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Stolen Apple Watch leads to drug bust, Stanford newspaper weighs in on stolen MacBooks, and Utah governor signs adult filter law affecting Apple’s products.
The latest in an occasional AppleInsider series, looking at the world of Apple-related crime.
Former Apple Store manager indicted in $1.5 million PPP fraud case
A man in Florida was indicted March 23 and charged with four counts of “fraudulently obtaining or attempting to obtain over $1,500,000 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans,” the Justice Department announced.
The man, who was described by Forbes as a former Apple Store manager, is accused of stealing the identities of eight elderly people, one of whom was a relative. A long list of Apple devices, including several iPads, two iPhones, a MacBook Pro, and an Apple Time Capsule, were listed as having been searched as part of the indictment.
The man’s LinkedIn page lists him as having worked as a senior manager at Apple in Aventura, Fla., between 2010 and 2012. He sued Apple in 2012, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the parties reached a settlement agreement the following year.
College baseball player’s stolen Apple Watch leads to drug bust
An Apple Watch was stolen in early March from a member of the LSU-Eunice baseball team. Once police used “Apple’s tracking technology” to track down the stolen Watch, it led to a man who not only had the item but turned out to have drugs packaged to sell.
According to WAFA, the man who had the Apple Watch has been charged with third-degree receiving stolen property, and also faces charges of possession with intent to distribute, possession of controlled substances, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Student paper sees theft of MacBooks as a sign of university’s fiscal irresponsibility
On March 22, a brother and sister in California pled guilty to federal charges related to the theft of hundreds of MacBooks from Stanford University, where the sister had a position that entailed ordering computers.
The Department of Justice said the sister began stealing the computers and selling them for cash, then started giving the stolen MacBooks to her brother to sell, sometimes across state lines.
Over the course of several years, the pair stole and sold more than 800 computers, costing the university about $4 million. The sister pled guilty to federal program theft, while her brother pled to conspiracy to transport stolen property interstate.
The DOJ release refers to the institution in question only as “a private university in Stanford.” But in February, student journalists at The Stanford Review identified the school as Stanford University, and saw the affair as part of a pattern of the school’s administration losing track of large amounts of funds.
“Theft and fraud in the legal sense may not be routine at Stanford, but the waste and abuse of funds most certainly are,” the newspaper said.
Utah governor signs porn filters law affecting device manufacturers
The governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, has signed into law the controversial “Device Filter Amendments” legislation that would require smartphone and tablet producers to include automatic filters blocking adult content. According to The Hill, manufacturers who do not abide by the law will face fines of $10 for each violation, up to $500.
However, the bill will only go into effect if five other states pass the same legislation, and the ACLU has already implied that it will seek to fight the new law in court.
Despite foil, stolen iPad catches quartet of Polish burglars
A group of high-end burglars who regularly traveled from Poland to the U.K. to rob English country homes was caught, after one of their victims tracked them with a stolen iPad.
The Daily Mail reports the group used walkie-talkies to avoid being tracked by mobile phone signals, and had even spied on their targets using “powerful telescopes.” After five burglaries within a month, the crew was caught because of the iPad.
Per the Mail, the thieves believed they could block the Find My iPhone tracking by wrapping the device in foil, but they were wrong. The quartet was sentenced to a total of 12 years and three months, and will be deported to Poland following their sentences.
Walmart employee accused of stealing iPhone buyer’s identity
A Walmart employee in Florida has been arrested for a scheme in which he stole identity information from customers and opened fraudulent lines of credit in their names.
According to Naples News, a woman reported attempting to buy an iPhone at an area Walmart, at which point she was told the phone she wanted wasn’t available. Despite not buying a phone, she received a letter from Verizon, as well as a bill.
Once the woman notified police, she learned that the Walmart employee had already been arrested four days earlier for similar crimes. He was charged with felony fraudulent use of ID, fraudulent obtaining credit over $300, and grand theft of $750-$5,000.
Theft of multiple Apple items led to a multi-state chase, shooting of the suspect by officer
An Alabama man received an alert from his home security system that there had been a break-in at his home, only to receive photos from the system of the thief holding his MacBook Pro.
WAAY TV reports the thief took the homeowner’s MacBook, Apple Watch, and AirPods, as well as his truck, in which he soon fled. This kicked off a chase that crossed the state line into Tennessee, which the victim tracked himself using the Apple Watch signal.
Eventually, after the accused thief had switched vehicles and commandeered a utility task vehicle, he was shot by a deputy. He survived and was charged with aggravated assault and evading arrest.
Six people steal man’s iPhone on subway train
A man had his iPhone 12 stolen on the New York City subway by a group of six people who surrounded him on the 7 train. The Jackson Heights Post writes one of the assailants pushed him into a seat while the others grabbed the phone and then got off the train at Junction Boulevard in Queens.
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Who Are the Tech Startups to Watch?
When it comes to technology startups, there are a lot of paths to success.
Some successful startups sell for a billion dollars, as Tumblr did this year to Yahoo. When that happens, it’s a windfall for the founders of the startups as well as for the investors and some employees.
Other new companies are considered successful if they attract millions of users and venture money before going public, as Facebook did and Twitter is doing. And still others are considered hot because their products attract demographic groups that advertisers want to reach or because they have come up with some new idea or technology that seems to change the way we live.
About a year ago, right after Instagram was snapped up by Facebook, a few other startups seemed poised for some degree of success. Some of them, like Pinterest, Square and Uber, are still thriving, with plenty of users and cash from investors. Others, like Path or Airtime, have lost steam, and users’ attention, and may be on their way to the tech boneyard.
This year, there’s a new class of interesting startups to watch. Some are attracting record numbers of new users and significant amounts of venture capital, or appealing to a new and interesting demographic. Some are simply working on a new idea that seems to be taking off. In the unpredictable world of tech startups, any of them could be forgotten by the end of the year. But they could also be the next big thing.
This mobile application lets people send to their friends, family and crushes text messages and photos that self-destruct after a preset period. It sounds like something out of a spy movie, but Snapchat, which was released in late 2011, has caught on as a private messaging application among people who do not want to worry about unflattering photos or silly messages winding up online for others to see. The app is also a lightweight and entertaining way to communicate. Teenagers, in particular, seem to favor the service over traditional text messaging, email and even Facebook messaging.
The company, which has not yet celebrated its second birthday, says it processes 200 million messages each day. That number represents a lot of users.
In June, Snapchat raised a $60 million round of venture financing that pushed the company’s valuation skyward of $800 million. If that seems high, consider that Onavo Insights, a mobile analytics firm, recently reported that Snapchat was used by nearly 20 percent of iPhone owners on a monthly basis, making it one of the most popular applications available on Apple’s mobile operating system.
Paying for text messages is so 2012. As more of our daily interactions migrate to mobile, people are looking for cheap and easy ways to keep in touch, regardless of what device they are using or what country they live in.
WhatsApp is a messaging application that intends to replace the old-time system, known as SMS, and so far, seems to be doing just that. It costs $1 a year, and there is no advertising; it saves costs by forgoing any kind of archive for the messages.
Created by two former Yahoo engineers in 2009, the application is consistently ranked highly in various app stores. In early June, the company that makes it said it processed 27 billion messages in a single day.
With its focus on messaging, the company is clearly on to something: Group messaging applications, like Beluga and GroupMe, have already been snapped up by Facebook and Skype, and Google and Apple have recently introduced their own versions of messaging applications.
The Oculus Rift, a headset that looks like an oversize pair of ski goggles and that immerses the wearer in a virtual reality video game, started as a Kickstarter project to raise a quarter of a million dollars and ended up taking in more than $2 million. In June, the company raised another $16 million in venture financing from Spark Capital and others.
It recently began shipping the first versions of its virtual reality gaming machine to game developers and generated rave reviews at Electronic Entertainment Expo, the annual gaming convention, in June. The device’s technology is still in its early stages — the headset isn’t expected to be released commercially until 2014 — but it could unlock a new generation of gaming and entertainment experiences, one that goes beyond the last big thing in gaming, the gesture controls of the Kinect.
Shopping online replaced shopping at the mall long ago. But unless you know exactly what you are looking for, the abundance of places to shop online can be overwhelming. Wanelo — the name is a combination of want, need, love — offers on one site a collection of stylish goods, selected from shops around the Web. It’s Pinterest but with a business model. The site is one of the first to figure out how to make sense of the riotous selection of goods online and how to profit from them.
Founded in 2010, Wanelo not only has a good idea, it is popular among young women — a group that clothing companies are eager to reach. The site has more than 10 million users, and it recently closed an $11 million round of financing that would push the company’s valuation to $100 million.
Airbnb transformed the way people thought about the hotel industry by making it easy for people to rent out spare rooms in their homes to adventurous travelers.
Ride-sharing services like Sidecar and Lyft hope to do the same for drivers and riders who are looking for ways to supplement public transportation or offer alternatives to expensive private car services like Uber. With the Lyft application, users can request a ride with a tap. Another Lyft user arrives shortly after and drives the passenger to the destination.
Lyft, which was founded in 2007 and is based in San Francisco, seems to have the most momentum of these services, recently landing an additional $60 million in financing, led by Andreessen Horowitz. The company also said it helped with 30,000 rides each week. Although Lyft’s availability is limited to a few cities, the company says it plans to spread across the country by the end of 2014.
How will we interact with technology in the future — or to put this in tech speak, what will the interface of the future look like?
Apple and Google are experimenting with letting users control their phones and tablets with voice commands, while Microsoft Xbox is perfecting the 3-dimensional scanning software in the Kinect that lets players control video games by moving their arms and hands.
But a startup created in May 2012 in Waterloo, Canada, says its armband, which detects motions and muscle activity produced in the wearer’s arm and translates them to gestures on a screen, will be the real revolution in how we control our computers and other personal devices.
The company is working to develop ways to browse the Web, play games and interact in other ways online with the MYO armbands.
It says it plans to start shipping to consumers in early 2014.
MYO is small — it was started by three engineers — but it has already raised close to $15 million from some notable venture capitalists and taken more than 30,000 preorders for its cutting-edge hardware.
Online and mobile commerce is a muddled and crowded business, full of dozens of upstarts vying to be the next PayPal. But one company, Braintree, which provides the technology to process payments on the Web and on mobile devices, is quietly building an impressive list of clients — Rovio, Uber, OpenTable, Fab, Airbnb, TaskRabbit, Heroku and others — which give it a boost of credibility.
Braintree, based in Chicago, was started in 2007, but the company is picking up momentum. It recently acquired Venmo, an application that lets people pay each other through text message, and partnered with Simple, a banking startup, to make mobile payments easier for people who use all three services.
The company says it processes $10 billion a year, a fraction of which is on mobile. It is a far cry from PayPal, which is on track to process $20 billion in payments in 2013. But the Braintree raised a recent round of financing that brings its total venture cash pile to $70 million, and it says it is just warming up.
Every so often, a new mobile game charms the masses and becomes the vice of millions around the world. Think of Draw Something, Angry Birds or Minecraft.
Often these games disappear as quickly as they appear. Candy Crush, though, the mobile game from a London gaming studio called King, seems to have a staying power that its predecessors lacked. Candy Crush, released for smartphones in late 2012, is the biggest hit to date for King, which has been around since 2003.
The game is simple enough: Get three or more matching candies in a row. But it has 45 million players — more than Spotify, Pinterest and Zynga’s hits FarmVille 2 and Texas HoldEm Poker — and most of them are on mobile. According to the company, the game is played more than 600 million times each day on mobile devices.
When playing the game, you are cut off from continuing after a certain amount of time unless you buy extra time, called lives. But you can also advance if you just wait (the number of turns you have regenerates after a set amount of time). Players can buy so-called boosters to help advance to higher levels. Analysts estimate that these purchases could bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each month, giving the company a nice enticement for investors in an initial public offering of stock, which many anticipate. There is no advertising in the game.

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Employees at a Chick-fil-A in Sacramento, CA are getting a raise as of Monday, June 4, and some will be earning up to $18 an hour.
Yup, that’s right. Aside from their delectable Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich, we all have another reason to love this fast food chain — their efforts in giving employees a living wage.
At the moment, the raise will be implemented at franchise locations owned by Eric Mason, where wages will increase from $12.50-$13 an hour to $17- $18.
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According to KXTV, who initially reported on the story, leadership level employees will also get paid time off and all employees will get paid sick leave.
"We're looking for people trying to raise families, improve their lifestyle," Mason says to KXTV.
In California, the minimum wage is increasing by $.50 every year up until the year 2022, when it will reach $15 an hour.
However, according to KXTV, Mason said he would have increased wages regardless.
Given that half of the jobs in America pay less than $18 an hour, this is a pretty big deal.
Will other locations follow Mason’s example and raise wages for Chick-fil-A employees? Only time will tell.
For more information, visit: chick-fil-a.com.
Want to apply to work at this Chick-fil-A location? Click here.


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The pressure from the regulator on Facebook’s potential cryptocurrency project Libra has pushed the social media giant to alternate its plans. A recent report indicated that Facebook and its Libra partners are considering redesigning the acceptance of multiple currencies once the project is launched.
New Plans For Libra
When announced in June 2019, Libra attracted a massive world’s attention. As Facebook is one of the most recognizable brands over the past decade, planning to create its cryptocurrency to serve as a “single global digital currency” made the headlines. Quickly after the initial excitement, though, world regulators started clamping down on Libra’s purpose.
The effects were almost instantaneous. Starting with 23 initial partners, several big names, including Uber, MasterCard, Visa, Spotify, and Vodafone, left the project.
Eventually, this led to doubts within Facebook itself. A company quarterly report from last year warned that Libra might be delayed or even not launched at all. It listed “scrutiny from governments” as the main reason.
The same scrutiny could be pressuring a significant change for the future project. By quoting people familiar with the matter, a Bloomberg report hinted that the social media giant is contemplating redesigning Libra’s core purpose.
Instead of being just a global digital currency, the Libra network would be able to accept multiple different coins. Those would also include central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). According to the report, the Libra Association would re-introduce the project soon as an expansion on the initial idea, instead of completely replacing it.
CBDCs: The Future of Payments?
Aside from the regulatory hurdles that Libra attracted, the announcement on Libra had another impact on the financial world. Shortly after Facebook, dozens of national banks decided to start working on the creation of their own digital currencies.
If the Libra Association indeed introduces a network to accept CBDCs, it could have a revolutionary impact on the global payment system, and it could make them a leader in this manner.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January, Libra co-founder David Marcus implied that the new form could host multiple digital coins:
“I want to really make that distinction between the network and the assets that are running on top of the network, which I think could be issued by many different entities, whether it’s central banks or the private sector.”


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San Francisco, CA. Motostrano, San Francisco's premiere e-bike shop with two locations servicing the greater Bay Area, today said it has launched a pilot Mobile E-Bike Repair & Service program under its Ebikelane brand and urban e-bike store based in San Francisco and Redwood City California.
"Building on the vast experience and knowledge in servicing electric bikes we've gained over the past 8 years working with them, "Ebikelane Mobile" is now offering remote e-bike repair, service and bike-building services for e-bike owners and manufacturers around the Bay Area as an add-on service to our existing brick-and-mortar operations", said Joe Witherspoon Motostrano founder and President. "The need is already there and we think we are better positioned than any business to offer this mobile service."
With an email, phone call or text to 415-580-1452, customers can arrange repair and tune-up appointments at their home or office. The service allows e-bike owners to have their e-bike serviced at their home or office, avoiding the headache of bringing an out-of-service e-bike to the bike shop.
"Many e-bike owners are actually ditching their cars and replacing them with e-bikes entirely, which means getting to either of our stores for service or repair can be a pain in and of itself," said Witherspoon. "Additionally, once they make the switch, they don't want to go back and often need their bikes fixed asap just to keep getting around."
The mobile repair service is also being offered to e-bike manufacturers who are selling direct to customers or don't have a strong dealer network in the area. The company has already signed on two manufacturers to deliver the service, allowing them to service their customers directly when the need arises.
Ebikelane Mobile provides expert e-bike repair and building for the most important ebike brands on the market today and all the resident mechanics are certified to service the major brands of drive system: BOSCH, Yamaha, BIONX, Shimano, Bafang, Stromer, etc. Ebilelane Mobile will also offer e-bike specific products and replacement parts like batteries, chargers, tires and other accessories that are unique to the uses of e-bike riders and the brands they support.
"Over the years we've often had to service customers remotely and unofficially, so developing an official program for our own customers was inevitable," said John Tai Motostrano VP based in San Francisco. "Our service Map will start with San Francisco, Marin, San Mateo and Alameda Counties during the pilot program and branch out from there because we also understand the need to service customers outside of the main metros."
E-bike owners who don't have a good e-bike specific shop to go to can now call up EbikeLane Mobile and get the great service Motostrano/Ebikelane are known for in their home. Additionally, with the growth of online ordering of e-bikes, owners who bought their e-bikes online but need to have their bike's final assembly done by a mechanic no longer have to figure out how to get that giant e-bike box to a bike shop that may or may not have the full experience needed to build the e-bike in the first place. Ebikelane will also recycle the bike box.
"This is a win for the consumer and also the e-bike industry who's looking for a way to expand the e-bike market to a bike industry who so far has been resistant to adopt e-bikes and a consumer base who wants to know they will be taken care of," said Witherspoon. "In fact, traditional bike stores who don't know how to work on e-bikes can use our service as a sales tool. E-bikes are in high demand and there's hundreds of brands and models. It's our job to stay on top of them and ensure they keep on buzzing."
Motostrano is a privately owned company based in Redwood City and San Francisco started in 2002. www.motostrano.com


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Enjoy your March 27th hand-crafted Brew!
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Bro, I’m going rogue” — Guy Gentile, former stock market manipulator turned FBI informant, who reveals his made-for-Hollywood story of how he double-crossed the FBI. Where’s he at now? Trying to make a movie starring himself, and getting a license plate saying “F—YOUDOJ.” Let’s see how that works out for him.
- Markets finished mixed on Friday as investors reacted to House Republicans pulling the American Health Care Act. On one hand, the President can now focus on tax reform, but on the other hand, this does create concern around the administration’s effectiveness
- Oil prices broke a four-day losing streak, still down 1.7% on the week as the U.S. rig count saw its 10th straight weekly rise, showing that OPEC’s supply cut may not have been enough to stabilize prices
Uber Pumps the Brakes
…On autonomous cars. Self-driving cars have proven to be a messy investment for many companies, and Uber is no exception. After one of Uber’s autonomous cars crashed in Arizona on Saturday, the company has decided to suspend its pilot program for driverless cars. Uber claims the vehicle was not at fault in the collision, so the company plans to resume the program after an investigation of the crash—but Uber isn’t taking the situation lightly. After the problematic #DeleteUber campaign, not to mention the viral video of CEO Travis Kalanick getting into a heated argument with an Uber driver, this crash is just the cherry on top of Uber’s bad luck sundae.
Oops, I Did It Again
…German bank KfW accidentally transferred hundreds of millions of dollars…again. Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane. In 2008, KfW gained notoriety after accidentally transferring more than 300 million euros to good ol’ Lehman Brothers…on the same day that Lehman filed for bankruptcy. And as if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, it was revealed last week that KfW found itself in a similar situation in February thanks to a technical glitch, mistakenly transferring $5.4 billion to four different banks. Yikes. Luckily, KfW was able to recover the money, but not before suffering the brutal reputational trauma of being called “Germany’s dumbest bank.” Better luck next time, KfW.
Blackstone Finally Unloads a Major PR Headache
…And turns a handsome profit too. After holding onto SeaWorld
(+4.74%) for nearly seven years, The Blackstone Group
(-0.70%) sold off its stake in the controversial company to a Chinese investment firm with a final sales tag that tripled its initial investment. The home run closed an ugly final chapter for Blackstone’s investment, primarily thanks to the documentary “Blackfish,” which uncovered the mistreatment of orcas by SeaWorld. Was the juice worth the squeeze? We’ll let you decide on that one.
Twitter’s Trying New Things
…Because it had to. You’ve heard it everywhere: the social media giant’s advertising revenue has been contracting. So far, Twitter
(+1.41%) has focused on advertising to its 319 million users as its main revenue stream. But with declining user growth, it’s failed to generate a consistent profit. Cue new ideas: Twitter is now considering building a premium version of Tweetdeck interface, targeting marketers, journalists and professionals. The move would mark the company’s first foray into a subscription-based revenue model. This isn’t a new concept—LinkedIn uses a joint subscription and advertising revenue model successfully. Let’s hope Twitter can too.
What else happened this weekend…
- Lyft to let passengers round up their fare and donate the difference to charity
- More brands are pulling ads from Google: Starbucks, PepsiCo and Wal-Mart joined the boycott Friday
- Gmail is killing Gchat, replacing the inbox messenger with Hangouts
- Apple acquires Workflow, a powerful automation tool that allows apps to work together
- Monday: Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey
- Tuesday: Redbook, State Street Investor Confidence Index; Carnival Corp, Dave & Buster’s, McCormick Earnings
- Wednesday: Pending Home Sales Index; Lululemon Earnings
- Thursday: GDP, Jobless Claims, Farm Prices, Fed Balance Sheet, Money Supply
- Friday: Baker-Hughes Oil Rig Count, Consumer Sentiment; BlackBerry Earnings
Midwesterners Are Flying South For Winter—and Not Coming Back
Recently released population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau paint a bleak picture of the Midwest. City and county data from July 2015 to July 2016 show that talks of urban renewal projects designed to revitalize cities like St. Louis, Detroit and Baltimore haven’t had a measurable impact on population trends, CityLab reports. Here are the highlights from the study:
- The three counties with the largest decline in population were Cook County in Illinois (Chicago), Wayne County in Michigan (Detroit) and Baltimore City in Maryland. Cook County saw by far the largest decrease, with a population loss of 21,000 over the 12-month period.
- St. Louis experienced the largest population loss for any city, with a 1.1% decline (3,500 residents). But these cities weren’t alone: the 146 most densely populated counties in the country lost over 539,000 residents in total over the 12 months.
- So where’s everyone going? Two places: the suburbs and the Sun Belt. The two largest-gaining counties were Orange County in Florida (Orlando) and Clark County in Nevada (Las Vegas). Disney World and Vegas? We can’t really blame them…
Interview Question of the Day
How attractive is the retail sector for a growth investor? (Answer)
Video of the Day
Ever wonder what a nuclear reactor starting up and shutting down looks and sounds like? Take a look at this new video of the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor at Penn State. Warning, headphone users—the video can get a little loud.
Stat of the Day
4.3 million: that’s the number of tipped employees in the U.S., who often aren’t subject to minimum wage requirements. Andrew Puzder, the former fast food CEO who withdrew his consideration for labor secretary, has been harshly criticized by activists for opposing increases to the minimum wage. His replacement, Alexander Acosta, has also prompted outcry.
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- Ghanaian Consumer Confidence Shoots Up by 10 Points
Ghana’s latest Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for the second quarter of 2019 shows an extremely healthy increase of 10 points to 118, while Nigeria’s CCI has increased by one point to 127. These two sets of results present an optimistic picture of consumer sentiment across West Africa.
Looking at Ghana’s overall performance, Nielsen Market Lead for West Africa, Yannick Nkembe comments; “Ghana is currently the poster child for African economic growth and positive consumer sentiment. The International Monetary Fund estimates its GDP will rise 8.8% this year – double the pace of emerging economies as a whole, and well ahead of world growth.
“This is a result of factors such as expanding crude oil production, a stable democracy and the introduction of a more favourable taxation structure. Ghana’s manufacturing industry has also been boosted by policies aimed at diversifying the economy and preventing an over-reliance on the commodity markets.”
This overall positive outlook is reflected by Ghanaian consumers’ greatly improved view of their job prospects, with a 10 point increase to 63%, saying they will be excellent or good in the next six months. In terms of the state of their personal finances over the next 12 months, 74% say excellent or good up from 70% and the number of Ghanaian consumers who feel now is a good or excellent time to purchase has also seen a large increase quarter on quarter, from 34% to 46%.
Looking at whether Ghanaians have spare cash, 52% say yes, up nine points from the previous quarter. Once they meet their essential living expenses, the highest number of consumers (82%) put their spare cash into savings, followed by 72% on home improvements/decorating and 67% who invest in stocks and mutual funds.
When looking at the real life factors that are having a negative impact on Ghanaians outlook, the top concerns over the next six months include work/life balance at 24%; the same figure as the last quarter, rising food prices at 22% (dropped by three points compared to Q1’19) and tolerance towards different religions, also at 22% (increased by 1% since the previous quarter), and children’s education and welfare at 18% which has seen a 2 point increase.
TAJBank Joins e-Commerce Giants- Launches Nigeria’s 1st Ethical Online Mall
TaJBank Launches Ethical Online Mall
Abuja Nigeria July 8th, 2020 Nigeria’s most innovative Non-Interest Bank, TAJBank, has announced the highly anticipated launch of TAJMall, the nation’s first ethical online shopping mall.
The highly anticipated launch of the e-commerce site, which held recently, is coming closely on the heels of the commencement of its Agency Banking Network which began in June across thirteen (13) states in the country.
To celebrate this milestone, the brand will be holding a week long TAJMall campaign from 6th – 11th July 2020 to sensitize and also reward its new customers to its platform.
“This is a great milestone as we present a fully customer focused e- commerce platform offering 100 percent authentic brands from highly vetted vendors. Our mission is to rebuild trust in the online shopping niche, hence the emphasis on our platform being an ethical shopping mall. We want to deliver on our promise and make this an enjoyable and safe experience not just for our customers, but also for our numerous trusted vendors as well,” said Founder/COO TAJBank, Hamid Joda.
“Our customers place absolute trust that goods will be delivered exactly as requested, and we do not take that trust lightly, he added.
The brand expressed commitment to continuously deploy technological tools on it’s new e- platform to maintain optimal customer service delivery and ensure shopping on TAJMall remains a productive and hassle free experience.
Customers who log onto the tajmall.ng platform (or download the app), will have the opportunity to enjoy massive price slashes, shopping coupons, free shipping and other incredible offers. The Bank also intends to offer financing to its customers who shop on the mall.
“Well beyond our exciting line up of activities, they are assured the highest level of value each time they make a purchase on TAJMall. Our marketing insights have shown that there is an increasing need to match the kind of variety in product offerings that customers yearn for with the exceptional shopping experience that may at times be lacking. We aim to make that an unmatched experience right from the moment our customers visit our mall to the receipt of their items,” affirmed Co-Founder/CMO, Mr Sherif Idi.
Customers shopping on TAJ Mall are guaranteed 100% authenticity, official warranties from the brands, and a 5 day return policy at no extra cost to the customer.
Warren Buffet to Give Out Another $2.9bn, Total Donations Now $37bn
Warren Buffet Gives Away $2.9bn, Total Donations Now $37bn
Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet, has announced his yearly charitable donations to the five philanthropies he picked to donate most of his fortune to.
The billionaire plans to give out 15.9 million class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway worth $2.9 billion to the five philanthropies. This will bring his total philanthropic donations to $37 billion since 2006.
Buffet, who has promised to give away about 99 percent of his fortune, still hold 248,734 Class A shares of Berkshire valued at around $67.5 billion.
However, before he began given out his shares, Oracle of Omaha held 474,998 Class A shares of Berkshire, which would have worth about $129 billion as of today.
UBA Appoints Ayoku Liadi, Oliver Alawuba as Deputy Managing Directors
UBA Appoints New Deputy Managing Directors for its Growing Business
United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) announced the appointments of Ayoku Liadi and Oliver Alawuba as the Deputy Managing Directors in charge of UBA’s Nigeria and Africa businesses, respectively.
In a statement issued by the bank and released on the Exchange’s website, the bank said the creation of the new positions represents further strategic recognition of the bank’s pan-African business growth.
The lender explained that its pan-African business now accounts for over 40 percent of its Group revenue, while Nigeria remains the bank’s largest market.
According to the bank, the new Deputy Managing Directors will report directly to the Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kennedy Uzoka.
Speaking on the new appointments, Tony O. Elumelu, Group Chairman, said “In 2005, we set out our pan-African vision. Fifteen years later, we are present in 20 African countries, serving over 20 million clients, leveraging our service culture and technology platform, to provide an integrated and seamless customer offering across the continent.
“In Africa, we lead in innovation and service, whilst our International Business, operating from New York, Paris and London, provides global and African clients access to treasury, trade finance and corporate banking products, uniquely tailored to the African opportunity. These senior appointments represent our commitment to optimise our management structure to best serve our clients and drive our business success.”
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Formerly code-named “Dobson,” the storage processor offers customers better RAID storage performance over previous generations, according to the chipmaker, whose partners IBM, Dell and HP all released servers based on the 3.60 GHz Intel E7520 and E7320 chipsets (formerly codenamed “Lindenhurst”).
The IOP332 was part of the news, albeit more subdued than the buzz around the Lindenhurst chips. The processor was designed to cost-effectively increase RAID storage performance to help improve data reliability and reduce downtime, both crucial characteristics in data centers chock full of computing gear.
The company said in a statement that the IOP332 employs DDR2 400 memory and the fastest Intel XScale core at 800 MHz to increase the speed of RAID5 data storage and recovery. An 800 MHz system bus and new PCI Express interconnect is also being used to curb the latency associated with classic PCI-X bridges.
With the arrival of 64-bit computing as a mainstay architecture on the computing scene, thanks to Intel and chip rivals AMD and IBM, the bar has also been raised for storage capabilities, as customers seek to get the biggest bang for their IT buck in server and storage gear.
Such features should be especially attractive to banks and other financial institutions that process millions of transactions per day. Uptime in these businesses is critical, so providing full 64-bit capability, improved storage and connectivity features is a must for Intel.
For example, Intel says the new DDR2 400 memory technology will have a 20 percent increase in memory bandwidth and up to 40 percent reduction in power over DDR 333. The concept of more memory with less power consumption is attractive to customers looking to beef up storage capacity without coughing up extra dollars for more electricity.
But these perks are also key for rack and blade servers, where the goal is to pack lots of computing power into a constrained space while keeping heat under control.
Moreover, the 800 MHz system bus provides 50 percent greater bandwidth between the chipset and the Intel Xeon processor, triggering faster data flow to applications.
The IOP332 Storage I/O Processor is currently priced at $82 for payloads of 1,000 chips.
Emulex and LSI Logic followed up on the Intel announcement by unveiling their own PCI Express products, with Emulex showcasing its PCI Express Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters and LSI Logic releasing its MegaRAID 320-2E and ROMB (RAID on Motherboard) PCI Express products.
Article courtesy of InternetNews.com


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Roanoke Electric Co-op will be celebrating National Drive Electric Week on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at its headquarters, where member-owners are invited to take a spin in a Tesla.
National Drive Electric Week, Sept. 14-22, 2019, is dedicated to heightening awareness of the many benefits of all-electric and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles.
At the co-op’s event, member-owners will have the opportunity to ride in the co-op’s electric vehicle. Team members will also be on hand to explain how to charge electric vehicles at home and while traveling, to discuss the installation of charging stations, and to answer general questions about electric vehicles.
“The thing that really stands out to me, as an engineer, is the cost savings per mile for electric vehicles,” said George Stamper, the co-op’s vice president of engineering and information services.
For example, he said to charge fully a 200-mile electric vehicle, it would cost about $5. In comparison, to fill up a large, gas-powered vehicle, it would cost at least $25. There is additional cost-saving potential when vehicles are charged overnight, during off-peak times. “So, charging with electricity is significantly less expensive than using gasoline,” Stamper said.


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Success for Third Year Running for Gaming Istanbul Expo
Organisers of the GIST Gaming Istanbul 2018 event have today announced that this year’s event saw a massive surge in attendees, making it one of the top five largest gaming industry events in Europe. The event took place from February 1st until February 4th at Istanbul’s International Congress Centre in the heart of the Turkish capital. The event is only in its third year and this year saw a 20% growth from the previous year. In 2016, organisers saw approximately 50,000 visitors over the weekend which increased by a further 33% by the time the event ran for a second time in 2017.
For an event that has only been going a few years, it is already attracting a lot of AAA developers as well as plenty of indie developers from across Europe and into Asia. Exhibitors such as Ubisoft, Blizzard, Nvidia, Xbox and PlayStation all made their way to Turkey for the event that has given its organisers, GL Events, something to be proud of.
Cevher Eryürek, GIST Director at GL Events said: “GIST has so much to offer consumers, business leaders, developers and brands looking to communicate directly with their audience, and as we continue to see strong growth in both exhibition and networking, we’re focused on ensuring GIST goes from strength-to-strength.”
As well as being the go-to expo in Eastern Europe, the GIST events are proving to be an essential platform for developers and business to network to help grow the industry in the region. Not just through game distribution, but many hardware and peripheral developers use the event to talk about exports around the globe as well as to learn more about the industry through the dedicated speaker programme at the GIST Developers Conference.
Given that GIST 2018 has just finished, there is no news about what is going to happen at next year’s event but, if you are interested, make sure you check back with us to hear the latest.


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Apple have released the latest iOS update and users are wondering if there are new emojis in iOS14. Stay tuned as we break down the latest emoji updates and other changes.
Apple just surprise-released iOS14 yesterday, September 16th, and it took users completely unprepared.
The update is available on iPhone 6s and later devices, while iPadOS14 is available on the iPad Air 2 and later iPad versions.
If your phone didn’t automatically update to iOS14 when it released, then go to Settings – General – Software Update, and then download it.
What changes has iOS14 made?
The recurring question with a lot of the new updates and features is how handy they are and – like with most technology – whether or not they make our lives easier.
There’s a cool new feature that allows you to screenshot by simply tapping the back of your phone.
Phone calls no longer take up the whole screen and instead present as a notification at the top.
The new feature App Clips allows users to access certain elements of apps without having to download the full app. All you need is a link or code.
Are there new emojis in iOS14
The update being more handy is all well and good, but the one thing we all really care about is if we there are any new emojis in iOS14.
Unfortunately, the iOS14 update doesn’t bring any emoji novelties, but it does bring upgrades to your MeMoji.
These include new hairstyles, stickers, and most relevantly, face masks to choose from. Now, you can stay safe even in virtual form and personalise to your heart’s content.


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Wii U has not enough customer base
"...Following this idea that Take-Two's content goes where the consumer goes, Zelnick spoke about the company's relationship, or lack thereof, with Nintendo and the Wii U console. Take-Two believes that Wii U just doesn't have the consumer base to warrant its attention right now. "Our strategy is to meet consumers where they are," Zelnick elaborated. "If they're buying hardware, we'll be there with software. That said, we make these really big, AAA titles that work on some platforms, but not others."


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Brown-Forman revises 2016 financial forecast
Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman has lowered growth forecasts for its 2016 financial year after sales for the first nine months declined.
Net sales so far in the company’s 2016 fiscal have decreased -2% compared to the same period the previous year.
Brown-Forman’s net sales for the third quarter declined -1% to US$1.083 billion but an operating income increase of 2% to US$278m.
Underlying sales for the first nine months were up 5%, but year-to-date sales growth was adversely affected by eight percentage points due to foreign exchange rates.
“Against a backdrop of deteriorating economic conditions in emerging markets, weakness in the global travel retail channel, and headwinds from a strengthening dollar, we had another solid quarter of underlying growth, led by the Jack Daniel’s family and our American whiskey brands,” said Paul Varga, Brown-Forman chief executive officer.
“The organic growth of Jack Daniel’s and our premium brand portfolio against a diversified geographic opportunity, an ever-improving portfolio positioned for sustained growth, our efficient use of capital and the consistent return of capital to shareholders remain key ingredients in Brown-Forman’s value position.”
Year-to-date, Jack Daniel’s witnessed underlying net sales grow 7%, while its Tennessee Honey expression specifically saw underlying net sales grow 11% driven by “strong gains” in markets outside of the US.
Meanwhile, the group’s super- and ultra-premium whiskey brands recorded double-digit growth, boosted by 29% underlying sales growth from Woodford Reserve.
Tequila brand Herradura saw underlying net sales rise 12% thanks to souble-digit growth in the US and Mexico, while El Jimador jumped 4% due to positive performances in both the on- and off-trade in Mexico and New Mix RTDs leapt 25%, attributed to “benefit from distribution gains and new sizes”.
On Tuesday, Brown-Forman announced the completion of the sale of Southern Comfort and Tuaca to Sazerac for US$542.4m.


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According to preliminary data from a study conducted by Canalys, global smartphone shipments increased by 12% in the second quarter of 2021.
According to the research and market analysis firm Canalys, the smartphone market should reach the figure of 320 million units sold by the end of the second quarter of 2021. In fact, the research office forecasts an increase of 12 % compared to the same period in 2020. At that time, sales of smartphones had reached the figure of 285 million units.
Who are the big winners this year?
The smartphone brands that see their sales curves on the rise this year are once again the Chinese brands. In the lead, we find the Chinese giant Xiaomi with an increase of 83% compared to the previous year. An increase which is linked in particular to the fact that the smartphone manufacturer has attacked the global market and no longer just its domestic market.
In addition, Xiaomi has experienced spectacular growth in the South American market where it has managed to establish itself with quality smartphones at low prices.
Canalys Research Director Ben Stanton confirms:
“Xiaomi has experienced rapid growth abroad, especially with an increase of more than 300% in shipments to Latin America.”
According to him, Xiaomi could even come to dethrone Samsung, market leader. It must be said that currently because of the restrictions imposed on Huawei by the American state, the South Korean no longer really has a direct competitor.
However, Xiaomi will also have to face domestic competition. In fact, Oppo and Vivo are the two other market players that follow it and have the capacity to take further market share as well.
For its part, the American giant with apple alias Apple also pulls out of the game and limits the breakage. Indeed, Apple is only increasing 1% in terms of sales in this second quarter of 2021 compared to 2020. 1% which is mainly due to the arrival of its latest iPhone integrating 5G. The first of its kind that has certainly motivated its fans and customers to finally replace their aging iPhone.
Indeed, it seems that in recent years, the trend among Apple customers is no longer to change their iPhone systematically when a new model arrives, but to switch to at least one or even two versions.


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News & Events
Manufacturing software brought closer to Portuguese businesses
October 17, 2016
The business community in Portugal gathered on Wednesday, 28 September to explore new possibilities that the Critical Manufacturing MES 5.0 offers to industry, where factories of the future are the main focus.
Although the country's economy is progressively shifting its weight to the services sector, manufacturing retains significant importance in Portugal, employing more than one-third of the labor force. Modern plants, especially in automotive sector, embrace the latest trends in manufacturing technologies - including software - proving to be capable of leading an innovative manufacturing industry worldwide.
The event that was held at Critical Manufacturing headquarters brought together Portuguese industry in a lively and collaborative half-day session. The presentation included a live demonstration of the revolutionary Manufacturing Execution Software that enables the creation of sophisticated graphical user interfaces (GUI) using straightforward drag and drop technology to support manufacturing into the future Industry 4.0 vision.
The latest Critical Manufacturing 5.0 was created to drive new levels of engineering and operator efficiency; enabling even greater use of MES to enhance Portuguese plant profitability. You can find out more about the ground-breaking MES that re-defines the factory software interfaces here.


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Retailers and service providers could be losing out on orders because they are failing to offer delivery services that fit in with modern consumers’ needs, a nationwide survey for Trimble has revealed.
The survey which was carried out by market research firm One Poll, on behalf of Trimble found that more than half of respondents (52.4%) said delivery timeslots given by firms are too long and seven out of ten people (73.2%) said that they would be put off ordering from those firms that only offer day-long timeslots for deliveries.
Younger consumers have the highest expectations. More than nine out of ten 18 to 24-year-olds (93.5%) and 25 to 34-year-olds (93.02%) say they are deterred from placing orders with companies that offer day-long timeslots for deliveries.
The survey of 2,000 adults found that almost half the respondents (43.7%) would even pay extra to have deliveries made at convenient times.
“The survey shows that businesses need to offer flexibility in their delivery timeslots and by providing better customer service in this way, they could retain and even win more business,” said Nick Mitchell, general manager for Trimble Field Service.
“Modern technology can enable companies to not only plan their work and delivery schedules better but also ensure they are on track to meet those commitments.
“With customer service integral to retailers and service providers, businesses can offer customers a specific or shorter time window for their delivery or appointment and then keep them informed along the way by using the latest work management solutions.”


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The world is a greater place with hashish in it. That’s Graham Farrar’s, Owner of Glass House Farms and The Farmacy, philosophy on why he’s rising hashish. More than 5 years in the past, even earlier than the passage of Prop. 64 in California, Farrar noticed a enterprise alternative, and extra importantly, the possibility to do one thing significant, and he’s doing it in a giant method.
“I think we are making society a better place,” Farrar says. “Our workers are able to take care of their families better. We are removing stigmas and helping end the war on cannabis. Cannabis has so many positive aspects. I realize that viewpoint isn’t shared universally, yet. There’s a great quote I like that applies, ‘The future is here; it just isn’t equally distributed.’”
“I think we are making society a better place,” Farrar says. “Our staff are in a position to handle their households higher. We are shifting stigmas and serving to with the drug battle. Cannabis has so many optimistic facets. I understand that viewpoint isn’t shared universally, but. There’s a fantastic quote I like that applies, ‘The future is here; it just isn’t equally distributed.’”
Cannabis Calls to a Techie
Farrar describes himself as a dyed-in-the-wool tech entrepreneur, and it has served him properly. In center faculty, he labored as a self-employed tech employee repairing computer systems in his area people. From these humble beginnings, he would transfer on to work at Software.com, the place he would finally present help for AT&T. After Software.com and a two-year crusing hiatus, Farrar landed at Sonos, a networked house sound programs firm. While there, he began his household with spouse Sara and created iStory Time, a enterprise involving the event of leisure apps for teenagers, amongst different issues.
But Farrar says he has all the time loved doing issues with folks and crops and dealing open air within the solar. His hometown of Carpinteria, CA, is a perfect space for rising hashish due to its proximity to the ocean, which retains greenhouse temperatures from getting too scorching or too chilly, and to Los Angeles, the largest hashish consumption market on the planet. Farrar says with all these components in play it was just like the universe was telling him that rising hashish was the place he wanted to be. And he doesn’t see rising crops as an excessive amount of of a leap from the technology world.
“Plants are similar to computer programs,” he says. “If you give them consistent inputs, they will give you consistent outputs.”
By 2015, with Glass House Farms simply on the horizon, Farrar was already cultivating hashish in a rented greenhouse, in addition to supplying cultivators with soil-enrichment merchandise via his Elite Gardens enterprise. Today, the rising operation encompasses 500,000 sq. ft of environmentally managed area and advantages from the Central Coast’s recent ocean air close to Santa Barbara.
This is the place all of it begins, with hashish cultivated in state-of-the-art, pristine-clean, controlled-climate greenhouses. Glass House Farms was the primary to run the regulatory gauntlet to change into a licensed greenhouse cultivator in Santa Barbara County, an achievement that got here after no small quantity of endurance and persistence from Farrar. In enterprise for almost 5 years now, the rising operation is already one of many three largest cultivators in California, now that its second 350,000-acre facility is operational.
“I’m a big fan of greenhouse growing because I see it as the perfect intersection between controlled environment and inputs from Mother Nature,” Farrar says. “The whole concept that greenhouse growing isn’t as good for cannabis production is a legacy-grower mindset.”
Craft and Quality Are a Team Effort
Glass House Farms is on a continuous harvest cycle with the assistance of photoperiod lights and light-weight deprivation. The greenhouses are divided into sections. With the continuous cycle, there’s all the time a piece that staff are cleansing, one the place they’re planting, one other stuffed with rising crops, and a piece being harvested. All this allows Farrar to make use of a full-time employees of 122 folks year-round. The rising operation realized just a little greater than three harvests final 12 months and is on monitor for 4 in 2020. The new facility will deal with six harvests a 12 months, and the employees will improve to just about 250 as soon as it’s on-line. Farrar says his workers are a part of the workforce to him and never simply instruments within the shed, and it pays off. Turnover at Glass House Farms is about 5%, a quantity typically exceptional in ag due to its seasonal nature. One benefit of retaining workers, Farrar says, is that they’ve the develop their craft.
There’s one other profit Glass House Farms has offered to the group in addition to job creation and full-time employment that Farrar didn’t anticipate. He not too long ago had a faculty principal thank him for taking such excellent care of his workers. The principal stated he’d observed the workers have been in a position to take higher care of their kids; consequently, they have been doing higher in class.
The workforce at Glass House Farms has one purpose — to effectively produce hashish to scale whereas nonetheless sustaining high quality. That method a dependable, high quality product turns into extra accessible to the overall inhabitants. Farrar says a part of the dimensions of being a hashish cultivator is appearing as a curator as a result of rising a hashish crop within the greenhouse is a six-month project from begin to end.
“Cannabis is labor intensive, partially because we are still learning about the growing cycle,” Farrar says. “When people think of cannabis, they think about a bud in a jar. That type of cannabis is a lot closer to making wine than a vegetable. When you harvest cannabis, you are only halfway done. You still must dry it,cure it, and trim it correctly. You need the right genetics, and you have to understand the difference in the market that you are trying to make.”
And if all this weren’t sufficient, Farrar has many facet initiatives going, together with working The Farmacy, Santa Barbara’s first leisure hashish retailer, and teaming up with water developer Cadiz Inc. to develop 9,600 acres of hemp open air within the Mojave Desert. More not too long ago, Glass House Farms launched a shopper hashish and CBD model referred to as Forbidden Flowers with actress Bella Thorne. The model’s merchandise have anti-inflammatory properties for treating zits.
“It’s an exciting project because you are no longer a commodity producer, you are a product producer,” Farrar says.
Persistence and Patience Pay Off
What’s actually superb is all Farrar has achieved, regardless of a number of obstacles in his path, partly as a result of stigma hashish carries and the very fact it’s handled in a different way than different agriculture crops. For instance, with Romaine lettuce, the remembers come after somebody will get sick, however Farrar factors out that if greens have been examined like hashish (as many as 66 checks for each 50-pound batch in California), folks wouldn’t get sick.
“Farmers typically wear halos if they are growing vegetables or ornamentals,” Farrar says. “With cannabis, some people look for any reason they can to point out that it isn’t good.”
Over the final 5 years, Farrar has unwearyingly handled struggles with neighboring avocado growers over pesticides, odor complaints from native residents and wine growers, appeals filed by critics, and protests from grassroots teams. He’s a pacesetter for hashish growers within the Carpinteria space, serving as President of the Cannabis Association for Responsible Producers, organizing conferences, educating the press and the general public, and attending public hearings.
And then there’s the black market, the place Farrar says the precedence has been to cover first and develop second. Nearly 80% of the California hashish market is illicit growers who usually are not testing their hashish and never paying taxes. This makes it troublesome for official growers to stay aggressive due to the disparity in prices to supply.
Agriculture Meets Cannabis
Farrar says some issues are beginning to change with the black market, although, as agriculture and hashish begin to intersect, and it’s good for the hashish business to return out into the daylight, so to talk. Cannabis has lots to show conventional agriculture, partly as a result of it’s a high-margin specialty crop with strict pest and illness requirements and testing necessities.
“Agriculture is just learning cannabis and cannabis is just learning agriculture,” he says. “I think it is important for people to realize that cannabis growers are like any other growers. The plants we grow can be a good thing for society, just like other plants. What we share is a passion for controlled-environment growing. We take a high-tech approach to things and help each other out. It’s good for us as growers, and it’s good for the community.”
The Farmacy: A Modern-Day Dispensary
The Farmacy, Santa Barbara’s first adult-use hashish retailer, isn’t your typical backstreet, well-hidden, best-kept-a-secret kind of enterprise. Farrar likes to confer with the enterprise as Cannabis 2.0. It’s in a pleasant a part of city subsequent to a pizza parlor and ice cream retailer. It appears like a spot you’ll cease by in your method house from work. Chiefly, it’s approachable.
“We want to educate people about this new plant that they have access to,” Farrar says. “Whether you’re a college kid or young person or an older person, there is someone for you to talk to about the products. If you are 65 and have never been in a dispensary and you walk in the doors with butterflies in your stomach, there is someone for you to talk to, and you won’t feel like an idiot for asking questions.”
The Farmacy has a boutique really feel with extremely curated merchandise and never so many who clients really feel overwhelmed with the alternatives earlier than them.
“We’ve gone from two buds in a Ziploc to all these products,” Farrar says. “It is cool and exciting to see how much variety is out there right now in the industry and how much creativity is going on now that people aren’t focused on hiding cannabis. Today they’re just focused on doing it well.”
Farrar has since opened a second dispensary in Berkeley, CA, referred to as The Farmacy Berkeley.


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Morocco’s wine industry now employs up to 20,000 people, according to unofficial figures, and generated about US$170 million in 2011.
However, the remarkable progress made by the sector in recent years has taken place within a sensitive social environment.
While alcohol production is permitted by state law, and supermarkets and bars enforce no special restrictions on Muslim customers, officially, the sale and gift of alcoholic drinks to Muslims is illegal. They are unavailable during Islamic festivals, including throughout the holy month of Ramadan.
Separately, the Islamist-led government last year decided to raise taxes on alcoholic drinks from 450 dirhams (US$53) per hectoliter to more than 500 dirhams.
So far, this has not noticeably deterred consumption among Morocco’s population of 35 million, although economic realities certainly influence local drinking habits: The wine favored by most Moroccans is a cheap red called Moghrabi, which comes in a plastic bottle and costs 30 dirhams a liter.


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Cheung Resigns From Rusal Board Amid HK Probe
May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Barry Cheung resigned as independent director and member of committees of Rusal's board, citing he needs to focus on a personal business matter. Angie Lau reports on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)
Most Recent Videos
Why Did Baidu's Li Drop His Bid for iQiyi?
05:18 - Baidu's billionaire Chairman Robin Li pulled out of talks to buy control of the company's streaming video service iQiyi after failing to reach an agreement on its price and structure. Bloomberg's Haidi Lun reports on "Daybreak Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)


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Already hit by recession and now by the nationwide lockdown, the over Rs 800-crore clock industry based in Morbi wants at least 50% reduction in goods and service tax (GST) in order to survive the post-lockdown period, as well as to retain an almost 20,000-strong workforce employed in the India’s largest cluster of clock manufacturing.
Over the past half century, the clock industry has flourished in and around Saurashtra’s Morbi town and manufactures more than 90% of the clocks produced in India. Nearly 180 clock and clock-part makers have created a unique ecosystem for the entire clock value chain and created employment opportunities for local people, especially women, as over 80% of the employees working in these units are women.
Currently the clock industry is paying as high as 18% as GST, says Shashank Dangi, president of Clock and Parts Manufacturers Association of Morbi, adding, “The clock industry is passing through a tough time since the past six months.” Dangi added that now, the coronavirus pandemic has created an added burden. “Most of the clock units want to retain their employees even after the lifting of the lockdown. But at the same time ,we want government support in terms of reduction of GST by at least 50%.”
According to Dangi, except four-five big units, most of the clock and parts makers are MSMEs and they wound not be able to survive if the government doesn’t give direct benefit in taxes, as they are already facing stiff competition from cheaper, imported Chinese clocks.
The clock makers also want anti-dumping duty on Chinese clocks and clock parts. Currently, only 10% import duty has been imposed on clock and clock parts, says Jayesh Shah, chairman and managing director of one of the biggest clock manufacturing units in India, Sonam Clocks. Shah believes that if anti-dumping duty is imposed on cheaper Chinese products, local industry would automatically benefit.
Essential components required for clocks such as cabinets, dials, hands and other parts are being manufactured at Morbi but some vital electronic components like IC quartz crystals (integrated circuit) for clock movements are still being imported from China and some other countries. Recently, Sonam Clock and a couple of other units have started making clock movements.
There are a plethora of units which make unbranded clocks. However, large players such as Ajanta India, Oreva Group, Sonam Clock and Rikon Clocks Manufacturing Co produce 15 million clocks per annum.
The Morbi clock industry exports nearly 10% of its total turnover of Rs 800 crore to nearly 30 countries, mostly in the Middle East and African nations. Sonam Clocks has a lion’s share of over 30% in India’s total exports.
Export orders taken before the spread of the coronavirus have luckily not been cancelled, says Shah, adding that they are however unable to send shipments in the wake of the lockdown and there are problems of labours as well as transportation.
Interestingly, even before the lockdown was declared, the Morbi clock industry voluntarily decided to close all units from March 21 till March 31. As the lockdown period was announced till April 15, the industry decided to remain shut till further notice from the government.


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Earlier this week, reproductions of a new Poco X3 Pro were discovered from known leaks. It seems that a release for this boosted version of the Poco X3 NFC, which has been out for about half a year, is immanent: now it appears in retailer listings, complete with a set of specifications. It’s mostly similar to the already released device, but the text teases more RAM and storage, and a Snapdragon SoC we have not heard of before.
Both the pages from the Vietnamese online store Shopee and screenshots of the store posted on Twitter have been removed at the time of writing, but XDA-Developers managed to take some photos and specifications. The renderings of the phone look almost identical to the Poco X3 NFC, with an identical rear camera cluster and a 6.67-inch screen. But according to the store page, this boosted version of the phone has an optional upgrade to 8 GB of RAM and 1
Most interesting is the “Snapdragon 860” SoC, a model that has not been used in any previous phones. Based on the Kryo 485 processor and Adreno 640 GPU in the specification list, this seems to be a small revision of the 855+, which runs at an identical maximum clock of 2.96 GHz. While it would be somewhat outdated when it comes to flagship devices, this is not a flagship phone: the X3 NFC runs on an economical Snapdragon 732G and costs under $ 300.
With both the look of the phone and the leaky guts, you can expect to spot this model in an official announcement sooner rather than later. Expect the price to be somewhere in the $ 300-400 range.


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YouTube's subscription music service won't be arriving in time for Christmas, despite alleged plans to have it live by the end of the year.
According to AllThingsD, people "familiar with the company's plan" claim that the paid service won't be here until 2014.
We're still not hearing a specific date but the same sources say that a planned Q1 launch is now in YouTube's diary.
Can't get no satisfaction
Apparently YouTube already has all of its licensing deals done and dusted but still "isn't satisfied with the product itself".
Despite all this, YouTube has not once acknowledged the existence of the service – we've relied on rumours and other hidden hints for that.
For example, we recently saw a bunch of clues in an APK teardown of the latest version of the YouTube Android app, which pretty explicitly reference offline playback and "background listening" in the rumoured service.
"2014 is promising to be a very exciting time for UK music services," Oleg Fomenko, CEO of music streaming app Bloom.fm, told us. "The challenge we all face is finding compelling ways to get music fans to part with their hard earned cash and we welcome any move by YouTube that finds new ways to generate better returns for music creators and the music industry."
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Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.
Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.


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Lake Paul maple syrup company appears on Dragons’ Den
BERWICK - Local syrup producers are in the midst of their first taste of fame.
By Amy Woolvett
After weeks with only a temporary site operating, a new bottle depot is opening this week in of Shelburne.
Harlow Bottle Depot is located on King Street in the Harlow Construction building located across the road from the Shelburne mall.
The new bottle depot officially opens up for bottle returns this Monday and will be open Monday’s from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday’s from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The site will also accept old televisions and other waste electronic items.
Two staff has been hired to run the RRFB site, Lisa Rodgerson and Ricky Nash.
“It is going to be a one-stop depot including bottle returns, electronics and items like paint cans,” said Jane Ringer from Harlow’s Construction.
“This is going to be a great location,” she said. “It will finally be handy and so close as well as open at convenient times.”
The former RRFB site had been operated, apparently unsuccessfully, at the former Boys School site in Shelburne. That site was closed by the board. A temporary location was set up in the Home Furniture parking lot on Water Street.


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Saudi Arabia's Minister of Labor and Social Development Dr. Ali Al-Ghafees issued a ministerial decision early Monday restricting work in outlets of 12 activities and occupations to Saudis starting from the beginning of the next Hijri year.
The 12 work areas banned for expats are: watch shops, optical stores, medical equipment stores, electrical and electronics shops, outlets selling car spare part, building material shops, outlets selling all types of carpets, automobile and mobike shops, shops selling home furniture and ready-made office material, sale outlets of ready-made garments, children clothes and men’s supplies, household utensils shops and pastry shops.
Ministry spokesman Khaled Aba Al-Khail said the decision does not affect the memorandums of understanding signed with various regional governorates to restrict jobs to Saudis. He also said that the shop feminization will continue as planned. The third phase of the feminization of women accessory shops began last October.
It targets shops selling ladies perfumes, shoes, bags, stockings and ready-made garments.
Kiosks selling women accessories will also be fully feminized in addition to sections in malls and supermarkets which sell clothes and other women accessories. The phase also includes independent small shops which sell wedding dresses, abayas, garments, child-care and other accessories.
Pharmacies in malls which sell cosmetics and make-up accessories will also be feminized.
This article was first published here.


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"It's a great way to get more folks involved with where their food comes from," spokeswoman Jen Marshall says. And she's right: The same people attracted by the Whole Foods indoor repertoire are gonna love the delicious, fresh fare (including prepared lunches) that will be on display and ready for tasting. So bring a big shopping bag: The road tour stops today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Whole Foods Tamarac, 7400 East Hampden Avenue. Future stops include Whole Foods Cherry Creek on July 29 and Whole Foods Belmar on August 18.
For more information, visit www.wholefoodsmarket.com.


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Chajec, Don-Siemion & Zyto has advised biotechnology company Pharmena S.A. on the process of transferring shares to the Warsaw Stock Exchange from the NewConnect market where it has been listed since 2008.
On March 19, 2019, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority approved Pharmena’s prospectus.
CDZ prepared the legal part of the prospectus and, in cooperation with Vestor Dom Maklerski S.A., an independent domestic financial institution, represented Pharmena before the Polish Financial Supervision Authority in proceedings regarding the approval of the prospectus.
The next step, CDZ reports, will be the process of listing Pharmena on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. According to the CDZ, the public offering of the Pharmena stocks is designed to boost sales of innovative products based on 1-methylnicotinamide chloride (1-MNA) — a physiological and natural active substance that is registered as a new food in the European Union (and which is already patented in Poland and Europe. Pharmena is aiming at registering the molecule in China, India, Japan, and Australia, and to continue research on the drug in other clinical models.
Pharmena President Konrad Palka commented: “In December we started the sale of the first product in Poland. We intend to expand our product portfolio under a new brand and to gain a foothold in foreign markets. We are confident that our recently launched strategy to sell innovative diet supplements which shows an attractive growing market and our products’ potential on European markets will encourage investors to take part in the upcoming offer.”
The CDZ team was led by Partner Maciej Kotlicki, supported by Legal Advisor Piotr Rychta.


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Consider this eye-opener from the Internet marketing firm BloomReach: According to a September poll of 2,000 people, 55% of U.S. online shoppers begin their product searches on Amazon. Let that figure swirl around in your head for a moment. Now think of all the retailers on the web…yes, cute Etsy, too—and imagine 55% of consumers bypassing every one of them and heading straight to Amazon (at least, initially).
But this morning’s offering isn’t a tale about ecommerce. This is, rather, a posting about business horizons.
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, as my colleague Adam Lashinsky wrote back in March in a spot-on profile for Fortune, is a “preternaturally consistent” preacher of customer focus and long-term thinking. Since starting the company in 1994, Bezos has been consumed with making Amazon bigger and better—fine-tuning operations, forever expanding its capacity to store a gazillion items and deliver them speedily—even as, for years, those investments and reinvestments have largely erased quarterly profits and occasionally led to blow-out losses.
While Amazon’s bottom line is finally in plus territory—In July, the company reported its third straight quarter of record profit—it’s still determinedly gunning for the horizon. Judging by the company’s heady $387 billion market cap, shareholders seem to be just fine with the Bezosoic timeline.
So, it would seem obvious, then, that the lessons of Amazon have been copied and internalized by corporate leaders everywhere.
Not hardly. In fact, a new study released this morning—conducted by McKinsey Quarterly for FCLT Global—suggests the opposite: Short-termism is winning handily over long-termism. In a survey of more than 1,000 C-level executives and board members around the world, nearly two-thirds (65%) said the pressure to generate short-term financial results had intensified in recent years—and the overwhelming majority of these corporate leaders felt significant pressure to show financial success within two years or less.
FCLT (the initials stand for “Focusing Capital on the Long Term) is a fascinating experiment set up by McKinsey & Co., the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and three, perhaps, less-expected partners—BlackRock, the world’s biggest money manager, Dow Chemical, and Tata Sons, the holding company of the India-based conglomerate, Tata Group. It’s a high-wattage, not-for-profit, global organization that’s attempting to change corporate behavior from the top down—working to liberate executive ranks, boardrooms, and institutional investors from the tyranny of quarterly earnings guidance and, instead, getting them to embrace more meaningful metrics of success: from long-term return on capital to 10-year projections of economic value added.
The message isn’t a do-goody one. It’s about sustainable growth. It’s about incorporating the lessons of Amazon.
“There are companies that are not making the investments that would make sense over the long run because of these short-term pressures,” says Sarah Keohane Williamson, FCLT’s new CEO. “Short-termism, effectively, assumes that the world in five years will be the same as the world today. And in most industries, that’s a pretty bad assumption.”
L’Affaire Pantsuit: Finally, a correction from yesterday’s note: I said that Hillary Clinton was wearing a red “dress” during the debate. It was, of course, a pantsuit. I am deeply chagrined. My thanks to the many readers—and to my 12-year-old daughter—who pointed that out.
Alan Murray is on vacation this week. Fortune’s Deputy Editor Clifton Leaf is filling in.
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• Wells Fargo Board Shows its Claws
Wells Fargo said CEO John Stumpf will forfeit some $41 million in unvested stock awards and will forego his salary while the bank’s board investigates its sales practices. The bank has the opportunity to set something of a corporate governance landmark by ‘clawing back’ large sums from managers responsible for the debacle, which created a false impression of Wells’ underlying profitability and has now left investors nursing substantial losses. In addition, the bank said Carrie Tolstedt, who ran the retail bank division, has left the company ahead of her scheduled Dec. 31 retirement date, will forfeit $19 million in equity awards and will get no severance. Neither will get a bonus for this year. Back in Washington, Janet Yellen will likely face questions from the House Financial Services Committee later today on why the Fed didn’t intervene earlier to stop the abusive practices at the bank. Fortune
• Wal-Mart Flirts With Amazon Rival in India
Wal-Mart Stores is in talks to invest up to $1 billion in Flipkart, the biggest online retailer in India, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. It’s not clear how much of Flipkart that would buy: the company was last valued at around $16 billion but it seems unlikely that the Bentonville company would be happy with a stake of only 6%. The potential investment, which is another bold statement of Wal-Mart’s e-commerce ambitions after the acquisition of Jet.com, sets up an epic struggle for the next great frontier in global retail, given the size of India’s market and its projected growth rates, which reflect how far it still lags behind China in per capita income. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has earmarked another $3 billion for investment in the country. Bloomberg
• Nike Falls Short Again
Nike shares fell 4.4% in after-hours trading after the company’s quarterly update on its outlook disappointed the market for the third time in a row. Margins narrowed (partly reflecting price cuts to its Lebron basketball shoes), inventories jumped 11% and the company forecast future orders over the next three months would be up by only 7% year-on-year—the lowest in five quarters. The company reported a bigger-than-expected bump from the Rio Olympics and still has the blessing of being in a healthy market for leisurewear worldwide, but the company seems to be failing to stop competitors like Under Armour and Adidas eating away at a dominance that its investors had come to take for granted. Fortune
• A Dismal Year for Global Trade
The World Trade Organization cut its forecast for global trade growth this year by more than a third, from 2.8% to 1.7%. That means that trade will grow more slowly than the world economy in general for the first time in 15 years. The Wall Street Journal reports that the container shipping business expects to post no growth at all this year, and notes that current freight rates have fallen to levels barely half the $1,400 level seen as sustainable (hence the Hanjin situation). Not all of this development is negative: it’s to be welcomed that more of China’s economic resources will be consumed within China, rather than adding to global macroeconomic imbalances. But WTO head Roberto Azevedo was in no mood to accentuate the positive yesterday, acknowledging the growing political challenges to free trade, and saying that its benefits need to be shared more widely. Fortune
Around the Water Cooler
• A Rescue in Sight for Deutsche?
Germany’s government and financial authorities are preparing a rescue plan for Deutsche Bank that may see the government take up to a 25% stake in it in an extreme case, the respected weekly Die Zeit reported Wednesday, without identifying its sources. That’s at odds with an interview given by CEO John Cryan to the mass-circulation Bild-Zeitung saying that “at no point” had he asked Chancellor Angela Merkel for support, and that a request would be “out of the question.” But the two assertions aren’t mutually exclusive: under laws introduced since the last financial crisis, the authorities have much-expanded powers of intervention if they see a bank failing. They may be necessary, given Deutsche’s willful and repeated denial of the new post-2008 realities under Cryan’s predecessors. The German Finance Ministry, unexpectedly, has denied the report. In other news, Deutsche is selling its U.K. insurance business Abbey Life for just over $1 billion, which will give its balance sheet a modest but nonetheless welcome boost. Reuters
• Cisco Thumbs Its Nose at Trump
Cisco Systems is planning to spend up to $4 billion in Mexico over the next two and a half years to expand production there, creating almost 350 new positions there. The announcement, at a joint press conference between CEO Chuck Robbins and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, comes only weeks after the telecoms equipment maker said it will cut its global workforce by 5,500. It’s one of the first major investments in Mexico by a U.S. company since Donald Trump rebuked Ford for its plans to open a $1.6 billion small-car factory there. Ford vigorously rebutted Trump’s claims in Monday’s debate that it was moving U.S. jobs south of the border, contributing to the generally negative perception of the GOP nominee’s performance. For Pena Nieto, who was embarrassed by Trump’s visit earlier this month, one guesses yesterday’s moment must have been particularly sweet. Fortune
• Elon Musk’s Mars Shot
Elon Musk grabbed headlines with his plan for manned flights to Mars within 10 years and ultimately colonizing the planet—all undertaken with (largely) private-sector funding. The SpaceX and Tesla Motors founder unveiled his vision in a multimedia presentation Tuesday that featured 300-feet rockets powered by up to 42 individual methane-fueled engines, fleets of carbon-fiber spacecraft and much else that seemed to draw more from Ridley Scott and Roland Emmerich than from Adam Smith. We’ve noted before that Musk’s propensity to dazzle with long-term vision is a useful (we can’t say whether intentional or not) diversion away from very material short-term problems, be they with exploding SpaceX rockets or, even more pressingly, with the troubled Tesla/SolarCity merger. For all that, the prospect of seeing science fiction become fact in our lifetime remains irresistibly exciting. Fortune
• Etsy and the Gig Economy Conundrum
Etsy, the online marketplace best known for handicrafts and other home-made goods, waded into the very serious debate of how to help the growing numbers of American workers who don’t enjoy the same benefits as many full-time employees. It published a white paper on the ‘gig economy’ envisaging the creation of a new “Flex Portal” run by the federal government. The changes would make it easier for millions of workers—including the thousands of people who sell things on Etsy—to avail themselves of existing programs like flexible health and commuter spending accounts. The two cornerstones of its paper were, first, a rule requiring companies to withhold taxes if a self-employed worker asks them to do so and, second, a rule letting those workers ask companies to withhold additional money and put it into a benefits account run by the government. Anything that improves the outlook for long-term financial provisioning for gig workers is welcome. But the plan doesn’t seem at first glance to have much in the way of improving their access to credit, an issue of increasing economic importance. Fortune


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The retail sales from the Commerce Department on Thursday revealed a decline of .8% in January, which followed a .9% drop in December. A great deal of the decline in retail sales is attributable to a 9.3% decline in sales at gas stations. As can be expected, the rest of the retail industry, and the economy watchers, are looking to see the gas money go to other retail spending to boost GNP– with the goal being that retail spending continues to increase without regard to lower gas costs. Such a result would be good for the economy because consumer spending drives 65% of the economy and as spending increases, jobs and growth occur.
But what about the average Joe and Jane – you and me? Our job is not to build the economy, our job is to build personal wealth and reduce debt so we have funds to retire with. To me, the really good news in this week’s report is that the personal savings rate jumped in December from 4.3% to 4.9%. Is it possible that, following the misery of 5 years of stagnant growth and a horrific financial crisis and recession, Americans are getting the message that you need cash in the bank as a savings cushion?
I hope that is the case. After all – we should never forget – that when the economy falters, having available credit, rather than cash, does not work. Why is that? The answer, as was demonstrated in 2009-2011, is that the credit companies will slash your available credit down to $100 greater than you owe. Worse yet, they will send you the ultimate insult letter telling you how much they appreciate your business. Lesson learned – when you need to borrow money, it’s not there. When you don’t need to borrow it – that’s when you’re most eligible for a loan.
I always say if you want to avoid financial cancer, get rid of the credit card debt. Best yet – put those payments into savings. To find out how, sign up for our upcoming seminar on February 24. Simply click on the image below to register.
Be sure to listen in on Saturdays from 8:30 to 10 AM on WDFN 1130 AM – on iHeart by CLICKING HERE– and watch the show on TV 20 on Sundays at 11 AM. Law and Reality is not just information – it’s entertainment!
Have a great week,


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Troubled turkey tycoon Bernard Matthews has announced an all-British revamp to win back sales.
After falling £9.6million into the red last year, his Norfolk-based empire plans a complete ban on the use of imported meat.
The move follows the discovery of bird flu on one of his farms in January last year - a strain identical to one in Hungary where the firm has a meat plant.
Now bosses say that from September 1 all its turkey products will be made with meat from East Anglia.
The company is also pledging "healthier" lines after taking a hammering over its high-fat Turkey Twizzlers in an "exceptionally difficult 2007".


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New York -- J. Crew Group reported Thursday that net income for the third quarter rose 54% to $33.2 million, from $21.6 million in the prior year. The retailer also has signed a lease for its first store abroad, on London’s Regent Street, Women’s Wear Daily reported.
J. Crew’s revenues for the quarter increased 16% to $555.8 million. Same-store sales increased 10%.


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MALL, HAVEN OF HOPE | SM wins international award for Sendong relief
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines – For using its mall to quickly deploy much-needed help to villages ravaged by killer typhoon Sendong in December 2011, SM Supermalls has received the Albert Sussman International Community Support Award, the highest honor given by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Foundation.
The award, given at this year’s RECon, a global shopping center convention, in Las Vegas, Nevada, is given to a shopping center, its management company or developer for humanitarian efforts done within its immediate community.
The ICSC Foundation is the non-profit charity arm of international shopping center association ICSC.
The win also comes with a $10,000 donation from ICSC Foundation to be given to SM Supermalls’ chosen charity, Gawad Kalinga.
SM Supermalls in Cagayan de Oro, one of the cities heavily damaged by Sendong (international name: Washi), mounted “Operation Sendong” and provided food, drinking water, and various relief goods to residents of the city as the typhoon devastated CDO and nearby areas. Typhoon Sendong made landfall on the eastern coast of Mindanao in December 2011 and left 28,030 houses damaged with 1,010 dead, 1,603 injured, 51 missing and 432 rescued survivors.
It damaged P2.068 billion worth of infrastructure, agriculture and school buildings.
Hans Sy, the president of SM Prime Holdings, the parent company of SM Supermalls, said the presence of an SM mall in the devastated area made it possible to quickly deploy aid to typhoon victims nearby. A total of 19,500 families in 14 barangays in Cagayan de Oro and neighboring Iligan City received food packs, while 4,250 families received mats, blankets and other supplies.
The company also donated P3 million to the local government, in addition to spearheading a number of fundraising and housing projects to help typhoon victims in the aftermath of the disaster.
"Winning the ICSC Foundation’s most prestigious award, the Albert Sussman, for”Operation Sendong” is a very valuable recognition of SM Prime Holding’s relentless efforts to care for the communities where our 47 malls are located,” said Hans Sy. “We are honored to be the conduit for positive change in the Philippines and thankful for the ICSC for the recognition that is given to community-care programs such as this.”
SM Supermalls is owned by SM Prime Holdings, Inc. and operates the largest chain of shopping malls in the country with 47 malls.


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Potters Bar store raises over £9,000 for Comic Relief
PUBLISHED: 14:45 03 April 2017 | UPDATED: 14:45 03 April 2017
A Potters Bar supermarket is celebrating after raising over £9,000 for Comic Relief this year.
Colleagues from Sainsbury’s in Potters Bar took part in a variety of fundraising events during the weeks leading up to Red Nose Day, which took place on Friday, March 24.
In total the store raised £9,100.
Activities included fancy dress days, challenges, a quiz night, colleague cake sales, tombolas and bag packing days.
Customers were also able to join in the fun and one of the highlights was a ‘ham and jam’ challenge at the front of the store.
Karen Staples, store manager at Sainsbury’s Potters Bar, said: “Our customers and colleagues are always keen to raise as much as possible for Red Nose Day and come up with lots of fun and creative ways to do it.
“I’m really proud that we’ve been able to contribute to the impressive figure donated from Sainsbury’s to Comic Relief.
“We also had the Potters Bar District Under 11 football team and the 2nd Potters Bar Guides bag packing on Red Nose Day helping us achieve our total.”
On Red Nose Day, Sainsbury’s announced it had raised £11.6 million across its stores for the charity with more funds still to be collected.


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Excerpts below are from an article written by Kate Taylor at Entrepreneur.com
As the government shutdown drags on, some franchise owners have struggled with sales while others have been forced to put their expansion plans on ice.
Last Thursday, Ron Putman was ready to serve 35,000 estimated attendees at the Miramar Air Show in San Diego. Putman, who owns a Maui Wowi, was in the process of setting up two mobile carts stocked with fresh fruit smoothies and coffee when he received a call from a friend who told him to turn on his television. The news was reporting that the airshow was cancelled due to the government shutdown. “I said, ‘You’ve got to be joking me,’” Putman recalls.
The Miramar Air Show, held at the Marine Corps Air Station, normally pumps about $1.5 million into the local economy. According to the Festivities Catering and Special Events in San Diego, the event caused $25,000 in unrecoverable food costs, not to mention $100,000 in lost revenues. For Putman, the air show typically represents 20% of his business’s annual revenue, as it draws nearly 500,000 visitors to the area. Putman was forced to dispose of 640 pounds of ripe bananas and 20 gallons of coffee.Other franchisees, such as Hungry Howie’s owners Preston and Sabrina Starr, have found themselves paralyzed by the partial shutdown of the Small Business Administration.
The Franchise Registry recently approved the Starrs’ franchise disclosure document, allowing the pair to be approved for funding by the SBA to open a second Hungry Howie’s in Smyrna, Georgia (the first is located nearby in Douglasville). However, due to the furlough, the restaurant will not receive funding until the shutdown concludes. The store was initially set to open on November 6. Unfortunately, with an estimated additional six to eight-week wait for the SBA to process loans after the shutdown is over, the Starrs will likely be paying rent on a restaurant they won’t be able to operate for some time.
“We’ve already invested over $70,000 personally into the venture,” says Preston Starr. “If the government were to open tomorrow we would incur another $25,000 in delay costs. If the store does not open before the end of the year, there will also be significant tax implications.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, the SBA approves about 250 loans totaling roughly $93 million on a typical day. With the closure of all major SBA lending programs, the shutdown has deprived small business owners of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Franchise industry groups fear that the lack of lending approval will become more serious as the shutdown continues, especially if the U.S. fails to raise the debt ceiling.
For franchisees, the effects of the shutdown promise to be long lasting, not only in economic losses but also in decreased confidence in the government.
“I think I, like most people, assume the government will always be ‘open’ like the sun comes up every day,” says Starr. “This has certainly changed my frame of thought moving forward to consider these types of risks.”