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CLOTH consortium released a guideline of lessons learned and recommendations to Fashion clusters and SMEs
What are the main challenges of the fashion sector? How can European Union (EU) SMEs face them? These are the questions the CLOTH partnership answered thanks to its results achieved and lessons learned during the last two years of the project implementation.
CLOTH Project, the european alliance which brings together individuals, companies and clusters working on the transformation of the fashion sector towards sustainability and digital is announcing the launch of its fashion platform, avalable at https://fashion.clothproject.eu
WORTH Partnership Project is funded by the European Commission under COSME, the EU Programme for the competitiveness of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. WORTH is the sole European project where designers, SMEs, manufacturers, and tech providers work together to develop innovative, design-oriented business ideas. The project focuses on lifestyle industries, including fashion and textile, footwear, leather and fur, furniture/home decoration/interior design, jewellery and accessories.
Today, the European DIGITAL SME Alliance organised its General Assembly setting out a new vision for Innovation Made in Europe. The event highlighted the crucial role of ICT small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in advancing Europe’s digital and green transitions and tackling strategic challenges, such as resilience and the energy crisis.
The ELIIT project will provide direct financial support for 25 partnerships between SMEs and technology providers/owners to enhance competitiveness, integrate technologies in SMEs, foster new, innovative or high-added value products, processes or services developed in collaboration. Deadline for application: 14 April 2021, 17.00 CET.


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One-liner: Target’s streak of strong results extended into its latest quarter but its skyrocketing online sales growth has lost some steam.
Relevance: The growth of any business during the pandemic will be invariably characterized by some degree of volatility.
Growth: The Minneapolis retailer reported that sales at its stores that have been open for at least a year rose 8.7% in the three-month period that ended July 31. That was on top of a 10.9% growth in the same 2020 span.
Pandemic vagaries: Like Walmart, Target saw a slowdown from last year’s blistering online sales growth as more shoppers emerged from their pandemic-induced isolation.
Tapering growth: Target’s online sales rose 10% in Q2, compared to a 195% surge in the year-ago period. It was also a slowdown from the first three months of the year when online sales soared 50% from a year ago.
Adjusted targets: The company said on Wednesday that it expects high single-digit percentage growth in comparable sales, near the high end of its previous guidance range.
New reality: Major retailers are putting up quarterly earnings numbers this week and at Target, like Walmart and Home Depot, there is data that points to near normalcy for American shoppers.
- At this point last year, millions were stocking up on food and preparing for a long stay at home. This year, the same crowd has emerged from hibernation (to an extent), buying clothes, eating out and traveling
Changing trends: The same trends are playing out at Home Depot and Lowe’s, which also reported earnings this week. Sales are still strong, but the do-it-yourself craze that began with homeowners at the start of the pandemic has cooled.
Compounding factors: Retailers are wary of the recovery as the delta variant of Covid surges across the US and mask mandates are reinstated. They’re also grappling with higher prices just as the temporary govt stimulus and other benefits, are being retracted and supply is waning.
Unchanged spending: “We have a very resilient consumer, we are not seeing any adjustment in consumer behavior.” - Brian Cornell, Target CEO
Expected targets: Analysts were expecting adjusted earnings of $3.51 per share on revenue of $24.99bn, according to FactSet.
Changing composition: Target’s online sales growth was driven by same-day services like order pickup and drive-up. Such services were up 55% in the latest quarter, but down from 270% growth last year. More than 95% of Target’s Q2 sales were fulfilled by its stores.
Diversified sales: Sales grew across all five major product categories tracked by Target, led by clothing, whose sales saw a double-digit percentage growth.
- Cornell told reporters that many traditional back-to-school items like backpacks, lunch boxes and school uniforms are selling well
Beauty shops: Earlier this month, Target launched the first mini Ulta Beauty shops. The shops are about 1,000 square feet and carry makeup, skincare, and fragrance, operate beside existing beauty sections in Target stores.
This is original content from NewsBreak’s Creator Program. Join today to publish and share your own content.

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Chicago, Illinois (PRWEB) January 20, 2016
Analyte Health, a digital health company specializing in telehealth and diagnostic testing, announced today that Christopher Jowett has joined the company as Chief Product Officer, reporting to CEO Dr. Frank Cockerill.
Mr. Jowett will lead the expansion of the Analyte Health product line, establishing broader consumer access to laboratory testing for diagnosis and monitoring of disease. Analyte Health sets the standard for improving access to convenient and affordable care for the detection, treatment and prevention of infectious and chronic disease with on-demand digital access to medical providers and follow-up care.
For the past 25 years, Chris has worked with global teams at Abbott Laboratories developing diagnostic products in Infectious Disease, Oncology, Genetics, and Diabetes. He has had multiple leadership roles with Abbott Diagnostics, Abbott Diabetes, and Abbott Molecular leading the development and global launch of diagnostic assays and automated instruments providing improved testing solutions for the core laboratory and at the point of care. His leadership managing cross-functional teams and collaborating with physicians, laboratories and the pharmaceutical industry has facilitated the development of innovative diagnostic assays to improve healthcare around the world.
“I am thrilled to welcome Chris to our leadership team,” said Frank Cockerill, Chief Executive Officer. “His background in the field of diagnostics will help catapult Analyte Health into new clinical areas to deliver high impact results for health consumers and our partners.”
“My passion is improving ways we can make a difference in people’s health and wellness,” said Christopher Jowett. “It’s exciting to join the leadership team at Analyte Health as we build on our success and implement ways we can improve consumer access to diagnostics and leverage new and innovative technologies.”
Read more about Analyte Health here: http://www.analytehealth.com/about-us/
About Analyte Health, Inc.
Analyte Health is a digital healthcare company specializing in diagnostics and care delivery. Its mission is to provide convenient access to education, navigation, diagnostic testing, personalized results and recommendations to consumers through its digital clinics. Analyte Health offers access via the phone and the web to a national team of doctors and partner diagnostic labs. More information about the company is available at http://www.AnalyteHealth.com.
Analyte Health, Inc. is a privately held company. This press release may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the expected benefits to consumers from using Analyte Health's services. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results due to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, the potential impact of regulatory and third party payer developments in the field of telehealth, general business and economic conditions, changes in arrangements with vendors or suppliers, and costs or delays in obtaining or maintaining regulatory approvals and licenses. Any forward-looking statements in this release are based on limited information currently available to Analyte Health, which is subject to change, and Analyte Health will not necessarily update the information.
CONTACT: Michelle Sobel, 708-602-2607, michelle(at)analytehealth(dot)com


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Elon Musk has a lot going on right now. In the week since he bought Twitter for $44 billion, he fired its upper management and laid off thousands of employees, declared himself CEO and sole director, and used tweets and memes to publicly thrash out a dubious business plan that involves charging users $8 a month for benefits that include a blue check mark.
All that is just Musk’s new side gig. The world’s richest man is perhaps now its busiest, revamping Twitter while also serving as CEO of electric-auto maker Tesla; rocket maker SpaceX; the Boring Company, which digs tunnels for transit; and Neuralink, which is testing brain implants meant to eventually connect humans with computers.
How does Musk manage and lead all those complex projects at the same time? His performance is probably patchy—and at risk of getting more so. “It's not possible for a CEO to run four or five companies equally effectively,” says David Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School who has studied Musk and his businesses. “That's not the expectation we should have.” Taking on a new CEO role at a company in an unfamiliar industry at a time when Musk’s other ventures face complex challenges will only make juggling them all more difficult.
It’s not a good time for Musk to be distracted from Tesla, his most valuable company. Under his management it has made strides in battery technology, production, and automated driving, and has rapidly ramped up sales. The company delivered an impressive 343,000 vehicles worldwide in the third quarter of 2022, an increase of more than a third over the same period a year earlier. But Tesla faces pressure from other automakers producing competitive electric vehicles of their own, and it has a deepening and potentially difficult dependency on China.
More than a dozen new EVs from various brands will debut in the US alone in the next couple of years. A Bank of America Merrill Lynch report published in June estimated that Tesla’s share of the EV market could decline from over 70 percent in 2021 to the low teens by 2025. The company is also facing several lawsuits over accidents involving Tesla’s Autopilot automated driving system and, according to a recent report from Reuters, a criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice into Tesla’s “full self-driving” software package that cannot fully self-drive.
Tesla’s dependence on China brings competitive and political risks. The company sources crucial raw materials from Chinese mines, and almost half its manufacturing capacity is now in a vast factory in Shanghai. But China’s automakers are rapidly electrifying, and its government has shown willingness to pressure Musk politically. In October, Musk told the Financial Times that China had told him it disapproved of the rollout of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine. The entrepreneur went on to parrot Chinese policy on Taiwan, saying that the country should become a “special administrative zone” of China.
Operating in China could get more difficult for Musk if the country’s leaders dislike how he operates Twitter. Government news sources there have complained that the platform labels its staff on the platform as “China state-affiliated media,” and Twitter recently disrupted China-based operations said to be using the site to influence the US midterm elections.


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Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation (MMPRC) is preparing to launch a special event to kickstart the archipelago's efforts to reopen its tourism industry.
MMPRC said the event titled 'Maldives - The Sun Will Shine Again' will take place virtually via Facebook Live on June 8. Well-wishers from around the world will join in on the event to show their love for the island destination. The event will remind the world of the country's natural beauty, said MMPRC. The 3-hour event aims to take viewers on a virtual journey to rediscover the beautiful islands of the Maldives, as the tourism industry heads towards recovery, said MMPRC.
The Maldives closed its borders to tourists on March 27 as a precautionary measure against COVID-19. The government on Wednesday announced its plans to ease the lockdown imposed on capital Male' and re-open the tourism industry. Authorities are hopeful that scheduled international flights can be resumed by the end of June.


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The automaker unsheathed three of its newly sharpened claws at the New York Auto Show in the forms of the 2012 XF, XJ and XK, but before that we spent a day at the company's Whitley Engineering Center in the English midlands to learn what went into those cars and what will come after them.
In Part 1 of our Deep Dive we'll look at the numbers, the future and the message of the new Jaguar, while in Part 2 we'll check out the technology and powertrains and drive the 2.2-liter diesel (that, of course, won't be coming to the U.S.). While we can't speak for the cat, the future could be quite promising for this storied English concern. Continue reading...
|Brand/Company||Vol. %||Volume 2010||Volume 2009||DSR*%||DSR% 2010||DSR% 2009|
Jaguar/ Land Rover sold 232,839 vehicles worldwide in 2010, and in an era in which auto sales are down, money and credit are supposedly scarce, and big, gas-guzzling SUVs are said to have futures as bright as rectums, less than one-third of those sales were Jaguars.
As the world turns for JLR sales, so does the U.S.: Land Rover moved 31,864 units in 2010, Jaguar scooted a mere 13,340 off of lots. Of brands that are still alive today, only Smart and Saab sold fewer cars than Jaguar did in America last year – and Saab spent at least half of 2010 lying prone on an emergency room gurney wavering between 'clinically dead' and 'zombie.' For Jaguar, a company with the outstanding XF, thrilling XJ and massively gorgeous XK, that is a serious issue.
Look the other way, and there's practically an Astronomical Unit – that's 93 million miles – between Jaguar's American numbers and those of its German nemeses. Porsche did twice The Leaping Cat's business, Audi surpassed it by a factor of eight, and Mercedes-Benz and BMW each did 20 times Jaguar's sales.
The quaternary solution as laid out by Frank Klaas, Jaguar's global head of communications, is "new markets, new segments, new technology, new ideas." And there is a fifth element he did not mention: enough money to wallpaper Brazil.
Finbar McFall, global product marketing director for Land Rover, said there would be " 40 significant product actions" for Jaguar/Land Rover in the next five years, funded by an annual expenditure of £1 billion ($1.65B U.S.) for product creation and supported by the hiring of 1,000 additional engineers.
New markets and new segments won't just be about brand new cars; maximizing the reach of Jaguar's current models is foremost on the agenda. For instance, "The XF has six percent of the European premium market, but 49% of [that segment] overall is four-cylinder cars," said Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar's global brand director. "Sixty to seventy percent of the German [competition] is four-cylinders. There is no XF four-cylinder, so we're locked out of half the market." Hence the new, 2.2-liter diesel.
It is a situation replicated across the globe. "In China," said Hallmark, "ten percent of luxury premium sales is eight-cylinders, 85-to-90% is six-cylinders, but Jaguar had no six-cylinder there." Order an XJ in China with the 5.0-liter V8 and you could pay £200,000, but "a V6 car with the same spec as that V8 is £100,000 due to [smaller] capacity taxes and other taxes." Hence the 3.0-liter diesel V6 that will be heading to China.
One more example: Hallmark said that 25 percent of the premium sedan segment in the U.S. is all-wheel-drive cars, and that Jaguar moves 70 percent of its metal in the snow belt – but the marque doesn't offer AWD. "This is about the ability to compete where the brand sells." Hence the... well, they didn't tell us how that one was going to go down, but we do know it's going to go down by 2013.
Those are gaps in the line that have made it a challenge for Jaguar to even defend its market share, never mind enlarging it, and that led Hallmark to characterize Jaguar not as a global brand but as a British brand that sells its wares overseas. "The internationalization of Jaguar is vital to grow our market share," he said in a separate interview. "We need to be more market specific in the cars we sell around the world."
Looking ahead, Jaguar describes a playing field that not only has tweaked models, but all-new ones like a production version of the C-X75 concept (above) that was just announced. Hallmark said "We need to launch different cars, new products in different body styles at lower prices," and "Look at what [the Germans] did and what we haven't done – in the next five years we have to catch up on everything we didn't do in the last 20."
The shift he has in mind is drastic enough that it will alter the placement of the cars Jaguar has right now. "We want to move each vehicle up," he said, "bring a whole new range of cars that sit where we are today."
Topside, that would mean "putting the XJ against the bottom of the Bentley Flying Spur." His pitch to that end: "We'll always be lighter and more agile than a Bentley." There will also be a top-tier offering that hasn't been seen in the range since 1996.
Nevertheless, it is arguably more important to have something down below. "Our cars start at £30,000 in the UK," he said, referencing the XF SE with the 2.2-liter diesel with a £30,095 base price, "but the segment beneath that price is four times larger." That makes a smaller Jaguar crucial.
We were assured that this would not result in some gluttony of greased-up product planning fornication, begetting so many new models and trim designations that customers need a dynastic flowchart and DNA kit to tell the family apart. "We're not looking to sell one million cars a year," we were told. "We wish to remain niche."
When pressed as to what kind of number he meant by "niche," and how Jaguar could stay niche and profitable, Hallmark told a story from his time at Bentley of a gent he called "Chuck from Newport Beach."
Before the Continental GT was introduced, "in Bentley focus groups we showed the car and people said 'That's not a Bentley.' But Chuck from Newport Beach said 'When I come to a stop sign and I'm in an S-Class and the other three cars at the intersection are all S-Classes, I wouldn't buy a Bentley, but one of them would.'" At the time, Hallmark said when it came to Bentley, "I can live with 25 percent of the S-Class market." In the U.S. last year, sales of the S-Class alone outdid Jaguar's total U.S. sales by about 300 units, the moral of the story for Jaguar being, "There's plenty of room to take off the top."
When any maker pledges to stay niche, talk of technology isn't far behind, with Hallmark acknowledging "increasing the use of aluminum structures and introducing hybrids" as part of the five-year plan. In the lead-up, partnerships such as the one with French firm Dassault Systemes will aid in 3D product-development tools.
And although Jaguar officially denies it, a number of since-retracted statements indicate that JLR is speaking to China's Great Wall about a venture there. The brand saw a 95-percent increase in sales in China alone last year yet does not have a tie-up with a local firm for production, and it sees "that's where the market opportunity really is." India, naturally, is another market ripe for increase.
Nor did Jaguar's presentation put any numbers to its sales ambitions beyond saying that we'll "start to see action" on the new model front in 2013, while AWD will also come in the next two years. But Hallmark, who spent nearly two decades at Porsche, Bentley and VW, did attempt to lay a foundation for the ambitions.
"We're in a better position now than Porsche was when I was there in the early 90s," he said, when he would have had the 964-model 911, 944 and 928 occupying forecourts for Porsche Great Britain in 1991. " Porsche was the 911 company, and since the 911 arrived Porsche didn't have two cars that did well in the market at the same time."
A compelling parallel... if only Jaguar had Volkswagen's money...
Or even VW's marketing budget. Hallmark said that Jaguar's global marketing allowance is smaller than VW's U.S. marketing budget (which is in turn, according to Hallmark, smaller than Toyota's marketing spend in California alone). We'd like to know how Jaguar is going to communicate all of this new product, and we're wondering how it will manage to blend its heritage message with a modern message in a way that's less wistful than reminders that "We built the E-Type."
Pulled off correctly, it will also require less memory loss, such as the humorous bit of Rip Van Winkle during the session when Ian Callum introduced the 2012 XK and XKR-S. His slideshow began with the 1948 XK120 and captioned its significance, "Beautiful lines." The next six slides were the 1957 XK150 ("Pure surfacing"), 1951 C-Type ("Muscular stance"), 1953 D-Type ("Exciting proportions"), 1961 E-Type ("Ground-breaking aesthetics"), 1966 XJ13 ("Perfect balance"), and the 1975 XJS ("Driven by aerodynamics").
The next slide: the C-X75 Concept ("Future vision") introduced at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. In effect, that meant 35 years of Jaguar history brushed off with, "Move along, folks, there's nothing to see here." And future vision needed to step back a further nine years to tie the C-X75 to the 1966 XJ13.
It is not that Jaguar should rid itself of the historical argument – the brand is only alive today because it has sold the automotive equivalent of sex, and accessible Englishness, to playboys and plutocrats round the world and those who wished to be like them. That is why, as Hallmark said, "People are receptive to the idea of Jaguars. In the marketplace, people want Jag to win."
But that is also why he added, "We just need to do more with it. Jaguar has a fantastic heritage and a very strong position in the market, but we're not as relevant, not as clear in the minds of consumers. The brand of tomorrow cannot just be the brand of yesteryear. "
Part of that is down to the incongruity of Jaguar buyers. "What is the Jag driver?" was Hallmark's rhetorical question. "You sit the three Jag drivers in a room and they all look at each other like, 'You drive a Jag?'"
No matter how many new, great models the brand introduces, it will need to come up with a coherent and consistent message to tie the shebang together – or else, buyers will keep asking that question of each other.
What's more, Jaguar is going to have to get that message to a group that might be even more important: its dealers who were leaving company offerings on the table, certain that customers didn't want them. In the U.S., according to Callum, "dealers said they didn't want the French Racing Blue" of the XKR-S. "I tell them 'Not the customer you have, but the customer you want.'" Sales of the Black Pack, which U.S. dealers also didn't want, have been more than double the estimates.
"Everyone," said Callum, "is going to have to come to the idea of the new Jag."
That idea involves incrementally yet comprehensively superior features, a few of which, as usual, can't even get a tourist visa to visit the United States. In Part 2, we'll break them down then take them for a ride.


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Market researcher App Annie, which analyzes the applications industry, released a report that estimates the size of this market. According to App Annie, in 2017, apps have generated revenues of $ 86 billion. Furthermore, it suggests that the app economy will almost double by 2020, reaching $ 101 billion dollars.
State of the global market
Global growth will be driven by two factors: increased use of apps in developing markets and improved revenue from paid apps in mature markets.
Mexico, Argentina, India and Indonesia, have an enormous opportunity as fast-growing markets. Despite economic recessions, the app industry has continued to grow. For example, countries like Argentina and Brazil had very strong growth in the app market in 2015. App revenue in Brazil has grown 40 percent in 2016.
Mature markets will continue to grow as China and India have surpassed the US in terms of total application store revenue in the last years. Although users in United States have reduced the total number of app downloads, they spend more on the services they use, which will result in revenue growth for developers and stores.
App revenue sources
Global revenue generated from the App Store and Google Play, the two largest mobile app stores with global operations, rose 40 percent in 2016 from $ 25 to $ 35 billion. The Apple store accounted for almost 70 percent of the total. If Android independent stores and mobile advertising revenue are included, worldwide app revenue was $ 89 billion dollars last year. It’s worth noting that these numbers do not include physical merchandise sales from retailer apps or online-to-offline services such as Uber, as their payment process does not use billing systems from app stores.
App Annie estimates that 284 billion mobile app will be downloaded by 2020. The smartphone user base should more than double by then. The Apple Store is expected to remain the largest revenue-generating retailer of its kind in 2017. From then on, the Google Play Store is likely to surpass it thanks to the popularity of the Android system in developing countries.
Most of the revenue, as usual, comes from games. This category accounted for 75% of the revenue on the App Store and 90% on Google Play. In the App Store, the RPG games subcategory alone accounted for half of the revenue growth in 2016.
Revenue by app segment
Video games will remain at the top of the major revenue generators in the app industry. Non-gaming app revenue will account for 25% of all app store expenditure. The consultancy also estimates that 101 billion dollars are direct sales and subscriptions.
By 2020, video games will hold 55 percent of total app industry revenue, $ 53.08 billion in store sales revenue and $ 51.4 billion in advertising revenue. The other apps, will account for the rest (45%), $ 65.8 billion from advertising and $ 18.8 billion from store sales. It should be noted that the participation of the games is falling gradually. In 2015, they accounted for 66% of the total as the App Annie infographic mentions. For non-gaming apps, social and video networking categories are what drive growth.
Downloads and revenue ranking 2017
The most downloaded apps
- Facebook Messenger
The most downloaded games
- Subway Surfers
- Honour of Kings
- Clash Royale
- My Talking Tom
- Super Mario Run
The apps (excluding games) that generated the most revenue
- Tencent Video
- Pandora Radio
The games that generated the most revenue
- Honour of Kings
- Monster Strike
- Fate/Grand Order
- Lineage 2 Revolution
- Fantasy Westward Journey


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Pokemon Go, who? Warner Bros has the next best thing coming: a Harry Potter interactive game that will bring all fans together.
Warner Bros Entertainment has announced that their Harry Potter mobile game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, will be out sometime this summer.
The game is being developed by WB Games in San Francisco with the creators of Pokemon Go, Niantic, and was announced late last year with a trailer of what fans can expect.
Warner Bros Entertainment CEO, Kevin Tsujihara, recently talked with LA Times about the new technology projects the company is exploring, with him mentioning the upcoming Harry Potter game.
“The one that’s the closest is this Harry Potter: Wizards Unite [augmented reality] video game project coming out this summer from Niantic, the maker of Pokemon Go,” Tsujihara said. “That’s a world where, clearly, 5G and faster connectivity with a mobile device is going to make that game better.”
Obviously a summer release date would mean that users could go out and use the app more, as schools are let off.
The website has revealed little spoilers of what fans can expect to see on the app, but their Twitter page has been posting about it more frequently.
This discombobulated Niffler hoarding gold coins was just spotted at an arcade in England! Join the Statute of Secrecy Task Force and be ready to help: https://t.co/yncZnX96zz #WizardsUnite pic.twitter.com/Ythzvv4XdZ— Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (@HPWizardsUnite) February 14, 2019
Get your wands ready, because we have a feeling this game is going to go big.


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An article relating to this blog post on Finextra:
Half of online bankers who click on phishing links have login details stolen - Trusteer
Just one per cent of online bankers in the US and Europe are tricked into visiting phishing sites but once there, over half of these end up handing over their login details, according to research from...
Trusteer's release on the connection between phishing and individual's loss of log in information is quite interesting; what's needed for the financial technology and security now is to create an actual correlation between these two events (everyday online
consumer behavior and criminal activity) and the final "missing link" of actual transactional fraud. Theories over the correlation between consumer behavior and fraud abound, yet empirical correlation has thus far been entirely elusive. As the founder of the
company that has conducted over 20,000 phone-based interviews to determine the actual correlation between consumer victim behavior and transactional fraud (based on an ever-expansion of original US Federal Trade Commission methodology), I know well the limits
of research. My conclusion thus far is that there is much damage being done in both the cyber and traditional realms, yet education and prioritization remains challenging for security professionals due to limits on research data. It's not clear to me how Trusteer
made their calculations, but the findings seem within the realm of distinct possibility. Note that our data show the average ID fraud victim (of both new and existing account activity) suffering nearly US $5000 in fraud and $496 and 30 hours of personal impact.
A key limiting factor is that fully 65% of victims cannot confidently correlate crime #1 (how the data was accessed) with crime #2 (how the fraud was conducted). Bankers, consumers and third party experts must continually adapt to the latest threats, and we're
in the middle of releasing a trio of related reports (Bank Safety Scorecard, Web App threats, and integration of OWASP standards) on how to do this. Note that our web apps report will show that nearly half of all top US banks are not encrypting various aspects
of customer web communication forms. Each year we continue to learn more and more about this crucial correlation, and 2010 will be no exception. Yet the missing link is empirical evidence between how the data was accessed and how the criminals misused the
data for financial gain.


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As some anonymous but folksy wag once put it:
History has a way of chasing its tail and then biting harder.
Older millennials might recall the dubious origins of Facebook and why it ultimately wound up creeping them out:
- First of all, Mark Zuckerberg was a fairly devious partner, and
- Secondly, it was Tinder before Tinder was Tinder.
Thus, it’s not only the fact that Aunt Martha and her crowd were moving into Facebook, it was also because many tech-savvy millennials realized any vestige of privacy on that platform was essentially non-existent.
Facebook, to them, couldn’t be trusted with their data.
Online marketers have had a clue about this, too. After all, who of us hasn’t seen software being offered to us that could scrape Facebook for e-mail addresses to build our marketing lists or for creating a custom audience for an ad campaign?
And all for less than $100 or so.
Just think of what could be done on the high end.
Well, as we all know now, a lot:
Let’s narrow our focus to filter out the political aspects of this flashpoint in the data harvesting scandal and focus on the issue of access to our personal data.
Ironically, to do that, let’s put what happened here in a broader perspective:
When viewed in the cold light of harsh reality, the facts are:
- Facebook’s been paying lip service to fixing its privacy controls since at least 2006; and
- Cyberspace is still the new Wild West, so caveat emptor, dudes and dudettes.
The first line of defense for your personal data is you.
As you’re an online marketer — and if you use their platform, you’ll be affected by the changes, too — it’s highly doubtful you’ll go to the #deletefacebook extreme, so a good start would be to discover what Facebook already knows about you.
- This calls for downloading a copy of your data they’ve collected; and
- From now on, take time to read what any app you download is going to collect.
The company has just announced a re-design for its privacy settings, making them easier to locate and more convenient to use:
One note of caution is in order.
When you download your data from Facebook, think twice about doing the hard copy thing.
Here’s a partial printing of an ABC News producer’s data download:
If that doesn’t underscore what Facebook probably has on you, then congratulations for never, ever being on it.


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When Amgen won FDA approvals to make a biosimilar drug that mimicked Humira, Abbvie’s blockbuster drug for treating rheumatoid arthritis, Crohns and ulcerative colitis, Abbvie sued, claiming Amgen was violating its patent protections. But instead of a battle of the Titans, the two drug giants quickly reached an agreement: in which Amgen got the greenlight to sell its biosimilar in Europe and agreed not to make its biosimilar available in the U.S. until 2023 – bad news for U.S. consumers. If “Amgen were able to enter the [U.S.] market before 2023 it would have offered consumers competition and lower prices,” said Michael Carrier, a Rutgers University law professor. “Now as a result of this settlement, prices [for Humira in the U.S.] will stay at the monopoly level for the next five years.”
Sources: Chicago Tribune.


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LONDON (Metal-Pages) 10-Feb-17. Cobalt prices broke through $18/lb resistance this week, rising to a nearly six-year high, helped by investor appetite for the metal set to benefit from the electric vehicles growth. With limited availability from producers and trade inventory held in few hands, supply to the spot market is constrained. The increase in prices is yet to bring shuttered capacity back online, and in the meantime traders are targeting the next $19-20/lb level. But most other metal markets were still looking for direction after the public holidays in China as suppliers and buyers are starting to return to the market. Antimony suppliers are also looking for a price increase, as the idling of smaller plants in China on environmental grounds is leaving fewer but larger producers with a stronger position in the market. Prices rose to a four-month high this week, and sellers are targeting $8,000/t level, but against resistance from buyers. A reduction in prices of manganese and chrome ores since January has not yet impacted ferro-alloys, and this week saw increases in prices of ferro-chrome in the US and of ferro-manganese in Europe on buying interest and tightening supply. There were indications that manganese prices may be bottoming out in Europe although cheaper shipments booked before the new year holidays in China are due to arrive later this month, and the market in China is waiting for buyers to come back. This week saw the new US president, who has publicly favoured import taxes, take a more conciliatory tone with China as Goldman Sachs analysts sounded alarm bells about a potential trade war between two countries. And an EU-China business meeting in Brussels raised the prospect of liberalisation of European-China trade even if the US opts to put up barriers. “If others are closing their doors, ours is still open. As long as the trade is fair,” EU Trade Commissioner ...
10 Feb 2017 by Metal-Pages
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15:16 : AIM-listed Strategic Minerals has begun a two phase tungsten drilling programme at the Redmoor project in Cornwall, southwest England
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7/16/2009 11:02:00 AM
3 opens up its mobile broadband base to advertisers
3 has opened up its one million strong mobile broadband base as an advertising channel for companies.
The network is inviting companies to advertise to its mobile broadband users on an advert ‘dashboard’ which pops up every time a dongle is plugged in.
The dashboard will be visible to more than one million mobile broadband users and receives more than 30m impressions every month.
The network is yet to confirm any company partnerships for the dashboard advertising schem, but is looking for a set of exclusive partnerships, to advertise until the end of the year.
The ‘dashboard’ is already used in 3 UK’s sister network in Austria, which is already running campaigns with brands such as VW, Suzuki, Kia, Peugeot, Mazda, Honda and Land Rover.
3’s head of advertising, Neil Andrews, said: 'Our mobile broadband offering is seeing a huge amount of uptake. This new opportunity presents brands with the opportunity of getting in front of a large target audience in a bold and visible manner.’


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SILT, Colo. — A Silt junk yard and recycling facililty has now expanded what it will accept at its facility.
Bud Green’s Recycling has been accepting cars, trucks and refrigerators for years and pays good money for the items that he simply hauls off to the landfill anyway.
But Green recently announced he will take items that other facilities tend to shy away from.
You can now bring in items with asbestos, mercury and things in aerosol cans if you want.
“Hell, you can bring in your dead pets,” Green said. “Or your grandparents. We don’t care. We’ll pay you $15 for ‘em.”
The facility will also accept your ex-spouse for a slightly higher fee.
Some Silt residents have complained that the facility will not take children, but Green says that crosses the line for him.
“We cannot abuse the landfill by loading it up with kids,” he pointed out. “And they don’t recycle very well.”
Gary Green’s Recycling is open from 2 a.m. after the bars close until 10 a.m. when the bars re-open.
This is a fake news story. Nobody would take their car or truck to be recycled.


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South Korea is riding the global trend of high liquidity in the startup scene. Money is pouring into the sector, and investors are looking for the next big thing to invest in.
However, concerns linger that the upcycle is being maintained by government spending, and not a real appetite for startups.
In 2018, venture capital investment surged 43.9 percent on-year to 3.4 trillion won ($3 billion), according to latest data by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. However, of that amount, 20 percent actually came from the government, which had cleared a 1.9 trillion won supplementary budget to spend on startups.
There are also many more accelerators, with 60 percent of the 138 accelerators in Korea launched in 2018, according to government data. But this too may be an illusion, because as soon as the government funding evaporates, they may too.
President Moon Jae-in delivers a keynote speech during a meeting with startup representatives at Seoul-based startup accelerator N15 on Jan. 3. (Yonhap)
This imbalance or potential lack of sustainability, coupled with heavy government regulations that are keeping a startup’s innovative business at bay can eventually cause a disruption in startup valuations, according to industry watchers.
“A big volume of liquidity stemming from a government-led supplementary budget will not necessarily result in more venture capital deals,” Lee Ki-dae, director at startup advocacy group Startup Alliance, told The Korea Herald. “Instead, it will just increase the ticket size of each deal.”
And when the price tags become heftier, investors may feel they need to turn elsewhere, causing an unintended exodus.
“It’s a matter of demand and supply,” one venture capitalist told The Korea Herald on condition of anonymity. “There is a lot of liquidity in the market, but it’s still not easy to find startups with a competitive edge. In fact, there is a sense that Korean startups are somewhat overvalued.”
The source said when privately held companies like startups are valued, it is normal to multiply their revenue by three times or income by 10 times. But in Korea, this figure often goes too far, even up to 50 times the revenue.
“For some, the degree of overvaluation is so big that it’s a real concern that we might find ourselves struggling to take returns and exit from these startups.”
“VCs are worried because they have to make investments ahead of the maturity of their fund’s portfolio holding,” Lee of Startup Alliance said. “This sparks unnecessarily fierce competition between VCs over a certain startup, causing the deal price to go up even further.”Will the sandbox work?
Despite the forebodings, there are some silver linings.
A recent policy move by the government to offer exemption from regulations or relieve the burden of getting regulatory approval for startups through a so-called “regulatory sandbox” initiative shows that Korea is trying to create a healthier eco-system.
Before the initiative went into effect on Jan. 17, local startups had no choice but to tackle the paperwork and regulatory framework and frequent changes in authoritative interpretations. Also, startups, usually small in size in terms of capital and workforce, had to struggle to create a business model that would steer clear of the regulations.
The arrival of the regulatory sandbox might help not only startups, but also VCs find their investment destination, because more such firms that deserve VC investment will come into being and investors will be given a wider array of choices, industry watchers said.
“Among startups that applied for the regulatory sandbox, there were ones that failed to perform adequate due diligence and receive investment despite their technology prowess, because utilizing their technology in Korea was against the law,” according to Choi Sung-ho, managing partner at Veat Law Firm.
Koo Tae-eon, managing partner at Tek & Law, called the sign of deregulation a potential “virtuous cycle,” as the success of startups participating in the regulatory sandbox initiative would allow more competitive players to crop up.
“More startups will benefit from the regulatory sandbox, if the success of beneficiaries leads to a revision of laws to allow them to perform,” he said.
By Son Ji-hyoung


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Insurgency: Sandstorm coming to consoles in August
Tactical shooter will be ported over later this year
Publisher Focus Home Interactive and developer New World Interactive have announced that Insurgency: Sandstorm will release for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on August 25th, 2020.
The tactical shooter promises a realistic depiction of modern warfare focusing on lethal close-quarters combat, objective-oriented multiplayer and cooperative gameplay.
The game first launched on PC last year, and reached over 1 million players.


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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is appealing a decision from the Federal Court of Australia, which found Mazda had not engaged in unconscionable conduct when dealing with numerous unhappy customers.
Mazda Australia has also filed an appeal of its own against the ruling.
Though the Court dismissed the ACCC’s allegations about unconscionable conduct in its ruling in November 2021, it did find Mazda had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and that it had made false or misleading representations.
“In addition to finding that Mazda made false or misleading representations, the Court found that Mazda gave consumers the ‘run-around’ by engaging in evasion and subterfuges, provided appalling customer service and failed to make any genuine attempt to consider and apply the consumer guarantee provisions of the Australian Consumer Law,” said ACCC Commissioner Liza Carver.
“We will argue that based on the Court’s factual findings, Mazda’s conduct fell below the applicable norms of commercial behaviour, and was in all the circumstances unconscionable.”
Mazda Australia has also appealed the finding, denying claims of misleading conduct.
“Mazda has also filed an appeal seeking to have various findings of misleading conduct made against it overturned. Mazda maintains that the trial judge was correct in finding that Mazda had not engaged in any unconscionable conduct,” it said in a statement.
In his November 2021 ruling, Justice O’Callaghan found Mazda’s conduct represented “appalling customer service” but rejected the ACCC’s allegations of unconscionable conduct.
“The fact that Mazda did not always give the consumers precisely what they were seeking was not unconscionable conduct,” said Federal Court Justice O’Callaghan in the ruling.
The Court found the company made 49 individual false or misleading representations about consumer rights to customers seeking refunds for Mazda 2, 6, CX-3, CX-5, and BT-50 vehicles with recurring faults.
The case concerned seven vehicles and nine separate customers.
One customer had their engine replaced three times, but continued to experience problems with their car.
The ACCC alleged consumers were forced to contact Mazda multiple times over months and even years, as they continued to experience faults with their vehicles ranging from defective headlights to a sudden loss of engine power.
It alleged that, between 2017 and 2019, each of the customers requested a refund or a replacement vehicle within a year or two of purchase. The ACCC initiated proceedings against Mazda in October 2019.
Federal Court Justice O’Callaghan found Mazda represented to customers they were only entitled to a repair, offered to refund only a part of the initial purchase price, or offered replacement cars to the customers on the condition they paid for them.
“The Court found that Mazda misled these consumers about their consumer guarantee rights by representing that they were only entitled to have their vehicles repaired, even though a consumer’s rights under the Australian Consumer Law also include a refund or replacement when there is a major failure,” the ACCC said in a statement.
“Mazda did not follow its own compliance policies in dealing with the consumers’ complaints, and sought to discourage consumers from pursuing their right to a refund or a replacement vehicle,” Ms Carver alleged.
The court hasn’t yet handed down a penalty to Mazda Australia. Previous cases brought by the ACCC, however, have led to court-enforceable undertakings from Volkswagen, Holden, and Hyundai designed to improve their compliance with Australian Consumer Law.
MORE: ACCC taking Honda Australia to court
MORE: Toyota Australia faces payouts as Federal Court finds DPFs faulty
MORE: NSW Senator says Mercedes-Benz misled Senate over agency switch
MORE: ‘The ’70s are gone’: Car dealers must be prepared to evolve, says FCAI chief


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Café Valley Bakery has announced it is expanding its line of 16-ounce Decadent Swirled Bundt Cakes with Tiramisu, Pumpkin Latte and Salted Caramel flavor varieties that will be available in grocers nationwide beginning this month.
Ingredient premix specialist Texture Maker will debut its innovative mochi baking mix brand Chewco in partnership with Belshaw Adamatic at the International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) this September.
Leading global ingredient supplier Corbion has introduced a new enzyme-based solution, called Vantage 2060, to help bakers deliver consistently high-quality baked products while enabling formulation flexibility.
Today’s bakery consumers are increasingly conscious about the products they buy. They want baked foods that are better for them, sustainably sourced and have a transparent ingredient list and supply chain. While bakers are meeting this demand with more transparent and sustainable products, some may be unsure what exactly these words mean, noted Tai Ullmann, global sustainability lead for edible oils, Cargill.
The home bread baking craze that occurred when people first went into quarantine definitely isn’t going away, but more consumers will be looking to get their version of “home-baked” from the instore bakery.
Despite inflation, dollar sales in bakery are up almost 12% from last year, according to IDDBA Marketplace Report data from June, indicating that the instore bakery has indeed bounced back from COVID, said Paul Baker, founder of Manchester, UK-based St Pierre Bakery.


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This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.
Blink Charging (NASDAQ:BLNK), a provider of EV charging services and equipment, continues to rocket higher amid a recent avalanche of new deals and sales channel expansion. Since the 01st of June, Blink Charging shares are up a whopping 609 percent relative to the current price level!
Blink Charging shares have experienced another bullish impulse today as the company inked a deal with the real estate services provider, Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE:CWK). As per the press statement released by the company moments ago, the deal entails “the marketing and potential deployment of Blink charging stations, including its Blink IQ 200 units, and related services to Cushman & Wakefield clients throughout the United States”.
According to Blink Charging, the agreement paves the way for the company to bolster the sales channel for its products and services. Similarly, the Executive Vice President of Enterprise Solutions for Cushman & Wakefield Global Occupier Services, J Glasgow, noted in the press release:
"This agreement puts us and our clients at the forefront of the movement toward more sustainable transportation, and we look forward to working with Blink to effectively address the needs of the growing population of EV drivers."
Bear in mind that the company continues to claim that its IQ 200 units are the fastest level 2 AC charging stations available on the market, with a maximum output of 80 amps and delivering up to 65 miles of charge in an hour.
As of 09:10 a.m. EDT, Blink Charging shares are up nearly 20 percent, trading at $12.55 price level. This bullish impulse speaks volumes of the investor euphoria that currently surrounds this stock.
Of course, this is not the only deal that Blink Charging has inked in recent days. For instance, on the 22nd of July, the company received a grant aimed at facilitating the deployment of “200 Blink Fast Level 2 - 19.2 kW charging stations across the mid-Atlantic region, including locations in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Washington, DC”.
Then, on the 28th of July, Blink Charging and EnerSys inked a deal to jointly develop high-power wireless and enhanced DC fast charging (DCFC) systems with integrated battery storage for the transportation market. The resulting DCFC charging solution with high power energy storage will purportedly feature a modular design and a power output from 100-500 kW. Moreover, it will be “economically priced”.
Finally, on the 30th of July, Blink Charging Hellas – a JV between Blink Charging and Eunice Energy Group – entered into a strategic agreement with Nissan Nik. I. Theocharakis S.A. to promote“the development and promotion of e-mobility in Greece”. The deal envisions an expansion of Blink Charging infrastructure across Greece through cooperation with Nissan dealerships and authorized partners.
We noted recently that the ongoing up thrust in Blink Charging shares coincides with a surge in interest in the stock on the increasingly popular brokerage platform Robinhood. As far as the fundamentals are concerned, the company reported its earnings for Q1 2020 on the 13th of May, recording a revenue of $1.29 million during the quarter and exceeding expectations by $100,000. On an annual basis, Blink managed to increase its quarterly revenue by an impressive 125 percent.


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As the season for competition regulators to publish their annual plans is upon us, we look at the common themes across the UK Competition Network.
Four items stand out: competition in digital markets, dealing with the cost-of-living crisis, ensuring the resilience of markets and effecting upcoming legislative changes.
There is little surprise with this first item – competition in digital markets has been at the top of UK regulators' agenda for the past few years now. In addition to ongoing investigations in the sector (for example Google Ad Tech and Amazon's Marketplace), the FCA and Ofcom plan to make progress on their wholesale data market study, and cloud market study respectively (which Ofcom is currently proposing to refer for in-depth assessment). The FCA will also continue delving into the competitive impacts of Big Tech in financial services (off the back of its October 2022 Discussion Paper) and how digital consumer journeys impact decision making. Alongside this, regulatory cooperation under the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum is set to continue – notably within its research workstream on algorithmic systems.
COST OF LIVING CRISIS
CMA, FCA, Ofcom, Ofgem, Ofwat, ORR, UKRN
With the current cost of living crisis, it is understandable for UK regulators to want to dedicate resources towards encouraging the delivery of key services at affordable prices and alleviating the impact of the crisis on consumers. For the CMA, this will mean acting in areas of essential spending and where people are under particular financial pressure, such as accommodation and care, as well as addressing pressure selling and false or misleading pricing practices. The CMA will also keep an eye on any anti-competitive behaviour with direct effects on public and household expenditure, including cartels in public procurement, and potential competition issues within UK labour markets.
CMA, FCA, Ofcom, Ofgem, UKRN
Resilience is becoming a hot topic across society and competition regulators have taken note. Four of them are planning to focus on this in two respects: the financial resilience of regulated companies and supply chains, and the resilience of regulated networks against security challenges (including cyber-attacks). While the FCA and Ofcom have extensive regulatory powers alongside their competition role to support them in this endeavour, it is interesting to see that the CMA is also keen to explore how competition can help foster resilience. Alongside its plans to be alert to strategically important markets where competition may not be functioning properly, putting the supply of essential goods and services at risk of disruption, the CMA has recently published a Discussion Paper on market resilience in the face of shocks or rapid structural change, and the CMA's role in this context.
DEALING WITH LEGISLATIVE CHANGES
CMA, FCA and ORR
In the wake of the Government's "Brexit bonfire of regulations" and broader legislative reforms, a number of competition regulators have been realistic in their annual plans in terms of the resources they will need to dedicate to effecting legislative changes. The CMA stands ready to implement the Government's CMA reforms introducing stronger competition and consumer law powers (including giving a statutory footing to the Digital Markets Unit). These were presented to Parliament on 25 April in the form of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (a copy of the Bill as introduced can be accessed here). Meanwhile, both the FCA and ORR are anticipating work to onshore/ adapt previously retained EU law legislation into UK law once the Financial Services and Markets Bill and the Retained EU Law Bill become law. Specifically, the FCA will need to update its Handbook, while the ORR will need to assess how to tackle rail health and safety rules in a post-Brexit world.


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The green movement, like social media, hybrid cars, and Justin Bieber, is no longer a trend, it’s here to stay. As demand grows for sustainably built homes and buildings, the consumer grows savvier and the competition gets craftier.
“Greenwashing,” the practice of falsely claiming to be green, unfortunately runs rampant in the real estate industry. It takes an educated approach to tell which structures are truly green and which are simply taking advantage of the hot market. For this reason, consumers are turning to industry experts to guide them through the process of purchasing a green building. Make sure you are one of those experts by earning The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Green Designation.
The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Green Designation was established in the spring of 2008 in response to growing demand. The program launched that fall and as of March 2010, over 4,000 individuals have been awarded the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Green Designation and membership to the Green REsource Council, a unique community that connects like-minded REALTORS® green agents, brokers and property managers, working to green their businesses and their lives.
Recent studies suggest that green homes sell faster and for more money than their non-energy saving counterparts. According to a report by GreenWorks Realty in Seattle, new homes certified green sold for 22 percent more per square foot and spent 12 percent less time on the market than their traditional counterparts. As a NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Green Designee, you’ll receive the training and resources to take advantage of these opportunities. Ongoing education about green materials, energy efficient technology, and green incentives will enable you to become a leader in the marketplace.
The demand for green will only continue to grow. Put yourself at the forefront of the green movement, and let the customers come to you. It’s not only the right thing for the environment and for the next generation, it’s the right thing for your business.


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Vanilla Jill’s Yogurt Shop
Fall 2012 Small Business Owner Highlight
by Chris Cunningham
At Vanilla Jill’s frozen yogurt shop in North Eugene, little ones barely able to reach the counter smile in happy anticipation of crunchy cones filled with vanilla bean or dark chocolate yogurt.
Parents and teenagers smile too, of course, especially those with dietary preferences or allergies.
When they began their business two years ago, owners Megan and Tim Stevens saw the market potential for a frozen yogurt that would satisfy a range of dietary needs.
Vanilla Jill’s offers a decaf espresso and a coconut-lime crème yogurt to satisfy those who are vegan, and seasonal sugar-free flavors for diabetics. Except for stout, all other flavors are gluten-free.
The organic yogurt, which is not self-serve, is handmade from fresh kefir that the local Springfield Creamery produces.
The Stevenses also knew they wanted a tactical business plan for daily operations, a strategy for future growth, and flexible scheduling to fit their commitment to homeschool their three children.
So they enrolled in Lane Community College’s Small Business Development Center program. As a result, Megan says, she and Tim are “really aware of the big picture and the small details.” Now in their second year with the SBDC, Megan says instructor Gary Smith, a businessman himself, has “empathy as well as experience.” The Stevenses carefully weigh their business risks, consulting regularly with Smith in one-on-one sessions. Smith is “always there to give his perspective,” Megan says.
For example, after studying their expansion opportunities, Megan and Tim recently opted out of opening a store in favor of a yogurt cart in a South Eugene neighborhood, while starting a production facility with a small retail outlet in the Whiteaker neighborhood.
Megan says, thanks to the SBDC, she and Tim have the confidence to “orchestrate the risks and enjoy the adventure,” of being local business owners.
Learn More About Vanilla Jill’s Frozen Yogurt


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- ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.2% to 7,252.00
- Dow Average down 1.4% to 33,876.87
- Aussie down 1.5% to 0.6651 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield rose 2.1bps to 3.7015%
- Australia 3-year bond yield fell 7 bps to 3.20%
- Australia 10-year bond yield fell 5.9 bps to 3.52%
- Gold spot down 0.8% to $1,740.69
- Brent futures down 0.7% to $83.05/bbl
Stocks sank as Federal Reserve officials stressed that more rate hikes are coming, with risk appetite also hit by uncertainties around China’s Covid curbs and their impact on the global economy.
Investors are now looking ahead to Jerome Powell’s speech Wednesday, with many economists expecting he’ll cement bets that the Fed will slow its pace of rate increases next month — while reminding Americans that its fight against inflation will run into 2023.
China’s woes complicate expectations of its path to reopening, with authorities deploying a heavy police presence in Beijing and Shanghai to deter a repeat of the weekend’s demonstrations. Chances are growing of a messy exit from the Covid Zero policy, analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. warned.
Stock markets are in for a wild ride next year as they don’t yet reflect the risk of a US recession, according to strategists at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. Their calls are a warning after equities rallied sharply in the past two months on bets that a peak in inflation will lead to a softening of hawkish central bank policies.
Elsewhere, oil climbed as OPEC+ is seen considering deeper output cuts amid a faltering market.
“READY IN THREE 1/2 MINUTES” declares the packaging for Velveeta’s microwaveable mac and cheese cups. But that’s simply not true, according to one allegedly inconvenienced South Florida woman, who points out that the figure accounts for just the microwave time. It does not include other time-consuming steps such as tearing off the lid, adding water and stirring in cheese sauce, she argues.
Amanda Ramirez might not have bothered buying the Shells & Cheese product “had she known the truth,” says a proposed class-action lawsuit in which she is the lead plaintiff. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Miami, seeks more than $5 million in damages on behalf of the Hialeah woman and other purportedly hoodwinked customers. It accuses the Kraft Heinz Co., the maker of the cheesy cups, of deceptive and unfair trade practices.
“Consumers seeing ‘ready in 31/2 minutes’ will believe it represents the total amount of time it takes to prepare the Product, meaning from the moment it is unopened to the moment it is ready for consumption,” the complaint argues.
The Kraft Heinz Co. said in a statement to The Washington Post that it was aware of the “frivolous lawsuit” and “will strongly defend against the allegations in the complaint.”
The lawsuit, previously covered by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, was filed this month by William Wright of the Wright Law Office in West Palm Beach and Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates in Great Neck, N.Y.
“I’ve gotten a lot of flak about this case, but deceptive advertising is deceptive advertising,” Wright said Monday by email. “Here, Kraft charges extra for a desirable feature (saving time) but the marketing is false, it takes far longer for the product to be ready than as advertised. Deceptive advertising plain and simple.”
Sheehan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The attorney, whose website calls on people to get in touch with issues they have been told are “unsolvable,” has made a name for himself suing food manufacturers he says mislead consumers. He has filed more than 400 such lawsuits in recent years, NPR reported, and in doing so has “almost single-handedly caused a historic spike in the number of class-action lawsuits against food and beverage companies.”
He went after Kellogg, arguing that the company’s strawberry Pop-Tarts marketing is deceptive because the pastries contain additional fruits. He said Keebler and Betty Crocker were wrong to call their cookie and cake mixes fudge because they contained no milk fat. And he took on Keurig Dr Pepper over the words that appear on A&W Root Beer cans: “MADE WITH AGED VANILLA.” That was among about 120 lawsuits over companies’ assertions that their products contain vanilla, NPR reported.
The lawsuit accuses the Kraft Heinz Co. of fraud, false and misleading advertising, breach of express warranty, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment, along with violations of laws barring deceptive and unfair trade practices. The lawyers say there are probably more than 100 victims spanning multiple states where the product is sold.


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Apple 'iPhone 7 Plus' News & Updates: Leaked Photo Of Package Reveals How The Headphone Jack Has ChangedBy Sarah T., UniversityHerald Reporter
Apple is expected to unveil their new smartphone offering, the highly anticipated, "iPhone 7" at the Special Event keynote on September 7, 2016. And many Apple fans and disappointed about the rumors that the upcoming iPhone will be missing the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack and instead, headphones will now be connected via the "Lightning Port." There has yet to be any other packaging insert leak that shows what come in the box.
In a report by BGR.COM, based from the leaked photo, the tech giant is its larger flagship phone "iPhone 7 Plus." The smaller version of the smartphone would more likely be called "iPhone 7." But what else could be included in the box?
The Apple box text shows that "Lightning Earpods" will be included with every unit of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Ever since the first generation iPod back in 2001, Apple has been known to include 3.5mm earbuds with their devices, so the free inclusion of "Lightning Connector EarPods" comes as no surprise. However, the EarPods will likely still look similar to the headphones that was included in every iPhone 6S and iPhone 6 that was shipped, except for having a different connector.
For those that still want to use their old 3.5mm headphones, a "Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter" will also be included in the box. This is good news to those that are not quite happy with the change in earphone connector end, as Apple has been known to sell its accessories for premium prices, especially converters as these are sold separately, but instead, opted to include the adapter with every box for free.
In terms of accessories that are sold separately, Apple's Bluetooth headphones called, "AirPods" may hit Apple stores coinciding with the iPhone 7's release.. This information is due to Apple filing a trademark that has been revealed in recent months. At the moment, Apple already sells wireless headphones through their acquisition of "Beats," although the brand was autonomous in terms of operation.
Also, according to Forbes, rumors state that the iPhone 7 will have a much more faster A10 processor, with higher battery capacity and a 32GB base storage.
Video courtesy of EverythingApplePro.


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(AP) — McDonald's said it's simplifying its grilled chicken recipe to remove ingredients people might not recognize, marking the latest sign the company is rethinking its menu to keep up with changing tastes.
The company said it expects the new "Artisan Grilled Chicken" to be in its more than 14,300 U.S. stores by the end of next week, in products including a new sandwich, as well as existing sandwiches, wraps and salads.
The biggest change is the removal of sodium phosphates, which McDonald's said was used to keep the chicken moist, in favor of vegetable starch. The new recipe also does not use maltodextrin, which the company said is generally used as a sugar to increase browning or as a carrier for seasoning.
Jessica Foust, director of culinary innovation at McDonald's, said the changes were made because customers said they want "simple, clean ingredients" they are familiar with.
"Maltodextrin is just not something they have in their pantries," Foust said.
The change comes as McDonald's fights to hold onto customers amid the growing popularity of places like Chipotle that position themselves as more wholesome alternatives to traditional fast-food.
Already, that "clean label" trend has prompted numerous restaurant chains and packaged food makers to reformulate products, even while standing by the safety and quality of their previous recipes. Subway also introduced a new grilled chicken recipe earlier this year that it said had no artificial flavors or preservatives. And Panera Bread has said it plans to purge artificial colors, flavors and preservatives from its food by 2016.
As ingredient quality becomes a more powerful marketing advantage, executives at McDonald's have also been trying to freshen up the company's image and shake perceptions that it serves junk food. TV ads and signs in stores, for instance, are playing up the fact that Egg McMuffins are made with freshly cracked eggs. And last month, McDonald's announced it would start asking suppliers to curb the use of antibiotics in raising chickens.
'A VERY REAL CHICKEN EXPERIENCE'
As for the new grilled chicken recipe, McDonald's said it will now be cooked with a blend of olive oil and canola oil, instead of liquid margarine. Foust said she thinks customers will notice it has "more of a lemon herb-type flavor."
"It's a very real chicken experience — something closer to what you make in your own home," she said.
On its website, McDonald's lists ingredients for its new "Artisan Grilled Chicken" including salt, vegetable starch, sugar, garlic powder, lemon juice concentrate, honey and onion powder. Terri Hickey, a McDonald's representative, said the new chicken will have 12 ingredients, compared with 18 for the previous recipe.
Mike Andres, who took over as president of McDonald's USA last year amid ongoing sales struggles, had said in December the company was looking at shrinking its ingredients lists.
The change comes after McDonald's saw sales and customer visits at established U.S. restaurants slip two years in a row. In January the company named Steve Easterbrook, its chief brand officer, to take over as CEO for Don Thompson. That change took effect in March, right before a "Turnaround Summit" for U.S. franchisees.


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By Brandon Glenn
DUBLIN, Ohio — Startup Bridgehead Solutions LLC, which aims to help foreign device firms enter the U.S. market, could be headed to Ohio, but it’s going to take $2 million to $3 million to ensure the company finds its way to the Buckeye state.
Armed with the promise of a tax credit from the state, Bridgehead is “leaning strongly” towards locating in Dublin, said Will Shain, the company’s newly minted president. But it’s far from definite.
“If [investors from] Boston or Chicago say, ‘Here’s $2-3 million,’ it’s going to be hard to say no,” Shain said.
Bridgehead has been pitching its proposal to venture capitalists, angel investors and investment bankers and will likely end up locating wherever its majority investors say it should, according to Shain.
The company aims to assemble a team that could put together the sales, marketing and distribution channels that a foreign firm needs to get its device in the hands of U.S. customers. Bridgehead would seek outside counsel to help the companies navigate regulatory matters.
The company’s strategy revolves around what Shain calls “PerformanceClusters,” which involves selling similar products to the same end users. For example, one sales rep would represent three different orthopedic-device makers, building up expertise and contacts in that space, with the goal of selling products from all three device makers to the same client.
Seven-employee Bridgehead needs the $2 million to $3 million upfront investment simply to pay salaries and get the business started. “Everybody ‘s been investing their time and personal fortunes trying to get this thing moving,” Shain said.
The company has two employees in Israel and one in Japan scouting out medical technologies. A number of its executives, including chairman Robert Schlegel, attended Ohio State University. The company also favors Ohio due to its connections through economic development groups TechColumbus and BioOhio, Shain said.
The Ohio Dept. of Development announced Jan. 25 that Bridgehead had been awarded a six-year, 45-percent tax credit. Exercising the agreement would require the company to operate in Dublin for nine years, according to ODOD. Bridgehead pledged to create 25 jobs over three years, with the average wage and benefits for each position at around $45 per hour, ODOD said. But that’s all dependent on the company securing the startup funding it needs.


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- The neighbouring Uganda is selling most fuel products at a cheaper price compared to fuel in Kenya.
- Petrol is retailing at Sh110 per litre compared to Sh140 in Busia and Bungoma.
Motorists from Bungoma and Busia counties are now flocking to Uganda to buy cheap fuel following a price hike in Kenya.
Neighbouring Uganda is selling most fuel products at prices lower than those in Kenya. Petrol retails at Sh110 a litre, Sh30 lower than it does at most petrol stations in Busia county.
Unlike Kenya, Uganda does not have a fuel price control agency. The price control was ostensibly introduced in Kenya to protect consumers from exorbitant prices that were charged by oil multinationals.
Petrol stations on the Ugandan side of Busia and Malaba are flooded with motorists from Kenya.
Uganda is, however, a landlocked country that imports the bulk of its fuel through the Port of Mombasa.
To import fuel through Kenya, Uganda has to pay port levies before incurring transport charges by road or pipeline for more than 1,165 kilometres through the Malaba or Busia border.
Peter Odeke, a pump attendant in the Malaba-Uganda border, said since the fuel price hike announcement in Kenya, he has seen an influx of vehicles with Kenyan registration numbers. Most of them are matatus and boda bodas.
"Most of the vehicles with Kenyan registration numbers are filling up their tanks and from yesterday they have become our main customers,” he said.
Ben Juma, a Malaba matatu driver plying the Eldoret route, said they will continue to fuel in Uganda until the prices normalise in Kenya.
“Why should I buy fuel in Kenya when just a few metres into neighbouring Uganda I can get it at a lower price," he said.
Moses Epalat, a boda boda operator from Bungoma, said he fears that most of them who have yet to clear loans for their motorbikes may be unable to service their loans given the increased prices of fuel.
He said they had tried to hike fare but customers opted to walk.
"We fear that our motorbikes will be taken away by lenders over being unable to service loans," he said.
He appealed to the government to reduce the fuel prices.
-Edited by SKanyara


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The eligibility criteria for a Government hospitality and leisure grant means clubs have been unable to take advantage of Covid support... Golf courses around England are unable to take advantage of a Government grant aimed at financially supporting businesses impacted by the Omicron variant of Coronavirus. The Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant, announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in December, offered those in the sector one-off grants of up to £6,000 as part of a £700 million package delivered to local councils. It was designed to shore up firms, many of whom the Government website gov.uk say have seen a “decline in footfall and increased cancellations due to the Omicron variant”. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said at the time: “I urge businesses to come forward, engage with their local council and tap into these cash grants, which will help to cover costs and protect jobs as we double down on our efforts to get boosted and defeat this virus.” Like many businesses in the leisure and hospitality industry, many golf clubs will have suffered from cancellations and shaky consumer confidence because of uncertainty over the severity of the variant and restrictions imposed by Plan B regulations. But some courses have been informed by councils they are specifically excluded from the grant – along with the likes of takeaways, dance and fitness studios, sports centre and clubs and retail outlets. One, whose application was rejected and has asked not to be named, was told golf courses did not come under the qualifying criteria for the grant and that the Government had confirmed golf could not be classed as “leisure for eligibility”. Government guidance, which can be found on gov.uk and was issued to local authorities, states that: “Businesses will only be eligible where their main service falls within hospitality, leisure or accommodation. “If a business operates services that could be considered hospitality or leisure, and also falls into another category, the main service can be determined by assessing which category constitutes 50% or more of their overall funding. The main service principle will determine whether a business receives funding.” A separate guidance note states the grant is to support businesses in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors that "offer in-person services" and "where the main service and activity takes place in a fixed rate-paying premises". Local government websites have also explained the principle with one, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, saying: “The qualifying criteria for the hospitality and leisure grant due to Omicron is different to previous grant schemes, and the award of a previous grant doesn't guarantee an award under this scheme. “Examples of types of business that won't qualify for this grant include: fast-food takeaways, hairdressers, beauticians, tattoo parlours, gyms, sport businesses where physical exercise or training is conducted on an individual basis - which includes dance and fitness studios, sports centres and clubs, sports courts, swimming pools and golf courses.” It's a message that's been replicated on council websites across the nation. The club whose application was rejected was told by their local authority that if golf...
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Supermarkets will adapt opening hours during Christmas holidays
Friday, 04 December 2020
Belgium’s major supermarket chains will adapt their opening hours for the upcoming Christmas holidays, hoping to spread out the influx of customers as they expect a bigger rush than usual in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Colruyt stores will open from 8:00 AM (as opposed to 8:30) on 23, 24, 30 and 31 December. In addition, they will close two hours earlier, at 6:00 PM, on Christmas Even and New Year’s Eve. Finally, Colruyt staff had already been promised an extra day off on 2 January.
Delhaize shops will open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM on 23 and 30 December, and from 7:00 to 5:00 PM on 24 and 31 December. In addition, 34 Delhaize stores will be open on 27 December and 3 January.
Carrefour supermarkets will open from 8:00 AM until their regular closing times from 21 through 31 December. On Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, however, they will close at 5:00 PM. Finally, they will be open from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM on 20 December.
Aldi supermarkets will close at 5:00 PM instead of 7:00 PM on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, and Albert Heijn stores will do the same.
So will Lidl, whose stores will be open on those days from 8:30 AM. Their stores will also be open on Sundays 20 and 27 December.


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The website for Super Nintendo World, a new attraction in Universal Studios Japan, is now live.
For those interested in getting a quick overview of Super Nintendo World, the site offers useful information, and it offers a sort of virtual tour. If you’ve been yearning to visit but won’t be able to in person, checking out the website is a must.
Super Nintendo World’s Website is Live, Offers a Virtual Tour
Universal Studios Japan is preparing to open its doors, letting park visitors check out its newest attraction, Super Nintendo World. The grand opening is scheduled for February 4, less than one month away.
To prepare visitors, the official website for Super Nintendo World is now live. On the website, you can get helpful information about ticket prices for Universal Studios Japan along with details about “Area Timed Entry Tickets” which park guests will need to have in order to gain entry to Super Nintendo World.
For people living outside Japan, the ticket page notes that, “All ticket sales through travel agencies are temporarily suspended as of April 3, 2020. Further information will be available on our official website at a later date.”
These ticket sales were suspended last year in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Currently, the pandemic is still raging, which means that as of February 4, it looks like the only people who will be able to explore Super Nintendo World in person are residents of Japan.
We hope that in the future as the world works to overcome the pandemic, travel into Japan will resume, allowing even more people to experience all that Super Nintendo World has to offer.
You can also watch the video where Shigeru Miyamoto walks through the park with a huge smile on his face. It’s absolutely wonderful, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that in the future, we’ll be able to visit Super Nintendo World wearing the same sort of smile.
For more on Super Nintendo World, head over to the official website, and stay tuned for additional coverage once the attraction opens to the public on February 4.


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Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller has ingenious way of dodging journalists
When you're flying about the country and desperately trying to prepare for big games, relentless media intrusion can be one of the biggest annoyances facing the professional footballer.
However, with Bayern Munich often out on the road, Thomas Muller has devised an ingenious ploy for dodging past the press hordes at airports by pretending to be on the phone.
Einfach überragend - Typisch Thomas Müller pic.twitter.com/ZXicXRWDrw- Sky Sport News HD (@SkySportNewsHD) January 11, 2017
The keen-eyed among you may have noticed that the device Muller was using to take that incredibly important phone call was indeed his passport.
The line between genius and madness has never been so thin.
Chris covers the funny side of the game for ESPN FC in the Toe Poke blog.


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(UPDATE) The Food and Drug Administration has warned the public against buying SM Bonus sugar along with some other food products that are unregistered.
The FDA said the brown sugar and refined sugar variants have not been issued with certificates of product registration. The refined sugar variant in the FDA advisory was packed by Supervalue Inc in Cebu City. The label on the brown sugar product was marked with Marro Marketing and Super Value Inc.
The flagged sugar variants will be pulled out from groceries, SM Markets said in a statement Wednesday.
"We are pulling out SM Bonus Sugar products mentioned in the FDA circular advisory No. 2020-1927 until such time that our supplier is able to meet FDA registration requirement," it said.
MORE ON FOOD SAFETY:
Reno Can Be Sold Again After It Secures FDA Registration
The FDA also told the public "not to purchase or consume" the following:
1. Melvan Ginger Brew with Turmeric and Lemongrass, 250g
2. Sweet Valley Freeze Dried Cranberry Coated with Milk Chocolate
3. Lorenzo Farm Dark Chocolate, 55g
"Since these food products have not gone through evaluation process of the FDA, the agency cannot assure its quality and safety," FDA director general Eric Domingo said in the advisory.
Last month, the FDA cautioned against buying popular liver spread brand Reno. The FDA however clarified that food products that lose their registration can be sold again once they secure authorization.


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Ever since granting a business license for Tamarack Dispensaries — which will sell medical marijuana tinctures and edibles for those with prescriptions — Kimberley has been attracting a lot of attention and interest from those looking to set up medical marijuana businesses.
Mayor Don McCormick says he has been fielding a lot of calls, from those looking to set up businesses, and from other municipalities looking for advice on how Kimberley went about granting a business license when federal law is a grey area.
“We’ve had phone calls,” McCormick said. “A couple of municipalities have asked for details and background. We’re not the only community grappling with this.”
At City Council on Monday evening, Council heard from a delegation looking to set up another medical marijuana dispensary. DBA Kimberley Botanicals is looking to sell oils, creams, salves and the dried product — no edibles.
McCormick says that Council listened to the business plan but made no decision.
“They didn’t ask for a business license,” he said. “They have a plan but there was no specific ask.”
In any event, McCormick says it will be somewhat familiar territory for Council as they have just dealt with Tamarack Dispensaries. But Council may not be ready to grant another business license for another medical marijuana dispensary.
“My feeling, and I haven’t polled Council yet, is we want to give Tamarack some time so we can learn from them.”
Kimberley was the first municipality in the province to grant a business license to a business of this type but McCormick says it was simply done to support a local entrepreneur.
“We are not advocating for the industry, just following a request for support from a local business.
“It really is a grey area. The police have chosen not to enforce it, particularly in Vancouver, because the courts have not moved to convict on these charges. The police are not taking action and municipalities are generally turning a blind eye to these businesses operating without a license. Until there is a clear, legislative direction, that is likely to continue.”
A few days after Kimberley granted the business license to Tamarack Dispensaries, Vancouver City Council announced it would deal with the issue through bylaws, which McCormick said he was glad to see.
While Kimberley issuing the business license was duly noted around the province, McCormick says it’s really not a big deal.
“The business license is a recognition that a business is being allowed to open. There is no legality around it. It is representative of a business’s legitimacy.”
As for a number of medical marijuana dispensaries potentially wanting to set up in Kimberley, they will be dealt with on a business by business basis, though McCormick says competition is not really an issue.
“An awful lot of this business is done through mail order. Even if we had half a dozen of them in the community, much is mail order. It’s big business. I read the other day that there are 50,000 people in Canada with prescriptions for medical marijuana. That’s a big number.”


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Britain’s dairy farmers are suffering from rising costs and squeezed prices. Here are some industry facts and figures
Organic milk — 5 per cent of all sales — gives a better price to farmers, and also tends to support smaller, traditional farms. Yeo Valley, the leading organic dairy brand, guarantees producers a price above their costs.
If you want to support British dairy farmers and make sure that they get a fair price, the National Farmers’ Union recommends buying British and looking for the Red Tractor label – which guarantees top quality, traceability and high standards of animal welfare and environmental care.
New filtering techniques are giving fresh milk longer and longer life. Properly refrigerated, pasteurised milk is


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Companies like Amazon create value for investors through their people, their invented systems and processes, and their physical presence.
Traditional accounting calculates a company's value by measuring physical assets and how much they owe. But we can tweak this for today's economy by including people and their ability to innovate.
A mythical Amazonia of lost tribes or lost cities is easy to challenge on a factual basis, but such objections appear rather feeble in the face of the power of cliché.
Amazon founder Jeff Besos.
How Jeff Bezos is plotting to take over the world -- and why Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce could be a threat to innovation.
It may seem convenient to think of technology companies as similar, but they’re really not.
When thinking about regulating them, it's useful to know Facebook, Amazon, Google, Apple and Microsoft have some similarities. But generally they're not competing with each other – or anyone else.
Fruit and vegetables department at Whole Foods Market.
In 2017 the US retail giant Amazon spent nearly $14 billion to acquire the Whole Foods Market grocery chain. What are the motivations behind this acquisition and who will be the winners and losers?
It isn’t that we should worry about AI becoming more human. We should fear ourselves becoming more artificial.
Tech companies can use differential privacy to collect and share aggregate data about user habits, while maintaining individual privacy.
How should privacy be protected in a world where data is gathered and shared with increasing speed and ingenuity? Differential privacy, a new model of cyber security, provides a potential solution.
The Amazon rainforest is fed by a rich network of creeks, streams and rivers. Informal road construction is now endangering this critical ecosystem.
Thousands of dirt roads crisscross the Brazilian Amazon, serving ranchers, loggers and miners. The area's fragile waterways — and the spectacular fish that live in them — pay a high price.
NRA TV’s content focuses on ideology rather than guns.
Screenshot from YouTube.com
Gun control advocates want to shut down the National Rifle Association's online video channel, NRA TV. A scholar looks at what its videos are actually about.
The history of the rubber 'boom' reveals why.
Myer’s place in the marketplace, and in the mind of the consumer, remains unclear.
What is lacking is Myer's heritage, and the need for this to be carefully reframed and updated for the present day.
Forest fires emit twice as much carbon in the Brazilian Amazon as deforestation, according to new research.
Amazon’s original headquarters in Seattle.
There are 20 US cities bidding to host Amazon's HQ2 – but the winner will have its work cut out to make the most of the prize.
ATMs, self-scan checkouts, automated calls, digital therapists ... no wonder we're all lonely.
The tech sector has long had a diversity problem.
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Amazon, like the entire tech sector, has suffered from a lack of diversity in its workforce. This trend is likely to continue when it opens a second headquarters in one of 20 cities.
Good Girls Revolt.
Good Girls Revolt, One Mississippi and I Love Dick are all female led dramas cancelled by Amazon.
In a move that suggests physical retail stores aren’t dead, Amazon has opened three bookstores and over 60 pop-up stores in the US, and has plans for up to 2,000 grocery stores.
Urban retail space is being transformed yet again. Predictions of the demise of physical retailing in the face of online competition overlook its resilience over two centuries of disruptive innovations.
Here in the business and economy team at The Conversation, we love charts. This year we've made plenty of good ones with academics.
Big data makes it a bit easier to guess your next move.
Predicting human behavior is big business. But science may never be able to do so with perfect certainty.
Rachel Brosnahan in The Marvelous Mrs Maisel.
It can be a tough gig as a female comedian.


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ASI certifies Rio Tinto’s Iceland smelter
(Posted on 04/05/21)
Rio Tinto's ISAL smelter in Iceland has been certified by the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) for meeting the highest internationally recognised standards for responsible aluminium production.
The certification continues Rio Tinto’s leadership of the industry on responsible aluminium production from mine to metal, and means customers can be assured aluminium produced at ISAL meets independent environmental, social and governance standards.
ISAL has achieved ASI Performance Standard certification with provisional status, following an independent, third party ‘desk top’ audit by ERM CVS. An onsite audit will be completed when possible after the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Rio Tinto was the first company to offer ASI Aluminium in 2018. It has led the establishment of responsible production certification for the aluminium industry as a founding member of ASI, working alongside customers and a broad range of stakeholders.
Rio Tinto chief commercial officer Alf Barrios said: “Expanding our global offering of independently certified, responsibly produced aluminium to include ISAL aligns with our aim to have consistently high ESG credentials across Rio Tinto. This certification can enhance the value ISAL’s high quality billet delivers for customers in European markets, where there is a growing demand for sustainable products across sectors like construction and automotive. We look forward to continuing our partnership with ASI, as we work with customers to offer sustainable products that help them meet consumer expectations.”
ASI Chief Executive Officer Fiona Solomon said: “We warmly congratulate Rio Tinto on achieving ASI Performance Standard Certification with Provisional Status for their ISAL smelting facility. We welcome Rio Tinto’s ongoing commitment to ASI’s mission and their leadership as a founding member. They have played a valuable role in the widespread adoption of our standards across the industry and into downstream aluminium use sectors such as automotive, construction and packaging.”
Rio Tinto offers ASI Aluminium through eight smelters across its global supply chain, with Performance Standard and Chain of Custody certifications spanning its alumina refinery, aluminium smelters and casthouses in Canada, and the Gove, Amrun and Weipa bauxite mines, Yarwun alumina refinery, and the Bell Bay and NZAS aluminium smelters in Australia and New Zealand.
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Marcus Lumber expanding in Iowa
In the year Marcus Lumber has celebrated its 100th anniversary, the dealer announced that it plans to open a new location.
The move marks the second location for Marcus Lumber.
Situated in Storm Lake, Iowa, the new store will feature a 17,000-square-foot home center in addition to an attached drive-through lumberyard.
In a statement issued by the company, Marcus Lumber said that it “is eager to bring the same strong independent presence we have established in Marcus to Storm Lake.”
The store is expected to undergo a remodel with plans for an opening in late spring of 2021.
“We are excited to serve our existing customers in the area even better with this location and look forward to welcoming many new customers from Storm Lake and surrounding areas,” the company said.
Marcus Lumber said it will hire approximately 10 associates to work at the new store.
Based in Marcus, Iowa, Marcus Lumber was founded on Feb. 1, 1920 when Roger T. Leavitt and his family purchased the Thomas Patton Lumber Company. Marcus Lumber is now in its third and fourth generation as a family-owned business.


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Three extends all-you-can-eat data packages to existing contract customers and new tariffs from £18 per month to end “data fear”
Three is introducing a £3 all-you-can-eat data add-on for contract customers from October 7.
The firm is also introducing new 24-month Talk & Text contracts with all-you-can-eat data starting at £18 with a handset.
The firm said the move followed the success of its The One Plan contracts launched in December, which offer sizeable minutes and text bundles along with unlimited data for £25 per month, and its £15 a month prepay plans which have offered unlimited data since being introduced in March.
Three said the tariff changes were “aimed at eliminating data fear and the worry of massive out-of-bundle data charges”.
Three marketing director Thomas Malleschitz said: “The One Plan quickly became our number one contract tariff and our all-you-can-eat PAYG offer is our most popular bundle.
“Our customers tell us that their use of data goes up significantly over the lifetime of their contracts, as they do more and more with their handset. All-you-can-eat data means that they don’t have to worry, they can have that peace of mind for the long term on a contract of their choice.”
Three said that data usage continued to grow rapidly. The firm has seen the average amount of data consumed by customers using an iPhone 4 rocket from 488MBs per month in February this year to almost 1.2GBs per month in August.


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|Bid||84.01 x 0|
|Ask||84.50 x 0|
|Day's Range||83.21 - 84.47|
|52 Week Range||60.86 - 84.47|
|Beta (5Y Monthly)||-0.06|
|PE Ratio (TTM)||25.58|
|Earnings Date||Jul 21, 2021 - Jul 26, 2021|
|Forward Dividend & Yield||1.34 (1.77%)|
|Ex-Dividend Date||Jun 14, 2021|
|1y Target Est||79.91|
Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L) ("Loblaw" or the "Company") announced today its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 19, 2021. The Company's 2021 Second Quarter Report to Shareholders will be available in the Investors section of the Company's website at loblaw.ca and will be filed on SEDAR and available at sedar.com.
There's no doubt that investing in the stock market is a truly brilliant way to build wealth. But not every stock you...
Today, Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L) ("Loblaw") took an important step on its journey to move its corporately-owned trucking fleet to electric vehicles, with the introduction of Daimler Trucks North America's (DTNA) battery-electric Freightliner eCascadia to routes in British Columbia. The company first trialed the eCascadia in early 2020 as part of Freightliner's Customer Experience (CX) fleet. Now, Loblaw has placed an initial order for five vehicles to be delivered in 2022/2023.