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Trump Threatens To Up The Ante On His Trade War
The President is apparently getting ready to take yet another ill-advised step in his ill-advised, economically illiterate trade war.
President Trump is threatening to significantly ramp up his ill-advised trade war, this time by threatening increased tariffs on virtually every product imported into the United States from China:
President Donald Trump is prepared to take his tariff fight with China to the max — and believes the stock market’s rise since the election gives him the cushion to do it.
Trump told CNBC in an interview that aired early Friday morning that he would be willing to crank up the tariff pressure on China to the point of hitting $500 billion worth of Chinese imports — meaning U.S. import duties would tax nearly all of the $505.5 billion in total goods and services that Beijing exported to the U.S. last year.
“This is the time. You know the expression we’re playing with the bank’s money,” he told CNBC’s Joe Kernen in an interview on “Squawk Box.”
The comments signal growing confidence that Trump thinks a further escalation in a trade war with China won’t cause mass economic destruction as critics have argued.
Pressed about the possibility that such a move could drag down the stock market, Trump said, “If it does, it does.”
“I would have a higher stock market right now, it’s already up almost 40 percent, as you know, since the election,” Trump said. “It could be 80 percent if I didn’t want to do this, but ultimately, what I’m doing is making it so it’s right.”
Trump has made resetting U.S. trade relationships around the globe a priority for his administration, controversially targeting longtime allies and partners like South Korea, Mexico, Canada and the European Union.
Trump on Twitter also took shots at China and the European Union, accusing them of lowering the value of their currencies, and criticized the Federal Reserve’s gradual interest rate increases — actions that could undermine the impact of new tariffs.
“China, the European Union and others have been manipulating their currencies and interest rates lower, while the U.S. is raising rates while the dollars gets [sic] stronger and stronger with each passing day — taking away our big competitive edge. As usual, not a level playing field,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
“The United States should not be penalized because we are doing so well. Tightening now hurts all that we have done. The U.S. should be allowed to recapture what was lost due to illegal currency manipulation and BAD Trade Deals. Debt coming due & we are raising rates — Really?”
Trump’s comments echo a long-standing complaint from U.S. manufacturers who argue that China and other countries often artificially depresses the value of their currency to give their companies an export advantage. A lower Chinese renminbi — China’s own currency — relative to a stronger dollar allows Chinese companies to sell their products more cheaply in the United States.
But the dollar lately has been strengthening against essentially all currencies, said Fred Bergsten, senior fellow and director emeritus at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
“The fact that the Chinese currency is going down is not unique,” he said. “The question is whether the Chinese officials have done anything deliberate to push it down.”
As David Lynch notes in The Washington Post, Trump is following a strategy that threatens to spin wildly out of control, assuming it hasn’t done so already:
Perhaps no part of President Trump’s campaign to overhaul U.S. trade policy enjoys broader support than his indictment of China.
Yet if the president’s push to reshape the U.S.-China trade relationship reflects a bipartisan consensus, his method for doing so does not.
This month, Trump threatened to levy tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese products, a move that, coupled with fees already approved, would hit nearly half of China’s shipments to the United States. The administration says Beijing steals American trade secrets, discriminates against foreign companies and subsidizes state-backed enterprises in a way that warps global commerce.
Industry executives and lawmakers agree but fear that Trump’s approach risks an open-ended trade war that will leave American companies with less access to the Chinese market, not more.
“We’re playing Russian roulette with the American economy,” said Myron Brilliant, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “The administration has a tool that they think provides leverage over other countries. But I don’t think it has a good strategy for getting a deal done.”
U.S. hopes of exporting more cars to China are among the first casualties. As a conciliatory gesture, Chinese officials in May cut their tariff on imported automobiles to 15 percent from 25 percent. But only days after that reduction took effect on July 1, China hiked its tariff on U.S. cars to 40 percent in retaliation for Trump’s initial levies on Chinese goods.
That means that cars made by BMW in South Carolina or Mercedes-Benz in Alabama and exported to China will face a crippling 40 percent import tax while those shipped from Europe or Japan pay just a 15 percent levy.
“Trump is right that China plays unfair and that unilateral measures are likely needed to get China to play fairer,” said Scott Kennedy, director of the project on Chinese business and economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “But his diagnosis of the underlying dynamics and symptoms is full of key mistakes, which has then resulted in some hideous execution errors.”
[GM says new Trump auto tariffs threaten American jobs]
Trump’s confrontation with China is complicated by his missteps and global trade rules that have not kept pace with China’s blend of authoritarian capitalism, according to trade specialists.
The president — who cultivates an image as an accomplished dealmaker — has repeatedly suggested that his tariffs provide leverage for negotiations with China to end discriminatory trade measures.
The consequences of a trade war are well-known, and none of them are good. On the macroeconomic level, they tend to have a far more negative impact on the economy than a positive one due to the fact that domestic industry ends up getting harmed both due to the higher prices created due to tariffs themselves and the impact of any retaliatory tariffs that may be imposed in response. While there may be some isolated pockets of the economy that benefit from higher tariffs, albeit usually temporarily, the broader impact is inevitably negative even if it may take time for the impact of those higher tariffs to be felt or to register in economic statistics. In addition to businesses being harmed by trade wars, of course, the harm is also felt by consumers who end up paying higher prices for products impacted by increased import duties and for goods that may include products that are subject to those duties, such as automobiles and durable goods such as appliances.
In the United States, there are already signs that the President’s ill-advised trade war, which has led to increased duties on goods not only from China but also from Europe, Canada, and Mexico, is already starting to have an impact. Within two months after the President imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, for example, The Wall Street Journal reported that prices for both foreign and domestic steel and aluminum were increasing and having a negative impact on manufacturers that rely on these raw materials for their products. Other reports have indicated that American pork farmers were becoming increasingly nervous about their overseas business with nations like China. In Iowa, meanwhile, it has been reported that Chinese retaliation for the tariffs imposed on Chinese goods could cost soybean farmers in the Hawkeye State $624 million this year alone, with the prospect of larger losses if the retaliation continues beyond this year. This has led many leaders in Iowa and elsewhere, including Senator Chuck Grassley to express concern about the impact of the trade war on Republican fortunes in the fall. This is especially true given the fact that the tariffs seem to be expressly targeted toward Trump voters and middle-class Americans. This month has also seen that the tariffs have had a negative impact on other American businesses, and has even led an iconic American brand like Harley-Davidson to announce that they are moving some production overseas in response to the retaliatory tariffs imposed by the European Union.
To be fair, it’s not inaccurate to say that there are some unfair trade practices engaged in by China, the Europeans, and other nations that have a negative impact on the ability of American businesses to compete in those nations. It’s also clear, though, that there are also similar trade practices on the books here in the United States that impose unfair burdens on foreign manufacturers and suppliers. The international agreements that the United States has entered in the past, including agreements such as NAFTA and organizations such as the World Trade Organization, which was specifically established to adjudicate trade disputes between member nations. Additional protections would have been provided by the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but, of course, President Trump pulled the United States out of that agreement as one of the actions he took during his first week in office. These procedures aren’t perfect either, of course, but they are better than the tit-for-tat that we’re seeing unfold before our eyes.
Notwithstanding the fact that there is blame for trade imbalances to be found on both sides of our many trade relationships, one has to be clear where responsibility for the current trade wars, both the ongoing fight with China and the one that appears to be developing between the United States and its most important allies, lies. It’s not in Europe, Canada, Mexico, or in China, it’s right here in the United States in the person of President Donald J. Trump. Even if one could make the case that some of the complaints the President has voiced regarding the status of our trade relations with other nations are accurate, and most of them are not, the proper way to respond to them isn’t by engaging in an ill-advised series of escalating tariffs that will ultimately cause far more harm than good to the American economy.
When the final chapter is written, of course, neither the United States nor China is going to “win” this trade war. Inevitably, the costs of the tit-for-tat tariffs will be felt by the economies of both nations and most especially by the businesses and consumers in both countries. Indeed, the proper way to handle any disputes between the U.S. and China or any other nation would be to take whatever disputes exist to the World Trade Organization for adjudication as provided in the treaty or to negotiate directly. Absent going through the W.T.O., the only hope is that the leaders of both countries will find a way to end the ridiculous tit-for-tat tariffs and reach an agreement that reduces trade barriers in both countries, makes it easier for manufacturers and producers such as farmers in both countries to sell their goods overseas, and reduces the rising tension that inevitably comes from a trade war. Until that happens, though, we’re going to continue to see this kind of nonsense from Washington and Beijing, and the people who pay the price for what they’re doing will most assuredly not be the leaders responsible for what’s happening. That’s apparently not good enough for Trump, and he’s apparently surrounded himself with people such as Gary Cohn and Peter Navarro who agree with him that “trade wars are good and easy to win,” and he has convinced himself that this is the proper way to proceed. If he stays this course, then we’re all going to find out just how wrong he is.


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It is been almost a month since Oneplus the new Android phone creator has announced the one hour pre-order acceptance period on Oct 27, 2014.
Users have waited for this special hour to order what is seen as number one top hardware Android phone, but the results of accessing the OnePlus website was as follow:
As expected the website couldn’t handle the massive amount of traffic, and it starts to uncover random desperate actions from web administrators, starting from disabling the OnePlus main website to reduce the traffic, ending by uncovering their Magento framework naked.
Huge frustration seen on twitter today #oneplus. And the question now, is OnePlus going to give their fans another decent chance ?

domain: news


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Buy Bitcoin, Create Bitcoin Wallets, Read Bitcoin News, and more, at Bitcoin.com.Bitcoin is a digital currency that has investors wondering whether or not it has a place in a portfolio.Investing in bitcoins offers exposure to a global technology used by.Here are three arguments that may push you to the investing side.Laws about Bitcoin are in a gray area today across the world.
Unocoin News – Buy Sell and Store Bitcoins in IndiaIt debuted in relative obscurity in 2009, at a time when the financial crisis was still underway.
Is it legal to invest in Bitcoins in India? If yes, how
Investing in Bitcoin Review: BTCXIndia - Start InvestingIt takes a strong stomach to buy the virtual currency, but some investors believe it could be a smart move.
Bitcoin may be the currency of choice in the digital underground, but there are plenty of legitimate reasons to considering Bitcoin as well.Once yow own bitcoins, the currency behaves just like physical gold i.e. they have value and trade almost like gold nuggets in your pocket.The Banks are using our money to invest it on high yield interest funds.Before I progress ahead, here is bitcoin price chart in USD since 1 November 2016.As the digital currency enjoys its fame let us gaze through the top five Bitcoin companies in India that are considered to be the best.
Bitcoin as an Investment: Opportunities and Risks. has seen such strong increase in demand in India over the last.Buy, sell, trade, store 18 cryptocurrencies, altcoins, tokens like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH.
Please click on the appropriate link to confirm your email address.A confirmation email has been sent to the address provided during registration.
Subscribe to our Push Notification to get instant Notification of all Offers and Tricks.AskIndia How can I invest in bitcoin, ethereum and other crypto-currencies.Investments in Bitcoin are giving much to talk around the world.
Investing In The Bitcoin - AdviceBitcoins are electronically converted to long strings of code having monetary value.
HI, I'm planning to Invest in Bitcoin, Living in India, soIf you want to invest in bitcoin mining without the hassle of managing your own hardware, simply head into the cloud to earn your coins.
exchanges - How can I convert bitcoins to Indian rupeesThe BIT, symbol GBTC, enables investors to gain exposure to the price movement of bitcoin through a traditional investment vehicle, without the challenges of buying.
The miners act both as ledger keepers and auditors for the transactions.There are other prominent currencies like Ripple, dash, Ehtereum, Lite Coin.If you are looking to get in, here are the 5 most common ways to invest in Bitcoin.Rising demand for this cryptocurrency promises more upside in bitcoin prices, thus pointing to an optimistic bitcoin price prediction 2018.
Bitcoin has recently shown stability, adding to its credibility as an investment opportunity.You can use it for payments without any third party involvement like the government, bank, or a market regulator.Still developing: Bitcoins are still in their infancy, with incomplete features at various stages of development.


text: LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Triarc Cos. Inc. TRY, -0.62%, the franchisor of Arby's restaurants, said its fourth-quarter net loss widened to $16.2 million, or 21 cents a share, from $3.6 million. Net sales from company owned Arby's restaurants jumped to $258.5 million from $53.9 million. Consolidated revenue, which includes revenue from Triarc's Deerfield asset management business more than tripled to $305.6 million from $96 million, reflecting the acquisition of RTM Restaurant Group, which owns 775 Arby's restaurants, in July. Triarc said operating profit from its restaurant business fell due to the impact of expenses from the RTM purchase and from moving its corporate headquarters to Atlanta.


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Taylor Swift Ticketmaster crisis sparks Senate Judiciary hearing, Live Nation and SeatGeek called as witnesses
Antitrust and Consumer Rights hearing inspired by recent ticketing saga from 'Anti-Hero' singer Taylor Swift
The Ticketmaster saga continues Tuesday as Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, call upon leading ticketing agency executives as witnesses to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition, Antitrust and Consumer Rights.
In a release from the Senate, will be "examining the lack of competition in the ticketing industry titled "That’s the Ticket: Promoting Competition and Protecting Consumers in Live Entertainment."
President and CFO of Live Nation Entertainment, Ticketmaster's parent company, Joe Berchtold, and CEO of SeatGeek, Jack Groetzinger, will both be called as witnesses at the hearing on problem's in America's ticketing markets.
Swift reached a new peak in her own folklore last year after millions of fans lined up for hours in online queues to purchase tickets in November to "The Eras Tour" in 2023, only to be denied an opportunity to see the "Anti-Hero" singer at one of the 35 stadium stops.
Jerry Mickelson, CEO of JAM Productions, Sal Nuzzo of The James Madison Institute, Kathleen Bradish from the American Antitrust Institute and Clyde Lawrence of the band Lawrence will also be called on as witnesses at the 10 a.m. hearing.
Chairwoman Klobuchar announced the formation of the antitrust subcommittee one week after the ticketing disaster where lawmakers said the "significant service failures" on Ticketmaster's website demanded oversight from antitrust regulators.
"Last week, the competition problem in ticketing markets was made painfully obvious when Ticketmaster’s website failed hundreds of thousands of fans hoping to purchase concert tickets," Klobuchar said in a statement at the time.
"The high fees, site disruptions and cancelations that customers experienced shows how Ticketmaster’s dominant market position means the company does not face any pressure to continually innovate and improve."
Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged in 2010 after a Justice Department-brokered settlement officials said would encourage competition and send ticket prices down.
Klobuchar, along with Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. and Edward Markey, D-Mass., said in a November letter that the ticket sales and the distribution company should be broken up if any misconduct is uncovered.
"An investigation alone does nothing for the stakeholders already harmed by Live Nation’s market dominance and seemingly ongoing anticompetitive behavior," the lawmakers said as they questioned Ticketmaster's estimated 60% control of the market for major events.
TAYLOR SWIFT TOUR DEBACLE: TICKETMASTER AND LIVE NATION MAY NEED BREAKUP, DEMOCRATIC SENATORS SAY
"If the investigation reveals that Live Nation has continued to abuse its dominant market position notwithstanding two prior consent decrees, we urge the department to consider unwinding the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger and breaking up the company. This may be the only way to truly protect consumers, artists and venue operators and to restore competition in the ticketing market."
Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also and urged the consumer protection agency to clarify what it's doing to crack down on ticket scammers who use bots to hoard tickets.
The hearing will be held before the full Senate Judiciary Committee with Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and incoming Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
More than 3.5 million pre-registered Swifties queued up during the "Verified Fan" pre-sales, but were never able to buy a seat after Ticketmaster sold more than 2 million tickets in the initial rush. The company later canceled the public sale due to "insufficient remaining ticket inventory."
One of Ticketmaster's largest shareholders said "14 million people" attempted to log on and purchase tickets.
On the day general sale tickets were supposed to be made available, Swift broke her silence and addressed the fiasco.
"It goes without saying that I'm extremely protective of my fans," Swift wrote. "There are a multitude of reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets and I'm trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward. I'm not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could. It's truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them."
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A few Swifties then filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation alleging Ticketmaster engaged in antitrust violations, deceptive practices, fraud and price-fixing. The suit also accuses Ticketmaster of encouraging scalpers because the company earns income from fees when tickets are resold on its platform.
Zach Bryan said last year that he was "done" with using Ticketmaster, and has since stuck to his plan.
He released a surprise live album last month titled, "All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster," and only sold tickets to his shows through AXS.
"Seems like there is a massive issue with fair ticket prices to live shows lately. I have met kids at my shows who have paid upwards of four hundred bucks to be there and I’m done with it," Bryan wrote on Instagram on Christmas Day.
"I’ve decided to play a limited number of headline shows next year to which I’ve done all I can to make prices as cheap as possible and to prove to people tickets don’t have to cost $450 to see a good and honest show… I believe working class people should still be able to afford tickets to shows. I am so so tired of people saying things can’t be done about this massive issue while huge monopolies sit there stealing money from working class people."


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VIENNA—Semperit A.G. Holding is seeking to realign its 50/50 joint venture with the Sri Trang Agro Industry Group of Thailand.
Semperit said discussions with Sri Trang about restructuring the partnership between the companies have been unsuccessful.
Recently, decisions regarding the company's business practices, which were made by the Board of Directors of Siam Sempermed Corp., the joint subsidiary of Semperit and Sri Trang, have been contested in a Thai court by an unnamed non-executive director nominated by Sri Trang.
The management board of Semperit said on July 17 it intends to initiate all legal steps necessary to uphold Semperit's rights as a shareholder in the joint venture SSC.
The agreements concluded more than 25 years ago “proved their worth over a long period of time” according to Semperit, but the Austrian firm says “the partnership has no longer been able to fulfill current requirements for increased transparency as well as the necessary objectivity, corporate governance and accountability of management decisions.”
Furthermore, the company added, as of the beginning of the year 2015, the marketing of the protective and examination gloves manufactured by the joint venture in Thailand will be realigned.
“Whereas the sales and distribution of the gloves in Europe and the Middle East will continue to be exclusively handled by Sempermed's business operations in Austria, the markets in Asia, Africa and South America will be handled independently from one another,” the company said. “In contrast, sales and distribution in the U.S. will continue to be coordinated by the joint venture company Sempermed U.S.A. for the time being.”


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New Delhi/Mumbai: A desi version of 'Cash for Clunkers' scheme might be in the offing to reverse the slowdown that has heavily dented the Indian automobile industry.
Accordingly, several central government ministries are said to be in a huddle to finalise key aspects of the policy such as incentives for buying new vehicles in lieu of scrapping old ones along with deciding the parameters of eligible category of automobiles.
Even state government's are being approached to take their inputs regarding land use incentives for setting-up of vehicle scrap yards.
The development comes as the automobile industry has repeatedly sought an 'End of Life' policy from the central government as a measure to arrest the falling sales.
The policy, if implemented, is expected to encourage customers to go in for new purchases which will be backed-up by government incentives in lieu of their old vehicles.
Significantly, the move is considered to be the most vital element of any further package to prop-up the sector's growth.
In July, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had issued draft amendment of the Central Motor Vehicle rules for public consultation which, among other things, proposed to provide benefits ranging up to Rs 40,000 on new purchases after scrappage of the old vehicle of a similar category.
The proposal also included waving-off registration fees for new vehicle, if the customer is able to produce a scrappage certificate for a vehicle of the same category. The intended benefit has been proposed across categories of vehicles from two-wheelers to heavy transport trucks.
As per the draft notification, the incentive will range from Rs 1,000-40,000, if the scrappage certificate is produced, the plan that time was also to include imported cars.
Besides, industry insiders opined that an India specific scrappage policy might include both commercial and passenger vehicles as well as two-wheelers.
Apart from few country specific features, the policy is expected to be similar to the US government's program -- Cash for Clunkers -- that provided financial incentives for purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles in exchange for old vehicles.
Presently, the automobile industry has been hit hard due to a slowdown, caused by several factors, like high GST rates, farm distress, stagnant wages and liquidity constraints.
Consequently, the industry's sales and production levels have dramatically plunged, leading to job losses.
In August, all major OEMs consisting of passenger, commercial, two- and three-wheeler manufacturers have reported a massive decline in domestic sales.
As per Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers' August sales figures, the overall sectoral offtake in the domestic market has plunged 23.55 per cent to 1,821,490 units, from 2,382,436 units sold during the corresponding month of the previous year.
Moreover, the industry has estimated that around 15,000 contractual manufacturing jobs have been lost and another million are at the risk, if the slowdown is not reversed.


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Paydirt at the Sands
- By Ralph C. Jensen
- Apr 06, 2017
This is our first tradeshow as Security Today, as a new format and look. Security Products magazine had a run of 20 years, and our thoughts for change come as the security industry, more the technology side hones what products are already on the market, and how manufacturers are improving on what they offer.
We’re proud to be part of the industry, and pleased to provide a valuable service to the thousands of people in the security field.
The first day of ISC West is always exciting for me. This year, moreso as I walk the floor I put on at least 5 miles. Not bad for a recently reattached Achilles tendon. Editor and foot are doing OK.
Here are few very cool things I found out today. I had a scheduled visit with Brivo (Steve Van Till) and Eagle Eye (Ken Francis) but what I really enjoyed talking to and about was with Dean Drako, who owns both companies but is headlong into building and automotive dynasty. After several quick glances at the car manufacturing process, I’m anxious to see Drako Motors put a new car on the ISC West 2018 show floor.
Security related? Not really, but there are several very smart people in this industry that warrant attention. Speaking of attention, here are a couple of people I’ll be listening in the coming months because they are new to the industry and have some really good ideas coming for the marketing and editorial side of my work. Dana Pruitt is the new marketing manager at Aiphone, and she has a thirst for getting the word out about their product line.
Jennifer Stack at Salto has an amazing opportunity going on in New York City as the company has invested in a learning center when integrators can bring clients to the showroom and learn together about security solutions.
I’m anxious to continue my talks with Centralarm, which plays a vital role in the monitoring arena, and without a doubt my conversation with the executive team at MONI Security Systems. We publish editorial from MONI each issue of Dealer Strategies, but there is something new and open at their booth (22031) and it would be worth 15 minutes of your time to see what’s new at MONI.
Great floor traffic on the Day One; I look for an increase of security professionals today as the industry experts share technology and solutions to the industry.
Ralph C. Jensen is editor-in-chief of Security Today magazine.


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RM flies IT flag in classroom revolution
Chalk and talk may be the government's old-fashioned prescription for schools. But at the same time it wants them to be wired to the digital highway.
Computer spending is just 1% of the schools budget but likely to reach 5% within a few years.
This is the hope of RM Group, which has more than a third of the schools IT market. As networks grow more complex, it is winning contracts to service them remotely from its Abingdon headquarters.
September year-end profits rose 22% to £12.3m pretax, worth 9.8p per share. Dividends climbed from 2.34p to 2.86p.
Off 15 1/2p to 701p, RM has nearly doubled in a year. At 70 times earnings, is it all in the price?
Probably not. RM is coy about details, but clearly reckons IT can replace some teachers. With pay budgets rising 8% this year, expect a quickening of computer spending.
On the other hand, chalk and talk is still best.
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Is Facebook’s Libra Really A Cryptocurrency?br>
Facebook’s impending foray into the world of cryptocurrencies centers on its recently unveiled Libra project, with the Libra stablecoin at its core. Reporting by The Block revealed that the inaugural backers of the Libra network, which function as node operators, will consist of a mix of investment firms, payment companies, e-commerce giants, and more in a consortium-based model.
With some members charged $10 million to run nodes, which grants them access to view the network, Libra could prove a lucrative revenue source for Facebook — to the tune of $1 billion.
This begs the question: is Libra really a cryptocurrency or simply a fintech play by a social media giant?
Consortiums, Decentralization, and Stablecoins
Immediate concerns about Facebook’s plunge into the fintech world are manifest. The firm’s reputation as a reliable manager of user data is more than suspect, and an advertised-based revenue model does not breed confidence in sustained privacy practices.
Combine sensitive user social media data with their financial data, and you have a volatile mix of information on critical aspects of peoples’ everyday lives.
It is unclear precisely what the role of the node operators will be in the system, but the high entry fee and access to the blockchain seem a thinly-veiled paywall for the companies to access comprehensive user data. There will be 100 companies at launch, including the likes of PayPal, Visa, and eBay, so it will be interesting to discover their role besides partaking in the governance procedures of Libra.
The control of these Silicon Valley data monopolies is a legitimate concern. PayPal is a financial power player, Uber a logistical power player, and eBay an e-commerce power. The fact that the Libra blockchain will not be directly auditable (only proofs will be available) creates a downstream problem of just how far the extent of data collection, or surveillance, will be possible on users regularly transferring value on Libra.
According to TechCrunch, Libra will be natively integrated into Messenger and WhatsApp, with zero fees, as well as integrated with merchants and a pending rollout of physical ATMs for the stablecoin. Interestingly, TechCrunch also notes how the level of “decentralization” of Libra may help Facebook to avoid direct regulation for its control over the cryptocurrency.
However, decentralization is a stretch for a Facebook-issued stablecoin.
With 100 node operators, Libra is ostensibly more decentralized than many “cryptocurrencies,” and blockchain projects in general, but does not meet the type of censorship-resistance or decentralization that are two of the underpinning value propositions of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Launching a decentralized cryptocurrency network can be difficult though.
Designs for bootstrapping decentralization are commonplace in the crypto sector now, with everything from Grin’s mining and token distribution model to proof-of-stake networks tweaking various incentive models. Emerging networks like Algorand implement Pure Proof-of-Stake to drastically lower the barriers for entry to users, and other networks, like Cardano, seek to launch with decentralization after years of development in the run-up to its Shelley testnet.
While these networks demonstrate better decentralization than the Libra consortium, Libra may ultimately prove a more valuable tool in onboarding more users to cryptocurrencies in general since many users simply want the convenience of using the stablecoin in their favorite messaging apps.
However, Libra’s departure from what defines cryptocurrencies may concurrently mislead new users about the critical components of genuine cryptocurrencies. And that does not start and end with decentralization either.
Libra is akin to a permissioned blockchain stablecoin network. Several cryptocurrency projects, like Ripple, are similarly centralized and have developed into more of conventional fintech innovations rather than pure cryptocurrencies. Different than other stablecoins though, Libra will be backed by a basket of currencies rather than pegged to a single fiat currency — such as Tether.
Stablecoins have an increasingly prominent yet polarizing position in crypto markets. While they offer stable pegs of value for trading in and out of altcoins on exchanges without fiat pairs (i.e., Binance), they add layers of complexity and risk to payments when compared to something like Bitcoin.
That may not be a prohibitively sizeable barrier for most of the mainstream that will use Libra though, and while a blockchain-based settlement layer can reduce transaction friction for users (i.e., no fees), it is not a promise of a protocol to build technology on top of.
Fintech vs Cryptocurrency
Libra appears to be more of a Facebook product than a modular technology from which to build upon. As a stablecoin, its primary value proposition is convenience and stability, but many crypto users are hodlers that are merely speculating on the price of digital assets.
Will Libra become a more convenient form of Venmo? It has that potential, but in the end, that’s not adding much value to an ecosystem built on removing trusted intermediaries and providing modular, censorship-resistant technologies.
Facebook’s Libra may tenuously qualify as a cryptocurrency, but it is more a fintech in


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X-IO Technologies has introduced its ‘Fast when Full’ program that guarantees performance on its Intelligent Storage Element (ISE) 800-series all-flash storage arrays. The guarantee states that the arrays deliver up to 200,000 IOPS at less than 1ms latency, and that they will also run at 100 per cent performance at 100 per cent capacity. The company also introduced new ISE hybrid, performance and archive models with increased capacity levels of 50 per cent.
The ISE performance guarantee and hardware enhancements build on X-IO's commitment to providing consistent high performance, availability and simplicity to enterprise customers while significantly lowering the total cost of ownership.
“Matching the right level of storage performance for the application is the first step in optimising capital and operational costs,” said Ellen Rome, vice president of marketing at X-IO Technologies. “The X-IO Fast when Full performance guarantee demonstrates how easily enterprises of all sizes can simply, efficiently and cost-effectively add all-flash ISE storage to quickly accelerate application performance. Unlike others in the industry, the ISE all-flash models guarantee latency and 100 per cent performance at 100 per cent capacity, therefore ensuring that organisations can plan for peak performance when needed and have a reliable view to future storage expenditures.”
When customers purchase an X-IO ISE 800 series all-flash storage system, the company guarantees the system can achieve up to 200,000 IOPS at less than 1ms latency, even when at full capacity. If the guaranteed performance or latency levels are not met, X-IO will provide additional hardware at no additional cost to meet the guarantee. (2)
The new X-IO storage capacity enhancements are available on ISE hybrid, performance and archive tiers and lower the cost per TB by more than 25 per cent. ISE capacity and performance updates include:
·ISE 700 hybrid storage series: New ISE 755 and 790 models start at 3TB and 6.4TB of flash capacity, respectively, and support up to 31.3TB of flash-accelerated storage. X-IO’s Intelligent Adaptive Flash technology allows customers to choose the most efficient flash deployment for enterprise applications, automatically pinning data volumes to flash or dynamically moving data between tiers as needed.
·ISE 200 performance HDD series: Increase in usable capacity to 41.5TB with the new ISE 250 model.
·ISE 100 archive series: Increase in usable capacity to 41.5TB with the new ISE 120 model.


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APS : Sunday, 02 April 2017
ALGIERS-The 20th edition of the International Building, Construction Materials and Public Works Fair “Batimatec 2017” will take place on 23-27 April at the Exhibition Centre Pins maritimes in Algiers.
1,300 Algerian and foreign exhibitors take part in this event, announced organizers.
Co-organized by Batimatec Expo Company and SAFEX, this economic event will bring together manufacturers, producers and designers of products, materials and processes relevant to the building industry, the corporation of architects and urban planners, investors, project promoters and experts, organizers said in a communiqué.
Batimatec 2017 is held “in a difficult context and coincides with the launch of a new economic development strategy in which the sectors of housing, building, major infrastructures, hydraulics and public works have a key position,” stressed organizers.
The event also includes conferences and workshops on various topics like innovation, eco-building, industrial security, training on building trades, the cement industry and the promotion of domestic products.
Besides, organizers intend to shed light on national innovative companies (particularly SMEs and SMIs) proposing products that meet international standards and capture foreign markets in order to “judiciously meet the willingness of public authorities to promote new non-hydrocarbon sectors,” according to the CEO of Batimatec Expo Raouf Stiti quoted in the communiqué.
- (العربية) 5 جويلية الذكرى الستون لعيد الإستقلال تاريخ مجيد و عهد جديد
- President Tebboune kicks off Mediterranean Games 2022 in Oran
- Lamamra receives UNWTO Secretary General
- President Tebboune holds one-on-one meeting with Emir of the State of Qatar
- MG Oran 2022: Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay in Oran to attend opening ceremony


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It’s no secret that the millennial generation is often associated with many of the digital trends out there. But recent research conducted by public relations firm Weber Shandwick and its research partner KRC Research is highlighting a specific segment of the demographic that digital marketers seem to be overlooking: millennial moms.
As the seasons change, fashion and tabloid magazines jump on the opportunity to highlight the latest fashion trends. In its latest white paper, Chicago-based Euromonitor International uses that same mentality for the beverage marketplace.
It’s no secret that the customization trend is spreading like wildfire throughout the beverage industry. Beverage-makers are developing products to serve not just the broad public anymore but also the more niche demographics.
With most of the leaves now on the ground instead of on the trees, it might seem a little out of place to be talking about summer, but Newton, Mass.-based Restaurant Sciences LLC is keeping the summer season on our brains.
The January 2016 issue of Beverage Industry includes a cover story on our Bottler of the Year, as well as articles about juice smoothies, RTD cold-brew coffee, and supermarket growth. Check it out today!


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The next set of cars that will be making their way to the casino podium in GTA Online have been revealed – and there are plenty of expensive vehicles still yet to come.
When GTA Online’s Diamond Casino finally swung open its doors in July of 2019, players finally had the chance to gamble their hard-earned cash on a variety of different games. Though, as anyone who has entered the casino will know, it also does give back.
The lucky spin wheel gives each player a daily spin, and by trying their luck, GTA Online fans can end up with new clothing, free cash, or even a new car. When it comes to the cream of the crop for free cars, these appear on the rotating podium that sits in front of the spin wheel – and there are still some pretty nice cars left to get their moment in the spotlight.
Back in March, reliable Rockstar Games insider TezFun revealed a list of ten cars that would be released in the build-up to the summer months on the spin wheel. As some of those cars have been ticked off and released, there are still plenty to go.
Players have noted that the Apocalypse Deathbike, V-STR, R88, and S80RR are all yet to be released from TezFun’s initial list. The $4,628,400 Scramjet didn’t make the cut on the insider’s initial list, but was recently added to the podium files and should also be available from the spin wheel in the near future.
Now, when these vehicles will get their turn on the casino podium is a different story. Nobody knows the order in which the cars will be available – it is just a case of waiting for Rockstar’s weekly Thursday updates.
- Read More: GTA Online confirmed as free-to-play on PS5
Once all these cars have been available from the spin wheel, Rockstar will have to add more, and they could come from GTA Online’s next major update. The last rumors suggested that Cops N Crooks would be making a returning but we’ll just have to wait and see about that.


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HE Nasser Ahmed Al Suwaidi, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development received today at his office a high-level delegation from the Federal Republic of Russia headed by Dr. Elena Uspenskaya Head of the Department for Congresses and International Cooperation in City of Moscow Government. The two sides discussed ways and means to strengthen economic and investment relations between the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Federal Republic of Russia and expanding horizons of joint cooperation to support business investment and private sectors on both sides. The Russian delegation, included H.E Mezhdhov Islambek, the Chechen Deputy Minister of Energy and Industry, and the ministers of Economy and Finance, Health and Transport and a number of senior officials from the Republic of Chechnya. During the meeting HE Nasser Al Suwaidi stressed the keenness of the Government of Abu Dhabi to strengthen relations with the Russian Federation, which in recent years has seen a convergence remarkable in the light of the agreements concluded between the two sides, which contributed to increased rates of trade between the two countries; and opened wide opportunities for joint investments, with the support and encouragement of the governments of the two friendly countries.Al Suwaidi said that the Emirate of Abu Dhabi offers promising investment opportunities within the current package of the huge development projects which constitute an ideal platform for investment, and boosting of economic ties and joint cooperation, especially in infrastructure, tourist, industry, and alternative energy, which the Emirate of Abu Dhabi undertake in realization of its Economic Vision 2030.
H.E Al sowaidi said that Russia is an ideal investment partner for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the UAE in general, because of its high-technology, skilled workforce, advanced construction sector, and abundance of natural resources. HE the Chairman of the Department of Economic Development expressed enthusiasm that the visit of the Russian delegation to the Stat, will promote economic and investment relations between the two sides in view of the desire of both sides to provide mutual opportunities that will contribute to increasing the volume of trade exchange and joint investments between the two countries.For his part, the Russian delegation praised the openness and potential enjoyed by Abu Dhabi's economy with all countries of the world, and the distinct economic environment that encourages Russian companies to invest in UAE. In this context, the Russian side emphasized the desire of the Russian Industries to benefit from the promising investment opportunities provided by Abu Dhabi, which stands as one of the most promising markets in the region, as it is characterized by its high consumer purchasing power, as well as facilities, incentives and benefits of commercial industry and trade. This makes it a viable market and a hub for imports and exports of Russian goods to various Middle East and African countries.The Russian delegation pointed out that Russia's economy is the ninth largest economy in the world; and is characterized by abundant natural gas, oil, coal and precious metals reserves; in addition to its ability to absorb and attract Gulf investors and companies, especially those operating in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.The Russian delegation stated that this visit to the State aims at opening opportunities for Russian investment companies, especially the energy and infrastructure development companies, to explore alternative investment destinations in the UAE, and particularly Abu Dhabi.It is worth mentioning that the volume of trade between the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Federal Republic of Russia Federation during the period from January to October 2012 amounted to about AED 598.275 million compared to AED 419.872 million d during the same period in 2011.Imports of Abu Dhabi from Russian markets amounted to AED 571.329 million during the period from January to October 2012, and included wheat, spare parts silicon materials, and manganese, paper materials, water heaters, chemicals, equipments, spare parts and others goods. Abu Dhabi exports to Russia reached a total value of AED 26.340, and constituted marble materials, spare parts and accessories, machinery, electrical equipments and textiles.
It is noteworthy that the UAE has 3000 registered Russian companies and is home to about 25000 Russian residents. UAE also accommodate have more than 75,000 people Russian speaking people from the Commonwealth of Independent States and attracts annually a large number of nearly one million tourists from Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.It should be noted that the volume of trade between Russia and the GCC countries has increased by 4000 times over the past decade to reach $ 11.2 billion. The UAE acquired the lion's share of about $ 6.6 billion of trade. Russian companies’ investments in UAE amounted $ 186 million dollars in 2011, while the volume of volume of UAE investments in Russian amounted to $ 253 million in the same year.


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Valencell, best known around these parts for making optical heart rate sensors for fitness tech, has turned up to CES with something new. The company is showing off a new fingertip monitor that, it says, will offer “cuffless” blood pressure monitoring. Rather than inflating a sleeve around the top of your arm, you’ll be able to monitor your blood pressure with a fingertip clip. That’s currently commonly used to measure your heart rate both at home, and in medical settings.
The as-yet unnamed device is pending FDA clearance, but Valencell has explained that it uses PPG sensors to measure blood flow patterns. This information is then run through an algorithm which calculates the movement against both a dataset containing 7,000 patient records. That’s then run up against the user’s age, weight, gender and height to produce a blood pressure measurement. And you’ll get both Diastolic and Systolic results presented on the device’s built-in screen, and pushed to the companion mobile app.
Much as Valencell say its work is unique, we’ve seen at least one other system that uses PPG and algorithms in place of a cuff. At the start of 2022, the University of Missouri showed off its own finger clip that harnesses a pair of PPG sensors, one on either side of the finger. That system was, by its creators own admission, far less accurate for diastolic measures, given the need to control for a person’s age, gender and weight.
Valencell seems to suggest that it has solved those issues with more data, to the point where you won’t need to calibrate its monitor with an initial cuff reading. That’s either some staggering bravado, or a sign that we’re getting better at the nitty-gritty of healthcare monitoring. The company says that it could offer a new weapon in the war against hypertension, and it hopes to offer it for use in clinical settings for remote patient monitoring or chronic care management.
But that’ll all have to wait until the FDA has run its cautious eye over the hardware — which could take much of the year — but if it offers its blessing, Valencell says it’ll sell the product for $99.


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Boffins have been cooking “certain substances” in their cauldrons and have come up with a way of turning cannabis into high-performance energy storage devices.
They “cooked” cannabis bark into carbon nanosheets and built supercapacitors “on a par with or better than graphene”.
We guess that it will be the first computer to run for several hours before insisting on a pizza and several boxes of pringles.
According to ASC Nano, which we get for the “Where is the green Nanowire” competition, Dr David Mitlin of Clarkson University, New York said that people were always asking him “why hemp” and his answer is “why not”.
He said he could dash off graphene-like materials for a thousandth of the price and we’re doing it with waste.
Now the hemp that he is growing is legal and is not the sort of stuff that gets you stoned. He said that there was absolutely no overlap in his recreational activities.
In countries including China, Canada and the UK, hemp can be grown industrially for clothing and building materials.
The only problem is that the leftover bast fibre – the inner bark – typically ends up as landfill.
Dr Mitlin’s team looked at the fibres and recycled them into supercapacitors that rely on sharp bursts of power. In electric cars, for example, supercapacitors are used for regenerative braking.
Graphene might be great for commercial supercapacitors, it is prohibitively expensive to produce and hemp based versions might be a lot more useful.
Mitlin’s team experimented with all flavours of biowaste – from peat moss to eggs. Most recently, they turned banana peel into batteries.
He said that with banana peels, you can turn them into a dense block of carbon – we call it pseudo-graphite – and that’s great for sodium ion batteries,” he explained.
“But if you look at hemp fibre its structure is the opposite – it makes sheets with high surface area – and that’s very conducive for super capacitors.”
Mitlin’s peer-reviewed journal paper ranks the device “on par with or better than commercial graphene-based devices”.
Hemp cannot do all the things graphene can, but for energy storage, it works just as well. And it costs a fraction of the price -$500-1,000 a tonne.”


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THE market capitalisation of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) closed the month of February at $4,7 billion largely driven by counters in the consumptive sectors.
Report by Victoria Mtomba
Market capitalisation is a measurement of size of a business enterprise (corporation) equal to the share price times the number of shares.
The market capitalisation opened the year at $3,93 billion.
Total turnover from January 2 to February 28 this year stood at $82,7 million.
At the close of February Delta Beverages was valued at $1,3 billion.
Official figures show that counters in the consumptive sector Econet, British American Tobacco, SeedCo, Innscor Limited, Hippo Valley, OK Zimbabwe, Old Mutual, Dairibord and National Foods dominated the top 10 market capitalisation.
A Harare-based analyst said the fact that the counters were top on the ZSE was an indication of the low disposable income by the majority of people.
“These counters sell goods that people consume everyday while counters that sell other goods such as capital goods don’t have big market capitalisation,” he said.
He said people were only able to spend few dollars to buy everyday goods mainly food.
The industrial index contributed the bulk of the market capitalisation weighing in with $4,65 billion, while the mining index contributed the remainder.
The mining index has four companies that include Bindura, Falgold, Hwange and RioZim.
The country’s mining index has very few companies despite that there are many mining firms listed elsewhere.
Counters that are among the least capitalised include Zeco Holdings, Pioneer Holdings, Phoenix, Chemco Holdings, Cairns, Gulliver, Steelnet, Willdale Holdings, Interfin Holdings and Apex Holdings.
The industrial index closed last week at 184,76 points with counters such as Old Mutual, Cafca, Delta, Econet, Dairibord and Zimplow recording gains.
The government plans to demutualise the ZSE in order to expose it to market forces in line with global trends.
The bourse has in recent times suffered a major blow as a number of counters have delisted, including most recently Cairns and TN Bank.


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USA: Global Apparel SAP Consulting Firm Launched
MAS Holdings, Labyrinth Solutions Inc (LSI) and Austweb have launched a new strategic venture called Attune, which will for the first time provide a global SAP consultancy service the focuses entirely on the apparel and footwear industry.
The three companies have been working with SAP from the inception of its Apparel and Footwear Solution (AFS) in the late 90s - and say the fact that they have extensive and practical experience of the apparel and footwear industry combined with intimate knowledge of SAP's solutions gives them a unique edge.
The new business aims to offer SAP solutions to all sectors of the global apparel and footwear industry and its supply chain, with offices in the US, UK, Germany, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.
Core services will include SAP functional consulting, SAP technical consulting, offshore development services and pre-configured SAP solutions.
MAS Holdings is a leading apparel manufacturer based in Sri Lanka, with 28 manufacturing facilities in 10 countries.
MAS's wholly owned subsidiary, Rapier Consulting, which was formed in 2002, will be integrated into Attune. Rapier's key customers include the MAS Group (Sri Lanka), Crystal Group (Hong Kong), Pentland Brands (UK), and Reebok (USA).
USA-based LSI is a consulting firm in SAP implementations in the areas of apparel and footwear and public sector. The company's fully owned German subsidiary, Labyrinth Solutions GmbH, will join the partnership with MAS. Its key customers are Adidas, Reebok, Triumph and SAP.
Austweb is a company owned by Volker Weber who has over 13 years experience with SAP in Germany and Australia, the last seven of which have been spent in the apparel, footwear, sports and fashion industry with SAP AFS.
Specialising in logistics, demand and supply chain processes, Mr Weber has knowledge of end-to-end fashion processes from manufacturing to branding, wholesale and retail.
Help test our new apparel sourcing tool.
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Get your favourite Mobile, electronics & more at Up To 85% Off from 16th – 18th Feb. –Shop now
Flipkart launched 2GUD, its new e-commerce platform for refurbished goods. The platform had been announced late last month after CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy announced the shutdown of eBay India. Called 2GUD, the platform will mark Flipkart’s maiden foray into the refurbished goods market, which is predicted to be a $20 billion market within the next five to six years.
Only stock refurbished smartphones, laptops, tablets, and electronic accessories will be initially accessible on Flipkart’s 2GUD platform. In the near future, the platform will also include other categories such as home appliances. Visit website


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This morning I wrote about the new Tesla Model 3 missing out on the coveted Consumer Reports recommended rating. Now the automaker says they have a fix for the issue. Will it be recommended this time?
After being reported earlier today that the Tesla Model 3 will not be recommended by Consumer Reports (my report here), Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to defend his company. Musk and Telsa claim a firmware update can fix the primary issue that Consumer Reports found.
Consumer Reports found some heavy discrepancies in braking distance in the emergency stop portion of the Model 3’s review. They found an average stopping distance from 60mph to be 152 feet. This is 21 feet more than the average vehicle in the segment and 21 feet translates to a ton of space in an emergency situation.
Musk goes on the defense.
In a series of tweets shortly after the first reports hit, Elon Musk elaborated on the idea of a firmware update to fix the braking issues. This actually is what really blows my mind about Tesla as a whole company. They can do over the air updates to things that you would not expect to be able to do a programming update to. I do not know any other company that can update brakes, some will update shift points over the air but not necessarily braking distance.
Musk says in one tweet that apparently the ABS calibration algorithm can be changed and updated for a more aggressive stopping distance. In a separate tweet, he noted Consumer Reports has an early production model of the car. Newer models have similar upgrades already from the factory that fix the ride quality and windscreen noise. Both are small gripes noted by Consumer Reports.
Will it end up getting the recommendation?
I believe the current production car that will be tested will meet the Consumer Reports standards easily. Tesla is a company I love to hate, but I think in current form and based on the quality of the Model S, it is hard to go wrong in the end with a Tesla. Now they just need to turn a profit.


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Visa partners with BFB to develop fintech ecosystem.
MANAMA: Visa has entered into a partnership with Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB) to further support the development of the fintech ecosystem in Bahrain.
The partnership will focus on the development of joint innovation and educational initiatives alongside a payments focused event to discuss latest trends in payments, e-commerce, security and risk.
BFB chief executive Khalid Saad said, "As Bahrain and the region's fintech ecosystem continues to develop coupled with Bahrain FinTech Bay's deepening connections to global centres of fintech innovation, the partnership with Visa will be instrumental in furthering this development."
Visa's country manager for Bahrain Dylan Kaloo said the payments technology leader was looking forward to "working with start-ups and innovators to foster and potentially bring new payment experiences to life in a secure and scalable manner".
[c] Copyright 2019 www.gdnonline.com
Copyright 2019 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. ( Syndigate.info ).


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Disney+ Day kicks off global celebration with week-long promotions! Disney+ Day celebrates the launch of the premium streaming service two years ago.
The Walt Disney Company announced new company-wide promotions and additional content premiering this Friday to kick off the celebration of the Disney+ global community. To thank fans for their support over the past two years, Disney+ subscribers can enjoy special benefits including additional time at Disney Parks around the world, shopDisney deals, access to fan-favourite content, exclusive first-looks on platform, and more. For those looking to join the Disney+ community, starting today through Monday, November 15, new and eligible returning subscribers can get their first month of Disney+ for $1.99.
“Since launching two years ago, Disney+ has captured the hearts and imaginations of audiences around the world with its best-in-class originals and robust library of beloved films and series,” said Kareem Daniel, Chairman, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution. “With Disney+ Day, we are creating an unparalleled experience for our subscribers as only The Walt Disney Company can.”
Disney+ subscribers will also be treated to exclusive on-platform specials from Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, and other surprise sneak peeks.
Additional new and beloved fan-favourite content will make its Disney+ streaming debuts on November 12, including:
- A new documentary titled “The Making of Happier than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles” about Billie Eilish’s recent Disney+ cinematic concert experience.
- “Marvel Assembled: The Making of Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings,” a docu-special chronicling the creation of the recent Marvel Studios’ theatrical release.
- “Marvel Studios Legends: Hawkeye,” an episode that revisits all of Hawkeye’s epic moments from the MCU in preparation for the upcoming Disney+ Original Series.
- The live-action/animated musical fantasy romantic comedy film “Enchanted” from 2007, starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey.
- All episodes of “Fancy Nancy” season 3, which will launch day and date with its premiere on Disney Junior in the US.
These titles join previously announced Disney+ Day premieres including:
- Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings
- Jungle Cruise
- Home Sweet Home Alone
- Olaf Presents
- Ciao Alberto
- The Simpsons in Plusaversary
- The World According to Jeff Goldblum
- Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett
- Marvel Studios’ 2021 Disney+ Day Special


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One of the first places people cut back economically is on what they consider frills - like going out for an expensive dinner.
But judging by three local fine dining establishments, one wouldn't know we in the midst of a recession. Each one, for different reasons, is not feeling the effects of the current economic downturn.
Mea's, in the Markle Building in downtown Hazleton, just celebrated their first anniversary, so they opened around the same time as the recession began.
"We built our budget what we thought it was going to look like in the first year," said Jim Kulish, who acts as the business manager, while his brother Ed is the chef. "Our estimates were more severe than we thought they would be."
Jim Kulish said the biggest losses Mea's, which is open for lunch and dinner but closed on Sundays for private parties, had were from business clients.
"As the economy went down, expense accounts were slashed, and our business clientele could not afford to dine out," Jim Kulish said. "It didn't happen overnight. It was little bit by little bit, and then the weather. It was the perfect storm. We didn't get much snow, but a lot of cold, combined with the economy."
Jim Kulish said he is seeing signs of a recovery.
"In the past few weeks, we're noticing things are starting to pick up a bit," Jim Kulish said. "We are going forward optimistically. As the economy continues to improve, so will business."
Jim Kulish elaborated on the signs he's seen.
"Weekends for us have been terrific," he said. "We haven't been as good during the week. But businesses are starting to loosen up expense accounts, and businesspersons are staring to spend again."
Meanwhile, John Shema, general manager of Sand Springs in Drums, anticipated consumers' response to the economy, and changed around the menu in Sand Springs restaurant.
"Last year, we saw a big dropoff toward the end of the year," Shema said. "I thought we would start fresh, with a new menu. We lowered prices. Instead of a $25 steak, we offered a nice pork shop for $18. We did the same thing with our burgers, fish, chicken and veal. We took the lobster and fillets off the menu, but you can still get a nice dinner."
Shema said his idea was to make the restaurant - which is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, but only until 5 p.m. on Sundays - affordable for families, and it worked.
"We kept the New York strip steak on the menu, but people have been going for the chicken marsala, because it is more cost efficient," Shema said. "Since the price and menu change, the number of people coming through our door has doubled. People can afford to bring their families."
Top of the 80s saw a slight dropoff last month, but things are picking up, says general manager Jackie Veet.
"Business has been very good," she said. "We were very busy last night. We had a slight decrease at the end of May, but it started picking right back up. This is our busy season, with showers, banquets and weddings."


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Despite the increase in costs, tourists are spending more in the cities they’ve visited the past year.
According to the Top 100 City Destinations Index 2022, an annual report by Euromonitor International, travel and tourism has finally begun to recover since the start of the pandemic.
Plenty of people are excited to travel again, especially for leisure and to see family and friends they were unable to visit due to lockdowns and quarantine.
Because of this, there’s been a trend of higher tourist spending with a growth of 112% compared to 2021. This rate is expected to rise this year, with tourist spending projected to reach $1.4 trillion.
The Top 10 City Destinations were evaluated by six categories: economic and business performance, tourism policy and attractiveness, health and safety, tourism performance, tourism infrastructure, and sustainability.
In 2022, Paris took the lead based on the city’s performance regarding tourism. The City of Lights was closely followed by Dubai in the second position, while New York was the only other non-European city in the Top 10 (ranking 10th overall).
Other cities on the list include regular tourist destinations such as Amsterdam, Madrid, Rome, London, Munich, Berlin, and Barcelona.
While several Asian cities such as Singapore and Tokyo also increased in rank, the region itself had a mixed performance because of the travel restrictions in some countries.
U.S. cities such as New York and Orlando actually surpassed Dubai in terms of the growth of international arrivals.
With the loosening of travel restrictions, mandatory quarantine and PCR tests are no longer required by many countries. This is leading to an increase in inbound arrivals in cities worldwide.
Travel and tourism seem to be on a steady path to recovery which is expected to continue in 2023, with a growth of 40% compared to last year. As this trend continues, there’s been a focus on sustainability, prompting more mindful and responsible traveling.
Banner photo via Pexels by Humphrey Muleba.


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Michigan natives take over NAPA store in Cherryville
The Cherryville NAPA auto parts store has a slightly different name along with new owners.
Mike and Barbara Jones, who have owned the NAPA Cherryville Auto and Trucks Parts for four years, have sold their business on Shelby Highway to Melanie Sikes and Tom Mullins.
The new company will be known as NAPA Cherryville Auto and Truck Supply.
Sikes and Mullins moved to Cherryville from Michigan in part to escape not only the harsh winters, but also the urban landscape. A trip to Cherryville to check out the NAPA store sold them not only on the business, but also the location.
"We pretty much fell in love with the area and the store itself, so we pretty much got the ball rolling and here we are," said Mullins.
"When you have grown up in the suburbs of Detroit your whole life you really look for someplace that you can belong and make a difference," Mullins added.
Mike and Barbara Jones were high school sweethearts who have lived in Cherryville their whole lives. Mike Jones had also operated a trucking business for 34 years.
Jones decided to sell the parts business after he suffered a heart attack in August 2020 and then lost sight in his left eye due to another health issue.
Mullins and Sikes have already worked to tidy up the store and organize it better, two things Jones said his health issues prevented him from doing in recent months.
"We're hoping that they'll blend right in and be a big part of Cherryville one day," said Mike Jones.
Mullins also has interest in racing vehicles, and hopes to build a relationship in the local racing scene.
Sikes has worked in the automotive industry for 34 years at the corporate level. She considers this move the start of a new chapter in her career, and said she plans to get involved in her new community.
"I've always known NAPA. I've known people involved with NAPA, and Tom' s cousin has had a NAPA store for over 30 years," said Sikes.
While Mike Jones admits he'll miss working in the business, he added he believes the shop has been turned over to good people.
"They can take this and for the next 25-30 years and build a good life for them, and I know that's what they're wanting to do. I think the community welcomes them with open arms," said Jones.
You can reach Sarah Marino at 704-869-1850 or firstname.lastname@example.org.


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BEIJING: Starwood Hotels, the accommodation and resorts group, plans to double the size of its operations in China, as it seeks to leverage a "once in a lifetime opportunity".
Having established a presence in the world's most populous nation 25 years ago, the company now boasts 75 hotels in the country, and anticipates adding 100 more sites to its portfolio going forward.
As part of this process, Starwood will boost its headcount from 29,800 staff today to 90,000 by 2015, mirroring its confidence in the promise held by China at a time of economic uncertainty elsewhere.
"Reading headlines, it would be easy to feel skittish about the near term," Frits van Paasschen, the chief executive of Starwood, told Dow Jones Newswires.
"At the same time though, from our vantage point, drivers of our business paint a more robust picture."
More specifically, van Paasschen suggested several shifts are reshaping the Chinese market when compared with 25 years ago.
"Our first hotels in China ... were outposts exclusively for Western travelers. But today, most of our guests are Chinese citizens," he said.
"As their nation flourishes, the Chinese people are increasingly on the move - at home and abroad."
The possibilities are also rapidly extending outside metropolitan centres such as Beijing and Shanghai into smaller outposts throughout China.
"Growth is spreading beyond the major markets to the so-called second- and third-tier cities," said van Paasschen.
Even once Starwood, which owns brands like Le Meridien, Sheraton and St Regis, has opened an extra 100 hotels in China, the scale of its local network will still only be around a third of that in the US.
More than 80% of the firm's new hotels will be in cities housing over 1m residents, although van Paasschen warned a nuanced model was essential to ensure supply did not out outstrip demand.
"That said, our occupancies continue to grow, and we have been careful in selecting the right partners and the right locations as another 300m people in China move from the countryside into cities over the next ten-to-15 years," he said.
"This is unprecedented growth in the ranks of a new class of affluent global business and leisure travelers."
More specifically, travel rates in China are climbing by between 15% and 20% per year, with the amount of internal and external trips now almost matching totals posted by America.
"There is only a fraction of the high-end hotels needed to serve this growth," van Paasschen said.
Starwood recently relocated its headquarters from New York to China for a month, reflecting a desire to gain greater insights into what is by "far and away" its fastest-growing market.
It is also taking an increasingly internationalised approach, as 100m people from the Asian state are expected to travel overseas in four years time, doubling the number of Americans doing the same.
"It's no surprise that we in the travel industry see this as a huge, once in a lifetime opportunity," said van Paasschen.
Indeed, certain Starwood hotels in Buenos Aires, London, New York and San Francisco already offer a variety of tailored services, including translation services and foods like congee and noodles.
Data sourced from Wall Street Journal/Forbes; additional content by Warc staff


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So many African, particularly Ghanaian fashion and self-care brands, are churning out world-class products. You should give some a try. Don’t worry if you don’t know where to look. EMY’s got you covered.
The nominees of the competitive categories for the 6th EMY Africa Awards 2021 were announced at the official launch event on 31st July. Vote for your favourites!
For most of us, planning for our retirement is important but not urgent. However, it’s much closer than we think, and we need to start taking it seriously.
Networking is the key to opening doors and helping you become the best version of yourself. Unfortunately, it has a bad rap.
A business entity can truly transition only if, it has institutionalised sustainability into its operations that is, making sustainability a culture and not just a mere act of Corporate Social Responsibility.
For Juliet Bawuah, putting in the work and making sacrifices to improve one day at a time is all that matters. For this game changer, playing the Woman Card is a non-starter.
Perhaps the biggest lesson Appiah learnt in his formative years, was that to succeed, he needed more than just talent.
In celebration of Mother’s Day, EMY Africa Awards presents the “Treat Her Right” campaign in partnership with UNFPA and Lucozade. The “Treat Her Right” project is a gender intervention initiative by EMY Africa Awards...


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FX.co ★ Analytics a
US premarket on August 4: US stock market grows. Alibaba posts robust revenues
US stock index futures continued to rise in morning trading on Thursday. Yesterday, the assets managed to reach above monthly highs. Investors ignored warnings about the rise in the bond...
American Premarket for July 21: American Airlines' report surpassed forecasts. The stock market continues to grow
By analogy with yesterday, futures on US stock indices fell on Thursday after another rise following the results of the regular session on Wednesday. Traders continue to get acquainted with...
Technical analysis of Apple for June 24, 2022
Apple continues to follow Livermore's Accumulation Cylinder to the letter and we should see Apple continue lower towards support at 113.08 before we should see a temporary consolidation in point...
US premarket on June 17, 2022
The markets are very likely to finish this week in negative territory, pushed down by the interest rate increase, which will continue in July. The rate hike...
Technical analysis of Apple for June 14, 2022
Apple continues to follow Livermore's Accumulation Cylinder pattern. We are looking for a drop to support near 113 to complete point 13. After a temporary consolidation, more downside pressure should...
US premarket on June 13: US stocks see another shock wave
The US stock indices are hitting yearly lows and investors are seriously concerned about it. Recently, they have speculated about market bottoms and returning demand for risky assets. US stock...
US premarket on June 6, 2022
US stock index futures surged on Monday, as traders took advantage of last week's downward correction. Dow Jones futures gained 261 points or 0.8%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq...
US premarket on May 24: pressure on US stock markets returns
Futures on US stock indices have dropped significantly compared to yesterday's closing prices. Apparently, there are not so many investors to buy cheaper assets, even at the current lows...
Amazon stock returns to pre-pandemic levels
Amazon shares are down markedly from their all-time highs, falling 41%. The latest quarterly report showed a net loss of $3.8 billion. Amazon (AMZN) was considered an 'untouchable' or 'easy'...
Technical analysis Apple for May 19, 2022
Apple continues to push lower as expected and should continue lower towards the 38.2% corrective target at 113.08. As we saw it with Target (see our article just before) there...


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By: Ismael Kasooha
President Yoweri Museveni has asked countries in the East African Community and Africa in general to integrate to create bigger markets to tap into the world market for the development of the continent.
The president’s message was delivered by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja at the opening of the Jua Kali Exhibition, which is organized by the East African Community (EAC) to promote intra-trade in the region.
“Africa, with all its natural resources contributes only 3% to global trade. The reason for this paradoxical situation is quite obvious. It is simply because colonialists split us into small pockets of economies called ‘sovereign countries’ by creating artificial borders. Through these borders, we have continued to compete with each other over markets, creating tariffs and non-tariff barriers and all sorts of other obstacles between ourselves. We have not fully exploited and harnessed our competitive advantages by working together in collaboration,” noted Museveni.
The President said that the EAC is now a seven Partner States strong regional bloc with a population of over 280million, GDP of US$ 305bn and land mass of 4.8million square km.
He said that the micro, small and medium enterprises contribute 60% of this GDP within the region. He added that at the 4th Summit of the EAC when the Treaty establishing the East African Community was signed, they took a decision to consistently hold these annual Trade Fairs on rotational basis in Partner States of the East Africa.
The EAC is the most robust regional bloc in Africa, with a rapid growing membership. In 1999, the EAC comprised of only three (3) Countries i.e. Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania with a population of about 90 million.
“Today, we are seven (7) Partner States with the addition of Burundi and Rwanda in 2007 and most recently South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo bringing our total population to over 300 million. We have been in the Customs Union since 2005 and achieved the Common Market in 2010 and are now poised for a Monetary Union in 2024 and ultimately a Political Confederation,” the message read in part.
He said that the event was another manifestation of the out looking stance we have always taken in the East African Community.
“As I have always guided, our small disintegrated countries can do so little in terms of trade and investment. We must, therefore, as a matter of survival integrate to create bigger markets,” said Museveni.
Riziki Pembe Juma, the Minister of Community, Gender, Elder and Children from the United Republic of Tanzania says that the joint trade fair is crucial in promoting innovation in the region.
The Minister for Science, Technology and Innovations Dr. Monica Musenero said that Jua kali Innovators were key in the Mobility Ecosystem to help them appreciate the journey from idea to a profitable enterprise.
The establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area is also a huge opportunity to boost Pan-African trade, as well as strengthen regional value chains.
The AfCFTA will increase the market size to 1.42bn representing 16.72 per cent of the world population.
The Theme of the Trade Fair: “Buy East African, Build East Africa for Resilience and Economic Development” is very appropriate to cause progress.
The trade Fair will run until the 18th of December 2022 at Kololo Independence grounds.
Prime Minister Nabbanja appealed to Ugandans to go to the trade Fair and support innovation by buying the products.
The business communities of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) from the seven EAC partner states have all descended at the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds with various goods and services made from the region.
The goods include textiles, foodstuffs, ornaments, handiwork, cosmetics, African wear, plants, seedlings, machinery, shoes, bags, medicines, furniture, and art and craft materials.


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In 2012, the Nissan LEAF was in a distant second place.
According to the latest report from Eagle AID, the site that makes it a point to emphasize how poorly electric cars are selling, the electric car market in Europe has just "faint pulse".
"This year was widely expected to be the year when electric cars were expected to gain some serious traction."
"Thats thanks to last years market debut of Renaults ZOE, followed later that year by other comparative sector heavyweights like BMWs i3, Volkswagens all-electric eUp and last but not least the European market debut of Teslas much-praised Model S."
"One quarter into the current year, apart from the sole bright spot in the region, Norway, precious little has changed. Judged by all the various industry yardsticks, the underlying message spelled out loud and clear is that Europes electric car market still operates at a very low charge."
AIDs counter for Western Europe sees 0.4 percent sales penetration for EVs in the first quarter, which is about twice the 2013 result of 0.25 percent.
Anyways, 0.4% mean that up to 13,000 EVs have been sold in Europe in the first three months 2014, or over 4,000 per month on average.
But wait, there's some good news from Eagle AID.
"AIDs own exclusively compiled figures show a more than doubling in March sales to a highest-ever 6,705 units, easily beating the regions previous best monthly sales tally."
But traditionally, the report ends with pessimistic words on sales growth:
"Dig below the headline figure, and it is all too clear why Europes 2014 electric car sales season got off to a flying start."
"This is due in large measure to this years meteoric climb in Norways electric car sales."
"This comparatively tiny Nordic market, which stands out on its own as an electric car owners paradise, soaked up almost half the electric cars sold in Western Europe in March."
So, Norway's growth outshines the growth in other such as Germany, UK and the Netherlands. Growth is growth though, right?
Source: Eagle AID


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Toyota’s legendary Prius is back with a new look that helps usher the Hybrid into a sleek new age of EV design.
While the new Prius Prime, unveiled this week in Japan, still retains the hybrid’s iconic ‘wedge shape’, it also embraces curves, sporting rounded ‘modern lines’ and eliminating some of the Prius’ distinctive hard angles -Past .
The visual makeover not only gives the hybrid a new, more contemporary look, but also makes the 2023 Prius more aerodynamic, helps improve fuel efficiency and offers a significant upgrade for buyers in the petrol/electric hybrid market.
what’s new — Though the 2023 Prius Prime is still a hybrid, Toyota hopes drivers will be able to complete most of their daily commute using the car’s battery rather than the internal combustion engine.
To help the 2023 Prius stay competitive with dedicated electric vehicles, the automaker says its battery mode has 50 percent more range than the previous generation. That would equate to about 37 miles on a charge, as opposed to the previous Prius Prime’s 25 miles. At the heart of this range is a 13.6 kWh lithium-ion battery that Toyota installed under the car’s rear seat for a lower center of gravity.
That range is obviously nowhere near what a standard fully electric vehicle would achieve on a single charge (the median is around 230 miles on a full charge), but is likely enough for most to skate through errands and possibly even to the work to commute one way.
Inside, the driver’s console is built around a seven-inch TFT LCD screen. No great design flourishes here (especially compared to a world where the Mercedes-Benz hyperscreen exists). Toyota says it’s tried to design its car screens to be less profile and less distracting; a welcome venture for those who find large car displays dangerously distracting.
The future? — It’s nice to see that one of the biggest transitions to fully electric vehicles is still thriving, though perhaps a little disappointing from an eco-friendly perspective. It’s hard to get excited about internal combustion engines when a bevy of versatile electric cars already exist or are about to hit the market.
It doesn’t help that Toyota has tried and (somewhat disastrously) failed to bring its own fully-fledged electric vehicles to market.
However, given the still inadequate state of EV charging infrastructure, there is still a place for hybrid vehicles.; Toyota probably knows, and that might be why it’s still plowing forward with the Prius as a hybrid.
With federal investment in charging infrastructure in the pipeline, subsidies for electric vehicles, and a general upheaval in legacy automakers that used to specialize in gas-powered cars, it wouldn’t be surprising if the 2023 Prius Prime was Toyota’s best and also its last.
Price and release date — There are no official prices for the 2023 Prius Prime, but predictions hover around the $27,000 mark. The hybrid will be released “later this year”.


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Corporate catering businesses are on the rise in the Czech Republic, with more and more fast food chains and food retailers delivering their products directly to companies, the news site e15 reports. In-office catering is mainly intended for business meetings or trainings but it is also used as one of the benefits for employees. According to e15, Czech companies and institutions spend billions of crowns annually on corporate catering.
On the eve of World Water Day, which falls on March 22, the Czech branch of the environmental organisation Greenpeace published an alarming report on the presence of micro-plastics in Czech rivers. According to the study, plastic fibres were found in all ten samples taken from the Vltava and Elbe Rivers. I asked Jan Freidinger of Greenpeace for more details:
Campaigners are pushing the introduction of deposits on PET plastic bottles
in the Czech Republic. The group Zálohujme (Let’s Use Deposits) say
Czechs are presently recycling less than 60 percent of PET bottles. They
want to increase that figure to 90 percent.
Under the proposal, consumers would pay a deposit of CZK 3 on every plastic bottle. Zálohujme is comprised of representatives of the Institute of Circular Economy, the University of Chemistry and Technology’s Faculty of Environmental Technology and bottled water producers Karlovarských minerální vod.
Another five companies and one institution have joined the campaign of the Czech Ministry of Environment called #dostbyloplastu or “Enough of Plastics,” which aims to prevent and reduce the use of single-use plastic products. The news was announced by environment Minister Richard Brabec at a press conference on Monday.
The environmental organisation Greenpeace has taken samples from the Vltava
River in Prague to measure the level of micro-plastic pollution in the
water. The samples will be analysed in a Greenpeace lab in Britain’s
The testing is part of a campaign called ‘Plast je Past’ or ‘Plastics are a Trap’, which attempts to eradicate excess plastic packaging. It also appeals to outdoor clothing producers to tackle the problem of micro-fibres, which are released into the water during washing.
A major Czech drinks maker is considering introducing deposits for plastic
bottles, Czech Television reported. Karlovarské minerální vody, which
sells the mineral water Mattoni, produced a study with the Institute of
Circular Economics suggesting that a full third of plastic bottles in the
Czech Republic are not recycled.
The drinks manufacturer said in January that it was considering bringing in deposits for PET bottles. It has commissioned an economic analysis of such a move that should be published in the autumn.
However, the Ministry of the Environment is on the fence about the idea. A spokesperson said it welcomed moves to limit the dumping of wasted but was also concerned that bottle deposits could impact the current system.
The Czech environmental group Arnika is ringing alarm bells. According to the results of a recent study it conducted, some children’s toys and grooming accessories, such as hair brushes, sold in the EU contain toxic substances. Arnika’s Karolína Brabcová says this is an unfortunate side product of the drive to promote plastics recycling.


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From Monday 3rd June, anyone accused of housebreaking will be targeted by the prosecution service in a three month trial in Edinburgh.
Shoplifting, burglaries and criminal damage to shops have all increased over the past twelve months, according to the latest Retail Crime Survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
As British Summertime draws to an end, recent research has revealed that when the clocks go back the crime rate goes up.
Contact us now on 01415529193 for a free consultation.


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Report by ITV News Meridian's Malcolm Shaw
Cat owners are being urged to check which dry food they are giving their pets after certain brands were linked to a rare and life-threatening illness, Pancytopenia.
More than 500 cases have been reported, but it is feared the true figure is much higher.
Pancytopenia is a rare and deadly blood condition where the number of blood cells (red, white and platelets) rapidly decrease, causing serious illness.
Symptoms of Pancytopenia include:
Loss of appetite
Bleeding from mouth
Blood in stool, urine or vomit
Ben Mankertz, General Manager for Fold Hill Foods Ltd said: "We are alarmed and deeply saddened to learn of reports from the Food & Veterinary Authorities of some health issues in cats.
"As cat owners ourselves, we fully understand how upsetting and stressful this situation is for families and although diet has not been confirmed as the cause, we would prefer to act now to ensure the absolute safety of cats.
"As one of the leading pet food manufacturers in the UK, ensuring your pet’s safety is our priority and therefore we have chosen to recall the ranges of cat food that we manufacture for the brands who have been identified. We feel this is the safest course of action until an exact cause of the issue has been found."
One cat owner whose pet, called Sterling, suddenly fell ill after developing Pancytopenia at his home in Burgess Hill in Sussex, said: "They did everything they could to save him, he had a blood transfusion, they even tried some human drugs to try and restore his blood count but unfortunately the damage was too great and he was in a lot of pain. At that point, we had to make the decision to put him to sleep."
Experts are still trying to pinpoint exactly what has caused the deaths.
Many vets are concerned that some owners may still be feeding their cats the food in question, as they have a long shelf life.
Veterinary surgeon, Dr Julia Mewes, said: "I'd like everyone to have a think about their less tech-savvy friends and neighbours who may not yet have had word. Spread the word. I just cannot bear the thought of any more animals suffering from a completely now preventable condition."
A spokesperson for the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) said: "The Royal Veterinary College continues its investigation into the sudden increase in feline pancytopenia in cats in the UK.
"Currently, we are sadly aware of over 500 affected cats. Investigations into an underlying cause do not suggest a link with common feline infectious diseases, common toxins (e.g. heavy metals, oestrogen) or deficiencies/excesses in vitamins or minerals.
"Results of analyses by the RVC of cat food involved in the product recall published by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have been shared with the FSA."


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The auditions are free and will be held on April 18th and 19th from 3pm-7pm. Studio 23 will be offering 10 hours of studio time, 10 edited professional photos and Capz Retail will give out a $50 Gift Certificate to the winner of this event.
Studio 23 owner Jonathan Lankford joined the Morning Show to talk more about this opportunity.
Copyright 2017 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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Save the date: October 27-29, 2019
Entering its 20th year, the Travel Alberta Industry Conference (TAIC) is an educational and networking event attended by more than 600 tourism industry stakeholders from across Alberta.
Early bird gets the room! Special rates available now at Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel until September 25, 2019.
TAIC 2019 registration opening mid June, stay tuned here for more details!
Keynote Speakers Announced!
We are excited to announce our lineup of dynamic keynote speakers for the 2019 TAIC.
Jeremy Gutche, "one of the most sought-after keynote speakers on the planet" (The Sun newspaper) and CEO of Trend Hunter - the world's #1 futurist firm, driven by 200,000 idea hunters, AI and 3 billion views from 150,000,000 visitors. To add to his accomplishments, he even helped NASA prototype the Journey to Mars. You don't want to miss out on his presentation.
Andrew Davis is a bestselling author and internationally acclaimed keynote speaker. His credits include building and selling a thriving digital marketing agency, producer of NBC's Today Show and even worked for The Muppets! Recognized as one of the industry's "jaw-dropping marketing speakers", Andrew is a mainstay on global marketing influencer lists.
Liane Davey is an expert on building effective teams, improving communication and increasing leadership effectiveness. Having worked with Fortune 500 companies from across the globe, she helps teams from the frontlines to the boardroom and developed a unique perspective on the challenges that teams face and how to solve them.