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Nicogel are not allowed to be imported
News from News & Information Monitoring Initiative of the GLOBALink which was presented on May 13, 2009 for Dr. Hatai was a very interesting news. It disclosed that the newspaper Business Time headlined that Dermtuk made a goal of sale of an alternative cigarette in Asia.
The news informed that the company Dermtek Sdn Bhd got the right to produce Nicogel for Asia by setting the production base in Malaysia. Director of Dermtek Mr. Alastair Campbell told the newspaper Business Time in Kuala Lumpur recently that the company had a plan to send this product to be sold in 11 countries before the end of the year 2009. The target countries were Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, India, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, and Vietnam. We will establish importers in these countries Gel will be brought from England to be put in boxes at the company’s factory located at Shah Alarm
Mr. Campbell said he had a high hope for the market in Malaysia. Another company’s officer Mr. Cariff Ridzwan said that the company was already sold 200,000 packages in Malaysia. These were sold in more than 400 retailers, convenience stores, and drug stores. The company will increase these retailers to 1,000 at the end of the year.
Nicogels are used by rubbing on skin. It will be absorbed into the body within 30 seconds. Mr. Campbell said merely rubbing this gel on the skin the craving for cigarette will disappear within 1 minute. The best thing is that the effect wil last for several hour
 Goh Thean Eu. Dermtek aims to light up sales for cigarette alternative in Asia. Business Times May 13, 2009.


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Hyper-growth and enterprise-level companies like Just Eat, Crédit Mutuel, and Stanford University create, negotiate, sign, and store contracts on Concord across more than 130 countries. The news comes after a busy few months for Concord, following the.
France's biggest bank BNP Paribas and cooperative lender Credit Mutuel plan to merge their "digital wallets" WA! and Fivory into a single platform, they said on Thursday. Financial services companies and internet giants such as Google and PayPal are.
French startup Linxo just raised $24 million (€20 million) from three financial institutions — Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa and MAIF ... as well as ways to save money, get a credit line and buy insurance products. The company has been.
It's not even a payment service provider (PSP). In fact, what they have done is partner with an outside bank called Credit Mutuel Arkéa and a registered PSP called Aqoba, both of which operate out of France. Aqoba will operate a third-party payment.
Traditional banks see the independent ones such as Mint.com in the U.S. as a potential threat to their business, and some have already responded, such as SocGen's Boursorama and Credit Mutuel ... financial industry via the Internet. "It is crucial to.
PARIS, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Societe Generale expects to see consolidation among internet-based banks with the revenue ... SocGen's Boursorama and Credit Mutuel's Fortuneo. "Boursorama is the cheapest bank in France...at least for the services it provides.
PRÊT D’UNION’s co-founders, employees and business angels welcome SCHIBSTED as a new shareholder joining prestigious historical investors such as CREDIT MUTUEL ARKEA, Xavier Niel and Jérémie Berrebi’s KIMA VENTURES, WEBER INVESTISSEMENTS and AG2R.
BNP already directly and indirectly owns some 49 percent of Cofinoga, a Galeries Lafayette arm that is the third-biggest consumer credit concern in France. "You can understand the strategic rationale, especially after Crédit Mutuel's hostile move on.
Reid-Kyl Draft iPoker and iGaming Prohibition Bill Leaked -- "Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2012" A copy of the Kyl-Reid draft bill on Internet poker enabling regulation leaked out late yesterday.

domain: news


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Car sales have been crawling up steadily on a positive note marking a turnaround of the Indian market. December is no exception. It posted strong growth for the fifth straight month. The market grew 18% and is looking at a stupendous new year with half-a-dozen new sedans and SUVs hitting the road to keep customers excited. So the going in 2021 should bring back some cheers to the market as the pandemic goes into its anniversary and keeps the industry on its tenterhooks.
NEW DELHI: Sales are surging. Indian passenger vehicle market registered a dependable double-digit growth at 18% in the last month of the most painful year for the automotive industry. The rise in demand for safer and personal mobility, new launches, and a low base due to BS-IV destocking last year helped passenger vehicles to post positive growth for the fifth straight month in December.
According to industry veterans, it is still very early to conclude that the passenger vehicle segment has recovered from last December as most carmakers started destocking inventory at dealerships, the lower base of the previous year doesn’t make it really comparable.
As per brokerage firm, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, the low stock at the passenger vehicle and tractor dealerships gave enough headroom for higher dispatches from the factory after strong festive sales with high retails.
Covering nearly half the Indian passenger vehicle market, Maruti Suzuki registered a healthy growth of 15% in December 2020. India’s largest carmaker dispatched 1,40,754 units last month against 1,22,784 units in December 2019. It continued to post strong demand for smaller cars and hatchback with several first-time buyers flocking at its outlets.
Hyundai Motor India Limited registered 25% growth in domestic sales mainly on the high demand for popular models like Creta, i20 and Venue. Its December sales were at a historic high in the last month of the year.
The South Korean carmaker supplied 47,400 units to its dealers in December 2020 compared to 37,953 units in the same month last year.
Pushing the needle, Tata Motors passenger vehicle business unit is on a bull run posting 84% growth at 23,546 units in December 2020. According to a company spokesperson, PV business posted its highest-ever sales in the last 33 quarters.
Domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales stood at 23,545 units last month against 12,785 units in December 2019, up 84%.
Shailesh Chandra, president, passenger vehicles business unit, Tata Motors, said, “The PV industry continues to grow robustly in Q3 FY’21, owing to pent-up demand, strong festive season and shift towards personal mobility in these challenging times.”
Moving forward, jolted by the supply crunch of semiconductors, home-grown automaker Mahindra & Mahindra could only dispatch 16,182 units in December 2020, 3% growth over last year.
“Our overall sales have been affected by the continuing supply chain challenges related to the constantly changing global environment, more specifically the supply shortage of micro-processors (semiconductors) used in electronic control units,” Veejay Nakra, chief executive officer of Mahindra’s Automotive Division said.
New entrants such as Kia and MG Motor too registered positive growth supported by the newly-launched product excitement. The market has been on a roll for the festive season with customers taking huge deliveries and generating far higher sales for the year.
Apart from Guleria, Pradeep Pandey senior vice-president (customer service), HMSI has put in his papers. In February this year Shekhar MC, formerly general manager (finished vehicles logistics), too exited the company and joined Ola Electric Mobility.
The buses will benefit from the central government subsidy offered under the remodeled FAME II scheme administered by the Ministry of Heavy Industries. “With the very low discovered prices under the Grand Challenge, a savings of approximately Rs 361 crore of national subsidy can be realised, which in turn may be utilised for additional buses,” it said.


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The days of having to ditch your old games when you get the latest video game console might be a thing of the past.
If you’ve been following along with the hardware news coming out of Xbox, you’ll know that it just released the Xbox One S, a smaller, somewhat upgraded version of the original Xbox One that launched in 2013.
The Xbox One S still plays all the same games as the original Xbox One, and it’s a slightly improved iteration rather than a completely new console with a new library of games.
Slated for release sometime next year is an even more upgraded Xbox One model, currently codenamed “Scorpio.” Unlike the Xbox One S, the Scorpio will supposedly offer a much larger jump in performance — including the ability to run high-fidelity virtual reality games — but Xbox promises that every single game on the current Xbox One will be playable on the Scorpio.
Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft’s head of Xbox games marketing, said in an interview with Engadget that this is the way Xbox will approach console releases from here on out.
“For us, we think the future is without console generations,” Greenberg said. “We think that the ability to build a library, a community, to be able to iterate with the hardware — we’re making a pretty big bet on that with Project Scorpio. We’re basically saying, ‘This isn’t a new generation; everything you have continues forward and it works.’ We think of this as a family of devices.”
“There appears to be a lot of demand and interest around Project Scorpio, and we think it’s going to be a pretty big success,” Greenberg continued. “If the games and the content deliver, which I think they will do, I think it will change the way we think about the future of console gaming.”
This approach to new consoles would bring them much more in line with the world of PCs. There, most games can be played on most PCs, but users have to tweak various graphics settings according to the performance of their individual machine.
Similarly, both the original Xbox One and the Scorpio will be able to play “The Witcher 3,” but the version running on the Scorpio will probably have quicker load times and a better overall framerate.
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As mentioned earleir this year, 50 of the 800 limited edition Megane Renaultsport Red Bull Racing RB8 are now available in South Africa and will be showcased at the Johannesburg International Motor Show.
Styling... Read More
BMW has announced the introduction of the X6 M Design Edition, a special edition model limited to only a 100 units.
The X6 M Design Edition is highlighted by a white paint job accented with optional... Read More
It's still two years until we'll be able to get our hands on the next Honda hot hatch, but if these photos and specs are anything to go by, we're in for a cracker in 2015. In the meantime, Honda has confirmed the next... Read More
The Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG is officially on sale in South Africa, having just launched to the media this week. We have all the South African engine specs, service/maintenance plans details as well as the much anticipated... Read More
Mercedes-Benz has added a new addition to their C-Class line-up which is available for any C-Class Sedan, Coupe, and Estate models. This Mercedes-Benz Edition C model features extensive modifications to the interior and... Read More
After 56 years of continuous production, the iconic Volkswagen Kombi nostalgically known to some as the Bully, Microbus or Hippie-van has reached end of production in Brazil - the only country where the vehicle was... Read More
BMW has officially unveiled its ‘Aurum Dust’ painted M4 Coupe Concept sport car, that resembles the production M4 Coupe, which is expected to debut at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. The BMW M4 Concept will be joined by... Read More


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Two of the world’s most promising emerging technologies — solar panels and drones — may be even more valuable when used together. Researchers and companies are already starting to explore the many potential uses of solar-powered drones.
On their own, these two technologies have massive potential. The commercial drone market is expected to grow to $17 billion by 2024, according to a report from Global Market Insights, Inc. The latest forecasts from Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables show global installed solar capacity rising to one terawatt, or one trillion watts, by 2023.
Both technologies are improving, and their costs are coming down. Harnessing the energy of the sun for nearly continuous power would solve one of the most significant limitations of drones — endurance. Most drones are powered by batteries and need to come back down to the ground to recharge after a few hours. It seems only natural that we would start using solar panels to power drones.
How Does It Work?
For some time, solar panels were too bulky to feasibly power drones. The advent of thin, flexible, lightweight solar panels has changed that situation. Most solar panels are up to 200 micrometers thick, but slicing the silicon wafers down to a few micrometers makes for flexible panels.
Researchers at MIT have also made advancements in using organic materials to create thin, lightweight and transparent solar panels. They’ve developed a method in which they deposit a layer of graphene one atom thick onto a solar cell. A solar company called Alta Devices grows a layer of Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) just a few microns thick and uses it as a lightweight panel. These types of solar panels can be affixed to the wings of drones without weighing them down.
As solar technology improves, it’s becoming increasingly efficient, meaning that it can convert more of the sunlight that hits a panel into electricity. More efficient solar panels attached to drones means that they could stay in the air longer. Today, most standard solar panels have 11 to 15 percent efficiency rating. Alta Devices has achieved an efficiency of 31.6 percent.
Solar-powered drones can also carry lithium-ion batteries that the solar panels charge, allowing the unmanned aerial vehicle to continue to fly at night. The lighter the weight of the panels, the more batteries can be included. The more efficient the batteries, the more charge they can send to the batteries for storage.
A company called Titan Aerospace is reportedly developing a drone that could fly for up to five years non-stop. It has 50-meter-long wings that are covered with 3,000 solar cells and lithium-ion batteries inside the wing. It would fly at an altitude of around 65,000 feet, giving it unobstructed access to sunlight.
Solar drones could conduct many of the same tasks that other types of drones do, including inspecting infrastructure and buildings, surveying storm damage and tracking wildlife. Using solar energy to power these UAVs, though, could make these operations more efficient and cost-effective. It would eliminate the need to bring drones back down after a few hours for a charge.
For this reason, solar-powered UAVs could be especially useful for applications that would require the drones to stay up for long periods — or even indefinitely. These drones could essentially act as satellites and collect weather data, track wildlife, perform mapping and collect information for other scientific research.
Two leading companies, Google and Facebook, have also experimented with using solar-powered drones to provide broadband internet access to unserved populations, mostly developing countries and remote areas. The companies envisioned UAVs that could stay in the air for long periods and beam internet access to the ground below. Google quit its drone project a few years ago in part to pursue Project Loon, which uses stratospheric balloons and electronics powered by solar cells to provide internet access.
Facebook stopped its internet drone initiative, Aquila, in June. The company said it still wants to expand internet access but will rely on other companies to build drones. Google and Facebook might not be building solar-powered drones anymore, but that doesn’t mean other companies won’t. The idea still has a lot of potential for providing internet access, especially as the associated technologies improve.
Plus, solar-powered drones are a promising technology in many other areas as well. We may start to see them employed across many different sectors over the coming years.
Emily is a green tech writer who covers topics in renewable energy and sustainable design. You can read more of her work on her blog, Conservation Folks.


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Free chat and messaging one on one sexy chat with no credit card needed
“People do this already for donations, but when you do that, the split between the funds and the carrier is 50-50, but, with Paywhale, it’s 98 percent to the charity and the 2 percent to the university and Songwhale,” said Charles Mance, vice president for university technology services.
“It’s a better model for us; it works real nice for small donations.” The school has been working with Songwhale for about a year on various mobile projects and this one seemed like a good fit, Mance said.
1 with six employees, but the office could grow to 20 employees in the next year, he said.
Milwaukee is becoming an attractive place for small business, said Morse, a Fox Point native.“These aren’t minimum-wage jobs.” In the coming weeks, Lawrenceville-based Songwhale LLC is set to launch a mobile payment processing platform that builds off the company’s core mobile marketing business.Dubbed Paywhale, the platform ties a user’s cell phone to their credit card and allows for easy purchasing of products or donations to a nonprofit through SMS, or text messaging.It has at least doubled in size every year since its founding in 2007 and employs more than 100 at offices in Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, China and Indonesia. Christopher Morgan, a New Berlin company offering logistics and distribution services, has been working with Songwhale for several years, said Chris Rebholz, Christopher Morgan president and co-owner.It makes sense to work together as Songwhale processes orders and Christopher Morgan ships them.


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Veteran music duo Hall & Oates are suing a granola company in a row over a breakfast cereal.
Daryl Hall and John Oates have filed a lawsuit at a court in Brooklyn, New York alleging the makers of Haulin' Oats have ripped off their name.
In the papers, the I Can't Go for That (No Can Do) hitmakers accuse bosses at the Early Bird granola company of copyright infringement, stating, "The name and mark Haulin' Oats is an obvious play upon Plaintiff's well-known Hall & Oates mark, and was selected by defendant in an effort to trade off of the fame and notoriety associated with the artist's and plaintiff's well-known marks."
Hall & Oates are seeking damages and they also want the cereal firm to stop using the name Haulin' Oats, according to the New York Post.
American Thighs was released on this day in 1994.


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Alibaba has already racked up more than $1 billion in sales and more than $5.2 billion in the first hour with more than 84% of sales on mobile devices. 2015 Singles Day sales were $14.3 billion in China for one day alone. compared with a $5.8 billion in US Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.
Dick's Sporting Goods absorbs Golfsmith, 60 US stores will close. Watch and accessories retailer Fossil will close some of its 610 international stores the numbers have not yet been released. Office Depot continues plans to close 300 stores over five years including 65 in 2016 Q4. American Apparel may be planning a second bankruptcy after missing a $2.5 million payment to creditors. Performance Sports Group, maker of Bauer hockey and Easton baseball gear, announced bankruptcy plans.
According to Deloitte research, holiday sales may reach $1 trillion, online $96 billion and digital may influence 67% or $661 billion. In the UK, mobile holiday sales will reach more than 50% of sales for the first time says a Salmon research report.
TechinAsia compares China's Singles Day 2015 sales of $14.3 billion with US Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales of $5.8 billion. Alibaba announced the promotion will run for 24 days instead of one day. Last year's Singles Day sales for Alibaba alone totaled $13.5 billion, up 54% from the previous year, and this year they expect 40,000 global companies to participate.
Leading into the critical US holiday shopping season, we've got our latest look at the e-commerce and retail news roundup. It starts with Adobe's 2016 Digital Insights Shopping Predictions for $91.6 billion in total sales and $1 billion online. According to McKinsey, 39% of US and 42% of UK shoppers will do the majority or all their shopping online this year.
We start with a report from eMarketer predicting e-commerce sales of $14 billion in 2016 for the region. Criteo says consumers used smartphones to complete the majority of mobile transactions in every Asia-Pacific market for the first time. Indonesian consumers used smartphones in 83% of transactions.
Holiday sales predictions? Adobe Digital Insights predicts 2016 online sales will be up 11%. 55% of US and UK retailers say Amazon will drive the majority of their holiday sales this year according to research by ChannelAdvisor and Morar Consulting.
The National Retail Federation said US e-gift card sales reached $7.1 billion in 2015, up 26%. Retail Gift Card Association said 45% of consumers will spend more than the value of their gift card.
Cashback for consumers is still one of the most effective promotional strategies in the marketers' toolbox. We've got an update on the latest cashback programs, companies and how they're wooing consumers to buy.
What's happening in the UK economy and how are consumers and business responding to the eventual departure from the EU? As you might expect, it depends. We're here with an update on Brexit's impact to help you make sense of what's ahead.


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Why the MGM+ and Lionsgate+ rebrands are less than positive for streaming branding
Last week two US streamers rebranded to include a ‘+’ in their branding on the same day – Epix became MGM+ and Starz became Lionsgate+. But with the VOD market already flooded with a homogeny of ‘+’ services, The Drum asks if streaming has a branding problem.
What’s with the +?
Lionsgate+ and MGM+ now join the likes of Disney+, Paramount+, Apple TV+, Discovery+, ESNP+, BET+, AMC+, We TV+, Documentary+, Daily Wire+, Samsung TV Plus, CNN+, LG Channel Plus, Motortrend+ and Moviestar+.
When Disney+ unveiled its streamer in 2019, there were debates as to whether the market needed any more plus-named services. So why in 2022 would two major media empires choose to rebrand their streamers with a plus?
Dionysis Livanis, creative director of branding agency Redhouse, says: “It’s always interesting to see big brands, which promise to be leaders in their fields, fail in such a way and go for the easy shortcut of following someone else’s lead.”
Matt Boffey, chief strategy and innovation officer at Superunion, says that the plus is less of a branding exercise and more of a “descriptor” communicating that it’s a paid-for service. Livanis adds: “‘Plus’ means more, an enhanced experience, better content, a premium service. This meaning has already become established in the minds of consumers, so it’s an easy shortcut for big brands that want to launch a subscription service.”
The plus first took off when traditional media companies were all competing to replicate Netflix’s ad-free premium subscription model. But the streaming market in 2022 has seen consumers canceling subscriptions in their droves (1.6 million Brits cut their services in Q2) and Netflix and Disney+ introducing ads. Now most streamers have at least two or three price tiers.
“The + suffix is already losing its originality. It is on the way to becoming just a symbol for a paid service – which, during a cost of living crisis, doesn’t seem like a smart move,” Livanis says.
As consumers look to trade down their services, Boffey says: “The real naming challenge is to develop a new descriptor for lower-cost streaming tiers.” Boffey says streamers should start looking outside their industry for inspiration. He jokes: “Netflix Value, Netflix Everyday or Netflix Essentials anyone?”
Paramount+, for example, has two main plans – premium Paramount+ and essential Paramount+ – under the same ‘plus’ banner. More confusingly, Peacock has a premium plan and then a Peacock premium plus plan. There are still question marks as to how Netflix and Disney+ will package up their ad tiers.
Bolting ‘+’ to the end does make some logical sense, but Livanis warns it will eventually become meaningless. He likened it to when Apple first introduced the ‘i’ prefix and it started appearing on all sorts of products and online services, from big corporations to corner shops. “At the end, it kind of lost its meaning and it’s now seen as an uninspired, meaningless naming convention,” Livanis says.
Emma Harris, chief executive officer at Glow London, says the plus has a few pitfalls. “For Disney+, there’s a fight there to reposition the brand to encompass more than ‘children.’ Disney+ is home to brands of similar strength in their own right such as Marvel and Star Wars, but the average consumer might not immediately pick that up from the name,” she says. “In contrast, Netflix built itself without too many consumer preconceptions, and so it can be defined by the content actually on the platform.”
Harris argues, however, that the ultimate battle for consumer cash won’t be won by the name. “It will be the brand that can close the gap between content, customer experience and consumer-controlled UX. With most brands now copying Netflix’s UX design – I’m looking at you Amazon Prime – it’s clear to see that it’s what’s on the inside that really matters.”


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Disney will not release blockbuster animation “Strange World” in French cinemas, it said Wednesday, in protest against the country’s strict streaming rules.
Under French law, the company’s streaming platform, Disney+, would have to wait 17 months to show the movie after its release in cinemas, which had been due in November.
Disney told AFP it would instead send “Strange World” straight to streaming and skip cinemas entirely, confirming reports by movie website Deadline and French paper Les Echos.
Helene Etzi, Disney France president, told Les Echos that France’s rules were “unfair, constraining and poorly adapted to audience demands.”
“Strange World” is one of its most-anticipated releases of the year, with Jake Gyllenhaal voicing the lead character in the English version of the fantasy adventure tale.
France has tried to prevent streaming platforms from undermining its large cinema network and the TV stations — notably Canal Plus — that finance many of its films and get a shorter wait for prime releases.
The National Federation of French Cinemas said it “protested with the greatest vigour against Disney’s desire to deprive the French of its Christmas animated film.”
The debate over how long to wait between cinema and streaming releases has also been fierce in Hollywood — though with much shorter delays being considered.
After trying various strategies at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the US industry has settled on 45 days as the optimum gap.
Scarlett Johansson sued Disney last year for loss of earnings after it released “Black Widow” simultaneously to cinemas and streamers.
Director Denis Villeneuve said the same move by Warner Bros for his sci-fi blockbuster “Dune” showed “absolutely no love for cinema”.
Even a 45-day window was reportedly not enough for Tom Cruise, who is rumoured to have launched legal action against Paramount to get a longer delay for his next “Mission: Impossible” instalment next year.
So far, Disney has no plans to pull “Lightyear” from French cinemas — the “Toy Story” spin-off is due later this month.
But the fate of other massive productions — including sequels to “Black Panther” and “Avatar” — rests in the balance.
“We continue to evaluate the situation film by film and country by country,” said Disney’s Etzi.
Zara owner Inditex profits up despite Ukraine war
Global clothing giant Inditex, which owns Zara, posted Wednesday a surge in its first-quarter profits despite closing its stores in Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
The world’s biggest fashion retailer said its net profit increased by 80 percent in the first three months of its financial year to April 31, compared to the same period last year.
It said it made 760 million euros ($812 million) in profit, against 440 million euros ($470 million) during the first quarter of the 2021 financial year, which was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
The hike in profits came despite a 216-million-euro provision for estimated costs arising from the impact of the Ukraine war, without which its income would have risen to almost “940 million euros”, it said.
The group, which since April has been led by Marta Ortega, daughter of its multi-billionaire founder Amancio Ortega, reported sales of 6.74 billion euros, up 36 percent from the same period in 2021.
The fashion group, which owns eight brands including upmarket Massimo Dutti and teen label Stradivarius, had warned that 2022 sales would be impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
After Russia sent in troops in late February, Inditex closed all its stores in Ukraine and on March 5 suspended all retail activity in Russia, its biggest market after Spain, shutting its 502 shops and suspending all online transactions.
Inditex said that stopping sales activity in Russia had been offset by “strong growth” in other regions, notably the United States.
Analysts had expected the Spanish retail giant to be hard hit by its Russian pullout decision given that it generates 10 percent of its turnover and 8.5 percent of its operating profit in the country.
Wednesday’s results were broadly in line with analysts’ expectations, with Factset seeing profits of 770 million euros against a turnover of 6.27 billion euros.
Online sales, which had surged during the pandemic, fell by 6.0 percent, although Inditex said it expected the figure to reach “30 percent of total sales” by 2024.
Shares in the world’s biggest fashion retailer were trading 4.23 percent higher in late morning trade on the Madrid stock exchange.
When the pandemic first took hold two years ago, the group saw its profits nosedive as the virus forced it to shutter most of its shops in the first half of 2020.
US lays out more pledges as Biden woos Latin American leaders
US President Joe Biden heads Wednesday to a Latin America summit on a mission to woo back the region as his administration pushed out pledges, including a plan to train half a million health workers.
The long-awaited Summit of the Americas was marred by a boycott from Mexico’s president, who was upset that Biden did not invite the leftist leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela on the grounds that they did not meet democratic standards.
The Biden administration insisted there were no hard feelings and moved forward on initiatives aimed at cementing ties across Latin America, where a rising China has increasingly made inroads despite the historic US influence.
Hours before Biden was to arrive, his administration announced a new Americas Health Corps that will aim to improve the skills of 500,000 health workers across the region, building on the lessons from Covid-19, which hit the Western Hemisphere especially hard.
The health training will cost $100 million, although the United States will not contribute all of it and will seek to raise funds, including through the Pan American Health Organization.
The pandemic “showed us the many cracks in our global health systems and underscored the importance of strong and resilient health systems for the entire population,” a White House statement said.
China has stepped up its role in Latin America since the pandemic started, moving early to supply vaccines.
Cuba has also long exported its state-employed doctors, a practice that so infuriated the previous administration of Donald Trump that he suspended funding for the Pan American Health Organization over alleged ties.
The health announcement comes a day after Vice President Kamala Harris detailed another $1.9 billion in commitments by businesses to invest in impoverished and violence-ravaged El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
The troubles in the so-called Northern Triangle, as well as Haiti, have generated a soaring number of migrants to the United States, setting off a domestic furor as Trump’s Republican Party demands efforts to stop them.
“We know the American people will benefit from stable and prosperous neighbors. And when we provide economic opportunity for people in Central America, we address an important driver of migration,” Harris said.
– ‘Nearshoring’ –
Mauricio Claver-Carone, the president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), said that Latin America can increasingly be seen as a “sea of peace” for investors amid the global turbulence from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising risks associated with manufacturing juggernaut China.
The head of the IADB, which provides development funding in Latin America, said he saw a rise of “nearshoring,” with businesses moving closer to markets rather than in China.
Since the first Summit of the Americas in 1994, “each dollar that went to China was one dollar, one investment, one job less for Latin America and the Caribbean,” he told AFP in an interview in Los Angeles.
In Latin America, “whether they are governments of the left or the right, they all want foreign investment, they all want nearshoring, they all want economic growth,” he said.
The first summit, held in Miami by Bill Clinton, aimed to create a vast free-trade zone that would span the hemisphere other than communist Cuba.
Biden is holding only the second Summit of the Americas on US soil at a time that the political appetite for free trade has waned in Washington, with Trump rising to power in part by attacking trade liberalization as hurting workers.
But Biden has stood firm on another core principle of the Summit of the Americas — democracy — even as he considers going next month to Saudi Arabia, a critical oil supplier.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador insisted that all nations of the hemisphere should be included, a stance backed by several other regional leaders who nonetheless agreed to come.
Biden is separately expected to meet President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Latin America’s most populous nation, despite rising fears that the Trump ally will not accept the legitimacy of upcoming elections.
OECD sees lower world growth due to Ukraine war’s ‘hefty price’
The OECD warned Wednesday that the world economy will pay a “hefty price” for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as it slashed its 2022 growth forecast and projected higher inflation.
The Paris-based organisation, which represents 38 mostly developed countries, is the latest institution to predict lower GDP growth due to the conflict, which has sent food and energy prices soaring.
In its latest economic outlook, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said global gross domestic product would grow by three percent in 2022 — down sharply from the 4.5 percent estimated in December.
The OECD also doubled its forecast for inflation among its members — which range from the United States to Australia, Japan, and Latin American and European nations — to 8.5 percent, its highest level since 1988.
“The world is set to pay a hefty price for Russia’s war against Ukraine,” wrote the OECD’s chief economist and deputy secretary-general, Laurence Boone, adding that a “humanitarian crisis is unfolding before our eyes”.
“The extent to which growth will be lower and inflation higher will depend on how the war evolves, but it is clear the poorest will be hit hardest,” Boone said.
“The price of this war is high and will need to be shared.”
Before the war broke out, the outlook had appeared “broadly favourable” for 2022-23, with growth and inflation expected to return to normal after the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, said the OECD.
However, “the invasion of Ukraine, along with shutdowns in major cities and ports in China due to the zero-Covid policy, has generated a new set of adverse shocks,” it said.
– Food shortage risk –
The OECD was supposed to publish its outlook in March, but it delayed its detailed assessment until now due to uncertainty over the war. At the time, it said the conflict could cut global GDP growth by “over one percentage point”.
The World Bank revised its own figures on Tuesday, lowering its global growth forecast from 4.1 percent to 2.9 percent. The IMF cut its forecast by nearly one point to 3.6 percent in April.
The OECD cut its growth forecast for the United States from 3.7 percent to 2.5 percent and that of China, the world’s second biggest economy, from 5.1 percent to 4.4 percent. The eurozone’s GPD is now seen growing by 2.6 percent instead of 4.3 percent while Britain’s outlook was lowered to 3.6 percent from 4.7 percent.
The OECD noted that commodity prices had risen, hitting real income and spending, “particularly for the most vulnerable households”.
“In many emerging-market economies the risks of food shortages are high given the reliance on agricultural exports from Russia and Ukraine,” it said.
The report warned that the “effects of the war in Ukraine may be even greater than assumed”, raising as an example a scenario of Russia cutting gas supplies to Europe.
As central banks tighten their monetary policies to counter inflation, the report said sharp increases of interest rates could also hit growth more than anticipated.
– Covid risk –
The Covid pandemic, meanwhile, could take another turn for the worse.
“New more aggressive or contagious variants may emerge, while the application of zero-Covid policies in large economies like China has the potential to sap global demand and disrupt supply for some time to come,” the OECD said.
Faced with these challenges, governments needed to protect the most vulnerable from the economic shockwaves, it added.
In the short term, “temporary, timely and well-targeted” fiscal measures would help the poorest households, the OECD said.
Over the medium- and long-term, governments would have to invest more in clean energy and defence spending.
“The world is already paying the price for Russia’s aggression,” wrote Boone.
“The choices made by policymakers and citizens will be crucial to determining how that price will be distributed across people and countries.”
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High-octane arcade racer Horizon Chase Turbo brings nostalgia back to your consoles in Spring 2018 for both PC and PS4, with more info coming soon.
Zoink Games' Flipping Death will be officially heading to PlayStation 4, according to a brand new trailer teasing the Spring 2018 release date.
Lienzo's Mulaka gets some big news at PlayStation Experience, including a new release window and a dev diary explaining their monster design process.
SOMA releases tomorrow on Xbox One, and alongside it the Safe Mode. Thankfully that mode is coming to PC and PS4, along with new details.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp for both iOS and Android is getting its first holiday event, celebrating Christmas, starting tomorrow.
With hefty file sizes, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition and Fallout 4's Xbox One X enhancement updates are available now.
Shin Megami Tensei V is (officially) confirmed to come West on Nintendo Switch, according to a recent announcement from developer Atlus.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope -- 4K and Full HD Remaster lands a brand new English trailer for PC and PS4, this time showcasing more gameplay.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is out now for free on iPhone and Android, despite no announcement (yet) from Nintendo. Grab the game while servers are live!
In a year filled with amazing games like 2017, the DualShockers staff shares a few of the indie experiences that gamers shouldn't miss from this year.
Flux Games Studios' GUTS shows off its twist on the fighting game genre with a new trailer introducing in-game childhood star DB Judge.
Super Daryl Deluxe by Dan and Gary Games will be coming to PS4 next year, according to a brand new announcement on the PlayStation Blog.
Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition is finally dated for physical release, coming to PlayStation 4, PC, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch.
If you haven't grabbed a PS4, Sony is making some irresistible offers ahead of Black Friday focusing on hardware like the DualShock 4, PS VR, and more.
Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR for PS4 via PlayStation VR took some creative brainstorming to adapt the game for the new platform.
Ubisoft's South Park: Phone Destroyer for iOS and Android is out today, along with a launch trailer and some great new art.
PlayStation UK and GAME released a PlayStation 4 Pro "Only on PlayStation" bundle, matching Xbox One X's price point and launch date.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for Nintendo Switch got a ton of news today, but also a load of new images and illustrations on top of it!
An unexpected crossover is coming to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with a new Xenoblade Chronicles 2 side quest and costume.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Will Have Japanese Audio, English Subtitles Available as a Free Day 1 Download
Japanese audio is a free Day 1 option for Nintendo Switch's Xenoblade Chronicles 2 -- another terrific design choice, and departure from Nintendo's past.


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South Korean tech giant Samsung on Wednesday unveiled a new mobile chip, the Exynos 880 SoC, featuring an integrated 5G modem and AI capabilities.
The Exynos 880 includes a 5G cellular modem that enables lag-less streaming and rapid downloads. It facilitates the next-generation 5G experiences such as mixed reality (MR) and cloud-gaming.
It features an integrated 5G modem that supports up to 2.55Gbps download speed and up to 1.28Gbps upload speed over 5G sub-6GHz spectrum.
The company said that the download speed of 2.55Gbps can be lifted to 3.55Gpbs.
The Exynos 880 is capable of supporting advanced graphics APIs, and incorporating diverse technologies for powerful and efficient graphics processing.
While the enhanced CPU performance reduces loading time, the powerful GPU renders 3D graphics in-game with a high framerate to provide outstanding visuals, the company said in a statement.
The Exynos 880’s advanced image signal processor supports up to five individual sensors and is able to process three sensors concurrently, while enabling a single-camera max resolution of 64Mp and a dual-camera rating of 20Mp for each camera.
It incorporates a neural processing unit (NPU) and digital signal processor (DSP) for on-device AI that accelerates response times and improves security.
The chip is designed to support Bluetooth 5 that increases the range, speed, and broadcast messaging capacity for multi-device connection.


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What You Need to Know About Amazon News This Past Week
Where Amazon makes business strides, Directional Cue follows. Amazon’s marketplace moves are constant, but Amazon News This Week tracks and provides the latest in Amazon news to Directional Cue readers and clients.
Summing It All Up
This week, Amazon integrated some of its platforms with two major companies in two different industries, technology and home. Also, Amazon’s brick and mortar presence got the four-star treatment with a new store in New York City – but it isn’t an Amazon Go! And, Amazon’s private label business got fancier with reports of a new jewelry line. Furthermore, Amazon accelerated its autonomous driving technology. Lastly, in prime time for holiday shopping, Amazon announced its top-ten Christmas toys wishlist.
Keep reading below for the details – from A to Z.
This Week for Everyone
NYC Gets an Amazon 4-Star Store
Amazon opened a new type of store in New York City called Amazon 4-Star. This store takes the best of Amazon online and moves the products from the computer screen to 3D.
The Amazon 4-Star store (located in SoHo) is “a physical representation of what’s hot on Amazon” and joins Whole Foods, Amazon Go, and Amazon Books in Amazon’s physical retail presence.
The store has high-quality products and does not feature any item below – you guessed it – an average four-star rating.
This Week in Business
Amazon and Snapchat Partnership
In a relationship made in online heaven, Amazon partnered with Snapchat in its Visual Search (picture shopping) technology. Last week, Snapchat rolled out a way to shop Amazon directly from the Snapchat app. It’s as simple as pointing the Snapchat camera at a product or barcode until the item or barcode is recognized and an Amazon link appears.
Alexa-Enabled Smart Houses
Amazon’s Alexa Fund has injected cash into the Series A funding of a home design and prefabrication company, Plant Prefab. The news comes on the heels of last week’s reports about the new crop of Alexa-enabled devices for the home. One can see that Amazon is ready to make Alexa-enabled smart homes the future in home living.
“We will work with Amazon to integrate Alexa and other smart home technology they have into our standard home platform.,” – Steve Glenn, CEO of Plant Prefab via Fast Company
The future (in homes) is now.
Amazon to Fuel Autonomous Vehicle Technology
They could join Google and Nvidia as a driving force in Autonomous Vehicle Technology.
Amazon Web Services (its cloud business) already provides technology for automotive customers (Uber, BMW, etc.). Now, it aims to be the cloud services platform of autonomous vehicle systems companies as well.
In relationship to industry leader Nvidia’s technology, The Street reports, “Amazon is not a competitor…Essentially, Amazon’s building a similar concept by providing developers and companies a platform for which they can build their software and then use the cloud to deploy it on a larger scale.”
Amazon Web Services, already highly profitable, could drive Amazon revenue even higher in the Autonomous Vehicle Technology lane.
Amazon’s Private Label Jewelry
Though Amazon currently sells jewelry online and via its “Amazon Collection,” it’s been reported that Amazon filed a trademark for a new jewelry brand, “For Keeps by Amazon.”
Hope you enjoyed Amazon News This Week. Amazon makes the headlines – we recap them here each week!


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How’s Dragon Quest Builders 2 doing sales wise? Is it doing well so far?
Budding builders around the world are discovering the joys of DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS 2, as SQUARE ENIX today announced that sales of the block-building role-playing game have officially surpassed 1.1 million units shipped and downloaded worldwide.
To commemorate the milestone, the team released artwork and a special video to fans to celebrate the game’s success. The thank you video from “The Builder” can be viewed on the @DragonQuest social channels.
In addition to celebrating this special milestone for DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS 2 and its community, the special “Modernist Pack” DLC set that includes over 70 recipes is now available to purchase today. The pack includes recipes for modern-looking structures, hairstyles and clothing so players can build a luxury hotel, modern condominiums and more with the largest new set of recipes yet.


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Nintendo has no need for an E3 Press Event this year
It’s become an E3 staple: large, flashy press events held by each of the three console manufacturers. This year, however, Nintendo won’t be holding one. Instead they will focus on a smaller set of private events for Western distributors, and a different, hands-on event for Western media. This change in strategy was revealed during the company’s recent earnings report.
Last year, Nintendo chose to sit out on Gamescom. They had a minute presence in one of the halls, but honestly they may as well have not been there at all. Some have speculated that the poor uptake of the Wii U in European territories might have been a result of this failure to push the new hardware at Gamescom. But yes, that’s speculation in its purest form.
While on the surface this lack of E3 press conference appears to imply bad news for the Japanese company, it actually doesn’t really. Nintendo is just going about things differently these days. You know those Nintendo Direct episodes they publish every few months? Those pretty much serve the same purpose as an E3 press event. They are, however, infinitely cheaper; they’re piped directly to Nintendo fans and aren’t filtered through media reporting on a “press only” event; and they’re more regular than an annual trade show.
Nintendo’s Iwata is calling this new communication strategy a “brand new challenge” for the company. “Apart from these exclusive [E3 behind-closed-doors] events for visitors, we are continuing to investigate ways to deliver information about our games directly to our home audience around the time of E3. During the E3 period,” Iwata continued, “we will utilize our direct communication tools, such as Nintendo Direct, to deliver information to our Japanese audience … and we will take the same approach outside Japan for the overseas fans as well.”
It’s clever. Why spend all that money on a two hour event when you can speak directly to your audience? The converse of this silver-lining mentality is this: the Nintendo Direct episodes speak to those who are already Nintendo fans; people who are already invested in the hardware. E3 press events provide manufacturers with a massive platform to bring new people into the fold, and judging by the current abysmal sales of the Wii U, Nintendo kind of needs to do that.


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Warsaw-based Lake City Bank has promoted Stephanie Leniski to senior vice president and retail banking manager. She joined the bank in 2002 as vice president and manager of the Elkhart Beardsley office. Leniski was promoted to north region retail manager in 2012. She has served as senior vice president since 2017.
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The African continent has witnessed 17.7% increase in fintech ventures, from 576 in 2021 to 678 in 2023.
This is based on the latest reports from Disrupt Africa’s Finnovating for Africa publication, which is done every 2 years ever since June 2017. This publication monitors significant innovations in the fintech industry across the continent.
AZA Finance, one of the continent’s fintech which provides a dependent and efficient financial framework for payments, forex and settlement collaborated on the release of the current edition. Another collaborator is Curacel, which is an insurance infrastructure firm that aids customers and partners in expanding the reach and operations of insurance through cloud-based apps and APIs.
The Fintech growth witnessed increase from 576 in 2021 to 678 in 2023. Initially, a 17.3 % increase was witnessed from 2017 to 2019. This has cumulated in a total of 125.2% from 2017 to 2023 in the amount of fintech startups that are operational in Africa.
The report quoted that “This growth is taking place across the continent, with all major markets bar South Africa posting an increase in the number of active ventures. Egypt and Nigeria are growing especially fast, with the number of fintech companies based in those countries leaping by 66.7% and 50% respectively over the course of the last two years.”
“Startups continue to launch at a steady rate. Almost 40% of currently active fintech ventures were launched between 2019 and 2021, and though numbers for 2022 and 2023 look lower for now, there will undoubtedly be many startups that formed more recently that have yet to flick across our radar.”
It must be noted that of the 576 startups in 2021, 115 have been out of operation which marks about 20%. However, they have been impressive as they have remained constant regarding the expansion rate in the continent’s fintech sector.
Tom Jackson, Disrupt Africa co-founder, claims that “It is clear that African fintech is in its prime, driving forward financial inclusion and powering the commercial revolution occurring on the continent.”


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Hong Kong: Stocks end higher, aided by consumer goods makers
[HONG KONG] Hong Kong stocks reversed earlier losses to edge higher on Tuesday, led by gains in consumer goods makers, although caution prevailed amid escalating trade tensions after Beijing unveiled retaliatory trade measures against the United States.
At close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 0.3 per cent at 30,180.10, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises index closed up 1.2 per cent to 12,136.67.
Trading was thin as investors remained cautious amid escalating trade tensions between the world's largest economies and a selloff on Wall Street.


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The ad features The Muppets musically pitching their idea for giant crumpets to Warburtons’ chairman. It came out on top in a survey of the best Christmas TV ads.
The choice is likely to raise controversy over whether the ad is actually a Christmas ad. The two-minute film's only festive reference comes at the end when Kermit the Frog delivers the pun, "Merry crumpets, everybody".
The survey of 500 people asked participants to rate ads on 12 factors, including branding, persuasion and involvement. The Warburtons’ campaign beat competition from 18 other brands including Debenhams, Burberry and Lidl, to be voted number one.
Jonathan Warburton, the chairman of Warburtons, has been delighted by the positive reaction to the ad. He said: "We set out to bring some joy and fun to advertising at Christmas, and this is proof that we’ve achieved it with 'the giant crumpet show'."
Despite creating a viral sensation on social media, and racking up over 26 million views on YouTube, John Lewis’ highly anticipated "man on the moon" ad did not reach the top spot and did not score as highly as last year’s "Monty the penguin".
Amanda Phillips, the UK head of marketing for Millward Brown, said: "Last year’s John Lewis ad created warm and fuzzy feelings. Perhaps the 'man on the moon' left us a little melancholy.
"The story was powerful, however, and its virality is immense. John Lewis continues to herald the start of the festive season."
Other ads which performed in the survey well include Cadbury’s "free the joy", which came second overall, and Argos’ "just can’t wait", which received the biggest increase in score compared to last year.
In the battle for attention at Christmas the survey showed that one key to a successful Christmas ad revolves around good storytelling. Ads such as "man on the moon", and Sainsbury’s "Mog’s Christmas Calamity" captured the viewers imagination, despite a lack of overt branding, and scored highly in the survey.
Millward Brown said they could not provide rankings for each ad surveyed across all metrics, but said "it was clear" that Warburtons scored highest.
Instead, they provided Campaign with the top ten ads that made viewers "love" the brand the most:
7= John Lewis


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Nordstrom on Thursday announced a tie-up with Fanatics, employing the drop-ship model the department store announced earlier this year. That entails Nordstrom.com handling sales and Fanatics fulfilling and shipping orders, according to a press release.
The "long-term" partnership brings Nordstrom "an entirely new product category," with licensed products from major sports leagues featured in a new Nordstrom.com Sports Fan Shop.
Merchandise for men, women and children includes brands like Fanatics, Nike, Adidas and Mitchell & Ness, the companies said.
Through marketplaces and tweaks to operations like the drop-ship tactic announced by Nordstrom earlier this year, retailers are increasingly looking to wriggle out of some of the costlier aspects of the business, especially when it's conducted online.
Stitch Fix, which has invited a new set of challenges to its model by opening its inventory to all buyers and not just subscription customers, this year similarly touted its increasing use of drop-shipping.
The idea is to spur growth "through increased non-wholesale models to offer customers more choices," Nordstrom reiterated in its release. In February, Nordstrom executives said the plan is to reduce its traditional wholesale operation, which now provides 85% of its assortment, to provide 50%, by increasing drop-shipping and concessions and instituting a hybrid model with shared revenue and risk.
But, while Nordstrom is framing this as a departure from wholesale, it's really an evolution of it, according to BMO Capital Markets Managing Director Simeon Siegel. A recent BMO report called into question many brands' notion that more DTC sales equal higher profits, with those analysts estimating that wholesale margins are about 1,000 basis points higher on average than those of direct brand sales, prior to taxes and interest payments.
For Nordstrom, the partnership indicates that brands still value their role as a distributor of their goods, Siegel said by phone on Friday.
"This idea of a department store selling other people's brands is obviously not new — it's inherent to who they are," he said. "The question of how they sell is what will evolve. The brands need to be comfortable, and the brands should be comfortable, acknowledging partners. I think that's what this is showing — a very powerful company still acknowledging that department stores have a very important role in the future of retail."


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Would you change your name to iPhone 7 just to win Apple’s latest iPhone? Most people won’t, but a 20-year-old in Ukraine did just that to with a brand new iPhone 7. A Ukrainian electronics store was offering the latest iPhones free of cost to the first five people who would legally change their names to the device. And the prize went to 20-year-old iPhone Sim (Seven) on Friday.
Olexander Turin is now iPhone 7
According to the Associated Press, iPhone Sim’s family and friends were shocked at first. But they eventually supported him, probably because it makes good business sense. The base price of an iPhone 7 in Ukraine is $850. Why would you want to pay such a hefty amount if you can officially change your name for just $2 and win the eponymous handset?
Gator Financial Partners 1H2022 Performance Update
Gator Financial Partners letter to investors for the first half of the year ended June 30, 2022. Q2 2022 hedge fund letters, conferences and more Dear Gator Financial Partners: We are pleased to provide you with Gator Financial Partners, LLC’s (the “Fund” or “GFP”) 1st Half 2022 investor letter. This letter reviews the Fund’s 1st Read More
— Lucky Sebastian (@gadtorade) October 30, 2016
Sim’s sister Tetyana Panina told the AP that it was hard to believe at first. She added that everyone in the world is looking for their own ways to express themselves. “Why not to do that in this way?” she said. An affidavit to change the name legally in Ukraine is far cheaper than buying an iPhone 7. The young man – his original name was Olexander Turin – said he was in no hurry to change his name back again.
No immediate plans to change his name back again
iPhone Sim said he would consider changing his name back to Olexander Turin only when he has children. This is not the first time people have done weird things to get free stuff. Back in 2013, as many as 42 Swedes legally changed their names to Klaus-Heidi to participate in a competition when German airline Lufthansa offered a flight to Berlin with a one-year free apartment rental to the winner.
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are in huge demand, partly boosted by the discontinuation of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7. The shipping time window of the Jet Black iPhone 7 Plus is still 4-6 weeks. The Jet Black models of the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus are not available in many Apple stores across the United States. If you can’t wait for 4-6 weeks, you can go for the 4.7-inch model, which ships in 2-3 weeks.
iPhone 7 Plus demand far outstrips supply
Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the company’s quarterly earnings call that Apple underestimated the demand for the 5.5-inch model going into the product launch. Cook told investors that Apple might not reach a supply/demand equilibrium for the iPhone 7 Plus by the year-end, though he was confident about meeting the demand for the 4.7-inch model.
After several quarters of declining revenues, Apple finally expects to return to sales growth during the current quarter. The Cupertino company forecasts revenues between $76 billion and $78 billion for the December quarter.


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NEW YORK — With COVID spreading across America, a new study finds alcohol sales in the United States surged between March and September 2020. Researchers from Columbia University report that while U.S. alcohol retail store sales increased significantly, both restaurant and bar sales dropped dramatically. The findings point to the drastic change in lifestyles for many people during the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns throughout 2020.
While study authors say the results might have been predictable, the results are no less concerning. They add that this suggests home drinking has become the new normal for many Americans during COVID.
“Our results appear to substantiate an increase in home drinking during the period, which could potentially lead to higher alcohol consumption and alcohol-related adverse health outcomes,” says first study author João Mauricio Castaldelli-Maia, MD, PhD in a media release.
The Columbia team analyzed data on beer, wine, and liquor store purchases from January 1992 to September 2020, provided by the Monthly Retail Trade Survey. Right from the very beginning of the pandemic, alcohol sales increased. Purchases reached their peak in the year’s third quarter. Between March and September 2020, U.S. retail alcohol purchases soared to $41.9 billion. That’s a 20-percent increase over the same time period in 2019 and an 18-percent increase over the previous seven-month period (August 2019 to February 2020). On a related note, restaurant and bar sales declined by 27 percent between March and September 2020.
In comparison to the first three quarters of 2019, the first three quarters of 2020 generated $7.5 billion more in retail alcohol sales.
Bars and restaurants still struggling
During the first two months of the pandemic (February to April 2020) restaurant and bar sales declined by over 50 percent. Since then, these establishments have seen their sales bounce back, but are still down from their pre-COVID-19 levels. By September 2020, restaurant and bar sales were about 15 percent under the pre-COVID norm while retail alcohol sales increased by 17 percent.
The fact that so many Americans are drinking more at home is concerning for a number of reasons. Study authors says people have been using alcohol to relax and deal with stress for centuries, but the public needs to be aware that beer and liquor isn’t a healthy way of coping. Studies have linked alcohol use to a number of adverse side-effects, and that’s not even including a link to domestic violence.
“While there is still much left to understand about alcohol use behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe it’s important to make more aggressive efforts to warn the population about the risks associated with increased home alcohol consumption during a pandemic,” concludes senior study author Silvia Martins, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia’s Mailman School. “It is also important to investigate alcohol use behaviors among individuals at high risk of infection by SARS-CoV-2 such as frontline workers and among those living alone for longer isolation periods.”
The study is published in Alcohol.


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As the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) continues to assess Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, public opinion appears to be on Microsoft’s side: about 75% of public comments are in favor of the merger.
The CMA invited the public to share his thoughts on the merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard as part of its investigation into the still-pending acquisition. The CMA revealed that it received more than 2,100 emails during this phase and that “about three-quarters were broadly in favor of the merger and about a quarter were against it.”
Among the positive responses the CMA received and shared as part of its briefing included views such as “Sony and Nintendo are stronger than Microsoft in console gamesand the merger will help Microsoft compete more closely against them”; and “the merger is a reaction to Sony’s business model for PlayStationwhich has historically meant getting exclusive content or early access to popular cross-platform game franchises like Final Fantasy or Silent Hill.”
On the contrary, some of the negative answers to the merger noted that “Microsoft is already dominant in PC operating systems and this merger is an attempt to gain a similar position in all other games”, and “this would be the biggest merger in gaming history, paving the way for way for a potential chain of future acquisitions from publishers like Take-Two, EA or Ubisoft, thereby increasing market concentration“.
The UK opened the public inquiry in October after completing the first two phases of its investigation into the Microsoft-Activision merger. The CMA plans keep gathering evidence and publish interim conclusions before a final report that will be released in several months.
Meanwhile, the deal remains under scrutiny as the US FTC announced it plans to sue to block the acquisition, calling the deal harmful to competition on “high performance consoles and subscriptions.” To this demand is added the demand of 10 players who are also against the merger.


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Philip Hammond, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, desires to assign the UK’s embattled high avenue. To enact that, he’s proposing a tax on on-line retailers.
Hammond hasn’t revealed any little print, particularly by potential of how it’ll be applied. It’s additionally unclear if the tax will follow to all on-line retailers, or preferrred the properly-identified behemoths, esteem Amazon and Very.
We develop now not shill.
Test out TNW’s Laborious Fork.
Right here’s a neccessary pass to present protection to a high avenue that’s suffered a lot of well-known losses in outdated years. This year on my own has seen the closure of Maplin and Toys R’ Us. Discount retailer Poundworld additionally very almost went below, but develop into saved on the 11th hour by Irish retail family Hendersons.
That said, the pass is misguided. The woes of the high avenue are partially prompted by on-line retailers, but that’s most good a little portion of the story.
Business charges, that are the taxes disproportionately paid by brick-and-mortar establishments, are crushing. Since they’re in line with estimated and exact rent values, on-line retailers have largely managed to spin them.
Business rate reduction would walk a good arrangement to ensuring the viability of the high avenue in opposition to on-line retailers, which have lower prices and better income margins.
This will be a bitter tablet for the Exchequer to swallow. In step with legitimate Residence of work of Budget Responsibility (OBR) statistics, industrial charges will converse in £32.4 billion in taxes for the length of the 2020-2021 monetary year.
Any loss might well well presumably be offset by closing present tax loopholes, and ensuring that giants esteem Amazon pay their swish portion in taxes. Amazon is extremely vociferous in warding off corporation taxes. Earlier this month, it develop into reported the firm had halved its corporation tax bill, despite profits tripling.
There’s additionally the argument that any new taxes would disproportionately be borne by smaller retailers, who lack the sources and skills required to manual determined of them.
The high avenue employs millions of Brits, and is rate preserving. That said, we don’t desire a new tax. We now must make certain that the present ones are equitably enforced.


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TUCSON, Ariz. — The thrill behind the throttle is becoming more frequent for riders during the pandemic.
“People were cooped up a lot and they needed recreation or they could go out and avoid the crowds so we've benefited added as bicyclists and some other types of outdoor sports,” said Allan Hammerel, owner of Renegade Classics.
Renegade Classics is a motorcycle gear and apparel store. Hammerel explained although he was worried after closing his doors for nearly two months, his business is booming.
“Since we've opened up every month is been up to over last year by 10 or 15%. And many times, a record month for the 13-year history of the store," he said.
He said that means local motorcycle dealers are likely seeing the same trend.
“We kind of ride on their coattails as they sell more bikes,” he said.
In fact, Harley Davidson of Tucson said sales are up from last year.
“They’ve been doing really well. Obviously, it's not a better way to social distance and get out on a Harley Davidson and go ride and have some fun,” said Jeff Selig, general manager.
Selig said the industry wasn’t struggling before the pandemic. Harley Davidson explained riders are riding more frequently.
He and Hammerel agree the bike and gear go hand in hand.
“You want to wear a helmet it's very important you only got one head so you want to take care of that. Obviously, you know, there's different, different jackets for different seasons, the gloves the boots, I mean that stuff is every time,” said Selig.
Hammerel suggests a basic riders course.


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Jeep Renegade PHEV due in 2020
Jeep is readying its plant in Melfi, Italy to build the first plug-in hybrid Renegade compact SUV, due for launch in 2020 as part of ongoing plans to phase out diesel in its range.
Pre-production cars will be due early next year, on the same line as petrol and diesel versions of the Renegade and 500X. It follows a €200m investment in the plant, in re-training staff and modernising the facility itself.
Jeep has not confirmed details of the drivetrain, but it will be equipping the Renegade, Compass and Cherokee with plug-in hybrid technology by 2022, and phasing out diesel from 2020 in line with Fiat Chrysler’s plans to drop the fuel by 2021. An ‘Urban UV’ city-sized SUV, developed for Europe, is also due in 2020, beneath the Renegade.
Earlier this year, head of Jeep for EMEA, Jeff Hines told Fleet World: “From 2020 on, as compliance gets more stringent across Europe, that’s when electrification becomes core to what we do. Without commenting on exact timing [for phasing out diesel], from that point on we’ll have to make adjustments to our current powertrain line-up with regards to electrification.”


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Mutant is and has always been a big supporter of fitness and sports nutrition conventions like the Arnold Sports Festival, where it has a reliably colossal presence, and the prestigious bodybuilding competition, the Olympia Expo. With the long-running Olympia Weekend going down in about a month and a half, the legacy supplement company has come out and announced its support and involvement in the 2023 edition of the event.
As is the case at other events, Mutant has confirmed it is a major sponsor of this year’s Mr. Olympia, from the bodybuilding show through to the fitness convention. The competition is a key part of the event for Mutant, as two of its ambassadors are also defending champions for 2023. That includes the three-time Ms. Olympia Andrea Shaw, and The Giant Killer Shaun Clarida, looking to get his third title in the 212 division of the Mr. Olympia.
Fans of sports nutrition and anything fitness related can look forward to seeing Mutant at the 2023 Olympia Weekend from Thursday, the 2nd of November, to Sunday, the 5th. This year, the organizers have brought the annual bodybuilding contest and convention back to Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, after hosting it in Las Vegas for the 22nd time last year.


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This document outlines a working agreement between the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) and the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Fda. Food and Drug Administration. Tue, 01 Sep 2020 15:46:31 EDT.
A family business forced to close after council inspectors found a slug in its kitchen has accused a food safety auditor of making changes to its report at the behest of the Health Department.
Cameron Houston. Sydney Morning Herald. Sun, 02 Aug 2020 23:30:00 +1000.
Whether you shop for groceries in-store or have them delivered, if the temperatures inside your car or the delivery vehicle are too high, it's a food safety hazard. Heat not only can quickly ...
Jesse Hirsch. Consumer Reports. Wed, 29 Jul 2020 19:29:26 +0000.
Which? raises alarm after Boris Johnson dumped promised ban on chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef, to strike quickfire agreement with Donald Trump
Rob Merrick. The Independent. Mon, 15 Jun 2020 08:37:00 GMT.
Britain has some of the world's best food safety regulations. But it's important to remember that when it comes to food scares and crises, we have had a chequered past.
Daily Mail. Sat, 06 Jun 2020 22:12:00 +0100.


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Posted by: jillw in: Consumer -
Consumer group issues 11th annual report on trends taking off in 2020, from all things sustainable to new flavors, preferences, regional influences
The consumer group of Finn Partners has released its 2020 Food & Beverage Beat, reporting on the trends expected to take the food and beverage industry by storm this year. The 11th annual report found here surveys eight experts from throughout the industry and the country to pinpoint the fads, flavors and frames of reference for how food and beverage will evolve in 2020 and beyond.
“We’ve heard a lot about sustainability in recent years, but this year’s report shows just how all-encompassing that goal has become,” said Malisa Meresman, partner at Finn Partners. “Brands are really going to be challenged to show how they are being sustainable in every sense of the word, from their impact on the planet to their relationships with individuals’ health and the health of their food communities. Almost everyone is talking about sustainability, but there are other interesting movements coming down the road; 2020 is definitely shaping up to be a fascinating year for food and beverage.”
Some key food and beverage trends to watch in 2020 include:
- Greater scrutiny of meat and dairy alternatives, as consumers become better educated about the level of processing involved to create these substitutes as well as the benefits of responsible and regenerative agricultural practices.
- A growing African influence in the culinary space, including elements such as plant-based menus, spices, and ancient grains like fonio. The African influence should dovetail nicely with the movement of putting plant-based foods at the center.
- More innovation at the bar in terms of plant-based flavorings and the use and re-use of ingredients. Asian influences should be prominent this year, with inspiration coming from the dynamic cocktail scenes of Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore.
- Middle Eastern and Eastern European wines will demand more attention as their quality gains appreciation, while Chile and Uruguay are starting to turn heads with the right blend of price and quality. Also, look for more natural wines.
- Increasingly personalized approaches to diets and wellness, as the reliance on fad diets and one-size-fits-all mindsets fade away. Additionally, gut health will keep getting attention, as will products – such as fermented foods and hot sauce – that promote it.


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Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. is tapping the U.S. investment-grade bond market to help fund its acquisition of Kansas City Southern.
Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category
California will increase weight limits for trucks carrying goods in and out of its ports in an effort to ease supply chain bottlenecks and clear containers off the docks of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Although US imports from Asia were down 2.4 percent in October year over year, it was the third-busiest month ever for containerized imports from Asia.
Third-party logistics providers (3PLs) are diversifying, acquiring and mixing services, as supply chain disruption pushes more shippers toward aggregators of capacity and capabilities.
Larry Gross, president and founder, Gross Transportation Consulting, and JOC analyst | Nov 16, 2021 10:40AM EST The current supply chain crisis will come to an end at some point, and that end could be sooner and sharper than we think, writes JOC analyst Larry Gross.
Cass’ freight expenditures index sees acceleration in growth rate, up 37% year-over-year
Cargo congestion at the Port of Savannah is so severe that officials plan to use a small airport in Georgia as a temporary overflow yard, one of several locations being rushed into emergency service to relieve port infrastructure buckling under the strain of record volumes. The Georgia Ports Authority on Friday said it is setting […]
As seasons change and temperatures drop, the unpredictability of winter is the only certainty facing truck drivers whose routes can run headfirst into a blizzard. As preparedness is the best defense against the rough elements, winterizing vehicles is an essential part of maintenance and safety.
2021 hurricane season outlook The Atlantic waters are heating up, and peak hurricane season is almost upon us. Carriers and shippers should be on alert this hurricane season, as tropical storm activity is expected to be above average. Between 1991 and 2020, the average number of named storms (tropical storms and hurricanes) per year was […]
Port Houston is reopening its two largest public container terminals to commercial trucks after closing them Tuesday due to a computer hardware failure. “Bayport and Barbours Cut Container Terminals are planning to open [Thursday] at 3 p.m. to truck traffic. Check back for another update soon about final gate operation decisions,” port officials tweeted Thursday. […]


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Office 365 Admin App 3.0 Now Available
Microsoft on Tuesday released the latest version of its Office 365 Admin App for Android and Windows Phone.
This lightweight management application for IT pros is not yet available for iOS devices yet, but it's expected to arrive in about two weeks' time. This release is mostly a cosmetic update. Microsoft changed its design to be more like its flagship Office 365 Admin Center management solution. For instance, the icons and color used are similar, per Microsoft's announcement.
Microsoft also seems to have slimmed down the dashboard view from previous iterations. It shows "Messages" and "Health" up front, with the "Users" and "Support" tiles dropped from the display.
Not everything can be done using the app, but Microsoft is claiming to have thousands of users since product launch in 2014. "We're now at a point where the app can stand on its own, and we have many customers -- especially small businesses -- who use the app as their main administration tool," Microsoft claimed. It's also used by Microsoft's partners to manage accounts.
There are a couple of new features. First, there's a "feature grouping" capability. When IT pros view a user card, they now get a list of quick actions to take, such as password reset, license assignment, deletion or the ability to block a user.
Second, the application now highlights some information. For instance, it will note users that are blocked in red type, per Microsoft's announcement.
The free Office 365 Admin App is just for use by an "Office 365 admin with an active Office 365 business subscription," according to Microsoft's product description. The apps are currently available at the Google Play store and the Microsoft Store.
Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.


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'My GSA Advantage' coming this summer
- By Colleen O'Hara
- Mar 26, 2000
Attention, government shoppers! The General Services Administration's online
shopping site is getting personal starting Aug. 1.
Agency customers will be able to turn GSA Advantage into "My GSA Advantage,"
creating customized versions of the site that display the information they
choose so they can quickly find the products they need to buy.
For example, an Air Force user may see an Air Force screen when logging
on and immediately have access to Air Force content, such as aircraft-related
products or agency-specific purchasing policies, said Bob Ardrey, program
manager for the project at Computer Technology Associates Inc. (CTA), which
is adding the customization feature.
"Rather than having the user click on all the buttons to see what's
new, the system will know as soon as they log on they are an Air Force user,"
In addition, the site will suggest related products buyers may be interested
in purchasing, based on either past buying habits or the current buying
session. A user who plans to buy a printer, for example, may be directed
to printer ribbons that are also available on the site.
The new features are similar to what is offered on commercial sites
such as Yahoo and Amazon.com, but they are more detailed, said Dewey Carr,
a program manager in GSA's office of the chief information officer.
"We will have a system where users can come in and not just get a hit
of 10 thousand items, but a specific grouping," he said. "The user will
have total control over if they want to use certain aspects" of the search.
"We're careful not to tangle them in Web screens that are not user-friendly."
The site will cater to both civilian and defense agencies and to specific
users' needs, Carr said. "We have some people that want [only] office products,"
he said. "Primarily we're doing this so they don't have to waste their time."
GSA has been working on a new search engine for some time, Carr said.
Eventually, the new engine will allow a user to search for an item such
as a pen by immediately breaking down the search into different categories
such as ball point pens and fountain pens. "You will be able to go exactly
where you want to go," Carr said. "If it takes more than 10 seconds and
more than two screens [for buyers to find what they want] you've already
lost your customer."
CTA will build a system "that's more user-friendly and attractive,"
said Tom Velez, chief executive officer and chairman of CTA. The more the
government buys online, the more money it can save, Velez said. "The Federal
Supply Service sells electronically only a small percentage of what" is
available for sale to agencies, he said. "We hope that percentage will go
CTA, which designed the original GSA Advantage site, teamed up on this
project with four other firms.
GSA plans to constantly develop new features for GSA Advantage, Carr
said. "When we're finished, we will probably have the most powerful electronic
commerce system in the world," Carr said. "If you're not developing something
all the time, you're behind the game."
Personalization is a trend that is catching on in government as a way
to deliver services electronically, said Ron Parsons, director of Public
Sector Alliances at industry consortium CommerceNet. The group is working
with the Social Security Administration to help it deliver integrated and
personalized electronic services to citizens.
There is a trade-off between protecting privacy and delivering services
that agencies must learn to balance, Parsons said. "If you want better services,
you have to give up a little bit of information," he said. Agencies must
have the right policies and security infrastructure in place to ensure that
the services are delivered appropriately.


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Marlette Funding, an online lender, will add 250 jobs right outside of Wilmington, D.E. over the next three years. This job growth is in addition to their $7.5 million headquarters expansion.
“This is a great incentive for us to continue to build out our business here in Delaware,” said Bobby Ritterbeck, chief marketing officer for the five-year-old financial technology company.
Delaware’s Council on Development Finance recommended the state to provide $2.7 million worth of grants to aid Marlette Funding’s pending job growth.
Council members approved the deal, in which Marlette would receive taxpayer grants as long as the company meets their hiring goals by 2021. To keep the funding, the company would have to maintain the employment level until 2024.
“With Delaware’s strength in finance and business services, we are ideally positioned to foster and support the fintech sector as well as other technology-based ventures,” Governor John Carney said. “This commitment from Marlette reaffirms that Delaware is a great state for businesses of all sizes to put down roots, grow and create jobs.”
In 2016, JP Morgan Chase brought an increase of financial technology jobs to Delaware. Delaware’s financial services sector continues to add to the growth of our region’s workforce.


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Nintendo haven't had one of their best years. The new 3DS console has failed to grab consumers attention and shares in the company have dropped by 5%.
In the effort to counter this, Nintendo have announced the release of a new raft of games to hit the struggling 3D console platform – 4 new games are on their way to consumers. The announcement of the new games at the trade conference was to help excite users into a purchase as many people have complained that there aren't yet enough games available to invest in the new portable console.
Nintendo also slashed the price of the console in recent months, by a whopping 40% in some parts of the world, in the efforts to drive sales. This came less than 6 months after the console was originally released.
President Satoru Iwata also announced that they will update the game console hardware so the camera will be able to record 3D movies, which might help drive more sales to enthusiast users interested in the technology.
Kitguru says: Did you buy a 3DS?


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Front Porch Digital at the 2011 NAB Show announced the Archive Exchange Format (AXF), a generic encapsulation format for files of any type or size.
According to company Chief Technology Officer Brian Campanotti, Front Porch Digital is offering AXF to the industry as an open standard, which it hopes to see formalized by SMPTE.
In this video shot April 10 after the Front Porch Digital press conference at the 2011 NAB Show announcing AXF, Campanotti explains AXF and the effort the company is making to see it standardized.
Editor’s note: Those who wish to learn more about AXF should visit www.openaxf.org.
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A Health Canada study has indicated a huge difference in pesticide prevalence between regulated and illicit cannabis.
Medicinal cannabis has been legal in Canada since 2001 and was legalised for recreational use in 2018. Among the requirements for licensed producers is no unauthorized pesticides are used to treat cannabis or to have contaminated it.
Even with comparatively easy access to regulated cannabis, the illicit market in Canada is still thriving. The Canadian Cannabis Survey 2021 revealed up to 13% of Canadians still report consuming illicit cannabis almost exclusively. Without the same regulation and quality controls, this raises concerns related to health, including the presence of pesticides in illicit cannabis products.
In its study, Health Canada used an expanded 327 multi-residue pesticide analysis in cannabis inflorescence, with some unsettling results. 36 licensed samples were purchased from licence holders located in all five Canadian regions. 24 illicit cannabis samples were obtained from seizures by law enforcement officers across the country that had been submitted to Health Canada for laboratory testing. Both the licensed and illicit samples were acquired in 2021.
A combination of gas chromatography—triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS) and liquid chromatography—triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) were used for the simultaneous detection and quantification of 327 pesticide active ingredients. This is well above the mandatory testing for 96 pesticide active ingredients for licensed cannabis.
Licensed samples saw a 6% sample positivity rate. Only two pesticide residues were detected, myclobutanil and dichlobenil, and at the method’s lowest calibrated level (LCL) of 0.01 μg/g.
But for illicit cannabis inflorescence samples analysed, there was a 92% sample positivity rate covering 23 unique pesticide active ingredients – with 3.7 different pesticides identified on average per sample.
“Chlorpyrifos, imidacloprid, and myclobutanil were measured in illicit samples at concentrations up to three orders of magnitude above the method LCL of 0.01 μg/g,” state the researchers..
While acknowledging their work was a small study, the authors state the results support the Government of Canada messaging advising consumers that consumption of illicit cannabis can lead to adverse effects and other serious harms.
The Health Canada study report has been published in the Journal of Cannabis Research.
This content was originally published here.


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Debenhams agrees £200m lifeline - but Mike Ashley could still move in
The Sports Direct tycoon has until 8 April to make an improved offer for the department store chain
The Sports Direct boss has been given until 8 April to either make a new bid to take over the struggling department store chain or inject funds as part of a refinancing deal.
A new deal
A rescue package agreed by Debenhams bondholders on Friday paves the way for a major restructuring of the company, which could see 50 stores closed and hundreds of jobs lost.
Of the £200m facility agreed, £101m has been made available to draw down immediately. The remaining £99m will only be made available if Sports Direct - or any other shareholder with a 25 per cent stake - fulfils one of two conditions before a takeover deadline on 8 April.
Mr Ashley can either make a new takeover offer that includes arrangements to refinance the group’s debt, or can commit to either providing new funding for Debenhams or underwriting the issue of new shares.
Without the Sports Direct tycoon’s support, investors are “very likely” to see their shares in the company become worthless, the retailer said, including Sports Direct’s 29.7 per cent stake.
It is a sign of the times for Britain’s high streets, with Debenhams under a mound of debt largely stemming from its failure to adapt to changing consumer behaviour while battling increasing costs to operate its high street department stores.
"A desperate period"
Laith Khalaf, a senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that the tycoon was now “between a rock and hard place”.
"He faces either seeing his stake in Debenhams disappear, or having to stump up cash to keep shares in the company alive,” he said.
"This has been a really desperate period for Debenhams, and it now looks like the company is on the brink of seeing its shares extinguished, unless there's one last twist in the tale, courtesy of Mike Ashley."
Earlier on Friday, Mr Ashley said that “if there were any justice in the world the majority of [Debenhams’] advisers would be put in prison”.
Britain’s faltering high streets saw around 85,000 job losses in the first nine months of 2018, with big chains such as House of Fraser and Evans Cycles - both rescued by Mr Ashley - entering administration. In the same period, there has also been a 73 per cent rise in companies closing stores or cutting rents.


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The ACCC has even facilitated coordination between companies as they respond to pressing community needs during COVID-19.
This newsletter includes recent media releases, reports, cases and legislation relating to competition and consumer law.
Recent French case gives some important signals as to what will and will not work in a selective distribution system here.
Corrs Chambers Westgarth
The Full Court held that the proposed acquisition is not likely to substantially lessen competition in any market.
Davies Collison Cave
Over the last month, many Australian companies have been forced to quickly adapt in response to changes in consumer demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ACCC accepted that public benefits outweighed the detriments, and granted interim authorisation to the supermarkets.
Schoenherr Attorneys at Law
On 13 March 2020 the government declared a national state of emergency as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Canada's Competition Bureau has released a position statement regarding the acquisition by Canadian National Railway Company ("CN") of intermodal shipping assets of H&R Transport Limited ("H&R").
Affleck Greene McMurtry LLP
Following a record-breaking $5 billion (US) penalty imposed by the US Federal Trade Commission in July 2019, Facebook agreed to pay a $9 million (Canadian) ...
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
On April 29, 2020, the Competition Bureau (the Bureau) released a statement outlining how it reviews mergers involving apparently failing firms in Canada.
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
The Canadian agricultural sector is an important part of the country's economy, with farm market receipts reaching a record high in recent years and Canada ranking as one of the world's leading exporters of agricultural products.
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Combined with real estate, the building materials and construction industries contribute more to Canada's GDP than manufacturing, mining, and oil and gas extraction.
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
On April 29, in a rare decision based on the "failing firm" rationale, the Competition Bureau announced it would not challenge the acquisition of Total Metal Recovery Inc. by American Iron & Metal Company Inc., ...
As previously discussed in our Refresher on the Failing Firm Defence, many companies will be facing insolvency or bankruptcy in the aftermath of COVID-19.
Stikeman Elliott LLP
As we reported in an earlier article, the Competition Bureau is still very much on the job, even if staff are now working from home.
East & Concord Partners
On the first business day of Year 2020, China published for public comments a draft revisions to its Anti-Monopoly Law ("Draft Revisions").
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
On March 11, 2019, Nvidia Corporation (a US-based developer of graphics processing units (GPUs)) announced its intention to acquire Mellanox Technologies, a leading supplier of end-to-end Ethernet and InfiniBand...
On 20 April 2020, China's State Administration for Market Regulation made public the case concerning a new joint venture between Shanghai Mingcha Zhegang Management Consulting Co., Ltd. and Huansheng Information Technology Co., Ltd
Michael Kyprianou Advocates & Legal Consultants
We all deal with giants in our everyday lives. We depend on big companies for our most basic needs.
El 20 de abril de 2020 la Superintendencia de Control del Poder de Mercado emitió el procedimiento abreviado de análisis y control, aplicable a ciertas concentraciones económicas.


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In celebration of International Thank You Day, held on 11 January, eBay Australia announced that the Thankyou brand has joined the online marketplace.
Founded in 2008, Thankyou is an Australian social enterprise that gives 100 per cent of its profits—$4.8 million to date—to fund safe water, food, and hygiene and sanitation services around the world.
Launching on the marketplace will extend the brand’s reach to eBay Australia’s 11 million monthly visitors. Its store stocks the full range of Thankyou body and baby care products along with curated hampers.
Daniel Flynn, managing director and co-founder of Thankyou, said that working with eBay will help his brand continue to work towards the goal of ending global poverty.
“Having our products available on eBay is really exciting for us,” he said. “Through teaming up with eBay we’re able to widen our reach to sell more of our range, making an even bigger impact through our projects around the globe.”
Tim Mackinnon, eBay senior director retail growth, said that the company is proud to support the local business.
“Thankyou is an outstanding Australian brand and we are thrilled to welcome them on to eBay,” he said. “We are proud to support Thankyou by making it easier for shoppers to access their products anytime, anywhere, and support their great projects and cause.”
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Madhavan joins Genesys from PayPal where she helped define, shape and mature its platform solutions.
SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc. has drastically scaled back its automotive ambitions, leading to hundreds of job cuts and a new direction that, for now, no longer includes building its own car, according to people familiar with the project.
Hundreds of members of the car team, which comprises about 1,000 people, have been reassigned, let go, or have left of their own volition in recent months, the people said, asking not to be identified because the moves aren’t public.
New leadership of the initiative, known internally as Project Titan, has re-focused on developing an autonomous driving system that gives Apple flexibility to either partner with existing carmakers, or return to designing its own vehicle in the future, the people also said. Apple has kept staff numbers in the team steady by hiring people to help with the new focus, according to another person.
The new shift and deadline come after months of strategy disagreements, leadership flux and supply chain challenges inside Apple’s unmarked car labs in Sunnyvale, California, a short drive from its Cupertino headquarters.
Apple isn’t the first to realize mastery of mobile gadgets and software updates is no guarantee of automotive success. Alphabet Inc.’s Google learned the challenges of building its own vehicles and has sought partners. Its car project has also suffered departures. Tech investors are dubious too. They’re used to fat profit margins, while carmakers survive on net margins well below 10%.
“For a quality Apple-branded car they could probably get a healthy margin,” said Eric Paul Dennis, an analyst at the Center for Automotive Research. “They probably weren’t willing to compromise on quality issues” because that could hurt the perception of its other products, he added. Apple started Titan in 2014 and an Apple-designed vehicle was targeted by the early 2020s.