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German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz organised a classic
car rally to celebrate 120 years of its rich motorsport heritage. The rally
which was organised in Mumbai, showcased some of the finest classic cars from
the Mercedes-Benz stable. The rally celebrated Mercedes-Benz’s first ever FIA
F1 ‘World Constructor’s Championship’ victory. It was flagged-off from NCPA by
Eberhard Kern, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India.
Mercedes-Benz made history by participating in the world’s
first automobile competition in 1894. Having won its first Grand Prix in 1908
and many more accolades ever since, the iconic brand recently won its first
ever FIA Formula 1 World Constructors Championship title. Its two race drivers
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton are in great form winning consistently in the
2014 F1 season.
Kern stated, “Motorsport is fascinating and fun. Its energy,
excitement and ever-changing narrative delights millions. Motorsport also
brings people together – in peace and transcending all national borders.
Mercedes-Benz’s 120 Years of Motorsport history showcases a unique kaleidoscope
of glittering success in different motor racing categories. Our celebration today
is even more special because this year Mercedes-Benz has won its first FIA F1
‘World Constructor’s Championship. This victory is an outcome of years of hard
work, unsurpassable commitment and technological prowess by our team of
The event witnessed a
diverse range of classic cars parading the streets of Mumbai which were cheered
by large crowds which gathered across the route. Commencing from NCPA Nariman
Point, the rally travelled through popular Mumbai locations such as Peddar
Road, the Horniman Circle and Bandra Worli Sea Link. Classics including Pontons
such as the W120s, Fintails such as the W110 and the W111, and recent classics
like the W124 and the W108 grabbed the attention of the bystanders. Each of the
vehicles from the Mercedes-Benz Classic collection shown and driven at the
rally open up an exciting chapter from the 120-year history of motor sport at
Designed with a unique abrasive film for higher performance, TVS Apache, a friction brand of Brakes India, launched platinum brake pads for the luxury car range which have been designed for comfort an...
Uno Minda, a leading Tier 1 supplier of proprietary automotive solutions to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), has announced the launch of its BS VI -compliant automotive engine oils for two-whe...
Vida, powered by Hero, the emerging mobility brand of Hero MotoCorp, has initiated operations of its public charging infrastructure in Bengaluru, Delhi and Jaipur. The brand has set up nearly 300 cha...


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In 2013 and 2014, the European Banking Authority and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a United States self-regulatory organization, warned that investing in bitcoins carries significant risks. Forbes named bitcoin the best investment of 2013. In 2014, Bloomberg named bitcoin one of its worst investments of the year. In 2015, bitcoin topped Bloomberg's currency tables.
On 6 August 2010, a major vulnerability in the bitcoin protocol was spotted. Transactions weren't properly verified before they were included in the transaction log or blockchain, which let users bypass bitcoin's economic restrictions and create an indefinite number of bitcoins. On 15 August, the vulnerability was exploited; over 184 billion bitcoins were generated in a transaction, and sent to two addresses on the network. Within hours, the transaction was spotted and erased from the transaction log after the bug was fixed and the network forked to an updated version of the bitcoin protocol. This was the only major security flaw found and exploited in bitcoin's history.
Mining is a record-keeping service done through the use of computer processing power.[e] Miners keep the blockchain consistent, complete, and unalterable by repeatedly grouping newly broadcast transactions into a block, which is then broadcast to the network and verified by recipient nodes. Each block contains a SHA-256 cryptographic hash of the previous block, thus linking it to the previous block and giving the blockchain its name.:ch. 7
Legal Gray Area. Major governments have largely remained on the sidelines, and this has created both a sense of potential and apprehension for Bitcoin proponents and critics respectively. Bitcoin isn’t backed by a regulatory agency and a government would technically be ceding power by supporting a decentralized currency. This has been largely officially unaddressed. Bitcoin’s price, however, tends to be very sensitive to any news concerning the US government’s opinion of cryptocurrencies. For example, when the SEC denied the approval of bitcoin-based exchange-traded-products—essentially bitcoin-backed assets on the stock market—in 2017, Bitcoin’s price dropped 18%. Yet while the price and adoption of Bitcoin would be affected by government action, governments are unable to criminalize Bitcoin. In fact, governments such as the United States and China have invested in it at some capacity.
Bitcoin prices were negatively affected by several hacks or thefts from cryptocurrency exchanges, including thefts from Coincheck in January 2018, Coinrail and Bithumb in June, and Bancor in July. For the first six months of 2018, $761 million worth of cryptocurrencies was reported stolen from exchanges. Bitcoin's price was affected even though other cryptocurrencies were stolen at Coinrail and Bancor, as investors worried about the security of cryptocurrency exchanges.
Bitcoin Trading Volume to get a Boost as Goldman Sachs Onboards Clients & with Bakkt Launch CoingapeGoldman Sachs is Signing up Customers for its Bitcoin Trading Product: Report CCNBitcoin [BTC] derivatives trading facility to be rolled out by Goldman Sachs for their clients AMBCrypto7 things to know and the best place to open a restaurant? Sorry, it's not […]
This is a rather simple long term model. And perhaps the biggest question it hinges on is how much adoption will bitcoin achieve? Coming up with a value for the current price of bitcoin would involve pricing in the risk of low adoption or failure of bitcoin as a currency, which could include being displaced by one or more other digital currencies. Models often consider the velocity of money, frequently arguing that since bitcoin can support transfers that take less than an hour, the velocity of money in the future bitcoin ecosystem will be higher than the current average velocity of money. Another view on this though would be that velocity of money is not restricted by today's payment rails in any significant way and that its main determinant is the need or willingness of people to transact. Therefore, the projected velocity of money could be treated as roughly equal to its current value.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been identified as economic bubbles by at least eight Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences laureates, including Robert Shiller, Joseph Stiglitz, and Richard Thaler. Noted Keyensian economist Paul Krugman wrote in his New York Times column criticizing bitcoin, calling it a bubble and a fraud; and professor Nouriel Roubini of New York University called bitcoin the "mother of all bubbles." Central bankers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, investors such as Warren Buffett, and George Soros have stated similar views, as have business executives such as Jamie Dimon and Jack Ma.
The number of businesses accepting bitcoin continued to increase. In January 2017, NHK reported the number of online stores accepting bitcoin in Japan had increased 4.6 times over the past year. BitPay CEO Stephen Pair declared the company's transaction rate grew 3× from January 2016 to February 2017, and explained usage of bitcoin is growing in B2B supply chain payments.
Bitcoin is the world’s first open-source, decentralized proof-of-work digital currency and platform powered by blockchain technology. Transactions on the network are peer-to-peer, cryptographically secure, and do not require an intermediary. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to introduce the concept of non-tangible, programmable money that is stored on a public blockchain. The now-famous Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin whitepaper in 2008, referencing the financial crisis of that year. It discussed the implementation of a cashless, digital payment system to counter fallible fiat currency systems. By January 2009, the first Bitcoin was mined. Nakamoto publicly released his research to the cryptocurrency community soon thereafter. It remains the largest digital currency by market cap.
The bitcoin blockchain is a public ledger that records bitcoin transactions. It is implemented as a chain of blocks, each block containing a hash of the previous block up to the genesis block[a] of the chain. A network of communicating nodes running bitcoin software maintains the blockchain.:215–219 Transactions of the form payer X sends Y bitcoins to payee Z are broadcast to this network using readily available software applications.
Yesterday, we saw a major downside move below the $6,350 support in bitcoin price against the US Dollar. The BTC/USD pair declined heavily and broke the $6,240 support and the 100 hourly simple moving average. It traded as low as $6,202 and later started a short term correction. The price moved above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent drop from the $6,433 high to $6,202 low.
One of the first supporters, adopters, contributor to bitcoin and receiver of the first bitcoin transaction was programmer Hal Finney. Finney downloaded the bitcoin software the day it was released, and received 10 bitcoins from Nakamoto in the world's first bitcoin transaction on 12 January 2009. Other early supporters were Wei Dai, creator of bitcoin predecessor b-money, and Nick Szabo, creator of bitcoin predecessor bit gold.
On 1 August 2017, a hard fork of bitcoin was created, known as Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin Cash has a larger block size limit and had an identical blockchain at the time of fork. On 24 October 2017 another hard fork, Bitcoin Gold, was created. Bitcoin Gold changes the proof-of-work algorithm used in mining, as the developers felt that mining had become too specialized.
In 2014, researchers at the University of Kentucky found "robust evidence that computer programming enthusiasts and illegal activity drive interest in bitcoin, and find limited or no support for political and investment motives". Australian researchers have estimated that 25% of all bitcoin users and 44% of all bitcoin transactions are associated with illegal activity as of April 2017. There were an estimated 24 million bitcoin users primarily using bitcoin for illegal activity. They held $8 billion worth of bitcoin, and made 36 million transactions valued at $72 billion. A group of researches analyzed bitcoin transactions in 2016 and came to a conclusion that "some recent concerns regarding the use of bitcoin for illegal transactions at the present time might be overstated".
As the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin’s long price history should come as no surprise. Bitcoin was created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, an alias for a person or group who has still not been revealed. Over the years, it has hit many highs and lows, To better understand the past of this cryptocurrency, as well as its potential in the future, take a deeper delve into its history.
To be accepted by the rest of the network, a new block must contain a so-called proof-of-work (PoW). The system used is based on Adam Back's 1997 anti-spam scheme, Hashcash. The PoW requires miners to find a number called a nonce, such that when the block content is hashed along with the nonce, the result is numerically smaller than the network's difficulty target.:ch. 8 This proof is easy for any node in the network to verify, but extremely time-consuming to generate, as for a secure cryptographic hash, miners must try many different nonce values (usually the sequence of tested values is the ascending natural numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, ...:ch. 8) before meeting the difficulty target.
Jump up ^ Beikverdi, A.; Song, J. (June 2015). "Trend of centralization in Bitcoin's distributed network". 2015 IEEE/ACIS 16th International Conference on Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Networking and Parallel/Distributed Computing (SNPD): 1–6. doi:10.1109/SNPD.2015.7176229. ISBN 978-1-4799-8676-7. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018.

domain: news


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Get set for new trade rules – and give your business a boost
BUSINESS owners are being urged to step up preparations for new trading rules with Europe – after almost 90 per cent told a Sun survey they didn’t know how the end of the UK transition period would affect them.
As we celebrate a new year on 1 January, we will also exit the EU single market and customs union (officially at 11pm on 31 December), and a raft of changes to the way we do business with Europe will come into place.
But The Sun’s Facebook poll of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) reveals that 89 per cent of SME bosses aren’t sure what the changes will mean for their company. And 78 per cent admitted they didn’t even know 31 December 2020 was the date the transition period finishes.
And given that the UK’s six million SMEs are the lifeblood of our economy, it’s vital they can continue trading smoothly into next year.
If you import or export to Europe, travel there for work or employ EU citizens, there are steps you must take immediately to ensure business operations carry on seamlessly in January 2021 and beyond. The good news is that by visiting the Government’s dedicated transition website you’ll have all the information you need at your fingertips.
There’s a tick box checker tool that takes five minutes to fill in – your answers will guide you to any new regulations that affect your business.
Only 11 per cent of those in The Sun’s Facebook poll had visited the transition website, so with less than two weeks before the new rules kick in, it makes sound business sense to log on today.
“Small business owners should be consulting the Government’s site, as well as our own dedicated hub,” says James Sibley, head of international affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). Explore the FSB transition hub here.
Get your motor running
The UK’s automotive industry exports engines, components and vehicles worldwide. There are thousands of small and medium automotive businesses in the UK – if you run one of them, get up to speed with the new regulations in four easy stages:
- Visit uk to identify changes for manufactured goods, such as new marking requirements.
- Visit uk to get ready to make customs declarations.
- Check UK and EU chemical regulations if you manufacture, import or export chemicals.
- Check the latest guidance for moving goods into, out of, or through Northern Ireland.
Prepare for take off
The aerospace sector has had a bumpy ride in 2020 but it’s an industry that’s at the forefront of innovation in the UK. Most businesses in the sector are classed as microbusinesses – companies with fewer than ten employees. For a turbulence-free transition, aerospace business owners should:
- Visit the Government website to identify changes for manufactured goods, such as new certification requirements.
- Get ready to make customs declarations – see uk.
- Check UK and EU regulations to manufacture, import or export chemicals.
- Check the latest guidance on moving goods into, out of, or through Northern Ireland.
Keep your company healthy
The life sciences sector, harnessing biology and technology to advance healthcare around the world, is also key to the health of the UK economy. Microbusinesses are at the sector’s heart. To prepare for 1 January 2021, business owners in the sector should visit gov.uk to identify changes for manufactured goods, such as new regulatory requirements, and to get ready to make customs declarations. They should also check new rules on importing and exporting products between Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the EU.
Get down to business
The professional and business services (PBS) sector supports every area of our national life – incorporating, for example, law, accountancy, architecture and human resources amongst many others. To ensure it’s business as usual from 1 January 2021, businesses in this sector should:
- Get professional qualifications recognised by EU regulators to practise in the EU.
- Check if visas or work permits are required for business travel to Europe.
- Visit uk/using-personal-data-2021 to check changes to data protection rules.
- Register as a licensed visa sponsor if they plan to recruit from overseas.
Look for your sector and check what you need to do here:
Source: Read Full Article


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From Berwick on Tweed to Wick, Scots everywhere, no matter which side they support, have been wearing their hearts, not just on their sleeves but also on their T shirts, lapels even on their cuffs.
“Never before in a UK political campaign has a message been so strongly put across by so many people on the streets.
Around £0.25 million has been spent by the two sides on promotional clothing , badges or flags, the biggest promotion of budgets ever by our estimates, and that Yes has spent up to 50 per cent more than No.” says Gordon Glenister, Director General of the British Promotional Merchandise Association.
“It’s been a great economic boost to the many small businesses in Scotland who have been producing them.”
This week is, co-incidentally, Promotional Products Week, highlighting the important but the often unrecognised role that promotional merchandise plays in our working lives.


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December 6, 2021
MRI-Simmons conducted a groundbreaking study on the health and wellness behavior of over 42 million mainstream cannabis consumers. The results offer surprising insights and opportunities for modern wellness and pharma marketers.
Achieving privacy-first personalization in pharmaceutical marketing through contextual advertising
August 29, 2023


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Schenck emphasizes that losing a child does something to you. You build walls. She says owning a food truck business, though, forced their family to break down those barriers." Now, after building Hibachibot, a food truck serving Korean barbecue, for the last five years, she says they don't want it to end.
Her concern about the food truck business is understandable. The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected more than 60 food trucks in the Phoenix area. "Our industry relies on large crowds, whether through special events, weekend gatherings, corporate lunch stops, backyard weddings, and parties," she says. With shelter-in-place orders and social distancing, it is hard for food trucks simply to sell their product.
Detroit Coney Cruiser food truck owner Jake Kloster echoes this concern. "All our events we rely on were canceled. Events from the middle of March through the end of May were canceled in a matter of weeks," he says. "That's scary."
Bama BBQ 4 Ever Catering points out another hardship. "We had to cancel pretty much 100 percent of our events we had scheduled. Some of those events we had to pay to get into like festivals, and we had to return fees to people who had booked us for weddings, birthday parties, and other events."
It's evident the financial impact is severe. Jerry Looker, owner of the It's Seoul Good food truck, says, "Business is incredibly lean. Income is down about 80 percent." Many food truckers look to make revenue during their peak season, which is from February through May. Looker adds people don't necessarily gather outside of food trucks during the summer months for obvious hot weather reasons.
However, creativity has become a result of this adversity — which is precisely what food truckers in the Phoenix area are doing to survive.
Looker knew he had to get imaginative, and decided on a different approach. "I started reaching out to homeowner associations and parked my food truck somewhere in the community," he says. "People can call in their orders and we hand them their food during a specific period of time."
Back at Detroit Coney Cruiser, Kloster went for a similar strategy. He's reaching out to apartment complexes and HOA communities. Though the food truck routine is tough to restructure, Kloster says, "I always try to find the positive in situations."
At Hibachibot, Schenck and Everson have decided to do family pack meals. "I send out a link on our Facebook page and it brings up Street Food Finder and shows the different packages that we have available," she says. "We set up a designated time for pickup and families give us their name and we hand them their bag."
Even prior to the pandemic, "food trucks were scrutinized more than brick-and-mortar establishments," says Looker. "In some ways, it is a much safer option with a limited number of employees handling the food, an open-air environment, and every food trucker has taken the necessary steps for minimal contact and cross-contamination."
Schenck is taking her sanitation procedures seriously. "We use a bleach hot water solution to wipe down all surfaces throughout the service," she says. Gloves and masks are being used as well. Detroit Coney Cruiser has added more hand sanitizers. "We do not allow people to pump the sanitizer. We do it for them, limiting the number of hands on the bottle," Kloster says. Almost all of the transactions are cashless besides.
However, our food truckers are experiencing noticeable changes in their customers' demeanor.
"People are more scared to come out or even walk out of the house," Looker says. According to Everson, customers who do wait in line at Hibachibot are practicing social distancing. Kloster has added signs about social distancing and placed them in front of the Detroit Coney Cruiser truck. "Not only are we trying to keep the public safe, but we are trying to remain safe for ourselves," he says.
"For some of us, this industry was more than a job. It was our dream, it was our healing, it was our way to make a mark in the world that we all worked hard to accomplish," she says. "Now it seems an uphill climb to get it back."


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Mark Cuban’s latest investment
is one we all might find ourselves using in the near future— bamboo toilet paper.
The Dallas billionaire invested an undisclosed amount of money in Cloud Paper, a Seattle-based startup that produces tree-free toilet paper in efforts to end deforestation from traditional paper products. Cuban, along with a slew of other celebrity investors including Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashton Kutcher and Robert Downey Jr.’s FootPrint Coalition, to name a few, have all contributed to a $3 million funding round led by venture capital firm Greycroft.
“I think it’s a great product on the right mission!” Cuban said in an email to Dallas CultureMap.
According to Geekwire, Cloud Paper has seen an 800% increase in signups for its sustainable toilet tissue since its founding in 2019. The three-ply toilet paper is made from 100% “ultra soft” bamboo, utilizes 100% plastic free, recyclable and compostable packaging and ships directly to consumers’ doors via the company’s subscription service. Toilet paper and paper towels contribute to 20% of global deforestation (the equivalent of 40,000 trees cut down per day), according to Cloud Paper’s website. The company claims that the perks of using bamboo over traditional tree-based paper is that is absorbs significant amounts of carbon during its growth, does not need to be replanted after harvesting (as it will continue to grow) and that the use of bamboo TP generates at least 30% less greenhouse gas emissions compared to tree-based toilet paper.
This isn’t Cuban’s first foray into the fight against climate change. After the U.S. pulled out of the Paris Agreement in 2017, Cuban said any “reasonable person” would want to find a solution for climate change, and in an effort to offset the team’s carbon emissions from corporate travel, Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks teamed up with the Carbonfund.org Foundation last year. He’s also invested in a solar energy company called Grouphug on his ABC show “Shark Tank.”


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At around 9:40 A.M., GMT, USD/JPY was trading at 84.07, after opening the day at 84.02.
The dollar extended its rise from the previous week early on Monday, gaining an early boost after European finance ministers confirmed the 85 billion euro bailout package for Ireland.
According to USD/JPY analysis, the dollar was likely to touch support around Thursday’s low of 83.40 and encounter resistance around the high of Sep. 23, 84.67
The currency pair was being traded Monday as Japan released worse-than-expected retail sales data for October, which showed that overall sales dropped 0.2%, down from a rise of 1.4% in September.
Elsewhere, the yen fell against the pound: GBP/JPY traded at 131.11, down from an open of 131.04, according to intraday analysis.


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Continue Reading Below
Weight Watchers International, Inc.(NYSE: WTW)stock was up as much as 13% during the trading day today, seemingly over early excitement about the earnings release planned for this evening, after the market closes.
Weight Watchers is planning to release its Q4 and full-year 2016 earnings this evening, following the close of the market, but rival Nutrisystem (NASDAQ: NTRI) just released its own earnings that handily beat expectations, with sales up 21% year over year for the fourth quarter. The market seems to believe that Nutrisystem's successcould be indicative ofa rise in the number of interested dieters market-wide, which would mean a coming expectation beat for Weight Watchers as well.
Image source: Weight Watchers International, Inc.
Weight Watchers stock has had a good last few months -- up 32% in the last six months. Some of the reasons for the stock's rise lately include news of celebrity and Weight Watchers major investor Oprahtaking a more active rolein the brand's marketing efforts, as well as the January announcement that the overhauled Weight Watchers weight-lossprogramwon multiple first-place awardsinU.S. News & World Report'sBest Diets of2017.
Will Weight Watchers' stock continue its outperformance trend this year? There are a few reasons to be careful about this stock now, including its past volatility (the stock is down 82% over the past five years), as well as a surge in cheaper or completely free programs and health mobile apps that could cut into Weight Watchers' potential consumer base. Still, the company has clearly made some impressive moves in the last few months, and the stock could be cheap now -- trading at just 12 times forward earnings estimates -- if its success with its new programs continues in 2017.
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David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now...and Weight Watchers International wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
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Consumer Innovation Shout Out: New Balance Uses AI to Identify and Reward Fashion-Forward People
In a world where social media is the main channel of advertising for fashion brands and millions of people around the world emulate their favorite celebrities and influencers, having a truly unique style makes you stand out in a crowd.
Launched on the first day of New York Fashion Week, New Balance's latest marketing campaign, “Be The Exception”, attempts to reward people going against trends. Described by the American footwear giant as "real time exception spotting", this campaign aims to identify trendsetters by using artificial intelligence to “celebrate people who go left when everybody else is going right”, as said by New Balance director of global marketing Allie Tsavdarides.
Working in partnership with digital marketing agency, VML, the campaign started by scanning crowds of people in New York City to collect baseline data about fashion trends in the weeks prior to Fashion Week. The gathered information, including anything from shapes and style of clothing to color palettes and patterns, was then aggregated to feed machine learning software.
An outfit-tracking camera booth was set up in SoHo on September 6th, allowing a team to track nearby pedestrians in real-time and single out anomalies. People that the software identified as "distinctively styled" were greeted by a brand representative and given a pair of New Balance Fresh Foam Cruz Nubuck sneakers, which will arrive to stores in the next few weeks.
The Boston-based company plans to use this technology in the upcoming months in major cities around the world, such as Toronto, Stockholm and Madrid. So, if you plan to attend any fashion event soon, be bold and defy the norm… it might get you a new pair of sneakers!
Like this Blog?
Read more Retail Innovation Shout Out blogs and join the conversation!


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International award-winning executive recruitment company Monroe Consulting Group has advertised 54 new senior-level job openings in just three days, indicating ongoing confidence in the recruitment company’s reputation in the emerging markets in which it operates and the wider economic picture in Southeast Asia.
In total, the recruitment company has 215 executive-level job openings available in the technology, consumer goods, industrial, professional services and health sectors in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. Monroe also has operations in China, Chile and Mexico.
Andrew Hairs, Monroe Group managing director, said that despite an increasing number of negative articles about economic prospects in emerging markets, the search for senior-level professionals remained highly competitive. “Although we are seeing a number of companies that are no longer comfortable offering salary increases above 25 percent, the job market in Southeast Asia remains very strong for people seeking new opportunities,” Andrew said.
Bagus Hendrayono, managing director at Monroe Indonesia, said the recent surge in job vacancies illustrated that more-and-more leading national and multinational companies operating in Indonesia were trusting the company’s superior recruitment capabilities across a number of key industries.
“In the past few days we have filled a number of key executive-level job openings with high-profile corporate clients, but new positions are opening up daily,” Bagus said. “We have 57 job openings available as of today, particularly in the consumer goods and information technology industries.”
Monica Viladot Medina, managing director of Monroe’s newest branch operation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said the recruitment company had posted a record number of job openings, on the back of its strengthening reputation in the country.
“Most corporate clients and human resources professionals are well aware of Monroe’s strengths in being able to secure leading candidates in the market places in which we operate, including Malaysia,” Monica said. This reputation had been strengthened when Monroe Consulting Group was named Best Small Recruitment Business in the Asia-Pacific for a record third year and Best Overseas Operation for a second time at the Global Recruiter Asia Pacific Industry Awards 2015 in Singapore, she said.
“In Malaysia, we have 33 executive job openings available to the perfect candidates,” she said. “We have three senior executive positions available with a global sporting goods company, and multiple jobs available in the technology and consumer goods sectors.”
Stuart Gatland, managing directors of Monroe’s operations in the Philippines, said the Manila-based branch office had also seen an increase in corporate clients approaching Monroe with high-level job openings. Since Monday, the company had more than doubled its number of job vacancies to 58, he said.
“Our dedicated teams of specialised recruitment consultants are putting Monroe’s award-winning training programmes and company operating procedures into action and it has been paying dividends,” Stuart said. “Financial services, manufacturing, information technology and consumer goods, you name it: We are filling vacancies on a daily basis.”
Monroe Thailand Managing Director John Tolmie said he was having a record year in terms of job placements, with 67 executive-level openings with some of the best companies operating in Thailand currently available.
“We are being approached by new corporate clients on an almost daily basis, both multinational and Thai-based companies,” John said. “Just yesterday, we were tasked with headhunting a regional procurement executive for one of the world’s leading multinational consumer goods companies, and today we have another opening, this one for a human resources manager for a leading Thai manufacturing company.”


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The immigrant story is as old as time. People uprooted by turmoil at home or seeking better opportunities elsewhere leave their homeland and start anew. In America, it’s a tale told by the Pilgrims, the Germans, the Italians, the Poles, the Mexicans and dozens of other groups.
Ali Akhtari’s story isn’t much different from those of generations of past settlers coming to America. He’s originally from Ghazni, a city high on a plateau in southeastern Afghanistan.
“I left home, lived in Pakistan … worked in restaurants. Then I came here in 2013 and started over again from scratch. I had $100 in my pocket,” Akhtari said. “Now I own two businesses and have nine people working for me.”
Like many immigrants before him, Akhtari found success running a restaurant specializing in the food of his homeland.
He took over the original VA Kabob House in Springfield from an uncle and this summer opened a second location in the Ashburn Farm Market Center.
“Afghan restaurants make dishes that everyone likes,” said Akhtari, who says his customers come from every ethnic background and walk of life. “We make fresh bread, fresh rice, fresh kabobs. We cook to order, and we cook everything from scratch. People like that.”
Click here and head over to the Ashburn Magazine website to read the rest of the story, including details about the ingredients most common in Afghan food and one of the cuisine’s most popular dishes — kabuli pulaw.


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San Francisco, Oct 16 (UiTV/IANS) – Tech giant Google has announced that its ‘Pixel Tablet‘ and the awaited ‘Pixel foldable phones‘ will use side-mounted traditional sensors from next year.
Recently, Google, in its Pixel 6 series, moved the fingerprint sensor from the back of the phone to the front (in the display), which caused users to complain about it.
With the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, Google has improved the reading experience and added face-unlocking support.
Even with those improvements, Google’s upcoming Pixel devices, the 2023 Pixel Tablet, and the foldable Pixel ‘Notepad’ seem to be returning to traditional fingerprint sensors.
As reported by 9to5Google, the reason for switching from an under-display sensor to a traditional one on the foldable Pixel is to ensure that unlocking the phone works regardless of whether it’s folded or unfolded.
Next, there’s a test for an “X-aligned” device – meaning the fingerprint sensor would be along the top or bottom edge. We believe this code is intended to cover the upcoming Pixel Tablet, presumably placing its sensor on the upper power/lock button, similar to the Pixel Slate, 9to5Google added.
However, Samsung’s foldable phones have seen decent success with under-display fingerprint sensors, and Google’s hardware ecosystem may begin to rival that of Samsung with the introduction of foldable phones and tablets.


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The food and beverage industry continues to step up and lend support to those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this roundup, we highlight brands’ efforts to give back, including Rowdy Mermaid’s donations to local Colorado nonprofits and Susosu Water’s efforts to support young and single mothers in the Washington, D.C. area.
Rowdy Mermaid Donates to Local Colorado Nonprofits
Boulder, Colorado-based kombucha brand Rowdy Mermaid is giving back to local hospitals and nonprofits during the pandemic, with a goal to donate at least 1,000 cases to organizations in need throughout the area.
Rowdy Mermaid marketing manager Michelle Dziuban said the brand has already donated products to local food banks and to Boulder Community Hospital, with 150 additional cases scheduled to go out on Monday.
“We really wanted to support the people who are helping during this crazy time and some of the people who are taking a hit because of it,” Dziuban said.
Dziuban said the brand has also connected with local nonprofit organizations such as Denver Inner City Parish, Denver’s Community Food Share (which partners with Feeding America) and We Don’t Waste, an organization that collects excess food from venues, caterers, restaurants and other local food and beverage companies and redistributes it to underserved communities in the Denver area. She said that busy food banks receiving an influx of donations connected her to other local organizations like Denver Inner City Parish, which then in turn directed her to We Don’t Waste.
“It’s really cool to connect with the community and see how close-knit they all are,” she said.
The brand is also in discussion with local school districts to donate products, and has at this time allocated less than half of its 1,000 cases for donation and is seeking additional nonprofits partners in need in the area. Dziuban said that while the brand had hoped to make donations to homeless shelters, they are not accepting donations of kombucha due to the small percentage of alcohol typically found in kombucha products.
Because Rowdy Mermaid does not currently have an e-commerce platform — though Dziuban said it is currently in development — the brand has partnered with two local wholesale and foodservice distribution companies who have themselves pivoted their businesses due to the pandemic. Wholesale distributor Solis moved online during the pandemic and now offers products from Colorado-based brands to consumers for 50% off, while restaurant ingredient provider Atlamira has now opened its warehouse to the public for home delivery. Solis is also offering local brands like Upstart Kombucha and coconut water maker CocoRidge, while Atlamira also offers Denver-based tea soda brand Teatulia.
“We’re all human and we’re all in this together and we’re not just trying to sell a product and make money, we’re trying to solve a problem and help people,” Dziuban said.
Susosu Water Supports Young and Single Mothers in Need
Virginia-based mineral water brand Susosu Water has partnered with Empowered Mums, a local nonprofit focused on supporting young and single mothers, on its new “For Mums We Stand” campaign. Susosu Water will donate product and a portion of its profits to the campaign, which delivers groceries and other necessities to mothers impacted by the pandemic in the Washington D.C. area in association with nonprofits VirusCure and Hearts of Empowerment.
Susosu Water co-founder and CEO Jheen Oh said he was already familiar with Empowered Mums founder Amy Montoya, who is a loyal customer of the brand.
“I saw her post on LinkedIn about her nonprofit organization and immediately had to reach out as I really believed in her vision and mission and what she was doing it for,” he said.
Susosu Water has donated cases of water to be distributed to local mothers in the area, and is also donating 10% of its e-commerce sales to the cause. Oh said the campaign officially launched on Mother’s Day and has since received an “outpour of support” as the organization has been able to donate to mothers in Washington, D.C, Virginia and Maryland. Those in need of support can fill out an application at empoweredmums.org/for-mums-we-stand, where monetary donations to the campaign are also being accepted.
Borden Selected to Participate in USDA Farmers to Families Food Box
Dairy company Borden has been awarded a contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farmers to Families Food Box Program, which is part of its Coronavirus Farm Assistance Program (CFAP), according to a press release. Through the CFAP, the USDA is purchasing and distributing $3 million worth of agricultural products, including milk, produce and meat, while also working with local and regional distributors who have been affected by the closure of restaurants, hotels and other foodservice operations.
Starting today, Borden will begin supplying 700 million servings of fresh milk to qualifying 501(c)(3) organizations in the Southeast, Southwest and Midwest regions.
“Borden applauds the USDA for taking this monumental step to ensure that Americans have convenient access to nutrition during this difficult time in our nation’s history,” said Borden CEO Tony Sarsam in the release. “This USDA contract allows Borden to exponentially grow our coronavirus relief efforts that are already underway. The 3,300 people of Borden are incredibly proud to further support our communities and eager to begin fulfilling more donation requests immediately.”
Other dairy companies donating milk to several regions through the program include Illinois’ Prairie Farms.
Other Good News From Around the Industry:
- Lifeway Foods has donated more than 70,000 servings of probiotic kefir to food banks, shelters and hospitals nationwide. For its employees, the company has launched the Lifeway Hero Award program which offers hourly bonuses to production and warehouse workers.
- Toronto’s Tonica Kombucha donated $1,000 to the George Hull Centre for Children & Families to help support its essential services during the crisis. The brand is also providing 1,500 meals per month to Feed Ontario.
- Plant-based protein brand Aloha donated the monetary equivalent of 5,000 N95 masks to West Hawaii Community Health Center, and also donated over 3,000 cases (36,000 bottles) of its Vanilla Protein Shakes to the University of Chicago Medical System.
- Coffee company Snowing in Space announced the release of new whole bean coffee blend “Frontline Fuel.” For each purchase of the new blend, the company will donate a bag to Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital.
- FORTO Coffee along with co-owner Shaquille O’Neal are donating 1 million 2 oz. coffee shots to first responders and medical professionals.
- California-based organic tequila brand Solento Tequila has partnered with the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Foundation, 101 Mainstreets and the Harbaugh Foundation to hold a raffle donating 100% of the proceeds to the Encinitas Support Fund. Funds raised from the Solento Family Relief Raffle will be given back to the community through small grants for local shops.
- North Carolina-based brand Tama Tea has donated 2,200 cans to Wilmington’s New Hannover Regional Medical Center.
- Rainwater brand Heart Water has donated hundreds of thousands “I Heart” water cans to be distributed throughout the next month to hospitals in areas like New York City, Los Angeles and Austin.
- Baltimore-based Sagamore Spirit released a limited-edition expression, Sagamore Spirit Barrel Select Bartender’s Barrel, with 100% of the proceeds benefiting the Baltimore Bartender’s Guild.
- Baltimore Ravens running back Mark Ingram Jr. donated products from hydration mix brand DripDrop ORS to the University of Maryland Medical Center. In addition, over 350 hospitals in more than 20 states have received DripDrop donations to date.
- Purity Organic and Sweet Leaf Tea have partnered with rapper Trippie Redd to donate 30,000 bottles of organic beverages to frontline healthcare workers across the country including New York City, Los Angeles and his hometown of Canton, Ohio.


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Check out the companies making the biggest moves in premarket trading:
Walgreens Boots Alliance — The retail pharmacy chain sank about 7% after the company lowered its full-year earnings guidance to $4 to $4.05 per share from its previous forecast of $4.45 to $4.65 per share. It also reported adjusted earnings per share for its fiscal third quarter of $1, missing a Refinitiv forecast of $1.07.
Delta Air Lines — The travel stock added about 1% in premarket trading after Delta forecast full-year adjusted earnings of $6 per share, at the high end of previous guidance. The company cited strong demand and customers trading up to more expensive share classes as reasons for the more optimistic outlook.
American Equity Investment Life — The stock jumped 15% in premarket trading after Bloomberg reported Canadian investment firm Brookfield was close to making a deal to buy the insurance firm for approximately $4.3 billion.
Eli Lilly — Shares gained 1.5% in the premarket. Eli Lilly released clinical results Monday that showed its experimental drug retatrutide helped patients lose up to 24% of their weight after almost a year.
Host Hotels & Resorts — Shares fell nearly 2% following a downgrade by Morgan Stanley to underweight from equal weight. The Wall Street firm said it expects deteriorating trends in key markets and higher competitive supply versus its peer group.
— CNBC’s Sarah Min, Brian Evans, Jesse Pound and Michael Bloom contributed reporting.


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Oded Brenner, a co-founder of the Max Brenner chocolate empire, is the secret force behind a new batch of coffee and bakery shops even though he’s not allowed to use his name or likeness, Side Dish has learned.
Brenner, who along with business partner Max Fichtman founded the Max Brenner Chocolate by the Bald Man concept, can be spotted at his three stores, Koffeecake Corner Coffee Bakery, at 301 W. 17th St., 1269 Lexington Ave. and 775 Sixth Ave.
He’s scouting locations to open a fourth store on the Upper West Side, with six more to open over the next two years, a source said.
Brenner bought out Fichtman and in 2001 sold the chain to a company now owned by the Strauss Group, which hired Brenner as a consultant to build the brand.
But last year, a New York Supreme Court judge ruled Brenner had broken his non-compete and confidentiality agreements when he opened Little Brown Chocolate Bakery & Coffee.
That bakery on the Upper East Side is now Koffeecake Corner. Brenner can often be spotted there and at his other locations, where a chocolate machine drizzles different types of chocolate onto fresh baked goods, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal and fruit.
Brenner — who apprenticed with Fauchon in Paris and studied under top Parisian chocolatiers for six years — is not allowed to tell his patrons that he is the Brenner behind Max Brenner.
SIGHTING: Sirio Maccioni shaving white truffles on to Martha Stewart’s $150 fettuccine, as she tried new chef Massimo Bebber’s fall menu at Sirio Ristorante in the Pierre Hotel.


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March 06, 2019 News
Page: 1 2 Next
11 months ago, 1824 views, By Friedom Innovation
Hair Guru and Celebrity Hair Stylist, Naturally Isis Joins Friedom Innovation as the Startup Firm's New Brand Ambassador
11 months ago, 1654 views, By Home Helpers Home Care
Home Helpers of Belleville brings in-home care to Rutherford, Belleville, Lyndhurst, Jersey city, Wallington, Nutley, North Arlington, Secaucus, Carlstadt, Moonachie, Woodridge and Clifton.
11 months ago, 1279 views, By BraveDog Games
The innovation center is in partnership with the LeMoyne-Owen College Community Development Corporation
11 months ago, 1235 views, By Digital Citizenship Institute
On March 15, the Lake Shore Central School District (LSCSD) will partner with the Digital Citizenship Institute (DCI) to host a school community Digital Citizenship Summit (#DigCitSummitEDU), where students take an active role to teach, inspire and...
11 months ago, 981 views, By Rock Solid Talent Entertainment
Intensive Songwriting Workshop will be held at Alices loft Music studio London. Denise Mangiardi's studio www.alicesloftmusic.com in London Uk.
11 months ago, 823 views, By CivicScience
New Media Executive Bringing Over 20 Years Media Experience to Help Scale Company's Products and Partnerships
11 months ago, 724 views, By Grounded Growth, LLC
Crops being grown include nonGMO oats, chickpeas, triticale, corn, soybeans, sorghum, lentils, peas, wheat, grass-fed beef, pasture-raised eggs and much more.
11 months ago, 720 views, By DiamondMPR
"The world's most exciting high school players come to Las Vegas"
11 months ago, 700 views, By Rosa Kilgore Jewelry
Rosa Kilgore Jewelry will host a Sample Sale on Saturday, March 30, 2019 from 10:00am to 3:00pm at Studio AFUERA in Scottsdale.As the artist moves on to new work, many classic and wonderful designs will be deeply discounted – up to 40% during...
11 months ago, 618 views, By Frozen Licks
to Fair Oaks Mall this Spring. Your family is in for a big treat and unbelievable experience. Just six months ago, Frozen Licks was a popular food truck showing up at events and private parties throughout the DMV.
11 months ago, 616 views, By Firefly Bar & Dining
FIREFLY BAR AND DINING'S INAUGURAL PINOT NOIR FAIR IS COMING TO TOWN FROM 15TH – 30TH MARCH AND YOU ARE INVITED Firefly Bar & Dining in Neutral Bay has established itself as certifiably nutty about Pinot Noir over the past ten years but now they're...
11 months ago, 575 views, By Affordable Dental Solutions
Full and partial dentures in Pottstown are available from dentists at ADS.
11 months ago, 575 views, By joe favorito
Nation's Premier Youth Soccer Organization Continues It's Talent Expansion
11 months ago, 562 views, By R.M. Barrows. In. Advertising & Public Relations
Attention Newspaper Publishers, Editors and Sales Managers: During the past few months, how has the weather affected businesses and retail sales in your area? And, how has the weather affected business at your own newspaper, too?
11 months ago, 561 views, By Indie Music News Worldwide
The songwriter and producer of roots rock known as Willin Prophet has released his latest official single, "Dance T.C.I." (Turks and Caicos Islands).
11 months ago, 547 views, By Carlisle Events
Mopar Restorer and TV Personality Comes to Carlisle for the Cars, the People and the Excitement
11 months ago, 532 views, By The Center for Contemporary Art
This spring the work of several of The Center for Contemporary Art's ("The Center") accomplished ceramics faculty, students and volunteers can be been seen in exhibitions, juried competitions and stores across New Jersey and beyond.
11 months ago, 526 views, By Tufyfo
The Tufyfo mobile application has landed! Various goods and service providers are now available at the push of a button.This application is hitting the market well and working to build more traffic and trust between Service Providers and clients.
11 months ago, 512 views, By Alzheimer's Association Central and North Florida
Free educational program to take place on March 20 in Pensacola
11 months ago, 507 views, By accuhealth.
Accuhealth Technologies LLC, Evelyn Technologies Canada Inc., Stephen Samson, Boby Deveros, and Claudio Damaso served a libel notice to Reliq Health Technologies Inc.
11 months ago, 472 views, By Wellnesste Lodge and Nature Sanctuary
Former Army Veteran and Green Beret, Christophe Marin has spent the past 15 years quietly conserving a unique slice of Central New York, one acre at a time.


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Windows on Mac seemed to come to an end with the era of Apple Silicon. But a new beginning could be imminent.
Windows on Apple silicon Macs is technically possible, but the ARM version of the Microsoft operating system, formerly called Windows RT, is currently only accessible to developers and there is hardly any software for it.
This is a marked change from when Apple introduced the first Intel Macs in 2005 and shortly after introduced the Boot Camp software that made it possible to run Windows on a Mac.
Why does Apple no longer feel the need to help its users run Windows on the Mac?
One reason could be a contract that Microsoft once signed with semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm, reports
XDA. The contract states that Microsoft should run the ARM version of Windows exclusively on Qualcomm chips.
This contract may well be why there are so many obstacles getting the ARM version of Windows on the Mac. XDA suggests that it “it’s the thing holding back other chip vendors from competing in the space.”. But this may soon change as, according to XDA the contract is set to expire soon, but the no date for this is given.
The market is moving
Ultimately Windows 11 will be able to run on the Apple silicon Macs, natively or via virtualisers such as Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion, as long as there are no legal reasons against it. Software for the ARM version of Windows will then follow.
It’s not only Apple that’s theoretically awaiting the change to the contract between Microsoft and Qualcomm. XDA reports that MediaTek is developing another ARM-based chip for Windows, and suggests that Samsung could also jump on the bandwagon soon.
It is interesting to note that Qualcomm has recently stated that it wants to surpass the M1 and is working on developing a chip – and has recruited former Apple employees to do so.
Qualcomm is well known to Android owners, because the company created the popular Snapdragon mobile processors that compete with Apple’s A-chips in the iPhone and iPad. Qualcomm is also not unknown to iPhone users, as the San Diego company engaged in an epic court dispute with Apple some years ago and ultimately won.
Qualcomm CEO Christiano Amon told
Reuters in July that it believes it can compete with Apple’s M1 chip – and even surpass it. And to do so it is getting help from former Apple employees.
Earlier this year, Qualcomm bought Nuvia for 1.4 billion US dollars. Nuvia was founded by three former high-ranking Apple employees who were already in legal proceedings with Apple. Apple accused them of founding the company during service with Apple. In addition, employees were recruited from Apple, despite this being prohibited by the employment contract of the employees.
The fact that Apple sees itself compelled to take legal action suggests that the professional competence of the Nuvia founders must be taken seriously. And Qualcomm has incorporated this competence through the acquisition of Nuvia.
The Qualcomm CEO also has a plan B open: If one’s own developments do not prove to be competitive, one is quite willing to purchase CPU design directly from ARM.


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Properties launched 5 years ago are now facing their deadline to sell their units or incur the dreaded Additional Buyers’ Stamp Duty (ABSD). The regulation allows developers a 5-year window period in which to build and sell the the units in a residential project. Beyond this time frame, they will need to pay a 15 per cent duty on remaining units. This impacts the final selling price, which will see even fiercer competition from newer launches and other resale properties.
Photo: Mon Jervois private apartments
What some developers do is to purchase their own units, if the cost of paying the ABSD supersedes the losses otherwise. Properties launched before mid-2013 have mostly sold all their units, but launches after the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework kicked in tell another story. Non-Singaporean developers have an even tougher job as they need to sell their units within 2 years of completion or incur hefty fines and pay for extensions.
Prices of unsold units at these projects facing the deadline have already come down since their launch. At [email protected] Peak for example, the media selling price have fallen from $1,340 psf to $1,288 psf in about 3 years. More than half of the 512 units remain unsold.
A similar story is told at The Trilinq in Clementi where 220 of its 775 units has sold by the end of 2015 at median prices of $1,329 psf. When it was launched in Q1 of 2013, the average selling price was at $1,545 psf. It is not only the larger scale projects which are facing the deadline pressure. The 109-unit Mon Jervois apartments also saw a drop of $235 psf in the last 2 years. The project is approximately 43 per cent sold.


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By: Olivia Ong
The Museum of Ice Cream opened its first international branch in Singapore and it’s a pink paradise for everyone with a sweet tooth!
The new store launched its grand opening weekend by hosting different nostalgic games and even inviting an ice cream truck that gave out Mercones (part-merlion, part-ice cream) and temporary tattoos, while also serving the Singapore Sling Boba at the bar.
The flagship museum in New York is extremely popular, especially with social media influencers and celebrities, and there are already plans of expanding to other cities soon with the Austin, Texas location opening on August 21.
“We have been looking forward to opening our first-ever international location for years, and we cannot be more thrilled to launch officially in Singapore today,” said the museum’s co-founder and creative director Maryellis Bunn.
Ice cream lovers are in for a treat as the building comes fully furnished with a café bar, themed diners, a retail store, a bouncy castle, the biggest Sprinkle Pool that the museum has ever created, and so much more. Guests can also indulge themselves in unlimited scoops of their favorite ice cream flavors with a twist like Lemon Bliss Balls, Apple Pie Soft Serve, Taro Milk Tea, Lychee Bandung and more.
Interested visitors were required to book their day in advance to prevent crowding, especially with the strict coronavirus protocols that have been implemented. Guests must participate in mandatory check-ins and show their vaccination certificates along with a negative COVID-19 test. Those who have not yet received their vaccines must present a valid negative COVID-19 PET result that was taken within 24 hours from the admission time. Fully vaccinated guests can enjoy their visit in groups of five, including unvaccinated children that are twelve years old or younger if the children are all from the same household.
The Museum of Ice Cream Singapore is open every day from 10am to 11pm from Thursdays to Sundays. Tickets cost S$38, but children that are two years old and below can enjoy free admission. For more information or reservations, visit the Museum of Ice Cream website.
What do you think about this sweet icy pink wonderland? Let us know in the comments section below!


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British Sausage Week success for Croots Farm Shop in DuffieldPublished On Saturday 1 Nov 2014 by Sticky Beak
See All Recent News Articles
Derbyshire farm shop Croots has won two awards in a competition to mark British Sausage Week, which runs from November 3rd to 9th.
The farm shop at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, near Duffield, scooped a gold award for its pork sausage and a silver award for its Italian sausage.
The competition for butchers and retailers is run as part of the national annual celebration of the British banger, and the two awards presented to Croots means the farm shop has now won more than 70 awards for its sausages, meat products and home made items.
“British Sausage Week is all about celebrating the diversity of the traditional British banger, which is something that Croots fully supports,” said Steve Croot, who runs the farm shop. “We love creating new flavours of sausage, and are renowned for our sausages. It’s always great when we receive awards for them.”
Croots’ pork sausage is made using free range pork from Staffordshire. The Italian sausage, which contains pork, basil and mozzarella, was originally created as part of the shop’s World Cup sausage range last summer.
The shop has won scores of awards for its products since opening in 2008. Croots was also a runner-up in the Best UK Independent Food Retailer 2010 category of the Observer Food Monthly Awards. The year before, it was named in The Independent’s top 50 best food shops.
Earlier this year, owner Steve Croot was named the Derbyshire Food Hero for 2014.
Croots Farm Shop is open daily from 9am to 5pm (Shires Eatery until 4.30pm). Croots runs Fresh Fish Thursdays between 9am and 1pm on Thursdays.
For more information visit www.croots.co.uk
Or find them on Twitter at @crootsfarm_shop


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Don’t forget Africa in the circular economy, says analyst
Reusing, repairing and recycling products is part of the circular economy (CE), but more needs to be done to include regions such as Africa, where people are already working independently on their own programmes, according to a new report by Chatham House.
“The problem here is that there has been very little focus globally on the nature of the circular economy in developing countries and the implications of a transition to a circular economy,” Laura Wellesley, research fellow at Chatham House and an author of the report told RFI.
While the European Union, Japan and China are seen as major implementers of CE, using recycling programs to maintain a cleaner environment and create jobs, there is already a wealth of activity going on in Africa on the policy and business side, said Wellesley.
The ban on plastic bags in Kenya and Rwanda is a good example of CE, but the problems that have arisen from this shows that there needs to be another way of helping communities and businesses so that they can adjust.
“There’s been a lot of leakage into the system with plastic bags being smuggled into the country and also difficulties for businesses in adhering to that ban because there isn’t sufficient alternatives,” said Wellesley. “There’s not an accessible, cheap and good quality alternative.”
The ban has hit fruit and flowers exporters particularly in Kenya. Wellesley said that developed countries “need to see more of a global, inclusive conversation around the context.”
Don’t forget informal sector workers
The report also looks at labour in the informal sector, which makes up a large portion of workers, particularly in sorting and recycling waste, from household rubbish to electronic products. The work of these people falls under the category of circular activity already, but their jobs can be dangerous and poorly regulated.
The report gives the example of Agbogbloshie, Ghana, where electronic, or e-waste, is burned to take out the copper from old computers and appliances. Scientists have found two toxic chemicals in chicken eggs in Agbogbloshie that come from treating e-waste.
Informal workers such as these need to be recognised and integrated into policies, says Wellesley, “to ensure that governments and businesses introducing CE don’t inadvertently shut out informal workers by taking those opportunities away.”
Good governance is the basis for how the African continent can continue to contribute to the Circular Economy, but much is needed from global trade, according to the report.
The African region has been used by manufacturers in developed countries to dump substandard products, including foodstuffs, without adequate safety and health measures that are used in other parts of the world. Wellesley says that trade rules need to be standardised in order to prevent this from continuing. This can also be applied to countries getting rid of their waste.
“What we don’t want is whereby developed countries export recycling and waste to fulfill their own domestic commitments to the CE without taking responsibility for the quality of those goods and how they’re processed at destination,” said Wellesley.
Some developed countries have been exporting waste, even illegally, to deal with their own CE practices.
“There's a need to think about the role of trade in supporting the circular economy and equally to put in place the necessary standards and rules to ensure that trade doesn’t have a negative impact on communities in developing countries,” Wellesley added.
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By Barry Janoff
January 7, 2014: It will be déjà vu all over again for Heinz Ketchup on Super Bowl Sunday.
The iconic burger accoutrement has purchased a 30-second spot to air on Fox during Super Bowl XLVIII, marking the brand's first such placement in 16 years and only its second appearance all-time during Super Bowl broadcasts.
Heinz said it would use the air time to jump start "a larger effort" to target consumers via a multi-platform effort. Thirty-second spots are averaging close to $4 million, with some going several millions higher, according to Fox.
The decision comes just months after McDonald's decided to end its four-decades long alliance with Heinz. Although not part of the equation, McDonald's is an official partner of the NFL.
Heinz's previous big game spot ran during Super Bowl XXXII in January 1998, at a cost of $1.3 million. Like today, that commercial was used by Heinz as a forum to kick off a $20 million campaign that ran throughout the year.
“Heinz’s participation in the Super Bowl is an opportunity to remind consumers of the love they have for this iconic brand,” Bill Ulrick, senior brand manager for Heinz North America, said in a statement. “The commercial investment is part of a larger effort to renew our commitment to engage with our great fans.”
The commercial will be part of a campaign under the umbrella theme, “Show Us Your Heinz," encouraging ketchup fans to share how they enjoy Heinz products.
The brand already has launched some elements via social media, including a dedicated Web site where people are encouraged to submit a photo that includes their favorite Heinz product.
“Heinz’s participation in the Super Bowl is an opportunity to remind consumers of the love they have for this iconic brand."
Heinz said that specially marked ketchup bottles in restaurants and at retail contain a QR code, which can be used now until Feb. 2 at the Web site for opportunity to win more than $400,000 in prizes. The five grand prize are trips to the "five biggest championship sporting events of the winners’ choosing over the next year." (Full details here.)
Lead agency is Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago.
Heinz has had a hectic period of late. Last year, Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital agreed to buy H..J Heinz Co. in a deal for about $23 billion. As part of the acquisition, Bernardo Hees was named the new CEO for Heinz.
Although Heinz was dropped by McDonald's, it is still used in about 80% of Burger King locations, according to the company.
For those seeking marketing omens, the winning team in Super Bowl XXXII, the last time Heinz advertised during the game, was the Denver Broncos, which beat the Green Bay Packers, 31-24, behind quarterback John Elway.
Other advertisers in that game, seen on NBC and played in what was then Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, included Pepsi, Tabasco, Bud Light, Doritos (with Ali Landry), Visa, Lipton (with claymation figures of Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, Billy Martin, George Steinbrenner and the voice of Phil Rizzuto), Amex (Jerry Seinfeld and Superman), Lays (with Michael J. Fox) and Tommy Hilfiger (with Michael Richards),
Back to Super Bowl 48
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Nvidia[stckqut]NVDA[/stckqut] may have only high-quality problems these days, but it still needs to solve them.
One problem the chip maker has is that it seems to be selling all the chips it can make. Nvidia’s graphics processors, also called GPUs, are in hot demand by everyone from giant tech companies building data centers to videogamers to cryptocurrency enthusiasts. The latter two in particular are competing for the type of GPU cards used in supercharged PCs, causing a shortage that began last summer but seemed to have worsened later in the year as the value of cryptocurrencies continued to soar.
That gave a boost to what was already a strong year for Nvidia. Revenue from the company’s gaming segment jumped 33% to a record $5.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Jan. 28. This included an unspecified contribution from crypto demand, as well as the chips the company sells to Nintendo that are used in its popular Switch console.
Nvidia is a “fabless” chip company that outsources the actual manufacturing of its chips to others. CEO Jensen Huang said on the company’s earnings call Thursday that it is working with its partners to “catch up to that demand.”
Source: Nvidia’s Cryptic Road Ahead


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Bitcoin has been declared dead about ninety times since it's release in 2009, but this time it's different. Instead of a media outlet breathlessly repeating assurances from a banking sector executive that the first blockchain based virtual currency is dead, the source of the obituary was none other than Mike Hearn, a leading Bitcoin developer.
Hearn's post on Medium exposed some of the inner workings of the Bitcoin industry, focusing in particular on the deadlock among developers regarding how to increase the maximum number of transactions per second. Hearn deserves to be heard, given the time he has devoted to making Bitcoin work, but many of his concerns have been blown out of proportion.
The majority of the article discusses an issue that has been in hot debate since the middle of 2015, the scalability of the Bitcoin’s underlying ledger mechanism, the blockchain. Bitcoin currently has the ability to handle between 3 and 7 transactions a second due to a mix of the current 1mb limit per entry to the blockchain, called a block, combined with the current methods of uploading the transactions. As it turns out, the number of Bitcoin transactions are growing at such a rate, that we, as an industry, needed to start thinking about scalability as early as last year.
Hearn's proposed solution is a new version of the Bitcoin protocol, called BitcoinXT. There were many changes, but most importantly the block size was expanded by a factor of eight. Other developers feared that the increased block size would make it harder for smaller miners, industry players who validate transactions in exchange for the ability to create Bitcoin and receive transaction fees, to participate. The consolidation of miners would lead to centralization, removing much of the security and efficiency attributed to Bitcoin.
The other concern was the transition from Bitcoin to Bitcoin XT. The proposed modification would be added to the official software immediately, but would not activate until 75% of all clients running the Bitcoin protocol, called a node, were upgraded. The nodes that did not upgrade would continue running, but with a separate view of the state of the Bitcoin blockchain.
This separation is conceptually similar to the dreaded 'hard fork', a situation where there are two different versions of a blockchain. During a hard fork, many of the checks and balances that keep Bitcoin running falter until the industry decides which blockchain is the most legitimate. The theory is that since BitcoinXT would be an intentional, in place upgrade of the existing system, announced well in advance, there shouldn't be any question as to which version of the blockchain is correct.
While an important voice, Hearn is not the only one and there are other solutions being tested. Bitcoin Classic, another scheme to expand the Bitcoin block size, is supported by over 50% of all the miners (something which Hearn mentioned was blocking the increase of the blocksize), as well as big players like blockchain.info, Bitstamp, and Xapo. Developers have also been developing new scaling technologies that neither increase the blocksize nor risk a hard fork, such as Segregated Witness and the Lightning Network. There is more than one method for Bitcoin to make it over this transaction volume hurdle.
Hearn spent months trying to shepherd Bitcoin XT through the internal development process. When it became clear this was not going to happen, he left Bitcoin for R3, an organization that is building tools for banks with non-Bitcoin based blockchains. Several months after joining R3, Mike released his post on the failure of Bitcoin, highlighting lack of scalability.
Hearn's post posits an end to Bitcoin, the latest and certainly most interesting among the nearly hundred predictions of its demise. His frustration even after months of no longer working directly with the development team comes shining through. As bad as his assessment sounds, the future is a bit more benign.
Last year, it was announced that over $1bn had been invested in various Bitcoin oriented operations. This is a pool of entities that have both talent and financial resources. While many are chewing over Hearn's missive, this group is having internal discussions about what to do next. Despite a perceived scalability problem, for which fixes are being developed, these companies are growing fast, with new technologies like Bitcoin debit cards and better ways to pay international contractors.
Hearn's post has already been added to the Bitcoin obituary list, but when we look back on this event it will look more like he applied the defibrillator paddles to the Bitcoin protocol development team.
So how does this affect entrepreneurs in the industry? For us, it was all about managing fear, uncertainty and doubt. You see, after Hearn published his post, concerned parties started reaching out from various aspects of our business, from investors and partners to even entrepreneurial friends in our personal lives. To those reaching out from outside the industry, it seemed that an impending doom was upon us. After several conversations, one by one, we managed to reassure our stakeholders that everything was fine.
Will this be the last time we will have to deal with this sort of industry doubt? The previous 90 declared deaths to Bitcoin point to a resounding no. Luckily, $1bn in startup investment, a fast growing industry, and a group of core developers dedicated to scaling Bitcoin means that companies like ours are here to stay.


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Chipin is delighted to announce that we are an official media partner for London Blockchain Week, one of the most coveted events in the blockchain industry. The London Blockchain Week, will mark its 2018 debut on the 19th of January and end on the 26th of January.
Capping off a successful event this year (with speakers like Dr. Lee Braine and Ajit Tripathi bracing the stage), the London Blockchain Week continues with a value-packed event that focuses on all things blockchain as well as other emerging industries related to it.
The event itself is divided into three major parts: a hackathon, workshops, and of course, the exhibition section.
The hackathon focuses on using blockchain solutions to solve real-world problems, with winners potentially getting the chance to work with established corporations and businesses for their winning solutions.
Solutions are judged like a typical hackathon event but obviously, the blockchain plays an important here in determining winners. Winners of the hackathon will receive lucrative prize money as well as the chance to gain valuable exposure to the audience of the London Blockchain Week. The hackathon will run for 3 days with participants presenting their solutions to the audience on the final day, also known as the Demo Day.
Aside from the hackathon, the London Blockchain Week also hosts several workshops to further engage the public with blockchain-related activities and skills.
One of the workshops available at the event is the smart contracts development workshop, targeted to interested developers and software engineers.
The workshop encompasses all things blockchain (especially smart contracts) with lessons being taught by one of the more prestigious blockchain development companies out there, Applied Blockchain.
Non-developers can also taste a slice of the pie as there will be another workshop the following day to understand more about how the blockchain can help their processes or businesses.
The workshop will be delivered by Applied Blockchain but this time, with a purpose to give the audience a comprehensive understanding of what the blockchain and how it can be potentially applied to make aspects of their lives better.
Of course, we won’t forget about the most interesting part of the event: the exhibition. The first day of the event will feature over 40 of the hottest blockchain startups today for attendees to expand their networks.
A two-day conference on the blockchain across all sectors will begin after the exhibition is over.
All-in-all, the event is perfect for you if:
- You want to learn more about the blockchain, especially on its effects on industries across the world
- YYou already know about the blockchain but you want to understand more about it
- YYou want to connect and network with some of the brightest minds in the industry
- YYou want to be exposed to potentially revolutionary solutions and ideas in the future
Prices for the event starts at £478.80 per pax but do note that prices will increase as time goes on; interested individuals are recommended to purchase tickets now to take advantage of the event’s early bird pricing.
Chipin is also proud to announce that we’re official media partners for the London Blockchain Week.
In addition to that, we will provide full coverage of the event right here on our website.
To find out more about the event, click here to head over to the London Blockchain Week’s official homepage.
To ensure you don’t miss out on the latest news and updates, sign-up to our mailing list and follow us on social media where we’ll update you the second it appears on our website.
And no worries, we won’t spam you!


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“Buy American” used to be pitched as the duty of Americans to support native industries. Now it is the smartest option for struggling foreign auto makers seeking to enter the U.S.
Consider Chrysler’s pending agreement to sell 35% of itself to Fiat in return for giving Fiat the chance to use as much as 10% of Chrysler’s unused manufacturing capacity to make cars.
The deal is a twist on Chrysler’s parochialism. At one point last year, 90% of Chrysler’s sales came from North America. That it down only slightly from 2000, when Chrysler sold 94% of its cars in North America.
Now, a company that was dying because of its reliance on the North American market is valuable to Fiat because of that very Americanness. What was appealing to Fiat wasn’t Chrysler’s creativity, the durability of its vehicles, but the downtime at its manufacturing plants. If you can’t sell cars, sell your ability to make them–and many foreign auto makers want the ability to make cars in the U.S. for the U.S., the world’s largest auto market.
Chrysler has been more welcoming to foreign partners than its American rivals. Only 18 months after Chrysler was wrested from Germany’s Daimler, the U.S. auto maker now is selling a big stake in itself to Turin, Italy’s Fiat. It also has a deal with Japan’s Nissan, in which Chrysler will use a Mexican assembly plant to build a full-size pick-up truck for Nissan; Nissan, in turn, will use one of its Japanese plants to build a Chrysler-designed car. In addition, Chrysler is devoting some work time at an Ontario plant to build Volkwagen’s Routan minivan alongside the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country. By comparison, General Motors just a few years ago famously declined an opportunity to link up with Renault and Nissan in a joint venture.
It isn’t the first time Chrysler has looked overseas for help. In 1979, when Chrysler was teetering on the brink of solvency, one part of its survival plan was striking a deal with Volkswagen, which supplied 300,000 engines annually for Chrysler’s Omni and Horizon subcompact models. The two companies also shared oversight of a production plant in Brazil.
Fiat has taken a similarly catholic view of international expansion, freely selling its technologies overseas. In recent years Fiat has struck agreements to co-produce cars with Tata Motors Ltd. of India and Ford Motor, of the U.S. Fiat’s current leaders “crisscrossed the globe cutting deals to sell Fiat engines to competitors to raise cash,” a Wall Street Journal story pointed out Tuesday.
Of course, both Fiat and Chrysler have been burned by their eagerness to look overseas for growth. Chrysler’s marriage to Daimler was badly planned, plagued by miscommunication, and ended in 2006 much to the relief of both parties. Late last year, Daimler estimated its 19.9% stake in Chrysler was worth zero — and now Daimler is interested in selling out entirely. Fiat, too, was forced to sue in 2005 to reclaim nearly $2 billion from a disastrous joint venture with GM in which GM took a 20% stake in Fiat’s auto division. The deal promised Fiat international growth and for GM it represented economies of scale and the chance to get access to more diesel technologies. But Fiat became overwhelmed by debt and GM was concerned about its own tenuous financials, and the venture fell apart.
In 1980, when Chrysler was teetering the first time around, the insular auto industry used to talk frequently of the “world car,” a car made with parts from all over the globe and that could be adapted to U.S. roads, European highways, and remote dirt roads. Twenty-eight years later, the lagging auto industry seems to finally be getting there.


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Home store influence across Costco
Andrea Lillo -- Home Textiles Today, December 22, 2003
Though "still a small piece of the business," the year-old Costco Home format has already made an impact chainwide, allowing the company to identify items and categories — perhaps particular brands or looks — that it can incorporate into all its warehouse locations, even seasonally or on a road show basis.
However, no announcements have been made about opening a second unit, said Richard Galanti, executive vp and cfo, though he guessed the next unit would probably be located west of the Mississippi River in a strong market.
Located in Kirkland, WA, Costco Home has beat its sales and bottom line forecasts for fiscal 2003, and continues to grow, Galanti told investors during the company's first-quarter conference call.
In addition, because of the new format, "vendors are willing to talk to us," he added, though not everybody.
Overall, the warehouse club retailer also "feels strong about our level of competitiveness" in regards to pricing.
He drove that point further making a marketbasket comparison against chief competitor Sam's Club, claiming that Costco has become much more price competitive over the last five years.
Galanti stressed that if an item at Costco costs more than a similar product at a competitor, it's because the Costco product is of better quality. "We will remain the price/value leader, but we're not going to play games with the products — we've been consistent on that forever."
Throughout the chain, Costco has seen a sales pick-up in the higher-end items it sells, and "diverted branded goods" are more plentiful in a weaker economy, he said.
Overall, its private label is about 13 percent of the merchandise mix, and though that will trend up to 20 percent over the next few years, Costco's emphasis will continue to be on brands, he said.
With Sam's Club beginning its rollout in Canada, Costco is "on the offensive not the defensive" and will "make it as inhospitable as possible" for its competitor, remodeling and adding some locations in the Greater Ontario market, and making sure it is sharp on prices, for example.
It won't be easy, he added, but Canada has already been competitive as Costco has faced off with other "discount, cash-and-carry" operations.
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Disaster loans available for small businesses hurt by COVID-19
MARSHALL — The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has meant closing down whole categories of businesses in Minnesota, from bars to hair salons. And many businesses that are still open have also felt an impact.
Now, in an effort to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic, the U.S. Small Business Administration is making disaster loans available to Minnesota businesses. Minnesota is among the states where the low-interest loans are available to cover small businesses’ operating expenses after a disaster declaration was made.
Small businesses are now eligible for the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, the city of Marshall announced Monday. Both the city and Minnesota Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, were encouraging local businesses facing hardships to seek relief through the loan program.
“Small businesses in our state have had their bottom lines turned upside down almost overnight by this coronavirus outbreak,” Swedzinski said in a Monday news release. “This disaster loan assistance program is a way local businesses can get some immediate relief as we work our way through this challenge and are able to fully assess the economic damage. While we are busy working on plans to provide other resources at the state level and the federal government also may act, the SBA program is something many business owners can access now to aid their circumstances.”
Marshall officials said the disaster loans won’t be the only resource available to local businesses.
“The Marshall Economic Development Authority and Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce are connecting with our businesses on the impact of COVID-19 on their business,” said Marshall City Administrator Sharon Hanson. “We will continue to look at possible ways we can support our businesses and encourage our businesses to continue to share information so we can advocate short and long-term solutions.”
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) said the disaster loan program can provide low-interest loans of up to $2 million to small businesses and private nonprofits. The loans can be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other expenses that can’t be paid due to the pandemic. The maximum unsecured loan is $25,000, and loans over $25,000 require collateral.
The loans have long-term repayment options, up to a maximum of 30 years, at 37.5% interest. Businesses can defer payment for the first four months.
Several different types of small businesses are eligible for the loans, including retailers, manufacturers, rental property owners, hotels, travel agencies, recreational facilities and more, the city of Marshall’s announcement said.


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The emergence of Tesla as a leading carmaker in the EV space over the last 10-15 years has perhaps proved two things.
Firstly, in a world full of behemoth companies with glittering histories that can trace their origins back decades, it is still possible to create an innovative new company that can rival the industrial giants.
But secondly, based on the number of companies that have tried and failed, the capital-intensive car industry is one of the most difficult environments for a start-up to thrive in.
Lucid is one of these start-ups that is aiming to beat Tesla at its own game, and take on the older incumbents too.
Formally known as Lucid Motors, the company was founded approximately four years after Tesla in 2007, and was known initially as Atieva.
Focusing on producing batteries, electric powertrains and other associated components for other manufacturers, Lucid was able to gain substantial experience in how to develop these technologies in a context suitable for use in the automotive industry.
As a sign of its ambition, in 2013 the company poached Peter Rawlinson and employed him as its Chief Technical Officer.
Rawlinson had previously worked as the VP of Vehicle Engineering and the Chief Engineer of the landmark Tesla Model S, and along with design head Derek Jenkins (of Mazda pedigree), formed a backbone of personnel with significant experience.
This initial expertise allowed the company to build its own complete 670kW EV powertrain in 2014, that the firm claimed could accelerate from 0-60mph (96km/h) in approximately three seconds.
This was a massive step towards the company building and selling its own car, and correspondingly, the firm rebranded from Atieva to the far more memorable Lucid name in 2016, and directly signalled its intention to mass produce vehicles under this name.
Of course, mass producing a car also means having a factory to build it in and the funding to set up a supply chain to source parts, tooling and other components.
Somewhat ironically for a company focused on sustainability, this is where the oil wealth of Saudi Arabia assisted greatly.
With the Middle Eastern nation looking to diversify its economy, the country invested an initial $US1 billion in the fledgling carmaker, which together with funding from other sources, assisted it to complete an initial Phase 1 development of a new factory in Casa Grade, Arizona, with an initial production capacity of 34,000 vehicles per year.
Commensurate with this, more hires from the ‘legacy’ automotive industry followed, such as VP of Global Manufacturing Peter Hochholdinger in 2019, who had previously spent more than 20 years at Audi.
Today, Lucid is a publicly listed company with shares trading under the ‘LCID’ ticker symbol on the Nasdaq exchange, and has a market cap of approximately $US28.4 billion, just below rival startup Rivian, and similar to established companies such as Tata Motors and Volvo.
Lucid’s current model range is very simple. It consists of one model, namely the Air, which is a sedan positioned to directly rival the Tesla Model S.
Featuring innovations such as a 900V electrical architecture, a drag coefficient of just 0.21 and what Lucid claims is the largest front trunk (boot) in its class, the Air commenced production for the North American market in 2021.
The initial Dream Edition Range variant offers a claimed range of 520 miles (836km) on the demanding EPA test cycle, and thereby the record as the world’s longest-range mass-produced electric car.
Perhaps just as impressive as its range is the model’s performance. The latest Lucid Air Sapphire variant, unveiled recently, features Lucid’s first tri-motor powertrain with two rear-axle and one front-axle motor to offer performance that surpasses the Tesla Model S Plaid.
With a total power output of 1200 hp (equating to 895kW), Lucid claims that the Sapphire can not only accelerate to 60mph (96km/h) in under 2 seconds, but also complete a standing quarter mile in under 9 seconds and accelerate to 100 mph (161km/h) in under four seconds.
To stop the vehicle, carbon ceramic brakes are included as standard on this variant.
Naturally, stratospheric performance also means stratospheric pricing, and whilst the entry-level Air Pure is available from $US87,400 (equivalent to $125,200), the Sapphire is priced at $US249,000 (equivalent to $356,700), with the caveat that these prices are before all taxes and on-road costs.
Apart from potentially even more versions of the Air sedan, the next new model expected from Lucid is the upcoming Gravity SUV.
Expected to be on-sale in 2024, Lucid claims that this will be a comfortable seven-seat SUV in the vein of models such as the Mercedes EQS SUV and BMW’s X7.
Sharing a platform and technologies with the Air sedan, Lucid claims the Gravity will have a minimum range of at least 400 miles (644km) from a 113kWh battery pack (similar in size to the Lucid Air).
Lucid is currently focusing on ramping up production to meet North American demand, with the company already revising production forecasts downwards due to various supply chain and pandemic related issues.
The company has announced sales will expand to left-hand-drive European markets in late 2022, with retail showrooms currently in the process of being set up. Exports to China and other markets such as the Middle East are expected to follow shortly afterwards.
Whilst it is rumoured that the Air sedan has been designed to be produced in right-hand-drive since its inception, the timing of these variants remains unclear.
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The UAE has been taken off the United States' intellectual property protection (IPP) watch list.
The country's ongoing efforts in protecting IP rights across various commercial and investment activities have been hailed by the US.
In its latest report (2021 Special 301), the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has outlined a set of key achievements made by the UAE.
Some of which are: the Ministry of Health and Prevention resolving concerns with IP protection of pharmaceutical products (Decree 321), and the UAE making progress on longstanding IP enforcement concerns, particularly through increased efforts by Dubai Customs.
The report also hailed the publication of annual IP enforcement statistics by Federal Customs, as well as the efforts by the Ajman Department of Economic Development to significantly reduce the availability of counterfeit goods at the Ajman China Mall.
The USTR’s Special 301 Report puts a spotlight on foreign countries and laws, policies, and practices that fail to provide adequate and effective IP protection and enforcement for US inventors, creators, brands, manufacturers and service providers.
USTR reviewed more than 100 trading partners for this year’s report, placing 32 on the Priority Watch List or Watch List.
The UAE’s removal from the Watch List is the culmination of consistent and constructive cooperation between a range of UAE and US stakeholders.
Commenting on the announcement, Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State, said, "This decision is an endorsement of our progress. The UAE is committed to implementing robust IPP regulatory standards, including having an infringement and enforcement framework that upholds these standards."


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On December 13th, Level 5 released Yo-kai Watch 2: Headliner in Japan, and the game sold 1,244,171 million copies at retail in its first week.
That’s fairly close to the number Yo-kai Watch 2: Head and Yo-kai Watch 2: Founder debuted at. Both those games were released back in July and sold a combined total of 1,316,707 copies in their first week.
Japanese sales tracker Media Create reports that Headliner sold through 84.77% of its shipment. Additionally, Media Create say that the game’s next shipment had already been delivered to retailers well in advance, which means Level 5 are being smart and ensuring stores don’t run out of stock.
According to some retailers, several customers have asked that stores keep the game in stock for Christmas, so the game will undoubtedly do very well over the next few weeks.


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Dear Prime Minister, Listen to the Calls of Our Young People
The Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
16 July 2020
Dear Prime Minister,
On behalf of the young people we work with at Bite Back 2030, we would like to commend you for protecting their health by taking action on obesity. Now is the time to follow the evidence and implement real change that will benefit Britain’s children today and in the future.
But we must share their frustration with you. Our young people fear measures to protect them are being overlooked in one key area; they want refuge from the millions spent advertising junk food.
As our powerful film illustrates, teens everywhere are being manipulated into eating food that is bad for them. During the day, 50% of food adverts are for HFSS food, rising to 60% from 6-9pm. They want an end to this relentless marketing. Instead they want you to force companies to make stars of healthy options - hiring the most creatively brilliant minds to deliver fantastic food ads; using their favourite sports stars and movie heroes to encourage them to eat food that is good for their health, not bad.
That is why we support a 9pm watershed on junk food advertising both on TV and online.
The Transport for London ban has shown us all that it can work. Advertising revenues went from £32m to £33m in the first quarter of last year as the brands kids know and love switched to advertising healthier products. Any arguments of a TV watershed leading to the displacement of the spend on marketing junk food to elsewhere, can be dealt with by simultaneous action on online advertising and in store promotions.
Research carried out by Bite Back 2030 during lockdown revealed a new awareness among young people from all backgrounds of food injustices. 40% of teens said they were worried about these injustices and wanted to see action taken to address them. That was before our campaign for free school meals provision over the summer, which we know galvanised them still further.
Please listen to the calls of our young people and take this opportunity to protect their health. Not acting now risks seriously undermining your obesity strategy from the start.
Bite Back 2030 Youth Board
Christina Adane (Co-Chair)
Tasha Mhakayakora (Co-Chair)
Dev Sharma (Member of Youth Parliament Leicestershire)
Rebecca Morgan (Member of Youth Parliament North Yorkshire)
Thomasina Miers, co-founder Wahaca
David Gandy, international supermodel, designer, columnist
James Cracknell OBE
Paul Lindley OBE, Founder Ella's Kitchen & Chair, London Child Obesity Taskforce
Baroness Anne Jenkin of Kennington
Dr James Davies, MP for Vale of Clwyd
Andrew Selous, MP for South West Bedfordshire
Dr Lawrence Haddad, 2018 World Food Prize Laureate & Chair Bite Back 2030
Baroness Rosie Boycott
Caroline Cerny, Alliance Lead, Obesity Health Alliance
Professor Corinna Hawkes, Director Centre for Food Policy, City University
Dr Rishi Caleyachetty, Group Leader in Epidemiology, University of Oxford
Romy Gill and Anna Haugh, chefs & presenters BBC Ready Steady Cook
Margaret McCabe, Founder and CEO Debate Mate
Dan Parker, Former marketing executive & CEO Living Loud
Professor John Wass, University of Oxford
Professor Emma Frew, Health Economics, University of Birmingham


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Before users of the action role-playing game Cyberpunk 2077 had time to complain about the loss of passive skills after patch 2.01, the problem had already been fixed. But not the developers of CD Projekt RED, but a simple modder.
We would like to remind you that due to a bug that appeared as a result of a recent update in Cyberpunk 2077, many passive skills no longer work properly and some skills no longer work since the release of version 2.0.
The issue caught attention on the Reddit forum and one of its members decided to take matters into his own hands. In just a few days, user MethodOfExhaustion (rmk1234 on Nexus Mods) did And Approved A mod that solves the problem on PC.
In total, the rmk1234 mod repairs 16 passive skills from all five branches (Engineer, Killer, NetRunner, Shinobi, Solo). The modder has not subjected himself to the skill “Netrunner 60” (“It’s basically broken.”). The rest of the rewards work.
The modder believes the issue stems from the way the game applies bonuses: “They are now completely preserving something that they didn’t preserve before. This fixes another bug that they tried to fix but revealed a flaw in the logic.”.
In the comments on Nexus Mods and Reddit, user rmk1234 (MethodOfExhaustion) thanks for the work done and complains about the problems with version 2.01: “This patch did more harm than good”.
However, the matter will not be limited to corrections made by the modder: on Reddit reportthat CD Projekt RED is already addressing the problem. It is likely that his solution will be part of one of the future updates for Cyberpunk 2077.