulphur fuel, the industry revolves around complying with the rule, even though retrofits were costly and time consuming. Many shipping companies complied by installing ‘scrubbers’ that essentially filter the ship’s engine, and new ships were built to run on low-sulphur fuel oil.
Now the industry is being told that standards are changing again.
All industries want consistency so that they can be sure that they are investing in a new technology. The shipping companies will follow what the IMO says. They will push back, but they will still do it. That’s partly because of the IMO supports the maritime industryat.


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The Nokia X60 and X60 Pro are expected to launch later this year, according to Chinese Taiwanese media, and these two models are likely to be the manufacturer’s first phones with Huawei’s HarmonyOS.
Since its inception, Nokia Mobile has stuck with Google’s Android operating system without adding much to the user interface of its own smartphones, but that may well change on the next generation. Indeed, ITHome says Nokia Mobile is looking to integrate Huawei’s HarmonyOS 2 system into its smartphones. In addition, a series of Nokia X60 smartphones, including the Nokia X60 and Nokia X60 Pro, are said to be the manufacturer’s first smartphones to use Huawei’s operating system.
Huawei presented Harmony OS last month and announced its arrival on its smartphones. In total, more than 100 devices will be updated with HarmonyOS. The Chinese company has already urged other Chinese phone makers to use the operating system which it claims is an alternative to the Android operating system. However, for now, the only non-Huawei product that launched with HarmonyOS is the Midea refrigerator, a product for the smart home.
What do we know about the characteristics of the Nokia X60?
The report also suggests that the Nokia X60 will featurea 200 MP rear camera, ofa high-quality curved display with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 144Hz. The latter should be powered by a large 6000mAh battery, much more than most of the high-end smartphones of its competitors.
Of course, smartphones will be both 5G compatible, but we do not yet know which processors they will use. We imagine that the high-end model could use a Snapdragon 888 or Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 888+, which is an overclocked version of the standard version.
However, it is known that Qualcomm’s high-end chips are currently facing an unprecedented shortage, which is forcing industry giants such as Samsung to push back some smartphones. Indeed, we learned that the Galaxy S21 FE from the Korean manufacturer would not be released in all countries because of the shortage, and that it would not be expected before October.

domain: news


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In a television ad that began airing in time for this year's holiday shopping season, two guys--fairly cool-looking guys--discuss their need for "a good TV" so they can watch their DVDs. "We're DVD freaks!" one of them says.
The ad is fast-paced, it drops names like Panasonic and Sony, and the advertiser is Wal-Mart.
So much for going to a specialty store for that plasma TV, MP3 player or personal digital assistant. Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart are closing in on what was once a specialized segment of retail, stocking their stores with the latest in consumer electronics.
Buying a PDA at Target
"The more these products become a part of your everyday life, the more Wal-Mart will sell them," said Marie Driscoll, a retail analyst for Argus Research. "How many people owned a PDA two years ago? And now they're selling at Target. It's really incredible."
Three years ago, the notion of visiting a discounter to buy a state-of-the-art television was a contradiction in terms. Discounters didn't have such products, and the manufacturers rarely considered them to be a respectable outlet. But the difference between the specialty stores and the discounters is narrowing, experts say, especially this year, with no clear must-have products and with the wavering economy holding spending in check.
"When the whole consumer-electronics industry was growing, Wal-Mart didn't really hurt anybody's business," said Scot Ciccarelli, a retail analyst for Gerard Klauer Mattison in New York. "But you get a lull in the product cycle, and you notice it."
Like many analysts, he is wary of investing in the specialty chains that once ruled the consumer-electronics business. Now that you can buy a personal digital assistant just about anywhere, the formerly plentiful profits on such gadgets have shrunk. Ciccarelli rates Best Buy "neutral" and expects Circuit City to underperform other stocks. The share price of both companies has fallen by about half since the beginning of the year.
It's a long way from just last year, when he and others thought that those two companies, benefiting from people's desire to build home theaters and other comforts instead of traveling abroad, could do no wrong.
Wal-Mart's interest in the electronics sector began to intensify about four years ago, when the giant retailer realized the potential of sticking mass prices on high-tech items. It has made runs at other specialty retail sectors, like toys, in the past, though consumer electronics are considered more lucrative.
"What Wal-Mart does is to look at each category it sells and try to figure out how to gain as much market share as possible," said Shari Schwartzman Eberts, a retail analyst for J.P. Morgan Securities.
"There has been an increase in competition coming from the discounters," said Ann Collier, a vice president who handles investor relations for Circuit City, the specialty electronics retailer based in Richmond, Va. Chains like Costco are also featuring electronics, she added, and "we know we have to be price-competitive with any of the major players in our segment."
Wal-Mart looms large
But it is Wal-Mart that is casting the biggest shadow across the sector.
"Big-screen televisions were very small last year at Wal-Mart," said Ciccarelli. "This year, they're in 1,500 stores."
Wal-Mart's strategy has been to identify products with mass appeal and then get them into its stores. Televisions are an obvious choice; personal computers are close behind, and Wal-Mart this week announced plans to sell a deeply discounted Hewlett-Packard computer and printer.
There are also personal digital assistants, DVD-VCR combos and digital cameras on the shelves. For reasons ranging from briefer product cycles to the increasing sophistication of middle-class consumers, the speed of that transfer, from state-of-the-art to state-of-the-Wal-Mart, has picked up.
"It certainly seems to be a shorter time period than what it used to be," said Gary Severson, who is senior vice president for electronics for Wal-Mart, which is based in Bentonville, Ark. "Mass seems to be gaining appeal for a lot of categories, and electronics is one of those where the customer realizes they don't have to pay a lot of money for everything."
The chief distinction between the discounters and the specialty chains, seems to be the training of the salespeople and the sophistication of the products. Training has traditionally been more elaborate at the specialty chains, where some workers are paid on commission, and the most avant-garde products are usually seen first at a Best Buy or a Circuit City.
"It's a C-minus kind of new-product environment," said Gary Giblin, an analyst for C.L. King Associates. So the competition lately is mostly over price, and as a result many retail analysts have slashed their expectations for Circuit City and Best Buy.
But they shouldn't worry too much, says Lisa Hawks, a spokeswoman for Best Buy, based outside Minneapolis. Salespeople are more knowledgeable at the specialty chains, she said, and product selection is more sophisticated.


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Nvidia Making First Steps on Journey to Become International Company, CEO Says
Over the last three years, the company’s revenues from sales to automotive companies shot up, a result of increased use of autonomous driving features
Mr. Huang, who founded Nvidia in 1993, was the keynote speaker at the company’s graphic processors technologies event held yesterday in Israel for the first time. Held since 2009, this is the second time the event takes place outside the U.S. Over a thousand visitors attended the event in Tel-Aviv Wednesday, according to a company announcement published Wednesday. Earlier this year Nvidia held a similar event in Munich, Germany.
“We are still a startup and our journey to become an international company has just begun,” said Mr. Huang. “Historically we haven't been very proactive regarding investment in other startups because we have our own ideas and we like to develop them. That may change because we would love to see good ideas reach the market faster and if we can offer assistance in ways, others cannot then we'll do that."
In 2016 Nvidia set up research operations in Israel. The company has also invested in three Israel-based startups, so far. Nvidia currently employs a 20 person team in Israel, Mr. Huang said, adding that the local ecosystem appeals to the company due to the high-number of startups focusing on artificial intelligence technologies.
Over the last three years, the company founded by Mr. Huang increased its annual revenues by 68%—from $4.1 billion in the fiscal year 2014 to $6.9 billion in the fiscal year 2017. The uptick in the use of its chips for artificial intelligence and deep learning applications increased the company’s revenues, sending its stock price soaring and giving the company a current market capitalization of $118.6 billion.
Nvidia’s chips are also increasingly used in autonomous driving systems. In the fiscal year 2017, the company generated revenues of $487 million from customers in the automotive industry, a near fivefold increase, compared to $99 million in revenues in the fiscal year 2014.
Earlier this month Nvidia presented a new computation system for autonomous cars, called Pegasus. The company also announced a deal with German postal service Deutsche Post AG, the operator of courier service DHL, to deploy a test fleet of autonomous delivery trucks.
"Autonomous vehicles are going to reach the road a lot faster than we think," said Mr. Huang at a press conference. By 2020 autonomous taxi fleets will already be in commercial production. Mr. Huang estimated adding that he expects Nvidia’s market share in the domain would be “very high” due to the company’s focus on fully autonomous capabilities.
“Everything that moves will be autonomous someday,” Mr. Huang added.
In August Intel closed a $15.3 billion deal to acquire Jerusalem-based automotive chips company Mobileye and announced aggressive expansion plans in the country. Like Nvidia, Mobileye harnesses deep learning and artificial intelligence to enable autonomous features in cars.


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Dogecoin (DOGE) appears to have reacted positively to Burger King UK’s recent tweet referencing an unknown coin that no one in the community appears to be aware of.
The popular fastfood chain’s UK branch caused a stir last week when it tweeted about wanting a “office doge,” in response to an unusual request by a cryptocurrency user for “We need doge.”
The Dogecoin community reacted quickly to the tweet, causing the price of this memecoin to skyrocket. Burger King UK caused a stir on Twitter over the weekend with a tweet that read, “brb I’m making BiteCoin.”
DOGE’s price has risen nearly 1.0% in the last 24 hours and 4.5% in the last seven days, according to the most recent Coingecko update. The fastfood giant’s tweet piqued the interest of Dogecoin enthusiasts, who had previously noticed the company’s references to “Doge.”
Burger King’s recent discussions about DOGE have sparked considerable interest, particularly among cryptocurrency enthusiasts hoping that the fastfood chain will begin accepting their preferred digital currencies. In a move that heightened interest in Dogecoin, Burger King Brazil announced in 2021 that its Dogpper dog snack would be available for purchase with the cryptocurrency. The fastfood giant then used an advertisement to promote the product across the country, giving Dogecoin even more exposure.
Later that year, Burger King and Robinhood teamed up to provide US customers with a crypto giveaway that included 20 Bitcoins, 200 Ether, and 2 million Dogecoins. Regardless of these crypto-friendly initiatives, it is unclear whether Burger King UK intends to allow customers to pay for meals with Dogecoin at its restaurants.
Dogecoin’s value recently skyrocketed after Twitter users noticed that their home buttons had been replaced with the popular Doge meme. DOGE increased by 35% in a week, demonstrating the level of influence that social media platforms can have on the market.
According to LunarCrush, a social analytics platform, Dogecoin had a busy week, with its average hourly social dominance rising to 7.54%, a significant increase of 212%. Furthermore, the average unique hourly social contributors increased by 381%, while total social engagements increased by 990% to 1.97 billion.
Analysts are confident that the latest turn of events will have a significant impact on Dogecoin’s growth trajectory, based on the positive response from Twitter users.
Indeed, many predict that DOGE will reach an all-time high before the end of the year, making this a thrilling time for the Dogecoin community.


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Bangladesh Water Inland Transport Authority Biwta Job Circular 2020 has been declared officially at the daily newspaper of Bangladesh Ittefaq and Bangladesh pratidin on 27th January 2020. The official circular will be found at our website at resultmama.com. The official website of BIWTA is www.jobsbiwta.gov.bd. To apply online for BIWTA job circular just click here at www.jobsbiwta.gov.bd. To contact with us directly just join Facebook Group here at https://www.facebook.com/groups/dailybestjob/.
The authority of the biwta has said the online application process. Applicants should apply via online process visiting the official website of Bangladesh Water Inland Transport Authority at www.jobsbiwta.gov.bd. Last date of submitting the online application is 20th February 2020. To apply for the post of Biwta apply successfully from your desired posts.
Bangladesh Water Inland Transport Authority Biwta Job Circular , Where they have offered a lot of employee as their working stuff. The new circular has been given below. See it and read it carefully before applying for all posts. Application Submitting last date is 20th February 2020.


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Apple offers a mobile service known as Siri which supposedly wipes data after its users have left employing it. This is a more advantageous asset since privacy can be maintained. Voices of concern over privacy are beginning to be raised in response. But Apple reveals today that Siri data will be retained for two years on server.
This is for the first time that Apple speaks about the time period of Siri data retention. The voice messages on Siri for iOS devices will be stored on Apple servers for up to two years as revealed by Apple today.
Don't Miss: Find a NES Classic in stock online
There are tools that organize our lives by allowing us to do business with our colleagues. We may even use them to gain personal connectivity and build informal relationships. The only drawback, if any, of this usage is that personal information is pooled somewhere. How to keep the confidential from coming out in the open?
That is a legitimate question. Apple, Google and sundry service providers face the selfsame problem. The length of time during which the personal data is kept under control is of the essence. There were rumors as to Apple’s Siri database. A female spokesperson Trudy Muller told Wired that “if a user turns Siri off, both identifiers are deleted immediately along with any associated data.” That seems fair enough.
Two years back the ACLU brought about a Freedom of Information Act. This led to the discovery that most cell phone providers kept information for up to seven years. This potent fact has come under scrutiny by lawmakers. It won’t go unnoticed and will have to be dealt with. The retention of information has been excused by the company itself by saying that it helps with analysis. In the past there was no mention of the data kept in stored form. It is only now that the whole process has come under elucidation.
Image Credit: Techloy.com


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Vivo is all set to launch its first tablet in China on April 11 and it seems like its gearing up to launch the same in India soon, alongside the Vivo Watch and the Vivo X80 series smartphones. A new report suggests that the Vivo Watch and the Vivo Pad are currently being tested in India and could soon launch in the region.
Vivo Pad, Vivo Watch, Vivo X80 Series India launch timeline
The report comes from PriceBaba citing tipster Yogesh Brar as the source, suggesting that Vivo Watch and Vivo Pad are in testing phase and may launch by the end of Q2 or early Q3 of 2022 in the country. The Vivo X80 series is also expected to debut during this period. Brar adds that the launch will take place after the IPL (Indian Premier League) 2022 season. The final match of IPL is scheduled to take place on May 29th, 2022.
The specifications and other details regarding the products weren’t shared. However, a recent leak suggested that the Vivo Pad will come with a 2.5K display with Dolby Vision support. However, it is yet to be determined whether the company will use an AMOLED or an LCD display for its tablet. Additionally, the tablet will come with a metal body and will pack a Snapdragon 870 SoC with 8GB RAM.
For optics, the leak says that the tablet will come with a dual-camera and a quad-speaker setup. The rear camera setup will be headlined by a 13MP camera along with an 8MP secondary lens. The front of the device will be equipped with an 8MP camera. In addition, the Vivo tablet will be equipped with an 8040 mAh battery and 44W fast charging support. It will also support Vivo Pencil.
As for the watch, it is unclear if it will be the same Vivo Watch 2 that was unveiled in China last year. The Vivo Watch 2 had a 46mm dial, stainless steel casing and comes with a 1.43-inch AMOLED screen with 466×466 pixels resolution.


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Following a low-fat vegan diet, including eating about 86 grams of soybeans daily, reduces hot flushes in postmenopausal women.
Previous research has suggested that dietary changes may help relieve these symptoms. To investigate this further, Neal Barnard at The George Washington University in Washington DC and his colleagues recruited 71 postmenopausal women who experienced two or more moderate-to-severe hot flushes a day.
For 12 weeks, 38 participants followed a vegan diet where roughly 10 per cent of …
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JPMorgan, one of the world’s leading financial institutions, has announced the introduction of euro settlements through its JPM Coin payment rail. This new service enables the seamless settlement of payments 24/7, leveraging JPMorgan’s private blockchain technology that was initially introduced in 2019 for swift dollar transactions among institutional clients. The addition of euro-denominated settlements further enhances JPMorgan’s extensive settlement capabilities, which have already surpassed $300 billion on its private network.
Advantages of Tokenized Funds and Blockchain Payment Rails:
The utilization of tokenized funds presents various advantages for businesses, including the ability for financial departments to pay service providers just before the funds are required. By doing so, companies can maximize their interest earnings, as the funds remain in their accounts for a longer duration. The introduction of blockchain payment rails has gained significant attention, particularly after Silvergate, a crypto-friendly bank, filed for voluntary liquidation earlier this year. Silvergate’s Silvergate Exchange Network, which facilitated crypto trading through a Silvergate account, exemplified the potential of blockchain payment rails.
Ripple’s XRP Ledger and Bitcoin’s Lightning Network:
Notably, Ripple’s XRP ledger has emerged as a crucial tool for remittances, while Bitcoin’s Lightning network, demonstrated by companies like Strike, enables instant fund transfers over payment channels between two nodes. These innovations highlight the increasing significance of blockchain-based payment solutions in the financial sector.
TradFi Banks Embrace Tokenized Assets:
In a notable development, traditional financial institutions have started recognizing the benefits of tokenized assets rather than relying solely on private chains. Deutsche Bank AG recently filed for permission to act as a digital asset custodian, emphasizing the potential for tokenizing real-world assets like real estate, cars, and bank deposits. This opens doors for traditional finance users to engage with decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain technologies.
JPMorgan’s DeFi Trade and Ethereum’s Regulatory Challenge:
JPMorgan’s commitment to blockchain innovation was evident in its DeFi trade with Singapore’s DBS Bank and SBI Digital Assets Holdings. The project involved encoding verifiable credentials in smart contracts, granting authorized traders access to a permissioned pool while tokenizing fiat currencies. Moreover, a strategist from JPMorgan has suggested the need for a new regulator to oversee Ethereum, as it falls into a unique category that is neither a security nor a commodity.
Diverse Approaches Among Major Banks:
While JPMorgan continues to push boundaries in blockchain adoption, CEO Jamie Dimon remains skeptical about the value of Bitcoin. However, JPMorgan’s peers in the banking sector have struggled to justify the establishment and scaling of large networks. Standard Chartered and Morgan Stanley, despite substantial investments in cryptocurrency technologies, are yet to launch their private networks. On the other hand, Citigroup has reignited its interest in trading and custody, reviving its crypto ambitions after discontinuing the Citicoin project in 2019.
JPMorgan’s expansion of euro settlements through its JPM Coin payment rail on blockchain payment rails marks a significant advancement in the financial industry. The utilization of tokenized funds and the integration of blockchain technologies offer increased efficiency, transparency, and accessibility in payment settlement processes. As traditional banks and financial institutions continue to explore the potential of blockchain and decentralized finance, the future promises exciting innovations and possibilities in the realm of global transactions and asset tokenization.


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Today, for our sleuthing pleasure, we’ll be looking at an email ad that a good number of folks have forwarded to me in just the last couple minutes — here’s how the Motley Fool entices us to start reading …
“‘Billion Dollar Blitzkrieg’
“IT’S COMING… And it could make 2010 the most profitable year of your life — if you take advantage of the 3 unique investment opportunities revealed below before it’s too late.”
Good heavens, I hope I haven’t wasted too much time preparing my snarky comments … it might be too late already! Quick, to the tease!
“This time last year, an epic storm began brewing behind the scenes on Wall Street…
“But the financial media was too busy pumping out headlines about the second Great Depression, government bailouts, and Bernie Madoff…
“So chances are you never even heard about it.
“That’s about to change…
“Because over just the past few months, this storm has swallowed up dozens of companies and grown hundreds of billions of dollars stronger.
“Now it’s about to forever reshape some of the world’s greatest businesses — not to mention make a select few well-positioned investors obscenely wealthy.
“Which is why the world’s top hedge-fund managers, private equity specialists, and Wall Street insiders have anxiously been awaiting a signal that the big money was about to be made.
“And that signal just began flashing loud and clear.
“Now JP Morgan estimates this once-in-a-decade storm will grow into an unstoppable $2.6 TRILLION force by 2011”
This “billion dollar blitzkrieg” that they jabber about is the wave of takeovers and mergers that has already begun, and that could grow from these “first ripples” — and they said that the “alarm bells” for this “monster storm” really began blaring when Berkshire Hathaway offered a 30%+ premium for Burlington Northern.
And they think there are many more deals to come — after companies spent the past year or so battening down the hatches, building cash hoards, and cutting costs, there is now some funding available for corporate dealmaking, and a lot of acquisition targets that are still relatively cheap.
Naturally, the Motley Fool folks have identified three top targets for you to make a profit from this “blitzkrieg” — and if you’d like to subscribe to their Stock Advisor newsletter, they’d be happy to tell you all about ’em.
Or, stick with the Gumshoe and we’ll scour the clues and share the names. What are these three companies?
One at a time, friends, one at a time … here’s the first one:
“… this overlooked American brand could be their next 1,400% winner…
“Just six short weeks after David Gardner helped investors strike it rich on Marvel, he recommended they move their money into another up-and-coming company with drastically undervalued multimedia assets.
“To be fair, he originally recommended this company back in 2003 — and it’s up a solid 105% since. But as he puts it, “investing in this company is a whole new game these days.”
“And frankly, that’s a bit of an understatement.
“For one thing, this 84-year-old company has now partnered with none other than Marvel — giving it exclusive rights to manufacture some of the most profitable memorabilia tied to blockbuster Marvel movies and comics such as Iron Man and Spider-Man.
“But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“In David’s words, this is a company that has “reinvented itself around an iconic but underleveraged cast of characters.” And just like Marvel, this company has a whole stable of wildly popular characters that are now being made into major motion pictures.
“In fact, its two top-grossing films of 2009 brought in over $1 billion in ticket sales — pretty incredible when you consider the company is currently valued at just over twice that.
“And, of course, that $1 billion doesn’t even begin to take into account all the subsequent revenue it will see from memorabilia sales.
“You see, according to David, this company is just like Marvel in that it has ‘a deep catalog of intellectual property that can make money in lots of ways.'”
Well, it’s up in the air how old you consider this company to be — they started life as a fabric remnant firm, and the Hassenfeld Brothers became school supply magnates beginning in 1926, and started making toys in the late-1930s, even as they dominated the pencil business they created some of the first iconic heavily-marketed toys in history (Mr. Potato Head, G.I. Joe), and eventually they changed their name to Hasbro (though there’s still a Hassenfeld on the board).
So yes, it looks like this “blitzkrieg” idea is Hasbro (HAS — click here for INO’s free trend analysis of HAS stock).
And yes, Hasbro is the owner of the Marvel toy license and the maker of the Spider-Man and Iron Man toys, along with hundreds of other products (yes, still including Mr. Potato Head and G.I. Joe, as well as Sesame Street toys, Hannah Montana, Tonka, the Nickelodeon characters like Dora and the Backyardigans, the Transformers, Littlest Pet Shop, Monopoly, etc. … you get the idea).
And they did release two movies this year, with massive ticket sales — Transformers and G.I. Joe, and they have a studio deal to release more movies in the future (Monopoly is one, being developed by Ridley Scott … I cannot picture this, though I’d be delighted to see Hank Paulson playing the little bald man with the tuxedo and mustache; others might be based on the Ouija board, Candy Land, Stretch Armstrong … yes, they all sound stupid, but far stupider things have made millions). So a toy is licensed as a movie character, bringing in licensing fees and further spurring … toy sales. That’s a nice little circle.
Hasbro has certainly been through some boom and bust cycles over the past several decades, but they do have a big stable of characters and they seem to be in fine financial shape — revenue dipped a bit during the “great recession” so far, but they don’t carry a huge amount of debt and they’re valued at about 15 times earnings — and it’s possible, as David Gardner notes, that they’re being valued as “just” a toy company with decent margins, not as the owner of these valuable brands that they can leverage into movies, etc. It’s also possible that the movies will flop, of course, or that they will misread the trends and release a lot of the wrong crappy toys at the wrong time — I expect the shares will have a good chance of moving based on their final reports of how the Christmas season went, but we won’t know that for another couple months.
The shares have been lagging behind the market for the last year or so, not recovering as dramatically as most, but they do look to be at least reasonably priced — if you believe they’ve got growth and “value extraction” ahead, using their “iconic characters”, this is probably a fair price to pay. That presupposes that they’ll return to growth, which will probably depend to a large degree on the economy and how much of a bounceback they get in sales over the next month following a somewhat disappointing year for kid-driven consumption.
If my children have anything to do with it, the world will soon be fully carpeted with Dora and Diego and Spider-Man, and Hasbro will probably be a billionaire-maker. Whether or not someone will eagerly snap them up in an acquisition is another matter, of course — it’s a little hard to picture one of the big entertainment companies making this bit an acquisition of a toy company, and the only other big U.S. publicly-traded big toy company out there is Mattel, which has a market cap of about $7 billion (Hasbro is around $4 billion), so theoretically they could buy them, though I don’t know if the Justice Department wants Barbi and Dora under one roof (other big toy companies include Namco Bandai in Japan, which is largely focused on video games and would be an odd fit; or the privately held Lego, and it’s hard to see that family business as a bit acquirer).
I might consider this as a reasonably valued stock, maybe even an undervalued one if they can leverage their intellectual property and do more outlicensing of their own characters … but it’s hard for me to picture it alongside the word “blitzkrieg” without cracking a smile.
So … on to the second “blitzkrieg” idea?
This one is a tech company — here’s the tease:
“The tech buyout craze already handed Stock Advisor members a quick 62% gain — but the next deal promises to be much bigger
“Back on June 29, I sent a group of investors like you an invitation much like this one that included the details of David and Tom Gardner’s two top technology stocks.
“At the time, David’s top pick — a small business analytics firm called Omniture — was selling for $13.28.
“Less than three months later, Adobe Systems offered to buy Omniture for $21.50 — meaning those investors who had accepted our invitation and followed David’s advice were treated to 62% gains in less than 90 days.
“Meanwhile, those who bought Tom’s top pick are up an impressive 34% — and truth be told, it looks like it’s just a matter of time before it gets an offer, too….
“Like Omniture, this company is the absolute top in its field…
“And as Barron’s puts it, there is “an intense battle among enterprise-technology behemoths such as HP, Cisco, IBM, Oracle and Dell to become one-stop shops for all the items that make data centers.”
“No wonder TheStreet.com calls this company’s specialty ‘one of 2010’s hottest technologies.’
“Steve Mills, IBM’s senior vice president of software, explains, “It’s a market space that is growing substantially faster than other market areas.”
“Which is why IBM has spent $9 billion on acquisitions to build its capabilities in this field since 2005.
“And you better believe that IBM now has this company in its sights — because when it comes to this niche industry, this little company is the absolute king.
“It already counts Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Continental Airlines, and Royal Bank of Canada among its top clients.
“… it has zero debt, nearly $4 a share in cash, a 10% free cash-flow yield, and returns on invested capital north of 30%….
“… Tom Gardner is urging investors to begin building a position right away…”
OK, so this one might sound a little familiar if you were a loyal Stock Gumshoe reader over the Summer — I did indeed write about this ad campaign, when they teased the “two titans of business intelligence” back in July, revealing Omniture for you, of course, but also telling you that Tom Gardner’s stock was … and sounds like it still is …
Teradata Corp (TDC — free INO trend analysis here)
This is a company credited by the FT as the “pioneer” of business intelligence, a supercomputer data crunching and storage firm. And who knows, maybe they will be a takeover target — they’re not that tiny, with a $5 billion market cap, but in the tech business there are plenty of gigantor firms that could pay cash for a $5 billion company without even checking under the couch cushions. They are not cheap or growing (as of this last quarter), but they do have a fair amount of cash on the books (just over $4 a share, in fact) and no debt, and the stock has been going up since Gardner recommended them. If you’d like to see what I wrote about these companies back in July, click here for that business intelligence story.
And the final company for our “blitzkrieg?”
“How long before this cutting-edge energy company gets bought out? You be the judge…
“While the energy sector hasn’t seen as much M&A activity as other industries yet, I think it may well be where we end up seeing the biggest buyouts. And, from the looks of it, the “pros” on Wall Street agree…
“Bloomberg reports that ‘China will boost spending on oil and mining acquisitions by at least half this year.’…
“And what better way for these Asian powerhouses to expand their reach than by buying a company that specializes in drilling in the world’s most profitable — and hard to reach — oil fields…
“This stock has a lit fuse — and a wide-open sky above
“On September 8, I sent investors another invitation to join Stock Advisor. This one revealed the story behind David Gardner’s top energy stock.
“At the time the stock was selling for around $29.
“Recently it traded north of $40 — meaning those who took advantage of my offer are already up a quick 35%.
“But frankly, that’s peanuts compared to the gains we could see once billion dollar blitzkrieg begins to hit the energy market.
“Let me explain…
“Only a handful of highly specialized companies have the state-of-the-art technology, the specialized skills, and the artful know-how needed to tap the world’s next great oil fields.
“That’s because these fields are located in some of the most hard-to-reach places in the world — hundreds of miles offshore and thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface….
“And the final company I’m writing you about today not only specializes in offshore drilling — it’s better positioned than all the rest…
“In fact, it has rigs located in some of the most remote — and profitable — places on Earth…
“One drills to depths of more than 20,000 feet off the coast of Equatorial Guinea.
“Another will soon start drilling off the coast of Ghana — earning this company as much as $538,000 per day.
“Yet another drills in the waters off Malaysia and has been booked by Shell Oil through August 2011.”
This one, too, might sound familiar — yes, the Motley Fool sent out an “invitation” talking about this company on September 8, and your friendly neighborhood Stock Gumshoe revealed the name for you on September 10 … this is Atwood Oceanics (ATW — free MarketClub trend analysis here).
It did get a hair above $40 recently, but is now trading for around $35, these deep-water drillers tend to move quite a bit based on oil prices, since their future profitability is determined by whether or not oil companies can (or want to) produce the “expensive” oil that’s far under the ocean surface. Of course, most of these firms, like Transocean, Pride, Atwood or, my favorite, Seadrill, have been locking up most of their super-capable rigs at high rates many years out into the future, but they still trade largely on sentiment about future oil prices.
I don’t have any special wisdom to impart about Atwood that I haven’t already shared — here’s the article I wrote in September, when David Gardner told us this was the “one company you mus buy before oil prices soar.” As a general matter, they’ve historically been significantly more conservative than many of the other deep-water drillers, and they rely on some old and refurbished rigs that aren’t quite as capable as the newest rigs (but were much less expensive, and get similarly good rates when demand is high).
If Atwood is going to be a takeover target, however, it’s hard for me to imagine why the big Chinese or Korean oil and gas companies would be the acquirers — their rigs are mostly locked up on contracts, and they don’t own any of the actual oil and gas, which is what Korea and China are desperately looking to buy. If China wants to get rigs they’ve got the money to hire them like anyone else, what they’ve been aggressively looking to take over lately, it seems to me, are the actual commodity reserves — the oil, not the oil drilling contractor.
It’s always possible that they could be bought out, of course, even by a big Chinese oil company, but I’d suspect that a buyout by another driller would be more likely — Atwood is much smaller than Transocean, Diamond Offshore, Pride or Seadrill, the major offshore deep water drillers, and it could even be a way for other oil service companies to diversify (like Nabors, or Ensco, for example). All of those would make more sense to me than a big Korean or Chinese acquisition, though, as I said, anything is certainly possible.
So what do you think? Want to line up in front of this “Blitzkrieg,” or do you otherwise like or unlike any of these stocks? Feel free to share your thoughts with a comment below — or, of course, let us know if you have a better idea for a stock in the path of the takeover blitzkrieg.
And if you’ve ever subscribed to any of the Motley Fool’s newsletters, or want to see what other folks thought of them, click here to read or contribute to the subscriber reviews. Thanks!


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November 14, 2014 -- Two North Carolina-based InventHelp clients have invented the Eliminator, which is being submitted to companies for review.
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Why are Petrol and Diesel at near-record Highs and what Impact is Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine having on our Forecourts?
Drivers around the UK are still facing near-record fuel prices despite the falling cost of oil. Recent weeks have seen the wholesale price of oil fluctuate significantly, falling from $130 a barrel to less than $100 before bouncing back up, but prices at the pumps have remained stubbornly high. Until the end of March forecourt prices were rising on an almost daily basis due to global supply issues due to the market uncertainty and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The soaring cost of fuel has contributed to the current cost of living crisis, which has seen inflation near a near-30-year high, and motoring organisations are warning that drivers may struggle to fuel their cars and business be forced to put up prices if the pattern continues. The dent repair and express car body repair experts at our vehicle accident repair centre have revealed everything that you need to know about fuel prices.
How Much are Petrol and Diesel Prices Today?
Fuel prices fluctuate on a daily basis and vary significantly across the UK. The RAC’s Fuel Watch tracks prices at supermarket and independent retailers across the country and provides a national average. According to its latest data, petrol is currently 162.19p per litre and diesel is 176.18ppl.
How Have Fuel Prices Changed?
Our dent repair experts know that at the height of the Covid pandemic and during lockdown, petrol costs briefly fell to around £1 a litre but since early 2021 have been climbing almost constantly. From 114p per litre in December 2020, they climbed consistently to October 2021, at which point they broke the previous record highs set in April 2012, reaching 142.94p for petrol and 147.94p for diesel. From there until late November 2021 new records were set on a daily basis before a brief period of calm. However, prices spiked again on February 13, 2022, reaching 148.02p for petrol and 151.57p for diesel, according to RAC data, and rose on a nearly daily basis until late March when easing wholesale prices and a cut in fuel duty began to have some effect.
Why Have Fuel Prices Risen?
Our vehicle accident repair specialists know that the price of fuel at the pumps is dictated largely by the price of oil and this has been climbing sharply since early 2021, going from around £55 per barrel in January 2021 to more than $130 per barrel in early March 2022. After dropping dramatically in 2020, demand for oil has returned to pre-pandemic levels, as world economies open up again. However major oil producing nations are struggling to meet this demand, forcing prices up. The RAC’s fuel spokesman Simon Williams commented. “Having taken production down when demand fell due to the pandemic, the oil producers are now struggling to get production back up to the required levels to meet demand.” The International Energy Agency (IEA) has also accused Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of failing to increase production despite having capacity to do so. Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine and subsequent invasion of the country has also caused uncertainty and instability in global markets. Russia is the world’s third largest oil producer, responsible for around 10% of global oil output. There are fears that its military action could affect oil supply from the country to international markets, or that sanctions could limit Russia’s ability to export oil and diesel fuel. In either case, worries over demand outstripping supply is contributing to the rising price of oil.
Will Fuel Prices Come Down?
In the last week fuel prices have fallen slightly, although there is still uncertainty about where they will go next. Oil prices fell sharply in early March before rallying then dropping again. On 11 April they dropped back below $100 a barrel but any reduction could take time to filter through to forecourts and prices have again risen to more than $110 a barrel, meaning previous drops could quickly be cancelled out. Prices are now around 1p per litre cheaper for petrol and 0.5p cheaper for diesel than at the end of March but still 11p more for petrol and 19p more for diesel than on 1 March. The RAC’s Simon Williams said that retailers appeared to be being cautious on further future rises and refusing to pass on recent reductions to drivers, even after the 5p cut in fuel duty announced in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement. He said: “The biggest retailers are once again letting drivers down by not charging lower prices while they can. Instead, they appear to be hedging their bets to protect themselves from future increased wholesale costs.”
Could This Lead to More Road Safety?
According to the RAC there are still more road accidents now than there were before the recent surge in fuel prices. Of course, this would be the case, work doesn’t stop and we all need to get from a to b. Our vehicle accident repair specialists believe that the main takeaway from this is to ultimately be more cautious if you are trying to save money and always plan before you travel. But hey I suppose there is always public transport?
Use Jenkins & Pain, Award-Winning Accident Repair Centre
There you have it, if you do find yourself with damage to your beloved paintwork and need a car repair or van repair you can count on us to complete all jobs using industry-standard processes. We offer free quotes and with our exclusive repair service, we are sure you will be happy with the results. Contact our Vehicle Body Shop today. Jenkins & Pain are an accident repair centre based in Dover, Kent. We are proud to call ourselves an award-winning accident repair centre. Check out our guide on how to look after your alloys!
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We understand how costly and inconvenient it is for a vehicle to be off the road and therefore we use processes that ensure your vehicle is repaired quickly and efficiently. So whether you need minor scratch repairs, major body repair, or alloy wheel refurbishment, our van body shop and car body shop can guarantee a high-quality service. We also repair light commercial vehicles and motorhomes. Contact us today for a paint repair at our Car Body Shop!


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Four of the five largest tobacco producing companies of the USA, R.J. Reynolds, Lorillard, Commonwealth Brands, Liggett Group and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company are suing the U.S. federal government over a law which will require them to print government created warning labels on the package of their tobacco products.
The free speech complaint is directed towards a law created by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which requires larger and more prominent health warnings on the labels of tobacco products starting in September 2012.
The nine graphic images show among other things organs before and after the regular use of tobacco products as well an image of a dead body after a post mortem examination. Alongside the images, phrases are printed informing the reader that smoking can be deadly or that smoking harms children. Also posted on the labels is the number of a hotline that is meant to assist tobacco consumers in quitting. The warning label will take up 50% of the entire packaging and will cover the front, top and back.
The FDA argues that the images are the first change in cigarette marketing in 25 years and are therefore more than necessary to inform the modern consumer of the dangers of smoking. The images are to serve as a reminder of the great danger and health problems smoking causes. They are also a tool of the public policy of reducing the costs which smoke related diseases cause in the public health care system, as well as avoiding unnecessary smoking related deaths and prevent young people from starting to smoke. The FDA therefore believes the warnings will have a positive effect on public health.
The tobacco companies on the other side claim that the law violates their right to free speech, which according to them protects their freedom of deciding what to print on their labels. They also argue that the warnings do not simply convey the message of informing the consumer. Instead, the companies believe the labels are designed to evoke an emotional reaction and therefore are meant to “scare” consumers away from the tobacco products. Additionally, the tobacco companies claim that the organs and body on the pictures are made to look worse by sanitizing them and using actors. Furthermore, the companies complain that they will have to spent millions on altering their brand logos and change the layout of their packaging as well as invest in equipment to match the requirements of the FDA law.
Printing warning images on tobacco product packaging is already a part of public health strategies in Great Britain, Romania, Belgium and Lithuania. It remains to be seen what effect the new FDA law will have on consumers in the United States.
(c) Picture: freedigitalphotos.net
und viele Grüße aus Charlotte
Reinhard von Hennigs


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- Samsung just demoed a robot household assistant called Bot Handy.
- The robot, which has one long arm, can do chores around the house.
- Tech companies often debut new or developing products at CES.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Samsung just showed off a robot assistant at CES that would look right at home on "The Jetsons." CES is typically a time when companies debut new and exciting technology that isn't ready to go on the market yet, and Bot Handy is still in development.
Samsung introduced some other robots too, and one of them will actually be available to purchase soon. Jetbot 90 AI+ is a smart vacuum cleaner with cameras and Lidar technology to clean a home while avoiding cables and other objects. Samsung Bot Care is designed to act as a "robotic assistant and companion," and is also still in development.
Notably, Bot Handy is the only one that can pour a glass of wine. Take a look here.
Samsung showed off Bot Handy at CES.
It is one of several bots Samsung demonstrated.
A single long arm with a mechanical hand on the end sets Bot Handy apart from the rest of the lineup.
The robot is black and white, and reached about shoulder-height on the presenter.
The screen acts as a sort of face, with eyes that change shape to mimic showing emotions.
Bot Handy is intended to work as a household assistant, "working as your trusted partner to help with house chores," according to Samsung.
The company says Bot Handy will use "advanced AI to recognize and pick up objects of varying sizes, shapes and weights," like dirty dishes.
Dirty laundry is also fair game for the robotic butler.
It can do more delicate tasks too, like pour a glass of wine.
The robot will be able to use an "appropriate amount of force," Samsung says.
For now, Robot Handy is still in development with no definitive price or sales date.
See the robot in action here.


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(GUYANA CHRONICLE) – THOUGH many businesses are facing closures and declines brought about by the effects of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), the situation has, however, opened the door for booming business in other areas, particularly the delivery business.
Thanks to a number of emerging delivery services which have been innovatively developing their facilities, if persons so desire, for a fee they can get their bills paid, get cooking gas and water, and even buy prepaid credit for their cell- phones, all without ever leaving the security of their homes.
“We do groceries pick up, where customers have two options, they can call and place their order with a supermarket or we order for them. We do food pick-up, where again we could place the order for you at a particular restaurant or you could order and we pick up. We do laundry pick-up, we do corporate and personal packages, and bill payments,” shared 26-year-old owner of “Xpress Delivery Service”, Natasha Waddle.
Though she had registered her delivery business since last year July, it was just last Friday that she decided to get her business off the ground, and so far, it has been going good.
Xpress joins other delivery services such as OneCart Dash and Hero Cart; both have been around since 2017 and have been capitalising on the increased business due to the COVID-19 situation.
Like many countries across the globe fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, Guyana has implemented a number of lockdown measures with widespread advisories cautioning citizens to remain at home as much as possible to lower their risk of contracting the virus. Since the first case of the virus was registered in Guyana on March 11, the number of confirmed cases has increased to 65 as of Sunday.
Now more than ever persons are looking for a means to get what they need without leaving their homes and businesses like Waddle’s Xpress Delivery are cashing in.
“The response has been great and it is something we will continue even after the lockdown. We have had persons using every one of our services so far. We’ve done groceries and fruits deliveries, we have done bill payments, we’re doing a lot of food pick-ups and transporting packages between persons,” she noted.
Waddle has already begun approaching other businesses such as supermarkets to arrange official partnerships. She is also at the planning stage of an arrangement with Mobile Money Guyana (MMG) to have payments for the service done using that medium.
As it is currently, customers place an order which is picked up and paid for by the delivery company, and customers then reimburse for the item and pay the service fee.
She says great customer service is something she emphasises for her staff.
“They must be courteous. Customer service is one of the main things I look for with my riders,” she expressed
Waddle said she is hoping to expand the business to do limited deliveries to as far as Linden or Berbice. However there are arrangements to have staff established in various areas, including the West Bank and West Coast of Demerara.
For many of the delivery companies the standard rates range from as low as $300 around Georgetown, to as much as $1500 to Providence on the East Bank of Demerara and Mon Repos on the East Coast of Demerara. Deliveries outside of these boundaries are still catered for, but would attract additional costs. For at least one business, the service extends as far west as Charity in Essequibo and as far East as Moleson Creek in Berbice.
Many of the services are headed by young entrepreneurs like Waddle. At One Cart Dash, owner Fendel Etwaru said his business delivers pretty much anything the customers need, and spans the entire coastline.
“Everything and anything, from fast food, documents, mail, packages, gas refills, water refills, and our coverage area is across the entire coast: Charity on the Essequibo all the way to Moleson Creek, Patentia on the West Bank [of Demerara} . We’re based in Georgetown but we do have an office on the West Coast handling deliveries in those areas,” Etwaru detailed.
A Civil and Computer Engineer by profession, Etwaru started One Cart Dash as a spin-off of his online business One Cart, an online retail store.
“Getting into entrepreneurship was just a passion of mine for a very long time. I had a vision to create services that Guyanese can benefit from, consumers as well as businesses,” Etwaru noted.
In light of the COVID-19 situation, Etwaru has been partnering with businesses to help bring their services to consumers at home.
“In this current atmosphere we’re trying to find ways to assist persons to get whatever they need in the most safe and convenient way possible. We recently launched a new type of delivery service with GTT for mobile delivery of SIM cards, modems, GTT top ups, and MMG wallet reloads. That’s actually something new. We have a similar arrangement with Digicel,” Etwaru explained.
At HeroCart, co-founder and Operations Manager Kimberley Dutchin said the business was developed to meet the needs of the people. “We discussed the idea for little bit and decided we’d give it a try. We started out small with just four riders and as persons heard of the service, the business grew. We are now at about 20 delivery agents working daily that include drivers and riders,” she said.
As business continues to grow, they are currently working on opening two other offices in different locations.


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Beeptool Communications and Integrated Services Limited, an indigenous firm, has developed and unveiled a smartphone called Oyi-1 targeted at low income earners.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Oyi-1 smartphone in Abuja, the Founder/Chief Executive Officer of the firm, John Enoh said the project was part of Beeptool’s commitment to provide communication and digital access to everyone, everywhere and every time.
He explained that the affordable smartphone concept was one where manufacturing and ancillary costs were covered by investors and stakeholders and handed to users who live on less than $2 a day.
He said the phone will be preloaded with advertising services platform capable of generating revenue for investors and stakeholders to cover the cost of the smartphone and further revenue for investors and stakeholders.
Enoh said that the implementation of the first level in the affordable smartphone project was broken into three stages.
According to him, stage one had to do with technical development which includes design, testing and prototype manufacture of a basic affordable smartphone, adding that the second stage was to raise public awareness and funds to manufacture the first batch of 3,000 units.
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Twenty-nine creative jury members, split equally between men and women, from 15 countries to judge the best in global Advertising and Digital work based on excellence in idea and craft.
Tagged With: Internet and Interactive
Hasbro classic ‘Transformers: Generation 1’ launches on Vimeo On Demand; additional Hasbro titles including ‘My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic’ and ‘Jem and the Holograms’ to launch later this year.
Latest chapter of Toei’s long-running series launches in Europe following its television and online debut.
Kids’ TV production and rights management company to collaborate with new digital platform TotallyTween on 26-episode, two-minute interactive series.
Animated comedy follows the antics of two cousins who go to great lengths to out-prank each other with hilarious and outrageous results, with audiences voting for favorite characters, pranks and videos.
Using a VR pipeline two years in the making, Mirada integrates live-action and CG in a first-of-its-kind interactive experience.
Big Block creates 1,000 FPS interactive experience for Critical Mass and Nissan “Meet The Machines.”
Titles available for streaming include the Gerry Anderson collection with hand-picked episodes from ‘Thunderbirds,’ ‘Stingray,’ ‘Captain Scarlet,’ ‘Fireball XL5,’ ‘Joe 90,’ and ‘Supercar.’
Fred Seibert-run online network announces first deal in the international acquisition space: worldwide English language rights for hit Spanish-language online animated series ‘Fin Punch!’
Kidscreen Summit 2015 announces Malik Ducard as the keynote speaker and the official conference schedule.
ToonBox Entertainment puts ‘The Beet Party’ to work as part of a new educational program, Violence, Bullying and Abuse Prevention, for the Canadian Red Cross.
eyeball completes a complete network redesign for Oxygen, emphasizing Oxygen’s voice in women’s entertainment and helping to broaden its appeal to a new generation of young women.
DHX Media announces a collaboration with China National Television to release a new multi-platform children’s content platform.
Peahen Games announces the release of the first official licensed ‘Bagpuss’ game app for both iOS and Android from Daredevil Development, Smallfilms, and Coolabi.
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Mondo Media launches a new season ‘Baman Piderman’ on YouTube.
WGBH Boston has produced an original animated broadband series called Ruff Ruffman: Humble Media Genius with the help of Cincinnati’s Flaming Medusa Studios Inc.
Ntropic collaborates with DIKO and Unit9 to create interactive look-books for Reebok, letting visitors see Reebook footwear and apparel in action.
‘Mia and me – Free the Unicorns,’ an animated game adventure based on the popular TV show, is now available.
Trunk Animation partners with UNIT9 to create sixteen humorous gifs as part of AT&T’s #itcanwait campaign.
With 880 channels in its network, Channel Frederator Network establishes itself as the go-to destination for online animation.
Nickelodeon’s new, interactive, preschool series Blaze and the Monster Machines premieres Monday, Oct. 13.


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TelecityGroup opens new Powergate data centre in London
Telecity Group plc ('TelecityGroup' or the 'Group'), the leading pan-European operator of network independent data centres, announces that its new state of the art Powergate data centre in London has opened for business.
This new facility, the first to open in central London for several years, is at the forefront of data centre innovation. It will offer approximately 5,000 square metres and 10 megawatts (MW) of customer capacity. The new data centre has been designed to provide 4 kilowatts (kW) of customer power per rack as standard, more than twice the current industry average, with high powered zones offering up to 20 kW per rack. Energy-efficient design principles have been used throughout the building utilising technologies such as free air cooling and sophisticated ‘intelligent’ climate control systems to reduce energy waste. In addition, multiple connectivity options available on site are enhanced by the presence of the London Internet Exchange, LINX, which will offer customers a high level of national and international peering and connectivity to the internet.
Adriaan Oosthoek, Managing Director, TelecityGroup UK and Ireland says: “Our new Powergate data centre offers a highly resilient, connected and secure hosting environment supported by some of the most sophisticated data centre technology available. It is ideally placed for businesses who want to locate their mission critical infrastructure in a London-based facility, while offering enough distance from the Docklands and City to be used for disaster recovery purposes. We are delighted the data centre is now open for business and we have already received a substantial level of customer interest in the facility.”
The Powergate launch follows the opening of the new Amstel Business Park facility in Amsterdam, announced on 7th April 2008, bringing the total number of TelecityGroup data centres in Europe to 20. TelecityGroup recently announced plans to build a new data centre in Paris, its third in the French capital, which is expected to open in the second half of 2009.
Mike Tobin, CEO of TelecityGroup, comments: ”Customers are increasingly seeking large and resilient data centres to provide secure hosting and connectivity services. The buoyancy and continued growth of the internet economy, and the evolving online needs of business both locally and internationally, are combining to drive the increase in demand for high-quality data centres. "
“Opening Powergate demonstrates that TelecityGroup has the capability both to build and to operate industry-leading data centres to the highest standard. Coupled with the opening of Amstel Business Park, these new content and connectivity hubs keep us very much at the forefront of the network independent data centre services market in Europe.”


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SUN-TIMES MEDIA WIRE - Metra has launched an online survey to get feedback from customers, former customers and prospective customers about fare options and other ideas.
Those interested can take the survey, which is now up at www.metrarail.com, through the end of March, Metra said.
The survey is part of a study commissioned in July 2016 to evaluate the agency’s distance-based fare structure, Metra said. Survey questions will ask customers about different types of tickets, packaging and pricing. Some example include offering lower fare tickets for reverse commutes, starting a loyalty program and offering ticket prices that change depending on demand.


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Mothercare has hired Monsoon Accessorize’s international director, who will join the business in March next year.
Newton-Jones has been in charge of international franchising for the past year, following the departure of former international director Jerry Cull.
The company’s franchising business, which runs across 1,300 stores in 56 countries, has performed relatively well when compared with the core UK market, which has been the subject of a turnaround effort, led by boss Newton-Jones, who joined from Shop Direct to lead it.
The international division contributes around 60% of Mothercare’s gross sales but came under severe pressure in 2015/16 against “increased currency and economic headwinds”. Sales grew once again in the first half of 2016/17, rising 7.7%.
Rusling added: “I am very much looking forward to working with the global teams to develop the brand further both in stores and online.
”Mothercare has a strong heritage, a clear vision and the potential as we transform the business is hugely exciting.”


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Click here to learn more about Alibaba’s role in China IP.
China Daily highlights Alibaba’s success and global expansion plans, including their recent IPO. Alibaba’s Tmall is featured as the channel of choice for Western businesses that want to reach Chinese consumers.
Click here for China Daily’s full article.
September 18 (Financial Times)– When the US National Football League hit a snag sending equipment to amateur American football teams in China two years ago, it approached a Chinese-speaking former top US commerce department official for help.
For the full article, click here.
Note: Requires subscription to Financial Times
Bloomberg Businessweek recently published an article highlighting Tmall’s popularity in China e-commerce, and explaining why Western businesses are so well poised to succeed in this market.


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NEW YORK -- Stocks are starting higher on Wall Street after investors finally got some better news on the economy and corporate earnings.
Procter & Gamble led the Dow Jones industrial average higher after the giant consumer products company reported earnings that beat analysts' expectations. It was a welcome change for investors after a slew of large companies turned in poor results over the past two weeks.
The Dow was up 63 points at 13,140 shortly after the opening bell Thursday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up nine at 1,418 and the Nasdaq composite index was up 18 points at 2,999.
Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods jumped 9.9 percent in September, the biggest increase in almost three years, the Commerce Department reported. Applications for unemployment benefits also fell last week.


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Elon Musk Apologizes, Tesla Stock Unfazed
Tesla stock climbed to more than $106 in early trading on Wednesday despite the EV maker announcing a partial recall of 1,228 of its Model S cars. In a rare move, CEO Elon Musk issued an apology on the company's blog. In it, he explains that the recall is the result of a weakness in the mounting bracket on the back seat. Tesla says the defect only affects cars that were manufactured between May 10 and June 8 of this year.
Why this is a good thing
Typically, when a company issues a recall, that company's stock plummets on the news. Tesla stock, on the other hand, was trading up by more than 2% at the time of this writing. General Motors recently recalled 200,000 SUVs due to the risk of mechanical fires inside the doors of the vehicles.
Meanwhile, Chrysler finally complied with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's requests to recall as many as 2.7 million Jeeps due to concerns that the vehicles can catch fire when hit from behind. I mention this because unlike Tesla, the NHTSA had to force these companies to issue a public recall, whereas Tesla discovered an imperfection in its cars and immediately confronted the situation.
Tesla's transparency in these matters is more important than ever. That's because it enables it to build trusting relationships with its customers, as well as potential customers. Moreover, Musk was quick to point out that Tesla's partial recall should not be blown out of proportion:
We do not wish to cause undue alarm, so it is perhaps worth clarifying that:
Because of Tesla's manageable size, the company is also able to make the recall as painless as possible for Model S owners. In fact, a Tesla representative will deliver a loaner Model S to your home and pick up your car for servicing. The car will be returned to you once a new bracket is installed. It's refreshing to see an auto company get ahead of a manufacturing problem. In Tesla's case, I think this setback paints both Musk and Tesla in a very flattering light. It's no wonder, then, that the stock is flying high despite a recall.
Where is Tesla stock headed from here?
Tesla's plan to disrupt the global auto business has yielded spectacular results. But giant competitors are already moving to disrupt Tesla. Will the company be able to fend them off? The Motley Fool answers this question and more in our most in-depth Tesla research available. Get instant access by clicking here now.
The article Elon Musk Apologizes, Tesla Stock Unfazed originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Tamara Rutter proudly owns shares of Tesla Motors. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Ford and Tesla Motors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
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December should be a great month for PlayStation Plus subscribers, With a PS5 game available in December alongside two PS4 titles. Here’s everything you need to know about the December 2021 PlayStation Plus games, lineup, and when they’ll be available.
According to French website Dealabs user Bill Bill-Coon, PS Plus subscribers can get three games as part of their December membership. The rumored line-up will include the Lego DC Super-Villains and Mortal Shell for PS4 as well as Godfall Challenger Edition for PS4 and PS5. These games are only available to gamers who are PS Plus subscribers. From December 7, 2021, you can download these games for PS5 and PS4 with a valid subscription.
Games may be announced on November 29th or 30th, as Sony sometimes pulled back the curtain on Monday and Tuesday, but that’s more of a rarity than the norm. We know the November Games will run until December 6, which means the opening will take place on December 1, not November 24. We know this is actually December, but PlayStation always announces games for the next few months a week in advance of their release. Sony almost always releases new games for PlayStation Plus on the first Tuesday of the month, which in this case is December 7th.
Godfall is a title for the PS5 console that subsequently made its way to PS4 in August 2021. Obviously, it can be limited to the PS4 version of the game – the next-generation update came out in March, although this may change in the announcement from Sony next week. It’s worth noting that Mortal Shell has a free upgrade from PS4 to PS5 for the Enhanced Edition, but it’s currently unclear if the PS Plus version will offer that.
Finally, the super-powered Lego DC Super-Villain Block Adventure completes the free PS Plus lineup in December. Lego DC Super-Villain (PS4)-If the leak is correct, the last game will be Lego DC Super-Villain, a game full of iconic villains. Fortunately, the leak revealed all the games included in the online subscription. There is a huge chance that PlayStation could make the game available to PS Plus subscribers as the game is not yet available for pre-orders.
For now, PlayStation Plus subscribers can download PS Plus Free Games for November 2021 until they wait for the next PS Plus Free Games released in December 2021. The next batch of free PS Plus games will not be available until December 7th – mainly due to the fact that the first Wednesday of the month is December 1, and PlayStation doesn’t seem to want to release its PS Plus games anytime soon. There is still time to claim these PS Plus games, but the month is drawing to a close. The selection of free PSVR games last month was pushed back with the PS Plus offerings in December 2021 to continue celebrating PSVR’s fifth anniversary.
Traditionally, PlayStation provides us with at least one PS5 game and two PS4 games. Here you can find games currently available on PS Plus and download them as needed. This could mean that Sony will use a small loophole to get its first-day release this month and thus keep its promise to keep adding these new games to the list. I also think Dead By Daylight can make its way to PS Plus as it will be available for free on the Epic Games Store for a week, Many of those who played the starter PS5 are not at all alike.
With the Playstation Plus sales plan to be held on Black Friday, players will be able to play Celestial Friends and enjoy hundreds of dollars of games that Playstation will provide next year. Looking back on past trends, Playstation Plus subscribers believe that Celestial Body can also be the next PS5 game that subscribers can download for free on December 7.


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Ford confirmed an F-150 Hybrid was coming, and now we know for certain we’ll see an electrified pickup truck from the Blue Oval in 2020. The automaker confirmed the F-150 Hybrid and said the River Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan, would be responsible for production, Ford Authority reported.
The Dearborn Truck Plant already handles production of the current F-150 lineup at the 600-acre facility, which makes the announcement not much of a surprise. It’s unclear if the hybrid model will require more workers at the facility, which already employs 7,500 workers. It’s unclear what type of hybrid system Ford has planned, but it everything suggests it will be a full hybrid system and not a mild-hybrid unit, such as the Ram 1500 eTorque or Silverado e-Assist, which entered low-scale production for California only.
Thus far, Chevrolet has been quiet on the electrification front for its pickups. The 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and 2019 GMC Sierra will introduce a 2.7-liter L3B turbocharged four-cylinder engine as its mass-market offering, but the 5.3-liter and 6.2-liter mills remain as well. When the Silverado made its debut, the brand suggested the truck is rather future-proof and can fit a wide variety of powertrains, however, including an electrified powertrain.
Chevrolet first dabbled with a Silverado Hybrid in 2004, believe it or not. The truck featured a 42-volt battery system to restart the engine as the brake pedal was released, while three additional 12-volt batteries provided extra power in the rear. Since then, GM has swung more in favor of the internal-combustion engine for its pickups. The new trucks will also gain a new 3.0-liter inline-six Duramax diesel engine to match Ford and Ram better.
While we haven’t heard much an a Silverado or Sierra hybrid, GM CEO Mary Barra did share the fact the automaker has given a “tiny bit” of thought to building a fully electric pickup truck. Such a vehicle is likely years away, should it ever receive the OK.


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Voting is now open for Creativepool’s People Choice and Influencer of the Year awards for Annual 2019.
The Annual celebrates and showcases the best work, people and companies from over the past year and is the only creative awards competition which allows you to have your say in the winners.
The unique process sees an esteemed panel of industry judges come together to cast their votes on the work, but the People’s Choice is also open to the Creativepool community to have their say through the online process.
Judges decide the outcome for the gold, silver and bronze prizes in each of the categories whereas a People Choice award is also presented to the work with the most votes from Creativepool members.
In addition to the People’s Choice award, you can have your say on this year’s Influencer of the Year, which was won by Sarah Golding (pictured, above), CEO and partner of The&Partnership London in 2018.
Some of the names on the shortlist in 2019 include Susan Hoffman, chief creative officer at Wieden+Kennedy Portland; Tim Malone, director of global marketing at New Balance; Rosie Bardales, chief creative officer at BETC London; David Kolbusz, chief creative officer at Droga5 London; and Anna Watkins, MD at Verizon Media.
Voting is easy and takes just a few seconds – simply visit the shortlist page on our Annual 2019 site and hit the ‘VOTE’ button under your pick. Voting for the People’s Choice and Influencer of the Year is open until 23:59GMT on Friday 8 March.
As mentioned, the rest of the winners will be decided by our professional panel of industry judges. To view the full line-up, click here.


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You might only be using a smartphone, but you can still make sure you're taking the best video you can when you're out and about on holiday.
Optus has revealed for the first time that it has sold over 785,000 4G handsets since launching the network last year.
Virgin Mobile is adding post-paid 4G mobile broadband today, announcing an AU$59 plan with a hefty 13GB of included data on a 12-month plan.
Trying to decide between the HTC One and Galaxy S4? We compare the two phones in terms of features, specs and price to help you make the decision.
The Australian government will collect AU$1.96 billion from Telstra, Optus and TPG from the auction of the 700MHz and 2.5GHz spectrum band.
If you're after an unlocked quad-core Galaxy S4, then this is the cheapest deal we've seen so far.
Kogan Mobile has claimed a victory today in its court case against Telstra wholesaler ISPOne.
Here are the basic plans and pricing for the S4 from the major Australian telcos.
The long awaited Samsung flagship phone will go on sale locally from 27 April.
Telstra pricing plans that were due to be released today and leaked to CNET Australia's sister site ZDNet, have revealed that the telco is planning to offer "no lock-in" plans, similar to those off...


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One of the biggest sportswear and athletic precision wear, Adidas has now released its own branded Face Masks in order to reduce the number of victims of the pandemic. Many companies have stepped up and done their parts to help prevent people prevent themselves. The face masks are an important necessity in order to be able to go outside and prevent getting the deadly virus. The masks also prevent sick people from spreading other cold-like symptoms to other people and lowering their immunity.
Adidas has made a large effort in producing these masks and is also working on the #HOMETEAMHERO Challenge in an effort to contribute to the World Health Organization in fighting COVID-19. The Face Cover according to Adidas has been made from high-performance material that is recyclable. The material is also said to be free from Virgin Plastics. Adidas had previously made statements that they wanted to reduce the use of plastics and make products that could be recycled. This innovative step can be seen in their latest Face Mask as well.
The challenge itself is a charitable event that encompasses their belief in bringing everyone together and everyone pushing themselves to be better than before. Adidas wants to unite people and make them run globally. They want to track their activity from May 29th to June 7th and for every hour of tracked activity, Adidas will donate 1 Dollar to the Fund. They have a goal for One Million Hours of activity tracked.
The face masks are said to be soft and made of breathable material. The mask will also be comfortable for any activity as it adapts to one’s face. The face masks will be made available in the major markets first such as Europe, China, and North America. The face masks sales will also see contributions to other funds such as Save The Children’s Global Coronavirus Response Fund.
Adidas even made face masks for essential workers and healthcare workers in the United States. They provided face shields to provinces in South Korea and also in Europe. They believe the world will soon be back to playing grounds and athletic stadiums dominating and maintaining their fitness lives.
Adidas wants people to be able to move out safely and live their lives to the fullest by indulging in sports and involving themselves in fitness. The masks reusability is an essential parameter to prevent waste and enables the masks to have a longer life than being just disposable quality type masks.


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The non-farm private sector lost 123,000 jobs in December, according to the ADP National Employment Report. This follows a revised November increase of 304,000 jobs.
Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees lost 13,000 jobs. Medium-sized businesses with 50-499 employees gained 37,000, while large businesses lost 147,000 jobs.
“As the impact of the pandemic on the labor market intensifies, December posted the first decline since April 2020,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “The job losses were primarily concentrated in retail and leisure and hospitality.”
Service-providing employment led the decline with 105,000 jobs lost, driven by the leisure & hospitality and trade, transportation & utilities, which declined by 58,000 and 50,000 jobs respectively.
Goods-producing employment fell by 18,000 jobs. The manufacturing sector lost 21,000 jobs. Construction gained 3,000 jobs, and natural Resources/mining saw no gains or losses.
Read the ADP report.


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Working it! TOWIE cousins Frankie Essex and Chloe Sims showcase their curves in super-tight dresses at fashion party
They're both known for their love of skintight dresses.
So when it came to a party by a brand famous for its range of sexy partywear, Frankie Essex and Chloe Sims knew they would have to pull out all the stops.
The Only Way Is Essex stars looked stunning as they turned up at the launch of CelebBoutique's first ever store on Thursday night.
Working it: The Only Way Is Essex stars Chloe Sims and Frankie Essex arrive at the CelebBoutique store launch in Westfield Stratford on Thursday
Model Chloe, 31, showed off slim figure in a CelebBoutique 'Abi' white, orange and blue pencil dress, which she teamed with a pair of teal sandals.
Her cousin Frankie, 25, went for a bit more of a leggy look in a 'Adara' nude and lace off-the-shoulder bandage dress from the same label.
She teamed the skintight number with a pair of peep-toe Christian Louboutin heels.
Curvalicious: Frankie went for a simple blow dry so not to distract from her shapely figure
Fans of TOWIE will notice Frankie wasn't on-screen as much in the last series, while cousin Chloe was seen getting a job for Essex Style magazine.
Frankie has been keeping busy with her hair piece and extension range Frankie Essex Hair.
However, for Thursday's launch at Westfield Stratford, Frankie opted for a more natural look with a simple blow-dry.
Bronzed: Mother-of-one Chloe's white dress complemented her Essex tan
The cousins were just two of a host of stars who attended the launch of the new store, which is located on 'The Street' section of the shopping mall.
Guests were treated to champagne and cupcakes, with a DJ spinning some classic house and garage tracks.
Like many, Frankie made a beeline for the cupcakes, tweeting: 'Love my cupcakes from @celebboutique launch party Shop Opening xXx had an amazing night xXx.'
The Celeb Boutique store in The Street, Westfield Stratford opens to the public on July 27. For more information visit the CelebBoutique website.
Out of their boardroom clothes! The Apprentice stars Francesca MacDuff-Varley and Luisa Zissman posed up together
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Thursday, September 30, 2010
Telkom Kenya Cuts Broadband Rates By 50%
In other news, Telkom’s move has increased the pressure on Kenya’s long-standing internet provider AccessKenya, which has focused on corporate leased lines and high-end residential customers since its inception. AccessKenya announced this week that its turnover dropped by 17.5% to KES876 million at the end of 1H10; this year the firm opted to increase bandwidth capacity to its customers but freeze its prices. A company spokesperson said that growth of the firm's revenues would depend on ‘strong growth in both the corporate and residential customer base, driven by higher speeds and lower costs offered to customers’. However, Telkom’s move suggests that if AccessKenya does lower its charges, its income may well be diminished even further. According to AccessKernya, the corporate leased line segment is currently its core source of income, accounting for 92% of the firm's revenues in 1H10.


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Last year, the majority of our food imports (such as eggs, chicken and fruit) came from Malaysia, Brazil, and Australia, said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) in response to queries from The New Paper.
Where does Singapore import chicken from?
Singapore imports about 35 per cent of chicken and 93 per cent of ducks from Malaysia. Other sources include Brazil and the United States. For eggs, 76 per cent of the supply comes from Malaysia, while farms here provide the rest. Last year, the Republic imported 48.8 million chickens in all.
What food do Singapore import from Malaysia?
Singapore imports about 37 per cent of its chicken supply and 15 per cent of its fish from Malaysia, among produce like eggs, vegetables and milk.
What Cannot be brought into Singapore from Malaysia?
Prohibited and Controlled Goods
- Chewing gum (except dental and medicated gum)
- Chewing tobacco and imitation tobacco products (for example, electronic cigarettes)
- Cigarette lighters in the shape of a pistol or revolver.
- Controlled drugs and psychotropic substances.
Who does Singapore import food from?
In 2018, the top partner countries from which Singapore Imports Food Products include France, Malaysia, United Kingdom, China and Indonesia.
Does Singapore import chicken?
Share of chicken imports to Singapore 2019, by country of origin. In 2019, 46 percent of the chicken that was imported to Singapore came from Brazil. Chicken ranked first in terms of meat type consumed per capita in Singapore.
What are Singapore’s main imports?
The most recent imports of Singapore are led by Integrated Circuits ($43.5B), Refined Petroleum ($41.4B), Crude Petroleum ($22.5B), Gold ($10.8B), and Gas Turbines ($8.37B).
How can I import fruit to Singapore?
If you wish to import meat, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables or fresh eggs, you have to apply for the relevant trader’s licence from the SFA. If you intend to import processed food, you must apply for a Registration to Import Processed Food Products and Food Appliances for your company from the SFA.
Why do Singapore import food?
Although Singapore manufactures food products for exports to the neighboring countries, most of the ingredients have to be imported. In an attempt to diversify exports the government promotes import, improvement and re-export of many food products to other Asian markets.
How much food does Malaysia import?
Import value of food Malaysia 2012-2019
In 2019, the import value of food to Malaysia was valued at approximately 51.46 billion Malaysian ringgit, an increase from the previous year. The value of imports of food has been increasing steadily since 2012 despite a decline in 2018.
What Cannot be shipped to Singapore?
The following items are prohibited from importation into Singapore : Any explosive or flammable substances; … Poisons, including any preparation, solution, compounds, mixture or natural substances containing unless sent in accordance with the provisions of the Poisons Act (Cap. 234)
Why is gum banned in Singapore?
Chewing gum is banned in Singapore under the Regulation of Imports and Exports (Chewing Gum) Regulations. … One of the objectives of the ban was to prevent vandals from using spent chewing gums to disrupt Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) services.
What items are banned in Singapore?
Things That Are Banned in Singapore
- Chewing gum.
- Recreational fireworks/firecrackers.
- Public nudity (even at home)
- Owning or trading exotic animals.
- Taking durian on public transportation.
- Gathering in groups of more than three people.
Is imported food safe?
The Dangers of imported Food: Imports from other countries such as Mexico, Chile, China, Brazil, and New Zealand, come with risks. Our consumption of foods both domestic and imported carries the risk of exposure to parasites, bacteria and other foodborne illnesses.
Where does Singapore import milk from?
Top trading partners (import of “Milk and cream, concentrated or containing added sugar or other sweetening matter.”) of Singapore in 2019: New Zealand with a share of 48% (170 million US$) Australia with a share of 8.74% (30 million US$) Ireland with a share of 7.07% (24 million US$)
Where does Singapore import eggs from?
Share of egg imports to Singapore 2019, by country of origin
In 2019, 72 percent of the eggs that were imported to Singapore came from the neighboring country, Malaysia. Five hen and quail egg farms, a small fraction of Singapore’s licensed local farms, contribute into their food supply.