text:
BENNETTSVILLE, SC (WBTW) – Marlboro County deputies arrested a Dillon County man who is accused of ATM thefts.
The Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office arrested Eddie Scarborough, Jr., 51, according to a press release from the MCSO. His arrest is the “result of an investigation into two convenient store burglaries” that happened in Bennettsville in January 2019.
Scarborough is accused of cutting power at the Pic N Pay convenience store on Jan. 14 “before using his vehicle to forcefully open the front doors of the business,” the release said. He allegedly entered the store and stole an ATM machine from the business.
He is accused “of the similar actions at another Bennettsville convenience store two weeks after this first burglary,” the release also said. The MCSO says investigators “were able to collect video surveillance data, physical evidence from the crime scenes, and other evidence that placed Scarborough at each crime scene during each burglary.”
Scarborough was arrested in Dillon County on Tuesday after a traffic stop, according to the release. He is being held at the Marlboro County Detention Center pending a bond hearing for “two counts of burglary 2nd degree and two counts of grand larceny; more than $2,000 less than $10,000.”
Scarborough is reportedly wanted by two other counties for similar offenses and will be extradited after bonding out in Marlboro County.
Count on News13 for updates.


text:
The boss of cryptocurrency change Binance says he's willing to step down from his position as the corporate seeks to change into a regulated monetary establishment.
Speaking at a digital press convention Tuesday, Changpeng "CZ" Zhao stated he had no speedy plans to give up his position however that the corporate does have a succession plan in place.
"We're going to pivot to be a fully regulated financial institution going forward," Zhao advised reporters, including that, throughout that pivot, he could be "very open" to discovering a substitute CEO with extra regulatory expertise.
Binance is the world's largest digital forex change by buying and selling quantity. However, it has come underneath intense regulatory scrutiny recently as authorities world wide search to clamp down on the fast-growing crypto business.
Coin Metric co-founder on Binance scrutiny and crypto regulationTechCheck
In the U.Okay., the Financial Conduct Authority banned Binance's British unit from enterprise any regulated exercise. Binance was one in every of many crypto corporations that withdrew their functions to the U.Okay.'s momentary licensing regime due to failing to meet anti-money laundering necessities, the FCA stated.
Regulators in Japan, Canada and Italy have additionally clamped down on the agency, warning it’s not licensed to function within the international locations.
Planning for the long run
Binance goals to arrange numerous regional headquarters world wide and can search licenses wherever they’re out there, Zhao stated. He has beforehand stated Binance has no official headquarters.
Zhao insisted there have been no speedy plans for his succession, including Binance was "keeping our options open."
"I'll be honored to continue to run Binance as a regulated financial institution until we find somebody who may do a better job," he stated.
In May, Bloomberg reported that Binance was going through a federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service.
El Salvador made bitcoin a authorized forex. Now it will get interestingBeyond the Valley Podcast
Binance stated it couldn't remark particularly on any ongoing discussions with regulators, whether or not within the U.S. or elsewhere.
On Monday, the corporate stated it was decreasing the utmost leverage — or borrowed funds — customers can use to commerce futures contracts, amid considerations such high-risk bets had been leaving shoppers with hefty losses.
Earlier this month, Binance stated it might now not provide "stock tokens," digital digital variations of shares like Tesla, Apple and Coinbase, to shift its business focus to different merchandise. German regulators had warned the devices could have violated securities legal guidelines.
This 12 months has been a wild one for crypto. Bitcoin, the world's largest digital coin, at one level hit an all-time excessive of practically $65,000. It has since contracted sharply, nevertheless.
The cryptocurrency briefly surged above $40,000 for the primary time in practically six weeks, after Amazon stated it’s trying to add a digital forex and blockchain specialists to its funds staff.
primarily based on website supplies www.cnbc.com

domain: news


text:
UAE’s food and beverages giant Agthia Group announced on Thursday a strategic acquisition to expand its footprint in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
Part of the state-owned holding company ADQ, Agthia has signed a sales purchase agreement to acquire a homegrown Kuwaiti brand, Al Faysal Bakery and Sweets, which has an annual turnover of more than $25 million.
“[The move will] build our regional F&B footprint, adding significant scale to our existing operations in Kuwait and further diversifying our portfolio,” said Alan Smith, chief executive officer of Agthia Group.
Agthia Group chairman and chief investment officer Khalifa Sultan Al Suwaidi said the company remains committed to grow across several categories and have identified Kuwait as an important market.
“The acquisition… underscores our priorities to deliver value to our shareholders,” Al Suwaidi said.
“[It] will support the group’s strategic growth, considering the bakery’s strong market share, as well as distribution and manufacturing capabilities,” he added.
The Abu Dhabi-listed firm has recently agreed to proceed with the proposal to merge with Al Foah Company, the world’s largest dates processing and packaging company, also based in the UAE capital.
During the fiscal year 2019, Al Faysal Bakery and Sweets generated revenues of 92 million dirhams ($25 million) and net income of 17.2 million dirhams ($4.6 million).
The household name with more than 500 staff on its payroll has been known in Kuwait since 1991, and it has a streamlined value chain of manufacturing, distribution and market share.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Read our full disclaimer policy here.© ZAWYA 2020


text:
Vermiculite is a versatile industrial mineral, whose range of
applications covers everything from car brake linings to
roof-insulating concretes and a wide range of agricultural
It is this diversity of end-user applications, says
long-time vermiculite consultant Andrew Baylay, that continues
to stand the industry in good stead.
"Vermiculite holds its position well in its global market
sectors," he says. "It has so much to offer; the
industry’s in a good place."
Baylay is a member of The Vermiculite Association (TVA) - a
US-based, non-profit, trade association promoting the
vermiculite industry - which held its latest annual meeting at
the end of May in Edinburgh.
The spirit of the event in the Scottish capital was one of
optimism, confirms Michelle Keyser, a TVA spokeswoman, who
describes the current state of the global vermiculite market as
"balanced", based on a sound equilibrium between supply and
"The mines are attending to the present demand," says
"Some analysts will tell you that, overall, the industry is
shrinking in [terms of] actual tonnages produced and sold,"
adds Baylay. "However, while volumes have remained in steady
demand in recent years, more niche, and higher-value [uses]
have been added to the more traditional bulk applications."
|The US steel industry is consuming more vermiculite
grow and revitalize, according to Michael Dunlavey, PVP
One such high-value area is horticulture, especially the
subset of hydroponics – in which plants grow using
mineral nutrient solutions, as opposed to soil. Due to its
ability to retain water and moisture, vermiculite is able to
maintain a hydrated environment while preserving plant nutrient
According to recent estimates, the overall
'grow-light’ market is projected to expand at a
compound annual growth rate of 11.68% by 2022, as
green-fingered consumers with limited space aim to grow their
own plants without the need for a garden. And hydroponics is
particularly popular in cities where space is at a premium.
The growing trend for 'green’ roofing among
today’s more environmentally-friendly consumers is
also to vermiculite’s advantage, says John Rose,
manager of lightweight roof insulation systems at Siplast, who
outlined why at a seminar on the subject at the May TVA
"Green roofing and the incorporation of vegetative systems -
both extensive and intensive - into building designs is
increasing," Rose says. "Vermiculite-based products beyond just
soil-growing mediums are being used in these green roof
That said, the horticultural market is not the sole preserve
of vermiculite - or perlite, for that matter - with competition
coming from other aggregate minerals.
"More could be done within the horticulture system," Baylay
|Dark clouds on the horizon? Perlite is shown
stockpiled here, but the
Perlite Institute believes that there is growth
However, according to Ned Gumble, president of Virginia
Vermiculite in the United States, the use of vermiculite in
construction products trumps its use in horticulture.
As a result of its slight bulk density, exfoliated
vermiculite is well suited to the manufacture of lightweight
concretes and plasterboards. Such concretes can be applied to
roof and floor screeds, as well as in the fabrication of
Michael Dunlavey, vice-president of sales for Ohio, US-based
group PVP (Perlite Vermiculite Packaging) Industries, takes a
different view, believing the performance of his
country’s steel manufacturing is a key driver for
vermiculite supply. According to the World Steel Association
(Worldsteel), US crude steel output in 2018 was up 6.2%,
"We don’t actually see large growth in the
construction sector, which has been rather stagnant for some
time," he says. "Instead, we are seeing more growth in the
steel manufacturing industry [and] steel mills in the US are
consuming more and more vermiculite as their operations expand
and revitalize," Dunlavey says.
"There are also other industrial applications growing to a
smaller degree for higher-value, higher grades of vermiculite,
particularly for environmental and speciality applications
– although with the US-imposed tariffs on Chinese
imports [imposed by president Trump last March], there is some
uncertainty on the cost-value ratio for these products.
"This could and should give other countries a window of
opportunity to supply higher grades of ore to a [wider] market
base," he says.
"Overall, we see growth potential for vermiculite as
fair-to-positive over the coming years, so we are looking to
diversify our raw material supply."
The main regions of consumption for vermiculite are North
America, Asia Pacific and Europe. TVA was asked whether
'Brexit’ - the United Kingdom’s
potential exit from the European Union - has had an impact on
European consumption levels, but chose not to
"Our understanding is that there is positive growth in the
European and Asian markets, which is helping US-based
innovation, too," says Dunlavey. "Here in North America,
vermiculite is sometimes, wrongly, viewed upon as old news, but
with technology and the ability to share innovations worldwide,
people and companies are experimenting regularly."
|The rapid urbanization in Asia has meant a growth
trajectory for perlite.
TVA also lists the introduction of more stringent
fireproofing regulations in several parts of the world as
another key driver for the mineral, whose low density and
strong insulation properties make its ideal in the production
of gypsum wallboards.
"Fireproofing and manufactured building materials for fire
resistance have vast potential that could be [further] explored
and utilized," says Baylay.
In recent years, both miners and ore purchasers have ramped
up their efforts to always consumer concerns over
vermiculite’s asbestos content (a quick Google
search indicates the general misconception that vermiculite and
asbestos are from the same silicate mineral).
Consequently, in 2017, TVA launched a best practices program
for asbestos detection and control protocol for vermiculite
mining and milling. According to Keyser, the program has a gone
some way to allaying end-user fears.
"The program specifically looks at quality control systems;
management and technical training; asbestos control procedures;
analytical test procedures; microscope set-up; and pre-shipment
quality assurance," explains Keyser.
"These protocols help miners establish credibility with
vermiculite ore purchasers. Ultimately, end users of
vermiculite can be confident that the ore purchased from mines,
following TVA’s best practices protocol, has been
properly processed and tested," he adds.
Baylay agrees that it is up to the miners to demonstrate
"It is beholden of miners that they raise their quality game
to meet new market demands. End users have become more
discerning regarding the qualities, types and sources of
vermiculite," he says.
"Technical developments and higher end-user specifications -
often driven by new legislation – will… hasten
the demand for higher-specification ores."
The global vermiculite industry is forecast to grow in the
coming years, but it has not all been plain sailing. While
broadly optimistic about "an exciting future", Baylay really
wants to see "greater market awareness".
|The booming medical marijuana market has also
provided a growth
opportunity for perlite.
According to Dunlavey, North America - which holds a large
regional share of vermiculite consumption - has also been hit
by minor supply chain interruptions of late.
Transportation has been "an issue", he says, because of
changes to the US National Motor Freight Classification system
- the standard that provides a comparison of commodities moving
in commerce - as well as a hike in fuel taxes in certain US
states. Lawmakers in Dunlavey’s home state of
Ohio, for instance, recently approved a 147% increase in the
diesel fuel levy, which increased from 19 cents to 47 cents per
Dunlavey believes that such developments have had a bigger
impact on prices than any increases in manufacturing and raw
"It’s been nothing in the sense of not being
able to fulfil orders, but I would say that extended lead times
and increased costs are imminent," he says. "With the overall
cost of vermiculite being higher than some of its competitive
products already, any increased costs could undermine the
"We will stay positive and continue to market these products,
holding our prices until the effects of transportation and
duties exceed their value at current market rates."
As for perlite, according to a report by research provider
MarketsandMarkets, its global market size is expected to hit
$2.20 billion by 2022 and growth will be mainly driven by the
construction sector, due to increasing rates of urbanization
and industrialization – particularly in the Asia
"Asia Pacific contributes a major market share in the global
perlite market," the report says.
"Due to the increasing industrialization as well as the
large population in China, Japan, and India, these countries
are experiencing high demand for building and construction. The
rapid urbanization in these countries demands faster and
cheaper construction of buildings and facilities without
compromising on quality.
"Additionally, the increasing government investments in
infrastructural constructions provide the potential for the
growth of the perlite market in these countries."
Dunlavey also cites an increase in the number of new
discoveries for ore sources, as well greater momentum in
research & development, as evidence of a market in rude
This bullishness comes in spite of recent fluctuations in
the commercial horticultural market, in which perlite - similar
to vermiculite - is commonly found.
"Traditionally, stateside perlite, manufactured by some of
the smaller US companies primarily went into the horticultural
market," Dunlavey says. "But, with competitive products
establishing a hold on some of this market share, there has
been less volume going in."
Instead, Dunlavey - who also sits on the board of directors
of the Perlite Institute - believes more potential can be found
in the construction industry, in which perlite is widely used
due to its high insulating properties.
Perlite is also castable, making it ideal for use in
high-temperature applications in steel and foundry
"There are more opportunities in the construction,
environmental and industrial sectors - in which,
coincidentally, many of us involved in the perlite industry
started out," says Dunlavey.
"It’s a case of history repeating itself. With
more regional sources of the raw material, compared to
vermiculite, perlite can compete better in all of the markets,
with no issues of supply and demand in sight."
North America’s burgeoning legalized cannabis
industry is also playing into the hands of perlite
As boutique investment banking firm Northland Capital
Partners said in a research note from last November: "The
perlite market in North America continues to be strong as
industrial-scale cannabis growers build-out major new capacity
following Canadian legalization and the relaxation of
legislation within a growing number of US states."
Earlier this year, Sunrise Resources, a UK-based company
operating out of the US state of Nevada, revealed it had been
given the green light by the US Bureau of Land Management to
expand its exploration of the mineral in the state.
The new permits allow Sunrise to drill up to eight holes, as
well as bulk sampling of up to 1,000 tonnes, for the project,
known as NewPerl.
"Based on these future projections for perlite,
manufacturers are building new facilities and updating their
equipment and technology," says Dunlavey.
"At PVP we even recently replaced our vintage 1984 furnace
with a new Incon. For a small company like us,
that’s a really big deal. There’s a
new generation of manufacturers who are actively involved from
production to operations. It has its challenges, but this is an
Turkey’s Bergama Mining Perlite, another of the
industry’s main players, is also believed to be
lining up new investments. Two new production plants,
"equipped with the latest technologies" are scheduled to open
in Izmir and Aliağa on the country’s Aegean
coast, the company says.
However, Bergama alludes to no timeline as to when the
facilities are expected to open.
The group could not be reached for further comment.
Others are less equivocal. In April, EP Minerals, a US-based
group that produces perlite for filtration, announced a price
increase across its minerals range to offset "inflationary
pressure with the raise in costs related to ore, packaging,
labour and energy".
The perlite increase was part of "our standard yearly
increase," spokeswoman Julie Brown told Industrial Minerals.
"It’s nothing out of the ordinary, although I
would say perlite trends are staying flat for us at this
current time. Growth markets are in our other minerals, such
as clays and diatomaceous earth."


text:
India is the world’s fastest growing major economy, with 600 million people under 25 years old – a recipe, you would think, for enormous growth in auto sales. And yes, auto sales are projected to grow in 2019, albeit at the slowest rate in years (only about 2% YOY). The major reason? Technological change. Why is this, and does it offer ideas for the American future?
Driving in Mumbai and other tier-one Indian cities can be a thrill. Cars, tuk-tuks, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians mingle within inches of one another in a human flow that seems more like swimming in an ocean than using a highway with marked lanes. Congestion, parking, traffic in big cities, however, combine to make travel more headache than recreation. Mid-sized or luxury vehicles are on the decline – too big to maneuver – and, meanwhile, with incomes in tier-3 and -4 cities and rural areas rising, the automobile has come to be viewed as an affordable transportation essential. The result in India has been a marked increase in small car and sub-car 4-wheel vehicles, in stark contrast with trends in the U.S. market. Hyundai launched its mini-compact Santro, and Maruti will offer its Wagon R as an entry-level car, while Bajaj Auto promotes its Qute, a quadricycle (not a car), and Mahindra & Mahindra and Paiggio explore options in this affordable, entry-level segment.
Aside from the India-specific factors that make this market distinctive from the U.S., there is an underlying trend driven by technology that offers predictions for the American scene. One impetus has been the growing number of urban residents who now question whether they need a vehicle at all. Uber and its Indian competitors Ola and Zoomcar have helped usher in the age of shared mobility, which has made owning a second car seem like a historic relic, and first cars are now typically reserved for recreational travel rather than for one’s daily transportation needs. Why saddle oneself with an expensive capital purchase if it’s cheaper and more convenient to have a driver and vehicle on command?
The December 9-15 edition of India’s Economic Times sums it up this way: “Everything is up for a rethink. The century-old technology of the internal combustion engine is facing an existential crisis. … Shared mobility is putting a question mark on car ownership. … In 2020, India will leapfrog from Euro IV to Euro VI emission norms, creating enormous financial, technological and logistical nightmares.”
The technological revolution of app-driven vehicle hires has spawned new financing models. For instance, Zoomcar has ZAP Subscribe, where one can pay a monthly subscription in flexible monthly segments without add-on or purchase costs, and Revv has a similar offer, funded by Indian and Korean car makers. Ola, Uber’s chief competitor in the “app a ride” segment, is preferred by most Indians as having more customer-friendly identification and tracking.
Despite the vast differences between the orderly, lane-respecting world of U.S. travel and the frenetic traffic jumble of India’s large cities, India’s move to shared mobility in the form of small, affordably priced vehicles offers some predictive value for America. Technology is disrupting the age of individual ownership and of vehicle leasing. In the future, watch for the growing prominence of American models like Zoomcar and Revv as well as the continued expansion of app-ordered means for getting a ride in American cities.


text:
LG today unveiled the anticipated V20 flagship. The new smartphone emerged as the world’s first Android Nougat device.
The LG V20 comes preloaded with Android 7.0 Nougat operating system out of the box. In addition to the latest Nougat flavour, the smartphone has Google’s newest ‘In Apps’ search function with a dedicated one-touch access.
On top of Android Nougat, the V20 has LG UX 5.0+ user experience that debuted as the first custom interface based on the latest Android version. The handset also comes with features like multi-window mode and an enhanced Doze mode to offer Nexus-like functions.
The smartphone has a 5.7-inch IPS QHD Quantum Display panel and 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (MSM8996) chipset with quad-core processing support. Additionally, it has Adreno 530 GPU, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
LG has provided a dual-camera setup on the V20 with a 16-megapixel primary camera sensor and an 8-megapixel secondary camera sensor. Also, there is a 5-megapixel front camera sensor with an F1.9 lens.
The smartphone packs a 3,200mAh battery and comes with a USB Type-C connector. Besides, it sports a new build with a silicon-based material.
LG will start selling the V20 in Korea beginning this month.


text:
Alcohol Marketing in the Digital Era: A Report
Contact: Jeff Chester, CDD, 202-494-7100
Digital and Social Media Marketing Promotion of Beer and Liquor Threatens Youth, new report warns
Consumer and health groups call on FTC and state attorneys general for action; will announce recommendations at May 18 news conference
May 18, 2010: Alcohol companies are using the latest new media technologies to promote their products using methods that appeal to youth, explains a new report released today from the Center for Digital Democracy and Berkeley Media Studies Group of the Public Health Institute. “Alcohol Marketing in the Digital Age,” details how beer and alcohol companies are targeting consumers through social media, online video, mobile phone applications, and virtual online communities. Marketers are using these and other digital tools to harvest behavioral and other data on consumers, raising concerns about the effects such personalized interactive marketing may have on underage drinking, which The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth estimates to account for 12-20 percent of the U.S. alcohol market. The report also examines how alcohol companies are targeting African Americans and Hispanics.
Consumer and public health groups Center for Digital Democracy and Berkeley Media Studies Group sent a copy of the report today to the FTC, urging immediate action.
Key findings from report and additional recommendations will be delivered in an online news conference today, May 18 at 1 p.m. EDT. To register, go to https://publichealthinstitute.webex.com/publichealthinstitute/onstage/g..... The full report will become available the same day at www.digitalads.org/alcohol.php.
The following are among the many digital marketing examples included in the report:
- Heineken created a virtual world housing and entertainment complex called Heineken City, where a consumer could obtain an “apartment,” along with free storage and email services. The size of one’s apartment was determined by earning points played on Heineken-branded games.
- Molson Coors and other alcohol beverage companies are using the latest “social media monitoring” tools to track, analyze and better target consumers who use Facebook, MySpace and other social media sites.
- · Smirnoff, Budweiser and others are using YouTube and other online sites to offer videos designed to become viral marketing vehicles.
Malibu rum’s free iPhone game “Get Your Island On” explains that you can “Bowl in a rum shack. Bowl on the beach. Bowl in an underground cave or inside an aquarium. We’ve taken the Malibu Bottles off the bar, and made them part of the game…. The controls are simple. Enter your age (tell the truth!), decide where you want to play, if you want to play alone or with a friend, just grab yourself a ball…. You can turn up the volume, and if you like the music, you can download the ring tones at Malibu-rum.com. When you bowl with Malibu® Rum the lanes are always smooth, and the cocktails are always tasty!”
- Bud Light became a sponsor in ESPN’s “Zoom” casual games platform available online and as part of a “free app” for mobile phones. Zoom offers an array of games, including Air Hockey, Craps, Vector Runner, Ping Pong, Day Drive, Trick Hoops Challenge, Speed Back, and Club 300 Bowling, which are integrated with multiple forms of digital advertising.
“The alcohol industry’s digital and social media marketing tactics are blurring the boundaries between advertising and content with unprecedented sophistication, report co-author and Center for Digital Democracy executive director Jeff Chester, MSW said. “The FTC and state attorneys-general should launch an investigation into this new threat to young people online.”
“This report should open the eyes of policy makers and parents everywhere,” David Jernigan Ph.D., associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said. “Allowing alcohol companies to regulate themselves isn’t effective at keeping advertising from reaching kids, and age verification efforts don’t work. It doesn’t take much imagination for kids to fib about their birthday before entering a website.”
“The alcohol industry’s latest marketing tactics make TV advertising look mild,” said report co-author and director of Berkeley Media Studies Group, Lori Dorfman, DrPH. “All the evidence showing that marketing influences kids to drink was generated examining old media. With aggressive under the radar tactics like mobile and social media marketing campaigns, parents don’t stand a chance, let alone their kids.”
“Today’s young people are living much of their lives online,” commented Kathryn Montgomery, PhD, professor of communication at American University, and one of the report’s co-authors. “With concerns about binge drinking and other dangerous behaviors among under age youth, public health professionals and policy makers must investigate these aggressive new alcohol marketing practices on social networks, mobile phones, and other digital media so popular with children and teens.”
Today, CDD and BMSG sent the report to officials at the Federal Trade Commission and the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG). Both the FTC and NAAG were urged to launch investigations into the digital marketing practices of alcohol beverage companies, including their use of social media, data collection, neuromarketing, and online targeting. Among the companies cited to be included in the investigations are Google/YouTube and Facebook. The groups also asked the FTC to assess the adequacy of age-verification mechanisms and for the alcohol industry to strengthen its self-regulatory codes.
The report was co-written by Jeff Chester, MSW, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, Kathryn Montgomery, PhD, a public communication professor at American University, and Lori Dorfman, director of BMSG, a project of the Public Health Institute. Chester and Montgomery’s research and advocacy efforts during the 1990s led to the passage of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), currently being reviewed by the FTC.
The research was supported by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
See below for the pdf version of this report.


text:
Poundland is bringing in a new pricing structure for its products, as it moves away from being a single price retailer.
Some stores now have a permanent product range priced at under £1.
More controversially, the budget high-street retailer will also be trialing products priced above £1.
Manchester Evening News reports the move the move is the latest stage in the family-favourite store’s shift from operating as a "single price retailer" - which will pave the way for more products in high demand with customers.
A pilot scheme is currently being tested across stores in the Midlands, where items such as Colgate Toothpaste and Napolina Passata are being sold for 75p.
The pilot is also experimenting with selling ranges priced at £1.50, £3 and £4, with brands such as Aussie Shampoo, Elvive Nutrigloss and John West tuna included.
Speaking about the changes, managing director Barry Williams, said: "We promise customers amazing value and we are committed to fulfilling that promise on the widest range of items.
“While three quarters of the products we offer will still be £1, it's important we look to broaden our ranges elsewhere, whether above or below £1.
“Our customers are among the savviest in the country. We know that and it's why we're moving at the pace they dictate to become the simple price retailer they want us to be.”
The store started selling products priced at £2 and £5 back in 2017 – a move which proved successful with shoppers.
To receive one WhatsApp message a day with Edinburgh Live's headlines, as well as breaking news alerts, text NEWS to 07899067815. Then add the number to your contacts as 'Edinburgh Live'.
For more stories from across the Edinburgh area like our Facebook page , or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. You can also subscribe to our newsletter: enter your email in the blue box at the top of this article.


text:
Winn-Dixie to end popular FuelPerks program
Say goodbye to FuelPerks and hello to Plenti.
Winn-Dixie’s popular loyalty program, which rewarded customers with discounts at the pump, is ending March 26 and the last day to redeem perks is April 30.
Starting April 5, Southeastern Grocers LLC stores, including Winn-Dixie and sister stores Fresco y Más and Bi-Lo, will become part of the Plenti program.
Developed by American Express, Plenti is the nation’s first coalition loyalty program and allows shoppers to earn rewards at multiple businesses with one membership card. You don’t need to be an American Express cardholder to take advantage of the program.
More: Dick's Sporting Goods, Michaels, Ulta coming to Pace
“Southeastern Grocers’ customers told them they wanted a program that offered greater flexibility to earn and use loyalty points across a number of different brands all within one program,” said Josh Berwitz, president, U.S. Loyalty, American Express, in a prepared statement.
Participating Plenti partners include AT&T, Exxon and Mobil gas stations, Macy’s, Hulu, Chili’s, Expedia, Nationwide insurance and car rental companies Enterprise, Alamo and National. Southeastern Grocers is the first grocer to join the program.
“Plenti will allow customers to select how and when they want to save and will provide them more time to do so, with at least two years to redeem Plenti points before they expire,” Berwitz said in the statement.
Users of Plenti, which launched in 2015, believe the ability to earn Plenti rewards will be a big draw to Winn-Dixie and its sister stores.
FuelPerks only allowed customers to cash in at Shell gas stations and now they can decide to use their savings at Macy’s, Chili’s or off their grocery tab.
Enrollment in the new rewards program, Winn-Dixie Rewards with Plenti, is underway in stores and online at Winn-Dixie.com/plenti. Current Plenti members can link their account to the Winn-Dixie program.
Here’s how the program will work:
At Winn-Dixie stores starting on April 5, have a cashier scan your new rewards card, key tag, digital card or enter your phone number at checkout.
Members can earn one Plenti point for every $2 spent at Winn-Dixie and can earn more by buying products with bonus point tags throughout the stores. Two hundred points is equal to $2 and 1,000 is equal to $10.
Earn more points by activating promotional offers on Plenti.com or on the smartphone app and when starting your online shopping trips through the Plenti Online Marketplace.
Similar to earning cashback through a website like Ebates.com or a credit card portal, with the marketplace you earn Plenti points on your purchases that you can later redeem at Plenti partners. Offers vary and you can earn six points per $1 at Barnes & Noble’s website and three points per dollar at Kohls.com.
Winn-Dixie shoppers still will be able to add digital coupons to their loyalty cards at Winn-Dixie.com and with the Coupons.com smartphone app.
“The only notable difference to our customers is that they will now have to use their Plenti log-in information when loading coupons to their cards online,” said Sharry Cramond, Southeastern Grocers chief marketing officer, in a prepared statement.
The ability to earn more Plenti points, which equate to savings, may grow in the future.
"Expanding in (the grocery) category will continue to be an important focus for Plenti as we grow our footprint,” Berwitz said in the statement. “We also plan to add partners in additional categories where our customers transact frequently.”
Kelly Tyko is a columnist for Treasure Coast Newspapers, a USA Today Florida Network newspaper. This column reflects her opinion. Read her Bargainista tips at TCPalm.com/Bargainista and follow her on Twitter @TCPalmKelly.


text:
Weekly crypto news on sports - Bitcoinist
Taylor Scott- Bitcoinist
The Sports Slice
NFL Eases Crypto Restrictions
Throughout nearly a year now of publishing The Sports Slice each week, we’ve covered quite a bit of content around the back and forth relationship between the NFL and crypto. The league clearly sees the undeniable revenue potential around blockchain and crypto-related firms, but as it often does, the NFL is not interested in being a first (or even second) mover in the area; they feel much more comfortable playing their cards conservatively when it comes to new sponsorship categories.
The potential revenue-driving opportunities could be turning that corner for the NFL, though. New reports this week have emerged that the NFL will now allow teams to pursue their own sponsorship deals in the space, but will still not allow direct promotion of cryptocurrencies. This includes fan tokens as well. Additionally, restrictions around stadium signage and deal-length (currently capped at three-year max deals) are in play. However, the move signals a clear shift towards the NFL’s conduciveness to engage in crypto and blockchain deals. Slowly but surely.
Liverpool Generates Mixed Reviews From Its NFT Endeavor
Liverpool FC is in the midst of a rock and a hard place after announcing a new NFT release of over 170,000 NFTs – expected to raise nearly $10M for the club. Liverpool has said they will sell the NFTs over a three day period, will be released on the Polygon blockchain, and burn any unsold NFTs from the collection.
So far, this seems all relatively straightforward when it comes to NFT releases – so where does the controversy come in? Many critics have started claiming that since Polygon is dependent on Ethereum (as it is a scaling solution), its reliance adds to the detrimental energy consumption that Ethereum is often criticized for. In short, critics of the NFT release are claiming that usage of Polygon is essentially equivalent to the usage of Ethereum – and that the energy impacts of this should be considered
View full text


text:
Facelifted Mercedes-Benz CLS to be unveiled in June
The face lifted version of the Mercedes-Benz CLS sedan is likely to be unveiled by June and subsequently the launch will happen sometime around November, a German media report has revealed.
According to the report, the facelift will see subtle design changes to the exteriors, while the interiors will get an ample amount of chrome for a more modern look.
Outside, the front will figure a one-bar front grille and minor changes have been carried out to front and rear bumpers, side skirts, head and tail lights. The headlights will now come with Active Multibeam ILS LED technology which also features in the new S-Class. This new technology consists of a system which scans the road in front 100 times a second and alters the individual LEDs on the headlights to provide optimum lighting.
The previous generation Mercedes CLS
Inside, the major change comes in the form of a large iPad like screen which is most prominent on the dashboard and will likely come with the updated COMAND system having NTG 5.0 version. We're not sure if this is the Apple CarPlay. The steering wheel now can be used to perform multiple functions.
Engine options are not expected to change and will probably get the outgoing model's power plants. The engines are expected to come mated with the new 9-speed automatic box.
Starts Rs 84.7 Lakhs
- 2022 Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder: More interior details revealed
- Mahindra Scorpio-N Vs Mahindra XUV700: What's different?
- 2022 Mahindra Scorpio-N unveiled in India, bookings open July 30
- 2022 Mahindra Scorpio-N launched in India, prices start from Rs 11.99 lakh
- 2022 Maruti Suzuki Ertiga CNG review, road test - the best CNG car you can buy?


text:
During the past five years, there has been an increasing demand for high mix low volume (HMLV) printed circuit boards (PCB). This is due to shorter product life cycles, agility on up-issues, requirements for better flexibility, as well as sensible cashflow realisation with low levels of customer held stock. HMLV puts special demands on factories, which is important when there are such a small number of quality factories in China that specialise in producing low to medium batch volumes quickly, reliably and cost effectively.
With more than 12,000 new parts tooled every year and as many as 60 per cent of these parts, qualifying as HMLV, NCAB works with a small number of specialist HMLV factories, typically, contracting to take more than 30 per cent of their production capacity.
Communication is key
Communication is a crucial component for successful high-mix production. To further streamline this process, NCAB Group, has launched its new proprietary factory management operating system (FMOS) software. Now all NCAB employees around the world can keep track of NCAB’s PCBs during manufacture, in real time, thus enabling them to be proactive.
This direct enterprise resource planning (ERP) link with all key factories enables any NCAB employee to see where any individual order is within any of its factories. It provides a real time status for every single part, in every key factory, thus eliminating the time normally spent with progressing and order checking processes.
Commenting on the new FMOS system, managing director, NCAB Group UK, Howard Goff, said: “Essentially, it is a huge leap forward and I do not know of any other system that delivers this real time link with numerous factory production facilities.
“For NCAB UK, HMLV orders represent more than 70 per cent of our order book. This means our customer service team, who are handling thousands of transactions monthly, always have up to date information, regardless of where any part might be in production.
“We have found that FMOS has increased our efficiencies tremendously. Our customers rely on us to provide real-time updates on where each order might be and FMOS gives us this facility, without phone calls or emails.
“With better than 99.4 per cent on time delivery into the UK, as well as the cost and reliability benefit of being one of Europe’s largest importers of PCBs, this helps us to continue delivering the lowest possible total acquisition cost to our customers.”


text:
Online video site VideoEgg Inc. partnered with social networking site MyYearbook.com to give 1.5 million young adults video publishing capability.
Now MyYearbook lets users automatically stream and store videos on its site.
“Different from a YouTube that allows users to embed video into other sites, the VideoEgg platform is directly integrated into partner sites,” said Kevin Sladek, chief strategy officer at VideoEgg.
Currently MySpace users often use YouTube or similar technology to embed video. The VideoEgg technology difference may offer unique advantages.
“From the partner perspective, integrating VideoEgg into their site experience keeps users engaged on their site and it also provides a new revenue stream through VideoEgg’s Ad network, the Eggnetwork,” he said.
MyYearbook.com, New Hope, PA, is a social network populated by teens, college student and recent graduates that grew to 1.5 million users over the past year. The firm joins other social networking sites using the VideoEgg platform including Bebo, Hi5, Dogster and CarSpace.
With the integration of video on a social networking site that includes millions of people, copyright is a concern. Earlier this month Viacom made YouTube remove clips from its Comedy Central properties like “The Colbert Report” and “The Jon Stewart Show.”
VideoEgg realizes the importance of protecting copyrighted material.
“VideoEgg unequivocally supports the rights of copyright holders and is committed to ensuring their rights are respected,” Mr. Sladek said. “We strive to continue to be a good partner with sites, large and small, to exhaust every possible avenue in protecting copyright holders from online piracy.”


text:
The fuel industry, campaigners and motorists have praised the Chancellor’s decision to scrap the fuel duty increase due in September.
In his Budget statement the Chancellor said he was cancelling the fuel duty increase “to support motorists and businesses”.
He said fuel duty will have been frozen for nearly three and a half years, and from April pump prices will be 13p per litre lower than they would have been under Labour’s previously announced plans.
The PRA chairman Brian Madderson welcomed the decision to cancel the fuel duty increase.
He said: “Taking into account the projection of RPI in the first quarter of 2014, combined with the current 20% VAT rate, this action will save the motorist up to 3ppl. This could even stem the continuing decline in overall retail fuel volumes, which according to last year’s Government statistics dropped by 2.9% compared to 2011.
“However with the Treasury benefiting from the tax windfall of higher VAT over the last two years on ever rising fuel prices, independent retailers had wanted this windfall to be used to cut fuel duty in this Budget. This was a view shared by many motoring organisations and trade bodies.
“It is clear that high fuel prices are a significant factor in the upward trend for inflation. They continue to take money out of consumers’ pockets thus weakening their spending power and stifle economic growth particularly for SMEs (small and medium size enterprises). The Chancellor has missed a golden opportunity to start correcting the penal 60% tax on retail road fuels.”
Robert Halfon MP, who has been one of the main campaigners in the Commons for lower fuel prices, said: “I am delighted. This was a cost of living Budget. It puts fuel in the tank of the British economy.
“I’m glad that the Chancellor has listened again, and helped millions of car-owners and businesses who are struggling to fill up their family car. Fuel duty is a toxic tax. It hits the poorest Brits the hardest.”
AA president Edmund King said: “A September fuel duty hike would have been the last straw likely to break UK drivers’ budgets and would have led to a summer of discontent. The freeze is a pragmatic move and will bring some relief at the pumps. Already 76% of AA members are cutting back on journeys, household expenditure or both, due to the high cost of fuel.
“With current fuel prices at 138.42p for petrol and 145.24p for diesel, drivers will welcome the scrapping of the fuel duty hike with relief rather than with joy. Prices are almost 5p a litre higher than when the Chancellor froze fuel duty in March 2011.”
Retailers also welcomed a decision to scrap the duty escalator on beer and reduce the rate by 1p.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “We welcome the decision to freeze beer duty, This will benefit consumers and reduce some of the pressure on local shops losing trade to the illegal market. It’s a shame this benefit will not be shared by customers buying wine, spirits and cider.”
Tobacco continued to experience above inflation duty increases however. Jorge da Motta, managing director of JTI in the UK, said: “The UK Government’s excessive tax on tobacco products puts the UK at the top of the criminals’ list of destinations for illicit tobacco.
“Today’s announcement of an increase of 5.3% will further encourage lawbreakers both large and small who will continue to deprive the Government in the UK of millions of pounds every day in uncollected duty.
“Despite the efforts of a broad alliance of HMRC, trading standards and tobacco manufacturers, the latest industry data shows that around one in five cigarettes smoked avoid UK duty and this represents a loss in revenue of £3bn.
“With proposals for plain packs being discussed we urge the Government not to introduce such a measure, which will push us over the tipping point and lead to communities across the UK becoming swamped with smuggled and counterfeit cigarettes.”


text:
Consolidated EBITDA for Northern Offshore amounted to $7.7 million for the third quarter, up from $5.5 million the seconde quarter this year, mainly due to EBITDA generated from the Energy Searcher of about $950,000 and higher production volume on Northern Producer. Comparing nine months 2001 with nine months 2000, the EBITDA reduction of $10.4 million is partly due to the recording of the settlement of USD 6 million from the dispute with Coplex Resources in 2000 and reduced production volume from Northern Producer this year compared with year 2000. For the third quarter of 2001 the net loss was $2.5 million. Net loss for nine months this year was $2.3 million compared with a profit of $19.9 last year. In addition to the difference in EBITDA as described above, the main reason for the reduced profit refers to higher profit on repurchased Bonds in 2000, partly offset by adjustment of deferred taxes in connection with the change of domicile for the company.
Ted Arison, founder of Carnival Cruise Lines, reportedly died of a heart attack on Oct. 1 in Tel Aviv at the age of 75. Arison, listed in Forbes magazine as one of the world's richest men, made most of his fortune in the United States and had vast business interests in Israel. He assumed management of a passenger shipping company in Miami, Florida, soon after retiring there in 1966, and started Carnival Cruise Lines in 1972 after buying his first liner, Mardi Gras.
Hvide Marine Inc. today reported a net loss of $20.1 million or $.129 per diluted share on revenues of $86 million for the quarter ended September 30, 1999. In the period one year earlier, the company had a net income of $3.9 million or $.25 per diluted share on revenues of $100.1 million. Results in the current quarter and year-to-date have been adjusted to reflect the consolidation, as of September 30, 1999 of Lightship Tankers LLC, a 50
Teledyne today reported third quarter 2013 sales of $571.6 million, compared with sales of $547.4 million for the third quarter of 2012, an increase of 4.4%. Net income attributable to Teledyne was $46.8 million ($1.23 per diluted share) for the third quarter of 2013, compared with $42.7 million ($1.14 per diluted share) for the third quarter of 2012, an increase of 9.6%. “In the third quarter, our commercial industrial businesses collectively performed very well
Huntington Ingalls Industries reports third quarter 2012 revenues of $1.60 billion, up 0.2 percent from the same period last year. Highlights: Revenues were $1.60 billion for the third quarter 2012 Diluted earnings per share was $0.26 for the quarter Adjusted diluted earnings per share, which excludes a non-cash workers' compensation charge and the impact of a non-cash tax expense, was $0.74 Cash and cash equivalents were $766 million at quarter-end
Yara International ASA delivered strong third-quarter results, with record fertilizer deliveries and continued margin benefit from lower European gas price. "Yara reports a strong third-quarter result with record deliveries, reflecting both organic growth and the Bunge acquisition in Brazil," said Torgeir Kvidal, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Yara. "Our European production plants performed well
Horizon Offshore, Inc. reported net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, of $2.8 million. This compares with net income of $3.7 million, for the third quarter of 2000. For the third quarter of 2001, the company reported gross profit of $7.7 million, or 12.6 percent, on contract revenues of $61.0 million, compared with gross profit of $10.3 million, or 18.2 percent, on contract revenues of $56.3 million in 2000.
Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NVGS) has reported third-quarter ended September 30, 2016profit of $6.5 million, with earnings per share of $0.12. The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 7 cents per share. EBITDA was $30.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2016. The transportaion company for the natural gas and and chemical industry posted revenue of $69
CNOOC Limited announced that its two new oil fields, BoZhong (BZ) 26-3 and LuDa (LD) 32-2 in the Bohai Bay have successfully commenced production recently. BZ 26-3 is located in the central part of Bohai Bay, neighboring producing field BZ 25-1S. The field has an average water depth of about 25 meters. The development and production operations of BZ 26-3 mainly rely on the facilities of its surrounding oilfields. With 4 wells online currently
Trailer Bridge, Inc. reported its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2001. Total revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2001 was $20,052,136, as compared to $23,151,664 for the third quarter of 2000. Compared sequentially to the second quarter of 2001, total revenue decreased $1,607,048 or 7.4 percent. In the early part of the third quarter, Trailer Bridge experienced higher vessel utilization both southbound and northbound. Based
Laugfs Maritime Services, the shipping division of Sri Lanka’s Laugfs Gas, has purchased its third Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) carrier vessel for USD 2.875 million, reports Lanka Business Online quoting company sources.
There have been plenty of record breaking facts and figures to report across 2016, unfortunately mostly of a gloomy nature, says Clarksons Research. From a record low for the Baltic Dry Index in February to a post-1990 low for the ClarkSea Index in August
Maersk, the world's largest container shipping line, has teamed up with Alibaba to allow customers to reserve space on its vessels through the Chinese company, illustrating growing cooperation between e-commerce and logistics firms.
Nigeria's government will seek a lasting peace settlement with militants in the oil-producing southern Niger Delta region in 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari said in a New Year's message on Saturday. Attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria's energy hub, coupled with low oil prices
France may intervene in the sale of the Saint-Nazaire shipyard by bankrupt South Korean shipbuilder STX if the French government's conditions are not met, Industry Minister Christophe Sirugue said. "The government is fully mobilised and will not hesitate to use all of the levers at its
Bankrupt South Korean shipping company Hanjin will sell its operations of the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 46 to Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping COmpany (MSC) subsidiary Terminal Investment Limited (TIL), reports AP.
The South Korean court handling the bankruptcy proceedings of STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. said that only a single bidder had submitted a binding proposal to buy the shipyard's profitable French unit, says a report by AFP.
Shipping confidence improved for the third successive quarter in the three months to end-November 2016, says a report by Moore Stephens, an accounting and advisory network in UK. In November 2016, the average confidence level expressed by respondents was 5.6 out of 10
Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. (HMM) expects its profitability to improve slightly in the first quarter of next year on the back of an improvement in freight rates and its cost-cutting measures, reports Yonhap, quoting its chief executive Yoo Chang-keun.
Danaos Corporation reports its results for the third quarter of 2016 in the aftermath of the bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping, one of Danaos' large customers. Danaos' CEO Dr. John Coustas says: "As a result of the bankruptcy
Kongsberg Maritime has developed a new Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) application for its K-Fleet suite of Marine Fleet Management Software. K-Fleet MRV has been assessed as meeting the requirements of new EU-regulation 2015/757
The world's biggest container shipper A.P. Moller-Maersk may consider selling assets or cutting dividends as it seeks to retain its credit rating, the company said on Tuesday. Maersk's Baa1 credit rating was put under review for a downgrade by Moody's in September
Taiwan's shipping lines aren't looking quite so young and fresh as they were earlier, reports Bloomberg. While the global container industry has embarked on a spree of pairings and menages-a-trois over the past 12 months, Taiwan's shipping lines have remained proudly single.
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. (HHI), a major shipyard in South Korea, looks set to clinch a deal with Iran to supply 10 ships, says a report in Yonhap. The contract, valued at USD650 million, will see Hyundai supply the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, (IRISL) with four 14
Dry bulk shipping company Golden Ocean Group Limited, while announcing its preliminary results for the quarter ended September 30, 2016, informed that it suffered a net loss of $26.7 million and a loss per share of $0.25 Highlights


text:
FTSE 100 close: Citigroup boost for retailers
The FTSE 100 index advanced today despite Chancellor Alistair Darling's gloomy predictions of soaring borrowing and the worst year for the UK economy since the Second World War.
Budget nerves: How will share react to the Budget?
A 3.5% decline this year will be followed by better-than-expected growth of 1.25% in 2010, Mr Darling said, but markets were focussing on comments from his US counterpart Tim Geithner.
The Treasury Secretary's comments that banks had more than enough capital and his confidence over an eventual recovery helped the Footsie finish 43.2 points higher at 4,030.7 as Wall Street also turned around early losses.
The Dow Jones was last 54.9 points ahead at 8,024.4.
His comments helped top-flight banking stocks, while retail shares advanced after a leading City firm upgraded its price targets in the sector amid hopes of improved trading.
Next rallied more than 7%, or 98p to 1435p to surge up the leaders' board while B&Q owner Kingfisher saw similar gains, finishing 12.1p up at 174.8p. Marks & Spencer cheered 17.75p to 329.25p.
In the FTSE 250 index, Comet owner Kesa Electricals and Currys firm DSG International improved 10.75p to 122.5p and 3.5p to 35.75p respectively.
More gloom from unemployment and public sector borrowing figures earlier in the session failed to derail the market, given that the figures were broadly in line with expectations.
Analysts also took first-quarter figures from GlaxoSmithKline in their stride, even though the results were slightly lower than expectations. Shares were 31.5p lower at 1019.5p, a drop of 3%.
Banks were the main beneficiaries of improved sentiment on Wall Street, with Barclays up almost 10% or 19p to 218p and Lloyds Banking Group ahead 5.5p to 100.5p. Elsewhere HSBC gained 19.25p to 469.5p, or 4%.
Back in the second tier, investors were monitoring ITV shares amid rumours that Italy's Mediaset is working on a bid for the broadcaster. ITV shares jumped 11% or 3.25p to 32p, even though network partner STV said there had been no improvement in advertising conditions. STV shares were down 7% or 5.25p at 74.75p.
And in the retail sector, Game Group surged almost 13% - up 21p to 185p - as investors cheered better than expected annual results and a strong start to the new financial year.
There was also good news from chocolate retailer Thorntons, which lifted 10% or 8.25p to 87.25p after it said it expected profits to beat market forecasts following a strong Easter trading period.
Fashion group Alexon proved the exception in the sector after it reported bottom-line losses of £27.7m and said its loss-making arm Bay Trading may need radical restructuring if trading does not improve. Shares were down 21%, off 7p at 26.25p.
The biggest Footsie risers were Hammerson up 31.5p at 310p, Barclays up 19p at 218p, British Land up 38.75p at 446p and Rio Tinto up 177p at 2472p.
The biggest Footsie fallers were Centrica down 11p at 235p, Friends Provident off 2.8p at 60.8p, Reed Elsevier down 20.25p at 478.75p and Cadbury down 18p at 496.5p.
City coverage and share tips
This is Money carries breaking City news throughout the day. Bookmark Companies & Markets and try these markets links...
Most watched Money videos
- World's first 3D printed hypercar that has a top speed of 268MPH
- Halfords promo shows new fingerprint activated steering lock works
- Bentley reveals its priciest car ever - and it's already sold out
- The new Aston Martin V12 Speedster styled after a fighter jet
- Hyundai reveals smart 'minimalist' electric vehicle concept
- Explore the key features of the brand new £20 polymer bank note
- UK to get its first electric car charging forecourt this year
- When will stock markets stop falling due to coronavirus?
- What does coronavirus mean for your investments?
- Toyota shows how to clean a car during Covid-19 pandemic
- Couple buy castle after being inspired by Escape to the Chateau
- Lochside property with seven holiday chalets goes on the market


text:
Payment service provider Nets strengthens presence in Poland
Nets, a payment service provider from the Nordics, has announced its strategic alliance with Przelewy24. This is a major online payment service provider from Poland. This news comes after Nets recently acquired Dotpay/eCard, Ecommerce News reports.
According to Nets, the Nordic company will attain a majority stake of 51% in the consolidated group that includes Przelewy24 and Dotpay/eCard. Nets says this deal and the strategic alliance with Przelewy24 represent a “significant entry” into Poland.
“Poland is characterized by solid growth in e-commerce volumes and high growth potential through cash to digital payments conversion”, the company explains. According to Statista, ecommerce in Poland is expected to show revenue growth of 9.4 percent in 2020.
Piotr Kurczewski, who will remain as CEO of Przelewy24 and shareholder with 49% of the consolidated group, thinks his company can further strengthen their combined merchant services portfolio.
Nets has partnered with over 400,000 merchants, including 35,000 online merchants, more than 240,000 enterprises and over 240 banks across the Nordic region and mainland Europe.


text:
Government suing companies contaminating drinking water The state and the local government in the US are punishing the companies, particularly the manufacturers of PFAS also known as forever chemicals and discharging into the drinking water by suing them. these forever are known as polyfluoroalkyl substances which are harmful for the water, soil and even human blood which could cause serious health hazards such as cancer or tumor.
Now that the water suppliers and the state and local government is in charge, it is a fight between the companies and the customers, who are the water drinker. The fight is about who is going to be hooked on for the hundreds of dollars as in the damage. The average estimate for removing the PFAS contaminated water across the nation would be about 400 billion dollars, which cuts short the settlement cost and the cost for cleaning up the water bodies or the environment, in general across, the nation.
Now, if these manufacturers are unable to pay the damaging charges, the taxpayers or the water drinkers have to pay up. The reasons due to which these forever chemicals are favourable to the manufacturers is because these are mostly found in makeup products, stainless steel cook wares.
This chemicals is the reason why these products are hard to clean. This makes the product more durable, fire, water and wind resistant. Reputed companies like DuPont and 3M are being targeted but the Government as their products are made up from these forever chemicals and are now affecting the water bodies, soil and also the human health
Be First to Comment


text:
In fact, McKechnie said he thinks the stock will be just about cut in half to $8 a share by year's end as the company's new BB10 smartphones come with a changed business model on top of strong competition from new Google Android devices and Apple iPhones.
Over at another one-time darling of the cellphone market, Nokia, it's been a tough year so far. But Stuart Jeffrey, telecommunications equipment analyst at Nomura, told CNBC he sees the stock rising about 30 percent to $4.40 a share by year end.
Jeffrey said those gains are likely to be driven by sequential growth of the company's new Microsoft Windows smartphones. But like BlackBerry, Nokia faces the same headwinds from Android devices and iPhones, he concluded.
With that preamble, it's now your turn to put on your analyst cap and vote on which stock—BlackBerry or Nokia—will perform the best from the start of the second quarter to the end of the year. Vote on our Facebook page in the second matchup of our "Squawk Box Money Madness."
In our stock tournament—much like in March Madness basketball—the best performers for the year play the worst.
Monday, in our opening contest, year-to-date loser Apple went up against 2013 winner Netflix. Despite its recent tough run, however, Apple ran away with it. In our poll, you put the iPhone maker through with 83 percent of the thousands of votes.
So remember to vote on Tuesday's matchup: BlackBerry vs. Nokia. We'll have new "Money Madness" match-up each day of the "Big Dance" and a new poll awaiting your vote on our Facebook page.
Disclosures: Evercore or an affiliate expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from BlackBerry within the next three months. The analyst has not received compensation. Stuart Jeffrey of Nomura said his firm owns Nokia stock and Nokia is an investment banking client Nomura.


text:
- Quarterly adjusted EPS from continuing operations of $1.82 up 17 percent driven by restructuring and self-help measures, up 20 percent at constant exchange rates
- Quarterly adjusted EBITDA margin of 35.1 percent up 560 basis points, and adjusted Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) of 13.0 percent up 200 basis points versus prior year
- Quarterly GAAP EPS from continuing operations of $1.74 versus prior year of $1.34
- Announced decision to exit Energy-from-Waste (EfW) business; segment presented as a discontinued operation
- Fiscal 2016 third quarter adjusted EPS from continuing operations guidance of $1.87 to $1.92, up 13 to 16 percent versus prior year
- Increasing fiscal full-year 2016 adjusted EPS from continuing operations guidance of $7.40 to $7.55, up 12 to 14 percent
*The results and guidance in this release, including in the highlights above, unless otherwise indicated, are based on “adjusted” non-GAAP continuing operations. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results can be found at the end of this release.
Air Products (NYSE: APD) today reported adjusted net income from continuing operations of $397 million, up 18 percent versus prior year, and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations of $1.82, up 17 percent versus prior year, for its fiscal second quarter ended March 31, 2016.
On a GAAP basis, net income from continuing operations was $380 million and EPS from continuing operations was $1.74 for the quarter.
Second quarter sales of $2,271 million decreased six percent from the prior year on unfavorable currency and lower energy pass-through of three percent each. Volumes were unchanged, as Industrial Gases – Asia growth continued while most other segment volumes were lower. Pricing overall was flat despite higher pricing in Industrial Gases – Americas and Industrial Gases – Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Adjusted operating income of $532 million increased 20 percent versus prior year, and record adjusted operating margin of 23.4 percent improved 500 basis points. Adjusted EBITDA of $797 million increased 12 percent over prior year, and record adjusted EBITDA margin of 35.1 percent improved 560 basis points. Adjusted ROCE increased 200 basis points to 13 percent. Restructuring and self-help measures drove this improvement.
Commenting on the results, Seifi Ghasemi, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, “With their sharp focus on executing our strategic Five-Point plan by controlling what they can control, the committed and motivated team at Air Products delivered excellent results again this quarter. In the face of challenging economic conditions and a weak manufacturing environment, Air Products again posted significant profit improvement, with EPS up 17 percent and record EBITDA margin of 35.1 percent, up 560 basis points. We have now delivered seven consecutive quarters of double-digit EPS growth.”
Second Quarter Results by Business Segment
- Industrial Gases – Americas sales of $798 million decreased 10 percent versus prior year, as lower energy pass-through reduced sales by six percent and unfavorable currency reduced sales by three percent. Volumes decreased two percent, primarily on lower demand in Latin America, as well as weakness in the oilfield services and North American steel markets. Pricing increased one percent. Operating income of $224 million increased 23 percent over prior year, and adjusted EBITDA of $341 million increased 14 percent, driven by the benefits from restructuring actions and lower maintenance costs. Record operating margin of 28.1 percent improved 770 basis points, and record adjusted EBITDA margin of 42.8 percent improved 910 basis points over prior year.
- Industrial Gases – EMEA sales of $420 million declined six percent versus last year, with lower energy pass-through reducing sales by four percent and unfavorable currency reducing sales by three percent. Underlying sales were up one percent, as two percent higher pricing was partially offset by one percent lower volumes. Operating income of $89 million increased 26 percent from the prior year, and adjusted EBITDA of $145 million increased 14 percent versus prior year on the benefits from restructuring and pricing actions. Record operating margin of 21.3 percent increased 550 basis points, and record adjusted EBITDA margin of 34.5 percent increased 630 basis points over the prior year.
- Industrial Gases – Asia sales of $406 million increased three percent versus prior year, as volume growth of 10 percent, driven by both strong underlying business and new plants, was partially offset by six percent unfavorable currency and one percent lower pricing. Operating income of $104 million increased 23 percent and adjusted EBITDA of $170 million increased 18 percent on the benefits from restructuring actions and higher volumes. Operating margin of 25.7 percent improved 410 basis points over prior year, and adjusted EBITDA margin of 41.9 percent increased 520 basis points. Profits declined sequentially, primarily on lower merchant volumes due to the Lunar New Year holiday.
- Materials Technologies sales of $494 million decreased seven percent versus the prior year on six percent lower volumes. Operating income of $129 million was up four percent and adjusted EBITDA of $150 million was up one percent from prior year, with price and raw materials management, mix and restructuring actions driving the profit improvement. Record operating margin of 26.2 percent was up 290 basis points, and record adjusted EBITDA margin of 30.2 percent was up 240 basis points.
- Electronic Materials sales of $234 million declined 10 percent from the prior year due to lower delivery systems volumes. Operating margin of 30.1 percent was up 400 basis points and adjusted EBITDA margin of 35.5 percent increased 320 basis points, driven by favorable pricing and mix and the benefits of restructuring actions.
- Performance Materials sales of $261 million decreased five percent from the prior year on two percent lower volumes, driven by weaker additives and epoxies demand, and two percent lower pricing. Operating margin of 22.8 percent and adjusted EBITDA margin of 25.8 percent were both up 160 basis points, driven by lower raw material costs.
In the second fiscal quarter of 2016
- The EfW business segment has been accounted for as a discontinued operation. A loss on disposal of $946 million pre-tax ($847 million after-tax) was recorded, primarily to write down the assets to their estimated net realizable value.
- Non-GAAP results for the Company exclude $8.6 million, or $0.03 per share, of expenses for cost reduction actions; $7.4 million, or $0.04 per share, in legal and advisory fees related to the intended separation of the Company’s Materials Technologies business; and $2.6 million, or $0.01 per share, for pension settlement costs.
The capital expenditure forecast for fiscal year 2016 is approximately $1.2 billion.
Air Products expects fiscal 2016 third quarter adjusted EPS from continuing operations to be between $1.87 and $1.92 per share, up 13 to 16 percent versus prior year.
The Company is increasing its full-year fiscal 2016 adjusted EPS from continuing operations guidance to $7.40 to $7.55 earnings per share, up 12 to 14 percent from the prior year. The Company’s previous guidance was $7.25 to $7.50.
Access the Q2 earnings teleconference scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on April 28 by calling (913) 312-0726 and entering passcode 6881421, or access the Event Details page on Air Products’ Investor Relations web site.
View entire earnings release with all financial tables.


text:
News : TalkTalk Buys Movie Platform Blinkbox from Tesco
Warrington, UK Jan 8, 2015 -- Phone and internet group TalkTalk has acquired the blinkbox movies business and the Tesco broadband and voice base from Tesco Plc.
TalkTalk employs around 1,000 staff at a Warrington call centre.
Blinkbox will help accelerate the development of TalkTalk's platform by delivering a number of key initiatives significantly faster, such as offering a TV app to customers for in and out of home access to paid-for content across a range of devices.
The integration of blinkbox with TalkTalk’s existing TV business is expected to begin immediately with the benefits of restructuring the combined platform and revenue synergies expected to flow from the end of 2015.
....NOTE - content continues below this message
SPONSOR MESSAGE: INVITATION!
We invite you and your colleagues to take a couple of days out of your busy schedule to join us and the elite in the industry to listen to the NEXT GENERATION Contact Center & Customer Engagement Best Practices.
As part of the same deal the group has also acquired Tesco’s broadband and voice base which will enable it to further develop its national network.
As with the recent acquisition of the Virgin Media National base, customers will be transferred across to the TalkTalk network over the coming months.
Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Today's Tip of the Day - Don't Share Everything
More Editorial From TalkTalk Group
About TalkTalk Group:
TalkTalk is the United Kingdom's leading value for money provider of fixed line broadband and voice telephony services to consumers and business users. The group serves over 4.8 million customers across the UK under the TalkTalk, AOL Broadband and TalkTalk Business brands. Over the past five years, through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions, TalkTalk has built one of UK's largest broadband and voice customer bases.
Tesco operates 2,291 stores around the world and employs 296,000 people. The company has grown from a domestic retailer to an International Group through its organic growth program. Tesco has a four part corporate strategy that includes the core UK business, non-food business, retailing services, and international operations.
Published: Monday, January 12, 2015


text:
Movie News More news (6)
- Bhuj: The Pride of India has second trailer release!
- Bhuj: The Pride of India gets Disney+Hotstar Release date!
- Two more Hindi films to release directly on Amazon Prime, Disney Plus Hotstar!
- First look of Ajay Devgn in 'Bhuj: The Pride of India' is out
- Sanjay Dutt starts shooting for Bhuj: The Pride of India in Hyderabad
- Ajay Devgn's Tanhaji The Unsung Warrior and Bhuj The Pride Of India get release dates


text:
As noted yesterday, Apple has officially announced their media event, which will revolve almost entirely around the next-generation iPhone. Well, 9to5Mac is now reporting that new iPods will likely be introduced at this time.
The report does not go into great detail, but they do state that they expect Apple to release two or three iPod product lines, many of which will come in a variety of colors. A couple of the lines seem to correspond to the iPod Shuffle and iPod nano, but the third line seems uncertain at this point. Instead of repeating what they stated in their report, here’s an excerpt:
All these new lines will come in multiple colors, one of the lines will come in two size capacities, and the other two lines will come in a single storage capacity.
With the current iPod nanos and iPod shuffles both available in multiple colors (and with the nano currently available in two capacities and the shuffle in one), we think it is likely that new iPod nanos and iPod shuffles are launching next week.
However, it is possible that there is a third line as well (that, too, comes in multiple colors). With the iPod touch currently available in two colors and three capacities (black/white, 8GB, 32GB, 64GB) we don’t believe that the iPod touch is third line that comes in multiple colors.
There are rumors circulating that the iPod nano is going to be redesigned, and possibly include a home button and iPod touch-esque form factor. This may be a redesign of the iPod nano, or it could be a new line of devices, which this report suggests in a roundabout way. The third line could also be either the iPod classic or iPod touch even though the report does not believe this to be the case.
If it is the touch, a rumor cropped up awhile back suggesting that the new touch will have a 4-inch screen similar to the one expected to make its way into the new iPhone, which will be introduced at the same time.


text:
In order to boost consumption of the beverage in the country, the Tea Board of India is considering the use of blockchain to implement complete traceability of tea right from the plantation stage till the time it is sold to the buyer, reports Business Standard.
This will not only help eliminate adulteration of Indian tea and improve consumers’ experience, but will also help preserve the identity of Indian tea. An improved experience with tea is expected to boost consumption as well.
The Tea Board has floated an expression of interest for designing, developing and commissioning end-to-end technology to ensure traceability of the entire value chain of tea trade.
While the consultancy firm to be selected via tender will study the existing available technologies in the industry, it will also propose a combination of latest and emerging technologies, preferably blockchain technology, and mobile applications for integrating the existing systems which shall convert the standalone applications into a ring-fenced electronic environment.
This, in turn, will capture all the details of supply chain from procurement of raw materials by the manufacturers to the disposal of made teas to the primary buyers through auction. This integration will help end consumers trace Indian origin teas by digitisation of the marketing channel and bring the Indian tea industry into the mainstream of digital economy.
To read complete report, please visit: https://www.indoasiancommodities.com/2019/10/30/tea-board-of-india-mulls-using-blockchain-to-free-indian-tea-from-adulteration/


text:
Joy overcame all fans when they found out Bungie moved the release date of Destiny 2 closer. This is good news indeed, but why did the developer decide to release the sci-fi shooter earlier? The explanation was quick to come, and it seems the reason was to release the stress put on servers.
Destiny 2 comes earlier than expect
Bungie pleasantly surprised Destiny fans with the announcement related to the release of the second game in the franchise. Instead of Friday, September 8th, Destiny 2 will be out on Wednesday, September 6th. This change was not only thought over for fans, and is in fact a clever strategy.
Luke Smith, the Destiny 2 director, said that moving the release earlier would help them avoid a lot of problems. If they had released it on Friday, the servers would have been in danger of crashing. Now, this will no longer be the case, and it will also give developers enough time to get ready to receive the overwhelming amount of players presumed to overtake the servers the first weekend after the release.
The reason of the change is logistic
Bungie has gotten used to facing the biggest number of players for a game in the Saturday of the first week of the game’s existence. Therefore, a Friday release would have been risky, so the change has mostly logistical reasons. Even if it wasn’t intended for the fans, they are most surely not upset to receive Destiny 2 earlier.
In case you weren’t aware of it yet, these issues concern only Xbox One and PlayStation 4 users. Destiny 2 will be released on PC as well, but it will come two months after the console versions. This will happen because Bungie wants all the time to make the PC version as good as it gets. In fact, this is the first time when franchise becomes available for the platform, so everything should turn out perfect.
Image Source: Flickr


text:
|Thanks to Your Tireless Efforts, the Senate Stopped Monsanto’s Dream Bill Today!
Will you help make sure we can stop it for good?
,Due to the thousands of phone calls and letters you’ve helped send into your senators’ offices, the Senate did not get the 60 votes needed to move Monsanto’s Dream Bill forward to a full vote.
However, we can’t declare full victory yet — labeling opponents are already scheming to bring this bill back up before the Vermont GMO labeling law goes into effect this summer. Can you chip in now to help us stop Monsanto’s Dream Bill for good?
In just the last 24 hours, you helped us get in more than 5,000 phone calls into Senate offices. We heard from numerous Senate staff that they’ve heard more about GMO labeling than any other issue this year.
Our organizers were working in 17 states throughout the U.S. to put pressure on the key Senate targets, and it worked! Every single Senator we were targeting voted the right way on this! Senators Stabenow (D-MI), Bennet (D-CO), Brown (D-OH), Casey (D-PA), Klobuchar (D-MN), Franken (D-MN), Durbin (D-IL), Collins (R-ME), Kaine (D-VA), Warner (D-VA), Menendez (D-NJ) and many others listened to their constituents and voted to protect your right to know if your food contains GMOs.
Senators Merkley (D-OR), Boxer (D-CA), Tester (D-MT), Blumenthal (D-CT), and others were true champions in speaking up for our right to know if our food contains genetically engineered ingredients.
The Senate is getting ready to go on recess for the next two weeks, and we need your help to mobilize our nearly 1 million supporters in key districts. We need your help to:
Can you chip in now to help us ramp up our organizing efforts to stop the DARK Act for good?
Last month, Campbell’s announced that it will label all of its products that contain genetically engineered ingredients to comply with the Vermont law. This was big news and we hope that other food companies will stop fighting against GMO labels and also comply with the Vermont law. We know that all companies can do what Campbell’s did, but we must stop Monsanto’s attempt in the Senate to thwart states’ laws to require mandatory on-package GMO labeling.


text:
TOKYO -- Japan's corporate leaders are increasingly keen to expand through mergers and acquisitions, a Nikkei survey shows.
In the quarterly survey of top executives, 46.6% of the 148 respondents said they are actively looking for M&A targets. Of these, 72.5% said they are motivated by a desire to enter new markets and fields of business; 63.8% said they want to acquire personnel and technologies.
The ratio of companies in an acquisitive mood was up 4 percentage points from a year ago.
Asked which countries and regions they are scouting, 60.9% of the executives said the U.S. and Europe, followed by 52.2% for China and other emerging markets.
In addition, 58% of the respondents said they are considering or will consider domestic industry reorganization if it will bolster their international competitiveness.
Japanese businesses also appear confident that an economic recovery can be sustained, with stronger consumer spending and improving conditions in the U.S.
In the survey, 29.1% said they will put their cash reserves toward M&A deals.


text:
Chandigarh, Sep 26 (IANS) For a change, original Indian television content is going to be exported to another country. A programme similar to the immensely popular MTV Roadies will start on a Pakistani channel, an official of MTV said here Friday.
"Till date, Indian channels have only copied concepts like that of talent hunts from other countries. But for the first time, we are exporting our programme content of Roadies to a Pakistan based ARY channel," Ashish Patil, general manager, MTV India told mediapersons in Chandigarh.
"MTV Roadies is also the first television show to enter into the market of branded products in the country. We already have cargos in the market and this year we


text:
From 15 to 19 June, a series of in-cosmetics Korea webinars themed “Educational Week” covered a diverse range of topics, with Givaudan, Lubrizol, Nikko Chemical, LipoTrue and Cargill Beauty APAC among those that discussed their newest ingredient launches as well as scientific advances and local and global trends.
Five trending Korean market topics
Each day of in-cosmetics Korea Educational Week focused on a different theme:
Industry Insights Day:
Representatives from Kline, Mintel and UL Prospector took a deep dive into the market trends impacting the Korean cosmetics industry. They presented the latest consumer research on active and functional ingredients, delivering advice on intelligent product design and compliance, as well as providing examples of Chinese beauty brands putting innovation first.
Presentations from Cargill Beauty APAC, BEAUTYSTREAMS and Lipoid Kosmetik highlighted the trends driving clean beauty concepts and the role of storytelling strategies in helping re-interpret the ‘green’ trend for consumers.
Trends and Innovation:
REACH24H, Euromonitor and Nikko Chemical helped attendees understand the landscape of all major cosmetic policy activity across the Asia-Pacific region, and the top trends driving industry growth.
With environmental pollution and excessive screen time negatively affecting skin conditions, Sequential Skin, Seppic Asia and LipoTrue joined the programme. They profiled personalised beauty prescriptions and new dermo-cosmetic actives that provide beneficial properties for new skincare formulations.
From charcoal to collagen, numerous products that are typically found in food have made their way into personal care products, offering a wide range of health benefits. Representatives from GlobalData, Givaudan and Lubrizol highlighted how an increased public interest in organic and natural products is driving new skincare trends.
Daily doses of innovation and inspiration
Complementing the live webinars, in-cosmetics Korea Educational Week also showcased an array of innovative raw materials launched within the last six months.
Profiles of brand new, innovative personal ingredients were also available online to inspire new formulations and product development. Each product was accompanied by a video introduction from regional expert Mike Son of Reach24, who explored its unique benefits and explained how it can be utilised in innovative formulations.


text:
Tourism Australia is launching the next instalment of its global There’s Nothing Like Australia brand platform today, with Come and Say G’day, a new multi-market, mass awareness campaign inviting international travellers to plan and book an unforgettable Australian holiday.
The campaign introduces the world to new brand ambassador, Ruby, a souvenir kangaroo who is brought to life with CGI animation and is unmistakably Australian. Ruby, voiced by Australian actress and Tourism Australia’s global ambassador, Rose Byrne, was unveiled earlier this month as she hopped across billboards around the world in anticipation for the launch.
Central to the campaign is G’day, a live-action short film directed by acclaimed Australian director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) and produced by FINCH, which aims to capture the world’s imagination with a global publicity and paid media launch strategy that mirrors a major film release. G’day the short film follows the unlikely friendship of Ruby and Louie, a toy unicorn voiced by actor Will Arnett who is a symbolic representation of an international traveller, on an incredible adventure around Australia.
Alongside other Australian icons, from destinations and experiences to talent and music, Ruby will appear across a range of new campaign assets including TVCs, print, social and digital creative elements, including 3D billboards and high-impact Out of Home (OOH) advertising placements, in a channel mix that has been optimised towards driving attention, engagement, and awareness of the campaign across 15 key markets. Initial testing of the commercial 1, which predicts its effectiveness, was overwhelmingly positive across Tourism Australia’s key markets.
Tourism Australia managing director, Phillipa Harrison, said: “Come and Say G’day is unashamedly and unmistakably Australian. After a challenging time around the world, our uplifting and joyful campaign will stand out in what is a highly competitive international tourism market.”
Tourism Australia’s Chief Marketing Officer, Susan Coghill said Ruby was both a joyful way to showcase the warm and welcoming nature of Australia, and to instantly connect with international audiences, with research showing that the kangaroo is Australia’s most recognisable icon and a clear representation of the country.2
“The use of an animated character, such as Ruby, was a deliberate move that aims to cut through the clutter of destination marketing internationally. Ruby is a versatile fluent brand device that can live across all platforms and channels,” Ms Coghill said.
“In tourism advertising misattribution of destinations is extraordinarily high and the use of famous and recognisable Australian icons, such as a kangaroo, Uluru, Sydney Opera House and the Great Barrier Reef throughout the campaign ensures our assets are undeniably Australian. It reinforces existing memory structures with consumers and reminds them of what they already know and love about Australia.”
Through talent, music and landscapes, Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures feature prominently in the campaign, with multiple Indigenous Australian languages shared with audiences. Notably, a fresh new cover of the classic Aussie song Down Under was produced in collaboration with Men At Work’s Colin Hay for the campaign.
Ms Harrison, concluded, “Another hero of the campaign is the remake of the Australian classic song Down Under by up-and-coming Australian band King Stingray, who sing in both English and Yolŋu Matha, an Indigenous language from northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.”
Come and Say G’day will be amplified through partnerships with State Tourism Organisations, key distribution and media partners and airlines including Australia’s flag carrier Qantas.
The campaign was created in collaboration with M&C Saatchi and supported by Tourism Australia’s global agency village as well as specialised agencies that helped to bring the animation to life.
Cam Blackley, chief creative officer at M&C Sydney commented, “Campaigns of this scale and importance rarely come around and we feel blessed to have been entrusted with the creation of another epic that will help rejuvenate the tourism industry. This campaign is purpose built to work for audiences from east to west, above and below the equator and easily flex for cultural nuisances and sensitivities.
“Come and Say G’day is full of bucket list moments from the director to the actors, the characters and iconic locations. It’s been touched by a dedicated team of creative individuals and championed by a client that doesn’t just have a progressive vision for advertising but that also truly loves Australia and understands what it takes to motivate the world to visit.”
Yvonne Hobden, head of marketing at Flight Centre UK says the new campaign is likely to resonate well with British travellers.
“The ‘Come and Say G’Day’ message brings back that overwhelmingly friendly message we feel as Brits about Australia, whilst the creative execution captures the imagination of both young and old to build back the desire for one of Flight Centre customers’ most favourite holiday destinations, whilst also showcasing the breadth and beauty of Australia. It’s is already one of our top selling destinations and we believe this campaign will spike demand within our target audience,” Ms Hobden said.
The Come and Say G’day campaign is the first global campaign from Tourism Australia since 2016. The campaign will roll out across the world from 20 October 2022, with G’day the short film available to view on YouTube and australia.com/gday at 9:00PM (BST).
Genres: Visual VFX
Categories: Services, Travel
Wed, 19 Oct 2022 14:32:00 GMT


text:
Consumer confidence edges up in December
New figures have shown that consumer confidence has edged up this month but still remains at a near historic low.
Joe Staton, client strategy director, GfK, said: “December marks the eighth month in a row in which the index has bumped along at -40 or worse, the first time this has happened since our records began nearly 50 years ago. Despite the latest GDP figures showing slight growth in October, the warning is of a tough road ahead and that the UK is not out of the recessionary woods.”
While the forecast for personal finances over the next 12 months remained at -29, the index measuring expectations for the general economic situation over the same period has improved by five points to -53,
Meanwhile the major purchase index is up four points to -34 which is 28 points lower than December last year.
Staton added: “As we enter the festive season, the overall index score is still depressed and, with scant seasonal joy at present and no immediate prospect of fiscal good news, it is unlikely we will see a rebound in confidence anytime soon.”
Email this article to a friend
You need to be logged in to use this feature.
Please log in here


text:
Release time : 2015-06-15 12:53:25
Under pressure from nationlists, China's government is expected to continue blocking approval of foreign investments in key sectors. In particular, any involving "national strategic industries," a definition which now specifically includes the Ball Bearings industry. And while rejecting more foreign investors outright, it is also consolidating many sectors under state control.
The China Miniature Bearings Industrial Security Center, part of the State Economic and Trade Commission, said its studies now show foreign merger and acquisition activity in China has reached the point where it has led to essential monopolies in some industries, threatening domestically owned and controlled businesses.
In addition, foreign investment is seen as potentially weakening China's control over its own destiny in developing infrastructure and supplying defense-related needs.
CISC holds that foreign investments have not produced the often-promised results -- access to new technology, international synergies, productivity gains -- or delivered operating advantages, or any special improvement in the business at all.
Instead, CISC says allowing foreign direct investment has many risks :
? Market manipulation. It now claims foreign investors use the Chinese companies as tools to control specific domestic Chinese markets, earn outsized profits, then ship those profits out of China and overseas to the parent company.
? Impact on local economies. CISC said China's economic safety is at risk in allowing foreign financing and ownership of raw materials supplied to domestic energy, transportation, and similar infrastructure dependencies. Similarly, autonomy is at risk when foreigners own key support businesses in the finance and publication sectors.
? Hindering local industry. When they come to relying on foreign funding, input and control, the Chinese businesses become too passive in developing their own skills, products and technologies. This threatens the future of business and may ultimately threaten China's defense security.
The High Speed Bearings manufacturing industry was specifically cited as an example of one where foreign involvement should be limited. In the bearing industry, foreign ownership should spark concern -- because reliance on foreign resources hinders organic domestic development of skills and resources, and also because it creates the potential for China to rely on foreign-owned bearing manufacturers for the availability of key components needed for domestic security.
? Foreign ownership of large businesses in China, with no government controls, is a threat to the traditional economic system, which relies on many small-scale manufacturers. CISC said foreign-owned multinationals have unfair advantages over local businesses which can be short of technology savvy, and/or do not have much export sales built up.
In China, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for as much as 70% of domestic manufacturing output. Their access to capital has been hurt by recent government reforms aimed at tightening inflation and throttling back overheated growth.
Recent statistics issued by the State indicate manufacturing businesses are involved in nearly a quarter of all foreign-funded M&A activity in China. Overall, there were 169 M&A deals in China during second quarter 2008 -- up 225% from first quarter.
Despite the central government's stance on majority foreign ownership, locally-solicited foreign investment has been accelerating in manufacturing-heavy provinces. For example, FDI in Sichuan Province this year is up 108% to USD $1.8 billion, despite May's devastating earthquake. Over 180 new foreign-funded businesses were given approval to begin operations in Sichuan, down 13 percent from 2007. But those businesses have agreed to invest more than $4.2 billion, up 208% from 2007.
ArcelorMittal was recently rebuffed in its efforts to become more deeply involved in the highly fragmented Chinese steel industry. The Chinese government is consolidating steel Miniature Bearings; it wants the 10 largest, currently at 35% market share, to be at 50% by 2010, and 70% by 2020. Lakshmi Mittal said; "I do not see that in a year or so, the Chinese government will change their strategy where they do not want foreign companies to have a majority control."