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The future has little place for brick and mortar stores in the age of e-commerce, believes Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) CEO Howard Schultz, as he said during an interview during the DealBook Conference in New York yesterday.
During the interview, Schultz explained that we are currently in the early stages of a new age in commerce, one where online shopping is keeping people away from shopping centers. Giving Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) as an example of a huge brick and mortar chain which plans to start investing more in e-commerce than in physical stores, the Starbucks’ CEO stated that this is a trend that is only going to continue over the next few years.
“This phenomenon did not begin with ecommerce, but as a result to it we’re seeing there aren’t enough people, physically shopping in malls and in the streets of America to support brick and mortar stores. So many such stores are going to go away,” Schultz predicted.
In this scenario, Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) is in a unique position. With about 2,000 stores opening each year across the world, 500 in China alone, things don’t seem to be slowing down for the coffee chain. In fact, Schultz believes they’re only going to continue as such, although there will be some changes in the way things operate.
Schultz is of the opinion that nowadays and from here on out, people are still going to look for places that give them the opportunity to be around other people, safe places that not only provide them with a service or a type of product, but also with a joyful experience. “I think that as a merchant and a retailer our responsibility is not to intercept traffic, but to create a destination,” Schultz said, explaining in part the reasons why the company experiments with playing DJ to unknown artists in its coffee shops, in addition to other ventures.
While the change is taking place slowly, Schultz believes that in the next 5 or 10 years the entire landscape will change and the “footprint of existing retail” will be completely different.
Technology vs Jobs
As the world keeps changing, there are multiple things that are going to change in the next few years aside from a spike in e-commerce sales and a drop in brick and mortar locations. The Starbucks app, for instance, makes it easier for people to order their coffee, to gather rewards and even to pay for their order. Given how many stores Starbucks has and how many people it employs, there are those who are worried that an increase in the presence of technology will end up in cutting out jobs. Chances are, however, that it won’t affect Starbucks too much.
“The equity in Starbuck’s is based on the experience of interacting with our people,” Schultz said. “There will be a significant level of investment and transformation regarding our mobile ecosystem in Starbucks, but that won’t affect the amount of jobs we employ. Hopefully, that will continue to increase,” he added.
Good Activism or Bad Activism
Another issue that Schultz discussed during the interview was activism, making a reference to the J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) case from a few years ago. The Starbucks CEO believes that there are cases, such as with JC Penney, when such actions shouldn’t have taken place, but there are also situations where this type of action is more than welcome, because not all companies do the right thing.
“What is the catalyst for activism? What was the catalyst for unions? The catalyst is that there are bad actors, but not all companies are evil and not all managing teams are bad. And so, when a company is doing the right thing and taking the long view and doing everything it can to secure success for their employees, to take care of the shareholders, there should be no room for the kind of activism we’ve seen over the years. Which in many cases, more often than not, when you really do the math, and the dust settles, it’s about financial engineering that could destroy the company,” Schultz said.
He mentioned Bill Ackman and the things he tried to do with J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) back in 2013, mentioning that he’s quite familiar with the situation thanks to his friendship with Mike Goldman, the company’s former CEO. “If you look at what happened to JC Penney, that is a scorched earth resolve that took the jobs and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people. For what?”
Schultz believes, however, that such activism is required in certain situations, because there are some companies that have their own interests and self-preservation in mind, rather than the interests of their shareholders or employees.


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If sales people want to use social media tools to increase sales, then they need to respect the nuances of the social world and not club people over the head with their social presence.
I take liberties with the phrasing, but it is essentially the advice from Bill Patterson, product planning and marketing lead for Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM line and Douglas Hannan, who runs ibm.com in North America for IBM. The two marketing honchos offered insights and social selling tips on a recent Social Media Today webinar, “Can Social Media Boost Sales?”
“If it was all just about followers, we would be trying to replicate Charlie Sheen,” Patterson said.
Not that all sales people are aggressive. But many are challenged to reign in that drive to sell.
In June, social media expert Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics: Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business, expressed a similar view on social behavior.
He said folks new to social media often feel they need to sell as soon as they get on a social channel in order to justify being there. He equated this tactic to walking up to a group of people and interrupting them to talk about how wonderful you are. As my kids would say: major fail.
Instead salespeople need to focus on creating social exchanges with the customer and be willing to giving the customer some kind of assistance, such as links to content, that may not lead to an immediate sale.
Social selling “isn’t a new way to spam people, ” IBM’s Hannan said. “Many of our messages are about content that help customers make decisions. So, it really is about helping those business professionals. Obviously some of that is about IBM products.”
Patterson said Microsoft relies on these four policies to govern its social selling:
Listen first and do not use social channels to drive a certain agenda. “We use it to understand patterns and data in real time,” Patterson said.
Give value before you get value. Customers use social channels to establish trust with their vendors and that will not happen if sales people see social channels strictly as lead cultivation. Answer customer questions and concerns before making a pitch.
Respond to customers. Get the answers out to customer on public forums. “The point is in answering the question,” Patterson said. “The simple act of response gives folks the impression that there really is someone at the other end of the Twitter handle.”
Do not dictate a salesperson’s online messaging. “We try to set a direction, and then have it personalized and localized,” Patterson said. The big mistake is to create canned messages and force salespeople to use them. Customers catch on quickly and find it off putting. “We don’t want to send an unoriginal message globally that may not even translate well,” Patterson added.

domain: news


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From 2nd to 4th April, City Sightseeing featured as a Platinum Sponsor in the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit. The event, which was held in Seville, Spain, attracted a record number of participants. Over 1,600 delegates, speakers, and media, including the Presidents and CEOs of the largest companies in the travel industry, as well as a number of Presidents and Ministers from the most visited countries in the World, attended to contemplate the future of the sector. From the importance of social media to environmentally-friendly travel to the idea of UberAir, a wide array of topics were covered during three productive days. As the President & CEO of WTTC Gloria Guevara announced that the Summit became “the most important Travel & Tourism event of 2019”.
The City Sightseeing brand and its international network of over 100 destinations featured alongside other key players in the industry, such as Emirates Group, Hilton Group, Expedia, Royal Caribbean, and TUI.
City Sightseeing had excellent exposure at this world-class showcase, including wonderful branding in the conference hall, a desk in the Exhibitor Area next to the auditorium, and a video on the different summit screens during the breaks. Additionally, City Sightseeing took part in a panel discussion on sustainable tourism growth and held a press conference before the closing ceremony to announce technological innovations which are sure to take the global brand to new heights.
After such a successful summit, City Sightseeing is already looking forward to the 2020 WTTC Global Summit which will take place in Puerto Rico from 21-23 April at District San Juan.
“We are delighted to bring next year’s Global Summit to the beautiful tropical Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, a welcoming and diverse destination that is attracting travelers from all over the world,” said Gloria Guevara Manzo, President and CEO of WTTC. “We’re particularly excited because the destination provides ease in traveling and doing business since Puerto Rico is a US territory yet has the allure of the Caribbean.”
This is great news for Puerto Rico, especially since the island has been tirelessly rebuilding after destructive Hurricane Maria. Today, Puerto Rico travel demand is back to pre-Maria levels and the hosting the most important event in the travel and tourism industry will only help strengthen the island’s charm.
“We’re honored to have been chosen as host destination for the upcoming World Travel and Tourism Council 2020 Global Summit. Puerto Rico is a place where rich culture and natural wonders lay the foundation for an immense bounty of one-of-a-kind experiences,” said Brad Dean, chief executive officer of Discover Puerto Rico, the island’s destination marketing organization. “We’re thriving as a destination of global importance and hosting this Summit will elevate even further our tourism offering, positively impacting the local economy. We look forward to welcoming the global tourism industry next year to discover all that Puerto Rico offers.”


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Walmart was going to disrupt the outdoors. It was late August, 2018, a year and a half after the retail leviathan purchased the online outdoor retailer Moosejaw for a reported $51 million. Walmart was ready to put its investment to work.
Walmart, as everyone knows, is the largest retailer on the planet. It sells everything from tire chains to whey protein at bargain-basement prices, but its focus in the outdoor space has always been more about car camping and hunting. Moosejaw, on the other hand, has sold high-end outdoor gear on its website for 27 years, growing its business from online only to 10 brick-and-mortar stores in the process. And now, with Walmart, it was poised to deliver on the industry’s long-held dream: to tap a staggeringly wider audience.
On March 10, 2018, Moosejaw CEO Eoin Comerford told the Grand Rapids News that he was “very excited about the idea that [Moosejaw] can introduce high-end, premium outdoor products to people who perhaps have thought about getting into the outdoors, but haven’t been exposed to this product before.” Walmart spokeswoman Jaeme Laczkowski said at the time that walmart.com reached about 100 million unique visitors each month—a potential gold mine. It seemed like exclusive brands would finally go all the way mainstream, picking up millions of new customers and welcoming them to the party of those who live for and love playing outside.
That’s not what happened. On August 27, Walmart launched a “Premium Outdoor Store Curated by Moosejaw” on its website. Brands who’d agreed to be sold through the store included industry heavyweights like Deuter USA, Katadyn, LEKI, and Therm-a-Rest among 50 other outdoor companies. But on launch day, one brand balked.
When the store went live, it advertised several Black Diamond products, including climbing slings, carabiners, ATC belay devices, and a harness. Within hours Black Diamond distributed a press release stating that it had directed Walmart to “cease and desist” use of the Black Diamond® and diamond logo trademarks because the store’s use of them was “likely to confuse consumers into believing that Walmart is an authorized dealer of Black Diamond.” Shortly thereafter, those four other high-end outdoor brands all pulled their products from the site, too.


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Read how ETEL Limited, a pioneering design and manufacture business in New Zealand, managed to perfect their expansion into new markets by utilising an ERP system to support growth and provide “one source for truth” accessible to the entire organisation.
- Intel wants to banish cables, connectors with new Broadwell chips
- Apple hits Samsung at home, where it hurts
- US targets mobile operator for deceptive data promises
- Symantec A/NZ boss Brenton Smith quits
- Boosted by iPhone 6 sales, Apple ties with Samsung for top smartphone rank
- Qantas tests virtual reality for in-flight entertainment
- Google backs Singularity Uni to allow students outside US to study for free
- New Chrome extension spots unencrypted tracking
- Silk Road dealer found a hungry market for mail order drugs
- Data retention: Industry uncertainty dismissed as 'hearsay'
- Oracle Service Cloud gets more social
- Hybrid cloud demand driving Australian data centre market: Equinix
- Qualcomm's Snapdragon woes mount as a 'major customer' defects
- BlackBerry Classic unlikely to make 'momentous shock' to market, says analyst
- Facebook reports strong Q4 as mobile ad sales keep growing


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After the arrest of Rhea Chakraborty, many names have come forward n the drug racket.
There are big names like Deepika Dadukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor and Rakul Preet Singh in the drug case has taken everyone by surprise.
The leading ladies are being questioned by the Narotics Control Bureau (NCB). The NCB seems to be in a mood to question everyone related to drugs.
From Deepika to Karan Johar, everyone is under the scanner. However, Hrithik Going to be the next Bollywood star to be summoned by the NCB? Continue reading to know more about this.
According to reports in Box Office Worldwide, the Narcotics Control Bureau is going to summon superstar Hrithik Roshan next week in the drugs probe. The reports claim that the reason why the Bang Bang actor was admitted in Mumbai’s Lilavati hospital in 2017 was not his health detox, but something else. Now NCB is trying to get Hrithik’s medical reports from the hospital.
Apart from Hrithik Roshan, Shahid Kapoor and Arjun Rampal’s name has also been highlighted in the list. Such big names coming ahead is really a shocker for all the fans.
For the unversed, Deepika Padukone’s name came ahead in the probe during talent manager Jaya Saha’s interrogation. The NCB retrieved chats of people with initials D and K. Later it was alleged that the D in the chats is Deepika Padukone, and K is her manager Karishma Prakash.
In the screenshots that went viral, D is seen asking K for ‘maal’. He/She is further making it clear that they need hash and not weed. The chats date back to October 2017; this is also the same time Deepika Padukone hosted a party at Mumbai’s high-end restaurant Koko. The pictures from the same were all over the internet. The part also had Aditya Roy Kapur, Sonakshi Sinha, Sidharth Malhotra amongst others in attendance.
What do you have to say about Hrithik Roshan and Shahid Kapoor’s name coming ahead in the drug case?
Source: click here
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The latest in Jaguar’s line of high performance and luxury vehicles, the XE, has been unveiled at a star-studded event in Earls Court in London.
The likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini and other supercar marques will be coming down to Beaulieu on Bank Holiday Monday (August 5th) for a showdown.
Jaguar has literally put Team Sky rider and last year’s Tour de France winner, Chris Froome, under the sea. For the video, aptly titled ‘Team Sky – Cycling Under the Sea’, Froome became the first cyclist to ride through the Eurotunnel from Folkestone to Calais.
The fastest and most powerful production car to ever come from Jaguar is set to be built and is due to make its debut at Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Jaguar is building the six ‘missing’ Lightweight E-types.
A classic car, built today from scratch by expert craftsman to the exact specifications of the original design – it has to be the dream for many a collector. But this year it will become a reality as Jaguar is to build the ‘missing’ six Lightweight E-types that never made it into the original run in the early 1960s. The British carmaker had planned 18 Special GT E-type Cars but only 12 were built by the time production came to an end in 1964.


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Qi Wireless Car Charger with Auto Clamping
Car Travel Bed Camping Inflatable Sofa WITHOUT AIR PUMP
Car Back Seat Storage Organizer
Car Seat Travel Headrest Pillow
Delta Air Lines is allowing passengers flying to Dominican Republic’s Punta Cana airport to change or cancel their flights without penalty amid a recent spate of mysterious deaths and illnesses in the country.
The airline announced flight changes for trips to Punta Cana won’t be subjected fees through August 15, citing “recent events” in the resort town, where several American tourists have died.
Travelers who change their flight to Punta Cana must rebook their travel for before November 20.
But for those who cancel their flight entirely, they will have one year from their initial booking date to use the credit, according to the advisory.
The company’s announcement comes as a study revealed that Dominican Republic bookings are down around 74 percent for the months of July and August compared to the same period last year.


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Metallica is gearing up for two big hometown shows in San Francisco next week, and fans around the world can watch these shows from the comfort of their own home for free.
The iconic metal band has partnered with The Coda Collection to stream their December 17 and 19 shows at SF’s Chase Center in celebration of their 40th anniversary.
Per a press release, “Metallica fans across the globe will be able to view both performances live from home or on mobile via Amazon Music, Amazon Music’s Twitch channel, and Prime Video (with or without Prime on-demand viewing Membership) beginning at 9 pm PT /12 am ET / 5 am GMT / 2 pm JST each night.”
Following the concerts, they will be available for additional viewing on The Coda Collection/Prime Video Channel.
The press release further notes, “The 40th anniversary live stream + films are just the beginning, kicking off an extensive partnership between The Coda Collection and Metallica, which will include a full slate of concert films, documentaries, and additional content spanning the band’s career arriving on the channel exclusively throughout 2022, alongside popular music films from the likes of Foo Fighters, Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, and many more.”
For complete streaming details — including how to set a reminder so you remember to tune in — head over toCodaCollection.co.


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Cisco axed the Flip business division just a day before it was supposed to debut a live-streaming Flip camcorder.
Called the FlipLive, the camera would have been able to stream video to Twitter and Facebook, or e-mail a link to a real-time video feed, using Wi-Fi. Gizmodo got exclusive access to images of the device, which sports the Flip's signature candy bar design.
Live-streaming content used to only be available to big-budget news teams with large, satellite-laden trucks. Today, most smartphones and tablets are equipped with cameras, making it dead simple to upload media to the cloud.
But live-streaming continues to be a bit more of a hassle, requiring a smartphone, a hefty data plan and an app for broadcasting live video such as Ustream. Combine this with the unreliability of U.S. 3G networks, and it makes live-streaming a pretty difficult feat.
FlipLive, which relies on Wi-Fi rather than 3G or 4G services, sounds like it could have been a pretty cool gadget, providing kids, soccer moms and citizen journalists with a simple way to deliver live footage to an audience for a low price. But alas, it will probably never see the light of day.
On Tuesday, Cisco officially shut down the Flip camera business. Blame for Flip's demise has been placed on both Cisco, who purchased Flip maker Pure Digital in 2009, and on the the rise of the smartphone. Rumors of a Wi-Fi-enabled version had been floating around since late 2009, but nothing ever surfaced (until now).
Reportedly, 550 employees will be laid off with the Flip business' closing.
Exclusive Images of FlipLive /the Giz


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But it will be getting local multiplayer and 3D support.
Earlier this year, Microsoft announced what might probably be the biggest exercise in cross platform engagement with the upcoming Minecraft: Better Together update. Said update essentially unifies all the disparate versions of the game across mobile, PC, Mac, and consoles (sans PS4, because Sony wants no part of cross platform play) into a unified entity, complete with cross platform play.
So- where does that leave Minecraft on New Nintendo 3DS, which was announced at the Nintendo Direct earlier this week? Apparently, it will not be getting this update, a developer confirmed on Twitter.
That said, the 3DS version still seems fairly impressive for what it is- it will support bigger world sizes than even the Wii U version did, and it will be stereoscopic 3D enabled. Not just that, but it also sounds like the glaring omission of multiplayer will be addressed in a later update, which will add at least local multiplayer to the game.
You can get the 3DS version of Minecraft off of the eShop now (a retail release is due later). Minecraft is also available on – okay, wait for it – PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, New Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Windows 10, PCs, and Mac.
It's on New Nintendo 3DS, hence the name. ☺ it is a custom version of Minecraft made for 3DS so will not receive the Better Together Update
— Aubrey Norris (@Chupacaubrey) September 14, 2017


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In an effort to recruit future service technicians, a new web campaign called Project Shift is targeting middle-schoolers.
A lack of clarity on the scope, requirements and timeline of the lending process has some dealers scratching their heads as they consult with bankers and tax advisers while struggling to keep their employees paid and businesses afloat.
The luxury brand says a two-tiered approach to the V-series and a handful of segment-first or exclusive features — such as a rear camera mirror, safety alert seat and ZF passive dampers — will help the car gain traction.
The accessory package, which goes on sale this spring, will be available either together or separately to make the freshened 2021 three-row Atlas look more rugged.
President Trump claimed that unidentified company leaders were being “politically correct” by not endorsing efforts to ease gas mileage and emissions regulations for light vehicles -- a move that enraged environmentalists and sparked litigation.


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Oh man, big news, guys! I don't know if you've heard, but it looks like Blu-ray has won the format war and HD DVD is dead! You heard it here first, spread the news! In fact, Samsung has just announced that it's scaling back its HD DVD operations and focusing more on Blu-ray. "Samsung is expected to show more interest in Blu-ray products than rival HD DVDs," says the Director of Obvious Decisions at Samsung headquarters. Toshiba, seriously, make this official so we can move on. Please. [Korea Times via Pocket Lint]
@aceface: I agree eventually physical format will die, but not any time soon. You can stream an HD movie no problem, OnDemand does it now, but if you want a hard copy of an HD movie how big is that? 50-60 gigs? fine. I have a couple hundred DVDs, who has that much storage sitting around their house now. Physical formats wont die before they put out cheap multi terabyte drives. And with a $3000 60 gig AirMac I don't see that happening anytime soon. Just go buy a PS3. It's great.


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Hands down, the biggest story in retail in recent years has been the rise of e-commerce. This major disruptive force has changed the way that businesses operate, as well as influencing consumer preferences.
As consumers find it more convenient to shop online, rather than getting in the car and driving to the mall, traditional retailers have watched their revenues plunge.
Yet investors who got in early on e-commerce have done well, and such companies as Amazon, Alibaba Group and Baidu continue to thrive. But intelligent investors can also benefit from purchasing shares of major package delivery services, most of all, FedEx (FDX) and United Parcel Service (UPS) . Their growth is intertwined with e-commerce sites.
First-quarter numbers for FedEx reflect how the company is running evenly with explosive e-commerce momentum. Fedex shares are up about 22% this year.
As e-commerce has grown in significance and capacity during the past few years, consumers have started ordering larger items over the internet, including big household appliances and pieces of furniture. This means that FedEx has had to re-engineer its ground delivery capabilities from delivering mostly smaller parcels. By smartly hiking surcharges for bulky shipments and by testing new equipment and facilities better suited to handle big items from e-commerce, FedEx has managed to address this altering landscape.
These capabilities are particularly important as the holiday season approaches.
Sales from e-commerce are projected to rise 11% this year, to $91.6 billion. Experts suggest that FedEx could expect roughly 10% growth in holiday season shipping volumes. That figure could go even higher - industry tracker ShipMatrix has penciled in a 14% increase for FedEx.
FedEx is positioned for nearly 11% annual earnings per share (EPS) growth for the next five years, over 270 basis points faster than the S&P 500 during this period.


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Someone get Harry Reid a handkerchief. On Monday, the Senate Majority Leader sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten lamenting the news that a Democratic nominee to the Federal Election Commission, Robert Lenhard, has withdrawn his name from consideration since the process is taking so long.
This is yet another nail in the coffin of the campaign-finance reform movement. One of its goals has been to reduce the role of "money" in elections, and thereby elevate the tenor of campaigns. Pretty much the opposite has resulted.
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Recently we reported about the upcoming Vivo V17 series devices in India.
Now we have some confirmation about the upcoming Vivo V17 Pro smartphone in India. The company has now sent out press invites for the launch of the Vivo V17 Pro smartphone in India. The India launch of Vivo V17 Pro is scheduled to happen on September 16th.
- 6.44-inch full HD+ 19.5:9(2440 × 1080p) Super AMOLED display
- 8GB of RAM
- 128GB of internal storage
- Micro SD card slot
- 2GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 675 11nm Mobile Platform
- 48MP+8MP+2MP+2MP Quad rear camera with f/1.78 aperture and LED flash
- 32MP+2MP Dual wide-angle front camera with f/2.0 aperture
- Android Pie 9 with Funtouch OS 9
- In-display fingerprint scanner
- Dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi , Bluetooth 5, GPS/GLONASS
- USB Type-C
- 4100mAh battery with fast charging


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FRANKFORT — A bill that would allow people to legally detonate fireworks in Kentucky cleared the House on Monday.
Currently, some retailers sell fireworks that contain a mortar or that shoot from a tube by getting people to sign a waiver that says they will not ignite the fireworks on Kentucky soil. But that prohibition is rarely followed or enforced, particularly around the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve.
House Bill 333 would clarify that it is legal to buy and detonate such fireworks in Kentucky.
Rep. Johnny Bell, D-Glasgow, said the measure would help Kentucky recoup some of the money spent in Tennessee and surrounding states on fireworks that contain mortars or that shoot from a tube. One estimate showed a net gain of more than $1 million in sales, Bell said.
But more important, the bill also adds teeth to existing fire codes regarding the sale and storage of fireworks, said Bell, the bill's sponsor.
"This would help the fire marshal track who is selling what," Bell said.
The measure now goes to the Republican-controlled Senate, where it must compete with dozens of other proposals for lawmakers' attention during the waning days of the legislative session. Monday was the 23rd day of the 30-working-day legislative session. Still, Bell said there has been some interest in the measure in the Senate.
The issue of better tracking fireworks sales and storage came to the forefront in Lexington when a building that housed Star Light & Magic, a special-effects supply store that sold pyrotechnics, caught fire in July 2009. At the time of the blaze, firefighters didn't know what type of explosives were in the building.
Under the bill, those who want to sell fireworks seasonally — around the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve — would be assessed a $250 fee. Those who want to sell fireworks year-round would pay $500.
That money would be used for education and other purposes, Bell said.
Those who want to sell smaller, novelty fireworks would pay a $25 fee, down from $50 that retailers now pay.
HB333 originally was scheduled for a vote Friday but was delayed after several lawmakers questioned whether cities, counties or other groups that have fireworks displays on the Fourth of July would have to pay a fee.
Bell said Monday that the bill would not change any of the rules pertaining to fireworks displays for cities and counties. They would not be assessed fees but must comply with state and federal regulations.
The House ultimately voted 92-6 to approve the legislation.


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Ministers have been advised to consider tariffs on imports of lower-standard food and farm produce from overseas, in order to protect the UK’s high standards of food safety and animal welfare.
The recommendation, by an independent commission advising the government, was greeted with dismay by some farmers and food campaigners, who wanted an outright ban and regulations to prevent lower-standard imports in trade deals after Brexit.
George Dunn, the chief executive of the Tenant Farmers Association, said: “Seeking to protect environmental and animal welfare considerations by using tariff policy alone will not provide the long-term guarantees we need. Tariffs can be easily renegotiated, reduced or removed altogether, unlike clear, statutory standards.”
Kath Dalmeny, the chair of the Future British Standards Coalition, also said tariffs were inferior to an outright ban on lower-standard imports. “We have been clear that tariffs are no substitute for clear blanket bans and that tariffs could be easily reduced or phased out over time, thus breaking the government’s promise of ‘no compromise’ on food standards,” she said.
The recommendations of the trade and agriculture commission were published on Tuesday, and will be considered by ministers for possible incorporation into guidelines for future trade deals. The commission was set up to reassure farmers and the public after ministers rejected calls for parliament to be allowed to scrutinise trade deals before they are signed, despite widespread fears that UK food and farming standards could be at risk in trade deals.
Dalmeny also warned that the recommendations by the trade and agricultural commission would allow imports without tariffs on products that were judged “equivalent” to the UK in terms of standards, or aligned with “core global standards”.
“In many cases global standards are lower than the UK’s. Big questions remain over who would decide what was equivalent, and how,” she said.
However, the government’s food tsar, Henry Dimbleby, said the recommendations would protect British consumers. “This report far exceeds my expectations and is very ambitious,” he said.
“It sets clear intent for the UK about what we see as the future global trading system, which should be not just about GDP but about governments working together to protect the environment and animal welfare, and reduce carbon emissions.”
He rejected the idea that tariffs alone were not enough to protect the UK’s consumers and farmers from lower-standard food produced abroad. “Tariffs are effective bans,” he said, as importers would be priced out of the market by tariffs.
The guidelines from the trade and agriculture commission call for liberalised trade in food and agriculture with other countries, but say this should be balanced with a commitment to “international leadership by the UK on climate, environment, animal welfare and ethical trade”.
Tim Smith, the former chief executive of the Food Standards Agency and Tesco group quality director, who chaired the commission, said its recommendations should reassure the public.
“We will not see a backsliding on standards. We are recommending very solidly that our standards remain,” he said before the publication of the report. “We need to balance the need to be open to liberalised trade with the importance of long-established UK standards.”
The question of food standards has been one of the most controversial issues raised by Brexit. Many of the countries with which the government wants to do trade deals have much lower food safety and farming standards than the EU, and many products from these countries were previously banned from the UK under EU rules.
The government will be under pressure in trade deal negotiations to allow such imports. That has raised fears among farmers that a flood of lower-standard imports could undercut British produce, while they must maintain high standards to be able to export to the EU. Food campaigners have warned that consumers could be subjected to unsafe or lower-standard products that would promote intensive farming, damage animal welfare and boost diseases such as superbugs that are associated with the overuse of antibiotics in farming.
Sue Davies, the head of consumer protection and food policy at Which?, said the government must not allow any weakening of UK food and farming standards. “The government must hold firm to its commitments to uphold food standards and listen to the voices of consumers,” she said. “They have told us clearly they are not prepared to sacrifice high food standards and do not want a two-tier system where only those who are wealthier can be assured that the food on their table meets the standards that consumers currently expect.”


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Sri Lanka’s John Keells to open fourth ‘Cinnamon’ resort in Maldives
Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells has announced plans to open its fourth resort in Maldives under its Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts brand.
In its annual report, John Keells Chairman Krishan Balendra said the group is in the process of finalising a sublease agreement with an undisclosed partner to open the new resort. In line with the group’s asset light strategy for the expansion of rooms under management, the property will be subleased for a period of 10 years with the option for further extensions, he added.
“[The new resort is being opened] in light of the group’s concerted efforts to capitalise on the growth prospects of the Maldivian tourism industry,” Krishan Balendra told shareholders.
The new resort is set to be located in close proximity to the main Velana International Airport.
Meanwhile, John Keells reported strong performance in its Maldivian resorts last year.
Balendra said his Maldivian resorts maintained their average room rates and occupancies well above the industry average. Average room rates at Maldives resorts had climbed to USD 320 in the year to March 2019, from USD 309 a year ago, he added.
Sri Lanka’s largest hotel operator, John Keells currently owns and operates three resorts in Maldives: Cinnamon Hakuraa Huraa Maldives, Cinnamon Dhonveli Maldives, and Ellaidhoo Maldives by Cinnamon.
The company is investing heavily in renovating and upgrading its resorts in Maldives.
The water bungalows of Ellaidhoo Maldives by Cinnamon were refurbished during the year, resulting in a partial closure of the property from May to October 2018, whilst Cinnamon Hakuraa Huraa Maldives was closed in May 2018 for the reconstruction of a new hotel. Cinnamon Hakuraa Huraa Maldives is expected to be operational in December 2019 and will be positioned as a premium luxury beach resort thereby commanding a higher average room rate going forward.
Cinnamon Dhonveli Maldives was also refurbished in 2017, leading to above average room rates.
Cover photo: Cinnamon Dhonveli Maldives


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The move appears to put Walmart ahead of its retail rival, Amazon, in expanding the frontier for aerial deliveries. Amazon announced its drone development program back in 2013, and two years ago, the company said regular drone deliveries were mere months away. Recent reports, however, have hinted that Amazon Prime Air’s progress has slowed down significantly.
We’ve reached out to Amazon and will update this report with any response.
Today’s announcement about the first delivery hubs in Arkansas comes five months after Walmart made a strategic investment in DroneUp and signed a contract that expanded the companies’ pilot project for drone deliveries. (The amount of investment was undisclosed.)
“When we invested in DroneUp earlier this year, we envisioned a drone delivery operation that could be quickly executed and replicated across multiple stores,” Tom Ward, senior vice president of last mile at Walmart U.S., said in a news release. “Opening our first hub within months of our initial concept showcases DroneUp’s ability to safely execute drone delivery options with speed.”
The first hub is based at a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Farmington, which is part of a larger metropolitan area in the northwest corner of Arkansas. The next two hubs are planned nearby at Walmart stores in Rogers and Bentonville.
“Teaming up with Walmart to launch three delivery hubs marks a significant leap forward in the broader use of UAS [unmanned aerial systems] to provide last-mile consumer delivery services and supply chain efficiency operations,” DroneUp CEO Tom Walker said.
DroneUp is at least as visible as Walmart in the delivery operation: Customers first check their eligibility on the DroneUpDelivery.com website, based on their street address. If they live in the vicinity of the drone hub, they can shop online for a limited selection of deliverable goods on the website, then pay a shipping charge on the order of $10 to get the goods delivered via an airdrop.
The shipments — limited to a total of 5 pounds each — are packed up in boxes and sent out from the DroneUp hub located next to the Walmart store. A flight operator monitors the camera-equipped drone’s progress from a control tower erected at the hub. That avoids the tangled regulatory issues that would be raised by flying a drone beyond the operator’s line of sight. Deliveries can be made in as little as 30 minutes, and the hub’s operations are designed to support multiple flights per hour.
Drone delivery service is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CT, weather permitting.
DroneUp says it’s working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure the safe operation of drones in the national airspace, and has more than 190 active waivers and authorizations to support its flights across the U.S.
The company says its system provides “a safe, fun and convenient way for Walmart shoppers to get smaller packages delivered by drone directly to their homes as quickly as 30 minutes from the time of order.”
In the years ahead, Walmart aims to become the leader in drone deliveries, thanks to its network of more than 4,700 U.S. stores. Theoretically, each store could host a hub for neighborhood airdrops. But to be competitive, the per-delivery price will almost certainly have to be less than $10, and the restrictions governing remote drone operations will almost certainly have to be relaxed.
The FAA is still working with industry partners, including Amazon, on the technological capabilities and regulatory requirements that will have to be in place for widescale operations involving autonomous delivery drones.
Over the past several years, Amazon has tested drones in Washington state and just across the U.S.-Canadian border in British Columbia, and it established drone development teams in Britain, France, Israel and Austria. In 2016, Amazon revealed that it was doing trial deliveries in an area around Cambridge in England; and in 2019, Amazon’s Jeff Wilke unveiled a golf cart-sized drone that he said would be “delivering packages to customers in months.” (Since then, Wilke has left Amazon.)
That timeline never came to pass. Amazon Prime Air did manage to win the FAA’s official certification as an air carrier last year, and Amazon insists that it’s still committed to turning its drone delivery dream into reality. The company currently lists more than 100 open positions at Amazon Prime Air, with most of them based in the Seattle area. But there are also signs that Amazon has downscaled its plans for drone deliveries.
Even before the FAA certification, the Amazon lab that was working on drone development was repurposed to focus on innovations to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. In August, Wired UK reported that Amazon’s British drone team was being downsized after struggling with managerial and technical challenges. And this month, Bloomberg News reported that employees at Amazon’s Paris-based drone R&D center have been reassigned to other projects.
Meanwhile, other companies including UPS (which is partnering with the CVS pharmacy chain), Wing (the Alphabet drone venture pioneered by Google), SkyDrop (formerly known as Flirtey) and Zipline (which is also partnering with Walmart in Arkansas) are racing to widen their trials of drone delivery services. Thanks to the partnership with Walmart, you can now add DroneUp to the list of front-runners.


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Using the sun’s energy for a long-term barrier
Suzanne Frost finds out more about offshore technology that has become a first in the South African paint industry
PEOPLE have been painting for the past 20 000 years, from the cave man who used iron oxides to the ancient Egyptians who developed paints from pigments in the soil. Just when you thought the paint industry had it all we learn that it is about to be revolutionised by a world-wide technology active in the fields of chemistry, physics, biology and medicine.
In SA we now have access to a self-cleaning exterior wall paint, Duram NanoTech, through the use of an advanced technology called nano, which develops a dynamic, protective molecular layer. These self-cleaning, photocatalytic nano particles are energised continually by the sun’s UV rays, even on cloudy days, to decompose dirt, mildew, fungi, algae and pollution.
“Being a small paint-manufacturing company has given us an advantage in introducing new concepts and technologies to the paint market,” says Simon Stekhoven, CEO of Duram.
“Size is important in NanoTech. Its microscopic-sized nano particles — each less than a millionth of a millimetre in size — are integrated into the molecular structure of the paint, giving performance and protection that far exceeds the traditional pigments used in conventional paint.”
The company prides itself on innovation and says it developed SA’s first acrylic waterproofing system, first water-based enamel paint and first 700ºC heat-resistant paint. It has designed this new generation of paint technology to include a protective layer of sunblock embedded in the paint, helping to preserve its vivid colour.
“We have needed to adopt a strategy of innovation in order to compete with the bigger established paint brands in SA,” says Stekhoven.
“We have found that being focused on sourcing new raw materials and internationally developed technology has given us an edge.”
He says that NanoTech’s active ingredient is energised by the sun, continually working to ensure a longer attractiveness of the building years after exposure, unlike conventional paints that deteriorates over time. Ideal for the South African environment, the nano particles offer excellent protection against our extreme conditions, specifically the damaging effects of the sun’s UV rays.
“Even though nano technology is only in its infancy we have seen how vastly it improves paint performance,” says Duram’s technical manager, Ken Greaves.
“We are constantly on the hunt for ground-breaking technologies that will enhance the benefits of paint, as in the case of NanoTech, where we monitored international trends before we developed it to change the South African paint market.”
He says that in addition to NanoTech’s enhanced weatherprotective qualities and self-cleaning nature, the paint has an inbuilt hardness, is scrub resistant and requires low maintenance. Duram has designed a pure acrylic formulation with a smooth matt finish that resists fading and chalking, bridges hairline cracks and minor imperfections and comes with an eight-year guarantee.
As an environmentally friendly product working with nature to self-clean, NanoTech is waterbased, non-toxic, lead and heavy metal-free, with no added harmful ingredients, says Greaves.


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The focus of Localicious is to get Canadians to choose locally harvested foods over items that may have travelled an average of 2,000 kilometres to your plate.
Packaging, shipping and storing the faraway foods can burn up fossil fuels and create greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, argues the group.
Restaurants in Calgary — as well as Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax — have signed up to offer special menus from Oct. 2-18, showcasing the freshest, local and sustainable foods. Partial proceeds from each meal will be donated to WWF-Canada.
The list of participating restaurants in Calgary is short but impressive.
River Cafe, for example, has created a $25 three-course lunch of roasted Alberta tomato soup, Broek Farms roasted pork belly with grilled chanterelles and plum white chocolate bread pudding.
Saint Germain has a mouth-watering three-course dinner ($35-$39) featuring choices of:
- Olson’s High Country bison, raised near Pincher Creek.
- Spring Creek striploin farmed in Vegreville.
- Pumpkin risotto.
- Poached pear on Golden Acres honey from Three Hills and lavender sponge cake.
WWF-Canada has also created sustainable food buying guides for each Canadian region that you can download off their site. You can also enter a contest to win a local meal for six prepared by a personal chef at your home, cookbooks or grocery gift cards.


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A new Starbucks on Ramsey Street was forced to close temporarily this week because it hadn't gotten final approval from city inspectors, according to the Fayetteville Fire Department.
A fire inspector initiated the closure Tuesday afternoon after learning the store had opened Friday before completing inspections, said Fire Chief Ronald Lewis. It will reopen once the process is complete.
"They opened their doors before everything was signed off," he said. "They did not have their certificate of occupancy."
A representative of Starbucks couldn't be reached for comment.
The store, which remained closed Wednesday morning, is in the new Ramsey Commons shopping center just south of the Walmart.
Lewis said Wednesday he wasn't sure which inspections remained. The store is allowed to have workers in the building but cannot open for costumers until completing the inspections.
- Venita Jenkins


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Summary List Placement
Members of Congress routinely trade stocks, buying and selling the shares of companies that often have significant business before the federal government — and sometimes spend a lot of money to lobby lawmakers.
Insider dug through congressional financial-disclosure records federal lawmakers filed in recent days. Here are the highlights from what we’ve found.
For Lummis, Coke is the real thing
Coca-Cola isn’t exactly the Republican Party’s favorite beverage these days after the company went sour on Georgia’s new GOP-backed voting law, saying it will “diminish or deter access to voting.”
Both former President Donald Trump and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky have called on Americans to boycott Coke products (even if Trump appears to still be swilling his beloved Diet Coke). Some state lawmakers are banishing Coke from their offices.
But don’t count Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a freshman Republican from Wyoming, among them.
Lummis’ new annual personal financial-disclosure report indicated she owned up to $15,000 in Coca-Cola at the end of 2020.
And it doesn’t appear she’s sold the shares since. Members of Congress are required to publicly disclose any stock trade soon after making it, and Lummis has filed no such report in 2021.
Since bottoming out at below $38 a share in March 2020, Coca-Cola’s stock price has steadily climbed and been trading above $54 a share lately.
Lummis’ Senate office did not respond to Insider’s phone and email messages inquiring about the senator’s stance on Coca-Cola’s political advocacy or whether she would continue to be a Coke investor.
Separately, congressional disclosures indicated that Lummis had dumped between $50,001 and $100,000 in bitcoin holdings she disclosed last year. The senator’s most recent financial disclosure did not list bitcoin among her assets.
Perdue …read more


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The owner of World Famous V.I.P. Records, perhaps the most famous store in all of Long Beach, says the end of 2015 may be the end of his storefront.
To be sure, this isn’t the first time V.I.P. Records owner Kelvin Anderson has said he’s going to close shop, which is no longer at its original location. He went on record to say he was ready to give up the brick-and-mortar game in 2013. Before that, he raised the prospect of closure in 2011 and also went public about the difficulties of running a record store in a Press-Telegram article that ran in early 2007.
But this time, after 36 years in Long Beach, Anderson said he means it.
He’s even planning to put his store’s famous sign up for bid on eBay.
“I’m just working too hard to pay bills and stuff,” Anderson said. “We’re just going to go online and do some other things around town.”
“I can see opening a new recording studio,” Anderson added, also voicing his aspiration to create a museum dedicated to Long Beach’s music history.
Anderson, whose career selling records crossing generational lines, and V.I.P. Records have earned their own places in local history. Now 61, Anderson started his career selling music when he went to work for his brother Cletus’ Los Angeles record store in 1967. The Long Beach store opened in 1978 and Anderson said he bought the store from his brother in 1979.
“It was mostly R&B then. We were big in R&B, jazz, gospel and blues,” Anderson said, noting “a little reggae” also found its way to V.I.P. Records customers.
Rap music had yet to reach the popularity it enjoys today, but 1979 also was the year Sugarhill Gang released “Rapper’s Delight.”
Skip ahead a few years, and Anderson is selling N.W.A.’s 1988 release “Straight Outta Compton.”
As controversial as the lyrics contained on that album and other gangsta rap recordings were during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the music that came out of Compton, Los Angeles and Long Beach also has proven to be influential and enduringly popular.
Indeed, “Straight Outta Compton,” the dramatized account of how the members of rap group N.W.A. — particularly Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy-E — got famous, endured conflicts with the law and each other and influenced their genre was among 2015’s more popular movies.
The film has grossed nearly $162 million on U.S. screens, making it the 18th highest-earning movie of the year, according to Box Office Mojo.
Anderson said it was the late 1980s, probably 1989 when we went to Guitar Center’s store in the South Bay and spent $2,500 on an E-mu Systems Inc. SP-1200 drum machine. The drum machine and two turntables were key pieces of equipment Anderson installed in a makeshift recording studio at V.I.P. Records.
Snoop Doggy Dogg, Warren G and Nate Dogg, who performed together as 213, recorded their four-cut demo at the recording studio shop owner Kelvin Anderson had set up in the store’s original location.
“The great thing about the combination was even though they were rapping hardcore, the singing that Nate Dogg did took the edge off that,” Anderson said.
“What I liked about Snoop was he could just be flowing. … His delivery and his sound was just like music.”
Snoop Doggy Dogg pretty much made sure anyone who watched MTV during the early 1990s knew about V.I.P. Records when he featured the store in his video for the track “Who Am I (What’s My Name?)” on his 1993 debut album, “Doggystyle.”
After simplifying his stage name to Snoop Dogg, Long Beach’s most famous rapper also featured the store in the video for “G’d Up,” a track on his 2000 album with Tha Eastsidaz. Snoop Dogg also picked Anderson’s store to pass out Thanksgiving turkeys to a long line fans and the needy in November.
It’s worth a mention that Warren G also gave audiences a look at V.I.P. Records in his video for “Do You See,” the second track of 1994’s “Regulate … G Funk Era.” Nate Dogg, who died in 2011, also is featured on the song.
A lot has changed since a popular music video made a Long Beach record store famous, and not just the switch in programming that has made music videos a rarity on MTV.
The frequent, underlying subject matter of the music — crime and gang violence — remain serious problems in Long Beach and other American cities, but murder rates have fallen since height of the gangsta rap era. In 1993, when “Doggystyle” came out, the nation’s murder rate was 9.5 per 100,000 Americans, according to FBI data. By 2014, the murder rate had fallen to 4.5.
“Too many kids were dying,” said Anderson, whose store was near a mortuary when violent crime rates were higher.
“I could go back there in the morning and there would be someone dead between the ages of 16 and 25,” Anderson said, noting that many of the victims were bystanders or people who tried to break up conflicts.
How good or bad, another change has been is a matter of perspective. Music streaming and downloads (legal and otherwise) have made it easier for consumers to listen to music, but harder for Anderson to run his business. He may have outlasted retail titans Tower Records and Virgin Megastore, but Anderson said he’s ready to go the online route. His new website, WorldFamousVIPRecords.com, is almost ready for business.
“You can’t compete with free,” he said.


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Clermont Comic Con offers fun for fans of comic books, cosplay, games, anime
By Rosemarie Dowell
Nov 13, 2018 at 2:05 PM
CLERMONT — Even the most discriminating of comic book, cosplay and video game fanatics should be happy with the lineup at Sunday’s fourth annual Clermont Comic Con.
The event, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Clermont Performing Arts Center, will feature a slate of artists and writers behind some of the genre’s most popular comic books.
They include Mario Gully, a.k.a. O.M.G., creator of the comic book series ANT, and Jose Marzan Jr., best known for his work on DC Comics’ The Flash and Y: The Last Man.
Sergio Cariello, known for his work on Marvel Comics’ Captain America: Hail Hydra, The Lone Ranger and The Action Bible, along with John Crowther, writer and creator of the Rochelle series, currently published by Antarctic Press, also will appear at the convention.
“It’s a small comic con compared to a lot of others, but we have some well-known writers, artists and illustrators coming, along with guest celebrities,” said organizer Scott Schlazer, owner of West Orange Comics and Video Games in Ocoee, a sponsor of the event.
Roughly 130 vendors, selling an array of comic books, anime, toys, card, and role-playing and video games will be there, too.
“It’ll be a fun day for people that enjoy comic books, cosplay, games and anime,” Schlazer said. “People can come dressed as their favorite superhero or character and meet other fans of the genre.”
Celebrity guests will include WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson, father of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson; former WWE superstars Adam Rose and The Warlord; actor Marc Macaulay from “Burn Notice” and “The Punisher”; and Chasen Hampton from “Teen Win, Lose or Draw” and “The All New Mickey Mouse Club,” among others.
Organizers have planned tournaments with the fantasy role-playing board game Dungeons and Dragons, created in the mid-1970s, and Pokémon as well.
“I first played Dungeons and Dragons back in 1978. It’s still a popular game,” Schlazer said. “Pokémon is, too.”


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Miami – Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise company, released its 2013 Sustainability Report in November detailing the company’s sustainability efforts, including initiatives which enabled it to meet its corporate goal to reduce its rate of CO2 emissions from shipboard operations by 20 percent – a year ahead of its initial plan. The Sustainability Report was prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 “Core” Level, and a full copy can be downloaded from Carnival Corporation’s website.
To meet its corporate CO2 sustainability goal, Carnival Corporation and its nine global brands developed energy reduction and conservation initiatives, many of which exceed current laws and regulations. The company’s brands include Carnival Cruise Lines, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn in the U.S.; AIDA Cruises in Germany; Costa Cruises in Italy; and P&O Cruises (United Kingdom) and P&O Cruises (Australia).
As a part of its air emissions reduction initiatives announced in September 2013, Carnival pioneered an industry-first effort to develop ground-breaking exhaust gas cleaning technology, called ECO-EGC™, that removes pollutants from the exhaust gases at any operating condition of a ship – at sea, during manoeuvring and in port. Carnival Corporation is currently installing the systems on its fleet with plans for installations on more than 70 percent of its fleet, representing a significant advancement in environmental technology and reduced air emissions.
In addition to this initiative, Carnival and its nine brands implement extensive measures to deliver on the corporate commitment to continue to keep guests and crew-members safe and comfortable, protect the environment, develop and provide opportunities for its work-force, strengthen its stakeholder relations, and enhance the communities in which the company visits and operates.
These efforts are detailed in this year’s Sustainability Report – highlights include:
- Committing to invest more than $400 million to install an industry-first exhaust gas cleaning technology to 70 percent of the fleet
- Introducing two new ships, Royal Princess and AIDAstella, that are among the most efficient ships at sea today, both from a unit cost and fuel efficiency standpoint
- Investing up to $700 million into the company’s ships and operations to ensure its ships operate safely and reliably, underscoring that the safety and comfort of guests and crew are the top priority for the company
- Adopting a Passenger Bill of Rights along with other members of the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) to commit to further inform cruise guests of the industry’s commitment to their comfort and care
- Donating over $1.5 million to Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts in addition to other efforts to support the communities in which the company operates
- Making progress with its Asian growth strategy, positioning the company to capitalize on the emerging region including doubling its presence in China, successfully launching an inaugural homeport in Japan and opening offices in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore
“At Carnival Corporation, we believe that sustainability is about preserving our environment, respecting our employees and communities and returning value to our shareholders,” said Bill Burke, Chief Maritime Officer for Carnival Corporation. “Today’s report details our progress towards both our goal to reduce emissions, and our ongoing commitment to being a responsible corporate citizen. For us, sustainability is a core part of how we conduct business. We continue to make major progress and are committed to maintaining our leadership in sustainability and setting industry standards for corporate citizenship.”
In October, Carnival released the results of its multi-year Fleet Fuel Conservation Program that by the end of 2014 will have saved more than one billion gallons of fuel and reduced fleet carbon emissions by 12 billion kilograms over a seven year period. By that time, the program will also have improved the fleet’s overall fuel efficiency by 24 percent compared to 2007, while saving approximately $2.5 billion in fuel costs, the company’s single biggest expense.
Click here to read/download the Full Report.
Source: Carnival Corporation.
About Carnival Corporation
Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) is the largest cruise company in the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK). Together, these brands operate 101 ships totalling 214,000 lower berths with seven new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2015 and 2017. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices. For more information, visit www.carnival.com.


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Avon International Global Chief Executive Angela Cretu has committed that Avon’s prices will rise in line with inflation, even amid soaring supply and vendor costs. To keep this pledge, Avon worked with its logistics partners to act early and secure long-term contracts and increase pay for delivery workers.
Natura &Co’s consolidated sales in the second quarter of 2020 were R$7.0 billion, down only 12.7 percent despite the unprecedented global impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Group e-commerce sales grew by about 225% in the quarter vs. the same period last year, with growth of 150% at Natura and Avon combined, 230% at the Body […]
Natura &Co reported revenue growth in the first quarter of 2020, the first to include Avon Products, Inc. Natura &Co’s consolidated net revenue reached R$7.5 billion, up 1.9 percent versus the same quarter last year. According to the company, growth was driven by a strong increase in sales by the Natura brand in Brazil and […]


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In the past year and change (since I started subscribing to the FDA Recall Alerts), I have received no fewer than 35 recall emails for foods contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
Listeria can affect anyone, but is especially harmful to those who are pregnant or have weakened immune systems. But we never hear of someone getting sick from Listeria, do we? No- the bacteria manifests itself in the form of meningitis, miscarriages, stillbirths, cervical infections, and other life-threatening illnesses.
The recalls run the gamut on the food spectrum -- ranging from turkey and ham to cheese and butter; from bagged lettuce and cantaloupe to salmon and herring.
The only incident I remember garnering national media attention was the notorious Colorado cantaloupe case that killed 30 people and sickened 146 in September 2011. Other than that, the only news I ever hear of Listeria is from my Gmail inbox brought to me by my own overly neurotic and CAFO-obsessed self.
|FDA Recall Alerts in my Gmail inbox|
However, there have been journalists and food writers who have monitored the growth and expansion of the disease. Jane Brody from the New York Times, for example, wrote a revealing piece about Listeria in 2007. In the piece, Brody explains how these bacteria that grow in mammals, fish, and birds can be transmitted to humans:
L. monocytogenes is a ubiquitous organism found in soil and water. Vegetables can become contaminated from the soil or manure used as fertilizer. Farm animals can carry the bacteria without experiencing ill effects, and foods of animal origin, including meat, poultry and dairy products, can become contaminated.While the organism can be found in a variety of raw foods like uncooked meats, vegetables, unpasteurized milk and foods made from raw milk, processed ready-to-eat foods like cold cuts and cut-up vegetables can become tainted after processing.
Now the 35 recall alert emails are starting to make a lot more sense to me. Food safety groups, animal welfare groups, and even the USDA (shocking, I know) have all warned about the severity and prevalence of foodborne illnesses where large quantities of animals are confined in small and overcrowded places.
We have all heard about the E. coli that trickled down from the cow farm to the spinach field, or the salmonella-tainted chicken that wasn’t cooked long enough. Now we have another foodborne illness to add to the list. Listeria monocytogenes is certainly not a new pathogen, but it appears that as our farms grow, so do the outbreaks.


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Tech Layoffs: More Than 1,600 Employees Were Laid Off In An Average Day In January
January 20, 2023: Amid the economic slowdown and fears of a recession, layoffs have accelerated and an average of 1,600 tech workers are being laid off a day in 2023 globally, including in India.
According to data released by layoffs.fyi, a layoffs tracking site, a total of 1,024 companies laid off 154,336 workers in 2022.
Mass tech layoffs continue in 2023 and India’s companies and startups are leading the way in laying off employees.
Here are some records of company layoffs in the last two years:
India-based social media company ShareChat (Mohalla Tech Pvt Ltd) laid off 20% of its workforce, affecting over 500 employees due to market uncertainty.
Backed by leading companies like Google, Twitter, Tiger Global and Snapchat, ShareChat currently has around 2,300 employees.
ShareChat laid off less than 5% of its workforce in December 2022 after the company shut down a fantasy sports platform called Jeet 11, IANS reported.
Ola, one of the world’s largest ride-hailing companies and operating in more than 250 cities in India, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, laid off 200 of its employees this month. Along with this, voice automated startup Skit.ai also dominated the headlines for its staff layoffs.
Another company Dunzo, which delivers groceries and essentials to major Indian cities, also laid off 3% of its workforce as part of its cost-cutting measures, IANS reported.
Most of the tech workers lost their jobs as early as 2023. In just 15 days in January, 91 companies laid off more than 24,000 tech workers, a sign that worse days are ahead this year.
E-commerce giant Amazon laid off around 18,000 employees, including around 1,000 from India.
At this time, LinkedIn is flooded with users looking for jobs, offers of support for displaced friends and colleagues, and suggestions and advice for employees as many companies cut back on their manpower to weather the uncertain macroeconomic environment.
Data from Sensor Tower, a market research firm, shows that the LinkedIn app was downloaded an estimated 58.4 million times from the Google Play Store and Apple App Stores worldwide in 2022, up 10 percent from 2021, reports IANS.
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There are more than 80,000 chemicals on the market in the United States, but only a small percentage have been tested for safety. Since 1975, breast cancer rates have jumped 30 percent. Over the last half-century, chemical use has spiked by 2,000 percent. If these numbers give you a jolt, you’re not alone. And they’re just a sampling of the startling figures in the upcoming documentary, The Human Experiment, which features actor Sean Penn as an executive producer and narrator.
Filmmakers Don Hardy and Dana Nachman were shocked when they learned about the wide array of toxic chemicals lurking in seemingly innocuous household goods, such as water bottles, sofas, and even pajamas.
“If you’re coming to this issue without really knowing much about chemicals, it’s a gut punch,” Hardy says. In the film, the duo explores the many illnesses linked to the modern chemical revolution and reveals how often these substances come into contact with the human body.
The directors traveled the country culling stories of anti-toxics activists, who are pushing for corporate action and increased regulations from Washington. “I thought that was what the EPA and the FDA were for, that’s what their job was: to protect the public,” Hardy says. The documentary makes it clear that may not necessarily be the case. Penn narrates how lawmakers treat chemicals just like they treat criminals: “innocent until proven guilty.” The film also claims gaps in toxics legislation have made chemical regulation and testing difficult to implement.
These chemicals are everywhere—and in everything. Triclosan, an antibacterial linked to thyroid disruption, is found in soaps and all-purpose cleaners. Bisphenol-A (BPA)—that ubiquitous acronym found in plastics and the linings of food cans—mimics estrogen in the human body, potentially affecting your hormonal system. Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo once had the carcinogen formaldehyde in it. Toxic chemicals like these can be difficult to avoid—especially because of lax labeling requirements.
The Human Experiment hopes to educate consumers about the harms of toxic chemicals and push them to “switch to safer” goods. A full list of “safe” products can be found on the documentary’s website. “It doesn’t have to be the ultimate clean product, but let’s just do something a little better than we did last year and find community that can help us get there,” Nachman says.
The documentary traverses chemical and political history, linking how the tobacco and lead industries defended their products in the past to how brands using potentially toxic chemicals defend their products today. Hardy and Nachman argue chemical lobbyists and companies have been able to keep dangerous compounds in goods through a vicious combination of politicking and funding biased scientific research. Still, the duo did their best to dodge the doomsday environmental documentary trope by ending the film on a positive note. “When we first started this movie there were a couple products on a shelf that you could buy that you would feel okay with—now there’s full shelves, full aisles,” Nachman says. “Change is happening.”
The movie’s release coincides with the 45th Earth Day on April 22. AMC Hoffman in Alexandria will play The Human Experiment beginning April 17.


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October 21, 2013--Food World News
In a press release, Governor Cuomo spoke about raising awareness
for local vendors and the importance of top restaurateurs giving back.
Cuomo has partnered with the New York State Restaurant Association, in
order to reach out to restaurant groups and chefs throughout the state. Click here for the full article.
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The NFC Forum has added new associate, implementer and non-profit members, following the recent addition of Apple as a sponsor member. “Representing industries as diverse as automotive electronics, digital imaging, microelectronics and asset management, the 19 new members include organisations based in Austria, Belarus, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the US,” the association says. (See the full list of new members here…)
- Meet NFC World’s partners at Mobile World Congress
- Survey: India now has a higher percentage of citizens with a mobile wallet than China
- Alipay users sent red packets worth $79m during Chinese New Year
- Apple Pay users doubled in 2017 to 127m, says top analyst
- Six more Amazon Go stores to open this year?


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Over the last month, virtually all of the world's tech giants from Facebook and Microsoft, to Tencent and even Yandex have made announcements about new features that will bring their companies further into the metaverse. This will be the next generation of the internet, where our offline lives will become more and more intertwined with our online ones through 3D representations, immersive digital environments, and graphically enhanced social networking.
The way we will interact with this new reality will be broader than we can imagine. It won't just be about our phone and our computer, but about new interfaces we can hardly yet envision. These will include smart glasses that will present us with an augmented reality - designed to inform and to entertain - that will pop up in our everyday lives. Other wearable technology will go everywhere with us, collecting data, but also giving us the ability to do things that today would seem like science fiction.
In this new metaverse, we are told, we will soon be doing most of the same things we do today, whether it will be online or offline. Gaming is one of the first things that will move into this new world (actually, with Decentraland and The Sandbox, it already has), and other forms of entertainment will soon follow. Simultaneously, we'll see the arrival of e-commerce. With time, there will come along regulated industries, and even medicine, where you will interact with healthcare professionals in virtual environments.
On the one hand, this all sounds fantastic. It's exactly the kind of virtual wonderland we've been waiting for since the popularization of the AR/VR concept. On the other hand, it raises certain problems. Chief of these are those issues relating to fraud: In a virtual world where everyone is hidden behind a digital mask, how can you tell who's who?
When payments are being made for virtual land or for concert tickets, how are we going to be able to make sure the receiver is the person who paid for them? With so much identity data being collected in the metaverse, how are we going to be able to tell what's right and what's wrong? Certainly, fraud prevention schemas that are in place today won't be up to the task.
For as long as there has been the internet, finding ways to establish network participants' identities and eliminate fraud has been one of the most active areas of innovation. The early days of the World Wide Web, when networks were small and people were ready to share their real names and addresses via email when carrying out transactions, lasted only a short time. By 1995, sites like eBay were fulfilling a need not just by listing items up for sale, but taking on the risk of the item people paid for never actually making it to its final destination.
Of course, risk didn't need to stay with the platforms for long, and soon there arose insurance companies that issued policies for individual purchases. Some people reading this article might be old enough to remember having the option to pay to insure a purchase when buying something on online auction sites and early e-commerce marketplaces.
Fintech, eventually, presented itself as the guardians against risk of fraud online. Today, payment processors like Stripe, PayPal, and Dwolla have taken on the responsibility of verifying the identities of those who send payments and those who receive them online. Banks and credit card companies participate too, with all these companies working together to collect identity documents from users, verify them, then authenticate payments through things like 2-factor authentication.
In the metaverse, however, the identity checks that have been put in place over the last decade in order to reduce fraud may just not be enough. By entering this virtual world, we're going to be moving into a reality that includes much more of ourselves than just our payments.
Telemedicine, for example, is very likely to become the dominant way we interact with our health care providers. We will attend classes in digital classrooms and we will need to prove that it's really us taking the tests - not a stand-in - in order to receive university credit. Technology is well on its way to enabling people to mask their appearances and voices with hyper-realistics skins and computer generated audio. People, in general, will want to know that the individuals they are interacting with are who they say they are.
The main difference between fraud prevention in the Internet of today and that of in the metaverse of tomorrow is the vast amount of data that needs to be analyzed. Interactions in the virtual worlds that will soon be our home will occur at literally every step. Technology will need to be implemented that can manage all of this data analysis.
Of course, the number of files that needs to be analyzed at the current moment is far larger than anything that could have been imagined only ten to fifteen years ago. For this reason, each time you open a bank account or apply for a loan online, the photo you are asked to send of your passport or driver's license is analyzed using artificial intelligence. Sometimes, regulated platforms today may ask for you to take a selfie to compare to your document - AI is used here too. Some companies have even figured out how to verify who you are by analyzing video clips. Interestingly, this technology is even being used to carry out job interviews!
In the metaverse, these technologies will have to be improved upon, fast. Not only will the algorithms need to get better through machine learning, but technologies will need to be developed that can apply things like audio, textual, and behavioral analysis to everything we write, say, and do - in real time. This will take a kind of efficiency in computing that has yet to ever be achieved, and will likely lead to progress with neural networks that has barely ever even been theorized.
How long it will be until we get a true 'metaverse' of the kind promised to us by Zuckerberg and the like is still up for discussion. Ultimately, a whole host of technological and ethical problems need to be resolved before we can really move into our future digital homes. Much of the digital transformation of tomorrow is possible today — we would be happy to show you how.
I have been nominated as Hackernoon's contributor of the year in the category of Artificial Intelligence. It would mean so much if you voted for me! Vote for @Ilyshka here: https://noonies.tech/award/2021-hackernoon-contributor-of-the-year-ai


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Eurostar, the high-speed railway service that connects the UK with mainland Europe via the Channel Tunnel, has today reported growth in both revenue and passenger numbers for 2014.
For its 20th anniversary of operation, the company has reported year-on-year growth of three percent in passenger numbers, while business travel increased by four percent year-on year. Eurostar also announced its new e320 trains during 2014, and they will be entering service by the end of the year.
Last year 10.4 million passengers travelled on Eurostar, taking the company’s total passenger number since the start of services in 1994 to over 150 million. 2014 sales revenues increased by one percent, to GBP867 million.
Eurostar stated that this performance was underpinned, in particular, by the strong recovery in the UK economy, which also led to an increase in business travel bookings throughout the year.
In 2014, Eurostar also unveiled its state of the art new e320 train at St Pancras International station. With the e320 due to enter commercial service at the end of this year, the company says that passengers can look forward to an unparalleled level of style, comfort and service.
Nicolas Petrovic, chief executive of Eurostar, said: ‘2014 was a pivotal year for our business as we celebrated our 20th anniversary and unveiled our new fleet. Our new e320 trains are now in the final months of testing and on schedule to come into commercial service at the end of this year. As we introduce new trains, upgrade our stations and invest in our service, passengers can look forward to a complete transformation of their travel experience.’
Eurostar International, a UK-based high-speed rail service that operates between the UK and mainland Europe, and which is also an official supporter of the London 2012 Festival, has reported a slowdown in its business travel as European countries fight an economic slowdown.
In the first six months of 2012, the rail company has reported only a 2 percent increase in passenger traffic, to 4.8 million, from 4.7 million reported in the same period in 2011. Commensurate with the small increment in passenger traffic, the sales revenue has also increased by 1 percent to GBP425 million in the first half of 2012, compared to GBP421 million in the same period last year.
Nicolas Petrovic, the chief executive officer of Eurostar, said, ‘We have delivered a resilient performance in the first half of the year despite the difficult economic climate. Leisure bookings have continued to grow and we have seen good take-up for travel to London over the summer period.
During the Queen’s Jubilee we had one of our busiest weekends on record and we are looking forward to welcoming visitors from across Europe to enjoy all the attractions that London has to offer for the Games.
Whilst leisure sales have held up over the last six months, there is no doubt that corporate clients and business travellers, particularly in the financial services industry, are feeling the squeeze and are cutting back on their travel budgets as they adapt to the economic environment.
The combination of economic pressures and the London 2012 Games has meant that we are seeing different travel patterns this year. The traditional European summer close-down for business is kicking in earlier as all eyes turn to the Olympic celebrations in London.’


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John Gardella’s recent PFAS article entitled “PFAS Consumer Fraud Lawsuit Just the Latest…and Only the Beginning” was published on our website and the National Law Review. The article was picked up and utilized by The Fashion Law’s news site in the article “A Consumer Fraud Lawsuit Over PFAS Is Only the Beginning For Consumer Goods Brands” The article discusses how the trend of PFAS lawsuits filed against consumer goods companies for consumer fraud and false advertising are likely only going to continue, and examines the lawsuits filed to date. Please click below to go directly to the article on The Fashion Law’s website.
CMBG3 Law is following judicial, legislative, administrative, and scientific developments relating to PFAS. More information about the services we can provide, including risk assessments, to ensure your business is ready for any intersection with these substances can be found on our PFAS Litigation page.
Our attorneys have been at the forefront of PFAS issues, including giving presentations as to the future waves of litigation stemming from PFAS issues. For more information, please contact the Chair of our PFAS Team: John Gardella.


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A new policy regarding the sale of unhealthy foods may impact student groups and their sales.
As Amnesty International found out after attempting to sell popcorn as a fundraiser, there is a new school policy banning the sale of unhealthy foods during school hours. This rule could have serious effects on club and activities, particularly in the financial department.
Amnesty was trying to raise money to aid Syrian refugees on Sept. 22, but their plans were paused just as they were getting set up when Principal Rob Bach explained the new rule to them.
Bach had to postpone sales because, “There are new policies in place in our district that pertain to food sales… so those guidelines just recently got shared with us as administrators.”
The new guidelines could have a financial impact on clubs.
Senior and co president of Amnesty Erica Oren said, “[The popcorn machine] was our main source of income for fundraising, without the popcorn machine we have no income at all.”
And in order for Amnesty to make a difference they need funding.
Senior Nikki Yang, a Vice President of the club, said, “We can always volunteer locally, but if we want to help internationally we need to fundraise.”
To continue helping with human rights issues on a global scale, they must find a new source of funding since the club does not collect a fee for joining.
Oren looked into finding our foods to sell by checking out the health initiative called Let’s Move, lead by Michelle Obama and found “one of the healthier snack alternatives was popcorn so I thought that was kind of ironic.”
But Amnesty is still working to find a solution, after ruling out options such as fruit cups, since they believe no one would want to buy them, they have come full circle to the idea of selling popcorn.
Oren wants to continue selling popcorn, but a “healthier version with lower butter, less salt,” in hopes that they can comply with the new school rules, but continue selling popcorn.
The entire purpose behind the new school policy is not only to encourage healthy lifestyles, but to earn money from the HealthyMOVES PEP grant. This grant would get the school $2 million in federal funding.
Deb Van Klei, the coordinator of the grant has the same goal of selling healthier popcorn.
Van Klei said, “Popcorn doesn’t need to be eliminated, what we want to look at is the type of oil we are popping the popcorn in, and still offer popcorn.”
With both students and administration ready to a make change for more nutritious snack options, it seems that our school’s clubs will soon be back at it and eagerly selling a healthier kind of popcorn.
Van Klei further explained that the ” popcorn doesn’t need to be eliminated , the type of popcorn we’re popping needs to be changed.”
Students, now having a brand new popcorn machine, and an abundance of ideas of how to make healthy popcorn, are ready to continue the tradition of selling this snack to fund raise for their cause.


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Hannes Wöhren war sechs Monate wegen Burnout in Behandlung - ohne Krankschreibung. Um nicht erneut in den chronischen Erschöpfungszustand zu rutschen, hat sich der IT-Chef eines Ingenieurbüros strenge Smartphone-Disziplin verordnet und seinen Arbeitsalltag umgestaltet. …mehr
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Santa Fe Brewing Co. has signed a lease to put a tasting room at Green Jeans Farmery, a new shipping container retail project/hydroponic farm just north of Interstate 40 near Carlisle.
The taproom could open as early as next spring.
Santa Fe Brewing president and owner Brian Lock said the site selection ends a nearly three-year search for a Duke City location. He said he chose Green Jeans because of its visibility from the interstate, proximity to hotels and because it wasn’t “a traditional strip mall or something that was just kind of ordinary.”
“We’ve had a lot of requests, and I was kind of waiting for the right spot to open up,” he said. “And I feel this is the perfect fit.”
Green Jeans — the brainchild of Albuquerque businessman Roy Solomon — will feature shipping-container construction, a growing trend in commercial and residential developments.
Lock said the Santa Fe Brewing space will feature eight of the crates, mostly the traditional size — 40 feet long, 8 feet tall and 8 feet wide — though a few may be taller. There will be at least one rooftop patio.
He said he and his wife have worked on possible configurations using their son’s toy building blocks.
“We’ve actually come up with what we think is a pretty cool design using those eight containers and literally build it out of Legos,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to take to the architects and show them.”
Green Jeans will ultimately feature about 7,000 square feet of buildings. Santa Fe Brewing is the first business to sign a lease, but Solomon said he’s planning to add several more tenants.
He said the final mix could include food and perhaps a flower shop and bike shop — vendors who “would be complementary — something to fit into the mood of what we’re doing.”
In addition to the retail component, Green Jeans will feature a hydroponic farm. Solomon said he’s already begun that portion of the project, starting with the planting inside a container already on site.
For more on the project, check out this Journal story from July.


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In a recent Instagram post, Neil Druckmann the Writer, Director, Vice President at Naughty Dog, and the man behind The Last Of Us 2 has announced that the sequel to the highly acclaimed post-apocalyptic game has now gone gold.
TLOU 2 has had a rough couple of months. First, the game was delayed from its original release date, mostly due to the COVID-19 lockdown throughout the world. In the last week, however, someone leaked major story-point, cutscenes, and screenshots from the upcoming game. The leaks also created an uproar among the gaming community, as many were upset with the direction that TLOU2 was taking. Sony and Naughty Dog, perhaps in damage control announced a new release date for the game, and also went on a banning spree, trying to take down videos, etc that had anything remotely to do with the leaks.
Here is hoping, its all smooth sailing from here on now, and we get to play TLOU 2 soon.