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Abbrea Capital LLC Has $281,000 Stake in Starbucks Co. (SBUX)
Abbrea Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 22.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,225 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 1,490 shares during the period. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SBUX. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 3,076.5% during the 2nd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,889,820 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $809,917,000 after buying an additional 13,452,551 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments CA purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $498,863,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 539.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,918,784 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $228,504,000 after buying an additional 3,305,700 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 94,417,613 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $5,505,491,000 after buying an additional 1,953,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 3,007.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,904,800 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $111,069,000 after buying an additional 1,843,500 shares in the last quarter. 70.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
SBUX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Starbucks from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. Mizuho set a $75.00 target price on Starbucks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Starbucks from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 10th. Vetr downgraded Starbucks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $60.91 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank decreased their target price on Starbucks to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Starbucks has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.23.
Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The coffee company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.55. Starbucks had a return on equity of 53.34% and a net margin of 12.89%. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. sell-side analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.
In other news, Director Craig Weatherup sold 56,666 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.73, for a total value of $3,214,662.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,214,662.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joshua Cooper Ramo sold 60,000 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $3,565,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 497,808 shares of company stock valued at $28,559,521. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.
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Starbucks Corporation (Starbucks) is a roaster, marketer and retailer of coffee. As of October 2, 2016, the Company operated in 75 countries. The Company operates through four segments: Americas, which is inclusive of the United States, Canada, and Latin America; China/Asia Pacific (CAP); Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and Channel Development.
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Ubisoft have today dropped a bomb (quite literally), as not only did they confirm that Rayman Legends for the Wii U is delayed until September, but they also confirmed that the game, with some minor alterations, will also be released onto the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 later this year.
Rayman Legends was originally designed as a Wii U Exclusive, however since then Ubisoft have delayed the game twice and more recently announced that it will be released onto the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in addition to the Wii U, as Geoffroy Sardin, EMEA Chief Marketing & Sales Officer for Ubisoft explains:
“We heard from many Xbox & Playstation owners and Rayman fans who told us they really wanted to play Rayman Legends on their current system, We decided to give the fans what they wanted while at the same time broadening the audience exposed to this innovative and memorable game.”
All Three versions of Rayman Legends are being developed by the same company, Ubisoft Montpellier, additionally all three games will be released at the same time, which is currently slated for an earlier September 2013 release window.
Rayman Legends isn’t the only game to loose its ‘Exclusivity’ to the Wii U, as yesterday Tecmo Koei Europe confirmed that Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge will also be released onto the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, a game which was originally another Wii U Exclusive.

domain: news


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More VW Vehicles Have Emission-Cheating Devices: U.S.
WASHINGTON: Volkswagen (VW) has admitted there are more diesel vehicles that use defeat devices to circumvent emissions tests, the U.S. government has said.
Volkswagen officials told the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on Thursday that they installed defeat devices in all Volkswagen and Audi vehicles equipped with three liter diesel engines for model years 2009 through 2016, Xinhua quoted the EPA and CARB as saying in a statement.
"Based on this information, EPA and CARB will continue to investigate and will take appropriate action under their respective authorities," the statement said.
On September 18, the EPA and CARB issued a notice of violation alleging that about 482,000 VW and Audi diesel cars equipped with two liter engines for model years 2009 through 2015 included defeat devices that circumvents EPA emissions standards for nitrogen oxides.
On November 2, the US regulators issued a second notice of violation alleging that Volkswagen installed defeat devices in certain Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche light duty diesel vehicles equipped with three liter engines for model years 2014 through 2016 that increase emissions of nitrogen oxide up to nine times EPA's standard.


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During a media conference held in Lagos, Tranzfar Limited, a global provider of payment solutions with a focus on remittances, payment infrastructure, and digital banking, announced the expansion of its ground-breaking Freedom Account to more than 100 countries. This significant accomplishment represents a significant advancement in the company’s mission to offer accessible and secure financial solutions to people everywhere.
The Freedom Account is a flexible financial platform created to give people and businesses the freedom to manage their money effectively, conduct international business, and utilize a number of banking services without being constrained by conventional banking systems.
Ryan Romeo, managing director and chief executive officer of Tranzfar, said in a speech at the event, “We are indeed thrilled to have reached this significant milestone in our journey to provide accessible financial services globally. We remain steadfast in our dedication to customer satisfaction and financial inclusion, and we look forward to providing services to even more clients in the future.
According to Dr. Olusiji Sanya, co-founder and chief financial officer of Tranzfar, Tranzfar has had a number of successes with The Freedom Bank Account over the past year, including onboarding thousands of new customers and expanding its access to over 100 countries, all of which are consistent with the ethos and spirit of the freedom account. The account now has the following features: an integrated enterprise solution for businesses, a virtual card, multi-currency capabilities, including GBP, USD, and EURO-denominated account capabilities.
“We are launching a business access point that will enable companies and businesses to have a suitable Freedom Bank Account. We also provide businesses with FX conversion capabilities if they want to conduct transactions in different currencies. Therefore, in addition to providing businesses with a bank account, we also enable them to convert funds into up to 70 different currencies. Our enterprise solution also provides businesses with access to a global payment infrastructure, said Dr. Olusiji.
According to Sarah Essien, a member of the Tranzfar Board of Directors, “The Freedom Account has lived up to its name, liberating Africans in 100 countries by giving them access to financial opportunities that were previously only available to those living on the continent. With our safe, effective, and reliable platform, we have achieved this by fostering a connection between Africa and the rest of the world.


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Hauppauge Digital narrowed its second quarter net loss to $347,000 from $1.4 million a year ago as net sales increased by 10 percent to $11.3 million.
The Hauppauge-based developer of TV receivers, video recorders, Internet video streaming devices and other products for personal computers said sales were boosted by its new myT receiver products for the iPad and iPhone and a new video game recording product, the HD PVR Gaming Edition.
The company cut costs by 18 percent from a year ago, helping to narrow its loss, although it’s continuing to invest in research and development.[dmc-related-post-wp numitems="3" title="Also read"]
“Hauppauge continues to move ahead with our research and development program,” CEO Ken Plotkin said.
After the end of the second quarter, the firm unveiled StreamEez, a hardware video encoder to provide “a simple way to video stream an event over the Internet.”
The product is designed for small to medium size groups and institutions such as universities, religious organizations and political groups.
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Tomorrow sees shops across the world take part in Record Store Day, offering exclusive releases from all kinds of artists. Here’re some of our favorites.
All posts tagged ‘The Flaming Lips’
- 6:30 AM
This week electropop outfit Chvrches covered the theme song to Game of Thrones — joining a long line of great covers of TV theme songs.
- 2:36 PM
From iPhone symphonies to telescope concerts, Oklahoma art-rock band The Flaming Lips is getting weirder as it gets older. “There are no rules anymore,” said Lips front man and enthusiastic imagineer Wayne Coyne, who celebrated his 50th birthday in January, …
- 7:27 PM
The Flaming Lips’ new single is a YouTube symphony that requires 12 smartphones to be properly heard. Released on Valentine’s Day, the audio tracks that make up “Two Blobs Fucking” are spread across a dozen different YouTube videos. Each of …
- 12:30 PM
Challenging math-punk trio Tera Melos takes dorks to the dark side in the hilarious but disturbing low-budget video for “The Skin Surf.” Its scattershot imagery, stuffed with suspicious liquids and mysterious meats, makes for destabilizing viewing, even though it seems …


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Hong Kong’s retail sales shrank for the third year in a row in 2016 and by the most in nearly two decades, hurt by the city’s economic downturn and fewer tourists from mainland China.
The prolonged slump in the once-flourishing retail industry may be bottoming out, but analysts say it is too early to call for a recovery yet as store closures and lay-offs continue.
“Looking ahead, the near-term outlook for retail sales business will still depend on whether the recent improvement in inbound tourism could gain more traction and the extent to which local consumer sentiment would be affected by various external uncertainties,” the government said in a statement.
Overall retail sales slid 8.1 percent to HK$436.6 billion ($56.3 billion) in value terms, its biggest percentage drop since 1998 when sales fell 16.7 percent during the Asian financial crisis. Retail sales volume was down 7.1 percent last year, government data showed on Friday.
In December, retail sales value slid for the 22nd straight month, down 2.9 percent from a year earlier to HK$42.4 billion. That compared with a revised 5.4 percent fall in November.
A narrower decline in December reflected a revival in visitor arrivals, the government said. In volume terms, December sales fell 2.8 percent from a year earlier.
Hong Kong, once a favourite shopping destination for mainland Chinese, has been facing greater competition from Japan and South Korea. Hong Kong’s simmering political tensions with China and a strong local dollar – pegged to the U.S. currency – have added to retailers’ frustrations.
“We can’t say the adjustment has come to an end, nor has it come to a stage where we are about to rebound,” said Kent Wong, managing director of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery. The jeweller aims to close 5 to 6 stores in the city in 2017.
Sales of jewellery, watches, clocks and valuable gifts rose 2.3 percent in value terms, ending 27 consecutive months of decline. Department store sales value fell 3.2 percent in December.
Total visitor arrivals fell 4.5 percent to 56.65 million in 2016, of which mainland visitors dropped 6.7 percent to 42.78 million. In December, the arrivals number rose 5.4 percent, an improvement against a 2.1 percent fall in November and 2.4 percent decline in October. Mainland China visitors rose 6.1 percent in the month. (bit.ly/2kiGRvZ)
The government said on Thursday the total number of visitors rose 4.8 percent in January, while mainland visitors climbed 7.5 percent.
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Global fashion search platform Lyst, in partnership with BoF, today released a new instalment of The Lyst Index, the must-see quarterly …


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Dueling Qualcomm, Apple rulings leave battle lines unchanged
By Jan Wolfe and Stephen Nellis (Reuters) - Split decisions on Tuesday by a U.S. government panel in acrimonious patent disputes between iPhone-maker Apple and chip supplier Qualcomm left the battle lines largely unmoved ahead of a U.S Federal Trade Commission ruling and a major trial next month. The International Trade Commission, a government agency empowered to hear disputes over patented technology, issued a final ruling in one case that went in Apple's favour while an ITC administrative judge made a non-binding recommendation that supported Qualcomm.
By Jan Wolfe and Stephen Nellis
(Reuters) - Split decisions on Tuesday by a U.S. government panel in acrimonious patent disputes between iPhone-maker Apple and chip supplier Qualcomm left the battle lines largely unmoved ahead of a U.S Federal Trade Commission ruling and a major trial next month.
The International Trade Commission, a government agency empowered to hear disputes over patented technology, issued a final ruling in one case that went in Apple's favour while an ITC administrative judge made a non-binding recommendation that supported Qualcomm.
In both cases Qualcomm Inc sought to have imports of Apple Inc iPhone 7, 8 and X models containing chips made by Intel Corp banned. Because iPhones are made overseas, banning imports would choke Apple's sales of the phones in the United States.
The two American companies have been locked for two years in a sprawling legal dispute in which Apple has accused Qualcomm of unfair patent licensing practices. Qualcomm has in turn accused Apple of patent infringement.
Qualcomm and Apple did not immediately comment after the second ruling.
Gaston Kroub, a patent lawyer in New York not involved in the cases, said Qualcomm's strategy at the ITC was to use the threat of a sales ban to pressure Apple into reaching a settlement of all patent and antitrust claims between the companies.
"Qualcomm will be happy they got at least something, but at the end of day, with this final determination, Apple will be emboldened to think it can continue to ward off Qualcomm's attacks," Kroub said. "I don't see anything here that would impact Apple's defence strategy."
The focus moves now to upcoming skirmishes that will likely be more important. A ruling is expected soon in an antitrust case brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission accusing Qualcomm of abusing a monopoly on mobile chip technology.
A case brought by Apple making similar claims goes to trial in April.
After the non-binding decision in Qualcomm's favour was announced on Tuesday, Apple shares closed down 1 percent to $186.79 in regular trading, and Qualcomm closed up 2.4 percent to $58.
In late trading after the announcement of the binding decision that favoured Apple, Apple shares moved up .5 percent and Qualcomm shares moved down .4 percent.
Qualcomm has filed lawsuits in the United States, China, Germany and other countries alleging the iPhone uses its technology without authorization. Apple has a lawsuit pending in California alleging Qualcomm's seeks inflated royalties for licensing its technology in violation of antitrust laws.
Qualcomm has a patent infringement suit against Apple in federal court and sales bans against Apple in China and Germany, though the China ban has not been enforced and Apple resumed sales of phones in Germany by shipping phones with only Qualcomm chips.
But Apple has also racked up victories by invalidating many Qualcomm patents, and the chip supplier has been dealt setbacks in its FTC trial, where a pre-trial ruling forced it to license its technology to other chip firms.
In a separate case that centred on some of the same patents at issue in the ITC case decided Tuesday, a jury in federal civil court in San Diego earlier this month found that Apple infringed three Qualcomm patents.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Stephen Nellis; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Robin Emmott and John Irish | BRUSSELS/PARIS BRUSSELS/PARIS France and Germany will agree to a U.S. plan for NATO to take a bigger role in the fight against Islamic militants at a meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday, but insist the move is purely symbolic, four senior European diplomats said.The decision to allow the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to join the coalition against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq follows weeks of pressure on the two allies, who are wary of NATO confronting Russia in Syria and of alienating Arab countries who see NATO as pushing a pro-Western agenda."NATO as an institution will join the coalition," said one senior diplomat involved in the discussions. "The question is whether this just a symbolic gesture to the United States
BEIJING Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for greater efforts to make the country's navy a world class one, strong in operations on, below and above the surface, as it steps up its ability to project power far from its shores.China's navy has taken an increasingly prominent role in recent months, with a rising star admiral taking command, its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and a new aircraft carrier launched last month.With President Donald Trump promising a US shipbuilding spree and unnerving Beijing with his unpredictable approach on hot button issues including Taiwan and the South and East China Seas, China is pushing to narrow the gap with the U.S. Navy.Inspecting navy headquarters, Xi said the navy should "aim for the top ranks in the world", the Defence Ministry said in a statement about his visit."Building a strong and modern navy is an important mark of a top ranking global military," the ministry paraphrased Xi as saying.


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“Total Divas” star Eva Marie will not be forced to sue a “massage parlor” for using her image in their advertisement — Pro Wrestling Sheet has learned her picture has been officially removed.
We broke the story … Eva’s legal team fired off a letter to the owners of Candy’s Therapy in Colton, Ca after they used her pic to promote the business — warning they’d sue if it wasn’t taken down.
The owners clearly got the message, because the image on BackPage.com was removed Tuesday.
The ad — which featured video of a woman in short-shorts shaking her butt at the top — has now replaced Eva’s photo with a simple pair of butt cheeks being slightly spread (seen below).
No word on whether those cheeks are actually at the parlor.


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Stay current on the latest developments from agencies including the CFPB, Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC to advise clients on real-life regulatory situations.
By Liz Crampton
Farmer and environmental groups discouraged by the Justice Department’s clearance of Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co.’s merger have set their sights on swaying antitrust regulators to block Bayer AG’s bid for Monsanto Co.
The agriculture industry has faced a wave of mergers that stand to reshape how farmers purchase inventory. Dow and DuPont was approved by the DOJ last month and ChemChina’s purchase of Syngenta AG passed regulatory muster in April. Bayer and Monsanto’s tie-up is the last of the trio of deals on the table.
During its routine investigation of Bayer and Monsanto, Justice Department lawyers have met with groups concerned about agriculture consolidation. The groups see the meetings as a chance to share their perspectives and offer guidance on how they think antitrust regulators should view the deal. Farmers and environmental activists say the companies’ combined control of seed and pesticide markets might increase prices.
“I think it’s going to be a bad deal for American farmers,” John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, a 109,000 member group, told Bloomberg BNA.
Boyd said he met with DOJ lawyers last month. Based on their line of questioning, he said he got the sense they’re focusing on what the merged company’s market shares would be in herbicides and pesticides.
The DOJ doesn’t comment on active investigations.
“They continue to say that these mergers will continue to be good for small-scale producers like myself,” Boyd said of merging companies like Dow and DuPont. “But history has told us that these mergers have hurt small-scale producers with the continued high cost of seed, herbicide, and pesticide.”
Bayer and Monsanto believe the deal will help their ability to innovate. Combined R&D hubs “are expected to result in significant and lasting benefits for farmers: from improved sourcing and increased convenience to higher yield, better environmental protection and sustainability,” the companies said in their merger announcement.
A spokeswoman for Monsanto didn’t comment specifically to the farmers’ concerns, but she pointed to a June earnings call in which CEO Hugh Grant said the combination with Bayer will help the company bring innovative offerings to growers.
“We remain encouraged by the advancement of other proposed combinations as our industry undergoes a healthy transformation to better serve the world’s farmers,” Grant said on the call. “And while other deals have their merits, we believe this merger is uniquely beneficial.”
Grant said the Bayer-Monsanto merger could benefit growers by accelerating innovation, delivering integrated solution tools, and expanding offerings to new crops and geographies.
A Bayer spokesman told Bloomberg BNA the companies are convinced their merger will deliver more choice, quality, and food security. “Growers worldwide will benefit from a broad set of solutions to meet their current and future needs, including enhanced solutions in seeds and traits, chemical and biological crop protection, and digital farming,” he said.
Opponents are telling DOJ officials to look closely at whether improved innovation is sure to come from the deal. A merged Bayer-Monsanto facing less competition would have less incentive to invest in new projects, they argue.
“We need them to start looking at this,” said Patty Lovera, assistant director of Food and Water Watch. “It’s the right way to look at these deals.”
The Justice Department has increasingly focused on how mergers could impact a new company’s ability to innovate. That reasoning was part of the DOJ’s thinking last year in suing to block the merger of Halliburton Co’s purchase of Baker Hughes. Officials were concerned the tie-up would lead to reduced innovation in the oil field services industry.
More recently, the DOJ cited a threat to innovation in moving to stop John Deere Co.'s purchase of Monsanto’s precision planting business. That deal was abandoned earlier this year ahead of trial.
To obtain U.S. antitrust clearance, Dow and DuPont agreed to divest some major assets. DuPont will sell off some of its herbicide and insecticide products, and Dow will give up plastics packaging units.
According to Lovera, those concessions aren’t enough to alleviate the deal’s competitive harms. “That was a pretty narrow prescription in terms of fixing what was wrong,” she said. “It’s indicative of, and this is not new to this administration, a very narrow look at what these mergers mean.”
Regulators are “missing the broader point” by focusing on explicit head-to-head product competition between merging companies instead of examining how all the agriculture mergers impact farmers on a large scale, Lovera added. “We don’t think that analysis is keeping up with the level of consolidation and control that we see in these markets.”
The DOJ’s “very specific divestment remedies” don’t provide comfort to farmers that officials understand the platform they could get locked into, she said. For example, if farmers purchase seeds from chemical companies, then they’ll also be obligated to buy pesticides and herbicides engineered for those seeds.
Greater consolidation means farmers have less options and will be forced to buy from a few industry players and absorb their higher prices, she said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Liz Crampton in Washington at email@example.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Fawn Johnson at firstname.lastname@example.org
Copyright © 2017 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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The fed cattle price recovery that has been painstakingly built since early September has eroded in an extraordinary decline over the past two weeks.
The share of Prime carcasses has more than doubled in the past 5 years, spelling greater availability and consequential wider usage among end users.
Certified Angus Beef fiscal 2019 sales tonnage volume has increased almost 6% with the June data not yet final.
The fed cattle market is holding strong in late July within a narrow trading range.
While consumers have long preferred a highly marbled, juicy steak or roast from the rib and loin, the industry struggles to achieve much premium from Choice over Select on the lower priced cuts.
The beef cattle trade has been highlighting this winter’s weather market for several weeks now, but the impact from last week’s bomb cyclone the cattle feeding belt has escalated problems for cattle performance.
May is Beef Month and the push for sales in volume is underway, driven on the promise of spring grilling demand.
The fed steer and heifer market keeps working toward normalized levels, but at a very slow pace. Last week’s $101/cwt. steer price was roughly a dollar higher than the week prior.


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Gumtree Boosts Conversion Rates and Drives 44% Email Click Uplift
With inboxes getting more crowded by the day, even the UK’s #1 classified ads site needs to do more than keep a finger on the pulse of its CRM strategy. As the fight for the world’s digital attention span grows fiercer with each email campaign send, Gumtree was looking for a solution to solve its open rate decline.
A key member of the vaunted eBay Group since 2005, Gumtree has successfully brought online classified ads to the masses, helping grow the world’s thriving online retail marketplace since the company’s founding in March 2000.
Subject line effectiveness decay had led to Gumtree’s subject line copy gradually losing its ability to garner the opens, clicks, and ROI required. Despite making a concerted effort to manage the problem in-house, email marketing engagement numbers have on occasion impacted Gumtree’s growth.
Gumtree’s CRM Manager, Ed Lye, knew the problem centered on open rates. “The problem we needed to solve was that our open rates were really poor, and had been declining regularly. We needed to bring something in to get our clients to actually open our emails.”
Head of CRM and Social, Matt Button, agreed: “Open rates were not really growing at the rate we wanted them to grow. I could see it was quite an acute problem, and that we had to do a lot to revitalize our whole CRM strategy.”
Enter Phrasee. Put simply, Phrasee’s AI-powered content results in better email marketing language than humans can write. Part of that includes powerful machine learning algorithms that learn what works, and what doesn’t, to optimize future messaging. It’s a fast fix for email campaign performance, delivering more clicks, opens, and conversions almost instantly. Yet, in learning over time, it also improves on ROI in the long run. It’s a win-win situation.
“We don’t need to know how it works. We just know that it works for us. I think it’s magic.”Ed Lye – CRM Manager, Gumtree
As an added benefit, Phrasee’s AI-powered content was easy to implement, aligning with Gumtree’s existing marketing technology, Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Phrasee’s Salesforce AppExchange app provides a streamlined integration with the Salesforce Marketing Cloud for creating and sending split tests using Phrasee-generated subject lines. Phrasee users can install the app and get started using their existing account details. The app automates the process of setting up the email sends for a split test, scheduling the test sends and monitoring results to determine a test winner. Results are then auto-fed back into Phrasee for ongoing learning.
And the results? Gumtree’s subject lines are back on track. Lye says that the results speak for themselves: “To date, we’ve had a 35% increase in opens, sometimes even going up to 50%.”
As the team at Gumtree knows all too well, recycling and repurposing something old can breathe new life into it. But sometimes, getting the job done right means looking for something new, and Phrasee is ahead of the game in delivering a marketing solution that is cutting edge.


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‘Antique’ Ivory Investigation Strengthens Case For Trade Ban
The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation has renewed its call for the total ban on the sales of ivory, after a new investigation reiterated that ‘antique’ ivory legally on sale in Europe is often actually from recently poached elephants.
Researchers from the online campaigning community Avaaz bought 100 ivory products from antique dealers and private sellers across Europe. After carbon dating the items, 75% were found to be modern ivory. Ivory from an elephant killed by poachers as recently as 2010 was among the specimens tested.
Rob Hepworth, DSWF’s Senior Advisor for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), said: “The Avaaz report shows that EU governments are completely misguided in denying the links between the antique ivory exemption in Europe and the poaching of wild elephants. We need swift action to ensure the closure of the world’s last remaining, legalised ivory consumer market.”
Ivory dating from before 1947 is classed under EU laws as antique and can currently be legally traded. All the ivory pieces sampled by the researchers had been advertised as originating from before 1947 or had no date information.
The legal ivory market in the EU is mainly made up of small items, but added together, they could account for several tonnes of ivory sold every year.
It is shocking that Avaaz found that around a fifth of pieces that its researchers bought and tested in the UK were found to be breaking the law and were falsely marketed as being antique ivory.
“This should reinforce the views of those European Commission officials who want to move towards a total EU ivory sales ban. It also shows how right the UK government is to push through a near-total ban on ivory sales in the UK,” added Rob.
More than 50 elephants are still being killed every day for their ivory – much of it finding its way onto the Asian markets.
To learn more about our position on the ivory trade and to help DSWF fight wildlife crime and protect elephant populations click here.


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Gaming establishment Lucky Hippo opened April 11 at 6081 FM 1660, Ste. 400, Hutto. Patrons at Lucky Hippo can play a selection of casino-style games. A portion of the proceeds go to local nonprofits including the Hutto Resource Center, Texas Firewalkers and the Texas Fallen Project. 737-642-9777. www.myluckyhippo.com
A new sushi restaurant called Sushi Zoa opened April 10 at 4909 Gattis School Road, Ste. 120, Hutto. The restaurant’s menu includes sushi rolls, sashimi, teriyaki, and an assortment of other Japanese and Korean dishes. Sushi Zoa also has a sommelier to help with wine pairings. Owner Jay Chung previously owned and operated Ebisu Japanese Restaurant in Austin before selling to new owners. 512-300-0089. www.sushizoa.com
A new location of national sports retailer Academy Sports + Outdoors will come to Hutto’s Townwest Commons shopping center on Hwy. 79. The city and Townwest Commons developer NewQuest Properties announced Academy would build the store at an April 6 City Council meeting. NewQuest Managing Partner Jay Sears said the 50,000-square-foot store will be the ninth in the Austin area. Sears said construction will begin before the end of April, and it is expected to be ready to open by early 2024. www.academy.com
An Uptown Liquor and Vape is coming to 6111 S. FM 1660, Ste. 100, Hutto. Managing partner Asif Prasla confirmed construction on the store should be complete by June 1 but could not yet provide an opening date. When complete, the store will occupy 1,500 square feet next to the Neighbors Market convenience store.


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Clear photos from the event have yet to emerge, but in the above set you can easily discern Markle’s gold and diamond feather earrings. The duchess opted to wear her hair up in a sleek bun with loose face-framing tendrils to better highlight her earrings, which were reportedly found by a friend at a vintage stall at London’s Portobello Market four years ago. Markle had apparently been a fan of the baubles for years and finally found the perfect dress to borrow them for.
Her frock wasn’t as much of a bargain, however. The new mom donned a sheer Valentino embellished tulle evening dress with sequins, a deep V-neck, a cinched waist, subtle balloon sleeves and a silk slip underneath.
Prince Harry attended Nonoo’s nuptials to American energy entrepreneur Michael Hess wearing a classic black tuxedo. He and Markle left baby Archie at home for their Roman getaway but they did bring him along on their tour to South Africa, which kicked off this week.
Markle and Nonoo have been friends for years (since around 2015), and Markle even wore one of her designs the first time she stepped out with Prince Harry at the 2017 Invictus Games. Most recently, the friends collaborated on Markle’s Smart Set fashion capsule collection for Smart Works.
That said, it’s no wonder the Duchess of Sussex went with such a stunning outfit for the occasion.


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Fiat Chrysler is planning a major expansion for the Alfa Romeo brand, so naturally, they’ll need an SUV to help bring the types of customers into showrooms that the Giulia sedan and 4C sportscar can’t. Little is known about the incoming crossover, however Car & Driver recently sat down with Alfa Romeo’s North American boss Reid Bigland at the LA Auto Show, who revealed some interesting info in regards to the upcoming SUV.
Earlier this year we posted some well done renderings of what the Alfa Romeo SUV could look like, and from the sounds of it, the artist may have gotten the proportions and size of the vehicle just right. Bigland revealed the vehicle will be “just a little bit bigger than a BMW X3,” and will have “really gorgeous Italian design,” which we predict will be not too dissimilar from the Giulia’s.
Bigland also said the SUV will have “peerless performance when it comes to zero-to-60 and Nürburgring times,” hinting at a potential high-performance Quadrifoglio Verde model variant. That model would likely share many parts with the Giulia QV, a car that has also set new segment benchmarks in regards to on-paper performance and Nürburgring lap times.
If you like the way all this sounds, and we’re sure you do, you’ll have to stay patient. Bigland says the car won’t be around until “early 2017,” or “maybe earlier in Europe,” but added that its “well underway,’ and that dealers have already gotten a peak at it.


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SOUTH Korea’s home appliance maker, Cuckoo Electronics Co Ltd, plans to build a RM100 million factory in Malaysia to produce water purifier products.
The expansion of its manufacturing to Port Klang, Selangor, will bridge the demand gap due to Southeast Asia’s rapid growth with its huge potential market, apart from trimming transportation cost.
Speaking to reporters at Cuckoo’s 40th Anniversary celebration held from March 4 to Saturday here, its chief executive officer Brian Koo Bon Hak, said: “We’re checking out properties and carrying out a feasibility study”.
He said the company, which ranked No. 1 for rice cooker in South Korea, might build two other factories in Indonesia and India to meet the rising demand.
Currently, it has two plants in Yangsan and Siheung with total production capacity of more than 4.5 million sets annually.
Cuckoo Electronics’ main products include multi-functional electric pressure cooker, electric rice cooker, water purifier, air treatment, induction range and cook ware.
Meanwhile, Koo said the company was targeting US$1.5 billion (RM5.87 billion) in sales this year, from US$760 million last year, by offering more product portfolios and venturing into Vietnam, India and Indonesia in search for new customers.
“We’re adding a lot of productline-up like not only rice cooker and water purifier but also some blender, highly induction range, healthcare and pet care.
“We’ve taken steps to expand from one geographic market to another. We have started Malaysian business since two to three years ago while in Brunei and Singapore last year.
“We are also targeting Indonesia, Vietnam and India. And, we’re also thinking of exploring the United States and China markets, too,” he said.
For its Southeast Asian business, Cuckoo International (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Hoe Kian Choon said he was confident of achieving a sales target of RM500 million for this year from RM208 million last year.
The company will add its Brandstore and Brandkiosk to 600, from only 330 last year, and offer the best quality service to customers.
Hoe said the construction of its new factory in Malaysia at a minimum cost of RM100 million would provide jobs to Malaysians and boost its business operation.–BERNAMA


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CRM software company Salesforce has launched a US$50 million ($70.5 million) Australia Trailblazer Fund to invest in local startups.
Artesian Venture Partners has partnered with the Grains Research and Development Corporation to launch GrainInnovate, a $50 million agtech fund.
GOFAR has created a device that, plugged into a vehicle’s diagnostic port, can track a driver’s performance, monitor the car’s health, and easily log mileage expenses via a connected app.
Women-focused ridesharing service Shebah has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for expansion.
After announcing its launch last November, investment bank Investec has raised $45 million to reach the first close of its Emerging Companies Fund 1.
Courier service Sendle has raised $20 million in a Series B round led by Federation, with participation from Full Circle Venture Capital, Rampersand, and Giant Leap Fund.
Auckland edutech startup Kami has raised $1.42 million (NZ$1.5 million) in funding led by Australian venture capital firm Right Click Capital.
“Equity crowdfunding is a way of getting started”: New Zealand’s Snowball Effect on the growth of crowdfunding
Snowball Effect launched to make it easier for investors to directly invest into companies after observing how difficult it could be in New Zealand.
If your pitch isn’t, well, pitch perfect, you run the risk of spooking potential investors and having to start again. You are asking someone to take a giant leap of faith and handover their cash to a perfect stranger with no guarantee of return.
HubSpot is the latest company to move into the corporate venture capital space, building on its handful of investments with the launch of a dedicated US$30 million ($41.5 million) fund.
Sydney workforce management startup Deputy has raised $111 million in a Series B funding round led by Silicon Valley firm IVP, which has backed the likes of Dropbox, Slack, and Twitter.
Insurance startup Huddle has raised $19.25 million in a Series A round led by AirTree Ventures, with participation from existing backer Holland Insurance, Alium Capital, and SevenWest Media.
Arkose Labs, a fraud and abuse prevention startup, has secured a strategic investment from PayPal.
Founded by Dr Vaughan Shanks following his experiences working at the Australian Department of Defence and data analytics company Palantir, Cydarm is a cybersecurity incident response system.
Becoming Australia’s most successful Kickstarter project in 2016, nura has closed a $21 million Series A round led by existing backer Blackbird Ventures to push the rollout of its flagship product, the nuraphone.


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Indian technology company Quantivier is set to launch it’s newest offering, Frenn, the world’s first Product Specific Projection (PSP) E-Commerce platform.
Quantivier (registered as an Indian Private Limited firm Quantivier Business Line), an Indian internet technology company is set to unveil its newest innovative market offering in the Lifestyle domain on the 15th of August 2020. The launch pioneers the set up of the world’s first Product Specific Projection (PSP) E-Commerce platform under the brand name Frenn.
With the launch, Quantivier is further diversifying its business portfolio which already boasts brands like Driyv (Shared Mobility), Synergy Syam (Technology Business Consulting), and the S.U.B.R.A. Foundation (Philanthropy).
Meghasyam Madineni, CEO, Quantivier said, “At Quantivier, we always strive to create solutions which leverage technology to revolutionize crucial spheres of the day-to-day lives of individuals and corporations. The Product Specific Projection platform is one such breakthrough innovation that will forever change the way customers approach the buying process.”
The launch of the lifestyle brand Frenn accompanies Quantivier’s foray into air taxi services and airplane and helicopter charter services, which further expands its offerings under the shared mobility brand Driyv.
The Product Specific Projection (PSP) platform will forever change the way customers approach the e-commerce buying process.Meghasyam Madineni, CEO, Quantivier
Quantivier has kept details about the offering under tight wraps as it approaches the crucial launch. When we reached out for more details, the company declined to reveal more information about the new offering. So stay tuned at www.quantivier.world and www.fb.com/quantivier to view launch updates.


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NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Online video views are not sales. But if they're even only suggestive of interest, Research in Motion has to be happy with the performance of the two-minute intro video for its iPad-fighting Playbook tablet, which debuts at No. 2 on the Viral Video Chart this week.
The two-minute video, which like Amazon's recent campaign for the Kindle took several swings at the iPad ("Flash-loving"; "multitasking"), took more than 1.7 million video views in its first week, with no obvious paid promotion to support it. Hard to know for sure who's paying and who isn't in these video campaigns, but Visible Measures notes that BlackBerry's view curve was smooth, with none of the sharp spikes that can signal a paid deal.
Most of the views came from sites clearly covering the launch of the device, pitched as a "professional tablet," including Yahoo News, Engadget, Gizmodo, Macrumors and Crackberry. Yahoo News alone referred 160,000 views in the first week.
While BlackBerry's Playbook video didn't surpass the first week for "Meet iPad" (2.4 million), it's certainly barged into the conversation, reflecting perhaps that BlackBerry owners still outnumber iPhone owners by a long shot. The BlackBerry Playbook video came very close to Apple's iPhone 4 Face Time Campaign, which got only 100,000 more views (1.8 million) back in June.
Also new on the chart this week is the very first video from Buick, which let a bunch of automotive journalists take it for a lap around Germany's Nurburgring, and the latest installment from Old Spice, which enlisted fearsome Baltimore Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis for its consistently hilarious body wash campaign. Mr. Lewis is no Isaiah Mustafa, and though the ad has appeared on TV, it's been a sleeper online, likely getting a paid promo push around the first of the month to scratch its way onto the chart.
|Last Week||Brand||Campaign||Agency||Current Week Views*||% Change in Views**||Watch the Spot|
|1||1||DC Shoes||Gymkhana Three||In-house||2,776,404||-37%|
|3||New||Buick||Moment of Truth||Digitas||1,497,364||New|
|4||3||Axe||Clean Your Balls||BBH||1,218,289||0%|
|5||4||Nokia||It's What You Do With It||Wieden & Kennedy||947,389||-13%|
|6||8||Evian||Live Young||BETC Euro RSCG||893,708||+6%|
|7||6||DC Shoes||Gymkhana Two||In-house||877,395||-17%|
|8||New||Old Spice||Greatest Smell in the NFL||Wieden & Kennedy||776,701||New|
|9||9||Geico||Really Save||The Martin Agency||759,627||0%|
|10||New||Axe||World's Manliest Rituals||Mindshare||747,053||New|
Source: Visible Measures
*The Visible Measures Top 10 Viral Video Ad Campaigns Chart focuses on brand-driven viral video ads that appear on online-video-sharing destinations. Each campaign is measured on a True Reach basis, which includes viewership of both brand-syndicated video clips and viewer-driven social video placements. The data are compiled using the Visible Measures Viral Reach Database, a constantly growing repository of analytic data on more than 100 million internet videos across more than 150 video-sharing destinations.
Note: This analysis does not include Visible Measures' paid-placement (i.e., overlays, pre-/mid-/post-roll) performance data or video views on private sites. This chart does not include movie trailers, video-game campaigns, TV show or media network promotions, or public service announcements. View-count results are incremental by week.
**Indicates percent change in views compared with the same period the week before.
To notify Visible Measures of an upcoming video ad campaign, or for an end-to-end assessment of your campaign's overall performance, please contact Visible Measures directly.


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Animoca Brands has announced it is launching a $2 billion fund to invest in upcoming metaverse businesses. Company co-founder and executive chairman Yat Siu shared in an interview with Nikkei Asia that he will be focusing mainly on Web3 projects centered around digital property rights.
The co-founder has yet to determine the fund’s terms and conditions. However, Siu plans to make the first investment in the next year.
Animoca Brands has been making meaningful contributions and collaborations in the Web3 space, promoting a digital, barrierless, open economy in the metaverse. The Web3 developer has also been investing in many upcoming projects for some time, the most recent being Roboto Games and Wanderers.
Developing the Ecosystem
Animoca Brands has quickly become a household name in the Web3 space, making significant contributions to the ecosystem with collaborations, investments, and developments. The developer has made about 380 investments in Web3 businesses. These mainly consist of NFT-based metaverse platforms and blockchain games.
Animoca Brands’ latest developments include:
- Leading Wanderers’ $2 million seed funding round.
- Investing in Roboto Games’ $15 million fundraising.
- Raising $228,000 for teachers through the Tiny Tap NFT collection.
- Collaborating with leading motor company Nissan to feature in an upcoming drifting game.
- Collaborating with Cool Cats
Yat Siu is an active advocate of Web3, voicing his support for blockchain games and metaverse platforms. In a recent interview, Siu highlighted that metaverse platforms could expect hundreds of millions of new entrants into the space thanks to the existing lineup of products. He added that the wave of higher caliber game productions coming into the space would attract a new generation of people joining the metaverse.
Furthermore, over 3.2 billion traditional gamers exist in an ‘enclosed metaverse’ without owning their in-game assets. Animoca Brands’ chief has shared his optimism to help transition them to Web3 by encouraging them with digital ownership and a solid infrastructure.
While the fund has yet to raise money, Siu is optimistic about targeting $2 billion. Siu shared with Nikkei Asia that the fund will emphasize metaverse businesses. It will also ensure that there will be no geographical restrictions for investment targets.
Animoca Capital, Siu’s experimental metaverse fund, expects to make its first investment next year, with the primary purpose of developing the ecosystem. They will help investors gain direct exposure to mid-to-late-stage startups thanks to the fund.
The Web3 industry has shown great progress over the years. Web3 companies have stayed strong and are continuing to expand. This is in contrast to other tech companies, considering the current chaos in the market. Major tech companies, including Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon, are laying off a significant portion of their workforces to withstand the effects of economic fear and uncertainty.
Siu plans to pursue capital efficiency with this fund, considering the industry is more mature now. The chair plans to create more opportunities for investors to enter Web3 and believes the fund would be a good entry point for businesses.
On the Flipside
- Animoca Brands has been vocal with its investments, continuously building the space with its contributions and resources. The Web3 leader also recently announced a $358 million and $110 million fundraising in January and September, respectively.
- They also contributed $10 million to the Web3 Industry Recovery Initiative, led by Binance in light of the recent crypto industry chaos.
- In a recent collaboration with Upland, Gala Games shared similar visions of promoting digital ownership and an open economy. Additionally, we have yet to see a partnership between the industry leaders.
- Animoca Brands’ valuation is approximately $6 billion. We have yet to see how it plans to raise about 30% percent of its valuation for a fund that expects to make its first investment next year.
Why You Should Care
Animoca Brands’ upcoming fund could establish the infrastructure for the Web3 space. The fund’s plans also align with Animoca’s vision of building an open metaverse to welcome the next wave of billion users to Web3. Moreover, $2 billion is an enormous amount of money for the gaming sector. This is especially true for upcoming indie developers aiming to create professional productions.
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Just weeks ago, Oliver Dowden announced Operation Sleeping Beauty – the panto-styled aim to get our beleaguered cultural venues refilling by Christmas. But, following the Prime Minister’s unveiling of strict new Covid-19 guidelines, it now looks like the sector will be left slumbering for at least another six months – and Rishi Sunak’s winter economic aid, announced today, has failed to give it a wake-up call.
- RT @BetteMidler: https://t.co/yem8OOhmgp 8 hours ago
- RT @5tevieM: buying clothes online https://t.co/UZgG1KDyXT 1 day ago
- RT @PippaCrerar: EXCLUSIVE: No 10 staff held ‘wine-time Fridays’ throughout pandemic with Boris Johnson regularly witnessing the gatherings… 2 days ago


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For years, fans of Taco Bell have paired its tacos, nachos and burritos with local brewskis. But usually, fans of the taco, picked up their grub at a drive-thru, and then drove home to crack open whatever craft beer suited their craving.
But now, Taco Bell lovers, you can actually get the food with the local brewskis in Manhattan. And the brewski is only available at these three restaurants.
When Taco Bell opens up its three new Cantina restaurants in Manhattan before the end of this year, the company is partnering with New York’s Blue Point Brewing to launch Big City Bell Pilsner in these restaurants.
This comes on the heels of the success of Taco Bell launching its first local beer at its Newport Beach Cantina in California. This time the brand teamed up with Blue Point Brewing Company, of Long Island, NY to create Big City Bell Pilsner. This brand-new beer is brewed with a blend of hops that have a lime and citrus aroma. “It has a crisp and balanced body that pairs perfectly with Taco Bell's Mexican-inspired flavors,” says a company spokesperson.
And it’s a beer that’s only available at these three Cantinas, located at 800 8th St., 224 7th St., and 500 8th St. The beers will be available as soon as the restaurants open on Dec. 24.
“We're so excited to be part of the Cantina launch in our hometown," says Jenna Lally, president of Blue Point. “We're looking forward to New Yorkers relaxing and enjoying some tacos with the new Big City Bell Pilsner.”
The beers match the personality of the tech-heavy restaurants, which include mobile ordering, self-service kiosks and a delivery service. “The convenience we have introduced through our technology allows guests to spend less time waiting for their food and more time enjoying our new beer with their loved ones,” says Mike Grams, general manager of North America and global chief operating officer. “The research we’ve done in New York tells us that our fans want an experience that parallels their lifestyle: fast and at their fingertips.”
The local brewski isn’t the only alcoholic item on the menu – these Cantinas also boast some other brews and specialty freezes. “Everyone has their favorite Taco Bell item, and that is true across the world,” says a company spokesperson. “And while we still serve certain beers available anywhere in the country, we were excited to partner with a local favorite brewery in New York for the launch of our first three Cantinas in Manhattan.”
The local brewski might be the most exciting feature to folks who’ve been pairing Taco Bell burritos with craft beers for years on their own, but the restaurants themselves aren’t like the suburban drive-thrus that many people associate with the chain. “With urban concepts, we’re able to customize at a local level, whether that be restaurant design, menu options, freeze flavors or alcohol types,” says the spokesperson. “These aren’t your traditional Taco Bells. We’re creating restaurants that are properly ingrained into local, urban communities.”
And to be properly ingrained, you really need a local brew, which Taco Bell now has. Yo quiero Taco Brewski.


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A series of synthetic chemicals widely used in household products, food packaging and clothing have a significant effect on the development of frogs, even at low doses, according to a Purdue University study.
Per/polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are man-made chemicals used to make products stain resistant, waterproof and nonstick, and are present in foams used to fight fires. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study from 2007 showed that some PFASs were present in 98 percent of blood samples collected from American adults and children for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. According to the CDC, scientific studies on the impact of PFASs on human health are inconclusive.
Maria Sepúlveda, professor of ecology and natural systems and associate head of research in Purdue’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, is leading studies to determine how these chemicals affect amphibians. Her first study on the northern leopard frog shows that PFASs at levels as low as 10 micrograms per liter of water could stunt the animal’s development by two stages over a 30-day period. Frogs introduced to low levels of the chemicals were around 10 percent smaller than a control.
In this study, northern leopard frog tadpoles were exposed to 10, 100 and 1,000 micrograms of PFASs per liter of water for 30 days. Contaminated sites reach into the hundreds of micrograms per liter, including parts of Lake Ontario (121), parts of the Mississippi River (226) and a well at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Michigan (120), which all contain a PFAS called perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS).
At each level, including the lowest, tadpole development was stunted. That could be a serious issue for an animal’s safety.
Continue reading at Purdue University.
Image Source: Purdue University.


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North West looked like quite the little pro when she adorably posed for a Fendi ad with mom Kim Kardashian and grandmother Kris Jenner. Check out the sweet family pic here!
North West, 5, looked like she was having the time of her life in a new ad for Italian luxury brand Fendi and the second installment of their #MeandMyPeekaboo fashion campaign and the pic is adorable! North appears with mom Kim Kardashian, 37, and her grandmother Kris Jenner, 62, in the pic and all three of them are casually lounging outside on some grass with the purses in front of them. The campaign is in honor of the 10 year anniversary of the release of the Peekaboo bag and it celebrates impressionable women who are related so it’s not surprise that the Kardashian/Jenner women would be a part of it. In addition to this photo, the trio posed for other photos together around L.A. for the ad.
While the newly released ad photos are already making headlines, the brand’s accessories creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi had some nice things to say about Kim, Kris and North. “In the case of the Kardashians, they are all three of them very strong women, with strong personalities,” Silvia told Women’s Wear Daily. “It’s an iconic family, who is known for its appearance, but we wanted to bring more of an intimate side to the table.” She also talked about how the collaboration was a natural one since she already has a friendship with Kim’s hubby Kanye West. When the campaign is officially released on Fendi’s website on July 10, it will be accompanied by a short film set to Kanye’s song “Love Lockdown.”
While we wait to catch the campaign’s release, we can’t help but admire how much of a pro North already is! In addition to professional photos, she’s had some pretty memorable moments when posing for casual pics like the too-cute-for-words bed selfie with Kim back in May. The girl is definitely a natural and we can’t wait to see more pics of her in the future!
It’s always great to see the Kardashian/Jenner women together in pics! We look forward to the full campaign!
Source: Read Full Article


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When you're trying to lose weight, looking at before-and-after photos can be inspiring, but it's putting in the hard work — accepting fitness as a long-term journey, clocking time at the gym, rejiggering your diet — that is the most challenging. Dropping pounds is a multi-faceted beast and, while reading about others' success is motivating as hell, getting results for yourself can be tough. But a new study says it might be as simple as turning off the television.
In fact, researchers say that eating anything mindfully — defined as savoring your food away from all distractions — is key to losing weight, The Guardian reports. That means you can eat all your favorite indulgent dishes, you just have to turn off Netflix, walk away from your desk, and pay very close attention to the bites you take.
The study was presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Porto, Portugal, where lead author Carolyn Dunn from North Carolina State University said, "We instruct people to eat the foods that they love, and not give them up, but to eat them in a mindful way. For example, if one of us was going to eat a food that has very high calories, we would tell them to eat one or two bites, but to eat those one or two bites with awareness, so they are getting the most pleasure out of those one to two bites."
What's even more riveting is that those first two bites are associated with the most enjoyment, which means eating more will give you more calories but not necessarily more delight to your taste buds.
Dunn also works on a commercial program based on these findings called Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less. Spanning 15 weeks, it monitored the results of 80 people who each lost an average of 4 pounds. But what's most intriguing is that six months later, about 75 percent of the participants did not regain the weight they lost; instead, some had lost even more. That's enough for us to give this a go and switch off our TVs at dinner time.
Follow Delish on Instagram.


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Much ado about nothingArchive
After 18 years of deliberations and nineteen rounds of negotiations, Pakistan recently signed a preferential trade agreement with Turkey. Both sides have expressed optimism that with increased market access, bilateral trade will rise to $5 billion in the medium term from the current trade volume of fewer than one billion dollars.
However, with the low ambition of the agreement, much will likely stay the same. Pakistan has offered market access on 130 tariff lines, whereas Turkey has offered concessions on 261. These account for less than 2 per cent of each country’s tariff lines. Both countries are not opening up any notable sector of export interest for the other side.
The difference could not be starker if we compare our free trade agreement (FTA) with Turkey to what Turkey signed with Malaysia. In the case of the Malaysia-Turkey FTA, immediately upon entering into force, 70pc of the tariff lines of both parties gained duty-free access.
At the end of the transition period of three to eight years, over 90pc of trade would become exempt from duty. Only selected sensitive agricultural products were excluded from the full liberalisation.
Pakistan wants to keep its protectionist policies intact but also be seen as moving towards global integration through trade agreements
It is not just with Turkey but even the old preferential trade agreements (eg, with Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Mauritius) that Pakistan entered into more than a decade ago, and the coverage of trade flows has yet to reach even 5pc. The only exception is with China, but after 15 years of the agreement, the range of trade flows under the FTA is 27pc for Pakistan’s imports and 8pc for its exports, according to World Trade Organisation (WTO) data.
Generally, free trade agreements are negotiated under the WTO rules, which require that duties and other restrictions be reduced on “substantially all trade,” which is taken as over 90pc of existing trade. The bilateral or regional free trade agreements that Pakistan has with different countries can, at best, be considered interim agreements but with no time frame for further liberalisation.
Why can’t Pakistan have a proper bilateral or regional trade agreement like most other countries? There may be many reasons, but the most obvious is that Pakistan wants to keep its protectionist policies intact. Still, at the same time, it wants to be seen as moving towards regional or global integration.
In other words, it is chasing two rabbits and catching none. Unless our policymakers realise that free trade is the opposite of trade protectionism or economic isolationism, no agreement can work.
An overwhelming majority of its manufacturers are not keen to let go of the protection level they have been enjoying vis-à-vis the imported products. Similarly, since import taxes account for almost 50pc of total tax revenue, the Federal Board of Revenue would oppose any tariff concessions. With these important stakeholders opposing any liberalisation, the Ministry of Commerce is not likely to ever conclude any meaningful bilateral or regional free trade agreement. This is one of the reasons why Pakistan has failed to make any progress on the preferential trade agreements that it has been negotiating for many years with several East Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand and South Korea.
Others have moved fast, especially on the East Asian front, where most trade and economic activity has shifted in the last three decades. For example, under its Act East Policy, India signed a free trade agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) countries in 2008. Since then, its bilateral trade has more than doubled, rising from $45 billion to $ 110 billion in 2021-22. They have also entered into such arrangements with other East Asian countries, such as South Korea (2009) and Japan (2011).
After having paused for almost a decade, India has recently once again started negotiating trade agreements with major economies. Earlier this year, they concluded two major agreements — one with UAE and the other with Australia. Furthermore, the newly elected UK’s Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has agreed with his Indian counterpart to swiftly conclude a free trade agreement to increase bilateral trade between the two countries to $100bn by 2030.
It would be in Pakistan’s interest to build a domestic consensus on the way forward rather than signing inconsequential agreements. Pakistan’s isolation is not doing any good. A lot of it is due to its flawed trade policies. Its trade-to-GDP of less than 30pc is one of the lowest in the world. For the last 15 years, its global export share has continuously been declining by an average of 1.45pc annually.
Despite this poor performance, if it wants to stay isolated and remain content with GSP-type unilateral concessions, there is no use spending time and resources on signing meaningless shallow trade agreements that lead us nowhere.
The writer is currently serving as an international trade arbitrator. Previously he has worked as Pakistan’s ambassador to WTO and FAO’s representative to the United Nations at Geneva
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, November 7th, 2022


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British designer label Paul Smith has paid out a £3.4m dividend after a bumper year in which profits hit the £25m mark.
Sir Paul Smith, who founded the iconic menswear business in the 1960s, took home £2m with the remainder of the pay-out going to Itochu, the Japanese business which manufactures and sells his collections in Asia.
According to figures filed at Companies House, profits rose £3m to £25m in the year to June 30. Group sales rose to £174m from £168m, driven by new shop openings.
However, the business said that wholesale orders fell off during the year and trading was challenging in the Japanese market.
In a statement, the business said it “continued to grow total sales, with a reduction in wholesale orders being more than offset by increased retail sales resulting from new shops, as well as increased like-for-like sales in existing shops and the internet.
“Despite a difficult Japanese market, royalty sales have remained strong.” Smith said the performance was “very pleasing given the challenging economic climate”. The highest paid director, thought to be Smith, took home a £3.3m salary.
Paul Smith has 15 shops and concessions in the UK and 200 shops worldwide, in markets including Japan, Paris, Milan, New York and Hong Kong.
Smith, who controls the company as both deisgner and chairman, sold a 40% stake in the company to Itochu in 2006.


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It’s that heavenly time of year every gardener loves. It’s finally cooling down enough for the tomatoes to ripen and explode into abundance.
Why is everyone talking about bone broth?
I’m always on the lookout for inexpensive grocery items that can be used to elevate simple ingredients into something special and stylish.
Pioneer Territory Court Appointed Special Advocates recently saw a big boost to its operation, with the Roaring 20s Quarter Auction fundraiser declared the “cat’s pajamas,” and bringing in a total of $11,000 to support the nonprofit.
It’s almost autumn, this means soup weather! Along with soup comes warm, crispy, cheesy, gooey, buttery, toasty, grilled cheese sammies. This is just us living our best lives.


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Nestle india - get latest news on nestle india read breaking news on nestle india updated and published at zee news. Share price, corporate actions, valuation, research report, financials and more - complete track record of nestle india ltd - snapshot from india's independent mutual fund research house. Business standard news: company history : nestle india company history, nestle india updates and more at business standard news | page 1. Nestle india latest breaking news, pictures & news photos find nestle india news headlines, comments, blog posts and opinion at the indian express. View the basic nestleindbo stock chart on yahoo finance change the date range, chart type and compare nestle india ltd against other companies. Nestle india background nestle india was promoted by nestle alimentana, switzerland, a wholly owned subsidiary of nestle holdings ltd, nassau, bahama islands nestle is one of the oldest food mnc operating in india, with a presence of over a century nestle has a presence in 83 countries worldwide it has a total number of 509 factories out of. Since 2010, nestle has been working to transform itself into a nutrition india's government made public that it was seeking damages of nearly $100 million from nestlé india for unfair trade practices following the june ban on maggi noodles. In april 2015, nestlé india temporarily stopped selling maggi noodles find out more about the key issues connected to the withdrawal and subsequent return of maggi noodles to the market.
View suresh narayanan's profile on linkedin, the world's largest professional community suresh has 6 jobs jobs listed on their profile see the complete profile on linkedin and discover suresh's connections and jobs at similar companies. Get share stock price of nestle india ltd on bse get live bse quote for nestle india ltd get nestle india ltd stock price graph, announcements, corporate actions, financial reports, results, shareholding pattern, peer companies comparison and more. Nestlé pulled its popular maggi noodles from the shelves in india as the swiss food giant scrambled to defend its reputation amid a deepening food contamination scandal. Experts, however, say that similar trend could be seen at other such companies as all of them spend huge sums on brand promotions in the dock over alleged lapses of food safety standards in its famous maggi noodles, nestle india has disclosed having spent rs 445 core on 'advertising and sales. Get latest & exclusive nestle india news updates & stories explore photos & videos on nestle india also get news from india and world including business, cricket, technology, sports, politics, entertainment & live news coverage online at indiacom.
Nestlé india, maker of a popular brand of instant noodles, responded to a food-safety scare saying that tests of more than 1,000 batches of maggi 2-minute noodles found the snack safe to eat. Nestlein is tracked by us since april, 2011 over the time it has been ranked as high as 70 499 in the world, while most of its traffic comes from india, where it reached as high as 3 105 position. Get company or corporate stock equity shareholder overview data for shares of nestle india ltd including fund owners activity, style, equity & debt ownership, and enterprise value. Nestlé, gurgaon, india 10,964,592 likes 737 talking about this 44 were here enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future.
Corporate office nestlé india ltd nestlé house, jacaranda marg m block dlf city phase ii, national highway 8 gurgaon 122 002, india. Nestle india live nse/bse share price: get nestle india stock price details, news, financial results, stock charts, returns, research reports and more. See the company profile for nestle india (nestleindns) including business summary, industry/sector information, number of employees, business summary, corporate governance, key executives and their compensation. Nestle india news - check out the latest news on nestle india get breaking news updates on nestle india and published at daily news & analysis.
Nestle india becomes the first listed 'pure-play food firm' to cross milestone in india as full-year sales rise 77. Maggi creative kitchen 258k likes as a part of our celebration for completing 100 years in india, we salute the incredible spirit of fauja singh # 100andrunning maggi creative kitchen is with sidhu paul and rakesh kumar nestlein maggi creative kitchen via maggi june 4. Apply to 9 nestle jobs on naukricom, india's no1 job portal explore nestle openings in your desired locations now.
Tastier and healthier some of india's best known brands are part of the nestlé family discover how they can be enjoyed as part of a healthy diet.
Nestle india manufactures a variety of food products here is a brief profile and history of nestle india limited. Nestle india news, rns and announcements including takeover bids, directors dealings, trading updates and annual and interim results statements. Nestlé 2018 three-month sales: sales: chf 213 billion #youngfarmer george brown says @nestle's next generation programme helps us focus on what we can do to help ourselves and cut out inefficiencies india: 53000: bharti airtel, videocon, reliance: indonesia: 89887. Hdfc bank limited posted by indraneel hdfc bank is a commercial bank of india, incorporated in august 1994, after the reserve bank of india allowed establishing private sector banks. Nestle india challenges a ban imposed by india's food safety regulator on its popular maggi noodles.
The staggering numbers behind nestle's operation to destroy all the maggi in india. Less than a year after it suffered a quality crisis in india and was forced to remove its products from store shelves, nestle's maggi noodle brand has recovered nearly two-thirds of its former market share nestle india is delighted to announce that maggi noodles has strengthened leadership position with more than 50% market share in the. Nestle has divided india into 15 different clusters, each considered a different market, based on food preferences of local consumers in its hyperlocal push.


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They look like everyday household items – an alarm clock, a lamp, a painting, a smoke detector, a teddy bear, a toy truck.
But each item houses a concealed, deluxe, state-of-the-art video camera the size of a quarter.
A growing number of parents – uneasy about leaving their kids alone with baby-sitters – are going to the videotape, using such “nanny cams” to watch the people watching their children.
“It’s becoming more of a necessity to have nannies because of the rise in two-income families,” said Greg Graison, vice president of Quark International, a Manhattan-based spy shop that sells nanny cams.
“And these parents just want to see how their child is being treated. It eases the parents’ worries. The nanny cams have become so popular.”
The cameras start at around $100 and go up into the thousands.
Normally, the tiny, wide-angle camera can be installed without drilling or wires. Cameras can record up to 12 hours and transmit to a VCR elsewhere.
It is estimated that nearly 70 percent of nannies lose their jobs because of videotaped incidents.


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There's one piece of technology that's almost guaranteed to appear at every high-tech trade show: the connected refrigerator.
The idea behind a connected fridge is simple: it's a fridge with a screen that can show emails, news, order food, and play TV. But internet fridges have been around since 1998, and they have never taken off.
We took a look at the history of the internet fridge, from early experimental devices in 1998 through to the brand new Android fridge released at CES this year.
1998: Internet fridges are "looming on the horizon"
From the Boca Raton News on October 5, 1998.
1999: Internet fridges will help you live like the Jetsons
On January 16 1999, the Deseret News said that internet fridges were a passport to the future where everyone would live like the Jetsons. One expert even claimed that connected refrigerators were "only the tip of the iceberg."
1999: Internet fridges will make your kitchen cool
The BBC latched on to the internet fridge hype in 1999. It published an article on the Electrolux Screenfridge that launched in 2000.
2003: Internet fridges have a brilliant future
Tech News World published an article about smart homes in 2003 which explained that home networks involving internet fridges were the future.
2006: Electrolux reboots the Screenfridge
Remember the Electrolux Screenfridge? It's fine if you don't, not many people do. It launched in 2000, but then everything went quiet. Electrolux gave it a swanky redesign in 2006.
2007: Whirlpool launches yet another internet fridge with a special docking port for your Jabil
A company named Jabil produced loads of products for your fridge.
2008: Internet fridges are back from the dead
PCWorld said in 2008 that internet fridges could come back from the dead if a new $1,999 (£1,361) fridge from Whirlpool was successful: It let customers hang devices like photo frames on it.
2010: The world's first DIY internet fridge
Samidh Chakrabarti published a blog post detailing how he made his own internet fridge using an old laptop.
2011: Internet fridges come in from the cold
In 2011, Australia's Courier-Mail recognised that internet fridges had been a flop, but hinted that they were on the way back.
2011: Internet fridges invade SXSW
Tumblr blog F--- Yeah Internet Fridge spotted this SXSW panel that was all about connected fridges.
2014: Internet fridges can now send text messages
LG's latest internet fridges could follow you around all day via text messages. You could text them questions about what was in stock.
2014: Internet fridges gain the ability to take selfies
One way that smart fridges can figure out what is inside them is a camera. The new LG fridge used a camera to send a photo of its insides to its owner.
2014: Forbes asks whether internet fridges will finally have their day
Forbes contributor Michael Wolf wondered whether technology had advanced enough to make internet fridges affordable.
2014: Internet fridges are wonderful
Wired published an article in 2014 that looked at the "wonderful" possibilities of internet fridges.
2015: Visa says we'll all pay for things with our fridges
Visa executive Jonathan Vaux told Business Insider at Mobile World Congress in 2015 that in the future, everyone's fridge will have a payment capability.
2016: Samsung launches a new internet fridge
Samsung just launched a new internet fridge that includes a giant screen and a camera.


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HoloLens creator Alex Kipman was showing off Microsoft's augmented reality technology at the TED conference last week and vowed not to let it go the same way as the Kinect.
“When I feel the world is ready, then we will allow normal people to buy it,” Kipman said at the TED conference in Vancouver.
“It could be as soon as we say ‘yes,’ and it could be as long as a ‘very long time.'”
The comments came after Kipman gave a fantastic demonstration of the devices potential during his TED talk.
Kipman turned the stage into a magical forest, the moon and Mars before concluding with a holographic video chat with a NASA scientist a block away.
The product is already being sold by Microsoft for $3,000 (£2,000) for a HoloLens kit that developers and businesses can use to develop software.
But while Kipman said the hardware is pretty consumer-ready, he stopped short of saying it was ready now.
“If a consumer bought it today, they would have 12 things to do with it,” Kipman said. “And they would say ‘Cool, I bought a $3,000 product that I can do 12 things with and now it is collecting dust.'”
“The Kinect was not a pleasant experience”Alex Kipman, Hololens creator
Despite the positive response, Kipman is right to be curious after the horrendous experience Microsoft had with the Kinect.
When it went on sale it very quickly smashed sales records, and landed in the Guinness Book of World Records no less.
But early adopters of the unit quickly grew tired of the device, both as a result of a lack of compelling games and the problems of using it at home without the necessary open space.
“It was not a pleasant experience,” Kipman said. “It [the Kinect] was just not ready to go sell 10 million units in 60 days, which is what it did.”
Mr Kipman eventually went on to suggest that AR would one day replace the computer, smartphone and laptop screens we currently use.
"We will look back at this decade as being like cavemen in terms of technology."


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On April 13, Solana announced the availability of its flagship security-conscious Saga crypto smartphone for pre-order customers. The device will be available for new orders starting May 8. The Saga smartphone will be capable of managing and storing crypto assets, minting NFTs, and running decentralized applications from the Solana dApp store. It will come with impressive hardware specifications, including a Snapdragon 8+ mobile platform, 12GB memory, 512GB storage, and a 6.67” OLED display, priced at around $1,000.
Saga was designed to compete with any flagship smartphone in the market.
We are proud to bring Web3 right to your fingertips with premium hardware from @OsomPrivacy, powered by the latest Android OS.
Take a look at our spec sheet 🧵 pic.twitter.com/UyKhLSGESn
— Solana Mobile 🌱1⃣3⃣ (@solanamobile) April 13, 2023
Solana Usage Slides
The device is available to ship in the U.S., EU, U.K., Canada, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand. Upon setting up their device, Saga users will be able to claim a “Saga genesis token NFT.” Solana’s active wallets have declined by 60% over the past three months, according to the Solscan analytics platform. The total value locked in Solana DeFi is currently around $539 million, and its market share is less than 1%, despite its previous claims of “killing Ethereum.” The ecosystem has also experienced disruptive network outages.
SOL Price Outlook
SOL prices have gained around 4% on the day, reaching $25. Over the past week, the token has increased by 20%. However, despite the overall crypto market being higher, SOL remains 90% lower than its peak price of $260 in November 2021.


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NEC Corp (6701.T)
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|65||2016||Chairman of the Board, Representative Director|
|63||2016||Executive President, Chief Executive Officer, Representative Director|
|58||2018||Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, Representative Director|
|56||2018||Managing Executive Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Human Resource Officer, Director|
|61||2018||Executive Vice President, Director|
- UPDATE 1-China's Huawei to sell undersea cable business, buyer's exchange filing shows
- UPDATE 2-Amazon facial recognition ban won just 2% of shareholder vote
- UPDATE 3-Amazon shareholders reject facial recognition ban as concern grows in U.S. Congress
- Nikkei edges up, 1Q GDP data beat f'cast but underlying picture still weak
- Nikkei rises as techs lead gains; Sony jumps on buyback, Microsoft tie-up


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The MLA who has visited 12 foreign countries wearing dhoti
, said when he returns to India, he would talk to both state and central government leaders and officials to initiate steps to familiarise the officials in foreign countries about the importance of dhoti
for a Keralite, especially in Gulf countries, where the large chunk of expatriates from Kerala live.
can no longer be described as a common Indian citizen's dress.
1 -- This festive season, Fabindia brings you a stylish collection of kurtas, tops and dhotis
with a special promotion from 2nd to 9th September at stores across Bangalore.
, a traditional male garment is a rectangular piece of unstitched cloth, usually around 4.
Tender notice number : 01/2017-18 UBN ZKT1718GLOB00012 DHOTI
New Delhi [India], July 16 ( ANI ): Amid reports of a dhoti
-clad man allegedly denied entry into a mall in Kolkata, the Congress Party on Sunday while condemning the same said Bengal and Dhoti
are synonymous to each other.
Chaitanya was seen wearing a white-and-white silk dhoti
(traditional pants) and kurta (shirt).
Designer Arpita Mehta presented a robust line comprising dhoti
pants, striking off- shoulder blouses, long jackets, draped skirts, sharara pants and lehengas.
Dressed in white blouse and dhoti
, Priyanka gyrates to some complicated dance moves which according to her was akin to 'modern mujra.
Women wear traditional white and red saris and elaborate jewellery and men dress up in the traditional tunic and dhoti
and of course we enjoy sumptuous Bengali food; music is an integral part of the celebration.
The guards said anyone wearing dhoti
or lungi won't be let in.
Hyderabad- based designer Anand Kabra celebrated oriental flowers on the runway with chic separates like loose satin pants, long coats, jackets and capes, high collar and lace camisole dresses, kimonos and dhoti
pants in colours like pristine white, pink, sand, chartreuse, orange and black.


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Feb 20, 2019 - India was seen as the next great market for the world's technology companies but those dreams are facing some roadblocks.
Feb 20, 2019 - Tencent Music Entertainment Group and Pinduoduo were the beneficiaries of bullish analyst coverage.The duo and several others were also boosted by news that they would be part of a dozen Chinese compa
Feb 20, 2019 - The S&P 500 has rallied this month, but the communications services sector has failed to keep up.
Feb 19, 2019 - "We live in the space of digital commerce and digital commerce is exploding still around the world ... and we're riding that wave," PayPal CEO Dan Schulman says.
Feb 19, 2019 - On this episode of the Full-Court Finance podcast, Associate Stock Strategist Ben Rains breaks down Under Armour's (UAA) Q4 and fiscal 2018 financial results and then dives into what's next for the athletic apparel firm as its North American struggles continue.
Feb 19, 2019 - Facebook (FB +0.3%) isn't currently a target of European regulators, says the continent's antitrust chief, but it might be in the future. European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager says she
Feb 19, 2019 - Is Criteo a Value Play in Digital Advertising?, Stocks: CRTO,GOOG,GOOGL,FB,AMZN,AAPL, release date:Feb 19, 2019
Feb 19, 2019 - Hedge funds loaded up on tech stocks at their fourth-quarter bottom, just in time to cash in on the double-digit rebound.
Feb 19, 2019 - "If there's any stone unturned, we're going to work on it," says Yann LeCun, Facebook's chief AI scientist.
Feb 19, 2019 - Ubs Oconnor Llc Buys Dell Technologies Inc, Brookfield Property REIT Inc, Pandora Media Inc, Sells Aetna Inc, Envision Healthcare Corp, CA Inc, Stocks: DIS,GSKY,FB,SUI,GLPI,AMZN,DELL,BPR,P,AXTA,QUAD,GOO, release date:Feb 19, 2019


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Students to design OSU's official tartan
Friday, September 5, 2008
(Sept. 5, 2008 Stillwater, Okla.) - Design, housing and merchandising students at Oklahoma State University are competing to give their school its own official plaid fabric or tartan design. The competition started the first day of class to create a tartan for OSU that is similar to those worn to identify clans or families in Scotland and Ireland.
Current graduate and undergraduate students who have completed the DHM textiles class will have a month to create a completely original tartan fabric design using official colors to specifically signify the members of the OSU “clan.” University, community and industry representatives will select four finalists, who will be announced during OSU Homecoming week. Online voting will begin at that time to help determine a winner.
“We think this is a wonderful way students can apply their knowledge and create a tradition for the university,” said DHM Professor Lynne Richards, who will coordinate the competition. “We see all kinds of opportunities to incorporate the OSU tartan into products that will also represent the quality of students we have in DHM.”
The top four designers who make the finals will receive a $50 gift certificate for the OSU Student Union bookstore, courtesy of the OSU Trademark and Licensing Office. The creator of the winning design entry will receive an additional award of $100.
Paulette Hebert, DHM professor and Judy Barnard, OSU director of trademarks and licensing have arranged for Pendleton Mills in Portland, Oregon to produce the first blankets and scarves using the OSU tartan.
The OSU Tartan Competition can be followed on its own website at www.ches.okstate.edu/tartan .


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Hybrid and electric vehicle sales are feeling the impact of cheap gas.
According to a recent report by Edmunds.com, 55 percent of hybrid and electric vehicle owners are switching back to standard gasoline vehicles at trade-in time, marking the lowest level of hybrid loyalty since the company began tracking transactions in 2011. Over 20 percent of those customers are opting for a conventional SUV at trade-in, nearly double the rate compared to three years ago. Electrified vehicle sales have dropped 3.4 percent through April this year compared to 2014 and made up just 2.7 percent of the market.
The average price of gasoline has fallen to $2.66, compared to nearly $4 in 2012. In addition, fuel economy on crossovers and SUVs has improved by up to a third in less than a decade while some midsize sedans can even return 35 mpg, making hybrids and electric vehicles less attractive. Automakers aren’t convinced that it’ll be a lasting trend, with Toyota spokesman Scott Vazin saying, “We still see hybrid as a clear advantage in overall efficiency. They might not be the flavor of the month, but we know where fuel prices are going, and that it’s a finite resource.”
And don’t expect automakers to just give up development of alternative fuel vehicles including hydrogen fuel cell and more electric vehicle offerings. GM has no intention of allowing gas prices to change its plan of launching the 2016 Chevrolet Volt, which will arrive showrooms this fall.
[Source: NY Times]
Discuss this story at our alternative fuel forum


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Apple’s solution appears to be to prop up its weak sales by cutting prices in countries where people are intelligent enough to realise that it is not a good deal, while keeping its hyped price tags in countries, such as the US, which are stupid enough to pay up.
Job’s mob blamed its poor figures on the economic slowdown in China and diminishing demand for new iPhones.
In addition to the quarterly earnings, Apple reported revenue of $84.3 billion, a decline of five percent from one year ago.
"Revenue from iPhone declined 15 percent from the prior year, while total revenue from all other products and services grew 19 percent", Apple said in a press release.
Analysts had estimated revenue of $83.97 billion and earnings of $4.17 per share.
"While it was disappointing to miss our revenue guidance, we manage Apple for the long term, and this quarter's results demonstrate that the underlying strength of our business runs deep and wide", said Tim Cook.
Apple's active install base of 1.4 billion is "a great testament to the satisfaction and loyalty of our customers, and it's driving our services business to new records thanks to our large and fast-growing ecosystem", Cook said.
The Tame Apple Press is having difficulty reporting the bad news. Its personal free press office, the New York Times, congratulated Apple on beating the analyst's expectations when the figures announced by Jobs' Mob only were a cent better than the analyst average.
The Verge decided that it was better to emphasise the good news in the results. IPads were up 17 percent against the year-ago quarter; Mac was up nine percent and Wearables/Home/Accessories were up by 33 percent.
More sensible heads said the figures showed that Apple faces a difficult road ahead.
The company said it expected between $55 billion and $59 billion in revenue in the current quarter, just below analysts' expectations for $59 billion.
Apple appears to have worked out that increasing iPhone prices when there was no corresponding technology boost was a dumb idea.
It has decided to lower prices in countries which were not stupid enough to fall for the price hikes. This means that Americans, who were stupid enough to pay over the odds for their iPhones will be allowed to keep paying the same price. While Chinese customers who realised they could buy a better phone for less will see the price of their iPhones fall.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook disclosed the plan on Tuesday although he did not say who are the stupid countries and who were the clever countries.
Resellers in China already began cutting iPhone prices earlier this month after Apple lowered its sales forecast for the quarter ended in December.
The company priced its new iPhone XS, which was released in September, at $999, the same price in US dollars as its predecessor, 2017’s iPhone X.
Apple appears to be blaming the strong US dollar for its current pricing woes.
On Tuesday, Cook said Apple will adjust foreign prices in some markets by resetting them at or close to what they were one year before in local currencies. Effectively that means Apple will absorb the cost of the strengthening dollar.
“We’ve decided to go back to (iPhone prices) more commensurate with what our local prices were a year ago, in hopes of helping the sales in those areas”, Cook told Reuters in an interview.