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Global Waxed Paper Packaging Market to 2027 - by Wax Type, Product Type, Application and Region - ResearchAndMarkets.com | DUBLIN -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- The `` Global Waxed Paper Packaging Market to 2027 '' report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
Waxed paper packaging is called as applying wax coating to the paper. Waxed paper packaging is used to prevent humidity, grease, and moisture and also to improve shelf life of products. Waxed paper packaging is based on renewable sources and it is eco friendly packaging technique.
Market Drivers
Rise in demand for wax paper packaging in food and beverages industry is the key driving factor which is expected to boost the global waxed paper packaging market growth. Food products improve the appearance and quality with waxed paper packaging due to its semi transparent nature.
Also, high demand for waxed paper packaging in dairy products, confectioneries, baked food products, and sweets which is expected to propel the global waxed paper packaging market growth. The advantage of using waxed paper packaging is that owing to its hydrophobic nature it prevents the products from humidity, grease, and moisture. Moreover, waxed paper packaging is used to improve shelf life of product will have the positive impact on global waxed paper packaging industry.
Market Restraints
However, unavailability of low temperature and ventilation for wax paper packaging is the major restraining factor which is expected to hamper the global waxed paper packaging market growth. Also, availability of alternative packaging methods will affect the global waxed paper packaging market growth.
Impact of COVID-19 on Market
In light of the recent COVID 19 Pandemic, prominent impact on global waxed paper packaging market is anticipated with regards to reduced manufacturing or production of waxed paper packaging material during this global crisis. Based on earlier indications from the first quarter, a significant slowdown in spending is expected during 2020 as the crisis reverberates through all economical sectors.
Market Segmentation
By Wax Type
By Product Type | general |
Clinical Catch-Up: COVID-19, AAN, ACC | It was a very busy week for clinical trial news, in part because of presentations coming out of the American Academy of Neurology ( AAN) and American College of Cardiology ( ACC) meetings. Here’ s a look.
Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics presented data from 3 studies of Lagevrio ( molnupiravir), an oral antiviral. All were from the Phase II/III MOVe-OUT trial. One study demonstrated that the drug is effective at reducing the risk of progression of COVID-19 in non-hospitalized, unvaccinated patients at high risk of poor outcomes. A second study was conducted on immunocompromised patients. Of the 1,433 participants in the MOVe-OUT trial, 4% were immunocompromised. In the group receiving molnupiravir, only 8% of the immunocompromised patients were hospitalized or died by Day 29 compared to 25% in the placebo group. And in the third, the drug demonstrated superiority over placebo in non-hospitalized adults with mild or moderate COVID-19 at risk of progression to severe disease. This was dependent upon patients starting the medication within five days of onset of symptoms.
Kintor Pharmaceutical announced topline results from its Phase III MRCT trial of proxalutamide in outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19. The study evaluated the patients regardless of vaccination status or risk factors. The study demonstrated that the drug, when given to the patients for more than seven days, offered a protection rate of 100%. It reduced hospitalization or death in COVID-19 patients, notably in the middle-aged and elderly with high-risk factors. Proxalutamide is an ACE2 and TMPRSS2 inhibitor.
Tonix Pharmaceuticals announced the FDA had cleared its IND for a Phase II trial for TNX-102 SL as a potential treatment for a subset of patients with Long Covid Syndrome, whose symptoms overlap with fibromyalgia. TNX-102 SL is a patented sublingual tablet formulation of cyclobenzaprine hydrochloride.
United Biomedical-Asia published results from the Phase I/II and Phase I extension trial of its Multitope SARS-COV-2 Subunit Vaccine, UB-612, against the Omicron and Delta COVID-19 variants. The vaccine elicited long-lasting B- and T-cell immunity.
Talaris Therapeutics presented new data on COVID-19 outcomes in living donor kidney transplant ( LDKT) patients receiving FCR001, the company’ s cell therapy product. The data was from the company’ s Phase II trial. The new data is a retrospective chart review of patients in the study performed by investigators at Northwestern University, who analyzed COVID-19 infection rates, the effects of the infection, and evidence of antibody response to vaccination. There were 28 patients for whom data were available, and 23 were durably chimeric. All of these 23 were able to discontinue chronic immunosuppression. The five remaining patients were not durably chimeric and continued on chronic immunosuppression.
Ionis Pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca presented positive results from the Phase IIb ETESIAN trial of ION449 to reduce blood cholesterol levels. The drug is an antisense therapeutic that targets proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 ( PCSK9). ETESIAN hit its primary endpoint, reducing serum LDL-C levels by 79%. Both the 50mg and 90mg doses achieved statistically significant and clinically meaningful decreases in LDL-C levels from baseline of 77% and 79%, respectively, compared to 2% in the placebo group. Those decreases remained until Week 14, or six weeks after the last dose. The drug was generally well-tolerated.
Pfizer’ s vupanorsen demonstrated modest reductions in non-HDL cholesterol in adults who were already receiving statins. It decreased non-HDL by up to 28% but lowered triglyceride levels by up to 57%, and ANGPTL3 by up to 95%. Its effects on LDL and apolipoprotein B ( apoB) levels were modest. Vupanorsen lowers non-HDL by decreasing the production of ANGPTL3, a protein that inhibits metabolic enzymes related to triglyceride and cholesterol. The data was from the TRANSLATE-TIMI 7088 trial.
Sanofi and Regeneron Therapeutics’ Praluent ( alirocumab), when added to high-intensity statin therapy in the PACMAN-AMI trial, demonstrated improved coronary plaque regression and stabilization when initiated early after an acute myocardial infarction ( MI). The combination offered better decreases in percent atheroma volume and lipid burden in addition to a greater increase in minimal fibrous cap thickness.
Silence Therapeutics’ Phase I APOLLO trial of SLN360 decreased Lp ( a) levels. SLN360 is the company’ s wholly owned siRNA experimental therapeutic. siRNA therapies are designed to temporarily block a specific gene’ s encoding that would otherwise cause an unwanted biological effect. SLN360 is designed to silence LPA, a gene that codes for a specific protein only found in lipoprotein ( a) [ Lp ( a) ].
NeuroDerm Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, announced positive, long-term safety and tolerability data from the Phase IIB BeyoND trial of ND0612. It is an investigational drug-device combination that provides minimally invasive, continuous subcutaneous infusion of liquid levodopa/carbidopa for patients with Parkinson’ s disease experiencing motor fluctuations. The data demonstrated the treatment was safe and well tolerated over the long term.
Genentech, a Roche company, announced new Ocrevus ( ocrelizumab) data demonstrating the drug’ s benefit on disease progression and cognitive outcomes in primary progressive multiple sclerosis ( PPMS) and secondary progressive MS ( SPMS). Ocrevus is a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting CD20-positive B cells.
Paracrine published findings from the STAR I trial of its autologous Adipose-Derived Regenerative Cell ( ADRC) Therapy in patients with either diffuse cutaneous scleroderma ( dcSSc) or limited cutaneous scleroderma ( IcSSc) with hand dysfunction. The primary endpoint was a change in hand function at 24 and 48 weeks. The study did not meet its primary endpoint but provided findings that helped design and choose endpoints for the STAR II trial, a Phase III trial.
Inozyme Pharma announced positive preliminary biomarker, safety and PK data from the first three patients in the Phase I portion of its Phase I/II trial of INZ-701 in adults with ENPP1 Deficiency. All patients showed rapid, significant and sustained increases in PPi levels. INZ-701 is an enzyme replacement therapy for mineralization disorders of the circulatory system, bones, and kidneys.
Cytokinetics announced full results from the METEORIC-HF Phase III trial of omecamtiv mecarbil in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction ( HFrEF). Patients receiving the drug had an average change from baseline in pVO2of -0.2 ml/kg/min compared to 0.2 ml/kg/min in patients on placebo. The therapy is a small molecule cardiac myosin activator.
Bristol Myers Squibb announced results from an extended EXPLORER-LTE trial of the long-term effects of mavacamten. The EXPLORER-HCM Phase III study concluded in 2020, where the data demonstrated positive outcomes for the patients in the extended trial. The drug is being evaluated for symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It is a cardiac myosin inhibitor.
CymaBay Therapeutics published results from the Phase II trial of seladelpar in primary biliary cholangitis. Seladelpar is a selective peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-delta agonist. Interim primary efficacy analysis of ALP change from baseline at Week 8 demonstrated the drug provided 26%, 33% and 41% reductions for the 2mg, 5mg and 10mg doses, respectively.
Vaxcyte dosed the first participants in the Phase II portion of its ongoing Phase I/II trial of VAX-24 for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease ( IPD) and pneumonia in adults. The initiation occurred after the independent Data Monitoring Committee completed a review of the Phase I data and recommended the Phase II portion continue as planned.
ReAlta Life Sciences announced an excellent safety profile and confirmed target engagement in its Phase I trial of RLS-0071 being developed for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. It is a complement inhibitor and an innate anti-inflammatory product.
PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals announced complete results from its Phase II trial of bentracimab patients who were pretreated with dual antiplatelet therapy made up of ticagrelor and low-dose aspirin. Bentracimab is a novel, recombinant, human monoclonal antibody antigen-binding fragment designed to reverse the antiplatelet activity of ticagrelor in patients with uncontrolled bleeding or need of surgery.
Innovent Biologics announced the results of a Phase III trial of IBI306. The drug is a recombinant fully human anti-PCSK-9 monoclonal antibody that is being evaluated in Chinese patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia.
Biolojic Design announced that the first-ever computationally-designed human antibody will enter the clinic. The company will study AU-007 in solid cancer tumors. The antibody has been transferred to its spinoff, Aulos Bioscience, which is now running clinical trials in Australia. AU-007 targets interleukin-2 ( IL-2).
Imara announced failed sickle cell and beta-thalassemia trials and plans to discontinue development. Specifically, the company announced results from interim analyses of its Ardent Phase IIb trial of tovinontrine in sickle cell disease ( SCD) and the Forte Phase IIb trial of the same drug in beta-thalassemia. Tovinontrine is a highly selective and potent small molecule phosphodiesterase-9 ( PDE9) inhibitor. Its multimodal mechanism of action acts on red blood cells, white blood cells, adhesion molecules and blood vessels. PDE9 degrades cyclic guanosine monophosphate ( cGMP), an active signaling molecule associated with vascular biology.
Novartis announced new long-term data from the Phase III ASCLEPIOS I/II trials and the ALITHIOS open-label extension demonstrating long-term efficacy and safety of Kesimpta ( ofatumumab) with continued reduced risk of disability worsening for people with relapsing MS after up to four years treatment.
Nurix Therapeutics dosed the first patient in its Phase I trial of DeTIL-0255 in patients with advanced gynecological malignancies, including ovarian, cervical and endometrial cancers. DeTIL-0255 is a drug-enhanced tumor infiltrating lymphocyte therapy.
Nouscom presented new translational data from the ongoing Phase I trial of NOUS-209. The drug is an off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapy targeting shared neoantigens administered with Merck’ s Keytruda ( pembrolizumab) for Microsatellite Instable High ( MSI-H) gastric, colorectal and gastro-esophageal junction solid tumors.
Sequana Medical completed implanting patients in the Phase III POSEIDON pivotal trial in support of the alfapump system for recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis. Of the 71 patients in the Pivotal Cohort, 40 have been implanted.
Cara Therapeutics announced biomarker data from the KALM-1 and 2 clinical trials of Korsuva ( difelikefalin) injection for chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus ( itching) in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Korsuva is the first and only FDA-approved treatment for moderate-to-severe pruritus associated with CKD in adults undergoing hemodialysis.
Theravance Biopharma reported mixed results from Study 0170 of ampreloxetine to reduce symptomatic neurogenic orthostatis hypotension ( nOH). It did not show improvement in the overall population but did with a subset of patients with multiple system atrophy ( MSA). Ampreloxetine is a long-acting, oral norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor.
WAVE Life Sciences reported a positive update on its Phase Ib/IIa trial of WVE-004 for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( ALS). The drug was effective across all dose levels tested.
Respira Therapeutics dosed the first patient in the Phase IIb VIPAH-PRN trial of RT234 in pulmonary arterial hypertension ( PAH). The drug is vardenafil administered as a dry powder inhaled treatment.
Allergan announced positive topline results from the Phase III trial of twice-daily administration of Vuity ( pilocarpine HCl ophthalmic solution) 1.25% in adults with age-related blurry near vision ( presbyopia). It hit the primary efficacy endpoint, improving near vision without compromising distance vision at Hour 9 on Day 14.
Bond Biosciences dosed the first patient in a Phase Ia/b trial of BBI-001 for hemochromatosis. The drug is designed as a non-absorbed oral therapeutic to bind dietary iron and inhibit iron absorption.
Processa Pharmaceuticals enrolled the first patient in its Phase IIa trial of PCS12852 in patients with moderate to severe gastroparesis, a chronic gastric motility disorder. The drug is a novel, potent, and highly selective 5-hydroxytryptamine-4 receptor agonist.
Citius Pharmaceuticals reported positive topline data from its Phase III trial of I/Ontak ( denileukin diftitox) for persistent or recurrent cutaneous C-cell lymphoma ( CTCL). I/Ontak is an engineered interleukin-2 ( IL-2) diphtheria toxin fusion protein. The primary outcome measured was the objective response rate ( ORR), which demonstrated ORR of 42.3%.
CNS Pharmaceuticals received approval from France’ s regulatory body to run a pivotal Phase III trial of berubicin for recurrent glioblastoma multiforme ( GBM). Berubicin is a novel anthracycline.
Avadel Pharma, which Flamel Technologies acquired, published positive secondary endpoint data from its pivotal Phase III REST-ON trial of FT218. The drug is an investigational formulation of sodium oxybate to be taken once at bedtime for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness or cataplexy in adults with narcolepsy.
Abivax reported positive data from the interim analysis of its Phase IIb open-label maintenance study of ABX464 for ulcerative colitis. The drug has a novel mechanism of action based on the upregulation of a single, specific micro-RNA with anti-inflammatory properties called miR-124.
Acutis Biotherapeutics enrolled the last subject in its Phase III ARRECTOR trial of topical roflumilast foam in adolescents and adults with scalp and body psoriasis. The drug is a once-daily, topical formulation of a highly potent and selective PDE4 inhibitor ( roflumilast).
Aptinyx announced that its Phase IIb trial of NYX-2925 for diabetic peripheral neuropathy ( DPN) failed to hit the primary endpoint. NYX-2925 is a novel, oral NMDA receptor-positive allosteric modulator ( PAM). They will continue developing the drug for fibromyalgia.
Tonix Pharmaceuticals enrolled the first participant in the Phase III RESILIENT trial of TNX-102 SL ( cyclobenzaprine HCl sublingual tablets) for management of fibromyalgia. An Independent Data Monitoring Committee will conduct an interim analysis of the first 50% of patients enrolled in the first quarter of 2023.
Annexon completed enrollment in the Phase II ARCHER study of ANX007 in geography atrophy. ANX007 is an anti-C1q candidate.
Abionyx Pharma reported positive interim results from an open-label Phase IIa RACERS trial of CER-001 for septic patients at high risk of developing Acute Kidney Injury ( AKI). Compared to the standard of care, CER-001 quickly improved biomarkers of inflammation, including leukocytosis and endothelial dysfunction, preventing septic patients from going into acute kidney injury. | general |
U.K.’ s Johnson Refuses to Rule Out Further Covid-19 Lockdowns | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
( Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to rule out further Covid-19 lockdowns, saying only that it would be “ irresponsible ” to do so.
The virus is currently “ losing its potency overall, ” Johnson told GB News, but “ there could be a new variant more deadly ” that emerges in future.
“ I can’ t rule out something, I can’ t say we wouldn’ t be forced to do non-pharmaceutical interventions again of the kind we did, ” he said.
Johnson was interviewed by two Members of Parliament from his own ruling Conservative Party -- Esther McVey and Philip Davies -- for the news channel, which published extracts on Friday. The comments are likely to alarm those Tories who want him to reject the possibility of any further lockdowns, amid concerns over mental health and civil liberties.
There are early signs that Covid-19 infections in the U.K. are slowing, after they reached their highest level since the pandemic began in March.
“ I’ ve got to be absolutely frank with you -- there could be a new variant more deadly, there could be a variant that affects children that we really need to contain, ” Johnson said. “ I’ m not going to take any options off the table. But I don’ t think it will happen. ”
U.K. Covid Cases at Highest Level as Immunity Wanes, Study Finds
Some 4.9 million people in the U.K. are estimated to have had the virus last week, according to the Office for National Statistics, down slightly from the previous week.
Cases appear to be falling in Scotland, but it is “ too early to say ” if infections have peaked both there and England, the ONS said on Friday.
Infections have soared in recent weeks, driven by the emergence of BA.2 -- a more-transmissible version of the omicron variant that has become the dominant strain in England.
Canada joins U.S., U.K. in diplomatic boycott of Beijing games
Trudeau weighs auto-content rules as next U.S. trade flashpoint | general |
Oil sheds bulk of invasion-driven gains on SPR sales, lockdowns | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
Oil headed for a back-to-back weekly retreat on plans for massive stockpile releases, a demand-sapping virus outbreak in top importer China and a hawkish turn from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
West Texas Intermediate climbed less than 1 per cent to hover around US $ 97 while still heading for a decline of about 2.3 per cent this week. The selloff comes after the U.S. and its allies announced plans to unleash a massive wave of oil from strategic reserves to ease surging fuel costs. The U.S. central bank outlined plans to trim its balance sheet sending the dollar higher, making commodities priced in the currency less attractive.
The recent drop means the U.S. benchmark has now lost most of its gains seen since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. Oil rallied to the highest level since 2008 after the conflict started, prompting the U.S. and U.K. to ban Russian oil imports and adding pressure to global buyers to shun the country’ s energy exports.
Crude prices were also hampered after China ordered a series of lockdowns in key urban centers, including Shanghai, to quell a coronavirus outbreak. At the same time, plans by the Fed for an aggressive tightening of U.S. monetary policy to combat inflation have blunted demand for risk assets and boosted the dollar.
The move to sell almost a quarter-of-a-billion barrels from strategic petroleum reserves prompted a collapse in once-elevated time spreads.
While many Western companies are shunning Russian oil following the invasion, there are plenty of willing takers in Asia, especially in China and India. Cargoes of Russian Sokol crude from the Far East have sold out for next month.
China’ s latest coronavirus outbreak shows no sign of abating, disrupting Asia’ s largest economy. Cities are facing severe restrictions, which are curbing mobility and energy consumption.
This U.S. legislation is a game changer: Curaleaf executive chairman
U.S. democratic senators to unveil draft cannabis reform bill on Wednesday: Report | general |
Stablecoin Issuer Circle Leads U.K. Charm Offensive Ahead of New Rules | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
circle.com Source: circle.com/Bloomberg, Source: circle.com/Bloomberg
( Bloomberg) -- Circle Internet Financial Ltd. has conducted a number of “ state visits ” to the U.K. in the last year, flying over its most senior executives to engage with government, regulators and industry bodies with a view to expanding its business in the region.
The Boston-based payments and financial infrastructure company behind the USDC stablecoin has held both virtual and in-person meetings with a range of U.K. officials and crypto industry executives, some of which included a delegation of the company’ s top brass. The latest trip to London was as recent as last month, while another occurred during the relaxed travel period between the Delta and Omicron Covid-19 variants last year.
Dante Disparte, closely-held Circle’ s chief strategy officer, said in an interview that the firm had sought to take advantage of a shift in attitudes toward cryptoassets and payments innovation provided by stablecoins, where Circle’ s work had been “ well-received ”. A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency whose value is tied to an outside asset, such as the dollar, to stabilize the price. They’ re used to facilitate trading in the often volatile crypto market, but are also useful as a digital payment mechanism.
The trips were undertaken at a key turning point for U.K. regulation of the sector, which had been increasingly risk-averse toward cryptocurrency companies seeking to operate in the country. Circle’ s most recent delegation was completed weeks before the U.K. announced it intends to bring forward new legislation for stablecoins, which would see the digital tokens and their issuers brought under existing payments rules.
Disparte, who was one of the founding executives involved in Meta Inc.’ s now-defunct Diem stablecoin project, said there had been “ a general sea change ” in the U.K. and other countries in their approach to crypto regulation in recent months.
“ What we’ ve been really working toward is where the U.K. is now, toward a world in which the political and regulatory environment is much more amenable and forward-leaning on innovation in the digital assets market, ” he added.
The company has been looking broadly at the possibility of creating new stablecoins pegged to other currencies, such as the euro and sterling, and submitted written evidence on the topic of a central bank digital currency to the U.K. Parliament in October. Disparte said that developing a stablecoin is “ an area of further opportunity for the U.K., ” where Circle is already authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority as an e-money institution.
“ Clearly the operation we have in the U.K. is conducive toward this being an opportune time, ” Disparte said. However the firm does not immediately plan to issue a new token, he added, given U.K. policymakers and regulators only recently began to sound “ much more permissive ” to the concept.
Circle’ s USD Coin has a market value of about $ 51 billion, second only to market leader Tether with an estimated $ 82 billion value, according to data from CoinMarketCap. | general |
Renewed labour crunch in retail, restaurants amid sixth wave | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
After two years of on-and-off lockdowns, Rachel Reinders felt a renewed sense of hope last month as pandemic restrictions eased and spring dawned on the cusp of a new patio season.
But Reinders, who heads administration at the Lieutenant's Pump pub in Ottawa, had to scale back operations yet again, shutting down its lunchtime kitchen for a week in March because four cooks were on sick leave simultaneously.
`` We're not fully staffed in the kitchen as it is, so we couldn't even really lose one. And we lost four, '' she said. `` Those who were left behind worked double-time to pick up the slack. ''
Businesses across Canada are struggling to cope with an apparent sixth wave of COVID-19, as staffing shortages hamper sectors from health care to hospitality and manufacturing — though the interruption remains more manageable than last winter's Omicron variant surge.
Dr. Kevin Smith, chief executive at the University Health Network in Toronto, said Wednesday that case numbers at its hospitals have shot up in the past few days, `` so much so that staffing is challenging once again. ''
In Montreal, parka maker Quartz Co. saw about 10 of its roughly 100 employees stay home with COVID-19 symptoms recently, though co-founder François-Xavier Robert says the absences were shorter than in January.
`` It's just as many as we had in December, '' when the company shut down its flagship store in Montreal and a pair of pop-up storefronts there and in Toronto. `` Pretty much everyone that didn’ t have it over the winter had it in the last two weeks.
`` Nobody got really sick. People were stopping for one or two days and then back to working, '' Robert added. `` This time it’ s more easygoing. ''
Nonetheless, retailers, gyms and event spaces are taking yet another hit as workers fall ill or steer clear of those sectors altogether, fearing further lockdowns, said Ryan Mallough, a senior director with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
`` The impact is being felt across the board, in terms of absences, '' he said. `` Some of that nervousness is starting to creep back into the mindset a little bit. ''
Several Canadian provinces are bolstering their defences against the virus amid signs of a sixth wave. Quebec and Prince Edward Island extended their provincial mask mandates until later this month and Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia plan to expand access to fourth doses of the vaccine.
The food supply chain continues to feel pandemic pinch.
Before the onset of COVID-19, processing plants contended with a 10 per cent labour shortage as the workforce aged. After peaking at 30 per cent during the Omicron surge, the shortage remains at 25 per cent, according to Food and Beverage Canada.
“ Workforce issues in primary agriculture and food manufacturing are critical and need to be addressed urgently, ” Jennifer Wright, acting executive director of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council, said in a release Friday.
On Monday the federal government eased rules on temporary foreign workers in some areas of the economy desperately in need of employees, allowing employers in those industries to hire up to 30 per cent of their workforce through the program.
But Ottawa has failed to address a growing backlog for incoming workers, said Stewart Skinner, a pork farmer near Listowel, Ont. Processing times at the Immigration Department have increased from between three and four months to more than a year, he said.
`` It has not been a lot of fun and the frustration is more intense because it is not due to lack of demand for our product. It is supply chain disruption that is solely because we don't have enough labour to process the pork '' — a problem exacerbated by the sixth wave — Skinner said in an email.
However, labour snags for many retailers have largely stabilized.
“ I don’ t think they’ re experiencing as significant a disruption as they were in January. The peak seems to have been then, '' said Retail Council of Canada spokesperson Michelle Wasylyshen.
Meanwhile some offices are moving ahead as planned with back-to-work policies, though these often involve hybrid arrangements, as at Desjardins Group. Infections among its 54,000 employees are on the rise, but not to the point of hurting its services, said spokesman Jean Benoît Turcotti.
National Bank also aims to ramp up to 50 per cent capacity from mostly remote work for its 21,000 employees at the moment. It will move beyond that threshold, but only `` following the momentum and the impact of this sixth wave, '' said spokesman Jean-Francois Cadieux. | general |
Home Economics: Budget details plan for housing affordability; Office vacancy remains high | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
In another big-spending budget, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has tabled the federal government’ s economic roadmap to navigate Canada out of the bowels of the pandemic, with measures aimed at putting Canada on a sustainable fiscal path. The budget addresses key Liberal Party promises, like a carbon capture tax credit, funding for national dental care, and a smaller tax hike on the big banks. Read BNN Bloomberg’ s Ian Vandaelle’ s breakdown of nine things you need to know about Budget 2022.
Also shown in the budget, the federal government is attempting to tackle Canada’ s housing affordability crisis. This is no easy feat, as recently released data for Canada’ s three major cities has shown: Toronto home prices are up 18 per cent compared to the same time last year, Vancouver home sales climbed 27 per cent since February, and Montreal’ s median price of a single-family home soared 18 per cent since last year. What’ s the plan? The feds’ three-pillar strategy involves limiting real estate investment, helping first-time buyers, and allocating funds to construction for more homes. The government anticipates the plan to cost $ 10.1 billion by fiscal 2026-27. BNN Bloomberg’ s Michelle Zadikian has the details here.
Job postings are meant to provide relevant details about position openings — but a lack of “ pay transparency ” can keep applicants out of the loop. Without salary disclosures, candidates find themselves unaware as to whether a job is financially viable, often kept in the dark until after the application and interview process is complete. Amanda Hudson, founder of Toronto HR consultancy A Modern Way to Work, argues that employers who shine a light on job salaries will generate goodwill among prospective hires — and avoid unnecessary tension within a recruitment process.
Office desks continue to collect dust, despite the return-to-office hope of Canadian landlords. With a surge in the Omicron variant at the beginning of the year prompting more companies to give up leases, the national office-vacancy rate rose to a record 16.3 per cent in the first quarter, according to a report by commercial real estate brokerage CBRE. In Toronto, Canada’ s largest city and financial capital, vacancies jumped to 14.8 per cent. So, as cases of COVID-19 continue to rise across the country, office spaces may remain empty for a while longer.
Speaking of vacant office space, many companies are continuing to adapt the hybrid model — where employees can switch between remote and in-office work. But for young professionals hoping to be more than a name on a screen, entering a physical workspace could be essential for building strong relationships and making lasting impressions. Read about important in-office steps towards career development, strong communication, and team collaboration here.
In the budget, Ottawa announced plans to introduce a Tax-Free First Home Savings Account, where starting in 2023, prospective buyers can deposit up to $ 8,000 a year tax-free to a maximum total of $ 40,000 to save for a home. | general |
Emmanuel Macron: why France's economy may secure his re-election | Emmanuel Macron remains ahead in the polls as France gears up to choose its next president, even if a second term is not the formality that it appeared to be a couple of months ago. With the world going through turbulent times as a result of Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine and the fall-out from the COVID pandemic, the state of France’ s economy and its future outlook are likely to play a key role in the election.
So how has France done recently? The numbers suggest it has been performing well compared to the world’ s other major economies, and surely way better than initially expected when the pandemic hit. Macron seems to have invested the public funds largely derived from increased debt intelligently, trying to make the business environment more attractive for existing and new enterprises – not least those in tech.
The below chart compares changes in French GDP with some other indicators related to demand, ranging from household consumption to foreign demand for French goods. You can see that the rate of GDP growth had returned to pre-COVID times by the fourth quarter of 2021, implying that the economy has been growing significantly. GDP growth for the first half of 2022 is expected to be 3.2%, after annual growth of 7% in 2021.
France is a leading exporter of pharmaceuticals, military equipment and cars, among other things, but exports is the only one of the indicators in the chart that is still below pre-COVID figures. It is also likely to be further hit by the EU’ s Russia sanctions, given that Russia buys just over 1% of French produce.
That damage will be somewhat offset by the growing shift away from globalisation, which is likely to further incentivise French multinationals to grow their businesses within France itself. Having said that, France already imports more than it exports, and with the French trade deficit recently widening, imports are becoming even more dominant. This is something the next president may well need to tackle as self-sufficiency becomes more of a virtue.
Two other economic indicators are also particularly important to understanding France under Macron: unemployment and inflation. Both are relatively favourable.
The French unemployment rate fell to 7.4% in the fourth quarter of 2021, a level not seen since 2008. This is testimony to Macron’ s reforms during his first term in office, among the most important of which has been cutting corporation tax from 33.3% to 25% and pushing for the French labour code to be changed to make it easier for firms to make people redundant. The labour reforms have increased workers’ job insecurity, but they also made for a livelier job market by encouraging businesses to hire people.
Economy minister Bruno Le Maire hailed as historic the fact that nearly 1 million businesses were created in France in 2021. Others pointed out that the majority of these were actually micro-enterprises with just one or very few employees. Either way, people’ s willingness to create new businesses has been largely seen as an indicator of the economy’ s vitality. Macron is pushing this as one of his biggest wins during his first term, and it could be one of the factors that carries him over the line on April 24.
French inflation spiked to 4.5% in March, and the chart below shows a worrying upward pattern since last summer. Having said that, this remains one of the lowest rates among European countries – with Germany at 7.3% and Spain at 9.8%, for example. One reason is that France derives most of its power from its fleet of nuclear power plants, so it has been relatively insulated from the rises in oil and gas prices that have been causing problems elsewhere.
We should also not forget that just like many other countries responding to the pandemic, France’ s public debt to GDP ratio rose: from 98% in 2019 to 116% in 2021. Higher inflation is one way to reduce this growing debt burden, although the levels of price rises that France and other countries are experiencing right now goes well beyond what central bankers would have liked.
Inflation also looks likely to get worse before it gets better, depending also on the evolution of the war in Ukraine. Coping with that problem is going to be another challenge for whoever is running France over the next five years. If that does turn out to be Macron, the French economy’ s revamp under his management may well be seen as one of the main reasons why. | business |
Vaccine resistance has its roots in negative childhood experiences, a major study finds | Most people welcomed the opportunity to get vaccinated against COVID-19, yet a non-trivial minority did not. Vaccine-resistant people tend to hold strong views and assertively reject conventional medical or public health recommendations. This is puzzling to many, and the issue has become a flashpoint in several countries.
It has resulted in strained relationships, even within families, and at a macro-level has threatened social cohesion, such as during the month-long protest on parliament grounds in Wellington, New Zealand.
This raises the question: where do these strong, often visceral anti-vaccination sentiments spring from? As lifecourse researchers we know that many adult attitudes, traits and behaviours have their roots in childhood. This insight prompted us to enquire about vaccine resistance among members of the long-running Dunedin Study, which marks 50 years this month.
Specifically, we surveyed study members about their vaccination intentions between April and July 2021, just prior to the national vaccine roll out which began in New Zealand in August 2021. Our findings support the idea that anti-vaccination views stem from childhood experiences.
The Dunedin Study, which has followed a 1972-73 birth cohort, has amassed a wealth of information on many aspects of the lives of its 1037 participants, including their physical health and personal experiences as well as long-standing values, motives, lifestyles, information-processing capacities and emotional tendencies, going right back to childhood.
Almost 90% of the Dunedin Study members responded to our 2021 survey about vaccination intent. We found 13% of our cohort did not plan to be vaccinated ( with similar numbers of men and women).
When we compared the early life histories of those who were vaccine resistant to those who were not we found many vaccine-resistant adults had histories of adverse experiences during childhood, including abuse, maltreatment, deprivation or neglect, or having an alcoholic parent.
These experiences would have made their childhood unpredictable and contributed to a lifelong legacy of mistrust in authorities, as well as seeding the belief that “ when the proverbial hits the fan you’ re on your own ”. Our findings are summarised in this figure.
Personality tests at age 18 showed people in the vaccine-resistant group were vulnerable to frequent extreme emotions of fear and anger. They tended to shut down mentally when under stress.
They also felt fatalistic about health matters, reporting at age 15 on a scale called “ health locus of control ” that there is nothing people can do to improve their health. As teens they often misinterpreted situations by unnecessarily jumping to the conclusion they were being threatened.
The resistant group also described themselves as non-conformists who valued personal freedom and self-reliance over following social norms. As they grew older, many experienced mental health problems characterised by apathy, faulty decision-making and susceptibility to conspiracy theories.
To compound matters further, some vaccine-resistant study members had cognitive difficulties since childhood, along with their early-life adversities and emotional vulnerabilities. They had been poor readers in high school and scored low on the study’ s tests of verbal comprehension and processing speed. These tests measure the amount of effort and time a person requires to decode incoming information.
Such longstanding cognitive difficulties would certainly make it difficult for anyone to comprehend complicated health information under the calmest of conditions. But when comprehension difficulties combine with the extreme negative emotions more common among vaccine-resistant people, this can lead to vaccination decisions that seem inexplicable to health professionals.
Today, New Zealand has achieved a very high vaccination rate ( 95% of those eligible above the age of 12), which is approximately 10% higher than in England, Wales, Scotland or Ireland and 20% higher than in the US.
More starkly, the New Zealand death rate per million population is currently 71. This compares favourably to other democracies such as the US with 2,949 deaths per million ( 40 times New Zealand’ s rate), UK at 2,423 per million ( 34 times) and Canada at 991 per million ( 14 times).
How then do we reconcile our finding that 13% of our cohort were vaccine resistant and the national vaccination rate now sits at 95%? There are a number of factors that helped drive the rate this high.
the devolution by government of vaccination responsibilities to community groups, particularly those at highest risk such as Māori, Pasifika and those with mental health challenges.
A distinct advantage of the community-driven approach is that it harnesses more intimate knowledge about people and their needs, thereby creating high ( er) trust for decision-making about vaccination.
This is consistent with our findings which highlight the importance of understanding individual life histories and different ways of thinking about the world – which are both attributable to adversities experienced by some people early in life. This has the added benefit of encouraging a more compassionate view towards vaccine resistance, which might ultimately translate into higher rates of vaccine preparedness.
For many, the move from a one-size-fits-all approach occurred too slowly and this is an important lesson for the future. Another lesson is that achieving high vaccination rates has not been free of “ cost ” to individuals, families and communities. It has been a struggle to persuade many citizens to get vaccinated and it would be unrealistic not to expect some residual resentment or anger among those most heavily affected by these decisions.
COVID-19 is unlikely to be the last pandemic. Recommendations about how governments should prepare for future pandemics often involve medical technology solutions such as improvements in testing, vaccine delivery and treatments, as well as better-prepared hospitals.
Other recommendations emphasise economic solutions such as a world pandemic fund, more resilient supply chains and global coordination of vaccine distribution. The contribution of our research is the appreciation that citizens’ vaccine resistance is a lifelong psychological style of misinterpreting information during crisis situations that is laid down before high school age.
We recommend that national preparation for future pandemics should include preventive education to teach school children about virus epidemiology, mechanisms of infection, infection-mitigating behaviours and vaccines. Early education can prepare the public to appreciate the need for hand-washing, mask-wearing, social distancing and vaccination.
Early education about viruses and vaccines could provide citizens with a pre-existing knowledge framework, reduce citizens’ level of uncertainty in a future pandemic, prevent emotional stress reactions and enhance openness to health messaging. Technology and money are two key tools in a pandemic-preparedness strategy, but the third vital tool should be a prepared citizenry.
The takeaway messages are twofold. First, do not scorn or belittle vaccine-resistant people, but rather attempt to glean a deeper understanding on “ where they’ re coming from ” and try to address their concerns without judgement. This is best achieved by empowering the local communities that vaccine resisters are most likely to trust.
The second key insight points to a longer-term strategy that involves education about pandemics and the value of vaccinations in protecting the community. This needs to begin when children are young, and of course it must be delivered in an age-appropriate way. This would be wise simply because, when it comes to future pandemics, it’ s not a matter of if, but when. | business |
AMA outlines key steps for advancing telehealth equity | The American Medical Association this week released a report outlining key steps that organizations and policymakers should take in order to work toward equity in the telehealth landscape.
`` Telehealth has the potential to be an important tool for addressing long-standing health inequities among historically marginalized and minoritized communities that have been impacted disproportionately by the COVID-19 pandemic, '' said the organization in an issue brief.
`` To realize telehealth’ s full potential, the AMA believes that those developing and implementing telehealth solutions must prioritize partnerships with historically marginalized and minoritized populations to ensure that solutions are designed to be accessible and work well for all, '' it continued.
As telehealth continues to be a popular modality for care delivery, advocates, organizations and some lawmakers have stressed the importance of ensuring maximum access.
`` Far more emphasis needs to be placed on ensuring that telehealth solution functionality, content, user interface, and service access are designed with and for historically minoritized and marginalized communities, '' said the association in its brief.
This past year, the AMA published a similar framework highlighting the value of virtual care, zooming in on value streams such as clinical outcomes, access to care and patient experience, along with health equity.
`` The integration of new digital health solutions into digitally enabled care models offers the potential to address the quadruple aim... of high access, high quality, lower cost and high experience care, '' said AMA researchers.
But different groups may not benefit equally. As researchers have noted, telemedicine in the age of COVID-19 grew the most in wealthy and metro areas, raising concerns about the replication of the digital divide in a virtual space.
`` Patient access to telehealth is inextricably linked to whether telehealth services provided by their physicians – the physicians with whom they have a relationship – are covered by their health plan, '' said the AMA in its brief this week.
`` As a result of the pandemic, adoption of telehealth has increased dramatically and is more likely to be available from an individual’ s physician, essential to prioritizing continuity of care and the patient-physician relationship, '' it continued.
Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.Twitter: @ kjercichEmail: kjercich @ himss.orgHealthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication. | tech |
FCA’ s Response to the Complaints Commissioner Shows Arrogance, Aberration and Abdication | You are currently accessing Investment Week via your Enterprise account.
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In December 2021, the publication of the independent review by Dame Gloster Report into the £237m LCF scandal which cited the word ‘ failure ' 178 times, put into damning words the extent to which the FCA is unfit for purpose.
When the FCA fails consumers, the Financial Services Act 2012 establishes a statutory requirement for a complaints scheme, overseen by an independent commissioner, under which aggrieved investors whose losses were caused by the FCA's regulatory failure can seek compensation from the FCA.
In July 2020, before the Gloster Report, the FCA quietly issued a consultation paper during the Covid lockdown, proposing changes to the rules of the compensation regime in two cynical, and in our view, illegal ways. First, it proposed a cap of £10,000 on any claim regardless of quantum. Secondly, it proposed that the FCA would only be liable when it was `` solely or primarily '' the cause of a loss.
The second change would allow the FCA to escape any claims when any FCA-regulated firm acted improperly, such as LCF.
These FCA's proposals elicited widespread criticism and outrage and were ultimately postponed, after we protested that these new proposals broke the law, and pressure from lawyers, MPs, LCF investors, the Treasury Select Committee and Dame Elizabeth Gloster. Surprisingly, the FCA decided to press on, publishing on its website in mid-2021, a so-called `` Remedies Statement '' that asserted the `` solely or primarily responsible '' test for the first time.
Determined to expose this illegal action by the FCA, we wrote letters to the Chairman of the FCA, all members of the FCA's Board, the Treasury Select Committee, the Secretary of State and ultimately joined the law firm Shearman's in an official complaint to the Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner ( FRCC) that was akin to a super-complaint.
The FRCC published her report on 15 February which considered over 400 complainants about the FCA's regulatory failures on LCF, including our and Shearman's issue with the Remedies Statement and the FCA's new test for compensation for investors that resulted from FCA's regulatory failings.
In a nutshell she found that the FCA's new proposed scheme was contrary to the law.
The FRCC found that the ‘ sole or primary cause ' test was introduced `` without the benefit of public consultation. '' and made `` it inevitable that almost no claimant could ever again be monetarily compensated for the contributing factor of the FCA's own regulatory failures. It makes the whole scheme 100% worthless in practise. ''
She added that the FCA's Remedies Statement frustrated `` the object and purpose of s.87 ( 5) of the FSA 2012 '' and `` the statutory object and purpose underpinning the Complaints Scheme '' i.e., was against the law. She recommended the FCA should `` withdraw its decisions on LCF complaints … and re-decide them ''.
A month later on 15 March, the FCA published their response to the FRCC Report in which they chose to blatantly ignore the report and its recommendations, ignore common decency and ignore any shred of regulatory integrity.
They say they will ignore the recommendations to amend its Remedies Statement and to change its decisions on compensation for LCF investors as they are not mandatory.
Throughout their response, the FCA repeated its spurious and pitiful reasons for doing so, reasons that had already been comprehensively rejected by the FRCC.
It is our view that the FCA farce has to come to an end.
How much more evidence does the TSC and Secretary of State need before they step in and protect British financial consumers by launching an independent, root and branch review of the FCA, akin to the Kingman review.
If this does not happen, they are complicit in allowing the FCA to defy the legislature, undermine the rule of law and behave in a morally bankrupt manner.
The FCA is meant to protect consumers, not abandon them. No regulated firm would be allowed to get away with this without being closed down. Why should the FCA?
It is time we had a regulator that could be trusted and respected and which put consumers first not last. The current regulator is simply not fit for purpose.
© Incisive Business Media ( IP) Limited, Published by Incisive Business Media Limited, New London House, 172 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5QR.Registered in England and Wales with company registration numbers 09177174 & 09178013. Part of Arc network, www.arc-network.com | business |
Joe & The Juice Enters Middle East Market Ahead of IPO, CEO Says | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
A closed Joe & The Juice A/S cafe stands in Oslo, Norway, on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Norway will extend drastic measures imposed to limit the spread of coronavirus for three weeks, as the number of confirmed cases continues to rise and the richest Nordic economy keeps slowing down. Photographer: Odin Jaeger/Bloomberg, Bloomberg
( Bloomberg) -- Joe & The Juice A/S, the juice bar chain whose owners include Egypt’ s richest man and the H & M billionaire family, will expand in the Middle East as part of growth plans to prepare for a possible stock-exchange listing.
It wants to popularize juice globally the way Starbucks Corp. spread the takeaway coffee culture around the world and reckons going public could help achieve that goal, Chief Executive Officer Thomas Noroxe, a former investment banker at UBS Group AG, said in an interview. An IPO will be possible in three to five years, if cash flow turns positive, he said.
“ We’ re a category killer, ” the 47-year-old, who became CEO in June, said by phone. “ We believe we have a justification to be on the stock exchange. We’ re a consumer brand and listing would make us more visible. ”
The Copenhagen-based chain will open its first stores in Qatar and Dubai next quarter before setting up shop in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman by the end of the year. In total it will add 200 to 300 juice bars in the region over 10 years, with the help of a franchise model to accelerate expansion and help reach a goal to grow 20% annually, the CEO said.
The company has about 300 of its own stores, opened over the past two decades, but may well use franchises to enter other new countries, such as China and Mexico.
“ It means we can focus on our core markets in the U.S. and Europe and not be alone in new markets, using the advantage of local partners to avoid mistakes, ” Noroxe said.
The company’ s revenue plunged almost 30% in 2020 as lockdowns forced customers to stay at home. Sales recovered last year, also helped by digital orders and deliveries, which haven’ t declined after lockdowns ended. The 2021 earnings report hasn’ t yet been published, but the CEO said revenue rose to about $ 170 million, similar to what it was in 2019, and the company was profitable on an Ebitda level.
Joe & The Juice would probably favor a listing in its homeland of Denmark, but may consider the U.S. where peers like Starbucks, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and Shake Shack Inc. are traded. A listing is ultimately decided by the owners, Noroxe said.
These include private equity firms Valedo Partners and General Atlantic. DIG Investment, owned by family members of H & M AB billionaire Stefan Persson, and NNS Holding, the investment vehicle of Egypt’ s Nassef Sawiris, joined last year in connection with a capital injection.
“ I can easily see Joe & The Juice as a listed company as we deliver growth rates beating the industry average, ” the CEO said.
While the feds touted the spending in its budget as prudent, prominent Bay Street economist David Rosenberg said the extra fiscal stimulus could lead the Bank of Canada to hike its benchmark rate higher than originally thought.
Canada’ s unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since at least the mid-1970s, as the laboUr market posted another strong monthly employment gain.
Average Canadians might not realize how big a stake they have in the country’ s largest banks in their retirement portfolios; either directly in their RRSPs and TFSAs, or indirectly through mutual funds, ETFs, and pension plans.
Businesses are struggling to cope with an apparent sixth wave of COVID, as staffing shortages hamper sectors from health care to hospitality and retail — though the interruption remains more manageable than last winter's Omicron variant surge. | general |
Nigeria’ s Consumer-Goods Giants Tap Startup to Boost Sales | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
Clothing stalls at Idumota market in Lagos, Nigeria, on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. Nigeria’ s Lagos state government plans to build new roads, rail, housing, health, education and waterways infrastructure to boost businesses and improve living standards., Bloomberg
( Bloomberg) -- Nigeria’ s biggest consumer-goods companies have signed an agreement with e-commerce platform Omnibiz to boost sales and curb costs after Covid-19 lockdowns and smartphone use triggered a boom in online trade.
Omnibiz, a Lagos-based fintech company, has signed up more than 12 firms operating in the country -- including Coca-Cola Co., Nestle SA, Kellogg Co., Unilever Plc and Procter & Gamble Co. They will use the startup’ s platform that helps firms track sales from distributors to retailers.
Transactions on the firm’ s Mplify product have hit $ 360 million, Omnibiz Chief Executive Officer Deepankar Rustagi said in an interview in Lagos. “ The target is to grow it to $ 600 million by next year, ” he said.
The opportunity for Omnibiz is to digitize the $ 1.2 billion annual local revenue of its new clients, which makes up about 3% of Nigeria’ s total fresh produce and packaged foods market, according to data from KPMG.
Last year, Omnibiz raised $ 3 million in seed funding. The company plans to raise about $ 12 million more this year to further develop its software and expand into about five countries in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the CEO.
In Nigeria, Africa’ s largest economy and most populous nation, most products are distributed physically, passing through informal or traditional channels like warehouses, markets, malls and kiosks. The coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns caused a shift, not only in distribution, but how people worked, learned and more importantly shopped: going online.
E-commerce platform Jumia Technologies AG, which has Nigeria as its biggest market, reported a 40% increase in total orders and 29% jump in active users in the 12 months to December across Africa. The pandemic also opened an opportunity for new digital payment apps like Kippa to enter the consumer digital payment space.
“ The manufacturers are making more revenue because they are able to see the movement of their goods and can increase the supply at a lower cost, ” said Rustagi. “ We are in the business of making retail simple. ” | general |
Salmon farming sector calls for more immigration flexibility | Scotland’ s farm-raised salmon sector has joined calls from the food and drink industry for more flexibility in the UK’ s immigration system to help address labour shortages.
© Scottish Sea Farms
Tavish Scott, chief executive of Salmon Scotland, urged the UK Government to add fish processing to its shortage occupation list to make it easier for firms to recruit labour from the EU.
He said fish processing is suffering from a workforce “ squeeze ”, particularly in the farm-raised salmon sector.
In a letter to Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, George Eustice, Scott joined the chief executives of four other Scottish food and drink organisations in calling for the recommendations of a new report by Westminster’ s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee to be urgently implemented.
These include a recommendation for the UK Government to work with industry leaders to address labour shortages, and to develop a long-term labour strategy. The letter, signed by Salmon Scotland, Quality Meat Scotland, Seafood Scotland, Scotland Food & Drink, and National Farmers Union Scotland, warned that the Scottish food and drink industry is suffering from “ acute labour shortages ”.
The organisations wrote: “ This labour force issue is affecting the ability of our producers and manufacturers to serve customers both at home and abroad, restricting growth and curbing exports.
“ The committee makes a number of recommendations, including a call for government to work with industry to address labour shortages and develop a new, long-term strategy to ease the situation for years to come.
“ We support the committee's recommendations and call on you and your department to deliver the step change requested by the MPs.
“ Our members have the ability to thrive and help the country recover from both the long-term effects of Covid and the additional costs of Brexit caused by non-tariff barriers.
“ But, to do this, we need proper access to labour and this can only come with the help and support from the government. ” Scott added: “ Salmon Scotland is pleased to be part of this joint effort to call for more help from the government to alleviate labour force issues affecting the food and drink sector. “ Fish processing, particularly in the farm-raised salmon, is suffering from a labour squeeze, and we want the government to help by implementing the recommendations in the committee’ s report.
“ Salmon Scotland believes fish processing should be added to the short-term occupation list. This would make it much easier to recruit labour from the EU.
“ We want to see more flexibility in the UK’ s immigration policy, and a long-term strategy to ease this situation in the years to come. ”
Scotland’ s farm-raised salmon sector has joined calls from the food and drink industry for more flexibility in the UK’ s …
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Sainsbury's is the first UK supermarket to have 100 percent of its fresh Scottish salmon range independently certified b…
Ocean Spray Cranberries, the agricultural cooperative owned by more than 700 farmer families, has announced a collaboration with Atlantic Sea Farms, a women-run regenerative kelp aquaculture company, to produce Cranberry…
Economic forecasts have the United States as Vietnam’ s largest shrimp import market for 2022, with recovering consumer demand in that region pushing export volumes to new highs.
Sainsbury's is the first UK supermarket to have 100 percent of its fresh Scottish salmon range independently certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council ( ASC).
The Morrison and Gutwein governments have signed an agreement that provides a legal framework for aquaculture research that will be conducted in Australia’ s Bass Strait.
The Blue Impact Fund aims to raise up to £75 million to catalyse the growth of truly sustainable aquaculture in the UK – with a focus on projects including the production of seaweed, bivalves and land-based shrimp.
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Everybody Wants a Piece of Moderna. Next Up: University of Toronto | Moderna is on a roll. On Thursday, the company announced it was partnering with the nonprofit scientific research organization IAVI. Earlier in the week, the University of Toronto reported it was partnering with the mRNA specialist.
U of T and Moderna have a partnership framework agreement that allows the two organizations to collaborate across a broad variety of areas, ranging from molecular genetics to biomedical engineering, biochemistry and more. This is the first research partnership Moderna has struck with a Canadian university.
“ Today we are delighted to announce that Moderna is partnering with U of T, and is keen to do so because Moderna recognizes that there is nowhere else in the world where you can find expertise at scale like you can at U of T, ” said Leah Cowen, U of T’ s vice president, research and innovation and strategic initiatives. “ It is not every day that an opportunity presents to combine a world-class life sciences research community and a disruptive biological innovator. We are proud to say that today is one such day. ”
Moderna’ s country general manager in Canada, Patricia Gauthier, indicated the company is looking forward to leveraging U of T’ s interdisciplinary expertise to advance shared interests in medical research.
“ At Moderna, we have several different modalities that we’ re working towards, ” Gauthier said. “ We’ ve proven our approach works with infectious diseases, so there’ s a really big focus on that - but I think we can also go way beyond. ”
The partnership with IAVI is to develop therapeutics and vaccines against global health threats, such as HIV/AIDS, TB, COVID-19 and antimicrobial-resistant enteric infections. The Moderna-IAVI partnership really started in January when a clinical trial launched at George Washington University ( GWU) School of Medicine and Health Sciences to evaluate sequential dosing of priming and boosting HIV immunogens delivered by way of mRNA to determine if it can stimulate B-cell responses and hopefully them into broadly neutralizing antibodies. That trial is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Moderna is no stranger to strategic collaborations. It lists partnerships with AstraZeneca, Merck, Vertex, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority ( BARDA), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA), the Gates Foundation as mentioned earlier, the Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital and Institut Pasteur.
On April 4, Moderna launched the Moderna Charitable Foundation “ to promote public health, access to quality healthcare and educational opportunities, particularly in underserved populations. ”
The foundation was established by the company’ s board of directors, which granted an initial upfront endowment of $ 50 million. The Foundation and the grant program will look at charitable programs with a particular focus on local and global communities impacted by the pandemic, supporting scientific education and innovation, public health and access to healthcare and pushing for inclusion and diversity.
Starting out, the Foundation announced about $ 5 million in initial grants to five local and global nonprofits. They included:
• Boston Medical Center’ s Good Grief Program. This program focuses on therapeutic services for children who have experienced a loss.
• Heading Home. Based in Cambridge, Mass., this organization provides permanent, supportive housing for extremely low-income people.
• International Rescue Committee. Supports infection prevention and control programs in West and Central Africa, especially in conflict zones.
• Life Sciences Cares. Supports nonprofit partnerships and programs that fight poverty in the Greater Boston Area.
• Year Up. A workforce development program that “ closes the opportunity divide between young adults and companies across the U.S. ” | general |
JetBlue offers flight attendants $ 1,000 attendance bonuses for spring travel surge | In this article
JetBlue Airways is offering flight attendants $ 1,000 bonuses if they don't call out from work starting Friday through the end of May as the carrier tries to ensure adequate staffing during a surge in travel demand, according to a company message.
Flight attendants will also receive $ 100 bonuses for picking up open trips, said the message, which was shared with staff Friday and seen by CNBC. Part-time flight attendants would receive $ 500 for meeting attendance goals.
JetBlue's latest incentive shows it is willing to pay crews extra to avoid potentially costlier flight disruptions as travelers return in droves after two years of the Covid pandemic.
Staffing shortages have hamstrung airlines over the past year, particularly during Covid peaks, such as widespread omicron cases that sidelined crews during the year-end holidays. JetBlue, United, American and others turned to bonuses or even triple pay to ease staffing shortages.
`` The spring rewards programs comes at a time where every flight makes a difference as hours are tight and staffing levels are not where they need to be, '' Ed Baklor, JetBlue's head of customer care and programs, said in the memo.
Baklor last month urged flight attendants not to turn down assignments.
JetBlue didn't immediately comment but COO Joanna Geraghty on Wednesday told CNBC that JetBlue will `` continue to moderate capacity as needed '' as the airline industry grapples with staffing shortages and high fuel prices.
The incentive program starts days after JetBlue made a surprise, $ 3.6 billion, all-cash offer to buy discount carrier Spirit Airlines, throwing Spirit's $ 2.9 billion deal to combine with fellow ultralow-cost airline Frontier Airlines into question.
Spirit late Thursday said it would entertain JetBlue's offer but said its merger agreement is still in place with Frontier.
JetBlue executives told investors this week that the deal would allow it to grow quickly and better compete against the four largest U.S. carriers: Delta, United, Southwest and American. Frontier said a JetBlue-Spirit tie-up would lead to higher fares for consumers. | business |
21 States Raised The Minimum Wage in 2022, But Living Costs Are Rising Faster | This story is published as part of Teen Vogue’ s 2022 Economic Security Project fellowship.
This past New Year’ s Eve, the clock struck midnight and almost two dozen states did what Congress has so far failed to do: They raised the minimum wage.
Thanks to voters in 21 states, hourly workers around the country saw their paychecks increase. Michigan, Colorado, and Minnesota were the most timid with their raises, increasing them by 22 cents, 24 cents, and 25 cents, respectively. Illinois, New Jersey, California, and New Mexico, meanwhile, enacted raises of a dollar, while Delaware’ s increased by $ 1.25 and Virginia’ s by $ 1.50.
In most cases, these hikes are one of several annual adjustments designed to move a state’ s minimum wage to a new base standard over the course of several years. Michigan’ s state lawmakers, for example, passed their minimum wage increase law in 2018 with the goal of raising the wage to $ 12 by 2030. Illinois lawmakers passed their law in 2019, with the goal of raising the rate to $ 15 by 2025.
These state-level minimum-wage adjustments are certainly worth noting as we mark the 10-year anniversary of the beginning of the Fight for $ 15 movement. But even with these advances, California is the only state in the country so far to hit that $ 15 statewide minimum wage benchmark, though it only applies to businesses with 26 or more employees. For workers, any increase is a step in the right direction. But with health care, housing, gas, and food costs rising, even a $ 15 minimum wage isn’ t enough to cover basic costs in most parts of the country.
Tallon Ralston, 18, has been part of the Fight for $ 15 for several years. Currently, he works at a Jack in the Box in the Roseville neighborhood of Sacramento, and two months ago his hourly rate increased to $ 15 an hour. When Teen Vogue asked him if the increase has had an impact on his ability to cover his expenses, Ralston said, “ Not really. It seems like I still make the same. It's getting a lot harder and harder to afford things. I feel like my whole team needs a [ higher ] living wage because stuff in California is getting more and more expensive and it's [ happening ] all over the place. ”
The living-wage fight is a timely example of the failings of incremental change. Even as the first state finally enacts its statewide $ 15 minimum age, many advocates and experts are now saying that's no longer enough. Still, according to a 2021 Pew Research survey, 62% of respondents favor increasing the federal minimum wage to $ 15 per hour. The same is true for 72% of lower-income respondents, 58% of middle-income respondents, and 55% of upper-income respondents. Major corporations like Starbucks, Costco, Best Buy, Walgreens, CVS, and Target have also announced minimum wages of $ 15 or more for their employees. Democrats in Congress tried to include a $ 15 federal minimum wage in last year’ s COVID relief bill and President Biden reiterated his support for the legislation in his 2022 State of the Union speech. This comes after the administration raised the minimum wage for all federal workers to $ 15 an hour last year.
Ralston, though, is unwavering in his assessment that both his day-to-day life and his long- and short-term financial pressures haven’ t changed much: “ Fifteen dollars is a good step, but things continue to get more and more expensive, which [ makes it ] hard to save or hard to take care of things that you need to take care of on the side. ” Between caring for his grandmother and managing living expenses with his grandmother’ s help, Ralston says the dollar difference hasn’ t been especially apparent or transformative. He points out that common expenses like gas have become considerably more expensive since he first started driving and suggests that $ 16 or $ 17 per hour might make more of a difference.
More and more experts and advocates are echoing the same sentiment. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’ s ( MIT) online living-wage calculator, created in 2004, uses “ geographically specific expenditure data ” to determine the hourly rate needed for people to be able to afford everyday living in a given place. The tool factors in common costs that put its minimum cost of living estimate above the federal poverty rate. For Washington, D.C., the calculator puts the living wage at $ 20.21 for an adult with no children and jumps to $ 38.48 for an adult with one child. Georgia’ s most populous county, Fulton County, gets a living wage recommendation of $ 16.72 for an adult with no children and $ 31.70 for an adult with one child.
In Sacramento, the digital tool puts the living wage at $ 16.99 for an adult with no children, but for a working adult living with a non-working adult, like Ralston and his grandmother, the tool recommends a living wage of $ 28.74. A recent report from Drexel University’ s Center for Hunger-Free Communities makes a case for similar numbers for the entire country, writing, “ A true living wage that supports a basic standard of living without food and housing insecurity would be between $ 20 and $ 26 or more per hour, depending on the state. ”
It’ s worth noting that even if the minimum wage had been increased in 2012 when the Fight for $ 15 was launched, many argue it likely would be due for an update. Much like the recent state-level, minimum-wage laws, the federal minimum wage has often increased less than 75 cents at a time, though those adjustments used to occur with some regularity. And, as advocates frequently note, the last federal minimum-wage increase was in 2009. It still sits at just $ 7.25. The question remains: Are incremental increases, designed to reach a new standard in the future, enough to offset more than 10 years of federal inactivity on this issue? Do they take into account the nationwide economic crises or gradual changes that may have occurred in the interim — from the lasting impact of the great recession to the rising cost of living in metropolitan areas — to make even these new wage minimums woefully insufficient? For Ralston, the answer appears to be no: “ I just feel like the wage might go up year after year, but no matter what, stuff gets more and more expensive, ” he says. “ So it's still hard to afford things, even though you're making $ 15 an hour. ”
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Kenyan Mobile Money Gets Boost in Shift to Seamless Payments | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
A pedestrian passes retail kiosks offering Safaricom Plc mobile money services in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. Revenue from M-Pesa, Safaricom's mobile-money service, is expected to grow after more customers have adopted cashless transactions during the coronavirus pandemic., Bloomberg
( Bloomberg) -- Kenya’ s cellular-phone operators agreed to allow mobile payments across their networks, joining an effort by the central bank to integrate the nation’ s payment systems.
The first phase of “ merchant interoperability ” will enable Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd. and Telkom Kenya Ltd. users to pay for goods through Safaricom Plc’ s M-Pesa, the biggest mobile-money platform in the East African country, the three companies said in a statement on Friday.
The next step will allow clients make payments from Safaricom’ s M-Pesa to till numbers on the Airtel Money and Telkom’ s T-Kash platforms.
Kenya’ s central bank is seeking seamless payments across all systems so clients can send and receive money from any financial institution. Mobile money is widely used in the region’ s biggest economy, with transactions carried out at agents jumping to 60% of gross domestic product last year from 23% in 2010.
There were more than 2.2 billion transactions valued at more than 6.9 trillion shillings ( $ 60 billion) in 2021, according to the Central Bank of Kenya.
“ We have over 400,000 merchants, ” Safaricom Chief Financial Services Officer Sitoyo Lopokoiyit said in an interview. “ Over 11 million customers use this service on a monthly basis and 100 billion shillings goes to this service on a monthly basis. ”
The move will likely be positive for Safaricom, the country’ s biggest company, because more than 90% of mobile-money transactions go through M-Pesa, said Silha Rasugu, associate vice president for utilities, telecommunications, oil and gas at EFG Hermes Kenya. | general |
“ Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ” Vies to Be the Pandemic Era’ s Top-Grossing Kids Film | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
( Bloomberg) -- “ Sonic the Hedgehog 2, ” a sequel to the 2020 hit from Paramount Pictures, could be the pandemic era’ s top-grossing kids film, if parents get more comfortable bringing little ones back to theaters.
The PG-rated picture is projected to generate $ 65 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales this weekend, according to Boxoffice Pro. Paramount is forecasting over $ 50 million. It’ s already taken in $ 26.1 million in international ticket sales after opening in 31 markets last week.
The film, about a superfast blue mammal, has a number of things going for it. It’ s based on a popular Sega Co. video-game franchise. Its predecessor was one of the last big hits before the pandemic struck. And it’ s getting decent reviews, with 66% critical approval, according to RottenTomatoes.com.
The picture is also coming out during spring break, meaning more parents will be looking for things to do with their kids as coronavirus case counts lessen and mask rules are lifted. All that is good news for theater owners, who have relied heavily on older kids and young adults to fill their seats the past few years.
“ ‘ Sonic 2’ is the greatest litmus test yet during the pandemic of how comfortable parents are feeling taking their kids back to public venues like the theater, ” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice Pro. “ The results of this film at the box office will tell us a great deal about what to expect from other family movies coming up during the summer and beyond. ”
Kids are an important demographic for movie studios. Children age 2 to 17 accounted for 28% of domestic movie ticket sales in 2021, while only making up 21% of the population, according to research from the Motion Picture Association. But they’ re also more likely to be enticed by smaller-screen options. About 85% of kids in the U.S. watched full-length movies on their mobile devices last year, compared with 60% of adults.
Ticket sales are recovering this year. The numbers are largely due to two big superhero films, Sony’ s “ Spider-Man: No Way Home, ” released in mid-December, and Warner Bros.’ “ The Batman. ” Both appealed to adults as well as kids.
Some theater operators also say they’ ve waited to add more family-friendly events to their lineups. Mark Anastasio, director of special programming at Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Massachusetts, said his cinema will soon roll out more child-friendly activities.
“ We held off from bringing back our weekend kids programming, ” he said. “ Not all children are eligible for vaccines and we weren’ t sure if families were ready to bring back their kids. ”
Before “ Sonic, ” the biggest opening weekend for a PG-rated film since the pandemic took hold was “ Space Jam: A New Legacy, ” from Warner Bros., which generated $ 31.1 million last July, according to Comscore data. After “ Encanto ” took in a relatively disappointing $ 27.2 million in November, Walt Disney Co. put its next animated film, “ Turning Red, ” directly on its Disney+ streaming service instead of showing it in theaters.
“ Sonic 2, ” a combination live action and animated film, tells the story of the hedgehog as he tries “ to prove he has what it takes to be a true hero, ” according to a description from Paramount. Along with a friend, Knuckles, he goes in search of an emerald before it can fall into the hands of the evil villain, Dr. Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey.
The original “ Sonic ” generated $ 58 million in domestic ticket sales on its opening weekend and remained No. 1 for two weeks in February 2020. It’ s now the top-grossing film based on a video-game franchise domestically, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com | general |
How This Liquor Entrepreneur Partnered With Ben and Jerry's to Bring Back a 15-Year-Old Ice Cream Flavor | Wheyward Spirit, founded by Emily Darchuk in 2017, creates an alcoholic beverage out of whey, a nutrient-rich liquid produced from cheese processing. For every pound of cheese produced, nine pounds of whey are left behind. Wheyward Spirit ferments and distills that material, which would otherwise go to waste, into a clear `` specialty spirit. '' Through a partnership announced in March, the two-employee Portland, Oregon-based company is now providing the spirit to Ben & Jerry's as an ingredient in Dublin Mudslide, a flavor returning from the ice cream maker's `` Flavor Graveyard '' for the first time since 2007. ( Darchuk declined to disclose the financial details of her company or the partnership.)
With the launch behind her, Darchuk, 35, explains what she did to execute a partnership with a larger, established company and maximize its success.
Not every company will be the right one to work with. When Ben & Jerry's approached Darchuk in 2020, she spoke with a company representative and quickly knew a partnership could be mutually beneficial: Ben & Jerry's wanted to work with a sustainable, women-led business, and Darchuk identified with Ben & Jerry's values, fun messaging, and focus on quality. Darchuk warns that entering into the wrong partnership, however, could dilute your brand's identity, adding that she has turned down deals in the past when they didn't fit with her goals for Wheyward Spirit. `` Don't be afraid to say no, '' she says. `` Especially if it's going to change your focus or change your production or take away from what your core business needs to be. ''
In the two years leading up to the launch of the partnership, Darchuk worked with many business groups within Ben & Jerry's, collaborating on every aspect of the campaign from research and development to packaging. Flexibility, she says, is key to navigating the complications of working with a bigger company. `` Seeing how we could add value to the launch and be able to support it through the process and afterwards was my goal, '' she says. Being an active collaborator in every step of the process ensures you and your partner are always on the same page and that the campaign achieves both parties ' goals.
The lengthy lead-up to the ice cream's rollout proved a major challenge for Wheyward Spirit. Since the partnership began at the height of Covid-19 in 2020, neither company initially was certain when the product could be released. Rather than just idly wait in between each step of the process, Darchuk took the opportunity to make improvements that would ready her business for the campaign's eventual launch and the new audience it would bring. She worked on scaling production, further researching the science and environmental impact of her product, and optimizing her website, among other things. `` It's about leaning in, '' Darchuk says, `` and taking those opportunities to really clean house and figure out: If this ends up being huge for us, how do we want to try to show up? '' | business |
Russia’ s War on Ukraine Compounds Food Crisis in West Africa | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
( Bloomberg) -- The number of people going hungry in West Africa has reached its highest level in decades, with Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine exacerbating a food crisis that was already threatening millions of people and straining fragile, coronavirus-ravaged economies.
“ The number of hungry people has quadrupled between 2019 and 2022, ” Ollo Sib, the World Food Programme’ s regional adviser for research, assessment and monitoring, said at a media briefing in Geneva on Friday. “ We’ re facing an unprecedented and complex hunger crisis in West Africa with multiple structural vulnerabilities and shocks. ”
Some 43 million people are food insecure in West Africa and the Central African Republic, and six million children in the Sahel region are undernourished, according to the WFP. It warned that farmers in the region who were already struggling to feed their families due to the impact of a 2021 drought, border closures because of the coronavirus pandemic and recent coups in Mali and Burkina Faso now also face surging food prices.
“ The conflict in Ukraine is violently disrupting the global trade of food, fertilizers and oil products and driving up food and fuel prices across the globe, ” the UN agency said in a statement.
The war and sweeping sanctions imposed on Russia have upended Black Sea supplies at a time when global stockpiles are already tight. Ukraine and Russia ship more than a quarter of the world’ s wheat, and the fighting has closed ports and halted transport. Food prices have surged at the fastest pace ever due to the invasion, rising another 13% last month, the U.N.’ s index of world costs shows.
Oxfam and other aid agencies warned earlier this week that another 11 million people in West Africa could be confronting hunger in the next three months. More than 27 million people across the region already don’ t have enough to eat, according to the U.K.-based NGO.
The WFP estimates that food stocks won’ t be sufficient to cover West Africa’ s s needs until the next harvest around September.
The east of the continent is also confronting food shortages. In the Horn of Africa, another 13 million people could soon face hunger as the region contends with its worst drought in four decades. Its reliance on imports from the Black Sea countries such as Ukraine will worsen the situation by inflating prices, the WFP said earlier this week.
While the feds touted the spending in its budget as prudent, prominent Bay Street economist David Rosenberg said the extra fiscal stimulus could lead the Bank of Canada to hike its benchmark rate higher than originally thought.
Canada’ s unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since at least the mid-1970s, as the laboUr market posted another strong monthly employment gain.
Average Canadians might not realize how big a stake they have in the country’ s largest banks in their retirement portfolios; either directly in their RRSPs and TFSAs, or indirectly through mutual funds, ETFs, and pension plans.
Businesses are struggling to cope with an apparent sixth wave of COVID, as staffing shortages hamper sectors from health care to hospitality and retail — though the interruption remains more manageable than last winter's Omicron variant surge. | general |
U.S.-bound import volumes are expected to remain strong, says Port Tracker report | United States-bound retail container imports are starting to get caught up to the months-long run stretch of backlogs, while the possibility of a summer surge looms, according to the most recent edition of the Port Tracker report, which was issued today by the National Retail Federation ( NRF) and maritime consultancy Hackett Associates.
The ports surveyed in the report include: Los Angeles/Long Beach; Oakland; Tacoma; Seattle; Houston; New York/New Jersey; Hampton Roads; Charleston, and Savannah; Miami; Jacksonville; and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Port Everglades.
Authors of the report explained that cargo import numbers do not correlate directly with retail sales or employment because they count only the number of cargo containers brought into the country, not the value of the merchandise inside them, adding that the amount of merchandise imported provides a rough barometer of retailers’ expectations.
“ As we entered 2022, the biggest question was when the supply chain would return to normal, ” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said in a statement. “ Unfortunately, we still don’ t have a definitive answer. Congestion at West Coast ports has eased, but congestion at some East Coast ports is growing. Ports aren’ t as overwhelmed as they were a year ago, but they are still significantly busy moving near-record volumes of cargo. ”
For February, the most recent month for which data is available, import volume—at 2.11 million TEU ( Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) —was off 2.3% compared to January and up 13% annually.
Port Tracker pegged the first six months of 2022 to come in at 13.1 million TEU, which would mark a 2.5% annual gain.
In a recent interview with LM, NRF’ s Gold explained that consumer demand remains high and continues to drive solid import volumes.
“ Throughout the pandemic, we have seen a $ 1 trillion swing, in consumer spending, from services to goods, ” he said. “ The consumer is still out there purchasing online or in store as things open up again and will continue to do more and more of that. I think consumers are looking to spend more on services now that all of the mask mandates are gone and things are opening back up. But inflation and gas prices are a factor, too. ”
As for Port Tracker data in the coming months, he said that gains are expected but not to the same extent in 2021, which often saw double-digit increases, related to more moderate annual comparisons.
Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett wrote in the report that the number of ships waiting to unload at Los Angeles and Long Beach has dropped significantly, with relatively few waiting for long periods and most being smaller vessels under 10,000 TEU capacity.
“ Given the virtual shutdown of Shanghai for COVID-19 testing and the sharp drop in export production as a result, there are now several large vessels waiting to enter the port there to discharge empty containers and load export boxes, ” he added. “ The wait on that side of the Pacific will help reduce the pressure of vessel arrivals at Los Angeles-area terminals. Our projection is that throughput on the West Coast will remain stable to strong through most of April. The reduction in COVID in the United States is also helping ease the strain on the transportation supply chain.
He also observed that given the recent COVID-19 lockdowns, a main concern he has is that the supply of goods from China will decline as it did in 2020, adding that shipping capacity remains stable and sufficient, and is expected to increase as congestion in China and along the US coasts slow. | general |
Warehouse/DC Equipment survey for 2022: It’ s “ go time ” for investment | However, the findings suggest more than a crude swap out of human labor in favor of automation. Respondents to our 2022 survey—which asks readers about their spending outlook on warehouse automation, materials handling equipment, and related software—also shows an uptick in spending on labor as well as heightened interest in training.
The underlying drivers are that the economy has stayed strong, e-commerce keeps growing, and companies with distribution operations are scrambling to keep up. Under these pressures, the response is led by going with more automation, but it also includes spending to ensure enough labor force while also training people to properly interact with all the new-fangled automation.
Call it a two-pronged approach to keeping up with e-commerce fulfillment volumes. It starts with more automation, but it doesn’ t end there.
“ It’ s the new landscape, ” says Norm Saenz, managing director and partner with St. Onge, a supply chain engineering and consulting company and our research partner for this project. “ I think leaders in operations see the writing on the wall. They realize that there needs to be more automation in their facilities to support throughput requirements and offset the lack of enough workforce to carry out processes manually, so we’ re seeing more automation. ”
This year’ s survey, conducted in December 2021 by Peerless Research Group ( PRG), drew responses from managers and executives in multiple verticals who are involved with materials handling system decisions. Being an annual survey, it also shows, compared with last year’ s findings, less hesitancy about moving forward with investments, reaching a level on par with our 2020 survey, which was conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic hit North America.
Peerless Research Group’ s ( PRG) e-mail survey questionnaire was sent to readers of Logistics Management and Modern Materials Handling in December 2021, yielding 114 qualified respondents. The respondents were from sites whose primary activity is corporate headquarters ( 32%), warehouse/distribution ( 26%), manufacturing ( 25%), and warehousing supporting manufacturing ( 13%). The median annual revenue of responding companies is $ 52 million, while the average is $ 184.8 million, compared with an average of $ 188.9 million last year and a median of $ 50 million. Qualified respondents—managers and personnel involved in the purchase decision process for materials handling solutions—hold influence over an average of 108,330 square feet of DC or facility space.
Not only did this year’ s survey show less hesitancy, it also shows that budgets are headed up fairly dramatically. The average anticipated spending on materials handling systems and related technology for 2022 came in at $ 459,316, well above last year’ s average anticipated spend of $ 306,990.
“ The trend is toward more optimism and use of automation, ” says Donald Derewecki, a senior consultant with St. Onge, who along with Saenz reviewed the survey findings. “ The survey shows that a cross-section of companies of different sizes realize that they have to keep up with automation and information technology to stay competitive. Maybe the smaller companies don’ t want to be bleeding edge, but more of them realize they need to keep up with the mainstream. ”
Each year, the survey asks how the present state of the economy is affecting spending on material handling systems and related technologies. Compared to last year’ s findings, there is less hesitancy. In particular, those saying that they’ re “ holding off ” on materials handling system decisions dropped from 19% last year to 16% this year. Conversely, this year 36% say they are proceeding with investments, up from 28% last year. Those taking a “ wait and see ” approach also declined, from 37% last year, to 33% this year.
When asked which broad categories they’ re proceeding to invest in, the categories of growing interest versus last year were lift trucks ( named by 69% this year, up from 50%) and conveyors and sortation ( named by 56%, up from 33%). For this year’ s survey, we also added “ robotics ” and “ automation and technology ” as other areas companies are proceeding to invest in. We found that 26% want to proceed with robotics, 59% with automation and technology, and 54% with storage solutions.
When asked how 2021 spending compared to 2020, 42% said it increased, up from 23% on the same question last year. The “ stayed about the same ” response dropped by just 1%, but only 17% said that their spend level decreased, down sharply from 35% last year. Looking at expected spend for 2022 compared to 2021, 46% say their spend level will be up this year, which is 4% higher than the 41% who last year said their spend level would be up versus the previous year.
The annual survey also asks if spending will increase over the next “ two to three ” years, and, once again, the findings trend upward. This year, 57% predict increased spending on materials handling systems over the next two to three years, compared to 53% last year.
As mentioned, the average anticipated spend for 2022 ( the survey asks for anticipated spend for the next 12 months) reached $ 459,316, up from $ 306,990 last year. The median 2022 anticipated spend is also up—from $ 85,552 last year to $ 98,458 this year.
In terms of dollar ranges for anticipated 2022 spending on materials handling, a combined 14% of respondents plan to spend $ 1 million or more, though with many smaller companies among respondents, 28% plan to spend less than $ 25,000.
When asked in which areas they will be investing over the next 12 months, 60% will spend on new equipment or equipment upgrades, up from 52% last year. Additionally, 59% say they plan to invest in labor, up from 53% last year, while 24% said they will invest in outside services, up from 18% the year before.
This year, 36% said they will invest in maintenance services, up from 27% last year. Forty-five percent plan spend on information technology hardware or software, down from 52% in our 2021 survey. However, other findings in the survey reflect a need for software.
The higher spending on labor doesn’ t necessarily mean respondents are looking to add significantly more people. Some are likely paying higher wages or incentives to attract and retain the same, or at least an adequate level of staffing to support their operational volume, explains Saenz, as they turn to automation to reduce the overall labor requirement.
“ Companies are definitely paying higher wages to try and attract and retain enough people, while also looking at more automation, ” Saenz says. “ Both are part of the strategies we see: spending more on automation to be more efficient and also spending more on labor to ensure they have enough people to staff these more highly automated facilities. ”
While labor availability concerns have been around a long time, adds Derewecki, the problem is only escalating, making it harder for companies to meet significant peaks in demand if they rely on mostly manual processes. “ It’ s just very difficult for DCs that experience significant spikes in demand, to go out and find 40 or 50 extra people for just a couple of months, ” Derewecki says. “ That is where much of the demand for automation is coming from. ”
This year’ s survey also found an increase in pre-approved, annual capital expenditure ( CapEx) budgets for materials handling solutions, with 39% reporting they had one, up from 36% the previous year. The average pre-approved budget climbed from $ 369,286 last year to $ 449,219 this year. When we asked about ranges, 31% reported a pre-approved budget of $ 1 million or more.
When asked what percentage of overall spending will be on either materials handling equipment, information systems ( IS), or “ other, ” over the next 12 months, this year 30% is for equipment, 22% is on IS, and 25% on other. Last year, this breakdown was 41% on equipment, 36% on IS, and 23% on other.
When asked to break down which IS niches they will be spending on during the next 12 months, categories on the upswing this year include warehouse execution system ( WES) software, up 3%, and enterprise resource planning ( ERP), up by 2%. The warehouse management system ( WMS) category held steady at 24%.
In terms of interest in various types of material handling equipment over the next 12 months, the growth categories included lift trucks ( 8% gain versus last year), radio frequency identification ( RFID) solutions ( up by 6%), power transmission including motors and belts ( up 7%), AMRs and AGVs ( up 3%), and more dramatically, packaging investments including palletizers and pallets, up from 25% last year to 40% this year.
The survey also asked about which new purchases or substantial changes to existing systems fell into one of three broad areas of investment: IT; use of 3PLs; and various “ system equipment ” investments such as automated retrieval, lift truck and conveyors. The big gainer here was systems equipment, up from 24% last year, to 44% this year.
While IT was down 10% versus last year, Derewecki and Saenz observe that “ systems solutions ” like automated storage and retrieval systems or robotic, high-density storage systems typically involve software to run and manage, so some IS spending is wrapped up in these investments.
Another part of the survey that bodes well for software vendors is that many respondents want to automate how they gauge productivity for key factors like cycle times or throughput going forward. This ultimately takes software both to generate the data and to visualize metrics. This question asks if respondents use a manual process for certain metrics, an automated one, or are currently not monitoring the area, as well as if the plan to automate measures in two years.
For example, this year, we found that while just 30% automate measurement of daily throughput, 69% anticipate automating this metric in two years. Similarly, while 27% have an automated means for tracking order cycle times, 54% plan to automate this within two years. Another is dock-to-stock cycle time, measured in an automated way by 25% today, but 55% anticipate a more automated means of tracking this within two years.
In terms of industry issues rated as “ very important ” today, compared with what will be very important two years from now, some issues like cost containment and safety drew high percentages today, and remained fairly stable in importance rating two years out.
Others showed a shaper rise in importance, including training, rated as very important today by 60%, but very important for 72% in two years. Capital availability, cycle times, hours of service, having a global presence, and dealing with smaller, more frequent orders also increased in this two-year look ahead on “ very important ” practices.
Generally, observes Derewecki, automation solutions involve training, even if once installed they reduce the overall labor requirement versus manual processes. “ Training people on how to use software, and how to maintain and work with any automation they’ re putting in, is going to be critical to getting the most from these systems, ” he says.
The rise in having pre-approved budgets, as well as projected higher importance on CapEx funding as an issue, may reflect that more organizations are trying to justify materials handling automation expenditures in a more structured, long-term way. As Saenz explains, “ the lead time for getting some of these systems approved and installed can be quite long, so you have to think ahead. ”
Saenz adds that there’ s lot of DC network projects going on, consolidating conventional buildings down into fewer, more highly automated buildings. “ These factors are putting pressure on organizations to come up with longer-term capital outlay plans, so that they can get projects approved and actually have new systems in place when and where they need them. ”
Perhaps of little surprise, interest and use of robotics was up. Not only did 26% of respondents name robotics as an investment category that they’ ll proceed with, when we asked for details about AMRs and AGVs there was growing interest as well.
This year, 10% said that they currently use AMRs or AGVs, and 23% are evaluating them for use within the next 24 months. Last year, that breakdown was 6% who currently use, and 14% evaluating them.
Similarly, interest in industrial robotic solutions with articulating arms ( used for piece picking, palletizing, and other processes) is growing, with 14% saying that they use industrial robotics of some type, and 22% are evaluating them for use during the next 24 months. Last year, that breakdown was 7% who currently use, and 20% evaluating them.
We further asked which applications AGVs, AMRs, and industrial robots will be used for. Growth applications for AMRs and AGVs this year include order fulfillment ( both “ part to picker ” and “ picker to part ” workflows), transport, as well as transport involved with palletizing and depalletizing. For other robotic technology, growth applications included truck unloading, truck loading, bin picking, as well as palletizing and depalletizing.
This year’ s findings around maintenance of materials handling systems shows that use of internal staff remains the most common source for carrying out maintenance, well ahead of outsourcing maintenance entirely or using a combined approach of internal and external resources. For 2022, 67% said that they rely on in-house maintenance, up from 53% in 2021.
However, there was also a 6% rise in respondents who outsource the maintenance function, while 23% use a combined approach, down from 35% in 2021.
When asked what role automation vendors or third parties play in maintaining automation, upgrades and upkeep visits were the most commonly cited purpose, at 43%, down 3% from the previous year. Most reasons stayed fairly stable, though use of vendors and third parties for maintenance “ consulting ” was down 10%, though for “ data analysis ” it was up from 14% last year to 19% this year.
The annual survey asks about the most common method of fulfilling online orders today, and which method respondents believe will be most common in two years.
The most common practice today is to “ buy-online, ship to customer from a DC, ” used by 35% today, and expected to be the most commonly used method by 46% in two years. Similarly, 13% of respondents this year said that “ buy online, ship to customer from store, ” is today the most common method—but this grows to 19% in two years.
Some other methods are projected as taking a slight dip in two years, such as “ buy-online, ship to customer from vendor, ” seen as most common by 17% today, but only by 13% in two years.
The survey also asked if e-commerce “ will or is already prompting change in where distribution and manufacturing activities take place. ” This year, 57% said e-commerce is prompting more distribution functions in manufacturing, up a full 10% from last year. This year, 32% said e-commerce was prompting more manufacturing functions in distribution, down from 47% last year.
When asked “ where does packaging and fulfillment occur ” ( with choices including warehouses, manufacturing sites, fulfillment centers, DCs, retail stores, and outsourced), the most common type of location remains a warehouse, cited by 55% this year, up from 47% last year.
Additionally, 27% this year indicate that packaging and fulfillment occurs at a fulfillment center, up from 19% last year, while 8% cited stores this year, up from 2% last year, and finally, 53% say packaging occurs in manufacturing, up from 40% last year.
To some extent, the warehouse space crunch can be seen in this year’ s survey results. For example, when asked about current activity/capacity level for standalone DCs, a combined 31% have a capacity level that exceeds 80%, which shows a significant chunk of respondents likely need more space. However, for those respondents reporting a capacity level of 50% or more, the average capacity level is 78% this year, down slightly from 80% the year before.
Similarly, for warehouses that support manufacturing, the survey found that a combined 23% currently exceed a capacity level of 80%. Among those reporting 50% or more capacity, the average level reached 80%, down slightly from last year, but still indicating tight space capacity for these respondents.
As Saenz sees it, capacity levels can vary widely between different companies, even though it’ s true that warehouse space has grown tighter this year. International supply chain snarls can affect companies differently, he adds.
“ Some companies can’ t source the inventory they need, so they have warehouses with a surprising amount of empty space, while other organizations have decided to over buy intentionally to ensure availability for customers, so they are short on space, ” says Saenz. “ It’ s sort of a mess with inventory, because of the larger supply chain issues. ”
Even though this survey focuses on DC/plant level systems, some findings reflect the bigger picture. For example, this year, the concerns around labor availability are seen in the growing importance of workload planning as a key practice for managing DC operations.
This year, 46% rated workload planning as important, coming in as the fourth leading practice today; but two years from now, 53% see it as being very important. Likewise, labor productivity was already rated as important by 54%, but 60% say it will be important two years out. The top practice is “ continuous improvement, ” but this practice is seen as declining in importance two years out.
A similar question on important practices for manufacturers found that just-in-time ( JIT) production, rated as a key practice by 25% today, dips slightly to 22% in two years. Outsourcing among manufacturers, rated as important by 25% today, is also seen as declining in importance in two years, to 20%.
Such findings are likely related to today’ s international supply chain snarls and may reflect some respondents rethinking their sourcing and production strategies.
On the other hand, respondents see lean manufacturing as growing in importance two years out, so there appears to be lasting confidence in pull-based methods, even if it was a tough year for the JIT approach. “ For some companies, it has turned from just in time, to just in case we can’ t get it, we’ re going to buy more, ” observes Derewecki.
Our questions about supply chain risk also showed heightened global supply chain concerns. Specifically, “ logistics risks ” increased as a risk factor being analyzed by respondents, from 52% last year, to 65% this year.
Additionally, “ outsourcing tasks ” was being analyzed for risk by 39%, up from 24% last year. A higher percentage is also looking at natural disasters as a risk factor this year ( up by 5%). What’ s more, this year, 55% said that they have a program for identifying and analyzing risks, up sharply from 39% the year before, and also a bit higher than in 2020, when 52% said they had a plan for identifying risks.
Macro-level supply chain issues aside, one thing that’ s clear in multiple findings in the 2022 survey: respondents are ready to embrace more automation and robotics, and they are putting in place more budget to make it happen.
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Major China PE and PP rate cuts fail to halt slide in spreads to historic lows – Asian Chemical Connections | Understand market developments and complex data and what they mean to you.
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“ ICIS price forecasts have helped us allocate resources smartly and efficiently, to anticipate price changes, and to buy PP at favourable prices. The reports have saved our internal team a lot of time and effort when analysing pricing trends. ”
AHA! I had another of those light bulb moments yesterday after a dozen or so calls, including one to our excellent ICIS pricing team in China about why, despite deep China operating rate cuts, we have ended up with the above chart.
This is a question I’ ve been pondering for the last week. Why, despite rate cuts on a scale many people have never seen before, did polyolefins spreads ( the gaps between the prices for tonnes of resins versus costs for tonnes of naphtha) decline in March rather than increase?
If you look closely at the chart, you will see spreads in all the grades –- except low-density polyethylene ( LDPE) – reached their lowest levels in March since our price assessments began in November 2002.
In the case of polypropylene ( PP), this article from my ICIS colleague Lucy Shuai details how Chinese producers announced rate cuts in March, including idling whole units, that were equivalent to 24% of the country’ s total capacity.
Yes, 24% and yet in March, the spreads between CFR China PP injection grade prices and CFR Japan naphtha costs fell to $ 201/tonne from $ 267/tonne in February.
Rate cuts of a similar scale are reported to have occurred in PE, but, again, spreads declined in March over February.
The most dramatic polyethylene ( PE) decline was in high-density PE ( HDPE) injection grade to just $ 98/tonne in March from $ 203/tonne in February. February this year was the previous record-low spread since November 2002.
Market participants had expected spreads to increase in March as supply and demand were brought more into balance.
But as one contact said: “ There is hardly any demand because of the lockdowns. Truck drivers are not available to pick up resins from the polyolefins plants, some of the converters are not operating, and end-use demand has pretty much cratered ”.
Reductions in production at naphtha-based and other liquids-feed based cracker-to-polyolefins plants – which are mainly located in China’ s richer eastern and southern coastal provinces – seem to have been forced by the logistics and demand challenges.
It is worth noting that China’ s smaller coal-based polyolefins capacity hasn’ t seen extensive rate cuts.
This appears to be because the plants are mainly located away from the big outbreaks of Omicron – and because coal-based margins ( different from spreads, of course) are better than naphtha-based margins, as the chart below illustrates.
The margins appear to be better because of the rise in oil and so naphtha costs relative to coal – and because the local markets served by the coal-based plants are less affected by the lockdowns.
The chart only shows inland China HDPE coal-based integrated variable cost margins versus northeast Asia ( the same as China) HDPE naphtha-based integrated variable cost margins. But the patterns are similar in the other products.
What was surprising about the rate cuts was that China normally runs its petrochemicals plants hard, even at times of poor profitability, in order to keep people in jobs in downstream factories.
But as logistics appear to be hindering distribution of resins, with some finished-goods factories reportedly closed due to China’ s Zero Zero-COVID policy, this round of rate cuts seems to have been very different.
As always in China, separating the official views from what might be really happening on the ground is critically important.
“ One tally put the lost productivity from China’ s patchwork of COVID lockdowns at nearly $ 50bn a month, using reductions in trucking traffic to estimate the losses, ” wrote Quartz in this article.
Authorities had tried to ease the impact by allowing ports, factories, and some offices to have their workers live at work sites, added the investment news and analysis site.
But strict border rules, including lengthy quarantines, had damaged China’ s aviation and tourism industries, said Quartz.
“ While China maintains port operations are continuing as normal despite the lockdown, a supply chain tracking firm says ocean shipment volumes have been reduced, ” the article continued.
The number of ships awaiting a berth in Shanghai and the nearby port of Ningbo had increased. according to data from Kuehne+Nagel International AG, a Switzerland-based global logistics operator, quoted by the Wall Street Journal.
Around 100 vessels were waiting to dock on Monday [ ( 4 April), up and from 62 on 1 January this year, the newspaper reported.
Similar discrepancies between official views and data points versus what could really be happening were highlighted by The Economist in this article.
“ The most recent hard numbers on China’ s economy refer to the two months of January and February. Those ( surprisingly good) figures already look dated, even quaint, ” wrote the magazine.
Most of February was, of course, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and before the big surge in China’ s Omicron cases. The inflationary impact of the invasion is further damaging China’ s economy.
The Economist quotes data from Baidu, a popular search engine and mapping tool. Based on Baidu’ s tracking of smartphone movements, during the seven days to 3 April, the index was more than 48% below its level a year ago.
During the week ending 2 April, the number of metro journeys in eight big Chinese cities was nearly 34% below its level from a year ago – and 93% down in Shanghai, The Economist added.
Ting Lu, an analyst with Nomura, was quoted by The Economist as warning that the short history of this type of high-frequency data raised questions about its reliability.
But he added that most these types of data were pointing in the wrong direction – normally an indication of problems with GDP growth.
And we mustn’ t forget the property market, the source of most of China’ s tremendous petrochemicals demand growth from 2009 until 2021.
The market continues to deflate because of China’ s Common Prosperity policy shift.
“ China’ s home sales slump deepened in March, keeping pressure on cash-strapped developers even as policy makers vow to support the property market, ” wrote Bloomberg in this article.
The 100 biggest companies in China’ s debt-ridden property industry saw a 53% drop in sales from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from China Real Estate Information Corp, the wire service added.
What is also important to note is that most of China’ s polyolefins demand is concentrated in the richer coastal eastern and southern provinces, where Omicron lockdowns are also concentrated and where most of the property boom took place.
The chart below only details HDPE, but it is the same pattern in the other resins.
Nomura, in its 1 April podcast, said that the worst stage of China’ s downturn would be reached this Spring.
But the bank importantly added: “ We do not view inflation as a barrier to Beijing launching more supportive policy easing and stimulus measures in 2022. ”
The South China Morning Post, in this article, wrote that more than 60 municipal authorities would introduce easing measures designed to re-inflate the real-estate sector.
And we were in this place two years ago, in April 2020, when all looked doom and gloom. But China enjoyed nothing short of a H2 2020 economic boom.
But as far as China’ s export trade is concerned – the reason for its H2 2020 economic boom – this time feels very different.
Western governments can not launch stimulus on the same scale as in 2020 because of higher interest rates.
It was this stimulus that gave bored lockdowners the money to spend on mainly Chinese-manufactured durable goods.
The inflation crisis in the West, along with further supply-chain disruptions caused by the Ukraine-Russia conflict and China’ s Zero-COVID policy, may further jeopardise the chances of a China export-led recovery.
And however sensitive this issue is, it can not be ignored: China’ s close relationship with Russia means it is at risk of secondary sanctions.
I feel, yes, this is a scenario that needs to be considered because we have rarely, if ever, faced so many economic challenges at the same time.
Nobody has any idea on how long it will take China to bring its latest coronavirus outbreak under control, with the Zero-COVID policy perhaps its only option because of reports of the lack of effectiveness of Chinese vaccines and low vaccination rates among the elderly.
At the very least, the poor start to the year means that, even with a much stronger H2, China’ s polyolefins demand growth is going to struggle to hit consensus forecasts of the high single digits.
Please, please be careful out there and adjust your operating and sales plans in response to these risks.
ICIS is part of the LexisNexis® Risk Solutions Group portfolio of brands. | general |
2022 Warehouse/Distribution Center Equipment Survey: It’ s “ go time ” for investment | However, the findings suggest more than a crude swap out of human labor in favor of automation. Respondents to our 2022 survey—which asks readers about their spending outlook on warehouse automation, materials handling equipment, and related software—also shows an uptick in spending on labor as well as heightened interest in training.
The underlying drivers are that the economy has stayed strong, e-commerce keeps growing, and companies with distribution operations are scrambling to keep up. Under these pressures, the response is led by going with more automation, but it also includes spending to ensure enough labor force while also training people to properly interact with all the new-fangled automation.
Call it a two-pronged approach to keeping up with e-commerce fulfillment volumes. It starts with more automation, but it doesn’ t end there.
“ It’ s the new landscape, ” says Norm Saenz, managing director and partner with St. Onge, a supply chain engineering and consulting company and our research partner for this project. “ I think leaders in operations see the writing on the wall. They realize that there needs to be more automation in their facilities to support throughput requirements and offset the lack of enough workforce to carry out processes manually, so we’ re seeing more automation. ”
This year’ s survey, conducted in December 2021 by Peerless Research Group ( PRG), drew responses from managers and executives in multiple verticals who are involved with materials handling system decisions. Being an annual survey, it also shows, compared with last year’ s findings, less hesitancy about moving forward with investments, reaching a level on par with our 2020 survey, which was conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic hit North America.
Peerless Research Group’ s ( PRG) e-mail survey questionnaire was sent to readers of Logistics Management and Modern Materials Handling in December 2021, yielding 114 qualified respondents. The respondents were from sites whose primary activity is corporate headquarters ( 32%), warehouse/distribution ( 26%), manufacturing ( 25%), and warehousing supporting manufacturing ( 13%). The median annual revenue of responding companies is $ 52 million, while the average is $ 184.8 million, compared with an average of $ 188.9 million last year and a median of $ 50 million. Qualified respondents—managers and personnel involved in the purchase decision process for materials handling solutions—hold influence over an average of 108,330 square feet of DC or facility space.
Not only did this year’ s survey show less hesitancy, it also shows that budgets are headed up fairly dramatically. The average anticipated spending on materials handling systems and related technology for 2022 came in at $ 459,316, well above last year’ s average anticipated spend of $ 306,990.
“ The trend is toward more optimism and use of automation, ” says Donald Derewecki, a senior consultant with St. Onge, who along with Saenz reviewed the survey findings. “ The survey shows that a cross-section of companies of different sizes realize that they have to keep up with automation and information technology to stay competitive. Maybe the smaller companies don’ t want to be bleeding edge, but more of them realize they need to keep up with the mainstream. ”
Each year, the survey asks how the present state of the economy is affecting spending on material handling systems and related technologies. Compared to last year’ s findings, there is less hesitancy. In particular, those saying that they’ re “ holding off ” on materials handling system decisions dropped from 19% last year to 16% this year. Conversely, this year 36% say they are proceeding with investments, up from 28% last year. Those taking a “ wait and see ” approach also declined, from 37% last year, to 33% this year.
When asked which broad categories they’ re proceeding to invest in, the categories of growing interest versus last year were lift trucks ( named by 69% this year, up from 50%) and conveyors and sortation ( named by 56%, up from 33%). For this year’ s survey, we also added “ robotics ” and “ automation and technology ” as other areas companies are proceeding to invest in. We found that 26% want to proceed with robotics, 59% with automation and technology, and 54% with storage solutions.
When asked how 2021 spending compared to 2020, 42% said it increased, up from 23% on the same question last year. The “ stayed about the same ” response dropped by just 1%, but only 17% said that their spend level decreased, down sharply from 35% last year. Looking at expected spend for 2022 compared to 2021, 46% say their spend level will be up this year, which is 4% higher than the 41% who last year said their spend level would be up versus the previous year.
The annual survey also asks if spending will increase over the next “ two to three ” years, and, once again, the findings trend upward. This year, 57% predict increased spending on materials handling systems over the next two to three years, compared to 53% last year.
As mentioned, the average anticipated spend for 2022 ( the survey asks for anticipated spend for the next 12 months) reached $ 459,316, up from $ 306,990 last year. The median 2022 anticipated spend is also up—from $ 85,552 last year to $ 98,458 this year.
In terms of dollar ranges for anticipated 2022 spending on materials handling, a combined 14% of respondents plan to spend $ 1 million or more, though with many smaller companies among respondents, 28% plan to spend less than $ 25,000.
When asked in which areas they will be investing over the next 12 months, 60% will spend on new equipment or equipment upgrades, up from 52% last year. Additionally, 59% say they plan to invest in labor, up from 53% last year, while 24% said they will invest in outside services, up from 18% the year before.
This year, 36% said they will invest in maintenance services, up from 27% last year. Forty-five percent plan spend on information technology hardware or software, down from 52% in our 2021 survey. However, other findings in the survey reflect a need for software.
The higher spending on labor doesn’ t necessarily mean respondents are looking to add significantly more people. Some are likely paying higher wages or incentives to attract and retain the same, or at least an adequate level of staffing to support their operational volume, explains Saenz, as they turn to automation to reduce the overall labor requirement.
“ Companies are definitely paying higher wages to try and attract and retain enough people, while also looking at more automation, ” Saenz says. “ Both are part of the strategies we see: spending more on automation to be more efficient and also spending more on labor to ensure they have enough people to staff these more highly automated facilities. ”
While labor availability concerns have been around a long time, adds Derewecki, the problem is only escalating, making it harder for companies to meet significant peaks in demand if they rely on mostly manual processes. “ It’ s just very difficult for DCs that experience significant spikes in demand, to go out and find 40 or 50 extra people for just a couple of months, ” Derewecki says. “ That is where much of the demand for automation is coming from. ”
This year’ s survey also found an increase in pre-approved, annual capital expenditure ( CapEx) budgets for materials handling solutions, with 39% reporting they had one, up from 36% the previous year. The average pre-approved budget climbed from $ 369,286 last year to $ 449,219 this year. When we asked about ranges, 31% reported a pre-approved budget of $ 1 million or more.
When asked what percentage of overall spending will be on either materials handling equipment, information systems ( IS), or “ other, ” over the next 12 months, this year 30% is for equipment, 22% is on IS, and 25% on other. Last year, this breakdown was 41% on equipment, 36% on IS, and 23% on other.
When asked to break down which IS niches they will be spending on during the next 12 months, categories on the upswing this year include warehouse execution system ( WES) software, up 3%, and enterprise resource planning ( ERP), up by 2%. The warehouse management system ( WMS) category held steady at 24%.
In terms of interest in various types of material handling equipment over the next 12 months, the growth categories included lift trucks ( 8% gain versus last year), radio frequency identification ( RFID) solutions ( up by 6%), power transmission including motors and belts ( up 7%), AMRs and AGVs ( up 3%), and more dramatically, packaging investments including palletizers and pallets, up from 25% last year to 40% this year.
The survey also asked about which new purchases or substantial changes to existing systems fell into one of three broad areas of investment: IT; use of 3PLs; and various “ system equipment ” investments such as automated retrieval, lift truck and conveyors. The big gainer here was systems equipment, up from 24% last year, to 44% this year.
While IT was down 10% versus last year, Derewecki and Saenz observe that “ systems solutions ” like automated storage and retrieval systems or robotic, high-density storage systems typically involve software to run and manage, so some IS spending is wrapped up in these investments.
Another part of the survey that bodes well for software vendors is that many respondents want to automate how they gauge productivity for key factors like cycle times or throughput going forward. This ultimately takes software both to generate the data and to visualize metrics. This question asks if respondents use a manual process for certain metrics, an automated one, or are currently not monitoring the area, as well as if the plan to automate measures in two years.
For example, this year, we found that while just 30% automate measurement of daily throughput, 69% anticipate automating this metric in two years. Similarly, while 27% have an automated means for tracking order cycle times, 54% plan to automate this within two years. Another is dock-to-stock cycle time, measured in an automated way by 25% today, but 55% anticipate a more automated means of tracking this within two years.
In terms of industry issues rated as “ very important ” today, compared with what will be very important two years from now, some issues like cost containment and safety drew high percentages today, and remained fairly stable in importance rating two years out.
Others showed a shaper rise in importance, including training, rated as very important today by 60%, but very important for 72% in two years. Capital availability, cycle times, hours of service, having a global presence, and dealing with smaller, more frequent orders also increased in this two-year look ahead on “ very important ” practices.
Generally, observes Derewecki, automation solutions involve training, even if once installed they reduce the overall labor requirement versus manual processes. “ Training people on how to use software, and how to maintain and work with any automation they’ re putting in, is going to be critical to getting the most from these systems, ” he says.
The rise in having pre-approved budgets, as well as projected higher importance on CapEx funding as an issue, may reflect that more organizations are trying to justify materials handling automation expenditures in a more structured, long-term way. As Saenz explains, “ the lead time for getting some of these systems approved and installed can be quite long, so you have to think ahead. ”
Saenz adds that there’ s lot of DC network projects going on, consolidating conventional buildings down into fewer, more highly automated buildings. “ These factors are putting pressure on organizations to come up with longer-term capital outlay plans, so that they can get projects approved and actually have new systems in place when and where they need them. ”
Perhaps of little surprise, interest and use of robotics was up. Not only did 26% of respondents name robotics as an investment category that they’ ll proceed with, when we asked for details about AMRs and AGVs there was growing interest as well.
This year, 10% said that they currently use AMRs or AGVs, and 23% are evaluating them for use within the next 24 months. Last year, that breakdown was 6% who currently use, and 14% evaluating them.
Similarly, interest in industrial robotic solutions with articulating arms ( used for piece picking, palletizing, and other processes) is growing, with 14% saying that they use industrial robotics of some type, and 22% are evaluating them for use during the next 24 months. Last year, that breakdown was 7% who currently use, and 20% evaluating them.
We further asked which applications AGVs, AMRs, and industrial robots will be used for. Growth applications for AMRs and AGVs this year include order fulfillment ( both “ part to picker ” and “ picker to part ” workflows), transport, as well as transport involved with palletizing and depalletizing. For other robotic technology, growth applications included truck unloading, truck loading, bin picking, as well as palletizing and depalletizing.
This year’ s findings around maintenance of materials handling systems shows that use of internal staff remains the most common source for carrying out maintenance, well ahead of outsourcing maintenance entirely or using a combined approach of internal and external resources. For 2022, 67% said that they rely on in-house maintenance, up from 53% in 2021.
However, there was also a 6% rise in respondents who outsource the maintenance function, while 23% use a combined approach, down from 35% in 2021.
When asked what role automation vendors or third parties play in maintaining automation, upgrades and upkeep visits were the most commonly cited purpose, at 43%, down 3% from the previous year. Most reasons stayed fairly stable, though use of vendors and third parties for maintenance “ consulting ” was down 10%, though for “ data analysis ” it was up from 14% last year to 19% this year.
The annual survey asks about the most common method of fulfilling online orders today, and which method respondents believe will be most common in two years.
The most common practice today is to “ buy-online, ship to customer from a DC, ” used by 35% today, and expected to be the most commonly used method by 46% in two years. Similarly, 13% of respondents this year said that “ buy online, ship to customer from store, ” is today the most common method—but this grows to 19% in two years.
Some other methods are projected as taking a slight dip in two years, such as “ buy-online, ship to customer from vendor, ” seen as most common by 17% today, but only by 13% in two years.
The survey also asked if e-commerce “ will or is already prompting change in where distribution and manufacturing activities take place. ” This year, 57% said e-commerce is prompting more distribution functions in manufacturing, up a full 10% from last year. This year, 32% said e-commerce was prompting more manufacturing functions in distribution, down from 47% last year.
When asked “ where does packaging and fulfillment occur ” ( with choices including warehouses, manufacturing sites, fulfillment centers, DCs, retail stores, and outsourced), the most common type of location remains a warehouse, cited by 55% this year, up from 47% last year.
Additionally, 27% this year indicate that packaging and fulfillment occurs at a fulfillment center, up from 19% last year, while 8% cited stores this year, up from 2% last year, and finally, 53% say packaging occurs in manufacturing, up from 40% last year.
To some extent, the warehouse space crunch can be seen in this year’ s survey results. For example, when asked about current activity/capacity level for standalone DCs, a combined 31% have a capacity level that exceeds 80%, which shows a significant chunk of respondents likely need more space. However, for those respondents reporting a capacity level of 50% or more, the average capacity level is 78% this year, down slightly from 80% the year before.
Similarly, for warehouses that support manufacturing, the survey found that a combined 23% currently exceed a capacity level of 80%. Among those reporting 50% or more capacity, the average level reached 80%, down slightly from last year, but still indicating tight space capacity for these respondents.
As Saenz sees it, capacity levels can vary widely between different companies, even though it’ s true that warehouse space has grown tighter this year. International supply chain snarls can affect companies differently, he adds.
“ Some companies can’ t source the inventory they need, so they have warehouses with a surprising amount of empty space, while other organizations have decided to over buy intentionally to ensure availability for customers, so they are short on space, ” says Saenz. “ It’ s sort of a mess with inventory, because of the larger supply chain issues. ”
Even though this survey focuses on DC/plant level systems, some findings reflect the bigger picture. For example, this year, the concerns around labor availability are seen in the growing importance of workload planning as a key practice for managing DC operations.
This year, 46% rated workload planning as important, coming in as the fourth leading practice today; but two years from now, 53% see it as being very important. Likewise, labor productivity was already rated as important by 54%, but 60% say it will be important two years out. The top practice is “ continuous improvement, ” but this practice is seen as declining in importance two years out.
A similar question on important practices for manufacturers found that just-in-time ( JIT) production, rated as a key practice by 25% today, dips slightly to 22% in two years. Outsourcing among manufacturers, rated as important by 25% today, is also seen as declining in importance in two years, to 20%.
Such findings are likely related to today’ s international supply chain snarls and may reflect some respondents rethinking their sourcing and production strategies.
On the other hand, respondents see lean manufacturing as growing in importance two years out, so there appears to be lasting confidence in pull-based methods, even if it was a tough year for the JIT approach. “ For some companies, it has turned from just in time, to just in case we can’ t get it, we’ re going to buy more, ” observes Derewecki.
Our questions about supply chain risk also showed heightened global supply chain concerns. Specifically, “ logistics risks ” increased as a risk factor being analyzed by respondents, from 52% last year, to 65% this year.
Additionally, “ outsourcing tasks ” was being analyzed for risk by 39%, up from 24% last year. A higher percentage is also looking at natural disasters as a risk factor this year ( up by 5%). What’ s more, this year, 55% said that they have a program for identifying and analyzing risks, up sharply from 39% the year before, and also a bit higher than in 2020, when 52% said they had a plan for identifying risks.
Macro-level supply chain issues aside, one thing that’ s clear in multiple findings in the 2022 survey: respondents are ready to embrace more automation and robotics, and they are putting in place more budget to make it happen. | general |
French election: who are the candidates running against Emmanuel Macron? | On April 10, 48 million French will be asked to vote in the first round of France’ s 2022 presidential election. Of the 12 candidates, only two will qualify for the second-round runoff taking place on April 24. These are the candidates in the running.
Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron is the favourite to win both the first and second rounds of the election to secure a second five-year mandate. He survived the two main crises of his term: the “ yellow vests ” protests and the pandemic. He has also benefited from the Ukraine war and the “ rally-round-the-flag ” effect, polling up to 30%.
The 44th president has campaigned on gender equality, European integration and his strong record on employment. Yet, the rising cost of living, a recent scandal involving consulting firm McKinsey and his refusal to engage in TV debates with other candidates will not help his image of an aloof and elitist “ president of the rich ”.
Despite a marked drop in the latest polls, Macron remains popular with the elderly and the middle classes, two groups who can be relied upon to vote even if a low turnout is expected.
Read more: War anxiety makes French voters rally round Macron. For how long?
A candidate for the far right since 2012, Marine Le Pen is the favourite to face president Macron in the second round, as she did in 2017. Moving away from the traditional far-right agenda and softening her eurosceptic stance, she has cleverly campaigned on economic issues and the popular theme of the cost of living, getting solid support from the working class.
Her proposals include lowering VAT and ditching income tax for under 30s, as well as a referendum on immigration.
Le Pen’ s former image of a harsh and incompetent leader has been replaced by a softer, more composed figure. She has resisted Eric Zemmour’ s challenge, even when key members of her party and even her niece ( Marion Maréchal Le Pen) deserted her to support him. The key question now is whether this new image will be enough to see off a challenge from the far left to make it to the second round again.
The man worrying Le Pen as she aims for a head-to-head with Macron is currently Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The candidate from the radical left-wing party La France Insoumise is enjoying a surge thanks to a strong, and at times innovative, campaign. Mélenchon has steadily climbed in the polls to become the strongest outsider. Solid oratory skills, consistency and lack of competition on the left have enabled him to position himself as the only credible left-wing option.
The 70-year-old veteran campaigner is running on a post-Keynesian agenda involving increased public spending and is emphasising green policies.
Mélenchon would like to be seen as the voice of the deprived suburbs and ethnic minorities. And as a great debater, he will pose a significant challenge for Macron if makes it as far as the TV debate which traditionally takes place after the first round.
However, Mélenchon’ s weak points – including his ambiguous position on what to do about Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine and his radical economic agenda – have the potential to alienate moderate voters.
Controversial far-right journalist Éric Zemmour was the sensation of the beginning of the campaign. Presenting himself as the French Donald Trump, he surprised everyone by polling up to 18% and had looked set to qualify for the second round.
Zemmour has attracted impressive crowds to his rallies and he has even managed to create a successful new political party. But Zemmour’ s project has rapidly unravelled thanks to confusion and controversy surrounding his position on issues such as immigration, gender and the Ukraine war. Still, Zemmour and his supporters claim he remains the one to watch on April 8.
Valérie Pécresse, the conservative candidate from Les Républicains ( the party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy) is the big disappointment of this campaign. After unexpectedly winning the vote to become the candidate of Les Républicains, she looked at one point able to qualify for the second round.
Yet due to a lacklustre campaign, the absence of support from Sarkozy and one particularly catastrophic public meeting, she has continuously slipped in the polls. It’ s now unlikely that Pécresse will take more than 10% of the vote, leaving her clearly behind the other main contenders.
Alongside the candidates who stand some chance are a crowd of others who do not. Yannick Jadot, the Green candidate, is too far from the main candidates to hope for a second round place. Green parties do well in France’ s local elections but traditionally struggle in presidential votes and 2022 will be no exception, despite the global environmental challenges.
Another six candidates are currently under 5% in the polls. Fabien Roussel, the communist candidate, has run a cheerful and positive campaign, in particular by defending the French gastronomic heritage. He is estimated to achieve between 3% and 5% of the vote.
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, the eurosceptic right-wing candidate, will try to capitalise on his very vocal opposition to the government’ s COVID policies. Jean Lassalle, the iconoclast MP for the Pyrenees, who ran in 2017, claims to be the voice of “ authentic France ” and the countryside. He will be happy to get 3% of the vote.
Socialist Anne Hidalgo is the car-crash candidate in this election. She epitomises the decline of the former ruling Socialist Party, and her record as technocratic mayor of Paris – where she is blamed for rising crime, dirtiness and traffic jams – has not helped her. Finally, the far left will be represented by two candidates: Philippe Poutou and Nathalie Arthaud. Both are estimated to win just 1% of the vote.
This campaign has caused frustration, not least because of the lack of proper debates. And a low turnout has long been expected. But this remains an important contest which shows how much the French political landscape is changing and fragmenting, resulting in the demise of the two big traditional parties. Radical forces are thriving on both left and right, while the centre is now key. Many of the personalities that have been the driving forces of these changes, including Macron, Mélenchon and Le Pen, may not run again next time. And while Macron’ s victory had looked inevitable, surprises are still possible. | business |
Explore Meta AI’ s self-supervised learning demo for images | Today, we are releasing the first-ever external demo based on Meta AI's self-supervised learning work. We focus on Vision Transformers pretrained with DINO, a method we released last year that has grown in popularity based on its capacity to understand the semantic layout of an image.
Our choice to focus the first demo on DINO is motivated by its ability to learn both general and powerful semantic features, including patch-level matching and retrieval. Using the demo, people will be able to experience these advancements firsthand, including finding similar images or pieces of similar images, such as matching the eyes of a puppy to find similar-looking dogs, regardless of their position, location, or lighting in an image.
While this may sound like a trivial use case, the technology underpinning this demo is part of the important bigger-picture future we are building at Meta AI. Computer vision powered by self-supervised learning is an important part of helping Meta AI researchers deliver AI systems that are more robust and less domain-centric in nature.
DINO enables AI researchers to build highly efficient computer vision systems that perform extremely well at a variety of tasks and are far less dependent on labeled data sets. For this to work, large-scale self-supervised learning training for computer vision needs an algorithm that can learn from random, unlabeled images and videos, and a vast amount of data to capture every piece of a diverse, everyday life. Our new AI Research SuperCluster will allow us to explore the training of larger models on even larger data sets, pushing the boundaries of what self-supervised learning can achieve.
While we previously released the DINO code, this demo allows researchers and engineers to explore how the model understands images, to test its robustness, and to try it on their own images. And it allows others who are interested in new AI techniques to see how a single technique can create models that are generic enough to solve many tasks.
There are several experiences people can explore in the demo. Through image retrieval, a person could select a picture and discover similar images from a third-party data set of five million images. Patch-level retrieval lets people select an object or area from an image to discover similar images, such as the dog eyes we mentioned earlier. Finally, patch-matching can find similar areas between two given images, despite differences in the background, positioning of objects, and lighting.
When a person opens the demo and inputs an image or defines a patch of an image, DINO outputs features and descriptions that can be used to specify how similar it is to other images. These outputs are useful because they can be used to compute the distance between two images, in the same way we can compute distances between 3D points described by three numbers. ( For example, an image of a cat is “ far away ” from the image of a car but close to the image of a dog, and even closer to the image of another cat.) It’ s this distance property that powers the DINO demo and delivers results, whether retrieving the nearest image or using patch-matching to show the closest patch.
DINO provides a training procedure to enable an untrained model to learn this property, without using any labeled data. It’ s based on a simple intuition: Given an image, we apply several modifications and teach our model that the modified image should still be similar to the original image. These modifications include changing the brightness or contrast, cropping a smaller part of the image, or rotating the image. With each modification, the model can learn something. From rotating, it learns that a bunny in different poses will still represent the same thing, while the brightness modification will teach it that a bunny in the shadow is similar to a bunny in bright sunlight.
While this model wasn't developed with metaverse applications in mind, there are potential future applications for doing visual queries that can be personalized and remain entirely on a person’ s device, which can help keep data more private. For example, you take a photo of an object to teach DINO “ these are my car keys. ” Later, when looking for your keys, you can query “ Where are my car keys? ” This type of application requires being able to memorize objects and find them in images — and this is something the DINO model can do well.
Image duplication identification is another potential future use case. DINO-based models could help detect copies of a particular piece of harmful content, even when the image has been modified. We believe self-supervised learning advances will ultimately pave the way for a future where machine learning algorithms can be built on and stay on a person’ s device, creating a more private and personalized future powered by AI assistants.
While we are only beginning to harness the potential of self-supervised learning, we believe it will be an important advancement as we help build the metaverse and new AR/VR experiences. Self-supervised learning helps us gain a deep understanding of real-world environments and how people experience them, which is too big and diverse to capture in labeled data sets. We 'll need AI that can learn from everything it sees and hears, and that's only possible with self-supervised learning.
While DINO shows an advancement in self-supervised learning, and has many exciting potential future use cases, we want to make sure this demo is used as part of our open science responsible AI. It is against the demo’ s terms of use to upload photos of humans, and we include a detector to block human faces.
We invite everyone to try our demo. While self-supervised learning is still in its infancy, we are excited about the potential it holds for the future as we continue to work on more private and personalized AI projects.
We’ re announcing updates to Facebook’ s population density maps, which can be used to coordinate and improve the delivery of humanitarian aid around the world, including global COVID-19 vaccinations.
Working with Inria researchers, we’ ve developed a self-supervised image representation method, DINO, which produces remarkable results when trained with Vision Transformers. We are also detailing PAWS, a new method for 10x more efficient training. | tech |
Cooperation Canada is encouraged by the increase to | OTTAWA, April 08, 2022 ( GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As conflict, humanitarian emergencies, COVID-19 and climate change wreak havoc across the globe, Cooperation Canada is encouraged by today’ s 2022 federal budget which includes an increase in Canada’ s international assistance and a willingness to address barriers to charitable activities in international cooperation.
This budget demonstrates that the government remains committed to international assistance as an effective way of enhancing health, security, prosperity and human rights around the world.
“ International assistance is a proven tool to support peace, security and equitable and sustainable development, ” said Kate Higgins, Cooperation Canada’ s CEO. “ As the world faces the triple crises of conflict, COVID-19 and climate change, Canadian leadership is vital, ” Higgins said.
The budget sees Canada’ s international assistance reach over $ 8 billion, an increase from $ 7.6 billion in 2020-21. While no timetable for future spending is provided, it is encouraging that the government is moving forward on its commitments to increase Canada’ s international development assistance budget each year in support of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This increase puts us on a path to being in line with our Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD) peers.
Cooperation Canada is thrilled that this budget responds to the repeated calls by the charitable sector to reduce red tape that inhibits charitable activities in Canada and abroad through the government’ s support for Bill S-216, The Effective and Accountable Charities Act. Cooperation Canada supports Bill S-216 as proposed.
“ As the world faces multiple crises, we are encouraged by both the increase in Canadian aid and a willingness to make long-awaited reforms to outdated charity legislation that will enable Canadian international development and humanitarian organizations to advance equitable, feminist partnerships around the world, ” Higgins adds.
Cooperation Canada brings together Canada’ s international development and humanitarian organizations and advocates for them by convening sector leaders, influencing policy and building capacity. Together, we work with partners both inside and outside Canada to build a world that’ s fair, safe and sustainable for all.
Gabriel Karasz-PerriauCommunications ManagerCooperation Canadagkaraszperriau @ cooperation.ca ( 514) 945-0309 | general |
How college students can start investing — and making — money | Investing. It sounds like something older people do. Or that you need to have a finance degree to do. Right?
Wrong.
Investing is something you can never start too early because the earlier you start, the more time your money has to grow.
`` It takes far less to save and invest when you're young instead of waiting until you're older and needing to catch up, '' said Winnie Sun, a financial advisor and founding partner of Sun Group Wealth Partners.
Lucas Bianculli, a senior at Binghamton University double majoring in financial economics and environmental economics, started investing in the summer of 2020.
`` Because of the stock market crash back when Covid started but after learning about the basics I realized how important [ investing ] was, '' Bianculli said. `` Many people don't really realize how early you have to start investing in order to save up for something like retirement or if you want to buy a home in the future. ''
So, what does it actually mean to invest?
Investing is putting your money into different assets such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, cryptocurrency, NFTs, etc. There are a lot of ways to invest! But the goal is always the same: to grow your money. So, you buy a stock at $ 10, the price goes up to $ 15, you now have $ 15 because you invested. By the time you're 30, that stock could be worth $ 25, $ 50 or more.
One of the main growth drivers when it comes to investing is something called compound interest. This means that interest accrues on both the initial deposit and the accumulated interest from previous periods. So, to use the above example, if you buy a stock for $ 10 and it goes up to $ 15, then that stock goes up another 10%. You're getting 10% not just on your original investment of $ 10 but on the extra $ 5 that you made initially.
`` The funds that you invest will earn dividends and/or interest. If those are automatically reinvested, those, too, will earn dividends and interest, '' explained Katelyn Bombardiere, a certified financial planner and financial advisor at Commas. `` This process then repeats itself over and over again. ''
A lot of people think you need a lot of money or need to spend a lot of time studying finance to invest. You don't!
If you don't know where to start, just start doing some research. Reading this article is already a great start! And don't be afraid to ask for help, Bianculli said.
`` Just try it out, even if it's with $ 50, '' Bianculli said. `` You don't need to buy a full stock straight up. It may seem intimidating at first, but try it out. Learn a little about it. There are a lot of resources out there, and try to learn a little bit of knowledge at a time. ''
Ready? Here we go!
If you don't already have a system in place for tracking your expenses, it's important to set up a budget. Figure out how much money you make ( after taxes), and how much money you have left after paying for basic expenses such as rent, utilities, phone, cable, food, etc. Figure out how much you like to spend on things like going out, clothes or entertainment. Then, from what's left, set aside a portion for savings.
Sun recommends prioritizing your emergency fund, which should include around six months of living expenses. Once you have a cushion in place, you can take some of your savings and start investing it.
More from College Voices: College Money 101: From student loans to setting up a budgetHere's what you need to know about your student loans — before it's too lateAn easy guide to help college students set up their first budgetHow I learned about investing in stocks — and you can, too
One thing you have to decide is how much risk you are willing to take. There are some investments that could make you a lot of money, but you could also lose a lot of money.
`` You may say, yes, I 'm comfortable with risk. Let's go aggressive, '' Sun explained. `` But, if that aggressive decision means your $ 1,000 portfolio could drop to $ 400, how do you feel about that? ''
Now, to be clear in that scenario, you never actually lose that $ 600 unless you cash out. If you don't need that money ( you should never be investing money you need for bills or other expenses), then you can let it ride and see if it bounces back.
But, if all of that makes you a little queasy, either 1) Don't invest a lot in a risky investment or 2) Stick with less-risky investments.
The first step: What type of account are you going to put your money in?
A brokerage account is a taxable account that allows you to buy and sell stocks, ETFS, bonds, mutual funds and other types of investments without a fear of penalty. Many brokers today offer low minimum deposits to get started. Investors utilize brokerage accounts for day trading and long-term investing and to save for short-term financial goals.
When it comes to getting started, you don't have to do it alone because there are plenty of apps out there to help guide you in this journey, including Acorns, Betterment, Fidelity, SoFi, Robinhood and TD Ameritrade. Some allow you to make individual trades in stocks, bonds and mutual funds, and others have you choose your risk level. And then it automatically invests your money in mutual funds that match that. So, do some research. Choose one. If you feel like it isn't working for you or you're curious, try another one until you find what's right for you. There's no one right or wrong way to invest.
> > > The top 5 investing apps to help newbies, experts and couples build their wealth from anywhere
We 've thrown around a lot of terms — stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc. So, let's go over some definitions for common ways to invest.
Savings account. A savings account is the most basic financial investment, which allows you to store money securely while earning interest. The annual percentage yield, or the real rate of return earned on an investment, reaches 0.50% on some accounts. A savings account allows for you to differentiate your everyday spending money kept in a checking account, from money that is meant to be used at a later date. This type of account is federally insured up to $ 250,000, so you won't lose your money if the bank fails. You would typically do this at a bank. Could be the same bank you have your checking account with, but some people prefer to put their savings at a different bank. Choosing a different bank might make sense for you because you can shop around for the best rates. ( i.e., that will make you more money.)
Certificates of deposit ( CDs). This type of account is similar to a savings account but with a fixed time period and a higher fixed interest rate ( more money). So, the catch is that it locks you in for a certain time period where you can't touch that money or else you will face a penalty ( fee). So, it's a great way to make more money than a typical savings account, but you want to make sure it's money you won't need for anything so that you can drop it there until the time period — two years, three years, whatever — is up.
Money-market funds. Money-market funds generate income but are considered extremely-low risk, which means they also don't generate a high rate of return. But they are a safe option, letting your money grow little by little. So, financial advisors will often recommend keeping a certain amount of your portfolio in a money-market fund for security but not too much. If you know you have $ 500 to invest, maybe you park it there first, then start moving it into other investment options.
Stocks. When you buy a stock, you are essentially purchasing one piece of one company. The shareholder is entitled to own portions of the corporation's assets and profits depending on how much of the stock they own. Most stocks are bought and sold on exchanges such as the Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange. But you can purchase them through an app or a broker.
Bonds. In the simplest terms, a bond is a loan from an investor to a borrower such as a certain company. The company uses the money you `` lent it '' to fund its necessities. Meanwhile, the investor receives interest on the investment. Bonds are a key ingredient to having a balanced portfolio as it can help soften the blow if the stock markets plummet.
Mutual funds. Mutual funds bring together investments from many people and invest that money in stocks, bonds and other assets. The specific stocks, bonds and assets the money is invested in are known as the `` portfolio. '' The criteria for what goes in the portfolio can be anything from a sector ( such as technology or health care) to a risk level ( growth vs. value) or a target date ( such as 2030). Mutual funds are managed by a money manager who selects and changes the assets in the portfolio to try to maximize profits for their investors. Since there is an expert involved in managing the investments, there are fees involved.
Exchange Traded Fund. ETFs are similar to mutual funds in that they are a collection of assets, but they are designed to track a particular index, sector, commodity or other asset. So, you might have an ETF that tracks corporate bonds or real estate.
Bombardiere recommends students invest in low-cost well diversified ETFs as it allows them to have access to hundreds of stocks, without having to personally research each one of them.
Index Funds. An index fund is also a collection of assets, but they are pegged to a specific index such as the S & P 500 or Nasdaq. One of the perks of index funds is that they tend to be lower in cost because they don't have an expert taking the time to pick stocks or bonds for funds.
Han recommends students invest in index funds because `` you put some money in it, can set up automatic recurring purchases and have dividends automatically reinvested on their own. ''
The key, experts say, is to diversify, which means have a variety of investments in different things. Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. That keeps balance, and if one investment is going down, another might be holding steady or going up.
For example, if your investments are all in tech and all of a sudden the tech sector starts sliding, so is your portfolio, Sun explained. `` If you have some in tech, maybe some in health care and those more traditional companies that pay dividends, '' Sun said, `` then your overall portfolio is a little bit better balanced. ''
So, try to make sure you have investments across a wide variety of sectors ( such as technology, health care, retail, financial, etc.) as well as risk levels. Growth stocks, for example, can gain a lot but also lose a lot. Value stocks are more steady growth. You can also invest in currencies, commodities and riskier investments such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Those tend to be more volatile and complex, so you really want to do your homework — and make sure you are only investing what you can afford to lose.
It's OK to get advice from friends when investing, but you need to do your own research and you need to be diversified. If your friend says buy XYZ stock because it went up for them, don't just buy that and leave it at that. It could go down for you. So, if you're diversified, you have a cushion for that.
Risk is an important factor to note when you're choosing what to invest in. Low-risk investments such as savings accounts or certificates of deposit see smaller gains and smaller losses. Other investments such as high-growth stocks or bitcoin can make you a lot of money quickly, but they can also lose you money just as quickly. It's not to say you shouldn't make risky investments — just know how much money you have to `` gamble '' with on these more volatile investments and keep some of your money on more steady investments.
`` Money is tied with hopes and dreams and people just want the benefits but don't understand the risks, '' cautioned Rose Han, a former Wall Street Trader and financial educator. `` If you don't understand what you invested in, why you invested in it, and how long you should be holding that investment for, then you might sell because the value went down a bit and you got scared but in the meantime you're in your investment balance might suffer. ''
It can be easy to get caught up in the moment, but it is vital that students not let their emotions cloud their decision making.
Tabias Edwards, a senior at the University of Missouri-Columbia studying communications with a minor in personal finance planning, started investing after high school in 2018. He bought a course on Instagram and was able to educate himself through that platform. Through Edward's investing journey, he said one of his big mistakes was not accepting he lost money and not having the knowledge of how the market works.
`` Now I really understand the natural things of a market going through ups and downs. I don't really try to stress too much if I 'm down too much in that position but rather just try to find the middle ground, '' adding that investing actually helped him understand emotional intelligence better.
`` It only makes you stronger, '' Edwards said. `` Whether you win or lose money, you 'll be better from that. ''
And remember: You only really lose money if you panic and withdraw your money when your investment is down. So, if it's down, you might want to consider leaving it alone until it bounces back.
`` Investing is a long-term game, '' Edwards said. `` So, if you think of it more as short-term, you 've already lost. ''
Bianculli is currently invested in total market index funds as well as some sustainable energy companies. He learned everything he knows by reading books and doing his own research. Throughout his journey, Bianculli recognized his biggest mistake was going along and trading whatever was trendy or most popular at the time.
`` It's very easy to believe that options trading or penny stock trading is an easy way to make money when you see many people posting their huge monetary gains online, '' Bianculli said, adding that social media allows for misconceptions to be spread regarding the success rates of these risky strategies.
Before even starting to think about investing, Han recommends students get their finances in order, try to stay out of debt, learn how to budget their money and then, once they're ready to start, invest only money they can afford to lose.
So, the last thing you have to decide is: Where do you want to start investing?
Once you 've picked an app or brokerage firm, figure out if you want to invest in funds or individual assets like stocks.
Bombardiere recommends investing in well diversified ETFs, and Han recommends putting your money into index funds. Both experts agree that these are two types of assets that let you invest money in them, set up recurring payments and check back whenever you 'd like.
If you're going to try your hand at investing in individual stocks or other assets, do your research and start small. Maybe you want to invest in brands you know, such as Apple or McDonald's, or maybe you do some research and see what the pros are recommending. ( Though, for the record, no one knows for sure what stocks or investments will go up.)
Janelle Finch, former CNBC intern, recommends finding a product you or your friends love and looking for trends. Start researching the companies behind those products and trends and then what analysts are saying about those companies as an investment. It's also important not to just spot a trend you might want to invest in but also `` Keep paying attention so you know when the trends turn. ''
That's an important point: to know not just when the trend turns but also when analysts are saying this a great company but the stock doesn't have more room to grow right now, so hold off.
Don't blindly follow any one expert — consider them like your board of directors. You take their advice into consideration, do your own homework and make your decisions. Remember: Only you are the boss of your money. And with that responsibility comes great power! You could make a lot of money, but you could also lose a lot. So, be smart. Learn as you go. Remember: No one is perfect. And watch your money grow!
The number-one tip emphasized by all experts: Get educated.
`` Once you have that knowledge you 'll know what to do, '' Han said.
″College Money 101″ is a guide written by college students to help the class of 2022 learn about big money issues they will face in life — from student loans to budgeting and getting their first apartment — and make smart money decisions. And, even if you're still in school, you can start using this guide right now so you are financially savvy when you graduate and start your adult life on a great financial track. Denisse Quintanilla is a senior at Monmouth University studying Spanish and communications with a concentration in media studies and production. She is currently an intern at CNBC en Español, writing scripts for Informe CNBC, while also translating and producing videos to Spanish for Telemundo. The guide is edited by Cindy Perman.
SIGN UP: Money 101 is an eight-week learning course to financial freedom, delivered weekly to your inbox. For the Spanish version Dinero 101, click here.
CHECK OUT: Calculate how much you need to save each paycheck to reach your money goals with Acorns+CNBC
Disclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns. | business |
India's central bank keeps rates steady as growth risks re-emerge | The Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee kept the bank's key lending rate at a record low on Friday, as expected, as it sought to support economic growth even as inflation edged higher in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The monetary policy committee held the lending rate, or the repo rate, at 4%. The reverse repo rate, or the key borrowing rate, was also kept unchanged at 3.35%.
But the central bank said it would restore the width of the liquidity adjustment facility to 50 basis points, which was seen as a first step to move away from the ultra loose monetary policy embraced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It also raised its inflation forecast to 5.7% for the current fiscal year compared with 4.5% in the last fiscal year.
Central Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said it will engage in a gradual withdrawal of liquidity over a multi-year timeframe beginning this year. Das said economic activity is barely above pre-pandemic levels but continues to steadily recover.
All but six of 50 respondents polled by Reuters between March 29-April 5 forecast no change in the repo rate on Friday. Thirty-two expected rates to still be unchanged by end-June.
Das said the MPC voted to keep rates unchanged and to retain an `` accommodative '' monetary policy stance.
Inflation has held above the RBI's 6% upper threshold so far this year, casting doubt on its current strategy of keeping rates low to bolster growth even as some other central banks are already raising borrowing costs to tamp down price pressures.
India's 10-year benchmark bond yield rose above 7% after RBI policy decision, while NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.3% at 17,691, as of 0443 GMT, while the S & P BSE Sensex rose 0.25% to 59,181.17.
Traders were also closely watching for any measures to support the bond market in absorbing the government's record $ 14.31 trillion borrowing program. | business |
As inflation bites, higher-income consumers are cutting back, too | With as much as 60% of U.S. consumers living paycheck to paycheck, it's not a surprise to see that the spending cutbacks have started. Even with a strong job market and wage gains, as well as Covid stimulus savings, pricing spikes in core spending categories including food, gas and shelter are leading more Americans to mind their pocketbooks closely.
A new survey from CNBC and Momentive finds rising concerns about inflation and the risk of recession, and Americans saying not only have started buying less but will be buying less across more categories if inflation persists. But these financial stress points are not limited to lower-income consumers. The survey finds American with incomes of at least $ 100,000 saying they 've cut back on spending, or may soon do so, in numbers that are not far off the decisions being made by lower-income groups.
The high-income consumer demographic is key to the economy. While it represents only one-third of consumers, it is responsible for up to three-quarters of the spending. As Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's notes, `` If the high-income consumers are out buying, we won't see a big impact on raw consumer activity. ''
Lower-income households are the most at risk, and they are the ones most likely to be making unwelcome tradeoffs to make their money stretch as far as it did just a few months ago, according to the survey results. They are also clearly experiencing more financial anxiety, according to the survey, with 57% of Americans with income under $ 50,000 saying they are under more stress than a year ago, versus 45% of those with incomes of $ 100,000 or more. The 68% of high-income consumers who said they are worried higher prices will force them to rethink financial decisions is significantly lower than the 82% of Americans with income of $ 50,000 or less who told the survey this, but it is still a majority.
More than half of people with household incomes under $ 50,000 say they have already cut back on multiple expenses due to prices, and for those with income of at least $ 100,000, the cutback levels are already similar when it comes to dining out, taking vacations, and buying a car.
`` People making six-figure incomes are almost as worried about inflation as people making half as much —and they are just as likely to be taking steps to mitigate its effect on their lives, '' said Laura Wronski, senior manager of research science at Momentive. `` Inflation is a problem that compounds over time, and even high-income individuals won't be insulated from the second- and third-order effects of price increases, '' she said.
Other recent consumer survey data paints a weakening picture.
The University of Michigan Survey of Consumers finds more consumers mentioning reduced living standards due to rising inflation than at any other time in the survey's history except during the two worst recessions in the past 50 years: from March 1979 to April 1981 and from May to October 2008. Notably, the consumer confidence gap between low and high income levels always shrinks at cyclical troughs and is always widest at peak, and the gap is narrowing now, according to survey director Richard Curtin.
In January, the percentage point gap between the lowest income and highest income group in the survey's sentiment index was 13.2 points. That was erased in March, with the top income group sentiment actually dipping below the lowest income bracket in overall sentiment and future expectations. In January, the higher income group expectations, specifically, were 18 percentage points higher.
Right now, there is a unique set of issues that could be exacerbating this gap narrowing, Curtin said, including the potential for Russia's invasion of Ukraine to do more damage to the global economy than forecast and the fact that the majority of the population has not experienced 10% + inflation, or 15% mortgage rates, as past generations had.
`` Even at lower rates they may display behaviors associated with more extreme economic conditions in the past, '' Curtin said. `` Precautionary motives play a big part in consumption trends for upper income groups, '' he added.
`` The American consumer is in a dark mood, '' Zandi said of the CNBC survey data. More than two years since the pandemic hit, first with millions of lost jobs and high unemployment, and now high inflation, and `` fractured politics also weighing heavily on the collective psyche. ''
All income groups in the survey are equally likely to say the economy will enter a recession this year, at over 80%. But there is a key caveat: actual spending actions from the economy don't yet indicate this prediction will come true.
Despite the downbeat feelings about their financial situations, and cutbacks, Zandi stressed that consumers are still spending strongly. There are now lots of jobs, unemployment is low, debt loads are light, asset prices are high, and there is a lot of excess saving. Even if people are cutting back, spending less on some items, the mood has not yet taken control of the spending motivation to a degree that amounts to more than a slowdown in economic growth. `` I suspect the American consumer will continue spending, regardless of their mood, as long as the job market remains strong, '' Zandi said.
The Conference Board's latest monthly confidence index reading showed present confidence up ( slightly) for the first time this year, but the expectations index lower, with consumers citing rising prices, including gas.
Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators and surveys at The Conference Board, said there is still a gap in its confidence data between lower income and higher income consumers and a lot of that is driven by the inflationary environment, and less impact the affluent will feel from factors including gas prices. She said the gap does always narrow in a pre-recession period — but its data is not indicating a recession as of now.
What its confidence survey is forecasting is a slowdown in growth over the next few quarters driven by higher prices, and more Americans spending less on discretionary items as more of their money goes to covering the basics. That will be most acutely felt by the lower-income consumers, but there is broad-based concern about prices rising significantly in the months ahead — 6 out of every 10 consumers surveyed by The Conference Board think the Russia-Ukraine war will cause prices to rise significantly.
`` That is very broad-based and that, coupled with interest rates going up, may make people more hesitant to postpone big-ticket purchases likes housing and autos and washing machines, '' Franco said. `` We will see a bit of slowing in consumer spending over the next few quarters, but we don't feel that will drive us into recession. ''
The overall confidence level from Americans with income of $ 125,000 in its survey has come back down from mid-2021, but Franco described them as still `` relatively confident despite all volatility we have seen.... The indications we are getting across income groups speaks more towards softening in consumer spending rather than a severe pullback, '' she said.
The Conference Board data, similar to other outlooks, is underpinned by a key role for the labor market in supporting confidence and balancing the negative influence of inflation, with Americans who say jobs are `` plentiful '' at an all-time high.
What consumers plan to cut back on
Majority of U.S. worried about a 2022 recession
Americans are rethinking their financial choices
CNBC|Momentive financial literacy poll: Full results
Members of the CNBC CFO Council have mentioned `` a tale of two cities '' among consumers, with higher income bracket consumers continuing to be strong while lower income consumers are beginning to chew through the stimulus. There will be a new equilibrium point, and inflation won't grow as it has over the past year, but it will remain at a higher level, and the consumer spending has to be set against this dynamic that will play out through calendar year 2022, and is expected to be more sharply felt in the second half of the year.
Key factors that CFOs are watching include the decline in the consumer savings rate; how successful the Fed is in using its tools to slow the economy without pushing it into recession, including raising rates to cool consumption and investment; and greater supply chain stability.
The supply chain remains in flux with new Covid variants, as well as the Russian war against Ukraine hitting energy and food prices. But if supply chain pressures overall do ease, inventory will be replenished at a rate that could lead to more pushback from retailers on pricing, as consumers also begin to slow down consumption habits, trading down in certain categories of purchases or trading away from them.
The Conference Board's most recent CEO survey showed that companies are passing along the costs of inflation relatively quickly to consumers, and that pattern is likely to continue in the months ahead, with wage gains a contributing factor. `` What we are seeing and hearing from members is that these tight labor market conditions are going to continue for several months, so we will continue to see wage pressure, '' Franco said.
As earnings come in, the market will be looking for signs of durable consumer strength amid higher prices. Earlier this week, Conagra's results showed that it couldn't make price increases flow through to its bottom line relative to input costs, but CEO Sean Connolly said on Thursday that `` consumer demand has remained strong in the face of our pricing actions to date. ''
Conagra is planning more price increases. | business |
Tesla CEO Elon Musk hosts 'Cyber Rodeo ' party to open Austin factory | In this article
On Thursday night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke at a grand opening event for the electric vehicle maker's new $ 1.1 billion factory near the Austin airport in Texas.
At the event, he spoke about how massive the new factory is, and teased products that are still in development, including the Cybertruck, and a robotaxi that he promised would look quite futuristic.
`` It wasn't easy building this humongous building and getting all this equipment here, '' Musk said, sporting a large black cowboy hat and thanking Tesla's neighbors in Travis County, as well as Tesla employees who helped build the plant.
`` If you put the building on its side, it's taller than the Burj Khalifa, '' Musk said, a reference to the world's tallest skyscraper in Dubai. He joked that according to Tesla's calculations, 194 billion hamsters could fit in the building.
Tesla aims to make 500,000 units of the Model Y in a single year in Austin, the CEO revealed Thursday night. The company is also hoping to start production of its Cybertruck in Texas next year, Musk confirmed.
However, Tesla's timelines often shift. Tesla, and other automakers, are grappling with chip shortages and soaring prices for raw materials exacerbated by Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine.
`` In trailing twelve months, we 've delivered over a million cars worldwide, '' Musk said. `` There's still a long way to go. ''
Tesla vehicles comprise more than 75% of all fully electric cars sold in the US today, according to research by AutoForecast Solutions, with fully electric vehicles comprising about 4% of all new vehicle sales domestically.
Musk also announced plans to expand its experimental driver assistance program to a wider user base.
`` We're aiming to go to wide beta for almost all Full Self-Driving customers in North America this year, '' Musk said. The company does not make autonomous cars, but sells a premium driver assistance package it calls Full Self-Driving. Owners who have the premium option can test out new, unfinished features on public roads through Tesla's FSD Beta program. Currently the program is limited to a selection of Tesla customers and employees.
Tesla built its Austin vehicle assembly plant in about two years from the ground up. Its first US car plant in Fremont, California, had been jointly owned by GM and Toyota before Tesla adapted it to build its Model S sedan and Model X SUVs, its first mass-manufactured vehicles, and later its more affordable Model 3 and Model Y.
The Fremont factory is still operating today, but Tesla aims to increase production of its Model Y electric vehicles and batteries in Austin, and to produce its unusual trapezoidal pickup, the Cybertruck, in Texas for customers in North America.
Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, told CNBC the new plant is sorely needed.
`` With new products on the way, they need more plant space, '' he said. He believes Tesla's Austin factory, since it was freshly designed to manufacture Tesla products only, should help the company improve the quality of their cars, and reduce their manufacturing costs.
`` They 've built about a couple million vehicles so far, which means they should have figured out what works and what doesn't at this point. They should be able to enhance the positives, '' Fiorani said.
Musk said on Thursday night that the Model Y vehicles being produced in Texas feature what's known as a `` structural pack, '' meaning the cells in the cars ' high voltage battery packs carry the load of the vehicle.
Before the Texas event, Tesla had hosted a grand opening and started some commercial production at another new plant in Brandenburg, Germany.
The company's Shanghai factory, which began vehicle production in late 2019, has been closed for days on end due to covid health restrictions in the region.
Earlier this week, Elon Musk sent the share price of Twitter soaring after financial filings and Twitter revealed that he had taken an approximately 9% activist stake in the social media company and would take a board seat there.
Musk has built Tesla's brand on social media, especially Twitter, and non-traditional marketing events like the `` Cyber Rodeo. '' However, he did not discuss his plans for Twitter at the company's party on Thursday. | business |
Sri Lanka crisis: Social turmoil is biggest risk, says government advisor | Sri Lanka faces a `` dangerous situation '' with continuing social unrest and must avoid a `` disorderly default, '' the former chief economist of the South Asia regions at the World Bank, Shanta Devarajan told CNBC Friday.
Shortages of food and fuel, along with record inflation and regular blackouts, have brought thousands of Sri Lankans to the streets as the country faces its most painful downturn since independence from Britain in 1948.
`` Social turmoil is the biggest risk. That's why I keep emphasizing the point about cash transfers. As you can see on the streets — the people are angry, '' said Devarajan, who is now part of a new government advisory panel formed to tackle the country's debt crisis.
Devarajan said a cash transfer program aimed at helping the poor, coupled with a reduction of subsidies on food and fuel, will be critical to averting a collapse of Sri Lanka's debt-ridden economy.
In the past week, protesters and opposition parties alike have called for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, accusing his government of economic mismanagement.
A foreign currency shortage has left Sri Lanka struggling to import essential goods, even as the coronavirus pandemic has cut off vital tourism revenue. Foreign exchange reserves shrank 16% to $ 1.93 billion in March, Reuters reported citing central bank data.
Cautioning against a `` disorderly default '' on debts by cash-strapped Sri Lanka, he said any austerity measures would also have to be accompanied by efforts to educate the public.
`` This is a very dangerous situation. And if you want to introduce austerity in the middle of that situation, you have to manage it very carefully, '' said the professor of the practice of development at Georgetown University.
`` You have to do two things: One, make sure that the poor are protected — the bottom 40% of the population — [ through a ] targeted cash transfer. Two, have a public information campaign so that people understand that these measures are needed to avoid an even bigger crisis. ''
Ratings agencies have warned of a potential default on billions of dollars in foreign debt, and authorities are struggling to secure more commercial loans because of the credit downgrades.
According to central bank data obtained by Reuters, Sri Lanka currently has about $ 2 billion in foreign exchange reserves against $ 7 billion in total debt due this year, including $ 1 billion worth of notes maturing in July.
`` We need to make sure that Sri Lanka does not have a disorderly default, '' Devarajan told CNBC's Asia Squawk Box.
Other members of the advisory panel formed Wednesday include former governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Indrajit Coomaraswamy, and a former IMF official, Sharmini Coorey.
Devarajan said Sri Lanka must also increase taxes, cut expenditures and restructure state-owned enterprises in addition to decreasing the subsidies on food, fuel and electricity.
He added that this has to be accompanied by direct aid to the poor in the form of cash transfers.
`` This is very important because most of the subsidies, like the fuel and electricity subsidies, are enjoyed by the rich but an increase in the price of fuel will hurt the poor. The government, somehow, needs to accompany that with a cash transfer program, '' he said.
Amid the deepening economic crisis, the chairman of Sri Lanka Port Authority claimed port operations were running smoothly.
Prasantha Jayamanna dismissed reports of disruptions at Colombo port, saying that operations there were normal.
`` We have not stopped a day of work. Things are moving smoothly, '' he told CNBC on Friday.
He said there was growth in output figures in 2021. `` Last year, we had the highest throughput. And the momentum is continuing this year, '' he said, adding that port congestion was not an `` issue at all. '' | business |
Budget spending could lead to more rate hikes: Rosenberg | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
While the federal government touted the spending in its budget as prudent, prominent Bay Street economist David Rosenberg said the extra fiscal stimulus could lead the Bank of Canada to hike its benchmark rate higher than originally thought.
“ We are basically a fully-employed economy so you don't really need to add demand fuel to the fire when the economy has no output gap and the central bank is behind the eight ball. So this is going to fuel more interest rate hikes in the country against the backdrop of fiscal stimulus that is not well timed, in my opinion, ” said Rosenberg, who is president, chief economist and strategist at Rosenberg Research, in an interview Friday.
The federal budget unveiled $ 60 billion in new spending, though that was lower than expected when compared to the December fiscal update and Bay Street predictions.
In an interview with BNN Bloomberg, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said she recognized that the government needed to “ shift gears ” and signal to the provinces and individuals that the “ time of extraordinary COVID spending was over. ”
However, Rosenberg characterized much of the new spending as “ unnecessary, ” considering the state of the economy.
“ What bothers me is that the government just... made the Bank of Canada's anti-inflation strategy that much more complicated because when you look at the budget, it adds about one-third of a percentage point to this year's aggregate demand growth that it doesn't really need from a government sector. And actually, when you think about it, it’ s exactly the wrong time of the cycle, ” he said.
“ Of course, at the margin, that's going to cause the Bank of Canada to become even more aggressive. But at the same time, the Bank of Canada is not operating policy in a vacuum. Look what's happening in the U.S. and I think that you know, the Bank of Canada probably will move in lockstep with where the U.S. is going to be going. I don't think that we're going to be deviating a lot, ” Rosenberg added.
The latest labour report from Statistics Canada on Friday showed Canadian employers continued to add jobs in March, following a blockbuster jobs gain in the month prior – another sign of the economy’ s resilience through the latest COVID wave. The unemployment rate fell to 5.3 per cent – the lowest level since the mid-1970s.
Meanwhile, inflation is still hovering at a three-decade high, led in part by a surge in commodity prices.
The impact of the commodities boom was evident in the federal budget in the form of a significant revenue boost for the government.
“ What we really lucked out on was the fact that we have this commodity-led inflation. And we are a huge commodity producer. … That was a $ 30 billion revenue windfall [ for the government ], just from the ‘ commodity inflation’ that boosted the nominal GDP right there alone.
As widely expected, the feds unveiled a new, albeit scaled-back, surtax on the country’ s largest banks and insurers that’ s estimated to bring in roughly $ 6 billion in new revenue.
“ Taxing the financial sector for no reason in particular, it wasn't necessary. It's not as if the government had some revenue shortfall they had to cover. It's so bizarre. They had the opposite. They had a revenue windfall from this gift of commodity inflation boosting revenues. They didn't have to go do this, ” he said. | general |
U.S. stocks, bonds fall as tough week comes to end | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
Markets ended the week on a negative note as U.S. equities faded in the final minutes of trading and Treasuries fell on Friday following declines sparked by the Federal Reserve’ s plan for aggressive monetary-policy tightening.
The S & P 500 slid, bringing its weekly decline to 1.3 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 also fell, adding to its worst weekly performance since mid-March. Meanwhile, Treasury losses deepened with investors closely watching for a reversal in curve steepening seen in the wake of Wednesday’ s Fed minutes, which outlined plans to reduce the balance sheet alongside interest-rate hikes.
“ The Fed aims to tamp down inflation without igniting a recession; investors are skeptical, but we expect inflation will moderate later this year, bringing the doves back, ” Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, said in a note.
The U.S. dollar narrowly strengthen against peers for a seventh day, hovering near its highest level since July 2020. Oil was also higher after three days of losses stoked by plans to release millions of barrels of crude from strategic reserves and China’ s demand-sapping virus outbreak.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index climbed 1.3 per cent as investors took advantage of beaten-down stock valuations. Banks outperformed, with Banco BPM SpA surging after Credit Agricole SA bought a 9.2 per cent stake in the Italian lender.
Global equities are nursing losses for the week as markets grapple with the Fed’ s campaign against elevated price pressures, Russia’ s grinding war in Ukraine and China’ s Covid travails. The lockdown in Shanghai -- which recorded more than 21,000 new daily virus cases -- has become one of President Xi Jinping’ s biggest challenges. Expectations are growing that China will take steps to support its economy.
“ The outlook is bleaker and bleaker as investors and economists continue to ratchet down their growth expectations, ” Bryce Doty, senior portfolio manager at Sit Investment Associates, said by phone. “ The headwinds continued to build. So there’ s this nervousness that is also building. It’ s like reading the weather report -- reading that there’ s a pending storm even though it’ s bright and sunny today. ”
The steepening in the Treasury yield curve contrasts with the flattening and inversions that have vexed markets this year. The two-year rate topped the 10-year last week for the first time since 2019, a possible warning of recession.
“ We’ re seeing a tactical re-steepening right now but the curve is going to continue to flatten, ” Kelsey Berro, fixed income portfolio manager at JPMorgan Asset Management, said on Bloomberg Television. “ That’ s because the Fed has told us, we’ d like to get to neutral expeditiously. On top of that, they may need to tighten beyond neutral. Front-end yields can still go higher. ”
Meanwhile, U.S. officials warned the war in Ukraine may last for weeks or even years. European Union countries agreed to ban coal imports from Russia, the first time the bloc’ s sanctions have targeted Moscow’ s crucial energy revenues. Global food prices are surging at the fastest pace ever as the war in Ukraine chokes crop supplies, piling more inflationary pain on consumers and worsening a global hunger crisis.
While the feds touted the spending in its budget as prudent, prominent Bay Street economist David Rosenberg said the extra fiscal stimulus could lead the Bank of Canada to hike its benchmark rate higher than originally thought.
Canada’ s unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since at least the mid-1970s, as the laboUr market posted another strong monthly employment gain.
Average Canadians might not realize how big a stake they have in the country’ s largest banks in their retirement portfolios; either directly in their RRSPs and TFSAs, or indirectly through mutual funds, ETFs, and pension plans.
Businesses are struggling to cope with an apparent sixth wave of COVID, as staffing shortages hamper sectors from health care to hospitality and retail — though the interruption remains more manageable than last winter's Omicron variant surge. | general |
Hybrid Work Poses Credit Risk to Cities Looking to Issue Debt | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
Vehicles travel along a highway in front of the Cincinnati skyline in Covington, Kentucky, U.S., on Thursday, July 16, 2020. Seventy percent of Cincinnati's revenue comes from taxes on wages, and with the coronavirus continuing to spread, leaving record joblessness in its wake, Mayor John Cranley said he fears permanent declines in essential services., Bloomberg
( Bloomberg) -- Remote working may be be a boon for many Americans. But it could lead to higher borrowing costs for some cities tapping the municipal-bond market.
Fitch Ratings, earlier this week, affirmed its negative rating of Kansas City, Missouri, flagging remote work as a credit risk. The city anticipates a slow recovery in earnings taxes -- which is its largest source of general fund revenue -- because of increased remote work, Fitch noted.
While cities have been receiving Federal aid to stay afloat, many could risk a downgrade if they burn through pandemic stimulus money without finding other means to fund deficits, Bloomberg Intelligence strategist Eric Kazatsky said in an interview. And those that face a downgrade may have to issue bonds with higher yields to compensate the increased credit risk. This makes it more expensive to issue bonds and makes refunding less optimal, said Eric Friedland, director of municipal research for Lord Abbett & Co.
Remote work can impact a city’ s revenue in multiple ways, from wage taxes that are levied depending on where workers put in their hours to the sales taxes that commuters pay at a local coffee shop on the way the office. Some states may require you to pay income taxes if you work there for just a day or two and for other states that might be 60 days.
A handful of cities in Ohio, such as Cincinnati, Toledo and Columbus, that rely heavily on income taxes could also see weakness in their revenue streams from remote working and potentially be subject to a downgrade, Kazatsky said.
Cincinnati, for example, derives 73.5% of its general fund revenue from income taxes, a Bloomberg Intelligence report published Thursday said. The average reliance on income taxes for municipal issuers is 8%, according to data from the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institute.
Cities that have a greater dependence on commuter taxes are the most sensitive to work-from-home arrangements, Bloomberg Intelligence’ s report said.
Richmond, Virginia, has the highest share of jobs held by workers commuting from outside the city at 77%, according to data from Pew Charitable Trusts. New York’ s commuter share is 28% and Philadelphia’ s is just under 50%.
While remote work won’ t be the sole credit driver, it is a factor that ratings firms and investors are increasingly considering, said Dora Lee, director of research at Belle Haven Investments. Cities looking to issue debt must not dismiss remote work as a risk, especially as flexible work becomes a longer reality, said Tom Kozlik, head of municipal research and analytics at Hilltop Securities.
“ The uncertainty is the most important thing, because this is a once in a generation type shift that we’ re seeing and I think there are a lot of people who are down playing it, ” he said.
Large cities may be able to preempt a potential downgrade because their economy is often not focused on a single industry, Lee said. Such cities could use their diverse economy to reinvent themselves, she added. And their revenues could be fairly insulated because of the higher cost of living.
S & P Global Ratings revised their outlook for San Francisco to stable from negative on Thursday despite adding remote work as a risk. San Francisco-based firms have been asking for a reassessment of their property taxes as they’ re increasingly adopting flexible work, which could put a dent in the city’ s revenue. But the city’ s “ economically sensitive ” revenue streams will be able to bounce back in the long term, credit analyst Chris Morgan said in the report.
“ Maybe people are not doing full time in the office, but if the sales tax figures and hotel tax revenues are still rising because of some of the other factors like tourism, then it might not be that big of a deal, ” Li Yang, a credit analyst with S & P Global Ratings, said in a phone interview. “ We don’ t necessarily need to see office workers go back 100%. ”
Smaller towns outside larger cities could also see economic growth as hybrid work becomes more permanent, Lee said. With people not traveling to large cities for work as frequently as they were pre-pandemic, smaller suburban areas could see a boost to their economy.
President Joe Biden, governors and mayors have been pushing workers to return to their offices to help revive city economies. Local businesses that relied on workers going into the office could see some respite.
Workers who went to the office in 10 of the largest U.S. business districts rose to 42% of pre-Covid-19 levels in the week ended March 30, according to data from Kastle Systems.
While the feds touted the spending in its budget as prudent, prominent Bay Street economist David Rosenberg said the extra fiscal stimulus could lead the Bank of Canada to hike its benchmark rate higher than originally thought.
Canada’ s unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since at least the mid-1970s, as the laboUr market posted another strong monthly employment gain.
Average Canadians might not realize how big a stake they have in the country’ s largest banks in their retirement portfolios; either directly in their RRSPs and TFSAs, or indirectly through mutual funds, ETFs, and pension plans.
Businesses are struggling to cope with an apparent sixth wave of COVID, as staffing shortages hamper sectors from health care to hospitality and retail — though the interruption remains more manageable than last winter's Omicron variant surge. | general |
Canada's jobless rate hits record low, stoking rate hike odds | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
Canada’ s unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since at least the mid-1970s, as the labor market posted another strong monthly employment gain.
The economy added 72,500 jobs in March, following a blockbuster gain of 337,000 in February, Statistics Canada reported Friday in Ottawa. The jobless rate fell to 5.3 per cent, the lowest in monthly records dating back to 1976, down from 5.5 per cent in February.
Economists were anticipating employment to increase by 80,000 and the unemployment rate to fall to 5.4 per cent.
Friday’ s report is another indication Canada’ s economy is running up against labor-force capacity, and will stoke expectations for aggressive Bank of Canada interest rate hikes in coming months -- including a half-point increase at its policy decision next week. The country has added about one million jobs since last June.
“ The solid pace of hiring reinforces our view that the Bank of Canada will act forcefully next week to quell inflationary pressures, ” Royce Mendes, head of macro strategy at Desjardins Securities Inc., said in a report to investors.
Investors in overnight swaps are pricing in about a three-quarters chance of a 50-basis-point increase on April 13, followed by a series of additional hikes that will take the policy rate to as high as 3 per cent in 12 months. Last month, the Bank of Canada raised its benchmarch overnight rate to 0.5 per cent, from the emergency low of 0.25 per cent set when COVID-19 hit North America.
Yields on Canadian government two-year bonds jumped after the report, up 8 basis points to 2.46 per cent at 8:47 a.m. in Toronto trading. The Canadian dollar was little changed at $ 1.2588 per U.S. dollar.
The job gains also illustrate the extent to which the economy has emerged strong after successive waves of COVID and resulting lockdowns. The employment jump in February and March follows the lifting of restrictions that were imposed to stem a surge in cases over the winter.
Another sign of a tight labor market appears to be strengthening pay gains, with average hourly wages up 3.4 per cent from a year earlier, compared to 3.1 per cent in February. For permanent employees, wages were up 3.7 per cent.
Full-time employment accounted for all of the increase, up 92,700. Part-time employment fell in March.
Total hours worked, which is closely correlated with output, was up a strong 1.3 per cent. Gains were seen in both service-related industries and goods-producing sectors, led by accommodation and food services. | general |
First female bank CEO in Canada leads with younger self in mind | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
Incoming Laurentian Bank CEO Rania Llewellyn., Image courtesy of Laurentian Bank
In her 17 months as Laurentian Bank of Canada’ s chief executive officer, Rania Llewellyn has seen about a third of the company’ s 3,000-person workforce turn over.
She sees that upheaval not as a problem but a chance to rebuild the long-troubled bank anew. If she pulls off a turnaround at Laurentian -- a minnow in an industry dominated by a six-firm oligopoly -- that would mark just the latest noteworthy turn in a career that has defied much of the traditional Canadian banking blueprint.
Llewellyn is staking Laurentian’ s comeback on a departure from the orthodoxies of larger rivals. She has committed to a work-from-home-first model in the COVID-19 era and cut the firm’ s office space in half, has ruled out lending to oil and gas companies, and is focused on diversity and inclusion efforts so that talented women, minorities and immigrants face an easier climb than she did.
That’ s a responsibility that looms large in her thinking. Her appointment as the first female CEO of a publicly traded Canadian bank has prompted support from women and others who rarely see people like themselves in the industry’ s top ranks.
“ I’ m building the bank that I’ ve always wanted to work for, ” Llewellyn said in an interview at Bloomberg’ s Toronto offices Thursday. “ I feel like my years of experience really prepared me for that opportunity in terms of the extra pressure. ”
Llewellyn, 46, was born in Kuwait to an Egyptian father and Jordanian mother, and immigrated to Canada from Egypt in 1992. She got her start in banking as a part-time teller at Bank of Nova Scotia after graduating from college and finding herself unable to land a professional role -- something she’ s attributed partly to a lack of connections in Canada and foreign-sounding maiden name.
She landed her first management position at the company after meeting Scotiabank’ s senior vice president for the Atlantic region at her citizenship ceremony and pressing him for a new job over the coming weeks. She ended up spending more than two decades at Scotiabank, holding roles as varied as head of global business payments, CEO of the Roynat Capital commercial-banking unit, head of multicultural banking and senior vice president for commercial banking and growth strategy.
Her projects along that path included developing the infrastructure and power-industry team in capital markets, and helping finance a nuclear-power plant in Ontario.
Now that she’ s head of Laurentian, which has corporate offices in Montreal and Toronto, she wants to see her managers appointing women to lead large, complex books of business where they can demonstrate their ability to drive revenue for the bank and their bosses can “ see them in action, ” Llewellyn said.
“ Let’ s give them the juicy projects, ” she said.
Even before her appointment, Laurentian had already set itself apart by not requiring Canadian experience for new hires, giving immigrants an easier start in the industry. Llewellyn said she wants to build on that reputation, which could be a significant advantage in Canada, where there’ s a broad political consensus that attracting skilled newcomers should be central to the country’ s economic strategy.
Across Laurentian’ s workforce, Llewellyn is also turning to some unconventional benefits. For Laurentian’ s 175th anniversary last year, employees were allowed a day off on their birthday. On top of that, the bank gave staffers half a day off on four Fridays during Canada’ s short summer season. The extra time off was so well-received that the bank is extending the program, Llewellyn said.
Llewellyn tells even some of Laurentian’ s more junior recruits that the firm’ s relatively small size means they’ ll have opportunities -- like presenting projects directly to the board -- that they wouldn’ t have elsewhere. Such perks can help set cost-conscious Laurentian apart in instances where it can’ t match the salaries larger rivals offer.
“ You can leave your mark on this institution and be part of the success, ” she said. “ You can’ t just boil it down to salary. People leave not because of salary. Salary has to obviously be competitive, but it is not the only deciding factor. ”
Among the staff departures that have occurred since Llewellyn took the reins, “ some were voluntary, and some were involuntary, because when new leadership comes in, a lot of them say, ‘ You know what, I’ m out.’ And that’ s OK, ” she said. The bank also cut some jobs, announcing in December that it had trimmed 64 positions and booked $ 9 million in severance charges as part of its plan to simplify the organizational structure.
“ I took the opportunity to flatten the organization, ” Llewellyn said Thursday.
While her changes have helped Laurentian’ s employee-engagement scores, which could pay off in the longer term, investors are beginning to look for more immediate progress on Laurentian’ s income statement, starting with its personal-banking business.
Under Llewellyn, Laurentian introduced its first mobile-banking app after just seven months of development and is rolling out tap payments on debit cards, rectifying two major gaps in its offerings. The bank is working on cutting down the time it takes to approve customers’ mortgage applications and speeding up the process to sign up for new credit cards and deposit accounts.
The plan is gaining some traction. The bank has beaten analysts’ estimates in every quarter Llewellyn has been CEO after missing projections in eight of the 11 quarters before she took over. And the bank’ s shares are up 57 per cent since she took over, the fourth-best performance in the eight-company S & P/TSX Commercial Banks Index, an improvement from last place in the prior 12 months.
Beyond the concrete moves, Llewellyn points to culture as a driving force in the improvement so far. That has included a cost-conscious mindset, the breaking down of silos and implementing a more-casual atmosphere, with employees not expected to wear ties unless they’ re meeting clients who will be similarly dressed, she said. Those moves would be harder to make at one of Laurentian’ s larger Bay Street competitors.
“ The culture was more that our size was a detractor versus my opinion where size is our advantage, ” Llewellyn said. “ At the end of the day, culture and the tone starts from the top. ” | general |
Russia Out of UN's Rights Council: Daily Brief | Help us continue to fight human rights abuses. Please give now to support our work
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Yesterday, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to suspend the rights of membership of Russia in the Human Rights Council, over its massive violations of humanitarian and human rights laws. The voting result was 93 in favor, 24 against, and 58 abstentions. Human Rights Watch documented cases amounting to unspeakable, deliberate cruelty and violence against Ukrainian civilians, and the gruesome images from Bucha have shocked people around the world. This decision by the UN assembly sends the message that efforts will be made to hold Russia accountable. Investigators from the United Nations and the International Criminal Court should move swiftly to gather and preserve evidence of war crimes.
France's 2022 presidential election will happen on Sunday, and it is an opportunity for voters to make their vote count by examining the candidates’ commitment to human rights values. For this year's election, many important topics involve fundamental rights, including respect for the rule of law in France and Europe, women's rights, equal access to vaccines and health care amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the right to a clean, healthy, and safe environment, to be treated equally by the police, migrants’ rights, and the right to seek asylum. Here Human Rights Watch wrote a guide with 10 human rights issues they should consider. | general |
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China's refineries are to slash throughput in April and lift oil product exports from initial plans to compensate for falling domestic demand due to COVID-19 lockdowns, refiners told S & P Global Commodity Insight on April 8.
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The country's financial center, Shanghai, a city of 25 million people, has gone into lockdown due to omicron variant outbreaks and there have been reports the lockdown could be extended into May. Other cities in northeast, east and south China also stay in alert mode.
The latest lockdown has compounded China's supply chain and logistical challenges; transportation has been disrupted, workers are in isolation, and construction work has been wound down or stopped altogether.
This situation is likely to continue while the Chinese government adheres to a zero-COVID policy.
As a result, 10 refiners from the 11 polled Sinopec and PetroChina refining sources said they have cut their April throughput by 30,000-100,000 mt from their initial planned volume or are going to reduce.
These include Sinopec's 14 million mt/year Shanghai Petrochemical, which has been locked down since late March. It is to lower throughput by 40,000 mt to 1.19 million mt in April.
`` Shanghai's demand for oil products is drying out, product inventory is rising, '' a source with the plant said.
The neighboring 8 million mt/year Anqing Petrochemical plant has trimmed throughput several times since April 1 to get the current target of about 550,000 mt from an initial 650,000 mt.
Another neighbor, the 16 million mt/year private greenfield Shenghong Petrochemical has further delayed its startup, with no fixed commission schedule, given high oil prices coupled with weak product demand, according to a company source.
Down south in Guangzhou, oil product sales are also slow, despite the capital city of Guangdong being less affected by the latest wave of the pandemic. The 13.2 million mt/year Sinopec plant has cut throughput by 40,000 mt from planned to 990,000 mt in April, a refining source said.
In eastern China's Shandong province, independent refineries have even chopped their average utilization rate to 49.4% as of April 6, against 57.1% a month earlier as of March 9, according to local information provider JLC.
In northeast China, three of PetroChina's refineries in Liaoning province have reduced their April throughput by 30,000-50,000 mt from original plans, according to sources with the plants. The neighboring Jilin province is another epicenter of the current wave of COVID-19 spreading.
Analysts in Beijing warned that refineries may further lower throughput when demand is worsen.
In addition to throughput, PetroChina's refineries have also lifted product exports from initial estimations.
But the increase is likely to be capped due to limited export quotas and logistical restriction due to COVID-19 controls, analysts said.
One Dalian-based PetroChina refinery is to increase its gasoline exports in April from the initial plan of 32,000 mt to 130,000 mt, while the other PetroChina refineries in the same city will export 150,000 mt of gasoline this month -- compared with zero in its original plan, according to company sources.
Moreover, PetroChina's Guangxi Petrochemical is also likely to ship out some gasoline barrels.
PetroChina was initially estimated to export only 32,000 mt of gasoline in April.
`` But lockdowns and movement controls ban driving activities, even during the Tomb-Sweeping Day holiday ( April 3-5), '' a company source said.
`` Oil products stock is rising, forcing refiners to upward adjust their export plans, especially gasoline, '' said a product trader in East China.
However, Beijing slumped oil product quota awards by 55.9% year on year in the first-round allocation for 2022, at only 13 million mt, which caps exports in the month.
Market sources had initially estimated China to export 416,000 mt of gasoline and 140,000 mt of gasoil in April, S & P Global reported.
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Viking Hedge Fund Plans NYC Office Expansion as Headcount Grows | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
Buildings in lower Manhattan in New York, U.S., on Thursday June 17, 2021. New York state's pandemic mandates were lifted last week, after 70% of the adult population has now been given at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg, Bloomberg
( Bloomberg) -- Andreas Halvorsen’ s mega hedge fund firm, Viking Global Investors, is looking to relocate its Manhattan offices and snap up more space as it ramps up growth in New York City.
The firm is in talks for more than 100,000 square feet ( 9,300 square meters) of space at 660 Fifth Ave., an office tower that’ s undergoing a $ 400 million redevelopment by Brookfield Properties, according to people familiar with the matter. Discussions are ongoing and nothing is finalized, the people said, asking not to be named because the matter is private.
Viking plans to move from its current 280 Park Ave. location, where it has outgrown its roughly 60,000 square feet of offices, the people said. The new location would provide more space for its current team as well as new employees the firm plans to bring on. Like many funds, Viking increased hiring during the pandemic.
Last year, the firm began putting together a credit investing team as well as a fund to invest solely in private companies. Assets have jumped to $ 47 billion as of December, from $ 31 billion in January 2020. Viking has about 240 employees firmwide, a significant number of which are in Manhattan.
Representatives for Viking -- based in Greenwich, Connecticut -- and Brookfield declined to comment.
Manhattan’ s office market is struggling to bounce back from the pandemic, which emptied out skyscrapers and sent the supply of available space soaring. Even so, several major finance and technology firms have been on the hunt for new, upgraded space to accommodate growing headcounts.
Ken Griffin’ s Citadel has been exploring additional offices on Park and Madison avenues, while Blackstone Inc. is also looking at a major expansion in the city, Bloomberg reported earlier this year.
Last year was a tricky one for Viking: Its hedge fund posted its worst-ever performance, losing 4.5% after underestimating the impact of Covid-19 and making “ bad bets, ” the firm told investors in January. The fund fell an additional 8% in the first quarter of this year.
While the feds touted the spending in its budget as prudent, prominent Bay Street economist David Rosenberg said the extra fiscal stimulus could lead the Bank of Canada to hike its benchmark rate higher than originally thought.
Canada’ s unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since at least the mid-1970s, as the laboUr market posted another strong monthly employment gain.
Average Canadians might not realize how big a stake they have in the country’ s largest banks in their retirement portfolios; either directly in their RRSPs and TFSAs, or indirectly through mutual funds, ETFs, and pension plans.
Businesses are struggling to cope with an apparent sixth wave of COVID, as staffing shortages hamper sectors from health care to hospitality and retail — though the interruption remains more manageable than last winter's Omicron variant surge. | general |
The Five Million People Left at Mercy of Britain’ s Cost of Living Crisis | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
Recipients stand in a socially distanced line as the Kindness Homeless Street Team charity distribute food and essentials at George Square in Glasgow, U.K., on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. U.K. unemployment climbed to its highest rate in almost five years in the fourth quarter as the economic toll from the coronavirus pandemic continued to mount., Bloomberg
( Bloomberg) -- A crippling increase in energy bills, food costs rising at the fastest rate in a decade and the cost of borrowing going up: the price shock is indiscriminate. But for some in the U.K. it will be more indiscriminate than others, and that’ s down to politics rather than economics.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak told a parliamentary committee on March 28 that he opted to support working people rather than those who are unable to find a job. The government could have put the money into the welfare system, he acknowledged. “ That is absolutely the choice that someone else could have made, ” Sunak said.
It’ s this group that risks being abandoned in what’ s now the latest British social crisis after the disruption of Brexit, the pandemic and a decade of austerity in the wake of the global financial meltdown, according to anti-poverty campaigners. Households across Europe are grappling with soaring costs exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, yet no other major economy leaves its out-of-work population so vulnerable.
There are 5.3 million people in the U.K. who could work, though are reliant solely on state aid, based on statistics for the unemployed, the sick and others classed as economically inactive. Roughly equivalent to the entire population of Scotland or the region of Yorkshire, they make up a tenth of people of working age — and no other section of society will feel the cost-of-living crisis so painfully and now have less to cushion its fall.
Rising prices relative to the increases in welfare payments this year mean more citizens are having to rely on food banks and seek short-term, high-interest cash loans, while the better off are more likely to have savings from the pandemic or get pay increases. His popularity plummeting, Sunak is under pressure both from within Prime Minister Boris Johnson’ s governing Conservative Party and by opponents to do more.
Food and energy bills — a price cap on gas and electricity rose 54% on April 1 — now account for a larger proportion of household budgets. That means the effective inflation rate for the poorest tenth in the three months to June will be 10.5%, according to analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank.
Welfare benefits are rising by just 3.1%, though, less than half the increase in the national minimum wage. The hit to living standards for those relying on them may be five times more severe than the aggregate for earners. The Office for Budget Responsibility watchdog has warned that real incomes overall will fall more in the coming 12 months than at any point since records began in the 1950s.
“ We don’ t yet know how bad things are going to get, but if we look at our early warning signs, like referrals to food banks, all those are already screaming red alert, ” said Morgan Wild, head of policy for families, welfare and work at the Citizens Advice charity network. “ We have very low income replacement rates compared to pretty much any other comparable European country. We are at the very low end of the league table. ”
Indeed, for those out of work, the U.K. already stood in stark contrast to other parts of Europe, according to 2021 data from the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation.
It showed that a single, childless person in Britain who lost their job earning the average wage could expect to receive 15% of their income when they claimed for aid from the country’ s Universal Credit system introduced by the Conservative government in 2013. In Germany and France, where entitlements are much more closely linked to work histories, the figures are 59% and 68%. Even when subsidies for housing are included, the U.K. covers only 38% of former income.
It all comes down to politics, and it’ s a judgement that carries risks in a country whose traditional social contract has been gradually upended in recent decades. Since his package of measures, Sunak’ s ratings have fallen further among the electorate.
Some 57% of people now have an unfavorable opinion of him, according to a YouGov Plc poll taken on April 4-5, before it emerged that his wife has non-domiciled tax status. That compares with 60% of people favoring him two years ago as he responded to the pandemic with billions of pounds of aid. The opposition Labour Party, meanwhile, has led the Conservatives in the polls since the end of last year, though an election isn’ t due until 2024.
The government could bring some of next year’ s increase forward to help households now, without borrowing a penny extra over the two years, said Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London.
Increases in payments for those out of work are calculated using the previous year’ s inflation rate. Next year, they will rise by 7.5%, or at least 20 billion pounds — the biggest increase on record — based on the current inflation forecast. “ The lack of smoothing matters to people on these levels of income, and it doesn’ t matter to the public finances, ” said Johnson, calling the approach “ baffling. ”
For the working population, though, Sunak’ s tax and policy measures have been progressive, he said. The minimum wage is up 6.6% this year. Increasing the threshold for National Insurance payroll tax also hands 13 million people 330 pounds more a year, “ a tax cut that rewards work, ” as Sunak described it. The rate at which workers lose entitlement to Universal Credit support has been reduced, providing another work incentive.
Then there’ s the support during the pandemic. The 1,040 pounds a year the poorest received when Universal Credit was temporarily increased meant that the worst-off 10% of people bucked a decade long-trend. Their income grew more quickly than the better-off households, albeit for one year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
But that was before inflation hit a 30-year high. For 2022, that group will get a municipal tax rebate and a one-time payment to help with energy bills, like people who work. The safety net for the people most at risk of acute hardship isn’ t there anymore to guarantee a “ decent quality of life, ” said Rebecca McDonald, senior economist at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a charity that aims to tackle poverty.
“ That’ s the job it is supposed to do, but as a result of the years of cuts and freezes, it’ s now at such a low level that it can’ t really do that job, and yet clearly the chancellor doesn’ t think that needs addressing, ” she said.
Sunak’ s decision was one of economic ideology that misses the hard facts of reality, said Torsten Bell, chief executive of Resolution and a member of the U.K. Treasury’ s Council of Economic Advisers during the financial crisis. Resolution estimates that 1.3 million people, including 500,000 children, will fall below the poverty line as the living crisis grips. Already, the signs are bleak.
Google searches for “ payday loan ” in the U.K. have surged since the start of March, and now stand at the highest since late 2020, while Citizens Advice said that last month it set a third straight record for providing crisis support. The organization referred 24,752 people to food banks or to other charitable support, up by 44% from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, one in 12 people are already using credit schemes to buy basics such as food and toiletries, with those claiming Universal Credit at least twice as likely to have used the programs than the general population.
Bell acknowledges that, with job vacancies at record levels — there are 750,000 fewer people in private sector employment than before the pandemic — the government is right to incentivize work. The problem, he said, is that “ there is a misunderstanding of where the trauma will be. ”
“ Yes, we had a big increase in inactivity after the pandemic, but those who dropped out are largely higher earners and those living on pensions, ” he said. “ So the idea that you will get more people into work by not increasing benefits does not match the evidence. ”
Canada joins U.S., U.K. in diplomatic boycott of Beijing games
Trudeau weighs auto-content rules as next U.S. trade flashpoint | general |
Watch Open House Worldwide's Housing and the People festival | and neighbourhood planning. Tune in to the broadcast from 7am-7pm UK time on 9 April 2022.
, the virtual festival is a 12-hour livestream featuring live tours of pioneering housing and critical debates about the future of housing.
and local approaches to housing issues.
network, from locations including London, Lagos, Melbourne, New York, Taiwan, Seoul and more. It is organised by London-based architecture charity
among other renowned designers.
Other topics include how to build low-carbon housing to accommodate growing populations, what can be learnt from indigenous and vernacular architecture and how to retain the character of local townscapes when building on a larger scale.
's ongoing redevelopment of the Colville Estate in east London, which comprises over 900 new residences as well as improved community facilities and public spaces.
director Mel Bright exploring the complex economic, political and cultural implications that affect access to affordable and safe housing for women in Victoria, Australia.
Established in 2010, Open House Worldwide is a network of over fifty organisations in cities across the globe that present festivals, events and open a dialogue focusing on architecture, design and cities.
The first edition of the Open House Worldwide festival took place in November 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The 48-hour virtual festival was broadcast to a global audience of over 40,000 viewers and was
will take place from 7am-7pm UK time on 9 April 2022. See
for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
This article was written as part of a partnership with Open House Worldwide. Find out more about our partnership content | business |
Thomas Poses With Senate Candidate Walker in Supreme Court Photo | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
( Bloomberg) -- Justice Clarence Thomas spent time at the U.S. Supreme Court this week with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker, posing for a photo tweeted out by the former football star’ s campaign spokesperson.
The photo comes amid scrutiny of the conservative justice stemming from the political activities of his wife, Virginia Thomas, including text messages she sent urging then-President Donald Trump’ s chief of staff to do more to overturn Joe Biden’ s election victory.
A number of judicial-ethics experts have said those efforts should have prompted Thomas to recuse himself from election-related cases the court handled. Thomas was the lone dissenter when the court cleared the way for some of Trump’ s White House papers to be turned over to the congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Neither Thomas nor Walker’ s campaign immediately responded to requests for comment.
Polls show Walker, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1982 and went on to play for the National Football League, with a wide lead in Georgia’ s Republican Senate primary. But in recent weeks, his opponents have deepened attacks, raising questions about his chances in a general election against the Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock.
Walker’ s former wife, Cindy Grossman, once accused him of putting a gun to her head. He has written and spoken about his past struggles with mental illness. In an interview with Axios last December, he did not address Grossman’ s allegation directly but said he was “ always accountable to whatever I’ ve ever done. ”
He was in Washington to receive an award from the Horatio Alger Association, on whose board Thomas sits as an honorary member. The group said on Twitter that recipients received medallions at an event at the Supreme Court on Thursday evening. The court has generally been closed to the public since the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020.
The photo offers the first public glimpse of Thomas since he was hospitalized March 18 for what became a week-long stay to treat an infection. Thomas was absent from the courtroom for two weeks of arguments, though he asked questions remotely during the second week.
Trump recruited Walker to run for the Senate seat, now held by Warnock, in a race that will help determine which party controls the chamber starting next year.
Canada joins U.S., U.K. in diplomatic boycott of Beijing games
Trudeau weighs auto-content rules as next U.S. trade flashpoint | general |
Restaurateur Loses $ 50M Virus Suit In First NY Appeal Ruling | A restaurant operator lost its $ 50 million bid for coverage of its pandemic losses when the first New York appeals court to rule on such a suit determined that the company failed to allege the kind of physical loss or damage required for coverage. A panel of First Judicial Department judges on Thursday found Consolidated Restaurant Operations Inc. failed to show that the actual presence of the coronavirus at its eateries caused any tangible alterations or damage, precluding coverage. That finding also doomed CRO's claim for coverage under communicable disease provisions in its policy with Swiss Re subsidiary Westport Insurance Corp.,... | general |
Pa. Meat Processor Settles Suit Over Denied Child Care Leave | A Pennsylvania meat processing company has settled claims brought against it by two former employees who alleged that they were wrongfully denied child care leave during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and were fired in retaliation for taking time off.The settlement between Lancaster County, Pennsylvania-based John F. Martin & Sons and former employees Warren Rivera-Nigaglioni and Matthew Shepardson was made public in an order disposing of the case filed on Thursday by U.S. District Judge John M. Gallagher.The terms of the settlement were not laid out in the order, and an attorney representing Rivera and Shepardson declined... | general |
Soccer Promoter Says Co-Founder Flouted Noncompete | Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross ' international soccer promotion company Relevent Sports has accused a co-founder of violating a noncompete clause by trying to steal away business relationships with preeminent European soccer clubs worth hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.Charlie Stillitano left Relevent last year after taking a significant pay cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic's chilling effect on pro sports, and a restrictive covenant barred him from competing with Relevent or soliciting any of its clients or business partners for one year, according to Relevent's complaint filed in New York federal court on Thursday. `` Since departing Relevent on May... | general |
2nd Circ. Sides With Insurer In Eatery's Virus Coverage Suit | Three days after hearing oral arguments, the Second Circuit on Friday rejected another policyholder's appeal for COVID-19 coverage based on its initial decision against a New York art gallery in December.In a six-page order Friday, the panel said that the owner of Bruno's Ristorante Italiano in Howard Beach, New York, was not entitled to coverage from Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.The panel said it had no reason to rule differently than it did in 10012 Holdings Inc. v. Sentinel Insurance Co., which held there isn't coverage for pandemic shutdown orders. `` BR concedes that 10012 Holdings is factually on point. It contends,... | general |
Kaleido Biosciences Culls Staff, Prepares to Cease Operations | Shares of Kaleido Biosciences, a microbiome-focused company backed by Flagship Biosciences, are plunging after the company announced its intentions to cease all company operations, lay off its remaining staff and delist from the Nasdaq Exchange.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Friday morning, the Massachusetts-based company announced its board of directors voted to end all company operations, which includes the immediate termination of all employees that remained with the company following a January round of layoffs spurred by the cessation of a Phase II study in chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.
Last year, the company was hit with a warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding a program it was running with its COPD drug in COVID-19 studies. The FDA said the company failed to seek an Investigational New Drug Application for the study using its COPD drug, KB109. Kaleido argued that KB109 was a food rather than a drug and didn’ t need to be authorized under an IND. The company said KB109 was being studied to assess its effect on the microbiome in a population of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19.
Kaleido was focused on a differentiated, small-molecule approach to treating inflammatory diseases. It was developing Microbiome Metabolic Therapies ( MMT), which were designed to modulate the metabolic output and profile of the microbiome by driving the function and distribution of the gut’ s existing microbes. In its filing, Kaleido Biosciences did not mention the fate of any of its existing pipeline of products. It is likely the board will seek a buyer for its remaining assets, which includes KB295, an MMT being developed to treat mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis.
Following the layoffs and halting of the COPD study, Kaleido initiated a strategic process in an attempt to maximize shareholder value. However, the company noted in its filing that it was unable to identify any transactions or resources that could save the company. Without something tangible, the board opted to shutter its doors. Kaleido said it was assessing additional details regarding its plans to wind down the company and will provide additional information. | general |
In Pew Survey, Black Americans Express Concern About Potential for Research Misconduct | The Pew Research Center shared survey results regarding the multifaceted views Black Americans hold when it comes to medical research. Although Black Americans shared that they either have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence in medical scientists to act in the public’ s best interest, 55% of respondents describe misconduct by medical research scientists as being a moderate or a very big problem.
Black Americans’ doubt in medical scientists is not unfounded. Just recently a former Harvard professor of ophthalmology retracted eight research papers over ethics concerns and lack of approval from regulatory boards meant to prevent research misconduct. Nearly every day the blog Retraction Watch, which shares recent retractions and research fraud, posts something new about scientists across the globe faking data and foregoing necessary ethics procedures among other heinous acts. A quick scroll through the webpage will reveal that misconduct happens in all fields of medical research including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’ s and chronic deep tissue conditions like osteoarthritis.
However, Black Americans have other specific examples as to why they doubt the ability of medical researchers to avoid misconduct. Particularly resonant is the infamous and diabolical Tuskegee Syphilis Study, which took place in the U.S. between 1932 and 1972 and recruited Black men with the disease to study its pathogenesis. Researchers purposefully withheld treatment from these men from 1943 onward when penicillin was introduced as an effective treatment.
But the history of racism, bias and misconduct involving Black Americans involved in medical research isn’ t as old news as some would like to believe. Over the past two years, systemic racism has played a role in disproportionately affecting Black people during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Harvard Gazette, “ Black and brown Americans ” have been two to three times more likely to be hospitalized, twice as likely to die and overall, more likely to contract the virus. The pandemic has uncovered long-known disparities in communal health that put people of color at astronomical disadvantages when it comes to taking charge of their health, such as poverty, greater exposure to pollution and less access to healthy foods.
Accounts of medical misconduct directed toward Black Americans from the past also still crop up in the news today, showing the proliferative effects of mistreatment. In October 2021, Thermo Fisher was sued over profiting from allegedly stolen HeLa cells, important cells that have led to major scientific breakthroughs over the decades. The cells were originally `` stolen '' from a Black woman named Henrietta Lacks who underwent treatment for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins and did not consent to her cells being used scientifically. To this day, Lacks’ family is fighting for reparations and acknowledgment from scientific researchers who played a role in the ethical violation.
Beyond sharing concerns about medical research misconduct, Black Americans surveyed also expressed concern about their ability to access quality medical care. Black adults view this disparity in health care as a driving reason as to why the life expectancy of Black people is currently the lowest it has been since 2000 and is below the estimates for other racial and ethnic groups. | general |
11th Circ. Judges Unsure About Fed Contractor Vax Mandate | Eleventh Circuit judges expressed uncertainty Friday about the president's authority to impose a vaccine mandate on federal contractors and if a Georgia judge's order temporarily blocking its enforcement should be national in scope.Three circuit judges heard oral arguments in Atlanta in President Joe Biden's appeal of a southern Georgia judge's preliminary injunction blocking the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors.Georgia and six other states, as well as a large contractor organization, are challenging the government mandate, introduced in September. The judges said it's unclear if the states will be successful or if the president will successfully defend his executive... | general |
Bringing co-creation to the metaverse with experience design | We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today!
The pandemic has propelled the application of cutting-edge technologies across a variety of different sectors to drive user engagement and business efficiency. According to KPMG, nearly 60% of executives agree that COVID-19 has created an impetus to accelerate digital transformation initiatives.
This also applies to individual habits and behaviors which have changed significantly post-pandemic as online and virtual experiences are now commonplace. Signs of changing behaviors across the market have encouraged our experience design company to create experiences that enhance different aspects of culture, heritage, tourism, sports and entertainment through partnerships with firms in the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Europe and the Far East. As the concept and design of the metaverse continue to evolve, people will seek more engaging, impactful experiences in the virtual realm and this will present new opportunities for the experience design and immersive events sector.
Experience design means establishing emotional and inspirational connections between people and brands. An experience designer leverages the right balance of immersive touchpoints & technologies to offer flexible and smart solutions across multiple platforms. The key to experience design is to implement interactive technology to transform immersive experiences into unforgettable memories. Emotional journey mapping, in combination with AI and immersive technology, will be crucial in redefining how audiences interact with diverse events and how they engage with the online world.
When creating an experience, in collaboration with the institution or brand, a creative team of architects, designers, engineers, developers, coders and content providers combine their talents to turn ideas for human-centric experiential journeys into reality.
There are three types of user experience in the industry that will drive engagement and interaction. This includes permanent exhibitions & experiences; i.e., transforming permanent spaces, such as engagement centers or museums, into multi-sensory experiences that take guests on an out-of-this-world adventure. The second type of experience includes pop-up/temporary events which may require more artistic flare, storytelling and production such as festivals, shows and exhibitions. Finally, there are also virtual experiences, where experience design must immerse audiences in a hyper-realistic, fully interactive environment via virtual platforms.
Brands will need to keep up and constantly innovate in order to drive user engagement. One of the next challenges will be adapting new cutting-edge ways of interacting with users in the metaverse. Virtual experiences will therefore offer a new window of opportunity as technology continues to rapidly develop.
According to a recent report by Reports and Data, the global metaverse market size is expected to reach USD $ 872.35 billion in 2028 and register a revenue CAGR of 44.1% during the forecast period. The metaverse is set to revolutionize how products and brands interact with their audiences and technologies such as AR and VR, as well as a team of experience designers, could help bring co-creation to the metaverse. This disruptive approach can already be seen in the arts sector where headsets and controllers can simulate virtual art utensils and enable people to engage and interact as artists.
Experience design offers many different opportunities for co-creation in the metaverse, brand innovation as well as providing jobs for young, tech-savvy individuals. In order to thrive in the virtual world, it will be necessary for companies to adapt their business model and leverage experience design to become a co-creating partner in the emerging metaverse.
Khalid Al Muawad is the CEO of Midwam.
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'Sonic 2 ' opening weekend could signal return of families to cinemas | In this article
Hollywood has its eyes on a speedy blue hedgehog this weekend.
Paramount's `` Sonic the Hedgehog 2 '' is the first major family-friendly film to be released in theaters this year and is expected to signal if the highly sought-after demographic is finally ready to return to multiplexes en masse.
The movie's early box office returns are certainly encouraging. On Thursday, the film tallied $ 6.25 million in preview ticket sales, more than double the $ 3 million the inaugural `` Sonic '' feature generated from its preview sales over two years ago.
The studio is projecting the sequel will secure around $ 50 million during its opening weekend, shy of the $ 58 million video game movie record its predecessor scored in February 2020. At the time, Covid-19 had started to spread, but it had yet to be designated as a pandemic.
`` Sonic 2, '' which stars Jim Carrey and the voice of Idris Elba, will be a key comparison for family films in 2022. Throughout the pandemic, parents have been reluctant to return to theaters with their young children, many of whom were not eligible for vaccines until fall 2021. Kids under age 5 are still ineligible to receive vaccines.
`` Family films have had a tough time gaining consistent traction over the course of the pandemic with parents being much more selective in what films they chose to take their kids to see at the multiplex, and of course, [ there's ] the endless availability of family-friendly content at home on the small screen, '' said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Since March 2020, no movie targeted specifically to families has generated more than $ 200 million at the domestic box office.
The family-film genre typically caters to parents with kids under the age of 13. These movies are targeted at younger generations and generally have a `` G '' or `` PG '' rating. Occasionally, PG-13-rated films are grouped into this category, because the rating is a bit of a catchall before reaching the `` R '' rating.
For example, `` Spider-Man: No Way Home, '' `` The Batman '' and `` Jungle Cruise '' are all rated PG-13. Arguably, `` Spider-Man '' and `` Jungle Cruise '' are a bit more suitable for younger children compared to the dark and gritty new Batman film.
Marketing is a good indicator of whether a movie is considered to be in the family genre, Dergarabedian said. `` Spider-Man, '' while technically accessible to families, was marketed to an older demographic in the 18- to 35-year range.
`` Jungle Cruise, '' on the other hand, was marketed as a family-friendly adventure film based on one of Disney's most iconic theme park rides. It was the second-highest grossing family film released during the pandemic, snaring $ 116.9 million during its run last summer. The film came out between the two main Covid variant outbreaks.
The highest-grossing family film released during the pandemic was Universal's `` Sing 2, '' which has amassed $ 161.9 million since its December 2021 debut, according to data from Comscore. The film was released at a time when more children had received two doses of the vaccine.
For comparison, Disney's `` Encanto, '' which arrived during the typically robust Thanksgiving holiday, generated just $ 96 million in theaters before arriving on the studio's Disney+ streaming service on Christmas Eve.
Because of lackluster attendance during the pandemic, studios have punted family-friendly titles further down the calendar. If `` Sonic 2 '' secures a solid opening, it could be a signal that future films like Pixar's `` Lightyear '' — due out in June — and Universal's `` Minions: The Rise of Gru '' — arriving in July — will post more pre-pandemic-like box office hauls.
`` Studios have waited a long time for parental sentiment to be high enough in the waning days of the pandemic before releasing high-profile family content on a regular basis, '' said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. `` 'Sonic 2 ' is capitalizing on a great deal of pent-up audience demand for those family movies, which have only sporadically opened in theaters during the past year and have often been at the mercy of new Covid variants dominating news headlines. ''
`` That isn't the case now, though, as many have returned to something resembling pre-pandemic lifestyles like going to the movies, '' he said.
BoxOffice.com predicts `` Sonic 2 '' will open with between $ 60 million and $ 75 million in ticket sales.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. Universal is the distributor of `` Sing 2 '' and `` Minions: The Rise of Gru. '' | business |
11th Circ. Weighs PREP Act Preemption In COVID Death Suit | The Eleventh Circuit on Friday considered the scope of legal protections created by the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, which a Florida nursing home has invoked in challenging a federal court's remand of a lawsuit over a resident's COVID-19 death.GVDB Operations LLC, which does business as Grand Villa of Delray East, has asked the federal appeals court to reverse U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas ' decision to send back to state court a suit in which Howard Schleider and Felice Vinarub claim the company's failure to take proper protective measures against the spread of the novel coronavirus, including... | general |
American U., GWU Seek DC Circ. Redo In COVID Refund Suits | American University and George Washington University are urging the full D.C. Circuit to reconsider a recent order reviving some breach of contract and unjust enrichment claims in two proposed COVID-19 tuition refund class actions, arguing that they never impliedly promised students on-campus educational instruction and services.In a petition filed Thursday demanding an en banc review, the institutions said a panel's March ruling partially overturning a district court's dismissal could mire them — as well as Catholic University and Howard University who are separately facing similar claims in D.C. federal court — in costly litigation for years. The questions at issue... | general |
Clinical and Experimental Neuroimmunology: Vol 13, No 1 | Bornavirus infection can cause fatal encephalitis in humans. Additionally, persistent bornavirus infection might result in neuropathology related to neurodevelopmental disorders.
Neuromuscular manifestations of COVID-19 are frequent, and patients with acute central nervous system disorders have a high mortality rate. Neurological sequelae called long COVID and post-vaccination neurological adverse reactions have also become clinical problems.
This study intends to describe the pathophysiology and treatments for human T-cell leukemia virus type 1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis elucidated from recent studies and the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1-associated myelopathy patient registry.
Multiple sclerosis is a common inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system categorized by myelin loss and degeneration of neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Feeding C57/Bl6 mice cuprizone induces reversible demyelination, predominantly of the corpus callosum. In this study, we emphasize exercise training and the consumption of probiotics. Our results showed that in addition to the effect of exercise training and consumption of probiotics on demyelination, both of these interventions have a greater effect on demyelination.
MRI T1-weighted basal ganglia ( BG) hyperintensity are observed in patients with anti-leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 ( LGI1) encephalitis presenting with faciobrachial dystonic seizure ( FBDS). We report two atypical cases of anti-LGI1 encephalitis where the lack of FBDS and presence of unilateral basal ganglia restricted diffusion without T1-hyperintensity resulted in the initial misdiagnosis of stroke. It is important to consider anti-LGI1 encephalitis as a differential diagnosis in these atypical presentations.
Pathological findings for the right basal ganglia lesion, based on immunostaining with ( A) hematoxylin-eosin, ( B) anti-CD3, ( C) anti-CD20, and ( D) anti-CD5.
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Great Resignation has global food supply chains on ropes | It seems that the just-in-time nature of the food retail supply chain is on the ropes. First the pandemic had it wobbling with a combination of lockdown blows and now - just as it was clearing its head - the Great Resignation has steamed in with a haymaker.
In a recent report on how Covid-19 had “ broken ” global food supply chains, Deloitte Consumer Industry Leader Karine Szegedi, says that “ from farm to fork, missing links in the food supply chain are causing increasing disruption and damage. ”
She goes on to list ways in which Covid-19 has “ broken ” the food supply chain. Included are:
She says ways in which food retailers can address these problems is through: the continuing shift from multichannel to omnichannel; reshoring or nearshoring the supply of food, and using a wider pool of suppliers; and digitalising supply chains, using Industry 4.0 technology - such as robots, to reduce reliance on migrant labour and leveraging end-to-end supply chain visibility to optimise inventory.
Szegedi’ s suggestions are sound, but are hardly groundbreaking; supply chain experts the world over have been chanting these measures like a mantra for what seems like an age.
As much as everyone knows what needs to be done to invest food supply chains with more resilience and agility, making this a reality is a monumental challenge, with issues arising from the Great Resignation proving particularly problematic.
Take the current situation in the UK, where the government this week highlighted how acute labour shortages in the food sector are seriously threatening the country’ s supply chain models.
Around one in five food delivery orders are not being fulfilled on time, a situation that “ threatens to undermine the food supply chain’ s long-standing just-in-time model, ” former Chief Executive of the Food and Drink Federation, Ian Wright, told the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
The committee's report - Labour shortages in the food and farming sector - says the number of unfilled vacancies in the industry is estimated to be 500,000 out of 4.1mn roles, an eighth of the overall workforce. The two main causes are Brexit and Covid-19.
Labour shortages mean crops have been left to rot in fields and healthy pigs have been culled. The National Farmers’ Union warns that the food supply chain “ could break down at any moment. ”
The labour crisis and broader supply chain issues have suppressed food sector revenues by 15-20%, say members of parliament.
The report says: “ The food sector is the UK’ s largest manufacturing sector but faces permanent shrinkage if a failure to address its acute labour shortages leads to wage rises, price increases, reduced competitiveness and, ultimately, food production being exported abroad and increased imports. ”
The committee was told by the Lea Valley Growers’ Association that 10% of its cucumber-growing members were unable to plant a third of their expected crops in July 2021 due to a shortage of workers.
Vegetable growers Riviera Produce, meanwhile, say it has been forced to leave over £500,000 of produce to rot in the fields due to staff shortages, while Boxford Suffolk Farms says it has had to waste approximately 44 tonnes of fruit this year.
The tales of food woes go on. Graeme Dear, chair of the British Poultry Council ( BPC), told the committee that its members required 40,000 workers but that there is a vacancy rate of 16%, which equates to 6,000 empty positions. As a result the BPC says members have been forced to cut back weekly chicken production by 5-10% ”.
Andrew Opie, director at the British Retail Consortium, said that if labour shortages were not resolved soon, “ we will start to see production being lost from the UK and being offshored, and then imported back into the UK. ”
The report said the government had “ not demonstrated a strong understanding ” of the issues facing the UK’ s food industry, and “ even on occasion sought to pass the blame onto the sector. ”
It concluded: “ The government must radically shift its attitude and work together with the sector to devise solutions that speedily help address the problems it faces, in the short, medium and long term to help the UK’ s food industry and enable it to thrive. ”
And that’ s just the UK. While Brexit is an exacerbating factor, and that has to be taken into account, the reality is that the UK situation is not radically different to most other developed nations. In the US, for example, food supply chains are under pressure “ from plants to store shelves ” according to the Wall Street Journal.
And of course, compounding the problem is the war in Ukraine, a country known as the ‘ breadbasket of Europe’.
Only one thing is certain when it comes to problems surrounding global food supply chains: there will be no quick fixes.
Supply Chain Digital is the digital community for the global supply chain & logistics industry that connects the world's largest supply chain & logistics brands. Supply Chain Digital focuses on procurement and supply chain news, key interviews, supply chain videos, along with an ever-expanding range of focused procurement and supply chain white papers and webinars. | general |
Food and Energy Security: Vol 11, No 1 | Review provides an overview on the contribution of common bean to food/nutrient security and health as well as the existing knowledge on impact of drought/heat stress associated with a changing climate on common bean mineral nutrients. A specific focus is on iron and phytic acid that are both among the most important mineral and anti-nutrient compounds found in common bean.
Yam is an economically important crop grown in the tropical and subtropical world, producing tuberous root as a staple food, and an income source for millions of farmers. Yam production is constrained by disease and pest infestations and a range of abiotic factors. Advanced genetic engineering tools such as CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing have the potential for developing improved varieties of yam with diseases and pests resistance.
This manuscript focus on different examples on how to improve the protein content and composition of crops, the content of micronutrients and other healthy compounds as well as how to remove unhealthy compounds.
The United States Midwest is moving towards a climate pattern with wetter springs and drier mid- to late-summers. This change in precipitation pattern, however, suggests that opportunities for crop priming may lessen in the future. Here, we quantify drought priming effects on maize and soybean and analyze what plant traits may associate with the observed priming effects in the field scale.
This case study used crop modeling to analyze dryland maize yield potential, farmers’ yield potential, and actual farm yields from 1990 to 2015 in three counties in western Kansas ( i.e., Thomas, Greeley, and Finney in the U.S. Great Plains region). The calibrated APSIM-Maize model along with actual yields was used to estimate yield gaps attributed to the agronomic factors.
The manuscript for the first-time reports extent of genetic variation present in pearl millet germplasm for starch traits contributing to low glycaemic index using a random subset of 166 accessions drawn from the world collection of pearl millet germplasm panel ( PMiGAP). It also reports candidate genes associated with such starch traits by conducting genome-wide association studies ( GWAS), again using the pearl millet global diversity panel ( PMiGAP), and 78K SNP variants distributed across the seven chromosomes of pearl millet. The genetic variability for starch traits, and the SNP markers ( and candidate genes) associated with such traits, is discussed in the context of breeding low GI pearl millet and other crops for combating rising type 2 diabetes across the world.
The grain self-sufficiency of total grain, ration and feed grain was high in eastern China, but low in western China from 1980s to 2010s. County level grain self-sufficiency in 2035s will vary at different degrees. The ability of a county to purchase grain from imports to meet its own needs was explored.
Genome-wide association mapping is conducted for grain iron content on the Bengal and Assam Aus Panel of rice that has been grown in conventional flooding and alternate wetting and drying ( AWD) irrigation over two years. AWD reduced shoot and grain by 40% and ~10% respectively. Six quantitative trait loci were detected including at candidate gene OsNAS3, where allelic variation in aus enables genetic detection
We successfully bred several superior homozygous RILs with high submergence resistance, namely R53, R137, R148, R176, and R180, via indica and japonica hybridization strategies. The QTL mapping of coleoptile length trait was performed by R/qtl and IciMapping softwares based on the high-density bin marker genetic map, and two QTLs responsible for coleoptile length were detected in chromosomes 1 ( qCL-1.1) and 3 ( qCL-3.1). LOC Os01g04430, LOC Os01g04530, and LOC Os03g22720 for qCL-1.1 and qCL-3.1 were characterized to affect submergence stress by the overlapped analysis of two independent sets of RNA-seq data, qRT-PCR verification, and gene sequence alignments.
Zn could enhance rice tillering under low temperature stress via regulating IAA and CTK metabolism. N affected the contribution of Zn on rice tiller recovery under low temperature.
We investigated the molecular/genetic regulation of ammonia tolerance in rice using a multidisciplinary approach consisting of high-resolution LC-MS/MS analysis and bioinformatics, together with plant molecular physiology and biochemistry. Proteomic analysis revealed changes in the levels of 266 proteins, which function in translation and protein metabolism, amino acid and carbon metabolism/transport, antioxidant and redox metabolism. The abundance of the transcripts encoding these proteins was increased under high ammonium. Data are presented showing that ammonia-induced changes in metabolism are linked to a strong antioxidant response but little change in secondary metabolism.
TaERF73 is a negative regulator of root growth and is associated with root depth, thousand-grain weight and plant height in wheat under multiple conditions.
The combined elevated CO2 and temperature increased concentrations of some minerals but resulted in lower grain yields, thereby did not significantly change the yields of some minerals. The combined CO2 and temperature elevation increased phytic acid concentrations but limited the mineral bioavailability. Our results indicate that elevated temperature cancelled out the effect of elevated CO2, thereby, to a large extent, safeguarding the nutritional quality of rice and wheat under climate change.
This study, for the first time, evaluated the potential risk of Pst on wheat cultivation in Sichuan Province, China comprehensively through analyzing the dynamics of Berberis plants and the change of Pst over-summering range under climate change scenarios. Our overlapping assessments indicated that the risk of wheat stripe rust would be reduced in southwestern Sichuan while aggraded in the northwest due to the predicted shifts of Berberis plants northwards and stronger shrinkage of Pst over-summering range occurring in the south than in the north.
Rice false smut in rice–crayfish coculture ( RC) was much more serious than the disease in rice monoculture ( RM) among most rice varieties. Some varieties displayed resistance to rice false smut in RM, but were susceptible in RC, suggesting that the RC system is a better model than RM for evaluation of the resistance of rice varieties to false smut. In comparison with RM, RC showed higher relative humidity and more moderate temperatures from the rice booting stage to early filling stage.
Relay intercropping winter camelina and soybean provides a way to sustainably intensify food and energy production. This study shows that optimum soybean genotype selection for relaying with winter camelina can enhance both total oilseed productivity per hectare and land use efficiency while producing two crops in a single season under a cool temperate climate.
Recalcitrance of lignocellulosic feedstocks to depolymerization is a significant barrier for bioenergy production approaches that require conversion of monomeric carbohydrates to renewable energy sources. This study assesses how low-cost modifications in the supply chain can be transformed into targeted pretreatments in the context of the entire bioenergy supply chain. Techno-economic assessment ( TEA) of fungal pretreatment in a short-term queuing system indicated the viability of this approach compared to conventional queuing operations.
BLURB FOR ETOCRecovery growth is a useful practice to increase total productivity of relay intercropping systems. Understanding phenotypic and physiological traits related to light interception and utilization changes and cultivars difference of soybean during the recovery growth period is important for further breeding and screening cultivars of soybean to improve the light interception and utilization in intercropping systems.
( 1) Wheat was simultaneously biofortified through combined foliar Zn and Se applications, while adding ZnSO4 to Se spray exerted an antagonistic effect on the magnitude of Se biofortification; ( 2) Similar responsive patterns of methionine and cysteine with grain and flour Se concentrations suggested that zinc sulphate and selenium interactions in Se accumulation act through the metabolism of sulphur-containing amino acids in wheat plants. ( 3) Distinctive patterns of Zn and Se distribution among plant organs were observed.
No miscanthus genotype currently was suitable for growing in saline–alkaline soil. In this study, fifteen interspecific hybrids were developed in the saline–alkaline soil in the Yellow River Delta, and their biomass yield ranged from 9.87 to 23.11 t/ha. Taking biomass yield and quality of hybrids into consideration, two hybrids, SL8 and SL 15, were identified as the potential genotypes suitable for growing in the saline–alkaline Yellow River Delta.
Root-associated bacterial community combined with soil enzymatic activities strengthen the transformation of nitrogen nutrients, suggesting that the interactions could represent a mechanism for enhancing rice yield.
This paper measures the total-factor energy environment efficiency of China's food industry based on a method that combines the slacks-based measure model with meta-frontier technology. This paper calculates the energy saving and carbon dioxide emission reduction potential of China's food industry.
Pineapple waste and poultry manure are abundant bioresources constituting gross environmental menace. This study evaluated their valorization into high value-added biogas and digestate fertilizer for crop and soil improvement.
Over 430,000 seeds of 56 banana crop wild relative taxa are stored in 13 institutions in 10 countries. Despite this, most taxa are inadequately conserved in seed banks and they remain high priority for conservation. We identify major constraints to their conservation and make recommendations for future management, research and collection.
Genetic variation in starch accumulation during seed filling is closely associated with modulations in the expression patterns of specific starch biosynthesis genes including TaAGPL1, TaAGPS2, TaGBSSI, TaSSI, TaSSIV, TaSBEIIa, TaISA1, and TaISA3, as well as alterations in the activity of AGPase, GBSS, and SS enzymes. Secondary metabolites such as phenolic compounds deposited during seed filling appeared to affect starch to ethanol conversion efficiency.
The present study assessed the post-flood household food insecurity and the factors associated with it in the aftermath of the 2017 flash flood in northeastern wetland ( Haor) area of Bangladesh. A survey covering randomly selected 1845 flood affected households found that a staggering 62% of the surveyed households were food insecure following the flash flood. Being ultra-poor, loss of livestock in flood, household head's occupation being natural resource-based, and household reliance on market purchase of food were identified as significant risk factors of post-flood household food insecurity.
Impacts of COVID-19 experienced by smallholder vegetable farmers in Burkina Faso were collected through surveys. They expressed reduction in access to inputs, reduced yields, loss of income, reduced access to local and urban markets, reduced access to transportation, and increased post-harvest loss. These impacted lives, livelihoods, and social well-being of families, especially women and youth.
China's food security improved during 1990–2015, mainly due to enhanced purchasing power. The east of the Hu Line was at food security levels 1 and 2 while the west at levels 3 and 4. Food security in coastal provinces was affected by urbanization process. Hot spots were detected in central China while cold spots in Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Tibet.
This study investigated the agriculture contribution to the nutritional status of children from farming families by comparing situation of the annual crop with agroforestry and mixed farming systems. The results of the binary logistic regression revealed that yearly food expenditure per capita was negatively and significantly correlated with the risk of being stunted, while non-breastfed children had a 2.9-fold higher risk of wasting at the time of the survey. Of all the farmer groups, mixed farming farmers tended to benefit the most from having high cash revenue and food production, leading to a slightly better nutritional status compared with farmers managing annual crop production or agroforestry systems only.
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First-of-its-kind vaccine manufacturing facility shipped to Africa | KeyPlants announced the shipping a first-of-its-kind vaccine manufacturing filling facility to Senegal, in West Africa. After the facility is installed and becomes fully operational later in 2022, it will be the only regional manufacturing hub on the continent outside of South Africa capable of producing finished COVID-19 and other life-saving vaccines.
The shipment of the facility is an important step towards realising the vision of Project MADIBA, led by Institut Pasteur de Dakar ( IPD), a non-profit foundation concerned with promoting public health and well-being in Senegal and throughout Africa.
The African Union and Africa CDC has identified vaccine manufacturing as a priority to address vaccine inequity to the continent, setting a target to manufacture 60% of African vaccine supply by 2040 and vaccine autonomy by 2060.
Project MADIBA is a critical first step in achieving this goal, with this facility to serve as a blueprint for future vaccine manufacturing facilities to be built across Africa.
The project enjoys strong support from the government of Senegal, Africa CDC, WHO, CEPI and other partners and is supported by a global collaboration of funders and companies. These include KeyPlants and MEDInstill, which provides the novel vaccine manufacturing equipment utilised in the facility.
Dr Amadou Sall, Director of Institut Pasteur de Dakar, commented: “ Over a year after lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines were made broadly available to high-income countries, only 15 percent of Africa has been fully immunised. Against this backdrop, IPD remains focused on our vision to build and operate a vaccine manufacturing facility in Senegal that can produce vaccines for Africa as soon as possible. ”
With the capacity to produce up to 300 million COVID-19 vaccine doses annually, Project MADIBA aims to revolutionise access to vaccines in Africa and implement a safe, financially sustainable, and autonomous infrastructure to secure vaccine access and equity for Africa. | tech |
Ex-Yankee Stadium Worker Sues Over NYC Vax Rule Carveout | A former Yankee Stadium waitress filed a proposed class action Friday challenging Mayor Eric Adams ' recent decision to lift New York City's COVID-19 vaccination mandate for local athletes and entertainers but not other public and private sector workers who 've been fired for refusing the shot.Virginia W. Alleyne's New York state court petition takes issue with Adams ' March 24 executive order carving out exemptions to his predecessor Bill de Blasio's jab mandate for all employees of indoor commercial establishments. The new order has notably allowed unvaccinated Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving to retake the court at the Barclays Center.Alleyne, who... | general |
GeoVax’ s Novel Vaccine Platform Induces Both Antibody and T Cell Responses | Two major challenges in viral vector technologies are coding capacity – how much material can fit inside the vector – and manufacturing capabilities. GeoVax’ s viral vector platform potentially overcomes both of those issues, enabling a broader immune system response and a manufacturing system able to quickly produce at scale and deliver vaccines successfully worldwide.
To illustrate the problem, “ Think about the malaria vaccine, for example. It’ s about 30% effective and requires four doses. As a vaccine, it’ s inadequate, needing improved efficacy and simpler administration, ” David Dodd, chairman and CEO of GeoVax, told BioSpace. “ A better way to develop an acceptable malaria vaccine might be to encode elements from the genetic structure at different stages of malaria to induce a broader immune response, but limitations in coding capacity for most vaccine platforms don’ t allow that. ”
GeoVax’ s platform directs the in vivo production of multiple viral proteins using a modified Vaccinia Ankara ( MVA) delivery vector. “ The MVA can encode multiple viral proteins resulting in the induction of strong and broadly specific immune responses with both antibody and T-cell effector function, ” Dodd said. In contrast, other vaccine platforms, such as mRNA or adenovirus vectors can encode only a single viral protein.
“ In the case of COVID-19 vaccines, the mRNA and adenovirus platform vaccines ( Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna for mRNA; J & J and AstraZeneca for adenovirus viruses) only incorporate the spike ( S) protein, which induces neutralizing antibodies and limited cellular immunity. In contrast, the GeoVax MVA-based COVID-19 vaccine, GEO-CM04S1, encodes the S-protein and the nucleocapsid ( N) protein, which induces both strong antibody and strong T-cell responses, ” Dodd said, explaining that T-cell responses are critical to establishing functional responses with long-term durability and immunological memory.
The GeoVax MVA manufacturing process is also being developed to overcome manufacturing capacity issues by using continuous cell line manufacturing rather than the traditional chicken embryo fibroblasts that have been used historically for MVA vaccines. This enables significantly more vaccine to be produced in less time, which allows a faster response to high volume requirements associated with infectious disease outbreaks and epidemics.
The MVA-based vaccines also can be lyophilized – freeze-dried – to bypass the cold-chain or frozen-state requirements of many other vaccines. “ As such, our focus is on developing vaccines that can be delivered and administered to those in need, regardless of where in the world they are located ( e.g., tropical, rural or far-away areas), ” Dodd said. With a BARDA-funded partner, GeoVax is working to transfer its vaccine into a microneedle format so it can be self-administered.
GeoVax is conducting two Phase II COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials with its GEO-CMO4S1 vaccine. One of the trials is among immunocompromised patients who have been treated with CAR T therapy or have undergone bone marrow transplants. As a result of such cancer therapy, those patients have had their immune systems severely abated.
Overall, immunocompromised patients constitute approximately 3% of the U.S. population – essentially, 10-12 million people. “ Such patients are not being adequately served by the current authorized COVID-19 vaccines, ” Dodd said. He said he believes this is the first trial of a COVID-19 vaccine in an immunocompromised population with a direct comparison of GEO-CM04S1 to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Application to immunocompromised populations “ is our major point of differentiation. Phase I data of this multi-antigen vaccine showed strong neutralizing antibody and T cell responses, ” he added.
This Phase II trial is being conducted at the City of Hope in Los Angeles, which developed the GEO-CM04S1vaccine that GeoVax licensed. This trial is currently in active recruitment and enrollment.
“ The second Phase II trial evaluates GEO-CM04S1 as a booster in healthy people who have received a primary mRNA vaccine, ” he said. With those vaccines, “ there appears to be a rapid waning of immune response, resulting in the need for third and fourth shots. In general, a heterologous booster ought to provide a more robust and more durable immune response than simply adding another mRNA booster, especially if the booster results in both antibody and cellular immunity. This trial is currently recruiting and enrolling patients. ” He said he expects to follow these trial participants for at least one year to gauge durability of response.
Additionally, Dodd said, “ We have developed a single-dose pan-coronavirus vaccine candidate ( GEO-CM02) that is progressing to an investigational new drug ( IND) filing. It includes the spike protein ( S) to induce the antibody immune response, and membrane ( M) and envelope ( E) proteins to induce T-cell immune responses. ” Dodd explained that incorporating those three proteins – hopefully – will enable the vaccine to work effectively against future coronavirus variants without the need for reformulation. “ We’ re essentially targeting variants before they arise, rather than chasing after them. ”
Data for that pan-coronavirus vaccine was presented at the World Vaccine & Immunotherapy Congress last December. As Dodd recounted, “ We presented animal data that demonstrated 100% protection in a single dose in a lethal challenge model. Such results are unprecedented and are the basis of our current IND-enabling COVID-19 pan-coronavirus program. ”
GeoVax also is developing therapeutic vaccines for oncology indications. “ We believe therapeutic vaccines will provide the opportunity to enhance the utility of standard of care treatments and specifically, immune checkpoint inhibitors, ” Dodd said. To that end, GeoVax is conducting IND-enabling work for a cancer vaccine using an MVA-VLP-MUC1 cancer immunotherapy to target solid tumors. This vaccine stimulates the immune system and heightens its response. Then, by combining it with an immune checkpoint inhibitor, it enables a significantly greater response.
In the future, Dodd said he envisions incorporating additional tumor-associated antigens beyond MUC1, such as cyclin B1, into the company’ s immuno-oncology platform and development programs.
Additionally, GeoVax recently in-licensed Gedeptin, a Phase II stage cancer immunotherapy which is in an active, expanding multi-site trial addressing advanced head and neck cancers. This vaccine has also been granted orphan drug status and the clinical trial is partially funded by the FDA Orphan Drugs Clinical trial program. Since acquiring the worldwide rights to Gedeptin and the respective technology, GeoVax has expanded the trial sites and assigned CRO oversight to accelerate the completion of the patient enrollment and evaluation of this Phase II program. | general |
Goldacre Review into health data calls for modern open working methods | Professor Ben Goldacre’ s review into the use of health data for research and analysis has called for increased transparency and the adoption of modern open working methods.
Goldacre, director at the University of Oxford’ s Bennett Institute, was commissioned to undertake the review in February 2021 to improve care through the use of data.
The report Better, Broader, Safer: Using Health Data for Research and Analysis calls NHS data “ deeply buried treasure, that can help prevent suffering and death, around the planet, on a biblical scale. ”
It adds that continuing with current working practices would mean “ accepting a huge hidden cost of duplication, outdated working methods, data access monopolies, needless risk and, above all, missed opportunities. ”
The report makes 185 recommendations, including increasing data transparency by adopting Trusted Research Environments ( TREs) as secure virtual spaces for researchers, improving opportunities for data analysts within the NHS and encouraging open working for all NHS data analysis.
Goldacre’ s review highlights the global importance of NHS data collected over 73 years on tens of millions of patients from an ethnically diverse population.
“ Because of this diversity, analytic outputs created from NHS data can help save lives around the world. The combined GP records of the nation, as just one example, cover every person in the country; they go back many decades; and they capture some information for nearly every contact with health services, with huge detail on prescriptions, treatments, blood tests, referrals, and diagnoses, ” the report continues.
The Goldacre Review was commissioned to inform the forthcoming NHS data strategy, which was published in draft form in June 2021.
Goldacre also co-led a study on behalf of NHS England analysing the electronic health records ( EHRs) of 17.4 million UK adults, to examine the risk factors associated with death from COVID-19.
Goldacre said: “ NHS data is a phenomenal resource that can revolutionise healthcare, research, and the life sciences. But data alone is not enough. We need secure, efficient platforms - and teams with skills - to unleash this potential. This will be difficult, technical work. It is inspiring to see momentum grow for better, broader, safer use of health data across so many sectors. ”
Health and social care secretary, Sajid Javid, said: “ As we move forwards, millions of patients could benefit from the more efficient use of health data, through boosting innovation and ensuring the NHS can continue to offer cutting-edge care, saving lives. ”
Dr Layla McCay, director of policy, NHS Confederation, said: “ Over the last two years the NHS has been empowered to innovate at pace, developing revolutionary technology and innovative treatments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Goldacre Review represents an opportunity to build on these hard-won gains and is an important piece of the puzzle for setting the direction of health research in a post-pandemic healthcare system. ” | tech |
Human Lung Chip: Fighting Viruses Is As Easy as Breathing | The Human Alveolus Chip contains hollow side channels that allow suction to be applied to the chips, applying cyclic strain that mimics the motions of normal human breathing ( left). A permeable membrane separates human alevolus cells in the upper channel from human blood vessel cells in the lower channel, allowing them to exchange molecular signals ( right). Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University
Human Lung Chip reveals the effects of breathing motions on lung immune responses and leads to repurposing of potential therapeutics for respiratory diseases, including COVID-19.
The average person will take more than 600 million breaths over the course of their life. Every breath stretches the lungs’ tissues with each inhale and relaxes them with each exhale. The mere motions of breathing are known to influence vital functions of the lungs, including their development in babies, the production of air-exchange-enhancing fluid on their inner surfaces, and maintenance of healthy tissue structure. Now, new research from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University has revealed that this constant pattern of stretching and relaxing does even more — it generates immune responses against invading viruses.
These immunofluorescence micrographs ( at different magnifications) show the 3D cellular structure that develops within the alveolar channel and mimics the microstructure of human alveoli. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University
Using a Human Lung Chip that replicates the structures and functions of the lung air sac, or “ alveolus, ” the research team discovered that applying mechanical forces that mimic breathing motions suppresses influenza virus replication by activating protective innate immune responses. They also identified several drugs that reduced the production of inflammatory cytokines in infected Alveolus Chips, which could be useful in treating excessive inflammation in the lung. Based on these studies, one of those drugs was licensed to Cantex Pharmaceuticals for the treatment of COVID-19 and other inflammatory lung diseases. Data from the research were recently included in the company’ s Investigational New Drug ( IND) application to the FDA to initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial for COVID-19.
“ This research demonstrates the importance of breathing motions for human lung function, including immune responses to infection, and shows that our Human Alveolus Chip can be used to model these responses in the deep portions of the lung, where infections are often more severe and lead to hospitalization and death, ” said co-first author Haiqing Bai, Ph.D., a Wyss Technology Development Fellow at the Institute. “ This model can also be used for preclinical drug testing to ensure that candidate drugs actually reduce infection and inflammation in functional human lung tissue. ” The results are published today ( April 8, 2022) in Nature Communications.
As the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic made painfully clear, the lung is a vulnerable organ where inflammation in response to infection can generate a “ cytokine storm ” that can have deadly consequences. However, the lungs are also very complex, and it is difficult to replicate their unique features in the lab. This complexity has hindered science’ s understanding of how the lungs function at the cell and tissue levels, in both healthy and diseased states.
The Wyss Institute’ s Human Organ Chips were developed to address this problem, and have been shown to faithfully replicate the functions of many different human organs in the lab, including the lung. As part of projects funded by the NIH and DARPA since 2017, Wyss researchers have been working on replicating various diseases in Lung Airway and Alveolus Chips to study how lung tissues react to respiratory viruses that have pandemic potential and test potential treatments.
In both the upper alveolar channel ( top) and lower blood vessel channel ( bottom) of the Alveolus Chips, the cells formed intact tissues held together by proteins between the cells called ZO1 and VE-cadherin, which are stained red and green, respectively. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University
During his Ph.D. training, Bai studied diseases that affect the tiny air sacs deep inside the lungs where oxygen is rapidly exchanged for carbon dioxide. That foundation prepared him to tackle the challenge of recreating a flu infection in an Alveolus Chip so that the team could study how these deep lung spaces mount immune responses against viral invaders.
Bai and his team first lined the two parallel microfluidic channels of an Organ Chip with different types of living human cells — alveolar lung cells in the upper channel and lung blood vessel cells in the lower channel — to recreate the interface between human air sacs and their blood-transporting capillaries. To mimic the conditions that alveoli experience in the human lung, the channel lined by alveolar cells was filled with air while the blood vessel channel was perfused with a flowing culture medium containing nutrients that are normally delivered via the blood. The channels were separated by a porous membrane that allowed molecules to flow between them.
Previous studies at the Wyss Institute have established that applying cyclical stretching to Alveolus Chips to imitate breathing motions produces biological responses that mimic those observed in vivo. This is accomplished by applying suction to hollow side chambers adjacent to the cell-lined fluidic channels to rhythmically stretch and relax the lung tissues by 5%, which is what human lungs typically experience with every breath.
When the team infected these “ breathing ” Alveolus Chips with H3N2 influenza by introducing the virus into the air channel, they observed the development of several known hallmarks of influenza infection, including the breakdown of junctions between cells, a 25% increase in cell death, and the initiation of cellular repair programs. Infection also led to much higher levels of multiple inflammatory cytokines in the blood vessel channel including type III interferon ( IFN-III), a natural defense against viral infection that is also activated in in vivo flu infection studies.
In addition, the blood vessel cells of infected chips expressed higher levels of adhesion molecules, which allowed immune cells including B cells, T cells, and monocytes in the perfusion medium to attach to the blood vessel walls to help combat the infection. These results confirmed that the Alveolus Chip was mounting an immune response against H3N2 that recapitulated what happens in the lung of human patients infected with flu virus.
The team then carried out the same experiment without mechanical breathing motions. To their surprise, chips exposed to breathing motions had 50% less viral mRNA in their alveolar channels and a significant reduction in inflammatory cytokine levels compared to static chips. Genetic analysis revealed that the mechanical strain had activated molecular pathways related to immune defense and multiple antiviral genes, and these activations were reversed when the cyclical stretching was stopped.
Haiqing Bai – Co-first author, Haiqing Bai, Ph.D., brings his experience studying diseases that affect the human lung’ s air sacs, or “ alveoli ” to his research on Organ Chips at the Wyss Institute. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University
“ This was our most unexpected finding — that mechanical stresses alone can generate an innate immune response in the lung, ” said co-first author Longlong Si, Ph.D., a former Wyss Technology Development Fellow who is now a Professor at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology in China.
Knowing that sometimes the lungs experience greater than 5% strain, such as in chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder ( COPD) or when patients are put on mechanical ventilators, the scientists increased the strain to 10% to see what would happen. The higher strain caused an increase in innate immune response genes and processes, including several inflammatory cytokines.
“ Because the higher strain level resulted in greater cytokine production, it might explain why patients with lung conditions like COPD suffer from chronic inflammation, and why patients who are put on high-volume ventilators sometimes experience ventilator-induced lung injury, ” Si explained.
The scientists then went a step further, comparing the RNA molecules present in cells within strained vs. static Alveolus Chips to see if they could pinpoint how the breathing motions were generating an immune response. They identified a calcium-binding protein, called S100A7, that was not detected in static chips but highly expressed in strained chips, suggesting that its production was induced by mechanical stretching. They also found that increased expression of S100A7 upregulated many other genes involved in the innate immune response, including multiple inflammatory cytokines.
S100A7 is one of several related molecules known to bind to a protein on cells’ membranes called the receptor for advanced glycation end products ( RAGE). RAGE is more highly expressed in the lung than in any other organ in the human body, and has been implicated as a major inflammatory mediator in several lung diseases. The drug azeliragon is a known inhibitor of RAGE, so the scientists perfused azeliragon through the blood vessel channel of strained Alveolus Chips for 48 hours, then infected the chips with H3N2 virus. This pretreatment prevented the cytokine-storm-like response that they had observed in untreated chips.
Based on this promising result, the team then infected strained Alveolus Chips with H3N2 and administered azeliragon at its therapeutic dose two hours after infection. This approach significantly blocked the production of inflammatory cytokines – an effect that was further enhanced when they added the antiviral drug molnupiravir ( which was recently approved for patients with COVID-19) to the treatment regimen.
These results caught the eye of Cantex Pharmaceuticals, which owns patent rights to azeliragon and was interested in using it to treat inflammatory diseases. Based in part on the Wyss team’ s work in Alveolus Chips, Cantex licensed azeliragon for the treatment of COVID-19 and other inflammatory lung diseases in early 2022. Given the drug’ s excellent safety record in previous Phase 3 clinical trials, the company has applied for FDA approval to start a Phase 2 trial in patients with COVID-19 patients, and plans to follow with additional Phase 2 trials for other diseases including COPD and steroid-resistant asthma.
“ Thanks to the great work of the scientists at the Wyss Institute, we now have compelling evidence that azeliragon may have the potential to prevent severe COVID-19 illness in the form of a once-a-day pill. We’ re excited to have the opportunity to conduct clinical trials of azeliragon for this disease, seeking to bring this groundbreaking therapy to patients to prevent the life-threatening inflammation that is a major cause of hospitalization and death, ” said Stephen Marcus, M.D., CEO of Cantex.
While azeliragon is a promising anti-inflammatory drug, the scientists warn that more studies are needed to determine a safe and effective treatment regimen in humans. RAGE is a vital player in initiating beneficial inflammation against pathogens in the early stages of an infection, and inhibiting it too soon could prevent a patient from mounting a sufficient immune response.
Given the Alveolus Chip’ s many advantages over traditional preclinical models, the Wyss team is exploring the incorporation of additional cell types such as macrophages into the chips to increase their complexity and model more biological processes, such as adaptive immunity. They are also using their existing model to study the efficacy of new compounds, drugs, and biologics ( such as mRNA therapeutics) against influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and other diseases.
“ This important paper led to the discovery of RAGE inhibitors’ promise for treating inflammatory lung diseases, which was the basis for the recent license of azeliragon to Cantex and its movement toward human clinical trials for COVID-19. I am extremely proud of this team and how quickly this scientific finding was translated into commercialization that will hopefully lead to lifesaving treatment for patients. This is what the Wyss Institute is all about, ” said senior author Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., who is the Wyss Institute’ s Founding Director as well as the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School ( HMS) and Boston Children’ s Hospital, and Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Bioinspired Engineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Reference: “ Mechanical control of innate immune responses against viral infection revealed in a human Lung Alveolus Chip ” by Haiqing Bai, Longlong Si, Amanda Jiang, Chaitra Belgur, Yunhao Zhai, Roberto Plebani, Crystal Yuri Oh, Melissa Rodas, Aditya Patil, Atiq Nurani, Sarah E. Gilpin, Rani K. Powers, Girija Goyal, Rachelle Prantil-Baun & Donald E. Ingber, 8 April 2022, Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29562-4
Additional authors of the study include Amanda Jiang, Chaitra Belgur, M.S., Yunhao Zhai, Ph.D., Melissa Rodas, and Aditya Patil and Girija Goyal, Ph.D. from the Wyss Institute, and former Wyss Institute members Roberto Plebani, Ph.D., Crystal Oh, Atiq Nurani, M.S., Sarah Gilpin, Ph.D., Rani Powers, Ph.D. and Rachelle Prantil-Baun, Ph.D.
This research was supported by the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA) under Cooperative Agreement HR0011-20-2-0040, and the National Institutes of Health under grants UG3-HL-141797 and UH3-HL-141797. | tech |
Mastercard: How Consumer Demand for Digitisation is Accelerating Payments Modernisation | People and businesses quite rightly expect to be able to move money in real-time, without any hassle or wait. They want to take the same ‘ on-demand’ approach to their finances as they do with so many other aspects of their lives. And central banks and governments recognise the boost this can bring to economies including by reducing shadow economies, supporting businesses with cashflow, and deepening financial inclusion.
In light of this, George Evers, senior vice president, realtime payments Mastercard, shares his thoughts on how consumer demand for digitisation is accelerating payments modernisation.
Changing consumer demands
Often we think of reform as coming from the top down – such as the central banks and governments – but we can also see influences coming from the bottom up in multiple markets around the world, with the rising demand for digital payments driving change and innovation.
Indeed, the volume of global non-cash transactions grew by a compound annual growth rate ( CAGR) of 12.7 per cent between 2016 and 2020, underlining this significant shift towards digital payments. Whilst the double-digit volume growth dropped to 7.8 per cent in 2020 due to COVID-19 lockdowns, stifled business activity and reduced spending, it’ s anticipated the CAGR will rise to 18.6 per cent between 2020 and 2025.
In Mastercard’ s 2021 New Payments Index, 71 per cent of people said they expect to use less cash moving forward and 51 per cent are now more likely to consider a QR-code based payment.
Accenture has also stated that over the next decade, the payments industry expects a total of 2.7 trillion transactions, worth $ 48trillion, to shift from cash to digital channels. This expected growth rate is undoubtedly fuelled by consumers and businesses demanding digital experiences, similar to what they receive in adjacent industries, as well as the ongoing behaviour change driven by the pandemic. However, it’ s crucial that people’ s ability to access cash in a convenient way is preserved for those who need or choose to use it and other non-digital payments..
According to Boston Consulting Group, the switch to digital payments from cash can boost a country’ s annual GDP by as much as three percentage points. But best practice examples of payments modernisation maintain cash as part of the mix.
Sarie, Saudi Arabia’ s instant payments system developed through a collaboration between Saudi Payments, Mastercard and IBM, is one such initiative. The progressive project targets achieving 70 per cent of non-cash transactions by 2030, recognising the continued presence and important role of cash.
Meanwhile, the introduction of Swish in Sweden was primarily aimed at reducing the residual amount of cash used by consumers, according to a report by Riksbank. But the reduction of cash has been so successful that the country’ s central bank has now undertaken a review, reassessing policies around bank obligations to provide secure access to cash for those who still need it.
Our 2021 New Payments Index mirrored this sentiment, also finding eight in ten ( 77 per cent) said their preferred payment method changes based on the situation, and the same percentage say they are still likely to use some cash in the next year.
One of the great benefits of payments modernisation is its ability to go beyond cash and capitalise on the ever-increasing proportion of digital transactions, targeting new use cases and supporting new experiences that offer more accessible and convenient ways to pay.
There’ s a clear virtuous circle, whereby payments modernisation improves efficiency and access to payments, helping to grow an economy, which in turn supports more payments.
In newly-digitised economies, payments modernisation can support market developments, ensuring workers are paid efficiently, on time, and can contribute to the economy.
In India, for example, the vast efforts to digitise the country’ s payments industry over the last decade have had a massively transformative impact. The shift from cash to digital has become an economic enabler. A report from Oxford University’ s Internet Institute found the country now accounts for a quarter of the growing global market for international freelancers.
Markets such as Peru, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam, are all progressing with their own payments modernisation plans. Policy decisions, the use cases targeted, the overlay solutions developed and bank readiness will all play a big part in the success of these initiatives.
But it’ s not just the world’ s developing markets that have significant growth opportunities. Major economies like Germany and Japan, for example, have non-cash transaction figures significantly below their peers.
These markets have a long-standing affinity for cash, but the question is now whether they will also embrace the benefits of introducing new digital ways to pay to increase volumes and support new use cases – such as adding applications like request to pay – and ensure everyone has the choice to pay and get paid how they want.
If markets don’ t simply take a top-down approach, but also listen to the demand from the bottom up, they can ensure payments modernisation works for, and benefits, everyone.
Polly is a journalist, content creator and general opinion holder from North Wales. She has written for a number of publications, usually hovering around the topics of fintech, tech, lifestyle and body positivity.
The Fintech Times is the world’ s first and only newspaper dedicated to fintech.
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Limited Talent Pools and Recruitment Hurdles Are Hindering Scotland’ s Fintech Start-Ups | Buoyed by a £300million UK Government investment last August, Edinburgh’ s fintech community is populated by a swathe of financial services innovators, but newbies looking for talent face a ‘ hot market’ which makes it difficult to secure the skills-set needed to get up and running.
Anthony Rafferty, CEO of the UK fintech Origo, said the recruitment crisis had changed drastically in only a few years and was set to become even more challenging, while head of growth at ePOS Hybrid, Andrew Gibbon, said opportunities were outstripping available talent in all key functions.
The fintech specialists were speaking as Core-Asset Consulting published its seventh annual salary guide which is a forensic review of salary levels and major developments in Scotland’ s pivotal financial services sector.
Origo has been in the fintech space for 30 years and is one of a group of providers helping to deliver the UK Government’ s Pensions Dashboards programme.
Rafferty, who is a member of Fintech Scotland’ s advisory board, said: “ Fintech is thriving in Scotland and our excellent universities are producing a pipeline of really good candidates, but on a UK level there is a shortage of specialists and experts.
“ Fintech is a hot recruitment market, which is a testament to the number of firms that warrant good developers, testers and business analysts, but with wage inflation and higher expectations from candidates, there is no doubt it is becoming more difficult to find the right skills than it was just a few years ago. ”
Edinburgh-based hospitality technology specialist, ePOS Hybrid, is actively recruiting in key areas but says ‘ aggressive recruitment’ is prevalent throughout Scotland’ s fintech sector and specifically in the capital.
Gibbon said: “ Organisations are fighting over the same limited talent pool within Edinburgh and Scotland and start-ups are the ones missing out on the crucial talent they need to scale and attract new investment.
“ The more businesses struggle to recruit locally, the more they are going to turn to remote working options to fill the business’ s critical positions. Many businesses, including ePOS Hybrid, are being forced to begin recruiting nationally and offer remote working positions as candidates simply can not be found locally. ”
Core-Asset’ s annual review found the skills shortage was a combination of Edinburgh’ s long-standing reputation as a major European financial service centre dove-tailing with the growth of a dynamic and innovative fintech industry in which new players covered the full spectrum of financial technologies.
Louise Powrie, divisional director, permanent team, fintech and pensions with Core-Asset, added: “ The supercharging effect of Covid-19 resulted in an extreme stress test for the industry which, enabled by technology, it passed with flying colours. The sector has proved extremely resilient to the current global crisis and is emerging successfully from the pandemic.
“ Its continued growth centres on the development of tools and software solutions to meet the need for more user-friendly platforms and applications, seamless data flow, AI-assisted dashboards, enhanced risk management, dynamic data management, online payments and transactions, and the functionality of the digital marketplace.
“ Our report points to a demand within fintech for business analysts and developers, particularly those with cloud technologies, and technical and solutions architects and engineers who can work with clients to truly understand their needs and provide innovative solutions.
“ The sector is well-embedded in truly agile working practises, and as such, has continued to recruit without challenge and will keep on doing so into 2022, with remote working being the norm. ”
Indeed, remote working or working from home was a theme echoed by both Origo and ePOS Hybrid and a phenomenon that will continue to grow.
“ In addition to being the catalyst which has pushed businesses towards digital solutions, Covid has been responsible for firmly establishing working from home, ” said Rafferty.
“ Our initial fears at the start of lockdown was that productivity would drop, but the opposite happened and working from home has really suited this part of the financial services sector. The idea of only recruiting people locally or within 30 minutes of Edinburgh is no longer the case and is totally outdated. ”
Gibbon added: “ Our difficulties in finding suitable candidates locally is by far the biggest factor in limiting business growth to date. Opportunities are currently outstripping available talent in all key functions, resulting in businesses having to invest far more resources into finding the correct candidates or looking further afield for the skillset required. ”
The report highlights payment solutions, accountancy software and blockchain technology as mainstream fintech solutions but with cross-sector corporate applications, leading to other skill-sets being sought after, including legal, marketing, policy and regulation.
The report also forecast that during 2022 one of the key industry themes will be the continued unbundling of pensions/financial services and its re-bundling around a digital architecture, putting fintech at the heart of the industry.
As stated in the report: ‘ As financial service products have started to be unbundled and repackaged around digital architecture, the market has become more competitive, and the line between traditional pensions products and fintech services and platforms has blurred.
‘ New market entrants have emulated mainstream providers, embedding themselves in the financial technological ecosystem, and traditional firms operate much more like tech companies.’
Powrie believes that as national Governments and financial watchdogs introduce additional regulatory burdens, there will be opportunities for other skill-sets, including those with experience in risk and compliance and financial crime.
She said: “ This broad matrix of requirements is placing pressure on the increasingly complex interaction between the technology, risk, compliance and procurement functions in international firms and financial institutions.
“ Regulators in major markets are adopting divergent approaches to monitoring effective risk management for fintech firms. A key challenge is determining how policies should evolve to address both novel market activity and traditional market activity – deploying frameworks that foster innovation, whilst managing regulatory risks effectively. ”
Every business sector is paying close attention to the focus on investments which factor in environmental, social, and governance ( ESG) considerations and fintech is no exception to this trend or to the requirements of Socially Responsible Investing.
“ A major factor underpinning innovation in the fintech industry is the growing focus on climate change and the role of sustainable finance in achieving the immense challenge of transitioning to net-zero and carbon-neutral solutions, ” continues Powrie.
“ Fintech firms need to be mindful of ESG compliance, especially those in the digital asset space given the energy-intensive nature of certain crypto activities – and that will require candidates with specialist knowledge or interest. ”
Core-Asset is Scotland’ s primary recruiter in the financial services sector and has access to insights from thousands of candidates and Scotland’ s top employers in the sector, which accounts for seven per cent of Scotland’ s GDP.
Its annual salary guide is a report produced exclusively on the Scottish employment market which benchmarks salaries and jobs in Scotland. The data and numbers produced in it give a crucial alternative picture to the usual London-centric reports.
The report highlights how Scotland continues to build its reputation as a key hub for larger globally-based investment operations businesses, continuing the trend that started in the mid-1990s when firms began relocating technically complex operational roles to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Tyler is a Fintech Junior Journalist with specific interests in Online Banking and emerging AI technologies. He began his career writing with a plethora of national and international publications.
The Fintech Times is the world’ s first and only newspaper dedicated to fintech.
Published Bimonthly, the Fintech Times explores the explosive world of financial technology, blending first hand insight, opinion and expertise with observational journalism to provide a balanced and comprehensive perspective of this rapidly evolving industry.
PR & Editorials Advertise With Us Jobs Partnerships
If you are interested in working with us then please click the appropriate link above.
Telephone: +44 ( 0) 20 7193 5883 | business |
Boris Johnson Says U.K. Cost of Living Crisis Will Get Worse | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
Boris Johnson, U.K. prime minister, makes comments to the media ahead of his bilateral meeting with Andrzej Sebastian Duda, Poland's president, at number 10 Downing Street in London, U.K., on Thursday, April 7, 2022. Johnson is meeting with Duda and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss steps to contain Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine., Bloomberg
Boris Johnson said the cost of living crisis will get worse in the U.K. before it gets better, as he defended the economic policies pursued by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak.
The cost of living “ already is ” the biggest issue faced by Britons, the prime minister said in an interview with GB News, clips of which aired on Friday. “ And it’ s going to get more difficult. ”
Johnson’ s Conservative government -- and Sunak in particular -- has faced intense criticism from politicians, consumer groups and economists for failing to do enough to help struggling Britons as prices soar. Johnson was interviewed for GB News by two Members of Parliament from his own ruling Conservative Party -- Esther McVey and Philip Davies.
But Johnson pointed to a 9.1-billion pound ( $ 11.8 billion) package of measures unveiled in February by the chancellor to help with energy costs, and defended Sunak’ s reluctance to increase state borrowing to fund additional assistance.
“ We’ re already spending 83 billion pounds a year servicing our debts, ” Johnson said. “ That’ s crazy, we’ ve got to keep a tight grip on it, so if you just cut taxes you’ ve got to find the money from somewhere. ”
He also likened the emergency spending his government unleashed over two years of the Covid-19 pandemic to expenditure by Margaret Thatcher’ s government in the 1980s.
“ At times of difficulty, Mrs Thatcher had state spending running very very high as a proportion of GDP because of the economic difficulties that the country was in, ” he said. “ What she would not have done is said we’ ve got to borrow more. ”
Canada joins U.S., U.K. in diplomatic boycott of Beijing games
Trudeau weighs auto-content rules as next U.S. trade flashpoint | general |
Citrix Cloud Service Aims to Reduce Endpoint Security Complexity | Citrix Systems, Inc. this week made generally available a cloud-based service that continually evaluates whether to provide access to applications and data based on end-user roles, locations, device posture and user risk profiles.
Pankaj Gupta, senior director for product management at Citrix, said the Citrix Secure Private Access service is designed to provide a means to enforce zero-trust IT policies across both managed and unmanaged devices in a scalable way.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are now more employees than ever working from home on either a full- or part-time basis. Most organizations have been relying on virtual private networks ( VPNs) to securely provide those end users with access to applications and data.
However, Gupta noted, it’ s apparent that VPNs do not easily scale; IT teams wind up managing a series of point-to-point connections. The Citrix Secure Private Access cloud service provides an alternative, scalable approach that can be applied to both corporate devices and the personal devices that employees tend to use more frequently, he said. The overall goal is to make it easier to secure applications and data with a minimal amount of disruption to the user experience as security policies are dynamically applied, said Gupta.
For decades, IT security teams have been struggling to enforce security policies in ways that end users will accept. Previous efforts to enforce zero-trust IT policies by locking down devices have been generally rejected. Security teams today are being asked to enforce zero-trust security policies without impacting the productivity of end users. With the rise of secure access services, however, Gupta said it is now becoming easier to strike that balance.
It’ s unclear how quickly organizations are shifting away from VPNs in favor of cloud-based services that are both easier to deploy and eliminate the need to backhaul cloud application traffic through the local data center where VPN server software is deployed. In some cases, organizations are layering additional security on top of software-defined wide area networks ( SD-WANs) while others are opting for more integrated secure access service edge ( SASE) platforms and services to converge the management of networking and security.
Inevitably, remote computing requirements will drive organizations further along the path to embracing cloud services that make it simpler to enforce zero-trust IT policies. The challenge, of course, is not only that the number of devices per user has greatly expanded but that many of those devices are connecting to consumer-grade wireless networks to access corporate applications and data using VPN software that is often rife with vulnerabilities.
It’ s clear that managing security will be more challenging in the post-COVID-19 era. No one knows for sure when end users might be inside or out of an office environment. IT security teams clearly need an approach to security that more easily adapts to flexible work environments. In most cases, that means legacy approaches to securing endpoints are simply no longer up to the task.
Mike Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist with over 25 years of experience. He also contributed to IT Business Edge, Channel Insider, Baseline and a variety of other IT titles. Previously, Vizard was the editorial director for Ziff-Davis Enterprise as well as Editor-in-Chief for CRN and InfoWorld.
mike-vizard has 392 posts and counting.See all posts by mike-vizard | general |
Wisconsin Justices To Tackle Policyholders ' Win In Virus Suit | Wisconsin bar and restaurant owners hope to keep intact a rare win by policyholders in COVID-19 coverage fights when the Badger State's highest court justices consider whether the pandemic and resulting mandatory shutdown orders caused insurable physical loss or damage.The Wisconsin Supreme Court is poised Tuesday to consider whether the pandemic and resulting mandatory shutdown orders caused insurable physical loss or damage. Bar and restaurant owners in the Badger State hope to keep intact a rare win by policyholders when the high court hears the case. ( AP Photo/Morry Gash) On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will be the fourth state... | general |
Oil sheds bulk of invasion-driven gains on SPR sales, virus, Fed | Oil headed for a back-to-back weekly retreat on plans for massive stockpile releases, a demand-sapping virus outbreak in top importer China and a hawkish turn from the US Federal Reserve.
West Texas Intermediate traded above $ 96 a barrel, with prices about 3% lower this week. The recent drop means the U.S. benchmark has now lost most of the gains seen since Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine began in late February.
Alarmed by the surge in energy costs spurred by Moscow’ s assault, Washington and allies have announced plans to sell almost a quarter-of-a-billion barrels from strategic petroleum reserves. With the move supported by France, the U.K. and others, that’ s prompted a collapse in once-elevated time spreads.
Crude prices — which remain more than a quarter higher year-to-date — have also been hurt this month as China ordered a series of lockdowns in key urban centers including Shanghai to quell a coronavirus outbreak. At the same time, plans by the Fed for an aggressive tightening of U.S. monetary policy to combat inflation have blunted demand for risk assets and boosted the dollar.
“ At some point, the sentiment-driven sell-off will give way and fundamentals will reassert themselves, ” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management Pte, adding that deficits are likely to persist. More market participants will “ start fretting about how will the U.S. administration replenish the SPR drawdown, ” he said. | general |
U.K. Underlying Wage Growth Stagnated After Covid, Study Shows | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
Morning commuters on London Bridge head towards the City of London, U.K., on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. Britain's labor market grew strongly despite a surge in coronavirus infections late last year, with vacancies hitting a record 1.25 million in the fourth quarter and unemployment falling unexpectedly., Bloomberg
( Bloomberg) -- Britain’ s underlying wage growth stagnated after the coronavirus pandemic, a study by the Resolution Foundation showed, casting doubt on concerns that the nation faces an inflationary spiral.
The researcher said its measure of average pay, adjusting for differences in the nature of individual workers, remained 2.7% last year, the same as in 2019 before the coronavirus hit.
Resolution said that higher headline wage growth in official figures is mainly due to the end of the government’ s furlough program and out-sized gains in four industries struggling to attract workers. The findings undercut the idea that a surge in pay growth is starting to add to inflationary pressures across the economy.
“ Pay growth is best seen as normal rather than exceptional, once the impact of the end of furlough is taken into account, ” Nye Cominetti, senior economist at Resolution, said in a statement released on Saturday.
Resolution expects nominal pay to rise 5% this year, which won’ t be enough to make up for an 8% increase in inflation. Those forces together mean living standards are being squeezed by the most on record, threatening to push thousands more families into poverty.
The government reported nominal pay rose 4.1% in the year to January, double the 2% average in the decade prior. Resolution said a quarter of that increase was due to the end of furlough, with workers moving to receiving their full salary instead of 80% when the benefit was in force to protect those unable to work during the pandemic.
Four sectors -- professional services, health and social work, administration, and IT and communications -- accounted for 53% of the aggregate increase in pay even though they make up a third of the workforce, Resolution said.
“ This welcome success is driving strong nominal wage growth, but worries it might be too strong are overdone, ” Cominetti said.
While the feds touted the spending in its budget as prudent, prominent Bay Street economist David Rosenberg said the extra fiscal stimulus could lead the Bank of Canada to hike its benchmark rate higher than originally thought.
Canada’ s unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since at least the mid-1970s, as the laboUr market posted another strong monthly employment gain.
Average Canadians might not realize how big a stake they have in the country’ s largest banks in their retirement portfolios; either directly in their RRSPs and TFSAs, or indirectly through mutual funds, ETFs, and pension plans.
Businesses are struggling to cope with an apparent sixth wave of COVID, as staffing shortages hamper sectors from health care to hospitality and retail — though the interruption remains more manageable than last winter's Omicron variant surge. | general |
NextDecade Gaining Momentum for Rio Grande LNG in Rebound from Financial Issues | Sign in to get the best natural gas news and data. Follow the topics you want and receive the daily emails.
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NextDecade Corp., which was facing concerns about its financial strength at the beginning of the year, has received a $ 30 million injection and taken major steps in the last few weeks toward sanctioning a liquefied natural gas ( LNG) export project in South Texas.
The Houston-based LNG developer in March said in its annual report it had less cash on hand than necessary to cover this year’ s operations. It noted there was “ substantial doubt about the company’ s ability to continue as a going concern. ”
“ We have incurred operating losses since our inception and management expects operating losses and negative cash flows to continue for the foreseeable future and, as a result, we will require additional capital to fund our operations and execute our business plan, ” the company said in its 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission published last month.
However, in a SEC 8-K filing on Thursday, NextDecade said it has sold more than 4.6 million shares of common stock to a single buyer for $ 30 million, raising nearly as much as it plans to spend over the next year. The company also reported it had $ 25.6 million at the end of 2021.The buyer was a Houston-based subsidiary of South Korea’ s Hanwha Group, a conglomerate with holdings in a variety of sectors, including petrochemicals. Hanwha in 2018 bought a $ 35 million stake in NextDecade. Hanwha Impact Partners’ Seokwon Ha, senior vice president of the subsidiary’ s new business development, became president of NextDecade’ s board in February.
NextDecade is working toward a final investment decision for Rio Grande LNG, a 27 million metric ton/year facility that would be sited in the Port of Brownsville at the southern tip of Texas.
The company filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday asking to delay its expected start-up by two years to 2028, citing unexpected impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic ( No. CP16-454-000 and CP16-454-001). The company recently reported it could sanction Rio Grande before the end of the year. It also has added a carbon capture and sequestration ( CCS) project to its agenda.
Since then, momentum has positively shifted, as Asian buyers have stepped forward for U.S. LNG supply. Europe is also poised to take more of the super-chilled fuel as it looks to reduce its reliance on Russian imports.
NextDecade since late March has signed offtake agreements for Rio Grande with Chinese buyers, including ENN Natural Gas Co. Ltd. and Guangdong Energy Group Natural Gas Co. Ltd. It now has three offtake agreements in place that cover nearly all of the capacity of one of the terminal’ s five proposed trains.Since late February, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Chinese companies have secured 7.7 mmty of U.S. LNG under long-term contracts, including with NextDecade.
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Nclose: Replicating a culture of success and growth in Johannesburg | Stephen Osler, Nclose co-founder and Business Development Director, explains the importance of investment and growth within one of Africa's major economic cities.
`` Our Johannesburg team has seen tremendous growth over the past three years – recording more than a 100% growth in team size alone through each year, and we plan on keeping the team growing. We were one of the few companies that can say we were active employers during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily because of how highly adaptable our company structure is. It wasn't just the team size that saw tremendous growth. Our profits reflected the efforts of the Johannesburg team, increasing from 2020 to the end of 2021 by a staggering 300%, three times more – which was a monumental achievement, indicating we are here to stay and planning on growing even further. Our successes and growth can be attributed to some key areas:
Industry diversification
`` We adapt our service to any industry that requires our expertise, alongside our agility and flexibility to provide value as we diversify. Our most extensive client catalogue of growth now falls under a variety of industries:
As our base of operations expands in Johannesburg during 2022, we expect our client base to diversify even more. ''
Growing the team
`` We were once considered a Cape Town-based company, operating around Africa and abroad. Over the past year, this has changed as the team has evolved into an independent structure that can meet our clients ' needs in Johannesburg and support the team in Cape Town if required. This independence has allowed us to acquire more large blue-chip clients based in Johannesburg, giving us a significant presence while bringing diversity and strong cyber security engineering skills to the region. ''
Sustaining our culture and core values
Osler continues: `` Our company culture and values have been a catalyst to our success in Cape Town. This was never something that was going to be compromised and has been carried over to the Johannesburg team. While consistency is key to success, our executive team has ensured that our service delivery model was replicated successfully and quickly. As the team grew, the culture and values that make up the success of our brand have now become cemented with the team in Johannesburg. ''
Relationship derived growth
He continues: `` Arguably, our biggest differentiator is how we provide value to our clients and place importance on maintaining personal relationships with them to build partnerships for long-term success. What makes us unique is the way we have grown in Johannesburg. We have not marketed ourselves but rather let our clients do the talking for us, and as they have progressed to other companies, they have taken us on that journey with them. Trust is something that takes time to build in business but can be lost in a moment; the fact that our customers trust us with their referrals to others or continue to keep us on board as they move is a testament to the value and dedication we provide – even to clients who have moved overseas. Thanks to them, we 've had little need to market ourselves, and this continues to be a successful path for us in the future in Johannesburg to deliver and derive value. '' | general |
Newly Developed COVID Vaccine Could Protect Against Omicron and Other Variants | Vaccine developed at MedUni Vienna delivers promising data.
The preclinical data for a vaccine developed at MedUni Vienna to protect against SARS-CoV-2 indicates that it is effective against all SARS-CoV-2 variants known to date, including omicron — even in those who have not yet built up any immunity as a result of vaccination ( non-responders). The data from the study were recently published in the leading journal Allergy.
The antigen-based vaccine developed at MedUni Vienna, under the leadership of Rudolf Valenta from the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, targets the receptor binding domains ( RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and induced a robust and uniform RBD-specific IgG antibody response in animal models and in human tests. This antibody response prevents the virus from docking onto and entering the body’ s cells, so that infection can not occur.
The SARS-CoV-2 subunit vaccine ( PreS-RBD) developed at MedUni Vienna is based on a structurally folded fusion protein consisting of two receptor binding domains ( RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the PreS antigen from hepatitis B, which serve as immunological carriers for each other, thereby strengthening the immune response. Currently available genetic SARS-CoV-2 vaccines induce mainly transient IgG1 antibody responses, whereas the PreS-RBD vaccine can additionally induce long-lived RBD-specific IgG4 antibodies.
PreS-RBD-specific IgG antibodies detected in blood and mucosal secretions reacted with SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the omicron variant. Antibodies induced by vaccination with PreS-RBD more potently inhibited the binding of RBD with its human receptor ACE2, and their virus-neutralizing titers were higher than those in a random sample of individuals fully immunized with two vaccinations of currently registered vaccines or than those of COVID-19 convalescents ( i.e., individuals who had previously had COVID-19).
“ The PreS-RBD vaccine has the potential to induce sterilizing immunity to old and new SARS-CoV-2 variants by preventing infection by stopping viral replication and transmission through the inhibition of cellular virus entry, ” explains study leader Rudolf Valenta. Moreover, it is expected that the vaccine will even be effective in people who have not previously responded to vaccination ( “ RBD non-responders ”), as they will receive additional T-cell support from the PreS portion of the vaccine. An earlier study by Valenta and colleagues had found that approximately 20% of those who recovered from COVID-19 failed to form RBD-specific antibodies and were thus at constant risk of re-infection.
The development of this Austrian COVID vaccine was to a large extent inspired by decades of experience in allergy vaccine design. Previous work on allergy vaccines and clinical trials also conducted with PreS-based allergy vaccines have demonstrated the safety of PreS-based vaccines, even when used repeatedly.
“ Our data give us grounds to hope that this readily producible protein-based vaccine antigen will be effective against all SARS-CoV-2 variants known to date, including omicron, ” says study leader Rudolf Valenta. “ The vaccine is designed to enable repeated injections to build up sustained sterilizing immunity, is suitable for use in all age and risk groups and appears to be superior to currently available vaccines when it comes to inducing neutralizing antibodies. ” If sufficient funding is forthcoming, the first clinical trials required for approval could be carried out this year.
Reference: “ Vaccine based on folded RBD-PreS fusion protein with potential to induce sterilizing immunity to SARS-CoV-2 variants ” by Pia Gattinger, Bernhard Kratzer, Inna Tulaeva, Katarzyna Niespodziana, Anna Ohradanova-Repic, Laura Gebetsberger, Kristina Borochova, Erika Garner-Spitzer, Doris Trapin, Gerhard Hofer, Walter Keller, Isabella Baumgartner, Ivan Tancevski, Musa Khaitov, Alexander Karaulov, Hannes Stockinger, Ursula Wiedermann, Winfried F. Pickl and Rudolf Valenta, 31 March 2022, Allergy. DOI: 10.1111/all.15305 | tech |
How a Zambian morgue is exposing the real covid toll in Africa | One of the pandemic’ s enduring mysteries is how much of Africa seemed to have been spared the worst. A study of corpses suggests it hasn’ t.
The morgue at Lusaka’ s University Teaching Hospital ( UTH), a sprawling brick facility near the center of Zambia’ s capital, is not the most pleasant place to carry out a clinical study. Inside the cavernous interior, newly arrived bodies linger unattended—on rolling metal tables or on the concrete floor wrapped in blankets. Others lie stacked on open-air racks, where some stay unclaimed for months. The stench is overwhelming.
But it is here, among the cadavers at Zambia’ s largest hospital, that researchers are finally close to solving one of the pandemic’ s enduring mysteries: why Africa appeared to have been spared the brunt of the covid death toll experienced elsewhere. The truth, it increasingly appears, is that it wasn’ t.
That’ s the claim made by a new study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, based on tests of corpses carried out by staff equipped with nasal swabs and a heavy tolerance for the macabre. It constitutes perhaps the strongest clinical evidence yet that covid-19 deaths in Lusaka, and likely much of Africa, have been vastly undercounted.
Between January and June of 2021, the researchers found that 32% of the dead in the morgue tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The numbers testing positive rose to 82% during one week of Zambia’ s deadliest wave in June. Most had died at home without seeking treatment, and fewer than 10% had tested positive while living—a criterion health authorities required to count them as part of the official covid-19 toll.
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Although some of the deceased who were infected with the virus likely died from unrelated causes, interviews with relatives and records of those who’ d sought treatment for covid-like symptoms before succumbing suggest that roughly 70% of adult dead testing positive were “ probably ” or “ possibly ” victims of covid-19.
And while Lusaka, a city of 3.5 million people at the crossroads of eastern and southern Africa, might not be a perfect proxy for a continent of nearly 1.4 billion, the authors stress that their study’ s findings are consistent with a growing body of estimates from other countries in the region: the world, they believe, may have grossly underestimated Africa’ s true covid toll.
“ Our study punctures the myth that covid-19 skipped Africa, ” says Christopher Gill, an infectious disease specialist at the Boston University School of Public Health who was one of the study’ s lead authors.
In the pandemic’ s early months, there were fears that underfunded health-care systems in Africa would be overwhelmed: one UN report from April 2020 predicted between 300,000 and 3.3 million Africans would die that year alone.
Yet as SARS-CoV-2 and its variants spread across the globe, Africa—where HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis kill more than a million people each year—appeared surprisingly resilient. Early on, according to Oliver Watson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London, the region’ s comparatively small number of international flights and a series of strict lockdowns likely helped to keep the virus’ s spread in check.
Yet even after most containment measures were relaxed, and antibody studies began to show that SARS-CoV-2 was circulating widely, mortality remained far lower than expected. As of April 7, Africa’ s 54 countries had recorded just 251,516 official covid deaths—4.1% of the global total, on a continent with 18% of the world’ s population.
From the beginning, the apparent “ Africa paradox ” set off a wave of speculation. Those seeking to explain it pointed out that Africa is the world’ s least urbanized continent, with a climate that enables year-round outdoor gatherings. They also noted that a younger population—Africa’ s median age is less than 20—was likely more resilient to a disease that hits the elderly the hardest.
Some, like Bruce Kirenga, a respiratory physician who’ s helped lead the covid-19 response in Uganda, suspect that certain African populations could be less vulnerable thanks to genetics. Others postulate that a lifetime of exposure to different pathogens, including other viruses or parasites endemic to Africa’ s tropical regions, might confer some level of immunity that protects against severe infection.
Many of these explanations remain plausible, and most epidemiologists believe that Africa’ s comparative youth is indeed a critical factor. Still, the broader idea that Africa had been “ skipped ” was based on an unlikely assumption: that official country-level death figures were largely correct. In resource-poor settings, experts say, even diseases that have been around for centuries are often subject to significant undercounts. According to the WHO, fewer than a quarter of estimated deaths from malaria are captured by official national statistics—in some cases because diagnoses are missing and in others because the deaths themselves aren’ t reported.
Something similar probably happened with covid-19. Testing was costly and scarce: more than two years into the pandemic, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, only one out of 13 Africans, on average, has been tested. In Nigeria, Africa’ s most populous country, that figure is less than one in 40.
In many middle- and high- income countries, estimates of excess mortality—recorded deaths above a given historical benchmark—were being used to approximate the pandemic’ s impact if gaps in disease surveillance were apparent. In most of Africa, though, up-to-date death statistics aren’ t available either. According to Stéphane Helleringer, a demographer at New York University who studies mortality, few countries on the continent have “ an administrative structure near complete enough ” to measure deaths in a reliable and timely way.
In Zambia, where death registries are often patchy and testing for covid-19 was hindered by shortages of materials and the stigma that attended a positive result, Gill and fellow lead author Lawrence Mwananyanda suspected that the main cause of the “ paradox ” was a simple lack of data. They happened to be uniquely positioned to pursue this hypothesis. Since 2017, their team had been testing for respiratory disease in infants at the UTH morgue, where 80% of Lusaka’ s bodies, including those of people who died in health facilities and at home, are brought to receive permission for burial. They had PCR machines, whose price tags had stymied testing efforts elsewhere, as well as seasoned staff who were experts in counseling grieving relatives and getting their buy-in for participation in an academic study.
They also had a funder, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, that was supportive of expanding the project to test bodies of all ages for covid-19. In June of 2020, after tracking down the chemical compounds needed to process samples, the team got to work from a small office near the mortuary’ s back entrance. At their launch, Zambia had only one officially designated covid-19 death. The first round of their study—which tested 364 corpses between June and September 2020, all within 48 hours of death—detected SARS-CoV-2 in nearly one out of six. Only a handful of the deceased had been tested while alive.
Their initial paper, published in the BMJ in February 2021, made a compelling case for their undercounting thesis. Yet it was still based on a relatively small number of dead, so the team returned in 2021 for a longer follow-up. This time, their work coincided with the second and third waves of the pandemic, which hit harder than anything in 2020.
By June of 2021, as the delta variant tore across Lusaka, the morgue’ s previous volume of a couple of dozen bodies per day had ballooned to nearly 100. The tree-lined cul-de-sac leading to its entrance was deadlocked with traffic. Vendors selling caskets from adjacent shops were running out of stock. “ It was so depressing, ” says Benard Ngoma, a 55-year-old clinical research officer who led the team’ s cadaver swabbing—adding that it brought back memories from the height of Zambia’ s HIV/AIDS crisis in the early 2000s. “ That period of 2021 was something else, ” he says.
The new study made possible by Ngoma’ s efforts shows that covid-19 was indeed the culprit. In round two, Ngoma and his colleagues swabbed more than 1,100 cadavers, enrolling five to six randomly selected bodies per day, and found positivity more than double what was observed before. This time, half of those who died with covid-19 in hospitals had been tested while alive. But roughly 80% of the bodies testing positive were people who had died at home, and almost none of those had received an official covid-19 diagnosis.
Compared with covid-19 victims elsewhere on the globe, they found, Zambians with the disease were also dying young: the median age of cadavers testing positive was 48, 58% were younger than 60, and 15% were children or adolescents. Both rounds of the study also found a disproportionate number of covid-19 positive deaths coming from the city’ s compounds—its poorest, most densely populated neighborhoods. According to Ngoma, this contrasted with early perceptions of many living there, who’ d insisted the pandemic was something that only afflicted “ rich people. ”
These new results, like those published last year, do come with some caveats. Although the study provides a snapshot of how covid-19 hit one African city, it offers little insight into its impact in rural areas, where gaps in both disease surveillance and death registration are the greatest. As the authors admit, its method of inferring whether death of someone who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 was caused by the disease itself isn’ t foolproof: family members bringing bodies to the morgue typically aren’ t medical experts, and the study’ s “ verbal autopsies ” based on their recollection of symptoms could be subject to some misclassification.
By measuring deaths but not background rates of infection, the study does not attempt to calculate the chances that a Lusaka resident with SARS-CoV-2 will develop a severe infection or die. ( A WHO meta-analysis of antibody studies from 14 African countries, which has not yet been peer reviewed, estimates that two-thirds of cases on the continent have been asymptomatic.)
While potentially millions of children suffer from this mysterious illness, researchers are still debating how big a problem it is.
Still, as a rare attempt to probe Africa’ s death toll with clinical data, the BU team’ s work has had a significant impact, outside experts say. Before its first paper, says Watson, who’ s worked on several studies related to covid-19 in low-income settings, there was a “ fairly equal balance ” within academia between those who believed there was “ something fundamentally different going on in Africa that meant there wasn’ t that much death occurring ” and those who emphasized a lack of data.
The Zambia study, he says, played an important role in “ shifting the narrative ” toward the latter idea. Uganda’ s Kirenga says the study resonates with his observations of likely undercounting there. But Roma Chilengi, special covid-19 advisor to Zambian president Hakainde Hichilema, who also heads the organization that compiles Zambia’ s official surveillance data, says he still believes the pandemic hasn’ t been as deadly in his country as expected: initial fears it would “ sweep like wildfire, ” he told me, haven’ t come to pass. Still, Chilengi broadly agrees with the BU team’ s conclusions. “ As an exploratory observation, there’ s no doubt we had a lot of people who died of covid but were not diagnosed, ” he says.
Beyond the UTH cadavers, a growing body of nonclinical studies has also added heft to the assertion that a majority of Africa’ s deaths have been missed. A paper published in The Lancet last May, which tracked nearly 6,800 confirmed or suspected covid-19 patients referred to critical-care facilities in 10 African countries, found that fewer than half were admitted and 48% of those who were died within a month. According to the paper’ s authors, this represents excess in-hospital mortality of 11 to 23 deaths per 100 patients compared with the global average—a figure they link to insufficient staffing and the frequent absence of life-saving interventions like oxygenation and dialysis.
Although Zambia was not included in the study, locals told me treatment gaps there were also acute. Sky Banda, a 58-year-old resident of Kaunda Square, a compound named after Zambia’ s first president, says many community members who fell ill during the height of the pandemic viewed hospital admission as a “ ticket straight to the mortuary. ” Most opted for home-based herbal treatments instead.
Onechi Lwenje, a 36-year-old filmmaker who spent a week in the covid-19 ward at UTH during Zambia’ s second wave in early 2021, says staff were so overwhelmed that some patients would die and not be discovered for hours. “ Most people who went into that ward never came out, ” he says.
Although death records from Africa remain patchy, attempts to approximate excess mortality through statistical workarounds also support the theory of substantial undercounting. A machine-learning model developed by The Economist, based on more than 100 indicators that correlate with excess deaths in countries where that data is available, suggests Africa has seen 1.1 million to 3 million excess deaths since the start of the pandemic. A model from the University of Washington’ s Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, included in a paper published by The Lancet in March, puts the number, as of December 2021, at 2.1 million for sub-Saharan Africa alone, with a central estimate for Zambia of 81,000—20 times the official toll of 3,967.
Experts warn that these models, which are built with algorithms largely trained on data from wealthy countries, need to be approached with caution. Still, excess-mortality estimates from South Africa, which are based on actual death records, paint a broadly similar picture. That country’ s official covid-19 death rate, owing in part to better surveillance, is nearly eight times as high as Zambia’ s—yet the state-affiliated Medical Research Council estimates that it still undercounts these deaths by a factor of three.
Mwananyanda, a former clinician and researcher who’ s now a top advisor to Hichilema, believes the two countries have enough in common to suggest that their real rates of covid-19 death are likely similar.
“ I think what happened in South Africa is exactly what happened here, ” he says. “ The only difference is they have a way to collect and make sense of the data and we don’ t. ”
Although the BU team has already made substantial progress in compensating for that data gap, its study has also unearthed some lingering questions. One big unknown relates to the topic of Gill and Mwananyanda’ s earlier research: pediatric deaths. While most adults who died with covid-19 in their study presented with the disease’ s usual respiratory symptoms, both rounds found that the majority of young children with covid-19 didn’ t.
According to Gill, this could be because their deaths were unrelated to the virus. Alternatively, he suspects, SARS-CoV-2 might have a greater pediatric impact in settings where children are often undernourished and afflicted with other ailments than it does in the West, where childhood deaths have been minimal. A third phase of the project, which began in February, will seek to unravel this mystery by conducting biopsies of child cadavers testing positive. “ It’ s a totally plausible theory, ” Gill says, “ but we have to prove it. ”
Given the pandemic’ s current trajectory, though, Gill isn’ t sure whether the team will get the chance. As in much of the world, the arrival of the omicron variant in Zambia last December heralded a big spike in infections. But when I visited the UTH morgue in March, everyone from project staff to shopkeepers selling coffins near the entrance said the latest wave had brought far less death than those that came before. Although only 12% of Zambians are fully vaccinated—health authorities have the supplies but have struggled to combat hesitancy and logistical bottlenecks—many in the country believe the worst of covid-19 has now passed.
Whatever happens, Gill and Mwananyanda expect that a deeper understanding of its impact will continue to emerge: project staff recently spent months scouring burial registries across Lusaka to gather data in support of an excess-mortality analysis meant to provide a clearer sense of how severe the city’ s undercounting has been.
The forthcoming findings, though, are unlikely to change the broad thrust of the conclusions emerging from the months Ngoma and his colleagues spent among the bodies at UTH: that covid-19 hit Africa hard—and those tracking it simply couldn’ t keep up.
Jonathan W. Rosen is a writer and journalist reporting from Africa.
Shi Zhengli has spent years at the Wuhan Institute of Virology researching coronaviruses that live in bats. Her work has come under fire as the world tries to understand where covid-19 came from.
He Jiankui created the first gene-edited children. The price was his career. And his freedom.
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Business optimism decreased in March 2022: Poll | Business optimism decreased in March 2022 compared to February 2022, according to an ongoing poll by Verdict, due to increased uncertainty arising out of inflationary pressures and the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Verdict has been conducting the poll to study the trends in business optimism during COVID-19 as reflected by the views of companies on their future growth prospects amid the pandemic.
Analysis of the poll responses recorded in March 2022 shows that optimism regarding future growth prospects decreased by seven percentage points to 55% from 62% in February 2022.
The respondents who were optimistic decreased by three percentage points to 24% in March, while those very optimistic decreased to 31% from 35%.
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The respondents who were pessimistic increased by four percentage points to 13%, whereas those who were very pessimistic remained unchanged at 16% in March.
The percentage of respondents who were neutral ( neither optimistic nor pessimistic) increased by three percentage points to 16%.
The analysis is based on 401 responses received from the readers of Verdict network sites between 01 March and 31 March 2022.
Business confidence dropped by 11 points to 33% in March in the UK, according to the Lloyds Bank Business Barometer, as uncertainties over inflationary prices and the Ukraine-Russia conflict continued to cloud business prospects, particularly in the manufacturing and retail sectors. The barometer also highlighted that the fall was much lower than the drop in confidence experienced during the initial two months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Manufacturing and retail sectors reported drops in confidence of 19% each from the February highs of 35% and 28% respectively mainly due to the Ukraine conflict. In addition, confidence dropped in services by six percentage points to 32% and in construction by eight percentage points to 43%.
The Euro zone’ s March factory growth also declined, with S & P Global’ s final manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index ( PMI) falling to a 14-month low of 56.5 in March compared to February’ s 58.2. Intensity over Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine and the escalating cost of living suggested that the bloc’ s manufacturing could slip into a downturn at the end of the quarter.
In France, business confidence dropped to new lows of 106.1 in March compared to February’ s 112.3, due to reduced expectations from demand and economic activity, and due to Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, the ifo Business Climate Index plunged to 90.8 points in March, from 98.5 points in February, in Germany. The fall was mainly due to the decline in business expectations by 13.3 points, which is more than the 11.8-point decline recorded at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. Dutch manufacturers also remained less positive about their future production and order positions, as companies rated their business outlook as extremely uncertain.
In the US, small business owners felt the impact of rising prices, but remained optimistic about the growth and expectations of their business, according to the MetLife and US Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index. | general |
Why America keeps delaying student-loan repayments | TEMPORARY EMERGENCY measures often outlast the crises that prompt them. So it is with federal student-loan repayments, which were suspended in March 2020 as a pandemic-relief measure. In August 2021 the Department of Education announced a “ final extension ” of the moratorium on payments for the $ 1.6trn owed to the federal government, to last until January 2022. Then, one month before that deadline, the White House announced a final, final extension, to run to the end of May 2022. Then, on the cusp of that new cutoff date, a final, final, final date was announced on April 6th. This extends the moratorium to August 31st.
The repeated deferral of the issue looks increasingly odd. Most economic-relief programmes initiated in response to covid-19 have already been wound down: enhanced unemployment benefits, stimulus cheques and generous child benefits are all things of the past. A federal moratorium on evictions, on the grounds that these procedures might transmit the disease, was struck down by the Supreme Court in August 2021. In May the Biden administration will lift “ Title 42 ”, a Trump-era immigration policy that limited asylum-seeking on public-health grounds. It has usefully allowed Mr Biden to keep America’ s southern border mostly closed, at a time when the number of arriving migrants is the highest in a generation. Ending Title 42 is likely to spur an unpopular surge in attempted migration across it. If the unemployed, poor children, renters at risk of eviction and migrants are no longer receiving special pandemic support, then why are college-educated Americans?
The answer is one of bureaucratic capacity and Democratic Party politics. Unlike other measures, which require congressional approval or have been subjected to judicial review, the decision to delay student-loan repayments can be made by the executive branch alone. The education department has also been slow to set out the new payments regime after the moratorium, thereby justifying continued delays.
The stalling is also one of the few sops that the administration can throw to progressives in the party who are dejected at the failure of the president’ s boldest proposals in Congress. Democratic senators such as Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, have been pushing for a more sweeping policy that would cancel debt of up to $ 50,000 per student. They argue that the president has the authority to do so unilaterally because the Higher Education Act of 1965 grants the education secretary the right to waive and release loans. The president, who supports a more modest cancellation amount of $ 10,000, is sceptical of such reasoning.
But this policy of delays also presents a paradox. In the same statement announcing the latest extension, Mr Biden crowed about “ the greatest year of job growth on record ” and “ the fastest economic growth in nearly 40 years ”. But he also insisted that resumption of normal payments would plunge millions of borrowers into “ significant economic hardship ”.
The indecision is not without costs. Because of the length of the payments suspension and rising inflation, the effective average cancellation has amounted to $ 5,500 per student so far, according to calculations ( based on the present-value cost of the delays) by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget ( CRFB), a think-tank. Already, the policy has cost $ 100bn ( forgiving $ 50,000 would cost almost $ 1trn).
This outdated covid-relief programme has another problem, too. It is not particularly progressive. College-educated Americans command a sizeable wage premium; even those who do not get degrees have higher earnings. Those who attend graduate school often take out large loans at higher interest rates than for undergraduate degrees. The CRFB estimates that the effective debt cancellation for students who went to medical or law school is between $ 29,500 and $ 48,500 ( see chart). For those with two-year degrees and those who did not finish college—the most economically vulnerable—the effective benefit has been less than $ 3,500. “ The problem with universal loan forgiveness is that you end up with a system where a lot of the money goes to successful, affluent, white students, ” says Adam Looney, a professor at the University of Utah and former official at the Treasury Department. It is analogous to pausing all mortgage repayments to help a minority of struggling homeowners.
That is not to say that America’ s university-financing system is functioning well. Government management of income-driven repayment plans, which are supposed to limit the burden on poorer borrowers, has been shambolic. An investigation by America’ s National Public Radio found that out of 4.4m borrowers eligible for forgiveness after 20 or 25 years of payment, only 32 had actually received it. There are also significant disparities in financial outcomes based on race. “ Black borrowers borrow more, they are more likely to borrow, and they struggle more with repayment than other borrowers do, ” says Victoria Jackson of the Education Trust, a research and advocacy group. Twelve years after starting college, white men have paid off 44% of their student-loan debts, her research shows; black students owe 12% more than when they started.
Targeted approaches to remedying this exist already. Federal Pell grants, which pay for poor students’ attendance, have fallen far behind the increased cost of higher education. Granting relief based on debt-to-income ratios would be more progressive than less discriminating policies. That would require a more wholesale revision than another few months’ delay. But come August, with punishing mid-term elections just months away, Mr Biden may find yet more justification for pushing off hard choices.
For 73 years, New Jerseyans have been banned from pumping their own petrol. They like it that way
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Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2022. All rights reserved. | business |
Weathering Russian Winter: The Current State of Russian APTs | It’ s no secret that Russian Advanced Persistent Threats ( APTs) are a significant burden on cybersecurity teams. For years, organizations have been bombarding their systems with patches and configuration changes to dodge targeted attacks, and the focus on APTs specifically from Russia has never been higher. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has put the risk and incredible rate of advancement in Russian cyberattacks front and center – with much of the internet ( and the world) caught in the crossfire.
This article aims to create an understanding of the history of Russian APTs, some of their most common attack types, as well as ways in which the industry may change, and what enterprises can do to protect themselves from this ongoing bombardment.
Espionage via digital medium started around the time that the computer began creeping into more regular use, but the idea of the advanced persistent threat is relatively new.
According to Richard Bejtlich’ s paper on the topic, ‘ the United States Air Force coined the phrase ‘ advanced persistent threat’ in 2006 because teams working within the service needed a way to communicate with counterparts in the unclassified public world.’ Though APTs were regularly seen from then on inside the industry, the term didn’ t gain public consciousness until an attack on Google servers in 2010, the fault of which was assigned to Chinese APTs.
From then on, APT became a heavily used, marketable term. Antivirus companies like McAfee jumped on the opportunity to provide anti-APT products.
The idea of the ‘ advanced persistent threat’ is a bit of an abstract concept to most. Especially with the term being tossed around in regular media, it can be hard to understand which attacks are caused by APTs and which are not.
“ An adversary with sophisticated levels of expertise and significant resources, allowing it through the use of multiple different attack vectors ( e.g., cyber, physical, and deception) to generate opportunities to achieve its objectives, which are typically to establish and extend footholds within the information technology infrastructure of organizations for purposes of continually exfiltrating information and/or to undermine or impede critical aspects of a mission, program, or organization, or place itself in a position to do so in the future; moreover, the advanced persistent threat pursues its objectives repeatedly over an extended period of time, adapting to a defender’ s efforts to resist it, and with determination to maintain the level of interaction needed to execute its objectives. ”
APTs are truly the ultimate adversary, which is why keeping track of their movements and abilities is imperative to a proper defense.
There are many Russian APTs with varying attack targets. Most of the more notable Russian APTs are detailed in the MITRE ATT & CK framework’ s ‘ Groups’ classification. Groups change names often, so most are filed under a single primary label to keep track of their actions. Some important and notable entries include:
Something important to remember about APTs is that they are most commonly aligned with a government or military, but they may also be comprised of engaged citizens with more advanced resources than other threat actors.
APTs typically have a development team that creates targeted tools or malware to advance their operations. Though the malware is usually specialized towards targets, it is common for them to share traits when made by a single APT group. According to the MITRE ATT & CK framework entries and a series of independent tool analyses on the APTs listed above, their attack signatures and most used tools are as follows:
APT28: APT28 likes to attack hard and fast, starting with noisy attacks to gain access like bruteforcing and DDoS. They don’ t bother with waiting around like many other APTs do. Instead, they strike directly for critical vulnerabilities like remote code execution zero-days or walk through the front door of their target network by spearphishing for admin credentials, then proceed with attacks on large and valuable targets. Software that they’ ve created include Zebrocy, which was used to target NATO members and exfiltrate screenshots of activity, and the CHOPSTICK and CORESHELL, backdoor programs.
APT29: APT29 prefers intricate, quiet data exfiltration techniques. During the peak of the COVID-19 vaccine development, for example, APT29 used their WellMess malware to execute shell commands and perform file transfers to and from targeted vaccine research endpoints. Currently, the Duke malware strains are APT29’ s weapons of choice, their collective use being known as Operation Ghost. Lateral movement is the specialization of this malware, taking over machine after machine using the credentials of a single successfully compromised account. It then offers a powerful backdoor suite for ease of access to the victim machine.
IndrikSpider: Though by no means as large and menacing as some of the other APTs featured in this breakdown, IndrikSpider is equally threatening, especially to larger organizations. With a complex banking trojan like Dridex and ransomware like BitPaymer, IndrikSpider has potential against most high-value industries. Dridex uses a large set of backdoor tools including browser session hijacking, proxying through the victim computer, and avoidance of malware analysis programs. BitPaymer, first seen in 2017 targeting UK hospitals, is somewhat unique in that it uses a unique encryption key, ransom note, and contact information for each operation. It also has a series of persistence tools to help root onto the victim computer through wipes and resets.
Sandworm Team: This APT directly targets industrial control systems and other similar critical infrastructure using the BlackEnergy tool, which caused a 2015 Ukraine power grid outage and was one of the first attacks of its kind. They appear to be very specifically targeting Ukraine. BlackEnergy uses macros in Word documents to drop files for persistence, then connects into a command-and-control server. It contains functionality for backdooring into servers ( with remote desktop viewer and spying features), network scanning, fast spread, and even destruction.
Now that we have laid the groundwork on each APT, we can begin to talk about the best defensive postures and strategies to adopt to protect against them. Thankfully, in the world of network security, there are a few simple things that can be implemented that will improve your security posture. Among them are:
Removal from Network AccessIn the case of some systems, it’ s difficult to do anything else besides removing them from the network entirely. Industrial control systems are a great example: many of these systems are very outdated and may be impossible to patch to a sufficient degree. Most still function without network access and may be safer to keep away from other devices, as they may be an entry point or a direct target.
Social Engineering Training and Two-Factor Authentication Two-factor authentication and social engineering training are both are highly effective countermeasures to put in place. Two-factor authentication ( 2FA) can drop attackers in their tracks and keep them from attempting attacks through that medium entirely and is relatively easy to implement. Social engineering training helps employees recognize security breach attempts and report them so they don’ t even gain a foothold within the network.
Offline BackupsRansomware is a highly profitable industry, and most APTs have realized this. When a group takes over a machine, it can threaten their target organization so much that the ransom is paid with little fuss. Though offline backups in this situation are always recommended to avoid complete shutdown of operations, once ransomware enters and successfully holds within the network, significant dissemination of valuable data is likely to occur.
Dedicated Detection and Response An effective monitoring system that sorts out noise and pulls valuable cases to the top ( like LogicHub, for instance) allows a team to pick up on attempts by APTs and focus attention on them. Those who don’ t desire to put together a dedicated monitoring and security team can also hire a managed detection and response team that will monitor 24/7. They can also monitor for critical security updates that make patching easy.
With the current situation in Ukraine and how outside countries have reacted, the likelihood of attacks from Russian APTs spreading across the world has increased now more than ever.
The Sandworm team’ s industrial control attacks should be a particular concern as they offer a significant advantage if successfully executed during wartime, and focused countries may change according to changes in military posture. APT28 is likely to attack varying countries as they have been, probably in direct line with military goals. APT29 should be watched closely due to their stealth efforts.
Ransomware continues to rise in popularity, though it’ s less common to see it used by APTs. This is one form of malware that should most certainly be defended against as it can shut down operations and provide an inadvertent military advantage. Financial industries should keep a close eye on the activity of IndrikSpider due to the effectiveness of their banking trojan Dridex.
Larger organizations should – if they have not already done so – lock down their networks well. Today is the second-best time to secure, with yesterday being the best.
LogicHub harnesses the power of AI and automation for superior detection and response at a fraction of the cost. From small teams with security challenges, to large teams automating SOCs, LogicHub makes advanced detection and response easy and effective for everyone.
* * * This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Blog | LogicHub® authored by Tessa Mishoe. Read the original post at: https: //www.logichub.com/blog/weathering-russian-winter-the-current-state-of-russian-apts | general |
CX Group unveils Born out of Africa series in SA | The Customer Experience ( CX) Group this week launched its Born out of Africa series in Sandton, as a springboard for companies to learn the latest market developments.
The group says the Born out of Africa project is a knowledge-sharing platform that will enable customer experience management business units to deliver solutions with clear returns.
It will be delivered in the form of a series CX of events, which will serve the local CX community.
At the launch, CX Group CEO Yugesh Frylinck shared some insights, saying: “ The CX Group will share its specialised knowledge on subjects such as NPS [ Net Promoter Score ] 3.0.
“ The CX Group is in the process of releasing new products into the CX market, which have been developed locally in South Africa by Performance Insights, hence the ‘ Born out of Africa’ name originated. ”
There are growing calls for technology-driven CX to play a greater role going forward in assisting businesses to navigate the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Frylinck says the local CX community isn’ t immune to challenges facing its peers globally in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, hence the need to sail across as an industry.
“ Chances are that your business may never return to the customer engagement model that existed prior to COVID-19. Take a few steps back and revisit everything you have done to improve your customer experience prior to COVID-19.
“ User experience through digital platforms will most definitely influence the overall experience of your customers and may even become the entire new CX. The question is whether or not your business is geared to navigate this new fraught journey with insight and proven methodologies. ”
Some of the biggest challenges for customer experience in the country, Frylinck notes, include “ developing a CX culture and customer-first mindset, ensuring deep enough customer understanding, defining great CX and prioritising CX initiatives ”.
According to Frylinck, customers are increasingly expecting brands to understand and respond to their individual needs.
“ Identify the ‘ experience moments’ in the customer’ s digital interaction with your product, service or solution. Revisit your brand identity and the experience you want to associate with your product or brand, ” she says.
“ Chances are that you may discover that many ‘ experience moments’ that differentiated your brand in a tactile world are actually weakened by the digital migration, and will need a new strategy to create new meaningful ‘ experience moments’ online.
“ The reality is that many businesses that were on high levels of customer-centricity maturity dropped a few levels on the maturity scale with the migration of their solutions to digital platforms.
“ Businesses familiar with the maturity levels, both in terms of customer-centricity as well as digitisation, are in a much better position to regain their previous levels of customer-centricity maturity and grow, than a business that ignores its digital maturity. ” | general |
`` We want to make a strong statement and stay in Ukraine '' say Kharkiv Architecture School principals | `` We left Kharkiv on the first day of the war, on February 24, '' said the school's deputy vice-chancellor Iryna Matsevko speaking from the school's temporary premises at the National Academy of Arts in Lviv, around 800 kilometres to the west of Kharkiv.
`` We heard explosions, '' she added. `` I still remember this sound. We were stuck in a traffic jam. People desperately fled the city in cars. ''
A group of around 15 staff and students are now located in Lviv, with the rest of the school's 40 students and 25 faculty expected to join over the next two months.
within Ukraine while creating temporary housing for other displaced people.
`` It was our decision that we want to make a strong statement and stay in Ukraine, '' explained Matsevko.
`` Ukraine is in need now, so what we can do best is to educate the younger generation and get together experts from Ukraine and abroad to think start to think about after the war, '' she continued.
`` Our teachers and researchers got a lot of offers for scholarships and positions at other institutions and architects got invitations to work in foreign offices. But for us, it is extremely important to be here and work here. ''
Top image: Iryna Matsevko and Oleh Drozdov in Kharkiv before they had to flee the city. Photo is by Kateryna Pereverzeva. Above: The Kharkiv Architecture School has relocated to Lviv
Located in the west of Ukraine, the city of Kharkiv had a population of 1.5 million before the war. It has been heavily bombed by the Russian army,
With no prospect of immediately returning to Kharkiv, Matsevko and Drozdov are working to establish a semi-permanent base for the Kharkiv School of Architecture in Lviv.
`` It is quite a peaceful city, '' explained Drozdov. `` It is getting bombed from time to time, but it's nothing compared to Kharkiv, which is completely being destroyed right now and continues every day to lose, buildings, people and infrastructure. ''
Plans for the Kharkiv School of Architecture are still in flux and its staff aim to remain in Lviv for at least a couple of years.
`` There are few institutions that are ready to help evacuated universities, and we are grateful for this kind gesture from the Lviv Academy of Art, '' said Matsevko.
`` Our feeling and our thoughts about school are continually changing because the situation was unclear and it's still unclear, '' she said. `` Initially, we thought the war would last for a few weeks and we would immediately go back to the school in Kharkiv. ''
`` We wanted to make the school a platform for dialogue, discussion and projects in development, but now we, unfortunately, understand that the war will last longer, and we have had to make long-term decisions for our school, '' she continued.
Drozdov and Matsevko expect the majority of its 40-strong student body, which dispersed across the country in the lead up to the war, to physically return within the next couple of months.
`` We have started our academic program, '' explained Drozdov. `` We have already done the second week and are working out how to combine offline and online classes because several students are already in the city. ''
`` The school and other activities help us to keep feeling positive because are students are happy to return to school and they are going to continue – it's our future, '' added Matsevko. `` We are responsible for this younger generation they rely on us, they believe in us. ''
Established in 2017, the private university, like many around the world, had just restructured and was rebuilding with new programs following coronavirus disruption. However, the war has forced Drozdov and Matsevko to rethink the direction and role of the institution.
`` We will develop our programme here and also the focus of school will be changed, because the school's mission was to introduce updated approaches and methodology to architecture education, '' said Matsevko.
`` Now we have another mission to it to introduce new courses and discussions on post-conflict cities '', she continued. `` We will adjust our programme to give more knowledge and skills to our students who will reconstruct our cities. ''
The school will aim to educate students on a practical level to understand how the country and city of Kharkiv in particular can be rebuilt after the war.
`` There will be reconstruction of the buildings the military is demolishing, and this is a quite specific type of restoration and reconstruction, '' Drozdov said. `` Students will also have to understand new security aspects for architecture. ''
Drozdov also believes that there is potential to improve the country's cities, which will be key to attracting people back after the war is over.
`` A big challenge will be to attract inhabitants back to Kharkiv – there will need to be a huge power of motivation, '' said Drozdov. `` Why would people return to a city which is just 30 kilometres from the Russian border? ''
`` There is an opportunity to dream of a new direction – a city with new infrastructure, with new functions, with water quality, green infrastructure, '' he continued. `` And it will be very important to involve the inhabitants in the process of rebuilding. ''
Drozdov and Matsevko also expect the school to be involved in intellectual discussions surrounding the challenges of rebuilding and maintaining connections to the city's past.
`` The Russian army is erasing memories because buildings keep memories of different periods, '' said Matsevko. `` It is very important to keep this memory and we have to remember the war. ''
`` Kharkiv has a really complex history, it was part of the Russian Empire and one of the most important Soviet cities, so this heritage is present in the city, '' she explained.
`` We have to keep this memory because it's part of the city's identity so there are intellectual challenges, which we need to discuss. It's something invisible that will physically shape the new city. ''
Along with teaching, the school is collaborating with students and Drozdov's architecture studio to create spaces for others arriving in Ukraine after fleeing from other parts of Ukraine.
They have converted a sports hall in Lviv Regional Sports School for Children and Youth in Stryi Park into temporary accommodation for 132 people.
`` Many people are involved in this process, '' said Drozdov. `` We are combine building equipment to partition up the space. We do it quickly, it's doesn't take a lot of time. We have a small group in the office managing this process. ''
To continue operating the Kharkiv School of Architecture requires funding and support from architectural academics. Details are
`` We are facing challenges because we just moved here without any support, '' explained Matsevko. `` So we really need financial support for maintaining our school and our students and teachers, but also we need institutional support as we have some gaps as some tutors can't teach now. ''
organised by UK magazine Architecture Today on 21 April.
The war in Ukraine has forced millions of people to flee from their homes. Interior designer Katerina Kovalenko | business |
Genes, Brain and Behavior | We are pleased to announce that Genes, Brain and Behavior will join Wiley’ s Open Access portfolio as of 31 August 2021. As a result, all submissions received from 31 August 2021 will be subject to an Article Processing Charge if accepted and published in the journal. For more information on the fees, please click here.
The pattern and extent of brain damage in alcohol-use disorder cases also varies with comorbid disease. We used quantitative real-time PCR to measure GABRA6 and GABRA2 mRNA concentrations in dorsolateral prefrontal and primary motor cortices of alcohol-use disorder subjects and controls of both sexes with and without liver disease who had been genotyped for these GABAA receptor subunit genes.
The ventrolateral neurons and PDF in circadian pacemakers suppress nocturnal activity of flies under warm temperature. Under relatively warm conditions, flies shift their activity into the night, advancing their morning activity bout into early morning, and delaying their evening activity into early night. We show here that flies lacking proper PDF signalling or lacking the LNvs altogether, can not suppress their locomotor activity during the middle of the night, resulting in loss of sleep, thereby uncovering a novel role for PDF signalling and the LNvs in behavioural modulation in the context of warm ambient conditions.
The 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease shows impaired visual-spatial learning on the Morris water maze ( MWM). These learning impairments are influenced by the age of mice, sex, motor dysfunction, and albinism. Controlling for these factors will help improve the quality of pre-clinical research with the 5xFAD mouse.
Recent human genome-wide association studies have implicated membrane glycoproteins in the regulation of traits relevant to psychiatric disorders. We created a mutant glycoprotein M6B ( Gpm6b) allele on a C57BL/6J mouse background and found that Gpm6b deletion caused deficits in delayed discounting, as measured by the delay discounting task, while enhanced reward sensitivity in the probabilistic reversal learning task. Taken together these data further delineate the role of Gpm6b in decision making behaviors that are relevant to multiple psychiatric disorders.
The following is a list of the most cited articles based on citations published in the last three years, according to CrossRef.
Epigenetics in host–microbe interactions has received little attention. In this review we put forward novel hypotheses.
While LHb PACAP-expressing neurons do not define a distinct phenotypic class of LHb neurons, they are unique in behavioral control. Activation of these neurons reduces fear and anxiety and is directly rewarding.
By treating the coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19) pandemic as a natural experiment, we examine the influence of substantial environmental change ( i.e., lockdown measures) on individual differences in quality of life ( QoL) in the Netherlands. We compare QoL scores before the pandemic ( N = 25,772) to QoL scores during the pandemic ( N = 17,222) in a sample of twins and their family members. We find increased variance in QoL during the pandemic as the result of a large increase in unique environmental variance.
Epigenetics in host–microbe interactions has received little attention. In this review we put forward novel hypotheses.
Genome-wide association studies hits ( log10 transformed) discovered as a function of sample size and personality trait.
This review discusses the current state of knowledge regarding putative risk factors in the etiology of anxiety disorders and the role of epigenetic regulation as a non-canonical mode of genetic influence moderating the complex interplay between genetic, environmental and psychological influences. We place a particular focus on protective factors serving to buffer a risk factor constellation toward a better understanding of the mechanisms at the interface of risk or resilience to anxiety.
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FAA Seeks $ 159,000 in Fines From 2 Passengers for Alleged Unruly Behavior | Get exclusive stories and unlimited access to Skift.com news
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David Shepardson, Reuters
April 9th, 2022 at 11:59 AM EDT
When it comes to unruly flyers, aviation watchdogs can spit and bite, too.
Sean O'Neill
An American Airlines passenger who allegedly shoved a flight attendant and spit at crew members has been hit with the biggest fine ever issued by U.S. aviation regulators, and another fine topping $ 75,000 was issued to a Delta Air Lines passenger who bit a fellow passenger after trying to hug and kiss another.
Since January 2021 when the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA) imposed a zero-tolerance policy, the agency has proposed fines of about $ 7 million for disruptive passengers. Two new fines issued Friday were the highest yet.
The FAA proposed a $ 81,950 fine for an American Airlines passenger on a July flight from Dallas, Texas to Charlotte, North Carolina, alleging the passenger “ threatened to hurt the flight attendant that offered help to the passenger after she fell into the aisle. The passenger then pushed the flight attendant aside and tried to open the cabin door. ”
The FAA added “ two flight attendants tried to restrain the passenger, but she repeatedly hit one of the flight attendants on the head. After the passenger was restrained in flex cuffs, she spit at, headbutted, bit and tried to kick the crew and other passengers. ”
The agency also proposed a $ 77,272-fine for a Delta passenger on a July Las Vegas to Atlanta flight, alleging the passenger “ attempted to hug and kiss the passenger seated next to her; walked to the front of the aircraft to try to exit during flight; refused to return to her seat; and bit another passenger multiple times. ”
Delta said Friday it “ has zero tolerance for unruly behavior at our airports and on our flights as nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people. ”
The FAA imposed its zero-tolerance mandate when unruly passenger incidents escalated around the time of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Incidents remained elevated after President Joe Biden’ s administration imposed a mandate requiring passengers to wear masks on airplanes and in airports because of COVID-19 cases in February 2021.
The FAA said neither incident that led to Friday’ s fines involved passengers who objected to wearing masks.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told ABC’ s “ The View ” Friday that the administration’ s mandate requiring masks on airplanes and in public transport will either expire or be renewed on April 18.
“ We all want to get to where there are fewer restrictions. We just need to get to a point where it is safe to do that, ” Buttigieg said. “ Air travel is a little different than a lot of other environments but we would love to get there. ”
Airlines and Republicans in Congress are pressing the White House to end the mask mandate and some lawmakers sent a new letter on Friday to Biden.
The FAA said since January 2021, there have been a record 7,060 unruly passenger incidents reported – and 70% involved masking rules – but the rate has declined 60% since its high in 2021.
The FAA said in February it has referred 80 unruly airplane passengers to the FBI for potential criminal prosecution.
Buttigieg said the administration and Congress are still looking at a “ no-fly ” list for unruly passengers.
( Reporting by David Shepardson Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)
Copyright ( 2022) Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions
This article was written by David Shepardson from Reuters and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive Content Marketplace. Please direct all licensing questions to [ email protected ].
| general |
Moderna recalls thousands of COVID vaccine doses in Europe | Moderna Inc said on Friday it was recalling 764,900 doses of its COVID-19 vaccine made by its contract manufacturer Rovi after a vial was found contaminated by a foreign body, Trend reports citing Reuters.
No safety issues have been identified, Moderna said about the lots that were distributed in Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden in January.
The drugmaker said the contamination was found in just one vial, and it was recalling the whole lot out of `` an abundance of caution ''. It did not disclose what was found in the vial. | general |
What Is Organizational Design? | Just as architecture has the concept that “ form follows function, ” business has the principle of organizational design. This principle holds that the structure of a company should be shaped to implement its strategic plan.
It sounds simple enough, except, just as no two buildings look exactly the same, there is no one correct way to design an organization.
While there is no one way to structure a company, plenty of research exists about organizational designs that work better than others. For example, startups are famously small and informal, often involving a tight team of personality-driven founders and talent who see themselves as rebels or trailblazers. They often view their loose, non-hierarchical structure as a competitive advantage and the source of their nimbleness and creativity.
However, three management professors studied 78 young California companies and found that those which established structured systems early in their growth grew three times faster and experienced less CEO turnover than their competitors, as reported by Stanford Business.
Often, the researchers found, this more structured organizational design was imposed on the startups by their venture capital investors, and was most needed once a startup had grown to between 50 and 100 employees, when no single founder, however forceful, could keep up with what everyone is doing.
Organizational design is a much bigger concept than an organizational chart, though an org chart of who reports to who could be one tool that comes out of the organizational design process.
According to Deloitte Insights, it’ s a method of understanding what a business really does and how best to do it. And global research by this international financial services company finds that organizational design is both top of mind for businesses, and a challenge, as the way business is conducted has been evolving rapidly.
“ Fully 88 percent of this year’ s survey respondents believe that building the organization of the future is an important or very important issue, ” reports Deloitte Insights. “ Yet [ o ] nly 11 percent of survey respondents believe they understand how to build the organization of the future. ”
One major shift it has noted is that “ As networks and ecosystems replace organizational hierarchies, the traditional question ‘ For whom do you work?’ has been replaced by ‘ With whom do you work?’ ” as teams-based structures have become more dominant.
Not surprisingly, the policy response to the Covid-19 pandemic, in which governments around the world sought to control the spread of the virus by tightly restricting business and commerce, forced businesses around the world to rethink their organizational design. Countless businesses had to jettison old ways of operating to survive and are now applying the lessons learned to their post-Covid-19 realities.
Peter Brodie, director of organizational design at The Orgworks, writes for Forbes, “ The current Covid-19 pandemic has caused an ‘ event horizon’ for all organizations and sectors. Executives will need to reorientate their organization in 2021. However, organization design is difficult, as it aims to take a complex entity, dissect and analyze it and then rebuild it so it functions better. ”
Efforts to consciously design the modern workplace date back to Frederick W. Taylor, who published “ The Principles of Scientific Management ” in 1911. Taylor, a mechanical engineer by training, had analyzed factory tasks to find the most efficient way to do them and established specific roles and responsibilities for management and labor. His work was hugely influential in early 20th century industrial companies.
Organizational design is the process of structuring a company in a way that supports the implementation of its strategic plan. A complex concept with roots in the early 1900s, organizational design principles continue to evolve to adapt to the needs of modern organizations. | tech |
Threat of President Le Pen Sends French Bond Yields to 2015 High | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally party, speaks during a meeting in Perpignan, France, on Thursday, April 7, 2022. Polls show that France's President Emmanuel Macron will win the first round and face Le Pen in the second round two weeks later. Photographer: Louise Delmotte/Bloomberg, Bloomberg
The prospect of a Marine Le Pen presidency is spooking investors in the French bond market as the far-right candidate closes in on incumbent Emmanuel Macron ahead of Sunday’ s election.
Investors have been dumping French debt this week, pushing 10-year borrowing costs to a seven-year high. The yields are on course for their fifth monthly rise, a streak not seen for over a decade, showing the market’ s concern over the looming exit from ultra accommodative monetary policy in the euro region.
Polls show that after the first round of voting, Macron is likely to face Le Pen in a run-off vote two weeks later -- one that could prove highly uncertain. The opposition candidate narrowed Macron’ s lead in recent weeks after moving away from anti-euro rhetoric and courting voters with pledges to slash gasoline prices and tax big energy companies. That jolted bond traders, whose perception of risk on French sovereign debt -- measured by the bonds’ premium over German counterparts -- jumped to the most in two years.
Le Pen “ is more palatable for markets this time, as leaving the euro area does not feature in her campaign, ” said Jordan Rochester, a strategist at Nomura International Plc. “ That is where the good news ends. ”
A Le Pen victory would send the euro lower and further widen bond spreads, Rochester said. Macron would beat Le Pen 51% to 49% in a runoff, according to poll of voting intentions by Elabe published on Friday ahead of the election.
Beyond Sunday’ s election, a policy shift for the European Central Bank looms on the horizon. The ECB removed the safety net of bond purchases last month. Introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, the 1.85 trillion euro ( $ 2 trillion) program kept a lid on the single-currency region’ s borrowing costs.
Minutes of last month’ s meeting showed some policy makers wanted to set an end date for a smaller asset-purchase program, which has been running since 2015. That would clear the way for a possible rate hike in the third quarter to combat euro-area inflation that’ s already almost four times the 2% target.
That said, the ECB is working on a backstop that would be available for the Governing Council to use against debt-market stress caused by shocks outside the control of individual governments, said officials familiar with the plans, who asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.
Money markets are betting on quarter-point rate hikes in September and December, which would lift the deposit rate to zero for the first time in eight years. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg see the ECB delivering its first rate increase in more than a decade in December.
Le Pen has cast herself as the candidate of ordinary people she calls the “ little ones, ” and shifted her focus to addressing the cost of living crisis. But her past euroskeptic comments still cast a long shadow among investors.
“ Unless Le Pen comes out swearing her loyalty to the euro, the risk is that her victory creates anti-euro sentiment and ushers in a new era of uncertainty, ” said Rishi Mishra, an analyst at Futures First.
That could reignite concern over Italian debt ahead of next year’ s general election in that country and revive memories of the 2018 vote, which gave way to a populist coalition that often clashed with the EU over budget restrictions.
Back then, Italy’ s yield premiums -- a key gauge of risk in the region -- were pushed to a five-year high, a level not seen since. Ahead of Sunday’ s French vote, Italian bond spreads surged to a near six-week high.
“ Italian bonds may suffer the most should she actually win, ” Mishra said.
Canada joins U.S., U.K. in diplomatic boycott of Beijing games
Trudeau weighs auto-content rules as next U.S. trade flashpoint | general |
Lexmark Recognized with Multiple Manufacturing Leadership Awards | Lexmark, a global imaging and IoT solutions leader, announced that it has been recognized as a winner in the 2022 Manufacturing Leadership Awards for its outstanding achievement in three categories: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Digital Supply Chains, and Collaborative Ecosystems. This is the 11th year in a row that Lexmark has received recognition from the distinguished organization.
“ Lexmark continually focuses on creating and delivering best-in-class products and processes. These awards validate our industry leadership, ” said Tonya Jackson, senior vice president and chief product delivery officer. “ We thank the Manufacturing Leadership Council for recognizing the talented Lexmark employees who innovate every day, driving best practices across the organization. ”
The council developed the Manufacturing Leadership Awards to honor manufacturing companies and leaders that are shaping the future of global manufacturing. For 2022, awards were presented to companies and individuals in 11 categories, honoring world-class manufacturing achievements. Lexmark was recognized in three of the 11 categories in 2022.
Lexmark’ s New Product Introduction team and Ventures teams were recognized for collaborating internally to drive out costs in the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning category. The teams built and automated a visual inspection system by integrating the Lexmark Optra Edge device with Lexmark’ s manufacturing system. By using a Lexmark solution, the team achieved a 70% reduction in the cost of comparable automated vision systems for our manufacturing facilities.
When the COVID-19 pandemic took component shortages to a crisis level, Lexmark had to find a new way to manage them. The Lexmark Product Delivery team was recognized in the Digital Supply Chains category for creating a solution that enables better visibility across suppliers and components. The team worked collaboratively across the company to identify, collect and consolidate data from multiple sources, including the supply and demand views of key manufacturers, and built a digital twin to improve visibility into the entire system.
Lexmark was recognized in the Collaborative Ecosystems category for expanding its circular economy opportunities. The collection and reuse or recycling of used toner cartridges is critical to the success of Lexmark’ s circular economy initiatives. The Lexmark Cartridge Collection Program ( LCCP) allows customers to quickly return used cartridges to collection locations in every region worldwide. Still, only a handful of sites are equipped to identify whether the cartridges can be refurbished and reused. The Lexmark team built a cloud solution that evaluates returned cartridges without the need for costly hardware. The new solution is a win-win, providing significant costs savings to the organization and benefitting the environment by allowing Lexmark to reuse more cartridges than ever before.
Lexmark will be recognized at the Manufacturing Leadership Awards Gala on June 29, 2022, at the JW Marriott in Marco Island, Florida. The gala is the closing event for Rethink: The Manufacturing Leadership Council Summit. Details about the awards are available here. | tech |
Australian Prime Minister to Call National Election for May 21 | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
( Bloomberg) -- Australia will hold a national election on May 21, after a six-week campaign period which center-right Prime Minister Scott Morrison hopes will bring him another come-from-behind victory.
Morrison’ s Liberal National coalition is currently trailing the opposition Labor Party in opinion polling, but he was in a similar position ahead of the 2019 election and narrowly won another term in office. “ I have always believed in miracles, ” Morrison said during his victory speech then.
The Prime Minister’ s office confirmed the election date, which is expected to be announced by Morrison at a press conference Sunday.
The Australian leader has attempted to frame the vote around the country’ s strong economic growth and national defense, while the opposition, led by Anthony Albanese, is focusing on domestic manufacturing and higher wages for workers. The Labor Party is also targeting Morrison personally over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“ Our Government is not perfect. But we have been upfront. You know what we stand for, you can see our record of delivery, and you can see our plan for the future, ” Morrison said in an opinion piece distributed by his office on Sunday.
The election date announcement comes after the government unveiled a series of spending measures last month to help soften the impact of rising living costs and bring Morrison back into contention for the polls. Morrison has been criticized over supply shortages during a recent omicron outbreak and mismanaging the response to flooding in the nation’ s northeast.
In an opinion piece distributed to the media on Sunday, Labor leader Albanese said Australian voters should blame rising cost-of-living prices on the government, claiming it had failed to grow wages.
“ When you cringe next time you pay your supermarket bill, remember it was the Morrison government that went out of its way to keep a lid on your pay packet, ” Albanese said.
Canada joins U.S., U.K. in diplomatic boycott of Beijing games
Trudeau weighs auto-content rules as next U.S. trade flashpoint | general |
Yield Curve Curse to Lift as Buffers Boost Asian Stocks | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
Figures for various Stock Exchange of Thailand ( SET) indices are displayed on an electronic board at the bourse in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. Thai equities, Asia's worst performers this year, will face another drag from the heightened political tension, which would derail the economic recovery amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, said Pakorn. Photographer: Taylor Weidman/Bloomberg, Bloomberg
( Bloomberg) -- Asia stock investors worried that the bond market’ s signal of a U.S. recession may trigger another bout of underperformance have a cushion to fall back on.
Factors such as a more stable macro environment, policy stimulus in China and a boost from reopening economies are giving them comfort that history won’ t repeat itself. In the past, almost whenever the two- to 10-year Treasury yield curve has inverted -- a bearish signal for the U.S. economy that was again triggered last month -- Asia has tended to underperform global peers.
Asia bulls are hoping regional equities can emerge as a relative haven after trailing for five quarters, as investors stateside worry about aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve while those in Europe fret over the impact of the war in Ukraine.
“ Unlike previous cycles such as the Asian financial crisis, Asia is better placed to absorb the impact of inflationary pressure given macro stability buffers, ” said Zhikai Chen, head of Asian equities at BNP Paribas Asset Management. “ Asia also continues to offer supportive technicals including modest valuations, light investor positions and reasonable strong fundamentals. ”
In the previous five instances of inversion since 1988, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1.6% on average in the following three months. That lagged the global equity gauge by almost four percentage points, according to calculations by Bloomberg.
But bulls can point to 2005 and 2019 as two periods that bucked that trend, when the Asian index gained roughly between 6% and 8%, in line with or slightly better than global peers. This time, even though the measure has lost about 2% since the curve inverted end of March, it is faring better than the MSCI World gauge by half a percentage point.
Better current-account balances compared to the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and relatively high policy rates mean that regional currencies are on a stronger footing and economies have some leeway in battling a growth slowdown. Meanwhile, parts of Asia still enjoy inflation rates that are relatively subdued compared to the rest of the world.
The region is also behind the U.S. and Europe in reopening economies from coronavirus restrictions, not least in China which has a strict Covid-Zero policy. That means a boost from the easing of curbs lies ahead, something that is already helping Southeast Asian stocks outperform this year.
With hopes building that Chinese authorities will step in to support growth as vowed in mid-March, the region’ s biggest economy -- a crucial ingredient during past periods of outperformance -- could emerge as another positive for Asia. Officials on Wednesday signaled they will step up monetary stimulus at an “ appropriate time, ” raising speculation that could come as early as next week.
“ China remains very interesting as it is at a very different position as compared to the Fed, we expect to see more monetary and fiscal stimulus measures to stabilize the economy, ” said Catherine Yeung, investment director at Fidelity International.
Still, bears can argue that China has been slow to roll out such policies and higher commodity prices remain a drag on the region. And a recession in the U.S. would naturally weigh on Asia’ s export-heavy economies.
“ Asian equities will not be immune if external risk in the form of a likely U.S. growth slowdown amid tighter policy leads to a significant dent in the global risk sentiment later in the year, ” Nomura Holdings Inc. strategists including Chetan Seth wrote in a note this month.
That leaves valuations as one last part of Asia’ s equity buffer that should at least appeal to global value investors. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index trades on a forward earnings discount to both the S & P 500 and Stoxx 600.
“ As the U.S. battles high inflation and tightening monetary policy and the E.U. is faced with stark geopolitical risks and a possible energy crisis, Asian equities appear quite attractive from a valuation and macro perspective and have a decent chance to outperform for the remainder of the year, ” according to David Chao, global market strategist for Asia Pacific ex-Japan at Invesco Ltd. “ Asia is also relatively insulated from geopolitical risks and enjoys low consumer price inflation. ”
While the feds touted the spending in its budget as prudent, prominent Bay Street economist David Rosenberg said the extra fiscal stimulus could lead the Bank of Canada to hike its benchmark rate higher than originally thought.
Canada’ s unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since at least the mid-1970s, as the laboUr market posted another strong monthly employment gain.
Average Canadians might not realize how big a stake they have in the country’ s largest banks in their retirement portfolios; either directly in their RRSPs and TFSAs, or indirectly through mutual funds, ETFs, and pension plans.
Businesses are struggling to cope with an apparent sixth wave of COVID, as staffing shortages hamper sectors from health care to hospitality and retail — though the interruption remains more manageable than last winter's Omicron variant surge. | general |
China’ s Pick for Next Hong Kong Chief Vows to Protect Global Hub | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
( Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong’ s leading candidate for the city’ s top job pledged to maintain the financial hub’ s international competitiveness and stressed his loyalty to China, as he formally kicked off his campaign after winning Beijing’ s sole backing for the race.
“ Hong Kong must maintain its character of being an international metropolis, ” said former chief secretary John Lee at a press briefing on Saturday. “ Hong Kong must expand its international connectivity, establish a more favorable business environment, uphold the value of inclusion, diversity and openness, and further strengthen its competitiveness. ”
The city’ s vitality lies in its role as a link between China and the rest of world, said Lee, vowing to strengthen that gateway function. The former second-highest ranked government official in Hong Kong said he joined the chief executive race out of loyalty to China, love for the city and a sense of responsibility to its people.
“ Loyalty is the basic requirement, ” he said. “ The chief executive must be a patriotic person. ”
China’ s cabinet approved Lee’ s resignation from his government post on Thursday, clearing a path for the former police officer to outline his vision for city ahead of the May 8 small-circle vote. The next chief executive will take office on July 1, the halfway mark in Beijing’ s 50-year pledge to preserve the city’ s liberal financial and political systems.
Hong Kong’ s tycoons threw their support behind Lee on Thursday, in their latest show of loyalty to China. Still, Beijing’ s backing of a staunch national security proponent has raised concerns President Xi Jinping plans to prioritize tightening security in the former British colony over rebuilding the city’ s status as an international financial hub.
Hong Kong has maintained some of the world’ s strictest travel and social distancing curbs during the pandemic, which have been heavily criticized by business leaders and caused an exodus of foreigners in recent months.
The city has insisted on China’ s Covid Zero policy at a time when global rivals such as Singapore and London are opening up. Lee’ s candidacy comes weeks after outgoing Chief Executive Carrie Lam loosened travel restrictions to a one-week hotel quarantine for incoming residents and permitted most infected people to quarantine at home.
Lee didn’ t give details on how he plans to strengthen the city’ s international status and connections. While he is widely considered as lacking in knowledge of and connections in the finance and business sectors, he said this would instead allow him to make policies that are “ fair and just. ”
“ I don’ t have any baggage, ” he said. “ My primary concern is the overall interest, instead of the interest of any certain sector. ”
Lee’ s role overseeing the city’ s unpopular Covid isolation camps, where asymptomatic residents have been housed, has stoked fears Hong Kong could reverse that progress and adopt a mainland-style Covid Zero strategy under his leadership. Across the border, outbreaks are stamped out with compulsory mass testing drives and citywide lock downs, something Hong Kong has avoided.
The next chief executive will face pressure to restore business confidence, handle an aging society, address the city’ s affordable housing crisis and manage the pandemic. Possible big ticket agenda items include passing more security legislation to ban sedition and the theft of state secrets, and a possible fake news law.
Candidates in the election have until April 16 to announce their plan to challenge Lee, and secure 188 votes from the some 1,500 mostly Beijing loyalists who pick the city’ s leader. If Lee runs unopposed it will mark the first time in two decades Hong Kong has presented a single candidate.
Canada joins U.S., U.K. in diplomatic boycott of Beijing games
Trudeau weighs auto-content rules as next U.S. trade flashpoint | general |
NRX PHARMACEUTICALS INVESTIGATION INITIATED By Former Louisiana Attorney General: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Investigates the Officers and Directors of NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. - NRXP | NEW ORLEANS -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ( “ KSF ”), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into NRx Pharmaceuticals ( NasdaqGM: NRXP).
In June 2021, the Company announced that it filed an application with U.S. Food and Drug Administration ( “ FDA ”) requesting Emergency Use Authorization ( “ EUA ”) for Zyesami, its investigational pre-commercial drug product for treating COVID-19 related respiratory failure. Then, on November 4, 2021, the Company disclosed that the FDA had declined to issue an EUA for Zyesami “ due to insufficient data regarding the known and potential benefits of the medicine and the known and potential risks of Zyesami in patients suffering from Critical COVID-19 with respiratory failure. ”
The Company was subsequently sued in a securities class action lawsuit for failing to disclose material information, violating federal securities laws, which remains ongoing.
KSF’ s investigation is focusing on whether NRx’ s officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to the Company’ s shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws. | general |
FEBS Letters: Accepted Articles | FEBS Letters is a not-for-profit society journal for the rapid publication of research reports that significantly impact and advance knowledge in the molecular life sciences. We offer expedited handling of manuscripts by Editors who are active scientists in your field. Publish with us free of charge or open access.
Accepted, unedited articles published online and citable. The final edited and typeset Version of Record will appear in the future.
In this study, we delineated the redox regulation mechanism of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis key virulence factor Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase A ( MptpA). Treatment of MptpA with H2O2, mimicking cellular oxidative stress conditions, leads to oxidation of the catalytic cysteine ( C11) and conformational rearrangement of the conserved tyrosine 128 ( Y128), thereby reducing temporarily the activity of the bacterial phosphatase.
Glycans have an enormous power to discriminate self/non-self as they constitute a fundamental molecular ID of both human cells and pathogens. We discuss the concept of glycan mimicry associated with the breach of immune tolerance and the potential application of glycans as promising diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers or as novel immunomodulatory therapies against infections and autoimmune diseases.
By combining docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and site-directed mutagenesis, we propose a quinone binding site on the surface of complex I. In light of these results, the molecular mechanism of respiratory complex I is discussed.
We show thiol-mediated redox regulation of cyanobacterial response regulators Rre1, RpaA, and RpaB, which are involved in circadian clock function and abiotic stress acclimation. Oxidative stress causes these response regulators to oligomerize independently of phosphorylation, adding another layer of regulation to their DNA-binding activity. Reduced thioredoxin A converts the higher-order oligomers of these response regulators to monomers.
Check out our Virtual Issue on Mitochondrial Biology, featuring frontline research in this exciting field.
Congratulations to Nicholas Mullin and Ian Chambers for winning the 2022 FEBS Letters Award for their outstanding article on NANOG phosphorylation in embryonic stem cell self-renewal.
Read our Vesicle Biology Virtual Issue, a collection of cutting-edge Research Articles and Reviews covering major advances in the field.NEW!
Keep up to date on COVID-19 developments through this Virtual Issue bringing together all our SARS-CoV-2-related content.NEW!
Don't miss our Ljubljana Virtual Issue, featuring cutting edge Reviews by the 45th FEBS Congress speakers.NEW!
Read the complete Special Issue Diversity of Structure and Function of ABC Transporters introduced and edited by Amro Hamdoun, Ute A. Hellmich, Gergely Szakacs, and Karl KuchlerNEW!
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Shanghai carries out more COVID tests as food supply frustrations rise | Shanghai carried out another round of mass COVID-19 testing on Saturday, this time testing residents at least twice in a single day, as a city official in China's financial hub acknowledged shortcomings in the handling of the outbreak.
It was the fourth consecutive day of city-wide testing in Shanghai, which reported a record 23,600 new locally transmitted cases.
While those case numbers are small by global standards, the city has become a test bed for the country's elimination strategy, which seeks to test, trace and centrally quarantine all positive COVID cases.
Beijing intervened after the failure of Shanghai's initial effort to isolate the virus by locking down in stages, insisting that the country stick to its zero-tolerance policy to prevent its medical system from being overwhelmed.
But the curbs have sharply squeezed supplies of food and other essential goods for the city of 26 million, as numerous supermarkets have been shut and thousands of couriers locked in. Access to medical care has also been a concern.
City residents were asked to self-administer antigen tests on Saturday, sometimes even two, and then to queue in their compounds later in the day for PCR tests.
Meanwhile, public frustrations have been growing over the disruptions to food supplies.
Video footage circulating on Chinese social media showed people in hazmat suits scuffling with occupants of a Shanghai housing compound. Some residents shouted: `` Send provisions. '' Reuters was not able to independently verify the footage.
The city government has said it is trying to get more couriers back on to the streets and reopen supermarkets. E-commerce company JD.com Inc said it had obtained a licence to deliver goods into Shanghai, triggering a buyer rush to its platform.
Shanghai city's deputy mayor Zong Ming acknowledged at a news conference that authorities had not met the public's expectations in their handling of the situation.
`` We feel the same way about the problems everyone has raised and voiced, '' he said. `` A lot of our work has not been enough, and there's still a big gap from everyone's expectations. We will do our best to improve. ''
GUANGZHOU TESTING
On Friday, the U.S. State Department said in a travel advisory it was allowing non-emergency staff and their families to leave the Shanghai consulate due to the surge in cases and the impact of restrictions.
It also advised U.S. citizens to reconsider travel to China `` due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws and COVID-19 restrictions ''.
Elsewhere on Saturday, the southern megacity of Guangzhou - home to more than 18 million people - said it would begin testing across its 11 districts after cases were reported on Friday.
In Beijing, the municipal government placed a high-risk area under lockdown after eight confirmed COVID cases in the last two weeks, Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, told reporters.
The lockdowns in Shanghai and other parts of China are also rattling supply chains.
Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio said it has suspended production after COVID disrupted operations at its suppliers in Shanghai and the provinces of Jilin and Jiangsu.
( This story has been refiled to fix garble in headline)
( Reporting by David Kirton and Zoey Zhang; Editing by Richard Pullin, Mike Harrison and Alex Richardson) | business |
China EV maker Nio suspends production due to supply chain disruptions | `` Since March, due to reasons to do with the epidemic, the company's supplier partners in several places including Jilin, Shanghai and Jiangsu suspended production one after the other and have yet to recover, '' the company said on its mobile app.
`` Due to the impact of this Nio has had to halt car production. ''
The company will postpone deliveries of the EVs to users and will work together with the suppliers to strive for resumption while meeting the government's COVID curbs, it added.
China has been taking strict lockdown measures to contain the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant in several places including Jilin province and Shanghai where plants of major auto part makers and automakers are located.
Tesla has also suspended production at its Shanghai plant since March 28, Reuters reported, after the city started a two-staged lockdown which was later expanded citywide.
Volkswagen's joint venture plant with FAW Group in Changchun, the provincial capital of Jilin, has been shut since mid-March, while its plant in Shanghai with SAIC Motor has been closed since April 1.
( Reporting by Zhang Yan, and Brenda Goh; Editing by Michael Perry) | business |
Cequence Security collaborates with Software AG to help organizations protect their APIs | Cequence Security announced a strategic partnership with Software AG, the software pioneer of a truly connected world.
The integration of API Security Platform with Software AG’ s webMethods Gateway will establish an end-to-end API security solution for enterprise security teams.
“ Our goal has always been to empower our customers to become truly connected and secured enterprises, ” said Jason Johns, Head of Global Alliances and Channels at Software AG. “ We’ ve been doing this for over 50 years, but the era of digital transformation brought about by COVID-19 has highlighted the market need for a solution that protects against attacks targeting API vulnerabilities, attempts to commit fraud or access to sensitive information. Our partnership with Cequence Security will offer that robust API security protection that the industry has been lacking. ”
APIs are now the cornerstone of applications, allowing organizations to adopt a more iterative development methodology where applications are released and updated with greater frequency. The Software AG webMethods Gateway allows customers to centrally manage their APIs, enforce access control and prevent volumetric traffic spikes. The Cequence API Security Platform complements and extends the webMethods capabilities with holistic API attack surface area discovery, misuse and attack detection and is the only solution available that natively mitigates API attacks in real-time.
Historically, organizations have relied on their perimeter security services to protect their APIs. This trend has changed: over 80% of the attacks Cequence Security blocked between July and December 2021 were targeting APIs. This integration will give security teams more visibility into the use of security features available as part of the webMethods Gateway, and more insight into the requests targeting their APIs, enabling them to find and stop threats before they impact the business.
“ We are very excited to partner with Cequence Security to better address the growing need for enhanced API security in today’ s digital business climate. Their comprehensive API security platform combines visibility and risk assessment to protect and prevent sophisticated attacks. Together with Software AG’ s API management capabilities, our new partnership with Cequence Security will help organizations discover and better protect their APIs against all types of threats. ” – Suraj Kumar, General Manager API, Integration & Microservices, Software AG.
“ Research has shown a drastic uptick in data breaches and attacks targeted at APIs over the past year, and our mission is to give enterprises an easy button for all things API security-related through strategic integrations, ” said Larry Link, President and CEO of Cequence Security. “ We’ re thrilled to partner with Software AG to extend their capabilities and carry out our dual mission to enable enterprises to successfully grow their revenue without the fear of API attacks. ”
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Dying in Plain Sight on the Streets of Santa Barbara - The Santa Barbara Independent | Good News, Bad News on the Homeless Front
Over the last three weeks, three homeless women died in plain sight in downtown Santa Barbara. One was murdered, one walked in front of an oncoming car, and the other’ s basic life functions simply came to a stop on the 1200 block of State Street. For those in the trenches trying to expand the scope of options for people experiencing homelessness, these are sobering realities. The stories of these three women remain more guessed at than known. In the same historical moment, however, those in the same trenches took small but definite strides to better connect with those on the streets and to provide some actual housing for those deemed most vulnerable.
After not one but two ribbon-cutting ceremonies, delivery was finally made for the 33 pre-fab, pop-up tiny homes that will soon become the Dignity Moves housing court. This new complex will be located in a county-owned parking lot on the 1000 block of Santa Barbara Street. Although the project remains several months late, occupancy is expected to take place sometime this June. The actual pop-ups — which are now being assembled — were manufactured in Bahrain. The logjam of cargo ships backed up in Long Beach harbor slowed down delivery considerably. The nagging jurisdictional question now is how eligibility for these coveted spots will be determined. Stay tuned.
THE MISSION FOR AN EASTSIDE NAVIGATION CENTER: With considerably less fanfare, there was one small but ebullient ribbon-cutting ceremony early last Wednesday morning presided over by at least one elected official at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission. It was for the grand opening of the new Neighborhood Navigation Center that will now operate at the site every Wednesday morning.
This brings the grand total of Neighborhood Navigation Centers within city limits to three. The grand opening was marked by a decidedly festive and energetic vibe. More than 50 people were served hot breakfasts of eggs, toast, hash brown potatoes, and sausage. Doctors Without Walls was on hand, as were volunteers with the Santa Barbara Support Network — “ We’ re Hear to Listen, ” their sign read — as well as outreach workers with the county’ s Department of Behavioral Wellness. Many of the people taking advantage of the center’ s one-stop-shop opportunities were guests of the Rescue Mission; many, however, were not, coming from the many freeway undercrossings located throughout the city’ s Eastside where unhoused people congregate.
Last Wednesday, there was no shortage of people perambulating about with the assistance of crutches, walkers, canes, and wheelchairs. A cluster of bikes was parked out front. Jeff Shaffer, Barbara Andersen, and Rich Sander — the trio running SB ACT, a city sponsored nonprofit dedicated to getting people off the street and into housing — were happily on hand for a moment they said was six months in the making. In the back of the room — which typically functions as the Rescue Mission’ s chapel — there were a couple racks brimming over with donated clothes.
The biggest line, however, was the one operated by the city library. Library workers were on hand to provide books, videos, and even laptop services. But their ace in the hole was the help they offered those in need in filling out the forms needed to obtain a Social Security card, get their birth certificate, or fill out a host of government forms without which no services can be obtained. In recent months, the library has begun dispatching its mobile van to the three navigation centers that SB ACT has got up and operating. Without the necessary paperwork, it’ s impossible for people on the street to get jobs or to think about qualifying for the limited housing that’ s available. “ Everyone hates dealing with government agencies and filling out forms, ” said library administrator Molly Wetta. “ Even for people who have college degress, jobs and roofs over their head, it’ s hard for us. But here we’ re dealing with people who’ se lives are precarious enough as it is. To expect them to stand in line at some centralized government office building is not really reasonable. For them it’ s not merely aggravating, as it might be for us. It’ s a huge impediment. ”
Busily signing affadavits of homelessness was Kevin Carroll, the Rescue Mission’ s Director of Homeless Services. With these affadavits, applicants can obtain their birth certificate free of charge. Depending on the state or the county of origin, birth certificates would otherwise cost anywhere from $ 35 to $ 50. For many, that would be an insurmountable hurdle.
Carroll grew up in the Modesto neighborhoods of Stanislaus County, but he has worked the last three years for the Rescue Mission. In a previous incarnation he was a drug-and-alcohol counselor and before that a juvenile probation officer. He carries himself with the sturdy authority of someone who played offensive tackle for his high school football team. The Rescue Mission operates pretty much the only shelter in town that embodies the classic first-come-first-served, come-as-you-are shelter. It has a maximum capacity of 120 beds, but the night before, Carroll reported, the mission had 34 women guests and 72 men — so not quite full, but close. If Carroll has seen it all throughout his professional career — 16 years working with the homeless — he still comes across as someone for whom hope is not a four-letter word. “ Yea, there are some bad apples among the homeless. But most of these people, the people we see, they’ re just struggling, ” he said. “ A lot of these people were seriously traumatized. ” Commenting on his own life journey, he said, “ I’ ve been blessed. ”
Connecting the dots that made this latest Navigation Center actually happen, however, was Jerianne Gargano, a homeless guest service worker two years out of Westmont College. Jeff Shaffer and the SB ACT crew had been beating the bushes on the city’ s Eastside for more than six months trying to find a third location before encountering Gargano, who offered up the Rescue Mission.
SB ACT had been getting nowhere fast. Some on the Eastside feel their neighborhood has done more than its fair share where the homeless are concerned, having had the shelter formerly known as Casa Esperanza crammed down their throats. Back in the day, there were no shortage of neighborhood complaints about collateral damage inflicted by Casa Esperanza. Those complaints quieted down when the shelter was bought out several years ago by PATH, a statewide shelter operation of considerable renown. But under PATH, the paradigm shifted and the drop-in trade all but evaporated. There was considerably less space for guests not actively engaged in specific transitional programs. PATH has also struggled to find on-site management; shelters, it turns out are notoriously difficult to run from afar or part-time. But the high cost of living in Santa Barbara has made it even harder still to recruit experienced managers.
Luck met coincidence for Shaffer, who ran into the Rescue Mission’ s Gargano during a neighborhood stakeholder Zoom call. For Shaffer and SB ACT, the Neighborhood Navigation Center is the foundational vehicle for establishing connection and trust with a transient population that is notoriously short-supplied when it comes to trust or connection. But the centers allow service providers to get to know those who need the help. Most homeless people walk only so far in a day, Shaffer noted. It’ s not reasonable to expect them to congregate at one centralized service spot to get help; instead, the city needs to sprout with decentralized spots — Navigation Centers — that provide such services. It’ s almost a tenet of the Shaffer credo that every neighborhood needs one.
Preaching is one thing, Shaffer has discovered; converting the Eastside skeptics and doubters quite another. Into this void leapt Gargano, suggesting the Rescue Mission might be open. As a site, it’ s a little small; there’ s no space outside for the Shower of Blessings portable showers that makes the Navigation Center at the parking lot by Castillo and Carrillo so inviting to so many people every Tuesday. To provide shower services at the Rescue Mission’ s Navigation Center will require some logistical fancy footwork. Gargano said she’ d visited the two other centers and saw what services they provided. “ I realized our guests could really benefit from having one of these events more accessible to them, ” she said.
According to SB ACT, these centers work, however much time it takes. In the past year, Shaffer said, there were 98 “ street exits ” in the past year that he attributes to the two Navigation Centers already up and operating.
That’ s the good news.
NOT A HAPPY DAY: The bad news is that last Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors signed the bureaucratic equivalent of a death certificate for a promising 24-bed drug-and-alcohol rehab program run by the Salvation Army at its downtown shelter on Chapala Street. The program opened in 2019 with much fanfare. MediCal would cover the costs of providing medically assisted treatment for those with serious addiction issues for up to six months. On the South Coast, this was almost unheard of. In 2020, the program treated 282 people. Then COVID struck. Not only did fewer addicts want to risk living in close quarters with other addicts, but there weren’ t enough licensed rehab workers. Because the program involved medical treatment — not just variants of the 12-step programs — actual licenses were required. “ It’ s not the social model, ” stressed Salvation Army Director Mark Gisler.
With the onslaught of COVID, Gisler had a hard time maintaining anything but the bare minimum of licensed workers. Then, not even that many. By October, they could staff at only 60 percent of what state licensing required. It all took a toll. There were fewer workers and more relapses. State licensing gave Gisler and Good Samaritan 90 days to find staff. On January 10, their 90-day deadline expired. Last Tuesday, the county supervisors quietly approved the paperwork to pull the plug and take the program off life support. In so doing, Good Samaritan left $ 4.5 million in approved funding still on the table. Unspent. That’ s a lot of addicts unserved. “ It crushed me, to be honest, ” said Gisler. “ It’ s not a happy day. ”
THREE DEATHS IN THREE WEEKS: All that is just the routine background noise experienced by those seeking to address not the issue of homelessness but actual people who happen to be homeless. Good news chases the bad. Bad news chases the good.
More drastic and dramatic are the three recent deaths that underscore living a life on the streets. The first to go was Theresa Carina, 50, who was strangled to death early in the morning of March 14. Her accused killer, Gabriel Zepeda — a 46-year-old drifter from Santa Maria — allegedly confessed to the crime. Carina, described by authorities as a woman afflicted with mental illness who slept regularly on the door step of Mountain Air Sports, a well-known business at the bottom of State Street. Court records paint a protracted spiral downward over the years for Carina — divorce, unemployment, evictions — followed by multiple petty offenses. Authorities say she was polite and neat, taking pains to leave her sleeping spot clean and vacated long before the shop opened for business.
Zepeda — recently released from County Jail and wearing an ankle bracelet tracker so he could see his ailing grandmother before she died—had his own history: multiple instances of spousal abuse, stalking, and, most recently, angry erratic behavior on State Street. As polite as Carina reportedly was, she wasn’ t going to take any grief from Zepeda when the two first encountered each other. Words were exchanged. Then they got hotter. When it was over, Zepeda sought to truss Carina’ s arms and feet, ostensibly to haul her body away. He didn’ t get far when he thought better of it and fled. Police would arrest him at about 2 in the morning on Stearns Wharf.
Last week, the body of a woman known only as Christine was found on the 1200 block of State Street. ( Her last name will be released upon notification of next of kin.) Christine was well-known to police and businesses in the area; she was well liked. Many felt the impulse to look out for her; several sought to find Christine a home. She never accepted. That’ s not where she belonged, she would explain. Even Jeff Shaffer of SB ACT, who knows many of the downtown homeless people by name, never got to know Christine’ s back story. She never let anyone get close enough. The folklore among the police is that Christine had been pulled over when driving through town about 20 years ago. Her tags were expired. Her license had expired. She had no insurance. Her car, accordingly, was impounded. And she’ d been living on the street ever since, sleeping behind a prominent downtown business. She was born in 1957.
Early this week, a 57-year old-woman named Debra Reynoso was struck and killed by the 31-year-old driver of a Buick Le Sabre when she walked into the right-hand lane of Highway 101 headed south by Castillo Street. According to the California Highway Patrol, Reynoso had been walking along the side of the freeway before entering the lane. The driver stopped, called the police, and waited. There was no evidence of drugs or alcohol. Reynoso had recently been arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon. The court record indicates that her mental health was sufficiently fragile that a psychiatric exam was ordered. She’ d been homeless for several years. | general |
Former Executive Directors at UNICEF | The Executive Director of UNICEF works on behalf of the United Nations children's agency to help children around the world survive and thrive by advocating for and protecting their rights. They are appointed by the United Nations Secretary General. Below are profiles of all our Executive Directors since 1947.
Maurice Pate ( 1894-1965) was UNICEF's first executive director. At the time of his joining, millions of children were suffering in the aftermath of World War II. Pate made it a condition of his service that UNICEF support those in vanquished as well as victorious countries. As a result, UNICEF helped distribute milk and other supplies to children all over Europe, and soon after helped bring relief to children affected by various conflicts in China, Greece and the Middle East.
The first landmark of Pate’ s directorship was in 1950, when UNICEF was mandated to include working with children and families throughout the developing world. In the following decades, Pate helped UNICEF take up the challenge of fighting poverty in newly independent countries of the developing world.
Sweden, 1950. Maurice Pate shares a park bench with children in Stockholm.
Pate was characterized by his successor as UNICEF's architect and builder and as a renowned practical idealist. He died in January 1965, a few months before he was to retire.
American attorney and diplomat Henry R. Labouisse ( 1904 - 1987) brought extensive international service experience to UNICEF. The major conflicts and natural disasters of the late 1960s and 1970s would lead to an upsurge in UNICEF’ s emergency relief operations. During this time, he guided UNICEF’ s vision towards helping children and families in developing countries gain access to health and education.
Children know no political barriers.
Under Labouisse's leadership, UNICEF emphasized community-based initiatives for health, nutrition, formal and non-formal education, and water and sanitation. As part of promoting primary health care, UNICEF supported low-cost, decentralized services aimed at bringing basic health services to all. The organization also focused on hard-to-reach rural areas and urban slums and began to address women's needs independent of their role as mothers.
Norway, 1965. Henry Labouisse ( left), receives the Nobel Peace prize medal on behalf of UNICEF, presented by Nobel Committee Chairman of the Norwegian Parliament, Gunnar Jahn, at the prize ceremonies at Oslo University.
In accepting the 1965 Nobel Peace Prize on UNICEF’ s behalf, Labouisse declared that the prize had `` reinforced our profound belief that, each time UNICEF contributes, however modestly, to giving today's children a chance to grow into useful and happier citizens, it contributes to removing some of the seeds of world tension and future conflicts. ''
James P. Grant ( 1922 - 1995) was an energetic advocate for children and a visionary who insisted on strategic action and measurable results.
He led UNICEF in a campaign to combat what he called a `` global silent emergency, '' — the deaths of millions of children each year from easily preventable illnesses. Launched in 1983, this global initiative mobilized to bring lifesaving, cost-effective techniques to children in developing countries, including immunization, oral rehydration therapy to prevent death from diarrhoeal dehydration, and breastfeeding. By the end of the 1980s, this child survival and development revolution was estimated to have saved 12 million young lives.
Morality must march with capacity.
Grant helped expedite another milestone for children in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the ground-breaking treaty The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which entered into international law within a year. This further inspired UNICEF to become a driving force behind the 1990 World Summit for Children, the largest gathering of Heads of State and Governments up until then. Out of this was born a global Plan of Action and concrete goals for children's health, education, well-being and protection.
New York, 1990. James Grant, together with children representing several countries around the world, addresses the Outdoor Forum, held on the North Lawn at United Nations Headquarters in celebration of the World Summit for Children.
To help reinforce the promises made and to further mobilize the world's leadership for children, Grant successfully urged countries to formulate national plans of action. For the first time, the global community began work on international goals — at the highest political levels — to reduce rates of mortality and disease, malnutrition and illiteracy, and to reach specific targets by the year 2000.
Carol Bellamy became UNICEF’ s fourth Executive Director after a distinguished career that included the private sector and public office. Under Ms. Bellamy's leadership, UNICEF became a champion of global investment in children.
During her tenure, Bellamy focused on five major priorities: immunizing every child; getting all girls and boys into school and getting all schools to offer quality basic education; reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS and its impact on young people; fighting for the protection of children from violence and exploitation; and introducing early childhood programmes in every country.
... in serving the best interests of children, we serve the best interests of all humanity.
She encouraged the General Assembly to allow children to take part in the UN Special Session on Children in May 2002, and hundreds did, meeting directly with Heads of State to discuss the issues affecting their lives. The ground-breaking summit adopted new global goals for children and provided world leaders with ideas and inspiration for achieving them.
Sri Lanka, 2005. Carol Bellamy speaks with children in a camp for people displaced by the tsunami, set up in the Al-Manar Primary School in the village of Maruthamunai.
Ms. Bellamy left behind a fiscally sound organization with strong internal controls and many notable advances for children including a 99 per cent reduction in polio since 1988 and a greater number of children in school than ever before.
Under Ann Veneman’ s leadership, UNICEF launched initiatives to improve business practices, transparency and collaboration to ensure that the agency's programmes reached the most vulnerable and that its resources were utilized efficiently to protect, save and improve the lives of children around the world. These strategies included establishing a results-based approach to programme management and scaling up the use of integrated packages of interventions to the health and development of children.
Haiti, 2010. Ann M. Veneman greets a girl toddler at the Notre Dame des Victoires residential care centre while reviewing ongoing UNICEF aid efforts in the aftermath of the earthquake in January of that year.
Veneman travelled to more than 60 countries to review the plight of children and UNICEF's work to assist them. She witnessed the devastation caused by natural disasters, conflict, disease and exploitation – experiences that redoubled her sense of hope, passion and urgency in advocating for children.
Few things have more impact than nutrition on a child's ability to survive, learn effectively and escape a life of poverty.
Veneman co-chaired Mothers Day Every Day, a campaign launched by CARE and the White Ribbon Alliance supporting access to basic health care and maternal services for women around the world. Her leadership, vision and emphasis on a culture of continuous improvement to help achieve lasting results for children were recognized both nationally and internationally. In 2009, she was named to the Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women list, ranking 46.
Anthony Lake came to serve as UNICEF’ s sixth Executive Director with more than 45 years of public service experience. His career included foreign policy, national security, humanitarian and development issues at the most senior levels.
His long-standing ties to UNICEF dated back to 1993, when he worked with UNICEF’ s third Executive Director, James P. Grant, on the organization’ s presentation of its flagship publication, The State of the World’ s Children, at the White House. From 1998 to 2007 he served at the US Fund for UNICEF, with a term as Chair, after which he was appointed a permanent honorary member.
The SDGs present an opportunity to apply the lessons we have learned and reach the children in greatest need – and shame on us if we don't.
At UNICEF, he was active at effort to refocus investment towards the most disadvantaged children, and reducing child mortality.
Peru, 2014. Isa Rate, a girl from the indigenous Shipibo group, uses rectangular plates bearing letters of the alphabet to teach Anthony Lake how she spells her name in her native language.
During his eight-year tenure as Executive Director of UNICEF, Lake dedicated himself to realizing a world where the rights of all the children would be fully respected and contributed to promoting human security.
Previously, Lake worked with leaders and policy makers across the world and as senior foreign policy adviser to the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, a role he also performed during the Clinton presidential campaign.
Henrietta H. Fore became UNICEF’ s seventh director, having worked in economic development, education, health, humanitarian and disaster relief as a public servant, for more than four decades. She was the first woman to serve in the US Government as Administrator of the Agency for International Development ( USAID), and Director of US Foreign Assistance.
Together, we can get the job done.
Fore oversaw UNICEF’ s critical role in the global response to COVID-19 that began with the rapid delivery of water, tests, supplies and PPE around the world and equipping and training healthcare workers to deliver vaccines. Under her leadership UNICEF played a central role in the COVAX facility, providing procurement, airfreight, and in-country delivery and training to help save lives in the largest vaccination drive in history.
Lebanon, 2018. Henrietta Fore on her visit to Bar Elias Elementary Public School in Bekaa, accompanied by Lebanese Minister of Education Marwan Hamadeh.
The UN Secretary General lauded Fore for her commitment to “ reimagining education ” and to the safe return to classrooms across the world. She championed Reimagine Education, Generation Unlimited and GIGA – initiatives that aim to connect 3.5 billion students to world-class digital solutions for learning by 2030. In her last year at the helm of UNICEF, GIGA had mapped over 1 million schools and connected 5,000.
Fore led the pivot UNICEF needed to make inorder to adapt and meet the needs of children in a fast-changing world. Climate change is an example of this adaptation. Under her leadership, UNICEF introduced the Children’ s Climate Risk Index – the first comprehensive analysis of climate risk from a child’ s perspective.
Read about Catherine Russell, UNICEF's current Executive Director. | general |
United Airlines just made a huge announcement that 'll drive customers crazy | One of the most dangerous tropes in business is the big promise. It tends to bump up against the big reality.
Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who now runs the consultancy Howard Raucous LLC.
If you 've flown on an airline lately, you 'll likely have strong feelings.
Many of those feelings might verge toward the negative.
Yes, it's wonderful to be flying away on a business trip again, but just look at the delays and cancellations. And just look at the reasons.
No, it's not just weather. Southwest, for example, recently warned customers its technology wasn't all that. Then it canceled 2,000 flights.
The return to the air is, then, likely to be a bumpy experience.
This may be a reason for airlines to be tempered in the way they deal with customers.
But through a side door comes United Airlines.
United has been a peculiar anomaly of late.
It hasn't incited an excess of ill will. It hasn't ( seemed to have) canceled too many flights or endured too many unpleasant passenger interactions -- caused by itself, you understand -- for which it used to be so well known.
I worry, though, that this might all have gone to United's head.
You see, the airline's CEO Scott Kirby just outlined his vision for the future. All CEOs have a vision, of course. Too many airline CEOs have a vision of enormous stock bonuses.
Kirby, on the other hand, has undergone an apparent reinvention. From turgid cost-cutting, customer-ignoring executive to progressive, enlightened, customer-embracing executive.
This has clearly affected his vision.
As reported by Live and Let's Fly, Kirby's latest video address to employees offered four pillars upon which they should mount their future.
Alright. United's goal is `` to really establish ourselves as the biggest and the best airline in the history of aviation. ''
Not just the biggest and best today. But the biggest and best ever.
Perhaps you have your own favorite airline, one that makes you feel very slightly better when your flight's delayed or the pilots haven't turned up.
Perhaps you have an airline that serves better food or doesn't cram in quite as many seats as its competitors.
I certainly used to fly Continental because it had better food. And then United took it over and things went a tad awry.
Still, let's examine United's pillars. The airline is promising an updated version of itself, which includes 500 new planes.
`` If we're successful bringing these 500 airplanes on board, '' said Kirby, `` we are so far ahead of any of our competitors that there's really no way that anyone can catch up to us. ''
Pillar Number Two is operational excellence. United did introduce a technology called Connection Saver. This promised to hold planes for a little longer so that connecting passengers could make their flight. Ach, but now it's decided that leaving on time may be more important.
And there you were thinking arriving on time was more important.
Pillar Number Three is, quite naturally, the customer service thing. Said Kirby: `` I think that in the end is going to be probably the most enduring change that we all are able to look back on at the end of COVID and say, what changed the most about United Airlines. ''
Fascinating. But isn't United in the same, um, boat as other airlines in not being able to hire enough staff? That's surely one of the core seeds of difficult customer relations.
I feel sure, however, that you 've been most excited about Pillar Number Four. This is the one where United promises something so different, so radical that it truly can live up to being the, what was it, biggest and the best airline in the history of aviation.
Please welcome, then, the pillar of CSAMx.
New aviation technology? In a way. It stands for Cost Per Available Seat-Mile. Yes, United intends to squeeze more money, more cheaply out of every single customer.
And it sees technology as the way to get there.
In Kirby's words: `` What we also have to do is use all the technology that we created that many other airlines don't have. We 've created new processes, new technology, that are going to allow us to have costs that come down over time. ''
This may be wonderful for the airline. It may even signify marginal improvement for passengers.
Making absurdly extravagant boasts at a time when flying remains a largely unpleasant experience seems a touch rich.
Airlines have eschewed wide-body planes in favor of more efficient narrowbodies. They 've stuffed more seats onto each plane, reducing legroom and general comfort. Their technological offerings -- as basic as wifi -- haven't exactly stirred joy.
They 've exacerbated the potential for passenger friction by increasing discomfort. And the larger they 've grown, the less incentive they seem to have to make things better for passengers.
To claim you're creating the biggest and best airline in the history of aviation smacks of a troublingly oxymoronic windbaggery.
It's as if he never flew Virgin Atlantic in its finest days. I remember once getting a massage on a flight. United will do something similar?
Technology can do something to relieve the occasional airline frustration. Yet United's Agent on Demand feature -- akin to other airlines ' AI customer service attempts -- hasn't been the biggest and best success in the history of aviation. So far.
What United is really promising is to become a better United. Perhaps even the best United in the history of aviation. There are signs this could happen.
It's unwise, though, to let customers hear you're going to be the biggest and the best ever in the history of the world.
Only political leaders do that. And we all know where that ends.
McDonald's keeps making customers angry. But will they like this?
Microsoft reveals how your working day has changed. You might not like it
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Brayden Sutherland, Author at Energy Voice | The 6th edition of Go Digital Energy, a business conference focused on sharing the best digitalisation practices to achieve efficient and sustainable operation will take place on the 7th and 8th of June in Amsterdam and online.
ISA breaks the mould to adapt education for evolving global energy outlook
A global shift toward environmental accountability, major technological disruptions and unexpected economic activity are all creating exciting opportunities and stark challenges for trading houses, investors, producers, traders, buyers, and governments alike.
The foremost digital strategists of the oil and gas sector will descend on Houston, Texas, this June to reveal unique insights into data-driven operations.
SUBCMAR, a new recruitment company specialising in the subsea market, has been launched in Aberdeen.
Reuters Events - this week announced the launch of Hydrogen 2022 ( June 8-9, Amsterdam). The two-day summit will gather senior public and private sector leaders to build the global hydrogen economy.
The global Oil and Gas Industry has grown exponentially in the last 20 years seeing a 50% increase. Global dependency on these companies has never been so important as it is today, with growth parameters indicating energy demand to double by 2050.
Petroplan, a specialist global energy talent acquisition group, has opened a new office in Manchester city centre to meet growing demand for specialist energy talent in the North.
Whether you’ re passionate about saving polar bears, or just enjoy breathing fresh, clean air there are loads of reasons why we should be tackling the climate emergency.
Bristol based technology developer Inductosense, has developed the WAND Remote Data Collector ( WAND-RDC) for cost-effective remote internal corrosion/erosion monitoring. The product is based on Inductosense’ s inductively coupled WAND sensor technology and reduces the need for NDT personnel on-site to take ultrasonic thickness measurements. It also eliminates the indirect costs associated with inspections - such as the costs of scaffolding or removal of insulation.
Bristol based Inductosense has strengthened its senior management team with the appointment of Richard Munro to the role of director of strategic growth.
With 30 years of oil and gas experience, TRACS International ( TRACS) has advised on development of oil and gas fields around the world – many of which are now candidates for safe disposal of CO2.
As global markets consolidate recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, LNG markets globally are tightening, with demand growth led by anticipated surge in Asian and Latin America demand.
There are just a couple of weeks left for businesses to register their interest in the innovative offshore corporate purchase power agreement ( cPPA) from Seagreen Wind Energy.
Leading UK training provider, AIS Survivex, has secured a significant three-year contract extension with a major North Sea operator.
As the world’ s economies fire up for revival it has become clear that downstream, and the products we produce, are critical to global recovery.
Covid 19 has led to unprecedented market volatility and changing consumer demands. This coupled with digital transformation, energy transition and an intense geopolitical landscape. 2021 changed the face of the industry forever
Reuters Events launch Hydrogen North America ( November 30th - December 1st, Online). Through monthly content and 2-day summit hosting 1,500 digital attendees, Reuters Events will provide hydrogen professionals the information and connections they need for expansion in North America. Hydrogen Europe will precede this event in the same week on December 2-3, 2021.
Reuters Events: Hydrogen Europe ( December 2-3) gathers the value chain to realise the hydrogen economy. Covering policy & regulation, scaling-up production, infrastructure, and end-use sectors, attendees will leave with the critical information and partnerships they need for expansion in Europe.
Shallow hazard assessments are a critical, but often overlooked stage in the well-planning process.
Reuters Events talk offshore & floating wind with 'Exploring Offshore & Floating Wind Supply Chain Growth - Challenges and Opportunities ' | general |
Bitcoin Extravaganza is ‘ All About Eye-Catching’ Post Pandemic | The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
Attendees during the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, Florida, U.S., on Wednesday, April 6, 2022. The Bitcoin 2022 four-day conference is touted by organizers as `` the biggest Bitcoin event in the world. '', Bloomberg
( Bloomberg) -- A pulsating beat was one of the constants at this week’ s Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami. That along with unlimited parties and testimonials about the life-changing powers of the cryptocurrency.
After two pandemic-ravaged years, Bitcoiners declared they’ re back in a big way, with more the 25,000 attending the extravaganza to celebrate the original digital asset as well as each other. So many parties had been set up that an Excel listing many of the soirées was passed around so attendees could plan accordingly.
At the conference itself, companies showing off their wares amid a sea of exhibits were surrounded by physical manifestations of the excitement for the crypto universe -- literally. A giant moon hung over the space to remind everyone of the heights they were striving for. And if that weren’ t enough, an enormous Mars hung further afield. The message: shoot for the moon, the opportunities are boundless.
Crypto dignitaries, including Michael Novogratz and Peter Thiel, gathered for panels in colossal rooms pumped around the clock with fog machines and dance music. Lasers of purples and greens skittered across the floor. A special section was reserved for so-called whales -- these were the VIPs who got to sit on chairs and couches propped up on risers, levitating above the main crowd.
“ This is total madness, ” said Marc LoPresti, managing director of The Strategic Funds. “ The who’ s who of the blockchain industry is here. It’ s almost too big. ”
In the years since Covid first broke out, the crypto industry has exploded -- companies have sprouted and grown and there’ s more money than ever sloshing around for projects. Bitcoin has surged more than fourfold since before the pandemic, even with it down almost 40% since setting a record high in November.
This year’ s the first since the pandemic started that many of those who have been part of the growth process are able to gather, and their zeal has rippled through the conference, said Ophelia Snyder, co-founder and president of ETF issuer 21Shares.
“ The industry is still at a stage where we can’ t believe it, ” Snyder said. 21Shares has expanded its workforce to 150 from 25 during the period and assets under management have ballooned to $ 2.5 billion from $ 25 million, Snyder said.
Getting around the convention required dexterity -- one had to dodge swells of crowds and models-for-hire who were handing out branded crypto-company sunglasses. It was easy, also, to get distracted by the giant monitor that automatically gave everyone laser eyes as they walked by.
The expo floor, meanwhile, was buzzing with the vibe of an amusement park. A sea of company booths encircled the perimeter; a crypto museum exhibited artworks; vendors peddling home-made products, including artworks of the Bitcoin logo, stood off in one corner. A nearly-40-foot volcano greeted visitors as they walked in, a colossal monument to El Salvador’ s so-called volcano Bitcoin bond. And perpetually, the moon hovered above the crowd.
“ It’ s electric -- there’ s so much energy. You work in the trenches every day and then you come here and see it’ s actually happening, ” said Bobby Zagotta, CEO of Bitstamp USA. “ If you weren’ t believing before, you come here and you become a believer. ”
That’ s the kind of fervor attendees brought with them -- a love for Bitcoin that borders on religiosity. The crypto space famously has a rabid fan base, a cohort of true believers who see Bitcoin as the salve for the world’ s biggest problems. It’ s a ride-or-die group whose proverbs include “ Bitcoin is life ” and “ Bitcoin is the future. ” Its preachers were there, on the stages, in the break-rooms, at the after-parties.
“ There’ s this system of belief called Bitcoin maximalism and it’ s a bit religious, ” said Peter Smith, CEO of Blockchain.com, noting he didn’ t consider himself one. “ You definitely see a lot of Bitcoin-maximalist speakers on stage and they are there to preach the gospel. It’ s super intense. ”
At the convention, it was a setup by novice crypto exchange Bullish in the middle of the exhibit center that drew a lot of attention: a mechanical bull, clad in a spotted calfskin, gyrated jerkily from left to right. The bull itself was another demonstration of the ethos -- the future is bright. Anyone was welcome to ride it, but whoever proved to be the longest holdout won the ultimate prize: a single Bitcoin.
“ This is crypto, we’ re at Bitcoin Miami -- it’ s all about eye-catching, ” said Chris Briseno, head of marketing at Bullish and the man behind the setup. “ The sky is the limit -- there’ s no holds barred here. ”
Miami is looking to transform itself into a crypto hub. The city’ s mayor, Francis Suarez, who takes his paychecks in Bitcoin, has fully embraced digital assets and all their tentacles, hoping that Florida’ s pleasant climate will continue to draw in entrepreneurs.
Those packing up on Friday afternoon were already looking forward to next year’ s gathering. Some expect it to be bigger, glitzier. Either way, “ the toothpaste is out of the tube -- it’ s here, ” said Bruce Fenton, a Bitcoin advocate who’ s running for a Senate seat in New Hampshire. “ You can’ t uninvent Bitcoin. ” | general |
Health Insurance Associated With Gaming Provided by Igloo and DANA’ s Partnership | Together with Igloo, DANA introduces its second insurance product, Gamer’ s Protection, for avid video gamers in Indonesia who worry about health risks associated with gaming. The offering comes shortly after the launch of Electronic Gadget Insurance, launched by DANA and Igloo in October 2021.
Underwritten by Jagadiri ( PT Central Asia Financial), plans start from Rp1,000 and with the benefit to a maximum of Rp1,000,000 for cardiac arrest or carpal tunnel syndrome diseases. Users can purchase the protection for themselves or their children in the DANA app by doing these simple steps: Tap DANA Siaga on the all services menu, then choose Proteksi Kesehatan Gamers and tap the buy now button. Once done, they have to select the plan that suits their lifestyle, fill in their data and finally, tap pay on the payment page.
DANA’ s successful collaboration with Igloo is evident by the high acceptance of the Electronic Gadget Insurance by the users due to the intuitive and simplicity of the user experience, affordable pricing as well as the benefit it provides. Accompanied by a reliable technical and operational team, makes it the obvious choice to further strengthen this collaboration this round to provide better market-fit insurance products to DANA users.
“ We are happy to work with DANA again to offer insurance protection to mobile phone users. This is in line with our commitment to driving digital adoption of financial services amongst Indonesian customers and we look forward to adding more insurance solutions through the partnership. During the pandemic, we have seen the gaming community grow and Indonesians are now spending more time on their mobile phones. On average, Indonesians devote approximately 8.5 hours per week to gaming. In the long run, this can lead to health problems such as carpal tunnel, ” said Novasta Novasta, country manager of Igloo in Indonesia.
In line with Igloo, Rangga Wiseno, chief of product DANA Indonesia added that this new protection is also in line with DANA’ s commitment to continuously update and improve the user experience of digital transactions through the DANA app.
“ We are aware that the game is growing rapidly, even contributing to the creative economy sub-sector in the country. Therefore, we are not only focusing on providing easy digital transactions for game purchases, but we are also taking part in protecting gamers from health risks from gaming by providing insurance available on Igloo, ” said Wiseno.
Mobile games have gained more popularity over the years, not least during the covid-19 lockdowns. The gaming industry in Indonesia continues to grow and recorded total sales of $ 1.92billion in 2021. Today, there are over 116 million gamers in Indonesia, out of which 114 million play on their mobile devices.
The initiative aims to strengthen Igloo’ s presence in providing affordable and accessible insurance for the masses by working with partners from diverse verticals in Indonesia. Igloo continues to secure partnerships with industries that range across eCommerce, eWallet, medtech, logistics, automobiles, transportation, telecommunication, banking, travel and hospitality, as well as the gig economy.
Francis is a junior journalist with a BA in Classical Civilization, he has a specialist interest in North and South America.
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NIGERIA: Swap deals: Kachikwu's great refinery failure | The Nigerian state-owned company has published the list of firms who will get crude oil in exchange for petroleum products. As usual, established companies rub shoulders with unknown firms that have close links to the government. [... ]
The deregulation of petrol prices, which has been speeded up by the Covid-19 pandemic, has led to a renewal of swap contracts since the start of 2020. But they could shortly be on the way out. [... ]
Nigerian business tycoon Benedict Peters, the founder and chairman of Aiteo, has created a web of entities to run his ever-more diverse portfolio of businesses. [... ]
After the departure of his long-term partner, the billionaire has been forced to find new service firms to work with. [... ]
Africa Energy Intelligence reveals how trading house Aiteo founder, Benedict Peters, has cleared the air over his prized OML 29 bought from Shell for $ 2.58 billion in the oil-rich state of Bayelsa. Accra was the place to be - The [. [... ]
Once the country's favourite oil man during the Goodluck Jonathan years, Benedict Peters now needs to quickly rustle together funds to pay off his creditors and the Nigerian state. [... ]
The project single-handedly borne by the Nigerian state serves the government's promise to counter vandalism. [... ]
The trading firm, facing high financial exposure, is rallying round to quickly find partners on its OML 29. [... ]
In addition to international groups like Glencore, Trafigura, Total and BP, the list of 18 Nigerian firms that won allocations of NNPC’ s crude - 32,000 bpd or one cargo per month - for 2017/2018 looks like a clever geopolitical share-out [. [... ]
The leading architect of India’ s plan to invest heavily in Nigerian oil, the powerful businessman Adewale Otegbola - boss of [... ]
The forced sale of producing blocks to Nigerian juniors by former president Goodluck Jonathan’ s government fell far short of pleasing those who benefited from it. No sooner had the government awarded the blocks than it said the national oil company [. [... ]
In step with one of the priorities of Nigeria’ s president Muhammadu Buhari, contracts that had allowed for cargoes of crude [... ]
President Muhammadu Buhari’ s first oil industry appointments in August targeted the management of NNPC and they ought to delight oil companies which had been waiting impatiently for changes at the top. The new executives, picked with their regional origins carefully [. [... ]
Muhammadu Buhari’ s victory in Nigeria’ s recent presidential election will result in the departure a strongest card in outgoing president Goodluck Jonathan’ s hand: the controversial petroleum resources minister Diezani Alison-Madueke. While some traders who became oil explorers raked in riches during [. [... ]
Largely unnoticed in Nigeria where the media and politicians are riveted on the presidential election on Feb. 14, a unit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp ( NNPC), Pipelines and Product Marketing Co ( PPMC) renewed swap contracts in early January that [. [... ]
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