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On June 14, Germany unveiled its first-ever National Security Strategy, introducing the concept of “integrated security.” This conceptualizes security as a wide-ranging notion relevant to all levels of government and society, encompassing the economy and supply chains, technological development, cybersecurity, and human rights policy.
Similarly, on June 20, the European Union published a report on its approach to enhancing economic security, aiming to reduce security risks related to supply chains, critical infrastructure, and digital technology. Once again, such an approach extends connotations of security to the economic and technological fields, under an abstract “de-risking strategy.”
The EU’s de-risking approach or Germany’s integrated security concept both expand the scope of security, which risks providing executive agencies with the leeway to abuse restrictive measures on economic and technological exchanges. This trend is gradually jeopardizing normal trade and technological exchange between the EU and China, as well as mutual trust.
First, the tendency by the EU and its member governments to generalize the concept of security is making security issues in China-EU economic and trade relations more complex. China and the EU enjoy one of the world’s largest trading partnerships. In 2022, China was the third largest partner for EU exports of goods (9 percent) and the largest partner for EU imports of goods (20.8 percent). However, with the EU adopting a broad security perspective, what was once a pure economic relationship has become more complex. The EU no longer considers just economic interests when formulating trade policy, but also security concerns such as data and supply chain security.
Although Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, admitted that most of the China-EU trade in goods and services “remains mutually beneficial and ‘un-risky,’” the EU and its member states have not clearly defined the scope of “de-risking.” Rather, they are considering restricting exports to China, following the United States’ restrictive measures on high-tech trade with China. In January of this year, Dutch officials reached a deal with the U.S. to restrict the Netherland’s ASML from selling advanced microchip manufacturing equipment to China. Furthermore, Germany is engaged in negotiations to curtail the export of semiconductor-manufacturing chemicals to China.
Neither the Dutch nor the Germans have provided a convincing reason why these exports to China harm their national security. Beijing, however, argues that such export restrictions damage normal trade and technological exchanges with China and limit China’s development of advanced semiconductors.
Furthermore, the EU’s broad security perspective presents challenges for normal trade and interaction between business actors in China and the EU member states. Some restrictive measures based on security risks have been rushed through without engagement with European industrial representatives and consideration of the actual cost, leading to dissatisfaction and defiance by European companies.
Taking telecom networks as an example, this month the European Union was reported to be considering a mandate to prevent its member states from incorporating potentially risky firms like China’s Huawei into their 5G networks. This primarily stems from the EU’s broad security perspective, where networks are no longer merely tools for information transmission but also vital components of national security. However, EU officials have never presented any reports grounded in technological standards or risk assessments on Huawei or its products. They have only expressed security concerns and suspicions over Huawei possibly falling under the control of the Chinese government at some point in the future. As a result, Huawei has faced market pressure in Europe, and some countries have even banned Huawei from participating in 5G network construction.
Timotheus Höttges, head of Deutsche Telekom, said that he would continue defying the EU unless forced to remove Huawei by Germany’s government. Höttges has argued that replacing Huawei in the control center of its 5G network is sufficient to protect German telecom infrastructure.
Huawei plays a significant role in supplying uncritical equipment like antennas to the European 5G network market, which poses no security risks. According to Strand Consult’s data, Deutsche Telekom maintains about 80,000 Huawei antennas across around 25,000 sites. The cost of dismantling all of Huawei’s mobile equipment would be about $3.2 billion.
Huawei’s case provides a typical example of how the broad security perspective hinders mutually beneficial trade in goods between China and Europe. EU officials insist on excluding all of Huawei’s products from the European telecom market without considering the opinions of companies and the cost of exclusion.
In addition, the expansive concept of security adopted by the EU, along with restrictive measures derived from it, will likely further undermine political trust between China and Europe. Networks, technology, data, etc., are now defined as security issues, transforming what were previously economic or technological questions into political ones. For instance, the EU’s security concerns about Chinese tech products such as Huawei’s equipment could also be viewed as distrust of the Chinese government. This could amplify political disagreements between China and the EU, making cooperation on climate change, public health, and other global challenges more difficult.
The freezing of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) since 2020 is evidence of the decreasing mutual trust between these two actors. Even at a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and von der Leyen in April, the CAI was not discussed.
Moreover, the weakening political trust between China and the EU may result in increasing restrictive or scrutinizing measures on bilateral trade and investment, which will damage business confidence in the other’s market. In the long term, this could lead to gradual decreases in economic interactions and people-to-people exchanges, potentially resulting in EU-China decoupling – something EU leaders have emphasized they are keen to avoid.
According to a 2022 report by the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU, Chinese enterprises’ overall score for the EU’s business environment has declined from 73 points in 2019 to 65 points in 2021. A full 96 percent of surveyed companies expressed concerns about the EU’s new regulations on foreign subsidies. Many Chinese companies believe that the EU’s “international procurement tools” (40 percent) and “corporate sustainable development due diligence directive” (35 percent) negatively impact their operations in Europe. As mentioned above, some Chinese companies have faced challenges and pressure in conducting their business in Europe, particularly in the telecom and renewable energy industries.
Similarly, European companies in China have also faced challenges and uncertainties regarding China’s policy and China-U.S. strategic competition. Based on a European Chamber survey this year, 59 percent of European companies surveyed believed that political factors have challenged their business in China in 2023. Additionally, 53 percent of companies have decided not to expand their business in China, marking a 15 point increase from 2022.
In conclusion, the broadening of security perspectives by the EU and its member states has introduced complexity into China-EU economic and trade relations, negatively impacting normal business interactions and undermining political trust between both parties. This expanding view of security, which now includes networks, technology, and data, has political implications, further straining the already complex relationship and obstructing potential cooperation on global challenges. As such, there is a pressing need for both the EU and China to address these issues and engage in constructive dialogue, aiming to strike a balance between security concerns and economic cooperation, and to rebuild mutual trust for the benefit of all.


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Holiday-makers from Lincolnshire have become stranded abroad amid the demise of Thomas Cook.
A couple and their eight-month-old baby have faced a scramble to get home as tour operator Thomas Cook teetered on the brink of collapse.
Simon Coddy, from Grantham, his wife and eight-month-old baby were booked on a flight from Ibiza back to the UK on Sunday, September 22.
He told Sun Online: "We are ATOL-protected and confident the UK Government will get us home at some stage.
"But we are running short on supplies including nappies, wet wipes and clean clothes. While we could get them in Ibiza, the nearest town centre is 20 minutes away via taxi.
"Our main concern is that baby Izzy has a dairy intolerance and is on prescribed formula milk, which we are running low on."
They are not the only ones in limbo.
David and Norma Pearson, from Skegness, were due to fly back from Egypt on Monday night.
He told Lincolnshire Live: "I've been on phone to the Civil Aviation Authority who are trying to sort flights as soon as possible.
"We're at the Jolie Beach Resort at Marsa Alam. They are being good to us and will look after us until the flight is sorted."
As of 1.30pm today, Monday, September 23, it was confirmed they would be able to fly home this evening.
Thomas Cook said it was working closely with the Civil Aviation Authority to bring back all UK holidaymakers.
The BBC is reporting that 16,000 holiday-makers were booked on flights to come back on Monday and the authorities hope to bring at least 14,000 back on chartered flights.
According to a story in The Mirror: "One report claimed it could take up to two weeks to repatriate all affected British tourists in a repatriation plan - dubbed Operation Matterhorn - that is reported to have a potential cost of £600million.
"Throughout the crisis, customers have been desperate for answers, fearing they could be kicked out of hotels, struggle to find a way home or be left out of pocket if bookings were cancelled."
Britain's oldest travel firm collapsed after it failed to pay £200 million to creditors and this has left 150,000 Brits stranded in various destinations around the world.
Last minute hopes of coming to a deal with creditors came to nothing.
Many people who booked future holidays with the firm have been left wondering if they will get their money back.
Thomas Cook runs nine shops in the region in Lincoln, Boston, Sleaford, Spalding, Grantham, Retford, Skegness, Gainsborough and Stamford.
The company's demise puts 22,000 jobs at risk across the world, which includes 9,000 in the UK.
Lincoln City FC is offering local Thomas Cook workers free tickets and coach travel to Friday's away game at Blackpool.
Peter Fankhauser, Chief Executive of Thomas Cook said: “We have worked exhaustively in the past few days to resolve the outstanding issues on an agreement to secure Thomas Cook’s future for its employees, customers and suppliers.
"Although a deal had been largely agreed, an additional facility requested in the last few days of negotiations presented a challenge that ultimately proved insurmountable.
“It is a matter of profound regret to me and the rest of the board that we were not successful. I would like to apologise to our millions of customers, and thousands of employees, suppliers and partners who have supported us for many years.
"Despite huge uncertainty over recent weeks, our teams continued to put customers first, showing why Thomas Cook is one of the best-loved brands in travel.
"Generations of customers entrusted their family holiday to Thomas Cook because our people kept our customers at the heart of the business and maintained our founder’s spirit of innovation.
“This marks a deeply sad day for the company which pioneered package holidays and made travel possible for millions of people around the world.”
Brian Strutton, general secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association, said: "Thomas Cook staff are going through hell as their livelihoods are put on the line; they have no idea if they will wake up tomorrow with a job or not.
"Their dignity in carrying on working for Thomas Cook customers under this pressure is a credit to them."
Have you been affected by the demise of Thomas Cook? Call the newsdesk on 01522 804300 or message us on Facebook.
Travel and tourism expert Dr Neil Robinson, from the University of Salford Business School, explains where it all went wrong
Dr Robinson said: “The events of the last 24 hours shows us the vulnerability of the aviation/travel sectors.
“Mr Cook would be turning in his grave. A lad from Derbyshire who went on to create one of the world’s most recognisable travel brands, which now lies in financial ruin.
“These are very sad times and my heart goes out to employees and customers alike.
“So where did it all go wrong? The downturn in bookings post the Arab spring back in 2010, saw profits drop as people were reluctant to buy travel product associated with this region and the seeds of change for Thomas Cook and the wider travel sector were already being sown.
“Fast forward a few years and the sector has come under many pressures associated with very slim profit margins for each travel product sold, a possibility of too many players in an already saturated market and one might argue that the product mix on offer at Thomas Cook did not align with what its customers really wanted.
"Their price, promotion and how people actually booked Thomas Cook holidays did not keep pace with changing technology and demand, for example they still had a lot of high street outlets, which incur rental and other costs.
“Thomas Cook's financial strength has not looked good over recent months, with share prices falling, senior managers leaving and would-be bail out loans not materialising, all adding to the creation of a perfect storm.
“Are other companies set to follow? One hopes not, if in doubt make sure your travel provider has ABTA/ATOL protection, pay with a credit card and keep your fingers crossed, this sorry saga is not over yet. In the meantime let us pay homage to the once great travel provider that provided many of us with our first taste of the jet set & holidays overseas.”

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Canada Starts PS3/Wii Preorders
To all of you north of the border: fear not, the games world hasn't forgotten you.
According to a notice posted at the EB Games website, EB Games in Canada will begin accepting limited preorders for the PS3 and Wii on Monday, October 16. Much like the PS3 preorder process earlier this week in the U.S., it will be a first-come-first-served deal, and there is an extraordinarily limited supply. Therefore, Wii-searchers can expect the same obstacles: rapidly disappearing preorders and no guarantee they'll get their system exactly on launch day. In fact, EB is actually recommending that consumers call their local store to check on availability before committing to the camp-out trip.
To preorder your Wii, you'll need C$50 worth of trade-ins or C$200 in cash or credit; there is also a limitation of one per household. At this point, given the similarities, it appears Canada will have to suffer through the same fallout for the PS3 preorders...and apparently, it won't be much easier to secure a Wii.
Meanwhile, U.S. citizens can start preordering the Wii tomorrow. Let the games begin!
10/12/2006 Ben Dutka


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We blogged just a few days back how Aston Martin are moving to electric and handing James Bond what will be an electric supercar by end 2017. Volvo have also announced they will be electrifying their fleet by 2019 with a range of hybrid and fully electric vehicles.
The Swedish company’s President and CEO, Håkan Samuelsson, stated, “We believe that the time has come for electrified cars to cease being a niche technology and enter the mainstream. We are confident that in two years’ time, 10 per cent of Volvo’s global sales will be electrified cars”.
The electrification strategy will mean that by 2019 Volvo will offer plug in hybrids across it’s entire range. They also intend to build a new range of smaller electrified vehicles (40 series) with a fully electric model on sale by 2019.
The current Volvo Cars’ XC90 T8 Twin Engine hybrid model has an electric drive range of 50kms before the ICE engine kicks in and is one of the fastest SUVs and cleanest on the market with 0-100kms in around 6 seconds with 49g/km CO2 (emission claims by any manufacturer will need reverification for real world driving following the VW scandal).
The XC90 is the first in the 90 series that’s leading the charge into hybrid technology. The 60 series will also benefit from the company’s new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) while the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) for the new 40 series are platforms designed specifically for electrification.
Volvo hybrid and electric buses have been around for several years as have hybrid and electric trucks.
“With around 40 years of experience in the field of electrification, Volvo Cars has learned a lot about battery management along the way, delivering the best range per kilowatt hour in the industry. We have come to a point where the cost versus benefit calculation for electrification is now almost positive. Battery technology has improved, costs are going down, and public acceptance of electrification is no longer a question“, Senior Vice President of R&D, Dr Peter Mertens, stated. No doubt the explosive growth of electric vehicles in Norway (its next door neighbour), has had some influence on the comany’s thinking.


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UPPER MERION — The king’s beer mug is overflowing.
But that’s not the only reason the royal fellow on the logo is grinning from ear to ear.
After years of wallowing in neglect with dwindling sales, a beer warehouse emporium is brewing up business again under new ownership.
Under the dust and chaos of the Valley Forge Shopping Center construction, the old Valley Forge Beverage has sprung back to life as King of Prussia Beer Outlet, with more beers in store than ever, and a logo fit for a king.
The father and son team of Gary Karakelian and Pete Karakelian purchased the 50-year-old beer distributorship and the accompanying Valley Forge Car Wash as a package deal last fall.
Having built their reputations as savvy car wash moguls — for convincing evidence on that front you need look no further than the West Norriton Car Wash on Egypt Road — the men gamely took on the floundering beer business, while prepping the car wash for a whale of a renovation, expected later this year.
“You can actually get a good car wash here for $5 now. I wasn’t looking to get into the beer business too, but I’m learning,” said Pete Karakelian with a laugh.
Starting with an inventory of just three cases of beer, Karakelian, who handles the day to day operations, certainly had his work cut out for him.
“They had the doors open here but they weren’t selling anything,” he said. “They let the place get run down and didn’t want to put any money into it.”
The business got its start on the other side of the center in 1963, moving to the present location 10 years later.
Owner Art Goldstein, who had negotiated a lease-purchase arrangement, had passed away in 2005, and things had increasingly gone downhill, as Goldstein’s widow waited for the right buyer to come along, allowed Karakelian.
Despite the imminent construction gearing up for Target’s arrival, father and son knew the time was right to close the deal on the property last October, he said.
“We couldn’t have waited. This is a fantastic piece of property, and when you get the opportunity to buy a location the deal’s got to get done and you can’t really worry about what’s going on around you. But the construction is crushing the business,” added Karakelian with a frown. “People used to access the beer store through the shopping center by just driving around and right now they can’t do that. And with the big piles of dirt and construction fences everywhere they don’t even know we’re open. But we have to look ahead to the benefits we’re going to get when the center is done.”
In the meantime, with the help of knowledgeable manager Brian Huston, who’s been hooking up beer connoisseurs with their favorite brews here since the early ’80s, the beer store who would be king is winning back old customers and attracting new ones.
Along with the usual mega-brewing suspects — Budweiser, Coors, Miller, Michelob, Busch and Pabst — KoP Beer Outlet stocks a wide array of craft beers, including Ballast Point; Bear Republic; Cigar City; Clown Shoes; Dogfish; Evil Eye; Goose Island; River Horse; New Holland and Old Forge.
“Now we have 3,000 or 4,000 cases of beer here,” Karakelian said. “Our pricing is the best in town. Before we do a big investment we’re waiting to see about any regulation changes they make this year. Right now we’re kind of the status quo and carry a little bit of everything.”
Even with a king leading the comeback, the little beer guys still have to go up against royal competition like Wegmans, said Karakelian, a West Chester native who now lives in Collegeville.
“A lot of the guys in the business say that actually helps us, because people don’t want to go and spend five times what they should spend on beer. They go to Wegmans and sample it, and then come here to buy it. Hard work, good service and getting the beers our customers want … I think that will be the formula here.”
The car wash industry has come a long way since Gary Karakelian launched his first sudsing operation in Aston back in 1972, but with this seasoned developer at the helm, you can expect the King of Prussia Autowash & Detail Center to be the crowning glory of the property’s kingly makeover.
“I think a car wash is a real part of the community, and we intend to do a huge fundraiser for our opening, which will hopefully be around Thanksgiving,” Karakelian said.
Follow Gary Puleo on Twitter @Mustangman48.
King of Prussia Beer Outlet
Valley Forge Shopping Center
175 N. Henderson Road
King of Prussia
Monday through Wednesday: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Thursday: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.


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The future of mass market quantities of electric cars is getting a big push today from one on the more "electric" leaders in the auto industry.
Nissan/Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn is expected to announce his company plans to sell its first electric cars in the U.S. by 2010--according to the New York Times. While Nissan will make a limited number of models at first, Ghosn tells the Times that he expects the automaker to eventually have a full line-up of electric cars, perhaps by 2012.
Nissan's declaration, along with GM's plan to roll out the Chevy Volt by 2010, shows the automakers are more serious than ever before about electric cars. Yes, I know that some of you will point out that firms like Tesla and Venturi are already building electric cars. But the plans of the major automakers elevate the electric car race to a whole new level.
It shows that this is not just a token effort to appease environmentalists or make the companies look eco-friendly. Electric cars have the potential to ultimately raise the fuel efficiency ratings for the entire line-up of vehicles the company's produce. There's also the potential boost the bottom line by selling electric cars at a premium. In theory, these cars could provide a real jolt to auto sales as people decide to upgrade to an electric car/truck/SUV.
The cynics will say we shouldn't get to enthused about electric cars because there are still many technological hurdles. And there are many (battery development, meeting safety standards, etc) the industry needs to conquer. But make no mistake, the race is on.
Questions? Comments? BehindTheWheel@cnbc.com


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Ulefone is heavily promoting its new Armor Mini cellphone, and the video that the company just published is a part of that promotional push. Ulefone has decided to compare the Ulefone Armor Mini and the Nokia 3310 (2017), well, sort of. Ulefone decided to treat both phones as rugged smartphones in its tests, for some reason, even though the Nokia 3310 (2017) is not one such device, unlike the Ulefone Armor Mini.
In any case, if you fire up the video that is embedded down below, you will see both the Ulefone Armor Mini thrown in water, and left there for a couple of minutes. The Ulefone Armor Mini continued performing normally, as it features IP68 certification for water and dust resistance, while the Nokia 3310 (2017) is not water or dust resistant, so the phone basically died after that test. The second test included dropping both phones from waist-height, the Ulefone Armor Mini continued functioning normally, while the Nokia 3310 (2017) had issues displaying content on the display. A number of additional drop tests followed the initial one, as Ulefone decided to throw around both devices randomly, after which the Nokia 3310 (2017) was destroyed completely, while the Ulefone Armor Mini was just fine.
These durability tests are not exactly a fair fight, as the Nokia 3310 (2017) was not made for withstanding drops or swimming, but Ulefone just wanted to emphasize how durable its phone is, probably. The Ulefone Armor Mini was announced a while back, and it is available for purchase for only $29.99. This price point will be valid for the next three days, after which the phone's price tag will jump back to $49.99. The Ulefone Armor Mini, much like the Nokia 3310 (2017), is not a smartphone, it's a regular cellphone. The device sports a 2,500mAh battery, two SIM card slots, and it is fueled by the MediaTek TM6261D processor. The device features a 0.3-megapixel camera on the back, and it sports a 2.4-inch display.


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How many gears in your wagon? Nine, should you wish, if you choose a new Evoque
Land Rover has announced that it’ll use the Evoque to debut ZF’s new nine-speed transmission, known as the 9HP. It’ll replace the six-speed automatic that was previously available as an option on most Evoque models.
Nine ratios - the more the merrier?
The 9HP will feature a plethora of technological wizardry which, Land Rover says, will improve the automatic version of the Evoque considerably. More gears, it says, mean smaller steps between the ratios, resulting in improved response – ZF claims that the new gearbox’s changes are “below the threshold of perception” – as well as shift quality and refinement. There’s also a higher top gear that reduces fuel consumption as well as noise.
Nevertheless, Land Rover says that the 9HP is “extremely robust”, and as such that it “perfectly complements Land Rover’s rugged all-terrain ability”. As you’d expect, it’s also being touted as offering a “significant improvement in fuel economy and a corresponsding reduction in CO2 emissions.”
All of which sounds just marvellous. But there is of course, just one issue we have with it. And we reckon you’ve probably guessed what it is by now. Nine ratios? Really? Seven seemed quite a few when Mercedes debuted the 7G-Tronic back in 2003; eight seemed a little excessive with ZF’s last effort, as good as it is. Nine... well, it could be a case of 'the more, the merrier', and the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, but we can’t help but wonder where it’ll stop. Will we end up with a 20-speed by 2020?
Join the PH rating wars with your marks out of 10 for the article (Your ratings will be shown in your profile if you have one!)


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Officials have announced final approval for a new retail and industrial space at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
The plan calls for the redevelopment of a six-acre site called Admirals Row.
City officials say the project is expected to create 500 permanent retail and industrial jobs. It also will create hundreds of construction jobs.
The plans include a 74,000-square-foot supermarket.
The City Council gave its approval on Tuesday.
More breaking news
- Urgent demand
- Fitch gives LIPA negative outlook
- Pension fund to invest $50M in NYS firms
- Twitter lets merchants offer deals to its users
- More-confident US households step up borrowing
- LI unemployment drops, labor force declines
- New iPhones push Apple’s market cap past $700B
- Patchogue storage facility sold in $223M deal
- Stick figure
- Thanksgiving trumps Black Friday for deals


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U.S. companies are so inundated with inventory that some are renting truck trailers to use for storage space, parking them on warehouse lots or behind storefronts to hold goods until a surge in imports is cleared from crowded distribution hubs.
Transportation equipment lessor Milestone Equipment Holdings launched a “mobile warehousing and storage” business this year to accommodate more customers seeking trailers to hold goods, many of them pulled in from China during 2018 to get ahead of impending tariffs.
The company said Home Depot Inc. and several other major retailers and manufacturers are using the service.
“It’s like a warehouse on wheels,” said Sarah Johnson, who heads up the new mobile storage business at Milestone. “We now think about our trailers as more of a real-estate alternative than just a trailer.”
The final months of the year often see warehouse space eaten up as retailers stock up for the holiday season. The strains grew this year as many companies boosted their reserves of imports to get ahead of a rise in tariffs, originally expected on Jan. 1 but later postponed to April.
Across the U.S., warehouse vacancy currently stands at 4.3 percent, according to real-estate firm CBRE Inc., the lowest the real-estate firm has recorded since it started tracking the figure in 1980.
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The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show features some of the most famous models on the planet. At the 2017 VSFS in Shanghai, the Victoria’s Secret Angels (the crème de la crème of the modelling world) and some newer faces will be showing off the brand’s latest creations along with the looks resulting from its collaboration with Balmain. With the show just over a month away, let’s take a look at ten models expected to be there.
Brazilian models Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio, two veterans of the show, will inevitably be part of the event this year, as they are directly associated with the Victoria’s Secret brand. Adriana Lima has been an Angel for 17 years, and has worn the iconic Fantasy Bra on three occasions, which means she will be a special guest in Shanghai.
A number of other established Angels are expected to return this year, including Lily Aldridge, who wore the Fireworks Fantasy Bra in 2015, and Candice Swanepoel who wore the Royal Fantasy Bra in 2013.
The Hadid sisters are in the spotlight. They aren’t Victoria’s Secret Angels, but their presence at the VSFS is essential, so symbolic are they in the fashion industry at the moment. With a respective 36.1 million and 15.2 million Instagram followers, Gigi and Bella Hadid are wildly popular, and hugely in demand for catwalk work and photo shoots, meaning they will no doubt be part of the event on November 28. It will be the third VSFS for the elder Hadid sister and the second for Bella.
Names such as Maria Borges, Blanca Padilla, Cindy Bruna, Dilone and Alanna Arrington are lesser known to the public, but they are all highly successful models who will take their place at the VSFS in China.
Every year a few newcomers emerge, and 2017 is no exception. They include Alexina Graham, which is already part of the Balmain Army and will no doubt make her mark on the catwalk, and Mayowa Nicholas who is well on her way to stardom.
Here are some photographs of the models:


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Cryptocurrency analyst Tony vays believes that the first cryptocurrency is quite modern and may well compete with later altcoins.
Many analysts believe that bitcoin is inferior in scalability, transaction speed and the amount of commissions to new cryptocurrency projects. Therefore, the lightning Network scaling solution was launched, which should help bitcoin solve these problems and make cheap and fast payments, including for small amounts. However, according to Weiss, the Lightning Network is not very necessary for bitcoin, although it will help make transactions more anonymous.
“Transactions in the Bitcoin network have always been very cheap and fast, so there is no special need for the Lightning Network. But this solution is developing and becoming more popular. And when universal acceptance comes, in a year or two, everyone will be happy to use the Lightning Network due to increased anonymity,” Weiss said.
The analyst recalled that in the next few days, the blockchains Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV will be halved rewards for miners. This may also affect the first cryptocurrency — some miners will temporarily switch to bitcoin mining, which will increase the hashrate and may increase the complexity of mining. However, the hash power in altcoins is much less, and in a month the reward will be halved in the Bitcoin network. Therefore, the effect of the transition of miners will be weak and short-term.
The other day Weiss said
that bitcoin may grow in the near future, and that he personally plans to buy more BTC at the levels of $6,300 – $6,400. Now for the first cryptocurrency give $7,400.


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Bangalore based startup The Better India Company has raised 25 Cr ($3.5 Million) in Series A round funding led by venture capital firm Elevar Equity, and the company is trying to build its scale in e-commerce vertically.
In the year 2008, both husband-wife (Dhimant Parekh and Anuradha Kedia) are started the online media, and its registered in the year 2015.
The Better India company, highlighting sharing ideas and environmental issues, especially use media & technology to help people do good faced by the micro, small & medium enterprises and a few months back the Better India forayed into the e-commerce vertical.
MSME community puts a lot of effort to bring out the products in the market to reach the consumers, sometime MSME decided to experiment by featuring their products and allowing the community to buy as well, and procure products from low-income groups and sell online.
The products include clay water bottles, sustainable bamboo products, wallets from used types, footwear from discarded footwear to generate the revenue for the better India Parekh told.
The Better India e-commerce Products are being at the development phase. However, it is accepting orders from various cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi. The platform currently has over 1,550 products with 150 MSME vendors on board.


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JAKARTA (rambuenergy.com) – Two Indonesian companies are planning to develop coal-based methanol plant as a move to tap huge petrochemical market in Indonesia and help reduce the country’s dependency on petrochemical raw materials, a top official at the Industry Ministry said.
Director for Upstream Chemical Industry at the Industry Ministry Muhammad Khayam said that the two companies are state owned fertilizer plant PT Pupuk Indonesia and state owned energy company PT Pertamina.
“We hope that one plant would be operational in 2017 so that others can follow. We are facilitating them so that their plan can be realized,” Khayam was quoted by Bisnis Indonesia as saying.
He said Pertamina has more advanced plan and is ready to executive it. “It (Pertamina) looks really serious. The company already has a plan to develop further value-added products such as producing materials used in making polyethylene and polypropylene,” he said. Thus, the company would not only produce methanol.
He declined to disclose the amount of investment. However, he said that in order to produce 400,000-500,000 tons of methanol per year, an investor needs to invest up to US$1.6 billion.
Indonesia is yet to have such coal-based methanol plant. However, other countries, such as China, have already develop coal-based methanol and olefin plants. (*)


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Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer's plan to remove incentives for bank tellers to cross-sell products has been welcomed by experts who say the issue of misaligned incentives has been underestimated by bank chiefs in Australia and around the world.
Macquarie University associate professor of applied finance Elizabeth Sheedy said evidence suggested that many staff felt pay incentives was encouraging inappropriate behaviour.
"With the research we did over the last few years that was one of the most striking findings – how there were significant problems in remuneration despite the fact that there already had been reforms done," Ms Sheedy told The Australian Financial Review.
"We were surprised by that finding and we are delighted that the Australian Bankers Association and Westpac are revisiting the issue."
On Thursday Mr Hartzer admitted that a "trust gap" existed between the banks and their customers.
The industry, he said, was working to agree to steps that would eliminate perceptions of conflicts of interest in the way front line staff were paid.
Westpac, he said, would adopt recommendations agreed to by the Australian Bankers Association as a result of an independent review conducted by Steven Sedgwick – the former Australian Public Service Commissioner.
The review is seen by some as an attempt to soften the calls for a Royal Commission into the banking sector.
Ms Sheedy said targeting incentives in the retail bank was "well focused" and should take priority over fixing problems on the bank's trading floors.
"The issues in retail banking are far more significant. If people are being sold a product that is useless or inappropriate that is far more damaging," she said.
The removal of incentives related to cross selling products that applied to over 2000 bank tellers was announced ahead of the findings and followed months of planning and negotiation. It was timed to coincide with the end of the bank's financial year – in which new targets and incentives would be set.
An ANZ spokesman said the bank was "reviewing incentive structures" and is participating into the Sedgwick-led review into remuneration.
A Commonwealth Bank spokesman said that as part of its Enterprise Agreement Negotiations, the bank was "in the process of ensuring remuneration for our people does not lead to poor customer outcomes." This, he said, was aligned to the Sedgwick Review.
A National Australia Bank spokeswoman said the bank's retail advisors were "already focussed on servicing customers and are rewarded based on balanced scorecard" that took into account customer needs.
While some observers have suggested that tellers do not lie at the heart of the community mistrust of banks, others pointed out that they remain an important point of contact, particularly for customers seeking information on other bank products
Cross selling of products by bank tellers has been in place since the 1990s. Staff at Australia's banks had initially been forced to hit minimum targets to achieve their full fixed pay packages, but the structure has since been dispensed with. Westpac however is believed to be the first bank to phase out product cross selling targets to calculate bonuses of tellers.
Other banks are trialing the use of performance metrics associated with customer satisfaction in some branches.
There is said to be some resistance among some managers at the banks that a blanket removal of incentives to staff on the front-line could result in referrals for other products, an important source of business, totally drying up.
Australia's top bankers are also paying increased focus on how misaligned incentives can prove costly for retail banking franchises in other parts of the world.
US banking giant Wells Fargo had been held up as the global leader of customer focused banking. But earlier this month it emerged that more than 5000 staff had created new customer accounts and credit cards without their authorisation.
"Everyone is a bit stunned by the Wells Fargo saga and it does seem to be motived by sales targets," Ms Sheedy said.
Britain's banks were also in the process of overhauling an aggressive sales culture that a study by the Cass Business School would take a generation to fix. The report said staff would receive cash, ipods or Wimbledon tickets for hitting targets and could have cabbages or vegetables placed on their desks if they failed.
Sources said banking chiefs were keen to reach out for former Commonwealth Bank head of retail banking and current head of Royal Bank of Scotland Ross McEwan to get an account of implementing changes in sales practises to ensure they are better aligned with customers.
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It’s getting out of hand.
Some fashion industry observers say the global fashion system will collapse this year…
Tourism has dropped — some retail analysts think that Manhattan’s major areas will never be the same…
Uber’s legal and financial woes have led to doomsday stories for the gig economy…
In a mad rush to get ahead, some commentators are making wild predictions about the post-pandemic world.
But here at Winning Investor Daily, we don’t pretend we have a crystal ball. And we rarely bother with “expert” predictions. They’re more or less just worth the paper they’re printed on.
We focus on numbers instead. And the numbers are telling a story all their own.
According to a LinkedIn survey, nearly 70% of workers are back in their offices. And around 40% of people say their offices never closed.
Happily, the majority said that they were satisfied with the measures their employers took to keep workers safe.
For fast-casual places like Shake Shack and Chipotle, the biggest market is office workers’ lunch breaks.
One chain said that its West Coast locations are doing as much business today as they were last year. Another said that its suburban drive-thru locations have been a boon to some of its operation.
But businesses in the Northeast are lagging behind the rest of the country (particularly New York). The area was hit hard by the virus. It’s been slow to reopen.
Those restaurants say the Northeast is their worst region right now. In New York, there are fewer opportunities for drive-thrus, safe food pickups and no room for outdoor dining.
The numbers are telling us that as workers get back into offices, local economies should keep improving. But large metro areas will keep feeling the pandemic for months to come.
Charles Mizrahi and Chad Shoop have continued to bring you their best advice throughout this time.
Their goal isn’t to pretend they know everything. It’s to give you the advice you need to become a winning investor.
Today, that means showing you how good leadership in a crisis can make all the difference.
- This week, the Winning Investor Daily team demonstrated that with legendary Pilot Chesley Sullenberger — Sully — and his landing on the Hudson River. When there’s a crisis, you want someone with experience to guide you through. You don’t want a kid fresh out of flight school. In business, the person at the helm is the CEO.
- As far as our readers are concerned, one person at the helm is Charles Mizrahi. With nearly 40 years of experience as a Wall Street investor, he knows firsthand how to guide his subscribers through volatile times. In this week’s update, he reminds you what one sector means to the rest of the economy.
- And in her first issue for Winning Investor Daily, Lina Lee breaks down why Einstein truly was a genius — and it may not be the reason you think. She also shows how you can double your money on stocks — using one of her favorite strategies in the market.
Finally, this week, Chad Shoop hammered home another reason the person guiding you matters.
Their guide was supposed to help them stay safe, but failed.
How to Navigate the Market’s Danger Zones
It started out as a great trip rafting in the Gauley River in West Virginia. But it turned into a nightmare.
Chad’s boat got stuck in between two rocks. Everyone in the boat was pinned. And the guide — who should have known better — stepped on the boat to get to a neighboring rock. The entire boat flipped and everyone in it was suddenly in a much worse situation.
Chad says he always remembers that trip — and what not to do.
When you’re in a turbulent river, you want someone to help you. You don’t want someone who’s going to flip your boat.
That’s why whenever the market is in turbulence, he remembers who he’s working for: you. He makes sure to not let his readers down.
He showed readers that there are danger zones in the market today.
And there are ways to make sure that these danger zones don’t hurt your portfolio.
Chad is an expert in strategies like this. See, sometimes the best way to make it through a volatile market is to buy or sell stocks. Sometimes, the best strategy is options. Sometimes your No. 1 winner will be an exchange-traded fund. Chad is a Chartered Market Technician, which means he’s an expert in all these strategies.
He’s not limited to one type of trade.
If buying into a stock is going to flip your boat, he won’t do it. But he knows another way to make money from something he sees in the market.
Chad isn’t afraid to tell his subscribers about the best ways to profit — even if they’re unconventional.
Right now he has his eyes on inverse funds. The dangers he sees in the market tell him that it’s time for short-term trades on certain sectors.
Inverse funds are as easy to buy as a stock. But as powerful for returns as an option.
And Chad knows that these funds are the No. 1 way to take advantage right now.
He is guiding his readers to these gains in his Automatic Profits Alert service.
If you’re interested in a new way to make money in the market, I highly suggest you check it out.
Chad is a guide who focuses on numbers, not hype. And his Automatic Profits Alert service embodies that.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Managing Editor, Winning Investor Daily


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California-based XsunX has announced that it is to expand its business offering by moving into the solar power project development market.
According to XsunXs CEO Tom Djokovich, the expansion was triggered by an intention to explore the further revenue opportunities and potential that exist in solar power systems development.
"Our business expansion into solar power project development and construction services received the necessary California state licensing this week," said Djokovich. "The approved license is the last milestone necessary for us to initiate this new program and publicly market these services. We are very hopeful about closing solar project deals soon."
XsunXs market research concluded that the solar industry as a whole has not fully explored the potential of solar power development and installation, believing that their experience makes them a natural fit for the industry, which could benefit from XsunXs knowledge in solar technology, construction and project development.
Discussions have already been held with numerous commercial interests, with XsunX having already reviewed nearly 750 kW of potential solar power system projects locally.
"Now that we are licensed we can work towards closing these deals and turning our new business development efforts into a success," added Djokovich.
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Published on : Monday, December 23, 2013
As the year draws to a close in a British record Tourism , VisitBritain estimates will be achieved in the new tourism HEIGHTS 2014 . Forecast growth of about 2 % of the national tourism agency , representing foreign visitors increased 4.2% in nominal terms , £ 21.5 billion will result in a record number of visitors from around the expense . In addition , the agency of record levels of visitors to the area in 2008 , 32.6 million in 2014 , with the history will return to pre- global financial crisis that estimate.
UK visitors to achieve the highest recorded price , of course , tourism experienced significant gains , and have been . The latest figures from the same period of 2013 2012 number of visits abroad by 6 % in the first ten months , up 12 % in nominal terms to show the visitor spending .
Recognizes and supports the power of tourism as an export industry, a move the government in the 2015 another £ 90 million over the next two years GREAT1 campaign financing , as well as £ 45 million in 2014/15 will be allocated , and has pledged to spend £ 45 million / 16 – £ 30 million, a significant increase from this year’s allocation . Large picture of VisitBritain campaign financing shares , will continue to be marketed in Britain using the results indicate that deliver on the international arena , and potentially as an additional cost of £ 200 million inbound visitors .
, Hosting the Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to capitalize on the Great campaign launched by the Government in September 2011 . It promotes Britain as a place to visit and do business internationally , and sports , entertainment , and David and Victoria Beckham, Andy Murray , Helena Bonham Carter and creative industries , including Vivienne WESTWOOD , British star featured in the worlds .
VisitBritain its 2014 forecasts continued strong growth in emerging markets , particularly Malaysia , South Korea , China and Mexico expect to see : FIFA World Cup – could soften demand for outbound tourism market will face Brazil in 2014 , is unlikely to have any measurable impact on UK visits or collective cost such as Brazil , only about 1% of the total market demand .
A few important changes in Britain’s transport infrastructure is expected in 2014 , but it supplies as many airlines Airbus A380 aircraft , including Heathrow Airport , and power , will continue to grow . Chengdu , Beijing , Manila and Jakarta – plus Chinese and new flight routes from the Gulf and the recent availability of visitors come to Britain as a holiday destination is expected to deliver a step change in the UK announced visa process improvements .
Sandie Dawe, VisitBritain chief executive , said the ” public investment in tourism will bring millions to billions . These years, it’s just to promote Britain abroad throughout all the major state agencies with a clear strategy and cooperation goes to show what can be achieved , set a record . ”
Tourism Minister , Helen Grant , – said : ” Every year millions of people flock to British shores and our tourist attractions are world-class . Tourism helps drive the global stage and promote the growth of Britain , a key plank of our economy. , After a record 2013 , we have 2014 want to do better in , and we encourage our visitors to come and experience the best of British and international market to showcase our fantastic campaign that extra £ 90 million deal with the matter “
Tags: Tourism News


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2009-10 Annual Report Released
The Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation (NSGC) released its 2009-10 Annual Report today, July 13, outlining how it achieved its business results, balancing its economic and social mandates.
As expected, financial results show that gaming profits declined by about four per cent in 2009-10 compared to 2008-09. A decline in profits was experienced across all business lines.
"We expected, and planned for, these declines," said president and CEO, Marie Mullally. "Last year many of the lottery products were in the mature phase of their life cycle and we also experienced less casino traffic. To offset some of these trends, we have made improvements to the casino properties and introduced new lottery games."
Highlights of the report include a $145.9 million payment to province; the development of new Responsible Gambling Retailer training programs; the roll out of My-Play System; and, other youth prevention programming initiatives.
The Gaming Corporation also continued to work closely with the charitable sector across the province and delivered $3.7 million in funding for amateur sport through its Support4Sport Program.
"The gaming industry has historical roots in supporting charities and communities, and that support has not wavered," said Ms. Mullally. "NSGC's commitment to social responsibility guides us in our planning and decision-making and that benefits all Nova Scotians."
All gaming industry profits are directed back to Nova Scotia communities to support government programs and services. Beyond the revenue gaming provides to government, the industry also accounts for almost 660 direct jobs in Nova Scotia and supports about 1,485 retail establishments, many of them small businesses in rural Nova Scotia.
This year, the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation paid more than $41 million in commissions to business owners. In 2009-10, the corporation also invested more than $7.8 million in responsible gambling, treatment and education.
The Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation's Annual Report is available at www.nsgc.ca/annualReports.php.
FOR BROADCAST USE:
Profits from gaming generated almost 146-million dollars to support government programs and services in 2009-2010.
The Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation today, (July 13th) released its 2009-2010 Annual Report which shows gaming profits are down about four per cent from last year.
Revenues are down between one and three per cent among casino, ticket and video lottery.
Officials say the decrease in profits was expected due to maturing products in the ticket and video lottery business lines.
The corporation also continued to work closely with the charitable sector across the province, providing three-point- seven-million dollars for amateur sport through its Support4Sport Program.
The annual report is available at W-W-W dot N-S-G-C dot C-A.


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MENLO PARK, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 6, 2017) - Battery Ventures, the global investment firm, launched a new index to track the stock performance of consumer marketplace companies and social networks, including large global brands like Facebook, Alibaba, Yelp, eBay and OpenTable.
The Battery Ventures Network Effect Index -- which includes 32 current, publicly traded companies and four former public companies that were acquired in the last several years -- highlights companies that exhibit profound "network effects," meaning the services become more valuable the more people use them. All of the companies were worth at least $1 billion as of Dec. 31, or at the time of their acquisition.
Research conducted by Battery General Partner Roger Lee and his team found that the stocks of the companies in the index have together risen by 161% in the last five years, as of Dec. 31, and also outperformed the S&P 500 Index by 84% in that same period. That means if an investor had put $1,000 into this basket of "network effect" stocks in 2011, he or she would have about $2,606 today.
The "network effect" is also a key feature of some prominent, still-private Internet companies poised for possible public offerings, such as Snap, Uber and Airbnb, Lee said. Snap officially filed documents to go public last week.
"Many investors and entrepreneurs may be underestimating the power of network effects, particularly among social networks," said Lee, a longtime consumer Internet and business-software investor. "These types of companies can often create strong barriers to competition, which helps lead to explosive growth."
Battery identified social networks as well as two other main types of network-effect companies in its index: advertising-driven marketplaces, such as Zillow, Yelp and Trulia; and transactional marketplaces, including companies such as Alibaba, OpenTable and Etsy.
The combined value of all the companies in the index is $1.08 trillion, and the average time from founding to IPO was 8.0 years, compared to a broader average of 11 years for venture-backed companies. More information on the index can be found here; data will be updated monthly.
See attached image for a full list of the companies in the index.
About Battery Ventures
Battery strives to invest in cutting-edge, category-defining businesses in markets including software, infrastructure, digital media and industrial technologies. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at stages ranging from seed to buyout and invests globally from offices in Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area and Israel. Follow the firm on Twitter @BatteryVentures, visit our website at www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery's portfolio companies here.
Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3106088


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Selling Pizza Hut stores to independent franchisees, the Christchurch earthquakes and rising ingredient costs weighed on Restaurant Brands' full-year result.
But despite tough market conditions the fast-food operator says its underlying performance remains strong.
And chief executive Russel Creedy said new menu panels were unveiled in its KFC restaurants yesterday, featuring lower-cost offerings aimed at addressing consumers' needs in a difficult economic environment.
Restaurant Brands has not given specific guidance for its current full-year, but said: "The company is expected to produce a result of at least the same level [as last year] in the year ahead."
The Auckland-based firm, which in December announced it would add American burger chain Carl's Jr to its stable of brands, said it would open three to four Carl's Jr stores during the second half of its financial year.
A separate franchisee, part-owned by former All Black Michael Jones, is already operating two Carl's Jr stores in Auckland and has plans to open further sites.
Restaurant Brands said its Carl's Jr stores were expected to be immediately profitable,
Creedy said at least three of the stores would be in Auckland, but for "competitive reasons" the company did not want to disclose their exact locations.
"The upside potential for Carl's Jr is significant - if they can get it right," said BT Asset Management's head of equities, Paul Harrison. "As they start rolling those out and making the returns that they can off them it should be good."
Restaurant Brands, which also operates the Starbucks coffee chain, yesterday reported a 27 per cent drop in group net profit, excluding non-trading items, to $18.4 million for the 12 months to February 29.
Total stores earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) dropped 17 per cent on the same period a year earlier to $51.4 million.
Harrison said yesterday's result was soft "as expected".
KFC was moving into the last phase of a major upgrade of its outlets, with 59 sites out of the 88 store network now transformed to the new modern look, Restaurant Brands said.
Another eight upgrades and two new KFC store openings were scheduled for the current year.
The company said that despite difficult trading conditions KFC grew sales by 0.2 per cent to a record $236.3 million during the year.
But on a same-store basis KFC's sales fell 1.8 per cent, compared with 4.4 per cent growth in the prior comparable period, while ebitda fell 12.6 per cent to $45.6 million, the company said.
Restaurant Brands said the Christchurch earthquakes cost KFC approximately $3 million in lost sales.
Input costs for KFC rose "markedly" over the course of the year and a competitive marketplace limited the firm's ability to pass on the cost increases to consumers.
Creedy said ingredient prices had decreased since last year.
"Chicken [prices] are still up there but the pressure has come off a fair bit," he said. "We've seen dairy prices contract a little bit."
Creedy said the lower-cost KFC menu aimed to keep lunch and snack items below the $5 price point and larger, dinner offerings below $10.
The items had been available for some time but the new menu panels would give customers more clarity on the cheaper offerings available.
As consumers tighten their belts, McDonald's and Burger King have also been adding lower cost items to their menus.
Pizza Hut continued to struggle as a result of fierce competition and a tough retail environment, Restaurant Brands said. Total sales for the pizza brand fell 23.3 per cent, or $13.8 million, to $45.5 million.
The sale of Pizza Hut stores to independent franchisees contributed 42 per cent, or $5.9 million, of the revenue decline, the company said.
Restaurant Brands said eight stores were sold to franchisees over the year and 13 outlets were now in the hands of independent operators.
Starbucks sales fell 9.8 per cent to $26.5 million, but on a same-store basis sales finished the year up 5.4 per cent, the company said.
A dividend of 9.5c a share takes the full-year payout to 16c a share.
Restaurant Brands' shares closed up 6c at $1.92 last night.


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Canalys estimates that cloud marketplaces will grow to over US$45 billion by 2025, representing an 84% CAGR. Cloud marketplaces are accelerating as a route to market for technology, led by hyperscale cloud vendors such as Alibaba, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google and Salesforce, which are pouring billions of development dollars
Alibaba DAMO Academy (“DAMO”), the global research initiative by Alibaba Group, has shared its annual forecasting of the leading technology trends that could shape many industries in the years ahead. Among the leading technology trends, Generative AI, which has already gained considerable traction, is expected to make further strides with
Alibaba Cloud kicked off its annual Apsara Conference by announcing the launch of ModelScope, an open-source Model-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform that comes with hundreds of AI models, including large pre-trained models for global developers and researchers. During its flagship conference, Alibaba Cloud also introduced a range of serverless database products and
Alibaba Cloud has announced its latest international strategic roadmap at the 2022 Alibaba Cloud Summit. During the three-day summit, the trusted cloud provider has revealed new products to support technology innovation among enterprises, an investment of USD1 billion for a global partner ecosystem upgrade, and enhanced customer services to provide
Alibaba maintained its position as the third largest public cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) service provider globally in 2021, according to the latest Worldwide Semiannual Public Cloud Services Tracker published by market research and advisory firm International Data Corporation (IDC).
For the fourth year in a row, Alibaba is ranked as the third largest Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider in the world and the biggest in Asia Pacific in 2021 by revenue. The latest Gartner report, Market Share: IT Services, 2021, showed Alibaba’s global market share expanded to 9.55%, while in Asia
Speaking with Channel Post MEA, Philip Liu, General Manager of the Middle East and Africa, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence explains that the company is looking to grow its geographical footprint and expand its channel base across the Middle East How would you access the cloud market in the Middle East and in


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Microsoft drops price of Aussie Xbox 360 Kinect bundles
The new recommended retail price of the 4GB Xbox 360 with Kinect bundle and the 250GB Xbox 360 with Kinect bundle will now be A$399 RRP and A$499 RRP respectively.
Microsoft Australia today announced it will be dropping the price of the Xbox 360 Kinect bundle by A$50, effective from September 15.
The new recommended retail price (RRP) of the 4GB Xbox 360 with Kinect bundle and the 250GB Xbox 360 with Kinect bundle will now be A$399 RRP and A$499 RRP respectively.
Microsoft also announced that it will be introducing the 4GB Xbox 360 as a stand-alone entry-level console to the Australian market. The new console will come with built-in Wi-Fi, a black wireless controller, a standard definition composite A/V cable, and a free one-month Xbox Live Gold membership. It will retail for A$249 RRP and will be available for the first time in October.
The publisher took the opportunity to reiterate that voice support for the Kinect will arrive "in the next few months" in Australia and will be followed by a range of new Kinect titles, including Kinect Disneyland Adventures, Kinect Sports Season 2, and Dance Central 2.
Microsoft has also announced that it will be hosting a series of events around Australia to showcase its new Kinect software, beginning with The Melbourne Show from September 19. More details on the road show will be released soon, and GameSpot AU will update the story as news comes in.


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French cars not ‘made in France’ anymore
French car manufacturers often boost the ‘Frenchness’ of their cars. But more and more they aren’t built in France anymore. Next year the planned car production within the Hexagon will reach 1,71 million units, 22% less than the 2,21 million this year.
Normally the French are proud of their cars and the industry producing them. Also the two big French car manufacturers, PSA and Renault, are often referring to this ‘quality.’ But in reality, the number of cars produced in France is shrinking every year.
OICA, the international association of car manufacturers, calculated that only one car out of 4 sold by the French carmakers is effectively built in France. The newspaper Le Parisien recently rang the alarm bell: “Eight out of the ten best-sold models in France are produced abroad.”
Engine of prosperity
“France is neglecting the sector that could be the motor of its economy,” says David Barroux in the economic newspaper Les Echos. And this motor was providing work for many people: 40 years ago Renault employed more than 100.000 people in France, now they are less than 50.000. Peugeot and Citroën saw the number of employees halve to 60.000 in 15 years.
And that’s only the workforce directly employed. Of course, you have to take into account all the other people working indirectly for this industry, via suppliers, service providers, research institutions, etc.
The reason that fewer cars are produced in France is fairly obvious. The wages in for example Spain or Slovenia are (much) lower. So the workers over there are benefitting from these relocations.
But not only them. As well Renault as PSA saw their benefit increase because of this ‘outsourcing.’ Last year PSA even noted a record increase in profitability of 47%.
Of course, the French manufacturers are trying to soothe the worried politicians and the public about the disappearing employment. At PSA they say that ‘star models’ like the DS 3 Crossback or the Peugeot 5008 are still made in France.
Renault says that it is going to make ‘ an epicentre of electric production’ of its Douai plant in Northern France. But in Flins, the new model of the very popular Clio (450.000 sales per year) will leave the factory. It will be replaced by Zoé.
This also thoroughly revised model is the best-selling electric Renault, but that meant only 40.000 units last year. Plans are to sell 60.000 to 120.000 units of it next year, but still, the people in Flins are asking themselves if this will be enough to compensate for Clio.
An electric car is far easier to produce and assemble compared to a classic one with an internal combustion engine. So when the electric car is finally breaking through, all manufacturers will struggle with a workforce surplus. And where will those disappear first? Where the cost is the highest.


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Apple's Beats brand in April unveiled the Powerbeats Pro, a redesigned wire-free version of its popular fitness-oriented Powerbeats earbuds.
Tim Cook Discusses Apple's Culture of Secrecy, Sapphire, and More in ABC News Interview
In the clip, Muir talked candidly to the trio of executives about Apple's culture of secrecy, the company's plans for its Arizona sapphire manufacturing plant and the iWatch. Cook was forthcoming in the interview about his work habits and Apple's rumored black curtains, but as usual he adeptly deflected questions about Apple's future product roadmap.
The full interview will air tonight at 6:30 PM on World News with Diane Sawyer.


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Almost every player of The Repopulation is eager to test the game’s A.00.00.00 update, but it’s going to take a little longer to arrive on the test servers. In essence, there are some issues with getting the test update uploaded and implemented, and thus the team behind the game is working on cleaning things up, including deleting a huge number of unused or temporary areas from the game’s areas. Ultimately, the goal is to change the whole push system for updates, but that change is being made in stages.
The team is also working on further updates for the next patch, starting with a cleaner version of character selection and creation. It’ll be a while before that’s ready for testing, but progress is being made. Players are also thanked for all of the work they’ve done in testing and offering feedback about the game in its current state, especially the tutorials and guidance when starting the game. Said testers will have to wait a little longer to test more, just the same.
Let’s get caught up on The Repopulation, shall we? Last week, Idea Fabrik recapped what it’s been working on in the beleaguered sci-fi sandbox, including data replication issues, desyncing bugs, the hints and tips system, UI cleanup, inventory design, improved combat targeting, and the new starter island. That new starter island in particular as well as the new targeting system for combat should land in an upcoming update.
“The new Starter Island design has been finalized and we will begin building the new terrain for this directly after this first Condorslug update is out,” says the studio. “This represents the first phase of the overall world revamp. We are expecting this to take about 8 weeks, as there are several changes to how ABT set up areas and terrain as opposed to the workflow and setup we have in place. Once this is done and we have good feedback, we will begin the rest of the world.”
Meanwhile, the studio is surveying players on a number of features, the most recent of which is a query on inventory systems.
So here we are in January, one whole year after Idea Fabrik bought The Repopulation from a beleaguered Above & Beyond. The new company got it back online last year, and how could it not, since it owns the engine, right? Today, IF’s published an annual update and roadmap to spell out just what’s coming to the sandbox in 2018.
The company says January has been focused on caching and performance, plus the new targeting system and newbie tutorial. As for the rest of the year, the team is working with an 8- to 10-week update schedule and a new patch numbering system to build out inventory fixes, a consolidated astronomy system, better harvesting and surveying, the farming and horticulture system, a unified race spec system, unified factions, updated guilds, crafting tweaks, new NPCs, a new dynamic mission system, camp spawners, the combat progression overhaul, player merchants, the auction house, the UI, and the housing revamp. It’s, well, everything.
And don’t forget the world revamp. “We want to give the players a full map instead of a partial world,” IF says, “so this will take the longest time development-wise and as a result will have a longer wait time.”
This is, bar none, the column I hate doing most on a regular basis. None of the games I highlight in here is something that I actually like pointing to; they’re games that people like, games that may very well be someone’s absolute favorites, and yet they’re also games where the future looks difficult if not outright bad. A cloudy future is never a good thing, and this particular column does not make it all right.
But we’re still here in the early days of 2018, and that means it’s still the right time to look at the games we might not see around next year. For various reasons, these are the games that already look like they’re in trouble, instead of absolute face-shattering surprises like a couple of the shutdowns last year.
How do you like to play video games? Specifically, how do you like to play The Repopulation? No, you don’t have to tell us, not even down in the comments; you can tell the designers directly with a pair of new surveys asking for details about how players want to experience the game. The concept is to just start off with two surveys but regularly add more, allowing the developers a nuanced and complete picture of how people are enjoying the game and how they can continue to improve.
To start with, the surveys ask about your experience in the world of The Repopulation and your preferred playstyle; future surveys are already planned to cover things like skill gaining, PvP, and so forth. If you’ve got opinions and want to make sure you’re heard, well, this seems like an obvious way to make that happen, doesn’t it?
Welcome to a special edition of Make My MMO, Massively OP’s regular recap of what’s going on in crowdfunded MMOs, which we do specifically for those of you who are convinced Kickstarter is the absolute worst (it’s not) and that no crowdfunded MMOs ever launch (they do). Plus, somebody’s got to keep an eye on what your money’s up to! Tonight’s edition isn’t going to be our usual recap of the last couple of weeks, however; we’re going to look at the most important MMO crowdfunding news of the entire year. Lock up your wallets and let’s get to it.
It’s a case of good news, bad news over at The Repopulation this month.
The scifi sandbox, which is now being handled by Idea Fabrik since the turnover from Above & Beyond earlier this year, released Update 10.2 today. The patch adds the player auction house, backer NPCs, and plenty of additions and adjustments to crafting. The scale of these changes apparently required a world wipe and restart for the NA server, which has now been renamed to Novus. The EU server was taken offline until and unless a larger community shows up to play.
The bad — or at least discouraging — news is that the developer said that it can’t make good on the game’s original backer tiers and will be delivering some sort of refund for them. “We are sad to announce that the purchasing of tiers will not be enabled at this time,” the company said. “We can not, in good conscience, sell a product which we can not support or provide content for. We’ll review the tiers to consider how to best compensate players. This may mean changes, but our intention is to provide you with proper compensation for your purchase.”
Idea Fabrik has a new forum post up on the state of sandbox MMO The Repopulation heralding the testing of update 10.2. There’s downside, however, as the studio says it will be wiping the servers and merging them to “enable the developers and the players to focus on community building in a single place.” That’ll mean the end of the EU server in the short term.
“Being that the wipe is occurring with this update and the populations are low on both servers, we thought it would be the perfect time to merge into one community and build upwards from there. If we decide bring up a single server, we would be disabling the EU server until later in development, after more systems are completed and the community grows again. This would allow players to make fresh characters on the server or move their current US East Characters across. We have several options on how we can handle this and would like your input now and in the future when you think we are ready to reopen the EU Server.”
Mark your calendars for next Wednesday, November 8th, because this is the day that The Repopulation will get back on the patch train once more.
This “massive” Patch 15.10.1 is primarily focused on improving the game’s engine and stability, but Idea Fabrik’s wall of patch notes tell a story of numerous other tweaks and other added features. Choice bits that are coming include world bosses, tournament fishing, smaller enemy camps, audio for synthetic instruments, a player talent show system, generic town cleanup tasks, a low-rez textures option, and 57 new profession titles.
Players returning to The Repopulation to check out this patch will not need to create new accounts, as old account info should have been transferred over to the new system.
“Now it’s up to everyone else to help test and move this alpha forward as we work on the next patch A01, which includes 10.2,” the team said. “More details for this will be coming up in the future.”
Fans of The Repopulation have been waiting for the game’s next patch for a little while, but it shouldn’t be much longer now. A new post on the official forum explains that it was ultimately a matter of custom scripts executing in just the wrong ways, creating way more files to be saved and bundled with patch revisions. That’s hopefully been fixed by the new management at Idea Fabrik and is being addressed, but that’s also the reason for all of the delays.
The game’s developers are also looking to the next stage of development by revamping the game’s existing map and giving more distinct visual identities to each faction’s individual architecture. The game’s extant lore isn’t being well-conveyed visually, according to the same post, so the goal is to help reinforce and emphasize the lore and worldbuilding that’s already in place.
Last but not least, the post also notes that backer rewards are being worked on, with the important caveat that funds for those backer rewards have not actually gone to the new management in charge of the title. But they’re still a priority.
Gosh, I had almost forgotten about Fragmented – it’s been a while! But it’s formally launched on Steam as of today for a discounted $5.99.
“Today we have moved Fragmented into a released state after 16 months and more than 30 patches in Early Access,” says Above and Beyond’s JC Smith, noting that launch “does not mean the end of updates” for the game; “tweaks and bug fixes” are still on the table.
Fragmented was originally created by A&B in the Great Repopulation Pause of 2015 as a survival sandbox spin-off of the The Repopulation, first Kickstarted in 2012. The MMORPG was crippled by a nasty public contract dispute between the dev team at A&B and its Hero Engine-lessor Idea Fabrik, driving The Repopulation offline and causing A&B to spend a year working on Fragmented instead. Earlier this year, the studio announced it had sold the game to Idea Fabrik instead, a move that A&B said was in the best interests of the game and the playerbase, while A&B kept Fragmented. Since then, Idea Fabrik has gotten The Repopulation back online in a limited alpha.
Back in January, we learned the fate of The Repopulation: The Hero Engine team from Idea Fabrik would be taking over development of the game from its original developers at Above & Beyond following a lengthy dispute between the two that took the alpha offline for more than a year. It returned online and relaunched on Steam earlier this spring, promising an update in May after major issues were discovered in the code.
And here we are now in May, and the new team says the staging build is nearly live. The latest dev post promises that the “core vision” is still in line with A&B’s, will stay away from pay-to-win, will expand “to include multiple play styles” for PvE and PvP, will consider new and different rulesets, and will lay the groundwork for “future expansions.” The update is dubbed Condorslug, “first and foremost the start of the renovation to replication within every game system, at its very core this is about bug fixing and trying to get things in a much better place.” Expect new shaders, redone heightmaps, new textures, and yes, wipes.
Oh yeah, and expect to shell out some dough too, as the studio is “aiming to re-enable the purchasing of higher tiers” once the dust has settled.
How’s The Repopulation coming along? Well, it’s coming. Last week, the newly installed Idea Fabrik developers discussed how the planned May update is progressing with bug fixes and a smoother pipeline for actually identifying, reporting, and correcting issues. The big news, however, is the new shaders that provide a big visual upgrade to the game world (though the team notes flora isn’t in — you can check out the before and after shots below).
“The lore team is looking at shoring up a few things, getting a consistency and looking at future ideas,” Hobble writes. “A new launcher is being built, this may or may not make 15.10.1, but there are a few inconsistencies to do with Steam/Stand Alone that we wish to sort out.”
And Hero Engine also brought back online the EU server, which was taken down for database issues yesterday.


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One in three could face Christmas debt hangover in 2012
By UK CreditCards.com
Almost a third of Britons will go into debt this Christmas, according to new research from Intelligent Environments.
The banking software company commissioned a survey of consumers which revealed that many will rely on credit cards, overdrafts and family members to get them through the festive period.
The poll also suggests that young people are having the hardest time managing their finances and that many would welcome more assistance in the form of email or mobile alerts.
31% to go into debt
The survey of 2,015 adults, which was conducted by YouGov on behalf of Intelligent Environments, revealed that 31% of Britons will go into some form of debt during the festive period.
Among this group, 58% said they would spend more than usual on their credit cards in order to pay for presents and entertainment, while 39% expect to go into their bank overdraft. A further 11% will borrow money from family and friends, with 6% relying on personal loans.
YouGov's poll also found that young people are finding it particularly difficult to manage their money. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of 25 to 34-year-old respondents said they were facing debts or arrears, while 26% of participants admitted they go into their overdraft at least once per month.
"Christmas is typically a cash-strapped time of the year, but as harsher economic conditions start to bite, the number of people falling into debt or behind on their payments looks set to rise," said Jerry Mulle, sales and marketing director at Intelligent Environments. "Financial institutions therefore have a duty to help customers better manage their finances and make it easier for them to repay their debts."
Online and mobile alerts could help
One way that Mr Mulle believes banks can help customers is by alerting them via text message or email when they are at risk of going overdrawn or have missed a credit card repayment. This is supported by the one in four survey participants who thought online and mobile alerts would help them to avoid slipping into debt.
"As the uptake of smartphones and tablets continues to grow, interactions across digital platforms have become the norm," Mr Mulle observed. "As a result, online and mobile channels are becoming increasingly relevant to consumers struggling with debt by providing them with the convenience and privacy they desire to manage their arrears."See related: 6 tips for holiday shoppers; Study: Nearly half of Brits haven't saved for the holidays
Published: 13 December 2011
- The best way to pay for your Christmas spending – What's the best way to pay for your holiday spending: credit? Debit? Prepaid card? Here's how to choose ...
- How to make the most out of Black Friday and Cyber Monday – Here's how to survive Black Friday (and the entire holiday shopping season) with your budget and personal data intact ...
- Why we impulse spend - and how to stop – Understanding the motivation behind impulse shopping is key to spotting our impulse buying patterns and ending them ...


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When the King of Mandopop announced his 2020 Malaysian concert that’s happening next month, tickets were snapped up fast by his legion of loyal fans.
But if you didn’t manage to get any tickets the first time around to see Jay Chou live in concert, don’t worry – due to popular demand, tickets are now back in stock!
A limited number of tickets for CAT4 and CAT8 are going on sale soon, for RM588 and RM288 respectively. Ticket prices do not include RM4 ticketing fee.
You can get them at https://premier.ticketcharge.com.my once they go live this 9 January (Thursday) at 10am.
|Check out the seating plan to see what seats the
CAT4 and CAT8 tickets would get you.
Here’s a reminder of the concert’s details.
Date: 29 February 2020 (Saturday)
Venue: National Stadium, Bukit Jalil
“Jay Chou Carnival World Tour”, which is the singer’s 8th world tour, celebrates his 20 years in music and – as the name states – revolves around a carnival theme. He also stops by Singapore on 10 and 11 January, although (of course) those tickets have been sold out for months now.
So fans in Malaysia, don’t miss your last chance to grab these tickets!


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LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Finnish mobile-phone maker Nokia Corp. NOK, -1.43% fi:nok1v on Thursday reported a second-quarter net loss of 10 euro cents a share compared to a profit of 6 euro cents a share in the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share fell to 6 euro cents from 11 euro cents. Nokia posted an operating loss of 487 million euros compared to an operating profit of 295 million euros in the same period a year ago. Net sales fell 7% to 9.28 billion euros. Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop said the firm was "making better-than-expected progress toward our strategic goals." He also said Nokia has a clear strategy to address concerns about its product competitiveness. Shares of Nokia rallied 5% in Helsinki following the results, erasing earlier losses.
Nokia posts loss, but touts progress on goals


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AEG supports the nation’s food banks
The AEG x Food 4 Heroes partnership will shake up the variety of food options on offer at food banks, and thanks to a suite of cooling appliances supplied by AEG, food banks will be able to store perishable products for the first time.
Food 4 Heroes, a community interest company, was set up in March with an ambition to bring healthy and nutritious meals to frontline NHS workers. It was working with chefs from pubs, restaurants and other catering facilities to create nutritious meals for those in need. To date, the initiative has delivered 230,000 meals across 43 hospitals throughout England.
Now, in partnership with the kitchen appliance brand, the charity is turning its attention to serving the nation’s food banks.
With job losses, businesses closing, numerous industries temporarily closing down and schools shutting during the Coronavirus pandemic, there’s been an unparalleled strain on Britain’s food banks. According to The Trussell Trust, a 61 per cent increase in food parcels is forecasted across the UK from October to December this year.
The average food parcel contains sufficient nutrition for adults and children, for at least three days of healthy, balanced meals. However, at present, due to a lack of refrigeration and freezers, the majority of food banks in the UK are limited to serving food parcels with non-perishable items such as pasta, rice and tinned food.
Starting with a pilot scheme in Northampton, AEG and Food 4 Heroes will be supporting three local food banks: KCU, Weston Favell and Daventry. Each site will have an integrated, frost-free AEG fridge freezer installed. Featuring the manufacturer’s Twin-Tech technology, the appliances are designed to preserve the taste and texture of food so that it stays fresher for longer.
Luke Harding, General Manager at Electrolux UK and Ireland, commented: “In 2019, Electrolux made a global commitment to support 300,000 people through initiatives which would educate and enable healthy eating. In working together with Food 4 Heroes, AEG will provide the vital technologies to support food banks to elevate their offering – storing perishable items and more food than ever before as these vital support systems find themselves under increasing pressure this winter.”
Following the initial pilot, AEG and Food 4 Heroes aim to expand the scheme to a further 50 sites within the next 12 months.
John Brownhill, Founder at Food 4 Heroes, said: “The coronavirus crisis put an unprecedented strain on Britain’s food banks. The UK saw an 89 per cent increase in demand through the pandemic, and that figure is set to increase in the coming months.
“We are delighted to be working with AEG to support the first three local food banks in Northampton this autumn.”


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New Delhi– Placing a strong bet on India’s creator and developer community, Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that as the social network begins initial steps to create augmented reality (AR)- driven Metaverse experiences for billions, the country and its vast pool of talent is going to be a huge part of that journey.
Speaking at the company’s ‘Fuel for India’ event, Zuckerberg said that he is really excited about the role that India will play in building the future of Metaverse, which is going to be the successor to the mobile internet.
“That is because India’s talent pool — the engineers, developers and creators and the whole vibrant startup ecosystem — is playing a huge role in shaping the future. India is on track to have the largest app developer base in the world by 2024. It already has one of the largest ‘Spark AR’ developer communities,” Zuckerberg told Vishal Shah, VP, Metaverse during a conversation.
He said that the online gaming sector in India has seen a lot of growth over the past few years and “our investment in gaming in the country keeps growing as we look to how it’s going to take shape in the Metaverse”.
“We’re investing in other growing areas like education and social commerce like in Unacademy and Meesho, which are important use cases as we think about the future that we’re building,” Zuckerberg said.
Saluting the entrepreneurial spirit of India, the Meta CEO said that this is already fuelling a lot of the internet economy in India.
“When we’re thinking about what the next generation is going to look like in terms of, you know, where all these creators and developers are going to come from, who are going to really build the foundation of the Metaverse, I think it’s just obvious that India is going to be a huge part of that,” he stressed.
Zuckerberg said that India is the biggest country in the world that uses Facebook and WhatsApp today.
“Instagram is also growing incredibly quickly in the country,” he added. (IANS)


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The most common myths and misconceptions aboot Canada, eh


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London based multi-brand concept footwear label Heel and Buckle which was brought in India by Naaysa Lifestyle has recently launched its webstore. “Heelandbuckle.com represents another opportunity for new and existing customers to shop and interact with Heel and Buckle, and we believe it will be a strong contributor to the continued growth and success of the Heel and Buckle brand in India,” said Dhiraj Bhatija, joint managing director of Naaysa Lifestyle.
The new store will allow users to access all its products including footwear and accessories for both men and women online.
Heel and Buckle was launched as a bespoke studio in London’s Hampstead, in 2011. Being a multi-brand concept footwear label, it stocks only those designs which it finds worthy for its clientele.
Few brands available on the store include Rad Russel, Alessandro Magnanni, Paco Gil, Pazzion etc.
Users can select products based on type, size, style and colour.
The store also has a unique Home Service, where it puts together shoes of a particular size and style and delivers them to the customer with a sales specialist, who will walk the customer through the process of purchasing a shoe.
Currently the store in delivering products in few states including Andhra Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and more. While it is process of introducing shipping in a few more cities including Assam, Kerala, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh etc.
Wells looks now no offline play is willing to avoid online as its channel of sales, as we have seen in past week a number of offline brands going online including 109F, HM Megabrands, even logistics company DTDC recently launched its ecommerce arm and also travel bags and luggage brand Safari Bags is soon going to launch its online store.
To contact author of this post, email firstname.lastname@example.org


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Remarks by Bank of Israel Research Department Director Prof. Michel Strawczynski at the Bar-Ilan University Marcoeconomic Forum
· The COVID-19 crisis has had an adverse impact on the income of the self-employed and salaried employees. The economic shutdown was focused on industries with a high proportion of self-employed individuals such as tourism, cultural performances, and events. The adverse impact on this group was therefore relatively high.
· The second wave of the pandemic has led to an increase in the impact on household income, with a retreat from the improvement that was experienced in June, such that the impact in July returned to the rates that had been seen in May. However, this level is less than the impact recorded at the height of the crisis in April (Figure 1).
· Households that suffered from the impact of the shutdown generally include self-employed individuals from the low income deciles (1–4). The percentage of households with a sole wage-earner who is self-employed, who remained without income, declined from 45 percent at the height of the crisis to 22 percent in July. The safety net moderated the adverse impact these families suffered.
· The closure measures recently adopted by the government, which are intended to cut off the contagion chain, are expected to cause a further negative impact to household income. The fact that the economy is better prepared for working from home, and the planned vacation during the holiday season, are expected to moderate the impact to economic activity.
Prof. Strawczynski opened his remarks with an explanation of a simulation carried out at the Bank of Israel, which examined the percentage of households adversely affected by the economic shutdown and the chances that a household would remain without a wage-earner. In this context, he showed that the second wave of the pandemic that is currently hitting the Israeli economy has led to an economic retreat and a repeat impact on households’ income. According to the simulation, which is based on the characteristics of the shutdown by industry, the impact to household income was most noticeable in the low income deciles (1–4), where the average impact declined from about 24 percent at the height of the crisis (April) to about 4 percent in June, and then increased back to about 7 percent in July, similar to the level observed in May (Figure 1). While on average, the percentage of households that remained without wage-earners in the lower deciles was estimated at about 11 percent, the average in the highest deciles (8–10) was estimated at about 7 percent of households (Figure 1).
Prof. Strawczynski also discussed the adverse impact of the shutdown on the self-employed and on salaried employees. The impact was partly offset by government support in the form of unemployment benefits to salaried employees on unpaid leave, and grants and municipal tax discounts to the self-employed. While the likelihood of a household in the lower deciles (1-4) with a self-employed single wage-earner remaining without work was estimated at about 45 percent at the height of the crisis in April, this likelihood declined to about 22 percent in July. For a household belonging to the highest deciles (8–10), the likelihood declined from 38 percent in April to 22 percent in July (Figure 2).
In contrast, in households where the main wage-earner is a salaried employee, the rate of those remaining without income declined from 34 percent in April to 15 percent in July among households in the lowest deciles, and from 24 percent to 14 percent among those in the highest deciles.
Prof. Strawczynski emphasized that the second wave involves a reduction of economic functioning, and that it is decisively important to adhere to the purple badge regulations and healthcare instructions set out by the government. In particular, the closure decisions recently made are intended to cut off the contagion and reduce the impact to households following the closure. However, during the closure period, we can estimate that there will be an increase in the percentage of households that will be adversely impacted compared with the situation in July. At the same time, the fact that the economy is better prepared for working from home, and the fact that the holiday period generally brings with it vacations from work, are expected to moderate the impact. According to Strawczynski, it is vitally important to activate an improved employment program that will include flexible unpaid leave and an employment grant for firms that will help moderate the unemployment rate—which in its broad definition currently stands at about 12 percent (about 500,000 unemployed).