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Even if you will not be in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing on the 7th of March, you could still attend the British Council China’s virtual fair to gain insight into the Chinese economy, job market and employment opportunities.
The British Council China is holding the Alumni UK Career Development Workshop and Job Recruitment Fair on 7th March 2010.
This annually-organised event has achieved remarkable success over the past few years, and has helped hundreds of UK alumni in China to re-position themselves in the highly competitive job market in China.
They will hold four workshops on the same day respectively in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing. In addition, they will also organise a virtual fair so as to benefit wider range of UK alumni.
The British Council China aims to provide services to Chinese students who want to study in the UK at various stages of their journey. With Alumni UK, a network of more than 15,000 members, the Council annually runs Career Development Workshop and Mini Recruitment Fair in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing. This year the event will particularly focus on the discussion of the job prospects of UK alumni in the promising and rising China economy as well as will provide valuable career development opportunities for UK graduates that returned to China.
Dozens of renowned international or domestic companies with hundreds of job
vacancies will be available for UK alumni.
UK alumni based in any city beyond these four cities will be able to communicate with employers and HR specialists via online chat about the job opportunities and career development issues.
RSVP required and students shall register for the event
via the Alumni UK official website
Interested alumni need to register , the official UK alumni network in China, before they sign up for this event.
Copies of degree certificates or student ID card are required for entry.
All detailed event information, including dates, venues, recruiting companies and job posts can be obtained from the above website once students are approved of Alumni UK Network member.
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If you are a UCL student interested in a volunteering experience in China, working at the UK pavilion in the upcoming World Expo could be the opportunity you’ve been looking for.
2010 is the year of the World Expo taking place in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October. A World Expo is an opportunity for participating countries to showcase their achievements in areas such as culture, technology and industrial development, and the Shanghai Expo will be the biggest ever, with nearly 200 countries participating and over 70 million visitors.
The UK is one of the leading participant countries and has developed a stunning UK Pavilion, designed by British designer Thomas Heatherwick, to create a lasting impression with the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Pavilion. The UK has also developed a range of activities for the Expo to enhance cultural, educational and business collaboration and exchange between China and the UK.
The UK Pavilion has now opened up opportunities for volunteers to work at the Pavilion, engaging with Chinese and international visitors. This is an excellent opportunity for all students with an interest in China and we would be grateful if you could pass on the relevant information to all of your students and encourage them to apply.
More information about the volunteer opportunities, along with application details, can be found on the UK’s official website for the Shanghai Expo:
where you can also learn more about the UK Pavilion and the UK’s programme of activity.
The initial deadline for applications is 31 January 2010, but applications will continue to be accepted until the end of February 2010 for people applying from overseas.
All applications and any queries about the volunteer opportunities should be addressed directly to the recruitment company, DTZ, at mailto:firstname.lastname@example.org
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Posted in China, tagged Alumni, British Council, case studies, China, Employability, Event, HR, Information, jobs on November 9, 2009 |
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The British Council’s – China office is organising an Employability Workshop which aims to help Chinese students currently in the UK to get a better comprehension of the employers’ needs and the job market in China, as well as to prepare you to enter/re-enter the job market after graduation and enhance your employability and competitiveness in the field.
HR executives from major employers will attend the workshop to
give an overview on the competitive job market in China, and talk about various aspects of recruitment from employers’ view as well as to share successful experiences of other alumni via case studies.
The London workshop will take place on Saturday 21st November from 3-5pm and will be held at Westminster City Hall. To attend please visit: http://www.educationuk.cn/alumniuk/uktour/index.html
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Posted in China, tagged China, International, jobs on November 9, 2009 |
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During March this year, I participated in a Labour Market Intelligence gathering trip organised by AGCAS and the British Council and I spent a week in Shanghai meeting government bodies and graduate recruiters in a bid to gain a better understanding of the job market in China.
According to Mckinsey Quarterly since the end of the 1970s, the Chinese economy has transformed from a planned economy (where the government fixes prices and production) to a market-driven economy. Economic experts believe that China’s economy will revitalise and achieve 8% GDP growth in 2009 (each % growth relates to 700-800,000 jobs) and will contribute the most to global economic growth (estimated to be 1%). Interestingly China has not been plagued by the economic crises in the same way; the financial system for example is still heavily regulated. However, China is victim of the ‘domino’ effect of the global economic crises with manufacturing being hardest hit.
According to the Shanghai Overseas Talent Support Centre, approximately 6.1 million new graduates are expected in 2009 and this figure excludes overseas educated students. Graduate unemployment remains high and is further hampered by a critical talent shortage with fewer than 10% of Chinese graduates being suitable for work in a foreign / multinational company.
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Posted in China, tagged China, International on November 2, 2009 |
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I was reading the Guardian at the weekend and spotted an article about Claire Robertson a former manager of a Woolworths store who recently came to an agreement with the building’s owner to open a new branch of the stationery chain, calling it “Wellworths”
The recession may seem like a poor choice of time to start up a new business with venture capital firms reluctant to fund companies; however, as some large chains head into administration, the market is open for small enterprises and overseas companies to gain a head start over the competition for when the UK economy enters a recovery.
Early this year, the UK government issued its first strategic paper on China which demonstrated Britain’s long-term strategic vision in developing relations with China. The paper highlighted shared interests and convergence of views on major global issues, such as the international financial crisis, climate change and sustainable development. An example of potential UK-China business collaboration is the TechnologyWorld09 event organised by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI). The event due to take place from 23 to 24 November has resulted in over 20 Chinese companies registering, including a delegation of mobile/wireless technology companies.
This got me thinking about the potential career opportunities for UK educated Chinese Students. You not only have a unique first hand understanding of the UK and Chinese culture but also possess excellent language skills – which is a highly employable combination. However, the key to success is research: identify employers who may be interested in your skillset, who are considering business partnerships in the UK. Websites such as China Britain Business Council , UKTI and China British Chamber of Commerce not only carry the latest industry insights but can also help you create a professional network. It seems there is a silver lining to the recession…
By: Saiyada Smith, International Students Careers Adviser, UCL
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2014 marks the 20th anniversary of Soundgarden's ground-breaking album Superunknown. And if you don't know why that's such a big deal, here's superfan Chester Bennington to explain why...
Chester Bennington On Superunknown
And to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Soundgarden’s masterpiece, a special edition reissue is being released on 2nd June.
The Deluxe Edition is a 2 CD package featuring the remastered version of Superunknown, along with another disc of demos, rehearsals, B-sides and more.
The Super Deluxe Edition is a mammoth 5 CD package featuring the remastered album, demos, rehearsals and B-sides, but the fifth disc has the album mixed in Blu-Ray Audio 5.1 Surround Sound.
Find out more and pre-order your bundle over here.
Check out our interview with Chester about the new Linkin Park album in the new issue of Metal Hammer.

domain: news


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Pinwan, April 25, according to Sina Technology, Japanese IT services company Fujitsu will sell its printer business to office equipment maker Ricoh for about 80 billion yen (about 625 million US dollars) .
According to reports, Fujitsu will sell 80% of its wholly-owned subsidiary PFU to Ricoh. PFU is a major manufacturer of commercial scanners. Ricoh plans to create a new service integrating office equipment and image data processing by integrating PFU products.
Following the transaction, Fujitsu will focus on software development to respond to strong demand for digitization of business processes such as telecommuting.
The companies aim to make a formal decision on the deal by the end of this month. In addition, the two companies will also consider collaborating on office digitization.
Founded in 1960, PFU has a strong presence in commercial scanners. In the fiscal year ending March 2021, due to the impact of the epidemic, sales of PFU were 134.5 billion yen, down 3% year-on-year. Net profit was 3.9 billion yen, down 34% year-on-year.
After the deal closes, Ricoh expects to retain about 4,500 of its employees.
IT Home CNBeta Play
- 2022-04-25Fujitsu sells scanner business to Ricoh for $625 million
- 2020-07-06Fujitsu Japan’s office area is halved, allowing 80,000 employees to flexibly choose to work from home
- 2018-10-28Fujitsu plans to close its computer factory in Germany, affecting 1,500 jobs
- 2018-01-26Fujitsu plans to sell mobile phone business to Japanese investment fund Polaris for US$456 million
- 2017-10-31Lenovo and Fujitsu may reach a merger of PC business this week
This article is reproduced from: https://readhub.cn/topic/8fvpPpe6YkG
This site is for inclusion only, and the copyright belongs to the original author.


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Governor Wolf announced new mitigation orders to curb the spread of COVID-19 on December 10. The new, limited-time mitigation orders take effect at 12:01 a.m. on December 12, and remain in effect until 8 a.m. on January 4, 2021. The orders include mitigation efforts for in-person dining and alcohol sales, indoor and outdoor gatherings and events, business guidance, school activities, and sports.
Read the full limited-time mitigation order.
View FAQs for the mitigation orders.
View the current masking order.


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After creating ripples in the impact ecosystem last year, Villgro, India’s oldest and one of the world’s largest social enterprise incubators, is set to kickstart the upcoming financial year by announcing several new partnerships. The incubator invested in 21 agribusiness, education and healthcare companies last year, many of which were sourced through iPitch, its annual national sourcing program. Deepening the focus on the 8 low income states of India, 127 investments were made through one of the world’s largest social innovation programmes, INVENT, that Villgro runs with support from the Technology Development Board, Govt. of India and the DFID, UK Government.
Villgro is known for its unique incubation model focusing on deep sectoral expertise and high touch mentoring, and 2018 saw the launch of deep expertise in a new sector – Renewable Energy. In partnership with GIZ, the incubator supported 50 early stage energy access companies and is going to expand that pool by partnering with UNDP.
While Villgro has always been supported by key names in the funding community, FY 2018-19 saw a paradigm shift with many corporates engaging in CSR partnerships with Villgro for BoP social impact. Some critical partnerships of the year:
- With Accenture to scale up ventures working on skilling and employability related challenges.
- With Hindustan Unilever Foundation to focus on incubating startups managing water use in agriculture and improve efficiencies across farming.
- With Rabobank to support agri-tech startups working to reduce food loss and improve supply chain efficiencies.
- With Yes Bank YES Scale accelerator programme to support startups connect with large corporations and commercialise innovations.
With continued partner support, Villgro has impacted over 19 million underprivileged lives so far, and many more to go.
The upcoming year looks exciting for Villgro, where the plan is to incubate and invest in more companies through an even bigger iPitch programme in July-August, to provide them follow-on support through the Villgro – Menterra platform, and expand markets for them by leveraging its presence in Kenya, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Organisations looking to partner can reach out to Villgro at [email protected] and be the catalysing agents for creating large scale social impact.


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They’ll be enjoying a taste of home as part of a 12-week pilot scheme which could mean pasties and pies at British bases all over the world, from Afghanistan to Gibraltar.
The idea follows a survey asking squaddies which favourite food they most missed from Britain.
Baker Greggs has teamed up with armed forces caterer the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes, which carried out the survey, by opening a shop in Gutersloh.
It is now offering soldiers and their families at the north German base a range of seven frozen savouries including sausage rolls, steak bakes, chilli bakes and sausage & bean melts.
Baker Greggs has teamed up with armed forces caterer the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes
They will be baked throughout the day and displayed at a Greggs branded counter. It is training NAAFI personnel to ensure troops get the same snacks they would at home.
The firm, which grew from a family bakery in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the 1950s to 1,600 stores with six million customers a week, has started selling frozen savouries in Britain.
The NAAFI tie-up renews an armed forces link for chief executive Ken McMeikan, who served in the Royal Navy during the Falklands War as an electronics warfare operator.
His job then was to defend the fleet by sending incoming Argentinian Exocet missiles off course.
Earlier this year he helped to force Chancellor George Osborne into a U-turn over the so-called “pasty tax”.
He said: “It’s great to hear Greggs was the most requested brand that troops missed from home. We are really pleased to be making our savouries accessible to our troops in Germany, and, depending on the success of the trial, more widely available for our armed forces personnel around the world.”
The head of customer service for the NAAFI, Mike Chapman, said: “We are delighted to be able to bring customers the taste of home that they have been asking for.
“Greggs is one of the most popular brands on the UK High Street for its iconic sausage rolls and pasties – and our customers want us to deliver that to them during their NAAFI break.”


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Hip hop star Snoop Dogg expands his crypto investment footprint with an NFT collection on the cardano blockchain
The hip hop star announced this week that he's launching an NFT collection in collaboration with metaverse project Clay Nation, on the cardano blockchain.
NFTs are the early stage of a social network that doesn't rely on ads or 'poison marketplaces' to bring communities together, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko says
Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko said he believes non-fungible tokens were at the beginning of their social network journey.
As strategic members, the two will invest in, advise, and collaborate with startups through a program by Outlier Ventures, a venture capital firm.
Snoop Dogg plays a version of himself in "The Beach Bum," but he wanted to go a step farther and made a suggestion to director Harmony Korine.


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On sale: Your brilliant invention
With store sales stagnating, merchants and manufacturers are asking Americans to come up with innovative products.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- With store sales rapidly shrinking, some merchants are reaching out to their customers to come up with innovative and exciting products that might actually sell.
Earlier this week, home accessories retailer Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY, Fortune 500), in partnership with Web-based product consultant Edison Nation, launched a search on its Web site for the next "product idea" that could eventually be sold in its stores.
"This is the first time that we've done something like this," said Bari Fagin, spokeswoman for Bed Bath & Beyond.
Bari said the concept is a "way to listen to what our customers want. Nobody has better ideas than our customers."
"Somewhere out there is the next great product. We hope we find it," said Fagin.
Fagin said the company is seeking ideas from women inventors only, since the search is designed to commemorate March as Women's History Month and the 200th anniversary of the first patent awarded to a woman.
However, if the initiative proves to be successful, Fagin said the company could consider expanding it to include all inventors. "This is a learning process for all of us," she said.
More importantly, Fagin said she hopes the retailer's initiative will inspire people during a "difficult [economic] period that they can do something great."
Matt Spangard, co-founder of Edison Nation, said he's noticed a pickup in interest from other store chains who are eager to tap into good-old American ingenuity from the masses - rather than their in-house research and development labs - for new product ideas.
"For all those retailers that are on the brink today, selling the same stuff isn't going to help them," Spangard said. "This is another way for retailers to find other new products."
Spangard's company, which he started last summer, is an offshoot of the PBS invention series "Everyday Edisons." The television show holds casting calls around the country in search of the most innovative product ideas.
The winning dozen or so ideas are developed and eventually appear on store shelves. One such example is an invention called the Emery Cat, a scratching pad for cats covered in sand.
But for every product selected for the show, there were hundreds that were not selected. The intention behind launching EdisonNation.com, Spangard said, was to keep these other ideas alive and partner with retailers and manufacturers to bring these ideas to market.
Would-be inventors can submit ideas to the company's Web site for a $25 fee per idea. The selected ideas receive a $2,500 advance and 50% of the licensing fee for up to 20 years.
Besides Bed Bath and Beyond, the company is also currently partnering with Spencers, WestPoint Home, BYB Brands and Hammacher Schlemmer to find ideas from everyday people.
As the economy worsened and layoffs accelerated in recent months, Spangard said submissions to his Web site have steadily increased.
"There are many people out there who have lost their jobs and they're looking for other ways to live their lives," he said. "For people who have seen their 401(k)s drop 40%, they know that investing in themselves and their entrepreneurial ideas is a [better] bet than investing in another company."
Lifetime Brands (LCUT), which markets such brands as KitchenAid, Cuisinart and Farberware to stores nationwide, is also partnering with Edison Nation for the first time.
The company launched its product search with Edison Nation two weeks ago. "We received 32 idea submissions in the first few hours," said Dan Siegel, executive vice president of corporate innovation strategies with Lifetime Brands.
"This is a great formula for us and the consumer," said Siegel. "It's a win-win situation because it offers excitement that people need in this tough environment. And Lifetime gets additional innovative items that we can turn into positive sales."


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Ok guys, sorry about this, but our LG TV giveaway is holed up in Legal while we work out the ins and outs of such an awesome comp. We'll tell you what you need to do to win it next Thursday. In the meantime, feel free to continue suggesting ideas for the comp (we won't listen), whinge about the delay (we won't listen) or tell us how awesome we are for giving one of you a TV (we'll listen to that).
UPDATE: TV Comp Delayed Until Next Week
Trending Stories Right Now
Since the beginning, the big honking screens on Galaxy Note phones have been their most memorable characteristic. But as the rest of the smartphone world caught onto the jumbo display trend and screen sizes from various makers started to converge around six-inch displays, the throne on which Samsung’s Note phones lorded over lesser devices just didn’t have the same kind of sway. So now, the question is. What’s the purpose of a big arse flagship handset in 2018, especially one that starts at pearl-clutching price of $1,499?
Telstra just announced that it has turned on 5G through selected regions of the Gold Coast, making it the first mobile network in the country to start rolling out 5G.


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Let's get down to brass tacks: What's really ahead for the U.S. economy? Is there going to be a recession?
Right now a lot of predictions are being made, based on little more than nervous emotion or selective glances at the economy after past stock market declines. Pessimists see the present as 1929--prelude to the Depression--while optimists say it's more like 1962, when stocks sank in a squall but the growing economy sailed on.
But smart people don't depend on past patterns or wishful thinking. They look at present realities--the ones everybody knows about, like the $150-billion government budget deficit and the $170-billion trade deficit--and they draw conclusions from the facts.
Those conclusions are challenging but not depressing. Smart appraisers don't see recession ahead, but rather leaner times for the consumer--tougher terms on credit, interest rates relatively high, no gains in real wages (adjusted for inflation)--and much more investment in productive industry as the United States works to eliminate its budget and trade deficits.
One smart person is Paul A. Volcker. The esteemed former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board shared his thoughts a week ago with 60 representatives of business, labor, government and the universities at a conference of the American Assembly, a public policy organization attached to Columbia University.
His speech was not for publication, but it was based on publicly available figures, and did not engage in wishful thinking.
Another smart person is Felix Rohatyn, senior partner of Lazard Freres, the investment banking firm and the man who helped New York City through its fiscal crisis a decade ago. Rohatyn looks at the same figures and comes to broadly similar conclusions.
Those conclusions recognize that the time is at an end when the U.S. government can spend $150 billion more than it is taking in and borrow much of the difference from foreigners. They recognize that the continuing trade deficit is distorting the U.S. economy.
So we will have to finance the budget deficit from domestic savings and turn back the trade deficit by the productive power of U.S. industry.
But that is easier said than done. What is being talked about is a 15% buildup in U.S. manufacturing and a shift of 3.5% of the U.S. gross national product from consumption to production--a greater economic adjustment than any nation in history has made.
Everything Has a Price Tag
First of all, the surplus savings aren't there and neither is the productive capacity. U.S. manufacturers are approaching full use of their factories as they produce to meet rising export demand. Soon the chemical companies and electrical machinery makers will have to build new plants or enlarge existing ones.
That will be good for the economy, of course, creating jobs and increasing productive investment.
But all good things have a price. The money for that expansion will come out of the consumer side of the economy, meaning there will be fewer goods available in the U.S. market because of lower imports, and less of the wherewithal to buy them because of tighter consumer credit and thinner wage hikes.
Leaner times probably will mean a suspension in the usual election year pattern of politicians pumping money into the economy. Doing so in 1988 might further sink the dollar, or scare the bond market with fears of inflation.
Longer term, say Rohatyn and others, the new economic discipline means higher taxes. A phased-in gasoline tax--10 cents a gallon rising to 30 cents over three years--is getting influential support. And so are tougher measures for reducing deficits, such as cuts in veterans benefits and new taxes on Social Security.
Which is why Rohatyn, who may become Treasury Secretary if a Democrat gets the White House, says that whoever forms the next administration will have to include opposition party members in the cabinet. Why? Because a wartime coalition will be needed to lead the nation in sharing the pain.
So the past year to examine is neither 1962 nor 1929. It's 1942, when under pressure of war, the U.S. economy shifted massively to production.


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Honda used the Paris Motor Show to debut its new Honda Connect infotainment system, letting owners install apps on this Android OS-based system.
A very practical and easy-to-drive vehicle, the 2012 Honda CR-V shows off a few tech highlights, but is mostly content to rest on its laurels.
Although an eminently practical vehicle, Honda seems loath to push many boundaries for the CR-V's 2012 update.
The 2012 Honda CR-V moves upscale while once again staking out the bottom of the line.
Honda updated its CR-V small SUV for 2012, giving it a new exterior look and including some convenient interior features. But the engine and transmission remain unchanged.
The original video, released last week, was an Internet sensation and raised hopes that a new "Ferris Bueller" installment was in the works. Turns out it's for a Honda commercial.
The new Honda CR-V has a new look, bigger cargo space, and better MPG all to prove that they still belong on the top of the compact SUV category.
With 29 models in the crossover segment, the competition among vehicles is fierce. To make the 2012 Honda CRV stand out from the crowd, Honda has refined its best-selling SUV and dubbed it the "Super CR-V." But does the fourth generation of the crossover live up to its new moniker?
Honda showed off the concept version of its new CR-V model at the Anaheim auto show. In typical Honda style, the concept looks near ready for production.
Honda has released the first details about its next-generation CR-V, which will probably arrive in Australia some time in 2012.


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Hertz IT and business processes seem to be a mess. Their customers keep winding up in jail. The rental giant reports cars stolen that have been properly rented. Or they think cars that have been returned were stolen, even though they keep renting those cars out.
Much of the time, though not all the time, the problem seems to be with cars a customer swaps out midway through a rental (preferring a different vehicle) or where a customer extends a rental and the company doesn’t record the change properly. Hertz’s CEO has acknowledged problems, and claims they’re fixed, but we keep getting new stories about it still happening. And they don’t withdraw false police reports, saying that if they did, the police might stop believing them.
There are several new stories that are coming out about Hertz customers being arrested for stealing cars they had rented. One customer was even arrested three times – although it’s worth noting that’s not a record, since one elite member chalked up 4 arrests spending 30 days in jail, where she suffered a miscarriage.
- Connie Totman, who rented a car from Hertz in South Carolina and returned the car in Georgia. Hertz subsequently overcharged Ms. Totman in error and falsely reported the vehicle as stolen to South Carolina police. Because of this false theft report, Ms. Totman was then arrested on three separate occasions, twice in Georgia and once in South Carolina, over the course of a year. Charges against her were ultimately dismissed.
- Ameerah Singleton, who rented a vehicle from Hertz through State Farm. Despite State Farm handling the rental vehicle’s extensions and payments, Ms. Singleton’s rental was towed by Hertz. About a month later, Ms. Singleton was arrested and jailed for four days for “stealing” her insurance rental car. Charges against her remain pending to this day, more than 1,581 days since her arrest, and she continues to live in fear as she waits for the charges to be officially dismissed.
- Saleema Lovelace, who was arrested at gunpoint two days before the date on which she had agreed to return her rental car to Hertz. Despite paying for her rental in full, Hertz reported the vehicle as stolen after deleting records of Ms. Lovelace’s payment and of her rental extension agreements. Ms. Lovelace remains under ongoing prosecution today.
I’ve been tracking the mess that Hertz has made of itself and for customers for years now, and with each new story words fail.


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General Motors Co.
’s U.S. dealers delivered the company’s highest December sales in five years, with deliveries up 5 percent year over year to 245,733 vehicles.
December was also GM’s best retail sales month of 2012. Retail volume was up 38 percent from November – about double the industry’s estimated increase. Incentive spending was competitive with industry-wide levels, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates, and remains below many Asian and domestic competitors.
“All four GM brands increased their sales year over year in December and we were strong across the board in cars, crossovers and pickup trucks,” said Kurt McNeil, vice president of U.S. sales operations. “We also achieved an important fuel economy milestone. In December, GM became the first U.S. automaker to sell more than 1 million vehicles in a single year that get an EPA-estimated 30 mpg or better on the highway.”
- Total GM passenger car sales increased 14 percent compared with a year ago. Crossover sales were up 2 percent and sales of trucks, which include pickups, vans and SUVs, were equal to a year ago.
- Compared with November, total car sales increased 18 percent, truck sales increased 52 percent and crossover sales increased 22 percent.
- Combined mini, small and compact car sales were up 52 percent year over year driven by continued strong Buick Verano, Chevrolet Spark and Sonic sales; a 27 percent increase for the Chevrolet Cruze; and a 72 percent increase for the Chevrolet Volt.
- Cadillac posted a double-digit year-over-year sales increase for the third consecutive month.
- Cadillac passenger car sales increased 64 percent year over year as the all-new ATS and XTS continue to establish themselves in the luxury market.
- Year-over-year sales of the Chevrolet Silverado increased 6 percent and sales of the GMC Sierra were up 13 percent. GM pickup sales were the highest since September 2008.


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You have searched for ""Control of Drugs and Cosmetic Regulations 1984""
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PETALING JAYA: The latest directive by the Health Ministry on the sales of vapes that contain nicotine will only kill the Malay-dominated industry, said Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry has advised consumers to avoid buying and using two cosmetic products which have been tested and found to contain scheduled poison that are prohibited in cosmetic products.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has named three cosmetic products that contain scheduled poisons which can be harmful to health.
MELAKA: The Melaka Health Department has confiscated 562 unregistered health supplements, cosmetics and traditional preparations worth approximately RM1.44mil in the first eight months of the year.


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Sad but so true! There used to be somewhat of an outrage among Americans when the topic came up regarding foreign goods being sold here in America. I used to like the Union sticker that said “Out of a job yet, keep buying foreign.” Over the years, we have come to accept the fact that many of the things that we buy today in America are no longer made here. It used to be that people tried to buy American-made goods, but most of us know that it is a futile effort, and that in many cases it is not possible to find an American-made product of a certain type. In any major store that you go to today in America, you may find that as many as 90% of the products are not made in America. Who is to blame?
Many of the products we see in America that are manufactured in third world countries are not being sold in America by foreign companies; rather, they are being sold in America by American companies. American companies are the ones who lobby American lawmakers to allow this type of trade to happen and they are the ones that choose to have their products made overseas because they can manufacture them more cheaply in foreign countries. This is a situation that has been created by American companies with the cooperation of the American government, and that is where the outrage needs to be directed.
American companies have moved the “American job market” overseas. One effect of this on the job market is what is called “fragmentation.” This recognizes that there is a growing separation between higher-skilled jobs and lower-skilled jobs, with fewer jobs in the middle for medium-skilled workers. In addition, the American trade deficit is continuing to grow. Despite the fact that a flood of new and cheap products are flowing into America every year, it is hard to consume anything if you don’t have a job.
The situation becomes even more complicated with the advent of the production of “foreign” products in the United States. Hondas made in Ohio; Buicks made in Germany. Not long ago, the United Auto Workers union made it known that one of it’s own workers could not park his 2010 Lincoln MKX in the parking lot of their Detroit headquarters. Their main rationale? The Lincoln MKX was assembled in Hermosillo, Mexico! Between Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, and Toyota, they produced over 2.3 million vehicles in the United States in 2009 – nearly 40% of the total U.S. production. They have invested over $44 billion dollars in more than 300 U.S. facilities that employ 81,000 Americans, with a payroll of $6 billion dollars.
There is no easy answer. The products that are produced overseas seems almost endless: Rawlings, the official supplier of baseballs to Major League Baseball moved its plant from Puerto Rico to Haiti and eventually to Costa Rica in 1969; Converse shoes made their last pair in the United States in 2001. Their shoes are now made in Indonesia. The last major shirt factory in America closed in October, 2002. Mattel toys are now all made in China. Even vending machines are made overseas along with Levi jeans, televisions, cell phones, and now Dell computers. It is depressing.
To make matters even worse, many former American companies such as Miller Beer, Coors Beer, and Budweiser are now owned by foreign companies. In 2008, Anheuser-Busch, the St. Louis-based company that had nearly 50% market share in the U.S., was sold to InBev, a Belgium-based conglomerate run by Brazilian executives. I am afraid that the trend is irreversible. Until the third world labor market makes significant strides in wages and working conditions, the flow of American jobs overseas will continue.


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SHANGHAI — Industry insiders say General Motors Corp. is working on plans to build the Opel Corsa at its Shanghai joint-venture production facilities. Elsewhere, GM recently announced that it plans to launch the Corsa notchback sedan, which it says falls in the lower end of the mid-size segment, simultaneously in the Asian, South American and African markets in early 2000. In Asia, it plans to build the car at a plant in Halol, India, specially tailored for the Indian market. GM China ...
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While Republicans continue to waste taxpayers money with yet another futile repeal effort, the health care reform known as Obamacare has topped 11.3 million national sign ups this enrollment season.
About 8.6 million people signed up for plans on HealthCare.gov since Nov. 1, and another 2.7 million signed up on the state-based exchanges, officials said.
Nearly 4 million people under age 35 nationally signed up for Obamacare plans. That number is important: The 18-to-34-year-old demographic is closely watched, because younger customers tend to spend more into the health plans than they cost in benefits. Almost 3 million of the sign-ups came from those young adults.
“We’re encouraged that marketplace consumers are increasingly young, engaged and shopping for the best plan,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. “We have more work to do before the next deadlines, and our focus continues to be the consumer experience and educating consumers about available financial assistance and their choices.”


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Marion shopping centre paid-parking bid
The Development Assessment Committee have approved an application by Westfield Marion to introduce parking fees at the company's shopping centre.
Thursday 9 February, 9:00am
Although some spaces at the shopping centre closer to the entrances are time-restricted, all parking at the centre has remained free of charge since the creation of the centre in 1968, in the south-western Adelaide suburb of Oaklands Park.
Marion City Council mayor Felicity-ann Lewis told 891 Breakfast the council had submitted an objection to the fee introduction.
"I think it is fair to say that at the 11th hour, when they received our submission and realised that the consent for the swimming pool and the GP Plus actually had included in the conditions that there be no charges for parking, that there was a change to the application," Ms Lewis said.
"We have an agreement that the YMCA [managing body of the Marion Aquatic Centre] and the GP Plus, and indeed the 160 carparks that reside within the decked carparking arrangements that belong to the council for servicing of our Cultural Centre will be discussed about a permit system which won't include payment."
Ms Lewis said she believed, from reading the application, the introduction of parking fees would be likely to go ahead.
"The payment issue is not a planning issue."
The Mayor said she believed the introduction of paid-parking would introduce several issues for Marion City Council resident and business operators.
A two-hour free parking window has been suggested for shoppers in the report, with fees to commence after that time had passed.
If approval was given to the introduction of parking fees this afternoon, Ms Lewis said the council would negotiate with centre management on how to introduce a permit system for the medical centre, pool facilities and cultural centre to remain fee free.
Updated Friday 10 February, 10:00am - Parking fees application approved
The Development Assessment Committee approved Westfield Marion's application to introduce parking fees for the shopping centre.
Approximately 100 parking spaces will be lost to allow for new access lanes to allow for the parking machines.
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Report says BlackBerry, Nokia, maybe even Apple to launch phablets beginning in Q4
Believe it or not, there are still big-name smartphone makers that haven’t yet jumped on the phablet bandwagon — but that may change beginning later this year. A new report from Digitimes cites the website’s customary unnamed industry sources in suggesting that Nokia, BlackBerry and maybe even Apple will begin launching new smartphones with displays measuring 5 inches or more beginning in the fourth quarter this year. BlackBerry is working on the A10, which BGR exclusively revealed in a recent report, and Nokia is said to be prepping a phablet that will launch at the end of the year, according to Digitimes. The site also says Apple may be toying with an iPhone featuring a larger display, but such a device wouldn’t launch until the second half of 2014 at the earliest.
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Big discounts as small firms get into a huddle
Discount deal sites such as Groupon have proved a big hit with shoppers, but now group buying is being offered to small companies with the promise of substantial savings on goods and services.
Saurav Chopra and Chieu Cao set up the huddlebuy.co.uk website in April last year.
Firms that sign up can buy a range of goods such as office products and services such as printing typically at ‘between a 50 per cent and 90 per cent discount’.
Top offers: Saurav Chopra and Chieu Cao, centre, with five of their staff
Unlike Groupon there is no requirement for a minimum number of buyers to get the low price. As long as a deal is advertised, it can be bought.
So far 50,000 small businesses have registered on the site and 250 deals have been offered since its launch, including some from brands such as Apple, TalkTalk, Nokia and Streetcar.
Marketing deals have proved very popular, as have business services such as a virtual receptionist.
Training courses also prove big sellers. Saurav, 34, and Chieu, 35, say they ‘extensively vet’ smaller suppliers and will often ask to do a trial run themselves of a product before they put it on the site.
They have showcased deals from just ten per cent of the companies that have approached them.
Saurav tells companies offering deals how many sales can be expected then negotiates a price and charges a fee based on the popularity of the offer.
The friends, who met when they worked for Yahoo! in Silicon Valley, are especially focused on helping the smallest firms, who typically have less purchasing power than larger companies.
Saurav says: ‘Firms with zero to 25 employees are our core market. In effect we are acting as an outsourced buyer of goods and services for these firms.’
Huddlebuy runs a regular ‘freebie Friday’, during which small businesses can benefit from trialling free goods or services.
The deal, says Saurav, has to be free of any lock-in or contractual obligation so that it is ‘genuinely a way of trying before you buy’.
Huddlebuy, which is based in Soho, central London, and employs six staff, has attracted investment angels including Alex Chesterman, the founder of love film.com, and it is looking for more funding to expand.
It has teamed up with energy comparison website makeitcheaper.com to launch a Great Business Power Cut campaign, which aims to help small businesses reduce their energy bills by between 30 per cent and 70 per cent.
Figures suggest that small businesses are overpaying for energy to the tune of £2.5billion a year as a result of being rolled over on to expensive renewal deals after the initial cheaper contract has ended.
The campaign is calling on small firms to register their support and join at huddlebuy.co.uk/greatbusinesspowercut.
Experts at Huddlebuy and Make It Cheaper will then use the collective buying power of thousands of businesses to negotiate better deals for them with suppliers.
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Fiat Chrysler is recalling greater than 1.6 million automobiles worldwide to interchange Takata entrance passenger air bag inflators that may be harmful.
Takata inflators can explode with an excessive amount of drive, hurling shrapnel into drivers and passengers. At the least 23 folks have died from the issue worldwide and lots of injured.
The recall covers the 2010 by means of 2016 Jeep Wrangler SUV, the 2010 Ram 3500 pickup and 4500/5500 Chassis Cab vehicles, the 2010 and 2011 Dodge Dakota pickup, the 2010 by means of 2014 Dodge Challenger muscle automotive, the 2011 by means of 2015 Dodge Charger sedan, and the 2010 by means of 2015 Chrysler 300 sedan.
It is a part of the biggest collection of automotive remembers in U.S. historical past. About 10 million inflators are being recalled this 12 months. Already Ford, Honda and Toyota have issued remembers within the newest spherical.
Fiat Chrysler house owners will likely be notified by letter and sellers will change the inflators with protected ones. The corporate says it is not conscious of any accidents in automobiles concerned on this recall, however says it has loads of alternative components and is urging folks to get the repairs finished.
“Recall service is free, we have now alternative components and sellers are prepared to assist,” Mark Chernoby, FCA’s head of security for North America, stated in an announcement.
The recall contains 1.four million automobiles in america.
Takata used the chemical ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate the air luggage. However the chemical can deteriorate over time attributable to excessive humidity and cycles from sizzling temperatures to chilly. Essentially the most harmful inflators are in areas of the South alongside the Gulf of Mexico which have excessive humidity.
The Fiat-Chrysler recall is a part of a phased-in alternative of Takata inflators being managed by the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration.
House owners can examine to see if their automobiles have been recalled by going to https://www.airbagrecall.com and keying in license plate or automobile identification numbers.
Greater than three years after the U.S. Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration took over administration of remembers involving Takata inflators, one third of the recalled inflators haven’t been changed, in response to an annual report final 12 months from the federal government and a court-appointed monitor. The report stated 16.7 million defective inflators out of 50 million beneath recall have but to be mounted.
Security advocates say the completion price must be far larger given the hazard related to the inflators.
The remembers pressured Takata of Japan to hunt chapter safety and promote most of its property to pay for the fixes.


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Live Nation and Ticketmaster responded vigorously to its critics on Friday (Nov. 18) evening in two different online posts following its marred pre-sale for Taylor Swift’s 2023 “The Eras Tour” and subsequent accusations of anti-competitive business practices.
“We strive to make ticket buying as easy as possible for fans, but that hasn’t been the case for many people trying to buy tickets for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour,” said the post on the Ticketmaster Business site. “First, we want to apologize to Taylor and all of her fans – especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets.”
The post divided its explanation for the ticketing failures into three subcategories. The first, entitled “We Knew A Record Number Of Fans Wanted Tickets To Taylor’s Tour,” described how its Verified Fan technology, which authenticates fans and weeds out bots, had 3.5 million fans pre-register—the largest pre-sale registration in Ticketmaster history. 1.5 million people were sent codes for all 52 show dates while the remaining 2 million Verified Fans were placed on a waiting list.
The second bucket, “The Demand For Our Tickets To Taylor Tour Broke Records—And Parts of Our Website,” further quantified the problems. The traffic was unprecedented in Ticketmaster history and four times its previous peak traffic due to a “staggering number of bot attacks” and fans without codes resulting in “3.5 billion total system requests.” That massive volume throttled the system with longer wait times and some losing tickets already in their carts. Ticketmaster claims “15% of interactions across the site experienced issues, and that’s 15% too many.” Indeed, if 1.5 million received codes, then 15% would leave 225,000 frustrated and upset Swift fans.
A graph in the post (below), illustrated traffic to Ticketmaster in 2022 which looks like a steady EKG pulse that suddenly slammed into a skyscraper on Nov. 15 when Taylor Swift’s Verified Fan pre-sale took place
Despite the mishap, the final bucket explained how Ticketmaster still set a sales record. Over 2 million tickets were sold on Nov. 15 and 2.4 million tickets sold across onsales for Verified Fans and Capital One cardholders on both Ticketmaster and SeatGeek. The post said less than 5% of the tickets for the tour were sold or posted for resale on the secondary market, which is 20-30% less than what’s usually seen on non-Verified Fan sales.
On the Live Nation Entertainment site, the world’s largest promoter vigorously defended itself against all claims that it violated its consent decree obligations and, in fact, has instituted oversight to ensure that never happens.
“As we have stated many times in the past,” the promoter said in its post, “Live Nation takes its responsibilities under the antitrust laws seriously and does not engage in behaviors that could justify antitrust litigation, let alone orders that would require it to alter fundamental business practices.”
The posts noted there are currently more promoters working with artists in the market than ever before; Ticketmaster’s market dominance is due to its major investments in technology, which Live Nation says is more than any other ticketing company; Ticketmaster does not dominate the secondary market which includes a number of competitors, like “StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid and many others;” and since 2020 Live Nation has voluntarily had its compliance monitored by a former federal judge.
In response to exorbitant ticket pricing, the statement said that Ticketmaster “does not set or control ticket prices and strongly advocates for all-in pricing so that fans are not surprised by what tickets really cost.” In fact, Live Nation signed on to the FTC’s recent call for greater transparency in ticketing with face-value prices and fees being shown upfront to consumers before purchases.
The post also noted that Ticketmaster is the market leader in fighting bots and ticketing security and doesn’t support the practices of “speculative ticketing,” in which secondary ticketers offer tickets they don’t actually have.
Both the Live Nation and Ticketmaster posts are transparent, forceful and a clear response to a situation that over the last week snowballed into a major media storm. It’s not the first time, however, Live Nation’s faced such pillorying and it’s handled the situation in the same manner: With candor and clarity that directly addresses the criticism.
Ticketing is always difficult. The continuous battle against scalpers and counterfeiters goes back fifty years. More recently, technological advances have made ticketing generally easier for fans (remember lining up at record stores or waiting on hold for hours and not getting tickets?), but bots, or opportunistic digital algorithms, can overwhelm digital protocols making it more challenging for both ticketers and consumers. Balancing all this with fans legitimately transferring tickets and a robust and legal secondary market, makes ticketing a difficult at best proposition.
It should also be noted that on Friday, amidst what is still a thriving live market, Ticketmaster had successful onsales with other major artists, including Paramore, Lizzo, Pink, Maná and Wizkid among others, which means the ticketing system is back up and running.
Also worth considering: many artists, managers agents, venues and promoters Pollstar has spoken with say they prefer Ticketmaster for its ease of use and superior technology. They can see where an onsale is at on their phones in real time along with demographic information. Live Nation also shared its technology with competitors as a condition of its initial DOJ approval for the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger.
Finally, though many presume ticketing companies set service fees, they are in fact determined by a number of stakeholders including artist representatives, promoters, venues, and ticket providers.


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Camera Captures ATM Theft At Dania Beach HotelAn entire hotel ATM was stolen and the theft was captured on surveillance images.
Convicted Reverend Wants Record ExpungedThe Reverend Gaston Smith was convicted of looting public grant money, but he wants to erase that conviction and his arrest from the public record during a Friday hearing.
Sunrise Police: Ring Thief Caught Sunrise Police say the case of the running ring ripoff artist at Sawgrass Mills Mall has been solved after tips from the public came in to police.
Margate Caregiver Accused Of Exploiting Elderly WomanA Margate caregiver was taken into custody after she reportedly stole thousands of dollars in property from her elderly charge.
Tips On Packing Lightly For VacationFor the first-time traveler hoping to avoid baggage fees to the experienced globetrotter, the following 10 tips will help teach you how to pack more efficiently and maybe even more safely.
Caught On Camera: Man Steals iPad Minis From Local Wal-Mart Police in Coral Springs said a man walked into a local 24-hour Wal-Mart, smashed a display case and walked out with 26 iPad Minis.
Stolen Coca-Cola Laptops Had Personal Info On ThemStolen laptop computers contained the information of up to 74,000 people Coca-Cola said Friday, but there is no indication that the information was misused.
Neiman Marcus: 1.1M Credit And Debit Cards CompromisedMore than one million debit and credit card users may have had their information compromised during the Neiman Marcus security breach.
Target: Recent Email Offering Credit Monitoring Is LegitDid you get an email from Target alerting that your personal information may have been compromised?
Thieves Use Truck To Smash Into Cell Phone StorePolice in Pembroke Pines are investigating a robbery at a cell phone store where the subjects used a truck to smash the front door of the business.
Women Swap Phony Rings For Real Bling At Downtown Jewelry StoreTwo women walked into a Downtown Miami jewelry store pretending to be interested in high-priced diamond rings. Before the store clerk knew it, the women were gone and the clerk was left with two phony rings instead of the pricey pair.
Fire Damages Homestead Cell Phone StoreAn early morning fire damaged a cell phone store inside a strip mall in Homestead, Friday.
Women Arrested For Theft, Child Neglect Officers in Broward County arrested two women for allegedly stealing from Wal-Mart and because the crime was committed while they were caring for children, they were also charged with child neglect.
Boca Police Reopen Investigation Of Stolen Documents Involving ArodThe Boca Raton Police Department has reopened an investigation into the theft of documents related to baseball's inquiry into whether Alex Rodriguez used performance-enhancing drugs.
Elderly Woman Falls Victim To "Distraction Theft" In Coral SpringsThe dresser where 90-year-old Giocomina Arnone keeps some of her prized possessions is pretty bare these days.


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According to a report Monday (May 22) by Bloomberg News, the Chinese-owned social media giant will give Oracle, a cloud computing firm, access to its algorithm, source code and content moderation materials.
In addition, Oracle is set to begin monitoring the gateways where data enters and exits the servers it has set up to host TikTok user data.
PYMNTS has reached out to TikTok for comment but has not yet received a reply.
As Bloomberg notes, this is all part of TikTok’s Project Texas, the company’s plan to guard user data and allow its technology to be audited by partners like Oracle to determine security risks.
In doing so, TikTok hopes to stave off concerns — and a ban — from lawmakers who argue its ownership by China’s ByteDance poses a threat of data collection by that country’s government.
Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that TikTok had held off launching its U.S. shopping platform due to fears of a ban.
Reached for comment by PYMNTS, a spokesperson for ByteDance disputed the notion that the company has delayed the rollout, which it began testing in November in an invite-only pilot.
“So many people rely on TikTok for product discovery and recommendations, and we want to make sure we get the experience right before we fully launch,” the spokeperson said.
Nevertheless, April saw the news that TikTok was having trouble attracting American merchants onto the shopping platform, again due to concerns over a potential ban in the U.S.
But that isn’t to say that American merchants have shunned TikTok completely. A number of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have begun using it and other social media platforms to target potential customers.
“In fact, more than half of small businesses that have utilized TikTok report a significant improvement in their overall marketing performance, with 78% reporting a favorable return on investment (ROI) from their TikTok advertisements,” PYMNTS wrote in March.
PYMNTS has also noted that a ban on the site would hurt brands, retailers and influencers who have come to depend on the platform to drive sales. In addition, many companies have invested deeply in creating TikTok content to attract the younger consumers who use the platform.
“Content that does well on TikTok tends to lack flashy production value and has a way of making viewers feel as if the person they are watching is in the room with them, a valuable dynamic for brands and retailers,” PYMNTS wrote earlier this year.
At the same time, banning the platform would dramatically impact the influencer marketing space, as many brands collaborate with popular creators to promote their goods.


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A Scottish travel industry leader has called for an emergency package from Scottish Government to jobs in a sector that employs 30,000.
Barrhead Travel president Jacqueline Dobson today called for the Scottish Government to provide emergency support for the industry after it was hit by an "October holiday body blow."
Dobson said First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s call not to book overseas holidays during the half-term October break unless absolutely essential had caused “chaos and confusion” among travellers.
She said the statement contradicted the Scottish Government and Foreign Office’s own published rules on international travel, which today still list a number of popular holiday destinations as being open to holidaymakers and do not restrict travel in October.
She said: “This conflicting message is another body blow to an industry on which 30,000 Scots depend on for their livelihoods.
“There has been a clear demand for last minute holidays in September and October but this statement has caused real confusion and concern amongst Scottish holidaymakers.
“We have been inundated with calls from customers asking for advice on what they should do – whether to follow the First Minister’s guidance or the Scottish Government and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s published rules.
“This conflict has caused chaos among concerned holidaymakers.
“As an ABTA member, we are bound by and recognise Foreign Office guidelines – these are the guidelines that the UK travel industry follow.
“So, while our staff are doing our best to support our customers, this conflict means that they will not necessarily get their money back from tour operators if they cancel if there is no specific advisory against travel.
“We have worked hard to ensure the health and safety of all our employees and customers and are following the Government guidelines on Covid-19.
“We fully support their public health message, however, this has to be balanced by proactive measures to support our industry and the people who work in it.
Dobson said that Scotland’s travel sector had already suffered long-term damage with a dramatic reduction in capacity. Emirates flights to Dubai have been halved, TUI have pulled out of Aberdeen until next year and there is a risk of permanently losing key US routes to New York and Orlando. Key connecting services via London and Amsterdam have also been reduced, making long-haul destinations less accessible.
She added: “We are asking the First Minister, not just on behalf of Barrhead Travel but on behalf of the whole sector, to engage with us today to protect the long-term sustainability of an industry that is a key driver of the Scottish economy.
“Protecting public health and protecting jobs need not be mutually exclusive.”


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Tim Hortons proposed a settlement to make up for spying on its people.
The Canadian coffee and doughnut chain proposed providing its shoppers a no cost cup of coffee and pastry to settle 4 course-action lawsuits. The Tim Hortons app is accused of tracking users’ area information with out their authorization for extra than a yr, for which it is currently remaining investigated by the Canadian government.
“We are happy to have arrived at a proposed settlement, matter to Court docket acceptance, in the 4 class motion lawsuits in Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario involving the Tim Hortons app. As portion of the proposed settlement arrangement, suitable app customers will obtain a free of charge very hot beverage and a cost-free baked superior,” Tim Hortons explained to Motherboard. “All get-togethers concur this is a good settlement, and we appear forward to the Excellent Court docket of Quebec’s determination on the proposal. We are confident that pending the Quebec court’s acceptance of the settlement, the courts in British Columbia and Ontario will recognize the settlement.”
CABLE Organization TO Pay out BILLIONS TO Spouse and children OF Lady STABBED TO Death
At minimum a person email has been despatched to consumers saying the proposed settlement, in accordance to screenshots on Twitter.
The particulars of the settlement are to be introduced, according to the e mail. The consumers will obtain a absolutely free incredibly hot beverage with a retail worth of 6.19 Canadian bucks, and a pastry valued at 2.39 Canadian dollars.
Canadian privateness officials announced in June that Tim Hortons had violated the country’s privateness regulations. “Our joint investigation tells yet another troubling tale of a firm that unsuccessful to make certain proper style of an intrusive technological innovation, resulting in a mass invasion of Canadians’ privateness,” Canadian Privateness Commissioner Daniel Therrien reported at a Wednesday press convention. “It also highlights the really serious hazards associated to place data and the tracking of persons.”
This involved the application monitoring user particulars, which include homes, workplaces, and choose “situations” of relevance, like visits to Tim Hortons or attending sporting gatherings.
“As a modern society, we would not acknowledge it if the government wished to track our actions each individual few minutes of just about every working day,” Therrien claimed. “It is similarly unacceptable that private organizations assume so very little of our privateness and liberty that they can initiate these activities without the need of offering it additional than a moment’s thought.”
The investigation was sparked just after a reporter from the Economic Post claimed in 2020 that the Tim Hortons app recorded his GPS area 2,700 instances in excess of 5 months. The 4 course-motion lawsuits against the chain’s owner, Restaurant Models Global, were being filed right after the report.


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Rockchip Have Finished Successfully the Exhibition at CES 2011
Rockchip have joined and finished successfully the exhibition at CES 2011 in Las Vegas, USA. During exhibition, Rockchip have released new mobile internet platform - RK29XX. RK29XX targets on internet TV, tablet, smart phone and other consumer electronics terminal fields. Furthermore, Rockchip have displayed a lot of products powered by RK29XX to domestic and foreign industry, gained great attention from international market and a lot of medium.
For detailed information about RK29XX chip and solution, please visit www.rock-chips.com.
Pre：Rockchip gained double awards in ICT industry Next：Rockchip Releases its NEW Mobile Internet Platform - RK29xx World’s 1st SOC for 1080P VP8+android 2.3+Internet TV+1080P+3D GPU


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Scandinavian online casino operator Mr Green has doubled its earnings over the last financial year.
Internet gambling operator Mr. Green has had a very good financial year, with profits for its online casinos in Sweden growing significantly. In fact, the company reported earnings have more than doubled in 2013.
Although year-on-year profits saw a drop in the fourth quarter, the full report shows total earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization have gone up from SEK47 million in 2012, to SEK102.2 million in 2013. Company representatives say the decline reported in the fourth quarter is due to “increased marketing expenditure”. Game win increased by 52.1% on a year-to-year basis.
CEO Mikael Pawlo said: “Mr Green’s strategy of continued investment in product development, particularly in the mobile area, and launching the casino in new markets means that we have excellent preconditions to continue to significantly outgrow the market.”
New laws on the way?
At present, Svenska Spel runs a complete monopoly on all forms of gambling in Sweden, so online casinos such as Mr. Green are the only alternative local players have.
All this might soon change though, after the European Gaming and Betting Association recently warned that Swedish gambling laws are not in full compliance with European regulations and threatened to refer the country to the European Court of Justice.


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Tesla rocked the German luxury makers a couple of years ago when it became clear that its all-electric Model S sedan was truly appealing to a wide swath of enthusiastic luxury-car buyers.
With more than 125,000 sold since mid-2012, Tesla Motors has since launched the Model X electric crossover utility and announced plans for its next product, the Model 3 mass-market sedan.
Unveiled in April, that car will have a range of more than 200 miles and a price starting at $35,000 before any incentives.
BMW seems to be the carmaker whose products and owners Tesla has successfully targeted, and the Bavarian company now offers the i3 electric minicar, as well as the pricey i8 sport coupe with its sexy bird-wing doors.
It is also expected to introduce an all-electric compact crossover vehicle, likely called the i5, in 2018 or 2019, as the next entry in its "i" sub-brand of dedicated electric vehicles.
But BMW is also adding plug-in hybrids to all its volume vehicles, most recently its core and highest-volume model, the 3-Series sport sedan.
2017 BMW 330e i Performance
A new 3-Series is expected to launch in 2018, as the maker renews its core model every seven years like clockwork.
And, according to British outlet Auto Express, the next 3-Series lineup will include an all-electric version to be introduced after the main array of gasoline and diesel versions.
The next-generation 3-Series, code-named G20, will move to an all-new set of modular underpinnings, known as the Cluster Architecture, or CLAR.
Already used under the latest generation of the much larger 7-Series sedan line, the CLAR system incorporates a blend of conventional steel and much lighter carbon-fiber for its structural components.
BMW pioneered the use of large amounts of carbon fiber in the i3 electric car, which has a body shell of carbon-friber-reinforced plastic riding on an aluminum rolling platform that contains the running gear, suspension, battery pack, and some crash structures.
The carbon fiber in more conventional sedans will allow BMW to keep their weight down, improving fuel efficiency.
2017 BMW 330e i Performance
The CLAR modular system has been designed from the outset to accommodate not only combustion engines but also an all-electric variant.
No details have been released on battery size, motor output, drive system, or electric ranges, but those may emerge as the next 3-Series gets closer to production.
The mission of the all-electric BMW 3-Series, meanwhile, will clearly be to offer an alternative to the Tesla Model 3, whose production is to commence during the second half of next year.
.That's the official timeline from Tesla, anyhow. It's a safe bet that BMW will be watching the progress of the Model 3 production closely.
The electric 3-Series will let the company move aggressively if large numbers of the 400,000 people who paid Tesla $1,000 each for a Model 3 reservation actually start taking delivery of their cars.
Buy some popcorn and settle in to watch the contest.


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Home » World News » TikTok to reach estimated 1.2B users in 2021: study
TikTok to reach estimated 1.2B users in 2021: study
White House would have to move fast to pass Fannie, Freddie reforms, approve Oracle-TikTok deal: Gasparino
Sources tell FOX Business’ Charlie Gasparino that Biden officials are skeptical of Oracle’s purchase of TikTok given Larry Ellison’s ties to Trump.
Video-sharing social media app TikTok is expected to reach 1.2 billion monthly active users in 2021, new research shows.
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The app is expected to nearly triple in 2021 compared to its 2018 user numbers, according to a Thursday report from app analytics and market data website App Annie.
"Part of TikTok’s success lies in the combination of user-generated content, short looping videos and robust video editing tools," App Annie Senior Market Insights Manager Lexi Sydow wrote in a blog post explaining the data. "TikTok represents a powerful opportunity for businesses to engage with a large global base of invested consumers."


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XOOM Consumer Site Goes Live
Whether or not you think that the new Honeycomb powered Motorola XOOM is overpriced or not, there are a lot of people excited about the unit.
As we get closer to seeing the unit actually launch, Motorola has gone live with the consumer education site for their newest piece of drool educing hardware. Check it out and let us know what you think about the XOOM in the comments.
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It’s day nine of Google’s “10 billion app downloads and counting” celebration. If you’re not familiar with the promo, Google is discounting 10 apps a day to an amazing $.10
So you’re excited about Facebook Home and cannot wait until April 12 to get your hands on it. Maybe you’re one of those people who doesn’t own one of the


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KSDK-TV revealed that the St. Louis Health Department has been handing out thousands of “A” inspection grades to restaurants that, according to the city’s own policies, should have gotten a “B” or “C” or even been shut down. Restaurants with roach infestations and multiple serious health violations were still given the top mark.
KSDK reviewed more than 10,000 health inspections and discovered that a surprising 96 percent of restaurants ended in an “A”. The station also found that even when a cook had open sores on his arms, and wiped and blew his nose into his apron while cooking, the restaurant still got a “B”. Experts called the grades unfair to consumers and bordering on fraud.


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What has been a $500,000 investment 30 decades ago is currently a 3 million dollar piece of land. The farmer is now seeing a fantastic yield. The wealthy who are buying in today is also seeing good yields. It’s why Bill Gates has acquired in excess of 242 million acres of land. He is aware of if he builds it, they could return. For Bill Gates,”they” are buck symptoms.
As explained in this Perpetual Dividends piece, farmland also acts as a hedge against inflation. Food is a standard price tag of living, and inflation could be additionally a standard part of living. With all the increase of inflation, we all view computerized inflation in food costs, which is what inflation is.
Farmland could be your manufacturer and supplier of that chain. Those that are residing in the land that places the food on the tables of the us are hedging against the charges of inflation from functioning as the first link in the food chain. That’s why the wealthy have been investing from agriculture. It’s a Winwin . i9bol7acho.


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Wednesday, April 23 2014, 09:23 AM MDT
Popular Text Offering Prize is a Scam
(KUTV) For a brief moment, 13-year-old Hayley Lind saw her dream of getting a new iPhone coming true after she got a surprise text message on her current phone. "Attention Utah Best Buy shopper," it says. "Your entry has won … a $1000 gift card!"
"I thought that it would be really awesome if that was actually true,” Hayley said.
Hayley was suspicious, so she figured she better bounce this one off her mom, Joan.
"Who can't use $1000 this time of year?” Joan said.
Together, Joan and Hayley followed the instructions to claim the prize following a link to a website.
“It looked really legit,” Hayley said. “It was like really well made."
"I have been on the Best Buy website,” Joan said. “I know what it looks like. It looked just like the best buy website."
But then there was red flag: the website told Hayley and Joan to enter all sorts of personal information to claim the prize. They decided to Get Gephardt to investigate.
2News contacted Best Buy which confirmed that the text is a part of a phishing scam designed to steal people's identities and credit card information.In a statement Best Buy wrote, "We share the frustration of our customers, and are taking efforts that will put an end to this unauthorized use," of their name.
As for Hayley, she didn't fall for the fake jackpot so her identity is safe.
Our investigation found that the website link in the text message was registered in the Bahamas.
(Copyright 2012 Sinclair Broadcasting Group)


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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oilgear Co. olgr Monday agreed to be acquired by Mason Wells Buyout Fund II LP, an affiliate of private equity firm Mason Wells, for $15.25 per share. The company expects the deal to close by the end of 2006. Milwaukee-based Oilgear said it currently has roughly 2.04 million outstanding common shares. Oilgear will be the surviving entity following the merger's completion, and Richard Armburst will serve as president. Shares of the maker of fluid power components and electronic controls, which posted sales of $28.3 million for the second quarter ended June 30, closed Friday at $10.78, up 3.2%.
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Organizers of Knobcon 6, set for September 8-10, 2017 in the Chicago area, have announced that this year’s guest of honor will be synth pioneer Tom Oberheim.
Oberheim – a pioneer of polyphonic synthesizers, drum machines and more – will be speaking at the annual Knobcon Banquet as well as taking part in a question-and-answer session.
Knobcon features three days of activities, including lectures and panel discussions, synth DIY sessions, an electronic music gear showcase and more.
Knobcon vendors will include:
Art For The Ears
Blue Lantern Modules
Chase Bliss Audio
Dave Smith Instruments
Doctor Synth’s World of ROMplers
Family Room Recordings
Great Lakes Modular
Industrial Music Electronics
JMLS – Logan Soloman Synth Research
Metalphoto of Cincinnati
Michigan Synth Works
Pricing for the event is $40 during the month of August (a $10 discount) and includes access to all 3 days of the event. The banquet is an additional $50 per person, limited seating available. See the Knobcon site for details.


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Hosting a lunch at Fire restaurant in Dublin yesterday to launch the Betabeds B2B bed bank on to the Irish market, Emma Lelliott, Head of Sales & Operations, told ITTN: “We recognise, particularly after the various bed bank collapses in recent years, that a key issue for travel agents is that of financial protection. We are currently negotiating supplier failure insurance and I expect that this will be in place by the end of the month.
“In addition, www.betabeds.com offers travel agents preferred agreements and bespoke payment terms, as well as exclusive agent training and educationals.”
After Jacky Bedlow was appointed Chief Executive of the B2C Alpharooms site in 2015, Emma Lelliott joined to create Betabeds (pronounced beta as in alpha, beta…!) as the company’s B2B trade arm, and this was launched in the UK on 18th April 2016. In October this year, Alpharooms was taken over by Truly Travel Ltd.
Emma (above with David O’Hagan, Donabate Travel) added that Truly Travel had enabled Betabeds to “double our offering overnight to more than 250,000 hotels in 40,000 destinations worldwide. We have direct contracting team, including 10 in resorts, and we offer late availability and bespoke contracting and exclusivity. We now also have a London base as well as our head office in Sheffield.
“Betabeds is full integrated for XML with TravelTek, Multicom and Top Dog, we will soon be adding Vibe, and we are talking with Digital Trip.”


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In an Aussie first Ticketek and Apple are launching contactless tickets for Rugby fans with an iPhone or Apple Watch.
Panic is making a new handheld gaming device called Playdate that will include a slow release of new games.
Apple has extended its keyboard repair program to the 2018 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. The just released MacBook Pro 2019 is also included.
The latest Toyota RAV4 went on sale last week and will be the first Toyota in Australia to include Apple’s CarPlay but not right away.
Apple is expected to unveil new versions of iOS, macOS tvOS & watchOS at WWDC on the 3rd of June. A detailed leak of the expected new features has leaked with less than a month to go.
Samsung revealed a foldable smartphone at a press event in February to much fanfare. It’s defining feature was 7.3-inch display that folded in half.
After a long absence from the Mac Microsoft has released a developer version of Microsoft Edge for Mac web browser.
Niantic and WB Games are rolling outHarry Potter: Wizards Unite to iOS users to play. The game is based on the JK Rowling book franchise and is in the style of the hugely successful Pokemon Go.
Netflix is rolling out a new feature, high quality audio, today that will offer audio upgrades to some of your favourite TV Shows & Movies on Apple TV.


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Should we be looking to collaborate with the energy industry regulators and push for an energy sandbox that will foster innovation into the industry?
By Steve Findley, Compliance Quarter.
It has long been the case that, in a similar way to the banking industry, there are many barriers to entry for those looking to become an energy retailer. Recently we have taken enquiries with a number of technology-focused entrants looking to disrupt the industry.
This poses the question:
Should the regulators be providing a regulatory “energy sandbox” to allow new-to-market entrants, or tech startups, an opportunity to test their business models and help encourage innovation in the industry?
The energy regulators generally maintain good relationships with retailers and some of the collaboration and support they provide to retailers gives them more of an open book reputation than other industry regulators. This support is predicated on the back of their drive to service consumers. It enables them to try and ensure that Australian energy retailers can continue to trade, manage disruptions to their business, and enjoy dialogue and some support across their compliance functions. This isn’t to say that fines are not administered but we generally note a positive environment.
Like many of our clients, we can see the opportunities in the energy sector for technology to drive the industry forward in such ways as:
- Customer facing online and mobile software to help customers keep on top of their usage and billing
- Big data solutions to allow predictive analysis of data across various industry indicators that not only benefit consumers but also generators and retailers
- Blockchain technology to provide an audited trail of data for energy as a product (I note the recent ICO by PowerLedger)
- Machine learning to provide predictive analysis and services to the industry
- Software to manage back-end systems, processes and reporting to reduce costs for energy retailers
At the moment, the regulators (and rightfully so) want to try to ensure each retailer complies. Part of the licence application process for new energy retailers is the assessment of financial backing and proof of funding. However, innovation tends to come from the entrepreneurial startup led culture that is idea rich but generally cash poor. So, should the regulators look to open up the industry to more innovation?
Australia could quickly follow the steps of Singapore, a state that has embraced the concept of providing regulatory environments favourable to tech innovation. The EMA (Energy Market Authority of Singapore) there recently pledged S$6.2m towards research grants and said that they would launch a new sandbox to test new energy technology.
In light of the global innovation that is underway, EnergyAustralia recently announced the launch of an accelerator program in conjunction with London-based Startupbootcamp. With recruitment aimed globally, the idea is to encourage would-be energy innovators to bring their ideas to Australia for funding from existing retailers or energy companies that wish to back them. Startupbootcamp is well known in London and internationally as the leading incubator and support program for aspiring tech start-ups. It will be interesting to see if their name and collaboration with EnergyAustralia drives innovation.
This is a good start but is it enough to provide the type of innovation required? Would an energy sandbox help accelerate this process and benefit consumers?
Compliance Quarter is looking to work with some of the industries innovators and we welcome discussions on the topic – it is required that we continue our excellent relationships with the regulators. A good dialogue is required to demonstrate that technologically advanced companies can join this marketplace and be successful with the end result being a better product, price, and service for consumers. If you’re working in the space and would like to connect with us, please do so here.


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The annual CCTV Spring Festival Gala in China will be broadcast on WeChat Channels, ByteDance’s Douyin and Kuaishou, among which Douyin may serve as one of the event sponsors, GeekPark reported on January 16. The report added that Douyin itself might be involved in some of the broadcast sketches.
According to sources close to the Spring Festival Gala team, in a break from precedent, four rehearsals have been completed this year, but only a liquor maker appeared as a special sponsor. The chief sponsor of this year’s gala may be Yili Group, a domestic dairy products producer, with a sponsorship fee of over 100 million yuan ($14.8 million).
In 2022, the video channel of Tencent‘s WeChat was used to broadcast the Spring Festival Gala for the first time. More than 120 million people watched the gala on this channel last year.
Win-win interactions between the Spring Festival Gala and domestic internet giants began in 2015. That year, WeChat sponsored the event, and through interactive planning of digital red envelopes by “shaking the phone,” 200 million personal bank cards were bound with WeChat Payment in just two days. After this, the red envelope activity during the Spring Festival Gala became an advertising opportunity for enterprises. After 2015, Alipay served as a sponsor for two consecutive years. Since then, Taobao, Douyin, Baidu and Kuaishou have all acted as sponsors of the innovative activity.
With the addition of more platforms, the amount of sponsorship related to the Spring Festival Gala is rising. In 1984, a watch company called Compas changed 2,000 quartz clocks for the opportunity of naming the event. Now, 40 years later, sponsorship fees have already increased to billions of yuan.
Beginning in 2022, the Spring Festival Gala has had tighter restrictions on broadcasting and content dissemination. CCTV divides the copyright into several types, including long video livestreaming, recording, short video, and social communication, with prices ranging from tens of millions of yuan to hundreds of millions of yuan. Prior to this, Baidu‘s Haokan Video was sentenced to over 500,000 yuan for broadcasting the 2020 Spring Festival Gala without broadcasting authorization.


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Today we have a piece of surprising news concerning Hyper Light Drifter, a game that’s currently on Nintendo Switch.
Hyper Light Drifter is going to receive a TV adaption. It will be produced by Adi Shankar, producer of the Castlevania series on Netflix. This was confirmed by Alex Preston today.
Preston also revealed that the team behind the Hyper Light Drifter TV series is currently looking for screenwriters, something not easy to do given that the game doesn’t have much dialogue. They also want to make the TV series more anime rather than going with the pixel art in the game.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments.


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RUTH SUNDERLAND: Marks & Spencer chairman Archie Norman has a formidable record - if he can't revive the High Street stalwart, the risk is that no one can
Marks & Spencer is facing a long road to recovery, if the former high street stalwart revives at all.
The company has had a terrible summer. It was booted unceremoniously out of the FTSE 100 in September in a humiliation that would, until recently, have been unimaginable.
The shame of that demotion was compounded by the fact Marks was a founder member of the blue chip index way back in the 1980s – where unkind observers might say its fashion is marooned.
Time moves on: Marks & Spencer was a founder member of the blue chip index way back in the 1980s
The retailer will reveal its half-year results this week and the City is expecting yet another poor set of numbers.
Marks reported a fall in full-year profits back in May for the third year in a row.
Analysts are predicting the slide will continue with a fall of just over 10 per cent for the current full year. This week's midpoint figures are likely to be correspondingly downbeat. Archie Norman, the chairman, is in the middle of a radical overhaul. His plans are nothing if not bold.
He has embarked on a major store closure programme, with shops deemed to be in the wrong places being shut down, despite protests from customers.
In the summer, M&S did a £750m deal to sell its food through Ocado's online delivery service.
It hopes the move will transform its fortunes. But a rights issue to raise £600m towards the costs did not go down brilliantly with investors, who also faced a cut in the dividend.
The company has flung out a series of initiatives ahead of the results this week.
Halal ready meals are being introduced in a bid to widen the appeal of the food to as broad a range of customers as possible. Menswear has been relaunched, aiming to ditch the Dad cardigans and to steer male customers into 'slimmer, sharper, more stylish' casual clobber.
Controversially, the company is also introducing an instalment payment service, so customers will be able to spread the cost of online clothing or home purchases worth more than £30.
Given that many shoppers can already spread the cost by using a credit card, it is questionable how much new business this will drive, and it feels a touch downmarket for a retailer that has always appealed squarely to the middle class.
But then the brand has suffered a lot since the 1990s when it was making annual profits of £1 billion and very much ruling the roost on the High Street.
City analysts, some of whom have kept faith with M&S for a long time, have now turned bearish.
HSBC believes the company is failing to combat its long and seemingly relentless decline. Broker Peel Hunt said it has 'thrown in the towel' on Marks & Spencer and warned shareholders a recovery might never materialise. It is recommending investors sell. The shares, which are still widely held among private investors – I have a very small number myself – have fallen nearly 40 per cent this year.
Soberingly, they now trade at less than half the 400p Sir Philip Green offered in his takeover bid 15 years ago.
Could the company be a bid target again?
It's possible that a corporate raider or private equity operator might take a look. The company lists property, plant and equipment of £4 billion in its accounts, according to Russ Mould of AJ Bell, which is bigger than the market value of £3.4 billion.
The idea of snapping up assets on the cheap is not as easy as it looks, however. Any new buyer who thought they could milk the business would come under very close scrutiny post the BHS debacle.
Sadly, a solution for M&S has eluded a succession of leaders, including Lord (Stuart) Rose – who did brilliantly for a while getting profits back up to £1 billion – and Marc Bolland, who arrived with a huge golden hello and a stellar reputation.
Archie Norman, who put Asda back on its feet in the 1990s, has a formidable record. If he can't do it, the risk is that no one can.
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Published on Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Ibiza, once a hippy hideaway popular with youngsters and families for its laid-back vibe, is attempting to reinvent itself as a corporate hotspot.
The Spanish island has just opened its own Convention Bureau to try to increase its share of meetings, incentives, conventions and events (MICE).
Ibiza Tourism Board said as soon as it unveiled its plans at EIBTM in Barcelona, it received a boom in enquiries from MICE organisers.
Targeting the corporate market is part of the Ibiza Government's commitment to diversify the island's tourism product and extend the summer season into April, May, September and October.
Nike, Swarovski and Volkswagen have already held meetings and product launches on the island.
By Linsey McNeill
Move scroll bar (above) left to right for more videos!
The recent insolvency of Low Cost Travel Group, one of the large players in the travel industry had a big impact on the travelers, hotels and all related players from both wholesale & retail arms. There were about 27,000 people on a holiday who had booked through the company comprised of a €200 million wholesale arm and €500 million OTA / retail arm.


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Covering Seattle news, weather, arts and conversation.
Posts by Author
Starbucks said Tuesday that it is offering a delivery subscription of its “super-premium, small-lot coffees.” The beans are brewed at its Seattle Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room, which opened in December, Starbucks says the service will allow customers to get coffee three to five days after being roasted. It apparently all part of the company’s […] [Read More]
Seattle will have to look harder for soul food after Jan. 25. That’s when the Kingfish Cafe will close. The Capitol Hill institution at 19th and Mercer opened in April 1997. But its owners have announced on both the restaurant’s website and on Facebook that your days to get a fried chicken or gumbo fix […] [Read More]
Starbucks newest entry seems a little strange: No European-sounding name, no gobs of syrup and chocolate. Heck, there’s not even whipped cream or sprinkles. Yes, it’s pretty much a cup of coffee. It’s not called that. It’s the Flat White, which admittedly sounds like a color you choose for the spare bedroom. The company explains: […] [Read More]
Night owls will just have to stay hungry. The Hurricane Cafe, the 24-hour restaurant that succeeded the Dog House, had its last day Thursday, KIRO/7 reports. The restaurant’s demise was announced earlier this year. It opened at 2230 Seventh Ave. in 1994 soon after the Dog House closed. The restaurant and property nearby will […] [Read More]
Portland is not everyone’s cup of tea or even cup of organic microbrew. A case in point is Anthony Watson, who was chief information officer at Nike and considered a rising star in the business world. Now he has taken his star elsewhere. He resigned last week after 10 months with the company. It was […] [Read More]


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Jeffrey Hall, CEO of Jamaica Producers
Jeffrey Hall, CEO of Jamaica Producers, is speaking out against protectionist measures in the Caribbean.
He said protectionism today is likely to do more harm than good.
"I don't believe that Jamaica will get ahead by putting a wall around the sugar industry, for example, and saying that we're going to become the world leader in sugar by creating certain protectionist rules. I believe that we have the advantage of being at the centre of North America and South America and we can be a place in which, despite the geopolitical arguments that are happening internationally, you can invest here because we have good relationships and you can add value to goods here and export them across the region," he said.
Mr. Hall said some small players are likely to be affected but noted that strategies can be implemented to ease the impact.
Goods imported from countries outside CARICOM are subject to common external tariffs ranging between 10 to 20 per cent.
It is a part of the regional policy which allows for preferential treatment towards goods originating from CARICOM member states.