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MANILA – Outpacing government estimates, the country’s total trade grew by 9.9 percent in 2017 from 5.8 percent in 2016, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reported on Friday.
Imports and exports posted 10.2-percent and 9.5-percent growth rates, respectively, exceeding the Development Budget Coordinating Committee’s growth estimates as of December 2017 of 9 percent for imports and 8 percent for exports.
The Philippine Statistics Authority reported the country’s total trade grew by 8.6 percent in December 2017 to USD13.46 billion, from USD12.40 billion registered in the same month in 2016.
Total imports posted hefty year-on-year growth of 17.6 percent to USD8.74 billion last December, as all commodity groups posted increases, outpacing exports, which dropped 4.9 percent to USD 4.72 billion.
NEDA said exports registered a decline only in December 2017, its first since November 2016. This brought the country’s trade gap to USD4.02 billion in December 2017 from USD2.47 billion deficit in the same month the previous year.
To arrest the decline in exports, the NEDA underscored the need for the government to continue implementing strategies that would heighten demand for Philippine-made products.
“We need to effectively respond to market trends and consumer preferences worldwide to drive more demand for Philippine-made products,” NEDA Director-General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said in a statement.
Pernia said this can be done by gathering timely and relevant information on emerging demands in potential markets through the help of diplomatic posts and trade attachés.
Moreover, intensified market research and tighter linkages with businesses, malls, and shopping centers abroad would help increase the visibility of Philippine export products.
“To drive export growth, we are also looking at maximizing trade agreements with countries in the region,” he said.
Pernia noted export volumes may increase, especially for banana, coconut, and other agricultural produce by negotiating tariff structures and implementing free trade agreements to bring down tariffs levied on Philippine agricultural exports in major export markets.
For its part, the Department of Trade and Industry has already targeted to increase the marketing of halal food, fashion, and textiles by helping the local halal industry to consolidate and produce better-quality goods.


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Definition: This entry provides the total US dollar amount of merchandise exports on an f.o.b. (free on board) basis. These figures are calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
Source: CIA World Factbook - Unless otherwise noted, information in this page is accurate as of January 1, 2014See also: Exports map
POSCO CEO says steel "protectionism" by US, others to hurt exports: Media
Economic Times - 6/24/2016 4:22:20 AM
SEOUL: Chief executive of POSCO, South Korea's top steelmaker, said "protectionism" by the United States and other countries could have an adverse impact on the company's exports ... States to strictly abide by World Trade Organization rule.
US Continues to Lead World in Weapons Exports
Voice of America - 6/13/2016 3:02:20 AM
U.S. exports of nearly $23 billion represent an increase ... up to $2.3 billion last year, making it the world’s fourth-largest importer. Southeast Asian countries bordering the South China Sea also ramped up their defense spending since 2009 — around ...
World apple production forecast to rise slightly in 2015-16
Fresh Fruit Portal - 6/23/2016 4:02:03 AM
World apple production during 2015-16 is forecast to ... thanks to higher bearing acreage and favorable weather. Exports from the Asian country are forecast to surge 50% to 1.2 million MT, with Bangladesh and Thailand driving much of the growth.
German Lawmakers Approve New Rules on Art Exports
New York Times - 6/23/2016 10:42:55 AM
Until now, permission is only required for exports to countries outside the European Union, though it applied to works over 50 years old and worth over 150,000 euros. Authorities could block the export of works that "contribute to the identity of Germany's ...
Nigeria’s currency devaluation could affect Ghana’s exports
Ghana Web - 6/23/2016 8:55:32 AM
He explained that with the volume of trade transacted by Nigeria, devaluing the naira will not only boost economic activities but redirect trade export to the country ... benchmark price is determined by the world market. “When it comes to oil ...
Foreign investment policy amendments favour shrimp export sector
FIS - 6/23/2016 3:43:34 PM
Besides, shrimp farms, which export mainly frozen products, largely depend on imported brood stock from regions like Hawai and Florida for developing seeds. "The foreign firms can now directly set up brood stock multiplication centres and produce ...
Australia: LNG Exports Will Grow Despite Market
The Maritime Executive - 6/24/2016 3:46:33 AM
Australia is now the world's second-largest producer after Qatar ... not just for the environmental benefits that they will bring, but to be able to export these technologies to other countries."
Sweden Knocks Canada Off Top Spot in World's Largest Survey of Country Reputation
Yahoo Finance - 6/23/2016 2:24:49 PM
"Being welcoming, safe and beautiful are the top three drivers of a country's reputation, and nations with a strong reputation are better positioned to welcome more tourists, increase exports ... While few of the world's largest and most powerful countries ...
World Bank Supports Kosovo's Digital Economy Program
The World Bank - 6/22/2016 5:46:26 PM
PRISHTINA, June 22, 2016− The World Bank and the Ministry of Economic Development ... and job-creating businesses that will lead to higher value exports and foster the inclusion especially of rural inhabitants and women into the global digital economy.
Nigeria: FG appoints NEXIM as agent for Export Stimulating Facility, Export Rediscounting and Refinancing Facility
World Stage - 6/23/2016 11:25:52 AM
... introduced Export Stimulation and Export Rediscounting and Refinancing facilities to support the dwindling export market and boost the country’s revenues and foreign exchange earnings. In a statement released by the Bank during a press conference ...
Bankruptcy filing by Brazil's Oi rattles global supply chain
CNBC - 6/23/2016 10:24:25 PM
SAO PAULO, June 23 (Reuters) - Brazil's biggest bankruptcy filing ever is sending shockwaves far beyond the recession-hit country's borders as operator Oi SA seeks creditor protection from global telecoms suppliers and export banks around the world.
Myanmar to export anti-venom to Asian countries
India TV - 6/13/2016 1:03:37 PM
Nay Pyi Taw: Myanmar is planning to export anti-venom to neighbouring Asian countries this year ... said the exporting products are waiting to be checked by the World Health Organization, Xinhua news agency reported. The factory has increased the anti ...
India’s cut and polished diamond exports up 13.24% in May
Diamond World - 6/24/2016 3:39:23 AM
India’s gem and jewellery sector recorded an upswing in overall exports in May 2016, rising 29.43 percent on y-o-y basis to reach US$ 3.32 billion, reports add. The country’s cut and polished diamond exports in the said month increased 13.24 percent on ...
World commodity prices plummeting
Supply House Times Magazine - 6/23/2016 2:46:18 PM
When analyzing this particular time period from a global perspective, it will be designated as a timeframe when the massive commodity-producing undeveloped and developing countries ... to flood the world market with their record exports of basic steel ...
OPEC Petroleum Export Revenue Down By Nearly Half In 2015
Fox Business - 6/22/2016 7:05:11 PM
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries saw petroleum-export revenues fall nearly 46% in 2015 ... with nearly 62% of OPEC's oil exported to the Asia Pacific region, the report said. World oil demand rose by 1.7% to 93 million barrels a ...

domain: news


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// Jigsaw launches CVA proposals, with creditors due to vote on it on Sept 3
// The proposals features 19 stores earmarked for closure
// 16 stores will remain on full rent but the remaining 41 will switch to turnover-based rent
Jigsaw has reportedly earmarked 19 of its stores that could face closure after launching a CVA proposal this week.
According to Drapers, some of the earmarked store locations facing closure include Westfield London, Bluewater in Kent, Manchester and Birmingham.
The CVA also proposes that 41 Jigsaw stores will switch to turnover-based rent, while the fashion retailer’s remaining 16 shops will remain on full rent.
Of the 41 switching to turnover-based rent, 24 would pay the higher of 11 per cent of net sales turnover each year or 20 per cent of its contractual rent, according to Drapers.
The remaining 17 stores would pay eight per cent of net sales or 10 per cent of the contractual rent.
The CVA proposal also reportedly features a £4 million revolving credit facility from main shareholder Mountain Berg, should the CVA be approved by creditors.
Mountain Berg has also reportedly provided a £1 million working capital facility to fund Jigsaw through the CVA process.
Creditors will vote on the CVA proposal on September 3.
It comes after Jigsaw’s sales for the year to January slipped by seven per cent to £81 million while EBITDA loss after exceptionals deepened from £1.5 million to £2.4 million.
Jigsaw has also had three chief executives and three chief financial officers in under three years, and reportedly attributed its poor trading to being slow to invest in ecommerce.
“Like all retailers, Jigsaw is assessing all aspects of its business to ensure that it is in the best position to navigate through this difficult period,” a Jigsaw spokesperson told Drapers.
“Last year, Jigsaw started to withdraw from non-core areas of the business. However, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the retail sector at large has meant that we have had to take further accelerated action to safeguard the future of our business.
“We are working with [advisers] Cavendish and KPMG to undertake this strategic review of our business and for our conversations with our landlords.
“We will continue to work closely with our landlords as we assess our store portfolio.”


text: They’re helping Kiwis like you with info to help you ride out the market storm. Its clear, the article said, that Dr Bain was about to repeat the dosage of cost-cutting it prescribed to Fairfax in 2011 and 2012. “Roughly 45% were cost-orientated, or cost out, and 55% were margin enhancing.”. This included searching through physical and electronic transaction records using details like the last four digits of credit cards. The Warehouse Group would have made a $4.3m loss without the wage subsidy. The payments were a success fee, and part of the value the savings and cuts generated. 5.6K likes. We use Policy to help decide who to vote for. This policy had helped The Warehouse earn customer loyalty, but it did expose the retailer to the potential for fraud due to how returns were handled. Company Analysis and Financial Data Status. Up to 750 jobs could go in the proposed restructure of The Warehouse, the company's chief executive officer says. By Danica Coto, AP. This was a fraud opportunity that The Warehouse wanted to close. The Warehouse Group. In that year, the company said it expected to realise further benefits from the Rise programme at a cost of between $18 million to $20 million. Other use cases are in the works, including one which would leverage Kibana to analyse the efficiency of transactions based on data from POS devices. However, searching these records could take 15 minutes and employees could only search through data from their own store. With an eye on always providing the best customer experience, The Warehouse knew they needed a more innovative approach. The Warehouse needed to put an end to return fraud, without inconveniencing customers, and that’s exactly what Elasticsearch has allowed them to do. Members account. Pejman Okhovat, who has been with the company since 2005, was chief executive for The Warehouse and Warehouse Stationery brands, but became the Group's chief operating officer when it restructured in February. During this whirlwind of a year due to COVID-19, we have taken extra precautions to ensure that the fun doesn’t stop, even while practicing social distancing. The retail group said on Thursday it would have made a loss of $4.3 million if it wasn't for the $67.8 million received in wage subsidies. Trevor Jones, Lead Developer for The Warehouse Group's in-store systems and applications, took on the challenge. One customer wrote to The Warehouse to thank them for the great customer service they received when returning a Mother’s Day gift. The Warehouse Group, Sliema, Malta. It expects to pay out a further $9.1 million in redundancy costs 2021. The Warehouse Group CEO Nick Grayston (Photo: The Warehouse Group). For example, if a customer comes in to return a toaster (with or without their original receipt), an employee can easily search for the toaster, along with any items purchased alongside it. It reported a sales increase of $3.2 billion, up 3.3 percent from the previous year. Implemented in a matter of months, Elasticsearch now enables employees using 1,500 point of sale (POS) devices and 200 service desk computers across The Warehouse’s 93+ stores to search through years of transactional data. The preliminary unaudited $44.5m net profit after tax in the 12 months to August 2 is a 32 per cent decrease on its earnings in FY19. Warehouse Group open to buying retail chains to drive growth, chief executive says - NZ Herald. This entire process takes just seconds thanks to the speed of Elasticsearch and its search-as-you-type autocompletion. defend the company's decision to claim $67.8 million through the government's wage subsidy scheme, Starbucks owners to buy Burger King in New Zealand, The Warehouse defends wage subsidy, redundancy criticism, The Warehouse workers 'dejected, annoyed' over restructure, The Warehouse makes a profit, with help from govt subsidy, Workers 'absolutely devastated' about The Warehouse restructure - union, The Warehouse could cut up to 750 jobs, company says, Disgraced billionaire ex-boss of Samsung dies, Hyundai NZ recalls Kona electric car due to battery fire risk, Offshore oil field supply company goes into liquidation, Covid-19: Five new cases in managed isolation today, Number of managed isolation breaches from earlier this year revealed, Water meter test-runs in Marlborough continue to throw up eye-watering results, New era for nuclear disarmament hailed as 'victory for humanity', Dixon claims sixth IndyCar title in drama-filled race in Florida. She wrote, “When I asked if this was possible they said yes just tell us the date of purchase and we can track it and replace it with something else or give you a credit. Here is how we’re supporting health and safety throughout our location as recommended by BC health officials. The Warehouse has been undergoing a restructure which it expects will result in between 500 and 750 roles being cut - 320 full-time equivalent roles - and the hours of others trimmed. Critical skill-building and certification. It’s worth noting the company committed in 2019 to paying the staff who made it through the consultant’s clutches a living wage. Grayston said he was prevented from saying who they are by their contract, but said there were 292 different transformation initiatives executed over about 18 months at NZ’s largest retailer. “In the past we would need to ask customers a dozen questions or leave them standing at the register for 15 minutes while we tried to go and track down a receipt. All financial data provided by Standard & Poor's Capital IQ. The meaning was clear: job cuts, outsourcing, and the expectation to do more with less. It will not pay out a dividend despite having a net cash position of $168.1m. Whether you are looking to pick up plates, pots or other homeware, rock the latest fashions or are even just buying toys for the kids or the kids at heart, The Warehouse will have what you need. The streamlined process is a win for everyone and has effectively combatted the potential for fraud. Using Elastic, the solution will be even faster than printing the receipt. The Warehouse had a returns policy which included a 12-month money back guarantee and allowed customers to return items without a receipt, if the employee handling the return could ascertain that it was a legitimate purchase. The Warehouse said "given the loss prior to the wage subsidy, as well as the continued uncertainty around economic activity and trading outlook" its directors had decided not to pay a dividend. “To reduce the friction involved in returns, we needed a solution that was extremely fast and could search across billions of lines of data. “With that goal in mind, we’re assessing different operational models, adjusting our culture and looking to adopt lean principles such as speed-as-a-habit, agility, flexibility, minimum viable product and fail-fast as part of how we operate.”. Elasticsearch is a trademark of Elasticsearch B.V., registered in the U.S. and in other countries. The group posted sales revenue of $3.2 billion in the year, up 3.3 per cent on the prior year. During this whirlwind of a year due to COVID-19, we have taken extra precautions to ensure that the fun doesn’t stop, even while practicing social distancing. Beyond the technical wins and new use cases delivered over the last six months, The Warehouse has experienced measurable successes in reducing instances of fraud. The Warehouse said in a statement: "Given the loss prior to the wage subsidy, as well as the continued uncertainty around economic activity and trading outlook, the Group Directors have decided not to pay a dividend.". After successfully spinning up the test case for Elasticsearch, he moved the deployment to the cloud — self-hosting it initially on AWS - and began working with the team to plan for the broader rollout across all The Warehouse’s stores. Moreover, the returns process is noticeably faster and easier for customers and employees. It simply can’t happen like it did before,” said Trevor. It would have made a loss of $4.3m without financial support from the government. Photo / Paul Taylor, Aimee Shaw is a business reporter focusing on retail, small business. We spun up a cluster, confirmed it could do everything we needed it to, and at that point the project was nearly done,” said Trevor. The retailer’s expenses in the exercise were paid back in about six months, which helped it with some of the headwinds it was facing, Grayston said. Because the health and safety of our staff and guests are our top priority, we continue to implement practices to keep us safe during these crazy times. Other than that small optimisation and the addition of the new source of data, Trevor says they haven’t had to touch the solution since it went live. © 2020. The Warehouse Group Canada’s Premium Dive Bars and Restaurants have always been focused on ensuring our guests first and foremost have a kickass time when they walk through our doors. Collectively, these stores are known as The Warehouse Group and are an established part of the everyday lives of Kiwis, with around 2m visitors to over 250 stores every week. "On behalf of the executive and the board I would like to thank Pej for the significant contribution he has made over the past 15 years and wish him all the best in his new role.". The group told the Herald that the subsidy from government had covered just 50 per cent of its wage bill during that time. The Spinoff is a New Zealand online magazine covering politics, pop culture and social issues. Online sales finished the year up 50% on 2019, and in the second half of the year were up 126%. So I did and bought something that cost more, a win for both parties. But with this new project, they knew they needed a solution that would easily scale to meet the data demands that would come along with indexing all data from each receipt across every store. Government wage subsidies have helped The Warehouse to make a solid profit, albeit well down on last year.


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Formalise actions to end corruption in Maritime sector — Bawumia
The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has said there is a compelling need for the maritime sector to formalise actions to combat bribery and corruption in a bid to ensure fair trade.
He explained that the industry was exposed to the risk of many forms of corruption which had damaging effects on trade and investment.
Dr Buwumia who made the call last Thursday in a speech read on his behalf at the opening of the Global Best in Vessel Clearance Workshop in Accra said the lack of transparency in Import and Export Licensing as well as with other regulatory requirements which make movement of goods time consuming, burdensome and expensive contributed to corruption in our Ports.
The workshop organised by the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) and the Convention on Business Integrity (CBI) in partnership with GMA brought together maritime experts from six African countries to deliberate on new trends in best practices in vessel clearance at seaports.“
The Ghana Revenue Authority for instance estimates that Ghana loses more than $8.3 million monthly in revenue through corrupt practices at our Ports.
This figure amounts to almost $50 million every six months and a $100 million annually.
“These loses are due in part to the deception by some Importers who deliberately wrongly declare contents of imported containers with some Port Officials aiding in this deception,” he said.
That in turn, he said had negative effects on social, economic and sustainable development as well as a country's risk and integrity rating, potentially impacting on foreign direct investment.
Hence, it was vital for all Stakeholders in the Ship/shore interface to embrace and implement anti-corruption practices and procedures.
Nature of shipping industry The Deputy Director-General of Finance & Administration at the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), Yaw Akosa Antwi, said corruption in the maritime industry will persist due to the nature of the shipping industry.
“This fragmented and impervious nature of the shipping industry makes fighting corruption difficult as it portends a multidimensional challenge that requires an all-inclusive solution.
It is therefore essential for the public and private sector as well as other actors to collaborate and align standards thereby mitigating the corruption risk,” he said.
For his part, the Associate Director for Global Operations & Industry Engagement at the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network, Vivek Menon, said despite last year's drop in piracy incidents, approaching West-African ports were still considered a high-risk and a global concern for the shipping industry.He said the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement had opportunities for Africa to boost intra-African Trade and integrate into the global economy.
However, for AfCFTA to be successful, it was crucial that the continent had an efficient and reliable transport system in place.
“This is where the new port of Tema can be part of inspiration to extend the necessary infrastructure, services and capacities to support the “Let us work together to harness the potential of the blue economy for Africa, ensuring that any obstacles to realising its potential will be eliminated,” Mr Menon said.


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To avoid embarrassing empty seats during races, most NASCAR tracks have already removed a significant percentage of their seats to avoid looking like a loser on live TV.
At Texas Motor Speedway, additional plans now include further reducing the number of suites, and seats. The demand is simply no longer there for a 100,000-seat facility virtually anywhere in the world except Indianapolis, Daytona and LeMans.
“I don’t want to say 50,000 because I think that’s too low but I’d think the sweet spot for us is about 75,000,” TMS assistant general manager Kenton Nelson told the Star-Telegram Monday. “Think of this as a re-modernization of Texas Motor Speedway.”
“I think what you’ll see is taking out a row of seats and replacing it with a drink and food rail in front of it,” Nelson said. “We could expand the size of the seat from 18 inches wide to 22 inches wide, so it’s more comfortable.
“Fans want to be comfortable, and we will offer something that is a hell of a lot more comfortable than (current grandstand seat).”


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by 👨💻 Graham Pierrepoint
Apple fans rejoice – September has so far been a fairly eventful month for the brand, with their traditional hardware and software announcement seminar having revealed three new smartphones, a new iteration of smart watch, upgraded TV and more besides – and for many people already in possession of existing devices, the roll-out of iOS 11 will be exciting enough. The latest version of Apple’s operating system for iPhones and iPads is set to update features such as Siri, security and to bring in all manner of new functionality for augmented reality – and, as media outlets have reported in recent months, it will also spell the end for 32-bit applications, as the new platform will be entirely 64-bit.
What does this mean for existing users of Apple products? It means, essentially, that anyone using older iPad models or iPhones released ahead of the iPhone 5S will no longer be supported by updates. This means that they have effectively been made obsolete – it’s not the end of the world for users who are happy to continue using their devices for everyday tasks, but it may leave them extremely cut off from the advancement in app technology that is likely to press on for years to come.
Speaking of apps – here’s what you really need to know before tapping that ‘update’ button. Apps that are solely 32-bit and which will not be upgraded to operate on a 64-bit platform will no longer be supported by devices running iOS 11. This means saying goodbye to many different games and tools which have effectively gone untouched for a few years now – one of the biggest casualties is the infamous Flappy Bird, a deceptively simple but tricky game that swept mobile devices in 2014. The game was thought to be earning around $50,000 a day at its peak – but is now set to fade into obsolescence, at least on iOS 11 devices.
If you’re worried about which apps and games won’t be supported on the update, simply head to ‘General’, ‘About’ and then ‘Applications’ under the Settings app for more information. You’ll be given a list of all the games and apps you will wave goodbye to upon updating. It’s a bittersweet moment for many users, of course – but to stay updated, it will ultimately be worthwhile making a few small app-shaped concessions to move forward.


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As part of its Open Up Challenge, announced in February, Nesta called for FinTechs that are using APIs to disrupt small business banking. The 20 chosen companies will compete for the prize money used to develop next-generation services and apps for U.K. small businesses, Nesta explained, adding that each of the 20 firms will receive a $65,000 grant, along with access to the Open Up Data Sandbox and business support.
The Open Up Challenge is backed by the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority as it promotes retail banking reform.
“We have been overwhelmed by the volume and quality of entrants for the Open Up Challenge,” said Nesta Challenge Prize Lead Chris Gorst in a statement. “It’s encouraging to see how much energy and talent is focused on FinTech innovations for small businesses.”
“We now have twenty teams who we firmly believe can build next generation services that will transform small business banking,” he continued. “By supporting these teams with financial rewards, expert support and access to the Open Up Data Sandbox, we hope to play a part in revolutionizing a sector that has been slow to exploit new technology and respond to customer needs.”
According to Nesta, the Sandbox to which the 20 companies have access is aligned with industry standards for APIs. The Open Banking is overseeing the development of those open banking standards and, earlier this month, released API specifications for account and transaction information and payment initiation. Those standards will go live in January 2018.
“From automating activity that currently takes valuable time away from businesses, to making access to credit and advice easier and smarter, it will revolutionize the way companies are run and grown,” said Imran Gulamhuseinwala, trustee of the Open Banking unit, of the opportunity presented by open banking via APIs. “Nesta’s Open Up Challenge demonstrates the range and quality of innovations enabled by open banking, and I look forward to seeing these develop into game-changing products for small businesses.”
The companies participating in the challenge are as follows:
Credit Data Research Ltd
Handle by Bizfitech
Solo — Smarter Freelancing


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One of the most hotly anticipated smartphones of the year was the successor to the popular Moto X. The new phone duly arrived but rather than being called the Moto X2 or X+1 as had been rumored, Motorola chose the Moto X (2014) as its name. The phone is releasing to various world regions and […]
We often enjoy seeing concept designs as they can give us some nice teasers for future devices. Many times the renders we see are of known upcoming smartphones, but sometimes we see a new idea. Today we want to show readers a Motorola RX smartphone design with an innovative look that will turn heads. It’s […]
2014 may be coming to a close, but there are still a few devices to get excited about. The Droid Turbo is one of them, and we’ve already gotten a good look at the device ahead of the rumored October announcement. Today, we got another look at the Droid Turbo specs through some benchmarks, and that line up nicely with what we had previously heard.
If you’re an Android smartphone enthusiast you are undoubtedly waiting to hear about the upcoming Google Nexus 6, also dubbed the Nexus X. This handset is rumored for an unveiling in October with a possible release around Halloween, and concept designers have been having a field day coming up with ideas of what it could […]
Two of the smartphones we’ve seen most interest in over recent weeks and months in India have been the Xiaomi Mi3 and the more recent arrival, the Motorola Moto G 2nd generation. They are both in a similar price bracket and so some buyers will be wondering which would be their best option. With this […]
The Google Nexus 6, otherwise referred to as the Nexus X, is the subject of much discussion at the moment as we wait to hear about an official unveiling of this phone. The phone is rumored for a release date around Halloween, and many Android device enthusiasts are eager to see and hear more. Today […]
If you’re a smartphone enthusiast you could not have escaped the news that has erupted over the last few days about the iPhone 6 bending issue, now being referred to as Bendgate. This is more apparent in the larger iPhone 6 Plus, but does it also affect the standard iPhone 6? We’re taking a look […]


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A rare variety of durian is being sold for Rp14 million each at a shopping mall in the city of Tasikmalaya.
The supermarket managed to sell two of the fruits, named J-Queen, the day it went on sale despite its steep price tag, according to the news website Kompas.com.
This has made the fruit the talk of the town in Tasikmalaya, where the minimum wage is Rp2 million per month. Visitors to the mall took turns taking selfies with the fruit, according to local media.
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@realplazaasiatasik Durian J-QUEEN harga 14 juta per butir.. Asli bukan Hoax ya ? Sudah masuk berita di koran RADAR TASIKMALAYA. Durian J-Queen ini asli lokal dari Banyumas Indonesia ? Dari info yg saya dapat dari owner & petani durian ini (Pak Aka), yg bikin harga durian ini mahal : – Pemenang kontes durian di Penang, Malaysia.. – Berbuah nya hanya 3 tahun sekali dan sedikit.. – Membudidayakan pohon nya sulit sekali.. – Rasa manis nya juara dan wangi nya mengalahkan durian lain. #durian #pestadurian #duren #pestaduren #duren14juta #durian14juta #foodhunter #culinary #tasikculinary #kulinertasik #makanantasik #jajanantasik #wisatakuliner #instafood #kuliner #jajanan #makan
“I’d rather buy a motorcycle and I can use it for 10 years,” said a Twitter user who goes by the name R. Balqis.
Mr Aka, who discovered the version of the King of Fruits, said it has a unique taste akin to peanut butter and is round in shape, unlike the regular durian, which is usually oblong.
The 32-year-old psychology graduate said J-Queen’s uniqueness results from the cross-breeding of two superior durian varieties in Indonesia.
“I’m the only one who owns the trees, and the saplings are not for sale,” Mr Aka was quoted as saying by Kompas.com
He also claimed that J-Queen could only be harvested every three years, with each tree only having 20 durians at most.
A durian farmer in the central Java district of Kendal said he had never heard of J-Queen. “The most expensive variety is Kumbokarno, which sells for 15,000 to 200,000 rupiah,” He said.
Source: Straits Times


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New hub aims to boost small business in SA
- From: AAP
- February 28, 2013
HUB Australia is setting up another of its centres in Adelaide as a place where people with business ideas can come together and grow their operations.
The South Australian government will provide $1 million towards the project to help establish Hub Adelaide in a disused building in the heart of the city.
The new facility offers people with business ideas the opportunity to take up memberships to use office space and facilities and also engage with other small enterprises.
Membership prices range from $200 to $600 a month and are open to people of any age with a business idea.
Hub Australia already operates similar centres in Melbourne and Sydney.
Spokesman Brad Krauskopf says the Adelaide centre will draw on this experience.
"Hubs provide a range of networking and learning opportunities with each hub like a ready-made office and community," he said.
"We provide real-world and online opportunities for our members to connect with one another."
Premier Jay Weatherill said Hub Adelaide would foster innovation and help grow small businesses.
"This is about creating a space where young people with ideas can put their minds together, share their experiences and learn from experts," Mr Weatherill said.
POLICE fear a deadly new weapon - a plastic gun made from downloading a file off a 3D home computer - will eventually be used in Australia.
A FOODLAND supermarket failed the public and breached the trust of South Australia by selling food 40 days after its use-by date, a court has heard.
UPDATE: SLAIN soldier feared for the safety of his soldier girlfriend serving in Afghanistan, and then he was killed on a London street.
WHY do window shutters have to be open and seats upright upon landing? Is diet cola harder to pour in the skies? Here are 10 things you just have to know about air travel.


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State - owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has come up with the new offer in which the company is offering BSNL offering free unlimited data to prepaid STV-333 plan users under STV 333 ie " Triple ACE".
The new offer is for only three days ie May 17th to May 19 as a part of its World Telecommunication and Information Society day promotional offers.
"The STV 333 i.e"Triple ACE" offer gives Unlimited Data with 3GB data/day as fair usage policy (FUP) for 90 days. In order to provide data as per ITU theme BSNL has decided to provide truly unlimited Data for 3 days to existing/new customers of STV-333 from 17th to 19 May'17 under prepaid mobile service," the company said in a press statement.
To recall BSNL has launched promotional offer of "Dil khol ke bol" new STV349, "Triple ACE" new STV333, "Nehle pe dehla" new STV395 under prepaid mobile services.
All the plans come with a validity of 90 days. Dil Khol Ke Bol plan at Rs. 349 is offering 2GB data for 28 days along with unlimited local and STD calls, the Triple Ace is providing 3GB data per day for 90 days and last is Nehla per Dehla is giving 2GB data per day plus 3000 BSNL to BSNL free minutes.
We have also reported earlier that the company has also revamped its five postpaid plans ranging from Rs. 99 to Rs. 725. The first starts with Rs. 99 which will now offer 250 MB data, however, there were no data earlier in this plan, the second plan at Rs. 225 used to offer 200 MB but now user will get 1000 MB data, the third plan at Rs. 325 is offering 2000MB which used to give 250 MB earlier, the fourth plan at Rs. 525 is giving 3000 MB instead of 500 MB and the last plan at Rs. 725 is providing 5000 MB data which was offering 1000MB data before.


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NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - A.T. Cross ATX, +3.70% said its chief financial officer, John Ruggieri, resigned effective Aug. 11 to pursue other opportunities. The pen maker said it will begin a search for a new CFO "shortly." Ruggieri will become CFO of privately-held lighting products firm Emissive Energy. The stock closed Thursday down a penny at $5.19.
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David Phelps Quoted by Law360 on 2016 Retail Real Estate Trends
Law360, for its article “4 Areas Of Retail Real Estate To Watch In 2016,” quoted Akin Gump real estate partner David Phelps on upcoming trends to be seen in the retail real estate sector.
Of big-box department stores downsizing their leases, Phelps noted, “Small retail categories will increase as a result of downsizing of once-larger tenants going into smaller spaces. Demising large boxes ... into multimidbox tenants will continue to be an alternative for landlords to back fill large spaces.”
In the restaurant space, Phelps noted that there will be continued competition in the next year, saying, “Food-use categories will continue to increase and decrease based on market trends. For every fun new restaurant that starts up or enters a new market, an older restaurant loses customers.”


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Bars are back.
Across some of the biggest cities in the country, bars are re-opening after a long shutdown. And new bars in particular are bursting onto the scene.
After a long break that included the introduction of to-go cocktails and rules about food and alcohol being consumed at the same time, bars have finally re-opened, and consumer demand seems to be meeting the moment.
New York City nightlife guru David Rabin recently told Nation’s Restaurant News that guests are drinking more but earlier. He also said guests aren’t balking at high prices (think $20 cocktails).
“Nobody seems to be blinking at the cost,” he said.
These are some of the newest bars across the country that are capitalizing on nightlife’s reemergence.


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Goodyear is renewing its entitlement sponsorship of the Goodyear 400, NASCAR’s Official Throwback Weekend Cup Series race.
The “Official Tire of NASCAR” is rolling out throwback tires that mimic the spray-painted logo designs of the past, along with a contest giving consumers a chance to win one to take home.
Amid a race weekend known for drivers’ nostalgic paint schemes honoring former drivers and memorable stock cars, Goodyear will sport a vintage sidewall design on its Eagle race tires, last used during the 1980-1992 Cup Series race seasons.
The tires will pay tribute to the first time Goodyear featured “Eagle” on its race tires’ sidewalls in NASCAR. The tire design will be used at all three national series races during the Official Throwback Weekend.
Hosted on May 8 at Darlington Raceway, one of the Cup Series’ oldest active tracks, the Goodyear 400 celebrates the history of stock car racing and signifies another milestone chapter in Goodyear’s 68-year affiliation with NASCAR, says KarenMaroli, Goodyear's vice president of marketing.
Now through May 9, fans who visit Goodyear400Sweepstakes.com and complete the online entry form will automatically be entered for a chance to win one of the limited-edition tires, used exclusively by the winner of the Goodyear 400.


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A new update has been released for Wild Hearts Update 1.011 You can find out all the details of the Game Update, Bug Fixes, improvements, and Patch Notes for all platforms, including PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and PC.
– Fixed an issue in which the mutation level of the karakuri staff could be increased beyond the limit displayed. – [PC] Fixed an issue in which the first attack of “Unbound: Iai Sunder Slash” with karakuri katana would not hit when the FPS limit was set to 30.
– [PS5/Xbox X|S] Fixed an issue in which the first attack of “Unbound: Iai Sunder Slash” with karakuri katana would not hit when Graphical Priority was set to Prioritize Performance.
– Fixed an issue where small kemono spawned in greater numbers than intended. – Fixed and improved other miscellaneous issues.


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The Nikkei financial daily reports that Mazda Motor Corp plans to leave its joint venture with Ford Motor Co and stop building cars in the US.
Mazda and Ford operate the AutoAlliance International plant in Michigan as a 50-50 partnership. Citing unnamed company sources, the Nikkei says Mazda is considering selling its stake to Ford as the Japanese automaker tries to restructure its global production.
Mazda cars sold in the US will be shipped from Japan and Mexico starting around 2013, according to the Nikkei.
Mazda issued a short statement on Friday saying the report was not based on information it had released. The company is in talks with Ford about the future of the joint venture, but says it cannot announce details at this time.


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U.S. federal prosecutors say the data hosted on Megaupload servers could be deleted as early as Thursday -- a grim prospect for anyone who's ever used the cyberlocker for legitimate purposes, such as storing work files. The site is currently inaccessible.
Prosecutors blocked access to Megaupload and charged seven men with crimes relating to online piracy on Jan. 18. Authorities say Megaupload facilitated the exchange of millions of illegally downloaded movies, music and other copyrighted content.
The lawyer representing Megaupload in the case, Ira Rothken, is arguing that the founders of the company will be less able to defend themselves in court if data from their servers is deleted.
Megaupload, which uses third parties to host the stores information, has been unable to pay the storage centers it works with because the company's funds have been frozen.
It is our understanding that the hosting companies may begin deleting the contents of the servers beginning as early as 2 February, said U.S. prosecutors in a letter to the BBC. The letter explains that select data was copied, but none of the servers were removed from the companies that were hosting Megaupload data. Companies that were storing information from Megaupload include Carpathia Hosting and Cogent Communications Group.
Prosecutors are not responsible for the data stored on Megaupload's servers, which are owned by companies including Carpathia and Cogent.
Should the defendants wish to obtain independent access ... that issue must be resolved directly with Cogent or Carpathia, U.S. prosecutors said.
The Prevalence of Piracy
Megaupload had about 150 million registered users when it was shut down on Jan. 19, which made it one of the most popular file-sharing services in the world. Prosecutors have accused the company of costing copyright holders more than $500 million in revenues.
If the lost revenue figure is accurate, what may be more shocking is the amount of money lost by copyright holders in the more popular realms of file-sharing across the Internet. A recent study from the British market intelligence firm Envisional showed that pirated content accounts for 24 percent of worldwide bandwidth consumption.
Cyberlockers, or online file storage providers, which is exactly what Megaupload was, only account for 5.1 percent of total bandwidth. BitTorrent, the peer-to-peer communications protocol used for file share, which is the most common platform for digital piracy, accounts for 11.4 percent of global bandwidth consumption.
Unlike a cyberlocker, BitTorrent operates as a mesh network, allowing people to send fragments of large files in any order. The protocol is specifically good for exchanging large files quickly. According to the study, BitTorrent is by far and away the preferred method of Internet piracy, making up 49.1 percent.
The study argues that legitimate alternatives to cyberlockers and BitTorrenting are often the most productive way for businesses to adapt to the trends of the internet. As was the case in the early days of file-sharing with software such as Napster, suing pirates endlessly does very little to curb the trend.
Envisional points out that business models such as iTunes, Netflix, Steam, Hulu and BBC iPlayer have used technology introduced by pirates and legitimized it. People tend to use legitimate means of consuming media if given the opportunity. This is best exemplified in the case of Netflix, which offers cheap and easy access to thousands of streaming titles.
Unlike purchasing a Blu-Ray Disc or DVD, Netflix does not penalize customers for choosing a movie they don't enjoy or only care to watch once; moreover, Netflix movies can be viewed instantaneously--something that was never possible with traditional movie rental business models such as Blockbuster. As thousands of customers flocked to Netflix, the main priority of the American consumer became evident: People just want their media served up easily and cheaply.
The flat fee that Netflix offers is more than reasonable, plus it's accessible from several devices (phones, video game systems, tablets, etc.), and there's a huge library of content to choose from. That's probably why Netflix is currently the single largest consumer of bandwidth in the United States at all times of the day, with 29 percent of all peak downstream traffic.
The Envisional research emphasizes that in the future, legitimate alternatives will proliferate. Envisional says, Piracy will continue because it offer fast and easy access to content, the widest availability and is reliable.
If Netflix bandwidth numbers are any indication, consumers prefer to use a platform that's legitimate so long as it's cheap, quick and easy. The fact that pirates lost Megaupload ultimately means nothing--at least until someone provides an easier way to consume copyrighted material.
MUST READ: Top Web Conferencing Platforms 2012
MUST READ: Top SEO Firms 2012


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Intel is having trouble meeting deadlines for the XMM 8160 5G modem that Apple is counting on to add 5G connectivity to its 2020 iPhone lineup, reports Fast Company.
Citing a source with knowledge of Intel and Apple’s relationship, Fast Company says that Intel has been missing developmental deadlines on the 5G chip, leading Apple to lose confidence in Intel.
For a September 2020 launch, sample chips need to be provided to Apple this summer, and a finished modem design needs to be available by the beginning of 2020. Intel has said its chips will be in mobile devices by 2020, and has plans to ship the 8160 5G chip in the second half of 2019, but it’s not clear if it will make those target dates.
Apple began using Intel chips alongside Qualcomm chips with the launch of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and in 2018, Intel was Apple’s exclusive LTE chip supplier for the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max following Apple’s legal woes with Qualcomm.
Rumors have suggested that Apple is planning to introduce 5G connectivity in the iPhone in 2020 and is relying on Intel’s chips to do so.
Intel and Apple’s relationship is said to be tense, and on the Intel side, there have already been three project managers overseeing the development of the modem. Apple has been holding talks with Samsung and Mediatek about supplying modem chips in the near term, but neither company may have chips ready for 2020.
Fast Company‘s source says that it would make the most business sense for Apple to go back to Qualcomm, but given the ever-increasing legal tensions between the two companies, that seems unlikely.
Apple is preparing to develop its own modem chips in house so that it doesn’t need to rely on either Intel or Qualcomm, but those chips are not going to be ready in time for a 2020 5G iPhone launch.
TikTok owner ByteDance plans to launch music streaming
(Reuters) – TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co Ltd is in talks with big music labels – Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music – for global licensing deals to include their songs on its new music subscription service, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
ByteDance is looking to launch its music streaming as soon as next month, initially in emerging markets such as India, Indonesia and Brazil, before a future opening in the United States, the FT reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
In addition to on-demand music, ByteDance’s app will include a library of short video clips for listeners to search through and synch to songs as they listen, the report added.
ByteDance has not given a name to its music app yet and pricing remains unclear, although it is expected to cost less than the $10 a month charged by Spotify Technology SA, Apple Inc and others in the United States, according to the report.
The company was not immediately available for comment on Sunday.
(Reporting by Anurag Maan in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Apple announces press event on Dec. 2
Apple will host an event on Dec. 2
Apple just announced a press event that it will hold at 4 p.m. ET on Dec. 2 in New York City. The event will be focused on “honoring our favorite apps and games of 2019.” A tagline on the invite says “Loved by millions. Created by the best.”
Apple typically issues a press release detailing its favorite apps and games of the year annually, but this time there may be some sort of awards ceremony instead of just a release. New products are not expected at the event.
Reports had suggested Apple was planning to hold some sort of press conference in October, although the company ultimately announced and released products instead of holding a splashy event. Recent announcements included the new 16-inch MacBook Pro and new AirPods Pro with noise cancellation.
Samsung’s Star Wars-themed Galaxy Note 10 Plus
With the impending December 20th release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker looming like a nearby Death Star, Samsung has announced a Star Wars-themed Galaxy Note 10 Plus that’s giving off some major Kylo Ren energy. It will be on sale in the US on December 13th for $1,299.99.
The phone looks really slick. I love the red lightsaber-style S Pen. It’s a black Note 10 Plus with a First Order emblem on the back and red trim on the buttons and around the camera. In the Kylo Ren-themed box, you’ll also get black Galaxy Buds with a red inner casing, a Ren-themed leather phone case, and a Ren-themed “metal badge.”
Samsung says the phone will come with exclusive Star Wars-themed wallpapers, shutdown animations, icons, and sounds.
With a price tag of $1,299.99, it’s a little more expensive than a base Galaxy Note 10 Plus — which you can buy on Samsung’s website at a sale price of $839.99 — but the extra Star Wars-themed goodies might make the extra cost worth it.
Samsung says bundle will be available in Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Korea, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UAE, the UK, and the US. In select markets, it will be available starting on December 10th, which is a bit sooner than the US release date.
Photos Show Evidence of Life on Mars: Insect- and Reptile-Like Fossils & Living Creatures – SciTechDaily
White House to honour Jon Voight, Alison Krauss with National Medal of Arts – CBC.ca
Pospisil, Shapovalov engineer Canada historic win over U.S. at Davis Cup
Poland sees bigger state role in economy
Alison Krauss to Be Awarded National Medal of Arts – Rolling Stone
Spacecraft record weird ‘music’ of our planet during solar storm – Yahoo Sports
Kamloops arts centre vote will be held on April 4 – Kamloops This Week
Thousands of CN Rail employees on strike amid contract talks
Major Encana shareholder rejects company move to the U.S.
Hop on downtown this weekend to discover some local holiday art – OrilliaMatters.Com
Trans Mountain got $320M in subsidies in first half 2019
Snowfall hits Calgary, surrounding area
TC Energy Corp. banking on in-corridor growth
Dux Forex Signals Offer CB | Web-Based Signals With Alerts
François-Philippe Champagne to be Canada’s next foreign affairs minister
Woman in furious rant about rainbow poppies for ‘gay soldiers only’
Influential curator championed Canadian art
Window washer rescued from a dangling suspended scaffolding outside Edmonton’s Stantec Tower
Asteroid horror: NASA panic as space rock half size of Ben Nevis on dangerous Earth-orbit
Some bus service will be cancelled due to the transit strike, states TransLink
Search for missing teenager Alexandre Baron ends in tragedy
Angry Pettersson, sniping Boeser unleash full wrath in Canucks win
Social worker stabbed to death in Calgary
Splash: Arts Umbrella's 37th annual art auction and gala – BCBusiness
Vulgar slur painted across MP Catherine McKenna office
Doug Ford government pledges to be on better behaviour
Maxar Delivers Robotic Arm for NASA's Mars 2020 Rover – Financial Post
In first, spacewalk conducted by two women: NASA TV – Digital Journal
The sudden death of Saskatchewan curler Aly Jenkins
Art Toronto fair mixes culture and commerce
- Science4 days ago
Alpha Monocerotids outburst may produce a meteor storm next week
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Apple thinks glasses will replace smartphones
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13-inch vs 16-inch new MacBook Pro
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Ron MacLean ponders his future
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Spectacular Meteor Outburst Expected Very Soon – Webby Feed
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Heritage Woods grad in Arts Club premiere – The Tri-City News
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Kelowna named best city for real estate investment
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Samsung’s Star Wars-themed Galaxy Note 10 Plus


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Internet Users Giving Up on Broadband
Spyware appears to be the main culprit here. One estimate suggests that up to 80% of the world's computers contain some amount of spyware -- not even Bill Gates himself is immune! Another study found that over 30% of consumers surveyed were making fewer purchases online because of security concerns. Considering these statistics, technology and Internet-based firms everywhere should be making secure computing their number one priority... for their own sake was well as their customers'.
Source: Los Angeles Times


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A Fontana man was arrested Thursday by sheriff’s deputies who suspect he stole iPhones from AT&T stores in Highland, Redlands and Corona.
Deputies were called by employees at an AT&T store on Greenspot Road at 1:24 p.m. Wednesday about a theft of two iPhones from the sales floor.
The suspect used wire cutters to cut security cords and fled in a white Cadillac. Surveillance video tape was obtained, and detectives determined the suspect’s identity.
Deputies learned the suspect had burglarized other cell phone stores in Redlands and Corona.
A search warrant was served at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Fontana residence of Peter Hernandez, 21, in the 8800 block of Mango Avenue. Deputies found stolen iPhones, wire cutters and a small quantity of methamphetamine.
Other evidence was also found linking Hernandez to the burglaries. Detectives said they believe Hernandez may be linked to other burglaries and are asking for the public’s assistance.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s station in Highland at (909) 425-9793.


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How to Report a Repair
Utilita to Take on Our Power Customers
Posted on 4th Feb 2019 at 14:37 ( Last updated on 4th Feb 2019 at 15:16 )
Ofgem has appointed Utilita Energy Limited to take on the supply to domestic customers of Our Power Energy, which ceased trading at the end of January. Our Power was founded in 2015 by 35 member organisations including some of Scotland’s largest housing associations, and local authorities.
Utilita is offering Our Power’s customers a competitive tariff and will honour all outstanding credit balances, including money owed to both existing and former customers of Our Power.
Warm Home Discount customers who have already been approved by Our Power will continue to receive their payment from Utilita.
Utilita will absorb the costs of honouring customers’ credit balances and the migration of customers.
For existing customers, energy supplies will continue as normal as they switch over to Utilita on Thursday 31 January.
Customers with prepayment tariffs can continue to top up their meters as they had done previously with Our Power.
Customers of Our Power will be contacted over the coming days about the changes. If customers wish to switch supplier they should shop around. Customers will not be charged exit fees if they decide to switch to another supplier.
Philippa Pickford, Ofgem’s director for future retail markets, said:
“I am pleased to announce we have appointed Utilita, which will offer Our Power’s customers a competitive tariff for their energy. Their credit balances will be honoured and their energy supply will continue as normal.
“Utilita has also agreed to absorb the costs of taking on these customers and outstanding credit balances, which means the extra costs will not fall on the industry or households.
“Utilita will be in contact with customers over the coming days with further information. Once the transfer has been completed, customers can shop around for a better deal if they wish to.”
“We are pleased that Utilita has given firm commitments to delivering a positive customer experience. We expect them to continue building on this, to ensure a good customer experience for all customers.”


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The Economist Events 7th Innovation Summit will take place on June 29th 2017.
The Economist Events Innovation Summit will consider how businesses can leverage new technologies to improve their models and strategy. What lessons can the world’s great innovators offer Europe, and what ideas and insights the region can share in return?
Agenda highlights - you'll hear:
Jonah Peretti, founder and chief executive officer at BuzzFeed give his thoughts on persuasion, position and power
Paul Misener, vice-president, global innovation policy and communications at Amazon.com discuss the need to embrace failure - and learn from it
Booking.com's CEO and Allianz's chief information officer weigh in on what innovation they think is really happening
Senior data and digital heads at Mashable and Philips take a closer look at the two faces of data
Find out how technologies are beginning to detect and understand human emotions - and turn this data into usable intelligence
Hear how machine learning will transform businesses globally
Hear opening and closing thoughts from two of the editors at The Economist
Visit the event website - https://goo.gl/a6m4Qq - to find out more. Sponsorship and exhibition opportunities are also available.
Time: 8:00 am - 5:30 pm
Charity / Academic: EUR 777
Standard: EUR 1295
Speakers: Buzzfeed, Amazon, Airbnb, Booking.com, Mashable, Philips, Workplace by Facebook


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The White House says Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will discuss how the trade deal "will open up economic opportunities and support jobs on both sides of the Pacific."
The plant made headlines last year when the United Auto Workers agreed to allow roughly 40 percent of employees to earn lower wages than their peers, a tiered system GM says has allowed it to build small cars at a profit in the United States.
GM bought Daewoo Motor in 2001 and renamed it GM Daewoo, and The Detroit News reports the automaker currently exports four models to South Korea, with plans to add another by year's end.
Democrats and Republicans -- not to mention the Big Three and UAW -- have expressed support for the pending free-trade pact, which would remove the majority of existing tariffs within five years and give U.S. exporters increased access to the South Korean market.
"If Americans can buy Kias and Hyundais, I want to see folks in South Korea driving Fords and Chevys and Chryslers," he said during the joint session of Congress. "I want to see more products sold around the world stamped with the three proud words: 'Made in America.' That's what we need to get done."


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New ‘Really British’ store in Muswell Hill branded ‘racist’ by shoppers
- Credit: Archant
A shopkeeper has defended his novelty gift shop after it has been boycotted by shoppers who branded it ‘pro-Brexit’ and ‘racist’
The shop in Muswell Hill caused a storm on social media with owner Chris Ostwald, 54, forced to remove his British flags on the opening day on November 26 because he received so many complaints.
One of the shop assistants, who is Spanish, left after just one day because of all the snide remarks she received.
The shop sells British-themed gifts and homeware. Their products include condiments, such as brown sauce, London underground tea towels and “Muswell Hillbillies” mugs, which references the Kinks album. There are also suffragette aprons and stocking fillers such as old fashioned compasses.
Mr Otswald, 54, told the Ham&High: “The shop is in no way meant to be ‘political’ or ‘pro Brexit’, but we have had a lot of complaints saying it is or we are ‘racist!”
“A guy came in the other day and said, ‘what’s this, a charity shop?’ and we said, ‘no, not at all’, and he said, ‘well it’s racist’, and stormed out.”
Mr Ostwald added: “People have been coming in and just tutting and walking out.”
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- 3 'Ruining our vibe': Muswell Hill coffee shop divides community opinion
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There have been other comments on Facebook, with one person arguing that the name is not inclusive.
One man wrote on public Facebook group Muswell Hill and Friends: “Chris, while I applaud you setting up a business in Muswell Hill and employing local people I’m curious as to why you decided to call your shop ‘Really British’ (besides the obvious point that you will sell British made goods)?
“Like many people I live in London because of its international nature, and for me personally having a big sign on the Broadway saying ‘Really British’ makes me feel you’re implying that other local businesses in the area are therefore somehow ‘not really British’.
“Some will no doubt say I’m over-sensitive but I can’t help thinking that given the recent divisive referendum and the current political climate you might have chosen a more inclusive name in 2016.”
More than 75 per cent of people in Haringey voted to remain in the EU.
Another person on the group asked: “Do you have to be really British to work in the shop?”
Describing the inspiration behind his shop, Mr Ostwald, who also owns the Crocodile Café across the road, said, “When the idea came to me, it was kind of around Brexit time, and I just thought well now is the time when importing things from Europe is going to cost more money, let’s look to our own resources a bit and buy more things from England, promoting our own products.
“When you go to Sainsbury’s, it’s all about eat Indian, eat Chinese, eat Italian - you have to find the roast dinners somewhere at the back at the bottom shelf, they’ve been pushing continental things for so many years, I feel like we’ve lost our identity.”
There are also critical online reviews including one querying whether his items are Chinese imports, rather than British-made.
But Mr Ostwald said: “We intended the shop to be a celebration of “Englishness” and want to sell things that are ‘quintessentially British’...
“A lot of English designers have things made abroad due to costs of manufacture in the UK, so we think it’s ok to sell them, as we are promoting ‘the British way of life’ if you like, rather than strictly ‘made in the UK.”


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While large online retailers benefit from having their own security teams, unfortunately, eCommerce security may be more of a challenge for small businesses who lack the in-house resources and expertise. A lack of eCommerce security becomes even more unfortunate with new malware trends including supply chain attacks and automation. Through the use of these advanced malware threats, hackers have the enhanced ability to target large collections of eCommerce targets as opposed to attacking them each, individually.
For small businesses, that means eCommerce security can make or break their short- and long-term success in the online marketplace. The online small business space now represents a great opportunity for threat actors as it contains massive quantities of valuable information without the heavy security as seen with larger corporations. That’s why recent studies, like Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report have found a striking increase in the number of small businesses suffering from data breaches and other cyber threats.
With all businesses, from small business to corporate retailers, being forced to move their businesses to strictly eCommerce – security represents survival. Because when your customers sniff out the slightest hint that their transactions or PII are not secure, they are unlikely to stick around, leading to a significant loss of take-home revenue for your small business. This Packetlabs blog will serve to describe the inherent threats to eCommerce security, and further, to provide helpful suggestions as to the best course of action.
eCommerce Security: News Update
A survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), in October of last year, found that nearly twenty-five percent of respondents had experienced some form of cyber threat since March 2020, in parallel to the timeline when many businesses were forced to shift to an exclusively eCommerce storefront. In their obvious haste, eCommerce security often fell to the status of afterthought to the more pressing issue of staying in business.
The CFIB’s vice-president of national affairs, Jasmin Guenette, alleged that businesses that were able to adapt quickly and successfully to the e-commerce pivot were, unfortunately, the most vulnerable to attack in the last year – likely as a direct result of their lack of eCommerce security.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the aforementioned figure of 25% of businesses reporting experiencing cybercrime is very likely much, much higher. Guenette points out that many businesses, particularly small businesses, often find out only months (if they do at all – See Compromise Assessment) after an intrusion or an attack. Many of these small businesses may have failed to put adequate research into eCommerce security and have spent their budgets in the wrong places for very little return value. (See our blog: Choosing a Penetration Tester)
Regarding the source of the reported cyberattacks, the report discovered that more than 80% of businesses that experienced an eCommerce security threat said it was via business email compromise and phishing, specifically. The businesses most at risk had twenty or more employees, and many of which were working remotely.
eCommerce Security Defined
eCommerce security refers to the cybersecurity strategies and recommendations that allows for secure online electronic transactions between a buyer and merchant. eCommerce security allows people to buy and sell products and services on the Internet with a framework in place that provides security for all involved individuals or businesses. As mentioned, in recent year, particularly post March 2020, eCommerce security has become increasingly important for merchants and shoppers alike.
The Importance of eCommerce
According to a recent Quickbooks survey, 60% of small businesses said, as a result of pandemic, they have become more reliant on digital technology, with over 50% saying they did more business online than previous years. Their primary concern? Topping the list at 37% was cybersecurity risks, or eCommerce security.
Source: Quickbooks, Small Business E-Commerce Survey, December 2020
Further, in a recent collaboration between Cisco and the National Center for the Middle Market, their report of small and midsize businesses tell a comparable story. Sixty-two percent of the surveyed CEOs declared that their firms did not have any eCommerce security strategy at all! If we consider the true cost of a cyberattack, it’s easy enough to put a company out of business. In actual fact, the National Cyber Security Alliance found that sixty percent of small and medium sized businesses that are breached go out of business within six months!
eCommerce Security Risks
Malware: This eCommerce security threat is extremely common. When a threat actor gains initial access to a website, they often insert malicious code, called malware, which could have the potential to ‘grab onto’ to site visitors, allowing them access to personal information and sensitive data they have on their IoT device, for example.
Phishing: This eCommerce security threat is when your customers or employees are sent fraudulent emails by threat actors that supposedly come from your business. Since these emails are often indistinguishable from internal emails, your customers or employees could mistakenly click on the links that lead to malicious websites, coaxing them to reveal sensitive data.
Cross-site Scripting: Cross-site scripting (XSS) is an eCommerce security vulnerability that allows an attacker to compromise the interactions that users have with a vulnerable application. XSS allows an attacker to evade the same-origin policy, which is designed to segregate different websites from one another. Cross-site scripting vulnerabilities typically allow an attacker to masquerade as a user, to carry out any actions that the user is able to do and to access any of that user’s data. Worse still, if the victim user has privileged access within the application, then the attacker may be able to gain full control over all of the application’s functionality, including sensitive data!
SQL Injection: This is an eCommerce security vulnerability that allows an attacker to interfere with the queries that an application makes to its database. SQL injection generally allows a threat actor to view and retrieve data that they are not normally allowed. This data could include data belonging to other users, or any other data that the application itself is able to access. Often, the threat actor is able to modify or delete this data
DDoS/Dos Attack: With this eCommerce security vulnerability, attackers attempt to make it impossible for a service to be provided. This is done by preventing access to servers, networks, applications, or specific transactions within a web application. In a DoS attack, it’s one system that is sending malicious data or requests; a DDoS attack comes from multiple systems. The impact of this specific eCommerce security vulnerability could range from a minor annoyance, from disrupted services to entire websites, applications, or even entire business being taken offline.
Putting the pieces together
For a small business, eCommerce security is not always easy to get right, especially for smaller businesses which may not have in-house IT. That said, in consideration of the current marketplace, the significance of an online presence and the ramifications of cybercrime on a small business’s livelihood, it’s non-negotiable.


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The chief executive of Volkswagen has quit following revelations that the German carmaker has cheating emissions test in the US.
Martin Winterkorn resigned on Wednesday saying he was "shocked" by events of the past few days.
Winterkorn, who has run the company since 2007, said the company needed a fresh start.
"I am clearing the way for a this fresh start with my resignation," Winterkorn said. "I am shocked by events of the past few days. Above all, I am stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in Volkswagen Group."
The company also made it clear that more senior heads will roll, writing in a statement: "The executive committee is expecting further personnel consequences in the next few days."
Winterkorn said that as CEO, he took responsibility for the scandal, but also said that he was "not aware of any wrongdoing" on his part. Volkswagen admitted on Friday that it had been rigging emissions tests to comply with regulations since 2009.
As many as 11 million vehicles worldwide could have been fitted with so-called "cheat switches" that mask the true level of emissions they emit during tests.
The US Environmental Protection Agency found that the affected VW and Audi cars emit 10 times to 40 times the legal limit of harmful nitrogen emissions during normal driving.
According to estimates, Volkswagen's cheating of emissions tests resulted in an extra 1 million tons of pollution being released into the atmosphere - roughly the equivalent of the UK's combined emissions produced by power stations, vehicles, industry and agriculture.
Winterkorn had already issued multiple apologies for the scandal, which has triggered calls for investigations in Europe and Asia.
Volkswagen is already the subject of multiple criminal investigations in the US, and German prosecutors have said that they are considering launching an investigation of their own, once they have examined a number of legal claims that have been filed against the company.
Volkswagen has seen its share drop 39 per cent in value since the beginning of the week, but Winterkorn's resignation caused a small spike - shares in the company were 8 per cent higher after his resignation than before.
The total value wiped off the company is now close to the value of French rivals Renault and Peugeot combined.
Volkswagen has put aside the €6.5 billion to cover the costs of the scandal.
It said it working “at full speed” to understand how the falsification efforts began.Reuse content


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The FTX bankruptcy has rocked the market and prompted countries to strengthen their regulatory efforts, but the authority for cryptocurrencies in Taiwan is not yet clear. In this regard, Huang Tianmu, chairman of the Financial Regulatory Commission, said yesterday (2) that the Executive Yuan is making a final decision, and it is expected that there will be results in the short term, and he believes that the FSC will play a certain role.
According to comprehensive media reports, legislator Guo Guowen paid attention to the progress of Taiwan’s supervision of cryptocurrencies when questioned by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Yuan, and since the FSC currently only manages money laundering prevention, he believes that cryptocurrencies should also be legalized in the future.
Legislator Tsang Mingzong believes that according to the Organic Law of the Ministry of Digital Development, it is to assist digital development and should be managed by the Ministry of Digital Development. If it is managed by the FSC, it may be managed from the perspective of a licensed industry, which will become conservative and stricter, which is not conducive to the development of the industry.
Huang Tianmu said that the FSC is basically in charge of licensed industries, but there are differences in the degree of supervision.
Huang pointed out that in the past two years, some high-profile cases in the cryptocurrency field have made global regulators want to manage them in a more prudent manner.
Guo Guowen suggested that in the future, cryptocurrency regulation can be considered in five major directions: ensuring physical contact channels, risk management, strict control of real-name authentication (KYC), establishing a compensation mechanism for retail investors, and establishing token inclusion standards. However, Huang Tianmu said that at present, no country has established a compensation mechanism for cryptocurrencies.
Legislator Tsang Mingzong has proposed the main resolution in the past, which has won the support of the government and the opposition. According to this resolution, the Executive Yuan is bound to draft a cryptocurrency authority by May 5 this year, which may be the FSC (focusing on supervision) or the Ministry of Digital Development (assisting in industrial development).


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There is plenty to whet the appetite of visitors to Scotland this year, including a packed programme of food-focused events, and a series of monthly themes for the industry highlighting key food and drink sectors such as seafood, whisky and soft fruits.
The Year of Food and Drink will build on the success of the previous themed years and Homecoming, plus the excellent reputation of our food and drink industry, raising awareness of Scotland’s restaurants, hotels, food producers, B&Bs and visitor attractions.
Food and drink plays a massive role within the tourism sector in Scotland. In fact, according to VisitScotland data the value of Scotland’s food and drink tourism industry is worth an estimated £2.5 million per day to the economy. Visitors are demanding and getting a quality food and drink experience with authentic, iconic and seasonal culinary experiences.
This opportunity is highlighted by VisitScotland figures which show that visitors to Scotland spend, on average, 21 per cent of their holiday budget on eating and drinking. The Year of Food and Drink will raise awareness of Scotland’s restaurants, hotels, food and drink producers, B&Bs, cafes and visitor attractions. With eating traditional dishes and local produce listed as the second top activity undertaken by visitors to Scotland, promoting food and drink has the potential to provide significant growth for tourism. All this presents significant opportunities for Scottish businesses both big and small.
The Scottish Government have established an events fund for 2015 which is already being channelled through EventScotland and VisitScotland. This fund will help boost the use of local produce at the many events taking place throughout 2015. We all look forward to a range of events across the whole of Scotland taking place from 1 July 2015 until Hogmanay 2015.
In addition, a VisitScotland Growth Fund of £100,000 has been disbursed to destination organisations and industry groups who have come up with inspiring marketing projects which showcase Scotland’s natural larder and support the growth of tourism spend in every corner of the country. There is much to look forward to in the coming months - and many ways to welcome our visitors.
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After Bitcoin struggled to move past $20,000, recently a few days ago the King currency captured its crucial price area. Now with the latest move Bitcoin price has even regained its next significant area of $21,000.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin is selling at $21,316 with a surge of 3.46% in the last 24hrs and 2.02% in the last seven days.
Meanwhile, the American venture capitalist and founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Tim Draper has recently claimed in Web Summit that the first born cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, will hit $250,000 by 2023. During the three day Web Summit 2022 he said that he is fond of bear markets as it’s the favorite time to invest.
Bitcoin Price At $250,000
The tweet portrays his stance towards women in crypto where Draper claims women will push the flagship currency to the target of $250,000 by 2023. As per New York Life Investment Management research, 51% of the US wealth is controlled by women.
Tim Draper, a renowned Venture Capitalist in the crypto world who has also supported companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Robinhood among others has always believed that women have the capability to expand Bitcoin adoption.
Draper has made a purchase of 30,000 Bitcoins which was held by the US Marshals from the now dysfunctional Silk Road darknet marketplace back in 2014. Earlier in 2014, Draper had claimed that Bitcoin will move beyond $10,000.
This is not his first claim about Bitcoin hitting $250,000 by 2023, he has been making this prediction for a long time now. If the King currency had to capture the said level, it would surge nearly 1,090%, which looks quite impossible.


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Bad Boy has been up to some good — raising more than $100,000 for the SickKids Foundation last month.
“It’s one of the greatest children’s hospitals in the world, and it was an absolute honour to do it,” said Bad Boy CEO Blayne Lastman on Wednesday. The funds will go to the Labatt Family Heart Centre at the Sick Kids Hospital, and will help support the 10,000 clinic visits the centre sees annually, in addition to funding fellowships and new technology.
The home-furnishing retailer has been donating to the hospital for the last 10 years. This year, Lastman’s Bad Boy ran a fundraising campaign in February, encouraging customers and suppliers to donate and also offering discounts to customers, while donating the difference between the sale price and the listed price to SickKids.
The impact of the funds will be felt not only by patients in Toronto but by those who come for treatment from across the country, said Seanna Dempsey, vice-president of corporate partnerships at the SickKids foundation.
“It’s a significant amount for Bad Boy to raise,” she said.


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By Jeff Milchen
As published in August, 2005 (do not quote data)
Amazon.com executives had more reasons to celebrate in July than just pre-selling 1.5 million copies of the latest Harry Potter episode. Spurred by a favorable second-quarter financial report, the company’s stock value jumped 16 percent on July 27, wiping out six months of decline in a single day.
Then Amazon’s tenth birthday sparked a wave of laudatory press coverage for founder Jeff Bezos and his “revolutionary business model.” That’s great for Bezos, but for me, evaluating Amazon’s first decade revived some nagging concerns about the future of books and our decidedly un-free markets.
The “revolutionary” company lost billions of dollars — an average of $376 million annually during its first eight years — yet it kept enticing speculators to pump more money into the company’s stock. Amazon’s speculation-fueled growth contributed to the net loss of more than 2000 independent book and music sellers during its first decade.
Unlike its independent competitors, Amazon operated in the casino economy of the stock market, not the world of market competition.
Amazon accounts for only about 7% of overall U.S. book sales, but in combination with the proliferation of book chains and mass discounters, its growth hurt independents substantially.
The American Booksellers Association (ABA), the major trade group of independent bookstores, saw its membership sliced nearly in half during Amazon’s first decade (independents’ market share for new books has now stabilized, at about 10%). While Amazon operated a legitimized Ponzi scheme for years, it was and still is subsidized by federal law.
In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the Constitution rather creatively for corporate benefit, ruling that states could not unilaterally decide to collect sales tax on catalog or internet sales to in-state residents (unless authorized by Congress). To do so, the Court majority claimed, would unfairly disrupt the expectations of mail order and internet businesses to operate free of sales taxes.
Congress thus far has failed to fix this discrepancy, despite its members’ campaign rhetoric about “supporting small business.” As a result, storefront businesses typically are burdened by a 6% – 8% penalty on every sale (in the 45 states with statewide sales taxes).
Amazon’s use of financial and political power to succeed wasn’t a new model, but a cyber-version of what many chain stores have done for decades. State and local subsidies to book chains and big box discounters regularly disadvantage community businesses and distort market competition.
For example, Wal-Mart (the fastest-growing book seller) alone has extracted well over $1 billion in such subsidies to build stores and distribution centers or to keep the company from following through on threats to shutter a store. Independent booksellers were also harmed for years by collusion between the largest chains and publishers to violate the Robinson-Patman Act — written to prevent big business from using market dominance to eliminate competition.
Among other provisions, Robinson forbids retailers to “request” and receive terms of sale they know to be illegal (i.e., discounts not justified by economies of scale). The chains were accused of negotiating illegal discounts and perks unavailable to the independents.
Barnes and Noble, Borders, and publisher Penguin have all made multi-million dollar payments to groups of independent booksellers in recent years to settle antitrust complaints, but the payments came too late for countless community bookstores driven out of business by a combination of these anti-market conditions before the settlements.
Of greater concern is whether the diversity of published thought will erode in a market dominated by a few centralized powers. Book superstores frequently carry more titles than local competitors, and inarguably increased local book selections when they entered towns lacking a large independent store. And Amazon clearly made it much easier for us to access a wider range of books; especially in rural areas.
Yet our overall choices are endangered by consolidation of book sales. The existence of thousands of independent bookstores, each buying a different selection based on their local markets and personal preferences, creates an overall diversity that will suffer if a few dozen corporate book-buyers determine which books are published or receive promotional budgets.
It’s in our collective interest to stop well-run independent businesses from being driven out by market distortions. So what can be done? Two problems raised here have straightforward (though not simple) solutions.
First, we need to ensure that antitrust law is vigorously enforced, with meaningful punishment applied to corporations that flout the law. This would entail a sharp reversal of course, as prosecutions of antitrust crime plummeted from about 1500 cases annually in the 1970s to less than 300 annually in recent years, primarily due to lack of funding for enforcement.*
Next, states must be permitted to collect the same sales taxes on internet and mail orders that they do on storefront sales.** (Of course, states could — but won’t — level the playing field by replacing sales taxes entirely.)
The Amazon/stock market problem is solved less easily. Consider that the $2 billion-plus that Amazon has lost (net) to date could have capitalized every independent bookstore that closed during Amazon’s first decade to the tune of $1 million each.
To counter the sometimes anti-competitive nature of stock markets, small business advocates must develop ways of channeling investment to enterprises that enhance communities and opportunities for entrepreneurism — community investment funds as an attractive alternative to the stock market. This is not a quick fix, but a structural change that citizens advocating for community development and entrepreneurism must tackle.
Independent booksellers have stabilized their market share by working together effectively in ways that many other trades could emulate. A strong national trade association in the American Booksellers Association recently has been complemented by the growth of Independent Business Alliances (which encompass independent businesses of all stripes) at the community level.
Bookstores have frequently instigated the formation of these IBAs, which help local businesses pool resources and compete successfully against chains. While booksellers and other small business owners must keep creating new strategies to succeed, their survival benefits all of us.
We should keep all this in mind when choosing where to purchase books — there’s a hidden cost to those discounts from Amazon. But we should be engaging as citizens, not just consumers, to maintain a rich diversity of choices and ensure our children have the opportunity to be entrepreneurs, not just wage workers for Corporate America.
* One encouraging development since writing this article is the increasing advocacy for antitrust enforcement. The Open Market Institute is now my go-to source for information.
** On June 21, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld South Dakota’s law requiring remote retailers doing $100,000 or more in sales or 200-plus transactions in the state to collect sales tax on purchases by in-state customers. The Court did not directly overrule the 1992 Quill ruling that had let large online retailers avoid collecting sales tax in any state where they did not own or lease physical structures. However, the ruling opens the door for states to follow South Dakota’s lead.
AMIBA has long called for federal policy to level the playing field and stop handicapping brick-and-mortar businesses, including commentary in Businessweek, Wall St. Journal and other media, while offering background reading on the topic. See also this overview from ILSR.


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Rumours are piling about the Samsung Galaxy S11 and its possible specs. After recent reports about the Space Zoom feature and the likelihood of the Galaxy S11 being the first Samsung device to have a 108MP Camera Sensor, a new report suggest that the Galaxy S11e is to come with a curved display and optional 5G.
This suggestion emerged over the weekend from Industry leaker, evleaks who shared information on the Samsung Galaxy S11 series. According to him, the Samsung Galaxy S11 Series will likely have three Models: Galaxy S11e, Galaxy S11 and Galaxy S11+.
The source also claims that the Galaxy S11 e will switch to a curved display from a flat one (in Galaxy S10e). It will reportedly have a 6.2 or 6.4-inch screen, while the Galaxy S11 and Galaxy S11+ will have a 6.7-inch and 6.9-inch screen panels respectively.
Aside from the screen shapes and sizes, the source says the Samsung Galaxy S11+ will have 5G standard. Furthermore, he mentions that the Galaxy S11e and Galaxy S11 will be available in both LTE and 5G variants. This could mean that there might not be the need for a 5G-only variant for the Galaxy S11 series, unlike the Galaxy S10 series which had a S10 5G.
The expected period for the release of the Samsung Galaxy S11 series is February, possibly the third of week, coinciding with the period when the Galaxy S10 was launched.


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It only takes three minutes for the battery to be charged to 50 percent.
The Chinese manufacturer, which was the best-selling smartphone brand in Croatia in the first quarter of 2021, did not specify when it would implement the new technology in its mobile devices.
Despite announcing a revolutionary fast charge, Xiaomi is not in the first place in the segment of the fastest charging at the moment, but its models are certainly among the smartphones that take the least time to charge.
For now, the battery of the Vivo iQOO 7 is the fastest to charge (18 minutes), immediately followed by the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra, which fully charges in 22 minutes. By comparison, Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra charges in one hour and five minutes, and far behind is Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro Max, which takes at least an hour and 40 minutes to charge.
But back to Xiaomi, which, in addition to fast charging technology via cable, demonstrated its HyperCharge technology, which charges the phone in 15 minutes. To reach 10-percent capacity, it is enough to keep the phone on the charging mat for just one minute, while a 50 percent battery charge takes seven minutes.
However, fast charging affects battery longevity, so the Android Authority website warns that, at least in theory, this technology could increase battery heating, which would negatively impact a phone’s battery life.


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Russia saw the greatest increase with its Chevrolet sales up 54 percent compared to the same time period in 2010. General Motors attributes the increase to a wave of new models that include the Cruze, Spark, Sonic/Aveo and the Orlando. All told, the company managed to move a staggering 330,000 Cruze models in the first six months of 2011, globally, which is a 132-percent increase over last year. Since the company has sold nearly 800,000 Cruze units since the model's debut in 2009, Chevrolet expects to break the 1 million unit barrier by the end of this year. Hit the jump for the press release.
14 percent growth fueled by successful new models, including the Chevrolet Cruze
DETROIT – Chevrolet sold 2.35 million vehicles globally in the first six months of 2011, the best half-year performance in Chevrolet's 100-year history.
"Founded in the United States by a Swiss émigré, Chevrolet was created with a global focus," said Joel Ewanick, GM global chief marketing officer. "One hundred years later, Louis Chevrolet's roots continue to shape our company, and enable Chevrolet to offer great products and service to customers in more than 120 countries around the world. We will continue to work at bringing new customers to the Chevy family – no matter where they live."
Chevrolet sold 286,499 more vehicles in the first half of 2011 than the same time period of 2010, a 14-percent increase year over year. In addition, Chevrolet set record first-half sales in many countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, South Africa, and Turkey.
For the first half of 2011, Chevrolet recorded sales gains in all of its top five markets, including:
The United States, where sales are up 16 percent following nine consecutive months of year-over-year sales increases.
Brazil, where sales are up 0.4 percent over the best-ever-sales pace set in 2010
China, where sales climbed 15 percent to set the brand's best first-half results ever
Russia, where sales were up 54 percent as the brand continues to be the best-selling global brand in the country
Canada, where sales climbed 8 percent, and have more than doubled the pace of industry growth for the past 18 months
The potential for Chevrolet's continued growth is demonstrated in the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia and China. Chevrolet's combined sales strength in the "BRIC" countries, including India, is unmatched.
Much of Chevrolet's global growth can be attributed to the wave of new models, such as the Chevrolet Cruze compact car, Spark mini car, all-new Aveo/Sonic small car, and Orlando MPV. They will soon be joined globally by the all-new Chevrolet Malibu midsize car, and the all-new Colorado compact pickup, which will go on sale later this year.
Chevrolet sold more than 330,000 Cruzes worldwide during the first half of 2011, a 132-percent increase over the same time period a year ago. Much of that growth came in China and the United States, where Cruze was the best-selling passenger car in the country in June. Since introduction in early 2009, Cruze has sold more than 800,000 units worldwide and is on track to exceed 1 million before the end of 2012.
"The success of the Cruze illustrates what is possible when you listen to your customers," said Mary Barra, senior vice president, GM Global Product Development. "By offering drivers more than they expected in a compact car, the Cruze has redefined the global segment and is on track to bring a million new customers to Chevrolet. We are applying that same customer-focused approach to all of our global introductions, including Orlando, Colorado, Malibu, Spark, and Aveo/Sonic."
Chevrolet sold more than 220,000 Spark minicars worldwide since it was introduced in December 2009. That includes more than 100,000 Sparks sold during the first half of 2011 – a 110 percent gain over a year ago – driven primarily by consumer demand in South Korea, Mexico, and Uzbekistan.
Chevrolet sold more than 150,000 Aveo compact cars in the first half of 2011, including the all-new Aveo, which will be called the Sonic in some markets. Introduced in South Korea in March, the new Aveo/Sonic is currently on sale in nearly 30 countries.