text:
A dad has blasted this appalling ‘£30’ free school meals pack given to feed his daughter for a week – worth just £4 and containing little more than bread and ham.
Dad-of-one Simon Young, 50, said the so-called hamper was barely enough to feed daughter Lola, 11, for three days
She qualifies for free school meals, and earlier in the lockdown unemployed Simon got £30 vouchers he could spend at the supermarket.
But last week he “thought it was a joke” when he picked up the food parcel from school, which has no replaced the voucher scheme.
Single dad Simon from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, worked as a drumming teacher before Covid wiped out his lessons.
But because it was a new business, he didn’t qualify for government funding.
He estimates the food he was given to feed his daughter cost about £4.
Speaking yesterday (12) he said: “To see what food we were given, my first reaction was to laugh at how tiny the portions were.
“I remember thinking ‘this is an absolute joke.’
“I have an 11-year-old daughter, and for her, that food will last three days, maximum, so then what am I supposed to do?
“This is not enough to feed a growing child.”
The dad explained how when he collected the first meal pack last week, he believed the measures were temporary before the £30 school meal voucher scheme re-started.
But has since learned the tiny food parcels are its replacement, when he was called in to collect this week’s package.
Lola’s pack contained a loaf of bread, three slices of cheese, two slices of ham, two packets of crisps, an apple, a pear, and two slices of tray-baked cakes.
He said: “It’s ridiculous, there isn’t even enough sandwich fillings for five sandwiches – and what am I supposed to do, cut the apple in half to make it last two meals?
“Lola is a growing girl, one of the tallest in her class, and there’s no way this would last her a week, even if we stretch it out as far as possible.
Simon explained how he has been forced to supplement the rations with some of his own limited money, just to have enough food so his daughter wouldn’t go hungry.
He said: “I’m in a fortunate position because I’m able to supplement it a bit if we stick to a budget, but not every parent will have that option.
“There is no way to make a good lunch out of that food, so I can’t imagine what it must be like for parents in a worse position than me.”
Another mum was told how she was forced to throw away the meagre package she got because it contained open fresh food products that weren’t refrigerated.
The 34-year-old single mum from Plymouth picked up the parcel for her six-year-old son who qualifies for free school meals, last week.
Intended to feed a child for a week, it consisted of plastic boxes – some broken – filled with approximately two tablespoons of beans, and the same quantity of cheese, chopped tomatoes and tuna.
There was a tub of dry pasta, two potatoes and single yoghurt and tomato, and two apples.
During last lockdown she was given £15 vouchers which thanks to savvy shopping at Aldi, she was easily able to turn into nutritious hot lunches.
But last week she got an email to tell her the vouchers had been replaced with a pick-up “hamper” service.
The mum, who worked for ten years before recent ill health, said: “They gave me it in a plastic carrier bag and some of the lids were broken or cracked.
“I was really shocked, if I’m honest with you.
“There were around tablespoons of beans, a little bit of cheese, two tablespoons of tuna, a little box of pasta, and a couple of tablespoons of chopped tomatoes – but that was mostly just the juice.
“That’s supposed to be for a week.
“I didn’t know how long it had been out the fridge and it was fresh food, so I had to chuck it out, as bad as that is. Especially at the moment, you have to be so careful about health.
“I’m lucky – I have got my parents.
“I used to be able to get a lot with £15 vouchers. It goes a long way in somewhere like Aldi. It helped massively. I can get a lot with that. i can make it stretch really far.
“But what they gave me can’t have cost more than a couple of pounds.
“It’s embarrassing. When they gave you that, it made me feel embarrassed for myself.”
A third mum, Sabina Weeks, also received a shock when she opened the food parcel for her 12-year-old son’s lunches, when she found she only had enough ingredients for two meals.
33-year-old Sabina, who lives in Lambeth, South London, said she found it “saddening” that the Government believed her meagre food hamper would feed her hungry son for a week.
She said the hamper, which contained one portion of pasta, one portion of noodles, a handful of fruit and vegetables and an egg, would stretch to a maximum two full-sized meals – and she calculated the total cost to be just £4.
She said: “It’s so disheartening for struggling parents to already be in this position where we have to ask for help, it’s not what any parent wants.
“So to then do this to children is a bit of a kick in the teeth, and it makes you feel worse as a parent.”
In a tweet addressing Lambeth council and local politicians, she said: “This will just about make two meals.
“Can anyone tell me how I’m supposed to feed my son with this for an entire week?”


text:
EVERYTHING must go – and it certainly is as Woolworths in Huddersfield reaches the end of the line.
Fixtures and fittings including filing cabinets and shelves were on sale at the Victoria Lane store, which will close its doors for good on January 5.
And they were being snapped up.
Father and son Azam and Ali Shah took advantage of the closing down sale yesterday to buy a carful of shelving for their corner shop on Railway Street in Brighouse.
Ali said: “We heard a few days ago that they were selling shelves so we decided to buy some for our shop.
“I used to come to Woolworths when I was a kid and I thought it was a very good store. I’m going to miss it.”
Michael Moss, 45, from Moldgreen was also among shoppers looking for a bargain yesterday.
The Moldgreen man said: “I’m planning on buying some chocolate for my nephews for Easter and a road atlas, but the only ones I’ve seen so far are from back in 2005.”
Michael used to visit Woolworths when he was a child. He said: “I can remember coming along to Woolies with my mum. I’m stunned that it’s closing after so many years.”
Michael thinks Woolworths has failed because it didn’t specialise in one type of product.
He said: “It didn’t really say anything for itself, it said ‘we’re here and we sell everything’.”
The store was busy with shoppers yesterday lunchtime as customers took advantage of discounts of 50% and more. Parts of the shop are now empty and have been cordoned off to customers. Some of the walls have been stripped back exposing the brickwork.
Empty shelving units were marked with stickers bearing the surname of the person who has bought them.
Woolworths is in the middle of closing all 808 of its UK stores. Some 207 shops closed on December 27, including the Dewsbury branch. Thirty-seven shops ceased trading on Monday.
Heckmondwike’s store was among 164 to close its doors yesterday. A further 200 Woolworths, including the Batley branch, will shut on January 2.
The Huddersfield branch will be among the final 200 to close on January 5.
The Examiner asked to speak to store staff yesterday. A Woolworths spokeswoman said: “We have declined all requests for interviews with our staff out of compassion for them at this difficult time. We are asking all of our staff not to talk to the Press.”

domain: news


text:
The Facebook phone turned out to really be the Facebook “Home”. Basically an android launcher. By the sounds of it…it’s going to remain android only for a while. No iOS plans anytime soon. The first will be an AT&T exclusive in the US and will hit 3 (Three) and EE in Europe. It’s priced around $99 and will be compatible with AT&T LTE.
Other than the new “Home” there’s not a lot that’s impressive about this phone. It’s a midrange Android device running Jelly Bean 4.1. With Facebook “Home” being availabe for free for other Android devices….we have to ask, do you really think this phone will sell?
Here’s what the rest of the internet has to say about the phone and Facebook Home:
Instructions to enter an HTC unlock code
1. Power on your HTC device with a non-accepted SIM inside
2. Your HTC phone will prompt you for an unlock code
3. Enter the unlock code provided by GSMUnlockLabs.com
4. Your HTC phone is permanently unlocked
The AT&T version of this phone will be illegal to unlock without carrier consent. You can purchase an unlock code for the UK/European version below:
HTC First Unlock Code – $14.99
Unlock HTC First Code – $14.99
Please note – All phones manufactured for US carriers manufactured on or after January 26, 2013 are now ILLEGAL to unlock in the USA due to unlocking exemptions being allowed to expire in the DMCA. FreeUnlockCodes.org will not knowingly give any advice or provide any service to anyone who wishes to unlock a phone that was purchased from a USA service provider manufactured on or after January 26th, 2013. As a user/reader of this website you accept full responsibility for complying with all local, national, and international laws.


text:
Konami’s put out a press release saying Metal Gear 4’s been delayed in Spain thanks to industrial action over fuel costs. No lorries, no transport, no Snake.
Statement after the link. Thanks, Kotaku.
Konami Digital Entertainment Spain regrets to info of possible delays, through no fault of the company, may occur in the distribution of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for PLAYSTATION 3 in the coming days.
Although the official launch globally is June 12, 2008, the product will be unavailable this week in Spain due to the transport strike.
In the continuing effort to maintain the best gaming experience for our users, Konami Digital Entertainment deeply regrets that this contingency affect the date of launch of a long-awaited title.
Will be informed shortly of the date on which the product will be available in our country.


text:
The arrival of 5G networks in the UK will play a crucial role in speeding up the adoption of smart technology among businesses.
That is the view of Chris Hill, director of sales, Enterprise Business Group UK, Huawei, who will be speaking at our Grow your business through smart tech event in Manchester on 13th November.
Hill says smart technology, which can “connect everyone and everything seamlessly”, has become more prevalent in the last 12 to 18 months.
“5G will obviously increase the speeds in which we’re able to communicate but it also means enterprises will be able to gather enormous amounts of information using big data and IoT devices,” he said.
“The fundamental platform for all these smart technologies, like smart health or smart government – all rely on one thing and that’s connectivity.
“The building blocks of technologies like big data, IoT and machine learning cannot go ahead without connectivity and 5G is going to be an enormous part of that emergence of smart technology.”
Smart tech solutions have the ability to transform how a business operates but Hill says a major challenge that companies face is understanding how to put together a strategy.
“Things have moved so fast in the last 12 to 24 months from a technology perspective and people hear about digital transformation but they don’t actually know what that means,” he said.
“Digital transformation is a journey, it’s not something that happens overnight.”
Hill revealed that Huawei recently signed a major agreement with discount supermarket chain Lidl to bring a new IoT wireless capability to each of their stores.
“This will enable them to have digital price tags, so staff don’t have to go around every single product removing tags daily trying to remain competitive.
“In real-time they’ll be able to tell what kinds of products are being bought globally and change the pricing accordingly.
“That’s just one example of what digital transformation can look like.”
Last week, department store chain Debenhams revealed a major financial loss and confirmed plans to shut 50 of its stores across the UK.
Hill suggested that any business whose digital transformation strategy is not aligned to the “dramatically” changing habits of its customers is in trouble.
“Without doubt we’re facing probably the biggest digital revolution that there’s ever been,” he said. “Times are changing very quickly, and all companies have to consider their future.
“Now is the time to think about your digital capabilities, investment and strategy for the next five years.”
Hill will be sharing his expertise at the event alongside Chris Sulej from Utopa Technology; Urban Zoo managing director Chris Grannell; and Chris Smedley, CEO of Landways. The full speaker line-up has yet to be confirmed.


text:
BOSTON -- Fidelity Investments announced a credit card designed to help people invest in mutual funds.
The card will be issued by Fidelity Trust Co., the mutual fund giant's industrial loan arm in Salt Lake City. Cardholders will be allowed to amass credits toward mutual fund purchases or cash rebates.
Fidelity will pay a 1% rebate on purchases of up to $10,000 each year. The rebates, along with optional contributions of $20 or more, are accumulated in a Fidelity Investor Card money market account. Once the account has $1,000, the cardholder can invest in mutual funds or take out cash.
The card carries a variable 15.9% rate and can be either MasterCard or Visa, in standard or gold versions. It charges no annual fee, but customers must pay $2 each month the revolving balance is $500 or less.


text:
Speed is a characteristic that Indian game studios have always displayed, be it in getting profitable or be it in getting the right kind of positioning. Displaying that same swiftness, and also solidarity, India’s leading game developers today announced the formation of iGITA (Indian Games Industry and Trade Association) at NASSCOM Animation and Gaming India 2006.
The founding members of this association include Dhruva Interactive, Electronic Arts, Hungama, Indiagames, Mauj, Microsoft India (Entertainment & Devices Division), Mobile2Win, Paradox Studios, Small Device and Tinfo Mobile. The members are scheduled to meet next week to create a committee and elect officers.
Speaking to Animation ‘xpress, M2W CEO Rajiv Hiranandani stated,” iGITA will be focused on creating a platform for interaction and collaboration between international as well as local gaming companies and associations. It will also play a vital role in encouraging investments in the Indian gaming market and in making vital recommendations that impact policy initiatives to stimulate growth in this arena”
Commenting on the announcement, Rajesh Rao, CEO of Dhruva Interactive said, “The formation of iGITA is an important milestone in the Indian gaming industry. iGITA will play a critical role in promoting games as a form of entertainment in India and in placing the Indian gaming industry on the global map. It will give Indian gaming companies a much needed boost and enable us to take advantage of the opportunities that lie at home and abroad.”
Vishal Gondal, CEO, Indiagames said, “India has a large talent pool of artists, programmers and designers. Ironically, the gaming industry is still facing a shortage of resources. iGITA will be the first industry alliance that will channel its efforts towards growing and nurturing the skill and expertise available in the country.”
Preneet Malhotra, COO, Electronic Arts Asia added “India today stands at the threshold of a gaming revolution. The formation of an industry body will provide a platform for interaction between international and local gaming companies and associations, which in turn will bring global knowledge and recognition to India. Electronic Arts is delighted to support this initiative.”
Mohit Anand, Country Manager – Entertainment and Devices Division, Microsoft India said, “At Microsoft we have tremendous faith in India’s potential to emerge as a vibrant gaming hub in Asia. The formation of iGITA today reiterates this common commitment that we share with the other Indian gaming companies who are betting on India’s advantage too. We are confident that this will help strengthen India’s presence in the international gaming space while offering greater growth opportunities for gaming companies at a domestic level.”


text:
By CRAIG HIGGINS
A Mesquite resident, author and classic car buff was recently featured on the national television program “Jay Leno’s Garage.” Robb Northrup appeared with Leno on the show because of his expertise in the history and background of the elusive and rare American classic: the Apollo GT.
Northrup has brings the enthusiasm and innovation of this 1960s era Italian-America sports car in his recent book, Apollo GT: The American Ferrari. The author recently spoke with the Progress about his fondness for cars, the Apollo GT, and his recent appearance by him on Leno’s car program.
Northrup’s father brought him into the world of automobiles at an early age.
“I’ve been a car nut since I was four,” he said.
The elder Northrup brought his young son along for a test drive in a late 1950s Chevy Corvette. This was the first step in a journey that included a side career writing professionally for car magazines.
No armchair mechanic, Northrup also took to restoring classic models, which ultimately led him to a down-on-its-luck Apollo GT, actually the first production model.
“I ended up getting (the Apollo), and it was a basket case!” Northrup said.
With time and hard work, I have brought the vehicle back to its pristine glory. This was not an easy task given the Apollo was “a handmade car,” its body carefully molded by Italian craftsmen.
The Apollo’s story was one of ingenuity and daring entrepreneurship. Started by American engineer Milton Brown, the car was an attempt at creating a sporty model which combined the sleek look and performance of European sports cars with American-made reliability.
“European cars were not up to driving conditions in the US,” Northrup said.
The thinking of Brown and the rest of the company’s brain trust was that, if they had a European body and chassis, with an American engine, the vehicle could offer the prestige of a Ferrari while packing a Buick engine beneath the hood, serviceable at any domestic garage.
Using financial support from family and friends, Brown and his partners were able to purchase two painted and glazed bodies from Italian builder Intermecchanica, supplementing this haul with parts from a California Chevrolet dealer at a modest mark-up of ten percent.
“The Apollo team didn’t have a sense of what it would take to build a production line of these automobiles,” Northrup added.
What’s more, lacking a marketing research arm, Apollo sold its car at below-market value, resulting in a short production run, Northrup added.
“Misunderstanding a market is not unique to a small company,” the author said.
Determined to get the Apollo’s story out to a larger audience, Northrup wrote and published the book himself.
Then, seeking opportunities to promote his work, the author wrote to long-time late-night TV personality, and prolific classic car collector Jay Leno.
The comedian jumped at the chance to profile the rare vehicle, pairing Northrup up with fellow Apollo owner Kurt Brakhage for an episode filled with the kind of mechanical details car fans crave.
“Jay Leno is Jay Leno,” Northrup said of the experience. “He’s not conceited.”
Northrup further explained the comedian both keeps a collection of his own classic vehicles in one industrial park, and a full-time restoration shop in another.
“He’s a car guy,” Northrup explained.
Apollo GT: The American Ferrari is available for purchase at www.apologtbook.com.
The author also mentioned that, due to web hosting issues, people seeking to visit the site include the full addressing when typing into a web browser.


text:
This is an excerpt that I found very interesting (from http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/2009/04/15/free-press-questions-internet-limits/):
We looked at the TWC pricing schemes, and we noticed that the cost appears to bear no relationship to the price at all. According to Time Warner Cable’s Securities & Exchange Commission filings: “High-speed data costs decreased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2008 primarily due to a decrease in per-subscriber connectivity costs.” In Rochester, N.Y., Time Warner Cable currently charges consumers $44.90 for unlimited access to the Internet. But under the new pricing scheme, consumers would have to pay $150 — over $100 more — for the same access. If it is costing the company less to connect consumers, why are consumers being charged more to connect? There may be a good answer to this question — but so far even tenacious reporters haven’t gotten it from Time Warner Cable.
The rationale being used to justify this large increase – an impending “exaflood” or Internet brownout — is not supported by the data. In fact, the argument that bandwidth is somehow a scarce resource was refuted by Time Warner Cable’s own CTO Mike LaJoie, who quipped: “Cable is like the Federal Reserve of bandwidth. … we can practically print the stuff!” LaJolie also commented that supplying consumers with more bandwidth is “basically free.”
On the whole, what we see is a major cable operator rolling out a new pricing model that looks like it has the scale to become a permanent system — which is an appropriate moment to raise a red flag. We see a bandwidth cap that is very low compared to others industry players like Comcast — and given the current rise of online video services, it isn’t unreasonable to suggest why this is happening and that it might be a problem. And we see a price that bears no relationship to cost. These things raise questions. And, when called on these questions by the media, the justifications TWC gave were weak obfuscations that just made it seem all the worse.


text:
has updated the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display, adding the Force Touch trackpad that debuted on the new 12-inch Macbook
and 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display earlier this year
, along with faster SSDs and improved battery life. The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display was Apple's only portable Mac not to be refreshed at that time. A higher-end option with a discrete AMD Radeon R9 M370X GPU instead of an Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M will also be available.
The Force Touch
trackpad uses a vibrating "taptic" feedback motor to simulate a physical click. By pressing down on it with varying degrees of force, users can trigger different actions, such as scrolling faster or triggering contextual actions.
The starting price of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display has gone up from Rs. 1,44,900 to Rs. 1,59,900. It still comes with a 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and integrated Intel Iris Pro graphics. A higher-specced model comes with a 2.5GHz quad-core Core i7 CPU, a 512GB SSD and AMD Radeon R9 M370X graphics, for Rs. 1,99,000 as opposed to Rs. 1,79,900 for the outgoing model
. Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 are common to both new models, and Apple also claims 9 hours of battery life for the two new models; up by one hour compared to their predecessors. Both are supposed to be available already at Apple authorised resellers.
The company also launched a new model of the iMac with Retina 5K Display which brings the cost down to Rs. 1,59,000 from Rs. 1,79,000. The new model, which will be available alongside the original
, uses a slightly slower CPU and GPU, and also steps down from a hybrid "Fusion Drive" to a standard hard drive.
While the previous model had a 3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor and an AMD Radeon R9 M290X GPU, the new one has a base CPU speed of 3.3GHz and uses a Radeon R9 M290 GPU. Apple's Fusion Drive technology combines a hard drive and 128GB of NAND flash storage into a single logical volume and dynamically manages which files are stored on which device, to help speed up booting launching often-used programs.
The new iMac with Retina 5K Display has the same 27-inch 5120x2880-pixel screen as its predecessor, which Apple says is 67 percent more screen area than a 4K display. It comes with 8GB of RAM which can be upgraded by the user. Both models come with four USB 3.0 ports and two Thunderbolt 2.0 ports, a Mini-DisplayPort output, a Gigabit Ethernet port, Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, and an SDXC card reader.
As before, users can customise their iMacs at the time of purchase with faster processors, larger hard drives, or SSDs. Apple says the new iMac with 5K Retina Display is already available in India at authorised resellers.


text:
Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU – Get Rating) is scheduled to issue its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Monday, August 8th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of ($0.33) per share for the quarter. Parties interested in listening to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.
Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 16th. The information services provider reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by $0.38. Sohu.com had a net margin of 109.21% and a return on equity of 4.27%. The company had revenue of $193.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.91 million. On average, analysts expect Sohu.com to post $-2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $0 EPS for the next fiscal year.
Sohu.com Stock Up 0.2 %
NASDAQ SOHU opened at $16.70 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $15.75 and its 200-day moving average is $16.34. Sohu.com has a 12-month low of $12.87 and a 12-month high of $24.50. The firm has a market cap of $638.29 million, a P/E ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.47.
Institutional Trading of Sohu.com
Sohu.com Company Profile
Sohu.com Limited provides online media, video, and game products and services on PCs and mobile devices in China. The company offers online news, information, and content services through the mobile phone application Sohu News APP, mobile portal m.sohu.com, and www.sohu.com for PCs; and online video content and services through mobile phone application Sohu Video APP and tv.sohu.com, and ifox, a PC video application.
- Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on Sohu.com (SOHU)
- MarketBeat: Week in Review 8/1 – 8/5
- How to Use High Beta Stocks to Maximize Your Investing Profits
- Cronos Group Inc’s Revenues Are Up, Is It Time to Buy?
- Beyond Meat Is Not Beyond Hope, And It’s Cheap
- Why Apple Could Be At All-Time Highs By Year End
Receive News & Ratings for Sohu.com Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sohu.com and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Microsoft withdraws bid for Hulu
- Aislyn Greene
- Contributing Writer
Bloomberg News reports that, according to "a person with knowledge of the matter," Microsoft won't pursue a second round, though it could re-enter the sale at a later date.
Microsoft already has some ties to Hulu -- in April, it added the subscription-based Hulu Plus to its popular Xbox 360.
News about a possible sale leaked out last month after it was reported that Hulu had been approached with an unsolicited offer. Its media owners, including the Walt Disney Co., News Corp. and Comcast, have since solicited offers from other companies and private-equity firms.
Other potential bidders include Yahoo, AT&T and Google. Business Insider recently reported that Yahoo may be willing to pay up to $2 billion to acquire the video service, if Hulu's owners agree to at least four years of exclusive access to certain content.
Amazon's name has also been thrown into the hat. The online retailer is bulking up its Prime video library -- now up to 8,000 titles -- though the company isn't likely to bid unless it is guaranteed access to shows featured on Hulu, which may be a bit tricky. Reports have surfaced that say Hulu will guarantee five years of access to video content, but only two years of exclusive access.
Microsoft has declined to comment on the matter.
- Most popular
- Grocery chain Haggen plans massive expansion across the western U.S.
- Blockbuster $1 billion Seattle real estate deal: URG buys Touchstone
- Big lease: Disney expands downtown Seattle footprint by 40 percent
- Chinese shaking up the region's real estate market in a big way
- Construction starts next year on huge project in downtown Seattle
- Report: Sounders may seek soccer-specific stadium
- Washington wines make two prestigious "Top 100" lists, with JM Cellars
- Boeing scoops up huge Intermec building in Everett
- Curtain rises on new apartment skyscraper in Seattle (slideshow)
- Viaduct stopped sinking but Bertha access tunnel may be refilled
Stay on top of the latest tech news from Seattle and beyond.
Sr. Accountant (Real Estate) Vulcan Inc. | Seattle, WA
Pike On-Premise Sales Position Pike Brewing | Seattle, WA
Project Director (Residential and Interiors) Vulcan | Seattle, WA
Finance Business Manager Vulcan Inc. | Seattle, WA
Center Director Impact Washington | Mukilteo, WA


text:
Lithuania's 2019 budget to get around EUR 200 mln "out of shadow", finmin says
Lithuania's government plans to collect around 200 million euros in revenue from the shadow economy next year, the finance minister says.
"A very similar amount to this year's is planed, around 200 million euros," Vilius Šapoka told the parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance on Wednesday.
According to the minister, the shadow economy is shrinking for natural reasons, including economic growth, but major progress has been achieved in this area by the State Tax Inspectorate.
"Those additional measures of fighting the shadow economy it is taking … are giving the result," the minister said.
Different surveys show that shadow economy accounts for 15-30 percent of Lithuania's GDP.


text:
Verizon Wireless and Skype announced Skype mobile will be available this Thursday, March 25, starting with nine Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones. Skype mobile uses the Verizon Wireless voice network for the wireless connection of the Skype-to-Skype calls, providing Verizon Wireless customers with a superior experience and top-notch call quality.
Beginning Thursday, new and existing Verizon Wireless customers with Android 3G smartphones and BlackBerry 3G smartphones can get Skype mobile in a number of ways. Visit www.verizonwireless.com/skypemobile
from a PC to enter the mobile phone number to receive a text message with a link to the application. Verizon Wireless customers can also text “SKYPE” to 2255 to receive the link. In addition, Android customers will be able to download the app from Android Market. New BlackBerry customers will find the application on their 3G smartphones’ home screens in the Downloads folder when activated.
Skype mobile gives Verizon Wireless 3G smartphone users with data plans a simple new way to stay in touch with friends, family and business colleagues around the corner and around the world while on Verizon Wireless’ network. Skype mobile users can:
◦make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype contact around the globe; ◦send and receive unlimited instant messages with other Skype users; ◦manage the Skype contact list directly from the mobile application; and ◦call international phone numbers at competitive Skype calling rates.
Customers need a Verizon Wireless smartphone and data plan to use Skype mobile. Skype-to-Skype calls will not be charged against their monthly minute allowances or data plans. Verizon Wireless customers can visit http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-2196197-10422641
to purchase Skype Credit to make Skype Out calls and make calls to international landline or mobile numbers.
Skype and Verizon Wireless have been working together to create this application specifically for Verizon Wireless customers and to take advantage of the most reliable wireless network in the United States.
Skype mobile will be available initially on millions of best-selling Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones, including the BlackBerry Storm 9530, Storm2 9550, Curve 8330, Curve 8530, 8830 World Edition, and Tour 9630 smartphones, as well as DROID by Motorola, DROID ERIS by HTC and Motorola DEVOUR.


text:
Faraday Future gives up on its Nevada factory but says it's still focused on bringing a vehicle to market in 2018.
We already had laws like this across the country.
The "DevLoop" test track is big enough for passengers.
Tesla is planning to convert the old Solar City plant in New York to Gigafactory 2 and will add three more plants worldwide.
Faraday Future had planned to build a Nevada factory at about three million square feet, but is now setting up a plant at about a quarter of that size.
Fresh footage shot with a DJI Phantom 3 drone in 4K shows how far Tesla's Gigafactory has progressed.
"It will be a long while before there is a production car. If CES goes badly, it's all over."
Construction company AECOM says the factory's foundations have been prepared.
Faraday Future once received $215 million in incentives from Nevada.
Golden tickets (probably) not required.
So much news, and the event hasn't even happened yet.
Nevada treasurer says Faraday Future's financial backing may amount to a risky bet.
You could soon see the EHang 184 flying over Nevada.
Elon Musk and Warren Buffett are fighting over market share in Nevada's utilities market.
A lot of strange things can happen on a lonely stretch of desert highway–U.F.O. sightings, ghostly hitchhikers, swarms of bloodthirsty bats–and now it looks like we can add giant moth attacks to the list.
The first public test of Hyperloop One's upcoming pod-based transportation system took place in Nevada today.
Tesla Motors may be enlisting more firms to complement Panasonic's efforts to meet lithium-ion battery demand.
Faraday Future breaks ground for its upcoming $1 billion electric vehicle factory, and it's smiles all around.
Faraday Future will purchase Nevada bonds to secure build out of factory's infrastructure near Las Vegas.
Electric-vehicle startup Faraday Future says its power inverter is cheaper, more powerful.


text:
Apple supplier Foxconn to cooperate with Chinese investigations
State of play: The world's largest contract electronics maker, which is formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., said in a statement to media later Sunday that it will "actively cooperate with the relevant units on the related work and operations."
- Chinese officials did not immediately officially comment on the report by state-backed outlet the Global Times that said "mainland tax authorities" had "conducted tax inspections on key enterprises of Foxconn in Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces, among other places, in accordance with the law."
- The Global Times reported that Chinese officials had "conducted on-site investigations into the land use of key enterprises of Foxconn in Henan and Hubei provinces," but it did not elaborate further on the probes.
Of note: Foxconn founder Terry Gou resigned from the company's board of directors in September after announcing that he's running as an independent candidate in Taiwan's presidential elections next year, though Reuters notes that he is polling poorly.
Go deeper: Sign up for the Axios China newsletter
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.


text:
When CNN+ launches this week, on March 29 — it’s actually soft-launched early in web browsers — it’ll do so with a slew of shows and a phalanx of faces you recognize. Not just the usual suspects, like Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper, Brian Steelier, and Sanjay Gupta, but new imports, like former Fox News journalist Chris Wallace.
And one more fresh face it hopes to see on the platform — yours.
Interview Club is a section of CNN+ that allows subscribers to ask questions, and the on-camera talent to give answers. Digital Trends got a brief demo of CNN+ and Interview Club ahead of the launch. CNN+ itself is exactly what you’d expect — video from one of the premier news sources the U.S. has to offer. The mix of live and linear news is long overdue, and the roster of new shows should be compelling. We’ve yet to actually see any of them, though — and not all of the new fare will be available immediately at launch. So we’ll have to withhold judement on that front.
Interview Club, on the other hand, probably is the more intriguing ingredient. It’s one part Reddit AMA, another part Instagram Stories questions, albeit in a longer, more structured format. It’ll initially work via a web browser or in the mobile app.
“Interview Club fundamentally transforms what it means to become part of the story,” Courtney Coupe, senior vice president of content strategy and operations for CNN+, said in a February press release announcing the initial content slate. “It’s such a unique value proposition within the platform, because it gives our audience the opportunity to directly influence the conversation in real time. This kind of access to newsmakers is unprecedented, and weaving this crucial element of interactivity into the core of CNN+ sets it profoundly apart from anything else that exists in the streaming marketplace.”
That’s almost certainly a little bit of overselling. But Interview Club definitely is the sort of thing that keeps CNN+ from just being a news-centric streaming service.
It’s also the sort of thing you worry could go completely off the rails, given that we’re talking news shows and viewer interaction. But one thing CNN+ is not looking to have is a sort of Facebook-style Wild West. There will be several layers of guardrails in place.
First is that to ask a question of a host, you’ll have to be a subscriber to the $6-a-month (or $60-a-year) streaming service, which will live within the existing CNN apps across the various platforms, much like how ESPN+ is a part of the ESPN apps. You don’t pay? You don’t get to play. Second is that questions will be moderated. You’re not guaranteed an answer, and paying the $6 (or $3, if you take advantage of the 50% off deal in the first month) shouldn’t serve as a troll tax, allowing anyone to ask anything in bad faith. If it’s a nonsense question, theoretically it will be squelched.
It’s also worth noting that Interview Club also says that your question actually could be edited a tad before it’s presented, and that’s noted when you submit your question. That, in and of itself, isn’t a bad thing. Your question could be refined or tightened or simply made better. On the other hand, editing leads to unwanted changes sometimes.
But the folks at CNN+ seem to be prepared for the eventual hiccups that come with submitted content. In our short conversation, which really fell more on the demonstration and technical side of things, they stressed the initial human moderation, and the need to walk before you run. The team moderating the questions is a full-time team internal to CNN+.
What remains to be seen is just how engaging Interview Club — or the CNN+ shows that bookend it — will be. It’s hard enough to get anyone to sit down for an hour and watch anything anymore. Getting them to engage outside of that time likely is even more difficult, though you have to imagine news junkies to be more inclined to weigh in.
CNN+ will be available on the usual app stores on launch day. Specifically, that means the Apple App Store, Google Play for Android devices, and on Amazon Fire TV. Smartphones and tablets are supported, as are Apple TV and, presumably, Android-based TV platforms like Android TV and Google TV.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer CNN+ to customers on each of these platforms on launch day,” Andrew Morse, CNN EVP, Chief Digital Officer and Head of CNN+, said in a press release. “Getting this product into the hands of our customers is an important milestone for CNN, and our partners will be critical to the future success of this product.”
One obvious omission from that list, however, is Roku — the biggest streaming platform in the United States.
- Amazon is giving you 6 months of MGM+ when you buy a new Fire TV
- Disney already knows if you’re sharing your streaming account
- What is Paramount Plus? Price, plans, and what you can watch
- YouTube TV finally gets the 4K Plus plan’s price right
- YouTube TV rolls out multiview: watch up to 4 NCAA games at once


text:
A member of the Raphoe Tidy Towns committee has been awarded at this year’s competition. Danny Martin of Raphoe TidyTowns Committee, Raphoe, Co Donegal, was today highly commended as a SuperValu Community Hero at the SuperValu TidyTowns Awards at the Helix, Dublin. Danny was recognised for his commitment to enhancing his local community. The […]
Supermarket makes ‘two quiet hours’ for autism
A BUSY Ballybofey supermarket this week started an initiative to make its store more autism and disability friendly.


text:
This blog post was written by Amy Ritter.
Drug maker KV Pharmaceuticals has been in the news concerning pricing of its newly approved drug, Makena. Makena, while newly approved, is a version of a very old drug, synthetic progesterone, which had previously been available to consumers for as little $10-$15 a treatment through specialty pharmacies that compounded the drug on site. On Feb 3, 2011, KV received approval for Makena, an injectable form of synthetic progesterone, under FDA’s Orphan Drug Act, as a treatment for women who are at risk of preterm labor. Under the Act, KV was awarded seven years of exclusive patent protection. When Makena hit the market, KV set the price at $1500 a treatment and informed compounding pharmacies that they would be in violation of their patent if they continued to supply the generic form of the drug.
Progesterone is given as a weekly shot to women who are at risk of preterm labor, so, at KV’s proposed price, the cost of treatment for the average full-term pregnancy could run as high as $30,000. An outcry among physicians, patient advocacy groups, and public health officials ensued, which resulted last week in KV dropping the price by more than half and instituting a series of rebates and assistance programs to ensure that consumers would have access to more affordable treatment. In addition, in response to the public outcry, FDA clarified that in this particular instance, it would not prevent compounding pharmacies from making a generic version available.
Unlike the pricing of consumer goods, drug pricing is completely opaque. In addition to the direct cost of goods, drug companies factor in the large but murky costs of development, which include the costs associated with drugs that don’t make it to market. To make it even less transparent, price for the same product fluctuates depending on regional markets and negotiated pricing. The Makena story might easily be viewed as a story of corporate greed, but I’d rather view it as a story of the power of the marketplace. KV was perhaps overly optimistic in setting the price of their product, but was brought back in line by the realities of the market.


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Sign Up for the Nashville Business Journal Afternoon Edition Newsletter
Send this story to a friend
Credit card delinquencies declining
Delinquencies on credit cards issued by banks fell to an 18-year low, with the number of consumers more than 30 days late on payments falling to 2.75 percent in the third quarter, down from 2.93 percent. "Consumers are paying close attention to their finances as they continue to pay down debt in an uncertain economy," James Chessen, ABA's chief economist, said in a news release. "The conservative approach consumers have taken to credit over the last several years has allowed them to better manage their debt and better position themselves for the future."
The ABA tracks eight different closed-end installment loan categories, and of those eight, the composite ratio fell eight basis points to 2.16 percent delinquencies.
However, only three of the categories saw delinquencies fall, with five other categories increasing during the third quarter. Two home-related loan categories saw delinquencies rise.
"The lack of broad-based improvement remains a cause for concern," Chessen said. "Some categories have reached historical lows leaving little room for improvement. In addition, slow job growth, continued uncertainty and falling consumer confidence could signal rising delinquencies in the year ahead."
If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.
- Most popular
- Variety: Reese Witherspoon buys Nashville fixer-upper
- Southern Living praises nine Nashville restaurants
- Community Health Systems reports data breach
- Hospital giant CHS plans big expansion near Franklin HQ
- 49 Nashville-area businesses make Inc. 5000
- How Dani Dubetz pieced together her own downtown hotel
- Why a Memphis web firm is looking to Nashville for growth
- Hotel developers up the ante for First Baptist Church site downtown
- Developing: Commute snarled by deadly tanker explosion on I-65
- Developer: Bellevue Center mall announcement coming within months
Vice President, Construction EdR Education Realty Trust | Memphis, TN
Retail / Hospitality - Full Time Prestige | Nashville, TN
Director, Market & Business Development Bridgestone Tire Operations, LLC | Nashville, TN
IT Manager - Nashville Ascension Information Services (AIS) | Nashville, TN
Senior Merchandising Manager Bridgestone Tire Operations, LLC | Nashville, TN


text:
Meat Processors Hiring Foreign Labor and USDA's Dairy Donation Program
**The Department of Food and Agriculture is funding $69-million in grants to provide nutritious foods to low-income communities enduring the pandemic.
The money includes more than $6 million in nutrition grants to increase fresh fruit and vegetable offerings for shoppers in underserved California areas.
Funds also will support the VeggieRX nutrition program at
Fresh Approach in Concord and provide produce for Los Angeles County diabetics.
**Nearly twice as many meat-processing plants employ short-term foreign workers than in 2015, “a small but growing trend,” according to an Investigate Midwest report.
Seaboard Foods, one of the companies using H-2B guest workers, tells www.agriculture.com it pays the workers the same wage and provides the same benefits it gives domestic employees.
Labor Department records show guest workers are employed at 11 meat plants nationwide. Companies can turn to foreign workers when they can’t find enough Americans.
**The USDA has announced the establishment of a $400 million Dairy Donation Program, or DDP.
It was put together by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service along with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, and aims to facilitate timely dairy product donations while reducing food waste.
It’s the second part of an over $2 billion comprehensive package to help the dairy industry recover from the pandemic and improve or establish programs to make it more resilient.


text:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) welcomes the celebration on 24 June of Universal Day of Romanian Blouse - a "standard of beauty and folk history".
The Romanian blouse is "an important part of the Romanian traditional costume" and "a living proof of the cultural treasure and an integral part of the national heritage", the MAE shows in a press release issued on Monday for AGERPRES.
The clothing object is "a standard of beauty and folk history interwoven in a perfect balance expressing the Romanian creative spirit".
"Considered as a landmark of Romanian identity, it has drawn attention over time through the beauty and richness of the decorations, but also through the magical component that is attributed to the folk tradition," underlines the MAE.
At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminds that the Romanian blouse was sometimes represented in the creation of some of the great Romanian and European painters - Henri Matisse, Nicolae Tonitza, Camil Ressu, Ion Theodorescu-Sion and was also appreciated by the queens Elisabeta and Maria of Romania and promoted intensely as an identifying symbol mainly in recent years, which led to making this celebration official in 2013.
Universal Day of Romanian Blouse is celebrated, starting in 2013, on 24 June, celebrating the main piece of the Romanian folk costume, as well as the idea of femininity.


text:
Retail therapy may feel good, but the amount of stuff we are consuming is rapidly trashing the planet. The good news is that the EU has come up with some excellent policies making products cleaner and greener. Not only that, but they are also saving us money and reducing toxic pollution. So what are they?
A dynamic duo of push and pull factors are improving products in Europe, the world’s largest marketplace. Minimum performance standards are agreed by experts under the Ecodesign Directive, a steadily rising bar forcing wasteful products off our shelves. Energy efficiency has been the focus for the two-dozen major product groups covered, but it now also ensures products are long lasting, can be repaired and recycled. Meanwhile, consumers are pulled towards better products by the EU’s Ecolabel and energy labels, trustworthy schemes backed by law.
The effects are impressive. Efficiency means lower bills and we are already benefiting from energy savings that will be worth an average €490 per year per home by 2020. Nearly a million new European jobs are being created and half the bloc’s energy efficiency goals are being met thanks to these golden policies.
With great spending power comes great responsibility. The public sector in the EU has a huge demand for products and services, a market worth an estimated €1.8 trillion. This is a big chunk of money to spend on things which can have huge impacts on the environment – from keeping the lights on and filling the printer with ink and paper, to sourcing office furniture and choosing ecologically-sound (or not) cleaning services.
One way to make sure this money is used as responsibly as possible – and to boost greener business models to cut waste and keep resources in the economy – is Green Public Procurement (GPP). A policy instrument agreed by all EU Member States, GPP attempts to standardise what is green and what is not in the world of public spending. The EEB’s involvement in this process is aimed at encouraging the EU to be as ambitious as possible when developing its guidance and non-binding GPP criteria for different product groups.
Europe’s 2020 energy savings target
could be generated if we use our resources more efficiently


text:
It’s been tough going for some restaurants in Winnipeg this year.
The Perkins on Madison Street closed this week, making it the fourth Perkins to shut down since last fall.
In a media release on Monday, the Perkins parent company said it was closing 10 underperforming locations. The company also announced it wants to sell the business and has started bankruptcy proceedings.
Shawn Jeffrey, executive director of the Manitoba Restaurant and Food Services Association, says the problems facing Perkins are fairly common.
“We have heard that they’ve had some challenges with building, leases and viability and so forth, and it’s not just that specific restaurant chain, to be honest,” he said.
“It’s a challenge that a lot of our restaurant members are facing on a daily basis. We’ve had some closures in the last year that are pretty notable.”
Jeffrey says the key to success in the restaurant industry is staying fresh and re-engaging your customers on a regular basis.
“Manitoba has very diverse restaurant options for customers,” he said. “There’s a decent amount of customers out there. If you can get your message out on some of the formal channels like social media and advertising, or engagements in the community and getting out at events, you’re going to have a better chance of getting your message out and keeping people coming to your place of business.”
He said keeping customers happy is also important because of the power of word of mouth.


text:
The comics ditched Superman’s classic red trunks in 2011 and Zack Snyder followed suit in 2013 with Man of Steel. But now after a seven year absence, they’re coming back!
Superman made his first comic book appearance in Action Comics #1 back in 1938, and to celebrate the release of Action Comics #1000, they’re bringing back his classic look with the red underwear. DC artist Jim Lee drew the cover for the big anniversary comic book, which you can see above. Action Comics #1000 will be available on April 18th.
“Action Comics #1000 represents a watershed moment in the history of not just comic books, but entertainment, literature, and pop culture,” Lee said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. “There’s no better way to celebrate Superman’s enduring popularity than to give him a look that combines some new accents with the most iconic feature of his classic design.”
“The one-thousandth issue of Action Comics is an incredible milestone in pop culture and a testament to the vision of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster,” said DC publisher Dan DiDio. “Without this book, along with Siegel and Shuster’s fertile imaginations and boundless creativity, the superhero’s place in literature may have been wildly different, if not altogether nonexistent.”
Are you excited to see the classic red trunks back in the comics? Would you like them to include them in the movies again as well? Let me know in the comments below.
SOURCE: Entertainment Weekly


text:
CHICAGO (CBS) – Chicago’s Old Post Office is ready-made for Amazon’s second headquarters if the online retail giant selects Chicago for the honor, redevelopers of the property say.
Renovation on the mammoth structure is nearing the 18-month mark, and they invited in the media to the refurbished lobby Wednesday.
Developers stressed that the old Post Office was built to accommodate the 20th Century versions of Amazon: the mail-order giants Sears, Montgomery Ward’s and Spiegel.
While Mayor Emanuel didn’t say outright it’s the building Amazon needs, Ald. Danny Solis did.
“It’s open,” he said.
Emanuel said there are several ways to access the building using mass transportation, including Amtrak, Metra, the ‘L,’ intercity bus and even water taxi.
Developers hope to complete renovation in 2019, with some tenants able to build out beginning next year.
Several U.S. cities, including St. Louis, are putting incentive-laden proposals together in hopes of luring Amazon’s “HQ2.”


text:
A 45,000-square-foot Cub Foods could become the anchor tenant at Oak Park Plaza.
The company has rolled out "a limited number" of customized Save-a-Lots that tailor their offerings to specific ethnic groups in their neighborhoods.
For the first time in a long time, the grocery wholesaler and retailer saw sales increases in all three areas of its business.
Oppidan Investment Co. of Minnetonka submitted plans to the city this week, and documents show a Cub Foods with an attached liquor store and a Planet Fitness gym.
2014 proved to be a tumultuous one for Twin Cities grocers.
Bellingham, Washington-based grocery staple Haggen announced plans last week to open 146 new stores, bumping its total to 164, including 10 in Arizona.
Bellingham-based grocery staple Haggen announced plans last week to bring its grocery stores to 146 new stores, bumping the company from 18 to 164 locations.
There's been a run on the ingredient, which figures prominently in the winning recipe from the newspaper's holiday cookie contest.
A shakeup at a South Minneapolis business node means larger stores for Carbone's Pizzeria and Cork Dork Wine Co., and perhaps the addition of My Burger.
A sampling of the most popular posts of the past year, as ranked by unique visitors.
The man atop the Business Journal's annual ranking of the highest-paid board members of Minnesota public companies collected about five times more than the next director on the list. But he probably won't be there next year.
Even ignoring Supervalu, Best-paid boards did better in 2014 than most workers.
The company, which has a history of big paydays for executives, waived its own deal with its non-executive chairman to award him stock.
For Aggie Brose, deputy director of the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation, it didn’t take long for the bottom to fall out of her neighborhood’s Bottom Dollar Food grocery store.


text:
This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Julian Hardy, CEO of a Surrey company that specialises in helping businesses connect to the ‘Internet of Things’, or IoT.
In brief, IoT is a means of connecting computers, machines and devices in the same way that the internet connects people and businesses, in order to improve service and collect meaningful data. This technology has already been put to use in many business sectors - Julian’s company, Eseye, has worked with clients in fields as diverse as healthcare and transportation. You can read the full interview with Julian in the next issue of South East Business and I predict that it will leave many SMEs with much to think about.
Describing IoT - and its more complex sister, Machine to Machine (M2M) - as akin to the Industrial Revolution in its significance to the business world, Julian made a key point. He stressed that being able to monitor and maintain devices remotely could make an exponential difference to the operating costs, service offer and business model of countless companies in just about every sector.
One particular area of growth is regulatory compliance. An example of this is the cold chain storage element of the food industry. Companies that are currently paying staff to routinely check on temperatures and conditions at their storage facilities could replace them with a wireless monitoring system. Such a system could continually keep track of data 24 hours a day and make adjustments remotely - no staffing costs, no lapses between checks, no delays while maintenance is carried out, no human error. Result: greater efficiency and lower costs.
Of course, those people who currently earn their living in roles that could ultimately be replaced by IoT will have mixed feelings about that. It was once assumed that only manual workers would be replaced by robots; now it seems that technology could threaten a whole new level of professions. Indeed, the Industrial Revolution might be an apt comparison in this sense. But the fact remains that if a business of any size wants to survive in the 21st century, it has no choice but to embrace the technology that is taking over our daily lives.
Can a business thrive while remaining traditional in its working methods? Is it even possible for a non-technology sector business to keep up with ever-changing digital developments? Let us know what you think.


text:
The chief executive officer of Coinbase exchange claimed that Russia may not choose crypto to bypass sanctions because of its huge tracking risks.
Today is the 9th day of the Russia vs Ukraine war. At the present time, Ukraine is facing huge weakness because of the huge potential of the Russian military. To support Ukraine, many countries’ governments announced trade and financial sanctions on Russia. Experts believe that the Russian government may use crypto assets-based payment options to bypass such financial sanctions.
On such speculation, which are going on in the crypto industry, the CEO of Coinbase Exchange, Brian Armstrong shared his stance on Twitter and noted that there are very rare chances for Russia to go with Crypto adoption to bypass such sanctions.
Brian noted that every company follows US laws, whether that company is holding a gold, dollar, or crypto no matter what, so all these restrictions will be automatically applied to all such companies.
Coinbase CEO also confirmed that the Coinbase exchange will follow the Sanctions imposed by the US on Russia and also will block the transactions to follow the orders.
Besides all these restrictions, Brian also explained that if Russia will use crypto assets-based payment solutions in some other cases then that fund will get traced, so Russia will try to use Gold, Cash, and other physical assets instead of crypto.
In the last, Brian claimed that Coinbase doesn’t want to ban all Russian users because access to this decentralized financial system is the right of every person. With this statement, he hinted that there are chances that the Coinbase exchange will ban particular IP addresses based users. But here it will be interesting to see what will be legal orders for the crypto exchange under such sanctions.
At all these things, Brian noted that they will try to keep working with the lawmakers & government to give the crypto services with the necessary steps and guidelines.
Don’t miss a thing, sign up for our newsletter


text:
Despite mixed reviews and Nintendo’s controversial online-only policy, Super Mario Run has apparently turned into the expected smash hit. Nintendo’s first smartphone game
featuring one of its legacy characters has reached 40 million downloads in just four days, the company announced yesterday.
It’s not all rosy in Nintendo
land though. Fans around the world had been bristling with excitement ahead of the game’s release last Thursday until the company killed some of the vibe by announcing
that Super Mario’s first mobile adventure required an always-on internet connection, leaving players not so mobile after all.
Combine the controversy surrounding the online requirement with an unusual pricing policy and what should have been a huge triumph for Nintendo starts to look a lot less triumphant. Shareholders have certainly been less than impressed with how the company managed what was arguably its most important product launch of the year. As opposed to the launch of Pokémon Go, which sent Nintendo’s share price soaring in July, Super Mario’s smartphone debut resulted in a double-digit decline within a week of its release.


text:
No work being done on WoW, apparently.
The new Activision Blizzard lawsuit that has been handed to them has sent ripples around the gaming community, and now, it’s directly impacting the updates coming to World of Warcraft says one developer.
On July 22, Activision Blizzard was struck with a lengthy lawsuit that claimed the developers who are behind some of the world’s most popular titles such as Call of Duty, WoW, and Overwatch were exhibiting “pervasive frat boy culture.”
Now, with ripples being sent around the gaming community, and many expressing their solidarity with the employees, one of the current World of Warcraft developers has noted, they’ve put the brakes on the game’s updates for the time being.
With the aftermath of the lawsuit still up in the air, one of the developers behind WoW, arguably Blizzard’s leading title, has noted they’re not going to be updating the game any further for the time being.


text:
According to the news, the new agreements will offer passengers connections between JetBlue’s North American network and LOT’s European, Middle East, and Asian ones. Passengers will be able to book reservations on JetBlue and LOT with their travel agents or LOT’s website and call center.
Currently, LOT offers nonstop flights to New York from their hub airport in Warsaw. Customers can connect to over 45 destinations from their, across Europe and even the far East. JetBlue Airways will now connect with LOT via transatlantic flights to and from Buffalo, Raleigh/Durham, New York, Pittsburgh, and even with cities in Florida, among many others. Scott Laurence, JetBlue’s vice president of network planning and partnerships, had this to add:
“JetBlue and LOT Polish Airlines have a lot in common. The outstanding customer service and revitalized brands continue to surprise customers all over the world and will most definitely do so for LOT and JetBlue connecting customers as they expand their reach into Europe and the Americas.”
LOT Polish Airlines is one of Poland’s most recognized brands. Further evidence of the Polish carrier’s expansion came last month with their CEO’s announcement of operation of the new B-787 Dreamliners between Chicago and Warsaw. As for JetBlue, the airline was named one of the most passenger friendly in the American skies by the 2012 Airline Passenger Survey. The darling of the airline industry just opened their new headquarters in New Jersey.


text:
YUM! Brands (YUM) second-quarter results are likely to reflect robust digitization and off-premise sales.
Yum (YUM) doesn't possess the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely earnings beat in its upcoming report. Get prepared with the key expectations.
Taco Bell is the latest fast food giant to get hit by the national supply chain shortage.


text:
CPRL to reopen 84 McDonald’s outlets in east India this week2 min read . Updated: 10 Jan 2018, 01:40 AM IST
CPRL will reopen all 84 McDonald's restaurants which were closed earlier in December on supply constraints, by the end of this week
New Delhi: Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt. Ltd (CPRL), the north and east India licencee of American fast food chain McDonald’s Corp., will reopen by the end of this week all 84 restaurants it closed in December because of supply constraints.
CPRL is a joint venture between McDonald’s India Pvt. Ltd (MIPL) and Vikram Bakshi, and operates 169 McDonald’s restaurants across north and east India.
“Outlets in north India are already open and the ones in east will reopen by the end of this week. The movement of vehicles (supplies) is slow due to fog," CPRL managing director Bakshi told Mint.
“By the end of this week, 167 McDonald’s will be operational, while two outlets (in Delhi) are shut for renovation," he added.
In the last week of December, 84 outlets of McDonald’s in north and east India had to face closure after the company’s logistics partner Radhakrishna Foodland discontinued its services on 20 December, citing “reduction in volumes and uncertainty of the future". Later that week, CPRL partnered with a new logistics firm ColdEx Logistics in a bid to reopen the shut restaurants.
The ColdEx Logistics website says it is a Gurugram-based cold chain company serving brands like KFC, Domino’s, Burger King, Subway, Starbucks, ITC, Nestle and Amul.
However, McDonald’s India had disapproved the new partner and raised food safety and quality concerns at all 169 restaurants in north and east India.
“Since the termination of the franchise agreements, MIPL has not been able to verify if the unauthorized McDonald’s restaurants operated by CPRL in north and east India are complying with applicable McDonald’s standards, including those pertaining to supplies, operations and safety standards and quality required for McDonald’s products. These restaurants need to be closed immediately," an MIPL spokesperson had said, in an emailed statement on 28 December.
MIPL declined comment on the new development which comes in the backdrop of an ongoing legal battle between Bakshi and McDonald’s India.
On 21 August, McDonald’s India had terminated its franchise pact with CPRL, under which Bakshi was supposed to shut all restaurants from 6 September. The McDonald’s-Bakshi feud goes back to 2013 when the former had voted against Bakshi’s re-election as the managing director of CPRL. Bakshi challenged his removal at the Company Law Board (now National Company Law Tribunal or NCLT), accusing McDonald’s India of mismanagement and oppression. NCLT reinstated Bakshi as managing director in July 2017.
While McDonald’s India has challenged the NCLT order in National Company Law Appellate Tribunal or NCLAT, Bakshi has challenged the termination of franchise pact in NCLT, for being in contempt of the earlier order, which had asked McDonald’s to refrain from interfering in the functioning of CPRL.
Both appeals are pending in respective forums.


text:
What do you get when the largest beer store in Chicago teams up with one of our favorite Michigan breweries to hop-up a drinkable Hopfinder pale ale?
Governor Pat Quinn signed the Illinois homebrew bill into law. Michigan’s governor took action on a craft beer-friendly bill too.
Someone had to do it. Why did it have to be us? We don’t know; it just did.
As we celebrate Independence Day, we thought we’d put together a quick look at some more quote-unquote “American” beer reading for you.
Do you know what beer women should drink? Any damn beer they want, that’s what. It’s not just pink and fruity stuff any more.
With their eyes on Indiana and the Greater Chicagoland Area, Saugatuck Brewing Co. plans a major upgrade.
Your new Illinois June 2013 Beer labels approved so far this month are from Excel, JT Walkers, Little Egypt, Off Color and Pipeworks.
Galesburg based G&M Distributors, which — two months ago — was named one of the “Best Places To Work in Illinois,” is expanding.


text:
LONGUEUIL, Quebec The Jean Coutu Group on Tuesday launched a new service that allows the purchase of Jean Coutu Gift Cards online.
“The Jean Coutu Group is very proud to offer to Internet users this new service which is available as of today and for all occasions throughout the year,” said Alain Lafortune, senior vice president of purchasing and marketing at Jean Coutu. “This initiative is a first in the retail pharmacy industry in Quebec; it corresponds to our vision and demonstrates our commitment to provide added value to our customers.”
Several selections of gift cards are being offered, the Canadian retailer stated. In addition, the gift card chosen will be inserted in a greeting card which the sender may personalize.


text:
Why Covid-19 Could Expedite the Role of RegTech in Finance
July 16, 2020
One of the nastier side-effects of the coronavirus (in the digital realm, at least) has been the spike in cybercrime, as bad actors seek to turn the disruption to their favor.
Tech Wire Asia has reported at length on how cybercriminals have sought to capitalize on a sudden shift to remote working. The use of personal devices and networks has led to greater vulnerabilities which hackers have been quick to exploit, while the obvious distractions and anxieties part-and-parcel of a pandemic create a new angle for scams which feed off current concerns.
In a wider sense, many businesses – including retailers, banks, or government services, and more – have been forced to quickly ‘go digital’; more so than they have done before. And that’s opening new opportunities for quick-thinking criminals and opening up new risks for companies who are entering new ground.
As lockdowns begin to lift, we are accepting that things will not go back to ‘normal’ as we knew them. Many businesses will likely continue to embrace flexible working approaches – others will seek to disrupt their industries with aggressive investments in new technology, like machine learning and AI.
What we can be certain is that our growing reliance on data is not going to go anywhere and, as such, we will see a hike in interest in the tools and solutions that can help us safeguard it.


text:
AB InBev said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) would rise by between 4% and 8% this year, with revenue expanding by a higher percentage, according to an article in The Drinks Business.
For 2021, EBITDA was reportedly up 11.8%, close to the company’s previous outlook of 10-12%.
Unlike some other global brewers, which have warned that spiraling price hikes could cut into beer consumption, AB InBev’s outlook did not mention global inflation or increased input costs. What is unknow for craft brewers is whether or not rising costs will diminish craft beer sales in the US, as large brewers such as AB InBev may be able to hold pricing lower on their high-end craft brands.
Full story here.


text:
India and Myanmar are exploring the possibility of conducting bilateral trade in their national currencies under the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) mechanism.
Foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters here that since Myanmar is a member of ACU, both sides are in talks to examine the possibility of trading in their own currencies.
Competiveness of Indias trade with Myanmar can be significantly enhanced if India adopts a strategy whereby Myanmar accepts payment for all its exports to India in Indian rupees and the export earnings can be used to make payments for goods and services imported from India, as is the practice being followed in trade between India and Nepal and India and Bhutan, according to a FICCI survey.
Myanmar is a member of Asian Clearing Union (ACU) and settlement of current account transactions including trade transactions are done through ACU mechanism.
The Reserve Bank of India had decided in 2004 to allow trade transactions with Myanmar to be settled in any freely convertible currency in addition to the ACU mechanism.
Subsequently, the position changed whereby ACU mechanism could not be used for trade with Myanmar in ACU Dollar.
Source : financialexpress


text:
China is pledging not to fire the “first shot” in its trade standoff with the United States, days before the Trump administration is poised to begin implementing tariffs on billions of dollars in Chinese imports.
“We will never fire the first shot and will not implement tariffs ahead of the U.S.,” Beijing’s Ministry of Finance said in a statement Wednesday.
The United States and China are currently locked in a fierce standoff over trade as a result of President TrumpDonald TrumpJan. 6 panel plans to subpoena Trump lawyer who advised on how to overturn election Texans chairman apologizes for 'China virus' remark Biden invokes Trump in bid to boost McAuliffe ahead of Election Day MORE’s plan to impose tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports over what he views as unfair trade practices on the part of Beijing. The administration, for instance, has accused Beijing of stealing U.S. intellectual property.
Beijing has promised to retaliate should Trump move forward with tariffs, threatening to impose a 25 percent tariff on roughly $50 billion worth of imports from the United States.
The Trump administration is poised to begin imposing tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods on Friday. Reports indicate that Beijing’s tariffs on an equivalent price of U.S. imports are poised to take effectg the same day.
Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting that China is pressuring European Union countries to issue a joint statement criticizing Trump’s trade policies at a Sino-European summit later in July.


text:
By Euro Weekly News Media • 14 December 2010 • 15:17
APPLE is already talking about iPad2, nearly six months after the pioneer iPad was launched. In October Apple announced that it had sold 4.2 million iPads, which was below Wall Street expectations of five million. However they expect next year’s sales to reach 26 million due to the growing consumer enthusiasm for tablets.
Despite rumours that iPad2 would be ready before Christmas; it is more likely to be launched in the late spring 2011, coinciding with the launch of Blackberry’s Playbook.
Predicted improvements to the new iPad include the installation of the same high-resolution screen seen on the iPhone4 and the addition of cameras on the front and back of the tablet for video calls using Apple’s FaceTime software.
The screen size is expected to be reduced to 7-inches to compete with e-readers including Amazon’s Kindle.
Share this story
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our
Share your story with us by emailing [email protected], by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Download our media pack in either English or Spanish.


text:
Take Two: US economic growth revised up while Eurozone inflation slows slightly
What do you need to know?
The US economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter (Q3), while Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the pace of interest rate rises could ease “as soon as December”. GDP grew 2.9% on an annualised basis, up from the initial estimate of 2.6% and a marked improvement on the 0.6% contraction reported for Q2. The upward revision was due to higher consumer spending and lower import costs. We continue to believe the US is headed for recession in 2023, though we expect it will be mild. Powell’s comments also saw him suggest monetary policy is likely to remain restrictive for some time, while adding he believed inflation could be tackled without resulting in a steep rise in unemployment.
Around the world
Eurozone inflation came in at a slower pace than expected in November, with the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) up 10% from a year earlier after 10.6% in October. The likely impact on the path of interest rate rises from the European Central Bank (ECB) was unclear, however, as the slowing was largely due to lower energy price inflation. Stripping out food, energy, alcohol and tobacco, the HICP was unchanged at 5.0%. The ECB is expected to consider a 50-basis-point (bp) rate hike at its 15 December meeting, after two consecutive 75bp moves.
Figure in focus: 49.4
China’s Caixin manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose slightly to 49.4 in November from 49.2 the previous month – still indicating contraction, reflecting strict COVID-19 restrictions, weak foreign demand, and a further fall in factory output. Beijing’s official manufacturing PMI fell to 48 from 49.2 – a figure above 50 indicates expansion. Meanwhile China announced it would ease COVID-19 lockdowns in some of its cities, after protests flared up across the country, despite an ongoing renewed outbreak of the virus, which is likely to make any re-opening bumpy.
Words of wisdom:
Cyber Monday: A major online retail event occurring annually on the Monday following US Thanksgiving, where retailers worldwide seek to attract customers with special offers and steep discounts. This year, Cyber Monday online sales reached a record-breaking $11.3bn, according to Adobe Analytics – 5.8% higher than last year’s figures despite taking place against a backdrop of reduced consumer spending and high inflation. Meanwhile, Black Friday, which took place on 25 November, accumulated $9.12bn in e-commerce sales.
What’s coming up
November’s final PMIs for Japan, the Eurozone and the US arrive on Monday. The Reserve Bank of Australia meets to decide on interest rates on Tuesday while the Reserve Bank of India and Bank of Canada follow with their own monetary policy meetings on Wednesday. On the same day a third estimate for Eurozone Q3 GDP lands while Japan follows with a final Q3 estimate on Thursday. China’s latest inflation numbers are reported on Friday.


text:
The UK new light commercial vehicle market grew by 22.0% in the second month of the year, according to the latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Usually one of the year’s weaker months as many operators wait for the new March number plate, 2021 saw the strongest February since 1998, with 17,205 new models hitting UK roads as demand from the construction sector and online deliveries drove new vehicle uptake.1
Larger vans weighing more than 2.5-3.5 tonnes and pickups experienced the biggest surge in demand, up 30.0% to 11,809 and 26.8% to 1,716 units respectively. Meanwhile 4x4s and medium sized van registrations were up a moderate 6.3% and 9.0%. It was a different picture for smaller vans weighing less than or equal to 2.0 tonnes, which were down -25.3% to just 689 vehicles registered in the month.
Performance in the year-to-date is up 9.5% overall, driven entirely by demand for popular 2.5-3.5t vans with some 6,069 more of these vehicles registered in the first two months of the year. However, the rest of the market continued to fall, struggling to overcome the ongoing impact of Covid on business confidence.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said, “These figures are welcome news, but it’s important to remember that February is typically a small volume month ahead of the March plate change and we want to see this growth continue throughout the year.
“Capitalising on this momentum will be important and an economic plan that encourages growth could help pivot the LCV market toward full recovery. With a clear roadmap now in place for how the nation can safely emerge out of lockdown, businesses can look to the next few months with increasing confidence and upgrade their fleets with the many latest, most efficient vans on the market.”


text:
Chrysler announced today that a next generation Viper will finally rear its head next year. The current Viper has been on about a billion year life cycle and was well overdue for a redesign.
Probably the biggest news is that the next generation Viper will come with stability control. It will be the first Viper ever to have it. Why has Chrysler been omitting stability control for decades? Well, they apparently wanted to market the Viper as a raw performance car. Aka real performance driver’s should be able to reign in the beast snake with pure driving skill, not electric nanies. So what changed? Well it’s likely that the new regulations coming in the next two years that forces all manufacturers put stability control as standard on all their vehicles is the culprit. Or the life saver. Depending on how you look at it. I would point out that this likely has Viper purists shouting blasphemy from the hills, but, I’m not sure if Viper purists even exist.
Other news is that the new snake will get anywhere from 600-700 horespower, likely from a V8 rather than the V10 currently offered in an effort to reduce fuel consumption.
Chrysler has set its sites the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and Nissan GT-R as the new Viper’s main competition, and if that’s the case, they better come up with something that’s 100% better than the outgoing model because those two cars have already proven their worthiness.[Chrysler]


text:
USA TODAY International Edition
MODERNA DROPS FORECAST FOR ITS 2021 DELIVERIES
Moderna is scaling back expectations for the number of COVID- 19 vaccine deliveries it expects to make this year and the revenue it will record from them. Issues including longer delivery lead times for exports and a temporary impact from expanding the company’s capacity to fill vials with vaccine and package them for shipping, which may shift some deliveries to early 2022, the drugmaker said Thursday. The company now expects fullyear, 2021 product sales of between $ 15 billion and $ 18 billion.


text:
A groom who returned to the Cayman Islands to get married and celebrate his honeymoon says it will be the last time the newlyweds return to the island after the way they were treated by customs officials upon entry.
Scott McLean, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had previously lived on the island for nine years and returned last week for his wedding but was shocked when officials removed his wife’s wedding dress from its protective bag and demanded he pay $500 deposit to allow the dress on island, or face losing the gown.
“I chose this island to come back to for my wedding and, within one hour of the plane’s wheels touching the ground, my honeymoon was cut in half, my wife’s wedding dress was confiscated, and my 67-year-old mother was in tears,” Mr. McLean said.
“They kept changing the laws as we were standing in front of him, then he took the dress out of its packaging.
“My wife was crying, my mother was crying – it was just a massive ordeal. It was not the homecoming I wanted, it was devastating.”
Mr. McLean said although the issue was resolved with him paying a $67 deposit, he and his wife had vowed never to return.
“That two-hour segment put such a damper on our wedding, that’s all people [at the wedding] could speak about,” he said.
“We will never come back. It was just a brutal, brutal homecoming and now we are making other arrangements.”
Collector of Customs at H.M. Customs Department, Samantha Bennett, said passengers are required to make a full declaration of all goods being imported onto the island, and failure to do so would result in the seizure of goods and fines imposed.
Returning residents can enter with dutiable items or household goods up to the value of $350 duty free, while for a nonresident, an item, such as a wedding dress, is dutiable at 22 percent upon receipt of the cost of value. If the wedding dress is imported on a temporary basis, a deposit of 30 percent of the gown’s value is held as security and returned upon exit.
“I understand there was an incident involving a wedding dress and the passenger opted to pay a deposit, pending export versus paying the duty. This is the normal process the Customs Department encounters on a weekly basis, as Cayman is a wedding destination location,” Ms. Bennett said.
She said the couple did not initially declare the wedding dress or the suit for the groom.
“These items were found by an initial search by a customs officer. While we had the discretion to seize the item … the matter was considered by H.M. Customs and it was agreed a deposit would be paid by the passenger.”
Joy Basdeo of Simply Weddings, who was the celebrant at the couple’s wedding on Seven Mile Beach on Saturday, said she had never heard of such an incident before, but added that most Cayman brides purchase their wedding dresses overseas because there are not many stores on the island.
“I’ve never heard of that happening before, but that was the most exquisite, handmade wedding dress that I have ever seen,” Ms. Basdeo said.
She said the busiest season for weddings is between December and May, with a 50 percent split between resident and tourist weddings.


text:
Up-to 61% of Major Global Digital Firms Invest in Blockchain
61 percent of high-profile digital companies worldwide are investing in blockchain, according to a report by identity management firm Okta.
Okta, a San Francisco-based enterprise identity provider has released a survey on new trends in technological developments and business opportunities of the world’s largest companies.
In its first “Digital Enterprise Report,” Okta surveyed 1,050 IT, security and engineering decision makers from global companies with at least $1 billion in revenue. Okta explained that decision makers were defined as peoplein a company who are “responsible for making technology purchasing decisions.”
Okta assembled survey responses in January and February 2019 in order to find out how businesses are applying new technologies.
According to the report, most decision makers invested in the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. 72 percent of survey respondents said they invested in IoT, and 68 percent claimed that they invested in AI. With that, 61 percent of respondents revealed that they invested in blockchain, while 58 percent said they invested in augmented reality technology.


text:
Denmark’s Minister for Trade and Investment, Mrs. Pia Olsen Dyhr, has agreed with her Japanese counterpart, Mr. Yukio Edano, Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, that the EU and Japan should aim at quickly finalizing the scoping of an EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement. The two Ministers agreed that it would be preferable to start negotiations on such an agreement during the Danish EU Presidency. Mrs. Olsen Dyhr met with Mr. Edano on Monday 20 February 2012 during a two-day visit to Japan.
On Tuesday 21 February 2012 Mrs. Olsen Dyhr met with Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Koichiro Gemba, where she made a similar push for an agreement.
An agreement on free trade could result in an increase of European exports to Japan of up to 29 billion Euros on a yearly basis. An agreement would also aim to strengthen EU’s strategic relations with Japan.


text:
by Apparel Resources News-Desk
15-May-2018 | 2 mins read
Indian ethnic wear brand Neeru’s has extended its physical retail presence in the country by opening first store in Pune.
The latest store, spread over an area of more than 2,000 square feet, was inaugurated by Bollywood actress Karisma Kapoor at Phoenix MarketCity in Viman Nagar.
All the latest ethnic wear collections of the brand, its kids’ range, Little Neeru’s, have been stocked here. “The newly inaugurated store in Pune will serve as a shop-in-shop for our sub-brands too,” informed Avnish Kumar, Managing Director, Neeru’s.
After the opening of Pune store, the brand is preparing to launch its next in Hyderabad.
In addition to metro cities, Neeru’s is also eyeing to expand its footprint in Tier II and III cities in India and global expansion in the Middle East and the USA this fiscal. The brand also plans to expand its presence in other fashion hubs of South India and later covering pan-India at a gradual pace.
Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Noida, Cochin, Lucknow, Raipur, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Nizamabad, Rajahmundry & Guntur are the major cities in India where Neeru’s has its physical presence.
Neeru’s has carved a distinct niche for itself since its launch in 1971, retailed its products through around 50 exclusive stores and almost 30 multi brand outlets in more than 25 Indian cities with one in Dubai.
The brand is aimed to be the leader in the ethnic wear field in India.


text:
Chinese New Year is evolving. Brands that turn a blind eye to the opportunity or think it is limited only to companies operating within China will lose out.
While tradition and family remain the cornerstones of Chinese New Year, savvy brands are starting to think beyond these, creating new narratives through which to connect with the evolving Chinese audience – such as tapping into a desire to travel or self-gift.
Re-imagining tradition holds even greater relevance for Chinese New Year 2019. Here are four key insights to get ahead:
Tap into new consumer lifestyles
Consumers across the globe are prioritising wellness and living more sustainable lifestyles. Young people in China in particular are questioning how their consumption and leisure habits affect their day-to-day life. As a result, health, fitness and eco-tourism are booming, thanks to a growing tribe of mindful xiao qingxin – or "little clean and fresh" consumers – who prioritise self-development and environmentally friendly lifestyles.
Eyeing this commercial opportunity, Canadian athleisure retailer Lululemon created a Chinese New Year collection for 2018 accompanied by a campaign entitled "Practice Takes Practice". Linking 10 Chinese cultural elements and lunar festival traditions with 10 lifestyle practices, the brand found a bespoke way to capitalise on the tradition of Chinese New Year, while making it relevant to contemporary consumer lifestyles.
Also managing to balance tradition with modern consumer consciousness, Cathay Pacific created sustainable red envelopes for Chinese New Year using retired uniforms, combatting waste – a trend we saw emerge last year through the proliferation of virtual red packets.
Insight: Connect through evolving lifestyles – To leverage the Chinese New Year opportunity, brands should look for ways to apply traditional sentiments of the festival to contemporary consumer drivers.
Play on key characteristics of the animal
For Chinese consumers, the elements of the zodiac animal define the trajectory of the year ahead. Simply pasting images of a pig (the sign for 2019) on your product or marketing communications won’t cut it. Instead, brands should look for ways to harness the characteristics of the animal and what those could mean to peoples’ lives.
This was a strategy that held particular relevance for 2018, the year of the dog, resonating with China’s growing pet owner cohort. The National Bureau of Statistics ranked China as third in the world for dog ownership, with 27.4 million pet dogs in 2016.
Moncler appealed to owners by creating a coat for dogs in partnership with Poldo Dog Couture this Chinese New Year, while Scottish whisky brand Johnnie Walker chose to honour man’s best friend through a limited-edition Blue Label bottle collaboration – also appealing to the rising number of whisky drinkers in Asia. Going the whole way, AirAsia made a dog the protagonist of its Chinese New Year ad campaign.
Insight: Channel the animal's character – Chinese New Year continues to be a key spending opportunity for consumers, with new items bought to represent the changing of the year. Brands should look to harness the positive characteristics associated with the relevant zodiac animal and imbue these through both product design and marketing communications.
Target traveling consumers
Celebrated by one-quarter of the world, Chinese New Year is a hugely important trading period for retailers across Asia and tourist hotspots globally. Helping travelling Chinese consumers celebrate this year’s festivities, Selfridges created a comprehensive in-store campaign offering exclusive experiences across its Manchester and London stores from complimentary beauty treatments and masterclasses through to Chinese calligraphy design.
Colliding tradition with the future, Prada created a series of pop-ups across Asia that ushered in the 'Year of the Robot Dog.'
Insight: Look beyond Asia – In China alone, total retail sales for Chinese New Year exceeded $133bn over six days in 2017, according to data from IGD, but this opportunity extends so much further. Marketers should look at travelling Chinese New Year consumers as well as Chinese communities living abroad. Embedding elements of Chinese culture into product and marketing will help brands to retain relevance.
Lengthen Chinese New Year campaigns and product sales
Purchasing new items to wear is one of the key ways Chinese consumers usher in the new Lunar year. Rather than holding out for consumers to spend their lucky money, brands can tap into this with earlier engagement and earlier releases. Nike, for example, launched its Kyrie 4 'Chinese New Year' sneaker in January 2018, one month before Chinese New Year. Not only does this create hype for the product but aligns the Nike brand with new Chinese New Year wardrobes early on.
Young Chinese consumers are also looking for more immediate gratification and tend to spend their lucky money rather than save it as in the case of their predecessors, providing another opportunity for brands to extend the sales opportunity.
Insight: Prolong sales – Brands should look to Nike for a best-case example of harnessing pre and post-Chinese New Year spending. Look for ways to build anticipation in the lead up to the festival and prolong engagement in the weeks after.
Saisangeeth Daswani is head of advisory, fashion, beauty & APAC at global innovation research and advisory company, Stylus.


text:
Sony has delayed the planned March release of PS3 flagship racer Gran Turismo 5.
The Polyphony Digital developed title had been due to launch in Japan on March 31, the final day of Sony’s fiscal year, with a western launch expected shortly after.
However, Sony has now delayed the game’s release to an unspecified date, citing production-related matters, reports Reuters.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe told our sister site CVG that Gran Turismo 5’s delay is “only applicable for the Japanese market” – the only territory where the game had been given an official release date.
“SCEE will announce the launch date for this game in the PAL territories in due course,” a rep said.
SCEE announced yesterday that over one million downloads of the GT Academy Time Trial demo had been recorded in the three weeks since it went live on December 17, 2009.