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Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel), a Tanzania based telecommunication services company, has recently reached an agreement with American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT), an independent owner, operator and developer of wireless and broadcast communication real estate, for the sale of 1,350 telecom-towers in Tanzania with the possibility to acquire up to 100 additional units that are currently in development.
The agreement seeks to reduce Airtel’s investment in passive infrastructure assets and to promote towers’ sharing to improve operations’ efficiency that will support overall telecommunications sector growth in Tanzania.
The deal reached between both companies regarding telecom-infrastructure in Tanzania, follows a prior agreement signed in 2015 by Airtel for the sale of 4,700 mobile phone towers in Nigeria worth USD 1.05 billion according to Zacks Investment Research.
With the second agreement, Airtel is pleased to strengthen its cooperation with American Tower and also confirms its commitment with Tanzania’s population to improve its operations and bring a world-class service, explained Bharti Airtel Africa MD & CEO, Mr. Christian de Faria.
Airtel is one of the leading companies in the world and Tanzania’s Telecommunication sector, which0 with a young and fast growing population represents a great market potential and attractive opportunity, explained American Tower EMEA EVP & President, Mr. Hal Hess.
According to Airtel, this and prior agreements will help the company to focus on its core business and customers as support debt reduction and capital expenditures (CAPEX) to support expansion in Tanzania.
Airtel is the second largest mobile operator in Tanzania totaling 10.8 million subscribers representing 30% of the market share as of September, 2015, behind Vodacom with 12.5 million subscribers or 35% of the total market share according to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA).
According to Reuters, the nearly 36 million subscribers market in Tanzania has a potential to reach 45 million within the next years.
Tanzania currently has a mobile penetration level of 67% which is below the Sub Saharan region’s average of 71.1% according to the World Bank.


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Volkswagen and Ford have just announced more about their global collaboration. It's going to see VW investing in Ford's autonomous vehicle company, Ford using VW's MEB electric platform, shared development of vans and pickups, and other expected cost savings.
The announcement came today in New York. It's an extensive series of partnerships, but both point out that the companies will not have cross-ownership. The first is that Volkswagen will be joining Ford with an investment in Argo AI. The duo calls Argo AI the first self-driving system with "commercial deployment plans for Europe and the US." Both will independently integrate the system into vehicles when it's ready. Ford and VW will hold an equal share in Argo, totalling a substantial majority of shares.
"While Ford and Volkswagen remain independent and fiercely competitive in the marketplace, teaming up and working with Argo AI on this important technology allows us to deliver unmatched capability, scale, and geographic reach," Ford CEO Jim Hackett said.
Volkswagen will be investing US$2.6 billion into Argo: $1 billion in funding, and $1.6 by adding its own 200-employee Autonomous Intelligent Driving Company to Argo. It will also purchase $500 million in Argo shares from Ford over three years.
The next part of the announcement was that Ford would launch an EV using the Volkswagen MEB platform. That vehicle will launch in Europe in 2023, and Ford expects to sell 600,000 over the following six years. They're also holding discussions over building a second vehicle.
The MEB electric architecture has been in development by VW since 2016, and they've spent around US$7 billion on that development. They're expecting it to underpin 15 million VWs in the next decade.
"Scaling our MEB drives down development costs for zero-emissions vehicles, allowing for a broader and faster global adoption of electric vehicles. This improves the positions of both companies through greater capital efficiency, further growth, and improved competitiveness," said VW CEO Herbert Diess.
Ford and VW confirmed that they are still working together to develop vans and medium-size pickups for certain markets. The medium-size truck will be built and engineered by Ford for just about everywhere but North America, expected to arrive by 2022. Ford will also engineer and build a large commercial van for Europe set for 2022 with VW doing the same with a city van.

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The ink has dried on the blockbuster Walmart-Flipkart’s $16 Bn deal. While the effect of this merger on Flipkart is still under debate, a filing by the US-based retail giant has now thrown up new insights.
Walmart’s 10-K filing (a mandatory annual report filed by US public companies) showed that Flipkart’s name, along with all the other trade names under its ownership, accounted for $4.7 Bn of the $16 Bn price tag.
That means for Walmart, close to 30% of Flipkart’s economic value lies in its name along with other brand names it owns!
The valuation seems even more extraordinary because at $4.7 Bn, Flipkart would be the fifth most valued Indian brand name. The company would follow Tata Group, Airtel, Infosys and LIC, which are the top 4 valued Indian brands, according to 2018 report by Brand Finance, a global brand valuation agency.
In India, where companies generally look at the economic value of the company more than the intangibles such as brand value, this is unprecedented.
The Economic Value Of Habits
While Brand Finance defines brand value as the net economic benefit an owner would obtain by licensing the brand on the open market, a broader definition of brand value is derived from a combination of reputation, intent and capability.
To better understand why brand trademark, an asset that largely exists in people’s minds, are so valuable, Inc42 talked to Kartikeya Kompella, a Bengaluru-based branding expert and author of multiple books on the subject. Citing the example of Lifebuoy, which spent crores in the 1990s on advertising to habituate people into washing their hands, Kompella said a big part of determining a brand’s value is about building such habits.
“In India we are creatures of habit. Flipkart and Amazon have driven a huge amount of consumption with discounts and marketing. They have on-boarded people, created accounts and verified addresses and established preferences over a decade. Imagine how much Walmart will have to do to break that habit?” he said.
Essentially, Flipkart has built a loyal user base over the years, introduced them to online shopping, familiarised them with digital payments and created the right market conditions for ecommerce to succeed in India. As a result, a majority of Indians associate online shopping with Flipkart. Now imagine, if Walmart had to replicate Flipkart’s recall or disrupt it. It would have taken the US company many years and a lot of cash – perhaps $4.7 Bn or more.
Just look at how Amazon is burning through billions every year to make a place for itself at the table.
A Lesson For Indian Startups
While it would be any startup’s dream to have their brand valued at $4.7 Bn, Flipkart’s valuation could actually be a steal for Walmart execs who no doubt went over that ‘Make vs Buy” debate many times before the Flipkart deal.
However for Indian startups this deal highlights the need to give serious thought to the concept of building brand value.
Siddharth Mahajan, partner, Athena Legal told Inc42, “$4.7 Bn attributed to Flipkart trade-marks and brands is significant for startups in India. This will reinforce the value of startups investing in trademarks and other intellectual property protection as these are directly related to the overall valuation of the entity. For consumer facing businesses it is imperative that the brands are not only protected, but also legal actions are brought against third parties trying to use the brands in an illegitimate manner.”
Mahajan added, “Hopefully with the numbers attributed to brands and trade names of Flipkart, Indian companies including startups will spend more resources in protecting their IP not only in India but also globally.”
While perceived value and loyalty creation are the major forces that underpin marketing and brand management. In our highly fragmented, digital environment, the smartest firms are the ones who understand these intangibles and work on building their branding into the very heart of their operations
As David Ogilvy (widely regarded as the father of advertising) once said, “Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand.”
(Co-written by Bhumika Khatri and Aditya Kondalamahanty)


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China to release copper, aluminium and zinc to tame soaring commodity prices
- China last sold copper from its stockpiles in 2005 and released aluminium and zinc in 2010 to stabilise prices
- Beijing has become increasingly concerned about high commodity prices that could be passed on to small businesses
China’s top economic planning agency said on Thursday it would release state reserves of non-ferrous metals at “appropriate” times to curb runaway prices, while flagging there was no sign of a slowdown in steel demand in the future.
The announcement came on the heels of a similar statement from China’s National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, which pledged on Wednesday to release supplies of copper, aluminium and zinc to non-ferrous downstream processing and manufacturing firms through public bidding, although it did not confirm exact amounts.
China last sold copper from its stockpiles in 2005 and released aluminium and zinc in 2010 to stabilise the prices.
On Wednesday, copper prices fell after being at record levels for months amid China’s strong post-pandemic industrial recovery.
“In recent months, the prices of some bulk commodities have increased significantly, and the surge has clearly deviated from the fundamentals of supply and demand, and has exceeded the reasonable range of recovery,” Meng Wei, a spokeswoman for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said on Thursday.
China, the world’s number one importer of industrial commodities, has become increasingly concerned with rising prices of iron ore, copper and other metals.
Factory-gate price inflation in China had hit a 13-year high in May, after manufacturers passed on surging raw material prices to wholesalers and retailers.
“Through a series of measures, judging by the current situation, market speculation has begun to cool down and the prices of some commodities such as iron ore, steel and copper have fallen to varying degrees,” Meng said.
“We will also work with relevant parties, depending on market changes, to launch multiple batches at appropriate times to increase market supply, easing the cost pressure of enterprises, and promoting prices to return to a reasonable range.”
Although the prices for some commodities have started to trend down, a recent survey of 7,500 trading companies by the Chinese ministry of commerce (Mofcom) showed they were under significant cost pressure amid global concerns about inflation resulting from a strong rise in post-pandemic demand.
Following the survey, Mofcom has been promoting import diversification, seeking to establish stable trading channels for bulk commodities and promised more support for small and medium-sized businesses.
Analysts said using state non-ferrous metal reserves would offer better prices for downstream users, which have been forced to purchase supplies from the costly spot market, although they cautioned the result would not be significant.
“After dumping reserves, some downstream companies will be able to solve part of their aluminium demand within half a year, which will directly reduce their purchases from the spot market,” said analysts from metals research firm Antaike in a note on Wednesday.
“The release of the state reserves is more to adjust the balance of market supply and demand within a certain period of time, rather than change the trend of aluminium prices.”
Iron ore prices have been govering at about US$213 a tonne in recent weeks, exceeding the 10-year record of US$200 a tonne.
Prices for the raw material fell slightly after Thursday’s announcement, but have since rebounded, analysts said.
Globally, the metals market has reacted not just to China’s plans to use its reserves, but also to a more hawkish US Federal Reserve after it upgraded its inflation forecasts, said Anna Stablum, a commodity market analyst at global metals markets broker Marex.
The NDRC said it expects steel demand to remain buoyant despite the government’s focus on reducing excess steel production to slow the appetite for iron ore and to meet carbon emissions targets.
“It is expected that in the future, especially before the end of the 14th five-year plan period, as economic development continues … the demand for crude steel still has room for growth,” Meng said.
China’s monthly production of crude steel in May rose by 6.6 per cent year on year to 99.450 million tonnes.


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RSA Conference follows other associations in writing new dress codes for its exhibitors. And that means no more tube tops, minidresses or bodysuits for women -- or men -- staffing their booths.
We pit the cameras from three mobile giants -- the Galaxy S6, the HTC One M9, and the iPhone 6 -- against one another to see which flagship takes the best photos.
The online shopping giant hopes a button placed around a home or business will make re-ordering products easier.
This week on Crave we grow 3D-printed objects out of a pool of resin with the Carbon3D Printer and find out whether robots good at applying makeup on humans, and admire LED Smart Shoes that your friends can program to your dance moves.
Throw all the conventional 3D-printing processes out the window, because Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP) may be the future of 3D printing.
Carbon3D shows off a fascinating liquid-resin process that bypasses the typical layering approach of 3D printing.
A 3D-printed violin is just one of a suite of instruments designed to provide a collaborative experience exploring our relationship with sound.
3D Systems' $500 stylus gives you haptic feedback as you sculpt 3D objects from clay or play an interactive game like Jenga.
In more than half the states, drivers are allowed to show proof of car insurance electronically. One driver, allegedly pulled over for playing "F--- Tha Police," says the cop who stopped him didn't know the law.
The Volkswagen Beetle was a car that came close to never seeing the light of day, but on its way from fascist project to hippie icon it became one of the pillars of the automotive world. XCAR goes back to the start of the story and finds out whether the new Beetle deserves its name.


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PITTSBURGH Mylan had profits of $93.5 million in 2009, the generic drug maker announced Thursday in its annual financial report.
The boost in profits came after a $335.1 million loss in 2008. Profits for fourth quarter 2009 were $4.1 million, compared with a loss of $54.5 million in fourth quarter 2008. Sales for the year were $5.09 billion, a decrease from 2008’s $5.14 billion.
Generics sales for the year were $4.7 billion, compared with $4.29 billion in 2008. Specialty drugs, meaning drugs prescribed by specialists as opposed to drugs sold through the specialty pharmacy channel, had sales of $455.7 million, a 9% increase from 2008’s $417.2 million. Mylan sells specialty drugs mostly for allergies and respiratory ailments through its Dey subsidiary, such as the allergic reaction treatment EpiPen (epinephrine) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment Perforomist (formoterol fumarate).


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According to the 2018 Edmunds Trade-In Loyalty Report, which studied more than 13.9 million vehicle transactions from 2007 to 2017, customers are most loyal to Japanese brands such as Toyota, Subaru and Honda. Rounding out the top five spots were Ram and Chevrolet which both had a loyalty rating of 54%.
At the opposite end of the mainstream spectrum were brands such as Chrysler, Smart and Dodge. All three had less return customers than Fiat and Mitsubishi.
Over the past decade, there have been some major winners and losers. Subaru and Mazda saw significant jumps in customer retention while the latter brand’s CX-5 crossover had the highest number of return customers of any vehicle in 2017.
The loser’s bracket saw customers flee from Chrysler and Dodge vehicles. Both brands saw their loyalty rating nearly cut in half over the past decade and Buick didn’t do much better as its rating dropped from 35% in 2007 to 29% in 2017.
In the luxury segment, buyers are most loyal to Lexus, Audi and Land Rover. They were closely followed by Mercedes, Porsche and BMW. The least loyal luxury customers belong to Infiniti, Jaguar and Volvo.
The love affair with crossovers was also evident as Edmunds notes passenger car loyalty hit its lowest point in eight years. Cars only accounted for 36 percent of all new vehicles sold last year and it helps to explain why the Honda Accord isn’t flying off dealer lots. Another interesting finding was the fact that crossovers and SUVs dethroned trucks in customer loyalty for the first time ever.
To help build and maintain a loyal following, Edmunds says automakers need to “leverage emotional design, offer a wide array of SUVs and have a solid history of reliability.”


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The pizza shop will be next to Lekkakos’ salon, M. Lekkakos Salon, Spa & Boutique.
Two years ago, the town celebrated a so-called business renaissance with several new retail stores opening in downtown, including Grassy Roots and Viola Lovely boutique.
Lekkakos said she loves the concept of the pizza shop, especially its gluten-free and healthier options. Like Fenerjian, she said the shop will blend in well with the other businesses downtown.
“I think it is great to have a pizza place, because we don’t have one,” Lekkakos said. “It is a new brand and a new concept.”
Lekkakos has been credited with much of the business development downtown in recent years.
“It is great for the downtown to have these new businesses because it gives residents a place to shop here in town,” she said. “It is nice to give the consumers something new to try, and hopefully they will frequent the other businesses, as well.”


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Members of Birmingham’s arts, media and tech industries are looking forward to a free programme of talks and demonstrations from some of the country’s leading experts, including Google, BBC Three and The Space. Digital Digbeth Day is presented by Fazeley Studios on Thursday 15 June as part of BBC Digital Cities, a week-long event showcasing Birmingham’s last digital innovations.
Tara Newman, Head of Events at Fazeley Studios says “We are delighted to be able to host Digital Digbeth Day to celebrate the thriving creative and digital community here at Fazeley Studios and across the city. BBC Digital Cities Week recognises the fantastic wealth of talent in Birmingham and we’re proud to be able to support this opportunity.”
From digital storytelling and tech innovations to growing and engaging online audiences, the day will demonstrate how innovations in technology could enhance creative business in Birmingham and beyond.
The packed programme will feature talks, a masterclass and panel discussion with national industry leaders including BBC Three and The Space, currently based at Fazeley Studios, as well as Google’s Digital Garage.
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham City University’s STEAMhouse and Digbeth-based companies, HolosphereVR, Yamination Studios and Backface, will also share an insight of their digital innovations.
Throughout the day there’ll be opportunities to get hands-on experiences with virtual reality, 3D scanning and the latest game-changing technologies.
Registration for the event is free and places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment: www.digitaldigbeth.eventbrite.co.uk
For more information about Digital Cities Week go to bit.ly/digibirmingham and follow #DigiCities #DigitalDigbeth.


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WD-40 (WDFC) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages
WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $136.00.
WDFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of WD-40 from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 23rd. BidaskClub raised shares of WD-40 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 25th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Friday, December 7th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, ValuEngine raised shares of WD-40 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 4th.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,370,237 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $235,818,000 after purchasing an additional 23,118 shares in the last quarter. Boston Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,874,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the third quarter valued at approximately $158,000. Bridge City Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 16,091 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,949,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc now owns 1,370,237 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $235,818,000 after buying an additional 23,118 shares during the last quarter. 90.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.95. WD-40 had a net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 38.51%. The company had revenue of $101.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. WD-40’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that WD-40 will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
WD-40 Company Profile
WD-40 Company develops and sells maintenance products, and homecare and cleaning products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company offers multi-purpose maintenance products, including aerosol sprays, non-aerosol trigger sprays, and in liquid-bulk form products under the WD-40 Multi-Use brand name for various consumer uses and industrial applications; specialty maintenance products, such as penetrants, degreasers, corrosion inhibitors, greases, lubricants, and rust removers under the WD-40 Specialist brand; and bicycle maintenance products comprising wet and dry chain lubricants, chain cleaners and degreasers, and foaming wash products for avid and recreational cyclists, bike enthusiasts, and mechanics under the WD-40 Bike brand name.
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The UK’s decision to allow a limited deployment of China-based Huawei Technology’s for its 5G network does not go far enough, US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said on Thursday, citing ongoing security concerns.
“We don’t think that their solution goes as far as it should,” Ross told Fox Business Network in an interview.
“If it’s too dangerous to trust them with the whole thing, it’s too dangerous to trust them with any part of it,” he said, referring to Huawei.
The ongoing US campaign against Huawei is rooted in Washington’s fears that the company is a potential security threat because of the background of Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei, a former Chinese army engineer.
As Huawei has risen to become a global leader in telecom networking equipment and a top smartphone manufacturer, fears have escalated. The rising concerns also follow the passage of a 2017 law in Beijing that requires Chinese companies to assist the government in matters of national security.
Further, the ongoing Huawei debate comes amid discussions between the US and China aimed at coming to an initial agreement to resolve a trade war that has lasted for over a year.


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Ford Canada names Mark Buzzell new CEO
Dianne Craig will move into an executive sales role in the US.
OAKVILLE, Ont. — Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd. says Mark Buzzell will take over as its president and CEO at the start of next year, replacing Dianne Craig.
Buzzell is currently Ford’s general manager for the western market area in the US.
Craig, who has been in Ford’s top job in Canada for five years, will become US director of sales for Ford Motor Co.
Ford recently negotiated a new contract with its Canadian workers.
Unifor, which represents some 6,700 workers at the automaker, says Ford has promised to invest $713 million in its Canadian operations.News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. 2016


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As the Guardian observes, this morning marks the beginning of the COP18 talks in Doha. Three years after the failures at Copenhagen, it’s hard to reconcile how much time we’ve lost — but let’s hope that, through whatever mechanisms possible, we see more progress this time around than last (at the very least, more than we saw at Rio in June). It’s a small hope, but worth holding onto.
Christy Lorio — good friend, fellow Oxford American contributor, and current columnist at UptownMessenger.com — writes in her column today about this weekend’s New Orleans Book Fair and Media Expo, taking place all day tomorrow (Saturday) in the CBD. Last year’s, which I was privileged to attend with Forest Publications co-conspirator Magda Boreszya, was more fun than should be allowed. This year, “With over 70 vendors participating from as far as Kansas,” Lorio writes,”the roster is diverse.”
There’s self publishers, small printing houses, outreach groups, and artists, not to mention t-shirt designers and jewelry makers. Leo McGovern ran the Alternative Media Expo from 2003-2010, and was asked to combine forces with the New Orleans Bookfair this year. The merge made sense, given the events had similar goals of helping “put people who are fans of cool things together”. McGovern promises “the same vibe that the bookfair has always had”, with a casual, comic book convention type of atmosphere.
Oh, to be in two places at once. But for those in Edinburgh, fear not: there’s fiddles!
After a lovely launch at the flagship book shop this weekend, the West Port Book Festival has released its programme for the 2012 festival. Running from 23-26 November, it looks to be a fantastic weekend – with new and established voices alike, there’s something on to suit all tastes. Details, and the full programme, are available here.


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Google appeals report $5 billion EU antitrust Android advantageous
Earlier at this time Google filed an attraction of the European Fee’s (EC’s) report €4.three billion (roughly $5 billion) antitrust advantageous. The advantageous was imposed in July due to Google Play app pre-install necessities.
Declare is that Google tying apps to Android. The EC noticed the apply of requiring handset makers to pre-install sure Google apps as “an abuse of market place” (akin to tying). In contrast, Google argued on the time in a weblog publish that the apply is helpful to the ecosystem and allows the corporate to supply the Android OS at no cost. Google was given 90 days to vary the way it did enterprise with telephone makers or face extra fines.
Google stated, as quickly because the advantageous was imposed, that it might attraction the determination.
Extra shopper selection at decrease value. Within the attraction, amongst different issues, Google will argue that its practices provide customers extra selection at decrease value. The EC has alleged that Google’s practices hurt rivals in a number of methods and provides Google’s personal apps an unfair benefit.
Procedurally, the case will go to Europe’s second highest court docket. Which means there may very well be one other attraction to the highest court docket, the Courtroom of Justice of the European Union. Finally it may take years to lastly resolve the matter.
The market initially reacted negatively to the advantageous in July. However when Google introduced very sturdy outcomes about 5 days later, buyers simply shrugged the EC’s largest-ever antitrust penalty.
Why ought to entrepreneurs care. It stays to be seen whether or not Google considerably modifications its Android guidelines in Europe throughout the attraction. The EC is looking for to compel such modifications, which may open the door for brand spanking new “default” apps on European handsets in search, maps, video and so forth.
That might matter to builders, if it involves go. It may matter to entrepreneurs if, for instance, new apps acquire widespread shopper adoption (e.g., maps, search). However that is fairly speculative. Customers would nonetheless be free to obtain Google apps and proceed utilizing them as they’re at this time; there would simply be an extra step.


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Laguna Beach classic cars are certainly something to see
Image: Dave Collier, 2011
When you’re talking about one of the more affluent regions in the United States, you’re going to have a certain set of expectations when it comes to the level of quality and detail that their classic car clubs and restoration projects bring to the table. However, very few could have imagined the sights people were able to see when they attended the 10th annual Classic Car Show put on by The Rotary Club of Laguna Beach this past weekend – with some of the vintage vehicles looking even better than they did the moment that they rolled off of the show room floor. Not only were there literally hundreds and hundreds of “instant classics” like Ford Mustangs, Chevy Camaros, and more than a few Corvettes, but there were also some exotic vehicles like a 1970 Fiat and a handful of vehicles that were featured in James Bond movies on full display as well. As this is an annual event don’t feel bad if you missed out on the festivities this year – just make sure that you don’t miss out on all of the crazy and exciting fun next time around!


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The diamond market is slowly becoming more disciplined. With high rough prices, declining polished, less available credit and lower retail inventory levels, it has become increasingly difficult for diamantaires to turn a profit. Therefore, they need to carefully navigate the significant changes taking place to improve their position in the market.
Three changes are shaping 2015 into a watershed year for the diamond market as they will have a lasting impact on how the trade operates. The banks are reducing their available credit to the industry, businesses are being forced to adopt more corporate structures and the trade is realigning to lower, more efficient inventory levels. Avi Kravits analyses.


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Hold on to your lifebuoys cruisers, Ponant is plunging to new depths to raise the bar on cruising.
The luxury French cruise line is building four new cruise ships, each complete with the world’s first underwater lounge bar.
Yes you heard that right – cruise onboard one of these ships from 2018 and you’ll get to sip cocktails under the sea!
Cruise editor Teresa Machan told The Telegraph said of the new ‘Explorer Class’ fleet:
“This is the latest in a raft of exciting developments for cruisers. Passengers will soon have access to purpose-built submarines, onboard amenities akin to those found on a luxury yacht and the ability to cruise to some of the most exciting destinations on the planet.”
Slightly smaller than Ponant’s existing fleet of four yachts, the four new ships will be 127 metres long, be 7 decks in height and comprise of 92 balcony cabins with a total guest capacity of 184 at double occupancy.
The as yet unnammed cruise ships will be fitted with an infinity pool and be certified to sail in Polar Regions.
Sounds like a whale of a time to us. Book a Ponant cruise today!


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According to police, the stab wound occurred in the parking lot of a shop on Boulevard 1600, located on Boulevard S. Christopher Columbus.
Police say the victim, a 50-year-old man, went to Wawa just before 2am to buy food. He returned to his Kia SUV and ate food in the driver’s seat.
Customers then warned the guard around 4:25 that someone needed to check the person in the car.
Fire and ambulance crews smashed the driver’s rear window to gain access to the car, police said.
According to police, the man was stabbed in the abdomen and was taken to Jefferson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police are now using camera shops to get a better description of the possible suspect and motives.
There was an Uber sticker on the windshield of the car, but it is unclear whether the victim works in the company, investigators said.
The Wawa store is closed while police continue their investigation.
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Smart phones make life simple by centering work, home, and extra curricular responsibilities into one space but efficiency comes at a cost. New research reports the negative effect of light, emitted by most modern gadgets, on sleep.
In our society, artificial light can infiltrate at any hour of the day, most prominently from our mobile devices. A Facebook-sponsored study designed to understand how smartphone owners use their phones over the course of a day and week reports 79% of respondents have their phone on or near them for all but 2 hours of their waking day. This sustained input of light can interrupt sleep and result in sleep disorders. Especially detrimental is the particularly disruptive effect that the blue wavelength light emitted by smartphones and tablet screens has on our sleep-related hormonal milieu.
Our bodies keep time through a biological process called the circadian rhythm, which is regulated by diverse factors including a sleep-promoting hormone called melatonin. The control of melatonin release is directly related to light exposure. Thus, more light inhibits melatonin, suppressing sleep and activating alertness.
Remaining attached to our smartphones then is quite literally an unhealthy relationship. Smartphones in our bedroom at night can not only cost us sleep, but also induce threat vigilance, according to Dr. Orfeu M. Buxton, a neuroscientist and assistant professor in the division of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School. This phenomenon is indicative of a persistent state of alertness, which is the hallmark of insomnia, says Dr. Buxton.
ACSH s research associate, Anisha Contractor, had this comment: Even independent of the effect of artificial light on the sleep cycle and circadian rhythms, people are so connected to their online lives that simply having your phone by your bed makes it more likely you ll wake up, grab your phone to check e-mail and the next thing you know, your cell phone alarm will start buzzing.


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The millionaire recreation developer, Marc Merril, was a sufferer of the Singaporean man who stole identities to make the most of Amazon Net Providers’ and Google cloud computing energy for crypto mining.
A case of stolen identification
In a not too long ago unsealed court docket submitting on Nov. 7, Forbes found that Marc Merrill, the co-founder of Riot Games, was the beforehand nameless sufferer of Singaporian nationwide Matthew Ho’s identification theft scheme. Riot Games is most well-known because the developer behind the massively profitable League of Legends.
Ho allegedly used Merrill’s American Specific bank card info to purchase cloud computing energy from Amazon, and Google, amongst others. In October, Ho was indicted by United States prosecutors who mentioned that the whole value of computing companies utilized by Ho amounted to over $5 million. The prosecutors additionally alleged that in some unspecified time in the future Ho even grew to become the most important AWS information shopper, including:
“Within the few months his scheme remained energetic, Ho consumed greater than $5 million in unpaid cloud computing companies together with his mining operation and, for a short interval, was one of Amazon Net Providers (AWS) largest customers of information utilization by quantity. Some of the payments have been paid by the California recreation developer’s monetary workers earlier than the fraud was detected.”
The investigators declare that Ho was ready to make use of social engineering to realize entry to admin privileges and huge quantities of cloud computing energy on Amazon and Google servers to mine varied cryptocurrencies, together with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
Ho managed to trick Amazon into believing he was the president of Riot Games. Ho even created a pretend Californian driving license that carried the Riot Games co-chairman’s title.
Though the Division of Justice charged Ho in early October, the identification of the Los Angeles-based recreation developer grew to become public solely now. Ho is at the moment being charged with eight counts of wire fraud, 4 counts of entry machine fraud and two counts of aggravated identification theft.
Cointelegraph contacted Riot Games concerning these newest developments however had but to obtain a response as of press time.


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Kakao injects cash into its investment businessKakao, the operator of Korea’s top mobile messenger app, said Wednesday that it will inject billions of won into its investment firm and overseas operations.
The company said it has decided to put 70 billion won ($66 million) into Kakao Investment, its wholly owned subsidiary that specializes in capital ventures.
“The move could lay the foundation for more aggressive investments into innovative companies and bring about the best possible results for Kakao as a whole,” a corporate source said.
In addition, the company said it will invest 79.9 billion won into Kakao Japan, which is actively engaged in content businesses in the neighboring country.
The Japanese affiliate made headway with its online comic platform and has more recently entered the video streaming service market.
Besides these investments, the company said it will hand over the joint operating rights of KakaoPage, its web comic and internet social platform, to Podotree. This deal calls for an investment in kind, and Kakao will receive 100 billion won worth of shares.
The company said that the realignment of KakaoPage will enable the operator of the social platform to make swift and independent decisions that will allow the business to grow, benefiting all sides.


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TAMPA — A man ran up a $7,753.22 bill at an Apple store.
When his debit card was declined, he pretended to call his bank. He gave the store clerk a fake authorization code to punch into the card reader.
And that's how the man, 24-year-old Sharron Laverne Parrish Jr. of Tampa, scammed one of the biggest high-tech companies in the world — not once but 42 times — totaling $309,768, according to federal court records.
A Secret Service criminal complaint charges Parrish with wire fraud, alleging that he tricked Apple clerks in 16 states into accepting meaningless override codes. He is accused of hitting the Brandon store twice, along with stores in Orlando, Wellington and Boca Raton.
Parrish, who lists a home address in the River Grove area of east Tampa, was held without bail in the Pinellas County Jail.
The scam was made possible through a practice known as a "forced sale," "forced post" or "forced code."
A credit or debit card gets declined, a customer protests that funds should be available and a merchant calls the card issuer, looking for authorization to proceed.
If the issuer approves, the merchant gets an authorization code, creating a record of the override.
But that code isn't special.
"It does not actually matter what code the merchant types into the terminal," the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey stated publicly in February after a similar case there. "Any combination of digits will override the denial."
(The Tampa Bay Times is withholding the number of digits so as not to inspire anyone.)
The New Jersey case led to a three-year prison sentence for Temeshia McDonald, 29, who defrauded Victoria's Secret, Banana Republic and other retailers out of $557,690. She was ordered to pay restitution.
The Tampa charge was filed by Secret Service Special Agent Bryan Halliwell, with assistance from investigators for Apple and Chase Bank. John Joyce, special agent in charge of the Secret Service in Tampa, said the solution is for merchants to not permit hand-keyed overrides.
"The retailer should not be so anxious to make a sale as to override a declination at the cash register," he said.
Karisse Hendrick, program manager for the Americas at the Seattle-based Merchant Risk Council, said businesses have to weigh customer convenience against liability. And, typically, frontline staff at brick-and-mortar stores are thinking more about pleasing customers than about fraud.
But the store clerk should be the one who places a call for authorization, she said.
"There are very creative bad guys who are always going to be looking for the easy way out and can be very convincing even in person," Hendrick said.
Michigan Retailers Association executive John Mayleben recommended in a blog last year that merchants not even trust the phone number on the back of customers' credit cards.
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Merchants can wind up liable for charges if they override a denial.
That was the case with Parrish's transaction at the Apple store in Brandon on Jan. 18, 2013, according to the court record.
"Because Apple employees overrode the initial declination against the instructions of Chase Bank, Apple — not the financial institution — suffered the loss as a result of this fraudulent transaction," agent Halliwell wrote.
Parrish was also accused of trying to defraud a car rental company and a hotel in Seattle. But much of his activity took place at Apple stores.
A spokeswoman for Apple in Cupertino, Calif., declined to say if the company has changed any policies at its retail stores. Calls to management of the Brandon store were not returned.
Contact Patty Ryan at firstname.lastname@example.org or (813) 226-3382.


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STARBUCKS, the US coffee giant, has bowed to public pressure after it emerged it is planning to change its operating system so it will end up paying corporation tax in the UK.
The company, valued at £25 billion, has been stung by widespread criticism about the way it operates in Britain, which last year meant that, despite sales of nearly £400 million, it paid no tax on profits. Some politicians including, it appears, Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, have boycotted Starbucks over the tax issue.
The coffee giant was one of three companies, along with Google and Amazon, labelled "immoral" by MPs in a damning report for the way it minimises its tax payments, albeit legally.
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Labour's Margaret Hodge, who chairs the Commons Public Accounts Committee, said its report showed multinationals operating in the UK had been allowed to get away with "ripping off" taxpayers because of a weak tax authority, poor legislation and a lack of international co-operation.
Ms Hodge revealed she had been boycotting Starbucks, Amazon and Google since the revelations over tax emerged.
"No, I don't now [go to Starbucks]. I've stopped my Amazon. I've completely stopped my Amazon – I'm a Kindle fanatic so that's been a bit of a difficult one. Google I find more difficult," she said.
Mr Alexander over the weekend suggested he too had boycotted Starbucks, saying: "I might be able to buy a coffee from Starbucks again soon," but when asked yesterday stressed that he was a "tea drinker", so he did not tend to visit the coffee outlet.
Starbucks, which has admitted being in contact with the Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs to discuss its "tax approach" in the UK, declined to comment on suggestions it was about to change its ways and pay corporation tax in Britain.
A spokeswoman stressed how the company was committed to the UK for the long term, having invested more than £200m during the last 12 years, and that it had complied with "all the tax laws in this country" but had not been as profitable as it would have liked.
She told The Herald the company had listened to feedback from its customers and employees and understood that to maintain and further build public trust it needed to do more. "We are not commenting on details at this stage," she added. The company intends to make a statement later this week.
The UK Government yesterday unveiled plans for a £10 billion crackdown on tax dodging by multinationals and wealthy individuals, involving offshore funds.


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By Arwyn Rice
Peninsula Daily News
Want more top stories? Sign up here for daily or weekly newsletters with our top news.
The number of visitors to the fragrantly themed collection of tours and arts events in and around Sequim, organized by the Sequim Lavender Farmers Association and the Sequim Lavender Growers Association, was thought to be about the same as 2013 or a little better.
From vendor response, spending was up, according to the organizers.
Final visitor numbers will not be available until later this week, as the two lavender organizations tally their sales and get reports from the 12 farms on the combined tours.
The 18th Sequim Lavender Festival Street Fair, organized by the growers association, attracted at least 20,000 visitors to more than 150 lavender, craft and food booths located in downtown Sequim, and to the growers association's seven lavender farms in the Sequim area, said Mary Jendrucko, executive director of the growers association.
“It was standing-room-only,” Jendrucko said.
Attendance was about the same as the past few years, but vendors at the street fair were doing a brisk business, and many were already asking to sign up for booths at the 2015 event, she said.
Lavender farmers on the farmers association's five-farm Heritage Lavender Farm Tour reported big, happy crowds.
“It's been fairly busy,” said Kortney Oen, who has been a farm assistant at Purple Haze Lavender for the past six years.
Oen said she and others at the farm estimated that the number of visitors is up from totals of previous years.
“People are content to sit and listen to the music and look at the lavender fields,” she said.
The farmers association also sponsored the Lavender Arts & Crafts Fair in the Park, at Carrie Blake Park.
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Alcohol brand owners are to apply for a deferment of excise duties until the sales ban is lifted. The industry pays over R2-billion in excise taxes for locally produced and imported products. Thulasizwe Simelane talks to SA Liquor Brand Owners Association Chairperson, Sibani Mngadi. #eNCA Courtesy #DStv403
JOHANNESBURG - The embattled liquor industry wants another tax break from excise duties, after a third liquor ban imposed by the government, to help curb the spread of COVID-19.
The industry pays the South African Revenue Services an average R2.5-billion per month in excise tax for locally produced and imported products.
The tax is being imposed at the point of production, as normal, despite the current ban on alcohol sales in the country.
In July and August 2020 the government granted a deferment of at least R5-billion Rand in excise tax payments.
The industry has had to pay back the tax at a later stage.
The Liquor Brandowners Association's Sibani Mngadi explains the industry's challenge in the video above.


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If you think you know what wine you’re drinking, you could be wrong — and that fancy bottle of red could be contributing to a trade that rips $70 billion a year from the global wine industry.
- Counterfeit wine can involve replacing the liquid or faking labels
- It has become a global problem, particularly for premium wine
- A Perth company is now using technology to fight back
According to estimates, counterfeit wine affects up to 20 per cent of the global $350 billion wine industry.
Now the industry is turning to technology to fight back, in the form of “smart” bottle tops.
Perth company Cellr is offering a product to tackle the fake wine market, with the technology integrated directly into the bottles.
The caps contain Near Field Communication (NFC) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips, which can be scanned by an accompanied mobile application.
The application then instantly confirms the product’s provenance, producer and, optionally, brand or promotional messaging.
The company has now received $150,000 in funding from the Federal Government, through its Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, to extend the product’s rollout.
Small and Family Business Minister Michaelia Cash said the technology had the potential to be game changing.
“This is a global issue, counterfeiting wine,” she said. “And to have an Australian start-up literally invent what is going to, I hope, become a global solution is absolutely outstanding.”
The company has also received support from wine services company Portavin and the South West Development Commission.
Giving wine a ‘digital birth certificate’
Co-founder Chris Braine said the technology allowed wineries to produce a “digital birth certificate” with every bottle.
“So some of these [production] lines are running 18,000 to 45,000 bottles an hour,” he said.
“Our technology allows us to create a unique individual birth certificate for each of those products, which is then resurfaced anywhere, any time around the world via the mobile phone.”
Mr Braine said counterfeit wine was a massive issue globally.
“There’s a lot through the Asian regions which is … closer to 70 per cent, give or take,” he said.
“But as a global footprint, the majority of production is happening through Europe, the US and Australia has obviously been targeted more heavily in recent times.
“The solution needs to be embedded in the bottling process and not something that’s cosmetic.
“QR codes and stickers on bottles, for example, are … solutions which exist in the market place today and can be copied in the millions.
“So we’ve gone about re-engineering the capsule that gets [the technology] embedded with tamper-proof evidence and a binary state — that means we can have a live state and a dead state within a bottle.”
What constitutes counterfeit?
Mr Braine said the types of counterfeit wine operations varied around the world, with examples ranging from refilling bottles to manufacturing fake labels.
“[There was] an example in the south of France where 10 million litres … was driven across the border from Spain, bottled under a premium name and sold off in that sense as a premium price point,” he said.
Wines of Western Australia chief executive Larry Jorgensen said premium brands were often targeted.
“I don’t think it’s really a problem in Australia, it’s more of an international issue at this point in time,” he said.
“There are issues around what the provenance of the wine is.
“So growing wine in a place that is easy to grow grapes in a very high volume and produce high volumes of wine, that could be used in place of regions where it’s more difficult to grow high volumes, but it’s easier to produce quality wine.”
Mr Jorgensen said it was important that consumers knew what they were buying.
“There’s the price differential for a start, there’s a premium there,” he said.
“There are extensive additional inputs to growing premium wine and I guess at the end of the day they’re luxury products so there’s a brand there to be protected.”
Cost borne by producers
Mr Jorgensen said all producers within the wine industry needed to come up with a solution together.
“What everybody is wondering is what will be the system that is adopted, because you really want broad coverage in the market if it’s going to have any impact,” he said.
“And secondly [you have to see] what the cost of doing that is.
“You do have to look a number of things in terms of your supply chain, in terms of how it will be managed.”
Mr Braine said he had received a good response from the WA industry so far.
“Not only from the counterfeit space but also on the direct-to-consumer marketing front,” he said.
The company is aiming for a price point of between 5 and 10 cents.
A pilot program is scheduled to take place in the coming months, while the product could hit shelves in a trial later this year.


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Missed anything this past week? We’ve got you covered.
Missed anything this past week? We’ve got you covered…
Multiplatform gaming, a part of Microsoft’s master plan for Windows 10?
What’s coming your way this week?
It’s almost certainly going to be pretty, but how does it handle?
It’s a triple-A gold rush.
It’s all about the Xbox One and Windows 10.
There’s a big difference between promising and fulfilling, and this is how Microsoft can close that gap.
Microsoft has revealed the next installment of its Forza Motorsport game, and it’s packing the eye-popping new Ford GT


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DENVER - Federal regulators have recommended that all cellphone use be banned for people who are driving, but many experts agree that would be hard to enforce. There is now a new idea that may offer an alternative.
It is a device that drops a call or puts up a blocking screen on the phone while the car is moving. The system is called Cell Control.
It plugs into your car's diagnostic plug and works with software installed on selected phones.
Its maker hopes to sell to companies with big fleets of cars, and of course, to parents.
"People do get in their cars. They do use their phones. They do text. They email. They surf. They 'Words with Friends,' and 'Angry Birds' and the whole bit, all while driving and that's dangerous," Cell Control Vice President Chuck Cox said.
The Cell Control system costs $25 for the device and $8 per month for up to six phones.
At this point, it doesn't work on the iPhone, but the company hopes to change that early next year.
For more information, visit http://cellcontrol.com/.
If you would like to take the 9NEWS Great Hang Up pledge to help stop distracted driving, download the pledge form.
If you have a story about distracted driving you would like to share with us, or if your company or office has decided to sign the pledge as a team, email 9NEWS Anchor/Reporter Eric Kahnert at email@example.com.
(KUSA-TV © 2011 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)


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3 July, 2017As part of the implementation process of the Inditex global framework agreement (GFA), IndustriALL Global Union’s textile and garment affiliates in Bulgaria met to review capacity building needs and develop organizing plans
During the meeting, held in the capital Sofia from 17-19 June 2017, IndustriALL’s affiliates, FOSIL and the Federation of Light Industry, and Inditex representatives discussed the situation in the textile and garment sector, and steps to promote implementation of the GFA in the Inditex supply chain in Bulgaria.
Textile and garment is the biggest employer in Bulgarian manufacturing, employing some 100,000 workers, of whom roughly 9,000 work at Inditex’s suppliers. Union leaders reported sub-standard working conditions and low wages in the sector. “Workers earn the minimum wage, far less than a living wage and young people are not motivated to look for a job in that sector,” said one union leader. “They prefer to leave the country.”
Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL Global Union’s textile and garment director, gave a presentation on IndustriALL’s sectoral policy for supply chains and stated “There is no way to have a say in the wage debate without industry-wide bargaining. We want to promote a well-functioning industrial relations model in the supply chain, including here in Bulgaria.”
Bulgarian participants were introduced to the content of the GFA between IndustriALL and Inditex, and how its implementation can help improve social dialogue in the country. Inditex representatives spoke about coordinated action with IndustriALL to promote respect for the agreement, in particular freedom of association. “Our objective is to achieve sustainable working conditions and a win-win situation throughout the supply chain,” said Murat Akkün from Inditex Sustainability Department in Turkey. He further talked about the joint training project that IndustriALL and Inditex have developed for workers and managers at a supplier in Turkey, and stressed the benefit of freely elected trade union representatives and good social dialogue for ensuring company sustainability.
There was a lively debate on the presentations given and actions taken in different countries to promote GFA implementation and resolve problems encountered. Víctor Garrido Sotomayor, IndustriALL’s coordinator of the Inditex GFA gave several examples of violation of workers’ rights and how those were solved successfully, particularly in Turkey where IndustriALL and Inditex conducted joint actions. Union density in the Bulgarian textile industry is very low and workers are scared to join a union for fear of losing their livelihood. “What we saw and learnt from the presentations at the meeting gives us hope,” said a Bulgarian union leader. However, there is a strong need to empower workers and trade unions if a real change is to be seen in the textile and garment sector in Bulgaria.
The meeting was followed by a visit to two Inditex suppliers - one located in Pleven and the other in Pernik. The visits gave union leaders an opportunity to meet with local management and workers directly on the shop-floor for the first time. Affiliates expressed their determination to follow-up on the talks and together with IndustriALL’s support they are planning to engage with other Inditex suppliers in Bulgaria and initiate steps towards a sustainable industrial relations system in the sector.


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Among many of the announcements made in today’s Japanese Nintendo Direct, one of the biggest info drops was the fact that a new Rhythm Heaven game is finally coming out. The new game is described as a compilation of past Rhythm Heaven games. It features minigames from Rhythm Heaven on the Nintendo DS and Rhythm Heaven Fever on the Wii, as well as the Japanese-only Game Boy Advance release Rhythm Tengoku. In total, there are expected to be over 70 revisited minigames in the new release. Thankfully, though, we’re still going to be getting a hefty amount of new Rhythm Heavenly minigames to enjoy, as the new title will also feature over 30 brand new minigames, bringing the total to a nice and chunky 100+.
More info is expected later into the year. An English release hasn’t been mentioned yet, but given the popularity of the series outside of Japan, we should expect to hear about it soon.


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Despite the widespread lockdowns and restrictions caused by the pandemic, the last year has been surprisingly positive for our industry. For instance, in 2020 we actually loaned Canadians 24% more money than we did the year prior, and in Q1 of 2021, we received nearly 33% more loan applications compared to Q1 of the previous year.
Studies suggest that customers will continue spending significantly on their home in the coming months, and with public health restrictions beginning to ease across the country, business will continue picking up. We’ve got you covered with tips to help make sure you’re ready.[spacer height="20px"]
With vaccination rates rising and case counts dropping, many homeowners are becoming more comfortable with the idea of having people in their homes, and that includes contractors and vendors. As a result, be prepared to see more customers engaging on projects that they may have put off at the height of the pandemic.
Your Tip: Reassure your customers that despite the easing restrictions, your team will still be following strict protocols to ensure their safety, including wearing a mask, sanitizing, and maintaining a safe distance. This will provide peace of mind for customers who may still be wary.[spacer height="20px"]
COVID has had a massive impact on the real estate market with house prices soaring over the last few months. This has left many homeowners re-evaluating (and then working on improving) the value of their own home. Many home improvement businesses are seeing a marked increase in sales, with 46% of Canadian homeowners saying that they plan to spend anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 on renovations or repairs in the next year, an additional 24% who plan to spend up to $25,000, and 11% who are willing to spend as much as $50,000, according to HomeStars.
Your Tip: When meeting with a potential customer, come armed with information and data about which upgrades will have the most impact. You want to be able to demonstrate how you can help build incremental value associated with investing in their home.[spacer height="20px"]
Although restrictions are easing, many people will still likely be spending lots of their time at home as more and more workplaces shift to fully remote work models, or a hybrid of in-office and work-from-home structures. Many people are now also beginning to socialize and welcome people into their homes for the first time in over a year, which has led to a greater focus on areas of the home that need improvement.
Your Tip: Being able to offer financing and leasing solutions is one of the best ways that you can help support your customers as they undertake much-needed home improvement projects that may otherwise be out of reach (because of the large upfront cost). Our products, like the 240-month amortization option, are a great way to help make necessary home improvements less financially burdensome. With longer amortization periods (up to 240 months now), payment deferrals, rate buydowns, and other added incentives, customers benefit from affordable monthly payments that allow them to get exactly what they want. At the same time, you’ll be able to grow your customer base, increase your average ticket size, and ultimately close more sales.[spacer height="20px"]
For more tips on how to support the ongoing growth and development of your business through COVID and beyond, your Dealer Relationship Manager is always available to help. Get in touch with them today!
Restrictions surrounding COVID-19 vary by region. Please be sure to always follow the protocols and guidelines outlined by your region’s public health department.
Join our mailing list to receive a download link to our information kit.


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Ranchero Software has released updates for NetNewsWire and NetNewsWire Lite, bringing them to versions 1.0.2 and 1.0.3 respectively. NetNewWire is a utility designed for automatic Internet news harvesting. The update features a faster news reader and bug fixes. According to Ranchero Software:
Ranchero Software is pleased to announce updated versions of NetNewsWire, the easy-to-use RSS Web news reader for Mac OS X, and its freeware version, NetNewsWire Lite.
NetNewsWire 1.0.2 was released last week and features three main changes (since 1.0.1): the news reader is faster, numerous bugs were fixed, and there are new Weblog editor features for Movable Type and Radio UserLand users.
NetNewsWire Lite 1.0.3 was released Tuesday. NetNewsWire Lite offers most of the news reader features of the full version, but doesnit include the additional Weblog editor and notepad. The new version includes all the relevant bug fixes from the recent release of the full version of NetNewsWire.
You can find more information about the NetNewsWire and NetNewsWire Lite updates at the Ranchero Software Web site. NetNewsWire Lite 1.0.3 is available as freeware, and NetNewsWire 1.0.2 is free for registered users, while the full version is available for US$39.95.


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There has been a lot of speculation regarding Nintendo’s upcoming console, the NX, but Nintendo has been extremely quiet on the subject. In a recent interview with GameSkinny, a Nintendo of Canada representative advised that if any questions were asked about the NX, they’d be cutting the interview short:
This was published on GameSkinny’s website, only to later be replaced with the below paragraph, after Nintendo of Canada asked the editor to remove that particular snippet of the interview:
It seems, not only did the rep not want to speak about the NX right now, Nintendo of Canada also didn’t want the part of the interview where the representative advised that they won’t be discussing the NX to be shown. Some may speculate reasons why the company would request this to be taken down, however the real reason is unknown.


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Alphabet’s Google has struck a $1.1bn (£822m) deal with Taiwan’s HTC to expand its smartphone business. Google will not take a stake in the firm, but will acquire a team of people who develop Pixel smartphones for the US company and receive a non-exclusive license for HTC’s intellectual property. According to HTC half their smartphone research and development team – about 2000 people – will go to Google.
HTC was once a major player in the smartphone market but has struggled to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung. Google expects the deal to close by early 2018 – provided it gets the all clear from regulators. This deal marks a move by Google to boost its hardware capabilities.
HTC makes Vive, the VR headset favoured by Google, as the alternative Oculus Rift is owned by Facebook. Vive is reportedly outselling Oculus Rift by a margin of nearly two to one, albeit with modest numbers, but is recognised by many as the superior system.
www.bbc.co.uk/technews (21st September)
More than 2 million users of anti-malware tool CCleaner installed a version of the software that had been hacked to include malware. Piriform, the developer of CCleaner now owned by security firm Avast, says its download servers were compromised at some point between 15th August, when it released version v5.33.6162 of the software, and the 12th of September, when it updated the servers with a new version.
In that period, a Trojan was loaded into the download package which sent ‘non-sensitive data’ from infected users’ computers back to a server located in America. The data, according to Piriform, included ‘computer name’, IP address, list of installed software, list of active software, list of network adapters.
As well as the data leak, however, the infection also resulted in a ‘second stage payload’ being installed on to the infected computer – another piece of malware, which Piriform says was never executed.
The company says 2.27m users were infected, but added that ‘we believe that these users are safe now as our investigation indicates we were able to disarm the threat before it was able to do any harm.’
Compromising downloads to trusted software is an increasingly common route by which malware authors infect devices. The method is known as a ‘supply chain’ attack. It works because the attackers are relying on the trust relationship between a manufacturer or supplier and a customer.
www.theguardian.com/uk/technology (19th September)
Microsoft has confirmed that some users of Outlook are unable to send emails or access their accounts.
Hundreds of users from around Europe have commented on the website Downdetector that they have been affected by the problem.
A common issue seems to be that emails remain in the draft folder and are not being delivered to recipients.
‘Intermittent connectivity is affecting customers in some European countries, which we are working to resolve as soon as possible,’ said a Microsoft representative. They are monitoring the environment while connectivity recovers.
www.bbc.technews (19th September)
A Russian-funded campaign to promote divisive social and political messages on its network has been discovered by Facebook. Approximately, £77,000 has been spent on over 3000 ads over a two year period.
The adverts did not back any political figures specifically, but instead posted on topics such as immigration, race and equal rights. Facebook has said it is co-operating with a US investigation into the matter. The advertisements were in breach of Facebook’s terms and conditions and spread false information to around 470 accounts
“The ads and accounts appeared to focus on amplifying divisive social and political messages across the ideological spectrum,” the company said in a blog post published on Wednesday.
The company said it believed, but could not independently confirm, that the accounts were created by the so-called Internet Research Agency, a St Petersburg-based group known for posting pro-Kremlin messages on social media.
The accounts in question have now been shut down.
www.bbc.co.uk/technews (7th September 17)
Emoticons were once thought to be the way forward in providing the world with a global language – one capable of crossing cultural borders. The reality, however, has proved to be rather to the contrary.
Even the most familiar emoji of a grinning face, can look very different on different devices or operating systems – and can be interpreted in different ways by a variety of cultures.
Intercultural expert and professional business coach, Alyssa Bantle, believes companies should be wary of their use in written communication. The advice of the experts is to use them sparingly – if at all. there is not a universal understanding of what many of the emoji mean ad it is very easy for them to be misinterpreted. A toothy grin on Windows was rated as emotionally positive while the same symbol on Apple looked more like a grimace to some.
Some emoji’s can quickly communicate the positive or joking tone of a statement – but different cultures read those faces differently – especially in regard to levels of formality and what is appropriate in workplace written communication.
In Zimbabwe there is a notable difference in larger versus smaller companies. In larger companies communication is traditional and formal. Protocol in meetings and emails is considered essential. Smaller companies are more informal and communication is frequent.
Some German companies, and in Indonesia, written communication style is formal where titles are used and last names. Using first names might seem friendly – but can be interpreted as a lack of respect – so emoji’s can only add to the complication.
In Latin American cultures, like Mexico, communication is also wordy, indirect and formal. This style shows politeness and respect.
It is so important that one considers deeper cultural issues when choosing how to get a message across. An emoji may not be appropriate even if it seems innocent and friendly. There is a fine line between the use of social media and the communication between colleagues at work. One needs to be clear about what is acceptable and appropriate for communication at work and at a business level.


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Scottish retail sales could be turning the corner after months of patchy performance, according to new indicators published this week by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC).
One or at most two of the three indicators published by the SRC have, at any one time over the last two years, pointed in a positive direction at the same time.
But this is the first time that all three sectoral indicators - which measure footfall, shop vacancy rates and sales - are all pointing in the right direction simultaneously.
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Footfall rose 5.2% in April compared to a year ago, the shop vacancy rate dropped to 10.7% and total Scottish retail sales in Scotland rose by 1.9% in April compared to a year ago.
However, the upbeat news was tempered by the fact that growth in Scottish retail sales in April was just one-third of like-for-like UK average sales growth of 5.7%. In addition, the number of empty retail premises in Scotland remains slightly higher than the UK average.
So far as sales are concerned the monthly SRC KPMG Retail Sales Monitor found that clothing and footwear enjoyed their highest growth rate in more than three years. The uplift is believed to have been driven by shoppers replacing their wardrobes with items for the new season and buying children's clothing.
Food sales were 1.1% higher and non-food sales rose by 2.6% compared with April 2013. Big-ticket items such as furniture, gardening, DIY and materials for revamping the home also did well.
SRC director David Lonsdale described the fact that a broad range of retail indictors have started to point in a favourable direction at the same time as "promising". Retailers would, though, have to work hard to sustain this by improving their offer.
Lonsdale said: "The UK and Scottish governments and local authorities can assist by channelling their collective energies into ensuring that the retail industry, which is Scotland's largest private-sector employer providing 255,000 jobs, is even better placed to be able to invest, expand and create employment.
"Policies which put money into people's pockets, keep down the cost of doing business, and facilitate retail investment and expansion should be prioritised."


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If you’re looking for the next unicorn in Southeast Asia, Zilingo might just be it. The 3.5-year-old e-commerce company announced today that it has raised a Series D round worth $226 million to go after the opportunity to digitize Asia’s fashion supply chain.
This new round takes Zilingo to $308 million from investors since its 2015 launch. The Series D is provided by existing investors Sequoia India, Singapore sovereign fund Temasek, Germany’s Burda and Sofina, a European backer of Flipkart -owned fashion site Myntra. Joining the party for the first time is new investor EDBI, the corporate investment arm of Singapore’s Economic Development Board.
Zilingo isn’t commenting on a valuation for the round, but a source with knowledge of the deal told TechCrunch that it is ‘a rounding error’ away from $1 billion. We had heard in recent months that the startup was getting close to unicorn status, so that is likely to come sooner or later — particularly given that Zilingo has made it to Series D so rapidly.
Raising more than $300 million makes Zilingo one of Southeast Asia’s highest-capitalized startups, but its meteoric growth in the last year has come from expansion from consumer e-commerce into business-to-business services.
CEO Ankiti Bose — formerly with Sequoia India and McKinsey — and CTO Dhruv Kapoor first built a service that capitalized on Southeast Asia’s growing internet connectivity to bring small fashion vendors from the street markets of cities like Bangkok and Jakarta into the e-commerce fold. Zilingo still operates its consumer-facing online retail store, but its key move has been to go after b2b opportunities in the supply chain by digitizing its network to give retailers and brands gain access.
Revenue grew by 4X over the past year, with b2b responsible for 75 percent of that total, Bose told TechCrunch. She declined to provide raw figures but did say net income is in “the hundreds of millions” of U.S dollar. The company — which has over 400 staff — isn’t profitable yet, but CEO Bose said the b2b segment gives it “a clear pathway” to break-even by helping offset expensive e-commerce battles.
The supply chain’s ‘outdated tech’
Moving into the supply chain after building distribution makes sense, but Zilingo has long had its eye on services.
That business-focused push started with a suite of basic products to help Zilingo sellers manage their e-commerce business. Those initially included inventory management and sales tracking, but they have since graduated to deeper services like financing, sourcing and procurement, and a ‘style hunter’ for identifying upcoming fashion trends. Zilingo also widened its target from the long tail of small vendors operating in Southeast Asia, to bigger merchants and brands and even to the fashion industry in Europe, North America and beyond that seeks access to Asia’s producers, who are estimated to account for $1.4 trillion of the $3 billion global fashion manufacturing market.
Zilingo’s goal today is to provide any seller with the features, insight and network that brands such as Zara have built for themselves through years of work.
In Southeast Asia, that means helping small merchants, SMEs and larger retailers to source items for sale online through the Zilingo store. But in Europe and the U.S, where it doesn’t operate an outlet, Zilingo goes straight to the sellers themselves. That could mean retailers seeking wholesale opportunities from Asia or online influencers, such as Instagram personalities, keen to use their presence for e-commerce. Beyond just picking out items to sell, Zilingo wants to help them build their own private labels using its supply chain network.
That rest of the world plan has been on the cards since last year when Zilingo closed a $54 million Series C, but now the next stage of the journey is deeper integration with factories.
“If you think about these factories that make the products, the process isn’t optimized over there,” Bose said in an interview. “The guy or girl running factory likely has no technology, they don’t even use Excel. So we’re going to small and medium factories, increasing capacity utilization, helping to manage payroll, getting loans and other fintech services.”
Kapoor, her co-founder, adds that the fashion supply chain is “is marred by outdated tech.”
“It’s imperative for us to build products that introduce machine learning and data science effectively to SMEs while also being easy to use, get adopted and scale quickly. We’re re-wiring the entire supply chain with that lens so that we can add most value,” he added in a statement.
AWS for the fashion supply chain
Bose said Zilingo’s early efforts have boosted factory efficiency by some 60 percent and made it possible to develop links to retailers while also enabling factories to develop their own private label colletions, rather than simply churning out unbranded or non-descript products.
A large part of that work with factories is consultancy-based, and Zilingo has hired supply chain experts to help provide quality guidance and perspective alongside the software tools it offers, Bose said.
She compares it, in many ways, to how Amazon conceived AWS. After it built tech to fix its own problems internally, it commercialized the services for third parties. So Zilingo started out offering a consumer-facing e-commerce platform but it is making its sourcing networks open to anyone at a cost — almost like supply chain on an API.
That gives its business a two, if not three, sided focus which spans selling to consumers in Southeast Asia through Zilingo.com — which is present in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia with the Philippines and Australia coming soon — reaching overseas retailers through Zilingo Asia Mall, and developing the b2b play.
In Southeast Asia, its home market, Zilingo doesn’t pressure its merchants to sell on its platform exclusively — “we don’t mind if they go to Instagram, Lazada, Tokopedia and Shopee,” Bose said — but in the U.S. it doesn’t have a go-to consumer outlet. It’s possible that might change with the company considering potential partnerships, although it seems unlikely it will launch its own consumer play.
Zilingo was once destined to compete with the big players like Lazada, which is owned by Alibaba, Shopee, which is operated by NYSE-listed Sea, and Tokopedia, the $7 billion company that’s part of SoftBank’s Vision Fund, but its supply chain focus has shifted its position to that of enabler.
That’s helped it avoid tricky times for specialist e-commerce services, which battle tough competition, pricing wars and challenging dynamics, and instead become one of Southeast Asia’s highest-capitalized startups. The company’s U.S. plan is ambitious, and it is taking longer than expected to get off the ground, but that makes it a startup that is worth keeping an eye on in 2019. It’s also an example that the startup journey is not defined since, in some cases, the biggest opportunities aren’t presented immediately.
USAF taps Exosonic to develop supersonic combat training drone
The US Air Force has awarded Exosonic a contract to develop a supersonic combat drone concept. The demonstrator vehicle will be used to demonstrate the technologies behind the quiet supersonic concept and to train pilots. The project will, among other things, help the USAF train its fighter pilots for potential future encounters with “near-peer adversaries.”
Low-boom supersonic technology is a hot topic at the moment, promising a rapid rate of travel without the loud booming noises typical of these aircraft. Exosonic will use its low-boom technologies to develop the demonstrater unmanned aerial vehicle for the USAF under a Direct to Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract.
The company says this will be the USAF’s first purpose-built supersonic drone intended to help train pilots. Of note, the US Air Force is currently facing both a pilot shortage and training budget constraints, which has resulted in a lack of new fighter pilots that have been fully trained. The Exosonic UAV will be leveraged as a “mock adversary” for use during live flight training exercises for fighter pilots
Compared to existing live training processes, Exosonic says its low-boom supersonic drone will help the USAF train fighter pilots at a much lower cost while also reducing the wear and tear on existing aircraft. Beyond that, the company points out that using an unmanned drone as the faux adversary will free up pilots to focus on their own training rather than requiring them to spend time serving as the enemy in a training situation.
Beyond the USAF, Exosonic says that it can also leverage the unmanned drone for its own purposes, namely as a way to test its low-boom supersonic tech. The data from these flights may then help pave the way for a revision on regulations that limit overland supersonic flights, which are intended to prevent the public from being disrupted by the loud booming sounds.
Apple adds more ports and a notch to 2021 MacBook Pro
For a while, the MacBook’s disappearing ports were something of a meme among the I/O enthusiasts of the world. However, with today’s new MacBook reveal, Apple has reversed course, announcing that it’s actually adding ports to the new MacBook Pro. In addition, it looks like the display on the 2021 MacBook Pro is taking a design cue from modern iPhones, picking up a notch it can call its own.
The ports on the new MacBook Pro may not be able to challenge the port-heavy laptops of yesteryear, but there’s still some good stuff here. On the right side of the device, we’ll see an HDMI port, a Thunderbolt 4 port, and an SDXC card slot. In addition, we get two more Thunderbolt 4 ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack that supports high-impedance headphones on the left side. While the headphone jack departed iPhones years ago, it looks like we’re still getting one on the 2021 MacBook Pro.
Apple says these port selections are enough to connect two Pro Display XDRs on the M1 Pro-based MacBook, while the M1 Max-based MacBook will connect to three Pro Display XDRs and a 4K display. In addition to those ports, the new MacBook Pro will feature a MagSafe 3 port for charging.
If you look closely at the main image at the top of this article, you’ll also see that the MacBook Pro display has a notch for the first time. Of course, iPhone users are already well familiar with the notch, but Apple decided to employ it in the MacBook Pro to cut back on the borders around the display while still providing a space for the front-facing camera.
It’s certainly a little strange at first, though the presence of a notch does give a nice space for the menu bars in apps and Finder to nestle into. We’ll find out if the notch is a distraction or if the smaller borders around the screen make a noticeable difference soon enough, as the new MacBook Pro will be launching in 14-inch and 16-inch varieties next week.
MacOS Monterey release date and requirements
Your Apple computer will soon get a significant update to the latest version of macOS, the company’s desktop operating system. This latest version is macOS Monterey, and it’ll be available for almost every Apple desktop computer all the way back to late 2013. You’ll find the new MacBook Pro 14 and 16-inch machines running this software right out of the box next week.
If you have a macOS computer at home, you’ll find an upgrade awaiting you on October 25. That’s assuming the macOS Monterey release date (of October 25, 2021) fits with your machine’s build. The eldest Mac that’ll get this update is the “Late 2013” version of the Mac Pro.
If you have a Mac Pro from late 2013 or later, you’ll get macOS Monterey at launch. You’ll find the same is true of the Late 2014 and later Mac mini, and the early 2015 and later MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. If you have an early 2016 or later version of the MacBook, you’ll get this upgrade. So will late 2015 and older iMac machines. You’ll be set with an update if you have an iMac Pro released in 2017 or later.
If you’re unfamiliar with the contents of macOS Monterey at this point, take a peek at our timeline of features below. Keys to this next upgrade to the OS include the release of Shortcuts support, Focus Mode, and Universal Control. If you’re planning on buying a new mobile device from Apple soon, you’ll want this upgrade for your macOS machine as well.
Some features in this operating system update will require specific hardware to operate. For example if you’re using an Intel machine, some new features won’t function. Meanwhile, since you’re using an Apple machine, no further investigation into hardware requirements is needed outside of the release date of your machine from Apple to access whether you’re able to download and run this new OS – easy as can be.
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Property portal Zoopla has revealed that the volume of valuation leads driven to agents increased a significant 64% annually from Q4 2017 to Q4 2018, a trend driven by investment in highlighting the benefits of the Zoopla brand to consumers.
According to newly released figures, site visits in 2018 peaked at a new monthly high of 58.3 million, with visits averaging around 50 million a month, whilst downloads of the Zoopla app increased 11.3% annually to 11.2 million. This level of exposure to Zoopla is set to rise in 2019 as Zoopla is increasing its marketing spend by 23% in Q1, compared to a year ago. Zoopla has invested more than any other portal in advertising over the past five years (according to Nielsen’s AdDynamix).
Part of this spend is on Zoopla’s latest advertising campaign, featuring hermit crab companions Debs & Jess. The adverts, which feature in prime locations and during high profile programming such as Coronation Street and GoggleBox, will be seen by 90% of ABC1 Adults approximately 12 times.
A number of strategies have helped drive Zoopla’s significant increase in valuation leads and increased consumer traffic to the website:
- Non-property related advertising has been removed from Zoopla’s listing detail pages (since the start of December 2018) resulting in 35% faster page speeds, improved SEO and a 9% uplift in listing page leads to agents.
- User search criteria have been added to Zoopla’s email leads, enabling agents to prioritise enquiries.
- The new Property Valuation Report has launched, geared toward helping agents win more instructions.
Charlie Bryant, Managing Director of Zoopla, commented: “Providing value for money to our agents, and the most effective service in a challenging market, is our primary aim for 2019. We have dramatically increased the number of valuation leads delivered to our agents over the last year which provides crucial volume for all-important instructions and we’re driving consistently high volumes of consumer traffic to our website.
Last year was significant for us, particularly our acquisition by Silver Lake, which has paved the way for significant investment in creative solutions to the benefit of our agent clients in the years ahead. This, coupled with increased consumer awareness of the Zoopla brand, means we are in a position to offer agents our most valuable and comprehensive service ever for 2019.
More than 50 million customers visit our websites every month, we hit a new high in 2018 in terms of our monthly site traffic volumes, and our app downloads are on a strong upward trajectory. We are the only credible alternative to Rightmove for agents this year.”


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Xiaomi has refreshed their Mi TV 4 lineup in China, with new screen options. Xiaomi’s Mi TV 4 series typically consists of three televisions: Mi TV 4C, Mi TV 4X, and Mi TV 4S. Just like Xiaomi’s smartphones, its televisions also come with all the latest features but at an affordable price. This time the brand added some more screen sizes to the roster giving user’s wide range of choices. Moreover, Xiaomi also announced the pricing and availability of this new variants.
Xiaomi Mi TV 4C, 4X, 4S are now available in different screen sizes
The Chinese smartphone giant recently announced the availability of new screen sizes of their Mi TV 4 series through their official microblogging site account, Weibo. Xiaomi Mi TV 4C is now available in 40-inch screen variant, the Mi TV 4X in 43-inches, and the Mi TV 4S in 65-inches. On top of that, the brand revealed a pro variant of Mi TV 4S 65-inch. Coming to the specifications, the Xiaomi Mi TV 4C 40-inch comes with the 1080p display. It is powered by a quad-core Cortex A53 processor coupled with Mali-450 GPU. In terms of memory, it has 1GB of RAM and 4GB of onboard memory for file storage. This television also comes with Stereo surround sound. Xiaomi Mi TV 4X 43-inch is also equipped with a 1080p display. Unlike Mi TV 4C, it runs on ARM Advanced Multi-Core 1.5GHz processor with ARM Advanced Multi-Core GPU. It has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory.
The Xiaomi Mi TV 4S 65-inch variant is the high-end television under this series. It sports a 4K display, Cortex A53 quad-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz, and Mali-450 750MHz GPU. In terms of memory, it has 2GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. The pro variant also comes with similar specifications with the only difference being in onboard memory. Unlike Mi TV 4S 65-inch, the pro variant has 16GB of internal memory. All of the televisions come with what the brand calls it PatchWall. If you’re not aware, PatchWall is an A.I. system which learns your TV entertainment habits and then recommends you similar content. On top of that, Xiaomi is also offering Entertainment memberships as well as Children’s memberships for the viewers.
Xiaomi Mi TV 4C, 4X, 4S Pricing and Availability
All these four televisions will go on sale starting from October 17 on the brand’s official website. The Mi TV 4C 40-inch, as well as Mi TV 4X 43-inch, is priced at 1599 Yuan (roughly Rs 17,000). The Mi TV 4S 65-inch, on the other hand, costs 4299 Yuan (roughly Rs 45,000) while the pro variant will set you back 4499 Yuan (roughly Rs 47,000).
For the Indian market, Xiaomi offers five different smart television options which include Mi TV 4 Pro 55″, Mi TV 4A Pro 49″, Mi TV 4C Pro 32″, Mi TV 4A 43″, and Mi TV 4A 32″.


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Today is the day that McDonald’s will drop two new limited-time menu items.
The restaurant said the beef Quarter Pounder is topped with two slices of American cheese, thick-cut applewood smoked bacon, tomatoes, lettuce and smoky sauce served on a toasted sesame seed bun. There also will be a Double Smoky BLT Quarter Pounder with Cheese.
The Oreo Fudge McFlurry blends vanilla soft serve with hot fudge topping and Oreo cookie pieces.
And, don’t forget the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Happy Meals that feature toy super hero characters from the Marvel Studios movie that was released on Nov. 11.
Speaking of new menu items - Taco Bell has a new version of Nacho Fries - the 7-Layer Nacho Fries feature the fries piled with black beans, diced tomatoes, reduced-fat sour cream, warm nacho cheese sauce, chipotle sauce, shredded cheeses, and seasoned beef topped with a “revamped guacamole.”