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UGANDA – Lipa Later, a Kenyan consumer credit platform, has expanded into the Ugandan market to enable customers to access credit to purchase products from retailers and supermarkets on monthly instalments.
The company, which also has operations in Rwanda, said the new service will enable customers to purchase latest mobile phones, electronics, and furniture.
Lipa Later Chief Executive Officer, Eric Muli, said the new service is designed to facilitate Ugandans to own mid to high value goods and upgrade their homes.
“We recognize that more often than not, there is a need to stretch income so that it can be used to meet a variety of pressing needs,” he said.
The CEO said Lipa Later service will empower consumers by giving them relief to be able to cover affordable instalments to own or upgrade their electronics and furnish their homes.
Lipa Later is structured in a way that customers register for the service online and receive a credit limit with the amount they qualify for, pay a 10% upfront fee for the product they select and then settle the balance in affordable installments over a 12-month period all the electronics come insured for the repayment period.
The service, he added will also bring goods within easier reach of more Ugandans since research had shown that there was a high latent demand for them, but an outright investment of the total sums was still out of many people’s capacity.
“Lipa Later has so far experienced strong growth of 166% cumulative annual growth rate in Kenya and Rwanda from inception in 2016 to 2019 providing financing for electronic and furniture products to over 160,000 customers”
Data from the Uganda Household Survey of 2017 showed that more than 80% of Ugandans do not own a television set and over 90% do not own a computer.
At the same time, most Ugandans are self-employed, thus being excluded from the formal lending schemes that are attached to employers.
Muli noted that the service will initially be available at selected major brand and retail stores in Kampala in the first phase of the rollout and envisage that the service will be extended to other towns over the next two years.
Lipa Later has so far experienced strong growth of 166% cumulative annual growth rate in Kenya and Rwanda from inception in 2016 to 2019 providing financing for electronic and furniture products to over 160,000 customers.
The company is currently backed by several investors including Platform Capital, Musha Ventures, Majilis Investment, Lateral Capital, and Mastercard (through the Startpath program) and is said to be in advanced discussions with other strategic North American investors to accelerate its expansion.
The company’s goal is to enable payment plans for everything from a phone to a home through its partnerships with over 500 local & global brands such as Samsung, Tecno (Transsion Holdings), Sony, Huawei, and Apple.


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Aug 18, 2022
Industry leading virtual reality (VR) training platform, Motive.io, has launched in AWS Marketplace, a digital catalog with thousands of software listings from independent software vendors that make it easy to find, test, buy, and deploy software that...
Jul 14, 2022
Motive.io completes SOC 2 Type II audit to further strengthen our commitment to safety and security of customer information.
Jun 23, 2021
Motive.io, the immersive training platform for enterprise, secures significant seed capital to fund the growth of its industry-leading platform.

domain: news


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Nathan Cohen has strong feelings about the cellular antennae that are sprouting like alien fungi from cell phones, streetlights, and hilltops everywhere.
"They stink," said Cohen, a radio astronomer and physicist who worked for the past decade to perfect a miniaturized antenna that will fit inside wireless and cellular handsets.
Cohen's invention, a "fractal-element antenna," is intended to replace the retractable wand antennae that currently grace wireless and cellular phones, but he said the technology could be adapted to replace larger antennae at cellular company bay stations.
Cellular phones sans wands will allow for new, more compact designs that would be more rugged and ergonomically friendly, Cohen says. "Why have a communication device that fits in your shirt pocket when you have an antenna that sticks out a half a foot?" said Cohen, the chief technology officer for Fractal Antenna Systems.
Fractal antennae are better suited for cellular phones because they use geometry to achieve better reception, where traditional antennae use height and bulk to do the same thing. Fractals are mathematically designed geometric shapes that, when repeated, form complex patterns. These patterns are etched onto a tiny, printed circuit board that is incorporated into the cellular phone's case, or directly onto its circuit board. The result is an antenna that can cover a vast perimeter without sacrificing compactness.
By contrast, traditional antennae, such as those used for television and cellular phones, require technicians to add more parts - and, in turn, more bulk - to achieve greater reception.
"In general, there is very little sacrifice in performance," said Cohen, who ripped the antenna off his own Motorola flip-phone and replaced it with a fractal-element antenna.
Cohen expects the first generation of fractal antennae to arrive in early 1997 in cellular phones, cordless phones, wireless LANS, computer links, and trunk radios.


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A salty pretzel, a sweet ice cream cone, a sour, vinegary pickle: most of us relish the variety of flavours we experience when we eat, courtesy of our sense of taste. What many don't know, however, is that the experience of taste is highly amplified for some members of the population, known as "supertasters." This may sound amazing, but supertasters actually tend to avoid certain foods due to their increased sensitivity to strong flavours, including anything bitter and many healthy fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, individuals known as "non-tasters" have significantly decreased sensitivity to flavour, making it difficult for them to taste food at all. Unfortunately, this can cause problems, such as when they cannot detect when food has spoilt or is unsafe to eat.
Thought for Food Blog
Food Matters Live is an annual event, based at the ExCeL London, which brings together the food and drink industry across retailers, foodservice providers, government, education and those working in nutrition. Needless to say, it’s a huge event which allows for a massive variety of those in the industry, across the globe, to collaborate, learn and inform. With five of the IFIS team attending across Tuesday and Wednesday, we got stuck into as many of the seminars and exhibitions as possible, to hear about the latest news and innovations in food. Here, we detail just a few of our highlights from the event.
Topics: labelling, food quality, nutrition, cereals, healthy eating, superfoods, bacteria, retail and marketing, calcium, food production, sugar and substitutes, food research, UK, dieting, conferences and events, health, local foods, novel foods, supplements, IFIS Publishing
This post was originally published on The Conversation, and was written by Rosemary Stanton, a Nutritionist and Visiting Fellow from the School of Medicinal Sciences at the University of New South Wales.
Coconuts have been a valued food in tropical areas for thousands of years, traditionally enjoyed as coconut water from the centre of the coconut, coconut flesh, or coconut “milk” (made by steeping the flesh in hot water).
Solid white coconut oil (I’ll use this popular term, although technically it’s a fat not an oil) is now the darling of celebrities and bloggers, paleo enthusiasts and sellers of so-called superfoods. Claims for its supposed medical value reverberate around the internet, but how well do they stand up to scientific scrutiny?
Topics: nutrition, saturated fat, healthy eating, cholesterol, diabetes, superfoods, bacteria, obesity, fibre, cardiovascular health, toxins, fatty acids, food research, dieting, health, bone health, metabolism
Breakfast on the brain?
Breakfast, we’ve all been told countless times, is the most important meal of the day. It is claimed that a good breakfast can provide us with the energy needed to start a new day, offer a good source of important nutrients and fibre, helping to contribute to a more nutritionally complete diet overall, and even reduce the risk of becoming overweight or obese, or developing high blood pressure, heart disease, or type 2 diabetes.
In addition to being good for our health, eating – or not eating – breakfast has also been linked to effects on our cognitive performance, alertness, concentration, and mood. It is claimed that eating breakfast can enhance memory, improve concentration levels and mood, decrease stress, and improve attention span.


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Carl F. Bucherer descended on Baselworld to launch its 2019 timepieces collection.
The Swiss-based brand launched six watches in total, spanning across its Heritage, Manero and Patravi lines.
The announcement consisted of the new Heritage Bicompax Annual Chronograph, the Heritage tourbillon Double Peripheral, the Manero Flyback Retro Style, the Patravi Scubatec Black Mantra Special Edition and the Patravi Scubatec Lady.
Looking at the Heritage Chrono BiCompax Annual specifically (main image), it comes in stainless steel or rose gold and contains an automatic movement powered by the CFB 1972 caliber.
With a power reserve of 42 hours, as the name suggests it has chronograph functionality and its case measures 41mm in diameter.
Take a closer look at the other releases here:


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Nintendo Switch in Case
Posted 11 months ago
Nintendo Switch in a black and red case, along with a number of games, was found on a southbound Dart at Connolly Station on Friday 10th September 2021, around 8:30pm. There is a name on a card inside the case. Please identify this name to claim the device.


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Editorial: Nintendo’s mobile push feels wrong, but is the right thing to do
Late Wednesday afternoon, Nintendo went and broke the internet.
They did what they said they never would, what man expected them never to do. They’re going to make games for what they’re calling “smart devices”. That’s phones, tablets and what not. Nintendo are teaming with Japanese company DeNA (pronounced like DNA, by the way) which, low and behold, make games for smart devices, as well as the infrastructure like online stores and online services behind them.
This news came completely out of the blue and shocked pretty much everyone. Since the introduction of the App Store by Apple onto iOS devices just six years ago, Nintendo has vehemently denied and resisted calls to get on the mobile bandwagon. Iwata has been saying no to investors and fans in as many different ways as there are languages on Earth. This move has made analysts say Nintendo is doomed even more so than usual, spooking investors, dropping the big N’s stock value right off. While correlation doesn’t always equal causation, Nintendo’s lack of presence in the mobile marketplace hasn’t been left unnoticed.
It wasn’t until last year that Iwata’s stance on smart devices began to soften. With the proverbial writing on the wall, something had to be done to acknowledge these devices and the part they play in not just gamer’s lives, but the life of every connected human being on the planet. In a very short time, smartphones and tablets have not just changed computing and gaming, but our very way of life.
Let’s get a few things out of the way first to clear the air. This announcement does not mean that Nintendo is giving up on either home consoles or portables. The Wii U isn’t going anywhere and the 3DS isn’t either. To ensure this message was clear, Iwata even announced the name of Nintendo’s next ‘hardware’, codenamed NX. We don’t know what it’s going to do, but Nintendo says it’ll change the way we game again with a whole new concept – that’s something to worry about another year. For now, Nintendo have confirmed that they are remaining loyal to the dedicated gaming scene.
Nintendo have put off acknowledging smart devices for long enough, possibly leaving it too late. What they’ve decided to do is what Nintendo always does, tackling a problem in a very Nintendo way. This usual of course of action means things aren’t explained very well and there are numerous caveats and exceptions. Nintendo’s caution is pretty justified, as their track history shows they don’t get everything right the first time and, in some areas, never quite do. Online gaming works on Nintendo consoles, but its bare bones. The eShop is only now becoming a competent enough marketplace and the ‘account’ issue hasn’t really been resolved even now.
That is why this collaboration is one of the best things Nintendo has done for a while and the best solution for this situation. I’ve been reporting Nintendo news for 15 years, following them as a fan for even longer, and Nintendo need to be commended for taking this bold step into the modern marketplace. If done correctly, and given enough time, this deal with DeNA will fix several problems Nintendo has as a company, improving their infrastructure and defining their role in the ever-growing mobile marketplace.
It’s scary, isn’t it? Nintendo games, on smart phones and tablets. It just sounds wrong. We’ve been told for years by Nintendo and Satoru Iwata that all of this is bad, that it would devalue important IPs, that it would mean the end for the Nintendo we know and love. Well, Nintendo is already doomed (!), so what does it matter its games show up on phones? But wait, I hear you say, won’t this distract Nintendo from its ‘proper’ games on dedicated consoles and steal away money from development? That’s why Nintendo has teamed up with DeNA. I hadn’t heard about them before this week either, so it’s ok to admit that, but it has the infrastructure and the know-how to do what needs to be done. If people really enjoy playing games on their phone, then why shouldn’t Nintendo leverage this opportunity?
The thing is, we’re not going to see mainline Nintendo titles here. Iwata and DeNA have made it absolutely clear they’re only working on original titles, suited to mobile game play that can be played for minutes at a time. One could argue that the Nintendo 3DS is portable and they sort of do this already, but you aren’t going to see The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask on your iPhone or Android device anytime soon. In fact, you’re not going see any classic Nintendo game on there. Nintendo know the controls don’t work on those devices any good, so they’re not going to even bother.
These mobile games are likely not going to appeal much to you and I, the classic Nintendo or gaming fan. I feel old as hell saying this, but while we’ve grown up with D-Pads, 8-Bits, 64’s and triggers, kids are growing up with touch screens, Minecraft and in-app purchases. It sounds completely crazy but so does whatever crap is on the radio these days to my ears.
I’m really, REALLY (really) excited about what this means for Nintendo’s online efforts. I don’t mean online as in multiplayer, but more what DeNA can do with the Nintendo Network ID, the eShop, Miiverse and the dreaded ‘account’ system. I mentioned it before, but Nintendo do things in a very Nintendo way. Sometimes they suck and sometimes they just function alright – that’s where Nintendo has been for years now. We’ve heard about them making a new web eShop for years now. Earlier this year, we heard about the account system getting redone. Now, we know how and when this is going to happen. Club Nintendo is even getting completely redone on this new system. Nintendo is too stubborn of a company to be able to make this system themselves, but by crafting this deal, they’ve effectively acknowledged that they don’t understand easy it is to use highly advanced and content-rich platforms like the App Store, Google Play Store, Steam and every other online system in the world where you can just download your purchases at the push of the proverbial button. This stubbornness is what makes Nintendo what it is. God, it’s frustrating sometimes.
Nintendo ‘going mobile’ isn’t going to be the end of all the games we love and enjoy from Nintendo, I truly believe it. I think it might even help them – this has been too big of a distraction for far too long and it’s hurt not only their pride, but it’s left their bottom line in tatters.
Nintendo fans need to look at the gaming world as it is – changed – and accept the new order of things. Everyone needs to remember that change is good. Keeping things the same never helped anyone.


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Chevrolet Cruze Chevy Chase MD
Silver Spring, MD
Temple Hills, MD
Chevrolet Cruze Diesel in 2013
“In just its first year, the Cruze has proven to be extremely popular with American drivers,” Schaeffer said. “In June, it was the best-selling car in the U.S. and has exceeded sales of more than 20,000 per month since February.
“…This announcement clearly signifies the increasing importance of clean diesel technology as a key and viable strategy for meeting fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions goals.”
The Cruze isn’t the only diesel making its way to these shores. Volkswagen is already in production with the Passat TDI diesel, and there are reports that Mazda, Nissan, and others are unveiling new models. That’s good news, as diesels are 20 to 40 percent more efficient that regular gasoline autos. Analysts are currently expecting diesel auto sales to be between seven and 15 percent of total auto sales by 2015.
Article source: http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2011/07/22/000425-chevrolet-diesel-cruze-announcement-huge-step-forward-highlighting-future-importance.html← NHTSA to Make Hybrids and EVs Noisier for Safety Nutson’s Nuggets: Last Week’...


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Grimross Brewing has signed an agreement to to double in size to 8000 square feet at 600 Bishop Drive in Fredericton, NB. Co-owner Stephen Dixon says "This expansion is necessary to accommodate the growing demand for our taproom and need for more space in our brewery and warehouse. Our current space is getting a little cramped as we increase the number of fermenters, which means more grain, more kegs and more cans.
The new space will allow them to expand their warehouse space and dedicate more space to increasing production.
Dixon explained that the expansion will happen in two phases with phase one focusing on expanding the taproom and warehouse space. He says "We regularly host music talent in our taproom and the new space will allow for bigger acts and more customers. Phase two will see more fermentation capacity and patio overlooking a very scenic marshland."
Grimross Brewing is a Fredericton, NB based brewery that started selling its beer in July 2013 and is owned by Stephen Dixon and Dawn Vincent-Dixon.


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Journalist and editorial requests can be sent to [email protected].
Latest research from BDO Australia shows that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deal volume for the second quarter of 2021 increased by 92 % - fuelled by low interest rates, government stimulus responses to COVID-19 and proactive opportunities for investors.
Leading Australian professional services firm, BDO Australia, has found that many small businesses are still unsure if they are eligible for the JobSaver COVID Support package in New South Wales.
BDO’s latest Global Risk Landscape report - the first report of its kind to be released post pandemic - reveals that companies that embraced risk during 2020 coped better with the crisis and survived (and in some cases even thrived) despite the global calamity.
BDO has been recognised in the annual IJGlobal Awards as the Model Auditor of the Year for Asia Pacific 2020. In addition, BDO has also been recognised in league tables by both IJGlobal and Inframation & Sparkspread as the #1 Global Model Auditor for 2020 by deal value.
BDO welcomed 25 new partners over the last financial year, the largest partner intake in the firm’s history.
BDO Australia has welcomed the Federal & State Government’s joint support package for Greater Sydney and New South Wales (NSW), which will provide some breathing space for small to medium businesses.
The Board of Taxation has announced it will review the collection of GST on low-value imported goods and advise on its effectiveness.
With new Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive measures taking effect this week, BDO Australia has looked at their potential impact on businesses.
BDO Australia has welcomed the release of the New South Wales (NSW) State Government’s Property Tax Proposal Progress Paper which outlines plans for reform.


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For now, everything is fine. In the Kremlin-led propaganda war, the “storytelling” of the impact of Western sanctions on the Russian economy has been carefully polished. Officially, the economic machine is somehow resisting, with the rise in commodity prices – oil, gas and coal – largely offsetting the decline in deliveries. And it will be the West, and above all Europe, that will pay the heaviest price in this trade and economic war. That’s it for official speech. The truth is much less pink.
While Russia has managed to divert some of its oil exports to Asia (especially China and India) at the lowest prices, all segments of Russian industry have been hit hard by the harshness of the sanctions and especially the embargo on component exports. This is the state of the automotive industry. It literally collapsed in six months. “The market fell 70% in July compared to July 2021 figures,” says Igor Yurgens, economist and chairman of the Russian Association of Insurance Companies. According to figures compiled by the company Sia Conseil, sales from foreign manufacturers fell: – 89% for Skoda in the first five months of 2022, – 84% for Renault, – 91% for Volkswagen. Production at Russian factories would also fall by 56% between January and end-April compared to the same period in 2021, with knock-on consequences for suppliers and subcontractors.
“Factories are idle”
“This collapse is not insignificant, because before the war the Russian car market ranked eighth in the world,” says Jean Pierre Corniou, deputy general manager of Sia Conseil. A 2019 study by the EY firm detailed the potential of this market while the equipment ratio of the Russian population is significantly lower than in the West: 371 passenger cars per 1,000 and 928 per 1,000 people, compared to 642 in Western Europe. North America.
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“The factories are idle today,” continues Jean Pierre Corniou. First of all, it is “deteriorated” new cars that come to dealers: due to the lack of access to components, new cars no longer have ABS brake systems, Airbags, traction control systems, anti-pollution sensors in the exhaust pipes. Vehicles that will not have the right to be sold on the European market. At the old Renault factory in Moscow, which was sold to the city, an old brand from the Soviet era – Moskovitch – could run the machines to produce electric vehicles… at best.
In the repair market, the situation turns into a nightmare for foreign vehicle owners. Spare parts are running out while the garages are running out of stock. As in the days of the USSR, the system of parallel imports of spare parts (even official smuggling) is being reborn. With ingredients from Turkey, India, Armenia or Kazakhstan. “Except that they cost much more and they arrive two or three months later,” complains one Russian observer, who prefers to remain anonymous.
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How long can Russia last? “Famines will really start to be felt in November,” said Igor Yurgens. An old Soviet joke is widely spoken in Moscow: “In the West you have lived better than us, but in Russia we suffer better than you”.
Robin Rivaton’s Chronicle
Chronicle of Pierre Assouline
Source From: Google News


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Google has confirmed a Belgian news media report that its workers were listening to some audio recordings captured by its smart devices.
The company said in a blog post on Thursday that it uses contractors to study some recordings to learn how it can make its technology “work for a wide variety of languages, accents and dialects.”
VRT NWS published an investigation on Wednesday in which the Belgian broadcaster gained access to a secure system storing audio recordings from Google Home devices and from the Google Assistant app. The outlet found many recordings that had been captured inadvertently, without users activating their devices.
“Our Security and Privacy Response teams have been activated on this issue, are investigating, and we will take action,” David Monsees, the product manager for search at Google, wrote in the blog post. “We are conducting a full review of our safeguards in this space to prevent misconduct like this from happening again.”
But Monsees said that hiring language experts to study the recordings is necessary for improving Google’s products and making them work for a variety of languages.
He also emphasized that there are multiple safeguards throughout the process. Audio recordings are not tagged to users’ accounts in Google’s review system.
But VRT was able to link some audio snippets to the users who were captured on the recordings because they included sensitive, identifiable information.
Google said that users can visit their privacy settings page to prevent the company from storing any audio.


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AMEU President, Dr. Joseph T. Isaac: “Be it the students who bypassed our official registration center or the employees who assisted them in the act, we will deal with them without any pity.”The administration of the African Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU) has said it will either suspend or expel individuals found culpable of robbing the institution by tampering with its online students’ registration program.AMEU President, Dr. Joseph T. Isaac, told a news conference yesterday that an internal audit team has been mandated to properly investigate reports of alleged fraud committed by suspected students through the assistance of some instructors.Although Dr. Isaac did not name the employees allegedly linked to the fraud, he remains convinced that four of them (employees) have been identified and will be prosecuted. Those the court finds guilty will either be expelled or suspended depending on the gravity of their offense.“Be it the students who bypassed our official registration center or the employees who assisted them in the act, we will deal with them without any pity. We will ensure that they are prosecuted in keeping with the law,” Isaac angrily reacted.Due to the intensity of the scam, Dr. Isaac has with immediate effect invited the internal audit team to conclude its investigation and present findings to the administration in less than a month as of yesterday.“The illegal clients and their so-called benefactors who hacked into our system and transacted thereafter, will regret their action, because they are already confirmed suspects. Thank God that the technological system we are using was able to discover that something went wrong with our students’ registration process in recent semesters,” he said.Dr. Isaac said since his administration believes making the AMEU second to none, it will not tolerate any act that will bring it to public disrepute.In another development, Dr. Isaac said a fund raising program will be held on June 9 to raise US$150,000, while the Episcopal Church’s General Assembly in Atlanta, Georgia, USA is expected to also raise US$500,000.“The amounts,” he said “will be used to renovate some of the buildings.”Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Apple and the recording companies declined official comment on their negotiations. Four years ago, the majors bought into Jobs’ one-price-fits-all vision and agreed to such licensing terms at a time online music services were failing to attract significant interest from music fans. Since then, the popularity of Apple’s iPods has swelled and the sleek devices now dominate more than 70 percent of the digital music player market, by some estimates. While studies have suggested that only a fraction of the music on most iPods is actually purchased on iTunes, the service has ridden the iPod’s coattails and helped cement its position as the top-selling online music service and one of the biggest music retailers overall. That’s given Apple considerable leverage in its dealings with the recording industry. Last year, the main issue that dominated iTunes licensing talks was pricing, as some of the big music companies urged Jobs to entertain charging more for some songs than others. The dispute percolated for months, but Jobs didn’t budge, not wanting to complicate iTunes’ simple pricing scheme for singles. Eventually, the music companies each agreed to one-year deals, which expire this spring. Now, Apple is facing pressure in Europe to license its brand of DRM technology to rivals, so consumers can play the music they buy on iTunes on any digital music player, not just iPods. Critics of the recording industry have argued for years that the labels are alienating customers by placing copy restrictions on legal music downloads, especially as many CDs have been sold without them. The technology behind such measures differs, depending on the retailer and the music device. Apple, for example, has its own version, called FairPlay, that only works with iPods, making it cumbersome for consumers to transfer songs they bought across other portable digital devices. Likewise, DRM systems used at other online stores won’t work with iPods. The recording industry has argued that copy protection software itself is not what makes some songs incompatible with some digital players, but the fact that there are different versions of the technology in use. The music companies have called on Jobs to license out FairPlay to makers of rival devices. Jobs has countered that the best way to get rid of technological barriers is for record labels to strip the copy safeguards from their music. He defends keeping FairPlay closed, saying that if it was widely available, it would become easier for hackers to figure out how to bypass it. No matter what, Apple plans to continue selling standard, copy-restricted versions of songs for 99 cents each. With the EMI deal, Apple will this month start selling $1.29 premium tracks that are not only DRM free but also of higher quality, compressed at twice the usual bit rate. John Heard, an iTunes user in Santa Monica, said he would jump at the chance to buy no-strings download, even if it costs more. “If I have the choice between something that doesn’t have copy protection or it does, I’m always going to choose the thing that doesn’t have copy protection,” said Heard, 28, a television producer who spends about $300 a year on music, almost all on iTunes. Anticipating a more competitive market, other companies are looking to break into online music sales.160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! The last time Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs took on major recording companies, he refused to budge on his 99-cent price for a song on iTunes. As a new round of talks ramp up this month, however, Jobs has opened the door to higher prices – as long as music companies let Apple Inc. sell their songs without technology designed to stop unauthorized copying. Jobs contends that would “tear down the walls” by allowing consumers to play music they buy at Apple’s iTunes store on any digital music player, not just the company’s iPods. Although most of the major labels insist that safeguards are still needed to stave off online piracy and make other digital music business models work, one company has already struck a deal with Apple. Last month, Britain’s EMI Music Group PLC, home to artists such as Coldplay, Norah Jones and Joss Stone, agreed to let iTunes sell tracks without the copy-protection technology known as digital-rights management. The DRM-free tracks cost 30 cents more than copy-restricted versions of EMI songs and feature enhanced sound quality. The other major labels – Warner Music Group Corp., Vivendi’s Universal Music Group, and Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a joint venture of Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG – will be watching closely to see how the unrestricted EMI tracks sell. “At this point, no one can ignore Apple or what Apple wants, given its position in the marketplace,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research. “The fact that they were able to do this deal with EMI puts more pressure on some of the other labels to follow suit.” For their part, at least two of the recording companies will ask Jobs to sell a wider variety of content in digital bundles of songs, videos and other multimedia, according to two recording company executives familiar with their companies’ plans. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the confidential nature of the negotiations. Apple already sells some bundled tracks, but the music companies hope expanding those offerings will boost online revenue and help offset lagging CD sales.


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China’s Goods exports recovered in March, lifting year-on-year growth in in Q1 to 9.6% in real terms and pointing to strengthening global demand momentum, according to Oxford Economics.
Meanwhile, imports remained strong, pushing y/y volume growth in Q1 to 13.4% and indicating continued robust domestic demand.
Oxford Economics expects exports to continue to benefit from improving global demand in the coming months, provided the risks of significant protectionist moves do not materialize.
“But we think import growth will ease later in 2017 on slower real estate activity momentum and less accommodative macro policy in China,” says a note from Oxford Economics.
Goods exports grew a hefty 16.4% y/y in US$ terms last month, lifting growth in Q1 to 8.3% y/y, a sharp turnaround from a fall of 5.2% in Q4 2016 and pointing to strengthening global demand momentum.
Based on Oxford Economic’s estimates for price developments, this implies goods export volumes were up 16.5% y/y last month and 9.6% in Q1, much more than the 1.5% y/y growth in Q4.
Oxford Economics expects China’s exports to continue to benefit from better global demand in the coming months.
“While downside risks remain, we think the risk of drastic trade tension with the US has come down after the meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi last weekend,” says the company.
Following the surge in goods imports in February – in part caused by the shifting timing of the Chinese New Year holiday – they remained strong in March, up 20.3% y/y in US$ terms.
Oxford Economics estimates that goods import volumes were up 13.4% y/y in March, further lifting the sequential 3mma and indicating that China’s domestic demand momentum continued apace last month.
“Looking ahead, we expect growth of domestic demand and imports to ease later in 2017 due to slower real estate activity momentum and the impact from somewhat less accommodative macroeconomic policy.
“Also, with commodity prices gradually stabilizing from the strong recovery since late-2016 – year on year increases already came down in February – we expect such price inflation to render less support to headline y/y import growth in US$ terms in the coming months.”


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As we know, the internal combustion engine is approaching its twilight, but Japanese carmaker Nissan has other plans. In its recent press release, Nissan’s STARC engine concept (Strong, Tumble, and Appropriately Stretched Robust Ignition Channel) claims to achieve 50-percent thermal efficiency, a noticeable improvement over a regular gas engine’s 40-percent efficiency.
“In pursuit of carbon neutrality across our product lifecycle by 2050, Nissan aims to electrify all new models launched in major markets by the early 2030s,” said Toshihiro Hirai, senior vice president of the powertrain and EV engineering division at Nissan. “Nissan’s electrification strategy promotes the development of e-powertrains and high-performance batteries for EVs, with e-POWER representing another important strategic pillar.”
However, don’t think of the Nissan STARC concept as the saving grace of internal combustion engines. Standard vehicles require a gasoline engine to offer power and performance in a wide range of engine speeds and load scenarios.
And even though a drop of petrol is more energy-dense than a standard lithium-ion battery, modern gas engines only achieve a maximum of 40-percent thermal efficiency – meaning approximately 60-percent of the chemical energy released during the combustion process is converted to heat rather than forward motion.
Enter Nissan’s STARC concept, a gasoline-powered engine that runs on a leaner fuel mixture and a higher compression ratio. Using a patented technology that forces more air and fuel inside the cylinder – and a stronger spark to ignite all the high-compression gasses – STARC burns the air-fuel mixture more effectively and completely than a regular internal combustion motor.
But unlike a standard gas engine, the STARC motor operates as a generator. It is not connected to the transmission and driving wheels, allowing Nissan to tune the optimal engine load and engine speed for electrical generation. Combined with a conventional exhaust gas recirculation system, Nissan’s STARC generator achieved up to 50-percent thermal efficiency when operating the engine at a fixed RPM.
The Nissan e-POWER system first debuted in the Nissan Note in 2016. Most recently, Nissan debuted the Kicks e-POWER in Thailand, the first country to produce e-POWER tech outside Japan. But unlike the STARC concept, the Kicks’ gasoline generator can power the front wheels during climbing or hard acceleration.


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The 2014 Corvette Stingray Coupe is on display now at the Chicago Auto Show, but the crowds and the partition they have around the turntable make it hard to get up close and personal with the new sports car. Lucky for us, 360revo.com is here to help and they’ve teamed with the Chicago Auto Show to bring you a 360 degree look at the new Stingray both inside and out.
Check out this great rendering of the 2014 Corvette Stingray from our friends at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. Bondurant orders their Corvettes by the truckload and they are telling us the new C7 Corvette Stingray will be available for students to drive at their Chandler, AZ facility sometime this fall.
Exactly one month after the C7 was revealed in Detroit, the 2014 Corvette Stingray made its debut in Canada last night on the eve of the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto. The reveal was an exclusive event held at The Fermenting Cellar in Toronto’s Distillery District with a group of media and enthusiasts in attendance.
Yesterday when we first blogged the picture of the 2014 Laguna Blue Corvette Stingray sitting in an Arizona ditch after an accident, we knew that this was big news but we didn’t anticipate just how big it was until we saw our traffic numbers this morning.
We spoke with Monte Doran, Chevrolet’s communications manager for Corvette/Camaro this morning and he gave us the official response to our inquiry about the one-car accident.
We’re not too sure of the details yet and we put a call in to our friends at Chevy, but what you’re looking at here may be the first public accident involving a 2014 Corvette Stingray Coupe. The blue Stingray was working out in Arizona with a group of other C7s but we believe this to be a one-car accident.
We first showed you last year the violent crash of a helicopter that was racing a Corvette ZR1 as part of a stunt for Top Gear Korea, the South Korean version of the popular British show.
Well, last weekend the BBC released more footage of the stunt that featured the show’s Kim Jin Pyo trying to outrun a retired U.S. military Bell AH-1 Cobra copter.
Another classic Corvette from the John Justo collection was this Black 1962 Corvette roadster that crossed Mecum’s Kissimmee auction block on Friday, January 25th. Highly optioned and a multiple award winner, the last year C1 Corvette sold for $242,000.


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Gibson Steel String Guitars news
[NAMM][VIDEO] Gibson recreates the 1934 Jumbo
Gibson announces at Summer NAMM 2013 a limited edition of the first Jumbo acoustic guitar created by the manufacturer in 1934.
Sheryl Crow Southern Jumbo Special Editions
Gibson Acoustic and Sheryl Crow announce their second collaboration with the release of the Sheryl Crow Southern Jumbo Special Edition.
Gibson Brad Paisley J-45 Signature
Gibson has released the new Brad Paisley J-45 Signature Model guitar.


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Volkswagen Creta rival under the India 2.0 project is under consideration.
Volkswagen is readying itself for a strong comeback in India courtesy the India 2.0 project. As part of the new project, the carmaker is planning for a fresh round of investments, a renewed product line and a high degree of local manufacturing. The first among the products from the new project will be a compact SUV rivaling the Hyundai Creta. The SUV will be based on an all-new platform called the MQB A0 IN and the company is planning to invest a minimum of Rs. 8000 crores over the next few years.
Due to its better experience in handling costs, Volkswagen has entrusted Skoda to develop products for the Indian market and simultaneously both the companies will also jointly develop products. While the Czech automaker will have its own products on the shared platform, it is also looking at re-entering the hatchback segment additionally.
Currently, only 80% of the content for three of Volkswagen cars is made in India, however, the company plans to increase this to 90% to lower costs. While engines and transmission are currently imported as CKD and assembled in the Chakan plant, the German auto giant subsequently plans to manufacture the powertrains (engines and transmission units) at its facility which will push the localisation levels to 90%.
Volkswagen’s officials haven’t mentioned an exact figure for the investment but say that it will be a substantial amount owing to the fact that the products need to be developed from scratch and the local manufacturing of powertrains has to be started. Having said that, the India 2.0 project does not allow the company to go below the Polo in India as it finds price parameters too tight and feels it is very difficult to make a possible business case.
Volkswagen Creta Rival
– Volkswagen planning a compact SUV to rival the Creta
– SUV to be based on the new MQB A0 IN architecture
– The automaker hasn’t mentioned a launch timeline for the compact SUV
Source – MoneyControl.com


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Revenue of the company declined 48.46 per cent YoY to Rs 757.03 crore during the quarter under review against Rs 1,468.80 crore in the same period last year.
Total expenditure also witnessed a fall of 46.27 per cent YoY to Rs 734.26 crore in Q1FY21.
In a regulatory filing, India Cements said that the Covid-19 pandemic situation has affected the normal business operations of the company and productions, sales and profitability.
Shares of the cement firm traded 0.76 per cent higher at Rs 119.05 after the announcement of June quarter’s earnings. On the other hand, the benchmark, BSE Sensex traded 0.55 per cent down at 37,917.
Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.


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Crazy Richard’s is excited to open a new category in the frozen section with the launch of Wholly Rollies – all natural frozen protein balls! This is a first of it’s kind frozen snack line that is ready-to-eat, gluten free and plant-based.
As consumers continue gravitating toward snacking, the National Peanut Board is excited to be part of bringing this new product to the freezer case. As a delicious, nutritious and portable snack, Wholly Rollies embody everything consumers are looking for.
– Ryan Lepicier, Senior VP, Marketing & Communications, National Peanut Board
Come visit us at the Specialty Food Association’s Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco – we will be debuting Wholly Rollies for the first time in conjunction with the National Peanut Board at booth #362 in the South Hall.
We’re on a mission to make healthy snacking simple. That’s why we created Wholly Rollies. Just a few wholesome ingredients for that homemade goodness—without the messy kitchen. Enjoyed frozen or thawed, these easy to serve snacks keep you and your kids on the move.


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It hasn’t been a good week for two of Hollywood’s biggest filmmakers trying to be players in the videogames biz.
Microsoft has decided to pull the plug on Gore Verbinski’s “Matter,” a game developed for use with the Kinect that was supposed to launch on Xbox Live Arcade sometime this year through Blind Wink Games.
Instead, “Microsoft Studios is no longer pursuing this title,” a company spokesman told gaming publication Joystiq.
In “Matter,” which was going to be Verbinski’s first foray into videogames, players would use motions picked up by the Kinect to control a metal sphere through a futuristic shape-shifting landscape. Game was meant to instill and demonstrate emotion in typically motionless game players, Microsoft Studios’ Phil Spencer said last summer when the game, meant to be downloaded, was first announced.
Verbinski is currently wrapping up “The Lone Ranger” for Disney.
Microsoft’s move follows the closure of Jerry Bruckheimer Games, revealed just days earlier.
Producer quietly shuttered the games shingle, which he founded in 2007, before it even produced a single title. Founding presidents Jim Veevaert and Jay Cohen have already found other jobs. Veevaert now serves as general manager at social game producer Zynga, while Cohen is chairman of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Former Ubisoft exec Jay Cohen had also been brought on as president of development. He is now CEO of Proseed Games.
Designed as a studio to incubate games that other studios would develop, company had an exclusive deal with MTV Games. Concepts would potentially be adapted as films or TV shows.
But that pact started to fizzle in 2010, when Viacom sold Harmonix, behind music game “Rock Band,” and chose not to pursue the development of more console games, all but ending Bruckheimer’s chances for getting a tentpole title off the ground. Bruckheimer Games had been developing games for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 at the time.
Ironically, Bruckheimer is producing Verbinski’s “The Lone Ranger.”


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PFA successfully unearths hidden cold store, recovers 210,000 rotten eggs
LAHORE: The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) on Friday unearthed another hidden cold store in the surrounding areas of Gujranwala and seized more than 210,000 rotten eggs.
According to a statement released by PFA, the operation was carried out after six days of observation made by the authority’s vigilance cell.
The authority discarded all putrid eggs seized during the raid after bringing them at the dumping site in Lakhodair.
In the recently launched crackdown against rotten eggs, the food regulatory body has dumped more than 3 million rotten eggs after confiscating from various cities of Punjab including Lahore, Chichawatni, Sahiwal, Sheikhupura.
The DG PFA said that rotten eggs were preserved in the cold store to keep away from the eye of authority.
Punjab Food Minister Samiullah Chaudhry lauded the PFA team over the success of operation and said that no cold store across the province should be allowed to store rotten eggs.
He congratulated DG PFA Captain (R) Muhammad Usman and his entire team over the successful disposal of these eggs.
The minister maintained that the food ministry’s aim aim is to control the wicked practice and ensure the provision of quality eggs in the market.
The minister also urged the people of the province to report to PFA, if they see any such practice in their area.


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A resurgence in the UK car industry has seen turnover rise to £49bn, with the number of car and vans being built hitting pre-recession levels for the first time – leaping by almost one third in 2010.
The figures are according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the car industry trade association, which has looked at the full year performance of the UK automotive industry for 2010.
In a statement, the SMMT said: "UK automotive manufacturing bucked the economic trend last year, increasing its production volumes, turnover, level of investment and number of employees, all while continuing to make major strides in reducing the environmental footprint of its products and manufacturing processes."
Manufacturing turnover is up by one fifth, while car output goes up by 27.8 percent. At the same time, CO2 emissions are down for every vehicle made, by just over ten percent on average.
Nine percent more apprenticeships were added to the industry during the year, meaning it now supports over 737,000 jobs in the UK.
SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said: "Automotive continues to attract major international investment, create high value jobs and cut its environmental impact but the UK must continue to compete on a global platform to secure future growth.
More than 75 percent of the vehicles made in the UK are exported, with the country housing seven major car manufacturers, six commercial vehicle makers, 11 bus and coach makers and ten niche car companies. More than one million vehicles and twice that number of engines are produced annually in the UK.
Eight Formula One teams have bases here, too, while the UK's part in the automotive supply chain globally is worth an estimated £5bn.
But despite the positivity, year-to-date new car registrations are down this year as compared to 2010, by 4.5 percent. To date (end of October 2011), just under 1.7m new cars have been registered in the UK.


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Crikey! The Brits have only gone and harvested themselves a bumper crop of 19 Olympic gold medals. And there was me thinking that we were just a bunch of lard-arses who eat nothing but fatty, greasy foods that make us too lethargic even to press the button on the television remote control so we can watch something other than Big Brother every hour of our waking lives.
Back in June, I was crying into my low-fat, low-sugar, low-caffeine, low-calorie, low-esteem skinny latte (hold the cream) after reading Eurostat’s new study into the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables across the 27 European Nation member states. According to the report, Greece tops the chart when it comes to measuring the per-capita supply of fresh fruit and vegetables available to its inhabitants, with France, Denmark and Italy also performing well. At the other end of the scale, however, was the UK, with Lithuania, Bulgaria and Poland only marginally better off in terms of the amount of fresh produce available to their consumers.
Oh dear. If ever there was confirmation of our status as the sick man of Europe, here it was. But even more depressing was the report on obesity published later by the FAO, which found that in the 40 years to 2002 daily calorie intake in countries including Greece, Italy and Spain has increased by 30 per cent, more than the 20 per cent recorded in northern EU countries. The report also gave Greece the dubious honour of being the most overweight country in the EU, or more specifically the one with the highest proportion of overweight and obese people, at a button-busting 75 per cent. With more than half of the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese populations reportedly overweight too, the impact of fast food on a Mediterranean diet renowned for its health and life-extending qualities is plain to see.
How can this be? If Greece, having inspired its people with unprecedented Olympic glory four years ago and provided them with more fresh produce than any other country, can only watch helplessly as its population’s waistlines grow, then what chance, with an Olympic Games of its own on the horizon and the barest larders in Europe, does the UK have? With most EU countries failing to meet the WHO’s recommended daily intake of 400g of fruit and veg per person, the EC faces an uphill task in encouraging greater availability and consumption of fresh produce. But at the same time, the fruit and veg trade has a wonderful opportunity to go for gold.


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New ‘Discount’ store to open in Lindsay
A new discount store has emerged in Lindsay, but isn’t a dollar store and it isn’t a national retail chain.
Lindsay resident Abdul Aloudi is opening Discount City, a retail cell phone and accessories store, at 295 W. Hermosa St. in Lindsay. The new business was announced during the Aug. 27 Lindsay City Council meeting as Aloudi was requesting a General Plan Amendment and a Zone Change to allow him to operate a retail business on the industrial zoned property.
City Planner Bill Zigler told the City Council in his report, Zigler said the property is the only industrially designated site west of the Union Pacific Railroad that does not have a structure fit for industrial use. In this regard, the site has historically been utilized for commercial uses.
“The redesignation of the project site would legitimize the continued commercial use and connect the unified central commercial district with the core central commercial district,” the report stated. “While the project would change the long-range planning and zoning of the project site the proposed project would likely be beneficial to land use compatibility of future development in the vicinity.”
The project site is so small in size, less than 8,000 square feet, that it could not function properly as an industrial use.
“This building has been vacant for a long time,” Mayor Pro-Tem Danny Salinas said. “That’s what we are looking for.”
Zigler said Lindsay had received quite a few inquiries from small business. He said he and City staff are trying to steer them toward existing buildings, including the old Lindsay Foods site which was offered as an option to the controversial Dollar General project.
“We market the old Lindsay Foods site very heavily,” Zigler said.
City Councilmember Pam Kimball asked if there was way to ensure the ice cream parlor mural stayed on the south wall of the building. Zigler said there was no indication from the property owner or Aloudi that the mural would be painted over. Zigler said he was not sure if there was any long-term agreement in place to protect the murals and didn’t know if the Mural Committee had actively been maintaining its agreements with property owners.
“I think we might want to look at that since it has been several years [since the mural committee has been active],” Kimball said.
The City Council voted 5-0 to approve a land use and zoning change from Light Industrial to Central Commercial for Discount City.


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The plans that Google had harbored of creating a digital library and bookstore which would be among the largest in the world has hit a roadblock, namely copyright. The web giant had formulated a grand design into this huge project wherein they planned to digitize every book that had ever been published and then make these digital copies widely available to the users of its services. A federal judge in New York on Tuesday rejected the $125 million settlement that Google had offered to various groups of publishers and authors.
This decision has, at least for the time being, derailed this gigantic project which is one of the largest undertakings of the internet search giant and it has brought people’s attention to the growing concerns of many over Google’s increasing control over all kinds of information. The project’s potential for profitmaking wasn’t very clear however it is certainly one of the favorites of Larry Page, one of Google’s co-founders who is on course of becoming the chief executive in the upcoming months. The project is also very popular and widely supported inside the company as it goes along the lines of its ultimate goal of organizing all of the world’s information.
However, Judge Denny Chin proved to be a thorn in Google’s side as he cited various antitrust and copyright issues in refusing the company’s offers. He said that the settlement being offered went too far and that on being accepted it would grant Google a de-facto monopoly over the publishers all over the world as it will be in a position to derive profits from these books without the explicit permission of the copyright owners of the products. The judge, however, has not denied a possibility where a revised and suitably changed agreement can very well pass the legal bar.


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Credit wobbles, inflation falls, and unemployment figures - here's your need-to-know business news roundup.
The UK’s credit rating is at risk following a round of downgrades by rating agency Moody’s.
While the UK maintained its AAA rating, Moody’s indicated that it stands a 30 per cent chance of losing it in the coming 18 months. Meanwhile Italy, Portugal, Spain and others were downgraded. [Telegraph]
Official consumer inflation fell to 3.6 per cent in January from 4.2 per cent in the previous month.
But the fall is due to the VAT increase having been deemed to be ‘absorbed’. Commodity prices continued to rise. [BBC]
The true unemployment rate is almost 4 million higher than official figures suggest according to the TUC.
The union body says the total number out of work or underemployed is around 6.3 million – significantly higher than the official figure of 2.68 million. [Guardian]


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Hyundai is doing its part at this year's Frankfurt auto show to stay green and competitive with the i-Blue fuel-cell electric vehicle. In an effort to further cut emissions and use of fossil fuels, it is among many automakers looking to hydrogen, the most common element in the universe.
The two-plus-two crossover is Hyundai's first stab at a purpose-built hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle (FCV), as opposed to its two predecessors that used existing SUV platforms to test the technology.
The i-Blue will join the ranks of other environmentally friendly vehicles at Frankfurt—a show with a "See what's driving the future" theme—such as the Ford ECOnetic Focus and six Volkswagen BlueMotion diesels, including a version of the Golf.
Hyundai's FCV was developed at its Design and Technical Center in Chiba, Japan, part of a new i-Blue vehicle platform that will incorporate the automaker's third generation of fuel-cell powertrain technology being worked on at a research facility in Mabuk, South Korea.
Like other fuel cells, Hyundai's technology converts hydrogen, and the only exhaust coming from the tailpipe is water.
In addition to its sleek, car-based body, the i-Blue has rear-hinged suicide doors in the rear; a panoramic windshield/roof; and a set of cool LED headlights. Look for some of these features on future Hyundais—like the headlights.
The i-Blue is the next step toward Hyundai's goal of reaching mass production of FCVs in the next decade. It is far from alone, as most automakers have works in progress and/or testing. For example, Mercedes-Benz has fuel-cell buses and other hydrogen-powered vehicles under real-world evaluation, and General Motors is determined to put an FCV on the market by 2011.
In a different approach to commercializing hydrogen, BMW has been testing its fleet of Hydrogen 7 sedans with a combustion engine that runs on gasoline as well as liquid hydrogen.


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Ford Motor Company announced today that its Kansas City Assembly Plant will build the all-new E-Transit van, part of a more than $3.2 billion investment in Ford’s North American manufacturing facilities to produce a series of new electric vehicles for commercial and retail customers.
The new E-Transit will join the all-electric F-150 and EV Mustang Mach-E, which support Ford’s plan of future vehicle electrification, according to Ford. The all-electric F-150, which will be assembled at the new Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Mich., arrives in mid-2022. The E-Transit arrives in late 2021.
Ford’s is building out its manufacturing footprint across North America to lead the transition to electric vehicles and meet consumer demand in the coming years. Electric vehicles are a key part of Ford’s commitment to meet the requirements of the Paris Accord and achieve carbon neutrality globally by 2050.
Ford is investing an additional $100 million in its Kansas City plant and adding approximately 150 full-time permanent jobs to build the E-Transit, a zero-emissions version of Transit.
The all-electric E-Transit will be unveiled Thursday and arrives in late 2021. The electric van investment in Kansas City is in addition to the $300 million Ford invested for the launch this year of the all-new F-150 at that plant. The plant employs approximately 7,500 workers.
E-Transit is part of Ford’s more than $11.5 billion global investment in electrification through 2022.
Ford is also investing approximately $150 million in Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Southeast Michigan to build e-motors and e-transaxles beginning in 2021.This will retain 225 jobs at the plant.
Given the strong early interest in Ford’s all-electric F-150 since the September announcement, Ford is now increasing production plans by 50% versus original plans. To deliver more fully electric trucks, Ford will add 200 new jobs in addition to the 300 jobs previously announced for the new electric F-150.
In addition to electric vehicle manufacturing sites for trucks and vans in the U.S., the company also is investing $1.35 billion to transform its Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario starting in 2024 to include next-generation battery-electric vehicles. Ford also is planning to produce an additional electrified vehicle at its plant in Cuautitlan, Mexico, where the Mustang Mach-E is produced.
Originally posted on Automotive Fleet


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US online payments firm PayPal, a division of eBay, has confirmed a report in the Sunday Business Post that it's to create 1,000 jobs in Dundalk, Co. Louth.
Roles to be filled will be in customer support, operations, finance, sales and compliance.
The jobs will come over the next four years at PayPal’s new European Operations Centre, which is due to open in July 2012.
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She will be renamed Carnival Sunrise
Carnival Cruise Line has announced plans for a major makeover for Carnival Triumph cruise ship.
The $200 million bow-to-stern makeover will take place in the spring of 2019 and will include renaming the ship. She will join Carnival's Sunshine Class and will be named Carnival Sunrise after a two-month-long refurbishment that will take place in Cadiz, Spain, starting March 1.
The dry dock makeover will add all of Carnival's popular branded food, beverage and entertainment innovations, as well as update all staterooms in a broad spectrum of new accommodations providing guests with exciting seagoing vacation choices.
Following a renaming ceremony, Carnival Sunrise will re-enter service with a series of five- to seven-day voyages from Norfolk, Va., beginning April 29, 2019, a summer schedule of four- to 14-day departures from New York commencing May 23, 2019, then move to Fort Lauderdale in October.
Carnival Triumph is a 272m cruise ship built by Fincantieri and launched in 1999.
READ MORE: Carnival Horizon


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One of the key arguments that bitcoin critics present against the biggest cryptocurrency is its high transaction fee. However, a recent data from Bank of America (BoA) shows that traditional fiat transfers cost 6000 times as much.
Domestic US institutions including BoA, uses FedWire, Federal Reserve’s money transfer network that charges them a maximum of 83 cents to process a payment. According to its public figures, BoA charges customers themselves up to $45 for the same service. According to the size of payment involved and whether it qualifies for an “incentive” fee, described as “transfers that exceed 60% of a customer’s historic benchmark volume.” the FedWire fee varies.
The fee payable by banks themselves can be as low as $0.032 for an “incentive” transfer worth over $90,000. BoA charges at least $30 for a transfer, meaning its minimum profit margin is 87.2 percent. Imperfect exchange rates for foreign transfers subsequently incur further charges to the customer.
On the contrary, the recommended Bitcoin fee from Earn.com which would deliver the quickest settlement relative to fee paid was 8 satoshis per byte on September 19. This translates to around 75 cents for a $90,000 transaction.
However, the fees remain a big worry for both consumers and merchants using Bitcoin despite the average cost decreasing significantly in 2018 to record lows. The businesses who opted not to add support for SegWit – a protocol allowing for faster and quicker transactions – have faced a backlash from clients and commentators alike.
One of the cryptocurrency ecosystem’s oldest merchant payment processors, BitPay has seen open source alternatives publicly resolve to make it “obsolete” after high fees additionally combined with poor performance. The US’ largest exchange and wallet provider, Coinbase, had contended with similar threats prior to introducing SegWit functionality in February.


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Wood Preservatives Blamed for Corky French Wines
Since the early 1980s, hundreds of French wineries, including some of the big names in Bordeaux, have been quietly renovating and rebuilding their cellars. While boom times have spurred much of the construction, many of the renovations were made for less salutary reasons: They were actually an effort to stem a worrisome increase in corky, musty-tasting wines.
The culprit many cite is chemically treated wood used for cellar construction, wine bottle bins and other purposes inside wineries. Though the problem has been well-known for years within the wine industry, it became more public following recent reports in the French press, including an investigative story in the French newsweekly L'Express. Wineries in other countries, including the United States, Spain and Australia, have also been affected, according to French sources.
The latest developments in France put a new wrinkle in the age-old debate over corky wines. What's not in doubt is the persistence of the problem. Wine Spectator calculates that 3 percent to 5 percent of the thousands of wines it reviews each year are corky, meaning that they have musty aromas and flavors reminiscent of wet cardboard.
While corks have long been blamed, some vintners in France and elsewhere believe that part of the problem may stem from conditions inside the cellar, due to the presence of a group of chemicals called polychlorophenols, particularly pentachlorophenol, which is applied to wood to protect it from mold and insects.
In Bordeaux, numerous chateaus have replaced roofs and walls in their wineries because the wood emitted polychlorophenol molecules into the air. Under the humid conditions in cellars, these chemicals can evolve into such contaminants as tetrachloroanisoles and pentachloroanisoles, which are similar to 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, or TCA, which is commonly cited as the substance primarily responsible for turning wines corky.
These contaminants, which pose no health hazard, can migrate into wine, according to influential French researcher and consultant Pascal Chatonnet, who runs a business in Bordeaux that helps vintners eradicate musty conditions from their cellars. Wines aging in barrel or in vats, corks stored in a cellar and even bottled wines have all been affected, Chatonnet explained. His findings have been backed up by various public and private research efforts in France.
It's difficult to estimate how widespread the problem really is. The Conseil Interprofessional du Vin de Bordeaux, a wine producers trade association, estimates that pentachlorophenol-affected cellars damaged less than 1 percent of Bordeaux wines. The CIVB tested 1,344 wines in 1998; all were Bordeaux wines bought in retail stores around France. Of the total, 44 tasted corky. Those found corky were then chemically analyzed, and 11 of them were definitively traced to anisoles from wood preservatives in cellars, while the rest were affected by their corks, said CIVB spokeswoman Sophie Girard. The organization would not reveal the names of the tainted wines.
The well-regarded Chateau Canon of St.-Emilion is one estate that suffered. The property's wine quality went down significantly from 1992 to 1995, with bottles often showing a dry and cardboard-like character when tasted. The problem was attributed to a chemical containing polychlorophenols that had been used to preserve the wooden roof of the building as well as the walls.
"It would have been completely ridiculous to hide your heads in the sand and not do anything," said John Kolasa, who oversees Canon, which is owned by the Wertheimer family. They bought Canon in 1995 knowing a problem existed. "We believed in the property," explained Kolasa. "So we did everything possible to correct the problem. We took out any source of pollution. We have done tests again, and it's all clean."
Many other top Bordeaux chateaus also took precautionary measures against polychloroanisoles, from testing for the chemicals in their cellars to replacing treated wooden structures. "This is an old story for Bordeaux at this stage," said Francois Thienpont, a wine merchant in Bordeaux whose family owns various chateaus in the region, including Le Pin and Vieux-Chateau-Certan. "My family had their cellars tested, and we never had the problem. But certain wooden parts of the cellar were replaced, to be sure. But this was done a few years ago."
New wineries seem to be hit harder than old ones, because the new materials have been recently treated with the chemicals by the wood suppliers. Air-conditioned cellars worsen the problem by speeding up the process of indoor pollution. In 1995, Domaine du Grand Vendeur in Chateauneuf-du-Pape told authorities that it had destroyed all its wine after a new cellar contaminated it.
In the United States, if this problem exists, it's hardly acknowledged. Christian Butzke, an enologist at the University of California at Davis and an expert on cork taints, said that he had never seen any evidence of California wine being spoiled by pentachlorophenol in wood preservatives, although he concedes that it could occur. Rather, he suggests that corks are the main culprit: "I would say that in 90 percent of the cases of tainted wine, the source is the cork, and it would be very difficult to argue otherwise."
To learn more about the problem of corky wines:
Plugging Away at Bad Corks
Are You Ready for the New Cork?
Cork taint can ruin a wine, but the experts disagree on the extent of the problem--and what to do about it


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Digital Services is a pioneering provider of end-to-end digital supply chain solutions to customers across the media and entertainment industries, including major film studios, broadcasters, music labels, game companies, software providers, and other content providers.
is pleased to welcome RealNetworks as a new business partner," said Dieter Daum, president of Sony DADC
About relentlessGENERATOR Sony DADC
New Media Solutions Inc.
Similarly, the cyclical businesses at Great Dane (truck trailers), ADVICS (formerly Aisin Brake) and Sony DADC
(DVDs and BluRay DVDs) are seeing typical post-recession increases in production and hiring.
And no city had more on the line than Terre Haute, where Sony DADC
began manufacturing Blu-ray discs two years ago and has expanded its eastern Indiana operations several times.
SALZBURG, Austria -- Sony DADC
BioSciences today announced a collaboration with Sony Medical Business Unit (MBU) to develop and manufacture smart consumables for Sony's new generation of advanced cell sorting instrumentation system SH800, which was launched last week at the Cyto (June, 23rd - 27th, Leipzig, Germany).
Contact point(s): EDF direction des achats groupe DADC
tour EDF 20 place de la Defense 92085 Paris La Defense
25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony DADC
New Media Solutions (NMS) today announced plans to launch Ven.
LONDON, March 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony DADC
New Media Solutions' interactive development group, LOOT Entertainment, and BBC Worldwide's Digital Partnerships team have joined forces to bring Doctor Who to life like never before by creating a social gaming and commerce environment inside PlayStationHome.
further informed that the officials of ministries and departments concerned, including Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of Water and Power, Zarai Taraqqiati Bank Limited, DG Water Resource Management and Meteorological Office would attend the meeting.
Combined with a national recession that hit Terre Haute's retail sector hard, as well as diminished demand for products from local manufacturing firms such as Sony DADC
, Boral Brick, Certainteed, Bemis, Applied Extrusion Technology, and Great Dane, the Wabash Valley economy will enter 2010 in the worst condition in decades.
Terre Haute's Sony DADC
plant continues to bring state-of-the-art entertainment to homes around the world with its production of more than 2 million Blu-ray disc BD-ROMs per month.


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Digital money platform Uphold which today holds around $2.5 billion in customer assets and digital identity platform GlobaliD has launched the XRP Card — a Mastercard® debit card providing up to 5% cash back for purchases using Ripple’s coin XRP. The currency runs on the digital payment platform known as RippleNet, which runs on top of the distributed ledger database XRP Ledger.
The debit card powered by Uphold and issued by Evolve Bank offers a combination of utility, convenience, and crypto-backed rewards. The card supports spending in USD or virtually any other digital assets of the user’s choice while providing up to a 5% cashback in XRP.
Users will be able to request and manage their XRP Mastercard® Debit Card through the GlobaliD Wallet. They can passively earn and save XRP rewards while spending almost 50 national and digital currencies available through the Uphold-powered digital wallet. XRP cardholders will soon be able to pay for things like coffee while reaping XRP rewards.
“We’re delighted to be supporting GlobaliD with the XRP debit card. The XRP community is one of the most engaged in the crypto sector and among Uphold’s most ardent users. It’s great that we’re able to give back through our support for this fantastic innovation,” commented JP Thieriot, CEO of Uphold.
Users can secure their cards by joining the waitlist. More than 40,000 people have already claimed their spot. The first 100 users in the US will earn up to 5% back in XRP on the first $10,000 spent within three months, and 2% after. The rewards will be ‘airdropped’ into the Rewards section of the GlobaliD Wallet. Users can also top up funds via the wallet as well as send and receive a range of currencies and digital assets.
“The GlobaliD vision is for everyone to have an identity that not only enables you to communicate with others and build communities but also hold, transfer, or spend value of any kind,” said Greg Kidd, co-founder and CEO of GlobaliD. “The XRP Mastercard® Debit Card builds on that foundation, allowing users to spend their assets anywhere Mastercard® is accepted.”
Both companies discovered the value of creating community-driven debit cards after observing a surge in platform interest from various crypto communities. Uphold witnessed a considerable increase in XRP buying volume, amounting to over $1.14 billion year-to-date in 2021.
The XRP Card can be branded and issued by a trusted community. Any GlobaliD community will be able to issue their own unique debit cards to their members as well as develop their own merchant reward networks and funding mechanisms. This could be in the form of charity organizations, fan clubs, sports teams—any group of people with aligned interests. This will allow them to leverage the collective social and spending power of their trusted community.


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Malaysian consumers bought over 8.5 million mobile handset last year an increase increase more than 10% in sales. Consumers contributed RM6.8 billion in total sales with mostly paying for smartphones and more so on screens larger than 5 inches.
According to Gfk, the agency tracked that 45% of units sold were of bigger phones as compared to 21% a year before. The findings reported that the biggest spike in sales were contributed by mid-range models costing between RM 900 to 1,050. Chinese smartphone brands were the key drivers to the spike in demand for mobile devices last year, which registered the highest number of new smartphone brands entering the marketplace.
In the 2016 GfK Shopper Monitor Electro consumer survey conducted across APAC, majority of Malaysian respondents indicated price and brand image as key deciding factors in purchasing smartphones. Motivated by Gfk believe the mid-range category of smartphones will continue to dominate the market this year. The marketplace will also remain competitive, as further sales surge for this popular device.
A separate study also shows that the product life cycles of smartphones have significantly reduced as newer models are being introduced at a faster pace. This implies brands now have a shorter time window to effectively market their smartphones. It becomes imperative for them to constantly understand and obtain insights on how their marketing mix efforts and investments impact sales of their products so as to optimise strategies swiftly to achieve maximum returns on their portfolio.


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BEIJING, China - Two recently released market reports by GCiS China Strategic Research, Beijing, China, offer more proof that the market in China for anti-corrosion coatings and waterborne coatings continues to offer great growth potential.
The market for anti-corrosion coatings in China was valued at RMB 30 billion at the end of 2010. The industry is growing at 13 percent annually, and growth is expected to continue due to economic recovery in downstream industries, a rise in domestic demand and awareness of quality issues. In the period between 2010 and 2015, growth is forecasted at 19 percent on average.
While domestic suppliers of anti-corrosion coatings control almost 60 percent of the revenues in this market, only large foreign conglomerates have the capacity to compete on quality and at scale. Domestic suppliers are mostly small manufacturers that are regionally active and benefit from long-standing customer relations. The market leaders are a handful of foreign suppliers – AkzoNobel, Jotun, Hempel, PPG – that generate up to 100 times the revenue of their domestic competitors.
The Chinese government aims to address this situation by stimulating market consolidation and eliminating outdated production capacity. Strict quality and environmental regulations force small domestic suppliers to innovate or die.
China’s waterborne coatings market was valued at approximately $2.3 billion in revenues, or roughly 1.2 million tons, at the end of 2010, according to a recent report by GCiS China Strategic Research.
Acrylic-based waterborne coatings make up around 90 percent of demand in the market. These are being widely used in architectural applications, where consumers are willing to pay a premium for low-toxicity paints, and the automotive sector, which is traditionally a key source of acrylic-based coatings demand.
The Chinese government is stepping up its restrictions on coatings with high-VOC content. This is currently being enforced in consumer-facing industries first and is expected to spread to industrial markets in the near future.
In real terms, the market grew by approximately 11 percent in 2010. Continued adoption, by regulatory-push or quality-pull, will see five-year growth continue at this rate.
GCiS China Strategic Research is a China-based market research and advisory firm focused on business-to-business markets. For additional information about the reports, visitwww.GCiS.com.cn.


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Food inflation up at 12.81 per cent on seasonal, fuel effect
Transport disruptions due to monsoon showers and high fuel cost increased food inflation to 12.81 per cent for the week ended July 3, heightening the likelihood of RBI raising short-term rates in its July review.Updated: Jul 15, 2010 17:45 IST
Transport disruptions due to monsoon showers and high fuel cost increased food inflation to 12.81 per cent for the week ended July 3, heightening the likelihood of RBI raising short-term rates in its July review.
However, inflation for fuel and related items fell to 14.27 per cent in the week compared to over 18 per cent in the previous week due to base effect.
Since inflation is calculated year-on-year, relatively higher figures last year make the prevailing prices look smaller in comparison.
Economists attribute the 0.18 percentage point rise in food inflation from 12.63 per cent in the previous week to transport hassles and the hike in fuel prices. This broke the two-week declining trend in food inflation.
Rice, wheat, pulses, onions--all turned costlier in the range of 0.03-3.80 per cent on week to week basis.
However, potatoes became cheaper by 0.85 per cent and fruits by 0.91 per cent.
Tomatoes, which have become exorbitant over the period, however, did not see any change in prices.
Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council member Govinda Rao said, "The marginal jump (in food inflation) was expected. The hike in fuel prices has definitely led to a jump in the transportation costs. The fuel price hike will take time to be reflected fully."
Economic think tank ICRIER director Rajiv Kumar said the effect of the fuel price hike has not come fully and one has to wait for the next few weeks to see it arrive.
"Rise (in food inflation) is due to seasonal factors like rain and transportation hassles during the monsoon. The new crop is also yet to come," he said.
Yesterday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had expressed hope that inflation would ease after Kharif season is over.
Kumar also said, "We expect prices to moderate by October when the new crop comes into the market and the low base of last year is over."
He expected RBI to go for a 25 basis points hike in the short-term lending and borrowing rates at its July 27 meet.
The central bank upped these rates by 25 basis points earlier this month to tame inflation.
The overall inflation shot up to 10.55 per cent in June from 10.16 per cent in the previous month.
Analysts say July figure can be much higher if the upward trend in food and manufactured items continues for the rest of the month.
First Published: Jul 15, 2010 17:43 IST


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View Event #86 on Chart One of Indias biggest cryptocurrency trading platforms has lost about 438 Bitcoins worth some 190 million rupees. Due to a host of problems. The bigger block group called their currency Bitcoin Cash and effectively doubled the holdings of anyone who owned Bitcoin before August 1st. News of his statements energize the already active Chinese bitcoin markets, with the largest, BTC China, seeing trade volumes more than twice those of the world's second-largest exchange,. Soon after, a copy of the database is leaked and is used to launch attacks against accounts held by users of the MyBitcoin online wallet service who share site ou on peut payer en bitcoin the same password on both sites, resulting in thefts of over 4,019 BTC from roughly 600 wallets. Sources: Mike Hearn Quits Bitcoin (a.k.a The Hearnia) - January 14, 2016 Bitcoin value: 431.76 Bitcoin value 10 days later: 397.92 View Event #54 on Chart In a public blog post, Mike Hearn declared that Bitcoin had failed and that he will "no longer be taking.
It is a decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator that can be sent. Bitcoin mining software is an integral part of the equipment you will need to start earning currency. Learn more about different programs and reasons to use one or other.
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Karpeles faces allegations of illegally manipulating trade volume and the personal use of client deposits, of which may have led to the exchange's forex handel belgie insolvency. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink later confirmed the report in an interview with Reuters. The theft represented "a small fraction of Bitstamp's total bitcoin reserves" as the majority of the company's Bitcoin funds remained untouched in offline "cold" storage. Org, a popular news and technology website. However, more and more major bitcoin developers dropped their support for the upgrade in the last few months. Sources: SEC denies second Bitcoin ETF application - March 28, 2017 Bitcoin value: 1044.25 Bitcoin value 10 days later: 1190.39 View Event #64 on Chart The.S. Source: ml Donald Trump Elected as President, Market Plummet - November 9, 2016 Bitcoin value: 726.36 Bitcoin value 10 days later: 749.1 View Event #61 on Chart In a shocking turn of events Donald Trump defeats Hillary Clinton and become the 45th president of the United. Hackers with unauthorized access to the exchanges hot wallets had stolen roughly 60 million in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and MonaCoin.


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This story was published more than 10 years ago.
Online wagering company 888 Holdings plc has released its full year 2011 financial results, highlighting increased revenues and an overall strong performance.
Key financial indicators for the period ending December 31st, 2011:
Revenue increased 26% to US$331.1 million (2010: US$262.1 million)
B2C Revenue increased 28% to US$284.2 million (2010: US$221.7 million)
B2B Revenue increased 16% to US$46.9 million (2010: US$40.4 million)
EBITDA increased 94% to US$55.6 million (2010: US$28.6 million)
EBITDA margin increase to 17% (2010: 11%)
On 31 December 2011, 888 had 10.6 million Casino, Poker and Sport real money registered customer accounts, representing an increase of 22% since 31 December 2010.
Casino up at $148 million (FY 2010: $116.9 million)
Poker up at $60.6 million (FY 2010: $38.4 million)
Bingo up at $54 million (FY 2010: $50.1 million)
Emerging offering up at $21.6 million (FY 2010: $16.2 million)
Operational highlights for 888 Holdings were:
Appointment of Brian Mattingley as interim CEO
Implementation of a refocused strategy - maximising revenues and expanding profit margins
The successful launch of Poker 6; and the recent launch of Casino 50
Successful launch in Italy
Agreement with Caesars International Enterainment in the US - the first strand in a US-focused online strategy.
Commenting on his company's performance, CEO Brian Mattingley said:
"I am delighted and proud to have officially taken the helm at 888. 2011 has been a phenomenal year for us, refocusing on our core product offer, and the success of our Poker 6 platform has delivered exceptional growth across all key metrics."
"We are more than ready to take advantage of liberalisation in the industry. We have a unique position in the US allowing the launch of a real money offering immediately once either federal or state based regulation is finalised and upon licensing by gaming authorities."
"The promising start of 2012 demonstrates healthy growth over and above the strong Q4,2011 and underpins our strategy and expectations for 2012."
|888 Casino||Gibraltar, Malta, Sweden, U.K.|


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On April 5, Amazon announced 83 launch contracts for its new satellite infrastructure. The bulk of recent commentary on the subject focuses on two things: First, how expensive this project will be; second, that SpaceX is notably absent on the list of contractors – which does include Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin. Those are probably the wrong take-aways. The emphasis should, instead, be on the hope that Amazon’s satellite efforts, and the company’s larger strategic framework, offer for a new generation of American industry.
For decades, the US commercial system has optimized for short term profit over long-term growth, quarterly returns over next generation positioning. US companies have consistently outsourced not only manufacturing, but also research, development, and engineering — opting for immediate profit margins over future growth and resilience. They have focused on developing products immediately to sell immediately, instead of on dedicating capital to building infrastructure that promises future, outsize reward. They have gotten fat off their advantages in today’s markets rather than working to protect those in tomorrow’s.
As conventional wisdom has it, this short-termist orientation is inescapable, an endemic feature of the free-market, publicly listed US system. It dooms American industrial and economic competitiveness – and, at the same time, global supply chains, infrastructure, and markets to Chinese control. Unfortunately, there’s plenty of evidence to back the argument up. But all it takes to refute it is one case to the contrary; one example of a major US market player taking the opposite approach.
Amazon offers precisely that. In its board rooms and on the ground, the company is deliberately adopting frameworks and investments designed to foster long-term competitiveness, even what that comes at the expense of quarterly returns or shareholder enthusiasm. Here is a leading US tech champion — its every move scrutinized, and its annual statements even more so – deliberately putting future positioning ahead of today’s profit. And here, therefore, is a model for American companies that care about tomorrow. Maybe the peanut gallery has been too quick to write off America’s future competitiveness. Maybe we just need more Amazons.
In the board room, Amazon has rejected executive reward structures that incentivize short-term thinking: The company refuses to tie compensation to “discrete performance goals,” as do most of its competitors and counterparts. Why? According to regulatory filings, Amazon sees those as undermining “experimentation and long-term thinking.” And Amazon is sticking to this approach even though it risks not being popular among shareholders – who are reportedly calling on the company to adopt a more conventional model.
Whether causation or correlation, Amazon’s on the ground capital expenditures bear out this emphasis on the long term, immediate profits and shareholder pressures be damned. The company is deliberately shelling out capital to build infrastructure networks – both today’s and tomorrow’s. It has spent heavily on those directly relevant to its e-commerce business, including on warehouses, delivery stations, vans and planes. And Amazon is also, now investing in a satellite infrastructure for Project Kuiper, the company’s satellite-based internet service.
Satellites are a key part of emerging infrastructure systems. For Amazon, in-house satellite internet also promises the virtual network equivalent of vertical integration – a link to be connected to Amazon Web Services and also to empower the company’s logistics systems. This is what sets Project Kuiper apart from SpaceX: It’s not a one-off bid for a certain infrastructure system or domain, but rather part of a vertically integrated effort to build and control an entire ecosystem.
This is a logical, even necessary strategic move to compete for tomorrow’s foundational systems – and to protect Amazon’s resilience as a company. It’s also directly anti-orthodox, and absolutely something that shareholders are poised to push back against. Project Kuiper will be expensive: Amazon reportedly plans to spend some ten billion dollars on it. And those billions of dollars are going not to the smart, shiny, downstream tech capabilities that investors flock to, but to the “dumb pipes” such capabilities are built on. Yet here as with executive compensation, Amazon appears intent on executing its vision, and protecting its future.
This is what America needs. This is also proof that America’s system is not antithetical to long-term thinking. Now we just need other companies to take a page out of Amazon’s playbook.


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9 January 2015
Last updated at 10:04
Germany’s falling exports come on the back of weaker figures for industrial orders
German exports and production fell in November compared with the previous month.
Exports fell 2.1% compared with October, German’s Federal Statistical Office reported, while imports rose 1.5%.
Meanwhile, factory production fell by 0.1% from October as energy production fell and construction activity decreased.
The latest news follows weak industrial order figures this week.
“Things are certainly not rosy,” said Bankhaus Lampe economist Alexander Krueger. “The geopolitical situation, especially the Russia conflict and the related economic uncertainty, is limiting growth,”
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the country’s trade surplus shrank to €17.7bn (£13.9bn) in November.
Germany exported goods worth around €95.8bn and imported goods valued at €78.0bn in the month.
In December, Germany’s economic affairs ministry said the country’s recovery was “progressing at a slow pace.”


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MADISON, Wis. - Despite concerns over supply chain interruptions and tariff investigations, the U.S. solar industry again saw record solar and energy storage demand in 2021. SunPeak, a full-service solar photovoltaic developer specializing in commercial and industrial solar applications, installed more than 5,000 kilowatts of solar capacity for customers throughout the United States last year. The company was recently recognized by Solar Power World for the sixth consecutive year as a Top Solar Contractor.
The Top Solar Contractors list is compiled annually to honor the work of solar installers throughout the nation. Solar firms in the utility, commercial and residential markets are ranked by number of kilowatts installed in the previous year. Companies are grouped and listed by specific services, markets and states.
“The utility-scale solar market, of course, puts up huge installation numbers each year, but the vast majority of the industry is constructing projects in the commercial and residential markets, which continue to break records,” said Kelly Pickerel, editor in chief of Solar Power World. “Over 85% of the companies on the 2022 Top Solar Contractors List primarily work in the residential and commercial sectors, and they all reported closing out the last year in a positive light.”
Since its founding in 2014, SunPeak has installed more than 30,000 kilowatts of solar capacity. The company helps businesses, heath care facilities, municipalities and educational institutions reduce their electrical costs and enhance their sustainability efforts with solar. SunPeak uses a value-added, comprehensive approach with its customers, partnering with them from the earliest stages to educate, assess, design, construct and ultimately maintain a solar installation through the expected thirty-year life of the system.


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The Canadian Central Bankster appears to like the concept of QE to Shareholders, especially if companies do not plan on spending their hoards of cash.
Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says companies sitting on piles of cash need to give it back to shareholders or spend it on expanding their businesses. He says holding on to cash only amounts to “dead money.” Carney told a Canadian Auto Workers union gathering that companies should give cash back to their shareholders if they can’t come up with a better plan.
Could this be considered some form of QE to the people ?!


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In the near future, the UAE government plans to realize the possibility of VAT refund for people visiting the UAE as tourists
The introduction of VAT in January 2018 in the UAE also effected the tourists. This is especially true for those who come to the UAE mainly for shopping. At the same time, guests of the country are also required to pay tourist fees – which, however, the government decided to reduce from 10% to 7%.
And although the prospects of the tourism industry of the country are undoubtedly great, the authorities are trying to attract even more tourists. The authorities in cooperation with the Cabinet of Ministers decided to develop a system that will allow foreign guests to make a tax refund of the previously paid VAT.
Tourism is a very important industry for the economy of the United Arab Emirates, so the government is aware of the need to implement a VAT refund mechanism as soon as possible. But at the same time this step should be made professionally, applying the experience of other countries in this issue.
According to the authorities’ plans, the new system will start operating in the fourth quarter of 2018. Tourists will be able to refund taxes from purchases made in retail stores participating in the program. This step is made to increase the flow of tourists to the country.
The authorities explained that the management process will be under the direction of an international company, but it is not clear yet to which company the government will apply. The two largest companies specializing in tax deductions, Global Blue and Travelex, declined to comment. The Federal Tax Authority of the UAE declared that the company will be selected in the near future.
It should be noted, that tourists arriving from the countries of the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Persian Gulf will not be able to use return of VAT on the system being developed. This is the privilege which will apply only to the rest of the guests.
According to the executive order, the following conditions must be met for the implementation of the VAT refund scheme:
The buyer must receive the purchased goods during his stay in the country. The purchase must be made within 90 days of the tourist’s stay in the UAE. A tourist can not be a citizen of the country of the Council of Cooperation of the Arab States of the Persian Gulf.
The Federal Tax Authority has not published yet a list of goods for which it will be possible to make a refund, but officials have warned that not all goods that are subject to VAT will be in the list.
In 2017, revenues from the tourism industry (a total of 154.1 billion dirhams) accounted for 11.3% of the GDP of the Arab Emirates. The best prospects for the tourism industry are Dubai, thanks to its developed infrastructure, retail trade, regular events, a host of hotels and other factors. It is expected that the possibility of VAT refund will make the country an even more attractive tourist destination, especially for shoppers.